The Empresses of Rome - Forgotten Books

CR I SP INABUST IN THE BR ITISH MUSEUM

THE

EMPRESSES OF ROME

J OSEPH McCABE

AUTHOR OF“THE DECAY OF THE CHURCH OF ROME

WITH TWENTY F0UR ILLUSTRATIONS

METHUEN 8: CO. LTD .

36 ESSEX STREET W.C .

N OTE

HE period embraced by this work extends to the

fal l of the Western Empire , or to the middle of

the fifth century. I t was felt that a more extensive

range would involve either an inconveniently large work

or an inadequate treatment . While , therefore , the Em

presses of the East have been included down to the fall

of Rome,i t seemed that the collapse of the Empire in

Rome and the West indicated a quite natural term for

the present study . The restriction has enabled the author

to tell al l that is known of the Empresses of Rome with in

that period , to enlarge the inte re st’

of the study by framing

the Imperial characters in occasional sketches of their

surroundings , and to weave the threads of biography into

a continuous story.

CHAP .

CONTENTS

CDTHE MAK ING or AN EMPRESS

I I .

I I I .

VII .

VI I I .

IX .

X I .

J XII.

XIII.

x 1v.

THE END OF THE GOLDEN AGE

THE WIVES OF CALIGULA

VALER IA MESSALINA

THE MOTHER OF NERO

THE W IVES OF NERO

THE EMPRESSES OF THE TRANS ITION

PLOTINA

SAB INA , THE WIFE OF HADR IAN

THE W IVES OF THE STOICS

THE W IVES OF THE SYBAR ITES

J UL IA DOMNA

IN THE DAYS OF ELAGABALUS

ANOTHER SYR IAN EMPRESS

Z ENOB IA AND V ICTOR IA

2 1 0

vi i i THE EMPRESSES OF ROME

CRAP . PAGE

XVI . THE WIFE AND DAUGHTER OF DIOCLETIAN

XVII . THE F IRST CHR I ST IAN EMPRESSES

XV I I I . THE WIVES OF CONSTANTIUS J UL IAN

x x x . J USTINA

THE ROMANCE OF EUDOX IA AND EUDOC IA

THE LAST EMPRESSES OF THE WEST

INDEX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

CR ISP INA. Bust in the British Muse um

From a photograph byW . A. MANSELL Co .

FACING PAGE

LlVIA AS CERES . S tatu e in the Louvre

JUL IA . Bust in the Muse um Chiaramonti

AGR IPP INA THE ELDER . Bust in the Muse um Chiaramonti

MESSALINA. Bust in the U t’fizi Palace , Florence

AGR IPP INA THE YOUNGER . Bust in Muse o Nazionale,F lorence

OCTAV IA. Porphyry' Bust in the Louvre

POPE/EA. Bust in the Capitoline M use um,Rome

From a photograph by ANDERSON .

DOMITIA. Bust in the Ufii zi Galle ry, Florence

PLOTINA . S tatue in the Louvre

From a photograph byW . A. MANSELL C0 .

SABINA . Bust in the British M useum

From a photograph byW . A . MANSELL CO.

‘

FAUSTINA THE ELDER. Bust in the Louvre

From a photograph by A . GIRAUDON .

FAUSTINA THE YOUNGER. Bust (re puted) in the British Muse um . 172


LUC ILLA . Bust in the National M use um,Rome

From a photograph by ANDERSON.

JULIA DOMNA . Bust in the Vatican Muse um

From a photograph by ANDERSON .

JULIA ME SA. Bust in the Cap itoline Muse um,Rome

From a. photograph by ANDERSON .

JULIA MAMzEA. Bust in the British Muse um

From a photograph byW . A. MANSELL Co .

x THE EMPRESSES OF

MARC IA OTAC IL IA SEVERA


Z ENOB IA

Enlarged from coin in the Berlin Museum.

SALON INA AND VALER IA

Enlarged from coins in the British Museum .

FAUSTA AND FLAV IA HELENAEnlarged from co ins in the British Museum.

AZLIA FLACCILLA AND HONOR IAEnlarged from coins in the British Museum .

EUDOX IA AND PULCHER IA

Enlarged from coins in the British Museum .

PLACIDIA AND EUPHEM IAEnlarged from coms m the British Museum .

ROME

THE

EMPRESSES O F ROME

INTRODU CT ION

HE story of Imperial Rome has been told frequentlyand impressively in our literature

,and few chapters

in the long chronicle Of man’s deeds and fai lureshave a more dramatic quality . S even centuries before ourera Opens

,when the greater part of Europe is st i l l

h idden under virgin forests or repellent swamps,and the

decaying civilizat ions of the ‘

East cast , as they die , theirseed upon the soil Of Greece , we see , in the grey mist ofthe legendary period

,a meagre people settl ing on one Of

the seven hil ls by the Tiber. As i t grows its enemies aredriven back

,and it spreads confidently over the neigh

bouring hills and down the connecting valleys . I t graduallyextends its rule ove r ~othe r I tal ian peoples , bracing its armand improving its art in the‘ long struggle . I t grows con ~

scious of its larger power , and sends its legions eastward ,over the blue se a, to gather the wealth and culture of Egypt,Assyria

,Persia

,and Greece ; and westward and northward ,

over the white Alps , to sow the seed in Germany,Gaul

,

Britain , and Spain . A hundred years before the Openingof the present era the tiny settlement on the Palat ine hasbecome the mistress of the world . I ts eagles cross thewaters of the Danube and the Rhine , and glitter in the sun

Of Asia and Africa . But,with the wealth of the dying

East,it has inherited the germs Of a deadly malady . Rome

,

the heart Of the giant frame,loses its vigour . The strong

2 THE EMPRESSES OF ROME

bronze limbs look pale and thin ; the clear cold brain i sovercast with the fumes Of wine and heated with the thri llsof sense ; and Rome passes , decrepit and d ishonoured ,from the stage on which it has played so useful and fatefula part .The fresh aspect Of this famil iar story which I propose

to consider is the study of the women who moulded ormarred the succeeding Emperors in their fai lure to arrest ,if not their guilt in accelerating , the progress Of Rome’sd isease . W oman had her part in the making , as well asthe unmaking

,of Rome . I n the earl ier days

,when her

work was confined within the walls of the home,no consul

ever guided the momentous fortune of Rome , no soldierever bore its eagles to the bounds of the world

,but some

woman had taught h is lips to frame the syllables of h isnational creed . However

,long before the commencement

of our era , the thought and the power Of the Roman womanwent out into the larger world

'

Of public life ; and whenthe Empire is founded

,when the control of the S tate’s

mighty resources is entrusted to the hands of a singleruler, the wife of the monarch may share his power , andassuredly shares his interest for us . Even as mere womenof Rome , as smgle figures and types rising to the luminousheight of the throne out of the dark and indistinguishablecrowd , they deserve to be passed in review .

S ome such review we have,no doubt, in the two great

works which Spread the panorama of Imperial Rome beforethe eyes of English readers . I n the graceful and restrainedchapters of Merivale we find the earlier Empresses delineated with no less charm than learning. I n the moregenial and voluptuous narrative of Gibbon we may

,at

intervals , follow the fortunes and appreciate the characterof the later Empresses . But

,no matter how nice a skil l

in grouping the historian may have,his stage is too

crowded either for us to pick out the single character withproper d istinctness , or for h im to appraise it with enti reaccuracy. The fleeting gl impses of the Empresses whichwe catch , as the splendid panorama passes before us , must

INTRODUCTION 3

be blended in a ful ler and steadier picture . The trampand shock of armies , the wiles of statesmen , the socialrevolutions , which absorb the historian , must fall into th ebackground , that the single figure may be seen in fullcontour. When thi s i s done it will be found that thereare many judgments on the Empresses , both in Merivaleand Gibbon

,which the biographer will venture to question .

For the study of the earl ier Empresses the Englishreader will find much aid in Mr. Baring-Gould’s “ Tragedyof the Caesars ” Here again , however , though theEmpresses are drawn with d iscriminating freshness andfull knowledge , they are constantly merging in the greatcrowd of characters . The aim of the present work is toplace them in the ful l foreground , and to continue thesurvey far beyond the l imits Of Mr. Baring-Gould’s work .

I t differs also in this latter respect from S tahr’s brill iantKaiser-Frauen ,

"which is , in fact , now almost unobtainable ; and especial ly from V . S ilvagni

’

s recent work,of

unhappy tit le,

“ L’

Impe ro e le Donne dei Cesari ,” which

merely includes sl ight and familiar sketches Of - four Empresses in a general study of the period .

The work differs in quite another way from the learnedand entertaining book Of the Old French writer Roe rgas deS erviez , of which an early English translation has recentlybeen republ ished under the titl e “The Roman Empresses

,

or the History of the Lives and S ecret Intrigues Of theW ives Of the

’

Twelve Caesars ”l—an improper title,because

the work is far from confined to the W ives of the Cae sars .

The work is an industrious compilation of original referemees to the Empresses , interwoven with considerable art ,so as to construct harmonious pictures , and adorned withmuch charm and piquancy of phrase , i f some hollownessof sentiment . But it i s so intent u pon entertaining us thatit frequently sacrifices accuracy to that admirabl e aim .

S erviez has not invented any substantial episode , but hehas encircled - the facts with the most charming imaginativehaloes

,and where the authorit ies d iffer , as they frequently

do,he has not hesitated to gran t his verdict to the writer


who most picturesquely impeaches the virtue of one ofhis Empresses . Roe rgas de S erviez was a gentleman Of

Languedoc in the days Of the “ grand monarque .

” HisEmpresses and princesses reflect too faithful ly the frai lcharacter Of the ladies at the Court of Louis X IV . Forhim the most reliable writer is the one who betrays leastinclination to seek virtue in courtly ladies .

I t need hardly be said that the present writer is indebtedto these authors

,to the l earned Tillemont, and to others

who wi l l be named in the course of the work. But thi sstudy is based on a careful examination Of all the referencesto the Empresses in the Latin and Greek authorities , withsuch further aid as is afforded by coins , statues , inscript ions , and the incidental research of commentators . We.

shal l consider,as we proceed , the varying authority of

these writers . We shall find in them defects which imposea heavy responsibil ity on the writer whose aim it i s torestore those faded and delicate portraits of the Empresses ,over which later artists have spread their sharper andmore crudely coloured figures . One may

,however

,say

at once that i t i s not contemplated to urge any veryrevolutionary change in the current est imate Of thecharacter of most of them . I f a few romantic adventuresmust be honestly discarded , we shal l find Messalina stil lflaunting her vices in the palace , Agrippina sti l l pursuingher more masculine ambition

,Poppaea st il l representing

the gaily-decked puppet of that luxurious world,and

Zenobia,in glittering helmet , stil l giving resonant com

mands to her troops .

But it wil l be well , before we introduce the first,and

one of the best and greatest Of the Empresses,to glance

at the development Of Roman life which prepared the wayfor woman to so exalted a digni ty . The condition Of

woman in early Rome has Often been restored . We seethe female infant, her fate trembling in the hand of manfrom the moment when her eyes open to the l ight

,brought

before the despotic father for the decision of her fate .

W ith a glance at the l ittl e white frame he w i l l say whether

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S ubura and the Ve labrum. Rome aspired to have its art

and its letters .

Roman women were not conte nt to be secluded from

the new culture , and could not escape the st imulation oftheir new world . The Roman husband must be keptaway from the accomplished courtesans of Greece andthe voluptuous sirens of Asia by finding no lesserattractions in h is wife. S O the near horizon of woman

’smind rolled outward . An Inscri ption found at Lanuvium ,

where the Empress Livia had a vi lla,shows that the l ittle

provincial town had a curia mulz'

emm, a women’s debating

club . The walls Of Pompeii , when the shroud of lavahad been removed from its scorched face , bore electi onaddresses s igned by women . The world was mirroredin Rome , and few minds could retain their prim itivesimpl icity as they contemplated that seductive picture .

By the beginning of the first century Of the Older erathe women of Rome had ample opportuni ty for cultureand for pol itical influence . I n the great confl icts of thetime their names are chronicled as the inspirers of manyof the Chief actors . They rise and fall with th e cause ofthe S enate or the cause Of the People . They unite culturewith character , public interest with beauty and motherhood . At last the confl icting parties disappear one by one

,

and a young commander, Octavian , the great-nephew ofJulius Caesar, gathers up the power they relinquish .

A youth of delicate and singularly graceful features,of

refined and thoughtful,rather than assertive

,appearance

,

he hears that Caesar has made him heir to his wealthand his opportunities ; he goes boldly to Rome , adroi tlyuses its forces to destroy those who had slain Caesar

,

forces Mark Antony to share the rule of the world withhim and Lepidus , and then destroys Lepidus and MarkAntony . I t is at this point

,when he returns to Rome

from his last victories , when the whole world wonderswhether he w i l l keep the power he has gathered or meeklyplace i t -in the hands Of the S enate , that the story opens .

CHAPTER I

THE MAKING OF AN EMPRESS

N an August morning of the year 29 B .C. themill ion Ci tizens Of Rome l ined the route whichwas taken by triumphal processions

,to greet the

man who brought them the unfamiliar blessing of peace .

From the Triumphal Gate to the Capitol,past the Great

Circus and through the dense quarter of the Ve labrum ,

with i ts narrow streets and high tenements , the chatteringcrowd was drawn out in two restless l ines

,on ei ther

side of the road , ready to fl ing back the resonant “ IO

Triumphe ” of the bronzed soldiers,bubbling w i th dis

cussion Of the war-blackened stretch of the past and themore pleasant prospect Of the future . The hedges ofspectators were thicke r , _

and the debate was livel ier,under

the cl iff Of the Palatine Hill and in the Forum,through

which ran the S acred Way to the white Temple Of

Jupiter , towering above them and crowning the Capitolat the end of the Forum . There the conqueror wouldOffer sacrifice , before he sank back into the common rankOf citizens of the Republ ic . Would the young Octavianreally lay down his power , and become a Citizen amongmany

,now that he was master of the Roman world ?

Possibly one woman , who looked out on the seeth ingForum and the glistening temple Of J upiter from amodest mansion on the Palatine Hill

,knew the answer

to the eager question . Possibly i t was unknown toOctavian h imself

,her husband . She heard the blasts Of

the leading trumpeters , and saw th e sleek white oxen,


with their gilded horns and their green garlands , advancealong the S acred Way and mount the Capitol . S he sawthe people rock and quiver with excitement as paintedscenes of the remote Dalmatian forests , where herhusband’s latest victories had been won , and the goldand silver of despoiled Egypt , and the very ch ildren ofthe witch Cleopatra , we re driven before the conqueror.

She saw the red-robed lictors slowly pass , their fasceswreathed

,in laurel ; she saw the band of dancers and

musicians tossing joyful music in his path ; and she sawat last the four white horses drawing a triumphal chariot ,in which her husband and her two children received thefrenzied ovation of the people.

Octavian was then in h is th irty-fourth year. Fifteenyears Of struggle had drawn a manly gravity over thehandsome boyish face

,though the curly golden hair sti l l

seemed a strange bed for the Chaplet of laurel thatcrowned i t . His ful l impassive l ips , steady watchful eyes ,and broad smooth forehead gave a singular impressionOf detachment—as if he were a disinterested spectator Of

the day’s events and the whole national drama,instead

of being the central figure . The busts which portray himabout th is period seem to me , i n profi le , to recal l David

’sNapoleon , without the slumbering fire and the hardegoism . Men would remind each other how , when hewas a mere boy

,fifteen years before

,he had found his

way th rough a maze Of intrigue with remarkable dexteri ty .

Now , Mark Antony was dead,Brutus and Cassius were

dead , Lepidus was dead , and the followers of Pompeywere sca ttered . I t was natural to assume that dreams offurther power were hidden behind that mask Of strongrepose .

Behind Octavian went the body of S enators , wi thpurple-striped togas , and si lver crescents on their sandals .

The l ines of spectators broke into gossiping groups whenthe tai l of the procession had passed on . The white oxenfell before the altar Of Jupiter. Octavian gave the customary address to the Senate , and joined Livia in the smal l

THE MAK ING OF AN EMPRESS 9

mansion on the Palatine . But for many a’

day afterwardRome bubbled in praise of him . Not for years had suchcombats reddened the sands of the amphitheatre , suchclowns and conjurors and actors fil led the stage Of thetheatre , such sports fired the , 3OO,OOO citi zens at the circus .

Never before had the uncouth form Of the rh inoceros orhippopotamus been seen at Rome . Not since the beginningof the civi l wars had so much money flowed through theshops of th e Ve labrum and the taverns Of the S ubura . S uchwealth had been added to the public store by the despoiling Of Egypt that the bankers had to reduce the rate ofinterest . TO a people grown parasitic the temptation tomake a king was overpowering ; and it was easy to poin tout , to those who clung to the strict democratic forms , thatOctavian was extraordinari ly modest for a man who hadreached so brill iant and resourceful a position . S O with ina few months Octavian was Imperator

,and Livia became

,

in modern phrase,the Empress Of Rome .

1

Livia , u nhappi ly for Rome , gave Octavian no directheir to the purple

,and we may therefore speak briefly of

her extraction . She came Of the Claudii , one of th e Oldestand proudest famil ies of th e Republ ic , one that numberedtwenty-eight consuls and five dictators in i ts l ine . A

strong , haughty race , more useful than brill iant , religiouslydevoted to the Old Republic

,they had helped much to make

Rome the mistress of the world . Livia’s father , LiviusDrusus Claudianus

,had taken arms against Octavian and

Antony , and had killed himself, with Roman dignity , whenBrutus and Cassius fell , and he saw the shadow ofdespotism coming over the city .

Livia was then in her sixteenth year ,” and had earlyexperience of the storms of Roman political l ife . Her

1 The title “ Empre ss was unknown to the Romans. Impe rator was

a name of military command . The spe cial use of it in connexion withOctavian and his successors was that it was given for life . The more nove l

title Augustus was extended to Livia,who late r be came Augusta.

"

Pliny place s her birth in the ye ar 54 B .C.

,but Dio says 57 B .C. , and this

date is confirmed by Tacitus .

IO THE EMPRESSES OF ROME

husband, Tiberius Claudius Nero , had been promoted more

than once by Julius Caesar , but , after the assassination ofCaesar , he had passed into what he regarded as the morefavourable current . He seems to have ste ered h is coursewith some ski ll until the year 4 1 when

,l ike many

other small schemers , he came under the influence Of MarkAntony’s wife , Fulvia . Antony was caught at the time inthe silken net with which Cleopatra prevented him fromcarrying out the ambition of Rome at the expense of hercountry . Fulvia , a virile and passionate woman , tried todraw Antony from her arms by provoking a revol t againstOctavian . She induced her brother-in-law and othernobles to rebel , and Nero , who was then prefect of asmall town in Campania , j oined the movement .Octavian swung his legions southward

,and scattered

the th in ranks Of the insurgents . W i th her infant— thefuture Emperor Tiberius— in her arms the girl-wife fled tothe coast with her husband , and endured all the horrors Ofcivil warfare . S O close were the sold iers Of Octavian ontheir heels that at one point the cry of the baby nearlydestroyed them . Octavian had l ittle mercy on rebelliousnobles before he m arried Livia . At last they reached thecoast , where the galleys of S extus Pompe iu s hovered toreceive fugitives , and sailed for S ici ly. They were cordial ly received there by the Pompeians

,but went on to

Greece,and were again hunted by the troops . Long after

wards in Rome they used to tel l how the delicate girl , thedescendant of all the Claudii, fled through a burning forestby night before Roman soldiers

,and singed her hair and

garments as she rushed onward with her baby in her arms .

The troubled history of Rome for a hundred years was

stamped on her mind by a personal experience that shecould never forget . W i th worn feet and aching heart , sheand her husband at last found shelter, until the feudbetween Antony and Octavian had been composed .

From the straits of exile they returned to their prettyhome on the Palat ine H ill , and the story Of her adventuresran

,and gathered substance

,in Roman society . I f the

THE MAK ING OF AN EMPRESS I I

experts be right in assigning to Livia a small mansionwhich has been uncovered on the hil l , we find that she was ,in the year 38 B .C. ,

l iving only a short distance from thehouse of Octavian . Among the palatial bui ldings whichnow whitened the slopes Of the Roman hil ls , Nero

’s house— later , Livia

’s house—was poor, but i ts mural paintingsare amongst the most delicate that have been d iscoveredunder the overlying centuries of mediaeval rubbish . A

small portico gave shelter from the summer sun , and thesmall

,cool atrium (hall) led only to some half dozen modest

rooms . But Livia was happy in her husband , and sober inher tastes . She was then in her nineteenth year , a youngwoman of regular and pleasing

,though scarcely beautiful ,

features and rounded form , one of those who happi lyunited the old matronly virtue to the new love Of societyand gaiety . All Rome discussed her adventures

,and the

generous feel ing which her romance engendered madepeople give her an exceptional beauty and wit— qual it ieswhich neither her marble image nor her recorded careerpermits us to accept in any large m easure . There was nowhisper Of slander against her unti l the days of her power.From this peaceful and happy li ttle world she was now tobe suddenly removed .

Octavian,who mingled very freely with h is fellows , and

Often supped with the l iterary men who were now multiplying at Rome , heard the gossip about the youthful Livia ,and sought her. He was already married , and a word maybe said about the z

'

mpe'

m trz'

ces manque'

es before we unite himto Livia .

I n early youth he had been affiance d to the girli shdaughter of Publius S ervilius Isau ricu s , but a mere betrothal had li ttle strength at a time when even the marriagebond was so frail . When he c ame to face Mark Antony ,with many grim legions at hi s c ommand , and a freshcivi l war was threatened

,peacemakers suggested that the

storm might be turned from the fields Of I taly b y amatrimonial all iance . The soldiers

,weary of slaying each

other,acclaimed the proposal . S ervilia was sacrificed , and

12 THE . EMPRESSES OF ROME

Octavian was married to the young and hardly marriageable daughter of Fulvia . As we saw , there was a freshrupture with Antony in the year 4 1 , and Octavian sent

back the maiden , as he described her, to her infuriatedmother. S ome of our authorities d eclare that Fulvia hadtried to draw Antony from the arms of Cleopatra bymaking love to his handsome rival , bu t one can onlysuppose that Antony would smile if he were told thathis unpleasant spouse— the woman who is said to havegloated over the bloody head of Cicero , and thrust herhair-pin through his tongue— was Offering her heart toOctavian . W e cannot, therefore , accept the rumour that ,when Octavian sent back her daughter to Fulvia , hemaliciously explained that he was anxious to spare Fulviathe mortification of thinking that he had preferred thepretty insipid ity of Clodia to her own more assertive

qual ities .

The marriage with Clodia had been frankly pol itical ,and it natural ly broke down in the new political dissolution .

The second marriage had the same origin , and the samewelcome termination . He had married Scribonia, a womanolder than himself

,during the rupture with Antony , because

her brother was one Of the chief members of the Pompeianfaction . The leader Of this party, S extus Pompe iu s , heldS ici ly , and not only welcomed fugitives from Octavian’sanger, but commanded the sea-route to Rome . Throughhis devoted friend Maecenas , the famous patron of letters ,Octavian proposed a marriage with S cribonia. I t wouldnot be unnatural for a woman in her thirties , who hadalready outl ived two husbands

,eagerly to espouse , and

probably love,so graceful

,ambitious

,and advancing a

youth as Octavian ; but to him the all iance was only onemore move in the great game he was playing. He couldbear the strain Of a diplomatic marriage with ease , sincethere i s no reason to rej ec t the statement Of Dio andS uetonius that he found affection among the wives of hisnobler friends .

I t has been commonly held that Octavian masked a tense



beauty began to circulate among the mansions Of thePalatine .

S ome Of the authorities describe Octavian as hoveringabout her for some time

,and say that th e splendour with

which he celebrated his barbatorz’

a,or first shave Of the

he ard , was due to the generosity Of his new passion . I ti s more probable that he at once informed Nero of hisresolution to marry Livia . Tacitus expressly says thatit i s unknown whether Livia consented or not to the

EEQEEQEIQ ESEQ CL Great as was the liberty then enjoyedby Roman women , they were rarely consulted on suchmatters . Scribonia received a letter of divorce , in whichit was suggested that th e perversity Of her character madeher an unsuitable spouse for so roving a husband . She

had given birth to a daughter a few days before,and we

shal l find the later chapters Of this chronicle l i t up morethan once by the lurid hatred which was begotten Of th isdespotic d ismissal . For the moment I need only point outthat later Roman writers borrowed their est imate of thecharacter Of Livia from Scribonia

’

s great—grandchild,the

Empress Agrippina , and we must be wary in acceptingtheir statements . S cribonia herself, who came so nearto being an Empress

,we must now dismiss, save that we

shall catch one more gl impse of her when she follows herdissolute daughter into e xile .

Roman law imposed a fitting delay on the d ivorced wifebefore she could marry again

,but Octavian was impatient .

He consulted the sacred augurs,and

,if the legend i s

correct,the diviners gave admirable proof Of thei r art .

They gravely reported that the omens were auspicious foran immediate marriage if the petit ioner had ground tobelieve that it would be fruitful . The verdict entertainedRome

,because Livia was well known to be far advanced in

pregnancy,and Octavian was widely regarded as the father.

Whether that be true or no , Octavian intimated to Nerothat he must divorce Livia, and we cannot think that shefelt much pain at being invited to share the mansion in thePalatine to which all Roman eyes were now directed . An

THE MAK ING OF AN EMPRESS 1 5

anecdote of the time ligh tly i l lustrates the ease with whichsuch matrimonial transfers were accomplished at Rome .

Dio says that,during the festive meal , one of those

bejewelled,boys who then formed part Of a Roman noble

’

shousehold

,and whose vicious services were rewarded with

an extraordinary license,said to Livia

,as she recl ined at

table with Octavian “What do you here , mistress Yourhusband is yonder .

”The pert youngster pointed to Nero

at another table . He had given away the bride , and wascheerfully taking part in the banquet .Livia’s second son

,Drusus Nero

,was born three months

after her marriage,and was sent by Octavian to ’ Nero

’

shouse . Nero died soon afterwards

,and made Octavian the

guardian of h is sons,so that they returned to the care of

their mother. The extreme fondness of Octavian for theyounger boy lends no colour to the rumour that Drususwas his own son . The probabi lity i s that Octavian , in h isimpetuous way

,married Livia as soon as h is fancy rested

on her. The accepted busts Of Drusus do not give anysupport to the calumny that Octavian was his father. Heloved both the boys

,and assisted in educating them , in their

early youth . I t i s only when his daughter J ulia bringsher handsome chi ldren into th e household that we detect abeginning Of an estrangement between him and his successor, Tiberius .

The household in which these first seeds Of tragedyslowly germinated was

,in the year 38 B .C.

,one of great

simplicity and sobriety . They lived in the comparativelysmall house in

'

which Octavian had been born,and Livia

adopted his plain ways with ease and dignity . I n that ageof deadly luxury

,when the veins Of Rome were swollen

with the first flush of parasit ic wealth , Octavian and Liviawe re content 'with a prudent adaptation Of the Old Romanideal to the new age . The noble guests whom Octavianbrought to his table found that h is simple taste shrank

,not

only from the peacocks’ brains and nightingales’ tongueswhich were served in th eir own more sumptuous banquets

,

but even from the pheasant,the boar, and the other

16 T HE EMPRESSES OF ROME

ordinary luxuries of a patrician dinner . Rough bread ,cream Cheese , fish

,and common frui t composed his cus

tomary meal . Often was he seen , as he came home in hislitter from some fatiguing publ ic business , such as theadministration of justice , to munch a littl e bread and fruit ,like some humble countryman . Of wine he drank little ,and he never adopted the enervat ing nightly carousal whichwas draining away the strength Of Rome . While wealthysenators and knights prolonged the hours Of entertainmentafter the evening meal , and hired sinuous Syrian dancinggirls and nude bej ewelled boys and salacious mimes to firethe dull eyes Of their guests , as they lay back , sated , onthe couches of silk and roses

,under fine showers of

perfume from the roof, sipping choice wine cooled with thesnow of the Atlas or the Alps

,Octavian withdrew to his

study,after a frugal supper, to write hi s diary, dictate hi s

generous correspondence , and enjoy the poets who wereinaugurating the golden age of Latin letters . When therewere guests , he provided fitt ing dishes and music for them

,

but Often retired to his study when the meal was over.

After seven hours’ sleep in the most modest Of chambers hewas ready to resume his daily round .

S ince Octavian retained these sober habits to the end ofhis l ife

,years after they could have had any diplomatic aim

,

i t i s remarkable that so many writers have regarded themas an artful screen of h is ambition . Nor can we thinkdifferently Of Livia . I f Octavian presents a healthy contrast to the sordid sensuality of some of h is successors , hiswife contrasts no less luminously with later Empresses

,and

is no less unjustly accused of cunning. How far shedeveloped ambit ion in later years we shal l consider later.

In the fullness of h is manhood,at least

,she was content to

be the wife of Octavian . W i th her own handsm slgflhglpgd

to spin , weave , and set i-

s

i c

eve ry

n

da'

yfi

gaI

rrfnents. S he“

a rm adw

mr‘

fm”

1563757 tefided“

the somewhatdelicate health of Octavian

,and cultivated that nice degree

of affability which kept h er husband affectionate and thehusband s of other noble dames respectful . Dio would have

THE MAKING OF AN EMPRESS 17

us believe that her most useful qual ity was her will ingnessto overlook the genial i rregularit ies Of Octavian ; but Diobetrays an excessive eagerness to detect frai lties in hisheroes and heroines . We have no serious evidence thatOctavian continued the loose ways of h is youth after h emarried Livia . The plainest and soundest reading Of thechronicle i s that they l ived happily , and retained a greataffection for each other, even when fate began to rain itsblows on their il l-starred house .

But before we reach those tragic days , we have toconsider briefly the

'

years in which Octavian establi shedhis power. His first step after h is marriage with Liviawas to destroy the p ower Of the Pompeians . Liviafol lowed the struggle anxiously from her country villa afew miles from Rome . S extus Pompe iu s was experiencedin naval warfare

,and

,as repeated messages came of blunder

and defeat on the part of Octavian’s forces,she trembled

w ith alarm . Her confidence was restored by one of theabundant miracles Of the time . An eagle one day Swoopeddown on a chicken which had just picked up a Sprig oflaurel in the farm-yard . The eagle clumsily dropped thechicken

,with the laurel

,near Livia

,and so plain an omen

could not be misinterpreted . Rumour soon had. i t thatthe eagle had laid the laurel-bearing chick gently at Livia’sfeet. As in al l such cases

,the sceptic of a later generation

was silenced with material proof. The chicken became themother of a brood which for many years spread the reputeof the village through southern I taly ; the sprig of laure lbecame a tree

,and in time furn ished the auspi cious twigs

of which the crowns Of triumphing generals were woven .

Whether it was by the wil l of Jupiter , or by the reinforcement of a hundred and fifty ships which he receivedfrom Antony

,Octavian did eventually win

,and

,to the

delight of Rome,cl eared the route by which the corn-ships

came from Africa . Only two men now remained b e twe en

Octavian and supreme power—4the two who formed withhim the Triumvirate which ruled the Republ ic . The first

,

Lepidus, was soon convicted Of maladministrat ion in h is


African province,and was transferred to the innocent

duties of the pontificate , under Octavian’

s eyes , at Rome .

Octavian added the province Of Africa to his half of theRoman world , and found himself in command of forty

-five

legions and six hundred vessel s . Fresh honours wereawarded him by the S enate , in which h is devoted friendMaecenas

,who foresaw the advantage to Rome of his

rule,was working for h im .

Then Octavian entered on his final confl ict with MarkAntony. I have already protested against the plausibleview that Octavian was pursuing a definite ambit ion underal l h is appearance Of simplicity . Circumstances conspiredfirst to give him power

,and then to give him the appear

ance of a thirst for it . He really did not destroy Antony ,however : Antony destroyed himself. The apology thathas been made for Cleopatra in recent t imes only enhancesAntony’s guilt . I t i s said that she used all that elusivefascination of her person

,of which ancient writers find

it difficult to convey an impression,al l her wealth and

her wit,only to benumb the hand that Rome stretched

out to seize her beloved land . The theory is not in theleast inconsistent with the facts

,and it i s more pleasant

to believe that the last representative Of the great freewomanhood of ancient Egypt sacrificed her person and herwealth on the al tar of patriotism than that her dal liancewith Antony was but a languorous and selfish indulgencein an hour of nat ional peril . But if it be true that Cleopatrawas the last Egyptian patriot

, Antony was al l the moreClearly a trai tor to Rome . The quarrel does not concernus . Octavian induced the S enate to make war on Egypt ;and we can well bel ieve that when

,in a herald’s garb

,he

read the declaration of war at th e door Of the temple ofBellona , the thought of h is despised sister added warmthto his phrases . The pale

,patient face and outraged virtue

of Octavia daily branded Antony afresh in the eyes ofRome .

Livia and Antonia fol lowed the swift course Of the laststruggle from Rome . They heard of the meeting of the

THE MAK ING OF AN EMPRESS 19

fleets Off Actium ,the victorious swoop of Octavian , the

fl ight of Antony and Cleopatra . What followed wouldhardly be known to Livia . I t is said that CleopatraOffered to betray Antony to Octavian

,and such an Offer

is in entire harmony with the patriotic theory of herconduct . While hi s able but il l-regulated rival , desertedby his forces

,drew near the edge Of the abyss

,Octavian

vis ited Cleopatra in her palace . Her seduct ive form wasdisplayed on a si lken couch

,and from the sl it-l ike eyes the

dangerous fire caressed the young conqueror. Cleopatraprobably rel ied on Octavian’s weakness

,but his sensuous

impulses were held in check by a harder thought . Hefelt that he must have this glorious creature to adorn histriumph at Rome . Cleopatra saw that she had failed

,and

she went sadly,with a last d igni ty

,before the throne of

Osiris . Octavian returned to Rome with the immensetreasures of Egypt

,to enjoy the triumph I have already

described and to await the purple .

The domestic l ife of Livia and Octavian lost none of itsplainness after the attainment of supreme power. S ometime after the S enate had (27 E C.) strengthened his pos itionby inventing for him the title of “Augustus —a t it le bywhich he i s generally

,but improperly, described in history

after that date 1— he removed from the small house whichhis father had left h im to a larger mansion , built by theorator Hortensius

,on the Palatine . This was burned '

down in the year 6 B .C.,and the citizens built a new

palace for Livia and Octavian,

by public subscription . At

the Emperor’s command the contribution of each waslimited to one denarz

'

us. I f we may trust the archae o

logists , it was modest in size,but Of admirable taste ,

especial ly in the marble lin ing of its interior. On one

side it looked down,over the steep slope of the h il l

,on the

colonnaded space , the Forum , in which the life of Romecentred. On the other side i t faced a group of public

Imprope rly, be cause it is not a d istinctive name , but common to the

empe rors . Livia and Octavia rece ived the title of “Augusta a few ye ars

later, ye t eve n Livia is rare ly known by it.


build ings , raised by Octavian , which impressed the cit izenswith his l iberal ity in the publ ic service . The splendidtemple Of Apollo , the publ ic l ibrary and other buildings ,

adorned with the most exquisite works of art that h isprovincial expeditions had brought to Rome

,stood in fine

contrast to hi s own pla in mansion , of which the proudestdecoration was the faded wreath over the door— th eV ictoria Cross of the Roman world— which bore witnessthat he had saved the life of a citizen .

In th is modest palace Liv i a reared her two children inthe finer traditions Of the Old Republ ic , while Octavianmade

'

th e long journeys into the provinces Which fil ledmany years after h is attainment of power. Livia was nonarrow conservative . S he took her full share in the decentd istractions Of patrician l ife , and , like many other noblewomen of the period

,she bui lt temples and other edifices

of more Obvious usefulness to the public . A provincialtown took the name Liv iada in her honour. We have manyproofs that she was consul ted on public affairs by Octavian

,

and exercised a discreet and beneficent influence on him .

One of the anecdotes collected by later writers tells thatshe one day met a group of naked men on the road . It

i s l ikely that they were innocent workers or sold iers inthe heat , and not the band of lascivious nobles whichprurient writers have made them out to be . However

,

Octavian impetuously demanded their heads when shetold him

,and Livia saved them with the remark that

,

“ inthe eyes Of a decent woman they were no more offensivethan a group of statues .

” On another occasion she d issu ade d Octavian from executing a young noble for conspi racy . At her suggestion the noble was brought to theEmperor’s private room . When

,instead Of the merited

sentence of death,Cinna received only a kindly admonit ion

,

an Offer Of Octavian’s friendship,and further promotion,

he was completely disarmed and won . We shal l see furtherproof that the wise and humane counsels Of Livia contributed not a l itt le to the peace and prospe rity

‘

which Romeenj oyed in its golden age .


THE MAK ING OF AN EMPRESS 2 1

For it was in truth an age of gold in comparison withthe previous hundred years and the centuries to come.

The flame s of civi l war had scorched the Republic timeafter time . The best soldiers of Rome were dying out ;the best leaders were perishing in an ignoble contest ofambitions . Corruption spread , l ike a cancerous growth ,

through al l ranks Of the citizens Of Rome, and far into theprovinces . The white-robed (candz

’

datz) seekers of Office inthe city now rel ied on the purchase of votes by expert andrecognized agents . Hundreds Of thousands of the citizensl ived parasit ical ly on the S tate , or on the wealthy men towhom they sold their votes , and from whom they had freefood and free entertainments . The loathsome Spectaclewas seen Of vast crowds of strong idle men , boa

'

sting oftheir dignity as citizens of Rome , pressing to the appointedsteps for their dai ly doles of corn . Large numbers Of themcould hardly earn an occasional co in to buy a cup of wine

,

a game Of dice , or a visi t to the lupanarz'

a i n the‘

S ubura .

By means of other agents the wealthy refi lled their coffersby extortion in the provinces , and paraded at Rome aluxury that was Often as puerile as i t was criminal . Rome

,

once SO sober and virile , now shone on the face of theearth l ike some parasitic flower , of deadly beauty, on theface of a forest .No man , perhaps , could have saved Rome from de struc

tion , but Octavian did much to clear its veins Of the poi son ,and its chronicle would have run very differently if h e hadnot been succeeded by a Caligula , a Claudius , and a Nero .

He chastised injustice in the provinces , purified the ad

ministration”

Of j ustice at Rome,fought against the growing

practices Of artificial steril ity and artificial vice,and genial ly

pressed on the senators h i s own ideal of sober publicservice . From his mansion on the Palatine he lookeddown without remorse on the idle chat terers in the Forum

,

from whom he had withdrawn the power, of which theysti l l boasted , Of ruling their spreading empire . Nor werethere many

,amongst those who looked up to his unpre

tentions palace on the . edge of the cl iff, who did not feel


that they had gained by the sale of their tarnished democracy . There was more than literal truth in Octavian

’

sboast that he had found Rome a city of brick , and had lefti t a city of marble .

Yet all the augurs and soothsayers of Rome fai led tosee the sw ift and terrible Issue that would come Of th isseemingly happy change. Corrupt and repel lent as democracy had become , monarchy was presently to exh ibi tspectacles which would surpass al l the horrors of its Civi lwars

,and outshame the sordid reaches Of i ts avarice . The

new race of rulers was to descend SO low as to use itsimperial power to shatter what remained Of Old Romanvirtue

,and to embel l ish vice with i ts richest awards .

From the sobriety and public spiri t Of Octavian we passquickly to the sombre melancholy of Tiberius , the wantonbrutality of Caligula , the impotent sensual ity of Claudius ,the mincing fol ly Of Nero , and the alternating gluttony andcruelty of Domitian , before we come to the second honesteffort to avert the fate of Rome . From the genial virtueof Liv1a we are led to contemplate the d issolute gaieties ofJulia , the cold ambition Of Agrippina , the robust vulgarityof Caesonia, the infectious vice of Messalina , and the insipidfrippery of Poppaea . Had there been one syllable of truthin the divine messages which augurs and Chaldaeans sawin every movement of nature , not even the beneficent ruleof Octavian would . have lured men to sacrifice even theeffigy Of power that remained to them

,and that they had

lightly sold for a measure of corn and the bloody orgies Ofthe amphitheatre.

CHAPTER I I

THE END OF THE GOLDEN AGE

N tracing the further career Of Livia we enter uponthe opening acts of the tragedy of the Caesars , andwe have to consider carefully if there be any truth

in the charge that Livia herself ini tiated the long seriesOf murders that now make a trai l of blood over the annalsOf Rome . W ith the coming of the Empire we more rarelyfind legion pitted against legion in the horrors Of c ivi lwar

,b u t we have nerveless ambition stooping to the

despicable aid of the poisoner , autocracy paralysing thebest of the nobil i ty with its murderous suspicions

,and

folly growing more fool ish with the increasing splendourof the imperial house . W e already know that the germsof th is disease were found in the quiet home Of Liviaand Octavian on the Palatine. Scribonia had receivedher letter of divorce a few days after the birth Of herdaughter Julia . As Livia bore no direct heir to theEmperor

,while Jul ia became the mother of many children

,

we have at once the promise of a dramatic struggle for thesuccession . When we further learn that th e strain ofImperial blood

,which takes its r ise in Julia

,i s thickly

tainted with disease , we are prepared for a bloody andunscrupulous confl ict . And when we reflect that on th isunstable pivot the vast Empire will turn for many generations

,we begin t o understand the larger tragedy of the

fall of Rome .

Let us first glance at the interior of the modest house

hold on the Palatine . Besides Livia and Octavian , with23


whom we are now familiar , there i s Octavia , S ister Of

the Emperor and d ivorced w ife of Mark Antony , a gentlelady with the matronly virtues of the time when a Romancould slay h is wife or daughter for irregular conduct.W i th her were her ch ildren , Marcellus and Marcella , ofwhom we shal l hear much . Then there were Livia’s twosons— the elder

,Tibe riu s ,

'

a tall , si lent , moody youth , withl ittle care to please ;

"

the younger , Drusus , a handsome ,buoyant

,fai r-headed boy , threatening the elder

's birthright .Octavian closely watched the education of th e boys . Hetaught them to write on the wax -faced tablets in the fineScript on which he prided himself, kept them beside h imat table , and drove them in h is chariot about publicbusiness .

Bu t the most interesting and fateful figure in the groupwas Julia . Octavian had removed her at an early agefrom the care Of S cribonia, and adopted her in the palace .

S he learned to spin and weave , and helped to make thegarments of the family , under the severe eyes of Liviaand Octavia. The Emperor was Charmed with the prettyand l ively girl , and would make a second Livia Of her.Knowing well , if only from his own youth , the vice andfol ly that abounded in those mansions on the hills Of Rome

,

and roared in its dimly-l ighted val leys by night,he kep t

her apart . None of the young fops who drove theirchariots madly out by the Flaminian Gate

,and sipped

their wine after supper to the prurient j okes Of mimes,

were suffered to approach her. And , not for the firs tor last time in history , the veil ing of the young eyes hadan effect quite contrary to that intended . A Roman girlbecame a woman at fourteen , a mother at fifteen . At

that early age,in the year 25 B .C. , J ul ia was married to

her cousin Marcellus , who was then seventeen . Marcelluswas so clearly a possible s uccessor to the throne thatcourtiers hung about him , and taught him the art ofprincely living . The doors Of the h idden world wereopened , and the tender eyes of Julia were dazed .

The authorities are careless in chronology, and we

THE END OF THE GOLDEN‘

AGE 25

may decline to b elieve that Julia at once entered on the

riotous ways which led her to the abyss . Her marriageconcerns us in a very different respect . All the writerswhO

‘

adopt the view that Livia was a hard and nu

scrupulous woman—a view that Tacitus must have takenfrom the memoirs of her rival’s granddaughter , the EmpressAgrippina , which were made publ ic in his t ime— considerthat th is marriage of Jul ia and Magcellu s marks thebeginn i ng of her career Of crime. S e i s supposed tohave been alarmed at the marriage of two direct descendants of Cae sar , seeing that she herself had no chi ld byOctavian . Most certainly she was ambiti ons for her elderson . The boy whom She had clasped to her breast, whenshe fled along the roads of Campania and through theburning forests of Gre e ce ,

"

was now a clever and studiousyouth

,and she wished Octavian to adopt him . Un

fortunately,Tiberius was Of a moody and solitary nature

,

and was easi ly displaced in Octavian’s affection by thehandsome and popular Marcellus and the beautiful andwitty Jul ia .

The first cloud appeared in the year 23 B .C. Octavianfell seriously il l

,and Livia’s hope of securing the succession

for her son was trouble d by two formidable competitors .

One was Marcellus,the other was Octavian’s friend and

ablest general,M . V . Agrippa . He was of poor origin

,

but of commanding abil i ty and character , and was suspectedof entertaining a design to restore the Republic . He wasmarried to Marcel la

,and had some contempt for the Spoiled

boy,her brother Marcellus- a contempt which Marcellus

repaid with petulance and rancour . Octavian recovered,

sent Agrippa on an important errand to the East , andmade Marcellus A

'

i dile of the city . Marcellus was winning,

the eager observers thought,when suddenly he fell seriously

il l and died . The death was so opportune for Tiberiusthat we cannotw onde r that a faint whisper of poison wentthrough Rome when his ashes were laid in the lofty marbletower that Octavian had built in the meadows by the Tiber .

But we need not l inger over th is first charge against Livia .


Even Dio , who i s no sceptic in regard to rumours whichdefame Empresses

,hesitates to press on us so airy and

improbable a myth . I t was a hot and pesti len tial summer ,and Marcellus seems to have contracted fever by remaining too long at his post , before going to Baiae on thecoastThe death of Marcellus , far from/ promoting the cause

of Tiberius , brought a more formidable obstacle in h isway . Octavian sent for Agrippa , and directed him todivorce Marcella and wed Jul ia . The general , who wasin his forty-second year

,thought i t immaterial wh ich of

the two young princesses shared h is bed , and Octaviaconsented to the divorce Of her daughter— as some con

jecture , to thwart Livia’s design . To the deligh t ofOctavian the union of robust manhood and amorous youngwomanhood was fruitful . During the ten years O f theirmarriage Julia gave birth to three sons and two daughters .

Happily unconscious Of the tragedies which were to closeth e careers Of these Ch i ldren in h is own lifetime , Octavianwelcomed them with great enthusiasm . During his wholereign he was engaged in a futile effort to induce or compelthe better famil ies of Rome to take a larger share in thepeopl ing Of the Empire. When he penalized cel ibacy

,

they defeated h im by contracting marriages with theintention of seeking an immediate divorce . When hemade adultery a public crime , there were noblewomen— few in number , i t i s true the facts are Often exaggerated—who enrolled themselves on the l ist Of shame

,and noble

men who took on the degrading rank of gladiators,in

order to escape the penalties . He created a guild ofhonour for the mothers of at least three children ; but thed istinction seemed to the ladies of Rome to be an in

adequate reward for so onerous an accomplishment,and

they scoffed when Livia was enrolled in the guild,though

the only ch ild she had conceived Of Octavian had neverseen the light .Far greater, however, was the amusement of Rome

when Octavian held up Julia as a model'

of materni ty ,



misdeeds,or unable to convince Octavian of them . Livia

Would hardly spare her, as Julia was inflaming Octavian’sdislike for T iberius . Refined , sensitive , and studious ,the young man avoided the boisterous amusements inwhich other young patricians spent their ample leisure ,and his cold melancholy made h im distasteful to them .

One of the Roman writers would have us believe thatJulia made love to h im du ring the life Of Agrippa

,and

that she incited Octavian against him in revenge for hisrejection of her advances . The story is improbable . W e

need only suppose that Julia,in speaking of Tiberius

,

used the d isdainful language which was common to herfriends . Neither Livia nor Tiberius seems to haveattempted to Open the Emperor’s eyes to Julia’s conduct .Octavian disliked her luxurious ways

,but was blind to

her vices , though the names Of her lovers were on thelips Of all . One day Octavian scolded her for having acrowd Of fast y oung nobles about her, a nd commendedto her the staid example of Livia . She d isarmed himwith the laughing reply that , when she was Old

,her

companions would be as Old as those Of the Empress .

One writer says that Octavian compelled her to give upa too sumptuous palace which she occupied . One i smore disposed to believe the story that

,when he remori

strated w ith her for her luxurious ways,she repl ied

‘ My father may forget that he is Caesar, but I cannotforget that I am Caesar’s daughter .

”

In spite Of their mutual aversion Octavian now orderedTiberius to marry her . He was already married toVipsania, the virtuous and affectionate daughter of Agrippa ,and this enforced separation from one whom he lovedwith an ardour that was fading from Roman marriage

,

and union with one who contrasted w i th Vipsania as thewild flaming poppy contrasts with the li ly, further souredand embittered him . We may dismiss in a very fewwords his relat ions with the woman who ought to havebeen the second Empress of Rome . After a few yearsspent , as a rule , in d istant frontier wars , he returned to

J U L IA

THE END OF THE GOLDEN AGE 29

Rome in the year 6 B.C.

, to find that h is wife had passedthe last bounds Of decency and Octavian was as bl indas ever. I n intense d isgust

,and in spite Of h is mother’s

entreaties , he begged the Emperor’s permission to spend

some,

years in literary and scientific studies at Rhodes.

Not daring to open the eyes of Octav1an to the truecharacter of his daughter , he had to bow to his angerand disdain , and seek consolation in the calm mysteriesof the planets and the fine sentiments Of Greek tragedians .

Julia now cast aside the last traces of restraint . A

half-dozen of th e young nobles of Rome are associatedwith her in the chronicles, and , gossipy and unrel iable asthe records are

,in th is Case the issue Of the story disposes

us to believe the charges . Round such a repute as herslegends were bound to grow , and the conscientious biographer must be reserved ingiving details . Dio tells us ,for instance

,that she expected her lovers to put crowns ,

for each success she permitted them , to attain,at the foot

of the statue of Marsyas— a public statue,at the feet Of

which Roman lawyers were wont to place a crown whenthey had won a case . However that may be , i t i s certainthat in the nightly d issipation of Rome , when plebeianoffenders sought the darkness of the Milvian Bridge

,or

wantoned in the taverns and brothels Of the S ubura ,J ulia’s party was one of the boldest and most conspicuous .

Not content with the riotous supper,which it was now

the fashion to prolong by lamp-l ight , in perfumed chambers

,unti l late hours of the night

,Julia and her friends

went out into the streets , and caroused in the verytribunal in the Forum— the Rostra

,a platform decorated

with the prows Of captured vessels— from which herfather made known his I mperial decisions .

1

‘ Write rs Often convey the impre ssion that Julia indulge d e ven he r

most vicious inclinations in the Rostra, but Dio me re ly speaks of “re ve l

ling and “carousing ”

: 630 1's m i 3» 7 3? tiyopfi Kai e’

rr’az

’

rroii ye r ofi Br'

wa'

r os

Kmpdfiw mirrors Kai O'

vmrivew . The emptying of a cup Of Fale rnian wine in

the Rostra, on some occasion of e spe cial d e vilry or intoxication, may be

all that is me ant.


The thunder of the Imperial anger scattered th is licent ious band some time in the second year before Christ .In the earl ier part of the year Octavian had entertainedRome with one Of the thril l ing spectacles which he Oftenprovided . TO celebrate the dedication of a new templeof Mars

,which he had built

,he had the Flaminian Circus

flooded,gave the people a mock naval battle , and had

thirteen crocodiles slain by the gladiators . Jul ia hadhoodwinked the Emperor so long that she and her friendsseem to have abandoned all restraint

,and their adventures

came to the knowledge of the Emperor.The charges against Julia must have been beyond

cavil,since Octavian

,who loved her deeply , at once

yielded her to the course of justice . A charge of conspiracy was made out against her companions . One ofthe young nobles killed himself

,and the rest were banished .

Julia was convicted Of adultery— the evil that her fatherhad fought for ten years— and from the glitter of Romeshe was roughly conducted to the barren rock-i sland ofPandate ria (Ponza), in the Gulf of Gaeta . I n that narrowand depressing jail

,with no female attendants

,no wine

and no finery,accompanied only by her unhappy mother,

the fascinating young princess Spent five years,looking

with anguish over the blue water toward the faint outl ine of the hill s of I taly, or southward toward those rosestrewn waters of Baiae , where she had dreamed away somany bri ll iant summers . Rome

,touched with pity for

the stricken woman,implored Octavian to forgive her ;

and when he swore that fire and water should meetbefore he pardoned her

,the people na

‘

i‘

vely flung burningtorches into the Tiber. Hearing

,after a few years

,that

there was a plot to release her,Octavian had her removed

to a more secure prison in Calabria. There she draggedout her miserable l ife unti l her father died

,and Tiberius

came to the throne . When he in turn refused to releaseher, she sank slowly into the peace of death .

There is no charge against Livia in connexion withthis tragic fate of Jul ia , but ano ther poss ible rival Of

THE END OF THE GOLDEN AGE 3 1

Ti berius had disappeared during these years , and therei s the usual vague accusation that the Empress ass istedthe action of nature. Drusus

,her younger son , died in

the year 9 B .C.,and Livia i s charged with sacrificing him

to her affection for her eld er son . The charge is preposterons . Drusus had

,i t i s true , been much more

popular than Ti berius at Rome. His genial and engagingmanner gave him a great advantage over the retiring andalmost sullen T iberius. But the brothers loved eachother deeply

,and when Tiberius

,who was making a tour

in the north of Gaul , heard that Drusus was dangerouslyil l in Germany

,he at once rode four hundred miles on

horseback,and held Drusus in h is arms in his last hour .

Livia was at Ticinum , in the north of I taly , with Octavianwhen the news reached them . That either Livia orTiberius— for both are accused— should have in any waypromoted the death of Drusus i s a frivolous suggestion .

The epitomist Of Livy, Tacitus , and Suetonius , describe

the death as natural . Drusus was thrown and injured bya frantic horse . The l ibel that h i s death was in somemysterious way accelerated may have been set afoot byhis partisans . I t was generally believed that he favoureda restoration Of the Republ ic

,and the corrupt Officials

who , at h is death , lost their faint hope of returning tothe days of peculat ion and bribery

,may have begun the

charge. NO evidence is Offered for it . Livia and Octavianaccompanied the remains to Rome with great sorrow .

S eneca says that the Empress was so distressed that shesummoned one of the S toic philosophers to console her.

The next Charge against Livia requires a more carefulexamination . By the beginning Of the present era , whenthe poor health of Octavian gave occasion for many specu

lations as to the succession,there were only two rivals to

the chances Of Tiberius . These were the elder sons Of Jul ia ,and Livia must have reflected gloomily on their fortune .

While Tiberius remained in r etirement at Rhodes theyoung princes were idolized by Octav ian and by the people .

Tiberius had proposed to return to Rome after the banish


ment of Julia , but Octavian peevishly told h im to remainin Greece . Every astrologer in Rome must have read inthe planets that either Caius or Lucius was born to thepurple . They were spoiled by Octavian , enriched withpremature honours

,and

,gl ittering in si lver trappings ,

appeared in the spectacles as “ Princes of the youth ofRome .

” Let those youths be removed from the scene byany accident , and SO prurient a City as Rome will be boundto discover some insidious action on the part of Livia ; andlater writers

,brooding over a chronicle in which ambition

leads freely to the most brutal murders,will be disposed to

bel ieve her guilty .

I t i s somewhat surprising to find more recent writerscaught by the fallacy. W e are not puzzled when thescandal-loving S erviez opens his chapter on Livi

'

a with aglowing enumeration Of her virtues

,adopt s nearly every

libel against her as he proceeds,and closes with a very

dark estimate of her character ; but we are entitled to

expect more discrimination in Merivale . Even Mr. Tarver ,i n h is recent “ T iberius the Tyrant ” does muchinjustice to the mother in vindicating the son . He speaksOf her as “ hard

,avaricious

,and a lover of power ,

” and ,without the least evidence—f—indeed

,against all probabi l ity

suggests that it was Livia who urged Octavian to keepT iberius in retirement at Rhodes . He makes Livia hosti leto T iberius in favour of Julia’s sons , on the ground that shewould find them more pl iant than Tiberius . Every otherwriter suggests precisely the contrary. They make hermurder Jul ia’s sons in the interest of Tiberius .

The death of the younger son,Lucius

,i s obscure . He

was sent on a mission to Spain in the year 2 and diedat Marsei l les on the way. S ince the only ground for therumour that he was poisoned is the indubitable fact that hed ied

,we need not delay in considering i t . Octavian then

sent the elder brother Caius on a mission into Syria underthe care of his Old tutor Loll ius . His counsel lor unhappilydied in the East

,and the young prince was left to the vicious

companions who regarded him as the future dispenser Of



(A.D . 9) for incest , and , l ike her mother, lacking the courageor virtue to end her shame as the nobler Romans did , sheprotracted her miserable l ife for twenty years , her hard lotonly alleviated by the charity Of Livia .

Fate had removed every possible competitor to thesuccess ion of Tiberius . He returned to Rome , and hisjudicious and sedulous activity removed the last traces Of

the Emperor’s resentment . Peace returned , after manyyears Of storm

,to the mansion on the Palatine . But

Octavian had suffered profoundly from those terrible andpersistent storms . The Rome Of his manhood was gone . All

hi s friends and counsellors had disappeared , and the futureOf his people filled h im with appre hension . The patricianstock was decaying from luxury and vice ; the ordinarycitizens Clamoured for free food and free entertainment witha blind disregard of the laws of national health . He shrankfrom the public gaze

,and leaned affectionately on Livia

and Ti berius .

In the year 14 he remained ,at Rome in the early h eat

of the summer,and became seriously il l . Livia and

Tiberius went down with h im to the coast,where he

rallied,and some pleasant days were spent on the island

of Capre ae (Capri), which he had bought . They passed tothe mainland , where Tiberius left them ,

but he was soonrecalled by a message from his mother that the Emperorwas sinking. On the last morning of his l ife Octaviandressed with unaccustomed care , and summoned his friendsto his bedside . Was Rome tranquil on receiving the newsOf his dangerous condition ? Did they approve of h isconduct and accomplishments They gave h im the assurance he desired , and were dismissed . Could they haveforeseen the line of rulers who were to stain the purplerobe with blood

,and load it with shame

,for SO many

decades to come,they would have wept . The las t moments

were for Livia . He died kissing her, and murmuring“ Be mindful of our marriage

,Livia . Farewell .” S o ended

,

peaceful ly,a union that had lasted fifty-two years in a city

where divorce Was as l ightly esteemed as marriage . There


can be little serious doubt about the character of the firstEmpress of Rome .

Livia probably concealed the death of Octavian unt i lT iberius arrived from Dalmatia . A report was given outthat Tiberius arrived in time to receive the last injunctionsof the Emperor. This may be doubted without any seriousreflection on her Character ; i f, indeed , i t was sh e , and notTiberius , who spread the report . There were grave fearswell-founded fears , as we shal l see— that a plot , in theinterest of corruption

,had been framed to prevent the

succession of Tiberius . I n the coolness of the night , so asto avoid the intense heat of August , they bore the remainswith great pomp to the capital . There , on a bed Of ivoryand purp le

,preceded by wax e ffigie s of Octavian and Of

earlier rulers of Rome,the body was carried to the temple

of Jul ius,where Tiberius read a funeral oration . The

cortege went on to the Field Of Mars,by the Tiber, through

l ines Of black-draped citizens . The pile was fired , andzealous eyes saw the soul of Octavian mount towardheaven in the outward form of an eagle .

Livia,on approved custom ,

remame d by the sacredashes for five days

,and then returned to face the new l ife

which opened for her . W it h th e especially wild suggestionthat she had accelerated the death Of her husband we mayd isdain to concern ourselves . I t was owing to her devotedcare that the ail ing and delicate Octavian had l ived to Old

age . But a second l ibel in connexion with the death ofOctavian must be briefly considered .

The apprehension , or the secret information , of thedying Emperor was correct . NO sooner was h is deathannounced than a servant of the imprisoned son of Juliahurried to the coast , and set sai l for the island of Planasia,W ith the intention Of bringing Agrippa to Rome as acandidate for the purple . He arrived only to find a bleeding corpse . The centurion in charge had dispatchedAgrippa as soon as the Emperor’s death was made knownto him .

Who gave the order for this execution ? One cannot

36 THE EMPRESSES OF‘

ROME

call i t murder , for Agrippa was unfit to be restored tosociety, and any attempt to raise h im to the throne wouldhave been disastrous to Rome . The authorit ies , as usual ,merely give us the rumours that circulated at the time

,

and leave u S to choose between Octavian , Livia , andT iberius . We can have little diffi culty in choosing. I twould be so natural for ei ther Octavian or T iberius tocrush the conspiracy by executing Agrippa that the introduction of Livia is superfluous . Most probably Octavianhad left d irections with Agrippa’s custodian . There is acurious story, in several contradictory versions , but crediblein substance , that Octavian in h is later years paid a secretvis it to Planasia, to see personally what Agrippa

’s realcondition was . Quite the most p lausible theory i s that ,after personal verification of h is madness , Octavian fel t i tbest for Rome

,and not inhuman to Agrippa , to have him

put to death as soon as th e quest ion of success ion wasopened .

We come to the last phase Of Livia’s career . Tiberiuswas now a tall , handsome man , though slightly disfigured ,with long fair hair and features strangely delicate for oneOf h is exceptional physical strength . A better sold ier thanhis predecessor , and not an inept statesman , he was wellenough fitted to wield the power which Octavian hadvirtually bequeathed to him . But a retiring disposition

,

an unhappy youth,and long years of study , had made h im

shrink from th e society Of any but scholars, and he longhesitated to ascend the throne to which the S enate invitedh im . We have not good ground to regard this reluctanceas feigned . At last he consented , and the crit ics Of Liviawould have it that her ambition now passed such boundsas had been set to i t by the abil i ty of Octavian . We mayfreely admit that she looked forward to being closelyassociated in power with the son whose career she hadfol lowed with such devotion and helpfulness . On th eother hand

,we shal l see how advantageous to the S tate

her influence Was,the evils that at once begin to darken

the l ife Of ROme When Tiberius reje cts her counsels


will plainly show this . Nor is there any evidence thatshe sought power from any other motive than the goodOf the S tate . S he might take pride in what she did ,and even exaggerate it , but such a pride is not inconsistent w ith the view that she was ever gentle , humane ,and generous .

