Selected quad for the lemma: honour_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A43657
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Jovian, or, An answer to Julian the Apostate by a minister of London.
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Hickes, George, 1642-1715.
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1683
(1683)
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Wing H1852; ESTC R24372
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208,457
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390
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annitentibus sed praecipuè Eroco Alamannorum rege auxilii gratiâ Constantium comitato Imperium capit And if he was first Elected by his Father then Admitted by the Army which had Power to reject him and last of all Confirmed by (†) De Mort Pers Galerius as Lact. tells us where was his Hereditary Descent But in the 3d. place so far is this passage of Eumenius from being a full and pregnant Proof of the Hereditary Nature of the Empire or that Constantine was born unto it as our Author (‖) P. 20. speaks that he was born 14 years before his Father Constantius was made Caesar For (†) De vit Const l. 1. c. 5. Ed. Val. Eusebius saith That he reigned more than 30 years and was above 60 years old when he died and by consequence he was at least 30 years old when he came to the Crown in the year of our Lord 306. But his Father Constantius Chlorus was made Caesar by Dioclesian and Maximian in the (‖) Vid. Baluz in Lact. de Mort. Pers p. 13. Ed. Oxon. Year 293. by which Account Constantine must have been full 14 years old before his Father was made Caesar and about 29 before he was made Augustus which was about a year before he died Eumenius could not but know this and therefore his Complement of Nascendo Imperium meruisti signifies no more than his getting the Empire by occasion of being the (†) Which was a mighty Advantage according to that of Nazar in his Paneg. to Constantin Tuos Constantine maxime tuos liberos ac deinceps nepotes tecum optat Roma ut tanto a pluribus petantur quanto ad majora nascuntur Son of an Emperor Imperatoris filius tanti Imperatoris as he afterwards speaks If our Author had pleased he might as well have proved Constantius to have been heir to the Empire from that Passage to Constantine Patrem tuum ipsum vetus illa Imperatoriae domus praerogativa provexit This Latine might have been turned into plausible English for our Authors purpose but he well knew that Claudius was succeeded by Four or Five elected Emperors of different Families before Constantius was chosen Emperor and that the Posterity of a Brother most of all the youngest to an Emperor elected from a private man can derive no Title to the Crown Yet Eumenius derives the Succession both of Constantius and (‖) Post duos familiae tuae tertius Imperatir Constantine from Claudius but our Author cunningly took no notice of that because it proves that the Panegyrist had no design to give either of them any proper Hereditary Title but only to declare the Honour and Advantages they both had by being descended of such high Blood But suppose Constantine had been born after his Father Constantius was made Emperor yet his Birth and Primo-geniture could Entitle him to no more than his Fathers Share of the Empire which Euseb calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and yet to qualifie him for this for when this (†) In which Constantius his taking of Massilia is the last Exploit for which the Panegyrist commends him Vid. Lactant. de Mort. Pers p. 57. Ed. Oxon. Panegyrick was made he had no more Eumenius himself tells us he was Nominated and Recommended by his Father chosen by the Army after his Fathers death and confirmed by the following Suffrage of the Senate which would have given any of his Brothers nay any other man as good a Right to the Empire as he himself had After the Authority of Eusebius he serves us with another out of Julian but to as little purpose Julian saith he in his Panegyrick to the Empress Eusebia saith That Constantius married her to have Heirs for his great Lordship of almost all the World And then he adds He having none Julian himself was the sole and undoubted Heir for in him the Family was afterwards extinct Our Author I see delights much in Panegyricks but he was very unlucky in citing this which proves the Succession of Julian although (‖) P. 20. he was the Nephew of Constantine and had the same Royal Blood flowing in his Veins to have been purely Arbitrary and Elective For as I said before (†) Eâdem annitente Caesar à Constantio dictus est horum igitur in se beneficiorum gratias hâc oratione refert Petavius in Orat. III. Jul. Vid. p. Orat. 218 220 224 225 229. Julian wrote this Oration in praise of the Empress out of meer Gratitude to her because she had perswaded the Emperor against his Inclinations to create him Caesar and accordingly he often (‖) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 217. