time Emperors were only saluted he commanded the people to worship him as a God he wore Jewels upon his Cloaths and Shooes whereas before the Badg of Royalty consisted in a Purple Coat the other dress was in common but Herculius in outward appearance fierce and of a rude disposition discover'd his roughness in the horror of his countenance but smoothing his own nature he obey'd Dioclesian in his more severe designs Dioclesian when he grew old finding himself unfit to govern the Empire mov'd Herculius to live a private life and give up the Common-wealth to brisker and younger men to which his Collegue unwillingly consented yet both of them upon a certain day chang'd the Royal Robe for a Private Habit Dioclesian at Nicomedia Herculius at Mediolanum after they had gloriously triumph'd at Rome over a great many Nations with a magnificent shew of Pageants in which the Wives Sisters and Children of Narseus went before their Chariot one of them retir'd to Salonae the other to Lucania Dioclesian as a private man spun out an honorable old age at a place near Salonae exercising himself in Virtue unusual to him before He was the only man after the foundation of the Roman Empire that of his own accord descended from so high a pitch to a private condition for which reason this hapned to him which never did to any other that tho dying a private man he should be consecrated a God The Tenth Book OF EVTROPIVS Constantius Galerius Licinius Constantinus with his three Sons and Successors also Julianus Jovianus with other Roman Synchronisms From A. C. 1056. to 1119. By Mr. John Shadwell THerefore Dioclesian and Herculius retiring Constantius and Galerius were created Emperours to govern the Commonwealth and the Roman Empire was divided between them Constantius had Gaul Italy and Africa Galerius possessed himself of Illyricum Asia and the Eastern parts having chosen two Caesars But Constantius satisfied with the honour of being Emperour refused the trouble of governing Italy and Africa he was an excellent Man and of most extraordinary civility extreamly gracious to his Allies and private Persons he cared not for the fulness of his Exchequer and was better pleased to have the publick wealth in the hands of private Men than shut up in one fund He affected Pomp so little that on festival Days if he were to feast with many of his Friends he borrowed furniture and Plate from private persons to entertain them The Gauls not onely loved this Man but even reverenced him chiesly because under his power they had escaped the suspected policy of Dioclesian and the bloody rashness of Maximianus he died in Britanny at York in the thirteenth year of his Reign and was consecrated amongst the God Galerius was a Man well bred and famous in warlike matters when he found that the government of Italy fell under his Command by the consent of Constantius he ordained two Caesars But Constantius being dead Constantine his Son by a Wife of mean quality was made Emperour in Brittany and as one most desireable succeeded his Father In the mean while the Praetorian Band at Rome having raised a mutiny proclaimed Maxentius the Son of Herculius Emperour who lived publickly not far from Rome at which news Maximianus Herculius hoping to reassume the power he had unwillingly forsaken came soon to Rome from Lucania where as a private man he had chosen to dwell growing old in that most pleasant Country He persuaded Dioclesian also by Letters but in vain to re-take the Power he had laid down But Severus Caesar being sent to Rome by Galerius against the insurrection of the Praetorian Soldiers arrived there with his Army but besieging the City his Soldiers basely deserted him thus Maxentius his power was encreased and the Empire confirm'd to him Severus in his flight was slain at Ravenna but Herculius Maximianus after these things endeavouring to depose his Son Maxentius in an Assembly of the Army made the Soldiers mutiny and revile him Upon this he went to Gaul with a treacherous Design to associate himself with his Son-in-law Constantine as if his own Son had expelled him but endeavouring whenever he had an opportunity to kill Constantine who reigned in Gaul much beloved both by his Soldiers and the Natives having beaten the Franci and the Alamanni he exposed their Captive Kings to wild Beasts at his publick and noble Show Wherefore his treachery being detected by his Daughter Fausta who discovered the Villany to her Husband Herculius fled to Massilia and there slain intending to sail from thence to his Son was punish'd with a just Death He was a Man prone to all kind of roughness and cruelty unfaithful injurious and very barbarous Now Galerius made Licinius Emperour being a Dacian having been formerly acquainted with him and acceptable to him for his great endeavours and services in the War he made against Narseus Galerius soon after died then the Commonwealth was governed by these four Emperours Constantine and Maxentius Sons of Emperours Licinius and Maximinus being Upstarts But Constantine in the fifth year of his Reign raised a Civil War against Maxentius and routed his Forces in a great many Battels at last