TITUS, who had the same cognomen with his father, was the darling and the delight
					of mankind; so much did the natural genius, address, or good fortune he
					possessed tend to conciliate the favour of all. This was, indeed, extremely
					difficult, after he became emperor, as before that time, and even during the
					reign of his father, he lay under public odium and censure. He was born upon the
					third of the calends of January [30th Dec.], in the year remarkable for the
					death of Caius, near the Septizonium, in a mean house, and a very
					small and dark room, which still exists, and is shown to the curious.

He was educated in the palace with Britannicus, and instructed in the same
					branches of learning, and under the same masters. During this time, they say,
					that a physiognomist being introduced by Narcissus, the freedman of Claudius, to
					examine the features of Britannicus, positively affirmed that he would never
					become emperor, but that Titus, who stood by, would. They were so familiar, that
					Titus being next him at table, is thought to have tasted of the fatal potion
					which put an end to Britannicus's life, and to have contracted from it a
					distemper which hung about him a long time. In remembrance of all these
					circumstances, he afterwards erected a golden statue of him in the Palatium, and
					dedicated to him an equestrian statue of ivory; attending it in the Circensian
					procession, in which it is still carried to this day.

While yet a boy, he was remarkable for his noble endowments both of body and
					mind; and as he advanced in years, they became still more conspicuous. He had a
					fine person, combining an equal mixture of majesty and grace; was very strong,
					though not tall, and somewhat corpulent. Gifted with an excellent memory, and a
					capacity for all the arts of peace and war; he was a perfect master of the use
					of arms and riding; very ready in the Latin and Greek tongues, both in verse and
					prose; and such was the facility he possessed in both, that he would harangue
					and versify extempore. Nor was he unacquainted with music, but could both sing
					and play upon the harp sweetly and scientifically. I have likewise been informed
					by many persons, that he was remarkably quick in writing short-hand, would in
					merriment and jest engage with his secretaries in the imitation of any
					hand-writing he saw, and often say, " that he was admirably qualified for
					forgery."

He filled with distinction the rank of a military tribune both in Germany and
					Britain, in which he conducted himself with the utmost activity, and no less
					modesty and reputation; as appears evident from the great number of statues,
					with honourable inscriptions, erected to him in various parts of both those
					provinces. After serving in the wars, he frequented the courts of law, but with
					less assiduity than applause. About the same time, he married Arricidia, the
					daughter of Tertullus, who was only a knight, but had formerly been prefect of
					the pretorian guards. After her decease, he married Marcia Furnilla, of a very
					noble family, but afterwards divorced her, taking from her the daughter he had
					by her. Upon the expiration of his quaestorship, he was raised to the rank of
					commander of a legion, and took the two
					strong cities of Tarichaea and Gamala, in Judaea; and having his horse killed
					under him in a battle, he mounted another, whose rider he had encountered and
					slain.

Soon afterwards, when Galba came to be emperor, he was sent to congratulate him,
					and turned the eyes of all people upon himself, wherever he came: it being the
					general opinion amongst them, that the emperor had sent for him with a design to
					adopt him for his son. But finding all things again in confusion, he turned back
					upon the road; and going to consult the oracle of Venus at Paphos about his
					voyage, he received assurances of obtaining the empire for himself. These hopes
					were speedily strengthened, and being left to finish the reduction of Judea, in
					the final assault of Jerusalem, he slew seven of its defenders, with the like
					number of arrows, and took it upon his daughter's birth-day. So great was the joy and
					attachment of the soldiers, that, in their congratulations, they unanimously
					saluted him by the title of Emperor; and, upon his quitting the province soon
					afterwards, would needs have detained him, earnestly begging him, and that not
					without threats, "either to stay, or take them all with him." This occurrence
					gave rise to the suspicion of his being engaged in a design to rebel against his
					father, and claim for himself the government of the East; and the suspicion
					increased, when, on his way to Alexandria, he wore a diadem at the consecration
					of the ox Apis at Memphis; and, though he did it only in compliance with an
					ancient religious usage of the country, yet there were some who put a bad
					construction upon it. Making, therefore, what haste he could into Italy, he
					arrived first at Rhegium, and sailing thence in a merchant ship to Puteoli, went
					to Rome with all possible expedition. Presenting himself unexpectedly to his
					father, he said, by way of contradicting the strange reports raised concerning
					him, "I am come, father, I am come."

