From

A. D. 217.

to

218.

Biography. the public peace, there was devolved upon the Emperor the odious duty of receiving in person charges against the loyalty of his subjects, of investigating the grounds upon which they rested, and even of ordering punishment, without allowing the accused an opportunity of confronting the witnesses, or of making a defence. In such a state of things no life was safe, and more especially under a weak or jealous Monarch. His fears and interests were arrayed against the most powerful persons in the Country; and no rumour was likely to be disregarded which respected, however in directly, the character or the safety of the Head of the Government. Besides, as was to be expected, those who watched for the preservation of the Emperor did not perform an unrequited labour. The trade of Informer became a lucrative calling; and many individuals, who had no other means of living, supported an enviable establishment upon the wages of falsehood

General bappiness

of the Empire in his

time.

and blood.

To check this dangerous practice, Macrinus enacted, that such Informers as could not by reasonable proof

Opilius Macrinus.

From

A. D. 217

to

218.

substantiate their allegations, should be put to death; Marcus and that those who did produce sufficient evidence, should receive, indeed, the pecuniary reward usually allowed in such cases, but that, in return, they should be branded with perpetual infamy. The effects of this rule were very soon apparent in the mutual confidence and safety of all ranks of the People. Peace and tranquillity, says Herodian, reigned throughout the Empire; and the Citizens, who in the time of Caracalla saw a naked sword continually suspended over their heads, enjoyed under his successor the inestimable blessing of personal security. It is, therefore, to be presumed, that if this Emperor had been endowed with an ordinary degree of courage and Military talent, his Administration would have proved exceedingly popular; but his marked deficiency in nearly all the qualities which make a Soldier, brought him into contempt with those who placed him on the Throne, while his attempt to restrict their privileges and diminish their pay, turned decidedly against him the only power which could have perpetuated his reign.*

Biography.

From

A. D.

218.

to

222.

THE Combined Army having vowed their allegiance to the new Antoninus, solicited, as their reward, a full permission to plunder Antioch, the Capital of the Syrian Provinces. Unwilling that the beginning of his reign should be disgraced by an act of violence and perfidy against a city which had not given him any real cause of offence, he purchased its redemption from the hands of his own followers, at the price of two thousand sesterces to every individual soldier.*

It has been justly observed, that History affords no example which can show more impressively the numerous evils inseparable from a Military domination than the election of Heliogabalus to the Throne of the Cæsars. A child not more than fourteen years of age, a Syrian by birth, and whose strongest recommendation was his supposed relationship to one of the worst Sovereigns that ever existed, was, by the unbounded licentiousness of the Soldiers, placed at the head of the Roman Empire, and thereby had committed to his charge the most important section of the habitable globe. The results which followed demonstrated the imprudence of the choice. The young Emperor soon showed himself such a monster of wickedness, that even at the present day his name conveys to the mind of the reader those gross conceptions of voluptuousness, extravagance, and cruelty, which we find it difficult to express in words, and which the modern Historian would rather allude o than describe, even in the most guar led language.

haitations The passions assumed at an early period the_comof his herce plete mastery of this Prince's mind. In the first Letter which he wrote to the Senate from Antioch, he gave

and artful

temper.

Dion Cassius, Epitom. Xiphilin, lib. lxxix. Herodian. lib. v.

VOL. XI.

utterance to the strong feelings of malignity which inflamed his heart against the memory of Macrinus, whom he loaded with every species of abuse and invective. He put to death, at the same time, every person of rank or influence in Syria who was supposed to have been attached to that unfortunate ruler; and he even sent private orders to Rome to despatch several individuals whose names alone were known to him, merely because they had been faithful in the discharge of their duties towards their late master. Meanwhile his letters to the Counsellors of the Nation were filled with professions of affection and respect, and of his unalterable love for the virtuous part of Mankind. He declared that the examples of Augustus and of Marcus Aurelius should ever be the model of his Government at home and abroad. He took pleasure in drawing the attention of the Patricians to the resemblance between his own age and fortunes, and those of the first Roman Emperor, who in early youth revenged, by a successful war, the murder of his father. The name and style indeed which he adopted, indicating that he was the son of Antoninus Caracalla and grandson of Severus, asserted his hereditary right to the Empire: but he gave still greater offence to the Senate by assuming, without their concurrence, the Proconsular and Tribunitian powers; a stretch of prerogative which the boldest of his predecessors had not dared to exercise, and proving either his ignorance of the Constitution which he had bound himself to protect, or his contempt for the illustrious persons by whom it was usually administered.