The first search ing test of her character occurs a fewyears after the accession of Tiberius . As the news of thedeath of Octavian slowly travelled over the Empire

,there

were mutinous movements among the legions in manyprovinces . In Lower Germany

,especial ly

,the troops

considered that their commander, Germanicus , the nephewofTiberius , was entitled to th e purple , and they asked him tolead them to Rome . He was a handsome , engaging younggeneral , of imperial blood , with moderate abil i ty and muchconceit , and had won the regard Of the sold iers by visit ingthe sick and wounded , advancing their pay out Of his own ‘

purse,and other popular acts . He was married

x

x to Julia’sdaughter

, Agrippina , who lived in camp wi th him . Theydressed their li ttle son Caius in soldier’s costume

,and his

quaint appearance in miniature military boots won for h imthe pet-name Caligula (

“ Little-boots ”) by which he i s‘

known to h istory. The legionaries thought that they hadwith them a model Imperial family, and promised to wrestthe throne from Tiberius . Germanicus weakly composedthe mutiny— mainly by forging a letter in the name Of

Tiberius and then treacherously executing the leaders— andendeavoured to cover h is blunders by vigorous and ratheraimless attacks upon the Germans . T iberius recalled him toRome to enjoy a triumph ,

” and to keep him out of furthermisch ief.Merivale acknowledges that h is conquests werewholly visionary ,

” but Germanicus had inherited theCharm and popularity of h is father

,Drusus

,and Rome was

easily won for h im . People streamed out from the gates tomeet h im , and gazed with awe on his gigantic blue-eyedcaptives and on the large highly-coloured paintings of hisvictories in Germany . I t was a new source Of concern for

38 T HE EMPRESSES OF ROME

Livia and Tiberius , and , to the satisfaction of Livia’s critics ,

the danger ended l ike all the others .

Germanicus and Agrippina were sent on a mission tothe East . Tiberius seems to have had some disdain for h isspoiled and conceited nephew , and he was well aware ofthe interested aims Of those who affected to see in h im arestorer of the Old republican l iberty. He chose an Olderstatesman , Cn . Calpurnius Piso , to gO out as Governorof Syria , to watch and prudently direct the movements ofGermanicus . W ith Pi so was his wife Plancina , an intimatefriend Of Livia . From these Tiberius and Livia shortlyheard exasperating accounts of the progress Of Germanicusand Agrippina . P i so found , on cal ling at Athens , thatGermanicus had been flattering the Greeks for theirancient culture

,instead of pressing the dominion of Rome .

He made free comments on the young general’s conduct ,pushed past his galleys

,as they dal l ied in Greek waters

,

and was hard at work in Syria when Germanicus arrived .

The wives conducted the quarrel with more asperity thantheir husbands.Rome had now its party of Germanicus and party of

Tiberius , and the news from the East was heatedly discussed . Germanicus has gone to Egypt , without askingthe Emperor’s permission

,and is patroniz ing the Greek

and Egyptian cults , which Tiberius represses , and goingabout in Greek instead Of Roman dress . P i so has had aviolent quarrel with Germanicus

,and left Syria . And

before they have time to discuss this important intel l igencethere comes a report that Germanicus is dangerously i l l ;that bones of dead men , half-burnt fragments of sacrificialvict ims , leaden tablets with the name of Germanicusscrawled on them , and other deadly charms , have beenfound under the floors and between the walls Of his house .

At length the news comes that Germanicus i s dead , andthat with his las t breath he has urged his friends to avengeh im . Rome goes into mourning . All the shops are closed ,and crowds gather everywhere to discuss this fresh tragedyof the Imperial house . I n them iddle of the night a rumour


spreads that Germanicus is not dead , and people fil l thestreets with the glare of their torches , and break into thetemples . But the fatal news is confirmed

,and , when at

last Agrippina comes with the golden urn containing hisashes

,such mourning is seen as no living man can

remember .People observed that neither Livia nor T iberius ap

peared at the funeral . Livia had no reason to be present ,and Tiberius knew that the demonstrat ion was due largelyto a spiri t Of hostil ity to himself. For the rest , i t was merelythe feel ing of a frivolous people for a handsome and un

fortunate youth . But Livia incurred more serious censureduring the trial of Pi so which followed . The ex-governorOf Syria defended himself resolutely for a day or two , andthen , hearing that h is w ife had deserted him ,

committedsuicide . The anger of the citizens now turned on the wife ,Plancina. The Empress , with whom she had been in closecommunication throughout

,begged Tiberius to save her,

and he reluctantly checked the prosecution . Livia was ,of course , accused of shel tering a murderess . I t must berecollected that the accounts of the story are taken in partfromth e memoirs Of Agrippina's daughter , and are colouredwith prejudice against Tiberius and his mother. One cannot see anything more serious than indiscretion in Livia’sconduct . Her conviction of the innocence of Plancina i sintell igib le enough

,and one can equally understand how

she would distrust a trial held at Rome in the inflamedstate of public feel ing. There i s no serious reason to sus

pect, in the death of Germanicus , the action of any Otherpoison than the tainted atmosphere of the East .But the interference of Livia annoyed Tiberius , and the

ten years that follow are ful l of differences between motherand son . The Emperor’s resentment of his mother

’s sharein publ ic affairs had begun with his reign . Livia hadproposed to erect a statue to the memory of Octavian .

Tiberius interfered,and referred her to the S enate for

permission . She then proposed to give a commemoratorybanquet to the S enators and their wives . Tiberius re


stricted her to the wives , and entertained the S enatorshimself. He reduced her escort , frowned on the publ ichonours that were paid to her, and resented her interference in publ ic affairs . On one occasion her friendUrgu lania was summoned for debt , and , presuming on herintimacy with the Empress , treated the process with contempt . Livia asked Tiberius to quash the proceedings

,and

he deliberately l ingered so much on his way to the Forumthat the case was al lowed to proceed .

These are a few of the stories which il lustrate th e wantOf harmony between them . For thi s Livia was largelyto blame. I t was not unnatural that she , who had beenso often and so profi tably consulted by Octavian

,should

expect a larger power under the young Emperor,but she

fai led to take discreet account of the extreme sensit ivenessof T iberius . I f a story given in S uetonius is correct , sheso far lost her discret ion in one of their quarrels as toproduce old letters in which Octavian had made bitterreflections on the defects of Tiberius . The fault was notwholly on her side

,however. Tiberius was j ealous when

he contrasted the honour and respect paid to her with thegeneral feel ing of reserve and distrust toward h imself

,and

he pleaded the old-fashioned idea Of woman ’s sphere as apretext to restrain her. He grumbled when he one dayfound her directing the extinct ion of a fire , as she had ,

donemore than once in Octavian’s t ime

,and he was seriously

angry when he found that She had placed her name beforeh is on a public inscript ion .

But we may leave these lesser matters and come to thenext tragedy in the Imperial chronicle

,the shadow Of

which darkened Livia’s closing years . S he had retiredfrom the palace to the house which she had inherited fromher first husband , Tiberius Nero . Here she remained asaddened and helpless spectator of the coming di saster.Tiberius , whom She saw only once more before she died

,

had become a peevish and gloomy Old man . His tall spareframe was bent , his head bald , his face , which had alwaysbeen disfigured with pimples , now hideous with eczema

,



S currilous l ibel s on “ the ungrateful son were currentin Rome . These are sometimes attributed to writers inthe service of Livia

,but i t would be a natural part of

the scheme of S ejanus to spread them . On one occasiona noble lady

,Appule ia Varilia , was charged by the S enate

with accusing T iberius and Livia of incest. T iberiusconsulted his mother

,and declared to the S enate that

they wished to treat the l ibel with contemptuousindifference .

To S ejanus also we'

must, on the authority Of Tacitus ,attribute a plo t against Agrippina

,which other writers

assign to Tiberius or to Livia . At a banquet in the palacei t was noticed that Agrippina

,pale and sullen

,passed

all th e dishes untouched . Tiberius at length invited herto eat a fine apple which he chose . Under the eyes ofal l She handed it to a servant to throw away

,and Tiberius

not unnatural ly complained of her unjust suspicions .

Taci tus , who gives the most credible version of the story ,says that the agents of S ejanus had warned her that shewas to be poisoned at the banquet

,so that sh e would

act in a way that the Emperor would resent.T iberius

,weary of the violent passions of the capital

,

now lived chiefly in Campania . I t i s not improbable thath is disfigurement made him sensitive . Rome would notspare the feelings of SO unpopular a ruler. I t i s not atall clear that he shrank from his Imperial duties—Suetoniusexpressly says that he thought i t possible to rule betterfrom the provinces— or that he wished to indulge in thewild debauches which some attribute to h im . ProbablyS ejanus , to secure more power for himself, persuaded himthat he could best discharge h is duties from a provincialseat

At this juncture , in the year 29, saddened by theestrangement from her son

,by h is helpless surrender to

an unscrupulous adventurer,and by the increasing de

generation of Rome,Liv ia d ied . She had , by sober

l iving adds,by the constant chewing of a sweetmeat

containing a certain medicinal root , and by the use of

THE END OF THE - GOLDEN AGE 43

Pucinian wine—attained the great age of eighty-s ix . She

had seen her husband dispe l the long horrors of Civi lwar , refresh the Empire , and adorn Rome ; and she hadfelt the gloom and chil l Of a coming tragedy in her lateryears . Few of the Empresses have been so differentlyestimated as Livia. Merivale regards her as a memorableexample of successful artifice

,having obtained in succession ,

by craft i f not by crime,every object she could desire

in the career Of female ambition .

” He adds : “ But shehad long survived every genuine attachment she may atany time have inspired , nor has a single voice been raisedby posterity to supply the want of honest eulogium inh er own day .

” 1

The more concentrated research of the biographer hasOften to reverse the verdict of the historian

,and in this

case it must acquit Livia of either craft or vice . I t is as ingular error to say that Livia had no “ honest eulogiumin her own day . The Roman S enate is exposed to thedisdain of historians for its obsequiousness to the reigningEmperor

,yet, at the death of Livia , i t sought to honour

her memory in spite of the resentment Of Tiberius . The

Emperor had refused to go to Rome,either to see her

before death or to attend her fune ral . He gave to Romean example of si lent indifference . Yet h e had to use / hisauthority to prevent the S enate from decreeing divinehonours to Livia

,build ing an arch to her memory, and

declaring her “ mother of her country .

” Dio remarksthat the S enators were moved to do these th ings out ofS incere grati tude and respect . Few of the less wealthymembers of the S enate had not profited by her generos ity.

Their ch ildren had been educated,and their daughters

had received dowries , from her purse . Her generosity isrecognized by al l the authorities . Her humani ty is madeplain by the contents of th is chapter.The adverse estimate of Livia’s character is ch iefly

based on the Annals ”Of Tac itus , and it has long been

recognized that Tacitus drew his account largely fromVol. V, p . 353.


the memoirs of the younger Agrippina,daughter of the

woman who hated Livia. Ye t Tacitus adds , when hehas recorded the death of Livia : “ From this momentthe government of Tiberius became a sheer Oppressivedespotism . W hi le Augusta l ived one avenue of escaperemained open , for the Emperor was habitually deferenttoward his mother, and S ejanus dared not thwart herparental authority ; but when this curb was removed

,

there was nothing to check their further career.

” 1

W e have seen that Livia had used the same restraininginfluence on the impetuosity of Octavian . W ith her diedthe attribute

,or the wise policy, Of Imperial clemency , only

to be revived by Emperors who adopted that S toic creedin which she found consolation after the death of her son .

That she was “ hard ” and unscrupulous ” i s entirely atvariance with th e most authenticated facts of her career.

To say that she was avaricious ” i s a sheer absurdi ty .

She maintained her sober personal habits to the end , andtook money only to bestow i t on the indigent and worthy

,

or expend i t in raising publ ic buildings . We may grantthat she had some ambition , but may claim that i t was wel lfor Rome that she had it . She fel l in to many errors ofjudgment in her later years , when Roman life was Confusedby such strong undercurrents Of intrigue ; but these veryerrors tend to discredit the notion that she employed aconsummate art and strong intelligence in the furtheringof her own interests . I n a word

,i t i s the vices and foll ies

of later Empresses that have disposed h istorians to regardher sobér virtues as a mere mask ;

1 “Annals, v. 3 .

THE END OE THE GOLDEN AGE 45

NOTE

For the guidance of the gene ral reade r it is advisable to add a few

words on the Latin authoritie s , who u we now constantly quote . Tacitus ,

the chie f source of our knowledge down to the ye ar 70 A.D. , is not only

we ake ned as an historian by the ve ry stre ngth of his morality, bu t he has too

lightly followed the memo irs in which the later Agrippina de fame d the rival

Impe '

rial family. S ue tonius, who take s us as far as Domitian, is no le ss

honest, but he has too genial and indulgent a love of ane cdote s to discard

any on the me re ground that they are untr'

ue or improbable . Dio Cassius,

who cove rs the first two centurie s, is usually de scribe d as malignant ; butone may que stion if he doe s more than indulge still furthe r the same amiable

pre fe rence of piquancy to truth. The H istoria Augusta,” which is our chie f

authority for the gre ate r part of the Empre sse s and the richest source of

scandal, has be e n much and profitably discussed since Gibbon placed such

re liance on it. It is now thought by some e xpe rts that the Orig inal write rsof this series of biographical ske tche s of the Roman Empe rors lived at the

be ginning of the third ce ntury, and had a comparative ly sobe r standard of

work. Toward the close of the third , or beg inning of the fourth, century

the work was written afre sh by the group of le ss scrupulous writers whosename s, or pse udonyms, actually stand at the he ad of its chapte rs. But a

still late r write r once more recast the work, and lowe red its authority. He

wrote frankly from the point of view of the piquant ane cdotist, omittingmuch that would inte re st only the prosy student of exact facts

,and filling up

the vacant space with such faint le gends of Impe rial vice or folly as still, in

his time , linge red without the pale of history, or arose in the fie ld of romance .

The question is fully d iscussed by Otto Schultz ,“ Leben de s Kaise rs

Hadrian and Profe ssor Kornemann, Kaise r Hadrian”

CHAPTER I I I

THE W IVES OF CALIGULA

“ HE remainder of the reign of Tiberius does notproperly concern us

,but a very brief account Of

i t will serve at once to confirm our estimate of theinfluence of Livia

,and to prepare us for th e almost ln

credibly degraded S cenes that were witnessed under h issuccessor . We saw that two persons were intriguing forthe purplemantle which must soon fal l from the shouldersOf the aged and unhealthy Emperor. One was a womanof great abil ity and mascul ine courage , who sought th esuccession for one of her sons . The other wa s a strongsoldier and an astute minister

,a man of the most un

scrupulous and hypocritical character . The change in“

the form Of government had already betrayed its evil . The

fate Of the vast Empire seemed but a ball tossed fromplayer to player. But the issue was even worse than themost sober Observer ant i c i pated . Before T iberius diedboth the strong man and the strong woman were to b edestroyed , and the Imperial power was to pass to onewho was grossly unfit to exercise it .Less than a year after the ashes of Livia had been laid

’

in the marble tower by the Tiber,the S enate rece i ved a

letter from the court impeaching Agrippina and her twoelder sons . Accord ing to Tacitus , i t was

“ commonlybelieved ” that this le tter

,

had been written some timebefore

,and had been withheld through the influence of

Livia . The only reasonable interpretation that we canput on this rumour is that people were so convinced of

46

AGR IPPINA THE ELDER



a few hours he was impeached,condemned , and put to

death . All who had gathered about him in the hope ofhi s coming power were scattered or destroyed by the{tap

tic

anger of Tiberius . Livilla was urged by her mot er tobury her shame in the grave . She refused , and wasbanished . We shal l meet her a ain in the chronicle o fvice and violence .

A/O'

! 5 4‘ M b h e ft

After th is terribl e ordeal Tiberius withdrew to Capreae ,where he had bui lt a palace . Wandering , some years ago ,among the ruins of what is bel ieved to have been thepalace of Tiberius , I found that the echoes still l ingeredthere of the dark stories which men told in Rome of his lateryears .

‘ Men said that he had shut himself in that sea-girtpalace only to indulge , unseen , in the grossest perversionsof a sensual nature , and that a new profession of ministersto lust , of which a description may be found in Tacitus ,had grown out of h is weariness even of unnatural vice .

One does not readily admit such orgies in a man betweenhis seventy-second and seventy-eighth year

,and it seems

to me that one may offer an explanation of the myth , whichwill also serve t o introduce the third Emperor of Romeand h is wives.

S uetonius describes Tiberius as surrounded by learnedmen and absorbed in Obscure problems of astrology ,mythology

,and letters . The most resolute adherent of

the more romantic story must have some difficulty inreconci ling this band of prosy pedants with the sensualorgies which popular rumour located in the lonely palace .

When , however, we learn that two young princes Of theleast intellectual and most immoral character formed partof the household

,we see that there may have been two

entirely distinct lives sheltered by the palace at Caprea .

I f we suppose that these young'

men and their sycophanticattendants freely indulged in the vices which were thencommon to Roman youths , while their elders were intenton the glorious planets of a Neapolitan sky , we have asatisfactory explanation of the legend . The horror Of

Rome at the Emperor’

s bloody avenging of the murder

THE WIVES OF CALIGULA 49

of h is son would not dispose people to d iscriminateconscientiously.

One of these princes was Herod Agrippa , son of th eKing of Judaea , whom O ctavian had brought to Rome forsecurity. The other

,a year younger

,was Cal igula

,

” asthe sold iers had nicknamed the surviving son ofAgrippinaand Germanicus . Caius Caesar—to give him his real namewas in his nineteenth year when h is mother was banished .

Tiberius a few‘

ye ars later took h im to Caprese , where hewould prove an apt pupi l to He rod in Oriental ways . The

vein of moral perversity , if not insanity , which we tracein all the descendants Of Jul ia , i s most clearly exhibited inCaligula , and the tragedy of th e Caesars deepens when ,in the year 37 , Tiberius d ies , and Caligula is called to thethrone}He had been married in 33 to Junia Claudilla, daughter

of Junius S i lanus , a proconsul of eminent services anddistinguished family. She was happily spared the fate Of

sharing the throne with Caligula by dying in ch ildbirth .

What her life in Capreae must“

have been is not Obscurelysuggested by her early death . No prospect in Europe ismore pleasant than that which unfolds its superb and farlying beauty to the spectator on the green summits ofCapri , from which the eye may wander over the broadblue bay , with its si lver fringe Of surf

,or round the

crescent Of evergreen land that begins with S orrento , andsweeps majestically , past the foot Of Vesuvius

,to the ‘

distant haze in"

which Baiae once l ived . Yet to a refinedand sensitive young woman this splendid palace musthave been a death ly jail . Repel led al ike by the purblindscholars and the l icentious princes , the heavy monotonyof learning and vice unre l ieved by visits to Rome , shesank under her burden in three years—j ust missing byone year the title of second Empress of Rome . Her father ,a grave and il lustrious S enator, endeavoured to checkCaligula’s extravagance in the first year of his reign . The

1 An apology should be made for re taining the nickname Of the third

Emperor, but it se ems to be ineradicably fix ed in history.


brutal Emperor bade him “ take his greeting to the spiri tof the dead .

” W i th a last sad glance at the future of h iscountry , Junius S i lanus obeyed .

W e are credibly told that Caligula then made love toEnnia , wife Of the Prefect of the Guard . S ejanus hadpersuaded T iberius to form a corps of Praetorian Guards ,an Imperial body-guard which was destined to have adisastrous influence on the future of Rome. The actualprefect or commander of this regiment

,Macro

,was the

most powerful person in the suite of T iberius . W ith orwithout h is connivance

,h is wife yielded to Cal igula , on

the conditi on that he should marry her when he becameEmperor. Macro and Ennia accompanied Caligula whenhe bore the will and the ashes Of Tiberius to Rome . A

gloom had settled over I taly during the later years ofT iberius’s reign

,and men hailed the young Caligula as

the sun and the blue sky are hailed after days of darktempest at sea. S tanding by theirflower-girt altars ,Coming out with torches at n ight , people greeted h imwith frantic ep ithets of affection . He was their “ star ,

”

their “ ch icken,

” their “ dear ch ild,as he had been to

the sold iers in Germany years before . Not that he wasa handsome youth . His frame was thin and lanky , andh is movements awkward . He was prematurely bald , andhis sunken eyes looked out with a scowl from his pallidface . But he was the son Of Germanicus , the grandsonof Julia . All the foll ies which th e family had perpetratedwere forgotten .

For a month or two he fulfi l led the hope of his people .

The reign of terror was ended at once . He recalled hisS isters from exile

,and brought to Rome

,with great

respect , the ashes of his mother and brothers . The circusand the amphitheatre rang once more with the cheersof the populace . The golden age Of Octavian had beenrestored , men said . But the emascu lated system and feeblemind of Caligula were unequal to the nervous strain .

Early in his reign Ennia reminded him of his writtenpromise to marry her

,and Macro had an air Of patronage

THE W IVES OF CALIGULA 5 1

in advising him . I n a sudden blaze of ferocity he orderedEnnia and her chi ldren to be executed , and graciouslypermitted Macro to end his own life . He had found awife— his sister Drusilla .

His incestuous relat ion with Drusilla was soon thetopic of Rome. I t had probably begun before she wasbanished and when he recalled her to his palace , a youngand beautiful girl of about twenty summers , he conceiveda violent passion for her

,divorced her from her husband ,

and announced that he intended to marry her. The

Emperor was above all laws,he said . Rome laughed the

laughter Of fools . He was providing it with stupendousentertainment . The games of the circus ran for twelvehours

,day after day

,and the night was turned into fresh

day with i lluminations,banquets

,and such pleasu res as

they could get with the money he freely distributed . I nthe midst of i t al l h e fell i l l ; not improbably he waspaying with epilepsy the price of his wild excesses . Therewas such sorrow in Rome as had rarely been fel t at thei llness of its greatest citizens . Men vowed their l ives forthe life of the beloved Emperor ; and Caligula , w hen herecovered , saw that they kept their vows . He was il l formany weeks , and , when his strength returned , he had lostthe l ittle sanity and sobriety -that nature had ever put inh is il l-compacted frame. The rest of hi s reign was anightmare.

Drusil la died during his i l lness,or soon after h is

recovery. S ome writers suggest that her malady was afeel ing Of deep shame

,but the description which Dio gives

of her does not support th is view,nor does the single

virtue of remorse seem to be known among the descendantsof Julia . The grief of Caligula was no less insane thanhis passion had been . No il lustrious Roman was everhonoured with such pomp of funeral as th is woman

,

whose incestuous life he cried over the world . A S enatorsaw her soul mount to heaven from the burning pil e

,

and was rewarded with a mill ion sesterces . The degradedS enate declared her a goddess

,and it was decreed that


henceforward women should swear by the'

divinity ofDrusilla. Earth and heaven resounded with his dementedmoans ; and even before Drusil la was put among the godshe had married again .

Livia Orestil la , the second Empress of Rome , i s oneof those ladies who are known to us only in the famil iarphrase , that sh e was a young woman of great beautyand i llustrious family. I n her case we need no amplerportrait

,as she was Empress only for a few days . Before

the end of the first year of h is reign and in themidst of his lamentation over Drusi lla

,Caligula was

invited to the wedding of Calpurnius P i so , a noble ofrank and wealth . Caligula fancied th e bride , and at oncemade her hi s Empress . W ith equal license he divorcedher a few days afterwards

,and she learned what i t was

t o fall from the height Of a throne. He forbade her tohave any commerce with the husband Of whom he hadrobbed her

,and then

,alleging that h i s order had been

disregarded,ban ished both of them to remote and distinct

parts Of the Empire.

The next lady on whom his unbridled imagination restedwas Lollia Paul ina . Caligula was probably more attractedby her wealth than by the remarkable beauty, the h ighcharacter, and the dist inguished ancestry which thechronicl es ascribe to her . The rich spoils of conqueredprovinces had accumulated in her family, and her husband ,th e Governor of Macedonia and Achaia , was industriouslyadding to their wealth . People told at Rome that she oncewent to a marriage-supper in pearl s and emeralds thatwere valued at fifty mill ion sesterces . Her high virtueseems

'

to have been consistent with a d isplay that madeher a topic of table-talk

,and that brought upon her a

lamentable fate . Caligula,piqued by the stories Of her

wealth and beauty,ordered her husband to bring her to

Rome,and she was soon afterwards established in h is

palace as the third Empress of Rome . W ithin a yearCaligula divorced her on the ground that she gave nopromise of perpetuating his l ine .

THE WIVES OF CALIGULA 53

I t is Often said that Caligula had only married her for thepurpose of seiz ing her fortune

,as h is prodigal expenditure

was rapidly emptying the treasury . This seems to be anerror

,as we shal l find her in the next chapter incurring

a miserable fate on account of her immense wealth . The

truth was that Caligula had in the meantime discovered alady whose temper wholly suited h is own , and of whoseferti l ity he was actually assured .

I n the spring or early summer Of the year 39 we findhim perpetrating one of his stupendous acts of folly atBaiae . He was accustomed , in the warmer weather , tocruise about th e coast of Campania with his wife and suite .

He had two great Liburnian galleys buil t , each with tenbanks of Oars , their prows blaz ing with gold and jewels ,their decks adorned with vines , colonnades , and diversfreaks of irresponsible wealth . AS they cruised by thebay

,some one reminded h im of an old proverb which

spoke of riding from Baiae to Puteol i , across an arm Of thebay

,as one of the most certain impossibi l i ties . At once

he ordered a bridge to be built across the water andelaborately decorated . I n what was supposed to be the

armour of Alexander the Great , over which was thrown amantle of purple S ilk , the conqueror of impossibil i ties rode

from Baiae to Puteol i . On the fol lowing day he drove h ischariot across ; and far into the night , the h il ls aroundbeing l i t up with immense fires , he carried the debauchwhich celebrated his glorious feat . I n their intoxicationnumbers reeled from the bridge into th e scented waters .

Eager for fresh victories , he transferred his del iriouscourt to Gaul , and declared that he was proceeding againstthe fierce Germans . The tribes were not in revolt

,and the

who le expeditionwas a Comedy ; some of the Roman writerssay that a few tame capt ives were conveyed across theriver and hunted , SO that the Emperor might truthfullyinform the S enate that he had gained a victory and meriteda triumph . S uetonius even adds that , when he dideventual ly return to Rome and celebrate h is triumph

,a

few slaves “were forced to learn a little German and dye


their hair, to pose as conquered tribe sm en before h ischariot . I n the meantime

,events which concern us more

closely were happening at Lyons .

The extravagance Of Caligula was rapidly emptying thetreasury. In twelve months he spent million sesterces .

His baths were of the most precious ointment s hi sbanquets were especial ly designed to waste money— onealone cost in modern coinage— and , when the flowwas not fast enough , he drank pearls dissolved in vinegar,and had gold fash ioned in the shape of food and served tohis guests . He disdainfully swept the palaces of Octavianand T iberius , with other mansions , from the Palat ine

,and

erected a palace of extraordinary proportions and barbaricsplendour. S uch habits drew about him a crowd ofignoble parasites , and one can wel l bel ieve that he hadd iscovered a conspiracy against h im at Lyons . He hadprostituted the honour of Rome in a manner so ch ildishand base that few could be unmoved . Observing thewealth Of the Gauls— for Lugdunum (LyOns) was then thecentre of a prosperous and cultivated region —he began tosell to them the possessions of the Imperial house. Hewas present at the auction , and the proceeds were sosatisfactory that he sent to Rome for wagon-loads offurniture , heirlooms , and curios from the Imperial palaces

,

and , as they were Offered for sale, pointed out himself thehistorical value of each Object .I n his suite was th e first husband of his sister Drusilla .

This distinguished noble , Lepidus , may have exchangedviews on the insanity of the Emperor with the disgustedGauls .

f

At al l events , Caligula sent word to the S enatethat he had discovered a plot against hi s l ife , and addedthat h is sisters

, Liv illa and Agrippina , had been convictedof adultery with Lepidus . He put Lepidus to death

,and

compelled Agrippina, a proud and spirited young princess,to carry on foot -to Rome the urn containing the ashes ofher alleged lover . W e shal l see how , on his return toRome

,Caligula made atonement to vice for th is drastic

punishment of adultery. In fact , he already had a mistress



palace , and known only by uncertain rumour. Hedeveloped a passion for driving chariots

,and frequented

th e company of grooms and gladiators . Rome geniallyapplauded

, S ince i t imp l ied more and longer shows inthe circus and amphitheatre . The struggles Of thed ifferent factions in th e races—of whom Caligul a supported the Greens- more than ever enl ivened the dul ldays of an idle populace . Caligula forced nobles toexercise the base and dangerous profession Of the gladiator ,and to drive chariots before the mob in the circus .

But the amusement Of Rome reached i ts height whenCaligula , in the year 39, discovered his divinity . O therEmperors were content to leave it to the flattery of theirpeople to detect a d ivinity in them after their very humancareers were over. I am turning into a god ,

” said one -r—O f

them ironically , as he died . Caligula bel ieved that h isSplendour was already divine . V i tellius , a contemptiblecourtier, father of the later Emperor , shrewdly borrowedthe idea from Oriental monarchs

,and suggested i t to

Caligula . Then were witnessed scenes in Rome whicheven the wildest extravagances of Nero cannot rival . I tscitizens had , at the peri l of their lives , to restrain theirlaugh ter, and bend in respectful worship , when the sl im ,

ungrace ful youth—he was yet only in his twenty-seventhyear—with the weariness of dissipation on his pale face

,

trod the ir stre e ts in the garments Of Jove,with a beard of

gold thread , or marched past them with th e bow andquiver and golden halo of Apollo , or dressed to th e morecongenial part of Venus . A mach ine was made by whichhe could , in a pueri le way , imitate the thunder of the rivalgod ; and he ordered the heads to be struck Off the statuesof the Greek deities and replaced by copies of his own .

A deity must have a cult . Cal igula appointed himselfand his horse , for which he provided a marble palaceand an ivory manger , the high priests of his cult . Caesoniawas associated in the priesthood

,and the position of

ordinary,priest of the cult was sold to various nobles

at the price Of eight mill ion sesterces each . Poor men

THE W IVES OF CALIGULA 57

were forced to ruin themselves and put an end to theirl ives ; wealthier men meekly posed as the ministers ofa divinity who gorged himself with food and wine ateach meal , and resorted to th e vomit that he might returnto the table.

How long nature would have suffere d this madnessto debase the fal len city one cannot tel l , but the exhaustionof the treasury now led Cal igula to do things which rouseda few Romans from their lethargy. He repeated in Romethe auctions he had held at Lyons

,and many stories are

told of his brutal i rresponsibi lity . The truth Of thesestories is always doubtful , but one may be quoted asan il lustration of the popular feel ing. I t i s said that aS enator fell asleep during one of the sales . Caligulamalignantly called the auctioneer’s attention to the factthat the sleeping man was nodding at every bid

,and the

S enator awoke to find that he had bought thirteengladiators and other property at fabulous prices. Caligulaeven stood at h is palace door to receive gifts , pleadingthat the addition to his family had impoverished him .

He then discovered a new source of funds in the

execution of the wealth ier nobles . Brutal and sanguinaryfrom the first

,his growing madness and h is delight in

gladiatorial Shows fostered his cruelty. He had an actorburned

‘

alive in the Forum for venturing even to hint,

in an ambiguous phrase , that the Imperial behaviour wasreprehensible. Others he had tortured and executed inhis presence , in order that he migh t enjoy the sensationof seeing them suffer. But it was mainly in quest ofmoney to maintain his terrible expenditure that he stoopedto the lowest excesses . No man of wealth in Rome wassafe. Informers were eager for the fourth part of a vict im’sproperty

,to which they were entitled after a successful

impeachment ; Caligula hungered for the remaining threefourths . Every ten days h e would “ clear his accounts ,

”

as he put i t , or doom to death any wealthy S enators whomhe had

, Chosen to put on his l ist of suspects . He wouldreturn from the court boasting to Cae sonia of the heavy

.


work he had done while she slept . A great terror broodedover the city

,and men talked of the Emperor in whispers .

Omens and signs multiplied . The statue of J upiterO lympus had been brought to Rome , and one day theworkmen rushed in alarm from the temple in which i twas placed , crying that the marble » god had burst intoa fit of laughter.On January 24th , in the year 4 1 , th is appal ling gloom

came to an end , and the th ird Emperor and fourth Empressof Rome were justly removed . The long hesitat ion of theRomans must not too read ily be ascribed to coward ice.

The Praetorian Guards were now encamped at the edge O fth e city

,and were richly paid for personal loyalty to the

Emperor so that there was very faint hope of a successfulris ing of the citizens .

!For the greater part these formidablesoldiers were mercenaries , caring nothing for the honour ofRome , fai thful as dogs

“

to the l iberal master. I t was notunti l an offi cer of th is regiment headed a conspiracy thatany action could be taken with a prospect of success . Thisofficer was a favourite of Caligula , but the Imperial friendship was expressed in such coarse and stinging epithetsthat he was driven to rebel . He and his associates determined to assassinate Caligula when he attended the Palatinegames in the later part of January. A largeWooden theatrehad be en erected for the occasion , and Caligula pres idedwith delight at the ’

repulsive Spectacles . S uch was thepopular enthusiasm that the conspirators surroundedCaligula day after day without daring to touch him . HisGerman guard

,insensible to the grievances of * the Romans

,

would at once and bl indly oppose a ri s ing , and the pe opleseemed to have forgotten his tyranny in the blood-reeking

Show he had provided for them .A

They came to the fifth and final day of the games .

Cal igula was unwell , and wished to remain in the palace ,but he was persuaded to make an effort to attend the finalperformance . Before a vast audience the actors representedthe crUcifix ion of a band of robbers , and the stage waswashed with blood . The ch ief actor of the time had a trick

THE W IVES OE CALIGULA 59

of pouring blood from his mouth , and the other actorsclumsily imitated h im . When i t was over, Caligula , elatedwith the wild applause of the citizens , entered the narrowpassage which led from the theatre to h is house on thePalatine . The conspirators seized their last chance , andfel l upon the Emperor with their swords . W i thin a fewhours Rome so far changed that i t was the turn of thepartisans of Caligula to tremble . His body was removedand stealth i ly buried by Herod Agrippa .

Cae sonia seems to have remained in , or preceded Caligulato , the palace , with her little daughter . There the cries Of

the guard and the noisy confusion in the palace would soonannounce the disaster to her. She had no time to escape ,or devise any policy. A centurion rushed to her roomand stabbed her to death . Her infant was roughly seizedby a soldier

,and its brain was shattered on the walls of the

palace,where the brief infamies of its father and mother

had degraded the civi lization of Rome .

CHAPTER IV

VALERIA MESSALINA

HE fall of Caesonia was hardly less romantic thanthe succession to her position of the woman who isknown to every reader of Roman history ,

*

and tomany others , as Messalina. When Caligula entered th enarrow passage lead ing to the Palatine

,after the perform

ance in the theatre , a few members of h is suite walkedbefore him . One of these was h is uncle Claudius , a slowwitted and despised man , in his fiftieth year, whom Caligulahad rescued from humil iation and put in office . He hadalready entered the palace when the raucous cries of theGerman guard and the flash of weapons informed h im ofthe assassination of the Emperor. The guards Were cuttingdown such

'

of the conspirators as they could reach . I ninstinctive terror Claudius hid behind a curtain , nor

‘

was hereassured

’

when he saw the soldiers pass with the headsOf the nobles they had slain . Presently a soldier of thePrae torian Guard noticed his feet below the curtain , anddrew him out . Claudius fel l to the ground in terror, andimplored them to spare h is life . The soldiers had recogniz ed him ,

however. They put h im in a litter, and carriedh im on their shoulders to the camp. Citizens whom theypassed in the street pitied the harmless and , as was generallybel ieved

,half-witted prince . At last some one learned , or

divined,the purpose of the guards , and Claudius awoke

from hi s terror to hear the strange cry of “ S alve , Im

perator ,” and realized that he was to be made Emperor

of Rome .

VALERIA MESSALINA 6 1

He had been married three years before to ValeriaMessalina , who thus became the fifth Empress . As theyoungest son of Drusus

,brother of T ibe rius , and Antonia ,

daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia , he was the naturalheir to Caligula . The Imperial power was in no sensehered itary

,but the attachment Of the Praetorian Guards to

the ruling family,and their irresistible dominat ion over

Rome,for some time ensured a kind of hereditary

success ion . There had,however

,been no deliberate

proposal to put Claudius on the throne . While thefuture of the Empire was being determined by the roughmercenaries in the Prae torian camp

,where Claudius

promised a substantial largess for his elevation , the

S enate was actually d iscussing the question of restoringthe Republ ic

hee brutal ' j ocularity which his

mental_infirrri ity

“

Was heldW e shall see that th is treatment was far from just , forClaudius had some excel lent qual ities ; bu t the disdain Of

upon the Society of h is servants , andolation in theW EM j table

and the dice-board . He had In early yOu'

fh been BCIrOthe dto a daughter of Julia . This contract was dissolved whenJulia’s v i ces were d iscovered

,and he was married to a

young lady of d istinguished and wealthy family , LiviaMedullina Camilla . She d ied on the wedding-day, and hemarried Plau tia Urgulanilla, a daughter Of the EmpressLivia’s intimate friend , Urgulani a . Suspecting, after a fewyears , that he r friendsh ip with his emancipated-S lavefriends was warmer than he intended

,he divorced her ,


and married E l ia Pae tina, who in turn was shortlyd ivorced .

I n the year 38 he married the notorious ValeriaMessalina

,whose name conveys to every student of history

or morals a summary impression Of th e worst features ofthe early Empire . The spirit of our time is so resolutelybent on visit ing the sins of the children on their fathersso determined to seek the secret of Character in hereditythat the Older biograph ical practice Of drawing outgenealogies cannot be entirely abandoned ; though onemay wonder whether the ta inted atmosphere of Rome maynot have been more deadly than a tainted stock. I t i senough to say that both her parents were of the Julianfamily, and were first cousins of Claudius . Her father,Valerius Messala Barbatus

,was a S enator of dist inction .

He is known to us as the S enator who , in the old Romanspirit

,made a futil e effort to restrain women from invading

public l ife and the camp . Her mother has a less reputablerecord . W e shall see

'

that she eventual ly falls under acharge of conspiracy and magic but we may find that hermore serious Offence was an intense hatred of the EmpressAgrippina,who brought the charge against her .

Messal ina , as we may now briefly cal l her—with apassing protest against that uncouth expression , “ theMessal ine ”—was in her S ixteenth year at the time

‘

of hermarriage . An indulgent imaginat ion wil l be able toappreciate the dangerous situation of the young girl .Entering , in h er teens , a world of the most seductivepleasure and the utmost l icense , w i th so responsive andimpuls ive a nature as she had , she needed the guidance ofa man whom She could at least respect . Instead of this

,

she found herself mated to a man of forty-eight years,

whose full paunch and long th in legs and tremulous headwere th e j est of the Palatine

,and -who spent hi s hours in

the company Of Greek freedmen, or in tOO‘ prolonged an

enjoyment of rich d ishes and costly w ines . Claudius,i t i s

true,adored her

,but h is adoration only made him the surer

dupe of her craving for indulgence . Her misconduct



corrupt col lusion“

began to Show its influence . W e

had begun wel l . He set to work at

grantedr thecomttiOn was Openedfunds were expended on publ ic works Of sphd

_

uSeffiIfi’

éSS?

Howfar the freedmen were responsible for these measuresi t is d ifficult to say, but it seems that we must grantClaudius

,not only good Wi ll ,

At the same time , there i s evidence froiii‘

The first of_some

infirmity of mind . His work as a judge se ems to have been- i . J a n . F N "* h

more remarkable for industry than one .

occasion an angry knight (aques) threw books at h im in thecourt-house ; on another, during a shortage

_

Of eernj fflfi‘ “

people pelted him with mouldy crusts in the Forum .

Humane he was,apparently , in those early but

he does not seem to have shaken Off his earli ermepu té andexh ibited any personal dignity .

I t was not long before even his humanity was warpedby the malignant persuasions Of his wife and the corruptconnivance of his freedmen . In our age of apologists therehas been some effort to rel ieve the character of Messal inafrom its heavy burden Of infamy, or at l east to discredit theevidence adduced for it . I have already said enough aboutthe Roman authorities to justify one in making some re

serve in regard to the detai ls transmitted to us about .

Messalina . When we read Tagjtus we have to rememberthat he had before him the memoirs of her bitter enemyand successor

, Agrippina . W hen we read andDio and later writers we must not forge

m

t their love ofvivid colours and romantic details . Yet these writers hadin their time Official records , and someth ing l ike publicj ournals

,belonging to the earl ier period

,which put the

mal ignant and unscrupulous action of Messalina beyondquestion ; of the less startling stories of her infide litie s wehave proof enough in the remarkable and authentic episodewhich will close her career . I t cannot reasonably b edoubted that the traditiona l estimate of the character Of

VALERIA MESSALINA 65

Messalina is substantially just,though we must use some

discretion in admitting particular statements.

about her.W ith this reserve we may fol low

,in fair chronological

order , the career Of this young girl of nineteen , who isdazed by the sudden attainment Of Imperial wealth andpower, until , in her twenty-fifth year , her child ish effortsto pi erce her bosom with a dagger are ended by the manlythrust of a soldier’s sword . She had borne a daughter,Octavia , before the accession of her husband , and she wasfar advanced in child-bearing when Caligula was assass inated. Claudius , unable to beli eve h is good fortune ,expecting daily that some fresh movement would dislodgehim from the throne

,kept in the palace with her. A month

after his accession She bore a son,T iberius Claudius

Germanicus (later known as Britannicus), and Claudiusventured out , to exh ibit his heir to the people and express

The first indicat ion of the evi l of his feeble dependenceon Messal ina and the freedmen occurred before the endof the year 4 1 . Claudius had recal led from exile Cal igula’sSisters , Julia

’

Livilla and Agrippina,and restored their

property. Agrippina,whose character . and career will

occupy the ne x t'

chapte r , was in her twenty-fifth year ,Livilla in her twenty-th ird . Both had the beauty of theJulian women in

'

i ts ripest development . Agrippinaquickly realized her situation and discreetly concealedher ambition , but the younger woman was too proud tobe diplomatic

,and she was suspected of an ambition which

She possibly d id not entertain . Messalina became jealous ,and denounced her to Claudius for adultery . Claudiuswas persuaded that an open trial would entai l scandal onthe Imperial family

,and the unfortunate woman was exiled

without the chance of defence . She was starved to death


in her prison Shortly afterwards,and

,when the further

course of this story has been read,one will hardly hesitate

to accept the assurance Of the chroniclers that this gravecrime was committed by the orders of Messalina .

That the charge“against Livilla was malignant cannot

be doubted when we learn that her lover was said to bethe famous S toic moralist , S eneca . The disease of Romehad already evoked a natural remedy. The austere codeof morals which Zeno had formulated some centuriesearl ier in the marble colonn ade at Athens was nowadopted by the best of th e Romans . Pointing to theenfeeblement and degradation which th is epidemic Of

Eastern vice and luxury had brought on their city , thephilosophers argued that the curb must be placed oncemore on sensual impulse , and the Old viril ity Of Romerestored . S eneca was the most d ist inguish ed representative of this growing school at Rome

,and

,ambiguous

or even reprehensible as his conduct may seem to us ata later stage , we Should in this case prefer to attributehis punishment to the known vice of Messalina ratherthan to a frailty on his part of which we have no indication . The wiSe and just counsel that he gave to Claudiuswas probably distasteful to Messalina and the freedmen .

W ithout trial or defence he was banished to Corsica . I tis somet imes said that

,as S eneca nowhere impeaches the

virtue Of Messal ina , we may distrust the charge of viceagainst her which we find in al l the late r chroniclers ;but S eneca also fai ls to refer to her greater and quiteindisputable mi sdeeds , so that the omission has no significance . S eneca remained in exile s ix years

,and had no

more personal knowledge than S uetonius of the debauchesof Messalina .

Her first success emboldened the Empress . W ithin afew months She selected another lady , Julia , the daughterOf Drusus , and denounced he r to Claudius . Such virtueor (zljseemmenna s fi laud ius m ay/ have posse ssed

“

was nowattenuated by the se nsualm e sse s

__in wh ich hism and

his ministers encouraged h im to indulge ,“

andh-r

s humanity

VALERIA MESSALINA 67

was contaminated hyt he passion ~ fe rg lad i al di splaysWHICh

‘

e‘

gradually contracted . We must not too hasti lyadmit the lowest estimate Of his powers . I f Octaviancould be so long and so easi ly duped by Julia , we mayadmit that Claudius’s ignorance was consistent with somemeasure of good sense

,which he sti l l displayed in pro

v incial administrat ion and the accomplishment of publicworks . But from the end of the first year of his reignhe lends himself so basely and ignobly to the schemesof Messalina that i t i s impossible to defend him . NO

sooner did h is wife accuse Julia than she was banished,

without trial,and i t i s easy to bel ieve that her s peedy

,

death at the hands of the centurion in charge of her wasdue to the orders Of Messalina . I t was said that Juliahad excited the Empress’s suspic ions by too tender aregard for Claudius .

The more prudent Agrippina now sought the protectionof a husband . She i s said to have chosen the futureEmperor, S ulpicius Galba , and u rged him to divorce h isailing wife ; but the wife

’s mother took her part,and

ended the Intrigue by boxing Agrippina’s ears in public .

The wife d ied soon afterwards , but Galba feared the

resentment of Messal ina too much to wed Agrippina .

She then induced Crispus Passienu s , a wealthy and d istingu ished noble and a famous orator, to divorce h is wifeand marry her. She had inherited a moderate fortunefrom an earlier husband— the father of her son , th e futureEmpe ror Ne rO— and the great wealth and distinction Of

Passienus put her in a much stronger position . Passienu s

died soon afterwards , leaving his fortune to Agrippinaand Nero . How the fortune was used for the advancement of mother and son , and how Agrippina waseventually murdered by he r son , will be told in' th e nextchapter. S erviez repeats without hesitat ion a rumour

,

l ightly reproduced in one of the chronicles, that she

murdered Passienus to secure the wealth . The chargeis of the most frivolous character. Her husband hadafforded her some protection : a fortune without a


husband would rather attract than divert the passionof Messali na .

The year 42 was marked by a conspiracy that un

happily disposed Claudius more than ever to confide inMessalina and the freedmen . The troops in Dalmatiawere to be employed in the dethronement of Claudius .

At the last moment,however

,the soldiers were startled

by so many and such undeniable signs of the angerof the gods that they returned to their loyalty andslew their officers . The standards could not be draggedout of the ground— a not unnatural event

,one would

think,in a Dalmatian winter—and the wreath s had fallen

from the eagles .

The plot was reported to the palace,and Messal ina

and the freedmen drew up long lists Of men whom it wasdesirable to remove or despoil . Wealth ier men redeemedtheir l ives by paying considerable sums ; others were putto the torture , or were consigned to prison or the grave .

A story is told in the record of this persecution which .

should guard us . from admitt ing the common fallacy thatthe Older spirit of Rome was quite extinct . A

‘ distin

gu ished patrician heard that h is name was on the listof the condemned . His wife urged him to escape theignominy of a public execution by ending his own life

,

and,when he hesitated , she buried the dagger in her own

bosom , and then handed it to him with the words , worthy ,

of a Corneil l e : “ I t does not hurt .” Another vict im wasAppius S i lanus , who had married Me ssalina

’

s mother ,Domitia Lepida . The chroniclers say that h is crime wasto have rej ected the advances which Messal ina made tohim . Whatever the motive was , she induced the freedman Narcissus to tel l Claudius that he saw

,in a

r dream ,

S i lanus thrusting a dagger into the Emperor’s heart .

Claudius nervously consulted his wife,who confessed ,

with artistic horror, that the same d ream had frequentlytormented her. They had meantime summoned S i lanusto the palace , and , as he entered at that moment , the

Emperor . ordered h im to be executed at once .

V-ALERIA MESSALINA 69

Such are a few of the dark crimes attributed to Messalina that we cannot seriously question , and that fullyprepare us to believe the less inhuman misdeeds which itmight otherwise be possible to doubt . I n the followingyear (A.O. 43) Claudius went to Britain , leaving his Empressat Rome . I t seems to have been at this time that , unlesswe are arbitrarily to set aside one group of charges inthe records and admit another

,Messal ina indulged in the

practices which have secured for her an u nenviableimmortality . The perfectly authentic sequel of the storywil l show that She had so extraordinary a disregard foreven the pretence of moral feeling that the statements of

the chroniclers cannot for a moment he set down as improbable . In a word

,Messal ina surpassed Cal igula both

in her own misconduct and in the propagation of vice .

Envying the trade of the lowest women of Rome , She hadone of the rooms at the palace equipped on the model ofthe chambers of the meretrz

’

ces in the tenements of theS ubura , put over the door the name of one Of the mostnotorious women of that caste , Lycisca, and Offered thelascivious embrace Of an Empress to any who cared to paythe price for which sh e stipulated . O thers place the scenein an actual brothel . Not content with her own abasement

,

she compelled the most distinguished ladies of Rome tofollow her example . She bestowed the honours and Offices ,which Claudius left at her disposal , on the husbands whowould complacently witness the defilement of the i r W ives

,

and offered . the alternative of her deadly lists to those whorefused . Uncertain as we must always be whether thesestatements are not mere exaggerations of her conduct in thepopular mind Of the time , they are consistent enough withthe accredited facts of her career .

I n the year 44 Claudius returned with joy to what hesti ll regarded as th e chaste and tender arms of his youngEmpress . SO l ively was h is esteem of her virtue that heobtained from the S enate permission for her to ride inthe ceremonious car (carpentum), an honour which wasrestricted to the priestly rank and rigorously forbidden to

70 THE EMPRESSES OE ROME

women . He grante d her, also , the signal distinction Of

ridingl

in his chariot on the day of his triumphal procession .

The‘ ease with which she duped h im led her to fresh

excesses . I t i s said that when she saw his w ine-soakedbody laid to bed at night

,she placed one Of her maids wi th

him , and went with the Companions of her debauches . I fwe may believe

‘

a story which has no inherent improbabi lity , and has some confirmation later, she made th eblind

'

Empe ror h imself purvey to her vices . She one daycomplained to Claudius that the popular actor

, Mne ste r,would not Obey her when she commanded him to leave thestage and enter her private service . Claudius forced himto do so ; and three years later , when Me ssalina

’

s conductwas exposed , Mne ste r exhibited to the Emperor the scarson his body which gave proof of Me ssalina

’

s brutalfamiliarity. Even when she used the bronze coinage ofCaligula, which had been withdrawn from circulation

,to

make a statue to Mne ste r , Claudius suspected nothing .

This l icentious conduct continued unti l the year 47 .

Messalina was only in her twenty-fifth year when her longimpunity led her to take th e step which ruined her. A

bust of her that is preserved at Florence,and a cameo at

Vienna,give a representation of her that

.

we have noincl ination to distrust . T he curly golden-yellow hairJuvenal tell s us its colour— is elaborately dressed over thelow forehead

,and the large deep-set eyes are abnormally

Close . There i s some irregularity in the undeniable beautyOf the face ; and the thin l ips and smal l mouth , droopingweakly at the corners

,would irresistibly suggest a record

of adventure,if such a story were no t assigned to her in

the chronicles of the t ime . W i th that record before us iti s

,no doubt

,easy for physiognomists to detect a moral

distortion in the features , and to discover unknown , aswel l as verify the known

,vices of the Empress in the

truthful marble . Yet any thoughtful observer will bed isposed to see in those p iti less l ineaments a revelat ionof the truth about Messal ina and her race . I t i s a picture. of strength worn to decay by reiterated storms of



passion , Of beauty fad ing with the diseas e which forerunsdeath .

One last cr ime must be added to the record of Messalinabe fore we come to the crowning folly of her care er. Thereremained one woman in Rome more beautiful than she ;and one d istinguish ed pat rician whose vi rtue rebuked her ,and whose wealth allu red her. She resolved to bury thetwo under a common ruin.

Valerius Asiaticus , a patrician of consular rank andgreat merit, had withdrawn from Rome to Crete as the

madness of Messalina and the blindness of Claudiusincreased . Unhappily for him , he owned the beauti fuland famous garden which Lucullus had laid ou t on the

summit of the Pincian H il l , and Messal ina was now eagerfor i t . S he employed the tutors of her ch ildren to de clareto the Emperor that As iaticus was at the h ead of animportant facti on at Rome, and had gone to fire the Easternprovinces w ith hi s rebell ious spirit. The omens wh ichwere reported from the Eas t seemed to Claudius to makemere human testimony superfluous . The moon had beendarkened by an eclipse , and a new island had rise n fromthe E gaean S ea . The Chaldman sages interpreted th e sesign s w ith their customary art , and Asiaticus was brough tto Rome.

He listened in disdain to the charge of conspiracyand adultery which the tutors , S osibius and S u illius ,

brought against h im , bu t , when they proceeded to accusehim of unnatural vi ce , he broke into an angry deni al of thewhole accusa tion. Messalina was present at the trial— a

whol ly i rregular proceed ing, in Claudius’s chamber— and

saw that the Emperor was moved . S he whispe re d to

V itell ius , the sycophan t who had first discovered Caligula's

divinity and shaded his eyes from the blaze, that As iaticu smust on no account escape ,

and left th e room . V itellius, w ithready wi t, fell at the fe et Of the Empe ror. He enlarged at

length on the great meri ts of the accuse d , and concludedwith an artful plea that Claudi us would grant Asiaticus

7 2 THE EMPRESSES O F ROME

Of handing him (over to the public executioner.

- Easilyconfused by this stratagem

,and fancying that he was

Showing some clemency , Claudius assented . Asiaticu s ,true to the finest traditions of his fathers , returned to hispalace

,bathed and supped in perfect tranquill i ty , and then

Opened his veins . Messalina secured the gardens Of

Lucullus .

The lady with whom Asiaticu s i s said to have offendedwas Poppae a S abina , the only woman in Rome who surpassed Messal ina in beauty. That would be quite enoughto arouse the j ealousy of Messal ina , but we are told thatshe had the stil l greater mortification of believing thatPoppaea was too intimate with the actor Mne ste r , whomthe Empress had appropriated . The daughter of Poppaeawil l presently come before our eyes in the gal lery ofRoman Empresses

,and

,i f we may infer from her conduct

the nature of her mother’s precepts and example, we cannotset aside the charge as improbable . There is , however , noneed for us to discuss it. NO sooner was Asiaticus condemne d than Messal ina sent the news to Poppaea , and She

put an end to her own life . S os ibiu s received a millionsesterces

,in the form of a special reward for his service in

instructing the young princes ; and other ministers to thecruelty , avarice , and passion of the Empress were richlyendowed .

Messalina now ventured upon so flagrant a violation,

not merely Of decency , but of th e moderate discretion thathad hitherto concealed her conduct from her husband

,that

her career of infamy was brought to a violent close . S he

had for some time entertained and indulged a passion forCaius S i l ius , one of the most handsome men among theRoman nobili ty . Tacitus assures us that there was nosecrecy in the amour . She persuaded S il ius to divorce h iswife , visited his house with a large retinue , and made h imrepeated gifts of S laves and other property belonging tothe Imperial house . An Obscure passage in Tacitus seemsto imply that her impatience of all laws led her to form the

design Of marrying S i l ius while married to Claudius, and

VALERIA MESSALINA 73”

the detai ls of what immediately followed have come downto us in contradictory .ve rsions . I t is said by some thatS i l ius propo sed to her to remove Claudius and share thethrone w ith him ,

and that she hesitated only from fearthat S i l ius might divorce her as soon as he had se cured thepurple . Other writers say that the phoenix appeared inEgypt

,as it had done before the death of T iberius , and that

the nervous Emperor was further told of a prediction that thehusband of Messalina would die before the end of the year .

I n order to cheat th is decree of the fates , S uetonius says ,Claudius signed the d ivorce of Messal ina , and went downto the coast

,l eaving her free to marry S i l ius . He intended

to return and recover her as soon as S i l ius had fulfilled theprophecy by dying.

I t i s clear that a good deal of legend has mingled withthe true account of the events which led to Me ssalina

’

s

downfall , and one can merely try to construct a plausiblestory out of the discordant versions . Tacitus , the highestauthority , knows noth ing Of the prophecy , or the divorcewhich it i s said to have occasioned . His si lence is notconchisive , and the course attributed to Claudius , howeverextravagant i t may seem , is not inconsistent with hisabnormally timorous nature . On the whole

,however

,one

is disposed to agree with Merivale , that Claudius heard Of* no prophecy , signed no divorce , and knew nothing of theliaison unti l a later stage

,as Dio implies . But Merivale

wrong In suggesting that the marriage ofnd S i l ius i s a l ibel lous legend borrowed frommemoirs . When he submits that such anot have taken place without the Emperor’s

edge , he forgets that , as al l the authorities state orimply , Claudius had left Rome and gone down to thecoast . The Emperor returned to the city as soon as heheard Of the marriage .

The real course of events seems to be that Claudiuswas vaguely informed of the existence Of a conspiracyagainst h im . He complained bitterly to the S enate , confined himse l f for some time to the palace, and then, in


October , went to Ostia to inspect certain public workswhich were in progress there . Delighted at h is removal ,Messal ina went through the form of marriage— the laxer ,not the more solemn

,form (confarreatz

'

o) —w ith S i l ius , andcast aside the last Shade of reserve . Base as her naturewas , she must have been weary of the nightly spectacleof the repulsive old man sinking back in satiety on hiscouch , while slaves tickled his throat w ith a feather to

induce a vomit . S i lius was young , handsome , and notwithout wit . A better future seemed to open before her.

Perhaps the slow-witted Emperor would make no strugglefor his throne ; perhaps the city and the guards wouldgladly sacrifice him for this handsome young Impe rial

'

pair.

There i s calculation in the carven face of Messal ina. Butthe news was speeding to O stia

,and the dreadful end

was near.

S hortly after the marriage came the festival of thevintage

,the Bacchanalia

,which was celebrated by the bride

and bridegroom and their friends w i th the wildest merriment . That last scene in the l icentious career of Messalinamust have made a deep impression on the

'

fe e ling of Rome ,and i t i s l i t up for ever by one Of Tacitu s

’

s most vividflashes of description . Messalina had bestowed on S i l iusthe Imperial palace and its contents , and in the garden Of

the palace they paid full honour to the orgiastic cult Of

Bacchus . W ine-presses were set up,and the women

Of Me ssalina’

s company , their white l imbs and bosomsscanti ly covered with strips of fawn skin

,sang and danced

the Bacchic dance round the large vats of grape-j uice .

Messalina , her golden hair flowing loose under her ivywreath , Shook her thyrsus and led the w ild dance . S i l iuslay at her feet , crowned with ivy , nodding his head to the airof the lascivious Chorus . W ine flowed freely on that autumnafternoon , and the gay world and distant Ostia were forgotten ; Or so li ttle heeded that when Ve ttiu s Valens , oneof Me ssalina

’

s discarded lovers , had , in boyish exuberance ,climbed a high tree , and theyWhat he saw , he gaily cried :


Bu t before the evening was out the hurricane came fromOstia and scattered the revel lers in terror. News was

brought to the garden that Claudius was hurrying to Rometo avenge his dishonour.

The freedman Narcissus had disliked the idea of S i l iusobtaining power , especial ly as Messal ina had recentlytaken the ominous step of securing the execution of hiscolleague Polybius . In the suite of Claudius at Ostiawere two female attendants

,to describe them courteously ,

Calpurnia and Cleopatra,who were taken into counsel by

Narcissus , and learned their parts in h is scheme . Calpu r

nia flung herself at the feet of the Emperor, crying ,Messal ina is married to S i l ius . Cleopatra and Narcissuswere summoned by the Emperor

,and they assured him

that his life was in danger , and he must hasten to Rome .

Other advisers,who had been trained to their part by

Narcissus,were drawn into the group , and the dazed and

vacillating Claudius yielded to their guidance . He wasat once placed in his chariot

,and V itell ius and Narcissus

rode with h im . Claudius feebly discussed the news asthey travelled

,and Vitell ius

,not sure which party would

triumph , remained silent ; but the freedman assiduouslyfed the slow-kindling anger of the Emperor.

S i l ius had fled from the Bacchanalian garden to theForum , and tried to conceal h is part by a zealous absorp

tion in business . Messal ina saw al l the companions ofher revels fly for safety

,and leave her to face the storm

alone in the palace-garden . From the disordered rel icsof the feast She hurried to her Lucullan gardens on thePincian . There her courage seems to have revived , andshe determined to make an effort to d isarm her husband .

Directing the head Of the Vestal V irgins to follow w i thher chi ldren

,she went out upon the road which entered

Rome from Ostia . The news had now spread over Rome .

W ith three companions only out Of the gay throng Of

her followers , and Vibidia, the Vestal V i rgin , whose personwas sacred , she braved the piti less gaze of the citizens ,

§ who had so long seen he r chariot flash by in triumph , and

76 THE E MPRESSES OF ROME

walked on foot to the gate of the Ci ty . There her strengthfailed

,and she was forced to mount the common cart of

a gardener . When they had covered a short distancefrom the gates , they saw the Emperor

’s chariot approaching , and she dismounted . Whether from real affectionfor her, or from an indolent disl ike of trouble

,Claudius

hesitated once more when the piteous figure Of his youngwife appeared in his path ; but Narcissus reminded himof her marriage , and ordered the charioteer to drive on .

Her last despairing appeal was unheeded . The chariotgalloped on

,and left her standing on the road . A l it tle

further on the Vestal V i rgin, relying on her high position,demanded that Claudius Should grant his wife an Oppor

tunity Of defending herself, and thrust h is ch ildren beforeh im . The sight Of his beloved Octavia and Britannicusagain moved the wavering Emperor. Narcissus bade theCharioteer drive onward , and Messalina slowly turned tomeet her fate in Rome .

In order to dispel the last shade of tenderness fromthe Emperor’s mind , Narcissus conducted h im first to thehouse of S i l ius , and Showed him the treasures Of theImperial palace which Messalina had showered on herlover. He then led him to the camp of the PraetorianGuards , and induced him to make a speech to the sold iers .

The feeble spirit of the Emperor was cowed by the fullrevelation of Me ssalina

’

s pe rfidy. Now completely docileto the masterful freedman , he took his place at the tribunal , and passed sentence of death , which was at oncecarried out , on S i l ius , Mne ste r , Ve ttiu s Valens

,and all

Me ssalina’

s accompl ices . Mne ste r vainly stripped Off hisrobe , to show that he had received from the Empressrather the imprint of her anger than the embraces ofwhich he was accused . The Emperor signed the doomof all , and returned wearily to the palace . Restored byfood and wine , he began to resist the dictation of Narcissus , and ordered him to inform Messalina that he wouldhear her on the morrow. The freedman knew that adelay would ruin his design . He left the room ,

and told



or improbable . W e Shall find such excesses ascribed tolater Emperors , by writers who were not merely record ingrumours that may have gathered volume during decadesof passage from mouth to mouth , that noth ing can bedeemed impossible to a Messalina . The humane biographercan but plead that she entered a world Of the most d azzlingallurement Of vice and crime with a nature already taintedand distorted by the sins of her fathers

,and that the horror

Of that last scene in the gardens Of Lucullus may be leftas a merciful shroud over her unhappy memory .

CHAPTER V

THE MOTHER OF NERO

ACITUS has given us a Spirited p icture of l ife in theImperial palace during the months which followedthe execution of Messalina . Claudius h imself had

sunk into a state of drowsy indifference when the stormexcited by his discovery had Spent itself. “Where i s theEmpress ? he asked

,as he sat at supper the night after

her death , and noticed the empty place on the couch .

