From A. D. 211.

to

217. Neglect of his Civil

duties.

Biography. To such a person the patience and self-command necessary for the administration of justice must have been extremely irksome. We find, accordingly, from Dion Cassius, that he avoided as much as possible this important part of his duty, and never, indeed, engaged in it but with reluctance and disgust. This Historian, who was Præfect of the City, and hence officially bound to assist the Emperor in his decisions, tells us, that Caracalla frequently sent notice to the Judges that he would be ready to hear causes, or hold a Council, early in the morning. We failed not, says he, to be punctual to his orders, but he made us wait till afternoon, and sometimes till the evening. We remained without doors, not being permitted to enter even into the antechambers. At length, when we were called in, it was only to be informed, that it was no longer time to do business; and, indeed, we were often sent away without having had an opportunity of making the customary salutations. Whilst we were thus losing our time in waiting to no purpose, the Prince was amusing himself with trifles, driving a chariot, fighting with wild beasts, or drinking, perhaps, with a gladiator. Dishes of meat and great vessels of wine passed before our eyes for the use of his Guards, while it was manifest that he enjoyed a secret pleasure in the fatigue and delay which we were compelled to endure.

Affectation of zeal for Morality and Religion.

His exten

sion of the privileges

of Roman Citizens to all the subjects of the Empire.

Did not the history of Human Nature abound with similar examples, we should be surprised to learn that Caracalla, amid his rank debaucheries, affected a great zeal for purity of morals. He punished adultery with death; and condemned to be buried alive four Vestal Virgins, one of whom himself had attempted to seduce. Nay, he attempted to set himself up not only as a reformer of Religion, but even as a pattern of piety and godliness. He mistook, indeed, belief in magic for trust in Divine Providence, and his fear of punishment for a reverential awe towards the Supreme Ruler of the world. A slave to superstition himself, he denounced it as an unpardonable offence in all others; and Spartianus records, that several individuals during his reign were put to death for wearing round their necks a charm against intermittent fever. *

The Government of Caracalla was rendered remarkable by a measure, the Policy of which has been greatly questioned by writers on Constitutional Law, both in

Antoninus

From

A. D. 211.

to

217.

ancient and in modern times. We allude to the decree Marcus by which he threw open the rights and privileges of Aurelius Roman Citizens to all the inhabitants of the Empire. Caracalla. The pride of the Commonwealth had long restricted this honour to the native subjects of the original State, and it was not granted to the rest of Italy until after the struggle of a long and bloody war. The first Emperors, Augustus and Tiberius, were equally sparing of this envied distinction; and it was not until the weak and mercenary reign of Claudius had raised the Provincials to an unwonted pitch of authority, that Citizenship could be obtained with nearly an equal facility on both sides of the Alps. During the same administration the Gauls were admitted into the Senate; a privilege which they ever afterwards retained: and at a later period, when the Sovereigns themselves were chosen from among the colonists of Spain, and even of Africa, the line which separated the descendant of a Roman in foreign parts from an aboriginal native of the same country, became more and more evanescent, and at length entirely disappeared. Then it became customary to admit not only individuals, but whole Provinces, to the freedom of Rome; and Consuls who drew their origin from Germany, Syria, and the various districts of Asia Minor, were not unfrequently seen invested with the robes and the power which had awakened the ambition of Julius Cæsar and of Cneius Pompeius. Still there was a certain distinction between Citizen and Subject even in the Colonies, till it was abolished by a solemn edict issued by Caracalla; after which, all persons not in a state of servitude acquired the rights and privileges of the former class, and there was no longer in the Empire any denomination of People but Slaves and Roman Citizens.

step.

The motive assigned by Historians for this unprece- His supdented extension of a privilege once so highly valued, posed mois the increase of revenue which the Emperor expected tive for that to arise from the vast augmentation of taxable subjects. Perhaps he was incapable of taking such a step on any generous principle; but it is more probable that this unpopular resolution was adopted from a wish to mortify the inhabitants of the Capital, all descriptions of whom he most cordially hated, than to enlarge the income of the State, which he knew how to improve by more compendious means.

From

A. D. 217.

to

218.

