高考英語 可能考的名著《HISTORY OF ROMAN-1》05素材

1、HISTORY OF ROMAN-1Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus. Part I.Public Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus By The PraetorianGuards - Clodius Albinus In Britain, Pescennius Niger In Syria,And Septimius Severus In Pannonia, Declare Against The MurderersOf Pertinax - Civil Wars And Victory

2、 Of Severus Over His ThreeRivals - Relaxation Of Discipline - New Maxims Of Government. The power of the sword is more sensibly felt in an extensivemonarchy, than in a small community. It has been calculated bythe ablest politicians, that no state, without being soonexhausted, can maintain above the

3、 hundredth part of its membersin arms and idleness. But although this relative proportion maybe uniform, the influence of the army over the rest of thesociety will vary according to the degree of its positivestrength. The advantages of military science and disciplinecannot be exerted, unless a prope

4、r number of soldiers are unitedinto one body, and actuated by one soul. With a handful of men,such a union would be ineffectual; with an unwieldy host, itwould be impracticable; and the powers of the machine would bealike destroyed by the extreme minuteness or the excessive weightof its springs. To

5、illustrate this observation, we need onlyreflect, that there is no superiority of natural strength,artificial weapons, or acquired skill, which could enable one manto keep in constant subjection one hundred of hisfellow-creatures: the tyrant of a single town, or a smalldistrict, would soon discover

6、that a hundred armed followers werea weak defence against ten thousand peasants or citizens; but ahundred thousand well-disciplined soldiers will command, withdespotic sway, ten millions of subjects; and a body of ten orfifteen thousand guards will strike terror into the most numerouspopulace that e

7、ver crowded the streets of an immense capital. The Praetorian bands, whose licentious fury was the firstsymptom and cause of the decline of the Roman empire, scarcelyamounted to the last- mentioned number 1 They derived theirinstitution from Augustus. That crafty tyrant, sensible thatlaws might colo

8、r, but that arms alone could maintain, his usurpeddominion, had gradually formed this powerful body of guards, inconstant readiness to protect his person, to awe the senate, andeither to prevent or to crush the first motions of rebellion. Hedistinguished these favored troops by a double pay and supe

9、riorprivileges; but, as their formidable aspect would at once havealarmed and irritated the Roman people, three cohorts only werestationed in the capital, whilst the remainder was dispersed inthe adjacent towns of Italy. 2 But after fifty years of peaceand servitude, Tiberius ventured on a decisive

10、measure, whichforever rivetted the fetters of his country. Under the fairpretences of relieving Italy from the heavy burden of militaryquarters, and of introducing a stricter discipline among theguards, he assembled them at Rome, in a permanent camp, 3 whichwas fortified with skilful care, 4 and pla

11、ced on a commandingsituation. 5Footnote 1: They were originally nine or ten thousand men, (forTacitus and son are not agreed upon the subject,) divided into asmany cohorts. Vitellius increased them to sixteen thousand, andas far as we can learn from inscriptions, they never afterwardssunk much below

12、 that number. See Lipsius de magnitudine Romana,i. 4.Footnote 2: Sueton. in August. c. 49.Footnote 3: Tacit. Annal. iv. 2. Sueton. in Tiber. c. 37. DionCassius, l. lvii. p. 867.Footnote 4: In the civil war between Vitellius and Vespasian,the Praetorian camp was attacked and defended with all themach

13、ines used in the siege of the best fortified cities. Tacit.Hist. iii. 84.Footnote 5: Close to the walls of the city, on the broad summitof the Quirinal and Viminal hills. See Nardini Roma Antica, p.174. Donatus de Roma Antiqua, p. 46. Note: Not on both these hills: neither Donatus nor Nardinijustify

14、 this position. (Whitakers Review. p. 13.) At thenorthern extremity of this hill (the Viminal) are someconsiderable remains of a walled enclosure which bears all theappearance of a Roman camp, and therefore is generally thought tocorrespond with the Castra Praetoria. Cramers Italy 390. - M. Such for

15、midable servants are always necessary, but oftenfatal to the throne of despotism. By thus introducing thePraetorian guards as it were into the palace and the senate, theemperors taught them to perceive their own strength, and theweakness of the civil government; to view the vices of theirmasters wit

16、h familiar contempt, and to lay aside that reverentialawe, which distance only, and mystery, can preserve towards animaginary power. In the luxurious idleness of an opulent city,their pride was nourished by the sense of their irresistibleweight; nor was it possible to conceal from them, that the per

17、sonof the sovereign, the authority of the senate, the publictreasure, and the seat of empire, were all in their hands. Todivert the Praetorian bands from these dangerous reflections, thefirmest and best established princes were obliged to mixblandishments with commands, rewards with punishments, to

18、flattertheir pride, indulge their pleasures, connive at theirirregularities, and to purchase their precarious faith by aliberal donative; which, since the elevation of Claudius, wasenacted as a legal claim, on the accession of every new emperor.6Footnote 6: Claudius, raised by the soldiers to the em

