CHAPTER XXIII.
SECTION I.
THE FIVE GOOD EMPERORS OF ROME.
These slaves, whom I have nurtur'd, pamper'd, fed.
And swoln with peace, and gorg'd with plenty, till
They reign themselves—all monarchs in their mansions.
Now swarm forth in rebellion, and demand
His death, who made their lives a jubilee.—Byron.
1. When it was publicly known that Domi'tian[1] was slain, the senate began to load his memory with every reproach. His statues were commanded to be taken down, and a decree was made, that all his inscriptions should be erased, his name struck out of the registers of fame, and his funeral[Pg. 317] obsequies omitted. 2. The people, who now took but little part in the affairs of government, looked on his death with indifference; the soldiers alone, whom he had loaded with favours, and enriched by largesses, sincerely regretted their benefactor.
3. The senate, therefore, resolved to provide a successor before the army could have an opportunity of taking the appointment upon itself, and Cocce'ius Ner'va was chosen to the empire the same day on which the tyrant was slain. 4. He is said to have been of an illustrious family in Spain, and above sixty-five years old when he was called to the throne, an elevation which he owed solely to his virtues, moderation, respect to the laws, and the blameless tenor of his life.
5. The people, long accustomed to tyranny, regarded Nerva's gentle reign with rapture, and even gave to his imbecility (for his humanity was carried too far for justice) the name of benevolence. 6. Upon coming to the throne he solemnly swore, that no senator of Rome should be put to death by his command during his reign, though guilty of the most heinous crimes. 7. This oath he so religiously observed, that when two senators had conspired his death, he used no kind of severity against them; but, sending for them to let them see he was not ignorant of their designs, he carried them with him to the public theatre; there presenting each a dagger, he desired them to strike, assuring them that he should make no resistance. 8. He had so little regard for money, that when one of his subjects found a large treasure, and wrote to the emperor for instructions how to dispose of it, he received for answer, that he might use it; the finder however replying, that it was a fortune too large for a private person to use, Nerva, admiring his honesty, wrote him word that then he might abuse it.[2]
9. A sovereign of such generosity and mildness was not, however, without his enemies. Vigil'ius Ru'fus, who had opposed his accession, was not only pardoned, but made his colleague in the consulship. Calpur'nius Cras'sus also, with some others, formed a conspiracy to destroy him; but Nerva was satisfied with banishing those who were culpable, though the senate were for inflicting more rigorous punishments. 10. But the most dangerous insurrection was[Pg. 318] that of the prætorian bands, who, headed by Caspa'rius Olia'nus, insisted upon revenging the late emperor's death, whose memory was still dear to them, from his frequent liberalities. 11. Nerva, whose kindness to good men rendered him more obnoxious to the vicious, did all in his power to stop the progress of this insurrection; he presented himself to the mutinous soldiers, and laying bare his bosom, desired them to strike there rather than be guilty of so much injustice. 12. The soldiers, however, paid no regard to his remonstrances; but seizing upon Petro'nius and Parthe'nius, slew them in the most ignominious manner. Not content with this, they even compelled the emperor to approve of their sedition, and to make a speech to the people, in which he thanked the cohorts for their fidelity.
13. So disagreeable a constraint upon the emperor's inclinations was in the end attended with the most happy effects, as it caused the adoption of Trajan[3] to succeed him; for, perceiving that in the present turbulent disposition of the times, he stood in need of an assistant in the empire, setting aside all his own relations, he fixed upon Ul'pius Tra'jan, an utter stranger to his family, who was then governor in Upper Germany, as his successor. 14. About three months after this, having put himself into a violent passion with one Reg'ulus, a senator, he was seized with a fever of which he died, after a reign of one year, four months, and nine days.