Narcissus told him that She was dead , and he asked nomore . But the palace about his slumbering figure soonbegan”

to hum with confl icting intrigues for the successionto her chamber . Ladies who had visited the Palatine w ith

udence while Messalina lived now came to disheir charms

,and express their tenderness

,to the

Emperor. From the ' sombre night of the tragedypassed With relief to the l ight enjoyment of the new

The freedmen,who surrounded and controlled

Claudius , selected their candidates .

Claudius had inserted one sentiment of his own in thespeech which Narcissus had induced h im to make to thePraetorian Guards . He had sworn that he would notmarry again . There were ladies in his household , such asCalpurnia and Cleopatra , who would encourage the resolut ion ; but the freedmen decided that he was bound tocapitulate under so fair a S iege , and i t would be better

ome share in the making of the new Empress .

h of the Greeks chose a diffe rent lady. Narci ssus,who

been promoted to high public service for his zeal,

79


favoured the suit of [Elia Pae tina, whom Claudius hadligh tly divorced twenty-one years before . Callistu s tookup the cause of Lollia Paulina , the wealthy and beautifulwoman whom Caligula had torn from her hused so unjustly . The steward

,Pallas

,was more fortunate

in his choice . He advocated marriage w ith Agrippina ;and , as the mind of Agrippina coincided more decisivelywith that of her champion than seems to have happenedin the case Of her rivals

,h is campaign succee ded . She

discovered a most tender and considerate affection forher uncle , visited him assiduously

,and persuaded h im to

betroth his daughter Octavia to her son Lucius Domitius

(later Nero).Octavia was already betrothed

,and Agrippina is said

to have removed the first Obstacle to her designs by a crueland unscrupulous act . We are told that she induced

,

and it i s at least clear that she permitted , the sycophanticcourtier Vitell ius , who favoured her suit , to accuse theyoung man , to whom Octavia was betrothed , Of incestwith his daughter-in-law . Tacitus has so mean an estimateof the young people and their generation that he doesnot regard the charge as a serious l ibel . He insists ,however

,that Agrippina had the case against them forged ,

and thus opened her dark Imperial career with a crime .

We are now approach ing the generation ingreat h istorian lived

,and we are considering

woman whose memoirs furnished him withserious charges against her rivals -andmay therefore seem strange that , if weau thorities with docility,

. we must ascri

and'

unscrupulou s character to Agrippina hrejected the rumour that she poisoned her second husband ,but that i s by no means the only charge that is broughtagainst her before she marrie d Claudius . The authoritiesuniformly assert that she had had incestuous re lationswith Caligu la in her early teens , had been notorioamours during the l ife of Messal ina , and now veryplaced such honour as she had at the disposal of


82 THE EMPRESSES or ROME

the dai ly contemplation of his senil ity and sensual ity .

V i tel l ius induced him to submit his delicate fe e ling'

to

the S enate and the people , and then artful ly representedto the S enators that , if Claudius married Agrippina , shemight rid them of the hated influence of the freedmen .

Tacitus, whose disdain for the obsequious S enate of the

early Empire always aggravates his comments on theirconduct , describes how they raced each other to the palaceto inform Claudius of their decision , and how the peoplenot imp robably incited by V itel lius , assembled below thePalatine H ill and Clamoured for the marriage . The obtuseand weak-w i l led Claudius assented

,and a few days later ,

in th e year 49, Agrippina became the sixth Empress Of

Rome . Little did she dream t hat she was entering uponthe last decade Of her eventful life

,and that it would close

w ith the most ghastly horror .

S he was in her th irty-th ird year , Claudius in his fiftyeighth . Years of sensual indulgence had not improvedh is character or h is intell igence

,and no one in Rome

can have expected h im to live more than the few yearswhich remained for him . Agrippina was looking to thetime when she would be sole mistress of the Empire .

The fine statue of her which is exhibited in the LateranMuseum has a moral physiognomy so concordant withthe authentic record of her career that we picture herto ourselves with confidence . In face and figure she i sal l that the word imperial suggests to the imagination .

Haughty,strong

,and reposeful in her self-rel iance , she

has lost the last shade Of apprehension w ith the passing ofMessalina

,and has the majestic ai r of a mistress of the

world Her low brow and large,fine ly

-carved oval faceare said by

'

some physiognomists to have every markof purity and refinement , but the Close Observer w i l l d iscover in her features only such a refinement of passionas her ambition would lead us to expect . In a word , i tis the face of a woman who w i ll not stoop to vice or crimeto grat ify a sensual impulse

,but may have recourse to

either when her ambition lends i t a certain expediency .

AGR IPP INA THE YOUNGER



confiscated and She was sent into exile , Agrippina sent asoldier to compel her to commit suicide . Dio , as usual ,improves upon the narrative . He describes Agrippinagloating over the bleeding head of her rival , as Fulvia hadrejoiced over the head of Cicero

,and opening the mouth

to see ce rtain '

peculiaritie s Of the teeth by which i t mightbe identified .

The fatal defect Of Dio’s more vivid account is that , aswe know from P l iny

,the double canine teeth

,of which he

speaks , belonged to Agrippina herself, not to Paulina , andwere regarded as a sure presage of good fortune . The

substance of the story,however

,we cannot l ightly rej ect.

A beautiful and happy woman was driven to death for nograver cause than , at the most , an idle patronage of theOriental Charlatans who then abounded in Rome and

,since

th is consultation of oracles was common , there must havebeen a special reason for the selection of Paulina . The

motive suggested by Tacitus is only too probable . He

adds that Agrippina also banished a lady named Calpurnia .

I f we may identify thi s lady with the Calpurnia whoseservices to Claudius were so amiable as to embolden herto d isclose to him the crimes of his beloved Messalina , shewould hardly remain long in the palace OfAgrippina .

Apart from such episodes as these,in which j ealousy

or avarice led her to make an unworthy use of her power ,she ruled judiciously and serviceably . Claudius was in h isS ixtieth year. His poor mind was in complete decay , andit was both fitt ing and useful that Agrippina should rulein his name . The coinage of the time bears witness of heractivity . There is

,in fact

,a l iving memorial of he r rule

in the city of Cologne , wh ich , under the title Of ColoniaAgrippina , she establi shed as an outpost Of civil izat ion onthe farthest confines of the Empire . She gave dignity andetiquette to the easy-going court of Claudius , had the rightto enter the precincts Of the Capi tol and to ride in thegilded imperial chariot of ceremony

,and , when the famous

Briti sh prince Caractacus was brought to Rome,her throne

was raised by the side Of that Of th e Emperor. The older

THE MOTHER OF NERO 85

Roman idea of woman’s sphere was now discredited bythe ph ilosophers and contemptuously ignored by the

women themselves,but the cit izens moved slow ly , and

there was much discontent and consulting of astrologers .

They Were expelled from the city , but in the guardedchambers of patrician famil ies they continued

,in imposing

Chaldaean dress , to scan horoscopes and wave preternaturalwands over their symbolical tripods—much as they do inBond S treet to-day . The more enlightened reader, whois disposed to regard the superstit ion with leniency

,must

reflect that the prophets might at times,for the vindication

Of their art , be tempted to lend a l ittle human aid whennature tarried in bringing about the deaths which theplanets had so plainly foretold .

W ith in the palace the whole care of Agrippina wascentred in the education of her son for the purple . To thedelight of Rome , she recal led the philosopher S eneca fromexile , and gave him charge of her son’s studies . Whenthe real character of Nero was revealed in later years

,i t

was said that S eneca had always disl iked h is task , and hadeven predicted that the boy would become a savage monster .

S eneca himself me rely says that the boy was Spoiled , andhis training thwarted , by his mother . Nero would fly toAgrippina when S eneca had made some attempt to checkhis wayward impulses , and the whole lesson would belost in her injudicious caresses . Apart from this notunnatural weakness , Agrippina made the most commendable efforts to prepare her son for the throne . The corrupttutor whom Messalina had brought to the palace wasdismissed— Dio says that he was executed for attemptingthe l ife of Lucius Domitius - to make way for the mostdistinguished moralist Of the time

,and the mili tary instruc

t ion was entrusted to Burrus,who se integrity we shall

learn presently . Pal las was rewarded with such honoursas no freedmen had ever borne before

,and V i tel lius was

rescued from some Obscure charge of conspiracy andrestored to ‘his rank .

Agrip pina , was now in a position of very great wealth


and power . S he drove about Rome in a superb chariot,

flaunted the stored j ewels o f the Imperial house,and

received presents from the ends of the earth . A whitenightingale , which had cost sesterces

,and a talking

thrush were amongst the rare presents sent to conci liateher . The l ingering of Claudius must have been irksometo her , but i t was necessary to secure the succession ofher son before the Emperor d ied . The one apparentobstacle was the boy Britannicus , who , as the son ofClaudius and Messalina, had a juster ti tle to be chosen .

He was , however, subject to epileptic fi ts,del icate in

heal th , and peevish in temper. Agrippina had li ttle difficulty in thrusting him aside in favour of her Own handsomeand engaging boy . The toga or garment of theman , was usual ly donned by the Roman youth i n hisseventeenth year , but the age was anticipated in the caseOf princes

,and Domitius was to receive it at the end of

the year 50 . During the year , however , the convuls ionsof nature so plainly portended some momentous event

,

probably the passage Of Claudius to join h is d ivine forerunners

,that Agrippina pressed for the immediate perform

ance of the ri te . Three suns were seen in the sky,an

earthquake shook the sol id earth , and birds of evil omenrested on the temple . Claudius assented , and manhoodand other high distinctions were prematurely conferredon the future Emperor , whose name was changed to Nero .

He joined the priestly college , received the authority ofa proconsul

,marched at the head of the guards , and drew

the attention of al l at the games by the insignia of h ismanly dignities

,while Britannicus sat in the prcatex ta and

172112 of the boy . I t was Nero who pleaded in the S enatefor distressed cities , Nero who was made praetor whenClaudius was absent from Rome. I n the year 52 he wasmarried to Octavia

,and all Rome regarded him as the

virtual heir to the throne.

There can be no serious doubt that Agrippina had noaffection for Claudius , and must have waited impatientlyfor his removal when the succession was secured for her



he absolved them from their dangerous duty , Claudiushailed them , and th ey claimed the righ t to abstain . The

Emperor is described by S uetonius as running alongside thelake , angri ly urging them to fight . The battle proceeded ,but at the close i t was found that the water could notbe released , and Narcissus was bitterly assai led . The

performance was repeated later , when the works werepronounced complete

,but a number of people were

drowned,and the quarrel was renewed with spirit . Agrip

pina suggested that the funds for the undertaking had beend iverted ; Narcissus foi led the attack with a Charge ofambition agains t th e Empress .

The Emperor was visibly fai l ing, and there was greatexcitement at Rome when , at the beginning of the year 54,nature announced once more that some stirring chapterwas to run from the reel Of the fates . The standards andtents of the soldiers were enveloped in mysterious flamesa rain of blood , in which a modern naturalist would doubtless discover an innocent mi crobe , spread terror over onepart Of the Empire , and the birth of a pig with claws l ikethose of a hawk caused equal consternation in another ;while Rome heard , with reiterated shocks , that the doorsof the temple of Jupiter had been opened by unseen hands ,and a horrible comet

,fol lowed by the customary pesti lence ,

had appeared in i ts skies . More significant stil l to prudentpeople , perhaps , was the report that Claudius , returningto dine at the palace after presiding at the trial of anadultress , gloomily observed that he had been unfortunatein his marriages he had punished one unfaithful wife , andwould know how to deal w i th another .

I n this Observation of Claudius we need see no morethan an echo of the wh ispers of Narcissus

,but one can

imagine how Rome must have throbbed with expectationand abounded in gossip at the beginning of the year 54.

Nor was this faith in natural oracles disappointed . Two

tragedies were added to the sombre chronicle of the cityin that year , and in both of them our Empress is accusedof haying acted criminally .


The first was the condemnation to death of one of thegreatest ladies of Rome , Domitia Lepida , s ister-in-l aw ofthe Empress ; and in this case there is every reason tosuspect a guilty action on the part of Agrippina . WhenAgrippina had been exi led by Caligula, her boy had livedfor a few years with his father’s S ister , Domitia Lepida ,the mother of Messal ina . Lepida was far more indulgenteven than Agrippina to the pretty and wayward ch ild ,and

,when the mother returned to Rome and he was

restored to her,there was an acrimonious struggle between

the two women for his affection . As i t became clear thathe would inherit the purple , the struggle became morepassionate. Narcissus saw in i t an Opportunity to escapeth e ruin which would befal l him if Agrippina obtainedful l power , and , on the ground of his charge of inconstancy against the Empress , he urged Claudius to makeLepida guardian of Nero . I t i s very probable that th isintrigue of Narcissus i s the only source of the chargeof license brough t against the Empress in her matureyears .

Angry and anxious , in view of the expected death Of

Claudius , she took a bold step , and impeached Lepidaof criminal conduct . How far Lepida was guil ty we cannot say

,but as she was Charged only with assai l ing the

Emperor’s marriage with imprecations,and exercising so

l ittle control over her Calabrian slaves as to endangerthe public peace , the prudent reader will acquit Agrippinaof anything more than an exaggeration of the facts . Thatexaggeration suffi ced , however, to ruin her dist inguishedrival . Nero , schooled by his mother, gave witness thathis aunt had tried to alienate his affection ; her verynatural comments on the Emperor’s marriage were madeto assume the dark form of magical imprecations ; shewas condemned to death .

But those l ively convulsions Of nature had portendedsomething more momentous than the death of a noblematron , and Rome continued to wait for the great tragedy .

Before long it was announced that Narcissus had reti red


to S inu e ssa for the treatment of his gout . 1 The Emperorwas now entirely surrounded by adherents of Agrippina

,

and we can quite understand the conviction of Romewhen Claudius was taken seriously ill at a banquet

,and

died within twenty-four hours . Tacitus emphaticallyattributes h is death to his wife . Suetonius alone saysthat

,while i t was certain that Claudius was poisoned , i t

was not certain who was guilty ; a feeble reserve , sinceAgrippina was so predominantly interested in hi s death .

I t i s not surpris ing that recent historians have , general lyfollowed Taci tus . Roe rgas de S erviez , who rarely hassuch ample authority for the crimes he loves to attribute ,fastens the murder on Agrippina without the least hesitation . Merivale sees no ground to question it

,though he

points out several inconsistencies in the pages of Tacitus .

Mr . Henderson follows the traditional story in h is recentand discriminating study of the reign of Nero .

2 But Mr .

Baring-Gould insists that the death of Claudius was qui tenatural , and any candid student of th e evidence mustadmit that i t is inconclusive .

The facts are that on October i 2th, AD 54, Claudiusattended a banquet of the priestly college w i th Agrippina .

After eating some mushrooms (or figs , according to others)from a dish that was served

,he became violently i l l and

vomited . He was taken back to the palace, attended byh is (and Agrippina

’s) physician , but gradual ly sank , anddied on the morning of the i 3th. The theory of theopponents of Agripp ina Is that she employed a notoriouspoisoner , Locusta— a Gaulish woman , who was certainlyin Rome at the time , and was afterwards employed byNero— to concoct a slow poison (

“ a drug that woulddisturb his mind and infl ict a slow death

,

” says Tacitus).This is supposed to have been inserted in a fine mushroom

(or fig), which was taken by Claudius when Agrippina

Tacitus, who is followed by Me rivale and“

othe r historians, make sClaudius also re tire to S inuessa. This is probably an e rror, as the Emperorfe ll ill and died at Rome .

3 The Life and Principate of the Emperor Ne ro ,’ 1903.



The malcontents of Rome would be sure to agitate in .

favour of Britannicus unless the succession was securedfor Nero before the death of Claudius was known . The

art with wh ich Agrippina averted this danger may exciteour admiration of her viril i ty and astuteness

,but must

inevitably lessen our appreciation of her sensibi l i ty. She

announced that Claudius was dangerously il l,and cal led

an assembly of the S enate . Conscious that the servantsof a palace commonly draw their pay from some onewithout

,she put guards at every approach to the chamber

of the dead man , and devised and carried out a tragicomedy of the most ex traordinary character. The clotheswere drawn over the l ifeless body , bandages and poulticeswere ostentatiously applied to i t by her servants

,and even

the mimes,who

‘

had been wont to dance and ring theirbells and crack their jokes before the Emperor, werebrought in to perpetrate their foll ies in the chamber ofdeath . In a neighbouring room Agrippina joined herconjugal sobs with the laments Of the youthful Britanmicus . We are asked to believe , and we have little difficulty in believing , that while she clung in tears to theweeping youth , she was

“

merely , with cold calculat ion ,preventing him from leaving the palace , lest he shouldfall in the Way of the Guards , or some ambitious parti san ,and be proclaimed Emperor.By noon the preparations Of her agents were completed .

The gates of the palace were thrown open , and Nero wassent out

,under the care of his mil itary tutor Burrus

,the

commander of the Guards . A few voices were heard tomutter the name of Bri tannicus

,but the cry was feeble ,

and the response insignificant . T he Guards were longaccustomed to see the superiori ty of Nero over thesickly young prince , and their support was secured bya liberal promise of money . They conducted Nero tothe S enate , and bade that helpless body accept him .

The same evening a courier from , Agrippina broughtword to S inu e ssa that Nero was Emperor. Narcissushad~

o

lost , and his figure passes from the scene—with the


inevitable rumour that he was imprisoned or poisonedby Agrippina .

When the Guards came to Nero that night for thewatchword he gave them “ The best of mothers ,

” andAgrippina looked confidently from her supreme heightinto the future . W i th in five years her son would put herto death with horrible e tality, and j eer at her nakedbody . NO one Of the hundreds of thousands who hai ledh im with the wildest delight

,and smiled at h is amiable

irregularities , can have foreseen so rapid and portentousa degradation . He was then a youth of seventeen , strikingly handsome both in face and figure

,with blue-grey

eyes and light curly hair and finely proportioned l imbs .

His tutor in arms pronounced him a young Apollo .

”

But hi s moral and intel lectual trainer had fai led as S ignallyas his physical trainer had succeeded . S eneca had vainlyendeavoured to implant in his mind the germs of thenoble S toic ph ilosophy. Men have disputed from al l timewhether it was the teacher or th e doctrine that was atfault , while the eugenic school of our time would rel ieveboth from censure

,and regard Nero’s mind as an incur

ably corrupt soi l . One may venture to differ from both ,and wonder if circumstances had not the g reater share

in his demoral izat ion . However that may be, his accessionto irresponsible power at such an age

,in such surround

ings as we shal l d iscover about h im,was a tragedy .

His real advisers were young men,slight ly Older than

himself, and better versed in the ways Of luxury and vice ;and the first use he made of his Imperial power was totoss aside the treat ises Of the moral ists , and give h iswhole attention to art

,to Chariot-racing , and to dissipation .

What sinister use he made of the later hours,or earl ie r

hours , of the day , and in what melancholy condition h isgirl-wife must have been

,we shall see in the next chapter.

Here we have to consider only his relations with h ismother.

For a few years after Nero’s access i on his motherwill ingly and profitably

'

ruled in hi s name. I t must not


be imagined that she had,with the astuteness of a Mari e

de’ Medici , educated him in an indifference to pol itics sothat She might indulge her own ambition . The appointment of S eneca as his tutor is the most creditable , thoughunhappily the most futi le

,act of her career. When , how

ever, the young Emperor refused to be interested in anyproblem graver than the art of driving a chariot or playingthe flute , she undertook his Imperial duties , or continuedto have that share in the ruling of the Empire which shehad had under Claudius . She received embassies , wassurrounded by a special German guard when She wentabroad , and was associated with Nero on the coinage . I twould be difficul t to measure with any precision the influence which she had on Roman affairs during this -period ,since S eneca and Burrus had an equal , if not greater , partin the government ; but it may be recalled , with somehonour to her

,that the first four years of Nero’s reign were

amongst the happiest and most prosperous that Romewitnessed dur ing the first century.

The first thing to trouble her prosperous and happyuse of power was a certain discontent aris ing from the oldprejudice against women in pol itics . The S enators wereannoyed because she injudiciously li stened to their debates .

They me t at th is time in the Imperial l ibrary , and the

Empress had a door pierced into it from the palace,and

sat l istening behind,

a curtain . The S enators are said tohave punished her ind iscretion by making unflatteringremarks in the course Of the debates

,though it is d ifficul t

to believe that they were stil l capable of SO courageous aprotest . On one occasion an important embassy came toRome

.from Armenia , and Agrippina declared that she

would si t by the side Of Nero when he received it . Thisseems to have been a startl ing innovation , and S eneca hadto avert trouble by advising Nero to descend from histhrone

,when his mother entered , and lead her affectionately

"

from the room .

An incident that shortly occurred gave a nucleus for thecrys tall izat ion of this d iffused annoyance . A distinguished



at this heavy price could not last . S hortly afterwardsNero sent her some rich jewels and robes from the Imperialtreasures . S he chose to regard th is as a reminder thatthe Imperial wardrobe was no longer at her disposal , andangrily refused the gifts .

Pallas was at once impeached for treason . The chargewas so clumsy , and S eneca defended h im so ably

,that he

had to be acquitted ; but Agrippina forgot d iscretion inher victory. In the course of a quarrel with Nero , shethreatened to retire to the camp Of the Prae torian Guardwith Britannicus and have h im proclaimed Emperor. The

only effect of th is was to Open Nero’s long career Of crime .

The few months—we are sti ll at the beginningyear 5 5— Of unrestrained l icense and flattery had dethe l ittl e moral restraint that S eneca had taught him ,

he determined to murder Britannicus . In the Romanprison was the skil led poisoner

,Locusta

,whom Agrippina

was beli eved to have employed in the murder of herhusband . Nero ordered her to prepare a deadly poison ,

and,when the first preparation fai led , he had her

to the palace . W i th blows and oaths he forcedprepare a more deadly drug under his eyes

,and

used the same evening. Britannicus sat with hison one of the couches in the d ining-hal l at the palaasked for a drink . I t was w inter-t ime , and th

soup,as S erviez says) was heated . He complained that

was too hot,and the poison was administered w ith t

coolingwater, so that the taster would not need to taa second sip .

A great horror fel l upon the room as Britannicus , wr

ing w ith pain , sank to the floor . Octavia sat in silen t terrorby the side of her husband , who carelessly observed that

Britannicus had one Of his usual epileptic fits . AgrippinaOpenly betrayed her horror and disgust , and fromwas regarded by her son with bitter hostil ity . Whor no i t be true that Nero whitened with chalk the

which broke out on the body , the substance of thecannot be discredited . I t

‘

i s true that Nero was yet i


eighteenth year only, but h is conduct had been vicious andunbridled to a criminal extent . W ith in a very short t imewe shall find him sinking to the lowest depths of brutality .

The fact that he is praised in the treatise On Clemency,

”

which S eneca wrote about that time , can only show eitherthat the too indulgent tutor refused to bel ieve the crime

,or

that , as we have too many reasons to know ,the distinguished

S toic came perilously close to that art Of casuistry in whichmoralists of many schools have been apt to excel .In her abhorrence of the foul deed Agrippina drew

closer to the tender and virtuous Octavia , and confrontedNero with a sternness that had been too long delayed .

The breach between them w idened . One day Nero orderedthat two and a half mill ion denari i should be given to h isfavourite secretary. Agrippina had the mass Of coin broughtunder the eyes Of the Emperor , to make him realize hisextravagance . He laughingly observed that he d id not

think the sum was so small,and ordered it to be doubled .

The more lavishly he squandered,the more carefully

Agrippina saved,unti l the frivolous or mal icious companions

of h is revels suggested that she was gathering funds -for th epurpose of dethroning him . He at once withdrew the guardhe had given her

,and ordered her to leave h is palace.

Agrippina had enjoyed only for one year the powerwhich She had sought so long. She was yet only in herfortieth year. The envoys of kings had sued humbly ather feet

,and her litter and guard had flashed through the

streets of Rome with an impression Of greatness that noother woman then known had ever possessed . Bu t thereins passed from her hands to her brutal son and h isdespicable courtiers . From the palace she passed

,with a

few devoted followers,to the small mansion Of her grand

mother Antonia,and the sycophantic courtiers deserted

her . Graver citizens,watch ing the rapid degradation of

the Imperial house,followed her with sympathy, but few

dared to visit her in the lonely mansion . Unfortunately,

she quarrelled with one of these few , and came near tolosing her l ife .

98 THE EMPRESSES OF -ROME

Her Old friend Jul ia S i lana , a woman Of great wealthbut very faded beauty

,proposed to marry a handsome

young Roman knight. Agrippina imprudently advisedh im not to marry a woman of such advanced years and soadventurous a record . Her words were repeated to Julia

,

and friendsh ip was exchanged for the most bitter animosi ty.

J ulia S i lana was childless , and it i s conjectured that Agrippina hoped to inherit her wealth i f

i

she died unmarried .

Whether she believed this or no , Julia conceived a deephatred , and induced two of herCl ients to accuse Agrippinaof high treason . Nero seems to have been in an uncertainmood , and an Ingen ious plot was devised to win him .

One night when he lay,flushed with wine

,after the

banquet , his favourite comedian Paris came to amuse h im .

Nero noticed that the man was agitated and less merrythan usual , and asked the reason . Paris

,who was acting

in the service Of the plotters , confessed w ith artist ic tearsthat there was a conspiracy afoot to dethrone his noble ;

master ; that Agrippina was about to marry Rube lliu s

P lautus,a S enator of Imperial descent , and se ize the throne .

The inebriated Emperor at once demanded their heads , butS eneca and Burrus restrained him

,and compelled him to

hear Agrippina on the morrow . I n her speech,which

Tacitus has preserved,she refuted and routed her assai lants

w ith such vigour that she was , apparently, reconciled to

Nero and restored to some authority . Julia S i lana wasbanished

,Domitia

’

s Chamberlain (who f had instructed theactor) was executed , and Agrippina

’s own followers wererewarded .

The two years that followed thi s reconciliat ion areobscure , and we can only dimly conj ecture that Agrippinahad some peace and prestige

,but no longer shared the

Imperial rule. Then , in the year 58, another and unexpectedwoman -came into the

‘

field, and Agrippina sank rapidlytoward an abyss of tragedy .

In an earl ier chapter we saw that Messalina drove todeath a very wealthy and beautiful Roman ladyPoppaea S abina . I t was her daughter

, who had


100 THE‘

EMPRESSES OF ROME

not be'

indi sposed to encourage the story . On the otherhand

,Mr. Baring-Gould attempts an untenable defence

when he speaks of Agrippina as “ the poor Old lady .

”

S he was only in her forty-second year, andw as a woman

of great beauty and l ittle scruple .

Whatever arts Agrippina employed in the struggle ,She rapid ly lost ground before so formidable a rival , andPoppaea incited Nero against her . He harassed her withlawsu its when She was in Rome , and sent men to insulther when She withdrew to her villa in the country. Beforelong Agrippina became sensible that her struggle for powerhad passed into the appall ing exper i ence of a struggle forl ife against her own son . Nero made several attempts topoison her

,but she was on her guard against this famil iar

weapon . It i s said that she had an antidote compoundedof walnuts

,figs , rue , and salt . Then a freedman in Nero’s

suite suggested a more insidious scheme . Her countryhouse was in. repair

,and Anicetus directed the workmen

to saw through the heavy timber over her ‘bed,so that

the room would collapse when she went to rest . Agrippinawas warned , however , and the plot was defeated .

By the early spring of the year 59 Nero had fallen intoa mood of the most sombre and bitter dej ection . Poppaeacont inued to taunt him with his dependence on h is mother

,

and to display her maddening charms just beyond therange of h is eager arms . The better cit izens Of Rome

,

on the other hand,now perceived his horribl e design

,

and watched the struggle with anxiety. As he sat atthe theatre one day in this mood , his attention was caughtby one Of the elaborate mechanical spectacles which wereOften put on the stage at the time . A Ship sailed intoview Of the spectators , fell into pieces , and disgorged anumber of wild beasts upon the stage . Nero asked '

Anicetus , who was a skilful mechanic , whether he could

bu ild'

a sh ip that would thus fal l to pieces .ou the water

at a given,

moment . The man promised to do so , and Nerowent down to the coast in more cheerful temper.

It was the month of March , when wealthy Romans

THE MOTHER OF NERO 10 1

were wont to forsake the city for the marble villaswhich shone in the spring sun on the flowered h il ls aboutthe northern corner of the Bay of Naples . The seasonbegan with the festival Of‘ Minerva on March 19th. W i thsome surprise and susp i c i on

,Agrippina , who had gone

down to her vi lla,received an affectionate invitation to

join her son at Baiae for the celebration ; and she heardfrom other quarters that he had announced a desire tobe reconciled with her. She went on board the Liburniangalley which lay Off the gardens of hOr villa at Antium,

and sailed to Baiae . Nero met her in the Imperial gal ley ,

kissed her affectionately,and Invited her to a banquet

which his friend Otho,the husband of Poppaea , would

give that night in honour Of their reconcil iation . She

consented , but i t is clear that she wavered between herConsciousness of the utter unscrupu lou sne ss of her sonand the bright vision Of a return to happiness which heheld before her.

When the hour came for going , she was told that hergalley had . met with an acc ident , but that a superb gildedgalley, with sai ls Of silk and a military guard on board , hadbeen sent as a love-gift from her son in commemoration oftheir restored affection . She gazed with suspicion on thebeautiful Object , as i t lay mirrored in the waters of the lit tlehaven , and decided to go overland , on a l itter, to Otho

’svi lla. But the amiable behaviour of Nero at the banquetdispelled the last shade Of her suspicion . I n the joy whichhis caresses and his well-feigned affection gave her

, She

did not notice the passing of the hours unti l midnight,

when she rose to go . The beautiful ship with the gildedflanks and the silken sails awaited her once more

,and this

time she embarked on it . Nero kissed her eyes and herhands , put his arms about her and pressed her to h isbosom , held her while he gave a las t long look into hereyes , and then— abandoned her to th e murderer Anicetus .

The galley shot out over the smooth scented watersunder a canopy of brill iant stars . Agrippina sat in hercabin , in the soft spring air, and talked about the happy


future wi th her one male attendant, ,Cre pe re ius Gallus , and

her one maid, Ace rronia Pollia. And suddenly

,as they

re ached the deep water , there was an ugly crack , and theroof of the cabin fell on them . Gallus was kil led outright

,

but the two women were saved , as the stout walls failed tocollapse

,and there was some misunderstanding among the

crew in the dark . The maid rushed to the deck call ing foraid for the Empress— others say that she represented herself as the Empress— and was slain . Agrippina listenedw i th terror to the Crash of timber and the rush of armedmen

,and realized the treachery of her son . S t il l she did

not court death . S he dropped quietly over the side,and

swam toward the distant shore . Her strength graduallyfai led

,and She was about to abandon the awful struggle

,

when some men who were fishing by night picked her upand took her ashore .

W ounded by the falling timbers,exhausted by the

struggle,stricken to the heart by the brutal ity of he r '

Son ,

she nevertheless ral l ied at once,and devised a fresh plan .

She calmly sent a message to Nero that , by the favour ofthe gods , She had survived the wreck of the galley whichhe had given her, but requested that he would not come tovisi t her until her wound was healed . W ithout a word toher attendants about the horrible plot , She ordered theremedies for her condition

,and trusted that Nero would

repent . Through the remaining hours of the night she layon her couch , with one maid in attendance , her room feeblyl it by a single light . The whole country without was al ivewith men . The shore was lit up with their torches , andthey

.gathered about the house to express their joy that

Agrippina had escaped shipwreck on the very night of soauspicious a reconcil iation . As the first light Of dawnbroke on the encircl ing hil ls

, Anicetus and his men enteredthe house with Nero’s reply. She read something of itstenor - in their faces

,and said to their leader : Hast thou

come to visit me Then tel l my son that I have recovered .

Hast thou come to S lay me ? Then I say it is not my sonwho sent thee .

”A sailor struck her ove r the head with a


THE EMPRESSES OF ROME

honourable,and pure

,and had only the doubtful vices

of ambition and pride . For Tacitus and the other Latinwriters she was capable of any enormity , and guilty ofmost . I t wil l be seen that I hold an intermediate view.

She was a woman of great distinction , ab il i ty , and strength .

Had she lived in an age when virtue was not inexpedient,

she would have been an i llustrious and virtuous queen .

But she had to struggle to obtain and retain power in anage when a new and more intel lectual moral standard wasreplacing an older and more inst inct ive standard

,and

,

where it seemed profitable , she availed herself of the moralscepticism which such a change always engenders . She

was queenly , but she was not entirely honourable , and shewas almost certainly not pure . But she served Rome well

,

and left it happy and prosperous ; and her unselfish passionfor the advancement of her son , her chivalrous and fataldefence of his inj ured wife , and the bravery with whichshe met h is unspeakable brutal ity , do much to outweighher evil deeds in the scale of Osiri s .

CHAPTER VI

THE W IVES OF NERO

ERO was no longer “ the young Apollo of his boyhood . Unbridled dissipation and precocious crimehad made their impress on body no less than on

mind . He was a little above the average height,but his

prematurely swollen paunch was‘

poorly balanced on hisslender and ungraceful l imbs

,and his skin was blotched

and repellent . The dull grey eyes betrayed his unceasingindulgence , and the yellow hai r

,dressed in stages of short

curls , framed a face that was certainly no longer handsome .

His mind was in unmistakable d isorder. Our kindly agewould invoke thi s mental trouble in extenuation of thebrutal crimes he had committed and the stupendous follyhe is about to perpetrate . Were thi s a biography of theEmperors

,we might boldly essay to prove rather that th e

insanity followed the matricide , but that does not concernus . He was

,as yet , only in his twenty-second year.

To this precocious monstrosity of vice and crime was

mated one of the gentlest young matrons of the Caesareanhouse

,Octavia , the daughter of Claudius and Messalina .

Married at the very early age of th irteen to Nero , hertimid girl ish nature was paralyzed by the coarse habits ofher husband

,and she merely hovers about the stage , l ike a

dimly perceptible shadow, during the earl ier part of Nero’s

reign . I t must have been shortly after their marriage thatNero disdained her for the beautiful Greek slave , Acte , towhom he was more constant than to any other l iving thing ,and who , in re turn , paid the last tribute to his despised

105

106 THE EMPRESSES OF HOME

remains . At first one of Nero’s associates screened the entanglement , but , as we saw

,i t became known in the palace ,

and Agrippina made a fruitless effort to press the rightsof h is girl-wi fe . The injustice was , however, one thatRoman ladies were not unaccustomed to bear . Nero soonfell into more disreputable ways . Octavia would see himleave the palace after supper with his w i ld companions ,and needed l i ttle effort of imagination to follow his coursewhen he returned , in the early morning , with torn garments and flushed , i f not bruised , features and , occasionally ,the painted signs that he had wrenched from shop-doors

,

or the. cups he had stolen in a raid upon some low tavern .

He had gathered about him a band of older youths , whoencouraged him in the l icentious use of h is power, andendeared themselves to h im by the fertil ity of their imagin ations . Chief among them was S alviu s Otho , a young nobleof Etruscan descent , five years older than Nero— theEmperor O tho of a later date . He had entered the palacein virtue of an amorous relation with one of Agrippina

’slad ies , and his wide knowledge of adolescent amusementswon him the regard of Nero , whom he led into the wildestadventures . They would wander at night through thestreets

,and revel in the taverns and brothels of the popular

quarters of the city , the mysterious dim-l i t valleys onwhich patrician maidens looked downon the h il ls . In those centres of n ightly disorderand his companions Were the most daring Mohocks ,may use a phrase that belongs to later history .

violated women and boys,and played the most

pranks upon unarmed folk . One night Nero was sethrashed by a S enator , whose w ife h e had insulted .

man learned afterwards that i t was thehad beaten

,and went to the palace t

forced him to atone with his l ife for theto the Imperial d igni ty . He withdrew the guardsCircus

,in order that he might enjoy the fights of

fact ions,and from the Milv ian Bridge , at night ,

give complete l iberty to vice in that nocturnal reso



her amber-coloured hair was so much adm ired that i t set,

or revived,a fashion in amber.

She had married a knight , Rufus Crispinus , by whomshe had had a son . This marriage was ended by divorce

,

and she became the wife of Nero’s favourite, Salvius Otho .

I t is suggested , and not difficult to believe , that she hadmarried Otho on account of his intimacy with the Emperor

.

He was by no means handsome , though he covered hisbaldness with a wig , dressed sumptuously , and had wealth ,wit

,and taste for art . From him Nero heard

,over their

cups,the piquant story of POppaea

’

s beauty and luxury,

‘

and it was not long before Imperial messengers were sentto her mansion . They were not admitted

,and even Nero

,

when he sought entrance , was coyly reminded that Poppaeawas married , and was devoted to her husband . After astormy siege she gracefully capitulated so far as to receiveinnocent visits from Nero , and inflame him to madnessw i th the display of her cult ivated beauty . He spokebitterly Of his mother as an obstacle in the way of theirmarriage . Poppaea twitted h im with his dependence onher, and we have seen the outcome .

When Agrippina had been removed,Nero proposed

at once to divorce Octavia ~

and wed Poppae a . The silenceof S eneca at all these crit ical points in the degradationof Ne ro

_

is painful to every admirer of the distinguishedmoralist . I t was the less courtly and less virtuous Burruswho defended the young Empress . I f Nero abandonedOctavia

,he brusquely said

,he must also give up her

dowry— the throne— and Burrus was too general ly respectedto beflou ted . Octav ia the re fore remained in her lonelychamber at the palace

,a helpless witness of the vices of

her husband .

For a month or two after the murder Of Agrippina hebehaved as one stricken with a wild and haunting remorse .

He went feverishly from place to place , and gathered abouthim a band of magicians and Charlatans . He feared to goto Rome until he was assured that Rome was rejoicingat his escape from his mother’s plot . Few pages in the

THE WIVES OF NERO 109

story of that degenerate c ity are sadder than that whichrecords the reception

,in the month of May , of the Imperial

matricide . The S enators and their families , dressed in theirgayest robes

,hurried out along the Appian Way to meet

him , and his route was l ined deep with cheering crowds .

He rewarded them royally . Five or six theatres openedtheir doors

,day after day , to the degraded cit izens . New

things— things that had never before been seen in the

whole history of the city— were provided for their entertainment. Men and women of the highest rank playedthe most lascivious parts of the mimes on the publicstage, and drove their chariots in the publ ic circus . Nerowas a champion of the “ green faction

,and pitted his

royal skill dai ly in the circus against the charioteers ofthe other factions . He sang in the theatre

,and organized

a ‘ band of five thousand handsome youths , in splendidcostumes , to lead the applause , and shower upon him h isfavourite epithet of “Apol lo .

” He even ventured to winpraise in the amphitheatre

,but the one young lion which

he vanquished had been prudently gorged and stup'

efie d

before he encountered it . He announced that his skil lmight be h ired for private banquets

,and nobles paid him

a million sesterces for h is services . Apollo , he reflected ,had no beard in Greek statuary

,so he shaved his beard ,

and the handful of yellow hair was enclosed in a goldencasket studded with pearls

,and carried in solemn pro

cession to the Capitol . In the mighty rejoicing over th iscomplete a ssimilation to Apollo _ _of the tun-bell ied , lankylegged , half-crazy youth , - it i s recorded that a noble damein her eightieth year danced on the stage in the theatre .

The descendants of the greatest Roman families volun

tarily entered the base ranks of the comedian and thecharioteer .

Mr. Henderson is reluctant to admit,in h is study of

Nero , that he was insane. I t would , no doubt , puzzle themost penetrating psychologist to assign the respectiveportions of guilt and of irresponsible disorder in hisconduct ; but that there was mental d isorder i t i s at once

1 10 THE EMPRESSES OF ROME

more natural and more charitable to assume . In any case ,a year or so of th is del irious l ife wore o u t his robustframe

,and a serious i llness suspended for a time the

disgraceful performances . Unfortunately,when he re

covered,he lost the one man who had had some power to

res train h im,and suffi cient honesty to use it . Burrus died

in the year 62 , and at the same time the slender influenceof S eneca was destroyed . This i s no place to discuss thediffi cult and delicate problem Of S eneca’s conduct in h isassociation with Nero . Enough to say that he was nowaccused of conspiracy, and , although he successfullydefended himself

,he ceased to have any power at the

palace .

I t was now possible for Nero to"

rid himself of the pal eyoung prude

,who shrank in her apartments

,and there were

men enough to devise the procedure . Salviu s Otho hadalready been sent to a remote part of the Empire

,and his

place had been taken by a horse-dealer,named T igel linus ,

of l ittle culture and even less character. W ith this new

favourite Poppaea entered into alliance,and the young

Empress presently found herself accused,with brutal

le vity ,

'of adul tery with Euce r,an Alexandrian slave and

musician,and of covering her shame by the crime of

abortion . T igell inus easi ly O btained witnesses,bu t most ‘i

of Octavia’s servants refused,even under torture

,to belie

the virtue of their gentle mistress . The coarseness ofTigellinus had carried him too far

,and public feeling was

strongly aroused in her favour. Nero fell back upon theground of her childlessness , of which he could probablyhave furnished a simple explanation

,and divorced her. In

deference to the sentiment of Rome , he at first gave herhouse of Burrus and the fortune of a noexecuted . A l i ttl e later, however, probabfrom Poppae a , he banished her tomarried Poppaea a fortnight after



path for the pursuit of butterfl ies . When she is representedto us as l icentious we must remember that no definitescandal attaches to her name

,and that she is actually

described as “ pious by no less an authority than the

j ewish historian Josephus . I n fact this circumstance , and

a peculiar feature of the disposal of her body ,which we

w i l l consider,gave birth to a speculation in early times

that she had become a Christian . S erviez finds the storyof her conversion by S t. Paul , and subsequent

“ return to

her abominat ions,

”too piquant to admit of doubt . But the

conversion is even more disputable than the abominations .

It i s now much disputed among our leading divineswhether S t. Paul ever visited Rome

,and there is a

simpler explanation of the phrase used by j osephus . The

Roman governor of j udaea— the biblical Fel ix , a brother ofAgrippina’s favourite

,Pallas— had dealt harshly with the

Jews , and sent some of their priests in chains to Rome .

J osephus and others went to intercede for them , and luckilymet a J ewish -comedian who was in the favour of Poppaeaand Nero . The historian was received with d istinction atthe palace

,and was so successful in h is suit that he might

well ascribe piety to Poppaea . W e may agree that theincident probably argues some culture on her part . Butwe shall d iscover her later in conduct that makes it umdesirable to count her as a disciple of S t. Paul .Before the end of the year Poppaea presented Nero with

a daughter,and a ~ few weeks of wild rejoicing restored her

to general favour,and obliterated the memory of Octavia .

The t i tle of “Augusta was,in an excess of flattery,

bestowed upon both the mother and the infant .’

S enato rsraced e ach other to the Imperial vi l la at Antium , to expresstheir joy at th is substantial promise of a continuance ofthe Caesarean house which had dragged thThe whole of I taly was li t up with rejoicinthat her position was at last secure . And then ,of those dread changes which were almost as comthe

'

l i fe of Rome as in the tragedies of Gre ece , anmen assume that there was a stern and mighty fate



once,more kept the citizens agog with alternate bursts of

frantic dissipation a nd sanguinary melancholy . From thedeath of her ch ild unti l her own violent end

,two years

later , Poppaea appears very l ittle in the chronicles ; bu t,as we shal l see that, w i l l ing or unwill ing , she supportedher husband in his bloody crimes

,we may assume that

she joined h im in h is less criminal orgies . One instancewil l suffi ce . He ordered that a banquet should be givenon a raft

,on the large sheet of water known as Lake

Agrippa . When the citizens crowded to the shore on theappointed evening , they found the great raft towed byvessels plated wi th ivory and gold

,manned by youths

who had won dist incti on in infamy . Round the shoretaverns

,brothels

,and dining-rooms had been erected .

And when the night fell,and the beautiful scene was l it

by the l ight of innumerable torches,the publ ic found that

women of the highest rank were no less accessible to themthan prostitutes in the houses by the lake , and the slavewas at l iberty to embrace h is mistress under the eye ofher husband . Nero even outdistanced Caligula in theImperial teaching of vice . I n the garb of a bride , he wentthrough the rel igious ceremony of marriage with a man ofbase character

,named Pythagoras . He had nude children

fastened to stakes , and rushed upon them fittingly cladin the skin of a w i ld beast . And roundthat vast Emp1re , which the strength and sobriety ofancestors had created

,the weary soldiers watched

barbarians who prepared to invade it.

I t was about th is time that the great fire occurwhich turned the laughter of Nero’s subjects intment . For six days and seven nights the flames ate theirway through the blocks of tal l tenements , divided onlyby narrow streets

,in the parching heat of j uly. Nero was

in the province s at the time, and from the confl ictingaccounts it i s impossible to pass an Opinion on the rumourthat he had ordered the burning of Rome . Dio gives usthe

'

familiar picture of Nero twanchanting the “ Fall of Troy from

THE W IVES OF NERO 1 1 5

tower on the hill . O thers declare,however

,that he at

once ordered the most expedient methods for checking theconflagration . But it was angrily whispered among thecamps of the homeless that men had been seen throwingtorches upon their houses , and that they were acting underorders from the palace . Nor were the cit izens appeasedwhen he threw the blame on the obscure and unpopulardevotees who went by the name of Christians , and affordedthem the brutal spectacl e of driving round the circus tothe light of burning men and women , whose l iving bodieshad been wrapped in tow and soaked in wax and tar. Few

believed in their guil t . Even S eneca at length broke h iscasuistic or diplomatic reserve

,and retired in disgust from

Rome. Nero went down in great dej ection to Baiae ,leaving orders that

,in the restoration Of the city , a new

palace should be built for him that should transcendanything with in the memory of Rome or of history .

This “ golden house,

”

which Nero raised round themore modest palaces of his predecessors , gave a freshgrievance to discontent. The great and unselfish Octavianhad been Satisfied with a small patrician mansion ; Tiberiushad built a palace ; Caligula had enlarged it ; Nero flungout its wings over a vast space. I t seemed that Emperorssquandered the money Of the S tate in proport ion to theiruselessness . The colossal ed ifice and its wonderful parkstretched from the Palat ine to the Esquiline

,across the

intervening valley,and was surrounded by a triple colon

nade in marble . Citizens huddled in th e crowded blocksof the Subura and the Ve labrum

,while Nero created a

miniature world with in his marble girdle . There was agreat lake

,fil led w ith sal t water from Ostia

,with a smal l

town on its shore there were vineyards , cornfie lds , grovesin which wild beasts ran loose

,fountains , and gardens .

The palace itself was of such proportions that a statueof Nero one hundred and twenty feet high could beconveniently lodged in its porch . S ome of the rooms wereplated with gold and adorned with precious stones . The

supper-room had a ceil ing Of ivory,with openings through


which flowers and costly perfumes'

might be Shed uponthe guests . The Egyptian roses whose beauty witheredin one banquet in th is chamber had a value ofin our coinage .

There now dawned on Rome some consciousness of theprice that the Empire was paying for the stupendous follyit had so long applauded . While

fi

the treasury was beingexhausted in entertainments that all could enjoy

,the

murmuring was confined to the sober few . From themoment when this colossal symbol of Nero’s selfishnesstowered above the city

,the murmurs became audible and

were multipl ied . Nero,alarmed at the sul len looks and

the vag’ue reports of plots,went down angrily to the coast .

Then a slave brought a definite accusation of conspiracyagainst hi s master , and the stream of blood began to flow .

It is an unhappy fact , and one that confirms the darkerview of Poppaea

’

s character , that almost the only detailrelated of her in the chronicles

,after th e death of her

ch ild,i s that she was one Of the council of three who

directed this horrible series of‘ executions . Nero wouldnot trust the ordinary procedure of Roman justice . W ithPoppaea and Tigell inus as associate-judges

,he hims

examined,or endorsed

,every charge that cupid ity or

malignity brought to the palace . Rome was reddenedfor weeks w ith torture

,murder , and suicide . S tudents of

the decay of Rome have,perhaps

,not sufficiently appre

ciated the effect of th is periodic effusion of the best bloodin the city. In the earlier wars , both c ivil and foreign ,the good and the base al ike had fallen . I n these inquisitionsfor conspiracy

,which fill Rome w i th mourning time after

time from the death of Octavian to the access iit i s ch iefly the men and women of honour whoThey constitute a natural selection of the cowardlythe Sycophantic .

The city “ teemed with funerals, .in the terse ph

of‘ .Tacitus , and the gatherings Of i ts citizens were bwith mourning. Large numbers of officers and patricwere executed or driven to suicide

,a



pe ror through al l the forms it assumed after the death Of

Poppaea , but he took a third wife , whom Mr. Baring-Gouldseems to have overlooked , and we must briefly relate thestory of her experience . Immediately after the death ofPoppaea Nero took a consort whom the pen almost shrinksfrom describing. I t seemed to him that he discovered aresemblance to h is beloved Poppaea in one of his freedmen

,

S porns . The man was entrusted to the surgeons for a loathsome operation , and then solemnly married to the Emperor .

Dressed In the Empress’s robes and jewels,he travelled in

Nero’s l itter, and was publ icly kissed and caressed byhim .

This abominable comedy soon lost its interest,and

Nero decided to marry Octavia’s sister, Antonia . Recollecting the recent fate of her sister , she boldly refused , and shewas put to death on a charge of aspiring to the throne .

Nero then chose S tatilia Messalina , the granddaughter ofa distinguished and wealthy S enator who ‘had been drivento take h is own life under Agrippina . The last part of the“ Annals ” of Tacitus , which would cover th is date, i s missing

,and if we are to believe th e less reputable chroniclers ,

Messal ina had already been famil iar w i th Nero,and had

married,as her third husband

,one of his close companions

in debauch , Atticus Ve stinus . S he i s described as beautiful

,w itty, wealthy , and lax ; bu t the descript ion is applied

to so large a proportion of the ladies of the time thati t g1ve s l ittle aid to the imagination . From some laterdetai ls we shall conclude

'

that she had more culture , andprobably more character , than most of the courtly ladies ofN ero’s time . One is d isposed to think that she marriedNero on the maxim ,

literal ly interpreted , that i t is better tobe married than burned . Her husband was one nightentertaining his friends when soldiers from the palaceentered the room . They took him to his bath

,opened his

veins,and let him bleed to death ; and S tatilia Messalina

became the tenth Empress of Rome.

There i s every reason to believe that she shrank , withprudence , from the executions and entertainments which



more industrious provinces , and i t was here that the revoltbegan . The leader of the troops in Gaul , V index , enteredinto correspondence with the troops in S pain . The

S panish commander , S ervius S ulpicius Galba, was a

Roman of i llustrious family , venerable age , and sterncharacter. Nero had heard that the purple had beenoffered to Galba, and that th e legions of Gaul and S painwere preparing to advance on I taly .

On his return to I taly , however , Nero hears that theGerman legions are advancing against those of Gaul

,and

that Galba is hesi tating. He gaily resumes his fol lies,

and is deaf to pol itical exhortations . At last a manifestois put into his hands , in which Vindex refers to h im as a“ miserable player , and the insult to h is art cuts deeply.

He writes to the S enate to demand redress , and sets outfor , Rome . Nothing in the whole of his extraordinarycareer i s so tragi-comic as th is penultimate scene . Clothedin a mantle of purple embroidered with gold stars

,wearing

the O lympian Chaplet on his head , he enters Rome as thegod of art . S ervants bear before him the crowns orchaplets he has won in Greece the five thousand Augustansmarch behind his chariot . A sacrifice is made to Apollo

,

and the games resume their familiar course. Then Nero istold that , though V index has committed suicide , the Germanand other legions have joined Galba , and the fire of revolti s spreading round the Empire . He announces that hewil l advance on Gaul . The ladies of h is harem , who forma fair regiment , have their hair cut short , and , with toyshields and other theatrical properties

,masquerade as

Amazons .

The l ast scene is brief and inev i table . Galba ismarching on Rome , the Praetorian guards have beenwon for h im

,the nobles find it safe to desert Nero .

The nerveless brute whimpers and weeps in his helplessness . He will fly to Alexandria , and earn h is l ivingas a musician . The great “ golden house ” i s silent anddeserted . Rome is openly deriding him . His servantshave

’fled ; one has even stolen the box in which he

THE WIVES OF NERO 12 1

kept poison for such an emergency . The fai thful Acte ,S porns , and a very few of those who fed on his folly ,remain with him . Messalina has deserted him , and willappear later as the friend of one of his successors .

In the great silent house , with its walls of gold andits ceil ings of ivory , he puts off the purple robes andclothes himself in an old shirt and a ragged cloak. Ona miserable horse he rides with them across the vastdeserted park

,and makes for the house . of one of h is

dependents,a few miles from Rome . There they admit

him by a hole they have made in the wall , give him blackbread and water

,and cover him with a blanket . They

discuss the situation,and conclude by offering him a

dagger. He shrinks,l ike Jul ia , l ike Messalina , from the

horrible darkness , and vainly strains his eyes for a rayof hope . At last they hear the clatter Of cavalry on theroad

,and Nero feebly points the dagger at his breast , for

a servant to drive home . And when the customarycremation is over, there are none but Acte and a faithfulold nurse to lay the degraded ashes in the tomb .

S o the tenth Empress of Rome laid down her briefdignity. S tatilia Messalina had had l ittl e reason to fol lowNero in his humil iat ion . Whether the charge of laxitythat is brought against her be true or no

,she was a

woman of exceptional intelligence and culture,and had

probably only married Nero out of fear. We meet heragain , at a later stage , in the chronicles . After Galba'sshort hour of supremacy we shal l find an equal ly shortreign of S alv ius Otho , the man who once pil laged tavernswith Nero in the S ubura . Provincial government hadsobered him , and he wrote affectionate letters to Messalina .

He would,no doubt , have made her Empress once more

if he had l ived,but the throne was wrested from him

,

and Messalina retired to the calmer world of letters andrhetoric . Our last glimpse of her discovers her delivering orations ‘

Of great eloquence and learning among the

intellectual ladies -

Of Rome .

CHAPTER V II

THE EMPRESSES OF THE TRANS ITION

HE house of Caesar had peri shed with Nero,and

few sober folk can have regretted that it had noliving representative to win the fancy of the

frivolous people or the bl ind cupidity of the Guards .

There must have been men living in Rome who hadw i tnessed the whole of that appal ling degradation

,so

sw i ft i t had been . The Caesars had sunk in little overforty years from the sobriety of Octavian to the insanityof Nero their consorts had fallen from the strong standardof Livia to

“

the insipidi ty of P oppae a the resources of theEmpire had been squandered in spectacles that had left itspeople nerveless and debauched ; the old Roman ideal ofcharacter had been almost obl iterated in the Imperial city .

I t was our concern to see what part the Empresses playedin th is lamentable h istory of four decades . I t i s

,on the

whole,one that their biographer must blush to acknow

ledge . W e must remember , however , that corrupt rulerswould necessari ly choose weak or corrupt wives

,and we

cannot affect surprise or disappointment when we findthemfloating in the swift current .We have now to open a new and more attractive

gallery of Imperial portrai ts , to pass in review the wivesof those great Emperors who restored the high characterof Rome and strengthened anew the fabric of the Empire .

A very brief summary of events will suffi ce to l ink theCaesars with the Antonines , and introduce to us one ortwo curious types of Empresses who dimly figure in the

transi tion .



The name of V itell ius is already famil iar to us . Hisfather was the fulsome courtier who had inspired Caligulaw i th the idea that he was a god , and who had worn oneof Me ssalina

’

s l i tt le s ilk shoes under h is tunic . His w ife,

S e x tilia, was a woman of strict moral ity and unambitioustemper, but their son , the younger V i tell ius , l ived in tootainted an atmosphere to prefer the plainness of hismother to the craft and greed of his father . He hadlearned vice in the band of young men who brought soevil a fame on Tiberius’s vil la at Capri

,and had made

his way astutely through the successive reigns of Cal igula ,Claudius

,and Nero . He had made a considerable fortune

as proconsul of Africa , and had , on his return to Rome ,married Petronia , the daughter of a wealthy consul .

~S he

settled her large fortune on her son , and when Vitell ius ,having consumed his own wealth in luxury and riot

, wenton to sacrifice h is son for the purpose of securing thefortune held in his name , Petronia angrily remonstrated ,and was divorced .

He then married Galeria Pundana . She was , saysTacitus ,

“ a pattern of virtue,and s ince th is defect —as

V i tell ius would find it— was united with plainness of person

,modesty of taste , and dull , if not defective , conversa

tion,the match was a singularly unhappy one . Vi tel lius

had so far squandered his money that he was unable topay hi s expenses to Lower Germany when Galba gavehim the command of the troops there . How he obtainedthat important appointment i s not clear. S ome say thatGalba selected him because he was not ambitious ° othersthat he secured it through the influence of the “ blue factionat the Circus , of which he was a partisan . He mortgagedhis house

,and S e x tilia sold her j ewels , to obtain funds

for the journey. Fundana and her child were left in apoor tenement at Rome , li ttle dreaming that they wouldbe summoned from it to Nero’s “ golden house ” in a few

weeks .

It, i s e x pressly recorded that S e x tilia and Pundana hadno ambition

,and dreaded lest Vitel l ius should aspire to

THE EMPRESSES OF THE TRANSITION 125

reach the dizzy heights which some early prophet hadpromised him . They were , therefore, dismayed to hear ,shortly after his arrival on the Rhine , that the troopswere offering to secure the throne for him . His genialand indulgent treatment of the soldiers was a betrayal ofhis trust to the stern Galba , and may have been deliberately effected to win their support . He became verypopular

,and was hailed as a second Germanicus .

” Galbawas v pre sently murdered , and , as the German legions hadhad no part in the choice of O tho , they urged V i tel l iu sto lead them against h im . V i tell ius wavered for a timebe tween the safe and considerable means of self-indulgence ,which he had as commander, and the uncertain , butimmeasurably greater

,prospect which the throne sug

gested to his sensual dreams . The officers conqueredhis hesitation

,and he set ou t for Rome in the rear of

the eight legions who had declared for him .

S e x tilia and Fundana seemed to be in peril when thenews came to Rome that V itellius was marching upon th ecity. I t i s said that Vitell ius threatened repri sals i f hisfamily were injured

,but there is no indication that Otho

would stoop to take a revenge on women and chi ldren .

They saw him march out at th e head of h is troops to givebattle to V i tell ius , and wai ted anxiously , with al l Rome ,to hear the issue of the civi l war . And while S enate andpeople were enjoying the mummery of the theatre

,a horse

man rode in with the news that Otho had taken his ownlife

,and V itel l ius was leading his German troops upon

Rome . S enate and people united at once to receive h im ,

and sent him the title Of Augustus. He pol itely declinedit for the time

,and continued his leisurely march upon the

city. There had been many a triumphant march over theroads of I taly in the annals of Rome , but never one soS ingular as that of th e new monarch .

“ The roads fromsea to sea groaned with the burden of his luxuries ,

” saysTacitus ; and , if we distrust Tacitus , as an

‘ admirer ofVite llius

’

s rival and successor,all the Roman writers agree

that his first use of supreme power was to command a


stupendous m inistration to his sensual appetites . Heordered his legions to move S low ly southward , whi le he ,in their train

,exhausted each successive region of its

del icacies,and fi l led the days and nights with his princely

feasting. His example encouraged his w i ld German troops ,and their l ine of march could be traced across Gaul andI taly by their pi llage

,cruelty

,and debauchery.

The repeated messages from the provinces fi lled Romewith laughter, in spite of its anxiety. People rememberedthis princely epicure sheltering, a few month s before , in thepoorer quarter of the town and evading the duns . The

modest and virtuous S e x tilia and Fundana shrank in painfrom the hollow flattery which was paid them

,and followed

the march of the Emperor with d isgust . He was approaching Rome at the head of S ixty thousand men . Legions oftall , fierce , fur-clad Germans , with heavy javelins , werethundering along the I tal ian roads and terrifying thepeasantry . I n their rear was a vast army of slaves

,cooks ,

comedians,charioteers

,and other ministers to the Imperial

appetite . He had sent for the whole of Nero’s servantsand appointments . I t was said that he even intended to

outrage one of the most sacred trad it ions of the ci ty byentering it in ful l armour , at the head of an army withdrawn swords but the friends who met him at theMilv ianBridge persuaded him to change his costume

,and sheathe

the swords of his soldiers . He entered,in civi l toga

,at

the head o f the terrible Germans,his offi cers clad in white

as they bore the eagles . After visiting the Capitol , andaddressing the S enate in terms of pleasant submissivenessto that body and Of somewhat nauseating praise of himse lf,he settled in .Nero’s magnificent palace with Fundana andher child . His troops

,debauched w ith the l icense of their

march,scattered in disorder through the ci ty ; and Rome

resigned itself to the inauspicious rule of its eighthEmperor.We may dismiss the nine months in which Galeria

Fundana was Empress of Rome in a phrase : she was ahelpless and disgusted spectator of the most imperial



the mournful process ion directed i ts steps towards h isbrother’s house. He was persuaded to return to the palace ,but the Ve Spasianists captured Rome , and he was taken to

Fundana’

s house on the Aventine . From this he somehowwandered back to the palace . The awful si lence terrifiedhim ; he tried the closed doors , and shuddered at the emptychambers

,

” says Tacitus . Dazed and incapable of flight ,he hid in the sordid room where the dogs were kept.Here the soldiers found him

,torn and bleeding

,and forced

h im to walk the streets,whi le they kept h is head erect

w ith the point of a sword,and the people flung filth and

epithets at him . They then infl icted on him a slow and

painful death , and flung his remains in the Tiber .

Fundana was spared,and her daughter honourably

given In marriage,by his magnanimous successor . From

the brief and unwelcome splendour of the golden houseshe passed into private l ife

,and l ived only to bemoan

the cruel fate that had lifted her husband to the intox icating height of the Roman throne .

There was no Empress in the reigns of Vespasian andTitus

,but a word may be said of the two remarkable

women who shared their power to some extent . Vespas ian ,whose sober and sol id administration it would be pleasantto contrast with the orgiastic reigns of his predecessors ,was a rough soldier

,of humble extraction and homely

ways . He had,in the time Of Caligula

,married the

mistress of a knight , Flavia Domitilla , who remains l ittlemore than a name in the chronicles . He had won dist inction under Narcissus

,but the triumph of Agrippina

drove him and Domiti lla into exile . Nero employed himto crush the rebellion in Judaea

,and it was during this

campaign that h is wife died,leaving him w ith her two

sons— his successors— Titus and Domitian . He was , therefore , a widower when the Eastern troops made himEmperor, but he took into his palace

,and treated as

Empress , an emancipated slave of the name of Caenis .

‘The mistress of Vespasian has the dist inction of beiassociated- actively and usefully associated- r with him

THE EMPRESSES OF THE TRANS IT ION 129

one of the soundest attempts t o restore the decayingEmpire . She had been in the service of Antonia , thegrandmother of Agrippina , and is said to have been theoneWho first disclosed to Tiberius the pe rfidy of S ejanus .

