Ancient States and Empires Part 35

283.

(M1122) Carinus and Numerian succeeded to the vacant throne. The former, at Rome, disgraced his trust by indolence and shameless vices; while the latter, in the camp, was unfit, though virtuous, to control the turbulent soldiers, and was found murdered in his bed the very day that Carinus celebrated the games with unusual magnificence.

(M1123) The army raised C. Valerius Diocletia.n.u.s to the vacant dignity, and his first act was to execute the murderer of Numerian. His next was to encounter Carinus in battle, who was slain, A.D. 285, and Diocletian-perhaps the greatest emperor after Augustus-reigned alone.

Diocletian is, however, rendered infamous in ecclesiastical history, as the most bitter of all the persecutors of the Christians, now a large and growing body; but he was a man of the most distinguished abilities, though of obscure birth, in a little Dalmatian town. He commenced his ill.u.s.trious reign at the age of thirty-nine, and reigned twenty years,-more as a statesman than warrior,-politic, judicious, indefatigable in business, and steady in his purposes.

(M1124) This emperor inaugurated a new era, and a new policy of government. The cares of State in a disordered age, when the empire was threatened on every side by hostile barbarians, and disgraced by insurrections and tumults, induced Diocletian to a.s.sociate with himself three colleagues, who had won fame in the wars of Aurelian and Carus.

Maximian, Galerius, and Constantine-one of whom had the dignity of Augustus, and two that of Caesar.

Maximian, a.s.sociated with Diocletian, with the rank of Augustus, had been also an Illyrian peasant, and was a.s.signed to the government of the western provinces, while Diocletian retained that of the eastern. Maximum established the seat of his government at Milan, giving a death-blow to the Senate, which, though still mentioned honorably by name, was henceforth severed from the imperial court. The empire had been ruled by soldiers ever since pressing dangers had made it apparent that only men of martial virtues could preserve it from the barbarians. But now the most undisguised _military_ rule, uninfluenced by old const.i.tutional form, was the only recognized authority, and the warlike emperors, bred in the camp, had a disdain of the ancient capital, as well as great repugnance to the enervated praetorian soldiers, who made and unmade emperors, whose privileges were abolished forever. Milan was selected for the seat of imperial government, from its proximity to the frontier, perpetually menaced by the barbarians; and this city, before a mere military post, now a.s.sumed the splendor of an imperial city, and was defended by a double wall.

(M1125) Diocletian made choice, at first, of Nicomedia, the old capital of the Bithynian kings, as the seat of his Eastern government, equally distant from the Danube and the Euphrates. He a.s.sumed the manner and state of an Oriental monarch. He wore a diadem set with pearls, and a robe of silk and gold instead of the simple toga with its purple stripe. His shoes were studded with precious stones, and his court was marked by Oriental ceremonials. His person was difficult of access, and the avenues to his palace were guarded by various cla.s.ses of officers. No one could approach him without falling prostrate in adoration, and he was addressed as "My lord the emperor." But he did not live in Oriental seclusion, and was perpetually called away by pressing dangers.

(M1126) The Caesars Galerius and Constantius were sent to govern the provinces on the frontiers; the former, from his capital, Sirmium, in Illyric.u.m, watched the whole frontier of the Danube; the latter spent his time in Britain. Galerius was adopted by Diocletian, and received his daughter Valeria in marriage; while Constantius was adopted by Maximian, and married his daughter Theodora.

The division of the empire under these four princes nearly corresponded with the prefectures which Constantine subsequently established, and which were deemed necessary to preserve the empire from dissolution-a dissolution inevitable, had it not been for the great emperors whom the necessities of the empire had raised up, but whose ruin was only for a time averted. Not even able generals and good emperors could save the corrupted empire. It was doomed. Vice had prepared the way for violence.

The four emperors, who now labored to prevent a catastrophe, were engaged in perpetual conflicts, and through their united efforts peace was restored throughout the empire, and the last triumph that Rome ever saw was celebrated by them.

(M1127) Only one more enemy, to the eye of Diocletian, remained to be subdued, and this was Christianity. But this enemy was unconquerable.