19、pire, wasthe first who gave a donative. He gave quina dena, 120l. (Sueton. in Claud. c. 10: ) when Marcus, with his colleagueLucius Versus, took quiet possession of the throne, he gavevicena, 160l. to each of the guards. Hist. August. p. 25, (Dion,l. lxxiii. p. 1231.) We may form some idea of the am

20、ount of thesesums, by Hadrians complaint that the promotion of a Caesar hadcost him ter millies, two millions and a half sterling. The advocate of the guards endeavored to justify byarguments the power which they asserted by arms; and to maintainthat, according to the purest principles of the consti

21、tution,their consent was essentially necessary in the appointment of anemperor. The election of consuls, of generals, and ofmagistrates, however it had been recently usurped by the senate,was the ancient and undoubted right of the Roman people. 7 Butwhere was the Roman people to be found? Not surely

22、 amongst themixed multitude of slaves and strangers that filled the streetsof Rome; a servile populace, as devoid of spirit as destitute ofproperty. The defenders of the state, selected from the flowerof the Italian youth, 8 and trained in the exercise of arms andvirtue, were the genuine representat

23、ives of the people, and thebest entitled to elect the military chief of the republic. Theseassertions, however defective in reason, became unanswerable whenthe fierce Praetorians increased their weight, by throwing, likethe barbarian conqueror of Rome, their swords into the scale. 9Footnote 7: Cicer

24、o de Legibus, iii. 3. The first book of Livy,and the second of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, show the authorityof the people, even in the election of the kings.Footnote 8: They were originally recruited in Latium, Etruria,and the old colonies, (Tacit. Annal. iv. 5.) The emperor Othocompliments their v

25、anity with the flattering titles of Italiae,Alumni, Romana were juventus. Tacit. Hist. i. 84.Footnote 9: In the siege of Rome by the Gauls. See Livy, v. 48.Plutarch. in Camill. p. 143. The Praetorians had violated the sanctity of the throne bythe atrocious murder of Pertinax; they dishonored the maj

26、esty ofit by their subsequent conduct. The camp was without a leader,for even the praefect Laetus, who had excited the tempest,prudently declined the public indignation. Amidst the wilddisorder, Sulpicianus, the emperors father-in-law, and governorof the city, who had been sent to the camp on the fi

27、rst alarm ofmutiny, was endeavoring to calm the fury of the multitude, whenhe was silenced by the clamorous return of the murderers, bearingon a lance the head of Pertinax. Though history has accustomed usto observe every principle and every passion yielding to theimperious dictates of ambition, it

28、is scarcely credible that, inthese moments of horror, Sulpicianus should have aspired toascend a throne polluted with the recent blood of so near arelation and so excellent a prince. He had already begun to usethe only effectual argument, and to treat for the Imperialdignity; but the more prudent of

29、 the Praetorians, apprehensivethat, in this private contract, they should not obtain a justprice for so valuable a commodity, ran out upon the ramparts;and, with a loud voice, proclaimed that the Roman world was to bedisposed of to the best bidder by public auction. 10Footnote 10: Dion, L. lxxiii. p

30、. 1234. Herodian, l. ii. p. 63. Hist. August p. 60. Though the three historians agree that itwas in fact an auction, Herodian alone affirms that it wasproclaimed as such by the soldiers. This infamous offer, the most insolent excess of militarylicense, diffused a universal grief, shame, and indignat

31、ionthroughout the city. It reached at length the ears of DidiusJulianus, a wealthy senator, who, regardless of the publiccalamities, was indulging himself in the luxury of the table. 11His wife and his daughter, his freedmen and his parasites, easilyconvinced him that he deserved the throne, and ear

32、nestly conjuredhim to embrace so fortunate an opportunity. The vain old manhastened to the Praetorian camp, where Sulpicianus was still intreaty with the guards, and began to bid against him from thefoot of the rampart. The unworthy negotiation was transacted byfaithful emissaries, who passed altern

33、ately from one candidate tothe other, and acquainted each of them with the offers of hisrival. Sulpicianus had already promised a donative of fivethousand drachms (above one hundred and sixty pounds) to eachsoldier; when Julian, eager for the prize, rose at once to thesum of six thousand two hundred

34、 and fifty drachms, or upwards oftwo hundred pounds sterling. The gates of the camp wereinstantly thrown open to the purchaser; he was declared emperor,and received an oath of allegiance from the soldiers, whoretained humanity enough to stipulate that he should pardon andforget the competition of Su

35、lpicianus. *Footnote 11: Spartianus softens the most odious parts of thecharacter and elevation of Julian.Footnote *: One of the principal causes of the preference ofJulianus by the soldiers, was the dexterty dexterity with whichhe reminded them that Sulpicianus would not fail to revenge onthem the

36、death of his son-in-law. (See Dion, p. 1234, 1234. c.11. Herod. ii. 6.) - W. It was now incumbent on the Praetorians to fulfil theconditions of the sale. They placed their new sovereign, whomthey served and despised, in the centre of their ranks,surrounded him on every side with their shields, and c

