The extent and military force of the Roman empire, in the age of the Antonines
Introduction
IN the second century of the Christian era, the Empire of
Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the
most civilised portion of mankind. The frontiers of that
extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and
disciplined valour. The gentle but powerful influence of
laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the
provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the
advantages of wealth and luxury. The image of a free
constitution was preserved with decent reverence: the Roman
senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and
devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of
government. During a happy period (A.D. 98-180) of more than
fourscore years, the public administration was conducted by
the virtue and abilities of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the
two Antonines. It is the design of this, and of the two
succeeding chapters, to describe the prosperous condition of
their empire; and afterwards, from the death of Marcus
Antoninus, to deduce the most important circumstances of its
decline and fall; a revolution which will ever be
remembered, and is still felt by the nations of the earth.
Moderation of Augustus
The principal conquests of the Romans were achieved under
the republic; and the emperors, for the most part, were
satisfied with preserving those dominions which had been
acquired by the policy of the senate, the active emulation
of the consuls, and the martial enthusiasm of the people.
The seven first centuries were filled with a rapid
succession of triumphs; but it was reserved for Augustus to
relinquish the ambitious design of subduing the whole earth,
and to introduce a spirit of moderation into the public
councils. Inclined to peace by his temper and situation, it
was easy for him to discover that Rome, in her present
exalted situation, had much less to hope than to fear from
the chance of arms; and that, in the prosecution of remote
wars, the undertaking became every day more difficult, the
event more doubtful, and the possession more precarious, and
less beneficial. The experience of Augustus added weight to
these salutary reflections, and effectually convinced him
that, by the prudent vigour of his counsels, it would be
easy to secure every concession which the safety or the
dignity of Rome might require from the most formidable
Barbarians. Instead of exposing his person and his legions
to the arrows of the Parthians, he obtained, by an
honourable treaty, the restitution of the standards and
prisoners which had been taken in the defeat of Crassus. (1)
His generals, in the early part of his reign, attempted the reduction of Ethiopia and Arabia Felix. They marched near a thousand miles to the south of the tropic; but the heat of the climate soon repelled the invaders, and protected the unwarlike natives of those sequestered regions. (2) The northern countries of Europe scarcely deserved the expense and labour of conquest. The forests and morasses of Germany were filled with a hardy race of barbarians, who despised life when it was separated from freedom; and though, on the first attack, they seemed to yield to the weight of the Roman power, they soon, by a signal act of despair, regained their independence, and reminded Augustus of the vicissitude of fortune. (3) On the death of that emperor, his testament was publicly read in the senate. He bequeathed, as a valuable legacy to his successors, the advice of confining the empire within those limits, which Nature seemed to have placed as its permanent bulwarks and boundaries; on the west the Atlantic ocean; the Rhine and Danube on the north; the Euphrates on the east; and towards the south, the sandy deserts of Arabia and Africa. (4)
Imitated by his successors
Happily for the repose of mankind, the moderate system
recommended by the wisdom of Augustus, was adopted by the
fears and vices of his immediate successors. Engaged in the
pursuit of pleasure, or in the exercise of tyranny, the
first Caesars seldom showed themselves to the armies, or to
the provinces; nor were they disposed to suffer, that those
triumphs which their indolence neglected should be usurped
by the conduct and valour of their lieutenants. The military
frame of a subject was considered as an insolent invasion of
the Imperial prerogative; and it became the duty, as well as
interest, of every Roman general, to guard the frontiers
intrusted to his care, without aspiring to conquests which
might have proved no less fatal to himself than to the
vanquished barbarians. (5)
Conquest of Britian was the first exception to it
The only accession which the Roman empire received, during
the first century of the Christian era, was the province of
Britain. In this single instance the successors of Caesar
and Augustus were persuaded to follow the example of the
former, rather than the precept of the latter. The proximity
of its situation to the coast of Gaul seemed to invite their
arms; the pleasing, though doubtful intelligence, of a pearl
fishery, attracted their avarice; (6) and as Britain was
viewed in the light of a distinct and insulated world, the
conquest scarcely formed any exception to the general system
of continental measures. After a war of about forty years,
undertaken by the most stupid, maintained by the most
dissolute, and terminated by the most timid of all the
emperors, the far greater part of the island submitted to
the Roman yoke. (7) The various tribes of Britons possessed valour without conduct, and the love of freedom without the spirit of union. They took up arms with savage fierceness;
they laid them down, or turned them against each other with
wild inconstancy; and while they fought singly, they were
successively subdued. Neither the fortitude of Caractacus,
nor the despair of Boadicea, nor the fanaticism of the
Druids, could avert the slavery of their country, or resist
the steady progress of the Imperial generals, who maintained
the national glory, when the throne was disgraced by the
weakest, or the most vicious of mankind. At the very time
when Domitian, confined to his palace, felt the terrors
which he inspired; his legions, under the command of the
virtuous Agricola, defeated the collected force of the
Caledonians at the foot of the Grampian hills; and his
fleets, venturing to explore an unknown and dangerous
navigation, displayed the Roman arms round every part of the
island. The conquest of Britain was considered as already
achieved; (8) and it was the design of Agricola to complete
and ensure his success by the easy reduction of Ireland, for
which in his opinion, one legion and a few auxiliaries were
sufficient. (9) The western isle might be improved into a
valuable possession, and the Britons would wear their chains
with the less reluctance, if the prospect and example of
freedom were on every side removed from before their eyes.