From that time he constantly acted as colleague with his father, and, indeed, as
					regent of the empire. He triumphed with his father, bore jointly with him the
					office of censor; and was, besides, his
					colleague not only in the tribunitian authority, but in seven consulships. Taking upon himself the care and inspection of
					all'offices, he dictated letters, wrote proclamations in his father's name, and
					pronounced his speeches in the senate in place of the quaestor. He likewise
					assumed the command of the pretorian guards, although no one but a Roman knight
					had ever before been their prefect. In this he conducted himself with great
					haughtiness and violence, taking off without scruple or delay all those he had
					most reason to suspect, after he had secretly sent his emissaries into the
					theatres and camp, to demand, as if by general consent, that the suspected
					persons should be delivered up to punishment. Among these, he invited to supper
					A. Cacina, a man of consular rank, whom he ordered to be stabbed at his
					departure, immediately after he had gone out of the room. To this act, indeed,
					he was provoked by an imminent danger; for he had discovered a writing under the
					hand of Cecina, containing an account of a plot hatched among the soldiers. By
					these acts, though he provided for his future security, yet for the present he
					so much incurred the hatred of the people, that scarcely ever any one came to
					the empire with a more odious character, or more universally disliked.

Besides his cruelty, he lay under the suspicion of giving way to habits of
					luxury, as he often prolonged his revels till midnight with the most riotous of
					his acquaintance. Nor was he unsuspected of lewdness, and his well-known
					attachment to queen Berenice, who received from him, as it is reported, a promise
					of marriage. He was supposed, besides, to be of a rapacious disposition; for it
					is certain, that, in causes which came before his father, he used to offer his
					interest for sale, and take bribes. In short, people publicly expressed an
					unfavourable opinion of him, and said he would prove another Nero. This
					prejudice, however, turned out in the end to his advantage, and enhanced his
					praises to the highest pitch when he was found to possess no vicious
					propensities, but, on the contrary, the noblest virtues. His entertainments were
					agreeable rather than extravagant: and he surrounded himself with such excellent
					friends, that the succeeding princes adopted them as most serviceable to
					themselves and the state. He immediately sent away Berenice from the city, much
					against both their inclinations. Some of his old eunuchs, though such
					accomplished dancers, that they bore an uncontrollable sway upon the stage, he
					was so far from treating with any extraordinary kindness, that he would not so
					much as witness their performances in the crowded theatre. He violated no
					private right; and if ever man refrained from injustice, he did; nay, he would
					not accept of the allowable and customary offerings. Yet, in munificence, he was
					inferior to none of the princes before him. Having dedicated his amphitheatre,
						 and built some warm baths close by it with great expedition, he entertained
					the people with most magnificent spectacles. He likewise exhibited a naval fight
					in the old Naumachia, besides a combat of gladiators; and in one day brought
					into the theatre five thousand wild beasts of all kinds.

He was by nature extremely benevolent; for whereas all the emperors after
					Tiberius, according to the example he had set them, would not admit the grants
					made by former princes to be valid, unless they received their own sanction, he
					confirmed them all by one general edict, without waiting for any applications
					respecting them. Of all who petitioned for any favour, he sent none away without
					hopes. And when his ministers represented to him that he promised more than he
					could perform, he replied, " No one ought to go away downcast from an audience
					with his prince." Once at supper, reflecting that he had done nothing for any
					that day, he broke out into that memorable and justly-admired saying, "My
					friends, I have lost a day." More
					particularly, he treated the people on all occasions with so much courtesy,
					that, on his presenting them with a show of gladiators, he declared, "He should
					manage it, not according to his own fancy, but that of the spectators," and did
					accordingly. He denied them nothing, and very frankly encouraged them to ask
					what they pleased. Espousing the cause of the Thracian party among the
					gladiators, he frequently joined in the popular demonstrations in their favour,
					but without compromising his dignity or doing injustice. To omit no opportunity
					of acquiring popularity, he sometimes made use himself of the baths he had
					erected, without excluding the common people. There happened in his reign some
					dreadful accidents; an enrption of mount Vesuvius, in Campania, and a fire in
					Rome, which continued three days and three nights; besides a plague, such as was scarcely ever known before.
					Amidst these many great disasters, he not only manifested the concern which
					might be expected from a prince, but even the affection of a father, for his
					people; one while comforting them by his proclamations, and another while
					relieving them to the utmost of his power. He chose by lot, from among the men
					of consular rank, commissioners for repairing the losses in Campania. The
					estates of those who had perished by the eruption of Vesuvius, and who had left
					no heirs, he applied to the repair of the ruined cities. With regard to the
					public buildings destroyed by fire in the City, he declared that nobody should
					be a loser but himself. Accordingly, he applied all the ornaments of his palaces
					to the decoration of the temples, and purposes of public utility, and appointed
					several men of the equestrian order to superintend the work. For the relief of
					the people during the plague, he employed, in the way of sacrifice and medicine,
					all means both human and divine. Amongst the calamities of the times, were
					informers and their agents; a tribe of miscreants who had grown up under the
					licence of former reigns. These he frequently ordered to be scourged or beaten
					with sticks in the forum, and then, after he had obliged them to pass through
					the amphitheatre as a public spectacle, commanded them to be sold for slaves, or
					else banished them to some rocky islands. And to discourage such practices for
					the future, amongst other things, he prohibited actions to be successively
					brought under different laws for the same cause, or the state of affairs of
					deceased persons to be inquired into after a certain number of years.