From the first she was a dangerous rival of Domit il la ,and , when his wife died , Vespasian entered into the quasimatrimonial relation with her which is known in Romanlaw as contuberm

’

um. She would probably have beenEmpress if the law had permitted him to contract asolemn marriage with her. S he had considerable abil i ty,but an unhappy reputation for extortion and the

'

sale ofoffices . I t i s not clear , however , that the wealth sheobtained did not contribute to Vespasian’s rehabilitationof the resources of the Empire . They abandoned anddestroyed the golden house of Nero

,the central site of

wh ich is now marked by the Flaviam Amphitheatre , orColiseum . In their quiet gardens in the Quirinal theyreceived any citizen who cared to visi t them , and maintained no timorous hedge of soldiers between themselvesand their people . They wished to see money spent onpublic purposes , or hoarded for public emergencies , ratherthan squandered .

“ My hand is the base of the statue :

g1ve me the money , Caenis i s said to have told a wealthyman who proposed to raise a statue to her ; but Dioinforms us that thi s and

“

other stories o f Caenis’s avariceproperly belong to Vespasian . S he died , however— if thedate assigned in Dio is correct— in the second year ofVespasian’s reign , and must not be credited w i th toolarge a share in that great purification of Rome and re

invigorat ion of its life with healthy provincial blood whichTacitus regards as the beginning of the recovery of th eEmpire .

Titus , who succeeded h is father in the year 79 , andreigned for two years

,threatened at o ne t ime to give

Rome an even more singular and unwelcome type ofEmpress . He had in early youth married ArricidiaTe rtulla

, who died soon afterwards , and then MarciaFurnilla, a lady of il lustrious family. He left h is wife

9


in Rome when he took command under h is father inJudaea

,and became infatuated with a brilliant princess

of the Herod family,Berenice . He divorced Fu rnilla

,

and brought Berenice to l ive with him at Rome . Butthe Romans re sented the prospect of a J ewish Empress ,and She was forced to return . On his accession to thethrone he made no attempt to enforce her on them . Hereigned alone for two years

,

“ th e love and del ight ofthe human race

,and maintained the sober administration

of h is father.W ith the accession of h is younger brother , Domitian ,

Rome received a new Empress , and , by an unhappycoincidence

,saw the imperial palace return to the evi l

ways Of th e Caesars . Those Of our time who attachalmost the ent ire importance to stock or b irth , and littleto circumstances ,

‘ in the formation Of character , will finda peculiar problem in Domitian and his wife . The

Emperor was the second son of the “ plain S abine burgher ”

and sturdy soldier, Vespasian , and of th e lowly provincialwoman

,Flavia Domiti l la . The Empress

,Domitia Longina,

was the daughter of Domitius Corbu lo , one of the strongestand ablest generals that Rome produced in the firstcentury . Yet of these sound and vigorous stocks came ,in one generation

,one of the most morbid : of the

Emperors and an Empress who,in some respects

,rivalled

Messal ina . Rome knew them both , and had no falsehope .

Domitia— as She i s usually cal led—makes her firstappearance as a young girl of great beauty and promise

,

caressed and protected by the wealth and prestige of herd istinguished father who

,it is interesting to note

,was a

brother of Caligula s masculine wife Ca sonia. S he wasmarried to a noble of distinct ion and character

,Lucius

ZEliu S Lamia IZEmilianus

, and she seems to have been anest imable young matron unti l her father incurred the angerof Nero and was forced to commit suicide . Procopius andJosephus , indeed , represent her as virtuous to the end , butthere seems to be little

’

room for doubt that the nearer and


THE EMPRESSES OF THE TRANSIT ION 13 1

less indulgent authorities are correct . Her young mindopened on the sordid scenes of the closing part of Nero’sreign and the folly of Vi tel l ius . She th en met thefascinating and effeminate Domitian

,and very Speedi ly

capitulated to his assaultsGibbon speaks of h im as “ the timid and inhuman

Domitian ,” while Dio Opens h is biographical sketch of the

Emperor with the del iberate epithet ,“ bold and wrathful .”

W e shal l find a very natural dread of assass ination inDomitian

’

s later years,but he was undoubtedly bold and

crafty in the service of Venus , and a stranger to moralsentiment . His elder brother Ti tus had developed themanly qualities of their father on the battlefields of Judaea ,and had proved strong enough to crush his irregularfeel ings on his accession to the throne . Domitian hadremained at Rome

,discharging only lciv ic duties , and had

become one of the most heartless dandies in the group ofdegenerate young patricians . During the civil strife of theVite llianists and Ve spasianists on the streets of Rome hehad made his escape in the fitting disguise of a priest ofI sis . Ti tus knew his vicious and luxurious ways , and en

deavou red to check h im by offering him his own charmingdaughter Julia In marriage ; but D omitian was engagedin fascinating the pretty and accomplished wife of LamiaE milianus

, and refused . T itus,on his accession

,associated

him in the government,and his first act was to separate

h is m istress from her husband,and marry her.

Domitia’

s triumph was quickly tempered with mort ification. Julia married her cousin S abinu s, and , out ofp ique or devilry , Domitian now discovered her charm andseduced her. To such a pair as these the attainment ofsupreme power meant an occas ion of Imperial l icense , andsober Romans saw their community rapidly lose the groundthat had been won in the previous reigns . I t was evenrumoured that Dom itian had hastened his brother’s deathby putting him in a box of snow during his last i llness ,though this remains no more than an idle rumour . At al levents , Domitia soon discovered the despicable character


for whom—or for whose prospects—she had abandonedher saner husband . Whi le the affairs Of the Empire neededh is most strenuous atte ntion , he would spend hours catch ingfl ies and spitting them with a bodkin ; and from thespitting of fl ies he presently passed to the larger sport ofmurdering men . He conducted hi s l ittle frontier-wars fromsafe and luxurious quarters , and came home to enjoy atriumph and erect a colossal bronze memorial of his valour.

He banished eunuchs from Rome,and kept them in h is

palace waged war against vice in all forms,and practised

i t in al l forms . I n the general relaxation of Romanmanners even the Vestal Virgins had been for somedecades permitted an alleviation of their onerous vows .

Domitian posed as a moral ist , on no other apparent groundthan that he was closely acquainted with every Shade ofimmoral i ty

,and drast ically punished them . He raised

fine public bui ldings , and depleted the public treasury byreckless expendi ture and incompetent administration ; prosccu te d offi cials for extort ion , and put men to death fortheir wealth ; gave brill iant entertainments , and darkenedthe city and the Empire with h is sanguinary brooding .

I f we were to accept Josephus’s est imate of the virtue ofDomitia

,we should conceive her as l iving in melancholy

i solation in the gloomy palace,an outraged spectator of

her husband’s relat ions with Julia . But there i s goodevidence that she sought rel ief with something of thefreedom of a Messalina . An authentic occurrence in theth ird year of Domitian’

s reign puts her guil t beyond question . He had the actor Pari s murdered in the street , anddivorced Domitia. The people boldly sympath ized withher

,and covered with flowers the spot on which Paris . had

been k il led . The Emperor had a number of them executed ,but publ ic feel ing seems to have been expressed so stronglythat he was forced to recall Domitia to the palace, and thesordid comedy ran on amid the jeers of Rome . A poetwas put to death for making it the theme of his verse ;Domitia

’

s former husband and o thers were executed fortheir

'

freedom of speech . Then the beautiful and capti



each guest was one of the dancing boys , now cleaned,

perfumed , and clothed with flowers , bearing the gold andsi lver vessels which the guest had used at the banquet .The boys and the dishes were presented to them with theEmperor’s greeting.

Unhappily , Domitian did not confine himsel f to intimidation . The heads of the wealth ier nobles fell in quicksuccession , and , in great secrecy , amid an army of Spies ,the Empress and a few others came to an understanding.

The story of the actual fall of the tyrant has clearlybeen embroidered with a good deal of unauthentic detai lin popular gossip

,but even in its most sober version it does

not lack romance .

The version which Dio assures us he “ had heard isone that the conscientious historian must hesitate to accept .The Emperor , he says , had been informed of the conspiracy , and had drawn up a l ist of those who were to

'

beexecuted for taking part in it . He put the list under hispi l low , w ith the sword which he always kept there , andwent to sleep .

“

We have previously seen something ofthe bej ewelled boys who used to run with great freedomabout the palaces of the Romans of the first

'

century.

Domitian , the great censor of other people’s vices ,

‘had anumber of them , and the legend is that one of them , playingin his bedroom , not iced the parchment under h is pillow ,

and took i t out into the palace . Domitia met the boy , andidly glanced at the parchment . She saw her own nameat the head Of the l ist of the condemned , and at Oncesummoned the other conspirators . They entered theEmperor’s room , snatched the sword from under his pil low ,

and despatched him .

Pretty as the story is,we must prefer the more prosaic

account given us by S uetonius , who l ived in the nextgeneration . Domitia felt that the Emperor had at lastconceived a design on her l ife , and she sent her stewardto despatch him . He offered Domitian a fictitious reportof a plot , and stabbed him while he read it . O ther servantsrushed in at the signal

,and completed the assassination .

THE EMPRESSES OF THE TRANSITION 135

I t is the one action that historians have recorded to thehonour of the twelfth Empress of Rome , and we leaveher company with little regret . S he was an ordinarywoman of the patrician world at the time— fair

,frai l

,aecom

plished , and luxurious . W ith the death of her husbandshe merges in the indistinguishable crowd of selfish andwayward ladies on whom Juvenal was then beginning topour h is exaggerated rhetoric .

I t remains to describe very briefly how the sceptrepasses into the nobler hands of the S toic Emperors andtheir wives . The throne was offered to

,and accepted by

,

M . Cocce ius Nerva, an aged noble of known moderationand long public service . He at once removed al l tracesof the hateful reign o f his predecessor

,and entered upon

a sober and useful administration of the Empire . He wasin the later sixties of hi s age , and we find no mention Ofa wife. But the task of enforcing sobriety on so corrupteda population was too great for his age and moderate ability .

A conspiracy against h im was discovered . He‘

disarmedthe conspirators by inviting them to s i t by him in thetheatre

,and even putting a sword in their hands and asking

them what they thought of its keenness but he saw thata stronger man was needed , and he chose as his colleagueMarcus Ulpius Nerva Trajanu s , a S paniard of greatmil itary abili ty and commanding personal ity

,who was

then at the head of the troops in Germany. Nerva diedsoon afterwards , and , with the accession of Trajan , wecome to the thirteenth Empress of Rome and the commencement of a new and more splendid chapter in thestory of the Empire .

CHAPTER VIII

PLOTINA

F , says Gibbon ,“ a man were called to fix the period

in the history of the world , during which the cond it ion of the human race was most happy and pros

pe rous , he would , without hesitation , name that whichelapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession ofCommodus ”

; and he observes of Antoninus P ius andMarcus Aurelius that “ their united reigns are possiblythe only period of h istory in which the happiness of a greatpeople was the sole object of government .”

This monumental eulogy of the period which we nowapproach— a eulogy which the more penetrating study ofRenan and the more recent research of M . Boissier andDr . Dil l have not material ly lessened— will suffice to warnth e inexpert reader against the ancient and popular legendthat Rome continued to sink under the burden of its vicesuntil i t tottered into the tomb of outworn nations . Underthe Empresses whom we have now to consider there wasa great improvement of character and recovery of vigourin the Roman Empire

,but before we pass to that brighter

phase I would enter a brief protest against the generalexaggeration of the darkness of the period we have traversed . Even under its worst rulers Rome was far frombeing wholly corrupt . The vices of a Messalina , the crimesof an Agrippina

,and the fol l ies of a Poppaea

,stand out

so prominently in that period only because they wereperpetrated on the height of the throne . Even they werehardly worse than the crimes and foll ies of the wives or

136



effort to weed out the good , we have found virtue andcourage springing up afresh in each generation

.

We now come to a period when,three centuries before

the fall of Rome, the Empire is purged of its exceptionalcorruption , and character assumes the normal d iversitythat i t has in any old and wealthy civil ization . The cityof Rome was assuredly vicious and in decay. But the citywas not the Empire , as those rhetoricians forget who talkof its entire demoral izat ion . Rome had been drenchedwith degrading agencies for half a century ; but there wasa quite normal amount of stout will and high character inthe provinces , and this is now infused more freely into th emetropol is . I t is only by a s imilar influx of sounder bloodfrom the provinces that any great city survives the feverishwaste of its tissue . The remedy was retarded in Romebecause the provincials , e ven

'

of I taly , but especial ly ofGaul and Spain , were of al ien race . Rome j ealouslyremembered that i t was the conqueror ; th e rest were th econquered . Under Vespasian

,however

,the provincial s

Were admitted more freely,and with the access ion of a

S paniard , Trajan , the process increased .

In the remote and primitive settlement which Agrippinahad establ ished on the banks of the Rhine

,

-where th etowers of Cologne Cathedral now keep watch over asplendid city

,there dwelt

,in the year 97 , the commander

of the forces in Lower Germany, Marcus Ulpiu s Trajanus ,with his wife and a few female relatives . Trajan was of amoderate S panish family , and had , l ike his father , cut h isown path in the military service of the Emp i re . He wasunambitious

,but popular. A large

,handsome man , in his

forty-fifth year , of singularly graceful bearing and serenefeatures , he charmed everybody by his s implicity andaffability of manner , and l iked a good carouse and a,

roughsoldierly jest . His wife Plotina was a plain , honest matronof unknown origi n . I t has been conjectured that she wasrelated to Pompe ius P lanta , at one time Governor ofEgypt

,but the only ground for the conjecture seems to

be that P lanta was a friend of Trajan’s . As she had

PLOTINA I 39

nei ther beauty of person nor romantic d efect of character,

the chroniclers have left he r,large ly to our imagination ;

but she was a type of woman whom it is not diffi cult topicture— a woman of plain features

,level judgment

,and of

what is euphemistically called grave but agreeable con,

versation . She was by no means brill iant , but her closefriendship for Hadrian suggests that she was not too dulland prosy , and -had pretensions to culture . Her ways weresimple

,and her character can be rel ieved of the one

imputation made agains t it . She compares well'

withLivia

,but as a higher bourgeoz

'

se compares with a grandedame. I n a word

,she had none of the autumnal colour

,

the beauty of decay , of the Caesarean women , but she hadthe less aesthetic and more useful qual ity that they lacked ,conscientiousness . To the courtly Pl iny 83)she i s the embodiment of all the virtues .

W ith her at Cologne was Trajan’s sister Marciana,a

widow of much the same complexion as P lot ina,and

Marciana’s daughterMatidia,who in turn had two daughters

,

S abina and Matidia. W e can imagine the agitation of th istranquil establishment among the

‘

fore sts of Germany whena courier came from Rome w i th the news that Trajan wa schosen as colleague of the Emperor. They had left RomeSix years before

,in the middle of Domitian’

s reign . However

,they seem to have received very sedately the prospect

of a removal from the camp on the Rhine to the Imperialpalace . Although Nerva died in the following JanuaryTrajan remained for the year in Germany

,completing his

task of strengthening the frontier against the northernbarbarians . Then the family set . out on the long journeyto the capital .The fame of Trajan’s simpl ici ty and genial ity of manner

had preceded h im , but Rome looked w‘

ith surprise on anEmperor who could wait a year before occupying thepalace,enter the ci ty on foot , without guards , and talk soaffably with any of his subj ects . Nor was P lot ina longbefore she showed that they had received a new type ofEmpress . As she ascended the steps of the palace

,she


turned round and said to those below :“As I enter here

to d ay , I trust I shall leave it when the time comes .”The

refreshing amiabi l i ty , s implicity , and moderation of theImperial couple capt ivated the Romans , and Trajan re

sponded to their good'

will with the most judicious anduntiring exertions in the public service . He trod out atonce the h ideous brood Of informers , checked corruptoffi cials , and appointed the best men to public Offices .

Indifferent to the splendour and luxury of even the modestpalace of Vespasian , he spent most of h is reign in frontierwars or in long j ourneys for the purpose of bracing therelaxed frame of the Empire and he enriched and adornedRome as no Emperor had done since Octavian .

That he was vigorously supported by Plotina is quitecertain

,and there is evidence that she was much more than

a sympathetic witness of h is labours . I t i s related by theEmperor Jul ian that Trajan often sought the advice ofP lotina

,and that i t was always sound . At the beginning

of h is reign she had occasion to use her influence . Trajan’sdisl ike of informers was carried so far that

,when a case of

real extortion occurred in the provinces,the injured were

prevented from bringing it to his notice . They appealedto P lot ina , and she put the case j udiciously to her husbandand secured

.rel ief. I n many other ways she gave usefu l

assistance , so that the S enate offered the ti tl e of Augustato her and Marciana . They declined , as Trajan had refusedthe special t i tle offered to him , but he relented , and theyfollowed his example .

The reign of Trajan and P lotina was thus one longepisode of strenuous and enlightened public service

,but

before we enter into the particulars of their achievementsit i s proper to endeavour to Obtain a nearer view of th eirpersonal ities . I n th is the chroniclers give us l ittle assistance

,and the result cannot b e very interest ing. I t i s ever

the painful reflection of the b iographer - that the descriptionof a sober l ife— a l ife which neither sinks to the lower levelsof vice nor soars to some unaccustomed height of virtuehas l ittle interest for the maj ority of h is readers ; and th is



Hadrian raised in memory of her long testified to h isardent and grateful attachment .There is a good deal of exaggeration in this conception .

W e shal l see that Trajan promoted Hadrian in such a wayas to mark him in the eyes of al l as his successor ; and hischief advisers in th is were the statesmen S ura and Attianus .

I n any case , there i s no proof that P lotina , who must havebeen twenty years older than Hadrian , felt more than avery natural fondness for the gifted and charming youth .

P liny mentions.that her friendship for h im gave rise to

gossip,but insists that she was a most virtuous woman .

”

The “Augustan -History ” leaves her unassailed . Suetoniushas noscandal to record . Dio alone describes their attachment as erotic love but on an earl ier page Dio hasexpressly said that her career was stainless. When he hasdescribed her standing at the top of the palace steps

,to say

that she trusted to leave that palace just as she entered it ,he adds : “And she so bore herself throughout the wholereign as to incur ’no blame .

” l The remarkable eulogy ofP l iny

,the S i lence of the other authorities , and , the conduct

of Trajan,must enable us to choose between these contra

dictory statements of Dio , and indeed compel us to rejectth i s unsubstantial charge against the virtue of Plotina .

The other ladies of the Imperial household were equallywithout reproach

,and l ife at the palace was harmonious

and uneventful . Emperor and Empress moved aboutRome without guards

,and entertained , or were entertained

by,thei r friends in a simple and unceremonious way. But

Trajan had littl e love for the atmosphere of a palace , andan outbreak in Dacia , two years after his arrival in Rome ,gave h im an excuse to return to the camp . He tookHadrian with him , and remained in Dacia a year. In theyear 103 he rejoined Plotina at Rome , but the war brokeout afresh shortly afterwards , and it now took him threeyears to subdue the

’

province and link i t to the Empire bya great bridge over th e Danube . He returned in 107 , and

rkal 057 0 yes Bu

‘

z mic-179 f f): dpx fis dujyayev 650 1'

s p rjdq u'

av c’

mn/opt'

av

ax e’

iv : lx viii. 5 .

PLOTINA



the social needs of the Empire less regarded than.

material . Previous Emperors had given a scanty practexpression to the doctrine of the broth erhoodwhich the S toic ph ilosophy was disseminating.

gave a great extension to th is new philanthro

l earn from the inscriptions that have been foundof I taly . I t i s estimated that poor andchildren were fed by charity or Imperial aid in I taly alone.

The lot of the slave was improved , and the school system ofth e Empire became better than any that has S ince appearedin Europe unti l the second half of th e nineteenth century.

Men were returning to the sobriety of their fathers,and

were tempering it with the new spirit of peace and mercy,and a regard for culture. Moral ity improved , and characterbecame a qualification for Office . The

the long reign— an intrigue of the Vestal Virgins wityoung knights—was punished with all the rigour ofRoman law .

W e must be content to know that P lotina had hpart in this noble work of restoring the jaded framethe Emp1re , and refrain from attempting to measure hparticular influence. By the year 1 14 the admini

ran so smoothly,and the Western world was so

that Trajan turned his attention to the East .had been interfering mwere vassals of Rome ,of estab lishing more strfrontier of the Empire . He had never been inand the deep attraction of its ancient cities andmysticism gave a cultural interest to his expedition .

took with him P lot ina and Matidia, his niece.

’

Marcseems to have died before this t ime , and Hadrianmarried S ab ina , the daughter of Matidia. Hadrian

,

probably his wife,accompanied them .

The path to the East for the Roman lay through

, whe re"Plotina and her companions would

decaying splendour of th e Greek cithey had long been

PLOTINA I45

met Trajan there , and tried to disarm him , but he d ismissed them

,and pushed on to the

(field in which he trustedto win fresh laurels . They reached Antioch at the endof the

‘

year,and had

,during their stay in that metropolis

of Oriental vice and luxury , a novel experience . A greatearthquake shook the city

,and even the house in which

the Emperor lodged . He was forced to make his escapeby the window. The accounts of their later movementsare meagre

,and we can only imagine P lotina passing

with wonder through the strange spectacles of westernAsia . During the Spring and summer an inde cisivecampaign

‘

was waged against the Parthians , and Trajanreturned to Antioch for the winter . I n the spring of theyear 1 16 the Emperor set out again for Mesopotamia . Hepassed down the Euphrates , took the Parthian cap ital ,sailed on the Persian Gulf

,and even directed a longing

eye over the ocean in the direction of India . The spiri tof Alexander breathed in h im as he trod th is theatreof the historic conquerors

,but the burden of age and an

increasing infirmity put a reluctant l imit to his ambit ion .

He had , in fact , passed the range of his powers , anddistended too far the frontier of the Empire . I n thefollowing year he became weaker

,and the Eastern tribes

advanced with spirit . Leaving the task to his generals ,the Emperor turned towards I taly .

How far P lotina had accompanied her husband onthese remote journeys we are not informed . I t wouldnot be surprising , or out of harmony with a general customof the time , i f she covered the whole

‘

,or the greater part

,

of the territory with him . However that may be , wefind her with Traj an and Hadrian at Antioch once more inthe course of the year 1 17 . Trajan was seriously il l , andhad to abandon all hope of settl ing the Eastern question .

He maintained the troops at the frontier , left Hadrian atAntioch as legate of the East , and slowly and sadly movedtowards Europe . His tall frame was bent with age

,his

hair was white , his l imbs made heavy with dropsy andnumbed with incip ient paralysis . When they arrived at

I O


S e linu s,a small town on a pre c1p1tous rock of the Cil ician

coast,only a few hundred miles from Edessa , his il lness

increased,and he died

,in the month of August , 1 17 , in

the sixty-th ird year of his age .

The exact truth about Plotina’

s conduct at the t imeof Trajan’s death wil l never be known , but an impartialanalysis of the statements made by the chroniclers cannotdiscover any clear ground for dissatisfaction . Dio

,whose

authority on this point i s claimed to be considerabl e,S ince

his father was then governor of the province of Cil icia,

first insinuates a suggestion of poison,

. in the usual formof an unsubstantial rumour, and then insists that Plotinaforged a letter in Trajan’s name

,nominating Hadrian

h is successor in the Imperial power . The writer Of thesketch of Hadrian in the Histori a Augusta

,

”Spartianus ,

carries the legend further. He describes how P lotina puta confidant in the bed of the dead Emperor , drew theclothes about him

,and directed him to murmur

,in a

feeble voice , to the assembled officials that he wishedHadrian to succeed h im . This second version i s whollynegligibl e . I t comes only from an anonymous writer Ofthe fourth century who excites our distrust at all timesby his extravagant and unsupported statements . The

latest commentators on his work warn us that his aimis prurient and his method devoid of scruple .

The authori ty of Dio , on the other hand , must not beexaggerated . His father might purvey gossip to him , l ikeany other Greek or Roman

,and his story of

,

the forgedletter— or forged signature to a letter—might easily bea piece of local gossip . P lotina w as evidently anxiousto secure the succession for Hadrian

,and one may well

admit that she concealed her husband’s death unti l Hadrianarrived at S e linu s . That concealment would easily giverise to conj ectures . S erviez naturally forces on his readersthe more romantic version

,but more sober writers acquit

P lotina of anyth ing more than a formal use of Trajan’sname after h is death .

The suggestion of poison is frivolous . Trajan had been



compliment that the S enators could pay to an Emperorwas to cry that he was “ more fortunate than Augustus ,and better than Trajan .

”

Plotina l ived at Rome for four years after the death ofher husband . The first year was

,as we Shal l Se e , one of

great anxiety and trial . There was much discontent atHadrian’s accession

,and before long his reign was stained

by the execution of four of the most distinguished nobles .

Matidia died in the following year , and it was known toall Rome that S abina l ived unhappily with Hadrian . I t i ssaid that Plotina continued to have an active share in theadministrat ion of the Empire ; though she must now havebeen in

,or near

,her seventh decade of l ife . Dio places

her death in the year 12 1 . Hadrian was in Gaul at thet ime

,and the luxuriance of his mourning gave encourage

ment to -the libellers . He went into deep mourning ,breathed a passionate grief in a beautiful poem ,

and orderedthe building of a temple for the cult of the divinity whichhe conferred on her . I n N imes

, W here he was staying atthe time when her death was announced

,he raised ”the

superb mausoleum which kept her name for ages in themind of

“

Europe .

I t i s both pleasant and legitimate to believe that therewas neither rhetorical d isplay

,nor the memory of an

irregular love in the princely mourning of Hadrian overthe death of his patroness . Apart from his own indebtedness to her, the world owed her much . She had been atleast a most worthy and helpful companion of a greatEmperor, a type of womanhood to which the eyes ofRoman matrons might happily be d irected . On the daywhen her inanimate frame was borne from the palace tothe funeral pi le , men could repeat that she had in truthleft that home of temptat ion as she had entered i t . The

saner and sunnier l ife of the vast Empire was,in part , her

monument .1

1 Duruy, quotes Aure lius Victor Epitome ,”

x iv) as saying : It is impos

sible to say how much Plotina enhance d the glory of Trajan.

”

The passageis really found in c. x x x ix of the “Epitome .

”

CHAPTER IX

SAB INA,THE W IFE OF HADRIAN

E are already familiar with the extraction and thetraining of the next Empress of Rome . S abinawas the elder daughter of Trajan’s niece Matidia

,

and came of the sound and sober stock of the S panishprovincials . We first meet her in the l ittle settlement onthe Rhine

,where she l ived with her widowed mother and

grandmother,in Trajan’s house , during the reign of Galba

and Nerva .

» S he was in her early teens , a grave andmodest child

,easi ly directed by

,

the three sedate ladies ofthe house . Very shortly after the accession of Trajan

,a

charming young officer burst into the camp to offer h iscongratu lations . He had a romantic story to tel l

,how a

jealous brother-in-law had bribed h is servants to breakdOwn the chariot on the way , and he had crossed the greatforests on foot to greet h is guardian and cousin . I t wasthe future Emperor

,and her future husband , Hadrian

The wicked brother-in-law ,Ursus S e rvianu s , presently

arrived,and put before Trajan a proof of his ward’s

enormities in the shape of a li st of h is debts . But Trajanwas charmed w ith the handsome and brill iant youngofficer, kept him in his suite , and took him to Rome whenhe went up to occupy the throne ; and we saw that hebecame a great favourite of the Imperial ladies . Hisfather had been a first cousin of Traj an , but Hadrian losthim at the age Of ten , and was committed to the guardianship Of Trajan and Attianus. The finest masters of Romedirected h is studies in letters , art , rhetoric , and philosophy ,

149


and he became a most accomplished and learned , as wel las , by hunting and exercise , a graceful and energetic youth .

The HistoriaAugusta expressly says that Trajan lovedhim , and he advanced quickly, and enjoyed the bril l iantl iterary society of the palace and the capital . About twoyears after their coming to Rome he married S abina . Onechronicler represents him as spending large sums of moneyto win her , and so incurring the annoyance of Trajan ;another states that he turned with d isdain from her plainpropriety , and had to be persuaded by Plotina that themarriage was to his interest . I t was , at al l events , clearlya manage de convencmce , and was dest ined to have thecustomary sequel .S abina would be in her twelfth or thirteenth year at the

t ime,and we can imagine the mating Of the prim li ttle

maiden with th e brill iant scholar and promising Officer oftwenty-four. For many years she is no more than thesilent shadow of her husband , and we can only dimlyfollow her movements as she accompanies him about theEmpire . Whether she accompanied him on the Dacianwars between 10 1 and 106 , or , as seems more probable

,

remained at Rome to develop a taste for letters . in thepalace of P lotina , we cannot confidently say

,but it is

recorded that she did lean to culture .

fHadrian was backin 106

,high in the favour of Trajan , who gave him the

diamond ring he had received from Nerva . He could bothfight and carouse to the Emperor’s satisfacti on . He wasmade praetor on h is return , and gave brill iant games—at

Trajan’s expense—in which 1 1 ,ooo beasts were slain . I n

quick succession he became legate in Lower Pannoniaand consul. The aged statesman S ura told him thathe was destined for the throne ; the rumour went aboutRome

,and the nobles , at first d isdainful of h is provincial

accent and jealous of his progress , began to respecth im . He

,and most probably S abina , accompanied Trajan

on his fatal journey to the East,and we have seen what

happened .

In'

the year 1 17 , in about th e th irtieth year of her age ,


1 52 THE EMPRESSES"

OF ROME

the Empress in her resentment Of‘

the practice into whichhis Greek-Oriental tastes betrayed h im , we cannot denythat Hadrian was a great and beneficent ruler . The

sketch of his l ife in that prurient work , the H istoriaAugusta —the ckronique

'

scandaleuse of the middle Empire- ~ is a monumental

,if unconscious , panegyri c .

The biographer of the Empresses cannot escape theconclusion that S abina was not a fitting mate for soversatile and constructive a genius . Her superiority indecency is enormously outweighed by Hadrian’s magnifi

cent work for the Empire . The natural alienation of thetwo in sentiment would not encourage her to co-operatein his work

,in the fash ion set by Livia and P lot ina

,

but one feels that th i s i s not the sole explanation,and

that her mediocre faculty was entirely absorbed in asmall pursuit of culture . I t i s not impossible that

,if

there had be en ‘ cordial co-operation between them ,-she

would have saved Hadrian from the only serious stainson the record of his reign .

The first of ' these occurred in the year fol lowing hisaccession . Bringing to the Imperial task a fresh and

vigorous mind , untainted by mere m i l itary ambitionthough he was an excellent soldier— Hadrian glancedround the Empire , and saw that

l peace must first beestabl ished on i ts frontiers . The East was aflame withrevolt

,the African and German boundaries were disturbed

,

and trouble was announced from Britain . He at oncesacrificed the conquests beyond the Tigris and Euphrates ,appeased the J ews and the other peoples of th e East

,and

passed to; Lower Germany to stil l the restlessness of thenorthern frontier. There had been some discontent amongthe older sold iers and statesmen of

‘

Rome at h is beingforced on them . From Judaea he had imprudently sentone of Trajan’s most fiery commanders , the Moorish princeLu sius Quietus , back in some disgrace to the capital , andth is man and others formed a party of oppos ition . Whenthey saw that he was sacrificing Trajan’s conquests andre versing

'

his policy, and especially when he proposed to

SABINA, THE W IFE OF HADRIAN 1 53

evacuate Dacia also , they entered , i t is said , into somethingof the nature of a conspiracy .

How far Hadrian was really responsible for theexecution of the leaders of th is party we cannot say

,and

his emphatic denial of respons ib il i ty is enti tled to consideration . W e know that

,when the aged statesman

Attianus wrote to urge him that the Roman prefect andother distinguished malcontents ought to be removed

,

he refused to take any action . The S enate now announcedthat a plot to assassinate Hadrian had been detected

,and

it put to death , without trial , four men of consular rank ,Nigrinus , Palma, Celsus , and Lu sius Quietus . A sullenmurmur passed through the ci ty , and Hadrian hasti lycomposed his affairs on the Danube and went to Rome .

He resolutely denied that he had consented to the e x e cu

tions,and the question remains open .

W i th this public resentment in V iew , Hadrian at oncelavished the most princely favours on Rome

,and swore

that he would never execute a S enator without the consentof his order. He remitted debts to the treasury to theextent of extended the existing charities toorphans and widows , provided magnificent Spectacles forthe people , and made a sacrifice of Attianu s , by deposmghim, to the anger Of the malcontents . When the S enateOffered "him the triumph which had been due to Trajanfor the Eastern victories , he refused it , and placed a waximage of the dead Emperor in the triumphal chariot . The

citizens of Rome may have been less . impressed whenhe showed a zeal for publ ic morals

,and forbade the mixed

bath ing that had h itherto been permitted ; but he succe eded, by two years of untiring public service , in removingthe earl ier resentment . That he wished to kill Attianus ,and did actual ly execute the architect Apollodoru s

,are

idle legends . S erviez seriously reproduces the story thatthe architect had snubbed him— tel ling him to “ go andpaint h is pumpkins -when he had made a suggestionto h im in earli er years , and that Hadrian avenged himselfwhen he came to th e throne . The truth is that the Historia


Augusta describes h im in consultation with Apol lodoruson some building proj ect ten years later .

The de tallS‘

Of thissvast activity of Hadrian’s do not

concern us , as S abina seems to have taken no part in i t .The busts we have of her seem to show a cold and irresponsive temper, as if the Empress were contemplatingdisdainfully the figure of the beautiful Oriental youth onwhom Hadrian’s affection became concentrated . There isd istinction in the smooth l ines of the face and in the loftyforehead , and there is a proud strength that might verywell make her “ morose and harsh

,

” as Hadrian describedher

,when he gave her such palpable cause for resentment .

Her mother died in 1 19. I n a florid oration Hadrianpraised her beauty of person and character, but the deathwould not be likely to improve the relations of the Imperialspouses .

I n the year I zo -Or 12 1 Hadrian set out on the first ofthe long j ourneys which fi ll the rest of h is career

,and

S abina made the tour of the world with h im . Had theirintercourse been more pleasant , the lot of S abina duringthe next fifteen years would have been one

’

of great fortune .

They passed together Over the whole Roman world fromEboracum (York) to Arab ia and Egypt

,surveying the

ruined Empires of the past and th e young nations of thefuture in the light of whatever culture the age afforded ;and so beneficent was their passage that myriads of inscriptions and coins , bearing such legends as

“ Golden

Age” and Restorer of the Earth , handed on to posterity

the memory of the great works which Hadrian everywhereinaugurated . Through Gaul—probably through the flOurishing Greek colony of Massil ia (Marseilles), the solid andcultured city of Lugdunum (Lyons), and the l ittle tradingcentre

,Lutetia , that would one day be brill iant Paris

they passed on to Germany, and traversed the boundlessforests that h id the soil of a great modern nation . NO

glittering pomp of guards surrounded the Emperor. Bareheaded alike in the snows of Germany and under the

sun of S yria , march ing .commonly on foot in the dress of


SAB INA,THE W IFE OF HA’

DRIAN 1 5 5

a soldier,and living on soldier’s fare , he restored the rigid

discipline of the legions wherever he went . Bridges,

aqueducts,roads , temples , and colonnaded squares sprang

up in the rear of h is march . His staff was a band ofengineers and architects .

In th is novel and admirable company S abina made theround of Gaul and Germany , and crossed over to Britainin the Imperial galleys . From the little colony Of Lond inium (London), which had been destroyed s ixty yearsbefore

,and was now restored by Hadrian

,they passed

along the solid Roman road to Eboracum (York), the lastgreat station from which civil ization looked out on theturbulent waves of S cottish barbarism . I t was then thatHadrian ordered the building of the great wall

,to keep

Off the Caledonian marauders , of which th e traces stil lexist . S abina may have remained in York whil e Hadriansurveyed the rough territory to the north , and it seemsto have been on the Emperor’s return that an episodeoccurred which must have greatly embittered her.One of Hadrian’s secretaries was the historian S uetonius

,

whose work on the Emperors has provided us with muchmaterial . W i th him and the cul tivated commander of thePraetorian Guards S abina maintained a close friendship

,

and Hadria‘n made a grievance of i t . S o closely d id h epry into the affairs of h is friends that the rumour was setabout that he had many mistresses among their wives .

I t was reported to him that Suetonius and S epticius Claruswere behaving with more famil iarity than the d ignity ofthe Imperial house permitted ,

”as Spartianus puts it , and

they were dismissed . There i s no suggestion Of graveirregulari ty on her part . The idea of d ivorcing S abina ,which Hadrian is said to have discussed , i s expresslyconnected with what he called her “ moroseness andasperity and we can wel l bel ieve that her asperi ty tookthe form of bitter complaints about his own conduct .Nothing further was done , and , though we may regardwith reserve the statement that S ab ina del iberately prevented herself from having a child , lest she should put a

1 56 THE EMPRESSES OE ROME

new monster on the throne, the Imperial couple continuedtheir uncongenial companionship .

’ S ome of the coinswhich were struck in commemoration of their passageventured to bear the legend , Concordia Augusta — struckin honour of the harmony of the Imperial household .

From Britain they returned to Gaul,where Hadrian

excited comment by the Opulence of his mourning"

overthe death of Plotina . They then passed to S pain , whereRoman civi l ization had taken deep root

,and on to the

land of the Moors . The Colonies which Rome had plantedalong the strip of territory descending from the mountainsto the sea had been devastate d

i

by the barbarians , and thefrontier had been obliterated . Hadrian drove back thetribes, restored the towns , and returned , after an absenceof more than a year, to Rome. The city was tranquil , andthe building of the great villa which stil l

,in its ruins

,

excites the amazement of the visitor at T ivol i,was pro

ce eding. After a year or two of peaceful administration,

seeing that the west , north , and south of the Empire weresecure and prospering

,Hadrian turned h is face towards

the east .W e need not

'

follow him in this journey to Greece andAsia Minor , since it i s not clear Whether S abina accom

panied him , but it had a sequel of melancholy interest tothe Empress . From the cities of Greece he made his wayalong the coast of the Black S ea to the region Of theParthians , where he again restored peace

,and back

through Asia M inor and the islands to Rome. Two orthree years

‘

had been occupied in this journey , andHadrian

‘

had become less Roman in taste“than ever.

He came home surrounded by Greeks , and w ith a great

Gregorovius points out that the incident may have occurred at Rome ,and that we have no positive proof that Sabina accompanie d him on this

journey. But the narrative of Spartianus se ems to.

imply that,

she was in

Britain,and we shall se e that she accompanied him on his longe r journey

to the East. Duruy and othe r wri te rs hold that the office rs we re d ismisse dfor lack ,

'

not exce ss , of re spe ct for Sabina, but the word “ familiarius ,”

coupled with a thre at of divorce , se ems to demand the inte rpre tation I haveput on it.



was singularly united with a fine artistic sensibi l ity anda love of the softer east

,which led him into many

inconsistencies .

S abina had for companion a Greek poetess, JuliaFadilla

,of such virtue and attainments that a statue was

somewhere raised to honour her as a pattern of integri ty .

The incongruous party,with its confl icting groups of virtue

and vice—a fitt ing symbol of the unhappy union of Westand East—crossed the sea to Athens

,and then visited

Corinth,Eleusi s

,and the other surv iving cities of Greece .

The frame of that superb civi l ization sti ll gleamed,almost

intact,on the soil of Hellas

,though the soul of Greece had

departed . I t was as if one gazed on the smooth whitecorpse of a beautiful woman . Groups of Sophists st i l ld isputed in the gardens or under the shady colonnadesbut they were puny mimics of S ocrates , Zeno , andEpicurus . Politicians stil l babbled in the Agora butthey

“

blessed the hand of Rome that had closed brutal lyon the throat of thei r fair country. The Acropolis st il lshone in its panoply of Parian marble , and Hadrian hadrestored the harbour and repaired many of the ravagesof time and violence . He regre tted t he greed of h is forerunners , and sought to restore the ancient spirit ; Butthe poor revival of art and letters and religion

,which he

succeeded in effecting,was only the last fl icker of the

vitali ty of Greece.

They crossed the sea to Ephesus,which at that t ime

rivalled Antioch and Alexandria as a metropolis of thedecaying civil izations of the East . I ts great Temp le ofDiana , a teeming store of art and treasure , drew menfrom all parts , while priests Of all religions mingled in itsstreets with panders to al l vices and ministers to everyform of art and luxury. Smyrna , another flourish ing cityof Asia Minor

,attracted them next

,with its magnificent

assemblage of temples,colonnades , baths , and theatres

,

and they passed on to S ardis and the other cities of thatfascinating and repel lent Greek-Oriental region , wherenew mysticism ran l ike veins of gold in the old volcanic

SABINA,THE W IFE OF

'

HADRIAN 1 59

deposits . The winter was spent in the luxury of Ephesusand Smyrna, and with the spring they traversed thesuccessive provinces of Asia Minor, admiring and restoringthe remains of Greek and Persian grandeur. ThroughSyria , where famous Antioch detained them for a time ,they went on

,probably

,to the ruined cities of Tyre and

S idon , and returned to Hel iopol i s , Damascus , and Palmyra .

I n Palestine they found the survivors Of the scatteredJ ewish nation l iving in great poverty and dej ection amongthe ruins of their cities

,or stil l scrutinizing the prophets

and looking for the Messiah in the larger communities onthe coast . On the site of Jerusalem

,where a few broken

towers gave a melancholy reminder of their former pros

perity, Hadrian ordered that a new Roman colony shouldbe established .

From Judaea they moved to Arabia , and then to Egypt .Alexandria was then the second city of the world inimportance

,the first in interest . All the exhausted streams

of the older civil izations had poured into it . Never beforeor since was there so cosmopol itan a population

,such a

gathering of old vices and new moralities,dead religions

and fresh religions , cults six thousand years Old and thelatest gospels of Judaea and Persia . I ts harbour sti l l heldthe ships of every port in the Mediterranean

,its S erapeum ,

Museum , and Caesareum sheltered the art and culture ofthe world , and its deafening streets rang with the tonguesof the world . But the S oul of Egypt , too , was dead , andthe Imperial party moved up the Nile to admire thesurviving relics of i ts past . No doubt priests and learnedmen from Al exandria would attend as interpreters . Theywandered in Memphis

,which the sand of the desert was

be ginning to bury, passed through Heliopol is , and reachedBesa , where they experienced the great sensation of thetour. The beautiful Bithynian youth was drowned in theNile , and S abina had to regard with d isdain the womanlytears and the extravagant mourning of the Emperor . I tis not clear to this day whether the death was accidental orvoluntary. Hadrian

,of course , said that i t was accidental ;


but a rumour l ingers in the chronicles that the Emperor,

in h is new zeal for Oriental superstit ion,had learned that

his l ife was doomed u nless some loved being was sacrificedfor him , a

'

nd Antinous Offered h imself. Hadrian has takenthe secret with him , but the temples and statues he raisedal l over the Empire kept the memory of the pretty youthfresh for centuries .

This occurred about the month of October . The datesof these

,

journeys of Hadrian are much disputed , but atrivial detail has determined th is part of the tour. Theywent on to Thebes , and , in accordance with custom , cuttheir names and the date in the great statue Of Memnon .

They probably pushed on as far as Philae , to see thetemple of I sis

,but we find them back in Syria at the

end of the year,or the beginning of I 32 , and soon after

wards in Rome. The great villa had now been completedat. T ivoli

,and we must assume that S abina lived there

during the three or four years that remained for her.

They were years of cont inued melancholy . Hadrian wassobered

,but soured . The Jews had disturbed his cherished

peace by rebell ing,on account of his design to cover the

site of their holy city w i th a Roman colony , and he hadruthlessly destroyed what remained Of their cities , anderased the name of Jerusalem by cal ling the new townE l ia Capitol ina . I llness began to enfeeble his frame ,and he brooded darkly over the question of awhich men were discuss ing. He passed In

through the lovely gardens and marble templesvilla

,st il l mourning the loss of Antinous . An

has been found there with the inscript ion thatraised to the youth by Hadrian and S abina—a fictionthat must have angered the Empress , i f i t were donebefore her death . But she did not l ive to see the darkergloom of his c losing years . She died in , or about , theyear 136 ,

“ not without a rumour of poison ,” says

Spartianus ; the rumour is not worth conside ring .

had been enti tled “Augusta ” by the S enate in 127 ,

Hadrian refused her the divine honours which



tion of the thoughtful , Hadrian announced that he hadchosen as Caesar his dissolute and decadent companion ,Lucius Verus . His brother-in-law S e rv ianu s , now an oldman of ninety

,and the grandson of S e rvianu s, a youth

of nineteen,seem to have been among the murmurers , and ,

on trivial pretexts , they were put to death . These cruelmurders brought a deep shadow over Hadrian’s last year

,

but a last Opportunity was given him to repair h is act ion .

Lucius Verus , worn and consumptive from debauch,died

,

and Hadrian now made choice of the most worthy man inthe S enate , T i tus Antoninus ; adding , however, in hi s quaintway of mingling good and evil , that he must in turn adoptthe son of Lucius Verus and young Marcus Aurelius

,a

Sybarite and a S toic , two antithetic types of Roman life .

He went down to Baiae , suffering acutely from dropsy .

The pain and weariness were so great that he tried tosecure poison or a sword

,but Antoninus prudently

guarded and nursed him . He died in the year 138, done ,

to death by physicians , he ironically said . I n his lastdays he composed some slight verses

,which I may

translate

Little soul,so tired and still,

Guest of this decayingflesh,Whithe r

,now, will thyflight be ?

Pale and cold and re ft of spe ech,

Never more to utter joke .

I t was the note of the time-spirit , which was so strangelyincarnated in Hadrian . He united in his person all thecontradictions that were at strife in his era of changeasceticism and sensuality

,public Spirit and selfish sensi

bility , S toicism and Cyrenaicism . He needed a strongerEmpress . But the better spirit prevailed in him at the end ,and the S toics came to the th rone .

CHAPTER X

THE WIVES OF THE STOICS

N the twenty-fifth of February, in the year 138,

Hadrian had summoned the S enators to the palace .

Verus was dead,and the whole world wondered on

whom the erratic fancy of the ail ing Emperor would restnext. Among the S enators was a distinguished , able , andamiable statesman and commander

,T itus Aurel ius Fulvus

Boioniu s Arrius Antoninus , whose great meri t had —as thelong series of names implies— been richly rewarded byOlder relatives . He had been much consulted by Hadriani n his last ‘

years , and was respected by al l . To the greatrelief of the S enate the wavering finger of the Emperor fel lon this man

,and he was acclaimed Cmsar. He attended

Hadrian devotedly,prolonged the useless life which

lingered between him and the throne,and— it was rumoured

— saved many a noble head from execution in the lastfrenzies of Hadrian . Early in July that great traveller setou t on his last journey

,and Aurel ius Antoninus—a name

to which the S enate soon added the appellat ion of Pi usascended the throne .

The new Empress of Rome was Annia Galeria Faustina ,a matron in her thirty-fourth year, of an ancient and distingu ished I tal ian family . It i s Of some interest to regardthe extraction of Faustina . Through her the Imperialthrone is about to pass once more to one of its most ignobleoccupants , and Rome wil l sink rapidly from the reign ofMarcus Aurelius to the riot of Commodus . The two

opposing tendencies of Roman life meet. in her family,and

163


the S toic succumbs to the Epicurean- or, rather , to the

Sybaritic or Cyrenaic , for the gospel of Epicurus was oneof dignity and sobriety. Rome might have said , in th elater language of Goethe

,as he depicted himself passing

through a similar phase

Zwe i Se e len wohnen, ach, in me iner Brust.

One soul leaned to sloth , sensual and selfish indulgenc eone

,with larger horizon

,was for temperance

,vigour

,and

Imperial duty . The curious feature Of this critical stage inthe fortunes of Rome is that the two tendencies aredeveloped within the same family, and the S toic yields tothe Sybarite . Annia Galeria Faust ina was born of the sameparents as the father of Marcus Aurelius , and was rearedin the same atmosphere of old Roman virtue

,or manliness

,

as the word s ignifies . The great-grandfather of MarcusAu rel ius was Anniu s Verus , a S enator of great merit andof S panish extraction . His son Anniu s Verus was twiceconsul

,and both h is sons in turn— the father and uncle of

Marcus Aurel ius— were promoted to the consulate . Everything we know Of the family suggests a fine and soberpatrician type

,and confirms the beautiful picture of if given

us by Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations .

”

The one element of possible weakness in the ancestry ofthe Faustinas and of Commodus is in the mother Of AnniaGaleria Faustina . Anniu s Verus had married Rupili

'

a

Faust ina . Her family is Obscure,and

,though one must

hesitate to trace to her th i s strain of weakness and vice onsuch slender grounds

,one is d isposed to believe that she

was married for he r beauty , and _

brought into that strongfamily the tainted germ which ripened in more than one ofher descendants . I t may , however , very well be that thestrength of the stock was decaying— Marcus Aurelius himself was delicate—and its later descendants succumbed tothe evil influences about them . A genealogical table willShowhow the fat e o f Rome hung on this fami ly for morethan a generation


THE W IVES OF THE STOICS 16 5

Annius Ve rus (twice consul)an Faustina

Annius Libo Annius Ve rus (consul) Annia Gale ria Faustina

(consul) (marrie s Domitia Calvilla) (marrie s Antoninus Pius)

Annia Cornificia Marcus Aure lius Annia Faustina

(marrie s Annia Faustina)

Commodus

Faustina had inherited her mother’s beauty,and was

reared in a very conscientious home . I t was the home inwhich Marcus Aurelius learned his first lessons in virtue

,

as his father died early,and al l the chroniclers speak of it

w ith great respect . We know very li ttle about her , however, until she becomes Empress , and , as she died threeyears afterwards , we have not much concern with her.She is bel ieved to have married somewhat late for a Romangirl , in or about her sixteenth year Ti tus AureliusAntoninus was then in his thirty-fourth year , a tall , graceful , and handsome man , of quiet and captivating manners ,good cultivation , fine character , and a face of great dignityand sweetness . He was of good family , and was advancingrapidly in the publ ic - service . S hortly after the marriagehe became consul , and he remained in Rome in one orother civic capacity until 128 or 129. He was very wealthyand greatly esteemed .

One ‘ of the chroniclers has charged her with l ightbehaviour , and , as thi s is the only period in which we can

‘

plausibly entertain i t,we may regard the charge for a

moment . The book of Dio’s history for the reign Of

Antoninus Pius i s lost , so that neither be nor h is commentators throw

'

any l ight on Faust ina . Aurelius V ictorand Eu trOpius say nothing of her character. The onehostile witness is “ Julius Capitolinus ,

” the anonymouswriter of the fourth century who provides the sketch of the


life of Antoninus Pius in the “ Historia Augusta .He

says (c .

“ Many things are said of h is wife’s excessivefreedom and looseness of l ife , which he had painfully tooverlook .

”S erviez enlarges on th is with h is usual l icense

.

But as he makes Faustina the sister Of ZEliu s Verus,and

says that she neglected the education of her children,which

is also untrue , we may ignore him .

I t i s now more customary to reject th is charge againstthe elder Faustina , on the ground that the single witness isa ligh t anecdoti st of the fourth century . Moreover

,when

the tutor Fronto wrote a glowing panegyric of Faustinaafter her death

,Antoninus P ius answered that i t was even

more true than eloquent , and swore that he would rath erl ive with her at Gyaros [a barren island , to which criminalswere deported] than in a palace without her.

”Neve rthe

less , we must leave the question open . Antoninus P iuswas not a puritan . When the Emperor Jul ian introducesh im before the gods , in his charming contest of theEmperors for the h ighest praise (

“ The Caesars he callsh im “ a moderate man , not indeed in love-affairs , but in theadministration of the Empire .

” Faustina was probablycharming enough to merit h is S incere lament . But asCapitolinus mingles truth and untruth w ith a very lighthand

,and the relevant book of Dio is wanting , we cannot

decide the issue .

In the year 128 or 129 Antoninus was appointed Proconsul ofAs ia , and he and Faustina went to Smyrna .

~ The

elder of their two daughters d ied about the same time . An

amusing incident in connexion with their arrival isnarrated by Philostratu s in his Lives of the S ophists .

”

The

Proconsul at once occupied the finest house in Smyrna ,the home of the teacher Polemo , who was absent . Polemowas the idol of Smyrna , and was proportionately conceited .

He drew youths from all parts to his school , and had wonmuch favour from Hadrian for the city. He travelled in asupe rb Phrygian chariot , and his mules had si lver trappings ; and when some grumblers had hinted that he haddiverted to his ow



fresh charity for orphans,the “ Pue llae Fau stinianae , and

ordered that gold and silver statues of her should be bornein the process ions .

This sincere tribute of the Emperor tells at least of agreat affection and esteem

, bu t the l iterary references toFaustina are too meagre and disputable to bring her clearlybefore us . The busts that are bel ieved to repre sent

'he r

do not , unfortunately , assis t us much . In the Capi tol ineMuseum at Rome i s one that may depict her in hertwenties or earl ier. I t has a round and tranqui l face , notdevoid of strength

,but more directly suggesting an even

and sober character . Another bust,i n the Vatican

Museum,shows the same features at a later age ; but a

third , in the same Museum , has not so pleasant an expression . The oval face is hard and querulous . The looselips droop at the ends ; the large eyes , prominent cheekbones

,and strong chin have an expression that is very

far from tender or spiritual . The bust that i s attributedto her in the Briti sh Muse um is between the two . The

elder Faustina remains in obscurity,and we pass to her

more notorious daughter and successor.

For twenty years after the death of Faustina therewas no Empress of Rome. Antoninus

,who was In h i s

fifty-fifth year, refused to marry again , and took a concu

bine— an arrangement recognized in Roman law andpractice

,in which marriage had several degrees . I t was

an era Of general peace and great prosperity . The groupof S to ic

,lawye rs that the Emperor gathered about him

humanely moderated the rigour Of the laws,medical

service was supplied to the poor in the towns , the schoolsystem was further endowed , and works Of me rcy

'

con

tinue d to multiply . The armies usually rested— and,i t

i s to be feared,rusted— the treasury was again filled , the

Empire was happy and prosperous . In the year 16 1 thecheerful , benevolent Antoninus passed away , and the twomen whom Hadrian had compelled him to adopt came totheir joint reign . W i th them are introduced two newEmpresses of no li ttle interest ,

THE W IVES OF THE STOICS 169

The two boys whom Hadrian had lightly designated asthe heirs to the throne after Antoninus were Annius Verus

,

or Ve r issimu s , as Hadrian genially called him on accountof his precocious gravity and piety , and Lucius Verus , sonof Hadrian’s d issolute companion . Annius was a greatfavourite Of the Emperor . He received office in his sixthyear

,and donned the philosopher’s cloak in his twelfth .

He was the pet Of his grandfather’s palace,but so serious

in his S toicism that hi s mother had difficulty in persuadinghim to sleep in a bed instead of on the floor. In h is sixteenthyear Hadrian gave him the manly toga

,and betrothed him

to the daughter of Lucius Verus . I n h is eighteenth yearhe was “ terrified to hear that he had been chosen for th esuccession , and must go to l ive in the palace . Then Hadriandied

,and Antoninus adopted him .

Gibbon has greatly praised Antoninus for preferr ingthe welfare of the S tate to the interest of his family in thisadoption . I t is true that , as we know from coins , Antoninusand Faustina had had two sons , as wel l as two daughters ,but they must have died before the year 138. Dio express lysays that Hadrian ordered Antoninus to adopt the two

youths “ because he had no male children at the time .

”

His boys,l ike his elder daughter , must have died before

that time ; and indeed we have no further mention of them .

But if this particular grace cannot be al lowed to Antoninus,

we must admire his careful control of their education andhi s discriminating guidance of their fortunes . The bestmasters in Rome instructed each of them , and i t wasonly the deep—rooted difference in their constitutions— themoral strength of the one and weakness of the o ther— thatled them to diverge so widely . The vigilant eye of theEmperor observed the dissimilari ty of promise . He leftLucius Verus out of the way of promotion , and destinedMarcus for the great advancement .

No sooner was Antoninus on the throne than heapproached Marcus

,through Faustina , with a proposal

of marriage with his daughter . She had been promisedby Hadrian to young Lucius Verus , and Marcus was to


marry Ce ionia. The Emperor proposed to cancel thesecontracts , and marry the younger Faust ina to the youngS toic. I t would be extremely in teresting if we couldpenetrate the feel ings of the young princess at the t ime .

The later busts of her suggest a pretty , round-faced girl ,probably in her early teens , with smal l eyes and a livelytemperament . The grim and austere young scholar wouldnot attract her , and one can imagine her feelings when heasked time to consider whether he would accept the handof the Emperor’s charming daughter. Marcus ph ilosophically weighed the proposal ih his mind until the time heasked had expired

,and then he consented to betrothal .

He was appointed Caesar and consul designate , and giventhe palace of T iberius for a dwell ing . A bust that we haveOf him , in the Capitol Museum , represents him about th istime— a face of singular beauty and refinement framed ina mass of short curly hair.Their marriage —a superb ceremony- did not take place

until about seven years later a circumstance whichwe may regard as a further ph ilosoph ic error. During theyears of waiting, and during most of the r e ign of Antoninus ,Marcus was absorbed in study. He was penetrated with

'

the aphorism of P lato , that the S tate would be happy whoseprince was a phi losopher . What the effect was on Faustinawe may be in a better position to say later. Her motherhad died in 14 1 , her womanhood was fully born , and the eyeof her father had an Empire to survey . At the death Of

Antoninus the throne was at once Offered to Marcus . In

his last moments Antoninus had ordered the golden statueof Fortune , which he kept in his chamber , to be conveyedto Marcus

.From a sense of duty he

,unluckily for Rome ,

associated Lucius VerusWi th h im in the Empire . S omewhat delicate himself

,he rel ied on Verus for such work

abroad as was immediately necessary,and continued to

frequent th e schools .

His peaceful studies were quickly interrupted . Fatalfloods and scarcity of food disturbed the capi tal the easternfrontier was again aflame , and the German frontier was



been unwi l ling to admit this debauchery. Duruy rejectsthe s tories altogether

,Merivale recommends reserve

,and

Renan thinks that “ careful research has reduced to verysmall proportions the accusations which scandal waspleased to bring against the wife Of'Marcus Aurel ius . I tseems to me that we can only come to the same conclusionas we did in regard to Messal ina ; we must regard particu lar legends with reserve

,but must conclude that the

general opinion of Faustina at the time,which the stories

embody , must have had a serious basis . S ome of thestories put on record by Capitolinus in the “ AugustanH istory are palpably false . One runs that sh e confessedto Marcus her passion for a certain gladiator , and thatMarcus was directed by the Chaldaean sages , whom heconsul ted , to kil l the man and bathe the Empress in h isblood . Her passion was cured

,but her next chi ld was the

brutal Commodus . This story i s so gross— I do notreproduce al l the detai ls— that the writer does not insist onit, but he continues S t i ll , as her conduct w ith the gladiators i s well known , Commodus probably was the son of agladiator .

” Now the tutor of the princes , Fronto , remarksin one of h is letters , and the surviving busts bear him out ,that Commodus had a striking l ikeness to Marcus Aurelius .

I may add that Commodus was born in the year of theEmperor’s accession

,when such conduct is incredible .

O ther parts of the legend are just as vulnerable . Thusi t i s said that Faustina poisoned Verus when he boastedto his wife of his relations w ith her . He died a

“

verynatural death

,as we shall see later. On the other hand ,

Dio,who l ived shortly afterwards , and had no dislike for

scandal,knows nothing whatever about th is looseness on

the part of the Empress , and there is nothing in Eu tropiuso r Aurelius V ictor. The only other writer who , in ageneral way , accuses Faustina Of dissoluteness i s theEmperor Julian c . W e are therefore in adilemma , and must not too readily speak of Faustina asa second Messalina . The quiet assumption of her guiltin Julian

,and the fact that the stories in the “Augustan

FAUST INA THE YOUNGERBUST (REPUTED) IN THE BRIT IS H MUSEUM



of the Empress during the years in which her husbandwrought for the safety of the Empire

,bequeathed his

austere reflections to later ages’

,or contemplated the

golden images Of his ’ teachers in his lam rz'

um. The

triumphant return of Verus was quickly followed by yearsof gravest anxiety . I n the pestilential East the legionshad absorbed the germs of plague

,had strewn them along

their route,and had now disseminated them throughout

Rome . Thousands of vict ims,rich and poor

,succumbed

to the subtle malady . Marcus vainly summoned theministers of every rel igion and the medical men of allschools

,and sacrificed those obscure Christians on whom

popular anger was ever ready to visi t a'

calamity . Histrouble increased when it was announced that the fierceMarcomanni of the north had burst Into the Empire , andwere driving the Romans before them . W ith great energyhe mustered the demoralized legions in the north , andse t out w ith Verus against the enemy . I n the middleof the war ( 168) Verus , who had repeatedly tried to re turnto the comfort of the capital

,died . He had an apOple ctic

fit on the journey,and we may ignore the various sug

gestions that either Lucil la,or Faustina

,or Marcus put

an end to his useless career .

Marcus continued for several years the task of settl ingthe frontier tribes . I t seems that Faust ina went with h imon these arduous campaigns

,though whether we may

se e in the circumstance any merit on her part , or a deviceof the Emperor to control her conduct

,it i s impossible

to say. She at least earned a title “ Mother of theCamps and Mother of the Legions —which is foundon few coins of the Empresses . I t is probable that h e rdisorders belonged to an earl ier date

,before and in the

early part of the Emperor’s reign . I t is chiefly at Gaeta ,the pretty bay on the coast where many Romans hadvil las , that Capitolinus places her famil iarity with gladiatorsand

‘

sailors . Possibly the sobriety of her later years wasaccepted by her husband as an expiati on , anjust ify hi

fs eulogy of her.

THE WIVES OF THE STOICS 17 5

Those later years were ful l of trouble and anxiety .

Not only did two of their ch ildren die , and their daughterLucil la become the w idow of a notorious profligate , butthe gods seemed to have entered upon a contest with thevirtue of Marcus Aurel ius . A great earthquake shookthe East

,the plague left a blackened trai l over the Empire

and infested the camps , and other d isasters were crowdedinto a few years . The treasury ran short

,and Marcus

was obliged to put up the Imperial treasures at auctionto Obtain funds for carrying on the war. His one consolation was that the Eastern frontier was tranquil

,yet

in the year 17 5 a messenger came to announce that hisgreat general , Av idius Cassius , was in reVolt

,and claimed

the Empire .

Verus,who must have felt the scorn of the stronger

man , had warned Marcus years before that Cassius wasdangerous

,bu t the actual revolt is persistently connected

in the chronicles with Fau stlna. Cassius had ambition,

and had only been prevented by his father in earlier yearsfrom rising against Antoninus Pius . In 174 or 17 5 , i t issaid by Dio

,he received a message from Faustina

,pro

posing that,in the event of Marcus dying , he should

marry her,and occupy the throne . S hortly after this a

false message reached h im that Marcus was dead, and he

at once announced to the‘

legions that he assumed theEmpire . The message was quickly contradicted

,but

Cassius thought i t too late to retire , and he preparedfor a struggle . Marcus sadly moved towards the East.

Before he had gone far, however , he learned that thesoldiers

, who h ated Cassius for his rigour , had put himto death .

