Presentfh to af %

A. Lightbody, Esq., Belv/ood, Ont,

April, 1, 1890

^

Roma Antique Notitla :

OR, THE

A N T I Qjn T I E S

R O M E.

In TWO PARTS.

I. A Short H I S T O R Y of the Rife, Progrefs, and Decay of the Commonwealth.

IT. A Defcription of the CITY: An Account of

the Religion,, Civil Government, and Jrt of War ; with the Remarkable Cujloms and Ceremonies, Publick and Private,

With Copper CU TTS of the Principal "Buildings, &c.

To which are prefix'd Two ESSAYS; concerning the Roman Learning, and the Roman Education.

By BASIL KENNETT, of C.C.C. Oxon.

Nec deftnat unquam

Tecum Graia loqui, tecum Romana vetujias. Claud ian.

The Eleventh Edition Corrected and Improved.

L 0 IJ D 0 N:

Printed for W. Innys, A. Ward, J. and P. Knapto^, S. BiRT, D. Browne, T. Longman and T. Shewell, J. Hodges, E. Wjcftsteed, C. Bathurst, J. and R. ToNsoN, J. HuTTON, and M. Cooper.

MDCCXLYI

— ^

To His Highness the

Duke of Gloucester,

SIR,

M O N G all the Noble Pro- fages of Wit and Honour y there is not One by which Your Highness hath given greater Encourage- ment to the Hopes of thefe King- doms, than by a furprizing Curiofity, and impatient Defire of Knowledge, For the Satisfying of fo Generous Inclina- tions, Your Highness cannot but feek an early Acquaintance with the Roman

a 3 State

I'he Epijile Dedicatory.

State. It muft needs pleafe You, Sir, to underftand the Conftitutibn of that People, before You appear the Rival of their Glory : And the firft Steps to both thefe Attainments will be alike uneafy. Many Fatigues are to be undergone ere Yqu furpafs them in Adion and Con- dud : And in the fame Manner, before You are introduced into the more de- lightful Scenes of their Policy and Govern- ment, Yo UR Highness Ihould be Jirji prefented with the rougher Profpe6t of their Cuftoms and Ceremonies.

For Your Direction in fo noble (tho' intricate) a Path of Ancient Story, Your H I G H N E § s is defir'd to accept this fmall Endeavour , no otherwife than you would a few Shadows, or a little Model, to give You, Sir, the firft Notion of fome admir'd Pidure, or fom.e magnificent Building.

There

7he Epiftle Dedicatory.

There is one Cuftom which, I make myfelf beHeve, Your Highness will read with fome Pleafure ; I mean, S i r, the Trojan Game, a Martial Exercife, perform'd by the Youth of the iirft Qua- lity in Rome^ under fuch a Captain as Yourself; and deriving its Original from young Afcanius ; whom I need not fear to mention as Yo u r Precedent, fince You have already honour'd him with Your Imitation.

I T may be expected, perhaps, that, out of the many lUuftrious Romans^ I fhould here propofe to You r Highness fome of the moft Celebrated Examples of Virtue and great Atchieve7nents. But this would prove a needlefs Piece of Service ; fince You cannot mifs Your Way in the Purfuit of the Firfi^ while Your High- ness gdes on, like the Trojan Prince,

Matre Dea monjlrante Viam.

p. 4 And

^he Epiftle Dedicatory.

And to the Second^ the fliort Advice, which that Hero gave his Son, w^ill en- gage You as the Higheft Motive :

— Te^ animo repetentem exempla tuorum^ EiPaferJEnQ3.s ^Avunculus exciUtHQdiou

I am, S I R^

Your Highness's

MoJ^ Humble and

Mojl Obedient Servant^

Bafil Kennett.

THE

PREFACE.

HE XJfefidnefs of fuch a DeJigJi as this not being like to be caWd in queftiony I am obliged no farther than to give afhort Hijlory of what Attempts have hitherto been made of the fame Nature^ with fo?ne Account of the prefent Undertaking.

Not to make a Catalogue of the many 'TraBs on particular Subjects of Roman Antiquities, the Two Authors mofl in ufe for this Knowledge are Rofinus and Godwin ; the firji as a full Syflem^ the other as an Abridgement or Compendium, We have no- thing more compleat than Rolinus taken all toge- ther : But he will appear very deficient in many Points, if compared with other learned Men, who have laboured in the adorning fome one Part of his General Subjedi. Thus^ I believe , his Book of War has fear ce been look'd into fince the Publijhing cf Lipfius'5 admirable Comment on Polybius. His Accounts of the Habits, Senate, Laws and Fune- rals, will never be fet in Competition with the more accurate Pieces of Ferrarius and Rubenius, of Paulus Manutius and Kirchman. Not to urge that the Names, the Money, the Private Games, with fever al lejj'er Topicks, are intirely omitted -, ^ and many more fubfiantial Cuftoms but lightly touched, The Paralipomena of Dempfter, which are added

in

PREFACE.

in the befl Editions^ under the Name of Notes on this Author, feem, for the moft Party barely a Tran-- fcript of Common Places gathered from the ClaJJicks and other Writer s, with little Connedlion-, and therefore though they ferve, now and then, for a Supplement to Rofinus, yet 'tis impojjible they Jhould be very in/lruBive,

Godwin' J Anthologia (which we ufually meet with in our Schools) befides that it wants all the Advantages which we have received from the Learned within thefe threefcore Tears, is fo Jhort and unjatisfadlory in Subjects of the greatejl Con- fequence -, fo crowded with Phrafes, which are to be found in all our Didfionaries ; fo fiuff'd with long Pajj'ages of Latin, untranfated ^ has fo little Method, and runs fo dry and heavy in the reading, that Ifanfy, 'tis a general Wijh, it were exchanged for fomething elfe in the fame Kind, of greater Ufe^ and more agreeable 'Entertainment,

For Cantelius de Romana Republica, 7i me the ]e{uitfeems very unhappy, that by fpending half his Book in giving us a long Relation of the Roman Wars, Battles, Deaths, &c. which mojl Perfons would rather learn from the Original Hijlorians, he has fo ftraiten'd himfelf in the remaining Party as to pafs for no extraordinary Epitomizer, Be- fdcs that he can't fpare room tofet down one Word of Authority for what he fays.

As for Thefe Papers : The Two EfTays of the Roman Learning and Education are, I think, what has not been before attempted in any Language -, and on that account will be the more eafily par--

don'dy

PREFACE.

don'dy if not the better accepted in the World, The compendious Hijiory of the Rife, Progrefs, and De^ cay of the State, has this at leaf to fay for it [elf That it carries its own Credentials along with it, in confta72t References to the ancient Writers. I will not here cofnpofe a Table of Contents for the Second Part, which has run out into fuch Length, as to make the Body of the Work ; oiily I may hint in a Word or two, that the many Omifjions ^ Rofinus and Godwin are largely fupplied, and fcarce any Thing material (that I know of) pa fed by. That the City, with the famous Structures of all Sorts, are defcrib'dfrom the Relations ofEye^witneffes, and Au- thors of Credit : That the Laws which occur in the befi Clajjicks, and often prove a great Hindrance to the Reader, are difpofed under proper Heads in a very convenient Manner-, and the truejl Accounts of their Import, and the Time 'cohen they were made, collected from the moji approved Commentators, and from the admired Treatife of Manutius de Legibus Romanis : That in fome Subjects it was thought proper to follow (for the moJi Part) one particular Author, who had managed his Province with uni- verfal Approbation -, as Sigonius in the Comitia and the Judgments : Lipfius in the Art of War, in the Gladiators, and in the Names : Kirchman in the Funerals, and Brerewood in the Account of the Money : That the curious Remarks of Scaliger, Ca- iaubon, Graevius, Monfieur and Madam Dacier, are inferted on many Oecafions. In Jhort, that no Pains or Charges have been Jpar'd, which might render the Attempt truly ferviceable, to the good End for which 'twas defign'dy the Pleafure and Benefit of the Reader.

The

PREFACE.

ne great Incorredlnefs of the Second Edition was occajim'd by the Ha/le^ and the NeceJJities^ of the then unfortu?iate Proprietor ; from whom no Sight of the Sheets could be obtain d^ till the whole was Jo dijhonourably fnijh'd. Yet the necejfary AU terations and Additions^ before given in^ were in- fer ted in their Places, It was and is with all Gra- titude acknowledged^ that the bejl Part of this Af fiftance hath been afforded by the late Noble ColleBi- ens of the excellent Grasvius ; a Catalogue cj which is here fubjoin'd. The Compiler wijhes it may be imputed not to Idlenefs^ but to Defign, that he hath borrowed only aWii^from that Treafury. For in- tending an Abridgement, not a full Body, he thought it alike unreafonable^ either to fwell the Bulk above the Name and Ufe^ or to forbear fuch Improvements^ as could fcarce in Hone/iy be denied : Either to burthen //j^ Reader y^r the Bookfeller*i Advantage, or^ under a Pretence of eafing the former^ to injure Both, This new Imprefjion has not only been amend- ed by a careful Supervifal, but adorn' d by the Beau- ty of the Letter^ and of the additional Sculptures, But the chief Recommendation of the Defgn is owing to the favourable Acceptance and kind Encourage- 7nent of private Perfons, and of Societies, efpecially of a Royal and moji flourijhing Seminary, to which cur Thanks can be returned in no better Wijhes, than that it may for ever continue in the fame hap- py State, and under the like prudent Government and Diredlion. ■

CON-

CONTENTS.

Two Previous Eflays, "uiz.

Essay I. Of the Roman Learning, Essay II. Of the Roman Education,

PART FIRST.

The Original, Growth, and -Decay of the Roman Commonwealth.

CH A P. I. Of the Building of fheCiT y. Page i Chap. II. Of the Roman Affairs under the Kings.

T'Ar

Chap. III. Of the Roman Affairs^ from the beginning of the Confular Government^ to the firfi Punick War,

p. 6

Chap. IV. Of the Roman Affairs^ from the beginning of the firfi Punick JVar^ to the firfi Triumvirate. />. lo

Chap. V. Of the Roman Affairs^ from the beginning of the firfi Triumvirate, to the End of the twelve Caefars. />• 14

Chap. VI. Of the Roman Affairs from Domitian to the End of Conftantine the Great. f, 21

Chap. VII. Of the Roman Affairs from Conftantine the Great to the leaking of Rome by Odoacer, and the Ruin of the Wejiern Empire, p, 26

PART

CONTENTS.

PART II. BOOK I.

Of the City.

CHAP. I. Of the Pomcerium, and of the Form and Bignefs of the City^ according to the f even Hills. />. 29 Chap. II. Of the Divijion of the City into Tribes and

Regions ; and of the Gates and Bridges. p. 34

Chap. III. Of the Places of Worfhip \ particularly of the

'Temples and hucu P- 3^

Chap. IV. Of the Theatres, Amphitheatres, Circo's,

Naumachise, Odea, Stadia, and Xyfti, and of the

Campus Martius. p. 43

Chap. V. Of the Curiae, Senacula, Bafilic^, Fora and

Comitium, p, 47

Chap. VI. Of the Portico'^, Arches, Columns and

Trophies. p, 51

Chap. VII. Of the Bagnio's, Nymphasa, Aquasduds,

Cloaca, ^W Publick- Ways. p. S^

BOOK IL

Of the Religion ^ ^/&f Romans.

CHAP. I. Of the Religion and Morality of the Romans in general, p. 61

Chap. II. Of the Luperci, Lupercalia, (^^c. Of the Po- titii ^WPinarii -, and of the Arval Brothers. p. 64 Chap. III. Of the Augurs, Auguries, ^c. p. 6y

Chap. IV. Of the Arulpices and Pontifices. p, 69

Chap. V. Of the Flamines, Rex Sacrorum, Salii, Fe- ciales ^;^i Sod ales. P- 7^

Chap. VI. Of the Veftals. p^ 17

Chap^

CONTENTS.

Chap. VII. Of the Duumviri, Decemviri, and Quinde-

cemviri, Keepers of the Sibylline fVritings^ and of the

Cory ban tes, or Priefis ^Cybele, and the Epulones./>.79

Ghap. VIII. Of the Roman Sacrifices, p, 84

Chap. IX. Of the Roman Tear. p, S6

Chap. X. Of the Diftin5fion of the Rom^in Days. p. 89

Chap. XI. Of the Kalends^ Nones^ and Ides, P« 9 1

Chap. XII. i'he mo§f remarkable Fejiivals of the Romans,

as they fi and in the Kalendar, />. 92.

BOOK IIL

Of the Civil Government of the Romans.

CHAP. I. Of the general Divijions of the People, p, gj Chap. II. Of the S E t^ ^ T e* p. loi

Chap. III. Of the general Divi/tons of the Magtflratesy

and the Candidates for Offices. ?. 105

Chap. IV. 0//^^ Confuls. p. 107

Chap. V. Of the Didtator, and his Majler of the Horfe,

p. 109 Chap. VI. Of the Prastors. p. iii

Chap. VII. Of the Cenfors. />.. 112

Chap. VIII. 0///&^ Quseftors. p. 114

Chap. IX. Of the Tribunes of the People, p. 115

Chap. X. 0/ //^^ .Ediles. " p. iiG

Chap. XI. Of the Decemviri. P* ii?

Chap. XII. Tribuni Militum Confulari Poteftate.p. 1 19 Chap. XIII. Civil Officers of lefs Note^ or of lefs frequent

Occurrence in Authors^ and of the publick Servants .p. 120 Chap, XIV. Of the Provincial Magiflrates ; and firji

of the Proconfuls. p. 124

Chap. XV. Of the Provincial Prstors and Propraetors,

the Legati, Quseftors, ^;?i Proqusftors. p. 127

Chap.

CONTENTS.

Chap. XVI, Of the Comitla. p. 128

Ghap. XVII. Of the Roman Judgments j and Jirji of Private Judgments, P- ^34-

Chap. XVIII. Of Publick Judgments, P- ^37

Chap. XIX. Judgments of the whole People, ^.141 Chap. XX. Of the Roman Punifhments, p, 14^

Chap. XXI. Of the Roman Laws in general, p. 148 Chap. XXII. Of the Laws in particular \ and firfi of thofe relating to Religion, p, 150

Chap. XXIII. Laws relating to the Rights and Privileges of the Romd.n Citizens, ^.152

Chap, XXIV. Laws concerning Meetings^ &c. p, 154 Chap. XXV. Laws relating to the Se n at e. p. 156 Chap. XXVI. Laws relating to the Magifirates. />. 157 Chap. XXVII. Laws relating to Publick ConfiitutionSy Laws and Privileges, p. 1 60

Chap. XXVIII. Laws relating to the Provinces and the Governors of them, p. 161

Chap. XXIX. Leges Agrarian, cr Laws relating to Di- vifions of Lands amohg the People. p, 163

Chap. XXX. Laws relating to Corn, p, 16^

Chap. XXXL Laws for the regulating Expences. p, 166 Chap. XXXII. Laws relating to martial Affairs. />. 168 Chap. XXXIII. De Tutelis, or Laws concerning Ward- fhips, />. 169

Chap. XXXIV, Laws concerning fVills^ Heirs and Le- gacies p. 170 Chap. XXXV. Laws concerning Money, Ufury^ &c. ibid. Chap. XXXVI. Laws concerning the Judges. p. 171 Chap. XXXVII. Laws relating to Judgments, p, 173 Chap. XXXVIII. Lai^s relating to Crimes. ibid. Chap. XXXIX. Mifcellany Laws not fpoken of under the general Heads. p, iZo

BOOK

CON T E NTS.

BOOK IV.

The Roman Art of War.

CHAP. I. 'the Levies of the Roman Foot, Page 183 Ch2Lp^-ll. Levy and Review of the Cavalry, p. 185 Chap. III. The Military Oath^ and the Levie's of the Confederates. /). 188

Chap. IV. Of the Evocati. p. 189

Chap. V. Of the fever at Kinds of the Roman Foot 5 and their Divifwn into Manipuli, Cohorts and Le- gions, p. 1^0 Chap. VI. The Divifion of the Cavalry ; and of the Allies. p. 192 Chap. VII. The Offices in the Roman Army : And, frji^ Of the Centurions and Tribunes ; with the Commanders of the Horfe^ and of the Confederate Forces, P- ^93 Chap. VIII. Of the Legati, and the Imperator, or Ge- neral, p. n^6 Chap. IX. Of the Roman Arms and Weapons. p. 199 Chap. X. The Order of the Roman Army drawn up in Battalia. p. 203 Chap. XI. The Enfigns and Colours ; the Mufick •, the Word in Engagements ; the Harangues of the Ge^ neral. p. 2oy Chap. XII. The Form and Divifion of the Roman Camp. ^ p. 210 Chap. XIII. Of the Duties, Works, and Exercifes of the Soldiers. p. 212 Chap. XIV. Of the Soldiers Pay. p. 214 Chap. XV. Of the Military Punifhments, p. 2i^ Chap. XVI. Of the Military Rewards. p. 220 Chap XVII. The Roman Way of declaring War^ and of making League s» , ^.229* b Chap*

CO N T EN T S.

Chap. XVIII. The Romzn Method of treating the Peo- ple they conquer"* d \ with the Confiitutii/n of the Colo- nise, Municipia, Prefe^luras, and Provinces. />. 231

Chap. XIX. The Roman Way of taking 7'owns^ with the moft remarkable Inventions and Engines made Ufe of in their Sieges, T- '^^35

Chap. XX. The Naval JJf airs of the Romany P- ^39

BOOK V.

Mifcellany Cujioms of the Romans.

CHAP. I. Of the private Sports and Games, p, "i^^J Chap. II. Of the Circenftan Shows •, and fir ^ of the Pentatblum, the Chariot Races ^ the Ludus-Troj^e, and the Pyrrhica Sakatio. p. 252

Chap. III. Qf the Shows of wild Beafls^ and of the Naumachise. p. 26^

Chap. IV. 0/ //^^ G L A D I A T o R s. p. 270

Chap. V. 0/ //6^ L u D i-S c E N I c I, or Stage- Plays ; and fir/l^ Of the SatyreSy and the Mimick- Pieces -, with the Rife and Advances of fuch Entertainments among the Romans. />. 282

Chap. VI. Of the Ronnan Tragedy and Comedy, p, 286 Chap VII. Of the facred^ votive^ and funeral Games,

p, 296 Chap. VIII. Of the Roman Habit, p, 306

Chap, IX. Of the Roman Marriages, /^' 326

Chap. X. Of the Roman Funerals. p. 334

Chap. XI. Of the Roman Entertainments^ p. 365

Chap. XII. Of the Roman Names, . P- 3^o

Chap. XIII. Of the Roman Money, ?• 37^

INDEX Rerum & Verborum,

ESSAY

ESSAY L

0/ the Roman Learning.

H O E V E R confiders the ftrange Beginning of the Romrjn State, the Frame and Conflitu- tion on which it was firft fettled, together with the Qi^iality of the original Members, will think it no Wonder that the People, in that early Age, {hou*d have a Kind of Fierce- nefs, or rather Wildnefs in their Temper, utterly averfe to every Thing that was polite and agreeable. This favage Difpofition by Degrees turn'd into a rigid .severity, which encouraged them to rely folely on the Force of their Na- tive Virtue and Honour, without being beholden to the Advan- tage of Art, for the Improvement of their Reafon, or for the Afliftance of their Courage. Hence a Groflhefs of Invention pafs'd current with them for Wit, and Study was look'd on as an unmanly Labour : Efpecially while they found, that their exa6l DifcipHne, and unconquered Refolution, rendered them Mafters of Nations much more knowing than themfelves. All this is frankly acknowledged by their own Authors : Litera; in homine Romano go for a Wonder with Tully [a). And Virgil^ in a Reign when all the Civility and Learning of the World were tranfplanted to Rome^ choofeth to make the Arts of Government and War the diftinguifhing Excellencies of his Country, men.

Excudent alii fpirantia moiliUs cera : Credo equidem^ vivos ducent de marmore vultus : Orabunt caufas melius, coslique meatus Defcrihent radio^ ^ furgentia ftdera dicent : ITu regere irnperio populos, Romane^ memento ;

{a) De Nat, Deor. lib. i, DeSene&ute,

b 2

Hji

il E S SAY I.

H^s tihi erunt artes ; pacique hnponeve rnorerriy Farcere fuhjeSlis^ iy debellare fuperhos (a).

Others fhall beft infpire the mimick Brafs,

Or out of Marble carve a h'ving Face ;

Plead with more Force, and trace the heavenly Roads,

Defcribing the wide Empire of the Gods :

The wand'ring- Stars to ileady Rules confine.

And teach expedling Mortals when they'll fliine.

Thee Heavens, brave Roman^ form'd for high Command,

Be thefe thy Arts, from thy victorious Hand

To make glad Nations own their Peace beflowM,

To fpare the Suppliant, and pull down the Proud.

The Reafons, which Horace gives for the flow Advances of Poefy, will hold in every other J-^art of polite Learning :

Serus enhn Gracis admovh acumina chart is (b).

Their little Acquaintance with the fine Wits of Greece^ who had fettled the Staple of Arts and Learning in that Country, deprived them of an Opportunity to cultivate and beautify their Genius, which was form'd by Nature capable of the highefl Attainments. Some Kind of Poetry, indeed, they had in their ruftick Times ; but then the Verfes were fuch rude doggrel StufF, as old Ennius defcribes :

^alis Faun'i vatefqtie canebant^ Sluom neque Mujarum jcopulos qu'ijquam fuperarat^ Nee di5li Jludiofus erat.

Cicero is inclin'd to think, That the old Romans might pro- bably have gain'd fome little Knowledge in Philofophy from the InftruClions of Py^hagoras^ the famous Author of the Ital'ick Se6l, who flouriftied in Italy about the fame Time as the Tar- quins were expell'd the City. But the ancient Cuflom of Sing- ing to the Flute the Praifes of famous Men at great Entertain- ments, is the only Relique he can find of this Do6trine, which was deliver'd in Poetical Numbers (^),

Their Intercourfe v/ith Greece begun upon their Undertaking the Defence of that Country, againfl: Philip of Macedon^ who had a Defign on its Liberty, about the Year o^ Rome 555 ; when, according to their ufual Pradice, under the Name of Deliverers,

{a) ^neid. 6. [b) Lib. 2. Epift. i. (0 CUero Tufc. ^laji. lib, 4.

they

Of the R o M A N Learning. iii

they made themfelvcs rather the Mafters of that People. And then,

Gracia capfa ferum vi^orem ceplt^ ^ aries IntuUt agrejli Lat'io {a).

The greateft Number of eminent Poets, efpecially Dramatic Writers, flouriih'd between the End of the Firfl and the Third Punk Wars ; or from the Year of the City 512 to 6^7. The moft confiderable were Livius Andromcus^ Ncevius^ Emiius^ Pa^ cuv'ius^ Jcclus^ Ccscilms, Plautus^ Afranius^ 'Terence and Lu" cilius. And therefore Horace means only the firfl Punic War^ when he fays,

Et pofl Pun'ica hella quietus^ quairere ccepit^

^lid Sophocles^ i^ Thefpis iff Mfchylus utile ferrent :

Tentavit quoque^ rem ft dign} vert ere poffet (b).

The Studies of Philofophy and Rhetoric never made any tole- rable Progrefs before the Arrival o( the Achaians, who in the Year o'l Rome 586 or 587, to the Number of a Thoufand, or more, were fent for out of their own Country, where they had fhewu themfelves difafFe6ted to the Romans^ and were difpers'd in feve- ral Parts" of Z/^^/j'. Among thefe was the famous Polybius the Megahpolttan^ whofe great Parts and Learning not only gain'd him the entire Friendfhip of ^c'lpio /E^m)'liamis and Ltslius^ two of the greateft Romans in that Age, but procur'd too the Releafe of all his Countrymen that remain'd after fome Years Exile.

Moft of that Company, tho' not equal to Pohbtus^ yet being the principal Members of the chief Cities in Greece^ brought away a great Share of the Politenefs and reHn'd Arta of that Country : And being now reduc'd to a State of Life, which took from them all Thoughts of Publick Adion, they apply'd themfelves v/hollv to the Purfuit of Letters, as well to divert: the fad Reflexions of their Banilhment, as to improve and cul- tivate their iVTind {c).

In a few Years their Examples and Inflrudlions had wrote fuch a Grange Converfion in the Roman Youth, that the Senate fearing left the ancient Difcipline (hou'd by this Means be cor- rupted, and the Minds of the People foften'd and enervated by Study, confulted how to put a St(-p to this Vein of Politenefs, fo contrary to the rough and warlike Difpofitions of their

(a) Lib. 2. Epift. i. {b) Ibid, (c) Cafaubon. ChromL ad Po!^b. & Lommenf ad Sueton, de Grammar,

b 3 Anceftors,

iv E S S AT I.

Anceftors. To this Purpofe we meet with a Decree bearing Date in the Confulfhip of C. Fannius Strabo and M. Valerius Mejfala^ A. U, C. 592 ; by which it appears, that whereas Mar- cus Pomponius the Praetor had made a Report to the Senate about the Philofophers and Rhetoricians^ the Fathers did hereby order the aforefaid Praetor to take Cognizance of the Bufmefsy and to fuffer no fuch Men in Rome [a).

