Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Q. Curtii Rufi De Gestis Alexandri Magni, Regis Macedonum, Libri Qui Supersunt VIII
New star to give light again to the darkened universe, when the discordant members of the whole were in restless commotion without a leader. He extinguished the firebrand of civil war; he sheathed the swords, and dispersed the storm by sudden light.' The author closes this eulogy on the princeps with the hope that if envy can but be kept away, the descendants of the same house will last for ever, or at least for a very long period. We believe that this pfinccps, to whom the Roman Em pire was indebted for a much happier fate than the Macedonian Empire experienced, was no other than Augustus, who put an end to the disturbances and civil wars which arose in consequence of the sudden death of Caesar; and who, through the unity of his government, gave new strength and prosperity to the Empire. We of course understand the passage figuratively, when the author speaks of the night which enveloped the universe, and the rising of a new star; but we believe he was led to make use of this figurative expression by the extraordinary phenomenon, that during the whole of the year in which Cmsar was murdered, the sun appeared to have lost his splendour, and a dreary mist hung over the country - a phenomenon which is attested by con temporary authors. We are especially induced to entertain the opinion, that Augustus must be understood by the simple expres sion, that the Roman people owed that happiness to their pfinceps, ' because this designation was new in the case of Augus tus, and was made use of by him with especial predilection, whereas it became necessary to employ much stronger expres sions of veneration with the subsequent emperors. Moreover, the simple appellation free from all flattery, the descendants of the same house, ' alludes to a succession consisting of several younger members of the family, as Augustus actually possessed, particularly in his two eldest grandchildren, Gains and Lucius Caesar. We therefore come to the conclusion that Curtius wrote his history of Alexander some years before the Christian era, but at the latest in the year of the birth of our Saviour for the two above-named adopted sons of the princeps died in the years 2 and 4 after Christ, whereupon the stepson of Augustus, Tiberius Claudius Nero, was appointed his successor: the latter was then in the mature age of manhood, and if he had been mentioned, he would have been indicated in a more significant manner. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
