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122
THE DECLINE AND FALL
CHAP. IV.
_____ sovereign; till at length the despair of pardon reviving their fury, a barbarian of the country of Tongres[1] levelled the first blow against Pertinax, who was instantly despatched with a multitude of wounds. His head, separated from his body, and placed on a lance, was carried in triumph to the pretorian camp, in the sight of a mournful and indignant people ; who lamented the unworthy fate of that excellent prince, and the transient blessings of a reign, the memory of which could serve only to aggravate their approaching misfortunes[2].
_____ sovereign; till at length the despair of pardon reviving their fury, a barbarian of the country of Tongres[1] levelled the first blow against Pertinax, who was instantly despatched with a multitude of wounds. His head, separated from his body, and placed on a lance, was carried in triumph to the pretorian camp, in the sight of a mournful and indignant people ; who lamented the unworthy fate of that excellent prince, and the transient blessings of a reign, the memory of which could serve only to aggravate their approaching misfortunes[2].
- ↑ The modern bishopric of Liege. This soldier probably belonged to the Batavian horse guards, who were mostly raised in the duchy of Gueldres and the neighbourhood, and were distinguished by their valour, and by the boldness with which they swam their horses across the broadest and most rapid rivers. Tacit. Hist. iv. 12 ; Dion, 1. Iv. p. 797 ; Lipsius de Magnitudine Romana, 1. i. c. 4.
- ↑ Dion, 1. Ixxiii. p. 1232 ; Herodian, 1. ii. p. 60 ; Hist. August, p. 58; Victor in Epitom. et in Caesarib j Eutropius, viii. 16.