The first months of his reign were disturbed by

From A. D. 218.

to 222. Conspiracies against

the new Emperor, and his cruelty in suppressing them.

Biography. rumours of intrigue and conspiracy. The example afforded by his own elevation gave ground for hope to many individuals who would not otherwise have aspired to supreme power. It could be no longer concealed, that the gift of the Crown was in the hand of the Soldiers; and, also, that no one had reason to despair of obtaining that splendid but fatal prize, who had sufficient resolution to ask, and presumption enough to promise. Dion Cassius mentions no fewer than five attempts of this nature, made by men of no importance in the State or influence in the Army. Suspicions, at the same time, were not unnaturally directed towards others who might have disputed the government of a boy, had their inclinations led them to covet the Imperial purple; and several individuals of Senatorial rank accordingly fell under the sword of the executioner, merely because their power was supposed to render them dangerous. Silvius Messala and Pomponius Bassus were condemned to die, on the sole ground that their general principles were likely to create in their minds disaffection to the young Emperor, or a desire, perhaps, to restrain the excesses of his tyranny.*

Murder of Gannys.

Effeminacy of the Prince.

But the determination of the Prince to admit no rival and to endure no control, was soon rendered manifest by a very atrocious murder. Gannys, who was the instructor of his infancy, and the most active instrument of his elevation to the Throne, excited, by his zeal for the public welfare, the wrath of his peevish and ungrateful pupil. Assiduous himself as a Minister, and vigilant as a military Chief, he exhorted Heliogabalus to attend to the business of the State, and to regulate his conduct by the rules of justice and moderation. The worthless youth, insensible to every generous emotion, plunged his dagger into the heart of his best friend, and commanded some soldiers who stood by to complete the assassination which himself had begun. Even his mother and grandmother narrowly escaped the effects of his resentment, when they ventured to remonstrate with him on his absurd and pernicious conduct. He devoted himself entirely to a miscreant, whose name was Eutychianus, originally a buffoon in the Circus, and who to the frivolity which belonged to his profession, added a thorough acquaintance with every form of vice. This wretch, to the great scandal of virtue and propriety, was raised to the high rank of Prætorian Præfect, assumed by the Emperor as his colleague in the Consulship, and three times appointed Governor of Rome.†

The young Priest of the Sun, ignorant or regardless of the manners of the Country which he had undertaken to govern, continued to wear the splendid but fantastic dress which distinguished him as a Syrian Pontiff. Julia Masa, whose quick sense of decorum suggested the fatal consequences that would arise from insulting the eyes of the Romans with such vestments, alike unbecoming the dignity of a man and the gravity of an Emperor, entreated him to lay them aside before he should enter the Capital of the Western world. He admitted the justness of the remarks which were thus addressed to him, but instead of complying with the advice which was founded upon them, he proposed an expedient whereby all the disadvantages which his grandmother anticipated would, he thought, be entirely

Dion Cassius, apud Vales. p. 761. Lamprid. in Heliogab. c. 3, 4 Herodian, lib. v. p. 560-568.

Herodian. lib. v. p. 567. Dion Cassius, p. 368, 369.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Heliogaba He lus.

precluded. He gave orders that a Picture of himself at full length should be executed, in the sacerdotal robe and ornaments, and associated with a representation of the God to whom his services were consecrated. was accordingly drawn in robes of silk and gold, after the loose, flowing fashion of the Medes and Phoenicians: his head was covered with a lofty tiara, and his numerous collars and bracelets were adorned with gems of an inestimable value. His eyebrows were tinged with black, and his cheeks painted with an artificial red and white. This Picture he sent to Rome, with orders to hang it up in the most conspicuous part of the Senate-house, over the Statue of Victory, that the Senators might present to it, as they entered, libations of wine, and offerings of frankincense.*