The eager Pafiion for Learning, which this Prohibition had in Tome Meafure allay'd, broke out with greater Heat and Force about fixteen Years after, upon this famous Occafion, as the Story may be made up out of feveral Authors {h\

The Athenians having plunJer'd Or opus a City o^ Bceotia, the Inhabitants made their Complaint at Rome ; the Romans refer- ring the Cafe to the Judgment of the Sicycnians, a Mulft of 500 Talents was impos'd on the Athenian State. Upon this Account it was refolv'd, that CommiiTioners fhould be fent to the Roman Senate, to procure a Mitigation of the Fine. The Perfons pitch'd on for this Service were Carneades the Academic k^ Diogenes the Stoick^ and Critolaus the Peripatetick. About the Time of their Coming, Authors are very little agreed ; but Petavius and Cafaubon fix it in the Six Hundred and Third Year after the Building of Rome. Moft of the ftudious Youths immediately waited on the old Gentleman at their Arrival, and heard them difcourfe frequently, with Admiration. It happened too, that they had each of them a difFerent Way in their Harangues ; for the Eloquence of Carneades was Violent and Rapid, Critolaus''^ Neat and Smooth, that of Diogenes Modeft and Sober. Carneades one Day held a full and accurate Difpute concerning Juftice ; the next Day he refuted all that he had faid before, by a Train of contrary Arguments, and quite took away the Virtue that he feem'd io firmly to have eflablifli'd. This he did to fhew his Faculty of confuting all Manner of pofitive Aflertions ; for he was the Founder of the Seco7id Academy^ a Se^t which denied that any Thing was to be perceiv'd or undei flood in the World, and fo introduc'd an univerfal Sufpenfion of AfTent It foon flew about the City that a certain Grecian (by whom they meant Carneades) carrying all before him, had imprefs*d fo flrange a Love upon the young Men, that, quitting all their Pleafures and Paflimes, they run mad, as it were, after Philofophy, This to the Generality of People was a very pleafant Sight, and they rejoic'd extremely

(j) Sueton. de. Clar. Gratrmat, cap. 1. A.GelL lib. 15. cap, II, {b) Plut. Cat, iinjif. A. G41. lib. 7. cap. 14, Macrob, Sat. i. cap. 15,

to

Of the Roman Learning. v

to find their Sons welcome the Grcscian Literature in fo kind a Manner. But old Cato the Cenfor took it much to Heart, fearing kfi the Youth, being diverted by fuch Entertainments, ftiou'd prefer the Glory of Speaking, to that of A6ling. So that, the Fame of the Philofophers encreafing every Day, he refolv'd to fend them packing as foon as poffible. With this Defign, coming into the Senate, he accufed the Magiftrates for not giving the Ambaf- fadors a fpeedier Difpatcb; they being Perfons who cou*d eafily perfuade the People to whatever they pleas'd. He advis'd therefore, that in all Hafle fomething ftiou'd be concluded on, that, being fent Home to their own Schools, they might declaim to the Gracian Children, and the Roman Youth might be obesr dient to their own Laws and Governors, as formerly.

The fame grave Difciplinarian, to fright his Son from znf Thing of the Grac'tans^ us*d to pronounce, like the Voice of aa Oracle, in a harfher and louder Tone than ordinary, l^hat the Romans wou'd certainly be deflroyed^ when they began once to be infe^ed with Greek. But *tis very likely that he afterwards alter'd his Mind j fmce his Learning Greek in his old Age is a known Story, and depends on good Authority [a). The Lord Bacon fays, 'Twas a Judgment upon h'lm^ for his former Blafphemies {b).

The Ambafladors, upon the Motion of Cato^ had a quick Difmiflion, but left fo happy an Inclination in the young Gen- tlemen to Philofophy and good Letters, that they grew every Day more enamour'd of Study ; and ftiew'd as much Diligence in their Purfuits of Knowledge, as they had ever done in their Applications to War.

In the Year of the City 6o8 or 609, Greece^ whicK had hi- therto retained fome Shadow of Liberty, tho' it had been a long while at the Romans Command, was, upon fome flight Occafion, entered with an Army under L. Mummius^ and reduc'd to the common State of the other conquered Nations. This Exploit happening in the very fame Year that Carthage was deftroy'd by P. Scipio /Emylianus, it will be very pleafant to obferve the diffe- rent Genius of the two Commanders, who had the Honour of thefe Atchievements ; and to fee how Politenefs and the ancient Simplicity were now at Strife in Rome. Mummius was fo far unskill'd in the curious Inventions of Art, that after the Taking of Corinth^ when a great Number of admirable Pi6^ures and Statues, by the beft Mafters, came into his Hands, he told

{a) Cicero Academ. I. De SeneB, ^ir.EJiliixn. /;/?, lib. 12* cap. II. {b) Ad- ■vaxjcemeflt of Learning, Book i.

b 4 the

vi ESSAY I.

the Servants that were to carry them into Italy ^ If they lofl am by the IVay^ they Jhou'd certainly find him new cnes in their Room (a).

Scipio on the other Hand, to the Courage and Virtue of an- cient Heroes, had joln'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. Pa- n^etiusy whom Tully calls the Prince of the Stoicks, and the in- comparable Hifi-orian Polyhius^wtre. his Bofom-Friends, the Af- fifters of his Studies at Home, and the conftant Companions of his Expeditions {b). To which may be added the Remark of a very great Man, 'That he pafs'd the Jo ft Hours of his Life in the Converfation c/'Xerence, and zuas thought to have a Part in the Compofition of his Comedies (c).

The higheft Pitch of the Roman Grandeur, in the Time of the Commonwealth, is thought to have been concluded before the final Redudion o( Carthage and of Greece (d) ; and the common Reafon affignM 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 Ro?ne i and maintained their Luxury, as well as their Studies and Converfation, at her Charge. But however their ancient Prowefs might decline, it*s certain the Conqueft of the great Empire of Science was now carried on more vigoroufly than ever. The Tide of Learning and Humanity run every Day with greater Force, and, after the famous Cato^ fcarce met with any to oppofe it. Between this Period, and the Death of Sylla (fcarce Se- venty Years,) the moft renown'd Orators, Crajfus and Antony ^ rul'd the Forum^ who were fucceeded by Sidpicius^ Cotta^ Hor- tenfus^ and other great Names recorded by Tully in his Brutus, At the fame time, the two Sca:vola's^ the Augur ^ and the Pontiffs advanc'd Civil Law to its full Perfedtion. And Lucretius (who wrote about the Time of the Jugurthine War) as he excell'd even the Gra:ci^n Difciples of Epicurus^ in explaining and defend- ing his Dodtrine, fo he diredis us where to begin, in fixing the Height and Purity of the Ro?nan Poefy and Style (^). Philofo- phers were now in unlverfal Honour and Requeft, being invited from all Parts for the Education and Inftrudtion of young No- blemen, and for Advice and Afiiftance of the greateft Miniilers

(a) V^II, Pater c. lib. I. cap. 13. {h) Ih. {c) Sir TV! 11. rcmfle\ Mi (eel. P. 2. EHay 4. \d) Cafaul>on, Chronolog, ^^ Polyb. (?) Sir M^ilL Tm/>/«'s Mfceh P. 2. Eilay 1,

Of the Ro M A N Learning. vii

of State. And what is moft furprlzlng, Arts and Civility were rather encouraged than frighted away by the Wars, and the Mufes, like their Patronefs Minerva^ had very often their Refi- dence in the Camp. Sylla himfelf wrote two and twenty Books of Memoirs (^), and contributed in an extraordinary Manner, to the Advancement of Knowledge, by tranfporting to Rome the famous Library of Apellicon the Peripatetic^ in which were moft of Ar]Jlotle and Theophraflus's Works;, which had been long unknown to the greateft Part of their Followers (^).

Sylla\ Rival, Marius, was the only Man of Note, in that Age, who retain'd the old Sournefs and unpolifti'd Manner of the firfl: Romans. He indeed would never ftudy Greeks nor fufFer that Language to be ufed in any Matters of Confequence ; as thinking it ridiculous to beftow Time in that Learning, the Teachers vi^hereof were little better than Slaves {c).

But then Lucullus^ who fucceeded Sylla in the Military Glory, as to Matters of Learning, was much his Superior. In hisYouth he had fo abfolute a Command of the Two only Tongues then in Requeft, that, upon a Project of compiling an Hiftory, h© fairly took his Chance, whether he fhou'd write in Greek or La- tin, in Profe or Verfe. And after all his Feats of Arms in the Mithridatick War, when he was deprived of his Command by the prevailing Fadion of Rompey^ the great Employment of his Privacv and Retreat was the Promoting of Knowledge. With this Defign he built a Library, furnifhVl it with a vaft Num- ber of Books fairly tranfcrib'd, and made it free to all Comers. The Walks and Schools, which he rais'd near the Library, were always full of (jr^ar7?zj', who, retiring thither from Bufmefs, divert- ed one another with Conferences and Debates, in the fame Man- ner as was ufed in their own Country ; making Advantage of friendly Converfation t )ward the Improvement of their Under- ftandlngs. LucitUus himfelf often ftudied there, fometimes dlf- puting with the learned Men, and fometimes giving his Advice in Matters of State, to thofe that defired it ; tho' he meddlei with no publick Bufmefs in Perfon. He wis very well versM in all the Se^ls of Philofophy, but adher'd clofely to the old Academy, whereas his Friend Cicero was a great Stickler for the New. Hence it is that we find the latter Book of the Aca^ demic ^jeftio?is infer ib'd Lucullus 'i where that great Man is brought in defending the Opinions of his Se6l {d).

' {a)TIutarchvs in Sylla. [h) IblJ. Sc Straho, lib. 13. (c) FLtarch. in M rio. {dj Plutardus in Lucnih. • .

The

viii ESSAT I.

The whole Majefty of Language, and Height of Eloquence, fhone out, as it were, all at once, in Tally ; fo that Paterculus has well obferv'd, DeleSfari ante eum paucijftmis^ 7mrari vero ne- tiunem pojfis^ n'lft aut ah illo vifum^ aut qui ilium viderit (a).

Perhaps the fame Remark will hold good in his Philofophy ; or, at leaft, with refpeiSl: to his Predeceflors, the latter Study will yield him an equal Praife with the former. For to handle this S\ibje(5l in Latin Profe, was purely a new Province referv'd for his Management, and left untouch'd till that Time by the Learned. Thus much he lets us know in feveral Parts of his Works, particularly in bis Proem to the Tufculan Queftions ; where at the fame time he gives us a fhortAccountof theProgrefs and Advances of Arts among the Romans, infinitely worth the tranfcribing : Memn femper judicium fuit, &c. It was always my Opinion, fays he, That either our Ccuntryinen have been more happy in their Inventions of every kind, than the Greeks ; or. That they have ?nade a vafi Impxcve?nent in whatever they borrowed fro?n that Natio)i, and thought worth their while to polijh and re- fine. For as to the Ccnducl of Life, and the Rules of Breeding and Behaviour^ together with the Management of Family Concerns ^ we are Mujiers of more Exa^inefs, and have a much gent eller Air* If we afcend to the Governing and Regulating of public k States, our ylnccjiors may jujily claim the Preference in this Part of IVifdom^ on Jccount of their ad?nirable Laws and Injiitutions. In militajy Jffairs we have 7nade a more conftderahle Advance than any before us, which is owing 710 lefs to our Difcipline^ than to mir yiative Bravery.

^Tis true, Greece has always had the Renowyi beyond us for their Attaintnents in every Part of Lear7iing, and it was an eafy Matter to conquer, when they met with no Oppoftion. Poetry^ the ?nofl ancient Sort of Writmg, had but a late Reception among us: /br Livius Andronicus pr efented his firji Dramatick Piece 510 (it fliould be 5 1.4) Tears after the Building of Rome, in the Confulfhip (p/C. Claudius, Son to Appius Caecus, andM.. Tu- ditanus, a Tear before the Bii'th of Ennius, who is Senior to Plautus and Nsevius.

As he goes on, he attributes the flov/ Progrefs of Poefy to the Want of due Reward and Encouragement, and tells us, that, ill a publick Oration of Cato's, it was objecf^ed as a Reproach to Afarcus NohtUor, that he had carried the Poet Ennius with him into Mtolia, when he went to refide there as Governor. That

[a) Fiji. lib. J. cap. I7.

there

0/ /^^ R o M A N Learning. ix

there was no Part of the Maihematkks (which the Graclans efteem'd fo honourable a Study) of Ufe in Rome^ but the bare Pradice of Meafuring, and cafting Accompt. For Oratory, he obferves, that the Romans embracM this very foon, but at firft without the Advantages of a learned Inftitution ; which were afterwards added with fo much Succefs, as to fet them on equal Terms with the moft eloquent Mafters of Greece : But that PhiJofophy had lain negledted till that Time, and had met with no eminent Author to adorn it in the Latin Tongue. This therefore he profefTeth to undertake as his proper Office ; and how happily he fucceeded in the Attempt, his Works on that Subje£l will be a lafting Argument.

If we compare Tully with his Friend Jiticus^ we find them both together anfwering the two excellent Ends of Philofophy, the Service of the Publick, and the private Eafe and Tranquillity of an inofFenfive Life : The former directed all his Studies to Action, in the Defence of the Commonwealth, and theOppofmg all Defigns on its Liberty : The latter, by never entering the Scene of Bufmefs, made himfelf equally honoured and courted by all Parties, from Sylla to Augujius Cesfar, The one gain*d to himfelf more Glory, the other more hearty Love and E- fteem ; and I believe moft Perfons wou*d be inclined to follow Atticus^ and to commend Cicero.

Crajpis^ Pompey^ Antony^ Cafar^ Cato, and Brutus^ who made fuch a Noife in the World, almoft all at the fame Time, were the moft refin'd Scholars of their Age. The three firft indeed confinM themfelves to the Practice of Eloquence, till they were wholly diverted by the Profeffion of Arms. But the three laft, as they outflione the former in Oratory, fo they had made much greater Advances in the other Parts of human Learning. Poetry and Philofophy were the Diverfion of C<r- far'^s leifure Hours ; and his Hiftory will be the Model of good Language, as long as himfelf is the Example of great Atchieve- ments.

The whole ConducSt of Cato's Life (hews him a greater Stoic than the mofl: rigid ProfelTors of that Se£t ; or, however they might equal him in Knowledge, 'tis certain he (ham*d them in Pfa«Stice.

Brutus had been a Hearer of all the SqSis of Philofophers, and made feme Proficiency in every one. When a Soldier under Pompey, in the Civil Wars, all the Time that he was in the Camp, except what he fpent in the General's Company, he employed in Reading and Study. And the very Day before

the

X ESSAY I.

the declfive Battle at Pharfalla^ tho* it was then the VW^dX^ of Summer, and the Camp undtT many Inconveniences, and he himfelf extremely harrafs'd and out of Order ; yet while others were either laid down to ileep, or taken up with Apprehenfions about the liTue of the Fight, he fpent all his Time, 'till the Evening, in writing the Epitome of Polyhius [a).

It's univerfally known, th^it the Roman Literature, as well as Empire, was in Its higheft Afcendant under Augujiiis. All the delicate Fruits, tranfplanted from Greece^ were now in their Bloflbm, being chcrifli'd by the Cahnnefs of the Seafon, and cultivated by the Hr.nd of an Emperor.

I have often wonderM that Mcecenas fhou'd all along carry ^way the {o\q Honour of encouraging the Wit and Knowledge of this Reign ; Vv'hen it Teems probable that he a£led only in Imitation of his Mafler ; as the Humours of Princes commonly determine the Inclinations of their Favourites. The quite Con- trary happen'd to the other great Minifler Jgrippa ; the Glory of his Exploitb was reftrr'd to the Emperor, whilfl the Empe- ror's Bounty advanced Miccenas\ Elleem. And, indeed, the Celebration of Ai{guftui''s Triumphs, and the Panegyricks on his Piety, were flifficient to fet him out in the moll taking Co- lours : But, had Mcccenas been denied the fliining Character of a Patron, he might have roll'd on in Silence among Epicurus^s Herd, and we lliould fcarce have feen him drawn by the Poets Hands, unlefs in the fame Poflure zsSilenus :

Infiatiim heftcrno venas^ ut fr?npe}\ laccho : Serta prccul capit'i tantum delapja jaccbantj Et gravis attritd pendehat cantbarus anfa {b).

But, whichever of the Two was the nobler Patron, Augujlus muu be acknowledged to have been the greater Scholar. And for Proof, we need go no farther than Suetonius^ who has fpent no lefs than fix Chapters on the Learning of this Emperor. His prodigious Induftry in the Study of Eloquence and liberal Arts ; his Labour in compofing every Thing that he fpoke in Publick, tho' he had a very good Faculty at extempore Harangues ; his polite and clean Style ; his accurate Knowledge of the Gnecian Literaure, by the Affiftance of their beft Adafters of Rhetoric and Philofophy \ the Thirteen Books of the Hiftory of his

[a) Tlutai-ch. In Brut. [b) V^^l Eclcg. 6.

own

Of the Roman Learnmg, xi

own Life ; his Exhortation to Philofophy, " with feveral other Works in Profe ; his Book of Hexameters, and another of Epi- grams, all confider'd together, may equal him with the moft learned Princes in Story.

Being thus arriv'd at the hfghetl Point of the Roman Attain- ments, it cannot be unpleafant to look about us, and to take a fhort Sur^^ey of the Produrlions in every Kind. Eloquence in- deed will appear at fome Diftance, rather in the Auguftan Age, than in Juguftush Reign, ending in Cicero^ at the Diflblution of the Commonwealth. Not that his Death was properly the Ruin of his Profeflicn ; for the Philofopher might have liv*d much lon^'er ; and yet the Orator have been gone, when once the ancient Liberty v/as taken away, which infpired him with all his lofty Thoughts, and was the very Soul of his Harangues. But then the Bounds of Hidory and Poefy were fix'd under the Emperor's Protection, by Liw^ ViT^gH-, and Horace. And if we defire a View of Philofophy, the two Poets will account for that as well as for their own Province.

I think none will deny Horace the Elogy given him by a cele- brated Writer, That he ivas the greatefl Majler of Life^ and of true Senfe in the ConduSi of it (a). Efpecially fmce the Author of that Jud2;ment is one of thofe whom (had he liv'd then) Horace bimfelf wou'd have willingly chofe for his Judge ; and jnferted in that fhort Catalogue of Men of Wit and Honour, whom he defired fliould approve his Labours (h).

Whether or no tlie common Saying be true, that, if all Arts and Sciences were lofl, they might be found in Virgil^ it's plain he div'd very deep into the Myfteries of natural Science, which he fets forth in all its Ornaments, in feveral Parts of his fublime Work. And in that admirable Place of his Second Georgicy when he exprefTeth, in a Sort of Tranfport, his Inclinations to Poefy, he feems to di-rc6l its whole End tov;ards the Specula- tions of the Philofophers, and to make the Mufes Hand-maids to Nature :

Afe vera primum dukes ante omnia Mufce^ ^uarum facra fero ingenti perculfus amore^ Jccipiant ; coelique vias & fydera monfirent^ DefeSlus foUs varios^ Lunaque labor es :

{a) Sir mu. Temp's z Mifccllan, p. 2. Eflay 2. {b) Bcok I. Sat. lo.

Unde

xii ES SAY I.

Vnde tremor terris^ qua vt maria alia tumefcant Obicibus ruptis^ rurjufque in feipfa refidant : ^id tantwn Oceano proper ent fe finger e foles Hyberni : vel qua tardis mora nodfibus objlet.

For me ^ the firfl Defire, which does controul AH the inferior Wheels that move my SouJ, Is, that the Mufe me her High-prieft would make ; Into her holy Scenes of Myftery take. And open there, to my Mind's purged Eye, Thofe Wonders which to Senfe the Gods deny ; How in the Moon fuch Change of Shapes is found : The Moon, the changing World's eternal Bound : What fhakes the folid Earth : What ilrong Dif^-afc Dares trouble the far Centre's ancient Eafe : What makes the Sea retreat, and what advance ; Varieties too regular for Chance : What drives the Chariot on of Winter's Light, And flops the lazy Waggon of the Night.

Mr. Cowley.

After Augujius^ the Roman Mufes, as well as the Eagles, ftoop'd from their former Height ; and perhaps one of thcfe Misfortunes might be a necellary Confequence of the other. I am very forry when I find either of them attributed to the Change of Government, and the Settlement of the Monarchy : For, had the Maxims and the Example of Auguftus been purfu'd by his Succeflbrs, the Empire, m all Probability, might have been much more glorious than the Commonwealth. But while a new Scheme of Politicks was introduc'd by Tiberius^ and the Cafars began to a6l what the "Tarquins wou'd have been aftiam'd of, the Learning mi^ht very well be corrupted, together with the Manners and the Difcipline, and all beyond any Hopes of a Recovery.

It cannot be denied, that fome of the worft Princes were the moft paffionate AfFecSlers of Learning, particularly Tiberius^ Claudius, and Nero : But this rather deterr'd other Men from fuch Attempts, than encourag'd them in their Purfuits ; while an applauded Scholar was as much envied, as a fortunate Commander ; and a Rival in Wit accounted as dangerous as a Contender for the Empire ; the firft being certainly the more hard Combatant, who dar'd challenge his Maftcrs at their own Weapons.

Whatever

Of the Roman Learning. xlii

Whatever Eflays were made to recover the langulfhing Arts under Vefpafian^ I'iius^ and 'Jjomitian (for this laft too was an Encourager of Poefy, tho' he banifh'd the Philofophers) fcarce fervid to any better Purpofe, than to demonftrate the poor Suc- €ers of Study and Application, while the ancient Genius was wanting.

In the fix next Reigns immediately following Domltlarty Learning feems to have enjoy'd a Sort of lucid Interval, and the banifti'd Favourite was again admitted to the Court, being highly countenanced and applauded by the beft Set of Princes Rome ever faw.

Not to inquire after the Produ6Vions of the other Reigns, the ufeful Labours of 'Tacitus^ Suetonius^ and Pliny Jtmiory will make the Government of Trajan more famous than all his Feats of Arms. If they are lefs happy in their Language than the Ancients, in other Refpe6ls, perhaps, they have overmatch'd them ; the Hiftorians in the Delicacy of their Politicks, and the fmcere Truth of their Relations ; and the Orator in his Wit and good Senfe. If we add to thefe Plutarch^ who wrote moft of his Works in Rcjne^ and was honour'd by Trajan with the Confulfhip ; and ^Hintilian^ who flourifli'd a very little Time before ; they may pafs for the Twilight of Learning af- ter the Sun-fet of the Auguflan Age, or rather be refembled to a glimmering Taper, which cafts a double Light when it's juft on the Point of expiring.

'Tis an Obfervation of Sir JVilUam Temple^ That all the La- tin Books, vi'hich v/e have 'till the End of Trajan^ and all the Greek 'till the End of Marcus Antoninus^ have a true and very ejlimahle Value ; but that all, written fince that Time, owe their Price purely to our Curiofity, and not their own Worth and Excellence.

But the Purity of the Tongue was long before corrupted, and ended, in Sir William Templets Judgment, with l^elleius Paterculus under Tiberius. The Reafon he afTigns for this Decay is, the ftrange Refort -of the ruder Nations to Rome^ after the Conqueft of their own Country.

Thus the Gauls and Germans flock'd in Multitudes both to the Army and the City, after the Reducing of thofe Parts by Julius Ca:far^ Jugujius^ and Tiberius ; as many Spaniards and Syrians had done before, on the like Account : But the greateft Confluence of Foreigners follow'd upon the Vidories ofTi^ajan in the Eafis and his Eftabliftiment of the three new Provinces, Jrrpenia^ JJfyria^ and Mefopotamia, And though Adrian vo- luntarily

XIV

ESSAT L

liintarily relinquifh'd thefe new Acquifitions, yet the prodi- gious Swarms of the Natives, who had waited on his Prede- ceflbrs Triumphs, were ftlJI obhged to h've in Rcrne^ in the Condition of Slaves.

The greateft Part of the fucceeding Princes, who found it fo hard an Enterprize to defend their own Territories, had h-tle Leifure or Concern to guard the PoflefTions of the Mufes. And therefore Claudian in thofe Verfes of his Panegyric on Stilko^

Hinc prifcts redeunt artes^ felicibus inde Ingeniis aperitur iter^ defpe^aque Mufte Colla levant ;

is guilty of a great Piece of Flattery, in making that Minifter the Reftorer of polite Studies, when it is plain, that in his Time (under Honorius) were the laft Strugglings of the Roman State.

The Goths and Vandals^ who foon carried all before them, might eafily fright Learning and Sciences ofF the Stage, fmce they were already fo much out of Countenance ; and thus render the Conquerors of the Univerfe as rough and iJh'terate as their firft Progenitors.

In this Manner, the Inundations of the barbarous People prov'd equally fatal to Arts and Empire ; and Rome herfclf, when (he ceas'd to be the Miftrefs of the World, in a little Time quite forgot to fpeak Latin.

ESSAY

[xv]

ESSAY II.

Of the Roman 'Education.

IS an obvious Remark, that the flrongeft Body owes its Vigor, in a great Meafure, to the very Milk it received in its Infan- cy, and to the firft Knitting of the Joints : That the moft ftately Trees, and the faireft Herbs and Flowers, are beholden for their Shade and Beauty to the Hand that firft fix*d them in an agreeable Soil : An Advantage, which if they happen to want, they feldom fall to degenerate into Wildnefs, and to af- fume a Nature quite different from their proper Species. Eve- ry one knows how to apply the fame Obfervaticn to Morals, who has the Senfe to difcover it in Naturals. Hence the moft renown'd People, in Story, are thofe whofe Lawgivers thought it their nobleft and moft important Work, to prefcribe Rules for the early Jnftitution of Youth. Oii this Bafis, Lycurgus founded the glorious Difcipline of the Spartans^ which continuM for Five Hundred Years, without any confiderable Violation. The Indian Brachmans had a Strain beyond all the Wit of Greece^ beginning their Care of Mankind even before their Birth., and employing much Thought and Diligence about the Diet and En^ tertainment of their breeding Women ; fo far as to furnifh them with pleaf'ant Imaginations^ to compofe their Minds and their Sleep with the befi Temper, during the Time that they carried their Burthen (a),

Plutarch feverely reprehends the Condu(Sl of Numa^ that, in his Settlement of the Roman Stiite, he did not in the firft Place

(*») %\xWill. T^m^le\ MtfulL P. 2. EfT-y :.

provide

xvi ESSAY II.

provide and conftitute Rules for the Education of Children ; and makes the RemifTnefs in this early Difcipline, the chief Caufe of the feditious and turbulent Temper of that People, and what contributed highly to the Ruin of the Commonwealth [a). Thus much indeed feems to be agreed on by the latter Hiflori- ans, That, in the loofer Times of the Empire, the fhameful Neg- ligence of Parents and Inftru6tors, with its neceflary Confe- quence, the Corruption and Decay of Morality, and good Let- ters, flruck a very great Blow towards the Diflblving of that glorious Fabrick. But in the rifmg Ages of Rome^ while their Primitive Integrity and Virtue flourifhed with their Arms and Command, the Training up of Youth was look'd on as a moft Sacred Duty ; and they thought themfelves in the highcft Man- ner oblig'd to leave fit Succeflbrs to the Empire of the World. So that upon a fhort Survey of the whole Method of Difcipline from the Birth to the Entrance on publick Bufinefs, they will appear fo far to have exceeded the Wifdom and Care of other Nations, as to contend for this Glory, even with the ancient Spartans^ whom Plutarch has magnified To much beyond them : Efpccially, if we agree with a great Judge, That the Taking no Care about the Learning, but only about the Lives and Man- ners of Children, may bejuflly thought a Dcfe<5l in Lycurgus'^- Inftitution (/>).

