moTement of the Koman empire by such proximate measurements of the reigns and the deaths of the em- perors as are within our reach. For this purpose, the whole series of emperors, from Caesar to Augustulus, may be conveniently divided into three groups: the first group extending from b. o. 46 to a. d. 180, and including a period of 226 years; the second extend- ing from A. D. 180 to A. d. 285, and embracing 105 years; the third extending from a. d. 285 to a. d. 476, and covering a period of 191 years. This divi- sion is not made at random. The first group closes with Marcus Antoninus, and abuts upon Commodus, with whom Gibbon considers the decline of the em- pire to begin; the second group closes with N'ume- rian and Carinus, and abuts upon Diocletian, with whom an important change in the empire took place; and the third group, closing with Augustulus, the last pretense of a Roman emperor in the "West, abuts upon the barbaric rule of Odoacer the Goth.
1. In the first group we count Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, CaKgula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Yi- telhus, Yespasian, Titus, Domitian, ]!^erva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Antoninus Marcus — seventeen in all. The average reign of these em- perors was thirteen years three months and fifteen days. Seven of them — Csesar, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Galba, Yitellius, and Domitian — were mur- dered; and two of them — ^Nero and Otho — resorted to self-destruction in order to escape the vengeance of 348 GRANDEUR AND DECADENCE [baker.
their enemies. Eeducing the proportion to the scale of one hundred, and neglecting the surplus fraction, the nine who thus came to a violent death amount to fifty-two per cent of the whole growp.
2. In the second group we have Commodus, Per- tinax, Julianus Didius, Septimius Severus, Oaracalla and Geta, Macrinus, Heliogabalus, Alexander Severus, Maximin, the two Gordians, Maximus and Balbinus, the third Gordian, Philip, Decius, Gallus, ^milianus. Valerian, Gallienus, Claudius, Quintillius, Aurelian, Tacitus, Florianus, Probus, Cams, Numerian, and Carinus — thirty in the aggregate. Supposing all these succeeded each other consecutively — as in the first group — their average reign would be but three yea/rs and six Tnonths, which is little more than one fourth of the preceding average. But, inasmuch as some of the reigns in this group were wholly or partly concurrent with each other, the true average reign would be somewhat longer. The determination of the ratio of deaths by assassination and forced suicide admits of more precision. Of these thirty emperors, two were victims of compulsory suicide — the elder Gordian and QuintiUius; twenty were mur- dered— Commodus, Pertinax, Julianus Didius, Geta, Caracalla, Macrinus, Heliogabalus, Alexander Severus, Maximin, Maximus and Balbinus, the third Gordian, Philip, Gallus, ^milianus, Gallienus, Aurelian, Flori- anus, Probus, and Carinus; and thus the proportion of deaths by violence in our second' group rises to NOTE.] OF THE ROMANS. 349 seventy-three per cent of the whole number. Nor does even this enormous ratio of assassination give an ade- quate idea of the murderous propensity of our sec- ond period. We have seen that in the reign of Gal- lienus no less than nineteen pretenders assumed the imperial purple, all of whom are excluded from our second group of emperors, and not one of whom died a natural death."
3. During our third period we meet with the curious fact that, although the confusion and disin- tegration of the Eoman world increased, there was yet some falKng off in the rate of assassination. Early in this period — ^following the reigns of Dio- cletian and Maximian — arose a succession of civil wars which were perhaps as destructive as those which preceded and attended the fall of the republic. At one time no less than six emperors reigned to- gether." In the course of this period, too, we first encounter the distinction of the Eastern and the Western empire — a distinction which, whilst it still further complicates the affairs of the Eomans, seems to me to signify, at least for a considerable time, rather a division of administration than the conscious resolution of the empire into two independent sover- eignties. With such drawbacks it is extremely diffi- cult to mate an arrangement of our third group of emperors which will approach closely to a true suc- 350 GRANDEUR AND DECADENCE [baker.