From

A. D. 218.

to

222.

and offi

The Solar orb was worshipped at Emesa under the Introduces form of a black conical stone, or aërolite, which it was the worship maintained had fallen from Heaven on the spot where of the Sun, the Temple stood. As the son of Soæmis ascribed to ciates in this Deity his elevation to the Throne of the Cæsars, person. he lavished upon the expressions of his superstitious gratitude the wealth and time which ought to have been devoted to the prosperity of his People. He determined to establish the worship of his favourite idol upon the ruins of every other Religion; and for this purpose he removed to the Temple which he built for him on Mount Palatine, all the sacred relics and emblems of divine things which were employed by the Romans in the service of their principal Divinities. The famous Stone of Pessinus or Statue of Cybele, the Palladium, the Fire of Vesta, and the Shield of Numa, were all deposited in the fane of Heliogabalus. To these he meant to add the Religious ceremonies of the Jews, and even the rites of Christianity, in order that the magnificent superstition of Syria, now transported to the Capital of the greatest Nation upon earth, might comprehend and supersede all other forms of adoration.

In a solemn procession through the streets of Rome, the path was strewed with dust of gold; the Black Stone, set round with precious gems, was placed on a car drawn by six milk-white horses, richly caparisoned. The Emperor himself held the reins until he reached the Palatine Mount, where sacrifices to the new God were celebrated with the utmost solemnity and boundless expense. The most costly wines, the most precious incense, and victims of extraordinary value, were consumed on the altar; while a Chorus of Syrian damsels performed their lascivious dances to the sound of their native music, and the noblest persons in the State, clothed in long Eastern robes, officiated in the meanest duties with outward gravity and inward resentment. The Emperor himself, in his Priestly robes, danced in the presence of his tutelar Divinity, moving, whenever he retired, with backward steps, that he might not fail in respect to the Lord of Heaven, nor forfeit the benefit of the Celestial countenance.†

From A. D. 218.

to

222.

Biography, not prove agreeable to the soft manners of his voluptuous master. He therefore fixed upon the Moon, adored by the Phoenicians under the name of Astarte, and adopted by the People of Carthage as the Goddess of their ancestors. Her Statue was accordingly brought from the latter city to Rome, and with it, as a becoming marriage portion, all the wealth which had been collected in her Temple. The Emperor forthwith celebrated the nuptials of the two Astronomical Deities with the greatest possible magnificence; having issued orders to all the nations and cities which owned the sovereignty of the Cæsars, to send to the Capitol, on the day of the mystical wedding, offerings and gifts corresponding to the dignity of the Celestial couple.

His shame

The luxury and extravagance of Heliogabalus have ful extrava- been a theme for declamation from the days of Lamgance and pridius down to the present times. The expense of his luxury. table, and the caprice which he manifested in the choice of his food, have exposed his memory to just contempt. A wasteful profusion supplied the place of taste and elegance. The invention of a sauce, or the composition of a new dish, conferred upon the fortunate artist a degree of fame which was denied to the highest eminence in the Sciences, and to the most brilliant triumphs of Literature. It is said, that he never ate fish but at a great distance from the sea; and then he took pleasure in distributing to the peasants of the inland country vast quantities of the rarest sorts, conveyed to him at an immense expense. We are assured, that not satisfied with having on his own table the most costly viands that imagination could suggest, he fed his dogs on the livers of geese, and his lions with peacocks and pheasants. Nor was his dress less extravagant than his board. He wore garments formed of cloth of gold, enriched with precious stones, so heavy that he himself could not refrain from remarking, that he almost sank under the weight of his magnificence. Even his shoes were adorned with jewels of the most exquisite workmanship. The pavement of the porticoes through which he passed, when about to mount his horse or step into his carriage, was strewed with the dust of gold or silver. His attendants imitated his luxury and applauded his spirit; and while he squandered away the treasures of his People, they extolled him as more beneficent than Augustus, and more patriotic than Trajan.*

His vices

probably

exagge rated,

He adopts

Sneras

His vices, we are inclined to believe, for the honour of human nature, have been somewhat exaggerated. Even Lampridius, who detested his character, seems ready to admit, that more has been said against him than ought to be implicitly adopted; although that Historian himself has, with a disgusting minuteness, related every anecdote of indecency and madness which had reached his ears. Yet even if we confine our estimate of Heliogabalus to the public scenes which were displayed before the Roman People, and which have been attested by Writers who had the best opportunity of ascertaining their truth, we must pronounce, that their infamy surpasses that of any other Age or country.