The position of Faustina is Once more in graveambiguity . The writer on Cassius in the “ HistoriaAugusta gives the rumour implicating her , but rej ectsit . Unfortunately

,his rej ection is in th is case no more

weighty than his acceptance in others . He admits thathis

.

source,Marius Maximus

,beli eves Fau st ina guilty

,

and ascribe s'

it to“ a wish to defame ” the Empress .


Except that the hatred of Commodus at Rome may havefor some time been extended to the woman who had borneh im , there is no clear reason why Maximus shouldcalumniate Faustina . Dio , who l ives very close to the

t ime , gives i t as a positive fact that Faustina secretlyurged Cassius to marry her

,and occupy the throne

,if

Marcus d ied . W e may concur in the verdict of most ofth e writers on the matter. Marcus was ail ing

,del icate

,

and overburdened with work . I t seemed to Faustinathat he would not l ive long

,and

,as Commodus was a

callow and unpromising youth , and by no means,

sure .

of succession , she sought an arrangement by which sheshould remain on the throne if her husband died .

I t i s‘not generally felt that there was anyth ing gravely

reprehensible in this,but a secret negotiation of such a

character does not present her to us in an attractive light .Her subsequent zeal for the punishment of Cassius andh is friends is equal ly unpleasant

,even if we recall that

she had no intention of raising him against the Emperorwhile he lived . S everal letters which passed betweenMarcus and Faustina have been preserved in the HistoriaAugusta ,

” from Marius Maximus,and there seems to be

l ittle ground to doubt thei r genuineness . They suggestthat Marcus was in the habit of consulting with Faustinaon matters of grave importance .

“ Come up to the AlbanMount

,he writes her

,after telling of the sed it ion ,

“ andby the favour of the gods

,we will d iscuss the affair in

safety .

” Faustina replies :

I wil l set out to-morrow for the Alban Mount , as youcommand

,bu t I at once implore you , i f you love your .

children,to visit these rebels with the utmost severi ty.

The soldiers and their leaders have fallen into evil ways ,and they wil l crush us if we do not coerce them .

’

I n another letter she presses h im again

“.My mother Faustina urged your father [by adopt

P ius,at the time of the secession of Celsus , to feel

for h is own family“ . You see how young Com



rebellion . Her chief misdeeds were to l ive after her.Frivolous

,and probably licentious

,in her early married l ife ,

she seems to have settled in sober ways when she becameEmpress

,but we find no influence of hers in the ordering

of affairs . Had She only reared healthy ch ildren to succeedher husband

,she might have contributed worthi ly to the

mighty task of supporting the shaken Empire . Instead ,she gave to the Empire Lucilla and Commodus , her twosurviving children

,and it fell into a fresh degradation .

CHAPTER XI

THE WIVES OF THE SYBARITES

S Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus had been equalin Imperial power

,and both were married , we have

one more Empress to regard before We pass on tothe wives of Commodus and the account we have alreadygiven of Verus wil l j usti fy us in relegating her to thisdist inct chapter. Verus had married Lucilla

,the eldest

daughter of Marcus and Faustina ; but the ambiguousrepute of her mother wil l warn us not to expect a painfulspectacle of vice in alliance with lofty virtue . Lucil lacarries a step further the unhappy disposit ion which wehave suspected in her grandmother

,and more palpably

detected in her mother. ‘ By her union with Lucius Verusvice was once more decked with the Imperial purple andjustified in

‘

the eyes of Rome . W e may briefly considerLucilla as Empress before we follow her lamentable careerunder the reign of her brother .

Lucilla was born in the first year of the married life ofMarcus and Faustina . Marcus was then a pale and thinblooded scholar, Faustina in the full warmth and sensuousness of young womanhood , and it was not unnatural thatthe ch ild Should inherit the temper of her mother withoutthe Spiritual restraint of her sire . She was educated withthe greatest care , and was betrothed to Verus in hersixteenth year. Presumably by the will of her father

,and

certainly with the full assent of Verus,she remained two

further y ears in the palace,while Verus wore out h is

strength in the dissipations of Antioch . Marcus heard ofI 79

180 THE' EMPRESSES OF ROME

h is conduct , and sent out Lucilla to marry him ; as if aunion with a young woman of seventeen or eighteen wouldbe apt to have a sobering influence on a man of Ve ru s’shabits and parentage . Verus met her at Ephesus

,married

her there with great pomp,and returned with her to h is

pleasures at Antioch .

They came to Rome at the peace of 166,and Marcus

could not fai l to learn in ful l the character of the man to

whom he had entrusted his daughter and half h is power.

The vil la which Verus occupied in the Clodian Way wasthe most notorious house of debauch in Rome . I t swarmedwith the dancing-girls , boys , Eastern slaves

,musicians

,

conjurors,etc . ,

that Verus had brought from the East .One room was fitted up as a popular tavern

,and we must

leave under the veil of a dead language the abominationsthat were perpetrated there . One can only repeat suchcomparatively decent detai ls as that Verus would havegladiators to fight in h is house during dinner, and prolongthe carouse unti l h i s slaves had to bear away his stupefiedform on his couch ; or that , on other occasions , he wouldemulate the early feats of Nero , and revel at nights in the

wine-shops and brothels of the popular quarter. One nighthe gave a superbly furnished banquet , and at the close , ina drunken fi t

,presented to his guests the costly plate

,and

even the l itters,with silver-harnessed mules , in which they

were taken home .

Marcus made several futile attempts to brace h im bya campaign in the north

,and must have been sincerely

reli eved when he at last paid,by a premature death , the price

of h is excesses . Lucilla had then been Empress for elevenyears . As she i s barely noticed in the chronicles , we areleft to imagine the effect on her of l iving through

‘

he r earlywomanhood in such a palace as that Of Verus . Probab lydisgust saved her very largely from the taint. Ve rus

’

s

s ister Fabia l ived with them,and was generally believed to

be int imate with her brother. She at least usurped theplace of Lucilla in authority , and the Empress must havebeen as much relieved as her father when Verus died . He



in his last il lness . There were d isquieting stories aboutthe character of Commodus . I t was said that in hi s twelfthyear he had

,at Centumce llae (Civita V ecchia), ordered the

bath-attendant to be thrown into the furnace because -thewater was not hot enough . On another occasion Marcushad driven away certain corrupting attendants , but hadrecalled them at the petulant tears of his son. The y werew i th h im in Pannonia. We may at least assume that eventhe fond eye of a father must have discerned the weaknessof character which , in the course of a year or two , wouldlet Commodus sink to indescribable depths . Marcus ,however, trustful to the end in the subl ime truths of h is

philosophy , was content to summon Commodus to histent

,make a pretty speech to

'

him in the presence ofhis counsellors , and hand over to him the reins of government.For a time Commodus remained in the camp

,and let

the elders govern . Before long the l igh ter courtiers. hintthat it i s more comfortable in Rome , and he talks of going.

The elders frown , and Pompe ianu s lectures h im . He bowssubmissively , but i t is not long before he decides to go .

Numbers of Officers discover a similar cal l t o the capital,

and a gay cavalcade - sets out . Rome is enchanted,and

goes out miles along the road to meet Commodus , andstrews flowers and laurel in h is path

,and enthuses over

his handsome face and the curly hair that sh ines l ike goldin the sun . I t was the coming of Caligula and Nero overagain . The Roman people— quanmm mutatus ab 2710 - hadcome to appreciate a pretty face , and a prospect of endlessgames

,immeasurably more than the security of the

frontier.-When Commodus had set out with his father for

Germany , he had been married hastily married,

” thechronicle says— to a lady asfi young and thoughtless ashimself. Crisp ina was a very beautiful girl

,and of distin

gu ished family . Her father, Bru ttius Praesens , was aS enator of great merit . I t seems that she accomCommodus to the camp, and re turned with him to Rome .

THE WIVES OF THE SYBARITES 183

In his train were the evi l counsellors whom Marcus h adbanished and recalled . Their hour had come .

For three years Commodus enjoyed the pleasures whichthey provided or invented for h im , and left the administrati on in the capable hands Of his father

’s servants . Possiblyth is was the highest virtue Marcus had expected of him .

But the ambition of his confidants steadily grew , and abitter feud in the palace now came to a head and gavethem an opportunity . Crispina and Luci lla were violentlyopposed to each other . The Imperial title of Luci lla paledbeside that of the wife Of the ruling Emperor. The firewhich had been borne -before her when she went abroadnow passed to Crispina

,and she had to yield precedence

in the palace and the theatre . Crispina , on the other hand ,resented the familiari ty of Commodus with his s ister, andwould hardly be ignorant of the interpretation that wasgenerally put on i t . The adherents of the palace werethus divided into two parties

,and the Empresses fought

for the monopoly of Commodus’s favour. At last Lucilladespaired Of gaining her end through Commodus

,and

resolved to have him murdered .

There is no room for doubt that the daughter Of

Faustina and Marcus Aurelius Was an abandoned woman .

Dio declares that she was “ no better than Commodus.”

We may trust that this i s an exaggeration , but the otherauthorities speak of the looseness of her conduct

,and

are emphatically agreed that she inspired th e plot tomurder her brother. No one doubts that her purposewas to recover supreme powe r. The inferences and impressions we draw from Imperial portraits are not verysubstantial

,but it is interesting that the statue of Lucilla

,

which we have , suggests just the type of woman thatthe historians represent her to have been . I t i s the figureof a ful l-bodied woman , of strong and imperious temper ,sensual to the l imit of grossness . I n her the beauty ofher mother

,instead of being enhanced by the purity of her

father, is blighted by a general expression of coarsenessand self-assertion .


Her criminal design was gradually imparted to herlovers . Among these was a young noble named Quadratus

,

whom she soon fired with a sense of her grievances,

and a conspiracy was framed . The'

actual assassinationwas undertaken by her stepson , Claudius Pompe ianus.

Herodian says that h is name was Q u intianus , and he mayhave had this name in addition . Dio gives a confused andcontradictory account— he describes Pompe ianu s asm arriedto Lucil la’s daughter , whereas Lucilla was married to hisfather

,and he says that she was intimate with him

,yet

hated him and wished to destroy him— but,as he l ived

in Rome at the time , we must accept the substance ofh is story . The young S enator Pompe ianu s was an intimatefriend o f Commodus , and only an infatuation for Lucillacould have drawn him into the plot. He spoiled it , andruined the conspirators , by h is melodramatic disp lay . As

Commodus entered the amphitheatre , he rushed uponhim w ith a drawn sword . But he announced h is purposeby crying S enate sends thee th is sword ,

” andthe guards arrested h im .

The plot gave Commodus an Opportunity to make abloody clearance of those who hampered his plans

,and

caused him to regard the S enate with dark suspicion .

The male conspirators were executed , and Luci l la wasbanished to Capre ae . But Crispina had no triumph bythe removal of her rival . She had herself been tainted inthat atmosphere of vice , and was detected in one of herl iaisons by Commodus . She was banished to Caprea ,

andthere both she and Lucil la were put to death .

The conspiracy took place in the year 182 , the thirdyear Of Commodus

’

s reign . The remaining ten years ofh is l ife i t would be more agreeable to leave in the un

translatable language of the chroniclers , but he vi rtuallyshared h is throne w i th a woman of a singular and in

te re sting type , and we must include her in the galleryof wives of the Emperors . Among the property of thewealthy young conspirator, Quadratus , which was at onceconfiscated

,was a very handsome and engaging concubine


THE W IVES OF THE SYBARITES 185

of the name of Marcia . The concubz‘

natus was , as I havesaid

,a legal and recognized union in Rome , and we must

not regard these women , who enter our chronicle in thatcapacity , in quite the same light as the mistresses of laterChristian princes . They were sometimes of moderatelygood family

,though they seem generally to have belonged

to the class of emancipated slaves , and were included in theman’s property. Marc ia was of the latter class . Probablyan orphan at an early age , she was brought up by aeunuch

,and sold by him to Quadratus . At the dispersal

of his property,or even during h is l ife , she attracted the

notice of Commodus , and was transferred to the populousharem of his three hundred concubines .

A few years later (185) an event occurred that , greatlyincreased her grow ing power over the Emperor . The chieffavourite of Commodus was a low-born and despicablecourtier named Perennis , who encouraged the Emperor topursue his morbid sensual impulses , while he h imselfaccumulated wealth and power. He flattered and indulgedevery fancy of his besotted master , and controlled all theresources of the S tate in his own interest . He was commander of the guards , and se ems to have at length conceivedan ambition to displace Commodus . One day

,when Com

modus presided at the games , which he very l iberal lyprovided , before an immense crowd , a mild-looking mansaid to be a philosopher- rushed into the centre of thestage and roared out a warning to the Emperor thatPerennis was acquiring wealth and aiming at the throne .

The prefect had him burned al ive,and escaped the Em

pe ror’

s suspicion but the end was nearer than he expected .

A regiment of fifteen hundred men from the legions ofBritain marched into Rome , demanded the head of Perennis ,and forced Commodus to recognize and punish the faults ofhis min ister .

From that time Marcia occupies the place of prime: inter

pares in the harem of Commodus . A good deal of re

search has been expended on this leading concubine of theEmperor, because there was a tradit ion in early Christian


literature that She favoured .and protected,if she did not

herself belong to , the new rel igion .

1 I t was said that Shes ent the eunuch , who had reared her, to liberate therepressed Christians of S ardinia , and the peace which theyenjoyed at Rome during the reign of Commodus is attri

buted to her influence . But if Marcia had ever belongedto the austere sect of the early Christians

,we must

,for its

credit , entirely dissociate her from it in her Imperial days .

S he seems to have been to the brutal Commodus whatCaesonia had been to the equally l icentious Caligula . She

dressed will ingly as an Amazon , and is actually representedon the coins , with Commodus , in the helmet of a femalewarrior . I f we may put any trust in that meagre portrai tof her , She seems to have been of much the same type asCaesonia : a handsome , strong , vulgar woman , ow ing herinfluence to her masculine robustness .

For seven years she occupied , without a quarrel , thech ief place in a palace in which all the orgies of Caligula ,Nero

,and Verus were concentrated . At her persuasion

Commodus changed the name of Rome to“ the Colony

of Commodus.” One might almost suspect her of genialirony in thus removing the venerable name from the Imperial c ity during the years when it was degraded byCommodus . Evil as the practices of Caligula and Nero hadbeen

,they were surpassed by the insanities and Obscenities

of the son of Marcus Aurelius . We must leave the veilover the li fe that was witnessed in the palace during thoseten years ; but the crimes of Commodus were not confinedto the wi ld indulgence of h is unbridled appetites . The

company of gladiators and the daily pleasure of kill ingdegraded him to the character of a mere butcher. Heforced the priests Of orgiastic Eastern cults to perform onthemselves the mutilat ions which their ritual described ;he beat them with the emblem of Anubis which he carriedin their processions . On one occasion he had all thecitiz ens Of Rome with some infirmity of the feet gatheredin orie place , and more or less dressed as dragons . Then

S e e Dr. Bassani’

s little work, “ Commodo e Marcia.”



amphitheatre were his ch ief concern . He consorted dai lyw i th the gladiators , killed vast numbers of beasts in thearena

,and even fought with men who had meekly to

submit to be slain by him . Numbers Of distinguished orwealthy Romans were put to death on the most frivolouspretexts , yet the S enators were compelled to view andapplaud his daily slaughters w ith such cries as : “

Thouconqu ere st the world , 0 brave Amazonian .

” Dio,

‘

whosat among the S enators , tells us that one day Commodusmade a grotesque attempt to intimidate them . He hadjust kil led an ostrich , and came toward them with thehead in one hand and the bloody sword in the other.He grinned and wagged his head , without saying a word ,as he approached them , as if intimating that i t wouldbe their turn next . Dio says that h is appearance wasso ludicrous that he had hasti ly to pluck a leaf of laurel

,

and chew it , to prevent him from laughing . We nearlym i ssed the writing of one Of the most valuable historiesof the period .

The“ Golden Age , as the S enate was compelled to

describe th is appal l ing decade , came to a close through afresh excess on the part of Commodus Pius

,as he was

now styled . They had reached the last day of the year192, and were preparing for the great festivities of themorrow . Commodus informed Marcia that he wouldspend the night in the house of the gladiators

,and issue

from it on the morrow at their head . He ordered hischamberlain Eclectu s and his commander of the guardLae tus to make the necessary preparation . Marcia andthe officers were horrified at h is proposal , and besough thim to abandon i t . After reading the disgusting detai lsof his career in the “ Historia Augusta —even if wemake al lowance for exaggeration— one has some diffi cultyin realizing their indignation . Apparently

,however, th is

proposal to identify himself so intimately with the degraded caste of public gladiators was regarded by themas something of an entirely different nature from the fil thand obscenity of his practices in the palace , and they

THE WIVES OF THE SYBARITES 189

boldly Opposed him . He angrily shook them off,and put

their names on his condemned list . The “AugustanHistory ,

” recal ling a story we have heard before,intro

duces an element of romance into the adventure . I tmakes Commodus tie the tablet to his bed

,and go to

S leep , when the tablet i s playfully removed by one Of hisjewel-decked boys

,and delivered accidental ly into the

hands Of Marcia .

.

'

It is better to fol low the version of Dio,who was in

Rome at the time . The two officers and Marcia,real iz ing

that they had Incurred his anger,discussed the matter

,

and decided to assassinate him . Marcia was directed topoison him. She put the poison in the meat he ate ,

_

bu t

i ts effect was spoiled by the quanti ty of wine he haddrunk

,and it caused him to vomit . He became suspicious

and threatening , and went to the bath . They then hast ilytook into their confidence h is powerful and athletic bathattendant

,Narcissus , and he entered and strangled the

Emperor .

One reads with something l ike amazement that thesuccessful conspirators

,instead of gladly announcing that

[

they had rid Rome _of such a brute and tyrant

,deliberated

anxiously how they Should proceed . S o blind was theattachment of the troops to their paymaster, and of thecommon citizens to any generous provider of games

,that

they concealed the deed . Commodus had himself fought

735 times in the publ ic amphitheatre , and on those performance s alone had spent drachmas . The

temper of the demoralized people and soldiers was un

certain , and they decided to put the Empire at once inthe hands Of a strong soldier.

I n the romantic story of the accession of th e variousEmpresses of Rome there are few cases so dramatic asthat which introduces the next Empress in the series .

There was liv ing in Rome at the t ime an experiencedcommand er

,in his S ixtieth year

,of the name of Pertinax .

His father had )

kept a kind of tavern in a vi llage ofLiguria . The son had obtained some education

,and

190 THE EMPRESSES OF ROME '

rapidly cl imbed the ladder Of promotion . He had marriedFlavia Tit iana , the accomplished daughter of a verywealthy and distinguished S enator. Himself enamouredof Cornificia, the sister of Marcus Aurel ius , he had overlooked the vivacity of his wife , and she had at one timeattracted comment by her Open regard for a musician. At

the t ime of th e murder of Commodus , Pertinax wasPrefect of Rome . He retired to bed on that last nightof the year 192 with no suspicion of the great event sthat were happening in the Domus Vectiliana, to which ,it seems

,Commodus had gone .

I n the middle of the night he was awakened with themessage that th e captain of the Praetorian Guards wishedto see him . He calmly said that he had for

'

some timeexpected to be executed by Commodus

,and he continued

to lie , in quiet dignity , when Lae tus entered to . tel l h imthat they Offered h im the Empire . He begged Lae tus toabandon hi s unseemly joke , and carry out his -orders . Hewas at last convinced that Commodus was dead

,and

,

through the darkness of the stormy winter night,they

made their way to the camp . They announced to theguards that Commodus had died of apoplexy, and thatPertinax was submitted to be chosen by them as EmperorThe sold iers li stened with no enthusiasm . Under thelicense of the reign of Commodus they had been permittedto take the most extraordinary libert ies , and they dreadedthe accession of a commander. The news had

,however ,

spread by this t ime through the city . People crowdedinto the torch-l it streets

,and poured out toward the

camp,hailing the name of Pertinax and e x ecrating

‘

thatof Commodus . A promise of denarii to each manovercame the last opposition of the Guards , and theycoldly consented to the choice . I n the S enate, too , therewas hesitation .

“ We see behind you , said the consulFalco

,

“ the m inisters of Commodus’s crimes , Lae tus andMarcia . Pert inax himself

,indeed

,was sti l l very re luc

tant ; but the S enate urged the Imperial poweand the new year dawned at Rome upon



brutally assassinated Pertinax . On the rumour of troublePertinax had sent his father-in-law

, Sulpicianu s , to securetranquil l ity in the camp . As he lingered there the soldiersreturned with the dripping head of the Emperor

,and he

recognized that the throne was vacant. W ith a callousnessthat i s almost Incredible , but is fully attested , he at oncemade an offer of money to the sold iers for the Imperialpower. I t occurred to some of the soldiers that a higherbid might be secured

,and they announced from the ram

part of their camp,in which they had enclosed themselves

,

that the throne was,virtual ly

,on

.sale . I n particular,

they sent word to one of the wealth iest citizens,Didius

Julianus,and invited him to make an offer. Whether or

no it be true that he yielded to the vanity of hi s wifeand daughter—h e does not seem to have needed pressure—Jul ianus went to the camp

,and made a higher Offer

than that of SulpicianusI t was the early evening , and a crowd had gathered

to witness the appall ing spectacle of th e sale of the Empire .

Julianus pointed out that h is rival was the father-in-law ofthe man they had ki l led

,and might be expected to have some

design of revenge . The sold iers admitted Jul ianus by aladder , a

’

nd the two S enators made bids against each other,the soldiers on the wall announcing their Offers . At lengthJulianus made an offer equal to more than £200 to eachsoldier, and he was greeted as Emperor. Under the closeguard of the soldiers he was conducted , amid anpeople

,to the S enate , and forced upon the S enators . T

then concluded their bargain by conducting him topalace , and the vain old man had time to reflect onextraordinary situation he had suddenly reached . His\wife

, Manlia Scantilla, and daughter , Didia Clara , joinedhim in fear and concern (the Historia Augusta says),and he finished the day with a prolonged entertainment .His wife and daughter were decorated with the title of

Augusta on the morrow ,but they soon found th

had s quandered his comfortable wealth onbauble . Not only did the Roman people j e

THE WIVES OF THE SYBAR ITES 193

whenever he appeared , but the news soon came that thedistant legions were aflame with anger, and were aboutto march on Rome to wrest the Empire from him . Presently he heard that th e commander of the troops inPannonia had begun his march at the head of a formidablearmy . Julianus first had him declared a public enemy , andsent men to assassinate h im ; then he offered to share theEmpire with him . S everus and his hardened troops passedrelentlessly over the Alps , and proceeded along the plainsOf I taly . Jul ianus stung the demoral ized sold iers who hadsold him the Empire into some pretence of resistance ,threw up earthworks in the suburbs , endeavoured to trainhis elephants for the fight , and , as a last resort , fort ifiedthe palace . But his effeminate troops quailed before theseasoned legions from Germany, and , when S everus reachedRome , Julianus

’ found himself deserted . The S enate decreed his death , and he was beheaded in the palace whichhe had enjoyed,at the price of his fortune and his l ife , forsixty-s ix days . And the two broken-hearted Augu staelaid down their dignity

,and bore the body of Didius

Julianus to the tomb of h is ancestors .

Marcia , too , had ended her semi-imperial career with aviolent death . After the assassinat ion of Commodus She

had married the chamberlain Ecle ctu s , with whom she hadlong been intimate. Ecle ctus became

"

the chamberla in ofPertinax , and perished ,

not ignobly,with h is master.

Marcia did not long survive her husband,however.

Julianus had promised the soldiers that he would avengethe murder of Commodus

,and he sought the remaining

members of the conspiracy,Lae tus , Narcissus , and Marcia ,

and put them to death .

CHAPTER XI I

JULIA DOMNA

ITH the accession of S eptimius S everus to thethrone

,we find ourselves confronting one of the

most dominant personalit ies in the long line ofRoman Empresse s— a Woman of the standard ofAgrippina

,and P lotina—and passing again into one

brighter periods of the life of the Empire . The detion of Commodus

’

s reign will di sappear l ike a misummer morn ; the j aded frame of the Empire wito recover all its vigou r in a few years . Theseof rapid recovery are not sufficiently appreciated by

,

rhetorical censors of the morals of Rome , whose investi

gations are almost entirely confined to the reignsCaligula , Nero , Commodus , Caracalla , and Elagabalus ;if it were just to define the cl imate of a region by its wo

days only. Let a strong man rise to power, let anencouragement be given to virtue and manliness

,and

the city of Rome takes on a normal moral aspect .throne is but an electric point

,and , accord ing as it is posi

t ive or negative , it draws into the light Of h istory ei ther thegood or the bad elements of Rome . Both are there alltime . And if the good rulers had made as drastic a pof evi l types

,as evi l rulers made of good types

,when th

came to power, the Empire might not have providedmuch material to the censors of extinct civi lizations .

The Empresses whom we have h itherto consideredwere, with a few except ions

,the daughters of Roman

patricians , or of distinguished provincials who had lived inRome for a generation or two . I n Iulia Domna , the wife

194



to office . He had first married a certain Faccia Marcianaat Rome . He was then made Praetor

,had a military

command in S pain and Gaul , Spent some years in studyat Athens , and became Legate of the Lugdunian province .

At Lyons he lost his first wife , and sough t a second ..Hear

ing that there was a maid in Syria with a royal horoscope,

he sent for her,and married her at Lyons . A child was born

the first year,and

,although Bassianu s (more popularly ,

Caracalla) is described by Eu tropiu s and Aurel ius Victoras her stepson

,he was undoubtedly her first chi ld . Geta

,

his brother and co-Emperor, was born two years later.By that t ime they were l iving in Rome

,where S everus

was Consul . Commodus , whose foll ies excited his ambitionno less than his disdain

,gave him the command in Lower

Germany. Immediately afterwards Commodus was assassinated , and about three months later came the news of themurder of Pertinax. I t was easy to inflame the troopswith anger on this occasion

,and , as S everus offered a more

than usually heavy bribe,he was acclaimed Emperor

,and

,

as we saw,led the legions upon Rome . W e do not know

whether Jul ia had remained at Rome , or accompanied him ,

but she would be present when Rome g re e ted its newruler. He rode in full armour

,in the centre of a picked

body of six hundred men . When , however , he saw thatRome had entirely deserted Julianus , he entered the city incivic costume , on foot . Flowers and laurel and gay hangings decorated al l the houses

,and the early summer sun

shone on the white-robed masses of the citizens . Anothersplendid

,but less j oyous

,spectacle was offered on the

morrow,when a wax image of Pert inax was honoured with

an Imperial funeral . Then he set about the stern business.Of securing his Empire . He had no title to i t bu t h is sword,and there were two other able generals—Alb inus in Britainand N iger . in Syria—urging the same title on their ownbehalf.We do not know whether Julia accompanied S

during the long civi l war that followed . S omeauthorities represent her as eggi

‘

ng on her husband

JULIA. DOMNA 197

destruction :

Of his rivals . The advice would not be un

natural,but i t would be so superfluous that we disregard

the statement . W ith a craft that has not won him theregard of historians

, S everus held Albinus in Britain withthe empty t itle of Cmsar , while he proceeded to crushNiger in the East . As there are cOIns of the year 196 whichentitle Jul ia Mother of the Camps

,

” 1 she probably accom

panied S everus to the East , but we need not pursue thelong campaign . S everus committed the work to hisgenerals , and kept watch over Rome and theWest . S everalyears were absorbed in pacifying the East

,and he then

turned toward Britain . Act ing under the strain of Africanbarbarism which undoubtedly existed in the nature of

S everus , he sent men with a treacherous commission tomurder Albinus , and the discovery of the plot brought theBritish legions thundering over Gaul. The rivals metdecisively at Lyons , and a titanic confl ict ended With thetriumph of S everus .

Rome had followed the even struggle with suspense ,and some had ventured to take S ides . The omens wereambiguous . A strange l ight— th e aurora—flicke re d in thenorthern sky

,and a rain mixed with si lver— Dio soberly

assures us that he plated several bronze coins w ith it— fel lupon the city . Human judgment had been as uncertain asthat of the gods

,and many of the Romans had espoused

the “ white (Alb inus) or the black (Niger) cause ,instead of that of the “ grey

,to put i t in the language of

the hour. For S everus to have abstained entirely frompunish ing those who had supported his rivals , after theyears of anxiety t hey had caused him , i s too much toexpect ; but it must be admitted that h is vengeance was

cruel , and that his plea of the security of the S tate was

The re fe rence s on coins and inscriptions to Julia Domna have be en

industri ously collected by Mary Gilmore W ilkins , American j ournal ofArd mology , zud serie s, vol. vi . They do not add mate rially to our knowledgeof he r, but are so abundant that they Show he r to have be en an Empre ssof exceptional prominence and influe nce . S he be came Augusta in the first


littl e more than a cloak for a very human resentment . The

HistoriaAugusta ” gives a ghastly l ist of forty-one S enatorswhom he put to death , and crowds of lesser folk sufferedfrom his vindictiveness . From Syria to Gaul he markedthe progress of his triumph with a trai l of human blood .

Of the attitude of Jul ia in regard to these executions wehave no knowledge . S everus was a cruel and passionateAfrican

,and we have no reason to th ink that any one

impelled him to commit these deeds . His whole behaviourin the hour of triumph was injudic ious and unworthy . Hemad e a most unpleasant speech to the S enate in prai se ofCommodus , and directed that the highes t honours shouldbe paid to his memory . I t may be that the consciousnessof his lowly origin—which his s ister tactlessly irritated bycoming to Rome

,and displaying her rural innocence to the

amusement of the nobles— made him more suspicious of thepatrician order than he need have been . Alb inus

,however ,

had come of a most ancient and honourable , i f somewhatdecayed

,stock

,and his finer blood may have influenced th e

S enate .

Leaving Rome under a painful impre ssmn of his harshuse of power

,he set out for the East , where the Parth ians

were again in arms . Jul ia accompanied h im on th is cam

paign,but it is of l i ttle interest. The Parthians retired

before h is advance,and he pursued them down the

Euphrates. and for a time held Babylon and several of th eancient cit ies of the East . Foiled , and incurring heavylosses

,in the siege of Hatra , he reti red sullenly from

Mesopotamia,and sought consolat ion in a pleasant tour

through Palestine and Egypt . They returned to Rome ,about the beginning of the th ird century , for their first longstay in the capital .The remarkable number of inscriptions that sti ll survive

in themost distant parts of the Empire bear witness thatJulia was already regarded as an active Empress, notmerely as the companion of S everus . Probably she comesnext to Livia— some would place her before Livia - in the

general recognit ion of her political existence. But on her



Aurelius Victor De Caesaribu s , xx) says that h i s wife’sinfamies ‘ robbed S everus of the height of his glory andhe charges her with , to the Emperor

’s knowledge,loose ways

and treason . Lampridius Historia Augusta ,”S everus ,

”

c . 18) affirms that she was notorious for her adulteriesand guilty of conspiracy .

”Eu tropius and Herodian join

with them in bringing an even graver charge against herlater. Dio

,however

,who was on the spot , brings no

charge against her character, and many hold that h iss i lence is more instructive than the chatter of latercompilers . We may add that S everus was very eager tostamp out adultery

,and , although his efforts were

frustrated by th e unwill ingness of the ci tizens to use hislaw—Dio

,when he was consul , found three thousand charges

lying unheeded in the offit e s— his known temper must betaken into account . On the other hand , Dio wrote hishistory in th e reign of a member of Julia’s family, and mayhave omitted much out ofd iscretion .

The evidence is , as usual , perplexing , and there is noneed to press for a verdict . The Oriental rel igion, towhich Juli a adhered , was not one to lay bonds upon thepassion of love

,and the removal from the guarded seclusion

of the East to the free life of the W est would not engenderscruples . The charge , in fact , was not

‘

admitte d by S everusto be proved , though noble dame s were tortured to wringevidence from them . After th is scorching ordeal , however, Julia moderated her Open hosti lity to Plau tianus

,

and sought consolation in a close application to lettersand philosophy. Her sister, Julia Maesa , had by thistime come from Emesa to j oin her in the palace

,and

had brought two married daughters,of whom we shal l

hear more .

1 W ith these,and the l iterary men : of Rome ,

she formed an intel lectual circle , and withdrew from pol itics .

But there can be l ittle doubt that Julia encouraged her

1 I conclude that they had alre ady come to Rome because Elagaba lus, theson of .Soaemias, was given serious conside ration in his late r claim that he was

the son of Bass ianus . He was born in 204, and, unless his mother had be en

in the palace be fore that date , the claim could not have be en made .

JULIA DOMNA 20 1

son’s disl ike of P lautil la. Herodian declares that theyoung wife was “ a most shameless creature .

” W e mayrefuse to accept th is description of the unhappy youngprincess

,and see in it only an echo of the attack upon

her.Bullied and threatened by Bassianu s

, she at lastreturned in tears to her father’s mansion , and the Prefectrenewed his attacks with great warmth . S everus refusedto hear complain ts against h im , unti l h is brother Getasuggested to him

,on his death-bed , that Plautianu s was

acquiring his enormous wealth with a view to seizing thethrone . From that hour S everus behaved more coldly tohis minister

,and Julia’s party took courage . At length

Bassianu s persuaded his father that the minister wasplotting. I f we may believe the romantic version , Plautianus sent a man to assassinate S everus and his sons .

The man betrayed him at the palace , and was directedby Bassianu s to return and pretend to bring the Prefectto see the dead bodies . At all events , Plau tianus camein haste to the palace

,was alarmed to see the gates close

beh ind him,and was led to the presence of th e Emperor

and Bassianu s . S hort ly afterwards , the head of Plau tianu swas tossed on to the street from the roof of the palace .

Dio adds that a man plucked a handful of hair from thebleeding head

,and rushed with it to j ulia and P lauti l la,

crying Behold your Plau tianus The unhappy girl wasbanished to Lipara , and was executed there by Bassianu safter the death of his father .

I t was perhaps inevitable that a series of executionsshould fol low the fall of the favourite , but in a short timethe l ife of the palace fell into a quiet routine . S everus ,a big , powerful man

,w i th a crown of grey hai r above

his venerabl e features , set an example of sobriety andindustry. He was generally at work before dawn , andwould return to work after a frugal midday-meal w ithhis boys . They were years of peace and prosperity

,and

he made admirable use of the opportunity to restore thedecaying buildings and inst itutions of the Empire

,and to

replenish the treasury . He regretted h is lack of culture,


and listened with deference to the learned discussions inwhich his wife and her relatives engaged . His one ac

complishment in the way of science was a thorough command of the mysteries of astrology

,as the golden stars

with which he decorated the cei l ings of his palace informedth e vis itor.

Jul ia joined with h im in the work of restoration . W e

know that at Rome she rebuilt the temple of Vesta,and

the numerous provincial inscriptions suggest a much widerinterest . Under her lead the women of Rome were en

couraged to look beyond their homes . S abina had erected ,or dedicated , a meeting-hall for women in the Forum ofTrajan , but it had fallen into decay. Jul ia restored thisearly “ women’s club ,

” and no doubt introduced into i tthe enthusiasm for letters and ph ilosophy which she sti l lhad . Her “ circle

,

” as Philostratus calls it , probably included the historian Dio

,who was sti l l at Rome

,and the

poet Appian , who had some years before described heras “ the great D omna .

”Philostratus himself, a Greek

writer and rhetorician,one of the most learned men of the

time , was closely associated with her . I t was at her requestthat he wrote his famous “ Life of Apollonius of Tyana .

”

I n h is “ Lives of the S ophists (Philischs) he speaks ofher as “ Jul ia the Phi losopher,

” and in one of h is letters

(lxxii i) he refers with high appreciation to her learning.

Julia was then in th e prime of her life , and in herhappiest days . The bust of her that quickly catches theeye in the Vatican Museum— the largest surviving portraitbust of the period—will hardly be deemed to possess thebeauty with which the historians invest her. The thickl ips and large nose

,which betray her ancestry , do not

compare well with the features of other Empresses . Butthe grave

,strong, thoughtful face and . large eyes , which

we may» imagine instinct with Syrian fire ,‘

are undeniablyhandsome . Her sister, Julia Maesa

,was with her—a

woman of similar strength,moderation , and judgment .

But the younger generation in the palace gave them concern . The young men , Bassianu s and Geta , were loose


J ULIA DOMNA 203

and luxurious in their ways ; and one of the daughters ofMae sa , Julia S oaemias , was a fit companion for Bassianus .

S everus , noting the advance of his gout , looked with graveeyes on the soft habits and the constant quarrels of thesons whom he wished to leave partners in the Empire.An irruption of the Caledonians in the north of Britain

led him to th ink that a campaign under h is eyes wouldalter the evi l ways of his sons , and he set out for theWest . Julia accompanied them

,but we can hardly suppose

that she ventured further north than Eboracum (York).The mist-wrapped hill s and watery lowlands beyond wereto the Roman a shuddering wilderness , fit only for thebreeding of savages who were as amphibious as rats .

Dio unflatteringly describes th e north Britons and Scotsof the time as “ inhabit ing wild

,waterless mountains and

desolate , swampy plains ,"and dwelling in tents

,without

coats or shoes,possessing their wives and rearing their

offspring in common .

” W e may find some consolation inthe assurance of Lampridius that Britain (south of thi sregion) was

“ the greatest glory of the Empire .

” Eventhe S cots , however , had their glories . When S everusreturned to York

,after having pushed to the extreme

north of Caledonia,and lost men without bringing

the elusive enemy to battl e , he brought with h im envoysof the Caledonians to discuss the terms of peace . Amongthem was the wife of the ch ief “Argentocox us

— shouldi t be Macdermott —with whom the philosophic Empressheld converse through an interpreter . Julia insinuated thattheir matrimonial arrangements were not all that could bedesired .

“We satisfy the needs of nature in a much betterway than you Roman women , said the hardy S cot . W e

have dealings Openly with the best of our men , whereasyou let yourselves be debauched in secret by the vilest .”

Eugenics is an ancient practice,i f a modern theory .

S everus was borne back,weary and dispirited , on his

l i tter to York . Bassianus , impatient to reach the thronethat he would

'

soon disgrace,had attempted his father’s

l ife , and fully exh ibited the brutal ity of h is character. Ye t


S everus , who had often censured Marcus Aurel ius forentrusting the Empire to Commodus

,l istened in turn to

the fond pleading of his parental feeling , and designatedh is sons as his successors . He died at York in February

,

2 1 1 , and a hasty settlement was made of affairs in Britainthat they might return at once to the capital . Theyplaced the ashes of the Emperor in an alabaster urn

,and

set out with it fo r Rome .

, From tha t day the l ife of Jul ia Domna was one ofanxiety , and we may trust that it was one of pain . Evenon the j ourney homeward her sons were ostentatiouslyarmed against each other’s designs . Bassianu s— or Antoninus

,as he had now been named—was a strong

,brutal

,

and imperious youth,as eager to murder his brother as

he had been to shorten his father’s l ife . Geta was brighter,gentler

,and m ore cultivated , and the affection of the

legions for him kept Antoninus in check while they werewith the army . When they arrived in Rome , their firstbusiness was the funeral of S everus . His pale wax imagewas laid on a lofty ivory couch , and the black-robedS enators and white-clad matrons watched it for seven days .

Then i t was borne to the old Forum , where the chorus ofsons and women of the nobil ity sang the old funeralchants

,and on to the great wooden tower , stuffed with

spices and inflammable matter,in the Field of Mars ;

where,from the midst of the flaming pile , the released

eagle symbolized the passage of the soul of S everus tothe home of the gods.The quarrel between Antoninus and Geta at once broke

out w ith greater menace than ever. They kept theirseparate apartments rigidly guarded in the palace , and

a troop of sold iers and athletes watched day and nightover the person of the younger Emperor . S ome one suggested that the Empire should be divided , as it was later,and that Geta should take the Asiatic half. Herodiansays-“ though one reads w ith suspicion his full reports ofspeeches that were made a century before— that Juliaopposed th is plan passionately . They must divide their



However that may be,she joined him when he crossed

the Hellespont to Asia— and was nearly drowned in the

passage—and began to take a most important part in theadministrat ion . W i th the S enate , over whom he had setin authority a Spanish juggler , he was too disdainful todeal

,except on the most important subjects. His chief

aim was to wring money out of Rome and the provinces,

and spend i t on the tr00ps. He “ plundered the wholeearth ,

” says Dio . He wore the long rough cloak of aGoth -from which he was given the nickname of “ Caracalla (the name of the garment)—and ate the rough foodof a soldier on campaign ; though he gave himself wildlyto the luxurious l ife of the cities ofAsia Minor.Julia settled in N icomedia

,where she spent a good part

of 2 14 and 2 15 , and then in Antioch . Caracalla nevermarried again ; indeed , there can be l ittle doubt thatvenereal disease was the chief cause of h is madness andbrutal ity during these years . As a boy ,

“ reared by aChrist ian nurse , says Tertull ian , he had been most gentleand humane . Julia, therefore , was st il l Empress , and sheundertook the greater part of Caracalla’s work . All lettersfrom Rome were forwarded to her, and she deal t w iththem all

,except a few that had to be submitted to the

Emperor. The inscriptions cut in honour of he r duringthese years were remarkably numerous

,and from them

and the coins we learn how great were her authority andinfluence. Her offi cial title grew unti l i t at length became :“ Jul ia Pia Felix Augusta , Mater Augusti e t Castrorum

e t S enatus e t Patriae . All the several epithets that wereever bestowed on other Empresses were gathered togetherin her name .

This int imate association with so foul an Emperor asCaracalla lent colour to the current belief that she waslinked with him in another capacity than that of mother.

Herodian (i i i i), Eu tropius (viii), and Aurel ius V ictorEpitome ,

” xxi), give the charge as an undoubted fact.Spartianus Historia Augusta ,

” “ Caracalla,

” x) gives acircumstantial story of the mother leading t he son astray,

JULIA DOMNA 207

and Aurelius Victor gives the same anecdote in his “ De

Cae saribus,” xxi . She i s said to have presented herself to

Caracalla in what S erviez cal ls “ an exceedingly magnifi

cent and becoming dress —se max z'

ma comorz'

s parte de

nudasset, i s the text—and yielded with ease . The anecdoteis too common a sample of the salacious gossip of the timeto be taken seriously , but the substantial charge is notso easily set aside . Dio , i t is true , does not give it . Whenhe speaks (c . 10) of Caracalla having possessed therascali ty [wavofipeyov] of h is mother,

” he does not indeedpay a tribute to her character, but the word he employsseems to indicate craft, perhaps unscrupulous craft , ratherthan lasc iviousness .

But even Dio relates an adventure which fairly showsthat th is grave charge against Julia was widely creditedin his day . I n th e year 2 16 , during his tour in the East ,Caracalla announced that h e would honour Alexandriawith a visit . Unsparing as the Alexandrians had been intheir witticisms on the ugly, bald , and prematurely old youngman

,with all his bru tal i ty and folly , they had no suspicion

of his real intention , and they prepared to receive h imwith great honour. Once inside their gates , however, hesavagely precipitated h is troops on the unarmed citizensand for several days directed the carnage and pillage fromthe temple of S erapis . This savage onslaught is said byDio to have been a punishment for the j ibes of the Alexandrians, and we know from Herodian that one of theirmost deadly shafts was to speak of him and his mother as(Edipus and Jocaste .

I t cannot therefore be said that Dio is unaware of thecurrent bel ief, nor can we follow Miss W i lkins when shesuggests that the “ elderly Empress was incapable of suchconduct . Jul ia had been married only twenty-nine yearsbefore , and may very wel l be presumed to have been inher early forties in the year 2 16 . She was in “ the fullflush of life ,

” as Dio expressly says,and is not known to

have embraced any system of eth ics or religion whichwould lay a stigma on incest . But the general moderation


of her career and the repel lent character of Caracal la ,unrel ieved by a single grace of person or disposition

,must

weigh heavily in the scal e against the gossip of Rome .

We know , at least , that she endeavoured to curb thewild excesses that were bringing a doom on her son andendangering the stability of the Empire. When he debasedthe coinage

,and despoiled his subj ects , she remonstrated ,

but he laughingly drew his sword and said : “ Courage,

mother , while we have this , money will not fail us .

” “ Insuch things

,

” says Dio ,“ he paid no heed to h is mother

,

who gave h im much excellent advice . She continued toact as the first minister of her son , while he wanderedfrom region to region in search of adventure . One of h isexploits wil l suffice to i llustrate his pecul iar method ofwinning glory . From Egypt he advanced against theParth ians . He sent a flattering letter to the Parthianking, submitting that the two great Empire s ought amicably to divide the world , and asking for the hand of h isdaughter. His persistent lying disarmed even the craftyParthians , and he was admitted into their kingdom witha body of troops . He at once flung his troops uponthe vast unarmed mult itude that came out to greet h im

,

mingled th eir blood with the flowers they had strewnin his path , and sacked a large part of Medea and Parth ia .

But the end of h is infamous life was rapidly approaching . He had written to Rome , some time previously , todirect that the Chaldaeans should be consulted as to thename of his successor

,so that he might slay the man

named . The minister to whom he wrote had some grievance against one of the offi cials in the East

, Opilius

Macrinus , and he wrote to inform Caracalla that Macrinus

was designated by an African soothsayer:romantic historians say that this letter reachjust as he was engaged in d irecting a race ,gave it

,unopened

,to Macrinu s himself to deal

p lausible is the story related by Dio. The

as al l letters went , to the Empress at Antioch ,was caused . Macrinus had , in the


CHAPTER XI II

IN THE DAYS or ELAGABALUS

HE fates were now preparing as strange a revolution ,and bringing upon the Imperial stage as grotesquea figure , as any that have yet come under our

notice . Three women— the sister and the nieces of JuliaDomna—are the engineers of thi s revolution

,and , clothed

with the Imperial d ignity,control the fortunes of Rome

in the extraord inary period that followed it . But beforewe introduce the tragi-comic figure of E1agaba1us, we mustclear the stage of the temporary Emperor and his faintshadow of an Empress .

Opilius Macrinu s was a weak , vain , and unimpress iveold man . Accident had put th e Empi re with in h is reach .

He timidly grasped i t because no other offered to do so,

and held it unti l another desired it . He was in his fiftyth ird year

,a man of obscure African origin , an adventurer

in the public service . He was married to,

Nonia Celsa,

of whom we know only that her qualit ies were notgenerally believed to include the possession of virtue .

Their son Diadumenianu s was a tall and handsome youth ,with black eyes and curly yellow hair. When his fathermade h im Caesar, and he donned a purple robe , thespectators are said to have melted with affection . Hel ived long enough to show

,by urging his parents to deal

more drastically with rebels , that h is heart was not sotender as his pretty looks had suggested .

How happy and fortunate we are , Macrinu s wroteto his family

,when his accession was secured . I n little

2 10

IN THE DAYS OF ELAGABALUS

more than a year he would be flying over the hills ofAsia Minor, and he and his handsome boy would be cruellyput to

"

death . He set out at once , with great display ,against the unruly Parthians . But he soon purchasedan ignoble peace from them , and repaired to the banquetsand pleasures of Antioch . Anxious as he was about hisposition

,he made the fatal error of keeping the troops

in camp,and there soon passed from legion to legion an

ominous murmur. The soldiers contrasted his luxury withCaracalla’s sharing of their march and their cheese

,and

chafed under the discipline he rightly sought to enforce .

The rumour spread , too , that Macrinu s had given offenceto the S enate and that a mule had borne a mule at Rome

,

and a sow had given birth to a l ittle pig with two heads andeight feet . The apparition of a comet and an eclipse of thesun made it yet more certain that something was goingto happen , and confirmed those who were preparing theevent . I n the month of May Macrinu s heard that a boyof fourteen

,supported by three women and a eunuch , had

claimed the throne , and seduced some troops . He sent ageneral

,with a moderate force , to bring him the boy

’s head .

Ina we ek or two a messenger returned with a head—hisgeneral’s head . He roused himself from the drowsy luxuryofAntioch

,and set out with his army.

The three women were , as I have said , Jul ia Maesa,

sister of Julia Domna , and her daughters , S oaemias andMamma. At the death of J ulia Domna they had retiredto the ancestral home at Emesa, in Syria , but with a veryconsiderable fortune

,which Mae sa had gathered at the

court of S everus and Caracalla . The two daughters seemto have lost their husbands

,though each had a son .

Soaemias had a child of fourteen years,named Variu s

Av itu s Bassianu s,a strikingly pretty boy.

1 His cousinIt is difficult to imagine Elagabalus beginning his appalling care e r at

such an age , and Gibbon, calculating from the‘

age give n to Ale xander S e ve rusin the H istoria Augusta at the time of his de ath, change s the age to se ven

te en. But the Historia Augusta is ve ry commonly wrong in the age s itascribe s to Empe rors at the ir de ath . Profe ssor Bury

'

admits that Gibbon is

probably wrong, and we may follow He rod ian.


Ale x ianus was three or four years younger. Avitus wastherefore clothed with the dignity of priest of the temple

,

which seems to have been hereditary,and the li ttle group

resumed the life they had quitted , twenty years before , todwell in the Imperial court . Maesa , and probably S oaemias,found this rustic tranquilli ty unendurable

,and followed

political events with interest . The one retained dreamsof Imperial power, the other of Imperial indulgence . Theirchief servant was a clever eunuch, Gannys by name , whois strangely described by Dio as “ practical ly living withS oaemias.

”A geographical accident brought their vague

dreams to a practical i ssue .

Near the l ittle town of Emesa was a camp of the Romansoldiers . Cosmopol itan as they now were in race andre l igion , and frett ing at their detention in th e dull countryside , th e soldiers took a close interest in the temple ofthe strange god . The great wealth and fame of the shrine

,

the peculiar nature of its deity and its ritual,often attracted

them, and the knowledge that these rich and handsomewomen of the priestly family had been so closely connectedwith their popular Caracalla increased the intere st . Butthe ch ief feature that drew their attention was the beautyof the young high-priest . The soft and femin ine del icacyof his form and features was enhanced by a long robe ofImperial purple

,fringed with gold , and a crown that flashed

back the rays of the Syrian sun from its precious gems .

The romance was not lessened when they reflected thatthe great S everus had often fondled this boy 1n his arms ,and that he might have inherited the throne . The women ,or their servants

,now doubled the interes t of the sold iers

by insinuating a whisper that h e was the son of theirCaracalla

,and when Mae sa’s gold began to pass freely

into their purses,they contrived to see a resemblance

to the dark and repel lent features of the late Emperor inthe girl ish beauty of the boy. S oaemias had no diffi cultyin paying the poor price of her reputation for a return to

court . Lampridiu s bluntly calls her a meretrz'

x ,

On the night of May 1sth , 2 18, the three women and



grey-beards a painting of himself in h is flow ing sacerdotalrobes and womanly j ewels , to be placed over the altar

'

of Victory in their meeting-place.

I n the following spring he condescended'

to v isit . the

capital of h is Empire . Rome had received many a strangeprocess ion during the centuries of its Imperial expansion

,

but no spectacle had aroused so much curiosity as thearrival of the young monarch on whose picture theS enators had gazed w ith bewi lderment . The original waseven more extraordinary than the portrayal . For the entryinto Rome the young priest-Emperor stained his cheeksw ith vermil ion , and artfully enhanced the bril l iance of h iseyes

,l ike a Syrian courtesan or an actress. He wore h is

loose robes of purple si lk trimmed with gold,his delicate

arms were encircl ed with costly bracelets and his whiteneck with a string of pearls

,and a tiara of successive

crowns , flashing with j ewels , surmounted his strange figure .

And , as the alternative and real power in admini stration ,the Romans regarde d

'

w ith anxiety the two women whorode with him— the grave and d ignified -Maesa , and therichly sensuous and evi l-famed S oaemias . There i s inthe Vatican Museum a statue of the mother of Elagabalusas she appeared at this t ime . She has chosen to be .

portrayed in the costume , or lack of costume , of Venus ;and the voluptuous body and soft round l imbs , the lowforehead , thick l ips , and large nose , combined w ith the hardand shameless expression

,reconcile us to the coarsest

epithets the historians have attached to her memory.

To the horror of the S enate th is woman was at onceassociated with him in a character t hat no Empress, orno woman

,had ever assumed in the long history of Rome .

At his first -visi t to the S enate th e Emperor demandedthat she should be invited to sit by his side and listen totheir del iberations . Even Livia had been content to listenbehind the decent shade of a curtain . S oaemias, however,had not the wit or seriousness to interfere in any wayf

S he was appointed president of the S enacu lum , or LittleS enate,

” of women, Which S abina had founded , and Julia re

J UL IA M/ESA


2 16 THE“EMPRESSES OF ROME

were the Romans concerned whe n he stole the Astarteof the Carthaginians , and married he r, in a magnificentfestival , to h is lonely deity . The temples and cults ofRome were like the temples and cults of modern J apan .

They contributed to the gaiety of life . But if there wasl i ttle sincere polytheism at Rome— th e educated worldwas divided between an Epicurean Agnostici sm and aneclectic Monotheism— there was much supe rstition ,

and fewcould regard without concern a desecration of the - ancientPalladium

,or statue in the temple of Vesta

,to which the

fortune of the city was peculiarly attached , an d otherancient emblems . Elagabalus

x

‘

despotically overrode th eirfeel ings . He broke forcibly into the home of the VestalVirgins

,and bore away the sacred Palladium; s ince we

may regard the later boast of the V i rgins , that they cheatedh im with a substituted statue , as insincere .

Of the Empresses whom he made by marriage wehave little knowledge . I n less than three years he married ,and unmarried

,either four or five women . The ,

first was

j ulia Cornel ia Paula,a woman of very distinguished

family and,if we may trust the bust in the Louvre

,a

woman of dignity , refinement , and some strength ofcharacter. W e may see the action of Maesa in the choice .

A few month s later he d ivorced her and , to the horrorof Rome

,married one of the Vestal V irgins . Po ssibly the

beauty of Julia Aquil ia S evera had caught his fancy whenhe broke into their sacred enclosure . The S enators weredeeply concerned at this sacri lege , for the fate of Romewas stil l closely connected with the integrity of th e noblevirgins who tended the undying fire before the altar ofVesta . Elagabalus , who , i t was generally known , had nohope of progeny , brazenly argued with the Se nate thathe was consulting the future of the S tate , since a unionof priest and priestess gave promise of a family .of divinechi ldren . I n any case

,he said , he was a maker, not an

observer, of laws and h e established S e ve ra‘

i n his palace,The coins give her the title of Augusta .

His roving eye soon afterwards was attracted by the

IN THE DAYS OF - ELAGABALUS 2 17

charms of Annia Faustina , the great-granddaughter ofMarcus Aurel ius. The portrait-bust of her in the Capito lMuseum has a round ful l face of great beauty and anexpression of sweetness and modesty . She seems tohave escaped the tain t of the Faustinae . She was marriedto Pomponius Bassus , and Elagabalus released her by thefamil iar device of executing her husband , and transferredher

,leaving no t ime for mourning, to the palace . Her

beauty seems to have been too tempered with refinementto engage his affections long. She was dismissed , andreplaced by some unknown vict im . Then Elagabalusreturned to his priestess of Vesta . I n all , he seems tohave married four women in three ye ars , ,

not countingS evera , whose marriage Dio does not seem to regard asvalid .

S evera was the ch ief associate of his l ife in the palace,

and it i s quite impossible to convey an impression of thesordid scenes into which she had passed from the austeresanctuary of Vesta . Twelve condensed pages of theHistoria Augusta ” are occupied with h is enormities

,and

at the close of what is probably the most appalling pictureof unrestrained license in any literature—even i f we admitexaggeration—Lampridius assures us that he has , from afeeling of modesty , omitted the worst detail s. I t wouldseem that the human imagination , in i ts most diseasedcondition , could devise noth ing lower. We do not knowwhether

~

S evera was an Octavia or a Poppaea , but the circumstance that she consented to l ive is grave enough . Inthat vast colony of vice , to which a system of pandars

,

spread over the Empire , dispatched every man who hadsome special physical or moral feature to fit h im for theorgies , no decent woman would have clung to mortality.

A Cee sonia or a Marcia might laugh when Elagabalusreturned at night

,dressed as a common female tavern

keeper, from the - low wine-shops in which he had beenrioting—might even smile when she saw Elagabalus

’

s

“ husband ,” a burly slave , beating and bruising him for h is

infidelity , or. when she heard at night the rattle of the


golden rings and the“

shameful appeal of the new Messalinabeh ind his curtain— but S evera was of noble birth , thedaughter of a man who had twice been consul .One of the - unpardonable s ins of Rome was that it

'

hesitated so long to assassinate some of its ru lers . The

very excesses of Elagabalus protected him for a longtime , as he urged the people to share or imitate hisp leasures . No screen was drawn about h is vices . Hewould discuss them with the S enate , or collect al l themeretrz

'

ces of Rome in a hall , and address them on thosevarious schemes of vice which we find to-day depictedon the walls of the lupanar in Pompei i . He would invitethe common folk to come and drink ‘

with him at the palace ,where they might see the furniture of solid si lver , the bedsloaded with roses and hyacinths , the sw imming-baths ofperfume

,the gold dust strewn in the colonnades , the paths

paved with porphyry . He provided for them the Spectacleof naval battles in lakes of wine , and a mountain of snow ,

brought from the remote mountains , in the middle ofsummer . But his ch ief device for cajol ing the ci tizenswas to d istribute tickets

,as for a lottery , and see them

press for the sight of the gifts corresponding to theirnumbers . You might get ten eggs or ten ostriches

, ten

fl ies or ten camels , ten toy balloons or ten pounds of goldand the mania grew unti l your chance lay between a

“

deaddog

,

‘ a”

slave , a richly caparisoned horse , a chariot, or ahundred pounds of gold . At times he would invite acrowd to dinner , and

"smother them , with fatal effect tosome

,under a thick shower of flowers ;

‘or seat them oninflated bags

,which slaves would deflate in the middle

of the banquet ; or have them borne away intoxicated atthe end , to find themselves in the morning sleeping withbears or lions .

The frivolous Romans were so much entertained bythese vagaries that they overlooked his personal luxury ,and

“

made no inquiry into the state of the treasury. No

dinner could be placed before~

him thapounds of si lver . Robed in a tunic


220 THE EMPRESSES OF"

ROME

rushed across the city , and burst into the gardens of thepalace. Elagabalus fled

,

to his room , and covered h imselfwith a curtain ; and the soldiers conveyed the two womenand the boy in triumph to the camp , many of them remaining in the garden to threaten Elagabalus .

S oaemias , seeing the Empire sl ip from her,awoke to

energetic action . She hastened on foot to the camp , andpleaded passionately for her son . They d id not wish totake h is life

,the guards said , but must have a security

for the life of Alexander and a promise of reform . Theyreturned to the gardens , and the young autocrat

,in h i s

purple si lks and jewelled shoes , had to plead with therough soldiers to spare the favourite ministers of hisvices. He had fil led the highest posts with men whoseonly qualifications were such that we cannot describeth em , and his army of attendants were the scum of theEmpire . The guards forced him to dismiss the mostobnoxious

,preached h im an inglorious sermon on his

infamies , and directed their offi cers to watch over the lifeof Alexander.

The swords of gold and the cords of variegated si lkwere not employed , but Elagabalus could never forgivethe degradation he had experienced . He made severalattempts to remove the obstacles to his design : sent theS enate from Rome , and removed or executed several ofthe soldiers. Mamaea watched h im ass iduously

,and Mae sa

easily penetrated his secrets . Not a particle of food ordrink from the Imperial kitchen was allowed to pass thelips ofAlexander. Rome knew that the end was near . It

was only a few years since Bassianus and Geta had disgraced the palace with a similar quarrel . Mmsa attemptedin vain to concil iate them . On January I st, 222, they wereboth to receive the consular dignity from the S enate .

She had to threaten Elagabalus with a fresh mutiny of theguards before he would goS ome ten weeks later the feud came to a crisi s . Ela

gabalus , to test the soldiers , sets afoot a rumour thatAlexander is dead . The guards

,believing the rumour

,

IN THE DAYS OF ELAGABALUS 22 1

withdraw their contingent from the palace , and shut themselves in the camp . Elagabalus takes h is cousin in h isgolden chariot to the camp , to show that the rumour isfalse

,and loses control of h imself when the guards burst

into exclamations of j oy at the sight of Alexander . Mamaea

and S oaemias come upon the scene, and an angry altercation follows , each mother making a wi ld appeal to thesoldiers . Either there , i s a divis ion of feel ing among thesoldiers

,or some of Elagabalus

’

s m1ni ste rs are present ,for swords are drawn and are soon at work . Elagabalusand S oaemias , the Sybarites , rush into the latrine of thecamp for safety , and are slain there by the guards . Theirbodies

~are d isdainfully thrown out to the mob , who havegathered outside . The effeminate frame of the youngEmperor, with its soft

'

limbs and large pendent breasts ,and the voluptuous body of his mother , are dragged throughthe streets

,and, as the opening of the sewer is too narrow

to receive them , they are thrown into the Tiber. And thecry of “Ave , Imperator ! rings in the ears ofMamaea andher boy.

CHAPTER XIV

ANOTHER SYRIAN EMPRESS

O the thoughtful Roman the name of Syria must havesuggested an abyss of corruption

,and the extension

of the EmpIre over that swarm of Asiatic peoplesto whom the name was vaguely appl ied must have seemedan infel icitous triumph . From the cities of nearer Asia , Inwhich the senil e energies of the Older civil izations seemedincapable of rising above the ministry to vice

,luxury, and

folly, had come the larger part o f the tain t that had infected

the blood of Rome . I t is therefore s ingular to observethat , of the five women whom Syria placed on , or above ,the Roman throne in the third century, four were distingu ished for sobriety of judgment and concern for thecommon weal . The family from which the first four ofthese women sprang is variously described as humbleand “ noble .

” We may reconcile the epithets by a con

je cture that the family which controlled the wealthy shrineof Emesa descended from some branch of the fallen nobil ityof the East . Both S oaemias and Mamaea had marriedSyrians , and we may assume that Mamaca had done thesame. In those circumstances

,the publ ic sp irit w ith which

Jul ia Domna,Julia Maesa , and Julia Mamaea used the great

influence they had is not a l ittle remarkable .

Of -the three— to whom we must presently add a fourthremarkable woman of the East—Mamasa had the greatestpower , and made the best use Of i t . S he i s not blameless ,as we shall see ; but even if it be true , as is commonly said ,that she was unduly covetous of money and power , we

222



handsome and viri le youth,with the piercing black eyes

of his race, but with a moderation of temper that deligh tedh is S toic teachers . When we read the account of his careerin the H istoria Augu sta —an account that might havebeen written by a Xenophon or a Féne lon for the edifica

t ion of a young prince—we are tempted to feel that , eitherthe gossipy Lampridius had for the moment a more seriousobj ect than the entertainment of Rome , or AlexanderS everus was more virtuous than the circumstances re

quired.

Mamaea i s described by the same writer as “ holy , butavaricious .