But the superior merit of Agricola soon occasioned his removal from the government of Britain; and for ever disappointed this rational, though extensive scheme of conquest. Before his departure, the prudent general had provided for security as well as for dominion. He had observed that the island is almost divided into two unequal parts by the opposite gulfs, or, as they are now called, the Firths of Scotland. Across the narrow interval of about forty miles, he had drawn a line of military stations, which was afterwards fortified in the reign of Antoninus Pius, by a turf rampart erected on foundations of stone. (10) This wall of Antoninus, at a small distance beyond the modern cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, was fixed as the limit of the Roman province. The native Caledonians preserved in the northern extremity of the island their wild independence, for which they were not less indebted to their poverty than to their valour. Their incursions were frequently repelled and chastised; but their country was never subdued. (11) The masters of the fairest and most wealthy climates of the globe turned with contempt from gloomy hills assailed by the winter tempest, from lakes concealed in a blue mist, and from cold and lonely heaths, over which the deer of the forest were chased by a troop of naked barbarians. (12)
Conquest of Dacia; the second exception
Such was the state of the Roman frontiers, and such the
maxims of Imperial policy, from the death of Augustus to the
accession of Trajan. That virtuous and active prince had
received the education of a soldier, and possessed the
talents of a general. (13) The peaceful system of his predecessors was interrupted by scenes of war and conquest; and the legions, after a long interval, beheld a military
emperor at their head. The first exploits of Trajan were
against the Dacians, the most warlike of men, who dwelt
beyond the Danube, and who, during the reign of Domitian,
had insulted with impunity the Majesty of Rome. (14) To the
strength and fierceness of barbarians, they added a contempt
for life, which was derived from a warm persuasion of the
immortality and transmigration of the soul. (15) Decebalus,
the Dacian king, approved himself a rival not unworthy of
Trajan; nor did he despair of his own and the public
fortune, till, by the confession of his enemies, he had
exhausted every resource both of valour and policy. (16)
This memorable war, with a very short suspension of
hostilities, lasted five years; and as the emperor could
exert, without control, the whole force of the state, it was
terminated by an absolute submission of the barbarians. (17)
The new province of Dacia, which formed a second exception
to the precept of Augustus, was about 1300 miles in
circumference. Its natural boundaries were the Dniester, the
Teyss [Theiss modern form], or Tibiscus, the Lower Danube,
and the Euxine Sea. The vestiges of a military road may
still be traced from the banks of the Danube to the
neighbourhood of Bender, a place famous in modern history,
and the actual frontier of the Turkish and Russian empires.
(18)
Conquest of Trajan in the east
Trajan was ambitious of fame; and as long as mankind shall
continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers
than on their benefactors, the thirst of military glory will
ever be the vice of the most exalted characters. The praises
of Alexander, transmitted by a succession of poets and
historians, had kindled a dangerous emulation in the mind of
Trajan. Like him the Roman emperor undertook an expedition
against the nations of the east, but he lamented with a
sigh, that his advanced age scarcely left him any hopes of
equalling the renown of the son of Philip. (19) Yet the
success of Trajan, however transient, was rapid and
specious. The degenerate Parthians, broken by intestine
discord, fled before his arms. He descended the river Tigris
in triumph, from the mountains of Armenia to the Persian
gulf. He enjoyed the honour of being the first, as he was
the last, of the Roman generals, who ever navigated that
remote sea. His fleets ravaged the coasts of Arabia; and
Trajan vainly flattered himself that he was approaching
towards the confines of India. (20) Every day the astonished
senate received the intelligence of new names and new
nations, that acknowledged his sway. They were informed that
the kings of Bosphorus, Colchos, Iberia, Albania, Osrhoene,
and even the Parthian monarch himself, had accepted their
diadems from the hands of the emperor; that the independent
tribes of the Median and Carduchian hills had implored his
protection; and that the rich countries of Armenia,
Mesopotamia, and Assyria, were reduced into the state of
provinces. (21) But the death of Trajan soon clouded the
splendid prospect; and it was justly to be dreaded that so
many distant nations would throw off the unaccustomed yoke,
when they were no longer restrained by the powerful hand
which had imposed it.
Resigned by his successor Hadrian
It was an ancient tradition, that when the Capitol was
founded by one of the Roman kings, the god Terminus (who
presided over boundaries, and was represented according to
the fashion of that age by a large stone) alone, among all
the inferior deities, refused to yield his place to Jupiter
himself. A favourable inference was drawn from his
obstinacy, which was interpreted by the augurs as a sure
presage that the boundaries of the Roman power would never
recede. (22) During many ages, the prediction, as it is usual, contributed to its own accomplishment. But though Terminus had resisted the majesty of Jupiter, he submitted
to the authority of the emperor Hadrian. (23) The
resignation of all the eastern conquests of Trajan was the
first measure of his reign. He restored to the Parthians the
election of an independent sovereign, withdrew the Roman
garrisons from the provinces of Armenia, Mesopotamia, and
Assyria, and, in compliance with the precept of Augustus,
once more established the Euphrates as the frontier of the
empire. (24) Censure, which arraigns the public actions and
the private motives of princes, has ascribed to envy, a
conduct, which might be attributed to the prudence and
moderation of Hadrian. The various character of that
emperor, capable, by turns, of the meanest and the most
generous sentiments, may afford some colour to the
suspicion: It was, however, scarcely in his power to place
the superiority of his predecessor in a more conspicuous
light, than by thus confessing himself unequal to the task
of defending the conquests of Trajan.
