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Biography, till he completed their discomfiture under the walls of that City, and compelled their Sovereign to take From refuge in her Capital. The strength of the fortifications, and the ample stores of provisions and ammunition with which she had supplied the garrison, gave her reason to hope that she could hold out till famine or the climate should drive the victors from the depth of the wilderness which surrounded her seat of Government.*

270.

to

275.

Her great The siege of Palmyra is one of the most interesting preparations events that mark the History of the declining Empire. In the eyes of Aurelian it appeared an object of not less difficulty than importance. The Roman People, said he, may speak with contempt of the war which I am now waging against a woman, They are ignorant both of the character and of the power of Zenobia. It is impossible to enumerate her warlike preparations, of stones, of arrows, and of every species of missile weapon. The walls are provided with formidable engines, and artificial fires are thrown from every assailable point. The fear of punishment has armed her with a desperate courage; but still I trust for success to the protecting Deities of Rome, who have hitherto been favourable to all my undertakings.†

Siege of Unwilling, at the same time, to incur the manifold Palmyra, hazards inseparable from a protracted siege in such a region, the Emperor wrote to Zenobia with the view of inducing her to surrender. Her answer was firm and indignant. She reminded him of the resolute conduct of Cleopatra; threatened him with the vengeance of the Persians, the Saracens, and the Armenians; and even taunted him with the losses which he had recently sustained at the hands of the roving Arabs. But her allies were less zealous than she expected; her provisions were at length exhausted; and after all her resources had been called into action and failed, she was obliged to yield to the fatal necessity of relinquishing her proud City to the resentment of a powerful Conqueror. AtCapture of tempting to make her escape to the Persians, on the back of a swift dromedary, she was taken prisoner by a body of Roman horse, who received notice of her flight. When brought into the presence of the Emperor, he upbraided her with the folly and ingratitude of her rebellion; to which charge she replied with an air of dignified flattery, that she was not ashamed to acknowledge a master in Aurelian, because his courage and wisdom were worthy of his station; but as to Gallienus and others of the same class, she could not refrain from holding them in contempt.‡

Zenobia

The capture of Zenobia decided the fate of Palmyra. It is asserted by Zosimus, that before she left the city, she exhorted the garrison to hold out until she should return with a reinforcement from the Persians. But no sooner was it known that she was prisoner in the camp of the Romans, than the inhabitants, despairing of relief, entreated the clemency of the conqueror, and declared their readiness to deliver up the city into his hands. Aurelian listened to the voice of policy rather than to that of revenge; he granted to them the life and liberty which they implored, and contented himself with a portion of their wealth, the silks and precious stones which they obtained from the remoter Asia, and the arms, horses, and camels, in which their

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A. D. 270.

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soldiers placed their strength and their pride. Leaving Lucius the defence of the place to six hundred bowmen, he re- Domitius turned to Emesa; where he spent some time in distri- Aurelianus buting rewards and punishments, according to the serAugustus. vices he had received, or the injuries which he had sustained from the subjects of Zenobia. On this occasion, the celebrated Longinus fell a victim to the weakness of his mistress, and to the severe policy of the victor. The Queen of Palmyra has been accused of purchasing life at the expense of her fame and Execution friends. To avoid the disgrace of inflicting the penalty of Longinus. of treason upon a woman, Aurelian selected from among her counsellors fit objects upon whom to vent his anger, and to assert the rights of an offended Sovereign. But the fame of Longinus, it has been observed, will survive that of the Princess who betrayed, and of the Tyrant who condemned him. Genius and learning were incapable of moving a fierce, unlettered soldier, but they had served to elevate and harmonize the soul of Longinus. Without uttering a complaint, he calmly followed the executioners, pitying his unhappy mistress, and bestowing comfort on his afflicted friends.*

