ipzig, 1832, 8vo.Marcus Aurelius, surnamed the Philosopher, a very eminent Roman emperor, born at Rome on the 20th of April, A.D. 121. He was called by several names till he was admitted into the Aurelian family, when he took that of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Hadrian, upon the death of Ceionius Commodus, turned his eyes upon Marcus Aurelius; but, as he was not then 18 years of age, and consequently too young for so important a station, he fixed upon Antoninus Pius, whom he adopted, upon condition that he should likewise adopt Marcus Aurelius. The year after this adoption, Hadrian appointed him quaestor, though he had not yet attained the age prescribed by law. After the death of Hadrian, Aurelius married Faustina, the daughter of Antoninus Pius, by whom he had several children. In the year 139 he was invested with new honours by the Emperor Pius, which he bore in such a manner as endeared him to that prince and the whole people.

On the death of Pius, in the year 161, he was invested by the senate with the imperial power, taking as his colleague L. Ceionius Commodus, thenceforward called L. Aurelius Verus. Dion Cassius says that he was induced to this by his ill health, and the desire of leisure to pursue his studies; Lucius being of a strong, vigorous constitution, and consequently more fit for the fatigues of war. The same day he assumed the name of Antoninus, which he bestowed likewise on his colleague Verus, to whom, at the same time, he betrothed his daughter Lucilla.

The happiness which the empire began to enjoy under the two emperors was soon interrupted. In the year 162, a dreadful inundation of the Tiber destroyed a vast number of cattle, and occasioned a famine at Rome. This calamity was followed by the Parthian war; and at the same time the Catti ravaged Germany and Rhætia. Lucius Verus went in person to oppose the Parthians; and Antoninus remained Antoninus at Rome, where his presence was necessary. Less through the ability of Verus than the conduct of his lieutenant, the war with the Parthians was successfully terminated. The two emperors shared the honours of a magnificent triumph at Rome in the year 165, and were honoured with the title of Fathers of their country. In this year the city was ra- vaged by famine and by a terrible pestilence which spread itself over the whole world. It was likewise in this year that the Marcomanni, and many other people of Germany, took up arms against the Romans; but the two emperors, having marched in person against them, obliged them to sue for peace. The war, however, was renewed the year following, and the two emperors again opened the campaign in person. Lucius Verus was seized with an apoplectic fit, and died at Altinum. The whole conduct of the war now devolved on his successor, who found his resources so straitened, that to save the people from new taxes, he parted with the plate and furniture of his palace, and even with the empress's jewels, in order to meet the demands of the war. His self-denying and vigorous exertions were crowned with the greatest success.

