66 the new emperor had been obliged to promise to CHA P. the Prætorian guards. Yet under these dis- IV. tressed circumstanees, Pertinax had the generous firmness to remit all the oppressive taxes invented by Commodus, and to cancel all the unjust claims of the treasury; declaring, in a decree of the senate," that he was better satisfied to admi"nister a poor republic with innocence, than to acquire riches by the ways of tyranny and dis "honour." Oeconomy and industry he considered as the pure and genuine sources of wealth; and from them he soon derived a copious supply for the public necessities. The expence of the household was immediately reduced to one half. All the instruments of luxury, Pertinax exposed to public auction *, gold and silver plate, chariots of a singular construction, a superfluous wardrobe of silk and embroidery, and a great number of beautiful slaves of both sexes; excepting only, with attentive humanity, those who were born in a state of freedom, and had been ravished from the arms of their weeping parents. At the same time that he obliged the worthless favourites of the tyrant to resign a part of their ill-gotten wealth, he satisfied the just creditors of the state, and unexpectedly discharged the long arrears of honest services. He removed the oppressive restrictions which had been laid upon commerce, and granted all the uncultivated lands M 2 * Besides the design of converting these useless ornaments into money, Dion (1. lxxiii. p. 1220.) assigns two secret motives of Pertinax. He wished to expose the vices of Commnodus, and to discover by the purchasers those who most resembled him. IV and popu larity. CHA P. lands in Italy and the provinces, to those who would improve them; with an exemption from tribute during the term of ten years ngis ar of Such an uniform conduct had already secured on the to Pertinax the noblest reward of a sovereign, love and esteem of his people. Those who remembered the virtues of Marcus, were lont happy to contemplate if their in their new emperor the features of that bright original; and flattered themselves, that they should long enjoy the benign influence of his administration A hasty zeal to reform the corrupted state, accompanied with Биг bedeu asw. W X 191 10 51154 less prudence than might have been expected from the years and experience of Pertinax, provyears repor ed fatal to himself and to his countryHis bo public disorders, and who preferred the favour of a tyrant to the inexorable equality of the laws. of the Pro-Amidst the general joy, the sullen and angry countenance of the Prætorian guards betrayed d their inward dissatisfaction. They had reluc 107617 tantly submitted to Pertinax; they dreaded A the strictness of the ancient discipline, which he tag was preparing to restore; and they regretted the licence of the former reign. Their discontents were secretly fomented by Lætus their præfect, who found,qwhen it was too late, that his new emperor would reward a servant, but would not & M πολυ be *Though Capitolinus has picked up many idle tales of the private life of Reftinax, he joins with Dion and Herodian in ad miring his public conductaeque T + Leges, rem surdam, inexorabilem esse. T. Liv. ii. 3. OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. IV: racy pre vented, 165 Set of 295ivotq 9ft bus vloj ar zbusi 4 A HY be ruled by a favourite. On the third; day of c HVA P. his reign, the soldiers seized onía noble senator, with a design to carry him to the camp, and to invest him with the Imperial purple; xInstead of being dazzled by the dangerous, honour the aff frighted victim escaped from their violence, and took refuge at the feet of Pertinax, short time afterwards, Sosius Falco, one of the consuls of a conspia rash ancient opy y me 3A LAJONE and lent family, listened to the voice of ambition; and a conspiracy was formed during a short, ab, sence of Pertinax, which was crushed by his sudSonsburg, 2 den return to Rome, and his resolute behaviour, TWO THE PSY 901 MOTL Falco was on the point of being justly condemned to death as a public enemy, had he not been saved by the earnest and sincere entreaties of the injured emperor; who conjured the senate, that the purity of his reign might not be the blood even of a guilty senator. བྷ stained by to irritate to Murder of On the Pertinax Prætori March These disappointments served only the rage of the Prætorian guards. twenty-eighth of March, eighty-six days only by the after the death of Commodus, a general sedition ans, broke out in the camp, which the officers wanted A.D. 193. either power or inclination to suppress. Two or $8th. three hundred of the most desperate soldiers marched at noon day, with arms in their hands and fury in their looks, towards the Imperial palace. The gates were thrown open by their companions *Ifwel credit Capitolinus (which is rather difficult), Falco behaved with the most petulant indecency to Pertinax, on the day of his accession. The wise emperor only admonished him of his youth and inexperience. Hist. August, p. 556220 IV. CHA P. upon guard; and by the domestics of the old court, who had already formed a secret conspiracy against the life of the too virtuous emperor. On the news of their approach, Pertinax, disdaining either flight or concealment, advanced to meet his assassins; and recalled to their minds his own innocence, and the sanctity of their recent oath. For a few moments they stood in silent suspense, ashamed of their atrocious design, and awed by the venerable aspect and majestic firmness of their sovereign, till at length the despair of pardon reviving their fury, a barbarian of the country of Tongres levelled the first blow against Pertinax, who was instantly dispatched with a multitude of wounds. His head separated from his body, and placed on a lance, was carried in triumph to the Prætorian camp, in the sight of a mournful and indignant people, who lamented the unworthy fate of that excellent prince, and the transient blessings of a reign, the memory of which could serve only to aggravate their ap proaching misfortunes †. CHAP, * The modern bishopric of Liege. This soldier probably belonged to the Batavian horse-guards who were mostly raised in the dutchy of Gueldres and the neighbourhood, and were distinguished by their valour, and by the boldness with which they swam their horses across the broadest and most rapid rivers.. Tacit. Hist. iv. 12. Dion, 1. lv. p. 797. Lipsius de magnitudine Romana, 1. i. c. 4. + Dion, I. Ixxiii. p. 1232. Herodian, 1. ii. p. 60. Hist. August, p. 58. Victor in Epitom, and in Cæsarib. Eutropius, viii. 16. Public Sale of the Empire to Didius Julianus by the Prætorian Guards.Clodius Albinus in Britain, Prescennius Niger in Syria, and Septimius Severus in Pannonia, declare against the Murderers of Pertinax.-Civil Wars and Victory of Severus over his three Rivals.-Relaxation of Discipline.-New Maxims of Government. HE power of the sword is more sensibly CH a p. felt in an extensive monarchy, than in a V. THE Proportion of the mi ber of the people. small community. It has been calculated by the ablest politicians, that no state, without being litary force, soon exhausted, can maintain above the hun to the num dredth part of its members in arms and idleness. But although this relative proportion may be uniform, the influence of the army over the rest of the society will vary according to the degree of its positive strength. The advantages of military science and discipline cannot be exerted, unless a proper number of soldiers are united into one body, and actuated by one soul. With a handful of men, such an union would be ineffectual; with an unwieldy host, it would be impracticable; and the powers of the machine would be alike destroyed by the extreme minuteness, or the excessive weight, of its springs. To illustrate this observation, we need only flect, that there is no superiority of natural strength, artificial weapons, or acquired skill, which M 4 |