[40] His
fame and fortunes were preserved, at least to his children, by this
civil death; and he might still be happy in every rational and sensual
enjoyment, if a mind accustomed to the ambitious tumult of Rome could
support the uniformity and silence of Rhodes or Athens. A bolder effort
was required to escape from the tyranny of the Caesars; but this effort
was rendered familiar by the maxims of the Stoics, the example of the
bravest Romans, and the legal encouragements of suicide. The bodies of
condemned criminals were exposed to public ignominy, and their children,
a more serious evil, were reduced to poverty by the confiscation of
their fortunes. But if the victims of Tiberius and Nero anticipated the
decree of the prince or senate, their courage and despatch were
recompensed by the applause of the public, the decent honors of burial,
and the validity of their testaments. The exquisite avarice and cruelty
of Domitian appear to have deprived the unfortunate of this last
consolation, and it was still denied even by the clemency of the
Antonines.
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