Chapter XXXVI: The Five Good Emperors: Nerva to Marcus Aurelius (96-180 A.d.) 267

Nerva (M. Cocceius Nerva), 267. Trajan (M. Ulpius Trajanus
Crinitus), 268. The first Dacian war, 269. Trajan dictates
terms to Decebalus, 271. The second Dacian war, 273. Oriental
campaigns and death of Trajan, 274. The correspondence of
Pliny and Trajan, 276. Trajan’s column, 277. Hadrian (P.
Ælius Hadrianus), 280. The varied endowments of Hadrian, 281.
Hadrian’s tours, 282. Hadrian as builder and administrative
reformer, 284. Personal traits and last days of Hadrian, 286.
Renan’s estimate of Hadrian, 288. Hadrian as patron of the
arts, 289. Antoninus (Titus Aurelius Antoninus Pius), 290.
Renan’s characterisation of Antoninus, 292. Marcus Aurelius (M.
Ælius Aurelius Antoninus), 294. The plague and the death of
Verus, 296. Border wars, 296. The revolt of Avidius, 299. An
imperial tour and a triumph, 300. Last campaigns and death of
Aurelius, 303. Merivale compares Aurelius and Alfred the Great,
305. Gibbon’s estimate of Marcus Aurelius and of the age of the
Antonines, 305.

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE PAGAN CREEDS AND THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY 307

Stoicism and the Empire, 308. Christians and the Empire, 313.
The Christian and the Jew, 315. Religious assemblies of the
Christians, 317. Christianity and the law, 318. The infancy
of the Church, 320. Persecutions under Nero, 321. Persecution
under Trajan and the Antonines, 324.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

ASPECTS OF CIVILISATION OF THE FIRST TWO CENTURIES OF THE EMPIRE 329

The spirit of the times, 329. Manners and customs, 335.
Suppers and banquets, 339. The circles, 342. Public readings,
345. Libraries and book-making, 346. The ceremony of a Roman
marriage, 349. The status of women, 352. Paternal authority
and adoption: The slavery of children, 356. The institution of
slavery, 359. Games and recreations, 367. The Roman theatre
and amphitheatre, 370. Sheppard’s estimate of the gladiatorial
contest, 375.

CHAPTER XXXIX

A HALF CENTURY OF DECLINE: COMMODUS TO ALEXANDER SEVERUS
(161-235 A.D.) 377

Commodus, 378. Cruelties and death of Commodus, 379. Pertinax
(P. Helvius Pertinax), 382. Julianus (M. Didius Severus
Julianus), 383. Severus (L. Septimius Severus), 385. Conquests
of Severus, 387. Caracalla (M. Aurelius Antoninus Caracalla),
391. Macrinus (M. Opilius Macrinus), 393. Elagabalus (Narius
Avibus Bassianus), 395. Dion Cassius on the accession and reign
of Elagabalus, 396. Alexander Severus (M. Aurelius Alexander
Severus), 400. Renan’s characterisation of the period, 403.