sea and the Lucrine basin. (Vid. Portus Julius.)! The modern name of the lake is Lago d'Averno. Eustace describes Avernus at the present day as a circular sheet of water, about a mile and a half in circumference, and of great depth (in some places 180 feet). It is surrounded with grounds on one side low, on the other high but steep, cultivated all around, but not much wooded; a scene, on the whole, light, airy, and exhilarating. (Classical Tour, vol. 2, p. 394, Lond. ed.) AUFIDENA, a city of Samnium, and the capital of the Caraceni, situate on the Sagrus or Sangro. It is now Alfidena. (Liv., 10, 12.-Plin., 3, 12.) AUFIDIA LEX, was enacted by the tribune Aufidius Lurco, A.U.C. 692. It contained this singular clause, that if any candidate, in canvassing for an office, promised money to a tribe, and failed in the performance, he should be excused; but if he actually paid it, he should be compelled to pay every tribe a yearly fine of 3000 sesterces as long as he lived. (Cic., ad Att., 1, 13.) This law, however, soon became a dead letter, as is apparent from what Suetonius states respecting the bribery practised by Cæsar and Bibulus. (Suet., Vit. Jul., 19-Compare Heinecc., Antiq. Rom., p. 807, ed. Haubold.) AUGEE, I. a town of Laconia, supposed to be the same with Egiæ. It stood near the coast, northwest of Gythium. (Il., 2, 583.-Strabo, 364 )-II. A town of the Epicnemidian Locri. (Il., 2, 532) AUGEAS (poetic form AUGEAS), son of Neptune, according to others, of the Sun, while a third class of mythologists make him to have been the offspring of Phorbas. He was one of the Argonauts, and, after returning from that expedition, ascended the throne of Elis. Augeas kept a very large number of herds, and the filth and dung of these had been allowed to accumulate for many years, when Eurystheus imposed on Hercules, as one of his tasks, the cleansing of the stables of the Elian monarch. When Hercules came accordingly to Augeas, he said nothing to him of the commands of Eurystheus, but offered for a tenth of his herds to clean out his stables in one day. Augeas agreed, thinking the thing impossible, and Hercules took Phyleus, the son of Augeas, to witness the agreement. He then broke down a part of the wall of the court, and turning in the rivers Peneus and Alpheus by a canal, let them run out at the other side. Augeas, on learning that this was one of the tasks imposed by Eurystheus, not only refused to stand by his agreement, but denied that he had promised anything, and AUFIDIUS, I. Bassus, an historian in the Augustan offered to lay the matter before judges. When the age, and in part of the reign of Tiberius. He wrote cause was tried, Phyleus honestly gave testimony a history of the Roman civil wars, and another of the against his father, and Augeas, in a rage, even before war in Germany. This latter work was continued by the votes had been taken, ordered both his son and the elder Pliny. (Plin., Min. Ep., 3, 5, 6.—Quintil., Hercules to depart from Elis. The former retired to 10, 1, 103.)-II, Cæsius Bassus, a lyric poet, to Dulichium, the latter returned to Eurystheus, stopping whom Persius addressed his sixth Satire. He per- first at Olenus, where he aided Dexamenus against ished during the same eruption of Vesuvius that the centaur Eurytion. Eurystheus, however, refused proved fatal to the elder Pliny. (Quintil., 10, 1, 96. to count the feat of Hercules, in cleansing the Augean -Schol. ad Pers., Sat., 6, 1.-Voss, de poet. Lat., stables, among the twelve tasks, saying that he had c. 3.)-III. Saleius Bassus, a poet in the time of Ves- done it for hire. After the termination of all his lapasian. He is highly praised by Quintilian (10, 1, bours, Hercules came with an army to Elis, slew Au90), and by the author of the Dialogue "de caus. cor-geas, and set Phyleus on the throne. For an explanarupt. eloq." (c. 5).—IV. Luscus, a recorder in the nation of this myth, consult the article Hercules. town of Fundi, ridiculed by Horace. (Serm., 1, 5, 24.) (Apollod., 2, 5, 4.-Keightley's Mythology, p. 356, AUFIDUS, a river of Apulia, now the Ofanto. It 366.)-To "cleanse the Augean stables" has become was on the banks of this stream that the battle of Can- a common proverb, and is applied to any undertaking næ was fought. Polybius (3, 110) remarks of the where the object in view is to remove a mass of moral Aufidus, that it is the only river which, rising on the corruption, the accumulation of which renders the western side of the Apennines, finds its way through task almost impossible. The Latin form of this same that continuous chain into the Adriatic. But it may proverb is " Augeæ stabulum repurgare;" the Greek, be doubted whether the historian speaks with his usual merely Avyeiov Bovoracía. (Lucian, Pseudom.