”Avarice was a not inopportune vice. Ela

gabalus had squandered the treasury on his foll ies ; thetroops , encouraged by him and by Caracalla, were becomingmore and more exacting ; while Mamaca had , by lighteningthe taxes

,spared the Empire a substantial share of its

contribution . In these c ircumstances it was prudent tocultivate a clOse concern about money , and no single writerventures to say that the Empress—the S enate ‘ had at onceentit led her Augu sta— spent much on her personalor pleasure . I t i s said that her zeal for the accumof money was carried to a stage of offensiveness .

was necessary for her murderers to detect or invent somevice in extenuation of their foul deed , and the position inwhich the charge is found in the historians reveals that itcame from that tainted source .

“ Avarice ” means l imore than that she would not yield to the improdemands of a demoralized army .

When we reflect that both her parents were Sywe notice with some surprise that the portraiMamaea has a singularly Roman face ; and in hersolidity

,and sobriety she recalls the old Roman type rather

than accords with the general conception of a Syrianwoman . She had the defect of her type , and an incidenttha t occurred early in her reign is regarded as a gravebetrayal of it . I t i s not at al l clear

,however , that Mamas.

acted with the “ j ealous cruelty ” which Gibbon sees in herconduct . For the wife of her son she had chosen Sallustia

ANOTHER SYRIAN EMPRESS 225

Barbia Orbiana—we find the name on coins , though theh istorians do not give it—daughter of the S enatorSallustiu s Macrinu s . Alexander

,not an exacting husband ,

seems to have l ived happily with h is bride , and her fatherwas promoted to the rank of Caesar. Before long, however,we find Macrinus executed on a charge of treason , and hisdaughter banished to Afrlca.

Gibbon believes , on the authority of Dio , that th is wasentirely due to Mamaea

’

s unwillingness to share the powerand the affection of her son with another woman . The

word of an historian and a member of the S enate , whomwe may almost describe as an eye-witness , must assuredlyhave weight , yet we cannot ignore the assert ion of theother author it i es that Macrinus was betrayed into actswhich easi ly bore the construction of treason . W e mayrecall Me rivale

’

s just warning, on another occasion , thata contemporary Roman writer is particularly apt to re

produce the unsubstantial gossip of his day . Herodian,

who nevertheless bel ieves that Macrinu s had no treasonableintention

,says that Mamaca was so cruel to Orbiana that

the girl went in tears to her father , and be repaired to thePraetorian camp w ith bitter complaints against Mamaca .

S uch a course very strongly suggests a treasonable design .

The troops,chafing under the rule of Mamaea and her son

,

whom they eventual ly murdered , were notoriously discontented ; and flying to the camp was commonly the firstovert act in a plot to displace the ruling Emperor . Whenwe further find that Lampridius Historia Augusta says

,

on the authority of De x ippus , an Athenian writer of thesucceeding generation , that Macrinus was expressly at

tempting to replace Alexander, we must at least suspendour censures . We know nothing of the character ofMacrinu s and his daughter

,and are therefore unable to

say how far Mamaea’

s interpretation of their conduct mayhave been influenced by her feel ings

,and how far her

harsh treatment of Orbiana may have been justified .

The charge against her is further weakened by acircumstance that Gibbon has overlooked . Lampridius

l 5


says that Alexander married Memnia, the daughter of theex-consul S ulp icius , and speaks incidentally of h is boys .

”

I t seems,then

,that the j ealousy ofMamaea did not prevent

Alexander from marrying again,and that Memnia must

have shared the palace with the Empress-mother for anumber of years . Of her character we know noth ing,except that

,together with Mamaea, she remonstrated with

Alexander on account of his excessive affability with hissubjects . NO guards , i t seems , barred the entrance of thepalace against them . The austere character of the lifewhich adorned it was th e only test of the integrity of thosewho approached him . After a day of exertion he wouldspend the evening in the refining enjoyment of letters orthe exercise Of his musical skil l . He sang and played Well ,but guarded his Imperial dignity by admitting none to hearhim except h is young sons . Actors and gladiators heavoided , nor would he spend much in exh ibit ing theirskil l to t he ‘ public. His one luxury was a

”

remarkablecollection of birds , which included doves ; his one

Weakness a deligh t in the_

puny and almost bloodlesscombats o f partridges , kittens , or pups . His bathcold water, and h is table was regulated bd irections , admitting even the sl ight luxuon fest ive occasions . When a string of costly pearls waspresented to Memnia, he ordered that they should be sold ,

’

and , when no purchaser could be found in Rome , he hungthem upon the statue of V enus in the temple.

From such details as these We may construct a pictureof the quiet and temperate l ife of Alexander’s palace

,and

we shal l be d isposed to th ink lightly of the quarrels which”

are said to have disturbed the relations of mother and son .

f

W e can hardly bel ieve that“

one so frugal as Alexanderwould profess much indignation at his mother’s assiduousnursing of the treasury, nor can we suppose that Mamaea

greatly resented the young monarch’s acc

subj ects . Their frugality, indeed , must notas they were generous in gifts . Instead ofextort their incomes from the provinces in


ANOTHER SYRIAN EMPRESS 227

office,Alexander provided them ,

when they left Rome ,with an outfit so complete as to include a concubine . Hisdeference to h is mother may, in fact , be said to be th e onlyconsistent charge against h im . The Emperor Julian The

Caesars insinuates that he showed a mediocrity of inte lligence in allowing his mother to accumulate money , insteadof prudently spending it . In a sense Julian was right ;though it was not weakness of intel ligence , but severity ofprinciple

,that restrained Alexander and Mamaca from this

prudent expenditure . Had they lavished their funds uponthe troops

,the h istory of Rome during the next ten years

might have run differently .

From {an early period in the reign of Alexander theattitude of the troops cast a shadow over the palace andthe Empire . Fiv e success ive Emperors

,besides earlier

ones,had received the purple from the hands of the troops

,

and had been compelled either to refrain from pressing thenecessary discipl ine upon them

,or to compensate the

rigours of discipline with excess ive rewards. The sold iersbecame conscious of their power

,and sufficiently demoral

iz ed to abuse it . Less exercise and more pay led to alamentable enervation ; and the fi ll ing of the ranks from

the more distant peoples , who had not contributed to themaking of the Empire and were insensible to i ts prestige ,dissolved in the legions the old sp irit of nationality . Fromthe lonely forests

,the frozen h il ls , or the bl istering deserts

of the frontiers,they sought ever to be withdrawn to the

comforts and pleasures of the cit ies . And when they foundthat a fre sh ~ e ffort was being made to restrict their indul

gence s and restore the earlier discipl ine , when they reflectedthat i t was . only the feeble hands of a woman and a youththat would enforce th is austerity

,they broke into sul len

murmurs of discontent .The most dangerous part of the army was the extensive

regiment of Praetorian Guards,which

, from its camp at thewalls , overshadowed Rome with its power. Over thesemen Mamaea had placed a civil ian

,the distinguished juris t

Domitius Ulpianu s. I t was natural that U lpian should


wish to extend to the guards the valuable reforms whichhe was introducing into every department of the S tate ;equal ly natural that the soldiers should chafe under hisd iscipl ine. The citizens took the part of U lpian andMamaea, who protected h im , and the irritation at lasterupted In a bloody struggle , in which the populace foughtfor three days against the soldiers in the streets of Rome .

The quarrel was arrested , but some time afterwards— notin the

'

fight , as Gibbon says— the angry guards put an endto the reforms of U lpian . The statesman fled before theminto the palace , and sought the protection of the Emperorbut the insolent guards penetrated the sanctuary of theroyal . house with drawn swords

,and murdered

,in

Alexander’s presence , the most eminent and enlightened of

his counsellors . The p rovincial troops were giving l ittleless concern . W e take our leave at this stage of thehistorian Dio . His work closes w i th a mournful lamentof the condition of the army, and a j ust presentiment ofimpending calamity . He too had endeavoured to enforced iscipl ine on the legions , and had found the authority ofthe Emperor insufficient to protect h im from their murderous resentment .

'

As i f th is lamentable S i tuat ion had been communicatedto the countless peoples who pressed eagerly against thebarriers of the Empire, we find a new boldness aris ingamongst them , and a serious beginning of those raids whichwil l at last put the mighty power under the heel of thebarbarian . The tragedy of the fal l of Rome reaches a morecertain stage . I t i s a singular and melancholy reflectionthat Rome suffered most under its most virtuous rulers .

During the reign of Marcus Aurelius the gods had seemedto make a war upon virtue . The new S toic and his virtuousmother were destined to see the enemies gatheringabout their enfee bled frontiers , and to perish tragia futile effort to repel them .

The gravest trouble arose in the East . The

kingdom Of Persia revived , and its vigorousmined to regain the provinces which Greece a



eagerly welcomed him , .and put him in command of theyounger troops . Bu t Alexander had afterwards refusedh im an

'

honou r , which Mamasa de sired to confer on him ,

and he probably heard th is . He had given his son a goodRoman education , and Mamasa thought that the youngman was a suitable match for her daughter The oclea.

Alexander protested that hi s sister woebdfind Eli e fatherin-law too boorish , and the young Mamminita

unow a tall

,

handsome , cultivated , and dissolute noble , married a granddaughter Of Antoninus P ius , Junia Fadilla .

Whether this affront was remembered , or whetherMax iminus acted from mere ambit ion , we cannot say. Hebegan , in any case , to spread discontent in the army .

W hen Alexander practically bought peace from the barbarlans, instead of conduct ing a vigorous campaign againstthem

,the wh ispers were changed into open murmuring .

These effeminate Syrians , i t was said , were unable toendure the sturdy North , and were eager to return to theEast . The Emperor was a maudlin youth , who could notact without his mother’s permission . He had abandonedthe war against Persia in order to return to her side

,and

he was again sacrificing the honour of Rome out of regardfor her comfort . Her palace at Rome was full of boardedtreasure

,while the hard-worked soldiers were insufficiently

paid . These complaints circulated freely in the campduring the long German winter . A lavish distribution ofmoney might have defeated the plot of Max iminus , and aspeedy retirement to Rome would certainly have saved thelives of the Emperor and Empress . But they remained incamp unti l the middle of March

,235 , and then the end

came .

They were at , or in the neighbourhood of, the smallfrontier town which is now known as Mainz . One morning , when Max iminus rode out to control the exercises , hewas greeted with the name of Emperor. He feigned surprise and reluctance

,but the soldie rse probably in pursuance

Of an arranged plan - drew their swords,and threatened .“

to kill h im if he did not take the power from the hands of

a

ANOTHER SYRIAN EMPRESS 23 1

the effeminate Syrians . He consented , promised a l iberaldonat ion ln honour of his accession

,and said that al l

punishments that had been infl icted on the sold iers wouldbe remitted . He then led them toward the tent of Alexander. The young Emperor came out to meet them

,and

made an appeal that seems to have divided the fol lowers ofthe usurper , as they went away to their tents . At night ,however , the guards at the Imperial tent announced thatthe mutinous troops were gathering about it . Alexanderrushed out , and called upon the loyal soldiers to defendhim , making a tardy promise of money and concessions .

Many of them came to his s ide,but at las t the massive

figure Of Max iminus was seen to approach at the head ofa strong

'

body of troops . For the last t ime the soldierswere urged to choose between the strong, generous manand the avaricious woman and her ch ild . Alexander sawthe faithfu l few pass sullenly to the S ide of Max iminus , andhe returned to his tent . I t i s said that th e last momentswere spent in a violent quarrel between mother and sonabout the responsibil ity for the d isaster. There was l ittletime for it . The soldiers of Max iminu s entered at once ,and slew Mamasa ,

“

Alexander, and their few remainingfriends .

A popular and spirited work of the fourth centurydescribed “

the deaths of the persecutors ,” or the terrible

fate which befel l e very Emperor who persecuted theChristians . NO fate in the terrible series of Imperialcalamit ies was so tragic as that of Alexander , though hehad favoured the Christians

,and had cherished a bust of

Christ among those of the heroes and sages in h is lamm’

um.

No other Empress in the long line of murdered women solittle deserved a violent death as Julia Mamaea. Duringthe fourteen years of her son’s reign she had solely studiedthe welfare of the Empire . The one charge that hermurderers could bring against her was that she hadhoarded money instead of spending i t on , or giving it to ,the troops . On public build ings

,public works , and civic

administration she had spent freely ; she , or Alexander ,


had even expended large sums in providing surer susteuance and more effective transport for the troops themselves .

The charge is l ittle , if at al l , more than a cowardly subte r

fuge. But i t needed half-a-dozen strong and unselfishgenerals to restore the effi ciency and docili ty of the legions

,

and they were not to be found . W e pass into a period ofanarchy

,in which Emperors and Empresses rise and wither

l ike mushrooms , and Rome stumbles blindly onward towards its doom . In that period of confusion , when everysect ion of the armymakes its Emperor, only two dominantpersonali ties are found , and they are two Empresses ofbarbaric origin .



it . The Empire heard with horror and disdain that th isThracian Shepherd had seized the mantle of Antoninusand Marcus . The people of Rome

,in particular

,re col

lected w i th alarm the contempt they had shown him inh is earl ier years , and offered prayer in the temples thatthe gods might d ivert h is steps from the south of I taly .

He met their d isdain with vind ictiveness,and ruthlessly

executed those who remembered his humble origin,or

whose wealth could add to hi s revenue . His Empress,

Paulina , vainly endeavoured to restrain h is bloody hand ,and succeeded only in drawing it upon he rse lf.

1 At lengthhis exactions struck a spark of rebell ion in Africa , and anew Emperor was appointed .

The Afri can Proconsul , Gordianus , was an excellentEpicurean of the fine old Roman type . He had wealth ,culture , character, and taste . After fil l ing the highestoffices at Rome with grace and applause

,he was now

quietly discharging the , duties of Proconsul , and relievingthe long hours of leisure with a tranqui l enj oyment ofletters , at the l i ttl e town of Thysdrus , about a hundredand fifty miles t o the south of Carthage. W i th him inAfrica was his son Gordianus , an ep i cure rather than anEpicurean

,who solaced his exile from Rome with the

engaging company of twenty-two ladies . Their respectivepleasures were violently interrupted in th e beginning ofthe year 238. The father

,a white-haired old man

,with

broad red face , was rest ing in his house after h is judiciallabours , when a band of men , with blood-smeared swords ,burst into the luxurious villa , told him that they hadrebelled against the tyrant , and peremptori ly informed himthat he was Emperor . His objections were unheeded ,and he set out , with misgiving, for Carthage . But thepride of the Carthaginians was quickly chil led by thenews that Max iminus

’

s commander in Africa was advancingagainst their city. An armed force was hastily equipped ,s ent . out under the lead of the younger Gordian , and cut

Ammianus Marce llinus te lls us the one fact, Z osimus the other.

Ne ither mentions her name , but we learn it from coins.

ZENOBIA AND VICTORIA 235

to pieces . The younger Emperor had died on - the fie ldthe white-haired old man hanged himself.Rome, meantime

,had recognized the rule of the

Gordians , and was now throbbing with a just apprehensionof the vengeance of Max iminus. The certainty of punishment inspired it with a measure of courage

,and two new

Emperors were created—a vigorous son of the people ,Pupienus Maximus , and a perfumed representative of thenobles , Balbinus. The choice d id not please the people ,who beset th e S enate with sticks and stones , so a handsome boy, such as Rome loved , was associated with them .

He was a Gordianus , the fourteen—year-old son of the elderGordian’s daughter. The city rang with preparations forwar, and in the early summer Maximus led out his weakand apprehensive force . The terrible Max iminus and hislegions had crossed the Alps , and were descending on theplains of I taly . Luckily for Rome , they met a desperateresistance at Aquileia . Protected by strong and wellequipped fortifications

,with ample provisions , the in

habitants repelled the fiercest attacks_

of Max iminu s,and jeered at h im and his dissolute son from the walls .

When the thongs of their sl inging-machines wore out ,the women of Aquileia gave their long tresses to th esold iers to weave into cords . Max iminus vented histemper on h is own troops

,and one morning the besieged

were delighted to see the soldiers advancing with thegrisly heads of Max iminus and his son o n the t ips oftheir spears .

Maximus returned to gladden Rome with th e news ,but i t was decreed that six Emperors were to die thatyear. The soldiers

,who had had another fight with the

Romans during the war,were sullen and treacherous.

Balbinus they hated for h is effeminacy , Maximus for hisrigour. The returning tr00ps brought grievances of theirown , and it was only the loyalty of the German soldiersthat held the guards Off the palace . Then there came aday when the deligh t of the games drew most of thesoldiers away

,and the guards marched upon the palace .


Maximus hasti ly ordered the loyal troops to be summonedBalbinu s cancelled the order. Their relat ions had beenstrained for some time , and each looked upon this suddenonslaught as a device of the other . The German troopsarrived at last , to find the palace empty, and learn thatthe three Emperors were in the hands of the guards .

They started at once for the camp,and found the bleeding

remains of Maximus and Balbinu s on the street . W iththem another ephemeral Empress passe s dimly before us .

The coins seem to indicate that Maximus was the husbandof Q u intia Crispilla at the time of h is death .

The youthful Gordian had been taken to the camp , andRome was forced to acknowledge him as sole Emperor.Intoxicated , as so many had been , by the sudden obtainingof so vast a power, he seemed at first incl ined to the modelof Caligula. His uncle’s concubines and his mother’s eunuchswere in a fair way to rule the ruler. But a W ise tutor,Timesitheus

,Obtained a better influence over him , and he

soberly chose h is daughter,Furia S abina Tranqu illina, as

h is Empress . The whole prospect of the Empire changedwith h is marriage

,in 24 1 or 242 , but the evi l genius of

Rome intervened once more . The Persians had againcrossed the eastern frontier

,and the Emperor and his

father-in-law went t o Asia to take command . The war wasproceeding with success

,when Time sitheus contracted a

mysterious i l lness and died . Gordian gave h is commandto a dashing cavalry leader named Phil ip— the man who ,we have strong reason to think

,had poisoned Time sithe us.

Philip was a handsome Arab , whose father had led a bandof robbers in the desert . But the son was astute , andGordian suspected nothing . Before many months thecamps were simmering with discontent . Pay was reduced ,and the troops were reluctantly informed by Ph il ip that i twas the command of the Emperor . Regiments foundthemselves quartered in districts where it was impossibleto obtain sufficient food

,and Phil ip begged them to regard

the youth and mil itary inexperience of Gordian . The plotculminated in the early spring of 244. Gordian was slain ,


ZENOBIA AND VICTORIA 237

and the son of the Arab pillager of caravans received thepurple from the soldiers .

The new Empress .of Rome , Marcia O taci lia S evera ,attracts our attention for a moment on account of the claimof the early Christian writers that she belonged to the newreligion . The claim must have had s ome foundation

,but

the story on which it is generally based is regarded withreserve by historians . S t. Chrysostom and others declarethat

,when Philip and O taci l ia passed from the Euphrates

,

where Gordian had been murdered , to Antioch , they wentto the Christian church for service on Easter-eve and thatthe bishop refused to admit them in any other characterthan that of penitents expiating a foul crime. Duruyridicules the idea that a bishop would have dared so toaddress an Emperor in publ ic before the middle of thethird century

,and it i s certainly difficult to believe .

Indeed , historians general ly suspect that , as’

the storyitself implies

,O taci l ia supported her husband in his

cr1m1nal , ambition ,

\

and are reluctant to regard he r, as aChristian . Her national ity is unknown

, and she hardlyemerges from the obscurity in which the scanty chronicleshave left the reign of her husband .

Let us hasten through the pages of ghastly adventure,

and come to more interesting women . In the year 249 thetroops in Moe sia pressed the purple on ‘ one of the ablestRoman generals , Decius , and Ph ilip was slain in thecontest that followed . O tacil ia fled with her son to thePraetorian camp

,but the guards kil led the boy in her arms

,

and sent her back sadly into the common ranks from whichshe had so unhappily risen: The wife of Decius , He rennia

Etruscilla, who is known to us only from coins and aninscription , had little better fortune , since Decius perishedin a war with the Goths two years late r H is son andsuccessor, Hostilianu s , died in the following year, notwithout a suspicion of crime . The colleague of Decius andsuccessor of his son

,Gallus

,was murdered in 2 53 , together

with his son Volu sianu s , with whom he had shared theEmpire ; and the rival and successor of Gallus was


assassmated within'

four months . Then Valerianus , anaged and distinguished S enator, came to the throne , andwe begin to have less fleeting gl impses of the ladies of thecourt

,and to make acquaintance with th e two remarkable

women who will especially occupy us .

The elder Valerian does not long remain on the stage .

The weakness into which th e Empire had fallen was soonobserved by its enemies on every side , and the frontierprovinces were being devastated . I nvesting his elder son

,

Gallienus , with the purple , Valerian went to the East tooppose the Persian monarch , S apor , who threatened thewhole of Roman Asia , and after a t ime fell , with h is army,into the hands of the enemy . Whether or no i t be truethat the proud Pers ian used to step on the person of theaged Emperor to mount h is horse

,i t is at least certain that

Valerian died among the Persians after some years ofignominious capt ivity

,and his skin , stuffed and padded to

the propoi‘tions of a man

,was long exhibited as the most

glorious of S apor’s many trophies . There are later writers

who assert that h is second wife,the Empress Mariniana ,

was captured with h im,and brutal ly treated unti l she died

,

but the authority is s lender. Cohen,the great authority

on Roman coins,warns us that , though there are coins

of a certain Mariniana,who seems to have been a lady of

Valerian’s court,i t i s not certain that she was his wife .

S O‘ feeble did the Empire now become that i ts enem iesmade the most extensive and destructive inroads . The

Persians advanced so far as to sack Antioch , the Franksoverran S pain and reached Afr ica , the Alemanni spreadte rror x in the north of I taly and even threatened Rome , andthe Goths poured over Greece and Asia Minor. Gallienusreceived the news of each successive disaster with aninsip id joke. Glittering with the jewels wh ich encrustedhis bel t

,his dress

,and even his shoes

,his hair powdered

with,

gold dust,he dined from dishes of sol id gold , in the

company of his concubines , while h is fathercaptivity, and his subj ects groaned under the



Zenobia was the wife of Odenathus , the ruling manin the independent town of Palmyra . The town , whichhad become an important commercial centre

,lay on the

edge of the Syrian desert,and had long maintained a

position of neutral ity between the Romans on the westand the Parthians to the east . I t had the tit le of a Romancolony

,and Odenathus cannot have been more

lead ing citizen and,perhaps

,head of its S enate .

l ittle S tate came the news that the Roman Edetained in ignominy by the King of Persia .

sent to S apor a most pol ite suggestion thatwas improper , and gilded his remonstrance witof valuable presents . The presents werethrown into the Euphrates , and the blthreatened to punish his insolence . W ith great bolthe leading citizen of Palmyra formed an irregular aout of the neighbouring vi llages and the Arabs , with aRoman troops , and infl icted a substantial reverse onPersian troops . Gall ienus gracefully acknowledgedse rv1ce , and extended the Imperial t it le to h im andwife Zenobia , who became the representatives of R0power in the East .Zenobia was

,says Trebe llius Poll io in the “ H

Augusta ,"“ one of the most noble of al l the women

East , and also one of the most beautiful .” Her 11

rests upon her claim that she descended froma point that we are unable to examine . The pof her in the Vatican does not so much suggestbeauty as ex ceptional power. I t i s a face of exstrength and peculiar features . W e can veryher, as she i s described for us , riding out on horthe assembled troops

,her piercing black eye

spirit,a

‘

military helmet on her head,and a

embroidered with gems,so attached to her

leave naked the fine arm w iQ o 0

orders . She ma1nta1ned

but was far removed

ZENOB IA AND VICTORIA 24 1

to surpass them in drinking. Yet i t i s uniformly statedthat this remarkable independence of Syrian ideas as to awoman’s posit ion was united with a chastity of the mostsensitive and pecul iarly scrupulous character . When weadd that she was a woman of exceptional culture , spokeLatin

,Greek

,and Egyptian

,had so complete a command

of the history of the East that she wrote a book on it,

and enjoyed the daily companionship of the philosopherLonginus , who was tutor to her sons , we seem to haveexhausted possible merit , and ventured into the province oflegend . But we have stil l to say that her military andpol it ical abi lity was no less than her beauty , her cul ture ,or her virtue . W e shall see later that

,the finest Emperor

of ’ the age,Aurel ian

,spoke with extraordinary appreciation

of her skil l in warfare and in pol ity.

Even as the wife of Odenathus , Zenobia was not inactive . She i s said to have urged his bold attack on Persia ,and she shared the longest marches of the soldiers whenthe campaign began . But she was soon the sole ruler ofthe East , in the interest , at first , of Rome . During thePers ian war Odenathu s quarrelled with a relat ive andofficer, named Maeoniu s, and was only prevented by the

his son,Herodes , from putting him to

was the son of Odenathu s by a formerbe the natural heir to h is dignity . The

Zenobia had borne him , Timolau s andmere boys , but Zenobia had an olderformer husband . W e can understandsome jealousy in the family

,now that

and a practical sovereignty of the East11 the “ king of Palmyra .

” Zenobia couldand despise Herodes . He adopted theof the East

,and received from his father

,

share of his heritage,the j ewels , silks , and

had detached from the baggage ofmonarch retired before him .

no ground for the assertion that Zenobiaconspiracy which removed Odenathus and


Herodes . Mae onius was consult ing his own ambition,as

wel l as appeasing his hatred,in having them assassinated .

FOr a moment Zenobia was inl

a position of some anxiety,

but she acted with vigour. She thrust her son Vaballath-the H istoria Augusta ” at first says her two younger sons

,

but afterwards corrects this— before the Palmyreans as themost worthy heir of the power of Odenathu s, and Mae oniu s

passes into a significant Obscurity. Vaballath was declaredAugustus , and Zenobia became Queen of the East

,

” asshe l iked to cal l herself. The two younger boys wereent itl ed Caesars . W ith in a short t ime it was felt at Romethat a new and rival power had arisen in the East .The voluptuous Gallienus could at times start from his

rose-strewn couches and the arms of his mistresses,and

conduct an energetic raid upon the opponents of hisEmpire . The victories of Odenathu s seem to have inspiredone of these fits of vigour . The legions in Gaul had castoff their allegiance to their degraded ruler

,put his son

S aloninu s to death , and chosen as Emperor their ableand upright commander, Cassianu s Postumus . Gallienusmarched against him

,pressed him hard for a time

,and

then returned to Rome to enjoy a magnificent triumph .

One hundredwhite oxen , with gilded horns , two hundredwhite lambs , several hundred lions , tigers , bears , and otheranimals

,and twelve hundred gladiators , in superb costumes ;

preceded his car. The more serious Romans looked o n indisdain . S ome of the

l

m,

ime s or comedians , dressed asPersians

,and went about In theprocess ion , staring in e ach

to he r’

s faces , and saying that they were “ looking for theEmperor’s father. Gallienus had them burned al ive .

But the chief interest of this dash into Gaul is that itfirst brings to our notice the famou s Gall ic princessVitruvia or V ictoria .

l W e find her supporting Postumus

1 He r name is variously given as Vitruvia,Victoria, or Victorina . S ince it;

appe ars as Vitruvia whe re the “Augustan H istory copie s from the Acts of

the S enate,and no Roman would corrupt Victoria into

it was originally Vitruvia, and was Latiniz ed , or chan

became Empre ss, into Victoria.



We return to Zenobia , who had in the meantime becomean independent sovereign . Gall ienus had taken alarm atthe growth of her power , and sent h is general He raclianwith secret instructions to dislodge her. Zenobia divinedthe real intention of Heraclian and hi s troops

,treated

h im as an invader,and destroyed his force . An invitation

was then received,or obtained , from Egypt , and Zenobia

sent men to expel the troops of Gall ienus fromwhat she regarded as the kingdom of her fathers . Egyptwas added to her dominions . Rome was

'

now fullyalarmed at the success of the two barbaric women

,while

every other province of the Empire was overrun byinvaders or detached by locally-chosen Emperors . Oneof these rivals at length drew Gal lienus from his palaceonce more, and gave an opportunity to remove h is insolentweakness from the throne . The Emperor was besiegingthe pretender to the throne in M ilan , when some of theleading officers conspired to assassinate h im . He wasdrawn from h is tent one night in March (268) by a falsealarm that the besieged had made a sal ly

,and

,devoid

al ike of guards and armour , he was soon stricken with amortal wound . Salonina i s said by some to have perishedwith him

,but of this there i s no evidence.

His successor, Claudius , an experienced soldier ofobscure descent but great personal merit , decided to leaveZenobia and V ictoria in possession of their power unti lhe had rid the Empire of the formidable Goths . Theywere said to have an army of men

,and the

whole of Greece and the north of Asia Minor had beenplundered by them . The instruments of Roman comfortor luxury that they took back into the bleak forests ofthe north seemed to be drawing an inexhaustible streamof marauders upon the debil itated south . Two years wereoccupied by Claudius in destroying their power

,and he

had just cleansed the Roman territory of their presencewhen he died of the pesti lence, in the spring of 270 . The

obscure brother of so virtuous and valorous a ruler was

deemed a worthy successor to the purple,but the army

ZENOB IA AND VICTORIA 245

made choice of a strong and capable comm ander , Aurel ian ,and , after two or three weeks

’timid enjoyment of his power ,Q u intilius Opened his veins and gracefu l ly yielded thethrone .

The new Emperor was the bold and sturdy son of aprovincial peasant

,who had cut his way to the position of

commander . Marriage w ith the daughter of a weal thynoble had further improved his position

,and his temperance ,

zeal for discipl ine,skil l

,and bravery had made him a most

effective leader. His first care was to complete the victoryover the Goths

,who were again advancing. After an

exhausting struggle he entered into friendly all iance withthem

,drove back the other barbaric tribes who threatened

or ignored the northern front ier of the Empire , and thenturned his eyes toward the East . Gibbon makes him firstapply himself to the restoration of Gaul , but the historiansVopiscu s and Zosimus expressly say that he dealt firstw i th the Queen of the East .Zenobia had now,

in 272, enjoyed her remarkabl e powerfor abou t four years , and seemed , owing to the preoccupation of Rome with the northern barbarians , to haveestabli shed a solid and durable kingdom . Parth ia andPersia respected her southern boundaries ; Egypt peacefullyacknow ledged her rule ; and even the citi es o f Asia Minorwere beginning to bow to her title . But Palmyra was nota Rome , and provided ,

too s lender a base for so vast adominion . As Aurelian and his formidable legions marchedacross Asia M inor , the . cit ies returned at once to th eRoman allegiance

,and Zenobia prepared for a severe

struggle . She led her army out in person from Antioch,

and met the Romans near the river Orontes . Modernhistorians usual ly follow the account of the battle Wh ichdescribes Aurelian as stealing a victory by stratagem . Heis

‘

said to have noticed the weight of Z enobia’

s heavilyarmoured cavalry

,drawn them into a w i ld gal lop

‘ by afeigned retreat

,and then wheeled hi s troops , when they

showed signs of fatigue,and scattered them . But th e

the nearest authority , te ll s us that


Aurelian’

s troops were real ly routed at first , and thenrecovered—owing to a miraculous apparition— and won .

Zenobia retired to Antioch . Her general,Zabda

,de

luded the inhabitants with a false report of victory,and

trailed through the streets a captive whom he had dressedas Aurel ian . But the Emperor was advancing, and theyfled during the night to Emesa , where they were sti l lable to put men in the path of Aurelian . The

second battle proved as disastrous to Zenobia as the first,

and i t was decided to retire at once on Palmyra . For along time the city held Aurelian at bay, and he magnanimou sly allowed that its successful resistance was due tothe sagacity of Zenobia . In the midst of the long siegehe wrote to a friend at Rome

I hear that i t is said that I do not the work of aman in triumphing over Zenobia . Those who blame mehave no idea what kind of a woman she is—how prudentin counsel

,how assiduous in arrangement , how severe

with the troops , how liberal when It i s expedient,how

stern when there i s need for sternness . I may venture tosay that it was due to her that Odenathus u t S apor toflight

,and advanced as far as Ctesiphon . Tcan assure

on that she was held in such terror in,the East and in

gypt that the Arabs , the S aracens , and the Armenianswere afraid to move .

”

S o diffi cul t and protracted did the s iege prove thatAurelian at length wrote to her, offering to spare herl ife if she would surrender . The answer seems to havebeen preserved in one of those l ibraries of valuable documents at Rome , from which the writers of the “ HistoriaAugusta obtained their material

,as they tel l us . I t ran

Zenob ia , Queen of the East , to Aurelius Augustus.

No o ne has ever yet made by letter such a request as youmake. In matters of war you must obtain What you wantby deeds . You ask me to surrender , as if you wereunaware that Cleopatra preferred to die rather than loseher dignity. W e are expecting auxi liaries from Persia,and the S aracens andArmenians are with us . The robbersof Syria beat your army , Aurel ian . What wi ll happen to

,

you when"

our reinforcements come ? You will assuredly



and that of th e Greek historian Zosimus. The Latinwriters , who l ived at Rome in the generation after Zenobia ,make her reply boldly to Aurelian

,and do not say a word

about her casting the blame on others . The Greek writer,

a much later compiler, represents her as , in the words ofGibbon , ignominiously purchasing l ife by the sacrifice ofher fame and her friends . Gibbon affects to reconcile thetwo by making the woman’s weakness follow upon themomentary show of courage.

To this method of reconciling contradictory and unequalauthorities we may justly demur. The much later versionof Zosimus is not only less enti tled in itself to acceptance

,

but it i s seriously enfeebled when he goes on to make thewildly erroneous statement that Zenobia died on the wayto Rome

,and her companions were sunk in the Bosphorus .

W e have every right to follow the Latin h istorians .

Zenobia was brought before Aurelian , and the soldiersfiercely demanded that she should be put to death . Exasperated as the Emperor was, he refused to slay a woman ,and asked her why she -had dared to resist the majesty ofRome .

“ I n you ,” she repl ied ,

“ I recognize an Imperialmajesty , because you have vanquished me , but I saw none inGallienus .

” Her life was spared . What Roman generalcould have resisted the wish to grace his triumph at Romewith a greater than Cleopatra ? The troops , with theirvast treasures and their captives , moved slowly homeward ,after executing Longinus and some others .

I n the triumph which Aurelian had so splendidly earned ,and no less splendidly celebrated , we catch our last certainglimpse of the Queen of the East , one of the most notablewomen of al l time . Along theflowe r-strewn lane betweenthe dense walls of citizens passes one of the longest andgrandest processions tha t ever led a victor to the Capitol.An immense number of tamed elephants , l ions, t igers ,leopards

,bears

,and other beasts move slow ly and sullenly

along,and eight hundred pairs of gladiators give promise

of the impending spectacles . Then there are cars heavi lyladen with the gold , s ilver , and jewels of Palmyra , the rare


CHAPTER XVI

THE WIFE AND DAUGHTER or D IOCLET IAN

LTHOUGH we have already indicated the fate ofAurel ian , we have not yet referred to the womanwho shared h is Imperial t i tle and his great renown .

Her personality is,in fact , entirely unknown ; even her

name is preserved for us only on the coinage . W e mayfairly conjecture that she disl iked the plebeian ways of herhusband , and discharged the duties of a consort withoutenthusiasm . Daughter of a weal thy and prominent noble

,

Ulpius Crinitu s , she had conferred a useful d istinctionon the ambitious peasant at a time when he was makinghis way in the Imperial service, and i t i s conjectured , onsomewhat slender grounds , that she accompanied him onh is campaigns . Bu t his life at the palace was short andinglorious . He disl iked its pomp and luxury , and foundhi s chief delight in pitting his comedians against eachother in eating-conte sts . He pampered the common citizens by increasing their free ration of bread , and addingpork to it. When he went on to meditate a free distribu tion of wine , one of his ministers sarcastical ly suggested that he might add geese and chickens . When theEmpress

,U lp ia S everina , thought i t fitting that she should

wear silk mantles , her husband forbade her to indulgein that rare and costly product of a precarious commercewith China .

Aurelian was , in fact , essentially a soldier. His manner,

and even the reforms which he endeavoured to make,

caused grave dissatisfaction at Rome , and a conspiracy250

THE W IFE AND DAUGHTER OF DIOCLETIAN 25 1

against him was discovered within a few months of themagnificent triumph he had enj oyed . He crushed it witha fie rcene ss that almost obliterated the memory of h isgreat services , and then returned to Asia to meet thePers ians . On his march he was assass inated , in the be

g1nn1ng of the year 27 5 , and the great promise of hisreign was unfulfil led . U lpia S everina seems to have diedbefore him , as the h istorian speaks only of a daughterwho survived him .

Once more we pass swiftly over a number of turbulentyears unti l we come to an Empress of whom we havea comparatively ample knowledge . I t i s general ly ad

m itted ,'

though not enti rely beyond doubt , that the throneremained vacant for the greater part of the year 27 5 .

The “ Historia Augusta,

” at least,which was written in

the next generation , describes a situation in remarkablecontrast to the earlier haste in

’

appointing Emperors .

We are asked to believe that the S enate and the armyspent many months in a most edifying encounter , eachendeavouring to induce the other to choose a ruler. At

length the S enators chose one of their number, the agedand upright Tacitus , who set out to take command of thetroops in Asia . W i th in a few weeks , worn by the un

wonted fatigue . and pained by the unru ly behaviour ofthe soldiers

,he passed away. S ome of the historians

declare that he died of actual violence . There i s 116trace of an Empress . W e read that Tacitus , l ike Aurelian,

forbade his wife to wear sumptuous clothing , but'

thiswas probably in earl ier days . The absence of coins leadsus to think that she had d ied .

He was succeeded by a young and vigorous ofii ce r,

of peasant extraction,named Probus , under whom the

Empire recovered much of its strength . For s ix years helaboured successfully to re store the prestige of Rome ,but h is severi ty led at length to assass ination . Duringa mutiny of the soldiers

,in the year 282 ,

“ a thousandswords were plunged at once into the bosom of the u n

fortunate f robhs ,” as Gibbon toofloridly expresses i t .


From the absence of coins we may almost gather thath is wife had di ed before his accession . Carus

, who

succeeded h im,was an aged general of sixty years . He

died after a year of strenuous warfare , and left theEmpire to his sons Carinu s and Nume rianu s. The

younger Emperor was dispatched to the East , and Carinu svirtually reigned alone .

Even the experience of .our own time has so frequentlytaught us to expect a mediocre or effeminate issue froma distinguished and viri le stock that we do not wonderat th is happening constantly in the h istory of Rome. W e

need not refer i t to the mystery Of heredity. The vigoroussire had developed and enhanced his strength in the laborious cl imb to the heights of his chosen world . The son ,finding the paths to the summit smoothed , and an engagingluxury at his command without exertion

,al lows it to

degenerate . The finest steel and the purest gold yield andcrumble in a corroding atmosphere . W e cannot , therefore ,affect astonishment at the almost invariable fai lure of theRoman practice of eagerly welcoming a son to the placeof his gifted father.The reign of Carinus affords one of the wor st il lustra

tions of the evil . Indolent,insolent

,and luxurious , he

saw in his Imperial power an opulent ministry to hisdepraved tastes . He did indeed provide Rome with themost splendid entertainments . The amphitheatre rangonce more with the coarse applause of the ninety thousandspectators of its bloody contests ; the Circus was transformed into a forest

,in wh ich the strange or beaut ifu l

beasts of remote lands l ived under th e eyes of threehundred thousand Romans . But thls indulgence of thepeople’s appetites was held to excuse an unbridled ministryto those of the prince . The whisper went once morethrough the fetid depths of Roman life that there wererich awards for the ingenious and industrious pandar toa sated voluptuary, and the palace exh ibited again theloathsome spectacles that had long been expelled from it .They have little interest for us

,as although Carinus


254‘

THE EMPRESSES OF‘

ROME

annals of Rome . A strong man and judicious statesmanhad come to the throne , and he would occupy it for twentyyears .

From our point of view it i s disappointing that thewife of Diocletian does not come to our not ice unti l h isreign is nearly over. Her very name was disputed forage s ; . even now her personality is only faintly i l luminedby the adventures of her later years . Her daughter isa more commanding figure

,and other Imperial lad ies stand

out in the chronicle of the times . S ome of these, suchas the mother and wife of Constantine , we reserve for thenext chapter ; and we may compress into a few lines thestory of the twenty years’ reign of Diocletian .

A year after hi s accession , which took place in the year285 , Diocletian chose a colleague to share th e control ofthe vast Empire . This friend and partner

,Max imlan

,was

the son of peasants , rough , ignorant , and unscrupulous,but an effective commander. He was entrusted with thecare of the West , Diocletian passed to the East , and severalyears were profitably spent in restoring the crumblingfrontiers . The task proved so formidable that

,in 292, they

chose two offi cers for the inferior digni ty of Caesarsa t itl e which implied that they would probably one day beAugusti

,and should meantime wear the purple

,but have

no power to make laws or control finance. Of the two,

Gale rius again was a child of the soil , while Constantiuswas the son of a provincial noble and they were compelledto dismiss their humbler W ives , and wed the daughters ofthe Emperors .

’ Four courts were thus set up within theEmpire

,while Rome found itself coldly neglected , its palace

deserted,and its S enate impotent .

To the court of Gale riu s we shal l return presently,

while we leave th e affairs of Constantius and his wife tothe next chapter. The court and the Empress of Max imian

need not detain us . He chose Milan as his seat , and beganto adorn the northern town with the marble edifices thatbefi

gtted its new dignity . His w ife was a very attractive

Syrian woman , Galeria Valeria Entrop ia . Her name has

THE WIFE AND DAUGHTER OF DIOCLETIAN 25 5

led some to conjecture that she was related to the fatherof Constantius

, Eu tropiu s, one of the chief nobles ofDardania

,though the connexion is feeble . She seems , in

any case,to have regarded her uncultivated husband with

disdain,and sought more genial company. Her son

Max entius i s said by some to have been the i ssue of al iaison with a compatriot, while others declare that he wasa boy substituted for the daughter she bore , becauseMax imian de sired

’

a son . We may leave these disputablescandals and come to the court of Diocletian .

The son of a Roman slave had created a glitteringcourt at N icomedia . His palace

,round which the ci ty

quickly grew in size and magnificence,was adorned and

served with an Oriental.

pomp . The successive approachesto the chamber of the Emperor were guarded by splendidofficials , and when the suppliant or ambassador penetratedat length to the inner apartment

,he found the stately

Diocletian in purple and gold robes , his _brow encircled

by a glistening diadem,and was compel led to prostrate

himself before the divine majesty. I t was not,however ,

the vanity or folly of a Caligula,but a calculated policy ,

that had prompted Diocletian to clothe himself wi th th isOlympic d ignity . Earlier Emperors

,of the same mean

ext raction,had refused to put a barrier of royal ceremony

between themselves and their subjects or soldiers , andhad invariably fallen by the hand of the assassin . Dioclet ianwas too shrewd , too much attached to life , and too sensibleof his beneficent use of power, to incur the risk . He hadrestored Egypt t o obedience

,humiliated the Persians

,and

devoted an even greater abil ity to the reform of the

administration . Co-operating with his vigorous colleaguein the West , he had brought peace and prosperi ty back to

the Empire .

I n the sett led years of h is reign we begin again to

recognize the various personalities of the court . The

Empress herself i s more or less involved in a piquantobscurity. Unti l the end of the seventeenth century hername was unknown

,and a great deal of romantic legend was


reproduced in regard to her. Cardinal Baronius found in“Acts ofS t. S usanna ” that her name was S t. S erena , a martyrfor the Christian faith . O ther “ Acts of the martyrsfurnished a S t. Eleuthera and a S t. Al exandra as consortsof Diocletian . He seemed to have been an Imperial Bluebeard But in 1679 the manuscript was found of an earlyChristian work ,

“ On the Deaths of th e Persecutors ,” and

the earlier writings were proved , in the words of thelearned Franciscan

,Father Pagi , to be fictitious and ful l of

untruths . The many saintly martyrs gave way to anEmpress Prisca , who broke down lamentably at the firsttest of her faith . I t i s very curious that we have no coinswhatever of Prisca

,though she must have l ived through

the whole reign of Diocletian . Th is, and the fact that sheleft h im many years before h is d eath

,suggest either that

she was not married to h im at all or that he had l ittleregard for her. S he was , in any case , a woman of weakand retiring -character

,and is ment ioned only In associa

tion with he r daughter .

Valeria was a beautifu l,attractive , and spiri ted young

woman,with a good deal of the strength , and not a

l ittle of the ambition,of her father. She was married

to Gale rius,the:Caesar whom Diocletian had chosen , and

remained with him by the s ide of the Emperor. Gale riu s

was,as I said

,of peasant origin , and never laid aside

the uncultivated roughness of his class . Diocletian had ,by di ligent education

,erased the traces of h is own lowly

origin,but his peasant colleagues had gone straight from

the soi l to the camp,and the work of a soldier had not

given them the least incl ination to seek culture . The

character of Gale riu s has been painted in the most luridcolours on account of his persecution of the Christians , buti t i s s ignificant that both Valeria and Prisca clung to hiscourt when Diocletian retired . His mother , Romula, andother rustic relatives were attracted to h is court . Therewas, i t i s clear, a most incongruous group of persabout the court of Diocletian , and inof

“

his reign they were shaken by a



he will write only what tends to ed ify,and the l itt le work

On the Death s of the Persecutors i s obviously imaginative in many pages and inaccurate in others . Expertssti l l differ as to whether i t comes from the pen of thebrill iant Christian rhetorician Lactantius

,but all warn us

to take account of its strong feeling. Our authorities , ina word , now belong to two ant agonistic and bitterly hostilecreeds , and , as all subsequent historians favour one sideor the other

,we have to proceed w ith caution . I have

endeavoured , in the remaining chapters,to make my

way between them with more than ordinary care andindependence.

A few incautious hints given in Lactantius throwa faint ligh t on the origin of the great persecution . The

writer : of the treati se has himself a very positive theory.

The root of the evil was,he says

,Romula

,the peasant

mother of the Caesar . Fanatically attached to the gods ofher native mountains

,she Inspired her son with a hatred

of Christianity,and Gale rius bullied the older Emperor

into issuing the Edict of Persecution . W e feel that thepol icy of Diocletian would hardly y1eld to the prejudiccof a superstit ious woman . There is more enlightenmentin the incidental f statements that Romula was stung bythe disdain of Christian offi cers in ‘ the palace , and t hatDiocletian was greatly annoyed at seeing Christian soldiersdisturb th e harmony

,if not th e efficacy

,of his sacrificial

ceremonies by making the sign of the cross . Gale rius

may h ave been moved by the growing reluctance ofChrist ians to bear arms

,and the very pronounced rej ection

by some of the arms they'

bore . There IS no need\ t,o trust

the imaginary conversat ion which Lactantiu s puts in themouths of Diocletian and Gale riu s . They agreed that thezeal of the Christ ians was impertinent or dangerous , and ,in the month of February a troop of soldiers was

sent to raze to the ground their large and commandingchurch . On the fol lowing day Diocletian publ ished anEdict forbidding the cult under grave pena lties . When1119 4 1899 1121 decree was torn down by a zealous Christian ,

THE W IFE AND DAUGHTER OF DIOCLETIAN 259

and th is act of treason was openly applauded by hisfellows

,Diocletian was embittered , and blood began to

flow. During the next fortnigh t the Emperor’s quartersin the palace were twice found to be in flames . Diocletianwas convinced that the fire was kindled by Christianofficers

,and gave a ful l sanction to the work of repressing

them .

Prisca and Valeria were not among the heroines of thepersecution . Lactantiu s destroys all the myths of martyredEmpresses by tel l ing us that they consented to burn a fewgrains of incense in honour of Jupiter, and impotentlywitnessed the dark roll of the wave of persecution throughthe provinces . He does not even say that they joined

,

or rej oined,the Church when the persecution was over

,

and we lose sight of them for a few years . Probably theywent wi th Dioclet ian to Rome for his triumph in November

,

and returned with h im to N icomed ia in the summer of 304.He was confi ned to the palace by a serious i llness duringthe following winter , and as soon as he recovered heabdicated the throne. I t i s untrue that the threats ofGale riu s forced him to do this . He had expressed theintention years before .

On a wide plain near N icomedia the army assembled onMay I st , 305 , for the unexampled ceremony of the abd ication of an Emperor . A l ittl e h il l in the centre was surmounted by a lofty throne and a statue of Jupiter, and theageing Emperor— he was in his fifty-ninth year— surrendered the power he had wielded so well for more thantwenty years . By a previous arrangement , Max imian wasabdicating on the same day at Milan . The two Caesarsbecame Augusti , and two new Caesars were appointed . I ntheir selection we recognize the partial and unskilful handof Gale riu s. He handed his own Caesarean dign ity to arustic nephew

,Daza who had just left h is herds in the

forest,

”Lactantius scornfully says— and sent a loyal and

undistinguished friend to receive that of Max imian in I taly .

From that selfish act would develop one of the greatestcivi l wars since the founding of the Empire . I n the ranks

260 .THE EMPRESSES OF ROME

of the offi cers by the platform was the tall , handsome ,gifted

,and disappointed young man who would one day

be known as Constantine the Great .Diocletian retired to S alona , in h is native province of

Dalmatia,and built , close to the town , what was for the

age a magnificent palace . Valeria remained in the palaceof Gale rius, and i t seems that Prisca stayed with her , as weShall presently find her sharing the hard lot of her daughter.Why the mother , at least , chose to remain in N icomedia isleft to our imaginations . The rel igion they had favouredwas cruelly suppressed

,and , i f we are to bel ieve Lactantius ,

their virtue must have been outraged by the unbridledlicense of the new Emperor. He is described as an ogre

,

dragging the noblest women of N icomedia from theirhusbands , feeding his bears on innocent citizens

,and

never taking a meal without a taste”

of human blood .

Yet Valeria clung to her husband even through the painfuland repulsive i llness which ended his l ife ; and her namewas given by him to a part of his Empire . The picture isevidently overdrawn

,yet l ife in the palace , with Gale rius

and his boorish relatives , cannot have been very congenial ,and the temper of Gale rius would be soured by the eventsthat followed .

The first mishap was the fligh t of Constantine. He hadbeen l iving for some years at the court of Diocletian , andwas deeply disappointed and right ly indignant at the choiceof the new Caesars . By birth and ability ‘

he had theclearest t itle to the purple. He .was now a tayoung officer , handsome , popular, and sanxious to j oin his father Constantius in Gaul .l itt le doubt that he fled during the night

,th

romantic story told by Lactantiu s i s now generally re

garded as a clumsy piece of fiction . It describes Gale riusas fail ing to take the youth’s l ife by engaging him indangerous contests

,and at length devis ing an ingenious

scheme . He one night gives Constantine permission todepart after he has seen him in the morning , and warns111111 that he wil l be put to death if he i s sti l l in N icomedia



Valeria was at that time in her early th irties,and her

mourning garments did not detract from her ripe beautyof face and figure . She is represented as weighing therespective immoralit ies of the two Eastern E

,mperors and

considering to which of the two it would be the lessdangerous to entrust her virtue. Lactantiu s does not tel lus why she was forced to choose at all ; why she and hermother did not retire to the luxurious and unsul l ied palaceof Diocletian . The end of his l ife was approaching

,i t is

true , but the palace would sti l l shelter them . On the otherhand , Maximin and Licinius are both very th ickly tarredwi th the brush of Lactantiu s . W e shall see someth ing ofthe conduct of Licinius later. As to Maximin , if one halfof what Lactantiu s and Euseb ius say is true , he must havebeen known over the whole Empire as .an erotic man i ac .

He may not have been th is romantic combination of Nero ,Elagabalus , and Carinus, but we know from other writersthat he was much more vicious than Licinius . When ,therefore , we find Valeria choosing to l ive in his palace , wecannot repress a suspicion that the beautiful widow wasnot quite so unworldly as she is represented to have been .

S he had not been long in her new home when certainoffi cers came to tel l her that Maximin loved her, and wasprepared to d ivorce his wife and wed her . When sherefused , the baffled passion turned to rage , and other anddaughter were expel led from the palace. When we learn ,from a later passage , that Valeria refused to yield her rightto the property of Gale riu s , the episode seems more human .

A story of adultery was invented,a Jew— the villain of

early Christ ian l iterature—was suborned to give falseevidence

,and several of Valeria

’s friends were impl icated .

A number of ladies of high rank were publ icly executed ,and the Empress es

, Spoiled of their goods , were drivenfrom province to province

,unti l they found themselves

lodged in a mean vi llage on the edge of the Syrian desert .Valeria contrived to acquaint her father with their S i tuation ,but the rough Maximin rejected his feeble entreaties . Theyseem

‘

to have spent the winter (3 12- 13) in th is miserable

SALON INA

VALERIA



her bri ll iant daughter set out on a painful and aimlessjourney. Either a sentence of death had been passed onthem

,or they had ground to apprehend one ; for their

fligh t would certain ly el icit i t. Lactantius says that theywandered in th is d isguise for fifteen months , but i t i sd iffi cult to bel ieve that they could so long evade theImperial troops who hunted them .

1 At length they wererecognized and arrested in Thessalonica

,and the tragedy

of their unfortunate and , so far as we know, innocent l iveswas brought to a close . Under the eyes of the assembledcit izens the wife and daughter of the great Emperor werebeheaded , and their remains were contemptuously flunginto the sea .

1 It has be e n sugge ste d that the fifte en months of Lactantius may datefrom the ir expulsion from the court of Max imin. This is hardly possible .

Gale rius d ie d in May, 3 1 1, and Vale ria was still in mourning for him, and

ple aded his re cent death, when Maximin sought to we d he r. Max imin d ied

in April, 3 13, so that the deaths of Pri a and Vale ria cannot have be en

e arlie r than the summe r of that year.

CHAPTER XV I I

THE FIRST CHRISTIAN EMPRESSES

HE fourfold power which Diocletian had prudentlyset up ensured for the Empire twenty years ofuneventful prosperity. The two Emperors and

their Caesars guarded and repaired the frontiers , at whichthe strong young nations of the hills and the forests werenow gathering in ominous numbers

,while the body of the

Empire tranquilly pursued its s luggish and debil i tated life .

But no sooner had the balanced mind and the firm hand ofDiocletian relinquished their control than the systemrevealed its weakness . The multipl ication of dignities ledto a multipl icat ion of aspirants ; the distribution of powerinflamed the ambition of the stronger and less scrupulous .

I n one year eight generals claimed and bore th e titl e ofAugustus , and our stage is crowded with Empresses .

Most of t hem,however, are so poorly outl ined in the

records of the time that we may neglect these faint conjugalshadows of inconspicuous rulers

,and select for considera

tion the three or four more prominent consorts of theEmperors .

Possibly the most w idely known of al l the RomanEmpresses , more familiar even than the very differentfigure of Messal ina , i s Helena , the mother of Constantine.

The first Christian Empress,the generous supporter of

the early Church,the first royal woman to find a place in

the l ist of the canonized,we turn to her w ith eagerness to

discover the contrast with he r pagan predecessors . She

does not bear the Imperial title , and does not properly fal l265


within our range , unti l she is advanced in years , but wecannot understand her character unless we glance first ather earl ier years .

In one of his more important sermons (“ De Obitu

The o'

dosi i , § 42) S t. Ambrose observes that she “ i s saidto have been a maid at an inn ,

” and he so clearly acceptsthe statement that h istorians , sacred and profane , have nothesitated to follow him . The claim of another Romanwriter , that Constant ine had i l lumined Britain “ byoriginating there ,

”

gave rise at one t ime to a theory thatshe was British , and our learned commentators furnishedso august a lady with a royal pedigree . The phrase is

,

however, generally understood to refer to the beginningof Constantine’s Imperial career

,and the native town of

Helena is so ught either in Dacia or in N icomedia . S inceConstant ine gave her name to Drepanum ,

in N icomedia ,we may presume that her firstj i umble home was in thattown , and that she moved from there to Naissos , inDacia

, where the birth of Constantine is usually placed .

A stabulum was , in the language of the time , one of themeaner inns i n the towns through which the Roman roadsran . A stabularz

'

a— the epithet used by S t. Ambrose—wasa woman or girl connected with the inn ; and thosetemporary resting-places for sold iers or merchants on theirj ourneys were so easy in their ways that the word wassometimes used in an unpleasant sense . W e may followthe early tradition that Helena was the daughter of a manwho kept one of these inns

,possibly a quite respectab le

establishment,at Drepanum ,

on the way to the city ofN icomedia

,which Diocletian had made his capital . Here ,

in or about the year 273 , the young Roman officer Constantius— later

,for some obscure reason , cal led Constantius the

Pale (Chlorus) —saw and fell in love with Helena . The

road that ran through Drepanum was much used by thetroops , and the encounter is placed at the time whenAurelian was conducting his campaign against Zenobia.

Constantius,an excellent officer and the son of a provincial

noble of some distinction,would then (273) be in h is



pagan critic of Constantine , says (i i . 8) that he was

born of a woman who was not respectable [a c/Lmj]and not legal ly married to Constantius , and he laterobserves that Max entius resented the rais ing to the

’

throneof a man whose mother was “ not a matron .

” Finally,the

early -mediaeval monk , Z onaras , says xii i . I)S ome say that she was lawfully married to Constantiusand divorced others that she was not a legitimate wifebut a paramour . The grave and weighty Eu tropius ,writing in the generation after Constantine

,says that

he was born of “ a somewhat ambiguous [obscurz'

orz]marriage.

The Benedict ines had an ample authori ty, both Christianand pagan

,for their V iew,

and only one argument isadvanced in d isproof of ifi lby modern writers . S everalof the historians tel l us that , when Constantius was madeCaesar, he was compelled by the Emperor to

“ divorce ”

Helena , and , i t is said , divorce implies marriage. The

argument is hardly conclus ive . When Eusebius (orJerome) tells us that the Caesars were compelled to dismiss their “wives

,

” he adds , on the same page , thatHelena was not a wife , but a concubine. He meansmerely that Constantius was forced to d ismiss Helenaand wed the daughter of Max imian,

and does not implythat any legal form of divorce was employed . I t i s quiteopen to us to interpret the other authority , Aurel iusVictor , in the same way ; and Z onaras , the only other writerwho could be quoted , expressly leaves i t open whetherHelena was

'

married or not . I n any case , th e singleauthori ty of Aurelius V ictor cannot outweigh the others ,and even his words do not necessarily imply a legal divorceon the part of both Caesars .

But there is another aspect of the question , which isusually overlooked . Could there be a val id marriagebetween Helena and Constantius in Roman law ? Whenwe regard the subject from this point of view , we seethat Constantius could not possibly have married Helenabefo

’

re the birth of Constantine, and , unless her legal,

THE FIRST CHRISTIAN EMPRESSES 269

condition was subsequently altered by a special enactment,

their union could never become a val id marriage . As Ihave earl ier observed , the strict and ancient forms ofRoman marriage had fallen very general ly out of useunder the Emperors. They had had the effect of puttingthe w i fe under the despotic power of the husband , andRoman feel ing in regard to the position of woman hadenti rely changed . Looser forms of marriage

,which evaded

the older tyranny of the husband , were generally employedand legally recognized . I f a man and woman lived togetheruninterruptedly for twelve months—without three ‘nights’

interruption— their union might become a valid marriage .

Below this was the legally recognized concubine . The

ease with which Christian writers admitted that Helenawas a concubine is due to the fact that the Church ,

“aswell as the law

,permitted a concubine , if a man had no

w ife . As late as the year 400 , the important provincialCounci l of Toledo decided that such a man and his concub ine were to be admitted to communion . S t. Augustine ,we Shal l see , went even further. Below these , again ,were the ordinary paramours , the mistresses of a monthor the playthings of an hour , which S toic and Christianequally condemned.

The real question we have to decide is , therefore ,whether the long association of Constantius and Helenacould ever be recognized as a valid marriage in Romanlaw. That they went through any form of marriage in27 3 could only occur to a writer who knows nothing ofRoman law or pract ice . A young offi cer, taking a girlfrom a tavern in a small provincial town on his route

,

would not dream of any such ceremony and no ceremonywould have been val id in Roman law . Whatever thelegal condition of Constantius was

,Helena was , to Roman

law, a barbarian , or peregrz’

na,and could not contract a

valid marriage .

1 W e need little acquaintance with Roman

One of the most authoritative works on Roman institutions , Marquardtand Mommsen

’

s“ Handbuch,

”

says this emphatically : “ Eben, be i we lchen

Ile r e ine The il derRemischen Blirge rschaft, der Andere den Latinern junge ren


life to imagine what happened . Constantius felt for theyoung woman he found at the country inn a more tendersentiment than that usually entertained by the youngcenturion or tribune on travel

,and he took her to live

with him. I do not see how this relat ion ever couldbecome a val id marriage

,nor is there any clear proof

that they were ever legally divorced . At the most,it

remains a questionable marriage ,” as Eu trOpiu s calls it ,

‘

and it began as a free union .

From Nicomedia Constantius’

s troop seems to havepassed , possibly after sharing Aurelian

’s triumph at Rome,

to Thrace,where Constantine is said to have been born

in the year 274 Helena narrowly missed the dignity of,

Empress a few years later,as Carus had some disposition

to leave the purple to Constant ius . The mother of Constantiu s had been a niece of the Emperor Claudius

,and

his father was one of the chief nobles of Dardania . Butthe accession of Carinu s dispelled thi s hope , and Helenafol lowed her husband from province to province , andgrade to grade

,until

,in 292 , he was selected for the lofty

position of Caesar of th e West. But with the purple camea command that he must dismiss his concubine , and marrythe stepdaughter ofMax imian ,

Flavia Max imianaTheodora .

From that date unti l the year of her son’s bril l iant triumphHelena passes into complete obscurity .

Meantime other Empresses occupy the pages of thehistorian . Theodora

,of whom we have just spoken , i s

one of those Empresses whose propriety of conduct andmediocri ty of person have not attracted the lamp of theh istorian . She was the daughter of Eu tropia , the Syrianwife of Max imian

,by a former husband . Three boys and

three girls came of her union with Constantius , and shese ems to have been a worthy consort of that judicious

Re chtes Od e r den Peregrine n angehOrte , sind nach ROmischen Re cht nicht

gfi ltig”

(vi i. GOteke , in a spe cial study of the subje ct ("Constantinum

hone ste e t e x le gitimo matrimon io says that special e d icts made itimposs ible for an office r to marry in the province in which he serve d . He

be lieve s that the e ffect of the se would not be pe rmanent, but he fails to

conside r H e lena’s disability as aper eg rz'fla .



roundings . An inroad of the barbarians in the'

nort hdrew away the young Emperor with much of his army

,

and Max imian rebelled . He gave out a report thatConstantine was dead , emptied the treasury into thehands of the soldiers , and assumed th e purple mantleonce more . Bu t

'

Constantine returned with the stride ofa giant, and Max imian shut himself in Marsei lles , whichwas pre sentl surrendered . The aged intriguer returnedto the palacefiried to corrupt the loyalty of his daughter,and brought upon h imself the punishment of his crimes .

