infults offered to Galba, ordered, firft, that his ftatues fhould be erected again; and, fecondly, that a column and a new ftatue fhould be erected to him in the forum: that Tacitus mentions only the firft of thefe orders, and Suetonius only the fccond. The firft was executed; the fecond required time; and Vefpafian, who fufpected Galba of haying formed a defign upon his life, gave himfelf no trouble to haften the execution of it; and the fenate, being informed of the Emperor's fufpicions, fuffered the project of the statue and the column to drop; fo that this part of its decree was abolished by the mere non-execution of it; and the term employed by Suetonius may fignify no more, and not a formal abrogation. . By a short view, which our learned author takes, of all the Emperors before Hadrian, it appears that Caligula was the only one among them who can be proved to have made any encroachment on the jurifdiction of the fenate; and it was, no doubt, in order to prevent fuch encroachments for the future, that Hadrian, who was perfectly well acquainted with the rights of the Roman people, and never decided any important question without the advice of the fenate, whose interest he had very much at heart, brought in the law mentioned in the Digeft. After all, this law only forbade appeals, after judgement had been formally given by the fenate; till then, the parties might appeal from the fenate to the Emperor, who, in quality of T of Tribune, might interpofe, of himfelf, ex officio, fo as to hinder the fenate from ever proceeding to judgement, though he had no right to judge himfelf, or call the affair to his own tribunal. The fecond objection to this doctrine of the Abbé de la Bleterie is drawn from an epiftle quoted by Julius Capitolinus. Macrinus, Præfect of the Prætorium, having caufed Antoninus Caracalla to be affaffinated, was chofen Emperor by the army, who did not believe him acceffary to that murder. This election required confirmation by a national act. The decree of the fenate, as reprefenting the nation, that conferred on the new prince all the prerogatives of which the Imperial authority was the refult, was ftyled, first, lex imperii, and afterwards, under Juftinian, lex regia. Macrinus, therefore, wrote to the fenate, requesting them to ratify what had been done by the army. He fays, in his epiftle, that in conjunction with the troops, he had decreed divine honours to Caracalla, adding, " You will likewise decree them "to him, confcript Fathers: we have a right, as "Emperor, to command you to do it; neverthe❝lefs, we only request it of you." Et vos, Patres confcripti, ut decernatis, cum poffimus imperatorio jure præcipere, tamen rogamus, But this epiftle bears fo many marks of forgery, that it is furprising M. de Tillemont should have been the only one who has difcovered the impofture; * See the Cæfars, Vol. I. p. 163: though though Tillemont, nevertheless, for want of having narrowly examined the nature of the Imperial government, confidered the Emperors as real monarchs. Our learned Academician fhews, that this pretended epistle is full of contradictions, and of expreffions, which not only clash with probability, but custom, and even truth. He also proves, that it must have been forged by fome friend of Elagabalus, an implacable enemy of Macrinus and his fon Diadumenus. We likewife find, in the history of Auguftus, two epiftles afcribed to the laft, though it is evident that they were forged with a defign to blacken Diadumenus, and to make him pafs for a monster, of which Elagabalus did well to rid the world. For farther particulars the reader must be referred to the Memoir itself, in which he will meet with deep researches, folid reflections, and great purity of style. ADDITIONAL NOTES. VOLUME I. P. 14. 1. 18. Carterius. * * Libanius, in his Life, p. 59, mentions a Carterius, who was in many respects notorious for his folly, particularly in daring to offend the auguft Emperors. The perfon abovenamed must probably have offended. Conftantius, or he would not have wanted the interest of Julian, and the affiftance of Araxius. Libanius alfo mentions another Carterius, in his CCXLV111th Epiftle (probably the fon of the former) as an orator whom the fenators of Arce in Phonicia had enrolled among them. And in his puxxth he apologises to Maximus for his deferting the Mufes, and following Mars. Araxius was prefect of Palestine. Libanius has fix Epiftles to him. P. 121. note +. To the "Rhodian fhower of gold" Libanius also alludes in his DCCCLXXIIId Epiftle; and Ammianus, XVII. 7. P. 149. To note may be substituted this. * *Julian has here in view that paffage of Homer, in the first book of the Iliad, [ver. 607.] where he says, that "every God has his manfion and throne † fabricated by "Vulcan with his own hands ;" and which he repeats in another place. SPANHEIM. Ib. 1. 18. When therefore they rife at the entrance of their Father &c. This is alfo taken from a paffage of Homer, in the fame book [ver. 533.] to this effect; that " at the approach "of their Father Jupiter all the Gods rife from their "feats, and go to meet him, and that no one waits for "him." I find, however, that the poet fays the fame thing of Apollo, in the Hymn which is afcribed to him, in praife of that God, Ibid. In this paffage Homer mentions only their mansion, or house, Swa. their starry domes The shining monuments of Vulcam's art. POPE, 778, The |