— accuracy. It is certain that the Aufidus cannot be Erasmus, Chil. 2, cent. 3, n. 21.) said to penetrate entirely through the chain of those mountains, since it rises on one side of it, while the Silarus flows from the other. The Aufidus was remarkable for the rapidity of its course. (Horat., Od., 4, 14.-Id., Od., 30, 3.-Id., Od., 4, 9.-Cramer's Ancient Italy, vol. 2, p. 295.) AUGUILA, now Augela, one of the Oases of the great African desert, with a town of the same name. It lay west of Ammon, and south of Cyrene, and was famed for the abundant produce of its date palms. This was one of the stations for the caravans which carried on the inland trade of Africa. It is at present also a caravan station. (Mannert, vol. 10, pt. 2, p. 181.Pacho, Voyage dans la Marmarique, p. 272, seqq.) AUGE, daughter of Aleus, king of Tegea. She became a mother by Hercules, and secretly laid her offspring, a son, in the sacred enclosure (Téμevoç) of Minerva. A famine coming on the land, Aleus went to the Téuevos of the goddess; and, searching about, found his daughter's infant, which he exposed on Mount Parthenion. But the babe was protected by the care of the gods, for a hind which had just brought forth came and suckled him; and the shepherds, finding him thus nursed, named him Telephus from that circumstance (λapos, a hind). Aleus gave his daughter Auge to Nauplius, the son of Neptune, to sell her out of the country; and he disposed of her to Teuthras, king of Teuthrania, on the Cayster, in My-tive meaning of the term augur will be "a seer.”sia, who made her his wife. Telephus having, when grown up, consulted the oracle respecting his parents, came to Mysia, where he was kindiy received by Teuthras, whom he succeeded in his kingdom. (Pausan., 8, 4.-Apollod., 3, 9, 1.) This legend is connected apparently with the worship of Minerva Alea. The true meaning of Telephus is Far-shining (rŋλépaoç). Auge (Avyn) is bright. (Keightley's Mythol., p. 367.) AUGURES, a name given to a class of sacerdotal officers among the Romans, whose duty it was to observe and interpret omens, and perform other analogous acts of religion. The term Augur is commonly but erroneously derived from avis, "a bird," and garrio, 66 to chirp," on the supposition that this priesthood originally drew omens merely from the notes of birds. The true etymology, however, ought very probably to be referred to some Etrurian term, assimilated both in form and meaning to the Greek avyń, “light” (compare the German auge, "an eye"), so that the primi The duties and powers of the Roman augurs are given somewhat in detail by Cicero (de Leg., 2, 8), and may be arranged under four heads: 1. The inspecting or observing of omens. 2. The declaring the will of heaven, as ascertained by them from these omens. 3. The inaugurating of magistrates, and the consecrating of places and buildings. 4. The determining whether the omens observed by them allowed a thing AUGUSTA, I. a name given singly, or in conjunction with some epithet, to a large number of cities, either founded, embellished, or protected by Roman emperors. The apellation is derived from the name of the first emperor of Rome, Augustus. The term Augusta sometimes appears under its Greek form, Sebaste (Zebáorn).—II. A title of honour, borne by many Roman empresses. AUGUSTALIA, a festival at Rome, in commemoration of the day on which Augustus returned to Rome, after he had established peace in the different parts of the empire. It was celebrated on the 12th of October. AUGUSTINUS, one of the most renowned fathers of the Christian church, born at Tagaste, a city of Africa, November 13, A.D. 354, during the reign of the Emperor Constantine. He has related his own life in the work to which he gave the title of Confessiones, and it is from this source, together with the Retractationes, some of his letters, and the Vita Possidii of the semiPelagian Gennadius, that we derive our principal information respecting him. His parents sent him to Carthage to complete his education, but he disappointed their expectations by his neglect of serious study and his devotion to pleasure. In his sixteenth year he became very fond of women. For fifteen to be done or not, and also in what way the omens | de Div., 1, 7.—Id., 2, 36.—Aulus Gellius, 5, 8, themselves were to be taken. (Compare Müller, &c.) Etrusk., vol. 2, p. 117.)