Marcus

Heliogaba

lus.

From

A. D. 218.

Syrian voluptuary. To soothe the public indignation, therefore, Julia Mæsa, whose powerful mind still re- Aurelius tained a considerable influence over the passions of her Antoninus dissolute grandson, suggested to him the expediency of adopting his cousin Alexianus, and of investing him with the rank of Cæsar. She reminded him, that as the Priest of the Sun, he had many serious duties to perform, which would necessarily withdraw his attention from secular affairs. She exhorted him, therefore, to assume a colleague, upon whom he might devolve the weight of all worldly concerns; securing thereby to himself at once an exemption from the troubles and cares of State, and all the splendour and enjoyment of Imperial power.

The patience of the Army, as well as that of the Ander Citizens, was at length exhausted. However small might be their reverence for virtue in the concerns of private life, the Soldiers were ashamed to see the Throne of Marcus Aurelius polluted by the studied vice of a

Lamprid. in Heliogab. c. 19-24.

to

222.

rank of

Cæsar.

The Emperor, whose habits of thinking never led And raises him to anticipate remote consequences, acceded without him to the reserve to the proposal of his grandmother. Full of a scheme which promised to gratify his favourite inclinations, he repaired to the Senate, accompanied by Mæsa and Soæmis, and declared that he had adopted Alexianus, and bestowed upon him the dignity of Cæsar. The apparent absurdity of a youth, who had scarcely attained to seventeen years of age, adopting for his son a Prince not more than four years younger, gave way to considerations of greater importance; and the Senators were not disposed to interrupt Heliogabalus when they heard him congratulating the Empire upon the measure which he had just published in their hearing. He pronounced himself happy in having been able to find such a son; adding, that he had no desire to see his family increased by the issue of his own body, because, from his experience of domestic life, he could only anticipate therefrom much dissension and rivalry. He assured his auditors, that the God in whose service he spent his days had inspired him with the patriotic resolution upon which he now acted; and that it was the pleasure of the same Divinity that the young Cæsar should thenceforth be called Alexander, in compliment to the admiration of Caracalla for the Macedonian Conqueror. By the act of adoption, accordingly, he communicated to the son of Mamaa not only the name just mentioned, but also that of Marcus Aurelius and Severus.*

him:

The opening virtues of Alexander, fostered and pro- Repents, tected by the excellent discipline of his mother, soon and wishes made a deep impression on the love and respect of all to degrade orders of the People. Heliogabalus, who soon repented of the step which he had been induced to take, first tried to pervert his cousin, and failing in this, he next attempted to put an end to his life. He drove away from the Palace all the masters who had been appointed to superintend his education; banishing some of them, and putting others to death. But the just indignation of the Public would not allow him to proceed farther; for when he sent orders to the Senate and to the Prætorian Guards to divest Alexander of the title and dignity which he had lately conferred upon him, the former Body hesitated, and the latter rose in open rebellion. Apprehensive for the safety of the Cæsar, a party of the soldiers seized their arms, and rushed towards the Imperial gardens, where it was understood that Heliogabalus was pursuing his pastimes, and waiting for the result of his machinations against his successor. The interposition of Antiochianus, one of the Prætorian

But is prevented by the Præto

rians.