But the miseries of Palmyra were not yet accom- Insurrection plished. The Roman Emperor had scarcely reached at Palmyra Illyricum, whither he was called by a renewed incursion of the Goths, when the fickle Syrians once more revolted, and displayed on their walls the standard of rebellion. Listening to the advice of Apsæus, they fell upon the garrison, all of whom, with their Commander Sandarion, they cruelly put to death; after which they proclaimed as Augustus a relative of their Queen, who is known in the varying histories of the times, by the names of Achilleus and of Antiochus. Stimulated by a just resentment, Aurelian returned to Palmyra, rejected the submission of the rebels, and forthwith delivered up the town to military execution. Torrents of blood It is sacked were shed; the Temples were robbed of their ornaments, by the and the other public edifices of their magnificence and Romans. splendour; and, upon the whole, so great was the devastation, that the City of Palm Trees never afterwards recovered entirely from its ruined condition. Justinian, indeed, after the lapse of a long period, repaired its fortifications, to serve as a barrier against the inroads of the Saracens; but the Grecian architecture and classical taste which adorned the reign of Odenatus and his immediate successor, appear not to have revived in the beginning of the VIth century.†

The Imperial arms were equally 'successful in Egypt under the command of Probus, who afterwards ascended the Throne, as well as under the personal direction of Aurelian himself, who went thither to subdue the disaffection of Firmus, a wealthy citizen of Alexandria. Entitled by so many victories to the honours of a Aurelian Triumph, the Emperor repaired to Rome, where the celebrates a Triumph. people were impatient to witness the gratifying spectacle of that gorgeous procession. Vopiscus exhausts all the powers of language in describing the objects which invited the public applause and admiration. Three Royal chariots graced its splendour. The first was that of Odenatus, shining with gold, silver, and precious stones. Another, equally superb, had been given to Aurelian by the King of Persia. The third was made for Zenobia, who in the height of her prosperity, when she flattered herself with thoughts of becoming mistress

Vopisc. in Aurel. Zosim. lib. i. Trebell. Poll. in Trigint.Tyran. Zosim, lib. i. Vopisc, in Aurel. Trebell. Poll. in Trigint. Tyran.

From A. D.

270.

to

275.

Biography. of Rome, intended it for her triumphant entry into that city; little anticipating that it would be her fate to follow the wheels of the same car, a vanquished and hopeless captive. A fourth vehicle appeared, drawn by four stags, and described as having belonged to a King of the Goths; a deceitful token of victory over a People to whom had been recently conceded the important Province of Dacia. The line of prisoners, which was long and various, was closed by Tetricus and Zenobia, both magnificently attired. The former wore the Imperial robe of purple over a rich Gaulish dress; and was accompanied by his son, upon whom he had conferred the title of Cæsar. The Queen of Palmyra was so loaded with diamonds, jewels, and other ornaments, that she could scarcely support their weight. Her sons and daughters, arrayed with equal splendour, attended her on either side; and last of all advanced the Emperor himself, elevated in the Gothic car, surrounded by his troops in the most brilliant uniforms, and followed by all the higher Orders of the Roman State.*

Lasurrection

at Rome.

This sacrifice to the vanity of Aurelian soothed his resentment against the rebellious Governors of Gaul and Palmyra. Tetricus was restored to his rank as a Roman Senator, and even appointed to an office of trust and emolument; while Zenobia, who had consented to undergo the indignity from which Cleopatra shrank to a violent death, was provided with a comfortable establishment at Tibur, about twenty miles from the Capital, where she spent the remainder of her days in affluence and repose. There the Syrian Queen is said to have sunk into the Roman matron; her son was associated with the Emperor in honour or authority, and her daughters married into noble families, whose descendants preserved her name during the two succeeding centuries.t

