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CAESAR AUGUSTUS .. II iupon the foui th in Asia, the fifth in the Iste of Samos, and the eighth and ninth at Tarracon. XXVII. During ten years, he adled as one of the Triumvirate for setiling the commonwealth, in whicli Office he sor some time opposed his colleagues in their des1g11 of a proscription ; but aster it was begun, he prosecutedit with more determined rigor than either of them. Forwhilst they were osten prevalled upon, by the interest and intercession os friends, to fhew mea cy, he alone insisted vehemently, that no quarter stould be given; and heproscribed likewise C. Toranius. his guardian, who hadbeen formet ly his fallier Octavius's colleague in the
dit ossa ip. Junius Saturninus adds this farther account of him: that when, aster the proscription waS OVer, Μ. Lepidus made an apology in the Senate for their past Proceedings, and gave them hopes of a more milii administration for the future, hecause they had now had sum- Cient revenge upon their enemies; he on the other hand declared, that he had set no other bouniis to the proscriptionthan his ouen pleasure, and so was enti rely at liberty. Aster ards, fio ever, repenting of his severity, he ad-vanced T. Vinius Ρhilopoemen to the Equestri an rank, for having Concealed his patron, and saved hi in froni thefury of the proscription. In this fame ossice, he incur-
red great odium ut On many accounts. FOr a S he wasone day haranguing the soldiers, observing Pinarius a Roman knight let in se me company, and subscribe something or other, he ordered hi in to be stabbed bes ore hise yes, as a bu*-body and a s py upon him. He so terri- fed with his menaces Tedius Afer, Consul-elest, for. having reflected upon sonae action of his, that he thre himself sto in the top of a housc and die l. And when o Gallius the Praetor came to wait upon him, With a
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doubie tablet under his coat, suspecting it to he a Morti, and yet not venturing to mahe a starch, test ii siould heseu nil to be something else, he ordei ed hi in to be carrisdoss by s me captains and soldiers, and to be put to tor- ture, as is he had been a fave : and though he would mahe no consession of any ill design, commanded hi mio be hilled, aster he had, with his own hands, plucked out his eyes. His own account of the transactionhowever is, that this person desii ed a private conserense th him, for the purposse of murdering him : that hetheresere put him in prison, but after ards reicased him, and hani med him the city, when he peri ed cither in astorin at sea, or by the han is of robbers. He ac pie los the Tribimitian power for liis, but, for two lustra successively, took another person into commission withhim. The inspection of the public manners and laws was likewise conferred upon him for tise; in virtuo os .whicli commission, though he had not the t ille of Censor, yet he thrice took a sui vey of the people, the frstand third timc with an assistant, but the second by him
XXVIII. He twicc enteria ined thoughts of restoring the commonwealth ; first immediately after the reductionos Antony, remembering what he had osten charged hi m
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and the Senate to his om n house, and deli vered them a particular account of the state of the empire. But reflecting at the fame time, that he could not without harai dreturn to the conditi0n of a private person, and that it might be os dan gerous consequence to the public, toliave the governinent test again to the managemcnt of thepeople, he resolved to heep it in his own hands, whether opith the better event or intention, is hard to say. His intention of good to the public, he osten affirmed in private discourse, and likewi se declared by proclamation in the following ternas : So let me have the happinesse toes abiisti the common ealth secure u pon iis proper basis, and e oy the re ard of whicli I am ambitious, that ofbeing celebrated for introducing the best hind of go vern-ment amongst you : that at my leaving the worid, I maycavry with me the liope, that the foundations whicli Istali lay for a future se illenient, Will rem ain Unmoved
XXIX. The city, which was not bulli in a manner sultable to the grande har of the empire, and was liableto inundations of the. Tiber, and to si res, he so much
ceived it a city of brich, hut test it one os martile. Heli hewise rendered it secure for the time to come, as far aScould be cffected by human foresight. He rai sed a great many public bulldings, the most considerable of whichwere a Forum , with the temple of Mars the AVerager, the temple of Apollo in the Ρalatium, and the temple of Thundering Jove in the Capitol. The rea n of hisbuit ling the Forum, vias the vast number of people and causos, sor whicli tho two former Forum s not be ing sus-iscient, it Was thought nec ostiiry to have a thir l. It was '
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there re opened sor public use be re the temple of Mars was entiret y finissaed; and a lavo passed, that causes mouid be tried, and judges chosen by tot, in that place. The temple of Mars he had madu a vow to bulld, in themar of - Philippi, which was undertaken by him for thereuelage of his sether's murder. He ordat ned that the Senate mouid always meet there to deliberate about wars
as mere sent into the provinces to Command armies ; and that in it thos e who returned victorious stom the wars,should lodge the ornaments of their triumphs. He erect
