sorts as Manicae Pedicae Nervi Boiae and the like The publick Prison in Rome was built by Ancus Martius hard by the Forum (a) Livy lib. 1. To which a new part was added by Servius Tullius called thence Tullianum Sallust describes the Tullianum as an Apartment under-ground (b) In Bello Catilinar into which they put the most notorious Criminals The higher part rais'd by Ancus Martius has commonly the Name of the Râ—bur from the Oaken Planks which compos'd it For the keeping of the Prison besides the Triumviri was appointed a sort of Gaoler whom Valerius Maximus calls Custos caceris (c) Lib. 5. and Pliny Commentariensis (d) Lib. 7. cap. 38. Verbera or Stripes were inflicted either with Rods Virgae or with Battoons Fustes The first commonly preceded capital Punishments properly so call'd The other was most in use in the Camp and belong'd to the Military Discipline Talio was a Punishment by which the guilty Person suffer'd exactly after the same manner as he had offended as in Cases of maiming and the like Yet Agellius informs us that the Criminal was allow'd the liberty of compounding with the Person he had injur'd so that he needed not suffer the Talio unless he voluntarily chose it (e) Vide Agell lib. 11. cap. 1. Ignominia was no more than a publick Shame which the offending Person underwent either by virtue of the Praetor's Edict or more commonly by Order of the Censor This Punishment besides the Scandal took away from the Party on whom 't was inflicted the Privilege of bearing any Office and almost all other Liberties of a Roman Citizen Exilium was not a Punishment immediately but by consequence for the Phrase us'd in the Sentence and Laws was Aquae ignis interdictio the forbidding the use of Water and Fire which being necessary for Life the condemn'd Person was oblig'd to leave his Country Yet in the times of the later Emperours we find it to have been a positive Punishment as appears from the Civil Law Relegatio may be reckon'd under this Head tho' it were something different from the former this being the sending a Criminal to such a Place or for such a Time or perhaps for ever by which the Party was not depriv'd of the Privilege of a Citizen of Rome as he was in the first sort of Banishment which they properly call'd Exilium Suetonius speaks of a new sort of Relegatio invented by the Emperour Claudius by which he order'd suspected Persons not to stir three Miles from the City (f) Suet. in Claud. cap. 23. Besides this Relegatio they had two other kinds of Banishment which they term'd Deportatio and Proscriptio tho' nothing is more common than to have them confounded in most Authors Deportatio or Transportation differ'd in these Respects from Relegatio that whereas the Relegati were condemn'd either to change their Country for a set time or for for ever and lost neither their Estate and Goods nor the Privilege of Citizens On the contrary the Deportati were banish'd always for ever and lost both their Estates and Privileges being counted dead in the Law (g) Calâ—â—n 〈◊〉 Jâ—râ—dâ—c in voc Depâ—rtati Relegaâ— As for the Proscripti they are defin'd by the Lawyers to be such Persons whose Names were fix'd up in Tablets at the Forum to the end that they might be brought to Justice a Reward being propos'd to those that took them and a Punishment to those that conceal'd them (h) Ibid in voce Proscripti Sylla was the first Inventor of this Practice and gave himself the greatest Example of it that we meet with proscribing 2000 Knights and Senators at once (i) Flâ—ruâ— lib. 3. â—ap â—1 'T is plain that this was not a positive Banishment but a forcing Persons to make use of that security so that we may fansy it of like nature with our Outlawry Servitus was a Punishment by which the Criminal's Person as well as Goods was publickly expos'd to sale by Auction This rarely happen'd to the Citizens but was an usual way of treating Captives taken in War and therefore will be describ'd hereafter Under the Head of Capital Punishments the Romans reckoned extream Bunishment because those who underwent that Sentence were in a civil Sence dead Mors. But because this Punishment has been already describ'd we are only now to take notice of such as reach'd the Offenders Life The chief of these were Percussio securi Strangulatio Praecipitatio de robore Dejectio è rupe Tarpeià in crucem actio and Projectio in profluentem The first was the same as beheading with us The second was perform'd in the Prison as it is now in Turkey The third and fourth were a throwing the Criminal headlong either from that part of the Prison call'd Robur or from the highest part of the Tarpeian Mountain The fifth Punishment namely Crucifixion was seldom inflicted on any but Slaves or the meanest of the Commons yet we find some Examples of a different Practice and Suetonius particularly relates of the Emperour Galba that having condemned a Roman Citizen to suffer this Punishment for poysoning his Ward the Gentleman as he was carrying to Execution made a grievous complaint that a Citizen of Rome should undergo such a servile Death alledging the Laws to the contrary The Emperour hearing his Plea promis'd to alleviate the shame of his Sentence and order'd a Cross much larger and more neat than ordinary to be erected and to be wash'd over with White Paint that the Gentleman who stood so much on his Quality might have the Honour to be hang'd in State (k) Sueton. in Galbâ cap 9. The Cross and the Furca are commonly taken for the same thing in Authors tho' properly speaking there was a great difference between them The Furca is divided by Lipsius into Ignominiosa and Poenalis The former Plutarch describes to be that piece of Wood which supports the Thill of a Waggon He adds that 't was one of the greatest Penances for a Servant who had offended to take this upon his Shoulders and carry it about the Neighbourhood for whoever was seen with this infamous Burden had no longer any Credit or Trust among those who knew it but was call'd Furciser by way of Ignominy and Reproach (l) Vide Plutarch in Coriolane Furca poenalis was a piece of Wood much of the same shape as the former which was fastned about the convicted Person 's Neck he being generally either scourg'd to death under it or lifted up by it upon the Cross Lipsius makes it the same with the Patibulum and fansies that for all the Name it might not be a forked piece of Timber but rather a straight Beam to which the Criminal's Arms being stretch'd out were tied and which being holsted up at the place of Execution serv'd for the transverse part of the Cross Projectio in profluentem was a Punishment proper to the Crime of Parricide
Complaint to Rome the Romans referring the Case to the Judgment of the Scycionians a Mulct of 500 Talents was impos'd on the Athenian State Upon this Account it was resolv'd that Commissioners should be sent to the Roman Senate to procure a Mitigation of the Fine The Persons pitch'd on for this Service were Carneades the Academick Diogenes the Stoick and Critolaus the Peripatetick About the time of their coming Authours are very little agreed but Petavius and Casaubon fix it in the Six Hundred and Third Year after the building of Rome Most of the Studious Youths immediately waited on the old Gentlemen at their Arrival and heard them discourse frequently with Admiration It happen'd too that they had each of them a different way in their Harangues for the Eloquence of Carneades was Violent and Rapid Critolaus's Neat and Smooth that of Diogenes Modest and Sober Carneades one Day held a full and accurate Dispute concerning Justice the next Day he refuted all that he had said before by a Train of contrary Arguments and quite took away the Virtue that he had so much commended This he did to shew his Faculty of confuting all manner of Positive Assertions for he was the Founder of the Second Academy a Sect that denied any thing to be perceiv'd or understood in the World and so introduced an universal Suspension of assent It soon flew about the City that a certain Graecian by whom they meant Carneades carrying all before him had impress'd so strange a Love upon the young Men that quitting all their Pleasures and Pastimes they run mad as it were after Philosophy This to the generality of â—â—â—ple was a very pleasant Sight and they Rejoyced extreamly to find their Sons wellcome the Graecian Literature in so hearty a Manner But old Cato the Censor took it in great Dudgeon fearing least the Youth being diverted by such Entertainments shou'd preferr the Glory of speaking to thâ—â— of acting So that the Fame of the Philosopherâ— increasing every Day he resolv'd to send them packing as sâ—â—n as possible With this Design coming into the Senate he accuâ—â—d the Magistrates for not giving the Ambassadors a speedier Dispatch they being Persons who cou'd easily persuade the People to what ever they pleas'd He advis'd therefore that in all hast something shou'd be concluded on that being sent home to their own Schools they might Declaim to the Graecian Children and the Roman Youth might be obedient to their own Laws and Governours as formerly The same grave Disciplinarian to fright his Son from any thing of the Graecians us'd to pronounce like the Voice of an Oracle in a harsher and louder Tone than ordinary That the Romans wou'd certainly be destroy'd when they began once to be infected with Greek But 't is very likely that he afterwards alter'd his Mind since his learning Greek in his old Age is a known Story and depends on good Authority (k) Cicero Academ 1. De Senect Quinctilian Inst lib. 12 cap. 11. The Lord Bacon says 'T was a Judgment on him for his Former Blasphemy (l) Advancement of Learning Book 1. The Ambassadors upon the Motion of Cato had a quick Dismission but left so happy an Inclination in the young Gentlemen to Philosophy and good Letters that they grew every Day more enamour'd of Study and show'd as much Diligence in their Pursuits of Knowledge as they had ever done in their