at the Milvian Bridg he conquer'd him who had raged with all kind of cruelty against the Nobility at Rome and so gained Italy Not long after Maximinus attempting an insurrection in the East against Licinius his own accidental death at Tarsus prevented his intended destruction But Constantine was a great Man and endeavouring to perform all that he had designed in his mind also affecting the Government of all the World he brought War upon Licinius although he was familiarly acquainted with him and nearly related to him his Sister Constantia being married to Licinius on a sudden he set upon him first in Pannonia and then as he was gathering together great Forces at the City Cibalae and having gained all Dardania Moesia and Macedonia he possessed himself of a great many Provinces Afterwards there arose several Wars between them and the Peace which was made broken in the end Licinius conquer'd in a Sea-fight and at Land at Nicomedia yielded up himself and was killed a private Man at the City Thessalonica contrary to the sincerity of a solemn Oath Then the Roman Empire was under one Emperour and three Caesars never so before Constantine's Sons governing Gaul the Eastern parts and Italy but this wonderful success somewhat alter'd Constantine from his tractable and gentle temper So that first persecuting his nearest Friends he killed his Sisters Son an excellent young Man and of a very good disposition and after the slaughter of very many of his Friends he put his Wife to death He was a Man in the beginning of his Reign to be compared with the best of Princes but at last to be ranked with the indifferent adorned with a great many Virtues both of Mind and Body very ambitious of Military honour Fortune was successful to him in War but his industry was as great
force He overcame the Caeninenses the Antemnates the Crustumii the Sabins the Fidenates and the Vejentes in the War raised against him for the injury offered to their Women All these Cities lay about Rome And when upon a sudden Tempest at an Assembly he was never seen after in the thirty seventh year of his Reign he is consecrated being believed to have gone to the Gods Then the Government of Rome was in the power of Senators for the space of five days by turns which Authority lasted one year Afterwards Numa Pompilius was made King who waged no War yet he was no less serviceable to Rome than Romulus for he founded the Laws and Customs of the Romans who were now thought half Barbarians and Robbers from their continual Wars He divided the year into ten Months which before was confused without any account he constituted very many holy Rites and built many Temples at Rome and died in the forty third year of his Reign Tullus Hostilius succeeded him he renewed the War and overcame the Albani who dwelt twelve miles from Rome He subdued the Vejentes and the Fidenates some of these were six miles from Rome others eighteen He enlarged the City having added the Hill Caelius When he had reigned thirty two years he was killed by Thunder and his House burnt up with Lightning Ancus Marcius Reigned after him he was the Grandchild of Numa by his Daughter he warred against the Latins and joyned the Aventine Hill and the Hill Janiculus to the City built Ostia a Sea-Town sixteen miles from Rome He died a natural death in the twenty fourth year of his Reign Then Priscus Tarquinius was made King He doubled the number of the Senators and built the Circus Maximus at Rome He first instituted the Roman Sports which are continued to our time He also overcame the Sabins and having conquered much of their Country joyned it to the Roman Territory and first of all entred the City in Triumph he built the Walls and the Common Sewers he began the Capitol and was killed by the Sons of Ancus whom he succeeded in the thirty eighth year of his Reign Servius Tullius succeeded him born of a Noble Woman being a Captive and a Handmaid He also overcame the Sabins and added the three Hills Quirinalis Viminalis and Esquilinus to Rome He digged Ditches about the City And first of all numbered and taxed the people which thing was unknown throughout the whole World Upon the Assessment there were found eighty four thousand Roman Citizens with those who lived in the Country He was murthered in the forty fifth year of his Reign by the treachery of his Son-in-law Tarquinius the Son of Priscus his Predecessor and his Daughter Tullia whom Tarquinius had married Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was the Seventh and last of the Roman Kings He overcame the Volsci which people dwelt not far from Rome as we go to Campania he took the City Gabii and Suessa Pometia and made peace with the Thusci and built the Temple of Jupiter in the Capitol Afterwards besieging Ardea a City situated eighteen miles from Rome he lost his Kingdom For when his Son Tarquinius the younger ravished Lucretia a Woman of great quality and the most chast Wife of Collatinus and she complaining of the injury to her Husband her Father and her Friends killed her self in the sight of them all For which reason Brutus her Father and her Husband Tarquinius Collatinus stirred up the