The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans : with notes, comments, maps, and illustrations .. . cinvitations to the forum for inmates. But even this incredible enormity was surpassed byMessalina, the wife of the next succeeding emperor, who, under penalty of torture andeven death, compelled the ladies of her court to practice the enormities in which she herselfrioted. Chastity, which liad been once the pride of the Roman Republic, had become aperilous virtue, which could be maintained only at the liazard of martyrdom, and thatinflicted by a woman. Profligacy had reached the bottom of the ab
The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans : with notes, comments, maps, and illustrations .. . cinvitations to the forum for inmates. But even this incredible enormity was surpassed byMessalina, the wife of the next succeeding emperor, who, under penalty of torture andeven death, compelled the ladies of her court to practice the enormities in which she herselfrioted. Chastity, which liad been once the pride of the Roman Republic, had become aperilous virtue, which could be maintained only at the liazard of martyrdom, and thatinflicted by a woman. Profligacy had reached the bottom of the abysmal depth. It couldno farther go. IV. These well attested and unquestioned facts indicate at once the nature of the Roman government and thecharacter of the Roman rulersat this epoch. The govern-ment was a military despot-ism ; the rulers were at oncethe creatures of the army andits masters. Their powerknew no restraint from with-out ; their nature knew norestraint from within. Therewas no legal limit to theirpower imposed by any com-petent and legal tribunal;There was none imposed by public. COIN OF NERO. for the Senate was wholly subject to their will. THE PAGAN WORLD. 49 opinion ; Nero, who, in the varied combination of his crimes, perhaps surpassed both hiapredecessors and liis successors, was also perhaps the most popular emperor of his was none imposetl by public opinion in other nations, or by the fear of interferencefrom them ; for the Empire of Rome tilled the world, and the scepter of the RomanEmperor ruled it. The evils of unlimited power have had many tragical illustrations inhuman history, but none to compare with that afforded by the eighty years covered by thereigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Clau<lius, Nero, Vitellius, and Domitian. Their unparalleledvices and the splendid theater on which they acted have saved them from oblivion. Thedark unrelenting iil)erius, the furious taligula, the feeble Claudius, the profligate and cruelNero, the beastly Vite
Size: 2349px × 1064px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbible, bookyear1888
