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154 next to impossible. The Othonians, Vitellians, and the legions of Antonius Primus had not merely carried off the money, but also burnt the dwellings and wasted the crops of the inhabitants.

By the mutilation of the 'History,' we lose Tacitus for our guide during a most important reign, and beyond his footsteps we cannot go. It will suffice to say that Mucianus, after restoring peace and order to Rome, preferred the ease of a private station and the enjoyment of an ample fortune to the cares and perils of a throne: that Antonius Primus was coolly thanked for his services, and dismissed into obscurity, the only trace of him thenceforward being some complimentary verses of Martial's: that the extravagance of the Julian dynasty was succeeded by the sobriety of the Flavian, and that if Rome did not regain a freedom she would have abused, she enjoyed a respite from tyranny and war, under which she flourished for a season. Had the books that recorded Domitian's reign been preserved, there can be little doubt that the historian would have written them with the pen that was afterwards to describe the gloomy period of Tiberius, and the hideous excesses of Nero.

The reign, indeed, of the first Flavian Cæsar, extending over a period of ten years, passed away in uneventful tranquillity. Its more remarkable features were the simple life and moderation of the imperial household: the deference of the emperor to the senate: the re-plantation of colonies: peace on the frontiers, after the revolts in Judæa and Germany had been suppressed: the revival and encouragement of learning and literature, and even care for the people.

To English readers the most interesting portion of