Chapter XII: Book VIII: Ch. 1

20. =Nerva=: Marcus Cocceius Nerva was born at Narnia in Umbria in 32 A.D. He was consul with Vespasian in 71 A.D. and with Domitian in 90 A.D. After the assassination of Domitian he was declared emperor by the Roman people and the soldiers, and his administration restored tranquillity to the troubled state. He stopped proceedings against those accused of treason and permitted many exiles to return. Though he was virtuous and humane, he did not possess the necessary vigor for checking the many abuses that existed. He adopted as his son and successor Marcus Ulpius Traian, who was then at the head of the army in Germany. He died suddenly on the 27th of January, 98 A.D. Creighton, p. 99; _The Age of the Antonines_, Ch. I.

22. =operam dante=: ‘giving him aid, assisting him.’

=Petrōniō Secundō, Partheniō=: Nerva could not prevent the Praetorian soldiers from putting them to death.

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3. =aetātis … annō=: Eutropius is mistaken. He was sixty-five years old when he died.

4. =inter Dīvōs relātus est=: cf. _Dīvus appellātus_, Bk. VII, 10.

CH. 2.

5. =Trāiānus=: Marcus Ulpius Traian was born at Italica near Seville in Spain, September 18, 52 A.D. He was trained to arms, and rose through the various offices to the rank of praetor. He was adopted by Nerva in 97 A.D. After Nerva’s death he became emperor, being the first Roman emperor who was born out of Italy. He was a great soldier and a good administrator. Good sense, a knowledge of the world, and sound judgment characterized him. Just and sincere in his desire for the happiness of the people, he was one of the best emperors that governed Rome. He crushed the Dacians, successfully waged war against the Parthians, and brought peace and prosperity to the whole Roman world. Creighton, p. 99; _The Age of the Antonines_, Ch. II.

13. =Dāciam=: Trajan conducted two campaigns against the Dacians, 101-103 A.D. and 104-106 A.D. On his return from the second campaign he celebrated a triumph and entertained the people with games lasting 123 days. “It is said that 11,000 animals were slaughtered during these amusements, and that 10,000 gladiators fought in the arena.”

16. =tenuit= ＝ _habuit_.

CH. 3.

17. =Armeniam=: Trajan began this campaign in 114 A.D. The winter of the same year he spent at Antioch. During the next two years he conquered the greater part of the Parthian empire, taking the capital city Ctesiphon.

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CH. 4.

3. =amīcōs … frequentāns=: ‘going often to his friends to salute them.’

4. =fēstōs diēs habuissent=: ‘they were celebrating feast days.’

=indiscrēta=: ‘with no distinction of rank.’

6. =nihil … agēns=: his finances were prosperous, partly owing to good management, and partly from the success of certain mining operations in Dacia.

9. =per orbem … multa=: “He constructed several good roads in the provinces and Italy; among them was the road across the Pomptine Marshes. At Ostia he built a large new basin. At Rome he constructed the aqueduct called by his name, built a theater in the Campus Martius, and, above all, made the Forum Traianum, with its basilicas and libraries, and his column in the center.”

10. =nihil nōn=: the figure of Litotes, affirming a thing by denying its contrary; cf. _nōn compāruisset_, Bk. I, 2.

CH. 5.

19. =bellī domīque=: H. 484, 2 (426, 2); M. 242, 2; A. & G. 258, _d_; G. 411, 2; B. 232, 2.

20. =Seleuciam=: it is generally stated that he lived to reach Selinus in Cilicia, where he died in August, 117 A.D.

23. =sōlus … sepultus est=: he was the only one of the emperors who was buried within the city. This privilege was enjoyed by the Vestal Virgins.

24. =in forō=: the _Forum Trāiānum_ was probably the most magnificent of all the Roman fora. It occupied a large space between the Capitoline and the Quirinal Hills, the latter of which was cut away to make room for it. Among the many buildings it contained were two libraries, one for Latin and the other for Greek manuscripts. It contained also the famous Column of Trajan. This column, composed of huge drums of white marble, is pierced within. A bas-relief of the chief events of the Dacian war winds round the shaft. It is still standing.

