barbarous victors, by the fplendid pageants that fucceeded, which confifted of four hundred crowns of gold, that had been presented to Æmilius by the cities of Greece and Afia Minor, as tokens of their fubmiffion to his arms, or veneration of his virtues. The magnificent triumphal car of that conqueror fucceeded, on which he fate exalted in a robe of purple interwoven with gold; his brows crowned with a chaplet of laurel, intermixed with gold leaves, holding in his hands a branch of that tree. The proceffion was closed by the whole of his numerous army, who marched after the chariot of their general, waving on high branches of laurel, and rending the air with fongs of triumph and shouts of victory.*

This fupply, as we have hinted, glutted for the present the avarice of Rome; but with her luxuries increased her neceffities, and the thirft of plunder, not lefs than the love of glory, henceforth, ftimulated her generals to thofe daring enterprizes which finally made Rome, in her turn, the miftrefs of the world. The wealth of ruined Carthage, and, in con

*Plutarch in Vita Emilii.

fequence,

fequence, the undisturbed poffeffion of the Spanish mines fwelled her treasury with exhaustless stores. The two Scipios, denominated from their conquefts Afiaticus and Africanus, poured in upon them, in a full ftream, the accumulated treasures of those respective regions; the former, after the conqueft of Antiochus, paid into that treasury bis millies, which Arbuthnot ftates to be in fterling money fixteen hundred thousand and odd pounds; but this is a trifling fum compared with the vast mass of treasure brought in by Cæfar, who, Plutarch affures us, after his extenfive conquefts, added to her stock, at once, fixty-five thousand talents, above twelve millions and a half English.†

A still more magnificent idea may be formed of the treasure annually drawn by Rome from her Eastern conquefts, from what we read in Plutarch, that Anthony made Afia pay, at once, ten years tribute, amounting to twenty myriads of talents, or £38,750,000; the tenth of which is £3,875,000, and therefore gives us the exact tribute for one year.

T

1

* Arbuthnot on the Revenues of Rome, p. 191.

+ Plutarch in Vita Cæf.

VOL. VII.

M

The

The effect of the introduction of so much wealth into the capital, was an unbounded licentiousness in its inhabitants; who, in their magnificent entertainments and fumptuous mode of living, far surpassed the princes of Afia itself; for, we foon after find them fleeping on beds of gold and ivory, quaffing the rich wines of Chios and Falernuus out of gold and filver goblets, and riding in carriages fhining all over with those bright and precious metals. To fupply this unlimited extravagance, the governors of these provinces, whence they were principally obtained, as we learn from Cicero against Verres, committed the most unheardof extortions; while the moft shameless corruption pervaded every department of the state, and the most infamous crimes polluted the whole body of the citizens. Indeed, how was it poffible for the stream to be pure when the fountain itself was fo deeply contaminated? When we find a Vitellius conLuming between feven and eight millions a year on entertainments, and a Caligula expending above eighty thousand pounds fterling on a fupper, we cannot wonder at the tragedian Clodius Efopus lavishing on one luxurious

luxurious difh 600 feftertia, £4,843 10s.* or the young spendthrift, his fon, treating each of his guests, after dinner, with a superb cordial, in which a costly pearl had been diffolved.+ The wealth of Craffus was proverbially great, and amounted to £1,614,583 6s. 8d.; but far greater was that of Pallas, the freed man of Claudius, for it was valued at £2,421,875; but both were exceeded by that of Lentulus, the augur, who was worth quater millies, or £3,229,166 135. 4d.

Even poets and philofophers, in those golden days, amaffed vast fortunes; for Seneca, in four years, acquired ter millies, £2,421,875; and, according to Servius, in the life of Virgil, that poet was worth centies H. S. or £80,729 3s. 4d. This sum, however, though great for a poet, was not thought sufficient to support existence by a pampered Roman fenator, fince the famous Apicius, after spending in culinary delicacies millies H. S. or £807,291 13s. 4d. and squandering, besides, the amount of immense grants and pensions, on cafting up his accounts, finding he had only this exact fum remain

Pliny, lib. x. cap. 60.

M 2

+ Ibid. lib. xxxv, cap. 12. ing,

ing, poisoned himself, that he might not perish by the feverer pangs of famine.

In their drefs and furniture they were equally expenfive; for Lollia Paulina, the great beauty of Rome in the time of Caligula, and on that account compulfively advanced to his bed, when full-dreft, conftantly wore jewels of the value of £322,916 135. 4d. and the price for rich Babylonian triclinaria, coverlids, or carpets for their dining-beds, was £6,458 6s. 8d. Nor could their houses themselves be of mean fabric or decoration; fince that of Craffus was valued at Jexagies, H. S. or £48,437 10s. while that of Clodius coft centies et quadragies octies, or £119,479 5s. 4d.* Those houses were externally cafed with marble, and had marble pillars to fupport the lofty ceilings; they were internally decorated with rich tapestry; with coftly hangings of Tyrian purple; with urns and ftatues exquifitely fculptured and polifhed, and paintings of the most beautiful defign and brilliant colours; fountains of variegated marble played in their cœnacula, or great banquetting-rooms, cooling the air

#

Pliny, lib. xxxvi. cap. 15.

and