During this war, in 174, a very extraordinary event is said to have happened, which, according to Dion Cassius, was as follows: Antoninus's army being blocked up by the Quadi in a very disadvantageous place, where there was no possibility of procuring water, and being worn out with fa- tigue and wounds, oppressed with heat and thirst, and in- capable of retiring or engaging the enemy, in an instant the sky was covered with clouds, and there fell a vast quantity of rain. The Roman army were about to quench their thirst when the enemy came upon them with such fury, that they must certainly have been defeated, had it not been for a shower of hail, accompanied with a storm of thunder and lightning, which fell upon the enemy without the least an- noyance to the Romans, who by this means gained the vic- tory. In 175 Antoninus made a treaty with several nations of Germany. Soon after, Avidius Cassius, governor of Syria, urged on by Faustina, revolted from the emperor. This in- surrection, however, soon ended in the murder of Cassius by his own partisans. Antoninus behaved with great lenity to- wards those who had been engaged in Cassius's party: he would not put to death, nor imprison, nor even sit in judg- ment himself upon any of the senators engaged in this re- volt; but he referred them to the senate, fixing a day for their appearance, as if it had been only a civil affair. He wrote also to the senate, desiring them to act with indul- gence rather than severity; nor to shed the blood of any senator or person of quality, or of any other person what- ever; but to allow this honour to his reign, that, even un- der the misfortune of a rebellion, none had lost their lives except in the first heat of the tumult. In 176 Antoninus visited Syria and Egypt. The kings of those countries, and ambassadors also from Parthia, came to visit him. He staid several days at Smyrna; and, after settling the affairs of the East, went to Athens; on which city he conferred several honours, and appointed public professors there. From thence he returned to Rome with his son Commodus, whom he chose consul for the year following, though he was then but 16 years of age, having obtained a dispensation for that purpose. On the 27th of September in the same year he gave him the title of Imperator; and on the 23d of December he entered Rome in triumph with Commodus, on account of the victories gained over the Germans. Dion Cassius tells us that he remitted all the debts which were due to himself and the public treasury during 46 years, and burnt the writings relating to these debts. In the year 177 he left Rome with his son Commodus, to march against the Mar- comanni and other barbarous nations. In the following year he gained a considerable victory over them, and would in all probability have entirely subdued them, had he not been seized with an illness, which carried him off on the 17th of March 180, in the 59th year of his age, and 20th of his reign. The character of this prince affords the highest in- stance of what the Stoic philosophy could do in moulding a disposition naturally tranquil and benevolent. Alike in his public and private life, Antoninus moved like a superior being among the rest of mankind. Master of himself, and ever influenced by the highest motives which human morality could suggest, he was deeply and universally beloved; and a people who believed in the divine descent of Romulus and his bodily return to heaven, might well celebrate with more than empty ceremony the apotheosis of Antoninus, and re- verently set up his statue in their houses. But his perse- cution of the Christians, to which, doubtless, he was insti- gated by evil counsellors, is an indelible stain on a character otherwise so estimable. The martyrdom of Justin at Rome, of the venerable Polycarp, with many others at Smyrna, took place about the 7th year of his reign; and that he sanctioned the horrible atrocities perpetrated at Vienna and Lyons ten years later, is confirmed by the answer returned to the Ro- man governor, who applied for instructions, that all who pro- fessed Christianity should be put to death. The only work of his that remains, besides some letters in the remains of Fronto, discovered by Mai at Rome, is his book of Medita- tions, originally written in Greek (τῶν ἐς ταῦτα βιβλίων ζωῆς). It consists of miscellaneous reflections on moral and religious subjects, expressive of the thoughts and feel- ings of the writer, in the midst of the daily business of life, the manifold cares and routine of a court, or the distracting tumult of the camp. Together with the writings of Epictetus, these form the most valuable remains of the Stoical school, and faithfully describe the mode of self-discipline by which its higher representatives formed their minds in the habit of virtue. The best edition is that of Gataker, Cantab. 1652, reprinted, London, 1697, with Dacier's notes and life of An- toninus, translated into Latin by Stanhope. It has been frequently translated. The best English version is that by Drs Moor and Hutcheson, 2 vols. 12mo, 1749.

Antoninus, Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius, surnamed Pius, emperor of Rome, was born A.D. 86, at Lanuvium in Italy. The family of his father, from whom he inherited great wealth, was originally from Nismes in Gaul. Both his father and grandfather had held the office of consul. Arrius Antoninus, his maternal grandfather, by his amiable disposition and love of literature, had acquired an eminent character, and was very intimate with Pliny the younger. Under him the young Titus, after his father's death, completed his education. His character, on arriving at the age of maturity, manifested itself in the most pro- mising manner. To an outward mien at once mild and dignified, he joined a cultivated understanding, a virtuous heart, and a manly eloquence. Simple in his tastes, and

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1 The Pagans, as well as Christians, according to M. Tillemont (art. xvi. p. 621), have acknowledged the truth of this prodigy, but have greatly differed as to the cause of such a miraculous event, the former ascribing it, some to one magician and some to another. In Antoninus's pillar the glory is ascribed to Jupiter, the god of rain and thunder. But the Christians affirmed that God granted this favour at the prayer of the Christian soldiers in the Roman army, who are said to have composed the twelfth or Malitene legion; in consequence of which they received the title of the Thundering Legion. (Euseb. Eccles. Hist. lib. v. cap. 6.) Mr Moyle, in the letters published in the second volume of his works, has endeavoured to explode this story of the Thundering Legion, to which Mr Whiston published an answer in 1723. More recently the subject has been extensively argued on both sides, with an ingenuity scarcely demanded by its im- portance. Antoninus, guided by temperance in all his sentiments and actions, he was entirely free from the usual vices of imperial rank.