cessional order. Their names, omitting the names of those whose operations were wholly limited to the East, are as follows; Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, Constantius, Severas, Maxentius, Licinius, Maximin, Oonstantine, Constantine II, Oonstantins II, Constans, Magnentius, Vetrano, Decentius, Julian, Jovian, Val- entinian I, Gratian, Theodosius the Great, Yalentinian II, Maximus, Eugenius, Honorius, John, Yalentinian III, Petronius Maximus, Avitus, Majorian, Libins Severus, Anthemius, Olybrius, Glycerins, Julius He- pos, and Augustulus — thirty-five in all. Supposing, as above, that these emperors reigned successively, their average reign wotdd be Jive years jvoe months and fourteen days, an increase of nearly two years upon our next preceding average; but, inasmuch as a considerable number of these reigns overlapped each other, our present average is still sensibly too short. Here again, however, we can determine the ratio of deaths by violence with more accuracy. Of the thirty-five emperors who make up this group, eleven were certainly murdered — Licinius, Constans, Gratian, Yalentinian II, Maximus, Eugenius, John, Yalentinian III, Petronius Maximus, Anthemius, and Julius Nepos; three were jardbdbly murdered — Avi- tus, Majorian, and Libius Severus; and four perished by compulsory suicide — ^Maximian, Severus, Magnenti- us, and Decentius. Thus the entire number of deaths which are to be attributed to violence is eighteen, which amounts to fifty -one per cent of the whole group.
NOTE.] OF THE ROMANS. 351 We see, therefore, that the observation which Montesquieu makes in the succeeding chapter — to the effect that, for the causes there stated, the emperors after Diocletian began to rest more secure of their lives — is justified by our figures, although with feeble emphasis indeed. From fifty-two per cent in the first group, the work of murder ascends to seventy-three in the second, and descends no lower than fifty-one in the third.
4. Putting our three periods together, we find that, during the five hundred and twenty-two years which extend from Caesar to Augustulus — both in- clusive— ^there were eighty-two emperors, the average of whose reigns, all taken as consecutive, would be six years four months and eleven days — which average, however, for the reason already given, must be in- creased to some extent.
It is instructive to compare this general result with some like averages taken from modem mon- archies. Adopting the statement of Montesquieu, (note 26 of the preceding chapter), that for twelve hundred years France had only sixty-three kings, we see that the average reign of her monarchs in the course of this long period was nineteen years and seventeen days.. During the seven hundred and sev- enty-one years which intervened between the conquest of "William the Conqueror and the accession of Yic- toria, England had but thirty-five reigns — counting the Commonwealth as one — of which the average 352 GRA^IDEUE AND DECADENCE [bakeb.
duration was twenty-two years and ten days. Thus we see that the mean length of the Koman reigus was only about one third as great as those of Eng- land and France — a discrepance which indicates the immense organic superiority of these modern states, and which stands closely related to the indeterminate character of the Eoman monarchy, vacillating as it did between the elective, the hereditary, and the patri- monial types."
5. Of the eighty-two emperors whom I have enu- merated, the deaths of forty-nine are referable to as- sassination or compulsory suicide, a proportion which rises to a large fraction oyqt fifty-nine per cent of the whole number. This was probably the most fatal lot- tery from which royal prizes were ever drawn, and, in reckoning np the bloody roll, one experiences an instinctive sense of pity for the imperial victims. The words of De Quincey are completely apposite: " The crown of the Oassars was, therefore, a crown of thorns; and it must be admitted that never in this world have rank and power been purchased at so awful a cost in tranquillity and peace of mind.""
In the light of such a series of facts, consequent upon a monarchy resting upon no determinate idea, but abandoned to the irregular impulses of ambition and crime, we can fully realize, with Gibbon, " The Apparent Eidicule and Solid Advantages of HeredisoTE.] OF THE ROMANS. 353 tary Succession." " All experience lias shown, as rea- son miglit anticipate, tliat societies which are so unde- veloped as to require a monarchial form of govern- ment are likewise so deficient in that high social ability which is implied in the orderly election of the sovereign, that- their best security against internal disorder must be sought in the simple principle of suc- cession by inheritance — a principle which is so absurd when applied to the transmission of government that it gives rise to an irrepressible feehng of contempt — and which is yet so indispensable to order in mo- narchial states that the philosopher becomes recon- ciled to it as a ridiculous necessity. The extent of the Roman empire was so great, and its composition so heterogeneous and unstable, that the sentiment which underlies this principle — so useful in immature societies — could never acquire permanent ascendency; and hence, in great part, that destructive violence which marked the succession of the emperors.
