A.M.

3973 The battle of A&tium was fought, in which

Mark Antony and Cleopatra were totally defeated by Octavius, nephew to Julius

Cæsar. 3974 Alexandria, in Egypt, was taken by Octavius;

upon which Antony and Cleopatra put themselves to death, and Egypt was re

duced to a Roman province. Dionysius, of Halicarnassus, wrote his Ro

man history, 3977 O&avius, by a decree of the fenate, obtained

the title of Augustus Cæfar, and an absolute exemption from the laws, and was, properly speaking, the first Roman emperor. At this time, Rome was fifty miles in circumference, and contained 463,000 men fit to

bear arms. 4004 The temple of Janus was shut by Augustus,

as an emblem of universal peace. Virgil, the famous epic and pastoral poet, Horace, the celebrated lyric and satiric poet, flourished under Auguftus, and were patronized

by him.

Jesus CHRIST, the Saviour of mankind, was

born, at Bethlehem, on the 25th of December.

CHAP

C H A P. LXVII. .

REMARKABLE EVENTS DURING THE FOUR FIRST

CENTURIES OF THE CHRISTIAN ÆRA

HEROD

A.D.

EROD massacres all the infants of Beth

lehem, thinking that certainly Chrift

would not escape. 12 Our Saviour disputes with the Doctors in the

Temple. 17 Livy, the elegant historian, wrote his Roman

history. Ovid, the ingenious elegiac poet; Celsus, the philosopher and physician; and Strabo, the Greek geographer, flourished

about the same time. 33 Christ was crucified on Friday, April 3, at

three o'clock, P.M. His resurrection took place on Sunday, April 5 ; and his ascen

sion on Thursday, May 14. Phædrus, the Roman fabulist, lived at this Aid. 49 London was founded by the Romans; and

in 368 they surrounded it with a wall, some

parts of which are still observable. 63 Christianity is supposed to have been intro

duced into Britain by St. Paul, or some of

his disciples. 64 Quintus Curtius, a Roman, wrote the history

of Alexander the Great. Seneca, of Spain, the philosopher and tragic

poet, was put to death. Lucan, the Roman epic poet, rendered him

self famous by his Pharsalia. 70 Whilst the factious Jews were destroying one

another with mutual fury, Titus, the Roman general, took Jerusalem, which was razed to the ground, and the plough made

to pass over it. 79 Pliny, the elder, the Roman natural historian,

flourished. 85 Julius Agricola, governor of South-Britain,

to protect the civilized Britons from the incursions of the Caledonians, built a line of forts between the rivers Forth and Clyde ; defeated the Caledonians under Galgacus on the Grampian hills; and first failed round Britain, which he discovered to be an illand,

93 Jofephus, A.D. 93 Josephus, the Jewish historian, Epictetus, the

Greek stoic philosopher, and Quintilian, the Roman orator and advocate, were the

ornaments of the age in which they lived. 99 Tacitus and Lucius Florus, the Roman histo

rians, and Martial, of Spain, the epigram

matic poet, flourished. 119 Pliny, the younger, published his historical

letters ; Suetonius his Roman history ; and

Plutarch, the Grecian biographer, his lives. 121 The Caledonians recovered from the Romans

all the southern parts of Scotland ; upon which the emperor Adrian built a wall between Newcastle and Carlife. But this also proving ineffectual, Pollius Urbicus, the Roman general, about the year 144, repaired Agricola's fort, which he joined

by a wall four yards thick. 128 Juvenal wrote his satires, ånd Justin his uni

versal history, some time after. 180 Lucian, the ingenious Roman philologer,

published his dialogues. 193 Galen, the Greek philosopher and physician,

Aourished. 273 Longinus, the Greek orator, and author of

the celebrated treatise on the sublime, was put to death by Aurelian.

A.D. 274 Silk was first brought from India. The ma

nufactory of it was first introduced into Europe by some monks, in 551 ; and it was first worn by the clergy in England,

in 1534.

306 Constantine the Great began his reign. 320 Arius, a priest of Alexandria, founded the

feet of the Arians. 325 The first general council was held at Nice,

when 318 fathers attended, against Arius, when the famous Nicene creed was com

posed. 328 Constantine removed the seat of empire from

Rome to Byzantium, which was afterwards called Constantinople. Not long after he ordered all the heathen temples to be

destroyed. 342 Eufebius, the ecclefiaftical historian and chro

nologer, flourished. 363 The Roman emperor Julian, surnamed the

Apoftate, endeavoured in vain to rebuild