people and depos'd Tarquinius Soon after the Army which besieged Ardea with Tarquinius deserted him and he returning to Rome was shut out When he had reigned five and twenty years he fled away with his Wife and Children Thus Rome was governed by seven Kings for the space of two hundred forty three years the Romans hitherto scarcely possessing fifteen miles about their City For this reason two Consuls were chosen for one King that if one had ill Designs the other having equal Power might restrain him And 't was enacted by the Roman people that they should rule no longer than one year lest they should grow proud by a long continuance of their Power but be always courteous knowing they were to be private Men within one year Therefore Lucius Junius Brutus who had been very industrious in expelling King Tarquin and Tarquinius Collatinus the Husband of Lucretia were Consuls the first year But the Consulship was taken away soon from Tarquinius Collatinus for the Romans were not willing that any should remain in the City who was called Tarquinius therefore having gathered together his Estate he departed from Roome Valerius Publicola was made Consul in his stead But King Tarquinius Superbus who was driven out waged War against Rome and by the assistance of several people fought with them that he might be restored to his Kingdom Brutus the Consul and Aruns the Son of Tarquinius kill'd one another in the first Battel yet the Romans came off Conquerors The Roman Matrons mourned one year for Brutus as the Defender of their Chastity and their common Father Valerius Publicola took Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus for his Collegue who was the Father of Lucretia upon whose Death he took Horatius Pulvillus into his place so that there were five Consuls in this first year Tarquinius Collatinus went out of the City by reason of his name Brutus was kill'd in the Battel Sp. Lucretius died a natural Death Tarquinius again made War against Rome the second year that he might be restored Porsena the King of Thuscia assisting him and almost took it but was overcome at last In the third year after the banishing of th◠King Tarquinius when he could 〈◊〉 be received into his Kingdom nor would Porsena who had made peace with the Romans aid him retir'd to Tusculum which City is not far from Rome and there lived a private life with his Wife fourteen years In the fourth year after the Kings were driven from Rome the Sabins waging War against the Romans were overcome upon which there was a Triumph In the fifth year Lucius Valerius the Collegue of Brutus and now the fourth time Consul died he was so poor that he was buried at the expence of the publick for whom the Matrons mourned one year as for Brutus In the ninth year after the banishing of the Tarquins when the Son-in-law of King Tarquinius had gathered together a great Army to revenge the injuries done to his Father-in-law the Romans created a new Authority which was called the Dictatorship being greater than the Consulship In the same year also the General of the Horse who was subordinate to the Dictator was made Nor doth Roman Story relate any thing more like the present Government of the Empire which Your Majesty now enjoys than the ancient Dictatorship chiefly when Caius Caesar and after him Augustus otherwise called Octavianus reigned with the name and honour of Dictactor of whom I shall speak hereafter But Largius was the first Roman Dictator and Spurius Cassius the first General
called the Sequani Then after his Victories in very great Battels he marched a Conquerour even to the British Ocean He was almost nine years in subduing all Gaul which lies between the Alps the River Rhone the Rhine and the Ocean in compass three thousand and two hundred miles Then he brought War upon the Britans who never before heard of the Roman Name and having overcome them he took their Hostages and made them tributary to the Roman Empire and ordered Gaul to pay an annual tribute of above three hundred thousand pounds And then passing the Rhine overcame the Germans in very great Battels he was so fortunate that he fought but thrice unsuccessfully once in Person against the Arverni twice in his absence in Germany where his two Lieutenants Titurius and Arunculeius were slain in an Ambush About the same time in the year of the City six hundred ninety seven Marcus Licinius Crassus Pompey's Collegue made the second time Consul was sent against the Parthians and when he fought at Carrae both contrary to the Omens and Praedictions of the Southsayers he was overcome by Surena one of Orodes his Captains and at last was slain with his Son a famous and valiant young Man The residue of his Army was saved by Cnaeus Cassius his Questor who with great resolution and courage so repair'd the calamity that repassing the Euphrates he overcame the Persians in many Battels Now that lamentable and horrible civil War came on which besides the calamities that happen'd in Battel changed the condition of the Roman Name For Caesar returning Conquerour from Gaul required another Consulship and it being without dispute carried on his side he was oppos'd by