ed the templo of Apollo in that part of the Palatine house which had been struch with thunder, and whicli, On that account, the s othsayers declared the God to have Chosen. He added to it piarinas, with a library of Latinand Greeli authors ; and when adu anced in years, used frequently there to hold the Senate, and eYamine the lisis of the judges. He consecrated the temple to Thundering Jove, upon account of a deliverance he had from agreat danger in his Cantabrian expedition; when, as hewas travelling in the night, his litter was scorched, and
ings in the na me of others, as his grandsons, his wise, and sister. Thus he bulli a piareta and a, colari, iii iliena me of Lucius and Caius, and piaZZas in the nam e os Livia and Octavia, With a theatre in that os Marcellus. He also recommended to other persons os distinction to
cach according to their respective abilities. In conse-qUence of this recommendation, many were rat sed ; suchas the temple of Herculos president of the Mus es, by
Mercius Philippus ; a temple of Diana by L. Cornificius ; the Court of Liberty by Asinius Pollio ; a templo
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of Saturn by Munatius Plancus; a theatre by Cornelius Balbus; an amphitheatre by Statilius Taurus ; and severat other nobie edifices by M. Agrippa. XXX. He divided ille city into wards, and other inferior depariments ; ordaining that the annuat magistrates mould by tot take the charge of the former ; and that the lalter mould be governed by masters cho sen o ut of theneigbouring commonalty. He appo inted a nightly watchto be hept against accideriis from fit e ; and, to prevent the frequent inundations os . the Tiber, widen ed and Cleansed iis channei, whicli liud in tength of time been almost dam med up with rubbisa, and much reduced by the falling in of houses. To render the avenues to the City more Commodio us, he took upon himself the chargeos improving the Flaminian cause way as far as Ariminum : and distributed the repairs of the other roads, tolle defrayed o ut of the money arising froin the spolis of war, amongst severat persons who had obtained the honor of a triumph. Temples decayed by time, or destroyed by sire, he ei ther repatred or rebulli; and enriched them, as weli as many others, with noble donations. He, Upon one occasion, deposited in the sacred apar
ment of Jupiter Capitolinus, si xteen thous and potan is of gold, ut illi jeweis and pearis, to the amo unt of fiftymillions os sesterces. XXXI. The ossice of High-pries , of which he could not decently deprive Lepidus, he assumed ut on his death. He then issued an or ter for ali the books of prophecy,
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out a examination, to ascertain What was genuine.
This being done , he deposited them upon two gilt shelves under the base of the statue of Apollo Palatinus. FIereduced the Calendar, which had been corrected by Julius Caesar, but through caretiis nesse Was again fallen into confusion, to iis former regulari ty; and upon that occasion, called the monili Sextilis August) by his o nname, rather than September, in Which he was born :because in it he had obtained his tirest Consuliti ip, and allitis mosi considerable victori es. He Chaereased the num ber, dignity, and revenue of the priesis, but es pociali νof the Vestat Virgin s. And when tipon the death of one
sons solicited that they might not be obliged to give in their daughters' names, for the purpo se of election, hean wered them with an oath : Ιf any of my grand-daughters was old cnough sor it, I would have o Teredher to uti up the vacancy.' ' He lihewise revivcd sonae old i eligiolis customs, which had become obsolete ; asthe Augury of 'Health, the ossice of Flamen Dialis, orthe peculiar priest of Jupiter, the religious solemnity of the Lupercalia, the Secular, and Compitalitian games.Ηe prohibited young boys from running in the Lupercalia : and in respect of the Secular games, he isi ded an orcer, that yOung persons, of either sex, mouid not appearat any public diversons in the night, uniesse in the com- pany of some cideri y person of their relations. FIe or-dered the household Gods to be deched twice a 3 ear mittilaring and lana mer flowers, in the Compitalitian festivaLNeκt to the immortal Gods, he paid the highest honor tothe memory of those generals, who, froni the originalpo or conditiosa of the Roman state, had raised it to the pinnacle Os grandeur. He accordingly repetived or rebullithu
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the public edifices erect ed by them ; preserving the for- mer irascriptions, and placing statues, of them ali, in atriumphal dresse, in both the plagras of his Forum; and declaring in the ternas of the following proclamation : My destigii in so doing is, that the Roman peopte may
require frona me, and ali succeed ing princes, a Confor
mlty to those illustrious examples.' ' He likewise remo edthe statue os Pompey fro in the Senate-house, in Whicli C. Caesar had bcen hilled, and placed it under a marblearch, ' fronting the magnificent house aloaning to his
XXXII. He si is pressed many practices injurious tothe morais of the public, which had arisen et ther froni licentiousnest during the late civit wars, or the corruption produced by the long peace whicli en ed. Great numbers of hi iwaymen appeared opera ly, armed with Moriis, under color of self-des ence ; and in disserent paris of the Country, travellers, freemen and flaves Without distinction, were carried olf by violence, and hept con- aled in Nork-houses. Severat parties of men, Under the specio us titie of ne companies, caballed togetlier for the perpetration os ali hin is of villainy. These banditii he quelled, by guards of soldiers posted in different
