41)], Nero [Nero, Emperor of Rome (r. 54-68)], and Domitian [Domitian,
Emperor of Rome (r. 81-96)]; but after them came Nerva [Nerva, Marcus
Cocceius, Emperor of Rome (r. 96-98)], Trajan [Trajan, Emperor of Rome
(r. 98-117)], Hadrian [Hadrian, Emperor of Rome (r. 117-138)], Antoninus
Pius [Antoninus Pius, Emperor of Rome (r. 138-161)], and Marcus
Aurelius – “the finest succession of good and great sovereigns,” Renan
called them, “that the world has ever had.”
“If,” said Gibbon, “a man
were called upon to fix the period during which the condition of the human
race was most happy and prosperous, he would without hesitation name
that which elapsed from the accession of Nerva to the death of Marcus
Aurelius. Their united reigns are possibly the only period of history in
which the happiness of a great people was the sole object of
government.”
In that brilliant age, when Rome’s subjects complimented
themselves on being under her rule, monarchy was adoptive: the emperor
transmitted his authority not to his offspring but to the ablest man he could
find; he adopted this man as his son, trained him in the functions of
government, and gradually surrendered to him the reins of power. The
system worked well, partly because neither Trajan nor Hadrian had a son,
and the sons of Antoninus Pius died in childhood. Marcus Aurelius had a
son, Commodus [Commodus, Lucius Aelius Aurelius, Emperor of Rome (r.
180-192)], who succeeded him because the philosopher failed to name
another heir; soon chaos was king.
All in all, monarchy has had a middling record. Its wars of succession
brought mankind as much evil as the continuity or “legitimacy” of the
monarchy brought good. When it is hereditary it is likely to be more
prolific of stupidity, nepotism, irresponsibility, and extravagance than of
nobility or statesmanship. Louis XIV [Louis XIV, King of France (r. 1643-
1715)] has often been taken as the paragon of modern monarchs, but the
people of France rejoiced at his death. The complexity of contemporary
states seems to break down any single mind that tries to master it.