Having vanquished the foes of the Empire abroad, suppressed Aurelian seems to have contemplated reformation at home; a duty which at all times requires a delicate hand, and which, during a period of faction and revolt, was particularly ill suited to one that had been accustomed only to wield the sword. An insurrection in the City, said to have been excited by certain individuals who had profited by the adulteration of the coin, employed his vigilance and a large body of his troops; and it was not subdued until after he had lost seven thousand men, belonging to those hardy Legions which usually encamped in Dacia, and along the other frontier Provinces of the Danube. Perhaps this act of rebellion was occasioned by the severities which the Emperor was wont to inflict upon his people under the name of Justice. Carrying into the administration of Civil affairs the same rigid adherence to Law which marked his conduct towards the army, he frequently sullied his good intentions by indiscriminate and excessive punishment. No Order of the State was exempted from his suspicions and violence. The noblest families of the Capital felt the weight of his jealousy or resentment: the prisons were crowded with illustrious victims,

* Zonar. lib. xii. c. 27. p. 636. Trebell. Poll. in Trigint. Tyran. 24, 25, 30. Aurel. Victor. Eutrop. lib. ix.

+ Vopisc. in Aurel. Trebell. Poll, in Trigint, Tyran. Aurel.Victor, Epit.

Larias Domitius

Augustus.

From

A. D. 270.

and the hand of the executioner was fatigued with the daily duties of his office.* Conscious that he was better qualified to guide the Aurelianus valour of his Legions in the field, than to employ the wisdom of his counsellors in the Senate, he listened without reluctance to a rumour which announced an approaching commotion in Gaul. The rapidity of his movements disconcerted the designs of the disaffected; and hence the months which he had intended to devote to the fatigues of a campaign were more profitably Affairs of employed in repairing a City on the Loire, which, under Gaul. the modern name of Orleans, still reflects, though somewhat indistinctly, the honours and care bestowed upon it by Aurelian.

to 275.

His labours beyond the Alps were succeeded by an Dacia sur expedition into Illyricum, whence he once more ex- rendered to pelled the Barbarians by whom it was infested. It is the Goths, doubtful whether it was on this occasion or at a former period, that he relinquished to the Gothic Tribes the Province of Dacia, originally conquered by Trajan, and settled the inhabitants of it in a part of Moesia, to which the latter gave the appellation of the Country which they had been induced to leave. Having accomplished this arrangement, he prepared to march into Asia, either to oppose the schemes of Vararanes, who was then on the Throne of Persia, or to punish the subjects of that Prince for their base treatment of Valerian, and for their confederacy with Zenobia. But the hand of treason was about to frustrate all his endeavours for the peace and stability of the Empire. Mnesthæus, one of his Secretaries, whom he had reproved, incited by revenge or by the fear of a greater punishment, formed a conspiracy against his life; and while the Emperor Assassinawas waiting a favourable wind to transport his army tion of from Thrace into Asia Minor, he was attacked and slain by an officer of rank, who consented to act the part of an assassin.†

It was the remark of a Ruler who succeeded him on the Throne, that Aurelian deserved esteem for his qualities as a soldier, rather than for his personal dispositions, which were rigid and severe.‡ It was to him as a General and not as an Emperor, that Rome owed her gratitude; and we, accordingly, find that the Historians most partial to his memory, are compelled to modify all their eulogies, by acknowledging that he was an utter stranger to compassion, and that he too often permitted the claims of stern justice to triumph over those of pity and forgiveness. To the Senators his pride was not less offensive than his cruelty. Ignorant or impatient of the restraints of Civil institutions, he scorned to hold his power by any other title than that of the sword; and under this false impression, he persisted in governing by right of conquest, a Country which he found it necessary to subilue before he could save it.

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Aurelian.

Biography.

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276.

The Army cmsults the Senate,

MARCUS CLAUDIUS TACITUS AUGUSTUS.

FROM SEPTEMBER, A. D. 275, to APRIL, A. D. 276.

