OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

JO

mainder was dispersed in the adjacent towns chap.

of Italy . 6 But after fifty years of peace and..

servitude, Tiberius ventured on a decisive mea- Theirsure, which for ever rivetted the fetters of his c;,mp -country. Under the fair pretences of relievingItaly from the heavy burthen of military quar-ters, and of introducing a stricter disciplineamong the guards, he assembled them at Rome ,in a permanent camp,' which was fortified withskill and care/ and placed on a commandingsituation.'

Such formidable servants are always neces- 1 ’ 1,eir ,sary, but often fatal, to the throne of despotism, and con-By thus introducing the praetorian guards as it ence 'were into the palace and the senate, the emper-ors taught them to perceive their own strength,and the weakness of the civil government; toview the vices of their masters with familiar con-tempt, and to lay aside that reverential awe,which distance only, and mystery, can preserve,towards an imaginary power. In the luxuriousidleness of an opulent city, their pride wasnourished by the sense of Iheir irresistible■weight; nor was it possible to conceal fromthem, that the person of the sovereign, the au-thority of the senate, the public treasure, andthe seat of empire, were all in their hands. To

b Sneton. in August, c. 49.

c Tacit. Annal, iv, 2. Sueton. in Tiber, c. 37. Dion Cassius , I. lvii.p. 867.

d In the civil war between Vitellius and Vespasian , the praetoriancamp was attacked and defeated with all the machines used in thesiege of the best fortified cities. Tacit. Hist, iii, 84.

‘ Close to the walls of the city, on the broad summit of the Quirinal and Viminal hills. Set Nardini Roma Antica, p, 174. Donatus deRoma Antica, p 46.