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 218. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 220. To which agrees that of Zosim l. 3. p. 711. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And of Zonaras t. 3. p. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. P. 224 225 229. acknowledges in it That next under God he had received all he had from the Free Choice and Generosity of his Majesty which expression with the rest in the Margent are very repugnant to the nature of an Hereditary Lineal Succession but very proper for an Elected Candidate to use Besides in the words which he cites Julian saith not That (‖) Orat. 3. p. 203. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Constantius married her to have Heirs for his great Lordship of almost all the World but that He being Lord of almost all the World made choice of her to bring him Sons in the plural Number who might be Heirs of Honour and Power This is a general Expression and it may be presumed that Julian expressed himself in general words on purpose because the Sons succeeding their Fathers in the Roman Empire was so Arbitrary and Uncertain though in the general they could not sail to be Heirs of Honour and Power But had the Expression been as particular as our trusty Author hath falsely rendered it yet the word Heirs is to be taken in the sense it then had for chosen or constituted Heirs or Successors and not for Heirs by Entail in which case purely Elected Emperors as (†) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianz. 11. Invect p. 118. l. 1. Jovian the Successor of Julian are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heirs of the Empire and accordingly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rendred by the Latine Translator Quos haeredes relinqueret whom he might make or create Heirs So that the true Sense of Julians Compliment is this That Constantius being Lord of almost all the World married Eusebia to bring him Sons whom he might make Heirs of Honour or if our Author please to have it so of his Honour and Power Before I go farther I cannot but observe what a Trick he hath used to prevent his Readers from enquiring who succeeded Julian or to forestall their Objection against the Hereditary Succession in case they should by chance or enquiry come to understand That first (‖) Amm. Marcell l. 25. c. 15.
the whole Army because he was a Good Man and of the Imperial House The Consuls hearing this sent the Tribunes of the people to charge him not to take the Empire upon him but to remain under the Obedience of the Senate and the People but the Army standing firm to their New Emperor they were forced to consent and to choose him Emperor too Claudius after the death of Messalina (‖) Tacit. l. 12.4 5. Dio. l. 60. marrieth his own Neece Agrippina Daughter to his Brother Germanicus and Mother to Nero and she had the ascendent so much over him as to make him Adopt her Son although he (†) Cluadius Britannicus By Messalina vid. Sueton. 27. Dio. l. 60. had a Son of his own After his Adoption she prevailed with him to marry him to his own Daughter Octavia although she was betroathed to another Man After this she laboured all she could to secure the Succession unto Nero and being Jealous of Britannicus whose Interest the Emperors great Favourite and her Enemy Narcissus openly owned she took Advantage of her Husbands first Sickness to poyson him and concealing his Death for some time ordered all things in the interim for the Advantage of Nero who going to the Guards with Burrhus their Captain was at his instance received with great Acclamations though some of them discovering another Inclination (†) Dubitavisse quosdam ferunt expectantes rogitantesque ubi Britannicus esset Tac. An. 12.69 asked where Britannicus was From the Guards he was carried in a Chair to the (‖) Illatusque castris Nero Imperator consultatur sententiam militum secuta patrum consulta nec dubitatum est apud Provincias Tac. An. 12.60 Camp where having made a Speech and promised great Largesses to the Army he was chosen Emperor by them and the Choice was confirmed by the Senate neither did any of the Provinces refuse him for their Prince But he proved a Plague to the Empire and being for his Execrable Tyranny (†) Sueton. 