The division which I have made of the Eoman emperors into three groups, together with the prox- imate average of the reigns, and the ratio of assas- sination, for each of these groups respectively, and for all conjointly, may be taken as a good illustration of the facility and brevity with which the general spirit of extensive and complicated social phenomena may sometimes be presented by means of exact sta- tistical measurements. With a view to fulfilling the " Vol. i, Contents, p. xlii.
354 GRANDEUR AND DECADENCE ■ [bakeb, conditions of scrupulous fairness, I will add, in con- clusion of the subject, that the conception of subject- ing the emperors to this treatment was suggested by some similar, but detached and incomplete, observa- tions of De Quincey."
" See The Cwsara, Boston, 1854, pp. 184, 241.
MONTESQUIEU.] OF THE ROMANS. 355 CHAPTEE XVII.
CHAM'GE m THE GOVEEITMENT OF THE EMPIEE.
In order to guard against the ever-recurring treach- ery of the soldiers, the emperors associated persons with themselves in whom they had confidence; and Diocletian, under pretext of the magnitude of the public affairs, established the rule that there should constantly be two Emperors and two Caesars. He supposed that the four principal armies, beiug under the control of those who had part in the empire, would act as checks upon each other; that the other armies, not being strong enough to hazard the enter- prise of making their chiefs emperors, would grad- ually lose the habit of election; and, finally, the dignity of the Caesars being always subordinate, he imagined that the powers of the state, thus divided between four, for the safety of the government, would yet remain wholly in the hands of two.
But that which still more effectively restrained the license of the military was the circumstance that, public and private wealth having diminished, the emperors were no longer able to bestow such 356 GRANDEUK AND DECADENCE [MONTESQtiiEir.
considerable donatives tipon the soldiers; so that the profit ceased to be proportioned to the dangers of a new election. And, in addition to this, tlie praeto- rian prefects, whose powers and functions were about the same as those of the grand viziers of the present day — and who, in order to take their places, procured the assassination of the emperors at will — were much humbled by Constantino, who only left them their civil functions, and increased their number to four instead of two.
The lives of the emperors began, therefore, to be more secure; they could die in their beds; and this seemed in some small degree to soften their manners. They no longer shed blood with so much ferocity. But, as it was necessary that their immense power should overflow in some direction, we see a species of tyranny which was different, but more inexorable. It was no longer the massacre, but the iniquitous judgment — forms of judicial procedure, which only seemed to postpone death in order to dishonor life. The court was itself governed, and in its turn gov- erned the empire, with more artifice, cunning, and se- crecy. Instead of that boldness in the conception of bad deeds, and that impetuosity in their execution, we witness the reign of vices which are peculiar to feeble minds, and of crimes which have been re- flected upon.
A new sort of corruption came in. The first emperors loved pleasure; these sunk into effeminacy.
CHAP, xvn.] OF THE ROMANS. 357 They showed themselves less to the military; they were more indolent, more influenced by their domes- tics, more attached to the palace, and more separated from the empire.
As the court became more detached from affairs, its poison increased. Nothing was said directly; everything was insinuated; all great reputations were attacked; and the ministers of state and the officers of the army were constantly at the mercy of that sort of men who are incapable of serving their coun- try themselves, and who will not allow others to dp so with honor."
That sociableness of the first emperors — which alone could afford them the means of knowing their affairs — had entirely disappeared. The emperor no ■ longer knew anything except on the report of a few confidants, who — always acting in concert, often even when they seemed to be of contrary opinions — per- formed no more than the office of a single adviser.
The sojourn of many of the emperors in Asia, and their constant emulation of the kings of Persia, caused them to desire, like their eastern rivals, to be adored; and Diocletian, or, according to others, Galerius, ordered such adoration by an imperial edict.
Asiatic ostentation and pomp being estabUshed, the eyes of men became accustomed to the change at ' See what the historians toll us of the court of Oonstantine, of Ta- lens, etc.
358 GRANDEUR AND DECADENCE [montesquieu.
once; and when Julian would demean himself with simplicity and modesty, thuB recalling the memory of the ancient manners, he was reproached with being forgetful of the dignity of his station.
