of mankind very eloquent warlike and temperate he pleaded Causes in Latin and made Greek Poems and Tragedies At the Siege of Jerusalem fighting under his Father he kill'd twelve men upon the Walls with twelve strokes of his Darts he was so civil in his government at Rome that none ever was punished he pardoned those to that degree convicted of Conspiracies against him that he treated them with the same freedom as before he was one of so great easiness and liberality that he could deny nothing to any man and when he was reprehended by his friends he answered that no man ought to depart with a sad countenance from the Emperor wherefore once at Supper remembring he had given nothing that day to any one he said O my friends I have lost this day he built the Amphitheater at Rome and kill'd five thonsand Wild Beasts at its dedication Hence being beloved with unusual kindness he died in the same house his Father did after he had reigned two years eight months and twenty days in the one and fortieth year of his age When he was dead the publick mourning was so great that all grieved as if they had been fatherless The Senate having heard of his death in the evening assembled with all hast in the Senate-House the same night and render'd him being dead so many thanks and praises as never to any Emperor in his presence or in his life time consecrating him amongst the Gods Then Domitian reigned his younger Brother more like Nero Caligula or Tiberius than his Father or Brother yet he governed soberly for his first years soon after falling into the great vices of Lust Anger Cruelty and Covetousness he made himself so hated that he abolished the merits of his Father and Brother he killed the noblest of the Senate and commanded himself to be stiled Lord and God he would suffer no Statue to be erected in the Capitol for him but of Silver and Gold he kill'd his Kinsmen and his pride was execrable he made four Expeditions one in Sarmatia another against the Catti and two against the Daci he triumphed twice over the Daci and the Catti and wore a Laurel for the Sarmatians he suffered many losses in these Wars for his Legions were kill'd in Sarmatia with their General and the Daci cut off Appius Sabinus a Consular man and C. Fuscus Captain of the Guards with their great Armies he built many places at Rome as the Capitol the Forum called Transitorium the Musick Room the Portico's of Isis and Serapis and the Stadium but when he began to be hated by all for his wickedness he was slain in the Palace by a conspiracy of his Servants in the five and fortieth year of his age and fifteenth of his Reign His Corps were carried out by the Bearers with great disgrace and buried scandalously The Eighth Book OF EVTROPIVS The Reign of Nerva Trajan Adrian Antoninus Pius Antoninus Philosophus Commodus Pertinax Julianus Severus Caracalla Madrinus Heliogabalus and Alexander Severus with the most considerable passages From V. C. 850 to 987. By Mr. Robert Ingram IN the eight hundred and fiftieth year from the building of Rome in the Consul ship of Vetus and Valens the Commonwealth was re-stated in a most prosperous condition by being happily committed to the government of good Emperors Nerva succeeded Domitian that cruel Tyrant a Man moderate in his private life valiant and of the middle rank of Nobility who when he was very old by the help of Petronius Secundus the Captain of the Guards and Parthenius who slew Domitian being made Emperour carry'd himself most justly and civily and consulted the good of the Commonwealth with a Divine foresight in adopting Trajan He died at Rome having reign'd sixteen months and eight days in the seventy first year of his age and was consecrated a God After him came Vlpius Trajanus Crinitus born at Italica a City of Spain of a Family more ancient than noble for his Father was the first Consul Trajan being made Emperour at Agrippina a City of Gaul govern'd the Commonwealth so well that he was deservedly profer'd before all other Princes he was of extraordinary civility and valour and extended the bounds of the Roman Empire both far and wide which after the time of Augustus was rather defended than honourably increas'd he repair'd many Cities in Germany on the other side of the Rhine and having overcome Decibalus conquer'd Dacia making that part a Province beyond the Danube which now belongs to the Taiphali Victophali and the Thervingi about one thousand miles in compass he also retook Armenia which the Parthians had seiz'd having kill'd Pharnaces the Syrian who govern'd it He gave a King to the Albani and took under his protection the Kings of the Iberi the Sauromatae the Bosphorani the Arabians the Osroeni and the Colchi and seiz'd upon the Adiabeni and Marchomedi with a great Country of Persia call'd Anthemisius he took the City Seleucia Ctesiphon Babylon and Edessa and conquer'd even unto India at last he came up to the Red Sea and there made three Provinces Armenia Assyria and Mesopotamia with the Nations bordering upon Macedena reducing Arabia to the same form of government he setled a Fleet in the Red Sea to wast the coasts of India Yet he surpass'd his Military Fame with civility and moderation equalizing himself to all at Rome and through the Provinces He oftentimes went to visit his Friends either when they were sick or upon festival Days and without any distinction kept mutual Feasts among them going abroad with them in their Litters he never injur'd any of the Senators nor did any unjust thing to encrease his Exchequer he was liberal to all Men and both publickly and privately enrich'd with Money and Honours even them with whom he was but indifferently acquainted he built many places all over the World and granted great priviledges to Cities he acted all things so peaceably and quietly that all the time he reign'd but one Senator was condemn'd and he by an Order of the Senate unknown to Trajan For this reason most resembling a God both alive and dead he deserv'd to be worship'd all over the World Among other sayings of his this is much esteem'd when his friends blam'd him that he was too kind to all Men he answered he did to them as he should wish Emperours to do to him if he himself was a Subject After he had obtain'd great honour both at home and abroad as he was returning from Persia he dy'd of the Flux at Seleucia a City of Isauria in the sixty second year ninth month and fourth day of his age and of his Reign the nineteenth year sixth month and fifteenth day he was made a God and of all other Emperours was buried within the City his bones were put in a golden Urn and placed under a Pillar in the Forum which he himself had made which Pillar was one hundred forty four feet high So great respect is paid to
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