Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/429

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 405 to Rome; and the senate, as well as the provinces, CHAR congratulated the accession of the sons of Cams. ' These fortunate youths were strangers, however, to that conscious superiority, either of birth or of merit, which can alone render the possession of a throne easy, and as it were natural. Born and educated in a pri- vate station, the election of their father raised them at once to the rank of princes ; and his death, which hap- pened about sixteen months afterwards, left them the unexpected legacy of a vast empire. To sustain with temper this rapid elevation, an uncommon share of virtue and prudence was requisite; and Carinus, the elder of the brothers, was more than commonly defi- cient in those qualities. In the Gallic war, he dis- covered some degree of personal courage ^ ; but from the moment of his arrival at Rome, he abandoned him- self to the luxury of the capital, and to the abuse of his fortune. He was soft, yet cruel ; devoted to plea- sure, but destitute of taste ; and though exquisitely susceptible of vanity, indifferent to the public esteem. In the course of a few months, he successively married and divorced nine wives, most of whom he left preg- nant; and notwithstanding this legal inconstancy, found time to indulge such a variety of irregular appetites, as brought dishonour on himself and on the noblest houses of Rome. He beheld with inveterate hatred all those who might remember his former obscurity, or censure his present conduct. He banished, or put to death, the friends and counsellors whom his father had placed about him, to guide his inexperienced youth ; and he persecuted with the meanest revenge his schoolfellows and companions, who had not sufficiently respected the latent majesty of the emperor. With the senators, Carinus affected a lofty and regal demeanour, fre- quently declaring, that he designed to distribute their estates among the populace of Rome. From the dregs of that populace, he selected his favourites, and even his ministers. The palace, and even the imperial ' Nemesian. Cynegeticon, v. 69. He was a contemporary, but a poet.