THE death of Aurelian so much enraged the Army, that the Soldiers were more intent for a time on bringing his murderers to condign punishment, than on providing a successor. Even after they had recovered from the first paroxysm of wrath, they hesitated whether they should immediately exercise the right which long custom had placed in their hands, or wait for the advice and concurrence of the Senate, in choosing a Head for the Empire. Upon a short deliberation they adopted the latter alternative, and resolved to write, or to send a deputation, to Rome. Their message to the venerable Body which they addressed, after bewailing the loss which they had sustained, and condemning the crime by which it had been effected, proceeded to give assurance that none of those by whose fault or misfortune it had been brought about, should be allowed to ascend the Throne; and finally, to crave their assistance in selecting a Prince worthy to fill the place of Aurelian. The Senators, long unused to such deference, knew not how to act. Unwilling to incur responsibility, they at length resolved to abide by the judgment of the Legions; who could not fail, they insinuated, to nominate from among the most meritorious of their Officers some one who might realize the intentions of their late Chief, and thereby secure the interests of the Commonwealth in the East as well as in the West. But the Army, actuated by a very uncommon degree of moderation, renewed their request to the Civil authorities, to supply them with a General and Ruler; and it was not until this reciprocal compliment had been urged and rejected three times, that the Senators agreed to assemble and discharge their duty to the Empire. Meanwhile, six or seven months had insensibly passed away; an amazing period, it has been remarked, of tranquil anarchy, during which the Roman World remained without a Sovereign, without an usurper, and without a sedition.* On the twenty-fifth of September, 275, the Senate was convoked to exercise once more the valuable preExperor, rogative with which the Constitution of Rome had invested their order. The individual whom they elected, inherited the name and virtues of Tacitus, the celebrated Historian, and was, besides, respected for his wisdom, his experience in business, and his mild benevolence. This venerable Legislator had already attained his seventy-fifth year, a circumstance which he urged with a great show of reason, for declining the honour which was now assigned to him. But his objection was repelled by the most flattering encomiums on his understanding and prudence, as also by a retrospect of the evils which had oppressed the Empire, arising from the youth of several of its Sovereigns, Nero, Commodus, and Heliogabalus. The election was confirmed by acclamation, both among the Citizens and Soldiers; and Claudius Tacitus, accordingly, at an age when men in general long to throw off the burden of public life, found himself charged with the government of the most

Tacitus

elected

* Vopisc. in Tacit. c. 1. Aurel. Victor, Epit. VOL. XI.

Claudius

From

A. D. 275.

to 276.

the Arts.

powerful Monarchy in the world, menaced by foreign Marcus enemies, and torn by domestic factions.* It was the wisdom not less than the inclination of Tacitus Augustus. this aged Emperor, that induced him to leave much of the supreme power in the hands from which he received it. He encouraged the Senate to resume their wonted authority; to appoint Proconsuls to all the Provinces ; and to exercise all the other privileges which had been conferred upon them by Augustus. His moderation and simplicity were not affected by the change of his His encou condition; the only expense which he permitted to him- ragement of self, was the encouragement which he bestowed on the Fine Arts; and the only personal indulgence which he would not resign, were reading and conversation with literary men. He took great pains to preserve the writings of his ancestor, the Historian of Rome: for which purpose he gave orders that every Library should possess that author's works, and that, to render this object more practicable, ten copies of them should be transcribed every year in one of the Public Offices. It is to be lamented that so much anxiety should have been, expended comparatively, in vain; and that the instruction which a Roman Emperor valued so highly, should in a great measure be denied to the modern scholar.†

