Biography.

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Lineage of Nerva.

Difficulties

tion.

THE Flavian family, which expired with Domitianus, left the throne of Augustus to the descendant of a Cretan colonist. The ancestors of Nerva, who occupied a respectable rank at Rome, were repeatedly dignified with the Consular authority, and admitted to the confidence of several successive Emperors. He himself was born at Narni in Umbria, and rose at an early period of life to employments in the Capital, worthy of his talents and the integrity of his principles. He was found deserving, in the reign of Nero, of the Triumphal ornaments which were at that time usually conferred upon distinguished military services, and even of a statue in the palace, a still more unambiguous proof of personal favour and esteem. Pliny and Martial agree in ascribing to him a taste for Poetry; which accomplishment is said to have recommended him to the protection of Nero, who was never altogether insensible to the charms of the Muses, even while indulging in sensuality and bloodshed.*

It has been already stated, that the conspirators against Domitianus, before the execution of their plot, had procured the consent of Nerva to succeed him in the government. The latter was accordingly proclaimed Emperor on the same day that the tyrant was destroyed, namely, the eighteenth day of September, in the ninety-sixth year of the Christian faith.

The Sovereign who ascends a throne which has of his situa- been rendered vacant by rebellion and murder, has always a difficult part to perform. He finds his partisans dyed with blood, and pursued by a multitude of avengers; who, either from regret and compassion towards the assassinated Prince, or from envy at the success of a conspiracy in which they had no share, are found eager in their endeavours to weaken the authority of the new Government, and to punish the crime from which it derived its origin.

Pisaffection of the military.

Nerva had the misfortune to see himself surrounded with these difficulties and dangers. His principal supporters were Petronius Secundus, Commander of the Prætorian guards, whose influence with that powerful body of troops appears to have been the instrument employed for securing their connivance at the death of the late Emperor. Parthenius, the Chamberlain, likewise contributed the assistance of his weight and popularity to give credit to the new dynasty, and to gain in its favour the suffrages of the people. The Senators, indeed, required no solicitations to adopt the interests of Nerva, whom they justly regarded as being as much the friend of their Order as Domitianus had been its constant and deadly enemy.

But the hostile spirit of the army was only sup. pressed, not subdued. Since the accession of Vitellius, they had learned to regard no election valid which did not obtain their approbation, or purchase their

• Aur. Victor, et Vict. Epit. Eutrop. Hist. Dion Cassius, lib. lxvii. and lib. lxviii. Tacit. Ann. lib. xv. c. 72.

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fidelity; and, besides, Domitianus, who relied upon their M. C. Nerva affection, had left no means unemployed to bind them Augustus, more and more firmly to his interests. For these reasons there was much ground to apprehend that the reign of Nerva would neither be long nor tranquil. We are told, accordingly, that Arius Antoninus, grandfather to one of the Emperors of that name, when congratulating the aged monarch on his high preferment, assured him, that the satisfaction which every good Roman felt at the recent change, respected the welfare of the Empire rather than the personal comfort of the meritorious chief who was called to preside over its destinies. He reminded him, that he had relinquished the tranquillity of a private condition for an office in which he would be exposed to contention, fatigue, and danger; wherein his life would be aimed at by the arm of treason, and his reputation, which had never yet received a stain, would be assailed by calumny and misrepresentation. He alluded to the uneasiness which would arise from the stratagems of his enemies, and from the insatiable demands and expectations of his friends; whom it would not be in his power to satisfy without injuring the public welfare, nor to refuse without converting their zeal into hatred.*

The beginning of Nerva's administration, according Mild to Tacitus, proved that the exercise of sovereign power governinent. is not incompatible either with the liberty or the happiness of the People. The Romans were the more delighted with his mild and equitable government, because they had just escaped from the fiercest and most degrading tyranny that was ever supported by military despotism; and while they enjoyed the peace and security which the personal virtues of their ruler promised to render permanent, they willingly shut their eyes to the evils which his easy and timid disposition was not less likely to produce.†

restores

perty.

