HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

By Edward Gibbon

With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman

Volume 3

Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius. --Part I. 

 Death Of Gratian. --Ruin Of Arianism. --St. Ambrose. --First Civil War, Against Maximus. --Character, Administration, And Penance Of Theodosius. --Death Of Valentinian II. --Second Civil War, Against Eugenius. --Death Of Theodosius. 

The fame of Gratian, before he had accomplished the twentieth year ofhis age, was equal to that of the most celebrated princes. His gentleand amiable disposition endeared him to his private friends, thegraceful affability of his manners engaged the affection of the people:the men of letters, who enjoyed the liberality, acknowledged the tasteand eloquence, of their sovereign; his valor and dexterity in arms wereequally applauded by the soldiers; and the clergy considered the humblepiety of Gratian as the first and most useful of his virtues. Thevictory of Colmar had delivered the West from a formidable invasion; andthe grateful provinces of the East ascribed the merits of Theodosius tothe author of his greatness, and of the public safety. Gratian survivedthose memorable events only four or five years; but he survived hisreputation; and, before he fell a victim to rebellion, he had lost, in agreat measure, the respect and confidence of the Roman world. 

The remarkable alteration of his character or conduct may not be imputedto the arts of flattery, which had besieged the son of Valentinian fromhis infancy; nor to the headstrong passions which the that gentle youthappears to have escaped. A more attentive view of the life of Gratianmay perhaps suggest the true cause of the disappointment of the publichopes. His apparent virtues, instead of being the hardy productions ofexperience and adversity, were the premature and artificial fruits ofa royal education. The anxious tenderness of his father was continuallyemployed to bestow on him those advantages, which he might perhapsesteem the more highly, as he himself had been deprived of them; and themost skilful masters of every science, and of every art, had labored toform the mind and body of the young prince. [1] The knowledge which theypainfully communicated was displayed with ostentation, and celebratedwith lavish praise. His soft and tractable disposition received the fairimpression of their judicious precepts, and the absence of passion mighteasily be mistaken for the strength of reason. His preceptors graduallyrose to the rank and consequence of ministers of state: [2] and, asthey wisely dissembled their secret authority, he seemed to act withfirmness, with propriety, and with judgment, on the most importantoccasions of his life and reign. But the influence of this elaborateinstruction did not penetrate beyond the surface; and the skilfulpreceptors, who so accurately guided the steps of their royal pupil, could not infuse into his feeble and indolent character the vigorous andindependent principle of action which renders the laborious pursuitof glory essentially necessary to the happiness, and almost to theexistence, of the hero. As soon as time and accident had removed thosefaithful counsellors from the throne, the emperor of the West insensiblydescended to the level of his natural genius; abandoned the reins ofgovernment to the ambitious hands which were stretched forwards to graspthem; and amused his leisure with the most frivolous gratifications. Apublic sale of favor and injustice was instituted, both in the court andin the provinces, by the worthless delegates of his power, whose meritit was made sacrilege to question. [3] The conscience of the credulousprince was directed by saints and bishops; [4] who procured an Imperialedict to punish, as a capital offence, the violation, the neglect, oreven the ignorance, of the divine law. [5] Among the various artswhich had exercised the youth of Gratian, he had applied himself, withsingular inclination and success, to manage the horse, to draw the bow, and to dart the javelin; and these qualifications, which might be usefulto a soldier, were prostituted to the viler purposes of hunting. Largeparks were enclosed for the Imperial pleasures, and plentifully stockedwith every species of wild beasts; and Gratian neglected the duties, andeven the dignity, of his rank, to consume whole days in the vain displayof his dexterity and boldness in the chase. The pride and wish of theRoman emperor to excel in an art, in which he might be surpassed by themeanest of his slaves, reminded the numerous spectators of the examplesof Nero and Commodus, but the chaste and temperate Gratian was astranger to their monstrous vices; and his hands were stained only withthe blood of animals. [6] The behavior of Gratian, which degraded hischaracter in the eyes of mankind, could not have disturbed the securityof his reign, if the army had not been provoked to resent their peculiarinjuries. As long as the young emperor was guided by the instructions ofhis masters, he professed himself the friend and pupil of the soldiers;many of his hours were spent in the familiar conversation of the camp;and the health, the comforts, the rewards, the honors, of his faithfultroops, appeared to be the objects of his attentive concern. But, after Gratian more freely indulged his prevailing taste for huntingand shooting, he naturally connected himself with the most dexterousministers of his favorite amusement. A body of the Alani was receivedinto the military and domestic service of the palace; and the admirableskill, which they were accustomed to display in the unbounded plainsof Scythia, was exercised, on a more narrow theatre, in the parks andenclosures of Gaul. Gratian admired the talents and customs of thesefavorite guards, to whom alone he intrusted the defence of his person;and, as if he meant to insult the public opinion, he frequently showedhimself to the soldiers and people, with the dress and arms, the longbow, the sounding quiver, and the fur garments of a Scythian warrior. The unworthy spectacle of a Roman prince, who had renounced the dressand manners of his country, filled the minds of the legions with griefand indignation. [7] Even the Germans, so strong and formidable inthe armies of the empire, affected to disdain the strange and horridappearance of the savages of the North, who, in the space of a fewyears, had wandered from the banks of the Volga to those of the Seine. Aloud and licentious murmur was echoed through the camps and garrisons ofthe West; and as the mild indolence of Gratian neglected to extinguishthe first symptoms of discontent, the want of love and respect was notsupplied by the influence of fear. But the subversion of an establishedgovernment is always a work of some real, and of much apparent, difficulty; and the throne of Gratian was protected by the sanctions ofcustom, law, religion, and the nice balance of the civil and militarypowers, which had been established by the policy of Constantine. It isnot very important to inquire from what cause the revolt of Britainwas produced. Accident is commonly the parent of disorder; the seedsof rebellion happened to fall on a soil which was supposed to be morefruitful than any other in tyrants and usurpers; [8] the legions of thatsequestered island had been long famous for a spirit of presumptionand arrogance; [9] and the name of Maximus was proclaimed, by thetumultuary, but unanimous voice, both of the soldiers and of theprovincials. The emperor, or the rebel, --for this title was not yetascertained by fortune, --was a native of Spain, the countryman, thefellow-soldier, and the rival of Theodosius whose elevation he had notseen without some emotions of envy and resentment: the events of hislife had long since fixed him in Britain; and I should not be unwillingto find some evidence for the marriage, which he is said to havecontracted with the daughter of a wealthy lord of Caernarvonshire. [10]But this provincial rank might justly be considered as a state of exileand obscurity; and if Maximus had obtained any civil or military office, he was not invested with the authority either of governor or general. [11] His abilities, and even his integrity, are acknowledged bythe partial writers of the age; and the merit must indeed have beenconspicuous that could extort such a confession in favor of thevanquished enemy of Theodosius. The discontent of Maximus might inclinehim to censure the conduct of his sovereign, and to encourage, perhaps, without any views of ambition, the murmurs of the troops. But in themidst of the tumult, he artfully, or modestly, refused to ascend thethrone; and some credit appears to have been given to his own positivedeclaration, that he was compelled to accept the dangerous present ofthe Imperial purple. [12]

[Footnote 1: Valentinian was less attentive to the religion of his son;since he intrusted the education of Gratian to Ausonius, a professedPagan. (Mem. De l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. Xv. P. 125-138). Thepoetical fame of Ausonius condemns the taste of his age. ]

[Footnote 2: Ausonius was successively promoted to the Praetorianpraefecture of Italy, (A. D. 377, ) and of Gaul, (A. D. 378;) and wasat length invested with the consulship, (A. D. 379. ) He expressed hisgratitude in a servile and insipid piece of flattery, (Actio Gratiarum, p. 699-736, ) which has survived more worthy productions. ]

[Footnote 3: Disputare de principali judicio non oportet. Sacrilegiienim instar est dubitare, an is dignus sit, quem elegerit imperator. Codex Justinian, l. Ix. Tit. Xxix. Leg. 3. This convenient law wasrevived and promulgated, after the death of Gratian, by the feeble courtof Milan. ]

[Footnote 4: Ambrose composed, for his instruction, a theologicaltreatise on the faith of the Trinity: and Tillemont, (Hist. DesEmpereurs, tom. V. P. 158, 169, ) ascribes to the archbishop the merit ofGratian's intolerant laws. ]

[Footnote 5: Qui divinae legis sanctitatem nesciendo omittunt, autnegligende violant, et offendunt, sacrilegium committunt. CodexJustinian. L. Ix. Tit. Xxix. Leg. 1. Theodosius indeed may claim hisshare in the merit of this comprehensive law. ]

[Footnote 6: Ammianus (xxxi. 10) and the younger Victor acknowledge thevirtues of Gratian; and accuse, or rather lament, his degenerate taste. The odious parallel of Commodus is saved by "licet incruentus;" andperhaps Philostorgius (l. X. C. 10, and Godefroy, p. 41) had guardedwith some similar reserve, the comparison of Nero. ]

[Footnote 7: Zosimus (l. Iv. P. 247) and the younger Victor ascribe therevolution to the favor of the Alani, and the discontent of the Romantroops Dum exercitum negligeret, et paucos ex Alanis, quos ingenti auroad sa transtulerat, anteferret veteri ac Romano militi. ]

[Footnote 8: Britannia fertilis provincia tyrannorum, is a memorableexpression, used by Jerom in the Pelagian controversy, and variouslytortured in the disputes of our national antiquaries. The revolutionsof the last age appeared to justify the image of the sublime Bossuet, "sette ile, plus orageuse que les mers qui l'environment. "]

[Footnote 9: Zosimus says of the British soldiers. ]

[Footnote 10: Helena, the daughter of Eudda. Her chapel may still beseen at Caer-segont, now Caer-narvon. (Carte's Hist. Of England, vol. I. P. 168, from Rowland's Mona Antiqua. ) The prudent reader may not perhapsbe satisfied with such Welsh evidence. ]

[Footnote 11: Camden (vol. I. Introduct. P. Ci. ) appoints him governorat Britain; and the father of our antiquities is followed, as usual, byhis blind progeny. Pacatus and Zosimus had taken some pains to preventthis error, or fable; and I shall protect myself by their decisivetestimonies. Regali habitu exulem suum, illi exules orbis induerunt, (inPanegyr. Vet. Xii. 23, ) and the Greek historian still less equivocally, (Maximus) (l. Iv. P. 248. )]

[Footnote 12: Sulpicius Severus, Dialog. Ii. 7. Orosius, l. Vii. C. 34. P. 556. They both acknowledge (Sulpicius had been his subject) hisinnocence and merit. It is singular enough, that Maximus should be lessfavorably treated by Zosimus, the partial adversary of his rival. ]

But there was danger likewise in refusing the empire; and from themoment that Maximus had violated his allegiance to his lawful sovereign, he could not hope to reign, or even to live, if he confined his moderateambition within the narrow limits of Britain. He boldly and wiselyresolved to prevent the designs of Gratian; the youth of the islandcrowded to his standard, and he invaded Gaul with a fleet andarmy, which were long afterwards remembered, as the emigration ofa considerable part of the British nation. [13] The emperor, in hispeaceful residence of Paris, was alarmed by their hostile approach;and the darts which he idly wasted on lions and bears, might have beenemployed more honorably against the rebels. But his feeble effortsannounced his degenerate spirit and desperate situation; and deprivedhim of the resources, which he still might have found, in the supportof his subjects and allies. The armies of Gaul, instead of opposing themarch of Maximus, received him with joyful and loyal acclamations;and the shame of the desertion was transferred from the people to theprince. The troops, whose station more immediately attached them to theservice of the palace, abandoned the standard of Gratian the first timethat it was displayed in the neighborhood of Paris. The emperor of theWest fled towards Lyons, with a train of only three hundred horse; and, in the cities along the road, where he hoped to find refuge, or at leasta passage, he was taught, by cruel experience, that every gate is shutagainst the unfortunate. Yet he might still have reached, in safety, the dominions of his brother; and soon have returned with the forcesof Italy and the East; if he had not suffered himself to be fatallydeceived by the perfidious governor of the Lyonnese province. Gratianwas amused by protestations of doubtful fidelity, and the hopes of asupport, which could not be effectual; till the arrival of Andragathius, the general of the cavalry of Maximus, put an end to his suspense. Thatresolute officer executed, without remorse, the orders or the intentionof the usurper. Gratian, as he rose from supper, was delivered into thehands of the assassin: and his body was denied to the pious and pressingentreaties of his brother Valentinian. [14] The death of the emperor wasfollowed by that of his powerful general Mellobaudes, the king of theFranks; who maintained, to the last moment of his life, the ambiguousreputation, which is the just recompense of obscure and subtle policy. [15] These executions might be necessary to the public safety: but thesuccessful usurper, whose power was acknowledged by all the provinces ofthe West, had the merit, and the satisfaction, of boasting, that, exceptthose who had perished by the chance of war, his triumph was not stainedby the blood of the Romans. [16]

[Footnote 13: Archbishop Usher (Antiquat. Britan. Eccles. P. 107, 108)has diligently collected the legends of the island, and the continent. The whole emigration consisted of 30, 000 soldiers, and 100, 000plebeians, who settled in Bretagne. Their destined brides, St. Ursulawith 11, 000 noble, and 60, 000 plebeian, virgins, mistook their way;landed at Cologne, and were all most cruelly murdered by the Huns. Butthe plebeian sisters have been defrauded of their equal honors; and whatis still harder, John Trithemius presumes to mention the children ofthese British virgins. ]

[Footnote 14: Zosimus (l. Iv. P. 248, 249) has transported the deathof Gratian from Lugdunum in Gaul (Lyons) to Singidunum in Moesia. Somehints may be extracted from the Chronicles; some lies may be detected inSozomen (l. Vii. C. 13) and Socrates, (l. V. C. 11. ) Ambrose is ourmost authentic evidence, (tom. I. Enarrat. In Psalm lxi. P. 961, tom ii. Epist. Xxiv. P. 888 &c. , and de Obitu Valentinian Consolat. Ner. 28, p. 1182. )]

[Footnote 15: Pacatus (xii. 28) celebrates his fidelity; while histreachery is marked in Prosper's Chronicle, as the cause of the ruin ofGratian. Ambrose, who has occasion to exculpate himself, only condemnsthe death of Vallio, a faithful servant of Gratian, (tom. Ii. Epist. Xxiv. P. 891, edit. Benedict. ) * Note: Le Beau contests the readingin the chronicle of Prosper upon which this charge rests. Le Beau, iv. 232. --M. * Note: According to Pacatus, the Count Vallio, who commandedthe army, was carried to Chalons to be burnt alive; but Maximus, dreading the imputation of cruelty, caused him to be secretly strangledby his Bretons. Macedonius also, master of the offices, suffered thedeath which he merited. Le Beau, iv. 244. --M. ]

[Footnote 16: He protested, nullum ex adversariis nisi in acissieoccubu. Sulp. Jeverus in Vit. B. Martin, c. 23. The orator Theodosiusbestows reluctant, and therefore weighty, praise on his clemency. Sicui ille, pro ceteris sceleribus suis, minus crudelis fuisse videtur, (Panegyr. Vet. Xii. 28. )]

The events of this revolution had passed in such rapid succession, thatit would have been impossible for Theodosius to march to the relief ofhis benefactor, before he received the intelligence of his defeat anddeath. During the season of sincere grief, or ostentatious mourning, the Eastern emperor was interrupted by the arrival of the principalchamberlain of Maximus; and the choice of a venerable old man, for anoffice which was usually exercised by eunuchs, announced to the court ofConstantinople the gravity and temperance of the British usurper. 

The ambassador condescended to justify, or excuse, the conduct of hismaster; and to protest, in specious language, that the murder ofGratian had been perpetrated, without his knowledge or consent, by theprecipitate zeal of the soldiers. But he proceeded, in a firm and equaltone, to offer Theodosius the alternative of peace, or war. The speechof the ambassador concluded with a spirited declaration, that althoughMaximus, as a Roman, and as the father of his people, would chooserather to employ his forces in the common defence of the republic, he was armed and prepared, if his friendship should be rejected, todispute, in a field of battle, the empire of the world. An immediateand peremptory answer was required; but it was extremely difficult forTheodosius to satisfy, on this important occasion, either the feelingsof his own mind, or the expectations of the public. The imperious voiceof honor and gratitude called aloud for revenge. From the liberalityof Gratian, he had received the Imperial diadem; his patience wouldencourage the odious suspicion, that he was more deeply sensible offormer injuries, than of recent obligations; and if he accepted thefriendship, he must seem to share the guilt, of the assassin. Even theprinciples of justice, and the interest of society, would receive afatal blow from the impunity of Maximus; and the example of successfulusurpation would tend to dissolve the artificial fabric of government, and once more to replunge the empire in the crimes and calamities ofthe preceding age. But, as the sentiments of gratitude and honorshould invariably regulate the conduct of an individual, they maybe overbalanced in the mind of a sovereign, by the sense of superiorduties; and the maxims both of justice and humanity must permit theescape of an atrocious criminal, if an innocent people would be involvedin the consequences of his punishment. The assassin of Gratian hadusurped, but he actually possessed, the most warlike provinces of theempire: the East was exhausted by the misfortunes, and even by thesuccess, of the Gothic war; and it was seriously to be apprehended, that, after the vital strength of the republic had been wasted in adoubtful and destructive contest, the feeble conqueror would remain aneasy prey to the Barbarians of the North. These weighty considerationsengaged Theodosius to dissemble his resentment, and to accept thealliance of the tyrant. But he stipulated, that Maximus should contenthimself with the possession of the countries beyond the Alps. Thebrother of Gratian was confirmed and secured in the sovereignty ofItaly, Africa, and the Western Illyricum; and some honorable conditionswere inserted in the treaty, to protect the memory, and the laws, of thedeceased emperor. [17] According to the custom of the age, the imagesof the three Imperial colleagues were exhibited to the veneration ofthe people; nor should it be lightly supposed, that, in the moment ofa solemn reconciliation, Theodosius secretly cherished the intention ofperfidy and revenge. [18]

[Footnote 17: Ambrose mentions the laws of Gratian, quas non abrogavithostia (tom. Ii epist. Xvii. P. 827. )]

[Footnote 18: Zosimus, l. Iv. P. 251, 252. We may disclaim his odioussuspicions; but we cannot reject the treaty of peace which the friendsof Theodosius have absolutely forgotten, or slightly mentioned. ]

The contempt of Gratian for the Roman soldiers had exposed him to thefatal effects of their resentment. His profound veneration for theChristian clergy was rewarded by the applause and gratitude of apowerful order, which has claimed, in every age, the privilege ofdispensing honors, both on earth and in heaven. [19] The orthodoxbishops bewailed his death, and their own irreparable loss; but theywere soon comforted by the discovery, that Gratian had committed thesceptre of the East to the hands of a prince, whose humble faith andfervent zeal, were supported by the spirit and abilities of a morevigorous character. Among the benefactors of the church, the fame ofConstantine has been rivalled by the glory of Theodosius. If Constantinehad the advantage of erecting the standard of the cross, the emulationof his successor assumed the merit of subduing the Arian heresy, and ofabolishing the worship of idols in the Roman world. Theodosius wasthe first of the emperors baptized in the true faith of the Trinity. Although he was born of a Christian family, the maxims, or at leastthe practice, of the age, encouraged him to delay the ceremony ofhis initiation; till he was admonished of the danger of delay, by theserious illness which threatened his life, towards the end of the firstyear of his reign. Before he again took the field against the Goths, he received the sacrament of baptism [20] from Acholius, the orthodoxbishop of Thessalonica: [21] and, as the emperor ascended from the holyfont, still glowing with the warm feelings of regeneration, he dictateda solemn edict, which proclaimed his own faith, and prescribed thereligion of his subjects. "It is our pleasure (such is the Imperialstyle) that all the nations, which are governed by our clemency andmoderation, should steadfastly adhere to the religion which was taughtby St. Peter to the Romans; which faithful tradition has preserved; andwhich is now professed by the pontiff Damasus, and by Peter, bishop ofAlexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the discipline ofthe apostles, and the doctrine of the gospel, let us believe thesole deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; under an equalmajesty, and a pious Trinity. We authorize the followers of thisdoctrine to assume the title of Catholic Christians; and as we judge, that all others are extravagant madmen, we brand them with the infamousname of Heretics; and declare that their conventicles shall no longerusurp the respectable appellation of churches. Besides the condemnationof divine justice, they must expect to suffer the severe penalties, which our authority, guided by heavenly wisdom, shall think proper toinflict upon them. " [22] The faith of a soldier is commonly the fruit ofinstruction, rather than of inquiry; but as the emperor always fixed hiseyes on the visible landmarks of orthodoxy, which he had so prudentlyconstituted, his religious opinions were never affected by the specioustexts, the subtle arguments, and the ambiguous creeds of the Ariandoctors. Once indeed he expressed a faint inclination to converse withthe eloquent and learned Eunomius, who lived in retirement at a smalldistance from Constantinople. But the dangerous interview was preventedby the prayers of the empress Flaccilla, who trembled for thesalvation of her husband; and the mind of Theodosius was confirmed bya theological argument, adapted to the rudest capacity. He had latelybestowed on his eldest son, Arcadius, the name and honors of Augustus, and the two princes were seated on a stately throne to receive thehomage of their subjects. A bishop, Amphilochius of Iconium, approachedthe throne, and after saluting, with due reverence, the person of hissovereign, he accosted the royal youth with the same familiar tendernesswhich he might have used towards a plebeian child. Provoked by thisinsolent behavior, the monarch gave orders, that the rustic priestshould be instantly driven from his presence. But while the guards wereforcing him to the door, the dexterous polemic had time to execute hisdesign, by exclaiming, with a loud voice, "Such is the treatment, Oemperor! which the King of heaven has prepared for those impious men, who affect to worship the Father, but refuse to acknowledge the equalmajesty of his divine Son. " Theodosius immediately embraced the bishopof Iconium, and never forgot the important lesson, which he had receivedfrom this dramatic parable. [23]

[Footnote 19: Their oracle, the archbishop of Milan, assigns to hispupil Gratian, a high and respectable place in heaven, (tom. Ii. DeObit. Val. Consol p. 1193. )]

[Footnote 20: For the baptism of Theodosius, see Sozomen, (l. Vii. C. 4, ) Socrates, (l. V. C. 6, ) and Tillemont, (Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. V. P. 728. )]

[Footnote 21: Ascolius, or Acholius, was honored by the friendship, andthe praises, of Ambrose; who styles him murus fidei atque sanctitatis, (tom. Ii. Epist. Xv. P. 820;) and afterwards celebrates his speed anddiligence in running to Constantinople, Italy, &c. , (epist. Xvi. P. 822. ) a virtue which does not appertain either to a wall, or a bishop. ]

[Footnote 22: Codex Theodos. L. Xvi. Tit. I. Leg. 2, with Godefroy'sCommentary, tom. Vi. P. 5-9. Such an edict deserved the warmest praisesof Baronius, auream sanctionem, edictum pium et salutare. --Sic itua adastra. ]

[Footnote 23: Sozomen, l. Vii. C. 6. Theodoret, l. V. C. 16. Tillemontis displeased (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Vi. P. 627, 628) with the terms of"rustic bishop, " "obscure city. " Yet I must take leave to think, thatboth Amphilochius and Iconium were objects of inconsiderable magnitudein the Roman empire. ]

Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius. --Part II. 

Constantinople was the principal seat and fortress of Arianism; and, in a long interval of forty years, [24] the faith of the princes andprelates, who reigned in the capital of the East, was rejected in thepurer schools of Rome and Alexandria. The archiepiscopal throne ofMacedonius, which had been polluted with so much Christian blood, wassuccessively filled by Eudoxus and Damophilus. Their diocese enjoyed afree importation of vice and error from every province of the empire;the eager pursuit of religious controversy afforded a new occupation tothe busy idleness of the metropolis; and we may credit the assertionof an intelligent observer, who describes, with some pleasantry, theeffects of their loquacious zeal. "This city, " says he, "is full ofmechanics and slaves, who are all of them profound theologians; andpreach in the shops, and in the streets. If you desire a man to changea piece of silver, he informs you, wherein the Son differs from theFather; if you ask the price of a loaf, you are told by way of reply, that the Son is inferior to the Father; and if you inquire, whether thebath is ready, the answer is, that the Son was made out of nothing. "[25] The heretics, of various denominations, subsisted in peace underthe protection of the Arians of Constantinople; who endeavored to securethe attachment of those obscure sectaries, while they abused, withunrelenting severity, the victory which they had obtained overthe followers of the council of Nice. During the partial reigns ofConstantius and Valens, the feeble remnant of the Homoousians wasdeprived of the public and private exercise of their religion; and ithas been observed, in pathetic language, that the scattered flock wasleft without a shepherd to wander on the mountains, or to be devouredby rapacious wolves. [26] But, as their zeal, instead of being subdued, derived strength and vigor from oppression, they seized the firstmoments of imperfect freedom, which they had acquired by the deathof Valens, to form themselves into a regular congregation, under theconduct of an episcopal pastor. Two natives of Cappadocia, Basil, and Gregory Nazianzen, [27] were distinguished above all theircontemporaries, [28] by the rare union of profane eloquence and oforthodox piety. 

These orators, who might sometimes be compared, by themselves, and bythe public, to the most celebrated of the ancient Greeks, were unitedby the ties of the strictest friendship. They had cultivated, withequal ardor, the same liberal studies in the schools of Athens; theyhad retired, with equal devotion, to the same solitude in the desertsof Pontus; and every spark of emulation, or envy, appeared to be totallyextinguished in the holy and ingenuous breasts of Gregory and Basil. But the exaltation of Basil, from a private life to the archiepiscopalthrone of Caesarea, discovered to the world, and perhaps to himself, the pride of his character; and the first favor which he condescended tobestow on his friend, was received, and perhaps was intended, as a cruelinsult. [29] Instead of employing the superior talents of Gregory insome useful and conspicuous station, the haughty prelate selected, amongthe fifty bishoprics of his extensive province, the wretched village ofSasima, [30] without water, without verdure, without society, situateat the junction of three highways, and frequented only by the incessantpassage of rude and clamorous wagoners. Gregory submitted withreluctance to this humiliating exile; he was ordained bishop of Sasima;but he solemnly protests, that he never consummated his spiritualmarriage with this disgusting bride. He afterwards consented toundertake the government of his native church of Nazianzus, [31] ofwhich his father had been bishop above five-and-forty years. But ashe was still conscious that he deserved another audience, and anothertheatre, he accepted, with no unworthy ambition, the honorableinvitation, which was addressed to him from the orthodox party ofConstantinople. On his arrival in the capital, Gregory was entertainedin the house of a pious and charitable kinsman; the most spaciousroom was consecrated to the uses of religious worship; and the name ofAnastasia was chosen to express the resurrection of the Nicene faith. This private conventicle was afterwards converted into a magnificentchurch; and the credulity of the succeeding age was prepared to believethe miracles and visions, which attested the presence, or at least theprotection, of the Mother of God. [32] The pulpit of the Anastasia wasthe scene of the labors and triumphs of Gregory Nazianzen; and, in thespace of two years, he experienced all the spiritual adventures whichconstitute the prosperous or adverse fortunes of a missionary. [33] TheArians, who were provoked by the boldness of his enterprise, representedhis doctrine, as if he had preached three distinct and equal Deities;and the devout populace was excited to suppress, by violence and tumult, the irregular assemblies of the Athanasian heretics. From the cathedralof St. Sophia there issued a motley crowd "of common beggars, who hadforfeited their claim to pity; of monks, who had the appearance of goatsor satyrs; and of women, more terrible than so many Jezebels. " The doorsof the Anastasia were broke open; much mischief was perpetrated, orattempted, with sticks, stones, and firebrands; and as a man lost hislife in the affray, Gregory, who was summoned the next morning beforethe magistrate, had the satisfaction of supposing, that he publiclyconfessed the name of Christ. After he was delivered from the fearand danger of a foreign enemy, his infant church was disgraced anddistracted by intestine faction. A stranger who assumed the name ofMaximus, [34] and the cloak of a Cynic philosopher, insinuated himselfinto the confidence of Gregory; deceived and abused his favorableopinion; and forming a secret connection with some bishops of Egypt, attempted, by a clandestine ordination, to supplant his patron in theepiscopal seat of Constantinople. These mortifications might sometimestempt the Cappadocian missionary to regret his obscure solitude. Buthis fatigues were rewarded by the daily increase of his fame and hiscongregation; and he enjoyed the pleasure of observing, that the greaterpart of his numerous audience retired from his sermons satisfied withthe eloquence of the preacher, [35] or dissatisfied with the manifoldimperfections of their faith and practice. [36]

[Footnote 24: Sozomen, l. Vii. C. V. Socrates, l. V. C. 7. Marcellin. In Chron. The account of forty years must be dated from the election orintrusion of Eusebius, who wisely exchanged the bishopric of Nicomediafor the throne of Constantinople. ]

[Footnote 25: See Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. Iv. P. 71. The thirty-third Oration of Gregory Nazianzen affords indeed somesimilar ideas, even some still more ridiculous; but I have not yet foundthe words of this remarkable passage, which I allege on the faith of acorrect and liberal scholar. ]

[Footnote 26: See the thirty-second Oration of Gregory Nazianzen, andthe account of his own life, which he has composed in 1800 iambics. Yet every physician is prone to exaggerate the inveterate nature of thedisease which he has cured. ]

[Footnote 27: I confess myself deeply indebted to the two lives ofGregory Nazianzen, composed, with very different views, by Tillemont(Mem. Eccles. Tom. Ix. P. 305-560, 692-731) and Le Clerc, (BibliothequeUniverselle, tom. Xviii. P. 1-128. )]

[Footnote 28: Unless Gregory Nazianzen mistook thirty years in his ownage, he was born, as well as his friend Basil, about the year 329. Thepreposterous chronology of Suidas has been graciously received, becauseit removes the scandal of Gregory's father, a saint likewise, begettingchildren after he became a bishop, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Ix. P. 693-697. )]

[Footnote 29: Gregory's Poem on his own Life contains some beautifullines, (tom. Ii. P. 8, ) which burst from the heart, and speak the pangsof injured and lost friendship. ----In the Midsummer Night's Dream, Helena addresses the same pathetic complaint to her friend Hermia:--Isall the counsel that we two have shared. The sister's vows, &c. Shakspeare had never read the poems of Gregory Nazianzen; he wasignorant of the Greek language; but his mother tongue, the language ofNature, is the same in Cappadocia and in Britain. ]

[Footnote 30: This unfavorable portrait of Sasimae is drawn by GregoryNazianzen, (tom. Ii. De Vita sua, p. 7, 8. ) Its precise situation, forty-nine miles from Archelais, and thirty-two from Tyana, is fixed inthe Itinerary of Antoninus, (p. 144, edit. Wesseling. )]

[Footnote 31: The name of Nazianzus has been immortalized byGregory; but his native town, under the Greek or Roman title ofDiocaesarea, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Ix. P. 692, ) is mentioned byPliny, (vi. 3, ) Ptolemy, and Hierocles, (Itinerar. Wesseling, p. 709). It appears to have been situate on the edge of Isauria. ]

[Footnote 32: See Ducange, Constant. Christiana, l. Iv. P. 141, 142. TheSozomen (l. Vii. C. 5) is interpreted to mean the Virgin Mary. ]

[Footnote 33: Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Ix. P. 432, &c. ) diligentlycollects, enlarges, and explains, the oratorical and poetical hints ofGregory himself. ]

[Footnote 34: He pronounced an oration (tom. I. Orat. Xxiii. P. 409)in his praise; but after their quarrel, the name of Maximus was changedinto that of Heron, (see Jerom, tom. I. In Catalog. Script. Eccles. P. 301). I touch slightly on these obscure and personal squabbles. ]

[Footnote 35: Under the modest emblem of a dream, Gregory (tom. Ii. Carmen ix. P. 78) describes his own success with some human complacency. Yet it should seem, from his familiar conversation with his auditor St. Jerom, (tom. I. Epist. Ad Nepotian. P. 14, ) that the preacher understoodthe true value of popular applause. ]

[Footnote 36: Lachrymae auditorum laudes tuae sint, is the lively andjudicious advice of St. Jerom. ]

The Catholics of Constantinople were animated with joyful confidenceby the baptism and edict of Theodosius; and they impatiently waited theeffects of his gracious promise. Their hopes were speedily accomplished;and the emperor, as soon as he had finished the operations of thecampaign, made his public entry into the capital at the head of avictorious army. The next day after his arrival, he summoned Damophilusto his presence, and offered that Arian prelate the hard alternative ofsubscribing the Nicene creed, or of instantly resigning, to the orthodoxbelievers, the use and possession of the episcopal palace, the cathedralof St. Sophia, and all the churches of Constantinople. The zeal ofDamophilus, which in a Catholic saint would have been justly applauded, embraced, without hesitation, a life of poverty and exile, [37] and hisremoval was immediately followed by the purification of the Imperialcity. The Arians might complain, with some appearance of justice, thatan inconsiderable congregation of sectaries should usurp the hundredchurches, which they were insufficient to fill; whilst the far greaterpart of the people was cruelly excluded from every place of religiousworship. Theodosius was still inexorable; but as the angels whoprotected the Catholic cause were only visible to the eyes of faith, heprudently reenforced those heavenly legions with the more effectualaid of temporal and carnal weapons; and the church of St. Sophia wasoccupied by a large body of the Imperial guards. If the mind of Gregorywas susceptible of pride, he must have felt a very lively satisfaction, when the emperor conducted him through the streets in solemn triumph;and, with his own hand, respectfully placed him on the archiepiscopalthrone of Constantinople. But the saint (who had not subdued theimperfections of human virtue) was deeply affected by the mortifyingconsideration, that his entrance into the fold was that of a wolf, rather than of a shepherd; that the glittering arms which surrounded hisperson, were necessary for his safety; and that he alone was the objectof the imprecations of a great party, whom, as men and citizens, it wasimpossible for him to despise. He beheld the innumerable multitude ofeither sex, and of every age, who crowded the streets, the windows, andthe roofs of the houses; he heard the tumultuous voice of rage, grief, astonishment, and despair; and Gregory fairly confesses, that on thememorable day of his installation, the capital of the East wore theappearance of a city taken by storm, and in the hands of a Barbarianconqueror. [38] About six weeks afterwards, Theodosius declared hisresolution of expelling from all the churches of his dominions thebishops and their clergy who should obstinately refuse to believe, or atleast to profess, the doctrine of the council of Nice. His lieutenant, Sapor, was armed with the ample powers of a general law, a specialcommission, and a military force; [39] and this ecclesiasticalrevolution was conducted with so much discretion and vigor, that thereligion of the emperor was established, without tumult or bloodshed, inall the provinces of the East. The writings of the Arians, if they hadbeen permitted to exist, [40] would perhaps contain the lamentable storyof the persecution, which afflicted the church under the reign of theimpious Theodosius; and the sufferings of their holy confessors mightclaim the pity of the disinterested reader. Yet there is reason toimagine, that the violence of zeal and revenge was, in some measure, eluded by the want of resistance; and that, in their adversity, theArians displayed much less firmness than had been exerted by theorthodox party under the reigns of Constantius and Valens. The moralcharacter and conduct of the hostile sects appear to have been governedby the same common principles of nature and religion: but a verymaterial circumstance may be discovered, which tended to distinguishthe degrees of their theological faith. Both parties, in the schools, aswell as in the temples, acknowledged and worshipped the divine majestyof Christ; and, as we are always prone to impute our own sentiments andpassions to the Deity, it would be deemed more prudent and respectful toexaggerate, than to circumscribe, the adorable perfections of the Son ofGod. The disciple of Athanasius exulted in the proud confidence, thathe had entitled himself to the divine favor; while the follower of Ariusmust have been tormented by the secret apprehension, that he wasguilty, perhaps, of an unpardonable offence, by the scanty praise, andparsimonious honors, which he bestowed on the Judge of the World. Theopinions of Arianism might satisfy a cold and speculative mind: but thedoctrine of the Nicene creed, most powerfully recommended by the meritsof faith and devotion, was much better adapted to become popular andsuccessful in a believing age. 

[Footnote 37: Socrates (l. V. C. 7) and Sozomen (l. Vii. C. 5) relatethe evangelical words and actions of Damophilus without a word ofapprobation. He considered, says Socrates, that it is difficult toresist the powerful, but it was easy, and would have been profitable, tosubmit. ]

[Footnote 38: See Gregory Nazianzen, tom. Ii. De Vita sua, p. 21, 22. For the sake of posterity, the bishop of Constantinople records astupendous prodigy. In the month of November, it was a cloudy morning, but the sun broke forth when the procession entered the church. ]

[Footnote 39: Of the three ecclesiastical historians, Theodoret alone(l. V. C. 2) has mentioned this important commission of Sapor, whichTillemont (Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. V. P. 728) judiciously removes fromthe reign of Gratian to that of Theodosius. ]

[Footnote 40: I do not reckon Philostorgius, though he mentions (l. Ix. C. 19) the explosion of Damophilus. The Eunomian historian has beencarefully strained through an orthodox sieve. ]

The hope, that truth and wisdom would be found in the assemblies of theorthodox clergy, induced the emperor to convene, at Constantinople, a synod of one hundred and fifty bishops, who proceeded, without muchdifficulty or delay, to complete the theological system which had beenestablished in the council of Nice. The vehement disputes of the fourthcentury had been chiefly employed on the nature of the Son of God; andthe various opinions which were embraced, concerning the Second, wereextended and transferred, by a natural analogy, to the Third person ofthe Trinity. [41] Yet it was found, or it was thought, necessary, by thevictorious adversaries of Arianism, to explain the ambiguous language ofsome respectable doctors; to confirm the faith of the Catholics; and tocondemn an unpopular and inconsistent sect of Macedonians; who freelyadmitted that the Son was consubstantial to the Father, while they werefearful of seeming to acknowledge the existence of Three Gods. A finaland unanimous sentence was pronounced to ratify the equal Deity ofthe Holy Ghost: the mysterious doctrine has been received by all thenations, and all the churches of the Christian world; and their gratefulreverence has assigned to the bishops of Theodosius the second rankamong the general councils. [42] Their knowledge of religious truth mayhave been preserved by tradition, or it may have been communicatedby inspiration; but the sober evidence of history will not allow muchweight to the personal authority of the Fathers of Constantinople. In anage when the ecclesiastics had scandalously degenerated from the modelof apostolic purity, the most worthless and corrupt were always the mosteager to frequent, and disturb, the episcopal assemblies. The conflictand fermentation of so many opposite interests and tempers inflamed thepassions of the bishops: and their ruling passions were, the loveof gold, and the love of dispute. Many of the same prelates who nowapplauded the orthodox piety of Theodosius, had repeatedly changed, with prudent flexibility, their creeds and opinions; and in the variousrevolutions of the church and state, the religion of their sovereignwas the rule of their obsequious faith. When the emperor suspended hisprevailing influence, the turbulent synod was blindly impelled by theabsurd or selfish motives of pride, hatred, or resentment. The death ofMeletius, which happened at the council of Constantinople, presentedthe most favorable opportunity of terminating the schism of Antioch, by suffering his aged rival, Paulinus, peaceably to end his days in theepiscopal chair. The faith and virtues of Paulinus were unblemished. Buthis cause was supported by the Western churches; and the bishops ofthe synod resolved to perpetuate the mischiefs of discord, by the hastyordination of a perjured candidate, [43] rather than to betray theimagined dignity of the East, which had been illustrated by the birthand death of the Son of God. Such unjust and disorderly proceedingsforced the gravest members of the assembly to dissent and to secede; andthe clamorous majority which remained masters of the field of battle, could be compared only to wasps or magpies, to a flight of cranes, or toa flock of geese. [44]

[Footnote 41: Le Clerc has given a curious extract (BibliothequeUniverselle, tom. Xviii. P. 91-105) of the theological sermons whichGregory Nazianzen pronounced at Constantinople against the Arians, Eunomians, Macedonians, &c. He tells the Macedonians, who deified theFather and the Son without the Holy Ghost, that they might as well bestyled Tritheists as Ditheists. Gregory himself was almost a Tritheist;and his monarchy of heaven resembles a well-regulated aristocracy. ]

[Footnote 42: The first general council of Constantinople now triumphsin the Vatican; but the popes had long hesitated, and their hesitationperplexes, and almost staggers, the humble Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Ix. P. 499, 500. )]

[Footnote 43: Before the death of Meletius, six or eight of his mostpopular ecclesiastics, among whom was Flavian, had abjured, for thesake of peace, the bishopric of Antioch, (Sozomen, l. Vii. C. 3, 11. Socrates, l. V. C. V. ) Tillemont thinks it his duty to disbelieve thestory; but he owns that there are many circumstances in the life ofFlavian which seem inconsistent with the praises of Chrysostom, and thecharacter of a saint, (Mem. Eccles. Tom. X. P. 541. )]

[Footnote 44: Consult Gregory Nazianzen, de Vita sua, tom. Ii. P. 25-28. His general and particular opinion of the clergy and their assembliesmay be seen in verse and prose, (tom. I. Orat. I. P. 33. Epist. Lv. P. 814, tom. Ii. Carmen x. P. 81. ) Such passages are faintly marked byTillemont, and fairly produced by Le Clerc. ]

A suspicion may possibly arise, that so unfavorable a picture ofecclesiastical synods has been drawn by the partial hand of someobstinate heretic, or some malicious infidel. But the name of thesincere historian who has conveyed this instructive lesson tothe knowledge of posterity, must silence the impotent murmurs ofsuperstition and bigotry. He was one of the most pious and eloquentbishops of the age; a saint, and a doctor of the church; the scourge ofArianism, and the pillar of the orthodox faith; a distinguished memberof the council of Constantinople, in which, after the death of Meletius, he exercised the functions of president; in a word--Gregory Nazianzenhimself. The harsh and ungenerous treatment which he experienced, [45] instead of derogating from the truth of his evidence, affords anadditional proof of the spirit which actuated the deliberations of thesynod. Their unanimous suffrage had confirmed the pretensions which thebishop of Constantinople derived from the choice of the people, and theapprobation of the emperor. But Gregory soon became the victim of maliceand envy. The bishops of the East, his strenuous adherents, provokedby his moderation in the affairs of Antioch, abandoned him, withoutsupport, to the adverse faction of the Egyptians; who disputed thevalidity of his election, and rigorously asserted the obsolete canon, that prohibited the licentious practice of episcopal translations. Thepride, or the humility, of Gregory prompted him to decline a contestwhich might have been imputed to ambition and avarice; and he publiclyoffered, not without some mixture of indignation, to renounce thegovernment of a church which had been restored, and almost created, by his labors. His resignation was accepted by the synod, and by theemperor, with more readiness than he seems to have expected. At thetime when he might have hoped to enjoy the fruits of his victory, his episcopal throne was filled by the senator Nectarius; and the newarchbishop, accidentally recommended by his easy temper and venerableaspect, was obliged to delay the ceremony of his consecration, tillhe had previously despatched the rites of his baptism. [46] Afterthis remarkable experience of the ingratitude of princes and prelates, Gregory retired once more to his obscure solitude of Cappadocia;where he employed the remainder of his life, about eight years, in theexercises of poetry and devotion. The title of Saint has been added tohis name: but the tenderness of his heart, [47] and the elegance ofhis genius, reflect a more pleasing lustre on the memory of GregoryNazianzen. 

[Footnote 45: See Gregory, tom. Ii. De Vita sua, p. 28-31. Thefourteenth, twenty-seventh, and thirty-second Orations were pronouncedin the several stages of this business. The peroration of the last, (tom. I. P. 528, ) in which he takes a solemn leave of men and angels, the city and the emperor, the East and the West, &c. , is pathetic, andalmost sublime. ]

[Footnote 46: The whimsical ordination of Nectarius is attested bySozomen, (l. Vii. C. 8;) but Tillemont observes, (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Ix. P. 719, ) Apres tout, ce narre de Sozomene est si honteux, pour tous ceuxqu'il y mele, et surtout pour Theodose, qu'il vaut mieux travailler a ledetruire, qu'a le soutenir; an admirable canon of criticism!]

[Footnote 47: I can only be understood to mean, that such was hisnatural temper when it was not hardened, or inflamed, by religious zeal. From his retirement, he exhorts Nectarius to prosecute the heretics ofConstantinople. ]

It was not enough that Theodosius had suppressed the insolent reignof Arianism, or that he had abundantly revenged the injuries whichthe Catholics sustained from the zeal of Constantius and Valens. Theorthodox emperor considered every heretic as a rebel against the supremepowers of heaven and of earth; and each of those powers might exercisetheir peculiar jurisdiction over the soul and body of the guilty. The decrees of the council of Constantinople had ascertained thetrue standard of the faith; and the ecclesiastics, who governed theconscience of Theodosius, suggested the most effectual methods ofpersecution. In the space of fifteen years, he promulgated at leastfifteen severe edicts against the heretics; [48] more especially againstthose who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity; and to deprive them ofevery hope of escape, he sternly enacted, that if any laws or rescriptsshould be alleged in their favor, the judges should consider them as theillegal productions either of fraud or forgery. The penal statutes weredirected against the ministers, the assemblies, and the persons ofthe heretics; and the passions of the legislator were expressed in thelanguage of declamation and invective. I. The heretical teachers, whousurped the sacred titles of Bishops, or Presbyters, were not onlyexcluded from the privileges and emoluments so liberally granted to theorthodox clergy, but they were exposed to the heavy penalties ofexile and confiscation, if they presumed to preach the doctrine, or topractise the rites, of their accursed sects. A fine of ten pounds ofgold (above four hundred pounds sterling) was imposed on every personwho should dare to confer, or receive, or promote, an hereticalordination: and it was reasonably expected, that if the race of pastorscould be extinguished, their helpless flocks would be compelled, byignorance and hunger, to return within the pale of the Catholic church. II. The rigorous prohibition of conventicles was carefully extended toevery possible circumstance, in which the heretics could assemble withthe intention of worshipping God and Christ according to the dictates oftheir conscience. Their religious meetings, whether public or secret, byday or by night, in cities or in the country, were equally proscribedby the edicts of Theodosius; and the building, or ground, which had beenused for that illegal purpose, was forfeited to the Imperial domain. III. It was supposed, that the error of the heretics could proceed onlyfrom the obstinate temper of their minds; and that such a temper was afit object of censure and punishment. The anathemas of the church werefortified by a sort of civil excommunication; which separated themfrom their fellow-citizens, by a peculiar brand of infamy; and thisdeclaration of the supreme magistrate tended to justify, or at least toexcuse, the insults of a fanatic populace. The sectaries were graduallydisqualified from the possession of honorable or lucrative employments;and Theodosius was satisfied with his own justice, when he decreed, that, as the Eunomians distinguished the nature of the Son from thatof the Father, they should be incapable of making their wills or ofreceiving any advantage from testamentary donations. The guilt of theManichaean heresy was esteemed of such magnitude, that it could beexpiated only by the death of the offender; and the same capitalpunishment was inflicted on the Audians, or Quartodecimans, [49] whoshould dare to perpetrate the atrocious crime of celebrating on animproper day the festival of Easter. Every Roman might exercise theright of public accusation; but the office of Inquisitors of the Faith, a name so deservedly abhorred, was first instituted under the reign ofTheodosius. Yet we are assured, that the execution of his penal edictswas seldom enforced; and that the pious emperor appeared less desirousto punish, than to reclaim, or terrify, his refractory subjects. [50]

[Footnote 48: See the Theodosian Code, l. Xvi. Tit. V. Leg. 6--23, with Godefroy's commentary on each law, and his general summary, orParatitlon, tom vi. P. 104-110. ]

[Footnote 49: They always kept their Easter, like the Jewish Passover, on the fourteenth day of the first moon after the vernal equinox; andthus pertinaciously opposed the Roman Church and Nicene synod, which hadfixed Easter to a Sunday. Bingham's Antiquities, l. Xx. C. 5, vol. Ii. P. 309, fol. Edit. ]

[Footnote 50: Sozomen, l. Vii. C. 12. ]

The theory of persecution was established by Theodosius, whose justiceand piety have been applauded by the saints: but the practice of it, inthe fullest extent, was reserved for his rival and colleague, Maximus, the first, among the Christian princes, who shed the blood of hisChristian subjects on account of their religious opinions. The cause ofthe Priscillianists, [51] a recent sect of heretics, who disturbedthe provinces of Spain, was transferred, by appeal, from the synod ofBordeaux to the Imperial consistory of Treves; and by the sentence ofthe Praetorian praefect, seven persons were tortured, condemned, andexecuted. The first of these was Priscillian [52] himself, bishop ofAvila, in Spain; who adorned the advantages of birth and fortune, bythe accomplishments of eloquence and learning. Two presbyters, andtwo deacons, accompanied their beloved master in his death, which theyesteemed as a glorious martyrdom; and the number of religious victimswas completed by the execution of Latronian, a poet, who rivalled thefame of the ancients; and of Euchrocia, a noble matron of Bordeaux, thewidow of the orator Delphidius. [54] Two bishops who had embraced thesentiments of Priscillian, were condemned to a distant and dreary exile;[55] and some indulgence was shown to the meaner criminals, who assumedthe merit of an early repentance. If any credit could be allowedto confessions extorted by fear or pain, and to vague reports, theoffspring of malice and credulity, the heresy of the Priscillianistswould be found to include the various abominations of magic, of impiety, and of lewdness. [56] Priscillian, who wandered about the world in thecompany of his spiritual sisters, was accused of praying stark naked inthe midst of the congregation; and it was confidently asserted, that theeffects of his criminal intercourse with the daughter of Euchrociahad been suppressed, by means still more odious and criminal. Butan accurate, or rather a candid, inquiry will discover, that ifthe Priscillianists violated the laws of nature, it was not by thelicentiousness, but by the austerity, of their lives. They absolutelycondemned the use of the marriage-bed; and the peace of families wasoften disturbed by indiscreet separations. They enjoyed, or recommended, a total abstinence from all anima food; and their continual prayers, fasts, and vigils, inculcated a rule of strict and perfect devotion. Thespeculative tenets of the sect, concerning the person of Christ, and thenature of the human soul, were derived from the Gnostic and Manichaeansystem; and this vain philosophy, which had been transported fromEgypt to Spain, was ill adapted to the grosser spirits of the West. The obscure disciples of Priscillian suffered languished, and graduallydisappeared: his tenets were rejected by the clergy and people, but hisdeath was the subject of a long and vehement controversy; while somearraigned, and others applauded, the justice of his sentence. It iswith pleasure that we can observe the humane inconsistency of the mostillustrious saints and bishops, Ambrose of Milan, [57] and Martin ofTours, [58] who, on this occasion, asserted the cause of toleration. They pitied the unhappy men, who had been executed at Treves; theyrefused to hold communion with their episcopal murderers; and if Martindeviated from that generous resolution, his motives were laudable, andhis repentance was exemplary. The bishops of Tours and Milan pronounced, without hesitation, the eternal damnation of heretics; but they weresurprised, and shocked, by the bloody image of their temporal death, and the honest feelings of nature resisted the artificial prejudicesof theology. The humanity of Ambrose and Martin was confirmed by thescandalous irregularity of the proceedings against Priscillian and hisadherents. The civil and ecclesiastical ministers had transgressed thelimits of their respective provinces. The secular judge had presumed toreceive an appeal, and to pronounce a definitive sentence, in amatter of faith, and episcopal jurisdiction. The bishops had disgracedthemselves, by exercising the functions of accusers in a criminalprosecution. The cruelty of Ithacius, [59] who beheld the tortures, andsolicited the death, of the heretics, provoked the just indignationof mankind; and the vices of that profligate bishop were admitted as aproof, that his zeal was instigated by the sordid motives of interest. Since the death of Priscillian, the rude attempts of persecution havebeen refined and methodized in the holy office, which assigns theirdistinct parts to the ecclesiastical and secular powers. The devotedvictim is regularly delivered by the priest to the magistrate, and bythe magistrate to the executioner; and the inexorable sentence of thechurch, which declares the spiritual guilt of the offender, is expressedin the mild language of pity and intercession. 

[Footnote 51: See the Sacred History of Sulpicius Severus, (l. Ii. P. 437-452, edit. Ludg. Bat. 1647, ) a correct and original writer. Dr. Lardner (Credibility, &c. , part ii. Vol. Ix. P. 256-350) has laboredthis article with pure learning, good sense, and moderation. Tillemont(Mem. Eccles. Tom. Viii. P. 491-527) has raked together all the dirt ofthe fathers; a useful scavenger!]

[Footnote 52: Severus Sulpicius mentions the arch-heretic with esteemand pity Faelix profecto, si non pravo studio corrupisset optimumingenium prorsus multa in eo animi et corporis bona cerneres. (Hist. Sacra, l ii. P. 439. ) Even Jerom (tom. I. In Script. Eccles. P. 302)speaks with temper of Priscillian and Latronian. ]

[Footnote 53: The bishopric (in Old Castile) is now worth 20, 000 ducatsa year, (Busching's Geography, vol. Ii. P. 308, ) and is therefore muchless likely to produce the author of a new heresy. ]

[Footnote 54: Exprobrabatur mulieri viduae nimia religio, et diligentiusculta divinitas, (Pacat. In Panegyr. Vet. Xii. 29. ) Such was the idea ofa humane, though ignorant, polytheist. ]

[Footnote 55: One of them was sent in Sillinam insulam quae ultraBritannianest. What must have been the ancient condition of the rocks ofScilly? (Camden's Britannia, vol. Ii. P. 1519. )]

[Footnote 56: The scandalous calumnies of Augustin, Pope Leo, &c. , whichTillemont swallows like a child, and Lardner refutes like a man, maysuggest some candid suspicions in favor of the older Gnostics. ]

[Footnote 57: Ambros. Tom. Ii. Epist. Xxiv. P. 891. ]

[Footnote 58: In the Sacred History, and the Life of St. Martin, Sulpicius Severus uses some caution; but he declares himself more freelyin the Dialogues, (iii. 15. ) Martin was reproved, however, by his ownconscience, and by an angel; nor could he afterwards perform miracleswith so much ease. ]

[Footnote 59: The Catholic Presbyter (Sulp. Sever. L. Ii. P. 448) andthe Pagan Orator (Pacat. In Panegyr. Vet. Xii. 29) reprobate, with equalindignation, the character and conduct of Ithacius. ]

Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius. --Part III. 

Among the ecclesiastics, who illustrated the reign of Theodosius, Gregory Nazianzen was distinguished by the talents of an eloquentpreacher; the reputation of miraculous gifts added weight and dignity tothe monastic virtues of Martin of Tours; [60] but the palm of episcopalvigor and ability was justly claimed by the intrepid Ambrose. [61] Hewas descended from a noble family of Romans; his father had exercisedthe important office of Praetorian praefect of Gaul; and the son, afterpassing through the studies of a liberal education, attained, in theregular gradation of civil honors, the station of consular of Liguria, a province which included the Imperial residence of Milan. At the ageof thirty-four, and before he had received the sacrament of baptism, Ambrose, to his own surprise, and to that of the world, was suddenlytransformed from a governor to an archbishop. Without the leastmixture, as it is said, of art or intrigue, the whole body of thepeople unanimously saluted him with the episcopal title; the concordand perseverance of their acclamations were ascribed to a praeternaturalimpulse; and the reluctant magistrate was compelled to undertake aspiritual office, for which he was not prepared by the habits andoccupations of his former life. But the active force of his genius soonqualified him to exercise, with zeal and prudence, the duties of hisecclesiastical jurisdiction; and while he cheerfully renounced the vainand splendid trappings of temporal greatness, he condescended, for thegood of the church, to direct the conscience of the emperors, and tocontrol the administration of the empire. Gratian loved and revered himas a father; and the elaborate treatise on the faith of the Trinitywas designed for the instruction of the young prince. After his tragicdeath, at a time when the empress Justina trembled for her own safety, and for that of her son Valentinian, the archbishop of Milan wasdespatched, on two different embassies, to the court of Treves. He exercised, with equal firmness and dexterity, the powers of hisspiritual and political characters; and perhaps contributed, by hisauthority and eloquence, to check the ambition of Maximus, and toprotect the peace of Italy. [62] Ambrose had devoted his life, and hisabilities, to the service of the church. Wealth was the object of hiscontempt; he had renounced his private patrimony; and he sold, withouthesitation, the consecrated plate, for the redemption of captives. Theclergy and people of Milan were attached to their archbishop; and hedeserved the esteem, without soliciting the favor, or apprehending thedispleasure, of his feeble sovereigns. 

[Footnote 60: The Life of St. Martin, and the Dialogues concerning hismiracles contain facts adapted to the grossest barbarism, in a style notunworthy of the Augustan age. So natural is the alliance between goodtaste and good sense, that I am always astonished by this contrast. ]

[Footnote 61: The short and superficial Life of St. Ambrose, by hisdeacon Paulinus, (Appendix ad edit. Benedict. P. I. --xv. , ) has the meritof original evidence. Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. Tom. X. P. 78-306) andthe Benedictine editors (p. Xxxi. --lxiii. ) have labored with their usualdiligence. ]

[Footnote 62: Ambrose himself (tom. Ii. Epist. Xxiv. P. 888--891) givesthe emperor a very spirited account of his own embassy. ]

The government of Italy, and of the young emperor, naturally devolved tohis mother Justina, a woman of beauty and spirit, but who, in themidst of an orthodox people, had the misfortune of professing the Arianheresy, which she endeavored to instil into the mind of her son. Justinawas persuaded, that a Roman emperor might claim, in his own dominions, the public exercise of his religion; and she proposed to the archbishop, as a moderate and reasonable concession, that he should resign the useof a single church, either in the city or the suburbs of Milan. But theconduct of Ambrose was governed by very different principles. [63] Thepalaces of the earth might indeed belong to Caesar; but the churcheswere the houses of God; and, within the limits of his diocese, hehimself, as the lawful successor of the apostles, was the only ministerof God. The privileges of Christianity, temporal as well as spiritual, were confined to the true believers; and the mind of Ambrose wassatisfied, that his own theological opinions were the standard of truthand orthodoxy. The archbishop, who refused to hold any conference, or negotiation, with the instruments of Satan, declared, with modestfirmness, his resolution to die a martyr, rather than to yield to theimpious sacrilege; and Justina, who resented the refusal as an actof insolence and rebellion, hastily determined to exert the Imperialprerogative of her son. As she desired to perform her public devotionson the approaching festival of Easter, Ambrose was ordered to appearbefore the council. He obeyed the summons with the respect of a faithfulsubject, but he was followed, without his consent, by an innumerablepeople they pressed, with impetuous zeal, against the gates of thepalace; and the affrighted ministers of Valentinian, instead ofpronouncing a sentence of exile on the archbishop of Milan, humblyrequested that he would interpose his authority, to protect the personof the emperor, and to restore the tranquility of the capital. But thepromises which Ambrose received and communicated were soon violated bya perfidious court; and, during six of the most solemn days, whichChristian piety had set apart for the exercise of religion, the citywas agitated by the irregular convulsions of tumult and fanaticism. Theofficers of the household were directed to prepare, first, the Portian, and afterwards, the new, Basilica, for the immediate reception of theemperor and his mother. The splendid canopy and hangings of the royalseat were arranged in the customary manner; but it was found necessaryto defend them. By a strong guard, from the insults of the populace. The Arian ecclesiastics, who ventured to show themselves in the streets, were exposed to the most imminent danger of their lives; and Ambroseenjoyed the merit and reputation of rescuing his personal enemies fromthe hands of the enraged multitude. 

[Footnote 63: His own representation of his principles and conduct (tom. Ii. Epist. Xx xxi. Xxii. P. 852-880) is one of the curious monumentsof ecclesiastical antiquity. It contains two letters to his sisterMarcellina, with a petition to Valentinian and the sermon de Basilicisnon madendis. ]

But while he labored to restrain the effects of their zeal, the patheticvehemence of his sermons continually inflamed the angry and seditioustemper of the people of Milan. The characters of Eve, of the wife ofJob, of Jezebel, of Herodias, were indecently applied to the motherof the emperor; and her desire to obtain a church for the Arians wascompared to the most cruel persecutions which Christianity had enduredunder the reign of Paganism. The measures of the court served only toexpose the magnitude of the evil. A fine of two hundred pounds of goldwas imposed on the corporate body of merchants and manufacturers: anorder was signified, in the name of the emperor, to all the officers, and inferior servants, of the courts of justice, that, during thecontinuance of the public disorders, they should strictly confinethemselves to their houses; and the ministers of Valentinian imprudentlyconfessed, that the most respectable part of the citizens of Milan wasattached to the cause of their archbishop. He was again solicited torestore peace to his country, by timely compliance with the will ofhis sovereign. The reply of Ambrose was couched in the most humble andrespectful terms, which might, however, be interpreted as a seriousdeclaration of civil war. "His life and fortune were in the hands of theemperor; but he would never betray the church of Christ, or degrade thedignity of the episcopal character. In such a cause he was preparedto suffer whatever the malice of the daemon could inflict; and he onlywished to die in the presence of his faithful flock, and at the foot ofthe altar; he had not contributed to excite, but it was in the power ofGod alone to appease, the rage of the people: he deprecated the scenesof blood and confusion which were likely to ensue; and it was hisfervent prayer, that he might not survive to behold the ruin of aflourishing city, and perhaps the desolation of all Italy. " [64] Theobstinate bigotry of Justina would have endangered the empire of herson, if, in this contest with the church and people of Milan, she couldhave depended on the active obedience of the troops of the palace. Alarge body of Goths had marched to occupy the Basilica, which wasthe object of the dispute: and it might be expected from the Arianprinciples, and barbarous manners, of these foreign mercenaries, thatthey would not entertain any scruples in the execution of the mostsanguinary orders. They were encountered, on the sacred threshold, by the archbishop, who, thundering against them a sentence ofexcommunication, asked them, in the tone of a father and a master, whether it was to invade the house of God, that they had implored thehospitable protection of the republic. The suspense of the Barbariansallowed some hours for a more effectual negotiation; and the empresswas persuaded, by the advice of her wisest counsellors, to leave theCatholics in possession of all the churches of Milan; and to dissemble, till a more convenient season, her intentions of revenge. The mother ofValentinian could never forgive the triumph of Ambrose; and the royalyouth uttered a passionate exclamation, that his own servants were readyto betray him into the hands of an insolent priest. 

[Footnote 64: Retz had a similar message from the queen, to request thathe would appease the tumult of Paris. It was no longer in his power, &c. A quoi j'ajoutai tout ce que vous pouvez vous imaginer de respectde douleur, de regret, et de soumission, &c. (Memoires, tom. I. P. 140. ) Certainly I do not compare either the causes or the men yet thecoadjutor himself had some idea (p. 84) of imitating St. Ambrose]

The laws of the empire, some of which were inscribed with the name ofValentinian, still condemned the Arian heresy, and seemed to excuse theresistance of the Catholics. By the influence of Justina, an edict oftoleration was promulgated in all the provinces which were subject tothe court of Milan; the free exercise of their religion was granted tothose who professed the faith of Rimini; and the emperor declared, thatall persons who should infringe this sacred and salutary constitution, should be capitally punished, as the enemies of the public peace. [65]The character and language of the archbishop of Milan may justify thesuspicion, that his conduct soon afforded a reasonable ground, or atleast a specious pretence, to the Arian ministers; who watched theopportunity of surprising him in some act of disobedience to a law whichhe strangely represents as a law of blood and tyranny. A sentence ofeasy and honorable banishment was pronounced, which enjoined Ambrose todepart from Milan without delay; whilst it permitted him to choose theplace of his exile, and the number of his companions. But the authorityof the saints, who have preached and practised the maxims of passiveloyalty, appeared to Ambrose of less moment than the extreme andpressing danger of the church. He boldly refused to obey; and hisrefusal was supported by the unanimous consent of his faithful people. [66] They guarded by turns the person of their archbishop; the gates ofthe cathedral and the episcopal palace were strongly secured; and theImperial troops, who had formed the blockade, were unwilling to risk theattack, of that impregnable fortress. The numerous poor, who had beenrelieved by the liberality of Ambrose, embraced the fair occasionof signalizing their zeal and gratitude; and as the patience of themultitude might have been exhausted by the length and uniformity ofnocturnal vigils, he prudently introduced into the church of Milan theuseful institution of a loud and regular psalmody. While he maintainedthis arduous contest, he was instructed, by a dream, to open the earthin a place where the remains of two martyrs, Gervasius and Protasius, [67] had been deposited above three hundred years. Immediately under thepavement of the church two perfect skeletons were found, [68] with theheads separated from their bodies, and a plentiful effusion of blood. The holy relics were presented, in solemn pomp, to the veneration of thepeople; and every circumstance of this fortunate discovery was admirablyadapted to promote the designs of Ambrose. The bones of the martyrs, their blood, their garments, were supposed to contain a healing power;and the praeternatural influence was communicated to the mostdistant objects, without losing any part of its original virtue. Theextraordinary cure of a blind man, [69] and the reluctant confessionsof several daemoniacs, appeared to justify the faith and sanctity ofAmbrose; and the truth of those miracles is attested by Ambrosehimself, by his secretary Paulinus, and by his proselyte, the celebratedAugustin, who, at that time, professed the art of rhetoric in Milan. The reason of the present age may possibly approve the incredulity ofJustina and her Arian court; who derided the theatrical representationswhich were exhibited by the contrivance, and at the expense, of thearchbishop. [70] Their effect, however, on the minds of the people, wasrapid and irresistible; and the feeble sovereign of Italy found himselfunable to contend with the favorite of Heaven. The powers likewise ofthe earth interposed in the defence of Ambrose: the disinterested adviceof Theodosius was the genuine result of piety and friendship; and themask of religious zeal concealed the hostile and ambitious designs ofthe tyrant of Gaul. [71]

[Footnote 65: Sozomen alone (l. Vii. C. 13) throws this luminous factinto a dark and perplexed narrative. ]

[Footnote 66: Excubabat pia plebs in ecclesia, mori parata cum episcoposuo. .. . Nos, adhuc frigidi, excitabamur tamen civitate attonita atquecurbata. Augustin. Confession. L. Ix. C. 7]

[Footnote 67: Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Ii. P. 78, 498. Many churchesin Italy, Gaul, &c. , were dedicated to these unknown martyrs, of whomSt. Gervaise seems to have been more fortunate than his companion. ]

[Footnote 68: Invenimus mirae magnitudinis viros duos, ut prisca aetasferebat, tom. Ii. Epist. Xxii. P. 875. The size of these skeletonswas fortunately, or skillfully, suited to the popular prejudice of thegradual decrease of the human stature, which has prevailed in every agesince the time of Homer. --Grandiaque effossis mirabitur ossa sepulchris. ]

[Footnote 69: Ambros. Tom. Ii. Epist. Xxii. P. 875. Augustin. Confes, l. Ix. C. 7, de Civitat. Dei, l. Xxii. C. 8. Paulin. In Vita St. Ambros. C. 14, in Append. Benedict. P. 4. The blind man's name was Severus; hetouched the holy garment, recovered his sight, and devoted the rest ofhis life (at least twenty-five years) to the service of the church. Ishould recommend this miracle to our divines, if it did not prove theworship of relics, as well as the Nicene creed. ]

[Footnote 70: Paulin, in Tit. St. Ambros. C. 5, in Append. Benedict. P. 5. ]

[Footnote 71: Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. X. P. 190, 750. He partiallyallow the mediation of Theodosius, and capriciously rejects that ofMaximus, though it is attested by Prosper, Sozomen, and Theodoret. ]

The reign of Maximus might have ended in peace and prosperity, couldhe have contented himself with the possession of three ample countries, which now constitute the three most flourishing kingdoms of modernEurope. But the aspiring usurper, whose sordid ambition was notdignified by the love of glory and of arms, considered his actual forcesas the instruments only of his future greatness, and his success was theimmediate cause of his destruction. The wealth which he extorted [72]from the oppressed provinces of Gaul, Spain, and Britain, was employedin levying and maintaining a formidable army of Barbarians, collected, for the most part, from the fiercest nations of Germany. The conquestof Italy was the object of his hopes and preparations: and he secretlymeditated the ruin of an innocent youth, whose government was abhorredand despised by his Catholic subjects. But as Maximus wished to occupy, without resistance, the passes of the Alps, he received, with perfidioussmiles, Domninus of Syria, the ambassador of Valentinian, and pressedhim to accept the aid of a considerable body of troops, for the serviceof a Pannonian war. The penetration of Ambrose had discovered the snaresof an enemy under the professions of friendship; [73] but the SyrianDomninus was corrupted, or deceived, by the liberal favor of the courtof Treves; and the council of Milan obstinately rejected the suspicionof danger, with a blind confidence, which was the effect, not ofcourage, but of fear. The march of the auxiliaries was guided bythe ambassador; and they were admitted, without distrust, into thefortresses of the Alps. But the crafty tyrant followed, with hasty andsilent footsteps, in the rear; and, as he diligently intercepted allintelligence of his motions, the gleam of armor, and the dust excitedby the troops of cavalry, first announced the hostile approach of astranger to the gates of Milan. In this extremity, Justina and her sonmight accuse their own imprudence, and the perfidious arts of Maximus;but they wanted time, and force, and resolution, to stand against theGauls and Germans, either in the field, or within the walls of a largeand disaffected city. Flight was their only hope, Aquileia their onlyrefuge; and as Maximus now displayed his genuine character, the brotherof Gratian might expect the same fate from the hands of the sameassassin. Maximus entered Milan in triumph; and if the wise archbishoprefused a dangerous and criminal connection with the usurper, he mightindirectly contribute to the success of his arms, by inculcating, fromthe pulpit, the duty of resignation, rather than that of resistance. [74] The unfortunate Justina reached Aquileia in safety; but shedistrusted the strength of the fortifications: she dreaded the eventof a siege; and she resolved to implore the protection of the greatTheodosius, whose power and virtue were celebrated in all the countriesof the West. A vessel was secretly provided to transport the Imperialfamily; they embarked with precipitation in one of the obscure harborsof Venetia, or Istria; traversed the whole extent of the Adriatic andIonian Seas; turned the extreme promontory of Peloponnesus; and, aftera long, but successful navigation, reposed themselves in the port ofThessalonica. All the subjects of Valentinian deserted the cause ofa prince, who, by his abdication, had absolved them from the duty ofallegiance; and if the little city of Aemona, on the verge of Italy, hadnot presumed to stop the career of his inglorious victory, Maximus wouldhave obtained, without a struggle, the sole possession of the Westernempire. 

[Footnote 72: The modest censure of Sulpicius (Dialog. Iii. 15) inflictsa much deeper wound than the declamation of Pacatus, (xii. 25, 26. )]

[Footnote 73: Esto tutior adversus hominem, pacis involurco tegentem, was the wise caution of Ambrose (tom. Ii. P. 891) after his return fromhis second embassy. ]

[Footnote 74: Baronius (A. D. 387, No. 63) applies to this season ofpublic distress some of the penitential sermons of the archbishop. ]

Instead of inviting his royal guests to take the palace ofConstantinople, Theodosius had some unknown reasons to fix theirresidence at Thessalonica; but these reasons did not proceed fromcontempt or indifference, as he speedily made a visit to that city, accompanied by the greatest part of his court and senate. After thefirst tender expressions of friendship and sympathy, the pious emperorof the East gently admonished Justina, that the guilt of heresy wassometimes punished in this world, as well as in the next; and that thepublic profession of the Nicene faith would be the most efficacious stepto promote the restoration of her son, by the satisfaction which it mustoccasion both on earth and in heaven. The momentous question of peace orwar was referred, by Theodosius, to the deliberation of his council; andthe arguments which might be alleged on the side of honor and justice, had acquired, since the death of Gratian, a considerable degree ofadditional weight. The persecution of the Imperial family, to whichTheodosius himself had been indebted for his fortune, was now aggravatedby recent and repeated injuries. Neither oaths nor treaties couldrestrain the boundless ambition of Maximus; and the delay of vigorousand decisive measures, instead of prolonging the blessings of peace, would expose the Eastern empire to the danger of a hostile invasion. TheBarbarians, who had passed the Danube, had lately assumed the characterof soldiers and subjects, but their native fierceness was yet untamed:and the operations of a war, which would exercise their valor, anddiminish their numbers, might tend to relieve the provinces froman intolerable oppression. Notwithstanding these specious and solidreasons, which were approved by a majority of the council, Theodosiusstill hesitated whether he should draw the sword in a contest whichcould no longer admit any terms of reconciliation; and his magnanimouscharacter was not disgraced by the apprehensions which he felt for thesafety of his infant sons, and the welfare of his exhausted people. Inthis moment of anxious doubt, while the fate of the Roman world dependedon the resolution of a single man, the charms of the princess Galla mostpowerfully pleaded the cause of her brother Valentinian. [75] The heartof Theodosius wa softened by the tears of beauty; his affections wereinsensibly engaged by the graces of youth and innocence: the art ofJustina managed and directed the impulse of passion; and the celebrationof the royal nuptials was the assurance and signal of the civil war. Theunfeeling critics, who consider every amorous weakness as an indeliblestain on the memory of a great and orthodox emperor, are inclined, on this occasion, to dispute the suspicious evidence of the historianZosimus. For my own part, I shall frankly confess, that I am willing tofind, or even to seek, in the revolutions of the world, some traces ofthe mild and tender sentiments of domestic life; and amidst the crowdof fierce and ambitious conquerors, I can distinguish, with peculiarcomplacency, a gentle hero, who may be supposed to receive his armorfrom the hands of love. The alliance of the Persian king was secured bythe faith of treaties; the martial Barbarians were persuaded to followthe standard, or to respect the frontiers, of an active and liberalmonarch; and the dominions of Theodosius, from the Euphrates to theAdriatic, resounded with the preparations of war both by land and sea. The skilful disposition of the forces of the East seemed to multiplytheir numbers, and distracted the attention of Maximus. He had reasonto fear, that a chosen body of troops, under the command of the intrepidArbogastes, would direct their march along the banks of the Danube, andboldly penetrate through the Rhaetian provinces into the centre of Gaul. A powerful fleet was equipped in the harbors of Greece and Epirus, withan apparent design, that, as soon as the passage had been opened by anaval victory, Valentinian and his mother should land in Italy, proceed, without delay, to Rome, and occupy the majestic seat of religion andempire. In the mean while, Theodosius himself advanced at the head of abrave and disciplined army, to encounter his unworthy rival, who, afterthe siege of Aemona, [7511] had fixed his camp in the neighborhood ofSiscia, a city of Pannonia, strongly fortified by the broad and rapidstream of the Save. 

[Footnote 75: The flight of Valentinian, and the love of Theodosiusfor his sister, are related by Zosimus, (l. Iv. P. 263, 264. ) Tillemontproduces some weak and ambiguous evidence to antedate the secondmarriage of Theodosius, (Hist. Des Empereurs, to. V. P. 740, ) andconsequently to refute ces contes de Zosime, qui seroient tropcontraires a la piete de Theodose. ]

[Footnote 7511: Aemonah, Laybach. Siscia Sciszek. --M. ]

Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius. --Part IV. 

The veterans, who still remembered the long resistance, and successiveresources, of the tyrant Magnentius, might prepare themselves for thelabors of three bloody campaigns. But the contest with his successor, who, like him, had usurped the throne of the West, was easily decided inthe term of two months, [76] and within the space of two hundred miles. The superior genius of the emperor of the East might prevail over thefeeble Maximus, who, in this important crisis, showed himself destituteof military skill, or personal courage; but the abilities of Theodosiuswere seconded by the advantage which he possessed of a numerous andactive cavalry. The Huns, the Alani, and, after their example, theGoths themselves, were formed into squadrons of archers; who fought onhorseback, and confounded the steady valor of the Gauls and Germans, bythe rapid motions of a Tartar war. After the fatigue of a long march, inthe heat of summer, they spurred their foaming horses into the watersof the Save, swam the river in the presence of the enemy, and instantlycharged and routed the troops who guarded the high ground on theopposite side. Marcellinus, the tyrant's brother, advanced to supportthem with the select cohorts, which were considered as the hope andstrength of the army. The action, which had been interrupted by theapproach of night, was renewed in the morning; and, after a sharpconflict, the surviving remnant of the bravest soldiers of Maximus threwdown their arms at the feet of the conqueror. Without suspending hismarch, to receive the loyal acclamations of the citizens of Aemona, Theodosius pressed forwards to terminate the war by the death orcaptivity of his rival, who fled before him with the diligence of fear. From the summit of the Julian Alps, he descended with such incrediblespeed into the plain of Italy, that he reached Aquileia on the eveningof the first day; and Maximus, who found himself encompassed on allsides, had scarcely time to shut the gates of the city. But the gatescould not long resist the effort of a victorious enemy; and the despair, the disaffection, the indifference of the soldiers and people, hastenedthe downfall of the wretched Maximus. He was dragged from his throne, rudely stripped of the Imperial ornaments, the robe, the diadem, andthe purple slippers; and conducted, like a malefactor, to the camp andpresence of Theodosius, at a place about three miles from Aquileia. The behavior of the emperor was not intended to insult, and he showeddisposition to pity and forgive, the tyrant of the West, who had neverbeen his personal enemy, and was now become the object of his contempt. Our sympathy is the most forcibly excited by the misfortunes to which weare exposed; and the spectacle of a proud competitor, now prostrate athis feet, could not fail of producing very serious and solemn thoughtsin the mind of the victorious emperor. But the feeble emotion ofinvoluntary pity was checked by his regard for public justice, and thememory of Gratian; and he abandoned the victim to the pious zeal ofthe soldiers, who drew him out of the Imperial presence, and instantlyseparated his head from his body. The intelligence of his defeat anddeath was received with sincere or well-dissembled joy: his son Victor, on whom he had conferred the title of Augustus, died by the order, perhaps by the hand, of the bold Arbogastes; and all the military plansof Theodosius were successfully executed. When he had thus terminatedthe civil war, with less difficulty and bloodshed than he mightnaturally expect, he employed the winter months of his residence atMilan, to restore the state of the afflicted provinces; and early in thespring he made, after the example of Constantine and Constantius, histriumphal entry into the ancient capital of the Roman empire. [77]

[Footnote 76: See Godefroy's Chronology of the Laws, Cod. Theodos, toml. P. Cxix. ]

[Footnote 77: Besides the hints which may be gathered from chroniclesand ecclesiastical history, Zosimus (l. Iv. P. 259--267, ) Orosius, (l. Vii. C. 35, ) and Pacatus, (in Panegyr. Vet. Xii. 30-47, ) supply theloose and scanty materials of this civil war. Ambrose (tom. Ii. Epist. Xl. P. 952, 953) darkly alludes to the well-known events of a magazinesurprised, an action at Petovio, a Sicilian, perhaps a naval, victory, &c. , Ausonius (p. 256, edit. Toll. ) applauds the peculiar merit and goodfortune of Aquileia. ] The orator, who may be silent without danger, maypraise without difficulty, and without reluctance; [78] and posteritywill confess, that the character of Theodosius [79] might furnish thesubject of a sincere and ample panegyric. The wisdom of his laws, andthe success of his arms, rendered his administration respectable in theeyes both of his subjects and of his enemies. He loved and practisedthe virtues of domestic life, which seldom hold their residence inthe palaces of kings. Theodosius was chaste and temperate; he enjoyed, without excess, the sensual and social pleasures of the table; and thewarmth of his amorous passions was never diverted from their lawfulobjects. The proud titles of Imperial greatness were adorned by thetender names of a faithful husband, an indulgent father; his uncle wasraised, by his affectionate esteem, to the rank of a second parent:Theodosius embraced, as his own, the children of his brother and sister;and the expressions of his regard were extended to the most distantand obscure branches of his numerous kindred. His familiar friendswere judiciously selected from among those persons, who, in the equalintercourse of private life, had appeared before his eyes without amask; the consciousness of personal and superior merit enabled him todespise the accidental distinction of the purple; and he proved byhis conduct, that he had forgotten all the injuries, while he mostgratefully remembered all the favors and services, which he had receivedbefore he ascended the throne of the Roman empire. The serious orlively tone of his conversation was adapted to the age, the rank, or thecharacter of his subjects, whom he admitted into his society; and theaffability of his manners displayed the image of his mind. Theodosiusrespected the simplicity of the good and virtuous: every art, everytalent, of a useful, or even of an innocent nature, was rewarded by hisjudicious liberality; and, except the heretics, whom he persecutedwith implacable hatred, the diffusive circle of his benevolence wascircumscribed only by the limits of the human race. The government ofa mighty empire may assuredly suffice to occupy the time, and theabilities, of a mortal: yet the diligent prince, without aspiring to theunsuitable reputation of profound learning, always reserved some momentsof his leisure for the instructive amusement of reading. History, whichenlarged his experience, was his favorite study. The annals of Rome, inthe long period of eleven hundred years, presented him with a variousand splendid picture of human life: and it has been particularlyobserved, that whenever he perused the cruel acts of Cinna, of Marius, or of Sylla, he warmly expressed his generous detestation of thoseenemies of humanity and freedom. His disinterested opinion of pastevents was usefully applied as the rule of his own actions; andTheodosius has deserved the singular commendation, that his virtuesalways seemed to expand with his fortune: the season of his prosperitywas that of his moderation; and his clemency appeared the mostconspicuous after the danger and success of a civil war. The Moorishguards of the tyrant had been massacred in the first heat of thevictory, and a small number of the most obnoxious criminals sufferedthe punishment of the law. But the emperor showed himself much moreattentive to relieve the innocent than to chastise the guilty. Theoppressed subjects of the West, who would have deemed themselves happyin the restoration of their lands, were astonished to receive a sum ofmoney equivalent to their losses; and the liberality of the conquerorsupported the aged mother, and educated the orphan daughters, ofMaximus. [80] A character thus accomplished might almost excuse theextravagant supposition of the orator Pacatus; that, if the elder Brutuscould be permitted to revisit the earth, the stern republican wouldabjure, at the feet of Theodosius, his hatred of kings; and ingenuouslyconfess, that such a monarch was the most faithful guardian of thehappiness and dignity of the Roman people. [81]

[Footnote 78: Quam promptum laudare principem, tam tutum siluisse deprincipe, (Pacat. In Panegyr. Vet. Xii. 2. ) Latinus Pacatus Drepanius, a native of Gaul, pronounced this oration at Rome, (A. D. 388. ) He wasafterwards proconsul of Africa; and his friend Ausonius praises him as apoet second only to Virgil. See Tillemont, Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. V. P. 303. ]

[Footnote 79: See the fair portrait of Theodosius, by the youngerVictor; the strokes are distinct, and the colors are mixed. The praiseof Pacatus is too vague; and Claudian always seems afraid of exaltingthe father above the son. ]

[Footnote 80: Ambros. Tom. Ii. Epist. Xl. P. 55. Pacatus, from the wantof skill or of courage, omits this glorious circumstance. ]

[Footnote 81: Pacat. In Panegyr. Vet. Xii. 20. ]

Yet the piercing eye of the founder of the republic must have discernedtwo essential imperfections, which might, perhaps, have abated hisrecent love of despostism. The virtuous mind of Theodosius was oftenrelaxed by indolence, [82] and it was sometimes inflamed by passion. [83] In the pursuit of an important object, his active courage wascapable of the most vigorous exertions; but, as soon as the designwas accomplished, or the danger was surmounted, the hero sunk intoinglorious repose; and, forgetful that the time of a prince is theproperty of his people, resigned himself to the enjoyment of theinnocent, but trifling, pleasures of a luxurious court. The naturaldisposition of Theodosius was hasty and choleric; and, in a stationwhere none could resist, and few would dissuade, the fatal consequenceof his resentment, the humane monarch was justly alarmed by theconsciousness of his infirmity and of his power. It was the constantstudy of his life to suppress, or regulate, the intemperate salliesof passion and the success of his efforts enhanced the merit of hisclemency. But the painful virtue which claims the merit of victory, isexposed to the danger of defeat; and the reign of a wise and mercifulprince was polluted by an act of cruelty which would stain the annalsof Nero or Domitian. Within the space of three years, the inconsistenthistorian of Theodosius must relate the generous pardon of the citizensof Antioch, and the inhuman massacre of the people of Thessalonica. 

[Footnote 82: Zosimus, l. Iv. P. 271, 272. His partial evidence ismarked by an air of candor and truth. He observes these vicissitudes ofsloth and activity, not as a vice, but as a singularity in the characterof Theodosius. ]

[Footnote 83: This choleric temper is acknowledged and excused by VictorSed habes (says Ambrose, in decent and many language, to his sovereign)nature impetum, quem si quis lenire velit, cito vertes ad misericordiam:si quis stimulet, in magis exsuscitas, ut eum revocare vix possis, (tom. Ii. Epist. Li. P. 998. ) Theodosius (Claud. In iv. Hon. 266, &c. ) exhortshis son to moderate his anger. ]

The lively impatience of the inhabitants of Antioch was never satisfiedwith their own situation, or with the character and conduct of theirsuccessive sovereigns. The Arian subjects of Theodosius deplored theloss of their churches; and as three rival bishops disputed the throneof Antioch, the sentence which decided their pretensions excited themurmurs of the two unsuccessful congregations. The exigencies of theGothic war, and the inevitable expense that accompanied the conclusionof the peace, had constrained the emperor to aggravate the weight ofthe public impositions; and the provinces of Asia, as they had not beeninvolved in the distress were the less inclined to contribute to therelief, of Europe. The auspicious period now approached of the tenthyear of his reign; a festival more grateful to the soldiers, whoreceived a liberal donative, than to the subjects, whose voluntaryofferings had been long since converted into an extraordinary andoppressive burden. The edicts of taxation interrupted the repose, andpleasures, of Antioch; and the tribunal of the magistrate was besiegedby a suppliant crowd; who, in pathetic, but, at first, in respectfullanguage, solicited the redress of their grievances. They were graduallyincensed by the pride of their haughty rulers, who treated theircomplaints as a criminal resistance; their satirical wit degeneratedinto sharp and angry invectives; and, from the subordinate powers ofgovernment, the invectives of the people insensibly rose to attackthe sacred character of the emperor himself. Their fury, provoked bya feeble opposition, discharged itself on the images of the Imperialfamily, which were erected, as objects of public veneration, in themost conspicuous places of the city. The statues of Theodosius, of hisfather, of his wife Flaccilla, of his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius, were insolently thrown down from their pedestals, broken in pieces, ordragged with contempt through the streets; and the indignities whichwere offered to the representations of Imperial majesty, sufficientlydeclared the impious and treasonable wishes of the populace. The tumultwas almost immediately suppressed by the arrival of a body of archers:and Antioch had leisure to reflect on the nature and consequences ofher crime. [84] According to the duty of his office, the governor of theprovince despatched a faithful narrative of the whole transaction: whilethe trembling citizens intrusted the confession of their crime, and theassurances of their repentance, to the zeal of Flavian, their bishop, and to the eloquence of the senator Hilarius, the friend, and mostprobably the disciple, of Libanius; whose genius, on this melancholyoccasion, was not useless to his country. [85] But the two capitals, Antioch and Constantinople, were separated by the distance of eighthundred miles; and, notwithstanding the diligence of the Imperial posts, the guilty city was severely punished by a long and dreadful interval ofsuspense. Every rumor agitated the hopes and fears of the Antiochians, and they heard with terror, that their sovereign, exasperated by theinsult which had been offered to his own statues, and more especially, to those of his beloved wife, had resolved to level with the ground theoffending city; and to massacre, without distinction of age or sex, thecriminal inhabitants; [86] many of whom were actually driven, by theirapprehensions, to seek a refuge in the mountains of Syria, and theadjacent desert. At length, twenty-four days after the sedition, thegeneral Hellebicus and Caesarius, master of the offices, declared thewill of the emperor, and the sentence of Antioch. That proud capitalwas degraded from the rank of a city; and the metropolis of the East, stripped of its lands, its privileges, and its revenues, was subjected, under the humiliating denomination of a village, to the jurisdiction ofLaodicea. [87] The baths, the Circus, and the theatres were shut: and, that every source of plenty and pleasure might at the same time beintercepted, the distribution of corn was abolished, by the severeinstructions of Theodosius. His commissioners then proceeded to inquireinto the guilt of individuals; of those who had perpetrated, and ofthose who had not prevented, the destruction of the sacred statues. Thetribunal of Hellebicus and Caesarius, encompassed with armed soldiers, was erected in the midst of the Forum. The noblest, and most wealthy, ofthe citizens of Antioch appeared before them in chains; the examinationwas assisted by the use of torture, and their sentence was pronounced orsuspended, according to the judgment of these extraordinary magistrates. The houses of the criminals were exposed to sale, their wives andchildren were suddenly reduced, from affluence and luxury, to the mostabject distress; and a bloody execution was expected to conclude thehorrors of the day, [88] which the preacher of Antioch, the eloquentChrysostom, has represented as a lively image of the last and universaljudgment of the world. But the ministers of Theodosius performed, withreluctance, the cruel task which had been assigned them; they droppeda gentle tear over the calamities of the people; and they listened withreverence to the pressing solicitations of the monks and hermits, whodescended in swarms from the mountains. [89] Hellebicus and Caesariuswere persuaded to suspend the execution of their sentence; and itwas agreed that the former should remain at Antioch, while the latterreturned, with all possible speed, to Constantinople; and presumed oncemore to consult the will of his sovereign. The resentment of Theodosiushad already subsided; the deputies of the people, both the bishop andthe orator, had obtained a favorable audience; and the reproaches of theemperor were the complaints of injured friendship, rather than the sternmenaces of pride and power. A free and general pardon was granted tothe city and citizens of Antioch; the prison doors were thrown open;the senators, who despaired of their lives, recovered the possession oftheir houses and estates; and the capital of the East was restoredto the enjoyment of her ancient dignity and splendor. Theodosiuscondescended to praise the senate of Constantinople, who had generouslyinterceded for their distressed brethren: he rewarded the eloquence ofHilarius with the government of Palestine; and dismissed the bishop ofAntioch with the warmest expressions of his respect and gratitude. Athousand new statues arose to the clemency of Theodosius; the applauseof his subjects was ratified by the approbation of his own heart; andthe emperor confessed, that, if the exercise of justice is the mostimportant duty, the indulgence of mercy is the most exquisite pleasure, of a sovereign. [90]

[Footnote 84: The Christians and Pagans agreed in believing that thesedition of Antioch was excited by the daemons. A gigantic woman (saysSozomen, l. Vii. C. 23) paraded the streets with a scourge in her hand. An old man, says Libanius, (Orat. Xii. P. 396, ) transformed himself intoa youth, then a boy, &c. ]

[Footnote 85: Zosimus, in his short and disingenuous account, (l. Iv. P. 258, 259, ) is certainly mistaken in sending Libanius himself toConstantinople. His own orations fix him at Antioch. ]

[Footnote 86: Libanius (Orat. I. P. 6, edit. Venet. ) declares, thatunder such a reign the fear of a massacre was groundless and absurd, especially in the emperor's absence, for his presence, according to theeloquent slave, might have given a sanction to the most bloody acts. ]

[Footnote 87: Laodicea, on the sea-coast, sixty-five miles from Antioch, (see Noris Epoch. Syro-Maced. Dissert. Iii. P. 230. ) The Antiochianswere offended, that the dependent city of Seleucia should presume tointercede for them. ]

[Footnote 88: As the days of the tumult depend on the movable festivalof Easter, they can only be determined by the previous determination ofthe year. The year 387 has been preferred, after a laborious inquiry, by Tillemont (Hist. Des. Emp. Tom. V. P. 741-744) and Montfaucon, (Chrysostom, tom. Xiii. P. 105-110. )]

[Footnote 89: Chrysostom opposes their courage, which was not attendedwith much risk, to the cowardly flight of the Cynics. ]

[Footnote 90: The sedition of Antioch is represented in a lively, andalmost dramatic, manner by two orators, who had their respective sharesof interest and merit. See Libanius (Orat. Xiv. Xv. P. 389-420, edit. Morel. Orat. I. P. 1-14, Venet. 1754) and the twenty orations of St. John Chrysostom, de Statuis, (tom. Ii. P. 1-225, edit. Montfaucon. ) I donot pretend to much personal acquaintance with Chrysostom but Tillemont(Hist. Des. Empereurs, tom. V. P. 263-283) and Hermant (Vie de St. Chrysostome, tom. I. P. 137-224) had read him with pious curiosity anddiligence. ]

The sedition of Thessalonica is ascribed to a more shameful cause, andwas productive of much more dreadful consequences. That great city, themetropolis of all the Illyrian provinces, had been protected fromthe dangers of the Gothic war by strong fortifications and a numerousgarrison. Botheric, the general of those troops, and, as it should seemfrom his name, a Barbarian, had among his slaves a beautiful boy, whoexcited the impure desires of one of the charioteers of the Circus. The insolent and brutal lover was thrown into prison by the orderof Botheric; and he sternly rejected the importunate clamors of themultitude, who, on the day of the public games, lamented the absence oftheir favorite; and considered the skill of a charioteer as an objectof more importance than his virtue. The resentment of the people wasimbittered by some previous disputes; and, as the strength of thegarrison had been drawn away for the service of the Italian war, thefeeble remnant, whose numbers were reduced by desertion, could not savethe unhappy general from their licentious fury. Botheric, and severalof his principal officers, were inhumanly murdered; their mangled bodieswere dragged about the streets; and the emperor, who then resided atMilan, was surprised by the intelligence of the audacious and wantoncruelty of the people of Thessalonica. The sentence of a dispassionatejudge would have inflicted a severe punishment on the authors of thecrime; and the merit of Botheric might contribute to exasperate thegrief and indignation of his master. 

The fiery and choleric temper of Theodosius was impatient of thedilatory forms of a judicial inquiry; and he hastily resolved, that theblood of his lieutenant should be expiated by the blood of the guiltypeople. Yet his mind still fluctuated between the counsels of clemencyand of revenge; the zeal of the bishops had almost extorted from thereluctant emperor the promise of a general pardon; his passion was againinflamed by the flattering suggestions of his minister Rufinus; and, after Theodosius had despatched the messengers of death, he attempted, when it was too late, to prevent the execution of his orders. Thepunishment of a Roman city was blindly committed to the undistinguishingsword of the Barbarians; and the hostile preparations were concertedwith the dark and perfidious artifice of an illegal conspiracy. Thepeople of Thessalonica were treacherously invited, in the name of theirsovereign, to the games of the Circus; and such was their insatiateavidity for those amusements, that every consideration of fear, orsuspicion, was disregarded by the numerous spectators. As soon as theassembly was complete, the soldiers, who had secretly been posted roundthe Circus, received the signal, not of the races, but of a generalmassacre. The promiscuous carnage continued three hours, withoutdiscrimination of strangers or natives, of age or sex, of innocence orguilt; the most moderate accounts state the number of the slain at seventhousand; and it is affirmed by some writers that more than fifteenthousand victims were sacrificed to the names of Botheric. A foreignmerchant, who had probably no concern in his murder, offered his ownlife, and all his wealth, to supply the place of one of his two sons;but, while the father hesitated with equal tenderness, while he wasdoubtful to choose, and unwilling to condemn, the soldiers determinedhis suspense, by plunging their daggers at the same moment into thebreasts of the defenceless youths. The apology of the assassins, thatthey were obliged to produce the prescribed number of heads, serves onlyto increase, by an appearance of order and design, the horrors of themassacre, which was executed by the commands of Theodosius. The guiltof the emperor is aggravated by his long and frequent residence atThessalonica. The situation of the unfortunate city, the aspect of thestreets and buildings, the dress and faces of the inhabitants, werefamiliar, and even present, to his imagination; and Theodosius possesseda quick and lively sense of the existence of the people whom hedestroyed. [91]

[Footnote 91: The original evidence of Ambrose, (tom. Ii. Epist. Li. P. 998. ) Augustin, (de Civitat. Dei, v. 26, ) and Paulinus, (in Vit. Ambros. C. 24, ) is delivered in vague expressions of horror and pity. It isillustrated by the subsequent and unequal testimonies of Sozomen, (l. Vii. C. 25, ) Theodoret, (l. V. C. 17, ) Theophanes, (Chronograph. P. 62, ) Cedrenus, (p. 317, ) and Zonaras, (tom. Ii. L. Xiii. P. 34. ) Zosimusalone, the partial enemy of Theodosius, most unaccountably passes overin silence the worst of his actions. ]

The respectful attachment of the emperor for the orthodox clergy, haddisposed him to love and admire the character of Ambrose; who unitedall the episcopal virtues in the most eminent degree. The friends andministers of Theodosius imitated the example of their sovereign; andhe observed, with more surprise than displeasure, that all his secretcounsels were immediately communicated to the archbishop; who acted fromthe laudable persuasion, that every measure of civil government mayhave some connection with the glory of God, and the interest of the truereligion. The monks and populace of Callinicum, [9111] an obscure townon the frontier of Persia, excited by their own fanaticism, and bythat of their bishop, had tumultuously burnt a conventicle of theValentinians, and a synagogue of the Jews. The seditious prelate wascondemned, by the magistrate of the province, either to rebuild thesynagogue, or to repay the damage; and this moderate sentence wasconfirmed by the emperor. But it was not confirmed by the archbishopof Milan. [92] He dictated an epistle of censure and reproach, moresuitable, perhaps, if the emperor had received the mark of circumcision, and renounced the faith of his baptism. Ambrose considers the tolerationof the Jewish, as the persecution of the Christian, religion; boldlydeclares that he himself, and every true believer, would eagerly disputewith the bishop of Callinicum the merit of the deed, and the crown ofmartyrdom; and laments, in the most pathetic terms, that the executionof the sentence would be fatal to the fame and salvation of Theodosius. As this private admonition did not produce an immediate effect, thearchbishop, from his pulpit, [93] publicly addressed the emperor on histhrone; [94] nor would he consent to offer the oblation of the altar, till he had obtained from Theodosius a solemn and positive declaration, which secured the impunity of the bishop and monks of Callinicum. Therecantation of Theodosius was sincere; [95] and, during the term of hisresidence at Milan, his affection for Ambrose was continually increasedby the habits of pious and familiar conversation. 

[Footnote 9111: Raeca, on the Euphrates--M. ]

[Footnote 92: See the whole transaction in Ambrose, (tom. Ii. Epist. Xl. Xli. P. 950-956, ) and his biographer Paulinus, (c. 23. ) Bayleand Barbeyrac (Morales des Peres, c. Xvii. P. 325, &c. ) have justlycondemned the archbishop. ]

[Footnote 93: His sermon is a strange allegory of Jeremiah's rod, of analmond tree, of the woman who washed and anointed the feet of Christ. But the peroration is direct and personal. ]

[Footnote 94: Hodie, Episcope, de me proposuisti. Ambrose modestlyconfessed it; but he sternly reprimanded Timasius, general of the horseand foot, who had presumed to say that the monks of Callinicum deservedpunishment. ]

[Footnote 95: Yet, five years afterwards, when Theodosius was absentfrom his spiritual guide, he tolerated the Jews, and condemned thedestruction of their synagogues. Cod. Theodos. L. Xvi. Tit. Viii. Leg. 9, with Godefroy's Commentary, tom. Vi. P. 225. ]

When Ambrose was informed of the massacre of Thessalonica, his mind wasfilled with horror and anguish. He retired into the country toindulge his grief, and to avoid the presence of Theodosius. But asthe archbishop was satisfied that a timid silence would render himthe accomplice of his guilt, he represented, in a private letter, theenormity of the crime; which could only be effaced by the tears ofpenitence. The episcopal vigor of Ambrose was tempered by prudence;and he contented himself with signifying [96] an indirect sort ofexcommunication, by the assurance, that he had been warned in avision not to offer the oblation in the name, or in the presence, ofTheodosius; and by the advice, that he would confine himself to theuse of prayer, without presuming to approach the altar of Christ, orto receive the holy eucharist with those hands that were still pollutedwith the blood of an innocent people. The emperor was deeply affected byhis own reproaches, and by those of his spiritual father; and after hehad bewailed the mischievous and irreparable consequences of his rashfury, he proceeded, in the accustomed manner, to perform his devotionsin the great church of Milan. He was stopped in the porch by thearchbishop; who, in the tone and language of an ambassador of Heaven, declared to his sovereign, that private contrition was not sufficientto atone for a public fault, or to appease the justice of the offendedDeity. Theodosius humbly represented, that if he had contracted theguilt of homicide, David, the man after God's own heart, had beenguilty, not only of murder, but of adultery. "You have imitated David inhis crime, imitate then his repentance, " was the reply of the undauntedAmbrose. The rigorous conditions of peace and pardon were accepted; andthe public penance of the emperor Theodosius has been recorded as one ofthe most honorable events in the annals of the church. According to themildest rules of ecclesiastical discipline, which were established inthe fourth century, the crime of homicide was expiated by the penitenceof twenty years: [97] and as it was impossible, in the period of humanlife, to purge the accumulated guilt of the massacre of Thessalonica, the murderer should have been excluded from the holy communion tillthe hour of his death. But the archbishop, consulting the maxims ofreligious policy, granted some indulgence to the rank of his illustriouspenitent, who humbled in the dust the pride of the diadem; and thepublic edification might be admitted as a weighty reason to abridge theduration of his punishment. It was sufficient, that the emperor of theRomans, stripped of the ensigns of royalty, should appear in a mournfuland suppliant posture; and that, in the midst of the church of Milan, he should humbly solicit, with sighs and tears, the pardon of his sins. [98] In this spiritual cure, Ambrose employed the various methods ofmildness and severity. After a delay of about eight months, Theodosiuswas restored to the communion of the faithful; and the edict whichinterposes a salutary interval of thirty days between the sentence andthe execution, may be accepted as the worthy fruits of his repentance. [99] Posterity has applauded the virtuous firmness of the archbishop;and the example of Theodosius may prove the beneficial influenceof those principles, which could force a monarch, exalted above theapprehension of human punishment, to respect the laws, and ministers, ofan invisible Judge. "The prince, " says Montesquieu, "who is actuated bythe hopes and fears of religion, may be compared to a lion, docileonly to the voice, and tractable to the hand, of his keeper. " [100] Themotions of the royal animal will therefore depend on the inclination, and interest, of the man who has acquired such dangerous authority overhim; and the priest, who holds in his hands the conscience of aking, may inflame, or moderate, his sanguinary passions. The causeof humanity, and that of persecution, have been asserted, by the sameAmbrose, with equal energy, and with equal success. 

[Footnote 96: Ambros. Tom. Ii. Epist. Li. P. 997-1001. His epistle is amiserable rhapsody on a noble subject. Ambrose could act better than hecould write. His compositions are destitute of taste, or genius; withoutthe spirit of Tertullian, the copious elegance of Lactantius the livelywit of Jerom, or the grave energy of Augustin. ]

[Footnote 97: According to the discipline of St. Basil, (Canon lvi. , )the voluntary homicide was four years a mourner; five a hearer; seven ina prostrate state; and four in a standing posture. I have the original(Beveridge, Pandect. Tom. Ii. P. 47-151) and a translation (Chardon, Hist. Des Sacremens, tom. Iv. P. 219-277) of the Canonical Epistles ofSt. Basil. ]

[Footnote 98: The penance of Theodosius is authenticated by Ambrose, (tom. Vi. De Obit. Theodos. C. 34, p. 1207, ) Augustin, (de Civitat. Dei, v. 26, ) and Paulinus, (in Vit. Ambros. C. 24. ) Socrates is ignorant;Sozomen (l. Vii. C. 25) concise; and the copious narrative of Theodoret(l. V. C. 18) must be used with precaution. ]

[Footnote 99: Codex Theodos. L. Ix. Tit. Xl. Leg. 13. The date andcircumstances of this law are perplexed with difficulties; but I feelmyself inclined to favor the honest efforts of Tillemont (Hist. Des Emp. Tom. V. P. 721) and Pagi, (Critica, tom. I. P. 578. )]

[Footnote 100: Un prince qui aime la religion, et qui la craint, estun lion qui cede a la main qui le flatte, ou a la voix qui l'appaise. Esprit des Loix, l. Xxiv. C. 2. ]

Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius. --Part V. 

After the defeat and death of the tyrant of Gaul, the Roman world was inthe possession of Theodosius. He derived from the choice of Gratian hishonorable title to the provinces of the East: he had acquired the Westby the right of conquest; and the three years which he spent in Italywere usefully employed to restore the authority of the laws, andto correct the abuses which had prevailed with impunity under theusurpation of Maximus, and the minority of Valentinian. The name ofValentinian was regularly inserted in the public acts: but the tenderage, and doubtful faith, of the son of Justina, appeared to require theprudent care of an orthodox guardian; and his specious ambition mighthave excluded the unfortunate youth, without a struggle, andalmost without a murmur, from the administration, and even from theinheritance, of the empire. If Theodosius had consulted the rigid maximsof interest and policy, his conduct would have been justified by hisfriends; but the generosity of his behavior on this memorable occasionhas extorted the applause of his most inveterate enemies. He seatedValentinian on the throne of Milan; and, without stipulating any presentor future advantages, restored him to the absolute dominion of all theprovinces, from which he had been driven by the arms of Maximus. Tothe restitution of his ample patrimony, Theodosius added the free andgenerous gift of the countries beyond the Alps, which his successfulvalor had recovered from the assassin of Gratian. [101] Satisfiedwith the glory which he had acquired, by revenging the death of hisbenefactor, and delivering the West from the yoke of tyranny, theemperor returned from Milan to Constantinople; and, in the peacefulpossession of the East, insensibly relapsed into his former habitsof luxury and indolence. Theodosius discharged his obligation tothe brother, he indulged his conjugal tenderness to the sister, ofValentinian; and posterity, which admires the pure and singular gloryof his elevation, must applaud his unrivalled generosity in the use ofvictory. 

[Footnote 101: It is the niggard praise of Zosimus himself, (l. Iv. P. 267. ) Augustin says, with some happiness of expression, Valentinianum. .. . Misericordissima veneratione restituit. ] The empressJustina did not long survive her return to Italy; and, though shebeheld the triumph of Theodosius, she was not allowed to influence thegovernment of her son. [102] The pernicious attachment to the Ariansect, which Valentinian had imbibed from her example and instructions, was soon erased by the lessons of a more orthodox education. His growingzeal for the faith of Nice, and his filial reverence for the characterand authority of Ambrose, disposed the Catholics to entertain the mostfavorable opinion of the virtues of the young emperor of the West. [103]They applauded his chastity and temperance, his contempt of pleasure, his application to business, and his tender affection for his twosisters; which could not, however, seduce his impartial equity topronounce an unjust sentence against the meanest of his subjects. Butthis amiable youth, before he had accomplished the twentieth year ofhis age, was oppressed by domestic treason; and the empire was againinvolved in the horrors of a civil war. Arbogastes, [104] a gallantsoldier of the nation of the Franks, held the second rank in theservice of Gratian. On the death of his master he joined the standardof Theodosius; contributed, by his valor and military conduct, tothe destruction of the tyrant; and was appointed, after the victory, master-general of the armies of Gaul. His real merit, and apparentfidelity, had gained the confidence both of the prince and people; hisboundless liberality corrupted the allegiance of the troops; and, whilsthe was universally esteemed as the pillar of the state, the bold andcrafty Barbarian was secretly determined either to rule, or to ruin, theempire of the West. The important commands of the army were distributedamong the Franks; the creatures of Arbogastes were promoted to allthe honors and offices of the civil government; the progress ofthe conspiracy removed every faithful servant from the presence ofValentinian; and the emperor, without power and without intelligence, insensibly sunk into the precarious and dependent condition of acaptive. [105] The indignation which he expressed, though it mightarise only from the rash and impatient temper of youth, may be candidlyascribed to the generous spirit of a prince, who felt that he wasnot unworthy to reign. He secretly invited the archbishop of Milan toundertake the office of a mediator; as the pledge of his sincerity, andthe guardian of his safety. He contrived to apprise the emperor of theEast of his helpless situation, and he declared, that, unless Theodosiuscould speedily march to his assistance, he must attempt to escapefrom the palace, or rather prison, of Vienna in Gaul, where he hadimprudently fixed his residence in the midst of the hostile faction. But the hopes of relief were distant, and doubtful: and, as everyday furnished some new provocation, the emperor, without strength orcounsel, too hastily resolved to risk an immediate contest with hispowerful general. He received Arbogastes on the throne; and, as thecount approached with some appearance of respect, delivered to him apaper, which dismissed him from all his employments. "My authority, "replied Arbogastes, with insulting coolness, "does not depend on thesmile or the frown of a monarch;" and he contemptuously threw the paperon the ground. The indignant monarch snatched at the sword of one ofthe guards, which he struggled to draw from its scabbard; and it wasnot without some degree of violence that he was prevented from using thedeadly weapon against his enemy, or against himself. A few days afterthis extraordinary quarrel, in which he had exposed his resentment andhis weakness, the unfortunate Valentinian was found strangled in hisapartment; and some pains were employed to disguise the manifest guiltof Arbogastes, and to persuade the world, that the death of the youngemperor had been the voluntary effect of his own despair. [106] Hisbody was conducted with decent pomp to the sepulchre of Milan; and thearchbishop pronounced a funeral oration to commemorate his virtues andhis misfortunes. [107] On this occasion the humanity of Ambrose temptedhim to make a singular breach in his theological system; and to comfortthe weeping sisters of Valentinian, by the firm assurance, that theirpious brother, though he had not received the sacrament of baptism, was introduced, without difficulty, into the mansions of eternal bliss. [108]

[Footnote 102: Sozomen, l. Vii. C. 14. His chronology is veryirregular. ]

[Footnote 103: See Ambrose, (tom. Ii. De Obit. Valentinian. C. 15, &c. P. 1178. C. 36, &c. P. 1184. ) When the young emperor gave anentertainment, he fasted himself; he refused to see a handsome actress, &c. Since he ordered his wild beasts to to be killed, it is ungenerousin Philostor (l. Xi. C. 1) to reproach him with the love of thatamusement. ]

[Footnote 104: Zosimus (l. Iv. P. 275) praises the enemy of Theodosius. But he is detested by Socrates (l. V. C. 25) and Orosius, (l. Vii. C. 35. )]

[Footnote 105: Gregory of Tours (l. Ii. C. 9, p. 165, in the secondvolume of the Historians of France) has preserved a curious fragment ofSulpicius Alexander, an historian far more valuable than himself. ]

[Footnote 106: Godefroy (Dissertat. Ad. Philostorg. P. 429-434) hasdiligently collected all the circumstances of the death of ValentinianII. The variations, and the ignorance, of contemporary writers, provethat it was secret. ]

[Footnote 107: De Obitu Valentinian. Tom. Ii. P. 1173-1196. He is forcedto speak a discreet and obscure language: yet he is much bolder than anylayman, or perhaps any other ecclesiastic, would have dared to be. ]

[Footnote 108: See c. 51, p. 1188, c. 75, p. 1193. Dom Chardon, (Hist. Des Sacramens, tom. I. P. 86, ) who owns that St. Ambrose moststrenuously maintains the indispensable necessity of baptism, labors toreconcile the contradiction. ]

The prudence of Arbogastes had prepared the success of his ambitiousdesigns: and the provincials, in whose breast every sentiment ofpatriotism or loyalty was extinguished, expected, with tame resignation, the unknown master, whom the choice of a Frank might place on theImperial throne. But some remains of pride and prejudice still opposedthe elevation of Arbogastes himself; and the judicious Barbarian thoughtit more advisable to reign under the name of some dependent Roman. He bestowed the purple on the rhetorician Eugenius; [109] whom he hadalready raised from the place of his domestic secretary to the rank ofmaster of the offices. In the course, both of his private and publicservice, the count had always approved the attachment and abilities ofEugenius; his learning and eloquence, supported by the gravity of hismanners, recommended him to the esteem of the people; and the reluctancewith which he seemed to ascend the throne, may inspire a favorableprejudice of his virtue and moderation. The ambassadors of the newemperor were immediately despatched to the court of Theodosius, tocommunicate, with affected grief, the unfortunate accident of the deathof Valentinian; and, without mentioning the name of Arbogastes, torequest, that the monarch of the East would embrace, as his lawfulcolleague, the respectable citizen, who had obtained the unanimoussuffrage of the armies and provinces of the West. [110] Theodosius wasjustly provoked, that the perfidy of a Barbarian, should have destroyed, in a moment, the labors, and the fruit, of his former victory; and hewas excited by the tears of his beloved wife, [111] to revenge the fateof her unhappy brother, and once more to assert by arms the violatedmajesty of the throne. But as the second conquest of the West was a taskof difficulty and danger, he dismissed, with splendid presents, and anambiguous answer, the ambassadors of Eugenius; and almost two yearswere consumed in the preparations of the civil war. Before he formed anydecisive resolution, the pious emperor was anxious to discover the willof Heaven; and as the progress of Christianity had silenced the oraclesof Delphi and Dodona, he consulted an Egyptian monk, who possessed, in the opinion of the age, the gift of miracles, and the knowledgeof futurity. Eutropius, one of the favorite eunuchs of the palace ofConstantinople, embarked for Alexandria, from whence he sailed up theNile, as far as the city of Lycopolis, or of Wolves, in the remoteprovince of Thebais. [112] In the neighborhood of that city, and on thesummit of a lofty mountain, the holy John [113] had constructed, withhis own hands, an humble cell, in which he had dwelt above fifty years, without opening his door, without seeing the face of a woman, andwithout tasting any food that had been prepared by fire, or any humanart. Five days of the week he spent in prayer and meditation; but onSaturdays and Sundays he regularly opened a small window, and gaveaudience to the crowd of suppliants who successively flowed from everypart of the Christian world. The eunuch of Theodosius approached thewindow with respectful steps, proposed his questions concerning theevent of the civil war, and soon returned with a favorable oracle, whichanimated the courage of the emperor by the assurance of a bloody, butinfallible victory. [114] The accomplishment of the prediction wasforwarded by all the means that human prudence could supply. Theindustry of the two master-generals, Stilicho and Timasius, was directedto recruit the numbers, and to revive the discipline of the Romanlegions. The formidable troops of Barbarians marched under the ensignsof their national chieftains. The Iberian, the Arab, and the Goth, who gazed on each other with mutual astonishment, were enlisted in theservice of the same prince; [1141] and the renowned Alaric acquired, in the school of Theodosius, the knowledge of the art of war, which heafterwards so fatally exerted for the destruction of Rome. [115]

[Footnote 109: Quem sibi Germanus famulam delegerat exul, is thecontemptuous expression of Claudian, (iv. Cons. Hon. 74. ) Eugeniusprofessed Christianity; but his secret attachment to Paganism (Sozomen, l. Vii. C. 22, Philostorg. L. Xi. C. 2) is probable in a grammarian, andwould secure the friendship of Zosimus, (l. Iv. P. 276, 277. )]

[Footnote 110: Zosimus (l. Iv. P. 278) mentions this embassy; but he isdiverted by another story from relating the event. ]

[Footnote 111: Zosim. L. Iv. P. 277. He afterwards says (p. 280) thatGalla died in childbed; and intimates, that the affliction of herhusband was extreme but short. ]

[Footnote 112: Lycopolis is the modern Siut, or Osiot, a town of Said, about the size of St. Denys, which drives a profitable trade with thekingdom of Senaar, and has a very convenient fountain, "cujus potu signavirgini tatis eripiuntur. " See D'Anville, Description de l'Egypte, p. 181 Abulfeda, Descript. Egypt. P. 14, and the curious Annotations, p. 25, 92, of his editor Michaelis. ]

[Footnote 113: The Life of John of Lycopolis is described by his twofriends, Rufinus (l. Ii. C. I. P. 449) and Palladius, (Hist. Lausiac. C. 43, p. 738, ) in Rosweyde's great Collection of the Vitae Patrum. Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. Tom. X. P. 718, 720) has settled thechronology. ]

[Footnote 114: Sozomen, l. Vii. C. 22. Claudian (in Eutrop. L. I. 312)mentions the eunuch's journey; but he most contemptuously derides theEgyptian dreams, and the oracles of the Nile. ]

[Footnote 1141]: Gibbon has embodied the picturesque verses ofClaudian:--

 . .. . Nec tantis dissona linguis Turba, nec armorum cultu diversion unquam]

[Footnote 115: Zosimus, l. Iv. P. 280. Socrates, l. Vii. 10. Alarichimself (de Bell. Getico, 524) dwells with more complacency on his earlyexploits against the Romans. 

. .. . Tot Augustos Hebro qui teste fugavi. 

Yet his vanity could scarcely have proved this plurality of flyingemperors. ]

The emperor of the West, or, to speak more properly, his generalArbogastes, was instructed by the misconduct and misfortune of Maximus, how dangerous it might prove to extend the line of defence against askilful antagonist, who was free to press, or to suspend, to contract, or to multiply, his various methods of attack. [116] Arbogastes fixedhis station on the confines of Italy; the troops of Theodosius werepermitted to occupy, without resistance, the provinces of Pannonia, asfar as the foot of the Julian Alps; and even the passes of the mountainswere negligently, or perhaps artfully, abandoned to the bold invader. He descended from the hills, and beheld, with some astonishment, theformidable camp of the Gauls and Germans, that covered with arms andtents the open country which extends to the walls of Aquileia, and thebanks of the Frigidus, [117] or Cold River. [118] This narrow theatre ofthe war, circumscribed by the Alps and the Adriatic, did not allow muchroom for the operations of military skill; the spirit of Arbogasteswould have disdained a pardon; his guilt extinguished the hope of anegotiation; and Theodosius was impatient to satisfy his glory andrevenge, by the chastisement of the assassins of Valentinian. Withoutweighing the natural and artificial obstacles that opposed his efforts, the emperor of the East immediately attacked the fortifications ofhis rivals, assigned the post of honorable danger to the Goths, andcherished a secret wish, that the bloody conflict might diminish thepride and numbers of the conquerors. Ten thousand of those auxiliaries, and Bacurius, general of the Iberians, died bravely on the field ofbattle. But the victory was not purchased by their blood; the Gaulsmaintained their advantage; and the approach of night protected thedisorderly flight, or retreat, of the troops of Theodosius. The emperorretired to the adjacent hills; where he passed a disconsolate night, without sleep, without provisions, and without hopes; [119] except thatstrong assurance, which, under the most desperate circumstances, theindependent mind may derive from the contempt of fortune and of life. The triumph of Eugenius was celebrated by the insolent and dissolute joyof his camp; whilst the active and vigilant Arbogastes secretly detacheda considerable body of troops to occupy the passes of the mountains, andto encompass the rear of the Eastern army. The dawn of day discovered tothe eyes of Theodosius the extent and the extremity of his danger; buthis apprehensions were soon dispelled, by a friendly message from theleaders of those troops who expressed their inclination to desert thestandard of the tyrant. The honorable and lucrative rewards, whichthey stipulated as the price of their perfidy, were granted withouthesitation; and as ink and paper could not easily be procured, theemperor subscribed, on his own tablets, the ratification of the treaty. The spirit of his soldiers was revived by this seasonable reenforcement;and they again marched, with confidence, to surprise the camp of atyrant, whose principal officers appeared to distrust, either thejustice or the success of his arms. In the heat of the battle, a violenttempest, [120] such as is often felt among the Alps, suddenly arose fromthe East. The army of Theodosius was sheltered by their position fromthe impetuosity of the wind, which blew a cloud of dust in the facesof the enemy, disordered their ranks, wrested their weapons from theirhands, and diverted, or repelled, their ineffectual javelins. Thisaccidental advantage was skilfully improved, the violence of the stormwas magnified by the superstitious terrors of the Gauls; and theyyielded without shame to the invisible powers of heaven, who seemed tomilitate on the side of the pious emperor. His victory was decisive; andthe deaths of his two rivals were distinguished only by the differenceof their characters. The rhetorician Eugenius, who had almost acquiredthe dominion of the world, was reduced to implore the mercy of theconqueror; and the unrelenting soldiers separated his head from his bodyas he lay prostrate at the feet of Theodosius. Arbogastes, after theloss of a battle, in which he had discharged the duties of a soldier anda general, wandered several days among the mountains. But when he wasconvinced that his cause was desperate, and his escape impracticable, the intrepid Barbarian imitated the example of the ancient Romans, andturned his sword against his own breast. The fate of the empire wasdetermined in a narrow corner of Italy; and the legitimate successorof the house of Valentinian embraced the archbishop of Milan, andgraciously received the submission of the provinces of the West. Thoseprovinces were involved in the guilt of rebellion; while the inflexiblecourage of Ambrose alone had resisted the claims of successfulusurpation. With a manly freedom, which might have been fatal to anyother subject, the archbishop rejected the gifts of Eugenius, [1201]declined his correspondence, and withdrew himself from Milan, to avoidthe odious presence of a tyrant, whose downfall he predicted in discreetand ambiguous language. The merit of Ambrose was applauded by theconqueror, who secured the attachment of the people by his alliance withthe church; and the clemency of Theodosius is ascribed to the humaneintercession of the archbishop of Milan. [121]

[Footnote 116: Claudian (in iv. Cons. Honor. 77, &c. ) contrasts themilitary plans of the two usurpers:--

 . .. . Novitas audere priorem Suadebat; cautumque dabant exempla sequentem. Hic nova moliri praeceps: hic quaerere tuta Providus. Hic fusis; colectis viribus ille. Hic vagus excurrens; hic claustra reductus Dissimiles, sed morte pares. .. .. . ]

[Footnote 117: The Frigidus, a small, though memorable, stream in thecountry of Goretz, now called the Vipao, falls into the Sontius, orLisonzo, above Aquileia, some miles from the Adriatic. See D'Anville'sancient and modern maps, and the Italia Antiqua of Cluverius, (tom. I. C. 188. )]

[Footnote 118: Claudian's wit is intolerable: the snow was dyed red; thecold ver smoked; and the channel must have been choked with carcassesthe current had not been swelled with blood. Confluxit populus: totampater undique secum Moverat Aurorem; mixtis hic Colchus Iberis, Hicmitra velatus Arabs, hic crine decoro Armenius, hic picta Saces, fucataque Medus, Hic gemmata tiger tentoria fixerat Indus. --De Laud. Stil. L. 145. --M. ]

[Footnote 119: Theodoret affirms, that St. John, and St. Philip, appeared to the waking, or sleeping, emperor, on horseback, &c. Thisis the first instance of apostolic chivalry, which afterwards became sopopular in Spain, and in the Crusades. ]

[Footnote 120: Te propter, gelidis Aquilo de monte procellis

 Obruit adversas acies; revolutaque tela Vertit in auctores, et turbine reppulit hastas

 O nimium dilecte Deo, cui fundit ab antris Aeolus armatas hyemes; cui militat Aether, Et conjurati veniunt ad classica venti. 

These famous lines of Claudian (in iii. Cons. Honor. 93, &c. A. D. 396)are alleged by his contemporaries, Augustin and Orosius; who suppressthe Pagan deity of Aeolus, and add some circumstances from theinformation of eye-witnesses. Within four months after the victory, it was compared by Ambrose to the miraculous victories of Moses andJoshua. ]

[Footnote 1201: Arbogastes and his emperor had openly espoused thePagan party, according to Ambrose and Augustin. See Le Beau, v. 40. Beugnot (Histoire de la Destruction du Paganisme) is more full, andperhaps somewhat fanciful, on this remarkable reaction in favor ofPaganism, but compare p 116. --M. ]

[Footnote 121: The events of this civil war are gathered from Ambrose, (tom. Ii. Epist. Lxii. P. 1022, ) Paulinus, (in Vit. Ambros. C. 26-34, )Augustin, (de Civitat. Dei, v. 26, ) Orosius, (l. Vii. C. 35, ) Sozomen, (l. Vii. C. 24, ) Theodoret, (l. V. C. 24, ) Zosimus, (l. Iv. P. 281, 282, ) Claudian, (in iii. Cons. Hon. 63-105, in iv. Cons. Hon. 70-117, )and the Chronicles published by Scaliger. ]

After the defeat of Eugenius, the merit, as well as the authority, ofTheodosius was cheerfully acknowledged by all the inhabitants of theRoman world. The experience of his past conduct encouraged the mostpleasing expectations of his future reign; and the age of the emperor, which did not exceed fifty years, seemed to extend the prospect of thepublic felicity. His death, only four months after his victory, wasconsidered by the people as an unforeseen and fatal event, whichdestroyed, in a moment, the hopes of the rising generation. But theindulgence of ease and luxury had secretly nourished the principlesof disease. [122] The strength of Theodosius was unable to supportthe sudden and violent transition from the palace to the camp; and theincreasing symptoms of a dropsy announced the speedy dissolution ofthe emperor. The opinion, and perhaps the interest, of the public hadconfirmed the division of the Eastern and Western empires; and the tworoyal youths, Arcadius and Honorius, who had already obtained, from thetenderness of their father, the title of Augustus, were destined tofill the thrones of Constantinople and of Rome. Those princes were notpermitted to share the danger and glory of the civil war; [123] but assoon as Theodosius had triumphed over his unworthy rivals, he calledhis younger son, Honorius, to enjoy the fruits of the victory, and toreceive the sceptre of the West from the hands of his dying father. Thearrival of Honorius at Milan was welcomed by a splendid exhibition ofthe games of the Circus; and the emperor, though he was oppressed by theweight of his disorder, contributed by his presence to the public joy. But the remains of his strength were exhausted by the painful effortwhich he made to assist at the spectacles of the morning. Honoriussupplied, during the rest of the day, the place of his father; andthe great Theodosius expired in the ensuing night. Notwithstanding therecent animosities of a civil war, his death was universally lamented. The Barbarians, whom he had vanquished and the churchmen, by whom he hadbeen subdued, celebrated, with loud and sincere applause, the qualitiesof the deceased emperor, which appeared the most valuable in theireyes. The Romans were terrified by the impending dangers of a feeble anddivided administration, and every disgraceful moment of the unfortunatereigns of Arcadius and Honorius revived the memory of their irreparableloss. 

[Footnote 122: This disease, ascribed by Socrates (l. V. C. 26) to thefatigues of war, is represented by Philostorgius (l. Xi. C. 2) asthe effect of sloth and intemperance; for which Photius calls him animpudent liar, (Godefroy, Dissert. P. 438. )]

[Footnote 123: Zosimus supposes, that the boy Honorius accompanied hisfather, (l. Iv. P. 280. ) Yet the quanto flagrabrant pectora voto is allthat flattery would allow to a contemporary poet; who clearly describesthe emperor's refusal, and the journey of Honorius, after the victory(Claudian in iii. Cons. 78-125. )]

In the faithful picture of the virtues of Theodosius, his imperfectionshave not been dissembled; the act of cruelty, and the habits ofindolence, which tarnished the glory of one of the greatest of the Romanprinces. An historian, perpetually adverse to the fame of Theodosius, has exaggerated his vices, and their pernicious effects; he boldlyasserts, that every rank of subjects imitated the effeminate mannersof their sovereign; and that every species of corruption polluted thecourse of public and private life; and that the feeble restraints oforder and decency were insufficient to resist the progress of thatdegenerate spirit, which sacrifices, without a blush, the considerationof duty and interest to the base indulgence of sloth and appetite. [124]The complaints of contemporary writers, who deplore the increase ofluxury, and depravation of manners, are commonly expressive of theirpeculiar temper and situation. There are few observers, who possess aclear and comprehensive view of the revolutions of society; and whoare capable of discovering the nice and secret springs of action, whichimpel, in the same uniform direction, the blind and capricious passionsof a multitude of individuals. If it can be affirmed, with any degree oftruth, that the luxury of the Romans was more shameless and dissolute inthe reign of Theodosius than in the age of Constantine, perhaps, orof Augustus, the alteration cannot be ascribed to any beneficialimprovements, which had gradually increased the stock of nationalriches. A long period of calamity or decay must have checked theindustry, and diminished the wealth, of the people; and their profuseluxury must have been the result of that indolent despair, which enjoysthe present hour, and declines the thoughts of futurity. The uncertaincondition of their property discouraged the subjects of Theodosius fromengaging in those useful and laborious undertakings which requirean immediate expense, and promise a slow and distant advantage. Thefrequent examples of ruin and desolation tempted them not to spare theremains of a patrimony, which might, every hour, become the prey of therapacious Goth. And the mad prodigality which prevails in the confusionof a shipwreck, or a siege, may serve to explain the progress of luxuryamidst the misfortunes and terrors of a sinking nation. 

[Footnote 124: Zosimus, l. Iv. P. 244. ]

The effeminate luxury, which infected the manners of courts and cities, had instilled a secret and destructive poison into the camps of thelegions; and their degeneracy has been marked by the pen of a militarywriter, who had accurately studied the genuine and ancient principles ofRoman discipline. It is the just and important observation of Vegetius, that the infantry was invariably covered with defensive armor, fromthe foundation of the city, to the reign of the emperor Gratian. Therelaxation of discipline, and the disuse of exercise, rendered thesoldiers less able, and less willing, to support the fatigues of theservice; they complained of the weight of the armor, which they seldomwore; and they successively obtained the permission of laying aside boththeir cuirasses and their helmets. The heavy weapons of their ancestors, the short sword, and the formidable pilum, which had subdued the world, insensibly dropped from their feeble hands. As the use of the shieldis incompatible with that of the bow, they reluctantly marched into thefield; condemned to suffer either the pain of wounds, or the ignominy offlight, and always disposed to prefer the more shameful alternative. Thecavalry of the Goths, the Huns, and the Alani, had felt the benefits, and adopted the use, of defensive armor; and, as they excelled in themanagement of missile weapons, they easily overwhelmed the nakedand trembling legions, whose heads and breasts were exposed, withoutdefence, to the arrows of the Barbarians. The loss of armies, thedestruction of cities, and the dishonor of the Roman name, ineffectuallysolicited the successors of Gratian to restore the helmets and thecuirasses of the infantry. The enervated soldiers abandoned theirown and the public defence; and their pusillanimous indolence may beconsidered as the immediate cause of the downfall of the empire. [125]

[Footnote 125: Vegetius, de Re Militari, l. I. C. 10. The series ofcalamities which he marks, compel us to believe, that the Hero, towhom he dedicates his book, is the last and most inglorious of theValentinians. ]

Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism. --Part I. 

 Final Destruction Of Paganism. --Introduction Of The Worship Of Saints, And Relics, Among The Christians. 

The ruin of Paganism, in the age of Theodosius, is perhaps theonly example of the total extirpation of any ancient and popularsuperstition; and may therefore deserve to be considered as a singularevent in the history of the human mind. The Christians, more especiallythe clergy, had impatiently supported the prudent delays of Constantine, and the equal toleration of the elder Valentinian; nor could they deemtheir conquest perfect or secure, as long as their adversaries werepermitted to exist. The influence which Ambrose and his brethren hadacquired over the youth of Gratian, and the piety of Theodosius, wasemployed to infuse the maxims of persecution into the breasts of theirImperial proselytes. Two specious principles of religious jurisprudencewere established, from whence they deduced a direct and rigorousconclusion, against the subjects of the empire who still adhered to theceremonies of their ancestors: that the magistrate is, in some measure, guilty of the crimes which he neglects to prohibit, or to punish; and, that the idolatrous worship of fabulous deities, and real daemons, isthe most abominable crime against the supreme majesty of the Creator. The laws of Moses, and the examples of Jewish history, [1] were hastily, perhaps erroneously, applied, by the clergy, to the mild and universalreign of Christianity. [2] The zeal of the emperors was excited tovindicate their own honor, and that of the Deity: and the temples of theRoman world were subverted, about sixty years after the conversion ofConstantine. 

[Footnote 1: St. Ambrose (tom. Ii. De Obit. Theodos. P. 1208) expresslypraises and recommends the zeal of Josiah in the destruction of idolatryThe language of Julius Firmicus Maternus on the same subject (de ErroreProfan. Relig. P. 467, edit. Gronov. ) is piously inhuman. Nec filiojubet (the Mosaic Law) parci, nec fratri, et per amatam conjugeragladium vindicem ducit, &c. ]

[Footnote 2: Bayle (tom. Ii. P. 406, in his Commentaire Philosophique)justifies, and limits, these intolerant laws by the temporal reign ofJehovah over the Jews. The attempt is laudable. ]

From the age of Numa to the reign of Gratian, the Romans preserved theregular succession of the several colleges of the sacerdotal order. [3]Fifteen Pontiffs exercised their supreme jurisdiction over all things, and persons, that were consecrated to the service of the gods; and thevarious questions which perpetually arose in a loose and traditionarysystem, were submitted to the judgment of their holy tribunal Fifteengrave and learned Augurs observed the face of the heavens, andprescribed the actions of heroes, according to the flight of birds. Fifteen keepers of the Sibylline books (their name of Quindecemvirs wasderived from their number) occasionally consulted the history of future, and, as it should seem, of contingent, events. Six Vestals devoted theirvirginity to the guard of the sacred fire, and of the unknown pledges ofthe duration of Rome; which no mortal had been suffered to behold withimpunity. [4] Seven Epulos prepared the table of the gods, conducted thesolemn procession, and regulated the ceremonies of the annual festival. The three Flamens of Jupiter, of Mars, and of Quirinus, were consideredas the peculiar ministers of the three most powerful deities, whowatched over the fate of Rome and of the universe. The King of theSacrifices represented the person of Numa, and of his successors, in thereligious functions, which could be performed only by royal hands. Theconfraternities of the Salians, the Lupercals, &c. , practised such ritesas might extort a smile of contempt from every reasonable man, witha lively confidence of recommending themselves to the favor of theimmortal gods. The authority, which the Roman priests had formerlyobtained in the counsels of the republic, was gradually abolished by theestablishment of monarchy, and the removal of the seat of empire. Butthe dignity of their sacred character was still protected by the laws, and manners of their country; and they still continued, more especiallythe college of pontiffs, to exercise in the capital, and sometimesin the provinces, the rights of their ecclesiastical and civiljurisdiction. Their robes of purple, chariotz of state, and sumptuousentertainments, attracted the admiration of the people; and theyreceived, from the consecrated lands, and the public revenue, an amplestipend, which liberally supported the splendor of the priesthood, andall the expenses of the religious worship of the state. As the serviceof the altar was not incompatible with the command of armies, theRomans, after their consulships and triumphs, aspired to the place ofpontiff, or of augur; the seats of Cicero [5] and Pompey were filled, inthe fourth century, by the most illustrious members of the senate;and the dignity of their birth reflected additional splendor on theirsacerdotal character. The fifteen priests, who composed the college ofpontiffs, enjoyed a more distinguished rank as the companions of theirsovereign; and the Christian emperors condescended to accept the robeand ensigns, which were appropriated to the office of supremepontiff. But when Gratian ascended the throne, more scrupulous or moreenlightened, he sternly rejected those profane symbols; [6] applied tothe service of the state, or of the church, the revenues of the priestsand vestals; abolished their honors and immunities; and dissolvedthe ancient fabric of Roman superstition, which was supported by theopinions and habits of eleven hundred years. Paganism was still theconstitutional religion of the senate. The hall, or temple, in whichthey assembled, was adorned by the statue and altar of Victory; [7] amajestic female standing on a globe, with flowing garments, expandedwings, and a crown of laurel in her outstretched hand. [8] The senatorswere sworn on the altar of the goddess to observe the laws of theemperor and of the empire: and a solemn offering of wine and incense wasthe ordinary prelude of their public deliberations. The removal of thisancient monument was the only injury which Constantius had offered tothe superstition of the Romans. The altar of Victory was again restoredby Julian, tolerated by Valentinian, and once more banished from thesenate by the zeal of Gratian. [10] But the emperor yet spared thestatues of the gods which were exposed to the public veneration: fourhundred and twenty-four temples, or chapels, still remained to satisfythe devotion of the people; and in every quarter of Rome the delicacy ofthe Christians was offended by the fumes of idolatrous sacrifice. [11]

[Footnote 3: See the outlines of the Roman hierarchy in Cicero, (deLegibus, ii. 7, 8, ) Livy, (i. 20, ) Dionysius Halicarnassensis, (l. Ii. P. 119-129, edit. Hudson, ) Beaufort, (Republique Romaine, tom. I. P. 1-90, ) and Moyle, (vol. I. P. 10-55. ) The last is the work of an Englishwhig, as well as of a Roman antiquary. ]

[Footnote 4: These mystic, and perhaps imaginary, symbols have givenbirth to various fables and conjectures. It seems probable, that thePalladium was a small statue (three cubits and a half high) of Minerva, with a lance and distaff; that it was usually enclosed in a seria, orbarrel; and that a similar barrel was placed by its side to disconcertcuriosity, or sacrilege. See Mezeriac (Comment. Sur les Epitres d'Ovide, tom i. P. 60--66) and Lipsius, (tom. Iii. P. 610 de Vesta, &c. C 10. )]

[Footnote 5: Cicero frankly (ad Atticum, l. Ii. Epist. 5) or indirectly(ad Familiar. L. Xv. Epist. 4) confesses that the Augurate is thesupreme object of his wishes. Pliny is proud to tread in the footstepsof Cicero, (l. Iv. Epist. 8, ) and the chain of tradition might becontinued from history and marbles. ]

[Footnote 6: Zosimus, l. Iv. P. 249, 250. I have suppressed the foolishpun about Pontifex and Maximus. ]

[Footnote 7: This statue was transported from Tarentum to Rome, placedin the Curia Julia by Caesar, and decorated by Augustus with the spoilsof Egypt. ]

[Footnote 8: Prudentius (l. Ii. In initio) has drawn a very awkwardportrait of Victory; but the curious reader will obtain moresatisfaction from Montfaucon's Antiquities, (tom. I. P. 341. )]

[Footnote 9: See Suetonius (in August. C. 35) and the Exordium ofPliny's Panegyric. ]

[Footnote 10: These facts are mutually allowed by the two advocates, Symmachus and Ambrose. ]

[Footnote 11: The Notitia Urbis, more recent than Constantine, does notfind one Christian church worthy to be named among the edifices ofthe city. Ambrose (tom. Ii. Epist. Xvii. P. 825) deplores the publicscandals of Rome, which continually offended the eyes, the ears, and thenostrils of the faithful. ]

But the Christians formed the least numerous party in the senate ofRome: [12] and it was only by their absence, that they could expresstheir dissent from the legal, though profane, acts of a Pagan majority. In that assembly, the dying embers of freedom were, for a moment, revived and inflamed by the breath of fanaticism. Four respectabledeputations were successively voted to the Imperial court, [13] torepresent the grievances of the priesthood and the senate, and tosolicit the restoration of the altar of Victory. The conduct of thisimportant business was intrusted to the eloquent Symmachus, [14] awealthy and noble senator, who united the sacred characters of pontiffand augur with the civil dignities of proconsul of Africa and praefectof the city. The breast of Symmachus was animated by the warmest zealfor the cause of expiring Paganism; and his religious antagonistslamented the abuse of his genius, and the inefficacy of his moralvirtues. [15] The orator, whose petition is extant to the emperorValentinian, was conscious of the difficulty and danger of the officewhich he had assumed. He cautiously avoids every topic which mightappear to reflect on the religion of his sovereign; humbly declares, that prayers and entreaties are his only arms; and artfully drawshis arguments from the schools of rhetoric, rather than from those ofphilosophy. Symmachus endeavors to seduce the imagination of a youngprince, by displaying the attributes of the goddess of victory;he insinuates, that the confiscation of the revenues, which wereconsecrated to the service of the gods, was a measure unworthy of hisliberal and disinterested character; and he maintains, that the Romansacrifices would be deprived of their force and energy, if they wereno longer celebrated at the expense, as well as in the name, of therepublic. Even scepticism is made to supply an apology for superstition. The great and incomprehensible secret of the universe eludes the inquiryof man. Where reason cannot instruct, custom may be permitted toguide; and every nation seems to consult the dictates of prudence, by afaithful attachment to those rites and opinions, which have receivedthe sanction of ages. If those ages have been crowned with glory andprosperity, if the devout people have frequently obtained the blessingswhich they have solicited at the altars of the gods, it must appearstill more advisable to persist in the same salutary practice; and notto risk the unknown perils that may attend any rash innovations. Thetest of antiquity and success was applied with singular advantage to thereligion of Numa; and Rome herself, the celestial genius that presidedover the fates of the city, is introduced by the orator to plead herown cause before the tribunal of the emperors. "Most excellent princes, "says the venerable matron, "fathers of your country! pity and respectmy age, which has hitherto flowed in an uninterrupted course of piety. Since I do not repent, permit me to continue in the practice of myancient rites. Since I am born free, allow me to enjoy my domesticinstitutions. This religion has reduced the world under my laws. Theserites have repelled Hannibal from the city, and the Gauls from theCapitol. Were my gray hairs reserved for such intolerable disgrace? Iam ignorant of the new system that I am required to adopt; but I amwell assured, that the correction of old age is always an ungratefuland ignominious office. " [16] The fears of the people supplied whatthe discretion of the orator had suppressed; and the calamities, which afflicted, or threatened, the declining empire, were unanimouslyimputed, by the Pagans, to the new religion of Christ and ofConstantine. 

[Footnote 12: Ambrose repeatedly affirms, in contradiction to commonsense (Moyle's Works, vol. Ii. P. 147, ) that the Christians had amajority in the senate. ]

[Footnote 13: The first (A. D. 382) to Gratian, who refused themaudience; the second (A. D. 384) to Valentinian, when the field wasdisputed by Symmachus and Ambrose; the third (A. D. 388) to Theodosius;and the fourth (A. D. 392) to Valentinian. Lardner (Heathen Testimonies, vol. Iv. P. 372-399) fairly represents the whole transaction. ]

[Footnote 14: Symmachus, who was invested with all the civil andsacerdotal honors, represented the emperor under the two characters ofPontifex Maximus, and Princeps Senatus. See the proud inscription at thehead of his works. * Note: Mr. Beugnot has made it doubtful whetherSymmachus was more than Pontifex Major. Destruction du Paganisme, vol. I. P. 459. --M. ]

[Footnote 15: As if any one, says Prudentius (in Symmach. I. 639) shoulddig in the mud with an instrument of gold and ivory. Even saints, andpolemic saints, treat this adversary with respect and civility. ]

[Footnote 16: See the fifty-fourth Epistle of the tenth book ofSymmachus. In the form and disposition of his ten books of Epistles, heimitated the younger Pliny; whose rich and florid style he was supposed, by his friends, to equal or excel, (Macrob. Saturnal. L. V. C. I. ) Butthe luxcriancy of Symmachus consists of barren leaves, without fruits, and even without flowers. Few facts, and few sentiments, can beextracted from his verbose correspondence. ]

But the hopes of Symmachus were repeatedly baffled by the firm anddexterous opposition of the archbishop of Milan, who fortified theemperors against the fallacious eloquence of the advocate of Rome. In this controversy, Ambrose condescends to speak the language of aphilosopher, and to ask, with some contempt, why it should be thoughtnecessary to introduce an imaginary and invisible power, as the causeof those victories, which were sufficiently explained by the valor anddiscipline of the legions. He justly derides the absurd reverence forantiquity, which could only tend to discourage the improvements ofart, and to replunge the human race into their original barbarism. From thence, gradually rising to a more lofty and theological tone, he pronounces, that Christianity alone is the doctrine of truth andsalvation; and that every mode of Polytheism conducts its deludedvotaries, through the paths of error, to the abyss of eternal perdition. [17] Arguments like these, when they were suggested by a favoritebishop, had power to prevent the restoration of the altar of Victory;but the same arguments fell, with much more energy and effect, from themouth of a conqueror; and the gods of antiquity were dragged in triumphat the chariot-wheels of Theodosius. [18] In a full meeting of thesenate, the emperor proposed, according to the forms of the republic, the important question, Whether the worship of Jupiter, or that ofChrist, should be the religion of the Romans. [1811] The liberty ofsuffrages, which he affected to allow, was destroyed by the hopes andfears that his presence inspired; and the arbitrary exile of Symmachuswas a recent admonition, that it might be dangerous to oppose thewishes of the monarch. On a regular division of the senate, Jupiter wascondemned and degraded by the sense of a very large majority; and itis rather surprising, that any members should be found bold enough todeclare, by their speeches and votes, that they were still attached tothe interest of an abdicated deity. [19] The hasty conversion of thesenate must be attributed either to supernatural or to sordid motives;and many of these reluctant proselytes betrayed, on every favorableoccasion, their secret disposition to throw aside the mask of odiousdissimulation. But they were gradually fixed in the new religion, as thecause of the ancient became more hopeless; they yielded to the authorityof the emperor, to the fashion of the times, and to the entreaties oftheir wives and children, [20] who were instigated and governed by theclergy of Rome and the monks of the East. The edifying example of theAnician family was soon imitated by the rest of the nobility: the Bassi, the Paullini, the Gracchi, embraced the Christian religion; and "theluminaries of the world, the venerable assembly of Catos (such are thehigh-flown expressions of Prudentius) were impatient to strip themselvesof their pontifical garment; to cast the skin of the old serpent; toassume the snowy robes of baptismal innocence, and to humble the prideof the consular fasces before tombs of the martyrs. " [21] The citizens, who subsisted by their own industry, and the populace, who weresupported by the public liberality, filled the churches of the Lateran, and Vatican, with an incessant throng of devout proselytes. The decreesof the senate, which proscribed the worship of idols, were ratified bythe general consent of the Romans; [22] the splendor of the Capitol wasdefaced, and the solitary temples were abandoned to ruin and contempt. [23] Rome submitted to the yoke of the Gospel; and the vanquishedprovinces had not yet lost their reverence for the name and authority ofRome. [2311]

[Footnote 17: See Ambrose, (tom. Ii. Epist. Xvii. Xviii. P. 825-833. )The former of these epistles is a short caution; the latter is a formalreply of the petition or libel of Symmachus. The same ideas are morecopiously expressed in the poetry, if it may deserve that name, ofPrudentius; who composed his two books against Symmachus (A. D. 404)while that senator was still alive. It is whimsical enough thatMontesquieu (Considerations, &c. C. Xix. Tom. Iii. P. 487) shouldoverlook the two professed antagonists of Symmachus, and amuse himselfwith descanting on the more remote and indirect confutations of Orosius, St. Augustin, and Salvian. ]

[Footnote 18: See Prudentius (in Symmach. L. I. 545, &c. ) The Christianagrees with the Pagan Zosimus (l. Iv. P. 283) in placing this visit ofTheodosius after the second civil war, gemini bis victor caede Tyranni, (l. I. 410. ) But the time and circumstances are better suited to hisfirst triumph. ]

[Footnote 1811: M. Beugnot (in his Histoire de la Destruction duPaganisme en Occident, i. P. 483-488) questions, altogether, the truthof this statement. It is very remarkable that Zosimus and Prudentiusconcur in asserting the fact of the question being solemnly deliberatedby the senate, though with directly opposite results. Zosimus declaresthat the majority of the assembly adhered to the ancient religion ofRome; Gibbon has adopted the authority of Prudentius, who, as a Latinwriter, though a poet, deserves more credit than the Greek historian. Both concur in placing this scene after the second triumph ofTheodosius; but it has been almost demonstrated (and Gibbon--see thepreceding note--seems to have acknowledged this) by Pagi and Tillemont, that Theodosius did not visit Rome after the defeat of Eugenius. M. Beugnot urges, with much force, the improbability that the Christianemperor would submit such a question to the senate, whose authority wasnearly obsolete, except on one occasion, which was almost hailed asan epoch in the restoration of her ancient privileges. The silence ofAmbrose and of Jerom on an event so striking, and redounding so much tothe honor of Christianity, is of considerable weight. M. Beugnot wouldascribe the whole scene to the poetic imagination of Prudentius; butI must observe, that, however Prudentius is sometimes elevated by thegrandeur of his subject to vivid and eloquent language, this flight ofinvention would be so much bolder and more vigorous than usual with thispoet, that I cannot but suppose there must have been some foundationfor the story, though it may have been exaggerated by the poet, ormisrepresented by the historian. --M]

[Footnote 19: Prudentius, after proving that the sense of the senate isdeclared by a legal majority, proceeds to say, (609, &c. )--

 Adspice quam pleno subsellia nostra Senatu Decernant infame Jovis pulvinar, et omne Idolum longe purgata ex urbe fugandum, Qua vocat egregii sententia Principis, illuc Libera, cum pedibus, tum corde, frequentia transit. 

Zosimus ascribes to the conscript feathers a heathenish courage, whichfew of them are found to possess. ]

[Footnote 20: Jerom specifies the pontiff Albinus, who was surroundedwith such a believing family of children and grandchildren, as wouldhave been sufficient to convert even Jupiter himself; an extraordinaryproselyted (tom. I. Ad Laetam, p. 54. )]

[Footnote 21:

 Exultare Patres videas, pulcherrima mundi Lumina; Conciliumque senum gestire Catonum Candidiore toga niveum pietatis amictum Sumere; et exuvias deponere pontificales. 

The fancy of Prudentius is warmed and elevated by victory]

[Footnote 22: Prudentius, after he has described the conversion of thesenate and people, asks, with some truth and confidence, Et dubitamus adhuc Romam, tibi, Christe, dicatam In leges transisse tuas?]

[Footnote 23: Jerom exults in the desolation of the Capitol, and theother temples of Rome, (tom. I. P. 54, tom. Ii. P. 95. )]

[Footnote 2311: M. Beugnot is more correct in his general estimate ofthe measures enforced by Theodosius for the abolition of Paganism. Heseized (according to Zosimus) the funds bestowed by the public for theexpense of sacrifices. The public sacrifices ceased, not because theywere positively prohibited, but because the public treasury would nolonger bear the expense. The public and the private sacrifices in theprovinces, which were not under the same regulations with those of thecapital, continued to take place. In Rome itself, many pagan ceremonies, which were without sacrifice, remained in full force. The gods, therefore, were invoked, the temples were frequented, the pontificatesinscribed, according to ancient usage, among the family titles of honor;and it cannot be asserted that idolatry was completely destroyed byTheodosius. See Beugnot, p. 491. --M. ]

Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism. --Part II. 