Although after the time of Marcus Aurelius there may have been several emperors reigning at once, there had been but one empire; and, the authority of all being recognized in the provinces, there was a single power, exercised by several. Bnt Galerius and Constantius Chlorus, not being able to agree, actually divided the empire; ' and, this example being after- wards followed by Constantine — who adopted the plan of Galerius and not that of Diocletian — a cus- tom was introduced which was less a change than a revolution.'
Furthermore, Constantine's desire to found a new city, and the vanity which prompted him to endow it with his name, determined him to carry the seat of empire to the East.
Although the circumference of Rome was not nearly so great as it is at the present time, the sub- urbs of the city were prodigiously extended.*' Italy, covered over with pleasant places, was, properly speak- ing, only the garden of Home. The laborers were in ' See Orosiua, Book VII; and Aurelius Victor.
^ In relation to the division of the empire, see my Note at the end of this chapter. — Tbanslatou.
" Mxspatiantia tecia mulias addidere urbes, says Pliny. (Natural His- tory, Book III.)
' Respecting the extent and population of ancient Rome, see my Note at the end of thi^ chapter. — Translator.
CHAP. XVII.] OF THE ROMANS. 359 .Sicily, Africa, and Egypt,' the gardeners in Italy; and the lands were almost wholly cultivated by the slaves of Koman citizens. But, when the seat of empire came to be established in the East, almost the entire population of Eome proceeded thither, the principal citizens being accompanied by their slaves — that is to say, by nearly aU the people; and thus Italy was deprived of its inhabitants.
In order that the new city might in no respect fall short of the old one, Constantine desired that grain should be distributed therein also; and he or- dered that the grain of Egypt should be sent to Constantinople, and that of Africa to Home — a pro- vision which does not appear to me to have been a very sensible one.
In the time of the republic, the Roman people — sovereign of all others — should naturally have re- ceived some part of the tributes; and, accordingly, the senate first sold them grain at a low price, and after- wards distributed it among them free of charge. "When the government had become monarchical, this custom — although contrary to the principles of the monarchy — ^was continued. The abuse was left stand- ing because of the inconveniences which would have attended its removal. But Constantine, in founding a new city, transferred it thither without good reason.
' Formerly, says Tacitus, grain was carried from Italy to the remote provinces, and Italy is not yet sterile; but we prefer to cultivate Africa and Egypt, and choose rather to expose the lives of the Roman people to chance. {Annales, lib. xii, ch. xliii.)
3 go GRANDEUR AND DECADENCE [montesquieu.
"When Augustus had conquered Egypt, he trans- ported the wealth of the Ptolemies to Kome. This led to a revolution in the latter city, wMcli was nearly the same as that which was afterwards produced in Europe by the discovery of the Indies, and which certain systems have given rise to in our own day.' Keal estate doubled in price at Rome;' and, as this city continued to draw to itself the wealth of Alex- andria, which received in its turn the wealth of Africa and the East, gold and silver became very common in Europe; and this placed the nations of the empire in a condition to pay very considerable imposts in specie.
But, when the empire came to be divided, this wealth flowed into Constantinople. We know, besides, that the mines of England were not yet opened;' that there were very few mines in Italy and in the Gauls; " and that, after the Carthaginians, the miaes of Spain were but little worked, or at least that they ' Doubtless allusion is here made to the financial scheme of John Law, which was adopted by the Regent of France during the minority of Louis XV, and at a time when Montesquieu was a young man, 1716. — Tkanslator.
' Suetonius, in Augiishts; Oeosius, lib. vi. Rome had often experi- enced such revolutions. I have said that the wealth of Maoedon, which was transferred to the conquering city, caused the cessation of all taxes. (Cicero's Offices, Book IL) ' Tacitus, De Moribus Germanorum, says so expressly. ^We know, moreover, nearly the epoch of the opening of most of the mines of Ger- many. See Thomas Sesreiberus, on the origin of the Hartz mines. It is believed that those of Saxony are less ancient.
" See Pliny, Book XSXVII, art. 11.
CHAP, xvn.] OF THE ROMANS. 361 were no longer so rich as formerly." Italy, possess- ing nothing but abandoned gardens, could not, by any means, draw to herself the money of the East. Meanwhile the "West, in order to obtain the merchan- dise of the East, sent thither its own money in ex- change. Gold and silver, therefore, became extremely scarce in Europe. But the emperors continued to exact the same tributes; and this ruined all.
