The Nemesis: A Tale Of The Days Of Trajan.

guardians . The Tiber flowed turbid and fast by , willing hearts and strong arms Avere ready to revenge the insulted populace , and stones , plentiful as at the present hour , coulcl be attached to the obnoxious individuals throat , —a plunge , an eddy ,

a shout , —and the Romans Avould have returned to glut their sight of the great procession , the despatch of an officer being an agreeable whet to the public appetite . The triumph lasted tliree clays , an unusual

honour , but one well bestowed upon the great Trajan , the . best and most single-minded of all the Roman Emperors . Marcus TJIpius Trajan was born at Italica , a small fcoAvn on the Guadalquiver , near Seville . His father had filled the highest offices Romans had to bestoAA-, and Trajan , following

in his footsteps , had successively ancl successfully filled the posts of praetor , consul , and commander of the Lower Rhine . While discharging the duties of the last office , the UOAVS was brought him of his nomination by the Emperor Nerva , —who

had , on account of the violence of the military , resigned the purple , —to the imperial throne ; a choice which satisfied the turbulent army , Avho gladly heard of the nomination of one so renowned as a soldier . The Senate , willingly acquiesced in

his elevation from his hi gh ancl patriotic character * while Nerva himself was proud to find that his adopted son , for in such a relation did Trajan stand to him , was so welcornely received by all classes of the Romans ; ancl this soothed the bitterness of his somewhat forced abdication .

Nerva hoAvever died shortly after his retirement from the throne , his illness proving sudden ancl short . Trajan spent a year in arranging the affairs of the frontier , and then appeared afc Rome , entering the city on foot , accompanied by his wtfe ,

and Avith no parade of state ; to make up for this , the Senate had decreed him on the first occasion the most glorious triumph , which , with the exception of Paulus iEmilius had ever been decreed a Roman . But what made this triumph more

interesting to the citizens vvas the fact that Trajan Avas the first foreigner who had received the dcmaticum , an infringement upon precedent that led at first to a succession of great and good emperors , and subsequently to the elevation of

those who proved the ruin of Rome . Trajan , on ascending the throne , punished the military for their disobedience to his predecessor , and on delivering the sword to a new prefect he used these memorable words , " Employ it for me , if I

act well ; against me , if I act ill . " Not less modest were his female relatives , for his wife Plotina , in ascending for the first time the palatial steps , said , " Such as I am when I enter this house , may I be found Avhen I le & re ifc . " She ,

and Trajan ' s sister , Marciana , contributed their influence to reform feminine morals , and to put a stop to that licentiousness , which the Roman dames indulged in , and which in previous reigns had called down the satires of Martial . Trajan

soon became the idol of fche populace , the nobility and the military , so that it became a common expression in saluting a new emperor , " May you be more fortunate than Augustus and better than Trajan . " The first war in Avhich Trajan , after his

ascension , found himself engaged Avas with the Dacians , the triumph consequent upon which we have now to chronicle . On the first day the procession consisted of statues , pictures , and images which had been

taken from the enemy ; ancl on the second , their armour and military accoutrements . The third day presented the grandest spectacle ; early in

the morning , when the first beams of Apollo smote the temple of Capitcline Jove , the victorious army began its march into Rome . First came the trumpeters sounding a martial charge ; then followed young men g irt about with girdles

curiously wrought , who led to the sacrifice onehundred and twenty oxen , with their horns gilded ancl their heads adorned with ribbons and garlands , and with these were boys that carried platters of silver ancl gold . Next followed the captives with

lowering brows and bloodshot eyes , conquered truly , but still unsubdued . After a space came a solitary rider , the cynosure of all eyes , the gallant soldier and the witching poet , Cains Fabius , the great hero of the Avar , and who hacl thrice saved

the emperor ' s life . Upon his helmet he wore the corona civilis , the most honourable of all the Roman crowns . It was bestowed upon him who saved the life of a Roman in Avar , ancl was formed , of the leaves of the oak , the most honourable of all

trees . Loud cheers greeted fche presence of this gallant young noble , he was barely twenty-one , but already his name had become known and

adored by the Romans , nofc only for his martial achievements , but also for his open hand and kindly heart . He was the staunch friend of the poor , whose welfare he ever carefully attended to ; ancl the meanest citizen could depend upon his aid in all his lawful undertakings . He rods