hese children were now the hope of the people and
the emperor, and objects of jealousy and dislike to Livia and Tiberius.

In B.C. 12 Agrippa died. Augustus then prevailed upon Tiberius to
divorce his own wife, to whom he was sincerely attached, in order to
marry Julia. Their union was an unhappy one, and, after living together
for about a year, they separated forever.

The conduct of Julia, in fact, had long been marked by gross
immoralities, and Augustus alone was unconscious of her unworthiness. He
refused to believe that his daughter, whom he had destined to become an
example of purity, had so deceived and dishonored him. At length,
however, he became convinced of her guilt, and banished her (B.C. 2) to
the island Pandataria (Santa Maria), off the coast of Campania, where
she was treated with just severity. Her daughter Julia, who had shared
in her excesses, was also sent into exile.

Meanwhile Caius and Lucius Caesar both died suddenly. Caius was sent to
the East in B.C. 1, to improve himself in military affairs, and there
died, A.D. 3, from the effects of a wound given him by an assassin.
Lucius, the younger, having gone on a mission to Spain in A.D. 2, fell
sick and died at Massilia. About this time Tiberius had been recalled
from Rhodes and intrusted with the chief care of public affairs. It was
believed at Rome that Livia and her son had removed the two Caesars by
poison and assassination.

All happiness must now have fled from the breast of the emperor. He
still, however, attended carefully to the duties of his station. In A.D.
4 he adopted Tiberius, together with Agrippa Postumus; Tiberius was
obliged at the same time to adopt Germanicus, the eldest son of his
brother Drusus. In A.D. 7 Augustus was induced to banish Agrippa
Postumus, who proved unworthy of his favor, to the island of Planasia,
and this act was ratified by a decree of the Senate; it was thought,
however, that Livia was again the cause of this unnatural act. In A.D. 8
the poet Ovid was banished for some unknown crime.

[Illustration: Medal of Agrippina, showing the Carpentum, or chariot, in
which the Roman ladies were accustomed to ride.]

It was in the year 5 or 7 B.C., for the true date is unknown, that Jesus
Christ, the Savior of the world, was born at Bethlehem, in Judea.

In A.D. 14, Augustus, aided by Tiberius, took a census--the third during
his reign. His health, which had always been delicate, now rapidly
declined. He had long b