Having obtained the approbation of the Citizens, he departed from the Capital to show himself to the army in Thrace. The usual largesses secured his popularity among the soldiers; and the reverence which he found still subsisting for the memory of Aurelian, dictated the punishment of certain chiefs of the conspiracy which had taken away his life. But his attention was soon withdrawn from the investigation of past delinquencies to meet an urgent danger. When the late Emperor was Irruption of making preparations to invade Persia, he had nego- the Âlani. ciated with a Scythian tribe, the Alani, to reinforce his ranks with a detachment of their best troops. The Barbarians, faithful to their engagement, arrived on the Roman frontiers with a strong body of cavalry; but before they made their appearance Aurelian was dead, and the Persian war suspended: in which circumstances, the Gothic auxiliaries, impatient of repose, and disappointed of their pay, soon turned their arms against the unfortunate Provincials. They overran Pontus, Cappadocia, and Cilicia, before Tacitus could show his readiness to satisfy their claims or to punish their aggressions. Upon receiving the stipulated reward, the greater number retired peaceably into their deserts; while those who refused to listen to terms were subdued at the point of the sword.‡

But the triumphs and reign of this venerable Sove- Death of reign were not of long duration. It is said that he Tacitus, fell a victim to the jealousy of certain officers of rank, who were offended at the undue promotion of his brother; or to the angry passions of the private men, who

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Biography.

From A. D. 276.

to 282.

Early services of Probus,

His favour

tus.

MARCUS AURELIUS PROBUS AUGUSTUS.

FROM A. D. 276 to 282.

THIS virtuous Prince was a native of Pannonia, where, like the parents of Claudius and Aurelian, his father appears to have filled the station and discharged the duties of a small occupier of land. The young Probus entered the army, it is supposed, in the rank of a private soldier; but, his merits having struck the discerning eye of Valerian, he obtained immediate preferment, and afterwards advanced so rapidly in his profession, that, before he reached the customary age, he was by the positive command of the same Emperor invested with the office of Military Tribune. This increase of power only served to display in a larger field his great talent for war, and to point him out as worthy of still higher promotion. At length he was placed at the head of the third Legion, an honour which Valerian himself once enjoyed; on which occasion, the latter acknowledged that the quickest returns of favour were slow in comparison with the brilliant career of victory which he had pursued, and promised that he would soon commit to his hands a much more important trust than he had hitherto discharged.*

When Aurelian ascended the Throne, he found in with Taci Probus an able and faithful General. He employed him to reconquer Egypt from the arms of Zenobia, while he in person conducted his Legions against the Lieutenants of that Queen in the heart of Syria, and on the banks of the Euphrates. Tacitus, in like manner, whose age and habits disqualified him for the more active scenes of war, appointed him Commander-in-chief of all the Eastern Provinces, with a great increase of emolument, the promise of the Consulship, and even the hope of a Triumph. "I have been created Emperor," said that unfortunate Senator in a letter to Probus, "with the consent of the army; but it is not to be concealed that the Republic must rest more upon your shoulders than upon mine."†

Elected Emperor with Florianus.

It is not, therefore, in any degree surprising that when, by the insurrection in Cappadocia, the Empire was deprived of a Head, the army of the East should have proclaimed their General the successor of Tacitus. The troops in Asia Minor, indeed, who beheld in their Commander, Florianus, a near relation of the Sovereign whose life they had taken away, were induced to raise him to the Throne; but the Legions of Syria, more powerful than the other, and, at the same time, better assured of the approbation of the Senate, persevered in their choice, and resolved to enforce the concurrence of their brethren in arms. Probus, it is said, yielded with reluctance to the ardour of his soldiers. He accused

Vopisc, c. 3, 9. Aurel. Victor, Epit. Vopisc, c. 9. Jul. de Cæsaribus.

them with acting precipitately, in electing a Chief who had no desire to enjoy supreme power, and who possessed not those qualities which were best fitted to ensure popular applause. In a Letter to the Prætorian Præfect, too, he declared that he had never wished for the Empire, and had even accepted it with great unwillingness; but, he added, it is no longer permitted me to resign an office which exposes me to the utmost danger and odium; I must continue to act the part which the soldiers have imposed upon me.†

a

Marcus

Aurelius

Probus

Augustus.

From

A. D.

276,

to

282.

Florianus.

