ke, by which Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Pompeii, three
towns on the Bay of Naples, were destroyed. The emperor was so touched
by the sufferings of the inhabitants that he expended nearly his whole
private fortune in relieving their wants. Pompeii and Herculaneum, which
were covered by lava or ashes, were thus preserved from farther decay,
and, having been partially excavated and restored, enable us to form a
truthful conception of the domestic life of the Roman cities in the age
of Titus. We here enter the villas of the rich or the humble homes of
the poor, and find every where traces of comfort, elegance, and taste.

The next year after the destruction of these cities, a fire broke out in
Rome, which raged for three days, desolating the finest regions of the
city. The Capitoline Temple was again destroyed, together with many
buildings in the Campus Martius. A pestilence followed soon after, which
ravaged Rome and all Italy.

In A.D. 81 Titus dedicated the Colosseum, which was now completed, and
also his famous baths, the ruins of which may still be visited at Rome.
Splendid games and spectacles were exhibited in honor of these events.
Few military events occurred during this reign, the empire being
perfectly quiet, except where the active Agricola was subduing the
wandering tribes of Scotland.

At length Titus, having gone to the Sabine villa where his father
Vespasian died, was himself suddenly arrested by death. It was believed
that his brother Domitian was the cause of this unhappy event, and all
the people lamented their emperor as if they had lost a father or a
friend. Titus died September 13, A.D. 81.

REIGN OF DOMITIAN, A.D. 81-96

Domitian, who was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers upon his brother's
death, possessed the mental ability of the Flavian family, joined to the
vices and cruelty of the Claudian. In him Nero or Caligula seemed
revived. His first political acts, however, were often useful, and for
several years he concealed his true disposition. But he soon surrounded
himself with spies and informers, and put to death the noblest men of
his time. To preserve the fidelity of the soldiers he doubled their pay,
while he won the populace by games and donations. But, to maintain his
expenditure, he confiscated the property of the richer citizens, and no
man of wealth was safe from an accusation of treason.

Agricola, who had gained a great victory over the Caledonians at the
foot of the Grampion Hil