Applications to War In the Year of the City 608 or 609 Greece which had hitherto retain'd some Shadow of Liberty tho' it had been along while at the Roman Command was upon some slight Occasion entered with an Army under L. Mummius and reduced to the common State of the other conquer'd Nations This Exploit happening in the very same Year that Carthage was destroy'd by P. Scipio Aemylianus it will be very pleasant to observe the different Genius of the Two Commanders who had the Honour of these Atchievements and to see how Politeness and the ancient Simplicity were now in a Strife at Rome Mummius was so far unskill'd in the curious Inventions of Art that after the taking of Corinth when a great Number of admirable Pictures and Statues by the best Masters came into his Hands he told the Servants that were to carry them into Italy If they lost any by the Way they shou'd certainly find him new ones in their room (m) Velâ— Patâ—râ— lib. 1. cap. 13. Scipio on the other Hand to the Courage and Virtue of ancient Heroes had join'd a profound Knowledge of the Sciences with all the Graces and Ornaments of Wit His Patronage was courted by every one that made any Figure in Learning Panaetius whom Tully calls the Prince of the Stoicks and the incomparable Historian Polybius were his Bosom-Friends the assisters of his Studies at home and the constant Companions of his Expeditions (n) Ibid. To which may be added the Remark of a very great Man that he pass'd the soft Hours of his Life in the Conversation of Terence and was thought to have a Part in the Composition of his Comedies (o) Sir Will. Temple's Miscell P. 2. Essay 4. The highest pitch of the Roman Grandeur in the Time of the Common-Wealth is thought to have been concluded before the final Reduction of Carthage and of Greece (p) Vid Câ—saubon Chronolog ad Polyb. and the common Reason assign'd for its decay is that Athens being now become the Mart of the World for Wit and Breeding imported the Arts of Debauchery among her more Noble Productions to Rome and maintain'd their Luxury as well as their Studies and Conversation at her Charge But however their ancient Prowess might decline it 's certain the Conquest of the great Empire of Science was now carried on more vigorously than ever The Tide of Learning and Humanity run every day with greater Force and after the Famous Cato scarce met with any to oppose it Between this Period and the Death of Sylla scarce Seventy Years the Most Renown'd Orators Crassus and Antony rul'd the Forum who were Succeeded by Sulpicius Cotta Hortensius and other great Names recorded by Tully in his Brutus At the same time the Two Scaevola's the Augur and the Pontiff advanc'd Civil-Law to its full Perfection And Lucretius who wrote about the Time of the Jugurthine War as he excell'd even the Graecian Disciples of Epicurus in explaining and defending his Doctrine so he directs us where to begin in fixing the Height and Purity of the Roman Poesy and Style (q) Sir Will. Temple Miscell P. 2. Essay 1. Philosophers were now in universal Honour and Request being invited from all Parts for the Education and Instruction of young Noblemen and for Advice and Assistance of the greatest Ministers of State And what is most surprizing Arts and Civility were rather encourag'd than frighted away by the Wars and the Muses like their Patroness Minerva had very often their residence in the Camp Sylla himself wrote Two and Twenty Books of
Managers of the Discourse in Tully's first Book de Oratore are represented as very opposiâ—â— in their Judgments concerning the necessary Improvements of an accomplish'd Orator The former denies any Person the Honour of this Name who does not possess in some Degree all the Qualities both native and acquir'd that enter into the Composition of a general Scholar The Force of his Argument lies in this That an Orator ought to be able to deliver himself copiously on all manner of Subjects And he does not see how any one can answer this Character without some Excellency in all the Mysteries of Arts and Learning as well as in the happy Endowments of Nature Yet he wou'd not have these Acquisitions set so loose about him as to be laid open to the Bottom on every Occasion but that as a great Man expresseth it they shou'd rather be ennamel'd in his Mind than emboss'd upon it That as the Criticks in Gates and Gestures will easily discover by the Comportment of a Man's Body whether he has learnt to Dance tho' he does not practise his Art in his ordinary Motion So an Orator when he delivers himself on any Subject will easily make it appear whether he has a full Understanding of the particular Art or Faculty on which the Cause depends tho' he does not discourse of it in the Manner of a Philosopher or a Mechanick Antonius on the other Hand reflecting on the shortness of Humane Life and how great a part of it is commonly taken up in the attainment of but a few Parts of Knowledge is inclin'd to believe that Oratory does not require the necessary Attendance of its Sister Arts. But that a Man may be able to prosecute a Theme of any Kind without a Train of Sciences and the Advantages of a learned Institution That as few Persons are to seek in the cultivating of their Land or the contrivance and elegance of their Gardens tho' they never read Cato de Re Rusticâ or Mago the Carthaginian So an Orator may harangue with a great deal of Reason and Truth on a Subject taken from any part of Knowledge without any farther Acquaintance with the nicer Speculations than his common Sense and Understanding improv'd by Experience and Conversation shall lead him For who ever says he when he comes to move the Affections of the Judges or People stops at this that he hath not Philosophy enough to dive into the First Springs of the Passions and to discover their various Natures and Operations Besides at this Rate we must quite lay aside the Way of raising Pity in the Audience by representing the misery of a distress'd Party or describing perhaps the Slavery which he endures when Philosophy tells us that a good Man can never be miserable and that Virtue is is always absolutely free Now as Cicero without doubt sat himself for the Picture which in Crassu his Name he there draws of an Orator and therefore strengthens his Argument by his own Example as well as his Judgment so Antonius in the next Dialogue does not stick to own that his former Assertion was rather taken up for the Sake of disputing and of encountering his Rival than to deliver the just Sentiments of his Mind And therefore the gentile Education in the Politer Ages of Rome being wholly directed to the Bar it seems probable that no part of useful Knowledge was omitted for the improving and adorning of the main Study and that all the other Arts were courted tho' not with an equal Passion And upon the whole it appears that a strange Assiduity and unwearied Application were the very Life and Soul of their Designs When their Historians deseribe an extraordinary Man this always enters into his Character as an essential Part of it that he was incredibili industriâ diligentia singulari of incredible Industry of singular Diligence (h) Arch-Bishop Tâ—ias Seur of Eduâ— And Caâ—o in Salust tells the Senate that 't was not the Arms so much as the Industry of their Ancestors which Advanc'd the Grandeur of Rome So that the Founders and Regulators of this State in making Diligence and Labour necessary Qualifications of a Citizen took the same Course as the Poets will have Jupiter to have thought on when he succeeded to the Government over the Primitive Mortals Pater ipse colondi â—Iaud sacilem esse viam voluit primusque per artem Movit agros curis acuens mortalia corda Neo torpere gravi passus sua regna veterno (i) Virg. Georg. 1. To confirm the Opinion of their extream Industry and perpetual Study and Labour it may not seem impertinent to instance in the Three common Exercises of Translating Declaiming and Reciting Translation the ancient Orators of Rome look'd on as a most useful tho' a most laborious Employment All Persons that applied themselves to the Bar propos'd commonly some one Orator of Greece for their constant Patern either Lysias Hyperides Demosthenes or AEschines as their Genius was inclin'd Him they continually studied and to render themselves absolutely Masters of his Excellencies were always making him speak their own Tongue This Cicero Quinctilian and Pliny Junior enjoin as an indispensible Duty in order to the acquiring any Talent in Eloquence And the first of these great Men besides his many Versions of the Orators for his private use oblig'd the Publick with the Translation of several Parts of Plato and Zenophon in Prose and Homer and Aratas in Verse As to Declaiming this was not only the main Thing at which they labour'd under the Masters of Rhetorick but what they practis'd long after they undertook real Causes and had gain'd a considerable Name in the Forum Suetonius in his Book of famous Rhetoricians tells us that Cicero declaim'd in Greek 'till he was elected Praetor and in Latin 'till near the time of his Death That Pompey the Great just at the breaking out of the Civil War resum'd his old Exercise of declaiming that he might the more easily be able to deal with Curio who undertook the Defence of Caesar's Cause in his Publick Harangues That Marc Antony and Augustus did not lay aside this Custom even when they were engag'd in the Seige of Mutina And that Nero was not only constant at his Declamations while in a private Station but for the first Year after his Advancement to the Empire It is worth remarking that the Subject of these old Declamations was not a meer fanciful Thesis but a Case which might probably be brought into the Courts of Judicature The contrary Practice which crept into some Schools after the Augustan Age to the great debasing of Eloquence is what Petronius inveighs so severely against in the beginning of his Satyricon in a Strain so Elegant that it wou'd lose a great Part of the Grace and Spirit in any Translation When I speak of Recitation I intend not to insist on the Publick Performances of the Poets in that kind for which purpose they commonly borrow'd the House
