revenge, the palace, and, unless we are deceived by the names of Marcellus and Sergius, the most virtuous and the most profligate of the courtiers were associated in the same designs. They had fixed the time of the execution; their rank gave them access to the royal banquet, and their black slaves were stationed in the vestibule and porticos to announce the death of the tyrant, and to excite a sedition in the capital. But the indiscretion of an accomplice saved the poor remnant of the days of Justinian. The conspirators were detected and seized, with daggers hidden under their garments; Marcellus died by his own hand, and Sergius was dragged from the sanctuary. Pressed by remorse, or tempted by the hopes of safety, he accused two officers of the household of Belisarius; and torture forced them to declare that they had acted according to the secret instructions of their patron. Posterity will not hastily believe that a hero who, in the vigor of life, had disdained the fairest offers of ambition and should stoop to the murder of his prince, whom he could not long expect to survive. His followers were impatient to fly; but flight must have been supported by rebellion, and he had lived enough for nature and for glory. Belisarius appeared before the council with less fear than indignation; after forty years' service, the Emperor had prejudged his guilt; and injustice was sanctified by the presence and authority of the patriarch. The life of Belisarius was graciously spared; but his fortunes were sequestered, and from December to July he was guarded as a prisoner in his own palace. At length his innocence was acknowledged; his freedom and honors were restored; and death, which might be hastened by resentment and grief, removed him from the world about eight months after his deliverance. The name of Belisarius can never die; but instead of the funeral, the monuments, the statues, so justly due to his memory, I only read that his treasures, the spoils of the Goths and Vandals, were immediately confiscated for the Emperor. Some decent portion was reserved, however, for the use of his widow; and as Antonina had much to repent, she devoted the last remains of her life and fortune to the foundation of a convent. Such is the simple and genuine narrative of the fall of Belisarius and the ingratitude of Justinian. That he was deprived of his eyes, and reduced by envy to beg his bread, Give a penny to Belisarius the general!' is a fiction of later times, which has obtained credit, or rather favor, as a strange example of the vicissitudes of fortune." 66 36. The son of Evander, sent to assist Æneas, and slain by Turnus. Virgil, Eneid," x., Davidson's translation: "Turnus, long poising a javelin tipped with sharpened steel, darts it at Pallas, and thus speaks: See whether ours be not the more penetrating dart. He said; and with a quivering stroke the point pierces through the mid-shield, through so many plates of iron, so many of brass, while the bull's hide so many times encompasses it, and through the corselet's cumbrous folds transfixes his breast with a hideous gash. He in vain wrenches out the reeking weapon from the wound; at one and the same passage the blood and soul issue forth. Down on his wound he falls: over him his armor gave a clang; and in death with bloody jaws he bites the hostile ground." 37. In Alba Longa, built by Ascanius, son of Æneas, on the borders of the Alban Lake. The period of three hundred years is traditionary, not historic. 39. The Horatii and Curatii. 40. From the rape of the Sabine women, in the days of Romulus, the first of the seven kings of Rome, down to the violence done to Lucretia by Tarquinius Superbus, the last of them. 44. Brennus was the king of the Gauls, who, entering Rome unopposed, found the city deserted, and the Senators seated in their ivory chairs in the Forum, so silent and motionless that his soldiers took them for the statues of gods. He burned the city and laid siege to the Capitol, whither the people had fled for safety, and which was preserved from surprise by the cackling of the sacred geese in the Temple of Juno. Finally Brennus and his army were routed by Camillus, and tradition says that not one escaped. Pyrrhus was a king of Epirus, who boasted his descent from Achilles, and whom Hannibal called "the greatest of commanders." He was nevertheless driven out of Italy by Curius, his army of eighty thousand being routed by thirty thousand Romans; whereupon he said that, "if he had soldiers like the Romans, or if the Romans had him for a general, he would leave no corner of the earth unseen, and no nation unconquered." 46. Titus Manlius, surnamed Torquatus, from the collar (torques) which he took from a fallen foe; and Quinctius, surnamed Cincinnatus, or "the curly-haired.' 