The filial piety of the emperors themselves engaged them to proceed, with some caution and tenderness, in the reformation of the eternalcity. Those absolute monarchs acted with less regard to the prejudicesof the provincials. The pious labor which had been suspended near twentyyears since the death of Constantius, [24] was vigorously resumed, andfinally accomplished, by the zeal of Theodosius. Whilst that warlikeprince yet struggled with the Goths, not for the glory, but for thesafety, of the republic, he ventured to offend a considerable party ofhis subjects, by some acts which might perhaps secure the protection ofHeaven, but which must seem rash and unseasonable in the eye of humanprudence. The success of his first experiments against the Pagansencouraged the pious emperor to reiterate and enforce his edicts ofproscription: the same laws which had been originally published in theprovinces of the East, were applied, after the defeat of Maximus, to thewhole extent of the Western empire; and every victory of the orthodoxTheodosius contributed to the triumph of the Christian and Catholicfaith. [25] He attacked superstition in her most vital part, byprohibiting the use of sacrifices, which he declared to be criminal aswell as infamous; and if the terms of his edicts more strictly condemnedthe impious curiosity which examined the entrails of the victim, [26]every subsequent explanation tended to involve in the same guilt thegeneral practice of immolation, which essentially constituted thereligion of the Pagans. As the temples had been erected for the purposeof sacrifice, it was the duty of a benevolent prince to remove from hissubjects the dangerous temptation of offending against the laws whichhe had enacted. A special commission was granted to Cynegius, thePraetorian praefect of the East, and afterwards to the counts Joviusand Gaudentius, two officers of distinguished rank in the West; bywhich they were directed to shut the temples, to seize or destroy theinstruments of idolatry, to abolish the privileges of the priests, andto confiscate the consecrated property for the benefit of the emperor, of the church, or of the army. [27] Here the desolation might havestopped: and the naked edifices, which were no longer employed in theservice of idolatry, might have been protected from the destructiverage of fanaticism. Many of those temples were the most splendid andbeautiful monuments of Grecian architecture; and the emperor himself wasinterested not to deface the splendor of his own cities, or to diminishthe value of his own possessions. Those stately edifices might besuffered to remain, as so many lasting trophies of the victory ofChrist. In the decline of the arts they might be usefully converted intomagazines, manufactures, or places of public assembly: and perhaps, whenthe walls of the temple had been sufficiently purified by holy rites, the worship of the true Deity might be allowed to expiate the ancientguilt of idolatry. But as long as they subsisted, the Pagans fondlycherished the secret hope, that an auspicious revolution, a secondJulian, might again restore the altars of the gods: and the earnestnesswith which they addressed their unavailing prayers to the throne, [28]increased the zeal of the Christian reformers to extirpate, withoutmercy, the root of superstition. The laws of the emperors exhibitsome symptoms of a milder disposition: [29] but their cold and languidefforts were insufficient to stem the torrent of enthusiasm and rapine, which was conducted, or rather impelled, by the spiritual rulers of thechurch. In Gaul, the holy Martin, bishop of Tours, [30] marched at thehead of his faithful monks to destroy the idols, the temples, and theconsecrated trees of his extensive diocese; and, in the execution ofthis arduous task, the prudent reader will judge whether Martin wassupported by the aid of miraculous powers, or of carnal weapons. InSyria, the divine and excellent Marcellus, [31] as he is styled byTheodoret, a bishop animated with apostolic fervor, resolved to levelwith the ground the stately temples within the diocese of Apamea. Hisattack was resisted by the skill and solidity with which the temple ofJupiter had been constructed. The building was seated on an eminence:on each of the four sides, the lofty roof was supported by fifteen massycolumns, sixteen feet in circumference; and the large stone, of whichthey were composed, were firmly cemented with lead and iron. The forceof the strongest and sharpest tools had been tried without effect. Itwas found necessary to undermine the foundations of the columns, whichfell down as soon as the temporary wooden props had been consumed withfire; and the difficulties of the enterprise are described under theallegory of a black daemon, who retarded, though he could not defeat, the operations of the Christian engineers. Elated with victory, Marcellus took the field in person against the powers of darkness; anumerous troop of soldiers and gladiators marched under the episcopalbanner, and he successively attacked the villages and country templesof the diocese of Apamea. Whenever any resistance or danger wasapprehended, the champion of the faith, whose lameness would not allowhim either to fight or fly, placed himself at a convenient distance, beyond the reach of darts. But this prudence was the occasion of hisdeath: he was surprised and slain by a body of exasperated rustics; andthe synod of the province pronounced, without hesitation, that the holyMarcellus had sacrificed his life in the cause of God. In the support ofthis cause, the monks, who rushed with tumultuous fury from the desert, distinguished themselves by their zeal and diligence. They deserved theenmity of the Pagans; and some of them might deserve the reproaches ofavarice and intemperance; of avarice, which they gratified with holyplunder, and of intemperance, which they indulged at the expense of thepeople, who foolishly admired their tattered garments, loud psalmody, and artificial paleness. [32] A small number of temples was protectedby the fears, the venality, the taste, or the prudence, of the civil andecclesiastical governors. The temple of the Celestial Venus at Carthage, whose sacred precincts formed a circumference of two miles, wasjudiciously converted into a Christian church; [33] and a similarconsecration has preserved inviolate the majestic dome of the Pantheonat Rome. [34] But in almost every province of the Roman world, an armyof fanatics, without authority, and without discipline, invadedthe peaceful inhabitants; and the ruin of the fairest structures ofantiquity still displays the ravages of those Barbarians, who alone hadtime and inclination to execute such laborious destruction. 

[Footnote 24: Libanius (Orat. Pro Templis, p. 10, Genev. 1634, publishedby James Godefroy, and now extremely scarce) accuses Valentinian andValens of prohibiting sacrifices. Some partial order may have beenissued by the Eastern emperor; but the idea of any general lawis contradicted by the silence of the Code, and the evidence ofecclesiastical history. Note: See in Reiske's edition of Libanius, tom. Ii. P. 155. Sacrific was prohibited by Valens, but not the offering ofincense. --M. ]

[Footnote 25: See his laws in the Theodosian Code, l. Xvi. Tit. X. Leg. 7-11. ]

[Footnote 26: Homer's sacrifices are not accompanied with anyinquisition of entrails, (see Feithius, Antiquitat. Homer. L. I. C. 10, 16. ) The Tuscans, who produced the first Haruspices, subdued both theGreeks and the Romans, (Cicero de Divinatione, ii. 23. )]

[Footnote 27: Zosimus, l. Iv. P. 245, 249. Theodoret. L. V. C. 21. Idatius in Chron. Prosper. Aquitan. L. Iii. C. 38, apud Baronium, Annal. Eccles. A. D. 389, No. 52. Libanius (pro Templis, p. 10) labors to provethat the commands of Theodosius were not direct and positive. * Note:Libanius appears to be the best authority for the East, where, underTheodosius, the work of devastation was carried on with very differentdegrees of violence, according to the temper of the local authoritiesand of the clergy; and more especially the neighborhood of the morefanatican monks. Neander well observes, that the prohibition ofsacrifice would be easily misinterpreted into an authority for thedestruction of the buildings in which sacrifices were performed. (Geschichte der Christlichen religion ii. P. 156. ) An abuse of this kindled to this remarkable oration of Libanius. Neander, however, justlydoubts whether this bold vindication or at least exculpation, ofPaganism was ever delivered before, or even placed in the hands of theChristian emperor. --M. ]

[Footnote 28: Cod. Theodos, l. Xvi. Tit. X. Leg. 8, 18. There is room tobelieve, that this temple of Edessa, which Theodosius wished to save forcivil uses, was soon afterwards a heap of ruins, (Libanius pro Templis, p. 26, 27, and Godefroy's notes, p. 59. )]

[Footnote 29: See this curious oration of Libanius pro Templis, pronounced, or rather composed, about the year 390. I have consulted, with advantage, Dr. Lardner's version and remarks, (Heathen Testimonies, vol. Iv. P. 135-163. )]

[Footnote 30: See the Life of Martin by Sulpicius Severus, c. 9-14. Thesaint once mistook (as Don Quixote might have done) a harmless funeralfor an idolatrous procession, and imprudently committed a miracle. ]

[Footnote 31: Compare Sozomen, (l. Vii. C. 15) with Theodoret, (l. V. C. 21. ) Between them, they relate the crusade and death of Marcellus. ]

[Footnote 32: Libanius, pro Templis, p. 10-13. He rails at theseblack-garbed men, the Christian monks, who eat more than elephants. Poorelephants! they are temperate animals. ]

[Footnote 33: Prosper. Aquitan. L. Iii. C. 38, apud Baronium; Annal. Eccles. A. D. 389, No. 58, &c. The temple had been shut some time, andthe access to it was overgrown with brambles. ]

[Footnote 34: Donatus, Roma Antiqua et Nova, l. Iv. C. 4, p. 468. Thisconsecration was performed by Pope Boniface IV. I am ignorant of thefavorable circumstances which had preserved the Pantheon above twohundred years after the reign of Theodosius. ]

In this wide and various prospect of devastation, the spectator maydistinguish the ruins of the temple of Serapis, at Alexandria. [35]Serapis does not appear to have been one of the native gods, ormonsters, who sprung from the fruitful soil of superstitious Egypt. [36]The first of the Ptolemies had been commanded, by a dream, to importthe mysterious stranger from the coast of Pontus, where he had been longadored by the inhabitants of Sinope; but his attributes and his reignwere so imperfectly understood, that it became a subject of dispute, whether he represented the bright orb of day, or the gloomy monarchof the subterraneous regions. [37] The Egyptians, who were obstinatelydevoted to the religion of their fathers, refused to admit this foreigndeity within the walls of their cities. [38] But the obsequious priests, who were seduced by the liberality of the Ptolemies, submitted, withoutresistance, to the power of the god of Pontus: an honorable and domesticgenealogy was provided; and this fortunate usurper was introducedinto the throne and bed of Osiris, [39] the husband of Isis, and thecelestial monarch of Egypt. Alexandria, which claimed his peculiarprotection, gloried in the name of the city of Serapis. His temple, [40]which rivalled the pride and magnificence of the Capitol, was erectedon the spacious summit of an artificial mount, raised one hundred stepsabove the level of the adjacent parts of the city; and the interiorcavity was strongly supported by arches, and distributed into vaults andsubterraneous apartments. The consecrated buildings were surrounded bya quadrangular portico; the stately halls, and exquisite statues, displayed the triumph of the arts; and the treasures of ancient learningwere preserved in the famous Alexandrian library, which had arisen withnew splendor from its ashes. [41] After the edicts of Theodosius hadseverely prohibited the sacrifices of the Pagans, they were stilltolerated in the city and temple of Serapis; and this singularindulgence was imprudently ascribed to the superstitious terrors of theChristians themselves; as if they had feared to abolish those ancientrites, which could alone secure the inundations of the Nile, theharvests of Egypt, and the subsistence of Constantinople. [42]

[Footnote 35: Sophronius composed a recent and separate history, (Jerom, in Script. Eccles. Tom. I. P. 303, ) which has furnished materials toSocrates, (l. V. C. 16. ) Theodoret, (l. V. C. 22, ) and Rufinus, (l. Ii. C. 22. ) Yet the last, who had been at Alexandria before and after theevent, may deserve the credit of an original witness. ]

[Footnote 36: Gerard Vossius (Opera, tom. V. P. 80, and de Idoloaltria, l. I. C. 29) strives to support the strange notion of the Fathers; thatthe patriarch Joseph was adored in Egypt, as the bull Apis, and thegod Serapis. * Note: Consult du Dieu Serapis et son Origine, par J D. Guigniaut, (the translator of Creuzer's Symbolique, ) Paris, 1828; and inthe fifth volume of Bournouf's translation of Tacitus. --M. ]

[Footnote 37: Origo dei nondum nostris celebrata. Aegyptiorum antistitessic memorant, &c. , Tacit. Hist. Iv. 83. The Greeks, who had travelledinto Egypt, were alike ignorant of this new deity. ]

[Footnote 38: Macrobius, Saturnal, l. I. C. 7. Such a living factdecisively proves his foreign extraction. ]

[Footnote 39: At Rome, Isis and Serapis were united in the same temple. The precedency which the queen assumed, may seem to betray her unequalalliance with the stranger of Pontus. But the superiority of the femalesex was established in Egypt as a civil and religious institution, (Diodor. Sicul. Tom. I. L. I. P. 31, edit. Wesseling, ) and the sameorder is observed in Plutarch's Treatise of Isis and Osiris; whom heidentifies with Serapis. ]

[Footnote 40: Ammianus, (xxii. 16. ) The Expositio totius Mundi, (p. 8, in Hudson's Geograph. Minor. Tom. Iii. , ) and Rufinus, (l. Ii. C. 22, )celebrate the Serapeum, as one of the wonders of the world. ]

[Footnote 41: See Memoires de l'Acad. Des Inscriptions, tom. Ix. P. 397-416. The old library of the Ptolemies was totally consumed inCaesar's Alexandrian war. Marc Antony gave the whole collection ofPergamus (200, 000 volumes) to Cleopatra, as the foundation of the newlibrary of Alexandria. ]

[Footnote 42: Libanius (pro Templis, p. 21) indiscreetly provokes hisChristian masters by this insulting remark. ]

At that time [43] the archiepiscopal throne of Alexandria was filled byTheophilus, [44] the perpetual enemy of peace and virtue; a bold, badman, whose hands were alternately polluted with gold and with blood. Hispious indignation was excited by the honors of Serapis; and the insultswhich he offered to an ancient temple of Bacchus, [4411] convinced thePagans that he meditated a more important and dangerous enterprise. In the tumultuous capital of Egypt, the slightest provocation wassufficient to inflame a civil war. The votaries of Serapis, whosestrength and numbers were much inferior to those of their antagonists, rose in arms at the instigation of the philosopher Olympius, [45] whoexhorted them to die in the defence of the altars of the gods. ThesePagan fanatics fortified themselves in the temple, or rather fortress, of Serapis; repelled the besiegers by daring sallies, and a resolutedefence; and, by the inhuman cruelties which they exercised on theirChristian prisoners, obtained the last consolation of despair. Theefforts of the prudent magistrate were usefully exerted for theestablishment of a truce, till the answer of Theodosius should determinethe fate of Serapis. The two parties assembled, without arms, in theprincipal square; and the Imperial rescript was publicly read. Butwhen a sentence of destruction against the idols of Alexandria waspronounced, the Christians set up a shout of joy and exultation, whilstthe unfortunate Pagans, whose fury had given way to consternation, retired with hasty and silent steps, and eluded, by their flight orobscurity, the resentment of their enemies. Theophilus proceeded todemolish the temple of Serapis, without any other difficulties, thanthose which he found in the weight and solidity of the materials: butthese obstacles proved so insuperable, that he was obliged to leave thefoundations; and to content himself with reducing the edifice itself toa heap of rubbish, a part of which was soon afterwards cleared away, tomake room for a church, erected in honor of the Christian martyrs. The valuable library of Alexandria was pillaged or destroyed; and neartwenty years afterwards, the appearance of the empty shelves excited theregret and indignation of every spectator, whose mind was not totallydarkened by religious prejudice. [46] The compositions of ancientgenius, so many of which have irretrievably perished, might surelyhave been excepted from the wreck of idolatry, for the amusement andinstruction of succeeding ages; and either the zeal or the avarice ofthe archbishop, [47] might have been satiated with the rich spoils, which were the reward of his victory. While the images and vases of goldand silver were carefully melted, and those of a less valuable metalwere contemptuously broken, and cast into the streets, Theophiluslabored to expose the frauds and vices of the ministers of the idols;their dexterity in the management of the loadstone; their secret methodsof introducing a human actor into a hollow statue; [4711] and theirscandalous abuse of the confidence of devout husbands and unsuspectingfemales. [48] Charges like these may seem to deserve some degree ofcredit, as they are not repugnant to the crafty and interested spirit ofsuperstition. But the same spirit is equally prone to the base practiceof insulting and calumniating a fallen enemy; and our belief isnaturally checked by the reflection, that it is much less difficultto invent a fictitious story, than to support a practical fraud. Thecolossal statue of Serapis [49] was involved in the ruin of his templeand religion. A great number of plates of different metals, artificiallyjoined together, composed the majestic figure of the deity, who touchedon either side the walls of the sanctuary. The aspect of Serapis, hissitting posture, and the sceptre, which he bore in his left hand, wereextremely similar to the ordinary representations of Jupiter. He wasdistinguished from Jupiter by the basket, or bushel, which was placed onhis head; and by the emblematic monster which he held in his right hand;the head and body of a serpent branching into three tails, which wereagain terminated by the triple heads of a dog, a lion, and a wolf. It was confidently affirmed, that if any impious hand should dareto violate the majesty of the god, the heavens and the earth wouldinstantly return to their original chaos. An intrepid soldier, animatedby zeal, and armed with a weighty battle-axe, ascended the ladder; andeven the Christian multitude expected, with some anxiety, the eventof the combat. [50] He aimed a vigorous stroke against the cheek ofSerapis; the cheek fell to the ground; the thunder was still silent, andboth the heavens and the earth continued to preserve their accustomedorder and tranquillity. The victorious soldier repeated his blows: thehuge idol was overthrown, and broken in pieces; and the limbs of Serapiswere ignominiously dragged through the streets of Alexandria. Hismangled carcass was burnt in the Amphitheatre, amidst the shouts of thepopulace; and many persons attributed their conversion to this discoveryof the impotence of their tutelar deity. The popular modes of religion, that propose any visible and material objects of worship, have theadvantage of adapting and familiarizing themselves to the senses ofmankind: but this advantage is counterbalanced by the various andinevitable accidents to which the faith of the idolater is exposed. It is scarcely possible, that, in every disposition of mind, he shouldpreserve his implicit reverence for the idols, or the relics, which thenaked eye, and the profane hand, are unable to distinguish from themost common productions of art or nature; and if, in the hour of danger, their secret and miraculous virtue does not operate for their ownpreservation, he scorns the vain apologies of his priests, and justlyderides the object, and the folly, of his superstitious attachment. [51] After the fall of Serapis, some hopes were still entertained bythe Pagans, that the Nile would refuse his annual supply to the impiousmasters of Egypt; and the extraordinary delay of the inundation seemedto announce the displeasure of the river-god. But this delay was sooncompensated by the rapid swell of the waters. They suddenly rose tosuch an unusual height, as to comfort the discontented party with thepleasing expectation of a deluge; till the peaceful river again subsidedto the well-known and fertilizing level of sixteen cubits, or aboutthirty English feet. [52]

[Footnote 43: We may choose between the date of Marcellinus (A. D. 389)or that of Prosper, ( A. D. 391. ) Tillemont (Hist. Des Emp. Tom. V. P. 310, 756) prefers the former, and Pagi the latter. ]

[Footnote 44: Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xi. P. 441-500. The ambiguoussituation of Theophilus--a saint, as the friend of Jerom a devil, asthe enemy of Chrysostom--produces a sort of impartiality; yet, upon thewhole, the balance is justly inclined against him. ]

[Footnote 4411: No doubt a temple of Osiris. St. Martin, iv 398-M. ]

[Footnote 45: Lardner (Heathen Testimonies, vol. Iv. P. 411) has allegedbeautiful passage from Suidas, or rather from Damascius, which show thedevout and virtuous Olympius, not in the light of a warrior, but of aprophet. ]

[Footnote 46: Nos vidimus armaria librorum, quibus direptis, exinanitaea a nostris hominibus, nostris temporibus memorant. Orosius, l. Vi. C. 15, p. 421, edit. Havercamp. Though a bigot, and a controversial writer. Orosius seems to blush. ]

[Footnote 47: Eunapius, in the Lives of Antoninus and Aedesius, execrates the sacrilegious rapine of Theophilus. Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xiii. P. 453) quotes an epistle of Isidore of Pelusium, whichreproaches the primate with the idolatrous worship of gold, the aurisacra fames. ]

[Footnote 4711: An English traveller, Mr. Wilkinson, has discovered thesecret of the vocal Memnon. There was a cavity in which a person wasconcealed, and struck a stone, which gave a ringing sound like brass. The Arabs, who stood below when Mr. Wilkinson performed the miracle, described sound just as the author of the epigram. --M. ]

[Footnote 48: Rufinus names the priest of Saturn, who, in the characterof the god, familiarly conversed with many pious ladies of quality, till he betrayed himself, in a moment of transport, when he could notdisguise the tone of his voice. The authentic and impartial narrativeof Aeschines, (see Bayle, Dictionnaire Critique, Scamandre, ) and theadventure of Mudus, (Joseph. Antiquitat. Judaic. L. Xviii. C. 3, p. 877edit. Havercamp, ) may prove that such amorous frauds have been practisedwith success. ]

[Footnote 49: See the images of Serapis, in Montfaucon, (tom. Ii. P. 297:) but the description of Macrobius (Saturnal. L. I. C. 20) is muchmore picturesque and satisfactory. ]

[Footnote 50:

 Sed fortes tremuere manus, motique verenda Majestate loci, si robora sacra ferirent In sua credebant redituras membra secures. 

(Lucan. Iii. 429. ) "Is it true, " (said Augustus to a veteran of Italy, at whose house he supped) "that the man who gave the first blow to thegolden statue of Anaitis, was instantly deprived of his eyes, and of hislife?"--"I was that man, (replied the clear-sighted veteran, ) and younow sup on one of the legs of the goddess. " (Plin. Hist. Natur. Xxxiii. 24)]

[Footnote 51: The history of the reformation affords frequent examplesof the sudden change from superstition to contempt. ]

[Footnote 52: Sozomen, l. Vii. C. 20. I have supplied the measure. Thesame standard, of the inundation, and consequently of the cubit, hasuniformly subsisted since the time of Herodotus. See Freret, in theMem. De l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. Xvi. P. 344-353. Greaves'sMiscellaneous Works, vol. I. P. 233. The Egyptian cubit is abouttwenty-two inches of the English measure. * Note: Compare Wilkinson'sThebes and Egypt, p. 313. --M. ]

The temples of the Roman empire were deserted, or destroyed; but theingenious superstition of the Pagans still attempted to elude the lawsof Theodosius, by which all sacrifices had been severely prohibited. Theinhabitants of the country, whose conduct was less opposed to the eye ofmalicious curiosity, disguised their religious, under the appearance ofconvivial, meetings. On the days of solemn festivals, they assembled ingreat numbers under the spreading shade of some consecrated trees; sheepand oxen were slaughtered and roasted; and this rural entertainment wassanctified by the use of incense, and by the hymns which were sung inhonor of the gods. But it was alleged, that, as no part of the animalwas made a burnt-offering, as no altar was provided to receive theblood, and as the previous oblation of salt cakes, and the concludingceremony of libations, were carefully omitted, these festal meetingsdid not involve the guests in the guilt, or penalty, of an illegalsacrifice. [53] Whatever might be the truth of the facts, or the meritof the distinction, [54] these vain pretences were swept away bythe last edict of Theodosius, which inflicted a deadly wound onthe superstition of the Pagans. [55] [5511] This prohibitory law isexpressed in the most absolute and comprehensive terms. "It is our willand pleasure, " says the emperor, "that none of our subjects, whethermagistrates or private citizens, however exalted or however humble maybe their rank and condition, shall presume, in any city or in any place, to worship an inanimate idol, by the sacrifice of a guiltless victim. "The act of sacrificing, and the practice of divination by the entrailsof the victim, are declared (without any regard to the object ofthe inquiry) a crime of high treason against the state, which canbe expiated only by the death of the guilty. The rites of Pagansuperstition, which might seem less bloody and atrocious, are abolished, as highly injurious to the truth and honor of religion; luminaries, garlands, frankincense, and libations of wine, are specially enumeratedand condemned; and the harmless claims of the domestic genius, of thehousehold gods, are included in this rigorous proscription. The use ofany of these profane and illegal ceremonies, subjects the offender tothe forfeiture of the house or estate, where they have been performed;and if he has artfully chosen the property of another for the scene ofhis impiety, he is compelled to discharge, without delay, a heavyfine of twenty-five pounds of gold, or more than one thousand poundssterling. A fine, not less considerable, is imposed on the connivanceof the secret enemies of religion, who shall neglect the duty of theirrespective stations, either to reveal, or to punish, the guilt ofidolatry. Such was the persecuting spirit of the laws of Theodosius, which were repeatedly enforced by his sons and grandsons, with the loudand unanimous applause of the Christian world. [56]

[Footnote 53: Libanius (pro Templis, p. 15, 16, 17) pleads their causewith gentle and insinuating rhetoric. From the earliest age, such feastshad enlivened the country: and those of Bacchus (Georgic. Ii. 380) hadproduced the theatre of Athens. See Godefroy, ad loc. Liban. And CodexTheodos. Tom. Vi. P. 284. ]

[Footnote 54: Honorius tolerated these rustic festivals, (A. D. 399. )"Absque ullo sacrificio, atque ulla superstitione damnabili. " But nineyears afterwards he found it necessary to reiterate and enforce the sameproviso, (Codex Theodos. L. Xvi. Tit. X. Leg. 17, 19. )]

[Footnote 55: Cod. Theodos. L. Xvi. Tit. X. Leg. 12. Jortin (Remarks onEccles. History, vol. Iv. P. 134) censures, with becoming asperity, thestyle and sentiments of this intolerant law. ]

[Footnote 5511: Paganism maintained its ground for a considerable timein the rural districts. Endelechius, a poet who lived at the beginningof the fifth century, speaks of the cross as Signum quod perhibent essecrucis Dei, Magnis qui colitur solus inurbibus. In the middle of thesame century, Maximus, bishop of Turin, writes against the heathendeities as if their worship was still in full vigor in the neighborhoodof his city. Augustine complains of the encouragement of the Pagan ritesby heathen landowners; and Zeno of Verona, still later, reproves theapathy of the Christian proprietors in conniving at this abuse. (CompareNeander, ii. P. 169. ) M. Beugnot shows that this was the case throughoutthe north and centre of Italy and in Sicily. But neither of theseauthors has adverted to one fact, which must have tended greatly toretard the progress of Christianity in these quarters. It was stillchiefly a slave population which cultivated the soil; and however, inthe towns, the better class of Christians might be eager to communicate"the blessed liberty of the gospel" to this class of mankind; howevertheir condition could not but be silently ameliorated by the humanizinginfluence of Christianity; yet, on the whole, no doubt the servile classwould be the least fitted to receive the gospel; and its generalpropagation among them would be embarrassed by many peculiardifficulties. The rural population was probably not entirely convertedbefore the general establishment of the monastic institutions. CompareQuarterly Review of Beugnot. Vol lvii. P. 52--M. ]

[Footnote 56: Such a charge should not be lightly made; but it maysurely be justified by the authority of St. Augustin, who thusaddresses the Donatists: "Quis nostrum, quis vestrum non laudat legesab Imperatoribus datas adversus sacrificia Paganorum? Et certe longeibi poera severior constituta est; illius quippe impietatis capitalesupplicium est. " Epist. Xciii. No. 10, quoted by Le Clerc, (BibliothequeChoisie, tom. Viii. P. 277, ) who adds some judicious reflections on theintolerance of the victorious Christians. * Note: Yet Augustine, withlaudable inconsistency, disapproved of the forcible demolition of thetemples. "Let us first extirpate the idolatry of the hearts of theheathen, and they will either themselves invite us or anticipate us inthe execution of this good work, " tom. V. P. 62. Compare Neander, ii. 169, and, in p. 155, a beautiful passage from Chrysostom against allviolent means of propagating Christianity. --M. ]

Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism. --Part III. 

In the cruel reigns of Decius and Dioclesian, Christianity had beenproscribed, as a revolt from the ancient and hereditary religion of theempire; and the unjust suspicions which were entertained of a darkand dangerous faction, were, in some measure, countenanced by theinseparable union and rapid conquests of the Catholic church. But thesame excuses of fear and ignorance cannot be applied to the Christianemperors who violated the precepts of humanity and of the Gospel. Theexperience of ages had betrayed the weakness, as well as folly, ofPaganism; the light of reason and of faith had already exposed, to thegreatest part of mankind, the vanity of idols; and the declining sect, which still adhered to their worship, might have been permittedto enjoy, in peace and obscurity, the religious costumes of theirancestors. Had the Pagans been animated by the undaunted zeal whichpossessed the minds of the primitive believers, the triumph of theChurch must have been stained with blood; and the martyrs of Jupiter andApollo might have embraced the glorious opportunity of devoting theirlives and fortunes at the foot of their altars. But such obstinate zealwas not congenial to the loose and careless temper of Polytheism. Theviolent and repeated strokes of the orthodox princes were broken by thesoft and yielding substance against which they were directed; andthe ready obedience of the Pagans protected them from the pains andpenalties of the Theodosian Code. [57] Instead of asserting, thatthe authority of the gods was superior to that of the emperor, theydesisted, with a plaintive murmur, from the use of those sacred riteswhich their sovereign had condemned. If they were sometimes tempted bya sally of passion, or by the hopes of concealment, to indulge theirfavorite superstition, their humble repentance disarmed the severityof the Christian magistrate, and they seldom refused to atone for theirrashness, by submitting, with some secret reluctance, to the yoke of theGospel. The churches were filled with the increasing multitude of theseunworthy proselytes, who had conformed, from temporal motives, to thereigning religion; and whilst they devoutly imitated the postures, andrecited the prayers, of the faithful, they satisfied their conscience bythe silent and sincere invocation of the gods of antiquity. [58] If thePagans wanted patience to suffer they wanted spirit to resist; andthe scattered myriads, who deplored the ruin of the temples, yielded, without a contest, to the fortune of their adversaries. The disorderlyopposition [59] of the peasants of Syria, and the populace ofAlexandria, to the rage of private fanaticism, was silenced by thename and authority of the emperor. The Pagans of the West, withoutcontributing to the elevation of Eugenius, disgraced, by theirpartial attachment, the cause and character of the usurper. The clergyvehemently exclaimed, that he aggravated the crime of rebellion by theguilt of apostasy; that, by his permission, the altar of victory wasagain restored; and that the idolatrous symbols of Jupiter and Herculeswere displayed in the field, against the invincible standard of thecross. But the vain hopes of the Pagans were soon annihilated by thedefeat of Eugenius; and they were left exposed to the resentment of theconqueror, who labored to deserve the favor of Heaven by the extirpationof idolatry. [60]

[Footnote 57: Orosius, l. Vii. C. 28, p. 537. Augustin (Enarrat. InPsalm cxl apud Lardner, Heathen Testimonies, vol. Iv. P. 458) insultstheir cowardice. "Quis eorum comprehensus est in sacrificio (cum hislegibus sta prohiberentur) et non negavit?"]

[Footnote 58: Libanius (pro Templis, p. 17, 18) mentions, withoutcensure the occasional conformity, and as it were theatrical play, ofthese hypocrites. ]

[Footnote 59: Libanius concludes his apology (p. 32) by declaring tothe emperor, that unless he expressly warrants the destruction of thetemples, the proprietors will defend themselves and the laws. ]

[Footnote 60: Paulinus, in Vit. Ambros. C. 26. Augustin de Civitat. Dei, l. V. C. 26. Theodoret, l. V. C. 24. ]

A nation of slaves is always prepared to applaud the clemency of theirmaster, who, in the abuse of absolute power, does not proceed to thelast extremes of injustice and oppression. Theodosius might undoubtedlyhave proposed to his Pagan subjects the alternative of baptism or ofdeath; and the eloquent Libanius has praised the moderation of a prince, who never enacted, by any positive law, that all his subjects shouldimmediately embrace and practise the religion of their sovereign. [61]The profession of Christianity was not made an essential qualificationfor the enjoyment of the civil rights of society, nor were any peculiarhardships imposed on the sectaries, who credulously received the fablesof Ovid, and obstinately rejected the miracles of the Gospel. Thepalace, the schools, the army, and the senate, were filled with declaredand devout Pagans; they obtained, without distinction, the civil andmilitary honors of the empire. [6111] Theodosius distinguished hisliberal regard for virtue and genius by the consular dignity, whichhe bestowed on Symmachus; [62] and by the personal friendship which heexpressed to Libanius; [63] and the two eloquent apologists of Paganismwere never required either to change or to dissemble their religiousopinions. The Pagans were indulged in the most licentious freedom ofspeech and writing; the historical and philosophic remains of Eunapius, Zosimus, [64] and the fanatic teachers of the school of Plato, betraythe most furious animosity, and contain the sharpest invectives, againstthe sentiments and conduct of their victorious adversaries. If theseaudacious libels were publicly known, we must applaud the good sense ofthe Christian princes, who viewed, with a smile of contempt, the laststruggles of superstition and despair. [65] But the Imperial laws, which prohibited the sacrifices and ceremonies of Paganism, were rigidlyexecuted; and every hour contributed to destroy the influence of areligion, which was supported by custom, rather than by argument. Thedevotion or the poet, or the philosopher, may be secretly nourishedby prayer, meditation, and study; but the exercise of public worshipappears to be the only solid foundation of the religious sentimentsof the people, which derive their force from imitation and habit. Theinterruption of that public exercise may consummate, in the period ofa few years, the important work of a national revolution. The memory oftheological opinions cannot long be preserved, without the artificialhelps of priests, of temples, and of books. [66] The ignorant vulgar, whose minds are still agitated by the blind hopes and terrors ofsuperstition, will be soon persuaded by their superiors to direct theirvows to the reigning deities of the age; and will insensibly imbibe anardent zeal for the support and propagation of the new doctrine, whichspiritual hunger at first compelled them to accept. The generation thatarose in the world after the promulgation of the Imperial laws, wasattracted within the pale of the Catholic church: and so rapid, yet sogentle, was the fall of Paganism, that only twenty-eight years afterthe death of Theodosius, the faint and minute vestiges were no longervisible to the eye of the legislator. [67]

[Footnote 61: Libanius suggests the form of a persecuting edict, which Theodosius might enact, (pro Templis, p. 32;) a rash joke, and adangerous experiment. Some princes would have taken his advice. ]

[Footnote 6111: The most remarkable instance of this, at a much laterperiod, occurs in the person of Merobaudes, a general and a poet, whoflourished in the first half of the fifth century. A statue in honor ofMerobaudes was placed in the Forum of Trajan, of which the inscriptionis still extant. Fragments of his poems have been recovered by theindustry and sagacity of Niebuhr. In one passage, Merobaudes, inthe genuine heathen spirit, attributes the ruin of the empire to theabolition of Paganism, and almost renews the old accusation of Atheismagainst Christianity. He impersonates some deity, probably Discord, who summons Bellona to take arms for the destruction of Rome; and ina strain of fierce irony recommends to her other fatal measures, toextirpate the gods of Rome:--

 Roma, ipsique tremant furialia murmura reges. Jam superos terris atque hospita numina pelle: Romanos populare Deos, et nullus in aris Vestoe exoratoe fotus strue palleat ignis. Ilis instructa dolis palatia celsa subibo; Majorum mores, et pectora prisca fugabo Funditus; atque simul, nullo discrimine rerum, Spernantur fortes, nec sic reverentia justis. Attica neglecto pereat facundia Phoebo: Indignis contingat honos, et pondera rerum; Non virtus sed casus agat; tristique cupido; Pectoribus saevi demens furor aestuet aevi; Omniaque hoec sine mente Jovis, sine numine sumimo. 

Merobaudes in Niebuhr's edit. Of the Byzantines, p. 14. --M. ]

[Footnote 62: Denique pro meritis terrestribus aequa rependens

 Munera, sacricolis summos impertit honores. 

 Dux bonus, et certare sinit cum laude suorum, Nec pago implicitos per debita culmina mundi Ire viros prohibet. Ipse magistratum tibi consulis, ipse tribunal

 Contulit. Prudent. In Symmach. I. 617, &c. 

Note: I have inserted some lines omitted by Gibbon. --M. ]

[Footnote 63: Libanius (pro Templis, p. 32) is proud that Theodosiusshould thus distinguish a man, who even in his presence would swearby Jupiter. Yet this presence seems to be no more than a figure ofrhetoric. ]

[Footnote 64: Zosimus, who styles himself Count and Ex-advocate of theTreasury, reviles, with partial and indecent bigotry, the Christianprinces, and even the father of his sovereign. His work must havebeen privately circulated, since it escaped the invectives of theecclesiastical historians prior to Evagrius, (l. Iii. C. 40-42, )who lived towards the end of the sixth century. * Note: Heyne in hisDisquisitio in Zosimum Ejusque Fidem. Places Zosimum towards the closeof the fifth century. Zosim. Heynii, p. Xvii. --M. ]

[Footnote 65: Yet the Pagans of Africa complained, that the times wouldnot allow them to answer with freedom the City of God; nor does St. Augustin (v. 26) deny the charge. ]

[Footnote 66: The Moors of Spain, who secretly preserved the Mahometanreligion above a century, under the tyranny of the Inquisition, possessed the Koran, with the peculiar use of the Arabic tongue. See thecurious and honest story of their expulsion in Geddes, (Miscellanies, vol. I. P. 1-198. )]

[Footnote 67: Paganos qui supersunt, quanquam jam nullos esse credamus, &c. Cod. Theodos. L. Xvi. Tit. X. Leg. 22, A. D. 423. The youngerTheodosius was afterwards satisfied, that his judgment had been somewhatpremature. Note: The statement of Gibbon is much too strongly worded. M. Beugnot has traced the vestiges of Paganism in the West, after thisperiod, in monuments and inscriptions with curious industry. Comparelikewise note, p. 112, on the more tardy progress of Christianity in therural districts. --M. ]

The ruin of the Pagan religion is described by the sophists as adreadful and amazing prodigy, which covered the earth with darkness, and restored the ancient dominion of chaos and of night. They relate, in solemn and pathetic strains, that the temples were converted intosepulchres, and that the holy places, which had been adorned by thestatues of the gods, were basely polluted by the relics of Christianmartyrs. "The monks" (a race of filthy animals, to whom Eunapius istempted to refuse the name of men) "are the authors of the newworship, which, in the place of those deities who are conceived by theunderstanding, has substituted the meanest and most contemptible slaves. The heads, salted and pickled, of those infamous malefactors, who forthe multitude of their crimes have suffered a just and ignominiousdeath; their bodies still marked by the impression of the lash, andthe scars of those tortures which were inflicted by the sentence of themagistrate; such" (continues Eunapius) "are the gods which the earthproduces in our days; such are the martyrs, the supreme arbitrators ofour prayers and petitions to the Deity, whose tombs are now consecratedas the objects of the veneration of the people. " [68] Without approvingthe malice, it is natural enough to share the surprise of the sophist, the spectator of a revolution, which raised those obscure victims of thelaws of Rome to the rank of celestial and invisible protectors of theRoman empire. The grateful respect of the Christians for the martyrs ofthe faith, was exalted, by time and victory, into religious adoration;and the most illustrious of the saints and prophets were deservedlyassociated to the honors of the martyrs. One hundred and fifty yearsafter the glorious deaths of St. Peter and St. Paul, the Vatican and theOstian road were distinguished by the tombs, or rather by the trophies, of those spiritual heroes. [69] In the age which followed the conversionof Constantine, the emperors, the consuls, and the generals of armies, devoutly visited the sepulchres of a tentmaker and a fisherman; [70]and their venerable bones were deposited under the altars of Christ, on which the bishops of the royal city continually offered the unbloodysacrifice. [71] The new capital of the Eastern world, unable to produceany ancient and domestic trophies, was enriched by the spoils ofdependent provinces. The bodies of St. Andrew, St. Luke, and St. Timothy, had reposed near three hundred years in the obscure graves, from whence they were transported, in solemn pomp, to the church of theapostles, which the magnificence of Constantine had founded on the banksof the Thracian Bosphorus. [72] About fifty years afterwards, the samebanks were honored by the presence of Samuel, the judge and prophet ofthe people of Israel. His ashes, deposited in a golden vase, and coveredwith a silken veil, were delivered by the bishops into each other'shands. The relics of Samuel were received by the people with the samejoy and reverence which they would have shown to the living prophet;the highways, from Palestine to the gates of Constantinople, were filledwith an uninterrupted procession; and the emperor Arcadius himself, at the head of the most illustrious members of the clergy and senate, advanced to meet his extraordinary guest, who had always deserved andclaimed the homage of kings. [73] The example of Rome and Constantinopleconfirmed the faith and discipline of the Catholic world. The honors ofthe saints and martyrs, after a feeble and ineffectual murmur of profanereason, [74] were universally established; and in the age of Ambrose andJerom, something was still deemed wanting to the sanctity of a Christianchurch, till it had been consecrated by some portion of holy relics, which fixed and inflamed the devotion of the faithful. 

[Footnote 68: See Eunapius, in the Life of the sophist Aedesius; in thatof Eustathius he foretells the ruin of Paganism. ]

[Footnote 69: Caius, (apud Euseb. Hist. Eccles. L. Ii. C. 25, ) a Romanpresbyter, who lived in the time of Zephyrinus, (A. D. 202-219, ) is anearly witness of this superstitious practice. ]

[Footnote 70: Chrysostom. Quod Christus sit Deus. Tom. I. Nov. Edit. No. 9. I am indebted for this quotation to Benedict the XIVth's pastoralletter on the Jubilee of the year 1759. See the curious and entertainingletters of M. Chais, tom. Iii. ]

[Footnote 71: Male facit ergo Romanus episcopus? qui, super mortuorumhominum, Petri & Pauli, secundum nos, ossa veneranda . .. Offeri Dominosacrificia, et tumulos eorum, Christi arbitratur altaria. Jerom. Tom. Ii. Advers. Vigilant. P. 183. ]

[Footnote 72: Jerom (tom. Ii. P. 122) bears witness to thesetranslations, which are neglected by the ecclesiastical historians. The passion of St. Andrew at Patrae is described in an epistle from theclergy of Achaia, which Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 60, No. 34) wishesto believe, and Tillemont is forced to reject. St. Andrew was adoptedas the spiritual founder of Constantinople, (Mem. Eccles. Tom. I. P. 317-323, 588-594. )]

[Footnote 73: Jerom (tom. Ii. P. 122) pompously describes thetranslation of Samuel, which is noticed in all the chronicles of thetimes. ]

[Footnote 74: The presbyter Vigilantius, the Protestant of his age, firmly, though ineffectually, withstood the superstition of monks, relics, saints, fasts, &c. , for which Jerom compares him to the Hydra, Cerberus, the Centaurs, &c. , and considers him only as the organ of theDaemon, (tom. Ii. P. 120-126. ) Whoever will peruse the controversy ofSt. Jerom and Vigilantius, and St. Augustin's account of the miracles ofSt. Stephen, may speedily gain some idea of the spirit of the Fathers. ]

In the long period of twelve hundred years, which elapsed between thereign of Constantine and the reformation of Luther, the worship ofsaints and relics corrupted the pure and perfect simplicity of theChristian model: and some symptoms of degeneracy may be observed evenin the first generations which adopted and cherished this perniciousinnovation. 

I. The satisfactory experience, that the relics of saints were morevaluable than gold or precious stones, [75] stimulated the clergy tomultiply the treasures of the church. Without much regard for truth orprobability, they invented names for skeletons, and actions for names. The fame of the apostles, and of the holy men who had imitated theirvirtues, was darkened by religious fiction. To the invincible band ofgenuine and primitive martyrs, they added myriads of imaginary heroes, who had never existed, except in the fancy of crafty or credulouslegendaries; and there is reason to suspect, that Tours might not be theonly diocese in which the bones of a malefactor were adored, insteadof those of a saint. [76] A superstitious practice, which tendedto increase the temptations of fraud, and credulity, insensiblyextinguished the light of history, and of reason, in the Christianworld. 

[Footnote 75: M. De Beausobre (Hist. Du Manicheisme, tom. Ii. P. 648)has applied a worldly sense to the pious observation of the clergy ofSmyrna, who carefully preserved the relics of St. Polycarp the martyr. ]

[Footnote 76: Martin of Tours (see his Life, c. 8, by Sulpicius Severus)extorted this confession from the mouth of the dead man. The error isallowed to be natural; the discovery is supposed to be miraculous. Whichof the two was likely to happen most frequently?]

II. But the progress of superstition would have been much less rapidand victorious, if the faith of the people had not been assisted by theseasonable aid of visions and miracles, to ascertain the authenticityand virtue of the most suspicious relics. In the reign of theyounger Theodosius, Lucian, [77] a presbyter of Jerusalem, and theecclesiastical minister of the village of Caphargamala, about twentymiles from the city, related a very singular dream, which, to removehis doubts, had been repeated on three successive Saturdays. A venerablefigure stood before him, in the silence of the night, with a long beard, a white robe, and a gold rod; announced himself by the name of Gamaliel, and revealed to the astonished presbyter, that his own corpse, withthe bodies of his son Abibas, his friend Nicodemus, and the illustriousStephen, the first martyr of the Christian faith, were secretly buriedin the adjacent field. He added, with some impatience, that it was timeto release himself and his companions from their obscure prison; thattheir appearance would be salutary to a distressed world; and that theyhad made choice of Lucian to inform the bishop of Jerusalem of theirsituation and their wishes. The doubts and difficulties which stillretarded this important discovery were successively removed by newvisions; and the ground was opened by the bishop, in the presence of aninnumerable multitude. The coffins of Gamaliel, of his son, and of hisfriend, were found in regular order; but when the fourth coffin, whichcontained the remains of Stephen, was shown to the light, the earthtrembled, and an odor, such as that of paradise, was smelt, whichinstantly cured the various diseases of seventy-three of the assistants. The companions of Stephen were left in their peaceful residence ofCaphargamala: but the relics of the first martyr were transported, insolemn procession, to a church constructed in their honor on Mount Sion;and the minute particles of those relics, a drop of blood, [78] or thescrapings of a bone, were acknowledged, in almost every province of theRoman world, to possess a divine and miraculous virtue. The grave andlearned Augustin, [79] whose understanding scarcely admits the excuse ofcredulity, has attested the innumerable prodigies which were performedin Africa by the relics of St. Stephen; and this marvellous narrative isinserted in the elaborate work of the City of God, which the bishopof Hippo designed as a solid and immortal proof of the truth ofChristianity. Augustin solemnly declares, that he has selected thosemiracles only which were publicly certified by the persons who wereeither the objects, or the spectators, of the power of the martyr. Manyprodigies were omitted, or forgotten; and Hippo had been less favorablytreated than the other cities of the province. And yet the bishopenumerates above seventy miracles, of which three were resurrectionsfrom the dead, in the space of two years, and within the limits of hisown diocese. [80] If we enlarge our view to all the dioceses, and allthe saints, of the Christian world, it will not be easy to calculate thefables, and the errors, which issued from this inexhaustible source. But we may surely be allowed to observe, that a miracle, in that age ofsuperstition and credulity, lost its name and its merit, since it couldscarcely be considered as a deviation from the ordinary and establishedlaws of nature. 

[Footnote 77: Lucian composed in Greek his original narrative, which hasbeen translated by Avitus, and published by Baronius, (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 415, No. 7-16. ) The Benedictine editors of St. Augustin have given(at the end of the work de Civitate Dei) two several copies, with manyvarious readings. It is the character of falsehood to be loose andinconsistent. The most incredible parts of the legend are smoothed andsoftened by Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Ii. P. 9, &c. )]

[Footnote 78: A phial of St. Stephen's blood was annually liquefiedat Naples, till he was superseded by St. Jamarius, (Ruinart. Hist. Persecut. Vandal p. 529. )]

[Footnote 79: Augustin composed the two-and-twenty books de Civitate Deiin the space of thirteen years, A. D. 413-426. Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xiv. P. 608, &c. ) His learning is too often borrowed, and hisarguments are too often his own; but the whole work claims the merit ofa magnificent design, vigorously, and not unskilfully, executed. ]

[Footnote 80: See Augustin de Civitat. Dei, l. Xxii. C. 22, and theAppendix, which contains two books of St. Stephen's miracles, byEvodius, bishop of Uzalis. Freculphus (apud Basnage, Hist. Des Juifs, tom. Vii. P. 249) has preserved a Gallic or a Spanish proverb, "Whoeverpretends to have read all the miracles of St. Stephen, he lies. "]

III. The innumerable miracles, of which the tombs of the martyrs werethe perpetual theatre, revealed to the pious believer the actual stateand constitution of the invisible world; and his religious speculationsappeared to be founded on the firm basis of fact and experience. Whatever might be the condition of vulgar souls, in the long intervalbetween the dissolution and the resurrection of their bodies, it wasevident that the superior spirits of the saints and martyrs did notconsume that portion of their existence in silent and inglorious sleep. [81] It was evident (without presuming to determine the place of theirhabitation, or the nature of their felicity) that they enjoyed thelively and active consciousness of their happiness, their virtue, andtheir powers; and that they had already secured the possession oftheir eternal reward. The enlargement of their intellectual facultiessurpassed the measure of the human imagination; since it was provedby experience, that they were capable of hearing and understanding thevarious petitions of their numerous votaries; who, in the same moment oftime, but in the most distant parts of the world, invoked the nameand assistance of Stephen or of Martin. [82] The confidence of theirpetitioners was founded on the persuasion, that the saints, who reignedwith Christ, cast an eye of pity upon earth; that they were warmlyinterested in the prosperity of the Catholic Church; and that theindividuals, who imitated the example of their faith and piety, were thepeculiar and favorite objects of their most tender regard. Sometimes, indeed, their friendship might be influenced by considerations of a lessexalted kind: they viewed with partial affection the places which hadbeen consecrated by their birth, their residence, their death, theirburial, or the possession of their relics. The meaner passions of pride, avarice, and revenge, may be deemed unworthy of a celestial breast; yetthe saints themselves condescended to testify their grateful approbationof the liberality of their votaries; and the sharpest bolts ofpunishment were hurled against those impious wretches, who violatedtheir magnificent shrines, or disbelieved their supernatural power. [83]Atrocious, indeed, must have been the guilt, and strange would havebeen the scepticism, of those men, if they had obstinately resisted theproofs of a divine agency, which the elements, the whole range of theanimal creation, and even the subtle and invisible operations of thehuman mind, were compelled to obey. [84] The immediate, and almostinstantaneous, effects that were supposed to follow the prayer, or theoffence, satisfied the Christians of the ample measure of favor andauthority which the saints enjoyed in the presence of the SupremeGod; and it seemed almost superfluous to inquire whether they werecontinually obliged to intercede before the throne of grace; or whetherthey might not be permitted to exercise, according to the dictates oftheir benevolence and justice, the delegated powers of their subordinateministry. The imagination, which had been raised by a painful effort tothe contemplation and worship of the Universal Cause, eagerly embracedsuch inferior objects of adoration as were more proportioned to itsgross conceptions and imperfect faculties. The sublime and simpletheology of the primitive Christians was gradually corrupted; and theMonarchy of heaven, already clouded by metaphysical subtleties, wasdegraded by the introduction of a popular mythology, which tended torestore the reign of polytheism. [85]

[Footnote 81: Burnet (de Statu Mortuorum, p. 56-84) collects theopinions of the Fathers, as far as they assert the sleep, or repose, ofhuman souls till the day of judgment. He afterwards exposes (p. 91, &c. )the inconveniences which must arise, if they possessed a more active andsensible existence. ]

[Footnote 82: Vigilantius placed the souls of the prophets and martyrs, either in the bosom of Abraham, (in loco refrigerii, ) or else under thealtar of God. Nec posse suis tumulis et ubi voluerunt adesse praesentes. But Jerom (tom. Ii. P. 122) sternly refutes this blasphemy. Tu Deo legespones? Tu apostolis vincula injicies, ut usque ad diem judicii teneanturcustodia, nec sint cum Domino suo; de quibus scriptum est, SequunturAgnum quocunque vadit. Si Agnus ubique, ergo, et hi, qui cum Agno sunt, ubique esse credendi sunt. Et cum diabolus et daemones tote vagentur inorbe, &c. ]

[Footnote 83: Fleury Discours sur l'Hist. Ecclesiastique, iii p. 80. ]

[Footnote 84: At Minorca, the relics of St. Stephen converted, in eightdays, 540 Jews; with the help, indeed, of some wholesome severities, such as burning the synagogue, driving the obstinate infidels to starveamong the rocks, &c. See the original letter of Severus, bishop ofMinorca (ad calcem St. Augustin. De Civ. Dei, ) and the judicious remarksof Basnage, (tom. Viii. P. 245-251. )]

[Footnote 85: Mr. Hume (Essays, vol. Ii. P. 434) observes, like aphilosopher, the natural flux and reflux of polytheism and theism. ]

IV. As the objects of religion were gradually reduced to the standardof the imagination, the rites and ceremonies were introduced that seemedmost powerfully to affect the senses of the vulgar. If, in the beginningof the fifth century, [86] Tertullian, or Lactantius, [87] had beensuddenly raised from the dead, to assist at the festival of some popularsaint, or martyr, [88] they would have gazed with astonishment, andindignation, on the profane spectacle, which had succeeded to the pureand spiritual worship of a Christian congregation. As soon as the doorsof the church were thrown open, they must have been offended by thesmoke of incense, the perfume of flowers, and the glare of lamps andtapers, which diffused, at noonday, a gaudy, superfluous, and, in theiropinion, a sacrilegious light. If they approached the balustrade of thealtar, they made their way through the prostrate crowd, consisting, forthe most part, of strangers and pilgrims, who resorted to the city onthe vigil of the feast; and who already felt the strong intoxication offanaticism, and, perhaps, of wine. Their devout kisses were imprinted onthe walls and pavement of the sacred edifice; and their fervent prayerswere directed, whatever might be the language of their church, tothe bones, the blood, or the ashes of the saint, which were usuallyconcealed, by a linen or silken veil, from the eyes of the vulgar. The Christians frequented the tombs of the martyrs, in the hope ofobtaining, from their powerful intercession, every sort of spiritual, but more especially of temporal, blessings. They implored thepreservation of their health, or the cure of their infirmities; thefruitfulness of their barren wives, or the safety and happiness of theirchildren. Whenever they undertook any distant or dangerous journey, theyrequested, that the holy martyrs would be their guides and protectorson the road; and if they returned without having experienced anymisfortune, they again hastened to the tombs of the martyrs, tocelebrate, with grateful thanksgivings, their obligations to the memoryand relics of those heavenly patrons. The walls were hung round withsymbols of the favors which they had received; eyes, and hands, andfeet, of gold and silver: and edifying pictures, which could not longescape the abuse of indiscreet or idolatrous devotion, represented theimage, the attributes, and the miracles of the tutelar saint. The sameuniform original spirit of superstition might suggest, in the mostdistant ages and countries, the same methods of deceiving the credulity, and of affecting the senses of mankind: [89] but it must ingenuouslybe confessed, that the ministers of the Catholic church imitatedthe profane model, which they were impatient to destroy. The mostrespectable bishops had persuaded themselves that the ignorant rusticswould more cheerfully renounce the superstitions of Paganism, if theyfound some resemblance, some compensation, in the bosom of Christianity. The religion of Constantine achieved, in less than a century, the finalconquest of the Roman empire: but the victors themselves were insensiblysubdued by the arts of their vanquished rivals. [90] [9011]

[Footnote 86: D'Aubigne (see his own Memoires, p. 156-160) franklyoffered, with the consent of the Huguenot ministers, to allow the first400 years as the rule of faith. The Cardinal du Perron haggled for fortyyears more, which were indiscreetly given. Yet neither party would havefound their account in this foolish bargain. ]

[Footnote 87: The worship practised and inculcated by Tertullian, Lactantius Arnobius, &c. , is so extremely pure and spiritual, that theirdeclamations against the Pagan sometimes glance against the Jewish, ceremonies. ]

[Footnote 88: Faustus the Manichaean accuses the Catholics of idolatry. Vertitis idola in martyres. .. . Quos votis similibus colitis. M. DeBeausobre, (Hist. Critique du Manicheisme, tom. Ii. P. 629-700, )a Protestant, but a philosopher, has represented, with candor andlearning, the introduction of Christian idolatry in the fourth and fifthcenturies. ]

[Footnote 89: The resemblance of superstition, which could not beimitated, might be traced from Japan to Mexico. Warburton has seizedthis idea, which he distorts, by rendering it too general and absolute, (Divine Legation, vol. Iv. P. 126, &c. )]

[Footnote 90: The imitation of Paganism is the subject of Dr. Middleton's agreeable letter from Rome. Warburton's animadversionsobliged him to connect (vol. Iii. P. 120-132, ) the history of the tworeligions, and to prove the antiquity of the Christian copy. ]

[Footnote 9011: But there was always this important difference betweenChristian and heathen Polytheism. In Paganism this was the wholereligion; in the darkest ages of Christianity, some, however obscure andvague, Christian notions of future retribution, of the life after death, lurked at the bottom, and operated, to a certain extent, on the thoughtsand feelings, sometimes on the actions. --M. ]

Chapter XXIX: Division Of Roman Empire Between Sons Of Theodosius. --PartI. 

 Final Division Of The Roman Empire Between The Sons Of Theodosius. --Reign Of Arcadius And Honorius--Administration Of Rufinus And Stilicho. --Revolt And Defeat Of Gildo In Africa. 

The genius of Rome expired with Theodosius; the last of the successorsof Augustus and Constantine, who appeared in the field at the headof their armies, and whose authority was universally acknowledgedthroughout the whole extent of the empire. The memory of his virtuesstill continued, however, to protect the feeble and inexperienced youthof his two sons. After the death of their father, Arcadius and Honoriuswere saluted, by the unanimous consent of mankind, as the lawfulemperors of the East, and of the West; and the oath of fidelity waseagerly taken by every order of the state; the senates of old andnew Rome, the clergy, the magistrates, the soldiers, and the people. Arcadius, who was then about eighteen years of age, was born in Spain, in the humble habitation of a private family. But he received a princelyeducation in the palace of Constantinople; and his inglorious life wasspent in that peaceful and splendid seat of royalty, from whence heappeared to reign over the provinces of Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, andEgypt, from the Lower Danube to the confines of Persia and Aethiopia. His younger brother Honorius, assumed, in the eleventh year of his age, the nominal government of Italy, Africa, Gaul, Spain, and Britain; andthe troops, which guarded the frontiers of his kingdom, were opposed, onone side, to the Caledonians, and on the other, to the Moors. Thegreat and martial praefecture of Illyricum was divided between thetwo princes: the defence and possession of the provinces of Noricum, Pannonia, and Dalmatia still belonged to the Western empire; but the twolarge dioceses of Dacia and Macedonia, which Gratian had intrusted tothe valor of Theodosius, were forever united to the empire of the East. The boundary in Europe was not very different from the line which nowseparates the Germans and the Turks; and the respective advantages ofterritory, riches, populousness, and military strength, were fairlybalanced and compensated, in this final and permanent division of theRoman empire. The hereditary sceptre of the sons of Theodosius appearedto be the gift of nature, and of their father; the generals andministers had been accustomed to adore the majesty of the royal infants;and the army and people were not admonished of their rights, and oftheir power, by the dangerous example of a recent election. The gradualdiscovery of the weakness of Arcadius and Honorius, and the repeatedcalamities of their reign, were not sufficient to obliterate the deepand early impressions of loyalty. The subjects of Rome, who stillreverenced the persons, or rather the names, of their sovereigns, beheld, with equal abhorrence, the rebels who opposed, and the ministerswho abused, the authority of the throne. 

Theodosius had tarnished the glory of his reign by the elevation ofRufinus; an odious favorite, who, in an age of civil and religiousfaction, has deserved, from every party, the imputation of every crime. The strong impulse of ambition and avarice [1] had urged Rufinus toabandon his native country, an obscure corner of Gaul, [2] to advancehis fortune in the capital of the East: the talent of bold and readyelocution, [3] qualified him to succeed in the lucrative profession ofthe law; and his success in that profession was a regular step to themost honorable and important employments of the state. He was raised, byjust degrees, to the station of master of the offices. In the exerciseof his various functions, so essentially connected with the whole systemof civil government, he acquired the confidence of a monarch, who soondiscovered his diligence and capacity in business, and who longremained ignorant of the pride, the malice, and the covetousness of hisdisposition. These vices were concealed beneath the mask of profounddissimulation; [4] his passions were subservient only to the passionsof his master; yet in the horrid massacre of Thessalonica, the cruelRufinus inflamed the fury, without imitating the repentance, ofTheodosius. The minister, who viewed with proud indifference the restof mankind, never forgave the appearance of an injury; and his personalenemies had forfeited, in his opinion, the merit of all public services. Promotus, the master-general of the infantry, had saved the empirefrom the invasion of the Ostrogoths; but he indignantly supported thepreeminence of a rival, whose character and profession he despised; andin the midst of a public council, the impatient soldier was provokedto chastise with a blow the indecent pride of the favorite. This actof violence was represented to the emperor as an insult, which it wasincumbent on his dignity to resent. The disgrace and exile of Promotuswere signified by a peremptory order, to repair, without delay, toa military station on the banks of the Danube; and the death of thatgeneral (though he was slain in a skirmish with the Barbarians) wasimputed to the perfidious arts of Rufinus. [5] The sacrifice of a herogratified his revenge; the honors of the consulship elated his vanity;but his power was still imperfect and precarious, as long asthe important posts of praefect of the East, and of praefect ofConstantinople, were filled by Tatian, [6] and his son Proculus; whoseunited authority balanced, for some time, the ambition and favor ofthe master of the offices. The two praefects were accused of rapine andcorruption in the administration of the laws and finances. For thetrial of these illustrious offenders, the emperor constituted a specialcommission: several judges were named to share the guilt and reproachof injustice; but the right of pronouncing sentence was reserved to thepresident alone, and that president was Rufinus himself. The father, stripped of the praefecture of the East, was thrown into a dungeon; butthe son, conscious that few ministers can be found innocent, where anenemy is their judge, had secretly escaped; and Rufinus must havebeen satisfied with the least obnoxious victim, if despotism had notcondescended to employ the basest and most ungenerous artifice. Theprosecution was conducted with an appearance of equity and moderation, which flattered Tatian with the hope of a favorable event: hisconfidence was fortified by the solemn assurances, and perfidiousoaths, of the president, who presumed to interpose the sacred name ofTheodosius himself; and the unhappy father was at last persuaded torecall, by a private letter, the fugitive Proculus. He was instantlyseized, examined, condemned, and beheaded, in one of the suburbs ofConstantinople, with a precipitation which disappointed the clemency ofthe emperor. Without respecting the misfortunes of a consular senator, the cruel judges of Tatian compelled him to behold the execution of hisson: the fatal cord was fastened round his own neck; but in the momentwhen he expected. And perhaps desired, the relief of a speedy death, hewas permitted to consume the miserable remnant of his old age in povertyand exile. [7] The punishment of the two praefects might, perhaps, beexcused by the exceptionable parts of their own conduct; the enmityof Rufinus might be palliated by the jealous and unsociable natureof ambition. But he indulged a spirit of revenge equally repugnant toprudence and to justice, when he degraded their native country of Lyciafrom the rank of Roman provinces; stigmatized a guiltless people witha mark of ignominy; and declared, that the countrymen of Tatian andProculus should forever remain incapable of holding any employment ofhonor or advantage under the Imperial government. [8] The new praefectof the East (for Rufinus instantly succeeded to the vacant honors ofhis adversary) was not diverted, however, by the most criminal pursuits, from the performance of the religious duties, which in that agewere considered as the most essential to salvation. In the suburb ofChalcedon, surnamed the Oak, he had built a magnificent villa; to whichhe devoutly added a stately church, consecrated to the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and continually sanctified by the prayers andpenance of a regular society of monks. A numerous, and almost general, synod of the bishops of the Eastern empire, was summoned to celebrate, at the same time, the dedication of the church, and the baptism of thefounder. This double ceremony was performed with extraordinary pomp; andwhen Rufinus was purified, in the holy font, from all the sins thathe had hitherto committed, a venerable hermit of Egypt rashly proposedhimself as the sponsor of a proud and ambitious statesman. [9]

[Footnote 1: Alecto, envious of the public felicity, convenes aninfernal synod Megaera recommends her pupil Rufinus, and excites himto deeds of mischief, &c. But there is as much difference betweenClaudian's fury and that of Virgil, as between the characters of Turnusand Rufinus. ]

[Footnote 2: It is evident, (Tillemont, Hist. Des Emp. Tom. V. P. 770, )though De Marca is ashamed of his countryman, that Rufinus was born atElusa, the metropolis of Novempopulania, now a small village of Gassony, (D'Anville, Notice de l'Ancienne Gaule, p. 289. )]

[Footnote 3: Philostorgius, l. Xi c. 3, with Godefroy's Dissert. P. 440. ]

[Footnote 4: A passage of Suidas is expressive of his profounddissimulation. ]

[Footnote 5: Zosimus, l. Iv. P. 272, 273. ]

[Footnote 6: Zosimus, who describes the fall of Tatian and his son, (l. Iv. P. 273, 274, ) asserts their innocence; and even his testimony mayoutweigh the charges of their enemies, (Cod. Theod. Tom. Iv. P. 489, )who accuse them of oppressing the Curiae. The connection of Tatianwith the Arians, while he was praefect of Egypt, (A. D. 373, ) inclinesTillemont to believe that he was guilty of every crime, (Hist. Des Emp. Tom. V. P. 360. Mem. Eccles. Tom vi. P. 589. )]

[Footnote 7:--Juvenum rorantia colla Ante patrum vultus stricta cecideresecuri. 

 Ibat grandaevus nato moriente superstes Post trabeas exsul. ---In Rufin. I. 248. 

The facts of Zosimus explain the allusions of Claudian; but his classicinterpreters were ignorant of the fourth century. The fatal cord, I found, with the help of Tillemont, in a sermon of St. Asterius ofAmasea. ]

[Footnote 8: This odious law is recited and repealed by Arcadius, (A. D. 296, ) on the Theodosian Code, l. Ix. Tit. Xxxviii. Leg. 9. The senseas it is explained by Claudian, (in Rufin. I. 234, ) and Godefroy, (tom. Iii. P. 279, ) is perfectly clear. 

 ---Exscindere cives Funditus; et nomen gentis delere laborat. 

The scruples of Pagi and Tillemont can arise only from their zeal forthe glory of Theodosius. ]

[Footnote 9: Ammonius. .. . Rufinum propriis manibus suscepit sacro fontemundatum. See Rosweyde's Vitae Patrum, p. 947. Sozomen (l. Viii. C. 17)mentions the church and monastery; and Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Ix. P. 593) records this synod, in which St. Gregory of Nyssa performed aconspicuous part. ]

The character of Theodosius imposed on his minister the task ofhypocrisy, which disguised, and sometimes restrained, the abuse ofpower; and Rufinus was apprehensive of disturbing the indolent slumberof a prince still capable of exerting the abilities and the virtue, which had raised him to the throne. [10] But the absence, and, soonafterwards, the death, of the emperor, confirmed the absolute authorityof Rufinus over the person and dominions of Arcadius; a feeble youth, whom the imperious praefect considered as his pupil, rather than hissovereign. Regardless of the public opinion, he indulged his passionswithout remorse, and without resistance; and his malignant and rapaciousspirit rejected every passion that might have contributed to his ownglory, or the happiness of the people. His avarice, [11] which seemsto have prevailed, in his corrupt mind, over every other sentiment, attracted the wealth of the East, by the various arts of partial andgeneral extortion; oppressive taxes, scandalous bribery, immoderatefines, unjust confiscations, forced or fictitious testaments, bywhich the tyrant despoiled of their lawful inheritance the children ofstrangers, or enemies; and the public sale of justice, as well asof favor, which he instituted in the palace of Constantinople. Theambitious candidate eagerly solicited, at the expense of the fairestpart of his patrimony, the honors and emoluments of some provincialgovernment; the lives and fortunes of the unhappy people were abandonedto the most liberal purchaser; and the public discontent was sometimesappeased by the sacrifice of an unpopular criminal, whose punishmentwas profitable only to the praefect of the East, his accomplice andhis judge. If avarice were not the blindest of the human passions, themotives of Rufinus might excite our curiosity; and we might be temptedto inquire with what view he violated every principle of humanity andjustice, to accumulate those immense treasures, which he could not spendwithout folly, nor possess without danger. Perhaps he vainly imagined, that he labored for the interest of an only daughter, on whom heintended to bestow his royal pupil, and the august rank of Empress ofthe East. Perhaps he deceived himself by the opinion, that his avaricewas the instrument of his ambition. He aspired to place his fortune ona secure and independent basis, which should no longer depend on thecaprice of the young emperor; yet he neglected to conciliate the heartsof the soldiers and people, by the liberal distribution of those riches, which he had acquired with so much toil, and with so much guilt. Theextreme parsimony of Rufinus left him only the reproach and envy ofill-gotten wealth; his dependants served him without attachment; theuniversal hatred of mankind was repressed only by the influence ofservile fear. The fate of Lucian proclaimed to the East, that thepraefect, whose industry was much abated in the despatch of ordinarybusiness, was active and indefatigable in the pursuit of revenge. Lucian, the son of the praefect Florentius, the oppressor of Gaul, and the enemy of Julian, had employed a considerable part of hisinheritance, the fruit of rapine and corruption, to purchase thefriendship of Rufinus, and the high office of Count of the East. But thenew magistrate imprudently departed from the maxims of the court, andof the times; disgraced his benefactor by the contrast of a virtuous andtemperate administration; and presumed to refuse an act of injustice, which might have tended to the profit of the emperor's uncle. Arcadiuswas easily persuaded to resent the supposed insult; and the praefectof the East resolved to execute in person the cruel vengeance, which hemeditated against this ungrateful delegate of his power. He performedwith incessant speed the journey of seven or eight hundred miles, fromConstantinople to Antioch, entered the capital of Syria at the dead ofnight, and spread universal consternation among a people ignorant ofhis design, but not ignorant of his character. The Count of the fifteenprovinces of the East was dragged, like the vilest malefactor, beforethe arbitrary tribunal of Rufinus. Notwithstanding the clearest evidenceof his integrity, which was not impeached even by the voice of anaccuser, Lucian was condemned, almost with out a trial, to suffer acruel and ignominious punishment. The ministers of the tyrant, by theorders, and in the presence, of their master, beat him on the neck withleather thongs armed at the extremities with lead; and when he faintedunder the violence of the pain, he was removed in a close litter, toconceal his dying agonies from the eyes of the indignant city. Nosooner had Rufinus perpetrated this inhuman act, the sole object of hisexpedition, than he returned, amidst the deep and silent curses of atrembling people, from Antioch to Constantinople; and his diligence wasaccelerated by the hope of accomplishing, without delay, the nuptials ofhis daughter with the emperor of the East. [12]

[Footnote 10: Montesquieu (Esprit des Loix, l. Xii. C. 12) praises oneof the laws of Theodosius addressed to the praefect Rufinus, (l. Ix. Tit. Iv. Leg. Unic. , ) to discourage the prosecution of treasonable, orsacrilegious, words. A tyrannical statute always proves the existence oftyranny; but a laudable edict may only contain the specious professions, or ineffectual wishes, of the prince, or his ministers. This, I amafraid, is a just, though mortifying, canon of criticism. ]

[Footnote 11:

 --fluctibus auri Expleri sitis ista nequit-- ***** Congestae cumulantur opes; orbisque ruinas Accipit una domus. 

This character (Claudian, in. Rufin. I. 184-220) is confirmed by Jerom, a disinterested witness, (dedecus insatiabilis avaritiae, tom. I. AdHeliodor. P. 26, ) by Zosimus, (l. V. P. 286, ) and by Suidas, who copiedthe history of Eunapius. ]

[Footnote 12:

 --Caetera segnis; Ad facinus velox; penitus regione remotas Impiger ire vias. 

This allusion of Claudian (in Rufin. I. 241) is again explained by thecircumstantial narrative of Zosimus, (l. V. P. 288, 289. )]

But Rufinus soon experienced, that a prudent minister should constantlysecure his royal captive by the strong, though invisible chain of habit;and that the merit, and much more easily the favor, of the absent, are obliterated in a short time from the mind of a weak and capricioussovereign. While the praefect satiated his revenge at Antioch, a secretconspiracy of the favorite eunuchs, directed by the great chamberlainEutropius, undermined his power in the palace of Constantinople. Theydiscovered that Arcadius was not inclined to love the daughter ofRufinus, who had been chosen, without his consent, for his bride; andthey contrived to substitute in her place the fair Eudoxia, the daughterof Bauto, [13] a general of the Franks in the service of Rome; and whowas educated, since the death of her father, in the family of the sonsof Promotus. The young emperor, whose chastity had been strictly guardedby the pious care of his tutor Arsenius, [14] eagerly listened to theartful and flattering descriptions of the charms of Eudoxia: he gazedwith impatient ardor on her picture, and he understood the necessity ofconcealing his amorous designs from the knowledge of a minister who wasso deeply interested to oppose the consummation of his happiness. Soonafter the return of Rufinus, the approaching ceremony of the royalnuptials was announced to the people of Constantinople, who preparedto celebrate, with false and hollow acclamations, the fortune of hisdaughter. A splendid train of eunuchs and officers issued, in hymenealpomp, from the gates of the palace; bearing aloft the diadem, therobes, and the inestimable ornaments, of the future empress. The solemnprocession passed through the streets of the city, which were adornedwith garlands, and filled with spectators; but when it reached the houseof the sons of Promotus, the principal eunuch respectfully enteredthe mansion, invested the fair Eudoxia with the Imperial robes, andconducted her in triumph to the palace and bed of Arcadius. [15] Thesecrecy and success with which this conspiracy against Rufinus had beenconducted, imprinted a mark of indelible ridicule on the character of aminister, who had suffered himself to be deceived, in a post wherethe arts of deceit and dissimulation constitute the most distinguishedmerit. He considered, with a mixture of indignation and fear, thevictory of an aspiring eunuch, who had secretly captivated the favorof his sovereign; and the disgrace of his daughter, whose interestwas inseparably connected with his own, wounded the tenderness, or, atleast, the pride of Rufinus. At the moment when he flattered himselfthat he should become the father of a line of kings, a foreign maid, whohad been educated in the house of his implacable enemies, was introducedinto the Imperial bed; and Eudoxia soon displayed a superiority of senseand spirit, to improve the ascendant which her beauty must acquireover the mind of a fond and youthful husband. The emperor would soon beinstructed to hate, to fear, and to destroy the powerful subject, whomhe had injured; and the consciousness of guilt deprived Rufinus of everyhope, either of safety or comfort, in the retirement of a privatelife. But he still possessed the most effectual means of defendinghis dignity, and perhaps of oppressing his enemies. The praefectstill exercised an uncontrolled authority over the civil and militarygovernment of the East; and his treasures, if he could resolve to usethem, might be employed to procure proper instruments for the executionof the blackest designs, that pride, ambition, and revenge could suggestto a desperate statesman. The character of Rufinus seemed to justify theaccusations that he conspired against the person of his sovereign, toseat himself on the vacant throne; and that he had secretly invitedthe Huns and the Goths to invade the provinces of the empire, and toincrease the public confusion. The subtle praefect, whose life had beenspent in the intrigues of the palace, opposed, with equal arms, theartful measures of the eunuch Eutropius; but the timid soul of Rufinuswas astonished by the hostile approach of a more formidable rival, ofthe great Stilicho, the general, or rather the master, of the empire ofthe West. [16]

[Footnote 13: Zosimus (l. Iv. P. 243) praises the valor, prudence, andintegrity of Bauto the Frank. See Tillemont, Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. V. P. 771. ]

[Footnote 14: Arsenius escaped from the palace of Constantinople, andpassed fifty-five years in rigid penance in the monasteries of Egypt. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xiv. P. 676-702; and Fleury, HistEccles. Tom. V. P. 1, &c. ; but the latter, for want of authenticmaterials, has given too much credit to the legend of Metaphrastes. ]

[Footnote 15: This story (Zosimus, l. V. P. 290) proves that thehymeneal rites of antiquity were still practised, without idolatry, bythe Christians of the East; and the bride was forcibly conducted fromthe house of her parents to that of her husband. Our form of marriagerequires, with less delicacy, the express and public consent of avirgin. ]

[Footnote 16: Zosimus, (l. V. P. 290, ) Orosius, (l. Vii. C. 37, ) andthe Chronicle of Marcellinus. Claudian (in Rufin. Ii. 7-100) paints, inlively colors, the distress and guilt of the praefect. ]

The celestial gift, which Achilles obtained, and Alexander envied, ofa poet worthy to celebrate the actions of heroes has been enjoyed byStilicho, in a much higher degree than might have been expected fromthe declining state of genius, and of art. The muse of Claudian, [17] devoted to his service, was always prepared to stigmatize hisadversaries, Rufinus, or Eutropius, with eternal infamy; or to paint, in the most splendid colors, the victories and virtues of a powerfulbenefactor. In the review of a period indifferently supplied withauthentic materials, we cannot refuse to illustrate the annals ofHonorius, from the invectives, or the panegyrics, of a contemporarywriter; but as Claudian appears to have indulged the most ampleprivilege of a poet and a courtier, some criticism will be requisite totranslate the language of fiction or exaggeration, into the truth andsimplicity of historic prose. His silence concerning the family ofStilicho may be admitted as a proof, that his patron was neither able, nor desirous, to boast of a long series of illustrious progenitors; andthe slight mention of his father, an officer of Barbarian cavalry in theservice of Valens, seems to countenance the assertion, that the general, who so long commanded the armies of Rome, was descended from the savageand perfidious race of the Vandals. [18] If Stilicho had not possessedthe external advantages of strength and stature, the most flatteringbard, in the presence of so many thousand spectators, would havehesitated to affirm, that he surpassed the measure of the demi-gods ofantiquity; and that whenever he moved, with lofty steps, through thestreets of the capital, the astonished crowd made room for the stranger, who displayed, in a private condition, the awful majesty of a hero. Fromhis earliest youth he embraced the profession of arms; his prudence andvalor were soon distinguished in the field; the horsemen and archersof the East admired his superior dexterity; and in each degree of hismilitary promotions, the public judgment always prevented and approvedthe choice of the sovereign. He was named, by Theodosius, to ratifya solemn treaty with the monarch of Persia; he supported, during thatimportant embassy, the dignity of the Roman name; and after he returnto Constantinople, his merit was rewarded by an intimate and honorablealliance with the Imperial family. Theodosius had been prompted, by apious motive of fraternal affection, to adopt, for his own, the daughterof his brother Honorius; the beauty and accomplishments of Serena [19]were universally admired by the obsequious court; and Stilicho obtainedthe preference over a crowd of rivals, who ambitiously disputed the handof the princess, and the favor of her adopted father. [20] The assurancethat the husband of Serena would be faithful to the throne, which he waspermitted to approach, engaged the emperor to exalt the fortunes, and toemploy the abilities, of the sagacious and intrepid Stilicho. He rose, through the successive steps of master of the horse, and count of thedomestics, to the supreme rank of master-general of all the cavalry andinfantry of the Roman, or at least of the Western, empire; [21] and hisenemies confessed, that he invariably disdained to barter for goldthe rewards of merit, or to defraud the soldiers of the pay andgratifications which they deserved or claimed, from the liberality ofthe state. [22] The valor and conduct which he afterwards displayed, in the defence of Italy, against the arms of Alaric and Radagaisus, mayjustify the fame of his early achievements and in an age less attentiveto the laws of honor, or of pride, the Roman generals might yieldthe preeminence of rank, to the ascendant of superior genius. [23]He lamented, and revenged, the murder of Promotus, his rival and hisfriend; and the massacre of many thousands of the flying Bastarnae isrepresented by the poet as a bloody sacrifice, which the Roman Achillesoffered to the manes of another Patroclus. The virtues and victories ofStilicho deserved the hatred of Rufinus: and the arts of calumny mighthave been successful if the tender and vigilant Serena had not protectedher husband against his domestic foes, whilst he vanquished in thefield the enemies of the empire. [24] Theodosius continued to support anunworthy minister, to whose diligence he delegated the government ofthe palace, and of the East; but when he marched against the tyrantEugenius, he associated his faithful general to the labors and gloriesof the civil war; and in the last moments of his life, the dying monarchrecommended to Stilicho the care of his sons, and of the republic. [25] The ambition and the abilities of Stilicho were not unequal to theimportant trust; and he claimed the guardianship of the two empires, during the minority of Arcadius and Honorius. [26] The first measure ofhis administration, or rather of his reign, displayed to the nations thevigor and activity of a spirit worthy to command. He passed the Alpsin the depth of winter; descended the stream of the Rhine, from thefortress of Basil to the marshes of Batavia; reviewed the state ofthe garrisons; repressed the enterprises of the Germans; and, afterestablishing along the banks a firm and honorable peace, returned, withincredible speed, to the palace of Milan. [27] The person and court ofHonorius were subject to the master-general of the West; and the armiesand provinces of Europe obeyed, without hesitation, a regular authority, which was exercised in the name of their young sovereign. Two rivalsonly remained to dispute the claims, and to provoke the vengeance, ofStilicho. Within the limits of Africa, Gildo, the Moor, maintained aproud and dangerous independence; and the minister of Constantinopleasserted his equal reign over the emperor, and the empire, of the East. 

[Footnote 17: Stilicho, directly or indirectly, is the perpetualtheme of Claudian. The youth and private life of the hero are vaguelyexpressed in the poem on his first consulship, 35-140. ]

[Footnote 18: Vandalorum, imbellis, avarae, perfidae, et dolosae, gentis, genere editus. Orosius, l. Vii. C. 38. Jerom (tom. I. AdGerontiam, p. 93) call him a Semi-Barbarian. ]

[Footnote 19: Claudian, in an imperfect poem, has drawn a fair, perhapsa flattering, portrait of Serena. That favorite niece of Theodosius wasborn, as well as here sister Thermantia, in Spain; from whence, intheir earliest youth, they were honorably conducted to the palace ofConstantinople. ]

[Footnote 20: Some doubt may be entertained, whether this adoption waslegal or only metaphorical, (see Ducange, Fam. Byzant. P. 75. ) Anold inscription gives Stilicho the singular title of Pro-gener DiviTheodosius]

[Footnote 21: Claudian (Laus Serenae, 190, 193) expresses, in poeticlanguage "the dilectus equorum, " and the "gemino mox idem culmine duxitagmina. " The inscription adds, "count of the domestics, " an importantcommand, which Stilicho, in the height of his grandeur, might prudentlyretain. ]

[Footnote 22: The beautiful lines of Claudian (in i. Cons. Stilich. Ii. 113) displays his genius; but the integrity of Stilicho (in the militaryadministration) is much more firmly established by the unwillingevidence of Zosimus, (l. V. P. 345. )]

[Footnote 23:--Si bellica moles Ingrueret, quamvis annis et jure minori, Cedere grandaevos equitum peditumque magistros

Adspiceres. Claudian, Laus Seren. P. 196, &c. A modern general woulddeem their submission either heroic patriotism or abject servility. ]

[Footnote 24: Compare the poem on the first consulship (i. 95-115) withthe Laus Serenoe (227-237, where it unfortunately breaks off. ) We mayperceive the deep, inveterate malice of Rufinus. ]

[Footnote 25:--Quem fratribus ipse Discedens, clypeum defensoremquededisti. Yet the nomination (iv. Cons. Hon. 432) was private, (iii. Cons. Hon. 142, ) cunctos discedere. .. Jubet; and may therefore besuspected. Zosimus and Suidas apply to Stilicho and Rufinus the sameequal title of guardians, or procurators. ]

[Footnote 26: The Roman law distinguishes two sorts of minority, whichexpired at the age of fourteen, and of twenty-five. The one was subjectto the tutor, or guardian, of the person; the other, to the curator, ortrustee, of the estate, (Heineccius, Antiquitat. Rom. Ad Jurisprudent. Pertinent. L. I. Tit. Xxii. Xxiii. P. 218-232. ) But these legal ideaswere never accurately transferred into the constitution of an electivemonarchy. ]

[Footnote 27: See Claudian, (i. Cons. Stilich. I. 188-242;) but he mustallow more than fifteen days for the journey and return between Milanand Leyden. ]

Chapter XXIX: Division Of Roman Empire Between Sons Of Theodosius. --PartII. 

The impartiality which Stilicho affected, as the common guardian of theroyal brothers, engaged him to regulate the equal division of the arms, the jewels, and the magnificent wardrobe and furniture of the deceasedemperor. [28] But the most important object of the inheritanceconsisted of the numerous legions, cohorts, and squadrons, of Romans, or Barbarians, whom the event of the civil war had united under thestandard of Theodosius. The various multitudes of Europe and Asia, exasperated by recent animosities, were overawed by the authority of asingle man; and the rigid discipline of Stilicho protected the lands ofthe citizens from the rapine of the licentious soldier. [29] Anxious, however, and impatient, to relieve Italy from the presence of thisformidable host, which could be useful only on the frontiers of theempire, he listened to the just requisition of the minister of Arcadius, declared his intention of reconducting in person the troops of the East, and dexterously employed the rumor of a Gothic tumult to conceal hisprivate designs of ambition and revenge. [30] The guilty soul of Rufinuswas alarmed by the approach of a warrior and a rival, whose enmity hedeserved; he computed, with increasing terror, the narrow space of hislife and greatness; and, as the last hope of safety, he interposedthe authority of the emperor Arcadius. Stilicho, who appears to havedirected his march along the sea-coast of the Adriatic, was not fardistant from the city of Thessalonica, when he received a peremptorymessage, to recall the troops of the East, and to declare, that hisnearer approach would be considered, by the Byzantine court, as an actof hostility. The prompt and unexpected obedience of the general of theWest, convinced the vulgar of his loyalty and moderation; and, as he hadalready engaged the affection of the Eastern troops, he recommendedto their zeal the execution of his bloody design, which might beaccomplished in his absence, with less danger, perhaps, and with lessreproach. Stilicho left the command of the troops of the East to Gainas, the Goth, on whose fidelity he firmly relied, with an assurance, atleast, that the hardy Barbarians would never be diverted from hispurpose by any consideration of fear or remorse. The soldiers wereeasily persuaded to punish the enemy of Stilicho and of Rome; and suchwas the general hatred which Rufinus had excited, that the fatal secret, communicated to thousands, was faithfully preserved during the longmarch from Thessalonica to the gates of Constantinople. As soon as theyhad resolved his death, they condescended to flatter his pride;the ambitious praefect was seduced to believe, that those powerfulauxiliaries might be tempted to place the diadem on his head; and thetreasures which he distributed, with a tardy and reluctant hand, wereaccepted by the indignant multitude as an insult, rather than as a gift. At the distance of a mile from the capital, in the field of Mars, beforethe palace of Hebdomon, the troops halted: and the emperor, as well ashis minister, advanced, according to ancient custom, respectfully tosalute the power which supported their throne. As Rufinus passed alongthe ranks, and disguised, with studied courtesy, his innate haughtiness, the wings insensibly wheeled from the right and left, and enclosed thedevoted victim within the circle of their arms. Before he could reflecton the danger of his situation, Gainas gave the signal of death; adaring and forward soldier plunged his sword into the breast of theguilty praefect, and Rufinus fell, groaned, and expired, at the feetof the affrighted emperor. If the agonies of a moment could expiate thecrimes of a whole life, or if the outrages inflicted on a breathlesscorpse could be the object of pity, our humanity might perhaps beaffected by the horrid circumstances which accompanied the murderof Rufinus. His mangled body was abandoned to the brutal fury of thepopulace of either sex, who hastened in crowds, from every quarter ofthe city, to trample on the remains of the haughty minister, at whosefrown they had so lately trembled. His right hand was cut off, andcarried through the streets of Constantinople, in cruel mockery, toextort contributions for the avaricious tyrant, whose head was publiclyexposed, borne aloft on the point of a long lance. [31] According tothe savage maxims of the Greek republics, his innocent family would haveshared the punishment of his crimes. The wife and daughter of Rufinuswere indebted for their safety to the influence of religion. Hersanctuary protected them from the raging madness of the people; and theywere permitted to spend the remainder of their lives in the exercise ofChristian devotions, in the peaceful retirement of Jerusalem. [32]

[Footnote 28: I. Cons. Stilich. Ii. 88-94. Not only the robes anddiadems of the deceased emperor, but even the helmets, sword-hilts, belts, rasses, &c. , were enriched with pearls, emeralds, and diamonds. ]

[Footnote 29:--Tantoque remoto Principe, mutatas orbis non sensithabenas. This high commendation (i. Cons. Stil. I. 149) may be justifiedby the fears of the dying emperor, (de Bell. Gildon. 292-301;) and thepeace and good order which were enjoyed after his death, (i. Cons. Stili. 150-168. )]

[Footnote 30: Stilicho's march, and the death of Rufinus, are describedby Claudian, (in Rufin. L. Ii. 101-453, Zosimus, l. V. P. 296, 297, )Sozomen (l. Viii. C. 1, ) Socrates, l. Vi. C. 1, ) Philostorgius, (l. Xic. 3, with Godefory, p. 441, ) and the Chronicle of Marcellinus. ]

[Footnote 31: The dissection of Rufinus, which Claudian performswith the savage coolness of an anatomist, (in Rufin. Ii. 405-415, ) islikewise specified by Zosimus and Jerom, (tom. I. P. 26. )]

[Footnote 32: The Pagan Zosimus mentions their sanctuary and pilgrimage. The sister of Rufinus, Sylvania, who passed her life at Jerusalem, isfamous in monastic history. 1. The studious virgin had diligently, andeven repeatedly, perused the commentators on the Bible, Origen, Gregory, Basil, &c. , to the amount of five millions of lines. 2. At the age ofthreescore, she could boast, that she had never washed her hands, face, or any part of her whole body, except the tips of her fingers to receivethe communion. See the Vitae Patrum, p. 779, 977. ] The servile poet ofStilicho applauds, with ferocious joy, this horrid deed, which, inthe execution, perhaps, of justice, violated every law of nature andsociety, profaned the majesty of the prince, and renewed the dangerousexamples of military license. The contemplation of the universal orderand harmony had satisfied Claudian of the existence of the Deity;but the prosperous impunity of vice appeared to contradict his moralattributes; and the fate of Rufinus was the only event which coulddispel the religious doubts of the poet. [33] Such an act mightvindicate the honor of Providence, but it did not much contribute to thehappiness of the people. In less than three months they were informedof the maxims of the new administration, by a singular edict, whichestablished the exclusive right of the treasury over the spoils ofRufinus; and silenced, under heavy penalties, the presumptuous claimsof the subjects of the Eastern empire, who had been injured by hisrapacious tyranny. [34] Even Stilicho did not derive from the murder ofhis rival the fruit which he had proposed; and though he gratified hisrevenge, his ambition was disappointed. Under the name of a favorite, the weakness of Arcadius required a master, but he naturally preferredthe obsequious arts of the eunuch Eutropius, who had obtained hisdomestic confidence: and the emperor contemplated, with terror andaversion, the stern genius of a foreign warrior. Till they were dividedby the jealousy of power, the sword of Gainas, and the charms ofEudoxia, supported the favor of the great chamberlain of the palace: theperfidious Goth, who was appointed master-general of the East, betrayed, without scruple, the interest of his benefactor; and the same troops, who had so lately massacred the enemy of Stilicho, were engaged tosupport, against him, the independence of the throne of Constantinople. The favorites of Arcadius fomented a secret and irreconcilable waragainst a formidable hero, who aspired to govern, and to defend, thetwo empires of Rome, and the two sons of Theodosius. They incessantlylabored, by dark and treacherous machinations, to deprive him of theesteem of the prince, the respect of the people, and the friendship ofthe Barbarians. The life of Stilicho was repeatedly attempted by thedagger of hired assassins; and a decree was obtained from the senateof Constantinople, to declare him an enemy of the republic, and toconfiscate his ample possessions in the provinces of the East. At a timewhen the only hope of delaying the ruin of the Roman name depended onthe firm union, and reciprocal aid, of all the nations to whom it hadbeen gradually communicated, the subjects of Arcadius and Honoriuswere instructed, by their respective masters, to view each other in aforeign, and even hostile, light; to rejoice in their mutual calamities, and to embrace, as their faithful allies, the Barbarians, whom theyexcited to invade the territories of their countrymen. [35] The nativesof Italy affected to despise the servile and effeminate Greeks ofByzantium, who presumed to imitate the dress, and to usurp the dignity, of Roman senators; [36] and the Greeks had not yet forgot the sentimentsof hatred and contempt, which their polished ancestors had so longentertained for the rude inhabitants of the West. The distinction oftwo governments, which soon produced the separation of two nations, willjustify my design of suspending the series of the Byzantine history, toprosecute, without interruption, the disgraceful, but memorable, reignof Honorius. 

[Footnote 33: See the beautiful exordium of his invective againstRufinus, which is curiously discussed by the sceptic Bayle, DictionnaireCritique, Rufin. Not. E. ]

[Footnote 34: See the Theodosian Code, l. Ix. Tit. Xlii. Leg. 14, 15. The new ministers attempted, with inconsistent avarice, to seizethe spoils of their predecessor, and to provide for their own futuresecurity. ]

[Footnote 35: See Claudian, (i. Cons. Stilich, l. I. 275, 292, 296, l. Ii. 83, ) and Zosimus, (l. V. P. 302. )]

[Footnote 36: Claudian turns the consulship of the eunuch Eutropius intoa national reflection, (l. Ii. 134):--

 ---Plaudentem cerne senatum, Et Byzantinos proceres Graiosque Quirites: O patribus plebes, O digni consule patres. 

It is curious to observe the first symptoms of jealousy and schismbetween old and new Rome, between the Greeks and Latins. ]

The prudent Stilicho, instead of persisting to force the inclinationsof a prince, and people, who rejected his government, wisely abandonedArcadius to his unworthy favorites; and his reluctance to involve thetwo empires in a civil war displayed the moderation of a minister, who had so often signalized his military spirit and abilities. But ifStilicho had any longer endured the revolt of Africa, he would havebetrayed the security of the capital, and the majesty of the Westernemperor, to the capricious insolence of a Moorish rebel. Gildo, [37] thebrother of the tyrant Firmus, had preserved and obtained, as the rewardof his apparent fidelity, the immense patrimony which was forfeited bytreason: long and meritorious service, in the armies of Rome, raised himto the dignity of a military count; the narrow policy of the court ofTheodosius had adopted the mischievous expedient of supporting a legalgovernment by the interest of a powerful family; and the brother ofFirmus was invested with the command of Africa. His ambition soonusurped the administration of justice, and of the finances, withoutaccount, and without control; and he maintained, during a reign oftwelve years, the possession of an office, from which it was impossibleto remove him, without the danger of a civil war. During those twelveyears, the provinces of Africa groaned under the dominion of a tyrant, who seemed to unite the unfeeling temper of a stranger with the partialresentments of domestic faction. The forms of law were often supersededby the use of poison; and if the trembling guests, who were invited tothe table of Gildo, presumed to express fears, the insolent suspicionserved only to excite his fury, and he loudly summoned the ministers ofdeath. Gildo alternately indulged the passions of avarice and lust;[38] and if his days were terrible to the rich, his nights were notless dreadful to husbands and parents. The fairest of their wives anddaughters were prostituted to the embraces of the tyrant; and afterwardsabandoned to a ferocious troop of Barbarians and assassins, the black, or swarthy, natives of the desert; whom Gildo considered as the only ofhis throne. In the civil war between Theodosius and Eugenius, the count, or rather the sovereign, of Africa, maintained a haughty and suspiciousneutrality; refused to assist either of the contending parties withtroops or vessels, expected the declaration of fortune, and reserved forthe conqueror the vain professions of his allegiance. Such professionswould not have satisfied the master of the Roman world; but the deathof Theodosius, and the weakness and discord of his sons, confirmed thepower of the Moor; who condescended, as a proof of his moderation, to abstain from the use of the diadem, and to supply Rome with thecustomary tribute, or rather subsidy, of corn. In every division of theempire, the five provinces of Africa were invariably assigned to theWest; and Gildo had to govern that extensive country in the name ofHonorius, but his knowledge of the character and designs of Stilichosoon engaged him to address his homage to a more distant and feeblesovereign. The ministers of Arcadius embraced the cause of a perfidiousrebel; and the delusive hope of adding the numerous cities of Africa tothe empire of the East, tempted them to assert a claim, which they wereincapable of supporting, either by reason or by arms. [39]

[Footnote 37: Claudian may have exaggerated the vices of Gildo; but hisMoorish extraction, his notorious actions, and the complaints of St. Augustin, may justify the poet's invectives. Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 398, No. 35-56) has treated the African rebellion with skill andlearning. ]

[Footnote 38:

 Instat terribilis vivis, morientibus haeres, Virginibus raptor, thalamis obscoenus adulter. Nulla quies: oritur praeda cessante libido, Divitibusque dies, et nox metuenda maritis. Mauris clarissima quaeque Fastidita datur. ----De Bello Gildonico, 165, 189. 

Baronius condemns, still more severely, the licentiousness of Gildo;as his wife, his daughter, and his sister, were examples of perfectchastity. The adulteries of the African soldiers are checked by one ofthe Imperial laws. ]

[Footnote 39: Inque tuam sortem numerosas transtulit urbes. Claudian(de Bell. Gildonico, 230-324) has touched, with political delicacy, the intrigues of the Byzantine court, which are likewise mentioned byZosimus, (l. V. P. 302. )]

When Stilicho had given a firm and decisive answer to the pretensions ofthe Byzantine court, he solemnly accused the tyrant of Africa before thetribunal, which had formerly judged the kings and nations of the earth;and the image of the republic was revived, after a long interval, underthe reign of Honorius. The emperor transmitted an accurate and ampledetail of the complaints of the provincials, and the crimes of Gildo, to the Roman senate; and the members of that venerable assembly wererequired to pronounce the condemnation of the rebel. Their unanimoussuffrage declared him the enemy of the republic; and the decree of thesenate added a sacred and legitimate sanction to the Roman arms. [40] Apeople, who still remembered that their ancestors had been themasters of the world, would have applauded, with conscious pride, therepresentation of ancient freedom; if they had not since been accustomedto prefer the solid assurance of bread to the unsubstantial visions ofliberty and greatness. The subsistence of Rome depended on the harvestsof Africa; and it was evident, that a declaration of war would bethe signal of famine. The praefect Symmachus, who presided in thedeliberations of the senate, admonished the minister of his justapprehension, that as soon as the revengeful Moor should prohibit theexportation of corn, the and perhaps the safety, of the capital wouldbe threatened by the hungry rage of a turbulent multitude. [41] Theprudence of Stilicho conceived and executed, without delay, the mosteffectual measure for the relief of the Roman people. A large andseasonable supply of corn, collected in the inland provinces of Gaul, was embarked on the rapid stream of the Rhone, and transported, by aneasy navigation, from the Rhone to the Tyber. During the whole termof the African war, the granaries of Rome were continually filled, herdignity was vindicated from the humiliating dependence, and the mindsof an immense people were quieted by the calm confidence of peace andplenty. [42]

[Footnote 40: Symmachus (l. Iv. Epist. 4) expresses the judicial formsof the senate; and Claudian (i. Cons. Stilich. L. I. 325, &c. ) seems tofeel the spirit of a Roman. ]

[Footnote 41: Claudian finely displays these complaints of Symmachus, ina speech of the goddess of Rome, before the throne of Jupiter, (de BellGildon. 28-128. )]

[Footnote 42: See Claudian (in Eutrop. L. I 401, &c. I. Cons. Stil. L. I. 306, &c. I. Cons. Stilich. 91, &c. )]

The cause of Rome, and the conduct of the African war, were intrusted byStilicho to a general, active and ardent to avenge his private injurieson the head of the tyrant. The spirit of discord which prevailed in thehouse of Nabal, had excited a deadly quarrel between two of his sons, Gildo and Mascezel. [43] The usurper pursued, with implacable rage, thelife of his younger brother, whose courage and abilities he feared; andMascezel, oppressed by superior power, refuge in the court of Milan, where he soon received the cruel intelligence that his two innocentand helpless children had been murdered by their inhuman uncle. Theaffliction of the father was suspended only by the desire of revenge. The vigilant Stilicho already prepared to collect the naval and militaryforce of the Western empire; and he had resolved, if the tyrant shouldbe able to wage an equal and doubtful war, to march against him inperson. But as Italy required his presence, and as it might be dangerousto weaken the of the frontier, he judged it more advisable, thatMascezel should attempt this arduous adventure at the head of a chosenbody of Gallic veterans, who had lately served exhorted to convincethe world that they could subvert, as well as defend the throne ofa usurper, consisted of the Jovian, the Herculian, and the Augustanlegions; of the Nervian auxiliaries; of the soldiers who displayedin their banners the symbol of a lion, and of the troops which weredistinguished by the auspicious names of Fortunate, and Invincible. Yetsuch was the smallness of their establishments, or the difficulty ofrecruiting, that these seven bands, [44] of high dignity and reputationin the service of Rome, amounted to no more than five thousand effectivemen. [45] The fleet of galleys and transports sailed in tempestuousweather from the port of Pisa, in Tuscany, and steered their course tothe little island of Capraria; which had borrowed that name from thewild goats, its original inhabitants, whose place was occupied by a newcolony of a strange and savage appearance. "The whole island (says aningenious traveller of those times) is filled, or rather defiled, bymen who fly from the light. They call themselves Monks, or solitaries, because they choose to live alone, without any witnesses of theiractions. They fear the gifts of fortune, from the apprehension oflosing them; and, lest they should be miserable, they embrace a life ofvoluntary wretchedness. How absurd is their choice! how perverse theirunderstanding! to dread the evils, without being able to support theblessings, of the human condition. Either this melancholy madness is theeffect of disease, or exercise on their own bodies the tortures whichare inflicted on fugitive slaves by the hand of justice. " [46] Suchwas the contempt of a profane magistrate for the monks as the chosenservants of God. [47] Some of them were persuaded, by his entreaties, to embark on board the fleet; and it is observed, to the praise ofthe Roman general, that his days and nights were employed in prayer, fasting, and the occupation of singing psalms. The devout leader, who, with such a reenforcement, appeared confident of victory, avoided thedangerous rocks of Corsica, coasted along the eastern side of Sardinia, and secured his ships against the violence of the south wind, by castinganchor in the and capacious harbor of Cagliari, at the distance of onehundred and forty miles from the African shores. [48]

[Footnote 43: He was of a mature age; since he had formerly (A. D. 373)served against his brother Firmus (Ammian. Xxix. 5. ) Claudian, whounderstood the court of Milan, dwells on the injuries, rather than themerits, of Mascezel, (de Bell. Gild. 389-414. ) The Moorish war was notworthy of Honorius, or Stilicho, &c. ]

[Footnote 44: Claudian, Bell. Gild. 415-423. The change of disciplineallowed him to use indifferently the names of Legio Cohors, Manipulus. See Notitia Imperii, S. 38, 40. ]

[Footnote 45: Orosius (l. Vii. C. 36, p. 565) qualifies this accountwith an expression of doubt, (ut aiunt;) and it scarcely coincides withZosimus, (l. V. P. 303. ) Yet Claudian, after some declamation aboutCadmus, soldiers, frankly owns that Stilicho sent a small army lest therebels should fly, ne timeare times, (i. Cons. Stilich. L. I. 314 &c. )]

[Footnote 46: Claud. Rutil. Numatian. Itinerar. I. 439-448. Heafterwards (515-526) mentions a religious madman on the Isle of Gorgona. For such profane remarks, Rutilius and his accomplices are styled, byhis commentator, Barthius, rabiosi canes diaboli. Tillemont (Mem. Eccles com. Xii. P. 471) more calmly observes, that the unbelieving poetpraises where he means to censure. ]

[Footnote 47: Orosius, l. Vii. C. 36, p. 564. Augustin commends two ofthese savage saints of the Isle of Goats, (epist. Lxxxi. Apud Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xiii. P. 317, and Baronius, Annal Eccles. A. D. 398 No. 51. )]

[Footnote 48: Here the first book of the Gildonic war is terminated. Therest of Claudian's poem has been lost; and we are ignorant how or wherethe army made good their landing in Afica. ]

Gildo was prepared to resist the invasion with all the forces of Africa. By the liberality of his gifts and promises, he endeavored to secure thedoubtful allegiance of the Roman soldiers, whilst he attracted tohis standard the distant tribes of Gaetulia and Aethiopia. He proudlyreviewed an army of seventy thousand men, and boasted, with the rashpresumption which is the forerunner of disgrace, that his numerouscavalry would trample under their horses' feet the troops of Mascezel, and involve, in a cloud of burning sand, the natives of the cold regionsof Gaul and Germany. [49] But the Moor, who commanded the legions ofHonorius, was too well acquainted with the manners of his countrymen, to entertain any serious apprehension of a naked and disorderly host ofBarbarians; whose left arm, instead of a shield, was protected onlyby mantle; who were totally disarmed as soon as they had darted theirjavelin from their right hand; and whose horses had never He fixed hiscamp of five thousand veterans in the face of a superior enemy, and, after the delay of three days, gave the signal of a general engagement. [50] As Mascezel advanced before the front with fair offers of peaceand pardon, he encountered one of the foremost standard-bearers of theAfricans, and, on his refusal to yield, struck him on the arm with hissword. The arm, and the standard, sunk under the weight of the blow;and the imaginary act of submission was hastily repeated by all thestandards of the line. At this the disaffected cohorts proclaimedthe name of their lawful sovereign; the Barbarians, astonished by thedefection of their Roman allies, dispersed, according to their custom, in tumultuary flight; and Mascezel obtained the of an easy, and almostbloodless, victory. [51] The tyrant escaped from the field of battle tothe sea-shore; and threw himself into a small vessel, with the hope ofreaching in safety some friendly port of the empire of the East; but theobstinacy of the wind drove him back into the harbor of Tabraca, [52]which had acknowledged, with the rest of the province, the dominion ofHonorius, and the authority of his lieutenant. The inhabitants, as aproof of their repentance and loyalty, seized and confined the person ofGildo in a dungeon; and his own despair saved him from the intolerabletorture of supporting the presence of an injured and victorious brother. [53] The captives and the spoils of Africa were laid at the feet of theemperor; but more sincere, in the midst of prosperity, still affected toconsult the laws of the republic; and referred to the senate and peopleof Rome the judgment of the most illustrious criminals. [54] Their trialwas public and solemn; but the judges, in the exercise of this obsoleteand precarious jurisdiction, were impatient to punish the Africanmagistrates, who had intercepted the subsistence of the Roman people. The rich and guilty province was oppressed by the Imperial ministers, who had a visible interest to multiply the number of the accomplices ofGildo; and if an edict of Honorius seems to check the maliciousindustry of informers, a subsequent edict, at the distance of ten years, continues and renews the prosecution of the which had been committed inthe time of the general rebellion. [55] The adherents of the tyrant whoescaped the first fury of the soldiers, and the judges, might derivesome consolation from the tragic fate of his brother, who could neverobtain his pardon for the extraordinary services which he had performed. After he had finished an important war in the space of a single winter, Mascezel was received at the court of Milan with loud applause, affectedgratitude, and secret jealousy; [56] and his death, which, perhaps, wasthe effect of passage of a bridge, the Moorish prince, who accompaniedthe master-general of the West, was suddenly thrown from his horse intothe river; the officious haste of the attendants was on the countenanceof Stilicho; and while they delayed the necessary assistance, theunfortunate Mascezel was irrecoverably drowned. [57]

[Footnote 49: Orosius must be responsible for the account. Thepresumption of Gildo and his various train of Barbarians is celebratedby Claudian, Cons. Stil. L. I. 345-355. ]

[Footnote 50: St. Ambrose, who had been dead about a year, revealed, ina vision, the time and place of the victory. Mascezel afterwards relatedhis dream to Paulinus, the original biographer of the saint, from whomit might easily pass to Orosius. ]

[Footnote 51: Zosimus (l. V. P. 303) supposes an obstinate combat;but the narrative of Orosius appears to conceal a real fact, under thedisguise of a miracle. ]

[Footnote 52: Tabraca lay between the two Hippos, (Cellarius, tom. Ii. P. 112; D'Anville, tom. Iii. P. 84. ) Orosius has distinctly named thefield of battle, but our ignorance cannot define the precise situation. ]

[Footnote 53: The death of Gildo is expressed by Claudian (i. Cons. Stil. 357) and his best interpreters, Zosimus and Orosius. ]

[Footnote 54: Claudian (ii. Cons. Stilich. 99-119) describes theirtrial (tremuit quos Africa nuper, cernunt rostra reos, ) and applauds therestoration of the ancient constitution. It is here that he introducesthe famous sentence, so familiar to the friends of despotism:

 ---Nunquam libertas gratior exstat, Quam sub rege pio. 

But the freedom which depends on royal piety, scarcely deservesappellation]

[Footnote 55: See the Theodosian Code, l. Ix. Tit. Xxxix. Leg. 3, tit. Xl. Leg. 19. ]

[Footnote 56: Stilicho, who claimed an equal share in all the victoriesof Theodosius and his son, particularly asserts, that Africa wasrecovered by the wisdom of his counsels, (see an inscription produced byBaronius. )]

[Footnote 57: I have softened the narrative of Zosimus, which, in itscrude simplicity, is almost incredible, (l. V. P. 303. ) Orosius damnsthe victorious general (p. 538) for violating the right of sanctuary. ]

The joy of the African triumph was happily connected with the nuptialsof the emperor Honorius, and of his cousin Maria, the daughter ofStilicho: and this equal and honorable alliance seemed to invest thepowerful minister with the authority of a parent over his submissivepupil. The muse of Claudian was not silent on this propitious day; [58]he sung, in various and lively strains, the happiness of the royal pair;and the glory of the hero, who confirmed their union, and supportedtheir throne. The ancient fables of Greece, which had almost ceased tobe the object of religious faith, were saved from oblivion by the geniusof poetry. The picture of the Cyprian grove, the seat of harmony andlove; the triumphant progress of Venus over her native seas, and themild influence which her presence diffused in the palace of Milan, express to every age the natural sentiments of the heart, in the justand pleasing language of allegorical fiction. But the amorous impatiencewhich Claudian attributes to the young prince, [59] must excite thesmiles of the court; and his beauteous spouse (if she deserved thepraise of beauty) had not much to fear or to hope from the passions ofher lover. Honorius was only in the fourteenth year of his age;Serena, the mother of his bride, deferred, by art of persuasion, theconsummation of the royal nuptials; Maria died a virgin, after she hadbeen ten years a wife; and the chastity of the emperor was securedby the coldness, perhaps, the debility, of his constitution. [60]His subjects, who attentively studied the character of their youngsovereign, discovered that Honorius was without passions, andconsequently without talents; and that his feeble and languiddisposition was alike incapable of discharging the duties of his rank, or of enjoying the pleasures of his age. In his early youth he made someprogress in the exercises of riding and drawing the bow: but he soonrelinquished these fatiguing occupations, and the amusement of feedingpoultry became the serious and daily care of the monarch of the West, [61] who resigned the reins of empire to the firm and skilful hand ofhis guardian Stilicho. The experience of history will countenance thesuspicion that a prince who was born in the purple, received a worseeducation than the meanest peasant of his dominions; and that theambitious minister suffered him to attain the age of manhood, withoutattempting to excite his courage, or to enlighten his under standing. [62] The predecessors of Honorius were accustomed to animate by theirexample, or at least by their presence, the valor of the legions; andthe dates of their laws attest the perpetual activity of their motionsthrough the provinces of the Roman world. But the son of Theodosiuspassed the slumber of his life, a captive in his palace, a stranger inhis country, and the patient, almost the indifferent, spectator of theruin of the Western empire, which was repeatedly attacked, and finallysubverted, by the arms of the Barbarians. In the eventful history of areign of twenty-eight years, it will seldom be necessary to mention thename of the emperor Honorius. 

[Footnote 58: Claudian, as the poet laureate, composed a serious andelaborate epithalamium of 340 lines; besides some gay Fescennines, whichwere sung, in a more licentious tone, on the wedding night. ]

[Footnote 59:

 Calet obvius ire Jam princeps, tardumque cupit discedere solem. Nobilis haud aliter sonipes. 

(De Nuptiis Honor. Et Mariae, and more freely in the Fescennines112-116)

 Dices, O quoties, hoc mihi dulcius Quam flavos decics vincere Sarmatas. . .. . Tum victor madido prosilias toro, Nocturni referens vulnera proelii. ]

[Footnote 60: See Zosimus, l. V. P. 333. ]

[Footnote 61: Procopius de Bell. Gothico, l. I. C. 2. I have borrowedthe general practice of Honorius, without adopting the singular, andindeed improbable tale, which is related by the Greek historian. ]

[Footnote 62: The lessons of Theodosius, or rather Claudian, (iv. Cons. Honor 214-418, ) might compose a fine institution for the futureprince of a great and free nation. It was far above Honorius, and hisdegenerate subjects. ]

Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths. --Part I. 

 Revolt Of The Goths. --They Plunder Greece. --Two Great Invasions Of Italy By Alaric And Radagaisus. --They Are Repulsed By Stilicho. --The Germans Overrun Gaul. --Usurpation Of Constantine In The West. --Disgrace And Death Of Stilicho. 

If the subjects of Rome could be ignorant of their obligations to thegreat Theodosius, they were too soon convinced, how painfully the spiritand abilities of their deceased emperor had supported the frail andmouldering edifice of the republic. He died in the month of January; andbefore the end of the winter of the same year, the Gothic nation was inarms. [1] The Barbarian auxiliaries erected their independent standard;and boldly avowed the hostile designs, which they had long cherished intheir ferocious minds. Their countrymen, who had been condemned, bythe conditions of the last treaty, to a life of tranquility and labor, deserted their farms at the first sound of the trumpet; and eagerlyresumed the weapons which they had reluctantly laid down. The barriersof the Danube were thrown open; the savage warriors of Scythia issuedfrom their forests; and the uncommon severity of the winter allowed thepoet to remark, "that they rolled their ponderous wagons over the broadand icy back of the indignant river. " [2] The unhappy natives of theprovinces to the south of the Danube submitted to the calamities, which, in the course of twenty years, were almost grown familiar to theirimagination; and the various troops of Barbarians, who gloried in theGothic name, were irregularly spread from woody shores of Dalmatia, to the walls of Constantinople. [3] The interruption, or at leastthe diminution, of the subsidy, which the Goths had received from theprudent liberality of Theodosius, was the specious pretence of theirrevolt: the affront was imbittered by their contempt for the unwarlikesons of Theodosius; and their resentment was inflamed by the weakness, or treachery, of the minister of Arcadius. The frequent visits ofRufinus to the camp of the Barbarians whose arms and apparel he affectedto imitate, were considered as a sufficient evidence of his guiltycorrespondence, and the public enemy, from a motive either of gratitudeor of policy, was attentive, amidst the general devastation, to sparethe private estates of the unpopular praefect. The Goths, instead ofbeing impelled by the blind and headstrong passions of their chiefs, were now directed by the bold and artful genius of Alaric. That renownedleader was descended from the noble race of the Balti; [4] which yieldedonly to the royal dignity of the Amali: he had solicited the command ofthe Roman armies; and the Imperial court provoked him to demonstrate thefolly of their refusal, and the importance of their loss. Whatever hopesmight be entertained of the conquest of Constantinople, the judiciousgeneral soon abandoned an impracticable enterprise. In the midst ofa divided court and a discontented people, the emperor Arcadius wasterrified by the aspect of the Gothic arms; but the want of wisdom andvalor was supplied by the strength of the city; and the fortifications, both of the sea and land, might securely brave the impotent and randomdarts of the Barbarians. Alaric disdained to trample any longer on theprostrate and ruined countries of Thrace and Dacia, and he resolvedto seek a plentiful harvest of fame and riches in a province which hadhitherto escaped the ravages of war. [5]

[Footnote 1: The revolt of the Goths, and the blockade ofConstantinople, are distinctly mentioned by Claudian, (in Rufin. L. Ii. 7-100, ) Zosimus, (l. V. 292, ) and Jornandes, (de Rebus Geticis, c. 29. )]

[Footnote 2:--

 Alii per toga ferocis Danubii solidata ruunt; expertaque remis Frangunt stagna rotis. 

Claudian and Ovid often amuse their fancy by interchanging the metaphorsand properties of liquid water, and solid ice. Much false wit has beenexpended in this easy exercise. ]

[Footnote 3: Jerom, tom. I. P. 26. He endeavors to comfort his friendHeliodorus, bishop of Altinum, for the loss of his nephew, Nepotian, bya curious recapitulation of all the public and private misfortunes ofthe times. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xii. P. 200, &c. ]

[Footnote 4: Baltha or bold: origo mirifica, says Jornandes, (c. 29. )This illustrious race long continued to flourish in France, in theGothic province of Septimania, or Languedoc; under the corruptedappellation of Boax; and a branch of that family afterwards settled inthe kingdom of Naples (Grotius in Prolegom. Ad Hist. Gothic. P. 53. ) Thelords of Baux, near Arles, and of seventy-nine subordinate places, wereindependent of the counts of Provence, (Longuerue, Description de laFrance, tom. I. P. 357). ]

[Footnote 5: Zosimus (l. V. P. 293-295) is our best guide for theconquest of Greece: but the hints and allusion of Claudian are so manyrays of historic light. ]

The character of the civil and military officers, on whom Rufinus haddevolved the government of Greece, confirmed the public suspicion, thathe had betrayed the ancient seat of freedom and learning to the Gothicinvader. The proconsul Antiochus was the unworthy son of a respectablefather; and Gerontius, who commanded the provincial troops, was muchbetter qualified to execute the oppressive orders of a tyrant, than todefend, with courage and ability, a country most remarkably fortified bythe hand of nature. Alaric had traversed, without resistance, the plainsof Macedonia and Thessaly, as far as the foot of Mount Oeta, a steep andwoody range of hills, almost impervious to his cavalry. They stretchedfrom east to west, to the edge of the sea-shore; and left, between theprecipice and the Malian Gulf, an interval of three hundred feet, which, in some places, was contracted to a road capable of admitting only asingle carriage. [6] In this narrow pass of Thermopylae, where Leonidasand the three hundred Spartans had gloriously devoted their lives, theGoths might have been stopped, or destroyed, by a skilful general; andperhaps the view of that sacred spot might have kindled some sparks ofmilitary ardor in the breasts of the degenerate Greeks. The troops whichhad been posted to defend the Straits of Thermopylae, retired, asthey were directed, without attempting to disturb the secure and rapidpassage of Alaric; [7] and the fertile fields of Phocis and Boeotia wereinstantly covered by a deluge of Barbarians who massacred the malesof an age to bear arms, and drove away the beautiful females, with thespoil and cattle of the flaming villages. The travellers, who visitedGreece several years afterwards, could easily discover the deep andbloody traces of the march of the Goths; and Thebes was less indebtedfor her preservation to the strength of her seven gates, than to theeager haste of Alaric, who advanced to occupy the city of Athens, andthe important harbor of the Piraeus. The same impatience urged him toprevent the delay and danger of a siege, by the offer of a capitulation;and as soon as the Athenians heard the voice of the Gothic herald, theywere easily persuaded to deliver the greatest part of their wealth, asthe ransom of the city of Minerva and its inhabitants. The treaty wasratified by solemn oaths, and observed with mutual fidelity. The Gothicprince, with a small and select train, was admitted within the walls;he indulged himself in the refreshment of the bath, accepted a splendidbanquet, which was provided by the magistrate, and affected to show thathe was not ignorant of the manners of civilized nations. [8] But thewhole territory of Attica, from the promontory of Sunium to the townof Megara, was blasted by his baleful presence; and, if we may use thecomparison of a contemporary philosopher, Athens itself resembled thebleeding and empty skin of a slaughtered victim. The distance betweenMegara and Corinth could not much exceed thirty miles; but the bad road, an expressive name, which it still bears among the Greeks, was, or mighteasily have been made, impassable for the march of an enemy. The thickand gloomy woods of Mount Cithaeron covered the inland country; theScironian rocks approached the water's edge, and hung over thenarrow and winding path, which was confined above six miles along thesea-shore. [9] The passage of those rocks, so infamous in every age, was terminated by the Isthmus of Corinth; and a small a body of firmand intrepid soldiers might have successfully defended a temporaryintrenchment of five or six miles from the Ionian to the Aegean Sea. Theconfidence of the cities of Peloponnesus in their natural rampart, hadtempted them to neglect the care of their antique walls; and the avariceof the Roman governors had exhausted and betrayed the unhappy province. [10] Corinth, Argos, Sparta, yielded without resistance to the armsof the Goths; and the most fortunate of the inhabitants were saved, by death, from beholding the slavery of their families and theconflagration of their cities. [11] The vases and statues weredistributed among the Barbarians, with more regard to the value of thematerials, than to the elegance of the workmanship; the female captivessubmitted to the laws of war; the enjoyment of beauty was the reward ofvalor; and the Greeks could not reasonably complain of an abuse whichwas justified by the example of the heroic times. [12] The descendantsof that extraordinary people, who had considered valor and disciplineas the walls of Sparta, no longer remembered the generous reply of theirancestors to an invader more formidable than Alaric. "If thou art a god, thou wilt not hurt those who have never injured thee; if thou art aman, advance:--and thou wilt find men equal to thyself. " [13] FromThermopylae to Sparta, the leader of the Goths pursued his victoriousmarch without encountering any mortal antagonists: but one of theadvocates of expiring Paganism has confidently asserted, that the wallsof Athens were guarded by the goddess Minerva, with her formidableAegis, and by the angry phantom of Achilles; [14] and that the conquerorwas dismayed by the presence of the hostile deities of Greece. In anage of miracles, it would perhaps be unjust to dispute the claim of thehistorian Zosimus to the common benefit: yet it cannot be dissembled, that the mind of Alaric was ill prepared to receive, either in sleepingor waking visions, the impressions of Greek superstition. The songs ofHomer, and the fame of Achilles, had probably never reached the ear ofthe illiterate Barbarian; and the Christian faith, which he had devoutlyembraced, taught him to despise the imaginary deities of Rome andAthens. The invasion of the Goths, instead of vindicating the honor, contributed, at least accidentally, to extirpate the last remains ofPaganism: and the mysteries of Ceres, which had subsisted eighteenhundred years, did not survive the destruction of Eleusis, and thecalamities of Greece. [15]

[Footnote 6: Compare Herodotus (l. Vii. C. 176) and Livy, (xxxvi. 15. )The narrow entrance of Greece was probably enlarged by each successiveravisher. ]

[Footnote 7: He passed, says Eunapius, (in Vit. Philosoph. P. 93, edit. Commelin, 1596, ) through the straits, of Thermopylae. ]

[Footnote 8: In obedience to Jerom and Claudian, (in Rufin. L. Ii. 191, )I have mixed some darker colors in the mild representation of Zosimus, who wished to soften the calamities of Athens. 

 Nec fera Cecropias traxissent vincula matres. 

Synesius (Epist. Clvi. P. 272, edit. Petav. ) observes, that Athens, whose sufferings he imputes to the proconsul's avarice, was at that timeless famous for her schools of philosophy than for her trade of honey. ]

[Footnote 9:--

 Vallata mari Scironia rupes, Et duo continuo connectens aequora muro Isthmos. --Claudian de Bel. Getico, 188. 

The Scironian rocks are described by Pausanias, (l. I. C. 44, p. 107, edit. Kuhn, ) and our modern travellers, Wheeler (p. 436) and Chandler, (p. 298. ) Hadrian made the road passable for two carriages. ]

[Footnote 10: Claudian (in Rufin. L. Ii. 186, and de Bello Getico, 611, &c. ) vaguely, though forcibly, delineates the scene of rapine anddestruction. ]

[Footnote 11: These generous lines of Homer (Odyss. L. V. 306) weretranscribed by one of the captive youths of Corinth: and the tears ofMummius may prove that the rude conqueror, though he was ignorant of thevalue of an original picture, possessed the purest source of good taste, a benevolent heart, (Plutarch, Symposiac. L. Ix. Tom. Ii. P. 737, edit. Wechel. )]

[Footnote 12: Homer perpetually describes the exemplary patience ofthose female captives, who gave their charms, and even their hearts, to the murderers of their fathers, brothers, &c. Such a passion (ofEriphile for Achilles) is touched with admirable delicacy by Racine. ]

[Footnote 13: Plutarch (in Pyrrho, tom. Ii. P. 474, edit. Brian) givesthe genuine answer in the Laconic dialect. Pyrrhus attacked Sparta with25, 000 foot, 2000 horse, and 24 elephants, and the defence of that opentown is a fine comment on the laws of Lycurgus, even in the last stageof decay. ]

[Footnote 14: Such, perhaps, as Homer (Iliad, xx. 164) had so noblypainted him. ]

[Footnote 15: Eunapius (in Vit. Philosoph. P. 90-93) intimates that atroop of monks betrayed Greece, and followed the Gothic camp. * Note:The expression is curious: Vit. Max. T. I. P. 53, edit. Boissonade. --M. ]

The last hope of a people who could no longer depend on their arms, their gods, or their sovereign, was placed in the powerful assistanceof the general of the West; and Stilicho, who had not been permitted torepulse, advanced to chastise, the invaders of Greece. [16] A numerousfleet was equipped in the ports of Italy; and the troops, after a shortand prosperous navigation over the Ionian Sea, were safely disembarkedon the isthmus, near the ruins of Corinth. The woody and mountainouscountry of Arcadia, the fabulous residence of Pan and the Dryads, becamethe scene of a long and doubtful conflict between the two generalsnot unworthy of each other. The skill and perseverance of the Roman atlength prevailed; and the Goths, after sustaining a considerable lossfrom disease and desertion, gradually retreated to the lofty mountain ofPholoe, near the sources of the Peneus, and on the frontiers of Elis; asacred country, which had formerly been exempted from the calamitiesof war. [17] The camp of the Barbarians was immediately besieged; thewaters of the river [18] were diverted into another channel; and whilethey labored under the intolerable pressure of thirst and hunger, astrong line of circumvallation was formed to prevent their escape. Afterthese precautions, Stilicho, too confident of victory, retired to enjoyhis triumph, in the theatrical games, and lascivious dances, of theGreeks; his soldiers, deserting their standards, spread themselves overthe country of their allies, which they stripped of all that had beensaved from the rapacious hands of the enemy. Alaric appears to haveseized the favorable moment to execute one of those hardy enterprises, in which the abilities of a general are displayed with more genuinelustre, than in the tumult of a day of battle. To extricate himself fromthe prison of Peloponnesus, it was necessary that he should piercethe intrenchments which surrounded his camp; that he should perform adifficult and dangerous march of thirty miles, as far as the Gulf ofCorinth; and that he should transport his troops, his captives, and hisspoil, over an arm of the sea, which, in the narrow interval betweenRhium and the opposite shore, is at least half a mile in breadth. [19]The operations of Alaric must have been secret, prudent, and rapid;since the Roman general was confounded by the intelligence, that theGoths, who had eluded his efforts, were in full possession of theimportant province of Epirus. This unfortunate delay allowed Alaricsufficient time to conclude the treaty, which he secretly negotiated, with the ministers of Constantinople. The apprehension of a civil warcompelled Stilicho to retire, at the haughty mandate of his rivals, fromthe dominions of Arcadius; and he respected, in the enemy of Rome, thehonorable character of the ally and servant of the emperor of the East. 

[Footnote 16: For Stilicho's Greek war, compare the honest narrative ofZosimus (l. V. P. 295, 296) with the curious circumstantial flattery ofClaudian, (i. Cons. Stilich. L. I. 172-186, iv. Cons. Hon. 459-487. ) Asthe event was not glorious, it is artfully thrown into the shade. ]

[Footnote 17: The troops who marched through Elis delivered up theirarms. This security enriched the Eleans, who were lovers of a rurallife. Riches begat pride: they disdained their privilege, and theysuffered. Polybius advises them to retire once more within their magiccircle. See a learned and judicious discourse on the Olympic games, which Mr. West has prefixed to his translation of Pindar. ]

[Footnote 18: Claudian (in iv. Cons. Hon. 480) alludes to the factwithout naming the river; perhaps the Alpheus, (i. Cons. Stil. L. I. 185. )

 ---Et Alpheus Geticis angustus acervis Tardior ad Siculos etiamnum pergit amores. 

Yet I should prefer the Peneus, a shallow stream in a wide and deep bed, which runs through Elis, and falls into the sea below Cyllene. It hadbeen joined with the Alpheus to cleanse the Augean stable. (Cellarius, tom. I. P. 760. Chandler's Travels, p. 286. )]

[Footnote 19: Strabo, l. Viii. P. 517. Plin. Hist. Natur. Iv. 3. 

Wheeler, p. 308. Chandler, p. 275. They measured from different pointsthe distance between the two lands. ]

A Grecian philosopher, [20] who visited Constantinople soon after thedeath of Theodosius, published his liberal opinions concerning theduties of kings, and the state of the Roman republic. Synesius observes, and deplores, the fatal abuse, which the imprudent bounty of the lateemperor had introduced into the military service. The citizens andsubjects had purchased an exemption from the indispensable duty ofdefending their country; which was supported by the arms of Barbarianmercenaries. The fugitives of Scythia were permitted to disgracethe illustrious dignities of the empire; their ferocious youth, whodisdained the salutary restraint of laws, were more anxious to acquirethe riches, than to imitate the arts, of a people, the object oftheir contempt and hatred; and the power of the Goths was the stone ofTantalus, perpetually suspended over the peace and safety of the devotedstate. The measures which Synesius recommends, are the dictates of abold and generous patriot. He exhorts the emperor to revive the courageof his subjects, by the example of manly virtue; to banish luxuryfrom the court and from the camp; to substitute, in the place of theBarbarian mercenaries, an army of men, interested in the defence oftheir laws and of their property; to force, in such a moment of publicdanger, the mechanic from his shop, and the philosopher from his school;to rouse the indolent citizen from his dream of pleasure, and toarm, for the protection of agriculture, the hands of the laborioushusbandman. At the head of such troops, who might deserve the name, andwould display the spirit, of Romans, he animates the son of Theodosiusto encounter a race of Barbarians, who were destitute of any realcourage; and never to lay down his arms, till he had chased them faraway into the solitudes of Scythia; or had reduced them to the state ofignominious servitude, which the Lacedaemonians formerly imposed on thecaptive Helots. [21] The court of Arcadius indulged the zeal, applaudedthe eloquence, and neglected the advice, of Synesius. Perhaps thephilosopher who addresses the emperor of the East in the language ofreason and virtue, which he might have used to a Spartan king, had notcondescended to form a practicable scheme, consistent with the temper, and circumstances, of a degenerate age. Perhaps the pride of theministers, whose business was seldom interrupted by reflection, mightreject, as wild and visionary, every proposal, which exceeded themeasure of their capacity, and deviated from the forms and precedentsof office. While the oration of Synesius, and the downfall of theBarbarians, were the topics of popular conversation, an edict waspublished at Constantinople, which declared the promotion of Alaricto the rank of master-general of the Eastern Illyricum. The Romanprovincials, and the allies, who had respected the faith of treaties, were justly indignant, that the ruin of Greece and Epirus should beso liberally rewarded. The Gothic conqueror was received as a lawfulmagistrate, in the cities which he had so lately besieged. The fathers, whose sons he had massacred, the husbands, whose wives he had violated, were subject to his authority; and the success of his rebellionencouraged the ambition of every leader of the foreign mercenaries. Theuse to which Alaric applied his new command, distinguishes the firmand judicious character of his policy. He issued his orders to the fourmagazines and manufactures of offensive and defensive arms, Margus, Ratiaria, Naissus, and Thessalonica, to provide his troops with anextraordinary supply of shields, helmets, swords, and spears; theunhappy provincials were compelled to forge the instruments of theirown destruction; and the Barbarians removed the only defect which hadsometimes disappointed the efforts of their courage. [22] The birth ofAlaric, the glory of his past exploits, and the confidence in his futuredesigns, insensibly united the body of the nation under his victoriousstandard; and, with the unanimous consent of the Barbarian chieftains, the master-general of Illyricum was elevated, according to ancientcustom, on a shield, and solemnly proclaimed king of the Visigoths. [23]Armed with this double power, seated on the verge of the two empires, he alternately sold his deceitful promises to the courts of Arcadius andHonorius; [24] till he declared and executed his resolution of invadingthe dominions of the West. The provinces of Europe which belonged tothe Eastern emperor, were already exhausted; those of Asia wereinaccessible; and the strength of Constantinople had resisted hisattack. But he was tempted by the fame, the beauty, the wealth of Italy, which he had twice visited; and he secretly aspired to plant theGothic standard on the walls of Rome, and to enrich his army with theaccumulated spoils of three hundred triumphs. [25]

[Footnote 20: Synesius passed three years (A. D. 397-400) atConstantinople, as deputy from Cyrene to the emperor Arcadius. Hepresented him with a crown of gold, and pronounced before him theinstructive oration de Regno, (p. 1-32, edit. Petav. Paris, 1612. ) Thephilosopher was made bishop of Ptolemais, A. D. 410, and died about 430. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xii. P. 490, 554, 683-685. ]

[Footnote 21: Synesius de Regno, p. 21-26. ]

[Footnote 22:--qui foedera rumpit

 Ditatur: qui servat, eget: vastator Achivae Gentis, et Epirum nuper populatus inultam, Praesidet Illyrico: jam, quos obsedit, amicos Ingreditur muros; illis responsa daturus, Quorum conjugibus potitur, natosque peremit. 

Claudian in Eutrop. L. Ii. 212. Alaric applauds his own policy (deBell Getic. 533-543) in the use which he had made of this Illyrianjurisdiction. ]

[Footnote 23: Jornandes, c. 29, p. 651. The Gothic historian adds, withunusual spirit, Cum suis deliberans suasit suo labore quaerere regna, quam alienis per otium subjacere. 

 Discors odiisque anceps civilibus orbis, Non sua vis tutata diu, dum foedera fallax Ludit, et alternae perjuria venditat aulae. ---Claudian de Bell. Get. 565]

[Footnote 25: Alpibus Italiae ruptis penetrabis ad Urbem. This authentic prediction was announced by Alaric, or at least byClaudian, (de Bell. Getico, 547, ) seven years before the event. But asit was not accomplished within the term which has been rashly fixed theinterpreters escaped through an ambiguous meaning. ]

The scarcity of facts, [26] and the uncertainty of dates, [27] opposeour attempts to describe the circumstances of the first invasion ofItaly by the arms of Alaric. His march, perhaps from Thessalonica, through the warlike and hostile country of Pannonia, as far as the footof the Julian Alps; his passage of those mountains, which were stronglyguarded by troops and intrenchments; the siege of Aquileia, and theconquest of the provinces of Istria and Venetia, appear to have employeda considerable time. Unless his operations were extremely cautious andslow, the length of the interval would suggest a probable suspicion, that the Gothic king retreated towards the banks of the Danube; andreenforced his army with fresh swarms of Barbarians, before he againattempted to penetrate into the heart of Italy. Since the public andimportant events escape the diligence of the historian, he may amusehimself with contemplating, for a moment, the influence of the armsof Alaric on the fortunes of two obscure individuals, a presbyterof Aquileia and a husbandman of Verona. The learned Rufinus, who wassummoned by his enemies to appear before a Roman synod, [28] wiselypreferred the dangers of a besieged city; and the Barbarians, whofuriously shook the walls of Aquileia, might save him from the cruelsentence of another heretic, who, at the request of the same bishops, was severely whipped, and condemned to perpetual exile on a desertisland. [29] The old man, [30] who had passed his simple and innocentlife in the neighborhood of Verona, was a stranger to the quarrels bothof kings and of bishops; his pleasures, his desires, his knowledge, were confined within the little circle of his paternal farm; and a staffsupported his aged steps, on the same ground where he had sported inhis infancy. Yet even this humble and rustic felicity (which Claudiandescribes with so much truth and feeling) was still exposed to theundistinguishing rage of war. His trees, his old contemporary trees, [31] must blaze in the conflagration of the whole country; a detachmentof Gothic cavalry might sweep away his cottage and his family; and thepower of Alaric could destroy this happiness, which he was not ableeither to taste or to bestow. "Fame, " says the poet, "encircling withterror her gloomy wings, proclaimed the march of the Barbarian army, andfilled Italy with consternation:" the apprehensions of each individualwere increased in just proportion to the measure of his fortune: and themost timid, who had already embarked their valuable effects, meditatedtheir escape to the Island of Sicily, or the African coast. The publicdistress was aggravated by the fears and reproaches of superstition. [32] Every hour produced some horrid tale of strange and portentousaccidents; the Pagans deplored the neglect of omens, and theinterruption of sacrifices; but the Christians still derived somecomfort from the powerful intercession of the saints and martyrs. [33]

[Footnote 26: Our best materials are 970 verses of Claudian in the poemon the Getic war, and the beginning of that which celebrates the sixthconsulship of Honorius. Zosimus is totally silent; and we are reducedto such scraps, or rather crumbs, as we can pick from Orosius and theChronicles. ]

[Footnote 27: Notwithstanding the gross errors of Jornandes, whoconfounds the Italian wars of Alaric, (c. 29, ) his date of theconsulship of Stilicho and Aurelian (A. D. 400) is firm and respectable. It is certain from Claudian (Tillemont, Hist. Des Emp. Tom. V. P. 804)that the battle of Polentia was fought A. D. 403; but we cannot easilyfill the interval. ]

[Footnote 28: Tantum Romanae urbis judicium fugis, ut magis obsidionembarbaricam, quam pacatoe urbis judicium velis sustinere. Jerom, tom. Ii. P. 239. Rufinus understood his own danger; the peaceful city wasinflamed by the beldam Marcella, and the rest of Jerom's faction. ]

[Footnote 29: Jovinian, the enemy of fasts and of celibacy, who waspersecuted and insulted by the furious Jerom, (Jortin's Remarks, vol. Iv. P. 104, &c. ) See the original edict of banishment in the TheodosianCode, xvi. Tit. V. Leg. 43. ]

[Footnote 30: This epigram (de Sene Veronensi qui suburbium nusquamegres sus est) is one of the earliest and most pleasing compositions ofClaudian. Cowley's imitation (Hurd's edition, vol. Ii. P. 241) hassome natural and happy strokes: but it is much inferior to the originalportrait, which is evidently drawn from the life. ]

[Footnote 31:

 Ingentem meminit parvo qui germine quercum Aequaevumque videt consenuisse nemus. 

 A neighboring wood born with himself he sees, And loves his old contemporary trees. 

In this passage, Cowley is perhaps superior to his original; and theEnglish poet, who was a good botanist, has concealed the oaks under amore general expression. ]

[Footnote 32: Claudian de Bell. Get. 199-266. He may seem prolix: butfear and superstition occupied as large a space in the minds of theItalians. ]

[Footnote 33: From the passages of Paulinus, which Baronius hasproduced, (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 403, No. 51, ) it is manifest that thegeneral alarm had pervaded all Italy, as far as Nola in Campania, wherethat famous penitent had fixed his abode. ]

Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths. --Part II. 

The emperor Honorius was distinguished, above his subjects, by thepreeminence of fear, as well as of rank. The pride and luxury in whichhe was educated, had not allowed him to suspect, that there existedon the earth any power presumptuous enough to invade the repose of thesuccessor of Augustus. The arts of flattery concealed the impendingdanger, till Alaric approached the palace of Milan. But when the soundof war had awakened the young emperor, instead of flying to arms withthe spirit, or even the rashness, of his age, he eagerly listened tothose timid counsellors, who proposed to convey his sacred person, and his faithful attendants, to some secure and distant station in theprovinces of Gaul. Stilicho alone [34] had courage and authority toresist his disgraceful measure, which would have abandoned Rome andItaly to the Barbarians; but as the troops of the palace had been latelydetached to the Rhaetian frontier, and as the resource of new levies wasslow and precarious, the general of the West could only promise, thatif the court of Milan would maintain their ground during his absence, he would soon return with an army equal to the encounter of the Gothicking. Without losing a moment, (while each moment was so importantto the public safety, ) Stilicho hastily embarked on the Larian Lake, ascended the mountains of ice and snow, amidst the severity of an Alpinewinter, and suddenly repressed, by his unexpected presence, the enemy, who had disturbed the tranquillity of Rhaetia. [35] The Barbarians, perhaps some tribes of the Alemanni, respected the firmness of a chief, who still assumed the language of command; and the choice which hecondescended to make, of a select number of their bravest youth, wasconsidered as a mark of his esteem and favor. The cohorts, who weredelivered from the neighboring foe, diligently repaired to the Imperialstandard; and Stilicho issued his orders to the most remote troops ofthe West, to advance, by rapid marches, to the defence of Honorius andof Italy. The fortresses of the Rhine were abandoned; and the safetyof Gaul was protected only by the faith of the Germans, and the ancientterror of the Roman name. Even the legion, which had been stationedto guard the wall of Britain against the Caledonians of the North, washastily recalled; [36] and a numerous body of the cavalry of the Alaniwas persuaded to engage in the service of the emperor, who anxiouslyexpected the return of his general. The prudence and vigor of Stilichowere conspicuous on this occasion, which revealed, at the same time, the weakness of the falling empire. The legions of Rome, which had longsince languished in the gradual decay of discipline and courage, wereexterminated by the Gothic and civil wars; and it was found impossible, without exhausting and exposing the provinces, to assemble an army forthe defence of Italy. 

[Footnote 34: Solus erat Stilicho, &c. , is the exclusive commendationwhich Claudian bestows, (del Bell. Get. 267, ) without condescending toexcept the emperor. How insignificant must Honorius have appeared in hisown court. ]

[Footnote 35: The face of the country, and the hardiness of Stilicho, are finely described, (de Bell. Get. 340-363. )]

[Footnote 36:

 Venit et extremis legio praetenta Britannis, Quae Scoto dat frena truci. ---De Bell. Get. 416. 

Yet the most rapid march from Edinburgh, or Newcastle, to Milan, musthave required a longer space of time than Claudian seems willing toallow for the duration of the Gothic war. ]

Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths. --Part III. 

When Stilicho seemed to abandon his sovereign in the unguarded palace ofMilan, he had probably calculated the term of his absence, the distanceof the enemy, and the obstacles that might retard their march. Heprincipally depended on the rivers of Italy, the Adige, the Mincius, the Oglio, and the Addua, which, in the winter or spring, by the fall ofrains, or by the melting of the snows, are commonly swelled into broadand impetuous torrents. [37] But the season happened to be remarkablydry: and the Goths could traverse, without impediment, the wide andstony beds, whose centre was faintly marked by the course of a shallowstream. The bridge and passage of the Addua were secured by a strongdetachment of the Gothic army; and as Alaric approached the walls, or rather the suburbs, of Milan, he enjoyed the proud satisfaction ofseeing the emperor of the Romans fly before him. Honorius, accompaniedby a feeble train of statesmen and eunuchs, hastily retreated towardsthe Alps, with a design of securing his person in the city of Arles, which had often been the royal residence of his predecessors. [3711] ButHonorius [38] had scarcely passed the Po, before he was overtaken bythe speed of the Gothic cavalry; [39] since the urgency of the dangercompelled him to seek a temporary shelter within the fortifications ofAsta, a town of Liguria or Piemont, situate on the banks of the Tanarus. [40] The siege of an obscure place, which contained so rich a prize, and seemed incapable of a long resistance, was instantly formed, and indefatigably pressed, by the king of the Goths; and the bolddeclaration, which the emperor might afterwards make, that his breasthad never been susceptible of fear, did not probably obtain much credit, even in his own court. [41] In the last, and almost hopelessextremity, after the Barbarians had already proposed the indignity ofa capitulation, the Imperial captive was suddenly relieved by the fame, the approach, and at length the presence, of the hero, whom he had solong expected. At the head of a chosen and intrepid vanguard, Stilichoswam the stream of the Addua, to gain the time which he must have lostin the attack of the bridge; the passage of the Po was an enterprise ofmuch less hazard and difficulty; and the successful action, in which hecut his way through the Gothic camp under the walls of Asta, revived thehopes, and vindicated the honor, of Rome. Instead of grasping the fruitof his victory, the Barbarian was gradually invested, on every side, bythe troops of the West, who successively issued through all the passesof the Alps; his quarters were straitened; his convoys wereintercepted; and the vigilance of the Romans prepared to form a chainof fortifications, and to besiege the lines of the besiegers. A militarycouncil was assembled of the long-haired chiefs of the Gothic nation;of aged warriors, whose bodies were wrapped in furs, and whose sterncountenances were marked with honorable wounds. They weighed the gloryof persisting in their attempt against the advantage of securing theirplunder; and they recommended the prudent measure of a seasonableretreat. In this important debate, Alaric displayed the spirit of theconqueror of Rome; and after he had reminded his countrymen of theirachievements and of their designs, he concluded his animating speech bythe solemn and positive assurance that he was resolved to find in Italyeither a kingdom or a grave. [42]

[Footnote 37: Every traveller must recollect the face of Lombardy, (seeFonvenelle, tom. V. P. 279, ) which is often tormented by the capriciousand irregular abundance of waters. The Austrians, before Genoa, wereencamped in the dry bed of the Polcevera. "Ne sarebbe" (says Muratori)"mai passato per mente a que' buoni Alemanni, che quel picciolotorrente potesse, per cosi dire, in un instante cangiarsi in un terribilgigante. " (Annali d'Italia, tom. Xvi. P. 443, Milan, 1752, 8vo edit. )]

[Footnote 3711: According to Le Beau and his commentator M. St. Martin, Honorius did not attempt to fly. Settlements were offered to the Gothsin Lombardy, and they advanced from the Po towards the Alps to takepossession of them. But it was a treacherous stratagem of Stilicho, whosurprised them while they were reposing on the faith of this treaty. LeBeau, v. X. ]

[Footnote 38: Claudian does not clearly answer our question, Where wasHonorius himself? Yet the flight is marked by the pursuit; and my ideaof the Gothic was is justified by the Italian critics, Sigonius (tom. P, ii. P. 369, de Imp. Occident. L. X. ) and Muratori, (Annali d'Italia. Tom. Iv. P. 45. )]

[Footnote 39: One of the roads may be traced in the Itineraries, (p. 98, 288, 294, with Wesseling's Notes. ) Asta lay some miles on the righthand. ]

[Footnote 40: Asta, or Asti, a Roman colony, is now the capital of apleasant country, which, in the sixteenth century, devolved to the dukesof Savoy, (Leandro Alberti Descrizzione d'Italia, p. 382. )]

[Footnote 41: Nec me timor impulit ullus. He might hold this proudlanguage the next year at Rome, five hundred miles from the scene ofdanger (vi. Cons. Hon. 449. )]

[Footnote 42: Hanc ego vel victor regno, vel morte tenebo Victus, humum. ----The speeches (de Bell. Get. 479-549) of the Gothic Nestor, andAchilles, are strong, characteristic, adapted to the circumstances; andpossibly not less genuine than those of Livy. ]

The loose discipline of the Barbarians always exposed them to the dangerof a surprise; but, instead of choosing the dissolute hours of riot andintemperance, Stilicho resolved to attack the Christian Goths, whilstthey were devoutly employed in celebrating the festival of Easter. [43]The execution of the stratagem, or, as it was termed by the clergy ofthe sacrilege, was intrusted to Saul, a Barbarian and a Pagan, whohad served, however, with distinguished reputation among the veterangenerals of Theodosius. The camp of the Goths, which Alaric had pitchedin the neighborhood of Pollentia, [44] was thrown into confusion bythe sudden and impetuous charge of the Imperial cavalry; but, in a fewmoments, the undaunted genius of their leader gave them an order, anda field of battle; and, as soon as they had recovered from theirastonishment, the pious confidence, that the God of the Christians wouldassert their cause, added new strength to their native valor. In thisengagement, which was long maintained with equal courage and success, the chief of the Alani, whose diminutive and savage form concealed amagnanimous soul approved his suspected loyalty, by the zeal with whichhe fought, and fell, in the service of the republic; and the fame ofthis gallant Barbarian has been imperfectly preserved in the verses ofClaudian, since the poet, who celebrates his virtue, has omitted themention of his name. His death was followed by the flight and dismay ofthe squadrons which he commanded; and the defeat of the wing ofcavalry might have decided the victory of Alaric, if Stilicho had notimmediately led the Roman and Barbarian infantry to the attack. Theskill of the general, and the bravery of the soldiers, surmounted everyobstacle. In the evening of the bloody day, the Goths retreated from thefield of battle; the intrenchments of their camp were forced, and thescene of rapine and slaughter made some atonement for the calamitieswhich they had inflicted on the subjects of the empire. [45] Themagnificent spoils of Corinth and Argos enriched the veterans of theWest; the captive wife of Alaric, who had impatiently claimed hispromise of Roman jewels and Patrician handmaids, [46] was reduced toimplore the mercy of the insulting foe; and many thousand prisoners, released from the Gothic chains, dispersed through the provinces ofItaly the praises of their heroic deliverer. The triumph of Stilicho[47] was compared by the poet, and perhaps by the public, to that ofMarius; who, in the same part of Italy, had encountered and destroyedanother army of Northern Barbarians. The huge bones, and the emptyhelmets, of the Cimbri and of the Goths, would easily be confounded bysucceeding generations; and posterity might erect a common trophy to thememory of the two most illustrious generals, who had vanquished, on thesame memorable ground, the two most formidable enemies of Rome. [48]

[Footnote 43: Orosius (l. Vii. C. 37) is shocked at the impiety of theRomans, who attacked, on Easter Sunday, such pious Christians. Yet, atthe same time, public prayers were offered at the shrine of St. Thomasof Edessa, for the destruction of the Arian robber. See Tillemont (Histdes Emp. Tom. V. P. 529) who quotes a homily, which has been erroneouslyascribed to St. Chrysostom. ]

[Footnote 44: The vestiges of Pollentia are twenty-five miles to thesouth-east of Turin. Urbs, in the same neighborhood, was a royalchase of the kings of Lombardy, and a small river, which excused theprediction, "penetrabis ad urbem, " (Cluver. Ital. Antiq tom. I. P. 83-85. )]

[Footnote 45: Orosius wishes, in doubtful words, to insinuate the defeatof the Romans. "Pugnantes vicimus, victores victi sumus. " Prosper (inChron. ) makes it an equal and bloody battle, but the Gothic writersCassiodorus (in Chron. ) and Jornandes (de Reb. Get. C. 29) claim adecisive victory. ]

[Footnote 46: Demens Ausonidum gemmata monilia matrum, Romanasque altafamulas cervice petebat. De Bell. Get. 627. ]

[Footnote 47: Claudian (de Bell. Get. 580-647) and Prudentius (inSymmach. N. 694-719) celebrate, without ambiguity, the Roman victory ofPollentia. They are poetical and party writers; yet some credit isdue to the most suspicious witnesses, who are checked by the recentnotoriety of facts. ]

[Footnote 48: Claudian's peroration is strong and elegant; but theidentity of the Cimbric and Gothic fields must be understood (likeVirgil's Philippi, Georgic i. 490) according to the loose geography ofa poet. Verselle and Pollentia are sixty miles from each other; and thelatitude is still greater, if the Cimbri were defeated in the wide andbarren plain of Verona, (Maffei, Verona Illustrata, P. I. P. 54-62. )]

The eloquence of Claudian [49] has celebrated, with lavish applause, thevictory of Pollentia, one of the most glorious days in the life of hispatron; but his reluctant and partial muse bestows more genuine praiseon the character of the Gothic king. His name is, indeed, branded withthe reproachful epithets of pirate and robber, to which the conquerorsof every age are so justly entitled; but the poet of Stilicho iscompelled to acknowledge that Alaric possessed the invincible temperof mind, which rises superior to every misfortune, and derives newresources from adversity. After the total defeat of his infantry, heescaped, or rather withdrew, from the field of battle, with the greatestpart of his cavalry entire and unbroken. Without wasting a moment tolament the irreparable loss of so many brave companions, he left hisvictorious enemy to bind in chains the captive images of a Gothic king;[50] and boldly resolved to break through the unguarded passes of theApennine, to spread desolation over the fruitful face of Tuscany, andto conquer or die before the gates of Rome. The capital was saved by theactive and incessant diligence of Stilicho; but he respected the despairof his enemy; and, instead of committing the fate of the republic tothe chance of another battle, he proposed to purchase the absence ofthe Barbarians. The spirit of Alaric would have rejected such terms, thepermission of a retreat, and the offer of a pension, with contempt andindignation; but he exercised a limited and precarious authority overthe independent chieftains who had raised him, for their service, abovethe rank of his equals; they were still less disposed to follow anunsuccessful general, and many of them were tempted to consult theirinterest by a private negotiation with the minister of Honorius. Theking submitted to the voice of his people, ratified the treaty withthe empire of the West, and repassed the Po with the remains of theflourishing army which he had led into Italy. A considerable part of theRoman forces still continued to attend his motions; and Stilicho, whomaintained a secret correspondence with some of the Barbarian chiefs, was punctually apprised of the designs that were formed in the camp andcouncil of Alaric. The king of the Goths, ambitious to signalizehis retreat by some splendid achievement, had resolved to occupy theimportant city of Verona, which commands the principal passage of theRhaetian Alps; and, directing his march through the territories of thoseGerman tribes, whose alliance would restore his exhausted strength, toinvade, on the side of the Rhine, the wealthy and unsuspecting provincesof Gaul. Ignorant of the treason which had already betrayed his bold andjudicious enterprise, he advanced towards the passes of the mountains, already possessed by the Imperial troops; where he was exposed, almostat the same instant, to a general attack in the front, on his flanks, and in the rear. In this bloody action, at a small distance from thewalls of Verona, the loss of the Goths was not less heavy than thatwhich they had sustained in the defeat of Pollentia; and their valiantking, who escaped by the swiftness of his horse, must either have beenslain or made prisoner, if the hasty rashness of the Alani had notdisappointed the measures of the Roman general. Alaric secured theremains of his army on the adjacent rocks; and prepared himself, withundaunted resolution, to maintain a siege against the superior numbersof the enemy, who invested him on all sides. But he could not oppose thedestructive progress of hunger and disease; nor was it possible forhim to check the continual desertion of his impatient and capriciousBarbarians. In this extremity he still found resources in his owncourage, or in the moderation of his adversary; and the retreat of theGothic king was considered as the deliverance of Italy. [51] Yet thepeople, and even the clergy, incapable of forming any rational judgmentof the business of peace and war, presumed to arraign the policy ofStilicho, who so often vanquished, so often surrounded, and so oftendismissed the implacable enemy of the republic. The first momen ofthe public safety is devoted to gratitude and joy; but the second isdiligently occupied by envy and calumny. [52]

[Footnote 49: Claudian and Prudentius must be strictly examined, toreduce the figures, and extort the historic sense, of those poets. ]

[Footnote 50:

 Et gravant en airain ses freles avantages De mes etats conquis enchainer les images. 

