This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1913 edition. Excerpt: ...for their skill in the law, and for their good qualities. The Empress of whom we are now to treat did not inherit their virtue; she was of a very amorous temperament, and was a great lover of pleasures. She willingly permitted a crowd of admirers to entertain her with their passion, and listened to them with that sort of complaisance which is a sure sign of the progress such flattering discourses make in the heart of the person to whom they are addressed; so that what at first was only an agreeable amusement, in a little time became a commerce of gallantry that exposed her very much to the censures of the public, for which the irregularity of her conduct gave but too much reason; for she proceeded from one degree of libertinism to another, till at last she had not the least shadow of modesty left; so true it is that when a woman has once broken the ice, and transgressed the rules of decency, there is nothing so bad but that she is capable of it. Of all Celsa's lovers, Macrinus had perhaps the least reason to hope for success. He was a Moor by birth, of a very obscure family, and possessed none of those good qualities that could make amends for the meanness of his extraction, and other imperfections; on the contrary, he was disagreeable in his person, for his head was bald, his nose turned up; he was of a coarse and clumsy build, of very poor natural parts, ill-natured and cruel, and there was something in his countenance that was coarse, and not at all pleasing. Notwithstanding all these disadvantages, Celsa did not disdain to give him a favorable hearing, and even the strongest proof of his not being indifferent to her. Celsa was one of those women who stand in need of a husband for a screen, and to patch up their broken reputations. She...