gospel had pronounced, “And there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.” 154 152 (return) [ See the whole ceremony in Struvius, p. 629] 153 (return) [ The republic of Europe, with the pope and emperor at its head, was never represented with more dignity than in the council of Constance. See Lenfant’s History of that assembly.] 154 (return) [ Gravina, Origines Juris Civilis, p. 108.] If we annihilate the interval of time and space between Augustus and Charles, strong and striking will be the contrast between the two Caesars; the Bohemian who concealed his weakness under the mask of ostentation, and the Roman, who disguised his strength under the semblance of modesty. At the head of his victorious legions, in his reign over the sea and land, from the Nile and Euphrates to the Atlantic Ocean, Augustus professed himself the servant of the state and the equal of his fellow-citizens. The conqueror of Rome and her provinces assumed a popular and legal form of a censor, a consul, and a tribune. His will was the law of mankind, but in the declaration of his laws he borrowed the voice of the senate and people; and from their decrees their master accepted and renewed his temporary commission to administer the republic. In his dress, his domestics, 155 his titles, in all the offices of social life, Augustus maintained the character of a private Roman; and his most artful flatterers respected the secret of his absolute and perpetual monarchy. 155 (return) [ Six thousand urns have been discovered of the slaves and freedmen of Augustus and Livia. So minute was the division of office, that one slave was appointed to weigh the wool which was spun by the empress’s maids, another for the care of her lap-dog, &c., (Camera Sepolchrale, by Bianchini. Extract of his work in the Bibliotheque Italique, tom. iv. p. 175. His Eloge, by Fontenelle, tom. vi. p. 356.) But these servants were of the same rank, and possibly not more numerous than those of Pollio or Lentulus. They only prove the general riches of the city.] Chapter L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.—Part I. Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.—Birth, Character, And Doctrine Of Mahomet.—He Preaches At Mecca.— Flies To Medina.—Propagates His Religion By The Sword.— Voluntary Or Reluctant Submission Of The Arabs.—His Death And Successors.—The Claims And Fortunes Of Ali And His Descendants.