choice of masters. Under the standard of a CHAP popular candidate for empire, a few enlisted from affection, some from fear, many from interest, none from principle. The legions, unin flamed by party zeal, were allured into civil war by liberal donatives, and still more liberal pro mises. A defeat, by disabling the chief from the performance of his engagements, dissolved the mercenary allegiance of his followers; and left them to consult their own safety by the timely desertion of an unsuccessful cause. It was of little moment to the provinces, under hose name they were oppressed or governed; they were driven by the impulsion of the present power, and as soon as that power yielded to a superior force, they hastened to implore the clemency of the conqueror, who, as he had an immense debt to discharge, was obliged to sacrifice the most guilty countries to the avarice of his soldiers. In the vast extent of the Roman empire, there were few fortified cities capable of protecting a routed army; nor was there any person, or family, or or der of men, whose natural interest, unsupported by the powers of government, was capable of restoring the cause of a sinking party.

Yet, in the contest between Niger and Severus, a single city deserves an honourable excep- Siege c As Byzantium was one of the greatest Byzanpassages from Europe into Asia, it had been pro'vided with a strong garrison, and a fleet of five VOL. I.

3

hundred

tium.

V.

CHAP. hundred vessels, was anchored in the harbour*. The impetuosity this of Severus 9 prudent to his genescheme of defence; he left, rals the siege of Byzantium, forced the less guarded passage of the Hellespont, and impa

tient

a』『:

t of a meaner enemy, pressed forward to encounter his rival. Byzantium, attacked by a numerous and increasing army, and afterwards by the whole naval power of the empire, sustained a siege of three years, and remained faithful to the name and memory of Niger. The citizens and soldiers (we know not from what cause) were animated with equal fury; several of the principal officers of Niger, who despaired of, or who disdained a pardon, had thrown themselves into 020 this last refuge: the fortifications were esteemed impregnable, and, in the defence of the place, a celebrated engineer displayed all the mechanic powers known to the ancients f. Byzantium, at length, surrendered to famine. The magistrates and soldiers were put to the sword, the walls demolished, the privileges suppressed, and the destined capital of the east subsisted only as an open village, subject to the insulting jurisdiction of

Perinthus. The historian Dion, who had admired the flourishing, and lamented the desolate,

state

* Most of these, as may be supposed, were small open vessels ; some, however, were gallies of two, and a few of three ranks of

oars.

The engineer's name was Priscus. His skill saved his life, and he was taken into the service of the conqueror. For the particular facts of the siege, consult Dion Cassius, (1. lxxv. p. 1251.) and Herodian: (1. iii. p. 95.) for the theory of it, the fanciful chevalier de Folard may be looked into. See Polybe, tom. i. p. 76.

state of Byzantium, accused the revenge of Se- cHAT. verus, for depriving the Roman people of the strongest bulwark against the barbarians' of Pontus and Asia *. The truth of this observation was but too well justified in the succeeding age, when the Gothic fleets covered the Euxine, and passed through the undefended Bosphorus into the centre of the Mediterranean. Daa

10.2:

Niger and

Cruel con

wars.

Both Niger and Albinus were discovered and Deaths of put to death in their flight from the field of Albinus. battle. Their fate excited neither surprise nor sequences compassion. They had staked their lives against of the civil the chance of empire, and suffered what they would have inflicted; nor did Severus claim the arrogant superiority of suffering his rivals to live in a private station. But his unforgiving temper, stimulated by avarice, indulged a spirit of revenge, where there was no room for apprehension. The most considerable of the provincials, who, without any dislike to the fortunate candidate, had obeyed the governor under whose authority they were accidentally placed, were punished by death, exile, and especially by the confiscation of their estates. Many cities east were stript of their ancient honours, and obliged to pay, into the treasury of Severus, four times the amount of the sums contributed by them for the service of Niger t.

I

O2

1

the

Till

Notwithstanding the authority of Spartianus and some modern Greeks, we may be assured from Dion and Herodian, that Byzantium, many years after the death of Severus, lay in ruins.

↑ Dion, 1. lxxiv. p. 1250.

СНАР.

senate.

ЗЧЕЧМЫ НАМОЯ ЕНГ

Till the final decision of the war, the cruelty v. of Severus was, in some measure, restrained by the uncertainty of the event, and his pretended Animosity of Severus reverence for the senate. The head of Albinus, against the accompanied with a menacing letter, announced to the Romans, that he was resolved to spare none of the adherents of his unfortunate competitors. He was irritated by the just suspicion, that he had never possessed the affections of the senate, and he concealed his old malevolence under the recent discovery of some treasonable correspondencies. Thirty-five senators, however, accused of having favoured the party of Albinus, he freely pardoned; and, by his subsequent behaviour, endeavoured to convince them, that he had forgotten, as well as forgiven, their supposed offences. But, at the same time, he condemned forty-one other senators, whose names history has recorded; their wives, children, and clients, attended them in death, and the noblest provincials of Spain and Gaul were involved in the same ruin. Such rigid justice, for so he termed it, was, in the opinion of Severus, the only conduct capable of ensuring peace to the people, or stability to the prince; and he condescended slightly to lament, that, to be mild, it was necessary that he should first be cruel †

#

The

* Dion, (1. lxxv. p. 1264.) only 29 senators are mentioned by him, but 41 are named in the Augustan History, p. 69. among whom were six of the name of Pescennius. Herodian (1. iii. p. 115.) speaks in general of the cruelties of Severus.

Aurelius Victor.

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

v.

197

new sdt do noizibob Isuf e T 34 The true interest of an absolute monarch ge- c H A P. nerally coincides with that of his people. Their numbers, their wealth, their order, and their security, are the best and only foun

T

The wis

real greatness; and only foundations of his dom and

his govern

were he totally devoid of justice of virtue, prudence might supply its place, and ment. would dictate the same rule of conduct. Severus considered the Roman empire as his property, and had no sooner secured the possession, than he bestowed his care on the cultivation and improvement of so valuable an acquisition. Salutary laws, executed with inflexible firmness, soon corrected most of the abuses with which, since the death of Marcus, every part of the government had been infected. In the administration of justice, the judgments of the emperor were characterized by attention, discernment, and im"partiality; and whenever he deviated from the strict line of equity, it was generally in favour of the poor and oppressed; not so much indeed from any sense of humanity, as from the natural propensity of a despot, to humble the pride of greatness, and to sink all his subjects to the same common level of absolute dépendence. His expensive taste for building magnificent shews, and above all a constant and liberal distribution of corn and provisions, were the surest means of captivating the affection of the Roman people *.

* Dion, 1. Ixxvi. p. 1272. Hist. August. p. 67. Severus celebrated the secular games with extraordinary magnificence, and he left in the public granaries a provision of corn for seven years, at the rate of 75,000 modii, or about 2500 quarters per

day.