Chapter XVII: Section XII: The Christian Era

4—By some chronological confusion the new era has been made
to begin four years before the appearance of the founder of
Christianity. When Augustus had settled the whole empire he
ordered the temple of Janus to be closed and a census taken
of all its inhabitants, which numbered one hundred and twenty
millions. On this occasion Jesus Christ was born.

10—A Roman army under Varus was defeated and cut to pieces in
Germany. It was the severest defeat the Romans had suffered
since the overthrow and death of Crassus, by the Parthians,
sixty-three years before.

14—The Emperor Augustus died and was succeeded by his
step-son, Tiberius.

29—Jesus Christ was crucified by Pontius Pilate, Roman
governor of Judea, at the solicitation, and on the
accusation, of the leading Jews.

37—Tiberius died and was succeeded by Caligula. The
commencement of the reign of Tiberius was wise and moderate,
but he soon became violent and cruel. Caligula was a still
greater monster of wickedness.

40—Growing weary of his cruelty he was assassinated by one
of his officers, and his uncle, Claudius, was raised to the
throne. He was of feeble intellect and became the tool of
infamous favorites. He was poisoned by order of his wife,
Agrippina.

54—Nero, the son of Agrippina by a former husband, was
made emperor at seventeen years of age. He exceeded all
description in folly, extravagance and crime. His violence
and barbarity fell generally on the patricians and members of
his court, but he was esteemed by the common people, as were
most of the emperors, who spent vast sums on theatres and
spectacles for their amusement. The two bases of the empire
were the populace and the army. The emperor was terrible
and tyrannical chiefly to the patricians, while the army
made him formidable to the provinces and the barbarians. A
conflagration which some attributed to the orders
64—of Nero lasted nine days and destroyed the greater part of
Rome. Nero cast the blame on the Christians, who had become
numerous, and raised a horrible persecution against them.

66—The Jews rebelled and defied the Roman Empire.

68—Nero was dethroned by the Roman senate and army, and
committed suicide to avoid punishment for his crimes.

69—Three emperors, Galba, Otho and Vitellius, were placed on
the throne in succession, but rebellions were raised against
them and all were put to death. Vespasian, then besieging
Jerusalem, was proclaimed emperor by his army at the desire
of the rulers of the eastern provinces, and, in the same
year, overcame all opposition and commenced the first reign
since Augustus that was free from disgraceful profligacy and
public crime.

70—Titus, the son of Vespasian, captured and destroyed
Jerusalem. Vespasian, during a reign of ten years, restored
order and prosperity to Rome and the empire, but not without
great labor and danger.

79—Titus succeeded as emperor, and was remarkable for his
clemency and care for his subjects. During his reign occurred
the most fearful eruption of the volcano Vesuvius on record.
Herculaneum and Pompeii, two wealthy and flourishing cities,
were destroyed, being buried by the ashes. Pliny, an eminent
writer, was suffocated while observing the eruption.

81—Titus died, to the great grief and loss of mankind, and
was succeeded by his brother, Domitian, who was one of the
most infamous rulers that ever desolated the earth. He raised
a violent persecution against the Christians for refusing to
adore his statues and worship him as a god. Among the victims
was his own cousin, Clemens, who had embraced Christianity. He
96—was assassinated by his wife and officers in
self-defense, and the senate proclaimed Nerva, a native of
Crete, emperor. He was remarkable for his lenity and all
the gentle virtues. He was followed, after a reign of two
98—years, by Trajan, whom he had adopted as his colleague
and successor, who is said to have been the greatest and most
deserving person of his time. He was, by birth, a Spaniard,
was wise and successful as a warrior and statesman, and
extremely noble as a man. He bridged the Danube and the
Euphrates rivers and conquered both the Germans and Parthians
on the north and east of the empire. A stain on his memory
was the persecution of the Christians.

117—He was succeeded by Adrian, in whose reign all the Roman
laws, or annual edicts of the prætors, were compiled into one
body, and law assumed the dignity of a science. He promoted
literature, but continued the persecution of the Christians.
A rebellion of the
139—Jews was punished with merciless severity. He was
followed by Antoninus Pius, who suspended all persecution
of Christians, promoted the best interests of all parts of
the empire, and introduced, during a prosperous reign of
twenty-two years, the most important reforms into every part
of the government.