The son of Caracalla appeared among the Prætorians like a criminal before his judges. He acceded to all their demands; and when they insisted that he should remove from about his person the companions of his debauchery, the buffoons and charioteers, who disgraced the Palace and heaped ignominy upon its master, he promised to comply; entreating, however, that they would exempt from this proscription his favourite Minister Hierocles. The Soldiers, softened by the tears of their Prince, ceased to demand the death of that infamous minion; but they made known, at the same time, their firm determination to check or to punish all abuses in the Government, by recommending to their Præfects, in his own presence, not to permit him any longer to pursue the licentious life which he had hitherto led; to watch over the safety of the young Cæsar, whose preservation was dear to them; and, above all, not to allow the latter to be contaminated by the wicked society which crowded the rooms of the Imperial dwelling.t

It was not to be expected that a reconciliation between two Princes, founded on such a basis as that now described, could be either sincere or lasting. Accordingly, as soon as the terror of the Guards passed away from before his eyes, Heliogabalus began once more to plot against the life of Alexander. To clear the scene for the miserable tragedy which he contemplated, he gave orders that all the Senators should depart from Rome. In the next place, to try the temper of the Soldiers, he caused a report to be circulated that the Insurrection son of Mamæa was at the point of death. No sooner of the Præ- did this intelligence reach the Camp, than the Præ torians, and torians, inflamed by the suspicion that the young Prince Emperor. must have been murdered, became quite outrageous, and declared that they would not perform any act of duty until they were assured of the safety of Alexander

death of the

Aurelius

Antoninus

lus.

From

A. D.

218.

to

222.

by his actual presence in their Camp. The Emperor Marcus was again forced to yield. Mounting a splendid car, adorned with jewels and precious stones, he presented Heliogabahimself before his mutinous Guards, accompanied by his popular cousin; but finding that while he himself was received with the utmost coldness and even contempt, the sight of his colleague drew forth acclamations which rent the air, he lost command of his temper so far as to order the punishment of the more zealous among the disaffected Prætorians. This injunction was the signal for a general revolt. Heliogabalus fled, and even attempted to conceal himself; but he was soon discovered, put to death by the indignant Soldiers, dragged through the streets of the City, and finally thrown into the mud of the Tiber. His mother, as well as the ministers of his tyranny and vice, shared the same fate. Hierocles atoned for his numerous crimes by a violent death; and Eubulus, a native of Emesa, and Superintendant of the Finances, was literally torn in pieces by the Citizens and the Soldiers, who had suffered severely from his manifold exactions. The Senate decreed that the name of this Emperor should be erased from their annals, and condemned to eternal infamy; a sentence which has been so faithfully executed, that no Historian speaks of him by the appellation which he himself assumed, but always by some insulting allusion to the worst parts of his character, or to his tragical end.*

The absurd affectation of Heliogabalus to succeed immediately to his supposed father, the son of Severus, has led to a considerable difficulty in the chronology of his reign. It is certain that he occupied the Throne not longer than three years, nine months, and four days, and yet medals are found which bear date the fifth year of his Tribunitial power; an apparent inconsistency which can only be removed upon the ground already stated, the desire to obliterate the name and Government of Macrinus. The same notion of hereditary right to the Empire, in virtue of his reputed paternity, induced him to claim as his own the Consulate of his predecessor, and consequently to reckon the first which he actually enjoyed as a repetition of that high honour.

Purifies the Religious rites of the

Country.

Wise conduct of Mimea,

her son's

The first cares of the new Government were directed to the purification of such Temples as had been polluted by the Foreign worship, introduced into Rome by the Imperial Priest of Emesa. Attention was next bestowed upon the character and qualifications of those who had been raised to public employments during the late reign; many of whom were found unworthy to retain their offices, and were accordingly compelled to give way to men of ability and good principles. Eloquence, skill in the Law, and the love of justice, became the only recommendations to Civil preferment; while valour, experience, and regard to discipline, opened the path to promotion in the Army.

