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huiband litile suspected that he was cherilhing in his
bos in a vi per who was to prove the destruction of his hou se. She appears to have enteria ined a predominant
ambition of giving an heir to the Roman empire ; and since it could not be done by any fruit of her marria geu, illi Augustus, stae resolved on accomplisti ing that end in the person os Tiberius, the eidest son by her former hiis baiad. The plan which she devi sed for this puri osse, Wasto eXterminate ali the male ossispring of Augustus by hisdaughter Julia, Who was married to Agrippa ; a stratagena whicli, When eXecuted, Would procure to Tiberius, through the means os adoption, tiae eventuat succession to the empire. The coot yet sanguinary poliCy, and the patient perseverance of resolution, with whicli me prose cuted her design, have seldom been equalte d. While thesons of Iulia mere yet young, and while there Was stili a
possibility that ste herseis might have imite by Augustus,
me suspended her project sor some time, in the liope per-haps, that accident or disease might operate in iis favor ;but when the natural term of her constitution had put aperiod lo her liopes of progeny, and when me grandi ias of the em peror were rising into the years of inanhood, and had been adopted by him, me began to carry into eXecution what sile long had meditated. The sirst objectdevoted to destruction was C. Caesar Agrippa, the eidest of Augustus's grand ns. This promissing vouth was sentio Armenia, tapon an expedition against the Persians ; and Lollius, who had been his governor, ei ther ACCOmpani edhim thither from Rome, or mei him in the East, Where he had obtained sonae appo intinent. From the hand of this traitor, perhaps under the pretexi of eXercising the
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The occasion of Caius's death seems to have been caret utly hept from the kno ledge of Arigiastus, who pro moted Lollius to the Consul sit ip, and made hina governoros a province ; but by his rapaci ty in this italion, he a Dierwards incursed the em peror's displeas ure. The triae character of this person had escaped the keen discern mentos Horace, as weli as the sagaci ty of the em peror ; forin two Episiles ad tressed to Lollius, he mentions him asgreat anil accompli med in the superlative degree maxime Lom, tiberrime Lolli ; so imposing had been the manners and ad trest of this decuit ut courtier. Lucius, the second son of Julia, was bani aed into Campania, sor using, as is sa id, seditioris langu age against his grandi ather. In the seventh year of his exile, Augustus propos ed to recali him ; but Livia and Tiberius, di ea ding the consequences of his being resiored to theem peror's favor, put in praetice the eXpedient of hau inglii in immediately a Taminated. Postumus Agrippa, thethird son, incurred the displeam re os licis grandi ather hithe fame way as Lucius, and was Confine i at Surrentum, Where he rema ined a prisoner, Untit he was put to dea thby the order et ther of Li via alone, or in conjunctionu illi Tiberius, as was before Observed. Such was the catastrophe, through the means of Livia,
fice that could operate towariis rendering them Obnoxio Usto the emperor. We may cven ascribe to lier dark in
trigues the dissolute condestist of Julia. For the womanwho could secretly act as procul esse to her orim lius anil, M ould feci litile resti aint ui ou hen mirad, againit corrupt-
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gratitude of Tiberius, however unduti sui and reprehen si bie in a son towariis a parent, sile at lassio experiensed a just retribution for the crimes in whicli sie had trainedhim, to procure the succession to the empire. To the disia grace of her sex, stie introduced amongst the Romans the horribie practice of domestic murder, litile linown hes ore the times v aen the thii si or intoXication of unlimited power liad vitia ted the sociat affections; and iste transmitted to succee ling ages a pernici ous e X ample, by whichim moderate ambition might be gratified, at the experice of every morat obligation, as weli as of humanity.