25. =CXLIV pedēs=: this was the height of the Quirinal Hill that was cut away.

26. =habet= ＝ _est_.

=hūius … dēlātum est=: ‘so much respect has been paid to his memory.’

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CH. 6.

3. =Aelius Hadriānus=: Publius Aelius Hadrian was with Trajan when the latter died. With the consent of the Syrian army he assumed the reins of government and his act was ratified by the senate. Although he lost some of the territory that Trajan had added to the Empire, he strengthened and united the remainder. He was, in general, a just and able ruler; yet at times he showed himself revengeful, suspicious, and cruel. He died of dropsy at Baiae, 138 A.D., in the sixty-third year of his life. Creighton, p. 100; _The Age of the Antonines_, Ch. III.

7. =glōriae invidēns=: more probably he saw that the Empire had become too large to be governed successfully.

CH. 7.

17. =orbem Rōmānum circumiit=: he visited every province in the Empire, correcting abuses, and examining the administration of government.

18. =multa aedificāvit=: among other famous buildings the Mausoleum of Hadrian, now called the Castle of St. Angelo.

CH. 8.

27. =T. Antōnīnus=: his full name was Titus Aurelius Fulvius Boionius Antoninus, called Pius because he persuaded the senate to grant to his adopted father Hadrian the apotheosis and other honors usually paid to deceased emperors. “His reign is almost a blank in history--a blank caused by a suspension for a time of war, violence, and crime.” Although he waged no war for conquest, he defended the provinces with vigor, warring against the Moors and Britons, and the untamed races of the Rhine and the Danube. Creighton, p. 101; _The Age of the Antonines_, Ch. IV.

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6. =bonīs honōrem habēns=: ‘paying respect to the good.’

14. =Lorium=: in Etruria on the _Via Aurelia_.

CH. 9.

18. =M. Antōnīnus Vērus=: he is generally known as Marcus Aurelius. He was the adopted son of Antoninus Pius. When only twelve years old he assumed the philosophic mantle and gave himself up to the study of philosophy, attaching himself to the Stoic school. After he became emperor he associated Lucius Antoninus Verus, his brother, with him in the government. Although they were entirely different in character, they reigned conjointly with no disagreement. His ‘Meditations’ have survived. Creighton, p. 101; _The Age of the Antonines_, Ch. V.

23. =singulōs … Augustōs=: ‘one Augustus (emperor) at a time.’

CH. 10.

28. =contrā Parthōs=: Lucius Verus nominally had the guidance of the war, but it was carried on by his lieutenants while he lingered in Antioch.

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CH. 12.

21. =Apollōnium Chalcēdōnium=: called Apollonius Dyscolus. “He is the father of scientific Grammar, being the first to reduce it to a systematic form.”

24. =Frontō=: Marcus Cornelius Fronto. He acquired great reputation as a rhetorician and grammarian at Rome in the reign of Hadrian. Some of his letters to his pupils, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, were found in the present century.

=hīc … ēgit=: ‘he treated all at Rome with equality.’

26. =prōvinciās … trāctāvit=: he did not visit the provinces, but kept himself thoroughly informed of the details of their administration.

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1. =eō prīncipe=: ‘during his reign’; cf. =hīs rēgnantibus=, Bk. I, 2.

=bellum … Marcomannicum=: the Marcomanni, ‘men of the marshes,’ were a German tribe that threatened destruction to the Roman Empire. For thirteen years Marcus Aurelius with difficulty held them in check. He built many fortresses and a great wall to restrain them.

2. =quantum … fuit=: ‘it was greater than any in the memory of man’; _i.e._ there had been no war with the Germans equally formidable.

5. =pestilentiae=: the plague broke out in 167 A.D. and lasted for several years, despite all efforts to check its ravages. It was probably brought to Rome by the soldiers returning from the expedition against the Parthians.

CH. 13.

10. =Quādī=: a powerful people who dwelt in the southeastern part of Germany. They had been taken under the protection of Rome by Tiberius. In 174 A.D. Marcus Aurelius defeated them in a fierce battle. They appear again during the reign of Gallienus (Bk. IX, 8). Towards the end of the fourth century they disappear from history. _The Age of the Antonines_, pp. 106-108.