161—Marcus Aurelius, called the Philosopher, succeeded.
He carried on a successful war with the Germans, and made
the welfare of his subjects his special care, but was
seduced, by the pagan philosophers, into a persecution of
the Christians. Having discovered his error he stopped it,
toward the close of his reign. Commodus,
180—his son, inherited the purple. He also inherited a
vicious and cruel disposition, and received a demoralizing
education from his mother. He was a monster of vice and
cruelty. He was assassinated in
192—his bed by his own family and guards to save their lives.
Pertinax reigned three months, but, attempting to restrain
the license of the soldiery, he was murdered by them. The
soldiers in Rome then proclaimed that the empire was for
sale, and a rich merchant, Didius, bought it from them and
reigned in Rome two months,
193—when he was also slain by the army. Septimus Severus,
an able general, seized the purple which he secured against
many rivals, and retained for eighteen years. His vigor alone
prevented general anarchy, but he was systematically cruel.

211—Caracalla, his son, succeeded. He was a bloody and
atrocious tyrant, supported on the throne only by his
soldiers, whose aid he secured by large pay. He was
217—murdered by the commander of his guards, Macrinus,
who succeeded in acquiring his place, but was soon
218—murdered by the soldiers. They raised Heliogabalus,
a young Syrian priest of fourteen years of age, through the
assurance of his female relatives that he was the son of
Caracalla, to the purple. He is described as the most cruel
and infamous of all the Roman emperors.

222—After four years of horrible crime, he was slain in a
mutiny of his guard and his body thrown into the Tiber.
Alexander Severus succeeded. He was apparently a secret
admirer of Christianity and a model
235—prince. He was murdered by Maximin, a Thracian peasant,
who had, by his valor, risen to high command in the army, who
seized the reins of power. He was successful in war, but his
severity provoked mutiny in
238—various parts of the empire, and he was slain by his
own soldiers. Gordian succeeded, a heroic youth of a noble
family. He was successful in war, but was murdered
244—by his own prime minister, Philip, an Arabian, who became
emperor. He favored the Christians, and reigned five years.
In his reign, the thousandth year of the foundation of Rome
was celebrated by public
249—games. He was slain in a revolt by Decius, the general
of his army, who occupied the throne. He raised a most
violent storm of persecution against the Christians, who were
despoiled of their goods and driven to caves and deserts.
From this time is dated the sect of
250—anchorites, or hermits, who imagined they could acquire
superior holiness by abandoning society and devoting
themselves to meditation and prayer. The idea appears to
have been derived from the Persian Magians, who, in this
century restored the ancient dynasty and religion of the
Persians, or Parsees, in Persia. During the political and
social disorganization that soon commenced the anchorites
became numerous, and the system was extensively prevalent
for a thousand years to the great injury of active and true
Christianity.

251—Decius was slain in a battle with the Goths, who had
invaded the empire, and Gallus became emperor.

253—He was put to death by Emilianus, who attempted to seize
the reins of government, but the army elected Valerian,
governor of Gaul. The empire was invaded by the Goths on
the north and the Persians under their king, Sapor, on the
east. From this time, it had to
259—fight for its life. Valerian was defeated by Sapor
and remained nine years in captivity, Gallienus, his son,
becoming emperor. He was extremely incompetent and a
multitude of rival claimants for the supreme authority arose
in all directions. They were called the “Thirty Tyrants.” One
of them, Odenatus, king of Palmyra, in the Syrian desert,
defeated Sapor, and Gallienus proclaimed him his colleague.
On the death of Odenatus, his wife, Zenobia, assumed the
title of “Queen of the East,” conquered Egypt and ruled a
wide region with success and splendor. Both Goths
262—and Persians invaded Asia Minor. Gallienus was murdered
268—and Claudius succeeded. He defeated the Goths
270—but died in a pestilence. Aurelian succeeded. He was an
able general. He subdued the Germans and
272—Goths, and conquered Zenobia, one of the most remarkable
275—women of history. Aurelian was assassinated by some
victims of his severity, and Tacitus, a Roman senator
succeeded, but died in seven months, and was followed by
Probus. He was a vigorous general, and drove back the
barbarians on all sides, but attempting to employ his
soldiers in labor on public works, they
282—revolted and murdered him. Carus, the captain of the
283—imperial guard, was raised to the throne. Dying the
next year, his sons, Carinus and Numerianus, inherited his
authority, but Numerianus was assassinated in a
284—few months by his father-in-law, and Diocletian, said to
have been formerly a slave, was proclaimed emperor by the
army. This was called “The Era of the Martyrs,” from the long
and bloody persecutions against the Christians. This was the
tenth general attack on them, and proved to be the last. The
barbarians pressing in great force on all sides, Diocletian
appointed several colleagues, and their united ability drove
the invaders back.

