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XII.

mons of the consul to resume his honourable place c H A P. in the senate, and to assist the republic with his counsels on this important occasion.

ted empe

He arose to speak, when, from every quarter He is elecof the house, he was saluted with the names of ror, Augustus and emperor. "Tacitus Augustus, "the gods preserve thee, we chuse thee for our sovereign, to thy care we intrust the republic "and the world. Accept the empire from the "authority of the senate. It is due to thy rank, "to thy conduct, to thy manners." As soon as the tumult of acclamations subsided, Tacitus attempted to decline the dangerous honour, and to express his wonder, that they should elect his age and infirmities to succeed the martial vigour of Aurelian. "Are these limbs, conscript fa"thers! fitted to sustain the weight of armour, "or to practise the exercises of the camp? The variety of climates, and the hardships of a military life, would soon oppress a feeble constitution, which subsists only by the most tender management. My exhausted strength scarcely enables me to discharge the duty of a "senator; how insufficient would it prove to the arduous labours of war and government? Can

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you hope, that the legions will respect a weak "old man, whose days have been spent in the "shade of peace and retirement? Can you de"sire that I should ever find reason to regret the "favourable opinion of the senate *?"

and ac

The reluctance of Tacitus, and it might pos- cepts the sibly be sincere, was encountered by the affec- purple. tionate

Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 227.

XII.

CHA P. tionate obstinacy of the senate. Five hundred voices repeated at once, in eloquent confusion, that the greatest of the Roman princes, Numa, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, had ascended the throne in a very advanced season of life; that the mind, not the body, a sovereign, not a soldier, was the object of their choice; and that they expected from him no more than to guide by his wisdom the valour of the legions. These pressing, though tumultuary instances, were seconded by a more regular oration of Metius Falconius, the next on the consular bench to Tacitus himself. He reminded the assembly of the evils which Rome had endured from the vices of headstrong and capricious youths, congratulated them on the election of a virtuous and experienced senator, and, with a manly, though perhaps a selfish, freedom, exhorted Tacitus to remember the reasons of his elevation, and to seek a successor, not in his own family, but in the republic. The speech of Falconius was enforced by a general acclamation. The emperor elect submitted to the authority of his country, and received the voluntary homage of his equals. The judgment of the senate was confirmed by the consent of the Roman people, and of the Prætorian guards *.

Authority of the se

Rate.

The administration of Tacitus was not unworthy of his life and principles. A grateful servant of the senate, he considered that national

council

*Hist. August. p. 228. Tacitus addressed the Prætorians by the appellation of sanctissimi milites, and the people by that of sacratissimi Quirites.

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council as the author, and himself as the subject, C H A P. of the laws *. He studied to heal the wounds which Imperial pride, civil discord, and military violence, had inflicted on the constitution, and to restore, at least, the image of the ancient republic, as it had been preserved by the policy of Augustus, and the virtues of Trajan and the Antonines. It may not be useless to recapitulate some of the most important prerogatives which the senate appeared to have regained by the election of Tacitus †. 1. To invest one of their body, under the title of emperor, with the general command of the armies, and the government of the frontier provinces. 2. To determine the list, or, as it was then stiled, the College of Consuls. They were twelve in number, who, in successive pairs, each, during the space of two months, filled the year, and represented the dignity of that ancient office. The authority of the senate, in the nomination of the consuls, was exercised with such independent freedom, that no regard was paid to an irregular request of the emperor, in favour of his brother Florianus. "The senate," exclaimed Tacitus, with the honest transport of a patriot, "understand the cha"racter of a prince whom they have chosen." VOL. II.

F

3. To

* In his manumissions, he never exceeded the number of an hundred, as limited by the Caninian law, which was enacted under Augustus, and at length repealed by Justinian. See Casaubon ad locum Vopisci.

See the lives of Tacitus, Florianus, and Probus, in the Augustan History; we may be well assured, that whatever the soldier gave the senator had already given.

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CHAP. 3. To appoint the proconsuls and presidents of the provinces, and to confer on all the magistrates their civil jurisdiction. 4. To receive appeals, through the intermediate office of the præfect of the city, from all the tribunals of the empire. 5. To give force and validity, by their decrees, to such as they should approve of the emperor's edicts. 6. To these several branches of authority, we may add some inspection over the finances, since, even in the stern reign of Aurelian, it was in their power to divert a part of the revenue from the public service *.

Their joy and confidence.

Circular epistles were sent, without delay, to all the principal cities of the empire, Treves, Milan, Aquileia, Thessalonica, Corinth, Athens, Antioch, Alexandria, and Carthage, to claim their obedience, and to inform them of the happy revolution, which had restored the Roman senate to its ancient dignity. Two of these epistles are still extant. We likewise possess two very singular fragments of the private correspondence of the senators on this occasion. They discover the most excessive joy, and the most unbounded hopes. "Cast away your indolence," it is thus that one of the senators addresses his friend, "emerge from your retirements of Baia and Puteoli. Give yourself to the city, to the seRome flourishes, the whole republic "flourishes. Thanks to the Roman army, to "an army truly Roman; at length, we have re" covered

"nate.

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Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 216. The passage is perfectly clear; yet both Casaubon and Salmasius wish to correct it.

"covered our just authority, the end of all our G H a p. desires. We hear appeals, we appoint pro

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consuls, we create emperors; perhaps, too, we may restrain them to the wise, a word is suf"ficient *." These lofty expectations were, however, soon disappointed; nor, indeed, was it possible that the armies and the provinces should long obey the luxurious and unwarlike nobles of Rome. On the slightest touch, the unsupported fabric of their pride and power fell to the ground. The expiring senate displayed a sudden lustre, blazed for a moment, and was extinguished for

ever.

XII.

Tacitus is

ledged by

the army.

All that had yet passed at Rome was no more A.D. 276. than a theatrical representation, unless it was ra- acknowtified by the more substantial power of the legions. Leaving the senators to enjoy their dream of freedom and ambition, Tacitus proceeded to the Thracian camp, and was there, by the Prætorian præfect, presented to the assembled troops, as the prince whom they themselves had demanded, and whom the senate had bestowed. As soon as the præfect was silent, the emperor addressed himself to the soldiers with eloquence and propriety. He gratified their avarice by a liberal distribution of treasure, under the names of pay and donative. He engaged their esteem by a spirited declaration, that although his age might disable him from the performance of military exploits, his counsels should never be unF 2 worthy

*Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 230, 232, 233. The senators celebrated the happy restoration with hecatombs and public rejoicings.

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