the Command of the Continent could not satisfie the Roman Courage especially while they saw so delicious an Isle as Sicily almost within their reach They only waited an occasion to pass the Sea when Fortune presented as fair an one as they could wish The Inhabitants of Messina a Sicilian City made grievous Complaints to the Senate of the daily Encroachments of the Carthaginians a People of vast Wealth and Power and that had the same Design on Sicily as the Romans (a) Florus lib. 2. cap. 2. A Fleet was soon Mann'd out to their Assistance and in two Years time no less than Fifty Cities were brought over (b) Eutrop. lib. 2. The entire Conquest of the Island quickly follow'd and Sardinia and Corfica were taken in about the same time by a separate Squadron And now under the Command of Regulus and Manlius the Consuls the War was translated into Africa Three hundred Forts and Castles were destroy'd in their March and the victorious Legions encamp'd under the very Walls of Carthage The Enemy reduc'd to such straits were oblig'd to apply themselves to Xantippus King of the Lacedaemonians the greatest Captain of the Age who immediately march'd to their Assistance with a numerous and well-disciplin'd Army In the very first Engagement with the Romans he entirely defeated their whole Power Thirty thousand were kill'd on the spot and Fifteen thousand with the Consul Regulus taken Prisoners But as good Success always encourag'd the Romans to greater Designs so a contrary Event did but exasperate them the more The new Consuls were immediately dispatch'd with a powerful Navy and a sufficient number of Land-Forces Several Campaignes were now wasted without any considerable Advantage on either side Or if the Romans gain'd any thing by their Victories they generally lost as much by Shipwracks when at last the whole Power of both States being drawn together on the Sea the Carthaginians were finally defeated with the loss of 125 Ships sunk in the Engagement 73 taken 32000 Men kill'd and 13000 Prisoners Upon this they were compell'd to sue for a Peace which after much entreaty and upon very hard Conditions was at last obtain'd (c) Eutrop. lib. 2. But the Carthaginians had too great Spirits to submit to such terrible Terms any longer than their Necessities oblig'd them In four Years time (d) Florus lib. 2. c. 6. they had got together an Army of 150000 Foot and 20000 Horse (e) Eutrop. lib. 3. under the Command of the famous Hannibal who forcing a Way through the Pyrenâ—ean Mountain and the Alpes reputed 'till that time impassable descended with his vast Army into Italy In Four successive Battels he defeated the Roman Forces in the last of which at Cannae 40000 of the latter were kill'd (f) Ibid. And had he not been meerly cast away by the Envy and Ill-will of his own Country-men 't is more than probable that he must have entirely ruin'd the Roman State (g) Cornelius Nepos in vit Hannibal But Supplies of Men and Money being sometimes absolutely deny'd him and never coming but very slowly the Romans had such Opportunities to recruit as they little expected from so experienc'd an Adversary The wise Management of Fabius Maximus was the first Revival of the Roman Cause He knew very well the Strength of the Enemy and therefore march'd against him without intending to hazard a Battel but to wait constantly upon him to straiten his Quarters intercept his Provisions and so make the victorious Army pine away with Penury and Want With this Design he always encamp'd upon the high Hills where the Horse could have no access to him When they march'd he did the same but at such a distance as not to be compell'd to an Engagement By this Policy he so broke Hannibal's Army as to make him absolutely despair of getting any thing in Italy (h) Flutarch in vit Fab. Max. But the conclusion of the War was owing to the Conduct of Scipio He had before reduc'd all Spain into Subjection and now taking the same course as Hannibal at first had done he march'd with the greatest part of the Roman Forces into Africa and carrying all before him to the very Walls of Carthage oblig'd the Enemy to call home their General out of Italy for the Defence of the City Hannibal obey'd and both Armies coming to an Engagement after a long Dispute wherein the Commanders and Soldiers of both Sides are reported to have out-done Themselves the Victory fell to the Romans Whereupon the Enemy were oblig'd once more to suâ—â— for a Peace which was again granted them tho' upon much harder Conditions than before The Romans by the happy conclusion of this War had so highly advanc'd themselves in the Opinion of the Neighbouring States that the Athenians with the greatest part of Greece being at this time miserably enslav'd by King Philip of Macedon unanimously petition'd the Senate for Assistance A Fleet with a sufficient number of Land-Forces was presently dispatch'd to their Relief by whose Valour the Tyrant after several Defeats was compell'd to restore all Greece to their ancient Liberties obliging himself to pay an annual Tribute to the Conquerours (i) Eutrop. lib. 4. Hannibal after his late Defeat had apply'd himself to Antiochus King of Syria who at this time was making great Preparations against the Romans Acilius Glabrio was first sent to oppose him and had the Fortune to give him several Defeats when Cornelius Scipio the Roman Admiral engaging with the King's Forces at Sea under the Command of Hannibal entirely ruin'd the whole Fleet. Which Victory being immediately follow'd by another as signal at Land the effeminate Prince was contented to purchase a Peace at the price of almost half his Kingdom (k) Florus lib. 2 cap. 8. The victorious Romans had scarce concluded the Publick Rejoicings on account of the late Success when the death of King Philip of Macedon presented them with an occasion of a more glorious Triumph His Son Perseus that succeeded resolving to break with the Senate apply'd himself wholly to raising Forces and procuring other Necessaries for a War Never were greater Appearances in the Field than on both sides most of the considerable Princes in the World being engag'd in the Quarrel But Fortune still declar'd for the Romans and the greatest part of Perseus's prodigious Army was cut off by the Consul Aemylius and the King oblig'd to surrender himself into the hands of the Conquerour (l) Vell. Paterc lib. 1. Authors that write of the Four Monarchies here fix the end of the Macedonian Empire But Rome could not think her self secure among all these Conquests while her old Rival Carthage was yet standing So that upon a slight Provocation the City after three Years Siege was taken and utterly rased by the Valour of Publius Scipio Grand-son by Adoption to him that conquer'd Hannibal (m) Ibid. Not long after Attalus King of Pergamus dying without Issue left his vast Territories
they were at last constrain'd to confirm the Election of the Soldiers especially since they had pitch'd upon such an easie Prince as would be wholly at their command and disposal (e) Aurelius Victer de Casâ—ribus in Caligula The Conquest of Britain was the most memorable in his time owing partly to an Expedition that he made in Person but chiefly to the Valour of his Lieutenants Ostorius Scapula Aulus Plautius and Veâ—pasâ—an The bounds of the Empire were in his Reign as followeth Mesopotamia in the East Rhine and Damebe in the North Mauritania in the South and Britain in the West (f) Aurelius Victer de â—â—saribâ—s in Claud. The Roman Arms cannot be suppos'd to have made any considerable Progress under Nero especially when Suctonius tells us he neither hoped nor desir'd the Enlargement of the Empire (g) Sucton in Nerone cap. 18. However Two Countries were in his time reduc'd into Roman Provinces the Kingdom of Pontus and the Cottian Alpes or that part of the Mountains which divides Dauphine and Piedmont Brâ—tain and Aâ—menia were once both lost (h) Idem cap. 40. and not without great difficulty recover'd And indeed his averseness to the Camp made him far more odious to the Soldiers than all his other Vices to the People So that when the Citizens had the Patience to endure him for Fourteen Years the Army under Galba his Lieutenant in Spain were constrain'd to undertake his removal Galba is acknowledg'd on all hands for the great Reformer of Martial Discipline and tho' before his Accession to the Empire he had been famous for his Exploits in Germany and other Parts (i) Sucton in Galb cap. 8. yet the shortness of his Reign hindred him from making any advancements afterwards His Age and Severity were the only causes of his Ruin The first of which rendred him contemptible and the other odious And the Remedy he us'd to appease the Dissatisfactions did but ripen them for Revenge For immediately upon his adopting Piso by which he hop'd to have pacisied the People Otho who had ever expected that Honour and was now enrag'd at his Disappointment (k) Idem cap. 17. upon Application made to the Soldiers easily procur'd the Murder of the old Prince and his adopted Son and by that means was himself advanc'd to the Imperial Dignity About the same time the German Army under Vitellius having an equal Aversion to the old Emperour with those at Rome had sworn Allegiance to their own Commander Otho upon the first notice of their Designs had sent to proffer Vitellius an equal share in the Government with himself (l) Suet. in Othon cap. 8. But all Proposals for an Accommodation being refus'd and himself compell'd as it were to march against the Forces that were sent toward Italy he had the good Fortune to defear them in Three small Engagements But having been worsted in a greater Fight at Bebriacum tho' he had still sufficient strength for carrying on the War and expected daily a Reinforcement from several Parts (m) Ibid. cap. 9. yet he could not by all the Arguments in the World be prevail'd with to hazard another Battle but to end the Contention kill'd himself with his own Hands On this account Historians tho' they represent his Life as the most exact Picture of unmanly Softness yet they generally confess his Death equal to the noblest of Antiquity and the same Author (n) Martial that hath given him the lasting Title of Mollis Otho hath yet set him in Competition with the famous Cato in reference to the last Action of his Life It hath been observ'd of Vitellius that he obtain'd the Empire by the sole Valour of his Lieutenants and lost it purely on his own account His extream Luxury and Cruelty were for this Reason the more detestable because he had been advanc'd to that Dignity under the notion of the Patron of his Country and the Restorer of the Rights and Liberties of the People Within eight Months time the Provincial Armies had unanimously agreed on Vespasian (o) Sueton. in Vitel. cap. 15. for their Emperour and the Tyrant after he had been strangely mangled by the extream Fury of the Soldiers and Rabble was at last dragg'd into the River Tiber (p) Id. ibid. cap. 17. The Republick was so far from making any advancement under the disturbances of the Three last Reigns that she must necessarily have felt the fatal Consequences of them had she not been seasonably reliev'd by the happy management of Vespasian 'T was an handsom turn of some of his Friends when by order of Caligula his Bosom had by way of Punishment been stuff'd with Dirt to put this Interpretation on the Accident that the Commonwealth being miserably abus'd and even trodden under Foot should hereafter fly to his Bosom for Protection (q) Sueton. in Vespas cap. 5. And indeed he seems to have made it his whole Care and Design to reform the Abuses of the City and State occasion'd by the licentiousness of the late times Nine Provinces he added to the Empire (r) Eutrop. lib. 7. and was so very exact in all circumstances of his Life and Conduct that one who hath examin'd them both with all the niceness imaginable can find nothing in either that deserves reprehension except an immoderate desire of Riches (Å¿) Id. ibid. cap. 16. And he covertly excuseth him for this by extolling at the same time hâ—s extraordinary Magnificence and Liberality (t) Id. ibid. cap. 17 18. But perhaps he did not more oblige the World by his own Reign than by leaving so admirable a Successor as his Son Titus the only Prince in the World that hath the Character of never doing an ill Action He had given sufficient proof of his Courage in the famous Siege of Jerusalem and might have met with as good Success in other parts had he not been prevented by an untimely death to the universal grief of Mankind But then Domitian so far degenerated from the Two excellent Examples of his Father and Brother as to seem more emulous of copying Nero or Caligula However as to Martial Affairs he was as happy as most of his Predecessors having in Four Expeditions subdued the Catti Daci and the Sarmatians and extinguish'd a Civil War in the first beginning (u) Sucton in Demit cap. 6. By this means he had so entirely gain'd the Affections of the Soldiers that when we meet with his nearest Relations and even his very Wife engag'd in his Murder (w) Id. ibid. cap. 14. yet we find the Army so extremely dissatisfied as to have wanted only a Leader to revenge his Death (x) Id. ibid. cap. 23. CHAP. VI. Of the Roman Affairs from Domitian to the end of Constantine the Great THE Two following Emperours have been deservedly stiled The Restorers of the Roman Grandeur which by reason of the Viciousness or Negligence of the former Princes had been extremely impair'd Nerva
Anreliâ—â—â— But his noblest Exploit was the conquering the famous Zenobia Queen of the East as she styl'd herself and the taking her capital City Palmyra At his return to Rome there was scarce any Nation in the World out of which he had not a sufficient number of Captives to grace his Triumph The most considerable were the Indians Arabians Goths Franks Suevians Saracens Vandals and Germans (u) Ibid. Tacitus was contented to shew his Moderation and Justice in the quiet Management of the Empire without any hostile Design Or had he express'd any such Inclinations his short Reign must necessarily have hindred their effect Probus to the wise Government of his Predecessor added the Valour and Conduct of a good Commander 'T was he that oblig'd the barbarous Nations to quit all their footing in Gaul Illyricum and several Provinces of the Empire insomuch that the very Parthians sent him flattering Letters confessing the dismal Apprehensions they entertain'd of his Designs against their Country and beseeching him to favour them with a Peace (w) Eâ—avius Vopise in Probo There was scarce any Enemy left to his Successor Carus except the Persians against whom he accordingly undertook an Expedition But after two or three successful Engagements died with the Stroak of a Thunderbolt (x) Idem in Caro. His two Sons Carinus and Numerian were of so opposite a Genius that one is generally represented as the worst the other as the best of Men. Numerian was soon treacherously murder'd by Aper who together with the other Emperour Carinus in a very little time gave way to the happy Fortune of Dioclesian the most successful of the latter Emperours so famous for his prodigious Exploits in Egypt Persia and Armenia that a Roman Author (y) Pomponius Latus in vitâ ejus hath not stuck to compare him with Jupiter as he does his Son Maximian with Hercules Constantius Clorus and Galerius were happier than most of their Predecessors by dying as they had for the most part liv'd in Peace Nor are Severus and Maximinian on any account very remarkable except for leaving so admirable a Successor as the famous CONSTANTINE who ridding himself of his Two Competitors Licinius and Maxentius advanc'd the Empire to its ancient Grandeur His happy Wars and wise Administration in Peace have gain'd him the Surname of The GREAT an Honour unknown to former Emperours Yet in this respect he is justly reputed unfortunate That by removing the Imperial Seat from Rome to Constantinople he gave occasion to the utter Ruine of Italy CHAP. VII Of the Roman Affairs from Constantine the Great to the taking of Rome by Odoacer and the Ruine of the Western Empire THO' the Three Sons of Constantine at first divided the Empire into Three distinct Principalities yet it was afterwards reunited under the longest Survivor Constantius The Wars between him and Magnentius as they prov'd fatal to the Tyrant so were they extreamly prejudicial to the whole State which aâ— this time was involv'd in such unhappy Difficulties as to be very unable to bear so excessive a Loss of Men no less than 54000 being kill'd on both sides (a) Pompon Laetus And perhaps this was the chief reason of the ill success which constantly attended that Emperour in the Eastern Wars For the Persians were all along his Superiours and when at last a Peace was concluded the Advantage of the Conditions laid on their side Julian as he took effectual care for the security of the other Bounds of the Empire so his Designs against the most formidable Enemies the Persians had all appearance of Success but that he lost his Life before they could be fully put in execution Jovian was no sooner elected Emperour but being under some apprehension of a Rival in the West he immediately struck up a most dishonourable Peace with the Persians at the Price of the famous City Nisibis and all Mesopotamia For which base Action as he does not fail of an Invective from every Historian so particularly Ammianus Marcellinus (b) Lib. 25. and Zozimus have taken the pains to shew that he was the first Roman Governour who resign'd up the least part of their Dominions upon any account Valentinian the First hath generally the Character of an excellent Prince But he seems to have been more studious of obliging his Subjects by an easie and quiet Government than desirous of acting any thing against the encroaching Enemies Gratian too tho' a Prince of great Courage and Experience in War was able to do no more than to settle the single Province of Gaul But he is extreamly applauded by Historians for taking such extraordinary care in the business of a Successor For being very sensible how every Day produc'd worse Effects in the Empire and that the State if not at the last Gasp yet was very nigh beyond all hopes of recovery he made it his whole study to sind out a Person that should in all Respects be capacitated for the noble Work of the Deliverance of his Country The Man he pitch'd upon was Theodosius a Native of Spain who being now invested with the Command of the East upon the death of Gratian remain'd sole Emperour And indeed in a great measure he answer'd the Expectation of the World proving the most resolute Defender of the Empire in its declining Age. But for his Collegue Valentinian the Second he was cut off without having done any thing that deserves our Notice Under Honorius things return'd to their former desperate state the barbarous Nations getting ground on all sides and making every day some diminution in the Empire 'till at last Alaric King of the Goths wasting all Italy proceeded to Rome it self and being contented to set a few Buildings on fire and rifle the Treasuries retir'd with his Army (c) Paul Diacon Pompon Lat. So that this is rather a Disgrace than a Destruction of the City And Nero is suppos'd to have done more Mischief when he set it on fire in jest than it now suffer'd from the barbarous Conquerour Valentinian the Third at his first Accession to the Empire gave great hopes of his proving the Author of a happy Revolution (d) Pompon Lat. and he was very fortunate in the War against the famous Attila the Hun But his Imprudence in putting to death his best Commander Aetius hastned very much the ruine of the Roman Cause the barbarous Nations now carrying all before them without any considerable opposition By this time the State was given over as desperate and what Princes follow'd 'till the taking of the City by Odoacer were only a company of miserable short-liv'd Tyrants remarkable for nothing but the Meanness of their Extraction and the Poorness of their Government so that Historians generally pass them over in silence or at most with the bare mention of their Names The best account of them we can meet with is as follows Maximus who in order to his own Promotion had procur'd the Murder oâ—