-The whole system of augural science was of Etrurian origin. In this latter country it served as a powerful engine of state in the hands of the aristocracy, and the same result was for a considerable time effected at Rome. Meetings of the Comitia Centuriata, for example, could not be held at all, if any augur declared the omens unpropitious; or the Comitia were broken off if a magistrate, virtually invested with augural powers, declared that he had heard thunder or seen lightning. So, again, all the business transacted at any comitia, except the Tributa, went for nothing, if, after the assembly had been held, an augur declared that there had been some informality in taking the auspices before the meeting was convened. The augurs are supposed to have been first instituted by Romulus, who appointed three, one for each tribe. This, however, was mere popular opinion, and had no foundation in reality. A fourth augur was added, it is thought, by Servius Tullius, when he increased the number of tribes, and divided the city into four tribes. The augurs were at first all patricians, until A.U.C. 454, when five plebeians were added. Sylla increased their number to fifteen. The chief of the augurs was called Magister Collegii. The augurs enjoyed this singular privilege, that of whatever crime they were guilty, they could not be deprived of their office; because, as Plutarch remarks, they were in-years he was connected with one, by whom he had a trusted with the secrets of the empire. The laws of friendship were anciently observed with great care among the augurs, and no one was admitted into their college who was known to be inimical to any of their number. The augur made his observations on the heavens usually in the dead of night, or about twilight. He took his station on an elevated place, where the view was open on all sides, and, to make it so, buildings were sometimes pulled down. Having first offered up sacrifices, and uttered a solemn prayer, he sat down with his head covered, and with his face turned to the east, so that he had the south on his right and the north on his left. Then he determined with his lituus the regions of the heavens from east to west, and marked in his mind some object straightforward, at as great a distance as his eyes could reach, within which boundaries he should make his observations. There were generally five things from which the augurs drew omens: the first consisted in observing the phenomena of the heavens, such as thunder, lightning, comets, &c. The second kind of omen was drawn from the chirping or flying of birds. The third was from the sacred chickens, whose eagerness or indifference in eating the food which was thrown to them was looked upon as lucky or unlucky. The fourth was from quadrupeds, from their crossing or appearing in some unaccustomed place. The fifth was from different casualties, which were called Dire, such as spilling salt on the table, or wine upon one's clothes, hearing ill-omened words or strange noises, stumbling or sneezing, meeting a wolf, hare, fox, or pregnant bitch, &c. These the augur explained, and taught how they ought to be expiated.-In whatever position the augur stood, omens on the left, among the Romans, were reckoned lucky. But sometimes omens on the left are called unlucky, in imitation of the Greeks, among whom augurs stood with their faces to the north, and then the east, which was the lucky quarter, was on the right. Thunder on the left was a good omen for everything else but holding the Comitia. The croaking of a raven on the right, and of a crow on the left, was reckoned fortunate, and vice versa. In short, the whole art of augury among the Romans was involved in uncertainty, and was; in effect, a mere system of deception for restraining the multitude, and increasing, as has already been remarked, the influence of the leading men over them. (Cic., son. He left her only when he changed his whole aries on Scripture; epistles on a great variety of subjects, doctrinal, moral, and personal; sermons and homilies; treatises on various points of discipline; and elaborate arguments against heretics. With the exception of those of Aristotle, no writings contributed more than Augustine's to encourage the spirit of subtle disputation which distinguished the scholastic ages. They exhibit much facility of invention and strength of reasoning, with more argument than eloquence, and more wit than learning. Erasmus calls Augustine a writer of obscure subtlety, who requires in the reader acute penetration, close attention, and quick recollection, and by no means repays him for the application of all these requisites. His works are now almost wholly neglected. (Encyclop. Americ., vol. 1, p. 468.)