Marcellus the Consul Bibulus Pompey and Cato and commanded having dismissed his Army to return to Rome for which Affront from Ariminum where he mustered his Soldiers he march'd against his native Country The Consul with Pompey the whole Senate and all the Nobility fled out of the City into Greece Pompey being General rais'd War against Caesar in Epirus Macedonia and Achaia Caesar having entered the City forsaken made himself Dictator Thence marching into Spain he routed Pompey's brave and stout Armies under the three Generals L. Afranius M. Petreius and M. Varro Then returning he marched into Greece where fighting against Pompey he was in the first Battel overthrown and put to flight but the Night drawing on he escaped and upon Pompey 's not pursuing him he said Pompey knew not how to conquer he being only that Day in his Power to have been overcome Afterwards they fought in Thessaly at Palaeopharsalus with great Armies on both sides Pompey's Army consisted of forty thousand Foot and seven thousand Horse in the left Wing with five hundred in the right besides the Auxiliary Forces of all the East all the Nobility with a great number of Senators Praetors and such as had been Consuls and the Conquerors of ny Nations Caesar's Army amounted to thirty thousand Foot with a thousand Horse The Roman Forces were never greater at one time nor never commanded by more valiant Generals they might have overcome the whole World if they had fought against their Enemies But after a sharp fight Pompey being overcome and his Camp plunder'd fled to Alexandria that he might receive aids from the King of Aegypt whose Guardian he had been by order of Senate in his minority but he following Pompeys fortune more than true friendship slew him and sent his Head and Ring to Caesar which he looking on is reported to have wept beholding the Head of so worthy a Man and once his Son-in-law Afterwards Caesar coming to Alexandria Ptolemy had Designs upon his life for which reason Caesar made War with him and he being overcome was drowned in the Nile but his body was afterwards found covered with a Gold Coat of Mail. Caesar having won Alexandria gave that Kingdom to Cleopatra Ptolemy's Sister with whom he had been dishonourably acquainted Caesar returning from thence overcame in a Battel Pharnaces great Mithridates's Son who aided Pompey in Thessaly and also rebelling in Pontus had seiz'd upon many of the Roman Cities upon which misfortune he kill'd himself Then Caesar upon his return to Rome made himself the third time Consul with M. Aemilius Lepidus who was the year before in his Dictatorship General of the Horse From thence he went into Africa to the War which very many of the Nobility with Juba King of Mauritania had raised against him The Roman Generals were P. Cornelius Scipio of the ancient Family of Scipio Africanus he was Father-in-law to Pompey the Great M. Petreius Q. Varius and M. Porcius Cato L. Cornelius Faustus the Son of Sylla the Dictator and Pompey's Son-in-law Caesar in a pitch'd Battel after many Skirmishes overcame them Cato Scipio Petreius and Juba slew themselves but Faustus was put to death After a year Caesar coming back to Rome made himself Consul the fourth time but soon went into Spain where Cnaeus and Sextus Pompey's Sons had levy'd a great War they fought many Battels the last was at the City Munda in which Caesar was so near overcome that seeing his Soldiers sly he would have slain himself lest after so great Military Glory and fifty six years old he should fall into the power of these young Men at last having rallied his Forces he overcame them and slew Pompey's eldest Son and put to flight the younger Now Caesar having ended the Civil Wars through all the World returned to Rome and began to govern too insolently and against the customs of the Roman Liberties He would bestow Honours at his own pleasure which were before given by the people neither would he rise up to the Senate coming to salute him he performed other things after a regal tyrannick manner Whereupon above sixty Senators and Roman Knights conspired against him The chief of the Conspirators were the two Bruti of Brutus's Family who was the first that was made a Roman Consul and had expell'd the Kings with Cnaeus Cassius and Servilius Casca who stab'd Caesar on a certain day with twenty three Wounds when he came to the Senate The Seventh Book OF EVTROPIVS The Reign of Augustus Tiberius Caligula Claudius Nero Galba Otho Vitellius Vespasian Titus Domitian From A. V. 710. to V. C. 850. By Mr. Thomas Cornwallis CAESAR being kill'd about the seven hundred and ninth year of the City the Civil Wars were renewed The Senate favouring the murtherers of Caesar Antony the Consul one of Caesars party endeavoured to overthrow them in a Civil War Having therefore disturbed the Commonwealth and done many ill things he was judged an enemy by the Senate The two Consuls Pansa and Hirtius were sent to pursue him with Octavianus Caesar's Nephew a young man eighteen years old whom he made his Heir and commanded to bear his name This is he who afterwards was call'd Augustus and obtained the Empire Wherefore these three Generals marching against Antony overcame him but it happened out that