and crimen ambitûs the next in the crimen Majestatis and the last in cases of Murder Cicero has given us an excellent Example in every kind Of the first in his Orations for Fonteius Flaccus Muraena and Plancius Of the second in that for Cornelius and of the third in his admirable defence of Milo Laudatio was a custom like that in our Tryals of bringing in Persons of credit to give their Testimony of the accus'd Person 's good Behaviour and integrity of Life The least number of these Laudatores us'd to be Ten. In the latio sententiae or pronouncing Sentence they proceeded thus After the Orators on both sides had said all they design'd the Cryer gave notice of it accordingly and then the Praetor sent out the Jury to consult mittebat judices in consilium delivering to every one Three Tablets cover'd with Wax one of Absolution another of Condemnation and a third of Ampliation or Adjournment of the Tryal the first being mark'd with A the second with C the other with N L. or non liquet In the place where the Jury withdrew was set a proper number of Urns or Boxes into which they threw what Tablet they pleas'd the accus'd Person prostrating himself all this while at their Feet to move their Compassion The Tablets being drawn and the greatest number known the Praetor pronounc'd Sentence accordingly The Form of Condemnation was usually videntur fecisse or non jure videtur fecisse Of Absolution non videtur fecisse Of Ampliation amplius cognoscendum Sometimes he mention'd the Punishment and sometimes left it out as being determin'd by the Law on which the Indictment was grounded The consequences of the Tryal in criminal Matters may be reduc'd to these four Heads Aestimatio litis Animadversio Judicium calumniae and Judicium praevaricationis Aestimatio litis or the rating of the Damages was in use only in Cases of Bribery and abuse of the publick Money Animadversio was no more than the putting the Sentence in execution which was left to the care of the Praetor But in case the Party was absolv'd there lay two Actions against the Accuser one of Calumny the common Punishment of which was frontis inustio burning in the Forehead And the other of Prevarication when the Accuser instead of urging the Crime home seem'd rather to hide or extenuate the Guilt Hence the Civilians define a Prevaricator to be one that betrays his Cause to the Adversary and turns on the Criminal's side whâ—n be ought to prosecute CHAP. XIX Judgments of the whole People THE People were sometimes the Judges both in private and publick Causes tho' of the first we have only one Example in Livy (a) Lib. 3. the other we frequently meet with in Authors These Judgments were made first at the Comitia Curiata and afterwards at the Centuriata and Tributa the Proceedings in all which Assemblies have been already shewn What we may further observe is this When any Magistrate design'd to impeach a Person of a Crime before the whole People he ascended the Rostra and calling the People together by a Cryer signified to them That upon such a Day he intended to accuse such a Person of such a Crime This they term'd reo diem dicere The suspected Party was oblig'd immediately to give Sureties for his Appearance on the Day prefix'd and in default of Bail was commanded to Prison On the appointed Day the Magistrate again ascended the Rostra and cited the Party by the Cryer who unless some other Magistrate of equal Authority interpos'd or a sufficient Excuse was offer'd was oblig'd to appear or might be punish'd at the Pleasure of the Magistrate who accus'd him If he appear'd the Accuser began his Charge and carried it on every other Day for six Days together at the end of the Indictment mentioning the particular Punishment specified in the Law for such an Offence This intimation they term'd anquisitio The same was immediately after express'd in Writing and then took the Name of Rogatio in respect of the People who were to be ask'd or consulted about it and Irrogatio in respect of the Criminal as it imported the Mulct or Punishment assign'd him by the Accuser This Rogatio was publickly expos'd three Nundinae or Market-days together for the information of the People On the third Market-day the Accuser again ascended the Rostra and the People being call'd together undertook the fourth turn of his Charge and having concluded gave the other Party leave to enter upon his Defence either in his own Person or by his Advocates At the same time as the Accuser finish'd his fourth Charge he gave notice what Day he 'd have the Comitia meet to receive the Bill the Comitia Tributa to consider of Mulcts and the Centuriata for Capital Punishments But in the mean time there were several ways by which the accus'd Party might be reliev'd as first if the Tribunes of the Commons interpos'd in his behalf or if he excus'd himself by voluntary Exile Sickness or upon account of providing for a Funeral or if he prevail'd with the Accuser to relinquish his Charge and let the Cause fall or if upon the Day appointed for the Comitia the Augurs discover'd any ill Omens and so forbad the Assembly If none of these happen'd the Comitia met and proceeded as has been already describ'd and as for the Animadversio or putting the Sentence in execution this was perform'd in the same manner as in the Praetorian Judgments The Forms of Judgments which have been thus describ'd must be suppos'd to have prevail'd chiefly in the time of the free State For as the Kings before so the Emperours afterwards were themselves Judges in what Causes and after what manner they pleas'd as Suetonius particularly informs us of almost all the Twelve Caesars 'T was this gave occasion to the rise of the Mandatores and Delatores a sort of Wretches to be met with in every part of History The business of the former was to mark down such Persons as upon Inquisition they pretended to have found guilty of any Misdemeanour and the latter were employ'd in accusing and prosecuting them upon the other's Order This mischievous Tribe as they were countenanc'd and rewarded by ill Princes so were they extremely detested by the good Emperours Titus prosecuted all that could be found upon the most diligent search with Death or perpetual Banishment (b) Sueton. in Tit. cap. 8. And Pliny reckons it among the greatest Praises of Trajan that he had clear'd the City from the perjur'd Race of Informers (c) Plin. in Panegyric CHAP. XX. Of the Roman Punishments THE accurate Sigonius has divided the Punishments into eight sorts Damnum Vincula Verbera Talio Ignominia Exilium Servitus Mors. Damnum was a pecuniary Mulct or Fine set upon the Offender according to the quality of the Crime Vincula signifies the guilty Person 's being condemn'd to Imprisonment and Fetters of which they had many
together with Bithynia which was under the command of Glabrio And that he should forthwith make War upon Mithridates retaining still the same Naval Forces and the Sovereignty of the Seas as before (g) Cicero de Lege Maniliâ Plutarch in Pomp. Eâ—rus Epitom 100. CHAP. XXXIII De Tutelis or Laws concerning Wardships ATILIA Lex the Author and time unknown prescribing that the Praetor and the major part of the Tribunes should appoint Guardians to all such Minors to whom none had been otherwise assign'd (a) Livy lib. 39. The Emperour Claudius seems to have abrogated this Law when as Suetonius informs us he order'd that the assignment of Guardians should be in the power of the Consuls (b) Sucton in Claud. cap. 23. Laetoria Lex ordaining that such Persons as were distracted or prodigally squander'd away their Estates should be committed to the care of some proper Persons for the security of themselves and their Possessions And that whoever was convicted of defrauding any in those Circumstances should be guilty of a high Misdemeanour (c) Cicero de Offic. lib. 3. de Nat. Dâ—or lib. 3. CHAP. XXXIV Laws concerning Wills Heirs and Legacies FVRIA Lex the Author C. Furius Tribune of the Commons ordaining that no Person should give by way of Legacy above a thousand Asses unless to the Relations of the Master who manumiz'd him and to some other Parties there excepted (a) Cicero pto Bâ—lbo Voconia Lex the Author Q. Voconius Saxa Tribune of the Commons A. 584 ordaining that no Woman should be left Heiress to an Estate And that no Census should by his Will give above fourth part of what he was worth to a Woman This seems to have been enacted to prevent the decay and extinction of Noble Families (b) Cicero Verr. 3. de Senect de Finib By the Word Census is meant any rich Person who was rated high in the Censor's Books CHAP. XXXV Laws concerning Money Usury c. SEMPRONIA Lex the Author M. Sempronius Tribune of the Commons A. 560. ordaining that in lending Money to the Allies of Rome and the Latines the Tenour of the Roman Laws should be still observ'd as well as among the Citizens (a) Lâ—v. lib. 35. Câ—â—â—â— de Offic. 2 â—â—â—eria Lex the Author Valerius Flaccus Consui with L. Corâ—elius Cinna ordaining to oblige the poorer part of the City that all Creditors should discharge their Debtors upon the receipt of a fourth part for the whole Sum. This Law as most unreasonable is censur'd by Paterculus (b) Lib. 2. cap. 23. Gabinia Lex the Author Aul. Gabinius Tribune of the Commons A. 685. ordaining that no Action should be granted for the recovery of any Money taken up versurâ factâ i. e. first borrow'd upon a small Use and then lent out again upon a greater which Practice was highly unreasonable (c) Cicero ad Attic. lib. 5. Epist ult lib. 6. Epist 2. Claudia Lex the Author Claudius Caesar commanding that no Usurer should lend Money to any Person in his Nonage to be paid after the death of his Parents (d) Tacitus Annal. 