OF THE ROMAN F.MI'IRE.

was less exposed than his fortune to the abuseof paternal power. Yet his life might be ad-verse to the interest or passions of an unworthyfather: the same crimes that flowed from thecorruption, were more sensibly felt by the hu-manity, of the Augustan age; and the cruelErixo, who whipt his son till he expired, wassaved by the emperor from the just fury of themultitude" The Roman father, from the li-cence of servile dominion, was reduced to thegravity and moderation of a judge. The pre-sence and opinion of Augustus confirmed thesentence of exile pronounced against an inten-tional parricide by the domestic tribunal ofArius . Hadrian transported to an island thejealous pareut, who, like a robber, had seizedthe opportunity of hunting, to assassinate ayouth, the incestuous lover of his stepmother . 5A private jurisdiction is repugnant to the spiritof monarchy; the parent w as again reducedfrom a judge to an accuser; and the magis-trates were enjoined by Severus Alexander tohear his complaints and execute his sentence.He could no longer take the life of a son with-out incurring the guilt and punishment of mur-der; and the pains of parricide, from whichhe had been excepted by the Pompeian law,were finally inflicted by the justice of Constan-

CHAR

XLIV.

r The examples of Erixo and Arius are related by Seneca (de de-mentia, i, 14,15), the former with horror, the latter with applause.

• Quod latronis magis quam patris jure eum interfecit, nam patriapotestas in pietate debet non in atrocitate consistere (Marcian , Insti-tut. 1. xiv, in Pandect. 1. xlviii, tit. ix, leg. 5).