37、onductedhim in close order of battle through the deserted streets of thecity. The senate was commanded to assemble; and those who hadbeen the distinguished friends of Pertinax, or the personalenemies of Julian, found it necessary to affect a more thancommon share of satisfaction at this happy revolu

38、tion. 12 AfterJulian had filled the senate house with armed soldiers, heexpatiated on the freedom of his election, his own eminentvirtues, and his full assurance of the affections of the senate. The obsequious assembly congratulated their own and the publicfelicity; engaged their allegiance, and con

39、ferred on him all theseveral branches of the Imperial power. 13 From the senateJulian was conducted, by the same military procession, to takepossession of the palace. The first objects that struck hiseyes, were the abandoned trunk of Pertinax, and the frugalentertainment prepared for his supper. The

40、 one he viewed withindifference, the other with contempt. A magnificent feast wasprepared by his order, and he amused himself, till a very latehour, with dice, and the performances of Pylades, a celebrateddancer. Yet it was observed, that after the crowd of flatterersdispersed, and left him to darkn

41、ess, solitude, and terriblereflection, he passed a sleepless night; revolving most probablyin his mind his own rash folly, the fate of his virtuouspredecessor, and the doubtful and dangerous tenure of an empirewhich had not been acquired by merit, but purchased by money. 14Footnote 12: Dion Cassius,

42、 at that time praetor, had been apersonal enemy to Julian, i. lxxiii. p. 1235.Footnote 13: Hist. August. p. 61. We learn from thence onecurious circumstance, that the new emperor, whatever had been hisbirth, was immediately aggregated to the number of patricianfamilies. Note: A new fragment of Dion

43、shows some shrewdness in thecharacter of Julian. When the senate voted him a golden statue,he preferred one of brass, as more lasting. He had alwaysobserved, he said, that the statues of former emperors weresoon destroyed. Those of brass alone remained. The indignanthistorian adds that he was wrong.

44、 The virtue of sovereigns alonepreserves their images: the brazen statue of Julian was broken topieces at his death. Mai. Fragm. Vatican. p. 226. - M.Footnote 14: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1235. Hist. August. p. 61. Ihave endeavored to blend into one consistent story the seemingcontradictions of the two w

45、riters. Note: The contradiction as M. Guizot observed, isirreconcilable. He quotes both passages: in one Julianus isrepresented as a miser, in the other as a voluptuary. In the onehe refuses to eat till the body of Pertinax has been buried; inthe other he gluts himself with every luxury almost in th

46、e sightof his headless remains. - M. He had reason to tremble. On the throne of the world hefound himself without a friend, and even without an adherent. The guards themselves were ashamed of the prince whom theiravarice had persuaded them to accept; nor was there a citizen whodid not consider his e

47、levation with horror, as the last insult onthe Roman name. The nobility, whose conspicuous station, andample possessions, exacted the strictest caution, dissembledtheir sentiments, and met the affected civility of the emperorwith smiles of complacency and professions of duty. But thepeople, secure i

48、n their numbers and obscurity, gave a free ventto their passions. The streets and public places of Romeresounded with clamors and imprecations. The enraged multitudeaffronted the person of Julian, rejected his liberality, and,conscious of the impotence of their own resentment, they calledaloud on th

49、e legions of the frontiers to assert the violatedmajesty of the Roman empire. The public discontent was soon diffused from the centre tothe frontiers of the empire. The armies of Britain, of Syria,and of Illyricum, lamented the death of Pertinax, in whosecompany, or under whose command, they had so

50、often fought andconquered. They received with surprise, with indignation, andperhaps with envy, the extraordinary intelligence, that thePraetorians had disposed of the empire by public auction; andthey sternly refused to ratify the ignominious bargain. Theirimmediate and unanimous revolt was fatal t

51、o Julian, but it wasfatal at the same time to the public peace, as the generals ofthe respective armies, Clodius Albinus, Pescennius Niger, andSeptimius Severus, were still more anxious to succeed than torevenge the murdered Pertinax. Their forces were exactlybalanced. Each of them was at the head o

52、f three legions, 15with a numerous train of auxiliaries; and however different intheir characters, they were all soldiers of experience andcapacity.Footnote 15: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1235. Clodius Albinus, governor of Britain, surpassed both hiscompetitors in the nobility of his extraction, which he d

53、erivedfrom some of the most illustrious names of the old republic. 16But the branch from which he claimed his descent was sunk intomean circumstances, and transplanted into a remote province. Itis difficult to form a just idea of his true character. Underthe philosophic cloak of austerity, he stands

54、 accused ofconcealing most of the vices which degrade human nature. 17 Buthis accusers are those venal writers who adored the fortune ofSeverus, and trampled on the ashes of an unsuccessful rival. Virtue, or the appearances of virtue, recommended Albinus to theconfidence and good opinion of Marcus;

55、and his preserving withthe son the same interest which he had acquired with the father,is a proof at least that he was possessed of a very flexibledisposition. The favor of a tyrant does not always suppose awant of merit in the object of it; he may, without intending it,reward a man of worth and ability, or he may find such a manuseful to his own service. It does not appear that Alb