From A. D. 180.

to

192.

Biography. the strong phrase of one of his biographers) he glutted on the whole resources of the Empire.* Even his jests were distinguished by cruelty. In celebrating the rites of Isis, the master of the Roman world appeared with a shaven crown, and bore in his arms an image of the dog Anubis; with this, as opportunity offered, he repeatedly struck the heads of the Priests who accompanied him, many of whom, also, he compelled to wound themselves to death, by turning into reality the mock beating of the breasts with which they were used to lament their God. The lame and halt were selected as his antagonists in the arena; and these, dressed up as mimic giants or monsters, he assailed with a club or transfixed with arrows. Though luxurious in his dress, frequently resorting to the bath eight times in the day, scattering gold-dust in his hair, and, from the fear of admitting the approach of a razor in the hand of another, singeing off his beard, he was especially proud of exhibitions of personal strength, and frequently butcher

• Cum potaret in lucem, helluareturque viribus Romani Imperii. Lampridius, 3

Antoninus.

From

A. D. 180

ed victims with his own hand in the garb of a sacrificer. Commodus Among the flatteries of the obsequious Senate none pleased him more than the vote which styled him the Hercules of Rome; not even that which annexed to him the titles Pius and Felir, or which offered to abolish the name of the Eternal City, and substitute for it Colonia Commodiana. Seven hundred and thirty-five times did he exhibit as a Secutor; and he considered his glory at its height, when the name of Paulus (the most celebrated of this species of gladiators) was inscribed on the Imperial statues.

to

192.

A. D. 193.

Biography.

A. D.

193.

No sooner was the Throne vacant than Lætus and the rest of the conspirators determined on offering it to Pertinax, one of the few friends of Aurelius who had escaped the cruelty of Commodus.* Capitolinus acFrom cuses him of being at first acquainted with the plot; but the suddenness of its execution, the testimony of MARCH. Dio, and the character of Pertinax himself, all combine to make this imputation improbable. Early life of Pertinax.

JANUARY

to

Pertinax had early chosen the profession of arms, and his whole life, with the exception of the period of the administration of Perennis, when he retired into Liguria, was passed in active and honourable employment; at different times, he was invested with military command on the Danube, in Syria, and in Britain; and when he was subsequently appointed to hold Civil offices at Rome, he discharged their various duties with integrity, prudence, and fidelity. The successive appointments by which he rose to be master of the Roman world are related by Capitolinus; and Gibbon justly remarks, that their order is worthy of preservation as expressive of the form of Government and the manners of the Age. 1. He was a Centurion. 2. Præfect of a cohort in Syria, in the Parthian war, and in Britain. 3. He obtained a squadron of horse in Mosia. 4. He was Commissary of provisions on the Emilian way. 5. He commanded the fleet upon the Rhine. 6. He was Procurator of Dacia, with a salary of 16001. a year. 7. He commanded the veterans of a legion. 8. He obtained the rank of Senator. 9. Of Prætor. 10. With

• Julian.

the command of the first legion in Rhætia and Noricum. 11. He was Consul about the year 175. 12. He attended M. Aurelius into the East. 13. He commanded an army on the Danube. 14. He was Consular Legate of Mœsia. 15. Of Dacia. 16. Of Syria. 17. Of Britain. 18. He had the care of the public provisions at Rome. 19. He was Proconsul of Africa. 20. Præfect of the city.

Publius

Helvius

Pertinax.

A. D.
193.
From

JAUNARY

to

A visit at midnight from the ministers of Commodus MARCH. seemed to indicate a summons to death, rather than the offer of a Throne: when, however, Lætus had related the origin and event of the conspiracy, and urged Pertinax to assume the purple, the latter reluctantly consented. The next step was, to secure the support of the army; and though the Prætorian guards were little pleased with the death of an Emperor under whom they had enjoyed more license and indulgence than the well-known character and discipline of Pertinax allowed them to hope in future, yet, agitated by the emergency of the moment, and tempted by the promise of an ample donation, they took the oaths of allegiance. On the next morning the Senate assembled; and while the populace were expressing their joy at the death of Commodus in the exclamations and outrages of vindictive fury, the Conscript Fathers inflicted on his memory every mark of scorn and detestation. His statues were overthrown, his memory declared infamous, and his body dragged by a hook into the stripping room of the gladiators, as the uttermost malignity which vengeance could offer. Pertinax modestly stated his desire to abdicate his recent dignity in favour of some one