-Among the sources of information in modern times respecting the life and productions of St. Augustine, the following may be mentioned: Ceillier, Hist. General. des Aut. Eccles. (Paris, 1744, 4to), vols. 11 and 12.-Tillemont, Memoires, &c., vol. 13. -Vit. August. Vaillant, et Du Frische: ed. Op. Benedict., vol. 11.-Act. Sanct. Mens. Aug., vol. 6, p. 213, seqq.-L. Berti, de rebus gestis S. August. (Venet., 1746, 4to).-Rösler, Bibl. der Kirchenrät., vol. 9, p. 257.-Fabric., Bibl. Lat., vol. 3, p. 519, -Schröckh, Kircheng., vol. 15, p. 219, seqq.Biogr. Univ., vol. 3, p. 54, seqq.-Wiggers, Versuch. einer pragmat. Darstellung des August. und Pelagianismus (Hamburg, 1822, 8vo), vol. 1., p. 7, seqq. seqq. soldiers made him, of assisting him to revenge nis uncle's murder. But, as he was not yet aware of the strength of that party which he would find opposed to him, he judged it expedient to return to Italy, in the first instance, in a private manner. On his arrival at Brundisium, he learned the particulars of Caesar's death, and was informed also of the contents of his will, by which he himself was declared his heir and his adopted son. (Dio Cassius, 45, 3.-Vell. Paterc, 2, 85.) He did not hesitate instantly to accept this adoption, and to assume the name of Cæsar; and it is said that numerous parties of his uncle's veterans, whe had obtained settlements in the districts of Italy through which he passed, came from their homes to meet him, and to assure him of their support. (Appian, Bell: Civ., 3, 12.) At Rome two parties divided the state, that of the republicans, who had made away with Cæsar, and that of Antony and Lepidus, who pretended to avenge his death, but who had, in reality, no other intention but to elevate their authority above that of the laws. The latter of these two parties was in the ascendant when Octavius visited the capital, and the consul Antony exercised an almost absolute control. He received Octavius with great coolness, and declined any co-operation with him. It is even said, that, not content with slighting him as a political associate, Antony endeavoured to obstruct, or, at least, to delay, his adoption into the Julian family, since Octavius could not claim the possession of his uncle's inheritance till he had gone through the forms by which he became Cæsar's adopted son. (Florus, 4, 4.-Dio Cassius, 45, 5.) On this provocation, Octavius resolved to do himself justice by the most atrocious means; and, although he was only nineteen years of age, he suborned some ruffians to assassinate Antony, the consul of the republic, in his own house. (Cic., ep. ad fum., 12, 23. AUGUSTULUS (Romulus Momyllus, surnamed Augustus, or, in derision, Augustulus), the last Roman emperor of the West. He was the son of Orestes, a patrician and commander of the Roman forces in Gaul. Augustulus was crowned by his father A.D. 475; but was dethroned the next year by Odoacer, king of the Heruli, who put Orestes to death, and banished the young monarch to Campania, allowing him at the same time a revenue for his support. The true-Senec., de Clem., 1, 9.) The attempt was discovname of this emperor was Augustus, but the Romans of his time gave him, in derision, the appellation of Augustulus (The Little Augustus), which has become the historical name of this feeble sovereign. His father Orestes was the actual emperor, and the son a mere puppet in his hands. (Cassiod. et Marcell. in Chron-Jornandes.-Procopius.) AUGUSTUS (CAIUS OCTAVIUS CÆSAR AUGUSTUS), originally called Caius Octavius, was the son of Caius Octavius, and of Attia daughter of Julia the sister of Julius Cæsar. The family of the Octavii were originally from Velitræ, a city of the Volsci. The branch from which Augustus sprung was rich, and of equestrian rank. His father was the first of the name that obtained the title of senator, but died when his son was only four years old. The mother of the young Octavius soon after married L. Philip pus, under whose care he was brought up, until his great uncle Julius Cæsar, having no children, began to regard him as his heir (Vell. Paterc., 2, 85), and, when he was between sixteen and seventeen years of age, bestowed upon him some military rewards at the celebration of his triumph for his victories in Africa. (Suet., Aug., 8.) In the following year he accompanied his uncle into Spain, where he is said to have given indications of talent and activity; and in the winter of that same year he was sent to Apollonia in Epirus, there to employ himself in completing his education, till Cæsar should be ready to take him with