Contrast of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius
The martial and ambitious spirit of Trajan formed a very
singular contrast with the moderation of his successor. The
restless activity of Hadrian was not less remarkable, when
compared with the gentle repose of Antoninus Pius. The life
of the former was almost a perpetual journey; and as he
possessed the various talents of the soldier, the statesman,
and the scholar, he gratified his curiosity in the discharge
of his duty. Careless of the difference of seasons and of
climates, he marched on foot, and bare-headed, over the
snows of Caledonia, and the sultry plains of the Upper
Egypt; nor was there a province of the empire which, in the
course of his reign, was not honoured with the presence of
the monarch. (25) But the tranquil life of Antoninus Pius
was spent in the bosom of Italy; and, during the
twenty-three years that he directed public administration,
the longest journeys of that amiable prince extended no
farther than from his palace in Rome to the retirement of
his Lanuvian Villa. (26)
Pacific system of Hadrian and the two Antonines
Notwithstanding this difference in their personal conduct,
the general system of Augustus was equally adopted and
uniformly pursued by Hadrian and by the two Antonines. They
persisted in the design of maintaining the dignity of the
empire, without attempting to enlarge its limits. By every
honourable expedient they invited the friendship of the
barbarians; and endeavoured to convince mankind that the
Roman power, raised above the temptation of conquest, was
actuated only by the love of order and justice. During a
long period of forty-three years their virtuous labours were
crowned with success; and if we except a few slight
hostilities that served to exercise the legions of the
frontier, the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius offer the
fair prospect of universal peace. (27) The Roman name was
revered among the most remote nations of the earth. The
fiercest barbarians frequently submitted their differences
to the arbitration of the emperor; and we are informed by a
contemporary historian, that he had seen ambassadors who
were refused the honour which they came to solicit, of being
admitted into the rank of subjects. (28)
Defensive wars of Marcus Antoninus
The terror of the Roman arms added weight and dignity to the
moderation of the emperors. They preserved peace by a
constant preparation for war; and while justice regulated
their conduct, they announced to the nations on their
confines that they were as little disposed to endure as to
offer an injury. The military strength, which it had been
sufficient for Hadrian and the elder Antoninus to display,
was exerted against the Parthians and the Germans by the
emperor Marcus. The hostilities of the barbarians provoked
the resentment of that philosophic monarch, and, in the
prosecution of a just defence, Marcus and his generals
obtained many signal victories, both on the Euphrates and on
the Danube. (29) The military establishment of the Roman
empire, which thus assured either its tranquillity or
success, will now become the proper and important object of
our attention.
Military establishment of the Roman Emperors
In the purer ages of the commonwealth, the use of arms was
reserved for those ranks of citizens who had a country to
love, a property to defend, and some share in enacting those
laws, which it was their interest, as well as duty, to
maintain. But in proportion as the public freedom was lost
in extent of conquest, war was gradually improved into an
art, and degraded into a trade. (30) The legions themselves,
even at the time when they were recruited in the most
distant provinces, were supposed to consist of Roman
citizens. That distinction was generally considered either
as a legal qualification or as a proper recompense for the
soldier; but a more serious regard was paid to the essential
merit of age, strength, and military stature. (31) In all
levies, a just preference was given to the climates of the
North over those of the South: the race of men born to the
exercise of arms was sought for in the country rather than
in cities; and it was very reasonably presumed, that the
hardy occupations of smiths, carpenters, and huntsmen, would
supply more vigour and resolution than the sedentary trades
which are employed in the service of luxury. (32) After
every qualification of property had been laid aside, the
armies of the Roman emperors were still commanded, for the
most part, by officers of a liberal birth and education, but
the common soldiers, like the mercenary troops of modern
Europe, were drawn from the meanest, and very frequently
from the most profligate, of mankind.
Discipline
That public virtue which among the ancients was denominated
patriotism, is derived from a strong sense of our own
interest in the preservation and prosperity of the free
government of which we are members. Such a sentiment, which
had rendered the legions of the republic almost invincible,
could make but a very feeble impression on the mercenary
servants of a despotic prince; and it became necessary to
supply that defect by other motives, of a different, but not
less forcible nature; honour and religion. The peasant, or
mechanic, imbibed the useful prejudice that he was advanced
to the more dignified profession of arms, in which his rank
and reputation would depend on his own valour; and that,
although the prowess of a private soldier must often escape
the notice of fame, his own behaviour might sometimes confer
glory or disgrace on the company, the legion, or even the
army, to whose honours he was associated. On his first
entrance into the service, an oath was administered to him,
with every circumstance of solemnity. He promised never to
desert his standard, to submit his own will to the commands
of his leader, and to sacrifice his life for the safety of
the emperor and the empire. (33) The attachment of the Roman
troops to their standards was inspired by the united
influence of religion and of honour. The golden eagle, which
glittered in the front of the legion, was the object of
their fondest devotion; nor was it esteemed less impious
than it was ignominious, to abandon that sacred ensign in
the hour of danger. (34) These motives, which derived their
strength from the imagination, were enforced by fears and
hopes of a more substantial kind. Regular pay, occasional
donatives, and a stated recompense, after the appointed time
of service, alleviated the hardships of the military life,
(35) whilst, on the other hand, it was impossible for
cowardice or disobedience to escape the severest punishment.
The centurions were authorised to chastise with blows, the
generals had a right to punish with death; and it was an
inflexible maxim of Roman discipline, that a good soldier
should dread his officers far more than the enemy. From such
laudable arts did the valour of the Imperial troops receive
a degree of firmness and docility, unattainable by the
impetuous and irregular passions of barbarians.
Exercise
And yet so sensible were the Romans 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. (36) Military exercises were the
important and unremitted object of their discipline. The
recruits and young soldiers were constantly trained both in
the morning and in the evening, nor was age or knowledge
allowed to excuse the veterans from the daily repetition of
what they had completely learnt. Large sheds were erected in
the winter-quarters of the troops, that their useful labours
might not receive any interruption from the most tempestuous
weather; and it was carefully observed, that the arms
destined to this imitation of war, should be of double the
weight which was required in real action. (37) It is not the
purpose of this work to enter into any minute description of
the Roman exercises. We shall only remark, that they
comprehended whatever 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 species of
arms that was used either for offence or for defence, either
in distant engagement or in a closer onset; to form a
variety of evolutions; and to move to the sound of flutes,
in the Pyrrhic or martial dance. (38) In the midst of peace,
the Roman troops familiarised themselves with the practice
of war; and it is prettily remarked by an ancient historian
who had fought against them, that the effusion of blood was
the only circumstance which distinguished a field of battle
from a field of exercise. (39) It was the policy of the
ablest generals, and even of the emperors themselves, to
encourage these military studies by their presence and
example; and we are informed that Hadrian, as well as
Trajan, frequently condescended to instruct the
unexperienced soldiers, to reward the diligent, and
sometimes to dispute with them the prize of superior
strength or dexterity. (40) Under the reigns of those
princes, the science of tactics was cultivated with success;
and as long as the empire retained any vigour, their
military instructions were respected as the most perfect
model of Roman discipline.