His first cares were employed in providing a remedy Recals for the evils created by the suspicions and cruelty of Do- exiles and mitianus. He began by annulling all the laws relating their proto high treason; a crime so extremely vague and undefined, that prosecutions for it had at once become the principal instrument of tyranny and the terror of every man above the rank of a common soldier. He recalled, in like manner, the numerous exiles who had been driven from Rome during the latter years of his predecessor, and restored to them the estates and honours of which they were most unjustly deprived. Among these sufferers, the public eye was glad to recognise the determined patriot Arulanus Rusticus, Arria the widow of Thrasea, and the mother-in-law of Helvidius Priscus, the victim of Imperial rage. Unwilling that any class of men should continue to feel the pressure of the former despotism, he made haste to extend relief to the Christians, who at that period, under the name of Jews,

*Victor, in Ner. Capit. T. Anton

t Tacit. in Vita Agricolæ, c. 3. Plin. Epist. lib. ix. ep. 13. 402 645

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Enacts

To prevent such evils in future, he enacted severe good laws. laws against informers and public accusers; and in order to deter from this odious crime by an example of just severity, he gave orders to put to death all the slaves and freedmen whose evidence had been employed to condemn their masters. It was, in like manner, established by an Imperial ordinance, that no person in servile condition, or who had risen from the estate of slavery, should be listened to in a Court of justice against his owner or patron. Nor was his reformation confined to matters of judicial procedure. He repealed a law introduced by Augustus, which imposed a heavy duty on all successions and inheritances, except in cases of extreme poverty or the nearest degree of relationship. This tax, which amounted to a twentieth part of the whole property, was found excessively burdensome and disagreeable; for the exemption founded on proximity of kindred was in practice restricted to the ancient class of citizens, who thereby became entitled to an immunity which could not but wound the pride of all the more recent families. Nerva put an end at once to these distinctions, and prepared the way for the final abolition by the Emperor Trajan, of the financial expedient on which they were founded.†

Ilis clemency.

The younger Pliny, who came into power during this reign, has related many particulars concerning Nerva; which, though they would serve better for illustrating a biographical memoir than for aiding the more extended views of general History, are yet not altogether undeserving of notice. Such anecdotes lay open the character of his administration, and admit the reader to a fuller knowledge of its principles than could be derived from the most minute survey of his foreign policy, or from the distribution of his armies in Europe and Asia. For example, we find that neither a feeling of resentment nor even the sense of justice could induce this lenient Sovereign to dip his hands in the blood of a Senator, It is related, that when Helvidius Priscus was denounced by Domitianus, an ancient Prætor, named Publicius Certus, showed himself so willing a minister of tyranny, that he rudely laid hands upon the accused, and assisted in dragging him to prison. Pliny, desirous to avenge the cause of virtue and of public decency, resolved to attack Certus in the Senate-house, and demand a condign punishment. The eloquence of the Philosopher was opposed at first by the caution of his hearers, who dreaded a renewal of the proscriptions and other evils from which they had so lately obtained deliverance; but he succeeded at length in rousing their indignation against the odious crimes with which Certus stood charged, and was about to receive an unanimous verdict expressive of his guilt, when the Consul adjourned the meeting.‡

Nerva could not be prevailed upon to allow the matter to proceed further, or to be brought again before the Senate contenting himself with depriving Certus

of the Consulate for which he had been designed by his M. C. Nerva patron Domitianus.

