distributed in equal shares among the indigent citizens. Octavius the tribune put his veto upon this lenient measure of Gracchus, who imme diately appealed to the people to procure the dismissal of the refractory magistrate. The agrarian laws were then carried, and proved, as might have been expected, not only a heavy blow to the senatorial party, but even fatal to the tranquillity of Rome. Tiberius was accused of aiming at the sovereignty, and was slain together with 300 of his partisans by Scipio Nasica and an armed body of the senators; but although others of his adherents were banished, his party did not cease to be formidable, as it comprised nearly the whole of the people. The partition of the lands was no longer opposed; and Scipio was compelled to leave the city, which he never again revisited. The conqueror of Carthage, surnamed Æmilianus, was chosen to carry the laws into execution, but he soon became unpopular, 129 B. C.

CAIUS GRACCHUS, untaught by his brother's fate, pursued the same course of agitation. Not contented with reviving the laws of Tiberius, he wished to extend the freedom of the state to the Italian allies, and thus place the government at the control of any faction that could meet in sufficient numbers to keep possession of the place of assembly. He also attempted to fix a maximum price on corn, and to neutralize the senate by the addition of 600 members. Nor were his exertions confined to legislative changes: he re-established several colonies, built public granaries, and constructed broad, solid, and commodious roads throughout all Italy. His authority in the senate was almost monarchical; for being admitted to their deliberations, he was often consulted. His absence at Carthage, where a new city was erecting, furnished his enemies with the means of destroying his power. Compelled to take arms in self-defence, he with nearly 3000 followers perished in the streets, 121 B. C., leaving as a successor C. Marius, formed by birth and education to be the head of the Roman populace.

REFLECTIONS.-The revolution attempted by the Gracchi was not overcome, it was merely retarded; and the violence with which the nobles opposed the measures of the reforming party was soon retaliated upon them. The consuls had stood aloof during the contest: the faction of the Great, as Sallust calls it, was superior even to the senate. The laws of the Gracchi were infringed; the gratuitous distribution of corn from the public granaries was much limited; and soon the agrarian laws themselves were repealed. The privileges of the knights were attacked by this all-powerful body, which between the years 121 and 107 B. c. proscribed all the new men, and allowed none to aspire to the consulate or the curule offices who did not belong to their ranks. Such violence provoked a reaction, and prepared the way for the cruelties of Marius, who had himself been a victim of the faction. He had been raised to the tribunate, by his patron Metellus, but finding himself unable to contend at the head of the people against the nobles, he sought elsewhere the credit and influence which he could not obtain at Rome. He was appointed the quæstor of Metellus in the Jugurthine War.

JUGURTHINE WAR, 111 B. C.- Jugurtha the nephew of Masinissa, having seized the throne of Numidia and murdered his cousins, humanity, not less than policy, compelled the Romans to assist their ancient ally, and the usurper was declared a public enemy. His first efforts were successful, more by the influence of gold than the force of arms; but Metellus first drove him out of his kingdom, and Marius, who ter

minated the war, led him in triumph to a prison, where he was starved to death, 106 B. C.

Consult: Sallust's Jugurthine War.

CIMBRIC WAR, 102 B. C.-Scarcely had Marius returned from Numidia, when he was called to save Rome from the greatest perils she had encountered since the time of Hannibal. The Cimbri and the Teutones, issuing from the boundless forests of the North, menaced both Gaul and Italy with invasion. The Romans marched to the protection of their province, which already extended along the shores of the Gulf of Lyons from the Alps to the Pyrenees. Several consular armies were defeated, and ruin seemed impending over the capital when Marius was elected consul. This elevation, while it protected Rome from enemies without, served only to expose it to more imminent danger from within. His consulate was prolonged for three years, during which time he brought his army into the strictest discipline. Embracing a favourable opportunity, he met the Teutones at Aqua Sextiæ (Aix), and defeated them with terrible slaughter, 102. Hastily recrossing the Alps, he attacked the Cimbri at Vercellæ, on the Sessites (Sesia), where victory declared in his favour, and 140,000 of the enemy lay dead on the plain, 101 B. c. The honours which Marius received for this triumph prove how great was the consternation at Rome. He was surnamed the Third Romulus; each citizen offered libations in his name; and he himself compared his exploits to those of Bacchus in his Indian campaigns. The conqueror signalized his first government by a very remarkable innovation. Down to this period the proletars, who constituted the lowest tribes, and were exempted on account of their poverty from all contributions to the state, had never been admitted into the Roman armies. Marius enrolled them; and these men, whose only means of support had too frequently been confined to the charity of the rich, now enjoyed a regular pay, and formed part of the military force of the nation. Having no ties to their country, they soon neglected Rome in favour of the chief who supplied them with booty, and from this moment the armies ceased to belong to the republic.

JUDEA AND SYRIA.