The practice of exposing in triumph the images of kings and provinceswas familiar to the Romans. The bust of Mithridates himself was twelvefeet high, of massy gold, (Freinshem. Supplement. Livian. Ciii. 47. )]

[Footnote 51: The Getic war, and the sixth consulship of Honorius, obscurely connect the events of Alaric's retreat and losses. ]

[Footnote 52: Taceo de Alarico. .. Saepe visto, saepe concluso, semperquedimisso. Orosius, l. Vii. C. 37, p. 567. Claudian (vi. Cons. Hon. 320)drops the curtain with a fine image. ]

The citizens of Rome had been astonished by the approach of Alaric;and the diligence with which they labored to restore the walls of thecapital, confessed their own fears, and the decline of the empire. After the retreat of the Barbarians, Honorius was directed to acceptthe dutiful invitation of the senate, and to celebrate, in the Imperialcity, the auspicious aera of the Gothic victory, and of his sixthconsulship. [53] The suburbs and the streets, from the Milvian bridge tothe Palatine mount, were filled by the Roman people, who, in the spaceof a hundred years, had only thrice been honored with the presenceof their sovereigns. While their eyes were fixed on the chariot whereStilicho was deservedly seated by the side of his royal pupil, theyapplauded the pomp of a triumph, which was not stained, like that ofConstantine, or of Theodosius, with civil blood. The procession passedunder a lofty arch, which had been purposely erected: but in less thanseven years, the Gothic conquerors of Rome might read, if they were ableto read, the superb inscription of that monument, which attested thetotal defeat and destruction of their nation. [54] The emperor residedseveral months in the capital, and every part of his behavior wasregulated with care to conciliate the affection of the clergy, thesenate, and the people of Rome. The clergy was edified by his frequentvisits and liberal gifts to the shrines of the apostles. The senate, who, in the triumphal procession, had been excused from the humiliatingceremony of preceding on foot the Imperial chariot, was treated with thedecent reverence which Stilicho always affected for that assembly. The people was repeatedly gratified by the attention and courtesy ofHonorius in the public games, which were celebrated on that occasionwith a magnificence not unworthy of the spectator. As soon as theappointed number of chariot-races was concluded, the decoration ofthe Circus was suddenly changed; the hunting of wild beasts affordeda various and splendid entertainment; and the chase was succeeded by amilitary dance, which seems, in the lively description of Claudian, topresent the image of a modern tournament. 

[Footnote 53: The remainder of Claudian's poem on the sixth consulshipof Honorius, describes the journey, the triumph, and the games, (330-660. )]

[Footnote 54: See the inscription in Mascou's History of the AncientGermans, viii. 12. The words are positive and indiscreet: Getarumnationem in omne aevum domitam, &c. ]

In these games of Honorius, the inhuman combats of gladiators [55]polluted, for the last time, the amphitheater of Rome. The firstChristian emperor may claim the honor of the first edict which condemnedthe art and amusement of shedding human blood; [56] but this benevolentlaw expressed the wishes of the prince, without reforming an inveterateabuse, which degraded a civilized nation below the condition of savagecannibals. Several hundred, perhaps several thousand, victims wereannually slaughtered in the great cities of the empire; and the monthof December, more peculiarly devoted to the combats of gladiators, stillexhibited to the eyes of the Roman people a grateful spectacle of bloodand cruelty. Amidst the general joy of the victory of Pollentia, aChristian poet exhorted the emperor to extirpate, by his authority, the horrid custom which had so long resisted the voice of humanity andreligion. [57] The pathetic representations of Prudentius were lesseffectual than the generous boldness of Telemachus, and Asiatic monk, whose death was more useful to mankind than his life. [58] The Romanswere provoked by the interruption of their pleasures; and the rashmonk, who had descended into the arena to separate the gladiators, wasoverwhelmed under a shower of stones. But the madness of the people soonsubsided; they respected the memory of Telemachus, who had deserved thehonors of martyrdom; and they submitted, without a murmur, to thelaws of Honorius, which abolished forever the human sacrifices of theamphitheater. [5811] The citizens, who adhered to the manners of theirancestors, might perhaps insinuate that the last remains of a martialspirit were preserved in this school of fortitude, which accustomed theRomans to the sight of blood, and to the contempt of death; a vain andcruel prejudice, so nobly confuted by the valor of ancient Greece, andof modern Europe! [59]

[Footnote 55: On the curious, though horrid, subject of the gladiators, consult the two books of the Saturnalia of Lipsius, who, as anantiquarian, is inclined to excuse the practice of antiquity, (tom. Iii. P. 483-545. )]

[Footnote 56: Cod. Theodos. L. Xv. Tit. Xii. Leg. I. The Commentary ofGodefroy affords large materials (tom. V. P. 396) for the history ofgladiators. ]

[Footnote 57: See the peroration of Prudentius (in Symmach. L. Ii. 1121-1131) who had doubtless read the eloquent invective of Lactantius, (Divin. Institut. L. Vi. C. 20. ) The Christian apologists have notspared these bloody games, which were introduced in the religiousfestivals of Paganism. ]

[Footnote 58: Theodoret, l. V. C. 26. I wish to believe the story of St. Telemachus. Yet no church has been dedicated, no altar has been erected, to the only monk who died a martyr in the cause of humanity. ]

[Footnote 5811: Muller, in his valuable Treatise, de Genio, moribus etluxu aevi Theodosiani, is disposed to question the effect produced bythe heroic, or rather saintly, death of Telemachus. No prohibitory lawof Honorius is to be found in the Theodosian Code, only the old andimperfect edict of Constantine. But Muller has produced no evidence orallusion to gladiatorial shows after this period. The combats with wildbeasts certainly lasted till the fall of the Western empire; but thegladiatorial combats ceased either by common consent, or by Imperialedict. --M. ]

[Footnote 59: Crudele gladiatorum spectaculum et inhumanum nonnullisvideri solet, et haud scio an ita sit, ut nunc fit. Cicero Tusculan. Ii. 17. He faintly censures the abuse, and warmly defends the use, of thesesports; oculis nulla poterat esse fortior contra dolorem et mortemdisciplina. Seneca (epist. Vii. ) shows the feelings of a man. ]

The recent danger, to which the person of the emperor had been exposedin the defenceless palace of Milan, urged him to seek a retreat in someinaccessible fortress of Italy, where he might securely remain, whilethe open country was covered by a deluge of Barbarians. On the coast ofthe Adriatic, about ten or twelve miles from the most southern of theseven mouths of the Po, the Thessalians had founded the ancient colonyof Ravenna, [60] which they afterwards resigned to the natives ofUmbria. Augustus, who had observed the opportunity of the place, prepared, at the distance of three miles from the old town, a capaciousharbor, for the reception of two hundred and fifty ships of war. Thisnaval establishment, which included the arsenals and magazines, thebarracks of the troops, and the houses of the artificers, derived itsorigin and name from the permanent station of the Roman fleet; theintermediate space was soon filled with buildings and inhabitants, and the three extensive and populous quarters of Ravenna graduallycontributed to form one of the most important cities of Italy. Theprincipal canal of Augustus poured a copious stream of the waters ofthe Po through the midst of the city, to the entrance of the harbor; thesame waters were introduced into the profound ditches that encompassedthe walls; they were distributed by a thousand subordinate canals, into every part of the city, which they divided into a variety of smallislands; the communication was maintained only by the use of boats andbridges; and the houses of Ravenna, whose appearance may be comparedto that of Venice, were raised on the foundation of wooden piles. The adjacent country, to the distance of many miles, was a deep andimpassable morass; and the artificial causeway, which connected Ravennawith the continent, might be easily guarded or destroyed, on theapproach of a hostile army These morasses were interspersed, however, with vineyards: and though the soil was exhausted by four or five crops, the town enjoyed a more plentiful supply of wine than of fresh water. [61] The air, instead of receiving the sickly, and almost pestilential, exhalations of low and marshy grounds, was distinguished, like theneighborhood of Alexandria, as uncommonly pure and salubrious; and thissingular advantage was ascribed to the regular tides of the Adriatic, which swept the canals, interrupted the unwholesome stagnation of thewaters, and floated, every day, the vessels of the adjacent country intothe heart of Ravenna. The gradual retreat of the sea has left the moderncity at the distance of four miles from the Adriatic; and as early asthe fifth or sixth century of the Christian aera, the port of Augustuswas converted into pleasant orchards; and a lonely grove of pinescovered the ground where the Roman fleet once rode at anchor. [62] Eventhis alteration contributed to increase the natural strength of theplace, and the shallowness of the water was a sufficient barrier againstthe large ships of the enemy. This advantageous situation was fortifiedby art and labor; and in the twentieth year of his age, the emperor ofthe West, anxious only for his personal safety, retired to the perpetualconfinement of the walls and morasses of Ravenna. The example ofHonorius was imitated by his feeble successors, the Gothic kings, and afterwards the Exarchs, who occupied the throne and palace ofthe emperors; and till the middle of the eight century, Ravenna wasconsidered as the seat of government, and the capital of Italy. [63]

[Footnote 60: This account of Ravenna is drawn from Strabo, (l. V. P. 327, ) Pliny, (iii. 20, ) Stephen of Byzantium, (sub voce, p. 651, edit. Berkel, ) Claudian, (in vi. Cons. Honor. 494, &c. , ) Sidonius Apollinaris, (l. I. Epist. 5, 8, ) Jornandes, (de Reb. Get. C. 29, ) Procopius (deBell, (lothic, l. I. C. I. P. 309, edit. Louvre, ) and Cluverius, (Ital. Antiq tom i. P. 301-307. ) Yet I still want a local antiquarian and agood topographical map. ]

[Footnote 61: Martial (Epigram iii. 56, 57) plays on the trick of theknave, who had sold him wine instead of water; but he seriously declaresthat a cistern at Ravenna is more valuable than a vineyard. Sidoniuscomplains that the town is destitute of fountains and aqueducts;and ranks the want of fresh water among the local evils, such as thecroaking of frogs, the stinging of gnats, &c. ]

[Footnote 62: The fable of Theodore and Honoria, which Dryden has soadmirably transplanted from Boccaccio, (Giornata iii. Novell. Viii. , )was acted in the wood of Chiassi, a corrupt word from Classis, the navalstation which, with the intermediate road, or suburb the Via Caesaris, constituted the triple city of Ravenna. ]

[Footnote 63: From the year 404, the dates of the Theodosian Code becomesedentary at Constantinople and Ravenna. See Godefroy's Chronology ofthe Laws, tom. I. P. Cxlviii. , &c. ]

The fears of Honorius were not without foundation, nor were hisprecautions without effect. While Italy rejoiced in her deliverance fromthe Goths, a furious tempest was excited among the nations of Germany, who yielded to the irresistible impulse that appears to have beengradually communicated from the eastern extremity of the continent ofAsia. The Chinese annals, as they have been interpreted by the earnedindustry of the present age, may be usefully applied to reveal thesecret and remote causes of the fall of the Roman empire. The extensiveterritory to the north of the great wall was possessed, after the flightof the Huns, by the victorious Sienpi, who were sometimes broken intoindependent tribes, and sometimes reunited under a supreme chief;till at length, styling themselves Topa, or masters of the earth, theyacquired a more solid consistence, and a more formidable power. The Topasoon compelled the pastoral nations of the eastern desert to acknowledgethe superiority of their arms; they invaded China in a period ofweakness and intestine discord; and these fortunate Tartars, adoptingthe laws and manners of the vanquished people, founded an Imperialdynasty, which reigned near one hundred and sixty years over thenorthern provinces of the monarchy. Some generations before theyascended the throne of China, one of the Topa princes had enlisted inhis cavalry a slave of the name of Moko, renowned for his valor, but whowas tempted, by the fear of punishment, to desert his standard, andto range the desert at the head of a hundred followers. This gang ofrobbers and outlaws swelled into a camp, a tribe, a numerous people, distinguished by the appellation of Geougen; and their hereditarychieftains, the posterity of Moko the slave, assumed their rankamong the Scythian monarchs. The youth of Toulun, the greatest of hisdescendants, was exercised by those misfortunes which are the school ofheroes. He bravely struggled with adversity, broke the imperious yoke ofthe Topa, and became the legislator of his nation, and the conqueror ofTartary. His troops were distributed into regular bands of a hundredand of a thousand men; cowards were stoned to death; the most splendidhonors were proposed as the reward of valor; and Toulun, who hadknowledge enough to despise the learning of China, adopted only sucharts and institutions as were favorable to the military spirit of hisgovernment. His tents, which he removed in the winter season to a moresouthern latitude, were pitched, during the summer, on the fruitfulbanks of the Selinga. His conquests stretched from Corea far beyond theRiver Irtish. He vanquished, in the country to the north of the CaspianSea, the nation of the Huns; and the new title of Khan, or Cagan, expressed the fame and power which he derived from this memorablevictory. [64]

[Footnote 64: See M. De Guignes, Hist. Des Huns, tom. I. P. 179-189, tomii p. 295, 334-338. ]

The chain of events is interrupted, or rather is concealed, as it passesfrom the Volga to the Vistula, through the dark interval which separatesthe extreme limits of the Chinese, and of the Roman, geography. Yet thetemper of the Barbarians, and the experience of successive emigrations, sufficiently declare, that the Huns, who were oppressed by the arms ofthe Geougen, soon withdrew from the presence of an insulting victor. The countries towards the Euxine were already occupied by their kindredtribes; and their hasty flight, which they soon converted into a boldattack, would more naturally be directed towards the rich and levelplains, through which the Vistula gently flows into the Baltic Sea. TheNorth must again have been alarmed, and agitated, by the invasion of theHuns; [6411] and the nations who retreated before them must have pressedwith incumbent weight on the confines of Germany. [65] The inhabitantsof those regions, which the ancients have assigned to the Suevi, theVandals, and the Burgundians, might embrace the resolution of abandoningto the fugitives of Sarmatia their woods and morasses; or at least ofdischarging their superfluous numbers on the provinces of the Romanempire. [66] About four years after the victorious Toulun had assumedthe title of Khan of the Geougen, another Barbarian, the haughtyRhodogast, or Radagaisus, [67] marched from the northern extremities ofGermany almost to the gates of Rome, and left the remains of his armyto achieve the destruction of the West. The Vandals, the Suevi, and theBurgundians, formed the strength of this mighty host; but the Alani, whohad found a hospitable reception in their new seats, added their activecavalry to the heavy infantry of the Germans; and the Gothic adventurerscrowded so eagerly to the standard of Radagaisus, that by somehistorians, he has been styled the King of the Goths. Twelve thousandwarriors, distinguished above the vulgar by their noble birth, or theirvaliant deeds, glittered in the van; [68] and the whole multitude, whichwas not less than two hundred thousand fighting men, might be increased, by the accession of women, of children, and of slaves, to the amount offour hundred thousand persons. This formidable emigration issued fromthe same coast of the Baltic, which had poured forth the myriads ofthe Cimbri and Teutones, to assault Rome and Italy in the vigor of therepublic. After the departure of those Barbarians, their native country, which was marked by the vestiges of their greatness, long ramparts, and gigantic moles, [69] remained, during some ages, a vast anddreary solitude; till the human species was renewed by the powers ofgeneration, and the vacancy was filled by the influx of new inhabitants. The nations who now usurp an extent of land which they are unable tocultivate, would soon be assisted by the industrious poverty of theirneighbors, if the government of Europe did not protect the claims ofdominion and property. 

[Footnote 6411: There is no authority which connects this inroad of theTeutonic tribes with the movements of the Huns. The Huns can hardly havereached the shores of the Baltic, and probably the greater part of theforces of Radagaisus, particularly the Vandals, had long occupied a moresouthern position. --M. ]

[Footnote 65: Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. Iii. P. 182) hasobserved an emigration from the Palus Maeotis to the north of Germany, which he ascribes to famine. But his views of ancient history arestrangely darkened by ignorance and error. ]

[Footnote 66: Zosimus (l. V. P. 331) uses the general description ofthe nations beyond the Danube and the Rhine. Their situation, andconsequently their names, are manifestly shown, even in the variousepithets which each ancient writer may have casually added. ]

[Footnote 67: The name of Rhadagast was that of a local deity ofthe Obotrites, (in Mecklenburg. ) A hero might naturally assume theappellation of his tutelar god; but it is not probable that theBarbarians should worship an unsuccessful hero. See Mascou, Hist. Of theGermans, viii. 14. * Note: The god of war and of hospitality with theVends and all the Sclavonian races of Germany bore the name of Radegast, apparently the same with Rhadagaisus. His principal temple was at Rhetrain Mecklenburg. It was adorned with great magnificence. The statue ofthe gold was of gold. St. Martin, v. 255. A statue of Radegast, of muchcoarser materials, and of the rudest workmanship, was discovered between1760 and 1770, with those of other Wendish deities, on the supposed siteof Rhetra. The names of the gods were cut upon them in Runic characters. See the very curious volume on these antiquities--Die GottesdienstlicheAlterthumer der Obotriter--Masch and Wogen. Berlin, 1771. --M. ]

[Footnote 68: Olympiodorus (apud Photium, p. 180), uses the Greek wordwhich does not convey any precise idea. I suspect that they were theprinces and nobles with their faithful companions; the knightswith their squires, as they would have been styled some centuriesafterwards. ]

[Footnote 69: Tacit. De Moribus Germanorum, c. 37. ]

Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths. --Part IV. 

The correspondence of nations was, in that age, so imperfect andprecarious, that the revolutions of the North might escape the knowledgeof the court of Ravenna; till the dark cloud, which was collected alongthe coast of the Baltic, burst in thunder upon the banks of theUpper Danube. The emperor of the West, if his ministers disturbed hisamusements by the news of the impending danger, was satisfied with beingthe occasion, and the spectator, of the war. [70] The safety of Rome wasintrusted to the counsels, and the sword, of Stilicho; but such wasthe feeble and exhausted state of the empire, that it was impossible torestore the fortifications of the Danube, or to prevent, by a vigorouseffort, the invasion of the Germans. [71] The hopes of the vigilantminister of Honorius were confined to the defence of Italy. He once moreabandoned the provinces, recalled the troops, pressed the new levies, which were rigorously exacted, and pusillanimously eluded; employed themost efficacious means to arrest, or allure, the deserters; and offeredthe gift of freedom, and of two pieces of gold, to all the slaves whowould enlist. [72] By these efforts he painfully collected, from thesubjects of a great empire, an army of thirty or forty thousand men, which, in the days of Scipio or Camillus, would have been instantlyfurnished by the free citizens of the territory of Rome. [73] Thethirty legions of Stilicho were reenforced by a large body of Barbarianauxiliaries; the faithful Alani were personally attached to his service;and the troops of Huns and of Goths, who marched under the banners oftheir native princes, Huldin and Sarus, were animated by interestand resentment to oppose the ambition of Radagaisus. The king of theconfederate Germans passed, without resistance, the Alps, the Po, andthe Apennine; leaving on one hand the inaccessible palace of Honorius, securely buried among the marshes of Ravenna; and, on the other, thecamp of Stilicho, who had fixed his head-quarters at Ticinum, or Pavia, but who seems to have avoided a decisive battle, till he had assembledhis distant forces. Many cities of Italy were pillaged, or destroyed;and the siege of Florence, [74] by Radagaisus, is one of the earliestevents in the history of that celebrated republic; whose firmnesschecked and delayed the unskillful fury of the Barbarians. The senateand people trembled at their approached within a hundred and eightymiles of Rome; and anxiously compared the danger which they had escaped, with the new perils to which they were exposed. Alaric was a Christianand a soldier, the leader of a disciplined army; who understood the lawsof war, who respected the sanctity of treaties, and who had familiarlyconversed with the subjects of the empire in the same camps, and thesame churches. The savage Radagaisus was a stranger to the manners, thereligion, and even the language, of the civilized nations of the South. The fierceness of his temper was exasperated by cruel superstition; andit was universally believed, that he had bound himself, by a solemn vow, to reduce the city into a heap of stones and ashes, and to sacrifice themost illustrious of the Roman senators on the altars of those godswho were appeased by human blood. The public danger, which should havereconciled all domestic animosities, displayed the incurable madnessof religious faction. The oppressed votaries of Jupiter and Mercuryrespected, in the implacable enemy of Rome, the character of a devoutPagan; loudly declared, that they were more apprehensive of thesacrifices, than of the arms, of Radagaisus; and secretly rejoiced inthe calamities of their country, which condemned the faith of theirChristian adversaries. [75] [7511]

[Footnote 70:

 Cujus agendi Spectator vel causa fui, ---(Claudian, vi. Cons. Hon. 439, )

is the modest language of Honorius, in speaking of the Gothic war, whichhe had seen somewhat nearer. ]

[Footnote 71: Zosimus (l. V. P. 331) transports the war, and the victoryof Stilisho, beyond the Danube. A strange error, which is awkwardly andimperfectly cured (Tillemont, Hist. Des Emp. Tom. V. P. 807. ) Ingood policy, we must use the service of Zosimus, without esteeming ortrusting him. ]

[Footnote 72: Codex Theodos. L. Vii. Tit. Xiii. Leg. 16. The date ofthis law A. D. 406. May 18 satisfies me, as it had done Godefroy, (tom. Ii. P. 387, ) of the true year of the invasion of Radagaisus. Tillemont, Pagi, and Muratori, prefer the preceding year; but they are bound, bycertain obligations of civility and respect, to St. Paulinus of Nola. ]

[Footnote 73: Soon after Rome had been taken by the Gauls, the senate, on a sudden emergency, armed ten legions, 3000 horse, and 42, 000 foot;a force which the city could not have sent forth under Augustus, (Livy, xi. 25. ) This declaration may puzzle an antiquary, but it is clearlyexplained by Montesquieu. ]

[Footnote 74: Machiavel has explained, at least as a philosopher, theorigin of Florence, which insensibly descended, for the benefit oftrade, from the rock of Faesulae to the banks of the Arno, (IstoriaFiorentina, tom. I. P. 36. Londra, 1747. ) The triumvirs sent a colonyto Florence, which, under Tiberius, (Tacit. Annal. I. 79, ) deserved thereputation and name of a flourishing city. See Cluver. Ital. Antiq. Tom. I. P. 507, &c. ]

[Footnote 75: Yet the Jupiter of Radagaisus, who worshipped Thor andWoden, was very different from the Olympic or Capitoline Jove. Theaccommodating temper of Polytheism might unite those various and remotedeities; but the genuine Romans ahhorred the human sacrifices of Gauland Germany. ]

[Footnote 7511: Gibbon has rather softened the language of Augustine asto this threatened insurrection of the Pagans, in order to restore theprohibited rites and ceremonies of Paganism; and their treasonable hopesthat the success of Radagaisus would be the triumph of idolatry. Compareii. 25--M. ]

Florence was reduced to the last extremity; and the fainting courage ofthe citizens was supported only by the authority of St. Ambrose; who hadcommunicated, in a dream, the promise of a speedy deliverance. [76] Ona sudden, they beheld, from their walls, the banners of Stilicho, whoadvanced, with his united force, to the relief of the faithful city; andwho soon marked that fatal spot for the grave of the Barbarian host. Theapparent contradictions of those writers who variously relate the defeatof Radagaisus, may be reconciled without offering much violence totheir respective testimonies. Orosius and Augustin, who were intimatelyconnected by friendship and religion, ascribed this miraculous victoryto the providence of God, rather than to the valor of man. [77] Theystrictly exclude every idea of chance, or even of bloodshed; andpositively affirm, that the Romans, whose camp was the scene of plentyand idleness, enjoyed the distress of the Barbarians, slowly expiringon the sharp and barren ridge of the hills of Faesulae, which rise abovethe city of Florence. Their extravagant assertion that not a singlesoldier of the Christian army was killed, or even wounded, may bedismissed with silent contempt; but the rest of the narrative ofAugustin and Orosius is consistent with the state of the war, and thecharacter of Stilicho. Conscious that he commanded the last army of therepublic, his prudence would not expose it, in the open field, to theheadstrong fury of the Germans. The method of surrounding the enemy withstrong lines of circumvallation, which he had twice employed against theGothic king, was repeated on a larger scale, and with more considerableeffect. The examples of Caesar must have been familiar to the mostilliterate of the Roman warriors; and the fortifications of Dyrrachium, which connected twenty-four castles, by a perpetual ditch and rampartof fifteen miles, afforded the model of an intrenchment which mightconfine, and starve, the most numerous host of Barbarians. [78] TheRoman troops had less degenerated from the industry, than from thevalor, of their ancestors; and if their servile and laborious workoffended the pride of the soldiers, Tuscany could supply many thousandpeasants, who would labor, though, perhaps, they would not fight, forthe salvation of their native country. The imprisoned multitude ofhorses and men [79] was gradually destroyed, by famine rather than bythe sword; but the Romans were exposed, during the progress of suchan extensive work, to the frequent attacks of an impatient enemy. Thedespair of the hungry Barbarians would precipitate them against thefortifications of Stilicho; the general might sometimes indulge theardor of his brave auxiliaries, who eagerly pressed to assault the campof the Germans; and these various incidents might produce the sharpand bloody conflicts which dignify the narrative of Zosimus, and theChronicles of Prosper and Marcellinus. [80] A seasonable supply of menand provisions had been introduced into the walls of Florence, and thefamished host of Radagaisus was in its turn besieged. The proud monarchof so many warlike nations, after the loss of his bravest warriors, was reduced to confide either in the faith of a capitulation, or in theclemency of Stilicho. [81] But the death of the royal captive, whowas ignominiously beheaded, disgraced the triumph of Rome and ofChristianity; and the short delay of his execution was sufficient tobrand the conqueror with the guilt of cool and deliberate cruelty. [82]The famished Germans, who escaped the fury of the auxiliaries, were soldas slaves, at the contemptible price of as many single pieces of gold;but the difference of food and climate swept away great numbers of thoseunhappy strangers; and it was observed, that the inhuman purchasers, instead of reaping the fruits of their labor were soon obliged toprovide the expense of their interment Stilicho informed the emperorand the senate of his success; and deserved, a second time, the glorioustitle of Deliverer of Italy. [83]

[Footnote 76: Paulinus (in Vit. Ambros c. 50) relates this story, whichhe received from the mouth of Pansophia herself, a religious matron ofFlorence. Yet the archbishop soon ceased to take an active part in thebusiness of the world, and never became a popular saint. ]

[Footnote 77: Augustin de Civitat. Dei, v. 23. Orosius, l. Vii. C. 37, p. 567-571. The two friends wrote in Africa, ten or twelve years afterthe victory; and their authority is implicitly followed by Isidore ofSeville, (in Chron. P. 713, edit. Grot. ) How many interesting factsmight Orosius have inserted in the vacant space which is devoted topious nonsense!]

[Footnote 78:

 Franguntur montes, planumque per ardua Caesar Ducit opus: pandit fossas, turritaque summis Disponit castella jugis, magnoque necessu Amplexus fines, saltus, memorosaque tesqua Et silvas, vastaque feras indagine claudit. !

Yet the simplicity of truth (Caesar, de Bell. Civ. Iii. 44) is fargreater than the amplifications of Lucan, (Pharsal. L. Vi. 29-63. )]

[Footnote 79: The rhetorical expressions of Orosius, "in arido et asperomontis jugo;" "in unum ac parvum verticem, " are not very suitable tothe encampment of a great army. But Faesulae, only three miles fromFlorence, might afford space for the head-quarters of Radagaisus, andwould be comprehended within the circuit of the Roman lines. ]

[Footnote 80: See Zosimus, l. V. P. 331, and the Chronicles of Prosperand Marcellinus. ]

[Footnote 81: Olympiodorus (apud Photium, p. 180) uses an expressionwhich would denote a strict and friendly alliance, and render Stilichostill more criminal. The paulisper detentus, deinde interfectus, ofOrosius, is sufficiently odious. * Note: Gibbon, by translating thispassage of Olympiodorus, as if it had been good Greek, has probablyfallen into an error. The natural order of the words is as Gibbontranslates it; but it is almost clear, refers to the Gothic chiefs, "whom Stilicho, after he had defeated Radagaisus, attached to his army. "So in the version corrected by Classen for Niebuhr's edition of theByzantines, p. 450. --M. ]

[Footnote 82: Orosius, piously inhuman, sacrifices the king and people, Agag and the Amalekites, without a symptom of compassion. The bloodyactor is less detestable than the cool, unfeeling historian. ----Note:Considering the vow, which he was universally believed to have made, todestroy Rome, and to sacrifice the senators on the altars, and that heis said to have immolated his prisoners to his gods, the execution ofRadagaisus, if, as it appears, he was taken in arms, cannot deserveGibbon's severe condemnation. Mr. Herbert (notes to his poem of Attila, p. 317) justly observes, that "Stilicho had probably authority forhanging him on the first tree. " Marcellinus, adds Mr. Herbert, attributes the execution to the Gothic chiefs Sarus. --M. ]

[Footnote 83: And Claudian's muse, was she asleep? had she been illpaid! Methinks the seventh consulship of Honorius (A. D. 407) would havefurnished the subject of a noble poem. Before it was discovered that thestate could no longer be saved, Stilicho (after Romulus, Camillus andMarius) might have been worthily surnamed the fourth founder of Rome. ]

The fame of the victory, and more especially of the miracle, hasencouraged a vain persuasion, that the whole army, or rather nation, ofGermans, who migrated from the shores of the Baltic, miserably perishedunder the walls of Florence. Such indeed was the fate of Radagaisushimself, of his brave and faithful companions, and of more than onethird of the various multitude of Sueves and Vandals, of Alani andBurgundians, who adhered to the standard of their general. [84] Theunion of such an army might excite our surprise, but the causes ofseparation are obvious and forcible; the pride of birth, the insolenceof valor, the jealousy of command, the impatience of subordination, andthe obstinate conflict of opinions, of interests, and of passions, amongso many kings and warriors, who were untaught to yield, or to obey. After the defeat of Radagaisus, two parts of the German host, which musthave exceeded the number of one hundred thousand men, still remainedin arms, between the Apennine and the Alps, or between the Alps and theDanube. It is uncertain whether they attempted to revenge the deathof their general; but their irregular fury was soon diverted bythe prudence and firmness of Stilicho, who opposed their march, andfacilitated their retreat; who considered the safety of Rome and Italyas the great object of his care, and who sacrificed, with too muchindifference, the wealth and tranquillity of the distant provinces. [85]The Barbarians acquired, from the junction of some Pannonian deserters, the knowledge of the country, and of the roads; and the invasion ofGaul, which Alaric had designed, was executed by the remains of thegreat army of Radagaisus. [86]

[Footnote 84: A luminous passage of Prosper's Chronicle, "In trespartes, pes diversos principes, diversus exercitus, " reduces the miracleof Florence and connects the history of Italy, Gaul, and Germany. ]

[Footnote 85: Orosius and Jerom positively charge him with instigatingthe in vasion. "Excitatae a Stilichone gentes, " &c. They must mean adirectly. He saved Italy at the expense of Gaul]

[Footnote 86: The Count de Buat is satisfied, that the Germans whoinvaded Gaul were the two thirds that yet remained of the army ofRadagaisus. See the Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de l'Europe, (tom. Vii. P. 87, 121. Paris, 1772;) an elaborate work, which I had not theadvantage of perusing till the year 1777. As early as 1771, I find thesame idea expressed in a rough draught of the present History. Ihave since observed a similar intimation in Mascou, (viii. 15. ) Suchagreement, without mutual communication, may add some weight to ourcommon sentiment. ]

Yet if they expected to derive any assistance from the tribes ofGermany, who inhabited the banks of the Rhine, their hopes weredisappointed. The Alemanni preserved a state of inactive neutrality; andthe Franks distinguished their zeal and courage in the defence of theof the empire. In the rapid progress down the Rhine, which was the firstact of the administration of Stilicho, he had applied himself, withpeculiar attention, to secure the alliance of the warlike Franks, andto remove the irreconcilable enemies of peace and of the republic. Marcomir, one of their kings, was publicly convicted, before thetribunal of the Roman magistrate, of violating the faith of treaties. Hewas sentenced to a mild, but distant exile, in the province of Tuscany;and this degradation of the regal dignity was so far from exciting theresentment of his subjects, that they punished with death the turbulentSunno, who attempted to revenge his brother; and maintained a dutifulallegiance to the princes, who were established on the throne by thechoice of Stilicho. [87] When the limits of Gaul and Germany were shakenby the northern emigration, the Franks bravely encountered the singleforce of the Vandals; who, regardless of the lessons of adversity, had again separated their troops from the standard of their Barbarianallies. They paid the penalty of their rashness; and twenty thousandVandals, with their king Godigisclus, were slain in the field of battle. The whole people must have been extirpated, if the squadrons of theAlani, advancing to their relief, had not trampled down the infantryof the Franks; who, after an honorable resistance, were compelled torelinquish the unequal contest. The victorious confederates pursuedtheir march, and on the last day of the year, in a season when thewaters of the Rhine were most probably frozen, they entered, withoutopposition, the defenceless provinces of Gaul. This memorable passageof the Suevi, the Vandals, the Alani, and the Burgundians, who neverafterwards retreated, may be considered as the fall of the Roman empirein the countries beyond the Alps; and the barriers, which had so longseparated the savage and the civilized nations of the earth, were fromthat fatal moment levelled with the ground. [88]

[Footnote 87:

 Provincia missos Expellet citius fasces, quam Francia reges Quos dederis. 

Claudian (i. Cons. Stil. L. I. 235, &c. ) is clear and satisfactory. These kings of France are unknown to Gregory of Tours; but the authorof the Gesta Francorum mentions both Sunno and Marcomir, and names thelatter as the father of Pharamond, (in tom. Ii. P. 543. ) He seems towrite from good materials, which he did not understand. ]

[Footnote 88: See Zosimus, (l. Vi. P. 373, ) Orosius, (l. Vii. C. 40, p. 576, ) and the Chronicles. Gregory of Tours (l. Ii. C. 9, p. 165, inthe second volume of the Historians of France) has preserved a valuablefragment of Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus, whose three names denote aChristian, a Roman subject, and a Semi-Barbarian. ]

While the peace of Germany was secured by the attachment of the Franks, and the neutrality of the Alemanni, the subjects of Rome, unconscious oftheir approaching calamities, enjoyed the state of quiet and prosperity, which had seldom blessed the frontiers of Gaul. Their flocks andherds were permitted to graze in the pastures of the Barbarians; theirhuntsmen penetrated, without fear or danger, into the darkest recessesof the Hercynian wood. [89] The banks of the Rhine were crowned, likethose of the Tyber, with elegant houses, and well-cultivated farms; andif a poet descended the river, he might express his doubt, on which sidewas situated the territory of the Romans. [90] This scene of peaceand plenty was suddenly changed into a desert; and the prospect of thesmoking ruins could alone distinguish the solitude of nature from thedesolation of man. The flourishing city of Mentz was surprised anddestroyed; and many thousand Christians were inhumanly massacred in thechurch. Worms perished after a long and obstinate siege; Strasburgh, Spires, Rheims, Tournay, Arras, Amiens, experienced the cruel oppressionof the German yoke; and the consuming flames of war spread from thebanks of the Rhine over the greatest part of the seventeen provinces ofGaul. That rich and extensive country, as far as the ocean, the Alps, and the Pyrenees, was delivered to the Barbarians, who drove beforethem, in a promiscuous crowd, the bishop, the senator, and thevirgin, laden with the spoils of their houses and altars. [91] Theecclesiastics, to whom we are indebted for this vague description of thepublic calamities, embraced the opportunity of exhorting the Christiansto repent of the sins which had provoked the Divine Justice, and torenounce the perishable goods of a wretched and deceitful world. Butas the Pelagian controversy, [92] which attempts to sound the abyssof grace and predestination, soon became the serious employment ofthe Latin clergy, the Providence which had decreed, or foreseen, orpermitted, such a train of moral and natural evils, was rashly weighedin the imperfect and fallacious balance of reason. The crimes, and themisfortunes, of the suffering people, were presumptuously compared withthose of their ancestors; and they arraigned the Divine Justice, whichdid not exempt from the common destruction the feeble, the guiltless, the infant portion of the human species. These idle disputantsoverlooked the invariable laws of nature, which have connected peacewith innocence, plenty with industry, and safety with valor. The timidand selfish policy of the court of Ravenna might recall the Palatinelegions for the protection of Italy; the remains of the stationarytroops might be unequal to the arduous task; and the Barbarianauxiliaries might prefer the unbounded license of spoil to the benefitsof a moderate and regular stipend. But the provinces of Gaul were filledwith a numerous race of hardy and robust youth, who, in the defence oftheir houses, their families, and their altars, if they had dared todie, would have deserved to vanquish. The knowledge of their nativecountry would have enabled them to oppose continual and insuperableobstacles to the progress of an invader; and the deficiency of theBarbarians, in arms, as well as in discipline, removed the only pretencewhich excuses the submission of a populous country to the inferiornumbers of a veteran army. When France was invaded by Charles V. , heinquired of a prisoner, how many days Paris might be distant from thefrontier; "Perhaps twelve, but they will be days of battle:" [93] suchwas the gallant answer which checked the arrogance of that ambitiousprince. The subjects of Honorius, and those of Francis I. , were animatedby a very different spirit; and in less than two years, the dividedtroops of the savages of the Baltic, whose numbers, were they fairlystated, would appear contemptible, advanced, without a combat, to thefoot of the Pyrenean Mountains. 

[Footnote 89: Claudian (i. Cons. Stil. L. I. 221, &c. , l. Ii. 186)describes the peace and prosperity of the Gallic frontier. The AbbeDubos (Hist. Critique, &c. , tom. I. P. 174) would read Alba (a namelessrivulet of the Ardennes) instead of Albis; and expatiates on thedanger of the Gallic cattle grazing beyond the Elbe. Foolish enough! Inpoetical geography, the Elbe, and the Hercynian, signify any river, or any wood, in Germany. Claudian is not prepared for the strictexamination of our antiquaries. ]

[Footnote 90:--Germinasque viator Cum videat ripas, quae sit Romanarequirat. ]

[Footnote 91: Jerom, tom. I. P. 93. See in the 1st vol. Of theHistorians of France, p. 777, 782, the proper extracts from the Carmende Providentil Divina, and Salvian. The anonymous poet was himself acaptive, with his bishop and fellow-citizens. ]

[Footnote 92: The Pelagian doctrine, which was first agitated A. D. 405, was condemned, in the space of ten years, at Rome and Carthage. StAugustin fought and conquered; but the Greek church was favorable to hisadversaries; and (what is singular enough) the people did not take anypart in a dispute which they could not understand. ]

[Footnote 93: See the Memoires de Guillaume du Bellay, l. Vi. In French, the original reproof is less obvious, and more pointed, from the doublesense of the word journee, which alike signifies, a day's travel, or abattle. ]

In the early part of the reign of Honorius, the vigilance of Stilichohad successfully guarded the remote island of Britain from her incessantenemies of the ocean, the mountains, and the Irish coast. [94] But thoserestless Barbarians could not neglect the fair opportunity of the Gothicwar, when the walls and stations of the province were stripped of theRoman troops. If any of the legionaries were permitted to return fromthe Italian expedition, their faithful report of the court and characterof Honorius must have tended to dissolve the bonds of allegiance, andto exasperate the seditious temper of the British army. The spirit ofrevolt, which had formerly disturbed the age of Gallienus, was revivedby the capricious violence of the soldiers; and the unfortunate, perhapsthe ambitious, candidates, who were the objects of their choice, werethe instruments, and at length the victims, of their passion. [95]Marcus was the first whom they placed on the throne, as the lawfulemperor of Britain and of the West. They violated, by the hasty murderof Marcus, the oath of fidelity which they had imposed on themselves;and their disapprobation of his manners may seem to inscribe anhonorable epitaph on his tomb. Gratian was the next whom they adornedwith the diadem and the purple; and, at the end of four months, Gratianexperienced the fate of his predecessor. The memory of the greatConstantine, whom the British legions had given to the church and tothe empire, suggested the singular motive of their third choice. Theydiscovered in the ranks a private soldier of the name of Constantine, and their impetuous levity had already seated him on the throne, beforethey perceived his incapacity to sustain the weight of that gloriousappellation. [96] Yet the authority of Constantine was less precarious, and his government was more successful, than the transient reigns ofMarcus and of Gratian. The danger of leaving his inactive troops inthose camps, which had been twice polluted with blood and sedition, urged him to attempt the reduction of the Western provinces. He landedat Boulogne with an inconsiderable force; and after he had reposedhimself some days, he summoned the cities of Gaul, which had escapedthe yoke of the Barbarians, to acknowledge their lawful sovereign. They obeyed the summons without reluctance. The neglect of the courtof Ravenna had absolved a deserted people from the duty of allegiance;their actual distress encouraged them to accept any circumstances ofchange, without apprehension, and, perhaps, with some degree of hope;and they might flatter themselves, that the troops, the authority, andeven the name of a Roman emperor, who fixed his residence in Gaul, wouldprotect the unhappy country from the rage of the Barbarians. The firstsuccesses of Constantine against the detached parties of the Germans, were magnified by the voice of adulation into splendid and decisivevictories; which the reunion and insolence of the enemy soon reducedto their just value. His negotiations procured a short and precarioustruce; and if some tribes of the Barbarians were engaged, by theliberality of his gifts and promises, to undertake the defence of theRhine, these expensive and uncertain treaties, instead of restoringthe pristine vigor of the Gallic frontier, served only to disgrace themajesty of the prince, and to exhaust what yet remained of the treasuresof the republic. Elated, however, with this imaginary triumph, the vaindeliverer of Gaul advanced into the provinces of the South, to encountera more pressing and personal danger. Sarus the Goth was ordered tolay the head of the rebel at the feet of the emperor Honorius; and theforces of Britain and Italy were unworthily consumed in this domesticquarrel. After the loss of his two bravest generals, Justinian andNevigastes, the former of whom was slain in the field of battle, thelatter in a peaceful but treacherous interview, Constantine fortifiedhimself within the walls of Vienna. The place was ineffectually attackedseven days; and the Imperial army supported, in a precipitate retreat, the ignominy of purchasing a secure passage from the freebooters andoutlaws of the Alps. [97] Those mountains now separated the dominions oftwo rival monarchs; and the fortifications of the double frontier wereguarded by the troops of the empire, whose arms would have been moreusefully employed to maintain the Roman limits against the Barbarians ofGermany and Scythia. 

[Footnote 94: Claudian, (i. Cons. Stil. L. Ii. 250. ) It is supposedthat the Scots of Ireland invaded, by sea, the whole western coast ofBritain: and some slight credit may be given even to Nennius and theIrish traditions, (Carte's Hist. Of England, vol. I. P. 169. ) Whitaker'sGenuine History of the Britons, p. 199. The sixty-six lives of St. Patrick, which were extant in the ninth century, must have containedas many thousand lies; yet we may believe, that, in one of these Irishinroads the future apostle was led away captive, (Usher, Antiquit. Eccles Britann. P. 431, and Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xvi. P. 45 782, &c. )]

[Footnote 95: The British usurpers are taken from Zosimus, (l. Vi. P. 371-375, ) Orosius, (l. Vii. C. 40, p. 576, 577, ) Olympiodorus, (apud Photium, p. 180, 181, ) the ecclesiastical historians, and theChronicles. The Latins are ignorant of Marcus. ]

[Footnote 96: Cum in Constantino inconstantiam. .. Execrarentur, (Sidonius Apollinaris, l. V. Epist. 9, p. 139, edit. Secund. Sirmond. )Yet Sidonius might be tempted, by so fair a pun, to stigmatize a princewho had disgraced his grandfather. ]

[Footnote 97: Bagaudoe is the name which Zosimus applies to them;perhaps they deserved a less odious character, (see Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. I. P. 203, and this History, vol. I. P. 407. ) We shallhear of them again. ]

Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths. --Part V. 

On the side of the Pyrenees, the ambition of Constantine mightbe justified by the proximity of danger; but his throne was soonestablished by the conquest, or rather submission, of Spain; whichyielded to the influence of regular and habitual subordination, andreceived the laws and magistrates of the Gallic praefecture. The onlyopposition which was made to the authority of Constantine proceeded notso much from the powers of government, or the spirit of the people, asfrom the private zeal and interest of the family of Theodosius. Fourbrothers [98] had obtained, by the favor of their kinsman, the deceasedemperor, an honorable rank and ample possessions in their nativecountry; and the grateful youths resolved to risk those advantages inthe service of his son. After an unsuccessful effort to maintain theirground at the head of the stationary troops of Lusitania, they retiredto their estates; where they armed and levied, at their own expense, aconsiderable body of slaves and dependants, and boldly marched to occupythe strong posts of the Pyrenean Mountains. This domestic insurrectionalarmed and perplexed the sovereign of Gaul and Britain; and he wascompelled to negotiate with some troops of Barbarian auxiliaries, forthe service of the Spanish war. They were distinguished by the title ofHonorians; [99] a name which might have reminded them of their fidelityto their lawful sovereign; and if it should candidly be allowed that theScots were influenced by any partial affection for a British prince, theMoors and the Marcomanni could be tempted only by the profuse liberalityof the usurper, who distributed among the Barbarians the military, andeven the civil, honors of Spain. The nine bands of Honorians, which maybe easily traced on the establishment of the Western empire, could notexceed the number of five thousand men: yet this inconsiderable forcewas sufficient to terminate a war, which had threatened the power andsafety of Constantine. The rustic army of the Theodosian family wassurrounded and destroyed in the Pyrenees: two of the brothers had thegood fortune to escape by sea to Italy, or the East; the other two, after an interval of suspense, were executed at Arles; and if Honoriuscould remain insensible of the public disgrace, he might perhaps beaffected by the personal misfortunes of his generous kinsmen. Such werethe feeble arms which decided the possession of the Western provincesof Europe, from the wall of Antoninus to the columns of Hercules. Theevents of peace and war have undoubtedly been diminished by the narrowand imperfect view of the historians of the times, who were equallyignorant of the causes, and of the effects, of the most importantrevolutions. But the total decay of the national strength hadannihilated even the last resource of a despotic government; and therevenue of exhausted provinces could no longer purchase the militaryservice of a discontented and pusillanimous people. 

[Footnote 98: Verinianus, Didymus, Theodosius, and Lagodius, whoin modern courts would be styled princes of the blood, were notdistinguished by any rank or privileges above the rest of theirfellow-subjects. ]

[Footnote 99: These Honoriani, or Honoriaci, consisted of two bands ofScots, or Attacotti, two of Moors, two of Marcomanni, the Victores, theAsca in, and the Gallicani, (Notitia Imperii, sect. Xxxiii. Edit. Lab. )They were part of the sixty-five Auxilia Palatina, and are properlystyled by Zosimus, (l. Vi. 374. )]

The poet, whose flattery has ascribed to the Roman eagle the victoriesof Pollentia and Verona, pursues the hasty retreat of Alaric, from theconfines of Italy, with a horrid train of imaginary spectres, such asmight hover over an army of Barbarians, which was almost exterminatedby war, famine, and disease. [100] In the course of this unfortunateexpedition, the king of the Goths must indeed have sustained aconsiderable loss; and his harassed forces required an interval ofrepose, to recruit their numbers and revive their confidence. Adversityhad exercised and displayed the genius of Alaric; and the fame ofhis valor invited to the Gothic standard the bravest of the Barbarianwarriors; who, from the Euxine to the Rhine, were agitated by the desireof rapine and conquest. He had deserved the esteem, and he soon acceptedthe friendship, of Stilicho himself. Renouncing the service of theemperor of the East, Alaric concluded, with the court of Ravenna, atreaty of peace and alliance, by which he was declared master-generalof the Roman armies throughout the praefecture of Illyricum; as it wasclaimed, according to the true and ancient limits, by the minister ofHonorius. [101] The execution of the ambitious design, which was eitherstipulated, or implied, in the articles of the treaty, appears tohave been suspended by the formidable irruption of Radagaisus; andthe neutrality of the Gothic king may perhaps be compared to theindifference of Caesar, who, in the conspiracy of Catiline, refusedeither to assist, or to oppose, the enemy of the republic. After thedefeat of the Vandals, Stilicho resumed his pretensions to the provincesof the East; appointed civil magistrates for the administration ofjustice, and of the finances; and declared his impatience to lead tothe gates of Constantinople the united armies of the Romans and of theGoths. The prudence, however, of Stilicho, his aversion to civil war, and his perfect knowledge of the weakness of the state, may countenancethe suspicion, that domestic peace, rather than foreign conquest, wasthe object of his policy; and that his principal care was to employ theforces of Alaric at a distance from Italy. This design could not longescape the penetration of the Gothic king, who continued to hold adoubtful, and perhaps a treacherous, correspondence with the rivalcourts; who protracted, like a dissatisfied mercenary, his languidoperations in Thessaly and Epirus, and who soon returned to claim theextravagant reward of his ineffectual services. From his camp nearAemona, [102] on the confines of Italy, he transmitted to the emperor ofthe West a long account of promises, of expenses, and of demands; calledfor immediate satisfaction, and clearly intimated the consequences ofa refusal. Yet if his conduct was hostile, his language was decent anddutiful. He humbly professed himself the friend of Stilicho, and thesoldier of Honorius; offered his person and his troops to march, withoutdelay, against the usurper of Gaul; and solicited, as a permanentretreat for the Gothic nation, the possession of some vacant province ofthe Western empire. 

[Footnote 100:

 Comitatur euntem Pallor, et atra fames; et saucia lividus ora Luctus; et inferno stridentes agmine morbi. ---Claudian in vi. Cons. Hon. 821, &c. ]

[Footnote 101: These dark transactions are investigated by the Countde Bual (Hist. Des Peuples de l'Europe, tom. Vii. C. Iii. --viii. P. 69-206, ) whose laborious accuracy may sometimes fatigue a superficialreader. ]

[Footnote 102: See Zosimus, l. V. P. 334, 335. He interrupts his scantynarrative to relate the fable of Aemona, and of the ship Argo; which wasdrawn overland from that place to the Adriatic. Sozomen (l. Viii. C. 25, l. Ix. C. 4) and Socrates (l. Vii. C. 10) cast a pale and doubtfullight; and Orosius (l. Vii. C. 38, p. 571) is abominably partial. ]

The political and secret transactions of two statesmen, who labored todeceive each other and the world, must forever have been concealed inthe impenetrable darkness of the cabinet, if the debates of a popularassembly had not thrown some rays of light on the correspondence ofAlaric and Stilicho. The necessity of finding some artificial supportfor a government, which, from a principle, not of moderation, but ofweakness, was reduced to negotiate with its own subjects, had insensiblyrevived the authority of the Roman senate; and the minister of Honoriusrespectfully consulted the legislative council of the republic. Stilichoassembled the senate in the palace of the Caesars; represented, in astudied oration, the actual state of affairs; proposed the demands ofthe Gothic king, and submitted to their consideration the choice ofpeace or war. The senators, as if they had been suddenly awakened from adream of four hundred years, appeared, on this important occasion, tobe inspired by the courage, rather than by the wisdom, of theirpredecessors. They loudly declared, in regular speeches, or intumultuary acclamations, that it was unworthy of the majesty of Rome topurchase a precarious and disgraceful truce from a Barbarian king; andthat, in the judgment of a magnanimous people, the chance of ruin wasalways preferable to the certainty of dishonor. The minister, whosepacific intentions were seconded only by the voice of a few servile andvenal followers, attempted to allay the general ferment, by an apologyfor his own conduct, and even for the demands of the Gothic prince. "Thepayment of a subsidy, which had excited the indignation of the Romans, ought not (such was the language of Stilicho) to be considered in theodious light, either of a tribute, or of a ransom, extorted by themenaces of a Barbarian enemy. Alaric had faithfully asserted the justpretensions of the republic to the provinces which were usurped by theGreeks of Constantinople: he modestly required the fair and stipulatedrecompense of his services; and if he had desisted from the prosecutionof his enterprise, he had obeyed, in his retreat, the peremptory, thoughprivate, letters of the emperor himself. These contradictory orders (hewould not dissemble the errors of his own family) had been procured bythe intercession of Serena. The tender piety of his wife had been toodeeply affected by the discord of the royal brothers, the sons of heradopted father; and the sentiments of nature had too easily prevailedover the stern dictates of the public welfare. " These ostensiblereasons, which faintly disguise the obscure intrigues of the palaceof Ravenna, were supported by the authority of Stilicho; and obtained, after a warm debate, the reluctant approbation of the senate. The tumultof virtue and freedom subsided; and the sum of four thousand pounds ofgold was granted, under the name of a subsidy, to secure the peaceof Italy, and to conciliate the friendship of the king of the Goths. Lampadius alone, one of the most illustrious members of the assembly, still persisted in his dissent; exclaimed, with a loud voice, "This isnot a treaty of peace, but of servitude;" [103] and escaped the dangerof such bold opposition by immediately retiring to the sanctuary of aChristian church. [See Palace Of The Caesars]

[Footnote 103: Zosimus, l. V. P. 338, 339. He repeats the words ofLampadius, as they were spoke in Latin, "Non est ista pax, sed pactioservi tutis, " and then translates them into Greek for the benefit of hisreaders. * Note: From Cicero's XIIth Philippic, 14. --M. ]

But the reign of Stilicho drew towards its end; and the proud ministermight perceive the symptoms of his approaching disgrace. The generousboldness of Lampadius had been applauded; and the senate, so patientlyresigned to a long servitude, rejected with disdain the offer ofinvidious and imaginary freedom. The troops, who still assumed the nameand prerogatives of the Roman legions, were exasperated by the partialaffection of Stilicho for the Barbarians: and the people imputed to themischievous policy of the minister the public misfortunes, which werethe natural consequence of their own degeneracy. Yet Stilicho might havecontinued to brave the clamors of the people, and even of the soldiers, if he could have maintained his dominion over the feeble mind of hispupil. But the respectful attachment of Honorius was converted intofear, suspicion, and hatred. The crafty Olympius, [104] who concealedhis vices under the mask of Christian piety, had secretly undermined thebenefactor, by whose favor he was promoted to the honorable offices ofthe Imperial palace. Olympius revealed to the unsuspecting emperor, who had attained the twenty-fifth year of his age, that he was withoutweight, or authority, in his own government; and artfully alarmed histimid and indolent disposition by a lively picture of the designs ofStilicho, who already meditated the death of his sovereign, with theambitious hope of placing the diadem on the head of his son Eucherius. The emperor was instigated, by his new favorite, to assume the toneof independent dignity; and the minister was astonished to find, thatsecret resolutions were formed in the court and council, which wererepugnant to his interest, or to his intentions. Instead of residing inthe palace of Rome, Honorius declared that it was his pleasure to returnto the secure fortress of Ravenna. On the first intelligence of thedeath of his brother Arcadius, he prepared to visit Constantinople, and to regulate, with the authority of a guardian, the provinces ofthe infant Theodosius. [105] The representation of the difficulty andexpense of such a distant expedition, checked this strange and suddensally of active diligence; but the dangerous project of showing theemperor to the camp of Pavia, which was composed of the Roman troops, the enemies of Stilicho, and his Barbarian auxiliaries, remainedfixed and unalterable. The minister was pressed, by the advice of hisconfidant, Justinian, a Roman advocate, of a lively and penetratinggenius, to oppose a journey so prejudicial to his reputation and safety. His strenuous but ineffectual efforts confirmed the triumph of Olympius;and the prudent lawyer withdrew himself from the impending ruin of hispatron. 

[Footnote 104: He came from the coast of the Euxine, and exercised asplendid office. His actions justify his character, which Zosimus (l. V. P. 340) exposes with visible satisfaction. Augustin revered the pietyof Olympius, whom he styles a true son of the church, (Baronius, Annal. Eccles, Eccles. A. D. 408, No. 19, &c. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xiii. P. 467, 468. ) But these praises, which the African saint so unworthilybestows, might proceed as well from ignorance as from adulation. ]

[Footnote 105: Zosimus, l. V. P. 338, 339. Sozomen, l. Ix. C. 4. Stilicho offered to undertake the journey to Constantinople, that hemight divert Honorius from the vain attempt. The Eastern empire wouldnot have obeyed, and could not have been conquered. ]

In the passage of the emperor through Bologna, a mutiny of the guardswas excited and appeased by the secret policy of Stilicho; who announcedhis instructions to decimate the guilty, and ascribed to his ownintercession the merit of their pardon. After this tumult, Honoriusembraced, for the last time, the minister whom he now considered asa tyrant, and proceeded on his way to the camp of Pavia; where he wasreceived by the loyal acclamations of the troops who were assembledfor the service of the Gallic war. On the morning of the fourth day, hepronounced, as he had been taught, a military oration in the presenceof the soldiers, whom the charitable visits, and artful discourses, ofOlympius had prepared to execute a dark and bloody conspiracy. Atthe first signal, they massacred the friends of Stilicho, the mostillustrious officers of the empire; two Praetorian praefects, of Gauland of Italy; two masters-general of the cavalry and infantry; themaster of the offices; the quaestor, the treasurer, and the count of thedomestics. Many lives were lost; many houses were plundered; the furioussedition continued to rage till the close of the evening; and thetrembling emperor, who was seen in the streets of Pavia without hisrobes or diadem, yielded to the persuasions of his favorite; condemnedthe memory of the slain; and solemnly approved the innocence andfidelity of their assassins. The intelligence of the massacre of Paviafilled the mind of Stilicho with just and gloomy apprehensions; and heinstantly summoned, in the camp of Bologna, a council of the confederateleaders, who were attached to his service, and would be involved in hisruin. The impetuous voice of the assembly called aloud for arms, andfor revenge; to march, without a moment's delay, under the banners ofa hero, whom they had so often followed to victory; to surprise, tooppress, to extirpate the guilty Olympius, and his degenerate Romans;and perhaps to fix the diadem on the head of their injured general. Instead of executing a resolution, which might have been justified bysuccess, Stilicho hesitated till he was irrecoverably lost. He was stillignorant of the fate of the emperor; he distrusted the fidelity of hisown party; and he viewed with horror the fatal consequences of arming acrowd of licentious Barbarians against the soldiers and people of Italy. The confederates, impatient of his timorous and doubtful delay, hastilyretired, with fear and indignation. At the hour of midnight, Sarus, a Gothic warrior, renowned among the Barbarians themselves for hisstrength and valor, suddenly invaded the camp of his benefactor, plundered the baggage, cut in pieces the faithful Huns, who guardedhis person, and penetrated to the tent, where the minister, pensive andsleepless, meditated on the dangers of his situation. Stilicho escapedwith difficulty from the sword of the Goths and, after issuing a lastand generous admonition to the cities of Italy, to shut their gatesagainst the Barbarians, his confidence, or his despair, urged him tothrow himself into Ravenna, which was already in the absolute possessionof his enemies. Olympius, who had assumed the dominion of Honorius, wasspeedily informed, that his rival had embraced, as a suppliant the altarof the Christian church. The base and cruel disposition of the hypocritewas incapable of pity or remorse; but he piously affected to elude, rather than to violate, the privilege of the sanctuary. Count Heraclian, with a troop of soldiers, appeared, at the dawn of day, before the gatesof the church of Ravenna. The bishop was satisfied by a solemn oath, that the Imperial mandate only directed them to secure the person ofStilicho: but as soon as the unfortunate minister had been temptedbeyond the holy threshold, he produced the warrant for his instantexecution. Stilicho supported, with calm resignation, the injuriousnames of traitor and parricide; repressed the unseasonable zeal of hisfollowers, who were ready to attempt an ineffectual rescue; and, with afirmness not unworthy of the last of the Roman generals, submitted hisneck to the sword of Heraclian. [106]

[Footnote 106: Zosimus (l. V. P. 336-345) has copiously, though notclearly, related the disgrace and death of Stilicho. Olympiodorus, (apudPhot. P. 177. ) Orosius, (l. Vii. C. 38, p. 571, 572, ) Sozomen, (l. Ix. C. 4, ) and Philostorgius, (l. Xi. C. 3, l. Xii. C. 2, ) affordsupplemental hints. ]

The servile crowd of the palace, who had so long adored the fortune ofStilicho, affected to insult his fall; and the most distant connectionwith the master-general of the West, which had so lately been a title towealth and honors, was studiously denied, and rigorously punished. Hisfamily, united by a triple alliance with the family of Theodosius, might envy the condition of the meanest peasant. The flight of his sonEucherius was intercepted; and the death of that innocent youth soonfollowed the divorce of Thermantia, who filled the place of her sisterMaria; and who, like Maria, had remained a virgin in the Imperial bed. [107] The friends of Stilicho, who had escaped the massacre of Pavia, were persecuted by the implacable revenge of Olympius; and the mostexquisite cruelty was employed to extort the confession of a treasonableand sacrilegious conspiracy. They died in silence: their firmnessjustified the choice, [108] and perhaps absolved the innocence of theirpatron: and the despotic power, which could take his life without atrial, and stigmatize his memory without a proof, has no jurisdictionover the impartial suffrage of posterity. [109] The services of Stilichoare great and manifest; his crimes, as they are vaguely stated in thelanguage of flattery and hatred, are obscure at least, and improbable. About four months after his death, an edict was published, in the nameof Honorius, to restore the free communication of the two empires, whichhad been so long interrupted by the public enemy. [110] The minister, whose fame and fortune depended on the prosperity of the state, wasaccused of betraying Italy to the Barbarians; whom he repeatedlyvanquished at Pollentia, at Verona, and before the walls of Florence. His pretended design of placing the diadem on the head of his sonEucherius, could not have been conducted without preparations oraccomplices; and the ambitious father would not surely have left thefuture emperor, till the twentieth year of his age, in the humblestation of tribune of the notaries. Even the religion of Stilichowas arraigned by the malice of his rival. The seasonable, and almostmiraculous, deliverance was devoutly celebrated by the applause of theclergy; who asserted, that the restoration of idols, and the persecutionof the church, would have been the first measure of the reign ofEucherius. The son of Stilicho, however, was educated in the bosom ofChristianity, which his father had uniformly professed, and zealouslysupported. [111] [1111] Serena had borrowed her magnificent necklacefrom the statue of Vesta; [112] and the Pagans execrated the memoryof the sacrilegious minister, by whose order the Sibylline books, theoracles of Rome, had been committed to the flames. [113] The pride andpower of Stilicho constituted his real guilt. An honorable reluctanceto shed the blood of his countrymen appears to have contributed to thesuccess of his unworthy rival; and it is the last humiliation of thecharacter of Honorius, that posterity has not condescended to reproachhim with his base ingratitude to the guardian of his youth, and thesupport of his empire. 

[Footnote 107: Zosimus, l. V. P. 333. The marriage of a Christian withtwo sisters, scandalizes Tillemont, (Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. V. P. 557;) who expects, in vain, that Pope Innocent I. Should have donesomething in the way either of censure or of dispensation. ]

[Footnote 108: Two of his friends are honorably mentioned, (Zosimus, l. V. P. 346:) Peter, chief of the school of notaries, and the greatchamberlain Deuterius. Stilicho had secured the bed-chamber; and it issurprising that, under a feeble prince, the bed-chamber was not able tosecure him. ]

[Footnote 109: Orosius (l. Vii. C. 38, p. 571, 572) seems to copy thefalse and furious manifestos, which were dispersed through the provincesby the new administration. ]

[Footnote 110: See the Theodosian code, l. Vii. Tit. Xvi. Leg. 1, l. Ix. Tit. Xlii. Leg. 22. Stilicho is branded with the name of proedopublicus, who employed his wealth, ad omnem ditandam, inquietandamqueBarbariem. ]

[Footnote 111: Augustin himself is satisfied with the effectual laws, which Stilicho had enacted against heretics and idolaters; and whichare still extant in the Code. He only applies to Olympius for theirconfirmation, (Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A. D. 408, No. 19. )]

[Footnote 112: Zosimus, l. V. P. 351. We may observe the bad taste ofthe age, in dressing their statues with such awkward finery. ]

[Footnote 113: See Rutilius Numatianus, (Itinerar. L. Ii. 41-60, ) towhom religious enthusiasm has dictated some elegant and forciblelines. Stilicho likewise stripped the gold plates from the doors of theCapitol, and read a prophetic sentence which was engraven under them, (Zosimus, l. V. P. 352. ) These are foolish stories: yet the charge ofimpiety adds weight and credit to the praise which Zosimus reluctantlybestows on his virtues. Note: One particular in the extorted praise ofZosimus, deserved the notice of the historian, as strongly opposed tothe former imputations of Zosimus himself, and indicative of he corruptpractices of a declining age. "He had never bartered promotion in thearmy for bribes, nor peculated in the supplies of provisions for thearmy. " l. V. C. Xxxiv. --M. ]

[Footnote 1111: Hence, perhaps, the accusation of treachery iscountenanced by Hatilius:--

 Quo magis est facinus diri Stilichonis iniquum Proditor arcani quod fuit imperii. Romano generi dum nititur esse superstes, Crudelis summis miscuit ima furor. Dumque timet, quicquid se fecerat ipso timeri, Immisit Latiae barbara tela neci. Rutil. Itin. II. 41. --M. ] Among the train of dependants whose wealth and dignity attracted the notice of their own times, our curiosity is excited by the celebrated name of the poet Claudian, who enjoyed the favor of Stilicho, and was overwhelmed in the ruin of his patron. 

The titular offices of tribune and notary fixed his rank in the Imperialcourt: he was indebted to the powerful intercession of Serena for hismarriage with a very rich heiress of the province of Africa; [114] andthe statute of Claudian, erected in the forum of Trajan, was a monumentof the taste and liberality of the Roman senate. [115] After the praisesof Stilicho became offensive and criminal, Claudian was exposed to theenmity of a powerful and unforgiving courtier, whom he had provoked bythe insolence of wit. He had compared, in a lively epigram, the oppositecharacters of two Praetorian praefects of Italy; he contrasts theinnocent repose of a philosopher, who sometimes resigned the hours ofbusiness to slumber, perhaps to study, with the interesting diligenceof a rapacious minister, indefatigable in the pursuit of unjust orsacrilegious, gain. "How happy, " continues Claudian, "how happy might itbe for the people of Italy, if Mallius could be constantly awake, andif Hadrian would always sleep!" [116] The repose of Mallius wasnot disturbed by this friendly and gentle admonition; but the cruelvigilance of Hadrian watched the opportunity of revenge, and easilyobtained, from the enemies of Stilicho, the trifling sacrifice of anobnoxious poet. The poet concealed himself, however, during the tumultof the revolution; and, consulting the dictates of prudence ratherthan of honor, he addressed, in the form of an epistle, a suppliant andhumble recantation to the offended praefect. He deplores, in mournfulstrains, the fatal indiscretion into which he had been hurried bypassion and folly; submits to the imitation of his adversary thegenerous examples of the clemency of gods, of heroes, and of lions; andexpresses his hope that the magnanimity of Hadrian will not trample ona defenceless and contemptible foe, already humbled by disgrace andpoverty, and deeply wounded by the exile, the tortures, and the death ofhis dearest friends. [117] Whatever might be the success of his prayer, or the accidents of his future life, the period of a few years levelledin the grave the minister and the poet: but the name of Hadrian isalmost sunk in oblivion, while Claudian is read with pleasure in everycountry which has retained, or acquired, the knowledge of the Latinlanguage. If we fairly balance his merits and his defects, we shallacknowledge that Claudian does not either satisfy, or silence, ourreason. It would not be easy to produce a passage that deserves theepithet of sublime or pathetic; to select a verse that melts the heartor enlarges the imagination. We should vainly seek, in the poems ofClaudian, the happy invention, and artificial conduct, of an interestingfable; or the just and lively representation of the characters andsituations of real life. For the service of his patron, he publishedoccasional panegyrics and invectives: and the design of these slavishcompositions encouraged his propensity to exceed the limits of truth andnature. These imperfections, however, are compensated in some degreeby the poetical virtues of Claudian. He was endowed with the rare andprecious talent of raising the meanest, of adorning the most barren, andof diversifying the most similar, topics: his coloring, more especiallyin descriptive poetry, is soft and splendid; and he seldom failsto display, and even to abuse, the advantages of a cultivatedunderstanding, a copious fancy, an easy, and sometimes forcible, expression; and a perpetual flow of harmonious versification. To thesecommendations, independent of any accidents of time and place, we mustadd the peculiar merit which Claudian derived from the unfavorablecircumstances of his birth. In the decline of arts, and of empire, a native of Egypt, [118] who had received the education of a Greek, assumed, in a mature age, the familiar use, and absolute command, ofthe Latin language; [119] soared above the heads of his feeblecontemporaries; and placed himself, after an interval of three hundredyears, among the poets of ancient Rome. [120]

[Footnote 114: At the nuptials of Orpheus (a modest comparison!) all theparts of animated nature contributed their various gifts; and the godsthemselves enriched their favorite. Claudian had neither flocks, norherds, nor vines, nor olives. His wealthy bride was heiress to them all. But he carried to Africa a recommendatory letter from Serena, his Juno, and was made happy, (Epist. Ii. Ad Serenam. )]

[Footnote 115: Claudian feels the honor like a man who deserved it, (inpraefat Bell. Get. ) The original inscription, on marble, was found atRome, in the fifteenth century, in the house of Pomponius Laetus. Thestatue of a poet, far superior to Claudian, should have been erected, during his lifetime, by the men of letters, his countrymen andcontemporaries. It was a noble design. ]

[Footnote 116: See Epigram xxx. 

 Mallius indulget somno noctesque diesque: Insomnis Pharius sacra, profana, rapit. Omnibus, hoc, Italae gentes, exposcite votis; Mallius ut vigilet, dormiat ut Pharius. 

Hadrian was a Pharian, (of Alexandrian. ) See his public life inGodefroy, Cod. Theodos. Tom. Vi. P. 364. Mallius did not always sleep. He composed some elegant dialogues on the Greek systems of naturalphilosophy, (Claud, in Mall. Theodor. Cons. 61-112. )]

[Footnote 117: See Claudian's first Epistle. Yet, in some places, anair of irony and indignation betrays his secret reluctance. * Note:M. Beugnot has pointed out one remarkable characteristic of Claudian'spoetry, and of the times--his extraordinary religious indifference. Hereis a poet writing at the actual crisis of the complete triumph of thenew religion, the visible extinction of the old: if we may so speak, astrictly historical poet, whose works, excepting his Mythological poemon the rape of Proserpine, are confined to temporary subjects, and tothe politics of his own eventful day; yet, excepting in one or twosmall and indifferent pieces, manifestly written by a Christian, andinterpolated among his poems, there is no allusion whatever to the greatreligious strife. No one would know the existence of Christianityat that period of the world, by reading the works of Claudian. Hispanegyric and his satire preserve the same religious impartiality; awardtheir most lavish praise or their bitterest invective on Christian orPagan; he insults the fall of Eugenius, and glories in the victoriesof Theodosius. Under the child, --and Honorius never became more than achild, --Christianity continued to inflict wounds more and more deadly onexpiring Paganism. Are the gods of Olympus agitated with apprehensionat the birth of this new enemy? They are introduced as rejoicing at hisappearance, and promising long years of glory. The whole propheticchoir of Paganism, all the oracles throughout the world, are summonedto predict the felicity of his reign. His birth is compared to thatof Apollo, but the narrow limits of an island must not confine the newdeity--

 . .. Non littora nostro Sufficerent angusta Deo. 

Augury and divination, the shrines of Ammon, and of Delphi, the PersianMagi, and the Etruscan seers, the Chaldean astrologers, the Sibylherself, are described as still discharging their prophetic functions, and celebrating the natal day of this Christian prince. They are noblelines, as well as curious illustrations of the times:

 . .. Quae tunc documenta futuri? Quae voces avium? quanti per inane volatus? Quis vatum discursus erat? Tibi corniger Ammon, Et dudum taciti rupere silentia Delphi. Te Persae cecinere Magi, te sensit Etruscus Augur, et inspectis Babylonius horruit astris; Chaldaei stupuere senes, Cumanaque rursus Itonuit rupes, rabidae delubra Sibyllae. --Claud. Iv. Cons. Hon. 141. 

From the Quarterly Review of Beugnot. Hist. De la Paganisme en Occident, Q. R. V. Lvii. P. 61. --M. ]

[Footnote 118: National vanity has made him a Florentine, or a Spaniard. But the first Epistle of Claudian proves him a native of Alexandria, (Fabricius, Bibliot. Latin. Tom. Iii. P. 191-202, edit. Ernest. )]

[Footnote 119: His first Latin verses were composed during theconsulship of Probinus, A. D. 395. 

Romanos bibimus primum, te consule, fontes, Et Latiae cessit GraiaThalia togae. 

Besides some Greek epigrams, which are still extant, the Latin poet hadcomposed, in Greek, the Antiquities of Tarsus, Anazarbus, Berytus, Nice, &c. It is more easy to supply the loss of good poetry, than of authentichistory. ]

[Footnote 120: Strada (Prolusion v. Vi. ) allows him to contend withthe five heroic poets, Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid, Lucan, and Statius. Hispatron is the accomplished courtier Balthazar Castiglione. His admirersare numerous and passionate. Yet the rigid critics reproach the exoticweeds, or flowers, which spring too luxuriantly in his Latian soil]

Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories ByBarbarians. --Part I. 

 Invasion Of Italy By Alaric. --Manners Of The Roman Senate And People. --Rome Is Thrice Besieged, And At Length Pillaged, By The Goths. --Death Of Alaric. --The Goths Evacuate Italy. --Fall Of Constantine. --Gaul And Spain Are Occupied By The Barbarians. --Independence Of Britain. 

The incapacity of a weak and distracted government may often assume theappearance, and produce the effects, of a treasonable correspondencewith the public enemy. If Alaric himself had been introduced into thecouncil of Ravenna, he would probably have advised the same measureswhich were actually pursued by the ministers of Honorius. [1] The kingof the Goths would have conspired, perhaps with some reluctance, todestroy the formidable adversary, by whose arms, in Italy, as well as inGreece, he had been twice overthrown. Their active and interested hatredlaboriously accomplished the disgrace and ruin of the great Stilicho. The valor of Sarus, his fame in arms, and his personal, or hereditary, influence over the confederate Barbarians, could recommend him only tothe friends of their country, who despised, or detested, the worthlesscharacters of Turpilio, Varanes, and Vigilantius. By the pressinginstances of the new favorites, these generals, unworthy as they hadshown themselves of the names of soldiers, [2] were promoted to thecommand of the cavalry, of the infantry, and of the domestic troops. TheGothic prince would have subscribed with pleasure the edict whichthe fanaticism of Olympius dictated to the simple and devout emperor. Honorius excluded all persons, who were adverse to the Catholic church, from holding any office in the state; obstinately rejected the serviceof all those who dissented from his religion; and rashly disqualifiedmany of his bravest and most skilful officers, who adhered to thePagan worship, or who had imbibed the opinions of Arianism. [3] Thesemeasures, so advantageous to an enemy, Alaric would have approved, andmight perhaps have suggested; but it may seem doubtful, whether theBarbarian would have promoted his interest at the expense of the inhumanand absurd cruelty which was perpetrated by the direction, or at leastwith the connivance of the Imperial ministers. The foreign auxiliaries, who had been attached to the person of Stilicho, lamented his death;but the desire of revenge was checked by a natural apprehension for thesafety of their wives and children; who were detained as hostages inthe strong cities of Italy, where they had likewise deposited their mostvaluable effects. At the same hour, and as if by a common signal, thecities of Italy were polluted by the same horrid scenes of universalmassacre and pillage, which involved, in promiscuous destruction, thefamilies and fortunes of the Barbarians. Exasperated by such an injury, which might have awakened the tamest and most servile spirit, theycast a look of indignation and hope towards the camp of Alaric, and unanimously swore to pursue, with just and implacable war, theperfidious nation who had so basely violated the laws of hospitality. By the imprudent conduct of the ministers of Honorius, the republiclost the assistance, and deserved the enmity, of thirty thousand of herbravest soldiers; and the weight of that formidable army, which alonemight have determined the event of the war, was transferred from thescale of the Romans into that of the Goths. 

[Footnote 1: The series of events, from the death of Stilicho to thearrival of Alaric before Rome, can only be found in Zosimus, l. V. P. 347-350. ]

[Footnote 2: The expression of Zosimus is strong and lively, sufficientto excite the contempt of the enemy. ]

[Footnote 3: Eos qui catholicae sectae sunt inimici, intra palatiummilitare pro hibemus. Nullus nobis sit aliqua ratione conjunctus, qui anobis fidest religione discordat. Cod. Theodos. L. Xvi. Tit. V. Leg. 42, and Godefroy's Commentary, tom. Vi. P. 164. This law was applied in theutmost latitude, and rigorously executed. Zosimus, l. V. P. 364. ]

In the arts of negotiation, as well as in those of war, the Gothic kingmaintained his superior ascendant over an enemy, whose seeming changesproceeded from the total want of counsel and design. From his camp, onthe confines of Italy, Alaric attentively observed the revolutions ofthe palace, watched the progress of faction and discontent, disguisedthe hostile aspect of a Barbarian invader, and assumed the more popularappearance of the friend and ally of the great Stilicho: to whosevirtues, when they were no longer formidable, he could pay a justtribute of sincere praise and regret. The pressing invitation of themalecontents, who urged the king of the Goths to invade Italy, wasenforced by a lively sense of his personal injuries; and he mightespecially complain, that the Imperial ministers still delayed andeluded the payment of the four thousand pounds of gold which had beengranted by the Roman senate, either to reward his services, or toappease his fury. His decent firmness was supported by an artfulmoderation, which contributed to the success of his designs. Herequired a fair and reasonable satisfaction; but he gave the strongestassurances, that, as soon as he had obtained it, he would immediatelyretire. He refused to trust the faith of the Romans, unless Aetius andJason, the sons of two great officers of state, were sent as hostages tohis camp; but he offered to deliver, in exchange, several of the noblestyouths of the Gothic nation. The modesty of Alaric was interpreted, bythe ministers of Ravenna, as a sure evidence of his weakness and fear. They disdained either to negotiate a treaty, or to assemble an army; andwith a rash confidence, derived only from their ignorance of the extremedanger, irretrievably wasted the decisive moments of peace and war. While they expected, in sullen silence, that the Barbarians wouldevacuate the confines of Italy, Alaric, with bold and rapid marches, passed the Alps and the Po; hastily pillaged the cities of Aquileia, Altinum, Concordia, and Cremona, which yielded to his arms; increasedhis forces by the accession of thirty thousand auxiliaries; and, withoutmeeting a single enemy in the field, advanced as far as the edge of themorass which protected the impregnable residence of the emperor of theWest. Instead of attempting the hopeless siege of Ravenna, the prudentleader of the Goths proceeded to Rimini, stretched his ravages along thesea-coast of the Hadriatic, and meditated the conquest of the ancientmistress of the world. An Italian hermit, whose zeal and sanctity wererespected by the Barbarians themselves, encountered the victoriousmonarch, and boldly denounced the indignation of Heaven against theoppressors of the earth; but the saint himself was confounded by thesolemn asseveration of Alaric, that he felt a secret and praeternaturalimpulse, which directed, and even compelled, his march to the gates ofRome. He felt, that his genius and his fortune were equal to the mostarduous enterprises; and the enthusiasm which he communicated tothe Goths, insensibly removed the popular, and almost superstitious, reverence of the nations for the majesty of the Roman name. His troops, animated by the hopes of spoil, followed the course of the Flaminianway, occupied the unguarded passes of the Apennine, [4] descended intothe rich plains of Umbria; and, as they lay encamped on the banks ofthe Clitumnus, might wantonly slaughter and devour the milk-white oxen, which had been so long reserved for the use of Roman triumphs. [5] Alofty situation, and a seasonable tempest of thunder and lightning, preserved the little city of Narni; but the king of the Goths, despisingthe ignoble prey, still advanced with unabated vigor; and after he hadpassed through the stately arches, adorned with the spoils of Barbaricvictories, he pitched his camp under the walls of Rome. [6]

[Footnote 4: Addison (see his Works, vol. Ii. P. 54, edit. Baskerville)has given a very picturesque description of the road through theApennine. The Goths were not at leisure to observe the beauties ofthe prospect; but they were pleased to find that the Saxa Intercisa, anarrow passage which Vespasian had cut through the rock, (Cluver. ItaliaAntiq. Tom. I. P. 168, ) was totally neglected. 

 Hine albi, Clitumne, greges, et maxima taurus Victima, saepe tuo perfusi flumine sacro, Romanos ad templa Deum duxere triumphos. --Georg. Ii. 147. 

Besides Virgil, most of the Latin poets, Propertius, Lucan, SiliusItalicus, Claudian, &c. , whose passages may be found in Cluverius andAddison, have celebrated the triumphal victims of the Clitumnus. ]

[Footnote 6: Some ideas of the march of Alaric are borrowed from thejourney of Honorius over the same ground. (See Claudian in vi. Cons. Hon. 494-522. ) The measured distance between Ravenna and Rome was254 Roman miles. Itinerar. Wesseling, p. 126. ] During a period of sixhundred and nineteen years, the seat of empire had never been violatedby the presence of a foreign enemy. The unsuccessful expedition ofHannibal [7] served only to display the character of the senate andpeople; of a senate degraded, rather than ennobled, by the comparison ofan assembly of kings; and of a people, to whom the ambassador of Pyrrhusascribed the inexhaustible resources of the Hydra. [8] Each of thesenators, in the time of the Punic war, had accomplished his term of themilitary service, either in a subordinate or a superior station; andthe decree, which invested with temporary command all those who hadbeen consuls, or censors, or dictators, gave the republic the immediateassistance of many brave and experienced generals. In the beginning ofthe war, the Roman people consisted of two hundred and fifty thousandcitizens of an age to bear arms. [9] Fifty thousand had already died inthe defence of their country; and the twenty-three legions which wereemployed in the different camps of Italy, Greece, Sardinia, Sicily, andSpain, required about one hundred thousand men. But there still remainedan equal number in Rome, and the adjacent territory, who were animatedby the same intrepid courage; and every citizen was trained, from hisearliest youth, in the discipline and exercises of a soldier. Hannibalwas astonished by the constancy of the senate, who, without raisingthe siege of Capua, or recalling their scattered forces, expected hisapproach. He encamped on the banks of the Anio, at the distance of threemiles from the city; and he was soon informed, that the ground on whichhe had pitched his tent, was sold for an adequate price at a publicauction; [911] and that a body of troops was dismissed by an oppositeroad, to reenforce the legions of Spain. [10] He led his Africans to thegates of Rome, where he found three armies in order of battle, preparedto receive him; but Hannibal dreaded the event of a combat, fromwhich he could not hope to escape, unless he destroyed the last of hisenemies; and his speedy retreat confessed the invincible courage of theRomans. 

[Footnote 7: The march and retreat of Hannibal are described by Livy, l. Xxvi. C. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; and the reader is made a spectator of theinteresting scene. ]

[Footnote 8: These comparisons were used by Cyneas, the counsellor ofPyrrhus, after his return from his embassy, in which he had diligentlystudied the discipline and manners of Rome. See Plutarch in Pyrrho. Tom. Ii. P. 459. ]

[Footnote 9: In the three census which were made of the Roman people, about the time of the second Punic war, the numbers stand as follows, (see Livy, Epitom. L. Xx. Hist. L. Xxvii. 36. Xxix. 37:) 270, 213, 137, 108 214, 000. The fall of the second, and the rise of the third, appears so enormous, that several critics, notwithstanding the unanimityof the Mss. , have suspected some corruption of the text of Livy. (SeeDrakenborch ad xxvii. 36, and Beaufort, Republique Romaine, tom. I. P. 325. ) They did not consider that the second census was taken only atRome, and that the numbers were diminished, not only by the death, butlikewise by the absence, of many soldiers. In the third census, Livyexpressly affirms, that the legions were mustered by the care ofparticular commissaries. From the numbers on the list we must alwaysdeduct one twelfth above threescore, and incapable of bearing arms. SeePopulation de la France, p. 72. ]

[Footnote 911: Compare the remarkable transaction in Jeremiah xxxii. 6, to 44, where the prophet purchases his uncle's estate at the approachof the Babylonian captivity, in his undoubting confidence in thefuture restoration of the people. In the one case it is the triumph ofreligious faith, in the other of national pride. --M. ]

[Footnote 10: Livy considers these two incidents as the effects onlyof chance and courage. I suspect that they were both managed by theadmirable policy of the senate. ]

From the time of the Punic war, the uninterrupted succession of senatorshad preserved the name and image of the republic; and the degeneratesubjects of Honorius ambitiously derived their descent from the heroeswho had repulsed the arms of Hannibal, and subdued the nations of theearth. The temporal honors which the devout Paula [11] inheritedand despised, are carefully recapitulated by Jerom, the guide of herconscience, and the historian of her life. The genealogy of her father, Rogatus, which ascended as high as Agamemnon, might seem to betraya Grecian origin; but her mother, Blaesilla, numbered the Scipios, Aemilius Paulus, and the Gracchi, in the list of her ancestors; andToxotius, the husband of Paula, deduced his royal lineage from Aeneas, the father of the Julian line. The vanity of the rich, who desired tobe noble, was gratified by these lofty pretensions. Encouraged by theapplause of their parasites, they easily imposed on the credulity ofthe vulgar; and were countenanced, in some measure, by the custom ofadopting the name of their patron, which had always prevailed among thefreedmen and clients of illustrious families. Most of those families, however, attacked by so many causes of external violence or internaldecay, were gradually extirpated; and it would be more reasonable toseek for a lineal descent of twenty generations, among the mountains ofthe Alps, or in the peaceful solitude of Apulia, than on the theatreof Rome, the seat of fortune, of danger, and of perpetual revolutions. Under each successive reign, and from every province of the empire, acrowd of hardy adventurers, rising to eminence by their talents or theirvices, usurped the wealth, the honors, and the palaces of Rome; andoppressed, or protected, the poor and humble remains of consularfamilies; who were ignorant, perhaps, of the glory of their ancestors. [12]

[Footnote 11: See Jerom, tom. I. P. 169, 170, ad Eustochium; he bestowson Paula the splendid titles of Gracchorum stirps, soboles Scipionum, Pauli haeres, cujus vocabulum trahit, Martiae Papyriae Matris Africanivera et germana propago. This particular description supposes a moresolid title than the surname of Julius, which Toxotius shared with athousand families of the western provinces. See the Index of Tacitus, ofGruter's Inscriptions, &c. ]

[Footnote 12: Tacitus (Annal. Iii. 55) affirms, that between the battleof Actium and the reign of Vespasian, the senate was gradually filledwith new families from the Municipia and colonies of Italy. ]

In the time of Jerom and Claudian, the senators unanimously yielded thepreeminence to the Anician line; and a slight view of their history willserve to appreciate the rank and antiquity of the noble families, whichcontended only for the second place. [13] During the five first agesof the city, the name of the Anicians was unknown; they appear to havederived their origin from Praeneste; and the ambition of those newcitizens was long satisfied with the Plebeian honors of tribunes ofthe people. [14] One hundred and sixty-eight years before the Christianaera, the family was ennobled by the Praetorship of Anicius, whogloriously terminated the Illyrian war, by the conquest of the nation, and the captivity of their king. [15] From the triumph of that general, three consulships, in distant periods, mark the succession of theAnician name. [16] From the reign of Diocletian to the final extinctionof the Western empire, that name shone with a lustre which was noteclipsed, in the public estimation, by the majesty of the Imperialpurple. [17] The several branches, to whom it was communicated, united, by marriage or inheritance, the wealth and titles of the Annian, thePetronian, and the Olybrian houses; and in each generation the numberof consulships was multiplied by an hereditary claim. [18] The Anicianfamily excelled in faith and in riches: they were the first of theRoman senate who embraced Christianity; and it is probable that AniciusJulian, who was afterwards consul and praefect of the city, atoned forhis attachment to the party of Maxentius, by the readiness with whichhe accepted the religion of Constantine. [19] Their ample patrimony wasincreased by the industry of Probus, the chief of the Anician family;who shared with Gratian the honors of the consulship, and exercised, four times, the high office of Praetorian praefect. [20] His immenseestates were scattered over the wide extent of the Roman world; andthough the public might suspect or disapprove the methods by which theyhad been acquired, the generosity and magnificence of that fortunatestatesman deserved the gratitude of his clients, and the admiration ofstrangers. [21] Such was the respect entertained for his memory, thatthe two sons of Probus, in their earliest youth, and at the requestof the senate, were associated in the consular dignity; a memorabledistinction, without example, in the annals of Rome. [22]

[Footnote 13:

 Nec quisquam Procerum tentet (licet aere vetusto Floreat, et claro cingatur Roma senatu) Se jactare parem; sed prima sede relicta Aucheniis, de jure licet certare secundo. ---Claud. In Prob. Et Olybrii Coss. 18. 

Such a compliment paid to the obscure name of the Auchenii has amazedthe critics; but they all agree, that whatever may be the true reading, the sense of Claudian can be applied only to the Anician family. ]

[Footnote 14: The earliest date in the annals of Pighius, is that of M. Anicius Gallus. Trib. Pl. A. U. C. 506. Another tribune, Q. Anicius, A. U. C. 508, is distinguished by the epithet of Praenestinus. Livy (xlv. 43) places the Anicii below the great families of Rome. ]

[Footnote 15: Livy, xliv. 30, 31, xlv. 3, 26, 43. He fairly appreciatesthe merit of Anicius, and justly observes, that his fame was cloudedby the superior lustre of the Macedonian, which preceded the Illyriantriumph. ]

[Footnote 16: The dates of the three consulships are, A. U. C. 593, 818, 967 the two last under the reigns of Nero and Caracalla. The secondof these consuls distinguished himself only by his infamous flattery, (Tacit. Annal. Xv. 74;) but even the evidence of crimes, if they bearthe stamp of greatness and antiquity, is admitted, without reluctance, to prove the genealogy of a noble house. ]

[Footnote 17: In the sixth century, the nobility of the Anician name ismentioned (Cassiodor. Variar. L. X. Ep. 10, 12) with singular respect bythe minister of a Gothic king of Italy. ]

[Footnote 18:

 Fixus in omnes Cognatos procedit honos; quemcumque requiras Hac de stirpe virum, certum est de Consule nasci. Per fasces numerantur Avi, semperque renata Nobilitate virent, et prolem fata sequuntur. 

(Claudian in Prob. Et Olyb. Consulat. 12, &c. ) The Annii, whosename seems to have merged in the Anician, mark the Fasti with manyconsulships, from the time of Vespasian to the fourth century. ]

[Footnote 19: The title of first Christian senator may be justified bythe authority of Prudentius (in Symmach. I. 553) and the dislike of thePagans to the Anician family. See Tillemont, Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. Iv. P. 183, v. P. 44. Baron. Annal. A. D. 312, No. 78, A. D. 322, No. 2. ]

[Footnote 20: Probus. .. Claritudine generis et potentia et opummagnitudine, cognitus Orbi Romano, per quem universum poene patrimoniasparsa possedit, juste an secus non judicioli est nostri. AmmianMarcellin. Xxvii. 11. His children and widow erected for him amagnificent tomb in the Vatican, which was demolished in the time ofPope Nicholas V. To make room for the new church of St. Peter Baronius, who laments the ruin of this Christian monument, has diligentlypreserved the inscriptions and basso-relievos. See Annal. Eccles. A. D. 395, No. 5-17. ]

[Footnote 21: Two Persian satraps travelled to Milan and Rome, to hearSt. Ambrose, and to see Probus, (Paulin. In Vit. Ambros. ) Claudian (inCons. Probin. Et Olybr. 30-60) seems at a loss how to express the gloryof Probus. ]

[Footnote 22: See the poem which Claudian addressed to the two nobleyouths. ]

Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories ByBarbarians. --Part II. 

"The marbles of the Anician palace, " were used as a proverbialexpression of opulence and splendor; [23] but the nobles and senators ofRome aspired, in due gradation, to imitate that illustrious family. Theaccurate description of the city, which was composed in the Theodosianage, enumerates one thousand seven hundred and eighty houses, theresidence of wealthy and honorable citizens. [24] Many of these statelymansions might almost excuse the exaggeration of the poet; that Romecontained a multitude of palaces, and that each palace was equal to acity: since it included within its own precincts every thing which couldbe subservient either to use or luxury; markets, hippodromes, temples, fountains, baths, porticos, shady groves, and artificial aviaries. [25]The historian Olympiodorus, who represents the state of Rome when it wasbesieged by the Goths, [26] continues to observe, that several of therichest senators received from their estates an annual income of fourthousand pounds of gold, above one hundred and sixty thousand poundssterling; without computing the stated provision of corn and wine, which, had they been sold, might have equalled in value one third ofthe money. Compared to this immoderate wealth, an ordinary revenue ofa thousand or fifteen hundred pounds of gold might be considered as nomore than adequate to the dignity of the senatorian rank, which requiredmany expenses of a public and ostentatious kind. Several examplesare recorded, in the age of Honorius, of vain and popular nobles, whocelebrated the year of their praetorship by a festival, which lastedseven days, and cost above one hundred thousand pounds sterling. [27]The estates of the Roman senators, which so far exceeded the proportionof modern wealth, were not confined to the limits of Italy. Theirpossessions extended far beyond the Ionian and Aegean Seas, to the mostdistant provinces: the city of Nicopolis, which Augustus had foundedas an eternal monument of the Actian victory, was the property of thedevout Paula; [28] and it is observed by Seneca, that the rivers, whichhad divided hostile nations, now flowed through the lands of privatecitizens. [29] According to their temper and circumstances, the estatesof the Romans were either cultivated by the labor of their slaves, orgranted, for a certain and stipulated rent, to the industrious farmer. The economical writers of antiquity strenuously recommend the formermethod, wherever it may be practicable; but if the object should beremoved, by its distance or magnitude, from the immediate eye ofthe master, they prefer the active care of an old hereditary tenant, attached to the soil, and interested in the produce, to the mercenaryadministration of a negligent, perhaps an unfaithful, steward. [30]

[Footnote 23: Secundinus, the Manichaean, ap. Baron. Annal. Eccles. A. D. 390, No. 34. ]

[Footnote 24: See Nardini, Roma Antica, p. 89, 498, 500. ]

[Footnote 25:

 Quid loquar inclusas inter laquearia sylvas; Vernula queis vario carmine ludit avis. 

Claud. Rutil. Numatian. Itinerar. Ver. 111. The poet lived at thetime of the Gothic invasion. A moderate palace would have coveredCincinnatus's farm of four acres (Val. Max. Iv. 4. ) In laxitatem rurisexcurrunt, says Seneca, Epist. 114. See a judicious note of Mr. Hume, Essays, vol. I. P. 562, last 8vo edition. ]

[Footnote 26: This curious account of Rome, in the reign of Honorius, isfound in a fragment of the historian Olympiodorus, ap. Photium, p. 197. ]

[Footnote 27: The sons of Alypius, of Symmachus, and of Maximus, spent, during their respective praetorships, twelve, or twenty, or forty, centenaries, (or hundred weight of gold. ) See Olympiodor. Ap. Phot. P. 197. This popular estimation allows some latitude; but it is difficultto explain a law in the Theodosian Code, (l. Vi. Leg. 5, ) which fixesthe expense of the first praetor at 25, 000, of the second at 20, 000, and of the third at 15, 000 folles. The name of follis (see Mem. Del'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. Xxviii. P. 727) was equally applied toa purse of 125 pieces of silver, and to a small copper coin of the valueof 1/2625 part of that purse. In the former sense, the 25, 000 folleswould be equal to 150, 000 L. ; in the latter, to five or six ponudssterling The one appears extravagant, the other is ridiculous. Theremust have existed some third and middle value, which is here understood;but ambiguity is an excusable fault in the language of laws. ]

[Footnote 28: Nicopolis. .. .. . In Actiaco littore sita possessiorisvestra nunc pars vel maxima est. Jerom. In Praefat. Comment. Ad Epistol. Ad Titum, tom. Ix. P. 243. M. D. Tillemont supposes, strangely enough, that it was part of Agamemnon's inheritance. Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xii. P. 85. ]

[Footnote 29: Seneca, Epist. Lxxxix. His language is of the declamatorykind: but declamation could scarcely exaggerate the avarice and luxuryof the Romans. The philosopher himself deserved some share of thereproach, if it be true that his rigorous exaction of Quadringenties, above three hundred thousand pounds which he had lent at high interest, provoked a rebellion in Britain, (Dion Cassius, l. Lxii. P. 1003. )According to the conjecture of Gale (Antoninus's Itinerary in Britain, p. 92, ) the same Faustinus possessed an estate near Bury, in Suffolk andanother in the kingdom of Naples. ]

[Footnote 30: Volusius, a wealthy senator, (Tacit. Annal. Iii. 30, )always preferred tenants born on the estate. Columella, who receivedthis maxim from him, argues very judiciously on the subject. De ReRustica, l. I. C. 7, p. 408, edit. Gesner. Leipsig, 1735. ]

The opulent nobles of an immense capital, who were never excited bythe pursuit of military glory, and seldom engaged in the occupations ofcivil government, naturally resigned their leisure to the businessand amusements of private life. At Rome, commerce was always heldin contempt: but the senators, from the first age of the republic, increased their patrimony, and multiplied their clients, by thelucrative practice of usury; and the obselete laws were eluded, orviolated, by the mutual inclinations and interest of both parties. [31]A considerable mass of treasure must always have existed at Rome, eitherin the current coin of the empire, or in the form of gold and silverplate; and there were many sideboards in the time of Pliny whichcontained more solid silver, than had been transported by Scipio fromvanquished Carthage. [32] The greater part of the nobles, who dissipatedtheir fortunes in profuse luxury, found themselves poor in the midst ofwealth, and idle in a constant round of dissipation. Their desires werecontinually gratified by the labor of a thousand hands; of the numeroustrain of their domestic slaves, who were actuated by the fear ofpunishment; and of the various professions of artificers and merchants, who were more powerfully impelled by the hopes of gain. The ancientswere destitute of many of the conveniences of life, which have beeninvented or improved by the progress of industry; and the plenty ofglass and linen has diffused more real comforts among the modernnations of Europe, than the senators of Rome could derive from all therefinements of pompous or sensual luxury. [33] Their luxury, and theirmanners, have been the subject of minute and laborious disposition:but as such inquiries would divert me too long from the design ofthe present work, I shall produce an authentic state of Rome and itsinhabitants, which is more peculiarly applicable to the period of theGothic invasion. Ammianus Marcellinus, who prudently chose the capitalof the empire as the residence the best adapted to the historian ofhis own times, has mixed with the narrative of public events a livelyrepresentation of the scenes with which he was familiarly conversant. The judicious reader will not always approve of the asperity of censure, the choice of circumstances, or the style of expression; he will perhapsdetect the latent prejudices, and personal resentments, which soured thetemper of Ammianus himself; but he will surely observe, with philosophiccuriosity, the interesting and original picture of the manners of Rome. [34]

[Footnote 31: Valesius (ad Ammian. Xiv. 6) has proved, from Chrysostomand Augustin, that the senators were not allowed to lend money at usury. Yet it appears from the Theodosian Code, (see Godefroy ad l. Ii. Tit. Xxxiii. Tom. I. P. 230-289, ) that they were permitted to take sixpercent. , or one half of the legal interest; and, what is more singular, this permission was granted to the young senators. ]

[Footnote 32: Plin. Hist. Natur. Xxxiii. 50. He states the silver atonly 4380 pounds, which is increased by Livy (xxx. 45) to 100, 023: theformer seems too little for an opulent city, the latter too much for anyprivate sideboard. ]

[Footnote 33: The learned Arbuthnot (Tables of Ancient Coins, &c. P. 153) has observed with humor, and I believe with truth, that Augustushad neither glass to his windows, nor a shirt to his back. Under thelower empire, the use of linen and glass became somewhat more common. *Note: The discovery of glass in such common use at Pompeii, spoils theargument of Arbuthnot. See Sir W. Gell. Pompeiana, 2d ser. P. 98. --M. ]

[Footnote 34: It is incumbent on me to explain the liberties which Ihave taken with the text of Ammianus. 1. I have melted down intoone piece the sixth chapter of the fourteenth and the fourth of thetwenty-eighth book. 2. I have given order and connection to the confusedmass of materials. 3. I have softened some extravagant hyperbeles, andpared away some superfluities of the original. 4. I have developed someobservations which were insinuated rather than expressed. With theseallowances, my version will be found, not literal indeed, but faithfuland exact. ]

"The greatness of Rome"--such is the language of the historian--"wasfounded on the rare, and almost incredible, alliance of virtue and offortune. The long period of her infancy was employed in a laboriousstruggle against the tribes of Italy, the neighbors and enemies ofthe rising city. In the strength and ardor of youth, she sustainedthe storms of war; carried her victorious arms beyond the seas and themountains; and brought home triumphal laurels from every country of theglobe. At length, verging towards old age, and sometimes conqueringby the terror only of her name, she sought the blessings of ease andtranquillity. The venerable city, which had trampled on the necks ofthe fiercest nations, and established a system of laws, the perpetualguardians of justice and freedom, was content, like a wise and wealthyparent, to devolve on the Caesars, her favorite sons, the care ofgoverning her ample patrimony. [35] A secure and profound peace, such ashad been once enjoyed in the reign of Numa, succeeded to the tumults ofa republic; while Rome was still adored as the queen of the earth; andthe subject nations still reverenced the name of the people, and themajesty of the senate. But this native splendor, " continues Ammianus, "is degraded, and sullied, by the conduct of some nobles, who, unmindfulof their own dignity, and of that of their country, assume an unboundedlicense of vice and folly. They contend with each other in the emptyvanity of titles and surnames; and curiously select, or invent, the mostlofty and sonorous appellations, Reburrus, or Fabunius, Pagonius, or Tarasius, [36] which may impress the ears of the vulgar withastonishment and respect. From a vain ambition of perpetuating theirmemory, they affect to multiply their likeness, in statues of bronze andmarble; nor are they satisfied, unless those statues are covered withplates of gold; an honorable distinction, first granted to Acilius theconsul, after he had subdued, by his arms and counsels, the power ofKing Antiochus. The ostentation of displaying, of magnifying, perhaps, the rent-roll of the estates which they possess in all the provinces, from the rising to the setting sun, provokes the just resentment ofevery man, who recollects, that their poor and invincible ancestors werenot distinguished from the meanest of the soldiers, by the delicacyof their food, or the splendor of their apparel. But the modern noblesmeasure their rank and consequence according to the loftiness of theirchariots, [37] and the weighty magnificence of their dress. Their longrobes of silk and purple float in the wind; and as they are agitated, byart or accident, they occasionally discover the under garments, the richtunics, embroidered with the figures of various animals. [38] Followedby a train of fifty servants, and tearing up the pavement, they movealong the streets with the same impetuous speed as if they travelledwith post-horses; and the example of the senators is boldly imitated bythe matrons and ladies, whose covered carriages are continually drivinground the immense space of the city and suburbs. Whenever these personsof high distinction condescend to visit the public baths, they assume, on their entrance, a tone of loud and insolent command, and appropriateto their own use the conveniences which were designed for the Romanpeople. If, in these places of mixed and general resort, they meetany of the infamous ministers of their pleasures, they expresstheir affection by a tender embrace; while they proudly decline thesalutations of their fellow-citizens, who are not permitted to aspireabove the honor of kissing their hands, or their knees. As soon as theyhave indulged themselves in the refreshment of the bath, they resumetheir rings, and the other ensigns of their dignity, select from theirprivate wardrobe of the finest linen, such as might suffice for a dozenpersons, the garments the most agreeable to their fancy, and maintaintill their departure the same haughty demeanor; which perhaps might havebeen excused in the great Marcellus, after the conquest of Syracuse. Sometimes, indeed, these heroes undertake more arduous achievements;they visit their estates in Italy, and procure themselves, by the toilof servile hands, the amusements of the chase. [39] If at any time, but more especially on a hot day, they have courage to sail, in theirpainted galleys, from the Lucrine Lake [40] to their elegant villason the seacoast of Puteoli and Cayeta, [41] they compare their ownexpeditions to the marches of Caesar and Alexander. Yet should a flypresume to settle on the silken folds of their gilded umbrellas; shoulda sunbeam penetrate through some unguarded and imperceptible chink, theydeplore their intolerable hardships, and lament, in affected language, that they were not born in the land of the Cimmerians, [42] the regionsof eternal darkness. In these journeys into the country, [43] the wholebody of the household marches with their master. In the same manneras the cavalry and infantry, the heavy and the light armed troops, the advanced guard and the rear, are marshalled by the skill of theirmilitary leaders; so the domestic officers, who bear a rod, as an ensignof authority, distribute and arrange the numerous train of slavesand attendants. The baggage and wardrobe move in the front; and areimmediately followed by a multitude of cooks, and inferior ministers, employed in the service of the kitchens, and of the table. The mainbody is composed of a promiscuous crowd of slaves, increased by theaccidental concourse of idle or dependent plebeians. The rear isclosed by the favorite band of eunuchs, distributed from age to youth, according to the order of seniority. Their numbers and their deformityexcite the horror of the indignant spectators, who are ready to execratethe memory of Semiramis, for the cruel art which she invented, offrustrating the purposes of nature, and of blasting in the bud the hopesof future generations. In the exercise of domestic jurisdiction, thenobles of Rome express an exquisite sensibility for any personal injury, and a contemptuous indifference for the rest of the human species. When they have called for warm water, if a slave has been tardy in hisobedience, he is instantly chastised with three hundred lashes: butshould the same slave commit a wilful murder, the master will mildlyobserve, that he is a worthless fellow; but that, if he repeats theoffence, he shall not escape punishment. Hospitality was formerly thevirtue of the Romans; and every stranger, who could plead eithermerit or misfortune, was relieved, or rewarded by their generosity. Atpresent, if a foreigner, perhaps of no contemptible rank, is introducedto one of the proud and wealthy senators, he is welcomed indeed in thefirst audience, with such warm professions, and such kind inquiries, that he retires, enchanted with the affability of his illustriousfriend, and full of regret that he had so long delayed his journey toRome, the active seat of manners, as well as of empire. Secure ofa favorable reception, he repeats his visit the ensuing day, and ismortified by the discovery, that his person, his name, and his country, are already forgotten. If he still has resolution to persevere, heis gradually numbered in the train of dependants, and obtains thepermission to pay his assiduous and unprofitable court to a haughtypatron, incapable of gratitude or friendship; who scarcely deigns toremark his presence, his departure, or his return. Whenever therich prepare a solemn and popular entertainment; [44] whenever theycelebrate, with profuse and pernicious luxury, their private banquets;the choice of the guests is the subject of anxious deliberation. Themodest, the sober, and the learned, are seldom preferred; and thenomenclators, who are commonly swayed by interested motives, have theaddress to insert, in the list of invitations, the obscure names of themost worthless of mankind. But the frequent and familiar companionsof the great, are those parasites, who practise the most useful of allarts, the art of flattery; who eagerly applaud each word, and everyaction, of their immortal patron; gaze with rapture on his marblecolumns and variegated pavements; and strenuously praise the pomp andelegance which he is taught to consider as a part of his personal merit. At the Roman tables, the birds, the squirrels, [45] or the fish, whichappear of an uncommon size, are contemplated with curious attention; apair of scales is accurately applied, to ascertain their real weight;and, while the more rational guests are disgusted by the vain andtedious repetition, notaries are summoned to attest, by an authenticrecord, the truth of such a marvelous event. Another method ofintroduction into the houses and society of the great, is derived fromthe profession of gaming, or, as it is more politely styled, of play. The confederates are united by a strict and indissoluble bond offriendship, or rather of conspiracy; a superior degree of skill in theTesserarian art (which may be interpreted the game of dice and tables)[46] is a sure road to wealth and reputation. A master of that sublimescience, who in a supper, or assembly, is placed below a magistrate, displays in his countenance the surprise and indignation which Catomight be supposed to feel, when he was refused the praetorship bythe votes of a capricious people. The acquisition of knowledge seldomengages the curiosity of nobles, who abhor the fatigue, and disdainthe advantages, of study; and the only books which they peruse are theSatires of Juvenal, and the verbose and fabulous histories of MariusMaximus. [47] The libraries, which they have inherited from theirfathers, are secluded, like dreary sepulchres, from the light of day. [48] But the costly instruments of the theatre, flutes, and enormouslyres, and hydraulic organs, are constructed for their use; and theharmony of vocal and instrumental music is incessantly repeated in thepalaces of Rome. In those palaces, sound is preferred to sense, and thecare of the body to that of the mind. "

It is allowed as a salutary maxim, that the light and frivoloussuspicion of a contagious malady, is of sufficient weight to excusethe visits of the most intimate friends; and even the servants, whoare despatched to make the decent inquiries, are not suffered to returnhome, till they have undergone the ceremony of a previous ablution. Yet this selfish and unmanly delicacy occasionally yields to the moreimperious passion of avarice. The prospect of gain will urge a richand gouty senator as far as Spoleto; every sentiment of arrogance anddignity is subdued by the hopes of an inheritance, or even of a legacy;and a wealthy childless citizen is the most powerful of the Romans. Theart of obtaining the signature of a favorable testament, and sometimesof hastening the moment of its execution, is perfectly understood; andit has happened, that in the same house, though in different apartments, a husband and a wife, with the laudable design of overreaching eachother, have summoned their respective lawyers, to declare, at the sametime, their mutual, but contradictory, intentions. The distress whichfollows and chastises extravagant luxury, often reduces the great to theuse of the most humiliating expedients. When they desire to borrow, theyemploy the base and supplicating style of the slave in the comedy;but when they are called upon to pay, they assume the royal and tragicdeclamation of the grandsons of Hercules. If the demand is repeated, they readily procure some trusty sycophant, instructed to maintain acharge of poison, or magic, against the insolent creditor; who is seldomreleased from prison, till he has signed a discharge of the whole debt. These vices, which degrade the moral character of the Romans, are mixedwith a puerile superstition, that disgraces their understanding. Theylisten with confidence to the predictions of haruspices, who pretendto read, in the entrails of victims, the signs of future greatness andprosperity; and there are many who do not presume either to bathe, orto dine, or to appear in public, till they have diligently consulted, according to the rules of astrology, the situation of Mercury, and theaspect of the moon. [49] It is singular enough, that this vain credulitymay often be discovered among the profane sceptics, who impiously doubt, or deny, the existence of a celestial power. "

[Footnote 35: Claudian, who seems to have read the history of Ammianus, speaks of this great revolution in a much less courtly style:--

 Postquam jura ferox in se communia Caesar Transtulit; et lapsi mores; desuetaque priscis Artibus, in gremium pacis servile recessi. --De Be. Gildonico, p. 49. ]

[Footnote 36: The minute diligence of antiquarians has not been ableto verify these extraordinary names. I am of opinion that they wereinvented by the historian himself, who was afraid of any personal satireor application. It is certain, however, that the simple denominationsof the Romans were gradually lengthened to the number of four, five, oreven seven, pompous surnames; as, for instance, Marcus Maecius MaemmiusFurius Balburius Caecilianus Placidus. See Noris Cenotaph Piran Dissert. Iv. P. 438. ]

[Footnote 37: The or coaches of the romans, were often of solid silver, curiously carved and engraved; and the trappings of the mules, orhorses, were embossed with gold. This magnificence continued from thereign of Nero to that of Honorius; and the Appian way was covered withthe splendid equipages of the nobles, who came out to meet St. Melania, when she returned to Rome, six years before the Gothic siege, (Seneca, epist. Lxxxvii. Plin. Hist. Natur. Xxxiii. 49. Paulin. Nolan. ApudBaron. Annal. Eccles. A. D. 397, No. 5. ) Yet pomp is well exchange forconvenience; and a plain modern coach, that is hung upon springs, ismuch preferable to the silver or gold carts of antiquity, which rolledon the axle-tree, and were exposed, for the most part, to the inclemencyof the weather. ]

[Footnote 38: In a homily of Asterius, bishop of Amasia, M. De Valoishas discovered (ad Ammian. Xiv. 6) that this was a new fashion; thatbears, wolves lions, and tigers, woods, hunting-matches, &c. , wererepresented in embroidery: and that the more pious coxcombs substitutedthe figure or legend of some favorite saint. ]

[Footnote 39: See Pliny's Epistles, i. 6. Three large wild boars wereallured and taken in the toils without interrupting the studies of thephilosophic sportsman. ]

[Footnote 40: The change from the inauspicious word Avernus, whichstands in the text, is immaterial. The two lakes, Avernus and Lucrinus, communicated with each other, and were fashioned by the stupendousmoles of Agrippa into the Julian port, which opened, through a narrowentrance, into the Gulf of Puteoli. Virgil, who resided on the spot, hasdescribed (Georgic ii. 161) this work at the moment of its execution:and his commentators, especially Catrou, have derived much light fromStrabo, Suetonius, and Dion. Earthquakes and volcanoes have changed theface of the country, and turned the Lucrine Lake, since the year 1538, into the Monte Nuovo. See Camillo Pellegrino Discorsi della CampaniaFelice, p. 239, 244, &c. Antonii Sanfelicii Campania, p. 13, 88--Note:Compare Lyell's Geology, ii. 72. --M. ]

[Footnote 41: The regna Cumana et Puteolana; loca caetiroqui valdeexpe tenda, interpellantium autem multitudine paene fugienda. Cicero adAttic. Xvi. 17. ]

[Footnote 42: The proverbial expression of Cimmerian darkness wasoriginally borrowed from the description of Homer, (in the eleventh bookof the Odyssey, ) which he applies to a remote and fabulous country onthe shores of the ocean. See Erasmi Adagia, in his works, tom. Ii. P. 593, the Leyden edition. ]

[Footnote 43: We may learn from Seneca (epist. Cxxiii. ) three curiouscircumstances relative to the journeys of the Romans. 1. They werepreceded by a troop of Numidian light horse, who announced, by a cloudof dust, the approach of a great man. 2. Their baggage mules transportednot only the precious vases, but even the fragile vessels of crystal andmurra, which last is almost proved, by the learned French translatorof Seneca, (tom. Iii. P. 402-422, ) to mean the porcelain of China andJapan. 3. The beautiful faces of the young slaves were covered with amedicated crust, or ointment, which secured them against the effects ofthe sun and frost. ]

[Footnote 44: Distributio solemnium sportularum. The sportuloe, orsportelloe, were small baskets, supposed to contain a quantity of hotprovisions of the value of 100 quadrantes, or twelvepence halfpenny, which were ranged in order in the hall, and ostentatiously distributedto the hungry or servile crowd who waited at the door. This indelicatecustom is very frequently mentioned in the epigrams of Martial, and thesatires of Juvenal. See likewise Suetonius, in Claud. C. 21, in Neron. C. 16, in Domitian, c. 4, 7. These baskets of provisions were afterwardsconverted into large pieces of gold and silver coin, or plate, whichwere mutually given and accepted even by persons of the highest rank, (see Symmach. Epist. Iv. 55, ix. 124, and Miscell. P. 256, ) on solemnoccasions, of consulships, marriages, &c. ]

[Footnote 45: The want of an English name obliges me to refer to thecommon genus of squirrels, the Latin glis, the French loir; a littleanimal, who inhabits the woods, and remains torpid in cold weather, (seePlin. Hist. Natur. Viii. 82. Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. Viii. 153. Pennant's Synopsis of Quadrupeds, p. 289. ) The art of rearing andfattening great numbers of glires was practised in Roman villas as aprofitable article of rural economy, (Varro, de Re Rustica, iii. 15. )The excessive demand of them for luxurious tables was increased by thefoolish prohibitions of the censors; and it is reported that they arestill esteemed in modern Rome, and are frequently sent as presents bythe Colonna princes, (see Brotier, the last editor of Pliny tom. Ii. P. 453. Epud Barbou, 1779. )--Note: Is it not the dormouse?--M. ]

[Footnote 46: This game, which might be translated by the more familiarnames of trictrac, or backgammon, was a favorite amusement of thegravest Romans; and old Mucius Scaevola, the lawyer, had the reputationof a very skilful player. It was called ludus duodecim scriptorum, fromthe twelve scripta, or lines, which equally divided the alvevolusor table. On these, the two armies, the white and the black, eachconsisting of fifteen men, or catculi, were regularly placed, andalternately moved according to the laws of the game, and the chances ofthe tesseroe, or dice. Dr. Hyde, who diligently traces the history andvarieties of the nerdiludium (a name of Persic etymology) from Irelandto Japan, pours forth, on this trifling subject, a copious torrentof classic and Oriental learning. See Syntagma Dissertat. Tom. Ii. P. 217-405. ]

[Footnote 47: Marius Maximus, homo omnium verbosissimus, qui, etmythistoricis se voluminibus implicavit. Vopiscus in Hist. August. P. 242. He wrote the lives of the emperors, from Trajan to AlexanderSeverus. See Gerard Vossius de Historicis Latin. L. Ii. C. 3, in hisworks, vol. Iv. P. 47. ]

[Footnote 48: This satire is probably exaggerated. The Saturnalia ofMacrobius, and the epistles of Jerom, afford satisfactory proofs, thatChristian theology and classic literature were studiously cultivated byseveral Romans, of both sexes, and of the highest rank. ]

[Footnote 49: Macrobius, the friend of these Roman nobles, consideredthe siara as the cause, or at least the signs, of future events, (deSomn. Scipion l. I. C 19. P. 68. )]

Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories ByBarbarians. --Part II. 

In populous cities, which are the seat of commerce and manufactures, the middle ranks of inhabitants, who derive their subsistence from thedexterity or labor of their hands, are commonly the most prolific, the most useful, and, in that sense, the most respectable part of thecommunity. But the plebeians of Rome, who disdained such sedentary andservile arts, had been oppressed from the earliest times by the weightof debt and usury; and the husbandman, during the term of his militaryservice, was obliged to abandon the cultivation of his farm. [50] Thelands of Italy which had been originally divided among the families offree and indigent proprietors, were insensibly purchased or usurped bythe avarice of the nobles; and in the age which preceded the fall of therepublic, it was computed that only two thousand citizens were possessedof an independent substance. [51] Yet as long as the people bestowed, by their suffrages, the honors of the state, the command of the legions, and the administration of wealthy provinces, their conscious pridealleviated in some measure, the hardships of poverty; and their wantswere seasonably supplied by the ambitious liberality of the candidates, who aspired to secure a venal majority in the thirty-five tribes, orthe hundred and ninety-three centuries, of Rome. But when the prodigalcommons had not only imprudently alienated the use, but the inheritanceof power, they sunk, under the reign of the Caesars, into a vile andwretched populace, which must, in a few generations, have beentotally extinguished, if it had not been continually recruited by themanumission of slaves, and the influx of strangers. As early as the timeof Hadrian, it was the just complaint of the ingenuous natives, that thecapital had attracted the vices of the universe, and the manners of themost opposite nations. The intemperance of the Gauls, the cunning andlevity of the Greeks, the savage obstinacy of the Egyptians and Jews, the servile temper of the Asiatics, and the dissolute, effeminateprostitution of the Syrians, were mingled in the various multitude, which, under the proud and false denomination of Romans, presumed todespise their fellow-subjects, and even their sovereigns, who dweltbeyond the precincts of the Eternal City. [52]

[Footnote 50: The histories of Livy (see particularly vi. 36) are fullof the extortions of the rich, and the sufferings of the poor debtors. The melancholy story of a brave old soldier (Dionys. Hal. L. Vi. C. 26, p. 347, edit. Hudson, and Livy, ii. 23) must have been frequentlyrepeated in those primitive times, which have been so undeservedlypraised. ]

[Footnote 51: Non esse in civitate duo millia hominum qui rem habereni. Cicero. Offic. Ii. 21, and Comment. Paul. Manut. In edit. Graev. Thisvague computation was made A. U. C. 649, in a speech of the tribunePhilippus, and it was his object, as well as that of the Gracchi, (seePlutarch, ) to deplore, and perhaps to exaggerate, the misery of thecommon people. ]

[Footnote 52: See the third Satire (60-125) of Juvenal, who indignantlycomplains, Quamvis quota portio faecis Achaei! Jampridem Syrus in Tiberem defluxit Orontes; Et linguam et mores, &c. 

Seneca, when he proposes to comfort his mother (Consolat. Ad Helv. C. 6) by the reflection, that a great part of mankind were in a state ofexile, reminds her how few of the inhabitants of Rome were born in thecity. ]

Yet the name of that city was still pronounced with respect: thefrequent and capricious tumults of its inhabitants were indulged withimpunity; and the successors of Constantine, instead of crushing thelast remains of the democracy by the strong arm of military power, embraced the mild policy of Augustus, and studied to relieve thepoverty, and to amuse the idleness, of an innumerable people. [53] I. For the convenience of the lazy plebeians, the monthly distributions ofcorn were converted into a daily allowance of bread; a great number ofovens were constructed and maintained at the public expense; and at theappointed hour, each citizen, who was furnished with a ticket, ascendedthe flight of steps, which had been assigned to his peculiar quarter ordivision, and received, either as a gift, or at a very low price, a loafof bread of the weight of three pounds, for the use of his family. II. The forest of Lucania, whose acorns fattened large droves of wild hogs, [54] afforded, as a species of tribute, a plentiful supply of cheap andwholesome meat. During five months of the year, a regular allowance ofbacon was distributed to the poorer citizens; and the annual consumptionof the capital, at a time when it was much declined from its formerlustre, was ascertained, by an edict from Valentinian the Third, atthree millions six hundred and twenty-eight thousand pounds. [55] III. In the manners of antiquity, the use of oil was indispensable for thelamp, as well as for the bath; and the annual tax, which was imposed onAfrica for the benefit of Rome, amounted to the weight of three millionsof pounds, to the measure, perhaps, of three hundred thousand Englishgallons. IV. The anxiety of Augustus to provide the metropolis withsufficient plenty of corn, was not extended beyond that necessaryarticle of human subsistence; and when the popular clamor accused thedearness and scarcity of wine, a proclamation was issued, by the gravereformer, to remind his subjects that no man could reasonably complainof thirst, since the aqueducts of Agrippa had introduced into the cityso many copious streams of pure and salubrious water. [56] This rigidsobriety was insensibly relaxed; and, although the generous design ofAurelian [57] does not appear to have been executed in its fullextent, the use of wine was allowed on very easy and liberal terms. Theadministration of the public cellars was delegated to a magistrate ofhonorable rank; and a considerable part of the vintage of Campania wasreserved for the fortunate inhabitants of Rome. 

[Footnote 53: Almost all that is said of the bread, bacon, oil, wine, &c. , may be found in the fourteenth book of the Theodosian Code; whichexpressly treats of the police of the great cities. See particularlythe titles iii. Iv. Xv. Xvi. Xvii. Xxiv. The collateral testimoniesare produced in Godefroy's Commentary, and it is needless to transcribethem. According to a law of Theodosius, which appreciates in money themilitary allowance, a piece of gold (eleven shillings) was equivalent toeighty pounds of bacon, or to eighty pounds of oil, or to twelve modii(or pecks) of salt, (Cod. Theod. L. Viii. Tit. Iv. Leg. 17. ) Thisequation, compared with another of seventy pounds of bacon for anamphora, (Cod. Theod. L. Xiv. Tit. Iv. Leg. 4, ) fixes the price of wineat about sixteenpence the gallon. ]

[Footnote 54: The anonymous author of the Description of the World (p. 14. In tom. Iii. Geograph. Minor. Hudson) observes of Lucania, in hisbarbarous Latin, Regio optima, et ipsa omnibus habundans, et lardummultum foras. Proptor quod est in montibus, cujus aescam animaliumrariam, &c. ]

[Footnote 55: See Novell. Ad calcem Cod. Theod. D. Valent. L. I. Tit. Xv. This law was published at Rome, June 29th, A. D. 452. ]

[Footnote 56: Sueton. In August. C. 42. The utmost debauch of theemperor himself, in his favorite wine of Rhaetia, never exceededa sextarius, (an English pint. ) Id. C. 77. Torrentius ad loc. AndArbuthnot's Tables, p. 86. ]

[Footnote 57: His design was to plant vineyards along the sea-coast ofHetruria, (Vopiscus, in Hist. August. P. 225;) the dreary, unwholesome, uncultivated Maremme of modern Tuscany]

The stupendous aqueducts, so justly celebrated by the praises ofAugustus himself, replenished the Thermoe, or baths, which had beenconstructed in every part of the city, with Imperial magnificence. Thebaths of Antoninus Caracalla, which were open, at stated hours, for theindiscriminate service of the senators and the people, contained abovesixteen hundred seats of marble; and more than three thousand werereckoned in the baths of Diocletian. [58] The walls of the loftyapartments were covered with curious mosaics, that imitated the art ofthe pencil in the elegance of design, and the variety of colors. TheEgyptian granite was beautifully encrusted with the precious greenmarble of Numidia; the perpetual stream of hot water was poured intothe capacious basins, through so many wide mouths of bright and massysilver; and the meanest Roman could purchase, with a small copper coin, the daily enjoyment of a scene of pomp and luxury, which might excitethe envy of the kings of Asia. [59] From these stately palaces issued aswarm of dirty and ragged plebeians, without shoes and without a mantle;who loitered away whole days in the street of Forum, to hear news andto hold disputes; who dissipated in extravagant gaming, the miserablepittance of their wives and children; and spent the hours of the nightin the obscure taverns, and brothels, in the indulgence of gross andvulgar sensuality. [60]

[Footnote 58: Olympiodor. Apud Phot. P. 197. ]

[Footnote 59: Seneca (epistol. Lxxxvi. ) compares the baths of ScipioAfricanus, at his villa of Liternum, with the magnificence (which wascontinually increasing) of the public baths of Rome, long before thestately Thermae of Antoninus and Diocletian were erected. The quadranspaid for admission was the quarter of the as, about one eighth of anEnglish penny. ]

[Footnote 60: Ammianus, (l. Xiv. C. 6, and l. Xxviii. C. 4, ) afterdescribing the luxury and pride of the nobles of Rome, exposes, withequal indignation, the vices and follies of the common people. ]

But the most lively and splendid amusement of the idle multitude, depended on the frequent exhibition of public games and spectacles. The piety of Christian princes had suppressed the inhuman combats ofgladiators; but the Roman people still considered the Circus as theirhome, their temple, and the seat of the republic. The impatient crowdrushed at the dawn of day to secure their places, and there were manywho passed a sleepless and anxious night in the adjacent porticos. Fromthe morning to the evening, careless of the sun, or of the rain, the spectators, who sometimes amounted to the number of four hundredthousand, remained in eager attention; their eyes fixed on the horsesand charioteers, their minds agitated with hope and fear, for thesuccess of the colors which they espoused: and the happiness of Romeappeared to hang on the event of a race. [61] The same immoderateardor inspired their clamors and their applause, as often as they wereentertained with the hunting of wild beasts, and the various modes oftheatrical representation. These representations in modern capitalsmay deserve to be considered as a pure and elegant school of taste, and perhaps of virtue. But the Tragic and Comic Muse of the Romans, who seldom aspired beyond the imitation of Attic genius, [62] had beenalmost totally silent since the fall of the republic; [63] and theirplace was unworthily occupied by licentious farce, effeminate music, andsplendid pageantry. The pantomimes, [64] who maintained their reputationfrom the age of Augustus to the sixth century, expressed, without theuse of words, the various fables of the gods and heroes of antiquity;and the perfection of their art, which sometimes disarmed the gravity ofthe philosopher, always excited the applause and wonder of the people. The vast and magnificent theatres of Rome were filled by three thousandfemale dancers, and by three thousand singers, with the masters of therespective choruses. Such was the popular favor which they enjoyed, that, in a time of scarcity, when all strangers were banished from thecity, the merit of contributing to the public pleasures exempted themfrom a law, which was strictly executed against the professors of theliberal arts. [65]

[Footnote 61: Juvenal. Satir. Xi. 191, &c. The expressions of thehistorian Ammianus are not less strong and animated than those of thesatirist and both the one and the other painted from the life. Thenumbers which the great Circus was capable of receiving are taken fromthe original Notitioe of the city. The differences between them provethat they did not transcribe each other; but the same may appearincredible, though the country on these occasions flocked to the city. ]

[Footnote 62: Sometimes indeed they composed original pieces. 

 Vestigia Graeca Ausi deserere et celeb rare domestica facta. 

Horat. Epistol. Ad Pisones, 285, and the learned, though perplexed noteof Dacier, who might have allowed the name of tragedies to the Brutusand the Decius of Pacuvius, or to the Cato of Maternus. The Octavia, ascribed to one of the Senecas, still remains a very unfavorablespecimen of Roman tragedy. ]

[Footnote 63: In the time of Quintilian and Pliny, a tragic poet wasreduced to the imperfect method of hiring a great room, and reading hisplay to the company, whom he invited for that purpose. (See Dialog. DeOratoribus, c. 9, 11, and Plin. Epistol. Vii. 17. )]

[Footnote 64: See the dialogue of Lucian, entitled the Saltatione, tom. Ii. P. 265-317, edit. Reitz. The pantomimes obtained the honorable name;and it was required, that they should be conversant with almostevery art and science. Burette (in the Memoires de l'Academie desInscriptions, tom. I. P. 127, &c. ) has given a short history of the artof pantomimes. ]

[Footnote 65: Ammianus, l. Xiv. C. 6. He complains, with decentindignation that the streets of Rome were filled with crowds of females, who might have given children to the state, but whose only occupationwas to curl and dress their hair, and jactari volubilibus gyris, dumexperimunt innumera simulacra, quae finxere fabulae theatrales. ]

It is said, that the foolish curiosity of Elagabalus attempted todiscover, from the quantity of spiders' webs, the number of theinhabitants of Rome. A more rational method of inquiry might not havebeen undeserving of the attention of the wisest princes, who couldeasily have resolved a question so important for the Roman government, and so interesting to succeeding ages. The births and deaths of thecitizens were duly registered; and if any writer of antiquity hadcondescended to mention the annual amount, or the common average, wemight now produce some satisfactory calculation, which would destroy theextravagant assertions of critics, and perhaps confirm the modest andprobable conjectures of philosophers. [66] The most diligent researcheshave collected only the following circumstances; which, slight andimperfect as they are, may tend, in some degree, to illustrate thequestion of the populousness of ancient Rome. I. When the capital ofthe empire was besieged by the Goths, the circuit of the walls wasaccurately measured, by Ammonius, the mathematician, who found it equalto twenty-one miles. [67] It should not be forgotten that the form ofthe city was almost that of a circle; the geometrical figure which isknown to contain the largest space within any given circumference. II. The architect Vitruvius, who flourished in the Augustan age, and whoseevidence, on this occasion, has peculiar weight and authority, observes, that the innumerable habitations of the Roman people would have spreadthemselves far beyond the narrow limits of the city; and that the wantof ground, which was probably contracted on every side by gardens andvillas, suggested the common, though inconvenient, practice of raisingthe houses to a considerable height in the air. [68] But the loftinessof these buildings, which often consisted of hasty work and insufficientmaterials, was the cause of frequent and fatal accidents; and it wasrepeatedly enacted by Augustus, as well as by Nero, that the height ofprivate edifices within the walls of Rome, should not exceed the measureof seventy feet from the ground. [69] III. Juvenal [70] laments, asit should seem from his own experience, the hardships of the poorercitizens, to whom he addresses the salutary advice of emigrating, without delay, from the smoke of Rome, since they might purchase, in thelittle towns of Italy, a cheerful commodious dwelling, at the same pricewhich they annually paid for a dark and miserable lodging. House-rentwas therefore immoderately dear: the rich acquired, at an enormousexpense, the ground, which they covered with palaces and gardens; butthe body of the Roman people was crowded into a narrow space; and thedifferent floors, and apartments, of the same house, were divided, as itis still the custom of Paris, and other cities, among several familiesof plebeians. IV. The total number of houses in the fourteen regionsof the city, is accurately stated in the description of Rome, composedunder the reign of Theodosius, and they amount to forty-eight thousandthree hundred and eighty-two. [71] The two classes of domus and ofinsuloe, into which they are divided, include all the habitations ofthe capital, of every rank and condition from the marble palace of theAnicii, with a numerous establishment of freedmen and slaves, to thelofty and narrow lodging-house, where the poet Codrus and his wife werepermitted to hire a wretched garret immediately under the files. If weadopt the same average, which, under similar circumstances, hasbeen found applicable to Paris, [72] and indifferently allow abouttwenty-five persons for each house, of every degree, we may fairlyestimate the inhabitants of Rome at twelve hundred thousand: a numberwhich cannot be thought excessive for the capital of a mighty empire, though it exceeds the populousness of the greatest cities of modernEurope. [73] [7311]

[Footnote 66: Lipsius (tom. Iii. P. 423, de Magnitud. Romana, l. Iii. C. 3) and Isaac Vossius (Observant. Var. P. 26-34) have indulged strangedreams, of four, or eight, or fourteen, millions in Rome. Mr. Hume, (Essays, vol. I. P. 450-457, ) with admirable good sense and scepticismbetrays some secret disposition to extenuate the populousness of ancienttimes. ]

[Footnote 67: Olympiodor. Ap. Phot. P. 197. See Fabricius, Bibl. Graec. Tom. Ix. P. 400. ]

[Footnote 68: In ea autem majestate urbis, et civium infinitafrequentia, innumerabiles habitationes opus fuit explicare. Ergo cumrecipero non posset area plana tantam multitudinem in urbe, ad auxiliumaltitudinis aedificiorum res ipsa coegit devenire. Vitruv. Ii. 8. Thispassage, which I owe to Vossius, is clear, strong, and comprehensive. ]

[Footnote 69: The successive testimonies of Pliny, Aristides, Claudian, Rutilius, &c. , prove the insufficiency of these restrictive edicts. SeeLipsius, de Magnitud. Romana, l. Iii. C. 4. 

 Tabulata tibi jam tertia fumant; Tu nescis; nam si gradibus trepidatur ab imis Ultimus ardebit, quem tegula sola tuetur A pluvia. ---Juvenal. Satir. Iii. 199]

[Footnote 70: Read the whole third satire, but particularly 166, 223, &c. The description of a crowded insula, or lodging-house, in Petronius, (c. 95, 97, ) perfectly tallies with the complaints of Juvenal; and welearn from legal authority, that, in the time of Augustus, (Heineccius, Hist. Juris. Roman. C. Iv. P. 181, ) the ordinary rent of the severalcoenacula, or apartments of an insula, annually produced forty thousandsesterces, between three and four hundred pounds sterling, (Pandect. L. Xix. Tit. Ii. No. 30, ) a sum which proves at once the large extent, andhigh value, of those common buildings. ]

[Footnote 71: This sum total is composed of 1780 domus, or great housesof 46, 602 insuloe, or plebeian habitations, (see Nardini, Roma Antica, l. Iii. P. 88;) and these numbers are ascertained by the agreement ofthe texts of the different Notitioe. Nardini, l. Viii. P. 498, 500. ]

[Footnote 72: See that accurate writer M. De Messance, Recherches sur laPopulation, p. 175-187. From probable, or certain grounds, he assigns toParis 23, 565 houses, 71, 114 families, and 576, 630 inhabitants. ]

[Footnote 73: This computation is not very different from that which M. Brotier, the last editor of Tacitus, (tom. Ii. P. 380, ) has assumedfrom similar principles; though he seems to aim at a degree of precisionwhich it is neither possible nor important to obtain. ]

[Footnote 7311: M. Dureau de la Malle (Economic Politique des Romaines, t. I. P. 369) quotes a passage from the xvth chapter of Gibbon, in whichhe estimates the population of Rome at not less than a million, and adds(omitting any reference to this passage, ) that he (Gibbon) could nothave seriously studied the question. M. Dureau de la Malle proceedsto argue that Rome, as contained within the walls of Servius Tullius, occupying an area only one fifth of that of Paris, could not havecontained 300, 000 inhabitants; within those of Aurelian not more than560, 000, inclusive of soldiers and strangers. The suburbs, he endeavorsto show, both up to the time of Aurelian, and after his reign, wereneither so extensive, nor so populous, as generally supposed. M. Dureau de la Malle has but imperfectly quoted the important passageof Dionysius, that which proves that when he wrote (in the time ofAugustus) the walls of Servius no longer marked the boundary of thecity. In many places they were so built upon, that it was impossible totrace them. There was no certain limit, where the city ended and ceasedto be the city; it stretched out to so boundless an extent into thecountry. Ant. Rom. Iv. 13. None of M. De la Malle's arguments appear tome to prove, against this statement, that these irregular suburbs didnot extend so far in many parts, as to make it impossible to calculateaccurately the inhabited area of the city. Though no doubt the city, asreconstructed by Nero, was much less closely built and with many moreopen spaces for palaces, temples, and other public edifices, yet manypassages seem to prove that the laws respecting the height of houseswere not rigidly enforced. A great part of the lower especially of theslave population, were very densely crowded, and lived, even more thanin our modern towns, in cellars and subterranean dwellings under thepublic edifices. Nor do M. De la Malle's arguments, by which he wouldexplain the insulae insulae (of which the Notitiae Urbis give us thenumber) as rows of shops, with a chamber or two within the domus, or houses of the wealthy, satisfy me as to their soundness of theirscholarship. Some passages which he adduces directly contradict histheory; none, as appears to me, distinctly prove it. I must adhereto the old interpretation of the word, as chiefly dwellings for themiddling or lower classes, or clusters of tenements, often perhaps, under the same roof. On this point, Zumpt, in the Dissertation beforequoted, entirely disagrees with M. De la Malle. Zumpt has likewisedetected the mistake of M. De la Malle as to the "canon" of corn, mentioned in the life of Septimius Severus by Spartianus. On this canonthe French writer calculates the inhabitants of Rome at that time. Butthe "canon" was not the whole supply of Rome, but that quantity whichthe state required for the public granaries to supply the gratuitousdistributions to the people, and the public officers and slaves; nodoubt likewise to keep down the general price. M. Zumpt reckons thepopulation of Rome at 2, 000, 000. After careful consideration, I shouldconceive the number in the text, 1, 200, 000, to be nearest the truth--M. 1845. ]

Such was the state of Rome under the reign of Honorius; at the time whenthe Gothic army formed the siege, or rather the blockade, of the city. [74] By a skilful disposition of his numerous forces, who impatientlywatched the moment of an assault, Alaric encompassed the walls, commanded the twelve principal gates, intercepted all communicationwith the adjacent country, and vigilantly guarded the navigation ofthe Tyber, from which the Romans derived the surest and most plentifulsupply of provisions. The first emotions of the nobles, and of thepeople, were those of surprise and indignation, that a vile Barbarianshould dare to insult the capital of the world: but their arrogance wassoon humbled by misfortune; and their unmanly rage, instead of beingdirected against an enemy in arms, was meanly exercised on a defencelessand innocent victim. Perhaps in the person of Serena, the Romans mighthave respected the niece of Theodosius, the aunt, nay, even theadoptive mother, of the reigning emperor: but they abhorred the widowof Stilicho; and they listened with credulous passion to the taleof calumny, which accused her of maintaining a secret and criminalcorrespondence with the Gothic invader. Actuated, or overawed, by thesame popular frenzy, the senate, without requiring any evidence of hisguilt, pronounced the sentence of her death. Serena was ignominiouslystrangled; and the infatuated multitude were astonished to find, thatthis cruel act of injustice did not immediately produce the retreat ofthe Barbarians, and the deliverance of the city. That unfortunate citygradually experienced the distress of scarcity, and at length the horridcalamities of famine. The daily allowance of three pounds of bread wasreduced to one half, to one third, to nothing; and the price of cornstill continued to rise in a rapid and extravagant proportion. Thepoorer citizens, who were unable to purchase the necessaries of life, solicited the precarious charity of the rich; and for a while the publicmisery was alleviated by the humanity of Laeta, the widow of the emperorGratian, who had fixed her residence at Rome, and consecrated to the useof the indigent the princely revenue which she annually received fromthe grateful successors of her husband. [75] But these private andtemporary donatives were insufficient to appease the hunger of anumerous people; and the progress of famine invaded the marble palacesof the senators themselves. The persons of both sexes, who had beeneducated in the enjoyment of ease and luxury, discovered how little isrequisite to supply the demands of nature; and lavished their unavailingtreasures of gold and silver, to obtain the coarse and scanty sustenancewhich they would formerly have rejected with disdain. The food the mostrepugnant to sense or imagination, the aliments the most unwholesomeand pernicious to the constitution, were eagerly devoured, and fiercelydisputed, by the rage of hunger. A dark suspicion was entertained, thatsome desperate wretches fed on the bodies of their fellow-creatures, whom they had secretly murdered; and even mothers, (such was the horridconflict of the two most powerful instincts implanted by nature in thehuman breast, ) even mothers are said to have tasted the flesh of theirslaughtered infants! [76] Many thousands of the inhabitants of Romeexpired in their houses, or in the streets, for want of sustenance;and as the public sepulchres without the walls were in the power ofthe enemy the stench, which arose from so many putrid and unburiedcarcasses, infected the air; and the miseries of famine were succeededand aggravated by the contagion of a pestilential disease. Theassurances of speedy and effectual relief, which were repeatedlytransmitted from the court of Ravenna, supported for some time, thefainting resolution of the Romans, till at length the despair ofany human aid tempted them to accept the offers of a praeternaturaldeliverance. Pompeianus, praefect of the city, had been persuaded, bythe art or fanaticism of some Tuscan diviners, that, by the mysteriousforce of spells and sacrifices, they could extract the lightning fromthe clouds, and point those celestial fires against the camp of theBarbarians. [77] The important secret was communicated to Innocent, the bishop of Rome; and the successor of St. Peter is accused, perhapswithout foundation, of preferring the safety of the republic to therigid severity of the Christian worship. But when the question wasagitated in the senate; when it was proposed, as an essential condition, that those sacrifices should be performed in the Capitol, by theauthority, and in the presence, of the magistrates, the majority ofthat respectable assembly, apprehensive either of the Divine or of theImperial displeasure, refused to join in an act, which appeared almostequivalent to the public restoration of Paganism. [78]

[Footnote 74: For the events of the first siege of Rome, which are oftenconfounded with those of the second and third, see Zosimus, l. V. P. 350-354, Sozomen, l. Ix. C. 6, Olympiodorus, ap. Phot. P. 180, Philostorgius, l. Xii. C. 3, and Godefroy, Dissertat. P. 467-475. ]

[Footnote 75: The mother of Laeta was named Pissumena. Her father, family, and country, are unknown. Ducange, Fam. Byzantium, p. 59. ]

[Footnote 76: Ad nefandos cibos erupit esurientium rabies, et suainvicem membra laniarunt, dum mater non parcit lactenti infantiae; etrecipit utero, quem paullo ante effuderat. Jerom. Ad Principiam, tom. I. P. 121. The same horrid circumstance is likewise told of the siegesof Jerusalem and Paris. For the latter, compare the tenth book of theHenriade, and the Journal de Henri IV. Tom. I. P. 47-83; and observethat a plain narrative of facts is much more pathetic, than the mostlabored descriptions of epic poetry]

[Footnote 77: Zosimus (l. V. P. 355, 356) speaks of these ceremonieslike a Greek unacquainted with the national superstition of Rome andTuscany. I suspect, that they consisted of two parts, the secret and thepublic; the former were probably an imitation of the arts and spells, bywhich Numa had drawn down Jupiter and his thunder on Mount Aventine. 

 Quid agant laqueis, quae carmine dicant, Quaque trahant superis sedibus arte Jovem, Scire nefas homini. 

The ancilia, or shields of Mars, the pignora Imperii, which were carriedin solemn procession on the calends of March, derived their originfrom this mysterious event, (Ovid. Fast. Iii. 259-398. ) It was probablydesigned to revive this ancient festival, which had been suppressed byTheodosius. In that case, we recover a chronological date (March the1st, A. D. 409) which has not hitherto been observed. * Note: On thiscurious question of the knowledge of conducting lightning, processed bythe ancients, consult Eusebe Salverte, des Sciences Occultes, l. Xxiv. Paris, 1829. --M. ]

[Footnote 78: Sozomen (l. Ix. C. 6) insinuates that the experiment wasactually, though unsuccessfully, made; but he does not mention the nameof Innocent: and Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. Tom. X. P. 645) isdetermined not to believe, that a pope could be guilty of such impiouscondescension. ]

The last resource of the Romans was in the clemency, or at least in themoderation, of the king of the Goths. The senate, who in this emergencyassumed the supreme powers of government, appointed two ambassadorsto negotiate with the enemy. This important trust was delegated toBasilius, a senator, of Spanish extraction, and already conspicuous inthe administration of provinces; and to John, the first tribune of thenotaries, who was peculiarly qualified, by his dexterity in business, as well as by his former intimacy with the Gothic prince. When they wereintroduced into his presence, they declared, perhaps in a more loftystyle than became their abject condition, that the Romans were resolvedto maintain their dignity, either in peace or war; and that, if Alaricrefused them a fair and honorable capitulation, he might sound histrumpets, and prepare to give battle to an innumerable people, exercisedin arms, and animated by despair. "The thicker the hay, the easier it ismowed, " was the concise reply of the Barbarian; and this rustic metaphorwas accompanied by a loud and insulting laugh, expressive of hiscontempt for the menaces of an unwarlike populace, enervated by luxurybefore they were emaciated by famine. He then condescended to fix theransom, which he would accept as the price of his retreat from thewalls of Rome: all the gold and silver in the city, whether it werethe property of the state, or of individuals; all the rich and preciousmovables; and all the slaves that could prove their title to the name ofBarbarians. The ministers of the senate presumed to ask, in a modest andsuppliant tone, "If such, O king, are your demands, what do youintend to leave us?" "Your Lives!" replied the haughty conqueror: theytrembled, and retired. Yet, before they retired, a short suspensionof arms was granted, which allowed some time for a more temperatenegotiation. The stern features of Alaric were insensibly relaxed; heabated much of the rigor of his terms; and at length consented to raisethe siege, on the immediate payment of five thousand pounds of gold, of thirty thousand pounds of silver, of four thousand robes of silk, of three thousand pieces of fine scarlet cloth, and of three thousandpounds weight of pepper. [79] But the public treasury was exhausted; theannual rents of the great estates in Italy and the provinces, had beenexchanged, during the famine, for the vilest sustenance; the hoards ofsecret wealth were still concealed by the obstinacy of avarice; andsome remains of consecrated spoils afforded the only resource thatcould avert the impending ruin of the city. As soon as the Romans hadsatisfied the rapacious demands of Alaric, they were restored, in somemeasure, to the enjoyment of peace and plenty. Several of the gates werecautiously opened; the importation of provisions from the river and theadjacent country was no longer obstructed by the Goths; the citizensresorted in crowds to the free market, which was held during three daysin the suburbs; and while the merchants who undertook this gainfultrade made a considerable profit, the future subsistence of the city wassecured by the ample magazines which were deposited in the publicand private granaries. A more regular discipline than could have beenexpected, was maintained in the camp of Alaric; and the wise Barbarianjustified his regard for the faith of treaties, by the just severitywith which he chastised a party of licentious Goths, who had insultedsome Roman citizens on the road to Ostia. His army, enriched by thecontributions of the capital, slowly advanced into the fair and fruitfulprovince of Tuscany, where he proposed to establish his winter quarters;and the Gothic standard became the refuge of forty thousand Barbarianslaves, who had broke their chains, and aspired, under the command oftheir great deliverer, to revenge the injuries and the disgrace oftheir cruel servitude. About the same time, he received a more honorablereenforcement of Goths and Huns, whom Adolphus, [80] the brother of hiswife, had conducted, at his pressing invitation, from the banks ofthe Danube to those of the Tyber, and who had cut their way, with somedifficulty and loss, through the superior number of the Imperial troops. A victorious leader, who united the daring spirit of a Barbarian withthe art and discipline of a Roman general, was at the head of a hundredthousand fighting men; and Italy pronounced, with terror and respect, the formidable name of Alaric. [81]

[Footnote 79: Pepper was a favorite ingredient of the most expensiveRoman cookery, and the best sort commonly sold for fifteen denarii, or ten shillings, the pound. See Pliny, Hist. Natur. Xii. 14. It wasbrought from India; and the same country, the coast of Malabar, stillaffords the greatest plenty: but the improvement of trade and navigationhas multiplied the quantity and reduced the price. See HistoirePolitique et Philosophique, &c. , tom. I. P. 457. ]

[Footnote 80: This Gothic chieftain is called by Jornandes and Isidore, Athaulphus; by Zosimus and Orosius, Ataulphus; and by Olympiodorus, Adaoulphus. I have used the celebrated name of Adolphus, which seems tobe authorized by the practice of the Swedes, the sons or brothers of theancient Goths. ]

[Footnote 81: The treaty between Alaric and the Romans, &c. , is takenfrom Zosimus, l. V. P. 354, 355, 358, 359, 362, 363. The additionalcircumstances are too few and trifling to require any other quotation. ]

Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories ByBarbarians. --Part III. 

