Thus charity and culture progressed under the Antonines. So, too, did industry and trade, which brought with them prosperity and its attendant luxury until the advent of plague and famine. We are told that each year the treasures of the East were brought by a fleet of one hundred and twenty vessels to the ports of the Red Sea, to be transferred thence through Alexandria to Rome. The silks of China, the spices and perfumes of India and Arabia, pearls and diamonds, which were to glitter on the togas of young nobles or round the necks of fair ladies in the Vicus Tuscus, formed the precious cargo. In return for these Rome sent annually three-quarters of a million pounds--worth several times that amount now. “The coast of Malabar and the island of Ceylon grew rich as trade emporia for the luxuries of Rome and Roman merchants penetrated the East as consuls of sensuality for the senators and the ‘friends’ of Cæsar.” All this led to softening and decadence in the army and in the nation. With the blessings of peace there came also its vices; the advances in prosperity and humanity, such as it was, was not accompanied by any improvement in morals, but perhaps the reverse. The results of Marcus’ reign did not justify Plato’s expectation from the philosopher-king. What Marcus might have accomplished under less unfavourable circumstances we cannot surmise; he certainly had not the strength of mind or body necessary for carrying out far-reaching reforms in such an Empire. As it was, he was singularly unfortunate in his public life: war, plague and famine--a trinity which no State could resist--rendered him powerless. His reign left little outward impress on the Roman State; his greatest legacy to Rome and to the world was the development of humane legislation, the reverence for mind above matter, and the example of a disinterested and noble ruler. CHAPTER IV LIFE IN THE PALACE There is much truth in the saying, “No man is a hero to his valet”--be his reputed heroism either of the physical or the moral type. Humanity, even at its best, is an imperfect thing, much in need of the kindly haze which mostly veils its withered ruggedness; and many an angel of sweetness and light reveals the serpent’s tail on too close inspection; but I have no such revelation to offer in this chapter. Indeed, it is in his intimate domestic life that Marcus appears to best advantage. His presence in the palace brought with it a sense of restfulness, of serenity and calm, of mutual forbearance and love. It was as if some pale glimmer of the Christian love-light played about him and diffused itself over all that came within the charmed round. His household was known as the _Sacra Domus_--“the sacred house.” Thus the _Pax Romana_--the peace that was the gift of the Antonines--though lost to the Empire, was never interrupted in the Emperor’s home; and to Marcus is due the credit.