A. D. 193. From

to

Biography. of nobler birth and higher pretensions; since age and infirmity disqualified him from duly discharging its duties: the Senate, however, confirmed by their tribute of sincere approbation, the choice made by Lætus and the army. The new Emperor applied himself immediately JANUARY to rectify abuses which had grown up under the late Government: he replenished the exhausted Treasury by retrenching superfluous expenses, and by the sale of those articles of luxury which had ministered to the vices and extravagances of his infamous predecessor. The plan of his private expenditure was frugal without meanness, and his manner of receiving his friends affable without unbecoming familiarity. Such a system pursued in public and in private, however agreeable to the few remaining friends of virtue, was little adapted to conciliate those who remembered with regret the fes

MARCH. His wise Govern.ent.

Pertinax.

A. D.

193. From

to

tivity and revels of Commodus. Lætus, who procured Publius the elevation of Pertinax, was also the cause of his de- Helvius struction. At his instigation the disaffected troops besieged the Palace, conscious of their power, and certain of profiting in any tumultuous disturbance by the bounty of their friends, and the plunder of their enemies. Pertinax, either hoping to awe them by his presence, or JANUARY determined to meet his fate with fortitude, presented himself before them. A feeling of shame, the consci- MARCE ousness of guilt and ingratitude, now arrested their progress: the pause, however, was but momentary, and the virtuous Pertinax, after a reign of eighty-seven His assasi days, was massacred by an army too vicious to admire nation. his excellence, and too powerful to acknowledge his authority.

MAXIMUS TYRIUS.

MARCUS FABIUS QUINCTILIANUS

In our Historical account of the Age of the Antonini, no mention has hitherto been made of its Literature. We have, however, seen that the love of Philosophy and studious pursuits was the ruling passion of MARCUS AURELIUS. His Meditations contain as pure a code of Moral precepts as could be expected from the genius of Paganism,-teaching the Immortality of the soul, not as a separate existence, but rather as a reunion with the essence of the Deity. This work is too well known to require any very particular notice: it was translated into French by Dacier, 1690; into Italian, by an unknown author, 1675; and into English by Meric Casaubon, 1634, and by Collier, 1701.† Gataker published an excellent edition of the original, with ample notes and commentary, parallel passages, and prolegomena. Some Letters of this Emperor are commended by Philostratus as models of epistolary style, and a part of his correspondence with Cornelius Fronto was lately found among the manuscripts in the Ambrosian library at Milan, and published by Angelus Maius in 1815.

As the example of Aurelius encouraged Literature at Rome, so his bounty rewarded it in the Provinces. His own attachment to the Stoics did not prevent his regarding with an eye of favour the patrons of opposite sects: the disciples of Plato, the Peripatetics, Stoics, and Epicureans, Professors of Philosophy and Rhetoric, all taught their dogmas with equal freedom in the Schools of Athens; and by the generosity of the Antonines, a salary, equal to three hundred pounds sterling, was annexed to each Chair of Science. This Imperial favour, which was neither bigoted in its principles, nor parsimonious in its supplies, naturally encouraged emulation, and accordingly we know that many strove, by the exercise of literary talents, to deserve well of their

BORN A. D. 42. Djed

contemporaries and of posterity. But the ravages of Literature Time have deprived us of great part of their labours: of the Ages authentic sources of Historical knowledge being few of the and imperfect, we are compelled to accept our informa- Antonini. tion through the medium of abridgements and compilations. Some works, however, composed about this time, have come down to us in tolerable preservation; and, although there does not appear among them any master mind whose writings were calculated to influence and guide the tone of public feeling, or stamp its own character on the pursuits of the Age, still they are not without their value. The Grammarian and Philologist are assisted by the labours of Julius Pollux; he who directs his inquiries towards the works of Art, which at this period were the ornament of Greece, will find his researches rewarded in the writings of Pausanias; while the student sees an infinite number of subjects connected with antiquity discussed and illustrated in the curious Miscellany of Athenæus. Aulus Gellius and Apuleius depart more widely from the models of pure style than the Greek writers who lived about the same period, Dio Cassius, Maximus Tyrius, and Lucianus. Aulus Gellius is obscure; and in Apuleius, the frequent occurrence of abstract nouns is a sign of declining Latinity. Of Dio mention has been already made in a preceding paper on the Historians of Rome, and of Maximus Tyrius we shall have occasion to speak shortly.