THE MACCABEES.-Judæa successively acknowledged the supremacy of Egypt and Syria; and the battle of Ipsus, 301, in which Antigonus fell, threw it into the hands of Ptolemy Lagus, during whose reign the high priest Simon beautified Jerusalem and surrounded it with walls. It suffered severely in the wars of Antiochus the Great with the Egyptian monarchs. The Syrian king, surnamed Epiphanes, restrained by the Romans from pursuing his conquests in Egypt, revenged himself on Judæa, took the capital, slew 40,000 of its inhabitants, and led an equal number into captivity, 170 B. C. In 168, he issued a decree of extermination against the whole Jewish race, which was acted on by his willing minister Apollonius. The streets ran with blood, the city was plundered, and as the ceremonies of their religion were denounced, they could not be observed without danger. He next enjoined uniformity of worship, and the most dreadful penalties were inflicted upon those who did not profess the Grecian idolatry. Two mothers were thrown from the wall, with their infants at their necks, for having complied with the commands of the Mosaic Law; but the firmness inspired by true religion

was never more strongly exemplified than during these persecutions. Seven brothers were brought out, and condemned to witness and to suffer in their mother's presence such tortures as the heart of man could scarcely devise: their tongues were cut out, their limbs mangled, the scalps torn from their heads, before they were consigned to the boiling caldron or the fire. The aged father himself, for Eleazar had passed his 90th year, went cheerfully to the torment, "to set an example to youth how to die for the honourable and holy laws." But when longer forbearance would have been criminal, a race of heroes, the Maccabees,* arose, by whom the Syrians were driven from their country, 166.

The enterprises of Judas Maccabæus were eminently successful : Apollonius, the governor of Samaria, was defeated and slain; as was also Seron, satrap of Cole-Syria. Antiochus hastily prepared to quell the insurrection, and a numerous army was accordingly marched into Judæa under the command of Nicanor, Gorgias, and Ptolemy Macron. Maccabæus, unable to meet such an overwhelming force, kept his troops in the mountains, from which he continually harassed the enemy by desultory attacks. At last, seizing on a favourable opportunity, he utterly routed Nicanor, divided the rich spoils of his camp among the soldiers, and sold into captivity the slave-merchants, who, calculating on victory, had accompanied the invaders to purchase their prisoners. Two other victories freed Judæa from the Syrians, and the patriotic army entered their deserted capital. The holy places were repaired and purified, public worship was restored, and the feast of the dedication celebrated. Thus did Judas achieve the temporary independence of his country, and rescue his nation from apparently certain destruction.

Antiochus, dying in 164, was succeeded by his son, surnamed Eupator, who, acting under the advice of Lysias, immediately prepared to make war on Judæa. The Maccabees resisted bravely, but they were forced to a capitulation, the articles of which were instantly violated, and the walls of Jerusalem demolished. Demetrius, the rightful heir to the Syrian crown, now appeared and defeated his rival, who perished with his counsellor Lysias. A treacherous policy distinguished the proceedings of Demetrius towards the Jewish people, until Judas once more took up arms and expelled the tyrant. This gallant patriot, after twice defeating Nicanor, sought to strengthen himself by a Roman alliance; but before the treaty could be made known, the Syrian general Bacchides entered Palestine with so strong a force as to defy all opposition. Judas disdained to flee, and encountering the invaders, was overpowered by numbers, when he fell fighting with heroic valour, "and all Israel made great lamentation for him, and mourned many days, saying, How is the valiant man fallen who delivered Israel!" 161 B. c. Jonathan, his younger brother, still maintained the contest of independence, and was eventually successful, becoming master of the country almost without a blow. By a treaty with Demetrius, nominating him high priest, he united both the civil and religious authority, and

* Mattathias, a rich inhabitant of the village of Modin, offered the first resistance to the tyranny of Antiochus; and when his age and infirm health were no longer able to support the harassing mountain warfare, he transferred the command to another of the Asmonean family, Judas, his third and bravest son. This hero bore on his standard the letters M. C. C. B. J. (Mi Camo-Ca Baalim Jehovah-Who among the gods is like unto thee, O Lord ?), and hence he acquired the name of Maccabee.-See Cotton's Five Books of the Maccabees.

was the first of the Asmonean princes. After a pacific reign of several years, he was treacherously seized by the insurgent Tryphon, and cruelly murdered, 143 B. c. His funeral was conducted with great magnificence; and his sepulchre, on a lofty eminence, became a seamark to the mariners sailing along that coast. One of the first acts of Simon, who succeeded his brother Jonathan, was the reduction of the Syrian garrison on Mount Sion. He not only destroyed the citadel, but, according to Josephus, levelled the hill on which it stood, so that it no longer commanded the temple. Under his wise administration the country prospered, and the fields were cultivated in tranquillity. He was succeeded by his son John, surnamed Hyrcanus, in whose time Judæa was annexed to Syria, but on the death of Antiochus Sidetes, in 130, its independence was recovered, and its territories enlarged by the conquest of Samaria and Galilee. Aristobulus, on the death of his father, John Hyrcanus, in 106, assumed the crown and the title of king. During his short reign of one year, he starved his mother to death, committed three of his brothers to prison, and caused the fourth to be assassinated.