years they were slain fighting far from Rome with the Barbarians and consecrated amongst the Roman Gods Then Gallus Hostilianus and Volusianus his Son were made Emperors under their Government Aemilianus endeavoured an Insurrection in Maesia to suppress whom in their march they were killed at Interamna before two years end they did no great action all their Reign it being only remarkable for the Plague and other diseases Aemilianus born of very obscure Parents govern'd more obscurely and died in the third month of his Reign Then Licinius Valerianus being General in Rhaetia and Noricum was saluted first Imperator by his Army afterwards Augustus Gallienus likewise was made Emperor by the Senate Their Government was pernicious and almost destructive to the Roman name either by the ill fortune or idleness of these Princes The Germans came up to Ravenna Valerianus waging War in Mesopotamia was overcome by Sapores King of the Persians and being made captive linger'd out a dishonorable old age in slavery amongst the Parthians Gallienus when he was a young man was made Emperor at first he mannaged the Empire happily then indifferently at last very ill for in his youth he acted valiantly in Gaul and Illyricum having kill'd Ingenuus at Mursia who usurp'd the Empire and Trebellianus a long while he was quiet and peaceable afterward falling into all vice he neglected the Common-wealth through idleness and despair the Almans having wasted all Gaul broke into Italy he lost Dacia which lying beyond the Danube was brought under subjection by Trajan Greece Macedonia Pontus and Asia were over-run by the Goths Pannonia was spoiled by the Sarmatians and the Quadi the Germans came even to Spain and besieged the noble City Tarraco the Parthians having overcome Mesopotamia began to claim a title to Syria Now things being in despair and the Roman Empire almost overthrown Posthumus born of a very mean Race made himself Emperor in Gaul and manag'd his affairs so for ten years space that he almost won all the Provinces that were lost with great valour and moderation he was kill'd in a tumult of his Soldiers because he would not deliver up the City Moguntiacum which had rebelled against him in an Insurrection of Lollianus to be plundered by his Soldiers After him Marius a most useful man made himself Emperor and was kill'd the second day of his Reign Victorinus a very valiant man took upon him the Government of Gaul but being very lascivious and a defiler of other mens Beds he was killed at Agrippina by the Plot of one Acturius in the second year of his Reign Tetricus a Senator succeeded him who was Governor of Aquitania and was chosen Emperor by his Soldiers in his absence he took upon him the Government at Burdegala and patiently bore many Mutinies in the Army But whilst these things were done in Gaul in the East the Persians were overcome by Odenatus who desending Syria and regaining Mesopotamia went as far as Ctesiphon Thus Gallienus not minding the Common-wealth the Roman Empire was kept up in the West by Posthumus in the East by Odenatus in the mean time Gallienus and his Brother Valerianus were kill'd at Mediolanum in the ninth year of their Reign and Claudius succeeded him chosen by his Soldiers and declar'd Emperor by the Senate In a great Battel he overcame the Goths spoiling and depopulating Illyricum and Macedonia he was a frugal modest man a lover of Justice and fit to govern the Commonwealth who nevertheless died of a natural death before he had reigned two years and was stiled a God The Senate honored him mightily that he should have a Golden Shield set up for him in the Senate-house with a Golden Statue in the Capitol After him Quintilius the Brother of Claudius was chosen Emperor by the consent of his Soldiers a man from his extraordinary moderation and civility either to be equall'd or prefer'd before his Brother the Senate agreed that he should be call'd Augustus He was kill'd when he had been Emperor sixteen days After him Aurelian took upon him the Empire born in Dacia Ripensis he was a man powerful in War but of an unruly nature and prone to cruelty he very valiantly beat the Goths and restored the Roman Empire by various successes of War to its ancient bounds he overcame Tetricus in Gaul amongst the Catalauni Tetricus delivering up his Army whose continual Seditions he could not bear for by secret Letters he so press'd Aurelian that among other arguments he us'd this Verse of Virgil Eripe me his invicte malis that is Deliver me thou great Conqueror from these misfortunes He also in a very great Battel took Zenobia not far from Antioch when her Husband Odenatus who commanded those parts of the East was kill'd and entering Rome he triumphed very nobly as if he had been Conqueror of the East and West Tetricus and Zenobia going before his Chariot Tetricus afterward was Governor of Lucania but Zenobia left her posterity at Rome which remain there to these days In his Reign those that belonged to the Mint having coined false mony and kill'd Felicissimus the Master of the Mint made a Rebellion