He
therefore determined to return by sea; but on reaching the city of
Seleu'cia, he died of an apoplexy, in the sixty-third year of his age,
after a reign of nineteen years, six months, and fifteen days.
[Sidenote: A.D. 117.]
8. A'drian, the nephew of Trajan, was chosen to succeed him. He began
his reign by pursuing a course opposite to that of his predecessor,
taking every method of declining war, and promoting the arts of peace.
His first care was to make peace with the Par'thians, and to restore
Chos'roes, for he was satisfied with preserving the ancient limits of
the empire, and seemed no way ambitious of extensive conquest.
9. A'drian was one of the most remarkable of the Roman emperors for
the variety of his endowments. He was highly skilled in all the
accomplishments both of body and mind. He composed with great beauty,
both in prose and verse, he pleaded at the bar, and was one of the
best orators of his time. 10. Nor were his virtues fewer than his
accomplishments. His moderation and clemency appeared by pardoning the
injuries which he had received when he was yet but a private man.
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