^intilian (or Tadtits) in the Dialogue de Oratoribus, gives an excellent Account of the old Way of breeding Children, and fets it ofF with great Advantage, by comparing it with the Modern.

" As foon as the Child was born, he was not given in Charge '* to an hir'd Nurfe, to live with her in fome pitiful Hole that *•' ferv'd for her Lodgings ; but was brought up in the Lap and *' Bofom of the Another, who reckoned it among her chief Com- " mendations, to keep the Houfe, and to attend on the Children. " Some ancient Matron was pitch'd on out of the Neighbours, " whofe Life and Manners rendered her worthy of that Office, " to whofe Care the Children of every Family were committed ; " before whom 'twas reckon'd the moft heinous Thing in the *' World, to fpeak an ill Word, or to do an ill Adtion. Nor had ** flie an Eye only on their Inftrudtion, and the Bufinefs that " they were to follow, but with an equal Modefty and Gravity, " file regulated their very Divertifements and Recreations. Thus

(.1) Plutarch. Compar. of N'lmn ^n\ Lycurg. (l>) Archbifliop Ti!lotJon"& Ser-

mon of Education.

*' Cornelia y

Of the R o M A N Education, xvii

*^ Cornelia^ Aurelia and Attka^ Mothers to the Gracchi^ 'Jullui '* Cafar and Augujlus^ are reported to have undertaken the " Office of Governefies, and to have employed themfelves in *' the Education of Noblemen's Children. The Stri<Slners and Severity of fuch an»Inftitution had this very good Defign, That the Mind being thus preferv'd in its primitive Inno- cence and Integrity, and not debauch'd by ill Cuftom or ill Example, might apply itfelf with the greateft Willingnefs to liberal Arts, and embrace them with all its Powers and Fa* culties. That, whether it was particularly inclined either to the Profeffion of Arms, or to the Underftanding of the Law, or to the Practice of Eloquence ; it might make that its only Bufmefs, and greedily drink in the whole Knowledge of the favourite Study.

" But now the young Infant is given in Charge to fome poor Gr^r/^« Wench, and one or two of the Serving-men, perhaps, are join'd in the Commiflion ; generally the meaneft and moft ill-bred of the whole Pack, and fuch as are unfit for any ferious Bufmefs. From the Stories and Tattle of fuch fine Compani- ons, the foft and flexible Nature muft take its firft Imprefliott and Bent. Over the whole Family there is not the leaft Care taken of what is faid or done before the Child ; while the very Parents, inftead of inuring their dear little Ones to Virtue and Modefty, accuftom them, on the quite contrary, to Licentioufnefs and Wantonnefs, the natural Refult of *' which, is a fettled Impudence, and a Contempt of thofe " very Parents, and every Body elfe."

Thus altho' the Care and Inftrudion of Youth, among the old Romans, had been provided for by the Publick Laws, as in the Spartan State, yet the voluntary Diligence of Parents would have made all fuch Regulations fuperfluous.

Among the Domeftick Cares, it will not be from the Purpofe to take particular Notice of one, which required little Trouble or Difficulty, and yet prov'd as beneficial and ferviceable as any other InlHtution : I mean the ufing Children to fpeak the Language purely at firft, by letting them hear nothing but the trueft and moft proper Phrafe. By this only Advantage feveral Perfons arrived at the ordinary Repute in the Forum^ who were fo unhappy as to want many other Qualifications.

TuUy fays that the Gracchi were educated, non tarn in gremioy quam in fermone Matris : And he reports of C. Cut'io, who v/as reckoned the third Orator of his Time, that he underftood no Poetj had read no Books of Eloquence, had made no Hiftorical

c 2 Col-

xviii ESSAY II.

Colledions ; and had no Knowledge of the Publick or Private Part of the Law. The only Thing which gain'd him his Applaufe was a clean, fliining Phrafe, and a fudden Quicknefs and Flu- ency of Expreflion. This he got purely by the Benefit of his Pri- vate Education ; being usM to fuch a corredl and poliftied Way of fpeaking in the Houfe where he was brought up {a).

For Makers, in the firft Place, they had the LkeraUres, or rpa/x/^x-artra*, who taught the Children to read and \yrlte : To thefe they were committed about the Age of Six or Seven Years (b). Being come from under Their Care, they were fent to the Grammar Schools^ to learn the Art of fpeaking well, and the underftanding of Authors : Or more frequently in the Houfe of great Men, fome eminent Grammarian was entertained for that Employment.

It is pleafant to confider, what Prudence was us'd in thefe early Years to inftil into the Children's Minds a Love and Incli- nation to the Forum^ whence they were to expe£l the greateft Share of their Honours and Preferments. For Cicero tells AtticuSy in his Second Book de Legibus^ That when they were Boys, they us'd to learn the famous Laws of the Twelve Tables by Heart, in the fame Manner as they did an excellent Poem. And Plu^ tarch relates in his Life of the younger Cato, That the very Children had a Play, in which they a£tcd Pleadings of Caufes before the Judges ; accufmg one another, and carrying the condemned Party to Prifon.

The Mafters already mention'd, together with the Infl:ru6lors in the feveral Sorts of manly Excicifes, for the improving of their natural Strength and Force, do not properly deferve that Name, if fet in View with the Rhetoricians and Philofophers ; who, after that Reafon had difplay'd her Faculties, and eftablifh'd her Command, were employ'd to cultivate and adorn the Ad- vantages of Nature, and to give the laft Hand toward the form- ing of a Roman Citizen. Few Perfons made any great Figure on the Scene of A6tion in their own Time, or in Hifi:ory af- terwards, who, befides the conftant Frequenting of Publick Le- ctures, did not keep with them in the Houfe fome eminent ProfefTor of Oratory or Wifdom.

I have often thought, That one main Reafon of the prodigious Progrefs made by young Gentlemen, under thefe private Tu- tors, was the~ perfed Love and Endearment which we find

Brut, (f>^ Dackr inlkrjLt, Sat. I. Ub, I.

t«

Of the Roman Education. xix

to have been between Mafter and Scholar, by which Means Government and InftrucSlIon proceeded in the fweeteft and ea- fieft Way. All Perfons in the Happy Ages of Rome had the fame Honour and Refpe£i: for their Teachers, as Perfius had for his Mafter, Cornutus the ^toick^ to vv^hom addreffing himfelf in his firft Satyr, he thus admirably defcribes his own Love and Piety to his Governor, and the ftrid Friendftiip that was between them :

Cumque iter amblguum ejl^ & vita nefclus error

Diducit trepidas ramofa in compita mentes^

Me tibi fuppofui : teneros tu fufcipis annos

Socratico, Cornute, y/«« ; tunc fuller e folers

Appofita intortos extendit regula mores ;

Et premitur ratione animus^ vincique lahorat',

Artificemque tuo ducit fuh pollice vultum,

Tecum etenim longos metnini confumere foles ;

Et tecum primas epulis decerpere no6ies.

XJnum opus^ ^ requiem pariter difponimus ambOy

Atque verecundd laxamus feria menfd,

Non equidem hoc dubites amborum feeder e certo

Conf entire dies^ & ab uno Jldere duci,

Nojira vel aquali fufpendit tempora libra

Parca tenax veri^ feu nata fideltbus hora

Dividit in Geminos c one ordia fata duorum ;

Sa.turnu.mquc gravem nojiro J ovQfregimus una.

Nejcio quod^ certe eji quod me tibi temperat aftrum,

Juft at the Age when Manhood fet me free,

I then deposed myfelf, and left the Reins to thee :

On thy wife Bofom I repos'd my Head,

And by my better Socrates was bred.

Then thy ftraight Rule fet Virtue in my Sight,

The crooked Line reforming by the Right.

My Reafon took the Bent of thy Command ;

Was form'd and polifhM by thy skilful Hand.

Long Summer Days thy Precepts I rehearfe,

And Winter Nights were fhort in our Converft,

One was our Labour, one was our Repofe ;

One frugal Supper did our Studies clofe.

Sure on our Birth fome friendly Planet {hone.

And, as our Souls, our Horofcope was one ;

c 3 Whether

XX E S S A r II.

Whether the mounting Twins did Heaven adorn. Or with the rifing Balance we were born. Both have the fame Impreflion from above. And both have Saturn's Rage, repelPd by Jove. What Star I know not, but fome Star, I find. Has given thee an, Afcendant o'er my Mind.

[Mr. Dryden.

Nor was the Reverence, paid by the Publick to the Informers of Youth, lefs remarkable than the Efteem and Duty of their Scholars* Which makes Juvenal break out into that elegant Rapture :

D'ti majorum umhrls tenuem i^ fine pondere terrain^ Spirantefque crocos^ iff in urnd pefpetuum ver^ ^i prceceptorem JanSii voluere parentis Ejje loco {a}.

In Peace, ye Shades of our great Grandfires, reft ; No heavy Earth your facred Bones moleft. Eternal Springs and lifing Flowers adorn The Reliques of each venerable Urn : Who pious Reverence to their Tutors paid, As Parents honoured, and as Gods obey'd.

[Mr. Charles Dryden,

At the Age of Seventeen Years, the young Gentlemen, wheri they put on the manly Gown, were brought in a folemn Manner to the Forum J and enter'd in the Study of Pleading : Not only if they defign'd to make this their chief Profeflion, but altho' their Inclinations lay rather to the Camp. For we fcarce meet with any famous Captain who was not a good Speaker , or any eminent Orator, who had not ferv'd fome Time in the Army. Thus it was requifite for all Perfons, who had any Thoughts of rifmg in the World, to make a good Appearance, both at the Bar, and in the Field ; becaufe, if the Succefs of their Valour and Condu£t fhou'd advance therti to any confiderable Poft, it wou'd have prov'd almoft impolTible, without the Advantage of Eloquence, to maintain their Authority with the Senate and People : Or, if the Force of their Oratory fliou 'd in Time procure

{a) Sat. 7,

^hem

Of the Roman Education, xxi

them the honourable Office of Prator or ConfuU they would not have been in a Capacity to undertake the Government of the Provinces (which fell to their Share at the Expiration of thofe Employments) without fome Experience in military Com- mand.

Yet becaufe the Profeffion of Arms was an Art which wou*d eaflly give them an Opportunity of lignalizing themfelves, and in which they wou*d almoft naturally excel, as Occafions fhou'd be afterwards offered for their Service ; their whole Application and Endeavours were dire6ted at prefent to the Study of Law and Rhetorick, as the Foundations of their future Grandeur. Or, perhaps, they, now and then, made a Campaign, as well for a Diverfion from feveral Labours, as for their Improvement in martial Difcipline.

In the Dialogue de Oratoribus, we have a very good Account of this Admiffion of young Gentlemen into the Forum^ and of the Neceffity of fuch a Courfe in the Commonwealth ; which, coming from fo great a Mafter, cannot fail to be very per- tinent and inftrudtive.

" Among our Anceftors, fays the Author, the Youth who was *' defign'd for the Forum^ and the Practice of Eloquence, being *' now furnifli'd with the liberal Arts, and the Advantage of a " Domeftick Inftitution, was brought by his Father or near Rela- ** tions, to the moft celebrated Orator in the City. Him he us'd *' conftantly to attend, and to be always prefent at his Perform- " ance of any Kind, either injudicial Matters, or in the ordinary " Aflemblies of the People : So that by this means he learned to " engage in the Laurels and Contentions of the Bar, and to ap- *' prove himfelf a Man at Arms in the Wars of the Pleaders.

" For in that ancient Conftitution of a mix'd State, when the *' Differences were never referred to one fupreme Perfon, the O- *' rators determined Matters as they pleas'd, by prevailing on the *' Minds of the ignorant Multitude. Hence came the Ambition *' of popular Applaufe : Hence the great Variety of Laws and ** Decrees : Hence the tedious Speeches and Harangu«s of the Ma- *' giftrates, fometimes carried on whole Nights in the Roftra : *' Hence the frequent Indictment and Impleading of the powerful *' Criminals, and the Expofmg of Houfes to the Violence and *' Fury of the Rabble : Hence the FacSlions of the Nobility, and *' the conftant Heats and Bickerings between the Senate and *' People. All which, tho' in a great meafure they diftraded the *' Commonwealth, yet had this good EfFe6l, that they exercis'd *• and improv'd the Eloquence of thofe Times, by propofuig

c 4 " the

xxii ESSAY 11.

the highcftHewards of that Study. Becaufe the more excellent V any Perfon appeared in the Art of Speaking, the more eafily he arriv'd at Honours and Employments ; the more he furpafsM ,' his CoIIegue in the fame Office, the greater was his Favour with the leading Men of the City, his Authority with the Se- nate, and his Renown and Eftcem among the Commons. Thefe Men were courted and waited on by Clients even ofFo- reign Nations : Thefe, when they undertook the Conmiand cf Provinces, the very Magifi rates reverenced at their Depar- ture, and ador'd at their Return : Thefe the higheft Offices of Prators or Conful feem'd to require and call for, and court their Acceptance : Thefe, when in a private Station, abated very little of their Authority, while they guided both the Se- nate and the People hv their Counfel. For they took this for an infallible Maxim, That without Eloquence 'twas impofli- ble either to attain or to defend a confiderable Truft in the Commonwealth : And no Wonder, when they were dr^iwn to Bufmefs, even n5:ainf|- their Will, and compell'd to (hew their Parts in Publ ck. When *twas reckoned but an ordina:; ry Matter to deliver one's Opinion in fliort before the Senate, unlefs a Man cou'd maintain and improve it witli the enga- ging Ornaments of Wit and Elegance. When if they had contracted any Envy or Sufpicion, they were to anfwer the Accufer's Charge in Perfon. When they could not (o much as give their Evidence, as to publick Matters, in Writings but were oblig'd to appear in Court, and deliver it with their own Mouth. So that there was not only a vaft Encouragement, but even a NeceiTity of Eloquence : To be a fine Speaker was counted Brave and Glorious ; on the other hand, to adt only a mute Perfon^ on the Publick Stage, was Scandalous and *' Reproachful. And thus a Scnfe of Honour, and Defire of *' avoiding Infamy, was a main Incitement to their Endeavours *' in thefe Studies ; left they (hou'd be reckon'd among the Cli- *' ents, rather than among the Patrons ; left the numerous De- *' pendances tranfmitted to them from their Anceftors fliou'd '' now at laft pafs into other Families, for want of an able Sup- ** porter ; left, like a Sort of ufelefs and unprofitable Creatures, *' they fhou'd either be fruftrated in their Pretenfions to Ho- '* nour and Preferments, or elfe difgrace themfelves and their *' Office, by the Mifcarriages of their Adminiftration."

Crajfus and Antomus^ The Two chief Managers cf the Dlf- courfe in Tully\ firft Book de Orator e, are reprefented as very cppofite jji their Judgments, concerning the neccfiary Improve- ments

Of //^^ Ro M A N Education. xxiii

ments of an accompllfh'd Orator. The former denies any Per- fon the Honour of this Name, who does not pofrefs, in fome Degree, all the Qualities, both native and acquired, that enter into the Compofition of a general Scholar. The Force of his Argument lies in this. That an Orator ought to be able to de- liver himfelf copioufly on all Manner of SubjetSIs ; and he does not fee how any one can anfwer this Character, without fome Excellency in all the Myfteries of Arts and Learning, as well as in the happy Endowments of Nature. Yet he would not have thefe Acquifitions fit fo loofe about him, as to be laid open to the Bottom on every Occafion ; but that (as a great Man exprefleth it) they fhould rather be enamelled in his Mind, than emhofs'd upon it. That, as the Criticks in Gates and Geftures will eafily difcover, by the Comportment of a Man's Body, whether he has learn'd to dance, though he does not pradife his Art in his ordinary Motion : So an Orator, when he delivers himfelf on any Subje6t, will eafily make it appear whether he has a full Underftanding of the particular Art or Faculty on which the Caufe depends, though he does not difcourfe of it in the Manner of a Philofopher or a Mechanick. Antonius^ on the other hand, refleding on the Shortnefs of human Life, and how great a Part of it is commonly taken up in the Attain- ment of but a few Parts of Knowledge, is inclin'd to believe, that Oratory does not require the accefTary Attendance of its Sifter Arts ♦, but that a Man may be able to profecute a Theme of any Kind, without a Train of Sciences, and the Advantages of a learned Inftitution. That as few Perfons are to feek in the Cultivating of their Land, or the Contrivance and Elegance of their Gardens, though they never read Cato de Re Ru/iica, or Mago the Carthaginian : So an Orator may harangue, with a great deal of Reafon and Truth, on a Sub- ject taken from any Part of Knowledge, without any farther Acquaintance with the nicer Speculations, than his common Senie and Underftanding, improved by Experience and Con- verfation, fhall lead him : " For whoever [fays he) when " he comes to move the ^^ ffecSlions of the Judges or People, ftops " at this, that he hath not Phllofophy enough to dive into the ^' firft Springs of the Paffions, and to difcover their various *' Natures and Operations ? Befides, at this Rate we muft quite " lay afide the Way of raifing Pity in the Audience, by repre- " fenting theMifery of a diftrefs'd Party, or defcribing (perhaps) " the Slavery which he endures : When Philofophy tells us,

" That

xxlv ESSAY 11.

" That a good Man can never be miferable, and, that Virtue *' is always abfolutely free.

Now as Cicero^ without Doubt, fat himfelf for the Pi£lure, which, in Crajfus\ Name, he there draws of an Orator, and therefore ftrengthens his Arguments by his own Example as well as his Judgment ; fo Antonius^ in the next Dialogue, does not flick to own, that his former Afiertion was rather taken up for the Sake of Difputing and Encountering his Rival, than to deliver the juft Sentiments of his Mind. And therefore, the genteel Education, in the politer Ages of Rome^ being wholly dired^ed to the Bar, it feems probable, that no Part of ufeful Knowledge was omitted, for the Improving and Adorning of the main Study ; and that all the other Arts were courted, though not with an equal Paffion. And upon the Whole it appears, that a Arrange Afliduity, and unwearied Application, were the very Life and Soul of their Defigns. When their Hiftorians defcribe an extraordinary Man, this always enters into his Character as an efTential Part of it, that he was incre- dtbili induftrid^ diligentid ftngulari ; of incredible Indu/iry^ of ftngular Diligence («). And Cato in Saluji tells the Senate, That 'twas not the Arms fo much as the Induftry of their An- ceftors, which advanc'd the Grandeur of Rome : So that the Founders and Regulations of this State, in making Diligence and Labour neceflary Qualifications of a Citizen, took the fame Courfe as the Poets will have yupiter to have thought on, when he fucceeded to the Government over the primitive Mortals :

'Pater ipfe colendi

Haud facilem ejfe viam voluit ; primufque per arte7n Movit agros, curis acucns mortalia corda. Nee torpere gravi pajfus fua regna veterno [k).

To confirm the Opinion of their extreme Induftry and per- petual Study and Labour, it may not feem impertinent to in- ftance in the three common Exercifes of Tranflating, Declaim- ing, and Reciting.

Tranflation, the ancient Orators of Rome look'd on as a mofl ufeful, though a moft laborious Employment. All Perfons that

[a] ArchblHiop Tillotfon's Sermon of Education. (^) yirg* Ceorg, i.

apply 'd

Of theKouk-^ Education. xxv

apply M themfelves to the Bar, proposed commonly fome one Orator of Greece for their conftant Pattern ; either Lyfias^ Hy- perides^ DemoftheneSy or Mfchines^ as their Genius was inclined. Him they continually ftudied, and, to render themfelves abfo- lutely Mafters of his Excellencies, were always making him fpeak their own Tongue. This Cicero^ ^intilian^ and Pliny Junior^ injoin as an indifpenfable Duty, in order to the Acqui- ring any Talent in Eloquence. And the firft of thefe great Men, befides his many Verfions of the Orators for his private Ufe, oblig'd the Publick with the Tranflation of feveral Parts of Plato and Xenophon in Profe, and of Homer and Aratus in Verfe.

As to Declaiming, this was not only the main Thing, at which they laboured under the Mafters of Rhetorick, but what they pra(Stis'd long after they undertook real Caufes, and had gain'd a confiderable Name in the Forum. Suetonius^ in his Book of Famous Rhetoricians^ tells us, That Cicero declaimed in Greek till he was elected Prator^ and in Latin till near his Death, That Pompey the Great, juft at the Breaking out of the Civil War, refum'd his old Exercife of Declaiming, that he might the more eafily be able to deal with Curio^ who undertook the Defence of Cafar^s Caufe, in his publick Harangues. That Marc Antony and Auguftus did not lay afide this Cuftom, even when they were engag'd in the Siege of Mutina : And, That Nero was not only conftant at his Declamations, while in a private Station, but for the firft Year after his Advancement to the Empire.

It is worth Remarking, That the Subjeft of thefe old Declamations was not a meer fanciful The^s, but a Cafe which might probably be brought into the Courts of Judica- ture. The contrary Pradice, which crept into fome Schools after the Augujian Age, to the great Debafmg of Eloquence, is what Petronius inveighs fo feverely againft, in the Be- ginning of his Satyricon^ in a Strain fo elegant, that it wou*d lofe a great Part of the Grace and Spirit in any Tranfla- tion.

When I fpeak of Recitation, I intend not to infift on the publick Performances of the Poets in that Kind, for which Purpofe they commonly borrowed the Houfe of fome of their nobleft Patrons, and carried on the whole Matter before a vaft Goncourfe of People, and with Abundance of Ceremony. For, confidering the ordinary Circumftances of Men of that Pro- feftion, this may be thought not fo much the EffecSl of an

induftr^-

xxvi ESS AT II.

induftrious Temper, as the necefTary Way of raifing a Name among the Wits, and getting a tolerable Livelihood. And 'tis evident, that, under fome Princes, the moft celebrated of this Tribe, for all their Trouble and Pains in proclaiming their Parts to the Multitude, could hardly keep themfelves from ftarving, as Juvenal obferves of Statius :

Sed cum /regit fubfellia verfu^

Efurity inia^afn Paridi mjt vendit Agaven.

I wou'd mean, therefore, the Rehearfal of all Manner of Compofitions in Profe or Verfe, perform'd by Men of fome Rank and Quality, before they oblig'd the World with their Publication. This was ordinarily done in a Meeting of Friends and Acquaintance, and now and then with the Admiffion of a more numerous Audience. The Defign they chiefly aim'd at was the Corrc6lion and Improvement of the Piece. For the Author, having a greater Awe and Concern upon him on thefe Occafions tlian at other Times, muft needs take more Notice of every Word and Sentence, while he fpoke them before the Company, than he did in the Compofure, or in the common Supervifal. Befides, he had the Advantage of all his Friends Judgments, whether intimated to him afterwards in private Con- ference, or tacitly declared at the Recital by their Looks and Nods, with many other Tokens of Diflike and Approbation. In the fuller Auditories he had the Benefit of feeing what took or what did not take with the People ; whofe common Suffrage was of fo great Authority, in this Cafe, that Pomt>onius Secundus^ a celebrated Author of Tragedies, when he confulted with his Friends about the Polifhing any of his Writings, if they hap- pen'd to differ m their Opinion about the Elegance, Juftnefs, and Proprietv of any Thought or ExpreiHon, us'd always to fay, JD POPULUM^PP.OVOCO, I APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE, as the befl Deciders of the Con- trover fy {a).

The Example of the younger Pliny, in this Practice, is very obferv^able, and the Account which we have of it is given us by himfelf. I omit (fays he) no IVay or Method that may feem proper for Correction : And firji I take a Jiri^ View of what I

(a) Vlln, Lib. 7. Epift. 17.

have

Of the Roman Education. xxvii

have written^ and confider thoroughly of the whole Piece. In the next Place^ I read it over to two or three Friends : And foon after fend it to others for the Benefit of their Obfervations. If I am in any Doubt concerning their Criticifms, I take in the JJJiJlance of one or two be fides myfelf^ to judge and debate the Matter. Laji of all^ I recite before a greater Number : And this is the Time that I furnijh myfelf with the fevereji Emenda- tions (a).

It might be a farther Pleafure on this Subje£t, to defcribe the whole Inftitutlon and Courfe of Study of the moft famous Ro- mans^ with their gradual Advances to thofe Virtues and Attain- ments, which we ftill admire in their Story. But the Account, which Cicero gives of liimfelf in his Brutus^ and fome Hints from other Parts of his Works, will excufe, if not command, the Omiflion of all the reft. And it is no ordinary Happinefs, that we are oblig'd with the Hiftory of that excellent Perfon from his own Hand, whom we muft certainly pitch upon for the firft and greateft Example, if we were beholden only to the Relations of other Men.

