Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/359

 The Roman Empire to the Triumph of Christianity 301 Section 48. Internal Revolution and the Col- lapse OF Ancient Civilization Meantime there was steady decline in the prosperity of the Marcus Empire as more and more farm lands lay idle ; population de- and his great creased and the burden of taxes on those who remained 2:rew efforts to ^ maintain the heavier. The able rule of Marcus Aurelius, who began to reign Roman state in 161 A.D., marked the end of two centuries of internal peace (p. 287) which contrast sharply with the age that followed him. He found a great scarcity of money among the people, and it was increasingly difficult to collect the taxes necessary to main- tain the State and support the army with which he was strug- gling to keep back the incoming hordes of barbarian invasion on the northern frontiers (Fig. 114). Yet he found time amid the growing anxieties of his position, Marcus even as he sat in his tent on a dangerous campaign in the heart light^ened rule of the barbarous north, to record his thoughts and leave the world a little volume of meditations which are among the most precious legacies of the past. His ability and enlightened states- manship were only equaled by the purity and beauty of his per- sonal life. He granted salaries of six hundred gold pieces (about $1600) to the heads of the four schools of philosophy at Athens. This was the first state support received by this " university " of Athens, and marked another effort to maintain the old Greek culture against the oriental religions. Marcus Aurelius was the finest spirit among all the Roman emperors, and there was never another like him on the imperial throne. Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius, was one of the most The fearful detestable in the long list of Roman emperors, and as we enter of^he thh-d the third century a.d. one such worthless ruler after another century a. d. was set up by the army ; for unfortunately no satisfactory means of selecting an emperor had ever been devised, and whenever they wished, the army elected a new emperor. Such an ap- pointee of the army in one province often found himself con- fronted by a rival in another province. We have already seen