11. Vespasian added a great strength to this Law when he ordain'd That those Usurers who lent Money to any filius familiae or Son under his Father's Tuition should have no right ever to claim it again not even after the death of his Parents (e) Sueton in Vespas cap. 11. CHAP. XXXVI Laws concerning the Judges SEMPRONIA Lex the Author C. Sempronius Gracchus Tribune of the Commons A. 630. ordaining that the Right of Judging which had been assign'd to the Senatorian Order by Romulus should be transferr'd from them to the Equites (a) Asâ—oâ—nus in Divinat Tacit. Ann. 12. Vâ—ll Patere l. 2. Servilia Lex the Author Q. Servilius Caepio Consul with C. Atilius Serranus A. 647. abrogating in part the former Law and commanding that the Privilege there mention'd should be divided between both Orders of Knights and Senators (b) Cicero de Art Rhet. lib. 2. de Oratore in Bruto in Orat. pto Scauro Plutarch and Florus make C. Sempronius Gracchus to have appointed 300 Senators and 600 Equites for the management of Judgments but this seems rather to belong to the Servilian Law if not totally a mistake (c) Cicero de Orat. 3. Floras Epit 71. This Law was soon after repeal'd Livia Lex the Author M. Livius Drusus Tribune of the Commons A. 662. ordaining that the judiciary Power should be seated in the Hands of an equal number of Senators and Knights (d) Asâ—â—nius in Câ—radian But this among other Constitutions of that Author were abrogated the very same Year under pretence of being made inauspiciously Plautia Lex the Author M. Plautius Silvanus Tribune of the Commons A. 664. ordaining that every Tribe should choose out of their own Body fifteen Persons to serve as Judges every Year by this means making the Honour common to all three Orders according as the Votes carried it in every Tribe (e) Cicero pro Cernel ad Aâ—t 4. Cornelia Lex the Author L. Cornelius Sylla Dictator A. 673. taking away the Right of Judging entirely from the Knights and restoring it fully to the Senators (f) Florus Epitom 89. Ascan in Divinat Aurelia Lex the Author L. Aurelius Cotta Praetor A. 653. ordaining that the Senatorian and Equestrian Orders together with the Tribuni Aerarii should share the judicial Power between them (g) Cicero in Veâ—â—nis Vell. lib. 2. Pompeia Lex the Author Pompey the Great Consul with Crassâ—â— A. 698. ordaining that the Judges should be chosen otherwise than formerly out of the richest in every Century yet notwithstanding should be confin'd to the Persons mention'd in the Aurelian Law (h) Cicero in Pisenem Julia Lex the Author Julius Caesar confirming the foresaid Privilege to the Senators and Knights but excluding the Tribuni Aerarii (i) Suet. in Julia cap. 41. Rosinus sets this Law before that of Pompey but 't is very plain 't was not made 'till afterwards Antonia Lex the Author M. Antony Consul with Julius Caesar A. 709. ordaining that a third Decury of Judges should be added to the two former to be chose out of the Centurions (k) Câ—â—ero in Philipp 1. 5. CHAP. XXXVII Laws relating to Judgments POMPEIA Lex the Author Pompey the Great sole Consul A. 701. forbidding the use of the Landatores in Tryals (a) Plutarch in Pomp. in Catone Vticens Valer. Max. lib. 6. cap. 2. Memmia Lex ordaining that no Person 's Name should be receiv'd into the Roll of Criminals who was absent upon the Publick Account (b) Cicero in Vatin Val. Max. lib. 3. cap. 7. Remmia Lex ordaining that Persons convicted of Calumny should be stigmatiz'd (c) Cicero pro Sext. Roscio Both these Laws sometimes go under the Name of Memmiae and sometimes of Remmiae the distinction here observ'd is owing to P. Manutius Cincia Lex the
the Field and combat for Renown The Chess-men which the Romans us'd were generally of Wax or Glass their common Name was Calculi or Latrunculi The Poets sometimes term them Latrones whence Latrunculus was at first deriv'd For Latro among the Ancients signified at first a Servant as the Word Knave in English and afterwards a Soldier Seneca has mention'd this Play oftner perhaps than any other Roman Author particularly in one place he has a very remarkable Story in which he designs to give us an Example of wonderful Resolution and Contempt of death tho' some will be more apt to interpret it as on instance of insensible Stupidity The Story is this One Canius Julius whom he extols very much on other Accounts had been sentenc'd to death by Caligula the Centurion coming by with the Tribe of Malefactors and ordering him to bear them company to execution happen'd to find him engag'd at this Game Canius upon his first Summons presently fell to counting his Men and bidding his Antagonist be sure not to brag falsly of the Victory after his death he only desir'd the Centurion to bear witness that he had one Man upon the Board more than his Companion and so very readily join'd himself to the poor Wretches that were going to suffer (a) Seneca de Tranquill. Animi cap 14. But the largest and most accurate Account of the Latrunculi given us by the Ancients is to be met with in the Poem to Piso which some will have to be Ovid's others Lucan's and many the Work of an unknown Author The Tali and the Tesserae by reason of so many Passages in Authors equally applicable to both have often times been confounded with one another and by some distinguish'd as a separate Game from the lusus aleae or Dice Whereas properly speaking the Greeks and Romans had two sorts of Games at Dice the Ludus talorum or play at Cockall and the Ludus tesserarum or what we call Dice They play'd at the first with four Tali and at the other with three Tesserae The Tali had but four sides mark'd with four opposite numbers one side with a Tres and the opposite with a Quatre one with an Ace and the contrary with a Sice The Dice had six Faces four mark'd with the same Numbers as the Tali and the two others with a Deux and a Cinque always one against the other so that in both Plays the upper Number and the lower either on the Talus or Tessera constantly made seven There were very severe Laws in force against these Plays forbidding the use of them at all Seasons only during the Saturnalia tho' they gam'd ordinarily at other times notwithstanding the Prohibition But there was one use made of them at Feasts and Entertainments which perhaps did not fall under the extent of the Laws and that was to throw Dice who should command in chief and have the power of prescribing Rules at a Drinking Bout whom Horace calls Arbiter bibendi They threw both the Tali and the Tesserae out of a long Box for which they had several Names as Fritillum Pyrgus Turricula Orca c. There are many odd Terms scatter'd up and down in Authors by which they signified their fortunate and unfortunate Casts we may take notice of the best and the worst The best Cast with the Tali was when there came up four different Numbers as Tres Quatre Sice Ace The best with the Dice was three Sices the common Term for both was Venus or Basilicus the poorest cast in both having the Name of Canis Persius opposeth the Senio and the Canicula as the best and worst Chances Quid dexter senio ferret Scire erat in votis damnosa canicula quantum Raderet Angustae collo non fallier Orcae Sat. 3. But then my Study was to cog the Dice And dext'rously to throw the lucky Sice To shun Ames-Ace that swept my Stakes away And watch the Box for fear they should convey False Bones and put upon me in the Play Mr. Dryden The wiser and severer Romans thought this sedentary Diversion fit only for aged Men who could not so well employ themselves in any stirring Recreation Let them says old Cato in Tully have their Armour their Horses and their Spears let them take their Club and their Javelin let them have their swimming Matches and their Races so they do but leave us among the numerous Sports the Tali and the Tesserae But the general corruption of manners made the Case quite otherwise Si damnosa senem juvat alea ludit haeres Bullatus parvoque eadem movet arma fritillo If Gaming does an aged Sire entice Then my young Master swiftly learns the Vice And shakes in Hanging-sleeves the little Box and Dice Nor was it probable that this Game should be practis'd with any moderation in the City when the Emperours were commonly profess'd Admirers of it Augustus himself play'd unreasonably without any regard to the time of Year (b) Sueton. Aug. cap. 71. But the great Master of this Art was the Emperour Claudius who by his constant Practice even as he rid about in his Chariot gain'd so much Experience as to compose a Book on the Subject Hence Seneca in his Sarcastical Relation of that Emperor's Apotheosis when after a great many Adventures he has at last brought him to Hell makes the infernal Judges condemn him as the most proper Punishment in the World to play continually at Dice with a Box that had the bottom out which kept him always in Hopes and yet always baulk'd his Expectations Nam quoties missurus erat resonante fritillo Vtraque subducto fugiebat Tessera fundo Cùm quae recollectos auderet mittere talos Lusuro similis semper semperque petenti Decepere fidem refugit digitosque per ipsos Fallax assiduo dilabitur alea furto Sic cùm jam summi tanguntur culmina montis Irrita Sisyphio volvuntur pondera collo For whensoe'er he shook the Box to cast The rattling Dice delude his eager hast And if he try'd again the waggish Bone Insensibly was thro' his Fingers gone Still he was throwing yet he ne'r had thrown So weary Sisyphus when now he sees The welcome Top and feeds his joyful Eyes Straight the rude Stone as cruel Fate commands Falls sadly down and meets his restless Hands The Ancients had four sorts of Pilae or Balls us'd for Exercise and Diversion The Follis or Balloon which they struck about with their Arm guarded for that purpose with a woodden Bracer Or if the Balloon was little they us'd only their Fists The Pila Trigonalis the same as our common Balls to play with this there us'd to stand three Persons in a Triangle striking it round from one to the other he that first let it come to the Ground was the loser (c) See Dacier on Hâ—race Book 2. Sat. 2. Paganica a Ball stuff'd with Feathers which Martial thus describes Haec quae