Silently, surely, without pomp, and without art, the new religion had made its way, against all opposition, prejudice, and hatred, from Jews and pagans alike, and was now a power in the empire. The followers of the hated sect were, however, from the humble cla.s.ses, and but few great men had arisen among them, and even these were unimportant to the view of philosophers and rulers. The believers formed an esoteric circle, and were lofty, stern, and hostile to all the existing inst.i.tutions of society.

They formed an _imperium in imperio_, but did not aim, at this time, to reach political power. They were scattered throughout the great cities of the empire, and were ruled by their bishops and ministers. They did not make war on men, but on their ideas and habits and customs. They avoided all external conflicts, and contended with devils and pa.s.sions. But government distrusted and disliked them, and sought at different times to exterminate them. There had already been nine signal persecutions from the time of Nero, and yet they had constantly increased in numbers and influence. But now a more serious attack was to be made upon them by the emperors, provoked, probably, by the refusal of some Christians to take the military oath, and serve in the armies, on conscientious principles: but interpreted by those in authority as disloyalty in a great national crisis. The mind of the emperor was alienated; and both Galerius and Diocletian resolved that a religion which seemed hostile to the political relations of the empire, should be suppressed. A decree was issued to destroy all the Christian churches, to confiscate their property, to burn the sacred writings, to deprive Christians of their civil rights, and even to doom them to death. The decree which was publicly exhibited in Nicomedia, was torn down by a Christian, who expressed the bitterest detestation of the tyrannical governors. The fires which broke out in the palace were ascribed to the Christians, and the command was finally issued to imprison all the ministers of religion, and punish those who protected them. A persecution which has had no parallel in history, was extended to all parts of the empire. The whole civil power, goaded by the old priests of paganism, was employed in searching out victims, and all cla.s.ses of Christians were virtually tormented and murdered. The earth groaned for ten years under the sad calamity, and there was apparently no hope. But whether scourged, or lacerated, or imprisoned, or burned, the martyrs showed patience, faith, and moral heroism, and invoked death to show its sting, and the grave its victory.

(M1128) The persecution of the Christians-this attempt to suppress religion thought to be hostile to the imperial authority, and not without some plausibility, since many Christians refused to be enrolled in the armies, and suffered death sooner than enlist-was the last great act of Diocletian. Whether wearied with the cares of State, or disgusted with his duties, or ill, or craving rest and repose, he took the extraordinary resolution of abdicating his throne, at the very summit of his power, and at the age of fifty-nine. He influenced Maximian to do the same, and the two Augusti gave place to the two Caesars. The double act of resignation was performed at Nicomedia and Milan, on the same day, May 1, A.D. 305.

Diocletian took a graceful farewell of his soldiers, and withdrew to a retreat near his native city of Salonae, on the coast of the Adriatic. He withdrew to a magnificent palace, which he had built on a square of six hundred feet, in a lovely and fertile spot, in sight of the sea, and the mountains, and luxurious plains. He there devoted himself to the pleasures of agriculture, and planted cabbages with his own hand, and refused all solicitations to resume his power. But his repose was alloyed by the sight of increasing troubles, and the failure of the system he had inaugurated.

If the empire could not be governed by one master, it could not be governed by four, with their different policies and rivalries. He lived but nine years in retirement; but long enough to see his religious policy reversed, by the edict of Milan, which confirmed the Christian religion, and the whole imperial fabric which he had framed reversed by Constantine.

(M1129) Confusion followed his abdication. Civil wars instead of barbaric wasted the empire. The ancient heart of the empire had no longer the presence of an Augustus, and a new part.i.tion virtually took place, by which Italy and Africa became dependencies of the East. Galerius-now Augustus-a.s.sumed the right to nominate the two new Caesars, one of whom was his sister's son, who a.s.sumed the name of Galerius Valerius Maximinus, to whom were a.s.signed Syria and Egypt, and the other was his faithful servant, Severus, who was placed over Italy and Africa. According to the forms of the const.i.tution, he was subordinate to Constantius, but he was devoted to Galerius. The emperor Constantius, then in Boulogne, was dying, and his son, Constantine, was at the court of Galerius. Though summoned to the bedside of his father, Galerius sought to retain him, but Constantine abruptly left Nicomedia, evaded Severus, traversed Europe, and reached his father, who was just setting out for Britain, to repel an invasion of the Caledonians. He reached York only to die, A.D. 306, and with his last breath transmitted his empire to his son, and commended him to the soldiers. Galerius was transported with rage, but was compelled to submit, and named Constantine Caesar over the western provinces, who was not elevated to the dignity of Augustus till two years later.

