29. What was the state of the empire at this time?

30. What was the end of Probus?

SECTION V.

U.C. 1035.--A.D. 282.

Forbid it, gods! when barbarous Scythians come
From their cold north to prop declining Rome.
That I should see her fall, and sit secure at home.--_Lucan_.

1. Ca'rus, who was praetorian prefect to the deceased emperor, was
chosen by the army to succeed him; and he, to strengthen his
authority, united his two sons, Cari'nus and Nume'rian, with him in
command; the elder of whom was as much sullied by his vices, as the
younger was remarkable for his virtues, his modesty, and courage.

2. The next object of Ca'rus was to punish the murderers of
Pro'bus, and procure public tranquillity. Several nations of the west
having revolted, he sent his son Cari'nus against them, and advanced
himself against the Sarma'tians, whom he defeated, with the loss of
sixteen thousand men killed, and twenty thousand prisoners. Soon after
this he entered Persia, and removed to Mesopota'mia. Vera'nes the
second, king of Persia, advancing against him, was defeated, and lost
Ctes'iphon, his capital. This conquest gained Ca'rus the surname of
Per'sieus; but he had not enjoyed it long, when he was struck dead, by
lightning, in his tent, with many of his attendants, after a reign of
about sixteen months. Upon the death of Ca'rus, the imperial power
devolved on his sons Cari'nus and Nume'rian, who reigned jointly. In
the first year of their accession, having made peace with the
Persians, Cari'nus advanced against Ju'lian, who had caused himself to
be proclaimed in Vene'tia,[5] and whom he defeated; when he returned
again into Gaul.

3. Cari'nus was at this time in Gaul, but Nume'rian, the younger son,
who accompanied his father in his expedition was inconsolable for his
death, and brought such a disorder upon his eyes, with weeping, that
he was obliged to be carried along with the army, shut up in a close
litter. 4. The peculiarity of his situation, after some time, excited
the ambition of A'per, his father-in-law, who supposed that he could
now, without any great danger, aim at the empire himself. He therefore
hired a mercenary villain to murder the emperor in his litter; and,
the better to conceal the fact, gave out that he was still alive, but
unable to endure the light. 5. The offensive smell, however, of the
body, at length discovered the treachery, and excited an universal
uproar throughout the whole army. 6. I