In the year 120, among the many public honours which his birth and connections gave him a claim to, he was elevated to the high post of consul, and was afterwards appointed by Hadrian to be one of the four consuls among whom the supreme power of Italy was divided. Becoming in his turn proconsul of Asia, he acquitted himself with such reputation that he even excelled his grandfather Arrius, who had formerly enjoyed that high trust. Returning from Asia, he was received into the favour and confidence of Hadrian. He married Annia Faustina, the daughter of Annius Verus, whose character was far from being irreproachable; but his lenient disposition induced him to avoid public scandal, and he behaved towards his aged father-in-law with the most becoming respect. Two sons and two daughters were the fruits of this marriage. The sons died young, and the eldest daughter, who was married to Lamia Syllanus, died, when Titus proceeded towards his Asiatic government. Faustina, the youngest, married Marcus Aurelius, who was afterwards emperor.

After the death of Verus, Hadrian adopted Antoninus as his successor in the Roman empire, with the title of Caesar, A.D. 138; and at the same time created him his colleague in the proconsular and tribunitian offices. Extending his plans of adoption still farther, he caused Antoninus to adopt the son of Verus, then seven years of age, and Marcus Annius, afterwards named Aurelius, then seventeen years of age, a relation of Hadrian's, and nephew to his own wife. The dutiful and merited attention which Antoninus bestowed on Hadrian during the last months of his illness, justifies, in conjunction with his general character, the epithet afterwards bestowed upon him. On July 10, A.D. 138, he succeeded to the empire amidst the universal acclamations of the senate and people, who anticipated in his well-tried virtues that happiness which a good and wise sovereign is able to bestow upon his subjects.

The Roman world enjoyed such tranquillity under his reign that it affords few materials for history; yet it is to be regretted that Capitolinus is the only historian from whom any direct information can be received concerning this peaceful period, and he is none of the most perspicuous. It however appears that the usual honours and titles, together with the addition of the surname of Pius, which the general tenor of his life and his zeal in defending and honouring the memory of his predecessor united to suggest, were willingly conferred upon him by the senate. In the beginning of his reign there were several conspiracies formed against him; but these only afforded him opportunities of signalizing his singular clemency. Though unable to prevent the course of justice against the ringleaders, he prohibited the prosecution of their accomplices, and took the son of Attius, one of the principal conspirators, under his protection. Various commotions were raised in several parts of the empire; but by the vigilance of his lieutenants these were easily quelled. The incursions of the Brigantes in Britain were restrained, and a new wall which was built to the north of that of Hadrian, extending from the Forth to the Clyde, and which was called the Wall of Antoninus, was fixed as the boundary of the Roman province in Britain. The reign of Antoninus, upon the whole, was singularly peaceful, and realised a saying of Scipio, that "he preferred saving the life of one citizen, to destroying a thousand enemies."

Jurisprudence was to this emperor, as it was to his predecessor, an interesting subject for improvement; and several decrees which he issued display his commendable spirit of equity. The natural consequence of this equity was, that Antoninus acquired a reputation and fame which no military achievements could have conferred; and his friendship was courted by the neighbouring princes.

There is scarcely a blot to be found to tarnish his character; and frugality, modesty, and harmless amusement continued to employ his private hours. In the management of his complicated business he was exact to such a degree, that it was even ridiculed by some; but he found the daily advantage of this accuracy. The growing virtue of Marcus Aurelius soon drew his attention after he ascended the throne, and having given him his daughter in marriage, he declared him Caesar. Nor was he mistaken in his choice; for Aurelius acted with the utmost fidelity and affection amid all the honours that he continued to confer upon him. But his prosperous reign was drawing to a close: in the 75th year of his life he was seized with a fever at his favourite country-seat of Lorigum. Assured of his approaching death, he convened the principal officers of the state, confirmed his election of Aurelius, and gave him the imperial ensigns. A delirium ensued, in an interval of which the tribune of the night-watch having came, as was customary, to receive the pass-word, the dying emperor uttered the stoical watchword Equanimitas, and calmly resigned his breath in the 23rd year of his reign. His ashes were consigned to the tomb of Hadrian, and divine honours paid to his memory. He was universally regretted, and succeeding emperors for more than a century bore his name as a title of honour. The senate and his successor erected a sculptured pillar to his memory, which still exists as one of the chief ornaments of the city of Rome.