The elevation of Severus to supreme power in Italy by Galerius, filled the abdicated emperor Maximian with indignation, and humiliated the Roman people. The praetorians rose against the party of Severus, who retired to Ravenna, and soon after committed suicide. The Senate a.s.sumed their old prerogative, and conferred the purple on Maxentius, the son of Maximilian.

Galerius again a.s.sumed the power of nominating an Augustus, and bestowed the purple, made vacant by the death of Severus, on an old comrade, Licinius, originally a Dacian peasant.

(M1130) Thus, there were six emperors at a time; Constantine, in Britain; Maximian, who resumed the purple; Maxentius, his son; Licinius Galerius, in the East; and Maximin, his nephew. Maximian crossed the Alps in person, won over Constantine to his party, and gave him his daughter, Fausta, in marriage, and conferred upon him the rank of Augustus; so, in the West, Maxentius and Constantine affected to be subordinate to Maximian; while, in the East, Licinius and Maximin obeyed the orders of their benefactor, Galerius. The sovereigns of the East and West were hostile to each other, but their mutual fears produced an apparent tranquillity, and a feigned reconciliation.

(M1131) The first actual warfare, however, broke out between Maximian and his son. Maxentius insisted on the renewed abdication of his father, and had the support of the praetorian guards. Driven into exile, he returned to Gaul, and took refuge with his son and daughter, who received him kindly; but in the absence of Constantine, he seized the treasure to bribe his troops, and was holding communication with Maxentius when Constantine returned from the Rhine. The old intriguer had only time to throw himself into Ma.r.s.eilles, where he strangled himself, when the city was hard pressed by Constantine, A.D. 310.

(M1132) In a year after, Galerius died, like Herod Agrippa, a prey to loathsome vermin-morbus pediculosus, and his dominions were divided between Maximin and Licinius, each of whom formed secret alliances with Maxentius and Constantine, between whom was war.

(M1133) The tyranny of Maxentius led his subjects to look to Constantine as a deliverer, who marched to the relief of the Senate and Roman people.

He crossed the Alps with forty thousand men. Maxentius collected a force of one hundred and seventy thousand, to maintain which he had the wealth of Italy, Africa, and Sicily. Constantine first encountered the lieutenants of Maxentius in the plains of Turin, and gained a complete victory, the prize of which was Milan, the new capital of Italy. He was advancing to Rome on the Flaminian way, before Maxentius was aroused to his danger, being absorbed in pleasures. A few miles from Rome was fought the battle of Saxa Rubra, A.D. 312, between the rival emperors, at which Maxentius perished, and Constantine was greeted by the Senate as the first of the three surviving Augusti. The victory of Constantine was commemorated by a triumphal arch, which still remains, and which was only a copy of the arch of Trajan. The ensuing winter was spent in Rome, during which Constantine abolished forever the praetorian guards, which had given so many emperors to the world. In the spring Constantine gave his daughter Constantia in marriage to Licinius, but was soon called away to the Rhine by an irruption of Franks, while Licinius marched against Maximin, and defeated him under the walls of Heracles. Maximin retreated to Nicomedia, and was about to renew the war, when he died at Tarsus, and Licinius became master of the Eastern provinces.

