Roman Wars.]PART II.
The terror of the Roman arms added weight and dignity to the moderation of the emperors. They preserved peace by a constant preparation for war; and while justice regulated their conduct, they announced to the nations
on their confines, that they were as little disposed to endure, as to offer an injury. The military strength, which it had been sufficient
for Hadrian and the elder Antoninus to display, was exerted against the Parthians and the Germans by the emperor Marcus. The hostilities of the barbarians provoked the resentment of that philosophic monarch, and, in the prosecution of a just defence, Marcus and his generals obtained
many signal victories, both on the Euphrates and on the Danube. [29] The
military establishment of the Roman empire, which thus assured either its tranquillity or success, will now become the proper and important object of our attention.
[Footnote 29: Dion, l. lxxi. Hist. August. in Marco. The Parthian
42
victories gave birth to a crowd of contemptible historians, whose memory has been rescued from oblivion and exposed to ridicule, in a very lively piece of criticism of Lucian.]
In the purer ages of the commonwealth, the use of arms was reserved for those ranks of citizens who had a country to love, a property to defend, and some share in enacting those laws, which it was their interest as
well as duty to maintain. But in proportion as the public freedom was lost in extent of conquest, war was gradually improved into an art, and degraded into a trade. [30] The legions themselves, even at the time when they were recruited in the most distant provinces, were supposed to consist of Roman citizens. That distinction was generally considered, either as a legal qualification or as a proper recompense for the
soldier; but a more serious regard was paid to the essential merit of age, strength, and military stature. [31] In all levies, a just preference was given to the climates of the North over those of the
South: the race of men born to the exercise of arms was sought for in the country rather than in cities; and it was very reasonably presumed, that the hardy occupations of smiths, carpenters, and huntsmen, would supply more vigor and resolution than the sedentary trades which are employed in the service of luxury. [32] After every qualification of property had been laid aside, the armies of the Roman emperors were still commanded, for the most part, by officers of liberal birth and
education; but the common soldiers, like the mercenary troops of modern Europe, were drawn from the meanest, and very frequently from the most profligate, of mankind.
[Footnote 30: The poorest rank of soldiers possessed above forty pounds
sterling, (Dionys. Halicarn. iv. 17,) a very high qualification at a
43
time when money was so scarce, that an ounce of silver was equivalent
to seventy pounds weight of brass. The populace, excluded by the ancient constitution, were indiscriminately admitted by Marius. See Sallust. de
Bell. Jugurth. c. 91. * Note: On the uncertainty of all these estimates, and the difficulty of fixing the relative value of brass and silver, compare Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 473, &c. Eng. trans. p. 452. According to Niebuhr, the relative disproportion in value, between the two metals, arose, in a great degree from the abundance of brass or copper.--M. Compare also Dureau 'de la Malle Economie Politique des Romains especially L. l. c. ix.--M. 1845.]
[Footnote 31: Caesar formed his legion Alauda of Gauls and strangers;
but it was during the license of civil war; and after the victory, he gave them the freedom of the city for their reward.]
[Footnote 32: See Vegetius, de Re Militari, l. i. c. 2--7.]
That public virtue, which among the ancients was denominated patriotism, is derived from a strong sense of our own interest in the preservation
and prosperity of the free government of which we are members. Such a sentiment, which had rendered the legions of the republic almost invincible, could make but a very feeble impression on the mercenary servants of a despotic prince; and it became necessary to supply
that defect by other motives, of a different, but not less forcible
nature--honor and religion. The peasant, or mechanic, imbibed the useful prejudice that he was advanced to the more dignified profession of arms, in which his rank and reputation would depend on his own valor; and that, although the prowess of a private soldier must often escape
the notice of fame, his own behavior might sometimes confer glory or
44
disgrace on the company, the legion, or even the army, to whose honors he was associated. On his first entrance into the service, an oath was administered to him with every circumstance of solemnity. He promised never to desert his standard, to submit his own will to the commands of his leaders, and to sacrifice his life for the safety of the emperor and
the empire. [33] The attachment of the Roman troops to their standards was inspired by the united influence of religion and of honor. The golden eagle, which glittered in the front of the legion, was the object
of their fondest devotion; nor was it esteemed less impious than it was ignominious, to abandon that sacred ensign in the hour of danger. [34] These motives, which derived their strength from the imagination, were enforced by fears and hopes of a more substantial kind. Regular pay, occasional donatives, and a stated recompense, after the appointed time of service, alleviated the hardships of the military life, [35] whilst,
on the other hand, it was impossible for cowardice or disobedience
to escape the severest punishment. The centurions were authorized to
chastise with blows, the generals had a right to punish with death;
and it was an inflexible maxim of Roman discipline, that a good soldier should dread his officers far more than the enemy. From such laudable arts did the valor of the Imperial troops receive a degree of firmness and docility unattainable by the impetuous and irregular passions of barbarians.
[Footnote 33: The oath of service and fidelity to the emperor was annually renewed by the troops on the first of January.]
[Footnote 34: Tacitus calls the Roman eagles, Bellorum Deos. They were placed in a chapel in the camp, and with the other deities received the religious worship of the troops. * Note: See also Dio. Cass. xl. c. 18.
45
--M.]
[Footnote 35: See Gronovius de Pecunia vetere, l. iii. p. 120, &c. The emperor Domitian raised the annual stipend of the legionaries to twelve pieces of gold, which, in his time, was equivalent to about ten of
our guineas. This pay, somewhat higher than our own, had been, and was afterwards, gradually increased, according to the progress of wealth and military government. After twenty years' service, the veteran received three thousand denarii, (about one hundred pounds sterling,) or a proportionable allowance of land. The pay and advantages of the guards were, in general, about double those of the legions.]
And yet so sensible were the Romans of the imperfection of valor without skill and practice, that, in their language,
