rs attempted to
raise and comfort him. In broken and disordered words he informed them
of his imminent danger, and fortunate escape; insinuating that he had
prevented the designs of his enemy, and declared his resolution to live
and die with his faithful troops. Geta had been the favorite of the
soldiers; but complaint was useless, revenge was dangerous, and they
still reverenced the son of Severus. Their discontent died away in idle
murmurs, and Caracalla soon convinced them of the justice of his cause,
by distributing in one lavish donative the accumulated treasures of his
father's reign. [23] The real sentiments of the soldiers alone were
of importance to his power or safety. Their declaration in his favor
commanded the dutiful professions of the senate. The obsequious assembly
was always prepared to ratify the decision of fortune; [231] but as
Caracalla wished to assuage the first emotions of public indignation,
the name of Geta was mentioned with decency, and he received the funeral
honors of a Roman emperor. [24] Posterity, in pity to his misfortune,
has cast a veil over his vices. We consider that young prince as the
innocent victim of his brother's ambition, without recollecting that he
himself wanted power, rather than inclination, to consummate the same
attempts of revenge and murder. [241]

[Footnote 21: Caracalla consecrated, in the temple of Serapis, the
sword with which, as he boasted, he had slain his brother Geta. Dion, l.
lxxvii p. 1307.]

[Footnote 22: Herodian, l. iv. p. 147. In every Roman camp there was a
small chapel near the head-quarters, in which the statues of the tutelar
deities were preserved and adored; and we may remark that the eagles,
and other military ensigns, were in the first rank of these deities;
an excellent institution, which confirmed discipline by the sanction of
religion. See Lipsius de Militia Romana, iv. 5, v. 2.]

[Footnote 23: Herodian, l. iv. p. 148. Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1289.]

[Footnote 231: The account of this transaction, in a new passage of
Dion, varies in some degree from this statement. It adds that the
next morning, in the senate, Antoninus requested their indulgence, not
because he had killed his brother, but because he was hoarse, and could
not address them. Mai. Fragm. p. 228.--M.]

[Footnote 24: Geta was placed among the gods. Sit divus, dum non sit
vivus said his brother. Hist. August. p. 91. Some marks of Geta's
consecration are still found upon medals.]