98
THE DECLINE AND FALL
CHAP.
III.
Is prevail-ed upon toresume it,under thetitle of em-peror orgeneral.
“ forbad him to abandon her to a degenerate“ Roman, and a barbarian queen. He was now“ at liberty to satisfy his duty and his inclina-“ tion. He solemnly restored the senate and peo-“ pie to all their ancient rights; and wished only“ to mingle with the crowd of his fellow citi-“ zens, and to share the blessings which he had“ obtained for his country .” 11
It would require the pen of Tacitus (if Taci-tus had assisted at this assembly) to describethe various emotions of the senate; those thatwere suppressed, and those that were affected.It was dangerous to trust the sincerity of Augus-tus ; to seem to distrust it was still more danger-ous. The respective advantages of monarchyand a republic have often divided speculativeinquirers; the present greatness of the Romanstate, the corruption of manners, and the licenceof the soldiers, supplied new arguments to theadvocates of monarchy; and these general viewsof government were again warped by the hopesand fears of each individual. Amidst this con-fusion of sentiments, the answer of the senatewas unanimous and decisive. They refused toacceptthe resignation of Augustus ; they conjur-ed him not to desert the republic which he hadsaved. After a decent resistance, the crafty ty-rant submitted to the orders of the senate, andconsented to receive the government of the pro-