OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

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apprehension of his enemies. The object of hisdispleasure, escaping from the narrow limits ofhis dominions, would easily obtain, in a happierclimate, a secure refuge, a new fortune adequateto his merit, the freedom of complaint, and per-haps the means of revenge. But the empire ofthe Romans filled the world, and when thatempire fell into the hands of a single person, theworld became a safe and dreary prison for hisenemies. The slave of imperial despotism, whe-ther he was condemned to drag his gilded chainin Rome and the senate, or to wear out a life ofexile on the barren rock of Seriphus, or the fro-zen banks of the Danube , expected his fate insilent despair. m To resist was fatal, and it wasimpossible to fly. On every side he was encom-passed with a vast extent of sea and land, whichhe could never hope to traverse without beingdiscovered, seized, and restored to his irritatedmaster. Beyond the frontiers, his anxious viewcould discover nothing, except the ocean, in-hospitable deserts, hostile tribes of barbarians,of fierce manners and unknown language, ordependent kings, who would gladly purchase theemperor’s protection by the sacrifice of an ob-

m Seriphus was a small rocky island in theiEgean sea, the inhabitantsof which were despised for their ignorance and obscurity. The placeof Ovid ’s exile is well known, by his just, but unmanly lamentations.It should seem, that he only received ah order to leave Rome in somany days, and to transport himself to Torai. Guards and gaolerswere unnecessary.

CHAP.

III.