The legions under the emperors
Nine centuries of war had gradually introduced into the
service many alterations and improvements. The legions, as
they are described by Polybius, (41) in the time of the
Punic wars, differed very materially from those which
achieved the victories of Caesar, or defended the monarchy
of Hadrian and the Antonines. The constitution of the
Imperial legion may be described in a few words. (42) The
heavy-armed infantry, which composed its principal strength,
(43) was divided into ten cohorts, and fifty-five companies,
under the orders of a correspondent number of tribunes and
centurions. The first cohort, which always claimed the post
of honour and the custody of the eagle, was formed of eleven
hundred and five soldiers, the most approved for valour and
fidelity. The remaining nine cohorts consisted each of five
hundred and fifty-five; and the whole body of legionary
infantry amounted to six thousand one hundred men. Arms Their arms were uniform, and admirably adapted to the nature of their service: an open helmet, with a lofty crest; a
breast-plate, or coat of mail; greaves on their legs, and an
ample buckler on their left arm. The buckler was of an
oblong and concave figure, four feet in length, and two and
an half in breadth, framed of a light wood, covered with a
bull's hide, and strongly guarded with plates of brass.
Besides a lighter spear, the legionary soldier grasped in
his right hand the formidable pilum, a ponderous javelin,
whose utmost length was about six feet, and which was
terminated by a massy triangular point of steel of eighteen
inches. (44) This instrument was indeed much inferior to our modern fire-arms; since it was exhausted by a single discharge, at the distance of only ten or twelve paces. Yet when it was launched by a firm and skilful hand, there was not any cavalry that durst venture within its reach, nor any shield or corslet that could sustain the impetuosity of its weight. As soon as the Roman had darted his pilum he drew his sword, and rushed forwards to close with the enemy. His
sword was a short well-tempered Spanish blade, that carried
a double edge, and was alike suited to the purpose of
striking or of pushing; but the soldier was always
instructed to prefer the latter use of his weapon, as his
own body remained less exposed, whilst he inflicted a more
dangerous wound on his adversary. (45) The legion was
usually drawn up eight deep; and the regular distance of
three feet was left between the files as well as ranks. (46)
A body of troops, habituated to preserve this open order, in
a long front and a rapid charge, found themselves prepared
to execute every disposition which the circumstances of war,
or the skill of their leader, might suggest. The soldier
possessed a free space for his arms and motions, and
sufficient intervals were allowed, through which seasonable
reinforcements might be introduced to the relief of the
exhausted combatants. (47) The tactics of the Greeks and
Macedonians were formed on very different principles. The
strength of the phalanx depended on sixteen ranks of long
pikes, wedged together in the closest array. (48) But it was
soon discovered by reflection, as well by the event, that
the strength of the phalanx was unable to contend with the
activity of the legion. (49)
Cavalry
The cavalry, without which the force of the legion would
have remained imperfect, was divided into ten troops or
squadrons; the first, as the companion of the first cohort,
consisted of an hundred and thirty-two men; whilst each of
the other nine amounted only to sixty-six. The entire
establishment formed a regiment, if we may use the modern
expression, of seven hundred and twenty-six horse, naturally
connected with its respective legion, but occasionally
separated to act in the line, and to compose a part of the
wings of the army. (50) The cavalry of the emperors was no
longer composed, like that of the ancient republic, of the
noblest youths of Rome and Italy, who, by performing their
military service on horseback, prepared themselves for the
offices of senator and consul; and solicited, by deeds of
valour, the future suffrages of their countrymen. (51) Since
the alteration of manners and government, the most wealthy
of the equestrian order were engaged in the administration
of justice, and of the revenue; (52) and whenever they
embraced the profession of arms, they were immediately
intrusted with a troop of horse, or a cohort of foot. (53) Trajan and Hadrian formed their cavalry from the same provinces, and the same class of their subjects, which
recruited the ranks of the legion. The horses were bred, for
the most part, in Spain or Cappadocia. The Roman troopers
despised the complete armour with which the cavalry of the
East was encumbered. Their more useful arms consisted in a
helmet, an oblong shield, light boots, and a coat of mail. A
javelin, and a long broad-sword, were their principal
weapons of offence. The use of lances and of iron maces they
seem to have borrowed from the barbarians. (54)
Auxiliaries
The safety and honour of the empire were principally
intrusted to the legions, but the policy of Rome
condescended to adopt every useful instrument of war.