Having declared that he accepted the office of Pontifex Maximus for the purpose
					of preserving his hands undefiled, he faithfully adhered to his promise. For
					after that time he was neither directly nor indirectly concerned in the death of
					any person, though he sometimes was justly irritated. He swore "that he would
					perish himself rather than prove the destruction of any man." Two men of
					patrician rank being convicted of aspiring to the empire, he only advised them
					to desist, saying, "that the sovereign power was disposed of by fate," and
					promised them, that if there was any thing else they desired of him, he would
					grant it. He also immediately sent messengers to the mother of one of them, who
					was at a great distance, and in deep anxiety about her son, to assure her of his
					safety. Nay, he not only invited them to sup with him, but next day, at a show
					of gladiators, purposely placed them close by him; and handed to them the arms
					of the combatants for their inspection. It is said likewise, that having had
					their nativities cast, he assured them, " that a great calamity was impending on
					both of them, but from another hand, and not from his." Though his brother was
					continually plotting against him, almost openly stirring up the armies to
					rebellion, and contriving to get away, yet he could not endure to put him to
					death, or to banish him from his presence; nor did he treat him with less
					respect than before. But from his first accession to the empire, he constantly
					declared him his partner in it, and that he should be his successor; begging of
					him sometimes in private, with tears in his eyes, "to return the affection he
					had for him."

Amidst all these favourable circumstances, he was cut off by an untimely death,
					more to the loss of mankind than himself. At the close of the public spectacles,
					he wept bitterly in the presence of the people, and then retired into the Sabine
					country, rather melancholy, because a
					victim had made its escape while he was sacrificing, and loud thunder had been
					heard while the atmosphere was serene. At the first resting-place on the road,
					he was seized with a fever, and being carried forward in a litter, they say that
					he drew back the curtains, and looked up to heaven, complaining heavily, " that
					his life was taken from him, though he had done nothing to deserve it; for there
					was no action of his that he had occasion to repent of, but one." What that was,
					he neither disclosed himself, nor is it easy for us to conjecture. Some imagine
					that he alluded to the connection which he had formerly had with his brothers
					wife. But Domitia solemnly denied it on oath; which she would never have done,
					had there been any truth in the report; nay, she would certainly have gloried in
					it, as she was forward enough to boast of all her scandalous intrigues.

He died in the same villa where his father had died before him, upon the Ides of
					September [the i3th of September]; two years, two months, and twenty days after
					he had succeeded his father; and in the one-and-fortieth year of his age. As
					soon as the news of his death was published, all people mourned for him, as for
					the loss of some near relative. The senate assembled in haste, before they could
					be summoned by proclamation, and locking the doors of their house at first, but
					afterwards opening them, they gave him such thanks, and heaped upon him such
					praises, now he was dead, as they never had done whilst he was alive and present
					amongst them.

Remarks on Titus 
				 TITUS FLAVIUS VESPASIAN, the younger, was the first prince who succeeded to the
					empire by hereditary right; and having constantly acted, after his return from
					Judaea, as colleague with his father in the administration, he seemed to be as
					well qualified by experience as he was by abilities, for conducting the affairs
					of the empire. But with respect to his natural disposition, and moral behaviour,
					the expectations entertained by the public were not equally flattering. He was
					immoderately addicted to luxury; he had betrayed a strong inclination to
					cruelty; and he lived in the habitual practice of lewdness, no less unnatural
					than intemperate. But, with a degree of virtuous resolution unexampled in
					history, he had no sooner taken into his hands the entire reins of government,
					than he renounced every vicious attachment. Instead of wallowing in luxury, as
					before, he became a model of temperance; instead of cruelty, he displayed the
					strongest proofs of humanity and benevolence; ard in the room of lewdness, he
					exhibited a transition to the most unblem 'bed chastity and virtue. In a word,
					so sudden and great a change was never known in the character of mortal; and he
					had the peculiar glory to receive the appellation of " the darling and delight
					of mankind." 
				 Under a prince of such a disposition, the government of the empire could not but
					be conducted with the strictest regard to the public welfare. The reform, which
					was begun in the late reign, he prosecuted with the most ardent application;
					and, had he lived for a longer time, it is probable that his authority and
					example would have produced the most beneficial effects upon the manners of the
					Romans. 
				 During the reign of this emperor, in the seventy-ninth year of the Christian era,
					happened the first eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which has ever since been
					celebrated for its volcano. Before this time, Vesuvius is spoken of, by ancient
					writers, as being covered with orchards and vineyards, and of which the middle
					was dry and barren. The eruption was accompanied by an earthquake, which
					destroyed several cities of Campania, particularly Pompeii and Herculaneum;
					while the lava, pouring down the mountain in torrents, overwhelmed, in various
					directions, the adjacent plains. The burning ashes were covered not only over
					the neighbouring country, but as far as the shores of Egypt, Libya, and even
					Syria. Amongst those to whom this dreadful eruption proved fatal, was Pliny, the
					celebrated naturalist, whose curiosity to examine the phenomenon led him so far
					within the verge of danger, that he could not afterwards escape.