Romans of their days been capable of enjoying a rational freedom._” If it be supposed now that John _designed_ to represent this period of the world, could he have chosen a more expressive and significant emblem of it than occurs in the horseman of the first seal? If Mr. Gibbon had intended to prepare a commentary on it, could he have shaped the facts of history so as better to furnish an illustration? (2) The particular things represented in the symbol. (a) The bow――a symbol of war. Mr. Elliott has endeavoured to show that the _bow_ at that period was _peculiarly_ the badge of the Cretians, and that Nerva, who succeeded Domitian, was a Cretian by birth. The argument is too long to be abridged here, but, if well founded, the fulfilment is remarkable; for although the sword or the javelin was usually the badge of the Roman emperor, if this were so there would be a peculiar propriety in making the _bow_ the badge during this period. See Elliott, vol. i. pp. 133‒140. But whatever may be said of this, the _bow_ was so generally the badge of a warrior, that there would be no impropriety in using it as a symbol of Roman victory. (b) The crown――στέφανος――was, up to the time of Aurelian, A.D. 270 (see Spanheim, p. 60), the distinguishing badge of the Roman emperor; after that, the _diadem_, set with pearls and other jewels, was adopted and worn. The crown, composed usually of laurel, was properly the badge of the emperor considered as a military leader or commander. See Elliott, i. 130. At the period now under consideration the proper badge of the Roman emperor would be the _crown_; after the time of Aurelian, it would have been the _diadem_. In illustration of this, two engravings have been introduced, the first representing the emperor Nerva with the _crown_, or στέφανος, the second the emperor Valentinian, with the _diadem_. Illustration: Medal of the Emperor Nerva wearing Crown. Illustration: Medal of the Emperor Valentinian wearing Diadem. (c) The fact that the crown was _given_ to the rider. It was common among the Romans to represent an emperor in this manner; either on medals, bas-reliefs, or triumphal arches. The emperor appears going forth on horseback, and with Victory represented as either crowning him, or as preceding him with a crown in her hand to present to him. The engraving on p. 146, copied from one of the bas-reliefs on a triumphal arch erected to Claudius Drusus on occasion of his victories over the Germans, will furnish a good illustration of this, and, indeed, is so similar to the symbol described by John, that the one seems almost a copy of the other. Illustration: Symbolic Bas-reliefs from a Roman Triumphal Arch.