(M1134) There were now but two emperors, one in the East, and the other in the West. Constantine celebrated the restoration of tranquillity by promulgating at Milan an edict in favor of universal religious toleration, and the persecution of the Christians by the pagans was ended forever, in Europe. About this time Constantine himself was converted to the new religion. In his march against Maxentius, it is declared by Eusebius, that he saw at noonday a cross in the heavens, inscribed with the words, "By this conquer." It is also a.s.serted that the vision of the cross was seen by the whole army, and the cross henceforth became the standard of the Christian emperors. It was called the _Labarum_, and is still seen on the coins of Constantine, and was intrusted to a chosen guard of fifty men. It undoubtedly excited enthusiasm in the army, now inclined to accept the new faith, and Constantine himself joined the progressive party, and made Christianity the established religion of the empire. Henceforth the protection of the Christian religion became one of the cherished objects of his soul, and although his life was stained by superst.i.tions and many acts of cruelty and wickedness, Constantine stands out in history as the first Christian emperor. For this chiefly he is famous, and a favorite with ecclesiastical writers. The edict of Milan is an era in the world's progress. But he was also a great sovereign, and a great general.

(M1135) The harmony between so ambitious a man and Licinius was not of long duration. Rival interests and different sympathies soon led to the breaking out of hostilities, and Licinius was defeated in two great battles, and resigned to Constantine all his European possessions, except Thrace. The nine successive years were spent by Licinius in slothful and vicious pleasures, while Constantine devoted his energies to the suppression of barbarians, and the enactment of important laws. He repulsed the Gothic and Sarmatian hordes, who had again crossed the Danube, and pursued them into Dacia; nor did the Goths secure peace until they had furnished forty thousand recruits to the Roman armies. This recruiting of the imperial armies from the barbarians was one of the most melancholy signs of decaying strength, and indicated approaching ruin.

(M1136) In the year 323 a new civil war broke out between Constantine and Licinius. The aged and slothful Eastern emperor roused himself to a grand effort and marshalled an army of one hundred and fifty thousand foot and fifteen thousand horse on the plains of Hadrianople, while his fleet of three hundred and fifty triremes commanded the h.e.l.lespont. Constantine collected an army of one hundred and twenty thousand men at Thessalonica, and advanced to attack his foe, intrenched in a strong position. The battle was decided in favor of Constantine, who slew thirty-four thousand of his enemies, and took the fortified camp of Licinius, who fled to Byzantium, July, A.D. 323.

(M1137) The fleet of Licinius still remained, and with his superior naval force he might have baffled his rival. But fortune, or valor, again decided in favor of the Western emperor, and after a fight of two days the admiral of Licinius retired to Byzantium. The siege of this city was now pressed with valor by Constantine, and Licinius fled with his treasures to Chalcedon, and succeeded in raising another army of fifty thousand men.

These raw levies were, however, powerless against the veterans of Constantine, whom he led in person. The decisive battle was fought at Chrysopolis, and Licinius retired to Nicomedia, but soon after abdicated, and was banished to Thessalonica. There he was not long permitted to remain, being executed by order of Constantine, one of the foul blots on his memory and character.

(M1138) The empire was now reunited under a single man, at the cost of vast treasures and lives. The policy of Diocletian had only inaugurated civil war. There is no empire so vast which can not be more easily governed by one man than by two or four. It may be well for empires to be subdivided, like that of Charlemagne, but it is impossible to prevent civil wars when the power is shared equally by jealous rivals. It was better for the Roman world to be united under Octavius, than divided between him and Antony.

(M1139) On the fall of Byzantium, Constantine was so struck with its natural advantages, that he resolved to make it the capital of the empire.

Placed on the inner of two straits which connect the Euxine and the aegean with the Mediterranean, on the frontiers of both Europe and Asia, it seemed to be the true centre of political power, while its position could be itself rendered impregnable against any external enemy that threatened the Roman world. The wisdom of the choice of Constantine, and his unrivaled sagacity, were proved by the fact, that while Rome was successively taken and sacked by Goths and Vandals, Constantinople remained the capital of the eastern Roman empire for eleven continuous centuries.

