continually interwoven with it, and the actions of other heroes are borrowed to swell the glory of the favourite; but enough of truth is left to dispel any doubts that might otherwise arise in our minds. Nor are we without the hope of ere long obtaining further information on this subject. The discovery of the cuneiform alphabet, and the success of Major Rawlinson and others in reading the ancient monumental inscriptions in Persia, will throw an unexpected light on the legendary

history of that country. Many valuable incidents relating to Darius have been already rescued from oblivion; and we may reasonably trust that, as these investigations proceed, and as fresh materials are collected, and fresh aids to their being used are discovered, many of the difficulties in the ancient annals of Persia will be explained, and its national legends no longer seem irreconcileable with the accounts which we find preserved in the Greek historians. E. B. C.

FROM this source, through recent discoveries, some information is made available for Roman history beyond what was before possessed, and some for that of Britain. Suetonius informs us that Augustus left his testamentary papers in five parts or divisions. The two first of these were properly his will, in which he appointed his heirs, and distributed various legacies. The remaining parts were in three rolls, of which the first roll contained directions for his funeral; the second was a summary of his public acts during the whole of his reign, ordered to be engraved on brass tablets and set up before his mausoleum; and the third was a statistical account of his empire, detailing the amount of public revenue, the number of soldiers in pay, arrears due, names of collectors, and the like.

How long the engraved brass tablets at Rome existed we are not informed. If they escaped other revolutions, they were doubtlessly melted down by the Goths, as not a line from them seems to have been preserved. Copies of them, however, were made for the provinces, and such a copy was engraved for a temple at Ancyra, now Angora, the former capital of Asia Minor, dedicated to Augustus and to Rome. The major part of this remains still extant, and was published very faithfully by Chishull, in his Antiquitates Asiaticæ, above a century ago. It was, however, much disconnected by chasms, and therefore its value considerably impaired; but

fortunately a Greek translation was found on the outside of the same temple, concealed by buildings, which has been given to the public by W. J. Hamilton, Esq., Secretary of the Geological Society, about five years since, though a considerable part remains still concealed by a thick wall, and another part would appear not to have been copied, from having been too much defaced. On the whole, enough has been recovered not only to be of much use to the antiquary, but also to form a literary fragment of great value, it being written in the purest style of the purest era of Latin composition, as we may state with confidence, the inscription expressing that it was written by the emperor with his own hand.

Transcripts, though imperfect, of this ancient relic were obtained as long ago as the year 1554. It may be right to trace the gradual communication of it to the world from that time down to the date of Mr. Hamilton's discoveries, and to endeavour to elucidate the various former accounts of it, which will enable us more correctly to understand some particulars.

The celebrated Busequius and his friends seem first to have obtained a knowledge of it. He thus describes it in his Letters or Travels, edition 1660, p. 87 (translation): "Here we saw a very good inscription, being a copy of those brass tablets, containing a summary of his acts, which Augustus caused to be engraved. We took care

to have it transcribed by our party, as far as it could be read. It is on (the walls of) a building, perhaps formerly a prætorium, built of marble, and in its present condition without a roof. Half of it is to the right hand as you enter, half to the left. The heads (of each column) are, for the most part, entire; the middle parts have many chasms; whilst the lower parts have been so knocked about with sticks as to be illegible."

The next transcript was that of Verantius. This person, whose proper appellation was Antoine Verantui, and who was bishop of Agria, otherwise Erlaw, in Hungary, and ambassador from Ferdinand the Second to the Porte, procured it to be transcribed when passing through Angora. From him it passed to his nephew Faustus Verantius, who gave it to Clusius, secretary to an embassy to the East, and he to Leunclavius. Clusius procured it to be verified by two German travellers, who went to Angora, and who copied it themselves. On comparing their copies, he could only detect two mistakes in that of Verantius, and otherwise found his copy the most perfect. The substance of Clusius' letter on the subject is given in the second edition of Gruter, in a note to Inscription ccxxxii., in which Clusius adds that, in his opinion, there was no probability a better copy would ever be made, the original being wantonly injured every day by the barbarism of the Turks, which was the case when the two Germans were making their copy. It is very singular that we are not now able to distinguish the transcript of Busequius from that of Verantius; and Chishull, in his Antiquitates Asiaticæ, p. 170, pronounces them the same.