=Vandalī=: a confederacy of German peoples, who dwelt originally on the northern coast of Germany. Later they settled north of the Marcomanni, whom they joined. They invaded Spain, and later Africa. Under their king Genseric they invaded Italy, and took and plundered Rome, 455 A.D.

=Suēvī=: an important confederacy of German tribes. Their name survives in the modern Suabia.

13. =Caesarem fēcerat=: the title of Caesar was now given to the person next in rank to the emperor, and who was intended to succeed him.

15. =indīcere … aliquid=: ‘to make any demands on the provinces or the senate.’

16. =īnstrumentum rēgiī cultūs=: ‘royal furniture.’

22. =comparāta=: ‘their purchases.’

CH. 14.

28. =obiit=: he died at Vindobona, now Vienna.

29. =vītae LXI=: it is generally said that he died in the fifty-ninth year of his life.

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CH. 15.

1. =L. Antōnīnus Commodus=: he was the son of Marcus Aurelius, but like him in no respect. After concluding a disgraceful treaty with the Germans, he hastened to Rome, where he gave himself up to the grossest vices. Creighton, p. 102.

6. =in amphitheātrō=: he was the conqueror in 735 combats. Nothing delighted him more than to be called the ‘Hercules of Rome.’

7. =strangulātus vel venēnō=: he was poisoned and afterwards strangled by his favorite Marcia.

CH. 16.

11. =Pertināx=: Creighton, p. 103.

CH. 17.

18. =perpetuum composuit ēdictum=: this was a digest of the mass of edicts that had been issued by the praetors and the provincial governors. It was the basis of the _Corpus Iūris Cīvīlis_ of Justinian.

19. =Mulvium pontem=: about two miles north of Rome, on the _Via Flaminia_. Here the ambassadors of the Allobroges, that had been tampered with by the fellow-conspirators of Catiline, were arrested, 63 B.C. The foundations of this bridge still remain and are built into the Ponte Mollo at the same place.

CH. 18.

21. =Septimius Sevērus=: Lucius Septimius Severus was commander in chief of the army in Pannonia and Illyria at the death of Pertinax, 193 A.D. He was proclaimed emperor by the army. For nearly a hundred years the emperors were made and unmade at the will of the soldiers. Creighton, p. 104.

23. =omnī memoriā=: ‘in all time.’

24. =fiscī advocātus=: a Roman officer appointed to look after the interests of the imperial treasury.

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CH. 19.

16. =vāllum … dēdūxit=: the celebrated wall of Severus, extending from the Solway Firth to the mouth of the Tyne. It was erected to prevent incursions of the Caledonians.

17. =Eborācī=: the modern York.

22. =Geta … periit=: he was murdered by order of Caracalla.

CH. 20.

23. =Caracalla=: the name of Caracalla was derived from a species of Gallic cassock he introduced at Rome.

24. =mōrum … fuit=: his whole life was only one series of cruelties and acts of extravagant folly. Creighton, p. 105.

25. =thermae Antōnīniānae=: these accommodated about 1600 persons at once. The ruins are still to be seen.

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CH. 22.

9. =M. Aurēlius Antōnīnus=: known in history as Heliogabalus. He was the grandson of Maesa, sister-in-law of Septimius Severus, and the son of Symiasera. He was priest in the temple of the Sun at Emesa in Syria when Caracalla died. Through the instrumentality of his grandmother he was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers and acknowledged by the senate. He was the most profligate of the Roman emperors.

CH. 23.

16. =Aurēlius Alexander=: Marcus Aurelius Alexander, generally known as Alexander Severus. He had been adopted by Heliogabalus and had been created Caesar. “He was distinguished by justice, wisdom, and clemency in all public transactions, and by the simplicity and purity of his private life.” Creighton, p. 106.

20. =adsessōrem=: ‘legal adviser.’

21. =Ulpiānum=: Domitius Ulpianus was one of the most celebrated Roman lawyers. His works are often quoted in the _Corpus Iūris Cīvīlis_ of Justinian. He was assassinated in a mutiny of the soldiers caused by his strict discipline.