From the days of Marius, every great leader had
sacrificed to the necessities of courting favor from the troops, as much
as was possible of the hardships incident to actual service, and as much
as he dared of the once rigorous discipline. Hadrian first found himself
in circumstances, or was the first who had courage enough to decline a
momentary interest in favor of a greater in reversion; and a personal
object which was transient, in favor of a state one continually revolving.
For a prince, with no children of his own, it is in any case a task of
peculiar delicacy to select a successor. In the Roman empire the
difficulties were much aggravated. The interests of the State were, in the
first place, to be consulted; for a mighty burthen of responsibility
rested upon the emperor in the most personal sense. Duties of every kind
fell to his station, which, from the peculiar constitution of the
government, and from circumstances rooted in the very origin of the
imperatorial office, could not be devolved upon a council. Council there
was none, nor could be recognised as such in the State machinery.
Pages:
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183