Assyria, and the conquest of Parthia; and the Romans were again exulting in the good old days of conquest, and boasting that 'Rome once more squared the world,' when the sudden news arrived of a general revolt of the Jews in the East; and of the Emperor's sudden death at Selinus in Cilicia, in the twentieth year of his reign. The coarse license of the tent and the trenches, and carouses amongst his boon companions, had broken down his robust constitution; and the report of reverses suffered by his best generals in the Jewish outbreak clouded his last hours with gloom and bitter sorrow. Through the last mournful stages of his journey, the Empress Plotina had not ceased to intercede for his adoption of Hadrian, his cousin in blood and his niece's husband, a brave officer, in the vigour of his age, of fine personal appearance, and then invested with that all-important charge, the government of Syria. It is said that when Trajan refused to surrender the reins of Empire, that Plotina waited for his decease, removed the body, placed a confidential servant on the couch, drew the curtains close, and summoned witnesses into the chamber of death, who heard a feeble moan, as of their dying master, declaring that he had adopted as his son, and declared as his successor, Publius Ælius Hadrianus, his trusty and well-beloved kinsman. Trajan's ashes were borne to Rome in a golden urn, and buried with great pomp at the foot of his column. The Senate at once deified their Best Emperor, and Hadrian erected a temple to his worship. (See Gibbon, i. 142, 212, 213; ii. 238-245. Merivale, vii. passim. Schmitz, passim. Plin. 1. x. Ep. 87. Wake, Genuine Ep. Apost. Fathers, passim. Pearson, Vind. Ig. Bunsen, Ignat. of Antioch. Cureton, Corp. Ignat. Introd. Gieseler, Eccl. His. i. 108. (Davidson's E.T.) Milman, A. C. ii. 141-151. Neander, i. 261; ii. 438-443). 117-138.] CHAPTER V. 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, -SHAKSPEARE. HADRIAN-ANTONINUS PIUS-AURELIUS ANTONINUS-COMMODUS. HADRIAN is generally classed as the first of the philosophical Emperors; but his genius was many-sided, and entitles him to rank with the foremost soldiers and statesmen of the Empire. His first acts were to secure the favour of the army by a double largess, and to conciliate the Senate by a vow, that no Senator's blood should ever stain his hands. Recurring to the policy of Augustus, he next proceeded to confine the possessions of the Empire within natural and easily defended limits, and abandoned all Trajan's new conquests in the East; alleging that there was no soil beyond the Euphrates in which the Roman institutions could take root, while the expense of maintaining them would be utterly exhausting. Though ample and liberal, Hadrian was by no means extravagant; and even his buildings, however splendid, were far less numerous and various than those of Trajan. On great occasions, the shows and processions with which he favoured the populace were exceedingly magnificent. Once he exhibited combats of gladiators for six days in succession, and gave a birth-day massacre of a thousand wild beasts but such banquets of blood and treasure were not often repeated. Hadrian piqued himself on his passion for philosophy and taste for the fine arts, and delighted in the society of scholars and in trials of skill with them, though seldom able to control his temper. One day a rhetorician, after yielding a strong position to the Emperor, being asked 'Why he defended himself so feebly?' replied, with a smile, 'It is ill arguing with the master of thirty legions.' But more important engagements soon engrossed his hours; for, partly from policy, which made occasional absence from Rome useful and advisable for avoiding collision with the jealous nobles; and partly, perhaps, from a restless curiosity, he determined to inspect every province of his vast dominions, to examine in person its state and resources, its wants and capabilities, and the sort of government under which it was ruled. During these progresses, Hadrian was constantly seen at the head of his legions, sometimes on horseback, oftener on foot, marching steadily with them twenty miles a day, and always bareheaded, for if the Roman soldier were permitted to relieve himself on the march of the weight of his helmet, he might not replace it with the effeminate substitute of a cap or a bonnet. Day by day he reviewed his troops, and encouraged them by his own example to submit to the everrecurring drill which was necessary to keep up their iron discipline, inspected the camps and lines of his garrisons, examined their arms and military engines, their tents, huts, and hospitals, as well as their clothes and rations, tasting himself their black bread, their sour wine and vinegar. Trajan and Hadrian had now raised the discipline of the Roman army to its highest pitch of excellence: so this is our time to review it. Discipline was its very life; so the recruits and young soldiers were constantly kept in training, both morning and evening, nor was age or knowledge allowed 117-138.] THEIR ARMY. 143 to excuse the veterans from daily drill. Large sheds were erected in the winter-quarters of the troops, that their useful labours might receive no interruption; and it was carefully observed, that the arms destined to this imitation of war should be of double the weight required in action. Nothing was omitted that could add strength to the body, activity to the limbs, or grace to the motions. The soldiers were diligently instructed to march, to run, to leap, to swim, to carry heavy burdens, to handle every kind of arms, defensive or offensive, either in distant or hand-to-hand conflict; to form every variety of evolutions; and to move to the sound of flutes in the Pyrrhic or war-dance. Josephus, who gives very curious details of their discipline, remarks that effusion of blood was the only circumstance which distinguished a review from a battle. Trajan and Hadrian, like all the best generals, frequently condescended to instruct the raw recruits, to reward the diligent, and sometimes to dispute with them the prize of superior strength or dexterity. It is characteristic of the Roman idea of the imperfection of valour without skill and practice, that in their language the name of an army was borrowed from the word which signified exercise, so the Roman soldier knew no intervals of idleness, and was not allowed time to indulge in dissipation. Even off drill he was required to perform long and frequent marches, at four miles an hour, carrying a load of sixty pounds weight; or he was briskly engaged in throwing up all manner of field-works, particularly those needful to fortifying the camp. The military age was seventeen to fifty, and on pressing emergencies every citizen between those ages was obliged to enlist; but otherwise the youths were preferred, as more easily taught the rapid and flexible evolutions which surprisingly distinguished the Roman army. It could adapt itself to every change and variety of circumstances; and no other, perhaps, ever executed such numerous evolutions in the presence of an enemy; for if its impetuous and formidable attack failed, it then displayed an inexhaustible variety of movements for preserving order, for returning repeatedly to the charge, and, even while in the act of retiring, for extending their line so as to gain the flank of the pursuing enemy, and turn defeat into victory. Originally a legion's strength was 4,500, including 300 cavalry or knights; but under the Emperors it was 6,000, and 700 cavalry. The imperial legion gives us the best idea of its constitution. The heavy-armed infantry, of which it was chiefly composed, was divided into 10 cohorts and 55 companies, under the orders of a correspondent number of tribunes or staff-officers, and centurions or captains, all commanded by a legate, or lieutenant-general. The first cohort, which always claimed the post of honour, and the custody of the golden eagle, was formed of 1,105 picked men ; the remaining nine consisted of 555 each. Their arms were admirably adapted to their mode of warfare—an open helmet, with a lofty crest, a breastplate, a coat of mail, iron greaves on their legs, and an ample shield on their left arm, of an oblong and concave figure, framed of a light wood, covered with a bull's hide, strongly guarded with plates of brass. Besides a lighter spear, the soldier grasped in his right hand a formidable javelin, six feet long, terminated by a triangular point of steel eighteen inches long, which, launched by a strong and skilful hand, seldom failed to pierce its object through and through. The Roman always followed up this discharge by rushing on the foe with his sword, a short, well-tempered Spanish blade, that carried a double edge, suited alike for striking or pushing; but he always preferred the latter, as his own body remained less exposed, whilst he inflicted a more dangerous wound upon his enemy. The sacramentum, or military oath, was always administered once |