At the distance of fourteen centuries, we may be satisfied with relatingthe military exploits of the conquerors of Rome, without presuming toinvestigate the motives of their political conduct. In the midst ofhis apparent prosperity, Alaric was conscious, perhaps, of some secretweakness, some internal defect; or perhaps the moderation which hedisplayed, was intended only to deceive and disarm the easy credulityof the ministers of Honorius. The king of the Goths repeatedly declared, that it was his desire to be considered as the friend of peace, andof the Romans. Three senators, at his earnest request, were sentambassadors to the court of Ravenna, to solicit the exchange ofhostages, and the conclusion of the treaty; and the proposals, which hemore clearly expressed during the course of the negotiations, could onlyinspire a doubt of his sincerity, as they might seem inadequate tothe state of his fortune. The Barbarian still aspired to the rankof master-general of the armies of the West; he stipulated an annualsubsidy of corn and money; and he chose the provinces of Dalmatia, Noricum, and Venetia, for the seat of his new kingdom, which would havecommanded the important communication between Italy and the Danube. Ifthese modest terms should be rejected, Alaric showed a disposition torelinquish his pecuniary demands, and even to content himself withthe possession of Noricum; an exhausted and impoverished country, perpetually exposed to the inroads of the Barbarians of Germany. [82]But the hopes of peace were disappointed by the weak obstinacy, orinterested views, of the minister Olympius. Without listening to thesalutary remonstrances of the senate, he dismissed their ambassadorsunder the conduct of a military escort, too numerous for a retinue ofhonor, and too feeble for any army of defence. Six thousand Dalmatians, the flower of the Imperial legions, were ordered to march from Ravennato Rome, through an open country which was occupied by the formidablemyriads of the Barbarians. These brave legionaries, encompassed andbetrayed, fell a sacrifice to ministerial folly; their general, Valens, with a hundred soldiers, escaped from the field of battle; and one ofthe ambassadors, who could no longer claim the protection of the lawof nations, was obliged to purchase his freedom with a ransom of thirtythousand pieces of gold. Yet Alaric, instead of resenting this act ofimpotent hostility, immediately renewed his proposals of peace; and thesecond embassy of the Roman senate, which derived weight and dignityfrom the presence of Innocent, bishop of the city, was guarded from thedangers of the road by a detachment of Gothic soldiers. [83]

[Footnote 82: Zosimus, l. V. P. 367 368, 369. ]

[Footnote 83: Zosimus, l. V. P. 360, 361, 362. The bishop, by remainingat Ravenna, escaped the impending calamities of the city. Orosius, l. Vii. C. 39, p. 573. ]

Olympius [84] might have continued to insult the just resentment of apeople who loudly accused him as the author of the public calamities;but his power was undermined by the secret intrigues of the palace. Thefavorite eunuchs transferred the government of Honorius, and the empire, to Jovius, the Praetorian praefect; an unworthy servant, who didnot atone, by the merit of personal attachment, for the errors andmisfortunes of his administration. The exile, or escape, of the guiltyOlympius, reserved him for more vicissitudes of fortune: he experiencedthe adventures of an obscure and wandering life; he again rose to power;he fell a second time into disgrace; his ears were cut off; he expiredunder the lash; and his ignominious death afforded a grateful spectacleto the friends of Stilicho. After the removal of Olympius, whosecharacter was deeply tainted with religious fanaticism, the Pagans andheretics were delivered from the impolitic proscription, which excludedthem from the dignities of the state. The brave Gennerid, [85] a soldierof Barbarian origin, who still adhered to the worship of his ancestors, had been obliged to lay aside the military belt: and though he wasrepeatedly assured by the emperor himself, that laws were not madefor persons of his rank or merit, he refused to accept any partialdispensation, and persevered in honorable disgrace, till he had extorteda general act of justice from the distress of the Roman government. Theconduct of Gennerid in the important station to which he was promoted orrestored, of master-general of Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Rhaetia, seemed to revive the discipline and spirit of the republic. From a lifeof idleness and want, his troops were soon habituated to severe exerciseand plentiful subsistence; and his private generosity often supplied therewards, which were denied by the avarice, or poverty, of the court ofRavenna. The valor of Gennerid, formidable to the adjacent Barbarians, was the firmest bulwark of the Illyrian frontier; and his vigilantcare assisted the empire with a reenforcement of ten thousand Huns, who arrived on the confines of Italy, attended by such a convoy ofprovisions, and such a numerous train of sheep and oxen, as mighthave been sufficient, not only for the march of an army, but for thesettlement of a colony. But the court and councils of Honorius stillremained a scene of weakness and distraction, of corruption and anarchy. Instigated by the praefect Jovius, the guards rose in furious mutiny, and demanded the heads of two generals, and of the two principaleunuchs. The generals, under a perfidious promise of safety, were senton shipboard, and privately executed; while the favor of the eunuchsprocured them a mild and secure exile at Milan and Constantinople. Eusebius the eunuch, and the Barbarian Allobich, succeeded to thecommand of the bed-chamber and of the guards; and the mutual jealousy ofthese subordinate ministers was the cause of their mutual destruction. By the insolent order of the count of the domestics, the greatchamberlain was shamefully beaten to death with sticks, before the eyesof the astonished emperor; and the subsequent assassination of Allobich, in the midst of a public procession, is the only circumstance of hislife, in which Honorius discovered the faintest symptom of courage orresentment. Yet before they fell, Eusebius and Allobich had contributedtheir part to the ruin of the empire, by opposing the conclusion of atreaty which Jovius, from a selfish, and perhaps a criminal, motive, had negotiated with Alaric, in a personal interview under the wallsof Rimini. During the absence of Jovius, the emperor was persuadedto assume a lofty tone of inflexible dignity, such as neither hissituation, nor his character, could enable him to support; and a letter, signed with the name of Honorius, was immediately despatched to thePraetorian praefect, granting him a free permission to dispose of thepublic money, but sternly refusing to prostitute the military honors ofRome to the proud demands of a Barbarian. This letter was imprudentlycommunicated to Alaric himself; and the Goth, who in the wholetransaction had behaved with temper and decency, expressed, in the mostoutrageous language, his lively sense of the insult so wantonly offeredto his person and to his nation. The conference of Rimini was hastilyinterrupted; and the praefect Jovius, on his return to Ravenna, wascompelled to adopt, and even to encourage, the fashionable opinionsof the court. By his advice and example, the principal officers of thestate and army were obliged to swear, that, without listening, in anycircumstances, to any conditions of peace, they would still perseverein perpetual and implacable war against the enemy of the republic. Thisrash engagement opposed an insuperable bar to all future negotiation. The ministers of Honorius were heard to declare, that, if they had onlyin voked the name of the Deity, they would consult the public safety, and trust their souls to the mercy of Heaven: but they had sworn by thesacred head of the emperor himself; they had sworn by the sacred head ofthe emperor himself; they had touched, in solemn ceremony, that augustseat of majesty and wisdom; and the violation of their oath wouldexposethem to the temporal penalties of sacrilege and rebellion. [86]

[Footnote 84: For the adventures of Olympius, and his successors in theministry, see Zosimus, l. V. P. 363, 365, 366, and Olympiodor. Ap. Phot. P. 180, 181. ]

[Footnote 85: Zosimus (l. V. P. 364) relates this circumstance withvisible complacency, and celebrates the character of Gennerid as thelast glory of expiring Paganism. Very different were the sentimentsof the council of Carthage, who deputed four bishops to the court ofRavenna to complain of the law, which had been just enacted, that allconversions to Christianity should be free and voluntary. See Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A. D. 409, No. 12, A. D. 410, No. 47, 48. ]

[Footnote 86: Zosimus, l. V. P. 367, 368, 369. This custom of swearingby the head, or life, or safety, or genius, of the sovereign, was of thehighest antiquity, both in Egypt (Genesis, xlii. 15) and Scythia. It wassoon transferred, by flattery, to the Caesars; and Tertullian complains, that it was the only oath which the Romans of his time affected toreverence. See an elegant Dissertation of the Abbe Mossieu on the Oathsof the Ancients, in the Mem de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. I. P. 208, 209. ]

While the emperor and his court enjoyed, with sullen pride, the securityof the marches and fortifications of Ravenna, they abandoned Rome, almost without defence, to the resentment of Alaric. Yet such was themoderation which he still preserved, or affected, that, as he moved withhis army along the Flaminian way, he successively despatched thebishops of the towns of Italy to reiterate his offers of peace, andto congradulate the emperor, that he would save the city and itsinhabitants from hostile fire, and the sword of the Barbarians. [87]These impending calamities were, however, averted, not indeed by thewisdom of Honorius, but by the prudence or humanity of the Gothic king;who employed a milder, though not less effectual, method of conquest. Instead of assaulting the capital, he successfully directed his effortsagainst the Port of Ostia, one of the boldest and most stupendousworks of Roman magnificence. [88] The accidents to which the precarioussubsistence of the city was continually exposed in a winter navigation, and an open road, had suggested to the genius of the first Caesar theuseful design, which was executed under the reign of Claudius. Theartificial moles, which formed the narrow entrance, advanced far intothe sea, and firmly repelled the fury of the waves, while the largestvessels securely rode at anchor within three deep and capacious basins, which received the northern branch of the Tyber, about two miles fromthe ancient colony of Ostia. [89] The Roman Port insensibly swelledto the size of an episcopal city, [90] where the corn of Africa wasdeposited in spacious granaries for the use of the capital. As soon asAlaric was in possession of that important place, he summoned thecity to surrender at discretion; and his demands were enforced bythe positive declaration, that a refusal, or even a delay, should beinstantly followed by the destruction of the magazines, on which thelife of the Roman people depended. The clamors of that people, andthe terror of famine, subdued the pride of the senate; they listened, without reluctance, to the proposal of placing a new emperor onthe throne of the unworthy Honorius; and the suffrage of the Gothicconqueror bestowed the purple on Attalus, praefect of the city. The grateful monarch immediately acknowledged his protector asmaster-general of the armies of the West; Adolphus, with the rank ofcount of the domestics, obtained the custody of the person of Attalus;and the two hostile nations seemed to be united in the closest bands offriendship and alliance. [91]

[Footnote 87: Zosimus, l. V. P. 368, 369. I have softened theexpressions of Alaric, who expatiates, in too florid a manner, on thehistory of Rome]

[Footnote 88: See Sueton. In Claud. C. 20. Dion Cassius, l. Lx. P. 949, edit Reimar, and the lively description of Juvenal, Satir. Xii. 75, &c. In the sixteenth century, when the remains of this Augustan port werestill visible, the antiquarians sketched the plan, (see D'Anville, Mem. De l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. Xxx. P. 198, ) and declared, withenthusiasm, that all the monarchs of Europe would be unable to executeso great a work, (Bergier, Hist. Des grands Chemins des Romains, tom. Ii. P. 356. )]

[Footnote 89: The Ostia Tyberina, (see Cluver. Italia Antiq. L. Iii. P. 870-879, ) in the plural number, the two mouths of the Tyber, wereseparated by the Holy Island, an equilateral triangle, whose sideswere each of them computed at about two miles. The colony of Ostiawas founded immediately beyond the left, or southern, and the Portimmediately beyond the right, or northern, branch of hte river; and thedistance between their remains measures something more than two mileson Cingolani's map. In the time of Strabo, the sand and mud deposited bythe Tyber had choked the harbor of Ostia; the progress of the same causehas added much to the size of the Holy Islands, and gradually left bothOstia and the Port at a considerable distance from the shore. The drychannels (fiumi morti) and the large estuaries (stagno di Ponente, diLevante) mark the changes of the river, and the efforts of the sea. Consult, for the present state of this dreary and desolate tract, theexcellent map of the ecclesiastical state by the mathematicians ofBenedict XIV. ; an actual survey of the Agro Romano, in six sheets, byCingolani, which contains 113, 819 rubbia, (about 570, 000 acres;) and thelarge topographical map of Ameti, in eight sheets. ]

[Footnote 90: As early as the third, (Lardner's Credibility of theGospel, part ii. Vol. Iii. P. 89-92, ) or at least the fourth, century, (Carol. A Sancta Paulo, Notit. Eccles. P. 47, ) the Port of Rome was anepiscopal city, which was demolished, as it should seem in the ninthcentury, by Pope Gregory IV. , during the incursions of the Arabs. Itis now reduced to an inn, a church, and the house, or palace, of thebishop; who ranks as one of six cardinal-bishops of the Roman church. See Eschinard, Deserizione di Roman et dell' Agro Romano, p. 328. *Note: Compare Sir W. Gell. Rome and its Vicinity vol. Ii p. 134. --M. ]

[Footnote 91: For the elevation of Attalus, consult Zosimus, l. Vi. P. 377-380, Sozomen, l. Ix. C. 8, 9, Olympiodor. Ap. Phot. P. 180, 181, Philostorg. L. Xii. C. 3, and Godefroy's Dissertat. P. 470. ]

The gates of the city were thrown open, and the new emperor of theRomans, encompassed on every side by the Gothic arms, was conducted, intumultuous procession, to the palace of Augustus and Trajan. After hehad distributed the civil and military dignities among his favorites andfollowers, Attalus convened an assembly of the senate; before whom, ina format and florid speech, he asserted his resolution of restoring themajesty of the republic, and of uniting to the empire the provinces ofEgypt and the East, which had once acknowledged the sovereignty of Rome. Such extravagant promises inspired every reasonable citizen with a justcontempt for the character of an unwarlike usurper, whose elevationwas the deepest and most ignominious wound which the republic had yetsustained from the insolence of the Barbarians. But the populace, with their usual levity, applauded the change of masters. The publicdiscontent was favorable to the rival of Honorius; and the sectaries, oppressed by his persecuting edicts, expected some degree ofcountenance, or at least of toleration, from a prince, who, in hisnative country of Ionia, had been educated in the Pagan superstition, and who had since received the sacrament of baptism from the hands of anArian bishop. [92] The first days of the reign of Attalus were fair andprosperous. An officer of confidence was sent with an inconsiderablebody of troops to secure the obedience of Africa; the greatest part ofItaly submitted to the terror of the Gothic powers; and though thecity of Bologna made a vigorous and effectual resistance, the people ofMilan, dissatisfied perhaps with the absence of Honorius, accepted, with loud acclamations, the choice of the Roman senate. At the head of aformidable army, Alaric conducted his royal captive almost to the gatesof Ravenna; and a solemn embassy of the principal ministers, of Jovius, the Praetorian praefect, of Valens, master of the cavalry and infantry, of the quaestor Potamius, and of Julian, the first of the notaries, was introduced, with martial pomp, into the Gothic camp. In the name oftheir sovereign, they consented to acknowledge the lawful electionof his competitor, and to divide the provinces of Italy and the Westbetween the two emperors. Their proposals were rejected with disdain;and the refusal was aggravated by the insulting clemency of Attalus, whocondescended to promise, that, if Honorius would instantly resign thepurple, he should be permitted to pass the remainder of his life in thepeaceful exile of some remote island. [93] So desperate indeed did thesituation of the son of Theodosius appear, to those who were the bestacquainted with his strength and resources, that Jovius and Valens, hisminister and his general, betrayed their trust, infamously desertedthe sinking cause of their benefactor, and devoted their treacherousallegiance to the service of his more fortunate rival. Astonished bysuch examples of domestic treason, Honorius trembled at the approach ofevery servant, at the arrival of every messenger. He dreaded the secretenemies, who might lurk in his capital, his palace, his bed-chamber;and some ships lay ready in the harbor of Ravenna, to transport theabdicated monarch to the dominions of his infant nephew, the emperor ofthe East. 

[Footnote 92: We may admit the evidence of Sozomen for the Arianbaptism, and that of Philostorgius for the Pagan education, of Attalus. The visible joy of Zosimus, and the discontent which he imputes to theAnician family, are very unfavorable to the Christianity of the newemperor. ]

[Footnote 93: He carried his insolence so far, as to declare thathe should mutilate Honorius before he sent him into exile. But thisassertion of Zosimus is destroyed by the more impartial testimonyof Olympiodorus; who attributes the ungenerous proposal (which wasabsolutely rejected by Attalus) to the baseness, and perhaps thetreachery, of Jovius. ]

But there is a Providence (such at least was the opinion of thehistorian Procopius) [94] that watches over innocence and folly; andthe pretensions of Honorius to its peculiar care cannot reasonably bedisputed. At the moment when his despair, incapable of any wise or manlyresolution, meditated a shameful flight, a seasonable reenforcement offour thousand veterans unexpectedly landed in the port of Ravenna. Tothese valiant strangers, whose fidelity had not been corrupted by thefactions of the court, he committed the walls and gates of the city; andthe slumbers of the emperor were no longer disturbed by the apprehensionof imminent and internal danger. The favorable intelligence which wasreceived from Africa suddenly changed the opinions of men, and the stateof public affairs. The troops and officers, whom Attalus had sent intothat province, were defeated and slain; and the active zeal of Heraclianmaintained his own allegiance, and that of his people. The faithfulcount of Africa transmitted a large sum of money, which fixed theattachment of the Imperial guards; and his vigilance, in preventing theexportation of corn and oil, introduced famine, tumult, and discontent, into the walls of Rome. The failure of the African expedition was thesource of mutual complaint and recrimination in the party of Attalus;and the mind of his protector was insensibly alienated from the interestof a prince, who wanted spirit to command, or docility to obey. The mostimprudent measures were adopted, without the knowledge, or against theadvice, of Alaric; and the obstinate refusal of the senate, to allow, in the embarkation, the mixture even of five hundred Goths, betrayeda suspicious and distrustful temper, which, in their situation, wasneither generous nor prudent. The resentment of the Gothic king wasexasperated by the malicious arts of Jovius, who had been raised to therank of patrician, and who afterwards excused his double perfidy, bydeclaring, without a blush, that he had only seemed to abandon theservice of Honorius, more effectually to ruin the cause of the usurper. In a large plain near Rimini, and in the presence of an innumerablemultitude of Romans and Barbarians, the wretched Attalus was publiclydespoiled of the diadem and purple; and those ensigns of royalty weresent by Alaric, as the pledge of peace and friendship, to the sonof Theodosius. [95] The officers who returned to their duty, werereinstated in their employments, and even the merit of a tardyrepentance was graciously allowed; but the degraded emperor of theRomans, desirous of life, and insensible of disgrace, implored thepermission of following the Gothic camp, in the train of a haughty andcapricious Barbarian. [96]

[Footnote 94: Procop. De Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 2. ]

[Footnote 95: See the cause and circumstances of the fall of Attalus inZosimus, l. Vi. P. 380-383. Sozomen, l. Ix. C. 8. Philostorg. L. Xii. C. 3. The two acts of indemnity in the Theodosian Code, l. Ix. Tit. Xxxviii. Leg. 11, 12, which were published the 12th of February, and the8th of August, A. D. 410, evidently relate to this usurper. ]

[Footnote 96: In hoc, Alaricus, imperatore, facto, infecto, refecto, acdefecto. .. Mimum risit, et ludum spectavit imperii. Orosius, l. Vii. C. 42, p. 582. ]

The degradation of Attalus removed the only real obstacle to theconclusion of the peace; and Alaric advanced within three miles ofRavenna, to press the irresolution of the Imperial ministers, whoseinsolence soon returned with the return of fortune. His indignation waskindled by the report, that a rival chieftain, that Sarus, the personalenemy of Adolphus, and the hereditary foe of the house of Balti, hadbeen received into the palace. At the head of three hundred followers, that fearless Barbarian immediately sallied from the gates of Ravenna;surprised, and cut in pieces, a considerable body of Goths; reenteredthe city in triumph; and was permitted to insult his adversary, by thevoice of a herald, who publicly declared that the guilt of Alaric hadforever excluded him from the friendship and alliance of the emperor. [97] The crime and folly of the court of Ravenna was expiated, a thirdtime, by the calamities of Rome. The king of the Goths, who no longerdissembled his appetite for plunder and revenge, appeared in arms underthe walls of the capital; and the trembling senate, without any hopes ofrelief, prepared, by a desperate resistance, to defray the ruin of theircountry. But they were unable to guard against the secret conspiracyof their slaves and domestics; who, either from birth or interest, were attached to the cause of the enemy. At the hour of midnight, theSalarian gate was silently opened, and the inhabitants were awakenedby the tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet. Eleven hundred andsixty-three years after the foundation of Rome, the Imperial city, which had subdued and civilized so considerable a part of mankind, wasdelivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of Germany and Scythia. [98]

[Footnote 97: Zosimus, l. Vi. P. 384. Sozomen, l. Ix. C. 9. Philostorgius, l. Xii. C. 3. In this place the text of Zosimus ismutilated, and we have lost the remainder of his sixth and last book, which ended with the sack of Rome. Credulous and partial as he is, wemust take our leave of that historian with some regret. ]

[Footnote 98: Adest Alaricus, trepidam Romam obsidet, turbat, irrumpit. Orosius, l. Vii. C. 39, p. 573. He despatches this great event in sevenwords; but he employs whole pages in celebrating the devotion of theGoths. I have extracted from an improbable story of Procopius, thecircumstances which had an air of probability. Procop. De Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 2. He supposes that the city was surprised while the senatorsslept in the afternoon; but Jerom, with more authority and more reason, affirms, that it was in the night, nocte Moab capta est. Nocte ceciditmurus ejus, tom. I. P. 121, ad Principiam. ]

The proclamation of Alaric, when he forced his entrance into avanquished city, discovered, however, some regard for the laws ofhumanity and religion. He encouraged his troops boldly to seize therewards of valor, and to enrich themselves with the spoils of a wealthyand effeminate people: but he exhorted them, at the same time, to sparethe lives of the unresisting citizens, and to respect the churchesof the apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, as holy and inviolablesanctuaries. Amidst the horrors of a nocturnal tumult, several of theChristian Goths displayed the fervor of a recent conversion; and someinstances of their uncommon piety and moderation are related, andperhaps adorned, by the zeal of ecclesiastical writers. [99] While theBarbarians roamed through the city in quest of prey, the humble dwellingof an aged virgin, who had devoted her life to the service of the altar, was forced open by one of the powerful Goths. He immediately demanded, though in civil language, all the gold and silver in her possession;and was astonished at the readiness with which she conducted him to asplendid hoard of massy plate, of the richest materials, and the mostcurious workmanship. The Barbarian viewed with wonder and delight thisvaluable acquisition, till he was interrupted by a serious admonition, addressed to him in the following words: "These, " said she, "are theconsecrated vessels belonging to St. Peter: if you presume to touchthem, the sacrilegious deed will remain on your conscience. For my part, I dare not keep what I am unable to defend. " The Gothiccaptain, struck with reverential awe, despatched a messenger to informthe king of the treasure which he had discovered; and received aperemptory order from Alaric, that all the consecrated plate andornaments should be transported, without damage or delay, to the churchof the apostle. From the extremity, perhaps, of the Quirinal hill, tothe distant quarter of the Vatican, a numerous detachment of Goths, marching in order of battle through the principal streets, protected, with glittering arms, the long train of their devout companions, whobore aloft, on their heads, the sacred vessels of gold and silver; andthe martial shouts of the Barbarians were mingled with the sound ofreligious psalmody. From all the adjacent houses, a crowd of Christianshastened to join this edifying procession; and a multitude of fugitives, without distinction of age, or rank, or even of sect, had the goodfortune to escape to the secure and hospitable sanctuary of the Vatican. The learned work, concerning the City of God, was professedly composedby St. Augustin, to justify the ways of Providence in the destructionof the Roman greatness. He celebrates, with peculiar satisfaction, thismemorable triumph of Christ; and insults his adversaries, by challengingthem to produce some similar example of a town taken by storm, inwhich the fabulous gods of antiquity had been able to protect eitherthemselves or their deluded votaries. [100]

[Footnote 99: Orosius (l. Vii. C. 39, p. 573-576) applauds the piety ofthe Christian Goths, without seeming to perceive that the greatest partof them were Arian heretics. Jornandes (c. 30, p. 653) and Isidore ofSeville, (Chron. P. 417, edit. Grot. , ) who were both attached to theGothic cause, have repeated and embellished these edifying tales. According to Isidore, Alaric himself was heard to say, that he waged warwith the Romans, and not with the apostles. Such was the style of theseventh century; two hundred years before, the fame and merit had beenascribed, not to the apostles, but to Christ. ]

[Footnote 100: See Augustin, de Civitat. Dei, l. I. C. 1-6. Heparticularly appeals to the examples of Troy, Syracuse, and Tarentum. ]

In the sack of Rome, some rare and extraordinary examples of Barbarianvirtue have been deservedly applauded. But the holy precincts ofthe Vatican, and the apostolic churches, could receive a very smallproportion of the Roman people; many thousand warriors, more especiallyof the Huns, who served under the standard of Alaric, were strangersto the name, or at least to the faith, of Christ; and we may suspect, without any breach of charity or candor, that in the hour of savagelicense, when every passion was inflamed, and every restraint wasremoved, the precepts of the Gospel seldom influenced the behavior ofthe Gothic Christians. The writers, the best disposed to exaggeratetheir clemency, have freely confessed, that a cruel slaughter was madeof the Romans; [101] and that the streets of the city were filledwith dead bodies, which remained without burial during the generalconsternation. The despair of the citizens was sometimes converted intofury: and whenever the Barbarians were provoked by opposition, theyextended the promiscuous massacre to the feeble, the innocent, and thehelpless. The private revenge of forty thousand slaves was exercisedwithout pity or remorse; and the ignominious lashes, which they hadformerly received, were washed away in the blood of the guilty, orobnoxious, families. The matrons and virgins of Rome were exposed toinjuries more dreadful, in the apprehension of chastity, than deathitself; and the ecclesiastical historian has selected an example offemale virtue, for the admiration of future ages. [102] A Roman lady, ofsingular beauty and orthodox faith, had excited the impatient desiresof a young Goth, who, according to the sagacious remark of Sozomen, wasattached to the Arian heresy. Exasperated by her obstinate resistance, he drew his sword, and, with the anger of a lover, slightly wounded herneck. The bleeding heroine still continued to brave his resentment, and to repel his love, till the ravisher desisted from his unavailingefforts, respectfully conducted her to the sanctuary of the Vatican, andgave six pieces of gold to the guards of the church, on condition thatthey should restore her inviolate to the arms of her husband. Suchinstances of courage and generosity were not extremely common. Thebrutal soldiers satisfied their sensual appetites, without consultingeither the inclination or the duties of their female captives: and anice question of casuistry was seriously agitated, Whether those tendervictims, who had inflexibly refused their consent to the violation whichthey sustained, had lost, by their misfortune, the glorious crown ofvirginity. [103] Their were other losses indeed of a more substantialkind, and more general concern. It cannot be presumed, that all theBarbarians were at all times capable of perpetrating such amorousoutrages; and the want of youth, or beauty, or chastity, protected thegreatest part of the Roman women from the danger of a rape. But avariceis an insatiate and universal passion; since the enjoyment of almostevery object that can afford pleasure to the different tastes andtempers of mankind may be procured by the possession of wealth. In thepillage of Rome, a just preference was given to gold and jewels, whichcontain the greatest value in the smallest compass and weight: but, after these portable riches had been removed by the more diligentrobbers, the palaces of Rome were rudely stripped of their splendidand costly furniture. The sideboards of massy plate, and the variegatedwardrobes of silk and purple, were irregularly piled in the wagons, thatalways followed the march of a Gothic army. The most exquisite worksof art were roughly handled, or wantonly destroyed; many a statue wasmelted for the sake of the precious materials; and many a vase, in thedivision of the spoil, was shivered into fragments by the stroke of abattle-axe. 

The acquisition of riches served only to stimulate the avarice ofthe rapacious Barbarians, who proceeded, by threats, by blows, andby tortures, to force from their prisoners the confession of hiddentreasure. [104] Visible splendor and expense were alleged as the proofof a plentiful fortune; the appearance of poverty was imputed to aparsimonious disposition; and the obstinacy of some misers, who enduredthe most cruel torments before they would discover the secret object oftheir affection, was fatal to many unhappy wretches, who expired underthe lash, for refusing to reveal their imaginary treasures. The edificesof Rome, though the damage has been much exaggerated, received someinjury from the violence of the Goths. At their entrance through theSalarian gate, they fired the adjacent houses to guide their march, andto distract the attention of the citizens; the flames, which encounteredno obstacle in the disorder of the night, consumed many private andpublic buildings; and the ruins of the palace of Sallust [105] remained, in the age of Justinian, a stately monument of the Gothic conflagration. [106] Yet a contemporary historian has observed, that fire couldscarcely consume the enormous beams of solid brass, and that thestrength of man was insufficient to subvert the foundations ofancient structures. Some truth may possibly be concealed in his devoutassertion, that the wrath of Heaven supplied the imperfections ofhostile rage; and that the proud Forum of Rome, decorated with thestatues of so many gods and heroes, was levelled in the dust by thestroke of lightning. [107]

[Footnote 101: Jerom (tom. I. P. 121, ad Principiam) has applied to thesack of Rome all the strong expressions of Virgil:--

 Quis cladem illius noctis, quis funera fando, Explicet, &c. 

Procopius (l. I. C. 2) positively affirms that great numbers were slainby the Goths. Augustin (de Civ. Dei, l. I. C. 12, 13) offers Christiancomfort for the death of those whose bodies (multa corpora) had remained(in tanta strage) unburied. Baronius, from the different writings of theFathers, has thrown some light on the sack of Rome. Annal. Eccles. A. D. 410, No. 16-34. ]

[Footnote 102: Sozomen. L. Ix. C. 10. Augustin (de Civitat. Dei, l. I. C. 17) intimates, that some virgins or matrons actually killedthemselves to escape violation; and though he admires their spirit, heis obliged, by his theology, to condemn their rash presumption. Perhapsthe good bishop of Hippo was too easy in the belief, as well as toorigid in the censure, of this act of female heroism. The twentymaidens (if they ever existed) who threw themselves into the Elbe, whenMagdeburgh was taken by storm, have been multiplied to the number oftwelve hundred. See Harte's History of Gustavus Adolphus, vol. I. P. 308. ]

[Footnote 103: See Augustin de Civitat. Dei, l. I. C. 16, 18. He treatsthe subject with remarkable accuracy: and after admitting that therecannot be any crime where there is no consent, he adds, Sed quia nonsolum quod ad dolorem, verum etiam quod ad libidinem, pertinet, incorpore alieno pepetrari potest; quicquid tale factum fuerit, etsiretentam constantissimo animo pudicitiam non excutit, pudorem tamenincutit, ne credatur factum cum mentis etiam voluntate, quod fierifortasse sine carnis aliqua voluptate non potuit. In c. 18 he makes somecurious distinctions between moral and physical virginity. ]

[Footnote 104: Marcella, a Roman lady, equally respectable for her rank, her age, and her piety, was thrown on the ground, and cruelly beatenand whipped, caesam fustibus flagellisque, &c. Jerom, tom. I. P. 121, ad Principiam. See Augustin, de Civ. Dei, l. C. 10. The modern Saccodi Roma, p. 208, gives an idea of the various methods of torturingprisoners for gold. ]

[Footnote 105: The historian Sallust, who usefully practiced the viceswhich he has so eloquently censured, employed the plunder of Numidia toadorn his palace and gardens on the Quirinal hill. The spot where thehouse stood is now marked by the church of St. Susanna, separated onlyby a street from the baths of Diocletian, and not far distant from theSalarian gate. See Nardini, Roma Antica, p. 192, 193, and the greatI'lan of Modern Rome, by Nolli. ]

[Footnote 106: The expressions of Procopius are distinct and moderate, (de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 2. ) The Chronicle of Marcellinus speaks toostrongly partem urbis Romae cremavit; and the words of Philostorgius (l. Xii. C. 3) convey a false and exaggerated idea. Bargaeus has composeda particular dissertation (see tom. Iv. Antiquit. Rom. Graev. ) to provethat the edifices of Rome were not subverted by the Goths and Vandals. ]

[Footnote 107: Orosius, l. Ii. C. 19, p. 143. He speaks as if hedisapproved all statues; vel Deum vel hominem mentiuntur. They consistedof the kings of Alba and Rome from Aeneas, the Romans, illustriouseither in arms or arts, and the deified Caesars. The expression which heuses of Forum is somewhat ambiguous, since there existed five principalFora; but as they were all contiguous and adjacent, in the plain whichis surrounded by the Capitoline, the Quirinal, the Esquiline, and thePalatine hills, they might fairly be considered as one. See the RomaAntiqua of Donatus, p. 162-201, and the Roma Antica of Nardini, p. 212-273. The former is more useful for the ancient descriptions, thelatter for the actual topography. ]

Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories ByBarbarians. --Part IV. 

Whatever might be the numbers of equestrian or plebeian rank, whoperished in the massacre of Rome, it is confidently affirmed that onlyone senator lost his life by the sword of the enemy. [108] But it wasnot easy to compute the multitudes, who, from an honorable station and aprosperous fortune, were suddenly reduced to the miserable condition ofcaptives and exiles. As the Barbarians had more occasion for moneythan for slaves, they fixed at a moderate price the redemption of theirindigent prisoners; and the ransom was often paid by the benevolence oftheir friends, or the charity of strangers. [109] The captives, who wereregularly sold, either in open market, or by private contract, wouldhave legally regained their native freedom, which it was impossible fora citizen to lose, or to alienate. [110] But as it was soon discoveredthat the vindication of their liberty would endanger their lives; andthat the Goths, unless they were tempted to sell, might be provokedto murder, their useless prisoners; the civil jurisprudence had beenalready qualified by a wise regulation, that they should be obliged toserve the moderate term of five years, till they had discharged by theirlabor the price of their redemption. [111] The nations who invaded theRoman empire, had driven before them, into Italy, whole troops of hungryand affrighted provincials, less apprehensive of servitude than offamine. The calamities of Rome and Italy dispersed the inhabitants tothe most lonely, the most secure, the most distant places of refuge. While the Gothic cavalry spread terror and desolation along thesea-coast of Campania and Tuscany, the little island of Igilium, separated by a narrow channel from the Argentarian promontory, repulsed, or eluded, their hostile attempts; and at so small a distance from Rome, great numbers of citizens were securely concealed in the thick woodsof that sequestered spot. [112] The ample patrimonies, which manysenatorian families possessed in Africa, invited them, if they had time, and prudence, to escape from the ruin of their country, to embracethe shelter of that hospitable province. The most illustrious of thesefugitives was the noble and pious Proba, [113] the widow of the praefectPetronius. After the death of her husband, the most powerful subjectof Rome, she had remained at the head of the Anician family, andsuccessively supplied, from her private fortune, the expense of theconsulships of her three sons. When the city was besieged and takenby the Goths, Proba supported, with Christian resignation, the loss ofimmense riches; embarked in a small vessel, from whence she beheld, atsea, the flames of her burning palace, and fled with her daughter Laeta, and her granddaughter, the celebrated virgin, Demetrias, to the coast ofAfrica. The benevolent profusion with which the matron distributedthe fruits, or the price, of her estates, contributed to alleviate themisfortunes of exile and captivity. But even the family of Proba herselfwas not exempt from the rapacious oppression of Count Heraclian, whobasely sold, in matrimonial prostitution, the noblest maidens of Rome tothe lust or avarice of the Syrian merchants. The Italian fugitives weredispersed through the provinces, along the coast of Egypt and Asia, asfar as Constantinople and Jerusalem; and the village of Bethlem, thesolitary residence of St. Jerom and his female converts, was crowdedwith illustrious beggars of either sex, and every age, who excited thepublic compassion by the remembrance of their past fortune. [114] Thisawful catastrophe of Rome filled the astonished empire with grief andterror. So interesting a contrast of greatness and ruin, disposed thefond credulity of the people to deplore, and even to exaggerate, theafflictions of the queen of cities. The clergy, who applied to recentevents the lofty metaphors of oriental prophecy, were sometimes temptedto confound the destruction of the capital and the dissolution of theglobe. 

[Footnote 108: Orosius (l. Ii. C. 19, p. 142) compares the crueltyof the Gauls and the clemency of the Goths. Ibi vix quemquam inventumsenatorem, qui vel absens evaserit; hic vix quemquam requiri, qui forteut latens perierit. But there is an air of rhetoric, and perhaps offalsehood, in this antithesis; and Socrates (l. Vii. C. 10) affirms, perhaps by an opposite exaggeration, that many senators were put todeath with various and exquisite tortures. ]

[Footnote 109: Multi. .. Christiani incaptivitatem ducti sunt. Augustin, de Civ Dei, l. I. C. 14; and the Christians experienced no peculiarhardships. ]

[Footnote 110: See Heineccius, Antiquitat. Juris Roman. Tom. I. P. 96. ]

[Footnote 111: Appendix Cod. Theodos. Xvi. In Sirmond. Opera, tom. I. P. 735. This edict was published on the 11th of December, A. D. 408, and ismore reasonable than properly belonged to the ministers of Honorius. ]

[Footnote 112: Eminus Igilii sylvosa cacumina miror; Quem fraudare nefaslaudis honore suae. 

 Haec proprios nuper tutata est insula saltus;

 Sive loci ingenio, seu Domini genio. Gurgite cum modico victricibus obstitit armis, Tanquam longinquo dissociata mari. 

 Haec multos lacera suscepit ab urbe fugates, Hic fessis posito certa timore salus. Plurima terreno populaverat aequora bello, Contra naturam classe timendus eques: Unum, mira fides, vario discrimine portum!

 Tam prope Romanis, tam procul esse Getis. 

 ---Rutilius, in Itinerar. L. I. 325

The island is now called Giglio. See Cluver. Ital. Antiq. L. Ii. ]

[Footnote 113: As the adventures of Proba and her family are connectedwith the life of St. Augustin, they are diligently illustrated byTillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xiii. P. 620-635. Some time after theirarrival in Africa, Demetrias took the veil, and made a vow of virginity;an event which was considered as of the highest importance to Rome andto the world. All the Saints wrote congratulatory letters to her; thatof Jerom is still extant, (tom. I. P. 62-73, ad Demetriad. De servandVirginitat. , ) and contains a mixture of absurd reasoning, spiriteddeclamation, and curious facts, some of which relate to the siege andsack of Rome. ]

[Footnote 114: See the pathetic complaint of Jerom, (tom. V. P. 400, )in his preface to the second book of his Commentaries on the ProphetEzekiel. ]

There exists in human nature a strong propensity to depreciate theadvantages, and to magnify the evils, of the present times. Yet, whenthe first emotions had subsided, and a fair estimate was made of thereal damage, the more learned and judicious contemporaries were forcedto confess, that infant Rome had formerly received more essentialinjury from the Gauls, than she had now sustained from the Goths inher declining age. [115] The experience of eleven centuries has enabledposterity to produce a much more singular parallel; and to affirm withconfidence, that the ravages of the Barbarians, whom Alaric had ledfrom the banks of the Danube, were less destructive than the hostilitiesexercised by the troops of Charles the Fifth, a Catholic prince, whostyled himself Emperor of the Romans. [116] The Goths evacuated thecity at the end of six days, but Rome remained above nine months inthe possession of the Imperialists; and every hour was stained by someatrocious act of cruelty, lust, and rapine. The authority of Alaricpreserved some order and moderation among the ferocious multitude whichacknowledged him for their leader and king; but the constable of Bourbonhad gloriously fallen in the attack of the walls; and the death ofthe general removed every restraint of discipline from an army whichconsisted of three independent nations, the Italians, the Spaniards, andthe Germans. In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the manners ofItaly exhibited a remarkable scene of the depravity of mankind. Theyunited the sanguinary crimes that prevail in an unsettled state ofsociety, with the polished vices which spring from the abuse of art andluxury; and the loose adventurers, who had violated every prejudice ofpatriotism and superstition to assault the palace of the Roman pontiff, must deserve to be considered as the most profligate of the Italians. At the same aera, the Spaniards were the terror both of the Old andNew World: but their high-spirited valor was disgraced by gloomy pride, rapacious avarice, and unrelenting cruelty. Indefatigable in the pursuitof fame and riches, they had improved, by repeated practice, the mostexquisite and effectual methods of torturing their prisoners: manyof the Castilians, who pillaged Rome, were familiars of the holyinquisition; and some volunteers, perhaps, were lately returned from theconquest of Mexico The Germans were less corrupt than the Italians, less cruel than the Spaniards; and the rustic, or even savage, aspectof those Tramontane warriors, often disguised a simple and mercifuldisposition. But they had imbibed, in the first fervor of thereformation, the spirit, as well as the principles of Luther. It wastheir favorite amusement to insult, or destroy, the consecrated objectsof Catholic superstition; they indulged, without pity or remorse, adevout hatred against the clergy of every denomination and degree, whoform so considerable a part of the inhabitants of modern Rome; andtheir fanatic zeal might aspire to subvert the throne of Anti-christ, topurify, with blood and fire, the abominations of the spiritual Babylon. [117]

[Footnote 115: Orosius, though with some theological partiality, statesthis comparison, l. Ii. C. 19, p. 142, l. Vii. C. 39, p. 575. But, in the history of the taking of Rome by the Gauls, every thing isuncertain, and perhaps fabulous. See Beaufort sur l'Incertitude, &c. , de l'Histoire Romaine, p. 356; and Melot, in the Mem. De l'Academie desInscript. Tom. Xv. P. 1-21. ]

[Footnote 116: The reader who wishes to inform himself of thecircumstances of his famous event, may peruse an admirable narrative inDr. Robertson's History of Charles V. Vol. Ii. P. 283; or consult theAnnali d'Italia of the learned Muratori, tom. Xiv. P. 230-244, octavoedition. If he is desirous of examining the originals, he may haverecourse to the eighteenth book of the great, but unfinished, historyof Guicciardini. But the account which most truly deserves the name ofauthentic and original, is a little book, entitled, Il Sacco di Roma, composed, within less than a month after the assault of the city, by thebrother of the historian Guicciardini, who appears to have been an ablemagistrate and a dispassionate writer. ]

[Footnote 117: The furious spirit of Luther, the effect of temper andenthusiasm, has been forcibly attacked, (Bossuet, Hist. Des Variationsdes Eglises Protestantes, livre i. P. 20-36, ) and feebly defended, (Seckendorf. Comment. De Lutheranismo, especially l. I. No. 78, p. 120, and l. Iii. No. 122, p. 556. )] The retreat of the victorious Goths, whoevacuated Rome on the sixth day, [118] might be the result of prudence;but it was not surely the effect of fear. [119] At the head of an armyencumbered with rich and weighty spoils, their intrepid leader advancedalong the Appian way into the southern provinces of Italy, destroyingwhatever dared to oppose his passage, and contenting himself with theplunder of the unresisting country. The fate of Capua, the proud andluxurious metropolis of Campania, and which was respected, even in itsdecay, as the eighth city of the empire, [120] is buried in oblivion;whilst the adjacent town of Nola [121] has been illustrated, on thisoccasion, by the sanctity of Paulinus, [122] who was successively aconsul, a monk, and a bishop. At the age of forty, he renounced theenjoyment of wealth and honor, of society and literature, to embracea life of solitude and penance; and the loud applause of the clergyencouraged him to despise the reproaches of his worldly friends, whoascribed this desperate act to some disorder of the mind or body. [123]An early and passionate attachment determined him to fix his humbledwelling in one of the suburbs of Nola, near the miraculous tomb of St. Faelix, which the public devotion had already surrounded with fivelarge and populous churches. The remains of his fortune, and of hisunderstanding, were dedicated to the service of the glorious martyr;whose praise, on the day of his festival, Paulinus never failed tocelebrate by a solemn hymn; and in whose name he erected a sixth church, of superior elegance and beauty, which was decorated with many curiouspictures, from the history of the Old and New Testament. Such assiduouszeal secured the favor of the saint, [124] or at least of the people;and, after fifteen years' retirement, the Roman consul was compelled toaccept the bishopric of Nola, a few months before the city was investedby the Goths. During the siege, some religious persons were satisfiedthat they had seen, either in dreams or visions, the divine form oftheir tutelar patron; yet it soon appeared by the event, that Faelixwanted power, or inclination, to preserve the flock of which hehad formerly been the shepherd. Nola was not saved from the generaldevastation; [125] and the captive bishop was protected only by thegeneral opinion of his innocence and poverty. Above four years elapsedfrom the successful invasion of Italy by the arms of Alaric, to thevoluntary retreat of the Goths under the conduct of his successorAdolphus; and, during the whole time, they reigned without control overa country, which, in the opinion of the ancients, had united all thevarious excellences of nature and art. The prosperity, indeed, whichItaly had attained in the auspicious age of the Antonines, had graduallydeclined with the decline of the empire. 

The fruits of a long peace perished under the rude grasp of theBarbarians; and they themselves were incapable of tasting the moreelegant refinements of luxury, which had been prepared for the use ofthe soft and polished Italians. Each soldier, however, claimed an ampleportion of the substantial plenty, the corn and cattle, oil and wine, that was daily collected and consumed in the Gothic camp; and theprincipal warriors insulted the villas and gardens, once inhabitedby Lucullus and Cicero, along the beauteous coast of Campania. Theirtrembling captives, the sons and daughters of Roman senators, presented, in goblets of gold and gems, large draughts of Falernian wine to thehaughty victors; who stretched their huge limbs under the shade ofplane-trees, [126] artificially disposed to exclude the scorching rays, and to admit the genial warmth, of the sun. These delights were enhancedby the memory of past hardships: the comparison of their native soil, the bleak and barren hills of Scythia, and the frozen banks of the Elbeand Danube, added new charms to the felicity of the Italian climate. [127]

[Footnote 118: Marcellinus, in Chron. Orosius, (l. Vii. C. 39, p. 575, )asserts, that he left Rome on the third day; but this difference iseasily reconciled by the successive motions of great bodies of troops. ]

[Footnote 119: Socrates (l. Vii. C. 10) pretends, without any color oftruth, or reason, that Alaric fled on the report that the armies of theEastern empire were in full march to attack him. ]

[Footnote 120: Ausonius de Claris Urbibus, p. 233, edit. Toll. Theluxury of Capua had formerly surpassed that of Sybaris itself. SeeAthenaeus Deipnosophist. L. Xii. P. 528, edit. Casaubon. ]

[Footnote 121: Forty-eight years before the foundation of Rome, (about800 before the Christian aera, ) the Tuscans built Capua and Nola, at thedistance of twenty-three miles from each other; but the latter of thetwo cities never emerged from a state of mediocrity. ]

[Footnote 122: Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xiv. P. 1-46) has compiled, with his usual diligence, all that relates to the life and writings ofPaulinus, whose retreat is celebrated by his own pen, and by the praisesof St. Ambrose, St. Jerom, St. Augustin, Sulpicius Severus, &c. , hisChristian friends and contemporaries. ]

[Footnote 123: See the affectionate letters of Ausonius (epist. Xix. --xxv. P. 650-698, edit. Toll. ) to his colleague, his friend, andhis disciple, Paulinus. The religion of Ausonius is still a problem, (see Mem. De l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. Xv. P. 123-138. ) Ibelieve that it was such in his own time, and, consequently, that in hisheart he was a Pagan. ]

[Footnote 124: The humble Paulinus once presumed to say, that hebelieved St. Faelix did love him; at least, as a master loves his littledog. ]

[Footnote 125: See Jornandes, de Reb. Get. C. 30, p. 653. Philostorgius, l. Xii. C. 3. Augustin. De Civ. Dei, l. I. C. 10. Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A. D. 410, No. 45, 46. ]

[Footnote 126: The platanus, or plane-tree, was a favorite of theancients, by whom it was propagated, for the sake of shade, from theEast to Gaul. Plin. Hist. Natur. Xii. 3, 4, 5. He mentions several ofan enormous size; one in the Imperial villa, at Velitrae, which Caligulacalled his nest, as the branches were capable of holding a large table, the proper attendants, and the emperor himself, whom Pliny quaintlystyles pars umbroe; an expression which might, with equal reason, beapplied to Alaric]

[Footnote 127: The prostrate South to the destroyer yields

 Her boasted titles, and her golden fields; With grim delight the brood of winter view A brighter day, and skies of azure hue; Scent the new fragrance of the opening rose, And quaff the pendent vintage as it grows. 

See Gray's Poems, published by Mr. Mason, p. 197. Instead of compilingtables of chronology and natural history, why did not Mr. Gray applythe powers of his genius to finish the philosophic poem, of which he hasleft such an exquisite specimen?]

Whether fame, or conquest, or riches, were the object or Alaric, hepursued that object with an indefatigable ardor, which could neither bequelled by adversity nor satiated by success. No sooner had he reachedthe extreme land of Italy, than he was attracted by the neighboringprospect of a fertile and peaceful island. Yet even the possessionof Sicily he considered only as an intermediate step to the importantexpedition, which he already meditated against the continent of Africa. The Straits of Rhegium and Messina [128] are twelve miles in length, and, in the narrowest passage, about one mile and a half broad; and thefabulous monsters of the deep, the rocks of Scylla, and the whirlpool ofCharybdis, could terrify none but the most timid and unskilful mariners. Yet as soon as the first division of the Goths had embarked, a suddentempest arose, which sunk, or scattered, many of the transports; theircourage was daunted by the terrors of a new element; and the wholedesign was defeated by the premature death of Alaric, which fixed, after a short illness, the fatal term of his conquests. The ferociouscharacter of the Barbarians was displayed in the funeral of a hero whosevalor and fortune they celebrated with mournful applause. By thelabor of a captive multitude, they forcibly diverted the course of theBusentinus, a small river that washes the walls of Consentia. The royalsepulchre, adorned with the splendid spoils and trophies of Rome, wasconstructed in the vacant bed; the waters were then restored to theirnatural channel; and the secret spot, where the remains of Alaric hadbeen deposited, was forever concealed by the inhuman massacre of theprisoners, who had been employed to execute the work. [129]

[Footnote 128: For the perfect description of the Straits of Messina, Scylla, Clarybdis, &c. , see Cluverius, (Ital. Antiq. L. Iv. P. 1293, andSicilia Antiq. L. I. P. 60-76), who had diligently studied the ancients, and surveyed with a curious eye the actual face of the country. ]

[Footnote 129: Jornandes, de Reb Get. C. 30, p. 654. ]

Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories ByBarbarians. --Part V. 

The personal animosities and hereditary feuds of the Barbarians weresuspended by the strong necessity of their affairs; and the braveAdolphus, the brother-in-law of the deceased monarch, was unanimouslyelected to succeed to his throne. The character and political systemof the new king of the Goths may be best understood from his ownconversation with an illustrious citizen of Narbonne; who afterwards, ina pilgrimage to the Holy Land, related it to St. Jerom, in the presenceof the historian Orosius. "In the full confidence of valor and victory, I once aspired (said Adolphus) to change the face of the universe; toobliterate the name of Rome; to erect on its ruins the dominion of theGoths; and to acquire, like Augustus, the immortal fame of the founderof a new empire. By repeated experiments, I was gradually convinced, that laws are essentially necessary to maintain and regulate awell-constituted state; and that the fierce, untractable humor of theGoths was incapable of bearing the salutary yoke of laws and civilgovernment. From that moment I proposed to myself a different object ofglory and ambition; and it is now my sincere wish that the gratitude offuture ages should acknowledge the merit of a stranger, who employedthe sword of the Goths, not to subvert, but to restore and maintain, the prosperity of the Roman empire. " [130] With these pacific views, the successor of Alaric suspended the operations of war; and seriouslynegotiated with the Imperial court a treaty of friendship and alliance. It was the interest of the ministers of Honorius, who were now releasedfrom the obligation of their extravagant oath, to deliver Italy from theintolerable weight of the Gothic powers; and they readily accepted theirservice against the tyrants and Barbarians who infested the provincesbeyond the Alps. [131] Adolphus, assuming the character of a Romangeneral, directed his march from the extremity of Campania to thesouthern provinces of Gaul. His troops, either by force of agreement, immediately occupied the cities of Narbonne, Thoulouse, and Bordeaux;and though they were repulsed by Count Boniface from the walls ofMarseilles, they soon extended their quarters from the Mediterranean tothe Ocean. 

The oppressed provincials might exclaim, that the miserable remnant, which the enemy had spared, was cruelly ravished by their pretendedallies; yet some specious colors were not wanting to palliate, orjustify the violence of the Goths. The cities of Gaul, which theyattacked, might perhaps be considered as in a state of rebellion againstthe government of Honorius: the articles of the treaty, or the secretinstructions of the court, might sometimes be alleged in favor ofthe seeming usurpations of Adolphus; and the guilt of any irregular, unsuccessful act of hostility might always be imputed, with anappearance of truth, to the ungovernable spirit of a Barbarian host, impatient of peace or discipline. The luxury of Italy had been lesseffectual to soften the temper, than to relax the courage, of theGoths; and they had imbibed the vices, without imitating the arts andinstitutions, of civilized society. [132]

[Footnote 130: Orosius, l. Vii. C. 43, p. 584, 585. He was sent by St. Augustin in the year 415, from Africa to Palestine, to visit St. Jerom, and to consult with him on the subject of the Pelagian controversy. ]

[Footnote 131: Jornandes supposes, without much probability, thatAdolphus visited and plundered Rome a second time, (more locustarumerasit) Yet he agrees with Orosius in supposing that a treaty of peacewas concluded between the Gothic prince and Honorius. See Oros. L. Vii. C. 43 p. 584, 585. Jornandes, de Reb. Geticis, c. 31, p. 654, 655. ]

[Footnote 132: The retreat of the Goths from Italy, and their firsttransactions in Gaul, are dark and doubtful. I have derived muchassistance from Mascou, (Hist. Of the Ancient Germans, l. Viii. C. 29, 35, 36, 37, ) who has illustrated, and connected, the broken chroniclesand fragments of the times. ]

The professions of Adolphus were probably sincere, and his attachmentto the cause of the republic was secured by the ascendant which a Romanprincess had acquired over the heart and understanding of the Barbarianking. Placidia, [133] the daughter of the great Theodosius, and ofGalla, his second wife, had received a royal education in the palace ofConstantinople; but the eventful story of her life is connected withthe revolutions which agitated the Western empire under the reign of herbrother Honorius. When Rome was first invested by the arms of Alaric, Placidia, who was then about twenty years of age, resided in the city;and her ready consent to the death of her cousin Serena has a crueland ungrateful appearance, which, according to the circumstances ofthe action, may be aggravated, or excused, by the consideration ofher tender age. [134] The victorious Barbarians detained, either as ahostage or a captive, [135] the sister of Honorius; but, while she wasexposed to the disgrace of following round Italy the motions of a Gothiccamp, she experienced, however, a decent and respectful treatment. Theauthority of Jornandes, who praises the beauty of Placidia, may perhapsbe counterbalanced by the silence, the expressive silence, of herflatterers: yet the splendor of her birth, the bloom of youth, the elegance of manners, and the dexterous insinuation which shecondescended to employ, made a deep impression on the mind of Adolphus;and the Gothic king aspired to call himself the brother of the emperor. The ministers of Honorius rejected with disdain the proposal of analliance so injurious to every sentiment of Roman pride; and repeatedlyurged the restitution of Placidia, as an indispensable condition ofthe treaty of peace. But the daughter of Theodosius submitted, withoutreluctance, to the desires of the conqueror, a young and valiant prince, who yielded to Alaric in loftiness of stature, but who excelled in themore attractive qualities of grace and beauty. The marriage of Adolphusand Placidia [136] was consummated before the Goths retired from Italy;and the solemn, perhaps the anniversary day of their nuptials wasafterwards celebrated in the house of Ingenuus, one of the mostillustrious citizens of Narbonne in Gaul. The bride, attired and adornedlike a Roman empress, was placed on a throne of state; and the king ofthe Goths, who assumed, on this occasion, the Roman habit, contentedhimself with a less honorable seat by her side. The nuptial gift, which, according to the custom of his nation, [137] was offered to Placidia, consisted of the rare and magnificent spoils of her country. Fiftybeautiful youths, in silken robes, carried a basin in each hand; and oneof these basins was filled with pieces of gold, the other with preciousstones of an inestimable value. Attalus, so long the sport of fortune, and of the Goths, was appointed to lead the chorus of the Hymenealsong; and the degraded emperor might aspire to the praise of a skilfulmusician. The Barbarians enjoyed the insolence of their triumph; andthe provincials rejoiced in this alliance, which tempered, by the mildinfluence of love and reason, the fierce spirit of their Gothic lord. [138]

[Footnote 133: See an account of Placidia in Ducange Fam. Byzant. P. 72;and Tillemont, Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. V. P. 260, 386, &c. Tom. Vi. P. 240. ]

[Footnote 134: Zosim. L. V. P. 350. ]

[Footnote 135: Zosim. L. Vi. P. 383. Orosius, (l. Vii. C. 40, p. 576, )and the Chronicles of Marcellinus and Idatius, seem to suppose, that theGoths did not carry away Placidia till after the last siege of Rome. ]

[Footnote 136: See the pictures of Adolphus and Placidia, and theaccount of their marriage, in Jornandes, de Reb. Geticis, c. 31, p. 654, 655. With regard to the place where the nuptials were stipulated, orconsummated, or celebrated, the Mss. Of Jornandes vary between twoneighboring cities, Forli and Imola, (Forum Livii and Forum Cornelii. )It is fair and easy to reconcile the Gothic historian with Olympiodorus, (see Mascou, l. Viii. C. 46:) but Tillemont grows peevish, and swearsthat it is not worth while to try to conciliate Jornandes with any goodauthors. ]

[Footnote 137: The Visigoths (the subjects of Adolphus) restrained bysubsequent laws, the prodigality of conjugal love. It was illegal fora husband to make any gift or settlement for the benefit of his wifeduring the first year of their marriage; and his liberality could notat any time exceed the tenth part of his property. The Lombards weresomewhat more indulgent: they allowed the morgingcap immediately afterthe wedding night; and this famous gift, the reward of virginity mightequal the fourth part of the husband's substance. Some cautious maidens, indeed, were wise enough to stipulate beforehand a present, which theywere too sure of not deserving. See Montesquieu, Esprit des Loix, l. Xix. C. 25. Muratori, delle Antichita Italiane, tom. I. Dissertazion, xx. P. 243. ]

[Footnote 138: We owe the curious detail of this nuptial feast to thehistorian Olympiodorus, ap. Photium, p. 185, 188. ]

The hundred basins of gold and gems, presented to Placidia at hernuptial feast, formed an inconsiderable portion of the Gothic treasures;of which some extraordinary specimens may be selected from the historyof the successors of Adolphus. Many curious and costly ornaments of puregold, enriched with jewels, were found in their palace of Narbonne, whenit was pillaged, in the sixth century, by the Franks: sixty cups, caps, or chalices; fifteen patens, or plates, for the use of the communion;twenty boxes, or cases, to hold the books of the Gospels: thisconsecrated wealth [139] was distributed by the son of Clovis among thechurches of his dominions, and his pious liberality seems to upbraidsome former sacrilege of the Goths. They possessed, with more securityof conscience, the famous missorium, or great dish for the service ofthe table, of massy gold, of the weight of five hundred pounds, and offar superior value, from the precious stones, the exquisite workmanship, and the tradition, that it had been presented by Aetius, the patrician, to Torismond, king of the Goths. One of the successors of Torismondpurchased the aid of the French monarch by the promise of thismagnificent gift. When he was seated on the throne of Spain, hedelivered it with reluctance to the ambassadors of Dagobert; despoiledthem on the road; stipulated, after a long negotiation, the inadequateransom of two hundred thousand pieces of gold; and preserved themissorium, as the pride of the Gothic treasury. [140] When thattreasury, after the conquest of Spain, was plundered by the Arabs, theyadmired, and they have celebrated, another object still more remarkable;a table of considerable size, of one single piece of solid emerald, [141] encircled with three rows of fine pearls, supported by threehundred and sixty-five feet of gems and massy gold, and estimated at theprice of five hundred thousand pieces of gold. [142] Some portion ofthe Gothic treasures might be the gift of friendship, or the tributeof obedience; but the far greater part had been the fruits of war andrapine, the spoils of the empire, and perhaps of Rome. 

[Footnote 139: See in the great collection of the Historians of Franceby Dom Bouquet, tom. Ii. Greg. Turonens. L. Iii. C. 10, p. 191. GestaRegum Francorum, c. 23, p. 557. The anonymous writer, with an ignoranceworthy of his times, supposes that these instruments of Christianworship had belonged to the temple of Solomon. If he has any meaning itmust be, that they were found in the sack of Rome. ]

[Footnote 140: Consult the following original testimonies in theHistorians of France, tom. Ii. Fredegarii Scholastici Chron. C. 73, p. 441. Fredegar. Fragment. Iii. P. 463. Gesta Regis Dagobert, c. 29, p. 587. The accession of Sisenand to the throne of Spain happened A. D. 631. The 200, 000 pieces of gold were appropriated by Dagobert to thefoundation of the church of St. Denys. ]

[Footnote 141: The president Goguet (Origine des Loix, &c. , tom. Ii. P. 239) is of opinion, that the stupendous pieces of emerald, thestatues and columns which antiquity has placed in Egypt, at Gades, at Constantinople, were in reality artificial compositions of coloredglass. The famous emerald dish, which is shown at Genoa, is supposed tocountenance the suspicion. ]

[Footnote 142: Elmacin. Hist. Saracenica, l. I. P. 85. Roderic. Tolet. Hist. Arab. C. 9. Cardonne, Hist. De l'Afrique et de l'Espagne sous lesArabes tom. I. P. 83. It was called the Table of Solomon, according tothe custom of the Orientals, who ascribe to that prince every ancientwork of knowledge or magnificence. ]

After the deliverance of Italy from the oppression of the Goths, somesecret counsellor was permitted, amidst the factions of the palace, toheal the wounds of that afflicted country. [143] By a wise and humaneregulation, the eight provinces which had been the most deeply injured, Campania, Tuscany, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Calabria, Bruttium, andLucania, obtained an indulgence of five years: the ordinary tribute wasreduced to one fifth, and even that fifth was destined to restore andsupport the useful institution of the public posts. By another law, the lands which had been left without inhabitants or cultivation, weregranted, with some diminution of taxes, to the neighbors who shouldoccupy, or the strangers who should solicit them; and the new possessorswere secured against the future claims of the fugitive proprietors. About the same time a general amnesty was published in the name ofHonorius, to abolish the guilt and memory of all the involuntaryoffences which had been committed by his unhappy subjects, duringthe term of the public disorder and calamity A decent and respectfulattention was paid to the restoration of the capital; the citizens wereencouraged to rebuild the edifices which had been destroyed or damagedby hostile fire; and extraordinary supplies of corn were imported fromthe coast of Africa. The crowds that so lately fled before the sword ofthe Barbarians, were soon recalled by the hopes of plenty and pleasure;and Albinus, praefect of Rome, informed the court, with some anxiety andsurprise, that, in a single day, he had taken an account of the arrivalof fourteen thousand strangers. [144] In less than seven years, thevestiges of the Gothic invasion were almost obliterated; and the cityappeared to resume its former splendor and tranquillity. The venerablematron replaced her crown of laurel, which had been ruffled by thestorms of war; and was still amused, in the last moment of her decay, with the prophecies of revenge, of victory, and of eternal dominion. [145]

[Footnote 143: His three laws are inserted in the Theodosian Code, l. Xi. Tit. Xxviii. Leg. 7. L. Xiii. Tit. Xi. Leg. 12. L. Xv. Tit. Xiv. Leg. 14 The expressions of the last are very remarkable; since theycontain not only a pardon, but an apology. ]

[Footnote 144: Olympiodorus ap. Phot. P. 188. Philostorgius (l. Xii. C. 5) observes, that when Honorius made his triumphal entry, he encouragedthe Romans, with his hand and voice, to rebuild their city; andthe Chronicle of Prosper commends Heraclian, qui in Romanae urbisreparationem strenuum exhibuerat ministerium. ]

[Footnote 145: The date of the voyage of Claudius Rutilius Numatianusis clogged with some difficulties; but Scaliger has deduced fromastronomical characters, that he left Rome the 24th of September andembarked at Porto the 9th of October, A. D. 416. See Tillemont, Hist. DesEmpereurs, tom, v. P. 820. In this poetical Itinerary, Rutilius (l. I. 115, &c. ) addresses Rome in a high strain of congratulation:--

Erige crinales lauros, seniumque sacrati Verticis in virides, Roma, recinge comas, &c. ]

This apparent tranquillity was soon disturbed by the approach of ahostile armament from the country which afforded the daily subsistenceof the Roman people. Heraclian, count of Africa, who, under the mostdifficult and distressful circumstances, had supported, with activeloyalty, the cause of Honorius, was tempted, in the year of hisconsulship, to assume the character of a rebel, and the title ofemperor. The ports of Africa were immediately filled with the navalforces, at the head of which he prepared to invade Italy: and his fleet, when it cast anchor at the mouth of the Tyber, indeed surpassed thefleets of Xerxes and Alexander, if all the vessels, including the royalgalley, and the smallest boat, did actually amount to the incrediblenumber of three thousand two hundred. [146] Yet with such an armament, which might have subverted, or restored, the greatest empires of theearth, the African usurper made a very faint and feeble impression onthe provinces of his rival. As he marched from the port, along the roadwhich leads to the gates of Rome, he was encountered, terrified, androuted, by one of the Imperial captains; and the lord of this mightyhost, deserting his fortune and his friends, ignominiously fled with asingle ship. [147] When Heraclian landed in the harbor of Carthage, hefound that the whole province, disdaining such an unworthy ruler, hadreturned to their allegiance. The rebel was beheaded in the ancienttemple of Memory his consulship was abolished: [148] and the remainsof his private fortune, not exceeding the moderate sum of four thousandpounds of gold, were granted to the brave Constantius, who had alreadydefended the throne, which he afterwards shared with his feeblesovereign. Honorius viewed, with supine indifference, the calamitiesof Rome and Italy; [149] but the rebellious attempts of Attalus andHeraclian, against his personal safety, awakened, for a moment, thetorpid instinct of his nature. He was probably ignorant of the causesand events which preserved him from these impending dangers; and asItaly was no longer invaded by any foreign or domestic enemies, hepeaceably existed in the palace of Ravenna, while the tyrants beyond theAlps were repeatedly vanquished in the name, and by the lieutenants, of the son of Theodosius. [150] In the course of a busy and interestingnarrative I might possibly forget to mention the death of such a prince:and I shall therefore take the precaution of observing, in this place, that he survived the last siege of Rome about thirteen years. 

[Footnote 146: Orosius composed his history in Africa, only two yearsafter the event; yet his authority seems to be overbalanced by theimprobability of the fact. The Chronicle of Marcellinus gives Heraclian700 ships and 3000 men: the latter of these numbers is ridiculouslycorrupt; but the former would please me very much. ]

[Footnote 147: The Chronicle of Idatius affirms, without the leastappearance of truth, that he advanced as far as Otriculum, in Umbria, where he was overthrown in a great battle, with the loss of 50, 000 men. ]

[Footnote 148: See Cod. Theod. L. Xv. Tit. Xiv. Leg. 13. The legal actsperformed in his name, even the manumission of slaves, were declaredinvalid, till they had been formally repeated. ]

[Footnote 149: I have disdained to mention a very foolish, and probablya false, report, (Procop. De Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 2, ) that Honoriuswas alarmed by the loss of Rome, till he understood that it was not afavorite chicken of that name, but only the capital of the world, which had been lost. Yet even this story is some evidence of the publicopinion. ]

[Footnote 150: The materials for the lives of all these tyrants aretaken from six contemporary historians, two Latins and four Greeks:Orosius, l. Vii. C. 42, p. 581, 582, 583; Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus, apud Gregor Turon. L. Ii. C. 9, in the Historians of France, tom. Ii. P. 165, 166; Zosimus, l. V. P. 370, 371; Olympiodorus, apud Phot. P. 180, 181, 184, 185; Sozomen, l. Ix. C. 12, 13, 14, 15; and Philostorgius, l. Xii. C. 5, 6, with Godefroy's Dissertation, p. 477-481; besides thefour Chronicles of Prosper Tyro, Prosper of Aquitain, Idatius, andMarcellinus. ]

The usurpation of Constantine, who received the purple from the legionsof Britain, had been successful, and seemed to be secure. His title wasacknowledged, from the wall of Antoninus to the columns of Hercules;and, in the midst of the public disorder he shared the dominion, andthe plunder, of Gaul and Spain, with the tribes of Barbarians, whosedestructive progress was no longer checked by the Rhine or Pyrenees. Stained with the blood of the kinsmen of Honorius, he extorted, from thecourt of Ravenna, with which he secretly corresponded, the ratificationof his rebellious claims Constantine engaged himself, by a solemnpromise, to deliver Italy from the Goths; advanced as far as the banksof the Po; and after alarming, rather than assisting, his pusillanimousally, hastily returned to the palace of Arles, to celebrate, withintemperate luxury, his vain and ostentatious triumph. But thistransient prosperity was soon interrupted and destroyed by the revolt ofCount Gerontius, the bravest of his generals; who, during the absence ofhis son Constants, a prince already invested with the Imperial purple, had been left to command in the provinces of Spain. From some reason, ofwhich we are ignorant, Gerontius, instead of assuming the diadem, placed it on the head of his friend Maximus, who fixed his residenceat Tarragona, while the active count pressed forwards, through thePyrenees, to surprise the two emperors, Constantine and Constans, beforethey could prepare for their defence. The son was made prisoner atVienna, and immediately put to death: and the unfortunate youth hadscarcely leisure to deplore the elevation of his family; which hadtempted, or compelled him, sacrilegiously to desert the peacefulobscurity of the monastic life. The father maintained a siege within thewalls of Arles; but those walls must have yielded to the assailants, hadnot the city been unexpectedly relieved by the approach of an Italianarmy. The name of Honorius, the proclamation of a lawful emperor, astonished the contending parties of the rebels. Gerontius, abandoned byhis own troops, escaped to the confines of Spain; and rescued his namefrom oblivion, by the Roman courage which appeared to animate the lastmoments of his life. In the middle of the night, a great body of hisperfidious soldiers surrounded and attacked his house, which he hadstrongly barricaded. His wife, a valiant friend of the nation of theAlani, and some faithful slaves, were still attached to his person; andhe used, with so much skill and resolution, a large magazine of dartsand arrows, that above three hundred of the assailants lost their livesin the attempt. His slaves when all the missile weapons were spent, fled at the dawn of day; and Gerontius, if he had not been restrainedby conjugal tenderness, might have imitated their example; till thesoldiers, provoked by such obstinate resistance, applied fire on allsides to the house. In this fatal extremity, he complied with therequest of his Barbarian friend, and cut off his head. The wife ofGerontius, who conjured him not to abandon her to a life of misery anddisgrace, eagerly presented her neck to his sword; and the tragic scenewas terminated by the death of the count himself, who, after threeineffectual strokes, drew a short dagger, and sheathed it in his heart. [151] The unprotected Maximus, whom he had invested with the purple, wasindebted for his life to the contempt that was entertained of his powerand abilities. The caprice of the Barbarians, who ravaged Spain, oncemore seated this Imperial phantom on the throne: but they soon resignedhim to the justice of Honorius; and the tyrant Maximus, after he hadbeen shown to the people of Ravenna and Rome, was publicly executed. 

[Footnote 151: The praises which Sozomen has bestowed on this act ofdespair, appear strange and scandalous in the mouth of an ecclesiasticalhistorian. He observes (p. 379) that the wife of Gerontius was aChristian; and that her death was worthy of her religion, and ofimmortal fame. ]

The general, (Constantius was his name, ) who raised by his approachthe siege of Arles, and dissipated the troops of Gerontius, was borna Roman; and this remarkable distinction is strongly expressive of thedecay of military spirit among the subjects of the empire. The strengthand majesty which were conspicuous in the person of that general, [152]marked him, in the popular opinion, as a candidate worthy of the throne, which he afterwards ascended. In the familiar intercourse of privatelife, his manners were cheerful and engaging; nor would he sometimesdisdain, in the license of convivial mirth, to vie with the pantomimesthemselves, in the exercises of their ridiculous profession. But whenthe trumpet summoned him to arms; when he mounted his horse, and, bending down (for such was his singular practice) almost upon the neck, fiercely rolled his large animated eyes round the field, Constantiusthen struck terror into his foes, and inspired his soldiers with theassurance of victory. He had received from the court of Ravenna theimportant commission of extirpating rebellion in the provinces of theWest; and the pretended emperor Constantine, after enjoying a short andanxious respite, was again besieged in his capital by the arms of amore formidable enemy. Yet this interval allowed time for a successfulnegotiation with the Franks and Alemanni and his ambassador, Edobic, soon returned at the head of an army, to disturb the operations of thesiege of Arles. The Roman general, instead of expecting the attack inhis lines, boldly and perhaps wisely, resolved to pass the Rhone, and tomeet the Barbarians. His measures were conducted with so much skill andsecrecy, that, while they engaged the infantry of Constantius in thefront, they were suddenly attacked, surrounded, and destroyed, bythe cavalry of his lieutenant Ulphilas, who had silently gained anadvantageous post in their rear. The remains of the army of Edobic werepreserved by flight or submission, and their leader escaped from thefield of battle to the house of a faithless friend; who too clearlyunderstood, that the head of his obnoxious guest would be an acceptableand lucrative present for the Imperial general. On this occasion, Constantius behaved with the magnanimity of a genuine Roman. Subduing, or suppressing, every sentiment of jealousy, he publicly acknowledgedthe merit and services of Ulphilas; but he turned with horror from theassassin of Edobic; and sternly intimated his commands, that the campshould no longer be polluted by the presence of an ungrateful wretch, who had violated the laws of friendship and hospitality. The usurper, who beheld, from the walls of Arles, the ruin of his last hopes, wastempted to place some confidence in so generous a conqueror. Herequired a solemn promise for his security; and after receiving, by theimposition of hands, the sacred character of a Christian Presbyter, heventured to open the gates of the city. But he soon experienced thatthe principles of honor and integrity, which might regulate the ordinaryconduct of Constantius, were superseded by the loose doctrines ofpolitical morality. The Roman general, indeed, refused to sully hislaurels with the blood of Constantine; but the abdicated emperor, andhis son Julian, were sent under a strong guard into Italy; and beforethey reached the palace of Ravenna, they met the ministers of death. 

[Footnote 152: It is the expression of Olympiodorus, which he seemsto have borrowed from Aeolus, a tragedy of Euripides, of which somefragments only are now extant, (Euripid. Barnes, tom. Ii. P. 443, ver38. ) This allusion may prove, that the ancient tragic poets were stillfamiliar to the Greeks of the fifth century. ]

At a time when it was universally confessed, that almost every manin the empire was superior in personal merit to the princes whom theaccident of their birth had seated on the throne, a rapid succession ofusurpers, regardless of the fate of their predecessors, still continuedto arise. This mischief was peculiarly felt in the provinces ofSpain and Gaul, where the principles of order and obedience had beenextinguished by war and rebellion. Before Constantine resigned thepurple, and in the fourth month of the siege of Arles, intelligence wasreceived in the Imperial camp, that Jovinus has assumed the diadem atMentz, in the Upper Germany, at the instigation of Goar, king ofthe Alani, and of Guntiarius, king of the Burgundians; and that thecandidate, on whom they had bestowed the empire, advanced with aformidable host of Barbarians, from the banks of the Rhine to those ofthe Rhone. Every circumstance is dark and extraordinary in the shorthistory of the reign of Jovinus. It was natural to expect, that abrave and skilful general, at the head of a victorious army, would haveasserted, in a field of battle, the justice of the cause of Honorius. The hasty retreat of Constantius might be justified by weighty reasons;but he resigned, without a struggle, the possession of Gaul; andDardanus, the Praetorian praefect, is recorded as the only magistratewho refused to yield obedience to the usurper. [153] When the Goths, twoyears after the siege of Rome, established their quarters in Gaul, itwas natural to suppose that their inclinations could be divided onlybetween the emperor Honorius, with whom they had formed a recentalliance, and the degraded Attalus, whom they reserved in their camp forthe occasional purpose of acting the part of a musician or a monarch. Yet in a moment of disgust, (for which it is not easy to assign a cause, or a date, ) Adolphus connected himself with the usurper of Gaul; andimposed on Attalus the ignominious task of negotiating the treaty, whichratified his own disgrace. We are again surprised to read, that, insteadof considering the Gothic alliance as the firmest support of histhrone, Jovinus upbraided, in dark and ambiguous language, the officiousimportunity of Attalus; that, scorning the advice of his great ally, he invested with the purple his brother Sebastian; and that he mostimprudently accepted the service of Sarus, when that gallant chief, thesoldier of Honorius, was provoked to desert the court of a prince, whoknew not how to reward or punish. Adolphus, educated among a race ofwarriors, who esteemed the duty of revenge as the most precious andsacred portion of their inheritance, advanced with a body of tenthousand Goths to encounter the hereditary enemy of the house of Balti. He attacked Sarus at an unguarded moment, when he was accompanied onlyby eighteen or twenty of his valiant followers. United by friendship, animated by despair, but at length oppressed by multitudes, this bandof heroes deserved the esteem, without exciting the compassion, of theirenemies; and the lion was no sooner taken in the toils, [154] thanhe was instantly despatched. The death of Sarus dissolved the loosealliance which Adolphus still maintained with the usurpers of Gaul. Heagain listened to the dictates of love and prudence; and soon satisfiedthe brother of Placidia, by the assurance that he would immediatelytransmit to the palace of Ravenna the heads of the two tyrants, Jovinusand Sebastian. The king of the Goths executed his promise withoutdifficulty or delay; the helpless brothers, unsupported by any personalmerit, were abandoned by their Barbarian auxiliaries; and the shortopposition of Valentia was expiated by the ruin of one of the noblestcities of Gaul. The emperor, chosen by the Roman senate, who had beenpromoted, degraded, insulted, restored, again degraded, and againinsulted, was finally abandoned to his fate; but when the Gothic kingwithdrew his protection, he was restrained, by pity or contempt, fromoffering any violence to the person of Attalus. The unfortunate Attalus, who was left without subjects or allies, embarked in one of the portsof Spain, in search of some secure and solitary retreat: but he wasintercepted at sea, conducted to the presence of Honorius, led intriumph through the streets of Rome or Ravenna, and publicly exposed tothe gazing multitude, on the second step of the throne of his invincibleconqueror. The same measure of punishment, with which, in the days ofhis prosperity, he was accused of menacing his rival, was inflicted onAttalus himself; he was condemned, after the amputation of two fingers, to a perpetual exile in the Isle of Lipari, where he was supplied withthe decent necessaries of life. The remainder of the reign of Honoriuswas undisturbed by rebellion; and it may be observed, that, in the spaceof five years, seven usurpers had yielded to the fortune of a prince, who was himself incapable either of counsel or of action. 

[Footnote 153: Sidonius Apollinaris, (l. V. Epist. 9, p. 139, and Not. Sirmond. P. 58, ) after stigmatizing the inconstancy of Constantine, thefacility of Jovinus, the perfidy of Gerontius, continues to observe, that all the vices of these tyrants were united in the person ofDardanus. Yet the praefect supported a respectable character in theworld, and even in the church; held a devout correspondence with St. Augustin and St. Jerom; and was complimented by the latter (tom. Iii. P. 66) with the epithets of Christianorum Nobilissime, and NobiliumChristianissime. ]

[Footnote 154: The expression may be understood almost literally:Olympiodorus says a sack, or a loose garment; and this method ofentangling and catching an enemy, laciniis contortis, was much practisedby the Huns, (Ammian. Xxxi. 2. ) Il fut pris vif avec des filets, is thetranslation of Tillemont, Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. V. P. 608. * Note:Bekker in his Photius reads something, but in the new edition of theBysantines, he retains the old version, which is translated Scutis, asif they protected him with their shields, in order to take him alive. Photius, Bekker, p. 58. --M]

Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories ByBarbarians. --Part VI. 

The situation of Spain, separated, on all sides, from the enemies ofRome, by the sea, by the mountains, and by intermediate provinces, hadsecured the long tranquillity of that remote and sequestered country;and we may observe, as a sure symptom of domestic happiness, that, in aperiod of four hundred years, Spain furnished very few materials to thehistory of the Roman empire. The footsteps of the Barbarians, who, inthe reign of Gallienus, had penetrated beyond the Pyrenees, were soonobliterated by the return of peace; and in the fourth century of theChristian aera, the cities of Emerita, or Merida, of Corduba, Seville, Bracara, and Tarragona, were numbered with the most illustrious of theRoman world. The various plenty of the animal, the vegetable, and themineral kingdoms, was improved and manufactured by the skill ofan industrious people; and the peculiar advantages of naval storescontributed to support an extensive and profitable trade. [155] The artsand sciences flourished under the protection of the emperors; and ifthe character of the Spaniards was enfeebled by peace and servitude, thehostile approach of the Germans, who had spread terror and desolationfrom the Rhine to the Pyrenees, seemed to rekindle some sparks ofmilitary ardor. As long as the defence of the mountains was intrustedto the hardy and faithful militia of the country, they successfullyrepelled the frequent attempts of the Barbarians. But no sooner hadthe national troops been compelled to resign their post to the Honorianbands, in the service of Constantine, than the gates of Spain weretreacherously betrayed to the public enemy, about ten months before thesack of Rome by the Goths. [156] The consciousness of guilt, and thethirst of rapine, prompted the mercenary guards of the Pyrenees todesert their station; to invite the arms of the Suevi, the Vandals, andthe Alani; and to swell the torrent which was poured with irresistibleviolence from the frontiers of Gaul to the sea of Africa. Themisfortunes of Spain may be described in the language of its mosteloquent historian, who has concisely expressed the passionate, andperhaps exaggerated, declamations of contemporary writers. [157] "Theirruption of these nations was followed by the most dreadful calamities;as the Barbarians exercised their indiscriminate cruelty on the fortunesof the Romans and the Spaniards, and ravaged with equal fury the citiesand the open country. The progress of famine reduced the miserableinhabitants to feed on the flesh of their fellow-creatures; and eventhe wild beasts, who multiplied, without control, in the desert, wereexasperated, by the taste of blood, and the impatience of hunger, boldlyto attack and devour their human prey. Pestilence soon appeared, theinseparable companion of famine; a large proportion of the people wasswept away; and the groans of the dying excited only the envy of theirsurviving friends. At length the Barbarians, satiated with carnage andrapine, and afflicted by the contagious evils which they themselves hadintroduced, fixed their permanent seats in the depopulated country. Theancient Gallicia, whose limits included the kingdom of Old Castille, wasdivided between the Suevi and the Vandals; the Alani were scattered overthe provinces of Carthagena and Lusitania, from the Mediterranean to theAtlantic Ocean; and the fruitful territory of Boetica was allotted tothe Silingi, another branch of the Vandalic nation. After regulatingthis partition, the conquerors contracted with their new subjects somereciprocal engagements of protection and obedience: the lands were againcultivated; and the towns and villages were again occupied by a captivepeople. The greatest part of the Spaniards was even disposed to preferthis new condition of poverty and barbarism, to the severe oppressionsof the Roman government; yet there were many who still asserted theirnative freedom; and who refused, more especially in the mountains ofGallicia, to submit to the Barbarian yoke. " [158]

[Footnote 155: Without recurring to the more ancient writers, I shallquote three respectable testimonies which belong to the fourth andseventh centuries; the Expositio totius Mundi, (p. 16, in the thirdvolume of Hudson's Minor Geographers, ) Ausonius, (de Claris Urbibus, p. 242, edit. Toll. , ) and Isidore of Seville, (Praefat. Ad. Chron. Ap. Grotium, Hist. Goth. 707. ) Many particulars relative to the fertilityand trade of Spain may be found in Nonnius, Hispania Illustrata; and inHuet, Hist. Du Commerce des Anciens, c. 40. P. 228-234. ]

[Footnote 156: The date is accurately fixed in the Fasti, and theChronicle of Idatius. Orosius (l. Vii. C. 40, p. 578) imputes the lossof Spain to the treachery of the Honorians; while Sozomen (l. Ix. C. 12)accuses only their negligence. ]

[Footnote 157: Idatius wishes to apply the prophecies of Daniel tothese national calamities; and is therefore obliged to accommodate thecircumstances of the event to the terms of the prediction. ]

[Footnote 158: Mariana de Rebus Hispanicis, l. V. C. 1, tom. I. P. 148. Comit. 1733. He had read, in Orosius, (l. Vii. C. 41, p. 579, ) that theBarbarians had turned their swords into ploughshares; and that many ofthe Provincials had preferred inter Barbaros pauperem libertatem, quaminter Romanos tributariam solicitudinem, sustinere. ]

The important present of the heads of Jovinus and Sebastian had approvedthe friendship of Adolphus, and restored Gaul to the obedience of hisbrother Honorius. Peace was incompatible with the situation and temperof the king of the Goths. He readily accepted the proposal of turninghis victorious arms against the Barbarians of Spain; the troops ofConstantius intercepted his communication with the seaports of Gaul, and gently pressed his march towards the Pyrenees: [159] he passedthe mountains, and surprised, in the name of the emperor, the city ofBarcelona. The fondness of Adolphus for his Roman bride, was not abatedby time or possession: and the birth of a son, surnamed, from hisillustrious grandsire, Theodosius, appeared to fix him forever in theinterest of the republic. The loss of that infant, whose remains weredeposited in a silver coffin in one of the churches near Barcelona, afflicted his parents; but the grief of the Gothic king was suspendedby the labors of the field; and the course of his victories was sooninterrupted by domestic treason. 

He had imprudently received into his service one of the followers ofSarus; a Barbarian of a daring spirit, but of a diminutive stature;whose secret desire of revenging the death of his beloved patron wascontinually irritated by the sarcasms of his insolent master. Adolphuswas assassinated in the palace of Barcelona; the laws of the successionwere violated by a tumultuous faction; [160] and a stranger to the royalrace, Singeric, the brother of Sarus himself, was seated on the Gothicthrone. The first act of his reign was the inhuman murder of the sixchildren of Adolphus, the issue of a former marriage, whom he tore, without pity, from the feeble arms of a venerable bishop. [161] Theunfortunate Placidia, instead of the respectful compassion, which shemight have excited in the most savage breasts, was treated with crueland wanton insult. The daughter of the emperor Theodosius, confoundedamong a crowd of vulgar captives, was compelled to march on foot abovetwelve miles, before the horse of a Barbarian, the assassin of a husbandwhom Placidia loved and lamented. [162]

[Footnote 159: This mixture of force and persuasion may be fairlyinferred from comparing Orosius and Jornandes, the Roman and the Gothichistorian. ]

[Footnote 160: According to the system of Jornandes, (c. 33, p. 659, )the true hereditary right to the Gothic sceptre was vested in the Amali;but those princes, who were the vassals of the Huns, commanded thetribes of the Ostrogoths in some distant parts of Germany or Scythia. ]

[Footnote 161: The murder is related by Olympiodorus: but the number ofthe children is taken from an epitaph of suspected authority. ]

[Footnote 162: The death of Adolphus was celebrated at Constantinoplewith illuminations and Circensian games. (See Chron. Alexandrin. ) Itmay seem doubtful whether the Greeks were actuated, on this occasion, betheir hatred of the Barbarians, or of the Latins. ]

But Placidia soon obtained the pleasure of revenge, and the view ofher ignominious sufferings might rouse an indignant people against thetyrant, who was assassinated on the seventh day of his usurpation. Afterthe death of Singeric, the free choice of the nation bestowed the Gothicsceptre on Wallia; whose warlike and ambitious temper appeared, in thebeginning of his reign, extremely hostile to the republic. He marchedin arms from Barcelona to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, which theancients revered and dreaded as the boundary of the world. But when hereached the southern promontory of Spain, [163] and, from the rock nowcovered by the fortress of Gibraltar, contemplated the neighboring andfertile coast of Africa, Wallia resumed the designs of conquest, whichhad been interrupted by the death of Alaric. The winds and wavesagain disappointed the enterprise of the Goths; and the minds of asuperstitious people were deeply affected by the repeated disasters ofstorms and shipwrecks. In this disposition the successor of Adolphusno longer refused to listen to a Roman ambassador, whose proposals wereenforced by the real, or supposed, approach of a numerous army, underthe conduct of the brave Constantius. A solemn treaty was stipulated andobserved; Placidia was honorably restored to her brother; six hundredthousand measures of wheat were delivered to the hungry Goths; [164] andWallia engaged to draw his sword in the service of the empire. Abloody war was instantly excited among the Barbarians of Spain; andthe contending princes are said to have addressed their letters, theirambassadors, and their hostages, to the throne of the Western emperor, exhorting him to remain a tranquil spectator of their contest; theevents of which must be favorable to the Romans, by the mutualslaughter of their common enemies. [165] The Spanish war was obstinatelysupported, during three campaigns, with desperate valor, and varioussuccess; and the martial achievements of Wallia diffused through theempire the superior renown of the Gothic hero. He exterminated theSilingi, who had irretrievably ruined the elegant plenty of the provinceof Boetica. He slew, in battle, the king of the Alani; and the remainsof those Scythian wanderers, who escaped from the field, instead ofchoosing a new leader, humbly sought a refuge under the standard of theVandals, with whom they were ever afterwards confounded. The Vandalsthemselves, and the Suevi, yielded to the efforts of the invincibleGoths. The promiscuous multitude of Barbarians, whose retreat had beenintercepted, were driven into the mountains of Gallicia; where theystill continued, in a narrow compass and on a barren soil, to exercisetheir domestic and implacable hostilities. In the pride of victory, Wallia was faithful to his engagements: he restored his Spanishconquests to the obedience of Honorius; and the tyranny of the Imperialofficers soon reduced an oppressed people to regret the time of theirBarbarian servitude. While the event of the war was still doubtful, thefirst advantages obtained by the arms of Wallia had encouraged the courtof Ravenna to decree the honors of a triumph to their feeble sovereign. He entered Rome like the ancient conquerors of nations; and if themonuments of servile corruption had not long since met with the fatewhich they deserved, we should probably find that a crowd of poets andorators, of magistrates and bishops, applauded the fortune, the wisdom, and the invincible courage, of the emperor Honorius. [166]

[Footnote 163:

 Quod Tartessiacis avus hujus Vallia terris Vandalicas turmas, et juncti Martis Alanos Stravit, et occiduam texere cadavera Calpen. 

Sidon. Apollinar. In Panegyr. Anthem. 363 p. 300, edit. Sirmond. ]

[Footnote 164: This supply was very acceptable: the Goths were insultedby the Vandals of Spain with the epithet of Truli, because in theirextreme distress, they had given a piece of gold for a trula, or abouthalf a pound of flour. Olympiod. Apud Phot. P. 189. ]

[Footnote 165: Orosius inserts a copy of these pretended letters. 

Tu cum omnibus pacem habe, omniumque obsides accipe; nos nobisconfligimus nobis perimus, tibi vincimus; immortalis vero quaestus eritReipublicae tuae, si utrique pereamus. The idea is just; but I cannotpersuade myself that it was entertained or expressed by the Barbarians. ]

[Footnote 166: Roman triumphans ingreditur, is the formal expression ofProsper's Chronicle. The facts which relate to the death of Adolphus, and the exploits of Wallia, are related from Olympiodorus, (ap. Phot. P. 188, ) Orosius, (l. Vii. C. 43 p. 584-587, ) Jornandes, (de Rebus p. 31, 32, ) and the chronicles of Idatius and Isidore. ]

Such a triumph might have been justly claimed by the ally of Rome, ifWallia, before he repassed the Pyrenees, had extirpated the seeds ofthe Spanish war. His victorious Goths, forty-three years after they hadpassed the Danube, were established, according to the faith of treaties, in the possession of the second Aquitain; a maritime provincebetween the Garonne and the Loire, under the civil and ecclesiasticaljurisdiction of Bourdeaux. That metropolis, advantageously situated forthe trade of the ocean, was built in a regular and elegant form; and itsnumerous inhabitants were distinguished among the Gauls by their wealth, their learning, and the politeness of their manners. The adjacentprovince, which has been fondly compared to the garden of Eden, isblessed with a fruitful soil, and a temperate climate; the face of thecountry displayed the arts and the rewards of industry; and the Goths, after their martial toils, luxuriously exhausted the rich vineyards ofAquitain. [167] The Gothic limits were enlarged by the additional giftof some neighboring dioceses; and the successors of Alaric fixed theirroyal residence at Thoulouse, which included five populous quarters, orcities, within the spacious circuit of its walls. About the same time, in the last years of the reign of Honorius, the Goths, the Burgundians, and the Franks, obtained a permanent seat and dominion in the provincesof Gaul. The liberal grant of the usurper Jovinus to his Burgundianallies, was confirmed by the lawful emperor; the lands of the First, or Upper, Germany, were ceded to those formidable Barbarians; and theygradually occupied, either by conquest or treaty, the two provinceswhich still retain, with the titles of Duchy and County, the nationalappellation of Burgundy. [168] The Franks, the valiant and faithfulallies of the Roman republic, were soon tempted to imitate the invaders, whom they had so bravely resisted. Treves, the capital of Gaul, waspillaged by their lawless bands; and the humble colony, which they solong maintained in the district of Toxandia, in Brabant, insensiblymultiplied along the banks of the Meuse and Scheld, till theirindependent power filled the whole extent of the Second, or LowerGermany. These facts may be sufficiently justified by historic evidence;but the foundation of the French monarchy by Pharamond, the conquests, the laws, and even the existence, of that hero, have been justlyarraigned by the impartial severity of modern criticism. [169]

[Footnote 167: Ausonius (de Claris Urbibus, p. 257-262) celebratesBourdeaux with the partial affection of a native. See in Salvian (deGubern. Dei, p. 228. Paris, 1608) a florid description of the provincesof Aquitain and Novempopulania. ]

[Footnote 168: Orosius (l. Vii. C. 32, p. 550) commends the mildnessand modesty of these Burgundians, who treated their subjects of Gaulas their Christian brethren. Mascou has illustrated the origin oftheir kingdom in the four first annotations at the end of his laboriousHistory of the Ancient Germans, vol. Ii. P. 555-572, of the Englishtranslation. ]

[Footnote 169: See Mascou, l. Viii. C. 43, 44, 45. Except in a short andsuspicious line of the Chronicle of Prosper, (in tom. I. P. 638, ) thename of Pharamond is never mentioned before the seventh century. Theauthor of the Gesta Francorum (in tom. Ii. P. 543) suggests, probablyenough, that the choice of Pharamond, or at least of a king, wasrecommended to the Franks by his father Marcomir, who was an exile inTuscany. Note: The first mention of Pharamond is in the Gesta Francorum, assigned to about the year 720. St. Martin, iv. 469. The modern Frenchwriters in general subscribe to the opinion of Thierry: Faramond fils deMarkomir, quo que son nom soit bien germanique, et son regne possible, ne figure pas dans les histoires les plus dignes de foi. A. Thierry, Lettres l'Histoire de France, p. 90. --M. ]

The ruin of the opulent provinces of Gaul may be dated from theestablishment of these Barbarians, whose alliance was dangerous andoppressive, and who were capriciously impelled, by interest or passion, to violate the public peace. A heavy and partial ransom was imposed onthe surviving provincials, who had escaped the calamities of war; thefairest and most fertile lands were assigned to the rapacious strangers, for the use of their families, their slaves, and their cattle; and thetrembling natives relinquished with a sigh the inheritance of theirfathers. Yet these domestic misfortunes, which are seldom the lot of avanquished people, had been felt and inflicted by the Romans themselves, not only in the insolence of foreign conquest, but in the madness ofcivil discord. The Triumvirs proscribed eighteen of the most flourishingcolonies of Italy; and distributed their lands and houses to theveterans who revenged the death of Caesar, and oppressed the libertyof their country. Two poets of unequal fame have deplored, in similarcircumstances, the loss of their patrimony; but the legionaries ofAugustus appear to have surpassed, in violence and injustice, theBarbarians who invaded Gaul under the reign of Honorius. It was notwithout the utmost difficulty that Virgil escaped from the sword of theCenturion, who had usurped his farm in the neighborhood of Mantua;[170] but Paulinus of Bourdeaux received a sum of money from his Gothicpurchaser, which he accepted with pleasure and surprise; and though itwas much inferior to the real value of his estate, this act of rapinewas disguised by some colors of moderation and equity. [171] The odiousname of conquerors was softened into the mild and friendly appellationof the guests of the Romans; and the Barbarians of Gaul, more especiallythe Goths, repeatedly declared, that they were bound to the people bythe ties of hospitality, and to the emperor by the duty of allegianceand military service. The title of Honorius and his successors, theirlaws, and their civil magistrates, were still respected in the provincesof Gaul, of which they had resigned the possession to the Barbarianallies; and the kings, who exercised a supreme and independent authorityover their native subjects, ambitiously solicited the more honorablerank of master-generals of the Imperial armies. [172] Such was theinvoluntary reverence which the Roman name still impressed on the mindsof those warriors, who had borne away in triumph the spoils of theCapitol. 

[Footnote 170: O Lycida, vivi pervenimus: advena nostri (Quod nunquamveriti sumus) ut possessor agelli Diseret: Haec mea sunt; veteresmigrate coloni. Nunc victi tristes, &c. ----See the whole of the nintheclogue, with the useful Commentary of Servius. Fifteen miles of theMantuan territory were assigned to the veterans, with a reservation, infavor of the inhabitants, of three miles round the city. Even in thisfavor they were cheated by Alfenus Varus, a famous lawyer, and oneof the commissioners, who measured eight hundred paces of water andmorass. ]

[Footnote 171: See the remarkable passage of the Eucharisticon ofPaulinus, 575, apud Mascou, l. Viii. C. 42. ]

[Footnote 172: This important truth is established by the accuracy ofTillemont, (Hist. Des Emp. Tom. V. P. 641, ) and by the ingenuity of theAbbe Dubos, (Hist. De l'Etablissement de la Monarchie Francoise dans lesGaules, tom. I. P. 259. )]

Whilst Italy was ravaged by the Goths, and a succession of feebletyrants oppressed the provinces beyond the Alps, the British islandseparated itself from the body of the Roman empire. The regular forces, which guarded that remote province, had been gradually withdrawn; andBritain was abandoned without defence to the Saxon pirates, andthe savages of Ireland and Caledonia. The Britons, reduced to thisextremity, no longer relied on the tardy and doubtful aid of a decliningmonarchy. They assembled in arms, repelled the invaders, and rejoicedin the important discovery of their own strength. [173] Afflicted bysimilar calamities, and actuated by the same spirit, the Armoricanprovinces (a name which comprehended the maritime countries of Gaulbetween the Seine and the Loire [174) resolved to imitate the example ofthe neighboring island. They expelled the Roman magistrates, who actedunder the authority of the usurper Constantine; and a free governmentwas established among a people who had so long been subject to thearbitrary will of a master. The independence of Britain and Armorica wassoon confirmed by Honorius himself, the lawful emperor of the West; andthe letters, by which he committed to the new states the care of theirown safety, might be interpreted as an absolute and perpetual abdicationof the exercise and rights of sovereignty. This interpretation was, insome measure, justified by the event. 

After the usurpers of Gaul had successively fallen, the maritimeprovinces were restored to the empire. Yet their obedience was imperfectand precarious: the vain, inconstant, rebellious disposition of thepeople, was incompatible either with freedom or servitude; [175] andArmorica, though it could not long maintain the form of a republic, [176] was agitated by frequent and destructive revolts. Britain wasirrecoverably lost. [177] But as the emperors wisely acquiesced in theindependence of a remote province, the separation was not imbittered bythe reproach of tyranny or rebellion; and the claims of allegianceand protection were succeeded by the mutual and voluntary offices ofnational friendship. [178]

[Footnote 173: Zosimus (l. Vi. 376, 383) relates in a few words therevolt of Britain and Armorica. Our antiquarians, even the great Cambderhimself, have been betrayed into many gross errors, by their imperfectknowledge of the history of the continent. ]

[Footnote 174: The limits of Armorica are defined by two nationalgeographers, Messieurs De Valois and D'Anville, in their Notitiasof Ancient Gaul. The word had been used in a more extensive, and wasafterwards contracted to a much narrower, signification. ]

[Footnote 175: Gens inter geminos notissima clauditur amnes, Armoricana prius veteri cognomine dicta. Torva, ferox, ventosa, procax, incauta, rebellis; Inconstans, disparque sibi novitatis amore; Prodiga verborum, sed non et prodiga facti. 

Erricus, Monach. In Vit. St. Germani. L. V. Apud Vales. Notit. Galliarum, p. 43. Valesius alleges several testimonies to confirmthis character; to which I shall add the evidence of the presbyterConstantine, (A. D. 488, ) who, in the life of St. Germain, calls theArmorican rebels mobilem et indisciplinatum populum. See the Historiansof France, tom. I. P. 643. ]

[Footnote 176: I thought it necessary to enter my protest againstthis part of the system of the Abbe Dubos, which Montesquieu has sovigorously opposed. See Esprit des Loix, l. Xxx. C. 24. Note: SeeMemoires de Gallet sur l'Origine des Bretons, quoted by Daru Histoirede Bretagne, i. P. 57. According to the opinion of these authors, the government of Armorica was monarchical from the period of itsindependence on the Roman empire. --M. ]

[Footnote 177: The words of Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 2, p. 181, Louvre edition) in a very important passage, which has been toomuch neglected Even Bede (Hist. Gent. Anglican. L. I. C. 12, p. 50, edit. Smith) acknowledges that the Romans finally left Britain in thereign of Honorius. Yet our modern historians and antiquaries extend theterm of their dominion; and there are some who allow only the intervalof a few months between their departure and the arrival of the Saxons. ]

[Footnote 178: Bede has not forgotten the occasional aid of the legionsagainst the Scots and Picts; and more authentic proof will hereafter beproduced, that the independent Britons raised 12, 000 men for the serviceof the emperor Anthemius, in Gaul. ]

This revolution dissolved the artificial fabric of civil and militarygovernment; and the independent country, during a period of fortyyears, till the descent of the Saxons, was ruled by the authority of theclergy, the nobles, and the municipal towns. [179] I. Zosimus, who alonehas preserved the memory of this singular transaction, very accuratelyobserves, that the letters of Honorius were addressed to the citiesof Britain. [180] Under the protection of the Romans, ninety-twoconsiderable towns had arisen in the several parts of that greatprovince; and, among these, thirty-three cities were distinguished abovethe rest by their superior privileges and importance. [181] Each ofthese cities, as in all the other provinces of the empire, formed alegal corporation, for the purpose of regulating their domestic policy;and the powers of municipal government were distributed among annualmagistrates, a select senate, and the assembly of the people, accordingto the original model of the Roman constitution. [182] The management ofa common revenue, the exercise of civil and criminal jurisdiction, andthe habits of public counsel and command, were inherent to these pettyrepublics; and when they asserted their independence, the youth of thecity, and of the adjacent districts, would naturally range themselvesunder the standard of the magistrate. But the desire of obtaining theadvantages, and of escaping the burdens, of political society, is aperpetual and inexhaustible source of discord; nor can it reasonably bepresumed, that the restoration of British freedom was exempt fromtumult and faction. The preeminence of birth and fortune must havebeen frequently violated by bold and popular citizens; and the haughtynobles, who complained that they were become the subjects of theirown servants, [183] would sometimes regret the reign of an arbitrarymonarch. 

II. The jurisdiction of each city over the adjacent country, wassupported by the patrimonial influence of the principal senators; andthe smaller towns, the villages, and the proprietors of land, consultedtheir own safety by adhering to the shelter of these rising republics. The sphere of their attraction was proportioned to the respectivedegrees of their wealth and populousness; but the hereditary lords ofample possessions, who were not oppressed by the neighborhood of anypowerful city, aspired to the rank of independent princes, and boldlyexercised the rights of peace and war. The gardens and villas, whichexhibited some faint imitation of Italian elegance, would soon beconverted into strong castles, the refuge, in time of danger, of theadjacent country: [184] the produce of the land was applied to purchasearms and horses; to maintain a military force of slaves, of peasants, and of licentious followers; and the chieftain might assume, within hisown domain, the powers of a civil magistrate. Several of these Britishchiefs might be the genuine posterity of ancient kings; and many morewould be tempted to adopt this honorable genealogy, and to vindicatetheir hereditary claims, which had been suspended by the usurpation ofthe Caesars. [185] Their situation and their hopes would dispose them toaffect the dress, the language, and the customs of their ancestors. If the princes of Britain relapsed into barbarism, while the citiesstudiously preserved the laws and manners of Rome, the whole island musthave been gradually divided by the distinction of two national parties;again broken into a thousand subdivisions of war and faction, by thevarious provocations of interest and resentment. The public strength, instead of being united against a foreign enemy, was consumed in obscureand intestine quarrels; and the personal merit which had placed asuccessful leader at the head of his equals, might enable him to subduethe freedom of some neighboring cities; and to claim a rank among thetyrants, [186] who infested Britain after the dissolution of the Romangovernment. III. The British church might be composed of thirty or fortybishops, [187] with an adequate proportion of the inferior clergy; andthe want of riches (for they seem to have been poor [188) would compelthem to deserve the public esteem, by a decent and exemplary behavior. 

The interest, as well as the temper of the clergy, was favorable tothe peace and union of their distracted country: those salutary lessonsmight be frequently inculcated in their popular discourses; and theepiscopal synods were the only councils that could pretend to the weightand authority of a national assembly. 

In such councils, where the princes and magistrates sat promiscuouslywith the bishops, the important affairs of the state, as well as ofthe church, might be freely debated; differences reconciled, alliancesformed, contributions imposed, wise resolutions often concerted, andsometimes executed; and there is reason to believe, that, in momentsof extreme danger, a Pendragon, or Dictator, was elected by the generalconsent of the Britons. These pastoral cares, so worthy of the episcopalcharacter, were interrupted, however, by zeal and superstition; and theBritish clergy incessantly labored to eradicate the Pelagian heresy, which they abhorred, as the peculiar disgrace of their native country. [189]

[Footnote 179: I owe it to myself, and to historic truth, to declare, that some circumstances in this paragraph are founded only on conjectureand analogy. The stubbornness of our language has sometimes forced me todeviate from the conditional into the indicative mood. ]

[Footnote 180: Zosimus, l. Vi. P. 383. ]

[Footnote 181: Two cities of Britain were municipia, nine colonies, tenLatii jure donatoe, twelve stipendiarioe of eminent note. This detail istaken from Richard of Cirencester, de Situ Britanniae, p. 36; and thoughit may not seem probable that he wrote from the Mss. Of a Roman general, he shows a genuine knowledge of antiquity, very extraordinary for a monkof the fourteenth century. 

Note: The names may be found in Whitaker's Hist. Of Manchester vol. Ii. 330, 379. Turner, Hist. Anglo-Saxons, i. 216. --M. ]

[Footnote 182: See Maffei Verona Illustrata, part i. L. V. P. 83-106. ]

[Footnote 183: Leges restituit, libertatemque reducit, Et servos famulisnon sinit esse suis. Itinerar. Rutil. L. I. 215. ]

[Footnote 184: An inscription (apud Sirmond, Not. Ad Sidon. Apollinar. P. 59) describes a castle, cum muris et portis, tutioni omnium, erectedby Dardanus on his own estate, near Sisteron, in the second Narbonnese, and named by him Theopolis. ]

[Footnote 185: The establishment of their power would have been easyindeed, if we could adopt the impracticable scheme of a lively andlearned antiquarian; who supposes that the British monarchs of theseveral tribes continued to reign, though with subordinate jurisdiction, from the time of Claudius to that of Honorius. See Whitaker's History ofManchester, vol. I. P. 247-257. ]

[Footnote 186: Procopius, de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 3, p. 181. Britanniafertilis provincia tyrannorum, was the expression of Jerom, in the year415 (tom. Ii. P. 255, ad Ctesiphont. ) By the pilgrims, who resortedevery year to the Holy Land, the monk of Bethlem received the earliestand most accurate intelligence. ]

[Footnote 187: See Bingham's Eccles. Antiquities, vol. I. L. Ix. C. 6, p. 394. ]

[Footnote 188: It is reported of three British bishops who assisted atthe council of Rimini, A. D. 359, tam pauperes fuisse ut nihil haberent. Sulpicius Severus, Hist. Sacra, l. Ii. P. 420. Some of their brethrenhowever, were in better circumstances. ]

[Footnote 189: Consult Usher, de Antiq. Eccles. Britannicar. C. 8-12. ]It is somewhat remarkable, or rather it is extremely natural, that therevolt of Britain and Armorica should have introduced an appearance ofliberty into the obedient provinces of Gaul. In a solemn edict, [190]filled with the strongest assurances of that paternal affection whichprinces so often express, and so seldom feel, the emperor Honoriuspromulgated his intention of convening an annual assembly of the sevenprovinces: a name peculiarly appropriated to Aquitain and the ancientNarbonnese, which had long since exchanged their Celtic rudeness for theuseful and elegant arts of Italy. [191] Arles, the seat of governmentand commerce, was appointed for the place of the assembly; whichregularly continued twenty-eight days, from the fifteenth of Augustto the thirteenth of September, of every year. It consisted of thePraetorian praefect of the Gauls; of seven provincial governors, oneconsular, and six presidents; of the magistrates, and perhaps thebishops, of about sixty cities; and of a competent, though indefinite, number of the most honorable and opulent possessors of land, who mightjustly be considered as the representatives of their country. They wereempowered to interpret and communicate the laws of their sovereign; toexpose the grievances and wishes of their constituents; to moderate theexcessive or unequal weight of taxes; and to deliberate on every subjectof local or national importance, that could tend to the restoration ofthe peace and prosperity of the seven provinces. If such an institution, which gave the people an interest in their own government, had beenuniversally established by Trajan or the Antonines, the seeds of publicwisdom and virtue might have been cherished and propagated in the empireof Rome. The privileges of the subject would have secured the throne ofthe monarch; the abuses of an arbitrary administration might have beenprevented, in some degree, or corrected, by the interposition of theserepresentative assemblies; and the country would have been defendedagainst a foreign enemy by the arms of natives and freemen. Under themild and generous influence of liberty, the Roman empire might haveremained invincible and immortal; or if its excessive magnitude, and theinstability of human affairs, had opposed such perpetual continuance, its vital and constituent members might have separately preserved theirvigor and independence. But in the decline of the empire, when everyprinciple of health and life had been exhausted, the tardy applicationof this partial remedy was incapable of producing any important orsalutary effects. The emperor Honorius expresses his surprise, that hemust compel the reluctant provinces to accept a privilege which theyshould ardently have solicited. A fine of three, or even five, poundsof gold, was imposed on the absent representatives; who seem to havedeclined this imaginary gift of a free constitution, as the last andmost cruel insult of their oppressors. 

[Footnote 190: See the correct text of this edict, as published bySirmond, (Not. Ad Sidon. Apollin. P. 148. ) Hincmar of Rheims, whoassigns a place to the bishops, had probably seen (in the ninth century)a more perfect copy. Dubos, Hist. Critique de la Monarchie Francoise, tom. I. P. 241-255]

[Footnote 191: It is evident from the Notitia, that the seven provinceswere the Viennensis, the maritime Alps, the first and second NarbonneseNovempopulania, and the first and second Aquitain. In the room of thefirst Aquitain, the Abbe Dubos, on the authority of Hincmar, desires tointroduce the first Lugdunensis, or Lyonnese. ]

Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius, Theodosius II. --Part I. 

 Arcadius Emperor Of The East. --Administration And Disgrace Of Eutropius. --Revolt Of Gainas. --Persecution Of St. John Chrysostom. --Theodosius II. Emperor Of The East. --His Sister Pulcheria. --His Wife Eudocia. --The Persian War, And Division Of Armenia. 

The division of the Roman world between the sons of Theodosius marks thefinal establishment of the empire of the East, which, from the reignof Arcadius to the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, subsisted onethousand and fifty-eight years, in a state of premature and perpetualdecay. The sovereign of that empire assumed, and obstinately retained, the vain, and at length fictitious, title of Emperor of the Romans; andthe hereditary appellation of Caesar and Augustus continued to declare, that he was the legitimate successor of the first of men, who hadreigned over the first of nations. The place of Constantinople rivalled, and perhaps excelled, the magnificence of Persia; and the eloquentsermons of St. Chrysostom [1] celebrate, while they condemn, the pompousluxury of the reign of Arcadius. "The emperor, " says he, "wears on hishead either a diadem, or a crown of gold, decorated with precious stonesof inestimable value. These ornaments, and his purple garments, are reserved for his sacred person alone; and his robes of silk areembroidered with the figures of golden dragons. His throne is of massygold. Whenever he appears in public, he is surrounded by his courtiers, his guards, and his attendants. Their spears, their shields, theircuirasses, the bridles and trappings of their horses, have either thesubstance or the appearance of gold; and the large splendid boss in themidst of their shield is encircled with smaller bosses, which representthe shape of the human eye. The two mules that drew the chariot of themonarch are perfectly white, and shining all over with gold. Thechariot itself, of pure and solid gold, attracts the admiration of thespectators, who contemplate the purple curtains, the snowy carpet, thesize of the precious stones, and the resplendent plates of gold, thatglitter as they are agitated by the motion of the carriage. The Imperialpictures are white, on a blue ground; the emperor appears seated on histhrone, with his arms, his horses, and his guards beside him; and hisvanquished enemies in chains at his feet. " The successors of Constantineestablished their perpetual residence in the royal city, which he haderected on the verge of Europe and Asia. Inaccessible to the menacesof their enemies, and perhaps to the complaints of their people, theyreceived, with each wind, the tributary productions of every climate;while the impregnable strength of their capital continued for agesto defy the hostile attempts of the Barbarians. Their dominions werebounded by the Adriatic and the Tigris; and the whole interval oftwenty-five days' navigation, which separated the extreme cold ofScythia from the torrid zone of Aethiopia, [2] was comprehended withinthe limits of the empire of the East. The populous countries of thatempire were the seat of art and learning, of luxury and wealth; and theinhabitants, who had assumed the language and manners of Greeks, styledthemselves, with some appearance of truth, the most enlightened andcivilized portion of the human species. The form of government was apure and simple monarchy; the name of the Roman Republic, which solong preserved a faint tradition of freedom, was confined to the Latinprovinces; and the princes of Constantinople measured their greatness bythe servile obedience of their people. They were ignorant how much thispassive disposition enervates and degrades every faculty of the mind. The subjects, who had resigned their will to the absolute commands ofa master, were equally incapable of guarding their lives and fortunesagainst the assaults of the Barbarians, or of defending their reasonfrom the terrors of superstition. 

[Footnote 1: Father Montfaucon, who, by the command of his Benedictinesuperiors, was compelled (see Longueruana, tom. I. P. 205) to executethe laborious edition of St. Chrysostom, in thirteen volumes infolio, (Paris, 1738, ) amused himself with extracting from that immensecollection of morals, some curious antiquities, which illustrate themanners of the Theodosian age, (see Chrysostom, Opera, tom. Xiii. P. 192-196, ) and his French Dissertation, in the Memoires de l'Acad. DesInscriptions, tom. Xiii. P. 474-490. ]

[Footnote 2: According to the loose reckoning, that a ship could sail, with a fair wind, 1000 stadia, or 125 miles, in the revolution of a dayand night, Diodorus Siculus computes ten days from the Palus Moeotis toRhodes, and four days from Rhodes to Alexandria. The navigation of theNile from Alexandria to Syene, under the tropic of Cancer, required, asit was against the stream, ten days more. Diodor. Sicul. Tom. I. L. Iii. P. 200, edit. Wesseling. He might, without much impropriety, measurethe extreme heat from the verge of the torrid zone; but he speaks of theMoeotis in the 47th degree of northern latitude, as if it lay within thepolar circle. ]

The first events of the reign of Arcadius and Honorius are so intimatelyconnected, that the rebellion of the Goths, and the fall of Rufinus, have already claimed a place in the history of the West. It has alreadybeen observed, that Eutropius, [3] one of the principal eunuchs of thepalace of Constantinople, succeeded the haughty minister whose ruin hehad accomplished, and whose vices he soon imitated. Every order ofthe state bowed to the new favorite; and their tame and obsequioussubmission encouraged him to insult the laws, and, what is still moredifficult and dangerous, the manners of his country. Under the weakestof the predecessors of Arcadius, the reign of the eunuchs had beensecret and almost invisible. They insinuated themselves into theconfidence of the prince; but their ostensible functions were confinedto the menial service of the wardrobe and Imperial bed-chamber. Theymight direct, in a whisper, the public counsels, and blast, by theirmalicious suggestions, the fame and fortunes of the most illustriouscitizens; but they never presumed to stand forward in the front ofempire, [4] or to profane the public honors of the state. Eutropius wasthe first of his artificial sex, who dared to assume the character ofa Roman magistrate and general. [5] Sometimes, in the presence of theblushing senate, he ascended the tribunal to pronounce judgment, or torepeat elaborate harangues; and, sometimes, appeared on horseback, atthe head of his troops, in the dress and armor of a hero. The disregardof custom and decency always betrays a weak and ill-regulated mind; nordoes Eutropius seem to have compensated for the folly of the design byany superior merit or ability in the execution. His former habits oflife had not introduced him to the study of the laws, or the exercisesof the field; his awkward and unsuccessful attempts provoked the secretcontempt of the spectators; the Goths expressed their wish that sucha general might always command the armies of Rome; and the name ofthe minister was branded with ridicule, more pernicious, perhaps, thanhatred, to a public character. The subjects of Arcadius were exasperatedby the recollection, that this deformed and decrepit eunuch, [6] who soperversely mimicked the actions of a man, was born in the most abjectcondition of servitude; that before he entered the Imperial palace, hehad been successively sold and purchased by a hundred masters, who hadexhausted his youthful strength in every mean and infamous office, andat length dismissed him, in his old age, to freedom and poverty. [7] While these disgraceful stories were circulated, and perhapsexaggerated, in private conversation, the vanity of the favorite wasflattered with the most extraordinary honors. In the senate, in thecapital, in the provinces, the statues of Eutropius were erected, inbrass, or marble, decorated with the symbols of his civil and militaryvirtues, and inscribed with the pompous title of the third founder ofConstantinople. He was promoted to the rank of patrician, which beganto signify in a popular, and even legal, acceptation, the father of theemperor; and the last year of the fourth century was polluted by theconsulship of a eunuch and a slave. This strange and inexpiable prodigy[8] awakened, however, the prejudices of the Romans. The effeminateconsul was rejected by the West, as an indelible stain to the annals ofthe republic; and without invoking the shades of Brutus and Camillus, the colleague of Eutropius, a learned and respectable magistrate, [9] sufficiently represented the different maxims of the twoadministrations. 

[Footnote 3: Barthius, who adored his author with the blind superstitionof a commentator, gives the preference to the two books which Claudiancomposed against Eutropius, above all his other productions, (BailletJugemens des Savans, tom. Iv. P. 227. ) They are indeed a very elegantand spirited satire; and would be more valuable in an historical light, if the invective were less vague and more temperate. ]

[Footnote 4: After lamenting the progress of the eunuchs in the Romanpalace, and defining their proper functions, Claudian adds, A fronte recedant. Imperii. ---In Eutrop. I. 422. 

Yet it does not appear that the eunuchs had assumed any of the efficientoffices of the empire, and he is styled only Praepositun sacri cubiculi, in the edict of his banishment. See Cod. Theod. L. Leg 17. 

 Jamque oblita sui, nec sobria divitiis mens In miseras leges hominumque negotia ludit Judicat eunuchus. .. .. .. Arma etiam violare parat. .. .. . 

Claudian, (i. 229-270, ) with that mixture of indignation and humor whichalways pleases in a satiric poet, describes the insolent folly of theeunuch, the disgrace of the empire, and the joy of the Goths. 

 Gaudet, cum viderit, hostis, Et sentit jam deesse viros. ]

[Footnote 6: The poet's lively description of his deformity (i. 110-125)is confirmed by the authentic testimony of Chrysostom, (tom. Iii. P. 384, edit Montfaucon;) who observes, that when the paint was washed awaythe face of Eutropius appeared more ugly and wrinkled than that of anold woman. Claudian remarks, (i. 469, ) and the remark must have beenfounded on experience, that there was scarcely an interval between theyouth and the decrepit age of a eunuch. ]

[Footnote 7: Eutropius appears to have been a native of Armenia orAssyria. His three services, which Claudian more particularly describes, were these: 1. He spent many years as the catamite of Ptolemy, a groomor soldier of the Imperial stables. 2. Ptolemy gave him to the oldgeneral Arintheus, for whom he very skilfully exercised the professionof a pimp. 3. He was given, on her marriage, to the daughter ofArintheus; and the future consul was employed to comb her hair, topresent the silver ewer to wash and to fan his mistress in hot weather. See l. I. 31-137. ]

[Footnote 8: Claudian, (l. I. In Eutrop. L. --22, ) after enumeratingthe various prodigies of monstrous births, speaking animals, showers ofblood or stones, double suns, &c. , adds, with some exaggeration, Omnia cesserunt eunucho consule monstra. 

The first book concludes with a noble speech of the goddess of Rome toher favorite Honorius, deprecating the new ignominy to which she wasexposed. ]

[Footnote 9: Fl. Mallius Theodorus, whose civil honors, andphilosophical works, have been celebrated by Claudian in a very elegantpanegyric. ]

The bold and vigorous mind of Rufinus seems to have been actuated by amore sanguinary and revengeful spirit; but the avarice of the eunuchwas not less insatiate than that of the praefect. [10] As long as hedespoiled the oppressors, who had enriched themselves with the plunderof the people, Eutropius might gratify his covetous disposition withoutmuch envy or injustice: but the progress of his rapine soon invadedthe wealth which had been acquired by lawful inheritance, or laudableindustry. The usual methods of extortion were practised and improved;and Claudian has sketched a lively and original picture of the publicauction of the state. "The impotence of the eunuch, " says that agreeablesatirist, "has served only to stimulate his avarice: the same hand whichin his servile condition, was exercised in petty thefts, to unlock thecoffers of his master, now grasps the riches of the world; and thisinfamous broker of the empire appreciates and divides the Romanprovinces from Mount Haemus to the Tigris. One man, at the expense ofhis villa, is made proconsul of Asia; a second purchases Syria with hiswife's jewels; and a third laments that he has exchanged his paternalestate for the government of Bithynia. In the antechamber of Eutropius, a large tablet is exposed to public view, which marks the respectiveprices of the provinces. The different value of Pontus, of Galatia, ofLydia, is accurately distinguished. Lycia may be obtained for so manythousand pieces of gold; but the opulence of Phrygia will require amore considerable sum. The eunuch wishes to obliterate, by the generaldisgrace, his personal ignominy; and as he has been sold himself, he isdesirous of selling the rest of mankind. In the eager contention, thebalance, which contains the fate and fortunes of the province, oftentrembles on the beam; and till one of the scales is inclined, by asuperior weight, the mind of the impartial judge remains in anxioussuspense. [11] Such, " continues the indignant poet, "are the fruits ofRoman valor, of the defeat of Antiochus, and of the triumph of Pompey. "This venal prostitution of public honors secured the impunity of futurecrimes; but the riches, which Eutropius derived from confiscation, werealready stained with injustice; since it was decent to accuse, andto condemn, the proprietors of the wealth, which he was impatient toconfiscate. Some noble blood was shed by the hand of the executioner;and the most inhospitable extremities of the empire were filled withinnocent and illustrious exiles. Among the generals and consuls of theEast, Abundantius [12] had reason to dread the first effects of theresentment of Eutropius. He had been guilty of the unpardonable crime ofintroducing that abject slave to the palace of Constantinople; and somedegree of praise must be allowed to a powerful and ungrateful favorite, who was satisfied with the disgrace of his benefactor. Abundantius wasstripped of his ample fortunes by an Imperial rescript, and banished toPityus, on the Euxine, the last frontier of the Roman world; wherehe subsisted by the precarious mercy of the Barbarians, till he couldobtain, after the fall of Eutropius, a milder exile at Sidon, inPhoenicia. The destruction of Timasius [13] required a more serious andregular mode of attack. That great officer, the master-general of thearmies of Theodosius, had signalized his valor by a decisive victory, which he obtained over the Goths of Thessaly; but he was too prone, after the example of his sovereign, to enjoy the luxury of peace, and toabandon his confidence to wicked and designing flatterers. Timasius haddespised the public clamor, by promoting an infamous dependant to thecommand of a cohort; and he deserved to feel the ingratitude of Bargus, who was secretly instigated by the favorite to accuse his patron of atreasonable conspiracy. The general was arraigned before the tribunalof Arcadius himself; and the principal eunuch stood by the side of thethrone to suggest the questions and answers of his sovereign. But asthis form of trial might be deemed partial and arbitrary, the furtherinquiry into the crimes of Timasius was delegated to Saturninus andProcopius; the former of consular rank, the latter still respected asthe father-in-law of the emperor Valens. The appearances of a fair andlegal proceeding were maintained by the blunt honesty of Procopius; andhe yielded with reluctance to the obsequious dexterity of his colleague, who pronounced a sentence of condemnation against the unfortunateTimasius. His immense riches were confiscated in the name of theemperor, and for the benefit of the favorite; and he was doomed toperpetual exile a Oasis, a solitary spot in the midst of thesandy deserts of Libya. [14] Secluded from all human converse, themaster-general of the Roman armies was lost forever to the world;but the circumstances of his fate have been related in a various andcontradictory manner. It is insinuated that Eutropius despatched aprivate order for his secret execution. [15] It was reported, that, inattempting to escape from Oasis, he perished in the desert, of thirstand hunger; and that his dead body was found on the sands of Libya. [16]It has been asserted, with more confidence, that his son Syagrius, aftersuccessfully eluding the pursuit of the agents and emissaries of thecourt, collected a band of African robbers; that he rescued Timasiusfrom the place of his exile; and that both the father and the sondisappeared from the knowledge of mankind. [17] But the ungratefulBargus, instead of being suffered to possess the reward of guilt wassoon after circumvented and destroyed, by the more powerful villany ofthe minister himself, who retained sense and spirit enough to abhor theinstrument of his own crimes. 

[Footnote 10: Drunk with riches, is the forcible expression of Zosimus, (l. V. P. 301;) and the avarice of Eutropius is equally execrated in theLexicon of Suidas and the Chronicle of Marcellinus Chrysostom had oftenadmonished the favorite of the vanity and danger of immoderate wealth, tom. Iii. P. 381. -certantum saepe duorum Diversum suspendit onus: cumpondere judex Vergit, et in geminas nutat provincia lances. Claudian (i. 192-209) so curiously distinguishes the circumstances of the sale, thatthey all seem to allude to particular anecdotes. ]

[Footnote 12: Claudian (i. 154-170) mentions the guilt and exile ofAbundantius; nor could he fail to quote the example of the artist, whomade the first trial of the brazen bull, which he presented to Phalaris. See Zosimus, l. V. P. 302. Jerom, tom. I. P. 26. The difference of placeis easily reconciled; but the decisive authority of Asterius of Amasia(Orat. Iv. P. 76, apud Tillemont, Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. V. P. 435)must turn the scale in favor of Pityus. ]

[Footnote 13: Suidas (most probably from the history of Eunapius)has given a very unfavorable picture of Timasius. The account of hisaccuser, the judges, trial, &c. , is perfectly agreeable to the practiceof ancient and modern courts. (See Zosimus, l. V. P. 298, 299, 300. ) Iam almost tempted to quote the romance of a great master, (Fielding'sWorks, vol. Iv. P. 49, &c. , 8vo. Edit. , ) which may be considered as thehistory of human nature. ]

[Footnote 14: The great Oasis was one of the spots in the sands ofLibya, watered with springs, and capable of producing wheat, barley, andpalm-trees. It was about three days' journey from north to south, abouthalf a day in breadth, and at the distance of about five days' march tothe west of Abydus, on the Nile. See D'Anville, Description de l'Egypte, p. 186, 187, 188. The barren desert which encompasses Oasis (Zosimus, l. V. P. 300) has suggested the idea of comparative fertility, and even theepithet of the happy island ]

[Footnote 15: The line of Claudian, in Eutrop. L. I. 180, Marmaricus claris violatur caedibus Hammon, evidently alludes to his persuasion of the death of Timasius. * Note: Afragment of Eunapius confirms this account. "Thus having deprived thisgreat person of his life--a eunuch, a man, a slave, a consul, a ministerof the bed-chamber, one bred in camps. " Mai, p. 283, in Niebuhr. 87--M. ]

[Footnote 16: Sozomen, l. Viii. C. 7. He speaks from report. ]

[Footnote 17: Zosimus, l. V. P. 300. Yet he seems to suspect that thisrumor was spread by the friends of Eutropius. ]

The public hatred, and the despair of individuals, continuallythreatened, or seemed to threaten, the personal safety of Eutropius; aswell as of the numerous adherents, who were attached to his fortune, and had been promoted by his venal favor. For their mutual defence, he contrived the safeguard of a law, which violated every principal ofhumanity and justice. [18] I. It is enacted, in the name, and by theauthority of Arcadius, that all those who should conspire, either withsubjects or with strangers, against the lives of any of the persons whomthe emperor considers as the members of his own body, shall be punishedwith death and confiscation. This species of fictitious and metaphoricaltreason is extended to protect, not only the illustrious officers ofthe state and army, who were admitted into the sacred consistory, but likewise the principal domestics of the palace, the senators ofConstantinople, the military commanders, and the civil magistrates ofthe provinces; a vague and indefinite list, which, under the successorsof Constantine, included an obscure and numerous train of subordinateministers. II. This extreme severity might perhaps be justified, had itbeen only directed to secure the representatives of the sovereign fromany actual violence in the execution of their office. But the whole bodyof Imperial dependants claimed a privilege, or rather impunity, whichscreened them, in the loosest moments of their lives, from the hasty, perhaps the justifiable, resentment of their fellow-citizens; and, by astrange perversion of the laws, the same degree of guilt and punishmentwas applied to a private quarrel, and to a deliberate conspiracy againstthe emperor and the empire. The edicts of Arcadius most positively andmost absurdly declares, that in such cases of treason, thoughts andactions ought to be punished with equal severity; that the knowledgeof a mischievous intention, unless it be instantly revealed, becomesequally criminal with the intention itself; [19] and that thoserash men, who shall presume to solicit the pardon of traitors, shallthemselves be branded with public and perpetual infamy. III. "Withregard to the sons of the traitors, " (continues the emperor, ) "althoughthey ought to share the punishment, since they will probably imitatethe guilt, of their parents, yet, by the special effect of our Imperiallenity, we grant them their lives; but, at the same time, we declarethem incapable of inheriting, either on the father's or on the mother'sside, or of receiving any gift or legacy, from the testament either ofkinsmen or of strangers. Stigmatized with hereditary infamy, excludedfrom the hopes of honors or fortune, let them endure the pangs ofpoverty and contempt, till they shall consider life as a calamity, anddeath as a comfort and relief. " In such words, so well adapted to insultthe feelings of mankind, did the emperor, or rather his favorite eunuch, applaud the moderation of a law, which transferred the same unjust andinhuman penalties to the children of all those who had seconded, or whohad not disclosed, their fictitious conspiracies. Some of the noblestregulations of Roman jurisprudence have been suffered to expire; butthis edict, a convenient and forcible engine of ministerial tyranny, was carefully inserted in the codes of Theodosius and Justinian; and thesame maxims have been revived in modern ages, to protect the electors ofGermany, and the cardinals of the church of Rome. [20]

[Footnote 18: See the Theodosian Code, l. Ix. Tit. 14, ad legemCorneliam de Sicariis, leg. 3, and the Code of Justinian, l. Ix. Tit. Viii, viii. Ad legem Juliam de Majestate, leg. 5. The alteration ofthe title, from murder to treason, was an improvement of the subtleTribonian. Godefroy, in a formal dissertation, which he has inserted inhis Commentary, illustrates this law of Arcadius, and explains all thedifficult passages which had been perverted by the jurisconsults of thedarker ages. See tom. Iii. P. 88-111. ]

[Footnote 19: Bartolus understands a simple and naked consciousness, without any sign of approbation or concurrence. For this opinion, saysBaldus, he is now roasting in hell. For my own part, continues thediscreet Heineccius, (Element. Jur. Civil l. Iv. P. 411, ) I mustapprove the theory of Bartolus; but in practice I should incline to thesentiments of Baldus. Yet Bartolus was gravely quoted by the lawyers ofCardinal Richelieu; and Eutropius was indirectly guilty of the murder ofthe virtuous De Thou. ]

[Footnote 20: Godefroy, tom. Iii. P. 89. It is, however, suspected, that this law, so repugnant to the maxims of Germanic freedom, has beensurreptitiously added to the golden bull. ] Yet these sanguinary laws, which spread terror among a disarmed and dispirited people, were of tooweak a texture to restrain the bold enterprise of Tribigild [21] theOstrogoth. The colony of that warlike nation, which had been plantedby Theodosius in one of the most fertile districts of Phrygia, [22]impatiently compared the slow returns of laborious husbandry withthe successful rapine and liberal rewards of Alaric; and their leaderresented, as a personal affront, his own ungracious reception in thepalace of Constantinople. A soft and wealthy province, in the heart ofthe empire, was astonished by the sound of war; and the faithful vassalwho had been disregarded or oppressed, was again respected, as soonas he resumed the hostile character of a Barbarian. The vineyards andfruitful fields, between the rapid Marsyas and the winding Maeander, [23] were consumed with fire; the decayed walls of the cities crumbledinto dust, at the first stroke of an enemy; the trembling inhabitantsescaped from a bloody massacre to the shores of the Hellespont; anda considerable part of Asia Minor was desolated by the rebellion ofTribigild. His rapid progress was checked by the resistance of thepeasants of Pamphylia; and the Ostrogoths, attacked in a narrow pass, between the city of Selgae, [24] a deep morass, and the craggy cliffs ofMount Taurus, were defeated with the loss of their bravest troops. Butthe spirit of their chief was not daunted by misfortune; and his armywas continually recruited by swarms of Barbarians and outlaws, whowere desirous of exercising the profession of robbery, under the morehonorable names of war and conquest. The rumors of the success ofTribigild might for some time be suppressed by fear, or disguised byflattery; yet they gradually alarmed both the court and the capital. Every misfortune was exaggerated in dark and doubtful hints; and thefuture designs of the rebels became the subject of anxious conjecture. Whenever Tribigild advanced into the inland country, the Romans wereinclined to suppose that he meditated the passage of Mount Taurus, andthe invasion of Syria. If he descended towards the sea, they imputed, and perhaps suggested, to the Gothic chief, the more dangerous projectof arming a fleet in the harbors of Ionia, and of extending hisdepredations along the maritime coast, from the mouth of the Nile tothe port of Constantinople. The approach of danger, and the obstinacy ofTribigild, who refused all terms of accommodation, compelled Eutropiusto summon a council of war. [25] After claiming for himself theprivilege of a veteran soldier, the eunuch intrusted the guard of Thraceand the Hellespont to Gainas the Goth, and the command of theAsiatic army to his favorite, Leo; two generals, who differently, buteffectually, promoted the cause of the rebels. Leo, [26] who, from thebulk of his body, and the dulness of his mind, was surnamed the Ajax ofthe East, had deserted his original trade of a woolcomber, to exercise, with much less skill and success, the military profession; and hisuncertain operations were capriciously framed and executed, withan ignorance of real difficulties, and a timorous neglect of everyfavorable opportunity. The rashness of the Ostrogoths had drawn theminto a disadvantageous position between the Rivers Melas and Eurymedon, where they were almost besieged by the peasants of Pamphylia; but thearrival of an Imperial army, instead of completing their destruction, afforded the means of safety and victory. Tribigild surprised theunguarded camp of the Romans, in the darkness of the night; seduced thefaith of the greater part of the Barbarian auxiliaries, and dissipated, without much effort, the troops, which had been corrupted by therelaxation of discipline, and the luxury of the capital. The discontentof Gainas, who had so boldly contrived and executed the death ofRufinus, was irritated by the fortune of his unworthy successor; heaccused his own dishonorable patience under the servile reign of aeunuch; and the ambitious Goth was convicted, at least in the publicopinion, of secretly fomenting the revolt of Tribigild, with whom he wasconnected by a domestic, as well as by a national alliance. [27] WhenGainas passed the Hellespont, to unite under his standard the remainsof the Asiatic troops, he skilfully adapted his motions to the wishesof the Ostrogoths; abandoning, by his retreat, the country which theydesired to invade; or facilitating, by his approach, the desertion ofthe Barbarian auxiliaries. To the Imperial court he repeatedly magnifiedthe valor, the genius, the inexhaustible resources of Tribigild;confessed his own inability to prosecute the war; and extorted thepermission of negotiating with his invincible adversary. The conditionsof peace were dictated by the haughty rebel; and the peremptory demandof the head of Eutropius revealed the author and the design of thishostile conspiracy. 

[Footnote 21: A copious and circumstantial narrative (which he mighthave reserved for more important events) is bestowed by Zosimus (l. V. P. 304-312) on the revolt of Tribigild and Gainas. See likewiseSocrates, l. Vi. C. 6, and Sozomen, l. Viii. C. 4. The second bookof Claudian against Eutropius, is a fine, though imperfect, piece ofhistory. ]

[Footnote 22: Claudian (in Eutrop. L. Ii. 237-250) very accuratelyobserves, that the ancient name and nation of the Phrygians extendedvery far on every side, till their limits were contracted by thecolonies of the Bithvnians of Thrace, of the Greeks, and at last of theGauls. His description (ii. 257-272) of the fertility of Phrygia, and ofthe four rivers that produced gold, is just and picturesque. ]

[Footnote 23: Xenophon, Anabasis, l. I. P. 11, 12, edit. Hutchinson. Strabo, l. Xii p. 865, edit. Amstel. Q. Curt. L. Iii. C. 1. Claudiancompares the junction of the Marsyas and Maeander to that of the Saoneand the Rhone, with this difference, however, that the smaller of thePhrygian rivers is not accelerated, but retarded, by the larger. ]

[Footnote 24: Selgae, a colony of the Lacedaemonians, had formerlynumbered twenty thousand citizens; but in the age of Zosimus it wasreduced to a small town. See Cellarius, Geograph. Antiq tom. Ii. P. 117. ]

[Footnote 25: The council of Eutropius, in Claudian, may be compared tothat of Domitian in the fourth Satire of Juvenal. The principal membersof the former were juvenes protervi lascivique senes; one of them hadbeen a cook, a second a woolcomber. The language of their originalprofession exposes their assumed dignity; and their triflingconversation about tragedies, dancers, &c. , is made still moreridiculous by the importance of the debate. ]

[Footnote 26: Claudian (l. Ii. 376-461) has branded him with infamy; andZosimus, in more temperate language, confirms his reproaches. L. V. P. 305. ]

[Footnote 27: The conspiracy of Gainas and Tribigild, which is attestedby the Greek historian, had not reached the ears of Claudian, whoattributes the revolt of the Ostrogoth to his own martial spirit, andthe advice of his wife. ]

Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius, Theodosius II. --Part II. 

The bold satirist, who has indulged his discontent by the partial andpassionate censure of the Christian emperors, violates the dignity, rather than the truth, of history, by comparing the son of Theodosiusto one of those harmless and simple animals, who scarcely feel thatthey are the property of their shepherd. Two passions, however, fearand conjugal affection, awakened the languid soul of Arcadius: he wasterrified by the threats of a victorious Barbarian; and he yieldedto the tender eloquence of his wife Eudoxia, who, with a flood ofartificial tears, presenting her infant children to their father, implored his justice for some real or imaginary insult, which sheimputed to the audacious eunuch. [28] The emperor's hand was directed tosign the condemnation of Eutropius; the magic spell, which during fouryears had bound the prince and the people, was instantly dissolved;and the acclamations that so lately hailed the merit and fortune of thefavorite, were converted into the clamors of the soldiers and people, who reproached his crimes, and pressed his immediate execution. In thishour of distress and despair, his only refuge was in the sanctuary ofthe church, whose privileges he had wisely or profanely attempted tocircumscribe; and the most eloquent of the saints, John Chrysostom, enjoyed the triumph of protecting a prostrate minister, whose choicehad raised him to the ecclesiastical throne of Constantinople. Thearchbishop, ascending the pulpit of the cathedral, that he might bedistinctly seen and heard by an innumerable crowd of either sex andof every age, pronounced a seasonable and pathetic discourse on theforgiveness of injuries, and the instability of human greatness. Theagonies of the pale and affrighted wretch, who lay grovelling under thetable of the altar, exhibited a solemn and instructive spectacle; andthe orator, who was afterwards accused of insulting the misfortunes ofEutropius, labored to excite the contempt, that he might assuage thefury, of the people. [29] The powers of humanity, of superstition, andof eloquence, prevailed. The empress Eudoxia was restrained by her ownprejudices, or by those of her subjects, from violating the sanctuary ofthe church; and Eutropius was tempted to capitulate, by the milder artsof persuasion, and by an oath, that his life should be spared. [30]Careless of the dignity of their sovereign, the new ministers of thepalace immediately published an edict to declare, that his late favoritehad disgraced the names of consul and patrician, to abolish his statues, to confiscate his wealth, and to inflict a perpetual exile in the Islandof Cyprus. [31] A despicable and decrepit eunuch could no longer alarmthe fears of his enemies; nor was he capable of enjoying what yetremained, the comforts of peace, of solitude, and of a happy climate. But their implacable revenge still envied him the last moments ofa miserable life, and Eutropius had no sooner touched the shores ofCyprus, than he was hastily recalled. The vain hope of eluding, bya change of place, the obligation of an oath, engaged the empress totransfer the scene of his trial and execution from Constantinople tothe adjacent suburb of Chalcedon. The consul Aurelian pronounced thesentence; and the motives of that sentence expose the jurisprudence ofa despotic government. The crimes which Eutropius had committed againstthe people might have justified his death; but he was found guilty ofharnessing to his chariot the sacred animals, who, from their breed orcolor, were reserved for the use of the emperor alone. [32]

[Footnote 28: This anecdote, which Philostorgius alone has preserved, (l xi. C. 6, and Gothofred. Dissertat. P. 451-456) is curious andimportant; since it connects the revolt of the Goths with the secretintrigues of the palace. ]

[Footnote 29: See the Homily of Chrysostom, tom. Iii. P. 381-386, whichthe exordium is particularly beautiful. Socrates, l. Vi. C. 5. Sozomen, l. Viii. C. 7. Montfaucon (in his Life of Chrysostom, tom. Xiii. P. 135)too hastily supposes that Tribigild was actually in Constantinople; andthat he commanded the soldiers who were ordered to seize EutropiusEven Claudian, a Pagan poet, (praefat. Ad l. Ii. In Eutrop. 27, ) hasmentioned the flight of the eunuch to the sanctuary. 

 Suppliciterque pias humilis prostratus ad aras, Mitigat iratas voce tremente nurus, ]

[Footnote 30: Chrysostom, in another homily, (tom. Iii. P. 386, ) affectsto declare that Eutropius would not have been taken, had he not desertedthe church. Zosimus, (l. V. P. 313, ) on the contrary, pretends, that hisenemies forced him from the sanctuary. Yet the promise is an evidence ofsome treaty; and the strong assurance of Claudian, (Praefat. Ad l. Ii. 46, ) Sed tamen exemplo non feriere tuo, may be considered as an evidenceof some promise. ]

[Footnote 31: Cod. Theod. L. Ix. Tit. Xi. Leg. 14. The date of thatlaw (Jan. 17, A. D. 399) is erroneous and corrupt; since the fallof Eutropius could not happen till the autumn of the same year. SeeTillemont, Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. V. P. 780. ]

[Footnote 32: Zosimus, l. V. P. 313. Philostorgius, l. Xi. C. 6. ] Whilethis domestic revolution was transacted, Gainas [33] openly revoltedfrom his allegiance; united his forces at Thyatira in Lydia, with thoseof Tribigild; and still maintained his superior ascendant over therebellious leader of the Ostrogoths. The confederate armies advanced, without resistance, to the straits of the Hellespont and the Bosphorus;and Arcadius was instructed to prevent the loss of his Asiaticdominions, by resigning his authority and his person to the faith of theBarbarians. The church of the holy martyr Euphemia, situate on a loftyeminence near Chalcedon, [34] was chosen for the place of the interview. Gainas bowed with reverence at the feet of the emperor, whilst herequired the sacrifice of Aurelian and Saturninus, two ministers ofconsular rank; and their naked necks were exposed, by the haughtyrebel, to the edge of the sword, till he condescended to grant them aprecarious and disgraceful respite. The Goths, according to the terms ofthe agreement, were immediately transported from Asia into Europe; andtheir victorious chief, who accepted the title of master-general ofthe Roman armies, soon filled Constantinople with his troops, anddistributed among his dependants the honors and rewards of the empire. In his early youth, Gainas had passed the Danube as a suppliant and afugitive: his elevation had been the work of valor and fortune; and hisindiscreet or perfidious conduct was the cause of his rapid downfall. Notwithstanding the vigorous opposition of the archbishop, heimportunately claimed for his Arian sectaries the possession of apeculiar church; and the pride of the Catholics was offended by thepublic toleration of heresy. [35] Every quarter of Constantinople wasfilled with tumult and disorder; and the Barbarians gazed with suchardor on the rich shops of the jewellers, and the tables of the bankers, which were covered with gold and silver, that it was judged prudent toremove those dangerous temptations from their sight. They resented theinjurious precaution; and some alarming attempts were made, during thenight, to attack and destroy with fire the Imperial palace. [36] In thisstate of mutual and suspicious hostility, the guards and the people ofConstantinople shut the gates, and rose in arms to prevent or to punishthe conspiracy of the Goths. During the absence of Gainas, his troopswere surprised and oppressed; seven thousand Barbarians perished in thisbloody massacre. In the fury of the pursuit, the Catholics uncoveredthe roof, and continued to throw down flaming logs of wood, till theyoverwhelmed their adversaries, who had retreated to the church orconventicle of the Arians. Gainas was either innocent of the design, ortoo confident of his success; he was astonished by the intelligence thatthe flower of his army had been ingloriously destroyed; that he himselfwas declared a public enemy; and that his countryman, Fravitta, a braveand loyal confederate, had assumed the management of the war by sea andland. The enterprises of the rebel, against the cities of Thrace, wereencountered by a firm and well-ordered defence; his hungry soldiers weresoon reduced to the grass that grew on the margin of the fortifications;and Gainas, who vainly regretted the wealth and luxury of Asia, embraceda desperate resolution of forcing the passage of the Hellespont. Hewas destitute of vessels; but the woods of the Chersonesus affordedmaterials for rafts, and his intrepid Barbarians did not refuse to trustthemselves to the waves. But Fravitta attentively watched the progressof their undertaking As soon as they had gained the middle of thestream, the Roman galleys, [37] impelled by the full force of oars, ofthe current, and of a favorable wind, rushed forwards in compact order, and with irresistible weight; and the Hellespont was covered with thefragments of the Gothic shipwreck. After the destruction of his hopes, and the loss of many thousands of his bravest soldiers, Gainas, whocould no longer aspire to govern or to subdue the Romans, determinedto resume the independence of a savage life. A light and active bodyof Barbarian horse, disengaged from their infantry and baggage, mightperform in eight or ten days a march of three hundred miles from theHellespont to the Danube; [38] the garrisons of that important frontierhad been gradually annihilated; the river, in the month of December, would be deeply frozen; and the unbounded prospect of Scythia was openedto the ambition of Gainas. This design was secretly communicated to thenational troops, who devoted themselves to the fortunes of theirleader; and before the signal of departure was given, a great numberof provincial auxiliaries, whom he suspected of an attachment to theirnative country, were perfidiously massacred. The Goths advanced, by rapid marches, through the plains of Thrace; and they were soondelivered from the fear of a pursuit, by the vanity of Fravitta, [3811]who, instead of extinguishing the war, hastened to enjoy the popularapplause, and to assume the peaceful honors of the consulship. But aformidable ally appeared in arms to vindicate the majesty of the empire, and to guard the peace and liberty of Scythia. [39] The superior forcesof Uldin, king of the Huns, opposed the progress of Gainas; a hostileand ruined country prohibited his retreat; he disdained to capitulate;and after repeatedly attempting to cut his way through the ranks ofthe enemy, he was slain, with his desperate followers, in the field ofbattle. Eleven days after the naval victory of the Hellespont, thehead of Gainas, the inestimable gift of the conqueror, was received atConstantinople with the most liberal expressions of gratitude; and thepublic deliverance was celebrated by festivals and illuminations. Thetriumphs of Arcadius became the subject of epic poems; [40] and themonarch, no longer oppressed by any hostile terrors, resigned himself tothe mild and absolute dominion of his wife, the fair and artful Eudoxia, who was sullied her fame by the persecution of St. John Chrysostom. 