The death of Masa, which took place soon after her grandson mounted the Throne, left to Mamaa an undiand care of vided influence in public affairs. With the celebrated Ulpian at the head of her Council of State, she coneducation. ducted the Administration with not less integrity than judgment, and gave much satisfaction not only to the Citizens, who were delighted with the peace and security to which they had been a long time strangers, but even to the Soldiers, whose best feelings were gratified with the prosperity of their Country. But her greatest anxiety was devoted to the right education of her son, upon whose temper and dispositions, she well knew, the ultimate success of all her labours must have its chief dependence. She regarded it as her first duty to watch over the morals of the young Prince, that his innocence might not be corrupted. The fatal example presented in the history of her nephew's miserable reign, made a deep impression upon her mind; for which reason, she suffered no one to approach her son whose character was in the slightest degree suspected. An exalted understanding soon convinced Alexander of the advantages of virtue, the pleasures of knowledge, and the necessity of labour; while a natural mildness and moderation of temper, preserved him from the assaults of passion and the allurements of vice. Thus Mamaa found, what is not always to be expected in the character of a young Prince, a ready and active cooperation with all her endeavours to promote in his mind the love of learning, and the power of self-command.t

Character

der from Herodian and Lam

The character of Alexander presented so many points of Alexan- worthy of praise, that the Writer of his life in the Augustan History exhausts all his powers of description in the attempt to do it justice. Herodian contents himself with saying, that this Emperor never shed the blood of an innocent person, and never allowed even a criminal to be put to death until after a regular trial and formal sentence. After the horrible tyranny to which the Romans had been subjected, during which the life of the most illustrious men in the State was at the mercy of a malignant informer or a suspicious despot, the prudent clemency of the second Severus must, no doubt, have appeared deserving of the eulogy which the Historian has pronounced upon it. But not to be

Herodian. lib. vi. Lamprid. in Alex. Sever, c. 1.
† Lamprid. in Alex. Sever. c. 3. Dion Cassius, lib. lxxx.

Aurelius

Alexander

From

A. D. 222.

to

235.

cruel or unjust is only to be negatively good, and in all Marcus ordinary cases, rather exempts a Sovereign from blame than entitles him to praise. Lampridius, accordingly, Severus. proceeding on this view, collects in his biography of Alexander a thousand minute circumstances which illustrate his diligence in business, his love of equity, his merciful disposition, his self-denial, and the habitual command which he exercised over all the strong passions. He paints him as a mild, amiable, and compassionate Prince, accessible to good counsel, and always more inclined to confer benefits upon others than to secure to himself the enjoyment of pleasure, or an exemption from toil. His doors were ever open to every one who wished to approach him. No guard surrounded his person, or obstructed the entrance to his He discouraged all adulation, and the use of pompous titles, on the part of those who had occasion to address him; forbidding expressly every free-born Roman to continue the practice, introduced by former Emperors, of falling upon the earth when introduced into his presence.

Mildness and gentleness were, indeed, so strongly Mildness of imprinted in the heart of Alexander, that his Biographer his temper. has bestowed upon him the enviable character of never suffering a single day to pass in which he did not perform some act of kindness or humanity. He is said to have expressed great veneration for the Christian precept, of doing unto others as we should wish that they would do unto us; to have caused it to be engraved in large letters in several parts of his Palace, and even to have placed it as an inscription on several other public buildings: and when any criminal was about to be executed for violating those laws in particular which protect the peace of Society, he gave orders to the Public Crier to proclaim aloud the same sentence, as a reason for the punishment which justice demanded. It is added, that he made the rule now mentioned the guide of his personal conduct; being always ready not only to forgive an offence directed against himself, but even to conquer malice by deeds of generosity.*

There are proofs of great wisdom as well as of bene- And true volence in the arrangements which Alexander made for patriotism. the behoof of the poor and the unfortunate. He advanced money at a moderate interest, which he exacted or not, according to circumstances, from the fruits of the labour which he had set in motion. He gave grants of land, and even of slaves and cattle to cultivate it; reserving to the national Exchequer a claim upon part of the produce, which, however, was used rather as a pretext for stimulating the industry of the individuals whom he had relieved, than for securing a stated remuneration. But his patriotism and good sense shone with the greatest lustre in the distribution of public employments. He never looked upon the disposal of an office in the Army or in the Civil departments of the Government as a favour which he could bestow, but as a solemn duty with the obligations of which he could not dispense. To obtain a trust under his Administration, therefore, it was first necessary to merit the esteem of the Country.t

Lampridius mentions a circumstance which cannot Honours be read without interest. The Emperor, he informs bestowed us, was so great a lover of Virtue, that he not only on virtue

and talent.