The election of two Emperors necessarily produced Defeat and temporary commotion in all the Provinces beyond the death of Adriatic. It is even said that Rome and the West acknowledged Florianus, while Syria, Egypt, and the neighbouring countries declared for his rival; but it is manifest, from the position of the two armies, that the fate of the Empire, and of the hostile competitors, could only be determined at a distance from the Capital. The former, impatient of the opposition with which he was threatened, left the frontiers, which he had been appointed to guard, and advanced into Cilicia, with the view of giving battle to the Syrian Legions. Probus, on the other hand, who knew that the climate would soon procure for him a bloodless triumph, satisfied himself for a time with watching the movements of his adversary; when finding that disease and disaffection were at length making rapid progress through his ranks, he attacked him with vigour at the head of a chosen body of troops, and deprived him at once of Empire and of life.

66

the Senat

This victory having placed Probus on an undisputed Probus Throne, he forthwith addressed the Senate in a Letter full writes to of duty and respect. Nothing could be more suitable to the dignity of the Roman name than the conduct which, Conscript Fathers, you pursued last year, when your clemency gave to the world a Head chosen from among yourselves; for you are the legal Sovereigns of the Empire, and the power which you derive from your ancestors, ought to descend to your posterity. Happy would it have been for Florianus, had he waited for your decision, and not arrogated to himself the supreme authority as a private inheritance to which he might succeed as a matter of right! Since he thought proper to have recourse to arms, it became necessary to oppose him in the field. The victorious soldiers, who insisted upon punishing his usurpation with death, have conferred upon me the title of Augustus. But to You it belongs to determine whether I am worthy of the

Aurel. Victor, Epit. Aurel. Victor, de Casaribus, Florian. c. 2, 3. Zosim. lib. i. Zosim. lib. i. Eutrop. lib. ix. Vopisc. in Prob. c. 7.

Biography. Empire; and by your judgment on this head I shall regulate my conduet."*

From

to

282. His election

When this respectful Epistle was read in the Senate, A. D. the election of the Eastern army was ratified by the 276. Members with the loudest acclamations. A decree was immediately passed to confirm in the hand of Probus the sceptre which he seemed willing to relincomed quish, and to confer upon him all the several branches by the of the Imperial dignity; the names of Cæsar and Augustus, the Proconsular command, the Tribunitian power, the Office of Pontifex Maximus, the title of Father of his Country, and the privilege of making three motions in the Senate in the same day: a mode of investiture, it has been remarked, which, though it seemed to multiply the authority of the Emperor, expressed the Constitution of the ancient Republic.

Senate,

His Consti

verament.

That Probus was sincere in the deference which he teal Go- thus paid to the Senate, is placed beyond doubt by the general tenour of his whole reign. On all occasions he confined himself to military affairs, and confided to the illustrious body now named, the full and unfettered administration of the Civil government. Indeed, he not only preserved entire the privileges of the Senatorial Order, but even enlarged them to an extent fully equal to the Constitution established by Augustus. By a declaration addressed to that assembly, he ordered that all appeals from inferior Courts of justice, throughout the whole Empire, should be submitted to their judgment. He likewise restored to them the power of appointing the Proconsuls of such Provinces as belonged to the jurisdiction of the People; and also insisted that the Civil Magistrates even of those Provinces which were under the immediate direction of the Emperor, should consent to receive their commissions from the Senate.†

The first exercise of power on the part of the new Monarch, was to punish those individuals who had been most active in the mutiny which led to the fall of his predecessor. But the restless spirit of the Barbarians, by whom the Empire was surrounded, soon called him to a service more congenial to his warlike character. rations Gaul, ever since the death of Aurelian, had been infested by the usual inroads of Franks, Burgundians, and other Northern nations, who, not content with plundering the country, as formerly, seized upon the principal towns, and manifested every where an undisguised resolution to invest themselves with a permament occupation of

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Great suc

Emperor.

the land.

