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. 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. Gibbon has described the limits of the Roman Empire; which
"comprised the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilised portion
of mankind." Its boundaries were "the Rhine and Danube, on the north; the
Euphrates, on the east; towards the south, the sandy deserts of Arabia and
Africa;" and upon the west, the Atlantic ocean. It was over this extensive
monarchy, that Caesar reigned; by the providence of Caesar, was the whole
defended and administered.