For fome Time after his Admiffion to the Forum^ he was a conftant Auditor of the beft Pleaders, whenever they fpoke in Publick. Every Day he fpent feveral Houfs in Writing, Read- ing, and Improving his Invention ; befides the Exercifes he perform'd in the Art of Oratory. For the Knowledge of the Civil Law, he apply*d himfelf with all imaginable Di- ligence to ^. Saevola^ the moft celebrated Profeffor of that Science, who, tho' he did not make it his Bufinefs to pro- cure Scholars, yet was very ready and willing to affift fuch Perfons in this Study, as defir'd his Advice and Directions, 'Twas to this Scavola^ that Cicero's Father, when he put him on his Manly Gown., committed his Son, with a ftridl Charge never to ftir from him, but on extraordinary Ac- counts.

About the 19th Year of his Age, in the Heat of the Conten- tion between Marius and ^ylla., when the Courts of Judicature were fliut up, and all Things in Confufion j Philo the Prince of the Academy leaving Athens^ on Occafion of the Mithridatick War, took up his Refidence in Rome. Cicero wholly refign'd himfelf to His Inftitution, having now fix'd the Bent of his Thoughts and Inclinations to Philofophy, to which he gave the

{a) P!in. Lib. 7, Epift. 17.

more

xxviii ESSAY 11.

more diligent Attendance, becaufe the Diftra£tions of the Time gave him little Reafon to hope, that the judicial Procefs, and the regular Courfe of the Laws, wou'd ever be reftor'd to their former Vigour. Yet not entirely to forfake his Oratory, at the fame Time he made his Applications to Molo the Rhodian^ a famous Pleader and Mafter of Rhetorrck.

Sylla being now the fecond Time advanc'd againft Mithn- dates^ the City was not much difturb^d with Arms for three Years together. During this Interval Cicero^ with unwearied Diligence, made his Advances Day and Night in all Manner of Learning, having now the Benefit of a new Inftru6lor, Diodotus the Stoic^ who livM and died in his Houfe. To this Mafter, befides his Improvement in other ufeful Parts of Know- ledge, he was particularly oblig'd for keeping him continually exercis'd in Logick, which he calls a concife and compa6f Kind 0f Eloquence.

But, tho* engaged at the fame Time in ^o many and fuch dif- ferent Faculties, he let no Day flip without fome Performance HI Oratory : Declaiming conftantly with the beft Antagonifts he cou'd light on among the Students. In this Exercife he did not ftick to any ope Language, but fometimes made Ufe of Latin, (omeUmcs o^ Greek ; and indeed more frequently of the latter ; either becaufe the Beauties and Ornaments of the Greek Stile would by this Means grow fo natural, as eafily to be imi- tated in his own Tongue : Or becaufe his Grecian Mafters wou'd not be fuch proper Judges of his Stile and Method, nor fo well able to correcft his Failures, if he delivered himfelf in any other than their native Language.

Upon Sylla's vi6lorious Return, and his Settlement of the Commonwealth, the Lawyers recovered their Pra6lice, and the ordinary Courfe of judicial Matters was revivM : And then it was that Cicej-o came to the Bar, and undertook the Patronage of publick and private Caufes. His firft Oration, in a pub- lick Judgment^ was the Defence of ^extus Rofcius, profecuted by no lefs a Man than the Dilator himfelf, which was the Reafon that none of the old ftanch Advocates dar'd appear in his Behalf. Cicero carried the Caufe, to his great Honour, being now about fix or fevcn and twenty : And having be- hav'd himfelf fo remarkably well in his firft Enterprize, there was no Bufinefs thought too weighty or difficult for his Ma- nagement.

He found himfelf at this Time to labour under a very weak Conftitution, to which was added the natural Default in his

Make

Of the'Koukn Education. xxix

Make of a bng and thin Neck : S6 that in Probability the La- bour and Straining of the Body, required in an Orator, cou'd not confift but with manifeft Danger of his Life. This was efpccially to be fear'd in him, bccaufe he was obferv'd in his Pleadings to keep his Voice always at the higheft Pitch in a moft vehement and impetuous Tone, and at the fame Time to ufe a proportionable Violence in his Gefture and Adion. Upon this Confideration the Phyficians, and his neareft Friends, were continually urging him to lay afide all Thoughts of a Profelfion which appear 'd fo extremely prejudicial to his Health. But Ci- cero (hew'd himfelf equally inflexible to the Advice of the one, and to the Entreaties of the other ; and declared his Refolution rather to run the Rifque of any Danger that might happen, than deprive himfelf of the Glory which he might juftly challenge from the Bar.

Confirming himfelf in this Determination, he began to think, that upon altering his Mode of fpeaking, and bringing his Voice down to a lower and more moderate Key, he might abate con- fiderably of the Heat and Fury which now tranfported him, and by that Means avoid the Damage which feemM now to threaten his Defign.

For the EfFeding of the Cure, he concluded on a Journey into Greece : And To, after he had made his Name very confi- derable in the Forum^ by two Years Pleading, he left the City. Being arrived at Athens^ he took up his Refidence for fix Months with the Philofopher Atticus^ the wifeft and moft noble AlTer- tor of the old Academy : And here, under the Direction of the greateft Mafter, he renewM his Acquaintance with that Part of Learning, which had been the conftant JEntertainment of hia Youth, at the fame Time performing his Exercifes in Oratory under the Care of Demetrius the Syrian, an eminent ProfefTor of the Art of Speaking. After this he made a Circuit round all A/ja, with feveral of the moft celebrated Orators and Rheto- ricians, who voluntarily offered him their Company.

But not fatisfied with all thefe Advantages, he failed to Rhodes^ and there entred himfelf once more among the Scholars of the famous Molo^ whom he had formerly heard at Rome : One that, befides his admirable Talent at Pleading, and Penning, had a pe- culiar Happinefs in marking and corre<Sing the Defaults in any Performance. 'Twas to His Inftitution that Cicero gratefully acknowledges he ow'd the Retrenching of his juvenile Heat and unbounded Freedom of Thought, which did not confift with the juft Rules of an exad and fevere Method.

Returning

XXX

ESSAY II.

Returning to Rome^ after two Years Abfence, he appeared quite another Man : For his Body, ftrengthen'd by Exercife, was come to a tolerable Habit : His Way of Speaking feem'd to have grown cool ; and his Voice was rendered much eafier to himfelf, and much Tweeter to the Audience. Thus, about the one and thirtieth Year of his Age, he arrived at that full Perfedtion, which had fo long taken up his whole Wifhes and Endeavours, and which hath been, ever fmce, the Admiration or Envy of the World.

THE

THE

Antiquities of RO ME.

PARTI. B O O K I.

The Original, Growth, and Decay of the Roman Commonwealth.

CHAP. I.

Of the Building of the Ci T v.

HT LE we view the Original of States and Kingdoms (the moft delightful and furpri- fing Part of Hiftory) we eafily difcern, as the firft and faireft Profpedt, the Rife of the yewijh and Roman Commonwealths ; Of which, as the former had the Honour al- ways to be efleemed the Favourite of Hea- ven, and the peculiar Care of Divine Pro- vidence ; fo the other had very good Pretenfions to ftile her* felf the Darling of Fortune ; who feem'd to exprefs a more than ordinary Fondnefs for this her youngeft Daughter, as if £he had defign'd the three former Monarchies purely for a Foil to fet off this latter. Their own Hiftorians rarely begin with- out a Fit of Wonder ; and, before they proceed to delineate the Glorious Scene, give themfelves the Liberty of {landing ftill fome Time, to admire at a Diftance.

For the Founder of the City and Republick, Authors have long fince agreed on Romului, Son oF Rhea Sylvia^ and Defcendant of ^neasy from whom his Pedigree may be thus in Ihort derlv'd :

A Upou

2 Tl^e Rife and Progrefs Part I.

upon the final Ruin and Deftru6tion of Troy by the Gracians^ Mneas^ with a fmall Number of Followers, had the good Fortune to fecure himfelf by Flight. His Efcape was very much counte- nanc'd by the Enemy, inafmuch as upon all Occafions he had ex- prefTed his Inclinations to a Peace, and to the Reftoring o^Helen^ the unhappy Caufe of the Mifchief. Sailing thus from Troy^ Sif- ter a tedious Voyage, and great Variety of Adventures, he arriv'd at laft at Latium^ a Part of Italy (o call'd, a latendo^ or from ly- ing hid ; being the Place that Saturn had chofe for his Retire- ment, when expell'd the Kingdom of Crete by his rebellious Son Jupiter. Here applying himfelf to the King of the Country at that Time Latinus, he obtained his only Daughter, Lavinia, in Marriage ; and, upon the Death of his Father* in-Law, was left in PofleiTion of the Crown. He removed the Imperial Seat from Laurentum to Lavinium, a City which he had built himfelf in Honour of his Wife ; and upoii his Deceafe foon after, the Right of Succeflion rcfted m Jfcanius^ whether his Son by a former Wife, and the fame he brought with him from Troy^ or another of that Name, which he had by Lavinia, Livy leaves undeter- niin'd, Jfcanius being under Age, the Government was intrufted \\\ the Hands of Lavinia : But, as foon as he was grown up, he left his Mother in Poflellion of Lavinium ', and removing with Part of the Men, laid the Foundation of a new City, along the Side of the Mountain Alhanus^ called from thence Longa Alba, After him, by a Succeffion of Eleven Princes, the Kingdom de- volved at lail to Procas. Procas at his Death left two Sons, Nu- mitor and Amulim ; of whom Amulius over- reaching his elder Brother, oblig'd him to quit his Claim to the Crown, which he thereupon fecur'd to himfelf ; and to prevent all Diflurbance that might probably arife to him or his Pofterity from the elder Fa- mily, making away with all the Males, he conftrain'd Numitor^s only Daughter, Rhea Sylvia^ to take on her the Habit of a Vef- tal, and confequently a Vow of perpetual Virginity. However, the Princefs was foon after found with Child, and delivered of two Boys, Romulus and Remus, The Tyrant, being acquainted with the Truth, immediately condemn'd hisNeice to ftrait Im- prifonment, and the Infants to be expos'd, or carry'd and left in a ilrange Place, where 'twas very improbable they fhould meet with any Relief. The Servant, who had the Care of this inhuman Office, left the Children at the Bottom of a Tree, by the Bank of the River Tiber, -In this fad Condition, they were cafually ilifcover'd by Fauftulus^ the King's Shepherd ; who being whol- ly ignorant of the Plot, took the Infants up, and carry'd them

home

Book I. of the KoM AN Empire. 3

home to his Wife Laurentia^ to be nurfed with his own Chil- dren (<^). This Wife of his had formerly been a common Pro- ftitute, caird in Latin Lupa ; which Word fignifying hkewifc a She- Wolf, gave Occafion to the Story of their being nurfed by fuch a Beaft ; though fome take the Word always in a literal Senfe, and maintain that they really fubfifted fome Time by fuck- ing this Creature, before they had the good Fortune to be reliev- ed by Faujiulus (b). The Boys, as they grew up, difcovering the natural Greatnefs of their Minds and Thoughts, addicted them- felves to the generous Exercifes of Hunting, Racing, Taking of Robbers, and fuch-like ; and always exprefs'd a great Defire of engaging in any Enterprize that appeared hazardous and noble (c). Now there happening a Quarrel betwixt the Herdfmen of iV«- mitor and Jmulius^ the former lighting cafually on RemuSy brought him before their Mafter to be examined. Numitor^ learn- ing from his own Mouth the ftrange Circumflance of his Edu- cation and Fortune, eafily guefsM him to be one of his Grand- fons, who had been expofed. He was foon confirmed in this Conjecture, upon the Arrival of Fnujiulus and Romulus ; wheix the whole Bulinefs being laid open, upon Confultation had, gain- ing over to their Party a fufficient Number of the difafFeCled Citizens, they contrived to furprize Amulius^ and re-eftablifh Numitor. This Defign was foon after very happily put in Execu- tion, the Tyrant flain, and the old King reflored to a full Enjoy- ment of the Crown [d). The young Princes had no fooner re- feated their Grandfather in his Throne^ but they began to think of procuring one for themfelves. They had higher Thoughts than to take up with the Reverfion of a Kingdom ; and were unwil- ling to live in Jlhd^ becaufe they could not govern there : So taking with them their Fofter- father, and what others they could get together, they began the Foundation of a new City, in the fame Place where in their Infancy they had been brought up {e). The firft Walls were fcarce finiih'd, when, upon a flight Quar- rel, the Occafion of which is varioufly reported by Hiftorians, the younger Brother had the Misfortune to be flain. Thus the whole Power came into Romulus' s Hands ; who carrying on the Remainder of the Work, gave the City a Name in Allufi- on to his own, and hath been ever accounted the Founder ancl Patron of the Roman Commonwealth.

(tf) Liiij lib. I, [h) Dempjier'% Notes to RoJinui% Antiquities, lih' '• cap. i.

{f) Plutarch m the Life of Romului, {d) Ji:d. and Liv^, lib. I. {e) Plutarch as before j and Livy, lib.i.

A 2 CHAP.

'the Rife and Progrefs Part I.

CHAP. II.

Of the Roman Affairs under the Kings.

'Tp H E witty Hiftorian {a) had very good Reafon to entitle •*' the Reign of the Kings, the Infancy of Rome -, for 'tis cer- tain, that under them (he was hardly able to find her own Legs, and at the heft had but a very feeble Motion. The greateft Part of Romuiu s'sTime was taken up in making Laws and Regu- lations for the Commonwealth : Three of his State Defigns, I ■mean the Jfylum^ the Rape of the Sabine Virgins, and his Way of treating thofe few whom he conquer'd, as they far exceeded -the Politicks of thofe Times, fo they contributed, in an extra- ordinary Degree, to the Advancement of the new Empire. But then Numa^s long Reign ferved only for the Eftabliftiment of Priefls and Religious Orders ; and in thofe three and forty Years {b) Rot?ie gain'd not fo much as one Foot of Ground, TuIIius Hoftilius was wholly employed in converting his Subje£ls from the pleafmg Amufements of Superftition, to the rougher Inftitution of martial Difcipline : Yet we find nothing memo- rable related of his Conquefts ; only that, after a long and dubi- bious War, the Romaiis intirely ruin'd their old Mother Alba {c). After him Ancus Marcius^ laying afide all Thoughts of extend- ing the Bounds of the Empire, apply'd himfelf wholly to ftrengthen and beautify the City {d) ; and efleem'd the Com- modioufnefs and Magnificence of that, the nobleft Defign he could pofTibly be engaged in. Tarquinius Prifcus^ tho' not al- together fo quiet as his Predeceflbr, yet confulted very little clfe befides the Dignity of the Senate, and the Majefty of the Government ; for the Increafe of which, he appointed the -Ornaments and Badges of the feveral OiHcers, to diftinguifh them from the common People {e). A more peaceful Tem- per appeared in Servius Tullius, whofe principal Study was to have an exa£l: Account of the States of the Romans ; and, according to thofe, to divide them into Tribes (f), that fo they might contribute with Juftice and Proportion to the publick Expences of the State. Tarquin the Proud, tho' perhaps more

{a) Florin in the Preface to his Hiftory. {b) Plutarch in the Life of Numa. (0 Florusy 1. I. cap. 3. {d\ Idem, I, i. cag,4. {e) Idem, I i, cap. 5. ffj Flo* rus, 1, I. cagk 6', '

Book I. of t/)e KoM AN Empire. 5

engaged in Wars than any of his PredecefTors [a)^ yet had in his Nature iuch a ftrange Compofition of the moft extravagant Vices, as muft necefTarily have proved fatal to the grov^^ing Tyranny ; and had not the Death of the unfortunate Lucretia adminifter'd to the People an Opportunity of Liberty, yet a far (lighter Matter v^^ould have ferved them for a fpecious Reafon, to endeavour the Aflertion of their Rights. However, on this Accident all were fuddenly tranfported with fuch a Mixture of Fury and Compaflion, that under the Condu£l: of Brutus and Collatinus^ to whom the dying Lady had recommended the Re- venge of her injur'd Honour {b)^ ruftiing immediately upon the Tyrant, they expell'd him and his whole Family. A new Form of Government was now refolv'd on ; and, becaufe to live un- der a divided Power carried fomething of Complacency in the Profpedl (^), they unanimoufly conferr'd the fupreme Command on the two generous Aflertors of their Liberties [d). Thus ended the Royal Adminiftration, after it had continued about two hundred and fifty Years.

Florus^ in his Reflexions on this firft Age of Rome^ can't forbear Applauding the happy Fate of his Country, that it fhould be blefs'd, in that weak Age, with a Succeflion of Princes fo fortunately different in their Aims and Defigns ; as if Heaven had purpofely adapted them to the feveral Exigencies of the State {e). And the famous Machiavel is of the fame Opinion (/). But a judicious Author [g) hath lately ob ferved, that this Difference of Genius in the Kings, was fo far from procuring any Advantage to the Roman People, that their fmall Increafc, under that Government, is referable to no other Caufe. However, thus far we are afTured, that thofe {^v^n Princes left behind them a Dominion of no larger Extent than that of Partna or Mantua^ at prefent.

{a) Florusj 1. I.e. 7. [b) Idem. lib. I. cap. 9. {c) Flutarcb in the Life of

Poplicola. (d) Bid. &F/orus,hb.i. cap. 9. (e) Idem. cap. 8. ff) Ma-

chiaveVs DIfcourfes on Linjy, lib. 2. cap. 12. (g) Monfieur it. Evremtnt's Re«* ^eiftions on the Genius of the Roman People, cap. I.

A3 CHAP.

The Rife and Progrefs Part L

CHAP. III.

Of the Roman Affairs^ from the Beginning of the Confular Government ^ to the fir Jt Punic War,

'T* H E Tyrant was no fooner expell'd, but, as it ufually hap- pens, there was great Plotting and Defigning for his Refto- ration. Among feveral other 'young Noblemen, jBr«/wi's two Sons had engaged thcmfelves in the Aflbciation : But the Coj^- fplracy being happily difcovered, and the Traitors brought be- fore the Confuls, in order to their Punifhment, Brutus only addrefling himfelf to his Sons, and demanding whether they had any Defence to make againft the Indidlment, upon their Silence, order'd them immediately to be beheaded ; and flay- ing himfelf to fee the Execution, committed the reft to the Judgment of his Collegue (^). No A6l:ion among the old Romans has made a greater Noife than this. 'Twould be ex- ceeding difficult to determine, whether it proceeded from a Motion of heroick Virtue, or the Hardnefs of a cruel or un- natural Humour ; or whether Ambition had not as great a Share in it as either. But tho' the Flame was fo happily ftifled within the City, it foon broke out with greater Fury abroad : For Tarquin was not only received with all imaginable Kind- nefs and Refpeft by the neighbouring States, but fupplied too with all NecefTaries, in order to the Recovery of his Domi- nions. The moft powerful Prince in Italy was at that Time Porfenna^ King of Hetruria or Tujcany ; who, not content to furnifii him with the fame Supplies as the reft, approachM with a numerous Army in his Behalf, to the very Walls of Rome {b). The City was in great Hazard of being taken, when an Ad- miration of the Virtue and gallant Difpofition of the Romans induced the Befieger to a Peace (c). The moft remarkable In- ilances of this extraordinary Courage, were CocleSy MutiuSy and Cl^Iia. Codes, when the Romans were beaten back in an unfortunate Sally, and the Enemy made Good their Purfuit to the very Bridge, only with the Ailiftance of two Perfons, de- fended it againft their whole Power, till his own Party broke it down behind ; and then caft himfelf in his Armour into the Ri-

(a) PlutarcL in \lu PofUcda. {b) Id.-tft, & Floras, lib. I. (c) Plut.'in.

ver.

Book I. of the 'Ko u a n Empire. 7

V£r, and fwam over to the other Side {a), Mutius having fail'd in an Attempt upon Porfenna^s Perfon, and being brought before the King to be examin'd, thruft his Right-hand, which had com- mitted the Miftake, into a Pan of Coals that flood ready for the Sacrifice. Upon which generous Adtion he was difmifs'd with- out farther Injury. As for Cl^lia^ fhe, with other noble Virgins, had been deliver'd to the Enemy for Hoftages, on Account of a Truce ; when obtaining Liberty to bathe themfelves in the Tiber^ (he, getting on Horfeback before the reft-, encourag'd them to fol- low her thro' the Water to the Romans ; tho* the Conful gene- roufly fent them back to the Enemy's Camp. Porfenna had no fooner drawn ofF his Army, but the Sabines and Latines join'd in a Confederacy againft: Rome ; and tho' they were extremely weaken'd by the Defertion of Jppius Claudius^ who went over with five thoufand Families to the Romans ; yet they could not be intirely fubdued, till they received a total Overthrow from Valerius PopUcola (b). But the Mqui and the Folfct, the moft: ob- ftinate of the Latines^ and the continual Enemies of Rome^ car- ried on the Remainder of the War for feveral Years, till it was happily concluded by Lucius ^uintius, the famous DiSfator taken from the Plough, in lefs than fifteen Days Time : Upon which, Florus has this Remark, That he made more than ordinary Hafle to his unfiniflid Work (c). But they, that made the greatefl: Op- pofition, were the Inhabitants of Ve'ii^ the Head of T'ufcany^ a City not inferior to Rome either in Store of Arms, or Multitude ^f Soldiers. They had contended with the Romans, in a long Se- ries of Battles, for Glory and Empire j but having been weaken'd and brought down in feveral Encounters, they were obliged to fecure themfelves within their Walls : And, after a ten Year's Siege, the Town was forced and fack'd by Camillus {d). In this Manner were the Romans extending their Conquefl:s, when the Irruption of the Gauls made a ftrange Alteration in the Affairs of Italy, They were at this Time befieging Clujium, 2iTufcan City. The Clufians fent to the Romans, defiring them to interpofe by AmbafTadors on their Behalf. Their Requeft: was eafily granted ; and three of the Fabii, Perfons of the higheft: Rank in the City, difpatch'd for this Purpofe to the Gallick Camp. The Gauls, in refpe£t to the Name of Rome, receiv'd them with all imaginable Civility ; but could by no Means be prevailed on to quit the Siege. Whereupon the AmbafTadors going into the Town, and encouraging the Clufians to a Sally, one of them v/as feen per-

{a) Piuf.iiiii, {blJbid. [c) Florus , lib. i. cap. ii. (d) Pktanh in his Life.

A 4 fonally

8 The Rife and Progrefs Part I.

fonally engaging in the Action. This being contrary to the re- ceived Law of Nations, was refented in fo high a Manner by the Enemy, that, breaking up from before Clufium^ the whole Army march'd diredly toward Rome, About eleven Miles from the City, they met with the Roman Army commanded by the IVIilitary Tribunes, who engaging without any Order or Difcipline, received an intire Defeat. Upon the Arrival of this ill News, the greateft Part of the Inhabitants immediate- ly fled : Thofe, that refolved to flay, fortified themfelves in the Capitol. The Gauls foon appear'd at the City-Gates ; and de- ftroying all with Fire and Sword, carried on the Siege of the Capitol with all imaginable Fury. At lafl-, refolving on a ge- neral Aflault, they were difcover'd by the Cackling of Geefe that were kept for that Purpofe ; and as many as had climb*d the Rampart were driven down by the valiant Manlius ; when % Camillus^ fetting upon them in the Rear with twenty Thou- fand Men he got together about the Country, gave them a to- tal Overthrow. The greateft Part of thofe, that efcaped out of the Field, were cut ofF in ftraggling Parties, by the Inhabitants of the neighbouring Towns and Villages. The City had been fo intirely demolifh'd, that, upon the Return of the People, they thought of removing to Veiiy a City ready built, and ex- cellently provided of all Things : But being diverted from this Defign, by an Omen (as they thought) they fet to the Work with fuch extraordinary Diligence and Application, that withia the Compafs of a Year the whole City was rebuilt. They hacT fcarce gainM a Breathing- time after their Troubles, when the united Powers of the ^^a/, Volfcl^ and other Inhabitants ofZ^- tium^ at once invaded their Territories. But they were foon over-reach'd by a Stratagem of Camillns, and totally routed (a). Nor had the Samnites any better Fate, tho* a People very nu- merous, and of great Experience in War. The Contention with them lafted no lefs than fifty Years (b)^ when they were finally fubducd by Papirius Curfor {c). The Tarentine War that fol- lowed, put an End to the intire Conqueft of Italy. Tarentum^ a City of great Strength and Beauty, feated on the Adrlatkk Sea, was efpecially remarkable for the Commerce it maintain'd with moft of the neighbouring Countries, as Eplrus^ Illyricum^ Sicily^ &c. {d). Among oti^er Ornaments of their City, they had a fpa- cious Theatre for publick Sports, built hard by the Sea-(hore. They happened to be engaged in the Celebration of fome fuch

(a) Fht. in vit, Camil, (I] Fhrui, lib» i« cap. l6. {()Liv. lib. lo. {d) Flor, Jib. I. cap. iS.

Solemnity,

Book L Of the^ouk^ Empire. g

Solemnity, when, upon Sight of the Roman Fleet, that cafually faird by their Coafts, imagining them to be Enemies, they im- piediately fet upon them, and, killing the Commander, rifled the greateft Part of the Veflels. AmbafTadors were foon dif- patchM from Rome to demand Satisfaftion : But they met with as ill Reception as the Fleet, being difgracefully fent away with- out fo much as a Hearing. Upon this, a War was foon com- menced between the States. The Tarentines were incre-io'd by an incredible Number of Allies from all Parts : But he .nir made the greateft Appearance, in their Behalf, was Pyrrhus^ King of Epirus^ the moft experienc'd General of his Time. Befides the choiceft of his Troops that accompany'd him in the Expedition, he brought into the Field a confiderable Number of Elephants, a Sort of Beaft fcarce heard of till that Time in Italy, In the firft Engagement, the Romans were in fair Hopes of a Vidbory, when the Fortune of the Day^ was intirely chang'd upon the Coming up of the Elephants ; who made fuch a prodigious DeftruSiion in the Roman Cavalry, that the whole Army was oblig'd to retire. But the politick General, having experienc'd fo well the Roman Courage, immediately after the Vi£tory, fent to offer Conditions for a Peace ; but was abfolutely refus'd. In the next Battle, the Advantage was on the Roman Side, who had not now fuch difmal Apprehenfions of the Elephants, as before. However, the Bufinefs came to another Engagement, ivhen the Elephants, over-running whole Ranks of their own Men, inrag'd by the Cry of a young one that had been wound- ed, gave x.hQ Romans an abfolute Viftory(^). Twenty-three Thoufand of the Enemy were kill'd {^), and Pyrrhus finally ex- pell'd Italy. In this War the Romans had a fair Opportunity to fubdue the other Parts that remain'd unconquer'd, under the Pretext of Allies to the T'arentines, So that at this Time, about the 477th Year of the Building of the City (c), they had made themfelves the intire Mafters of Italy,

{a) TloruSf ibid, {b) EutrobluSj lib. 2. {c) Ibid.

