I have
drawn attention to what is good in "The Annals," because Tacitus leans
with all his weight upon the bad; and either explains away what is
favourable, or passes over it with too light a stroke. At the end, I must
conclude, as I began, that the character of Tiberius is a mystery. It is a
commonplace, that no man is entirely good nor entirely evil; but the
histories of Tiberius are too contradictory, to be thus dismissed by a
platitude. It is not easy to harmonise Paterculus with Suetonius: it is
impossible to reconcile Tacitus with himself; or to combine the strong,
benevolent ruler with the Minotaur of Capri. The admirers of an almost
perfect prose, must be familiar with a story, which is not the highest
effort of that prose: they will remember a certain man with a double
nature, like all of us; but, unlike us, able to separate his natures, and
to personate at will his good or evil genius. Tiberius was fond of magic,
and of the curious arts: it may be, that he commanded the secrets of which
Mr. Stevenson has dreamed!
The readers of "The Annals" have seen enough of blood, of crime, and of
Tiberius; and I would now engage their attention upon a more pleasing
aspect of Imperial affairs: I wish to speak about the Empire itself; about
its origin, its form, its history: and, if my powers were equal to the
task, I would sketch a model Emperor; Marcus Aurelius, or the elder
Antonine.
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