When the government of a country has taken a form wliich has continued for a long time, and when things have assumed a certain adjustment, it is nearly always prudent to leave them as they are; for the causes, often complicated and unknown, which have led to the continued existence of such a state, are a guarantee that it will still maintain itself; but, when the whole system is changed, only such abuses can be remedied as present themselves in theory, whilst those which experience only can discover, are left un- provided for.
Thus, although the empire was too large, its division ruined it; for all the parts of this vast body — long united — had, so to say, adjusted them- selves to the whole, and become mutually dependent upon each other.
After having weakened the capital, Constantine struck a blow upon the frontiers." He withdrew the " Diodorus says tlie Carthaginians knew very well the art of profiting by these mines, and the Romans, the art of preventing others from doing so. '^ In what is here said of Constantine, we do not contradict the eccle- 16 362 GRANDEUR AND DECADENCE [montesquieu.
legions -whicli had been stationed upon the shores of the great rivers, and distributed them in the prov- inces— a measure which involved two evils: the bar- rier was removed which kept back the barbarous na- tions; and the soldiers," addicted to the theatre and the circus, became effeminate."
When Julian was sent into the Gauls by Constan- tine, he found that fifty cities along the Rhine had been captured by the barbarians;" that the provinces had been sacked; and that there was nothing more than the shadow of a Eoman army, which the very name of an enemy was sufficient to put to flight.
By his wisdom, his constancy, his economy, his conduct, his valor, and an uninterrupted succession of heroic actions, Julian was enabled to drive back the barbarians; " and the terror of his name held them in check while he lived."
The brevity of the imperial reigns, the divers siastical writers, who declare that they only intend to speak of such ac- tions of this emperor as relate to piety, and not of those which relate to the government of the state. (Ecsebids, Ufe of Constaiitine, Book I, oh. ix; Socrates, Book I, ch. i.)
" Zosimus, Book VIII.
'* After the establishment of Christianity, the gladiatorial combats became rare. Constantino prohibited them, and they were entirely abol- ished under Honorius, as appears from Theodoret and Otho de Frisingua. Of their ancient spectacles, the Romans only retained those which were calculated to depress courage and stimulate voluptuousness.
'* Ammiannus Marcelunus, lib. xvi, xvii, xviii.
" Idmn.
" See the magnificent eulogy of Ammiannus Marcellinus on this emperor, lib. xxv; see also the fragments of the History of John of Antioch.
CHAP. xTii.] OF THE EOMANS. 363 political parties, tlie different religions, and the par- ticular sects into wMch these religions were divided, have caused the characters of the emperors to come down to us under forms extremely equivocal. I will only give two examples of this. Alexander, who is so cowardly in Herodian, appears full of courage in Lampridius. Gratian, who is so highly praised by the orthodox, is compared to Nero by Philostorgius.
Valentinian, more than any other, felt the neces- sity of the ancient plan. He employed his whole life in fortifying the banks of the Ehine — in throwing up levees, building castles, and providing for the estab- lisljment and subsistence of troops along the course of that river. But an event took place which deter- mined Valens, his brother, to open the Danube; and this was followed by frightful consequences.
In the country which 'hes between the Palus Moeotis," the Caucasian Mountains, and the Caspian Sea, there were many peoples, belonging mostly to the nation of the Huns or to that of the Alans. Their lands were extremely fertile; they loved war and rapine; they were almost always on horseback, or mounted upon their wagons, wandering over the country in which they were enclosed. They carried their ravages as far as the frontiers of Persia and Armenia; but the Caspian gates were easily de- fended, and it was difficult for them to penetrate into Persia by any other route. As they did not " The modern Sea of Azof. — Translator.
364 GRANDEUR AND DECADENCE [montesquieu.
imagine tliat it was possible to cross the Palus Moeo- tis," they knew nothing of the Komans; and, whilst other barbarians ravaged the empire, they remained within the limits which their ignorance had pre- scribed to them.