Considerable levies were regularly made among the
provincials, who had not yet deserved the honourable
distinction of Romans. Many dependent princes and
communities, dispersed round the frontiers, were permitted
for a while, to hold their freedom and security by the
tenure of military service. (55) Even select troops of
hostile barbarians were frequently compelled or persuaded to
consume their dangerous valour in remote climates, and for
the benefit of the state. (56) All these were included under
the general name of auxiliaries; and howsoever they might
vary according to the difference of times and circumstances,
their numbers were seldom much inferior to those of the
legions themselves. (57) Among the auxiliaries, the bravest
and most faithful bands were placed under the command of
praefects and centurions, and severely trained in the arts
of Roman discipline; but the far greater part retained those
arms, to which the nature of their country, or their early
habits of life, more peculiarly adapted them. By this
institution each legion, to whom a certain proportion of
auxiliaries was allotted, contained within itself every
species of lighter troops, and of missile weapons, and was
capable of encountering every nation, with the advantages of
its respective arms and discipline. (58) Nor was the legion
destitute of what, in modern language, would be styled a
Artillery train of artillery. It consisted in ten military engines of the largest, and fifty-five of a smaller size; but all of which, either in an oblique or horizontal manner, discharged stones and darts with irresistible violence. (59)
Encampment
The camp of a Roman legion presented the appearance of a
fortified city. (60) As soon as the space was marked out,
the pioneers carefully levelled the ground, and removed
every impediment that might interrupt its perfect
regularity. Its form was an exact quadrangle; and we may calculate that
a square of about seven hundred yards was sufficient for the
encampment of twenty thousand Romans; though a similar
number of our own troops would expose to the enemy a front
of more than treble that extent. In the midst of the camp,
the praetorium, or general's quarters, rose above the
others; the cavalry, the infantry, and the auxiliaries
occupied their respective stations; the streets were broad
and perfectly straight, and a vacant space of two hundred
feet was left on all sides, between the tents and the
rampart. The rampart itself was usually twelve feet high,
armed with a line of strong and intricate palisades, and
defended by a ditch of twelve feet in depth as well as in
breadth. This important labour was performed by the hands of
the legionaries themselves, to whom the use of the spade and
the pick-axe was no less familiar than that of the sword or
pilum. Active valour may often be the present of nature; but
such patient diligence can be the fruit only of habit and
discipline. (61)
March
Whenever the trumpet gave the signal of departure, the camp
was almost instantly broke up, and the troops fell into
their ranks without delay or confusion. Besides their arms,
which the legionaries scarcely considered as an encumbrance,
they were laden with their kitchen furniture, the
instruments of fortification, and the provision of many
days. (62) Under this weight, which would oppress the
delicacy of a modern soldier, they were trained by a regular
step to advance, in about six hours, near twenty miles. (63)
On the appearance of an enemy, they threw aside their
baggage, and by easy and rapid evolutions converted the
column of march into an order of battle. (64) The slingers
and archers skirmished in the front; the auxiliaries formed
the first line, and were seconded or sustained by the
strength of the legions: the cavalry covered the flanks, and
the military engines were placed in the rear.
Number and disposition of the legions
Such were the arts of war by which the Roman emperors
defended their extensive conquests, and preserved a military
spirit, at a time when every other virtue was oppressed by
luxury and despotism. If, in the consideration of their
armies, we pass from their discipline to their numbers, we
shall not find it easy to define them with any tolerable
accuracy. We may computes however, that the legion, which
was itself a body of six thousand eight hundred and thirty
one Romans, might, with its attendant auxiliaries amount to
about twelve thousand five hundred men. The peace
establishment of Hadrian and his successors was composed of
no less than thirty of these formidable brigades; and most
probably formed a standing force of three hundred and
seventy-five thousand men. Instead of being confined within
the walls of fortified cities, which the Romans considered
as the refuge of weakness or pusillanimity, the legions were
encamped on the banks of the great rivers, and along the
frontiers of the barbarians. As their stations, for the most
part, remained fixed and permanent, we may venture to
describe the distribution of the troops. Three legions were
sufficient for Britain. The principal strength lay upon the
Rhine and Danube, and consisted of sixteen legions, in the
following proportions: two in the Lower and three in the
Upper Germany; one in Rhaetia, one in Noricum, four in
Pannonia, three in Maesia, and two in Dacia. The defence of
the Euphrates was entrusted to eight legions, six of whom
were planted in Syria, and the other two in Cappadocia. With
regard to Egypt, Africa, and Spain, as they were far removed
from any important scene of war, a single legion maintained
the domestic tranquillity of each of those great provinces.
Even Italy was not left destitute of a military force. Above
twenty thousand chosen soldiers, distinguished by the titles
of City Cohorts and Praetorian Guards, watched over the
safety of the monarch and the capital. As the authors of
almost every revolution that distracted the empire, the
Praetorians will, very soon, and very loudly, demand our
attention; but in their arms and institution, we cannot find
any circumstance which discriminated them from the legions,
unless it were a more splendid appearance, and a less rigid
discipline. (65)
Navy
The navy maintained by the emperors might seem inadequate to
their greatness; but it was fully sufficient for every
useful purpose of government. The ambition of the Romans was
confined to the land; nor was that warlike people ever
actuated by the enterprising spirit which had prompted the
navigators of Tyre, of Carthage, and even of Marseilles, to
enlarge the bounds of the world, and to explore the most
remote coasts of the ocean. To the Romans the ocean remained
an object of terror rather than of curiosity; (66) the whole extent of the Mediterranean, after the destruction of Carthage, and the extirpation of the pirates, was included within their provinces. The policy of the emperors was directed only to preserve the peaceful dominion of that sea, and to protect the commerce of their subjects. With these moderate views, Augustus stationed two permanent fleets in the most convenient ports of Italy, the one at Ravenna, on the Adriatic, the other at Misenum, in the bay of Naples. Experience seems at length to have convinced the ancients, that as soon as their galleys exceeded two, or at the most three ranks of oars, they were suited rather for vain pomp than for real service. Augustus himself, in the victory of Actium, had seen the superiority of his own light frigates (they were called Liburnians) over the lofty but unwieldy castles of his rivals. (67) Of these Liburnians he composed the two fleets of Ravenna and Misenum, destined to command, the one the eastern, the other the western division of the Mediterranean; and to each of the squadrons he attached a body of several thousand marines. Besides these two ports, which may be considered as the principal seats of the Roman
navy, a very considerable force was stationed at Frejus, on
the coast of Provence, and the Euxine was guarded by forty
ships, and three thousand soldiers. To all these we add the
fleet which preserved the communication between Gaul and
Britain, and a great number of vessels constantly maintained
on the Rhine and Danube, to harass the country, or to
intercept the passage of the barbarians. (68) If we review
Amount of the whole establishment
this general state of the Imperial forces; of the cavalry as
well as infantry; of the legions, the auxiliaries, the guards, and the navy; the most liberal computation will not allow us to fix the entire establishment by sea and by land at more than four hundred and fifty thousand men- a military power, which, however, formidable it may seem, was equalled by a monarch of the last century, whose kingdom was confined
within a single province of the Roman empire. (69)
View of the provinces of the Roman empire
We have attempted to explain the spirit which moderated, and
the strength which supported, the power of Hadrian and the
Antonines. We shall now endeavour, with clearness and
precision, to describe the provinces once united under their
sway, but, at present, divided into so many independent and
hostile estates.
