Suicide. William Wynn Westcott
defeat by the consul Opimius.
Antiochus of Cyzicus, 95 B.C., King of Syria, killed himself when dethroned by Seleucus.
Mithridates, King of Pontus, 63 B.C., killed himself to avoid falling into the hands of the Romans, after being defeated by Pompey.
Lucretius, 54 B.C., Roman poet and philosopher, destroyed himself in his forty-fourth year.
Ptolemy, 50 B.C., King of Cyprus, killed himself by poison.
Cato, Marcus, 46 B.C., having opposed Cæsar, unsuccessfully, retired to Utica, and feeling too proud to humiliate himself before a conqueror, stabbed himself, and died the same night, after spending his last hours in reading Plato’s Phædon, a dialogue on the Immortality of the Soul.
Brutus, 42 B.C., Roman statesman, slew himself with his sword after defeat at the battle of Philippi.
Portia, his wife, killed herself by swallowing red-hot coals on hearing of her husband’s death.
Cassius, 42 B.C., Roman general, being defeated at the battle of Philippi by Antony and Octavian, threw himself on his sword.
Pomponius Atticus, 33 B.C., man of letters, starved himself, because he became afflicted with some intestinal disease.
Mark Antony, 30 B.C., Roman Consul, general, and statesman, being defeated at the battle of Actium, and deserted as he thought by Cleopatra, cut open his bowels and died in terrible agony.
Cleopatra, 30 B.C., Queen of Egypt, the beloved of Antony, on hearing of his death, killed herself. The only mark of injury on her body was a small puncture on the arm; it is doubtful whether this was caused by the bite of an asp, or by a poisoned bodkin.
Cocceius Nerva, A.D. 20, an eminent lawyer and favourite of the Emperor Tiberius, starved himself as a protest against the extravagance of the Court.
Gallus, A.D. 26, Roman poet, killed himself when exiled for treason: he was a friend of Virgil.
Arria and her husband Pætus, A.D. 45. Pætus had revolted against the Emperor Claudius, without success. Finding his condemnation unavoidable, Arria stabbed herself, calling on her husband to imitate her, which he did.
Boadicea, A.D. 60. Queen of the Iceni in Britain, in the time of Nero, being defeated by the Roman General Suetonius, she poisoned herself.
Apicius, A.D. 64., the greatest glutton known to history, hanged himself.
Seneca, A.D. 65, Rhetorician, and tutor to Nero, opened his veins and bled himself to death, when under condemnation for conspiracy. Paulina, his wife, opened her veins at the same time.
Lucan, A.D. 66, a Roman poet, being concerned in the same conspiracy as Seneca, killed himself in the same manner.
Nero, A.D. 68, Emperor of Rome, was condemned for his villanies to be whipped to death; to avoid this execution he destroyed himself.
Otho, A.D. 69, Roman Emperor, after a reign of three months, was defeated by Vitellius, and then slew himself in disgust.
Jews, the, at the Siege of Jerusalem by Titus, A.D. 70. Josephus narrates that the Jewish soldiers destroyed themselves in large numbers, and endeavoured to prevail on him to do the same.
Silius Italicus, A.D. 90, a Roman Consul and poet, being afflicted with an incurable disease at 75 years old, starved himself to death.
Pelagia, of Antioch, A.D. 310, cast herself off the house top to avoid the persecutions of the Pagans, and was afterwards canonised as a Saint by the Roman Catholic Church; see St. Ambrose, De Virginibus.
Sophronia, A.D. 310, canonised as Saint Sophronia, destroyed herself to avoid the snares set for her modesty by the Emperor Maxentius.
Corellius Rufus, A.D. 110. Pliny the Younger speaks in terms of sincere regret that this friend should have taken his own life.
Servius, the Grammarian, A.D. 400, who wrote commentaries on Virgil, killed himself in the reign of Honorius, rather than suffer the pains of the gout, to which he was very subject.
III.─Middle Ages and Modern Times.
A very long interval occurs here, during which period I cannot discover any Notable Suicides: on passing to the next series a great change will be noticed as to causation, the days of suicide for honour are passed: Misery has become the mainspring.
Richard II., King of England, 1399. Some historians, as Walsingham, Otterbourne, and Peter of Blois, say that this king starved himself to death.
Charles VII., King of France, 1461, starved himself, because he feared the Dauphin would poison him.
Acosta, Uriel, 1647, a Jew who became a Christian, but becoming involved in the toils of the Inquisition, destroyed himself.
Burton, Robert, 1660, author of the “Anatomy of Melancholy,” committed suicide to verify the prophecy he had made as to the date of his death.
Temple, John, 1689, Secretary of State for War.
Creech, Thomas, 1700, the learned translator of “Lucretius,” killed himself in imitation of the author whose works he translated.
Budgell, Eustace, 1714, author, threw himself from a boat into the Thames.
Scarborough, Lord, 1727, killed himself in the dilemma which of two ladies to associate with.
Green, W., 1750, a weaver, jumped off the Monument, London.
Chatterton, Thomas, 1770, Poet, by poison, from poverty.
Clive, Lord, 1774, shot himself; he had been ungratefully treated; he had, however, made two attempts on his life in his youth.
Cardan, Jerome, 1575, Physician and Astrologer, having foretold his death for a certain date, and finding himself still well, killed himself to verify his prophecy.
Rousseau, J. J., 1778. Some authorities say he poisoned himself by arsenic.
Craddock, T., 1780, a baker, jumped off the top of the Monument, London.
Claviere, E., 1793, the Girondin, stabbed himself; and his wife killed herself after him.
Condorcet, M. J. A., 1794, French Mathematician, killed himself in prison.
Roland, 1795, French Minister, by a sword thrust.
Romme, 1795, French Statesman, by stabbing.
Pichegru, C., 1804, French General, strangled himself with his scarf when in prison, accused of plotting against the government.
Villeneuve, P., French Admiral, 1806, stabbed himself when suffering from melancholia.
Levy, Lyon, 1810, a Jewish diamond merchant, jumped off the Monument, London.
Williams, 1811, the murderer of the Marr family.
Kleist, H. Von., 1811, German author, shot himself after killing a lady to whom he was much attached, at her request.
Berthier, L. A., 1815, French General.
Romilly, Sir S., 1818, Jurist and M.P., killed himself three days after the death of his wife.
Christophe, 1820, King of Hayti.
Englishman, an, 1820, threw himself into the crater of Vesuvius.
Campbell, Sir G., 1821, English Admiral.
Castlereagh, Lord, 1822, cut his throat.
Saint Simon, C. H., 1822, a Frenchman, founder of a religious sect.
Brachmann, Luise, 1822, German poetess.
Montgomery, 1828, took prussic acid, when a prisoner for forgery, in Newgate.
Condé, Prince de, 1830, hanged himself.
Robert Leopold, 1835, painter, cut his throat, from jealousy.
Gros, Baron,