FIRST CENTURY.

ROME. 88, Social War.- Mithridatic War.- Marius and Sylla.-73, Servile War.-63, Catiline's Conspiracy.-60, First Triumvirate.-48, Pharsalia.— 31, Actium.-30, Egypt a Roman province.-27, Augustus Emperor.-A. M. 4004,* BIRTH OF CHRIST.

JUDEA.-68, Civil War between Hyrcanus II. and Aristobulus II.-63, Jeru salem taken by Pompey.-40, Herod, king of Judæa.-29, Murder of Mariamne.

INVENTIONS, &c.-63, Shorthand, by Cicero.-60, Flux and Reflux of the Tides, by Posidonius, who endeavours to measure the circumference of the Earth.-45, Calendar reformed, by Cæsar.-6, Lunar Cycle or Golden Number.

LITERATURE, &c.-Lucretius, Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Cicero, Cæsar, Sallust, Livy, Vitruvius, Nepos, Tibullus, Propertius, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo.

ROME.

MARIUS AND SATURNINUS.-As the danger of barbaric invasion passed away, the gratitude of the people became less intense, and when Marius was a sixth time candidate for the supreme honours, he was warmly opposed by the senate and their favourite Metellus Numidicus. To remove this last, it was necessary that Saturninus, a seditious demagogue, should be chosen tribune; to effect which, a league was formed between him, Marius, and the prætor Glaucia, a man of depraved character. They resolved to obtain their ends by violence, should all other means fail; and finding the ballot was against them, and the ten tribunes already nominated, the partisans of Saturninus threw down the

The Christian era commences from that year of the world; but our Saviour was born four years before, or, more properly, in the fifth year before the common era.

urns, drove away the tribunes, and killed Nonius, one of their number, in whose place he was chosen on the morrow by an armed body, which filled the hall of election. In virtue of the first law enacted by the new tribune, extensive lands in the north of Italy were distributed among the proletars who had composed the legions of Marius. When the period of the consular elections arrived, Glaucia became a candidate, and, to ensure success, Saturninus caused Memmius, the rival of his friend, to be assassinated. Such a crime excited general indignation, and Marius was compelled to relinquish his former colleagues, who had taken refuge in the Capitol. Being soon reduced to surrender, they were cruelly massacred by the people; the laws of Saturninus were abolished; Metellus returned in triumph from his exile, 99, and Marius retired to Asia. The democracy had triumphed in the election of Marius, who was more formidable than the Gracchi, as he united the talents of a great general with the vices of a demagogue. By his elevation to the consulate the aristocracy was humbled, and the path to the highest honours henceforward lay open to the meanest of birth; but by his weakness and incapacity in political arrangements, he was unable to execute his furious plans against the nobles. The masses of the people were, however, supreme, and events showed that no man's life was safe who opposed their sovereign will. Livius Drusus, the same who had been employed to destroy the popularity of Caius Gracchus, endeavoured to conciliate all parties and interests. To gain over the people, he proposed the foundation of new colonies throughout Italy, fresh distributions of corn, an increase in the number of senators by adding to them 300 of the noblest equites, and the presentation of the civic freedom to the Italians. All these laws were accepted by the people, but met with a violent opposition from the consuls and the knights whose unconstitutional privileges were attacked. The tribune, who succeeded only by employing violence, was by his victory thrown into the greatest embarrassment. The allies, by whose assistance he had gained it, called upon him to fulfill his pledges, and to confer the right of citizenship. Finding him unwilling, or perhaps unable, to keep his promise, they formed a conspiracy for the murder of the hostile consuls, whom Drusus made acquainted with their danger. His antagonists were not equally generous, for a blow from an assassin cut short his projects, 91. The Italian towns did not feel inclined to relinquish their title to a participation in civic rights, and the haughty rejection of their petitions was followed by a general revolt. They formed the plan of a separate republic, similar in all respects to the Roman. Corfinium was to be the capital, with its senate, consuls, prætors, and other magistrates. Pompædius Silo was the chief of the league, in the first rank of which were the Marsians and Samnites. Army after army was defeated, and the war was characterized by the most barbarous cruelties. At length, when 300,000 lives had been sacrificed, and the resources of both parties were nearly exhausted, the Italians were admitted to all the privileges of Roman citizens, 88 B. C., an act which essentially changed the constitution, and promoted the views of the disaffected.

MITHRIDATES, king of Pontus, was one of the most formidable enemies the Romans ever encountered. His dominions, situated on the southern shores of the Black Sea, had long been independent of the