C H A Pv

iO 'the Rife and Progrefs^ Part I.

CHAP. IV.

Of the Roman Affairs from the Beginning of the firft Punic War^ to the firfi Triumvirate.

13 U T the Command of the Continent could not fatisfy the Roman Courage ; efpecially while they faw fo delicious an Ifle as Sicily almoft within their Reach : They only waited an Oc- caiion to pafs the Sea, when Fortune prefented as fair an one as they could wilh. The Inhabitants of Mejjina, a Sicilian City, made grievous Complaints to the Senate, of the daily Incroach- ments of the Carthaginians^ a People of vaft Wealth and Power, and that had the fame Dcfign on Sicily as the Romans {a). A Fleet was foon rnann'd out foi their Affiftance ; and, in two Years Time, no lefs than fifty Cities were broiight over (b). The in- tire Conqueft of the Ifland quickly follow'd ; and Sardinia and Corftca were taken in about the fame Time by a feparate Squa- dron. And now, under the Command of Regulus and Manlius^ the Confuls, the War was tranflated into Africa, Three hundred Forts and Caftles were deftroy'd in their March, and the vi6lo- rious Legions encamp'd under the very Walls of Carthage. The Enemy, reduc'd to fuch Straits, were obliged to apply themfelves to Xantippus^ King of the Lacedcsmonians^ the greateft Captain of the Age ; who immediately march'd to their Affiftance with a numerous and well-difciplin'd Army. In the very firft Engage- ment with \k\&Ro7nans^ he intirely defeated their whole Power : Thirty thoufand were kill'd on the Spot, and fifteen thoufand, with their Conful Regulus^ taken Prifoners. But as good Succefs always encourag'd the Romans to greater Defigns ; fo a contrary Event did but exafperate them the more. The new Confuls were immediately difpatch'd with a powerful Navy, and a fuf- ficient Number of Land Force. Several Campaigns were now wafted, without any confiderable Advantage on either Side : Or if the Romans gain'd any Thing by tbeir Vidories, they general- ly loft as niuch by Shipwrecks ; when at laft, the whole Power of both States being drawn together on the Sea, the Cartha- ginians were finally defeated, with the Lofs of 125 Ships funk

{a) Fisrusj lib. Z, cap. z, (6) Eutrop, lib, 2,

in

Book I. of the Roman Empire. xi

in the Engagement, 73 taken ; 32,000 Men kilPd, and 13,000 Prifoners. Upon this they were coi^pell'd to fue for a Peace ; which, after much Intreaty, and fipon very hard Conditions, was at laft obtained {a).

But the Carthaginians had too great Spirits to fubmit to fuch unreafonable Terms any longer than their NecefTities oblig'd them. In four Years Time \b) they had got together an Ar- my of 80,000 Foot, and 20,000 Horfe (r), under the Command of the famous Hannibal ; who, forcing a Way through the Py- renean Mountains and the Alps^ reputed 'till that Time impaf- fable, defcended with his vaft Army into Italy, In four fuc- ceflive Battles he defeated the Roman Forces ; in the laft of which, at Canme^ 40,000 of the latter were kill'd {d) : And had he not been merely caft away by the Envy and Ill-will of his own Countrymen, *tis more than probable that he muft have intirely ruin'd the Roman State {e) : But Supplies of Men and Money being fometimes abfolutely denied him, and never coming but very flowly, the Romans had fuch Opportunities to recruit, as they little expefted from fo experienced an Adverfa- ry. The wife Management of Fabius Maximus was the firft Re- vival of the Roman Caufe. He knew very well the Strength of the Enemy ; and therefore march'd againft him without in- tending to hazard a Battle ; but to wait conftantly upon him, to ftraiten his Quarters, intercept his Provifions, and fo make the viflorious Army pine away with Penury and Want. With this Defign he always encamp'd upon the high Hills, where the Horfe could have no Accefs to him : When they march'd, he did the fame ; but at fuch a Diftance, as not to be compelPd to an Engagement. By this Policy he fo broke HannibaVs Ar- my, as to make him abfolutely defpair of getting any Thing in Italy (f). But the Conclufion of the War was owing to the Conduit of Scipio : He had before reduced all Spain into Sub- je6lion ; and, now taking the fame Courfe as Hannibal at firft had done, he march'd with the greateft Part of the Roman For- ces into Africa ; and, carrying all before him to the very Walls of Carthage^ oblig'd the Enemy to call Home their Genera! out of Italy ^ for the Defence of the City. Hannibal obey'd ; and both Armies coming to an Engagement, after a long Difpute, wherein the Commanders and Soldiers of both Sides are re- ported to have outdone themfelves, the Vidory fell to the Ro^

{a) Eittrop. lib. 2. {h) Florus, lib. 2. cap. 6. (c) Eutrap. 111),. 3. (d) Ibid, {e) Cornelius Nepoi in vit. Harnibai, (f) Plvtarch. in vit. Fab » Max,

^ mans.

1 2 Tie Rife and Pragrefs Part L

mam. Whereupon the Enemy were obh'gM once more to fue for a Peace ; which was agam granted them, tho* upon much harder Conditions than before.

The Romans^ by the happy Conclufion of this War, had fo highly advanced themfelves in the Opinion of the neighbouring States, that the Jtheniansy with the greateft Part of Greece^ be- ing at this Time miferably enflaved by King Philip of Macedon^ unanimoufly petition'd the Senate for Afliftance. A Fleet, with a fufficient Number of Land Forces, was prefently difpatch'd to their Relief ; by whofe Valour the Tyrant, after feveral Defeats, was compelled to reftore all Greece to their ancient Liberties, obliging himfelf to pay an annual Tribute to the Conquerors {a).

Hannibal^ after his late Defeat, had apply'd himfelf to Antio- thus King of Syria^ who at this Time was making great Pre- parations againft the Romans. Acilius Glahrio was firft fent to oppofe him, and had the Fortune to give him feveral Defeats ; when Cornelius Scipio^ the Roman Admiral, engaging with the King's Forces at Sea, under the Command of Hannibal^ intire- ly ruin'd the whole Fleet. Which Vidlory being immediately followed by another as fignal at Land, the effeminate Prince was contented to purchafe a Peace at the Price of almoft half his Kingdom (^).

The vi(3:orious Romans had fcarce included the publick Re- joicings on Account of the late Succefs, when the Death of King Philip of Macedon prefented them with an Occafion of a more glorious Triumph. His Son Perfes^ that fucceeded, re- folving to break with the Senate, apply'd himfelf wholly to rai^ fmg Forces, and procuring other Necefiaries for a War. Ne- ver were greater Appearances in the Field than on both Sides, nioft of the confiderable Princes in the World being engag'd in the Quarrel. But Fortune ilill declar'd for the Romans',, and the greateft Part of Perfes*s prodigious Army was cut off by the Conful Mmilius^ and the King oblig'd to furrender himfelf into the Hands of the Conqueror {c). Authors that write of the four Monarchies, here fix the End of the Macedonian Empire.

But Rome could not think herfelf fecure amongft all thefe Conquers, while her old Rival Carthage was yet ftanding : So that, upon a flight Provocation, the City, after three Years Siege, v/as taken, and utterly raz'd, by the Valour of Puhlius Set- plo^ Grandfon, by Adoption, to him that conquer'd Hannibal {d).

(j) Zutr^p. 1.4. {h) florus, 1. z, cap. 8. {c) Fell . Paterc, 1. i. {d) Ibid.

Not

Book L of de Roman Empire. 1 3

Not long after, Attains, King of Pergamus, trying without Iflue, left his vaft Territories to the Romans [a). And what of Africa remained unconquerM was for the moft Part reduced in the Jugurthine War that immediately followed ; Jugurtha himfelf, after feveral Defeats, being taken Prifoner by MariuSy and brought in Triumph to Rome (b).

And now after the Defeat of the Teutones and Cimhr'i, that had made an Inroad into Italy^ with feveral lefler Conquefts in Afta and other Parts, the Mithridatick War, and the Civil War between Marius and Sylla^ broke out both in the fame Year (^). Bylla had been fent General againft Mithridates King of Pon^ tusy who had feiz'd on the greateft Part of Afia and Achaia in an hoftile Manner ; when, before he was got out of Italy, Sul- picius, the Tribune of the People, and one of Marius's Fadtion, preferred a Law to recal him, and to depute Marius in his Room, Upon this Sylla, leading back his Army, and over- throwing Marius and Suipicius in his Way, having fettled Affairs at Rome, and banifh'd the Authors of the late Sedition, returned to meet the foreign Enemy {d). His firft Exploit was the Taking of Athens, and Ruining the famous Mole in the Haven {e) Pira- us. Afterwards, in two Engagements, he kill'd and took near 130,000 of the Enemy, and compelFd Mithridates to fue for a Truce (f). In the mean Time Marius, being call'd Home by the new Confuls, had exercisM all Manner of Cruelty at Rome ; whereupon, taking the Opportunity of the Truce, Sylla once more march'd back towards Italy, Marius W2ls dead before his Return (g) ; but his two Sons, with the Confuls, rais'd feveral Armies to oppofe him. But fome of the Troops being drawn over to his Party, and the others routed, he enter'd the City, and difpos'd all Things at his Pleafure, alTuming the Title and Au- thority of a perpetual Dictator. But having regulated the State, he laid down that OiRce, and died in Retirement (h).

Mithridates had foon broke the late Truce, and invaded Bi- thynia and Afta, with as great Fury as ever ; when xht Roman General Lucullus, routing his vaft Armies by Land and Sea, chaced them quite out of Afta ; and had infallibly put an happy Conclufion to the War, had not Fortune refervM that Glory for Pompey {i). He being deputed in the Room of Lucullus, after the Defeat of the new Forces of Mithridates, compeli'd him to

.(a) Eutrop. lib. 4. {b) Jbid. (c) Eutrop. lib. 5. (J) laid. {e) VslL P^terc^ i'lb. 2. (/) Eutrop. lib. 5, (f^] Vd!, Fatirc. Jib, a, (k) Aurdim Viasr. in

14 "The Rife and Progrefs Part I.

fly to his Father-in-law Tigranes King of Armenia. Pompey fol- low'd with his Army ; and ftruck fuch a Terror into the whole Kingdom, that T/^r^w^^ was eonftrain'd, in an humble Manner, to prefent himfelf to the General, and offer his Realm and For- tune to his Difpofal. At this Time the Caitltnarlan Confpiracy broke out, more famous for the Obftinacy than the Number of the Rebels ; but this was immediately extinguifh'd by the timely Care of Cicero^ and the happy Valour of Antony. The Senate, upon the News of the extraordinary Succefs of Pompey^ were under fome Apprehenfion of his affe61:ing the Supreme Command at his Return, and altering the Conftitution of the Government. But when they faw him difmifs his vaft Army at Brundufiuniy and proceed in the reft of his Journey to the City, with no other Company than his ordinary Attendants, they received him with all the Expreffions of Complacency and Satisfatflion, and honoured him with a fplendid Triumph {a).

CHAP. V.

Of the Roman Affair s^ from the Beginning of the firji Triumvirate, to the End oj the "Twelve Csefars.

'np H E three Perfons, that at this Time bore the greateft Sway '*' in the State, were Crajfus^ Pompey, and Cafar, The firft, hy reafon of his prodigious Wealth ; Pompey, for his Power with the Soldiers and Senate ; and Cafar, for his admirable Eloquence, and a peculiar Noblenefs of Spirit. When now taking Advan- tage of the Confulfhip of C^2?/27r,they enter'd into a folemn Agree- ment to let nothing pafs in the Commonwealth without their joint Approbation (h). By virtue of this Alliance, they had, in a little Time, procured themfelves the three beft Provinces in the Empire, Crajfus Afta, Pompey Spain, and Cisfar Gaul, Pompey, for the better retaining his Authority in the City, chofe to ma- nage his Province by Deputies (c) ; the other two enter'd on their Governments in Perfon. But Crajfus foon after, 'in an Ex- pedition he undertook againft the Parthians, had the ill Fortune to lofe the greateft Part of his Army, and was himfelf treache-

{a) Veil. Paterc, ib. {b) Suet, in Jul.CaJ. cap. 19. (c) Paterc. lib. 2. cap.4S.

roufly

Book I. of the Ro man Empire. 1 5

roufly murderM (a). In the mean Time Ceefar was performing Wonders in Gaul. No lefs than 40,000 of the Enemy he had kiird, and taken more Prifoners : And nine Years together (which was the whole Time of his Government) deferv'd a Tri- umph for the AcSlions of every Campaign (h). The Senate, amaz'd at the ftrange Relation of his Victories, were eafily in- clined to fufpedl his Power : So that taking the Opportunity when he petitioned for a fecond Confulftiip, they order'd him to disband his Army, and appear as a private Perfon at the ElecSlion {c). Cafar endeavoured by all Means to come to an Accommoda- tion : But finding the Senate violently averfe to his Intereft, and refolv'd to hear nothing but what they firft propos'd (J), he was conftrain'd to march towards Italy with his Troops, to terrify or force them into a Compliance. Upon the News of his Approach, the Senate, with the greateft Part of the Nobi- lity, paifing over into Greece^ he enter'd the City without Oppo- fition, and, creating himfelf Conful and Dictator, hafted with his Army into Spain ; where the Troops under Pompey\ Depu- ties were compell'd to fubmit themfelves to his Difpofal. With this Reinforcement he advanc'd towards Macedonia^ where the Senate had got together a prodigious Army under the Com- mand of Pompey. In the firft Engagement he receiv'd a con- fiderable Defeat : But the whole Power on both Sides being drawn up on the Plains of Theffaly, after a long Difpute the Viftory fell to Ccefar^ with the intire Ruin of the ad verfe Party. Pompey fled diredlly towards Egypt^ and Ccsfar with his vi£lo- rious Legions immediately follow'd. Hearing, at his Arrival, that Pompey had been kill'd by Order of King Ptolemy^ he laid clofe Siege to Alexandria the Capital City ; and having made himfelf abfolute Mafter of the Kingdom, committed it to the Care of Cleopatra^ Sifter to the late King [e), Scipio and J uha he foon after overcame in Africa^ and Pompef^ two Sons in Spain (f). And now being receiv'd at his Return with the ge- neral Applaufe of the People and Senate, and honour'd with the glorious Titles of Father of his Country^ and perpetual Dilator ^ he was defigning an Expedition into Parthia ; when, after the -Enjoyment of the fupreme Command no more than five Months, he was murder'd in the Senate- houfe (g) ; Brutus and Cajfius^ with moft of the other Confplrators, being his particular ; Friends, and fuch as he had oblig'd in the higheft Manner.

{a) Plutarch in Crajfo. {b) Fat ere. \, %, {c) Jbid. c. 49. (a) Jbld, c. cad. {e) Suet, in Ju!. Caf. q. 35. ,/; Ibid, c. eod. {£ Patm; I. z. c. 56 =

i6 The Rife and Progrefs Part I.

A Civil War nec^flariJy followed, in which the Senate, con^ lifting for the moft Part of fuch as had embraced the Faftion of Pompey^ declared in Favour of the Aflaffins, vtrhtle Mark An- tony the Conful undertook the Revenge of Cesfar, With this Pretence he exercifed all Manner of Tyranny in the City, and had no other Defign but to fecure the chief Command to him- felf. At laft the Senate were obliged to declare him an Enemy to the State ; and, in Purfuance of their Edift, raifed an Army to oppofe him under the Command o^ Hirtius and Pan/a the nevV Confuls, and O^avius Nephew and Heir to Ceefar {a). In the firft Engagement Antony was defeated ; but Hirtius being kill'd in the Fight, and Panfa dying immediately after, the fole Com- mand of the Army came into the Hands of O^avius {b). The Senate, before the late Victory, had exprefs'd an extraordinary Kindnefs for him, and honour'd him with feveral Marks of their particular Efteem : But now being freed from the Danger they apprehended from Antony^ they foon altered their Meafures ; and ^ taking little Notice of him any longer, decreed to the two Heads of the late Confpiracy, Brutus and Caffius, the two Provinces of Syria and Macedonia^ whither they had retired upon Commif- fion of the Fa6t [c). O^avius was very fenfible of their Defigns, and thereupon was eafily induced to conclude a Peace with An- tony ; and foon after entering into an Affociation with him and Lepidus, as his Uncle had done with Crajfus and Pompey^ he re- turn'd to Rome^ and was elected Conful when under twenty Years of Age [d). And now, by the Power of him and his two AfTociates, the old Senate was for the moft Part banifh'd, and a Law preferred by his Collegue Pedtus^ That all who had been concerned in the Death of Cafar (hould be proclaimed E- nemies to the Commonwealth, and proceeded againft with all Extremity [e). To put this Order in Execution, 05faviu5 and Antony advanced with the Forces under their Command toward Macedonia^vfhtrt Brutus and CaJJius had got together a numerous Army to oppofe them ; both Parties meeting near the City Phi- lippic the Traitors were defeated, and the two Commanders died foon after by their own Hands (/*). And now for ten Years all Affairs were managed by the Triumviri -y when Lepi^ dusy fetting up for himfelf in Sicily^ was contented, upon the Arrival of O^avius^ to compound for his Life, with the diftio- nourable Refignation of his Share in the Government {g). The * V ' '

{a) Paterc, 1.2. c. 6l. (/>) Si-et. in Augujl. c. II. (0 Florui. 1. 4. €.7, (J) Patetc. 1, a. c. 65. {e) lb. (f) 'FUrus I 2. c. 7. {gj Paterc. I. 2. c. 80.

Friend-

iBbok I. of t&e Ko MA^ Empire. 17

Friendfhip of OSfav'ms and Antony was not of much longer Con- tinuance : For the latter being, for feveral Enormities, declared an Enemy to the State, was finally routed in a Sea-Engagement at ASi'ium ; and, flying thence with his Miftrefs Cleotiatra^ kill'd himfelf foon after, and left the fole Command in the Hands of 0£favius, He, by his Prudence and Moderation, gain'd fuch ian intire Intereft in the Senate and People, that when he offered to lay down all the Authority he was invefted with above the reft, and to reftore the Commonwealth to the ancient Conftitucion, they unanimoufly agreed in thi,s O^^inion, That their Liberty was fooner to be parted with, than fo excellent a Prince. Howeverj to avoid all Offence, he rejected the very Names he thought might be difpleafing, and above all Things, the Title oi DiSiator^ which had been fo odious in &ylla and Cafar. )^'j this Means he was the Founder of that Government which continued ever after in Rome, The new Acquilitions to the Empire were, in liis Time, very confiderable ; Cantabria^ Aquitania^ Pannonia^ Dalmatia^ and Illyricum being wholly fubdued : The Germans were driven beyond the River Albis^ and two of their Nations, the 5z/m and Sicambri^ tranfplanted into Gaul a)i

Tiberius, tho' in Augujlus's Time he had given Proofs of an extraordinary Courage in the German War {b) ; yet upon his own Acceflion to the Crown is memorable for no Exploit but the Reducing of Cappadocia into a Roman Province [c] ; and this was owing more to his Gunning than his Valour. And at lafl, upon his infamous Retirement into the Ifland Caprecs^ he grew fo fl-rangely negligent of the publick Affairs, as to fend no Lieu- tenants for the Government of ^ain and ^yria^ for feveral Years ; to let Armenia be over- run by the Parihians, Moefia by the D^a^wj and the Sarmatians, and almoft all Gaul by. the Ger- mans ; to the extreme Danger as well as Difhonour of the Em- pire {d). Caligula y as he far exceeded his PredecefTor in all Man- ner of Debauchery, fo, in relation to martial Affairs, v/as much bis Inferior. However, he is famous for a Mock- Expedition that he made againft the Germans ; when, arriving in that Part of the Low-Countries which is oppofite to Britain^ and receiving into his Proteftion a fugitive Prince of the Ifland, he fent glorious Letters to the Senate, giving an Account of the happy Conqueft of the whole Kingdom (e). And foon after making his Soldiers flu their Helmets with Cockle-fhells and Pebbles, which he

{a) Sueton. \ttAuguft. c. 2t. {b) Pdterc. 1. z. cap. io6, &c, (c) Eutrop, I, 7. (</; Suitotii in 77^. cap. 41. {e) Sueton. in Calig, cap. 46.

B caird

1 8 "The Rife and Progrefs Part I.

callM, The Spoils of the Ocean (^), rcturnM to the City to demand a Triumph. And when that Honour was denied him by the Senate, he broke out in fuch extravagant Cruelties, that he even compeird them to cut him ofF, for the Security of their own Perfons {b). Nay, he was fo far from entertaining any Defire of Benefiting the Publick, that he often complain'd of his ill Fortune, becaufe no fignal Calamity happened in his Time, and made it his conftant Wifh, That either the utter Deflru(3:ion of an Army, or fome Plague, Famine, Earthquake, or other extraordinary Defolation, might continue the Memofy of his Reign to fucceeding Ages [c),

Caligula being taken ofF, the Senate aflembled in the Capitol, to debate about the Extinguifhing the Name and Family of the Cafars, and reftoring the Commonwealth to the old Conflituti- on (^). When one of the Soldiers, that were ranfacking the Palace, lighting cafually upon Claudius, Uncle to the late Emperor, where he had hid himfelf in a Corner behind the Hangings, pulPd him out to the reft of his Gang, and recommended him as the fitteft Perfon in the World to be Emperor. All were ftrangely pleafed at the Motion ; and, taking him along with them by Force, lodg'd him among the Guards (e). The Senate, upon the firft Information, fent immediatly to ftop their Pro- ceedings : But not agreeing among themfelves, and hearing the Multitude call out for one Governor, they were at laft con- ftrain'd to confirm the Ele6lion of the Soldiers ; efpecially fmce th^y had pitched upon fuch an eafy Prince as would be wholly at their Command and Difpofal (f). The Conqueft of Britain was the moft memorable Thing- in his Time ; owing partly to an Expedition that he made in Perfon, but chiefly to the Valour of his Lieutenants Oforius, Scapula^ Aulus Plautius^ and Vefpa- ftan. The Bounds of the Empire were in his Reign as foUow- eth ; Mejopotamia in the Eaji, Rhine and Danube in the North > Mauritania in the South, and Britain in the TVeJi (g).

The Roman Arms cannot be fuppofed to have made any con- fiderable Progrefs under Nero ; efpecially when Suetonius tells us, he neither hoped or defired the Enlargement of the Empire (h). However, two Countries were in his Time reduced into Roman Provinces ; the Kingdom of Pontus, and the Cottian Alpes, or that Part of the Mountains which divides Dauphine and Pied-- mont^ Britain and Armenia were once both loft (i), and not

(<7) /Jfw, cap. 46. (h) Idem^cz^. /\.j, (r) J^^w, cap. 49 & 56. (^)/</m,cap.3T. {e) /d'ew, cap. 60. (f) Idem in Claud, cap. 10. {g) Aurelius ViSiorde Ceefaribus io Caligula, [b) Aurclua Vi£lor dc Ca-faribui in daud. {i) Suetw, in NcronCy cap. 18.

without

Book I. of the ^oUa^ Empire. 19

without great Difficulty fecover'd. And indeed, his Averfenefs 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 Spairiy were conftrained to undertake his Removal.

Galba is acknowledged on all Hands for the great Reformer of martial Difcipline ; and tho', before his Acceffion to the Empire, he had been famous for his Exploits in Germany^ and other Parts [a) ; yet the Shortnefs of his Reign hinder'd him from making any Advancements afterwards. His Age and Severity were the only Caufes of his Ruin : The firft of which rendered him contemptible, and the other odious. And the Remedy he ufed to appeafe the DifTatisfa^tions did but ripen them for Re- venge. For immediately upon his Adopting Pifo^ by which he hoped to have pacified the People, Otho^ who had ever expell- ed that Honour, and was now enraged at his Difappoint- ment (^), upon Application made to the Soldiers, eafily procured the Murder of the old Priuce and his adopted Son ; and by that Means was himfelf advanced to the Imperial Dignity.

About the fame Time the German Army under ViteU'tus ha- ving an equal Averfion to the old Emperor with thofe at Rome^ had fworn Allegiance to their own Commander. Otho^ upon the firft Notice of their Defigns, had fent to proffer Vitellius an equal Share in the Government with himfelf [c). But all Pro- pofals for an Accommodation being refufed, and himfelf com- pelled, as it were, to march againft the Forces that were fent towards Italy^ he had the good Fortune to defeat them in three fmall Engagements. But having been worfted in a greater Fight at Bebriacum^ tho* he had ftill fufficient Strength for carrying on the War, and expeded daily a Reinforcement from feveral Parts {d) ; yet he could not, by all the Arguments in the World, be prevail'd with to hazard another Battle ; but to end the Con- tention, kiird himfelf with his own Hands. On this Account Pagan Authors, tho* they reprefent his Life as the moft exa6t Picture of unmanly Softnefs, yet they generally confefs his Death equal to the nobleft of Antiquity ; and the fame Poet (^), that has given him the lafting Title of Mollis Otho^ hath yet fet him in Competition with the famous Cato^ in reference to the final A6lion of his Life.