Biography. had fixed upon for his successor. A regular report of this singular investigation was forwarded to the Imperial Court, then resident at Antioch; but Caracalla being engaged in a chariot race when the messenger arrived, the packet was handed to Macrinus, who presided over the Civil department of State affairs. The intelligence with which he was thus supplied, acted upon his mind in two different ways; for he saw thereby placed before him the alternative either of wearing a Crown, or of falling a speedy victim to the jealousy of his master. The choice he made, and the result of his decision, have been already recounted. He used the hand of Martialis to assassinate his Prince, and to secure for himself a seat on the Throne which neither Nature nor education had qualified him to fill.

His election

by the Army.

He applies

to the Senate.

Receives

heir coaomation.

Macrinus is greatly blamed by Dion Cassius for not using the influence which belonged to his office, in order to guide the election of the Army to a proper person as the successor of Caracalla. But it ought not to be forgotten, that the Prætorian Præfect, in all probability, had not less confidence than his Sovereign in the efficacy of magic, and in the revelations of Judicial Astrology. At all events, instead of opening a path for the ambition of others, he made haste to gratify his own. Concealing from the Soldiers the share he had in the murder of their leader, he endeavoured to recommend himself to their choice as the Commander of the Imperial Guards; his colleague, who, indeed, was senior to him in rank, being rendered unfit by his age and infirmities for the labours of the high office to which he aspired. But the Troops, who neither loved nor esteemed him, seemed to wait for the appearance of a more worthy candidate, when, on the fourth day, intelligence that the Parthians were on their march to attack them with a powerful army, quickened their deliberations, and induced them to commit the destiny of the Empire into the hands of the junior Præfect.*

The usages of Government required that the suffrages of the Soldiers should be confirmed by the Senate. To obtain this confirmation, Macrinus addressed a letter to that illustrious assembly, in which he informed them of the two great events which had just taken place, and modestly requested their approval of the choice which had been made by the Army. He promised that no measure of importance should be undertaken without their advice and approbation; that his administration should revert to the more liberal maxims of the Commonwealth; and that all Orders of the Citizens should enjoy their full rights, fortunes, and privileges. He condemned the Policy which had involved the Empire in a war with Parthia, which he knew to be disliked both at Rome and in the Camp; and, in particular, he blamed the practice introduced by his predecessor, of granting large sums of money to Barbarian nations, with the view of securing their forbearance or neutrality.†

The Senate, delighted with their deliverance from the tyranny of Caracalla, sanctioned, with loud acclamations, the proceedings of the Syrian Army. They overlooked the obscurity of birth in Macrinus, his want of military talent, and even the doubtful affections of the very Body which had elected him, and forthwith they enrolled him in the Order of Patricians, decreed to him all the titles of Imperial power, and concluded by deco

*Dion Cassius, Epitom. Xiphilin. p. 361. Capitolin, in Macrin. c. 5, 6. Herodian. lib. v.

rating his son with the name and rank of Cæsar. Macrinus, indeed, owed the accomplishment of his wishes to the detestation with which every one not of the military profession regarded the son of Severus. Even the Senators did not conceal their deep aversion to his memory. "We would have preferred any one," said they, "to the parricide from whose hands we have just been rescued, the encourager of all crime, the murderer of all classes of the People." The Popular voice was equally loud in terms of execration. The Festivals instituted in honour of the late despot were instantly abolished; his statues were thrown down and melted; the praises of the assassin were proclaimed in the streets, and the resemblance of his name to that of Mars, the founder of their State, was hailed as the presage of returning liberty. Had not the fear imposed upon the Senate by the presence of a large military force checked the current of their indignation, they would at once have declared Caracalla a public enemy, and loaded his memory with the curses of the nation."

Marcus

Opilius Macrinus.

From

A. D.

217.

to

218.

But the reputation which this unhappy ruler left Caracalla among the Soldiers, led to results of quite a different raised to the nature. To gratify the affection of the Prætorians, rank of the Gods. upon whose favour his own power depended, Macrinus found it indispensable to confer upon Caracalla a place among the Gods. The Senate was desired to record the Apotheosis of a tyrant, for whose murder it had secretly offered up its thanks to Heaven, and to set apart a Temple and a Priesthood to commemorate the name and the virtues of a monster, whom in its heart it detested and abhorred.