[Footnote 33: Zosimus, l. V. P. 313-323, ) Socrates, (l. Vi. C. 4, )Sozomen, (l. Viii. C. 4, ) and Theodoret, (l. V. C. 32, 33, ) represent, though with some various circumstances, the conspiracy, defeat, anddeath of Gainas. ]

[Footnote 34: It is the expression of Zosimus himself, (l. V. P. 314, )who inadvertently uses the fashionable language of the Christians. Evagrius describes (l. Ii. C. 3) the situation, architecture, relics, and miracles, of that celebrated church, in which the general council ofChalcedon was afterwards held. ]

[Footnote 35: The pious remonstrances of Chrysostom, which do notappear in his own writings, are strongly urged by Theodoret; but hisinsinuation, that they were successful, is disproved by facts. Tillemont(Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. V. P. 383) has discovered that the emperor, to satisfy the rapacious demands of Gainas, was obliged to melt theplate of the church of the apostles. ]

[Footnote 36: The ecclesiastical historians, who sometimes guide, andsometimes follow, the public opinion, most confidently assert, that thepalace of Constantinople was guarded by legions of angels. ]

[Footnote 37: Zosmius (l. V. P. 319) mentions these galleys by the nameof Liburnians, and observes that they were as swift (without explainingthe difference between them) as the vessels with fifty oars; but thatthey were far inferior in speed to the triremes, which had been longdisused. Yet he reasonably concludes, from the testimony of Polybius, that galleys of a still larger size had been constructed in thePunic wars. Since the establishment of the Roman empire over theMediterranean, the useless art of building large ships of war hadprobably been neglected, and at length forgotten. ]

[Footnote 38: Chishull (Travels, p. 61-63, 72-76) proceeded fromGallipoli, through Hadrianople to the Danube, in about fifteen days. Hewas in the train of an English ambassador, whose baggage consisted ofseventy-one wagons. That learned traveller has the merit of tracing acurious and unfrequented route. ]

[Footnote 3833: Fravitta, according to Zosimus, though a Pagan, received the honors of the consulate. Zosim, v. C. 20. On Fravitta, see a very imperfect fragment of Eunapius. Mai. Ii. 290, in Niebuhr. 92. --M. ]

[Footnote 39: The narrative of Zosimus, who actually leads Gainas beyondthe Danube, must be corrected by the testimony of Socrates, aud Sozomen, that he was killed in Thrace; and by the precise and authentic dates ofthe Alexandrian, or Paschal, Chronicle, p. 307. The naval victory of theHellespont is fixed to the month Apellaeus, the tenth of the Calends ofJanuary, (December 23;) the head of Gainas was brought to Constantinoplethe third of the nones of January, (January 3, ) in the month Audynaeus. ]

[Footnote 40: Eusebius Scholasticus acquired much fame by his poem onthe Gothic war, in which he had served. Near forty years afterwardsAmmonius recited another poem on the same subject, in the presence ofthe emperor Theodosius. See Socrates, l. Vi. C. 6. ]

After the death of the indolent Nectarius, the successor of GregoryNazianzen, the church of Constantinople was distracted by the ambitionof rival candidates, who were not ashamed to solicit, with gold orflattery, the suffrage of the people, or of the favorite. On thisoccasion Eutropius seems to have deviated from his ordinary maxims; andhis uncorrupted judgment was determined only by the superior merit of astranger. In a late journey into the East, he had admired the sermonsof John, a native and presbyter of Antioch, whose name has beendistinguished by the epithet of Chrysostom, or the Golden Mouth. [41] Aprivate order was despatched to the governor of Syria; and as thepeople might be unwilling to resign their favorite preacher, he wastransported, with speed and secrecy in a post-chariot, from Antioch toConstantinople. The unanimous and unsolicited consent of the court, theclergy, and the people, ratified the choice of the minister; and, bothas a saint and as an orator, the new archbishop surpassed the sanguineexpectations of the public. Born of a noble and opulent family, in thecapital of Syria, Chrysostom had been educated, by the care of a tendermother, under the tuition of the most skilful masters. He studied theart of rhetoric in the school of Libanius; and that celebrated sophist, who soon discovered the talents of his disciple, ingenuously confessedthat John would have deserved to succeed him, had he not been stolenaway by the Christians. His piety soon disposed him to receive thesacrament of baptism; to renounce the lucrative and honorable professionof the law; and to bury himself in the adjacent desert, where hesubdued the lusts of the flesh by an austere penance of six years. Hisinfirmities compelled him to return to the society of mankind; and theauthority of Meletius devoted his talents to the service of the church:but in the midst of his family, and afterwards on the archiepiscopalthrone, Chrysostom still persevered in the practice of the monasticvirtues. The ample revenues, which his predecessors had consumed in pompand luxury, he diligently applied to the establishment of hospitals;and the multitudes, who were supported by his charity, preferred theeloquent and edifying discourses of their archbishop to the amusementsof the theatre or the circus. The monuments of that eloquence, whichwas admired near twenty years at Antioch and Constantinople, have beencarefully preserved; and the possession of near one thousand sermons, or homilies has authorized the critics [42] of succeeding times toappreciate the genuine merit of Chrysostom. They unanimously attributeto the Christian orator the free command of an elegant and copiouslanguage; the judgment to conceal the advantages which he derived fromthe knowledge of rhetoric and philosophy; an inexhaustible fund ofmetaphors and similitudes of ideas and images, to vary and illustratethe most familiar topics; the happy art of engaging the passions in theservice of virtue; and of exposing the folly, as well as the turpitude, of vice, almost with the truth and spirit of a dramatic representation. 

[Footnote 41: The sixth book of Socrates, the eighth of Sozomen, and thefifth of Theodoret, afford curious and authentic materials for the lifeof John Chrysostom. Besides those general historians, I have taken formy guides the four principal biographers of the saint. 1. The authorof a partial and passionate Vindication of the archbishop ofConstantinople, composed in the form of a dialogue, and under the nameof his zealous partisan, Palladius, bishop of Helenopolis, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xi. P. 500-533. ) It is inserted among the worksof Chrysostom. Tom. Xiii. P. 1-90, edit. Montfaucon. 2. The moderateErasmus, (tom. Iii. Epist. Mcl. P. 1331-1347, edit. Lugd. Bat. ) Hisvivacity and good sense were his own; his errors, in the uncultivatedstate of ecclesiastical antiquity, were almost inevitable. 3. Thelearned Tillemont, (Mem. Ecclesiastiques, tom. Xi. P. 1-405, 547-626, &c. &c. , ) who compiles the lives of the saints with incredible patienceand religious accuracy. He has minutely searched the voluminous worksof Chrysostom himself. 4. Father Montfaucon, who has perused thoseworks with the curious diligence of an editor, discovered several newhomilies, and again reviewed and composed the Life of Chrysostom, (OperaChrysostom. Tom. Xiii. P. 91-177. )]

[Footnote 42: As I am almost a stranger to the voluminous sermons ofChrysostom, I have given my confidence to the two most judicious andmoderate of the ecclesiastical critics, Erasmus (tom. Iii. P. 1344)and Dupin, (Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. Iii. P. 38:) yet thegood taste of the former is sometimes vitiated by an excessive loveof antiquity; and the good sense of the latter is always restrained byprudential considerations. ]

The pastoral labors of the archbishop of Constantinople provoked, andgradually united against him, two sorts of enemies; the aspiring clergy, who envied his success, and the obstinate sinners, who were offended byhis reproofs. When Chrysostom thundered, from the pulpit of St. Sophia, against the degeneracy of the Christians, his shafts were spent amongthe crowd, without wounding, or even marking, the character of anyindividual. When he declaimed against the peculiar vices of the rich, poverty might obtain a transient consolation from his invectives; butthe guilty were still sheltered by their numbers; and the reproachitself was dignified by some ideas of superiority and enjoyment. Butas the pyramid rose towards the summit, it insensibly diminished to apoint; and the magistrates, the ministers, the favorite eunuchs, theladies of the court, [43] the empress Eudoxia herself, had a much largershare of guilt to divide among a smaller proportion of criminals. Thepersonal applications of the audience were anticipated, or confirmed, bythe testimony of their own conscience; and the intrepid preacher assumedthe dangerous right of exposing both the offence and the offender tothe public abhorrence. The secret resentment of the court encouragedthe discontent of the clergy and monks of Constantinople, who weretoo hastily reformed by the fervent zeal of their archbishop. He hadcondemned, from the pulpit, the domestic females of the clergy ofConstantinople, who, under the name of servants, or sisters, afforded aperpetual occasion either of sin or of scandal. The silent and solitaryascetics, who had secluded themselves from the world, were entitled tothe warmest approbation of Chrysostom; but he despised and stigmatized, as the disgrace of their holy profession, the crowd of degenerate monks, who, from some unworthy motives of pleasure or profit, so frequentlyinfested the streets of the capital. To the voice of persuasion, thearchbishop was obliged to add the terrors of authority; and his ardor, in the exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, was not always exemptfrom passion; nor was it always guided by prudence. Chrysostom wasnaturally of a choleric disposition. [44] Although he struggled, according to the precepts of the gospel, to love his private enemies, he indulged himself in the privilege of hating the enemies of God andof the church; and his sentiments were sometimes delivered with too muchenergy of countenance and expression. He still maintained, from someconsiderations of health or abstinence, his former habits of takinghis repasts alone; and this inhospitable custom, [45] which his enemiesimputed to pride, contributed, at least, to nourish the infirmity ofa morose and unsocial humor. Separated from that familiar intercourse, which facilitates the knowledge and the despatch of business, he reposedan unsuspecting confidence in his deacon Serapion; and seldom appliedhis speculative knowledge of human nature to the particular character, either of his dependants, or of his equals. 

Conscious of the purity of his intentions, and perhaps of thesuperiority of his genius, the archbishop of Constantinople extended thejurisdiction of the Imperial city, that he might enlarge the sphere ofhis pastoral labors; and the conduct which the profane imputed to anambitious motive, appeared to Chrysostom himself in the light of asacred and indispensable duty. In his visitation through the Asiaticprovinces, he deposed thirteen bishops of Lydia and Phrygia;and indiscreetly declared that a deep corruption of simony andlicentiousness had infected the whole episcopal order. [46] If thosebishops were innocent, such a rash and unjust condemnation must excitea well-grounded discontent. If they were guilty, the numerous associatesof their guilt would soon discover that their own safety depended on theruin of the archbishop; whom they studied to represent as the tyrant ofthe Eastern church. 

[Footnote 43: The females of Constantinople distinguished themselves bytheir enmity or their attachment to Chrysostom. Three noble and opulentwidows, Marsa, Castricia, and Eugraphia, were the leaders of thepersecution, (Pallad. Dialog. Tom. Xiii. P. 14. ) It was impossiblethat they should forgive a preacher who reproached their affectation toconceal, by the ornaments of dress, their age and ugliness, (Palladp. 27. ) Olympias, by equal zeal, displayed in a more pious cause, hasobtained the title of saint. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xi p. 416-440. ]

[Footnote 44: Sozomen, and more especially Socrates, have defined thereal character of Chrysostom with a temperate and impartial freedom, very offensive to his blind admirers. Those historians lived in the nextgeneration, when party violence was abated, and had conversed with manypersons intimately acquainted with the virtues and imperfections of thesaint. ]

[Footnote 45: Palladius (tom. Xiii. P. 40, &c. ) very seriously defendsthe archbishop 1. He never tasted wine. 2. The weakness of his stomachrequired a peculiar diet. 3. Business, or study, or devotion, often kepthim fasting till sunset. 4. He detested the noise and levity of greatdinners. 5. He saved the expense for the use of the poor. 6. He wasapprehensive, in a capital like Constantinople, of the envy and reproachof partial invitations. ]

[Footnote 46: Chrysostom declares his free opinion (tom. Ix. Hom. Iiiin Act. Apostol. P. 29) that the number of bishops, who might be saved, bore a very small proportion to those who would be damned. ]

This ecclesiastical conspiracy was managed by Theophilus, [47]archbishop of Alexandria, an active and ambitious prelate, who displayedthe fruits of rapine in monuments of ostentation. His national disliketo the rising greatness of a city which degraded him from the second tothe third rank in the Christian world, was exasperated by some personaldispute with Chrysostom himself. [48] By the private invitation ofthe empress, Theophilus landed at Constantinople with a stou body ofEgyptian mariners, to encounter the populace; and a train of dependentbishops, to secure, by their voices, the majority of a synod. The synod[49] was convened in the suburb of Chalcedon, surnamed the Oak, where Rufinus had erected a stately church and monastery; and theirproceedings were continued during fourteen days, or sessions. A bishopand a deacon accused the archbishop of Constantinople; but the frivolousor improbable nature of the forty-seven articles which they presentedagainst him, may justly be considered as a fair and unexceptionalpanegyric. Four successive summons were signified to Chrysostom; but hestill refused to trust either his person or his reputation in the handsof his implacable enemies, who, prudently declining the examination ofany particular charges, condemned his contumacious disobedience, andhastily pronounced a sentence of deposition. The synod of the Oakimmediately addressed the emperor to ratify and execute their judgment, and charitably insinuated, that the penalties of treason might beinflicted on the audacious preacher, who had reviled, under the nameof Jezebel, the empress Eudoxia herself. The archbishop was rudelyarrested, and conducted through the city, by one of the Imperialmessengers, who landed him, after a short navigation, near the entranceof the Euxine; from whence, before the expiration of two days, he wasgloriously recalled. 

[Footnote 47: See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xi. P. 441-500. ]

[Footnote 48: I have purposely omitted the controversy which aroseamong the monks of Egypt, concerning Origenism and Anthropomorphism; thedissimulation and violence of Theophilus; his artful management of thesimplicity of Epiphanius; the persecution and flight of the long, or tall, brothers; the ambiguous support which they received atConstantinople from Chrysostom, &c. &c. ]

[Footnote 49: Photius (p. 53-60) has preserved the original acts of thesynod of the Oak; which destroys the false assertion, that Chrysostomwas condemned by no more than thirty-six bishops, of whom twenty-ninewere Egyptians. Forty-five bishops subscribed his sentence. SeeTillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xi. P. 595. * Note: Tillemont arguesstrongly for the number of thirty-six--M]

The first astonishment of his faithful people had been mute and passive:they suddenly rose with unanimous and irresistible fury. Theophilusescaped, but the promiscuous crowd of monks and Egyptian marinerswas slaughtered without pity in the streets of Constantinople. [50] Aseasonable earthquake justified the interposition of Heaven; the torrentof sedition rolled forwards to the gates of the palace; and the empress, agitated by fear or remorse, threw herself at the feet of Arcadius, and confessed that the public safety could be purchased only by therestoration of Chrysostom. The Bosphorus was covered with innumerablevessels; the shores of Europe and Asia were profusely illuminated; andthe acclamations of a victorious people accompanied, from the port tothe cathedral, the triumph of the archbishop; who, too easily, consentedto resume the exercise of his functions, before his sentence had beenlegally reversed by the authority of an ecclesiastical synod. Ignorant, or careless, of the impending danger, Chrysostom indulged his zeal, orperhaps his resentment; declaimed with peculiar asperity against femalevices; and condemned the profane honors which were addressed, almostin the precincts of St. Sophia, to the statue of the empress. Hisimprudence tempted his enemies to inflame the haughty spirit of Eudoxia, by reporting, or perhaps inventing, the famous exordium of a sermon, "Herodias is again furious; Herodias again dances; she once morerequires the head of John;" an insolent allusion, which, as a womanand a sovereign, it was impossible for her to forgive. [51] The shortinterval of a perfidious truce was employed to concert more effectualmeasures for the disgrace and ruin of the archbishop. A numerous councilof the Eastern prelates, who were guided from a distance by the adviceof Theophilus, confirmed the validity, without examining the justice, ofthe former sentence; and a detachment of Barbarian troops was introducedinto the city, to suppress the emotions of the people. On the vigil ofEaster, the solemn administration of baptism was rudely interruptedby the soldiers, who alarmed the modesty of the naked catechumens, and violated, by their presence, the awful mysteries of the Christianworship. Arsacius occupied the church of St. Sophia, and thearchiepiscopal throne. The Catholics retreated to the baths ofConstantine, and afterwards to the fields; where they were still pursuedand insulted by the guards, the bishops, and the magistrates. Thefatal day of the second and final exile of Chrysostom was marked by theconflagration of the cathedral, of the senate-house, and of the adjacentbuildings; and this calamity was imputed, without proof, but not withoutprobability, to the despair of a persecuted faction. [52]

[Footnote 50: Palladius owns (p. 30) that if the people ofConstantinople had found Theophilus, they would certainly have thrownhim into the sea. Socrates mentions (l. Vi. C. 17) a battle between themob and the sailors of Alexandria, in which many wounds were given, andsome lives were lost. The massacre of the monks is observed only by thePagan Zosimus, (l. V. P. 324, ) who acknowledges that Chrysostom had asingular talent to lead the illiterate multitude. ]

[Footnote 51: See Socrates, l. Vi. C. 18. Sozomen, l. Viii. C. 20. Zosimus (l. V. P 324, 327) mentions, in general terms, his invectivesagainst Eudoxia. The homily, which begins with those famous words, isrejected as spurious. Montfaucon, tom. Xiii. P. 151. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom xi. P. 603. ]

[Footnote 52: We might naturally expect such a charge from Zosimus, (l. V. P. 327;) but it is remarkable enough, that it should be confirmed bySocrates, (l. Vi. C. 18, ) and the Paschal Chronicle, (p. 307. )]

Cicero might claim some merit, if his voluntary banishment preservedthe peace of the republic; [53] but the submission of Chrysostom was theindispensable duty of a Christian and a subject. Instead of listening tohis humble prayer, that he might be permitted to reside at Cyzicus, orNicomedia, the inflexible empress assigned for his exile the remoteand desolate town of Cucusus, among the ridges of Mount Taurus, in theLesser Armenia. A secret hope was entertained, that the archbishop mightperish in a difficult and dangerous march of seventy days, in the heatof summer, through the provinces of Asia Minor, where he was continuallythreatened by the hostile attacks of the Isaurians, and the moreimplacable fury of the monks. Yet Chrysostom arrived in safety at theplace of his confinement; and the three years which he spent at Cucusus, and the neighboring town of Arabissus, were the last and most gloriousof his life. His character was consecrated by absence and persecution;the faults of his administration were no longer remembered; but everytongue repeated the praises of his genius and virtue: and the respectfulattention of the Christian world was fixed on a desert spot among themountains of Taurus. From that solitude the archbishop, whose activemind was invigorated by misfortunes, maintained a strict and frequentcorrespondence [54] with the most distant provinces; exhorted theseparate congregation of his faithful adherents to persevere in theirallegiance; urged the destruction of the temples of Phoenicia, and theextirpation of heresy in the Isle of Cyprus; extended his pastoral careto the missions of Persia and Scythia; negotiated, by his ambassadors, with the Roman pontiff and the emperor Honorius; and boldly appealed, from a partial synod, to the supreme tribunal of a free and generalcouncil. The mind of the illustrious exile was still independent; buthis captive body was exposed to the revenge of the oppressors, whocontinued to abuse the name and authority of Arcadius. [55] An order wasdespatched for the instant removal of Chrysostom to the extreme desertof Pityus: and his guards so faithfully obeyed their cruel instructions, that, before he reached the sea-coast of the Euxine, he expired atComana, in Pontus, in the sixtieth year of his age. The succeedinggeneration acknowledged his innocence and merit. The archbishops of theEast, who might blush that their predecessors had been the enemiesof Chrysostom, were gradually disposed, by the firmness of the Romanpontiff, to restore the honors of that venerable name. [56] At the pioussolicitation of the clergy and people of Constantinople, his relics, thirty years after his death, were transported from their obscuresepulchre to the royal city. [57] The emperor Theodosius advanced toreceive them as far as Chalcedon; and, falling prostrate on the coffin, implored, in the name of his guilty parents, Arcadius and Eudoxia, theforgiveness of the injured saint. [58]

[Footnote 53: He displays those specious motives (Post Reditum, c. 13, 14) in the language of an orator and a politician. ]

[Footnote 54: Two hundred and forty-two of the epistles of Chrysostomare still extant, (Opera, tom. Iii. P. 528-736. ) They are addressed toa great variety of persons, and show a firmness of mind much superior tothat of Cicero in his exile. The fourteenth epistle contains a curiousnarrative of the dangers of his journey. ]

[Footnote 55: After the exile of Chrysostom, Theophilus publishedan enormous and horrible volume against him, in which he perpetuallyrepeats the polite expressions of hostem humanitatis, sacrilegorumprincipem, immundum daemonem; he affirms, that John Chrysostom haddelivered his soul to be adulterated by the devil; and wishes thatsome further punishment, adequate (if possible) to the magnitude of hiscrimes, may be inflicted on him. St. Jerom, at the request of his friendTheophilus, translated this edifying performance from Greek into Latin. See Facundus Hermian. Defens. Pro iii. Capitul. L. Vi. C. 5 published bySirmond. Opera, tom. Ii. P. 595, 596, 597. ]

[Footnote 56: His name was inserted by his successor Atticus in theDyptics of the church of Constantinople, A. D. 418. Ten years afterwardshe was revered as a saint. Cyril, who inherited the place, and thepassions, of his uncle Theophilus, yielded with much reluctance. SeeFacund. Hermian. L. 4, c. 1. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xiv. P. 277-283. ]

[Footnote 57: Socrates, l. Vii. C. 45. Theodoret, l. V. C. 36. Thisevent reconciled the Joannites, who had hitherto refused to acknowledgehis successors. During his lifetime, the Joannites were respected, bythe Catholics, as the true and orthodox communion of Constantinople. Their obstinacy gradually drove them to the brink of schism. ]

[Footnote 58: According to some accounts, (Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A. D. 438 No. 9, 10, ) the emperor was forced to send a letter of invitationand excuses, before the body of the ceremonious saint could be movedfrom Comana. ]

Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius, Theodosius II. --Part III. 

Yet a reasonable doubt may be entertained, whether any stain ofhereditary guilt could be derived from Arcadius to his successor. Eudoxia was a young and beautiful woman, who indulged her passions, and despised her husband; Count John enjoyed, at least, the familiarconfidence of the empress; and the public named him as the real fatherof Theodosius the younger. [59] The birth of a son was accepted, however, by the pious husband, as an event the most fortunate andhonorable to himself, to his family, and to the Eastern world: and theroyal infant, by an unprecedented favor, was invested with the titles ofCaesar and Augustus. In less than four years afterwards, Eudoxia, in thebloom of youth, was destroyed by the consequences of a miscarriage; andthis untimely death confounded the prophecy of a holy bishop, [60] who, amidst the universal joy, had ventured to foretell, that she shouldbehold the long and auspicious reign of her glorious son. The Catholicsapplauded the justice of Heaven, which avenged the persecution of St. Chrysostom; and perhaps the emperor was the only person who sincerelybewailed the loss of the haughty and rapacious Eudoxia. Such a domesticmisfortune afflicted him more deeply than the public calamities of theEast; [61] the licentious excursions, from Pontus to Palestine, of theIsaurian robbers, whose impunity accused the weakness of the government;and the earthquakes, the conflagrations, the famine, and the flightsof locusts, [62] which the popular discontent was equally disposedto attribute to the incapacity of the monarch. At length, in thethirty-first year of his age, after a reign (if we may abuse that word)of thirteen years, three months, and fifteen days, Arcadius expiredin the palace of Constantinople. It is impossible to delineate hischaracter; since, in a period very copiously furnished with historicalmaterials, it has not been possible to remark one action that properlybelongs to the son of the great Theodosius. 

[Footnote 59: Zosimus, l. V. P. 315. The chastity of an empress shouldnot be impeached without producing a witness; but it is astonishing, that the witness should write and live under a prince whose legitimacyhe dared to attack. We must suppose that his history was a party libel, privately read and circulated by the Pagans. Tillemont (Hist. DesEmpereurs, tom. V. P. 782) is not averse to brand the reputation ofEudoxia. ]

[Footnote 60: Porphyry of Gaza. His zeal was transported by the orderwhich he had obtained for the destruction of eight Pagan temples ofthat city. See the curious details of his life, (Baronius, A. D. 401, No. 17-51, ) originally written in Greek, or perhaps in Syriac, by a monk, one of his favorite deacons. ]

[Footnote 61: Philostorg. L. Xi. C. 8, and Godefroy, Dissertat. P. 457. ]

[Footnote 62: Jerom (tom. Vi. P. 73, 76) describes, in lively colors, the regular and destructive march of the locusts, which spread a darkcloud, between heaven and earth, over the land of Palestine. Seasonablewinds scattered them, partly into the Dead Sea, and partly into theMediterranean. ]

The historian Procopius [63] has indeed illuminated the mind of thedying emperor with a ray of human prudence, or celestial wisdom. Arcadius considered, with anxious foresight, the helpless conditionof his son Theodosius, who was no more than seven years of age, thedangerous factions of a minority, and the aspiring spirit of Jezdegerd, the Persian monarch. Instead of tempting the allegiance of an ambitioussubject, by the participation of supreme power, he boldly appealedto the magnanimity of a king; and placed, by a solemn testament, the sceptre of the East in the hands of Jezdegerd himself. The royalguardian accepted and discharged this honorable trust with unexampledfidelity; and the infancy of Theodosius was protected by the arms andcouncils of Persia. Such is the singular narrative of Procopius; and hisveracity is not disputed by Agathias, [64] while he presumes to dissentfrom his judgment, and to arraign the wisdom of a Christian emperor, who, so rashly, though so fortunately, committed his son and hisdominions to the unknown faith of a stranger, a rival, and a heathen. At the distance of one hundred and fifty years, this political questionmight be debated in the court of Justinian; but a prudent historian willrefuse to examine the propriety, till he has ascertained the truth, of the testament of Arcadius. As it stands without a parallel in thehistory of the world, we may justly require, that it should be attestedby the positive and unanimous evidence of contemporaries. The strangenovelty of the event, which excites our distrust, must have attractedtheir notice; and their universal silence annihilates the vain traditionof the succeeding age. 

[Footnote 63: Procopius, de Bell. Persic. L. I. C. 2, p. 8, edit. Louvre. ]

[Footnote 64: Agathias, l. Iv. P. 136, 137. Although he confesses theprevalence of the tradition, he asserts, that Procopius was the firstwho had committed it to writing. Tillemont (Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. Vi. P. 597) argues very sensibly on the merits of this fable. Hiscriticism was not warped by any ecclesiastical authority: both Procopiusand Agathias are half Pagans. * Note: See St Martin's article onJezdegerd, in the Biographie Universelle de Michand. --M. ]

The maxims of Roman jurisprudence, if they could fairly be transferredfrom private property to public dominion, would have adjudged to theemperor Honorius the guardianship of his nephew, till he had attained, at least, the fourteenth year of his age. But the weakness of Honorius, and the calamities of his reign, disqualified him from prosecutingthis natural claim; and such was the absolute separation of the twomonarchies, both in interest and affection, that Constantinople wouldhave obeyed, with less reluctance, the orders of the Persian, than thoseof the Italian, court. Under a prince whose weakness is disguised by theexternal signs of manhood and discretion, the most worthless favoritesmay secretly dispute the empire of the palace; and dictate to submissiveprovinces the commands of a master, whom they direct and despise. Butthe ministers of a child, who is incapable of arming them with thesanction of the royal name, must acquire and exercise an independentauthority. The great officers of the state and army, who had beenappointed before the death of Arcadius, formed an aristocracy, whichmight have inspired them with the idea of a free republic; and thegovernment of the Eastern empire was fortunately assumed by the praefectAnthemius, [65] who obtained, by his superior abilities, a lastingascendant over the minds of his equals. The safety of the young emperorproved the merit and integrity of Anthemius; and his prudent firmnesssustained the force and reputation of an infant reign. Uldin, with aformidable host of Barbarians, was encamped in the heart of Thrace; heproudly rejected all terms of accommodation; and, pointing to the risingsun, declared to the Roman ambassadors, that the course of that planetshould alone terminate the conquest of the Huns. But the desertionof his confederates, who were privately convinced of the justice andliberality of the Imperial ministers, obliged Uldin to repass theDanube: the tribe of the Scyrri, which composed his rear-guard, was almost extirpated; and many thousand captives were dispersed tocultivate, with servile labor, the fields of Asia. [66] In the midst ofthe public triumph, Constantinople was protected by a strong enclosureof new and more extensive walls; the same vigilant care was appliedto restore the fortifications of the Illyrian cities; and a plan wasjudiciously conceived, which, in the space of seven years, would havesecured the command of the Danube, by establishing on that river aperpetual fleet of two hundred and fifty armed vessels. [67]

[Footnote 65: Socrates, l. Vii. C. L. Anthemius was the grandson ofPhilip, one of the ministers of Constantius, and the grandfather of theemperor Anthemius. After his return from the Persian embassy, he wasappointed consul and Praetorian praefect of the East, in the year 405and held the praefecture about ten years. See his honors and praises inGodefroy, Cod. Theod. Tom. Vi. P. 350. Tillemont, Hist. Des Emptom. Vi. P. 1. &c. ]

[Footnote 66: Sozomen, l. Ix. C. 5. He saw some Scyrri at work nearMount Olympus, in Bithynia, and cherished the vain hope that thosecaptives were the last of the nation. ]

[Footnote 67: Cod. Theod. L. Vii. Tit. Xvi. L. Xv. Tit. I. Leg. 49. ]

But the Romans had so long been accustomed to the authority of amonarch, that the first, even among the females, of the Imperial family, who displayed any courage or capacity, was permitted to ascend thevacant throne of Theodosius. His sister Pulcheria, [68] who was only twoyears older than himself, received, at the age of sixteen, the title ofAugusta; and though her favor might be sometimes clouded by caprice orintrigue, she continued to govern the Eastern empire near forty years;during the long minority of her brother, and after his death, in herown name, and in the name of Marcian, her nominal husband. From a motiveeither of prudence or religion, she embraced a life of celibacy; andnotwithstanding some aspersions on the chastity of Pulcheria, [69] thisresolution, which she communicated to her sisters Arcadia and Marina, was celebrated by the Christian world, as the sublime effort of heroicpiety. In the presence of the clergy and people, the three daughters ofArcadius [70] dedicated their virginity to God; and the obligation oftheir solemn vow was inscribed on a tablet of gold and gems; which theypublicly offered in the great church of Constantinople. Their palace wasconverted into a monastery; and all males, except the guides of theirconscience, the saints who had forgotten the distinction of sexes, were scrupulously excluded from the holy threshold. Pulcheria, her twosisters, and a chosen train of favorite damsels, formed a religiouscommunity: they denounced the vanity of dress; interrupted, by frequentfasts, their simple and frugal diet; allotted a portion of their time toworks of embroidery; and devoted several hours of the day and night tothe exercises of prayer and psalmody. The piety of a Christian virginwas adorned by the zeal and liberality of an empress. Ecclesiasticalhistory describes the splendid churches, which were built at theexpense of Pulcheria, in all the provinces of the East; her charitablefoundations for the benefit of strangers and the poor; the ampledonations which she assigned for the perpetual maintenance of monasticsocieties; and the active severity with which she labored to suppressthe opposite heresies of Nestorius and Eutyches. Such virtues weresupposed to deserve the peculiar favor of the Deity: and the relics ofmartyrs, as well as the knowledge of future events, were communicated invisions and revelations to the Imperial saint. [71] Yet the devotionof Pulcheria never diverted her indefatigable attention from temporalaffairs; and she alone, among all the descendants of the greatTheodosius, appears to have inherited any share of his manly spirit andabilities. The elegant and familiar use which she had acquired, bothof the Greek and Latin languages, was readily applied to the variousoccasions of speaking or writing, on public business: her deliberationswere maturely weighed; her actions were prompt and decisive; and, whileshe moved, without noise or ostentation, the wheel of government, shediscreetly attributed to the genius of the emperor the long tranquillityof his reign. In the last years of his peaceful life, Europe was indeedafflicted by the arms of war; but the more extensive provinces of Asiastill continued to enjoy a profound and permanent repose. Theodosius theyounger was never reduced to the disgraceful necessity of encounteringand punishing a rebellious subject: and since we cannot applaud thevigor, some praise may be due to the mildness and prosperity, of theadministration of Pulcheria. 

[Footnote 68: Sozomen has filled three chapters with a magnificentpanegyric of Pulcheria, (l. Ix. C. 1, 2, 3;) and Tillemont (MemoiresEccles. Tom. Xv. P. 171-184) has dedicated a separate article to thehonor of St. Pulcheria, virgin and empress. * Note: The heathen Eunapiusgives a frightful picture of the venality and a justice of the court ofPulcheria. Fragm. Eunap. In Mai, ii. 293, in p. 97. --M. ]

[Footnote 69: Suidas, (Excerpta, p. 68, in Script. Byzant. ) pretends, on the credit of the Nestorians, that Pulcheria was exasperated againsttheir founder, because he censured her connection with the beautifulPaulinus, and her incest with her brother Theodosius. ]

[Footnote 70: See Ducange, Famil. Byzantin. P. 70. Flaccilla, the eldestdaughter, either died before Arcadius, or, if she lived till the year431, (Marcellin. Chron. , ) some defect of mind or body must have excludedher from the honors of her rank. ]

[Footnote 71: She was admonished, by repeated dreams, of the placewhere the relics of the forty martyrs had been buried. The groundhad successively belonged to the house and garden of a woman ofConstantinople, to a monastery of Macedonian monks, and to a churchof St. Thyrsus, erected by Caesarius, who was consul A. D. 397; andthe memory of the relics was almost obliterated. Notwithstanding thecharitable wishes of Dr. Jortin, (Remarks, tom. Iv. P. 234, ) it is noteasy to acquit Pulcheria of some share in the pious fraud; which musthave been transacted when she was more than five-and-thirty years ofage. ]

The Roman world was deeply interested in the education of its master. Aregular course of study and exercise was judiciously instituted; of themilitary exercises of riding, and shooting with the bow; of the liberalstudies of grammar, rhetoric, and philosophy: the most skilful mastersof the East ambitiously solicited the attention of their royal pupil;and several noble youths were introduced into the palace, to animate hisdiligence by the emulation of friendship. Pulcheria alone discharged theimportant task of instructing her brother in the arts of government;but her precepts may countenance some suspicions of the extent of hercapacity, or of the purity of her intentions. She taught him to maintaina grave and majestic deportment; to walk, to hold his robes, to seathimself on his throne, in a manner worthy of a great prince; to abstainfrom laughter; to listen with condescension; to return suitable answers;to assume, by turns, a serious or a placid countenance: in a word, torepresent with grace and dignity the external figure of a Roman emperor. But Theodosius [72] was never excited to support the weight and glory ofan illustrious name: and, instead of aspiring to support his ancestors, he degenerated (if we may presume to measure the degrees of incapacity)below the weakness of his father and his uncle. Arcadius and Honoriushad been assisted by the guardian care of a parent, whose lessons wereenforced by his authority and example. But the unfortunate prince, whois born in the purple, must remain a stranger to the voice of truth;and the son of Arcadius was condemned to pass his perpetual infancyencompassed only by a servile train of women and eunuchs. The ampleleisure which he acquired by neglecting the essential duties of his highoffice, was filled by idle amusements and unprofitable studies. Huntingwas the only active pursuit that could tempt him beyond the limits ofthe palace; but he most assiduously labored, sometimes by the light of amidnight lamp, in the mechanic occupations of painting and carving;and the elegance with which he transcribed religious books entitled theRoman emperor to the singular epithet of Calligraphes, or a fair writer. Separated from the world by an impenetrable veil, Theodosius trusted thepersons whom he loved; he loved those who were accustomed to amuse andflatter his indolence; and as he never perused the papers that werepresented for the royal signature, the acts of injustice the mostrepugnant to his character were frequently perpetrated in his name. Theemperor himself was chaste, temperate, liberal, and merciful; but thesequalities, which can only deserve the name of virtues when theyare supported by courage and regulated by discretion, were seldombeneficial, and they sometimes proved mischievous, to mankind. His mind, enervated by a royal education, was oppressed and degraded by abjectsuperstition: he fasted, he sung psalms, he blindly accepted themiracles and doctrines with which his faith was continually nourished. Theodosius devoutly worshipped the dead and living saints of theCatholic church; and he once refused to eat, till an insolent monk, whohad cast an excommunication on his sovereign, condescended to heal thespiritual wound which he had inflicted. [73]

[Footnote 72: There is a remarkable difference between the twoecclesiastical historians, who in general bear so close a resemblance. Sozomen (l. Ix. C. 1) ascribes to Pulcheria the government of theempire, and the education of her brother, whom he scarcely condescendsto praise. Socrates, though he affectedly disclaims all hopes of favoror fame, composes an elaborate panegyric on the emperor, and cautiouslysuppresses the merits of his sister, (l. Vii. C. 22, 42. ) Philostorgius(l. Xii. C. 7) expresses the influence of Pulcheria in gentle andcourtly language. Suidas (Excerpt. P. 53) gives a true character ofTheodosius; and I have followed the example of Tillemont (tom. Vi. P. 25) in borrowing some strokes from the modern Greeks. ]

[Footnote 73: Theodoret, l. V. C. 37. The bishop of Cyrrhus, one of thefirst men of his age for his learning and piety, applauds the obedienceof Theodosius to the divine laws. ]

The story of a fair and virtuous maiden, exalted from a privatecondition to the Imperial throne, might be deemed an incredible romance, if such a romance had not been verified in the marriage of Theodosius. The celebrated Athenais [74] was educated by her father Leontius in thereligion and sciences of the Greeks; and so advantageous was the opinionwhich the Athenian philosopher entertained of his contemporaries, that he divided his patrimony between his two sons, bequeathing to hisdaughter a small legacy of one hundred pieces of gold, in the livelyconfidence that her beauty and merit would be a sufficient portion. Thejealousy and avarice of her brothers soon compelled Athenais to seeka refuge at Constantinople; and, with some hopes, either of justiceor favor, to throw herself at the feet of Pulcheria. That sagaciousprincess listened to her eloquent complaint; and secretly destined thedaughter of the philosopher Leontius for the future wife of the emperorof the East, who had now attained the twentieth year of his age. Sheeasily excited the curiosity of her brother, by an interesting pictureof the charms of Athenais; large eyes, a well-proportioned nose, a faircomplexion, golden locks, a slender person, a graceful demeanor, an understanding improved by study, and a virtue tried by distress. Theodosius, concealed behind a curtain in the apartment of hissister, was permitted to behold the Athenian virgin: the modest youthimmediately declared his pure and honorable love; and the royalnuptials were celebrated amidst the acclamations of the capital and theprovinces. Athenais, who was easily persuaded to renounce the errors ofPaganism, received at her baptism the Christian name of Eudocia; butthe cautious Pulcheria withheld the title of Augusta, till the wife ofTheodosius had approved her fruitfulness by the birth of a daughter, who espoused, fifteen years afterwards, the emperor of the West. Thebrothers of Eudocia obeyed, with some anxiety, her Imperial summons; butas she could easily forgive their unfortunate unkindness, she indulgedthe tenderness, or perhaps the vanity, of a sister, by promoting themto the rank of consuls and praefects. In the luxury of the palace, she still cultivated those ingenuous arts which had contributed to hergreatness; and wisely dedicated her talents to the honor of religion, and of her husband. Eudocia composed a poetical paraphrase of the firsteight books of the Old Testament, and of the prophecies of Daniel andZechariah; a cento of the verses of Homer, applied to the life andmiracles of Christ, the legend of St. Cyprian, and a panegyric on thePersian victories of Theodosius; and her writings, which were applaudedby a servile and superstitious age, have not been disdained by thecandor of impartial criticism. [75] The fondness of the emperor was notabated by time and possession; and Eudocia, after the marriage of herdaughter, was permitted to discharge her grateful vows by a solemnpilgrimage to Jerusalem. Her ostentatious progress through the East mayseem inconsistent with the spirit of Christian humility; she pronounced, from a throne of gold and gems, an eloquent oration to the senate ofAntioch, declared her royal intention of enlarging the walls of thecity, bestowed a donative of two hundred pounds of gold to restorethe public baths, and accepted the statues, which were decreed by thegratitude of Antioch. In the Holy Land, her alms and pious foundationsexceeded the munificence of the great Helena, and though the publictreasure might be impoverished by this excessive liberality, she enjoyedthe conscious satisfaction of returning to Constantinople with thechains of St. Peter, the right arm of St. Stephen, and an undoubtedpicture of the Virgin, painted by St. Luke. [76] But this pilgrimage wasthe fatal term of the glories of Eudocia. Satiated with empty pomp, andunmindful, perhaps, of her obligations to Pulcheria, she ambitiouslyaspired to the government of the Eastern empire; the palace wasdistracted by female discord; but the victory was at last decided, bythe superior ascendant of the sister of Theodosius. The execution ofPaulinus, master of the offices, and the disgrace of Cyrus, Praetorianpraefect of the East, convinced the public that the favor of Eudociawas insufficient to protect her most faithful friends; and the uncommonbeauty of Paulinus encouraged the secret rumor, that his guilt was thatof a successful lover. [77] As soon as the empress perceived thatthe affection of Theodosius was irretrievably lost, she requestedthe permission of retiring to the distant solitude of Jerusalem. Sheobtained her request; but the jealousy of Theodosius, or the vindictivespirit of Pulcheria, pursued her in her last retreat; and Saturninus, count of the domestics, was directed to punish with death twoecclesiastics, her most favored servants. Eudocia instantly revengedthem by the assassination of the count; the furious passions which sheindulged on this suspicious occasion, seemed to justify the severity ofTheodosius; and the empress, ignominiously stripped of the honors of herrank, [78] was disgraced, perhaps unjustly, in the eyes of the world. The remainder of the life of Eudocia, about sixteen years, was spent inexile and devotion; and the approach of age, the death of Theodosius, the misfortunes of her only daughter, who was led a captive from Rometo Carthage, and the society of the Holy Monks of Palestine, insensiblyconfirmed the religious temper of her mind. After a full experience ofthe vicissitudes of human life, the daughter of the philosopher Leontiusexpired, at Jerusalem, in the sixty-seventh year of her age; protesting, with her dying breath, that she had never transgressed the bounds ofinnocence and friendship. [79]

[Footnote 74: Socrates (l. Vii. C. 21) mentions her name, (Athenais, thedaughter of Leontius, an Athenian sophist, ) her baptism, marriage, andpoetical genius. The most ancient account of her history is in JohnMalala (part ii. P. 20, 21, edit. Venet. 1743) and in the PaschalChronicle, (p. 311, 312. ) Those authors had probably seen originalpictures of the empress Eudocia. The modern Greeks, Zonaras, Cedrenus, &c. , have displayed the love, rather than the talent of fiction. FromNicephorus, indeed, I have ventured to assume her age. The writer ofa romance would not have imagined, that Athenais was near twenty eightyears old when she inflamed the heart of a young emperor. ]

[Footnote 75: Socrates, l. Vii. C. 21, Photius, p. 413-420. The Homericcento is still extant, and has been repeatedly printed: but the claimof Eudocia to that insipid performance is disputed by the critics. SeeFabricius, Biblioth. Graec. Tom. I. P. 357. The Ionia, a miscellaneousdictionary of history and fable, was compiled by another empress ofthe name of Eudocia, who lived in the eleventh century: and the work isstill extant in manuscript. ]

[Footnote 76: Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 438, 439) is copious andflorid, but he is accused of placing the lies of different ages on thesame level of authenticity. ]

[Footnote 77: In this short view of the disgrace of Eudocia, I haveimitated the caution of Evagrius (l. I. C. 21) and Count Marcellinus, (in Chron A. D. 440 and 444. ) The two authentic dates assigned by thelatter, overturn a great part of the Greek fictions; and the celebratedstory of the apple, &c. , is fit only for the Arabian Nights, wheresomething not very unlike it may be found. ]

[Footnote 78: Priscus, (in Excerpt. Legat. P. 69, ) a contemporary, anda courtier, dryly mentions her Pagan and Christian names, without addingany title of honor or respect. ]

[Footnote 79: For the two pilgrimages of Eudocia, and her long residenceat Jerusalem, her devotion, alms, &c. , see Socrates (l. Vii. C. 47) andEvagrius, (l. I. C. 21, 22. ) The Paschal Chronicle may sometimes deserveregard; and in the domestic history of Antioch, John Malala becomes awriter of good authority. The Abbe Guenee, in a memoir on the fertilityof Palestine, of which I have only seen an extract, calculates the giftsof Eudocia at 20, 488 pounds of gold, above 800, 000 pounds sterling. ]

The gentle mind of Theodosius was never inflamed by the ambition ofconquest, or military renown; and the slight alarm of a Persian warscarcely interrupted the tranquillity of the East. The motives of thiswar were just and honorable. In the last year of the reign of Jezdegerd, the supposed guardian of Theodosius, a bishop, who aspired to the crownof martyrdom, destroyed one of the fire-temples of Susa. [80] His zealand obstinacy were revenged on his brethren: the Magi excited a cruelpersecution; and the intolerant zeal of Jezdegerd was imitated by hisson Varanes, or Bahram, who soon afterwards ascended the throne. SomeChristian fugitives, who escaped to the Roman frontier, were sternlydemanded, and generously refused; and the refusal, aggravated bycommercial disputes, soon kindled a war between the rival monarchies. The mountains of Armenia, and the plains of Mesopotamia, were filledwith hostile armies; but the operations of two successive campaigns werenot productive of any decisive or memorable events. Some engagementswere fought, some towns were besieged, with various and doubtfulsuccess: and if the Romans failed in their attempt to recover thelong-lost possession of Nisibis, the Persians were repulsed from thewalls of a Mesopotamian city, by the valor of a martial bishop, whopointed his thundering engine in the name of St. Thomas the Apostle. Yet the splendid victories which the incredible speed of the messengerPalladius repeatedly announced to the palace of Constantinople, werecelebrated with festivals and panegyrics. From these panegyrics thehistorians [81] of the age might borrow their extraordinary, and, perhaps, fabulous tales; of the proud challenge of a Persian hero, whowas entangled by the net, and despatched by the sword, of Areobindus theGoth; of the ten thousand Immortals, who were slain in the attack ofthe Roman camp; and of the hundred thousand Arabs, or Saracens, whowere impelled by a panic terror to throw themselves headlong intothe Euphrates. Such events may be disbelieved or disregarded; but thecharity of a bishop, Acacius of Amida, whose name might have dignifiedthe saintly calendar, shall not be lost in oblivion. Boldly declaring, that vases of gold and silver are useless to a God who neither eatsnor drinks, the generous prelate sold the plate of the church of Amida;employed the price in the redemption of seven thousand Persian captives;supplied their wants with affectionate liberality; and dismissed themto their native country, to inform their king of the true spirit of thereligion which he persecuted. The practice of benevolence in the midstof war must always tend to assuage the animosity of contendingnations; and I wish to persuade myself, that Acacius contributed to therestoration of peace. In the conference which was held on the limits ofthe two empires, the Roman ambassadors degraded the personal characterof their sovereign, by a vain attempt to magnify the extent of hispower; when they seriously advised the Persians to prevent, by a timelyaccommodation, the wrath of a monarch, who was yet ignorant of thisdistant war. A truce of one hundred years was solemnly ratified;and although the revolutions of Armenia might threaten the publictranquillity, the essential conditions of this treaty were respectednear fourscore years by the successors of Constantine and Artaxerxes. 

[Footnote 80: Theodoret, l. V. C. 39 Tillemont. Mem. Eccles tom. Xii. 356-364. Assemanni, Bibliot. Oriental. Tom. Iii. P. 396, tom. Iv. P. 61. Theodoret blames the rashness of Abdas, but extols the constancy of hismartyrdom. Yet I do not clearly understand the casuistry which prohibitsour repairing the damage which we have unlawfully committed. ]

[Footnote 81: Socrates (l. Vii. C. 18, 19, 20, 21) is the best authorfor the Persian war. We may likewise consult the three Chronicles, thePaschal and those of Marcellinus and Malala. ]

Since the Roman and Parthian standards first encountered on the banks ofthe Euphrates, the kingdom of Armenia [82] was alternately oppressed byits formidable protectors; and in the course of this History, severalevents, which inclined the balance of peace and war, have been alreadyrelated. A disgraceful treaty had resigned Armenia to the ambition ofSapor; and the scale of Persia appeared to preponderate. But the royalrace of Arsaces impatiently submitted to the house of Sassan; theturbulent nobles asserted, or betrayed, their hereditary independence;and the nation was still attached to the Christian princes ofConstantinople. In the beginning of the fifth century, Armenia wasdivided by the progress of war and faction; [83] and the unnaturaldivision precipitated the downfall of that ancient monarchy. Chosroes, the Persian vassal, reigned over the Eastern and most extensive portionof the country; while the Western province acknowledged the jurisdictionof Arsaces, and the supremacy of the emperor Arcadius. [8111] Afterthe death of Arsaces, the Romans suppressed the regal government, andimposed on their allies the condition of subjects. The military commandwas delegated to the count of the Armenian frontier; the city ofTheodosiopolis [84] was built and fortified in a strong situation, ona fertile and lofty ground, near the sources of the Euphrates; and thedependent territories were ruled by five satraps, whose dignity wasmarked by a peculiar habit of gold and purple. The less fortunatenobles, who lamented the loss of their king, and envied the honors oftheir equals, were provoked to negotiate their peace and pardon at thePersian court; and returning, with their followers, to the palace ofArtaxata, acknowledged Chosroes [8411] for their lawful sovereign. About thirty years afterwards, Artasires, the nephew and successorof Chosroes, fell under the displeasure of the haughty and capriciousnobles of Armenia; and they unanimously desired a Persian governor inthe room of an unworthy king. The answer of the archbishop Isaac, whosesanction they earnestly solicited, is expressive of the character of asuperstitious people. He deplored the manifest and inexcusable vicesof Artasires; and declared, that he should not hesitate to accuse himbefore the tribunal of a Christian emperor, who would punish, withoutdestroying, the sinner. "Our king, " continued Isaac, "is too muchaddicted to licentious pleasures, but he has been purified in the holywaters of baptism. He is a lover of women, but he does not adore thefire or the elements. He may deserve the reproach of lewdness, but heis an undoubted Catholic; and his faith is pure, though his mannersare flagitious. I will never consent to abandon my sheep to the rage ofdevouring wolves; and you would soon repent your rash exchange of theinfirmities of a believer, for the specious virtues of a heathen. " [85]Exasperated by the firmness of Isaac, the factious nobles accused boththe king and the archbishop as the secret adherents of the emperor;and absurdly rejoiced in the sentence of condemnation, which, aftera partial hearing, was solemnly pronounced by Bahram himself. Thedescendants of Arsaces were degraded from the royal dignity, [86] whichthey had possessed above five hundred and sixty years; [87] and thedominions of the unfortunate Artasires, [8711] under the new andsignificant appellation of Persarmenia, were reduced into the form of aprovince. This usurpation excited the jealousy of the Roman government;but the rising disputes were soon terminated by an amicable, thoughunequal, partition of the ancient kingdom of Armenia: [8712] and aterritorial acquisition, which Augustus might have despised, reflectedsome lustre on the declining empire of the younger Theodosius. 

[Footnote 82: This account of the ruin and division of the kingdom ofArmenia is taken from the third book of the Armenian history of Moses ofChorene. Deficient as he is in every qualification of a good historian, his local information, his passions, and his prejudices are stronglyexpressive of a native and contemporary. Procopius (de Edificiis, l. Iii. C. 1, 5) relates the same facts in a very different manner; but Ihave extracted the circumstances the most probable in themselves, andthe least inconsistent with Moses of Chorene. ]

[Footnote 83: The western Armenians used the Greek language andcharacters in their religious offices; but the use of that hostiletongue was prohibited by the Persians in the Eastern provinces, whichwere obliged to use the Syriac, till the invention of the Armenianletters by Mesrobes, in the beginning of the fifth century, and thesubsequent version of the Bible into the Armenian language; anevent which relaxed to the connection of the church and nation withConstantinople. ]

[Footnote 84: Moses Choren. L. Iii. C. 59, p. 309, and p. 358. Procopius, de Edificiis, l. Iii. C. 5. Theodosiopolis stands, or ratherstood, about thirty-five miles to the east of Arzeroum, the moderncapital of Turkish Armenia. See D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. Ii. P. 99, 100. ]

[Footnote 8111: The division of Armenia, according to M. St. Martin, took place much earlier, A. C. 390. The Eastern or Persian division wasfour times as large as the Western or Roman. This partition took placeduring the reigns of Theodosius the First, and Varanes (Bahram) theFourth. St. Martin, Sup. To Le Beau, iv. 429. This partition was butimperfectly accomplished, as both parts were afterwards reunited underChosroes, who paid tribute both to the Roman emperor and to the Persianking. V. 439. --M. ]

[Footnote 8411: Chosroes, according to Procopius (who calls himArsaces, the common name of the Armenian kings) and the Armenianwriters, bequeathed to his two sons, to Tigranes the Persian, to Arsacesthe Roman, division of Armenia, A. C. 416. With the assistance of thediscontented nobles the Persian king placed his son Sapor on the throneof the Eastern division; the Western at the same time was united tothe Roman empire, and called the Greater Armenia. It was then thatTheodosiopolis was built. Sapor abandoned the throne of Armenia toassert his rights to that of Persia; he perished in the struggle, andafter a period of anarchy, Bahram V. , who had ascended the throneof Persia, placed the last native prince, Ardaschir, son of BahramSchahpour, on the throne of the Persian division of Armenia. St. Martin, v. 506. This Ardaschir was the Artasires of Gibbon. The archbishop Isaacis called by the Armenians the Patriarch Schag. St. Martin, vi. 29. --M. ]

[Footnote 85: Moses Choren, l. Iii. C. 63, p. 316. According to theinstitution of St. Gregory, the Apostle of Armenia, the archbishopwas always of the royal family; a circumstance which, in some degree, corrected the influence of the sacerdotal character, and united themitre with the crown. ]

[Footnote 86: A branch of the royal house of Arsaces still subsistedwith the rank and possessions (as it should seem) of Armenian satraps. See Moses Choren. L. Iii. C. 65, p. 321. ]

[Footnote 87: Valarsaces was appointed king of Armenia by his brotherthe Parthian monarch, immediately after the defeat of Antiochus Sidetes, (Moses Choren. L. Ii. C. 2, p. 85, ) one hundred and thirty years beforeChrist. Without depending on the various and contradictory periods ofthe reigns of the last kings, we may be assured, that the ruin of theArmenian kingdom happened after the council of Chalcedon, A. D. 431, (l. Iii. C. 61, p. 312;) and under Varamus, or Bahram, king of Persia, (l. Iii. C. 64, p. 317, ) who reigned from A. D. 420 to 440. See Assemanni, Bibliot. Oriental. Tom. Iii. P. 396. * Note: Five hundred and eighty. St. Martin, ibid. He places this event A. C 429. --M. ----Note: Accordingto M. St. Martin, vi. 32, Vagharschah, or Valarsaces, was appointed kingby his brother Mithridates the Great, king of Parthia. --M. ]

[Footnote 8711: Artasires or Ardaschir was probably sent to the castleof Oblivion. St. Martin, vi. 31. --M. ]

[Footnote 8712: The duration of the Armenian kingdom according to M. St. Martin, was 580 years. --M]

Chapter XXXIII: Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals. --Part I. 

 Death Of Honorius. --Valentinian III. --Emperor Of The East. --Administration Of His Mother Placidia--Aetius And Boniface. --Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals. 

During a long and disgraceful reign of twenty-eight years, Honorius, emperor of the West, was separated from the friendship of hisbrother, and afterwards of his nephew, who reigned over the East; andConstantinople beheld, with apparent indifference and secret joy, thecalamities of Rome. The strange adventures of Placidia [1] graduallyrenewed and cemented the alliance of the two empires. The daughter ofthe great Theodosius had been the captive, and the queen, of the Goths;she lost an affectionate husband; she was dragged in chains by hisinsulting assassin; she tasted the pleasure of revenge, and wasexchanged, in the treaty of peace, for six hundred thousand measures ofwheat. After her return from Spain to Italy, Placidia experienced a newpersecution in the bosom of her family. She was averse to a marriage, which had been stipulated without her consent; and the braveConstantius, as a noble reward for the tyrants whom he had vanquished, received, from the hand of Honorius himself, the struggling and thereluctant hand of the widow of Adolphus. But her resistance ended withthe ceremony of the nuptials: nor did Placidia refuse to become themother of Honoria and Valentinian the Third, or to assume and exercisean absolute dominion over the mind of her grateful husband. The generoussoldier, whose time had hitherto been divided between social pleasureand military service, was taught new lessons of avarice and ambition:he extorted the title of Augustus: and the servant of Honorius wasassociated to the empire of the West. The death of Constantius, in theseventh month of his reign, instead of diminishing, seemed to inereasethe power of Placidia; and the indecent familiarity [2] of her brother, which might be no more than the symptoms of a childish affection, wereuniversally attributed to incestuous love. On a sudden, by somebase intrigues of a steward and a nurse, this excessive fondness wasconverted into an irreconcilable quarrel: the debates of the emperor andhis sister were not long confined within the walls of the palace; andas the Gothic soldiers adhered to their queen, the city of Ravenna wasagitated with bloody and dangerous tumults, which could only be appeasedby the forced or voluntary retreat of Placidia and her children. Theroyal exiles landed at Constantinople, soon after the marriage ofTheodosius, during the festival of the Persian victories. They weretreated with kindness and magnificence; but as the statues of theemperor Constantius had been rejected by the Eastern court, the title ofAugusta could not decently be allowed to his widow. Within a few monthsafter the arrival of Placidia, a swift messenger announced the death ofHonorius, the consequence of a dropsy; but the important secret was notdivulged, till the necessary orders had been despatched for the march ofa large body of troops to the sea-coast of Dalmatia. The shops and thegates of Constantinople remained shut during seven days; and the lossof a foreign prince, who could neither be esteemed nor regretted, wascelebrated with loud and affected demonstrations of the public grief. 

[Footnote 1: See vol. Iii. P. 296. ]

[Footnote 2: It is the expression of Olympiodorus (apud Phetium p. 197;)who means, perhaps, to describe the same caresses which Mahomet bestowedon his daughter Phatemah. Quando, (says the prophet himself, ) quandosubit mihi desiderium Paradisi, osculor eam, et ingero linguam meamin os ejus. But this sensual indulgence was justified by miracle andmystery; and the anecdote has been communicated to the public by theReverend Father Maracci in his Version and Confutation of the Koran, tom. I. P. 32. ]

While the ministers of Constantinople deliberated, the vacant throneof Honorius was usurped by the ambition of a stranger. The name of therebel was John; he filled the confidential office of Primicerius, orprincipal secretary, and history has attributed to his character morevirtues, than can easily be reconciled with the violation of the mostsacred duty. Elated by the submission of Italy, and the hope of analliance with the Huns, John presumed to insult, by an embassy, themajesty of the Eastern emperor; but when he understood that his agentshad been banished, imprisoned, and at length chased away with deservedignominy, John prepared to assert, by arms, the injustice of his claims. In such a cause, the grandson of the great Theodosius should havemarched in person: but the young emperor was easily diverted, by hisphysicians, from so rash and hazardous a design; and the conduct of theItalian expedition was prudently intrusted to Ardaburius, and his sonAspar, who had already signalized their valor against the Persians. Itwas resolved, that Ardaburius should embark with the infantry; whilstAspar, at the head of the cavalry, conducted Placidia and her sonValentinian along the sea-coast of the Adriatic. The march of thecavalry was performed with such active diligence, that they surprised, without resistance, the important city of Aquileia: when the hopes ofAspar were unexpectedly confounded by the intelligence, that a stormhad dispersed the Imperial fleet; and that his father, with only twogalleys, was taken and carried a prisoner into the port of Ravenna. Yetthis incident, unfortunate as it might seem, facilitated the conquestof Italy. Ardaburius employed, or abused, the courteous freedom whichhe was permitted to enjoy, to revive among the troops a sense of loyaltyand gratitude; and as soon as the conspiracy was ripe for execution, he invited, by private messages, and pressed the approach of, Aspar. Ashepherd, whom the popular credulity transformed into an angel, guidedthe eastern cavalry by a secret, and, it was thought, an impassableroad, through the morasses of the Po: the gates of Ravenna, aftera short struggle, were thrown open; and the defenceless tyrant wasdelivered to the mercy, or rather to the cruelty, of the conquerors. Hisright hand was first cut off; and, after he had been exposed, mountedon an ass, to the public derision, John was beheaded in the circusof Aquileia. The emperor Theodosius, when he received the news of thevictory, interrupted the horse-races; and singing, as he marched throughthe streets, a suitable psalm, conducted his people from the Hippodrometo the church, where he spent the remainder of the day in gratefuldevotion. [3]

[Footnote 3: For these revolutions of the Western empire, consultOlympiodor, apud Phot. P. 192, 193, 196, 197, 200; Sozomen, l. Ix. C. 16; Socrates, l. Vii. 23, 24; Philostorgius, l. Xii. C. 10, 11, andGodefroy, Dissertat p. 486; Procopius, de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 3, p. 182, 183, in Chronograph, p. 72, 73, and the Chronicles. ]

In a monarchy, which, according to various precedents, might beconsidered as elective, or hereditary, or patrimonial, it was impossiblethat the intricate claims of female and collateral succession should beclearly defined; [4] and Theodosius, by the right of consanguinity orconquest, might have reigned the sole legitimate emperor of theRomans. For a moment, perhaps, his eyes were dazzled by the prospectof unbounded sway; but his indolent temper gradually acquiesced in thedictates of sound policy. He contented himself with the possession ofthe East; and wisely relinquished the laborious task of waging a distantand doubtful war against the Barbarians beyond the Alps; or of securingthe obedience of the Italians and Africans, whose minds were alienatedby the irreconcilable difference of language and interest. Instead oflistening to the voice of ambition, Theodosius resolved to imitate themoderation of his grandfather, and to seat his cousin Valentinian on thethrone of the West. The royal infant was distinguished at Constantinopleby the title of Nobilissimus: he was promoted, before his departure fromThessalonica, to the rank and dignity of Caesar; and after the conquestof Italy, the patrician Helion, by the authority of Theodosius, and inthe presence of the senate, saluted Valentinian the Third by the nameof Augustus, and solemnly invested him with the diadem and the Imperialpurple. [5] By the agreement of the three females who governed the Romanworld, the son of Placidia was betrothed to Eudoxia, the daughter ofTheodosius and Athenais; and as soon as the lover and his bride hadattained the age of puberty, this honorable alliance was faithfullyaccomplished. At the same time, as a compensation, perhaps, for theexpenses of the war, the Western Illyricum was detached from the Italiandominions, and yielded to the throne of Constantinople. [6] The emperorof the East acquired the useful dominion of the rich and maritimeprovince of Dalmatia, and the dangerous sovereignty of Pannonia andNoricum, which had been filled and ravaged above twenty years bya promiscuous crowd of Huns, Ostrogoths, Vandals, and Bavarians. Theodosius and Valentinian continued to respect the obligations of theirpublic and domestic alliance; but the unity of the Roman government wasfinally dissolved. By a positive declaration, the validity of all futurelaws was limited to the dominions of their peculiar author; unless heshould think proper to communicate them, subscribed with his own hand, for the approbation of his independent colleague. [7]

[Footnote 4: See Grotius de Jure Belli et Pacis, l. Ii. C. 7. Hehas laboriously out vainly, attempted to form a reasonable system ofjurisprudence from the various and discordant modes of royal succession, which have been introduced by fraud or force, by time or accident. ]

[Footnote 5: The original writers are not agreed (see Muratori, Annalid'Italia tom. Iv. P. 139) whether Valentinian received the Imperialdiadem at Rome or Ravenna. In this uncertainty, I am willing to believe, that some respect was shown to the senate. ]

[Footnote 6: The count de Buat (Hist. Des Peup es de l'Europe, tom. Vii. P. 292-300) has established the reality, explained the motives, andtraced the consequences, of this remarkable cession. ]

[Footnote 7: See the first Novel of Theodosius, by which he ratifies andcommunicates (A. D. 438) the Theodosian Code. About forty years beforethat time, the unity of legislation had been proved by an exception. TheJews, who were numerous in the cities of Apulia and Calabria, produced alaw of the East to justify their exemption from municipal offices, (Cod. Theod. L. Xvi. Tit. Viii. Leg. 13;) and the Western emperor was obligedto invalidate, by a special edict, the law, quam constat meis partibusesse damnosam. Cod. Theod. L. Xi. Tit. I. Leg. 158. ] Valentinian, whenhe received the title of Augustus, was no more than six years of age;and his long minority was intrusted to the guardian care of a mother, who might assert a female claim to the succession of the Western empire. Placidia envied, but she could not equal, the reputation and virtues ofthe wife and sister of Theodosius, the elegant genius of Eudocia, thewise and successful policy of Pulcheria. The mother of Valentinian wasjealous of the power which she was incapable of exercising; [8] shereigned twenty-five years, in the name of her son; and the character ofthat unworthy emperor gradually countenanced the suspicion that Placidiahad enervated his youth by a dissolute education, and studiouslydiverted his attention from every manly and honorable pursuit. Amidstthe decay of military spirit, her armies were commanded by two generals, Aetius [9] and Boniface, [10] who may be deservedly named as the lastof the Romans. Their union might have supported a sinking empire; theirdiscord was the fatal and immediate cause of the loss of Africa. Theinvasion and defeat of Attila have immortalized the fame of Aetius;and though time has thrown a shade over the exploits of his rival, the defence of Marseilles, and the deliverance of Africa, attest themilitary talents of Count Boniface. In the field of battle, inpartial encounters, in single combats, he was still the terror of theBarbarians: the clergy, and particularly his friend Augustin, wereedified by the Christian piety which had once tempted him to retire fromthe world; the people applauded his spotless integrity; the army dreadedhis equal and inexorable justice, which may be displayed in a verysingular example. A peasant, who complained of the criminal intimacybetween his wife and a Gothic soldier, was directed to attend histribunal the following day: in the evening the count, who had diligentlyinformed himself of the time and place of the assignation, mounted hishorse, rode ten miles into the country, surprised the guilty couple, punished the soldier with instant death, and silenced the complaints ofthe husband by presenting him, the next morning, with the head of theadulterer. The abilities of Aetius and Boniface might have been usefullyemployed against the public enemies, in separate and important commands;but the experience of their past conduct should have decided the realfavor and confidence of the empress Placidia. In the melancholy seasonof her exile and distress, Boniface alone had maintained her causewith unshaken fidelity: and the troops and treasures of Africa hadessentially contributed to extinguish the rebellion. The same rebellionhad been supported by the zeal and activity of Aetius, who brought anarmy of sixty thousand Huns from the Danube to the confines of Italy, for the service of the usurper. The untimely death of John compelled himto accept an advantageous treaty; but he still continued, the subjectand the soldier of Valentinian, to entertain a secret, perhaps atreasonable, correspondence with his Barbarian allies, whose retreat hadbeen purchased by liberal gifts, and more liberal promises. But Aetiuspossessed an advantage of singular moment in a female reign; he waspresent: he besieged, with artful and assiduous flattery, the palaceof Ravenna; disguised his dark designs with the mask of loyalty andfriendship; and at length deceived both his mistress and his absentrival, by a subtle conspiracy, which a weak woman and a brave man couldnot easily suspect. He had secretly persuaded [11] Placidia to recallBoniface from the government of Africa; he secretly advised Boniface todisobey the Imperial summons: to the one, he represented the order asa sentence of death; to the other, he stated the refusal as a signalof revolt; and when the credulous and unsuspectful count had armed theprovince in his defence, Aetius applauded his sagacity in foreseeing therebellion, which his own perfidy had excited. A temperate inquiry intothe real motives of Boniface would have restored a faithful servant tohis duty and to the republic; but the arts of Aetius still continuedto betray and to inflame, and the count was urged, by persecution, toembrace the most desperate counsels. The success with which he eluded orrepelled the first attacks, could not inspire a vain confidence, thatat the head of some loose, disorderly Africans, he should be able towithstand the regular forces of the West, commanded by a rival, whosemilitary character it was impossible for him to despise. After somehesitation, the last struggles of prudence and loyalty, Bonifacedespatched a trusty friend to the court, or rather to the camp, ofGonderic, king of the Vandals, with the proposal of a strict alliance, and the offer of an advantageous and perpetual settlement. 

[Footnote 8: Cassiodorus (Variar. L. Xi. Epist. I. P. 238) has comparedthe regencies of Placidia and Amalasuntha. He arraigns the weaknessof the mother of Valentinian, and praises the virtues of his royalmistress. On this occasion, flattery seems to have spoken the languageof truth. ]

[Footnote 9: Philostorgius, l. Xii. C. 12, and Godefroy's Dissertat. P. 493, &c. ; and Renatus Frigeridus, apud Gregor. Turon. L. Ii. C. 8, intom. Ii. P. 163. The father of Aetius was Gaudentius, an illustriouscitizen of the province of Scythia, and master-general of the cavalry;his mother was a rich and noble Italian. From his earliest youth, Aetius, as a soldier and a hostage, had conversed with the Barbarians. ]

[Footnote 10: For the character of Boniface, see Olympiodorus, apudPhot. P. 196; and St. Augustin apud Tillemont, Memoires Eccles. Tom. Xiii. P. 712-715, 886. The bishop of Hippo at length deplored the fallof his friend, who, after a solemn vow of chastity, had married asecond wife of the Arian sect, and who was suspected of keeping severalconcubines in his house. ]

[Footnote 11: Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 3, 4, p. 182-186)relates the fraud of Aetius, the revolt of Boniface, and the loss ofAfrica. This anecdote, which is supported by some collateral testimony, (see Ruinart, Hist. Persecut. Vandal. P. 420, 421, ) seems agreeableto the practice of ancient and modern courts, and would be naturallyrevealed by the repentance of Boniface. ]

After the retreat of the Goths, the authority of Honorius had obtaineda precarious establishment in Spain; except only in the province ofGallicia, where the Suevi and the Vandals had fortified their camps, in mutual discord and hostile independence. The Vandals prevailed; andtheir adversaries were besieged in the Nervasian hills, between Leonand Oviedo, till the approach of Count Asterius compelled, or ratherprovoked, the victorious Barbarians to remove the scene of the war tothe plains of Boetica. The rapid progress of the Vandals soon acquireda more effectual opposition; and the master-general Castinus marchedagainst them with a numerous army of Romans and Goths. Vanquished inbattle by an inferior army, Castinus fled with dishonor to Tarragona;and this memorable defeat, which has been represented as the punishment, was most probably the effect, of his rash presumption. [12] Sevilleand Carthagena became the reward, or rather the prey, of the ferociousconquerors; and the vessels which they found in the harbor of Carthagenamight easily transport them to the Isles of Majorca and Minorca, wherethe Spanish fugitives, as in a secure recess, had vainly concealed theirfamilies and their fortunes. The experience of navigation, and perhapsthe prospect of Africa, encouraged the Vandals to accept the invitationwhich they received from Count Boniface; and the death of Gondericserved only to forward and animate the bold enterprise. In the room of aprince not conspicuous for any superior powers of the mind or body, theyacquired his bastard brother, the terrible Genseric; [13] a name, which, in the destruction of the Roman empire, has deserved an equal rank withthe names of Alaric and Attila. The king of the Vandals is described tohave been of a middle stature, with a lameness in one leg, which he hadcontracted by an accidental fall from his horse. His slow and cautiousspeech seldom declared the deep purposes of his soul; he disdainedto imitate the luxury of the vanquished; but he indulged the sternerpassions of anger and revenge. The ambition of Genseric was withoutbounds and without scruples; and the warrior could dexterously employthe dark engines of policy to solicit the allies who might be usefulto his success, or to scatter among his enemies the seeds of hatred andcontention. Almost in the moment of his departure he was informedthat Hermanric, king of the Suevi, had presumed to ravage the Spanishterritories, which he was resolved to abandon. 

Impatient of the insult, Genseric pursued the hasty retreat of the Suevias far as Merida; precipitated the king and his army into the RiverAnas, and calmly returned to the sea-shore to embark his victorioustroops. The vessels which transported the Vandals over the modernStraits of Gibraltar, a channel only twelve miles in breadth, werefurnished by the Spaniards, who anxiously wished their departure; and bythe African general, who had implored their formidable assistance. [14]

[Footnote 12: See the Chronicles of Prosper and Idatius. Salvian (deGubernat. Dei, l. Vii. P. 246, Paris, 1608) ascribes the victory of theVandals to their superior piety. They fasted, they prayed, theycarried a Bible in the front of the Host, with the design, perhaps, ofreproaching the perfidy and sacrilege of their enemies. ]

[Footnote 13: Gizericus (his name is variously expressed) staturamediocris et equi casu claudicans, animo profundus, sermone rarus, luxuriae contemptor, ira turbidus, habendi cupidus, ad solicitandasgentes providentissimus, semina contentionum jacere, odia miscereparatus. Jornandes, de Rebus Geticis, c. 33, p. 657. This portrait, which is drawn with some skill, and a strong likeness, must have beencopied from the Gothic history of Cassiodorus. ]

[Footnote 14: See the Chronicle of Idatius. That bishop, a Spaniard anda contemporary, places the passage of the Vandals in the month of May, of the year of Abraham, (which commences in October, ) 2444. This date, which coincides with A. D. 429, is confirmed by Isidore, another Spanishbishop, and is justly preferred to the opinion of those writers who havemarked for that event one of the two preceding years. See Pagi Critica, tom. Ii. P. 205, &c. ]

Our fancy, so long accustomed to exaggerate and multiply the martialswarms of Barbarians that seemed to issue from the North, will perhapsbe surprised by the account of the army which Genseric mustered on thecoast of Mauritania. The Vandals, who in twenty years had penetratedfrom the Elbe to Mount Atlas, were united under the command of theirwarlike king; and he reigned with equal authority over the Alani, whohad passed, within the term of human life, from the cold of Scythiato the excessive heat of an African climate. The hopes of the boldenterprise had excited many brave adventurers of the Gothic nation; andmany desperate provincials were tempted to repair their fortunes by thesame means which had occasioned their ruin. Yet this various multitudeamounted only to fifty thousand effective men; and though Gensericartfully magnified his apparent strength, by appointing eightychinarchs, or commanders of thousands, the fallacious increase of oldmen, of children, and of slaves, would scarcely have swelled his army tothe number of four-score thousand persons. [15] But his own dexterity, and the discontents of Africa, soon fortified the Vandal powers, by theaccession of numerous and active allies. The parts of Mauritania whichborder on the Great Desert and the Atlantic Ocean, were filled witha fierce and untractable race of men, whose savage temper had beenexasperated, rather than reclaimed, by their dread of the Roman arms. The wandering Moors, [16] as they gradually ventured to approach theseashore, and the camp of the Vandals, must have viewed with terror andastonishment the dress, the armor, the martial pride and disciplineof the unknown strangers who had landed on their coast; and the faircomplexions of the blue-eyed warriors of Germany formed a very singularcontrast with the swarthy or olive hue which is derived from theneighborhood of the torrid zone. After the first difficulties had insome measure been removed, which arose from the mutual ignoranceof their respective language, the Moors, regardless of any futureconsequence, embraced the alliance of the enemies of Rome; and a crowdof naked savages rushed from the woods and valleys of Mount Atlas, to satiate their revenge on the polished tyrants, who had injuriouslyexpelled them from the native sovereignty of the land. 

[Footnote 15: Compare Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 5, p. 190)and Victor Vitensis, (de Persecutione Vandal. L. I. C. 1, p. 3, edit. Ruinart. ) We are assured by Idatius, that Genseric evacuated Spain, cumVandalis omnibus eorumque familiis; and Possidius (in Vit. Augustin. C. 28, apud Ruinart, p. 427) describes his army as manus ingens immaniumgentium Vandalorum et Alanorum, commixtam secum babens Gothorum gentem, aliarumque diversarum personas. ]

[Footnote 16: For the manners of the Moors, see Procopius, (de Bell. Vandal. L. Ii. C. 6, p. 249;) for their figure and complexion, M. De Buffon, (Histoire Naturelle, tom. Iii. P. 430. ) Procopius says ingeneral, that the Moors had joined the Vandals before the death ofValentinian, (de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 5, p. 190;) and it is probablethat the independent tribes did not embrace any uniform system ofpolicy. ]

The persecution of the Donatists [17] was an event not less favorable tothe designs of Genseric. Seventeen years before he landed in Africa, apublic conference was held at Carthage, by the order of the magistrate. The Catholics were satisfied, that, after the invincible reasons whichthey had alleged, the obstinacy of the schismatics must be inexcusableand voluntary; and the emperor Honorius was persuaded to inflict themost rigorous penalties on a faction which had so long abused hispatience and clemency. Three hundred bishops, [18] with many thousandsof the inferior clergy, were torn from their churches, stripped of theirecclesiastical possessions, banished to the islands, and proscribed bythe laws, if they presumed to conceal themselves in the provinces ofAfrica. Their numerous congregations, both in cities and in thecountry, were deprived of the rights of citizens, and of the exerciseof religious worship. A regular scale of fines, from ten to twohundred pounds of silver, was curiously ascertained, according to thedistinction of rank and fortune, to punish the crime of assisting ata schismatic conventicle; and if the fine had been levied five times, without subduing the obstinacy of the offender, his future punishmentwas referred to the discretion of the Imperial court. [19] By theseseverities, which obtained the warmest approbation of St. Augustin, [20]great numbers of Donatists were reconciled to the Catholic Church; butthe fanatics, who still persevered in their opposition, were provoked tomadness and despair; the distracted country was filled with tumult andbloodshed; the armed troops of Circumcellions alternately pointed theirrage against themselves, or against their adversaries; and the calendarof martyrs received on both sides a considerable augmentation. [21]Under these circumstances, Genseric, a Christian, but an enemy ofthe orthodox communion, showed himself to the Donatists as a powerfuldeliverer, from whom they might reasonably expect the repeal of theodious and oppressive edicts of the Roman emperors. [22] The conquestof Africa was facilitated by the active zeal, or the secret favor, ofa domestic faction; the wanton outrages against the churches and theclergy of which the Vandals are accused, may be fairly imputed to thefanaticism of their allies; and the intolerant spirit which disgracedthe triumph of Christianity, contributed to the loss of the mostimportant province of the West. [23]

[Footnote 17: See Tillemont, Memoires Eccles. Tom. Xiii. P. 516-558;and the whole series of the persecution, in the original monuments, published by Dupin at the end of Optatus, p. 323-515. ]

[Footnote 18: The Donatist Bishops, at the conference of Carthage, amounted to 279; and they asserted that their whole number was not lessthan 400. The Catholics had 286 present, 120 absent, besides sixty fourvacant bishoprics. ]

[Footnote 19: The fifth title of the sixteenth book of the TheodosianCode exhibits a series of the Imperial laws against the Donatists, fromthe year 400 to the year 428. Of these the 54th law, promulgated byHonorius, A. D. 414, is the most severe and effectual. ]

[Footnote 20: St. Augustin altered his opinion with regard tosthe propertreatment of heretics. His pathetic declaration of pity and indulgencefor the Manichaeans, has been inserted by Mr. Locke (vol. Iii. P. 469) among the choice specimens of his common-place book. Anotherphilosopher, the celebrated Bayle, (tom. Ii. P. 445-496, ) has refuted, with superfluous diligence and ingenuity, the arguments by which thebishop of Hippo justified, in his old age, the persecution of theDonatists. ]

[Footnote 21: See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xiii. P. 586-592, 806. The Donatists boasted of thousands of these voluntary martyrs. Augustin asserts, and probably with truth, that these numbers were muchexaggerated; but he sternly maintains, that it was better that someshould burn themselves in this world, than that all should burn in hellflames. ]

[Footnote 22: According to St. Augustin and Theodoret, the Donatistswere inclined to the principles, or at least to the party, of theArians, which Genseric supported. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Vi. P. 68. ]

[Footnote 23: See Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A. D. 428, No. 7, A. D. 439, No. 35. The cardinal, though more inclined to seek the cause of greatevents in heaven than on the earth, has observed the apparent connectionof the Vandals and the Donatists. Under the reign of the Barbarians, theschismatics of Africa enjoyed an obscure peace of one hundred years; atthe end of which we may again trace them by the fight of the Imperialpersecutions. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Vi. P. 192. &c. ]

The court and the people were astonished by the strange intelligence, that a virtuous hero, after so many favors, and so many services, hadrenounced his allegiance, and invited the Barbarians to destroy theprovince intrusted to his command. The friends of Boniface, who stillbelieved that his criminal behavior might be excused by some honorablemotive, solicited, during the absence of Aetius, a free conference withthe Count of Africa; and Darius, an officer of high distinction, wasnamed for the important embassy. [24] In their first interview atCarthage, the imaginary provocations were mutually explained; theopposite letters of Aetius were produced and compared; and the fraud waseasily detected. Placidia and Boniface lamented their fatal error; andthe count had sufficient magnanimity to confide in the forgivenessof his sovereign, or to expose his head to her future resentment. Hisrepentance was fervent and sincere; but he soon discovered that it wasno longer in his power to restore the edifice which he had shaken toits foundations. Carthage and the Roman garrisons returned with theirgeneral to the allegiance of Valentinian; but the rest of Africa wasstill distracted with war and faction; and the inexorable king of theVandals, disdaining all terms of accommodation, sternly refused torelinquish the possession of his prey. The band of veterans who marchedunder the standard of Boniface, and his hasty levies of provincialtroops, were defeated with considerable loss; the victorious Barbariansinsulted the open country; and Carthage, Cirta, and Hippo Regius, werethe only cities that appeared to rise above the general inundation. 

[Footnote 24: In a confidential letter to Count Boniface, St. Augustin, without examining the grounds of the quarrel, piously exhorts him todischarge the duties of a Christian and a subject: to extricate himselfwithout delay from his dangerous and guilty situation; and even, if hecould obtain the consent of his wife, to embrace a life of celibacy andpenance, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xiii. P. 890. ) The bishop wasintimately connected with Darius, the minister of peace, (Id. Tom. Xiii. P. 928. )]

The long and narrow tract of the African coast was filled with frequentmonuments of Roman art and magnificence; and the respective degrees ofimprovement might be accurately measured by the distance from Carthageand the Mediterranean. A simple reflection will impress every thinkingmind with the clearest idea of fertility and cultivation: the countrywas extremely populous; the inhabitants reserved a liberal subsistencefor their own use; and the annual exportation, particularly of wheat, was so regular and plentiful, that Africa deserved the name of thecommon granary of Rome and of mankind. On a sudden the seven fruitfulprovinces, from Tangier to Tripoli, were overwhelmed by the invasionof the Vandals; whose destructive rage has perhaps been exaggerated bypopular animosity, religious zeal, and extravagant declamation. War, inits fairest form, implies a perpetual violation of humanity and justice;and the hostilities of Barbarians are inflamed by the fierce and lawlessspirit which incessantly disturbs their peaceful and domestic society. The Vandals, where they found resistance, seldom gave quarter; and thedeaths of their valiant countrymen were expiated by the ruin of thecities under whose walls they had fallen. Careless of the distinctionsof age, or sex, or rank, they employed every species of indignity andtorture, to force from the captives a discovery of their hidden wealth. The stern policy of Genseric justified his frequent examples of militaryexecution: he was not always the master of his own passions, or ofthose of his followers; and the calamities of war were aggravated by thelicentiousness of the Moors, and the fanaticism of the Donatists. YetI shall not easily be persuaded, that it was the common practice of theVandals to extirpate the olives, and other fruit trees, of a countrywhere they intended to settle: nor can I believe that it was a usualstratagem to slaughter great numbers of their prisoners before thewalls of a besieged city, for the sole purpose of infecting the air, and producing a pestilence, of which they themselves must have been thefirst victims. [25]

[Footnote 25: The original complaints of the desolation of Africa arecontained 1. In a letter from Capreolus, bishop of Carthage, to excusehis absence from the council of Ephesus, (ap. Ruinart, p. 427. ) 2. Inthe life of St. Augustin, by his friend and colleague Possidius, (ap. Ruinart, p. 427. ) 3. In the history of the Vandalic persecution, byVictor Vitensis, (l. I. C. 1, 2, 3, edit. Ruinart. ) The last picture, which was drawn sixty years after the event, is more expressive of theauthor's passions than of the truth of facts. ]

The generous mind of Count Boniface was tortured by the exquisitedistress of beholding the ruin which he had occasioned, and whose rapidprogress he was unable to check. After the loss of a battle he retiredinto Hippo Regius; where he was immediately besieged by an enemy, whoconsidered him as the real bulwark of Africa. The maritime colony ofHippo, [26] about two hundred miles westward of Carthage, had formerlyacquired the distinguishing epithet of Regius, from the residence ofNumidian kings; and some remains of trade and populousness still adhereto the modern city, which is known in Europe by the corrupted name ofBona. The military labors, and anxious reflections, of Count Boniface, were alleviated by the edifying conversation of his friend St. Augustin;[27] till that bishop, the light and pillar of the Catholic church, was gently released, in the third month of the siege, and in theseventy-sixth year of his age, from the actual and the impendingcalamities of his country. The youth of Augustin had been stained by thevices and errors which he so ingenuously confesses; but from the momentof his conversion to that of his death, the manners of the bishop ofHippo were pure and austere: and the most conspicuous of his virtues wasan ardent zeal against heretics of every denomination; the Manichaeans, the Donatists, and the Pelagians, against whom he waged a perpetualcontroversy. When the city, some months after his death, was burnt bythe Vandals, the library was fortunately saved, which contained hisvoluminous writings; two hundred and thirty-two separate books ortreatises on theological subjects, besides a complete exposition of thepsalter and the gospel, and a copious magazine of epistles and homilies. [28] According to the judgment of the most impartial critics, thesuperficial learning of Augustin was confined to the Latin language;[29] and his style, though sometimes animated by the eloquence ofpassion, is usually clouded by false and affected rhetoric. But hepossessed a strong, capacious, argumentative mind; he boldly sounded thedark abyss of grace, predestination, free will, and original sin; andthe rigid system of Christianity which he framed or restored, [30] hasbeen entertained, with public applause, and secret reluctance, by theLatin church. [31]

[Footnote 26: See Cellarius, Geograph. Antiq. Tom. Ii. Part ii. P. 112. Leo African. In Ramusio, tom. I. Fol. 70. L'Afrique de Marmol, tom. Ii. P. 434, 437. Shaw's Travels, p. 46, 47. The old Hippo Regius was finallydestroyed by the Arabs in the seventh century; but a new town, at thedistance of two miles, was built with the materials; and it contained, in the sixteenth century, about three hundred families of industrious, but turbulent manufacturers. The adjacent territory is renowned for apure air, a fertile soil, and plenty of exquisite fruits. ]

[Footnote 27: The life of St. Augustin, by Tillemont, fills a quartovolume (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xiii. ) of more than one thousand pages; andthe diligence of that learned Jansenist was excited, on this occasion, by factious and devout zeal for the founder of his sect. ]

[Footnote 28: Such, at least, is the account of Victor Vitensis, (dePersecut. Vandal. L. I. C. 3;) though Gennadius seems to doubt whetherany person had read, or even collected, all the works of St. Augustin, (see Hieronym. Opera, tom. I. P. 319, in Catalog. Scriptor. Eccles. )They have been repeatedly printed; and Dupin (Bibliotheque Eccles. Tom. Iii. P. 158-257) has given a large and satisfactory abstract of themas they stand in the last edition of the Benedictines. My personalacquaintance with the bishop of Hippo does not extend beyond theConfessions, and the City of God. ]

[Footnote 29: In his early youth (Confess. I. 14) St. Augustin dislikedand neglected the study of Greek; and he frankly owns that he read thePlatonists in a Latin version, (Confes. Vii. 9. ) Some modern criticshave thought, that his ignorance of Greek disqualified him fromexpounding the Scriptures; and Cicero or Quintilian would have requiredthe knowledge of that language in a professor of rhetoric. ]

[Footnote 30: These questions were seldom agitated, from the time ofSt. Paul to that of St. Augustin. I am informed that the Greek fathersmaintain the natural sentiments of the Semi-Pelagians; and that theorthodoxy of St. Augustin was derived from the Manichaean school. ]

[Footnote 31: The church of Rome has canonized Augustin, and reprobatedCalvin. Yet as the real difference between them is invisible even to atheological microscope, the Molinists are oppressed by the authority ofthe saint, and the Jansenists are disgraced by their resemblance to theheretic. In the mean while, the Protestant Arminians stand aloof, andderide the mutual perplexity of the disputants, (see a curious Reviewof the Controversy, by Le Clerc, Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. Xiv. P. 144-398. ) Perhaps a reasoner still more independent may smile inhis turn, when he peruses an Arminian Commentary on the Epistle to theRomans. ]

Chapter XXXIII: Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals. --Part II. 

By the skill of Boniface, and perhaps by the ignorance of the Vandals, the siege of Hippo was protracted above fourteen months: the sea wascontinually open; and when the adjacent country had been exhausted byirregular rapine, the besiegers themselves were compelled by famine torelinquish their enterprise. The importance and danger of Africa weredeeply felt by the regent of the West. Placidia implored the assistanceof her eastern ally; and the Italian fleet and army were reenforced byAsper, who sailed from Constantinople with a powerful armament. Assoon as the force of the two empires was united under the command ofBoniface, he boldly marched against the Vandals; and the loss of asecond battle irretrievably decided the fate of Africa. He embarked withthe precipitation of despair; and the people of Hippo were permitted, with their families and effects, to occupy the vacant place of thesoldiers, the greatest part of whom were either slain or made prisonersby the Vandals. The count, whose fatal credulity had wounded the vitalsof the republic, might enter the palace of Ravenna with some anxiety, which was soon removed by the smiles of Placidia. Boniface accepted withgratitude the rank of patrician, and the dignity of master-general ofthe Roman armies; but he must have blushed at the sight of those medals, in which he was represented with the name and attributes of victory. [32] The discovery of his fraud, the displeasure of the empress, and thedistinguished favor of his rival, exasperated the haughty and perfidioussoul of Aetius. He hastily returned from Gaul to Italy, with a retinue, or rather with an army, of Barbarian followers; and such was theweakness of the government, that the two generals decided their privatequarrel in a bloody battle. Boniface was successful; but he received inthe conflict a mortal wound from the spear of his adversary, of which heexpired within a few days, in such Christian and charitable sentiments, that he exhorted his wife, a rich heiress of Spain, to accept Aetius forher second husband. But Aetius could not derive any immediate advantagefrom the generosity of his dying enemy: he was proclaimed a rebel bythe justice of Placidia; and though he attempted to defend some strongfortresses, erected on his patrimonial estate, the Imperial power sooncompelled him to retire into Pannonia, to the tents of his faithfulHuns. The republic was deprived, by their mutual discord, of the serviceof her two most illustrious champions. [33]

[Footnote 32: Ducange, Fam. Byzant. P. 67. On one side, the head ofValentinian; on the reverse, Boniface, with a scourge in one hand, anda palm in the other, standing in a triumphal car, which is drawn by fourhorses, or, in another medal, by four stags; an unlucky emblem! I shoulddoubt whether another example can be found of the head of a subject onthe reverse of an Imperial medal. See Science des Medailles, by the PereJobert, tom. I. P. 132-150, edit. Of 1739, by the haron de la Bastie. *Note: Lord Mahon, Life of Belisarius, p. 133, mentions one of Belisariuson the authority of Cedrenus--M. ]

[Footnote 33: Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 3, p. 185) continuesthe history of Boniface no further than his return to Italy. His deathis mentioned by Prosper and Marcellinus; the expression of the latter, that Aetius, the day before, had provided himself with a longer spear, implies something like a regular duel. ]

It might naturally be expected, after the retreat of Boniface, thatthe Vandals would achieve, without resistance or delay, the conquest ofAfrica. Eight years, however, elapsed, from the evacuation of Hippo tothe reduction of Carthage. In the midst of that interval, the ambitiousGenseric, in the full tide of apparent prosperity, negotiated a treatyof peace, by which he gave his son Hunneric for a hostage; and consentedto leave the Western emperor in the undisturbed possession of thethree Mauritanias. [34] This moderation, which cannot be imputed to thejustice, must be ascribed to the policy, of the conqueror. 

His throne was encompassed with domestic enemies, who accused thebaseness of his birth, and asserted the legitimate claims of hisnephews, the sons of Gonderic. Those nephews, indeed, he sacrificedto his safety; and their mother, the widow of the deceased king, wasprecipitated, by his order, into the river Ampsaga. But the publicdiscontent burst forth in dangerous and frequent conspiracies; and thewarlike tyrant is supposed to have shed more Vandal blood by the handof the executioner, than in the field of battle. [35] The convulsions ofAfrica, which had favored his attack, opposed the firm establishmentof his power; and the various seditions of the Moors and Germans, theDonatists and Catholics, continually disturbed, or threatened, theunsettled reign of the conqueror. As he advanced towards Carthage, he was forced to withdraw his troops from the Western provinces; thesea-coast was exposed to the naval enterprises of the Romans of Spainand Italy; and, in the heart of Numidia, the strong inland city of Cortastill persisted in obstinate independence. [36] These difficulties weregradually subdued by the spirit, the perseverance, and the crueltyof Genseric; who alternately applied the arts of peace and war to theestablishment of his African kingdom. He subscribed a solemn treaty, with the hope of deriving some advantage from the term of itscontinuance, and the moment of its violation. The vigilance of hisenemies was relaxed by the protestations of friendship, which concealedhis hostile approach; and Carthage was at length surprised by theVandals, five hundred and eighty-five years after the destruction of thecity and republic by the younger Scipio. [37]

[Footnote 34: See Procopius, de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 4, p. 186. Valentinian published several humane laws, to relieve the distress ofhis Numidian and Mauritanian subjects; he discharged them, in a greatmeasure, from the payment of their debts, reduced their tribute to oneeighth, and gave them a right of appeal from their provincialmagistrates to the praefect of Rome. Cod. Theod. Tom. Vi. Novell. P. 11, 12. ]

[Footnote 35: Victor Vitensis, de Persecut. Vandal. L. Ii. C. 5, p. 26. The cruelties of Genseric towards his subjects are strongly expressed inProsper's Chronicle, A. D. 442. ]

[Footnote 36: Possidius, in Vit. Augustin. C. 28, apud Ruinart, p. 428. ]

[Footnote 37: See the Chronicles of Idatius, Isidore, Prosper, andMarcellinus. They mark the same year, but different days, for thesurprisal of Carthage. ]

A new city had arisen from its ruins, with the title of a colony; andthough Carthage might yield to the royal prerogatives of Constantinople, and perhaps to the trade of Alexandria, or the splendor of Antioch, shestill maintained the second rank in the West; as the Rome (if we mayuse the style of contemporaries) of the African world. That wealthy andopulent metropolis [38] displayed, in a dependent condition, the imageof a flourishing republic. Carthage contained the manufactures, thearms, and the treasures of the six provinces. A regular subordination ofcivil honors gradually ascended from the procurators of the streets andquarters of the city, to the tribunal of the supreme magistrate, who, with the title of proconsul, represented the state and dignity of aconsul of ancient Rome. Schools and gymnasia were instituted for theeducation of the African youth; and the liberal arts and manners, grammar, rhetoric, and philosophy, were publicly taught in the Greek andLatin languages. The buildings of Carthage were uniform and magnificent;a shady grove was planted in the midst of the capital; the new port, asecure and capacious harbor, was subservient to the commercial industry of citizens and strangers; and the splendid games of the circus andtheatre were exhibited almost in the presence of the Barbarians. Thereputation of the Carthaginians was not equal to that of their country, and the reproach of Punic faith still adhered to their subtle andfaithless character. [39] The habits of trade, and the abuse of luxury, had corrupted their manners; but their impious contempt of monks, andthe shameless practice of unnatural lusts, are the two abominationswhich excite the pious vehemence of Salvian, the preacher of the age. [40] The king of the Vandals severely reformed the vices of a voluptuouspeople; and the ancient, noble, ingenuous freedom of Carthage (theseexpressions of Victor are not without energy) was reduced by Gensericinto a state of ignominious servitude. After he had permitted hislicentious troops to satiate their rage and avarice, he instituted amore regular system of rapine and oppression. An edict was promulgated, which enjoined all persons, without fraud or delay, to deliver theirgold, silver, jewels, and valuable furniture or apparel, to the royalofficers; and the attempt to secrete any part of their patrimony wasinexorably punished with death and torture, as an act of treason againstthe state. The lands of the proconsular province, which formed theimmediate district of Carthage, were accurately measured, and dividedamong the Barbarians; and the conqueror reserved for his peculiar domainthe fertile territory of Byzacium, and the adjacent parts of Numidia andGetulia. [41]

[Footnote 38: The picture of Carthage; as it flourished in the fourthand fifth centuries, is taken from the Expositio totius Mundi, p. 17, 18, in the third volume of Hudson's Minor Geographers, from Ausoniusde Claris Urbibus, p. 228, 229; and principally from Salvian, deGubernatione Dei, l. Vii. P. 257, 258. ]

[Footnote 39: The anonymous author of the Expositio totius Mundicompares in his barbarous Latin, the country and the inhabitants; and, after stigmatizing their want of faith, he coolly concludes, Difficileautem inter eos invenitur bonus, tamen in multis pauci boni esse possuntP. 18. ]

[Footnote 40: He declares, that the peculiar vices of each country werecollected in the sink of Carthage, (l. Vii. P. 257. ) In the indulgenceof vice, the Africans applauded their manly virtue. Et illi se magisvirilis fortitudinis esse crederent, qui maxime vires foeminei ususprobositate fregissent, (p. 268. ) The streets of Carthage were pollutedby effeminate wretches, who publicly assumed the countenance, the dress, and the character of women, (p. 264. ) If a monk appeared in the city, the holy man was pursued with impious scorn and ridicule; de testantibusridentium cachinnis, (p. 289. )]

[Footnote 41: Compare Procopius de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 5, p. 189, 190, and Victor Vitensis, de Persecut Vandal. L. I. C. 4. ]

It was natural enough that Genseric should hate those whom he hadinjured: the nobility and senators of Carthage were exposed to hisjealousy and resentment; and all those who refused the ignominiousterms, which their honor and religion forbade them to accept, werecompelled by the Arian tyrant to embrace the condition of perpetualbanishment. Rome, Italy, and the provinces of the East, were filledwith a crowd of exiles, of fugitives, and of ingenuous captives, whosolicited the public compassion; and the benevolent epistles of Theodoret still preserve the names and misfortunes of Caelestian and Maria. [42] The Syrian bishop deplores the misfortunes of Caelestian, who, fromthe state of a noble and opulent senator of Carthage, was reduced, with his wife and family, and servants, to beg his bread in a foreigncountry; but he applauds the resignation of the Christian exile, and thephilosophic temper, which, under the pressure of such calamities, could enjoy more real happiness than was the ordinary lot of wealthand prosperity. The story of Maria, the daughter of the magnificentEudaemon, is singular and interesting. In the sack of Carthage, she waspurchased from the Vandals by some merchants of Syria, who afterwardssold her as a slave in their native country. A female attendant, transported in the same ship, and sold in the same family, stillcontinued to respect a mistress whom fortune had reduced to the commonlevel of servitude; and the daughter of Eudaemon received from hergrateful affection the domestic services which she had once requiredfrom her obedience. This remarkable behavior divulged the real conditionof Maria, who, in the absence of the bishop of Cyrrhus, was redeemedfrom slavery oy the generosity of some soldiers of the garrison. Theliberality of Theodoret provided for her decent maintenance; and shepassed ten months among the deaconesses of the church; till she wasunexpectedly informed, that her father, who had escaped from the ruin ofCarthage, exercised an honorable office in one of the Western provinces. Her filial impatience was seconded by the pious bishop: Theodoret, in aletter still extant, recommends Maria to the bishop of Aegae, a maritimecity of Cilicia, which was frequented, during the annual fair, by thevessels of the West; most earnestly requesting, that his colleague woulduse the maiden with a tenderness suitable to her birth; and that hewould intrust her to the care of such faithful merchants, as wouldesteem it a sufficient gain, if they restored a daughter, lost beyondall human hope, to the arms of her afflicted parent. 

[Footnote 42: Ruinart (p. 441-457) has collected from Theodoret, andother authors, the misfortunes, real and fabulous, of the inhabitants ofCarthage. ]

Among the insipid legends of ecclesiastical history, I am temptedto distinguish the memorable fable of the Seven Sleepers; [43] whoseimaginary date corresponds with the reign of the younger Theodosius, and the conquest of Africa by the Vandals. [44] When the emperor Deciuspersecuted the Christians, seven noble youths of Ephesus concealedthemselves in a spacious cavern in the side of an adjacent mountain;where they were doomed to perish by the tyrant, who gave orders thatthe entrance should be firmly secured by the a pile of huge stones. Theyimmediately fell into a deep slumber, which was miraculously prolongedwithout injuring the powers of life, during a period of one hundred andeighty-seven years. At the end of that time, the slaves of Adolius, towhom the inheritance of the mountain had descended, removed the stonesto supply materials for some rustic edifice: the light of the sun dartedinto the cavern, and the Seven Sleepers were permitted to awake. After aslumber, as they thought of a few hours, they were pressed by the callsof hunger; and resolved that Jamblichus, one of their number, shouldsecretly return to the city to purchase bread for the use of hiscompanions. The youth (if we may still employ that appellation) could nolonger recognize the once familiar aspect of his native country; and hissurprise was increased by the appearance of a large cross, triumphantlyerected over the principal gate of Ephesus. His singular dress, andobsolete language, confounded the baker, to whom he offered an ancientmedal of Decius as the current coin of the empire; and Jamblichus, onthe suspicion of a secret treasure, was dragged before the judge. Theirmutual inquiries produced the amazing discovery, that two centuries werealmost elapsed since Jamblichus and his friends had escaped fromthe rage of a Pagan tyrant. The bishop of Ephesus, the clergy, themagistrates, the people, and, as it is said, the emperor Theodosiushimself, hastened to visit the cavern of the Seven Sleepers; whobestowed their benediction, related their story, and at the sameinstant peaceably expired. The origin of this marvellous fable cannotbe ascribed to the pious fraud and credulity of the modern Greeks, since the authentic tradition may be traced within half a century of thesupposed miracle. James of Sarug, a Syrian bishop, who was born only twoyears after the death of the younger Theodosius, has devoted one ofhis two hundred and thirty homilies to the praise of the young men ofEphesus. [45] Their legend, before the end of the sixth century, wastranslated from the Syriac into the Latin language, by the care ofGregory of Tours. The hostile communions of the East preserve theirmemory with equal reverence; and their names are honorably inscribed inthe Roman, the Abyssinian, and the Russian calendar. [46] Nor has theirreputation been confined to the Christian world. This popular tale, which Mahomet might learn when he drove his camels to the fairs ofSyria, is introduced as a divine revelation, into the Koran. [47] Thestory of the Seven Sleepers has been adopted and adorned by the nations, from Bengal to Africa, who profess the Mahometan religion; [48] andsome vestiges of a similar tradition have been discovered in the remoteextremities of Scandinavia. [49] This easy and universal belief, soexpressive of the sense of mankind, may be ascribed to the genuine meritof the fable itself. We imperceptibly advance from youth to age, withoutobserving the gradual, but incessant, change of human affairs; and evenin our larger experience of history, the imagination is accustomed, bya perpetual series of causes and effects, to unite the most distantrevolutions. But if the interval between two memorable aeras could beinstantly annihilated; if it were possible, after a momentary slumber oftwo hundred years, to display the new world to the eyes of a spectator, who still retained a lively and recent impression of the old, hissurprise and his reflections would furnish the pleasing subject ofa philosophical romance. The scene could not be more advantageouslyplaced, than in the two centuries which elapsed between the reigns ofDecius and of Theodosius the Younger. During this period, the seat ofgovernment had been transported from Rome to a new city on the banksof the Thracian Bosphorus; and the abuse of military spirit had beensuppressed by an artificial system of tame and ceremonious servitude. The throne of the persecuting Decius was filled by a succession ofChristian and orthodox princes, who had extirpated the fabulous gods ofantiquity: and the public devotion of the age was impatient to exalt thesaints and martyrs of the Catholic church, on the altars of Diana andHercules. The union of the Roman empire was dissolved; its genius washumbled in the dust; and armies of unknown Barbarians, issuing from thefrozen regions of the North, had established their victorious reign overthe fairest provinces of Europe and Africa. 

[Footnote 43: The choice of fabulous circumstances is of smallimportance; yet I have confined myself to the narrative which wastranslated from the Syriac by the care of Gregory of Tours, (de GloriaMartyrum, l. I. C. 95, in Max. Bibliotheca Patrum, tom. Xi. P. 856, ) tothe Greek acts of their martyrdom (apud Photium, p. 1400, 1401) and tothe Annals of the Patriarch Eutychius, (tom. I. P. 391, 531, 532, 535, Vers. Pocock. )]

[Footnote 44: Two Syriac writers, as they are quoted by Assemanni, (Bibliot. Oriental. Tom. I. P. 336, 338, ) place the resurrection of theSeven Sleepers in the year 736 (A. D. 425) or 748, (A. D. 437, ) of theaera of the Seleucides. Their Greek acts, which Photius had read, assignthe date of the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Theodosius, whichmay coincide either with A. D. 439, or 446. The period which had elapsedsince the persecution of Decius is easily ascertained; and nothing lessthan the ignorance of Mahomet, or the legendaries, could suppose aninternal of three or four hundred years. ]

[Footnote 45: James, one of the orthodox fathers of the Syrian church, was born A. D. 452; he began to compose his sermons A. D. 474; he was madebishop of Batnae, in the district of Sarug, and province of Mesopotamia, A. D. 519, and died A. D. 521. (Assemanni, tom. I. P. 288, 289. ) For thehomily de Pueris Ephesinis, see p. 335-339: though I could wishthat Assemanni had translated the text of James of Sarug, instead ofanswering the objections of Baronius. ]

[Footnote 46: See the Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists, Mensis Julii, tom. Vi. P. 375-397. This immense calendar of Saints, in one hundredand twenty-six years, (1644-1770, ) and in fifty volumes in folio, hasadvanced no further than the 7th day of October. The suppression of theJesuits has most probably checked an undertaking, which, through themedium of fable and superstition, communicates much historical andphilosophical instruction. ]

[Footnote 47: See Maracci Alcoran. Sura xviii. Tom. Ii. P. 420-427, andtom. I. Part iv. P. 103. With such an ample privilege, Mahomet has notshown much taste or ingenuity. He has invented the dog (Al Rakim) theSeven Sleepers; the respect of the sun, who altered his course twicea day, that he might not shine into the cavern; and the care of Godhimself, who preserved their bodies from putrefaction, by turning themto the right and left. ]

[Footnote 48: See D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 139; andRenaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alexandrin. P. 39, 40. ]

[Footnote 49: Paul, the deacon of Aquileia, (de Gestis Langobardorum, l. I. C. 4, p. 745, 746, edit. Grot. , ) who lived towards the end of theeight century, has placed in a cavern, under a rock, on the shore of theocean, the Seven Sleepers of the North, whose long repose was respectedby the Barbarians. Their dress declared them to be Romans and thedeacon conjectures, that they were reserved by Providence as the futureapostles of those unbelieving countries. ]

Chapter XXXIV: Attila. --Part I. 

 The Character, Conquests, And Court Of Attila, King Of The Huns. --Death Of Theodosius The Younger. --Elevation Of Marcian To The Empire Of The East. 

The Western world was oppressed by the Goths and Vandals, who fledbefore the Huns; but the achievements of the Huns themselves were notadequate to their power and prosperity. Their victorious hordes hadspread from the Volga to the Danube; but the public force was exhaustedby the discord of independent chieftains; their valor was idly consumedin obscure and predatory excursions; and they often degraded theirnational dignity, by condescending, for the hopes of spoil, to enlistunder the banners of their fugitive enemies. In the reign of Attila, [1]the Huns again became the terror of the world; and I shall now describethe character and actions of that formidable Barbarian; who alternatelyinsulted and invaded the East and the West, and urged the rapid downfallof the Roman empire. 

[Footnote 1: The authentic materials for the history of Attila, may befound in Jornandes (de Rebus Geticis, c. 34-50, p. 668-688, edit. Grot. )and Priscus (Excerpta de Legationibus, p. 33-76, Paris, 1648. ) I havenot seen the Lives of Attila, composed by Juvencus Caelius CalanusDalmatinus, in the twelfth century, or by Nicholas Olahus, archbishopof Gran, in the sixteenth. See Mascou's History of the Germans, ix. , andMaffei Osservazioni Litterarie, tom. I. P. 88, 89. Whatever the modernHungarians have added must be fabulous; and they do not seem to haveexcelled in the art of fiction. They suppose, that when Attila invadedGaul and Italy, married innumerable wives, &c. , he was one hundred andtwenty years of age. Thewrocz Chron. C. I. P. 22, in Script. Hunger. Tom. I. P. 76. ]

In the tide of emigration which impetuously rolled from the confinesof China to those of Germany, the most powerful and populous tribes maycommonly be found on the verge of the Roman provinces. The accumulatedweight was sustained for a while by artificial barriers; and the easycondescension of the emperors invited, without satisfying, the insolentdemands of the Barbarians, who had acquired an eager appetite for theluxuries of civilized life. The Hungarians, who ambitiously insert thename of Attila among their native kings, may affirm with truth that thehordes, which were subject to his uncle Roas, or Rugilas, had formedtheir encampments within the limits of modern Hungary, [2] in a fertilecountry, which liberally supplied the wants of a nation of hunters andshepherds. In this advantageous situation, Rugilas, and his valiantbrothers, who continually added to their power and reputation, commandedthe alternative of peace or war with the two empires. His alliance withthe Romans of the West was cemented by his personal friendship for thegreat Aetius; who was always secure of finding, in the Barbarian camp, ahospitable reception and a powerful support. At his solicitation, andin the name of John the usurper, sixty thousand Huns advanced to theconfines of Italy; their march and their retreat were alike expensive tothe state; and the grateful policy of Aetius abandoned the possession ofPannonia to his faithful confederates. The Romans of the East werenot less apprehensive of the arms of Rugilas, which threatened theprovinces, or even the capital. Some ecclesiastical historians havedestroyed the Barbarians with lightning and pestilence; [3] butTheodosius was reduced to the more humble expedient of stipulatingan annual payment of three hundred and fifty pounds of gold, and ofdisguising this dishonorable tribute by the title of general, which theking of the Huns condescended to accept. The public tranquillity wasfrequently interrupted by the fierce impatience of the Barbarians, andthe perfidious intrigues of the Byzantine court. Four dependent nations, among whom we may distinguish the Barbarians, disclaimed the sovereigntyof the Huns; and their revolt was encouraged and protected by a Romanalliance; till the just claims, and formidable power, of Rugilas, wereeffectually urged by the voice of Eslaw his ambassador. Peace was theunanimous wish of the senate: their decree was ratified by the emperor;and two ambassadors were named, Plinthas, a general of Scythianextraction, but of consular rank; and the quaestor Epigenes, a wiseand experienced statesman, who was recommended to that office by hisambitious colleague. 

[Footnote 2: Hungary has been successively occupied by three Scythiancolonies. 1. The Huns of Attila; 2. The Abares, in the sixth century;and, 3. The Turks or Magiars, A. D. 889; the immediate and genuineancestors of the modern Hungarians, whose connection with the two formeris extremely faint and remote. The Prodromus and Notitia of MatthewBelius appear to contain a rich fund of information concerning ancientand modern Hungary. I have seen the extracts in Bibli otheque Ancienneet Moderne, tom. Xxii. P. 1-51, and Bibliotheque Raisonnee, tom. Xvi. P. 127-175. * Note: Mailath (in his Geschichte der Magyaren) considersthe question of the origin of the Magyars as still undecided. The oldHungarian chronicles unanimously derived them from the Huns of AttilaSee note, vol. Iv. Pp. 341, 342. The later opinion, adopted by Schlozer, Belnay, and Dankowsky, ascribes them, from their language, to theFinnish race. Fessler, in his history of Hungary, agrees with Gibbon insupposing them Turks. Mailath has inserted an ingenious dissertationof Fejer, which attempts to connect them with the Parthians. Vol. I. Ammerkungen p. 50--M. ]

[Footnote 3: Socrates, l. Vii. C. 43. Theodoret, l. V. C. 36. Tillemont, who always depends on the faith of his ecclesiastical authors, strenuously contends (Hist. Des Emp. Tom. Vi. P. 136, 607) that the warsand personages were not the same. ]

The death of Rugilas suspended the progress of the treaty. His twonephews, Attila and Bleda, who succeeded to the throne of theiruncle, consented to a personal interview with the ambassadors ofConstantinople; but as they proudly refused to dismount, the businesswas transacted on horseback, in a spacious plain near the city ofMargus, in the Upper Maesia. The kings of the Huns assumed the solidbenefits, as well as the vain honors, of the negotiation. They dictatedthe conditions of peace, and each condition was an insult on the majestyof the empire. Besides the freedom of a safe and plentiful market on thebanks of the Danube, they required that the annual contribution shouldbe augmented from three hundred and fifty to seven hundred pounds ofgold; that a fine or ransom of eight pieces of gold should be paid forevery Roman captive who had escaped from his Barbarian master; that theemperor should renounce all treaties and engagements with the enemies ofthe Huns; and that all the fugitives who had taken refuge in the courtor provinces of Theodosius, should be delivered to the justice oftheir offended sovereign. This justice was rigorously inflicted onsome unfortunate youths of a royal race. They were crucified on theterritories of the empire, by the command of Attila: and as soon as theking of the Huns had impressed the Romans with the terror of his name, he indulged them in a short and arbitrary respite, whilst he subdued therebellious or independent nations of Scythia and Germany. [4]

[Footnote 4: See Priscus, p. 47, 48, and Hist. De Peuples de l'Europe, tom. V. I. C. Xii, xiii, xiv, xv. ]

Attila, the son of Mundzuk, deduced his noble, perhaps his regal, descent [5] from the ancient Huns, who had formerly contended withthe monarchs of China. His features, according to the observation ofa Gothic historian, bore the stamp of his national origin; and theportrait of Attila exhibits the genuine deformity of a modern Calmuk;[6] a large head, a swarthy complexion, small, deep-seated eyes, a flatnose, a few hairs in the place of a beard, broad shoulders, and a shortsquare body, of nervous strength, though of a disproportioned form. The haughty step and demeanor of the king of the Huns expressed theconsciousness of his superiority above the rest of mankind; and he had acustom of fiercely rolling his eyes, as if he wished to enjoy the terrorwhich he inspired. Yet this savage hero was not inaccessible to pity;his suppliant enemies might confide in the assurance of peace or pardon;and Attila was considered by his subjects as a just and indulgentmaster. He delighted in war; but, after he had ascended the throne in amature age, his head, rather than his hand, achieved the conquest of theNorth; and the fame of an adventurous soldier was usefully exchanged forthat of a prudent and successful general. The effects of personal valorare so inconsiderable, except in poetry or romance, that victory, evenamong Barbarians, must depend on the degree of skill with which thepassions of the multitude are combined and guided for the service of asingle man. The Scythian conquerors, Attila and Zingis, surpassed theirrude countrymen in art rather than in courage; and it may be observedthat the monarchies, both of the Huns and of the Moguls, were erectedby their founders on the basis of popular superstition The miraculousconception, which fraud and credulity ascribed to the virgin-motherof Zingis, raised him above the level of human nature; and the nakedprophet, who in the name of the Deity invested him with the empire ofthe earth, pointed the valor of the Moguls with irresistible enthusiasm. [7] The religious arts of Attila were not less skillfully adapted tothe character of his age and country. It was natural enough that theScythians should adore, with peculiar devotion, the god of war; but asthey were incapable of forming either an abstract idea, or a corporealrepresentation, they worshipped their tutelar deity under the symbol ofan iron cimeter. [8] One of the shepherds of the Huns perceived, that aheifer, who was grazing, had wounded herself in the foot, and curiouslyfollowed the track of the blood, till he discovered, among the longgrass, the point of an ancient sword, which he dug out of the groundand presented to Attila. That magnanimous, or rather that artful, prince accepted, with pious gratitude, this celestial favor; and, asthe rightful possessor of the sword of Mars, asserted his divine andindefeasible claim to the dominion of the earth. [9] If the rites ofScythia were practised on this solemn occasion, a lofty altar, or ratherpile of fagots, three hundred yards in length and in breadth, was raisedin a spacious plain; and the sword of Mars was placed erect on thesummit of this rustic altar, which was annually consecrated by theblood of sheep, horses, and of the hundredth captive. [10] Whetherhuman sacrifices formed any part of the worship of Attila, or whether hepropitiated the god of war with the victims which he continually offeredin the field of battle, the favorite of Mars soon acquired a sacredcharacter, which rended his conquests more easy and more permanent;and the Barbarian princes confessed, in the language of devotion orflattery, that they could not presume to gaze, with a steady eye, onthe divine majesty of the king of the Huns. [11] His brother Bleda, whoreigned over a considerable part of the nation, was compelled to resignhis sceptre and his life. Yet even this cruel act was attributed to asupernatural impulse; and the vigor with which Attila wielded the swordof Mars, convinced the world that it had been reserved alone for hisinvincible arm. [12] But the extent of his empire affords the onlyremaining evidence of the number and importance of his victories; andthe Scythian monarch, however ignorant of the value of science andphilosophy, might perhaps lament that his illiterate subjects weredestitute of the art which could perpetuate the memory of his exploits. 

[Footnote 5: Priscus, p. 39. The modern Hungarians have deduced hisgenealogy, which ascends, in the thirty-fifth degree, to Ham, the sonof Noah; yet they are ignorant of his father's real name. (De Guignes, Hist. Des Huns, tom. Ii. P. 297. )]

[Footnote 6: Compare Jornandes (c. 35, p. 661) with Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. Iii. P. 380. The former had a right to observe, originissuae sigua restituens. The character and portrait of Attila are probablytranscribed from Cassiodorus. ]

[Footnote 7: Abulpharag. Pocock, p. 281. Genealogical History of theTartars, by Abulghazi Bahader Khan, part iii c. 15, part iv c. 3. Viede Gengiscan, par Petit de la Croix, l. 1, c. 1, 6. The relations of themissionaries, who visited Tartary in the thirteenth century, (seethe seventh volume of the Histoire des Voyages, ) express the popularlanguage and opinions; Zingis is styled the son of God, &c. &c. ]

[Footnote 8: Nec templum apud eos visitur, aut delubrum, ne tuguriumquidem culmo tectum cerni usquam potest; sed gladius Barbarico ritu humifigitur nudus, eumque ut Martem regionum quas circumcircant praesulemverecundius colunt. Ammian. Marcellin. Xxxi. 2, and the learned Notes ofLindenbrogius and Valesius. ]

[Footnote 9: Priscus relates this remarkable story, both in his owntext (p. 65) and in the quotation made by Jornandes, (c. 35, p. 662. ) Hemight have explained the tradition, or fable, which characterized thisfamous sword, and the name, as well as attributes, of the Scythiandeity, whom he has translated into the Mars of the Greeks and Romans. ]

[Footnote 10: Herodot. L. Iv. C. 62. For the sake of economy, I havecalculated by the smallest stadium. In the human sacrifices, they cutoff the shoulder and arm of the victim, which they threw up into theair, and drew omens and presages from the manner of their falling on thepile]

[Footnote 11: Priscus, p. 65. A more civilized hero, Augustus himself, was pleased, if the person on whom he fixed his eyes seemed unable tosupport their divine lustre. Sueton. In August. C. 79. ]

[Footnote 12: The Count de Buat (Hist. Des Peuples de l'Europe, tom. Vii. P. 428, 429) attempts to clear Attila from the murder of hisbrother; and is almost inclined to reject the concurrent testimony ofJornandes, and the contemporary Chronicles. ]

If a line of separation were drawn between the civilized and the savageclimates of the globe; between the inhabitants of cities, who cultivatedthe earth, and the hunters and shepherds, who dwelt in tents, Attilamight aspire to the title of supreme and sole monarch of the Barbarians. [13] He alone, among the conquerors of ancient and modern times, united the two mighty kingdoms of Germany and Scythia; and those vagueappellations, when they are applied to his reign, may be understood withan ample latitude. Thuringia, which stretched beyond its actual limitsas far as the Danube, was in the number of his provinces; he interposed, with the weight of a powerful neighbor, in the domestic affairs of theFranks; and one of his lieutenants chastised, and almost exterminated, the Burgundians of the Rhine. 

He subdued the islands of the ocean, the kingdoms of Scandinavia, encompassed and divided by the waters of the Baltic; and the Huns mightderive a tribute of furs from that northern region, which has beenprotected from all other conquerors by the severity of the climate, and the courage of the natives. Towards the East, it is difficult tocircumscribe the dominion of Attila over the Scythian deserts; yet wemay be assured, that he reigned on the banks of the Volga; that the kingof the Huns was dreaded, not only as a warrior, but as a magician; [14]that he insulted and vanquished the khan of the formidable Geougen; andthat he sent ambassadors to negotiate an equal alliance with the empireof China. In the proud review of the nations who acknowledged thesovereignty of Attila, and who never entertained, during hislifetime, the thought of a revolt, the Gepidae and the Ostrogoths weredistinguished by their numbers, their bravery, and the personal meritsof their chiefs. The renowned Ardaric, king of the Gepidae, was thefaithful and sagacious counsellor of the monarch, who esteemed hisintrepid genius, whilst he loved the mild and discreet virtues of thenoble Walamir, king of the Ostrogoths. The crowd of vulgar kings, theleaders of so many martial tribes, who served under the standard ofAttila, were ranged in the submissive order of guards and domesticsround the person of their master. They watched his nod; they trembled athis frown; and at the first signal of his will, they executed, withoutmurmur or hesitation, his stern and absolute commands. In time of peace, the dependent princes, with their national troops, attended the royalcamp in regular succession; but when Attila collected his militaryforce, he was able to bring into the field an army of five, or, according to another account, of seven hundred thousand Barbarians. [15]

[Footnote 13: Fortissimarum gentium dominus, qui inaudita ante sepotentia colus Scythica et Germanica regna possedit. Jornandes, c. 49, p. 684. Priscus, p. 64, 65. M. De Guignes, by his knowledge of theChinese, has acquired (tom. Ii. P. 295-301) an adequate idea of theempire of Attila. ]

[Footnote 14: See Hist. Des Huns, tom. Ii. P. 296. The Geougen believedthat the Huns could excite, at pleasure, storms of wind and rain. Thisphenomenon was produced by the stone Gezi; to whose magic power theloss of a battle was ascribed by the Mahometan Tartars of the fourteenthcentury. See Cherefeddin Ali, Hist. De Timur Bec, tom. I. P. 82, 83. ]

[Footnote 15: Jornandes, c. 35, p. 661, c. 37, p. 667. See Tillemont, Hist. Dea Empereurs, tom. Vi. P. 129, 138. Corneille has represented thepride of Attila to his subject kings, and his tragedy opens with thesetwo ridiculous lines:--

 Ils ne sont pas venus, nos deux rois! qu'on leur die Qu'ils se font trop attendre, et qu'Attila s'ennuie. 

The two kings of the Gepidae and the Ostrogoths are profound politiciansand sentimental lovers, and the whole piece exhibits the defects withoutthe genius, of the poet. ]

The ambassadors of the Huns might awaken the attention of Theodosius, by reminding him that they were his neighbors both in Europe and Asia;since they touched the Danube on one hand, and reached, with the other, as far as the Tanais. In the reign of his father Arcadius, a band ofadventurous Huns had ravaged the provinces of the East; from whence theybrought away rich spoils and innumerable captives. [16] They advanced, by a secret path, along the shores of the Caspian Sea; traversed thesnowy mountains of Armenia; passed the Tigris, the Euphrates, andthe Halys; recruited their weary cavalry with the generous breed ofCappadocian horses; occupied the hilly country of Cilicia, and disturbedthe festal songs and dances of the citizens of Antioch. Egypt trembledat their approach; and the monks and pilgrims of the Holy Land preparedto escaped their fury by a speedy embarkation. The memory of thisinvasion was still recent in the minds of the Orientals. The subjectsof Attila might execute, with superior forces, the design which theseadventurers had so boldly attempted; and it soon became the subject ofanxious conjecture, whether the tempest would fall on the dominions ofRome, or of Persia. Some of the great vassals of the king of the Huns, who were themselves in the rank of powerful princes, had been sent toratify an alliance and society of arms with the emperor, or rather withthe general of the West. They related, during their residence at Rome, the circumstances of an expedition, which they had lately made into theEast. After passing a desert and a morass, supposed by the Romans to bethe Lake Maeotis, they penetrated through the mountains, and arrived, at the end of fifteen days' march, on the confines of Media; where theyadvanced as far as the unknown cities of Basic and Cursic. [1611]They encountered the Persian army in the plains of Media and the air, according to their own expression, was darkened by a cloud of arrows. But the Huns were obliged to retire before the numbers of the enemy. Their laborious retreat was effected by a different road; they lost thegreatest part of their booty; and at length returned to the royal camp, with some knowledge of the country, and an impatient desire of revenge. In the free conversation of the Imperial ambassadors, who discussed, at the court of Attila, the character and designs of their formidableenemy, the ministers of Constantinople expressed their hope, that hisstrength might be diverted and employed in a long and doubtful contestwith the princes of the house of Sassan. The more sagacious Italiansadmonished their Eastern brethren of the folly and danger of such ahope; and convinced them, that the Medes and Persians were incapableof resisting the arms of the Huns; and that the easy and importantacquisition would exalt the pride, as well as power, of the conqueror. Instead of contenting himself with a moderate contribution, and amilitary title, which equalled him only to the generals of Theodosius, Attila would proceed to impose a disgraceful and intolerable yoke onthe necks of the prostrate and captive Romans, who would then beencompassed, on all sides, by the empire of the Huns. [17]

[Footnote 16:

 Alii per Caspia claustra Armeniasque nives, inopino tramite ducti Invadunt Orientis opes: jam pascua fumant Cappadocum, volucrumque parens Argaeus equorum. Jam rubet altus Halys, nec se defendit iniquo Monte Cilix; Syriae tractus vestantur amoeni Assuetumque choris, et laeta plebe canorum, Proterit imbellem sonipes hostilis Orontem. ---Claudian, in Rufin. L. Ii. 28-35. 

See likewise, in Eutrop. L. I. 243-251, and the strong description ofJerom, who wrote from his feelings, tom. I. P. 26, ad Heliodor. P. 200ad Ocean. Philostorgius (l. Ix. C. 8) mentions this irruption. ]

[Footnote 1611: Gibbon has made a curious mistake; Basic and Cursicwere the names of the commanders of the Huns. Priscus, edit. Bonn, p. 200. --M. ]

[Footnote 17: See the original conversation in Priscus, p. 64, 65. ]

While the powers of Europe and Asia were solicitous to avert theimpending danger, the alliance of Attila maintained the Vandals inthe possession of Africa. An enterprise had been concerted between thecourts of Ravenna and Constantinople, for the recovery of that valuableprovince; and the ports of Sicily were already filled with the militaryand naval forces of Theodosius. But the subtle Genseric, who spread hisnegotiations round the world, prevented their designs, by exciting theking of the Huns to invade the Eastern empire; and a trifling incidentsoon became the motive, or pretence, of a destructive war. [18] Underthe faith of the treaty of Margus, a free market was held on theNorthern side of the Danube, which was protected by a Roman fortresssurnamed Constantia. A troop of Barbarians violated the commercialsecurity; killed, or dispersed, the unsuspecting traders; and levelledthe fortress with the ground. The Huns justified this outrage as anact of reprisal; alleged, that the bishop of Margus had entered theirterritories, to discover and steal a secret treasure of their kings;and sternly demanded the guilty prelate, the sacrilegious spoil, andthe fugitive subjects, who had escaped from the justice of Attila. Therefusal of the Byzantine court was the signal of war; and the Maesiansat first applauded the generous firmness of their sovereign. But theywere soon intimidated by the destruction of Viminiacum and the adjacenttowns; and the people was persuaded to adopt the convenient maxim, that a private citizen, however innocent or respectable, may be justlysacrificed to the safety of his country. The bishop of Margus, who didnot possess the spirit of a martyr, resolved to prevent the designswhich he suspected. He boldly treated with the princes of the Huns:secured, by solemn oaths, his pardon and reward; posted a numerousdetachment of Barbarians, in silent ambush, on the banks of the Danube;and, at the appointed hour, opened, with his own hand, the gates of hisepiscopal city. This advantage, which had been obtained by treachery, served as a prelude to more honorable and decisive victories. TheIllyrian frontier was covered by a line of castles and fortresses; andthough the greatest part of them consisted only of a single tower, with a small garrison, they were commonly sufficient to repel, or tointercept, the inroads of an enemy, who was ignorant of the art, andimpatient of the delay, of a regular siege. But these slight obstacleswere instantly swept away by the inundation of the Huns. [19] Theydestroyed, with fire and sword, the populous cities of Sirmium andSingidunum, of Ratiaria and Marcianopolis, of Naissus and Sardica; whereevery circumstance of the discipline of the people, and the constructionof the buildings, had been gradually adapted to the sole purpose ofdefence. The whole breadth of Europe, as it extends above five hundredmiles from the Euxine to the Hadriatic, was at once invaded, andoccupied, and desolated, by the myriads of Barbarians whom Attila ledinto the field. The public danger and distress could not, however, provoke Theodosius to interrupt his amusements and devotion, or toappear in person at the head of the Roman legions. But the troops, whichhad been sent against Genseric, were hastily recalled from Sicily; thegarrisons, on the side of Persia, were exhausted; and a military forcewas collected in Europe, formidable by their arms and numbers, if thegenerals had understood the science of command, and the soldiers theduty of obedience. The armies of the Eastern empire were vanquished inthree successive engagements; and the progress of Attila may be tracedby the fields of battle. 

The two former, on the banks of the Utus, and under the walls ofMarcianopolis, were fought in the extensive plains between the Danubeand Mount Haemus. As the Romans were pressed by a victorious enemy, theygradually, and unskilfully, retired towards the Chersonesus of Thrace;and that narrow peninsula, the last extremity of the land, was marked bytheir third, and irreparable, defeat. By the destruction of this army, Attila acquired the indisputable possession of the field. From theHellespont to Thermopylae, and the suburbs of Constantinople, heravaged, without resistance, and without mercy, the provinces of Thraceand Macedonia. Heraclea and Hadrianople might, perhaps, escape thisdreadful irruption of the Huns; but the words, the most expressive oftotal extirpation and erasure, are applied to the calamities which theyinflicted on seventy cities of the Eastern empire. [20] Theodosius, his court, and the unwarlike people, were protected by the walls ofConstantinople; but those walls had been shaken by a recent earthquake, and the fall of fifty-eight towers had opened a large and tremendousbreach. The damage indeed was speedily repaired; but this accident wasaggravated by a superstitious fear, that Heaven itself had deliveredthe Imperial city to the shepherds of Scythia, who were strangers to thelaws, the language, and the religion, of the Romans. [21]

[Footnote 18: Priscus, p. 331. His history contained a copious andelegant account of the war, (Evagrius, l. I. C. 17;) but the extractswhich relate to the embassies are the only parts that have reached ourtimes. The original work was accessible, however, to the writers fromwhom we borrow our imperfect knowledge, Jornandes, Theophanes, CountMarcellinus, Prosper-Tyro, and the author of the Alexandrian, orPaschal, Chronicle. M. De Buat (Hist. Des Peuples de l'Europe, tom. Vii. C. Xv. ) has examined the cause, the circumstances, and the duration ofthis war; and will not allow it to extend beyond the year 44. ]

[Footnote 19: Procopius, de Edificiis, l. 4, c. 5. These fortresseswere afterwards restored, strengthened, and enlarged by the emperorJustinian, but they were soon destroyed by the Abares, who succeeded tothe power and possessions of the Huns. ]

[Footnote 20: Septuaginta civitates (says Prosper-Tyro) depredationevastatoe. The language of Count Marcellinus is still more forcible. Pene totam Europam, invasis excisisque civitatibus atque castellis, conrasit. ]

[Footnote 21: Tillemont (Hist des Empereurs, tom. Vi. P. 106, 107) haspaid great attention to this memorable earthquake; which was felt as farfrom Constantinople as Antioch and Alexandria, and is celebrated byall the ecclesiastical writers. In the hands of a popular preacher, anearthquake is an engine of admirable effect. ]

In all their invasions of the civilized empires of the South, theScythian shepherds have been uniformly actuated by a savage anddestructive spirit. The laws of war, that restrain the exercise ofnational rapine and murder, are founded on two principles of substantialinterest: the knowledge of the permanent benefits which may be obtainedby a moderate use of conquest; and a just apprehension, lest thedesolation which we inflict on the enemy's country may be retaliated onour own. But these considerations of hope and fear are almost unknownin the pastoral state of nations. The Huns of Attila may, withoutinjustice, be compared to the Moguls and Tartars, before their primitivemanners were changed by religion and luxury; and the evidence ofOriental history may reflect some light on the short and imperfectannals of Rome. After the Moguls had subdued the northern provincesof China, it was seriously proposed, not in the hour of victoryand passion, but in calm deliberate council, to exterminate all theinhabitants of that populous country, that the vacant land might beconverted to the pasture of cattle. The firmness of a Chinese mandarin, [22] who insinuated some principles of rational policy into the mind ofZingis, diverted him from the execution of this horrid design. But inthe cities of Asia, which yielded to the Moguls, the inhuman abuse ofthe rights of war was exercised with a regular form of discipline, whichmay, with equal reason, though not with equal authority, be imputedto the victorious Huns. The inhabitants, who had submitted to theirdiscretion, were ordered to evacuate their houses, and to assemblein some plain adjacent to the city; where a division was made of thevanquished into three parts. The first class consisted of the soldiersof the garrison, and of the young men capable of bearing arms; and theirfate was instantly decided they were either enlisted among the Moguls, or they were massacred on the spot by the troops, who, with pointedspears and bended bows, had formed a circle round the captive multitude. The second class, composed of the young and beautiful women, of theartificers of every rank and profession, and of the more wealthy orhonorable citizens, from whom a private ransom might be expected, wasdistributed in equal or proportionable lots. The remainder, whose lifeor death was alike useless to the conquerors, were permitted to returnto the city; which, in the mean while, had been stripped of its valuablefurniture; and a tax was imposed on those wretched inhabitants for theindulgence of breathing their native air. Such was the behavior of theMoguls, when they were not conscious of any extraordinary rigor. [23]But the most casual provocation, the slightest motive of capriceor convenience, often provoked them to involve a whole people in anindiscriminate massacre; and the ruin of some flourishing cities wasexecuted with such unrelenting perseverance, that, according to theirown expression, horses might run, without stumbling, over the groundwhere they had once stood. The three great capitals of Khorasan, Maru, Neisabour, and Herat, were destroyed by the armies of Zingis; and theexact account which was taken of the slain amounted to four millionsthree hundred and forty-seven thousand persons. [24] Timur, orTamerlane, was educated in a less barbarous age, and in the professionof the Mahometan religion; yet, if Attila equalled the hostile ravagesof Tamerlane, [25] either the Tartar or the Hun might deserve theepithet of the Scourge of God. [26]

[Footnote 22: He represented to the emperor of the Moguls that the fourprovinces, (Petcheli, Chantong, Chansi, and Leaotong, )which he alreadypossessed, might annually produce, under a mild administration, 500, 000ounces of silver, 400, 000 measures of rice, and 800, 000 pieces of silk. Gaubil, Hist. De la Dynastie des Mongous, p. 58, 59. Yelut chousay (suchwas the name of the mandarin) was a wise and virtuous minister, whosaved his country, and civilized the conquerors. * Note: Compare thelife of this remarkable man, translated from the Chinese by M. AbelRemusat. Nouveaux Melanges Asiatiques, t. Ii. P. 64. --M]

[Footnote 23: Particular instances would be endless; but the curiousreader may consult the life of Gengiscan, by Petit de la Croix, theHistoire des Mongous, and the fifteenth book of the History of theHuns. ]

[Footnote 24: At Maru, 1, 300, 000; at Herat, 1, 600, 000; at Neisabour, 1, 747, 000. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 380, 381. I use theorthography of D'Anville's maps. It must, however, be allowed, thatthe Persians were disposed to exaggerate their losses and the Moguls tomagnify their exploits. ]

[Footnote 25: Cherefeddin Ali, his servile panegyrist, would afford usmany horrid examples. In his camp before Delhi, Timour massacred 100, 000Indian prisoners, who had smiled when the army of their countrymenappeared in sight, (Hist. De Timur Bec, tom. Iii. P. 90. ) The people ofIspahan supplied 70, 000 human skulls for the structure of several loftytowers, (id. Tom. I. P. 434. ) A similar tax was levied on the revolt ofBagdad, (tom. Iii. P. 370;) and the exact account, which Cherefeddinwas not able to procure from the proper officers, is stated by anotherhistorian (Ahmed Arabsiada, tom. Ii. P. 175, vera Manger) at 90, 000heads. ]

[Footnote 26: The ancients, Jornandes, Priscus, &c. , are ignorant ofthis epithet. The modern Hungarians have imagined, that it was applied, by a hermit of Gaul, to Attila, who was pleased to insert it among thetitles of his royal dignity. Mascou, ix. 23, and Tillemont, Hist. DesEmpereurs, tom. Vi. P. 143. ]

Chapter XXXIV: Attila. --Part II. 

It may be affirmed, with bolder assurance, that the Huns depopulated theprovinces of the empire, by the number of Roman subjects whom theyled away into captivity. In the hands of a wise legislator, such anindustrious colony might have contributed to diffuse through the desertsof Scythia the rudiments of the useful and ornamental arts; but thesecaptives, who had been taken in war, were accidentally dispersed amongthe hordes that obeyed the empire of Attila. The estimate of theirrespective value was formed by the simple judgment of unenlightened andunprejudiced Barbarians. Perhaps they might not understand the merit ofa theologian, profoundly skilled in the controversies of the Trinity andthe Incarnation; yet they respected the ministers of every religion andthe active zeal of the Christian missionaries, without approachingthe person or the palace of the monarch, successfully labored in thepropagation of the gospel. [27] The pastoral tribes, who were ignorantof the distinction of landed property, must have disregarded the use, aswell as the abuse, of civil jurisprudence; and the skill of an eloquentlawyer could excite only their contempt or their abhorrence. [28] Theperpetual intercourse of the Huns and the Goths had communicated thefamiliar knowledge of the two national dialects; and the Barbarians wereambitious of conversing in Latin, the military idiom even of the Easternempire. [29] But they disdained the language and the sciences of theGreeks; and the vain sophist, or grave philosopher, who had enjoyedthe flattering applause of the schools, was mortified to find that hisrobust servant was a captive of more value and importance than himself. The mechanic arts were encouraged and esteemed, as they tended tosatisfy the wants of the Huns. An architect in the service of Onegesius, one of the favorites of Attila, was employed to construct a bath; butthis work was a rare example of private luxury; and the trades of thesmith, the carpenter, the armorer, were much more adapted to supply awandering people with the useful instruments of peace and war. But themerit of the physician was received with universal favor and respect:the Barbarians, who despised death, might be apprehensive of disease;and the haughty conqueror trembled in the presence of a captive, to whomhe ascribed, perhaps, an imaginary power of prolonging or preservinghis life. [30] The Huns might be provoked to insult the misery of theirslaves, over whom they exercised a despotic command; [31] but theirmanners were not susceptible of a refined system of oppression; and theefforts of courage and diligence were often recompensed by the gift offreedom. The historian Priscus, whose embassy is a source of curiousinstruction, was accosted in the camp of Attila by a stranger, whosaluted him in the Greek language, but whose dress and figure displayedthe appearance of a wealthy Scythian. In the siege of Viminiacum, he hadlost, according to his own account, his fortune and liberty; he becamethe slave of Onegesius; but his faithful services, against the Romansand the Acatzires, had gradually raised him to the rank of the nativeHuns; to whom he was attached by the domestic pledges of a new wifeand several children. The spoils of war had restored and improved hisprivate property; he was admitted to the table of his former lord; andthe apostate Greek blessed the hour of his captivity, since it had beenthe introduction to a happy and independent state; which he held by thehonorable tenure of military service. This reflection naturally produceda dispute on the advantages and defects of the Roman government, whichwas severely arraigned by the apostate, and defended by Priscus in aprolix and feeble declamation. The freedman of Onegesius exposed, intrue and lively colors, the vices of a declining empire, of which hehad so long been the victim; the cruel absurdity of the Roman princes, unable to protect their subjects against the public enemy, unwilling totrust them with arms for their own defence; the intolerable weight oftaxes, rendered still more oppressive by the intricate or arbitrarymodes of collection; the obscurity of numerous and contradictory laws;the tedious and expensive forms of judicial proceedings; the partialadministration of justice; and the universal corruption, which increasedthe influence of the rich, and aggravated the misfortunes of the poor. A sentiment of patriotic sympathy was at length revived in the breast ofthe fortunate exile; and he lamented, with a flood of tears, the guiltor weakness of those magistrates who had perverted the wisest and mostsalutary institutions. [32]

[Footnote 27: The missionaries of St. Chrysostom had converted greatnumbers of the Scythians, who dwelt beyond the Danube in tents andwagons. Theodoret, l. V. C. 31. Photius, p. 1517. The Mahometans, theNestorians, and the Latin Christians, thought themselves secureof gaining the sons and grandsons of Zingis, who treated the rivalmissionaries with impartial favor. ]

[Footnote 28: The Germans, who exterminated Varus and his legions, hadbeen particularly offended with the Roman laws and lawyers. One of theBarbarians, after the effectual precautions of cutting out the tongue ofan advocate, and sewing up his mouth, observed, with much satisfaction, that the viper could no longer hiss. Florus, iv. 12. ]

[Footnote 29: Priscus, p. 59. It should seem that the Huns preferred theGothic and Latin languages to their own; which was probably a harsh andbarren idiom. ]

[Footnote 30: Philip de Comines, in his admirable picture of the lastmoments of Lewis XI. , (Memoires, l. Vi. C. 12, ) represents the insolenceof his physician, who, in five months, extorted 54, 000 crowns, and arich bishopric, from the stern, avaricious tyrant. ]

[Footnote 31: Priscus (p. 61) extols the equity of the Roman laws, whichprotected the life of a slave. Occidere solent (says Tacitus of theGermans) non disciplina et severitate, sed impetu et ira, ut inimicum, nisi quod impune. De Moribus Germ. C. 25. The Heruli, who were thesubjects of Attila, claimed, and exercised, the power of life and deathover their slaves. See a remarkable instance in the second book ofAgathias]

[Footnote 32: See the whole conversation in Priscus, p. 59-62. ]

The timid or selfish policy of the Western Romans had abandoned theEastern empire to the Huns. [33] The loss of armies, and the want ofdiscipline or virtue, were not supplied by the personal character of themonarch. Theodosius might still affect the style, as well as the title, of Invincible Augustus; but he was reduced to solicit the clemency ofAttila, who imperiously dictated these harsh and humiliating conditionsof peace. I. The emperor of the East resigned, by an express or tacitconvention, an extensive and important territory, which stretched alongthe southern banks of the Danube, from Singidunum, or Belgrade, as faras Novae, in the diocese of Thrace. The breadth was defined by the vaguecomputation of fifteen [3311] days' journey; but, from the proposal ofAttila to remove the situation of the national market, it soon appeared, that he comprehended the ruined city of Naissus within the limits ofhis dominions. II. The king of the Huns required and obtained, that histribute or subsidy should be augmented from seven hundred pounds of goldto the annual sum of two thousand one hundred; and he stipulatedthe immediate payment of six thousand pounds of gold, to defray theexpenses, or to expiate the guilt, of the war. One might imagine, thatsuch a demand, which scarcely equalled the measure of private wealth, would have been readily discharged by the opulent empire of the East;and the public distress affords a remarkable proof of the impoverished, or at least of the disorderly, state of the finances. A large proportionof the taxes extorted from the people was detained and interceptedin their passage, though the foulest channels, to the treasury ofConstantinople. The revenue was dissipated by Theodosius and hisfavorites in wasteful and profuse luxury; which was disguised by thenames of Imperial magnificence, or Christian charity. The immediatesupplies had been exhausted by the unforeseen necessity of militarypreparations. A personal contribution, rigorously, but capriciously, imposed on the members of the senatorian order, was the only expedientthat could disarm, without loss of time, the impatient avarice ofAttila; and the poverty of the nobles compelled them to adopt thescandalous resource of exposing to public auction the jewels of theirwives, and the hereditary ornaments of their palaces. [34] III. Theking of the Huns appears to have established, as a principle of nationaljurisprudence, that he could never lose the property, which he hadonce acquired, in the persons who had yielded either a voluntary, or reluctant, submission to his authority. From this principle heconcluded, and the conclusions of Attila were irrevocable laws, thatthe Huns, who had been taken prisoner in war, should be released withoutdelay, and without ransom; that every Roman captive, who had presumedto escape, should purchase his right to freedom at the price of twelvepieces of gold; and that all the Barbarians, who had deserted thestandard of Attila, should be restored, without any promise orstipulation of pardon. 

In the execution of this cruel and ignominious treaty, the Imperialofficers were forced to massacre several loyal and noble deserters, whorefused to devote themselves to certain death; and the Romans forfeitedall reasonable claims to the friendship of any Scythian people, by thispublic confession, that they were destitute either of faith, or power, to protect the suppliant, who had embraced the throne of Theodosius. [35]

[Footnote 33: Nova iterum Orienti assurgit ruina. .. Quum nulla abCocidentalibus ferrentur auxilia. Prosper Tyro composed his Chronicle inthe West; and his observation implies a censure. ]

[Footnote 3311: Five in the last edition of Priscus. Niebuhr, Byz. Hist. P 147--M]

[Footnote 34: According to the description, or rather invective, of Chrysostom, an auction of Byzantine luxury must have been veryproductive. Every wealthy house possessed a semicircular table of massysilver such as two men could scarcely lift, a vase of solid gold of theweight of forty pounds, cups, dishes, of the same metal, &c. ]

[Footnote 35: The articles of the treaty, expressed without much orderor precision, may be found in Priscus, (p. 34, 35, 36, 37, 53, &c. )Count Marcellinus dispenses some comfort, by observing, 1. That Attilahimself solicited the peace and presents, which he had formerly refused;and, 2dly, That, about the same time, the ambassadors of India presenteda fine large tame tiger to the emperor Theodosius. ]

The firmness of a single town, so obscure, that, except on thisoccasion, it has never been mentioned by any historian or geographer, exposed the disgrace of the emperor and empire. Azimus, or Azimuntium, a small city of Thrace on the Illyrian borders, [36] had beendistinguished by the martial spirit of its youth, the skill andreputation of the leaders whom they had chosen, and their daringexploits against the innumerable host of the Barbarians. Instead oftamely expecting their approach, the Azimuntines attacked, in frequentand successful sallies, the troops of the Huns, who gradually declinedthe dangerous neighborhood, rescued from their hands the spoil andthe captives, and recruited their domestic force by the voluntaryassociation of fugitives and deserters. After the conclusion of thetreaty, Attila still menaced the empire with implacable war, unless theAzimuntines were persuaded, or compelled, to comply with the conditionswhich their sovereign had accepted. The ministers of Theodosiusconfessed with shame, and with truth, that they no longer possessed anyauthority over a society of men, who so bravely asserted their naturalindependence; and the king of the Huns condescended to negotiatean equal exchange with the citizens of Azimus. They demanded therestitution of some shepherds, who, with their cattle, had beenaccidentally surprised. A strict, though fruitless, inquiry was allowed:but the Huns were obliged to swear, that they did not detain anyprisoners belonging to the city, before they could recover two survivingcountrymen, whom the Azimuntines had reserved as pledges for the safetyof their lost companions. Attila, on his side, was satisfied, anddeceived, by their solemn asseveration, that the rest of the captiveshad been put to the sword; and that it was their constant practice, immediately to dismiss the Romans and the deserters, who hadobtained the security of the public faith. This prudent and officiousdissimulation may be condemned, or excused, by the casuists, as theyincline to the rigid decree of St. Augustin, or to the milder sentimentof St. Jerom and St. Chrysostom: but every soldier, every statesman, must acknowledge, that, if the race of the Azimuntines had beenencouraged and multiplied, the Barbarians would have ceased to trampleon the majesty of the empire. [37]

[Footnote 36: Priscus, p. 35, 36. Among the hundred and eighty-twoforts, or castles, of Thrace, enumerated by Procopius, (de Edificiis, l. Iv. C. Xi. Tom. Ii. P. 92, edit. Paris, ) there is one of the name ofEsimontou, whose position is doubtfully marked, in the neighborhood ofAnchialus and the Euxine Sea. The name and walls of Azimuntium mightsubsist till the reign of Justinian; but the race of its brave defendershad been carefully extirpated by the jealousy of the Roman princes]

[Footnote 37: The peevish dispute of St. Jerom and St. Augustin, wholabored, by different expedients, to reconcile the seeming quarrel ofthe two apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, depends on the solution ofan important question, (Middleton's Works, vol. Ii. P. 5-20, ) which hasbeen frequently agitated by Catholic and Protestant divines, and even bylawyers and philosophers of every age. ]

It would have been strange, indeed, if Theodosius had purchased, by theloss of honor, a secure and solid tranquillity, or if his tameness hadnot invited the repetition of injuries. The Byzantine court was insultedby five or six successive embassies; [38] and the ministers of Attilawere uniformly instructed to press the tardy or imperfect execution ofthe last treaty; to produce the names of fugitives and deserters, who were still protected by the empire; and to declare, with seemingmoderation, that, unless their sovereign obtained complete and immediatesatisfaction, it would be impossible for him, were it even his wish, tocheck the resentment of his warlike tribes. Besides the motives of prideand interest, which might prompt the king of the Huns to continue thistrain of negotiation, he was influenced by the less honorable view ofenriching his favorites at the expense of his enemies. The Imperialtreasury was exhausted, to procure the friendly offices of theambassadors and their principal attendants, whose favorable report mightconduce to the maintenance of peace. The Barbarian monarch was flatteredby the liberal reception of his ministers; he computed, with pleasure, the value and splendor of their gifts, rigorously exacted theperformance of every promise which would contribute to their privateemolument, and treated as an important business of state the marriageof his secretary Constantius. [39] That Gallic adventurer, who wasrecommended by Aetius to the king of the Huns, had engaged his serviceto the ministers of Constantinople, for the stipulated reward of awealthy and noble wife; and the daughter of Count Saturninus was chosento discharge the obligations of her country. The reluctance of thevictim, some domestic troubles, and the unjust confiscation of herfortune, cooled the ardor of her interested lover; but he stilldemanded, in the name of Attila, an equivalent alliance; and, aftermany ambiguous delays and excuses, the Byzantine court was compelled tosacrifice to this insolent stranger the widow of Armatius, whose birth, opulence, and beauty, placed her in the most illustrious rank of theRoman matrons. For these importunate and oppressive embassies, Attilaclaimed a suitable return: he weighed, with suspicious pride, thecharacter and station of the Imperial envoys; but he condescended topromise that he would advance as far as Sardica to receive any ministerswho had been invested with the consular dignity. The council ofTheodosius eluded this proposal, by representing the desolate and ruinedcondition of Sardica, and even ventured to insinuate that every officerof the army or household was qualified to treat with the most powerfulprinces of Scythia. Maximin, [40] a respectable courtier, whoseabilities had been long exercised in civil and military employments, accepted, with reluctance, the troublesome, and perhaps dangerous, commission of reconciling the angry spirit of the king of the Huns. His friend, the historian Priscus, [41] embraced the opportunity ofobserving the Barbarian hero in the peaceful and domestic scenes oflife: but the secret of the embassy, a fatal and guilty secret, wasintrusted only to the interpreter Vigilius. The two last ambassadorsof the Huns, Orestes, a noble subject of the Pannonian province, andEdecon, a valiant chieftain of the tribe of the Scyrri, returned at thesame time from Constantinople to the royal camp. Their obscure nameswere afterwards illustrated by the extraordinary fortune and thecontrast of their sons: the two servants of Attila became the fathers ofthe last Roman emperor of the West, and of the first Barbarian king ofItaly. 

