Here we pause to
remark, that the first twelve Caesars, together with Nerva, Trajan,
Hadrian, and the two Antonines, making seventeen emperors, compose the
first of four nearly equal groups, who occupied the throne in succession
until the extinction of the Western Empire. And at this point be it
observed,--that is, at the termination of the first group,--we take leave
of all genuine virtue. In no one of the succeeding princes, if we except
Alexander Severus, do we meet with any goodness of heart, or even
amiableness of manners. The best of the future emperors, in a public
sense, were harsh and repulsive in private character.
The second group, as we have classed them, terminating with Philip the
Arab, commences with Commodus. This unworthy prince, although the son of
the excellent Marcus Antoninus, turned out a monster of debauchery. At the
moment of his father's death, he was present in person at the head-
quarters of the army on the Danube, and of necessity partook in many of
their hardships. This it was which furnished his evil counsellors with
their sole argument for urging his departure to the capital.
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