(a) Suet, in Galb. cap. S. {b) Idem, cap. 17, (<:) Sueton, in Otbon» cap, 8# {d) Ibid, tap. 9« (e) Martial,

B 2 ^ It

20 Tld Rife and PrOgrefs Part I.

It has been obferved of Fitellius, that he obtain'd the Empire by the fole Valour of his Lieutenants, and loft it purely on his own Account. His extreme Luxury and Cruelty were for this Reafon the more deteftable, becaufe he had been advanced to that Dignity, under the Notion of the Patron of his Country, and the Reftorer of the Rights and Liberties of the People. Within eight Months Time the Provincial Armies had unani- moufly agreed on Vefpaf.an {a) for their Emperor ; and the Tyrant, after he had been ftrangely mangled by the extreme Fury of the Soldiers and Rabble, was at laft dragged into the River Tiber {b).

The Republick w^as fo far from making any Advancement under the Difturbances of the three laft Reigns, that (he muft necefTarily have felt the fatal Confequences of them, had fhe not been feafonably relieved by the happy Management of Vefpajian. 'Twas a handfome Turn of fome of his Friends, when, by Order of Caligula^ his Bofom had, by way of Pu- niftiment, been ftufF'd with Dirt, to put this Interpretation on the Accident, that the Commonwealth being miferably abufed, and even trodden under Footy ftiould hereafter T?)' to his Bofom for Protedion {c). And indeed, he feems to have made it his whole Care and Defign to reform the Abufes of the City and State, occafion'd by the Licentioufnefs of the late Times. Nine Pro- vinces he added to the Empire (</), and was (o very exa6l in all Circumftances of his Life and Condudl, that one, who has examin'd them both with all the Nicenefs imaginable, can find nothing in either that deferves Reprehenfion, except an immo- derate Defire of Riches [e). And he covertly excufes him for this, by extolling at the fame Time his extraordinary Magnifi- cence and Liberality (f).

But perhaps he did not more oblige the World by his own Reign, than by leaving fo admirable a Succeflbr as his Son ^itus ; the only Prince in the World that has the Charader of never doing an ill A£tion. He had given fufficient Proof of his Courage in the famous Siege of yerufakmy and might have met with as good Succefs in other Parts, had he not been prevented by an untimely Death, to the univerfal Grief of Man- kind. **■

But thcn'Z>8mitian fo far degenerated from the two excel- lent Examples of his Father and Brother, as to feem more emu-

(a) Sueton. in Vitel. cap. 15. {b) Id. ih. cap. I7. {c) Sueton. in Veffaf. cap. 5. {d) Eutro^, lib. 7. {e) Id, ibid, cap. 16. (f) Id. ibid, cap. 17, iS.

lous

Book I. of t&e Ko MAN Empire. 2 1

lous of copying Nero or Caligula. However, as to martial Affairs, he was as happy as moft of his Predeceffors, having, in four Expeditions fubdued the Catti^ Daci, and the Sarma- tians^ and extinguifli'd a Civil War in the firft Beginning [a). By this Means he had fo intirely gain'd the Affedions of the Soldiers, that when we meet with his nearefl Relations, and even his very Wife engaged in his Murder (^), yet we find the Army fo extremely diffatisfied, as to have wanted only a Leader to revenge his Death [c),

{a) Sueton, In Domit. cap. 6, {b) Id. ibid. cap. 14. (c) Id. ibid. cap. 23,

CHAP. VI.

Of the Roman A fairs from Domitian to the End of Conftantine the Great,

'T^ H E two following Emperors have been defervedly ftiled ''" The Reftorers of the Roman Grandeur ; which, by reafon of the Vicioufnefs or Negligence of the former Princes, had been extremely impair'd.

Nerva^ tho* a Perfon of extraordinary Courage and Virtue, yet did not enjoy the Empire long enough to be on any other Account fo memorable, as for fubftituting fo admirable a Sue- ceflbr in his Room as Trajan.

'Twas He, that for the Happinefs which attended his Un- dertakings, and for his juft and regular Adminift ration of the Government, has been fet in Competition even with Romulus himfelf. 'Twas he that advanced the Bounds of the Empire farther than all his Predeceffors ; reducing into Roman Pro- vinces the five vaft Countries of Dac'ia^ AJfyria^ Armenia^ Me- fopotamia., and Arabia {a). And yet his prudent Management in. Peace, has been generally prefer'd to his Exploits in War. His Juftice, Candour, and Liberality having gain'd him fiich an univerfal Efteem and Veneration, that he was even deified before his Death.

{a) Eutrop, lib. 8,

B 3 AdrtarC^

2 2 \the Rife and Progrefs Part I.

Adrian^ Chara£ler was generally more of the Scholar than the Soldier : Upon which Account, as much as out of Envy to his Predeceflbr, he flighted three of the Provinces that had been taken by Trajan^ and was contented to fix the Bounds of the Empire at the River Euphrates {a). But perhaps he is the firft of the Ro?nan Emperors that ever took a Circuit round his Dominions, as we are afTured he did {b).

Antoninus Pius ftudied more the Defence of the Empire, than the Enlargement of it. However, his admirable Prudence, and ilri(5l Reformation of Manners, rendered him perhaps as fervice- able to the Commonwealth as the greatefl Conquerors.

The two Antonini^ Marcus and Lucius^ were they that made the firft Divifion of the Empire. They are both famous for a fuccefsful Expedition againft the Parthians : And the former, who was the longeft Liver, is efpecially remarkable for his ex- traordinary Learning, and ftrift Profeffion of Stoicifm j whence ' he has obtained the Name of the Philofopher,

Commodus was as noted for all Manner of Extravagances, as his Father had been for the contrary Virtues, and, after a very fhort Enjoyment of the Empire, was murder'd by one of his Miftrefres(r).

Pertinax too was immediately cut off by the Soldiers, who found him a more rigid Exaftor of Difcipline, than they had been lately ufed to. And now claiming to themfelves the Pri- vilege of choofing an Emperor, they fairly expofed the Dignity to Sale (d),

Didius Julian was the highcft Bidder, and was thereupon invefted with the Honour. But as he only expofed himfelf to Ridicule, by fuch a mad Project, fo he was in an Inftant made away with, in Hopes of another Bargain. Zofimus makes him no better than a Sort of an Emperor in a Dream {e).

But the Roman Valour and Difcipline were in a great Mea- fure reftored by Severus. Befides a famous Vidory over the Par- thians^ the old Enemies of ^o?ne^ he fubdued the greateft Part of Perfia and Arabia^ and marching into This Ifland, Britainy delivered the poor Natives from the miferable Tyranny of the Scots and PiSfs ; v/hich an excellent Hiftorian (/) calls the greateft Honour of his Reign.

Antoninus Caracal/a had as much of a martial Spirit in him as his Father, but died before he could defign any Thing memora-

(a) Eutrop. lib. 8. (b) Id. ibid, {c) Zofmus, Jlift. lib. i. {d) Ibid, {e) Ibid, (f) JE//*j Spartian, in Sever,

ble

Book I. of the'Kou A^ Empire. 1 3

ble, except an Expedition againft the Parthians^ which he had jult undertaken.

Opilius Macrlnus and his Son Diadumen had made very little Noife in the World, when they were cut ofF without much Difturbance, to make Room for Heliogabalusy Son of the late Emperor.

If he was extremely pernicious to the Empire by his extrava- gant Debaucheries, his SuccefTor Alexander Severus was as fer- viceable to the State in reftoring Juftice and Difcipline. His nobleft Exploit was an Expedition againft the Perftansy in which he overcame their famous King Xerxes [a),

Maximtn, the firft that from a common Soldier afpired to the Empire, was foon taken ofF by Pupienus^ and he, with his Collegue Balbinusy quickly follow'd, leaving the fupreme Com- mand to Gordian, a Prince of great Valour and Fortune, and who might probably have extinguifh'd the very Name of the Perftans (^), had he not been treacheroufly murder'd by Phi-' lip^ who, within a very little Time, fufFer'd the like Fortune himfelf.

Decius^ in the former Part of his Reign, had been very fuc- cefsful againft the Scythians and other barbarous Nations ; but was at laft kill'd, together with his Son, in an unfortunate En- gagement {c).

But then Gallus not only ftruck up a ftiameful League with the 'Barbarians^ but fufFer'd them to over-run all Thrace^ The/" faly^ Macedon^ Greece^ (d) isfc.

They were juft threatening Italy^ when his Succeflbr ^mi- lian chaced them ofF with a prodigious Slaughter : And, upon his Promotion to the Empire, promifed the Senate to recover all the Roman Territories that had been intirely loft, and to clear thofe that were over-run {e). But he was prevented after three Months Reign, by the common Fate of the Emperors of that Time.

After him Valerian was fo unfortunate as to lofe the greateft Part of his Army in an Expedition againft the Perjtans, and to be kept Prifoner himfelf in that Country till the Time of his Death ( /).

Upon the Taking of Valerian by the Per/tans, the Manage- ment of AfFairs was committed to his Son GaUienus ; a Prince fo extremely negligent and vicious, as to become the equal

(j) Eutrop. lib. 8. {h) Pompon. Latus m Gordian. (c) Uem.^ in Dec'to ,

{d) Idem, in Gallio. (e) Iderrif ibid. (f) Idem, in Faleriano,

B 4 Scorn

24 ^he Rife and Progrefs Part L

Scorn and Contempt of both Sexes {a) : The Loofenefs. of his Government gave Occafion to the Ufurpation of the Thirty Tyrants, of whom fome indeed ■ truly deferved that Name 5 others vvere Perfons of great Courage and Virtue, and very fer- viceable to the Commonwealth {b). In his Time the Almainsj after they had w^afled all Gaul^ broke into Italy. Dacia^ which had been gain'd by Trajan^ was intirely loft ; all Greece^ Mace- don^ Pontus^ and Jfta over- run by the Goths, The Germans too had proceeded as far as Spain^ and taken the famous City Tarracoy now Tarragona in Catalonia [c).

This defperate State of Affairs was in fome Meafure redrefs'd by the happy Conduct of Claudius^ who, in lefs than two Years Time, routed near three hundred Thoufand Barbarians^ and put an intire End to the Gothick War : Nor were his other Ac- complifhments inferior to his Valour ; an elegant Hiftorian [d) having found in him the Virtue of Trajan^ the Piety of Jnto- ninus, and the Moderation of Augujius.

^intilius was, in all Refpe^ts, comparable to his Brother ; whom he fucceeded not on Account of his Relation, but his Merits (f). But reigning only feventeen Days, 'twas impof- fible he could do any Thing more than rajfe an Expedtation in the World. - '

If any of the Barbarians were left within the Bounds of the Empire by Claudius^ Aurelian intirely chaced them out. In one fmgle War he is reported to have kill d a Thoufand of the Sar^ matians with his own Hands (/'). But his nobleft Exploit was, the Conquering the famous Zenohia^ Qiieen of the Eaft (as fhe ftyl'd herfelf ) and the Taking her Capital City Palmyra, At his Return to Rome there was fcarce any Nation in the World, out of which he had not a fufficient Number of Captives to grace his Triumph : The moft confiderable were the Indians, Arabians ^ Goths ^ Franks^ Suevians, Saracens, Vandals, and Germans {g),

Tacitus was contented to fhew his Moderation and Juftice, in the quiet Management of the Empire, without any hoftile Defign : Or, had he exprefs'd any fuch Inclinations, his jQiort Reign muft neceffarily have hinder'd their Effect.

Prohus^ to the wife Government of his Predeceffor, added the Valour and Condu£i of a good Commander : *Twas he that ob- liged the barbarous Nations to quit all their Footing in Gaul, Illy^

{a^ Trehell. Pollio in Tyran. {h) Id. in Gallleno. (c)Eutrop. 1. 9. (d) Trebell, Pollio io Claudia, (<>) Bid, {/) Flaviui Vopijc, in AUreliam, (i) Ibid,

' ' . Kurriy

Book I. of the KoMA-N Empire. 25

ricum, and feveral Provinces of the Empire ; infomuch, that the very Parthians fent him flattering Letters, confeffing the difmal Apprehenfions they entertaia'd of his Defigns againft their Country, and befeeching him to favour them with a Peace [a).

There vi^as fcarce any Enemy left to his Succeflbr Carus, ex- cept the Perftans ; againft whom he accordingly undertook an ^Expedition : But, after two or three fuccefsful Engagements, died with the Stroke of a Thunderbolt (^).

His two Sons, Carinus and Numerian^ were of fo oppofite a Genius^ that one is generally reprefented as the worft, the other as the beft of Men. Numerian was foon treacheroufly murder'd by Aper : Who, together with the other Emperor Carinus, in a very little Time, gave Way to the happy Fortune of Diocletiariy the moft fuccefsful of the latter Emperors ; fo famous for his prodigious Exploits in Egypt^ Perfta^ and Armenia^ that a Ro- man Author (<:) has not ftuck to compare him with Jupiter^ as he does his Son Maximmtan with Hercules,

Conflantius Chlorus^ and Galertus^ were happier than moft of their Predeceftbrs, by dying, as they had for the moft Part liv'd, in Peace.

Nor are Severus and Maximilian on any Account very re- markable, except for leaving fo admirable a Succeflbr, as the famous CO NSTA NTINE ',^^^ho, ridding himfelf of his two Competitors, Lttcinius and Max^ntiuSy zdvanc^d the Empire to its ancient Grandeur. His happy Wars, and wife Adminiftra- tion in Peace, have gain'd him the Sirname of The G R E AT^ an Honour unknown to former Emperors : Yet in This Refpe6t he isjuftly reputed unfortunate, that, by removing the Imperial Seat from Rome to Conjiantinople^ he gave Occafion to the utter Ruin of Italy,

(a) Flavius Vopijc, in Probo, {b) Idem in Caro, (c) Pomponiui Lixtta

in vita ejus.

CHAP.

%6 T'h Rife and Progrefs Part I

CHAP. VII.

Of the Roman Affairs from Conftantlne the Great to the "Taking ^/ Rome hy Odoacer, md the Ruin of . the Wejiern Empire,

*Tp HO' the Three Sons of Conjiantine at firft divided the Em- -*• pire into three diftincSi: Principalities ; yet it was afterwards reunited under the longeft Survivor, Ccnflantius. The Wars be- tween him and Magnentius, as they prov'd fatal to the Tyrant, fo were they extremely prejudicial to the whole State ; which at this Time was involved in fuch unhappy Difficulties, as to be very unable to bear fo exceffive Lofs of Men, no lefs than 54000 b^ing kill'd on both Sides (a). And perhaps this was the chief Reafon of the ill Succefs, which conftantly attended that Empe- ror in the Eaftern Wars : For the Per/tans were all along his Superiors ; and when at laft a Peace was concluded, the Ad- vantage of the Conditions lay on their Side.

fuUayi^ as he took effectual Care for the Security of the pther Bounds of the Empire ; fo his Defigns againft the moft formidable Enemies, the Per/tans^ had all Appearance of Suc- cefs ; but that he loft his Life before they could be fully put in Execution.

y avian was no fooner eleded Emperor, but, being under fome Apprehenfion of a Rival i>i rhe Weft, he immediately ftruck up a moft diftionourable Peace with the Perftans^ at the Price of the famous City Nijibis^ and all Mejopotamta. I'or which bafe Aftion, as he does not fail of an Invedlive from every Hiftorian ; fo particularly Ammianus Marcellinus {b) and Zoftmus have taken the Pains to (hew, that he was the firft Ro- man Governor who refign'd up the leaft Part of their Domini- ons upon any Account.

Valenttman the Firft has generally the Character of an excel- lent Prince : But he feems to have been more ftudious of oblig- ing his Subjefts, by an eafy and quiet Government, than defi- rous of adting any Thing againft the incroaching Enemies.

(a) Potnpov. Laiuu (h) Lib, 25,

Gratian

Book I. of tke Roman Empire. 27

Gratian too, tho' a Prince of great Courage and Experience in War, was able to do no more than to fettle the fingle Pro- vince of Gaul : But he is extremely applauded by Hiftorians for taking fuch extraordinary Care in the Bufinefs of a Succef-* for : For being very fenfible how every Day produced worfe Ef- fects in the Empire, and that the State, if not at the laft Gafp, yet was very nigh beyond all Hopes of Recovery ; he made it his whole Study to find out a Perfon that {hou*d, in all Refpeds, be capacitated for the noble Work of the Deliverance of his Country. The Man he pitch'd upon was Theodojius^ a Native of Spain ; who, being now invefted with the Command of the Eaft, upon the Death of Gratian^ remained fole Emperor. And, indeed, in a great Meafure, he anfwer'd the Expectation of the World, proving the moft refolute Defender of the Em- pire in its declining Age. But for his Collegue VaUntinian the Second, he was cut ofF without having done any Thing that deferves our Notice.

Under Honorius^ Things return'd to their former defperate State, the barbarous Nations getting Ground on all Sides, and making every Day fome Diminution in the Empire j till, at laft, Alaricy King of the G<?/^j, wafting all Italy ^ proceeded to Rome itfelf ; and being contented to fet a few Buildings on Fire, and rifle the Treafuries, retir'd with his Army {a) : So that this is rather a Difgrace than a Deftrudion of the City. And Nero is fuppos'd to have done more Mifchief when he fet it on Fire in Jeft, than it now fuffered from the barbarous Con-r queror.

VaUntinian the Third, at his Acceilion to the Empire, gave great Hopes of his proving the Author of a happy Revolution (b) ; and he was very fortunate in the War againft the famous Attila the Hun , But his imprudence, in putting to Death his beft Commander Mtius^ haften'd very much the Ruin of the Roman Caufe, the barbarous Nations now carrying all before them, without any confiderable Oppofition.

By this Time the State was given over as defperate ; and what Princes follow'd till the Taking of the City by Odoacer^ were only ^ Company of miferable, fliort-liv'd Tyrants, remarkable for nothing but the Meannefs of their Extradtion, and the Poornefs of their Government ; fo that Hiftorians generally pafs them over in Silence, or at moft with the bare Mention of their Names.

{a) Paul, Diacon, & Pomfon, Lat* ( b) Pomfon, tat*

The

28 7he Rife, 8cc. Part I.

The befi: Account of them we can meet with, is as follows : Jl^aximus, who, in order to his own Promotion, had procurd the Murder of Valentinian, foon after compelled his Widow Eudoxia to accept of him as a Husband ; when the Emprefs, extertaining a mortal Hatred for him on many Accounts, fent to Genferic^ a famous King of the Vandals^ and a Confederate of the late Emperor's, defiring his Afliftance for the DeHverance of herfelf and the City, from the Ufurpation of the Tyrant. Genferic eafily obeyed ; and, landing with a prodigious Army in Italy^ enter'd Rome without any Oppolition ; where, contrary to his Oath and Promife, he feiz'd on all the Wealth, and car- ry'd it, with feveral Thoufands of the Inhabitants, into Africk {a).

Avitus^ the General in Gaul^ was the next that took upon him the Name of Emperor, which he refign'd within eight Months [h).

Majorianus fucceeded ; and after three Years \th the Honour to Severus, or Severian ; who had the Happinefs, after four Years Reign, to die a natural Death (c).

After him, Anthemius was elected Emperor, who loft his Life and Dignity in a Rebellion of his Son-in-Law Ricimer (d). And then Olybrius was fent from Conjiantinople too, with the fame Authority ; but died within {qwqx\ Months (^).

Liarius, or Gfycerius, who had been ele6ted in his Room by the Soldiers, was immediately almoft depos'd by Nepos ; and he himfelf quickly after by Qreftes (f) ; who made his Son Augu- JluSy or Augujiulus^ Emperor. And now Odoacer^ King of the Heruliy with an innumerable Multitude of the barbarous Na-. tions, ravaging all Italy^ approach'd to Rome ; and entering the City without any Refiftance, and depofmg Augujlulus^ fecur'd the Imperial Dignity to himfelf ; and though he was forc'd af- terwards to give Place to Theodoric the Goth, yet the Romans had never after the leaft Command in Italy,

{a) Paul. Diacon. & Evagrius Hiji, Ecclec. lib. 2. cap. 7. {b) Id. ibid,

{c) Paul. Diacon. lib. 16. {d) Ibid. («) Ibid. (/) Jornandes de Regn, SucceJ'.

THE

THE

Antiquities of RO M E.

PART II. BOOK I.

Of the C I T y,

CHAP. I.

Of the Pomoerium, and of the Form and Bignefs of the City, according to the Seven Hills,

, E F O R E we come to pleafe ourfelves with a particular View of the City, we muft, by all Means, take Notice of the Pomcerium, for the Singularity of the Cuftom, to which it ow'd its Original. Livy defines the Pomcerium^ in general, to be that Space of Ground, both within and without the Walls, which the y/«^«ry, at the firft Building of Cities, folemnly confecrated, and on which no Edifices were fufFer'd to be raisM [a). But the Account which Plutarch gives us of this Matter, in reference to P^.ome itfelf, is fufficient to fatisfy our Curiofity ; and is deliver'd by him to this Purpofe : Romulus having fent for fome of the Tufcans^ to in(lru6t him in the Ce- remonies to be obferv'd in laying the Foundations of his new City, the Work was begun in this Manner :

Firft, They dug a Trench, and threw into it the Firft-Fruits of all Things, either good by Cuftom, or neceflary by Nature : And every Man taking a fmall Turf of Earth of the Country from whence he came, they all caft them in promifcuoufly together ;

{a) Liv* lib, i,

making

30 Of the City. Part \\.

making this Trench their Center, they defcrib'd the City in a Cvc- tl^ round it : Then the Founder fitted to a Plough a brazen Plough- fhare ; and yoaking together a Bull and a Cow, drew a deep Line or Furrow round the Bounds ; thofe, that followed after, taking Care that all the Clods fell inwards toward the City. They built the Wall upon this Line, which they calPd Pomcerium, from Po- ne Mcenia [a), Tho' the Phrafe of Pomcertum prof err e be com- monly us'd in Authors, to fignify the Enlarging of the City ; yet 'tis certain the City might be enlarged without that Ceremony. For Tacitus and Gellius declare no Perfon to have had a Right of extending the Pomcertum^ but fuch an one as had taken away fome Part of an Enemy's Country in War 5 whereas it's mani- feft, that feveral great Men, who never obtain'd that Honour, increas'd the Buildings with confiderable Additions,

'Tis remarkable, that the fame Ceremony, with which the Foundations of their Cities were at firft laid, they us'd too in deftroying and razing Places taken from the Enemy ; which we find was begun by the Chief Commander's turning up fome of the Walls with a Plough (b).

As to the Form and Bignefs of the City, we muft follow the common Direction of the Seven Hills, whence came the Phrafe of Urbs Septicollis, and the like, fo frequent with the Poets.

Of thefe Mons Palatinus has ever had the Preference ; whe- ther fo call'd from the People Palantes^ or Palatini ; or from the Bleating and Strolling of Cattle, in Latin^ Balare and Palare ; or from Pales^ the Paftoral Goddefs ; or from the Burying- place Q)i Pallas^ we find difputed, and undetermin'd among their Au- thors. 'Twas in this Place that Romulus laid the Foundations of the City, in a Quadrangular Form ; and here the fame King and Tullus Hojlilius kept their Courts, as did afterwards AuguJiuSy and all the fucceeding Emperors 5 on^ which Account, the Word Palatium came to fignify a Royal Seat (c).

This Hill to the Eaft h2isMons Ccelius ; to thQ^o\x\h^Mons Aven* tinus 5 to the Weft, yI/^«5 CapitoUnus j to the North, the Forum[d),

In Compafs twelve hundred Paces {e),

Mons Tarpeius took its Name from Tarpela^ a Roman Virgin, who betray'd the City to the Sabines in this Place {/). It was call'd too Mons Saturni and Saturnius^ in Honour of Saturn, who is re- ported to have liv'd here in his Retirement, and was ever reputed

, («) Plutarch, in Romul. {b) Dempjler. Paralipom. ad Rofm. lib. i. cap. 3.

(f) Rofin. Antiq. lib. 1. cap. 4. {d) Fabricii Roma, cap. 3. {e) Marliau. Topograph*, ^nti^. Romo', lib. i, cap. 14. (fj Flutarcb. in RotnuU

the

Book I. Of the City. %t

the Tutelar Deity of this Part of the City. It had afterwards the Denomination of CapitoUnus^ from the Head of a Man cafually found here in digging for the Foundations of the famous Tem- ple of Jupiter (fl), call'd Capitolium^ for the fame Reafbn. This Hill was added to the City by Titus Tatius, King of the iS"^- bine^^ when, having been firft overcome in the Field by Roinu^ lus^ he and his Subje£ts were permitted to incorporate with the Romans (^). It has, to the Eaft, Mo?is Palatimis and the Fo- rum ; to the South, the Tiber ; to the Weft, the level Part of the City ; to the North, Collis ^lirinaUs {<:).

In Compafs feven Stadia or Furlongs (d).

Col /is ^irinalis was fo call'd either from the Temple of ^«/- rinus^ another Name of Romulus ; or more probably from the Curetes^ a People that removed hither with Tatius from Cures^ a Sabine City {e). It afterwards changed its Name to Cahallus^ Mons Cabala, and Caballinus^ from the two Marble Horfes-, with each a Man holding him, which are fet up here. They are ftill ftanding ; and, if the Infcription on the Pilafters be true, were the Work of Phidias and Praxiteles (f) , made by thofe famous Mafters to reprefent Alexander the Great, and hisBuce" phalus^ and fent to Nero for a Prefent by Tiridates King of Jr- menia. This Hill was added to the City by Numa [g].

To the Eaft, it has Mons Efquilinus and Mons Viminalis ; to the South, the Forums of Ccp,far and Nerva ; to the Weft, the level Part of the City -, to the North, Collis Hortulorum^ and the Campus Martius (h).

In Compafs almoft three Miles (z). f

Mons Ccelius owes its Name to CosUus or Coeles^ a famous Tufcan General, who pitch'd his Tents here, when he came to the Aftiftance of Romulus againft the Sabiries {k). Livy (/) and Dionyjius {m) attribute the Taking of it in to Tullius Hoftilius ; but Strabo (w) to Ancus Martius. The other Names by which it was fometimes known, were ^lerculanus, or ^ercetulanus and Augujius : The firft occafion'd by the Abundance of Oaks growing there ; the other impofed by the Emperor Tiberius^ when he had raifed new Buildings upon it after a Firefo).