(M1140) The reign of Constantine as sole emperor was marked by another event, A.D. 325. which had a great influence on the subsequent condition of the world in a moral and religious point of view, and this was the famous Council of Nicaea, which a.s.sembled to settle points of faith and discipline in the new religion which was now established throughout the empire. It is called the first Ec.u.menical, or General Council, and was attended by three hundred and eighteen bishops, with double the number of presbyters, a.s.sembled from all parts of the Christian world. Here the church and the empire met face to face. In this council the emperor left the cares of State, and the command of armies, to preside over discussions on the doctrine of the Trinity, as expounded by two great rival parties,-one headed by Athanasius, then archdeacon, afterward archbishop of Alexandria-the greatest theologian that had as yet appeared in the church,-and the other by Arius, a simple presbyter of Alexandria, but a man of subtle and commanding intellect. Arius maintained that the Son, the second person of the Trinity, derived his being from the Father within the limits of time, and was secondary to him in power and glory. Athanasius maintained that the Son was co-eternal with the Father, and the same in substance with the Father. This theological question had long been discussed, and the church was divided between the two parties, each of which exhibited extreme acrimony. Constantine leaned to the orthodox side, although his most influential adviser, Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, the historian, inclined to the Arian view. But the emperor was more desirous to secure peace and unity, than the ascendency of any dogma, and the doctrine of Athanasius became the standard of faith, and has since remained the creed of the church.

(M1141) After the settlement of the faith of the church, now becoming the great power of the world, the reign of Constantine was disgraced by a domestic tragedy seldom paralleled in history. His son, Crispus, by a low-born woman, conspicuous for talents and virtues, either inflamed the jealousy of his father, or provoked him by a secret conspiracy. It has never been satisfactorily settled whether he was a rival or a conspirator, but he was accused, tried, and put to death, in the twentieth year of the reign, while Constantine was celebrating at Rome the festival of his _vicennalia_. After this b.l.o.o.d.y tragedy, for which he is generally reproached, he took his final departure from Rome, and four years after, the old capital was degraded to the rank of a secondary city, and Constantinople was dedicated as the new capitol of the empire. From the eastern promontory to the Golden Horn, the extreme length of Constantinople was three Roman miles, and the circ.u.mference measured ten, inclosing an area of two thousand acres, besides the suburbs. The new city was divided into fourteen wards, and was ornamented with palaces, fora, and churches. The church of St. Sophia was built on the site of an old temple, and was in the form of a Greek cross, surmounted by a beautiful and lofty dome. In a century afterward, Constantinople rivaled Rome in magnificence. It had a capitol, a circus, two theatres, eight public baths, fifty-two porticoes, eight aqueducts, four halls, and fourteen churches, and four thousand three hundred and eighty-three large palatial residences.

(M1142) After the building of this new and beautiful city, Constantine devoted himself to the internal regulation of the empire, which he divided into four prefectures, subdivided into thirteen dioceses, each governed by vicars or vice-prefects, who were styled counts and dukes. The provinces were subdivided to the number of one hundred and sixteen. Three of these were governed by proconsuls, thirty-seven by consuls, five by correctors, and seventy-one by presidents, chosen from the legal profession, and called _clarissimi_. The prefecture of the East embraced the Asiatic provinces, together with Egypt, Thrace, and the lower Msia; that of Illyric.u.m contained the countries between the Danube, the aegean, and the Adriatic; that of Italy extended over the Alps to the Danube; and that of the Gauls embraced the western provinces beyond the Rhine and the Alps.

(M1143) The military power was separated from the civil. There were two master-generals, one of infantry, and the other of cavalry, afterward increased to eight, under whom were thirty-five commanders, ten of whom were counts, and twenty dukes. The legions were reduced from six thousand to fifteen hundred men. Their number was one hundred and thirty-two, and the complete force of the empire was six hundred and forty-five thousand, holding five hundred and eighty-three permanent stations.

(M1144) The ministers of the palace, who exercised different functions about the presence of the emperor, were seven in number: the prefect of the bed-chamber; a eunuch, who waited on the emperor; the master of offices-the supreme magistrate of the palace; the quaestor-at the head of the judicial administration, and who composed the orations and edicts of the emperor; the treasurer, and two counts of domestics, who commanded the body-guard.