[Footnote 38: Montesquieu (Considerations sur la Grandeur, &c. C. Xix. )has delineated, with a bold and easy pencil, some of the most strikingcircumstances of the pride of Attila, and the disgrace of the Romans. Hedeserves the praise of having read the Fragments of Priscus, which havebeen too much disregarded. ]

[Footnote 39: See Priscus, p. 69, 71, 72, &c. I would fain believe, thatthis adventurer was afterwards crucified by the order of Attila, on asuspicion of treasonable practices; but Priscus (p. 57) has too plainlydistinguished two persons of the name of Constantius, who, from thesimilar events of their lives, might have been easily confounded. ]

[Footnote 40: In the Persian treaty, concluded in the year 422, the wiseand eloquent Maximin had been the assessor of Ardaburius, (Socrates, l. Vii. C. 20. ) When Marcian ascended the throne, the office of GreatChamberlain was bestowed on Maximin, who is ranked, in the public edict, among the four principal ministers of state, (Novell. Ad Calc. Cod. Theod. P. 31. ) He executed a civil and military commission in theEastern provinces; and his death was lamented by the savages ofAethiopia, whose incursions he had repressed. See Priscus, p. 40, 41. ]

[Footnote 41: Priscus was a native of Panium in Thrace, and deserved, by his eloquence, an honorable place among the sophists of the age. His Byzantine history, which related to his own times, was comprisedin seven books. See Fabricius, Bibliot. Graec. Tom. Vi. P. 235, 236. Notwithstanding the charitable judgment of the critics, I suspect thatPriscus was a Pagan. * Note: Niebuhr concurs in this opinion. Life ofPriscus in the new edition of the Byzantine historians. --M]

The ambassadors, who were followed by a numerous train of men andhorses, made their first halt at Sardica, at the distance of threehundred and fifty miles, or thirteen days' journey, from Constantinople. As the remains of Sardica were still included within the limits ofthe empire, it was incumbent on the Romans to exercise the duties ofhospitality. They provided, with the assistance of the provincials, asufficient number of sheep and oxen, and invited the Huns to a splendid, or at least, a plentiful supper. But the harmony of the entertainmentwas soon disturbed by mutual prejudice and indiscretion. The greatnessof the emperor and the empire was warmly maintained by their ministers;the Huns, with equal ardor, asserted the superiority of their victoriousmonarch: the dispute was inflamed by the rash and unseasonable flatteryof Vigilius, who passionately rejected the comparison of a mere mortalwith the divine Theodosius; and it was with extreme difficulty thatMaximin and Priscus were able to divert the conversation, or to soothethe angry minds, of the Barbarians. When they rose from table, theImperial ambassador presented Edecon and Orestes with rich gifts of silkrobes and Indian pearls, which they thankfully accepted. Yet Orestescould not forbear insinuating that he had not always been treated withsuch respect and liberality: and the offensive distinction whichwas implied, between his civil office and the hereditary rank of hiscolleague seems to have made Edecon a doubtful friend, and Orestes anirreconcilable enemy. After this entertainment, they travelled about onehundred miles from Sardica to Naissus. That flourishing city, which hasgiven birth to the great Constantine, was levelled with the ground: theinhabitants were destroyed or dispersed; and the appearance of somesick persons, who were still permitted to exist among the ruins ofthe churches, served only to increase the horror of the prospect. Thesurface of the country was covered with the bones of the slain; and theambassadors, who directed their course to the north-west, were obligedto pass the hills of modern Servia, before they descended into the flatand marshy grounds which are terminated by the Danube. The Huns weremasters of the great river: their navigation was performed in largecanoes, hollowed out of the trunk of a single tree; the ministers ofTheodosius were safely landed on the opposite bank; and their Barbarianassociates immediately hastened to the camp of Attila, which was equallyprepared for the amusements of hunting or of war. No sooner had Maximinadvanced about two miles [4111] from the Danube, than he began toexperience the fastidious insolence of the conqueror. He was sternlyforbid to pitch his tents in a pleasant valley, lest he should infringethe distant awe that was due to the royal mansion. [4112] Theministers of Attila pressed them to communicate the business, and theinstructions, which he reserved for the ear of their sovereign WhenMaximin temperately urged the contrary practice of nations, he was stillmore confounded to find that the resolutions of the Sacred Consistory, those secrets (says Priscus) which should not be revealed to the godsthemselves, had been treacherously disclosed to the public enemy. On hisrefusal to comply with such ignominious terms, the Imperial envoy wascommanded instantly to depart; the order was recalled; it was againrepeated; and the Huns renewed their ineffectual attempts to subdue thepatient firmness of Maximin. At length, by the intercession of Scotta, the brother of Onegesius, whose friendship had been purchased by aliberal gift, he was admitted to the royal presence; but, in stead ofobtaining a decisive answer, he was compelled to undertake aremote journey towards the north, that Attila might enjoy the proudsatisfaction of receiving, in the same camp, the ambassadors of theEastern and Western empires. His journey was regulated by the guides, who obliged him to halt, to hasten his march, or to deviate from thecommon road, as it best suited the convenience of the king. The Romans, who traversed the plains of Hungary, suppose that they passed severalnavigable rivers, either in canoes or portable boats; but there isreason to suspect that the winding stream of the Teyss, or Tibiscus, might present itself in different places under different names. Fromthe contiguous villages they received a plentiful and regular supply ofprovisions; mead instead of wine, millet in the place of bread, and acertain liquor named camus, which according to the report of Priscus, was distilled from barley. [42] Such fare might appear coarse andindelicate to men who had tasted the luxury of Constantinople; but, in their accidental distress, they were relieved by the gentleness andhospitality of the same Barbarians, so terrible and so merciless in war. The ambassadors had encamped on the edge of a large morass. A violenttempest of wind and rain, of thunder and lightning, overturned theirtents, immersed their baggage and furniture in the water, and scatteredtheir retinue, who wandered in the darkness of the night, uncertain oftheir road, and apprehensive of some unknown danger, till they awakenedby their cries the inhabitants of a neighboring village, the propertyof the widow of Bleda. A bright illumination, and, in a few moments, acomfortable fire of reeds, was kindled by their officious benevolence;the wants, and even the desires, of the Romans were liberally satisfied;and they seem to have been embarrassed by the singular politeness ofBleda's widow, who added to her other favors the gift, or at least theloan, of a sufficient number of beautiful and obsequious damsels. Thesunshine of the succeeding day was dedicated to repose, to collect anddry the baggage, and to the refreshment of the men and horses: but, in the evening, before they pursued their journey, the ambassadorsexpressed their gratitude to the bounteous lady of the village, by avery acceptable present of silver cups, red fleeces, dried fruits, andIndian pepper. Soon after this adventure, they rejoined the march ofAttila, from whom they had been separated about six days, and slowlyproceeded to the capital of an empire, which did not contain, in thespace of several thousand miles, a single city. 

[Footnote 4111: 70 stadia. Priscus, 173. --M. ]

[Footnote 4112: He was forbidden to pitch his tents on an eminencebecause Attila's were below on the plain. Ibid. --M. ]

[Footnote 42: The Huns themselves still continued to despise the laborsof agriculture: they abused the privilege of a victorious nation; andthe Goths, their industrious subjects, who cultivated the earth, dreadedtheir neighborhood, like that of so many ravenous wolves, (Priscus, p. 45. ) In the same manner the Sarts and Tadgics provide for their ownsubsistence, and for that of the Usbec Tartars, their lazy and rapacioussovereigns. See Genealogical History of the Tartars, p. 423 455, &c. ]

As far as we may ascertain the vague and obscure geography of Priscus, this capital appears to have been seated between the Danube, the Teyss, and the Carpathian hills, in the plains of Upper Hungary, and mostprobably in the neighborhood of Jezberin, Agria, or Tokay. [43] In itsorigin it could be no more than an accidental camp, which, by the longand frequent residence of Attila, had insensibly swelled into a hugevillage, for the reception of his court, of the troops who followed hisperson, and of the various multitude of idle or industrious slavesand retainers. [44] The baths, constructed by Onegesius, were the onlyedifice of stone; the materials had been transported from Pannonia; andsince the adjacent country was destitute even of large timber, it may bepresumed, that the meaner habitations of the royal village consisted ofstraw, or mud, or of canvass. The wooden houses of the more illustriousHuns were built and adorned with rude magnificence, according to therank, the fortune, or the taste of the proprietors. They seem to havebeen distributed with some degree of order and symmetry; and each spotbecame more honorable as it approached the person of the sovereign. Thepalace of Attila, which surpassed all other houses in his dominions, was built entirely of wood, and covered an ample space of ground. The outward enclosure was a lofty wall, or palisade, of smooth squaretimber, intersected with high towers, but intended rather for ornamentthan defence. This wall, which seems to have encircled the declivity ofa hill, comprehended a great variety of wooden edifices, adapted to theuses of royalty. 

A separate house was assigned to each of the numerous wives of Attila;and, instead of the rigid and illiberal confinement imposed by Asiaticjealousy they politely admitted the Roman ambassadors to their presence, their table, and even to the freedom of an innocent embrace. WhenMaximin offered his presents to Cerca, [4411] the principal queen, headmired the singular architecture on her mansion, the height of theround columns, the size and beauty of the wood, which was curiouslyshaped or turned or polished or carved; and his attentive eye was ableto discover some taste in the ornaments and some regularity in theproportions. After passing through the guards, who watched before thegate, the ambassadors were introduced into the private apartment ofCerca. The wife of Attila received their visit sitting, or rather lying, on a soft couch; the floor was covered with a carpet; the domesticsformed a circle round the queen; and her damsels, seated on the ground, were employed in working the variegated embroidery which adorned thedress of the Barbaric warriors. The Huns were ambitious of displayingthose riches which were the fruit and evidence of their victories: thetrappings of their horses, their swords, and even their shoes, werestudded with gold and precious stones; and their tables were profuselyspread with plates, and goblets, and vases of gold and silver, which hadbeen fashioned by the labor of Grecian artists. 

The monarch alone assumed the superior pride of still adhering to thesimplicity of his Scythian ancestors. [45] The dress of Attila, hisarms, and the furniture of his horse, were plain, without ornament, and of a single color. The royal table was served in wooden cups andplatters; flesh was his only food; and the conqueror of the North nevertasted the luxury of bread. 

[Footnote 43: It is evident that Priscus passed the Danube and theTeyss, and that he did not reach the foot of the Carpathian hills. Agria, Tokay, and Jazberin, are situated in the plains circumscribedby this definition. M. De Buat (Histoire des Peuples, &c. , tom. Vii. P. 461) has chosen Tokay; Otrokosci, (p. 180, apud Mascou, ix. 23, )a learned Hungarian, has preferred Jazberin, a place about thirty-sixmiles westward of Buda and the Danube. * Note: M. St. Martin considersthe narrative of Priscus, the only authority of M. De Buat and ofGibbon, too vague to fix the position of Attila's camp. "It is worthy ofremark, that in the Hungarian traditions collected by Thwrocz, l. 2, c. 17, precisely on the left branch of the Danube, where Attila's residencewas situated, in the same parallel stands the present city of Buda, inHungarian Buduvur. It is for this reason that this city has retainedfor a long time among the Germans of Hungary the name of Etzelnburgh orEtzela-burgh, i. E. , the city of Attila. The distance of Buda from theplace where Priscus crossed the Danube, on his way from Naissus, isequal to that which he traversed to reach the residence of the king ofthe Huns. I see no good reason for not acceding to the relations of theHungarian historians. " St. Martin, vi. 191. --M]

[Footnote 44: The royal village of Attila may be compared to the city ofKaracorum, the residence of the successors of Zingis; which, though itappears to have been a more stable habitation, did not equal the size orsplendor of the town and abbey of St. Denys, in the 13th century. (SeeRubruquis, in the Histoire Generale des Voyages, tom. Vii p. 286. ) Thecamp of Aurengzebe, as it is so agreeably described by Bernier, (tom. Ii. P. 217-235, ) blended the manners of Scythia with the magnificenceand luxury of Hindostan. ]

[Footnote 4411: The name of this queen occurs three times inPriscus, and always in a different form--Cerca, Creca, and Rheca. TheScandinavian poets have preserved her memory under the name of Herkia. St. Martin, vi. 192. --M. ]

[Footnote 45: When the Moguls displayed the spoils of Asia, in the dietof Toncat, the throne of Zingis was still covered with the originalblack felt carpet, on which he had been seated, when he was raised tothe command of his warlike countrymen. See Vie de Gengiscan, v. C. 9. ]

When Attila first gave audience to the Roman ambassadors on the banksof the Danube, his tent was encompassed with a formidable guard. Themonarch himself was seated in a wooden chair. His stern countenance, angry gestures, and impatient tone, astonished the firmness of Maximin;but Vigilius had more reason to tremble, since he distinctly understoodthe menace, that if Attila did not respect the law of nations, he wouldnail the deceitful interpreter to the cross. And leave his body to thevultures. The Barbarian condescended, by producing an accurate list, to expose the bold falsehood of Vigilius, who had affirmed that no morethan seventeen deserters could be found. But he arrogantly declared, that he apprehended only the disgrace of contending with his fugitiveslaves; since he despised their impotent efforts to defend the provinceswhich Theodosius had intrusted to their arms: "For what fortress, "(added Attila, ) "what city, in the wide extent of the Roman empire, canhope to exist, secure and impregnable, if it is our pleasure thatit should be erased from the earth?" He dismissed, however, theinterpreter, who returned to Constantinople with his peremptory demandof more complete restitution, and a more splendid embassy. 

His anger gradually subsided, and his domestic satisfaction in amarriage which he celebrated on the road with the daughter of Eslam, [4511] might perhaps contribute to mollify the native fierceness of histemper. The entrance of Attila into the royal village was marked by avery singular ceremony. A numerous troop of women came out to meet theirhero and their king. They marched before him, distributed into longand regular files; the intervals between the files were filled by whiteveils of thin linen, which the women on either side bore aloft in theirhands, and which formed a canopy for a chorus of young virgins, whochanted hymns and songs in the Scythian language. The wife of hisfavorite Onegesius, with a train of female attendants, saluted Attilaat the door of her own house, on his way to the palace; and offered, according to the custom of the country, her respectful homage, byentreating him to taste the wine and meat which she had prepared for hisreception. As soon as the monarch had graciously accepted her hospitablegift, his domestics lifted a small silver table to a convenient height, as he sat on horseback; and Attila, when he had touched the goblet withhis lips, again saluted the wife of Onegesius, and continued his march. During his residence at the seat of empire, his hours were not wastedin the recluse idleness of a seraglio; and the king of the Huns couldmaintain his superior dignity, without concealing his person from thepublic view. He frequently assembled his council, and gave audienceto the ambassadors of the nations; and his people might appeal to thesupreme tribunal, which he held at stated times, and, according to theEastern custom, before the principal gate of his wooden palace. TheRomans, both of the East and of the West, were twice invited to thebanquets, where Attila feasted with the princes and nobles of Scythia. Maximin and his colleagues were stopped on the threshold, till they hadmade a devout libation to the health and prosperity of the king of theHuns; and were conducted, after this ceremony, to their respective seatsin a spacious hall. The royal table and couch, covered with carpets andfine linen, was raised by several steps in the midst of the hall; anda son, an uncle, or perhaps a favorite king, were admitted to share thesimple and homely repast of Attila. Two lines of small tables, each ofwhich contained three or four guests, were ranged in order on eitherhand; the right was esteemed the most honorable, but the Romansingenuously confess, that they were placed on the left; and that Beric, an unknown chieftain, most probably of the Gothic race, preceded therepresentatives of Theodosius and Valentinian. The Barbarian monarchreceived from his cup-bearer a goblet filled with wine, and courteouslydrank to the health of the most distinguished guest; who rose from hisseat, and expressed, in the same manner, his loyal and respectful vows. This ceremony was successively performed for all, or at least for theillustrious persons of the assembly; and a considerable time must havebeen consumed, since it was thrice repeated as each course or servicewas placed on the table. But the wine still remained after the meat hadbeen removed; and the Huns continued to indulge their intemperance longafter the sober and decent ambassadors of the two empires had withdrawnthemselves from the nocturnal banquet. Yet before they retired, theyenjoyed a singular opportunity of observing the manners of the nationin their convivial amusements. Two Scythians stood before the couch ofAttila, and recited the verses which they had composed, to celebratehis valor and his victories. [4512] A profound silence prevailed inthe hall; and the attention of the guests was captivated by the vocalharmony, which revived and perpetuated the memory of their own exploits;a martial ardor flashed from the eyes of the warriors, who wereimpatient for battle; and the tears of the old men expressed theirgenerous despair, that they could no longer partake the danger and gloryof the field. [46] This entertainment, which might be considered as aschool of military virtue, was succeeded by a farce, that debasedthe dignity of human nature. A Moorish and a Scythian buffcon [4611]successively excited the mirth of the rude spectators, by their deformedfigure, ridiculous dress, antic gestures, absurd speeches, and thestrange, unintelligible confusion of the Latin, the Gothic, and theHunnic languages; and the hall resounded with loud and licentiouspeals of laughter. In the midst of this intemperate riot, Attila alone, without a change of countenance, maintained his steadfast and inflexiblegravity; which was never relaxed, except on the entrance of Irnac, the youngest of his sons: he embraced the boy with a smile of paternaltenderness, gently pinched him by the cheek, and betrayed a partialaffection, which was justified by the assurance of his prophets, thatIrnac would be the future support of his family and empire. Two daysafterwards, the ambassadors received a second invitation; and they hadreason to praise the politeness, as well as the hospitality, of Attila. The king of the Huns held a long and familiar conversation with Maximin;but his civility was interrupted by rude expressions and haughtyreproaches; and he was provoked, by a motive of interest, to support, with unbecoming zeal, the private claims of his secretary Constantius. 

"The emperor" (said Attila) "has long promised him a rich wife:Constantius must not be disappointed; nor should a Roman emperor deservethe name of liar. " On the third day, the ambassadors were dismissed; thefreedom of several captives was granted, for a moderate ransom, totheir pressing entreaties; and, besides the royal presents, they werepermitted to accept from each of the Scythian nobles the honorableand useful gift of a horse. Maximin returned, by the same road, toConstantinople; and though he was involved in an accidental dispute withBeric, the new ambassador of Attila, he flattered himself that he hadcontributed, by the laborious journey, to confirm the peace and allianceof the two nations. [47]

[Footnote 4511: Was this his own daughter, or the daughter of a personnamed Escam? (Gibbon has written incorrectly Eslam, an unknown name. The officer of Attila, called Eslas. ) In either case the constructionis imperfect: a good Greek writer would have introduced an article todetermine the sense. Nor is it quite clear, whether Scythian usage isadduced to excuse the polygamy, or a marriage, which would be consideredincestuous in other countries. The Latin version has carefully preservedthe ambiguity, filiam Escam uxorem. I am not inclined to construe it'his own daughter' though I have too little confidence in the uniformityof the grammatical idioms of the Byzantines (though Priscus is one ofthe best) to express myself without hesitation. -M. ]

[Footnote 4512: This passage is remarkable from the connection of thename of Attila with that extraordinary cycle of poetry, which is foundin different forms in almost all the Teutonic languages. ]

A Latin poem, de prima expeditione Attilae, Regis Hunnorum, in Gallias, was published in the year 1780, by Fischer at Leipsic. It contains, with the continuation, 1452 lines. It abounds in metrical faults, but isoccasionally not without some rude spirit and some copiousness of fancyin the variation of the circumstances in the different combats of thehero Walther, prince of Aquitania. It contains little which can besupposed historical, and still less which is characteristic concerningAttila. It relates to a first expedition of Attila into Europe whichcannot be traced in history, during which the kings of the Franks, ofthe Burgundians, and of Aquitaine, submit themselves, and give hostagesto Attila: the king of the Franks, a personage who seems the samewith the Hagen of Teutonic romance; the king of Burgundy, his daughterHeldgund; the king of Aquitaine, his son Walther. The main subject ofthe poem is the escape of Walther and Heldgund from the camp of Attila, and the combat between Walther and Gunthar, king of the Franks. With histwelve peers, among whom is Hagen. Walther had been betrayed while hepassed through Worms, the city of the Frankish king. By paying for hisferry over the Rhine with some strange fish, which he had caught duringhis flight, and which were unknown in the waters of the Rhine. Guntharwas desirous of plundering him of the treasure, which Walther hadcarried off from the camp of Attila. The author of this poem is unknown, nor can I, on the vague and rather doubtful allusion to Thule, asIceland, venture to assign its date. It was, evidently, recited in amonastery, as appears by the first line; and no doubt composed there. The faults of metre would point out a late date; and it may have beenformed upon some local tradition, as Walther, the hero, seems to haveturned monk. 

This poem, however, in its character and its incidents, bears norelation to the Teutonic cycle, of which the Nibelungen Lied is the mostcomplete form. In this, in the Heldenbuch, in some of the Danish Sagas. In countess lays and ballads in all the dialects of Scandinavia, appearsKing Etzel (Attila) in strife with the Burgundians and the Franks. Withthese appears, by a poetic anachronism, Dietrich of Berne. (Theodoric ofVerona, ) the celebrated Ostrogothic king; and many other very singularcoincidences of historic names, which appear in the poems. (See LachmanKritik der Sage in his volume of various readings to the Nibelungen;Berlin, 1836, p. 336. )

Chapter XXXIV: Attila. --Part III. 

I must acknowledge myself unable to form any satisfactory theory asto the connection of these poems with the history of the time, or theperiod, from which they may date their origin; notwithstanding thelaborious investigations and critical sagacity of the Schlegels, theGrimms, of P. E. Muller and Lachman, and a whole host of German criticsand antiquaries; not to omit our own countryman, Mr. Herbert, whosetheory concerning Attila is certainly neither deficient in boldness nororiginality. I conceive the only way to obtain any thing like a clearconception on this point would be what Lachman has begun, (see above, )patiently to collect and compare the various forms which the traditionshave assumed, without any preconceived, either mythical or poetical, theory, and, if possible, to discover the original basis of the wholerich and fantastic legend. One point, which to me is strongly in favorof the antiquity of this poetic cycle, is, that the manners are soclearly anterior to chivalry, and to the influence exercised on thepoetic literature of Europe by the chivalrous poems and romances. Ithink I find some traces of that influence in the Latin poem, thoughstrained through the imagination of a monk. The English reader will findan amusing account of the German Nibelungen and Heldenbuch, and ofsome of the Scandinavian Sagas, in the volume of Northern Antiquitiespublished by Weber, the friend of Sir Walter Scott. Scott himselfcontributed a considerable, no doubt far the most valuable, part to thework. [46] [4611] [47]

See also the various German editions of the Nibelungen, to whichLachman, with true German perseverance, has compiled a thick volume ofvarious readings; the Heldenbuch, the old Danish poems by Grimm, theEddas, &c. Herbert's Attila, p. 510, et seq. --M. ]

[Footnote 46: If we may believe Plutarch, (in Demetrio, tom. V. P. 24, )it was the custom of the Scythians, when they indulged in the pleasuresof the table, to awaken their languid courage by the martial harmony oftwanging their bow-strings. ]

[Footnote 4611: The Scythian was an idiot or lunatic; the Moor a regularbuffcon--M. ]

[Footnote 47: The curious narrative of this embassy, which required fewobservations, and was not susceptible of any collateral evidence, may befound in Priscus, p. 49-70. But I have not confined myself to the sameorder; and I had previously extracted the historical circumstances, which were less intimately connected with the journey, and business, ofthe Roman ambassadors. ]

But the Roman ambassador was ignorant of the treacherous design, whichhad been concealed under the mask of the public faith. The surpriseand satisfaction of Edecon, when he contemplated the splendor ofConstantinople, had encouraged the interpreter Vigilius to procure forhim a secret interview with the eunuch Chrysaphius, [48] who governedthe emperor and the empire. After some previous conversation, and amutual oath of secrecy, the eunuch, who had not, from his own feelingsor experience, imbibed any exalted notions of ministerial virtue, ventured to propose the death of Attila, as an important service, bywhich Edecon might deserve a liberal share of the wealth and luxurywhich he admired. The ambassador of the Huns listened to the temptingoffer; and professed, with apparent zeal, his ability, as well asreadiness, to execute the bloody deed; the design was communicated tothe master of the offices, and the devout Theodosius consented to theassassination of his invincible enemy. But this perfidious conspiracywas defeated by the dissimulation, or the repentance, of Edecon; andthough he might exaggerate his inward abhorrence for the treason, whichhe seemed to approve, he dexterously assumed the merit of an early andvoluntary confession. If we now review the embassy of Maximin, and thebehavior of Attila, we must applaud the Barbarian, who respected thelaws of hospitality, and generously entertained and dismissed theminister of a prince who had conspired against his life. But therashness of Vigilius will appear still more extraordinary, sincehe returned, conscious of his guilt and danger, to the royal camp, accompanied by his son, and carrying with him a weighty purse of gold, which the favorite eunuch had furnished, to satisfy the demands ofEdecon, and to corrupt the fidelity of the guards. The interpreter wasinstantly seized, and dragged before the tribunal of Attila, wherehe asserted his innocence with specious firmness, till the threatof inflicting instant death on his son extorted from him a sincerediscovery of the criminal transaction. Under the name of ransom, orconfiscation, the rapacious king of the Huns accepted two hundred poundsof gold for the life of a traitor, whom he disdained to punish. Hepointed his just indignation against a nobler object. His ambassadors, Eslaw and Orestes, were immediately despatched to Constantinople, with aperemptory instruction, which it was much safer for them to execute thanto disobey. They boldly entered the Imperial presence, with the fatalpurse hanging down from the neck of Orestes; who interrogated the eunuchChrysaphius, as he stood beside the throne, whether he recognized theevidence of his guilt. But the office of reproof was reserved for thesuperior dignity of his colleague Eslaw, who gravely addressed theemperor of the East in the following words: "Theodosius is the son of anillustrious and respectable parent: Attila likewise is descended from anoble race; and he has supported, by his actions, the dignity whichhe inherited from his father Mundzuk. But Theodosius has forfeited hispaternal honors, and, by consenting to pay tribute has degraded himselfto the condition of a slave. It is therefore just, that he shouldreverence the man whom fortune and merit have placed above him; insteadof attempting, like a wicked slave, clandestinely to conspire againsthis master. " The son of Arcadius, who was accustomed only to the voiceof flattery, heard with astonishment the severe language of truth: heblushed and trembled; nor did he presume directly to refuse the head ofChrysaphius, which Eslaw and Orestes were instructed to demand. A solemnembassy, armed with full powers and magnificent gifts, was hastily sentto deprecate the wrath of Attila; and his pride was gratified by thechoice of Nomius and Anatolius, two ministers of consular orpatrician rank, of whom the one was great treasurer, and the other wasmaster-general of the armies of the East. He condescended to meet theseambassadors on the banks of the River Drenco; and though he at firstaffected a stern and haughty demeanor, his anger was insensiblymollified by their eloquence and liberality. He condescended to pardonthe emperor, the eunuch, and the interpreter; bound himself by an oathto observe the conditions of peace; released a great number of captives;abandoned the fugitives and deserters to their fate; and resigneda large territory, to the south of the Danube, which he had alreadyexhausted of its wealth and inhabitants. But this treaty was purchasedat an expense which might have supported a vigorous and successful war;and the subjects of Theodosius were compelled to redeem the safety of aworthless favorite by oppressive taxes, which they would more cheerfullyhave paid for his destruction. [49]

[Footnote 48: M. De Tillemont has very properly given the succession ofchamberlains, who reigned in the name of Theodosius. Chrysaphius was thelast, and, according to the unanimous evidence of history, the worstof these favorites, (see Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. Vi. P. 117-119. Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xv. P. 438. ) His partiality for his godfather theheresiarch Eutyches, engaged him to persecute the orthodox party]

[Footnote 49: This secret conspiracy and its important consequences, maybe traced in the fragments of Priscus, p. 37, 38, 39, 54, 70, 71, 72. The chronology of that historian is not fixed by any precise date; butthe series of negotiations between Attila and the Eastern empire must beincluded within the three or four years which are terminated, A. D. 450. By the death of Theodosius. ]

The emperor Theodosius did not long survive the most humiliatingcircumstance of an inglorious life. As he was riding, or hunting, in theneighborhood of Constantinople, he was thrown from his horse into theRiver Lycus: the spine of the back was injured by the fall; and heexpired some days afterwards, in the fiftieth year of his age, and theforty-third of his reign. [50] His sister Pulcheria, whose authorityhad been controlled both in civil and ecclesiastical affairs by thepernicious influence of the eunuchs, was unanimously proclaimed Empressof the East; and the Romans, for the first time, submitted to a femalereign. No sooner had Pulcheria ascended the throne, than she indulgedher own and the public resentment, by an act of popular justice. Withoutany legal trial, the eunuch Chrysaphius was executed before the gatesof the city; and the immense riches which had been accumulated by therapacious favorite, served only to hasten and to justify his punishment. [51] Amidst the general acclamations of the clergy and people, theempress did not forget the prejudice and disadvantage to which her sexwas exposed; and she wisely resolved to prevent their murmurs by thechoice of a colleague, who would always respect the superior rank andvirgin chastity of his wife. She gave her hand to Marcian, a senator, about sixty years of age; and the nominal husband of Pulcheria wassolemnly invested with the Imperial purple. The zeal which he displayedfor the orthodox creed, as it was established by the council ofChalcedon, would alone have inspired the grateful eloquence of theCatholics. But the behavior of Marcian in a private life, and afterwardson the throne, may support a more rational belief, that he was qualifiedto restore and invigorate an empire, which had been almost dissolvedby the successive weakness of two hereditary monarchs. He was born inThrace, and educated to the profession of arms; but Marcian's youthhad been severely exercised by poverty and misfortune, since his onlyresource, when he first arrived at Constantinople, consisted in twohundred pieces of gold, which he had borrowed of a friend. He passednineteen years in the domestic and military service of Aspar, and hisson Ardaburius; followed those powerful generals to the Persian andAfrican wars; and obtained, by their influence, the honorable rank oftribune and senator. His mild disposition, and useful talents, withoutalarming the jealousy, recommended Marcian to the esteem and favor ofhis patrons; he had seen, perhaps he had felt, the abuses of a venal andoppressive administration; and his own example gave weight and energy tothe laws, which he promulgated for the reformation of manners. [52]

[Footnote 50: Theodorus the Reader, (see Vales. Hist. Eccles. Tom. Iii. P. 563, ) and the Paschal Chronicle, mention the fall, without specifyingthe injury: but the consequence was so likely to happen, and so unlikelyto be invented, that we may safely give credit to Nicephorus Callistus, a Greek of the fourteenth century. ]

[Footnote 51: Pulcheriae nutu (says Count Marcellinus) sua cum avaritiainteremptus est. She abandoned the eunuch to the pious revenge of ason, whose father had suffered at his instigation. Note: Might not theexecution of Chrysaphius have been a sacrifice to avert the anger ofAttila, whose assassination the eunuch had attempted to contrive?--M. ]

[Footnote 52: de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 4. Evagrius, l. Ii. C. 1. Theophanes, p. 90, 91. Novell. Ad Calcem. Cod. Theod. Tom. Vi. P. 30. The praises which St. Leo and the Catholics have bestowed on Marcian, are diligently transcribed by Baronius, as an encouragement for futureprinces. ]

Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila. --Part I. 

 Invasion Of Gaul By Attila. --He Is Repulsed By Aetius And The Visigoths. --Attila Invades And Evacuates Italy. --The Deaths Of Attila, Aetius, And Valentinian The Third. 

It was the opinion of Marcian, that war should be avoided, as long asit is possible to preserve a secure and honorable peace; but it waslikewise his opinion, that peace cannot be honorable or secure, ifthe sovereign betrays a pusillanimous aversion to war. This temperatecourage dictated his reply to the demands of Attila, who insolentlypressed the payment of the annual tribute. The emperor signified to theBarbarians, that they must no longer insult the majesty of Rome by themention of a tribute; that he was disposed to reward, with becomingliberality, the faithful friendship of his allies; but that, if theypresumed to violate the public peace, they should feel that he possessedtroops, and arms, and resolution, to repel their attacks. The samelanguage, even in the camp of the Huns, was used by his ambassadorApollonius, whose bold refusal to deliver the presents, till he had beenadmitted to a personal interview, displayed a sense of dignity, and acontempt of danger, which Attila was not prepared to expect from thedegenerate Romans. [1] He threatened to chastise the rash successorof Theodosius; but he hesitated whether he should first direct hisinvincible arms against the Eastern or the Western empire. While mankindawaited his decision with awful suspense, he sent an equal defiance tothe courts of Ravenna and Constantinople; and his ministers saluted thetwo emperors with the same haughty declaration. "Attila, my lord, and thy lord, commands thee to provide a palace for his immediatereception. " [2] But as the Barbarian despised, or affected to despise, the Romans of the East, whom he had so often vanquished, he soondeclared his resolution of suspending the easy conquest, till he hadachieved a more glorious and important enterprise. In the memorableinvasions of Gaul and Italy, the Huns were naturally attracted by thewealth and fertility of those provinces; but the particular motives andprovocations of Attila can only be explained by the state of the Westernempire under the reign of Valentinian, or, to speak more correctly, under the administration of Aetius. [3]

[Footnote 1: See Priscus, p. 39, 72. ]

[Footnote 2: The Alexandrian or Paschal Chronicle, which introduces thishaughty message, during the lifetime of Theodosius, may have anticipatedthe date; but the dull annalist was incapable of inventing the originaland genuine style of Attila. ]

[Footnote 3: The second book of the Histoire Critique de l'Etablissementde la Monarchie Francoise tom. I. P. 189-424, throws great light on thestate of Gaul, when it was invaded by Attila; but the ingenious author, the Abbe Dubos, too often bewilders himself in system and conjecture. ]

After the death of his rival Boniface, Aetius had prudently retired tothe tents of the Huns; and he was indebted to their alliance for hissafety and his restoration. Instead of the suppliant language of aguilty exile, he solicited his pardon at the head of sixty thousandBarbarians; and the empress Placidia confessed, by a feeble resistance, that the condescension, which might have been ascribed to clemency, was the effect of weakness or fear. She delivered herself, her sonValentinian, and the Western empire, into the hands of an insolentsubject; nor could Placidia protect the son-in-law of Boniface, thevirtuous and faithful Sebastian, [4] from the implacable persecutionwhich urged him from one kingdom to another, till he miserably perishedin the service of the Vandals. The fortunate Aetius, who was immediatelypromoted to the rank of patrician, and thrice invested with the honorsof the consulship, assumed, with the title of master of the cavalry andinfantry, the whole military power of the state; and he is sometimesstyled, by contemporary writers, the duke, or general, of the Romans ofthe West. His prudence, rather than his virtue, engaged him to leave thegrandson of Theodosius in the possession of the purple; and Valentinianwas permitted to enjoy the peace and luxury of Italy, while thepatrician appeared in the glorious light of a hero and a patriot, whosupported near twenty years the ruins of the Western empire. The Gothichistorian ingenuously confesses, that Aetius was born for the salvationof the Roman republic; [5] and the following portrait, though it isdrawn in the fairest colors, must be allowed to contain a much largerproportion of truth than of flattery. [411] "His mother was a wealthyand noble Italian, and his father Gaudentius, who held a distinguishedrank in the province of Scythia, gradually rose from the station of amilitary domestic, to the dignity of master of the cavalry. Their son, who was enrolled almost in his infancy in the guards, was given asa hostage, first to Alaric, and afterwards to the Huns; [412] and hesuccessively obtained the civil and military honors of the palace, forwhich he was equally qualified by superior merit. The graceful figureof Aetius was not above the middle stature; but his manly limbs wereadmirably formed for strength, beauty, and agility; and he excelled inthe martial exercises of managing a horse, drawing the bow, and dartingthe javelin. He could patiently endure the want of food, or of sleep;and his mind and body were alike capable of the most laborious efforts. He possessed the genuine courage that can despise not only dangers, but injuries: and it was impossible either to corrupt, or deceive, orintimidate the firm integrity of his soul. " [6] The Barbarians, who hadseated themselves in the Western provinces, were insensibly taught torespect the faith and valor of the patrician Aetius. He soothed theirpassions, consulted their prejudices, balanced their interests, andchecked their ambition. [611] A seasonable treaty, which he concludedwith Genseric, protected Italy from the depredations of the Vandals;the independent Britons implored and acknowledged his salutary aid; theImperial authority was restored and maintained in Gaul and Spain; and hecompelled the Franks and the Suevi, whom he had vanquished in the field, to become the useful confederates of the republic. 

[Footnote 4: Victor Vitensis (de Persecut. Vandal. L. I. 6, p. 8, edit. Ruinart) calls him, acer consilio et strenuus in bello: but his courage, when he became unfortunate, was censured as desperate rashness; andSebastian deserved, or obtained, the epithet of proeceps, (Sidon. Apollinar Carmen ix. 181. ) His adventures in Constantinople, in Sicily, Gaul, Spain, and Africa, are faintly marked in the Chronicles ofMarcellinus and Idatius. In his distress he was always followed by anumerous train; since he could ravage the Hellespont and Propontis, andseize the city of Barcelona. ]

[Footnote 5: Reipublicae Romanae singulariter natus, qui superbiamSuevorum, Francorumque barbariem immensis caedibus servire ImperioRomano coegisset. Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 34, p. 660. ]

[Footnote 411: Some valuable fragments of a poetical panegyric on Aetiusby Merobaudes, a Spaniard, have been recovered from a palimpsest MS. Bythe sagacity and industry of Niebuhr. They have been reprinted in thenew edition of the Byzantine Historians. The poet speaks in glowingterms of the long (annosa) peace enjoyed under the administration ofAetius. The verses are very spirited. The poet was rewarded by a statuepublicly dedicated to his honor in Rome. 

 Danuvii cum pace redit, Tanaimque furore Exuit, et nigro candentes aethere terras Marte suo caruisse jubet. Dedit otia ferro Caucasus, et saevi condemnant praelia reges. Addidit hiberni famulantia foedera Rhenus Orbis. .. .. . Lustrat Aremoricos jam mitior incola saltus; Perdidit et mores tellus, adsuetaque saevo Crimine quaesitas silvis celare rapinas, Discit inexpertis Cererem committere campis; Caesareoque diu manus obluctata labori Sustinet acceptas nostro sub consule leges; Et quamvis Geticis sulcum confundat aratris, Barbara vicinae refugit consortia gentis. --Merobaudes, p. 1]

[Footnote 412:--cum Scythicis succumberet ensibus orbis, Telaque Tarpeias premerent Arctoa secures, Hostilem fregit rabiem, pignus quesuperbi Foederis et mundi pretium fuit. Hinc modo voti Rata fides, validis quod dux premat impiger armis Edomuit quos pace puer; bellumque repressit Ignarus quid bella forent. Stupuere feroces In tenero jam membra Getae. Rex ipse, verendum Miratus pueri decus et prodentia fatum Lumina, primaevas dederat gestare faretras, Laudabatque manus librantem et tela gerentem Oblitus quod noster erat Pro nescia regis Corda, feris quanto populis discrimine constet Quod Latium docet arma ducem. --Merobaudes, Panegyr. P. 15. --M. ]

[Footnote 6: This portrait is drawn by Renetus Profuturus Frigeridus, acontemporary historian, known only by some extracts, which are preservedby Gregory of Tours, (l. Ii. C. 8, in tom. Ii. P. 163. ) It was probablythe duty, or at least the interest, of Renatus, to magnify the virtuesof Aetius; but he would have shown more dexterity if he had not insistedon his patient, forgiving disposition. ]

[Footnote 611:

 Insessor Libyes, quamvis, fatalibus armis Ausus Elisaei solium rescindere regni, Milibus Arctois Tyrias compleverat arces, Nunc hostem exutus pactis proprioribus arsit

 Romanam vincire fidem, Latiosque parentes Adnumerare sib, sociamque intexere prolem. ---Merobaudes, p. 12. --M. ]

From a principle of interest, as well as gratitude, Aetius assiduouslycultivated the alliance of the Huns. While he resided in their tents asa hostage, or an exile, he had familiarly conversed with Attila himself, the nephew of his benefactor; and the two famous antagonists appearedto have been connected by a personal and military friendship, whichthey afterwards confirmed by mutual gifts, frequent embassies, and theeducation of Carpilio, the son of Aetius, in the camp of Attila. Bythe specious professions of gratitude and voluntary attachment, thepatrician might disguise his apprehensions of the Scythian conqueror, who pressed the two empires with his innumerable armies. His demandswere obeyed or eluded. When he claimed the spoils of a vanquished city, some vases of gold, which had been fraudulently embezzled, the civil andmilitary governors of Noricum were immediately despatched to satisfy hiscomplaints: [7] and it is evident, from their conversation with Maximinand Priscus, in the royal village, that the valor and prudence of Aetiushad not saved the Western Romans from the common ignominy of tribute. Yet his dexterous policy prolonged the advantages of a salutary peace;and a numerous army of Huns and Alani, whom he had attached to hisperson, was employed in the defence of Gaul. Two colonies of theseBarbarians were judiciously fixed in the territories of Valens andOrleans; [8] and their active cavalry secured the important passagesof the Rhone and of the Loire. These savage allies were not indeed lessformidable to the subjects than to the enemies of Rome. Their originalsettlement was enforced with the licentious violence of conquest;and the province through which they marched was exposed to all thecalamities of a hostile invasion. [9] Strangers to the emperor or therepublic, the Alani of Gaul was devoted to the ambition of Aetius, andthough he might suspect, that, in a contest with Attila himself, theywould revolt to the standard of their national king, the patricianlabored to restrain, rather than to excite, their zeal and resentmentagainst the Goths, the Burgundians, and the Franks. 

[Footnote 7: The embassy consisted of Count Romulus; of Promotus, president of Noricum; and of Romanus, the military duke. They wereaccompanied by Tatullus, an illustrious citizen of Petovio, in the sameprovince, and father of Orestes, who had married the daughter of CountRomulus. See Priscus, p. 57, 65. Cassiodorus (Variar. I. 4) mentionsanother embassy, which was executed by his father and Carpilio, the sonof Aetius; and, as Attila was no more, he could safely boast of theirmanly, intrepid behavior in his presence. ]

[Footnote 8: Deserta Valentinae urbis rura Alanis partienda traduntur. Prosper. Tyronis Chron. In Historiens de France, tom. I. P. 639. A fewlines afterwards, Prosper observes, that lands in the ulterior Gaul wereassigned to the Alani. Without admitting the correction of Dubos, (tom. I. P. 300, ) the reasonable supposition of two colonies or garrisons ofAlani will confirm his arguments, and remove his objections. ]

[Footnote 9: See Prosper. Tyro, p. 639. Sidonius (Panegyr. Avit. 246)complains, in the name of Auvergne, his native country, Litorius Scythicos equites tunc forte subacto Celsus Aremorico, Geticum rapiebat in agmen Per terras, Averne, tuas, qui proxima quaedue Discursu, flammis, ferro, feritate, rapinis, Delebant; pacis fallentes nomen inane. 

another poet, Paulinus of Perigord, confirms the complaint:--

 Nam socium vix ferre queas, qui durior hoste. ---See Dubos, tom. I. P. 330. ]

The kingdom established by the Visigoths in the southern provinces ofGaul, had gradually acquired strength and maturity; and the conductof those ambitious Barbarians, either in peace or war, engaged theperpetual vigilance of Aetius. After the death of Wallia, the Gothicsceptre devolved to Theodoric, the son of the great Alaric; [10] and hisprosperous reign of more than thirty years, over a turbulent people, maybe allowed to prove, that his prudence was supported by uncommon vigor, both of mind and body. Impatient of his narrow limits, Theodoric aspiredto the possession of Arles, the wealthy seat of government and commerce;but the city was saved by the timely approach of Aetius; and theGothic king, who had raised the siege with some loss and disgrace, waspersuaded, for an adequate subsidy, to divert the martial valor of hissubjects in a Spanish war. Yet Theodoric still watched, and eagerlyseized, the favorable moment of renewing his hostile attempts. TheGoths besieged Narbonne, while the Belgic provinces were invaded by theBurgundians; and the public safety was threatened on every side by theapparent union of the enemies of Rome. On every side, the activityof Aetius, and his Scythian cavalry, opposed a firm and successfulresistance. Twenty thousand Burgundians were slain in battle; and theremains of the nation humbly accepted a dependent seat in the mountainsof Savoy. [11] The walls of Narbonne had been shaken by the batteringengines, and the inhabitants had endured the last extremities of famine, when Count Litorius, approaching in silence, and directing eachhorseman to carry behind him two sacks of flour, cut his way through theintrenchments of the besiegers. The siege was immediately raised; andthe more decisive victory, which is ascribed to the personal conduct ofAetius himself, was marked with the blood of eight thousand Goths. Butin the absence of the patrician, who was hastily summoned to Italyby some public or private interest, Count Litorius succeeded to thecommand; and his presumption soon discovered that far different talentsare required to lead a wing of cavalry, or to direct the operations ofan important war. At the head of an army of Huns, he rashly advanced tothe gates of Thoulouse, full of careless contempt for an enemy whom hismisfortunes had rendered prudent, and his situation made desperate. The predictions of the augurs had inspired Litorius with the profaneconfidence that he should enter the Gothic capital in triumph; and thetrust which he reposed in his Pagan allies, encouraged him to reject thefair conditions of peace, which were repeatedly proposed by the bishopsin the name of Theodoric. The king of the Goths exhibited in hisdistress the edifying contrast of Christian piety and moderation; nordid he lay aside his sackcloth and ashes till he was prepared to armfor the combat. His soldiers, animated with martial and religiousenthusiasm, assaulted the camp of Litorius. The conflict was obstinate;the slaughter was mutual. The Roman general, after a total defeat, which could be imputed only to his unskilful rashness, was actuallyled through the streets of Thoulouse, not in his own, but in a hostiletriumph; and the misery which he experienced, in a long and ignominiouscaptivity, excited the compassion of the Barbarians themselves. [12]Such a loss, in a country whose spirit and finances were long sinceexhausted, could not easily be repaired; and the Goths, assuming, intheir turn, the sentiments of ambition and revenge, would have plantedtheir victorious standards on the banks of the Rhone, if the presence ofAetius had not restored strength and discipline to the Romans. [13] Thetwo armies expected the signal of a decisive action; but the generals, who were conscious of each other's force, and doubtful of their ownsuperiority, prudently sheathed their swords in the field of battle; andtheir reconciliation was permanent and sincere. Theodoric, king ofthe Visigoths, appears to have deserved the love of his subjects, theconfidence of his allies, and the esteem of mankind. His throne wassurrounded by six valiant sons, who were educated with equal care inthe exercises of the Barbarian camp, and in those of the Gallic schools:from the study of the Roman jurisprudence, they acquired the theory, at least, of law and justice; and the harmonious sense of Virgilcontributed to soften the asperity of their native manners. [14] The twodaughters of the Gothic king were given in marriage to the eldest sonsof the kings of the Suevi and of the Vandals, who reigned in Spain andAfrica: but these illustrious alliances were pregnant with guiltand discord. The queen of the Suevi bewailed the death of a husbandinhumanly massacred by her brother. The princess of the Vandals wasthe victim of a jealous tyrant, whom she called her father. The cruelGenseric suspected that his son's wife had conspired to poison him; thesupposed crime was punished by the amputation of her nose and ears;and the unhappy daughter of Theodoric was ignominiously returned to thecourt of Thoulouse in that deformed and mutilated condition. This horridact, which must seem incredible to a civilized age drew tears from everyspectator; but Theodoric was urged, by the feelings of a parent and aking, to revenge such irreparable injuries. The Imperial ministers, whoalways cherished the discord of the Barbarians, would have supplied theGoths with arms, and ships, and treasures, for the African war; andthe cruelty of Genseric might have been fatal to himself, if the artfulVandal had not armed, in his cause, the formidable power of the Huns. His rich gifts and pressing solicitations inflamed the ambition ofAttila; and the designs of Aetius and Theodoric were prevented by theinvasion of Gaul. [15]

[Footnote 10: Theodoric II. , the son of Theodoric I. , declares toAvitus his resolution of repairing, or expiating, the faults which hisgrandfather had committed, --

Quae noster peccavit avus, quem fuscat id unum, Quod te, Roma, capit. 

Sidon. Panegyric. Avit. 505. 

This character, applicable only to the great Alaric, establishes thegenealogy of the Gothic kings, which has hitherto been unnoticed. ]

[Footnote 11: The name of Sapaudia, the origin of Savoy, is firstmentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus; and two military posts areascertained by the Notitia, within the limits of that province; acohort was stationed at Grenoble in Dauphine; and Ebredunum, orIverdun, sheltered a fleet of small vessels, which commanded the Lake ofNeufchatel. See Valesius, Notit. Galliarum, p. 503. D'Anville, Notice del'Ancienne Gaule, p. 284, 579. ]

[Footnote 12: Salvian has attempted to explain the moral government ofthe Deity; a task which may be readily performed by supposing that thecalamities of the wicked are judgments, and those of the righteous, trials. ]

[Footnote 13:

 --Capto terrarum damna patebant Litorio, in Rhodanum proprios producere fines, Thendoridae fixum; nec erat pugnare necesse, Sed migrare Getis; rabidam trux asperat iram Victor; quod sensit Scythicum sub moenibus hostem Imputat, et nihil estgravius, si forsitan unquam Vincerecontingat, trepido. --Panegyr. Avit. 300, &c. 

Sitionius then proceeds, according to the duty of a panegyrist, totransfer the whole merit from Aetius to his minister Avitus. ]

[Footnote 14: Theodoric II. Revered, in the person of Avitus, thecharacter of his preceptor. 

 Mihi Romula dudum Per te jura placent; parvumque ediscere jussit Ad tua verba pater, docili quo prisca Maronis Carmine molliret Scythicos mihi pagina mores. ---Sidon. Panegyr. Avit. 495 &c. ]

[Footnote 15: Our authorities for the reign of Theodoric I. Are, Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 34, 36, and the Chronicles of Idatius, and the two Prospers, inserted in the historians of France, tom. I. P. 612-640. To these we may add Salvian de Gubernatione Dei, l. Vii. P. 243, 244, 245, and the panegyric of Avitus, by Sidonius. ]

The Franks, whose monarchy was still confined to the neighborhood of theLower Rhine, had wisely established the right of hereditary successionin the noble family of the Merovingians. [16] These princes wereelevated on a buckler, the symbol of military command; [17] and theroyal fashion of long hair was the ensign of their birth and dignity. Their flaxen locks, which they combed and dressed with singular care, hung down in flowing ringlets on their back and shoulders; while therest of the nation were obliged, either by law or custom, to shave thehinder part of their head, to comb their hair over the forehead, andto content themselves with the ornament of two small whiskers. [18] Thelofty stature of the Franks, and their blue eyes, denoted a Germanicorigin; their close apparel accurately expressed the figure of theirlimbs; a weighty sword was suspended from a broad belt; their bodieswere protected by a large shield; and these warlike Barbarians weretrained, from their earliest youth, to run, to leap, to swim; to dartthe javelin, or battle-axe, with unerring aim; to advance, withouthesitation, against a superior enemy; and to maintain, either in life ordeath, the invincible reputation of their ancestors. [19] Clodion, thefirst of their long-haired kings, whose name and actions are mentionedin authentic history, held his residence at Dispargum, [20] a village orfortress, whose place may be assigned between Louvain and Brussels. Fromthe report of his spies, the king of the Franks was informed, that thedefenceless state of the second Belgic must yield, on the slightestattack, to the valor of his subjects. He boldly penetrated through thethickets and morasses of the Carbonarian forest; [21] occupied Tournayand Cambray, the only cities which existed in the fifth century, andextended his conquests as far as the River Somme, over a desolatecountry, whose cultivation and populousness are the effects of morerecent industry. [22] While Clodion lay encamped in the plains ofArtois, [23] and celebrated, with vain and ostentatious security, themarriage, perhaps, of his son, the nuptial feast was interrupted by theunexpected and unwelcome presence of Aetius, who had passed the Somme atthe head of his light cavalry. The tables, which had been spread underthe shelter of a hill, along the banks of a pleasant stream, were rudelyoverturned; the Franks were oppressed before they could recover theirarms, or their ranks; and their unavailing valor was fatal only tothemselves. The loaded wagons, which had followed their march, affordeda rich booty; and the virgin-bride, with her female attendants, submitted to the new lovers, who were imposed on them by the chance ofwar. This advance, which had been obtained by the skill and activity ofAetius, might reflect some disgrace on the military prudence of Clodion;but the king of the Franks soon regained his strength and reputation, and still maintained the possession of his Gallic kingdom from the Rhineto the Somme. [24] Under his reign, and most probably from the theeenterprising spirit of his subjects, his three capitals, Mentz, Treves, and Cologne, experienced the effects of hostile cruelty and avarice. Thedistress of Cologne was prolonged by the perpetual dominion of the sameBarbarians, who evacuated the ruins of Treves; and Treves, which inthe space of forty years had been four times besieged and pillaged, wasdisposed to lose the memory of her afflictions in the vain amusementsof the Circus. [25] The death of Clodion, after a reign of twentyyears, exposed his kingdom to the discord and ambition of his two sons. Meroveus, the younger, [26] was persuaded to implore the protection ofRome; he was received at the Imperial court, as the ally of Valentinian, and the adopted son of the patrician Aetius; and dismissed to his nativecountry, with splendid gifts, and the strongest assurances of friendshipand support. During his absence, his elder brother had solicited, withequal ardor, the formidable aid of Attila; and the king of the Hunsembraced an alliance, which facilitated the passage of the Rhine, andjustified, by a specious and honorable pretence, the invasion of Gaul. [27]

[Footnote 16: Reges Crinitos se creavisse de prima, et ut ita dicamnobiliori suorum familia, (Greg. Turon. L. Ii. C. 9, p. 166, of thesecond volume of the Historians of France. ) Gregory himself does notmention the Merovingian name, which may be traced, however, to thebeginning of the seventh century, as the distinctive appellation of theroyal family, and even of the French monarchy. An ingenious critic hasdeduced the Merovingians from the great Maroboduus; and he has clearlyproved, that the prince, who gave his name to the first race, was moreancient than the father of Childeric. See Memoires de l'Academie desInscriptions, tom. Xx. P. 52-90, tom. Xxx. P. 557-587. ]

[Footnote 17: This German custom, which may be traced from Tacitusto Gregory of Tours, was at length adopted by the emperors ofConstantinople. From a MS. Of the tenth century, Montfaucon hasdelineated the representation of a similar ceremony, which the ignoranceof the age had applied to King David. See Monumens de la MonarchieFrancoise, tom. I. Discours Preliminaire. ]

[Footnote 18: Caesaries prolixa. .. Crinium flagellis per terga dimissis, &c. See the Preface to the third volume of the Historians of France, and the Abbe Le Boeuf, (Dissertat. Tom. Iii. P. 47-79. ) This peculiarfashion of the Merovingians has been remarked by natives and strangers;by Priscus, (tom. I. P. 608, ) by Agathias, (tom. Ii. P. 49, ) and byGregory of Tours, (l. Viii. 18, vi. 24, viii. 10, tom. Ii. P. 196, 278, 316. )]

[Footnote 19: See an original picture of the figure, dress, arms, and temper of the ancient Franks, in Sidonius Apollinaris, (Panegyr. Majorian. 238-254;) and such pictures, though coarsely drawn, have areal and intrinsic value. Father Daniel (History de la Milice Francoise, tom. I. P. 2-7) has illustrated the description. ]

[Footnote 20: Dubos, Hist. Critique, &c. , tom. I. P. 271, 272. Somegeographers have placed Dispargum on the German side of the Rhine. See anote of the Benedictine Editors, to the Historians of France, tom. Ii p. 166. ]

[Footnote 21: The Carbonarian wood was that part of the great forest ofthe Ardennes which lay between the Escaut, or Scheldt, and the Meuse. Vales. Notit. Gall. P. 126. ]

[Footnote 22: Gregor. Turon. L. Ii. C. 9, in tom. Ii. P. 166, 167. Fredegar. Epitom. C. 9, p. 395. Gesta Reg. Francor. C. 5, in tom. Ii. P. 544. Vit St. Remig. Ab Hincmar, in tom. Iii. P. 373. ]

[Footnote 23:

 --Francus qua Cloio patentes Atrebatum terras pervaserat. --Panegyr. Majorian 213

The precise spot was a town or village, called Vicus Helena; and boththe name and place are discovered by modern geographers at Lens SeeVales. Notit. Gall. P. 246. Longuerue, Description de la France tom. Ii. P. 88. ]

[Footnote 24: See a vague account of the action in Sidonius. Panegyr. Majorian 212-230. The French critics, impatient to establish theirmonarchy in Gaul, have drawn a strong argument from the silence ofSidonius, who dares not insinuate, that the vanquished Franks werecompelled to repass the Rhine. Dubos, tom. I. P. 322. ]

[Footnote 25: Salvian (de Gubernat. Dei, l. Vi. ) has expressed, in vagueand declamatory language, the misfortunes of these three cities, whichare distinctly ascertained by the learned Mascou, Hist. Of the AncientGermans, ix. 21. ]

[Footnote 26: Priscus, in relating the contest, does not name the twobrothers; the second of whom he had seen at Rome, a beardless youth, with long, flowing hair, (Historians of France, tom. I. P. 607, 608. )The Benedictine Editors are inclined to believe, that they were thesons of some unknown king of the Franks, who reigned on the banks of theNeckar; but the arguments of M. De Foncemagne (Mem. De l'Academie, tom. Viii. P. 464) seem to prove that the succession of Clodion was disputedby his two sons, and that the younger was Meroveus, the father ofChilderic. * Note: The relationship of Meroveus to Clodion is extremelydoubtful. --By some he is called an illegitimate son; by others merelyof his race. Tur ii. C. 9, in Sismondi, Hist. Des Francais, i. 177. SeeMezeray. ]

[Footnote 27: Under the Merovingian race, the throne was hereditary;but all the sons of the deceased monarch were equally entitled to theirshare of his treasures and territories. See the Dissertations of M. De Foncemagne, in the sixth and eighth volumes of the Memoires del'Academie. ]

Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila. --Part II. 

When Attila declared his resolution of supporting the cause of hisallies, the Vandals and the Franks, at the same time, and almost in thespirit of romantic chivalry, the savage monarch professed himselfthe lover and the champion of the princess Honoria. The sister ofValentinian was educated in the palace of Ravenna; and as her marriagemight be productive of some danger to the state, she was raised, by thetitle of Augusta, [28] above the hopes of the most presumptuous subject. But the fair Honoria had no sooner attained the sixteenth year of herage, than she detested the importunate greatness which must foreverexclude her from the comforts of honorable love; in the midst of vainand unsatisfactory pomp, Honoria sighed, yielded to the impulse ofnature, and threw herself into the arms of her chamberlain Eugenius. Herguilt and shame (such is the absurd language of imperious man) were soonbetrayed by the appearances of pregnancy; but the disgrace of the royalfamily was published to the world by the imprudence of the empressPlacidia who dismissed her daughter, after a strict and shamefulconfinement, to a remote exile at Constantinople. The unhappy princesspassed twelve or fourteen years in the irksome society of the sistersof Theodosius, and their chosen virgins; to whose crown Honoria couldno longer aspire, and whose monastic assiduity of prayer, fasting, andvigils, she reluctantly imitated. Her impatience of long and hopelesscelibacy urged her to embrace a strange and desperate resolution. Thename of Attila was familiar and formidable at Constantinople; and hisfrequent embassies entertained a perpetual intercourse between his campand the Imperial palace. In the pursuit of love, or rather of revenge, the daughter of Placidia sacrificed every duty and every prejudice; andoffered to deliver her person into the arms of a Barbarian, of whoselanguage she was ignorant, whose figure was scarcely human, and whosereligion and manners she abhorred. By the ministry of a faithful eunuch, she transmitted to Attila a ring, the pledge of her affection; andearnestly conjured him to claim her as a lawful spouse, to whom he hadbeen secretly betrothed. These indecent advances were received, however, with coldness and disdain; and the king of the Huns continued tomultiply the number of his wives, till his love was awakened by themore forcible passions of ambition and avarice. The invasion of Gaulwas preceded, and justified, by a formal demand of the princess Honoria, with a just and equal share of the Imperial patrimony. His predecessors, the ancient Tanjous, had often addressed, in the same hostile andperemptory manner, the daughters of China; and the pretensions of Attilawere not less offensive to the majesty of Rome. A firm, but temperate, refusal was communicated to his ambassadors. The right of femalesuccession, though it might derive a specious argument from the recentexamples of Placidia and Pulcheria, was strenuously denied; and theindissoluble engagements of Honoria were opposed to the claims of herScythian lover. [29] On the discovery of her connection with the kingof the Huns, the guilty princess had been sent away, as an object ofhorror, from Constantinople to Italy: her life was spared; but theceremony of her marriage was performed with some obscure and nominalhusband, before she was immured in a perpetual prison, to bewail thosecrimes and misfortunes, which Honoria might have escaped, had she notbeen born the daughter of an emperor. [30]

[Footnote 28: A medal is still extant, which exhibits the pleasingcountenance of Honoria, with the title of Augusta; and on the reverse, the improper legend of Salus Reipublicoe round the monogram of Christ. See Ducange, Famil. Byzantin. P. 67, 73. ]

[Footnote 29: See Priscus, p, 39, 40. It might be fairly alleged, thatif females could succeed to the throne, Valentinian himself, who hadmarried the daughter and heiress of the younger Theodosius, would haveasserted her right to the Eastern empire. ]

[Footnote 30: The adventures of Honoria are imperfectly related byJornandes, de Successione Regn. C. 97, and de Reb. Get. C. 42, p. 674;and in the Chronicles of Prosper and Marcellinus; but they cannot bemade consistent, or probable, unless we separate, by an interval of timeand place, her intrigue with Eugenius, and her invitation of Attila. ]

A native of Gaul, and a contemporary, the learned and eloquent Sidonius, who was afterwards bishop of Clermont, had made a promise to one of hisfriends, that he would compose a regular history of the war of Attila. If the modesty of Sidonius had not discouraged him from the prosecutionof this interesting work, [31] the historian would have related, withthe simplicity of truth, those memorable events, to which the poet, invague and doubtful metaphors, has concisely alluded. [32] The kings andnations of Germany and Scythia, from the Volga perhaps to the Danube, obeyed the warlike summons of Attila. From the royal village, in theplains of Hungary his standard moved towards the West; and after a marchof seven or eight hundred miles, he reached the conflux of the Rhine andthe Neckar, where he was joined by the Franks, who adhered to his ally, the elder of the sons of Clodion. A troop of light Barbarians, whoroamed in quest of plunder, might choose the winter for the convenienceof passing the river on the ice; but the innumerable cavalry of the Hunsrequired such plenty of forage and provisions, as could be procured onlyin a milder season; the Hercynian forest supplied materials for a bridgeof boats; and the hostile myriads were poured, with resistless violence, into the Belgic provinces. [33] The consternation of Gaul was universal;and the various fortunes of its cities have been adorned by traditionwith martyrdoms and miracles. [34] Troyes was saved by the merits ofSt. Lupus; St. Servatius was removed from the world, that he might notbehold the ruin of Tongres; and the prayers of St. Genevieve divertedthe march of Attila from the neighborhood of Paris. But as the greatestpart of the Gallic cities were alike destitute of saints and soldiers, they were besieged and stormed by the Huns; who practised, in theexample of Metz, [35] their customary maxims of war. They involved, ina promiscuous massacre, the priests who served at the altar, and theinfants, who, in the hour of danger, had been providently baptized bythe bishop; the flourishing city was delivered to the flames, and asolitary chapel of St. Stephen marked the place where it formerly stood. From the Rhine and the Moselle, Attila advanced into the heart of Gaul;crossed the Seine at Auxerre; and, after a long and laborious march, fixed his camp under the walls of Orleans. He was desirous of securinghis conquests by the possession of an advantageous post, which commandedthe passage of the Loire; and he depended on the secret invitation ofSangiban, king of the Alani, who had promised to betray the city, and torevolt from the service of the empire. But this treacherous conspiracywas detected and disappointed: Orleans had been strengthened with recentfortifications; and the assaults of the Huns were vigorously repelled bythe faithful valor of the soldiers, or citizens, who defended the place. The pastoral diligence of Anianus, a bishop of primitive sanctity andconsummate prudence, exhausted every art of religious policy to supporttheir courage, till the arrival of the expected succors. After anobstinate siege, the walls were shaken by the battering rams; the Hunshad already occupied the suburbs; and the people, who were incapable ofbearing arms, lay prostrate in prayer. Anianus, who anxiously countedthe days and hours, despatched a trusty messenger to observe, from therampari, the face of the distant country. He returned twice, withoutany intelligence that could inspire hope or comfort; but, in his thirdreport, he mentioned a small cloud, which he had faintly descried at theextremity of the horizon. "It is the aid of God!" exclaimed the bishop, in a tone of pious confidence; and the whole multitude repeated afterhim, "It is the aid of God. " The remote object, on which every eyewas fixed, became each moment larger, and more distinct; the Roman andGothic banners were gradually perceived; and a favorable wind blowingaside the dust, discovered, in deep array, the impatient squadrons ofAetius and Theodoric, who pressed forwards to the relief of Orleans. 

[Footnote 31: Exegeras mihi, ut promitterem tibi, Attilae bellum stylome posteris intimaturum. .. . Coeperam scribere, sed operis arrepti fasceperspecto, taeduit inchoasse. Sidon. Apoll. L. Viii. Epist. 15, p. 235]

[Footnote 32:

 Subito cum rupta tumultu Barbaries totas in te transfuderat Arctos, Gallia. Pugnacem Rugum comitante Gelono, Gepida trux sequitur; Scyrum Burgundio cogit:

 Chunus, Bellonotus, Neurus, Basterna, Toringus, Bructerus, ulvosa vel quem Nicer abluit unda

Prorumpit Francus. Cecidit cito secta bipenni Hercynia in lintres, etRhenum texuit alno. Et jam terrificis diffuderat Attila turmis In camposse, Belga, tuos. Panegyr. Avit. ]

[Footnote 33: The most authentic and circumstantial account of this waris contained in Jornandes, (de Reb. Geticis, c. 36-41, p. 662-672, ) whohas sometimes abridged, and sometimes transcribed, the larger historyof Cassiodorus. Jornandes, a quotation which it would be superfluous torepeat, may be corrected and illustrated by Gregory of Tours, l. Ii. C. 5, 6, 7, and the Chronicles of Idatius, Isidore, and the two Prospers. All the ancient testimonies are collected and inserted in the Historiansof France; but the reader should be cautioned against a supposed extractfrom the Chronicle of Idatius, (among the fragments of Fredegarius, tom. Ii. P. 462, ) which often contradicts the genuine text of the Gallicianbishop. ]

[Footnote 34: The ancient legendaries deserve some regard, as theyare obliged to connect their fables with the real history of their owntimes. See the lives of St. Lupus, St. Anianus, the bishops of Metz, Ste. Genevieve, &c. , in the Historians of France, tom. I. P. 644, 645, 649, tom. Iii. P. 369. ]

[Footnote 35: The scepticism of the count de Buat (Hist. Des Peuples, tom. Vii. P. 539, 540) cannot be reconciled with any principles ofreason or criticism. Is not Gregory of Tours precise and positive in hisaccount of the destruction of Metz? At the distance of no more than ahundred years, could he be ignorant, could the people be ignorant ofthe fate of a city, the actual residence of his sovereigns, the kings ofAustrasia? The learned count, who seems to have undertaken the apologyof Attila and the Barbarians, appeals to the false Idatius, parcensGermaniae et Galliae, and forgets that the true Idatius had explicitlyaffirmed, plurimae civitates effractoe, among which he enumerates Metz. ]

The facility with which Attila had penetrated into the heart of Gaul, may be ascribed to his insidious policy, as well as to the terror of hisarms. His public declarations were skilfully mitigated by his privateassurances; he alternately soothed and threatened the Romans and theGoths; and the courts of Ravenna and Thoulouse, mutually suspicious ofeach other's intentions, beheld, with supine indifference, the approachof their common enemy. Aetius was the sole guardian of the publicsafety; but his wisest measures were embarrassed by a faction, which, since the death of Placidia, infested the Imperial palace: the youthof Italy trembled at the sound of the trumpet; and the Barbarians, who, from fear or affection, were inclined to the cause of Attila, awaitedwith doubtful and venal faith, the event of the war. The patricianpassed the Alps at the head of some troops, whose strength and numbersscarcely deserved the name of an army. [36] But on his arrival at Arles, or Lyons, he was confounded by the intelligence, that the Visigoths, refusing to embrace the defence of Gaul, had determined to expect, within their own territories, the formidable invader, whom theyprofessed to despise. The senator Avitus, who, after the honorableexercise of the Praetorian praefecture, had retired to his estatein Auvergne, was persuaded to accept the important embassy, which heexecuted with ability and success. He represented to Theodoric, that anambitious conqueror, who aspired to the dominion of the earth, could beresisted only by the firm and unanimous alliance of the powers whom helabored to oppress. The lively eloquence of Avitus inflamed the Gothicwarriors, by the description of the injuries which their ancestors hadsuffered from the Huns; whose implacable fury still pursued them fromthe Danube to the foot of the Pyrenees. He strenuously urged, that itwas the duty of every Christian to save, from sacrilegious violation, the churches of God, and the relics of the saints: that it was theinterest of every Barbarian, who had acquired a settlement in Gaul, to defend the fields and vineyards, which were cultivated for his use, against the desolation of the Scythian shepherds. Theodoric yielded tothe evidence of truth; adopted the measure at once the most prudent andthe most honorable; and declared, that, as the faithful ally of Aetiusand the Romans, he was ready to expose his life and kingdom for thecommon safety of Gaul. [37] The Visigoths, who, at that time, werein the mature vigor of their fame and power, obeyed with alacrity thesignal of war; prepared their arms and horses, and assembled under thestandard of their aged king, who was resolved, with his two eldest sons, Torismond and Theodoric, to command in person his numerous and valiantpeople. The example of the Goths determined several tribes ornations, that seemed to fluctuate between the Huns and the Romans. Theindefatigable diligence of the patrician gradually collected the troopsof Gaul and Germany, who had formerly acknowledged themselves thesubjects, or soldiers, of the republic, but who now claimed the rewardsof voluntary service, and the rank of independent allies; the Laeti, theArmoricans, the Breones the Saxons, the Burgundians, the Sarmatians, or Alani, the Ripuarians, and the Franks who followed Meroveus as theirlawful prince. Such was the various army, which, under the conduct ofAetius and Theodoric, advanced, by rapid marches to relieve Orleans, andto give battle to the innumerable host of Attila. [38]

[Footnote 36:

 Vix liquerat Alpes Aetius, tenue, et rarum sine milite ducens Robur, in auxiliis Geticum male credulus agmen Incassum propriis praesumens adfore castris. ---Panegyr. Avit. 328, &c. ]

[Footnote 37: The policy of Attila, of Aetius, and of the Visigoths, isimperfectly described in the Panegyric of Avitus, and the thirty-sixthchapter of Jornandes. The poet and the historian were both biasedby personal or national prejudices. The former exalts the merit andimportance of Avitus; orbis, Avite, salus, &c. ! The latter is anxiousto show the Goths in the most favorable light. Yet their agreement whenthey are fairly interpreted, is a proof of their veracity. ]

[Footnote 38: The review of the army of Aetius is made by Jornandes, c. 36, p. 664, edit. Grot. Tom. Ii. P. 23, of the Historians of France, with the notes of the Benedictine editor. The Loeti were a promiscuousrace of Barbarians, born or naturalized in Gaul; and the Riparii, orRipuarii, derived their name from their post on the three rivers, the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Moselle; the Armoricans possessed theindependent cities between the Seine and the Loire. A colony of Saxonshad been planted in the diocese of Bayeux; the Burgundians were settledin Savoy; and the Breones were a warlike tribe of Rhaetians, to the eastof the Lake of Constance. ]

On their approach the king of the Huns immediately raised the siege, andsounded a retreat to recall the foremost of his troops from the pillageof a city which they had already entered. [39] The valor of Attila wasalways guided by his prudence; and as he foresaw the fatal consequencesof a defeat in the heart of Gaul, he repassed the Seine, and expectedthe enemy in the plains of Chalons, whose smooth and level surfacewas adapted to the operations of his Scythian cavalry. But in thistumultuary retreat, the vanguard of the Romans and their alliescontinually pressed, and sometimes engaged, the troops whom Attila hadposted in the rear; the hostile columns, in the darkness of the nightand the perplexity of the roads, might encounter each other withoutdesign; and the bloody conflict of the Franks and Gepidae, in whichfifteen thousand [40] Barbarians were slain, was a prelude to amore general and decisive action. The Catalaunian fields [41] spreadthemselves round Chalons, and extend, according to the vague measurementof Jornandes, to the length of one hundred and fifty, and the breadthof one hundred miles, over the whole province, which is entitled tothe appellation of a champaign country. [42] This spacious plainwas distinguished, however, by some inequalities of ground; andthe importance of a height, which commanded the camp of Attila, wasunderstood and disputed by the two generals. The young and valiantTorismond first occupied the summit; the Goths rushed with irresistibleweight on the Huns, who labored to ascend from the opposite side: andthe possession of this advantageous post inspired both the troops andtheir leaders with a fair assurance of victory. The anxiety of Attilaprompted him to consult his priests and haruspices. It was reported, that, after scrutinizing the entrails of victims, and scraping theirbones, they revealed, in mysterious language, his own defeat, with thedeath of his principal adversary; and that the Barbarians, by acceptingthe equivalent, expressed his involuntary esteem for the superior meritof Aetius. But the unusual despondency, which seemed to prevail amongthe Huns, engaged Attila to use the expedient, so familiar to thegenerals of antiquity, of animating his troops by a military oration;and his language was that of a king, who had often fought and conqueredat their head. [43] He pressed them to consider their past glory, theiractual danger, and their future hopes. The same fortune, which openedthe deserts and morasses of Scythia to their unarmed valor, which hadlaid so many warlike nations prostrate at their feet, had reserved thejoys of this memorable field for the consummation of their victories. The cautious steps of their enemies, their strict alliance, and theiradvantageous posts, he artfully represented as the effects, not ofprudence, but of fear. The Visigoths alone were the strength andnerves of the opposite army; and the Huns might securely trample onthe degenerate Romans, whose close and compact order betrayed theirapprehensions, and who were equally incapable of supporting the dangersor the fatigues of a day of battle. The doctrine of predestination, sofavorable to martia virtue, was carefully inculcated by the king of theHuns; who assured his subjects, that the warriors, protected by Heaven, were safe and invulnerable amidst the darts of the enemy; but that theunerring Fates would strike their victims in the bosom of ingloriouspeace. "I myself, " continued Attila, "will throw the first javelin, and the wretch who refuses to imitate the example of his sovereign, isdevoted to inevitable death. " The spirit of the Barbarians was rekindledby the presence, the voice, and the example of their intrepid leader;and Attila, yielding to their impatience, immediately formed his orderof battle. At the head of his brave and faithful Huns, he occupied inperson the centre of the line. The nations subject to his empire, theRugians, the Heruli, the Thuringians, the Franks, the Burgundians, wereextended on either hand, over the ample space of the Catalaunian fields;the right wing was commanded by Ardaric, king of the Gepidae; and thethree valiant brothers, who reigned over the Ostrogoths, were posted onthe left to oppose the kindred tribes of the Visigoths. The dispositionof the allies was regulated by a different principle. Sangiban, thefaithless king of the Alani, was placed in the centre, where his motionsmight be strictly watched, and that the treachery might be instantlypunished. Aetius assumed the command of the left, and Theodoric of theright wing; while Torismond still continued to occupy the heights whichappear to have stretched on the flank, and perhaps the rear, of theScythian army. The nations from the Volga to the Atlantic were assembledon the plain of Chalons; but many of these nations had been divided byfaction, or conquest, or emigration; and the appearance of similar armsand ensigns, which threatened each other, presented the image of a civilwar. 

[Footnote 39: Aurelianensis urbis obsidio, oppugnatio, irruptio, nec direptio, l. V. Sidon. Apollin. L. Viii. Epist. 15, p. 246. Thepreservation of Orleans might easily be turned into a miracle, obtainedand foretold by the holy bishop. ]

[Footnote 40: The common editions read xcm but there is some authorityof manuscripts (and almost any authority is sufficient) for the morereasonable number of xvm. ]

[Footnote 41: Chalons, or Duro-Catalaunum, afterwards Catalauni, hadformerly made a part of the territory of Rheims from whence it isdistant only twenty-seven miles. See Vales, Notit. Gall. P. 136. D'Anville, Notice de l'Ancienne Gaule, p. 212, 279. ]

[Footnote 42: The name of Campania, or Champagne, is frequentlymentioned by Gregory of Tours; and that great province, of whichRheims was the capital, obeyed the command of a duke. Vales. Notit. P. 120-123. ]

[Footnote 43: I am sensible that these military orations are usuallycomposed by the historian; yet the old Ostrogoths, who had served underAttila, might repeat his discourse to Cassiodorus; the ideas, and eventhe expressions, have an original Scythian cast; and I doubt, whether anItalian of the sixth century would have thought of the hujus certaminisgaudia. ]

The discipline and tactics of the Greeks and Romans form an interestingpart of their national manners. The attentive study of the militaryoperations of Xenophon, or Caesar, or Frederic, when they are describedby the same genius which conceived and executed them, may tend toimprove (if such improvement can be wished) the art of destroying thehuman species. But the battle of Chalons can only excite our curiosityby the magnitude of the object; since it was decided by the blindimpetuosity of Barbarians, and has been related by partial writers, whose civil or ecclesiastical profession secluded them from theknowledge of military affairs. Cassiolorus, however, had familiarlyconversed with many Gothic warriors, who served in that memorableengagement; "a conflict, " as they informed him, "fierce, various, obstinate, and bloody; such as could not be paralleled either in thepresent or in past ages. " The number of the slain amounted to onehundred and sixty-two thousand, or, according to another account, three hundred thousand persons; [44] and these incredible exaggerationssuppose a real and effective loss sufficient to justify the historian'sremark, that whole generations may be swept away by the madness ofkings, in the space of a single hour. After the mutual and repeateddischarge of missile weapons, in which the archers of Scythia mightsignalize their superior dexterity, the cavalry and infantry of the twoarmies were furiously mingled in closer combat. The Huns, who foughtunder the eyes of their king pierced through the feeble and doubtfulcentre of the allies, separated their wings from each other, andwheeling, with a rapid effort, to the left, directed their whole forceagainst the Visigoths. As Theodoric rode along the ranks, to animate histroops, he received a mortal stroke from the javelin of Andages, a nobleOstrogoth, and immediately fell from his horse. The wounded king wasoppressed in the general disorder, and trampled under the feet of hisown cavalry; and this important death served to explain the ambiguousprophecy of the haruspices. Attila already exulted in the confidenceof victory, when the valiant Torismond descended from the hills, andverified the remainder of the prediction. The Visigoths, who had beenthrown into confusion by the flight or defection of the Alani, gradually restored their order of battle; and the Huns were undoubtedlyvanquished, since Attila was compelled to retreat. He had exposed hisperson with the rashness of a private soldier; but the intrepid troopsof the centre had pushed forwards beyond the rest of the line; theirattack was faintly supported; their flanks were unguarded; and theconquerors of Scythia and Germany were saved by the approach of thenight from a total defeat. They retired within the circle of wagons thatfortified their camp; and the dismounted squadrons prepared themselvesfor a defence, to which neither their arms, nor their temper, wereadapted. The event was doubtful: but Attila had secured a last andhonorable resource. The saddles and rich furniture of the cavalrywere collected, by his order, into a funeral pile; and the magnanimousBarbarian had resolved, if his intrenchments should be forced, to rushheadlong into the flames, and to deprive his enemies of the glory whichthey might have acquired, by the death or captivity of Attila. [45]

[Footnote 44: The expressions of Jornandes, or rather of Cassiodorus, are extremely strong. Bellum atrox, multiplex, immane, pertinax, cuisimile nulla usquam narrat antiquitas: ubi talia gesta referuntur, utnihil esset quod in vita sua conspicere potuisset egregius, qui hujusmiraculi privaretur aspectu. Dubos (Hist. Critique, tom. I. P. 392, 393) attempts to reconcile the 162, 000 of Jornandes with the 300, 000 ofIdatius and Isidore, by supposing that the larger number included thetotal destruction of the war, the effects of disease, the slaughter ofthe unarmed people, &c. ]

[Footnote 45: The count de Buat, (Hist. Des Peuples, &c. , tom. Vii. P. 554-573, ) still depending on the false, and again rejecting the true, Idatius, has divided the defeat of Attila into two great battles; theformer near Orleans, the latter in Champagne: in the one, Theodoric wasslain in the other, he was revenged. ]

But his enemies had passed the night in equal disorder and anxiety. Theinconsiderate courage of Torismond was tempted to urge the pursuit, tillhe unexpectedly found himself, with a few followers, in the midst of theScythian wagons. In the confusion of a nocturnal combat, he was thrownfrom his horse; and the Gothic prince must have perished like hisfather, if his youthful strength, and the intrepid zeal of hiscompanions, had not rescued him from this dangerous situation. In thesame manner, but on the left of the line, Aetius himself, separatedfrom his allies, ignorant of their victory, and anxious for their fate, encountered and escaped the hostile troops that were scattered over theplains of Chalons; and at length reached the camp of the Goths, whichhe could only fortify with a slight rampart of shields, till the dawnof day. The Imperial general was soon satisfied of the defeat of Attila, who still remained inactive within his intrenchments; and when hecontemplated the bloody scene, he observed, with secret satisfaction, that the loss had principally fallen on the Barbarians. The body ofTheodoric, pierced with honorable wounds, was discovered under a heap ofthe slain: is subjects bewailed the death of their king and father; buttheir tears were mingled with songs and acclamations, and his funeralrites were performed in the face of a vanquished enemy. The Goths, clashing their arms, elevated on a buckler his eldest son Torismond, towhom they justly ascribed the glory of their success; and the new kingaccepted the obligation of revenge as a sacred portion of his paternalinheritance. Yet the Goths themselves were astonished by the fierce andundaunted aspect of their formidable antagonist; and their historian hascompared Attila to a lion encompassed in his den, and threateninghis hunters with redoubled fury. The kings and nations who might havedeserted his standard in the hour of distress, were made sensible thatthe displeasure of their monarch was the most imminent and inevitabledanger. All his instruments of martial music incessantly sounded a loudand animating strain of defiance; and the foremost troops who advancedto the assault were checked or destroyed by showers of arrows from everyside of the intrenchments. It was determined, in a general councilof war, to besiege the king of the Huns in his camp, to intercept hisprovisions, and to reduce him to the alternative of a disgracefultreaty or an unequal combat. But the impatience of the Barbarians soondisdained these cautious and dilatory measures; and the mature policyof Aetius was apprehensive that, after the extirpation of the Huns, therepublic would be oppressed by the pride and power of the Gothic nation. The patrician exerted the superior ascendant of authority and reasonto calm the passions, which the son of Theodoric considered as a duty;represented, with seeming affection and real truth, the dangers ofabsence and delay and persuaded Torismond to disappoint, by his speedyreturn, the ambitious designs of his brothers, who might occupy thethrone and treasures of Thoulouse. [46] After the departure of theGoths, and the separation of the allied army, Attila was surprised atthe vast silence that reigned over the plains of Chalons: the suspicionof some hostile stratagem detained him several days within the circle ofhis wagons, and his retreat beyond the Rhine confessed the last victorywhich was achieved in the name of the Western empire. Meroveus and hisFranks, observing a prudent distance, and magnifying the opinion oftheir strength by the numerous fires which they kindled every night, continued to follow the rear of the Huns till they reached the confinesof Thuringia. The Thuringians served in the army of Attila: theytraversed, both in their march and in their return, the territoriesof the Franks; and it was perhaps in this war that they exercised thecruelties which, about fourscore years afterwards, were revenged by theson of Clovis. They massacred their hostages, as well as their captives:two hundred young maidens were tortured with exquisite and unrelentingrage; their bodies were torn asunder by wild horses, or their bones werecrushed under the weight of rolling wagons; and their unburied limbswere abandoned on the public roads, as a prey to dogs and vultures. Such were those savage ancestors, whose imaginary virtues have sometimesexcited the praise and envy of civilized ages. [47]

[Footnote 46: Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 41, p. 671. The policy ofAetius, and the behavior of Torismond, are extremely natural; andthe patrician, according to Gregory of Tours, (l. Ii. C. 7, p. 163, )dismissed the prince of the Franks, by suggesting to him a similarapprehension. The false Idatius ridiculously pretends, that Aetiuspaid a clandestine nocturnal visit to the kings of the Huns and of theVisigoths; from each of whom he obtained a bribe of ten thousand piecesof gold, as the price of an undisturbed retreat. ]

[Footnote 47: These cruelties, which are passionately deplored byTheodoric, the son of Clovis, (Gregory of Tours, l. Iii. C. 10, p. 190, )suit the time and circumstances of the invasion of Attila. His residencein Thuringia was long attested by popular tradition; and he is supposedto have assembled a couroultai, or diet, in the territory of Eisenach. See Mascou, ix. 30, who settles with nice accuracy the extent of ancientThuringia, and derives its name from the Gothic tribe of the Therungi]

Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila. --Part III. 

Neither the spirit, nor the forces, nor the reputation, of Attila, wereimpaired by the failure of the Gallic expedition In the ensuing springhe repeated his demand of the princess Honoria, and her patrimonialtreasures. The demand was again rejected, or eluded; and the indignantlover immediately took the field, passed the Alps, invaded Italy, and besieged Aquileia with an innumerable host of Barbarians. ThoseBarbarians were unskilled in the methods of conducting a regular siege, which, even among the ancients, required some knowledge, or at leastsome practice, of the mechanic arts. But the labor of many thousandprovincials and captives, whose lives were sacrificed without pity, might execute the most painful and dangerous work. The skill of theRoman artists might be corrupted to the destruction of their country. The walls of Aquileia were assaulted by a formidable train of batteringrams, movable turrets, and engines, that threw stones, darts, and fire;[48] and the monarch of the Huns employed the forcible impulse of hope, fear, emulation, and interest, to subvert the only barrier which delayedthe conquest of Italy. Aquileia was at that period one of the richest, the most populous, and the strongest of the maritime cities of theAdriatic coast. The Gothic auxiliaries, who appeared to have servedunder their native princes, Alaric and Antala, communicated theirintrepid spirit; and the citizens still remembered the glorious andsuccessful resistance which their ancestors had opposed to a fierce, inexorable Barbarian, who disgraced the majesty of the Roman purple. Three months were consumed without effect in the siege of the Aquileia;till the want of provisions, and the clamors of his army, compelledAttila to relinquish the enterprise; and reluctantly to issue hisorders, that the troops should strike their tents the next morning, andbegin their retreat. But as he rode round the walls, pensive, angry, anddisappointed, he observed a stork preparing to leave her nest, in oneof the towers, and to fly with her infant family towards the country. He seized, with the ready penetration of a statesman, this triflingincident, which chance had offered to superstition; and exclaimed, ina loud and cheerful tone, that such a domestic bird, so constantlyattached to human society, would never have abandoned her ancient seats, unless those towers had been devoted to impending ruin and solitude. [49] The favorable omen inspired an assurance of victory; the siege wasrenewed and prosecuted with fresh vigor; a large breach was made in thepart of the wall from whence the stork had taken her flight; the Hunsmounted to the assault with irresistible fury; and the succeedinggeneration could scarcely discover the ruins of Aquileia. [50] Afterthis dreadful chastisement, Attila pursued his march; and as he passed, the cities of Altinum, Concordia, and Padua, were reduced into heaps ofstones and ashes. The inland towns, Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, wereexposed to the rapacious cruelty of the Huns. Milan and Pavia submitted, without resistance, to the loss of their wealth; and applauded theunusual clemency which preserved from the flames the public, as well asprivate, buildings, and spared the lives of the captive multitude. Thepopular traditions of Comum, Turin, or Modena, may justly be suspected;yet they concur with more authentic evidence to prove, that Attilaspread his ravages over the rich plains of modern Lombardy; which aredivided by the Po, and bounded by the Alps and Apennine. [51] Whenhe took possession of the royal palace of Milan, he was surprised andoffended at the sight of a picture which represented the Caesars seatedon their throne, and the princes of Scythia prostrate at their feet. The revenge which Attila inflicted on this monument of Roman vanity, washarmless and ingenious. He commanded a painter to reverse the figuresand the attitudes; and the emperors were delineated on the same canvas, approaching in a suppliant posture to empty their bags of tributary goldbefore the throne of the Scythian monarch. [52] The spectators must haveconfessed the truth and propriety of the alteration; and were perhapstempted to apply, on this singular occasion, the well-known fable of thedispute between the lion and the man. [53]

[Footnote 48: Machinis constructis, omnibusque tormentorum generibusadhibitis. Jornandes, c. 42, p. 673. In the thirteenth century, theMoguls battered the cities of China with large engines, constructed bythe Mahometans or Christians in their service, which threw stones from150 to 300 pounds weight. In the defence of their country, the Chineseused gunpowder, and even bombs, above a hundred years before theywere known in Europe; yet even those celestial, or infernal, arms wereinsufficient to protect a pusillanimous nation. See Gaubil. Hist. DesMongous, p. 70, 71, 155, 157, &c. ]

[Footnote 49: The same story is told by Jornandes, and by Procopius, (deBell Vandal. L. I. C. 4, p. 187, 188:) nor is it easy to decide whichis the original. But the Greek historian is guilty of an inexcusablemistake, in placing the siege of Aquileia after the death of Aetius. ]

[Footnote 50: Jornandes, about a hundred years afterwards, affirms, that Aquileia was so completely ruined, ita ut vix ejus vestigia, utappareant, reliquerint. See Jornandes de Reb. Geticis, c. 42, p. 673. Paul. Diacon. L. Ii. C. 14, p. 785. Liutprand, Hist. L. Iii. C. 2. Thename of Aquileia was sometimes applied to Forum Julii, (Cividad delFriuli, ) the more recent capital of the Venetian province. * Note:Compare the curious Latin poems on the destruction of Aquileia, published by M. Endlicher in his valuable catalogue of Latin Mss. In thelibrary of Vienna, p. 298, &c. 

 Repleta quondam domibus sublimibus, ornatis mire, niveis, marmorels, Nune ferax frugum metiris funiculo ruricolarum. 

The monkish poet has his consolation in Attila's sufferings in soul andbody. 

 Vindictam tamen non evasit impius destructor tuus Attila sevissimus, Nunc igni simul gehennae et vermibus excruciatur--P. 290. --M. ]

[Footnote 51: In describing this war of Attila, a war so famous, but soimperfectly known, I have taken for my guides two learned Italians, who considered the subject with some peculiar advantages; Sigonius, de Imperio Occidentali, l. Xiii. In his works, tom. I. P. 495-502; andMuratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. Iv. P. 229-236, 8vo. Edition. ]

[Footnote 52: This anecdote may be found under two different articles ofthe miscellaneous compilation of Suidas. ]

[Footnote 53:

 Leo respondit, humana, hoc pictum manu: Videres hominem dejectum, si pingere Leones scirent. --Appendix ad Phaedrum, Fab. Xxv. 

The lion in Phaedrus very foolishly appeals from pictures to theamphitheatre; and I am glad to observe, that the native taste of LaFontaine (l. Iii. Fable x. ) has omitted this most lame and impotentconclusion. ]

It is a saying worthy of the ferocious pride of Attila, that thegrass never grew on the spot where his horse had trod. Yet the savagedestroyer undesignedly laid the foundation of a republic, whichrevived, in the feudal state of Europe, the art and spirit of commercialindustry. The celebrated name of Venice, or Venetia, [54] was formerlydiffused over a large and fertile province of Italy, from the confinesof Pannonia to the River Addua, and from the Po to the Rhaetian andJulian Alps. Before the irruption of the Barbarians, fifty Venetiancities flourished in peace and prosperity: Aquileia was placed in themost conspicuous station: but the ancient dignity of Padua was supportedby agriculture and manufactures; and the property of five hundredcitizens, who were entitled to the equestrian rank, must have amounted, at the strictest computation, to one million seven hundred thousandpounds. Many families of Aquileia, Padua, and the adjacent towns, whofled from the sword of the Huns, found a safe, though obscure, refugein the neighboring islands. [55] At the extremity of the Gulf, where theAdriatic feebly imitates the tides of the ocean, near a hundred smallislands are separated by shallow water from the continent, and protectedfrom the waves by several long slips of land, which admit the entranceof vessels through some secret and narrow channels. [56] Till themiddle of the fifth century, these remote and sequestered spots remainedwithout cultivation, with few inhabitants, and almost without aname. But the manners of the Venetian fugitives, their arts and theirgovernment, were gradually formed by their new situation; and one ofthe epistles of Cassiodorus, [57] which describes their condition aboutseventy years afterwards, may be considered as the primitive monumentof the republic. [571] The minister of Theodoric compares them, in hisquaint declamatory style, to water-fowl, who had fixed their nestson the bosom of the waves; and though he allows, that the Venetianprovinces had formerly contained many noble families, he insinuates, that they were now reduced by misfortune to the same level of humblepoverty. Fish was the common, and almost the universal, food of everyrank: their only treasure consisted in the plenty of salt, which theyextracted from the sea: and the exchange of that commodity, so essentialto human life, was substituted in the neighboring markets to thecurrency of gold and silver. A people, whose habitations might bedoubtfully assigned to the earth or water, soon became alike familiarwith the two elements; and the demands of avarice succeeded to those ofnecessity. The islanders, who, from Grado to Chiozza, were intimatelyconnected with each other, penetrated into the heart of Italy, by thesecure, though laborious, navigation of the rivers and inland canals. Their vessels, which were continually increasing in size and number, visited all the harbors of the Gulf; and the marriage which Veniceannually celebrates with the Adriatic, was contracted in her earlyinfancy. The epistle of Cassiodorus, the Praetorian praefect, isaddressed to the maritime tribunes; and he exhorts them, in a mild toneof authority, to animate the zeal of their countrymen for the publicservice, which required their assistance to transport the magazines ofwine and oil from the province of Istria to the royal city of Ravenna. The ambiguous office of these magistrates is explained by the tradition, that, in the twelve principal islands, twelve tribunes, or judges, werecreated by an annual and popular election. The existence of the Venetianrepublic under the Gothic kingdom of Italy, is attested by the sameauthentic record, which annihilates their lofty claim of original andperpetual independence. [58]

[Footnote 54: Paul the Deacon (de Gestis Langobard. L. Ii. C. 14, p. 784) describes the provinces of Italy about the end of the eighthcentury Venetia non solum in paucis insulis quas nunc Venetias dicimus, constat; sed ejus terminus a Pannoniae finibus usque Adduam fluviumprotelatur. The history of that province till the age of Charlemagneforms the first and most interesting part of the Verona (Illustrata, p. 1-388, ) in which the marquis Scipio Maffei has shown himself equallycapable of enlarged views and minute disquisitions. ]

[Footnote 55: This emigration is not attested by any contemporaryevidence; but the fact is proved by the event, and the circumstancesmight be preserved by tradition. The citizens of Aquileia retired to theIsle of Gradus, those of Padua to Rivus Altus, or Rialto, where the cityof Venice was afterwards built, &c. ]

[Footnote 56: The topography and antiquities of the Venetian islands, from Gradus to Clodia, or Chioggia, are accurately stated in theDissertatio Chorographica de Italia Medii Aevi. P. 151-155. ]

[Footnote 57: Cassiodor. Variar. L. Xii. Epist. 24. Maffei (VeronaIllustrata, part i. P. 240-254) has translated and explained thiscurious letter, in the spirit of a learned antiquarian and a faithfulsubject, who considered Venice as the only legitimate offspring of theRoman republic. He fixes the date of the epistle, and consequently thepraefecture, of Cassiodorus, A. D. 523; and the marquis's authority hasthe more weight, as he prepared an edition of his works, and actuallypublished a dissertation on the true orthography of his name. SeeOsservazioni Letterarie, tom. Ii. P. 290-339. ]

[Footnote 571: The learned count Figliasi has proved, in his memoirsupon the Veneti (Memorie de' Veneti primi e secondi del conte Figliasi, t. Vi. Veneziai, 796, ) that from the most remote period, this nation, which occupied the country which has since been called the VenetianStates or Terra Firma, likewise inhabited the islands scattered uponthe coast, and that from thence arose the names of Venetia prima andsecunda, of which the first applied to the main land and the secondto the islands and lagunes. From the time of the Pelasgi and of theEtrurians, the first Veneti, inhabiting a fertile and pleasant country, devoted themselves to agriculture: the second, placed in the midstof canals, at the mouth of several rivers, conveniently situated withregard to the islands of Greece, as well as the fertile plains of Italy, applied themselves to navigation and commerce. Both submitted to theRomans a short time before the second Punic war; yet it was not tillafter the victory of Marius over the Cimbri, that their country wasreduced to a Roman province. Under the emperors, Venetia Prima obtainedmore than once, by its calamities, a place in history. * * But themaritime province was occupied in salt works, fisheries, and commerce. The Romans have considered the inhabitants of this part as beneath thedignity of history, and have left them in obscurity. * * * They dweltthere until the period when their islands afforded a retreat to theirruined and fugitive compatriots. Sismondi. Hist. Des Rep. Italiens, v. I. P. 313. --G. ----Compare, on the origin of Venice, Daru, Hist. DeVenise, vol. I. C. L. --M. ]

[Footnote 58: See, in the second volume of Amelot de la Houssaie, Histoire du Gouvernement de Venise, a translation of the famousSquittinio. This book, which has been exalted far above its merits, isstained, in every line, with the disingenuous malevolence of party: butthe principal evidence, genuine and apocryphal, is brought together andthe reader will easily choose the fair medium. ]

The Italians, who had long since renounced the exercise of arms, weresurprised, after forty years' peace, by the approach of a formidableBarbarian, whom they abhorred, as the enemy of their religion, as wellas of their republic. Amidst the general consternation, Aetius alone wasincapable of fear; but it was impossible that he should achieve, aloneand unassisted, any military exploits worthy of his former renown. TheBarbarians who had defended Gaul, refused to march to the relief ofItaly; and the succors promised by the Eastern emperor were distantand doubtful. Since Aetius, at the head of his domestic troops, stillmaintained the field, and harassed or retarded the march of Attila, henever showed himself more truly great, than at the time when his conductwas blamed by an ignorant and ungrateful people. [59] If the mind ofValentinian had been susceptible of any generous sentiments, he wouldhave chosen such a general for his example and his guide. But the timidgrandson of Theodosius, instead of sharing the dangers, escaped fromthe sound of war; and his hasty retreat from Ravenna to Rome, from animpregnable fortress to an open capital, betrayed his secret intentionof abandoning Italy, as soon as the danger should approach his Imperialperson. This shameful abdication was suspended, however, by the spiritof doubt and delay, which commonly adheres to pusillanimous counsels, and sometimes corrects their pernicious tendency. The Western emperor, with the senate and people of Rome, embraced the more salutaryresolution of deprecating, by a solemn and suppliant embassy, the wrathof Attila. This important commission was accepted by Avienus, who, fromhis birth and riches, his consular dignity, the numerous train of hisclients, and his personal abilities, held the first rank in the Romansenate. The specious and artful character of Avienus [60] was admirablyqualified to conduct a negotiation either of public or private interest:his colleague Trigetius had exercised the Praetorian praefecture ofItaly; and Leo, bishop of Rome, consented to expose his life for thesafety of his flock. The genius of Leo [61] was exercised and displayedin the public misfortunes; and he has deserved the appellation of Great, by the successful zeal with which he labored to establish his opinionsand his authority, under the venerable names of orthodox faith andecclesiastical discipline. The Roman ambassadors were introduced to thetent of Attila, as he lay encamped at the place where the slow-windingMincius is lost in the foaming waves of the Lake Benacus, [62] andtrampled, with his Scythian cavalry, the farms of Catullus and Virgil. [63] The Barbarian monarch listened with favorable, and even respectful, attention; and the deliverance of Italy was purchased by the immenseransom, or dowry, of the princess Honoria. The state of his army mightfacilitate the treaty, and hasten his retreat. Their martial spirit wasrelaxed by the wealth and idolence of a warm climate. The shepherds ofthe North, whose ordinary food consisted of milk and raw flesh, indulgedthemselves too freely in the use of bread, of wine, and of meat, prepared and seasoned by the arts of cookery; and the progress ofdisease revenged in some measure the injuries of the Italians. [64] WhenAttila declared his resolution of carrying his victorious arms to thegates of Rome, he was admonished by his friends, as well as by hisenemies, that Alaric had not long survived the conquest of the eternalcity. His mind, superior to real danger, was assaulted by imaginaryterrors; nor could he escape the influence of superstition, which hadso often been subservient to his designs. [65] The pressing eloquence ofLeo, his majestic aspect and sacerdotal robes, excited the veneration ofAttila for the spiritual father of the Christians. The apparition ofthe two apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, who menaced the Barbarian withinstant death, if he rejected the prayer of their successor, is oneof the noblest legends of ecclesiastical tradition. The safety of Romemight deserve the interposition of celestial beings; and some indulgenceis due to a fable, which has been represented by the pencil of Raphael, and the chisel of Algardi. [66]

[Footnote 59: Sirmond (Not. Ad Sidon. Apollin. P. 19) has published acurious passage from the Chronicle of Prosper. Attila, redintegratisviribus, quas in Gallia amiserat, Italiam ingredi per Pannoniasintendit; nihil duce nostro Aetio secundum prioris belli operaprospiciente, &c. He reproaches Aetius with neglecting to guard theAlps, and with a design to abandon Italy; but this rash censure may atleast be counterbalanced by the favorable testimonies of Idatius andIsidore. ]

[Footnote 60: See the original portraits of Avienus and his rivalBasilius, delineated and contrasted in the epistles (i. 9. P. 22) ofSidonius. He had studied the characters of the two chiefs of the senate;but he attached himself to Basilius, as the more solid and disinterestedfriend. ]

[Footnote 61: The character and principles of Leo may be traced inone hundred and forty-one original epistles, which illustrate theecclesiastical history of his long and busy pontificate, from A. D. 440to 461. See Dupin, Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. Iii. Part ii p. 120-165. ]

[Footnote 62:

 Tardis ingens ubi flexibus errat Mincius, et tenera praetexit arundine ripas ------- Anne lacus tantos, te Lari maxime, teque Fluctibus, et fremitu assurgens Benace marino. ]

[Footnote 63: The marquis Maffei (Verona Illustrata, part i. P. 95, 129, 221, part ii. P. 2, 6) has illustrated with taste and learning thisinteresting topography. He places the interview of Attila and St. Leonear Ariolica, or Ardelica, now Peschiera, at the conflux of the lakeand river; ascertains the villa of Catullus, in the delightful peninsulaof Sirmio, and discovers the Andes of Virgil, in the village of Bandes, precisely situate, qua se subducere colles incipiunt, where the Veronesehills imperceptibly slope down into the plain of Mantua. * Note: Gibbonhas made a singular mistake: the Mincius flows out of the Bonacusat Peschiera, not into it. The interview is likewise placed at PonteMolino. And at Governolo, at the conflux of the Mincio and the Gonzaga. Bishop of Mantua, erected a tablet in the year 1616, in the church ofthe latter place, commemorative of the event. Descrizione di Verona a dela sua provincia. C. 11, p. 126. --M. ]

[Footnote 64: Si statim infesto agmine urbem petiissent, grandediscrimen esset: sed in Venetia quo fere tractu Italia mollissima est, ipsa soli coelique clementia robur elanquit. Ad hoc panis usu carnisquecoctae, et dulcedine vini mitigatos, &c. This passage of Florus (iii. 3) is still more applicable to the Huns than to the Cimbri, and it mayserve as a commentary on the celestial plague, with which Idatius andIsidore have afflicted the troops of Attila. ]

[Footnote 65: The historian Priscus had positively mentioned the effectwhich this example produced on the mind of Attila. Jornandes, c. 42, p. 673]

[Footnote 66: The picture of Raphael is in the Vatican; the basso (orperhaps the alto) relievo of Algardi, on one of the altars of St. Peter, (see Dubos, Reflexions sur la Poesie et sur la Peinture, tom. I. P. 519, 520. ) Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 452, No. 57, 58) bravely sustainsthe truth of the apparition; which is rejected, however, by the mostlearned and pious Catholics. ]

Before the king of the Huns evacuated Italy, he threatened to returnmore dreadful, and more implacable, if his bride, the princess Honoria, were not delivered to his ambassadors within the term stipulated by thetreaty. Yet, in the mean while, Attila relieved his tender anxiety, by adding a beautiful maid, whose name was Ildico, to the list of hisinnumerable wives. [67] Their marriage was celebrated with barbaric pompand festivity, at his wooden palace beyond the Danube; and the monarch, oppressed with wine and sleep, retired at a late hour from the banquetto the nuptial bed. His attendants continued to respect his pleasures, or his repose, the greatest part of the ensuing day, till the unusualsilence alarmed their fears and suspicions; and, after attempting toawaken Attila by loud and repeated cries, they at length broke into theroyal apartment. They found the trembling bride sitting by the bedside, hiding her face with her veil, and lamenting her own danger, as well asthe death of the king, who had expired during the night. [68] An arteryhad suddenly burst: and as Attila lay in a supine posture, he wassuffocated by a torrent of blood, which, instead of finding a passagethrough the nostrils, regurgitated into the lungs and stomach. His bodywas solemnly exposed in the midst of the plain, under a silken pavilion;and the chosen squadrons of the Huns, wheeling round in measuredevolutions, chanted a funeral song to the memory of a hero, glorious inhis life, invincible in his death, the father of his people, the scourgeof his enemies, and the terror of the world. According to their nationalcustom, the Barbarians cut off a part of their hair, gashed their faceswith unseemly wounds, and bewailed their valiant leader as he deserved, not with the tears of women, but with the blood of warriors. The remainsof Attila were enclosed within three coffins, of gold, of silver, andof iron, and privately buried in the night: the spoils of nations werethrown into his grave; the captives who had opened the ground wereinhumanly massacred; and the same Huns, who had indulged such excessivegrief, feasted, with dissolute and intemperate mirth, about the recentsepulchre of their king. It was reported at Constantinople, that on thefortunate night on which he expired, Marcian beheld in a dream the bowof Attila broken asunder: and the report may be allowed to prove, howseldom the image of that formidable Barbarian was absent from the mindof a Roman emperor. [69]

[Footnote 67: Attila, ut Priscus historicus refert, extinctionis suaetempore, puellam Ildico nomine, decoram, valde, sibi matrimonium postinnumerabiles uxores. .. Socians. Jornandes, c. 49, p. 683, 684. 

He afterwards adds, (c. 50, p. 686, ) Filii Attilae, quorum per licentiamlibidinis poene populus fuit. Polygamy has been established among theTartars of every age. The rank of plebeian wives is regulated only bytheir personal charms; and the faded matron prepares, without a murmur, the bed which is destined for her blooming rival. But in royal families, the daughters of Khans communicate to their sons a prior right. SeeGenealogical History, p. 406, 407, 408. ]

[Footnote 68: The report of her guilt reached Constantinople, whereit obtained a very different name; and Marcellinus observes, that thetyrant of Europe was slain in the night by the hand, and the knife, ofa woman Corneille, who has adapted the genuine account to his tragedy, describes the irruption of blood in forty bombast lines, and Attilaexclaims, with ridiculous fury, S'il ne veut s'arreter, (his blood. ) (Dit-il) on me payera ce qui m'en va couter. ]

[Footnote 69: The curious circumstances of the death and funeral ofAttila are related by Jornandes, (c. 49, p. 683, 684, 685, ) and wereprobably transcribed from Priscus. ]

The revolution which subverted the empire of the Huns, established thefame of Attila, whose genius alone had sustained the huge and disjointedfabric. After his death, the boldest chieftains aspired to the rank ofkings; the most powerful kings refused to acknowledge a superior; andthe numerous sons, whom so many various mothers bore to the deceasedmonarch, divided and disputed, like a private inheritance, the sovereigncommand of the nations of Germany and Scythia. The bold Ardaric felt andrepresented the disgrace of this servile partition; and his subjects, the warlike Gepidae, with the Ostrogoths, under the conduct of threevaliant brothers, encouraged their allies to vindicate the rights offreedom and royalty. In a bloody and decisive conflict on the banks ofthe River Netad, in Pannonia, the lance of the Gepidae, the sword of theGoths, the arrows of the Huns, the Suevic infantry, the light arms ofthe Heruli, and the heavy weapons of the Alani, encountered or supportedeach other; and the victory of the Ardaric was accompanied with theslaughter of thirty thousand of his enemies. Ellac, the eldest son ofAttila, lost his life and crown in the memorable battle of Netad: hisearly valor had raised him to the throne of the Acatzires, a Scythianpeople, whom he subdued; and his father, who loved the superior merit, would have envied the death of Ellac. [70] His brother, Dengisich, withan army of Huns, still formidable in their flight and ruin, maintainedhis ground above fifteen years on the banks of the Danube. The palace ofAttila, with the old country of Dacia, from the Carpathian hills to theEuxine, became the seat of a new power, which was erected by Ardaric, king of the Gepidae. The Pannonian conquests from Vienna to Sirmium, were occupied by the Ostrogoths; and the settlements of the tribes, who had so bravely asserted their native freedom, were irregularlydistributed, according to the measure of their respective strength. Surrounded and oppressed by the multitude of his father's slaves, thekingdom of Dengisich was confined to the circle of his wagons; hisdesperate courage urged him to invade the Eastern empire: he fell inbattle; and his head ignominiously exposed in the Hippodrome, exhibiteda grateful spectacle to the people of Constantinople. Attila had fondlyor superstitiously believed, that Irnac, the youngest of his sons, wasdestined to perpetuate the glories of his race. The character of thatprince, who attempted to moderate the rashness of his brother Dengisich, was more suitable to the declining condition of the Huns; and Irnac, with his subject hordes, retired into the heart of the Lesser Scythia. They were soon overwhelmed by a torrent of new Barbarians, who followedthe same road which their own ancestors had formerly discovered. TheGeougen, or Avares, whose residence is assigned by the Greek writers tothe shores of the ocean, impelled the adjacent tribes; till at lengththe Igours of the North, issuing from the cold Siberian regions, whichproduce the most valuable furs, spread themselves over the desert, asfar as the Borysthenes and the Caspian gates; and finally extinguishedthe empire of the Huns. [71]

[Footnote 70: See Jornandes, de Rebus Geticis, c. 50, p. 685, 686, 687, 688. His distinction of the national arms is curious and important. Nan ibi admirandum reor fuisse spectaculum, ubi cernere erat cunctis, pugnantem Gothum ense furentem, Gepidam in vulnere suorum cuncta telafrangentem, Suevum pede, Hunnum sagitta praesumere, Alanum gravi Herulumlevi, armatura, aciem instruere. I am not precisely informed of thesituation of the River Netad. ]

[Footnote 71: Two modern historians have thrown much new light on theruin and division of the empire of Attila; M. De Buat, by his laboriousand minute diligence, (tom. Viii. P. 3-31, 68-94, ) and M. De Guignes, by his extraordinary knowledge of the Chinese language and writers. SeeHist. Des Huns, tom. Ii. P. 315-319. ]

Such an event might contribute to the safety of the Eastern empire, under the reign of a prince who conciliated the friendship, withoutforfeiting the esteem, of the Barbarians. But the emperor of the West, the feeble and dissolute Valentinian, who had reached his thirty-fifthyear without attaining the age of reason or courage, abused thisapparent security, to undermine the foundations of his own throne, bythe murder of the patrician Aetius. From the instinct of a base andjealous mind, he hated the man who was universally celebrated as theterror of the Barbarians, and the support of the republic; [711] and hisnew favorite, the eunuch Heraclius, awakened the emperor from the supinelethargy, which might be disguised, during the life of Placidia, [72] bythe excuse of filial piety. The fame of Aetius, his wealth and dignity, the numerous and martial train of Barbarian followers, his powerfuldependants, who filled the civil offices of the state, and the hopes ofhis son Gaudentius, who was already contracted to Eudoxia, the emperor'sdaughter, had raised him above the rank of a subject. The ambitiousdesigns, of which he was secretly accused, excited the fears, as wellas the resentment, of Valentinian. Aetius himself, supported by theconsciousness of his merit, his services, and perhaps his innocence, seems to have maintained a haughty and indiscreet behavior. Thepatrician offended his sovereign by a hostile declaration; he aggravatedthe offence, by compelling him to ratify, with a solemn oath, a treatyof reconciliation and alliance; he proclaimed his suspicions, heneglected his safety; and from a vain confidence that the enemy, whomhe despised, was incapable even of a manly crime, he rashly ventured hisperson in the palace of Rome. Whilst he urged, perhaps with intemperatevehemence, the marriage of his son; Valentinian, drawing his sword, thefirst sword he had ever drawn, plunged it in the breast of a general whohad saved his empire: his courtiers and eunuchs ambitiously struggledto imitate their master; and Aetius, pierced with a hundred wounds, fell dead in the royal presence. Boethius, the Praetorian praefect, waskilled at the same moment, and before the event could be divulged, theprincipal friends of the patrician were summoned to the palace, andseparately murdered. The horrid deed, palliated by the specious namesof justice and necessity, was immediately communicated by the emperorto his soldiers, his subjects, and his allies. The nations, who werestrangers or enemies to Aetius, generously deplored the unworthy fate ofa hero: the Barbarians, who had been attached to his service, dissembledtheir grief and resentment: and the public contempt, which had been solong entertained for Valentinian, was at once converted into deep anduniversal abhorrence. Such sentiments seldom pervade the walls of apalace; yet the emperor was confounded by the honest reply of a Roman, whose approbation he had not disdained to solicit. "I am ignorant, sir, of your motives or provocations; I only know, that you have acted like aman who cuts off his right hand with his left. " [73]

[Footnote 711: The praises awarded by Gibbon to the character of Aetiushave been animadverted upon with great severity. (See Mr. Herbert'sAttila. P. 321. ) I am not aware that Gibbon has dissembled or palliatedany of the crimes or treasons of Aetius: but his position at the timeof his murder was certainly that of the preserver of the empire, theconqueror of the most dangerous of the barbarians: it is by no meansclear that he was not "innocent" of any treasonable designs againstValentinian. If the early acts of his life, the introduction of the Hunsinto Italy, and of the Vandals into Africa, were among the proximatecauses of the ruin of the empire, his murder was the signal for itsalmost immediate downfall. --M. ]

[Footnote 72: Placidia died at Rome, November 27, A. D. 450. She wasburied at Ravenna, where her sepulchre, and even her corpse, seated ina chair of cypress wood, were preserved for ages. The empress receivedmany compliments from the orthodox clergy; and St. Peter Chrysologusassured her, that her zeal for the Trinity had been recompensed by anaugust trinity of children. See Tillemont, Uist. Jer Emp. Tom. Vi. P. 240. ]

[Footnote 73: Aetium Placidus mactavit semivir amens, is the expressionof Sidonius, (Panegyr. Avit. 359. ) The poet knew the world, and was notinclined to flatter a minister who had injured or disgraced Avitus andMajorian, the successive heroes of his song. ]

The luxury of Rome seems to have attracted the long and frequent visitsof Valentinian; who was consequently more despised at Rome than in anyother part of his dominions. A republican spirit was insensibly revivedin the senate, as their authority, and even their supplies, becamenecessary for the support of his feeble government. The stately demeanoof an hereditary monarch offended their pride; and the pleasures ofValentinian were injurious to the peace and honor of noble families. Thebirth of the empress Eudoxia was equal to his own, and her charms andtender affection deserved those testimonies of love which her inconstanthusband dissipated in vague and unlawful amours. Petronius Maximus, awealthy senator of the Anician family, who had been twice consul, waspossessed of a chaste and beautiful wife: her obstinate resistanceserved only to irritate the desires of Valentinian; and he resolved toaccomplish them, either by stratagem or force. Deep gaming was one ofthe vices of the court: the emperor, who, by chance or contrivance, hadgained from Maximus a considerable sum, uncourteously exacted his ringas a security for the debt; and sent it by a trusty messenger to hiswife, with an order, in her husband's name, that she should immediatelyattend the empress Eudoxia. The unsuspecting wife of Maximus wasconveyed in her litter to the Imperial palace; the emissaries of herimpatient lover conducted her to a remote and silent bed-chamber; andValentinian violated, without remorse, the laws of hospitality. Hertears, when she returned home, her deep affliction, and her bitterreproaches against a husband whom she considered as the accomplice ofhis own shame, excited Maximus to a just revenge; the desire of revengewas stimulated by ambition; and he might reasonably aspire, by the freesuffrage of the Roman senate, to the throne of a detested and despicablerival. Valentinian, who supposed that every human breast was devoid, like his own, of friendship and gratitude, had imprudently admittedamong his guards several domestics and followers of Aetius. Twoof these, of Barbarian race were persuaded to execute a sacred andhonorable duty, by punishing with death the assassin of their patron;and their intrepid courage did not long expect a favorable moment. Whilst Valentinian amused himself, in the field of Mars, with thespectacle of some military sports, they suddenly rushed upon him withdrawn weapons, despatched the guilty Heraclius, and stabbed the emperorto the heart, without the least opposition from his numerous train, who seemed to rejoice in the tyrant's death. Such was the fate ofValentinian the Third, [74] the last Roman emperor of the family ofTheodosius. He faithfully imitated the hereditary weakness of his cousinand his two uncles, without inheriting the gentleness, the purity, theinnocence, which alleviate, in their characters, the want of spirit andability. Valentinian was less excusable, since he had passions, withoutvirtues: even his religion was questionable; and though he neverdeviated into the paths of heresy, he scandalized the pious Christiansby his attachment to the profane arts of magic and divination. 

[Footnote 74: With regard to the cause and circumstances of the deathsof Aetius and Valentinian, our information is dark and imperfect. Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 4, p. 186, 187, 188) is a fabulouswriter for the events which precede his own memory. His narrative musttherefore be supplied and corrected by five or six Chronicles, none ofwhich were composed in Rome or Italy; and which can only express, inbroken sentences, the popular rumors, as they were conveyed to Gaul, Spain, Africa, Constantinople, or Alexandria. ]

As early as the time of Cicero and Varro, it was the opinion ofthe Roman augurs, that the twelve vultures which Romulus had seen, represented the twelve centuries, assigned for the fatal period of hiscity. [75] This prophecy, disregarded perhaps in the season of healthand prosperity, inspired the people with gloomy apprehensions, whenthe twelfth century, clouded with disgrace and misfortune, was almostelapsed; [76] and even posterity must acknowledge with some surprise, that the arbitrary interpretation of an accidental or fabulouscircumstance has been seriously verified in the downfall of the Westernempire. But its fall was announced by a clearer omen than the flight ofvultures: the Roman government appeared every day less formidable to itsenemies, more odious and oppressive to its subjects. [77] The taxes weremultiplied with the public distress; economy was neglected in proportionas it became necessary; and the injustice of the rich shifted theunequal burden from themselves to the people, whom they defrauded ofthe indulgences that might sometimes have alleviated their misery. Thesevere inquisition which confiscated their goods, and tortured theirpersons, compelled the subjects of Valentinian to prefer the more simpletyranny of the Barbarians, to fly to the woods and mountains, or toembrace the vile and abject condition of mercenary servants. Theyabjured and abhorred the name of Roman citizens, which had formerlyexcited the ambition of mankind. The Armorican provinces of Gaul, andthe greatest part of Spain, were-thrown into a state of disorderlyindependence, by the confederations of the Bagaudae; and the Imperialministers pursued with proscriptive laws, and ineffectual arms, therebels whom they had made. [78] If all the Barbarian conquerors had beenannihilated in the same hour, their total destruction would not haverestored the empire of the West: and if Rome still survived, shesurvived the loss of freedom, of virtue, and of honor. 

[Footnote 75: This interpretation of Vettius, a celebrated augur, wasquoted by Varro, in the xviiith book of his Antiquities. Censorinus, deDie Natali, c. 17, p. 90, 91, edit. Havercamp. ]

[Footnote 76: According to Varro, the twelfth century would expireA. D. 447, but the uncertainty of the true aera of Rome might allow somelatitude of anticipation or delay. The poets of the age, Claudian (deBell Getico, 265) and Sidonius, (in Panegyr. Avit. 357, ) may be admittedas fair witnesses of the popular opinion. 

 Jam reputant annos, interceptoque volatu Vulturis, incidunt properatis saecula metis. . .. .. .. Jam prope fata tui bissenas Vulturis alas Implebant; seis namque tuos, scis, Roma, labores. --See Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. I. P. 340-346. ]

[Footnote 77: The fifth book of Salvian is filled with patheticlamentations and vehement invectives. His immoderate freedom serves toprove the weakness, as well as the corruption, of the Roman government. His book was published after the loss of Africa, (A. D. 439, ) and beforeAttila's war, (A. D. 451. )]

[Footnote 78: The Bagaudae of Spain, who fought pitched battles withthe Roman troops, are repeatedly mentioned in the Chronicle of Idatius. Salvian has described their distress and rebellion in very forciblelanguage. Itaque nomen civium Romanorum. .. Nunc ultro repudiatur acfugitur, nec vile tamen sed etiam abominabile poene habetur. .. Et hincest ut etiam hi quid ad Barbaros non confugiunt, Barbari tamenesse coguntur, scilicet ut est pars magna Hispanorum, et non minimaGallorum. .. . De Bagaudis nunc mihi sermo est, qui per malos judiceset cruentos spoliati, afflicti, necati postquam jus Romanae libertatisamiserant, etiam honorem Romani nominis perdiderunt. .. . Vocamusrabelles, vocamus perditos quos esse compulimua criminosos. De Gubernat. Dei, l. V. P. 158, 159. ]

Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire. --Part I. 

 Sack Of Rome By Genseric, King Of The Vandals. --His Naval Depredations. --Succession Of The Last Emperors Of The West, Maximus, Avitus, Majorian, Severus, Anthemius, Olybrius, Glycerius, Nepos, Augustulus. --Total Extinction Of The Western Empire. --Reign Of Odoacer, The First Barbarian King Of Italy. 

The loss or desolation of the provinces, from the Ocean to the Alps, impaired the glory and greatness of Rome: her internal prosperity wasirretrievably destroyed by the separation of Africa. The rapaciousVandals confiscated the patrimonial estates of the senators, andintercepted the regular subsidies, which relieved the poverty andencouraged the idleness of the plebeians. The distress of the Romanswas soon aggravated by an unexpected attack; and the province, so longcultivated for their use by industrious and obedient subjects, wasarmed against them by an ambitious Barbarian. The Vandals and Alani, whofollowed the successful standard of Genseric, had acquired a rich andfertile territory, which stretched along the coast above ninety days'journey from Tangier to Tripoli; but their narrow limits were pressedand confined, on either side, by the sandy desert and the Mediterranean. The discovery and conquest of the Black nations, that might dwellbeneath the torrid zone, could not tempt the rational ambition ofGenseric; but he cast his eyes towards the sea; he resolved to create anaval power, and his bold resolution was executed with steady and activeperseverance. 

The woods of Mount Atlas afforded an inexhaustible nursery oftimber: his new subjects were skilled in the arts of navigation andship-building; he animated his daring Vandals to embrace a mode ofwarfare which would render every maritime country accessible to theirarms; the Moors and Africans were allured by the hopes of plunder; and, after an interval of six centuries, the fleets that issued from the portof Carthage again claimed the empire of the Mediterranean. The successof the Vandals, the conquest of Sicily, the sack of Palermo, and thefrequent descents on the coast of Lucania, awakened and alarmed themother of Valentinian, and the sister of Theodosius. Alliances wereformed; and armaments, expensive and ineffectual, were prepared, for thedestruction of the common enemy; who reserved his courage to encounterthose dangers which his policy could not prevent or elude. The designsof the Roman government were repeatedly baffled by his artful delays, ambiguous promises, and apparent concessions; and the interposition ofhis formidable confederate, the king of the Huns, recalled the emperorsfrom the conquest of Africa to the care of their domestic safety. Therevolutions of the palace, which left the Western empire without adefender, and without a lawful prince, dispelled the apprehensions, andstimulated the avarice, of Genseric. He immediately equipped a numerousfleet of Vandals and Moors, and cast anchor at the mouth of the Tyber, about three months after the death of Valentinian, and the elevation ofMaximus to the Imperial throne. 

The private life of the senator Petronius Maximus [1] was oftenalleged as a rare example of human felicity. His birth was noble andillustrious, since he descended from the Anician family; his dignitywas supported by an adequate patrimony in land and money; and theseadvantages of fortune were accompanied with liberal arts and decentmanners, which adorn or imitate the inestimable gifts of genius andvirtue. The luxury of his palace and table was hospitable and elegant. Whenever Maximus appeared in public, he was surrounded by a train ofgrateful and obsequious clients; [2] and it is possible that among theseclients, he might deserve and possess some real friends. His merit wasrewarded by the favor of the prince and senate: he thrice exercised theoffice of Praetorian praefect of Italy; he was twice invested with theconsulship, and he obtained the rank of patrician. These civil honorswere not incompatible with the enjoyment of leisure and tranquillity;his hours, according to the demands of pleasure or reason, wereaccurately distributed by a water-clock; and this avarice of time maybe allowed to prove the sense which Maximus entertained of his ownhappiness. The injury which he received from the emperor Valentinianappears to excuse the most bloody revenge. Yet a philosopher might havereflected, that, if the resistance of his wife had been sincere, herchastity was still inviolate, and that it could never be restored ifshe had consented to the will of the adulterer. A patriot wouldhave hesitated before he plunged himself and his country into thoseinevitable calamities which must follow the extinction of the royalhouse of Theodosius. The imprudent Maximus disregarded these salutaryconsiderations; he gratified his resentment and ambition; he saw thebleeding corpse of Valentinian at his feet; and he heard himself salutedEmperor by the unanimous voice of the senate and people. But the day ofhis inauguration was the last day of his happiness. He was imprisoned(such is the lively expression of Sidonius) in the palace; and afterpassing a sleepless night, he sighed that he had attained the summit ofhis wishes, and aspired only to descend from the dangerous elevation. Oppressed by the weight of the diadem, he communicated his anxiousthoughts to his friend and quaestor Fulgentius; and when he looked backwith unavailing regret on the secure pleasures of his former life, theemperor exclaimed, "O fortunate Damocles, [3] thy reign began andended with the same dinner;" a well-known allusion, which Fulgentiusafterwards repeated as an instructive lesson for princes and subjects. 

[Footnote 1: Sidonius Apollinaris composed the thirteenth epistle ofthe second book, to refute the paradox of his friend Serranus, whoentertained a singular, though generous, enthusiasm for the deceasedemperor. This epistle, with some indulgence, may claim the praise ofan elegant composition; and it throws much light on the character ofMaximus. ]

[Footnote 2: Clientum, praevia, pedisequa, circumfusa, populositas, isthe train which Sidonius himself (l. I. Epist. 9) assigns to anothersenator of rank]

[Footnote 3:

 Districtus ensis cui super impia Cervice pendet, non Siculoe dapes Dulcem elaborabunt saporem: Non avium citharaeque cantus Somnum reducent. --Horat. Carm. Iii. 1. 

Sidonius concludes his letter with the story of Damocles, which Cicero(Tusculan. V. 20, 21) had so inimitably told. ]

The reign of Maximus continued about three months. His hours, of whichhe had lost the command, were disturbed by remorse, or guilt, or terror, and his throne was shaken by the seditions of the soldiers, the people, and the confederate Barbarians. The marriage of his son Paladius withthe eldest daughter of the late emperor, might tend to establish thehereditary succession of his family; but the violence which he offeredto the empress Eudoxia, could proceed only from the blind impulse oflust or revenge. His own wife, the cause of these tragic events, hadbeen seasonably removed by death; and the widow of Valentinian wascompelled to violate her decent mourning, perhaps her real grief, and tosubmit to the embraces of a presumptuous usurper, whom she suspectedas the assassin of her deceased husband. These suspicions were soonjustified by the indiscreet confession of Maximus himself; and hewantonly provoked the hatred of his reluctant bride, who was stillconscious that she was descended from a line of emperors. From the East, however, Eudoxia could not hope to obtain any effectual assistance;her father and her aunt Pulcheria were dead; her mother languished atJerusalem in disgrace and exile; and the sceptre of Constantinople wasin the hands of a stranger. She directed her eyes towards Carthage;secretly implored the aid of the king of the Vandals; and persuadedGenseric to improve the fair opportunity of disguising his rapaciousdesigns by the specious names of honor, justice, and compassion. [4]Whatever abilities Maximus might have shown in a subordinate station, he was found incapable of administering an empire; and though he mighteasily have been informed of the naval preparations which were made onthe opposite shores of Africa, he expected with supine indifferencethe approach of the enemy, without adopting any measures of defence, ofnegotiation, or of a timely retreat. When the Vandals disembarked at themouth of the Tyber, the emperor was suddenly roused from his lethargyby the clamors of a trembling and exasperated multitude. The only hopewhich presented itself to his astonished mind was that of a precipitateflight, and he exhorted the senators to imitate the example of theirprince. But no sooner did Maximus appear in the streets, than he wasassaulted by a shower of stones; a Roman, or a Burgundian soldier, claimed the honor of the first wound; his mangled body was ignominiouslycast into the Tyber; the Roman people rejoiced in the punishment whichthey had inflicted on the author of the public calamities; and thedomestics of Eudoxia signalized their zeal in the service of theirmistress. [5]

[Footnote 4: Notwithstanding the evidence of Procopius, Evagrius, Idatius Marcellinus, &c. , the learned Muratori (Annali d'Italia, tom. Iv. P. 249) doubts the reality of this invitation, and observes, withgreat truth, "Non si puo dir quanto sia facile il popolo a sognare espacciar voci false. " But his argument, from the interval of time andplace, is extremely feeble. The figs which grew near Carthage wereproduced to the senate of Rome on the third day. ]

[Footnote 5:

 Infidoque tibi Burgundio ductu Extorquet trepidas mactandi principis iras. ---Sidon. In Panegyr. Avit. 442. 

A remarkable line, which insinuates that Rome and Maximus were betrayedby their Burgundian mercenaries. ]

On the third day after the tumult, Genseric boldly advanced from theport of Ostia to the gates of the defenceless city. Instead of a sallyof the Roman youth, there issued from the gates an unarmed and venerableprocession of the bishop at the head of his clergy. [6] The fearlessspirit of Leo, his authority and eloquence, again mitigated thefierceness of a Barbarian conqueror; the king of the Vandals promised tospare the unresisting multitude, to protect the buildings from fire, and to exempt the captives from torture; and although such orders wereneither seriously given, nor strictly obeyed, the mediation of Leo wasglorious to himself, and in some degree beneficial to his country. ButRome and its inhabitants were delivered to the licentiousness ofthe Vandals and Moors, whose blind passions revenged the injuries ofCarthage. The pillage lasted fourteen days and nights; and all that yetremained of public or private wealth, of sacred or profane treasure, wasdiligently transported to the vessels of Genseric. Among the spoils, thesplendid relics of two temples, or rather of two religions, exhibited amemorable example of the vicissitudes of human and divine things. 

Since the abolition of Paganism, the Capitol had been violated andabandoned; yet the statues of the gods and heroes were still respected, and the curious roof of gilt bronze was reserved for the rapacious handsof Genseric. [7] The holy instruments of the Jewish worship, [8] thegold table, and the gold candlestick with seven branches, originallyframed according to the particular instructions of God himself, and which were placed in the sanctuary of his temple, had beenostentatiously displayed to the Roman people in the triumph of Titus. They were afterwards deposited in the temple of Peace; and at the end offour hundred years, the spoils of Jerusalem were transferred from Rometo Carthage, by a Barbarian who derived his origin from the shoresof the Baltic. These ancient monuments might attract the notice ofcuriosity, as well as of avarice. But the Christian churches, enrichedand adorned by the prevailing superstition of the times, afforded moreplentiful materials for sacrilege; and the pious liberality of Pope Leo, who melted six silver vases, the gift of Constantine, each of a hundredpounds weight, is an evidence of the damage which he attempted torepair. In the forty-five years that had elapsed since the Gothicinvasion, the pomp and luxury of Rome were in some measure restored;and it was difficult either to escape, or to satisfy, the avarice of aconqueror, who possessed leisure to collect, and ships to transport, the wealth of the capital. The Imperial ornaments of the palace, themagnificent furniture and wardrobe, the sideboards of massy plate, wereaccumulated with disorderly rapine; the gold and silver amounted toseveral thousand talents; yet even the brass and copper were laboriouslyremoved. Eudoxia herself, who advanced to meet her friend and deliverer, soon bewailed the imprudence of her own conduct. She was rudely strippedof her jewels; and the unfortunate empress, with her two daughters, the only surviving remains of the great Theodosius, was compelled, as acaptive, to follow the haughty Vandal; who immediately hoisted sail, andreturned with a prosperous navigation to the port of Carthage. [9]Many thousand Romans of both sexes, chosen for some useful or agreeablequalifications, reluctantly embarked on board the fleet of Genseric; andtheir distress was aggravated by the unfeeling Barbarians, who, in thedivision of the booty, separated the wives from their husbands, andthe children from their parents. The charity of Deogratias, bishop ofCarthage, [10] was their only consolation and support. He generouslysold the gold and silver plate of the church to purchase the freedom ofsome, to alleviate the slavery of others, and to assist the wants andinfirmities of a captive multitude, whose health was impaired by thehardships which they had suffered in their passage from Italy to Africa. By his order, two spacious churches were converted into hospitals; thesick were distributed into convenient beds, and liberally supplied withfood and medicines; and the aged prelate repeated his visits both inthe day and night, with an assiduity that surpassed his strength, and atender sympathy which enhanced the value of his services. Compare thisscene with the field of Cannae; and judge between Hannibal and thesuccessor of St. Cyprian. [11]

* [Footnote 6: The apparant success of Pope Leo may be justified byProsper, and the Historia Miscellan. ; but the improbable notion ofBaronius A. D. 455, (No. 13) that Genseric spared the three apostolicalchurches, is not countenanced even by the doubtful testimony of theLiber Pontificalis. ]

[Footnote 7: The profusion of Catulus, the first who gilt the roof ofthe Capitol, was not universally approved, (Plin. Hist. Natur. Xxxiii. 18;) but it was far exceeded by the emperor's, and the externalgilding of the temple cost Domitian 12, 000 talents, (2, 400, 000 L. ) Theexpressions of Claudian and Rutilius (luce metalli oemula. .. . Fastigiaastris, and confunduntque vagos delubra micantia visus) manifestlyprove, that this splendid covering was not removed either by theChristians or the Goths, (see Donatus, Roma Antiqua, l. Ii. C. 6, p. 125. ) It should seem that the roof of the Capitol was decorated withgilt statues, and chariots drawn by four horses. ]

[Footnote 8: The curious reader may consult the learned and accuratetreatise of Hadrian Reland, de Spoliis Templi Hierosolymitani in ArcuTitiano Romae conspicuis, in 12mo. Trajecti ad Rhenum, 1716. ]

[Footnote 9: The vessel which transported the relics of the Capitol wasthe only one of the whole fleet that suffered shipwreck. If a bigotedsophist, a Pagan bigot, had mentioned the accident, he might haverejoiced that this cargo of sacrilege was lost in the sea. ]

[Footnote 10: See Victor Vitensis, de Persecut. Vandal. L. I. C. 8, p. 11, 12, edit. Ruinart. Deogratius governed the church of Carthage onlythree years. If he had not been privately buried, his corpse would havebeen torn piecemeal by the mad devotion of the people. ]

[Footnote 11: The general evidence for the death of Maximus, and thesack of Rome by the Vandals, is comprised in Sidonius, (Panegyr. Avit. 441-450, ) Procopius, (de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 4, 5, p. 188, 189, and l. Ii. C. 9, p. 255, ) Evagrius, (l. Ii. C. 7, ) Jornandes, (deReb. Geticis, c. 45, p. 677, ) and the Chronicles of Idatius, Prosper, Marcellinus, and Theophanes, under the proper year. ]

The deaths of Aetius and Valentinian had relaxed the ties which heldthe Barbarians of Gaul in peace and subordination. The sea-coast wasinfested by the Saxons; the Alemanni and the Franks advanced from theRhine to the Seine; and the ambition of the Goths seemed to meditatemore extensive and permanent conquests. The emperor Maximus relievedhimself, by a judicious choice, from the weight of these distant cares;he silenced the solicitations of his friends, listened to the voice offame, and promoted a stranger to the general command of the forces ofGaul. 

Avitus, [12] the stranger, whose merit was so nobly rewarded, descendedfrom a wealthy and honorable family in the diocese of Auvergne. Theconvulsions of the times urged him to embrace, with the same ardor, thecivil and military professions: and the indefatigable youth blended thestudies of literature and jurisprudence with the exercise of arms andhunting. Thirty years of his life were laudably spent in the publicservice; he alternately displayed his talents in war and negotiation;and the soldier of Aetius, after executing the most important embassies, was raised to the station of Praetorian praefect of Gaul. Either themerit of Avitus excited envy, or his moderation was desirous ofrepose, since he calmly retired to an estate, which he possessed in theneighborhood of Clermont. A copious stream, issuing from the mountain, and falling headlong in many a loud and foaming cascade, dischargedits waters into a lake about two miles in length, and the villa waspleasantly seated on the margin of the lake. The baths, the porticos, the summer and winter apartments, were adapted to the purposes of luxuryand use; and the adjacent country afforded the various prospects ofwoods, pastures, and meodows. [13] In this retreat, where Avitus amusedhis leisure with books, rural sports, the practice of husbandry, andthe society of his friends, [14] he received the Imperial diploma, whichconstituted him master-general of the cavalry and infantry of Gaul. Heassumed the military command; the Barbarians suspended their fury; andwhatever means he might employ, whatever concessions he might be forcedto make, the people enjoyed the benefits of actual tranquillity. Butthe fate of Gaul depended on the Visigoths; and the Roman general, lessattentive to his dignity than to the public interest, did not disdain tovisit Thoulouse in the character of an ambassador. He was received withcourteous hospitality by Theodoric, the king of the Goths; but whileAvitus laid the foundations of a solid alliance with that powerfulnation, he was astonished by the intelligence, that the emperor Maximuswas slain, and that Rome had been pillaged by the Vandals. A vacantthrone, which he might ascend without guilt or danger, tempted hisambition; [15] and the Visigoths were easily persuaded to support hisclaim by their irresistible suffrage. They loved the person of Avitus;they respected his virtues; and they were not insensible of theadvantage, as well as honor, of giving an emperor to the West. Theseason was now approaching, in which the annual assembly of the sevenprovinces was held at Arles; their deliberations might perhaps beinfluenced by the presence of Theodoric and his martial brothers; buttheir choice would naturally incline to the most illustrious of theircountrymen. Avitus, after a decent resistance, accepted the Imperialdiadem from the representatives of Gaul; and his election was ratifiedby the acclamations of the Barbarians and provincials. The formalconsent of Marcian, emperor of the East, was solicited and obtained; butthe senate, Rome, and Italy, though humbled by their recent calamities, submitted with a secret murmur to the presumption of the Gallic usurper. 

[Footnote 12: The private life and elevation of Avitus must be deduced, with becoming suspicion, from the panegyric pronounced by SidoniusApollinaris, his subject, and his son-in-law. ]

[Footnote 13: After the example of the younger Pliny, Sidonius (l. Ii. C. 2) has labored the florid, prolix, and obscure description of hisvilla, which bore the name, (Avitacum, ) and had been the property ofAvitus. The precise situation is not ascertained. Consult, however, thenotes of Savaron and Sirmond. ]

[Footnote 14: Sidonius (l. Ii. Epist. 9) has described the country lifeof the Gallic nobles, in a visit which he made to his friends, whoseestates were in the neighborhood of Nismes. The morning hours were spentin the sphoeristerium, or tennis-court; or in the library, which wasfurnished with Latin authors, profane and religious; the former for themen, the latter for the ladies. The table was twice served, at dinnerand supper, with hot meat (boiled and roast) and wine. During theintermediate time, the company slept, took the air on horseback, andneed the warm bath. ]

[Footnote 15: Seventy lines of panegyric (505-575) which describe theimportunity of Theodoric and of Gaul, struggling to overcome themodest reluctance of Avitus, are blown away by three words of an honesthistorian. Romanum ambisset Imperium, (Greg. Turon. L. Ii. C. 1l, intom. Ii. P. 168. )]

Theodoric, to whom Avitus was indebted for the purple, had acquiredthe Gothic sceptre by the murder of his elder brother Torismond; and hejustified this atrocious deed by the design which his predecessor hadformed of violating his alliance with the empire. [16] Such a crimemight not be incompatible with the virtues of a Barbarian; butthe manners of Theodoric were gentle and humane; and posterity maycontemplate without terror the original picture of a Gothic king, whomSidonius had intimately observed, in the hours of peace and of socialintercourse. In an epistle, dated from the court of Thoulouse, theorator satisfies the curiosity of one of his friends, in the followingdescription: [17] "By the majesty of his appearance, Theodoric wouldcommand the respect of those who are ignorant of his merit; and althoughhe is born a prince, his merit would dignify a private station. He isof a middle stature, his body appears rather plump than fat, and in hiswell-proportioned limbs agility is united with muscular strength. [18]If you examine his countenance, you will distinguish a high forehead, large shaggy eyebrows, an aquiline nose, thin lips, a regular set ofwhite teeth, and a fair complexion, that blushes more frequently frommodesty than from anger. The ordinary distribution of his time, asfar as it is exposed to the public view, may be concisely represented. Before daybreak, he repairs, with a small train, to his domestic chapel, where the service is performed by the Arian clergy; but those whopresume to interpret his secret sentiments, consider this assiduousdevotion as the effect of habit and policy. The rest of the morning isemployed in the administration of his kingdom. His chair is surroundedby some military officers of decent aspect and behavior: the noisy crowdof his Barbarian guards occupies the hall of audience; but they arenot permitted to stand within the veils or curtains that conceal thecouncil-chamber from vulgar eyes. The ambassadors of the nations aresuccessively introduced: Theodoric listens with attention, answers themwith discreet brevity, and either announces or delays, according to thenature of their business, his final resolution. About eight (the secondhour) he rises from his throne, and visits either his treasury or hisstables. If he chooses to hunt, or at least to exercise himself onhorseback, his bow is carried by a favorite youth; but when the game ismarked, he bends it with his own hand, and seldom misses the object ofhis aim: as a king, he disdains to bear arms in such ignoble warfare;but as a soldier, he would blush to accept any military service which hecould perform himself. On common days, his dinner is not different fromthe repast of a private citizen, but every Saturday, many honorableguests are invited to the royal table, which, on these occasions, isserved with the elegance of Greece, the plenty of Gaul, and the orderand diligence of Italy. [19] The gold or silver plate is less remarkablefor its weight than for the brightness and curious workmanship: thetaste is gratified without the help of foreign and costly luxury; thesize and number of the cups of wine are regulated with a strict regardto the laws of temperance; and the respectful silence that prevails, isinterrupted only by grave and instructive conversation. After dinner, Theodoric sometimes indulges himself in a short slumber; and as soon ashe wakes, he calls for the dice and tables, encourages his friends toforget the royal majesty, and is delighted when they freely express thepassions which are excited by the incidents of play. At this game, whichhe loves as the image of war, he alternately displays his eagerness, hisskill, his patience, and his cheerful temper. If he loses, he laughs;he is modest and silent if he wins. Yet, notwithstanding this seemingindifference, his courtiers choose to solicit any favor in the momentsof victory; and I myself, in my applications to the king, have derivedsome benefit from my losses. [20] About the ninth hour (three o'clock)the tide of business again returns, and flows incessantly till aftersunset, when the signal of the royal supper dismisses the weary crowd ofsuppliants and pleaders. At the supper, a more familiar repast, buffoonsand pantomimes are sometimes introduced, to divert, not to offend, thecompany, by their ridiculous wit: but female singers, and the soft, effeminate modes of music, are severely banished, and such martial tunesas animate the soul to deeds of valor are alone grateful to the earof Theodoric. He retires from table; and the nocturnal guards areimmediately posted at the entrance of the treasury, the palace, and theprivate apartments. "

[Footnote 16: Isidore, archbishop of Seville, who was himself of theblood royal of the Goths, acknowledges, and almost justifies, (Hist. Goth. P. 718, ) the crime which their slave Jornandes had baselydissembled, (c 43, p. 673. )]

[Footnote 17: This elaborate description (l. I. Ep. Ii. P. 2-7) wasdictated by some political motive. It was designed for the public eye, and had been shown by the friends of Sidonius, before it was inserted inthe collection of his epistles. The first book was published separately. See Tillemont, Memoires Eccles. Tom. Xvi. P. 264. ]

[Footnote 18: I have suppressed, in this portrait of Theodoric, severalminute circumstances, and technical phrases, which could be tolerable, or indeed intelligible, to those only who, like the contemporaries ofSidonius, had frequented the markets where naked slaves were exposed tomale, (Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. I. P. 404. )]

[Footnote 19: Videas ibi elegantiam Graecam, abundantiam Gallicanam;celeritatem Italam; publicam pompam, privatam diligentiam, regiamdisciplinam. ]

[Footnote 20: Tunc etiam ego aliquid obsecraturus feliciter vincor, et mihi tabula perit ut causa salvetur. Sidonius of Auvergne was nota subject of Theodoric; but he might be compelled to solicit eitherjustice or favor at the court of Thoulouse. ]

When the king of the Visigoths encouraged Avitus to assume the purple, he offered his person and his forces, as a faithful soldier of therepublic. [21] The exploits of Theodoric soon convinced the world thathe had not degenerated from the warlike virtues of his ancestors. Afterthe establishment of the Goths in Aquitain, and the passage of theVandals into Africa, the Suevi, who had fixed their kingdom in Gallicia, aspired to the conquest of Spain, and threatened to extinguish thefeeble remains of the Roman dominion. The provincials of Carthagena andTarragona, afflicted by a hostile invasion, represented their injuriesand their apprehensions. Count Fronto was despatched, in the name ofthe emperor Avitus, with advantageous offers of peace and alliance; andTheodoric interposed his weighty mediation, to declare, that, unless hisbrother-in-law, the king of the Suevi, immediately retired, he should beobliged to arm in the cause of justice and of Rome. "Tell him, " repliedthe haughty Rechiarius, "that I despise his friendship and his arms; butthat I shall soon try whether he will dare to expect my arrival underthe walls of Thoulouse. " Such a challenge urged Theodoric to preventthe bold designs of his enemy; he passed the Pyrenees at the head ofthe Visigoths: the Franks and Burgundians served under his standard; andthough he professed himself the dutiful servant of Avitus, he privatelystipulated, for himself and his successors, the absolute possessionof his Spanish conquests. The two armies, or rather the two nations, encountered each other on the banks of the River Urbicus, about twelvemiles from Astorga; and the decisive victory of the Goths appeared fora while to have extirpated the name and kingdom of the Suevi. From thefield of battle Theodoric advanced to Braga, their metropolis, whichstill retained the splendid vestiges of its ancient commerce anddignity. [22] His entrance was not polluted with blood; and the Gothsrespected the chastity of their female captives, more especially of theconsecrated virgins: but the greatest part of the clergy and people weremade slaves, and even the churches and altars were confounded in theuniversal pillage. The unfortunate king of the Suevi had escaped to oneof the ports of the ocean; but the obstinacy of the winds opposed hisflight: he was delivered to his implacable rival; and Rechiarius, whoneither desired nor expected mercy, received, with manly constancy, the death which he would probably have inflicted. After this bloodysacrifice to policy or resentment, Theodoric carried his victorious armsas far as Merida, the principal town of Lusitania, without meeting anyresistance, except from the miraculous powers of St. Eulalia; but he wasstopped in the full career of success, and recalled from Spain before hecould provide for the security of his conquests. In his retreat towardsthe Pyrenees, he revenged his disappointment on the country throughwhich he passed; and, in the sack of Pollentia and Astorga, he showedhimself a faithless ally, as well as a cruel enemy. Whilst the king ofthe Visigoths fought and vanquished in the name of Avitus, the reignof Avitus had expired; and both the honor and the interest of Theodoricwere deeply wounded by the disgrace of a friend, whom he had seated onthe throne of the Western empire. [23]

[Footnote 21: Theodoric himself had given a solemn and voluntary promiseof fidelity, which was understood both in Gaul and Spain. 