One Part of this Hill was call'd Cceliolus, and Minor Cce- iius [p),

(rt) Liv. lib. I. cap. 55. {b) Dionyfius. [c) Fabricii Roma,.c3p. 3. (d) Mar- tian, lib. I. cap. I. (e) Sext. Pomp. Fcjius. (f) Fabricii Roway cap. 3. (^) Z)/o- «>•/. Hal'.c. lib. 2. (-6) Fabricii Roma, cap. 3, (/) Martian. 1. i.e. I. {k) Varro de Ling. Lat. lib. 4. (/) Lib. I. cap. 30. (?«) Lib. 3. (n) Ceogr. 1. 5, (0) ^acit. Ann. 4. !Suet, in Tib. cap. 48. (/>) Fabricii Rof?:(t, cap. 3.

To

32 Of the City. Part I L

To the Eaft, it has the City-Walls ; to the South Mons Aven-^ tinus ; to the Weft, Mons Palatinus 5 to the North, Mons Ef^ quilinus (a).

In Compafs about two Miles and a Half (^).

Mons Efqu'tUnus was anciently call'd Cifpius and Oppius {c) : The Name o( Ef quilinus wsis varied for the eafier Pronunciation, from Exquilinus^ a Corruption of Excuhinus, ab Excuhiis, from the Watch that Romulus kept here (d). It was taken in by Ser- vius Tullius [e)y who had here his Royal Seat (/). Varro will have the Efquilia to be properly two Mountains {g) ; which Opinion has been fmce approved of by a curious Obferver A).

To the Eaft, it has the City-Walls ; to the South, the Fia Labicana ; to the Weft, the Valley lying between Mons Ccelius and Mons Palatinus ; to the North, Collis Viminalis (/).

In Compafs about four Miles {k). * Vimina. ^^^^ Vtminalis derives its Name from the * Ofiers that grew there in great Plenty. This Hill was taken in by Servius Tullius (/).

To the Eaft, it has the Campus Efquinalis ; and to the South, Part of the Suburra and the Forum ; to the Weft, Mons ^i- rinalis ; to the North, the Vallis ^irinalis (m).

In Compafs two Miles and a Half («).

The Name of Mons Aventinus has given great Caufe of Dif- pute among the Criticks, fome deriving the Word from Aven* tinus an Allan King (0) ; fome from the River Avens (p) ; and others ab Avibus, from the Birds which ufed to fly hither in great Flocks from the 7%r (q). It was call'd too Murcius^ from Murcia, the Goddefs of Sleep, who had here a Sacellum, or lit- tle Temple (r) ; Collis Diana, from the Temple oi Diana {s) j and Remonius from Remus, who would have had the City be- gun in this Place, and was here buried (/). A. Gellius affirms («), That this Hill, being all along reputed facred, was never in-* clofed within the Bounds of the City till the Time of Claudius* But Eutropius [w) exprefsly attributes the Taking of it it in to Ancus Martius ; and an old Epigram inferted by Cufpiniany ia his Comment on Cajjidorus, confirms the fame.

To the Eaft, it has the City-Walls, to the South the Cam-- <

{a) Ibid. {b) Marlian. lib. i. cap. I. (c) Fabricii RomUy cap. 3. {d) Property Jib. 2. Eleg. 8. {e) Liv, lib. I. cap. 44. (f) lb. {g) De Ling. Latin. J. 4,

{h) Marlian. lib. I. cap. J. (/) Fabricii Roma, qz^. 3. ' (k) Marlian. 1. i. c. i.

(I) Diofiyf. h ^. (m) Fabricii Roma, c. 3. (n) Marlian. lib. I. cap. i. {o)Farro de Ling. Lat. 1. 4. (/>) Ih. {q) lb. {r) Sext. Pomp. Fe/iuu (i) Martial, {j) PluU in Komul. [u) Lib. 13. cap. 14. (w) Lib. i.

pm

Book I. Of the QiTYi 33

pus PiguUnus ; to the Weft, the Tiber ; to the North, Mons Palatinus {a).

In Circuit eighteen Stadia^ or two Miles and a Quarter {b).

Befides thefe feven principal Hills, three other of inferiot Note were taken in in later Times.

CoHis Horiulorum^ ov Hortorum, had its Name from the fa- mous Gardens of Salu/i adjoining to it {c). It was afterwards caird Pincius^ from the Pincii, a noble Family who had here their Seat (d). The Emperor Aurelian firft inclofed it within the City- Walls (?).

To the Eaft and South it has the plaineft Part of Mons ^«/- r'malis ; to the Weft the P^allis Martia ; to the North the Walls of the City (/;.

In Compafs about eighteen Stadia (^).

yaniculum^ or Janicularis^ was fo callM either from an old ToWn of the fame Name, faid to have been built by Janus \ or, becaufe 'Janus dwelt and was buried here (h) ; or, becaufe 'twas a Sort of * Gate to the Romans, * Janua^ whence they iffued out upon the Tufcans (z). The fparkling Sands have at prefent given it the Name of Mons Aureus, and by Corruption Montorius [k) We may make two Obfervations about this Hill, from an Epigram of Martial : That *tis the fitteft Place to take one's Standing for a full Pro- fpe£t of the City ; and that 'tis lefs inhabited than the other Parts, by reafon of the Groflhefs of the Air (/). It is ftill fa- mous for the Sepulchres of Numa, and Statius the Poet {m).

To the Eaft and South it has ih^ Tiber ^ to the Weft the Fields ; to the North the Vatican («).

In Circuit fas much of it as ftands within the City- Walls) five Stadia (o).

Mons Faticanus owes Its Name to the Anfwers of the Fates or Prophets, that ufed to be given here ; or from the God Fa- ticanus or Fagitanus (p). It feems not to have been inclofed within the Walls 'till the Time of Aurelian.

This Hill was formerly famous for the Sepulchre of Scipia Africanus ; fome Remains of which are ftill to be feen (^), But it is more celebrated at prefent on the Account of St. Pe-^

(a) Fahricii Roma,C!if. 3. (h) Marlian, lib. I. cap. I. {c) Rofin. lib. I. cap. lit (^0 ly^d. {e) Ibid, (f) Fahricii Roma, cap. 3; (g) Marlian. lib. 1. cap. 1. \b) Rofm. lib. I, cap. ll. (/) Fejius. {k) Fahricii Roma, cap. 3. (/) Martial. Epig. lib. 4. Ep. 64. {m) Fahricii Roma , lib. I. cap. 3. (w) Bid. - {0) Marlian, lib. I. cap. I, (/>) Fejiutt (f) iVarsufz Hift. of Italy, Book II.

C Ur'^

54 Of the CiT Y. Part IL

ter's Church, the Pope's Palace, and the nobleft Library in the World.

To the Eaft it has the Campus Faticanus, and the River ; to the South the Janiculum ; to the Weft the Campus FiguiinuSy or Potters Field ; to the North the Praia ^intia [a).

It lies in the Shape of a Bow drawn up very high 5 the con- vex Part ftretching almoft a Mile [b).

As to the Extent of the whole City, the greateft we meet with in Hiftory was in the Reign of Valerian^ who enlarged the Walls to fuch a Degree as to furround the Space of fifty Miles [c)»

The Number of Inhabitants, in its flourifhing State, Ltpjius computes at four Millions {d).

At prefent the Compafs of the City is not above thirteen Miles (e),

{a) Fabricii Roma, cap. 3. (b) Marlian. lib. 1. cap. I. (f) Vopifc, in Aureliano, {d) De Riagnitud. Rom, {e) Fabricii Roma, cap. a*

CHAP. IL

Of the Bivifton of the City into Tribes and Regions ; and of the Gates and Bridges,

J^Omulus divided his little City into three Ir'tbcs ; and Ser^ •**^ vius Tullius added a Fourth ; which Divifion continued 'till the Time of Augujius, 'Twas he firft appointed the Fourteen Regions or Wards : An Account of which, with the Number of Temples, Baths, &c. in every Region, may be thus taken from the accurate Panvinius,

REGION L PORTA CAPENA:

Streets 9. Arches 4.

Luci 3. Barns 14.

Temples 4. Mills 12.

Mdes 6. Great Houfes I2r.

Publick Baths 6.

The whole Compafs 13223 Feet.

REGION IL COELIMONTIVM.

Streets 12, Private Baths 80.

Luci 2. The great Shambles.

Tem-

BookL Of theCiT^. 35

Temples 5. Barns 23,

The publick Baths of the Mills 23.

City. Great Houfes 133,

The Compafs 13200 Feet.

REGION III. ISIS ^nd SERAPIS.

Streets 8. The Baths of Titus^ Trajan^

Temples 2. and Philip,

The Amphitheatre of Fefpa^ Barns 29, or rg. pqfian. Mills 23.

Great Houfes i6o» The Compafs 12450 Feet,

REGION IV. FIJ SACRA, or 1EMFLUM PACIS.

Streets 8. verus^ and Conjlantini^

Temples 10, Private Baths 75.

The Colojfus of the Sun, Barns 18.

120 Feet high. Mills 24.

The Arches of Titus ^ Se- Great Houfes t^S.

The Compafs 14000 ; as fome fay, only 8000 Feet*

REGION. V. ES^UILINA.

Streets 15, Private Baths 75.

Luci 8, Barns 18.

Temples 6» Mills 22.

^des 5. Great Houfes i8a« ^

The Compafs 15950 Feet,

REGION VI. ACTA SEMITA,

Streets 12, or 13. Private Baths 75.

Temples 15. Barns 19.

Portico's 2. Mills 23.

Circi 2. Great Houfes 15 5 «

For a 2.

The Compafs J5600 Feet,

C a UK-.

36

Of tkCiT^. Part II.

REGION VII. VIA LATA.

Streets 40. Temples 4. Private Bath$ 75. Arches 3.

Mills 17. Barns 25. Great Houfes 120.

The Compals 23700 Feet.

REGION VIII. FORUM ROMJNUM.

Streets 12. Temples 21. Private Baths 66, /Edes 10. Portico's g. Arches 4. /i?rtf 7.

Curia 4. Bajilica 7, Columns 6. Barns 18. Mills 30. Great Houfes 150.

The Compals 14867 Feet.

REGION IX. CIRCUS FLAMINIUS.

Streets 20. Temples 8. Mdes 20. Portico's J 2, Circi 2. Theatres 4. Baftlkce 3.

Curia 2, Therma 5. Arches 2. Columns 2. Mills 32. Barns 32. Great Houfes i8q.

The Compafs 30560.

REGION X. PALATIUM.

Streets 7. Temples 10. Mdes Q. Theatre I, Curia 4.

Private Baths 15. Mills 12. Barns 16, Great Houfes 109.

The Compafs 11 600 Feet.

RE.

Book I. Of theCirY. 37

REGION XI. CIRCUS MAXIMUS.

Streets 8. Barns i6.

Mdes 22. Mills 12.

Private Baths 15. Great Houfcs 189.

The Compafs 11 600 Feet.

REGION XII. PISCINA PUBLICA.

Streets 12. Barns 28.

Mdes 2. Mills 25.

Private Baths 68. Great Houfes 128.

The Compafs 12000 Feet.

REGION XIII. AVENflNUS.

Streets 17. Barns 36.

Luci 6. Mills 30.

Temples 6. Great Houfes 155,

Private Baths 74.

The Compafs 16300 Feet.

REGION XIV. TRANSriBERINA,

Streets 23. Barns 20.

/€des6. Mills 32.

Private Baths 136 Great Houfes 150.

The Compafs 33409 Feet.

As to the Gates, Romulus built only three, or (as fome will have it) four at mod. But, as Buildings were enlarged, the Gates were accordingly multiply'd j fo that Pliny tells us, there were thirty- four in his Time.

The moft remarkable were

Porta Flumentana, fo call'd, becaufe it ^ood near the River,

Porta Flaminia^ owing its Name to the Flaminian Way, which begins there.

Porta Carmentalis^ built by Romulus^ and fo calPd fram Car- menta the Prophetefs, Mother of Evander,

Porta Navia, which Varro derives a nemoribus^ from the Woods which formerly flood near it.

C 3 P9r{a

38 Of i&eCi TV. Part II.

Porta Saltana^ deriving its Name from the Salt which the Sabines ufed to bring in at that Gate from the Sea, to fupply the City.

Porta Capena^ call'd fo from Capua ^ an old City of Italy., to which the Way lay through this Gate. It is fometimes call'd Jppiay from Jppius the Cenfor ; and Triumphalisy from the Triumphs in which the Proceflion commonly pafs'd under here ; and Fontinalis, from the Aquadu5is which were raifed over it : Whence Juvenal calls it, Madida Capena.^ and Martial., Capena^ grandi Porta qua: plu'it guttd.

The Tiber was pafs'd over by eight Bridges ; the Names of which are thus fet down by Marlian.^ Mihiusy Mlius^ VaticanuSy yaniculenfisy Cejliusy FabriciuSy PalatinuSy and Sublicius.

CHAP. III.

Of the Places of Worfhip ; particularly of the Temples

"D E F O R E we proceed to take a View of the moft remark- ^ able Places fet apart for the Celebration of Divine Service, it may be proper to make a (hort Obfervation about the general Names, under which we meet with them in Authors.

Templum then was a Place which had not been only dedi- cated to fohie Deity, but withal formerly confecrated by the jiugurs.

JEdes Sacra, were fuch as wanted that Confecration ; which, if they afterwards received, they changed their Names to Tem- ples. Vid. >f^^//.L.XIV. C.7.

Delubrum^ according to Servius, was a Place that, under one: Roof, comprehended feveral Deities.

Mdicula is only a Diminutive, and fignifies no more than a little Mdes,

Sacellum may be derived the fame Way from Mdes Sacra, Fejiiis tells us, 'tis a Place facred to the Gods without a Roof.

'Twere endlefs to reckon up but the bare Names of all the Temples we meet with in Authors. The moft celebrated op

all Accounts were the Capitol and the Pantheon^ ' '

The

Book I. Of the City. 39

The Capitol^ or Temple oi Jupiter CapltoUnus'^ was the EfFecSl of a Vow made by I'arqmnius Prifcus in the Sabine War {a). But he had fcarce laid the Foundations before his Death. His Nephew, larquin the Proud^ finifli'd it with the Spoils taken from the neighbouring Nations {b). But, upon the Expulfion of the Kings, the Confecration was perform'd by Horatius the Con- ful {c). The Structure flood on a high Ridge, taking in four Acres of Ground. The Front was adorn'd with three Rows of Pillars, the other Sides with two {d). The Afcent from the Ground was by an Hundred Steps {e). The prodigious Gifts and Ornaments, with which it was at feveral Times endow'd, almoft exceed Belief. Suetonius (f) tells us, that Augujius gave at one Time two Thoufand Pound Weight of Gold : And in Jewels and precious Stones, to the Value of Five Hundred Sef^ tertia. Livy and Pliny (g) furprize us with Accounts of the brazen Threlholds, the noble Pillars that Sylia remov'd hither from Athens out of the Temple oi Jupiter Olympius ; the gilded Roof, the gilded Shields, and thofe of folid Silver ; the huge VefTels of Silver, holding three Meafures ; the Golden Chariot, i^c. This Temple was firft confum'd by Fire in the Marian War, and then rebuilt by Sylla ; who dying before the Dedicati- on, left that Honour to ^intus Catulus. This too was demolifh- ed in the Vitellian Sedition. Vefpafian undertook a Third, which was burnt down about the Time of his Death. Domiti^ an rais'd the laft and moft glorious of all ; in which the very Gilding amounted to twelve Thoufand Talents {h). On which Account Plutarch (i) has obfcrv'd of that Emperor, that he was, like Midas, defirous of turning every Thing into Gold. There are very little Remains of it at prefent ; yet enough to make a Chri/iian Church {k).

The Pantheon was built by Marcus Agrippa, Son-In-Law to Augujiu-s Ccefar ; and dedicated either to Jupiter Ultor, or to Mars and Venus, or, more probably, to all the Gods in general, as the very Name {quaji Twv 'rrdvluv Qeuv ) implies. The Struc- ture, according to Fabricius (/), is an Hundred and Forty Feet High, and about the fame Breadth. But a later Author has in- creased the Number of Feet to an Hundred and Fifty eight. The Roof is curioufly vaulted, void Places being left here and there for the greater Strength. The Rafters were Pieces of Brafs of

(a) Liv.Yih.l. {b) Ibid, {c) Plutarch, inFoplicoL {d) Dionyf. HalUar. (u->

'Tacitus, (f) In Auguji. cap. 30. [g) Li-u. 1. 35, j8. P//«. 1. 33, &c. {h)Plu-

tarch, in Po^li(ola, {i) 3id» (/:) Fabrkii Ronsaf cap. 9. (/) Hid, *

. " C 4 Forty

40 Of the City. Part II.

Forty Feet in Length. There are no Windows in the whole Edifice, only a round Hole at the Top of the Roof, which ferves very well for the Admiflion of the Light. Diametrically under, is cut a curious Gutter to receive the Rain. The Walls on the Infide are either folid Marble, or incrufted [a]. The Front on the Outfide was cover'd with brazen Plates gilt, the Top with filver Plates, which are now chang'd to Lead (^). The Gates were Brafs, of extraordinary Work and Bignefs [c).

This Temple is ftill ftanding with little Alteration, befides the Lofs of the old Ornaments, being converted into a Chriftiaii Church by Pope Boniface IIL (or, as Poly dor e Virgil (d) has it, by Boniface IV.) dedicated to Sit. Mary and all Saints, tho' the ge- neral Name be St. Mary de Rotonda (<?). The moft remarkable Difference is, that, whereas heretofore they afcended by twelve Steps, they now go down as many to the Entrance {f).

The Ceremony of the Gonfecration of Temples, (a Piece of Superftition very well worth our Notice) we cannot better ap- prehend, than by the following Account which Tacitus gives us of that Solemnity in Reference to the Capitol^ when repaired by Vefpafian : Tho', perhaps, the chief Rites were celebrated upon the intire Raifmp; of the Stru6lure, this being probably intended only for the hallowing the Floor.

JJndecimo Kalendas Julias (^), &c. " Upon the 2ift oijuney

* being a very clear Day, the whole Plot of Ground defign'd for

* the Temple, was bound about with Fillets and Garlands. Such

* of the Soldiers as had lucky Names, entred firft with Boughs in

* their Hands, taken from thofe Trees, which the Gods more

* efpecially delighted in. Next came the Ve/ial Virgins, with

* Boys and Girls whofe Fathers and Mothers were living, and

* fprinkled the Place with Brook- Water, River- Water, and

* Spring- Water. Then Hehidius Prifcus the Prator [Plautus

* Mlian^ one of the Chief Priefts, going before him ) after he

* had performed the folemn Sacrifice of a Swine, a Sheep, and a

* Bullock, for the Purgation of the Floor, and laid the Entrails

* upon a green Turf; humbly befought Jupiter^ J^^Oy Miner- ' va^ and the other Deities Protedors of the Empire, that they

* would be ple2s'd to profper their prefent Undertaking, and ac-

* complifh, by their Divine A0ifi:ance, what human Piety had

* thus begun. Having concluded this Prayer, he put his Hand to

* the Fillets to which the Ropes, with a great Stone faftened in i_— — 1 - ■

{^a) Marlian. Topograph. Kom. Antiq.Yih. 6. cap. 6. {b) Ibid. & Fabric. J?»- iKtf, cap. 9. [c) Marlian. Ibid. (d) Lib. 6. cap, 8. (0 Fabric, cap. Qi

(f) Ibid. (^) Hijior. lib. 4.

* them.

Book I. Of the C i t y, 41

* them, had been tied for this Occafion ; when immediately the

* whole Company of Priefts, Senators, and Knights, with the

* greateft Part of the common People, laying hold together on the

* Rope, with all the Expreflions of Joy, drew the Stone into the

* Trench defign'd for the Foundation, throwing in Wedges of

* Gold, Silver,and other Metals which had never endur'd theFire, Some curious Perfons have obferv'd this Similitude between

the Shape of thefe old Temples and our modern Churches : That they had one Apartment more holy than the reft, which they term'd Cella^ anfwering to our Chancel or Choir : That the Portico's in the Sides were in all Refpe£i:s like to our Ifles ; and that our Navisy or Body of the Church, is an Imitation of their Baftlica (a).

There are two other Temples particularly worth our Notice 5 not fo much for the Magnificence of the Structure, as for the Cuftoms that depend upon them, and the remarkable Ufe to which they were put. Thefe are the Temples of Saturn and Janus.

The firft was famous upon Account of ferving for the Publick Treafury : The Reafon of which fome fancy to have been, be- caufe Saturn firft taught the Italians to coin Money ; or, as Plutarch conjectures, bccaufe in the Golden Age under Saturn^ all Perfons were honeft and fincere, and the Names of Fraud and Covetoufnefs unknown to the World [b). But, perhaps, there might be no more in*t, than that this Temple was one of the ftrongeft Places in the City, and fo the fitteft for that Ufe. Here were prcferv*d all the publick Regifters and Records, among which were the Libri Elephantiniy or great Ivory Tables, containing a Lift of all the Tribes^ and the Schemes of the publick Accounts.

The other was a fquare Piece of Building, fome fay of intirc Brafs) fo large as to contain a Statue of Janus five Feet high ; with brazen Gates on each Side, which usM always to be kept ©pen in War, and {hut in Time of Peace [c).

But the Romans were fo continually engaged in Quarrels, that we find the laft Cuftom but feldom put in Pra6tice.

Firft, all the long Reign of Numa, Secondly, J, U. C. 519. upon the Conclufion of the firft Punic War. Thirdly, by Au- gujiusy A. U, C. 725. and twice more by the fame Emperor A, U, C. 729. and again about the Time of our Saviour's Birth. Then by Nero^ A. U. C, 811. Afterwards by Vefpaftan A, U, C. 824. And laftly by Conjiantiusy when,- upon Magnen^

{a) Pallet ui Hift. Roman Flori, lib. 1. cap. 3, (h) Plutarch in Problem,

(f) Marlian, Topog, Rom, Antiq. lib. 6, cap. 8.

tius\

42 Of the City. Book I.

//ki's Death, he was left fole PofTefTor of the Empire, A. U, C. 1 1 OS {a).

Of this Cuftom, Firgii gives us a Noble Defcription ;

Sunt gemina belli porta ^ fie nomine dicunty Relligione facra^ ^ favl formidine Mart is : Centum arei claudunt veSfes eeternaque ferrt JRobora ; nee cujios ahfiftit limine Janus. Has^ ubi certa fedet patribus fententia pugnce j Ipfe ^irinali trabea einSluque Gabino Infignisy referat Jlridentia limina Conful '^ Ipfe voeat pugnas (b).

Sacred to Mars two (lately Gates appear.

Made awful by the Dread of Arms and War ;

An hundred brazen Bolts from impious Pow'r

And everlafting Bars the Dome fecure.

And watchful Janus guards his Temple Door.

Here when the Fathers have ordain'd to try

The Chance of Battle by their fix*d Decree,

The Conful, rich in his Gabinian Gown,

And Regal Pall, leads the Proceflion on ;

The founding Hinges gravely turn about,

Rouze the imprifon'd God, and let the Furies out.

Near the Temple of Janus there was a Street which took the fame Name, inhabited, for the moft Part, by Bankers and Ufurers. It was very long, and divided by the different Names of Janus Summus, Janus Medius, and Janus Imus. The firft and the laft of thefe Partitions are mentioned by Horace^ Lib. i . Epift. I.

}

Hoe Janus fummus ab imo Perdocet,

The other, Tully fpeaks of in feveral Places of his Works (r).

The Superftition of confecrating Groves and Woods to the Honour of the Deities, was a Pra<5tice very ufual with the Ancients : For, not to fpeak of thofe mentioned in the Holy Scripture, Pliny aflures us. That Trees in old Time fervid for the Temples of the Gods. Tacitus reports this Cuftom of the old Germans s ^ Curiius of the Indians^ and almoft all Writers

(a) CafauBon. Not.- ad Suetw, Auguji, cap. ss. {b) Virg^ JBn, 7, (0 Lib. 2. de Offic. Philip, 8, &c,

of

/.-fa.

Theatrtjm Co:R:^rxxII Ba-X<bi Gaditaxi

A-MPHITHXATHTJJVt CxAUDII

Pookl. Of the City. 43

of the old Druids. The Romans too were great Admirers of this Way of Wprfhip, and therefore had their Lud in moft Parts of the City, generally dedicated to fome particular Deity.

The moft probable Reafon that can be given for this Practice, is taken from the common Opinion, That Fear was the main Principle of Devotion among the ignorant Heathens. And therefore fuch darkfome and lonely Seats, putting them into a fudden Horror and Dread, made them fancy that there muft ne- ceflarily fomething of Divinity inhabit there, which could pro- duce in them fuch an Awe and Reverence at their Entrance,

CHAP. IV.

Of the Theatres, Amphitheatres, Circi, Naumachise, Odea, Stadia, and Xyfti, and of the Campus Martius.

^T^Heatres^ fo calPd from the Greek ^sa'o/xai, to fee^ owe their Original to Bacchus {a). They were ufual in feveral Parts of Greece \ and at laft, after the fame Manner as other Inftitu- tions, were borrowed thence by the Romans : That the Theatre and Amphitheatre were two different Sorts of Edifices, was never queflion'd, the former being built in the Shape of a Semicircle, the other generally Oval, fo as to make the fame Figure as if two Theatres fliould be join'd together [b). Yet the fame Place is often call'd by thefe Names in feveral Authors. They feem too, to have been defign'd for quite different Ends 5 the Thea- tres for Stage- Plays, the Amphitheatres for the greater Shows of Gladiators, wild Beafts, ^c. The Parts of the Theatre and Am- phitheatre^ beft worth our Obfervation, by Reafon of their fre- quent Ufe in Clafficks, are as follow :

Scena was a Partition reaching quite crofs the Theatre^ being either Ferfatilis, or DuSiilis^ either to turn round or to draw uf>, for the prefenting a new Profpedt to the Spe6tators, as Ser- vius has obferv'd (c).