him on his expedition against the Parthians. He was accordingly living quietly at Apollonia when the news of his uncle's death called him forth, though he was then hardly more than eighteen years of age, to act a principal part in the contentions of the times. On Caesar's death being known, M. Vipsanius Agrippa and Q. Sabidienus Rufus, who are here first spoken of as his friends (Vell. Paterc., 2, 85), advised him to embrace the offers which many of the centurions and ered in time, but it threw Antony into the utmost perplexity and alarm. As it had not succeeded, a large portion of the people doubted its reality, and believed that the charge had been falsely brought against Octavius, in order to procure his ruin, that Antony might enjoy his property without disturbance. So strong, in fact, was the public feeling, and so unpopular was Antony at this period, that he did not think it advisable to bring his intended assassins to trial. But he trembled at the insecurity of his situation, and determined to employ a stronger military force than the guard with which he had hitherto protected his person, and by which he had overawed the senate and the forum. With this view Antony endeavoured to gain over the veterans of Cæsar that were stationed at Brundisium, but the more liberal offers of the young Octavius drew them over to the side of the latter. At length the two competitors for empire had recourse to arms, and Cisalpine Gaul became the theatre of warfare. Decimus Brutus, who held the command of this province, threw himself into Mutina, where Antony besieged him, but the latter was defeated by Octavius and the consuls Hirtius and Pansa, and compelled to retreat towards Transalpine Gaul. All the veteran legions which had been commanded by the late consuls (these leaders had fallen in the battle of Mutina) were now, with one exception, under the orders of Octavius, and neither they nor their general were inclined to obey any longer the authority of the senate. Marching to Rome at the head of his forces, Octavius was now elected consul by open intimidation of the senate and people, and the liberty of the commonwealth was lost for ever. Antony and Lepidus, meanwhile, had united their forces, and recrossed the Alps; and Octavius, now invested with the title of consul, and commanding a numerous army, marched back again towards Cisalpine Gaul, and found the two leaders in the neighbourhood of Mutina. A friendly correspondence had been carried on between the chiefs of the two armies before they were advanced very near to one another; and it was determined that all differences should finally be settled, and the future measures which they were to take in common should be arranged at a personal interview. This interview resulted in the formation of a Triumvirate, or High Commission of three, for settling the affairs of the Commonwealth during five years. (Liv., Epit., lib. 120.-Appian, Bell. Civ., 4, 3.) They divided among themselves those provinces of the empire which were subject to their power, and the triumvirate was cemented by the most dreadful scenes of proscription and murder, during which fell the celebrated Cicero, a victim to the vengeance of Antony, and basely left to his fate by the heartless Octavius. After the hopes of the republican party had been crushed at Philippi, Antony, in an evil hour for himself, turned his back upon Italy, and left the immediate government of the capital in the hands of his associate. On returning to Rome, Octavius satisfied the cupidity of his soldiers by the division of the finest lands in the Italian peninsula. This division gave rise to the most violent disturbance. In the midst of the stormy scenes that now convulsed Italy, Octavius was obliged to contend with Fulvia, whose daughter Clodia he had rejected, and with Lucius, the brother-in-law of Antony. After several battles, Lucius threw himself into the city of Perusia, where he was soon after obliged to surrender. The city was given up to be plundered, and 300 senators were condemned to death, as a propitiatory sacrifice to the manes of the deified Cæsar. After the return of Antony an end was put to the proscriptions, and such of the proscribed persons as had escaped death by flight, and whom Octavius no longer feared, were allowed to return. There were still some disturbances in Gaul, and the naval war with Sextus Pompeius continued for several years. After his return from Gaul, Octavius married the famous Livia, the wife of Claudius Nero, whom he compelled to resign her, after he himself had divorced his third wife Scribonia. Lepidus, who had