CHAPTER III: The Constitution In The Age Of The Antonines .-- Part II.
The tender respect of Augustus for a free constitution which he had destroyed, can only be explained by an attentive consideration of the character of that subtle tyrant.

A cool head, an unfeeling heart, and a cowardly disposition, prompted him at the age of nineteen to assume the mask of hypocrisy, which he never afterwards laid aside.

With the same hand, and probably with the same temper, he signed the proscription of Cicero, and the pardon of Cinna.

His virtues, and even his vices, were artificial; and according to the various dictates of his interest, he was at first the enemy, and at last the father, of the Roman world.
[26] When he framed the artful system of the Imperial authority, his moderation was inspired by his fears.

He wished to deceive the people by an image of civil liberty, and the armies by an image of civil government.
[Footnote 26: As Octavianus advanced to the banquet of the Caesars, his color changed like that of the chameleon; pale at first, then red, afterwards black, he at last assumed the mild livery of Venus and the Graces, (Caesars, p.