I t i s a pecul iarity of the time that,the more remote an

h istorian is from an event , the more he knows about it .Eu trOpius and Zosimus merely know that Fausta revealedher father’s plots to her husband ; Zoh aras , of the twelfth

“

century,i s able to tel l us the whole story. Max imian

,he

says , persuaded his daughter to have the guards removedfrom the I mperial chamber at night . Then

,tel l ing the

night-attendants that he wished to relate to Constantinea remarkable dream he had had , he entered the chamberand plunged his dagger into the sleeping figure on thebed . Rushing out to announce the fall of the tyrant

,

however, he found himself in face of Constantine , Fausta ,and the guards . Fausta had been true to her husband

,

and it was “ a vile eunuch ” that Max imian had slainthe Emperor’s , bed . Whatever truth there may bethi s romance

,we may accept the statement that Fau

betrayed his plots , and Max imian came to the end ofcareer. Zosimus sends h im into exile , anddie a natural death at Tarsus . Lactantius , witsense of propriety

,tells Us that he strangled hi

i s the general belief that Constantine - did not permitto leave Gaul al ive .

Gale riu s died in the following year leaving the

Eastern Empire to Licinius and Maximin , while Max entius

ruled in I taly and Africa . Four Empresses now lived inthe court of Constant ine , but before we seek to pene trate ithe mystery of their relat ions to each other, we must ibriefly accompany Constantine in his - rise to the position

THE FIRST CHRISTIAN EMPRESSES 273

of supreme monarch . Max entius , who had expelled h isfather from I taly, now affected a fi l ial anger against h isdestroyer, and , after some exasperated correspondence , senttoward Gaul an army of nearly men . Constantineboldly led of his soldiers across the Alps , woredown the strength of his ’

opponent in successive encoun

te rs , and , within a few months,exhibited the grisly head

of Max entiu s to the astonished and delighted Romans .

He was now master of theWestern Empire. Devoting twomonths to the settlement of Roman affairs

,he returned to

Milan to meet his Eastern colleague Licinius . His halfsister Constantia was married there to Licinius , whoreturned to Asiawith h is bride , to crush Maximin , and toperpetrate the melancholy tragedies over which we shuddered in the last chapter. Anastasia

,the second daughter

of Constantius,was married to the S enator Bassianus .

Constantine made him Caesar , but put no troops at h iscommand—he had just suppressed the Praetorian Guardsat Rome—and refused to grant h im the authori ty that hadhitherto been associated with the t itle of Caesar. Bassianu s

corresponded angrily with Licinius , and before the endof 3 1 5 the Emperors of the East and W est were in armsagainst each other.I t would be interesting to know what share the daugh

ters of Constantius had in promoting these d isorders.The correspondence of Bassianus and Licinius suggests acorrespondence of their wives

,and

,when Bassianus was

deposed and disgraced , we may assume that Constantiawas not insensible of the misfortune of her younger sister.The superior age and abili ty of Constantine would hardlyreconcile the legi timate ch ildren of Constantius to thei rposition of dependence. Constantia is sometimes repre

sented as a pious peacemaker,but we do not find her in

that character unti l her husband’s power is i rremediablybroken , after the second war with Constantine. She fledin great haste with her husband after th e first defeat , andreturned with h im to Nicomedia

,to rule his reduced

dominions .

18


The court-l i fe of the West flowed with uneventfulsmoothness in the eight years between the first and secondwar w i th Licinius . The only break in the monotony isthe birth of three sons and three daughters in quick succession . Zosimus emphatically asserts that these were notthe children of Fausta, but o f a concubine , whom Constantine put ti) death on a charge of adultery. W e arenaturally disposed to regard thi s as a piece of reprehensiblemalice on the part of the pagan writer, but even the mostcautious judgment will find ground for reflection in thecircumstance that Fausta had borne no ch ildren whateverfor the first n ine years of her marriage , and then ch ildrenbegin to appear with astonish ing rapidity. We know thatConstantine had had a concubine

,named Minervina

,before

he married Fausta. Her son Crispus l ived at the court .I t would not be entirely surpris ing if M inervina hadreturned to the court

,to rear the Imperial dynasty which

Fausta fai led to provide , and was eventual ly destroyed inone of Constantine’s bursts of temper .

l

I n the Easte rn‘

cou rt the young Empress bad , i f wetrust the authorit ies

,a more adventurous career. Con

stantia cannot have been more than seventeen or eighteenat the t ime of her marriage

,but she was a woman of spirit

and abil ity, as well as virtue and beauty. I t i s said thatshe , with the whole court , became a Christian after Constantine

’

s victory over Max entiu s, but the story of themiraculous sign in the heavens— a storyin any form unti l th irty years afterwardsand the conversion of Constantine isyears . At Nicomedia

,however

,where Constantia

the magnificent palace built by Dioclet ian,she

The que stion may be raised whe the r S t. Augustine had notConstantine in mind when , in his moral tre atise “ De Bono

re fuse s to condemn a man who, having a barre n wife , take saddition, to provide a family. It is cle ar,

was not fixed . Gibbon again improve sthat Mine rv ina was an e arlie r wife , not a



able intrigue,has not carried much convict ion with later

historians .

Constantia passed,with her daughter Helena and her

boy Licinius,to the court of her brother, who was now

(324) master of the whole Empire . The remark of Zosimus,

that Constantine degenerated into the most wilful licenseafter h is attainment of supreme power—a remarksupported by the assurance of the cautious Entropi“ prosperity somewhat altered his character —contrastsquaintly with the circumstance that he now became theImperial patron of the Christian religion . Here

,again

,we

hesitate between confl ict ing accounts , or rival romances .

According to the mediaeval Christian writer Zoh aras , whosuppl ies a remarkable amount of detai l that was unknownto contemporary historians

,the conversion of Constantine

had a picturesque origin . On hcrushing Licinius

,he was afflicted with a painful eruption

,

and his pagan physicians prescribed a bath in the warmblood of children .

“ At once,” says the lively writer

,

ch i ldren were collected from the whole Empire,

” anddispatched to the palace. The lamentations of the mothersfel l on the ear of Constantine

,touched h is heart, and he

left paganism in disgust for Christianity.

The pagan Greek , Zosimus , who at least faithfully“

reproduces the pagan gossip of his t ime—as , on th is point,we know from S oz omen— gives us the legend of his school .After committing certain murders , which wi ll occupy uspresently

,Constantine applied to the priests of the temple

of Jupiter for purification . The priests sternly repliedthat their lustral water had no power to obliterate thetrace of such a crime , and Constantine turned in despairto an Egyptian who was known to “ the women-folk ” ofthe palace . The Christian priest , as he seemsbeen , declared that his rel igion contained theremedy, and Constantine embraced i t .I t wil l be seen that we now pursue our biographic

amid a forest of legends . Happily, we‘

may rej ectthese stories as , at least , anachronisms . Constantine

THE FIRST CHRISTIAN EMPRESSES

already a Christian in 324. He had abolished the decreesof persecution in the year 3 13, and had taken a keeninterest in Church matters for some years . The wholecourt gradual ly accepted the new faith . Helena, Eusebiustel ls us , and Fausta for some time opposed the changeof religion

,but Helena at least was converted . Entropia

appears in the East a few years later as a zealous opponentof paganism . From their several and ample purses th emoney poured into the lean coffers of the Church , andthe conversion of the Empire proceeded rapidly . V i l lage sthat embraced Christianity were raised to the' dignity ofcities ; nobles and offi cers were encouraged by promotion ;and ordinary citizens were rewarded with a baptismalrobe and a piece of gold .

I t i s not for us to inquire into the obscure question ofConstantine’s real attitude . Professor Bury and othereminent authorities bel ieve that h is creed was a liberal

,

or vague,one until h is death . Years afterwards we find

him building pagan temples at Constantinople , and he didnot disdain the Imperial ti tle Of S overeign Pontiff of theold rel igion . On the other hand , the detai ls col lected byMr . Firth Show a very real interest in the Church . Heopened the great Counci l of N icaea in the year 325 , andreverently kissed the wounds of those who had sufferedin the persecut ion . Yet even amid th is evidence of orthodoxy the hesitating student will find trace of his l iberal ity.

In the letter which he sent to the Catholic bishops hecomplained that the subject of their vehement quarrel withthe Arians was “ quite insignificant , and entirely dispro

portionate to such a quarrel .”The question at issue was

the divinity of Christ . H is experience at the Counci lwould give him a larger sense of its importance .

From the benedictions of the prelates and the embracesof

.

the martyrs Constantine returned to Europe , and ,within a year, apparently , his court was rent by a tragedythat has left an irremovable cloud on h is memory . Hehad gone to Rome , with the court , to celebrate the twentiethanniversary of his accession. The city exulted in the rare


indulgence of his presence , and the games and fest ivit ieswarmed it with its old enthusiasm . The Empire was

united and at peace , and the growing brood of childrengave promise of an unending dynasty . Crispus

,Con

stantine’

s e ldestt son , was now a popular and promisingcommander , clothed in the mantle of a Caesar. Two ofthe sons of Fausta , or her substitute , were Caesars . Thenthere was the twelve-year-old son of Constantia . Overthese watched the aged Helena and Entropia

,and the

mothers and aunts of th e younger children .

In the middle of the festivity Rome was startled tohear that Crispus had been arrested , by his father’scommand

,and exiled to Pola , in I stria . From that remote

and solitary region the report at length came that he hadbeen put to death . Every eye was turned on the palace ,and before long—most of the h istorians say— the gayfigure of the beautiful young Empress disappeared

,and

the report spread that she had been brutally suffocatedin the steam of a dense vapour-bath . The horror wasincreased

,and the prospect of a humane interpretation

lessened,when it was learned that the innocent chi ld

of Constantia also had been put to death . S uch is thegrave and mysterious tragedy of Constantine’s matureyears . As Fausta has been heavily indicted by those 'who

have sought to defend her husband , and Helena impeachedby h is accusers

,we may glance at the evidence on which

one’s verdict must be based .

There are partisan h istorians who would cast doubton the whole story ; there are more serious historians ,such as Gibbon (who again gallantly opposes the critics),who say that Fausta , at least , was not slain ; and the restare divided in opinion as to whether it was a just executionor a ghastly crime . The first two opinions are nowuntenable . There is no serious dispute that Crispus andLici nius were put to death . That Fausta was killed isnow equal ly established . Gibbon relied upon a certainanonymouswriter to Show that Fausta was l iving long afterwards,

‘

bu t i t has been shown that the writer is not speaking



discussion . S idonius Apoll inaris , the most cultivated andliberal Christian writer of the fifth century , says , w ith theconfidence of a parenthesis (Ep. v), that Crispus waspoisoned

,and austa killed in a vapour-bath ; and that

a couplet was xed on the palace-gate recall ing the crimesof Nero . The epitomist of Aurelius Victor declares thatCrispus was put to death at the instigation of Fausta

,

and Fausta was thereupon ” kil led in a vapour-bath,as

Helena bitterly reproached Constantine for the death ofCrispus . Zosimus (i i . 29) says :

“Wi th no regard for thelaw of nature he put to death h is son Crispus , on the

ground that he was suspected of intimacy with Fausta ,”

and,when Helena heavily reproached him

,he ,

“ as if toconsole her

,

” suffocated Fausta in an overheated bath .

Philostorgius , a Christian writer of the same (fifth) century ,declares that Fausta was put to death because she wascaught in adultery with a groom . The story culminates inthe twelfth-century annal ist Z onaras. After tell ing h isincredible legend about Constantine and the babies , herepresents Fausta in the character of Potiphar

’

s wife . She

conceived a passion for the handsome Caesar , was repelledby h im

,and then denounced h im to Constantine as having

Offered violence t o her. Crispus was put to death . ThenConstantine learned in some way—Helena is left to theimagination— that he had been deceived , and he angrilykil led Fausta in a vapour-bath .

I t is remarkable how many grave writers have favouredth is legend of the mediaeval writer, 1 yet , bes ides its , obviousgrowth through th e centuries , i t has the fatal weaknessof throwing no light whatever on the murder of Licinius

,

the ! son of Constantine’s most cherished sister. W e arereduced to conjecture in face of th is mysterious andterrible tragedy . That the youths me tw ith some violent

1 Gibbon, Profe ssor Bury, and Mr. Firth make Z osimus coincide with

Z oh aras. The re ade r will se e from my lite ral translation of his words that

he d iffe rs ve ry mate rially. He doe s not sugge st that Fausta accused

Crispus, -or that she was really gu ilty of any misconduct ; but he pointedlyaccuses He lena.

FAUSTA

FLAVIA HELENA



writers and panegyrists is a grave circumstance . I f therehad been plausible evidence of conspiracy they wouldnot have remained si lent . In any case

,the sentence on

Crispus was harsh and unjustifiable , and the execution of atwelve-year-old boy was a piece of brutal ity that onlythe worse Emperors would have perpetrated .

The murder of Fausta is even ‘ more perplexing . Evenif the late and negligible stories of Philostorgius andZ onaras were true , she was not executed , but brutal lymurdered . The only firm point in the confli cting evidenceis the persistent association of her death with the angerof Helena . W e have no evidence of any value in regardto her relation to Crispus ; but the words of Zosimus ,which are not inconsistent with the earl ier writers

, en

able us to extend the above theory to her. Constantine,

on this view,put Crispus and Licinius to death because

they were possible nuclei of the conspiracy which hebel ieved to pervade the Empire . Adopting a familiardevice

,however , he concealed his motive under a charge

of amorous irregularity, or too great a familiari ty with theEmpress . Helena, who was greatly attached to Crispus ,seems to have insisted that , if there was - any guil t

,both

were guil ty, and Constantine savagely completed h iswork by murdering h is wife . The Christian historiansdescribe Fausta as opposing Constantine

’s progress inh is new faith

,and , as

'

we have no evidence that Crispushad embraced it

,one may not implausibly wonder whether

the two did not attract the favour of the pagan Romans,

to the extreme anger of , the Emperor . N0 charge againstFausta was made publ ic . During the lifetime of Constantine

’

s eldest son , Jul ian described her, in one of hisorations

,as not only one of the most beautiful , but one of

the most virtuous and noble ladies of her time. Even if wemake allowance for the l icensed flattery of a panegyrist

,

the description would be too glaringly inconsistent w ithany Imperial theory of her infidel ity . She was probablyin her th irty-fourth or thirty-fifth year at the time whenshe met her appalling death .

THE FIRST CHRIST IAN EMPRESSES 283

Constantine hastened to remove the gloomy:strickencourt from the disdainful eyes of Rome . The paganspointed w ith fierce scorn to these fruits of the new re

ligion,as they expressed i t . One day it was found that

some one had fastened a Latin couplet— written , th e pagansof a later day boasted , by the hand of the Emperor

’

schief counsellor

,Ablabius— on the gate of the palace

Say ye the Golden Age of

“

Saturn breaks again ?

Of Nero’s bloody hue these jewe ls are .

Either at once , or in the course of the next year , thecourt broke up . Constantine went to direct the buildingof the new capital of the West , which was to bear hisname . Later pagans said that he fled from the theatreof his crimes and the scorn of Rome

,but the ample l ines

of Constantinople had heen traced long before, and thesite had been chosen for its strategical importance. Helenasought the land in which

,

Christ had lived and died,and he r

pious munificence won for her the halo of sanctity . The

legend of her finding the cross does not appear unti lseventy years afterwards

,and Eusebius tel ls us that i t

was Constantine , not she , who found the sepulchre andbuilt a church over it. But Helena , who had now greatwealth , covered the land w ith churches , and returnedwith a great repute for piety . She died soon after herreturn — in 328, Tillemont thinks — having passed hereightieth year.

EurOpia also Went on a pi lgrimage to Palestine , andseems to have settled in the East . We find her a fewyears later urging Constantine to scatte r the pagans whoare defiling some sacred spot with their impure ceremonies . Theodora seems to have died

,at some unknown

date , before the year of the‘ murders . Constantia died

in,or about

,the year 329 . Her Arian friend Eusebius

had been banished , at the triumph of the Athanasians,

bu t She obtained h is recall,and adhered to his Unitarian

creed . I n her last hours she succeeded in recommending


an Arian priest to Constantine , and prolonged the re ligi

ous struggle . W e pass to a new generation of Empresses ,and may dismiss briefly the ten years which remain ofConstantine's rule and introduce us to the events of thenext chapter.I n th e month of May of the year 330 , the new city

of Constantinople was solemnly dedicated . The curiousreader will find in Gibbon a Splend id restoration of itsprincely proportions , its stores of art gathered from allparts of the Empire , i ts superb palace , its great hippodrome , i ts churches and temples , i ts spacious fora , andits lofty column of porphyry, surmounted by a giganticstatue , in which the head of Constantine replaced that ofApollo , and the various attributes of the god he sti l ladmired were hesitat ingly redeemed by emblems of thej ealous God of his new faith . The enormous sums ah

Sorbed in the building of the new city were regarded bythe pagans as one of the causes of the decay of theEmpire , and the bitter strife of Arians and Athanasians ,which distracted it , irritated their resentment . But theirday was closing. The arguments with which they clungto a Jupiter and a Venus in whom they no longer believed were hollow ; the rewards of conversion weregreat . The grey gods saw their crowds of worshippersbecoming thinner and less j oyous . The Empire l ifted thehumble cross into the sunlight from Pers ia to Britain .

The last decade of Constantine's l ife was inglorious .

We might distrust the partial and severe accusations ofZosimus

,but the substance of his charge is found in the

other authorities . His vast and hurried enterpri se inbuilding forced him to lay heavy burdens on his enfeebledEmpire

,and we have the authority of Ammianus Mar

ce llinus that he “ encouraged those about him to Opendevouring j aws in a lamentable degree. Conversionwas the first right to favour and wealth . The laterEmperor Jul ian

,we are not surprised to find

,pours

acrid satire on him . I n the treatise Cae sare s in whichhe introduces the Emperors of Rome to the O lympic


CHAPTER XVI I I

THE WIVES OF CONSTANTIUS AND JUL IAN

HEN the announcement of Constantine’s death hadbeen borne by swift couriers to the distant provinces

,and the body, in its golden coffin , had

been transferred to Constantinople,there was a nervous

rush of aspiring Emperors and Empresses to the capital .The unification of the Empire under Constantine had costthe S tate some hundred and fifty thousand of its fine stsoldiers , who perished in civi l warfare while powerfulnations pressed against its yield ing frontiers . I n his lateryears he had so d istributed these provinces

,whose unity

had been so dearly purchased,among his sons and nephews ,

worthy and unworthy,that d ismemberment was certain to

follow his death . His eldest son,Constantine

,now in his

twenty-first year,ruled Gaul and Britain ; Constantius ,

the second son, a youth of twenty , was the Caesar of theEast ; the th ird son , Constans , aged seventeen , held swayover I taly and Africa. His nephew De lmatius, also entitledCaesar, controlled Thrace , Macedonia , and Greece , and theyounger nephew Hannibalian bore the ornate title of Kingof K ings in Pontus and Cappadocia . The two brothers ofConstantine , and the husbands of his two sisters , were notleft without a share of the Imperial provision .

The race to Constantinople after the death of theEmperor may be imagined

,but the suddenness and horror '

of the consequent tragedy must have sobered even the mostfrivolous . Constantius

,the second son

,was the first to

arrive , and to him the conduct of the impressive funeralwas entrusted . The members of the family gathered round

286

THE W IVES or CONSTANTIUS AND JULIAN 287

the marble palace from all quarters of the Empire , and theshade of Constantine continued for some month s to rulethe S tate , unti l their confl icting claims should be adjusted .

Julius Constant ius and De lmatiu s, the legi timate heirs of

Constantius Chloru s , who had been thrust aside thirty

yearS‘

be fore by the vigorous son of Mineb

ilwriai

, were nowmen i in the prime of l ife . The younger son of the latter

,

Hannibal ian , the“ K ing of K ings ,

” strutted in a scarlet andgold mantle

,and had married the fiery and ambitious young

daughter of the late Emperor, Constantina . Anastasia ,Constantine’s sister

,brought her husband

,the Patrician

Optatu s. The partit ion of power seemed a formidabletask. But in the weeks that succeeded Constantine’s deatha new and sinister power arose , and its secret designs prepared a ghastly simplification of the problem .

Constantius became insensibly the central figure of th edrama. A callous youth , with l ittle strength of character ,he was selected by the eunuchs and corrupt offi cers ofConstantine’s court as a l ikely instrument of their plans .

I t was agreed that the interests of these offi cers and of thesons of Constantine would be best served by a removal ofall the other competi tors

,and a diabol icalp lot was devised .

The details are given at length only by the Christianhistorian Philostorgius , of th e next century , and are re

garded with reserve ; but an Arian writer would hardlyinculpate an Arian bishop and an Arian monarch withoutsome just ground . His story is that Constantine left awil l in which he declared that he had been poisoned by h istwo half-brothers . The will was given to Bishop Eusebius .

When the brothers were eager to see the will of Constantine,

Eusebius is said to have discovered a fine piece of casuistry .

H e put the will in the hands of the dead Emperor,and

covered i t with h is robes,so that he might

,without injury

to h is delicate conscience,assure the brothers that Con

stantine had indeed shown him a w i ll , but he had returnedi t into his hands . The will— or a will—was now produced

,

and the people and army were assured by their dead rulerthat he had been poisoned by his family .


The story is regarded with suspicion by most historians .

For the reason I have given , and because it i s the onlyplausible explanation of what followed , it seems probablethat such a will was produced and published by Constantius .

I t was probably forged by the palace officials. Whetherthey and the sons of Constantine used th is device or no

,

they somehow directed the tempestuous anger of the troopsupon the older princes and their famil ies , and extinguishedtheir claims in a brutal massacre . Julian casts the blame onConstantius

,admitting that he acted under compulsion

,and

the other fourth-century writers do not differ. Constantiuspermitted ,

” rather than commanded .

”The corrupt

power behind the throne directed the murders , and the sonsof Constantine purchased a larger dominion by the blood oftheir uncles and cousins . The two uncles , seven cousins ,and other distinguished men , were included in the bloodylist . Then the three Imperial youths divided the Empirebetween them

,and departed to their provinces .

The wives of the eldest and the youngest of the brothersare unknown to us , and the first W ife of Constantius i s sol ittle known that we may pass rapidly over a number 0

years . The Imperial s isters of Constantine—except Constantia , whom we have considered— enter l ittle in thehistory of the time. Anastasia disappears after the murderof her husband . Eu tropia will presently mingle her bloodwith that of her insurgent son on the soil of I taly. Constantina, the daughter of Constantine who had marriedHannibalian , and who already bore the title of Augusta,retired into a long widowhood

,from which we shall find

her emerging later in a monstrous character.Constantius had been married to his cousin Galla in

336 . She seems to have been the daughter of J uliusConstantius

,since Julian says that her father and brother

were included in the massacre . Her personality is neveroutlined for us in the historical writings of the time

,and

we are left to imagine her shuddering or languishing inthe arms that were stained with the blood of her family.

She died some time before 350 , as Magnentius offered his



her explanation that she had acted with the pure aim Of

resisting the advance Of the Western usurper. Constantine’s sister Eu trOpia also appears in the struggle . Herson Nepotian assumed the purple at Rome , and led outa motley army to attack Magnentius . They were quicklyannihilated

,and mother and son— two of the few remaining

members of Constantine’s family—were slain .

The interest Of th e student Of the t ime is dividedbetween the clash of armies and the not wholly bloodlessconfl icts of theologies . We are concerned with neither ,and need only Observe that Constantius defeated Magnentiu s , after a long and costly struggle— in one battle

Roman soldiers peri shed in c ivi l warfare— and re

united the Empire under his sole dominion . The youngEmpress of th e defeated Magnentius retired into widowhood , and will be restored to us in the next chapter. Inthe meantime Constantina has returned to the field , andher Imperial adventures cal l for our notice .

Two children,the sons of Julius Constantius , had sur

v ive d the massacre at Constantinople . Gallus was in histwelfth year

,Julian in his sixth . They were hidden until

the fury of the sold iers had abated,and then their tender

age induced the murderers to overlook them . The jealouseye of Constantius fel l on them when they approachedmanhood

,and they were confined in a fortress , or ancient

palace,in Cappadocia . In the solitude Of Macellum no

company was offered them but that Of slaves and soldiers .

J ulian,in whose mind the seeds of an elevated philosophy

had taken root,resisted the pressing temptations , and

devoted the long days to culture ; bu t Gallus , a sensualand i ll-balanced youth

,adopted the coarse d istract ions

Of his spacious jail . After s ix years (in 35 1) they werenot only se t at liberty

,but Gallus was amazed to find

himself clothed with the dignity of Caesar and marriedto the Emperor’s sister Constantina . Constantius wascompelled to leave the East in order to face Magnentius,

and he needed a Caesar to rule in h is name .

The three years’ rule of Gal lus and Constantina was

THE W IVES OF CONSTANTIUS AND JULIAN 29 1

an Imperial scandal . Unscrupulous and unbridled,the

daughter of Constantine l ives in the literature of the timeas a monstrous perversion Of womanhood . W ith herbegins the historical work (as we have it) of AmmianusMarcell inus

,a retired general , one of the most scrupulous

and ample chroniclers Of his t ime . He bursts at once intoa vivid denunciation of her vices . S he was “ a mortalMegaera , an ogre

,swollen with pride and thirsting for

human blood . I t i s unfortunate that Ammianus gives usno personal descript ion of the women Of his time . Hiswork contains charming vignettes Of the Emperors andprinces

,but he seems never to have looked on the face

or figure of thei r wives . Gallus , he tells us , was a superbyouth in figure and stature , his handsome features crownedwith soft golden hair

,and bearing a look Of dignity and

authority,in spite Of his vices . The strain Of cruelty and

coarseness in h im was provoked to excesses by h is wife .

When his savage conduct had exasperated his subj ectshe used to send his spies , In the disguise Of beggars , togather the secret whispers Of discontent ; and he evenstooped to the practice of wander ing h imself, in d isguise ,from tavern to tavern on the well-l i t streets Of Antiochto discover h is crit ics Antioch had been noted for centurie s for its freedom of speech , and the prisons andtorture-chambers of Gallus were busy.

Constantina not only encouraged this criminal conduct ,but enlarged on it. A woman of vicious character cameone

‘

day to disclose some plot , or pretended plot , to her .

She rewarded her heavi ly, and sent the harlot ou t into thecity in the royal chariot , to encourage others . An Alexandrian noble distinguished himself by resisting the guiltypassion Of his mother-in-law . The woman presentedConstantina with a pearl necklace

,and the noble was put

to death . We need not prolong the disgusting narrative .

Flavia Julia Constantina,a beaut iful and able woman ,

w ho can scarcely have passed her th irt ieth year , was oneOf the worst Empresses in the Imperial galle ry. One canbu t suggest , in some attenuation of her guilt

,that the


murder of her husband by her brother when s he was ayoung girl in her early teens

,and the fourteen years of

young widowhood that followed,had provoked the

‘

worst

elements of her nature .

As long as Constantius was occupied with the struggleagainst Magne ntius , he overlooked the excesses of his Caesarand his sis ter in th e East . His opponent

,Magnentius, was

not so compliant,though he wasted no legions in an effort

to dethrone him . He sent a sold ier to assassinate Gallusand seduce the troops . As the man resided

,however

,in a

tavern near Antioch , he became less cautious over his cups ,and boasted to h is associates of his mission . The Old

woman who kept the tavern seemed too far removed frompolit ics to be taken into account

,but she promptly de n

nounced her guest at the palace , and he was put to death .

Then Magne ntius fel l,and committed suicide

,and Con

stantiu s, turned to consider the scandalous conduct of hisV iceroy and his sisterConstantius proceeded

,as he usually did whenever it

was possible,by craft instead of force . The Prefect of the

East had been slain by the people Of Antioch , with theguilty connivance of Gallus

,and a new Prefect , named

Domitian,was sent to Antioch , together with ; the Prefect

Of the Palace , Montiu s . Domitian had orders to secure ,by the most tactful and seductive means , that Gal lus shouldvisit I taly

,and walk into the pit dug for _ him . He was ,

however,a sturdy officer

,more sensible of the just s ub

stance than the form Of h is instructions . Gallus andConstant ina were at once insulted because , on the day ofhis arrival

,he drove insolently past the gate of the palace ,

and went straight to his villa . They then condescended toinvite h im to the palace . I n the presence Of the hatedrulers he laid aside all pretence of diplomacy, and roughlyordered the Caesar to proceed at once to I taly , or incurthe just resentment of the Emperor. Gallus

,stung by his

insolence,at once gave the Prefect into the custody Of the

soldiers . Montius , who was present , and who also hadlost all feel ing for dip lomacy in the passionate encounter,


294 5THE EMPRESSES OF ROME

to the remote prison at Pola,where Crispus had been

executed . There he was tried ” by a eunuch of Constantius

’

s court , and with in a few days a breathless courtierhe had ridden several horses to death— rushed into thepresence of Constantius with the shoes Of the slain Caesar .

The Empire was reunited under Constantius , at a cost ofthe deaths of twenty princes and princesses of his houseand their dependents

,and fifty thousand soldiers ; and the

eunuchs and courtiers filled the palace at Milan with theincense they Offered to the young conqueror.

Constantius had,meantime

,married again

,and a more

worthy and commanding Empress engages our attention .

Toward the close of his struggle with Magnentiu s , in theyear 352 or the beginning of 353 , the Emperor married aMacedonian lady

, Aurelia Eusebia , of remarkable beauty ,no l ittle abil ity , and dignified personal ity. Her father andbrothers had had con

'

sular rank in their province ; hermother had been distinguished for the propriety of herconduct and the careful rearing Of her ch ildren after thedeath of her husband . The language in which the EmperorJ ulian describes her is enhanced by gratitude , and enjoysthe license of a panegyric ; some ,

would say that i t iswarmed by a more tender sentiment . But Ammianus , whoalso knew her, pronounces that the beauty of her characterwas not less splendid than that of her form

,and , beyond a

peevish complaint Of a later writer that she d id not confineherself to the proper and restricted sphere of a woman , shemaintains her h igh repute among the confl icting writers ofthe time . The one grave imputation , which Ammianusseems to find quite consistent with his superlative praiseof her, we will consider later.W e find Eusebia establ ished in the court at Milan at

the time when the heads of the last of Constantius’

s

rivals are fall ing . When Gallus has d isappeared , heproudly takes the t i tle Of Lord Of the World ,

” andendeavours to l ive up to i t , amid his company of eunuchsand fawning attendants . In the hands of those astute andconcordant schemers the weak and vain monarch was

THE WIVES'

OF CONSTANTIUS AND JULIAN 295

easi ly persuaded to arrive at decisions which he attributedto his own judgment , and it i s , perhaps , the most indulgentplea that we can make for him that he was governed bya power so subtle and insinuating that he never perceivedi t. The high merit Of a scrupulous chastity is claimed forhim ; b u t the monastic writer Z onaras somewhat detractsfrom this by affirming that h i s coldness deprived h im ofa dynasty and forced h is beautiful and accompli shed w i feinto a fatal decl ine . His piety

,at least

,might be praised ;

but i t rested on a basis of Arian creed and is exposedto the scorn of the orthodox , who called him Antichrist.We may concur in the strictures of Z onaras so far as

to admit that Eusebia cannot have been happy in h iscourt . The eunuch Eusebius

,who had tried and exe

cu te d Gallus , was the most powerful man in the Empire .

Ammianus Observes , w i th heavy irony , that Constantiuswas believed to be not w ithout influence with his emasculated chamberlain . A hierarchy Of le sser, but hardly lesscorrupt , Officials led up to th is favoured minister

,and

Ammianus , from personal acquaintance with the court,

assures us that their rapacity and unscrupulousness grewwi th the power Of Constantius . A Persian Officer Mercu riu s

,had the nickname Of “ The Count Of Dreams , from

the skill with which he could make the most innocentfancies Of the night bear a treasonabl e complexion , andbring destruction and spol iation on the dreamer. Paulus ,who had risen from the lowly position of table-steward ,was called “ The Chain

,because of the art with which

he could involve a man in a charge of plotting. Tortureand confiscation became common experiences once more ,and men began to shrink from even the most innocentconversation .

This unpleasant tenor of the Imperial l ife at Milanwas rel ieved by the great controversy Of the Arians andAthanasians , which was brought to I taly for decision .

How Constantius and his Officers induced the Latinbishops to condemn Athanasius , in 35 5 , by

“ stroking their

bel l ies instead of laying the rod on their backs ,” to use


the vigorous phrase of S t. Hilary , does not concern us ,bu t i t i s interesting to see how Eusebia came in contactw ith the prelates . When the Roman bishop

,Liberius

,

bravely— for a time— incurred exile rather than condemnAthanasius , Eusebia sent him a sum of money. Hereturned i t w ith the suggestion that her husband mightfind i t useful for his troops or h is Arian bishops . A newpower

,besides that of eunuchs , was rising . S u idas pre

serves a story that may be given here , though it may ormay not refer to this Council . As the bishops

,he says

,

came to the town where the court was , for the purposeof holding a Council

,they called to salute the Empress .

Le ontiu s , Bishop of Tripol i , refused to vis i t her , and shesent word that

,if he would call , she would give him the

funds to bui ld a large church . The saintly prelate repliedthat he would condescend to visi t her if he were assuredthat she would receive him with fitting respect— if, heexplained , shewould rise from her throne at his entrance , \

bend for his benediction,and remain standing

,while he

sat , unti l he permitted her to resume her seat .I n the same year however

,a more pleasant

diversion al leviated the weariness Of Eusebia , and anothe rEmpress i s introduced to our notice . We have alreadysaid that the unhappy Gallus had for companion in hisCappadocian jai l a young half-brother of the name Of

Julian . Imbibing h is early culture at the alternate handsof Bishop Eusebius and the philosoph ical eunuch Mardoniu s , Julian had come to prefer the Greek culture of thelatter to the theological lore of the prelate . He had comeout untainted from the lonely fortress at Macellum , andhad passed to Constantinople and then to Nicomedia .

There the distinguished pagan Libanius attracted h is alle

giance , and from the three years in which he studied atN icomedia h is mind was wholly given to the Older culture

,

however much he might be compelled to dissemble hisaversion for the new religion . After the execution ofGallus he was brought to M ilan . W i th growing apprehen

s ion he awaited the decis ion of“ the eunuch , chamberlain ,



mander. The jeers and intrigues Of the court were atlength S i l enced , and, on November oth , 35 5 , he stood on alofty platform before the troops while Constantius investedh im with the purple and exhorted him to sustain thehonour of Rome . The marriage with Helena followed ,and in December Julian and his bride

, w i th a valuablecollect ion of books as , the gift Of Eusebia , set out forGaul .J ul ian never saw Eusebia again

,and cannot have had

the least correspondence with her . Even in Milan hehad , on reflection , torn up a letter in which he modestlywished his patroness the reward of a success ion of children .

On h is side there was nothing but a pure feeling Of

gratitude and reverence. She was,says Zosimus

,a woman

of erudition and prudence above her "sex ”

; a sh iningexample of spiritual and bodily beauty

,according to

Ammianus . She had most probably saved -his l ife , andmost certainly made h is fortune . But it is believed bymany writers that Eu sebia’

s feeling for Julian was of a lessethereal nature . Gaetano Negri

,whose life of Julian is

one of the most distinguished biographies of a RomanEmperor

,justly repudiates the suggestion Of improper

feel ing on he r‘

part, and it i s a superfluous inference . Bu t

one may,without casting the least reflection on her virtue ,

hesi tate to think that the only link between them was

a sympathy Of culture . Such sympathy we may wellassume between a cultivated Greek lady and an ardentHellenist , but so cold and spiritual a relation may verynaturally and pardonably have been strengthened by awarmer feel ing. J ulian had no sensuous attractiveness fora beautiful woman . But h is manly person and character,h is vast superiori ty to the crowd Of ignoble parasites shedaily encountered

,and to her weak and mediocre husband ,

must have excited an admiration less purely intellectualthan an appreciation Of his learning .

The person Of Flavia Julia Helena remains faint andelusive in the ample chronicle of the t ime . S he was mucholder than Ju lian, who was in his twenty

-fifth year , while

THE WIVES OF CONSTANTIUS AND J ULIAN 299

Helena cannot have been less than thirty.

1 She had notbeen previously married , Ammianus says , and the longmaidenhood would not tend to make her attractive . The

marriage was arranged by Eusebia In the pol it ical interestOf Julian , and i t probably retained the ch i ll that a mariagea’e convenance , with such disparity Of age , would naturallybear . In Julian’s abundant , and largely au tobiographital,

writings she is barely mentioned . I t was the marriage ofan Old maid— for the Roman world—with an austere ,if conscientious

,phi losopher . The gradual di scovery of

Julian’s secret loyalty to the Old gods would not maketheir relations more cordial .W e may , therefore , regret that the single l ine of inquiry

which we pursue w i l l compel us to leave almost unnoticedthe bril l iant episode Of th e reign Of Jul ian . The moreliberal taste of our time has removed the violent andconfl icting colours which the partisan writers of the fourthcentury laid upon the portrai t of Jul ian .

!To Gregoryof Naz ianzum .he was a faint impersonation Of Antichrist ;to the pagan writers a modest incorporation of Apollo .

In modern history he is a most conscientious thinker,

a humane and unselfish ruler, a very capable commander ,a concei ted and unattractive pe rsonality . His character

,

in spite of the shade that clings to i t as a trace Of theenforced diss imulation Of his early years

,is great : his

ability and achievements are just enti tled to be cal ledbri lliant .Helena and Eusebia appear li ttle in the years that

fol low , and we must narrate the necessary events verybriefly . The frame of mind in which Constantius sentJulian to Gaul as Caesar i s not at al l clear. The frontierwas obliterated ; the barbarians overrunning the countryin formidable strength ; the military force inadequate , e x

cept with fine control . S ome writers are disposed to

1 Miss Gardne r observe s, in he r life of Julian, that we do not know if

He lena was Olde r than Julian . But, while Julian is known to have be e n

born in 33 ! or 332, since he was in his sixth ye ar at the time of the massacre

Of 337 , and d ie d at thirty-two , He lena

’

s mothe r had be enmurde red in 326 ,


think that Constantius was sending his cousin to death .

At al l events , the faith of Eusebia , that her young andshrinking scholar would surmount these difficulties

,was

great ; and it was rewarded . Julian at once discovered abravery that none had suspected . He cut h is way througha region occupied by

'

the barbarians,surveyed the devastated

frontier, and passed the first year Of his inexperience wi thonly one small disaster. The difficul ty Of his task seemedgreater when , in th e w in ter , he was besieged in S ens , andthe commander Of the troops in the neighbourhood refusedto go to his rel ief. In the trouble that fol lowed EusebiaObtained for him the ful l command of the troops , wh ich hadbeen withheld from him , and from that moment he enteredon a career of victory.

I t i s probable that Helena did not share his peri l inth is w inter (356 W e find her atwRome in April , withEusebia and Constantius

,and a curious story of their

relations is put before us . Constant ius in that monthbestowed his first and only vis i t upon the ancient capitalof the Empire . S i tt ing in a chariot that glittered w ithgold and gems

,preceded by officers whose spears bore

silken dragons , so fashioned as to hiss in“ the breeze , on

their golden and bej ewelled tips , followed by h i s legions inbattle-array , their breastplates and shields gleaming in thesun

,the Emperor passed with affected indifference between

th e dense l ines Of spectators and the great monuments ofRome ; though both the vast crowds and the ancient struetures

,shining w i th a beauty that his decaying Empire

could no longer produce,wrung from him in private an

expression of astonishment . Eusebia had invited Helenato j oin them in this vi si t to ROme .

At a later point in his narrative Ammianus makes areference to thi s visi t that has perplexed every thoughtfulreader. When he comes to record the death of Helena , hesays that i t was due to a poisonous drug adminis tered toher by Eusebia

,during the visi t to Rome , to prevent her

from having chi ldren , and that in the previous year ; whenShe was pregnant , Eusebia sent a midwife to d estroy the



Julian was in winter quarte rs'

at Paris—as Lu te tia'

was

beginning to be called—when the grave summons reachedhim . The is land on the S eine , which now bears theCathedral , had from early times offered a secure settlement,and , as the province became more settled , the adjoiningmpe , where the Latin Quarter of a later age began , wasoccupied with a palace, an amphitheatre , and a few Of thecustomary institutions Of a Roman town . Julian loved thel ittl e settlement on the broad silvery river

,surrounded by

dense forests,and he was s pending the winter there , attend

ing with equal j udgment and humanity to the civi l welfareOf his province

,when the officers of Constantius arrived .

He has described at length the painful perplexi ty intowhichhe was thrown . Not only would th e sacrifice Of four ofh is best legions seriously impair his strength

,but they were

local troops and had !en listed only for local service . Hedecided to Obey

,and ordered the troops to prepare for

departure. An angry murmur arose from the camps , asthe men reflected on the fate that might befall their familiesin the i l l-protected country . Jul ian provided ‘

that theirwives and children should accompany them , and

‘

they

gathered at Paris for the d ismissal . In affecting languagethe Caesar conve yed to them his thanks and his admoni

t ions , entertained their officers at a banquet , and retiredto h is palace .

The sincerity of J ul ian has been made the theme ofan acrid discussion between his violent crit ics and hisresolute admirers . But we may

,w ithout serious reflection

on his character,doubt whether he ent irely wished the

t roops to go . S uch an order, from such a source , Wouldplausibly rel ieve a Caesar

'

from obedience . Only excess ivevirtue or uncertain prospect Of the issue would counsela man to obey it . Both feelings were at work in Julian

’

smind

,and there is not ground to accuse h is later account

of hypocrisy . But we may surmise that,at the t ime , his

decision was accompanied by unsanctioned hopes anddreams Of a more satis factory issue . I n those days ofanxious deliberation h is imagination

,however he migh t

THE WIVES OF CONSTANTIUS AND JULIAN 303

curb it , must have depicted for him the revival Of culture

,the arrest of superstit ion , the purification of the

court and Empire , that would follow his elevation to thethrone .

He retired to his palace , where , as he incidental lyobserves somewhere , Helena lived with him . But shortlyafter midnight a great tumult arose from the directionof the camp

,and from the windows one could see the

troops,the l ight Of their torches gleaming on their drawn

swords,coming toward the palace . The doors were at

once closed,and Julian refused to show himself

,but the

cry Of “ Imperator ” easi ly penetrated to his ears . Onthe following morning they broke into the palace

,and

forcibly conducted Julian to the camp . He resisted ,threatened

,and suppl icated , bu t the troops were con

sulting their own interest,now gravely threatened by

their revolt,and there was no other course possible but

to consent . He was raised up on a shield,and the legions

a frenzy Of delight at their escape from exile .

only was needed to complete his new dignity,

as‘

present,seems to have Offered a

Julian refused to wear the feminineadornment , and an Offi cer provided a rich golden collar ,studded with gems , for the coronation .

W ith the struggle that fol lowed,and the dramatic

chapter that Opened in the annals of Rome , we have noconcern . Both our Empresses die before a decisive stageis reached . The date of the death .Of Eusebia is not

known . I t was some time between the beginning of 359and the middle of 360 , as Constantius married aga intoward the end of 360 . S he is said to have died of annflammation of the womb

,brought on by taking drugs

for procuring ferti l ity. That such drugs were familiar atthe t ime , and that the Empress would naturally try theireffect , we readily admit , bu t we need not entirely overlook the statement Of Z onaras that the conduct of herhusband and the unhappiness of her circumstances broughtthe beautiful Greek into a decl ine . Had she shared the

304 THE EMPRESSES . OF ROME

throne with Jul ian , and adopted h is views , the story ofEurope might have run d ifferently .

1

That Helena was won to the views of Jul ian isimprobable . She would , no doubt , discover soon afterher marriage that he secretly cherished the cult Of the

Old gods . From his firs t month in Gaul he had, with

one assistant , set up ,a private shrine to them . There

are coins that bear the names of Julian and Helena andthe figures of I s is and S erapis , but they yi

‘

eld no inference .

Nor can we learn the attitude of Helena in the strugglebetween her husband and her brother. The completes ilence of Jul ian suggests that she remained moodi lysi lent or hosti le . S everal months were spent in negotia

t ion with Constantius . In December Julian celebrated ,at V ienne

,the fifth ann iversary of his promotion , and wore

the splendid diadem of an Emperor as he presided at the

game s and exercises . In the midst Of the fest ivi ties Helenadied . Z onaras

,who also gives a rid iculous rumour thaf

she had been divorced by Julian,says that

ch ildbirth . We are tempted to think thatdeve lopment Of her unprosperous marriheavily on her, and her pregnancy had a prematurefatal del ivery . Her remains were conveyed toRome ,laid by those of her sister Constantina . We neednotice the charge of one Of Constantius

’

s officersJulian had poisoned her, and paid the guil ty phwi th his mother’s jewels . J ul ian , honestly , professesgrief at her death

,and he never married again.

A th ird Empress makes a brief appearance attime when Helena passes away. Passing from his 1campaign on the Danube to the stricken regions ofEast

,Constantius had , toward the close Of 360 , married for

the third“

t ime,at Antioch . Maxima Faustina , his third

Empress , had l ittle t ime to make an impression on history,if she were capable of it . As Constantius at length set

Philostorgius says that, as she lay ill with he r malady, Constantius

recalled Bishop The ophilus from exile , and he cured he r. But Z onaras

makes he r die Of this ve ry malady, scouting the Arian miracle .


CHAPTER XIX

JUSTINA

HE splendour of Julian’s reign was soon overcast .In the summer of 363 , as he was skilfully extricatinghis troops from a dangerous posit ion in Persia

,he

was pierced with a javelin,and he expired

,with dignity

and serenity , amongst hi s saddened supporters . Amidthe noisy intrigue for th e succession that followed

,the

name of Jovian,a popular and handsome Officer Of no

dist inct ion,Obtained the loudest support

,and the mantle

of the brilliant young Emperor was conferred on him .

How he secured the retreat of h is troops by humiliatingconcessions to the Persians

,and the Roman soldiers and

Roman settlers sadly evacuated the provinces on whichthe blood Of their fathers had been freely spent

,and the

emblem of the cross was borne again at the head of thelegions

,need not be told here . Not only is the wife Of

Jovian,Charito , no more than a name to us , but J ovian

h imself died before he reached the luxury of the capital .His brief enjoyment Of power had been adorned by neithercourage nor temperance . Charito sank back into Obscurity ,

with her infant son,and was years afterwards laid by the

side Of her husband in the Church of the Apostles atByzantium .

The next reign will introduce us to the stronger andmore prominent personality Of the Empress Justina andother Empresses of some interest . The hum Of . intr igue

had arisen aga in In the camp , and the struggle Of Christianand pagan was resumed . The choice of the army at -length

306

JUSTINA 307

fell once more on an officer whose chief dist incti on wasthat h e had a large and handsome person , and had hadan energetic father. Valentinian had been an Officer inJulian’s guards

,and had one day

,as he attended the

Emperor at sacrifice , cuffed the priest for dropping someof the lustral water on h is coat . Julian banished himfor this violent desecration of his cult , but , though themore lively writers Of the t ime promptly dispatch himto remote and contradictory regions

,even Tillemont doubts

if the sentence was carried out . I t i s prob able that Julianhad merely dismissed him from the body-guard , as wefind him in the army at the t ime Of Julian’s death . W ithtwo other Officers he was sent by Jovian to secure theallegiance Of the troops in the West . One legion

,devoted

to the memory of Julian,rebelled , and Valentinian had

to fly for his life . He returned to the East,and resumed

his post in the army,as i t trai led some miles in the rear

of the retreating Emperor. And in the middle of February

(364) he was amazed to learn that Jovian had died,after

a too liberal supper , and he h imself was called to thethrone . He was compelled by the troops to share thepower with h is brother Valens

,and

,leaving the shorn

Eastern provinces under the care of Valens,he went on to

M ilan to take possession Of the Western throne .

Valeria S evera ,1 the first wife of Valentinian

,is one

Of those shadowy Empresses whose form can hard ly bediscerned in the records of the time . She had bornehim a son

,the future Emperor Gratian

,five years before

,

but she does not seem to have secured his affection,and

we shall find her retiring in disgrace as soon as the

beautiful Justina appears at court . Albia Dominica,the

wife Of Valens,i s not more interesting

,but an Empress

whom we have dismissed in a former chapter at oncereappears at Constantinople in Opposition to her.

Before they separated Valens and Valentinian had fallen

1 The Ale xandrian Chronicle repeatedly calls he r Marina, and we have no

coins to de te rmine the full and accurate name . Cohen, at least, give s no

coins, though Tillemont re fe rs to them .


ill together , and , under the pretence that Julian’s friends

had attempted to poison them,they turned with

'

some

vindictiveness upon the pagan officials . The aged andrespected S allust firmly controlled the inquiry

,and no

blood was she d ;‘

bu t large numbers of Julian’s officialswere displaced— in many cases quite rightly

,as Julian’s

z eal for paganism had had the same evi l effect in e n

cou raging hypocrisy as the zeal of other Emperors forChristianity— and driven into sullen discontent . Further

,

Dominica’s father, Petronius , a deformed and repulsiveperson

,had risen to power with his daughter, and was

grinding the faces Of the citizens of the East with themost extortionate demands . A spark soon fel l on thi sinflammable world . Procop ius

,a relative of Julian’s

,had

publ ished a very hazy claim to the Empire after Julian’sdeath . He had hastily withdrawn and disowned it , butValens sent men to apprehend him . I ngeniously escap ingthe soldiers , he fled to Constantinople , and seems there tohave fallen into the hands Of

/

able r intriguers . TWO legionswere bought for him

,and they made him Emperor. There

was no purple mantle to be Obtained,so they clothed h im

in a stagy tunic bespangled with gold,put purple shoes

on his feet and a piece of purple cloth in his hand , andconducted him , amid the amazed and derisive spectators ,t o the S enate and the Palace .

His force grew so quickly that the weak and nervousEmperor Of the East was disposed to yield him the throne ,but his Older Offi cers urged him to resist . I n the shortstruggle that followed we meet again the third wife , andwidow

,Of Constantius . Faustina had been encez

'

nte at thedeath of her husband

,and she was living at Constantinople ,

with her four-year-Old daughter, when Procopius madehis romantic attempt on the throne . W ith some shrewdness he withdrew her from her retirement , and associatedher with him in hi s claim . The legitimate dynasty seemedto be wresting the throne from usurpers when the widowand daughter of the son of Constant ine appeared at thehead Of the troops . Even when they marched out to



were destroyed , and numbers of innocent philosophersand matrons were included in the bloody lists Of thecondemned .

The name of Dominica occurs only in o ne authenticconnexion during - the reign of Valens . The Emperorpassed the winter of 372—3 at Cae sarea , in Cappadocia

,

where he encountered the stern and uncompromisingchampion of orthodoxy , S t. Basil . S trong no less in hispersonal haughtiness— S t. J erome calls i t pride— than inhis glowing zeal for his Church

,Basil emphatically refused

to obey him , and was threatened with banishment . At

once Dominica and her boy fel l i l l . Besides two d aughte rs ,she had had a son in 366 , and this boy fell into a dangerousillness . I t i s said that Dominica learned in a dream thatthe i llness was a divine puni shment , but i t is not impossiblethat her waking intell igence could arrive at that conclu sion . Basi l was summoned to the palace once “ more .

The odore t would have it _

‘

that the bishop courteouslybreathed on the boy, and declared that he would re

cover if he received Trinitarian baptism . The earl ierecclesiastical writers , however , ascribe to him a firmerattitude . He asked : Valens if the boy would receiveorthodox baptism

,and was told that he would not . Let

him meet whatever fate God wills then ,"said the bishop

,

quitting the palace . The boy was baptiz ed l by the Arians,and died during the following night . A power evengreater than that of eunuchs , and more imperiousthan . thatof Emperors

,was rapidly growing . When , some days

later,one of the favourites of Valens , who had risen from

the kitchen , attempted to intervene in a discussion betweenthe

'

bishop and the Emperor , Basil curtly told him to confine himself to sauces and not interfere in Church matters .

Five or six years later Valens perished in the warwith the Goths , and Dominica passed to the fitt ing obscurityof private l ife . The one indicat ion of Spirit that is recordedof her is that , when the victorious Goths pressed on toConstantinople and invested it , she paid the citizens out Ofthe publ ic treasury to arm themselves against the barbar-r

JUSTINA 3 I I

ians . We turn from her vague and reti ring personal ityto the more interest ing figure of Justina

,who had some

years before begun‘

to share the throne of Valentinian .

Valentinian was as fierce and choleric as his brotherwas timid . A tal l and powerful man , with stern blue

brilliant complexion,and ligh t hair , he enlisted

and encouraged his nat ive cruelty in the service Of whathe regarded as the interest of the S tate . The pagans herefused to persecute , and he did much to promote thehigher culture of Rome , which was so closely connectedw ith the pagan beliefs . But , l ike h is brother , he fell withtruculence upon al l who could be brought under a comprehensive charge of magic and divination

,and the blood

of I taly flowed very freely. His hard , covetous , andbrutal Officers enriched themselves in the work Of torture ,spoliation

,and execution

,and— though the statement re

calls"

rather the savagery Of Nero or Domitian—we areassured by the contemporary Ammianus that he kept twomonstrous bears in cages near his chamber , and fed themon human victims . The sl ightest offence might incursentence of death .

“ You had better change his head ,”

he is said to have ordered,in brutal playfulness , when

some official desired to change to another province .

I t i s , perhaps , a circumstance of credit to S evera thatshe fai led to retain the affection of Valent inian , though aless flattering reason is assigned by some of the authorities .

The truth is that,since Valentinian is described as most

chaste and most Christian , the accession of Just ina to h ispalace has caused the ecclesiast ical h istorians no littleperplexity . The Church was peremptorily opposed tod ivorce , and regarded as adultery a second marriagecontracted while the first w ife l ived . Baroniu s conveniently removes S evera by death , but Ammianusinforms us that S evera was living long afterwards at thecourt Of her son

,

1 and the Alexandrian Chronicle expressly

l Lib. xxviii. 1 : He says that Gratian put a ce rtain man to death “on

the advice of his mothe r.

”

Z onaras says that S eve ra still lived at the timeof the second marriage .


says that Gratian recal led hi s mother to court . Tillemont

acknowledges th is , and .can only blush for the gui ltyconnivance of the clergy of the period .

I f we could believe the ecclesiastical historian S ocrates ,Valentinian avoided the sin of divorce and adultery bypromulgating a decree to the effect that it was lawful tohave two wives

,and promptlymarrying Justina in addition

to S evera . Of such a law ,however

,we have no trace ,

and most wri ters follow the al ternat ive theory of theauthoriti es .

Aviana Justina was the w idow of the usurper Magnentiu s

, who had so dramatically stolen the throne ofthe worthless Constans , and had been crushed by Constantiu s in the year 353 . S he was a woman of greatbeauty , the daughter of a , high provincial official

,a spirited

and ambitious young woman . S he would be in her latertwenties , at least , in 368, when she entered the suite ofS evera in some capacity . She was soon associated sointimately w ith the Empress that they bathed toge the rr and .

S evera made the fatal mistake Of describing what S ocratescuriously calls her “ virginal beauty to the sensualValentinian . Before long i t was announced that S everawas divorced, and Justina occupied her bed . A lateauthori ty throws a thin mantle over the action ofValentinian . S evera , he says , used her Imperial positionto compel a lady of Milan to sel l her an estate at a mostinadequate price

,and Valentinian was unable to endure

her avarice . The vague description we have of J ustina’sdazzling beauty will , perhaps , suffice .

This remarkable conduct on the part of Valentinianand Justina i s put in the year The succeedingyears of war and rel igious controversy throw no light onthe character of Justina , and we need not describe them .

Gratian , the youthful son of S eve ra, had be en clothed w ith the purple byVale ntinian,

“at the instigation of his w ife and fathe r-in-law,

”says the

e pitomist of Aure lius Victor, in the autumn of 367 . On the othe r hand ,

Justina’s brother was killed , in the se rvice of Valentinian, in 369. The second

marriage f alls most naturally in 368.



of the Empire . The last days of Rome were fast approaching. From the remote deserts of Asia a fierce andnumerous people

,the Huns , had entered Europe , and were

sweeping the Goths and other Teutonic tribes southward .

Gratian appointed an Emperor of the East , whom weshall meet presently , in the place of Valens , and spenth is s trength in heroic efforts to defend the threatenedfrontier.Justina returned with the boy-Emperor to Milan .

’

As

long as Gratian lived , Justina was restricted to the lifeof the palace

,but in 383 the throne was usurped by

Maximus , and Gratian was murdered by one of hisemissaries . Gibbon generously traces the general d issati sfaction out of which this revolt emerged to adeteriorat ion of the character of Gratian . This deterioration cannot be questioned , but one particular outcome ofit , the active persecution of the pagans , was probablyhi s most fatal e rror . Milan was now dominated by theimperious and zealous S t. Ambrose , and the two youngEmperors were expressly under his . control . At thesuggestion of Ambrose

,Gratian abandoned Valentinian

’spolicy Of

‘ toleration . He rejected the t itl e of PontifexMaximus , ordered

“ the removal of the statue of Victoryfrom the Roman S enate , - and confiscated the estates ofthe temples . He even admitted the abusive epithet“ pagans (or which the more forwardChristians were beginning to

,use , in h is offi cial decrees .

l

Th i s must have inflamed the general d iscontent , and thearmy Of Maximus marched peacefully over Gaul , andoccupied .the Empire as far as the Alps . The Emperorof the East , Theodosius , consented that Britain , Gaul ,and S pain should remain under the rule of Maximus ,and Justina continued to rule the curtai led dominions ofher son .

I t was now discovered that Justina was an Arian .

Ye t S t. Augustine , who was in Rome the ye ar afte r the de ath of Gratian,

says in his “ Confe ss ions ”

(vi ii. 2) that “nearly the whole nobility of

Rome“

still clung vto the old re ligion.

3 1 5

Whether she had concealed her beliefs during the l ifeof Valentinian

,or had been recently won to the sect , i t

i s impossible to say ; but Ambrose now found that hehad a stubborn opponent of his rel igious ambition . The

trouble culminated in 385 , when scenes were witnessedthat effectively impress on us the change that had comeover the Roman Empire . Just ina ordered that one ofthe Christ ian churches of the ci ty should be put at thedisposal of the Arian clergy. Ambrose sternly refused ,and , when he was summoned to the palace , and a sentenceof banishment was apprehended , the people flocked tothe palace and intimidated the Empress and her counse llors . A l i ttle later, the Gothic (Arian) soldiers weresent to occupy the church , and orders we re given that i tshould be prepared for the Empress’s devotions . A renewalof the riot

,and the showering Of the vilest epithets upon

the person of the Empress , forced her to retire once more .

In the fol lowing year, 386 , she passed sentence of exileon the bishop

,and her spiri t was expended in a final

struggle . For the first time in the history of Rome— a

true index of its profound demoralization— the troops wereprevented “ by the people from carrying ou t an Imperialdecree . Ambrose was guarded day and night by thousandsof his followers . The chief church and the episcopal housewere fortified as if for a siege

,and the troops Of “ Jezebel ”

had to stand inactive before a mob of citizen'

s . On theadvice of Theodosius , Justina refrained from any furtherattempt ." Indeed

,her attention was soon violently with

drawn to a very different danger.

The ambition of Maximus had once more outrun itsbounds

,and he coveted the remaining provinces of Valen

tinian. Justina’s conduct betrays that her abili ty was

inferior to her Spirit . Duped by the treacherous diplomacyof Maximus

,she was suddenly informed that the hostile

forces Of Maximus were close to Milan , and she fled hastilyto the coast . At Aqui leia she and her son took ship forthe East. The soldiers of Maximus followed them on swiftgalleys , but they rounded the south

‘

Of Greece in safety,


and landed at Thessalonica . Her task now was to induceTheodosius to espouse their cause , and it proved to be oneof nearer proportion to her talent .Her pressing appeals to Theodosius for aid were parried

or unheeded for some time . I f we may bel ieve The odore t ,the only reply which she received was a painful assurancethat the heresy she entertained , and in which she waseducating her son , was a sufficient cause of all the evilsthat had come upon them . She was directed to await avisit from Theodosius at Thessalonica , and the visi t wasmuch delayed . Historians usually depict the Emperor asheld in suspense by a painful di l emma . Not only wouldit be a serious th ing for the Empire , surrounded as it was

w ith peril , to engage the forces of the East and the West inan exhausting civil war , but Theodosius would , in such awar, be attacking an orthodox Cathol ic in the interest ofa fanatical Arian and enemy of the Church ; and Theodosiuswas a most zealous Trinitarian . The diffi culty must haveoccurred to h im , and it would not be fantastical to assumethat there had been some correspondence between theprelates of th e East and the prelates of the West

,to ensure

that the po int d id not escape h im .

The pagan Zosimus has a d ifferent theory of the delayof Theodosius . The character of that Emperor was

,he

says,a S ingular union of contradictions . He could blaze

with the fury of a Valentin ian , or bend his head meekly forthe blessing of a bishop ; he could lead the troops througha campaign with the most s ignal dexteri ty

,energy

,and

success,and then relax into the most ignoble indolence ;

he could embrace the rigour of a soldier’s l ife withoutthe least effort to soften it, and then resign himself to themost voluptuous day-dreams in h is Imperial palace . Justina

,

Zosimus says,was so unfortunate as to need his aid during

one of his periods of luxury and “ insane pursuit ofpleasure . He resented the effort to awaken him from it .His deep indebtedness to Gratian , however, who had conferred the Empire on him , at length forced him to crossthe Greek sea , and visit J ustina at Thessalonica. From the


JUSTINA 3 17

time of that visit his pulse was quickened , and he begana vigorous preparation for war with Maximus . Justinahad with her at Thessalonica , not only the insipid boyValentin ian

,but a pretty young daughter, Galla , and

Theodosius had fallen in love with her. Justina promptlyperceived

,and artfully used , her opportunity , and i t was

arranged that the pretty princess should be h is rewardfor restoring the Western Empire to Valentinian and hismother .

Theodosius , who is incomparably the leading ruler ofthe fourth century , had come from the same part of Spainas Trajan

,to whom some of the writers of the time

compare him—with no l ittle flattery . His father, CountTheodosius

,had been an able commander and a just

administrator,but had been unjustly disgraced and executed

owing to some obscure jealousy. Later writers , thinkingof the magical Th E O D Of Antioch

,believed that his

name led to h is undoing . The younger The odosiu s , .a

cult ivated and skilful officer,retired to h is estates in S pain ,

from which h e was drawn by Gratian,and presently

clothed with the purple . He had,in 376 or 377 , married a

S panish lady, [Elia Flaccilla, who is believed , on slendergrounds , to have been the daughter Of the consul Anton i us .

Their son Arcad ius , the future Emperor, was born duringthe retirement in S pain . A daughter

,Pulcheria

,was born

in S pain while Theodosius was on campaign . ThenFlaccilla found herself transferred from the quiet S panishestate to the pomp of Constantinople

,and the second son ,

Honorius , was born in the purple .

Although Flaccilla i s canonized in the Greek Church,

i t does not appear that she had a marked individual ity .