in Rome whom he subdued and quelled with extreme cruelty he put to death many Noblemen being severe and bloody and in some things rather necessary than to be beloved he was harsh all his life time and killed his Sisters Son yet a great keeper up of Military Discipline and a strict corrector of his Soldiers dissolute manners he repair'd and fortifi'd the Walls about Rome and erected a Temple to the Sun inriching it with much Gold and Jewels he deserted the Province of Dacia which Trajan had extended beyond the Danube he wasted all Illyricum and Maesia despairing that it could be kept having drawn the Romans out of the Cities of the Country of Dacia he placed them in the middle of Maesia lying on the right side of the Danube as it flows into the Euxine Sea when before it was on the left side He was kill'd by the treachery of a Servant who brought some names remark'd upon to some Soldiers his Friends forging the Emperors Hand as if he had intended to kill them so that he might be prevented he was killed upon a Journey in the middle of the old way between Constantinople and Heraclea the place is called Caenophrurium but his death was reveng'd and he was made a God having reign'd five years and six months Then Tacitus took upon him the Empire a man well bred and fit to govern the Commonwealth but he could not do any famous action dying before he had been Emperor six months Florianus who succeeded Tacitus reign'd but two months and twenty days neither did he any act worth memory After him Probus a man famous in Military affairs got the Rule of the Commonwealth he restor'd Gaul with great success which the Barbarians possessed he happily suppressed some endeavouring to usurp the Empire viz. Saturninus in the East Proculus and Bonosus at Agrippina
he suffer'd the Gauls and Pannonians to have Vineyards and his Soldiers having planted Vines on the Mountain Almus near Sirmium and on the Mountain Aureus in the upper Maesia he charg'd the Inhabitants to look after them he when he had waged a great many Wars having obtain'd peace said that within a little time there would be no need of Soldiers he was a valiant and just man equalling Aurelian in Military glory but excelling him in civility and was kill'd in the Iron Tower at Sirmium in a Mutiny of his Soldiers having reign'd six months and four days After him Carus being Emperor born at Narbona in Gaul made Carinus and Numerianus his Sons his Caesars with whom he rul'd two years but whilst he waged War with the Sarmatians having heard of the Insurrection in Persia marching to the East he performed noble actions against them and overthrew them in a Battel he took Seleucia and Ctesiphon very eminent Cities and when he had pitch'd his Camp by the Tigris was kill'd by a Thunder-bolt Numerianus his Son whom he had brought along with him into Persia a young man of very great hopes being carried by reason of a pain in his eyes in his Litter was treacherously kill'd through the incitement of Aper his Father-in-law and when he had cunningly hid him till he could get the Empire for himself his murder was found out by the stench of his body the Soldiers of his Guard being disturb'd with the smell having taken off the cloaths of the Bed after a few days discover'd his death In the mean time Carinus whom Carus when he made his expedition against the Parthians had left in Illyricum Gaul and Italy defil'd himself in all manner of Vice he put many to death with the accusation of forg'd crimes he abus'd many Noblewomen and was also mischievous to his fellow Students who had been somewhat smart upon him in their Schools for which being hated by all men he a little after was punish'd The Army returning home after the conquest of Persia when Carus and Numerianus their Emperors were killed one by a Thunder-bolt the other by treachery made Dioclesian Emperor born in Dalmatia of obscure Parents being generally reported to be the Son of a Scrivener but by some the Son of a Freeman to Anulinus a Senator he in the first Assembly of the Soldiers swore that he had no hand in killing Numerianus and when Aper who murder'd Numerianus stood next to him he run him through with his own hand in the sight of all the Army afterward he overcame Carinus in a great Battel at Murgum who liv'd hated and detested of all men he was deliver'd up by his own Army being stronger than the Enemy and deserted between the Mountain Viminatius and Aureus Thus Dioclesian obtain'd the Roman Empire and the Country people in Gaul making an Insurrection and calling their Rebellion by the name of the Bagaude under their Captains Amandus and Aelianus he sent Maximianus Herculius his Caesar to suppress them who in small Skirmishes overcame them and settled that part of Gaul Then also Carausius who born of a very mean Family had got great honor by his good service in the War when at Dononia all along the Coast of Belgick Gaul and Armorica he had undertook to secure the Seas which the Franks and the Saxons infested having often taken many Barbarians and not restoring the entire spoil neither to the Inhabitants of the Province nor presenting it to the Emperors when there began