The inscription first appeared in print in the edition of Aurelius Victor, by Andreas Schottus, and was_commented on by Justus Lipsius. It was also printed by Grævius, in his edition of Suetonius, 4to. 1691.

After Verantius, Daniel Cosson, a Dutch merchant, resident at Smyrna, of cultivated mind and great probity, who was afterwards murdered, while taking a walk near the above place, by two Algerines, made, in 1689, a much better copy, published, with notes, by James Gronovius, in his

work entitled "Memoria Cossoniana," 4to. 1695, and by Pitiscus, in his edition of Suetonius, 2 vols. 4to. 1714. But hitherto the transcripts were so imperfect that scarce more than two or three words were given of the sixth column, which since has been brought out in such considerable length. Nor could it have been guessed from any of the transcripts that there was the least mention or reference made to Britain in the original; but soon afterwards this renowned inscription came under the notice of the eminent men who traversed Asia Minor in the beginning of the eighteenth century, Tournefort, Chishull, and Pocock, when the transcript quickly assumed a new and improved complexion.

Our present more correct Latin copy seems due to the celebrated Tournefort, who made it in 1701, and gave it to Chishull, whom he met on his travels in Asia Minor. Chishull published it in his Antiquitates Asiaticæ, folio, 1728. This transcript seems so superior that, though many copies have been taken since, none have been printed subsequent to his time. A French merchant, named Le Favre, also made a copy, which had great reputation for correctness, as Chishull mentions, p. 171; but whether this last came to his hands, and is incorporated in his copy, he does not clearly inform us.

We have seen that, one hundred and fifty years before, Busequius had described the face of the wall on which the inscription is engraved as being in a ruinous state. In Tournefort's time it must of course have been still more so.

Besides the letters effaced, he says that the whole surface was full of great holes, like those made by cannon shot. His words are,— "Outre les lettres effacées, tout est plein de grands trous, semblables à ceux qu'auroient pu faire des boulets de canon." Voyage du Levant, vol. ii. p. 447. What was actually removed of course could not be transcribed, but of the relics he has made us a full and excellent copy. What increases the value is his assurance that the entire lines in his transcript correspond with those of the original, the mutilations to the mutilations, and the chasms to the chasms, which is generally true, though it is not true that the spaces

he has marked and the number of letters wanting always correspond with minute precision, as is capable of being satisfactorily proved. His general correctness has received unexpected corroboration in modern times by the Greek translation before mentioned, brought forward by Mr. Hamilton.

From the time of Chishull down to the date of Mr. Hamilton's discovery, very little notice seems to have been taken of this inscription. It was in 1842 that he gave to the world, in his Researches in Asia Minor, 2 vols. 8vo., published in that year, a great part of the original Greek duplicate, copied from the outside of the temple.

Very much was thus supplied, and this ancient relic, in its augmented form, furnishes quite a chapter in Roman history, communicating various new materials since the time of Niebuhr. Some portions still remain to be copied, as before stated. It happens rather strangely that the part relating to Britain, very imperfect in the Latin, is also so in the Greek. Nevertheless, by the remnants of sentences and of words we are able entirely to restore both.

It has been before noted that the inscription was a summary of the

chief public acts of the reign of Augustus. Of such it was a most ample one. It recites the honours he received from the senate, the colonies he founded, the temples he built or repaired, the public games he gave, the battles he gained, the provinces he added to the empire, the military ensigns he recovered, the submissions he received from foreign powers, the kingdoms he conferred on various potentates, the foreign alliances he formed, the largesses he gave to the soldiers, the shows of gladiators he exhibited; in short, many numerous and very minute particulars, forming an extensive and very interesting general view of the transactions of his reign.

The whole inscription extends, as might be expected, to a very great length; indeed, in its original state it could not have been so very greatly shorter than some of the books of Virgil's Æneid. What we have now to attend to is the part which relates to Britain, which we may give in the Latin original according to Mr. Chishull, and in the Greek original according to Mr. Hamilton, together with the proposed restoration of both, adding some few explanatory remarks.

Ad. me. supplices. confuge.

....

Parthorum.

. . in. Italiam. non . .... suorum. pignora.

petens. etc.