47. Three of the Decii, father, son, and grandson, sacrificed their lives in battle at different times for their country. The Fabii also rendered signal services to the state, but are chiefly known in history through one of their number, Quinctius Maximus, surnamed Cunctator, or the Delayer, from whom we have "the Fabian policy." 53. The hill of Fiesole, overlooking Florence, where Dante was born. Fiesole was destroyed by the Romans for giving refuge to Catiline and his fellow conspirators. 55. The birth of Christ. Milton, “ Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity," 3, 4: But he, her fears to cease, Sent down the meek-eyed Peace : She, crowned with olive-green, came softly sliding His ready harbinger, With turtle wing the amorous clouds dividing; And, waving wide her myrtle wand, She strikes a universal peace through sea and land. No war or battle's sound Was heard the world around : The idle spear and shield were high up hung; Unstained with hostile blood; The trumpet spake not to the armèd throng; As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by. 65. Durazzo in Macedonia, and Pharsalia in Thessaly. 66. Gower, "Confessio Amantis," 1.: That one sleeth, and that other sterveth, But aboven all his prise deserveth This knightly Romain; where he rode His dedly swerd no man abode, Ayen the which was no defence: 67. Antandros, a city, and Simoïs, a river, near Troy, whence came the Roman eagle with Æneas into Italy. 69. It was an evil hour for Ptolemy, when Cæsar took from him the kingdom of Egypt, and gave it to Cleopatra. 70. Juba, king of Numidia, who protected Pompey, Cato, and Scipio after the battle of Pharsalia. Being conquered by Cæsar, his realm became a Roman province, of which Sallust the historian was the first governor. Milton, Samson Agonistes," 1695: But as an eagle His cloudless thunder bolted on their heads. 71. Towards Spain, where some remnants of Pompey's army still remained under his two sons. When these were subdued the civil war was at an end. 73. Octavius Augustus, nephew of Julius Cæsar. At the battle of Philippi he defeated Brutus and Cassius, and established the Empire. 75. On account of the great slaughter made by Augustus in his battles with Mark Antony and his brother Lucius, in the neighborhood of these cities. 81. Augustus closed the gates of the temple of Janus as a sign of universal peace, in the year of Christ's birth. 86. Tiberius Cæsar. 90. The crucifixion of Christ, in which the Romans took part in the person of Pontius Pilate. 92. The destruction of Jerusalem under Titus, which avenged the crucifixion. 94. When the Church was assailed by the Lombards, who were subdued by Charlemagne. 98. Referring back to line 31: In order that thou see with how great reason 100. The Golden Lily, or Fleur-de-lis of France. The Guelfs, uniting with the French, opposed the Ghibellines, who had appropriated the imperial standard to their own party purposes. 106. Charles II. of Apulia, son of Charles of Anjou. III. Change the imperial eagle for the lilies of France. 112. Mercury is the smallest of the planets, with the exception of the Asteroids, being sixteen times smaller than the Earth. 114. Speaking of the planet Mercury, Buti says: "We are now to consider the effects which Mercury produces upon us in the world below, for which honor and blame are given to the planet; for as Albumasar says in the introduction to his seventh treatise, ninth division, where he treats of the nature of the planets and of their properties, Mercury signifies these twenty-two things among others, namely, desire of knowledge and of seeing secret things; interpretation of the Deity, of oracles and prophecies; foreknowledge of things future; knowledge and profundity of knowledge in profound books; study of wisdom; memory of stories and tales; eloquence with polish of language; subtilty of genius; desire of lordship; appetite of praise and fame; color and subtilty of speech; subtilty of genius in everything to which man betakes himself; desire of perfection; cunning of hand in all arts; practice of trade; selling, buying, giving, receiving, stealing, cheating; concealing thoughts in the mind; change of habits; youthfulness, lust, abundance, murmurs, lies, false testimony, and many other things as being therein contained. And therefore our author feigns, that those who have been active in the world, and have lived with political and moral virtues, show themselves in the sphere of Mercury, because Mercury exercises such influence, according to the astrologers, as has been shown; but it is in man's free will to follow the good influence and avoid the bad, and hence springs the merit and demerit.' Milton, Lycidas," 70: Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise To scorn delights, and live laborious days; And think to burst out into sudden blaze, |