Augustus

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This facility was not allowed to pass without censure, by those especially who listened with greater readiness to the voice of their passions than to the dictates of prudence. Pliny informs us, that Junius Mauricus, a Senator who had been banished by Domitianus, was after his return invited to an entertainment at the table His cle of Nerva, where he had the mortification to meet one mensy of his bitterest enemies, Fabricius Vejento, a vile and censured. subservient tool in the hand of tyranny. The conversation happened to turn upon Catullus Messalinus, a person whose memory was detested by every one, on account of his activity in the odious trade of a public accuser, as well as for the bloody measures which he was always the first to propose in the Senate. There was no one present who did not express abhorrence and contempt against so hateful a character: upon which Nerva addressed himself to the company and said, What do you think would become of him were he alive now?" 'He would be at dinner with us, replied Mauricus.'*

The same spirit is breathed in the following stricture made by Marcus Julius Fronto, a man of Consular authority; who, observing certain symptoms of confusion and distrust arising from the passive temper of the aged Prince, could not refrain from saying, "It is without doubt a great calamity to be under a Sovereign who does not permit anybody to do anything, but it is not much better to be under one who allows everybody to do what he pleases."†

The disorder in which he found the Empire is the Apology fat best apology for the undue forbearance with which Nerva has been charged. He was desirous that the appetite for sanguinary punishment should no longer disgrace the Romans; and, for this humane purpose, he refused to gratify the vindictive feelings of those who had even just grounds of complaint. The motives which distinguished the character of his government are recorded in an edict preserved by Pliny; in which he declares, that he had uniformly preferred the public good to his own repose, and that his object in accepting the Imperial authority was, not to deprive the People of their privileges, but to acquire the power of confirming whatever they possessed, and to add to the benefactions granted by former Emperors, new favours originating with himself. He requested, that no one should imagine his possessions to be in danger, because they were connected with the memory of a Prince justly odious to the Roman name; for that he had no intention of resuming any grant made by his predecessor, merely that he might have the merit of bestowing it a second time. "The happiness of no one shall be diminished," said he, "by the necessity of approaching the throne with entreaties. It is my business to give; let every one who is in want, or has claims upon my liberality, make his case known without fear or hesitation."

Nor did these prove empty words on the part of the His Emperor. On the contrary, his actions in all circum- liberality stances vouched the sincerity of his professions, and the goodness of his heart. To place poor citizens in a more independent condition than they had enjoyed since the days of Augustus, he expended large sums of Vict. Epit.

Plin. Epist. lib. iv. ep. 22. + Dion Cassius, lib. lxviii.

Plin. Epist. lib. x. ep. 66.

Economy.

Justice and

These generous actions were not more meritorious than the means which he used to enable him to perform them. He requested that a commission might be appointed by the Senate to examine into the expenses of the Government, and that all possible retrenchments might be made in the outlay and scale of his own household. He reduced his personal expenditure to the narrowest limits; disposed of jewels and other ornaments which he regarded as unnecessary for Imperial state; and even sold a portion of his paternal lands, in order to meet the claims on his liberality which he himself had created.†

The pattern which he kept constantly before his eyes was the mild and equitable administration of Titus. Like that merciful Prince, he solemnly swore that he never would put a Senator to death; a restriction on his prerogative to which the vindictive mind of Domitianus would never submit. So faithfully did Nerva adhere to this resolution, that when Calpurnius Crassus, with some other members of the Senate, conspired against him, he would not allow the laws to be enforced and their crime to be punished. The remonstrances of the Senate, who, with one voice, blamed his clemency as injudicious and dangerous, could not urge him to give his consent to a measure more severe than the banishment of Crassus to Tarentum.

But in all other cases, in which the guilt of the parties Moderation. did not so immediately affect his own interests and feelings, Nerva administered justice with equal impartiality and discernment. Indeed, the knowledge of law was in some degree hereditary in his family, which for several generations could boast of the greatest civilians that appeared in Rome. In a word, it was the unceasing endeavour of this good monarch, so to discharge the duties of his high office as that he might at any time, either render an account of all the proceedings to which he had given his sanction, or return to a private station without reproach, regret, or apprehension. It has been remarked, too, that he never laid aside the modesty which became his earlier fortunes; constantly refusing the honours which the persons who surrounded his throne were ever seeking to lavish upon the rank to which he had been elevated. He permitted no statues to be erected to him, either of gold or of silver; and so far, says Dion Cassius, was he from wishing to be exalted above other men, that he spent all the days of his short reign in labouring to raise the virtuous almost to an equality with himself.§