Vesperones were so call'd from Vespera the Evening Nothing is more evident than that this Custom was not long observ'd at least not in the Publick Funerals tho' it seems to have continued in the silent and private as Servius acquaints us in the same Place Hence Nero took a fair excuse for hurrying his Brother Britannicus his Body into the Grave immediately after he had sent him out of the World For Tacitus reports that the Emperour defended the hasty Burial which had caus'd so much Talk and Suspicion in a publick Edict urging that it was agreeable to the old Institutions to hide such untimely Funerals from Mens Eyes as soon as possible and not detain them with the tedious Formalities of Harangues and Pompous Processions It may not be too nice a Remark that in the more splendid Funerals the former part of the Day seems to have been design'd for the Procession Thus Plutarch relates of the burial of Sylla that the Morning being very Cloudy over Head they deferr'd carrying forth the Corpse 'till the Ninth Hour or Three in the Afternoon But tho' this Custom of carrying forth the Corpse by Night in a great Measure ceas'd yet the bearing of Torches and Tapers still continued in Practice Thus Virgil in the Funeral of Pallas Aen. 11. Lucet via longo Ordine flammarum latè discriminat agros And Persius Sat. 3. Hinc tuba candelae c. And because Tapers were likewise us'd at the Nuptial Solemnity the Poets did not fail to take the hint for bringing them both into the same Fancy As Propertius Book 4. Eleg. last Viximus insignes inter utramque facem And Ovid in the Epistle of Cydippe to Acontius Et face pro thalami fax mihi mortis erat Among the Persons concern'd in carrying forth the Corpse we may begin with those that went before the Funeral-Bed such as the Siticines the Praeficae the Ludii and Histriones the new Freed-Men the Bearers of the Images c. The Name of the Siticines A. Gellius (c) Lib. 20. cap. 2. derives from Situs and Cano from singing to the Dead They were of Two sorts some sounding on the Trumpet others on the Flute or Pipe That the Trumpets had a Share in this Solemnity we learn from Virgil in the Funeral of Pallas Aen. 11. Exoritur clamorque virûm clangorque tubarum And from Propertius Book 2. Eleg. 7. Ah! mea tum quales caneret tibi Cynthia somnos Tibia funestâ tristior illa tubâ And Plutarch tells a notable Story of a Mag-pye that upon hearing the Trumpets at the Funeral of a Rich Man for some time after quite lost her Voice and cou'd raise no manner of Note when on a sudden as if she had been all this while deeply meditating on the Matter she struck up exactly the same Tunes that the Trumpets had play'd and hit all the Turns and Changes to Admiration (f) Plut. de Animal Solert But 't is likely that the Trumpets were us'd only in the Publick Funerals to give the People Notice to appear at the Solemnity as Lipsius instructs us (g) De militiâ lib. 4. cap. 10. The Tibicines some restrain to the Funerals of Children and younger Persons as Servius observes on the first of the Aeneids and Statius Theb. 6. in the Funeral of Achemorus Tum siâ—â—um luctûs cornu grave mugit adunco Tibia cui teneros suetum producere manes The learned Dacier has lately declar'd himself of the same Opinion (h) On Horace Book 1. Sat. 6. v. 44. But 't is certain that this cannot always have held Good For Suetonius mentions the Tibiae in the Funeral of Julius Caesar (i) Cap. 83. and Seneca in that of Claudius in his Apocolocynthosis And Ovid says of himself in plain Words Interea nostri quid agant nisi triste libelli Tibia funeribus convenit ista meis Trist 1. El. 1. Therefore it seems more probable that the Flutes or Pipes were us'd in all sorts of Funerals as the most accurate Kirchman has given his Judgment It appears from the Figures of Trumpets and Flutes on the old Monuments that the Instruments of those Kinds us'd at Funeral Solemnities were longer than the ordinary ones and so fitted to give a sharper and more mournful Sound Hence Ovid calls the Funeral Trumpet longa tuba Pro longâ resonet carmina vestra tubâ Amor. 2. El. 6. After the Musicians went the Praeficae or the Mourning Women hir'd on purpose to sing the naenia or Iessus the Funeral Song fill'd with the Praises of the Deceas'd but for the most part trifling and mean Hence the Grammarian in Gellius took his Flout against the Philosophers Vos Philosophi mera estis ut M. Cato ait mortuaria Glossaria Nam qui collegistis lectitastis res tetras inanes frivolas tanquam mulierum voces praesicarum (k) A. Gell. lib. 18. cap. 7. You Philosophers as Cato says are mere dealers in trash for you go and read and collect a Parcel of dry worthless Stuff just such for all the World as the old Women whine out who are hir'd to sing the Mourning Song at a Funeral That the Ludii and Histriones the Mimicks and Players went before the Funeral-Bed and danc'd after the Satyrick manner we have the Authority of Dionysius in his Ninth Book And Suetonius tells a Story of the Arch-Mimick who acted at the Funeral of Vespasian (l) Cap. 19. The Custom for the Slaves to go with their Caps on before the Corpse and to be thereupon made Free is confirm'd by a Law of Justinian and we meet with many examples of it in History As to the Beds or Couches born before in the Funeral Solemnity the Design of these was to carrry the Waxen Images of the Deceas'd Person 's Ancestors which were therefore us'd only in the Funerals of those who had the jus imaginum the right of keeping the Effigies of the Men of their Family which at home were set up in Wooden Presses and taken thence to be publickly shown after this Manner on the Death of any of their near Relations (m) Plin. N. H. lib. 35. cap. 2. â— Before the Corpse of Princes or some extraordinary Persons not only the Effigies of their Ancestors but the Statues too of other great Men were born in State Thus Augustus order'd Six Hundred Beds of Images to be carried before at the Funeral of Marcellus and Sylla the Dictator had no less than Six Thousand (n) Servius in Aen. 11. Besides all this such as had been eminent for their Atcheivements in War and gain'd any considerable Conquest had the Images and Representations of the Enemies they had subdu'd or the Cities they had Taken or the Spoils won in Battle as Dionysius (o) Lib. 8. reports in the Funeral of Coriolanus and Dio (p) Lib. 56. in that of Augustus This Custom Virgil alludes to in the Funeral of Pallas Multaque praetereà Laurentis
praemia pugnae Aggerat longo praedam jubet ordine duci And a litle after Indutosque jubet truncos hostilibus armis Ipsos ferre duces inimicaque nomina figi The Lictors too made a part of the Procession going before the Corpse to carry the Fasces and other Ensigns of Honour which the Deceas'd had a Right to in his Life-time 'T is very remarkable that the Rods were not now carried in the ordinary posture but turn'd quite the contrary way as Tacitus reports in the Funeral of Germanicus (q) Annal 3. Hence Albinovanus in the Funeral of Drusus Quos primùm vidi fasces in funere vidi Et vidi versos indiciumque mali We may now go on to the Persons who bore the Bier or the Funeral-Bed and these were for the most part the nearest Relations or the Heirs of the Deceas'd Hence Horace Book 2. Sat. 5. Cadaver Vnctum oleo largo nudis humeris tulit haeres And Juvenal Sat 10. Incolumi Trojâ Priamus venisset ad umbras Assaraci magnis solemnibus Hectore funus Portante reliquis fratrum cervicibus Thus they report of Metellus who conquer'd Macedon that ho was carried to the Funeral-Pile by his four Sons one of which was then Praetor the other three had been all Consuls two had triumph'd and one perform'd the Office of Censor (r) Plin. lib. 7. cap. 44. Val. Max. l. 7. Sometimes Persons who had deserv'd highly of the Common-Wealth were born at their Funerals by the Magistrates or the Senators or the chief of the Nobility Thus Plutarch relates of Numa Suetonius of Julius Caesar (s) Cap. 84. and Tacitus of Augustus (t) Annal. 1. And the very Strangers and Foreigners that happen'd to be at Rome at the Death of any worthy Person were very desirous of signifying their Respect to his Memory by the Service of carrying the Funeral-Bed when he was to be buried As Plutarch tells us in the Funeral of Paulus Aemylius that as many Spaniards Ligurians and Macedonians as happen'd to be present at the Solemnity that were young and of vigorous Bodies took up the Bed and bore it to the Pile Persons of meaner Fortunes and sometimes great Men too if they were hated by the People were carried to their Burial by the Vespillones or Sandapilones who liv'd by this Employment Thus Suetonius (u) Cap. 17 and Eutropius (w) Lib. 7. relate of the Emperour Domitian Therefore in this last way of bearing out we may suppose them to have us'd the Sandapila or common Bier as in the former the Lecticae or Lecti the Litters or Beds This Bier is what Horace and Lucan call vilis Arca. Angustis ejecta cadavera cellis Conservus vili portanda locabat in arcâ Hor. L. 1. S. 8. Da vilem Magno plebeii funeris arcam Quae lacerum corpus siccos effundat in ignes Luc. lib. 8. 