felt the lash of his tyrranny; and I think it may be said of him that no man ever directed a thoroughly bad principle so, well as Tiberius Cæsar. His powers of foresight seem to have been extraordinary. You remember, no doubt, the anecdote of his placing his hand on Galba's head, and saying: Thou too, Galba, shalt have a smack of the empire! He appears to have delighted in solving alone in his aerial mansions, the most difficult political problems; and we must do him this justice, that he was anxious to preserve the empire in peace; though it is pretty certain that war would have tended to consolidate his power.* The blow which he levelled at the interest and fortunes of Germanicus, was perhaps the most daring stroke of policy recorded in history; and though we of course side with the latter, we cannot resist from being struck with the talents which Tiberius displayed on the occasion. For Germanicus, by his birth, services, good conduct, and esteem with the army, had completely secured the tide of popular favour; while the emperor, by a dismal fatality, to use Milton's words applied to him, was always hated of all and hating. It is pretty evident to those who read the Annals with attention, that as Germanicus stood so high, a crisis one way or the other was scarcely avoidable; especially as the empire, notwithstanding the dexterous policy of Augustus, stood but on precarious foundations; and seems rather to have depended on the reigning favourite with the army, than on the newestablished hereditary pretensions and right. There is one point in which it is difficult not to side with him. I allude to that political capo d' opera, the crushing of Sejanus, who owed his rise and fortune solely to Tiberius; and who repaid him with contriving his ruin. But the invisible hand of the recluse of Capri sawed away the timbers which supported the superstructure of the presumptuous minister's anibition, and. which he had raised with such fond expectations-down it fell with a crash that resounded from Caledonia to the Garamantesdown with it Elius Sejanus-a grin was heard from the Villa Jovis-the wretch had just sufficient time to stare at his own ruin. Of the monuments of this singular man, the most esteemed is the Tiberius velatus of the Vatican: where there is also a sitting statue of him lately found at Privernum, a small town in the Apennines; there is a good bust in the Campidoglio; and a colossal one in the Studii at Naples. But the most expressive is, Lætiore Tiberio, quia pacem sapientiâ firmaverat, quàm si bellum per acies confecisset. Annal. II. > I think, a bronze of Herculaneum. I have seen him represented in England like a gross butcher; but his features in this bust are by no means coarse. Nose pointed; mouth finely formed; eyes instantaneous, prominent, and as if they would penetrate the inmost recesses of your soul; ears erect, as if pricked by the slightest noise. Over the whole cast of countenance, there is a devonat awwnxoides. Such was Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero. To describe his features may be no difficult task; but to paint the inner man, the powers of a Tacitus seem scarcely competent. Augustus, a far more interesting personage than his successor, visited Capri at the close of his life, as we learn from Suetonius. Before taking leave of the island, let us follow this illustrious man at the termination of his eventful career. Finding his constitution shattered, he returned some legal cases which had been submitted for his inspection, to the law-officers, observing se nunquam posthac Romæ futurum. Accompanied by some chosen friends, he went to Astura, where he was somewhat recruited by change of air. Coasting the shores of Campania, he arrived at Baiæ, where he took shipping for Capri. As he crossed the Puteolan bay, he was met by the crew of an Alexandrian vessel, who, dressed in white, aud crowned with chaplets, burnt frankincense before him; "se per illum vivere, se per illum navigare jurantes ;" a ceremony, which appears to have exhilarated the dying emperor, who distributed a sum of money among his followers, enjoining them to spend it in the purchase of the Alexandrian merchandize. At Capri, we find him attending the gymnastic exercises of the island; "remisissimo ad otium, et omnem comitatem animo." Being at supper with Tiberius, he saw some of his attendants celebrating by torch-light the funeral of Masgabas, one of his courtiers, in a neighbouring island; apud vicinam Capreis insulam; which the emperor joking called Apragopolis, or the city of the idlers. It is not easy to discover the island here alluded to; for Ischia, Procida, or Nesita, seem, either of them, too remote to correspond with the words of Suetonius. We are left to conjecture, or that the biographer expressed himself ill; or that the convulsions to which the neighbourhood of Naples is so liable, must have occasioned the disappearance of the isle, and its imperial capital, the city of the idlers. We had been forty hours among the rocks of Capri; and having gratified our curiosity with the ruins of the Tiberian villas, embarked on a delicious evening for-Neapolis; I had almost written Apragopolis. Vesuvius was in activity, and, discharged frequent and loud explosions. But it is time to bring this letter to a close, for I see you exclaiming with Juvenal: Ohe, jam satis! verbosa et grandis epistola venit à Capreis. POSTSCRIPT. ON recurring to the architectural lucubration of the first pages of this work, it may be questioned whether or no I have gained sufficient height for my building. If not, the remedy is simple: for five rows of columns eastward, read four; for nine rows of columns westward, read eight; and for five rows of columns northward and southward, read four. Which alteration will reduce the length in either direction nearly one hundred feet. Further consideration indeed suggests that these proportions would be preferable. INDEX TO VOL. IV. Page ABBATE, Capodièci, a distinguished Scholar of Syracuse Aborigines, Account of them, Abruzzors, the, greatly infested with the reptile and insect Achradina, Great Quarry of --, Catacomb of Acroceraunia, or the Mountainous region of Chimara conduct Ancient walls and tombs of Aiducs and Uscocs, public robbers Alicouli, Convent of Dervises at, the richest in all Thessaly Biography of Anecdote of the Author's second visit to him; description of his person his deceitful conduct to the Author Ambassadors, ceremony of the reception of, at the Seraglio Amicable arrangement with the Bishop and People of Amusements of the Montenegrins Montenegro Gourbillon 62 Argyro-Castro, Topography of a Christian Town in warfare with Aly Argyrians, Valley of Citizens of, escape the ravages of war from the celebrity of their Town Interesting inscriptions found at Theatre of, and grotesque account of the performers Artists, the modern preferred to the ancient Artisans of Constantinople Bæbeis Lake BACK-WOOD's settler, Deplorable situation of a family of a Schoolcraft $9 Barmachi, a Canlonian Village Baron de Tott, French Palace of, at Pera Basilica, or Imperial cistern Battle of Cynoscephala, between Philip of Macedon and Flaminius Baths of Ortygia Bayram, Festivals of Bazaars Beavers, Sagacity of, and description of their habits, &c. Bidenum, or Bidis, Ruins of the ancient City of Biography of the Governor of Montenegro Bird, Description of an unknown and most extraordinary Black Sea, Channel of, and the Ganea Bogotzico, Village of, the inhabitants all masons Gourbillon 86 Sommiere 22 Ibid 10 |