 Romae sum, te duce, Amicus, Principe te, Miles. Sidon. Panegyr. Avit. 511. ]

[Footnote 22: Quaeque sinu pelagi jactat se Bracara dives. Auson. DeClaris Urbibus, p. 245. ----From the design of the king of the Suevi, it is evident that the navigation from the ports of Gallicia to theMediterranean was known and practised. The ships of Bracara, or Braga, cautiously steered along the coast, without daring to lose themselves inthe Atlantic. ]

[Footnote 23: This Suevic war is the most authentic part of theChronicle of Idatius, who, as bishop of Iria Flavia, was himself aspectator and a sufferer. Jornandes (c. 44, p. 675, 676, 677) hasexpatiated, with pleasure, on the Gothic victory. ]

Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire. --Part II. 

The pressing solicitations of the senate and people persuaded theemperor Avitus to fix his residence at Rome, and to accept theconsulship for the ensuing year. On the first day of January, hisson-in-law, Sidonius Apollinaris, celebrated his praises in a panegyricof six hundred verses; but this composition, though it was rewarded witha brass statue, [24] seems to contain a very moderate proportion, eitherof genius or of truth. The poet, if we may degrade that sacred name, exaggerates the merit of a sovereign and a father; and his prophecy of along and glorious reign was soon contradicted by the event. Avitus, at atime when the Imperial dignity was reduced to a preeminence of toil anddanger, indulged himself in the pleasures of Italian luxury: age had notextinguished his amorous inclinations; and he is accused of insulting, with indiscreet and ungenerous raillery, the husbands whose wives hehad seduced or violated. [25] But the Romans were not inclined eitherto excuse his faults or to acknowledge his virtues. The several partsof the empire became every day more alienated from each other; and thestranger of Gaul was the object of popular hatred and contempt. Thesenate asserted their legitimate claim in the election of an emperor;and their authority, which had been originally derived from the oldconstitution, was again fortified by the actual weakness of a decliningmonarchy. Yet even such a monarchy might have resisted the votes of anunarmed senate, if their discontent had not been supported, or perhapsinflamed, by the Count Ricimer, one of the principal commanders of theBarbarian troops, who formed the military defence of Italy. The daughterof Wallia, king of the Visigoths, was the mother of Ricimer; but he wasdescended, on the father's side, from the nation of the Suevi; [26]his pride or patriotism might be exasperated by the misfortunes ofhis countrymen; and he obeyed, with reluctance, an emperor in whoseelevation he had not been consulted. His faithful and important servicesagainst the common enemy rendered him still more formidable; [27] and, after destroying on the coast of Corsica a fleet of Vandals, whichconsisted of sixty galleys, Ricimer returned in triumph with theappellation of the Deliverer of Italy. He chose that moment to signifyto Avitus, that his reign was at an end; and the feeble emperor, ata distance from his Gothic allies, was compelled, after a short andunavailing struggle to abdicate the purple. By the clemency, however, or the contempt, of Ricimer, [28] he was permitted to descend from thethrone to the more desirable station of bishop of Placentia: but theresentment of the senate was still unsatisfied; and their inflexibleseverity pronounced the sentence of his death He fled towards the Alps, with the humble hope, not of arming the Visigoths in his cause, but ofsecuring his person and treasures in the sanctuary of Julian, one ofthe tutelar saints of Auvergne. [29] Disease, or the hand of theexecutioner, arrested him on the road; yet his remains were decentlytransported to Brivas, or Brioude, in his native province, and hereposed at the feet of his holy patron. [30] Avitus left only onedaughter, the wife of Sidonius Apollinaris, who inherited the patrimonyof his father-in-law; lamenting, at the same time, the disappointmentof his public and private expectations. His resentment prompted him tojoin, or at least to countenance, the measures of a rebellious factionin Gaul; and the poet had contracted some guilt, which it was incumbenton him to expiate, by a new tribute of flattery to the succeedingemperor. [31]

[Footnote 24: In one of the porticos or galleries belonging to Trajan'slibrary, among the statues of famous writers and orators. Sidon. Apoll. L. Ix. Epist, 16, p. 284. Carm. Viii. P. 350. ]

[Footnote 25: Luxuriose agere volens a senatoribus projectus est, is theconcise expression of Gregory of Tours, (l. Ii. C. Xi. In tom. Ii. P. 168. ) An old Chronicle (in tom. Ii. P. 649) mentions an indecent jest ofAvitus, which seems more applicable to Rome than to Treves. ]

[Footnote 26: Sidonius (Panegyr. Anthem. 302, &c. ) praises the royalbirth of Ricimer, the lawful heir, as he chooses to insinuate, both ofthe Gothic and Suevic kingdoms. ]

[Footnote 27: See the Chronicle of Idatius. Jornandes (c. Xliv. P. 676)styles him, with some truth, virum egregium, et pene tune in Italia adex ercitum singularem. ]

[Footnote 28: Parcens innocentiae Aviti, is the compassionate, butcontemptuous, language of Victor Tunnunensis, (in Chron. Apud ScaligerEuseb. ) In another place, he calls him, vir totius simplicitatis. Thiscommendation is more humble, but it is more solid and sincere, than thepraises of Sidonius]

[Footnote 29: He suffered, as it is supposed, in the persecution ofDiocletian, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. V. P. 279, 696. ) Gregory ofTours, his peculiar votary, has dedicated to the glory of Julian theMartyr an entire book, (de Gloria Martyrum, l. Ii. In Max. Bibliot. Patrum, tom. Xi. P. 861-871, ) in which he relates about fifty foolishmiracles performed by his relics. ]

[Footnote 30: Gregory of Tours (l. Ii. C. Xi. P. 168) is concise, butcorrect, in the reign of his countryman. The words of Idatius, "cadetimperio, caret et vita, " seem to imply, that the death of Avitus wasviolent; but it must have been secret, since Evagrius (l. Ii. C. 7)could suppose, that he died of the plaque. ]

[Footnote 31: After a modest appeal to the examples of his brethren, Virgil and Horace, Sidonius honestly confesses the debt, and promisespayment. 

 Sic mihi diverso nuper sub Marte cadenti Jussisti placido Victor ut essem animo. Serviat ergo tibi servati lingua poetae, Atque meae vitae laus tua sit pretium. --Sidon. Apoll. Carm. Iv. P. 308

See Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. I. P. 448, &c. ]

The successor of Avitus presents the welcome discovery of a great andheroic character, such as sometimes arise, in a degenerate age, tovindicate the honor of the human species. The emperor Majorian hasdeserved the praises of his contemporaries, and of posterity; andthese praises may be strongly expressed in the words of a judicious anddisinterested historian: "That he was gentle to his subjects; that hewas terrible to his enemies; and that he excelled, in every virtue, allhis predecessors who had reigned over the Romans. " [32] Such a testimonymay justify at least the panegyric of S donius; and we may acquiescein the assurance, that, although the obsequious orator would haveflattered, with equal zeal, the most worthless of princes, theextraordinary merit of his object confined him, on this occasion, withinthe bounds of truth. [33] Majorian derived his name from his maternalgrandfather, who, in the reign of the great Theodosius, had commandedthe troops of the Illyrian frontier. He gave his daughter in marriageto the father of Majorian, a respectable officer, who administered therevenues of Gaul with skill and integrity; and generously preferred thefriendship of Aetius to the tempting offer of an insidious court. Hisson, the future emperor, who was educated in the profession of arms, displayed, from his early youth, intrepid courage, premature wisdom, andunbounded liberality in a scanty fortune. He followed the standard ofAetius, contributed to his success, shared, and sometimes eclipsed, hisglory, and at last excited the jealousy of the patrician, or ratherof his wife, who forced him to retire from the service. [34] Majorian, after the death of Aetius, was recalled and promoted; and his intimateconnection with Count Ricimer was the immediate step by which heascended the throne of the Western empire. During the vacancy thatsucceeded the abdication of Avitus, the ambitious Barbarian, whose birthexcluded him from the Imperial dignity, governed Italy with the titleof Patrician; resigned to his friend the conspicuous station ofmaster-general of the cavalry and infantry; and, after an interval ofsome months, consented to the unanimous wish of the Romans, whose favorMajorian had solicited by a recent victory over the Alemanni. [35]He was invested with the purple at Ravenna: and the epistle whichhe addressed to the senate, will best describe his situation and hissentiments. "Your election, Conscript Fathers! and the ordinance of themost valiant army, have made me your emperor. [36] May the propitiousDeity direct and prosper the counsels and events of my administration, to your advantage and to the public welfare! For my own part, I didnot aspire, I have submitted to reign; nor should I have dischargedthe obligations of a citizen if I had refused, with base and selfishingratitude, to support the weight of those labors, which were imposedby the republic. Assist, therefore, the prince whom you have made;partake the duties which you have enjoined; and may our common endeavorspromote the happiness of an empire, which I have accepted from yourhands. Be assured, that, in our times, justice shall resume her ancientvigor, and that virtue shall become, not only innocent, but meritorious. Let none, except the authors themselves, be apprehensive of delations, [37] which, as a subject, I have always condemned, and, as a prince, will severely punish. Our own vigilance, and that of our father, thepatrician Ricimer, shall regulate all military affairs, and providefor the safety of the Roman world, which we have saved from foreign anddomestic enemies. [38] You now understand the maxims of my government;you may confide in the faithful love and sincere assurances of a princewho has formerly been the companion of your life and dangers; who stillglories in the name of senator, and who is anxious that you shouldnever repent the judgment which you have pronounced in his favor. " Theemperor, who, amidst the ruins of the Roman world, revived the ancientlanguage of law and liberty, which Trajan would not have disclaimed, must have derived those generous sentiments from his own heart; sincethey were not suggested to his imitation by the customs of his age, orthe example of his predecessors. [39]

[Footnote 32: The words of Procopius deserve to be transcribed (de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 7, p. 194;) a concise but comprehensive definition ofroyal virtue. ]

[Footnote 33: The Panegyric was pronounced at Lyons before the end ofthe year 458, while the emperor was still consul. It has more art thangenius, and more labor than art. The ornaments are false and trivial;the expression is feeble and prolix; and Sidonius wants the skill toexhibit the principal figure in a strong and distinct light. The privatelife of Majorian occupies about two hundred lines, 107-305. ]

[Footnote 34: She pressed his immediate death, and was scarcelysatisfied with his disgrace. It should seem that Aetius, like Belisariusand Marlborough, was governed by his wife; whose fervent piety, thoughit might work miracles, (Gregor. Turon. L. Ii. C. 7, p. 162, ) was notincompatible with base and sanguinary counsels. ]

[Footnote 35: The Alemanni had passed the Rhaetian Alps, and weredefeated in the Campi Canini, or Valley of Bellinzone, through whichthe Tesin flows, in its descent from Mount Adula to the Lago Maggiore, (Cluver Italia Antiq. Tom. I. P. 100, 101. ) This boasted victory overnine hundred Barbarians (Panegyr. Majorian. 373, &c. ) betrays theextreme weakness of Italy. ]

[Footnote 36: Imperatorem me factum, P. C. Electionis vestrae arbitrio, et fortissimi exercitus ordinatione agnoscite, (Novell. Majorian. Tit. Iii. P. 34, ad Calcem. Cod. Theodos. ) Sidonius proclaims the unanimousvoice of the empire:--

 Postquam ordine vobis Ordo omnis regnum dederat; plebs, curia, nules, ---Et collega simul. 386. 

This language is ancient and constitutional; and we may observe, thatthe clergy were not yet considered as a distinct order of the state. ]

[Footnote 37: Either dilationes, or delationes would afford a tolerablereading, but there is much more sense and spirit in the latter, to whichI have therefore given the preference. ]

[Footnote 38: Ab externo hoste et a domestica clade liberavimus: by thelatter, Majorian must understand the tyranny of Avitus; whose death heconsequently avowed as a meritorious act. On this occasion, Sidoniusis fearful and obscure; he describes the twelve Caesars, the nations ofAfrica, &c. , that he may escape the dangerous name of Avitus (805-369. )]

[Footnote 39: See the whole edict or epistle of Majorian to the senate, (Novell. Tit. Iv. P. 34. ) Yet the expression, regnum nostrum, bearssome taint of the age, and does not mix kindly with the word respublica, which he frequently repeats. ]

The private and public actions of Majorian are very imperfectly known:but his laws, remarkable for an original cast of thought and expression, faithfully represent the character of a sovereign who loved his people, who sympathized in their distress, who had studied the causes of thedecline of the empire, and who was capable of applying (as far as suchreformation was practicable) judicious and effectual remedies tothe public disorders. [40] His regulations concerning the financesmanifestly tended to remove, or at least to mitigate, the mostintolerable grievances. I. From the first hour of his reign, he wassolicitous (I translate his own words) to relieve the weary fortunes ofthe provincials, oppressed by the accumulated weight of indictions andsuperindictions. [41] With this view he granted a universal amnesty, afinal and absolute discharge of all arrears of tribute, of all debts, which, under any pretence, the fiscal officers might demand from thepeople. This wise dereliction of obsolete, vexatious, and unprofitableclaims, improved and purified the sources of the public revenue; and thesubject who could now look back without despair, might labor with hopeand gratitude for himself and for his country. II. In the assessment andcollection of taxes, Majorian restored the ordinary jurisdiction of theprovincial magistrates; and suppressed the extraordinary commissionswhich had been introduced, in the name of the emperor himself, or of thePraetorian praefects. The favorite servants, who obtained such irregularpowers, were insolent in their behavior, and arbitrary in their demands:they affected to despise the subordinate tribunals, and they werediscontented, if their fees and profits did not twice exceed the sumwhich they condescended to pay into the treasury. One instance of theirextortion would appear incredible, were it not authenticated by thelegislator himself. They exacted the whole payment in gold: but theyrefused the current coin of the empire, and would accept only suchancient pieces as were stamped with the names of Faustina or theAntonines. The subject, who was unprovided with these curious medals, had recourse to the expedient of compounding with their rapaciousdemands; or if he succeeded in the research, his imposition was doubled, according to the weight and value of the money of former times. [42]III. "The municipal corporations, (says the emperor, ) the lessersenates, (so antiquity has justly styled them, ) deserve to be consideredas the heart of the cities, and the sinews of the republic. And yetso low are they now reduced, by the injustice of magistrates and thevenality of collectors, that many of their members, renouncing theirdignity and their country, have taken refuge in distant and obscureexile. " He urges, and even compels, their return to their respectivecities; but he removes the grievance which had forced them to desertthe exercise of their municipal functions. They are directed, underthe authority of the provincial magistrates, to resume their officeof levying the tribute; but, instead of being made responsible for thewhole sum assessed on their district, they are only required to producea regular account of the payments which they have actually received, andof the defaulters who are still indebted to the public. IV. But Majorianwas not ignorant that these corporate bodies were too much inclined toretaliate the injustice and oppression which they had suffered; andhe therefore revives the useful office of the defenders of cities. Heexhorts the people to elect, in a full and free assembly, some man ofdiscretion and integrity, who would dare to assert their privileges, torepresent their grievances, to protect the poor from the tyranny of therich, and to inform the emperor of the abuses that were committed underthe sanction of his name and authority. 

[Footnote 40: See the laws of Majorian (they are only nine in number, but very long, and various) at the end of the Theodosian Code, Novell. L. Iv. P. 32-37. Godefroy has not given any commentary on theseadditional pieces. ]

[Footnote 41: Fessas provincialium varia atque multiplici tributorumexactione fortunas, et extraordinariis fiscalium solutionum oneribusattritas, &c. Novell. Majorian. Tit. Iv. P. 34. ]

[Footnote 42: The learned Greaves (vol. I. P. 329, 330, 331) has found, by a diligent inquiry, that aurei of the Antonines weighed one hundredand eighteen, and those of the fifth century only sixty-eight, Englishgrains. Majorian gives currency to all gold coin, excepting only theGallic solidus, from its deficiency, not in the weight, but in thestandard. ] The spectator who casts a mournful view over the ruins ofancient Rome, is tempted to accuse the memory of the Goths and Vandals, for the mischief which they had neither leisure, nor power, nor perhapsinclination, to perpetrate. The tempest of war might strike somelofty turrets to the ground; but the destruction which undermined thefoundations of those massy fabrics was prosecuted, slowly and silently, during a period of ten centuries; and the motives of interest, thatafterwards operated without shame or control, were severely checked bythe taste and spirit of the emperor Majorian. The decay of the cityhad gradually impaired the value of the public works. The circus andtheatres might still excite, but they seldom gratified, the desires ofthe people: the temples, which had escaped the zeal of the Christians, were no longer inhabited, either by gods or men; the diminishedcrowds of the Romans were lost in the immense space of their baths andporticos; and the stately libraries and halls of justice became uselessto an indolent generation, whose repose was seldom disturbed, eitherby study or business. The monuments of consular, or Imperial, greatnesswere no longer revered, as the immortal glory of the capital: they wereonly esteemed as an inexhaustible mine of materials, cheaper, and moreconvenient than the distant quarry. Specious petitions were continuallyaddressed to the easy magistrates of Rome, which stated the want ofstones or bricks, for some necessary service: the fairest forms ofarchitecture were rudely defaced, for the sake of some paltry, orpretended, repairs; and the degenerate Romans, who converted the spoilto their own emolument, demolished, with sacrilegious hands, the laborsof their ancestors. Majorian, who had often sighed over the desolationof the city, applied a severe remedy to the growing evil. [43] Hereserved to the prince and senate the sole cognizance of the extremecases which might justify the destruction of an ancient edifice; imposeda fine of fifty pounds of gold (two thousand pounds sterling) on everymagistrate who should presume to grant such illegal and scandalouslicense, and threatened to chastise the criminal obedience of theirsubordinate officers, by a severe whipping, and the amputation of boththeir hands. In the last instance, the legislator might seem to forgetthe proportion of guilt and punishment; but his zeal arose from agenerous principle, and Majorian was anxious to protect the monumentsof those ages, in which he would have desired and deserved to live. Theemperor conceived, that it was his interest to increase the numberof his subjects; and that it was his duty to guard the purity of themarriage-bed: but the means which he employed to accomplish thesesalutary purposes are of an ambiguous, and perhaps exceptionable, kind. The pious maids, who consecrated their virginity to Christ, wererestrained from taking the veil till they had reached their fortiethyear. Widows under that age were compelled to form a second alliancewithin the term of five years, by the forfeiture of half their wealthto their nearest relations, or to the state. Unequal marriages werecondemned or annulled. The punishment of confiscation and exile wasdeemed so inadequate to the guilt of adultery, that, if the criminalreturned to Italy, he might, by the express declaration of Majorian, beslain with impunity. [44]

[Footnote 43: The whole edict (Novell. Majorian. Tit. Vi. P. 35) iscurious. "Antiquarum aedium dissipatur speciosa constructio; et utaliquid reparetur, magna diruuntur. Hinc jam occasio nascitur, ut etiamunusquisque privatum aedificium construens, per gratiam judicum. .. .. Praesumere de publicis locis necessaria, et transferre non dubitet"&c. With equal zeal, but with less power, Petrarch, in the fourteenthcentury, repeated the same complaints. (Vie de Petrarque, tom. I. P. 326, 327. ) If I prosecute this history, I shall not be unmindful of thedecline and fall of the city of Rome; an interesting object to which anyplan was originally confined. ]

[Footnote 44: The emperor chides the lenity of Rogatian, consular ofTuscany in a style of acrimonious reproof, which sounds almost likepersonal resentment, (Novell. Tit. Ix. P. 47. ) The law of Majorian, which punished obstinate widows, was soon afterwards repealed by hissuccessor Severus, (Novell. Sever. Tit. I. P. 37. )]

While the emperor Majorian assiduously labored to restore the happinessand virtue of the Romans, he encountered the arms of Genseric, from hischaracter and situation their most formidable enemy. A fleet of Vandalsand Moors landed at the mouth of the Liris, or Garigliano; but theImperial troops surprised and attacked the disorderly Barbarians, whowere encumbered with the spoils of Campania; they were chased withslaughter to their ships, and their leader, the king's brother-in-law, was found in the number of the slain. [45] Such vigilance might announcethe character of the new reign; but the strictest vigilance, and themost numerous forces, were insufficient to protect the long-extendedcoast of Italy from the depredations of a naval war. The public opinionhad imposed a nobler and more arduous task on the genius of Majorian. Rome expected from him alone the restitution of Africa; and the design, which he formed, of attacking the Vandals in their new settlements, wasthe result of bold and judicious policy. If the intrepid emperor couldhave infused his own spirit into the youth of Italy; if he could haverevived in the field of Mars, the manly exercises in which he had alwayssurpassed his equals; he might have marched against Genseric at thehead of a Roman army. Such a reformation of national manners might beembraced by the rising generation; but it is the misfortune of thoseprinces who laboriously sustain a declining monarchy, that, to obtainsome immediate advantage, or to avert some impending danger, they areforced to countenance, and even to multiply, the most pernicious abuses. Majorian, like the weakest of his predecessors, was reduced to thedisgraceful expedient of substituting Barbarian auxiliaries in the placeof his unwarlike subjects: and his superior abilities could only bedisplayed in the vigor and dexterity with which he wielded a dangerousinstrument, so apt to recoil on the hand that used it. Besides theconfederates, who were already engaged in the service of the empire, thefame of his liberality and valor attracted the nations of the Danube, the Borysthenes, and perhaps of the Tanais. Many thousands of thebravest subjects of Attila, the Gepidae, the Ostrogoths, the Rugians, the Burgundians, the Suevi, the Alani, assembled in the plains ofLiguria; and their formidable strength was balanced by their mutualanimosities. [46] They passed the Alps in a severe winter. The emperorled the way, on foot, and in complete armor; sounding, with his longstaff, the depth of the ice, or snow, and encouraging the Scythians, who complained of the extreme cold, by the cheerful assurance, that theyshould be satisfied with the heat of Africa. The citizens of Lyons hadpresumed to shut their gates; they soon implored, and experienced, theclemency of Majorian. He vanquished Theodoric in the field; and admittedto his friendship and alliance a king whom he had found not unworthy ofhis arms. The beneficial, though precarious, reunion of the greater partof Gaul and Spain, was the effect of persuasion, as well as of force;[47] and the independent Bagaudae, who had escaped, or resisted, theoppression, of former reigns, were disposed to confide in the virtuesof Majorian. His camp was filled with Barbarian allies; his throne wassupported by the zeal of an affectionate people; but the emperor hadforeseen, that it was impossible, without a maritime power, to achievethe conquest of Africa. In the first Punic war, the republic had exertedsuch incredible diligence, that, within sixty days after the firststroke of the axe had been given in the forest, a fleet of one hundredand sixty galleys proudly rode at anchor in the sea. [48] Undercircumstances much less favorable, Majorian equalled the spirit andperseverance of the ancient Romans. The woods of the Apennine werefelled; the arsenals and manufactures of Ravenna and Misenum wererestored; Italy and Gaul vied with each other in liberal contributionsto the public service; and the Imperial navy of three hundred largegalleys, with an adequate proportion of transports and smaller vessels, was collected in the secure and capacious harbor of Carthagena in Spain. [49] The intrepid countenance of Majorian animated his troops with aconfidence of victory; and, if we might credit the historian Procopius, his courage sometimes hurried him beyond the bounds of prudence. Anxiousto explore, with his own eyes, the state of the Vandals, he ventured, after disguising the color of his hair, to visit Carthage, in thecharacter of his own ambassador: and Genseric was afterwards mortifiedby the discovery, that he had entertained and dismissed the emperor ofthe Romans. Such an anecdote may be rejected as an improbable fiction;but it is a fiction which would not have been imagined, unless in thelife of a hero. [50]

[Footnote 45: Sidon. Panegyr. Majorian, 385-440. ]

[Footnote 46: The review of the army, and passage of the Alps, containthe most tolerable passages of the Panegyric, (470-552. ) M. De Buat(Hist. Des Peuples, &c. , tom. Viii. P. 49-55) is a more satisfactorycommentator, than either Savaron or Sirmond. ]

[Footnote 47: It is the just and forcible distinction of Priscus, (Excerpt. Legat. P. 42, ) in a short fragment, which throws much lighton the history of Majorian. Jornandes has suppressed the defeat andalliance of the Visigoths, which were solemnly proclaimed in Gallicia;and are marked in the Chronicle of Idatius. ]

[Footnote 48: Florus, l. Ii. C. 2. He amuses himself with the poeticalfancy, that the trees had been transformed into ships; and indeed thewhole transaction, as it is related in the first book of Polybius, deviates too much from the probable course of human events. ]

[Footnote 49:

 Iterea duplici texis dum littore classem Inferno superoque mari, cadit omnis in aequor Sylva tibi, &c. ---Sidon. Panegyr. Majorian, 441-461. 

The number of ships, which Priscus fixed at 300, is magnified, byan indefinite comparison with the fleets of Agamemnon, Xerxes, andAugustus. ]

[Footnote 50: Procopius de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 8, p. 194. WhenGenseric conducted his unknown guest into the arsenal of Carthage, thearms clashed of their own accord. Majorian had tinged his yellow lockswith a black color. ]

Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire. --Part III. 

Without the help of a personal interview, Genseric was sufficientlyacquainted with the genius and designs of his adversary. He practicedhis customary arts of fraud and delay, but he practiced them withoutsuccess. His applications for peace became each hour more submissive, and perhaps more sincere; but the inflexible Majorian had adopted theancient maxim, that Rome could not be safe, as long as Carthage existedin a hostile state. The king of the Vandals distrusted the valor of hisnative subjects, who were enervated by the luxury of the South; [51] hesuspected the fidelity of the vanquished people, who abhorred him as anArian tyrant; and the desperate measure, which he executed, of reducingMauritania into a desert, [52] could not defeat the operations of theRoman emperor, who was at liberty to land his troops on any part of theAfrican coast. But Genseric was saved from impending and inevitable ruinby the treachery of some powerful subjects, envious, or apprehensive, of their master's success. Guided by their secret intelligence, hesurprised the unguarded fleet in the Bay of Carthagena: many of theships were sunk, or taken, or burnt; and the preparations of three yearswere destroyed in a single day. [53] After this event, the behavior ofthe two antagonists showed them superior to their fortune. The Vandal, instead of being elated by this accidental victory, immediately renewedhis solicitations for peace. The emperor of the West, who was capableof forming great designs, and of supporting heavy disappointments, consented to a treaty, or rather to a suspension of arms; in the fullassurance that, before he could restore his navy, he should be suppliedwith provocations to justify a second war. Majorian returned to Italy, to prosecute his labors for the public happiness; and, as he wasconscious of his own integrity, he might long remain ignorant of thedark conspiracy which threatened his throne and his life. The recentmisfortune of Carthagena sullied the glory which had dazzled the eyes ofthe multitude; almost every description of civil and military officerswere exasperated against the Reformer, since they all derived someadvantage from the abuses which he endeavored to suppress; and thepatrician Ricimer impelled the inconstant passions of the Barbariansagainst a prince whom he esteemed and hated. The virtues of Majoriancould not protect him from the impetuous sedition, which broke out inthe camp near Tortona, at the foot of the Alps. He was compelled toabdicate the Imperial purple: five days after his abdication, it wasreported that he died of a dysentery; [54] and the humble tomb, whichcovered his remains, was consecrated by the respect and gratitude ofsucceeding generations. [55] The private character of Majorian inspiredlove and respect. Malicious calumny and satire excited his indignation, or, if he himself were the object, his contempt; but he protected thefreedom of wit, and, in the hours which the emperor gave to the familiarsociety of his friends, he could indulge his taste for pleasantry, without degrading the majesty of his rank. [56]

[Footnote 51:

 Spoliisque potitus Immensis, robux luxu jam perdidit omne, Quo valuit dum pauper erat. --Panegyr. Majorian, 330. 

He afterwards applies to Genseric, unjustly, as it should seem, thevices of his subjects. ]

[Footnote 52: He burnt the villages, and poisoned the springs, (Priscus, p. 42. ) Dubos (Hist. Critique, tom. I. P. 475) observes, that themagazines which the Moors buried in the earth might escape hisdestructive search. Two or three hundred pits are sometimes dug in thesame place; and each pit contains at least four hundred bushels of cornShaw's Travels, p. 139. ]

[Footnote 53: Idatius, who was safe in Gallicia from the power ofRecimer boldly and honestly declares, Vandali per proditeres admoniti, &c: i. E. Dissembles, however, the name of the traitor. ]

[Footnote 54: Procop. De Bell. Vandal. L. I. I. C. 8, p. 194. Thetestimony of Idatius is fair and impartial: "Majorianum de Galliis Romamredeuntem, et Romano imperio vel nomini res necessarias ordinantem;Richimer livore percitus, et invidorum consilio fultus, fraudeinterficit circumventum. " Some read Suevorum, and I am unwilling toefface either of the words, as they express the different accompliceswho united in the conspiracy against Majorian. ]

[Footnote 55: See the Epigrams of Ennodius, No. Cxxxv. Inter Sirmond. Opera, tom. I. P. 1903. It is flat and obscure; but Ennodius was madebishop of Pavia fifty years after the death of Majorian, and his praisedeserves credit and regard. ]

[Footnote 56: Sidonius gives a tedious account (l. I. Epist. Xi. P. 25-31) of a supper at Arles, to which he was invited by Majorian, ashort time before his death. He had no intention of praising a deceasedemperor: but a casual disinterested remark, "Subrisit Augustus; ut erat, auctoritate servata, cum se communioni dedisset, joci plenus, " outweighsthe six hundred lines of his venal panegyric. ]

It was not, perhaps, without some regret, that Ricimer sacrificed hisfriend to the interest of his ambition: but he resolved, in a secondchoice, to avoid the imprudent preference of superior virtue and merit. At his command, the obsequious senate of Rome bestowed the Imperialtitle on Libius Severus, who ascended the throne of the West withoutemerging from the obscurity of a private condition. History has scarcelydeigned to notice his birth, his elevation, his character, or his death. Severus expired, as soon as his life became inconvenient to his patron;[57] and it would be useless to discriminate his nominal reign in thevacant interval of six years, between the death of Majorian and theelevation of Anthemius. During that period, the government was in thehands of Ricimer alone; and, although the modest Barbarian disclaimedthe name of king, he accumulated treasures, formed a separate army, negotiated private alliances, and ruled Italy with the same independentand despotic authority, which was afterwards exercised by Odoacer andTheodoric. But his dominions were bounded by the Alps; and two Romangenerals, Marcellinus and Aegidius, maintained their allegiance to therepublic, by rejecting, with disdain, the phantom which he styled anemperor. Marcellinus still adhered to the old religion; and the devoutPagans, who secretly disobeyed the laws of the church and state, applauded his profound skill in the science of divination. But hepossessed the more valuable qualifications of learning, virtue, andcourage; [58] the study of the Latin literature had improved histaste; and his military talents had recommended him to the esteem andconfidence of the great Aetius, in whose ruin he was involved. By atimely flight, Marcellinus escaped the rage of Valentinian, and boldlyasserted his liberty amidst the convulsions of the Western empire. Hisvoluntary, or reluctant, submission to the authority of Majorian, was rewarded by the government of Sicily, and the command of an army, stationed in that island to oppose, or to attack, the Vandals; but hisBarbarian mercenaries, after the emperor's death, were tempted to revoltby the artful liberality of Ricimer. At the head of a band of faithfulfollowers, the intrepid Marcellinus occupied the province of Dalmatia, assumed the title of patrician of the West, secured the love of hissubjects by a mild and equitable reign, built a fleet which claimed thedominion of the Adriatic, and alternately alarmed the coasts of Italyand of Africa. [59] Aegidius, the master-general of Gaul, who equalled, or at least who imitated, the heroes of ancient Rome, [60] proclaimedhis immortal resentment against the assassins of his beloved master. Abrave and numerous army was attached to his standard: and, though he wasprevented by the arts of Ricimer, and the arms of the Visigoths, frommarching to the gates of Rome, he maintained his independent sovereigntybeyond the Alps, and rendered the name of Aegidius, respectable bothin peace and war. The Franks, who had punished with exile the youthfulfollies of Childeric, elected the Roman general for their king: hisvanity, rather than his ambition, was gratified by that singular honor;and when the nation, at the end of four years, repented of theinjury which they had offered to the Merovingian family, he patientlyacquiesced in the restoration of the lawful prince. The authority ofAegidius ended only with his life, and the suspicions of poison andsecret violence, which derived some countenance from the character ofRicimer, were eagerly entertained by the passionate credulity of theGauls. [61]

[Footnote 57: Sidonius (Panegyr. Anthem. 317) dismisses him toheaven:--Auxerat Augustus naturae lege Severus--Divorum numerum. And anold list of the emperors, composed about the time of Justinian, praiseshis piety, and fixes his residence at Rome, (Sirmond. Not. Ad Sidon. P. 111, 112. )]

[Footnote 58: Tillemont, who is always scandalized by the virtues ofinfidels, attributes this advantageous portrait of Marcellinus (whichSuidas has preserved) to the partial zeal of some Pagan historian, (Hist. Des Empereurs. Tom. Vi. P. 330. )]

[Footnote 59: Procopius de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 6, p. 191. In variouscircumstances of the life of Marcellinus, it is not easy to reconcilethe Greek historian with the Latin Chronicles of the times. ]

[Footnote 60: I must apply to Aegidius the praises which Sidonius(Panegyr Majorian, 553) bestows on a nameless master-general, whocommanded the rear-guard of Majorian. Idatius, from public report, commends his Christian piety; and Priscus mentions (p. 42) his militaryvirtues. ]

[Footnote 61: Greg. Turon. L. Ii. C. 12, in tom. Ii. P. 168. The PereDaniel, whose ideas were superficial and modern, has started someobjections against the story of Childeric, (Hist. De France, tom. I. Preface Historique, p. Lxxvii. , &c. :) but they have been fairlysatisfied by Dubos, (Hist. Critique, tom. I. P. 460-510, ) and by twoauthors who disputed the prize of the Academy of Soissons, (p. 131-177, 310-339. ) With regard to the term of Childeric's exile, it is necessaryeither to prolong the life of Aegidius beyond the date assigned bythe Chronicle of Idatius or to correct the text of Gregory, by readingquarto anno, instead of octavo. ]

The kingdom of Italy, a name to which the Western empire was graduallyreduced, was afflicted, under the reign of Ricimer, by the incessantdepredations of the Vandal pirates. [62] In the spring of each year, they equipped a formidable navy in the port of Carthage; and Genserichimself, though in a very advanced age, still commanded in person themost important expeditions. His designs were concealed with impenetrablesecrecy, till the moment that he hoisted sail. When he was asked, byhis pilot, what course he should steer, "Leave the determination tothe winds, (replied the Barbarian, with pious arrogance;) they willtransport us to the guilty coast, whose inhabitants have provoked thedivine justice;" but if Genseric himself deigned to issue more preciseorders, he judged the most wealthy to be the most criminal. The Vandalsrepeatedly visited the coasts of Spain, Liguria, Tuscany, Campania, Lucania, Bruttium, Apulia, Calabria, Venetia, Dalmatia, Epirus, Greece, and Sicily: they were tempted to subdue the Island of Sardinia, soadvantageously placed in the centre of the Mediterranean; and their armsspread desolation, or terror, from the columns of Hercules to the mouthof the Nile. As they were more ambitious of spoil than of glory, theyseldom attacked any fortified cities, or engaged any regular troops inthe open field. But the celerity of their motions enabled them, almostat the same time, to threaten and to attack the most distant objects, which attracted their desires; and as they always embarked a sufficientnumber of horses, they had no sooner landed, than they swept thedismayed country with a body of light cavalry. Yet, notwithstanding theexample of their king, the native Vandals and Alani insensibly declinedthis toilsome and perilous warfare; the hardy generation of the firstconquerors was almost extinguished, and their sons, who were born inAfrica, enjoyed the delicious baths and gardens which had been acquiredby the valor of their fathers. Their place was readily supplied by avarious multitude of Moors and Romans, of captives and outlaws; andthose desperate wretches, who had already violated the laws of theircountry, were the most eager to promote the atrocious acts whichdisgrace the victories of Genseric. In the treatment of his unhappyprisoners, he sometimes consulted his avarice, and sometimes indulgedhis cruelty; and the massacre of five hundred noble citizens of Zantor Zacynthus, whose mangled bodies he cast into the Ionian Sea, wasimputed, by the public indignation, to his latest posterity. 

[Footnote 62: The naval war of Genseric is described by Priscus, (Excerpta Legation. P. 42, ) Procopius, (de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 5, p. 189, 190, and c. 22, p. 228, ) Victor Vitensis, (de Persecut. Vandal. L. I. C. 17, and Ruinart, p. 467-481, ) and in three panegyrics of Sidonius, whose chronological order is absurdly transposed in the editions bothof Savaron and Sirmond. (Avit. Carm. Vii. 441-451. Majorian. Carm. V. 327-350, 385-440. Anthem. Carm. Ii. 348-386) In one passage the poetseems inspired by his subject, and expresses a strong idea by a livelyimage:--

 Hinc Vandalus hostis Urget; et in nostrum numerosa classe quotannis Militat excidium; conversoque ordine Fati Torrida Caucaseos infert mihi Byrsa furoree]

Such crimes could not be excused by any provocations; but the war, which the king of the Vandals prosecuted against the Roman empire wasjustified by a specious and reasonable motive. The widow of Valentinian, Eudoxia, whom he had led captive from Rome to Carthage, was the soleheiress of the Theodosian house; her elder daughter, Eudocia, becamethe reluctant wife of Hunneric, his eldest son; and the stern father, asserting a legal claim, which could not easily be refuted or satisfied, demanded a just proportion of the Imperial patrimony. An adequate, or atleast a valuable, compensation, was offered by the Eastern emperor, topurchase a necessary peace. Eudoxia and her younger daughter, Placidia, were honorably restored, and the fury of the Vandals was confined to thelimits of the Western empire. The Italians, destitute of a naval force, which alone was capable of protecting their coasts, implored the aid ofthe more fortunate nations of the East; who had formerly acknowledged, in peace and war, the supremacy of Rome. But the perpetual divisions ofthe two empires had alienated their interest and their inclinations; thefaith of a recent treaty was alleged; and the Western Romans, insteadof arms and ships, could only obtain the assistance of a cold andineffectual mediation. The haughty Ricimer, who had long struggled withthe difficulties of his situation, was at length reduced to address thethrone of Constantinople, in the humble language of a subject; and Italysubmitted, as the price and security to accept a master from the choiceof the emperor of the East. [63] It is not the purpose of the presentchapter, or even of the present volume, to continue the distinct seriesof the Byzantine history; but a concise view of the reign and characterof the emperor Leo, may explain the last efforts that were attempted tosave the falling empire of the West. [64]

[Footnote 63: The poet himself is compelled to acknowledge the distressof Ricimer:--

 Praeterea invictus Ricimer, quem publica fata Respiciunt, proprio solas vix Marte repellit Piratam per rura vagum. 

Italy addresses her complaint to the Tyber, and Rome, at thesolicitation of the river god, transports herself to Constantinople, renounces her ancient claims, and implores the friendship of Aurora, the goddess of the East. This fabulous machinery, which the genius ofClaudian had used and abused, is the constant and miserable resource ofthe muse of Sidonius. ]

[Footnote 64: The original authors of the reigns of Marcian, Leo, andZeno, are reduced to some imperfect fragments, whose deficiencies mustbe supplied from the more recent compilations of Theophanes, Zonaras, and Cedrenus. ]

Since the death of the younger Theodosius, the domesticrepose of Constantinople had never been interrupted by war or faction. Pulcheria had bestowed her hand, and the sceptre of the East, on themodest virtue of Marcian: he gratefully reverenced her august rank andvirgin chastity; and, after her death, he gave his people the example ofthe religious worship that was due to the memory of the Imperial saint. [65] Attentive to the prosperity of his own dominions, Marcian seemedto behold, with indifference, the misfortunes of Rome; and the obstinaterefusal of a brave and active prince, to draw his sword against theVandals, was ascribed to a secret promise, which had formerly beenexacted from him when he was a captive in the power of Genseric. [66]The death of Marcian, after a reign of seven years, would have exposedthe East to the danger of a popular election; if the superior weight ofa single family had not been able to incline the balance in favor of thecandidate whose interest they supported. The patrician Aspar mighthave placed the diadem on his own head, if he would have subscribed theNicene creed. [67] During three generations, the armies of the Eastwere successively commanded by his father, by himself, and by his sonArdaburius; his Barbarian guards formed a military force that overawedthe palace and the capital; and the liberal distribution of his immensetreasures rendered Aspar as popular as he was powerful. He recommendedthe obscure name of Leo of Thrace, a military tribune, and the principalsteward of his household. His nomination was unanimously ratified by thesenate; and the servant of Aspar received the Imperial crown from thehands of the patriarch or bishop, who was permitted to express, by thisunusual ceremony, the suffrage of the Deity. [68] This emperor, thefirst of the name of Leo, has been distinguished by the title of theGreat; from a succession of princes, who gradually fixed in the opinionof the Greeks a very humble standard of heroic, or at least of royal, perfection. Yet the temperate firmness with which Leo resisted theoppression of his benefactor, showed that he was conscious of his dutyand of his prerogative. Aspar was astonished to find that his influencecould no longer appoint a praefect of Constantinople: he presumed toreproach his sovereign with a breach of promise, and insolently shakinghis purple, "It is not proper, (said he, ) that the man who is investedwith this garment, should be guilty of lying. " "Nor is it proper, (replied Leo, ) that a prince should be compelled to resign his ownjudgment, and the public interest, to the will of a subject. "[69] Afterthis extraordinary scene, it was impossible that the reconciliation ofthe emperor and the patrician could be sincere; or, at least, that itcould be solid and permanent. An army of Isaurians [70] was secretlylevied, and introduced into Constantinople; and while Leo undermined theauthority, and prepared the disgrace, of the family of Aspar, hismild and cautious behavior restrained them from any rash and desperateattempts, which might have been fatal to themselves, or their enemies. The measures of peace and war were affected by this internal revolution. As long as Aspar degraded the majesty of the throne, the secretcorrespondence of religion and interest engaged him to favor the causeof Genseric. When Leo had delivered himself from that ignominiousservitude, he listened to the complaints of the Italians; resolved toextirpate the tyranny of the Vandals; and declared his alliance withhis colleague, Anthemius, whom he solemnly invested with the diadem andpurple of the West. 

[Footnote 65: St. Pulcheria died A. D. 453, four years before her nominalhusband; and her festival is celebrated on the 10th of September bythe modern Greeks: she bequeathed an immense patrimony to pious, or, atleast, to ecclesiastical, uses. See Tillemont, Memoires Eccles. Tom. Xvp. 181-184. ]

[Footnote 66: See Procopius, de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 4, p. 185. ]

[Footnote 67: From this disability of Aspar to ascend the throne, it maybe inferred that the stain of Heresy was perpetual and indelible, whilethat of Barbarism disappeared in the second generation. ]

[Footnote 68: Theophanes, p. 95. This appears to be the first originof a ceremony, which all the Christian princes of the world have sinceadopted and from which the clergy have deduced the most formidableconsequences. ]

[Footnote 69: Cedrenus, (p. 345, 346, ) who was conversant with thewriters of better days, has preserved the remarkable words of Aspar. ]

[Footnote 70: The power of the Isaurians agitated the Eastern empire inthe two succeeding reigns of Zeno and Anastasius; but it ended inthe destruction of those Barbarians, who maintained their fierceindependences about two hundred and thirty years. ]

The virtues of Anthemius have perhaps been magnified, since the Imperialdescent, which he could only deduce from the usurper Procopius, has beenswelled into a line of emperors. [71] But the merit of his immediateparents, their honors, and their riches, rendered Anthemius one of themost illustrious subjects of the East. His father, Procopius, obtained, after his Persian embassy, the rank of general and patrician; andthe name of Anthemius was derived from his maternal grandfather, thecelebrated praefect, who protected, with so much ability and success, the infant reign of Theodosius. The grandson of the praefect was raisedabove the condition of a private subject, by his marriage with Euphemia, the daughter of the emperor Marcian. This splendid alliance, which mightsupersede the necessity of merit, hastened the promotion of Anthemius tothe successive dignities of count, of master-general, of consul, andof patrician; and his merit or fortune claimed the honors of a victory, which was obtained on the banks of the Danube, over the Huns. Withoutindulging an extravagant ambition, the son-in-law of Marcian might hopeto be his successor; but Anthemius supported the disappointment withcourage and patience; and his subsequent elevation was universallyapproved by the public, who esteemed him worthy to reign, tillhe ascended the throne. [72] The emperor of the West marched fromConstantinople, attended by several counts of high distinction, and abody of guards almost equal to the strength and numbers of a regulararmy: he entered Rome in triumph, and the choice of Leo was confirmedby the senate, the people, and the Barbarian confederates of Italy. [73]The solemn inauguration of Anthemius was followed by the nuptials ofhis daughter and the patrician Ricimer; a fortunate event, which wasconsidered as the firmest security of the union and happiness of thestate. The wealth of two empires was ostentatiously displayed; and manysenators completed their ruin, by an expensive effort to disguise theirpoverty. All serious business was suspended during this festival; thecourts of justice were shut; the streets of Rome, the theatres, theplaces of public and private resort, resounded with hymeneal songs anddances: and the royal bride, clothed in silken robes, with a crown onher head, was conducted to the palace of Ricimer, who had changedhis military dress for the habit of a consul and a senator. On thismemorable occasion, Sidonius, whose early ambition had been so fatallyblasted, appeared as the orator of Auvergne, among the provincialdeputies who addressed the throne with congratulations or complaints. [74] The calends of January were now approaching, and the venal poet, who had loved Avitus, and esteemed Majorian, was persuaded by hisfriends to celebrate, in heroic verse, the merit, the felicity, thesecond consulship, and the future triumphs, of the emperor Anthemius. Sidonius pronounced, with assurance and success, a panegyric which isstill extant; and whatever might be the imperfections, either of thesubject or of the composition, the welcome flatterer was immediatelyrewarded with the praefecture of Rome; a dignity which placed him amongthe illustrious personages of the empire, till he wisely preferred themore respectable character of a bishop and a saint. [75]

[Footnote 71:

 Tali tu civis ab urbe Procopio genitore micas; cui prisca propago Augustis venit a proavis. 

The poet (Sidon. Panegyr. Anthem. 67-306) then proceeds to relate theprivate life and fortunes of the future emperor, with which he must havebeen imperfectly acquainted. ]

[Footnote 72: Sidonius discovers, with tolerable ingenuity, that thisdisappointment added new lustre to the virtues of Anthemius, (210, &c. , )who declined one sceptre, and reluctantly accepted another, (22, &c. )]

[Footnote 73: The poet again celebrates the unanimity of all orders ofthe state, (15-22;) and the Chronicle of Idatius mentions the forceswhich attended his march. ]

[Footnote 74: Interveni autem nuptiis Patricii Ricimeris, cui filiaperennis Augusti in spem publicae securitatis copulabator. The journeyof Sidonius from Lyons, and the festival of Rome, are described withsome spirit. L. I. Epist. 5, p. 9-13, epist. 9, p. 21. ]

[Footnote 75: Sidonius (l. I. Epist. 9, p. 23, 24) very fairly stateshis motive, his labor, and his reward. "Hic ipse Panegyricus, si nonjudicium, certa eventum, boni operis, accepit. " He was made bishop ofClermont, A. D. 471. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xvi. P. 750. ]

The Greeks ambitiously commend the piety and catholic faith of theemperor whom they gave to the West; nor do they forget to observe, thatwhen he left Constantinople, he converted his palace into the piousfoundation of a public bath, a church, and a hospital for old men. [76]Yet some suspicious appearances are found to sully the theological fameof Anthemius. From the conversation of Philotheus, a Macedonian sectary, he had imbibed the spirit of religious toleration; and the Hereticsof Rome would have assembled with impunity, if the bold and vehementcensure which Pope Hilary pronounced in the church of St. Peter, had notobliged him to abjure the unpopular indulgence. [77] Even the Pagans, a feeble and obscure remnant, conceived some vain hopes, from theindifference, or partiality, of Anthemius; and his singular friendshipfor the philosopher Severus, whom he promoted to the consulship, wasascribed to a secret project, of reviving the ancient worship of thegods. [78] These idols were crumbled into dust: and the mythology whichhad once been the creed of nations, was so universally disbelieved, thatit might be employed without scandal, or at least without suspicion, by Christian poets. [79] Yet the vestiges of superstition were notabsolutely obliterated, and the festival of the Lupercalia, whose originhad preceded the foundation of Rome, was still celebrated under thereign of Anthemius. The savage and simple rites were expressive of anearly state of society before the invention of arts and agriculture. Therustic deities who presided over the toils and pleasures of the pastorallife, Pan, Faunus, and their train of satyrs, were such as the fancy ofshepherds might create, sportive, petulant, and lascivious; whose powerwas limited, and whose malice was inoffensive. A goat was the offeringthe best adapted to their character and attributes; the flesh of thevictim was roasted on willow spits; and the riotous youths, who crowdedto the feast, ran naked about the fields, with leather thongs in theirhands, communicating, as it was supposed, the blessing of fecundity tothe women whom they touched. [80] The altar of Pan was erected, perhapsby Evander the Arcadian, in a dark recess in the side of the Palantinehill, watered by a perpetual fountain, and shaded by a hanging grove. A tradition, that, in the same place, Romulus and Remus were suckled bythe wolf, rendered it still more sacred and venerable in the eyes ofthe Romans; and this sylvan spot was gradually surrounded by the statelyedifices of the Forum. [81] After the conversion of the Imperial city, the Christians still continued, in the month of February, the annualcelebration of the Lupercalia; to which they ascribed a secret andmysterious influence on the genial powers of the animal and vegetableworld. 

The bishops of Rome were solicitous to abolish a profane custom, so repugnant to the spirit of Christianity; but their zeal was notsupported by the authority of the civil magistrate: the inveterate abusesubsisted till the end of the fifth century, and Pope Gelasius, whopurified the capital from the last stain of idolatry, appeased by aformal apology, the murmurs of the senate and people. [82]

[Footnote 76: The palace of Anthemius stood on the banks of thePropontis. In the ninth century, Alexius, the son-in-law of the emperorTheophilus, obtained permission to purchase the ground; and ended hisdays in a monastery which he founded on that delightful spot. DucangeConstantinopolis Christiana, p. 117, 152. ]

[Footnote 77: Papa Hilarius. .. Apud beatum Petrum Apostolum, palam neid fieret, clara voce constrinxit, in tantum ut non ea facienda cuminterpositione juramenti idem promitteret Imperator. Gelasius Epistol adAndronicum, apud Baron. A. D. 467, No. 3. The cardinal observes, withsome complacency, that it was much easier to plant heresies atConstantinople, than at Rome. ]

[Footnote 78: Damascius, in the life of the philosopher Isidore, apudPhotium, p. 1049. Damascius, who lived under Justinian, composed anotherwork, consisting of 570 praeternatural stories of souls, daemons, apparitions, the dotage of Platonic Paganism. ]

[Footnote 79: In the poetical works of Sidonius, which he afterwardscondemned, (l. Ix. Epist. 16, p. 285, ) the fabulous deities are theprincipal actors. If Jerom was scourged by the angels for only readingVirgil, the bishop of Clermont, for such a vile imitation, deserved anadditional whipping from the Muses. ]

[Footnote 80: Ovid (Fast. L. Ii. 267-452) has given an amusingdescription of the follies of antiquity, which still inspired so muchrespect, that a grave magistrate, running naked through the streets, wasnot an object of astonishment or laughter. ]

[Footnote 81: See Dionys. Halicarn. L. I. P. 25, 65, edit. Hudson. TheRoman antiquaries Donatus (l. Ii. C. 18, p. 173, 174) and Nardini (p. 386, 387) have labored to ascertain the true situation of the Lupercal. ]

[Footnote 82: Baronius published, from the MSS. Of the Vatican, thisepistle of Pope Gelasius, (A. D. 496, No. 28-45, ) which is entitledAdversus Andromachum Senatorem, caeterosque Romanos, qui Lupercaliasecundum morem pristinum colenda constituebant. Gelasius always supposesthat his adversaries are nominal Christians, and, that he may not yieldto them in absurd prejudice, he imputes to this harmless festival allthe calamities of the age. ]

Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire. --Part IV. 

In all his public declarations, the emperor Leo assumes the authority, and professes the affection, of a father, for his son Anthemius, with whom he had divided the administration of the universe. [83]The situation, and perhaps the character, of Leo, dissuaded him fromexposing his person to the toils and dangers of an African war. But thepowers of the Eastern empire were strenuously exerted to deliver Italyand the Mediterranean from the Vandals; and Genseric, who had so longoppressed both the land and sea, was threatened from every side with aformidable invasion. The campaign was opened by a bold and successfulenterprise of the praefect Heraclius. [84] The troops of Egypt, Thebais, and Libya, were embarked, under his command; and the Arabs, with a trainof horses and camels, opened the roads of the desert. Heraclius landedon the coast of Tripoli, surprised and subdued the cities of thatprovince, and prepared, by a laborious march, which Cato had formerlyexecuted, [85] to join the Imperial army under the walls of Carthage. The intelligence of this loss extorted from Genseric some insidiousand ineffectual propositions of peace; but he was still more seriouslyalarmed by the reconciliation of Marcellinus with the two empires. Theindependent patrician had been persuaded to acknowledge the legitimatetitle of Anthemius, whom he accompanied in his journey to Rome; theDalmatian fleet was received into the harbors of Italy; the active valorof Marcellinus expelled the Vandals from the Island of Sardinia; andthe languid efforts of the West added some weight to the immensepreparations of the Eastern Romans. The expense of the naval armament, which Leo sent against the Vandals, has been distinctly ascertained; andthe curious and instructive account displays the wealth of the decliningempire. The Royal demesnes, or private patrimony of the prince, suppliedseventeen thousand pounds of gold; forty-seven thousand pounds of gold, and seven hundred thousand of silver, were levied and paid into thetreasury by the Praetorian praefects. But the cities were reduced toextreme poverty; and the diligent calculation of fines and forfeitures, as a valuable object of the revenue, does not suggest the idea of a justor merciful administration. The whole expense, by whatsoever meansit was defrayed, of the African campaign, amounted to the sum of onehundred and thirty thousand pounds of gold, about five millions twohundred thousand pounds sterling, at a time when the value of moneyappears, from the comparative price of corn, to have been somewhathigher than in the present age. [86] The fleet that sailed fromConstantinople to Carthage, consisted of eleven hundred and thirteenships, and the number of soldiers and mariners exceeded one hundredthousand men. Basiliscus, the brother of the empress Vorina, wasintrusted with this important command. His sister, the wife of Leo, hadexaggerated the merit of his former exploits against the Scythians. Butthe discovery of his guilt, or incapacity, was reserved for theAfrican war; and his friends could only save his military reputation byasserting, that he had conspired with Aspar to spare Genseric, and tobetray the last hope of the Western empire. 

[Footnote 83: Itaque nos quibus totius mundi regimen commisit supernaprovisio. .. . Pius et triumphator semper Augustus filius nosterAnthemius, licet Divina Majestas et nostra creatio pietati ejus plenamImperii commiserit potestatem, &c. .. .. Such is the dignified style ofLeo, whom Anthemius respectfully names, Dominus et Pater meus Princepssacratissimus Leo. See Novell. Anthem. Tit. Ii. Iii. P. 38, ad calcemCod. Theod. ]

[Footnote 84: The expedition of Heraclius is clouded with difficulties, (Tillemont, Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. Vi. P. 640, ) and it requiressome dexterity to use the circumstances afforded by Theophanes, withoutinjury to the more respectable evidence of Procopius. ]

[Footnote 85: The march of Cato from Berenice, in the province ofCyrene, was much longer than that of Heraclius from Tripoli. He passedthe deep sandy desert in thirty days, and it was found necessary toprovide, besides the ordinary supplies, a great number of skins filledwith water, and several Psylli, who were supposed to possess the art ofsucking the wounds which had been made by the serpents of their nativecountry. See Plutarch in Caton. Uticens. Tom. Iv. P. 275. StrabenGeograph. L. Xxii. P. 1193. ]

[Footnote 86: The principal sum is clearly expressed by Procopius, (deBell. Vandal. L. I. C. 6, p. 191;) the smaller constituent parts, which Tillemont, (Hist. Des Empereurs, tom. Vi. P. 396) has laboriouslycollected from the Byzantine writers, are less certain, and lessimportant. The historian Malchus laments the public misery, (Excerpt. Ex Suida in Corp. Hist. Byzant. P. 58;) but he is surely unjust, whenhe charges Leo with hoarding the treasures which he extorted from thepeople. * Note: Compare likewise the newly-discovered work of Lydus, deMagistratibus, ed. Hase, Paris, 1812, (and in the new collection of theByzantines, ) l. Iii. C. 43. Lydus states the expenditure at 65, 000lbs. Of gold, 700, 000 of silver. But Lydus exaggerates the fleet to theincredible number of 10, 000 long ships, (Liburnae, ) and the troops to400, 000 men. Lydus describes this fatal measure, of which he charges theblame on Basiliscus, as the shipwreck of the state. From that time allthe revenues of the empire were anticipated; and the finances fell intoinextricable confusion. --M. ] Experience has shown, that the successof an invader most commonly depends on the vigor and celerity of hisoperations. The strength and sharpness of the first impression areblunted by delay; the health and spirit of the troops insensiblylanguish in a distant climate; the naval and military force, a mightyeffort which perhaps can never be repeated, is silently consumed;and every hour that is wasted in negotiation, accustoms the enemy tocontemplate and examine those hostile terrors, which, on their firstappearance, he deemed irresistible. The formidable navy of Basiliscuspursued its prosperous navigation from the Thracian Bosphorus to thecoast of Africa. He landed his troops at Cape Bona, or the promontoryof Mercury, about forty miles from Carthage. [87] The army of Heraclius, and the fleet of Marcellinus, either joined or seconded the Imperiallieutenant; and the Vandals who opposed his progress by sea or land, were successively vanquished. [88] If Basiliscus had seized the momentof consternation, and boldly advanced to the capital, Carthage must havesurrendered, and the kingdom of the Vandals was extinguished. Gensericbeheld the danger with firmness, and eluded it with his veterandexterity. He protested, in the most respectful language, that hewas ready to submit his person, and his dominions, to the will of theemperor; but he requested a truce of five days to regulate the termsof his submission; and it was universally believed, that his secretliberality contributed to the success of this public negotiation. Instead of obstinately refusing whatever indulgence his enemy soearnestly solicited, the guilty, or the credulous, Basiliscus consentedto the fatal truce; and his imprudent security seemed to proclaim, thathe already considered himself as the conqueror of Africa. During thisshort interval, the wind became favorable to the designs of Genseric. He manned his largest ships of war with the bravest of the Moorsand Vandals; and they towed after them many large barks, filled withcombustible materials. In the obscurity of the night, these destructivevessels were impelled against the unguarded and unsuspecting fleet ofthe Romans, who were awakened by the sense of their instant danger. Their close and crowded order assisted the progress of the fire, whichwas communicated with rapid and irresistible violence; and the noiseof the wind, the crackling of the flames, the dissonant cries of thesoldiers and mariners, who could neither command nor obey, increasedthe horror of the nocturnal tumult. Whilst they labored to extricatethemselves from the fire-ships, and to save at least a part of the navy, the galleys of Genseric assaulted them with temperate and disciplinedvalor; and many of the Romans, who escaped the fury of the flames, weredestroyed or taken by the victorious Vandals. Among the events of thatdisastrous night, the heroic, or rather desperate, courage of John, one of the principal officers of Basiliscus, has rescued his name fromoblivion. When the ship, which he had bravely defended, was almostconsumed, he threw himself in his armor into the sea, disdainfullyrejected the esteem and pity of Genso, the son of Genseric, who pressedhim to accept honorable quarter, and sunk under the waves; exclaiming, with his last breath, that he would never fall alive into the handsof those impious dogs. Actuated by a far different spirit, Basiliscus, whose station was the most remote from danger, disgracefully fled in thebeginning of the engagement, returned to Constantinople with the loss ofmore than half of his fleet and army, and sheltered his guilty headin the sanctuary of St. Sophia, till his sister, by her tears andentreaties, could obtain his pardon from the indignant emperor. Heraclius effected his retreat through the desert; Marcellinus retiredto Sicily, where he was assassinated, perhaps at the instigationof Ricimer, by one of his own captains; and the king of the Vandalsexpressed his surprise and satisfaction, that the Romans themselvesshould remove from the world his most formidable antagonists. [89] Afterthe failure of this great expedition, [891] Genseric again became thetyrant of the sea: the coasts of Italy, Greece, and Asia, were againexposed to his revenge and avarice; Tripoli and Sardinia returned to hisobedience; he added Sicily to the number of his provinces; and beforehe died, in the fulness of years and of glory, he beheld the finalextinction of the empire of the West. [90]

[Footnote 87: This promontory is forty miles from Carthage, (Procop. L. I. C. 6, p. 192, ) and twenty leagues from Sicily, (Shaw's Travels, p. 89. ) Scipio landed farther in the bay, at the fair promontory; see theanimated description of Livy, xxix. 26, 27. ]

[Footnote 88: Theophanes (p. 100) affirms that many ships of the Vandalswere sunk. The assertion of Jornandes, (de Successione Regn. , ) thatBasiliscus attacked Carthage, must be understood in a very qualifiedsense]

[Footnote 89: Damascius in Vit. Isidor. Apud Phot. P. 1048. It willappear, by comparing the three short chronicles of the times, thatMarcellinus had fought near Carthage, and was killed in Sicily. ]

[Footnote 891: According to Lydus, Leo, distracted by this andthe other calamities of his reign, particularly a dreadful fire atConstantinople, abandoned the palace, like another Orestes, and waspreparing to quit Constantinople forever l iii. C. 44, p. 230. --M. ]

[Footnote 90: For the African war, see Procopius, de Bell. (Vandal. L. I. C. 6, p. 191, 192, 193, ) Theophanes, (p. 99, 100, 101, ) Cedrenus, (p. 349, 350, ) and Zonaras, (tom. Ii. L. Xiv. P. 50, 51. ) Montesquieu(Considerations sur la Grandeur, &c. , c. Xx. Tom. Iii. P. 497) has madea judicious observation on the failure of these great naval armaments. ]

During his long and active reign, the African monarch had studiouslycultivated the friendship of the Barbarians of Europe, whose arms hemight employ in a seasonable and effectual diversion against the twoempires. After the death of Attila, he renewed his alliance with theVisigoths of Gaul; and the sons of the elder Theodoric, who successivelyreigned over that warlike nation, were easily persuaded, by the senseof interest, to forget the cruel affront which Genseric had inflicted ontheir sister. [91] The death of the emperor Majorian delivered Theodoricthe Second from the restraint of fear, and perhaps of honor; he violatedhis recent treaty with the Romans; and the ample territory of Narbonne, which he firmly united to his dominions, became the immediate reward ofhis perfidy. The selfish policy of Ricimer encouraged him to invade theprovinces which were in the possession of Aegidius, his rival; but theactive count, by the defence of Arles, and the victory of Orleans, savedGaul, and checked, during his lifetime, the progress of the Visigoths. Their ambition was soon rekindled; and the design of extinguishing theRoman empire in Spain and Gaul was conceived, and almost completed, in the reign of Euric, who assassinated his brother Theodoric, anddisplayed, with a more savage temper, superior abilities, both in peaceand war. He passed the Pyrenees at the head of a numerous army, subduedthe cities of Saragossa and Pampeluna, vanquished in battle the martialnobles of the Tarragonese province, carried his victorious arms intothe heart of Lusitania, and permitted the Suevi to hold the kingdom ofGallicia under the Gothic monarchy of Spain. [92] The efforts of Euricwere not less vigorous, or less successful, in Gaul; and throughout thecountry that extends from the Pyrenees to the Rhone and the Loire, Berry and Auvergne were the only cities, or dioceses, which refused toacknowledge him as their master. [93] In the defence of Clermont, theirprincipal town, the inhabitants of Auvergne sustained, with inflexibleresolution, the miseries of war, pestilence, and famine; and theVisigoths, relinquishing the fruitless siege, suspended the hopes ofthat important conquest. The youth of the province were animated by theheroic, and almost incredible, valor of Ecdicius, the son of the emperorAvitus, [94] who made a desperate sally with only eighteen horsemen, boldly attacked the Gothic army, and, after maintaining a flyingskirmish, retired safe and victorious within the walls of Clermont. Hischarity was equal to his courage: in a time of extreme scarcity, fourthousand poor were fed at his expense; and his private influence leviedan army of Burgundians for the deliverance of Auvergne. From his virtuesalone the faithful citizens of Gaul derived any hopes of safety orfreedom; and even such virtues were insufficient to avert the impendingruin of their country, since they were anxious to learn, from hisauthority and example, whether they should prefer the alternative ofexile or servitude. [95] The public confidence was lost; the resourcesof the state were exhausted; and the Gauls had too much reason tobelieve, that Anthemius, who reigned in Italy, was incapable ofprotecting his distressed subjects beyond the Alps. The feeble emperorcould only procure for their defence the service of twelve thousandBritish auxiliaries. Riothamus, one of the independent kings, orchieftains, of the island, was persuaded to transport his troops to thecontinent of Gaul: he sailed up the Loire, and established his quartersin Berry, where the people complained of these oppressive allies, tillthey were destroyed or dispersed by the arms of the Visigoths. [96]

[Footnote 91: Jornandes is our best guide through the reigns ofTheodoric II. And Euric, (de Rebus Geticis, c. 44, 45, 46, 47, p. 675-681. ) Idatius ends too soon, and Isidore is too sparing of theinformation which he might have given on the affairs of Spain. Theevents that relate to Gaul are laboriously illustrated in the third bookof the Abbe Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. I. P. 424-620. ]

[Footnote 92: See Mariana, Hist. Hispan. Tom. I. L. V. C. 5. P. 162. ]

[Footnote 93: An imperfect, but original, picture of Gaul, moreespecially of Auvergne, is shown by Sidonius; who, as a senator, and afterwards as a bishop, was deeply interested in the fate of hiscountry. See l. V. Epist. 1, 5, 9, &c. ]

[Footnote 94: Sidonius, l. Iii. Epist. 3, p. 65-68. Greg. Turon. L. Ii. C. 24, in tom. Ii. P. 174. Jornandes, c. 45, p. 675. Perhaps Ecdiciuswas only the son-in-law of Avitus, his wife's son by another husband. ]

[Footnote 95: Si nullae a republica vires, nulla praesidia; si nullae, quantum rumor est, Anthemii principis opes; statuit, te auctore, nobilitas, seu patriaca dimittere seu capillos, (Sidon. L. Ii. Epist. 1, p. 33. ) The last words Sirmond, (Not. P. 25) may likewise denote theclerical tonsure, which was indeed the choice of Sidonius himself. ]

[Footnote 96: The history of these Britons may be traced in Jornandes, (c. 45, p. 678, ) Sidonius, (l. Iii. Epistol. 9, p. 73, 74, ) and Gregoryof Tours, (l. Ii. C. 18, in tom. Ii. P. 170. ) Sidonius (who styles thesemercenary troops argutos, armatos, tumultuosos, virtute numero, contulernio, contumaces) addresses their general in a tone of friendship andfamiliarity. ] One of the last acts of jurisdiction, which the Romansenate exercised over their subjects of Gaul, was the trial andcondemnation of Arvandus, the Praetorian praefect. Sidonius, whorejoices that he lived under a reign in which he might pity and assista state criminal, has expressed, with tenderness and freedom, the faultsof his indiscreet and unfortunate friend. [97] From the perils which hehad escaped, Arvandus imbibed confidence rather than wisdom; and suchwas the various, though uniform, imprudence of his behavior, that hisprosperity must appear much more surprising than his downfall. Thesecond praefecture, which he obtained within the term of five years, abolished the merit and popularity of his preceding administration. Hiseasy temper was corrupted by flattery, and exasperated by opposition; hewas forced to satisfy his importunate creditors with the spoils of theprovince; his capricious insolence offended the nobles of Gaul, and hesunk under the weight of the public hatred. The mandate of his disgracesummoned him to justify his conduct before the senate; and he passedthe Sea of Tuscany with a favorable wind, the presage, as he vainlyimagined, of his future fortunes. A decent respect was still observedfor the Proefectorian rank; and on his arrival at Rome, Arvandus wascommitted to the hospitality, rather than to the custody, of FlaviusAsellus, the count of the sacred largesses, who resided in the Capitol. [98] He was eagerly pursued by his accusers, the four deputies of Gaul, who were all distinguished by their birth, their dignities, or theireloquence. In the name of a great province, and according to the formsof Roman jurisprudence, they instituted a civil and criminalaction, requiring such restitution as might compensate the losses ofindividuals, and such punishment as might satisfy the justice of thestate. Their charges of corrupt oppression were numerous and weighty;but they placed their secret dependence on a letter which they hadintercepted, and which they could prove, by the evidence of hissecretary, to have been dictated by Arvandus himself. The author of thisletter seemed to dissuade the king of the Goths from a peace with theGreek emperor: he suggested the attack of the Britons on the Loire;and he recommended a division of Gaul, according to the law of nations, between the Visigoths and the Burgundians. [99] These perniciousschemes, which a friend could only palliate by the reproaches of vanityand indiscretion, were susceptible of a treasonable interpretation; andthe deputies had artfully resolved not to produce their most formidableweapons till the decisive moment of the contest. But their intentionswere discovered by the zeal of Sidonius. He immediately apprised theunsuspecting criminal of his danger; and sincerely lamented, without anymixture of anger, the haughty presumption of Arvandus, who rejected, andeven resented, the salutary advice of his friends. Ignorant of his realsituation, Arvandus showed himself in the Capitol in the white robe ofa candidate, accepted indiscriminate salutations and offers of service, examined the shops of the merchants, the silks and gems, sometimes withthe indifference of a spectator, and sometimes with the attention of apurchaser; and complained of the times, of the senate, of the prince, and of the delays of justice. His complaints were soon removed. An earlyday was fixed for his trial; and Arvandus appeared, with his accusers, before a numerous assembly of the Roman senate. The mournful garbwhich they affected, excited the compassion of the judges, who werescandalized by the gay and splendid dress of their adversary: and whenthe praefect Arvandus, with the first of the Gallic deputies, weredirected to take their places on the senatorial benches, the samecontrast of pride and modesty was observed in their behavior. In thismemorable judgment, which presented a lively image of the old republic, the Gauls exposed, with force and freedom, the grievances of theprovince; and as soon as the minds of the audience were sufficientlyinflamed, they recited the fatal epistle. The obstinacy of Arvanduswas founded on the strange supposition, that a subject could not beconvicted of treason, unless he had actually conspired to assume thepurple. As the paper was read, he repeatedly, and with a loud voice, acknowledged it for his genuine composition; and his astonishment wasequal to his dismay, when the unanimous voice of the senate declared himguilty of a capital offence. By their decree, he was degraded fromthe rank of a praefect to the obscure condition of a plebeian, andignominiously dragged by servile hands to the public prison. After afortnight's adjournment, the senate was again convened to pronouncethe sentence of his death; but while he expected, in the Island ofAesculapius, the expiration of the thirty days allowed by an ancientlaw to the vilest malefactors, [100] his friends interposed, theemperor Anthemius relented, and the praefect of Gaul obtained the milderpunishment of exile and confiscation. The faults of Arvandus mightdeserve compassion; but the impunity of Seronatus accused the justiceof the republic, till he was condemned and executed, on the complaintof the people of Auvergne. That flagitious minister, the Catiline ofhis age and country, held a secret correspondence with the Visigoths, to betray the province which he oppressed: his industry was continuallyexercised in the discovery of new taxes and obsolete offences; and hisextravagant vices would have inspired contempt, if they had not excitedfear and abhorrence. [101]

[Footnote 97: See Sidonius, l. I. Epist. 7, p. 15-20, with Sirmond'snotes. This letter does honor to his heart, as well as to hisunderstanding. The prose of Sidonius, however vitiated by a false andaffected taste, is much superior to his insipid verses. ]

[Footnote 98: When the Capitol ceased to be a temple, it wasappropriated to the use of the civil magistrate; and it is still theresidence of the Roman senator. The jewellers, &c. , might be allowed toexpose then precious wares in the porticos. ]

[Footnote 99: Haec ad regem Gothorum, charta videbatur emitti, pacem cumGraeco Imperatore dissuadens, Britannos super Ligerim sitos impugnarioportere, demonstrans, cum Burgundionibus jure gentium Gallias divididebere confirmans. ]

[Footnote 100: Senatusconsultum Tiberianum, (Sirmond Not. P. 17;) butthat law allowed only ten days between the sentence and execution; theremaining twenty were added in the reign of Theodosius. ]

[Footnote 101: Catilina seculi nostri. Sidonius, l. Ii. Epist. 1, p. 33; l. V. Epist 13, p. 143; l. Vii. Epist. Vii. P. 185. He execratesthe crimes, and applauds the punishment, of Seronatus, perhaps withthe indignation of a virtuous citizen, perhaps with the resentment of apersonal enemy. ]

Such criminals were not beyond the reach of justice; but whatever mightbe the guilt of Ricimer, that powerful Barbarian was able to contendor to negotiate with the prince, whose alliance he had condescended toaccept. The peaceful and prosperous reign which Anthemius had promisedto the West, was soon clouded by misfortune and discord. Ricimer, apprehensive, or impatient, of a superior, retired from Rome, and fixedhis residence at Milan; an advantageous situation either to invite orto repel the warlike tribes that were seated between the Alps and theDanube. [102] Italy was gradually divided into two independent andhostile kingdoms; and the nobles of Liguria, who trembled at the nearapproach of a civil war, fell prostrate at the feet of the patrician, and conjured him to spare their unhappy country. "For my own part, "replied Ricimer, in a tone of insolent moderation, "I am still inclinedto embrace the friendship of the Galatian; [103] but who will undertaketo appease his anger, or to mitigate the pride, which always risesin proportion to our submission?" They informed him, that Epiphanius, bishop of Pavia, [104] united the wisdom of the serpent with theinnocence of the dove; and appeared confident, that the eloquence ofsuch an ambassador must prevail against the strongest opposition, either of interest or passion. Their recommendation was approved; andEpiphanius, assuming the benevolent office of mediation, proceededwithout delay to Rome, where he was received with the honors due to hismerit and reputation. The oration of a bishop in favor of peace may beeasily supposed; he argued, that, in all possible circumstances, theforgiveness of injuries must be an act of mercy, or magnanimity, orprudence; and he seriously admonished the emperor to avoid a contestwith a fierce Barbarian, which might be fatal to himself, and mustbe ruinous to his dominions. Anthemius acknowledged the truth of hismaxims; but he deeply felt, with grief and indignation, the behaviorof Ricimer, and his passion gave eloquence and energy to his discourse. "What favors, " he warmly exclaimed, "have we refused to this ungratefulman? What provocations have we not endured! Regardless of the majesty ofthe purple, I gave my daughter to a Goth; I sacrificed my own blood tothe safety of the republic. The liberality which ought to have securedthe eternal attachment of Ricimer has exasperated him against hisbenefactor. What wars has he not excited against the empire! How oftenhas he instigated and assisted the fury of hostile nations! Shall I nowaccept his perfidious friendship? Can I hope that he will respect theengagements of a treaty, who has already violated the duties of a son?"But the anger of Anthemius evaporated in these passionate exclamations:he insensibly yielded to the proposals of Epiphanius; and the bishopreturned to his diocese with the satisfaction of restoring the peace ofItaly, by a reconciliation, [105] of which the sincerity and continuancemight be reasonably suspected. The clemency of the emperor was extortedfrom his weakness; and Ricimer suspended his ambitious designs till hehad secretly prepared the engines with which he resolved to subvert thethrone of Anthemius. The mask of peace and moderation was then thrownaside. The army of Ricimer was fortified by a numerous reenforcement ofBurgundians and Oriental Suevi: he disclaimed all allegiance to theGreek emperor, marched from Milan to the Gates of Rome, and fixing hiscamp on the banks of the Anio, impatiently expected the arrival ofOlybrius, his Imperial candidate. 

[Footnote 102: Ricimer, under the reign of Anthemius, defeated and slewin battle Beorgor, king of the Alani, (Jornandes, c. 45, p. 678. ) Hissister had married the king of the Burgundians, and he maintained anintimate connection with the Suevic colony established in Pannonia andNoricum. ]

[Footnote 103: Galatam concitatum. Sirmond (in his notes to Ennodius)applies this appellation to Anthemius himself. The emperor was probablyborn in the province of Galatia, whose inhabitants, the Gallo-Grecians, were supposed to unite the vices of a savage and a corrupted people. ]

[Footnote 104: Epiphanius was thirty years bishop of Pavia, (A. D. 467-497;) see Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xvi. P. 788. His name andactions would have been unknown to posterity, if Ennodius, one ofhis successors, had not written his life; (Sirmond, Opera tom. I. P. 1647-1692;) in which he represents him as one of the greatest charactersof the age]

[Footnote 105: Ennodius (p. 1659-1664) has related this embassy ofEpiphanius; and his narrative, verbose and turgid as it must appear, illustrates some curious passages in the fall of the Western empire. ]

The senator Olybrius, of the Anician family, might esteem himself thelawful heir of the Western empire. He had married Placidia, the youngerdaughter of Valentinian, after she was restored by Genseric; who stilldetained her sister Eudoxia, as the wife, or rather as the captive, of his son. The king of the Vandals supported, by threats andsolicitations, the fair pretensions of his Roman ally; and assigned, asone of the motives of the war, the refusal of the senate and people toacknowledge their lawful prince, and the unworthy preference which theyhad given to a stranger. [106] The friendship of the public enemy mightrender Olybrius still more unpopular to the Italians; but when Ricimermeditated the ruin of the emperor Anthemius, he tempted, with theoffer of a diadem, the candidate who could justify his rebellion by anillustrious name and a royal alliance. The husband of Placidia, who, like most of his ancestors, had been invested with the consular dignity, might have continued to enjoy a secure and splendid fortune in thepeaceful residence of Constantinople; nor does he appear to have beentormented by such a genius as cannot be amused or occupied, unlessby the administration of an empire. Yet Olybrius yielded to theimportunities of his friends, perhaps of his wife; rashly plungedinto the dangers and calamities of a civil war; and, with the secretconnivance of the emperor Leo, accepted the Italian purple, which wasbestowed, and resumed, at the capricious will of a Barbarian. He landedwithout obstacle (for Genseric was master of the sea) either at Ravenna, or the port of Ostia, and immediately proceeded to the camp of Ricimer, where he was received as the sovereign of the Western world. [107]

[Footnote 106: Priscus, Excerpt. Legation p. 74. Procopius de Bell. Vandel l. I. C. 6, p. 191. Eudoxia and her daughter were restored afterthe death of Majorian. Perhaps the consulship of Olybrius (A. D. 464) wasbestowed as a nuptial present. ]

[Footnote 107: The hostile appearance of Olybrius is fixed(notwithstanding the opinion of Pagi) by the duration of his reign. Thesecret connivance of Leo is acknowledged by Theophanes and the PaschalChronicle. We are ignorant of his motives; but in this obscure period, our ignorance extends to the most public and important facts. ]

The patrician, who had extended his posts from the Anio to the Melvianbridge, already possessed two quarters of Rome, the Vatican and theJaniculum, which are separated by the Tyber from the rest of the city;[108] and it may be conjectured, that an assembly of seceding senatorsimitated, in the choice of Olybrius, the forms of a legal election. But the body of the senate and people firmly adhered to the cause ofAnthemius; and the more effectual support of a Gothic army enabled himto prolong his reign, and the public distress, by a resistance of threemonths, which produced the concomitant evils of famine and pestilence. At length Ricimer made a furious assault on the bridge of Hadrian, orSt. Angelo; and the narrow pass was defended with equal valor by theGoths, till the death of Gilimer, their leader. The victorious troops, breaking down every barrier, rushed with irresistible violence intothe heart of the city, and Rome (if we may use the language of acontemporary pope) was subverted by the civil fury of Anthemiusand Ricimer. [109] The unfortunate Anthemius was dragged from hisconcealment, and inhumanly massacred by the command of his son-in-law;who thus added a third, or perhaps a fourth, emperor to the number ofhis victims. The soldiers, who united the rage of factious citizens withthe savage manners of Barbarians, were indulged, without control, inthe license of rapine and murder: the crowd of slaves and plebeians, who were unconcerned in the event, could only gain by the indiscriminatepillage; and the face of the city exhibited the strange contrast ofstern cruelty and dissolute intemperance. [110] Forty days after thiscalamitous event, the subject, not of glory, but of guilt, Italy wasdelivered, by a painful disease, from the tyrant Ricimer, who bequeathedthe command of his army to his nephew Gundobald, one of the princes ofthe Burgundians. In the same year all the principal actors in this greatrevolution were removed from the stage; and the whole reign of Olybrius, whose death does not betray any symptoms of violence, is included withinthe term of seven months. He left one daughter, the offspring ofhis marriage with Placidia; and the family of the great Theodosius, transplanted from Spain to Constantinople, was propagated in the femaleline as far as the eighth generation. [111]

[Footnote 108: Of the fourteen regions, or quarters, into which Rome wasdivided by Augustus, only one, the Janiculum, lay on the Tuscan sideof the Tyber. But, in the fifth century, the Vatican suburb formed aconsiderable city; and in the ecclesiastical distribution, which hadbeen recently made by Simplicius, the reigning pope, two of the sevenregions, or parishes of Rome, depended on the church of St. Peter. SeeNardini Roma Antica, p. 67. It would require a tedious dissertationto mark the circumstances, in which I am inclined to depart from thetopography of that learned Roman. ]

[Footnote 109: Nuper Anthemii et Ricimeris civili furore subversa est. Gelasius in Epist. Ad Andromach. Apud Baron. A. D. 496, No. 42, Sigonius(tom. I. L. Xiv. De Occidentali Imperio, p. 542, 543, ) and Muratori(Annali d'Italia, tom. Iv. P. 308, 309, ) with the aid of a lessimperfect Ms. Of the Historia Miscella. , have illustrated this dark andbloody transaction. ]

[Footnote 110: Such had been the saeva ac deformis urbe tota facies, when Rome was assaulted and stormed by the troops of Vespasian, (seeTacit. Hist. Iii. 82, 83;) and every cause of mischief had sinceacquired much additional energy. The revolution of ages may bring roundthe same calamities; but ages may revolve without producing a Tacitus todescribe them. ]

[Footnote 111: See Ducange, Familiae Byzantin. P. 74, 75. Areobindus, who appears to have married the niece of the emperor Justinian, was theeighth descendant of the elder Theodosius. ]

Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire. --Part V. 

Whilst the vacant throne of Italy was abandoned to lawless Barbarians, [112] the election of a new colleague was seriously agitated in thecouncil of Leo. The empress Verina, studious to promote the greatnessof her own family, had married one of her nieces to Julius Nepos, whosucceeded his uncle Marcellinus in the sovereignty of Dalmatia, a moresolid possession than the title which he was persuaded to accept, ofEmperor of the West. But the measures of the Byzantine court were solanguid and irresolute, that many months elapsed after the death ofAnthemius, and even of Olybrius, before their destined successor couldshow himself, with a respectable force, to his Italian subjects. Duringthat interval, Glycerius, an obscure soldier, was invested with thepurple by his patron Gundobald; but the Burgundian prince was unable, or unwilling, to support his nomination by a civil war: the pursuits ofdomestic ambition recalled him beyond the Alps, [113] and his clientwas permitted to exchange the Roman sceptre for the bishopric ofSalona. After extinguishing such a competitor, the emperor Nepos wasacknowledged by the senate, by the Italians, and by the provincials ofGaul; his moral virtues, and military talents, were loudly celebrated;and those who derived any private benefit from his government, announced, in prophetic strains, the restoration of the public felicity. [114] Their hopes (if such hopes had been entertained) were confoundedwithin the term of a single year, and the treaty of peace, which cededAuvergue to the Visigoths, is the only event of his short and ingloriousreign. The most faithful subjects of Gaul were sacrificed, by theItalian emperor, to the hope of domestic security; [115] but his reposewas soon invaded by a furious sedition of the Barbarian confederates, who, under the command of Orestes, their general, were in full marchfrom Rome to Ravenna. Nepos trembled at their approach; and, instead ofplacing a just confidence in the strength of Ravenna, he hastily escapedto his ships, and retired to his Dalmatian principality, on the oppositecoast of the Adriatic. By this shameful abdication, he protracted hislife about five years, in a very ambiguous state, between an emperorand an exile, till he was assassinated at Salona by the ungratefulGlycerius, who was translated, perhaps as the reward of his crime, tothe archbishopric of Milan. [116]

[Footnote 112: The last revolutions of the Western empire are faintlymarked in Theophanes, (p. 102, ) Jornandes, (c. 45, p. 679, ) theChronicle of Marcellinus, and the Fragments of an anonymous writer, published by Valesius at the end of Ammianus, (p. 716, 717. ) If Photiushad not been so wretchedly concise, we should derive much informationfrom the contemporary histories of Malchus and Candidus. See hisExtracts, p. 172-179. ]

[Footnote 113: See Greg. Turon. L. Ii. C. 28, in tom. Ii. P. 175. Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. I. P. 613. By the murder or death of histwo brothers, Gundobald acquired the sole possession of the kingdom ofBurgundy, whose ruin was hastened by their discord. ]

[Footnote 114: Julius Nepos armis pariter summus Augustus ac moribus. Sidonius, l. V. Ep. 16, p. 146. Nepos had given to Ecdicius the titleof Patrician, which Anthemius had promised, decessoris Anthemii fidemabsolvit. See l. Viii. Ep. 7, p. 224. ]

[Footnote 115: Epiphanius was sent ambassador from Nepos to theVisigoths, for the purpose of ascertaining the fines Imperii Italici, (Ennodius in Sirmond, tom. I. P. 1665-1669. ) His pathetic discourseconcealed the disgraceful secret which soon excited the just and bittercomplaints of the bishop of Clermont. ]

[Footnote 116: Malchus, apud Phot. P. 172. Ennod. Epigram. Lxxxii. InSirmond. Oper. Tom. I. P. 1879. Some doubt may, however, be raised onthe identity of the emperor and the archbishop. ]

The nations who had asserted their independence after the death ofAttila, were established, by the right of possession or conquest, inthe boundless countries to the north of the Danube; or in the Romanprovinces between the river and the Alps. But the bravest of their youthenlisted in the army of confederates, who formed the defence and theterror of Italy; [117] and in this promiscuous multitude, the namesof the Heruli, the Scyrri, the Alani, the Turcilingi, and the Rugians, appear to have predominated. The example of these warriors was imitatedby Orestes, [118] the son of Tatullus, and the father of the last Romanemperor of the West. Orestes, who has been already mentioned in thisHistory, had never deserted his country. His birth and fortunes renderedhim one of the most illustrious subjects of Pannonia. When that provincewas ceded to the Huns, he entered into the service of Attila, his lawfulsovereign, obtained the office of his secretary, and was repeatedly sentambassador to Constantinople, to represent the person, and signify thecommands, of the imperious monarch. The death of that conqueror restoredhim to his freedom; and Orestes might honorably refuse either to followthe sons of Attila into the Scythian desert, or to obey the Ostrogoths, who had usurped the dominion of Pannonia. He preferred the service ofthe Italian princes, the successors of Valentinian; and as he possessedthe qualifications of courage, industry, and experience, he advancedwith rapid steps in the military profession, till he was elevated, by the favor of Nepos himself, to the dignities of patrician, andmaster-general of the troops. These troops had been long accustomed toreverence the character and authority of Orestes, who affected theirmanners, conversed with them in their own language, and was intimatelyconnected with their national chieftains, by long habits of familiarityand friendship. At his solicitation they rose in arms against theobscure Greek, who presumed to claim their obedience; and when Orestes, from some secret motive, declined the purple, they consented, with thesame facility, to acknowledge his son Augustulus as the emperor of theWest. By the abdication of Nepos, Orestes had now attained the summit ofhis ambitious hopes; but he soon discovered, before the end of the firstyear, that the lessons of perjury and ingratitude, which a rebel mustinculcate, will be resorted to against himself; and that the precarioussovereign of Italy was only permitted to choose, whether he would bethe slave, or the victim, of his Barbarian mercenaries. The dangerousalliance of these strangers had oppressed and insulted the lastremains of Roman freedom and dignity. At each revolution, their pay andprivileges were augmented; but their insolence increased in a still moreextravagant degree; they envied the fortune of their brethren in Gaul, Spain, and Africa, whose victorious arms had acquired an independentand perpetual inheritance; and they insisted on their peremptory demand, that a third part of the lands of Italy should be immediately dividedamong them. Orestes, with a spirit, which, in another situation, mightbe entitled to our esteem, chose rather to encounter the rage of anarmed multitude, than to subscribe the ruin of an innocent people. Herejected the audacious demand; and his refusal was favorable to theambition of Odoacer; a bold Barbarian, who assured his fellow-soldiers, that, if they dared to associate under his command, they might soonextort the justice which had been denied to their dutiful petitions. From all the camps and garrisons of Italy, the confederates, actuatedby the same resentment and the same hopes, impatiently flocked tothe standard of this popular leader; and the unfortunate patrician, overwhelmed by the torrent, hastily retreated to the strong city ofPavia, the episcopal seat of the holy Epiphanites. Pavia was immediatelybesieged, the fortifications were stormed, the town was pillaged; andalthough the bishop might labor, with much zeal and some success, tosave the property of the church, and the chastity of female captives, the tumult could only be appeased by the execution of Orestes. [119]His brother Paul was slain in an action near Ravenna; and the helplessAugustulus, who could no longer command the respect, was reduced toimplore the clemency, of Odoacer. 

[Footnote 117: Our knowledge of these mercenaries, who subverted theWestern empire, is derived from Procopius, (de Bell. Gothico, l. I. C. I. P. 308. ) The popular opinion, and the recent historians, representOdoacer in the false light of a stranger, and a king, who invaded Italywith an army of foreigners, his native subjects. ]

[Footnote 118: Orestes, qui eo tempore quando Attila ad Italiam venit, se illi unxit, ejus notarius factus fuerat. Anonym. Vales. P. 716. Heis mistaken in the date; but we may credit his assertion, that thesecretary of Attila was the father of Augustulus]

[Footnote 119: See Ennodius, (in Vit. Epiphan. Sirmond, tom. I. P. 1669, 1670. ) He adds weight to the narrative of Procopius, though we may doubtwhether the devil actually contrived the siege of Pavia, to distress thebishop and his flock. ]

That successful Barbarian was the son of Edecon; who, in some remarkabletransactions, particularly described in a preceding chapter, had beenthe colleague of Orestes himself. [1191] The honor of an ambassadorshould be exempt from suspicion; and Edecon had listened to a conspiracyagainst the life of his sovereign. But this apparent guilt was expiatedby his merit or repentance; his rank was eminent and conspicuous; heenjoyed the favor of Attila; and the troops under his command, whoguarded, in their turn, the royal village, consisted of a tribe ofScyrri, his immediate and hereditary subjects. In the revolt of thenations, they still adhered to the Huns; and more than twelve yearsafterwards, the name of Edecon is honorably mentioned, in their unequalcontests with the Ostrogoths; which was terminated, after two bloodybattles, by the defeat and dispersion of the Scyrri. [120] Their gallantleader, who did not survive this national calamity, left two sons, Onulfand Odoacer, to struggle with adversity, and to maintain as they might, by rapine or service, the faithful followers of their exile. Onulfdirected his steps towards Constantinople, where he sullied, by theassassination of a generous benefactor, the fame which he had acquiredin arms. His brother Odoacer led a wandering life among the Barbariansof Noricum, with a mind and a fortune suited to the most desperateadventures; and when he had fixed his choice, he piously visited thecell of Severinus, the popular saint of the country, to solicit hisapprobation and blessing. The lowness of the door would not admit thelofty stature of Odoacer: he was obliged to stoop; but in that humbleattitude the saint could discern the symptoms of his future greatness;and addressing him in a prophetic tone, "Pursue" (said he) "your design;proceed to Italy; you will soon cast away this coarse garment of skins;and your wealth will be adequate to the liberality of your mind. " [121]The Barbarian, whose daring spirit accepted and ratified the prediction, was admitted into the service of the Western empire, and soon obtainedan honorable rank in the guards. His manners were gradually polished, his military skill was improved, and the confederates of Italy would nothave elected him for their general, unless the exploits of Odoacer hadestablished a high opinion of his courage and capacity. [122] Theirmilitary acclamations saluted him with the title of king; but heabstained, during his whole reign, from the use of the purple anddiadem, [123] lest he should offend those princes, whose subjects, bytheir accidental mixture, had formed the victorious army, which time andpolicy might insensibly unite into a great nation. 

[Footnote 1191: Manso observes that the evidence which identifiesEdecon, the father of Odoacer, with the colleague of Orestes, is notconclusive. Geschichte des Ost-Gothischen Reiches, p. 32. But St. Martininclines to agree with Gibbon, note, vi. 75. --M. ]

[Footnote 120: Jornandes, c. 53, 54, p. 692-695. M. De Buat (Hist. DesPeuples de l'Europe, tom. Viii. P. 221-228) has clearly explained theorigin and adventures of Odoacer. I am almost inclined to believe thathe was the same who pillaged Angers, and commanded a fleet of Saxonpirates on the ocean. Greg. Turon. L. Ii. C. 18, in tom. Ii. P. 170. 8 Note: According to St. Martin there is no foundation for thisconjecture, vii 5--M. ]

[Footnote 121: Vade ad Italiam, vade vilissimis nunc pellibus coopertis:sed multis cito plurima largiturus. Anonym. Vales. P. 717. He quotes thelife of St. Severinus, which is extant, and contains much unknown andvaluable history; it was composed by his disciple Eugippius (A. D. 511)thirty years after his death. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xvi. P. 168-181. ]

[Footnote 122: Theophanes, who calls him a Goth, affirms, that he waseducated, aursed in Italy, (p. 102;) and as this strong expression willnot bear a literal interpretation, it must be explained by long servicein the Imperial guards. ]

[Footnote 123: Nomen regis Odoacer assumpsit, cum tamen neque purpuranee regalibus uteretur insignibus. Cassiodor. In Chron. A. D. 476. Heseems to have assumed the abstract title of a king, without applying itto any particular nation or country. 8 Note: Manso observes that Odoacernever called himself king of Italy, assume the purple, and no coins areextant with his name. Gescnichte Osi Goth. Reiches, p. 36--M. ]

Royalty was familiar to the Barbarians, and the submissive people ofItaly was prepared to obey, without a murmur, the authority which heshould condescend to exercise as the vicegerent of the emperor of theWest. But Odoacer had resolved to abolish that useless and expensiveoffice; and such is the weight of antique prejudice, that it requiredsome boldness and penetration to discover the extreme facility of theenterprise. The unfortunate Augustulus was made the instrument of hisown disgrace: he signified his resignation to the senate; and thatassembly, in their last act of obedience to a Roman prince, stillaffected the spirit of freedom, and the forms of the constitution. Anepistle was addressed, by their unanimous decree, to the emperor Zeno, the son-in-law and successor of Leo; who had lately been restored, aftera short rebellion, to the Byzantine throne. They solemnly "disclaimthe necessity, or even the wish, of continuing any longer the Imperialsuccession in Italy; since, in their opinion, the majesty of a solemonarch is sufficient to pervade and protect, at the same time, boththe East and the West. In their own name, and in the name of the people, they consent that the seat of universal empire shall be transferred fromRome to Constantinople; and they basely renounce the right of choosingtheir master, the only vestige that yet remained of the authority whichhad given laws to the world. The republic (they repeat that name withouta blush) might safely confide in the civil and military virtues ofOdoacer; and they humbly request, that the emperor would invest him withthe title of Patrician, and the administration of the diocese of Italy. "The deputies of the senate were received at Constantinople with somemarks of displeasure and indignation: and when they were admitted to theaudience of Zeno, he sternly reproached them with their treatment ofthe two emperors, Anthemius and Nepos, whom the East had successivelygranted to the prayers of Italy. "The first" (continued he) "you havemurdered; the second you have expelled; but the second is still alive, and whilst he lives he is your lawful sovereign. " But the prudent Zenosoon deserted the hopeless cause of his abdicated colleague. His vanitywas gratified by the title of sole emperor, and by the statues erectedto his honor in the several quarters of Rome; he entertained a friendly, though ambiguous, correspondence with the patrician Odoacer; and hegratefully accepted the Imperial ensigns, the sacred ornaments of thethrone and palace, which the Barbarian was not unwilling to remove fromthe sight of the people. [124]

[Footnote 124: Malchus, whose loss excites our regret, has preserved(in Excerpt. Legat. P. 93) this extraordinary embassy from the senate toZeno. The anonymous fragment, (p. 717, ) and the extract from Candidus, (apud Phot. P. 176, ) are likewise of some use. ]

In the space of twenty years since the death of Valentinian, nineemperors had successively disappeared; and the son of Orestes, a youthrecommended only by his beauty, would be the least entitled to thenotice of posterity, if his reign, which was marked by the extinctionof the Roman empire in the West, did not leave a memorable era in thehistory of mankind. [125] The patrician Orestes had married thedaughter of Count Romulus, of Petovio in Noricum: the name of Augustus, notwithstanding the jealousy of power, was known at Aquileia as afamiliar surname; and the appellations of the two great founders, ofthe city and of the monarchy, were thus strangely united in the lastof their successors. [126] The son of Orestes assumed and disgraced thenames of Romulus Augustus; but the first was corrupted into Momyllus, by the Greeks, and the second has been changed by the Latins into thecontemptible diminutive Augustulus. The life of this inoffensive youthwas spared by the generous clemency of Odoacer; who dismissed him, withhis whole family, from the Imperial palace, fixed his annual allowanceat six thousand pieces of gold, and assigned the castle of Lucullus, inCampania, for the place of his exile or retirement. [127] As soon as theRomans breathed from the toils of the Punic war, they were attracted bythe beauties and the pleasures of Campania; and the country-house ofthe elder Scipio at Liternum exhibited a lasting model of their rusticsimplicity. [128] The delicious shores of the Bay of Naples were crowdedwith villas; and Sylla applauded the masterly skill of his rival, whohad seated himself on the lofty promontory of Misenum, that commands, onevery side, the sea and land, as far as the boundaries of the horizon. [129] The villa of Marius was purchased, within a few years, byLucullus, and the price had increased from two thousand five hundred, tomore than fourscore thousand, pounds sterling. [130] It was adornedby the new proprietor with Grecian arts and Asiatic treasures; and thehouses and gardens of Lucullus obtained a distinguished rank in the listof Imperial palaces. [131] When the Vandals became formidable to thesea-coast, the Lucullan villa, on the promontory of Misenum, graduallyassumed the strength and appellation of a strong castle, the obscureretreat of the last emperor of the West. About twenty years after thatgreat revolution, it was converted into a church and monastery, toreceive the bones of St. Severinus. They securely reposed, amidst thethe broken trophies of Cimbric and Armenian victories, till the beginningof the tenth century; when the fortifications, which might afford adangerous shelter to the Saracens, were demolished by the people ofNaples. [132]

[Footnote 125: The precise year in which the Western empire wasextinguished, is not positively ascertained. The vulgar era of A. D. 476appears to have the sanction of authentic chronicles. But the two datesassigned by Jornandes (c. 46, p. 680) would delay that great event tothe year 479; and though M. De Buat has overlooked his evidence, heproduces (tom. Viii. P. 261-288) many collateral circumstances insupport of the same opinion. ]

[Footnote 126: See his medals in Ducange, (Fam. Byzantin. P. 81, )Priscus, (Excerpt. Legat. P. 56, ) Maffei, (Osservazioni Letterarie, tom. Ii p. 314. ) We may allege a famous and similar case. The meanestsubjects of the Roman empire assumed the illustrious name of Patricius, which, by the conversion of Ireland has been communicated to a wholenation. ]

[Footnote 127: Ingrediens autem Ravennam deposuit Augustulum de regno, cujus infantiam misertus concessit ei sanguinem; et quia pulchererat, tamen donavit ei reditum sex millia solidos, et misit eum intraCampaniam cum parentibus suis libere vivere. Anonym. Vales. P. 716. Jornandes says, (c 46, p. 680, ) in Lucullano Campaniae castello exiliipoena damnavit. ]

[Footnote 128: See the eloquent Declamation of Seneca, (Epist. Lxxxvi. )The philosopher might have recollected, that all luxury is relative;and that the elder Scipio, whose manners were polished by studyand conversation, was himself accused of that vice by his rudercontemporaries, (Livy, xxix. 19. )]

[Footnote 129: Sylla, in the language of a soldier, praised his peritiacastrametandi, (Plin. Hist. Natur. Xviii. 7. ) Phaedrus, who makes itsshady walks (loeta viridia) the scene of an insipid fable, (ii. 5, ) hasthus described the situation:--

 Caesar Tiberius quum petens Neapolim, In Misenensem villam venissit suam; Quae monte summo posita Luculli manu Prospectat Siculum et prospicit Tuscum mare. ]

[Footnote 130: From seven myriads and a half to two hundred and fiftymyriads of drachmae. Yet even in the possession of Marius, it wasa luxurious retirement. The Romans derided his indolence; they soonbewailed his activity. See Plutarch, in Mario, tom. Ii. P. 524. ]

[Footnote 131: Lucullus had other villa of equal, though various, magnificence, at Baiae, Naples, Tusculum, &c. , He boasted that hechanged his climate with the storks and cranes. Plutarch, in Lucull. Tom. Iii. P. 193. ]

[Footnote 132: Severinus died in Noricum, A. D. 482. Six yearsafterwards, his body, which scattered miracles as it passed, wastransported by his disciples into Italy. The devotion of a Neapolitanlady invited the saint to the Lucullan villa, in the place ofAugustulus, who was probably no more. See Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 496, No. 50, 51) and Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xvi. P. 178-181, )from the original life by Eugippius. The narrative of the last migrationof Severinus to Naples is likewise an authentic piece. ]

Odoacer was the first Barbarian who reigned in Italy, over a people whohad once asserted their just superiority above the rest of mankind. Thedisgrace of the Romans still excites our respectful compassion, andwe fondly sympathize with the imaginary grief and indignation of theirdegenerate posterity. But the calamities of Italy had gradually subduedthe proud consciousness of freedom and glory. In the age of Roman virtuethe provinces were subject to the arms, and the citizens to the laws, ofthe republic; till those laws were subverted by civil discord, and boththe city and the province became the servile property of a tyrant. Theforms of the constitution, which alleviated or disguised their abjectslavery, were abolished by time and violence; the Italians alternatelylamented the presence or the absence of the sovereign, whom theydetested or despised; and the succession of five centuries inflicted thevarious evils of military license, capricious despotism, and elaborateoppression. During the same period, the Barbarians had emerged fromobscurity and contempt, and the warriors of Germany and Scythia wereintroduced into the provinces, as the servants, the allies, and atlength the masters, of the Romans, whom they insulted or protected. Thehatred of the people was suppressed by fear; they respected the spiritand splendor of the martial chiefs who were invested with the honors ofthe empire; and the fate of Rome had long depended on the sword of thoseformidable strangers. The stern Ricimer, who trampled on the ruins ofItaly, had exercised the power, without assuming the title, of a king;and the patient Romans were insensibly prepared to acknowledge theroyalty of Odoacer and his Barbaric successors. The king of Italy wasnot unworthy of the high station to which his valor and fortunehad exalted him: his savage manners were polished by the habits ofconversation; and he respected, though a conqueror and a Barbarian, the institutions, and even the prejudices, of his subjects. After aninterval of seven years, Odoacer restored the consulship of the West. For himself, he modestly, or proudly, declined an honor which wasstill accepted by the emperors of the East; but the curule chair wassuccessively filled by eleven of the most illustrious senators; [133]and the list is adorned by the respectable name of Basilius, whosevirtues claimed the friendship and grateful applause of Sidonius, hisclient. [134] The laws of the emperors were strictly enforced, and thecivil administration of Italy was still exercised by the Praetorianpraefect and his subordinate officers. Odoacer devolved on the Romanmagistrates the odious and oppressive task of collecting the publicrevenue; but he reserved for himself the merit of seasonable andpopular indulgence. [135] Like the rest of the Barbarians, he hadbeen instructed in the Arian heresy; but he revered the monastic andepiscopal characters; and the silence of the Catholics attest thetoleration which they enjoyed. The peace of the city required theinterposition of his praefect Basilius in the choice of a Roman pontiff:the decree which restrained the clergy from alienating their lands wasultimately designed for the benefit of the people, whose devotions wouldhave been taxed to repair the dilapidations of the church. [136] Italywas protected by the arms of its conqueror; and its frontiers wererespected by the Barbarians of Gaul and Germany, who had so longinsulted the feeble race of Theodosius. Odoacer passed the Adriatic, tochastise the assassins of the emperor Nepos, and to acquire the maritimeprovince of Dalmatia. He passed the Alps, to rescue the remains ofNoricum from Fava, or Feletheus, king of the Rugians, who held hisresidence beyond the Danube. The king was vanquished in battle, andled away prisoner; a numerous colony of captives and subjects wastransplanted into Italy; and Rome, after a long period of defeat anddisgrace, might claim the triumph of her Barbarian master. [137]

[Footnote 133: The consular Fasti may be found in Pagi or Muratori. Theconsuls named by Odoacer, or perhaps by the Roman senate, appear to havebeen acknowledged in the Eastern empire. ]

[Footnote 134: Sidonius Apollinaris (l. I. Epist. 9, p. 22, edit. Sirmond) has compared the two leading senators of his time, (A. D. 468, )Gennadius Avienus and Caecina Basilius. To the former he assigns thespecious, to the latter the solid, virtues of public and private life. ABasilius junior, possibly his son, was consul in the year 480. ]

[Footnote 135: Epiphanius interceded for the people of Pavia; and theking first granted an indulgence of five years, and afterwards relievedthem from the oppression of Pelagius, the Praetorian praefect, (Ennodiusin Vit St. Epiphan. , in Sirmond, Oper. Tom. I. P. 1670-1672. )]

[Footnote 136: See Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A. D. 483, No. 10-15. Sixteenyears afterwards the irregular proceedings of Basilius were condemned byPope Symmachus in a Roman synod. ]

[Footnote 137: The wars of Odoacer are concisely mentioned by Paul theDeacon, (de Gest. Langobard. L. I. C. 19, p. 757, edit. Grot. , ) andin the two Chronicles of Cassiodorus and Cuspinian. The life of St. Severinus by Eugippius, which the count de Buat (Hist. Des Peuples, &c. , tom. Viii. C. 1, 4, 8, 9) has diligently studied, illustrates the ruinof Noricum and the Bavarian antiquities]

Notwithstanding the prudence and success of Odoacer, his kingdomexhibited the sad prospect of misery and desolation. Since the age ofTiberius, the decay of agriculture had been felt in Italy; and it was ajust subject of complaint, that the life of the Roman people dependedon the accidents of the winds and waves. [138] In the division and thedecline of the empire, the tributary harvests of Egypt and Africa werewithdrawn; the numbers of the inhabitants continually diminishedwith the means of subsistence; and the country was exhausted by theirretrievable losses of war, famine, [139] and pestilence. St. Ambrosehas deplored the ruin of a populous district, which had been onceadorned with the flourishing cities of Bologna, Modena, Regium, andPlacentia. [140] Pope Gelasius was a subject of Odoacer; and he affirms, with strong exaggeration, that in Aemilia, Tuscany, and the adjacentprovinces, the human species was almost extirpated. [141] The plebeiansof Rome, who were fed by the hand of their master, perished ordisappeared, as soon as his liberality was suppressed; the decline ofthe arts reduced the industrious mechanic to idleness and want; and thesenators, who might support with patience the ruin of their country, bewailed their private loss of wealth and luxury. [1411] One third ofthose ample estates, to which the ruin of Italy is originally imputed, [142] was extorted for the use of the conquerors. Injuries wereaggravated by insults; the sense of actual sufferings was imbittered bythe fear of more dreadful evils; and as new lands were allotted tothe new swarms of Barbarians, each senator was apprehensive lest thearbitrary surveyors should approach his favorite villa, or his mostprofitable farm. The least unfortunate were those who submitted withouta murmur to the power which it was impossible to resist. Since theydesired to live, they owed some gratitude to the tyrant who had sparedtheir lives; and since he was the absolute master of their fortunes, theportion which he left must be accepted as his pure and voluntary gift. [143] The distress of Italy [1431] was mitigated by the prudenceand humanity of Odoacer, who had bound himself, as the price ofhis elevation, to satisfy the demands of a licentious and turbulentmultitude. The kings of the Barbarians were frequently resisted, deposed, or murdered, by their native subjects, and the various bandsof Italian mercenaries, who associated under the standard of an electivegeneral, claimed a larger privilege of freedom and rapine. A monarchydestitute of national union, and hereditary right, hastened to itsdissolution. After a reign of fourteen years, Odoacer was oppressed bythe superior genius of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths; a hero alikeexcellent in the arts of war and of government, who restored an ageof peace and prosperity, and whose name still excites and deserves theattention of mankind. 

[Footnote 138: Tacit. Annal. Iii. 53. The Recherches surl'Administration des Terres chez les Romains (p. 351-361) clearly statethe progress of internal decay. ]

[Footnote 139: A famine, which afflicted Italy at the time of theirruption of Odoacer, king of the Heruli, is eloquently described, inprose and verse, by a French poet, (Les Mois, tom. Ii. P. 174, 205, edit. In 12 mo. ) I am ignorant from whence he derives his information;but I am well assured that he relates some facts incompatible with thetruth of history]

[Footnote 140: See the xxxixth epistle of St. Ambrose, as it is quotedby Muratori, sopra le Antichita Italiane, tom. I. Dissert. Xxi. P. 354. ]

[Footnote 141: Aemilia, Tuscia, ceteraeque provinciae in quibus hominumpropenullus exsistit. Gelasius, Epist. Ad Andromachum, ap. Baronium, Annal. Eccles. A. D. 496, No. 36. ]

[Footnote 1411: Denina supposes that the Barbarians were compelledby necessity to turn their attention to agriculture. Italy, eitherimperfectly cultivated, or not at all, by the indolent or ruinedproprietors, not only could not furnish the imposts, on which the pay ofthe soldiery depended, but not even a certain supply of the necessariesof life. The neighboring countries were now occupied by warlike nations;the supplies of corn from Africa were cut off; foreign commerce nearlydestroyed; they could not look for supplies beyond the limits of Italy, throughout which the agriculture had been long in a state of progressivebut rapid depression. (Denina, Rev. D'Italia t. V. C. I. )--M. ]

[Footnote 142: Verumque confitentibus, latifundia perdidere Italiam. Plin. Hist. Natur. Xviii. 7. ]

[Footnote 143: Such are the topics of consolation, or rather ofpatience, which Cicero (ad Familiares, lib. Ix. Epist. 17) suggests tohis friend Papirius Paetus, under the military despotism of Caesar. The argument, however, of "vivere pulcherrimum duxi, " is more forciblyaddressed to a Roman philosopher, who possessed the free alternative oflife or death]

[Footnote 1431: Compare, on the desolation and change of property inItaly, Manno des Ost-Gothischen Reiches, Part ii. P. 73, et seq. --M. ]

Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To Christianity. --Part I. 

 Origin Progress, And Effects Of The Monastic Life. -- Conversion Of The Barbarians To Christianity And Arianism. -- Persecution Of The Vandals In Africa. --Extinction Of Arianism Among The Barbarians. 

The indissoluble connection of civil and ecclesiastical affairs hascompelled, and encouraged, me to relate the progress, the persecutions, the establishment, the divisions, the final triumph, and the gradualcorruption, of Christianity. I have purposely delayed the considerationof two religious events, interesting in the study of human nature, and important in the decline and fall of the Roman empire. I. Theinstitution of the monastic life; [1] and, II. The conversion of thenorthern Barbarians. 

[Footnote 1: The origin of the monastic institution has been laboriouslydiscussed by Thomassin (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. I. P. 1119-1426)and Helyot, (Hist. Des Ordres Monastiques, tom. I. P. 1-66. ) Theseauthors are very learned, and tolerably honest, and their differenceof opinion shows the subject in its full extent. Yet the cautiousProtestant, who distrusts any popish guides, may consult the seventhbook of Bingham's Christian Antiquities. ]

I. Prosperity and peace introduced the distinction of the vulgar andthe Ascetic Christians. [2] The loose and imperfect practice of religionsatisfied the conscience of the multitude. The prince or magistrate, thesoldier or merchant, reconciled their fervent zeal, and implicit faith, with the exercise of their profession, the pursuit of their interest, and the indulgence of their passions: but the Ascetics, who obeyed andabused the rigid precepts of the gospel, were inspired by the savageenthusiasm which represents man as a criminal, and God as a tyrant. Theyseriously renounced the business, and the pleasures, of the age; abjuredthe use of wine, of flesh, and of marriage; chastised their body, mortified their affections, and embraced a life of misery, as the priceof eternal happiness. In the reign of Constantine, the Ascetics fledfrom a profane and degenerate world, to perpetual solitude, or religioussociety. Like the first Christians of Jerusalem, [3] [311] they resignedthe use, or the property of their temporal possessions; establishedregular communities of the same sex, and a similar disposition; andassumed the names of Hermits, Monks, and Anachorets, expressive of theirlonely retreat in a natural or artificial desert. They soon acquired therespect of the world, which they despised; and the loudest applause wasbestowed on this Divine Philosophy, [4] which surpassed, without the aidof science or reason, the laborious virtues of the Grecian schools. Themonks might indeed contend with the Stoics, in the contempt of fortune, of pain, and of death: the Pythagorean silence and submission wererevived in their servile discipline; and they disdained, as firmly asthe Cynics themselves, all the forms and decencies of civil society. Butthe votaries of this Divine Philosophy aspired to imitate a purer andmore perfect model. They trod in the footsteps of the prophets, whohad retired to the desert; [5] and they restored the devout andcontemplative life, which had been instituted by the Essenians, inPalestine and Egypt. The philosophic eye of Pliny had surveyed withastonishment a solitary people, who dwelt among the palm-trees nearthe Dead Sea; who subsisted without money, who were propagated withoutwomen; and who derived from the disgust and repentance of mankind aperpetual supply of voluntary associates. [6]

[Footnote 2: See Euseb. Demonstrat. Evangel. , (l. I. P. 20, 21, edit. Graec. Rob. Stephani, Paris, 1545. ) In his Ecclesiastical History, published twelve years after the Demonstration, Eusebius (l. Ii. C. 17)asserts the Christianity of the Therapeutae; but he appears ignorantthat a similar institution was actually revived in Egypt. ]

[Footnote 3: Cassian (Collat. Xviii. 5. ) claims this origin for theinstitution of the Coenobites, which gradually decayed till it wasrestored by Antony and his disciples. ]

[Footnote 311: It has before been shown that the first Christiancommunity was not strictly coenobitic. See vol. Ii. --M. ]

[Footnote 4: These are the expressive words of Sozomen, who copiouslyand agreeably describes (l. I. C. 12, 13, 14) the origin and progressof this monkish philosophy, (see Suicer. Thesau, Eccles. , tom. Ii. P. 1441. ) Some modern writers, Lipsius (tom. Iv. P. 448. Manuduct. AdPhilosoph. Stoic. Iii. 13) and La Mothe le Vayer, (tom. Ix. De laVertu des Payens, p. 228-262, ) have compared the Carmelites to thePythagoreans, and the Cynics to the Capucins. ]

[Footnote 5: The Carmelites derive their pedigree, in regularsuccession, from the prophet Elijah, (see the Theses of Beziers, A. D. 1682, in Bayle's Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres, Oeuvres, tom. I. P. 82, &c. , and the prolix irony of the Ordres Monastiques, an anonymous work, tom. I. P. 1-433, Berlin, 1751. ) Rome, and theinquisition of Spain, silenced the profane criticism of the Jesuits ofFlanders, (Helyot, Hist. Des Ordres Monastiques, tom. I. P. 282-300, )and the statue of Elijah, the Carmelite, has been erected in the churchof St. Peter, (Voyages du P. Labat tom. Iii. P. 87. )]

[Footnote 6: Plin. Hist. Natur. V. 15. Gens sola, et in toto orbepraeter ceteras mira, sine ulla femina, omni venere abdicata, sinepecunia, socia palmarum. Ita per seculorum millia (incredibile dictu)gens aeterna est in qua nemo nascitur. Tam foecunda illis aliorum vitaepoenitentia est. He places them just beyond the noxious influence of thelake, and names Engaddi and Massada as the nearest towns. The Laura, andmonastery of St. Sabas, could not be far distant from this place. SeeReland. Palestin. , tom. I. P. 295; tom. Ii. P. 763, 874, 880, 890. ]

Egypt, the fruitful parent of superstition, afforded the first exampleof the monastic life. Antony, [7] an illiterate [8] youth of the lowerparts of Thebais, distributed his patrimony, [9] deserted his familyand native home, and executed his monastic penance with original andintrepid fanaticism. After a long and painful novitiate, among thetombs, and in a ruined tower, he boldly advanced into the desert threedays' journey to the eastward of the Nile; discovered a lonely spot, which possessed the advantages of shade and water, and fixed his lastresidence on Mount Colzim, near the Red Sea; where an ancient monasterystill preserves the name and memory of the saint. [10] The curiousdevotion of the Christians pursued him to the desert; and when he wasobliged to appear at Alexandria, in the face of mankind, he supportedhis fame with discretion and dignity. He enjoyed the friendship ofAthanasius, whose doctrine he approved; and the Egyptian peasantrespectfully declined a respectful invitation from the emperorConstantine. The venerable patriarch (for Antony attained the age ofone hundred and five years) beheld the numerous progeny which had beenformed by his example and his lessons. The prolific colonies of monksmultiplied with rapid increase on the sands of Libya, upon the rocks ofThebais, and in the cities of the Nile. To the south of Alexandria, themountain, and adjacent desert, of Nitria, were peopled by five thousandanachorets; and the traveller may still investigate the ruins of fiftymonasteries, which were planted in that barren soil by the disciples ofAntony. [11] In the Upper Thebais, the vacant island of Tabenne, [12]was occupied by Pachomius and fourteen hundred of his brethren. Thatholy abbot successively founded nine monasteries of men, and one ofwomen; and the festival of Easter sometimes collected fifty thousandreligious persons, who followed his angelic rule of discipline. [13]The stately and populous city of Oxyrinchus, the seat of Christianorthodoxy, had devoted the temples, the public edifices, and even theramparts, to pious and charitable uses; and the bishop, who might preachin twelve churches, computed ten thousand females and twenty thousandmales, of the monastic profession. [14] The Egyptians, who gloried inthis marvellous revolution, were disposed to hope, and to believe, thatthe number of the monks was equal to the remainder of the people; [15]and posterity might repeat the saying, which had formerly been appliedto the sacred animals of the same country, That in Egypt it was lessdifficult to find a god than a man. 

[Footnote 7: See Athanas. Op. Tom. Ii. P. 450-505, and the Vit. Patrum, p. 26-74, with Rosweyde's Annotations. The former is the Greek originalthe latter, a very ancient Latin version by Evagrius, the friend of St. Jerom. ]

[Footnote 8: Athanas. Tom. Ii. In Vit. St. Anton. P. 452; and theassertion of his total ignorance has been received by many of theancients and moderns. But Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Vii. P. 666)shows, by some probable arguments, that Antony could read and write inthe Coptic, his native tongue; and that he was only a stranger to theGreek letters. The philosopher Synesius (p. 51) acknowledges that thenatural genius of Antony did not require the aid of learning. ]

[Footnote 9: Aruroe autem erant ei trecentae uberes, et valde optimae, (Vit. Patr. L. V. P. 36. ) If the Arura be a square measure, of a hundredEgyptian cubits, (Rosweyde, Onomasticon ad Vit. Patrum, p. 1014, 1015, )and the Egyptian cubit of all ages be equal to twenty-two Englishinches, (Greaves, vol. I. P. 233, ) the arura will consist of about threequarters of an English acre. ]

[Footnote 10: The description of the monastery is given by Jerom (tom. I. P. 248, 249, in Vit. Hilarion) and the P. Sicard, (Missions du Levanttom. V. P. 122-200. ) Their accounts cannot always be reconciled thefather painted from his fancy, and the Jesuit from his experience. ]

[Footnote 11: Jerom, tom. I. P. 146, ad Eustochium. Hist. Lausiac. C. 7, in Vit. Patrum, p. 712. The P. Sicard (Missions du Levant, tom. Ii. P. 29-79) visited and has described this desert, which now contains fourmonasteries, and twenty or thirty monks. See D'Anville, Description del'Egypte, p. 74. ]

[Footnote 12: Tabenne is a small island in the Nile, in the diocese ofTentyra or Dendera, between the modern town of Girge and the ruins ofancient Thebes, (D'Anville, p. 194. ) M. De Tillemont doubts whether itwas an isle; but I may conclude, from his own facts, that the primitivename was afterwards transferred to the great monastery of Bau or Pabau, (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Vii. P. 678, 688. )]

[Footnote 13: See in the Codex Regularum (published by Lucas Holstenius, Rome, 1661) a preface of St. Jerom to his Latin version of the Rule ofPachomius, tom. I. P. 61. ]

[Footnote 14: Rufin. C. 5, in Vit. Patrum, p. 459. He calls it civitasampla ralde et populosa, and reckons twelve churches. Strabo (l. Xvii. P. 1166) and Ammianus (xxii. 16) have made honorable mentionof Oxyrinchus, whose inhabitants adored a small fish in a magnificenttemple. ]

[Footnote 15: Quanti populi habentur in urbibus, tantae paene habenturin desertis multitudines monachorum. Rufin. C. 7, in Vit. Patrum, p. 461. He congratulates the fortunate change. ]

Athanasius introduced into Rome the knowledge and practice of themonastic life; and a school of this new philosophy was opened by thedisciples of Antony, who accompanied their primate to the holy thresholdof the Vatican. The strange and savage appearance of these Egyptiansexcited, at first, horror and contempt, and, at length, applause andzealous imitation. The senators, and more especially the matrons, transformed their palaces and villas into religious houses; andthe narrow institution of six vestals was eclipsed by the frequentmonasteries, which were seated on the ruins of ancient temples, and inthe midst of the Roman forum. [16] Inflamed by the example of Antony, aSyrian youth, whose name was Hilarion, [17] fixed his dreary abode on asandy beach, between the sea and a morass, about seven miles from Gaza. The austere penance, in which he persisted forty-eight years, diffuseda similar enthusiasm; and the holy man was followed by a train of twoor three thousand anachorets, whenever he visited the innumerablemonasteries of Palestine. The fame of Basil [18] is immortal in themonastic history of the East. With a mind that had tasted the learningand eloquence of Athens; with an ambition scarcely to be satisfied withthe archbishopric of Caesarea, Basil retired to a savage solitude inPontus; and deigned, for a while, to give laws to the spiritual colonieswhich he profusely scattered along the coast of the Black Sea. In theWest, Martin of Tours, [19] a soldier, a hermit, a bishop, and a saint, established the monasteries of Gaul; two thousand of his disciplesfollowed him to the grave; and his eloquent historian challenges thedeserts of Thebais to produce, in a more favorable climate, a championof equal virtue. The progress of the monks was not less rapid, oruniversal, than that of Christianity itself. Every province, and, at last, every city, of the empire, was filled with their increasingmultitudes; and the bleak and barren isles, from Lerins to Lipari, thatarose out of the Tuscan Sea, were chosen by the anachorets for the placeof their voluntary exile. An easy and perpetual intercourse by seaand land connected the provinces of the Roman world; and the lifeof Hilarion displays the facility with which an indigent hermit ofPalestine might traverse Egypt, embark for Sicily, escape to Epirus, and finally settle in the Island of Cyprus. [20] The Latin Christiansembraced the religious institutions of Rome. The pilgrims, who visitedJerusalem, eagerly copied, in the most distant climates of the earth, the faithful model of the monastic life. The disciples of Antony spreadthemselves beyond the tropic, over the Christian empire of Aethiopia. [21] The monastery of Banchor, [22] in Flintshire, which contained abovetwo thousand brethren, dispersed a numerous colony among the Barbariansof Ireland; [23] and Iona, one of the Hebrides, which was planted bythe Irish monks, diffused over the northern regions a doubtful ray ofscience and superstition. [24]

[Footnote 16: The introduction of the monastic life into Rome and Italyis occasionally mentioned by Jerom, tom. I. P. 119, 120, 199. ]

[Footnote 17: See the Life of Hilarion, by St. Jerom, (tom. I. P. 241, 252. ) The stories of Paul, Hilarion, and Malchus, by the same author, are admirably told: and the only defect of these pleasing compositionsis the want of truth and common sense. ]

[Footnote 18: His original retreat was in a small village on the banksof the Iris, not far from Neo-Caesarea. The ten or twelve years ofhis monastic life were disturbed by long and frequent avocations. Somecritics have disputed the authenticity of his Ascetic rules; but theexternal evidence is weighty, and they can only prove that it is thework of a real or affected enthusiast. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles tom. Ix. P. 636-644. Helyot, Hist. Des Ordres Monastiques tom. I. P. 175-181]

[Footnote 19: See his Life, and the three Dialogues by SulpiciusSeverus, who asserts (Dialog. I. 16) that the booksellers of Rome weredelighted with the quick and ready sale of his popular work. ]

[Footnote 20: When Hilarion sailed from Paraetonium to Cape Pachynus, he offered to pay his passage with a book of the Gospels. Posthumian, a Gallic monk, who had visited Egypt, found a merchant ship bound fromAlexandria to Marseilles, and performed the voyage in thirty days, (Sulp. Sever. Dialog. I. 1. ) Athanasius, who addressed his Life of St. Antony to the foreign monks, was obliged to hasten the composition, thatit might be ready for the sailing of the fleets, (tom. Ii. P. 451. )]

[Footnote 21: See Jerom, (tom. I. P. 126, ) Assemanni, Bibliot. Orient. Tom. Iv. P. 92, p. 857-919, and Geddes, Church History of Aethiopia, p. 29-31. The Abyssinian monks adhere very strictly to the primitiveinstitution. ]

[Footnote 22: Camden's Britannia, vol. I. P. 666, 667. ]

[Footnote 23: All that learning can extract from the rubbish of thedark ages is copiously stated by Archbishop Usher in his BritannicarumEcclesiarum Antiquitates, cap. Xvi. P. 425-503. ]

[Footnote 24: This small, though not barren, spot, Iona, Hy, orColumbkill, only two miles in length, aud one mile in breadth, has beendistinguished, 1. By the monastery of St. Columba, founded A. D. 566;whose abbot exercised an extraordinary jurisdiction over the bishopsof Caledonia; 2. By a classic library, which afforded some hopes ofan entire Livy; and, 3. By the tombs of sixty kings, Scots, Irish, andNorwegians, who reposed in holy ground. See Usher (p. 311, 360-370) andBuchanan, (Rer. Scot. L. Ii. P. 15, edit. Ruddiman. )]

These unhappy exiles from social life were impelled by the dark andimplacable genius of superstition. Their mutual resolution was supportedby the example of millions, of either sex, of every age, and of everyrank; and each proselyte who entered the gates of a monastery, waspersuaded that he trod the steep and thorny path of eternal happiness. [25] But the operation of these religious motives was variouslydetermined by the temper and situation of mankind. Reason might subdue, or passion might suspend, their influence: but they acted most forciblyon the infirm minds of children and females; they were strengthened bysecret remorse, or accidental misfortune; and they might derive some aidfrom the temporal considerations of vanity or interest. It was naturallysupposed, that the pious and humble monks, who had renounced the worldto accomplish the work of their salvation, were the best qualified forthe spiritual government of the Christians. The reluctant hermit wastorn from his cell, and seated, amidst the acclamations of the people, on the episcopal throne: the monasteries of Egypt, of Gaul, and of theEast, supplied a regular succession of saints and bishops; and ambitionsoon discovered the secret road which led to the possession of wealthand honors. [26] The popular monks, whose reputation was connected withthe fame and success of the order, assiduously labored to multiply thenumber of their fellow-captives. They insinuated themselves into nobleand opulent families; and the specious arts of flattery and seductionwere employed to secure those proselytes who might bestow wealth ordignity on the monastic profession. The indignant father bewailed theloss, perhaps, of an only son; [27] the credulous maid was betrayedby vanity to violate the laws of nature; and the matron aspired toimaginary perfection, by renouncing the virtues of domestic life. Paulayielded to the persuasive eloquence of Jerom; [28] and the profanetitle of mother-in-law of God [29] tempted that illustrious widow toconsecrate the virginity of her daughter Eustochium. By the advice, andin the company, of her spiritual guide, Paula abandoned Rome and herinfant son; retired to the holy village of Bethlem; founded a hospitaland four monasteries; and acquired, by her alms and penance, aneminent and conspicuous station in the Catholic church. Such rare andillustrious penitents were celebrated as the glory and example of theirage; but the monasteries were filled by a crowd of obscure and abjectplebeians, [30] who gained in the cloister much more than they hadsacrificed in the world. Peasants, slaves, and mechanics, might escapefrom poverty and contempt to a safe and honorable profession; whoseapparent hardships are mitigated by custom, by popular applause, and bythe secret relaxation of discipline. [31] The subjects of Rome, whosepersons and fortunes were made responsible for unequal and exorbitanttributes, retired from the oppression of the Imperial government; andthe pusillanimous youth preferred the penance of a monastic, to thedangers of a military, life. The affrighted provincials of every rank, who fled before the Barbarians, found shelter and subsistence: wholelegions were buried in these religious sanctuaries; and the same cause, which relieved the distress of individuals, impaired the strength andfortitude of the empire. [32]

[Footnote 25: Chrysostom (in the first tome of the Benedictine edition)has consecrated three books to the praise and defence of the monasticlife. He is encouraged, by the example of the ark, to presume thatnone but the elect (the monks) can possibly be saved (l. I. P. 55, 56. )Elsewhere, indeed, he becomes more merciful, (l. Iii. P. 83, 84, ) andallows different degrees of glory, like the sun, moon, and stars. Inhis lively comparison of a king and a monk, (l. Iii. P. 116-121, ) hesupposes (what is hardly fair) that the king will be more sparinglyrewarded, and more rigorously punished. ]

[Footnote 26: Thomassin (Discipline de l'Eglise tom. I. P. 1426-1469)and Mabillon, (Oeuvres Posthumes, tom. Ii. P. 115-158. ) The monks weregradually adopted as a part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. ]

[Footnote 27: Dr. Middleton (vol. I. P. 110) liberally censures theconduct and writings of Chrysostom, one of the most eloquent andsuccessful advocates for the monastic life. ]

[Footnote 28: Jerom's devout ladies form a very considerable portionof his works: the particular treatise, which he styles the Epitaph ofPaula, (tom. I. P. 169-192, ) is an elaborate and extravagant panegyric. The exordium is ridiculously turgid: "If all the members of my body werechanged into tongues, and if all my limbs resounded with a human voice, yet should I be incapable, " &c. ]

[Footnote 29: Socrus Dei esse coepisti, (Jerom, tom. I. P. 140, adEustochium. ) Rufinus, (in Hieronym. Op. Tom. Iv. P. 223, ) who was justlyscandalized, asks his adversary, from what Pagan poet he had stolen anexpression so impious and absurd. ]

[Footnote 30: Nunc autem veniunt plerumque ad hanc professionemservitutis Dei, et ex conditione servili, vel etiam liberati, velpropter hoc a Dominis liberati sive liberandi; et ex vita rusticana etex opificum exercitatione, et plebeio labore. Augustin, de Oper. Monach. C. 22, ap. Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. Iii. P. 1094. TheEgyptian, who blamed Arsenius, owned that he led a more comfortable lifeas a monk than as a shepherd. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xiv. P. 679. ]

[Footnote 31: A Dominican friar, (Voyages du P. Labat, tom. I. P. 10, )who lodged at Cadiz in a convent of his brethren, soon understood thattheir repose was never interrupted by nocturnal devotion; "quoiqu'on nelaisse pas de sonner pour l'edification du peuple. "]

[Footnote 32: See a very sensible preface of Lucas Holstenius to theCodex Regularum. The emperors attempted to support the obligation ofpublic and private duties; but the feeble dikes were swept away bythe torrent of superstition; and Justinian surpassed the most sanguinewishes of the monks, (Thomassin, tom. I. P. 1782-1799, and Bingham, l. Vii. C. Iii. P. 253. ) Note: The emperor Valens, in particular, promulgates a law contra ignavise quosdam sectatores, qui desertiscivitatum muneribus, captant solitudines secreta, et specie religioniscum coetibus monachorum congregantur. Cad. Theod l. Xii. Tit. I. Leg. 63. --G. ]

The monastic profession of the ancients [33] was an act of voluntarydevotion. The inconstant fanatic was threatened with the eternalvengeance of the God whom he deserted; but the doors of the monasterywere still open for repentance. Those monks, whose conscience wasfortified by reason or passion, were at liberty to resume the characterof men and citizens; and even the spouses of Christ might accept thelegal embraces of an earthly lover. [34] The examples of scandal, andthe progress of superstition, suggested the propriety of more forciblerestraints. After a sufficient trial, the fidelity of the novice wassecured by a solemn and perpetual vow; and his irrevocable engagementwas ratified by the laws of the church and state. A guilty fugitivewas pursued, arrested, and restored to his perpetual prison; and theinterposition of the magistrate oppressed the freedom and the merit, which had alleviated, in some degree, the abject slavery of themonastic discipline. [35] The actions of a monk, his words, and even histhoughts, were determined by an inflexible rule, [36] or a capricioussuperior: the slightest offences were corrected by disgrace orconfinement, extraordinary fasts, or bloody flagellation; anddisobedience, murmur, or delay, were ranked in the catalogue of themost heinous sins. [37] A blind submission to the commands of theabbot, however absurd, or even criminal, they might seem, was the rulingprinciple, the first virtue of the Egyptian monks; and their patiencewas frequently exercised by the most extravagant trials. They weredirected to remove an enormous rock; assiduously to water a barrenstaff, that was planted in the ground, till, at the end of threeyears, it should vegetate and blossom like a tree; to walk into a fieryfurnace; or to cast their infant into a deep pond: and severalsaints, or madmen, have been immortalized in monastic story, by theirthoughtless and fearless obedience. [38] The freedom of the mind, thesource of every generous and rational sentiment, was destroyed by thehabits of credulity and submission; and the monk, contracting thevices of a slave, devoutly followed the faith and passions of hisecclesiastical tyrant. The peace of the Eastern church was invaded bya swarm of fanatics, incapable of fear, or reason, or humanity; and theImperial troops acknowledged, without shame, that they were much lessapprehensive of an encounter with the fiercest Barbarians. [39]

[Footnote 33: The monastic institutions, particularly those of Egypt, about the year 400, are described by four curious and devout travellers;Rufinus, (Vit. Patrum, l. Ii. Iii. P. 424-536, ) Posthumian, (Sulp. Sever. Dialog. I. ) Palladius, (Hist. Lausiac. In Vit. Patrum, p. 709-863, ) and Cassian, (see in tom. Vii. Bibliothec. Max. Patrum, his four first books of Institutes, and the twenty-four Collations orConferences. )]

[Footnote 34: The example of Malchus, (Jerom, tom. I. P. 256, ) andthe design of Cassian and his friend, (Collation. Xxiv. 1, ) areincontestable proofs of their freedom; which is elegantly described byErasmus in his Life of St. Jerom. See Chardon, Hist. Des Sacremens, tom. Vi. P. 279-300. ]

[Footnote 35: See the Laws of Justinian, (Novel. Cxxiii. No. 42, ) and ofLewis the Pious, (in the Historians of France, tom vi. P. 427, ) and theactual jurisprudence of France, in Denissart, (Decisions, &c. , tom. Iv. P. 855, ) &c. ]

[Footnote 36: The ancient Codex Regularum, collected by BenedictAnianinus, the reformer of the monks in the beginning of the ninthcentury, and published in the seventeenth, by Lucas Holstenius, containsthirty different rules for men and women. Of these, seven were composedin Egypt, one in the East, one in Cappadocia, one in Italy, one inAfrica, four in Spain, eight in Gaul, or France, and one in England. ]

[Footnote 37: The rule of Columbanus, so prevalent in the West, inflictsone hundred lashes for very slight offences, (Cod. Reg. Part ii. P. 174. ) Before the time of Charlemagne, the abbots indulged themselvesin mutilating their monks, or putting out their eyes; a punishment muchless cruel than the tremendous vade in pace (the subterraneous dungeonor sepulchre) which was afterwards invented. See an admirable discourseof the learned Mabillon, (Oeuvres Posthumes, tom. Ii. P. 321-336, ) who, on this occasion, seems to be inspired by the genius of humanity. Forsuch an effort, I can forgive his defence of the holy tear of Vendeme(p. 361-399. )]

[Footnote 38: Sulp. Sever. Dialog. I. 12, 13, p. 532, &c. Cassian. Institut. L. Iv. C. 26, 27. "Praecipua ibi virtus et prima estobedientia. " Among the Verba seniorum, (in Vit. Patrum, l. V. P. 617, )the fourteenth libel or discourse is on the subject of obedience; andthe Jesuit Rosweyde, who published that huge volume for the use ofconvents, has collected all the scattered passages in his two copiousindexes. ]

[Footnote 39: Dr. Jortin (Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. Iv. P. 161) has observed the scandalous valor of the Cappadocian monks, whichwas exemplified in the banishment of Chrysostom. ] Superstition has oftenframed and consecrated the fantastic garments of the monks: [40]but their apparent singularity sometimes proceeds from their uniformattachment to a simple and primitive model, which the revolutions offashion have made ridiculous in the eyes of mankind. The father ofthe Benedictines expressly disclaims all idea of choice of merit; andsoberly exhorts his disciples to adopt the coarse and convenient dressof the countries which they may inhabit. [41] The monastic habits ofthe ancients varied with the climate, and their mode of life; and theyassumed, with the same indifference, the sheep-skin of the Egyptianpeasants, or the cloak of the Grecian philosophers. They allowedthemselves the use of linen in Egypt, where it was a cheap and domesticmanufacture; but in the West they rejected such an expensive article offoreign luxury. [42] It was the practice of the monks either to cut orshave their hair; they wrapped their heads in a cowl to escape thesight of profane objects; their legs and feet were naked, except in theextreme cold of winter; and their slow and feeble steps were supportedby a long staff. The aspect of a genuine anachoret was horrid anddisgusting: every sensation that is offensive to man was thoughtacceptable to God; and the angelic rule of Tabenne condemned thesalutary custom of bathing the limbs in water, and of anointing themwith oil. [43] [431] The austere monks slept on the ground, on a hardmat, or a rough blanket; and the same bundle of palm-leaves served themas a seat in the lay, and a pillow in the night. Their original cellswere low, narrow huts, built of the slightest materials; which formed, by the regular distribution of the streets, a large and populousvillage, enclosing, within the common wall, a church, a hospital, perhaps a library, some necessary offices, a garden, and a fountain orreservoir of fresh water. Thirty or forty brethren composed a familyof separate discipline and diet; and the great monasteries of Egyptconsisted of thirty or forty families. 

[Footnote 40: Cassian has simply, though copiously, described themonastic habit of Egypt, (Institut. L. I. , ) to which Sozomen (l. Iii. C. 14) attributes such allegorical meaning and virtue. ]

[Footnote 41: Regul. Benedict. No. 55, in Cod. Regul. Part ii. P. 51. ]

[Footnote 42: See the rule of Ferreolus, bishop of Usez, (No. 31, inCod. Regul part ii. P. 136, ) and of Isidore, bishop of Seville, (No. 13, in Cod. Regul part ii. P. 214. )]

[Footnote 43: Some partial indulgences were granted for the handsand feet "Totum autem corpus nemo unguet nisi causa infirmitatis, neclavabitur aqua nudo corpore, nisi languor perspicuus sit, " (Regul. Pachom xcii. Part i. P. 78. )]

[Footnote 431: Athanasius (Vit. Ant. C. 47) boasts of Antony's holyhorror of clear water, by which his feet were uncontaminated exceptunder dire necessity--M. ]

Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To Christianity. --Part II. 

Pleasure and guilt are synonymous terms in the language of the monks, and they discovered, by experience, that rigid fasts, and abstemiousdiet, are the most effectual preservatives against the impure desiresof the flesh. [44] The rules of abstinence which they imposed, orpractised, were not uniform or perpetual: the cheerful festival of thePentecost was balanced by the extraordinary mortification of Lent; thefervor of new monasteries was insensibly relaxed; and the voraciousappetite of the Gauls could not imitate the patient and temperatevirtue of the Egyptians. [45] The disciples of Antony and Pachomius weresatisfied with their daily pittance, [46] of twelve ounces of bread, orrather biscuit, [47] which they divided into two frugal repasts, ofthe afternoon and of the evening. It was esteemed a merit, and almost aduty, to abstain from the boiled vegetables which were provided for therefectory; but the extraordinary bounty of the abbot sometimes indulgedthem with the luxury of cheese, fruit, salad, and the small driedfish of the Nile. [48] A more ample latitude of sea and river fish wasgradually allowed or assumed; but the use of flesh was long confinedto the sick or travellers; and when it gradually prevailed in the lessrigid monasteries of Europe, a singular distinction was introduced;as if birds, whether wild or domestic, had been less profane than thegrosser animals of the field. Water was the pure and innocent beverageof the primitive monks; and the founder of the Benedictines regrets thedaily portion of half a pint of wine, which had been extorted from himby the intemperance of the age. [49] Such an allowance might be easilysupplied by the vineyards of Italy; and his victorious disciples, whopassed the Alps, the Rhine, and the Baltic, required, in the place ofwine, an adequate compensation of strong beer or cider. 

[Footnote 44: St. Jerom, in strong, but indiscreet, language, expressesthe most important use of fasting and abstinence: "Non quod Deusuniversitatis Creator et Dominus, intestinorum nostrorum rugitu, etinanitate ventris, pulmonisque ardore delectetur, sed quod aliterpudicitia tuta esse non possit. " (Op. Tom. I. P. 32, ad Eustochium. ) Seethe twelfth and twenty-second Collations of Cassian, de Castitate and deIllusionibus Nocturnis. ]

[Footnote 45: Edacitas in Graecis gula est, in Gallis natura, (Dialog. I. C. 4 p. 521. ) Cassian fairly owns, that the perfect model ofabstinence cannot be imitated in Gaul, on account of the aerumtemperies, and the qualitas nostrae fragilitatis, (Institut. Iv. 11. )Among the Western rules, that of Columbanus is the most austere; hehad been educated amidst the poverty of Ireland, as rigid, perhaps, andinflexible as the abstemious virtue of Egypt. The rule of Isidore ofSeville is the mildest; on holidays he allows the use of flesh. ]

[Footnote 46: "Those who drink only water, and have no nutritiousliquor, ought, at least, to have a pound and a half (twenty-four ounces)of bread every day. " State of Prisons, p. 40, by Mr. Howard. ]

[Footnote 47: See Cassian. Collat. L. Ii. 19-21. The small loaves, or biscuit, of six ounces each, had obtained the name of Paximacia, (Rosweyde, Onomasticon, p. 1045. ) Pachomius, however, allowed his monkssome latitude in the quantity of their food; but he made them work inproportion as they ate, (Pallad. In Hist. Lausiac. C. 38, 39, in Vit. Patrum, l. Viii. P. 736, 737. )]

[Footnote 48: See the banquet to which Cassian (Collation viii. 1) wasinvited by Serenus, an Egyptian abbot. ]

[Footnote 49: See the Rule of St. Benedict, No. 39, 40, (in Cod. Reg. Part ii. P. 41, 42. ) Licet legamus vinum omnino monachorum non esse, sed quia nostris temporibus id monachis persuaderi non potest; he allowsthem a Roman hemina, a measure which may be ascertained from Arbuthnot'sTables. ] The candidate who aspired to the virtue of evangelical poverty, abjured, at his first entrance into a regular community, the idea, and even the name, of all separate or exclusive possessions. [50] Thebrethren were supported by their manual labor; and the duty of labor wasstrenuously recommended as a penance, as an exercise, and as the mostlaudable means of securing their daily subsistence. [51] The gardenand fields, which the industry of the monks had often rescued from theforest or the morass, were diligently cultivated by their hands. They performed, without reluctance, the menial offices of slaves anddomestics; and the several trades that were necessary to provide theirhabits, their utensils, and their lodging, were exercised within theprecincts of the great monasteries. The monastic studies have tended, for the most part, to darken, rather than to dispel, the cloud ofsuperstition. Yet the curiosity or zeal of some learned solitarieshas cultivated the ecclesiastical, and even the profane, sciences; andposterity must gratefully acknowledge, that the monuments of Greekand Roman literature have been preserved and multiplied by theirindefatigable pens. [52] But the more humble industry of the monks, especially in Egypt, was contented with the silent, sedentary occupationof making wooden sandals, or of twisting the leaves of the palm-treeinto mats and baskets. The superfluous stock, which was not consumed indomestic use, supplied, by trade, the wants of the community: the boatsof Tabenne, and the other monasteries of Thebais, descended the Nileas far as Alexandria; and, in a Christian market, the sanctity of theworkmen might enhance the intrinsic value of the work. 

[Footnote 50: Such expressions as my book, my cloak, my shoes, (CassianInstitut. L. Iv. C. 13, ) were not less severely prohibited among theWestern monks, (Cod. Regul. Part ii. P. 174, 235, 288;) and the ruleof Columbanus punished them with six lashes. The ironical author of theOrdres Monastiques, who laughs at the foolish nicety of modern convents, seems ignorant that the ancients were equally absurd. ]

[Footnote 51: Two great masters of ecclesiastical science, the P. Thomassin, (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. Iii. P. 1090-1139, ) and theP. Mabillon, (Etudes Monastiques, tom. I. P. 116-155, ) have seriouslyexamined the manual labor of the monks, which the former considers as amerit and the latter as a duty. ]

[Footnote 52: Mabillon (Etudes Monastiques, tom. I. P. 47-55) hascollected many curious facts to justify the literary labors of hispredecessors, both in the East and West. Books were copied in theancient monasteries of Egypt, (Cassian. Institut. L. Iv. C. 12, ) andby the disciples of St. Martin, (Sulp. Sever. In Vit. Martin. C. 7, p. 473. ) Cassiodorus has allowed an ample scope for the studies of themonks; and we shall not be scandalized, if their pens sometimes wanderedfrom Chrysostom and Augustin to Homer and Virgil. ] But the necessity ofmanual labor was insensibly superseded. 

The novice was tempted to bestow his fortune on the saints, in whosesociety he was resolved to spend the remainder of his life; and thepernicious indulgence of the laws permitted him to receive, for theiruse, any future accessions of legacy or inheritance. [53] Melaniacontributed her plate, three hundred pounds weight of silver; and Paulacontracted an immense debt, for the relief of their favorite monks; whokindly imparted the merits of their prayers and penance to a rich andliberal sinner. [54] Time continually increased, and accidents couldseldom diminish, the estates of the popular monasteries, which spreadover the adjacent country and cities: and, in the first century of theirinstitution, the infidel Zosimus has maliciously observed, that, forthe benefit of the poor, the Christian monks had reduced a great partof mankind to a state of beggary. [55] As long as they maintained theiroriginal fervor, they approved themselves, however, the faithful andbenevolent stewards of the charity, which was entrusted to their care. But their discipline was corrupted by prosperity: they gradually assumedthe pride of wealth, and at last indulged the luxury of expense. Theirpublic luxury might be excused by the magnificence of religious worship, and the decent motive of erecting durable habitations for an immortalsociety. But every age of the church has accused the licentiousnessof the degenerate monks; who no longer remembered the object of theirinstitution, embraced the vain and sensual pleasures of the world, whichthey had renounced, [56] and scandalously abused the riches which hadbeen acquired by the austere virtues of their founders. [57] Theirnatural descent, from such painful and dangerous virtue, to the commonvices of humanity, will not, perhaps, excite much grief or indignationin the mind of a philosopher. 