to be a suspicion that he had let in the Barbarians on purpose that he might meet them in their passage and so enrich himself with the spoils being commanded by Maximianus to be kill'd made himself Emperor and seiz'd upon on Britanny So when all over the world things were in confusion Carausius rebell'd in Britanny Achilleus in Aegypt the Quinquegentiani molested Africa Narseus made War in the East Diocletian advanc'd Maximianus Herculius from Caesar to Augustus and made Constantius and Maximianus Caesars of whom Constantius was Claudius's Grand-Son by his Daughter Maximianus Galerius was born in Dacia not far from Sardica and that he might also ally them by affinity Constantius married Theodora the Daughter-in-law of Herculius of whom he had six Children the Brothers of Constantine Galerius married Valeria the Daughter of Dioclesian both of them being forc'd to divorce their former Wives At last he made peace with Carausius when he had endeavoured a War in vain against him being very skilful in Military Discipline Allectus his Colleague kill'd him seven years after and kept Britanny three years after his death who also was kill'd by Asclepiodotus Captain of the Guards so Britanny in the tenth year was reduced to the the Roman Power About the same time a Battel was fought by Constantius in Gaul near the Lingones in one day he had experience of good and bad fortune for on a suddain the Barbarians rushing upon him he was forc'd to retreat into the City they were in such disorder that having shut up the Gates they drew him up the Walls by Ropes Within less than five hours after a fresh Army coming up he destroy'd almost sixty thousand Almans also Maximianus the Emperor finish'd the War in Africa having overcome the Quinquegentiani and forc'd them to make a Peace Dioclesian within the space of eight months overcame Achilleus besieg'd in Alexandria and kill'd him he exercis'd his Victory with cruelty and defil'd all Aegypt with severe proscriptions and slaughters but on that occasion he manag'd and did many things wisely which remain to this time Galerius Maximianus fought between Callinicum and Carrae at first unhappily but at last successfully yet rather through indiscretion than cowardise joyning Battel with a very few men against a very powerful Enemy wherefore being beat he went to Dioclesian who meeting him in the way was reported to have received him with such great pride that Galerius ran by his Litter some miles together afterwards having raised Forces in Illyricum and Maesia he fought again very successfully with equal conduct and valour in Armenia the Great against Narseus the Grand-father of Ormisda and Sapores having been himself a Scout with one or two Horsemen Narseus being overthrown he plunder'd his Camp took his Wives Sisters and Children a great many Persian Noblemen with a very rich Treasure and forc'd him to fly to the farthermost recesses of the Kingdom Wherefore upon his return this Conqueror was received with great honor by Dioclesian staying in Mesopotamia with a reserve Then they wag'd War sometimes together sometimes separate having overcome the Carpi the Basternae and the Sarmatians They plac'd a great many Captives of these Nations upon the Roman Frontiers Dioclesian was cunning witty and subtil so managing himself in his severity that other men might bear the hatred Nevertheless he was a very careful and prudent Prince and was the first that rather observ'd the form of Regal Customs than of Roman Liberty and when before his
as his Fortune For after the Civil War he often beat the Goths and at last having granted them peace he left even amongst those Barbarians a great remembrance of his favour He was addicted to civil Arts and generous Exercises an affector of true Friendship which he altogether sought to procure by his liberality and easiness as he was severe to some of his Friends so he was extraordinary kind to the rest letting no opportunity slip to make them rich and eminent He made a great many Laws some good and just very many superfluous and some severe He first attempted to advance the City Constantinople called after his own name to so great a pitch as to make it equal with Rome in his Design to make War against the Parthians who had harassed Mesopotamia he died in a publick Vill of the City Nicomedia in the one and thirtieth year of his Reign and the sixty sixth of his age His Death was foretold by a blazing Star called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which of an unusual bigness appeared for some time and he was deservedly made a God He left three of his own Sons and one of his Brothers to succeed him but Dalmatius Caesar a most hopeful Man not unlike his Uncle was slain a while after by a Military Faction with the consent rather than by the command of his Cousin Constantius Moreover Constans his Captains slew Constantine making War against his Brother and unadvisedly fighting at the City Aquileia Thus the Commonwealth was reduced to two Emperours Constans his Reign for some time was great and just afterwards through sickness and the persuasions of some of his worst Friends being grown vicious and