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VESPASIAN.

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ficent patronage of literature, by pensions and presents, at Rome, Athens, and other centres of intellectual activity, almost revived the Augustan age of poets, historians, and orators, and generally enlisted literary talent on the side of the government. The consciousness of his own deficiency in the learning of the schools, enhanced his notion of its political importance, and caused his banishment of the stoic and cynic philosophers, whose virulent invectives against him merely excited his contemptuous retort, 'I will not kill a dog that barks at me.' Augustus had endowed the literature of his time with the collection of the Palatine library. When he had decorated the city by the new Forum with which he extended the line of cloistered areas thrown open by Julius and Augustus, and for which the great fire had cleared an ample site, he commemorated 'the Vespasian Peace' by the erection of a new temple of Peace of unusual size and splendour, and embellished it with the spoils of the Jewish War and Oriental works of art. He also furnished it with a fine library, and stately hall, in which he invited the learned of all professions to meet and conduct their tranquil discussions. Vespasian sagaciously observed that amidst all the luxurious brilliancy of the late reigns, the solid education of the upper ranks, in the alarm or reckless profusion of the times, had been grievously neglected; and that the encouragement given by Caius and Nero to trivial accomplishments had reduced the foundation of the Roman character to the level of the frivolous Greeks. Hence his elevation of the able rhetorician Quintilian, to the dignity of the Consul's Seat, for the first time perhaps that it was filled by a teacher, opened the way for such able literary men as Tacitus and the Plinys to take the place of governors and magistrates, and supplant the proud but indo

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lent nobles in their immemorial privileges, and infuse into the national mind healthier sentiments and aspirations, in harmony with their (philosophically) sobered views of material enjoyments.

He had, with admirable prudence, admitted his son Titus, the darling of the army, to a share of the Imperial power, on his return from the East; and then engaged him actively in all the functions of sovereignty, especially in that most popular one of erecting public buildings for the decoration of the city and the enjoyment of the citizens. From the Augustan age the bath-life of the Romans was continually encouraged by the Emperors, who cheaply purchased popularity by still grander creations for the more general diffusion of this luxury. But they were far outshone in size, in convenience, and in decoration by the baths of Titus on the Esquiline. By a rapid and complete transformation of the palatial buildings of Nero, the baths of Titus were so constructed as to comprise every convenience and every luxury for the residence by day of the great potentate, the mob of Rome. The provision of hot and cold water, of tanks and fountains, was a part only of the luxurious appliances with which they were furnished. Partly under cover, and partly open to the air, they gratuitously offered chambers or terraces for every enjoyment and every recreation. The private lodging of the poor Roman might be a single gloomy chamber, propped against a temple or a palace, in which he slept in careless celibacy; but while the sun was in the heavens he lounged in the halls of his Castle of Indolence; or if he wandered from thence to the Circus, the theatre, or the Campus, he returned again from every other pleasure to take his ease in his baths. After all, the mob required the excitement of their gladiatorial spectacles to vary this monotonous life of luxury, and

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THE COLISEUM.

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these Emperors signalized their reign by building a most magnificent amphitheatre within the limits of the vast palace of Nero, and with the spoils of that labyrinth of masonry. The height of this celebrated structure is 160 feet, while the length and breadth of the area are respectively 281 and 176 feet. It rose in four stories on three tiers of arches, divided by columns of the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian orders, which ascended one above the other. Rows of seats arose concentrically to the level of the upper story, the lowest row being assigned to the Senators, the Vestal Virgins, and the Emperor with his suite; and eighty-seven thousand spectators were accommodated within its vast circuit. The building was of rich and warm travertine stone, or encrusted with marble. The most conspicuous parts shone with precious gems and metals. There were eight gates, rendering access easy; and the massy doors of the dens of the wild beasts and cells of criminals faced each other on every side in grim grandeur. A gilded network protected the sitters in the lowest rows from the chance assaults of the wild beasts beneath them; and the forlorn hope of some poor criminal to seek refuge in them was cut off by the precaution of making the topmost bar to turn on a swivel, so as to revolve at a slight touch, and baffle any attempt to climb by it.

The name of Colosseum, now writen Coliseum, is referred either to the gigantic size of the building, or to the colossal statue of Nero, on which the head of Titus had been substituted, which stood at the entrance. This magnificent building,—which was justly counted among the wonders of the Roman world, and which is invested in our eyes with a special interest, as the scene of so many Christian martyrdoms,-was constructed with such enormous blocks of stone, united together with bronze and iron clamps and

rock-like cement, that the Romans believed it indestructible, and proudly proclaimed the prophecy

'While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand;

When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall;

And when Rome falls, the world.'

Whilst actively engaged in the erection of this magnificent monument, which divides the admiration of strangers in modern Rome with St. Peter's itself, Vespasian was seized with his mortal malady. He had completed the tenth year of his reign, and his seventieth year, but he refused to relax his labours; and when obliged to keep his bed, insisted on the admission of even strangers to his presence. In his last moments, he ordered himself to be raised upright, exclaiming that a Roman Emperor ought to die standing-the ruling passion strong in death, his Roman discipline, military and official, displaying itself, armed with strong endurance and unflinching constancy to the last.

The deification of Vespasian was celebrated with unusual splendour by Titus, but exactly according to the established form. His image, as large as life, and moulded in wax, was placed on an elevated ivory bed, with curtains and a coverlet of cloth of gold. The image lay in a languid position, as if sick; and during seven days the chief imperial physicians gravely attended to feel the patient's pulse, and finally declared his dissolution. The figure was then conveyed in solemn procession to the Forum Boarium (or Smithfield) to lie in state. Thence, passing by the Ærarium (or Bank), it was carried to the Field of Mars, in the centre of which was erected a huge pile of wood, straw, and other combustibles; on which, under a rich canopy, and surrounded by banners inscribed with titles of the deceased Emperor, was placed the ivory bed, with its statue. It was an ancient Roman

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CANONIZATION OF VESPASIAN.

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custom, as well in their funerals as in their triumphs, that the voice of praise should be corrected by that of satire, and that in the midst of the splendid pageants which displayed the glory of the living and of the dead, their imperfections should not be concealed from the eyes of the world. So a comedian came forward to personate Vespasian, and enlivened the funeral ceremonies by some satirical sallies, characteristic of the frugal Emperor, against its expense. 'How much,' he anxiously inquired, has my funeral cost?''Fourscore thousand pounds.'-'Give me the tenth part of the sum, and throw my body into the Tiber.' Then followed an oration, describing his exploits and his merits; and at its conclusion, the whole assembly rose and uttered a shout of exultation. The funeral pile was then set on fire, at the self-same instant a rope was cut which communicated with the foot of an eagle, and the noble bird, with one wild scream of triumph, soared high into the air, appearing to convey into the clouds the spirit of the Emperor; henceforth to be worshipped as one of the guardian deities of Rome.

Titus now occupied the throne alone; and one of his first acts was to declare his brother Domitian the partner of his Empire, and his successor. Never perhaps since the days of Cain and Abel lived there two brothers more violently contrasted in character. Titus, with all his military skill and daring valour, was actuated with a self-sacrificing and generous spirit seldom seen in the selfish and stern Roman. The conqueror of Jerusalem had learnt, from his intercourse with the ancient people of God, some lessons of self-control and of clemency, as well as sentiments of impulsive enthusiasm, warmed to a fervent glow by his romantic attachment to the lovely Jewish princess Bernice, the sister of the younger Agrippa. Hence the anxiety he manifested, according to Josephus, to spare the people, the city, and, above all, the