Profcenium was the Space of Ground jull: before the Scene, where the Pulpit u?n flood, into which the A6lors came from behind the Scenes to perform [d).

{a) Poly dor. Vlrg. de Rer. invent, lib. 3. cap. 13. {h) Ibid, {c) In Giorg. 3, ij) Rcfirt, lib. 5» cap. 4. ' ■

The

44 Of the C I T y. Part II.

The middle Part, or Area^ of the Amphitheatre^ was call'd Cavea^ becaufe 'twas confiderably lower than the other Parts ; whence perhaps the Name of Pit in our Play-houfes was bor- rowed : And Arena^ becaufe it us'd to be flrown with Sand, to hinder the Performer from flipping. Lipfius has taken No- tice, that the whole Amphitheatre was often call'd by both thefe Names {a\ And the Veronefe ftill call the Theatre^ which re- mains almoft intire in that City, the Arena {h).

There was a threefold Diftindlion of the Seats, according to the ordinary Divifion of the People into Senators, Knights, and Commons ; the firft Range was call'd Orchejira^ from op%.rflrS«t, becaufe in that Part of the Grecian Theatres, the Dances were performed •; the fecond, Equeftria ; and the other Popularia (r).

Theatres^ in the firfl Ages of the Commonwealth, were only Temporary, and compos'd of Wood, which fometimes tumbled down with a great Deftru^lion, as Dio (d) and Pliny {e) fpeak of one particularly. Of thefe temporary Theatres, the mod celebra- ted was that of M. Scaurus, mentioned by Pliny (f) ; the Scenes of which were divided into three Partitions one above another ; the firft confifting of 120 Pillars of Marble; the next of the like Number of Pillars, curioufly wrought in Glafs': The Top of all had ftill the fame Number of Pillars adorn'd with gilded Tablets. Between the Pillars were fet 3000 Statues and Images of Brafs. Th^Cavea would hold 80000 Men. The Structure which Curio afterwards rai^'d at the Funeral of his Father, tho' inferior to the former in Magnificence, yet was no lefs remarkable upon account of the admirable Artifice and Contrivance. He built two fpacious Theatres of Wood, fo order'd with Hinges and other Neceflaries, as to be able to turn round with very little Trouble. Thefe he {Qt at firft back to back, for the Celebration of the Stage-plays and fuch like Diverfions, to prevent the Diforder that might otherwife arife by the Confufion of the Scenes. Toward the latter End of the Day, pulling down the Scenes, and joining the two Fronts of the Theatres, he composed an exa(ft Amphitheatre, in which he again obliged the People with a Show of Gladiators [g),

Pompey the Great was the firft that undertook the Raifing of a fix'd Theatre, which he built very nobly with fquare Stone ; on w\i\QhA.QCo\xnt,Tacitus{h) tells us he was feverely reprehended for introducing a Cuftom fo different from that of their Forefathers,

(a) LipJ. in Amphitheat. {b) JVarcup' sYil^oxy of Italy. (c) Cafalius de

XJrb. Rom. Sc Imp. Splendore. lib. z, cap. 5. (d) Lib. 37. (0 Lib. 36. c. 15. (fj Ibid, (g) Ibid, {b) Ann 14.

who

Book L of the C IT y. 45

who were contented to fee the like Performances, in Seats built only for the prefent Occafion, and in ancient Times {landing only on the Ground. To this Purpofe, I can't omit an ingenious Re- flection of Ovid, upon the Luxury of the Age he liv'd in, by comparing the honeft Simplicity of the old Romans with the Vanity and Extravagance of the modern in this Particular : Tunc neque marmoreo pendehant vela Theatro^

Nee fuerant liquido pulptta rubra croco. Illic quas tulerant, nemorofa Palatta, frondes

S implicit er poftt a : Scena Jine arte fuit. In gradibus /edit populus de cefpite fa£fis,

^alibet hirfutas fronde tegente comas [a). No Pillars then of Egypt's coftly Stone, ^ i

No Purple Sails hung waving in the Sun, t

No Flowers about the fcented Seats were thrown. j ,

But Sylvan Bowers and Ihady Palaces, Brought by themfelves, fecur'd them from the Rays. Thus guarded and refrefli'd with humble Green, Wond'ring they gaz'd upon the artlefs Scene : Their Seats of homely Turf the Crowd would rear. And cover with green Boughs their more diforder'd Hair. Juvenal intimates, that this good old Cuftom remained Hill uncorrupted in feveral Parts of Italy :

• ipfa dierum

Feftorum herbofo colitur ft quando Theatro

Majejlas j tandemque redit ad pulpita notum

Exodium^ cum per/ones pallentis hiatum

In gremio matris formidat rujlicus infans i

Mquales habitus illic, fimilemque videbis

Orchejlram ^ populum" (b).

On Theatres of Turf in homely State,

Old Plays they a61:, old Feafts they celebrate ;

The fame rude Song returns upon the Crowd,

And by Tradition is for Wit allow'd. -

The Mimick yearly gives the fame Delights,

And in the Mother's Arms the clownifh Infant frights.

Their Habits (undiftinguifti'd by Degree)

Are plain, alike ; the fame Simplicity

Both on the Stage, and in the Pit you fee.

Mr. Dryden^

{a) Ovid, de Arte Amandi, {b) Juv, Sat, 3,

Some

46 Of the Cn y. Part If.

Some Remains of this I'heatre of Pompey are ftill to be ken at Rome^ as alfo of thofe other of Marcellus^ Statillus Taurusf^ ^iberiusy and Titus^ the fecond being almoft intire {a,.

The Circt were Places fet apart for the Celebration of feveral Sorts of Games, which we will fpeak of hereafter. They were ge- nerally oblong, or almoft in the Shape of a Bcvv'(Z>), having a Wall quite round (r), with Ranges of Seats fo the Convenience of the Spectators. At the Entrance of tne Circus flood the Carceres^ or Lifts, whence they ftarted ; andjuftby them one of tht 71/^^/^, or Marks ; the other flanding at the farther End to conclude theRace* There were feveral of thefe C'lrci in Rome^ as thofe oiFlammi- »!, Neroy Caracalla^ and Sever us : But the moft remarkable, as the very Name imports, was Circus Maximus, firft built by lar- quinius Prifcus [d). The Length of it was four Stadia^ or Fur- longs, the Breadth the like Number of Acres ; with a Trench of ten Feet deep, and as many broad, to receive the Water ; and Seats enough for 150,000 Men {e). It wasextremelv beautified and adorn'd by fucceeding Princes, particularly by Julius Ccsfar^ Auguflus^ Caligula^ Domitian^ Trajan^ and Heliogahalus \ and enlarged to fuch a prodigious Extent, as to be able to contain, in their proper Seats, 260,000 SpeiSlators (f).

The Naumachics^ or Places for the Shows of Sea Engage- ments, are no where particularly defcrib'd ; but we may fuppofe them to be very little different from the Circo*s and Amphithea- tres^ fmce thofe Sort of Shows, for which they were defign'd, were often exhibited in the aforementioned Places (g).

Odeum was a publick Edifice, much after the Manner of a Theatre (h), where the Muficians and AClors privately exercis'd before their Appearance on the Stage (i). Plutarch has defcrib'd one of their Odeums at Athens (whence to be fure the Romans took the Hint of theirs) in the following Words : For the Con^ trivance ofit^ in the In fide it was full of Seats and Ranges of PiU lars ; and^ on the Outjide^ the Roof or Covering of it was made from one Point at Top^ with a great many Bendings^ allfhelving down* ward^ in Imitation of the King of Perfia'^ Pavilion (k).

The Stadia were Places in the Form of Circi, for the Run- ning of Men and Horfes (/). A very noble one Suetonius {m) tells us was built by Domitian.

(a) Fabric, Rom. cap. 12. {b) Marlian. Topog. Rom. Ant. Jib. 4. cap. 10. (c) Polydor. Virg. de Rer. invent. lib. 2. cap. 14. {d) Liv. & D'lony], Halic*

.(<) Dionyf. lib. 3. (f) Plin. lib. 36. {g) Marlian. Topog. Rovi. Ant. lib. 4. cap. *3' W Fabric, Rom. cap. 12. (?) jRc/^n. lib. 5. cap. 4. \^k) In Pcricte,

(0 Fabric. Rom. cap. 12. (»r) In D.mitiano,

The

Book L Of the C IT y. 47

The Xyftt were Places built, after the Fafhion of Portico's, for the Wreftlers to exercife in {a).

The Campus MartiuSy famous on fo many Accounts, was a large plain Field, lying near the Tiber ^ whence we find it fometimes under the Name of Tiberinus. It was calFd Ahr» tius, becaufe it had been confecrated by the old Romans to the God Mars,

Befides the pleafant Situation, and other natural Ornaments, the continual Sports and Exercifes perform'd here, made it one of the moft diverting Sights near the City. For,

Here the young Noblemen praftifed all Manner of Feats of Activity ; learn'd the Ufe of all Sorts of Arms and Weapons. Here the Races, either with Chariots or fingle Horfes, were undertaken. Befides this, 'twas nobly adorn'd with the Statues of famous Men, and with Arches, Columns, and Portico's, and other magnificent Stru6lures. Here flood the Filia Publica^ or Palace for the Reception and Entertainment of Ambafladors from foreign States, who were not allow'd to enter the City. Several of the publick Comitia were held in this Field ; and for that Purpofe were the Septa or Ovilia^ an Apartment in- clofed with Rails, where the Tribes or Centuries went in one by one to give their Votes. Cicero^ in one of his Epiftles to JtticuSy intimates a noble Defign he had to make the Septa of Marble, and to cover them with a high Roof, with the Addition of a ftately Portico or Piazza all round. But we hear no more of this Projed:, and therefore may reafonably fuppofe, he was dif- appointed by the Civil Wars which broke out prefently after,

{a) Fa^ic, Rom, cap. 12,

CHAP. V.

Of the Curias, Senacula, Bafilicse, Fora, and Comitium.

'T^HE Roman Curia (it fignifies a publick Edifice) was of ■*■ two Sorts, Divine and Civil : In the former, the Priefts and Religious Orders met for the Regulation of the Rites and Cere- monies belonging to the Worlhip of the Gods : In the other, the Senate ufed to aflemble, to confult about the publick Concerns of the Commonwealth, {a) The Senate could not meet in fuch a

{a) Alex, ab Alex. i. cap. 16.

Curla^

Of the City. Part IL

Citria^ uiilels it had been folemnly confecrated by the Augurs {a) and made of the fame Nature as a iTemple. Sometimes (at leaft) the Curia were no diftindl Building, but only a Roorh or Hall in fome publick Place ; as particularly Livy (b) and Pliny (c) fpeak of a Curia in the Comitium, tho' that itfelf were no in- tire Strufture. The moft celebrated Curia were.

Curia Hojiiliay built by Tullus HoftiliuSy as Livy (d) informs us : And,

Curia Pompeii, where the Senate aflembled for the EfFedting the Death of Julius Cafar (e).

Senaculum is fometimes the fame as Curia (f) : To be fure it could be no other than a Meeting-place for the Senate, the fame as the Gracians call'd yepao-ia. Sext. Pomp, Fejlus (g) tells us of three Senacula ; two within the City- Walls for ordinary Confutations ; and one without the Limits df the City, where the Senate aflembled to give Audience to thofe Ambafladors of Foreign States, whom they were unwilling to honour with an Admiflion into the City.

Lampridius (h) informs us, that the Emperor Heliogabalus built a Senaculum purpofely for the Ufe of the Women, where, upon high Days, a Council of grave Matrons were to keep Court.

The Bajilica were very fpaclous and beautiful Edifices, de- figned chiefly for the Centumviri, or the Judges to fit in and hear Caules, and for the Counfellors to receive Clients. The Bankers too had one Part of it allotted for their Refidence(;). Voffius {k) has obferved, that thefe Bafilica were exactly i-n the Shape of our Churches, oblong almofl: like a Ship ; which was the Reafon that, upon the Ruin of fo many of them, Chri- ftian Churches were feveral Times raifed on the old Foundations^ ; and very often a whole Bafilica converted to fuch a pious Ufe. And hence, perhaps, all our great Doriio's or Cathedrals ar« ftill call'd Bafilica,

The Roman Forums were publick Buildings, about three Times as long as they were broad. All the Compafs 6f the Forum was furroundcd with arch'd Porticoes, only fome Paflages being left for Places of Entrance. They generally contrived to have the mofl: fliately Edifices all round them, as T'empleSy Theatres, Safjlica, &c. (/;.

{a) A. Gill. 1. 14. c. 7. {b) Lib. i. {c) Lib. — {d) Lib. i. (0 Sucton. in yul. Ceef, c. 80. (f) Marlian. Topog. Ant. Rom. lib. 3. cap. 27. [g) In voce Senaculum. {h) In vit. HcUogah, {:) Rofin. Ant. 1. 9. C 7. (*) In voce Bafilica, (/) Z-zW: de Mag. i?6«. -

They

Book 1. Of the Cir v. 49

They were of two Sorts ; Fora Civilia^ and Fora Fenalia : The firft were defign'd for the Ornament of the City, and for theUfe of pubh'ck Courts of Juftice ; the others were intended for no other End but the Neceflities and Conveniences of the Inhabitants and were no doubt equivalent to our Markets. I htXitwtLipfius in the Defcription, that has been given above, means only the former. Of thefe there were Five very confiderable in Rome :

Forum Romanum^ built by Romulus^ and adorn'd with Portico's on all Sides by 'Tarquln'ius Prifcus. It was call'd Forum Romanuiriy or fimply Forum^ by way of Eminence, on Account of its Anti- quity, and of the mod frequent Ufe of it in publick Affairs. Martial {a) and Statius [b) for the fame Reafon give it the Name of Forum Latium ; Ovid the fame (c), and of Forum Magnum (d) •, and Herodian {e) calls it t»iv a^%ar«i/ dyo^ctv^ Forum vetus,

Statius the Poet (f) has given an accurate Defcription of the Forum, in his Poem upon the Statue of Domitian onHorfe-back, fet up here by that Emperor.

Forum yuHum, built by Julius Cafar, with the Spoils taken in the GallickW^r. The very Jrea, Suetonius (g) tells us, coft 100000 Sefterccs; and Dio {h) affirms it to have much exceed- ed the Forum Romanum.

ForumAuguftiy built hy j^ugujtus Cafar, and reckonM by Pliny among the Wonders of the City. The mofl remarkable Curio- fity was the Statues in the two Porticoes on each Side of the main Building. In one, were all the Latin Kings, beginning wkhMneaSi in the other, all the Kings oi Rome, beginning with Romulus, and moil of the eminent Perfons in the Com- monwealth, and Augujius himfelf among the refl ; with an Infcription upon the Pedeflal of every Statue, exprefling the chief A£lions and Exploits of the Perfon it reprefented (/).

This Forum, as Spartian [k) informs us, was reftor'd by the Emperor Hadrian,

Forum Nerves, begun by Domitian, as Suetonius (I) relates ; but finifli'd and nam'd by the Emperor Nerva. In thh Forum, Alexander Severus fet up the Statues of all the Emperors that had been canoniz'd {m), in Imitation of the Contrivance of Augujius, mentioned but now. This Forum was call'd Tranjttorium, becaufe it lay very convenient for a Paflage

ia) Efig. lib. 2. {b) Sylvar. lib. i. cap. i. (c) Faft, 4. (d) Faji. 3.

{e) In vit. M.Antonin. (f) Syl. lib. i, cap. 1. {g) In Jul. def. cap. 26.

(i)) Dm. lib. 43. (/■) I,f>/. de Magnitud. i?ow. {k) In \i\, Hadriani, (.> In Domtt, cap. 5. (w) S^arttan in Severo,

D t*

50 Of tkCir v. Part H.

to the other three ; and Palladium, from the Statue of Mi- nerva, the tutelar Deity oi Augujlus i^a) \ upon which Account, perhaps, Fabricius [b) attributes the Name oi Palladium to die Forum of that Emperor.

There's fcarce any thing remaining of. this Forum^ except an old decay'd Arch, which the People by a ftrange Corruption, inftead of Nervals Arch, call Noah's Ark [c).

But the moft celebrated for the admirable Strudture and Con- trivance, was the Forum Trajani, built by the Emperor Trajan, with the foreign Spoils he had taken in the Wars. The Co- vering of this Edifice was all Brafs, the Portico's exceedingly beautiful and magnificent, with Pillars of more than ordinary Height, and Chapiters of exceilive Bignefs {d).

Ammianus MarcelliTiuSy in the Defcription . of Conflantius's triumphal Entrance into Rome, when he has brought him, with no ordinary Admiration, by the Baths, the Pantheon, the CapitoJy and other noble Structures, as foon as ever he gives him a Sight of this Forum of Trajan, he puts him into an Ecftafy, and can't forbear making an Harangue upon the Matter (e). We meet in the fame Place with a very fmart Repartee which Conjlantius receiv'<l at this Time from Ormifdas, a Perfian Prince. The Emperor, as he ftrangely admir'd every thing belonging to this noble Pile, fo he had a particular Fancy for the Statue of Tra- jan's Horfe, which flood on the Top of the Building, and ex- prefs'd his Defire of doing as much for his own Beaft : Pray Sir, fays the Prince, before you talk of getting fuch a Horfe^ will you be pleas' d to build fuch a Stable to put him in (f). The chief Fora Venalia, or Markets, were, Boarium, for Oxen and Beef.

Propertius (g) has a pretty Fancy about thisFormn, that it took its Name from Hercuies's Oxen, which he brought from Spaifi^ and refcu'd them here, after they had been ftolen by Cacus. Suarium, for Swine. Piftorium, for Bread. Cupedinarium, for Dainties. Holitorium, for Roots, Sallads, and fuch like. The Comitium was only a Part of the Forum Romanumt which ferv'd fometimes for the Celebration of the Comitia^ which will be defcrib'd hereafter.

{a) Lipf. \nMagn. Rom, {b) Rotvay cap. 7. {c) Marlian, lib. 3. cap. 14. {d) Idem lib. cap. 13. {e) Ammian Marcellin, Hift. lib. 16. (f) Jbid,

ig] Lib. 4, Eleg. 10. ver. 20,

In

Book I. Of the C I T Y. 51

In this Part of the Formn ftood the Roflra^ being a Suggejiumy or fort of Pulpit, adorn'd with the Beaks of Ships taken in aSea- Fight from the Inhabitants o{ Ant'ium in Italy ^ as Livy [a) informs us. In this theCaufes were pleaded, the Orations made, and the Funeral Panegyricks fpoke by Perfons at the Death of theirRelati- ons; which pious A<Stion they term' dDefunSii pro roftrh laudatio.

Hard by was fix'd the Puteal^ of which we have fcveral and very different Accounts from the Criticks ; but none more pro- bable than the Opinion of the ingenious Monfieur Dacier {b% which he delivers to this Purpofe :

" The Romans^ whenever a Thunderbolt fell upon a Place " without a Roof, took care, out of Superftition, to have a *' Sort of Cover built over it, which they properly call'd Puteal, *' This had the Name of Puteal Libonii^ and Scribonium Putealy " becaufe Scriboni^s Libo eredted it by Order of the Senate. " The Prestor^s Tribunal ftanding juft by, is often fignified in *' Authors by the fame Expreflion.

{a) Lib. 8. {b) Dacier ^ Notes qn Horace y lib. 2. Sat. 6. verfe 35.

CHAP. VI.

Of the Portico's, Arches, Columns, and Trophies.

TN Accounts of the eminent Buildings of the City, the •*■ PORTICO'S have ever had an honourable Place. They were Structures of curious Work and extraordinary Beauty, an- nexed to publick Edifices, Sacred and Civil, as well for Orna- ment as Ufe. They generally took their Names either from the Temples that they ftood near, as Posticus Concordia, ^uirmiy Her cults, &c. or from the Authors, as Porticus Pompeia^ OSia^ via, Livia, &c. or from the Nature and Form of the Building, zs Porticus curva,Jladiata, porphy retina ; or from the Shops that were kept in them, as Margaritaria, and Argentarid ; or from the remarkable Painting in them, as Porticus Tfidis, Europe, &c. or elfe from the Places to which they join'd, as Porticus Am* phitheatri, Porticus Circi, &c. {a),

Thefe Portico's were fometimes put to very ferious Ufe, ferv- ing for the Aflemblies of the Senate on feveral Accounts. Some- times the Jewellers, and fuch as dealt in the moft precious Wares^ took up here their Standing, to expofe their Goods to Sales :

(fl) Fabricii RomCt cap. 13*

D 2 But

52 Of tie City. Part II.

But the general Ufe that they were put to, was the Pleafure of walking or riding in them ; in the Shade in Summer, and in Winter in the dry ; like the prefent Piazza's in Italy. Velleius Paterculus (^), when he deplores the extreme Corruption of Manners that had crept into Romey upon the otherwifc happy Conclufion of the Carthaginian War, mentions particularly the Vanity of the Noblemen, in endeavouring to outfliine one another in the Magnificence of their Portico's^ as a great In- flance of their extravagant Luxury.

And Juvenal in his Seventh Satyr complains : Balnea fexcentis, ^ pluris Porticus, in qua Gejletur Dominus quoties pluit : anne ferenum Expe£iet^ fpargatve luto jumenta recenti F Hie potius ', namque hie munda nit^t ungula mula. On fumptuous Baths the Rich their Wealth beftow. Or fpme expenfive airy Portico ; Where fafe from Showers they may be borne in State ; And, free from Tempefts, for fair Weather wait : Or rather not expert the clearing Sun ; Thro' thick and thin their Equipage muft run : Or ftaying, 'tis not for their Servants Sake, But that their Mules no Prejudice may take.

Mr. Charles Dryden.

Archks were publick Buildings, defign'd for the Reward and' Encouragement of noble Enterprizes, ere<5bd generally to the Honour of fuch eminent Perfons as had either won a Vi<3:ory of extraordinary Confequence Abroad, or had refcu'd the Common- wealth at Home from any confiderable Danger. At firft they were plain and rude Structures, by no means remarkable for Beauty or State. But in latter Times no Expences were thought too great for the rendring them in the highefl manner Splendid and Magnificent : Nothing being more ufual than to have the greateil Adions of the Heroes they flood to honour, curioufly exprefs'd, or the whole Proceflion of the Triumph cut out on the Sides. The Arches built by Romulus were only of Brick ; that of CfimilluSy of plain fquare Stone ; but then thofe of Cafar^Drufus^ TituSy Trajany Gordian, Sec, were all intirely Marble {b)»

As to their Figure, they were at firfl Semicircular, whence probably they took their Names. Afterwards they were built

(a) Lsb. z, cap. I, (i) Fabricii Roma, cap, 14.

Four-

Book I. Of the City. 5 3

Four-fquare, with a fpaclous arched Gate in the Middle, and lit- tle ones on each Side. Upon the vaulted Part of the Middle Gate, hung little wing'd Images, reprefenting Viftory, with Crowns in their Hands, which when they were let down, they put upon the Conqueror's Head as he pafs'd under in Triumph (^7).

The Columns or Pillars were none of the meaneft Beau- ties cf the City. They were at laft converted to the fameDefign as the Arches, for the honourable Memorial of fome noble Vic- tory or Exploit, after they had been a long time inUfe for the chief Ornaments of the Sepulchres of great Men ; as may be gathered from Horner^ Iliad 16. where Juno^ when fhe*s fore- telling the Death of Sarpedon, and fpeaking at laft of carrying bim into his own Country to be bury*d, has thefe Words:

"Ev$a e Ta^%yVtf^» xacr* 7^75x01 T£, eVat T£, Tvf^Qia re ri9X>9 Te, to ya^ y£^ct<; If* ^uvonav.

There (ball his Brothers and fad Friends receive The breathlefs Corps, and bear it to the Grave. A Pillar fhall be rear'd, a Tomb be laid. The nobleft Honour Earth can give the Dead.

* The Pillars of the Emperors Trajan and Antoninus have been extremely admir'd for their Beauty and curious Work ; and therefore deferve a particular Defcription.

The former was fet up in the Middle of Trajan^s Forum^ be- ing compos'd of 24 great Stones of Marble, but fo curioufly ce- mented, as to feeni one intire natural Stone. The Height was. 144 Feet, according to Eutropius {b) j xhd' Marlian {c) feems to make them but 128: Yet they are eafily reconcil'd, if we fuppofe one of them to have begun the Meafure from the Pillar itfelf, and the other from the Bafis. It is afcended on the In- fide by 185 winding Stairs, and has 40 little Windows for the Adminion of the Light. The whole Pillar is incrufted with Marble ; in which are exprefsM all the noble A6tions of the Em- peror, and particularly the Decian'Wz.r, One may fee all over it the feveral Figures of Forts, Bulwarks, Bridges, Ships, ^c. and all manner of Arms, as Shields, Helmets, Hargets, Swords, Spears, Daggers, Belts, ^c . together with the feveral Offices and Employments of the Soldiers ; fome digging Trenches, fome meafuring out a Place for the Tents, and others making a

{a) Fairkii Rma, op. 15. (h) flifi, lib. S. (c) Ub. 3. cap. 13.

D 3 Trium-

54 Of the C i t Y. P^art II.

Triumphal Proceflion [a) feut thfe hdbkft Ornamtrit of this Pillar, was the Statue oi Trajan on thfeToj), of aGigantick Blg- riefs ; being no lefs than twenty Feet high. He was reprefent- ed in a Coat of Armour proper to the General, holding in hi^ Left- Hand a Sceptre, in his Right a hollow Globe of Gold, in which his own Afties were tepofited after his Death {b).

The Column of Antoninus was rlis'd m