One of the first victinis in the sanguinary relan of the
present emperor, Wras GermaniCus, the son Os Drusus,
Tiberius 's own brother, and who had licen adopted by his uncte himself. Under any foveret gra, os a temper disserent si tam that of Tiberius, this amiable and meritorious prince would have been held in the highest est rem. At the death of his grandi ther Augustus, he was emplOyed in a. war in Germany, where he greatly distingui flaed ii iiD-self by his militaru atchleve ments ; and as soon as intelli
gence of that event arrived, the soldiers, by whom hoWas extrem ely beloved, unanimo usty saluted laim empe-TOr. Re fusing, howcver, to accept this mark of theirpartiali ty, he persevered in allegi ance to the govertamentos his uncte, and prosecuted the Mar mitti successe. Uponthe conclusion of this expedition, he was seni, with tiretille of Emperor of the East, torepresse the seditions of the Armenians, in which he was equalty successsul. But the fame which he acquired, served only to render him an Ob
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THE LIFE OFfourth year of his age. The nows of Germanicus's deat was received at Rome with univcrsal tam talion; andali ranks of the peopte enteria ined an opinion, that, hadlic furvived Tiberius, he would have restored the freedona of the Republic. The love and gratitude of the Romans decreed many honors to his memory. It was ordered, that his name should be sung in the solemn procession of the Salia ; that crowns of oah, in allusion to his vidio-ries, should be placed upon Curule chairs in the hali pertaining to the pri elis of Augustus ; and that an ess gy of him in iv ory should be drawn upon a Chariot, preceding
the ceremontes of the Circensi an games. Triumphal
of the Rhine, and a third upon Mount Amanus in Syria, milli inscriptions of his alchievemenis, and that he die lior his services to the Republic'. His obsequies mere celebrated, not with the display osi mages and funerat pomp, but with the recitat of his prais es, and the virtves whicli rendered him illustrious. From a resemblance in his personat accomplissimenis, his age, the manner of his death, and the vicinity of Daphne to Babylon, many compared his fate to that os
Alexander the Great. He was colebrated for humani tyand benevolenCe, as weli as military talenis, and amidst the totis of war, found lcisure to culti vate the aris ofliterary genius. He composed truo comedies in Greeh, lame epigranas, and a translation of Aratus into Latinverse. He married Agrippina, the daughter of M.
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TIBERIUS NERO CAESAR.red by that transaction, laid violent hands upon himselfAgrippina was now nearly in the fame predicament withregarit to Tiberius, that Ovid had formet ly been in re- speet of Augustus. He was sensibie, that when sine accused Piso, stre was not ignorant of the person by whomthe perpetrator of the murder had been instigated ; and her presenCe, there re, seeming continuatly to reproachhim with his guili, he resolved to rid himself of a personi come so obnoxious to his si glit, and banished her to thei sand of Pandataria, where sile died so me time aster artis
But it was not susscient to grati j this sanguinary tyrant, that he had, without any cause, cui oss both Germanicus and his viise Agrippina : the distinguis hed mei iis and populari ty of that prince were yet to be revengedupon his chil iren ; and accordingly he set himself to invent a preteYt for their des ruction. Aster endea voringin vain, by various artifices, to provoke the res enimentos Ner' and Drusus against him, he had reco urse to false accusation, and not only charged them with seditious de- sigias, to whicli their tender years mere ill adapted, but vitii vices of a nature the most scandalous. By a sentence of the Senate, whicli manifested the extreme servilituos that a Tembly, he procured them both to he declaredopen enenates to their Country. Nero he banis hed to ilieissand of Pontia, where, like his uias ortunate mollier, hemiserably peris laed by famine ; and Drusus was do omed tothe fame fate, in the loruer part of the Palatium, after suffering for ni ne days the violence of hunger, and lia ing, as is related, devoured part of his hed. The remaining son, Caius, on account of his victous disposition, heresolved to appotiat his succestar on the throne, that, aftertiis Oritia death, a comparison might be made in favor of
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his memory, when the Romans stould be governed by a severei gn, Jet more viciOus and more tyrannicat, is possibie, than himself. Sejanus, the minister in the present rei gn, imitated mitti successe, sor sonae time, the hypocrisy of his mas ier; anil, had his ambitious temper, impatient
os attaining iis object, allowed hi in to wearthe mask for a longer period, he might have guined theimperiat diadem ; in the pursuit of whicli, he was over-taken by that fate which he merited stili moro by his crueities than his perii ly to Tiberius. This man was a native of Volsinium in Titscany, and the son os a Romanknisthr. He had si sit insinuated himself in to the favor of
Caius Caesar, the graiadson of Augustus, after v hose deathhe covi ted the friend stlip of Tiberius, and obtained in astori time his entire confidense, which hu improved tothe hest advantage. The object which he neXt pursued, was to gain the attachment of the Senate, and the officersos the arm y ; besides whom, with a new kind of poticy, he eradeavored to secure in his interesis every lady of distinguished connexions, by giving secretly to each of thema promise of marri age, as 1oon as he s ould arrive at theso vereignty. The clites obstacles in his way were thelans and grand ns of Tiberius; and them he so on sacrificed to his ambition, under various preten Ces. DrUsUS, the eidest of this progeny, having in a fit os passion structi the favori te, was destined by him to destruction. For thispui pose, he had the presumption to seduce Livia, the wi Os Drusus, to whom 1he had borne severat children ; and she consented to marry her adulterer Upon the death of herhumand, Who was soon after polsoned, through themeans os an eunuch na med Lygdus, by the oriter of hera nil Sejanus. Drusus