Spain
Spain, the western extremity of the empire of Europe, and of
the ancient world, has, in every age, invariably preserved
the same natural limits; the Pyrenaean mountains, the
Mediterranean, and the Atlantic Ocean. That great peninsula,
at present so unequally divided between two sovereigns, was
distributed by Augustus into three provinces, Lusitania,
Baetica, and Tarraconensis. The kingdom of Portugal now
fills the place of the warlike country of the Lusitanians;
and the loss sustained by the former, on the side of the
East is compensated by an accession of territory towards the
North. The confines of Grenada and Andalusia correspond with
those of ancient Baetica. The remainder of Spain, Gallicia
and the Asturias, Biscay and Navarre, Leon and the two
Castilles, Murcia, Valencia, Catalonia, and Arragon, all
contributed to form the third and most considerable of the
Roman governments, which, from the name of its capital, was
styled the province of Tarragona. (70) Of the native
barbarians, the Celtiberians were the most powerful, as the
Cantabrians and Asturians proved the most obstinate.
Confident in the strength of their mountains, they were the
last who submitted to the arms of Rome, and the first who
threw off the yoke of the Arabs.
Gaul
Ancient Gaul, as it contained the whole country between the
Pyrenees, the Alps, the Rhine, and the Ocean, was of greater
extent than modern France. To the dominions of that powerful
monarchy, with its recent acquisitions of Alsace and
Lorraine, we must add the duchy of Savoy, the cantons of
Switzerland, the four electorates of the Rhine, and the
territories of Liege, Luxemburg, Hainault, Flanders, and
Brabant. When Augustus gave laws to the conquests of his
father, he introduced a division of Gaul equally adapted to
the progress of the legions, to the course of the rivers,
and to the principal national distinctions, which had
comprehended above an hundred independent states. (71) The
seacoast of the Mediterranean, Languedoc, Provence, and
Dauphine, received their provincial appellation from the
colony of Narbonne. The government of Aquitaine was extended
from the Pyrenees to the Loire. The country between the
Loire and the Seine was styled the Celtic Gaul, and soon
borrowed a new denomination from the celebrated colony of
Lugdunum, or Lyons. The Belgic lay beyond the Seine, and in
more ancient times had been bounded only by the Rhine; but a
little before the age of Caesar the Germans, abusing their
superiority of valour, had occupied a considerable portion
of the Belgic territory. The Roman conquerors very eagerly
embraced so flattering a circumstance, and the Gallic
frontier of the Rhine, from Basil to Leyden, received the
pompous names of the Upper and the Lower Germany. (72) Such,
under the reign of the Antonines, were the six provinces of
Gaul - the Narbonnese, Aquitaine, the Celtic, or Lyonnese,
the Belgic, and the two Germanies.
Britain
We have already had occasion to mention the conquest of
Britain, and to fix the boundary of the Roman province in
this island. It comprehended all England, Wales, and the
Lowlands of Scotland, as far as Dumbarton and Edinburgh.
Before Britain lost her freedom, the country was irregularly
divided between thirty tribes of barbarians, of whom the
most considerable were the Belgae in the West, the Brigantes
in the North, the Silures in South Wales, and the Iceni in
Norfolk and Suffolk. (73) As far as we can either trace or
credit the resemblance of manners and language, Spain, Gaul,
and Britain were peopled by the same hardy race of savages.
Before they yielded to the Roman arms, they often disputed
the field, and often renewed the contest. After their
submission they constituted the western division of the
European provinces, which extended from the columns of
Hercules to the wall of Antoninus and from the mouth of the
Tagus to the sources of the Rhine and Danube.
Italy
Before the Roman conquest, the country which is now called
Lombardy was not considered as a part of Italy. It had been
occupied by a powerful colony of Gauls, who settling
themselves along the banks of the Po, from Piedmont to
Romagna, carried their arms and diffused their names from
the Alps to the Apennine. The Ligurians dwelt on the rocky
coast, which now forms the republic of Genoa. Venice was yet
unborn; but the territories of that state, which lie to the
east of the Adige, were inhabited by the Venetians. (74) The
middle part of the peninsula that now composes the duchy of
Tuscany and the ecclesiastical state, was the ancient seat
of the Estruscans and Umbrians to the former of whom Italy
was indebted for the first rudiments of civilised life. (75) The Tiber rolled at the foot of the seven hills of Rome, and
the country of the Sabines, the Latins, and the Volsci, from
that river to the frontiers of Naples, was the theatre of
her infant victories. On that celebrated ground the first
consuls deserved triumphs; their successors adorned villas,
and their posterity have erected convents. (76) Capua and
Campania possessed the immediate territory of Naples; the
rest of the kingdom was inhabited by many warlike nations,
the Marsi, the Samnites, the Apulians, and the Lucanians;
and the sea coasts had been covered by the flourishing
colonies of the Greeks. We may remark, that when Augustus
divided Italy into eleven regions, the little province of
Istria was annexed to that seat of Roman sovereignty. (77)
The Danube and Illyrian frontier
The European provinces of Rome were protected by the course
of the Rhine and the Danube. The latter of those mighty
streams, which rises at the distance of only thirty miles
from the former, flows above thirteen hundred miles, for the
most part, to the south-east, collects the tribute of sixty
navigable rivers, and is, at length, through six mouths,
received into the Euxine, which appears scarcely equal to
such an accession of waters. (78) The provinces of the
Danube soon acquired the general appellation of lllyricum,
or the Illyrian frontier, (79) and were esteemed the most
warlike of the empire; but they deserve to be more
particularly considered under the names of Rhaetia, Noricum,
Pannonia, Dalmatia, Dacia, Maesia, Thrace, Macedonia, and
Greece.