But among all the authors of this time, LUCIANUS Lucianus. stands unquestionably first in natural abilities, in originality of character, and in playfulness of fancy. Though his talents were not of the very highest order, yet in his own line they were unequalled: his chief strength lay in ridicule, which, though it is not the test of Truth, may become an useful auxiliary or a

formidable foe to it.

Some of the minor works of Voltaire abound in that vein of sarcastic humour which forms the great charm 4 U 687

Biography. of the writings of Lucianus. The French Philosopher seems to have persecuted the cause of Truth with a feeling of personal hostility; and his raillery has probably been more effectively mischievous than the subtle reasonings of Hume: but the powers of Lucianus were by accident, and to a certain extent,* effectively useful; more useful, perhaps, than the labours of abler and wiser men. We say by accident, because, although in an Age of free inquiry, the instruments, which Lucianus employed with so much dexterity, were precisely adapted to expose sophistry, and clear away the rubbish of Heathen superstition; yet he had no design so excellent and so important, as to establish in their stead the fabric of Truth and Religion. While, therefore, we admire his singular abilities, we must condemn the man, who being by habit and by natural inclination studious, by profession a Philosopher, and by conviction f a contemner and enemy of the whole system of Pagan Mythology, should nevertheless make Christianity the subject only of contemptuous allusion, rather than of that serious and sober investigation, which were fairly demanded even by the number of its converts, and the authority of its advocates.

It is much to be wished that Lucianus, in his various works, had communicated more respecting his private life and history. The biographical notices, which we find from himself, are scanty and uninteresting, nor have we any other sources from which this defect may be supplied.

We know, however, with certainty, that he was born at Samosata, § near the Euphrates; and since it was necessary that he should earn his bread by his own industry, he was placed with his mother's brother, who was by profession a statuary. This step was taken partly be cause it was the least expensive, and partly because Lucianus had already shown natural genius and dexterity in modelling figures in wax. Here he commences inauspiciously, by breaking a tablet, and his master having chastised him with severity, he quitted his new employment in disgust. The same night he saw a vision; the Goddess of Sculpture and the Goddess of Polite Literature both appeared before his eyes; the one covered with the dust of the quarries, the other fair in person and elegant in her attire. Each proposed her claims, and stated the advantages of her respective pursuits; and when Lucianus determined to commit himself to the guidance of the Goddess of Literature, the other deity, like a second Niobe, became turned into stone. These circumstances form the substance of the treatise De somnio seu Luciani vitâ: the object of which was to encourage those, whose poverty appears to doom them to the walks of laborious life, while natural genius justifies them in aspiring to nobler and more intellectual pursuits. "Though," says Dryden, "it is not to be supposed that there is any thing of reality in this dream or vision of Lucian, which he treats of in his works, yet this may be gathered from it, that Lucian himself having consulted his genius and the nature of the study his father had allotted him, and that to which he found a propensity in himself, he quitted the former, and pursued the latter, choosing rather to form the minds of men than their statues." The learned Mr. Moyle has taken some pains to

of the Antonin

adjust the age of Lucianus; and from some notes of Liters'une time which are preserved in his works, his birth is of the Age fixed to the 124th year of Christ, and the 8th of the Emperor Adrian.* After his determination to abandon the Art of Sculpture, he taught the Art of Rhetoric in Gaul, and practised it at Antioch ; but his pleadings at the Bar not being attended with success, he betook himself at the age of forty to the study of Philosophy. During the latter part of his life he became Registrar (voμvnμaτoypapos) of Alexandria,§ which post was a step towards the government of a Province. The manner of his death is doubtful, but he is supposed to have lived to the age of eighty.