'T is worth observing that sometimes the Bier or Bed was cover'd and sometimes not It was expos'd open if the Party had died a natural Death and was not very much deform'd by the Change and therefore now and then they us'd to paint the Face especially of Women to make them appear with more Advantage to the Sight Dio tells us in the Life of Nero that he daub'd the Body of Britannicus over with a sort of White-Wash to hinder the Blueness of the Flesh and such other Marks of the Poyson from being discover'd but a great Rain falling at the time of the Procession wash'd off the Paint and expos'd the Fatal Tokens to the View of the whole People But in Case the Visage was very much distorted or upon some other Account not fit to be shown they threw a Covering over the Bed Thus Paterculus reports that Scipio Africanus was carried forth to Burial velato capite (x) Lib. 2. Sometimes too when the Face or Head had been miserably bruised as if the fall of an House or some such Accident had occasion'd the Party's Death they us'd to enclose the Head and Face in a Masque to hinder them from appearing and the Funerals in which this was practis'd they term'd larvata funera But the greatest part of the Persons were those that follow'd the Corpse These in private Funerals were seldom many besides the Friends and Relations of the Deceas'd and 't was very usual in a Will to bestow Legacies upon such and such Persons upon Condition they shou'd appear at the Funeral and accompany the Corpse But at the indictive or publick Funerals the whole City flock'd together upon the General Invitation and Summons The Magistrates and Senators were not wanting at the Procession nor even the Priests themselves as we find in the Funeral of Numa describ'd by Plutarch To give an account of the Habit and Gesture of the Mourners or of the Relations and others that follow'd the Corpse is in a great measure unnecessary for the weeping the bitter Complaints against the Gods the letting loose the Hair or sometimes cutting it off the changing the Habit and the laying aside the usual Ornaments are all too well known to need any Explication Yet there are many things singular in these Subjects which deserve our farther Notice Thus they did not only tear or cut off their Hair but had a Custom to lay it on the Breast or sometimes on the Tomb of the Deceas'd Friend Hence Ovid of the Sisters of Narcissus Planxere sorores Naiades sectos fratri imposuere capillos And Statius Theb. 7. Tergoque pectore fusam Caesariem ferro minuit sectisque jacentis Obnubit tenuia ora comis 'T is no less observable that at the Funerals of their Parents the Sons went cover'd on their Heads and the Daughters uncover'd perhaps only to recede as far as possible from their ordinary Habit. Yet 't is likely that in ordering the Sons to cover their Heads at such Solemnities they had regard to the common Practice of always wearing something on their Heads when they worship'd the Gods and especially when they were present at a Sacrifice The Original and Grounds of this Superstition are most admirably given by Virgil in the Prophet Helenus his Instructions to Aeneas Quin ubi transmissae steterint trans aequora classes Et positis aris jam vota in littore solves Purpureo velare comas adopertus amictu Nequa inter sanctos ignes in honore deorum Hostilis facies occurrat omina turbet Hunc socii morem sacrorum hunc ipse teneto Hà c casti maneant in relligione nepotes Aen. 3. As to the mourning Habits it has been already observ'd (y) Book 5. chap. 7. that the Senators sometimes on these Occasions went attir'd like Knights the Magistrates like Senators c. and that the common Wear for Mourning was Black But we may farther remark that tho' this was the ordinary Colour to express their Grief us'd alike by both Sexes yet after the establishment of the Empire when abundance of Party-Colours came in
Fashion the old Primitive White grew so much into contempt that at last it became proper to the Women for their Mourning Cloaths Thus Statius in the Tears of Hetruscus Huc vittata comam niveoque insignis amictu Mitibus exsequiis ades And tho' it may with some Reason be thought that the Poet here directing his Speech to the Goddess Piety gives her that Habit rather as a mark of Purity and Innocence than as the proper Badge of Grief in her Sex yet the matter of Fact is still evident from the Authority of Plutarch who States this Subject for one of his Problems and gives several Reasons for the Practice After the PERSONS follows the PLACE whither the Procession was directed by which we must be guided in our next enquiry In all the Funerals of Note especially in the Publick or indictive the Corpse was first brought with a vast Train of followers into the Forum Thus Horace Book 1. Sat. 6. At hic si plostra ducenta Concurrantque foro tria funera magna sonabit Cornua quod vincatque tubas Here one of the nearest Relations ascended the Rostra and oblig'd the Audience with an Oration in Praise of the Deceas'd If none of the Kindred undertook the Office it was discharg'd by some of the most eminent Persons in the City for Learning and Eloquence as Appian reports of the Funeral of Sylla (z) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. 1. And Pliny the Younger reckons it as the last Addition to the Happiness of a very great Man that he had the Honour to be praised at his Funeral by the most Eloquent Tacitus then Consul (a) Lib. 2. Epist 1. which is agreeable to Quinctilian's Account of this Matter Nam funebres c. For Funeral Orations says he depend very often on some publick Office and by order of Senate are many times given in charge to the Magistrates to be perform'd by themselves in Person (b) Instiâ—nt lib. 3. cap. 9. The invention of this Custom is generally attributed to Valerius Poplicola soon after the expulsion of the Regal Family Plutarch tells us that honouring his Collegues Obsequies with a Funeral Oration it so pleas'd the Romans that it became customary for the best Men to celebrate the Funerals of great Persons with Speeches in their Commendation Nor was this Honour proper to one Sex alone for Livy reports that the Matrons upon account of making a Collection of Gold for the deliverance of Rome from the Gauls were allow'd as a signal Favour to have Funeral Panegyricks in the same manner as the Men. Plutarch's Relation of this Matter differs from Livy only in the Reasons of the Custom He acquaints us that when it was agreed after the taking of Veii that a Bowl of Massy Gold shou'd be made and sent to Delphi there was so great a scarcity of Gold and the Magistrates so puzzled in considering how to get it that the Roman Ladies meeting together and consulting among themselves out of the Golden Ornaments that they wore contributed as much as went to the making the Offering which in Weight came to eight Talents of Gold The Senate to give them the Honour they had deserv'd ordain'd that Funeral Orations shou'd be us'd at the Obsequies of Women as well as of Men which had never been a Custom before But it seems probable that this Honour was at first only paid to aged Matrons since we learn from the same excellent Author that there was no President of any Funeral Oration on a younger Woman 'till Julius Caesar first made one upon the Death of his own Wife Cicero (c) In Bruto and Livy (d) â—ib 8. complain very much of this Custom of Funeral-Speeches as if they had conduc'd in a great measure to the corruption and falsifying of History For it being ordinary on these occasions to be directed more by the Precepts of Oratory than by the true Matter of Fact it usually happen'd that the deceas'd Party was extoll'd on the Account of several noble Atcheivements to which he had no just Pretensions and especially when they came to enquire into their Stock and Original as was customary at these Solemnities they seldom fail'd to clap in Three or Four of the most renowned Persons of the Common-Wealth to illustrate the Family of the Deceas'd and so by Degrees well nigh ruin'd all proper Distinctions of Houses and Blood The next place to which the Corpse was carried was the place of Burning and Burial It has been a Custom among most Nations to appoint this without the City particularly among the Jews and Greeks from whom it may be suppos'd to have been deriv'd down to the Romans That the Jews Buried without the City is evident from several places of the New Testament Thus the Sepulchre in which Joseph laid our Saviour's Body was in the same Place in which he was crucified (e) John 19.41 which was near to the City (f) John 19.20 And we read in St. Matthew that at our Lord's Passion the Graves were open'd and many Bodies of the Saints which slept arose and came out of the Graves after his Resurrection and went into the Holy City and appear'd unto many (g) Matthew 27.52 and 53. As to the Graecians Servius in an Epistle to Tully (h) Famii lib. 4 Epist 12. giving an Account of the unhappy Death of his Collegue Marcellus which fell out in Greece tells him that he cou'd not by any means obtain Leave of the Athenians to allow him a Burying-Place within the City they urging a religious Restraint in that Point and the want of Precedents for such a Practice The Romans follow'd the same Custom from the very first building of the City which was afterwards settled in a Law by the Decemviri and often reviv'd and confirm'd by several later Constitutions The Reason of this Ancient Practice may be resolv'd into a sacred and a civil Consideration As to the former the Romans and most other People had a Notion that whatever had been consecrated to the supernal Gods was presently defil'd upon the touch of a Corpse or even by bringing such a Spectacle near it Thus Agellius tells us that the Flamen Dialis might not on any Account enter into a Place where there was a Grave or so much as touch a dead Body (i) Lib. 10. cap. 15. And if the Pontifex Maximus happen'd to praise any one Publickly at a Funeral he had a Veil always laid over the Corpse to keep it from his Sight as Dio reports of Augustus (k) Lib. 54. and Seneca of Tiberius (l) Consolat ad Mar. cap. 15. 'T is likely that this might be borrow'd from the Jewish Law by which the High-Priest was forbid to use the ordinary Signs of Mourning or to go in to any dead Body (m) Leviticus 21.10 11. The civil Consideration seems to have been that neither the Air might be corrupted by the stench of putrefied Bodies nor the Buildings endanger'd