305—Diocletian resigned his power to Galerius, who appointed
three associates, making a division of the empire. One of
these, Constantius, died in Britain, and was succeeded
306—by his son, Constantine. For a time, there were six
emperors, but one was killed, Galerius died, and Constantine
conquered the others.

312—Constantine changed the whole character of the empire
by embracing Christianity and relying largely on that
element for the support of his power, while he disbanded the
Pretorian, or royal Guard, which had for two hundred years
assumed to make and unmake emperors, and whose example,
imitated by the other armies, kept the world periodically
disturbed by the disputes and battles of rival claimants
to the imperial purple. By the
313—edict of Milan, Constantine abolished all laws unfriendly
to Christianity; he restored the authority of the senate
and magistrates, and removed his capital from Rome to
Constantinople.

324—The pagan element was now so worn and decrepit that no
general disorders resulted. Whatever was left rallied under
Licinus, who was conquered by Constantine. It appears to have
been the strength of the Christian element and its essential
hostility to the Roman principle of violent subjugation that
produced so many and fierce persecutions. Had it not been
for the pressure of barbarians on the empire the prevalence
of that system would have preserved society and the state
for a thousand years more, as it actually did in the Eastern
empire; but every thing that man has the management of must
be affected by his limitations, his mistakes and his follies.
Christianity needed a better ally, a fresher and purer
society, built up by the young blood and better instincts of
another and newer people.

Constantine paid great respect to the clergy of the church
and took a leading part in its general counsels—a great
mistake and a great misfortune.

325—His spiritual supremacy was virtually acknowledged at the
council of Nice which he convoked.

330—Constantine died leaving his vast dominions to his three
sons, who, in the course of ten years, were reduced to one,
Constantius. After a troubled reign of twenty
361—years more, he died, and was succeeded by his cousin
Julian, called the “Apostate,” from his renouncing
Christianity and laboring to restore the pagan religion. In
this he signally failed. He undertook to rebuild the Jewish
temple at Jerusalem, without success.

363—He was mortally wounded in an invasion of Persia, and was
succeeded by Jovian, who restored imperial favor
364—to the Christian religion. He died after one years
reign and Valentinian was elected emperor by the council
of ministers and generals. He divided the empire with his
brother, Valens, and afterward Rome and Constantinople
usually had each an emperor. Valentinian died
375—and was succeeded by his son, Gratian.

378—The Huns appeared in Europe, having wandered from
the borders of China, and defeated Valens with dreadful
slaughter. Valens himself was among the slain. This was the
commencement of the great migrations that finally overwhelmed
the Roman Empire of the west.

379—Gratian, left sole emperor, appointed Theodosius, called
The Great, his colleague, who subdued the Goths, repelled the
Huns, and restored order.

383—Gratian was murdered by the usurper Maximus.

388—Theodosius conquered and put Maximus to death and
restored Valentinian II., brother of Gratian, to the
throne of the western empire. In a few years the whole
394—empire was reunited by the death of Valentinian.
Theodosius soon died, universally lamented, leaving the two
empires to his sons, Honorius and Arcadius.

402—Alaric, the Goth, invaded Italy and, though defeated,
endangered the safety of Rome.

408—Theodosius II. succeeded to the empire of the east.

410—Alaric again invaded Italy and sacked Rome. Alaric soon
after died and his forces were persuaded, by negotiations, to
leave Italy, but they permanently established themselves in
Spain and Southern Gaul (France). Thus the empire began to
fall to pieces.

425—Honorius died and Valentinian III. became emperor.

429—The Vandals soon conquered the Roman provinces
in Africa, under their king, Genseric. They extended
440—their conquests to Sicily.

447—Attila, called the “Scourge of God,” appeared at the head
of the Huns, and Theodosius made a humiliating treaty with
him to save his dominions from desolation.

448—In the next year the Saxons and Angles were invited
into Britain by the civilized Romans, to protect them from
the Picts and Scots, and laid the foundation of the modern
Anglo-Saxon race, and the Franks invaded Gaul laying the
foundations of the modern kingdom of France. England received
its name from the Angles—France from the Franks.

451—Attila, the Hun, invaded Gaul, and was defeated at
452—Chalons, by the united Romans and Visigoths. Attila
then invaded Italy and laid it waste, but died before he
454—had completed the ruin of the empire. Valentinian
III. was murdered, and the Vandals from Sicily invaded Italy
and sacked Rome.