This involuntary compulsion employed by the new Macrinus Emperor diminished the confidence which the first acts makes injuof his reign had tended to inspire. He soon afterwards dicious appointments. alienated to a greater extent the minds of the more reflecting among the Patricians, by the injudicious appointment of certain Magistrates. Desirous to be freed from the society of his former colleague, the Præfect Adventus, he sent him to Rome, gave him a high office in the City, and even nominated him to the Consulship for the following year. This promotion was extremely disagreeable to the Public, for the Consul elect was not only arrived at a very advanced age, which unfitted him for the duties of his new station, but he was likewise so ignorant that he could not read, and so little acquainted with business, that he did not know even its customary forms. Other instances of preferment, equally undeserved and unsuitable, increased the dissatisfaction of the Citizens. They saw the bravest and most experienced Generals set aside to make way for favourites who had no qualification to recommend them but their subserviency to the Emperor, who seemed, in his choice of Public servants, to avoid courage in the Army, and talent in all the other departments of Government.†

the name of

In conferring the rank of Cæsar upon Diadumenus, His son' the son of Macrinus, the Senate had been anticipated by proclaimed Cæsar by the Army, who, in the expectation of a more abundant largess, lost no time in gratifying their master with a Antoninus. compliment which custom had now established as a general rule. To render this ceremony more striking, the father proposed that the popular name of Antoninus should be revived in the person of the young Prince, who was not more than nine years of age. The suggestion was received with the loudest expression of joy:

From

A. D.

217.

to

218.

Biography. praises and vows were lavished upon the Emperor and the youthful Cæsar; and the name of Antoninus Diadumenus was reechoed throughout the Camp. Macrinus was willing that the Senators and Roman People should, in like manner, share the happiness of greeting another Prince by a name which they so much loved and admired. He therefore wrote to the former, giving notice of the auspicious event which had been so enthusiastically celebrated by the Army; and promised to the latter a splendid donative, to welcome the return of better days, and the restoration of justice, peace, and security, among all Orders of the Republic. The multitude, which gladly embraces every opportunity of amusement and hilarity, was easily impressed with the joy which it was meant it should express; but the Senate, displeased at finding its prerogative in, vaded by the Soldiers, contented itself with announcing a sullen acquiescence in an arrangement which it had not been asked to promote, and which it could not have prevented.*

His affected

manners

bring him into contempt.

The higher Orders of the People had not forgotten the low extraction of their Emperor, which, unfortunately for his own peace, he himself endeavoured to forget. A haughty demeanour and an affected address were not well received by men who were better born, and of whom many must have known him in the humble condition from which he rose, and in the subordinate offices which he successively filled while no crime, it is said, was more severely punished than the imprudence of comparing his entry into life with the splendid rank to which he had now attained. He soon found, however, that by following the dictates of his ambition, he had ascended a height on which he could neither stand with safety, nor from it attempt to retrace his steps without the hazard of instant destruction. Trained in the Arts of domestic society and the forms of Civil business, he trembled in the presence of the fierce and undisciplined multitude over whom he had assumed the command: his Military talents were despised, and his personal courage suspected; while a whisper that circulated in the Camp disclosed the fatal secret of the conspiracy against the late Emperor, aggravated the guilt of murder by the baseness of hypocrisy, and heightened contempt by a just feeling of indignation.† Had Macrinus possessed any spark of enthusiasm for in negocia military exploits, or even known how to reward the zeal of others, he might have retained the affection of the Soldiers. But the coldness of his temper, which approached to timidity, disgusted the hardy veterans who had been formed by the discipline of Pertinax, and accomplished in the Arts of war by their long service under Severus. Such troops were ashamed when they saw a Roman Emperor hastening, by concessions to a Barbarian Prince, to avoid the toils and dangers of a campaign. When Artabanes had advanced to the frontiers, at the head of the mixed host with which he intended to oppose the designs of Caracalla, he was met with propositions which savoured strongly of cowardice. Macrinus restored all the prisoners who had been taken the former year, acknowledged that the guilt of infringing the Treaty between Parthia and Rome was chargeable upon his predecessor, and ended by soliciting the renewal of amity. The Barbarian,

His timidity

ting with the Parthians.