The Historians of this reign confine their reprehension to a single act, the recal of the Pantomimes or actors of low Comedy, whose performances, it would appear, were highly acceptable to the people of Rome. Pliny blames with great gentleness the facility of Nerva, which, on this occasion, made him yield to the

From

entreaties of the multitude; insinuating, at the same M. C. Nerva time, as the ground of an apology, the remarkable Augustus. fact, that the discontinuance of the amusement in question the only good thing which Domitianus had done, was held by the citizens as an intolerable stretch of power, merely because it was effected by the authority of a Prince so excessively unpopular.*

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The fortunes of the celebrated Virginius, a character History of worthy of Nerva's patriotic government, constitute an Virginius agreeable episode in the brief annals of the latter. History has not preserved any account of the distinguished General just named, from the time that he refused the Empire, on the defeat of Vindex, till he was honoured with a third Consulship, during the reign of the successor of Domitianus. Pliny, to whose early years he had discharged the duty of Guardian, speaks of him with enthusiasm and affection; assuring his readers, that the modesty of his conversation was only equalled by the fame of his exploits. He adds, that he never but on one occasion heard him mention the circumstance of his declining supreme power; and then he was compelled to speak of it, by a reference which was made to the propriety of his motives. A certain Historian, who had introduced into his pages a minute narrative of that occurrence, apologized to Virginius for the freedom he had used in weighing the merits of his conduct, when he rejected the high preferment offered to him by the victorious legions."Know you not," replied the veteran," that in the emergency to which you refer, I did what I did in such a manner that you writers might be free to speak of it in any way you chose !"† The virtues of this great soldier conferred upon him His conimmortality while he was yet alive. He survived the temporary complete establishment of his fame more than thirty reputation: years; he read the history of his exploits in the Annals, and even in the Poetry, of his generation; and thus, exclaims Pliny, he mingled with a grateful and admiring posterity, and enjoyed, beforehand, a posthumous glory. He died in his third Consulate, while Nerva was yet on the throne; and his memory was honoured with a public funeral, and every other expression of esteem and regard. The same good fortune, says his friend, which accompanied him through life did not forsake him at his death; the oration over his grave being pronounced by Caius Cornelius Tacitus, at that time Consul, and one of the greatest scholars and most splendid speakers of his age.

Virginius wrote his own epitaph, which Pliny found His epitaph. at Alsium, a country residence in which the warrior spent the latter part of his life, and which was afterwards occupied by the mother-in-law of the Panegyrist. It was expressed in these words:

Hic situs est Rufus, pulso qui Vindice quondam,

Imperium asseruit, non Sibi sed, Patriæ.

As the modesty of such personal appeals to the applause of posterity is extremely questionable, the curious reader may be pleased to turn to the opinions of two very clever ancients on this subject, recorded by Pliny.

The peaceful reign of Nerva could not prove agree- Mutiny of able to the rapacious and turbulent Prætorians. The the Præplunder and increased pay which they enjoyed under torians. the bloody rule of Domitianus, made them at first

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Biography regret the death of that Emperor, and afterwards carried them to the resolution of taking revenge upon his murderers. They were incited to this seditious measure by Casperius Ælianus, a Præfect of that Order; who, conducting their steps to the palace, taught them to demand, from the timid and placid Nerva, the authors of the revolution by which he had been raised to the throne. Finding remonstrance vain, he was at length compelled to deliver up to their fury the victims whom they named. Petronius Secundus, their own General, fell under their swords almost at the very moment in which he left the palace; but it pleased them to take away the life of Parthenius, the Chamberlain, by slower and more exquisite sufferings. The guards completed their treason by forcing the Emperor to sanction the atrocities which they had committed, and even to inform the citizens that the soldiers had acted by his authority and under his command.*

Adoption of

Trajan.