places for tiae pur posse ; took a se rict account of the work-houses, and dissolved ali companies, tho se Onlyexcepted which were os ancient standing, and es ablish-ed by law. He burned ali the notes of thos e who hadbeen a long time in arrear mitti the treasury, as the principat urce' os vexatious sui is and prosecutions. Places in the city that were clat med by the public, where theproperty was doubi fui, he adjudged to tiae posscssors. He struch out of the list os criminals, the nam es of such ashad rema ined long under the terror of a Prosecution,
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I 24 THE LIFE OFwhere nothing further was propos ed by the in i mers,than to gratisy their own ill nature, by seeing the wretched appea rance whicli they made upon the occassion. At ille sanae time, he laid it down as a rute, that thos e who persisted in maintaining a prosecution, should, is theyfallia in their object, be liable to the sanae punishment whicli the laws inflicted upon such as were convicted of the Charge. And that crimes might not escape punissament, nor businesse be neglected by delay, he ordered theco uris to sit during the thirty days that were spent in Celebrating the games, whicli the magistrates usualty presented to the people, in gratitude for their adu ancement. To the three classes then existing of judges, he ad ted asturtii, consisting of persons os inferior rank, who were called Ducenarii, and decided ali litigations about trictingsums. He chose judges from the age of thirty years, whicli is hue years so oner than had been usual before. Anil a great many declining the ossice, he was with much dissiculty prevalled upon, to allow each clase of judges at elue -monili's vacation in iis turn ; and that the courismight be exempted froni attendance during the monilis of November and December.
XXXIII. He was himself assiduous in his applicationto the triat os causes, and would metimes pro tradi his sitiing to a late hour, is he was indisposed, upon acoucti placed upon the bench, or lying in hed at home ;dis playing on ali those occasions not only the greates attention, but mildness. To save a culprit, Mao evidently appenr
in a lach, hecause notae were punimed in that manner
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the penalty of the Cornelian law, he ordered that ali tholawho sat with him upon the triat should not ontu be fu ni clied with the two usual tableis for condemnation Oracquitiat, but a third likewise, for the pardon os such assio uid appear to have subscribed their names throuiany deception or mista he. Ali appeals in causes betwi inhabitants of the city, he assigned every year to the
Praetor; and where the provincials were Concerneri tomen os Consular ranli, who had each his province sorthat purpOse. XXXIV. Some lavis he amended, and sonae, originalty framed by himself, he introduced into the code ; such asthe sumptuary law, that relating to adultery and the violation os chastity, the law against bribery in elections, and
likewi se that for the encouragement of marriage. Hau ingheen more severe in his reform of this law than the rest, heseund the peopte utierly averse to adopt ii, without takingosf or mitigating the penalties; besides allowing a respite os three years aster the death of a wise, and encreasing thea duantages of a mari ted state. Not illistanding allthese modifications of this obnoxious statute, the Eques
trian Order, at a public entertainment in the theatre, Myere
importunate for the repetit of it ; in much that he sent for the children os Germanicus, and me ed them parilysitting upon his own lap, and partly on their father's ;intimat ing by his looks and gestures a request, that theyWould not be displeased to imitate the example of that y Oung man. But finding that the force of the law was eluded, by the marrying of giris much under the age
pro per for matrimony, and the frequent Change Os Wives, he limited the time for consummation after the marriage
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contracto, and restra ined the great licence whicli had heen admitted in the piaetice of divorce. XXXV. He reduced, by two distinct nominations, totheir former number and splendor, the Senate, vhich hadbeen silled up and over-charged with a rabbie of people, degra ling to the digni ty of that house s r they R ere no above a tholis and, and soriae of them very mean persons, that after the dea th of Caesar had been chosen by thedint of interest and bribery, and were commonly Called by the peopte Orcini). The former of these elections
od exclusively by himself and Agrippa: at whicli time,
it is belleved, he pressi ted at the election, Mili a coat ofmail, and a s ord under his garment, and with ten of the mosi able-bodi ed Senators his frientis attending abo ut
him. Cordus Cremutius relates, that no Senator waS
suffered to approach him but alone, and aster having been starched V aether he carried about hi in anys ordo Some he obliged to the reluctant modesty of excusing thenaseives stom the acceptance of that honor; and to sucit he allowed the privilege of using the Senatorian tunic, of sitting at public diversions in the seais assis igned to that Order, and of seasting publicly amongitthem. That such as were chosen and approved of might discliarge their duty the more religiousty, and withlesse trouble, he ordei ed that e very member, bes ore helook his stat in the liouse, stio uid pay his devotions, witia an offering of stan hinc ense and wine, at the altar of that God, in W hose temple the Senate smould aTemble, and that their state i meetings should be only t ce in themontii, Vid. Iapon the Caleniis and Ides ; and that in the