(M1145) The bishopric nearly corresponded with the civil divisions of the empire, and the bishops had different ranks. We now observe archbishops and metropolitans.

The new divisions complicated the machinery of government, and led to the inst.i.tution of many new offices, which greatly added to the expense of government, for which taxation became more rigorous and oppressive. The old const.i.tution was completely subverted, and the emperor became an Oriental monarch.

(M1146) Constantine was called away from his labors of organization to resist the ambition of Sapor II., when he died, at the age of sixty-four, at his palace near Nicomedia, A.D. 337, after a memorable but tumultuous reign-memorable for the recognition of Christianity as a State religion; tumultuous, from civil wars and contests with barbarians. Constantinople, not Rome, became the future capital of the empire.

CHAPTER XLVI.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE.

After the death of Constantine, the decline was rapid, and new dangers multiplied. Warlike emperors had staved off the barbarians, and done all that man could do to avert ruin. But the seeds of ruin were planted, and must bear their wretched fruit. The seat of empire was removed to a new city, more able, from its position, to withstand the shock which was to come. In the strife between new and hardy races, and the old corrupt population, the issue could not be doubtful. The empire had fulfilled its mission. Christianity was born, protected, and rendered triumphant.

Nothing more was wanted than the conversion of the barbarians to the new faith before desolation should overspread the world-and a State prepared for new ideas, pa.s.sions, and interests.

(M1147) Constantine left three sons and two daughters, by Fausta, the daughter of Maximian,-Constantine, Constantius, Constans, Constantina, and Helena. The imperial dignity was enjoyed by the sons, and the youngest daughter, Helena, married the emperor Julian, grandson of Constantius Chlorus. The three sons of Constantine divided the empire between them.

The oldest, at the age of twenty-one, retained the prefecture of Gaul; Constantius, aged twenty, kept Thrace and the East; while Constans, the youngest, at the age of seventeen, added the Italian prefecture with Greece.

(M1148) The ablest of these princes was Constantius, on whom fell the burden of the Persian war, and which ultimately ended on the defeat of Julian, in Sapor wresting from the emperor all the countries beyond the Euphrates.

Constantine II. was dissatisfied with his share of the empire, and compelled Constans to yield up Africa, but was slain in an expedition beyond the Julian Alps, A.D. 340.

(M1149) Constans held the empire of the West for ten years, during which he carried on war with the Franks, upon the Rhine, and with the Scots and Picts. His vices were so disgraceful that a rebellion took place, under Magnentius, who slew Constans, A.D. 350, and reigned in his stead, the seat of his government being Treves.

(M1150) Constantius II. made war on the usurper, Magnentius, a rough barbarian, and finally defeated him on the banks of the Danube, where fifty-four thousand men perished in battle, soon after which the usurper killed himself.

(M1151) Constantius, by the death of his brother, and overthrow of Magnentius, was now sole master of the empire, and through his permission Athanasius was restored to the arch-bishopric of Alexandria, but was again removed, the emperor being an Arian. This second removal raised a tumult in Alexandria, and he was allowed to return to his see, where he lived in peace until he died, A.D. 372-the great defender of the orthodox creed, which finally was established by councils and the emperors.

(M1152) The emperor Constantius was engaged in successive wars with the barbarians,-with the Persians on the East, the Sarmatians on the Danube, and the Franks and Alemanni, on the Rhine. During these wars, his brother-in-law, Julian, was sent to the West with the t.i.tle of Caesar, where he restored order, and showed signal ability. On the death of Constantius, he was recognized as emperor without opposition, A.D. 361.

(M1153) Julian is generally called the Apostate, since he proclaimed a change in the established religion, but tolerated Christianity. He was a Platonic philosopher-a man of great virtue and ability, whose life was unstained by vices. But his attempt to restore paganism was senseless and ineffectual. As a popular belief, paganism had expired. His character is warmly praised by Gibbon, and commended by other historians. He struggled against the spirit of his age, and was unsuccessful. He was worthy of the best ages of the empire in the exercise of all pagan virtues-the true successor of Hadrian and the Antonines.