This violent proceeding convinced Nerva, that his feeble arm was not competent, alone, to guide the helm of affairs amidst the storms which threatened to arise. Sensible that he stood in need of support, he looked for a coadjutor, not among his relations or personal friends, but to a man of consummate talent and tried integrity. He resolved to adopt Trajan as his son, and place him by his side on the throne; a measure which at once checked the spirit of insurrection, and secured for the Roman world some happy years of prosperity and

repose.

It happened, that while his plans for this patriotic object were advancing towards maturity, news arrived that the army in Pannonia had gained a signal advantage over the Barbarians, who, from time to time, menaced the tranquillity of the frontiers. Nerva availed himself of this opportunity to make his design known to the People; and having ascended to the Capitol, to deposit in the Temple of Jupiter the branch of laurel which had been sent to him as a token of victory, he addressed the assembled multitude, and informed them that Trajan, then commanding an army on the Rhine, had been selected by him as his son and

Dion Cassius, lib. lxviii. Vict. Epit. Plin. Paneg. c. 5, 6

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heir. He next proceeded to the Senate-house, and rati- M.C. Nerva fied the act of adoption; conferring upon the future Augustus. Emperor the title of Caesar, with the honourable addition of Germanicus, which he himself had just assumed. This wise and popular step suppressed the rising hopes of sedition, and, at the same time, avenged the insulted majesty of the Empire. The vigour and decicision of Trajan's character gave hope to the good, and Good effec inspired the bad with apprehension; and it is said, that of this Nerva, gentle and forgiving as he had approved him measure. self, charged his successor with the duty of punishing the violence which had been inflicted upon him by Casperius and his mutinous Prætorians. The old Emperor is represented as having used on this occasion the well-known verse of Homer, in which the Priest of Apollo entreats his God not to forget the injuries which he had sustained at the hands of the Greeks:

Τίσειαν Δαναοὶ ἐμὰ δάκρυα σοῖσι βέλεσσιν. Trajan admitted the justice and expediency of this appeal, and visited with death, or exile, the cruel constraint of which his patron complained.

The subsequent part of Nerva's reign presents no Death of occurrence which Historians have deemed worthy of Nerva being handed down to posterity. He appears to have committed the burden of affairs to the more energetic wisdom and zeal of Trajan; claiming for his own age and infirmities the repose to which his services entitled

him, and which he now valued more than ever. He died in the beginning of the year 98, having reigned a little more than sixteen months. His age has been variously estimated; but the best authorities concur in assigning to him about seventy-two years. His body was conveyed by the Senate to the tomb of Augustus, and his spirit, according to the tenets of his country, was consoled with an Apotheosis. The gratitude of the Romans was due to him for many acts of benevolence and humanity; but his greatest merit, says Pliny, was his choice of Trajan to succeed him in the Empire.

Hom. Iliad. lib. i. v. 42.

Dion Cassius, lib. Ixviii. Eutrop. in Nerv. Euseb. Chron. Plin. Paneg. c. 10.

Biography.

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ccession

BETWEEN the close of the reign of Augustus Cæsar and the accession of Trajanus, there elapsed a period of eighty-four years. During this period the Roman Empire, notwithstanding the crimes of almost all its Sovereigns, and the disturbances to which it had been occasionally exposed, had consolidated its widely scattered possessions, and its different Provinces had learned to consider themselves as members of one great body. It was well prepared to feel the full blessing of an able and upright Government, and such a blessing it was now going to experience for a term of equal length with the period of tyranny which had preceded it. The first eighty years, then, of the IId century of the Christian æra may be regarded as the prime of manhood in the Roman Empire, during which its excellencies were most fully developed, while at the same time there were visible, even then, those evils which threw so dark a shade over its decline and fall. It is of this period that we wish to offer, not a picture, but such a sketch as our imperfect information will enable us to execute; connecting it with those particulars which we formerly gave of the state of the Empire under Augustus, in order to show more clearly the changes which it had undergone since the first establishment of the Imperial Government.