hitherto retained an appearance of power, was now deprived of his authority, and died as a private man B.C. 13. Antony and Octavius then divided the empire. But while the former, in the East, gave himself up to a life of luxury, the young Octavius pursued his plan of making himself sole master of the Roman world. He especially strove to obtain the affections of the people. A firm government was established; the system of audacious robbery, which the distresses of the times had long fostered at Rome and throughout Italy, was speedily and effectually suppressed. He showed mildness and a degree of magnanimity, if it could be so called, without the appearance of striving after the highest power, and even declared himself ready to lay down his power when Antony should return from his war against the Parthians. He appeared rather to permit than to wish himself to be appointed perpetual tribune, an office which virtually invested him with sovereign authority. The more he advanced in the affections of the people, the more openly did he declare himself against Antony. Meanwhile the latter had excited a strong feeling of disgust not only among the Romans at home, but even among his own officers, by his shameful abandonment to the celebrated Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt. His divorcing himself from Octavia, the sister of his colleague in the triumvirate, seemed like dishonouring a noble Roman lady in order to gratify the jealousy of a barbarian paramour; and an act of baseness on the part of Octavius himself completed the blow. Having got possession of Antony's will, he broke open the seals, and read the contents of it publicly, first to the senate, and afterward to the assembly of the people. The clause in it which especially induced Octavius to commit this act, was one in which Antony desired that his body might, after death, be carried to Alexandrea, and there buried by the side of Cleopatra. This proof of his romantic attachment for a foreigner seemed, in the eyes of the Romans, to attest his utter degeneracy, and induced the populace, at least, to credit the inventions of his enemies, who asserted that it was his intention, if victorious in the contest that now appeared inevitable, to give up Rome to the dominion of Cleopatra, and transfer the seat of empire from the banks of the Tiber to those of the Nile. It is clear, from the language of those poets who wrote under the patronage of Augustus, that this was the light in which the war was industriously represented; that every effort was made to give it the character of a contest with a foreign enemy; and to array on the side of Octavius the national pride and jealousy of the people of Rome. (Hor., Od., 1, 37, 5, seqq.-Virg., En., 8, 678, 685, 698.) Availing himself of this feeling, Octavius declared war against the Queen of Egypt, and led a considerable force by both sea and land to the Ambracian Gulf, where Agrippa gained the naval victory of Actium, which made Octavius master of the Roman world. He pursued his rival to Egypt, and ended the war after he had rejected the proposal of Antony to decide their differences by a personal combat. Cleopatra and Antony killed themselves. Octavius caused them to be splendidly buried. A son of Antony and Cleopatra was sacrificed to ensure the safety of the conqueror; and Cæsarion, a son of Cæsar and Cleopatra, shared the same fate. All the other relations of Antony remained uninjured, and Octavius, on the whole, used his power with moderation. After having spent two years in the East, in order to arrange the affairs of Egypt, Greece, Syria, Asia Minor, and the islands, he celebrated, on his return to Rome, a triumph for three days in succession. Freed from his rivals and enemies, and master of the world, he was undecided concerning the way in which he should exercise his power for the future. Agrippa, whose victory had given him universal dominion, counselled him to renounce his authority. Maecenas opposed this; and Octavius followed his advice, or, rather, his own inclinations. In order to make the people willing to look upon him as an unlimited monarch, he abolished the laws of the triumvirate, beautified the city, and exerted himself in correcting the abuses which had prevailed during the civil war. At the end of his seventh consulship, he entered the senate-house, and declared his resolution to lay down his power. The senate besought him to retain it; and the farce ended by his yielding to their pressing entreaties, and consenting to continue to govern through them. He now obtained the surname of Augustus, which marked