From

A. D. 217.

finding that he had to negociate with a pusillanimous Marcus upstart, rejected the proposed terms with disdain; and Opilius Macrinus. insisted that the Romans should, moreover, rebuild all the fortresses which they had destroyed in their repeated invasions of his Country, and embellish the cities which they had plundered of their ornaments and wealth. He demanded the restitution of all the territory which had belonged to him in Mesopotamia, an equivalent for all the losses which his subjects had sustained in that part of his Kingdom, together with an ample satisfaction for the indignity which had been offered to the sepulchres of his fathers.*

to

218.

com

Desirous as Macrinus was of peace, he was not Concessions allowed to accede to such disgraceful conditions in rejected, order to obtain it. The two Armies met at Nisibis, where and war an engagement soon took place, in which the Romans menced. with difficulty kept their ground. A second action ensued, the result of which was again favourable to Artabanes. But as his Parthians never carried with them any large store of provisions, and were in other respects unaccustomed to protracted or regular warfare, he was now more willing, though in fact a conqueror, to listen to an accommodation than he was before he drew the sword. He accepted from the Emperor two hundred millions of sesterces, in name of compensation, for all the losses and injuries which had been inflicted upon his Kingdom by the Roman arms, and immediately withdrew his impatient followers from the scene of contest.

dom of

The Armenians were induced to abstain from hosti- He restores lities by means not more honourable to the military the Kingreputation of the Empire. Macrinus gave the Crown Armenia. of that Kingdom to Tiridates, the lawful claimant; released the Queen-mother, who had been detained at Antioch by Caracalla during the space of a whole year; repaired the damage which the Roman Troops had occasioned in various parts of the Country; restored all the places which former Armenian Princes held in Cappadocia; and even promised to renew the subsidy which his predecessor had sometime paid to his Eastern allies.

tion.

Having sacrificed every thing to the love of tran- His luxury quillity, he communicated to the Senate an account of and affectahis triumphs over the ancient enemies of the Republic. The leading men at Rome, either deceived by his representations, or wishing to complete the ridicule which began to thicken round his character, ordered Feasts and rejoicings for the victories which had crowned the labours of the Emperor, and even decreed to him the surname of Parthicus. Macrinus declined, indeed, this ambiguous honour; but upon his return to Antioch he determined to remunerate himself for all the privations which he had endured while in the field, and to enter upon the full enjoyment of the ease and luxury which his high rank enabled him to command. He resigned himself to pleasure in all its forms, decked his person in the most gorgeous robes that Asiatic taste could supply, and in all things affected a degree of magnificence which disgusted even the corrupted Prætorians.†

His cowardice and effeminacy soon withdrew from Attempts to him the allegiance of the Soldiers, and brought reform the them to the very brink of revolt. The firmest ruler, Army, and provokes perhaps, that ever placed himself at the head of the their resent

*Dion Cassius, Epitom. Xiphilin. p. 363.

Herodian, lib. v. Dion Cassius, Epitom. Xiphilin. p. 362.

ment.

From A. D.

217.

to

218.

Biography. Legions, would have found much difficulty in satisfying the demands and repressing the extravagance of such disorderly troops; it is not wonderful, therefore, that Macrinus, whom they despised, should have failed of success. In his first attempts at reform he proceeded, indeed, with much caution, and without directly alarming the jealousy of his mutinous Cohorts. To the men already in the service he confirmed the privileges and high pay which Caracalla had bestowed upon them; but he declared that, with regard to such as should afterwards join the Legions, the establishment should be reduced to the more moderate footing on which it had been placed by Severus. But to render this arrangement efficacious, he ought to have dispersed his troops through the several Provinces of the East, to which, in fact, their ordinary duty was confined, instead of allowing them to remain in Syria, where their united strength encouraged disaffection, and their ready means of communicating with one another supplied an opportunity for maturing the revolution upon which they had already fixed their thoughts. The veterans, instead of being flattered by the distinction which was made in their favour, persuaded themselves that the concessions of the Emperor were extorted from him by fear; and that he would unceremoniously revoke them as soon as he should find himself in a condition to quash their resistance; and the young soldiers entered with reluctance into a service of which the labours were increased, while the rewards were greatly and systematically diminished. A few attempts to enforce discipline among the more seditious bands which were scattered over Mesopotamia, completed the irritation of the Syrian Legions, and prepared them for the most desperate resolutions. Seditious murmurs, from time to time, were heard in the Camp; the mutinous spirit which pervaded the whole Army was with difficulty suppressed; and symptoms were everywhere manifest of a rooted disaffection and contempt of authority, which, on the slightest occasion, would infallibly burst out into a general rebellion against the unwarlike Monarch. As it was to be expected, troops so disposed soon found or created an incident which afforded them an opportunity for realizing all their views,*

Conspiracy

against Macribus.

