The study that nourished most in this period is _Jurisprudence_. It is the classic era of the jurists. Persons versed in the law were preferred by the emperors for high offices. Men who would have been statesmen under the Republic, found a solace and delight in legal studies. Among the most learned jurists of this era, were _Caius Papinian_, and _Ulpian_. Of the Greek writers, one of the most important is _Plutarch_ (about 50-120), whose "Lives," and "Essays" (or _Moralia_), are among the most delightful and instructive of all the works of antiquity. One of the noblest philosophical writers of that or of any other period is the Stoic _Epictetus_ (50-c.120). The two most popular systems of philosophy in the closing days of the Republic and the early period of the Empire, were the Stoic and the Epicurean. The severity of the Stoic doctrine was somewhat softened by its Roman teachers; but the rigorous self-control, the superiority to misfortune, and the contempt of death, which it recommended, found favor with noble Romans in dark days. _Cato_ and other champions of the falling Republic were disciples of this school. Later, New Platonism, of a mystical and contemplative type, secured many adherents. SKEPTICISM.--Long before the fall of the Republic, faith in the old mythology had begun to decline. This change followed upon an intimate contact of the Romans with the Greek religion. It was hastened by the familiarity acquired by the Romans with so great a variety of heathen systems. The decay of morality was attended with a spread of skepticism as regards the supernatural world altogether. In the course of the debate in the Roman Senate on the punishment of the confederates of _Catiline_, _Julius Caesar_ opposed their execution, on the ground that death puts an end to consciousness, and thus to all suffering. It does not appear that in that body, where _Cicero_ and _Cato_ were present, any one disputed this tenet. _Cicero_ in his philosophical essays advocates the doctrine of immortality by arguments, mostly gathered from Greek sources,--arguments some of which are of more and some of less weight. His correspondence, on the contrary, even in times of bereavement, affords no proof that this consoling truth had any practical hold upon his convictions. SUPERSTITION.--The spread of skepticism was attended, as time went on, with a re-action to the other extreme of superstition. Magic and sorcery came into vogue. There was an eagerness to become acquainted with Oriental religious rites, and to pay homage to deities worshiped in the East with mysterious ceremonies. Another tendency strongly manifest was towards what is called _syncretism_, or a mingling of different religious systems. It was hoped that the truth might be found by combining beliefs drawn from many different quarters. This eclectic drift was signally manifest in religion as well as in philosophy. CHAPTER IV. THE EMPERORS MADE BY THE SOLDIERS: THE ABSOLUTE MONARCHY.