the dignity of his person and rank, and by degrees he united in himself the offices of imperator, or commander-in-chief by sea and land, with power to make war and peace; of proconsul over all the provinces; of perpetual tribune of the people, which rendered his person inviolable, and gave him the power of interrupting public proceedings; and, in fine, of censor (magister morum) and pontifex maximus, or controller of all things appertaining to public morals and religion. The laws themselves were subject to him, and the observance of them depended on his will. To these dignities we must add the title of "Father of his Country" (Pater Patria). Great as was the power thus given him, he nevertheless exercised it with moderation. It was the spirit of his policy to retain old names and forms, and he steadfastly refused to assume the title of Dictator, which Sylla and Cæsar had rendered odious.-Augustus carried on many wars in Africa, Asia, and particularly in Spain, where he triumphed over the Cantabri after a severe struggle. His arms subjected Aquitania, Pannonia, Dalmatia, and Illyria, and held the Dacians, Numidians, and AUGUSTUS. Ethiopians in check. He concluded a treaty with the | 68, seqq.) His speeches on any public occasion were Parthians, by which they gave up Armenia, and re- composed beforehand, and recited from memory; nay, stored the eagles taken from Crassus and Antony. so careful was he not to commit himself by any inAt the foot of the Alps he erected monuments of his considerate expression, that, even when discussing any triumphs over the mountaineers, the proud remains of important subject with his own wife, he wrote down which are yet to be seen at Susa and Aosta. After what he had to say, and read it before her. Like his he had established peace throughout the empire, he uncle, he was strongly tinged with superstition. He closed (for the third time since the foundation of Rome) was very deficient in military talent; but in every spethe temple of Janus (B.C. 10). This universal repose, cies of artful policy, in clearly seeing, and steadily and however, was interrupted, A.D. 9, by the defeat of dispassionately following his own interest, and in turnVarus, who lost three legions in an engagement with ing to his own advantage all the weaknesses of others, the Germans under Arminius, and killed himself in his ability, if so it may be called, has been rarely despair. The intelligence of this misfortune greatly equalled. His deliberate cruelty, his repeated treach agitated Augustus. He let his beard and hair grow, ery, and his sacrifice of every duty and every feeling to and often cried out, as if in the deepest sorrow, "Oh the purposes of his ambition, speak for themselves; and Varus, give me back my legions !" Meanwhile the yet it would be unjust to ascribe to a politic premediGermans were held in check by Tiberius. During the tation all the popular actions of his reign. Good is in peace, to which we have just referred, Augustus had itself so much more delightful than evil, that he was issued many useful decrees, and abolished many abuses doubtless not insensible to the pleasure of kind and in the government. He gave a new form to the senate, beneficent actions, and perhaps sincerely rejoiced that employed himself in improving the manners of the they were no longer incompatible with his interests.— people, promoted marriage, suppressed luxury, intro- Among the various arts to which Augustus resorted to duced discipline into the armies, and, in a word, did beguile the hearts of his people, and perhaps to render everything in his power to subserve the best interests them forgetful of their former freedom, one of the most of the state. He adorned Rome in such a manner, remarkable was the encouragement which he extended that it was truly said by him, "he found it of brick, to learning, and the patronage he so liberally bestowed and left it of marble." (Sueton., Aug., 29.