spiracy
was formed during a short absence of Pertinax, which was crushed by his
sudden return to Rome, and his resolute behavior. Falco was on the point
of being justly condemned to death as a public enemy had he not been
saved by the earnest and sincere entreaties of the injured emperor, who
conjured the senate, that the purity of his reign might not be stained
by the blood even of a guilty senator.

These disappointments served only to irritate the rage of the Praetorian
guards. On the twenty-eighth of March, eighty-six days only after the
death of Commodus, a general sedition broke out in the camp, which the
officers wanted either power or inclination to suppress. Two or three
hundred of the most desperate soldiers marched at noonday, with arms in
their hands and fury in their looks, towards the Imperial palace.
The gates were thrown open by their companions upon guard, and by the
domestics of the old court, who had already formed a secret conspiracy
against the life of the too virtuous emperor. On the news of their
approach, Pertinax, disdaining either flight or concealment, advanced to
meet his assassins; and recalled to their minds his own innocence,
and the sanctity of their recent oath. For a few moments they stood
in silent suspense, ashamed of their atrocious design, and awed by
the venerable aspect and majestic firmness of their sovereign, till at
length, the despair of pardon reviving their fury, a barbarian of the
country of Tongress levelled the first blow against Pertinax, who was
instantly despatched with a multitude of wounds. His head, separated
from his body, and placed on a lance, was carried in triumph to the
Praetorian camp, in the sight of a mournful and indignant people, who
lamented the unworthy fate of that excellent prince, and the transient
blessings of a reign, the memory of which could serve only to aggravate
their approaching misfortunes.

Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus.--Part I.

Public Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus By The
Praetorian Guards--Clodius Albinus In Britain, Pescennius
Niger In Syria, And Septimius Severus In Pannonia, Declare
Against The Murderers Of Pertinax--Civil Wars And Victory Of
Severus Over His Three Rivals--Relaxation Of Discipline--New
Maxims Of Government.

The power of the sword is more sensibly felt in an extensive monarchy,
than in a small community. It has been calculated by the ablest
politicians,