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Drusus was the son of Tiberius by Vipsania, oneos Agrippa's daughters. He displayed great intrepidi ty during the war in the provinces of Illyricum and
Pannonia, but appears to have been dictolute in his morais. Horace is salil to have writ ten the Ode in prat se of Drusus at the dessire of Augustus ; and while the poetcelebrates ille military Courage of the prince, he insinuates indirectly a salutary admonition to the culti vationos the civit virities r
Hrina sed vim promoves in alam,
opposing this me afure, and at me same time recommend-ing Germanicus to the Senate as his successor in theempire, the mirad of Sejanus was more than ever infamed by the uni ted, and now furious passions of love and ambition. He th refore urged his demand with en creased importunity but the em peror stili refusing his consent, and things being not yet ripe sor an immediate revolt, Sejanus thought nothing so favorabie for the prosecution Of his designs as the abs iace of Tiberius froin the capital. With this vieri , under the preteiace Ofrelieving his mas fer fro in the cares of go vertament, hepersuaded hi in to retire to a distance frona Rome. Theem peror, indolent and luxurious, approved of the pro posset, and reti red into Campania ; leaving to his ambitious minister the whole dii ethion of the empire. PIad Sejanus now been governed by Common prudCn Ce and moderation, he might have attained to the accompilii,
inent of ali his ivis es : but a natural impetuosi ty of
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temper, and the intoXication os power, precipitated hi minio meas ures which soon effected his destruction. Asis entirely emancipaled from the controi os a master, hepublicly declares himself fovereign of the Roman empire, and that Tiberius, who had by this time reti red toCapreae, was Only the dependent prince of that tributaryictanti. He even went so sar in degrading the emperor,ns to have him introduced in a ridiculous light upon thes age. Ad vice of Sejanus's proceedings was soon Carrie lto the em peror in Capreae ; his indignation was immedia tely excited ; and with a confideiace founded upon an authority exercised for severat years, he sent ordei s foraccusing Sejanus besere the Senate. This mandate noso oner arrived, than the audacio us minister was deserte thy his adherenis : he was in a mort time aster telZed without ressistance, and serangled in prison the sanae .lay.
Human nature recolis milli horror at the crueities of
this execrable tyrant, who, having firsi imbrued his handsin the blood of his own relations, procee led to exercise them Upon the public with indiscriminate fury. Nei therage nor sex afforded any exemption Dom his insatiablethii si of blood. Innocent children were condemned todelth, and bulchered in the presence of their parenis :Virgins, Without any imputed guili, were sacrificed to a similar desti ny : but there heing an ancient custom, of not strangling females in that siluation, they were frit deflowcred by the executioner, and after artis strangled ;as is an atroclous addition to crueity could sanction ille exercise of it. Fallicrs mere constrained by violence towitncss the death of their own children ; and cven the
mities, occasioned by accident, added to the horrors of this
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this reign. A great number of hous es on mount Coelius
Here destroyed by tire; and by the fali os a temporarybullding at Fidenae, erected for the pui posse of exhibit-
ers for the losse they had susta ine l. Through the whole of his life, Tiberius seems to have
conducted himself with a uniform repugnanCC to nature. Assable on a sew occasions, but in generat averse to society, he indulged, froin his earli esst years, a moros nessos disposition, which counterseited the appea rance of au stere virtve ; and in the decline of life , when it is common to resorm irona juvenile indiscretions , he latinched sortii into eXcesses, of a Lind the most unnatural and mos: detestabie. Considering the vici ous pastions whichii ad ever bro oded in his beari, it may seem sui prising, that he restra ined hi miself with in the bouri s of decencyduring so many years after his accession : hut though ut-terly destitute os revereiace or affection for his mollier,
and after her death, he was actua ted by a s lavisti fear of Sejanus, uniit at lasst necessi ty absolved liim lihewi se isto mihis resti aint. These checks being both removeti, he rioted irho ut any control, et ther from sentiment or authori ty. Pii ny relates, that the art of mahing glasse malleable as actualty diico vered under the reigii os Tiberius, and that
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that the sit op and tools of the artist were desti oved, Iest, by the est abiistiment of this invention, gold and silversto ut d lose their valve. Dion adds, that the author of the disco very was put to de ath. The gloona whicli darkened the Roman capital during this melancholy period, slaed a bale fui influence on the progress of scienc e througho ut the empire, and literature languit hed during the present reigia, in the fame proportiou as it had siouri facit in the preceding. It is do tibi sulwhether such a change might not have happened in s me degree, even had itae go vertament of Tiberius been equat lymild with that of his predeces r. The prodigio us fame of the writers of the Augustan age, by represiing emulation, tended to a generat diminution of the e foris of genius f r sonae time; while the banishment of Ovid, itis probabie, and the capital punishment of a subsequentpoet, for censuring the Character of Agamemnon, operated towariis the farther discoui agement of poetical eX
balance these dista luanta ges. Genius no longer found a patron either in the em peror or his minister ; and the gales of the palace were sit ut agains: alt who cultiva ted ille