Octavius made no change in the established forms of government 'In 27 a.c the senate conferred on him for life the government of all those provinces whose defense• called for the employment of the military forces of the em pire, together with the supreme command of the army and the title of Augustus. Successively Augustus united in himself the great offices of the state, the consulate, the tribunate, the head ship of the sacred colleges. The senate was left with the splendid shadow of power, in reality the mere instrument of the emperor's will. The empire, and especially the provinces, found peace after a half century of civil strife and acquiesced in the rule of an autocrat whose sway was far more 'kindly than the selfish ride of an aristocratic oligarchy. Under Augustui the economic development of the empire made rapid progress; its parts were brought mot* closely together by increased means o comma. Mention; with peace carne also rapid intellec4 tual growth, and Latin literature had its golden age t•the reign of Augustus. The boundaries of the empire were extended to the north by the campaigns of the emperor's stepsons Ti berius and Dntaus, who carried their victorious arms to the Danube and beyond the Rhine. The last years of Augustus' reign were darkened by domestic unhappiness and the great disaster of the Teutoburg Forest where Varro's legions were annihilated by the Cheruscan chief Armin. ins, Augustus was succeeded in the principate by his stepson Tiberius (14-37 At.e.) who ruled ably in the beginning but hardened with time into a gloomy despot whose suspicions fell heavily on all those members of the nobility who might in any way become rivals for power. Living in retirement on the island of Capra he left the government to powerful ministers, of whom Sejanus (q.v.) is the most celebrated. Caius Caligula (37-41), a madman and a was murdered by his guards and was followed by Claudius (41-54), a good-natured dotard, who was completely under the control of his in famous wives, Messalina and, after her, Agrip pina. By the latter he was poisoned and Agrip pina's son, Nero (54.68), succeeded to the throne. After giving the fairest promise for some years, the young emperor, in spite of such advisers as Seneca and Burros, entered upon a course of infamous excesses and mad escapades which disgusted alike the senate and the army and brought about a revolt before which Nero fled. Unable to escape, he killed himself, the last of the Julian house of emperors.
Galba, Otho and ViteIlins rulers all proclaimed by their respective armies, fell within the space of two years and were sue oeeded by Flavin Vespasianus (69-79), com mander of the legions rn the- east. Vespasian introduced economy into the government, brought to an end the Jewish War by the storming of Jerusalem (70) and began the con -quest of Britain. The bnef reign of his son Titus (79-81) was marked by the eruption of Vesuvius which overwhelmed the cities of Her culaneum and Pompeii (24 Aug. 79). The reign of • Domitian (81-96), a younger brother of Titus, was a period of oppression and in tellectual stagnation. Cruel, despotic, half-mad Donritian resembled the last rulers of the Julian house rather than the great emperors whom he succeeded and by whom be was followed. 'Nerve (96-98) was succeeded by M. Ulpius •Trajanus (98-117), under whom the empire its greatest extent. His campaigns north of the Danube resulted in the erection of the province of Dacia; Armenia and Mespo tarria were acquired and the Parthians were driven back from the Euphrates. Hadrian (117-138) had none of the warlike instincts of his predecessor, but he devoted himself to the task of organizing the affairs of the empire, and better to acquaint himself with the condi tion of the various provinces he made long and repeated journeys embracing every part of the Roman dominions. Hadrian was succeeded by
the philosopher emperors Antonins Pius (138 161) and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (161-180), in whom were exhibited the highest and fullest development of the pagan character, and though the reign of the latter was disturbed by wars against the Parthians and the peoples of the Danube, it was of this age of the Antonines that an eminent historian speaks as the happiest era in the entire course of European history, if the welfare of the great mass of the population be considered.
With the •death of Marcus Aurelius the de cline of the empire begins. On the north the Germanic peoples were threatening the Roman frontier and on the east the new Persian king dom arose as a formidable adversary. Corn modus (180-192) neglected the affairs of the empire to win the laurels of a gladiator and was aturdered by some of his followers. The Pre torian guard sort agars as the maker of emperors. It deposed Pertinax, who had been chosen by the senate and sold the throne at auction to the Senator Didins Julianne. The armies of the provinces arose and three claim ants for the throne appeared. The successful candidate Septintius Severus (193-211), success ful by force of arms, ruled well and sought to repress the power of the Pnetorions. The reign of his son c,aracalla (211-217), one of the most vicious tyrants in Roman imperial history, is noteworthy for the extension of the rights of Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire. Caracaft was assassinated by the Prietorian prefect Macrinus, who was speedily succeeded by Heliogabolus (218-222), a priest of the sun of Emesa. Heliogabolus brought with him to Rome the orgiastic rites of the Orient and became the chiect of national hatred and contempt. He fell at the hands of the Pre torians, who chose as his successor Alexander Severus (222-235) who ruled with fair ability but perished in a mutiny of the German legions. There followed a period of confusion in which the decline of the empire was rapidly acceler ated. Maximinns (235-238), a Thracian by birth and a soldier of fortune, crushed his rivals, the two Gordiani, but fell in battle against the forces of the senate. Balbinns and chosen by the senate, were slain by the Praetorians, and Gordianus III ruled from 238 to 244. He was followed by Philip the Arab (244-249), Decits (249-251), Gallus (251 Valerianus (254-260) and his Gallienus (254-268). Valerian was defeated by the Persians and taken prisoner and on the en suing anarchy usurpers arose in every province, known collectively as the Thirty Tyrants. The border lands of the empire suffered from the invasions of the Germanic peles and the Per sians, and a pestilence Which raged for 15 years (251-265) carried off one-half of the in habitants of the empire. The fortunes of Rome rose somewhat under the following emperors: Claudius (268-270), Aurelian (270-275) who drove the Goths beyond the Danube and over threw the Palmyran kingdom of Zenobia, Tact tus (275-276), and Probus ,(276-282) who held the Rhine against the Germanic tribes. Carus (282-283) perished in a campaign against the Persians and was succeeded by Numerianns (283-284) who died in the following year. The army thereupon proclaimed as emperor Vale tins Diocletianus, who after the death of Carinus (283-285) became sole master of the empire.