Rhaetia
The province of Rhaetia, which soon extinguished the name of
the Vindelicians, extended from the summit of the Alps to
the banks of the Danube; from its source, as far as its
conflux with the Inn. The greatest part of the flat country
is subject to the elector of Bavaria; the city of Augsburg
is protected by the constitution of the German empire; the
Grisons are safe in their mountains, and the country of
Tyrol is ranked among the numerous provinces of the house of
Austria.
Noricum and Pannonia
The wide extent of territory, which is included between the
Inn, the Danube, and the Save; Austria, Styria, Carinthia,
Carniola, the Lower Hungary, and Sclavonia, was known to the
ancients under the names of Noricum and Pannonia. In their
original state of independence, their fierce inhabitants
were intimately connected. Under the Roman government they
were frequently united, and they still remain the patrimony
of a single family. They now contain the residence of a
German prince, who styles himself Emperor of the Romans, and
form the centre, as well as strength, of the Austrian power.
It may not be improper to observe, that if we except
Bohemia, Moravia, the northern skirts of Austria, and a part
of Hungary, between the Theiss and the Danube, all the other
dominions of the House of Austria were comprised within the
limits of the Roman empire.
Dalmatia
Dalmatia, to which the name of Illyricum more properly
belonged, was a long but narrow tract between the Save and
the Adriatic. The best part of the sea-coast, which still
retains its ancient appellation, is a province of the
Venetian state, and the seat of the little republic of
Ragusa. The inland parts have assumed the Sclavonian names
of Croatia and Bosnia; the former obeys an Austrian
governor, the latter a Turkish pasha; but the whole country
is still infested by tribes of barbarians, whose savage
independence irregularly marks the doubtful limit of the
Christian and Mahometan power. (80)
Moesia and Dacia
After the Danube had received the waters of the Theiss and
the Save, it acquired, at least among the Greeks, the name
of Ister. (81) It formerly divided Maesia and Dacia, the
latter of which, as we have already seen, was a conquest of
Trajan, and the only province beyond the river. If we
inquire into the present state of those countries, we shall
find that, on the left hand of the Danube, Temeswar and
Transylvania have been annexed, after many revolutions, to
the crown of Hungary; whilst the principalities of Moldavia
and Wallachia acknowledge the supremacy of the Ottoman
Porte. On the right hand of the Danube, Maesia, which,
during the middle ages, was broken into the barbarian
kingdoms of Servia and Bulgaria, is again united in Turkish
slavery.
Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece
The appellation of Roumelia, which is still bestowed by the
Turks on the extensive countries of Thrace, Macedonia, and
Greece, preserves the memory of their ancient state under
the Roman empire. In the time of the Antonines, the martial
regions of Thrace, from the mountains of Haemus and Rhodope,
to the Bosphorus and the Hellespont, had assumed the form of
a province. Notwithstanding the change of masters and of
religion, the new city of Rome, founded by Constantine on
the banks of the Bosphorus, has ever since remained the
capital of a great monarchy. The kingdom of Macedonia,
which, under the reign of Alexander, gave laws to Asia,
derived more solid advantages from the policy of the two
Philips; and with its dependencies of Epirus and Thessaly,
extended from the Aegean to the Ionian Sea. When we reflect
on the fame of Thebes and Argos, of Sparta and Athens, we
can scarcely persuade ourselves that so many immortal
republics of ancient Greece were lost in a single province
of the Roman empire, which, from the superior influence of
the Achaean league, was usually denominated the province of
Achaia.
Asia Minor
Such was the state of Europe under the Roman emperors. The
provinces of Asia, without excepting the transient conquests
of Trajan, are all comprehended within the limits of the
Turkish power. But, instead of following the arbitrary
divisions of despotism and ignorance, it will be safer for
us, as well as more agreeable, to observe the indelible
characters of nature. The name of Asia Minor is attributed
with some propriety to the peninsula, which, confined
betwixt the Euxine and the Mediterranean, advances from the
Euphrates towards Europe. The most extensive and flourishing
district, westward of Mount Taurus and the river Halys, was
dignified by the Romans with the exclusive title of Asia.