Some have said that the mud brought down by the Tanais " had formed a species of crust upon the Cimmerian Bosporus, over which they passed; " oth- ers, that two young Scythians, pursuing a hind which crossed this arm of the sea, followed her to the opposite shore."" They were astonished at find- ing an unknown world; and, returning to their companions, they informed them of the new lands, and — if I may use the expression — of the Indies which they had discovered." " Innumerable swarms of Huns passed over at once; and, meeting the Goths first, they drove them before them. It seemed as if these nations had precipitated themselves one upon another, and that Asia, in order to fall upon Europe, had ac- quired a new weight.
" Prooopius, Miscellaneous History.
'^ The modern Don. — Translator.
'^ ZosiMus, lib. iv.
^' JoBNANDES, De Rebus geticis; Miscellaneous History of Procopius.
^' See Sozomen, lib. vi.
" Compare Gibbon, eh. xxvi, note 56. lie properly distrusts the bridge of mud and the adventure of the hunters, but treats in too slight- ing a manner the just conception of Montesquieu, that the Huns, when they first turned their faces toward Europe, experienced a feeling similar to that which Europe itself afterward felt upon the discovery of the In- dies.— Translator.
CHAP, xvn.l OF THE ROMANS. 365 The frightened Goths presented themselves upon the bants of the Danube, and, with joined hands, supplicated the privilege of a retreat. The flatter- ers of Yalens seized upon the occasion, and repre- sented it to him as the happy conquest of a new people, who were come to defend and to enrich the empire."
Valens ordered that they should pass without arms; but, influenced by money, his officers allowed them to retain as many of their arms as they pleased." He directed that a distribution of lands should be made to the new-comers; but, unlike the Huns, the Goths did not cultivate their lands;" and *s Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xxix.
^^ Of the officers who received these orders one conceived an infamous love; another was captivated by the beauty of a barbaric woman; and others still were corrupted by presents, such as linen garments and fringed carpets; men had no other care but to fill their houses with slaves, and to cover their farms with cattle. {History of Dixipus.) (a) (a) It must be understood, as Gibbon says, that the articles of manu- facture here mentioned were obtained by the Goths from the Roman provinces. See Decl. and Fall, ch. xxvi, note 68. — Tkansiatoe.
^^ See the Gothic History of Priscm, in which this difference is well established.
It may be asked, perhaps, how nations that did not cultivate lands became so powerful, whilst those of America are so weak. The reason ia that pastoral nations are provided with a means of subsistence which is much more certain than that of hunters.
It appears from Ammianus Marcellinus that the Huns, while they yet remained in their original seats, did not cultivate their lands. They lived upon their flocks, in a country abounding in pasturage, and watered by many rivers — as yet do the tribes of lesser Tartary, who inhabit a part of the same country. It seems that these people, after their emigration, coming to inhabit countries less adapted to the support of herds, com- menced the cultivation of lands.
366 GKANDEUR AND DECADENCE [montesqtiieu.
even the grain whicli had been promised them was withheld. They were dying of famine, and they were in the midst of a rich country; they had arms in their hands, and they were unjustly treated. They ravaged the whole country from the Danube to the Bosporus; they exterminated Valens and his army, and only recrossed the Danube in order to abandon the frightful solitude which they had made."
^^ See Zosimus, lib. iv; see also Dixipus, in the Excerpt of the Em- bassies of Constantine Porphyrogenitus.
BAKER.] OF THE ROMANS. 367 NOTE BY THE TEANSLATOE.
Gibbon quotes the concluding words of the pre- ceding chapter, and adds: " The president Montes- quieu seems ignorant that the Goths, after the de- feat of Yalehs, never abandoned the Eoman territory...The error is inexcusable, since it disguises the principal and immediate cause of the fall of the Western empire of Eome." It seems true that the Yisigoihs — who crossed the Danube in the manner stated in the text — did not return. They finally en- tered into a treaty with Theodosius the Great, suc- cessor of Yalens, were settled in Thrace, and be- came subjects of the emperors in a sense strikingly similar to that in which our Indian tribes are sub- ject to.the sovereign authority of the United States, whilst retaining their tribal character and internal polity. The case was different with the Ostrogoths. Their numerous hordes crossed the unguarded Dan- ube without permission of the Eomans, not long after the passage of the Yisigoths, joined the latter m their ravages, assisted them in the destruction of Valens and his army, and then made a "voluntary 368 GRANDEUK AND DECADENCE [bakeb.