40.42 47. deserted by all Mankind and declared a publick Enemy by the Senate at lastin despair he laid violent hands upon himself after he had afflicted the World about 14 years He was the (‖) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eutrop lip 7. Progenies Caesarum in Nerone defeoit Sueton. in Galb 1. Finitâ Juliorum Claudiorumque domo Galba ad Pison Tac. Hist l. 16. last man and Emperor of the Family of the Caesars wherein it is plain from matter of Fact that the Emperors had Power to Name or Recommend their Successors Secondly that they might name Strangers as well as those of their own Family And thirdly that of their own Family they might prefer their Adopted before their Natural Sons and the remoter before the nearer in Blood Secondly It is plain that the Nominated Successors were chosen First by the Senate who gave the Army Caesars and then by the Army who afterwards gave Caesars unto the Senate and People Thirdly That the Senate might choose a Person who was not nominated by the deceased Emperor and reject another who was nominated by him Nay Fourthly That as yet they had a (†) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dio. l. 60. in princ â—â—â—atus in asserendâ libetate adso consenâ—it quidam vero abolendum Caesarum memorian censuerum Sueton. in Calig 60. Right to resume the Empire had they not been overpowred by the Army and upon the decease of an Emperor to give it to a Stranger as well as to one of Caesars House And now was not this a brave Hereditary Empire wherein the Succession to the Crown was so Casual Irregular and Arbitrary and may not a man with as much reason call Black White a Triangle Square or any one Species by the name of another as to call this an Hereditary which was an Irregular Elective Empire wherein not one of the Emperors hitherto at least came to the Crown by virtue of a Lineal Hereditary descent I desire the Unanswerable Man to consult his Oracles of Law and then to tell me if the Succession be in the Royal House of the Stuarts as it was in the House of the Caesars or if the Julian and Claudian Princes were born like ours unto the Crown Indeed the (†) 108 Years long continuance of the Empire in in the Family of the Caesars made it look something like their Inheritance (‖) Sub Tiberio Caio Claudio unius familiae quasi haereditas fuimus Tacit. Hist l. 16. quasi haereditas as Galba told Piso and so the long continuance of it in the House of Austria makes it now look somewhat like an Inheritance though it be perfectly Thâ—â—ive but still at best it is but quasi haereditas as the French King understands very well But it may be though it were Elective hitherto it might afterwards come to be Hereditary It might so for any thing that nine parts of ten who cry up Julian know to the contrary and therefore let us â—o on with Matter of Fact to see if it were so or no Nero being dead Old Galba was chosen to the Empire by the (†) Eutrop. l. 7. Gaules and Spaniards and then by the whole Army according to the Prediction of (‖) Sueton. in Galba 4. Augustus who told him when he was a Boy that he should live to be Emperor (†) In Ep. Xiphil Dio tells us that Tiberius also foretold him that he should live to tast of the Empire and indeed he did but tast having reigned but 7 Months according to Suetonius whom Cedrenus follows or according to Dio 9 before he was murdered in the Forum by the Procurement of Otho who secretly hated him because he Adopted Piso when he expected that Honour himself Galba being slain his Murderer Otho succeeded being made Emperor not only by the Consent of the Souldiery at Rome but by the (‖) Dio. Xiphil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vocat Senatum â—raetor Urbanus accurrunt Patres deternitur Othoni tâ—â—bunitia potestas nomen Augustiâ— omnes Principum honores Tacit Hist l. 1.47 Election of the Senate But about the same time the German Legions set up Vitellius for Emperor who marched straight into Italy where near Verona he gained a small Victory over Otho who rather than try the Fortune of War the Second time in the 95th day of his Reign or as Dio saith in the 10th Month he killed himself to prevent the Effusion of Roman Blood Otho being dead Sabinus the Prefect of Rome made all the Souldiers in the City swear Allegiance to Vitellius (‖) A flavio Sabim praefecto urbis quod erat in urbe militum sacramento Vitellii adactum In Senatu cuncta longis aliorum Principatibus composita statim decernuntur Tacit. Hist l. 2.55 and the Senate also decreed him all the Power and Honours that any of the Precedent Emperors enjoyed In the mean time (†) Sueton. in Vitell. 15. in Vespes 6. Dio. Xiph. Vespasian while he was