] emperors left Rome, and crossed the Alps; the war was thrown back
upon its native seats--Austria and the modern Hungary: great battles were
fought and won; and peace, with consequent relief and restoration to
liberty, was reconquered for many friendly nations, who had suffered under
the ravages of the Marcomanni, the Sarmatians, the Quadi, and the Vandals;
whilst some of the hostile people were nearly obliterated from the map,
and their names blotted out from the memory of men.
Since the days of Gaul as an independent power, no war had so much alarmed
the people of Rome; and their fear was justified by the difficulties and
prodigious efforts which accompanied its suppression. The public treasury
was exhausted; loans were an engine of fiscal policy, not then understood
or perhaps practicable; and great distress was at hand for the State. In
these circumstances, Marcus adopted a wise (though it was then esteemed a
violent or desperate) remedy. Time and excessive luxury had accumulated in
the imperial palaces and villas vast repositories of apparel, furniture,
jewels, pictures, and household utensils, valuable alike for the materials
and the workmanship.
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