The fate of Macrinus was accelerated by a conspiracy of women and Priests. The Empress Julia, whose powerful influence over a husband and a son had been experienced during two reigns, was compelled, upon the accession of the new Sovereign, to relinquish all concern in Public affairs. But notwithstanding the respectful civility expressed by the usurper to the widow of Severus, she descended with a painful struggle into the condition of a Subject; and is said to have soon afterwards withdrawn herself from a state of anxious dependence by a voluntary death. Her sister, Julia Mæsa, had experienced similar varieties of fortune. On the death of her nephew she was ordered to leave the Court, and even the city of Antioch, wherein it had been sometime held. She retired to Emesa with great riches, accumulated during twenty years of Imperial favour; for Macrinus, although he hated the whole house of Severus, did not disgrace himself by plunder ing the establishment of an unprotected female. As the wife of Julius Avitus, she had two daughters, Soæmis and Mamæa; the latter of whom became the mother of Alexander Severus, who afterwards ascended

* Capitolin. in Macrin. c. 12.

the Throne. Soæmis was married to Varius Marcellus, by whom, or by Caracalla, she had a son, who is known to History by several names, but who subsequently rose to the head of the Roman world under the appellation of Heliogabalus.*

Marcus Opilius Macrinus.

lus.

From

A. D.

217. to

218.

The reader will remember that the father of Julia, (the wife of Severus,) and consequently of Julia Masa, was High-priest of the Sun in the Temple of Emesa. When, therefore, his granddaughter found herself History of necessitated to return to the city of her kindred, she Heliogabaobtained for her son, who was then only thirteen years of age, the Priesthood, which appears to have been hereditary in the family. A numerous body of troops was stationed at Emesa: and as the severe discipline which Macrinus had thought proper to adopt constrained them to pass the winter in Camp, they waited with eagerness for an opportunity to revenge what they esteemed an unnecessary hardship. The Soldiers, who were accustomed to resort in great numbers to the Temple of the Sun, beheld with veneration and delight the rich vestments and the fine figure of the young Pontiff; in whose countenance they imagined they could recognise the features of Caracalla, whose memory they were more than ever disposed to adore.

Mæsa, who was naturally ambitious and impatient Supposed to of the private condition to which she had been forced be the son to descend, no sooner perceived this favourable dispo- of Caracalla. sition on the part of the Military, than she resolved to turn it to the best advantage. Regardless of the reputation of her daughter, she eagerly confirmed the conjecture that Heliogabalus was indeed the son of Caracalla; and distributing her bounties with a liberal hand, she silenced every objection which might have been raised to the alleged paternity of the youthful Priest. She was greatly assisted in the execution of her designs by Eutychianus and Gannys, the latter of whom had been tutor to her grandson while resident at Rome and Antioch. These two individuals, whose dispositions inclined them to Political intrigue, practised upon the fidelity of the Troops so successfully, as to prevail upon them to receive the young Prince into their camp during the night, and to proclaim him their Sovereign. At an appointed hour, Heliogabalus made his appearance, dressed in a robe like that which Caracalla used to wear in his youth. His resemblance to the son of Severus was thus rendered very striking; and being accompanied by a band of Soldiers who were in his interest, he had no sooner presented himself at the gate than it was opened for his reception, and he was instantly saluted, amidst a thousand acclamations, by the name of Antoninus, and the title of Emperor.t This step committed beyond retrieve the fidelity and Revolt in character of the Legions at Emesa. They accordingly his favour at strengthened their fortifications, added to their stores, and made all other preparations for a regular siege. Macrinus, who did not at first allow himself to see the evil in its full magnitude, sent against the rebels one of the Prætorian Præfects, Ulpius Julianus. This Commander had in his little army a body of Moorish auxiliaries, extremely attached to the Emperor, as their countryman, and quite devoted to his cause: and had he availed himself of the ardour with which they assailed the camp of the insurgents, he might, it

*Capitolin. in Macrin. c. 9. Dion Cassius, Epitom. Xiphilin. p. 363. + Dion Cassius, Epitom. Xiphilin. p. 364. Lamprid. in Heliogab c. 1, 2. Capitolin. in Macrin, ubi suprà.

Emesa.