Page:A General Sketch of Political History from the Earlist Times.djvu/124

 ii2 THE ROMAN DOMINION the Senate they could do so; and a time came when the legions in distant provinces put forward their own candidates when it seemed good to them to do so. The strongest title, however, generally lay, as in the case of Tiberius, with some one who had been associated with the emperor, at the time of his death, in the possession of the tribunician and proconsular powers. Augustus sought to use his power for the welfare of the state. Except on the frontiers the Roman Empire was at peace. The Augustan age is proverbial as the period when Augustus, Roman literature and art were at their best. B.C. 29- Augustus fell far short of the unmatched genius of the great Julius Caesar; but he was patient, cautious, resolute, and clear-headed, and was endowed with a tact which rarely failed. In Maecenas he had a minister whose tact was still more conspicuous, and in Agrippa one of supreme integrity, of an organising skill which matched his own, and of the highest military ability. Hardly less valuable were the services of Tiberius, who ultimately succeeded him as emperor. The accession of Tiberius was undisputed, though accompanied by a formal show of reluctance on his part. His rule lasted for Tiberius, something over twenty years, and he succeeded in A.D. 14. acquiring a particularly evil name. Roman society was exceedingly corrupt, and most corrupt was the Court. In his last years Tiberius himself sank to the most repulsive debauchery. Rome swarmed with informers who lived on rewards for bringing charges of treason against their neighbours, and the system was practically encouraged by the emperor. But Tiberius is judged by the hideous state of affairs at Rome. A morose tyrant within his immediate surroundings, Tiberius nevertheless was no bad ruler of the empire as a whole. His real statesmanship had been proved before he assumed the Imperial Purple. But he died — probably he was murdered — His six m A - D - 37 > anc ^ untl l the sceptre was seized by Successors. Vespasian in a.d. 70, it is impossible to find a word of praise for any one of the six emperors who intervened, except perhaps Galba, who was merely incompetent. Tiberius