Chapter LXXV: Section III

I know that there are angry spirits
And turbulent mutterers of stifled treason,
Who lurk in narrow places, and walk out
Muffled, to whisper curses in the night;
Disbanded soldiers, discontented ruffians,
And desperate libertines who brawl in taverns.--_Byron_.

[Sidenote: U.C. 975 A.D. 222]

1. Heliogaba'lus was succeeded by Alexander, his cousin-german,[4] who, being declared emperor without opposition, the senate, with their usual adulation, were for conferring new titles upon him; but he modestly declined them all. 2. To the most rigid justice he added the greatest humanity. He loved the good, and was a severe reprover of the lewd and infamous. His accomplishments were equal to his virtues. He was an excellent mathematician, geometrician, and musician; he was equally skilful in painting and sculpture; and in poetry few of his time could equal him. In short, such were his talents, and such the solidity of his judgment, that though but sixteen years of age, he was considered equal in wisdom to a sage old man.

3. About the thirteenth year of his reign the Upper Germans, and other northern nations, began to pour down in immense swarms upon the more southern parts of the empire. They passed the Rhine and the Danube with such fury, that all Italy was thrown into the most extreme consternation. 4. The emperor, ever ready to expose his person for the safety of his people, made what levies he could, and went in person to stem the torrent, which he speedily effected. It was in the course of his successes against the enemy that he was cut off by a mutiny among his own soldiers. He died in the twenty-ninth year of his age, after a prosperous reign of thirteen years and nine days.

[Sidenote: U.C.988 A.D.235]

5. The tumults occasioned by the death of Alexander being appeased, Max'imin, who had been the chief promoter of the sedition, was chosen emperor. 6. This extraordinary man, whose character deserves a particular attention, was born of very obscure parentage, being the son of a poor herdsman of Thrace. He followed his father's humble profession, and had exercised his personal courage against the robbers who infested that part of the country in which he lived. Soon after, his ambition increasing, he left his poor employment and enlisted in the Roman army, where he soon became remarkable for his great strength, discipline, and courage. 7. This gigantic man, we are told, was eight feet and a half high; he had strength corresponding to his size, being not more remarkable for the magnitude than the symmetry of his person. His wife's bracelet usually served him for a thumb ring, and his strength was so great that he was able to draw a carriage which two oxen could not move. He could strike out the teeth of a horse with a blow of his fist, and break its thigh with a kick. 8. His diet was as extraordinary as his endowments: he generally ate forty pounds weight of flesh every day, and drank six gallons of wine, without committing any debauch in either. 9. With a frame so athletic, he was possessed of a mind undaunted in danger, neither fearing nor regarding any man. 10. The first time he was made known to the emperor Seve'rus, was while he was celebrating games on the birth day of his son Ge'ta. He overcame sixteen in running, one after the other; he then kept up with the emperor on horseback, and having fatigued him in the course, he was opposed to seven of the most active soldiers, and overcame them with the greatest ease. 11. These extraordinary exploits caused him to be particularly noticed; he had been taken into the emperor's body guard, and by the usual gradation of preferment came to be chief commander. In this situation he had been equally remarkable for his simplicity, discipline, and virtue; but, upon coming to the empire, he was found to be one of the greatest monsters of cruelty that had ever disgraced power; fearful of nothing himself, he seemed to sport with the terrors of all mankind.

12. However, his cruelties did not retard his military operations, which were carried on with a spirit becoming a better monarch. He overthrew the Germans in several battles, wasted all their country with fire and sword for four hundred miles together, and formed a resolution of subduing all the northern nations, as far as the ocean. 13. In these expeditions, in order to attach the soldiers more firmly to him, he increased their pay; and in every duty of the camp he himself took as much pains as the meanest sentinel in his army, showing incredible courage and assiduity. In every engagement, where the conflict was hottest, Max'imin was seen fighting in person, and destroying all before him; for, being bred a barbarian, he considered it his duty to combat as a common soldier, while he commanded as a general.

14. In the mean time his cruelties had so alienated the minds of his subjects, that secret conspiracies were secretly aimed against him. None of them, however, succeeded, till at last his own soldiers, long harassed by famine and fatigue, and hearing of revolts on every side, resolved to terminate their calamities by the tyrant's death. 15. His great strength, and his being always armed, at first deterred them from assassinating him; but at length the soldiers, having made his guards accomplices in their designs, set upon him while he slept at noon in his tent, and without opposition slew both him and his son, whom he had made his partner in the empire. 16. Thus died this most remarkable man, after an usurpation of about three years, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. His assiduity when in a humble station, and his cruelty when in power, serve to evince, that there are some men whose virtues are fitted for obscurity, as there are others who only show themselves great when placed in an exalted station.

[Sidenote: U.C. 991. A.D. 238.]

17. The tyrant being dead, and his body thrown to dogs and birds of prey, Pupie'nus and Balbie'nus, who had usurped the imperial purple, continued for some time emperors, without opposition. 18. But, differing between themselves, the prætorian soldiers, who were the enemies of both, set upon them in their palace, at a time when their guards were amused with seeing the Capit'oline games; and dragging them from the palace towards the camp, slew them both, leaving their dead bodies in the street, as a dreadful instance of unsuccessful ambition.

[Sidenote: U.C. 991. A.D. 238.]

19. In the midst of this sedition, as the mutineers were proceeding along, they by accident met Gor'dian, the grandson of him who was slain in Africa: him they declared emperor on the spot. 20. This prince was but sixteen years old when he began to reign, but his virtues seemed to compensate for his want of experience. His principal aims were to unite the opposing members of government, and to reconcile the soldiers and citizens to each other. 21. The army, however, began as usual to murmur; and their complaints were artfully fomented by Philip, an Arabian, who was prætorian prefect, and aspired to the sovereignty. Things thus proceeded from bad to worse. 22. Philip was at first made equal to Gor'dian in the command of the empire; shortly after he was invested with the sole power; and at length, finding himself capable of perpetrating his long meditated cruelty, Gor'dian was by his order slain, in the twenty-second year of his age, after a successful reign of nearly six years.

_Questions for Examination_.

1. Who succeeded Heliogabalus?

2. What was his character?

3. Was his reign peaceable?

4. How did Alexander act on the occasion?

5. Who succeeded Alexander?

6. Who was Maximin?

7. Describe his person.

8. What farther distinguished him?

9. Was his mind proportioned to his body?

10. How did he attract the notice of Severus?

11. By what means did he attain rank in the army?

12. Was he equally a terror to his foreign enemies?

13. By what means did he gain the confidence of his soldiers?

14. What effect had his cruelties on the minds of his subjects?

15. How did they accomplish their purpose?

16. How long did he reign, and what inference may be drawn from his conduct?

17. Who next mounted the imperial throne?

18. What was their end?

19. Who succeeded Pupienus and Balbienus?

20. What were the character and views of this prince?

21. Was his administration approved of by all?

22. Did Philip accomplish his ambitious design?