It happens, unfortunately, that as the biographical notices respecting Lucianus are scanty, so the nature of his works is not such as to supply the defect satisfactorily. He appears to have resembled his favourite Menippus, who was χλευαστὴς τῆς ἐπικήρου καὶ ἐφηégou Tav ȧvegúπwv (wñs, and there is a passage in Cicero's Academics, wherein Varro is speaking of his own imitation of the Menippèan satires, which may stand for the character of Lucian's works in general: In illis veteribus nostris, quæ, Menippum imitati, non interpretati, quâdam hilaritate conspersimus, multa admista ex intima Philosophia, multa dicta dialecticè, quæ quo facilius minus docti intelligerent, jucunditate quâdam ad legendum invitati, &c. He tells us, indeed, that his object was to combine the playfulness and wit of Comedy with the graver lessons of Philosophical discussion. Lucianus, however, was more a Satirist than a Philosopher; and although he had not the honest indig. nation of Juvenal, although, in polite wit and delicacy of taste, he was inferior to Horace, yet he surpassed them both in facetious humour and powers of derision. The range of his satire is more extensive, and its severity more generally intelligible than that of Aristophanes. Aristophanes was a Political wit; and he who would appreciate his Comedies must possess a minute knowledge of the History of the times in which he lived; of the personal character of the demagogues whose administration he attacked; and of the Political institutions, private habits, and distinguishing peculiarities of the audience which he addressed. The pleasantry of Lucianus is accessible without so much preparatory study. He had, without any real hatred of vice, a quick sense of that part of it which is ridiculous:** one saw more clearly the frailties of human nature, the fears of the brave and the follies of the wise:" no one exposed more happily the vanity of those pursuits in which mankind most eagerly engage,†† the disproportionate sorrow which is suffered to arise from disappointment, and the secret vexations which frequently accompany success. But his lessons, even where they are good, are imperfect: they do not suggest any higher pursuits, they do not instil any worthier motive of ac tion, they do not tend to any useful exertion: the Satirist, in his sketches of life and character, borrows freely the pencil of Democritus, and only qualifies his pupils to follow that Philosopher's employment. It is, indeed, vain to expect, in the writings of Lucianus, any very high tone of Moral feeling, or to find Virtue, even in

66

по

1 Suidas.

|| Antoninus, rây s sau rồi, lib, vi.

**Aristot. Poetica.

tt Nigrinus, et Navigium seu Vota et Galius.

++

Hermotimus, et Necyomantia, et Navigium, et Gallus.

Biography the Pagan sense of the word, portrayed with the dignity of Aristotle, or recommended by the eloquence of Plato. Nevertheless, he had honesty enough to hate* the hypocrisy of pretended Philosophers,† the arts of casuistical Rhetoricians, and the subtleties of scholastic Logic: he had penetration enough to see the absurdity of the whole system of Pagan Mythology;§ and he possessed an inexhaustible fund of wit and humour to expose these various subjects to the contempt and derision of mankind.

But in the cultivation and use of these dangerous and fascinating talents, Truth and Falsehood, simply as such, became indifferent, and were patronised by turns, as they afforded materials for the display of ingenuity, or the excitement of mirth: the plainest || and most im portant truths of Natural Religion are treated by him with the same levity as the grossest follies of Heathen Superstition: the existence of the Deity, the duty of worship, and the administration of a Providence, are involved in the same ridicule with the characters and actions of the fabulous inhabitants of Olympus. In the Dialogue entitled Jupiter Tragœdus, the cause of Natural Religion is betrayed by a feeble and frivolous defence. Whether Lucianus here intended to express his own sentiments under the character of Damis is uncertain: probably he had not any settled opinions to express. He did, indeed, dedicate his Alexander, or Evdouavris, to Celsus, who was an Epicurean; and, in the same treatise, he calls the founder of that sect "an instruct or really divine, the only one who understood and taught the system of Truth and Virtue, and gave freedom to the minds of his followers:" moreover, **the highest honours in the land of the blessed are allotted to Epicurus, and his follower, Aristippus; whereas, in the Vitarum Auctio, the former is sold for two mine, and the latter finds no purchaser. From the unsparing ridicule of this and some other Dialogues,†† Lucianus was accused of being the enemy of Philosophy; and he attempts to defend himself from this charge in the Reviviscentes, or Piscator. Here an inquiry is supposed to be instituted, over which the Goddess of Philosophy presides, and Diogenes, in the name of his brethren, is appointed to conduct the prosecution. Lucianus argues, on his own behalf, that False Philosophy alone was the object of his sarcasms, and that he designed to expose the degenerate followers of the ancient Sages, who had corrupted the purity of their doctrines, and who pursued the good things of this world as eagerly as their less learned neighbours: the Court is satisfied, and the Dialogue ends with a tale of considerable drollery and humour: but, in fact, Lucianus had no love for Truth, his raillery is severe, without discrimination;§§ the researches of Aristotle into Natural History are treated with the same derision as the scepticism of Pyrrho, and the Logical subtleties of Chrysippus.