-Dio on all by whom it was cultivated. To this noble proCass., 56, 30.) He also made journeys everywhere, tection of literature he was prompted not less by taste to increase the blessings of peace; he went to Sicily and inclination than sound policy; and in his patronand Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Gaul, and other quar- age of the learned, his usual artifice had probably a ters in several places he founded cities and established smaller share than in those other parts of his conduct colonies. (Vell. Paterc., 2, 92.) The people erected by which he acquired the favourable opinion of the altars to him, and by a decree of the senate, the month world. Augustus was, besides, an excellent judge of Sextilis was called by the new appellation of Augustus composition, and a true critic in poetry; so that his (August). Two conspiracies, which threatened his patronage was never misplaced, or lavished on those life, miscarried. Cæpio, Murana, and Egnatius were whose writings might rather have tended to corrupt punished with death: Cinna was more fortunate, re- than improve the taste and learning of the age. No ceiving pardon from the emperor. This forbearance writer could hope for patronage except by cultivating increased the love of the Romans, and diminished the a style both chaste and simple, which, if ornamental, number of the disaffected; so that the master of Rome was not luxurious, or, if severe, was not rugged or would have had nothing to wish for, if his family had antiquated. The court of Augustus thus became a The debauchery of school of urbanity, where men of genius acquired that been as obedient as the world. his daughter Julia gave him the greatest pain, and he delicacy of taste, that elevation of sentiment, and that showed himself more severe towards those who de- purity of expression, which characterize the writers of stroyed the honour of his family than towards those the age. To Mæcenas, the favourite minister of the who had threatened his life. History says, that in his emperor, the honour is due of having most successfully old age he was ruled by Livia, the only person per- followed out the views of his master for promoting the haps whom he truly loved. He had no sons, and lost interests of literature; but it is wrong to give Mecenas by death his sister's son Marcellus, and his daughter's the credit, as some have done, of first having turped sons Caius and Lucius, whom he had appointed his the attention of Augustus to the patronage of literature. Drusus, also, his son-in-law, whom he On the contrary, he appears merely to have acted from loved, died early; and Tiberius, the brother of the the orders, or to have followed the example, of his imlatter, whom he hated on account of his bad qualities, perial master. (Encyclop. Metrop., Div. 3, vol. 2, p. alone survived. These numerous calamities, together 294, seqq.-Encyclop. Amer., vol. 1, p. 469.—Biogr. with his continually increasing infirmities, gave him a Univ., vol. 3, p. 37, seqq.-Dunlop's Rom. Lit., vol. It was purely honorary, and strong desire for repose, He undertook a journey to 3, p. 10, seqq.)-II. A title which descended from OcCampania, from whose purer air he hoped for relief; tavius to his successors. but disease fixed upon him, and he died at Nola (Au- carried with it the idea of respect and veneration rather gust 19, A.D. 14), in the seventy-sixth year of his age, than of any authority. The feminine form. Augusta and forty-fifth of his reign.-Augustus was in his stat- was often given to the mothers, wives, or sisters of the ure something below the middle size, but extremely Roman emperors. Under Dioclesian, when the new well proportioned. (Sueton., Aug., 79.) His hair constitution was given to the empire, the title of Auwas a little inclined to curl, and of a yellowish brown; gustus became more definite, and then began to be his eyes were bright and lively; but the general ex- applied to the two princes who held sway conjointly, pression of his countenance was remarkably calm and while the appellation of Cesar was given to each of mild. His health was throughout his life delicate, yet the presumptive heirs of the empire. The term Authe constant attention which he paid to it, and his strict gustus is derived, not from augeo, but from augur. temperance in eating and drinking, enabled him to reach (Gronov., Thes. Antiq. Gr., vol. 7, p. 462.) Places the full age of man. As a seducer and adulterer, and or buildings consecrated by auguries were originally a man of low sensuality, his character was as profligate called augusta; and the name was afterward applied as that of his uncle. (Sueton., Aug., 69, 71.) In his to other things similarly circumstanced. Thus Ennius, literary qualifications, without at all rivalling the at- as cited by Suetonius (Aug., 7), uses the expression tainments of Cæsar, he was on a level with most Ro-"augusto augurio." (Compare Fest., p. 43.—Ovid, mans of distinction of his time; and it is said, that both in speaking and writing, his style was eminent for its perfect plainness and propriety. (Sueton., Aug., successors. Fast., 1, 607, seqq.) Consequently, when the title Augustus is applied to a person, it is equivalent in meaning to sanctus, sacratus, or sacrosanctus. (Com |