The Reign of Tiberius | Page 6

Dis curae." In all this; in
his leisured ways, in his dislike of parade and ceremonial, in his
mockery of flatterers and venal "patriots"; how like to Charles II., "the
last King of England who was a man of parts." And no one will deny
"parts" to Tiberius; he was equal to the burden of Imperial cares: the
latest researches have discovered, that his provincial administration was
most excellent; and even Tacitus admits, that his choice of magistrates
"could not have been better." He says, in another passage, "The
Emperor's domains throughout Italy, were thin; the behaviour of his
slaves modest; the freed-men, who managed his house, few; and, in his

disputes with particulars, the courts were open and the law equal." This
resembles the account of Antoninus Pius, by Marcus Aurelius; and it is
for this modesty, this careful separation between private and public
affairs, that Tacitus has praised Agricola. I am well contented, with the
virtues of the Antonines; but there are those, who go beyond. I have
seen a book entitled "The History of that Inimitable Monarch Tiberius,
who in the xiv year of his Reign requested the Senate to permit the
worship of Jesus Christ; and who suppressed all Opposition to it." In
this learned volume, it is proved out of the Ancients, that Tiberius was
the most perfect of all sovereigns; and he is shown to be nothing less
than the forerunner of Saint Peter, the first Apostle and the
nursing-father of the Christian Church. The author was a Cambridge
divine, and one of their Professors of mathematics: "a science,"
Goldsmith says, "to which the meanest intellects are equal."
Upon the other hand, we have to consider that view of Tiberius, which
is thus shown by Milton;
_This Emperor hath no son, and now is old; Old and lascivious: and
from Rome retired To Capreae, an island small but strong, On the
Campanian shore; with purpose there, His horrid lusts in private to
enjoy._
This theme is enlarged by Suetonius, and evidently enjoyed: he
represents Tiberius, as addicted to every established form of vice; and
as the inventor of new names, new modes, and a new convenience, for
unheard-of immoralities. These propensities of the Emperor are
handled by Tacitus with more discretion, though he does not conceal
them. I wish neither to condemn nor to condone Tiberius: I desire, if it
be possible, to see him as he is; and whether he be good or bad, he is
very interesting. I have drawn attention to what is good in "The
Annals," because Tacitus leans with all his weight upon the bad; and
either explains away what is favourable, or passes over it with too light
a stroke. At the end, I must conclude, as I began, that the character of
Tiberius is a mystery. It is a commonplace, that no man is entirely good
nor entirely evil; but the histories of Tiberius are too contradictory, to
be thus dismissed by a platitude. It is not easy to harmonise Paterculus
with Suetonius: it is impossible to reconcile Tacitus with himself; or to
combine the strong, benevolent ruler with the Minotaur of Capri. The
admirers of an almost perfect prose, must be familiar with a story,

which is not the highest effort of that prose: they will remember a
certain man with a double nature, like all of us; but, unlike us, able to
separate his natures, and to personate at will his good or evil genius.
Tiberius was fond of magic, and of the curious arts: it may be, that he
commanded the secrets of which Mr. Stevenson has dreamed!
The readers of "The Annals" have seen enough of blood, of crime, and
of Tiberius; and I would now engage their attention upon a more
pleasing aspect of Imperial affairs: I wish to speak about the Empire
itself; about its origin, its form, its history: and, if my powers were
equal to the task, I would sketch a model Emperor; Marcus Aurelius, or
the elder Antonine. Gibbon has described the limits of the Roman
Empire; which "comprised the fairest part of the earth, and the most
civilised portion of mankind." Its boundaries were "the Rhine and
Danube, on the north; the Euphrates, on the east; towards the south, the
sandy deserts of Arabia and Africa;" and upon the west, the Atlantic
ocean. It was over this extensive monarchy, that Caesar reigned; by the
providence of Caesar, was the whole defended and administered.
_Quis Parthum paveat? Quis gelidum Scythen Quis, Germania quos
horrida parturit Fetus, incolumi Caesare?_
The frontiers of the Empire, and its richest provinces, had been
obtained for the most part in the long wars of the Republic. The
conquest of Gaul, and the establishment of the Empire, was achieved
by Julius Caesar; and to him, the