She i s one of the crowd of fourth-century Empresses whol ive in the chronicles only as generous benefactors Of th eChurch . Theodosius was the first Emperor to persecutehis pagan subjects on the ground Of religion

,and his

successive decrees quickly changed the rel igious aspect ofthe East. His modern biographers

,Ifland and Gillden

penning Der Kaiser Theodosius lay much of the blame


for these violent measures on Flaccilla, but they point outthat the coercive legislation begins just after Theodosiuscame under the influence of Bishop Acholiu s during asevere i l lness , and that hi s efforts to crush paganism byviolence relaxed with his advance in age and experience .

All that we learn of Flaccilla i s that she was generous tothe Church and the poor

,and that she occasionally curbed

the fiery and vindict ive temper of Theodosius . She seemsto have died in the year 385 , and the Greek ritual celebratesher memory on S eptember 14th .

Theodosius was , therefore , a middle-aged widower— hisbiographers put his b irth in 346—when , in the autumn of

387 , Justina presented her daughter Galla to h im . Dr.Ifland admits that the young girl probably turned thehesitating scale of h is judgment . He returned to Constantinople , and made energetic preparations for war . A

two months’ campaign in the fol lowing summer (388)completely destroyed the forces of Maximus , and the full

Empire of the West was restored to' Valentin ian . Bu t

Justina had l itt le personal profit by the victory . Zosimustell s us that she suppl ied the deficiencies of her son - aswell as a woman can after the return to Milan

,while

S oz omen declared that she died before the return . The

point is Obscure , but the evidence suggests , on the whole ,that She returned to Milan . I t was

,however , to a different

M ilan from that she had quitted . Theodosius accompaniedthem

,and the strong

,earnest character of Ambrose made

a de ep‘

impre ssion on him . Valentinian was “ converted ”

to the true creed,and the policy of p ersecution was intro

duce d into theWestern world . Justina must have remaineda powerless and embittered spectator of the ascendancy ofAmbrose . S o great did i t become that the coldest decisionsOf the Emperor were reversed by him,

and his trans

gre ssions were ignominiously punished . The news cameto M i lan that the monks and populace of a small town inPersia had burned the synagogue of the Jews , and that theprefect had ordered them to rebuild the synagogue andrestore its property. Theodosius confirmed the just



live in the palace at Constantinople whi le Theodosiusremained in I taly . The statement is that the elder son ofthe Emperor, Arcadius , a boy of th irteen years , drove herout of the palace. Commentators are loath to believe thatso young a prince could do this

,but it is not in the least

impossible,and the authority is respectable . We shall

see that Arcad ius was a peevish and worthless prince,

indolently guided by eunuchs and servants,and capable

of very cruel decisions . Theodosius had departed fromthe finer Imperial trad ition of appointing a grave anddistinguished scholar as the tutor of h is sons

,and had

committed them to the care Of a Roman deacon,Arseniu s ,

who had a repute for piety. We can hardly regard theauthority of a late Greek writer (Metaphraste s) as weightyenough to commend the statement that Arcadius set h i sservants to take the life of Arseniu s for whipping him ,

but the unhappy events of the next chapter will Show thatthe only result of this kind of education was to leave thecharacter unformed , and throw the stress on externalObservances .

I n 39 1 Theodosius returned to Constantinople , andGalla entered upon her brief Imperial career. Whetheror no we accept the biased picture which Zosimus Offersus of the Eastern court , it i s clear that it sustained a softand excess ive luxury at the cost of the enfeebled Empire .

Large numbers of eunuchs found employment,and , with

the genius of their class,intrigued for favour in the sleeping

quarters,and in the service of the Empress and the Imperial

ch ildren . The kitchen employed a regiment of ministersto the heavy and voluptuous table ; the circus and theatresupported vas

’

t numbers of m imes,dancers , and charioteers .

Besides th is large army of ministers to the Imperialpleasure , a second army of idle and avaricious place-seekersbeset the palace

,and extorted a generous revenue from

the Offices which were created for them in ' the army andthe administration . I t i s even said that such Offices wereopenly sold in the publ ic places and in the palace ofConstant inop le . S t renuous as -Theodosius was in the

JUSTINA 321

field,he was not strong enough to sustain the burden of

peace,and he unconsciously prepared the Empire for the

avalanche that was soon to be cast upon it .But th e drowsy indulgence of Theodosius was soon

startled once more by a cal l to arms from the West . Inthe spring of 392 Valentinian was slain , or in despair slewhimself

,and a Frankish commander had put his purple

robe upon the shoulders of a Roman rhetorician . The

young Emperor had be en . so overshadowed by the powerof his general that he had attempted to dismiss him ,

andhad then been found dead w i th a cord round his neck .

Theodosius again hesitated to exchange the softness Of

his palace for the rigours of a campaign . Galla fil led thepalace with her lamentations

,

”

but Theodosius sent awaythe ambassadors of the usurper with pleasant words andpresents , and continued for nearly two years to resist theappeals of his young Empress . I t was not unt i l the

summer of 394 that he led out his legions for the punishment of the murderer , as Argobaste s was bel ieved to be .

Galla did not l ive to see her brother avenged . She diedin childbirth just as the army was about to start

,and

Theodosius is said to have mourned for her one day andthen started for Italy .

The i ssue doe s not now concern us . W e pass on to afresh generation

,a new and more interest ing group of

Empresses and princesses . Suffice it to say that,partly

by valour , partly by accident and treachery , the forces ofArgobaste s were destroyed , and the empurpled rhetoricianwas slain . The younger son Of the Emperor , Honorius ,was summoned from the East

,and placed upon the throne

of the West . Arcad ius remained in feeble charge of thethrone of Constantinople . And within a few month sthe powerful Emperor sank into the grave

,and the

Empire entered upon the unhappy reigns of Arcadius andHonorius .

CHAPTER XX

THE ROMANCE OF EUDOX IA AND EUDOCIA

ITH the Imperial ladies of the courts of Arcadiusand Honorius we enter upon the final act in thetragedy of the fall of Rome . The sun is sinking

rapidly to th e Western horizon ; the long shadows trailacross the record of events ; the ch ill of evening contractsthe l ife of the historic Empire . The only aspect of thattragedy that concerns us is a consideration of the partthat women played in the gradual enfeeblement of theRoman Empire . While taking ful l account of the variouscau ses assigned by historians , i t may be said that thefall of Rome was d u e to a coincidence. The invasion ofEurope by the fierce Huns had pressed the Germanictribes against the Roman frontier just at the time whe nthe Empire was particularly feeble . That i t was inwardlyoutworn and doomed— that the organization of a S tatehas an appointed term Of decay

,l ike the frame of an

individual—may be confidently challenged . Egypt maintained i ts vigour for close on years ; Babylon fornearlyThe only question we may touch here is whether the

personal i ty of the later Empresses counted for anyth ing ,either for good or evil

,In this enfeeblement of the Empire ;

and the answer i s clear that , with one or two exceptions ,they counted for neither . They had no deep or largeinfluence on the life Of the Empire

,even through their

husbands . The Roman ideal of womanhood was changingonce more . As in the early days

,they were diverted

322



young Honorius had nominal sway , was a powerful andgifted commande r , ,

S tilicho , of Vandal extraction . He hadmarried S erena , the beautiful niece of Theodosius , andhe led the armies and governed the Western Empire unti lh is death . I n 398, in h is th irteenth year , Honorius wasdirected to wed Maria,

l

the elder daughter of S tilicho . I twas said that Theodosius had desired the union . S erena ,at al l events

,desired it , and , although her daughter

was yet immature , the wedding took place at Milan in

398. All that we have to say of her is that she died sometime w i th in the next ten years— probably , as Tillemontcalculates

,in the year 404. Her body was embalmed

and buried in a Christian church at Rome , where thepoor crumbling frame , laden with gold , was d iscoveredin 1544 .

In the year 408 Honorius married h is deceased wife’s

sister,The rmantia. Tillemont very properly laments that

he finds no record of any protest on the part of theBishop of Rome—who probably celebrated it— against th isirregular marriage , but the modern reader wil l be moreseriously concerned to hear the argument w ith whichS erena urged it upon her reluctant husband . Maria

,she

said,had died a virgin . Before entrusting her immature

ch ild to the bed of Honorius, she had had"some Obscure

Operation performed on her , which would guard h ervirginity . Certainly , Maria had had no chi ldren . Thermantia‘was equally unprepared for marr1age , Z osimus says ,and the operation was repeated . I t was a superfluoussacrifice to the ambition Of S erena

,because S ti l icho fell

,in

a palace in trigue , a few months later,and the little maid

was restored to her mother.S uch was the short and melancholy story of the

Empresses Mari a and {Emil ia Materna The rmantia, asan inscript ion calls the younger. Their monument wasterrible . W ithin a few months the avalanche of the Gothicarmy descended from the Alps and devastated I taly ; andS erena was , with the consent of her cousin Placidia

,the

Emperor’s s ister, strangled by the S enate on the light , and

THE ROMANCE OF EUDOX IA AND EUDOCIA ~

325

probably false , c harge of communicating with the enemy.

Zosimus , at least , says that she was innocent ; but he isnot surprised at her fate , as she had one day appropriateda j ewelled ornament from the statue of one of his goddesses .

W i thin two years Rome was sacked by the Goths , andPlacidia was carried Off by them .

We turn to the East , to follow the less tragic , but hardlyless interesting, fortunes of Eudoxia and Eudocia . I n theEast , as in the West , Theodosius had left a powerfulm inister to guide the hands of h is young and unpromisingson . But the eastern minister, Rufinus , had not the manlyqualit ies of S ti l icho . He had entered the palace by craft ,not by military exploits

,and had easi ly d issembled his

vices from the too indulgent eye of Theodosius . Whenthat Emperor died

,he cast aside the cloak , and pursued

h is native avarice,and exercised his cruelty , without

restraint. By fines , taxes , despoilments , and the unscrupulous ruin of h is opponents , the hated Gaul amassedwealth and power, and ruled like an autocrat . He had adaughter of marriageable age , and Arcadius seemed to l istenin compliant mood when he proposed that she shouldbecome his Empress . The task Of destroying an Opponenttook him for a time to Antioch , and he returned to hearthat the Emperor was preparing for marriage . He awaitedthe appointed day wi th eagerness . At length the hymenealprocession set out from the palace , and the people gatheredto witness i ts passage to the house of Rufinu s, a superbvil la in one of the suburbs . To the intense surprise of all ,i t stopped at a house in the city

,and the blushing and

beautiful daughter of a Frankish chief was announced tobe the choice of the Emperor.While Rufinu s was pursuing his vengeance at Antioch ,

the eunuchs of the palace had conspired to defeat h isplan and undermine his power . The chief of them wasEutropiu s , a slave by birth , castrated immediately afterbirth that he might bring a bigger price

,and rising in time

from the Occupat ion of hair-dresser to the daughter ofGene ral Ar inthe us t0

‘ the position of high chamberlain at


the palace . S uch were the rulers of Emperors in the

fourth century. Eu tropius knew that Arcadius had noattraction to the daughter of Rufinus , and chafed under theauthority of her burly father . He cast about for a prettiercompanion , and soon had the affection of Arcadius safelyengaged . The temporary absence of Rufinus gave them anopportunity, and Constantinople was enl ivened by the rarespectacle of an Imperial marriage , and the stil l rarerspectacle of the de feat

‘

of Rufinus .

Eudoxia— such is the Greek name under which the new

Empress is presented to u s—was the beautiful daughter ofBau to , chief Of the Franks . Historians , poli tely acceptingthe assurance of some of the wri ters Of the time , say thatshe was being “ educated ” at Constantinople

,her father

having died in the service of the Eastern army . I t is,

perhaps , a pity to disturb the plausibl e phrase , but theduty of a biographer is stern . The house in the city fromwhich she was taken to wed the Emperor was occupied bytwo young men of wealth . They were the sons of thecommander Promotus , who had been one of the firstvictims of Rufinus . One of these young men , Zosimussays

,

“ had a beautiful maid in the house We wi l l notinquire too closely . The stern ideals of the Germanictribes had relaxed as they came into closer contact withcivil ization , and i t became common for them to lend or sellthei r daughters to the Romans . We remember the adv en

tu re of P ipera a century before . Eu trOpius submitted anadequate picture of the girl to Arcad ius , whose pulse wasquickened , and the son of Promotu s easi ly parted Wi th histender pupil when he learned that it was for the purposeof discomfiting the destroyer of h is father.

Eudoxia had no less spirit than beauty of person , andshe would watch with interest the duel between the wilyeunuch and the powerful Gaul . Arcadius

,

“ whose feebleand stupid goodness ,

” says Tillemont candidly ,“ brought

frightful evi ls on Church and S tate ,” was a pawn in the

game . But the big,wealthy

,powerful Gaul now found

a stern-

e r opponent in S ti l icho ; of the Western Empire , and



The arrogance of Eu tropiu s at last passed all bounds ,and he ventured in the year 400 to threaten to expelEudoxia from the palace . Whether she knew it or no

,

the time was ripe for the destruction of the repulsiveminister. The people groaned under his terrible exactions

,

h is infamous legislation , and his bloody tyranny ; theleaders of the troops were prepared to sacrifice him

.

Eudoxia took her baby girls , Pulcheria and Arcadia , in herarms

,and fled in tears to the Emperor. Arcadius

,

“be

coming an Emperor for a moment,

” says Philostorgiu s ,signed the sentence of h is favourite

,and the eunuch soon

found people and soldiers pressing , l ike wolves , for hisdestruction . He took refuge in a church

, where Chrysostomprotected h im from the fiery crowd

,but quitted it after

a time,apparently on the oath of either Eudoxia orArcadius

that his l ife would be Spared . He was exiled,recalled

,

tried,and— oath or no oath— put to death by the pubi ic

executioner .

Eudoxia’s t i tle of nobz'

lz'

ssz'

ma most noble had beenelevated to that of Augusta at the beginning of the year

400 ,and her second daughter was born In April of the same

year.

1 S he was now complete mistress of Arcadius andthe Empire , and she published her dignity w ith such extravagance that the Western court sent an angry protestthat

,in cau singhe r statues to be borne through the provinces ,

she had exceeded the privi leges of her sex . I n the following year she completed her ascendancy by giving birthto a boy

,Theodosius I I , and seemed to have a prospect

of a long and luxurious , if useless , reign . But she hadmeantime quarrelled wi th Chrysostom , and she was topass through a period of humiliati on to a premature grave .

In 398 Eu tropiu s had transferred the austere and eloquentChrysostom from his presbytery in Antioch to the archiepiscopal palace at Constantinople . The stem monk— asJohn of the Golden Mouth always remained at heart—was

Hence Tillemont and othe rs , who give the se date s , must be wrong inplacing the quarre l w ith Eutropius in 399 . Philostorgius expre ssly says that

she had two daughters in her arms when she appe ale d to Arcadius ,

THE ROMANCE or EUDOX IA AND EUDOCIA 329

horrified from the first at the vice and luxury of theChristians of the Imperial ci ty , and even of their clergy ,

bu t he allowed two years to elapse before he began hisfiery campaign against the sins of the laity.

1 He appl iedhimself first to the reform of the priests and the control ofthe monks . W i th that we have no concern .

2 I t i s enoughto say that the clergy bi tterly resented his reforms , andwere ready to co-operate w i th Eudoxia in an effort to ge trid of h im . In 400 he began to attack the easy ways of thelai ty more sternly, and it is probable that some feel ing wascreated between him and the Empress over the massacreof the Gothic Arian soldiers , which took place in that year.

Their commander Gainas had rebelled , and Arcadius hadvirtually surrendered to him . He marched h is troops tothe city

,obtained the use of a church for them , and allowed

them to roam about , to the irri tati on of the people ; unti lat last the people rose and slew seven thousand of theheretics .

I t seems that Eudoxia was al ienated from Chrysostom,

who had resented the grant of a church , from that time .

When , in the following year , S t. Porphyry of Gaza came tothe capital to obtain an Imperial order to destroy the pagantemples of his town , Chrysostom decl ined to introduce himat court

,and referred him to th e eunuch Amantius . The

sequel i s not without interest in a study of the Empress .

The holy man was presented to Eudoxia , and promisedthat she should bear a boy if she would secure thedestruction of paganism in Gaza . S he promised to do so

,

butArcadius , who seems to have resented religious wrangles ,refused to grant permission . Then the boy was born , andEudoxia felt an obligation to secure Porphyry’s request .

She instructed him to draw up a formal peti tion , and presenti t to the baby-Caesar as he was carried from the baptismalfont. The noble who carried the baby was then instructed

S e e Profe ssor Pue ch’

s“ Saint J e an Chrysostome , 189 1 .

The curious re ade r wi ll find Chrysostom’

s surprising strictures Of the »

cle rgymore than confirmed in the le tte rs of J e rome , and his fie rce denunciation of the monks borne out inAugustine 's tre atise on them.


how he was to behave , and a l ittle comedy was arranged .

Porphyry presented h is paper to the infant Caesar . The

noble read a little of it to the baby in a low voice,so that

Arcadius should not hear, and then bobbed the child’s head

as a sign of assent . Arcadius wearily overlooked the trick,

eight be autiful temples were burned at Gaza, and Eudoxiasuppl ied the funds for build ing a large church on theirruins . Tillemont, whose admiring course through thefourth century is much tempered by groans

,complains that

th is kind of piety favours only the demons .

”

Chrysostom then went on to denounce,in unmeasured

language , the vicious and luxurious ways of the wealthywomen , especial ly widows , Of his church . He had divertedthe coins of the lai ty from the army of monks , deprived theclergy of their mistresses , and declared that the greatmajority of the bishops of his province were hopelesslycorru pt . W ith the aid of his rival , the Bishop ofAlexandria ,they conspired against him

,and they reached the ear of

the Empress through the courtly and comfortable bishop,

S everian . The other ear of the Empress was now assailedby the wealthy widows who smarted under the preacher’sfierce lash . Such fine ladies as Marsa and Castricia wouldnot be l ikely to sit under the S ocial istic oratory of thearchbishop

, bu t shorthand (notali'

a) was as commonly usedin those days as in our own , and he could thus irri tate theeye of the rich as wel l as gladden the ear of the poor.They brooded darkly over h is impersonal strictures

,and

no doubt detected occasional references to the luxuriousEmpress in them . In fine

,Archbishop Theophilus was

summoned from Al exandria ; the bishops Of the provinceeagerly drew up and passed a lengthy indictment of theirsuperior and

,before the orthodox population could gather

what was happening, their orator was on the way to exi le .

But the triumph of Eudoxia was as brief as that ofJustina . The people rose in fury

,and , after the slaughter

of seven thousand trained soldiers,made a light matter of

the monks and sai lors of Theophilus . When , in addition ,an earthquake shook the province , Eudoxia prudently


THE ROMANCE OF EUDOXIA AND EUDOCIA 33 1

yielded to the human pressure , under the decent pretextof obeying the divine will . Chrysostom returned to hi schurch

,and the sight of the gay fleet that set out to meet

him,the flaring il lumination of the shores , the frenz ied

rejoicing of the returning procession , must have fi l led thepalace on the heights with bitterness . S uch a truce couldbe observed w ith cold discretion by nei ther party , and itwas not long before the struggle was renewed .

In honour of the birth of the third daughter of theEmpress

,Marina

,a si lve r statue of her was erected , on

a column of porphyry,at the door of the S enate . The

Prefect of the city commemorated the event with games orother rejoicings in the square before the statue , and theywere naturally accompanied by profane , if not licentious ,gaiety. S traight Opposite , across th e square , was

’

the doorof Chrysostom

’

s church , and the devout regarded thisdemonstration as an outrage on religion . Chrysostom

’

s

sermons become more explicit . I n a later age a sermonwas published under his name , in which the people—or thereaders—“ were reminded Of the infamous Herodias Clamouring for the head of J ohn . The sermon is generally regardedas spurious , but we have the weighty authority of S ocratesfor the fact that the extempore preacher d id utter the fatalname of Herodias . The confl ict ended w i th the exile of thearchbishop (June but on the fol lowing night hischurch was found to be in flames

,and the fire spread to

,

and almost destroyed , the S enate-house , a building adornedw ith the most exquisite marbles and works of art .The condition of Constantinople

,the anxiety of Eudoxia

,

during the following months,may be imagined . I t is

enough to know that Eudoxia met a painful death,through

miscarriage , in the month of S eptember of the same yearI wil l not reproduce the horrible details that a more

orthodox age discovered in connexion w ith her death .

1 I f

Gibbon make s he r survive Chrysostom , and die in 408. But Tillemont

has pointe d out that the “’

Life of Chrysostom”

by Ge orge of Alexandria, onwhich he se ems to have re lied , forge s le tte rs, and is qu ite unre liable . The

earlie r write rs put the death of Eudox ia in 404.

332‘

THE EMPRESSES OF HOME

Chrysostom spoke from “ a bitter disi l lusi on , as Dr . Puechholds

,Eudoxia had not less cause to be embittered . Even

her rel igious zeal had led her into the most painfulexperiences . For the S tate , inwhich she had high power,she d id noth ing. The vultures gathered on the hill s

,while

the court absorbed its little soul in voluptuous pomp,and

the people fought e ach /

othe r over creeds . We may dissentfrom the hard verdict Of Gibbon , that Eudoxia indulged herpassions whi le the Empire decayed , and we must regard astoo frivolous for consideration the susp icion of unchast i tywhich he reproduces ; but we must grant that

, whereEudoxia’s action was not selfish , i t was generally useless ,and frequently mischievous .

W e have carried the slender story of the Empresses inthe West as far as the year 4 10 , and we shall find no otherEmpress there unti l 42 1 . We may , therefore , continue therecord Of the East , and consider the romantic story ofEudocia , before we proceed to the last scene in the Empireof the W est .After an ignoble reign of th irteen years the elder son of

Theodosius d ied in his bed in the year 408. His only son,

Theodosius I I , was clothed with the purple , in”h is s ixth

ye ar, . and a prudent and experienced minister controlledthe S tate for the next seven years . I n 4 15 Pulcheria , theelder s ister of Theodosius , was named Augusta , andgradually assumed the guardianship of her brother andthe control of the S tate . She was as yet only in hersixteenth year, and Theodosius was only two years younger ,but her cold , decis ive temper compensated in some measurefor the strength which Theodosius wholly lacked , and sheheld the reins of the Empire . Deeply rel igious , she tookhersel f

,and induced her younger sisters to take , a vow of

chastity,which was written in gold and diamonds on the

wall of the public church . The palace offered the singularspectacle Of a nunnery within a luxurious court . Onlypious eunuchs and women were allowed to approach theImperial virgins

,in whose sober apartments no music was

ever heard save that of the psalm and sacred s ong ; while



but in the girl . She took the aunt aside , and prudentlyinquired if the gi rl was a maid and a Christian . Athenaiswas declared to be a virgin , though a pagan ; but thedefect was one that could eas ily be removed .

Pulcheria joyfully told her brother that she had foundthe beauty he desired , and described her. They arrangeda second visit , during which Theodosius and Paul inusshould inspect the maiden from behind a curtain. In aShort t ime Athenais had changed her name into [EliaEudocia

,changed her religion into that of Christ

,and

changed her condition into that of wife of the Emperor.

She was married on June 7th, 42 1 , in , i t is believed , thetwentieth year of her age . There was consternation inthe home she had quitted at Athens , and her brothers hidthemselves in the provinces . Eudocia had them soughtand conducted to Constantinople . There they learned totheir surprise that she thought herself indebted to theirconduct for her fortune

,and they were richly rewarded .

From these pleasant girlish traits we pass to the inevitable struggle with Pulcher i a . Theodosius remainedan Imperial nonentity . He could hunt

,paint

,and carve

,

but public business so bored h im that he S igned documents without reading them . One day Pulcheria put aparchment before him

,and he , as usual , blindly appended

his name Shortly afterwards he summoned Eudocia,

and was told that she was now the slave of Pulcheria,

and awaited her orders . The document he had signedwas a deed of sale of his wife , but it does not appearthat the l i ttle stratagem made much impression on him .

Pulcheria sti l l held the reins . Eudocia had her firstch ild at the end of 422 , and was , in the follo

'

wing January,

entitled Augusta. The court had a visit , too , from the

Empress of theWest , Galla P lacid ia , and her daughter , andlarge matters were discussed . In 433 we may , perhaps ,trace some influence of Eudocia on legislation . An edictimposing the death-sentence on the

'

remaining pagansmay be confidently ascribed to Pulcheria ; but an . ed ictreforming an ‘d enlarging the higher schools of Constan

THE ROMANCE OF EUDOX IA AND EUDOCIA 335

tinople seems rather to remind us of the Athenianscholar’s daughter. She occupied much of her leisurein writing historical and religious poetry, and the l itt lethat survives of it has been recently edited by Ludwich.

It i s correct in form and devoid of inspirat ion .

The years passed tranquil ly unti l 437 , when we beginto suspect that there is friction with Pulcheria . Fewthings had happened

,beyond the echo of the stormy

movements of the West , and the disquieting advance ofthe Huns ; to disturb the life of the court . One year (434)had , indeed , brought a strange thril l into the Imperialnunnery . A princess of the Western Empire

,Honoria

,

came to Constantinople , encez’

nte by her own steward .

But the hard lot of Honoria, and the romantic dev1ce sby which she sought to enliven it , will occupy us later .

Pulcheria promptly enclosed the fiery young princessin a convent

,and the scandal would be mentioned only

in whispers . Three years later (437) the W esternEmperor

,Valent inian I I I , came to Constantinople

,and

led away Eudocia’s beautiful daughter,Licinia Eudoxia

,

to share hi s trembl ing throne . The next detail i s that,in

439 , Eudocia made a lengthy pilgrimage to Palestine , andthere can be little doubt that her absence from the palacefor a year—which i s unconvincingly connected by Gibbonwith the marriage of her daughter , two years before—wasdue

,in part or entirely

,to some quarrel with ei ther

Theodosius or Pulcheria,most probably the latter.

At Antioch,on the journey , Eudocia enj oyed the

prestige Of her solitary and independent dignity. From agolden throne she delivered a studied oration to theS enate , and the tumultuous applause and voting of statuesto her must have greatly increased her self-consciousness .

The Shower of gold she rained upon the churches andmonasteries of Palestine

,and indeed all along her route ,

elicited a no less stimulating demonstration . S he returnedto Constantinople

,apparently about the end of 439 , with

a larger sense of her importance,and with such priceless

relics as the arm of S t. S tephen and th e authentic picture

336 THE EMPRESSES OF. ROME

of Mary which Luke the Physician had painted . I t i s onlyat a much late r date that Greek writers add to her luggagea phial of the V irgin’s milk , some undercloth ing of theinfant Christ , and similar treasures .

The pilgrimage was the turning-point in the career ofEudocia . SO far her life had been one of splendid andpowerless prestige i t now rapidly darkens with intrigue

,

i s overshadowed by tragedy and suspicion , and soon endsin a virtual exile . We are sufficiently acquainted with thewriters of the t ime to expect that they wil l throw veryl ittle l igh t on th is fresh Imperial tragedy , but , using the

later and less weighty Greek writers with discretion,we

may obtain a fairly confident idea of its main features .

Two facts are related by writers of the time,and are

beyond question . I n the year following Eudocia’s return,

her friend,and the in timate friend ~ of the Emperor, the

charming and accomplished Paul inus , was exiled and putto death without public trial . The second fact i s that

,

a few years later,Eudocia left the palace for ever

,to

spend the remainder of her life at J erusalem .

The later Byzantine writers give a rounded story Ofthese events , and , on the whole , one is disposed to thinkthat in th is case they are revealing the suppressed truth .

Theophanes (in h is Chronographia”

) says that a eunuchnamed Chrysaphiu s rose into favour , and urged Eudociato secure the dismissal of Pulcheria . They persuadeTheodosius that, since Pulcheria has taken a vow ofvirginity

,her proper place is among the deaconesses of

the Church,and Archbishop Flaviam i s instructed to take

her away. Flavian,however

,prefers to have her in the

palace,and he directs her simply to live apart for a time

and wait . Then,

execution—one mayalmost say murd sThe se later Greekwriters al l give a r onne x ion with it. As

Theodosius and Eudocia go to church on Epiphanymorning

,a peasant presents the Emperor with a remarkably

large apple . He gives it to Eudocia , who privately sendsit to . Paulinus . Unluck i ly , Paulinus in turn presents it t o


338 THE EMPRESSES OF HOME

make an end of Saturninus. When Theodosius heard,he

stripped Eudocia of her Imperial prerogatives,and left her

in the posit ion Of an ord inary citizen . These authenticstatements of Marcell inus strongly confirm the story , andit is clear that the Byzantine court was stained by a sordidquarrel and several brutal murders .

The romance of Eudocia’s career was not yet over.

Marcel linus sends her to J erusalem in 444 : the laterwriters in 442. However that may be , in the year 445we find her again embarking on an unhappy adventure .

The monks of Palest ine were infected with the Eutychianheresy

,and they welcomed so powerful a patroness .

W ith the aid of her servants they ousted the orthodoxbishop of J erusalem ,

and a vigorous monk was put inh is place . The monk-bishop , with h is militant army Of

ten thousand monkish followers,held Jerusalem for twenty

months,in spite of the Imperial troops

,drove all the

orthodox bishops out of Palestine,and slew and cast to

the dogs a number of their fol lowers . I n th is quaintcompany the delicate Greek Empress continued to buildchurches and monasteries for three years

,but when she

hears at length of the misfortunes of her daughter,which

the B ishop of Rome,as wel l as the courts of Ravenna

and Constantinople,ascribe to her heresy

,she sends to

consult the famous hermit of the pi llar, S imeon S tylites .

S imeon recommends her to confer with a certain saintlymonk of the desert . The monk will neither leave hisdesert for her

,nor permit a woman to enter i t . She

therefore bui lds a tower on the h il l some miles away ,and in that safe and public elevation th e monk enlightensher out of her heresy.

Eudocia brought her adventurous care e r to a close in

460 , protesting with her last breath that she was innocentof the charge of unchastity . Pulcheria continued to rulethe Eastern Empire in the name of Theodosius unti l hedied

,in the year 450 , inglorious and unhonoured . I t was

now seen that the prosperi ty of the Empire in her earlieryears was a hol low truce of circumstances . When the

THE ROMANCE OF EUDOX IA AND EUDOCIA 339

fierce and rapacious Huns approached it , in 446 and 447 ,the Eastern Empire tremblingly purchased peace by themost ignominious concessions .

~ When Theodosius died ,she assumed sole control of the Empire

,and the head

of the eunuch Chrysaphius was at once removed fromhis shoulders . But the pressure of her people forcedher to marry , and an aged S enator , Marcian , engagedto share her throne without sharing her virginal bed .

To his more vigorous hands the affairs of S tate nowpassed , and Pulcheria maintained her virtue and pietyto the end . But we must now leave the Oriental pomp ,the emasculated frame

,and the splendid piety of the

Byzantine court, to conclude our story in the West.

CHAPTER XXI

THE LAST EMPRESSES OF THE WEST

HE course of our inquiry has led us through fivecenturies of change . We have passed from the

sober and viri le integrity of the first Imperial pair,

the golden age of Roman life and letters,to the successive

depths of the Cae sars . W e have then seen t he decrepitand corrupt ci ty refreshed with an inflow of sound prov incial blood , the enervated patrician famil ies replaced onthe throne by vigorous soldiers

,and a new period

sobriety and prosperity Open under the S toics , to siagain under the burden of vice and luxury. Diocletianrestores i ts strength

,and then a S ingular and momentous

change comes over the face of the Empire. The Whitehomes Of the gods perish or decay , the gay processionsno longer enliven the streets

,the cross of Christ heads

the l egions and towers austerely above the publ ic buildingsand monuments . The ante-chambers of the Emperors arefi l led with Christian bishops , and the rulers of the worldbend meekly before the ragged figures of monks andtremble at the threats of lowly priests.We return to the Western world to find another and

a greater change . Rome has fal len , the frontiers areobliterated

,the provinces , even to Africa , are cowering

under the armies of the barbarians . Poverty, misery ,and violence are scattered over the Empire

,as if the

departing gods had sown its fields with salt or withdragons’ teeth as they reti red to Olympus . Civilization ,law ,

culture,art , seem to be doomed , and the end of the

g



laden with the gold and jewels which the Goths hadbrought from Rome . But Atau lph was assassinated inthe following year, and P lac idia sank again to t heposition of captive . She had to walk twelve miles onfoot , amid a crowd of captives

,before the victorious

barbarian Who had slain her husband . W i th in anotheryear her persecutor was slain

,and his more humane

successor restored her— or sold her— to the court atRavenna .

The Roman commander Constantius , into Whose handsshe was committed , at once claimed her in ,

marriage .

Honorius had promised that he should marry her if, bywhatever means , he recovered her from the Goths . P lacidiashrank resentfu lly from his embraces

,and found his coarse

,

large , surly person a poor exchange for her handsomeGoth ic husband . The wedding took place

,however, in

4 17 , and P lacidia settled down to the prosy duties of amatron , giving birth , in success ion , to the princess Honoriaand the future Emperor Valentinian I I I . In 42 1 herhusband compelled the weak-minded Honorius to clothehim with the purple . P lacidia received the tit le of Augusta ,and a be tte r

‘

prospect seemed to open before her . ButConstantius died within a few months

,and it was not

long before she fel l into a violent quarrel w i th Honorius .

The cause of the quarrel i s , as usual , obscure . S omeof the later writers suggest that Honorius becameenamoured of h is s ister in her young widowhood . We

know only that the palace at Ravenna was filled withbitter recriminations

,i ts courts were stained w ith the blood

of their followers , and P lacid ia fled to Constant inople withher chi ldren .

Honorius died a few months lat er (August andPlacidia

,confirmed in her ti tle of Augusta by Theodosius

,

was sent in the fol lowing year to claim the throne forTheodosius , at the head of a cons iderable force . A secretaryhad usurped the vacant throne during her absence. I twas the spring of 425 before they set out from Thessalonicafor I taly ; P lacidia was with the cavalry , which reached

PLACID IA

ENPHEMIA



suasions of one general , E tiu s , she commanded the other,

Count Boniface , to relinquish his post in Africa,under

the impression that he meditated treachery. E tiu s atthe same t ime warned Boniface that the recall was dueto suspicion , and the gallant officer was driven into re

bell ion . He invited the Vandals to Africa, and soontwenty thousand of the tal l

,fair-haired northerners , with

a vast crowd of dependents and followers , spread overthe province . P lacid ia discovered too late the deceit oE tius . She was induced to . send a friendly ambassadorto Boniface

,and the fraud was at once detected . But

the Vandals could not be dislodged . Boniface was slain

(432) in h is s truggle with them , E tius was driven to thecamp of the Huns , and Africa , the granary of Rome , wasirretrievably lost .The next blow that threatened the d istracted Empire

was an invasion of the Huns . P lacidia cannot be heldresponsible for the subsequent calamities

,for E tius ,

strong in his all iance with the Huns , had forced his wayback into power , and was the real governor of the Empire .

But the formidable task he undertook was made moredifficul t by a romantic and unhappy occurrence with inP lacidia’s domestic circ le . W e have already spoken of

her daughter Honoria,who came in disgrace to Constan

tinople in 434. The great d istinction of the Constantinopolitan court

,the possession of three royal virgins , seems

to have excited the pious jealousy of P lacid ia ,"and she

apparently designed that her court should not lack itsVestal Virgin . W e are not told that any vow was imposedon the young Honoria

,but she was reared w ith the

discipline of a conventual novice,and given to under

stand that the exalted state of virginity was assigned toher. In 433 the title of Augusta was bestowed on her ,in some compensation of her sacrifice . But the daughterof Constantius had th icker blood in her veins than the

daughters of Arcad ius , and the claustral regime— therestriction of attendance to eunuchs and w omen—doesnot seem to have been rigorously enforced at Ravenna.

THE LAST EMPRESSES OF THE WEST 345

In 434 the seventeen-year-Old princess was discoveredto be in a painful cond ition , and was dispatched toConstantinople

,and incarcerated in a nunnery by the

indignant Pulcheria .

But the young girl had a spirit beyond her years .

She had heard of the formidable nation Of the Huns ,which awaited

,in the neighbourhood of the Danube and

the Volga , i ts turn to fil l the Imperial stage ; she hadheard that the young and powerful Att ila had recentlyacceded to the throne of that nation. In some way shesecured a messenger Who took from her a letter and aring to Atti la , Offering him her heart and her dowry ifhe would release her. The girl ish freak was destined tohave terrible consequences for the Empire . The ladyherself W e may dismiss in a word . She seems to havebeen kept in close confinement in the East unti l about

4 50 , sending fruitless messages , from time to time , to herromantic lover . Atti la had suffi cient occupation duringthose fifteen years , and was content to put her name onthe le ngthy list of his W ives . When , in 450 , he formallydemanded her person , he was assured that she wasmarried . I t i s not impossible that she was released oncondition that she accepted a husband chosen for her .

But her end is Obscure , and one is disposed to doubt ifShe would ever have resumed her liberty W ithout j oiningthe victorious Hun .

Placidia died in the year 450 , leaving the astute E tius

to avert the oncoming disaster by an alliance with theOstrogoths against the Huns . For a quarter of a centuryshe had had supreme power over the Western Empire.

I t is , perhaps , only an indication of mediocrity on“

herpart that she could not avert the blows that fell upon i tduring that period , bu t i t was a calamity for Rome .

Her memory survived,in a singular way , for more than

a thousand years . The pagan habit of cremating thebodies Of Emperors and Empresses had been replaced bythe Egyptian process of embalming, and P lacidia hadbuilt a chapel at Ravenna for the reception of her body.


There it sat, in a chair of cedar-wood , unti l the year1 577 , when some children , thrusting a lighted taper into thetomb to see it better

,set it aflame and reduced it to ashes .

Meantime,another Empress of the W est had appeared .

In 437 Valentinian had married Licinia Eudoxia , thefourteen-year-old daughte r of Eudocia , at Constantinople ,and brought her to I taly. He had parted w ith a largesl ice of his Empire to Pulcheria and Theodosius for thehonour, and is said to have held it ligh tly . The sequelwill d ispose us to bel ieve his irregulari ties . A youth ofeighteen at the time

,frivolous

,luxurious , and light-headed ,

he was content to enj oy the palace,and leave his mother

,

and then E tiu s,to discharge his duties . Eudoxia could

but idly fol low the momentous movements of the nations,

and appreciate the defeat of the Huns in the terrible battleof Chalons in 45 1 or Shudder when

,in the following year

,

Att ila marched to the gates of Rome , demanding half theEmpire as the dowry of his distant bride , Honoria ; orwhen , in 453 , the profligate Valentinian plunged his swordin the breast Of his great minister E tiu s. A grave personaltragedy was upon her.The court resided generally at

‘

Rome , where Valentin ianenjoyed the larger and faster amusements of a metropolis .

Here,in th e year 45 5 , he was stabbed by his sold iers , and

a romantic story is told in connexion with h is death: The

story is rejected by a recent historical writer , Mr. HodgkinI taly and her Invaders but Professor Bury has shown

that it is probably true in substance . The ful l story,to

which fictitious detai ls may have been added before itreached Procopius , i s that Valentinian , gambling heavilywith the di stingu ished S enator Petronius Maximus , Obtainedh is ring as a security for the money he had won . Maximushad a beautiful wife whom the Emperor desired

,and he

sent the ring to her with a summons to the palace . The

unsuspecting lady was conducted to Valentinian’s apartments

,and outraged by him . For this crime , and in virtue

of th e - general d iscontent,Maximus had him slain and

occupied hi s throne .



was refused until, in 462 , the elder daughter , Eudocia ,was married to Gense ric’s son . Eudoxia and the seconddaughter

,P lacid ia

,were then sent to Constantinople . Years

afterwards— in one of‘

the legends— we catch a last gl impseof Eudoxia

,the last prominent Empress of the W est . She

i s standing before the column of S imeon S tyl ites , askinghim to come and live somewhere on her ample estate .

Eudocia l ived for sixteen years at Carthage, then escapedto the East

,and ended her l ife in Palestine . P lacid ia we

Shall meet again for a moment .W e turn back to the shrinking Empire of the West , to

d ismiss the last four Imperial shadows that fl i t about itsruins . The vacant throne was occupied by the commanderof the Roman forces in Gaul , Av itus . He had married

,

since we know that S idonius Apollinaris was married tohis daughter Papianilla, but his wife was dead , and we needonly say that

,after he had enjoyed the Imperial banquets

for a few months,he was degraded to the rank of a

bishopric by the commander of the barbaric troops,with

the consent Of the d isgusted Romans , and he died soonafterwards . He was followed by a worthy and able officer

,

whose rule m igh t have illumined a more propit ious age ;but we find no Empress in association with h im

,and must

pass over the four years of his earnest effort to redeem theEmpire . After h is death Libiu s S everus had a nominaland obscure reign of four years (46 1 and again we findno Empress in the scanty records .

The throne remained vacant for nearly two years,

during which the Vandals harassed the miserable remnantof the great Empire . At length the ch ief commander inI taly , Ricime r , sought the aid of the Eastern Empire, andthe all iance was sealed by the Eastern court sending oneof i ts wealth iest and

,by birth , most i llustrious nobles ,

Anthemiu s,to occupy the throne . His Empress was

Euphemia , daughter of the Emperor Marcian by his firstwife . But her name , and the names of her father andher ch ildren , are al l that we find recorded concerningher, and we need not dwell on the failures and quarrels

,

THE LAST EMPRESSES OF THE WEST 349

or the last faint fl icker of Roman paganism,which

characterized his inauspicious reign . W ithin four yearshe quarrelled with Ricime r, and his life was trodden outon the streets of Rome .

For a few months Placidia , the daughter of Eudoxia ,then occupies the throne . At Constantinople

,to which

she went with her mother from her Vandal captivity,

she married the wealthy noble Olybrius . He had fledfrom Rome when it was looted by the Vandals

,and had

l ittle mind to exchange the safe luxury of Constantinoplefor its uneasy throne when Ricime r offered it to him . I t i ssaid that P lacidia impelled him . It was a fatal adventure .

They entered Rome in the train of Ricime r’s troops,but

Olybriu s succumbed to that atmosphere of death in a fewmonths

,and we have not time to d iscern the feature s

of Eudoxia’s daughter before she sinks into the largecategory of obscure Imperial widows . His successor

,

Glycerins,a puppet of the chief commander, seems to have

had no w ife . A competitor appeared immediately, and heexchanged the uncertain S ceptre of the Western Emp i refor the Solid crozier of a bishop .

One faint and shadowy Empress crosses the scenebefore the curtain falls . Once more the Eastern court hadprovided I taly—which was now theWestern Roman Empire-with a ruler. Julius Nepos set up h is court at R avenna ,

and had for Empress a niece of Verina,the Empress of

the East . But the barbarian leaders of the barbarian army— the only army that remained in the service of Romeresented the Eastern intruder

,and marched on Ravenna.

Nepos fled ignominiously ; and one reads with interest ,though not without reserve

,that he was put to death

by his predecessor, Bi shop Glyce riu s . The fate of his

wife is unknown,and the last Empress of the Western

provinces entirely escapes our search .

The tattered purple was offered to the commanderOrestes . He refused it

,and allowed them to place i t on

the shoulders of his young son The name of thispretty and innocuous boy united

,as if in mockery, the


names of Romulus and Augustus . To later times hispathetic figure i s known as Augu stulu s . His father wasslain by the troops immediately afterwards

,because he

refused to distribute one-third Of the soil of I taly betweenthem . The Empi re was now a mere phrase ; Rome aplayth ing of the barbarians whom it had cowed for fiveor six hundred years . Odoacer , the latest leader of thetroops

,bade the child put Off his purple mantle and begone

,

and some time afterwards— SO low had Rome fallen thatthe year of th i s impressive consummation cannot accuratelybe determined— forced the S enate to abolish the Imperialsuccession in the West . I taly became the kingdom Of abarbarian . Britain

,Gaul

,Germany

,and S pain were turned

into the battle-grounds of those fierce tribes who,after the

violence and darkness of the M iddle Ages,would in their

turn scatter the seed of civil izat ion over the earth . The

gallery ofWestern Empresses was closed by the irrevocablehand of fate , and the long , quaint gal lery of the ByzantineEmpresses was thrown open .



Bassianus , Senator , 273V. A. S ee Elagabalus

Bassus , Pomponius , 2 1 7Bauto , 326

Be renice , 1 30

Boissie r ,M. , 1 36

Boniface , Count , 344

Britannicus , 6 5 , 76 ,83 , 86 , 92 , 96

Bru tt ius Pra sens , 182

Burru s , 85 , 92 , 95 , 103 , 10 7 , 108

Bury , Prof , 2 1 1 , 273 , 277 , 280 , 346

Caenis , 128-9

Cae sar , Julius , 6 , 10

Caesonia ,Milonia , 5 5 , 56 , 5 9 ,

1 30

Caius Cae sar CaligulaCaius

,son of Julia , 32

-3

Caledonians , the , 203Caligu la. 37 . 49

—59Callistus , 80

Calpurnia , 75 , 79 , 84

Calpurnius Piso , 5 2

Cand idian , 26 3

Capitolinus , Julius , 166 , 1 72 , 1 7 3Capreae , 34 , 48

Caracalla , 196 ,1 99 , 202 , 203 , 204

-9

Caractacus , 84Carinus , 25 2

—4

Carnuntum , 26 1

Carus , 25 1

Cassianu s Postumus , 242

Cassiodorus , 26 7Cassius , Avid ius, 1 75 , 1 7 7Castricia , 330

Ce ionia ,1 70

Ce lsa , Nonia , 2 10 , 2 13Celsus , 1 5 3

Centumce llae , 182

Charito , 306

Christians , persecu tion Of the , 25 7-9

Chrysaphius , 336 , 337Chrysostom , John , 327 , 328, 329 ,

Cinna , 20

Circus , the , 7factions of the , 5 6 , 109 , 124

Claud ii , the , 9

Claud ius , 60 , 6 1 , 62 , 64-76 , 7 9

—82 ,141

Cleande r , 187

Cleopatra , 8, 10 , 1 3 , 18, 19

servant of Claud ius, 75 , 79

Clod ia , 1 2

Cohen , 238, 25 3 , 307Cologne ,

84 , 138

Commodus , L . C. , 1 5 7 , 162

L . V . , 169 ,1 70 , 1 72 , 1 7 5 , 180

son of Marcus , 1 72 , 181 , 182-9

Constans , 286 , 289

Constantia , 273 , 27 5 , 276 , 283

wife Of Gratian , 3 13

Constantina , F. J 288, 289 , 290—3Constantine , 260 , 27 1

- 85the younger , 286 , 287

Constantinople . found ing of , 283 , 284Constantius , 254 , 260 , 266-7 1

the younger , 286 , 287 , 289 , 29 ,

292—304

General, 342Contubem z

'

um , 129

Corbulo Domitius, 130

Cornifici a, 205

Corruption at Rome , 2 1 , 34 , 1 36-7

Crepe re ius Gallus , 102

Crinitus , Ulpius , 25 0

Crispilla , Qu intia , 236

Crispina , 183 , 184

Crispus , 274 , 278—82

Passienus , 67

Curia mu lz'

erum , 6 , 202

Daza , 25 9

Deaths of the Persecu tors ,

2 5 8

Decius , 237

Delmatius , 286 , 287De x ippus , 225Diadumenianus , 2 10

Did ia Clara , 192 ,1 93

Dill, Dr . S . , 136

Dio. 9 .1 5 . 16 . 26 . 29 . 43 . 45 . 5 1 .

73 . 84 . 95 . 99 . H 4. 129 . 13 1 , I

142 , 146 , 169 , 1 76 , 188, 200, 202

Diocletian , 25 3-60 , 26 1 , 262

Divination at Rome , 85

Dominica , Albia , 307 , 308, 3 10

Dom itia Lepida , 68,89

Longina ,130 , 13 1

—5

Domi tian , 130-4

INDEX 353

Domitian, Pre fect , 292

Domitilla , Flavia, 128, 130

Domna , Julia , 194 , 195 , 196—209

Domus Vectiliana , 190

Drusilla, daughter Of Agrippina, 5 1daughte r of Caesonia, 5 5 , 5 9

Drusus Nero, 15son of Agrippina. 47son Of Livia, 24 , 3 1 , 37 , 41. 6 1

Duruy, 148, 1 5 6 , 16 1 , 1 72 . 239

Eboracum , 1 5 5 , 203Eclectus, 188, 193Elagabal, 195 , 2 1 5Elagabalus, 200 , 2 1 1

-2 1

Eleuthe ra, St . , 25 6

Emesa , 195 , 209 , 212

Empress , the title , 9Ennia , 50

- 1

Ephesus , 15 8Epicureanism, 164

Etruscilla , Herennia , 237Eucer , 1 10

Eudocia , 334-8

Eudoxia , 325 , 326 , 327-31

Licinia. 335 .

Euphemia , 348

Eusebia , Aurelia , 294 , 296-30 1 , 303Eusebius , Bishop , 249 , 25 7 . 262 , 26 7 ,

eunuch , 295Entropia, Galeria Valeria , 254 , 270 ,

283Eutropius, 325 , 326 , 327 , 328

historian , 200 , 206 , 25 7 , 268,‘

272,

Fabia , 180 , 181

Fad illa , 187Julia , 15 8

Junia , 230

Falco , 190

Fausta , 27 1 , 272 , 277 , 278-82

Faustina , the elder , 163 , 164-8

the younger , 169 , 170- 8

Max ima, 304 , 308

Rupilia , 164

Faustinopolis, 17 7Felix , 1 12

23

Firth, Mr. , 267 . 277 , 280Flaccilla , E lia ,

-3 17 , 3 18

Flam in ian Circu s, 30

Flavian , Archbishop , 336 , 337Forum , the , 7 , 19

of Trajan , the , 143Freedmen at Rome , 62 , 63 , 68

Fronto , 166 , 1 72

Fucine Lake , 87Fulvia, 10 ,

12 , 13Fundana , Galeria, 123 , 124 ,

126-8

Furnilla , Marcia, 129 , r30

Gainas, 329Galba , Sulpicms, 67 , 120 , 123

Galerius , 254, 25 6 , 258, 260 , 26 1

Galla , 3 1 7 , 3 18, 3 19 , 320 , 321

Gallienus , 238, 239 , 242 , 244

Gallus , 237 , 290-4Gannys, 2 12

Gardner , A. , 299

Genseric, 347

Germanicus , 37—8Geta , 196 , 201 , 202 , 204 , 205Gibbon , 2 , 45 , 13 1 , 136 , 141 , 169 , 2 1 1 ,

224 , 225 , 228, 239 , 245 , 247 , 248,

Glycerins, 349Golden House of Nero, 1 1 5 , 129Gord ianus , 234the younger , 236

Corres , Dr. , 279

Goteke , 270

Gratian , 307 , 3 12 , 3 13 , 3 14

Greece , Ne ro in , 1 19

Gregorov ius , 15 1 , 1 5 6 , 16 1

Gii ldenpenning, 3 1 7

Hadrian. 139. 141 . 142. x 4s, 147 .

I 49

Hann ibalian , 286 , 287 , 288

Helena , 265 , 266—70 , 277 , 278, 282-3

wife of Ju lian , 297 , 298, 299—304

Henderson , Mr. , 90 , 109

Herenn ianus , 241

Herod 27Agrippa. 49. 5 9

Herodes , 241

Herod ian , 200 , 20 1 , 206 , 225


Historia Augusta, the , 45 , 142 ,

146 , 15 0 , 1 5 2 ,\166 , 1 72 , 188,

Hodgk in ; Mr 346

Honoria. 335 . 342. 344. 345

Honorius, 3 17 , 321 , 323; 324 , 341 , 342

Hortensius, 19Hostilianus, 237Runs , the , 344

Ifiand , Dr. , 3 17Imperator , the title , 9

Jerome , St . , 267 , 279Jerusalem

,1 5 9 , 160

Josephus , 1 12 , 130 , 132

Jovian . 306 . 30 7Julia , daughter of Octavian , 23

-30

the younger , 33-4daughter of Drusus, 66- 7daughter of Titus, 1 3 1Livilla, 65

4/Julian , the Emperor , 140 , 166 , 1 72 ,

-305

Julianus , Did ius , 192 , 1 93

Julius. son of . ] ulia, 32-3

Junia Claud illa, 49

Junius S ilanus , 49 , 50Justina, Aviana, 3 1 1 , 3 12- 1 7 , 3 18,3 1 9

Juvenal, 137

Kornemann, Professor , 45

Lactantius , 25 8, 26 1 , 272

La ta , 3 13

Lae tus , 188, 190 , 193

Lake Agrippa , 1 14

Lamprid ius , 200 , 203 , 224 , 225Leontius , 296

Lepida , Domitia , 68, 89

wife of Galba, 123Lep idus

, 54the Triumvir , 6 , 8, 1 7

Libanius , 296

Libe rius, 296

Licinius, 262 , 263 , 273- 5the younger , 276 , 278

Livia, 6 , 8, 9 , 10 , 1 5- 1 7 , 19

-2 1 , 24-4

Medu llina. Camilla, 6 1

Orestilla , 5 2

Liviada, 20

Livilla , 41 , 47 , 3 q t”

Livius Dru sus Claud ianus, 9Locusta , 90 , 96

Lollia Paulina , 5 2, 5 5 , 80 , 83-4

Lollius. 32

Lond in ium , 1 5 5Lucilla , 1 75 , 1 79 , 183 ,

1 84

Lucius Domitius Nero

Lucullan Gard ens , the , 7 1 , 72 , 7 5Lugdunum , 54

Lu tetia , 1 54

Lu xury at Rome , 16 , 34 , 54

Lycisca , 69

Mace llum , 290

Macrinus , Opilius , 208, 209- 1 2

Sallustius , 225Macro , 50

- 1

Macrob ius, 27Maecenas , 12 , 18

Maeonius, 241 , 242

Maesa ,Julia , 200 , 202 , 2 1 1

—1 9Magnentiu s , 289 , 290 , 292

Malala, John , 337Mamasa ,

Julia , 2 1 1 , 2 19 , 222-

3 1

Marcella, 24 , 25 , 26

Marcellinu s, Ammianus , 234, 284 , 29 1 ,

Chronicle of , 3 19 , 337

Marcellus , 24 , 25

Marcia ,185

- 9 , 1 93

Marcian , 339 , 347Marciana , 139 , 140 ,

144

Faccia ,1 96

Marcu s Aurelius, 162 , 164 ,1 67 , 169

78

Mardonius , 296Maria , 324

Marina , 307daughter of Eudoxia , 331

Marin iana, 238

Marius , 243Maximus, 1 73 ,

1 75 , 1 76

Mark Antony, 6 ,8,10 ,

12 ,13 , 18,

19

Marriage , Roman, 268-9

Marsa, 330


356 THE EMPRESSES or ROME

Poppaeus Sabinus, 107Porphyry of Gaza , 329

Praetorian Guards , the , 50 , 5 8, 6 1 ,

Prisca , 25 6 , 25 7 , 25 9 . 260 , 26 1-4Probus, 25 1

Procopius , 308-9Pu ech , Professor , 329 , 332

Puellae Faustinianae , 168, 1 77Pulcheria, 317 , 328, 332

-9

Puteoli , 5 3

Pyrallis , 5 5Pythagoras , 1 14

Q uadratus, 184, 185Q u ietus , Lusins, 1 5 2 , 1 5 3

Q u intilius, 245

Religion at Rome , 2 16

Renan , 136 , 1 72

Ricimer , 348, 349Rome , burning of , 1 14Romula , 25 6 , 25 8

Rostra , the , 29

Rubelliu s Plau tus, 98

Rufinus , 325 , 326 , 327

Rufus Crispinus, 108

Sabina , 139 , 144 , 148, 149—6 1 , 202

Sabinus , 1 3 1

Sacred Way , th e , 8

Sallustius , 307Salona , 260

Salonina , Cornelia, 239 , 244

Sapor , 240 , 247

Saturninus , 337Scantilla, Manlia , 192 , 193

Schultz , O. , 45

Scotland , 203

Scribonia , 12 , 13 , 14 , 22

Se eck , Dr. , 279Sejanus, 41 , 42 , 47Selinus, 146

Senaculum , 2 14 Tacitus, 9 , 14 , 3 1 , 41 , 43 . 44» 45 . 46.

Senate . the Roman. 43. 93. 103. m . 64. 72. 79. 80 . 83. 90 . 95 . 99 . 1 1 1 ,

1 19 » 125Seneca. 3 1 . 66 . 77 . 85 . 93. 95 . 96 . 97 . the Emperor. 25 1107 , 108, 1 10 , 1 1 5 Tarvey, Mr. , 32

Serena , 324

St . , 25 6

Se rvianus , Ursus , 149 , 162

Se rvie z , Roe rgas de , 3 , 4 , 32, 33 , 6 7 ,

87 , 90 , 1 12 , 146 , 15 3 , 166 , 207

Servi lia, 1 1

Severa , Julia Aqu ilia, 2 16Marcia Otacilia , 237Valeria , 307 , 31 1 . 3 12

Severian , 263

B ishop , 330Severina, Ulpia, 250Se verus , 26 1

deacon , 337

Livius , 348

Septimus , 193 , 194- 204

Se x tilia , 1 24 , 125 , 126 , 127

Sextus Pompe ius , 10 , 1 2 , 1 7

Sidonius Apollinaris , 280 , 348

S ilanu s , Junius , 95Lucius, 95

S ilius , Caius , 72 , 73 , 74 , 76

Silvagni , V . , 3

S imeon Stylites, 338, 348

S inu essa , 90

Smyrna , 15 8

Soaamias, Julia, 200 , 203 , 2 1 1 , 2 12,

—21

Socrate s, the historian, 3 12

Sosibius , 7 1 , 72

Sozomen , 276

Spartianus , 146 , 1 5 5 , 15 7 , 160

Sporus , 1 18, 12 1

Stahr , A. , 3

Stilicho , 324 , 325

Stoicism , 66 , 135 , 144, 162 , 164 , 168

Subura , 6 , 9 , 2 1 , 29

Suetonius , 3 1 , 40 , 42 , 45 , 48, 5 3 , 5 5 ,

Suidas , 296

Su illius , 7 1

Sulpicianus, 192

Sura, 142, 1 50

Syria. and Rome , 222

INDEX 357

Tertulla , Arricidia , 129

Tertullus , 1 7 1

Te tricus, 243 , 249

Theatre , the Roman , 5 8, 109Thebes , 1 5 9 . 160

Theoclea , 230

Theodora, FlaviaMax imiana ,

Theodoret , 3 10 , 3 16

Theodosius , 3 13 , 3 14 , 3 16 , 3 17- 2 1

-8

Theophanes, 336 , 337Theophilus , 304 , 330Thermantia , A.M. , 324Thessalonica , massacre of, 3 19Thirty Tyrants, the , 239Tiberius Claudius Germanicus , 65

Nero , 10 , 1 1 , 14, 1 5 , 40

the Emperor , 10 , 24, 25 , 28, 3 1 , 32,-9

Tigellinus, 1 10 , 1 16

Tillemont , 3 12, 324, 326 , 330 ,

33 I

Timesitheus, 236

Timolaus , 241

Titiana, Flavia , 190 , 191

Titus , 129 , 13 1

Ollins , 107Tivoli , 1 56 , 160

Toledo, Council of , 269Trajan, 135 , 1 38, 139

-46 Wilkins , M . G. , 197 , 207

Tranqu illina , Furia Sabina , 236 Woman , position of , at Rome , 4—6

Triaria , 127Triumphal procession , 7 Xenophon , 9 1

Ulpianus, Domitius, 227 , 228Z abda 246Urbica , Magma , 25 3Z enobia , 240 , 241 , 242 , 244

-5 0Urgulania , 40’ 6 1

Z onaras , 268, 272 , 276 , 303Vaballath , 241 , 242 Z osimus , 234. 245 , 248, 249 , 25 7 . 26 7 ,Valens, 307 , 308, 309 , 3 10 272 , 276 , 280 , 284 , 298, 3 16 , 320

Valentinian , 307 , 31 1- 13

II , 3 13 , 3 18, 319 , 32 1

III . 335 : 342: 343» 346

Valeria , 25 6 , 25 7 , 25 9 , 260 , 26 1-4

Valerianus, 238

Valerius Messala Barbatus, 62Vandals , the , 344 , 347Velabrum , 6 , 7 , 9Verina , 349

Vespasian , 127 , 128-9 , 138

Ve stal Virgins , 132Vestinus , Atticus, 1 18

Vetranio , 289Ve ttius Valens, 74 , 76

Vibid ia , 7 5

Vice in the Roman Empire , 136Victor , Aurelius , 16 1 , 165 , 200 , 207 ,

Epitome , 148, 206 , 280 , 3 12

Victoria , 242—4

Victorinus, 243Vindex , 1 20Vipsania , 28

Vitellius , the elder , 56 , 7 1 , 75 , 80 82 ,

124

the Emperor , 124-8Volusianus , 237Vopiscus, 245 , 247

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ARMINEI .L.

BLADYS or THE STEWPONEY .

Barr (Rober t). JENNIE BAXTER[N THE MIDST OF ALARMS.THE COUNTESS TEKLA.

THE MUTABLE MANY.

Benson (E. E ). DODO.

THE VINTAGE.

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Bur ton (J . Blounde lle ). ACROSS THESALT SEAS .

Cafl’yn (Mrs) . ANNE MAULEVERER.

Capes (Bernard). THE LAKE OFWINE.

Clifford (Mrs. W . A FLASH OFSUMMER.

MRS . KEITH 'S CRIME.

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A STATE SECRET.

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LAMP.

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S FOLLY.

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MARY BARTON.

NORTH AND SOUTH.

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THE CONQ UEST OF LONDON.

MADE OF MONEY.

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THE CROWN OF LIFE.

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THE K LOOF BRIDE.

Gr imm 9 Brothers).FA IRY ALES.

ORRAIN

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A CHANGE OF AIR.

TH E C H RO N I C L E S O F C O U N TANTONIO .

PHROSO.

THE DOLLY DIALOGUES .HOPDI-m (E. DEAD MEN TELLNO T LES .

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Le ueox (W .)OIQWESTMIN

’ST

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THE HUNCHBACK

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Lyall (Edna). DERRICK VAUGHAN .

Maie t (Lucas). THE CARISSIMA.

A COUNSEL OF PERFECTION.

Mann (Mrs. M. E ). MRS . PETERHOWARD .

A LOST ESTATE.

THE CEDAR STAR .

ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS .THE PATTEN EXPERIMENT.

A WINTER’S TALE .

Marchmont (A. MISER HOADLEY’S SECRET.

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J ACOB FAITHFUL .

March (Richard ). AMETAMORPHOSIS.THE TWICKENHAM PEERAGE.

THE GODDESS .THE J OSS.Mason (A. E. CLEMENTINA .

Mathers (Helen). HONEY.

GRIFF OF GRIFFITHSCOURT.

SAM’S SWEETHEART .

THE FERRYMAN .

Meade (Mrs. L. DRIFT.

Mi ller (Esther). LIVING LIES.Mitford (Bertram). THE SIGN OF THESPIDER.

Montresor (F. THE ALIEN .



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