As the ruling passion of Lucianus prevented his adopting, in earnest, any set of Philosophical tenets, so also did it affect his taste in Literature. In no other writer do we see more strongly exhibited that unequivocal mark of bad taste, a fondness for parody, a delight in degrading the most sublime passages of Poetry, by

*Hermotimus et Piscator. ↑ Rhetorum Preceptor. ↑ Vitarum Auctio. § Jupiter confutatus, et de Sacrificiis, et Dialogi Deorum et Concio Deorum. Jupiter Tragœdus. De Sacrificiis. Symposion.

**Vera Historie, lib. ii. tt Hermotimus. §§ Vitarum auctio.

of the

the opposition of ludicrous and low images: although Literature he could write with good feeling and good sense, of the Age * he always seems impatient of the restraint of serious com- Antonini. position. His sketch of the character of Demonaxt is beautifully drawn; but he soon betakes himself to relate that Philosopher's bon-mots and repartees. His remarks on the manner in which History should be written are sensible and just: he appears to have appreciated duly the inimitable excellence of Thucydides; and he inveighs strongly against the Historians of his own time, for their ignorance of the proper object of Historical composition, their utter disregard of Truth, their base flattery, their false estimate of the comparative importance of events, and the prolixity and impertinence of their descriptions. But after a few pages in this rational and serious strain, he proceeds to expose the lying wonders of Historians, and the fictions of poetry, in another treatise, which is called, in derision, Vera Historia. Here he relates his being absorbed and buried in the bowels of an immense pit, his journey to the moon, and his visit to the shades below. On this occasion, as on many others, Homer comes in for his full share of ridicule. Lucianus was familiar with the Iliad and Odyssey; and without having enough severity of taste fully to appreciate their excellence, he had discernment enough to perceive their minutest faults. Many of these, which ought to be ascribed to the Age rather than to the Poet, are brought into notice with considerable humour; and he must be indeed fastidious, who has not sometimes found himself laughing with Lucianus at the expense of the Mæonian bard.

The style of Lucianus is easy and perspicuous, and the subjects on which he touches are miscellaneous: some of these are, in themselves, highly objectionable; and even where they are not, we find many coarse and indelicate expressions and illusions, the fault of which may, with justice, be attributed to the evil Moral taste of his Age. The Dialogues of the Dead are entertaining, though they exhibit little diversity of character, and though their highest strain of morality inculcates only the Pagan precept, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." The Life of Peregrinus Proteus may be read with interest; caution, however, is necessary, for, as Lardner has observed, the treatise contains some misrepresentations, either wilful or undesigned: Lucianus is the only author who has made this rambling Philosopher a Christian. That Lucianus was an enemy of Christianity is true, inasmuch as he esteemed all Religion a compound of fraud and folly: he speaks, however, the language of contempt rather than of enmity; it does not appear that he persecuted the professors of the true Faith with any particular or personal hostility, nor had he taken much pains to acquaint himself with their distinguishing tenets.

In 1714, Gesner held a disputation at Jena, to prove that the treatise entitled Philopatris was not written by Lucianus, because it shows a more minute knowledge of the doctrines and Scriptures of the Christians, than can be traced in those works which are confessedly genuine. In the account of the death of Peregrinus, Lucianus says of the Christians, "They worship even now that great man who was crucified in Palestinc, because he introduced this new system of Religion." And again: "These ill-fated men (oi kaкodaiμoves) per

* Nigrinus, et Imagines. + Demonactis vita. Contemplantes, Timon, et Dialogi.