" In this learned volume, it is proved
out of the Ancients, that Tiberius was the most perfect of all sovereigns;
and he is shown to be nothing less than the forerunner of Saint Peter, the
first Apostle and the nursing-father of the Christian Church. The author
was a Cambridge divine, and one of their Professors of mathematics: "a
science," Goldsmith says, "to which the meanest intellects are equal."
Upon the other hand, we have to consider that view of Tiberius, which is
thus shown by Milton;
_This Emperor hath no son, and now is old;
Old and lascivious: and from Rome retired
To Capreae, an island small but strong,
On the Campanian shore; with purpose there,
His horrid lusts in private to enjoy._
This theme is enlarged by Suetonius, and evidently enjoyed: he represents
Tiberius, as addicted to every established form of vice; and as the
inventor of new names, new modes, and a new convenience, for unheard-of
immoralities. These propensities of the Emperor are handled by Tacitus
with more discretion, though he does not conceal them. I wish neither to
condemn nor to condone Tiberius: I desire, if it be possible, to see him
as he is; and whether he be good or bad, he is very interesting.
Pages:
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32