intolerable to the Subjects of the Provinces and unacceptable to his Soldiers he was slain by the Faction of Maxentius not far from Spain in a Castle called Helena in the eighteenth year of his Reign and the thirteenth of his age He performed a great many valiant actions in War and was terrible to his Army all his life-time without much cruelty Constantius his fortune was various for he suffer'd very many injuries from the Persians who had oftentimes sacked his Towns besieged his Cities and beaten his Armies never had he any success in Battel against King Sapores unless at Singara where the eagerness of his Soldiers lost in probability a certain Victory who tumultuously and foolishly against the reason of War demanded to fight the day being far spent After the death of Constans Magnentius having got Italy Africa and Gaul there arose an insurrection in Illyricum Veteranio being made Emperour by the consent of the Soldiers and now a very old Man and beloved by all by reason of his long continuance and success in War was chosen Prince and Governour of Illyricum He was a virtuous Man observing the ancient Roman manners and of obliging civility but ignorant of all liberal Sciences so that he did not learn even the rudiments of Learning till he was old and made Emperour but Constantius who to revenge his Brothers Death had raised a Civil War put an end to the Reign of Veteranio who after a new and unusual manner by the agreement of the Soldiers was forced to lay down the Imperial Power There arose also a mutiny at Rome by the means of Nepotianus Constantine's Sisters Son who seizing upon the Empire with a party of Gladiators met with a Death worthy of his cruel beginnings being slain on the eight and twentieth day by Magnentius his Captains and his head carried all about the City upon a Javelin There were great Proscriptions and much slaughter of the Nobility at that time Not long after Magnentius was put to flight and very near taken in the Battel at Mursa the great strength of the Romans in that fight was much weaken'd even Soldiers that were fit to manage any forein Wars and might have procured security and many Triumphs to the Commonwealth Soon after Constantius sent Gallus his Uncles Son as Caesar to the East and Magnentius beaten in several Battels in the third year and the seventh month of his Reign killed himself at Lugdunum as his Brother Decentius whom he had sent with an Imperial Authority to govern Gaul did also among the Senones At this time Constantius also having committed a great many out-rages killed Gallus Caesar a man fierce by nature and prone to tyranny if he had been absolute Sylvanus also attempting an Insurrection in Gaul died before the thirtieth day then Constantius was the only Prince and Augustus of the Roman Empire Soon after he sent Julian Caesar to Gaul who was his Cousin and the Brother of Gallus having given him his Sister in marriage At that time the Barbarians sacked a great many Towns besieged others and had horribly wasted all places The Roman Empire by these misfortunes was in a tottering condition by whom with indifferent Forces the great Army of the Alamanni was suppressed at Argentoratum a City of Gaul their most considerable King was taken and Gaul was regained to the Empire This Julian afterwards performed a great many valiant actions against the Barbarians and drove the Germans beyond the River Rhine and restored the Roman Empire to its former Confines Not long after when the German Army was removed from their Garrison in Gaul Julian was chosen Emperor by the Soldiers and after a years space he marched to gain Illyricum whilst Constantius was busie in managing the Parthian Wars who died in his march between Cilicia and Cappadocia in the eight and thirtieth year of his Reign and the five and fortieth of his age and deserved to be numbred amongst the Gods he was a man of an exceeding calm temper easie and giving too much credit to his friends and familiars he was also too uxorious but in the first years of his Reign he behaved himself with great modesty he also enriched his friends nor did let any of them want honor whose industrious services he had made use of yet inclinable to seseverity if he grew jealous of any design upon his Empire but otherwise mild whose success was greater in the Civil than in Forein Wars After this Julian gained the Empire and with great preparation made War with the Parthiuns in which Expedition I my self was present he made some Towns and Castles of the Persians to surrender or else took them by force and having depopulated Assyria he encamp'd for some time at the Town Ctesiphon and returning Conqueror was slain by the Enemy whilst he too rashly pressed on in the Battel on the sixth of the Kalends of July in the seventh year of his Reign and the one and thirtieth of his age and was translated amongst the Gods an extraordinary man designing admirarably to govern the Commonwealth if he had lived he was very skilful in Liberal Sciences and much more learned in Greek than in Latin he was very eloquent and had a memory most ready and tenacious and in some things more resembling a Philosopher he