Marching against the several hordes in their respecesses of the tive settlements, he succeeded, after a bloody campaign, in driving them across the Rhine, and in restoring tranquillity to the Gallic Provinces. Four hundred thousand of the invaders are reported to have fallen the victims of their avarice or rashness. Vopiscus adds, that the Roman Emperor, not satisfied with having delivered his territories from an enemy so active and rapacious, followed them into their own fortresses, and displayed the terror of his power on the banks of the Neckar and of the Elbe. To teach them the value of peace, he resolved to leave upon their minds a deep impression of the horrors and devastation which accom-pany an unsuccessful war. With his views he continued the pursuit and the slaughter, until nine of the Barbarian Kings threw themselves at his feet and implored

Vopisc. in Prob. c. 11–13.

+ Zosim, lib. i. p. 663. Zonar. lib. xii. c. 29. p. 637

From

A. D. 276.

to

282.

his mercy and so complete was his success, that he Marcus hesitated for a moment whether he should leave them Aurelius Probus in possession of their rude independence, or subject Augustus. their whole Country to the condition of a Roman Province. The latter object, he was aware, could not be obtained without inducing or compelling the natives to relinquish their arms; a concession which, he knew, they would not make, as long as there was a marsh or a forest in their rear to protect their scattered remains. He therefore thought it more expedient to limit the price of the peace which they sought to the restitution of the effects and captives which they had carried away from the Provinces; obliging the Chiefs to punish such of their people as might refuse to comply with those terms to the full and literal extent. In addition, he imposed upon them an annual tribute of corn and cattle, for the use of the garrison, which he might find it necessary to establish along their frontier, as well as to reimburse the Empire for the expense and loss occasioned by the war. Lastly, he demanded from them a contingent of sixteen thousand men, chosen from among the bravest of their youths, to serve in the Roman armies. These he took care so to distribute in distant Provinces, and in separate corps, that not more than fifty or sixty individuals were under the same standard; observing that, though it might be wise to recruit the ranks of the Legions from the Barbarians, it was a species of aid which ought to be felt but not seen.

*

to the

To ensure a continuance of the tranquillity which he He builds a had thus enforced, he established a line of forts and wall from other military stations from the Rhine to the Danube, the Danube About the reign of Hadrian, when that mode of defence Rhine. began to be practised, these garrisons were connected, and covered by a strong entrenchment of trees and palisades. In the place of so rude a bulwark, Probus built a stone wall of a considerable height, and fortified it by towers at convenient distances. From the neighbourhood of Nieustadt and Ratisbon on the Danube, it stretched across hills, vallies, rivers, and morasses, as far as Wimpsen on the Neckar, and at length terminated on the banks of the Rhine, after a winding course of nearly two hundred miles. This important barrier, uniting the two mighty streams which protected the Roman Provinces in Europe, seemed to fill up the vacant space through which the Northern Barbarians could penetrate into the heart of the Empire. But it has been well observed, that the experience of the world from China to Britain, has exposed the vain attempt of fortifying an extensive tract of country. The fate of the wall which Probus erected confirms the truth of this remark; for in a few years after his death, it was overthrown by the Alemanni, and its scattered ruins, still visible in our times, serve only to excite the wonder, or amuse the superstition, of the German peasant.†

To the wise policy of Probus has been ascribed a His plans practice, the general adoption of which at a later period, of coloniza might have conferred an important benefit on the tion. Empire; that, namely, of replenishing the border lands exhausted by incessant war, with colonies drawn from the more crowded countries of the Barbarians, strengthened by such Roman soldiers as chose to accept retirement, and a portion of the richest soil. It was not unusual to dispose of captives in the manner now discribed. Zosimus relates, that most of the prisoners

Vopisc. in Prob. c. 13-15. Zosim. lib. i. p. 664. Aurel. Victor, et Vict. Epit.

+ Vopisc, ubi suprà. Zosim. lib. i. Hieron, Chron. Eutrop. lib. ix.

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