The reign of Trajanus is in one respect peculiarly well-fitted to be made the occasion of such a survey, as we are absolutely unable to offer a detailed account of its events. A few pages of an abridgement of the original History of Dion Cassius, and a few lines of Eutropius and Aurelius Victor, are all that we possess in the shape of a direct Historical narrative of it. Of these scanty materials, by far the greatest part relates to the military expeditions of the Emperor, and to those conquests of which he himself lived long enough to see the instability,—and which his successor quietly abandoned. It were indeed a waste of our own time and that of our readers to dwell upon the events of the Dacian war, or the triumphs of Trajanus over the Parthians and Armenians. Unprofitable as is the detail of almost every war, there is none more utterly worthless than that which relates to the contest between a Civilized and a Barbarian people,—which repeats the story of fancied provocations, of easy victories, and of sweeping conquests. Yet if we exclude the military operations of Trajanus from our account of his life, his Historians and Biographers furnish us with scarcely any materials. We shall first, therefore, give only a mere outline of the events of his reign in chronological order, and then, adopting a different arrangement, we shall regard the nature of the facts related, rather than the time of their occurrence.

At the moment of Nerva's death, Trajanus was still f Trajanus, with the army in Germany.* He had been named

Pliny, Panegyric. 9, 56, 59. Sex. Aurel. Victor, in Trajano.

Consul the second time for that year, together with the Emperor; and as Nerva died about the 27th of January, almost the whole term of his Consulship remained unexpired when he succeeded to the Sovereignty of the Empire. He did not return to Rome till the beginning of the following year, having passed his Consulship in Germany, where he was employed in confirming discipline among the soldiers, and in the Civil administration of those important Provinces. A third Consulship was offered him as soon as his second was expired; as the Emperors usually marked the first year of their reign by receiving that title and office; but Trajanus positively refused it. On his way home from Germany, he travelled in the quietest and most moderate manner;† his attendants were restrained from committing those excesses upon the persons and property of the people who lived near the line of his journey, which it seems were commonly practised by the train of the Emperors. The expenses of his table were defrayed by the inhabitants of the Provinces through which he travelled, according to the constant practice of the Roman Magistrates; but this tax of purveyance, which the Sovereigns of modern Europe exercised after the example of the Romans, was imposed by Trajanus with great moderation; and he could not forbear publishing a statement of the sums demanded by himself, contrasted with those which Domitianus had exacted, when he returned to Rome from the same part of the Empire. His entrance into his Capital was in a similar spirit. Instead of being borne on a litter, according to the practice of former Emperors, it was remarked, that he walked behind his Lictors, surrounded not by guards, but by the flower of the Senate and the Equestrian Order; and that he bore with patience the frequent interruptions to his progress occasioned by the eagerness of the multitude thronging to behold him. He ascended the Capitol to offer his prayers in the Temple of the Capitoline Jupiter,-on the same spot whereon Nerva, a short time before, had solemnly adopted him as his son and successor in the Empire. Thence he retired to the Palace, which he entered in the same unostentatious manner that had marked his behaviour through the day. It is added by Dion Cassius,§ that his wife Plotina had displayed a like temper when she first entered the Imperial residence; for she stopped on the steps, and, turning round to the multitude, said aloud, "I go into this house with the same mind that I should wish to bear in leaving it."

M. Ulpius Trajanus

Crinitus.

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The popularity which Trajanus had gained by his First meaformer character, and by this fair commencement of his sures of his reign, was confirmed by some of his earliest measures,

Compare Suetonius, Domitian. c. 17, and Dion Cassius, lib. lxviii. p. 771. + Pliny, Panegyric, 20. Ibid. 22, et seq.

§ Lib. lxviii. p. 771. edit. Leunclav. 4 P 2

649

Governmen