The jurisdiction of that province extended over the ancient
monarchies of Troy, Lydia, and Phrygia, the maritime
countries of the Pamphylians, Lycians, and Carians, and the
Grecian colonies of Ionia, which equalled in arts, though
not in arms, the glory of their parent. The kingdoms of
Bithynia and Pontus possessed the northern side of the
peninsula from Constantinople to Trebizond. On the opposite
side, the province of Cilicia was terminated by the
mountains of Syria: the inland country, separated from the
Roman Asia by the river Halys, and from Armenia by the
Euphrates, had once formed the independent kingdom of
Cappadocia. In this place we may observe that the northern
shores of the Euxine, beyond Trebizond in Asia, and beyond
the Danube in Europe, acknowledged the sovereignty of the
emperors, and received at their hands either tributary
princes or Roman garrisons. Budzak, Crim Tartary, Circassia,
and Mingrelia, are the modern appellations of those savage
countries. (82)
Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine
Under the successors of Alexander, Syria was the seat of the
Seleucidae, who reigned over Upper Asia, till the successful
revolt of the Parthians confined their dominions between the
Euphrates and the Mediterranean. When Syria became subject
to the Romans, it formed the eastern frontier of their
empire; nor did that province, in its utmost latitude, know
any other bounds than the mountains of Cappadocia to the
north, and towards the south the confines of Egypt, and the
Red Sea. Phoenicia and Palestine were sometimes annexed to,
and sometimes separated from, the jurisdiction of Syria. The
former of these was a narrow and rocky coast; the latter was
a territory scarcely superior to Wales, either in fertility
or extent. Yet Phoenicia and Palestine will for ever live in
the memory of mankind; since America, as well as Europe, has
received letters from the one, and religion from the other.
(83) A sandy desert alike destitute of wood and water skirts along the doubtful confine of Syria, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. The wandering life of the Arabs was inseparably
connected with their independence; and wherever, on some
spots less barren than the rest, they ventured to form any
settled habitation, they soon became subjects to the Roman
empire. (84)
Egypt
The geographers of antiquity have frequently hesitated to
what portion of the globe they should ascribe Egypt. (85) By
its situation that celebrated kingdom is included within the
immense peninsula of Africa; but it is accessible only on
the side of Asia, whose revolutions, in almost every period
of history, Egypt has humbly obeyed. A Roman praefect was
seated on the splendid throne of the Ptolemies; and the iron
sceptre of the Mamalukes is now in the hands of a Turkish
pasha. The Nile flows down the country, above five hundred
miles from the tropic of Cancer to the Mediterranean, and
marks, on either side, the extent of fertility by the
measure of its inundations. Cyrene, situate towards the
west, and along the sea-coast, was first a Greek colony,
afterwards a province of Egypt, and is now lost in the
desert of Barca.
Africa
From Cyrene to the ocean, the coast of Africa extends above
fifteen hundred miles; yet so closely is it pressed between
the Mediterranean and the Sahara, or sandy desert, that its
breadth seldom exceeds fourscore or an hundred miles. The
eastern division was considered by the Romans as the more
peculiar and proper province of Africa. Till the arrival of
the Phoenician colonies, that fertile country was inhabited
by the Libyans, the most savage of mankind. Under the
immediate jurisdiction of Carthage, it became the centre of
commerce and empire; but the republic of Carthage is now
degenerated into the feeble and disorderly states of Tripoli
and Tunis. The military government of Algiers oppresses the
wide extent of Numidia, as it was once united under
Massinissa and Jugurtha: but in the time of Augustus, the
limits of Numidia were contracted; and, at least, two-thirds
of the country acquiesced in the name of Mauritania, with
the epithet of Caesariensis. The genuine Mauritania, or
country of the Moors, which, from the ancient city of Tingi,
or Tangier, was distinguished by the appellation of
Tingitana, is represented by the modern kingdom of Fez.
Salle, on the Ocean, long infamous for its piratical
depredations, was noticed by the Romans, as the extreme
object of their power, and almost of their geography. A city
of their foundation may still be discovered near Mequinez,
the residence of the barbarian whom we condescend to style
the Emperor of Morocco; but it does not appear that his more
southern dominions, Morocco itself, and Segelmessa, were
ever comprehended within the Roman province. The western
parts of Africa are intersected by the branches of Mount
Atlas, a name so idly celebrated by the fancy of poets;(86)
but which is now diffused over the immense ocean that rolls
between the ancient and the new continent. (87)
The Mediterranean with its islands
Having now finished the circuit of the Roman empire, we may
observe, that Africa is divided from Spain by a narrow
strait of about twelve miles, through which the Atlantic
flows into the Mediterranean. The columns of Hercules, so
famous among the ancients, were two mountains which seemed
to have been torn asunder by some convulsion of the
elements; and at the foot of the European mountain the
fortress of Gibraltar is now seated. The whole extent of the
Mediterranean Sea, its coasts, and its islands, were
comprised within the Roman dominion. Of the larger islands,
the two Baleares, which derive their name of Majorca and
Minorca from their respective size, are subject at present,
the former to Spain, the latter to Great Britain. It is
easier to deplore the fate, than to describe the actual
condition, of Corsica. Two Italian sovereigns assume a regal
title from Sardinia and Sicily. Crete, or Candia, with
Cyprus, and most of the smaller islands of Greece and Asia,
have been subdued by the Turkish arms; whilst the little
rock of Malta defies their power, and has emerged, under the
government of its military Order, into fame and opulence.
General idea of the Roman empire
This long enumeration of provinces, whose broken fragments
have formed so many powerful kingdoms, might almost induce
us to forgive the vanity or ignorance of the ancients.
Dazzled with the extensive sway, the irresistible strength,
and the real or affected moderation of the emperors, they
permitted themselves to despise, and sometimes to forget,
the outlying countries which had been left in the enjoyment
of a barbarous independence; and they gradually usurped the
licence of confounding the Roman monarchy with the globe of
the earth. (88) But the temper, as well as knowledge, of a
modern historian requires a more sober and accurate
language. He may impress a juster image of the greatness of
Rome, by observing that the empire was above two thousand
miles in breadth, from the wall of Antoninus and the
northern limits of Dacia, to mount Atlas and the tropic of
Cancer; that it extended, in length, more than three
thousand miles from the Western Ocean to the Euphrates; that
it was situated in the finest part of the Temperate Zone,
between the twenty-fourth and fifty-sixth degrees of
northern latitude; and that it was supposed to contain above
sixteen hundred thousand square miles, for the most part of
fertile and well-cultivated land. (89)
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