[Footnote 53: Thomassin (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. Iii. P. 118, 145, 146, 171-179) has examined the revolution of the civil, canon, andcommon law. Modern France confirms the death which monks have inflictedon themselves, and justly deprives them of all right of inheritance. ]

[Footnote 54: See Jerom, (tom. I. P. 176, 183. ) The monk Pambo made asublime answer to Melania, who wished to specify the value of hergift: "Do you offer it to me, or to God? If to God, He who suspendsthe mountain in a balance, need not be informed of the weight of yourplate. " (Pallad. Hist. Lausiac. C. 10, in the Vit. Patrum, l. Viii. P. 715. )]

[Footnote 55: Zosim. L. V. P. 325. Yet the wealth of the Eastern monkswas far surpassed by the princely greatness of the Benedictines. ]

[Footnote 56: The sixth general council (the Quinisext in Trullo, Canonxlvii in Beveridge, tom. I. P. 213) restrains women from passing thenight in a male, or men in a female, monastery. The seventh generalcouncil (the second Nicene, Canon xx. In Beveridge, tom. I. P. 325)prohibits the erection of double or promiscuous monasteries of bothsexes; but it appears from Balsamon, that the prohibition was noteffectual. On the irregular pleasures and expenses of the clergy andmonks, see Thomassin, tom. Iii. P. 1334-1368. ]

[Footnote 57: I have somewhere heard or read the frank confession of aBenedictine abbot: "My vow of poverty has given me a hundred thousandcrowns a year; my vow of obedience has raised me to the rank of asovereign prince. "--I forget the consequences of his vow of chastity. ]

The lives of the primitive monks were consumed in penance and solitude;undisturbed by the various occupations which fill the time, and exercisethe faculties, of reasonable, active, and social beings. Wheneverthey were permitted to step beyond the precincts of the monastery, twojealous companions were the mutual guards and spies of each other'sactions; and, after their return, they were condemned to forget, or, at least, to suppress, whatever they had seen or heard in the world. Strangers, who professed the orthodox faith, were hospitably entertainedin a separate apartment; but their dangerous conversation was restrictedto some chosen elders of approved discretion and fidelity. Except intheir presence, the monastic slave might not receive the visits ofhis friends or kindred; and it was deemed highly meritorious, if heafflicted a tender sister, or an aged parent, by the obstinate refusalof a word or look. [58] The monks themselves passed their lives, withoutpersonal attachments, among a crowd which had been formed by accident, and was detained, in the same prison, by force or prejudice. Reclusefanatics have few ideas or sentiments to communicate: a special licenseof the abbot regulated the time and duration of their familiar visits;and, at their silent meals, they were enveloped in their cowls, inaccessible, and almost invisible, to each other. [59] Study is theresource of solitude: but education had not prepared and qualified forany liberal studies the mechanics and peasants who filled the monasticcommunities. They might work: but the vanity of spiritual perfection wastempted to disdain the exercise of manual labor; and the industry mustbe faint and languid, which is not excited by the sense of personalinterest. 

[Footnote 58: Pior, an Egyptian monk, allowed his sister to see him;but he shut his eyes during the whole visit. See Vit. Patrum, l. Iii. P. 504. Many such examples might be added. ]

[Footnote 59: The 7th, 8th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 34th, 57th, 60th, 86th, and 95th articles of the Rule of Pachomius, impose most intolerable lawsof silence and mortification. ]

According to their faith and zeal, they might employ the day, which theypassed in their cells, either in vocal or mental prayer: they assembledin the evening, and they were awakened in the night, for the publicworship of the monastery. The precise moment was determined by thestars, which are seldom clouded in the serene sky of Egypt; and a rustichorn, or trumpet, the signal of devotion, twice interrupted the vastsilence of the desert. [60] Even sleep, the last refuge of the unhappy, was rigorously measured: the vacant hours of the monk heavily rolledalong, without business or pleasure; and, before the close of each day, he had repeatedly accused the tedious progress of the sun. [61] In thiscomfortless state, superstition still pursued and tormented her wretchedvotaries. [62] The repose which they had sought in the cloister wasdisturbed by a tardy repentance, profane doubts, and guilty desires;and, while they considered each natural impulse as an unpardonable sin, they perpetually trembled on the edge of a flaming and bottomless abyss. From the painful struggles of disease and despair, these unhappy victimswere sometimes relieved by madness or death; and, in the sixth century, a hospital was founded at Jerusalem for a small portion of the austerepenitents, who were deprived of their senses. [63] Their visions, before they attained this extreme and acknowledged term of frenzy, haveafforded ample materials of supernatural history. It was their firmpersuasion, that the air, which they breathed, was peopled withinvisible enemies; with innumerable demons, who watched every occasion, and assumed every form, to terrify, and above all to tempt, theirunguarded virtue. The imagination, and even the senses, were deceived bythe illusions of distempered fanaticism; and the hermit, whose midnightprayer was oppressed by involuntary slumber, might easily confound thephantoms of horror or delight, which had occupied his sleeping and hiswaking dreams. [64]

[Footnote 60: The diurnal and nocturnal prayers of the monks arecopiously discussed by Cassian, in the third and fourth books of hisInstitutions; and he constantly prefers the liturgy, which an angel haddictated to the monasteries of Tebennoe. ]

[Footnote 61: Cassian, from his own experience, describes the acedia, or listlessness of mind and body, to which a monk was exposed, when hesighed to find himself alone. Saepiusque egreditur et ingrediturcellam, et Solem velut ad occasum tardius properantem crebrius intuetur, (Institut. X. L. )]

[Footnote 62: The temptations and sufferings of Stagirius werecommunicated by that unfortunate youth to his friend St. Chrysostom. SeeMiddleton's Works, vol. I. P. 107-110. Something similar introduces thelife of every saint; and the famous Inigo, or Ignatius, the founder ofthe Jesuits, (vide d'Inigo de Guiposcoa, tom. I. P. 29-38, ) may serve asa memorable example. ]

[Footnote 63: Fleury, Hist. Ecclesiastique, tom. Vii. P. 46. I haveread somewhere, in the Vitae Patrum, but I cannot recover the placethat several, I believe many, of the monks, who did not reveal theirtemptations to the abbot, became guilty of suicide. ]

[Footnote 64: See the seventh and eighth Collations of Cassian, whogravely examines, why the demons were grown less active and numeroussince the time of St. Antony. Rosweyde's copious index to the VitaePatrum will point out a variety of infernal scenes. The devils were mostformidable in a female shape. ]

The monks were divided into two classes: the Coenobites, who lived undera common and regular discipline; and the Anachorets, who indulged theirunsocial, independent fanaticism. [65] The most devout, or the mostambitious, of the spiritual brethren, renounced the convent, as they hadrenounced the world. The fervent monasteries of Egypt, Palestine, andSyria, were surrounded by a Laura, [66] a distant circle of solitarycells; and the extravagant penance of Hermits was stimulated by applauseand emulation. [67] They sunk under the painful weight of crosses andchains; and their emaciated limbs were confined by collars, bracelets, gauntlets, and greaves of massy and rigid iron. All superfluousencumbrance of dress they contemptuously cast away; and some savagesaints of both sexes have been admired, whose naked bodies were onlycovered by their long hair. They aspired to reduce themselves tothe rude and miserable state in which the human brute is scarcelydistinguishable above his kindred animals; and the numerous sect ofAnachorets derived their name from their humble practice of grazing inthe fields of Mesopotamia with the common herd. [68] They often usurpedthe den of some wild beast whom they affected to resemble; they buriedthemselves in some gloomy cavern, which art or nature had scooped outof the rock; and the marble quarries of Thebais are still inscribedwith the monuments of their penance. [69] The most perfect Hermits aresupposed to have passed many days without food, many nights withoutsleep, and many years without speaking; and glorious was the man (I abuse that name) who contrived any cell, or seat, of a peculiarconstruction, which might expose him, in the most inconvenient posture, to the inclemency of the seasons. 

[Footnote 65: For the distinction of the Coenobites and the Hermits, especially in Egypt, see Jerom, (tom. I. P. 45, ad Rusticum, ) the firstDialogue of Sulpicius Severus, Rufinus, (c. 22, in Vit. Patrum, l. Ii. P. 478, ) Palladius, (c. 7, 69, in Vit. Patrum, l. Viii. P. 712, 758, )and, above all, the eighteenth and nineteenth Collations of Cassian. These writers, who compare the common and solitary life, reveal theabuse and danger of the latter. ]

[Footnote 66: Suicer. Thesaur. Ecclesiast. Tom. Ii. P. 205, 218. Thomassin (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. I. P. 1501, 1502) gives a goodaccount of these cells. When Gerasimus founded his monastery in thewilderness of Jordan, it was accompanied by a Laura of seventy cells. ]

[Footnote 67: Theodoret, in a large volume, (the Philotheus in Vit. Patrum, l. Ix. P. 793-863, ) has collected the lives and miracles ofthirty Anachorets. Evagrius (l. I. C. 12) more briefly celebrates themonks and hermits of Palestine. ]

[Footnote 68: Sozomen, l. Vi. C. 33. The great St. Ephrem composed apanegyric on these or grazing monks, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Viii. P. 292. )]

[Footnote 69: The P. Sicard (Missions du Levant, tom. Ii. P. 217-233)examined the caverns of the Lower Thebais with wonder and devotion. The inscriptions are in the old Syriac character, which was used by theChristians of Abyssinia. ]

Among these heroes of the monastic life, the name and genius of SimeonStylites [70] have been immortalized by the singular invention of anaerial penance. At the age of thirteen, the young Syrian deserted theprofession of a shepherd, and threw himself into an austere monastery. After a long and painful novitiate, in which Simeon was repeatedly savedfrom pious suicide, he established his residence on a mountain, aboutthirty or forty miles to the east of Antioch. Within the space of amandra, or circle of stones, to which he had attached himself by aponderous chain, he ascended a column, which was successively raisedfrom the height of nine, to that of sixty, feet from the ground. [71] Inthis last and lofty station, the Syrian Anachoret resisted the heatof thirty summers, and the cold of as many winters. Habit and exerciseinstructed him to maintain his dangerous situation without fearor giddiness, and successively to assume the different posturesof devotion. He sometimes prayed in an erect attitude, with hisoutstretched arms in the figure of a cross, but his most familiarpractice was that of bending his meagre skeleton from the forehead tothe feet; and a curious spectator, after numbering twelve hundred andforty-four repetitions, at length desisted from the endless account. Theprogress of an ulcer in his thigh [72] might shorten, but it could notdisturb, this celestial life; and the patient Hermit expired, withoutdescending from his column. A prince, who should capriciously inflictsuch tortures, would be deemed a tyrant; but it would surpass the powerof a tyrant to impose a long and miserable existence on the reluctantvictims of his cruelty. This voluntary martyrdom must have graduallydestroyed the sensibility both of the mind and body; nor can it bepresumed that the fanatics, who torment themselves, are susceptible ofany lively affection for the rest of mankind. A cruel, unfeeling temperhas distinguiseed the monks of every age and country: their sternindifference, which is seldom mollified by personal friendship, isinflamed by religious hatred; and their merciless zeal has strenuouslyadministered the holy office of the Inquisition. 

[Footnote 70: See Theodoret (in Vit. Patrum, l. Ix. P. 848-854, ) Antony, (in Vit. Patrum, l. I. P. 170-177, ) Cosmas, (in Asseman. Bibliot. Oriental tom. I. P. 239-253, ) Evagrius, (l. I. C. 13, 14, ) andTillemont, (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Xv. P. 347-392. )]

[Footnote 71: The narrow circumference of two cubits, or three feet, which Evagrius assigns for the summit of the column is inconsistent withreason, with facts, and with the rules of architecture. The people whosaw it from below might be easily deceived. ]

[Footnote 72: I must not conceal a piece of ancient scandal concerningthe origin of this ulcer. It has been reported that the Devil, assumingan angelic form, invited him to ascend, like Elijah, into a fierychariot. The saint too hastily raised his foot, and Satan seized themoment of inflicting this chastisement on his vanity. ]

The monastic saints, who excite only the contempt and pity of aphilosopher, were respected, and almost adored, by the prince andpeople. Successive crowds of pilgrims from Gaul and India saluted thedivine pillar of Simeon: the tribes of Saracens disputed in arms thehonor of his benediction; the queens of Arabia and Persia gratefullyconfessed his supernatural virtue; and the angelic Hermit was consultedby the younger Theodosius, in the most important concerns of the churchand state. His remains were transported from the mountain of Telenissa, by a solemn procession of the patriarch, the master-general of the East, six bishops, twenty-one counts or tribunes, and six thousand soldiers;and Antioch revered his bones, as her glorious ornament and impregnabledefence. The fame of the apostles and martyrs was gradually eclipsed bythese recent and popular Anachorets; the Christian world fell prostratebefore their shrines; and the miracles ascribed to their relicsexceeded, at least in number and duration, the spiritual exploits oftheir lives. But the golden legend of their lives [73] was embellishedby the artful credulity of their interested brethren; and a believingage was easily persuaded, that the slightest caprice of an Egyptian ora Syrian monk had been sufficient to interrupt the eternal laws of theuniverse. The favorites of Heaven were accustomed to cure inveteratediseases with a touch, a word, or a distant message; and to expel themost obstinate demons from the souls or bodies which they possessed. They familiarly accosted, or imperiously commanded, the lions andserpents of the desert; infused vegetation into a sapless trunk;suspended iron on the surface of the water; passed the Nile on theback of a crocodile, and refreshed themselves in a fiery furnace. Theseextravagant tales, which display the fiction without the genius, ofpoetry, have seriously affected the reason, the faith, and the morals, of the Christians. Their credulity debased and vitiated the facultiesof the mind: they corrupted the evidence of history; and superstitiongradually extinguished the hostile light of philosophy and science. Every mode of religious worship which had been practised by the saints, every mysterious doctrine which they believed, was fortified by thesanction of divine revelation, and all the manly virtues were oppressedby the servile and pusillanimous reign of the monks. If it be possibleto measure the interval between the philosophic writings of Cicero andthe sacred legend of Theodoret, between the character of Cato andthat of Simeon, we may appreciate the memorable revolution which wasaccomplished in the Roman empire within a period of five hundred years. 

[Footnote 73: I know not how to select or specify the miracles containedin the Vitae Patrum of Rosweyde, as the number very much exceeds thethousand pages of that voluminous work. An elegant specimen may be foundin the dialogues of Sulpicius Severus, and his Life of St. Martin. Hereveres the monks of Egypt; yet he insults them with the remark, thatthey never raised the dead; whereas the bishop of Tours had restoredthree dead men to life. ] II. The progress of Christianity has beenmarked by two glorious and decisive victories: over the learned andluxurious citizens of the Roman empire; and over the warlike Barbariansof Scythia and Germany, who subverted the empire, and embraced thereligion, of the Romans. The Goths were the foremost of these savageproselytes; and the nation was indebted for its conversion to acountryman, or, at least, to a subject, worthy to be ranked amongthe inventors of useful arts, who have deserved the remembrance andgratitude of posterity. A great number of Roman provincials had been ledaway into captivity by the Gothic bands, who ravaged Asia in the timeof Gallienus; and of these captives, many were Christians, and severalbelonged to the ecclesiastical order. Those involuntary missionaries, dispersed as slaves in the villages of Dacia, successively labored forthe salvation of their masters. The seeds which they planted, of theevangelic doctrine, were gradually propagated; and before the end of acentury, the pious work was achieved by the labors of Ulphilas, whoseancestors had been transported beyond the Danube from a small town ofCappadocia. 

Ulphilas, the bishop and apostle of the Goths, [74] acquired their loveand reverence by his blameless life and indefatigable zeal; and theyreceived, with implicit confidence, the doctrines of truth and virtuewhich he preached and practised. He executed the arduous task oftranslating the Scriptures into their native tongue, a dialect of theGerman or Teutonic language; but he prudently suppressed the four booksof Kings, as they might tend to irritate the fierce and sanguinaryspirit of the Barbarians. The rude, imperfect idiom of soldiers andshepherds, so ill qualified to communicate any spiritual ideas, wasimproved and modulated by his genius: and Ulphilas, before he couldframe his version, was obliged to compose a new alphabet of twenty-fourletters; [741] four of which he invented, to express the peculiar soundsthat were unknown to the Greek and Latin pronunciation. [75] But theprosperous state of the Gothic church was soon afflicted by war andintestine discord, and the chieftains were divided by religion aswell as by interest. Fritigern, the friend of the Romans, became theproselyte of Ulphilas; while the haughty soul of Athanaric disdained theyoke of the empire and of the gospel The faith of the new converts wastried by the persecution which he excited. A wagon, bearing aloft theshapeless image of Thor, perhaps, or of Woden, was conducted in solemnprocession through the streets of the camp; and the rebels, who refusedto worship the god of their fathers, were immediately burnt, with theirtents and families. The character of Ulphilas recommended him to theesteem of the Eastern court, where he twice appeared as the minister ofpeace; he pleaded the cause of the distressed Goths, who imploredthe protection of Valens; and the name of Moses was applied to thisspiritual guide, who conducted his people through the deep waters ofthe Danube to the Land of Promise. [76] The devout shepherds, who wereattached to his person, and tractable to his voice, acquiesced intheir settlement, at the foot of the Maesian mountains, in a countryof woodlands and pastures, which supported their flocks and herds, and enabled them to purchase the corn and wine of the more plentifulprovinces. These harmless Barbarians multiplied in obscure peace and theprofession of Christianity. [77]

[Footnote 74: On the subject of Ulphilas, and the conversion of theGoths, see Sozomen, l. Vi. C. 37. Socrates, l. Iv. C. 33. Theodoret, l. Iv. C. 37. Philostorg. L. Ii. C. 5. The heresy of Philostorgius appearsto have given him superior means of information. ]

[Footnote 741: This is the Moeso-Gothic alphabet of which many of theletters are evidently formed from the Greek and Roman. M. St. Martin, however contends, that it is impossible but that some written alphabetmust have been known long before among the Goths. He supposes thattheir former letters were those inscribed on the runes, which, beinginseparably connected with the old idolatrous superstitions, wereproscribed by the Christian missionaries. Everywhere the runes, socommon among all the German tribes, disappear after the propagation ofChristianity. S. Martin iv. P. 97, 98. --M. ]

[Footnote 75: A mutilated copy of the four Gospels, in the Gothicversion, was published A. D. 1665, and is esteemed the most ancientmonument of the Teutonic language, though Wetstein attempts, by somefrivolous conjectures, to deprive Ulphilas of the honor of the work. Twoof the four additional letters express the W, and our own Th. See Simon, Hist. Critique du Nouveau Testament, tom ii. P. 219-223. Mill. Prolegomp. 151, edit. Kuster. Wetstein, Prolegom. Tom. I. P. 114. * Note: TheCodex Argenteus, found in the sixteenth century at Wenden, near Cologne, and now preserved at Upsal, contains almost the entire four Gospels. The best edition is that of J. Christ. Zahn, Weissenfels, 1805. In 1762Knettel discovered and published from a Palimpsest MS. Four chapters ofthe Epistle to the Romans: they were reprinted at Upsal, 1763. M. Maihas since that time discovered further fragments, and other remainsof Moeso-Gothic literature, from a Palimpsest at Milan. See Ulphilaepartium inedi arum in Ambrosianis Palimpsestis ab Ang. Maio repertarumspecimen Milan. Ito. 1819. --M. ]

[Footnote 76: Philostorgius erroneously places this passage under thereign of Constantine; but I am much inclined to believe that it precededthe great emigration. ]

[Footnote 77: We are obliged to Jornandes (de Reb. Get. C. 51, p. 688)for a short and lively picture of these lesser Goths. Gothi minores, populus immensus, cum suo Pontifice ipsoque primate Wulfila. Thelast words, if they are not mere tautology, imply some temporaljurisdiction. ]

Their fiercer brethren, the formidable Visigoths, universally adoptedthe religion of the Romans, with whom they maintained a perpetualintercourse, of war, of friendship, or of conquest. In their long andvictorious march from the Danube to the Atlantic Ocean, they convertedtheir allies; they educated the rising generation; and the devotionwhich reigned in the camp of Alaric, or the court of Thoulouse, mightedify or disgrace the palaces of Rome and Constantinople. [78] Duringthe same period, Christianity was embraced by almost all the Barbarians, who established their kingdoms on the ruins of the Western empire; theBurgundians in Gaul, the Suevi in Spain, the Vandals in Africa, theOstrogoths in Pannonia, and the various bands of mercenaries, thatraised Odoacer to the throne of Italy. The Franks and the Saxons stillpersevered in the errors of Paganism; but the Franks obtained themonarchy of Gaul by their submission to the example of Clovis; andthe Saxon conquerors of Britain were reclaimed from their savagesuperstition by the missionaries of Rome. These Barbarian proselytesdisplayed an ardent and successful zeal in the propagation of the faith. The Merovingian kings, and their successors, Charlemagne and the Othos, extended, by their laws and victories, the dominion of the cross. England produced the apostle of Germany; and the evangelic light wasgradually diffused from the neighborhood of the Rhine, to the nations ofthe Elbe, the Vistula, and the Baltic. [79]

[Footnote 78: At non ita Gothi non ita Vandali; malis licet doctoribusinstituti meliores tamen etiam in hac parte quam nostri. Salvian, deGubern, Dei, l. Vii. P. 243. ]

[Footnote 79: Mosheim has slightly sketched the progress of Christianityin the North, from the fourth to the fourteenth century. The subjectwould afford materials for an ecclesiastical and even philosophical, history]

Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To Christianity. --Part III. 

The different motives which influenced the reason, or the passions, ofthe Barbarian converts, cannot easily be ascertained. They were oftencapricious and accidental; a dream, an omen, the report of a miracle, the example of some priest, or hero, the charms of a believing wife, and, above all, the fortunate event of a prayer, or vow, which, in amoment of danger, they had addressed to the God of the Christians. [80]The early prejudices of education were insensibly erased by the habitsof frequent and familiar society, the moral precepts of the gospelwere protected by the extravagant virtues of the monks; and a spiritualtheology was supported by the visible power of relics, and the pomp ofreligious worship. But the rational and ingenious mode of persuasion, which a Saxon bishop [81] suggested to a popular saint, might sometimesbe employed by the missionaries, who labored for the conversion ofinfidels. "Admit, " says the sagacious disputant, "whatever they arepleased to assert of the fabulous, and carnal, genealogy of their godsand goddesses, who are propagated from each other. From this principlededuce their imperfect nature, and human infirmities, the assurance theywere born, and the probability that they will die. At what time, bywhat means, from what cause, were the eldest of the gods or goddessesproduced? Do they still continue, or have they ceased, to propagate? Ifthey have ceased, summon your antagonists to declare the reason of thisstrange alteration. If they still continue, the number of the gods mustbecome infinite; and shall we not risk, by the indiscreet worship ofsome impotent deity, to excite the resentment of his jealous superior?The visible heavens and earth, the whole system of the universe, whichmay be conceived by the mind, is it created or eternal? If created, how, or where, could the gods themselves exist before creation? If eternal, how could they assume the empire of an independent and preexistingworld? Urge these arguments with temper and moderation; insinuate, atseasonable intervals, the truth and beauty of the Christian revelation;and endeavor to make the unbelievers ashamed, without making themangry. " This metaphysical reasoning, too refined, perhaps, for theBarbarians of Germany, was fortified by the grosser weight of authorityand popular consent. The advantage of temporal prosperity had desertedthe Pagan cause, and passed over to the service of Christianity. TheRomans themselves, the most powerful and enlightened nation of theglobe, had renounced their ancient superstition; and, if the ruinof their empire seemed to accuse the efficacy of the new faith, thedisgrace was already retrieved by the conversion of the victoriousGoths. The valiant and fortunate Barbarians, who subdued the provincesof the West, successively received, and reflected, the same edifyingexample. Before the age of Charlemagne, the Christian nations of Europemight exult in the exclusive possession of the temperate climates, ofthe fertile lands, which produced corn, wine, and oil; while the savageidolaters, and their helpless idols, were confined to the extremities ofthe earth, the dark and frozen regions of the North. [82]

[Footnote 80: To such a cause has Socrates (l. Vii. C. 30) ascribed theconversion of the Burgundians, whose Christian piety is celebrated byOrosius, (l. Vii. C. 19. )]

[Footnote 81: See an original and curious epistle from Daniel, the firstbishop of Winchester, (Beda, Hist. Eccles. Anglorum, l. V. C. 18, p. 203, edit Smith, ) to St. Boniface, who preached the gospel among thesavages of Hesse and Thuringia. Epistol. Bonifacii, lxvii. , in theMaxima Bibliotheca Patrum, tom. Xiii. P. 93]

[Footnote 82: The sword of Charlemagne added weight to the argument; butwhen Daniel wrote this epistle, (A. D. 723, ) the Mahometans, who reignedfrom India to Spain, might have retorted it against the Christians. ]

Christianity, which opened the gates of Heaven to the Barbarians, introduced an important change in their moral and political condition. They received, at the same time, the use of letters, so essential to areligion whose doctrines are contained in a sacred book; and while theystudied the divine truth, their minds were insensibly enlarged by thedistant view of history, of nature, of the arts, and of society. The version of the Scriptures into their native tongue, which hadfacilitated their conversion, must excite among their clergy somecuriosity to read the original text, to understand the sacred liturgy ofthe church, and to examine, in the writings of the fathers, the chainof ecclesiastical tradition. These spiritual gifts were preserved in theGreek and Latin languages, which concealed the inestimable monuments ofancient learning. The immortal productions of Virgil, Cicero, and Livy, which were accessible to the Christian Barbarians, maintained a silentintercourse between the reign of Augustus and the times of Clovis andCharlemagne. The emulation of mankind was encouraged by the remembranceof a more perfect state; and the flame of science was secretly keptalive, to warm and enlighten the mature age of the Western world. 

In the most corrupt state of Christianity, the Barbarians might learnjustice from the law, and mercy from the gospel; and if the knowledge oftheir duty was insufficient to guide their actions, or to regulate theirpassions, they were sometimes restrained by conscience, and frequentlypunished by remorse. But the direct authority of religion was lesseffectual than the holy communion, which united them with theirChristian brethren in spiritual friendship. The influence of thesesentiments contributed to secure their fidelity in the service, or thealliance, of the Romans, to alleviate the horrors of war, to moderatethe insolence of conquest, and to preserve, in the downfall of theempire, a permanent respect for the name and institutions of Rome. Inthe days of Paganism, the priests of Gaul and Germany reigned over thepeople, and controlled the jurisdiction of the magistrates; and thezealous proselytes transferred an equal, or more ample, measure ofdevout obedience, to the pontiffs of the Christian faith. The sacredcharacter of the bishops was supported by their temporal possessions;they obtained an honorable seat in the legislative assemblies ofsoldiers and freemen; and it was their interest, as well as their duty, to mollify, by peaceful counsels, the fierce spirit of the Barbarians. The perpetual correspondence of the Latin clergy, the frequentpilgrimages to Rome and Jerusalem, and the growing authority of thepopes, cemented the union of the Christian republic, and graduallyproduced the similar manners, and common jurisprudence, which havedistinguished, from the rest of mankind, the independent, and evenhostile, nations of modern Europe. 

But the operation of these causes was checked and retarded by theunfortunate accident, which infused a deadly poison into the cup ofSalvation. Whatever might be the early sentiments of Ulphilas, hisconnections with the empire and the church were formed during the reignof Arianism. The apostle of the Goths subscribed the creed of Rimini;professed with freedom, and perhaps with sincerity, that the Son was notequal, or consubstantial to the Father; [83] communicated these errorsto the clergy and people; and infected the Barbaric world with a heresy, [84] which the great Theodosius proscribed and extinguished among theRomans. The temper and understanding of the new proselytes were notadapted to metaphysical subtilties; but they strenuously maintained, what they had piously received, as the pure and genuine doctrines ofChristianity. The advantage of preaching and expounding the Scripturesin the Teutonic language promoted the apostolic labors of Ulphilas andhis successors; and they ordained a competent number of bishops andpresbyters for the instruction of the kindred tribes. The Ostrogoths, the Burgundians, the Suevi, and the Vandals, who had listened to theeloquence of the Latin clergy, [85] preferred the more intelligiblelessons of their domestic teachers; and Arianism was adopted as thenational faith of the warlike converts, who were seated on the ruinsof the Western empire. This irreconcilable difference of religion was aperpetual source of jealousy and hatred; and the reproach of Barbarianwas imbittered by the more odious epithet of Heretic. The heroes ofthe North, who had submitted, with some reluctance, to believe that alltheir ancestors were in hell, [86] were astonished and exasperated tolearn, that they themselves had only changed the mode of their eternalcondemnation. Instead of the smooth applause, which Christian kings areaccustomed to expect from their royal prelates, the orthodox bishopsand their clergy were in a state of opposition to the Arian courts;and their indiscreet opposition frequently became criminal, and mightsometimes be dangerous. [87] The pulpit, that safe and sacred organ ofsedition, resounded with the names of Pharaoh and Holofernes; [88] thepublic discontent was inflamed by the hope or promise of a gloriousdeliverance; and the seditious saints were tempted to promote theaccomplishment of their own predictions. Notwithstanding theseprovocations, the Catholics of Gaul, Spain, and Italy, enjoyed, underthe reign of the Arians, the free and peaceful exercise of theirreligion. Their haughty masters respected the zeal of a numerous people, resolved to die at the foot of their altars; and the example of theirdevout constancy was admired and imitated by the Barbarians themselves. The conquerors evaded, however, the disgraceful reproach, or confession, of fear, by attributing their toleration to the liberal motivesof reason and humanity; and while they affected the language, theyimperceptiby imbibed the spirit, of genuine Christianity. 

[Footnote 83: The opinions of Ulphilas and the Goths inclined tosemi-Arianism, since they would not say that the Son was a creature, though they held communion with those who maintained that heresy. Theirapostle represented the whole controversy as a question of triflingmoment, which had been raised by the passions of the clergy. Theodoretl. Iv. C. 37. ]

[Footnote 84: The Arianism of the Goths has been imputed to the emperorValens: "Itaque justo Dei judicio ipsi eum vivum incenderunt, quipropter eum etiam mortui, vitio erroris arsuri sunt. " Orosius, l. Vii. C. 33, p. 554. This cruel sentence is confirmed by Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. Tom. Vi. P. 604-610, ) who coolly observes, "un seul hommeentraina dans l'enfer un nombre infini de Septentrionaux, &c. " Salvian(de Gubern. Dei, l. V p. 150, 151) pities and excuses their involuntaryerror. ]

[Footnote 85: Orosius affirms, in the year 416, (l. Vii. C. 41, p. 580, )that the Churches of Christ (of the Catholics) were filled with Huns, Suevi, Vandals, Burgundians. ]

[Footnote 86: Radbod, king of the Frisons, was so much scandalized bythis rash declaration of a missionary, that he drew back his foot afterhe had entered the baptismal font. See Fleury, Hist. Eccles. Tom. Ix p. 167. ]

[Footnote 87: The epistles of Sidonius, bishop of Clermont, under theVisigotha, and of Avitus, bishop of Vienna, under the Burgundians, explain sometimes in dark hints, the general dispositions of theCatholics. The history of Clovis and Theodoric will suggest someparticular facts]

[Footnote 88: Genseric confessed the resemblance, by the severity withwhich he punished such indiscreet allusions. Victor Vitensis, l. 7, p. 10. ]

The peace of the church was sometimes interrupted. The Catholics wereindiscreet, the Barbarians were impatient; and the partial acts ofseverity or injustice, which had been recommended by the Arian clergy, were exaggerated by the orthodox writers. The guilt of persecution maybe imputed to Euric, king of the Visigoths; who suspended the exerciseof ecclesiastical, or, at least, of episcopal functions; and punishedthe popular bishops of Aquitain with imprisonment, exile, andconfiscation. [89] But the cruel and absurd enterprise of subduing theminds of a whole people was undertaken by the Vandals alone. Genserichimself, in his early youth, had renounced the orthodox communion; andthe apostate could neither grant, nor expect, a sincere forgiveness. Hewas exasperated to find that the Africans, who had fled before him inthe field, still presumed to dispute his will in synods and churches;and his ferocious mind was incapable of fear or of compassion. HisCatholic subjects were oppressed by intolerant laws and arbitrarypunishments. The language of Genseric was furious and formidable;the knowledge of his intentions might justify the most unfavorableinterpretation of his actions; and the Arians were reproached with thefrequent executions which stained the palace and the dominions of thetyrant. Arms and ambition were, however, the ruling passions of themonarch of the sea. But Hunneric, his inglorious son, who seemedto inherit only his vices, tormented the Catholics with the sameunrelenting fury which had been fatal to his brother, his nephews, and the friends and favorites of his father; and even to the Arianpatriarch, who was inhumanly burnt alive in the midst of Carthage. The religious war was preceded and prepared by an insidious truce;persecution was made the serious and important business of the Vandalcourt; and the loathsome disease which hastened the death of Hunneric, revenged the injuries, without contributing to the deliverance, of thechurch. The throne of Africa was successively filled by the two nephewsof Hunneric; by Gundamund, who reigned about twelve, and by Thrasimund, who governed the nation about twenty-seven, years. Their administrationwas hostile and oppressive to the orthodox party. Gundamund appeared toemulate, or even to surpass, the cruelty of his uncle; and, if at lengthhe relented, if he recalled the bishops, and restored the freedom ofAthanasian worship, a premature death intercepted the benefits of histardy clemency. His brother, Thrasimund, was the greatest and mostaccomplished of the Vandal kings, whom he excelled in beauty, prudence, and magnanimity of soul. But this magnanimous character was degradedby his intolerant zeal and deceitful clemency. Instead of threats andtortures, he employed the gentle, but efficacious, powers of seduction. Wealth, dignity, and the royal favor, were the liberal rewards ofapostasy; the Catholics, who had violated the laws, might purchasetheir pardon by the renunciation of their faith; and wheneverThrasimund meditated any rigorous measure, he patiently waited tillthe indiscretion of his adversaries furnished him with a speciousopportunity. Bigotry was his last sentiment in the hour of death; and heexacted from his successor a solemn oath, that he would never toleratethe sectaries of Athanasius. But his successor, Hilderic, the gentle sonof the savage Hunneric, preferred the duties of humanity and justice tothe vain obligation of an impious oath; and his accession was gloriouslymarked by the restoration of peace and universal freedom. The throne ofthat virtuous, though feeble monarch, was usurped by his cousin Gelimer, a zealous Arian: but the Vandal kingdom, before he could enjoy or abusehis power, was subverted by the arms of Belisarius; and the orthodoxparty retaliated the injuries which they had endured. [90]

[Footnote 89: Such are the contemporary complaints of Sidonius, bishopof Clermont (l. Vii. C. 6, p. 182, &c. , edit. Sirmond. ) Gregory of Tourswho quotes this Epistle, (l. Ii. C. 25, in tom. Ii. P. 174, ) extorts anunwarrantable assertion, that of the nine vacancies in Aquitain, somehad been produced by episcopal martyrdoms]

[Footnote 90: The original monuments of the Vandal persecution arepreserved in the five books of the history of Victor Vitensis, (dePersecutione Vandalica, ) a bishop who was exiled by Hunneric; in thelife of St. Fulgentius, who was distinguished in the persecution ofThrasimund (in Biblioth. Max. Patrum, tom. Ix. P. 4-16;) and in thefirst book of the Vandalic War, by the impartial Procopius, (c. 7, 8, p. 196, 197, 198, 199. ) Dom Ruinart, the last editor of Victor, hasillustrated the whole subject with a copious and learned apparatus ofnotes and supplement (Paris, 1694. )] The passionate declamations of theCatholics, the sole historians of this persecution, cannot affordany distinct series of causes and events; any impartial view of thecharacters, or counsels; but the most remarkable circumstances thatdeserve either credit or notice, may be referred to the following heads;I. In the original law, which is still extant, [91] Hunneric expresslydeclares, (and the declaration appears to be correct, ) that he hadfaithfully transcribed the regulations and penalties of the Imperialedicts, against the heretical congregations, the clergy, and the people, who dissented from the established religion. If the rights of consciencehad been understood, the Catholics must have condemned their pastconduct or acquiesced in their actual suffering. But they stillpersisted to refuse the indulgence which they claimed. While theytrembled under the lash of persecution, they praised the laudableseverity of Hunneric himself, who burnt or banished great numbersof Manichaeans; [92] and they rejected, with horror, the ignominiouscompromise, that the disciples of Arius and of Athanasius should enjoy areciprocal and similar toleration in the territories of the Romans, andin those of the Vandals. [93] II. The practice of a conference, which the Catholics had so frequently used to insult and punish theirobstinate antagonists, was retorted against themselves. [94] At thecommand of Hunneric, four hundred and sixty-six orthodox bishopsassembled at Carthage; but when they were admitted into the hall ofaudience, they had the mortification of beholding the Arian Cyrilaexalted on the patriarchal throne. The disputants were separated, afterthe mutual and ordinary reproaches of noise and silence, of delay andprecipitation, of military force and of popular clamor. One martyr andone confessor were selected among the Catholic bishops; twenty-eightescaped by flight, and eighty-eight by conformity; forty-six were sentinto Corsica to cut timber for the royal navy; and three hundred and twowere banished to the different parts of Africa, exposed to the insultsof their enemies, and carefully deprived of all the temporal andspiritual comforts of life. [95] The hardships of ten years' exile musthave reduced their numbers; and if they had complied with the law ofThrasimund, which prohibited any episcopal consecrations, the orthodoxchurch of Africa must have expired with the lives of its actual members. They disobeyed, and their disobedience was punished by a second exileof two hundred and twenty bishops into Sardinia; where they languishedfifteen years, till the accession of the gracious Hilderic. [96] The twoislands were judiciously chosen by the malice of their Arian tyrants. Seneca, from his own experience, has deplored and exaggerated themiserable state of Corsica, [97] and the plenty of Sardinia wasoverbalanced by the unwholesome quality of the air. [98] III. The zealof Generic and his successors, for the conversion of the Catholics, musthave rendered them still more jealous to guard the purity of the Vandalfaith. Before the churches were finally shut, it was a crime to appearin a Barbarian dress; and those who presumed to neglect the royalmandate were rudely dragged backwards by their long hair. [99] Thepalatine officers, who refused to profess the religion of their prince, were ignominiously stripped of their honors and employments; banishedto Sardinia and Sicily; or condemned to the servile labors of slavesand peasants in the fields of Utica. In the districts which had beenpeculiarly allotted to the Vandals, the exercise of the Catholic worshipwas more strictly prohibited; and severe penalties were denouncedagainst the guilt both of the missionary and the proselyte. By thesearts, the faith of the Barbarians was preserved, and their zeal wasinflamed: they discharged, with devout fury, the office of spies, informers, or executioners; and whenever their cavalry took the field, it was the favorite amusement of the march to defile the churches, andto insult the clergy of the adverse faction. [100] IV. The citizens whohad been educated in the luxury of the Roman province, were delivered, with exquisite cruelty, to the Moors of the desert. A venerable train ofbishops, presbyters, and deacons, with a faithful crowd of four thousandand ninety-six persons, whose guilt is not precisely ascertained, weretorn from their native homes, by the command of Hunneric. During thenight they were confined, like a herd of cattle, amidst their ownordure: during the day they pursued their march over the burning sands;and if they fainted under the heat and fatigue, they were goaded, ordragged along, till they expired in the hands of their tormentors. [101]These unhappy exiles, when they reached the Moorish huts, might excitethe compassion of a people, whose native humanity was neither improvedby reason, nor corrupted by fanaticism: but if they escaped the dangers, they were condemned to share the distress of a savage life. V. It isincumbent on the authors of persecution previously to reflect, whetherthey are determined to support it in the last extreme. They excite theflame which they strive to extinguish; and it soon becomes necessary tochastise the contumacy, as well as the crime, of the offender. The fine, which he is unable or unwilling to discharge, exposes his person to theseverity of the law; and his contempt of lighter penalties suggests theuse and propriety of capital punishment. Through the veil of fiction anddeclamation we may clearly perceive, that the Catholics more especiallyunder the reign of Hunneric, endured the most cruel and ignominioustreatment. [102] Respectable citizens, noble matrons, and consecratedvirgins, were stripped naked, and raised in the air by pulleys, witha weight suspended at their feet. In this painful attitude their nakedbodies were torn with scourges, or burnt in the most tender parts withred-hot plates of iron. The amputation of the ears the nose, the tongue, and the right hand, was inflicted by the Arians; and although theprecise number cannot be defined, it is evident that many persons, amongwhom a bishop [103] and a proconsul [104] may be named, were entitled tothe crown of martyrdom. The same honor has been ascribed to the memoryof Count Sebastian, who professed the Nicene creed with unshakenconstancy; and Genseric might detest, as a heretic, the brave andambitious fugitive whom he dreaded as a rival. [105] VI. A new mode ofconversion, which might subdue the feeble, and alarm the timorous, wasemployed by the Arian ministers. They imposed, by fraud or violence, therites of baptism; and punished the apostasy of the Catholics, if theydisclaimed this odious and profane ceremony, which scandalously violatedthe freedom of the will, and the unity of the sacrament. [106] Thehostile sects had formerly allowed the validity of each other's baptism;and the innovation, so fiercely maintained by the Vandals, can beimputed only to the example and advice of the Donatists. VII. The Arianclergy surpassed in religious cruelty the king and his Vandals; but theywere incapable of cultivating the spiritual vineyard, which they were sodesirous to possess. A patriarch [107] might seat himself on the throneof Carthage; some bishops, in the principal cities, might usurp theplace of their rivals; but the smallness of their numbers, and theirignorance of the Latin language, [108] disqualified the Barbarians forthe ecclesiastical ministry of a great church; and the Africans, afterthe loss of their orthodox pastors, were deprived of the public exerciseof Christianity. VIII. The emperors were the natural protectors of theHomoousian doctrine; and the faithful people of Africa, both as Romansand as Catholics, preferred their lawful sovereignty to the usurpationof the Barbarous heretics. During an interval of peace and friendship, Hunneric restored the cathedral of Carthage; at the intercession ofZeno, who reigned in the East, and of Placidia, the daughter and relictof emperors, and the sister of the queen of the Vandals. [109] But thisdecent regard was of short duration; and the haughty tyrant displayedhis contempt for the religion of the empire, by studiously arranging thebloody images of persecution, in all the principal streets through whichthe Roman ambassador must pass in his way to the palace. [110] An oathwas required from the bishops, who were assembled at Carthage, that theywould support the succession of his son Hilderic, and that they wouldrenounce all foreign or transmarine correspondence. This engagement, consistent, as it should seem, with their moral and religious duties, was refused by the more sagacious members [111] of the assembly. Theirrefusal, faintly colored by the pretence that it is unlawful for aChristian to swear, must provoke the suspicions of a jealous tyrant. 

[Footnote 91: Victor, iv. 2, p. 65. Hunneric refuses the name ofCatholics to the Homoousians. He describes, as the veri DivinaeMajestatis cultores, his own party, who professed the faith, confirmedby more than a thousand bishops, in the synods of Rimini and Seleucia. ]

[Footnote 92: Victor, ii, 1, p. 21, 22: Laudabilior. .. Videbatur. Inthe Mss which omit this word, the passage is unintelligible. See RuinartNot. P. 164. ]

[Footnote 93: Victor, ii. P. 22, 23. The clergy of Carthage called theseconditions periculosoe; and they seem, indeed, to have been proposed asa snare to entrap the Catholic bishops. ]

[Footnote 94: See the narrative of this conference, and the treatment ofthe bishops, in Victor, ii. 13-18, p. 35-42 and the whole fourth book p. 63-171. The third book, p. 42-62, is entirely filled by their apology orconfession of faith. ]

[Footnote 95: See the list of the African bishops, in Victor, p. 117-140, and Ruinart's notes, p. 215-397. The schismatic name of Donatusfrequently occurs, and they appear to have adopted (like our fanaticsof the last age) the pious appellations of Deodatus, Deogratias, Quidvultdeus, Habetdeum, &c. Note: These names appear to have beenintroduced by the Donatists. --M. ]

[Footnote 96: Fulgent. Vit. C. 16-29. Thrasimund affected the praiseof moderation and learning; and Fulgentius addressed three books ofcontroversy to the Arian tyrant, whom he styles piissime Rex. Biblioth. Maxim. Patrum, tom. Ix. P. 41. Only sixty bishops are mentioned asexiles in the life of Fulgentius; they are increased to one hundred andtwenty by Victor Tunnunensis and Isidore; but the number of two hundredand twenty is specified in the Historia Miscella, and a short authenticchronicle of the times. See Ruinart, p. 570, 571. ]

[Footnote 97: See the base and insipid epigrams of the Stoic, who couldnot support exile with more fortitude than Ovid. Corsica might notproduce corn, wine, or oil; but it could not be destitute of grass, water, and even fire. ]

[Footnote 98: Si ob gravitatem coeli interissent vile damnum. Tacit. Annal. Ii. 85. In this application, Thrasimund would have adopted thereading of some critics, utile damnum. ]

[Footnote 99: See these preludes of a general persecution, in Victor, ii. 3, 4, 7 and the two edicts of Hunneric, l. Ii. P. 35, l. Iv. P. 64. ]

[Footnote 100: See Procopius de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 7, p. 197, 198. A Moorish prince endeavored to propitiate the God of the Christians, byhis diligence to erase the marks of the Vandal sacrilege. ]

[Footnote 101: See this story in Victor. Ii. 8-12, p. 30-34. Victordescribes the distress of these confessors as an eye-witness. ]

[Footnote 102: See the fifth book of Victor. His passionate complaintsare confirmed by the sober testimony of Procopius, and the publicdeclaration of the emperor Justinian. Cod. L. I. Tit. Xxvii. ]

[Footnote 103: Victor, ii. 18, p. 41. ]

[Footnote 104: Victor, v. 4, p. 74, 75. His name was Victorianus, andhe was a wealthy citizen of Adrumetum, who enjoyed the confidence of theking; by whose favor he had obtained the office, or at least the title, of proconsul of Africa. ]

[Footnote 105: Victor, i. 6, p. 8, 9. After relating the firm resistanceand dexterous reply of Count Sebastian, he adds, quare alio generisargumento postea bellicosum virum eccidit. ]

[Footnote 106: Victor, v. 12, 13. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Vi. P. 609. ]

[Footnote 107: Primate was more properly the title of the bishop ofCarthage; but the name of patriarch was given by the sects and nationsto their principal ecclesiastic. See Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. I. P. 155, 158. ]

[Footnote 108: The patriarch Cyrila himself publicly declared, that hedid not understand Latin (Victor, ii. 18, p. 42:) Nescio Latine; and hemight converse with tolerable ease, without being capable of disputingor preaching in that language. His Vandal clergy were still moreignorant; and small confidence could be placed in the Africans who hadconformed. ]

[Footnote 109: Victor, ii. 1, 2, p. 22. ]

[Footnote 110: Victor, v. 7, p. 77. He appeals to the ambassadorhimself, whose name was Uranius. ]

[Footnote 111: Astutiores, Victor, iv. 4, p. 70. He plainly intimatesthat their quotation of the gospel "Non jurabitis in toto, " was onlymeant to elude the obligation of an inconvenient oath. The forty-sixbishops who refused were banished to Corsica; the three hundred and twowho swore were distributed through the provinces of Africa. ]

Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To Christianity. --Part V. 

The Catholics, oppressed by royal and military force, were far superiorto their adversaries in numbers and learning. With the same weaponswhich the Greek [112] and Latin fathers had already provided for theArian controversy, they repeatedly silenced, or vanquished, the fierceand illiterate successors of Ulphilas. The consciousness of theirown superiority might have raised them above the arts and passions ofreligious warfare. Yet, instead of assuming such honorable pride, theorthodox theologians were tempted, by the assurance of impunity, tocompose fictions, which must be stigmatized with the epithets offraud and forgery. They ascribed their own polemical works to the mostvenerable names of Christian antiquity; the characters of Athanasius andAugustin were awkwardly personated by Vigilius and his disciples; [113]and the famous creed, which so clearly expounds the mysteries of theTrinity and the Incarnation, is deduced, with strong probability, fromthis African school. [114] Even the Scriptures themselves were profanedby their rash and sacrilegious hands. The memorable text, which assertsthe unity of the three who bear witness in heaven, [115] is condemnedby the universal silence of the orthodox fathers, ancient versions, and authentic manuscripts. [116] It was first alleged by the Catholicbishops whom Hunneric summoned to the conference of Carthage. [117] Anallegorical interpretation, in the form, perhaps, of a marginal note, invaded the text of the Latin Bibles, which were renewed and correctedin a dark period of ten centuries. [118] After the invention ofprinting, [119] the editors of the Greek Testament yielded to their ownprejudices, or those of the times; [120] and the pious fraud, whichwas embraced with equal zeal at Rome and at Geneva, has been infinitelymultiplied in every country and every language of modern Europe. 

[Footnote 112: Fulgentius, bishop of Ruspae, in the Byzacene province, was of a senatorial family, and had received a liberal education. Hecould repeat all Homer and Menander before he was allowed to study Latinhis native tongue, (Vit. Fulgent. C. L. ) Many African bishops mightunderstand Greek, and many Greek theologians were translated intoLatin. ]

[Footnote 113: Compare the two prefaces to the Dialogue of Vigilius ofThapsus, (p. 118, 119, edit. Chiflet. ) He might amuse his learnedreader with an innocent fiction; but the subject was too grave, and theAfricans were too ignorant. ]

[Footnote 114: The P. Quesnel started this opinion, which has beenfavorably received. But the three following truths, however surprisingthey may seem, are now universally acknowledged, (Gerard Vossius, tom. Vi. P. 516-522. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Tom. Viii. P. 667-671. ) 1. St. Athanasius is not the author of the creed which is so frequently read inour churches. 2. It does not appear to have existed within a centuryafter his death. 3. It was originally composed in the Latin tongue, and, consequently in the Western provinces. Gennadius patriarch ofConstantinople, was so much amazed by this extraordinary composition, that he frankly pronounced it to be the work of a drunken man. Petav. Dogmat. Theologica, tom. Ii. L. Vii. C. 8, p. 687. ]

[Footnote 115: 1 John, v. 7. See Simon, Hist. Critique du NouveauTestament, part i. C. Xviii. P. 203-218; and part ii. C. Ix. P. 99-121;and the elaborate Prolegomena and Annotations of Dr. Mill and Wetsteinto their editions of the Greek Testament. In 1689, the papist Simonstrove to be free; in 1707, the Protestant Mill wished to be a slave;in 1751, the Armenian Wetstein used the liberty of his times, and of hissect. * Note: This controversy has continued to be agitated, but withdeclining interest even in the more religious part of the community; andmay now be considered to have terminated in an almost generalacquiescence of the learned to the conclusions of Porson in his Lettersto Travis. See the pamphlets of the late Bishop of Salisbury and ofCrito Cantabrigiensis, Dr. Turton of Cambridge. --M. ]

[Footnote 116: Of all the Mss. Now extant, above fourscore in number, some of which are more than 1200 years old, (Wetstein ad loc. ) Theorthodox copies of the Vatican, of the Complutensian editors, of RobertStephens, are become invisible; and the two Mss. Of Dublin and Berlinare unworthy to form an exception. See Emlyn's Works, vol. Ii. P227-255, 269-299; and M. De Missy's four ingenious letters, in tom. Viii. And ix. Of the Journal Britannique. ]

[Footnote 117: Or, more properly, by the four bishops who composed andpublished the profession of faith in the name of their brethren. Theystyled this text, luce clarius, (Victor Vitensis de Persecut. Vandal. L. Iii. C. 11, p. 54. ) It is quoted soon afterwards by the Africanpolemics, Vigilius and Fulgentius. ]

[Footnote 118: In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Bibles werecorrected by Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, and by Nicholas, cardinal and librarian of the Roman church, secundum orthodoxam fidem, (Wetstein, Prolegom. P. 84, 85. ) Notwithstanding these corrections, thepassage is still wanting in twenty-five Latin Mss. , (Wetstein ad loc. , )the oldest and the fairest; two qualities seldom united, except inmanuscripts. ]

[Footnote 119: The art which the Germans had invented was applied inItaly to the profane writers of Rome and Greece. The original Greek ofthe New Testament was published about the same time (A. D. 1514, 1516, 1520, ) by the industry of Erasmus, and the munificence of CardinalXimenes. The Complutensian Polyglot cost the cardinal 50, 000 ducats. See Mattaire, Annal. Typograph. Tom. Ii. P. 2-8, 125-133; and Wetstein, Prolegomena, p. 116-127. ]

[Footnote 120: The three witnesses have been established in our GreekTestaments by the prudence of Erasmus; the honest bigotry of theComplutensian editors; the typographical fraud, or error, of RobertStephens, in the placing a crotchet; and the deliberate falsehood, orstrange misapprehension, of Theodore Beza. ]

The example of fraud must excite suspicion: and the specious miracles bywhich the African Catholics have defended the truth and justice of theircause, may be ascribed, with more reason, to their own industry, thanto the visible protection of Heaven. Yet the historian, who views thisreligious conflict with an impartial eye, may condescend to mentionone preternatural event, which will edify the devout, and surprise theincredulous. Tipasa, [121] a maritime colony of Mauritania, sixteenmiles to the east of Caesarea, had been distinguished, in every age, bythe orthodox zeal of its inhabitants. They had braved the fury of theDonatists; [122] they resisted, or eluded, the tyranny of the Arians. The town was deserted on the approach of an heretical bishop: most ofthe inhabitants who could procure ships passed over to the coast ofSpain; and the unhappy remnant, refusing all communion with the usurper, still presumed to hold their pious, but illegal, assemblies. Theirdisobedience exasperated the cruelty of Hunneric. A military count wasdespatched from Carthage to Tipasa: he collected the Catholics in theForum, and, in the presence of the whole province, deprived theguilty of their right hands and their tongues. But the holy confessorscontinued to speak without tongues; and this miracle is attested byVictor, an African bishop, who published a history of the persecutionwithin two years after the event. [123] "If any one, " says Victor, "should doubt of the truth, let him repair to Constantinople, and listento the clear and perfect language of Restitutus, the sub-deacon, one ofthese glorious sufferers, who is now lodged in the palace of the emperorZeno, and is respected by the devout empress. " At Constantinople weare astonished to find a cool, a learned, and unexceptionable witness, without interest, and without passion. Aeneas of Gaza, a Platonicphilosopher, has accurately described his own observations on theseAfrican sufferers. "I saw them myself: I heard them speak: I diligentlyinquired by what means such an articulate voice could be formed withoutany organ of speech: I used my eyes to examine the report of my ears;I opened their mouth, and saw that the whole tongue had been completelytorn away by the roots; an operation which the physicians generallysuppose to be mortal. " [124] The testimony of Aeneas of Gaza might beconfirmed by the superfluous evidence of the emperor Justinian, in aperpetual edict; of Count Marcellinus, in his Chronicle of the times;and of Pope Gregory the First, who had resided at Constantinople, as theminister of the Roman pontiff. [125] They all lived within the compassof a century; and they all appeal to their personal knowledge, or thepublic notoriety, for the truth of a miracle, which was repeated inseveral instances, displayed on the greatest theatre of the world, andsubmitted, during a series of years, to the calm examination of thesenses. This supernatural gift of the African confessors, who spokewithout tongues, will command the assent of those, and of those only, who already believe, that their language was pure and orthodox. But thestubborn mind of an infidel, is guarded by secret, incurable suspicion;and the Arian, or Socinian, who has seriously rejected the doctrine ofa Trinity, will not be shaken by the most plausible evidence of anAthanasian miracle. 

[Footnote 121: Plin. Hist. Natural. V. 1. Itinerar. Wesseling, p. 15. Cellanius, Geograph. Antiq. Tom. Ii. Part ii. P. 127. This Tipasa (whichmust not be confounded with another in Numidia) was a town of some notesince Vespasian endowed it with the right of Latium. ]

[Footnote 122: Optatus Milevitanus de Schism. Donatist. L. Ii. P. 38. ]

[Footnote 123: Victor Vitensis, v. 6, p. 76. Ruinart, p. 483-487. ]

[Footnote 124: Aeneas Gazaeus in Theophrasto, in Biblioth. Patrum, tom. Viii. P. 664, 665. He was a Christian, and composed this Dialogue (theTheophrastus) on the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection ofthe body; besides twenty-five Epistles, still extant. See Cave, (Hist. Litteraria, p. 297, ) and Fabricius, (Biblioth. Graec. Tom. I. P. 422. )]

[Footnote 125: Justinian. Codex. L. I. Tit. Xxvii. Marcellin. In Chron. P. 45, in Thesaur. Temporum Scaliger. Procopius, de Bell. Vandal. L. I. C. 7. P. 196. Gregor. Magnus, Dialog. Iii. 32. None of these witnesseshave specified the number of the confessors, which is fixed at sixty inan old menology, (apud Ruinart. P. 486. ) Two of them lost their speechby fornication; but the miracle is enhanced by the singular instance ofa boy who had never spoken before his tongue was cut out. ]

The Vandals and the Ostrogoths persevered in the profession of Arianismtill the final ruin of the kingdoms which they had founded in Africa andItaly. The Barbarians of Gaul submitted to the orthodox dominion of theFranks; and Spain was restored to the Catholic church by the voluntaryconversion of the Visigoths. 

This salutary revolution [126] was hastened by the example of a royalmartyr, whom our calmer reason may style an ungrateful rebel. Leovigild, the Gothic monarch of Spain, deserved the respect of his enemies, andthe love of his subjects; the Catholics enjoyed a free toleration, andhis Arian synods attempted, without much success, to reconcile theirscruples by abolishing the unpopular rite of a second baptism. Hiseldest son Hermenegild, who was invested by his father with the royaldiadem, and the fair principality of Boetica, contracted an honorableand orthodox alliance with a Merovingian princess, the daughter ofSigebert, king of Austrasia, and of the famous Brunechild. The beauteousIngundis, who was no more than thirteen years of age, was received, beloved, and persecuted, in the Arian court of Toledo; and her religiousconstancy was alternately assaulted with blandishments and violence byGoisvintha, the Gothic queen, who abused the double claim of maternalauthority. [127] Incensed by her resistance, Goisvintha seized theCatholic princess by her long hair, inhumanly dashed her against theground, kicked her till she was covered with blood, and at lastgave orders that she should be stripped, and thrown into a basin, orfish-pond. [128] Love and honor might excite Hermenegild to resent thisinjurious treatment of his bride; and he was gradually persuaded thatIngundis suffered for the cause of divine truth. Her tender complaints, and the weighty arguments of Le ander, archbishop of Seville, accomplished his conversion and the heir of the Gothic monarchy wasinitiated in the Nicene faith by the solemn rites of confirmation. [129]The rash youth, inflamed by zeal, and perhaps by ambition, was temptedto violate the duties of a son and a subject; and the Catholics ofSpain, although they could not complain of persecution, applaudedhis pious rebellion against an heretical father. The civil war wasprotracted by the long and obstinate sieges of Merida, Cordova, andSeville, which had strenuously espoused the party of Hermenegild Heinvited the orthodox Barbarians, the Seuvi, and the Franks, to thedestruction of his native land; he solicited the dangerous aid of theRomans, who possessed Africa, and a part of the Spanish coast; andhis holy ambassador, the archbishop Leander, effectually negotiated inperson with the Byzantine court. But the hopes of the Catholics werecrushed by the active diligence of the monarch who commanded the troopsand treasures of Spain; and the guilty Hermenegild, after his vainattempts to resist or to escape, was compelled to surrender himself intothe hands of an incensed father. Leovigild was still mindful of thatsacred character; and the rebel, despoiled of the regal ornaments, wasstill permitted, in a decent exile, to profess the Catholic religion. His repeated and unsuccessful treasons at length provoked theindignation of the Gothic king; and the sentence of death, which hepronounced with apparent reluctance, was privately executed in the towerof Seville. The inflexible constancy with which he refused to accept theArian communion, as the price of his safety, may excuse the honors thathave been paid to the memory of St. Hermenegild. His wife and infant sonwere detained by the Romans in ignominious captivity; and this domesticmisfortune tarnished the glories of Leovigild, and imbittered the lastmoments of his life. 

[Footnote 126: See the two general historians of Spain, Mariana (Hist. De Rebus Hispaniae, tom. I. L. V. C. 12-15, p. 182-194) and Ferreras, (French translation, tom. Ii. P. 206-247. ) Mariana almost forgets thathe is a Jesuit, to assume the style and spirit of a Roman classic. Ferreras, an industrious compiler, reviews his facts, and rectifies hischronology. ]

[Footnote 127: Goisvintha successively married two kings of theVisigoths: Athanigild, to whom she bore Brunechild, the mother ofIngundis; and Leovigild, whose two sons, Hermenegild and Recared, werethe issue of a former marriage. ]

[Footnote 128: Iracundiae furore succensa, adprehensam per comam capitispuellam in terram conlidit, et diu calcibus verberatam, ac sanguinscruentatam, jussit exspoliari, et piscinae immergi. Greg. Turon. L. V. C. 39. In tom. Ii. P. 255. Gregory is one of our best originals for thisportion of history. ]

[Footnote 129: The Catholics who admitted the baptism of hereticsrepeated the rite, or, as it was afterwards styled, the sacrament, of confirmation, to which they ascribed many mystic and marvellousprerogatives both visible and invisible. See Chardon. Hist. DesSacremens, tom. 1. P. 405-552. ] His son and successor, Recared, thefirst Catholic king of Spain, had imbibed the faith of his unfortunatebrother, which he supported with more prudence and success. Instead ofrevolting against his father, Recared patiently expected the hour of hisdeath. Instead of condemning his memory, he piously supposed, that thedying monarch had abjured the errors of Arianism, and recommended tohis son the conversion of the Gothic nation. To accomplish that salutaryend, Recared convened an assembly of the Arian clergy and nobles, declared himself a Catholic, and exhorted them to imitate the exampleof their prince. The laborious interpretation of doubtful texts, or thecurious pursuit of metaphysical arguments, would have excited an endlesscontroversy; and the monarch discreetly proposed to his illiterateaudience two substantial and visible arguments, --the testimony of Earth, and of Heaven. The Earth had submitted to the Nicene synod: the Romans, the Barbarians, and the inhabitants of Spain, unanimously professedthe same orthodox creed; and the Visigoths resisted, almost alone, theconsent of the Christian world. A superstitious age was prepared toreverence, as the testimony of Heaven, the preternatural cures, whichwere performed by the skill or virtue of the Catholic clergy; thebaptismal fonts of Osset in Boetica, [130] which were spontaneouslyreplenished every year, on the vigil of Easter; [131] and the miraculousshrine of St. Martin of Tours, which had already converted the Suevicprince and people of Gallicia. [132] The Catholic king encounteredsome difficulties on this important change of the national religion. Aconspiracy, secretly fomented by the queen-dowager, was formed againsthis life; and two counts excited a dangerous revolt in the NarbonneseGaul. But Recared disarmed the conspirators, defeated the rebels, andexecuted severe justice; which the Arians, in their turn, might brandwith the reproach of persecution. Eight bishops, whose names betraytheir Barbaric origin, abjured their errors; and all the books of Ariantheology were reduced to ashes, with the house in which they had beenpurposely collected. The whole body of the Visigoths and Suevi wereallured or driven into the pale of the Catholic communion; the faith, atleast of the rising generation, was fervent and sincere: and the devoutliberality of the Barbarians enriched the churches and monasteries ofSpain. Seventy bishops, assembled in the council of Toledo, received thesubmission of their conquerors; and the zeal of the Spaniards improvedthe Nicene creed, by declaring the procession of the Holy Ghost fromthe Son, as well as from the Father; a weighty point of doctrine, whichproduced, long afterwards, the schism of the Greek and Latin churches. [133] The royal proselyte immediately saluted and consulted PopeGregory, surnamed the Great, a learned and holy prelate, whose reignwas distinguished by the conversion of heretics and infidels. Theambassadors of Recared respectfully offered on the threshold ofthe Vatican his rich presents of gold and gems; they accepted, as alucrative exchange, the hairs of St. John the Baptist; a cross, whichenclosed a small piece of the true wood; and a key, that contained someparticles of iron which had been scraped from the chains of St. Peter. [134]

[Footnote 130: Osset, or Julia Constantia, was opposite to Seville, onthe northern side of the Boetis, (Plin. Hist. Natur. Iii. 3:) and theauthentic reference of Gregory of Tours (Hist. Francor. L. Vi. C. 43, p. 288) deserves more credit than the name of Lusitania, (de Gloria Martyr. C. 24, ) which has been eagerly embraced by the vain and superstitiousPortuguese, (Ferreras, Hist. D'Espagne, tom. Ii. P. 166. )]

[Footnote 131: This miracle was skilfully performed. An Arian kingsealed the doors, and dug a deep trench round the church, without beingable to intercept the Easter supply of baptismal water. ]

[Footnote 132: Ferreras (tom. Ii. P. 168-175, A. D. 550) has illustratedthe difficulties which regard the time and circumstances of theconversion of the Suevi. They had been recently united by Leovigild tothe Gothic monarchy of Spain. ]

[Footnote 133: This addition to the Nicene, or rather theConstantinopolitan creed, was first made in the eighth council ofToledo, A. D. 653; but it was expressive of the popular doctrine, (GerardVossius, tom. Vi. P. 527, de tribus Symbolis. )]

[Footnote 134: See Gregor. Magn. L. Vii. Epist. 126, apud Baronium, Annal. Eccles. A. D. 559, No. 25, 26. ]

The same Gregory, the spiritual conqueror of Britain, encouraged thepious Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards, to propagate the Nicene faithamong the victorious savages, whose recent Christianity was polluted bythe Arian heresy. Her devout labors still left room for the industryand success of future missionaries; and many cities of Italy were stilldisputed by hostile bishops. But the cause of Arianism was graduallysuppressed by the weight of truth, of interest, and of example; andthe controversy, which Egypt had derived from the Platonic school, wasterminated, after a war of three hundred years, by the final conversionof the Lombards of Italy. [135]

[Footnote 135: Paul Warnefrid (de Gestis Langobard. L. Iv. C. 44, p. 153, edit Grot. ) allows that Arianism still prevailed under the reign ofRotharis, (A. D. 636-652. ) The pious deacon does not attempt to mark theprecise era of the national conversion, which was accomplished, however, before the end of the seventh century. ]

The first missionaries who preached the gospel to the Barbarians, appealed to the evidence of reason, and claimed the benefit oftoleration. [136] But no sooner had they established their spiritualdominion, than they exhorted the Christian kings to extirpate, withoutmercy, the remains of Roman or Barbaric superstition. The successorsof Clovis inflicted one hundred lashes on the peasants who refused todestroy their idols; the crime of sacrificing to the demons was punishedby the Anglo-Saxon laws with the heavier penalties of imprisonment andconfiscation; and even the wise Alfred adopted, as an indispensableduty, the extreme rigor of the Mosaic institutions. [137] But thepunishment and the crime were gradually abolished among a Christianpeople; the theological disputes of the schools were suspended bypropitious ignorance; and the intolerant spirit which could find neitheridolaters nor heretics, was reduced to the persecution of the Jews. Thatexiled nation had founded some synagogues in the cities of Gaul;but Spain, since the time of Hadrian, was filled with their numerouscolonies. [138] The wealth which they accumulated by trade, and themanagement of the finances, invited the pious avarice of their masters;and they might be oppressed without danger, as they had lost the use, and even the remembrance, of arms. Sisebut, a Gothic king, who reignedin the beginning of the seventh century, proceeded at once to the lastextremes of persecution. [139] Ninety thousand Jews were compelled toreceive the sacrament of baptism; the fortunes of the obstinate infidelswere confiscated, their bodies were tortured; and it seems doubtfulwhether they were permitted to abandon their native country. Theexcessive zeal of the Catholic king was moderated, even by the clergyof Spain, who solemnly pronounced an inconsistent sentence: that thesacraments should not be forcibly imposed; but that the Jews who hadbeen baptized should be constrained, for the honor of the church, topersevere in the external practice of a religion which they disbelievedand detested. Their frequent relapses provoked one of the successors ofSisebut to banish the whole nation from his dominions; and a councilof Toledo published a decree, that every Gothic king should swear tomaintain this salutary edict. But the tyrants were unwilling to dismissthe victims, whom they delighted to torture, or to deprive themselvesof the industrious slaves, over whom they might exercise a lucrativeoppression. The Jews still continued in Spain, under the weight ofthe civil and ecclesiastical laws, which in the same country have beenfaithfully transcribed in the Code of the Inquisition. The Gothic kingsand bishops at length discovered, that injuries will produce hatred, andthat hatred will find the opportunity of revenge. A nation, the secretor professed enemies of Christianity, still multiplied in servitude anddistress; and the intrigues of the Jews promoted the rapid success ofthe Arabian conquerors. [140]

[Footnote 136: Quorum fidei et conversioni ita congratulatus esse rexperhibetur, ut nullum tamen cogeret ad Christianismum. .. . Didiceret enima doctoribus auctoribusque suae salutis, servitium Christi voluntariumnon coactitium esse debere. Bedae Hist. Ecclesiastic. L. I. C. 26, p. 62, edit. Smith. ]

[Footnote 137: See the Historians of France, tom. Iv. P. 114;and Wilkins, Leges Anglo-Saxonicae, p. 11, 31. Siquis sacrificiumimmolaverit praeter Deo soli morte moriatur. ]

[Footnote 138: The Jews pretend that they were introduced into Spainby the fleets of Solomon, and the arms of Nebuchadnezzar; that Hadriantransported forty thousand families of the tribe of Judah, and tenthousand of the tribe of Benjamin, &c. Basnage, Hist. Des Juifs, tom. Vii. C. 9, p. 240-256. ]

[Footnote 139: Isidore, at that time archbishop of Seville, mentions, disapproves and congratulates, the zeal of Sisebut (Chron. Goth. P. 728. ) Barosins (A. D. 614, No. 41) assigns the number of the evidence ofAlmoin, (l. Iv. C. 22;) but the evidence is weak, and I have not beenable to verify the quotation, (Historians of France, tom. Iii. P. 127. )]

[Footnote 140: Basnage (tom. Viii. C. 13, p. 388-400) faithfullyrepresents the state of the Jews; but he might have added from thecanons of the Spanish councils, and the laws of the Visigoths, manycurious circumstances, essential to his subject, though they are foreignto mine. * Note: Compare Milman, Hist. Of Jews iii. 256--M]

As soon as the Barbarians withdrew their powerful support, the unpopularheresy of Arius sunk into contempt and oblivion. But the Greeks stillretained their subtle and loquacious disposition: the establishment ofan obscure doctrine suggested new questions, and new disputes; and itwas always in the power of an ambitious prelate, or a fanatic monk, to violate the peace of the church, and, perhaps, of the empire. Thehistorian of the empire may overlook those disputes which were confinedto the obscurity of schools and synods. The Manichaeans, who laboredto reconcile the religions of Christ and of Zoroaster, had secretlyintroduced themselves into the provinces: but these foreign sectarieswere involved in the common disgrace of the Gnostics, and the Imperiallaws were executed by the public hatred. The rational opinions of thePelagians were propagated from Britain to Rome, Africa, and Palestine, and silently expired in a superstitious age. But the East was distractedby the Nestorian and Eutychian controversies; which attempted to explainthe mystery of the incarnation, and hastened the ruin of Christianity inher native land. These controversies were first agitated under the reignof the younger Theodosius: but their important consequences extendfar beyond the limits of the present volume. The metaphysical chain ofargument, the contests of ecclesiastical ambition, and their politicalinfluence on the decline of the Byzantine empire, may afford aninteresting and instructive series of history, from the general councilsof Ephesus and Chalcedon, to the conquest of the East by the successorsof Mahomet. 

Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis. --Part I. 

 Reign And Conversion Of Clovis. --His Victories Over The Alemanni, Burgundians, And Visigoths. --Establishment Of The French Monarchy In Gaul. --Laws Of The Barbarians. --State Of The Romans. --The Visigoths Of Spain. --Conquest Of Britain By The Saxons. 

The Gauls, [1] who impatiently supported the Roman yoke, received amemorable lesson from one of the lieutenants of Vespasian, whose weightysense has been refined and expressed by the genius of Tacitus. [2] "Theprotection of the republic has delivered Gaul from internal discordand foreign invasions. By the loss of national independence, you haveacquired the name and privileges of Roman citizens. You enjoy, in commonwith yourselves, the permanent benefits of civil government; and yourremote situation is less exposed to the accidental mischiefs of tyranny. Instead of exercising the rights of conquest, we have been contented toimpose such tributes as are requisite for your own preservation. Peacecannot be secured without armies; and armies must be supported at theexpense of the people. It is for your sake, not for our own, that weguard the barrier of the Rhine against the ferocious Germans, who haveso often attempted, and who will always desire, to exchange the solitudeof their woods and morasses for the wealth and fertility of Gaul. Thefall of Rome would be fatal to the provinces; and you would be buried inthe ruins of that mighty fabric, which has been raised by the valor andwisdom of eight hundred years. Your imaginary freedom would be insultedand oppressed by a savage master; and the expulsion of the Romans wouldbe succeeded by the eternal hostilities of the Barbarian conquerors. "[3] This salutary advice was accepted, and this strange prediction wasaccomplished. In the space of four hundred years, the hardy Gauls, whohad encountered the arms of Caesar, were imperceptibly melted into thegeneral mass of citizens and subjects: the Western empire was dissolved;and the Germans, who had passed the Rhine, fiercely contended for thepossession of Gaul, and excited the contempt, or abhorrence, of itspeaceful and polished inhabitants. With that conscious pride whichthe preeminence of knowledge and luxury seldom fails to inspire, theyderided the hairy and gigantic savages of the North; their rusticmanners, dissonant joy, voracious appetite, and their horrid appearance, equally disgusting to the sight and to the smell. The liberal studieswere still cultivated in the schools of Autun and Bordeaux; and thelanguage of Cicero and Virgil was familiar to the Gallic youth. Theirears were astonished by the harsh and unknown sounds of the Germanicdialect, and they ingeniously lamented that the trembling muses fledfrom the harmony of a Burgundian lyre. The Gauls were endowed with allthe advantages of art and nature; but as they wanted courage to defendthem, they were justly condemned to obey, and even to flatter, thevictorious Barbarians, by whose clemency they held their precariousfortunes and their lives. [4]

[Footnote 1: In this chapter I shall draw my quotations from the Recueildes Historiens des Gaules et de la France, Paris, 1738-1767, ineleven volumes in folio. By the labor of Dom Bouquet, and the otherBenedictines, all the original testimonies, as far as A. D. 1060, aredisposed in chronological order, and illustrated with learned notes. Such a national work, which will be continued to the year 1500, mightprovoke our emulation. ]

[Footnote 2: Tacit. Hist. Iv. 73, 74, in tom. I. P. 445. To abridgeTacitus would indeed be presumptuous; but I may select the general ideaswhich he applies to the present state and future revelations of Gaul. ]

[Footnote 3: Eadem semper causa Germanis transcendendi in Galliaslibido atque avaritiae et mutandae sedis amor; ut relictis paludibuset solitudinibus, suis, fecundissimum hoc solum vosque ipsospossiderent. .. . Nam pulsis Romanis quid aliud quam bella omnium inter segentium exsistent?]

[Footnote 4: Sidonius Apollinaris ridicules, with affected wit andpleasantry, the hardships of his situation, (Carm. Xii. In tom. I. P. 811. )]

As soon as Odoacer had extinguished the Western empire, he sought thefriendship of the most powerful of the Barbarians. The new sovereign ofItaly resigned to Euric, king of the Visigoths, all the Roman conquestsbeyond the Alps, as far as the Rhine and the Ocean: [5] and the senatemight confirm this liberal gift with some ostentation of power, andwithout any real loss of revenue and dominion. The lawful pretensionsof Euric were justified by ambition and success; and the Gothic nationmight aspire, under his command, to the monarchy of Spain and Gaul. Arles and Marseilles surrendered to his arms: he oppressed the freedomof Auvergne; and the bishop condescended to purchase his recall fromexile by a tribute of just, but reluctant praise. Sidonius waited beforethe gates of the palace among a crowd of ambassadors and suppliants; andtheir various business at the court of Bordeaux attested the power, and the renown, of the king of the Visigoths. The Heruli of the distantocean, who painted their naked bodies with its coerulean color, imploredhis protection; and the Saxons respected the maritime provinces ofa prince, who was destitute of any naval force. The tall Burgundianssubmitted to his authority; nor did he restore the captive Franks, tillhe had imposed on that fierce nation the terms of an unequal peace. TheVandals of Africa cultivated his useful friendship; and the Ostrogothsof Pannonia were supported by his powerful aid against the oppression ofthe neighboring Huns. The North (such are the lofty strains of the poet)was agitated or appeased by the nod of Euric; the great king of Persiaconsulted the oracle of the West; and the aged god of the Tyber wasprotected by the swelling genius of the Garonne. [6] The fortune ofnations has often depended on accidents; and France may ascribe hergreatness to the premature death of the Gothic king, at a time whenhis son Alaric was a helpless infant, and his adversary Clovis [7] anambitious and valiant youth. 

[Footnote 5: See Procopius de Bell. Gothico, l. I. C. 12, in tom. Ii. P. 81. The character of Grotius inclines me to believe, that he has notsubstituted the Rhine for the Rhone (Hist. Gothorum, p. 175) without theauthority of some Ms. ]

[Footnote 6: Sidonius, l. Viii. Epist. 3, 9, in tom. I. P. 800. Jornandes (de Rebus Geticis, c. 47 p. 680) justifies, in some measure, this portrait of the Gothic hero. ]

[Footnote 7: I use the familiar appellation of Clovis, from the LatinChlodovechus, or Chlodovoeus. But the Ch expresses only the Germanaspiration, and the true name is not different from Lewis, (Mem. De'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. Xx. P. 68. )]

While Childeric, the father of Clovis, lived an exile in Germany, hewas hospitably entertained by the queen, as well as by the king, of theThuringians. After his restoration, Basina escaped from her husband'sbed to the arms of her lover; freely declaring, that if she had known aman wiser, stronger, or more beautiful, than Childeric, that man shouldhave been the object of her preference. [8] Clovis was the offspringof this voluntary union; and, when he was no more than fifteen years ofage, he succeeded, by his father's death, to the command of the Saliantribe. The narrow limits of his kingdom were confined to the island ofthe Batavians, with the ancient dioceses of Tournay and Arras; [10] andat the baptism of Clovis the number of his warriors could not exceedfive thousand. The kindred tribes of the Franks, who had seatedthemselves along the Belgic rivers, the Scheld, the Meuse, the Moselle, and the Rhine, were governed by their independent kings, of theMerovingian race; the equals, the allies, and sometimes the enemies ofthe Salic prince. But the Germans, who obeyed, in peace, the hereditaryjurisdiction of their chiefs, were free to follow the standard ofa popular and victorious general; and the superior merit of Clovisattracted the respect and allegiance of the national confederacy. Whenhe first took the field, he had neither gold and silver in his coffers, nor wine and corn in his magazine; [11] but he imitated the example ofCaesar, who, in the same country, had acquired wealth by the sword, andpurchased soldiers with the fruits of conquest. After each successfulbattle or expedition, the spoils were accumulated in one commonmass; every warrior received his proportionable share; and the royalprerogative submitted to the equal regulations of military law. The untamed spirit of the Barbarians was taught to acknowledge theadvantages of regular discipline. [12] At the annual review of the monthof March, their arms were diligently inspected; and when they traverseda peaceful territory, they were prohibited from touching a bladeof grass. The justice of Clovis was inexorable; and his careless ordisobedient soldiers were punished with instant death. It would besuperfluous to praise the valor of a Frank; but the valor of Clovis wasdirected by cool and consummate prudence. [13] In all his transactionswith mankind, he calculated the weight of interest, of passion, andof opinion; and his measures were sometimes adapted to the sanguinarymanners of the Germans, and sometimes moderated by the milder geniusof Rome, and Christianity. He was intercepted in the career of victory, since he died in the forty-fifth year of his age: but he had alreadyaccomplished, in a reign of thirty years, the establishment of theFrench monarchy in Gaul. 

[Footnote 8: Greg. L. Ii. C. 12, in tom. I. P. 168. Basina speaks thelanguage of nature; the Franks, who had seen her in their youth, mightconverse with Gregory in their old age; and the bishop of Tours couldnot wish to defame the mother of the first Christian king. ]

[Footnote 9: The Abbe Dubos (Hist. Critique de l'Etablissement de laMonarchie Francoise dans les Gaules, tom. I. P. 630-650) has the meritof defining the primitive kingdom of Clovis, and of ascertaining thegenuine number of his subjects. ]

[Footnote 10: Ecclesiam incultam ac negligentia civium Paganorumpraetermis sam, veprium densitate oppletam, &c. Vit. St. Vedasti, intom. Iii. P. 372. This description supposes that Arras was possessed bythe Pagans many years before the baptism of Clovis. ]

[Footnote 11: Gregory of Tours (l v. C. I. Tom. Ii. P. 232) contraststhe poverty of Clovis with the wealth of his grandsons. Yet Remigius(in tom. Iv. P. 52) mentions his paternas opes, as sufficient for theredemption of captives. ]

[Footnote 12: See Gregory, (l. Ii. C. 27, 37, in tom. Ii. P. 175, 181, 182. ) The famous story of the vase of Soissons explains both the powerand the character of Clovis. As a point of controversy, it has beenstrangely tortured by Boulainvilliers Dubos, and the other politicalantiquarians. ]

[Footnote 13: The duke of Nivernois, a noble statesman, who has managedweighty and delicate negotiations, ingeniously illustrates (Mem. Del'Acad. Des Inscriptions, tom. Xx. P. 147-184) the political system ofClovis. ]

The first exploit of Clovis was the defeat of Syagrius, the son ofAegidius; and the public quarrel might, on this occasion, be inflamedby private resentment. The glory of the father still insulted theMerovingian race; the power of the son might excite the jealous ambitionof the king of the Franks. Syagrius inherited, as a patrimonial estate, the city and diocese of Soissons: the desolate remnant of the secondBelgic, Rheims and Troyes, Beauvais and Amiens, would naturally submitto the count or patrician: [14] and after the dissolution of the Westernempire, he might reign with the title, or at least with the authority, of king of the Romans. [15] As a Roman, he had been educated in theliberal studies of rhetoric and jurisprudence; but he was engaged byaccident and policy in the familiar use of the Germanic idiom. Theindependent Barbarians resorted to the tribunal of a stranger, whopossessed the singular talent of explaining, in their native tongue, the dictates of reason and equity. The diligence and affability of theirjudge rendered him popular, the impartial wisdom of his decrees obtainedtheir voluntary obedience, and the reign of Syagrius over the Franks andBurgundians seemed to revive the original institution of civil society. [16] In the midst of these peaceful occupations, Syagrius received, and boldly accepted, the hostile defiance of Clovis; who challenged hisrival in the spirit, and almost in the language, of chivalry, to appointthe day and the field [17] of battle. In the time of Caesar Soissonswould have poured forth a body of fifty thousand horse and such anarmy might have been plentifully supplied with shields, cuirasses, andmilitary engines, from the three arsenals or manufactures of the city. [18] But the courage and numbers of the Gallic youth were long sinceexhausted; and the loose bands of volunteers, or mercenaries, whomarched under the standard of Syagrius, were incapable of contendingwith the national valor of the Franks. It would be ungenerous withoutsome more accurate knowledge of his strength and resources, to condemnthe rapid flight of Syagrius, who escaped, after the loss of a battle, to the distant court of Thoulouse. The feeble minority of Alaric couldnot assist or protect an unfortunate fugitive; the pusillanimous [19]Goths were intimidated by the menaces of Clovis; and the Romanking, after a short confinement, was delivered into the hands of theexecutioner. The Belgic cities surrendered to the king of the Franks;and his dominions were enlarged towards the East by the ample diocese ofTongres [20] which Clovis subdued in the tenth year of his reign. 

[Footnote 14: M. Biet (in a Dissertation which deserved the prize of theAcademy of Soissons, p. 178-226, ) has accurately defined the nature andextent of the kingdom of Syagrius and his father; but he too readilyallows the slight evidence of Dubos (tom. Ii. P. 54-57) to deprive himof Beauvais and Amiens. ]

[Footnote 15: I may observe that Fredegarius, in his epitome of Gregoryof Tours, (tom. Ii. P. 398, ) has prudently substituted the name ofPatricius for the incredible title of Rex Romanorum. ]

[Footnote 16: Sidonius, (l. V. Epist. 5, in tom. I. P. 794, ) who styleshim the Solon, the Amphion, of the Barbarians, addresses this imaginaryking in the tone of friendship and equality. From such offices ofarbitration, the crafty Dejoces had raised himself to the throne of theMedes, (Herodot. L. I. C. 96-100. )]

[Footnote 17: Campum sibi praeparari jussit. M. Biet (p. 226-251) hasdiligently ascertained this field of battle, at Nogent, a Benedictineabbey, about ten miles to the north of Soissons. The ground was markedby a circle of Pagan sepulchres; and Clovis bestowed the adjacent landsof Leully and Coucy on the church of Rheims. ]

[Footnote 18: See Caesar. Comment. De Bell. Gallic. Ii. 4, in tom. I. P. 220, and the Notitiae, tom. I. P. 126. The three Fabricae of Soissonswere, Seutaria, Balistaria, and Clinabaria. The last supplied thecomplete armor of the heavy cuirassiers. ]

[Footnote 19: The epithet must be confined to the circumstances; andhistory cannot justify the French prejudice of Gregory, (l. Ii. C. 27, in tom. Ii. P. 175, ) ut Gothorum pavere mos est. ]

[Footnote 20: Dubos has satisfied me (tom. I. P. 277-286) that Gregoryof Tours, his transcribers, or his readers, have repeatedly confoundedthe German kingdom of Thuringia, beyond the Rhine, and the Gallic cityof Tongria, on the Meuse, which was more anciently the country of theEburones, and more recently the diocese of Liege. ]

The name of the Alemanni has been absurdly derived from their imaginarysettlement on the banks of the Leman Lake. [21] That fortunate district, from the lake to the Avenche, and Mount Jura, was occupied by theBurgundians. [22] The northern parts of Helvetia had indeed been subduedby the ferocious Alemanni, who destroyed with their own hands the fruitsof their conquest. A province, improved and adorned by the arts ofRome, was again reduced to a savage wilderness; and some vestige of thestately Vindonissa may still be discovered in the fertile and populousvalley of the Aar. [23] From the source of the Rhine to its confluxwith the Mein and the Moselle, the formidable swarms of the Alemannicommanded either side of the river, by the right of ancient possession, or recent victory. They had spread themselves into Gaul, over the modernprovinces of Alsace and Lorraine; and their bold invasion of the kingdomof Cologne summoned the Salic prince to the defence of his Ripuarianallies. 

Clovis encountered the invaders of Gaul in the plain of Tolbiac, abouttwenty-four miles from Cologne; and the two fiercest nations of Germanywere mutually animated by the memory of past exploits, and the prospectof future greatness. The Franks, after an obstinate struggle, gave way;and the Alemanni, raising a shout of victory, impetuously pressed theirretreat. But the battle was restored by the valor, and the conduct, andperhaps by the piety, of Clovis; and the event of the bloody day decidedforever the alternative of empire or servitude. The last king of theAlemanni was slain in the field, and his people were slaughtered orpursued, till they threw down their arms, and yielded to the mercy ofthe conqueror. Without discipline it was impossible for them to rally:they had contemptuously demolished the walls and fortifications whichmight have protected their distress; and they were followed into theheart of their forests by an enemy not less active, or intrepid, thanthemselves. The great Theodoric congratulated the victory of Clovis, whose sister Albofleda the king of Italy had lately married; but hemildly interceded with his brother in favor of the suppliants andfugitives, who had implored his protection. The Gallic territories, which were possessed by the Alemanni, became the prize of theirconqueror; and the haughty nation, invincible, or rebellious, to thearms of Rome, acknowledged the sovereignty of the Merovingian kings, who graciously permitted them to enjoy their peculiar manners andinstitutions, under the government of official, and, at length, ofhereditary, dukes. After the conquest of the Western provinces, theFranks alone maintained their ancient habitations beyond the Rhine. Theygradually subdued, and civilized, the exhausted countries, as far as theElbe, and the mountains of Bohemia; and the peace of Europe was securedby the obedience of Germany. [24]

[Footnote 21: Populi habitantes juxta Lemannum lacum, Alemanni dicuntur. Servius, ad Virgil. Georgic. Iv. 278. Don Bouquet (tom. I. P. 817) hasonly alleged the more recent and corrupt text of Isidore of Seville. ]

[Footnote 22: Gregory of Tours sends St. Lupicinus inter illa Jurensisdeserti secreta, quae, inter Burgundiam Alamanniamque sita, Aventicaeadja cent civitati, in tom. I. P. 648. M. De Watteville (Hist. De laConfederation Helvetique, tom. I. P. 9, 10) has accurately definedthe Helvetian limits of the Duchy of Alemannia, and the TransjuraneBurgundy. They were commensurate with the dioceses of Constanceand Avenche, or Lausanne, and are still discriminated, in modernSwitzerland, by the use of the German, or French, language. ]

[Footnote 23: See Guilliman de Rebus Helveticis, l i. C. 3, p. 11, 12. Within the ancient walls of Vindonissa, the castle of Hapsburgh, theabbey of Konigsfield, and the town of Bruck, have successively risen. The philosophic traveller may compare the monuments of Roman conquest offeudal or Austrian tyranny, of monkish superstition, and of industriousfreedom. If he be truly a philosopher, he will applaud the merit andhappiness of his own times. ]

[Footnote 24: Gregory of Tours, (l. Ii. 30, 37, in tom. Ii. P. 176, 177, 182, ) the Gesta Francorum, (in tom. Ii. P. 551, ) and the epistleof Theodoric, (Cassiodor. Variar. L. Ii. C. 41, in tom. Iv. P. 4, )represent the defeat of the Alemanni. Some of their tribes settled inRhaetia, under the protection of Theodoric; whose successors ceded thecolony and their country to the grandson of Clovis. The state of theAlemanni under the Merovingian kings may be seen in Mascou (Hist. Of theAncient Germans, xi. 8, &c. Annotation xxxvi. ) and Guilliman, (de Reb. Helvet. L. Ii. C. 10-12, p. 72-80. )]

Till the thirtieth year of his age, Clovis continued to worship thegods of his ancestors. [25] His disbelief, or rather disregard, ofChristianity, might encourage him to pillage with less remorse thechurches of a hostile territory: but his subjects of Gaul enjoyed thefree exercise of religious worship; and the bishops entertained a morefavorable hope of the idolater, than of the heretics. The Merovingianprince had contracted a fortunate alliance with the fair Clotilda, theniece of the king of Burgundy, who, in the midst of an Arian court, waseducated in the profession of the Catholic faith. It was her interest, as well as her duty, to achieve the conversion [26] of a Pagan husband;and Clovis insensibly listened to the voice of love and religion. Heconsented (perhaps such terms had been previously stipulated) to thebaptism of his eldest son; and though the sudden death of the infantexcited some superstitious fears, he was persuaded, a second time, to repeat the dangerous experiment. In the distress of the battle ofTolbiac, Clovis loudly invoked the God of Clotilda and the Christians;and victory disposed him to hear, with respectful gratitude, theeloquent [27] Remigius, [28] bishop of Rheims, who forcibly displayedthe temporal and spiritual advantages of his conversion. The kingdeclared himself satisfied of the truth of the Catholic faith; and thepolitical reasons which might have suspended his public profession, wereremoved by the devout or loyal acclamations of the Franks, who showedthemselves alike prepared to follow their heroic leader to the field ofbattle, or to the baptismal font. The important ceremony was performedin the cathedral of Rheims, with every circumstance of magnificence andsolemnity that could impress an awful sense of religion on the minds ofits rude proselytes. [29] The new Constantine was immediately baptized, with three thousand of his warlike subjects; and their example wasimitated by the remainder of the gentle Barbarians, who, in obedience tothe victorious prelate, adored the cross which they had burnt, and burntthe idols which they had formerly adored. [30] The mind of Clovis wassusceptible of transient fervor: he was exasperated by the pathetictale of the passion and death of Christ; and, instead of weighing thesalutary consequences of that mysterious sacrifice, he exclaimed, withindiscreet fury, "Had I been present at the head of my valiant Franks, Iwould have revenged his injuries. " [31] But the savage conqueror of Gaulwas incapable of examining the proofs of a religion, which dependson the laborious investigation of historic evidence and speculativetheology. He was still more incapable of feeling the mild influence ofthe gospel, which persuades and purifies the heart of a genuine convert. His ambitious reign was a perpetual violation of moral and Christianduties: his hands were stained with blood in peace as well as in war;and, as soon as Clovis had dismissed a synod of the Gallican church, hecalmly assassinated all the princes of the Merovingian race. [32] Yetthe king of the Franks might sincerely worship the Christian God, asa Being more excellent and powerful than his national deities; and thesignal deliverance and victory of Tolbiac encouraged Clovis to confidein the future protection of the Lord of Hosts. Martin, the most popularof the saints, had filled the Western world with the fame of thosemiracles which were incessantly performed at his holy sepulchre ofTours. His visible or invisible aid promoted the cause of a liberaland orthodox prince; and the profane remark of Clovis himself, thatSt. Martin was an expensive friend, [33] need not be interpreted as thesymptom of any permanent or rational scepticism. But earth, as well asheaven, rejoiced in the conversion of the Franks. On the memorable daywhen Clovis ascended from the baptismal font, he alone, in the Christianworld, deserved the name and prerogatives of a Catholic king. Theemperor Anastasius entertained some dangerous errors concerning thenature of the divine incarnation; and the Barbarians of Italy, Africa, Spain, and Gaul, were involved in the Arian heresy. The eldest, orrather the only, son of the church, was acknowledged by the clergy astheir lawful sovereign, or glorious deliverer; and the armies of Cloviswere strenuously supported by the zeal and fervor of the Catholicfaction. [34]

[Footnote 25: Clotilda, or rather Gregory, supposes that Clovisworshipped the gods of Greece and Rome. The fact is incredible, and themistake only shows how completely, in less than a century, the nationalreligion of the Franks had been abolished and even forgotten]

[Footnote 26: Gregory of Tours relates the marriage and conversion ofClovis, (l. Ii. C. 28-31, in tom. Ii. P. 175-178. ) Even Fredegarius, or the nameless Epitomizer, (in tom. Ii. P. 398-400, ) the author of theGesta Francorum, (in tom. Ii. P. 548-552, ) and Aimoin himself, (l. I. C. 13, in tom. Iii. P. 37-40, ) may be heard without disdain. Traditionmight long preserve some curious circumstances of these importanttransactions. ]

[Footnote 27: A traveller, who returned from Rheims to Auvergne, hadstolen a copy of his declamations from the secretary or booksellerof the modest archbishop, (Sidonius Apollinar. L. Ix. Epist. 7. ) Fourepistles of Remigius, which are still extant, (in tom. Iv. P. 51, 52, 53, ) do not correspond with the splendid praise of Sidonius. ]

[Footnote 28: Hincmar, one of the successors of Remigius, (A. D. 845-882, )had composed his life, (in tom. Iii. P. 373-380. ) The authority ofancient MSS. Of the church of Rheims might inspire some confidence, which is destroyed, however, by the selfish and audacious fictions ofHincmar. It is remarkable enough, that Remigius, who was consecratedat the age of twenty-two, (A. D. 457, ) filled the episcopal chairseventy-four years, (Pagi Critica, in Baron tom. Ii. P. 384, 572. )]

[Footnote 29: A phial (the Sainte Ampoulle of holy, or rather celestial, oil, ) was brought down by a white dove, for the baptism of Clovis; andit is still used and renewed, in the coronation of the kings of France. Hincmar (he aspired to the primacy of Gaul) is the first author ofthis fable, (in tom. Iii. P. 377, ) whose slight foundations the Abbe deVertot (Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. Ii. P. 619-633)has undermined, with profound respect and consummate dexterity. ]

[Footnote 30: Mitis depone colla, Sicamber: adora quod incendisti, incende quod adorasti. Greg. Turon. L. Ii. C. 31, in tom. Ii. P. 177. ]

[Footnote 31: Si ego ibidem cum Francis meis fuissem, injuriasejus vindicassem. This rash expression, which Gregory has prudentlyconcealed, is celebrated by Fredegarius, (Epitom. C. 21, in tom. Ii. P. 400, ) Ai moin, (l. I. C. 16, in tom. Iii. P. 40, ) and the Chroniques deSt. Denys, (l. I. C. 20, in tom. Iii. P. 171, ) as an admirable effusionof Christian zeal. ]

[Footnote 32: Gregory, (l. Ii. C. 40-43, in tom. Ii. P. 183-185, ) aftercoolly relating the repeated crimes, and affected remorse, of Clovis, concludes, perhaps undesignedly, with a lesson, which ambition will neverhear. "His ita transactis obiit. "]

[Footnote 33: After the Gothic victory, Clovis made rich offerings toSt. Martin of Tours. He wished to redeem his war-horse by the gift ofone hundred pieces of gold, but the enchanted steed could not removefrom the stable till the price of his redemption had been doubled. Thismiracle provoked the king to exclaim, Vere B. Martinus est bonus inauxilio, sed carus in negotio. (Gesta Francorum, in tom. Ii. P. 554, 555. )]

[Footnote 34: See the epistle from Pope Anastasius to the royal convert, (in Com. Iv. P. 50, 51. ) Avitus, bishop of Vienna, addressed Clovis onthe same subject, (p. 49;) and many of the Latin bishops would assurehim of their joy and attachment. ]

Under the Roman empire, the wealth and jurisdiction of the bishops, their sacred character, and perpetual office, their numerous dependants, popular eloquence, and provincial assemblies, had rendered them alwaysrespectable, and sometimes dangerous. Their influence was augmentedwith the progress of superstition; and the establishment of the Frenchmonarchy may, in some degree, be ascribed to the firm alliance of ahundred prelates, who reigned in the discontented, or independent, cities of Gaul. The slight foundations of the Armorican republic hadbeen repeatedly shaken, or overthrown; but the same people still guardedtheir domestic freedom; asserted the dignity of the Roman name; andbravely resisted the predatory inroads, and regular attacks, of Clovis, who labored to extend his conquests from the Seine to the Loire. Theirsuccessful opposition introduced an equal and honorable union. TheFranks esteemed the valor of the Armoricans [35] and the Armoricans werereconciled by the religion of the Franks. The military force whichhad been stationed for the defence of Gaul, consisted of one hundreddifferent bands of cavalry or infantry; and these troops, while theyassumed the title and privileges of Roman soldiers, were renewed by anincessant supply of the Barbarian youth. The extreme fortifications, andscattered fragments of the empire, were still defended by their hopelesscourage. But their retreat was intercepted, and their communicationwas impracticable: they were abandoned by the Greek princes ofConstantinople, and they piously disclaimed all connection with theArian usurpers of Gaul. They accepted, without shame or reluctance, thegenerous capitulation, which was proposed by a Catholic hero; and thisspurious, or legitimate, progeny of the Roman legions, was distinguishedin the succeeding age by their arms, their ensigns, and their peculiardress and institutions. But the national strength was increased by thesepowerful and voluntary accessions; and the neighboring kingdoms dreadedthe numbers, as well as the spirit, of the Franks. The reduction of theNorthern provinces of Gaul, instead of being decided by the chance ofa single battle, appears to have been slowly effected by the gradualoperation of war and treaty and Clovis acquired each object of hisambition, by such efforts, or such concessions, as were adequate to itsreal value. His savage character, and the virtues of Henry IV. , suggestthe most opposite ideas of human nature; yet some resemblance may befound in the situation of two princes, who conquered France by theirvalor, their policy, and the merits of a seasonable conversion. [36]

[Footnote 35: Instead of an unknown people, who now appear on the textof Procopious, Hadrian de Valois has restored the proper name ofthe easy correction has been almost universally approved. Yet anunprejudiced reader would naturally suppose, that Procopius meansto describe a tribe of Germans in the alliance of Rome; and not aconfederacy of Gallic cities, which had revolted from the empire. *Note: Compare Hallam's Europe during the Middle Ages, vol i. P. 2, Daru, Hist. De Bretagne vol. I. P. 129--M. ]

[Footnote 36: This important digression of Procopius (de Bell. Gothic. L. I. C. 12, in tom. Ii. P. 29-36) illustrates the origin of the Frenchmonarchy. Yet I must observe, 1. That the Greek historian betraysan inexcusable ignorance of the geography of the West. 2. That thesetreaties and privileges, which should leave some lasting traces, aretotally invisible in Gregory of Tours, the Salic laws, &c. ]

The kingdom of the Burgundians, which was defined by the course of twoGallic rivers, the Saone and the Rhone, extended from the forest ofVosges to the Alps and the sea of Marscilles. [37] The sceptre was inthe hands of Gundobald. That valiant and ambitious prince had reducedthe number of royal candidates by the death of two brothers, one ofwhom was the father of Clotilda; [38] but his imperfect prudence stillpermitted Godegesil, the youngest of his brothers, to possess thedependent principality of Geneva. The Arian monarch was justly alarmedby the satisfaction, and the hopes, which seemed to animate his clergyand people after the conversion of Clovis; and Gundobald convened atLyons an assembly of his bishops, to reconcile, if it were possible, their religious and political discontents. A vain conference wasagitated between the two factions. The Arians upbraided the Catholicswith the worship of three Gods: the Catholics defended their causeby theological distinctions; and the usual arguments, objections, andreplies were reverberated with obstinate clamor; till the king revealedhis secret apprehensions, by an abrupt but decisive question, which headdressed to the orthodox bishops. "If you truly profess the Christianreligion, why do you not restrain the king of the Franks? He hasdeclared war against me, and forms alliances with my enemies for mydestruction. A sanguinary and covetous mind is not the symptom of asincere conversion: let him show his faith by his works. " The answerof Avitus, bishop of Vienna, who spoke in the name of his brethren, wasdelivered with the voice and countenance of an angel. "We are ignorantof the motives and intentions of the king of the Franks: but we aretaught by Scripture, that the kingdoms which abandon the divine law arefrequently subverted; and that enemies will arise on every side againstthose who have made God their enemy. Return, with thy people, to the lawof God, and he will give peace and security to thy dominions. " The kingof Burgundy, who was not prepared to accept the condition which theCatholics considered as essential to the treaty, delayed and dismissedthe ecclesiastical conference; after reproaching his bishops, thatClovis, their friend and proselyte, had privately tempted the allegianceof his brother. [39]

[Footnote 37: Regnum circa Rhodanum aut Ararim cum provincia Massiliensiretinebant. Greg. Turon. L. Ii. C. 32, in tom. Ii. P. 178. The provinceof Marseilles, as far as the Durance, was afterwards ceded to theOstrogoths; and the signatures of twenty-five bishops are supposed torepresent the kingdom of Burgundy, A. D. 519. (Concil. Epaon, in tom. Iv. P. 104, 105. ) Yet I would except Vindonissa. The bishop, who lived underthe Pagan Alemanni, would naturally resort to the synods of the nextChristian kingdom. Mascou (in his four first annotations) has explainedmany circumstances relative to the Burgundian monarchy. ]

[Footnote 38: Mascou, (Hist. Of the Germans, xi. 10, ) who veryreasonably distracts the testimony of Gregory of Tours, has produceda passage from Avitus (epist. V. ) to prove that Gundobald affected todeplore the tragic event, which his subjects affected to applaud. ]

[Footnote 39: See the original conference, (in tom. Iv. P. 99-102. )Avitus, the principal actor, and probably the secretary of the meeting, was bishop of Vienna. A short account of his person and works may befouud in Dupin, (Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. V. P. 5-10. )]

Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis. --Part II. 

The allegiance of his brother was already seduced; and the obedience ofGodegesil, who joined the royal standard with the troops of Geneva, moreeffectually promoted the success of the conspiracy. While the Franks andBurgundians contended with equal valor, his seasonable desertion decidedthe event of the battle; and as Gundobald was faintly supported bythe disaffected Gauls, he yielded to the arms of Clovis, and hastilyretreated from the field, which appears to have been situate betweenLangres and Dijon. He distrusted the strength of Dijon, a quadrangularfortress, encompassed by two rivers, and by a wall thirty feet high, and fifteen thick, with four gates, and thirty-three towers: [40] heabandoned to the pursuit of Clovis the important cities of Lyons andVienna; and Gundobald still fled with precipitation, till he had reachedAvignon, at the distance of two hundred and fifty miles from the fieldof battle. 

A long siege and an artful negotiation, admonished the king of theFranks of the danger and difficulty of his enterprise. He imposed atribute on the Burgundian prince, compelled him to pardon and reward hisbrother's treachery, and proudly returned to his own dominions, with thespoils and captives of the southern provinces. This splendid triumph wassoon clouded by the intelligence, that Gundobald had violated his recentobligations, and that the unfortunate Godegesil, who was left atVienna with a garrison of five thousand Franks, [41] had been besieged, surprised, and massacred by his inhuman brother. Such an outrage mighthave exasperated the patience of the most peaceful sovereign; yet theconqueror of Gaul dissembled the injury, released the tribute, andaccepted the alliance, and military service, of the king of Burgundy. Clovis no longer possessed those advantages which had assured thesuccess of the preceding war; and his rival, instructed by adversity, had found new resources in the affections of his people. The Gauls orRomans applauded the mild and impartial laws of Gundobald, which almostraised them to the same level with their conquerors. The bishops werereconciled, and flattered, by the hopes, which he artfully suggested, ofhis approaching conversion; and though he eluded their accomplishmentto the last moment of his life, his moderation secured the peace, andsuspended the ruin, of the kingdom of Burgundy. [42]

[Footnote 40: Gregory of Tours (l. Iii. C. 19, in tom. Ii. P. 197)indulges his genius, or rather describes some more eloquent writer, inthe description of Dijon; a castle, which already deserved the title ofa city. It depended on the bishops of Langres till the twelfth century, and afterwards became the capital of the dukes of Burgundy LonguerueDescription de la France, part i. P. 280. ]

[Footnote 41: The Epitomizer of Gregory of Tours (in tom. Ii. P. 401)has supplied this number of Franks; but he rashly supposes that theywere cut in pieces by Gundobald. The prudent Burgundian sparedthe soldiers of Clovis, and sent these captives to the king of theVisigoths, who settled them in the territory of Thoulouse. ]

[Footnote 42: In this Burgundian war I have followed Gregory of Tours, (l. Ii. C. 32, 33, in tom. Ii. P. 178, 179, ) whose narrative appearsso incompatible with that of Procopius, (de Bell. Goth. L. I. C. 12, intom. Ii. P. 31, 32, ) that some critics have supposed two different wars. The Abbe Dubos (Hist. Critique, &c. , tom. Ii. P. 126-162) has distinctlyrepresented the causes and the events. ]

I am impatient to pursue the final ruin of that kingdom, which wasaccomplished under the reign of Sigismond, the son of Gundobald. TheCatholic Sigismond has acquired the honors of a saint and martyr; [43]but the hands of the royal saint were stained with the blood of hisinnocent son, whom he inhumanly sacrificed to the pride and resentmentof a step-mother. He soon discovered his error, and bewailed theirreparable loss. While Sigismond embraced the corpse of the unfortunateyouth, he received a severe admonition from one of his attendants:"It is not his situation, O king! it is thine which deserves pity andlamentation. " The reproaches of a guilty conscience were alleviated, however, by his liberal donations to the monastery of Agaunum, orSt. Maurice, in Vallais; which he himself had founded in honor ofthe imaginary martyrs of the Thebaean legion. [44] A full chorus ofperpetual psalmody was instituted by the pious king; he assiduouslypractised the austere devotion of the monks; and it was his humbleprayer, that Heaven would inflict in this world the punishment of hissins. His prayer was heard: the avengers were at hand: and the provincesof Burgundy were overwhelmed by an army of victorious Franks. After theevent of an unsuccessful battle, Sigismond, who wished to protract hislife that he might prolong his penance, concealed himself in thedesert in a religious habit, till he was discovered and betrayed byhis subjects, who solicited the favor of their new masters. The captivemonarch, with his wife and two children, was transported to Orleans, andburied alive in a deep well, by the stern command of the sons of Clovis;whose cruelty might derive some excuse from the maxims and examples oftheir barbarous age. Their ambition, which urged them to achieve theconquest of Burgundy, was inflamed, or disguised, by filial piety: andClotilda, whose sanctity did not consist in the forgiveness of injuries, pressed them to revenge her father's death on the family of hisassassin. The rebellious Burgundians (for they attempted to break theirchains) were still permitted to enjoy their national laws under theobligation of tribute and military service; and the Merovingian princespeaceably reigned over a kingdom, whose glory and greatness had beenfirst overthrown by the arms of Clovis. [45]

[Footnote 43: See his life or legend, (in tom. Iii. P. 402. ) A martyr!how strangely has that word been distorted from its original sense of acommon witness. St. Sigismond was remarkable for the cure of fevers]

[Footnote 44: Before the end of the fifth century, the church of St. Maurice, and his Thebaean legion, had rendered Agaunum a place of devoutpilgrimage. A promiscuous community of both sexes had introduced somedeeds of darkness, which were abolished (A. D. 515) by the regularmonastery of Sigismond. Within fifty years, his angels of light madea nocturnal sally to murder their bishop, and his clergy. See in theBibliotheque Raisonnee (tom. Xxxvi. P. 435-438) the curious remarks of alearned librarian of Geneva. ]

[Footnote 45: Marius, bishop of Avenche, (Chron. In tom. Ii. P. 15, ) hasmarked the authentic dates, and Gregory of Tours (l. Iii. C. 5, 6, intom. Ii. P. 188, 189) has expressed the principal facts, of the life ofSigismond, and the conquest of Burgundy. Procopius (in tom. Ii. P. 34) and Agathias (in tom. Ii. P. 49) show their remote and imperfectknowledge. ]

The first victory of Clovis had insulted the honor of the Goths. Theyviewed his rapid progress with jealousy and terror; and the youthfulfame of Alaric was oppressed by the more potent genius of his rival. Some disputes inevitably arose on the edge of their contiguousdominions; and after the delays of fruitless negotiation, a personalinterview of the two kings was proposed and accepted. The conference ofClovis and Alaric was held in a small island of the Loire, near Amboise. They embraced, familiarly conversed, and feasted together; and separatedwith the warmest professions of peace and brotherly love. Buttheir apparent confidence concealed a dark suspicion of hostile andtreacherous designs; and their mutual complaints solicited, eluded, anddisclaimed, a final arbitration. At Paris, which he already consideredas his royal seat, Clovis declared to an assembly of the princes andwarriors, the pretence, and the motive, of a Gothic war. "It grieves meto see that the Arians still possess the fairest portion of Gaul. Letus march against them with the aid of God; and, having vanquished theheretics, we will possess and divide their fertile provinces. " [46] TheFranks, who were inspired by hereditary valor and recent zeal, applaudedthe generous design of their monarch; expressed their resolution toconquer or die, since death and conquest would be equally profitable;and solemnly protested that they would never shave their beards tillvictory should absolve them from that inconvenient vow. The enterprisewas promoted by the public or private exhortations of Clotilda. Shereminded her husband how effectually some pious foundation wouldpropitiate the Deity, and his servants: and the Christian hero, dartinghis battle-axe with a skilful and nervous band, "There, (said he, ) onthat spot where my Francisca, [47] shall fall, will I erect a churchin honor of the holy apostles. " This ostentatious piety confirmedand justified the attachment of the Catholics, with whom he secretlycorresponded; and their devout wishes were gradually ripened intoa formidable conspiracy. The people of Aquitain were alarmed by theindiscreet reproaches of their Gothic tyrants, who justly accused themof preferring the dominion of the Franks: and their zealous adherentQuintianus, bishop of Rodez, [48] preached more forcibly in his exilethan in his diocese. To resist these foreign and domestic enemies, whowere fortified by the alliance of the Burgundians, Alaric collectedhis troops, far more numerous than the military powers of Clovis. TheVisigoths resumed the exercise of arms, which they had neglected ina long and luxurious peace; [49] a select band of valiant and robustslaves attended their masters to the field; [50] and the cities of Gaulwere compelled to furnish their doubtful and reluctant aid. Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, who reigned in Italy, had labored to maintainthe tranquillity of Gaul; and he assumed, or affected, for that purpose, the impartial character of a mediator. But the sagacious monarch dreadedthe rising empire of Clovis, and he was firmly engaged to support thenational and religious cause of the Goths. 

[Footnote 46: Gregory of Tours (l. Ii. C. 37, in tom. Ii. P. 181)inserts the short but persuasive speech of Clovis. Valde moleste fero, quod hi Ariani partem teneant Galliarum, (the author of the GestaFrancorum, in tom. Ii. P. 553, adds the precious epithet of optimam, )camus cum Dei adjutorio, et, superatis eis, redigamus terram in ditionemnostram. ]

[Footnote 47: Tunc rex projecit a se in directum Bipennem suam quod estFrancisca, &c. (Gesta Franc. In tom. Ii. P. 554. ) The form and use ofthis weapon are clearly described by Procopius, (in tom. Ii. P. 37. )Examples of its national appellation in Latin and French may be found inthe Glossary of Ducange, and the large Dictionnaire de Trevoux. ]

[Footnote 48: It is singular enough that some important and authenticfacts should be found in a Life of Quintianus, composed in rhyme in theold Patois of Rouergue, (Dubos, Hist. Critique, &c. , tom. Ii. P. 179. )]

[Footnote 49: Quamvis fortitudini vestrae confidentiam tribuatparentum ves trorum innumerabilis multitudo; quamvis Attilam potentemreminiscamini Visigotharum viribus inclinatum; tamen quia populorumferocia corda longa pace mollescunt, cavete subito in alean aleammittere, quos constat tantis temporibus exercitia non habere. Suchwas the salutary, but fruitless, advice of peace of reason, and ofTheodoric, (Cassiodor. L. Iii. Ep. 2. )]

[Footnote 50: Montesquieu (Esprit des Loix, l. Xv. C. 14) mentions andapproves the law of the Visigoths, (l. Ix. Tit. 2, in tom. Iv. P. 425, )which obliged all masters to arm, and send, or lead, into the field atenth of their slaves. ]

The accidental, or artificial, prodigies which adorned the expeditionof Clovis, were accepted by a superstitious age, as the manifestdeclaration of the divine favor. He marched from Paris; and as heproceeded with decent reverence through the holy diocese of Tours, hisanxiety tempted him to consult the shrine of St. Martin, the sanctuaryand the oracle of Gaul. His messengers were instructed to remark thewords of the Psalm which should happen to be chanted at the precisemoment when they entered the church. Those words most fortunatelyexpressed the valor and victory of the champions of Heaven, and theapplication was easily transferred to the new Joshua, the new Gideon, who went forth to battle against the enemies of the Lord. [51] Orleanssecured to the Franks a bridge on the Loire; but, at the distanceof forty miles from Poitiers, their progress was intercepted by anextraordinary swell of the River Vigenna or Vienne; and the oppositebanks were covered by the encampment of the Visigoths. Delay must bealways dangerous to Barbarians, who consume the country through whichthey march; and had Clovis possessed leisure and materials, it mighthave been impracticable to construct a bridge, or to force a passage, in the face of a superior enemy. But the affectionate peasants who wereimpatient to welcome their deliverer, could easily betray some unknownor unguarded ford: the merit of the discovery was enhanced by the usefulinterposition of fraud or fiction; and a white hart, of singular sizeand beauty, appeared to guide and animate the march of the Catholicarmy. The counsels of the Visigoths were irresolute and distracted. A crowd of impatient warriors, presumptuous in their strength, anddisdaining to fly before the robbers of Germany, excited Alaric toassert in arms the name and blood of the conquerors of Rome. The adviceof the graver chieftains pressed him to elude the first ardor of theFranks; and to expect, in the southern provinces of Gaul, the veteranand victorious Ostrogoths, whom the king of Italy had already sent tohis assistance. The decisive moments were wasted in idle deliberationthe Goths too hastily abandoned, perhaps, an advantageous post; and theopportunity of a secure retreat was lost by their slow and disorderlymotions. After Clovis had passed the ford, as it is still named, of theHart, he advanced with bold and hasty steps to prevent the escape of theenemy. His nocturnal march was directed by a flaming meteor, suspendedin the air above the cathedral of Poitiers; and this signal, which mightbe previously concerted with the orthodox successor of St. Hilary, wascompared to the column of fire that guided the Israelites in the desert. At the third hour of the day, about ten miles beyond Poitiers, Clovisovertook, and instantly attacked, the Gothic army; whose defeat wasalready prepared by terror and confusion. Yet they rallied in theirextreme distress, and the martial youths, who had clamorously demandedthe battle, refused to survive the ignominy of flight. The two kingsencountered each other in single combat. Alaric fell by the hand ofhis rival; and the victorious Frank was saved by the goodness of hiscuirass, and the vigor of his horse, from the spears of two desperateGoths, who furiously rode against him to revenge the death of theirsovereign. The vague expression of a mountain of the slain, serves toindicate a cruel though indefinite slaughter; but Gregory has carefullyobserved, that his valiant countryman Apollinaris, the son of Sidonius, lost his life at the head of the nobles of Auvergne. Perhaps thesesuspected Catholics had been maliciously exposed to the blind assaultof the enemy; and perhaps the influence of religion was superseded bypersonal attachment or military honor. [52]

[Footnote 51: This mode of divination, by accepting as an omen the firstsacred words, which in particular circumstances should be presented tothe eye or ear, was derived from the Pagans; and the Psalter, or Bible, was substituted to the poems of Homer and Virgil. From the fourth tothe fourteenth century, these sortes sanctorum, as they are styled, were repeatedly condemned by the decrees of councils, and repeatedlypractised by kings, bishops, and saints. See a curious dissertation ofthe Abbe du Resnel, in the Memoires de l'Academie, tom. Xix. P. 287-310]

[Footnote 52: After correcting the text, or excusing the mistake, ofProcopius, who places the defeat of Alaric near Carcassone, we mayconclude, from the evidence of Gregory, Fortunatus, and the author ofthe Gesta Francorum, that the battle was fought in campo Vocladensi, onthe banks of the Clain, about ten miles to the south of Poitiers. Clovisovertook and attacked the Visigoths near Vivonne, and the victorywas decided near a village still named Champagne St. Hilaire. See theDissertations of the Abbe le Boeuf, tom. I. P. 304-331. ]

Such is the empire of Fortune, (if we may still disguise our ignoranceunder that popular name, ) that it is almost equally difficult to foreseethe events of war, or to explain their various consequences. A bloodyand complete victory has sometimes yielded no more than the possessionof the field and the loss of ten thousand men has sometimes beensufficient to destroy, in a single day, the work of ages. The decisivebattle of Poitiers was followed by the conquest of Aquitain. Alaric hadleft behind him an infant son, a bastard competitor, factious nobles, and a disloyal people; and the remaining forces of the Goths wereoppressed by the general consternation, or opposed to each other incivil discord. The victorious king of the Franks proceeded without delayto the siege of Angouleme. At the sound of his trumpets the walls of thecity imitated the example of Jericho, and instantly fell to the ground;a splendid miracle, which may be reduced to the supposition, thatsome clerical engineers had secretly undermined the foundations ofthe rampart. [53] At Bordeaux, which had submitted without resistance, Clovis established his winter quarters; and his prudent economytransported from Thoulouse the royal treasures, which were depositedin the capital of the monarchy. The conqueror penetrated as far as theconfines of Spain; [54] restored the honors of the Catholic church;fixed in Aquitain a colony of Franks; [55] and delegated to hislieutenants the easy task of subduing, or extirpating, the nation ofthe Visigoths. But the Visigoths were protected by the wise and powerfulmonarch of Italy. While the balance was still equal, Theodoric hadperhaps delayed the march of the Ostrogoths; but their strenuous effortssuccessfully resisted the ambition of Clovis; and the army of theFranks, and their Burgundian allies, was compelled to raise the siegeof Arles, with the loss, as it is said, of thirty thousand men. Thesevicissitudes inclined the fierce spirit of Clovis to acquiesce in anadvantageous treaty of peace. The Visigoths were suffered to retain thepossession of Septimania, a narrow tract of sea-coast, from the Rhone tothe Pyrenees; but the ample province of Aquitain, from those mountainsto the Loire, was indissolubly united to the kingdom of France. [56]

[Footnote 53: Angouleme is in the road from Poitiers to Bordeaux; andalthough Gregory delays the siege, I can more readily believe that heconfounded the order of history, than that Clovis neglected the rules ofwar. ]

[Footnote 54: Pyrenaeos montes usque Perpinianum subjecit, is theexpression of Rorico, which betrays his recent date; since Perpignandid not exist before the tenth century, (Marca Hispanica, p. 458. ) Thisflorid and fabulous writer (perhaps a monk of Amiens--see the Abbele Boeuf, Mem. De l'Academie, tom. Xvii. P. 228-245) relates, inthe allegorical character of a shepherd, the general history of hiscountrymen the Franks; but his narrative ends with the death of Clovis. ]

[Footnote 55: The author of the Gesta Francorum positively affirms, thatClovis fixed a body of Franks in the Saintonge and Bourdelois: and heis not injudiciously followed by Rorico, electos milites, atquefortissimos, cum parvulis, atque mulieribus. Yet it should seemthat they soon mingled with the Romans of Aquitain, till Charlemagneintroduced a more numerous and powerful colony, (Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. Ii. P. 215. )]

[Footnote 56: In the composition of the Gothic war, I have used thefollowing materials, with due regard to their unequal value. Fourepistles from Theodoric, king of Italy, (Cassiodor l. Iii. Epist. 1-4. In tom. Iv p. 3-5;) Procopius, (de Bell. Goth. L. I. C 12, in tom. Ii. P. 32, 33;) Gregory of Tours, (l. Ii. C. 35, 36, 37, in tom. Ii. P. 181-183;) Jornandes, (de Reb. Geticis, c. 58, in tom. Ii. P. 28;)Fortunatas, (in Vit. St. Hilarii, in tom. Iii. P. 380;) Isidore, (inChron. Goth. In tom. Ii. P. 702;) the Epitome of Gregory of Tours, (intom. Ii. P. 401;) the author of the Gesta Francorum, (in tom. Ii. P. 553-555;) the Fragments of Fredegarius, (in tom. Ii. P. 463;) Aimoin, (l. I. C. 20, in tom. Iii. P. 41, 42, ) and Rorico, (l. Iv. In tom. Iii. P. 14-19. )]

After the success of the Gothic war, Clovis accepted the honors of theRoman consulship. The emperor Anastasius ambitiously bestowed on themost powerful rival of Theodoric the title and ensigns of that eminentdignity; yet, from some unknown cause, the name of Clovis has not beeninscribed in the Fasti either of the East or West. [57] On the solemnday, the monarch of Gaul, placing a diadem on his head, was invested, inthe church of St. Martin, with a purple tunic and mantle. From thencehe proceeded on horseback to the cathedral of Tours; and, as he passedthrough the streets, profusely scattered, with his own hand, a donativeof gold and silver to the joyful multitude, who incessantly repeatedtheir acclamations of Consul and Augustus. The actual or legal authorityof Clovis could not receive any new accessions from the consulardignity. It was a name, a shadow, an empty pageant; and if the conquerorhad been instructed to claim the ancient prerogatives of that highoffice, they must have expired with the period of its annual duration. But the Romans were disposed to revere, in the person of their master, that antique title which the emperors condescended to assume: theBarbarian himself seemed to contract a sacred obligation to respect themajesty of the republic; and the successors of Theodosius, by solicitinghis friendship, tacitly forgave, and almost ratified, the usurpation ofGaul. 

[Footnote 57: The Fasti of Italy would naturally reject a consul, the enemy of their sovereign; but any ingenious hypothesis that mightexplain the silence of Constantinople and Egypt, (the Chronicle ofMarcellinus, and the Paschal, ) is overturned by the similar silenceof Marius, bishop of Avenche, who composed his Fasti in the kingdomof Burgundy. If the evidence of Gregory of Tours were less weightyand positive, (l. Ii. C. 38, in tom. Ii. P. 183, ) I could believethat Clovis, like Odoacer, received the lasting title and honors ofPatrician, (Pagi Critica, tom. Ii. P. 474, 492. )]

Twenty-five years after the death of Clovis this important concessionwas more formally declared, in a treaty between his sons and the emperorJustinian. The Ostrogoths of Italy, unable to defend their distantacquisitions, had resigned to the Franks the cities of Arles andMarseilles; of Arles, still adorned with the seat of a Praetorianpraefect, and of Marseilles, enriched by the advantages of tradeand navigation. [58] This transaction was confirmed by the Imperialauthority; and Justinian, generously yielding to the Franks thesovereignty of the countries beyond the Alps, which they alreadypossessed, absolved the provincials from their allegiance; andestablished on a more lawful, though not more solid, foundation, thethrone of the Merovingians. [59] From that era they enjoyed the rightof celebrating at Arles the games of the circus; and by a singularprivilege, which was denied even to the Persian monarch, the gold coin, impressed with their name and image, obtained a legal currency in theempire. [60] A Greek historian of that age has praised the private andpublic virtues of the Franks, with a partial enthusiasm, which cannotbe sufficiently justified by their domestic annals. [61] He celebratestheir politeness and urbanity, their regular government, andorthodox religion; and boldly asserts, that these Barbarians could bedistinguished only by their dress and language from the subjects ofRome. Perhaps the Franks already displayed the social disposition, andlively graces, which, in every age, have disguised their vices, andsometimes concealed their intrinsic merit. Perhaps Agathias, and theGreeks, were dazzled by the rapid progress of their arms, and thesplendor of their empire. Since the conquest of Burgundy, Gaul, exceptthe Gothic province of Septimania, was subject, in its whole extent, to the sons of Clovis. They had extinguished the German kingdom ofThuringia, and their vague dominion penetrated beyond the Rhine, intothe heart of their native forests. The Alemanni, and Bavarians, who hadoccupied the Roman provinces of Rhaetia and Noricum, to the south of theDanube, confessed themselves the humble vassals of the Franks; and thefeeble barrier of the Alps was incapable of resisting their ambition. When the last survivor of the sons of Clovis united the inheritanceand conquests of the Merovingians, his kingdom extended far beyond thelimits of modern France. Yet modern France, such has been the progressof arts and policy, far surpasses, in wealth, populousness, and power, the spacious but savage realms of Clotaire or Dagobert. [62]

[Footnote 58: Under the Merovingian kings, Marseilles still importedfrom the East paper, wine, oil, linen, silk, precious stones, spices, &c. The Gauls, or Franks, traded to Syria, and the Syrians wereestablished in Gaul. See M. De Guignes, Mem. De l'Academie, tom. Xxxvii. P. 471-475. ]

[Footnote 59: This strong declaration of Procopius (de Bell. Gothic. L. Iii. Cap. 33, in tom. Ii. P. 41) would almost suffice to justify theAbbe Dubos. ]

[Footnote 60: The Franks, who probably used the mints of Treves, Lyons, and Arles, imitated the coinage of the Roman emperors of seventy-twosolidi, or pieces, to the pound of gold. But as the Franks establishedonly a decuple proportion of gold and silver, ten shillings will bea sufficient valuation of their solidus of gold. It was the commonstandard of the Barbaric fines, and contained forty denarii, or silverthree pences. Twelve of these denarii made a solidus, or shilling, thetwentieth part of the ponderal and numeral livre, or pound of silver, which has been so strangely reduced in modern France. See La Blanc, Traite Historique des Monnoyes de France, p. 36-43, &c. ]

[Footnote 61: Agathias, in tom. Ii. P. 47. Gregory of Tours exhibits avery different picture. Perhaps it would not be easy, within the samehistorical space, to find more vice and less virtue. We are continuallyshocked by the union of savage and corrupt manners. ]

[Footnote 62: M. De Foncemagne has traced, in a correct and elegantdissertation, (Mem. De l'Academie, tom. Viii. P. 505-528, ) the extentand limits of the French monarchy. ]

The Franks, or French, are the only people of Europe who can deducea perpetual succession from the conquerors of the Western empire. Buttheir conquest of Gaul was followed by ten centuries of anarchy andignorance. On the revival of learning, the students, who had been formedin the schools of Athens and Rome, disdained their Barbarian ancestors;and a long period elapsed before patient labor could provide therequisite materials to satisfy, or rather to excite, the curiosityof more enlightened times. [63] At length the eye of criticismand philosophy was directed to the antiquities of France; but evenphilosophers have been tainted by the contagion of prejudice andpassion. The most extreme and exclusive systems, of the personalservitude of the Gauls, or of their voluntary and equal alliance withthe Franks, have been rashly conceived, and obstinately defended; andthe intemperate disputants have accused each other of conspiring againstthe prerogative of the crown, the dignity of the nobles, or the freedomof the people. Yet the sharp conflict has usefully exercised theadverse powers of learning and genius; and each antagonist, alternatelyvanquished and victorious has extirpated some ancient errors, andestablished some interesting truths. An impartial stranger, instructedby their discoveries, their disputes, and even their faults, maydescribe, from the same original materials, the state of the Romanprovincials, after Gaul had submitted to the arms and laws of theMerovingian kings. [64]

[Footnote 63: The Abbe Dubos (Histoire Critique, tom. I. P. 29-36) hastruly and agreeably represented the slow progress of these studies; andhe observes, that Gregory of Tours was only once printed before theyear 1560. According to the complaint of Heineccius, (Opera, tom. Iii. Sylloge, iii. P. 248, &c. , ) Germany received with indifference andcontempt the codes of Barbaric laws, which were published by Heroldus, Lindenbrogius, &c. At present those laws, (as far as they relate toGaul, ) the history of Gregory of Tours, and all the monuments of theMerovingian race, appear in a pure and perfect state, in the first fourvolumes of the Historians of France. ]

[Footnote 64: In the space of [about] thirty years (1728-1765) thisinteresting subject has been agitated by the free spirit of the countde Boulainvilliers, (Memoires Historiques sur l'Etat de la France, particularly tom. I. P. 15-49;) the learned ingenuity of the Abbe Dubos, (Histoire Critique de l'Etablissement de la Monarchie Francoise dans lesGaules, 2 vols. In 4to;) the comprehensive genius of the president deMontesquieu, (Esprit des Loix, particularly l. Xxviii. Xxx. Xxxi. ;) andthe good sense and diligence of the Abbe de Mably, (Observations surl'Histoire de France, 2 vols. 12mo. )] The rudest, or the most servile, condition of human society, is regulated, however, by some fixed andgeneral rules. When Tacitus surveyed the primitive simplicity of theGermans, he discovered some permanent maxims, or customs, of publicand private life, which were preserved by faithful tradition till theintroduction of the art of writing, and of the Latin tongue. [65] Beforethe election of the Merovingian kings, the most powerful tribe, ornation, of the Franks, appointed four venerable chieftains to composethe Salic laws; [66] and their labors were examined and approved inthree successive assemblies of the people. After the baptism ofClovis, he reformed several articles that appeared incompatible withChristianity: the Salic law was again amended by his sons; andat length, under the reign of Dagobert, the code was revisedand promulgated in its actual form, one hundred years after theestablishment of the French monarchy. Within the same period, the customs of the Ripuarians were transcribed and published; andCharlemagne himself, the legislator of his age and country, hadaccurately studied the two national laws, which still prevailed amongthe Franks. [67] The same care was extended to their vassals; and therude institutions of the Alemanni and Bavarians were diligently compiledand ratified by the supreme authority of the Merovingian kings. TheVisigoths and Burgundians, whose conquests in Gaul preceded those of theFranks, showed less impatience to attain one of the principal benefitsof civilized society. Euric was the first of the Gothic princes whoexpressed, in writing, the manners and customs of his people; and thecomposition of the Burgundian laws was a measure of policy rather thanof justice; to alleviate the yoke, and regain the affections, of theirGallic subjects. [68] Thus, by a singular coincidence, the Germansframed their artless institutions, at a time when the elaborate systemof Roman jurisprudence was finally consummated. In the Salic laws, andthe Pandects of Justinian, we may compare the first rudiments, and thefull maturity, of civil wisdom; and whatever prejudices may be suggestedin favor of Barbarism, our calmer reflections will ascribe to the Romansthe superior advantages, not only of science and reason, but of humanityand justice. Yet the laws [681] of the Barbarians were adapted to theirwants and desires, their occupations and their capacity; and they allcontributed to preserve the peace, and promote the improvement, ofthe society for whose use they were originally established. TheMerovingians, instead of imposing a uniform rule of conduct on theirvarious subjects, permitted each people, and each family, of theirempire, freely to enjoy their domestic institutions; [69] nor were theRomans excluded from the common benefits of this legal toleration. [70]The children embraced the law of their parents, the wife that of herhusband, the freedman that of his patron; and in all causes where theparties were of different nations, the plaintiff or accuser was obligedto follow the tribunal of the defendant, who may always plead a judicialpresumption of right, or innocence. A more ample latitude was allowed, if every citizen, in the presence of the judge, might declare the lawunder which he desired to live, and the national society to whichhe chose to belong. Such an indulgence would abolish the partialdistinctions of victory: and the Roman provincials might patientlyacquiesce in the hardships of their condition; since it dependedon themselves to assume the privilege, if they dared to assert thecharacter, of free and warlike Barbarians. [71]

[Footnote 65: I have derived much instruction from two learned worksof Heineccius, the History, and the Elements, of the Germanic law. In ajudicious preface to the Elements, he considers, and tries to excuse thedefects of that barbarous jurisprudence. ]

[Footnote 66: Latin appears to have been the original language ofthe Salic law. It was probably composed in the beginning of the fifthcentury, before the era (A. D. 421) of the real or fabulous Pharamond. The preface mentions the four cantons which produced the fourlegislators; and many provinces, Franconia, Saxony, Hanover, Brabant, &c. , have claimed them as their own. See an excellent Dissertation ofHeinecties de Lege Salica, tom. Iii. Sylloge iii. P. 247-267. * Note:The relative antiquity of the two copies of the Salic law has beencontested with great learning and ingenuity. The work of M. Wiarda, History and Explanation of the Salic Law, Bremen, 1808, asserts thatwhat is called the Lex Antiqua, or Vetustior in which many German wordsare mingled with the Latin, has no claim to superior antiquity, and maybe suspected to be more modern. M. Wiarda has been opposed by M. Fuerbach, who maintains the higher age of the "ancient" Code, which has beengreatly corrupted by the transcribers. See Guizot, Cours de l'HistoireModerne, vol. I. Sect. 9: and the preface to the useful republication offive of the different texts of the Salic law, with that of the Ripuarianin parallel columns. By E. A. I. Laspeyres, Halle, 1833. --M. ]

[Footnote 67: Eginhard, in Vit. Caroli Magni, c. 29, in tom. V. P. 100. By these two laws, most critics understand the Salic and the Ripuarian. The former extended from the Carbonarian forest to the Loire, (tom. Iv. P. 151, ) and the latter might be obeyed from the same forest to theRhine, (tom. Iv. P. 222. )]

[Footnote 68: Consult the ancient and modern prefaces of the severalcodes, in the fourth volume of the Historians of France. The originalprologue to the Salic law expresses (though in a foreign dialect) thegenuine spirit of the Franks more forcibly than the ten books of Gregoryof Tours. ]

[Footnote 69: The Ripuarian law declares, and defines, this indulgencein favor of the plaintiff, (tit. Xxxi. In tom. Iv. P. 240;) and the sametoleration is understood, or expressed, in all the codes, except thatof the Visigoths of Spain. Tanta diversitas legum (says Agobard in theninth century) quanta non solum in regionibus, aut civitatibus, sedetiam in multis domibus habetur. Nam plerumque contingit ut simul eantaut sedeant quinque homines, et nullus eorum communem legem cum alterohabeat, (in tom. Vi. P. 356. ) He foolishly proposes to introduce auniformity of law, as well as of faith. * Note: It is the object ofthe important work of M. Savigny, Geschichte des Romisches Rechts inMittelalter, to show the perpetuity of the Roman law from the 5th to the12th century. --M. ]

[Footnote 681: The most complete collection of these codes is in the"Barbarorum leges antiquae, " by P. Canciani, 5 vols. Folio, Venice, 1781-9. --M. ]

[Footnote 70: Inter Romanos negotia causarum Romanis legibus praecipimusterminari. Such are the words of a general constitution promulgated byClotaire, the son of Clovis, the sole monarch of the Franks (in tom. Iv. P. 116) about the year 560. ]

[Footnote 71: This liberty of choice has been aptly deduced (Espritdes Loix, l. Xxviii. 2) from the constitution of Lothaire I. (Leg. Langobard. L. Ii. Tit. Lvii. In Codex Lindenbrog. P. 664;) though theexample is too recent and partial. From a various reading in the Saliclaw, (tit. Xliv. Not. Xlv. ) the Abbe de Mably (tom. I. P. 290-293) hasconjectured, that, at first, a Barbarian only, and afterwards any man, (consequently a Roman, ) might live according to the law of the Franks. I am sorry to offend this ingenious conjecture by observing, thatthe stricter sense (Barbarum) is expressed in the reformed copy ofCharlemagne; which is confirmed by the Royal and Wolfenbuttle MSS. Thelooser interpretation (hominem) is authorized only by the MS. Of Fulda, from from whence Heroldus published his edition. See the four originaltexts of the Salic law in tom. Iv. P. 147, 173, 196, 220. * Note: Gibbonappears to have doubted the evidence on which this "liberty of choice"rested. His doubts have been confirmed by the researches of M. Savigny, who has not only confuted but traced with convincing sagacity the originand progress of this error. As a general principle, though liable tosome exceptions, each lived according to his native law. Romische Recht. Vol. I. P. 123-138--M. * Note: This constitution of Lothaire at firstrelated only to the duchy of Rome; it afterwards found its way into theLombard code. Savigny. P. 138. --M. ]

Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis. --Part III. 

When justice inexorably requires the death of a murderer, each privatecitizen is fortified by the assurance, that the laws, the magistrate, and the whole community, are the guardians of his personal safety. Butin the loose society of the Germans, revenge was always honorable, andoften meritorious: the independent warrior chastised, or vindicated, with his own hand, the injuries which he had offered or received; and hehad only to dread the resentment of the sons and kinsmen of the enemy, whom he had sacrificed to his selfish or angry passions. The magistrate, conscious of his weakness, interposed, not to punish, but to reconcile;and he was satisfied if he could persuade or compel the contendingparties to pay and to accept the moderate fine which had beenascertained as the price of blood. [72] The fierce spirit of theFranks would have opposed a more rigorous sentence; the same fiercenessdespised these ineffectual restraints; and, when their simple mannershad been corrupted by the wealth of Gaul, the public peace wascontinually violated by acts of hasty or deliberate guilt. In every justgovernment the same penalty is inflicted, or at least is imposed, for the murder of a peasant or a prince. But the national inequalityestablished by the Franks, in their criminal proceedings, was the lastinsult and abuse of conquest. [73] In the calm moments of legislation, they solemnly pronounced, that the life of a Roman was of smaller valuethan that of a Barbarian. The Antrustion, [74] a name expressive of themost illustrious birth or dignity among the Franks, was appreciated atthe sum of six hundred pieces of gold; while the noble provincial, who was admitted to the king's table, might be legally murdered at theexpense of three hundred pieces. 

Two hundred were deemed sufficient for a Frank of ordinary condition;but the meaner Romans were exposed to disgrace and danger by a triflingcompensation of one hundred, or even fifty, pieces of gold. Had theselaws been regulated by any principle of equity or reason, the publicprotection should have supplied, in just proportion, the want ofpersonal strength. But the legislator had weighed in the scale, not ofjustice, but of policy, the loss of a soldier against that of a slave:the head of an insolent and rapacious Barbarian was guarded by aheavy fine; and the slightest aid was afforded to the most defencelesssubjects. Time insensibly abated the pride of the conquerors and thepatience of the vanquished; and the boldest citizen was taught, byexperience, that he might suffer more injuries than he could inflict. As the manners of the Franks became less ferocious, their laws wererendered more severe; and the Merovingian kings attempted to imitate theimpartial rigor of the Visigoths and Burgundians. [75] Under the empireof Charlemagne, murder was universally punished with death; and theuse of capital punishments has been liberally multiplied in thejurisprudence of modern Europe. [76]

[Footnote 72: In the heroic times of Greece, the guilt of murder wasexpiated by a pecuniary satisfaction to the family of the deceased, (Feithius Antiquitat. Homeric. L. Ii. C. 8. ) Heineccius, in his prefaceto the Elements of Germanic Law, favorably suggests, that at Rome andAthens homicide was only punished with exile. It is true: but exile wasa capital punishment for a citizen of Rome or Athens. ]

[Footnote 73: This proportion is fixed by the Salic (tit. Xliv. In tom. Iv. P. 147) and the Ripuarian (tit. Vii. Xi. Xxxvi. In tom. Iv. P. 237, 241) laws: but the latter does not distinguish any difference of Romans. Yet the orders of the clergy are placed above the Franks themselves, andthe Burgundians and Alemanni between the Franks and the Romans. ]

[Footnote 74: The Antrustiones, qui in truste Dominica sunt, leudi, fideles, undoubtedly represent the first order of Franks; but it isa question whether their rank was personal or hereditary. The Abbe deMably (tom. I. P. 334-347) is not displeased to mortify the prideof birth (Esprit, l. Xxx. C. 25) by dating the origin of the Frenchnobility from the reign Clotaire II. (A. D. 615. )]

[Footnote 75: See the Burgundian laws, (tit. Ii. In tom. Iv. P. 257, )the code of the Visigoths, (l. Vi. Tit. V. In tom. P. 384, ) andthe constitution of Childebert, not of Paris, but most evidently ofAustrasia, (in tom. Iv. P. 112. ) Their premature severity was sometimesrash, and excessive. Childebert condemned not only murderers butrobbers; quomodo sine lege involavit, sine lege moriatur; and eventhe negligent judge was involved in the same sentence. The Visigothsabandoned an unsuccessful surgeon to the family of his deceased patient, ut quod de eo facere voluerint habeant potestatem, (l. Xi. Tit. I. Intom. Iv. P. 435. )]

[Footnote 76: See, in the sixth volume of the works of Heineccius, theElementa Juris Germanici, l. Ii. P. 2, No. 261, 262, 280-283. Yet somevestiges of these pecuniary compositions for murder have been traced inGermany as late as the sixteenth century. ]

The civil and military professions, which had been separated byConstantine, were again united by the Barbarians. The harsh sound of theTeutonic appellations was mollified into the Latin titles of Duke, of Count, or of Praefect; and the same officer assumed, within hisdistrict, the command of the troops, and the administration of justice. [77] But the fierce and illiterate chieftain was seldom qualified todischarge the duties of a judge, which required all the faculties of aphilosophic mind, laboriously cultivated by experience and study; andhis rude ignorance was compelled to embrace some simple, and visible, methods of ascertaining the cause of justice. In every religion, theDeity has been invoked to confirm the truth, or to punish the falsehoodof human testimony; but this powerful instrument was misapplied andabused by the simplicity of the German legislators. The party accusedmight justify his innocence, by producing before their tribunal a numberof friendly witnesses, who solemnly declared their belief, or assurance, that he was not guilty. According to the weight of the charge, thislegal number of compurgators was multiplied; seventy-two voices wererequired to absolve an incendiary or assassin: and when the chastityof a queen of France was suspected, three hundred gallant nobles swore, without hesitation, that the infant prince had been actually begotten byher deceased husband. [78] The sin and scandal of manifest and frequentperjuries engaged the magistrates to remove these dangerous temptations;and to supply the defects of human testimony by the famous experimentsof fire and water. These extraordinary trials were so capriciouslycontrived, that, in some cases, guilt, and innocence in others, couldnot be proved without the interposition of a miracle. Such miracles werereally provided by fraud and credulity; the most intricate causeswere determined by this easy and infallible method, and the turbulentBarbarians, who might have disdained the sentence of the magistrate, submissively acquiesced in the judgment of God. [79]

[Footnote 77: The whole subject of the Germanic judges, and theirjurisdiction, is copiously treated by Heineccius, (Element. Jur. Germ. L. Iii. No. 1-72. ) I cannot find any proof that, under the Merovingianrace, the scabini, or assessors, were chosen by the people. * Note: Thequestion of the scabini is treated at considerable length by Savigny. Hequestions the existence of the scabini anterior to Charlemagne. Beforethis time the decision was by an open court of the freemen, the boniRomische Recht, vol. I. P. 195. Et seq. --M. ]

[Footnote 78: Gregor. Turon. L. Viii. C. 9, in tom. Ii. P. 316. Montesquieu observes, (Esprit des Loix. L. Xxviii. C. 13, ) that theSalic law did not admit these negative proofs so universally establishedin the Barbaric codes. Yet this obscure concubine (Fredegundis, ) whobecame the wife of the grandson of Clovis, must have followed the Saliclaw. ]

[Footnote 79: Muratori, in the Antiquities of Italy, has given twoDissertations (xxxvii. Xxxix. ) on the judgments of God. It was expectedthat fire would not burn the innocent; and that the pure element ofwater would not allow the guilty to sink into its bosom. ]

But the trials by single combat gradually obtained superior credit andauthority, among a warlike people, who could not believe that a braveman deserved to suffer, or that a coward deserved to live. [80] Bothin civil and criminal proceedings, the plaintiff, or accuser, thedefendant, or even the witness, were exposed to mortal challenge fromthe antagonist who was destitute of legal proofs; and it was incumbenton them either to desert their cause, or publicly to maintain theirhonor, in the lists of battle. They fought either on foot, or onhorseback, according to the custom of their nation; [81] and thedecision of the sword, or lance, was ratified by the sanction of Heaven, of the judge, and of the people. This sanguinary law was introducedinto Gaul by the Burgundians; and their legislator Gundobald [82]condescended to answer the complaints and objections of his subjectAvitus. "Is it not true, " said the king of Burgundy to the bishop, "thatthe event of national wars, and private combats, is directed by thejudgment of God; and that his providence awards the victory to thejuster cause?" By such prevailing arguments, the absurd and cruelpractice of judicial duels, which had been peculiar to some tribes ofGermany, was propagated and established in all the monarchies of Europe, from Sicily to the Baltic. At the end of ten centuries, the reignof legal violence was not totally extinguished; and the ineffectualcensures of saints, of popes, and of synods, may seem to prove, thatthe influence of superstition is weakened by its unnatural alliance withreason and humanity. The tribunals were stained with the blood, perhaps, of innocent and respectable citizens; the law, which now favors therich, then yielded to the strong; and the old, the feeble, and theinfirm, were condemned, either to renounce their fairest claims andpossessions, to sustain the dangers of an unequal conflict, [83] orto trust the doubtful aid of a mercenary champion. This oppressivejurisprudence was imposed on the provincials of Gaul, who complainedof any injuries in their persons and property. Whatever might be thestrength, or courage, of individuals, the victorious Barbarians excelledin the love and exercise of arms; and the vanquished Roman was unjustlysummoned to repeat, in his own person, the bloody contest which had beenalready decided against his country. [84]

[Footnote 80: Montesquieu (Esprit des Loix, l. Xxviii. C. 17) hascondescended to explain and excuse "la maniere de penser de nos peres, "on the subject of judicial combats. He follows this strange institutionfrom the age of Gundobald to that of St. Lewis; and the philosopher issome times lost in the legal antiquarian. ]

[Footnote 81: In a memorable duel at Aix-la-Chapelle, (A. D. 820, ) beforethe emperor Lewis the Pious, his biographer observes, secundum legempropriam, utpote quia uterque Gothus erat, equestri pugna est, (Vit. Lud. Pii, c. 33, in tom. Vi. P. 103. ) Ermoldus Nigellus, (l. Iii. 543-628, in tom. Vi. P. 48-50, ) who describes the duel, admires the arsnova of fighting on horseback, which was unknown to the Franks. ]

[Footnote 82: In his original edict, published at Lyons, (A. D. 501, )establishes and justifies the use of judicial combat, (Les Burgund. Tit. Xlv. In tom. Ii. P. 267, 268. ) Three hundred years afterwards, Agobard, bishop of Lyons, solicited Lewis the Pious to abolish the law of anArian tyrant, (in tom. Vi. P. 356-358. ) He relates the conversation ofGundobald and Avitus. ]

[Footnote 83: "Accidit, (says Agobard, ) ut non solum valentes viribus, sed etiam infirmi et senes lacessantur ad pugnam, etiam pro vilissimisrebus. Quibus foralibus certaminibus contingunt homicidia injusta; etcrudeles ac perversi eventus judiciorum. " Like a prudent rhetorician, hesuppresses the legal privilege of hiring champions. ]

[Footnote 84: Montesquieu, (Esprit des Loix, xxviii. C. 14, ) whounderstands why the judicial combat was admitted by the Burgundians, Ripuarians, Alemanni, Bavarians, Lombards, Thuringians, Frisons, andSaxons, is satisfied (and Agobard seems to countenance the assertion)that it was not allowed by the Salic law. Yet the same custom, at leastin case of treason, is mentioned by Ermoldus, Nigellus (l. Iii. 543, intom. Vi. P. 48, ) and the anonymous biographer of Lewis the Pious, (c. 46, in tom. Vi. P. 112, ) as the "mos antiquus Francorum, more Francissolito, " &c. , expressions too general to exclude the noblest of theirtribes. ]

A devouring host of one hundred and twenty thousand Germans had formerlypassed the Rhine under the command of Ariovistus. One third part ofthe fertile lands of the Sequani was appropriated to their use; and theconqueror soon repeated his oppressive demand of another third, for theaccommodation of a new colony of twenty-four thousand Barbarians, whomhe had invited to share the rich harvest of Gaul. [85] At the distanceof five hundred years, the Visigoths and Burgundians, who revenged thedefeat of Ariovistus, usurped the same unequal proportion of two thirdsof the subject lands. But this distribution, instead of spreading overthe province, may be reasonably confined to the peculiar districts wherethe victorious people had been planted by their own choice, or by thepolicy of their leader. In these districts, each Barbarian was connectedby the ties of hospitality with some Roman provincial. To this unwelcomeguest, the proprietor was compelled to abandon two thirds of hispatrimony, but the German, a shepherd and a hunter, might sometimescontent himself with a spacious range of wood and pasture, and resignthe smallest, though most valuable, portion, to the toil of theindustrious husbandman. [86] The silence of ancient and authentictestimony has encouraged an opinion, that the rapine of the Franks wasnot moderated, or disguised, by the forms of a legal division; thatthey dispersed themselves over the provinces of Gaul, without order orcontrol; and that each victorious robber, according to his wants, hisavarice, and his strength, measured with his sword the extent of his newinheritance. At a distance from their sovereign, the Barbarians mightindeed be tempted to exercise such arbitrary depredation; but the firmand artful policy of Clovis must curb a licentious spirit, which wouldaggravate the misery of the vanquished, whilst it corrupted the unionand discipline of the conquerors. [861] The memorable vase of Soissonsis a monument and a pledge of the regular distribution of the Gallicspoils. It was the duty and the interest of Clovis to provide rewardsfor a successful army, settlements for a numerous people; withoutinflicting any wanton or superfluous injuries on the loyal Catholics ofGaul. The ample fund, which he might lawfully acquire, of the Imperialpatrimony, vacant lands, and Gothic usurpations, would diminish thecruel necessity of seizure and confiscation, and the humble provincialswould more patiently acquiesce in the equal and regular distribution oftheir loss. [87]

[Footnote 85: Caesar de Bell. Gall. L. I. C. 31, in tom. I. P. 213. ]

[Footnote 86: The obscure hints of a division of lands occasionallyscattered in the laws of the Burgundians, (tit. Liv. No. 1, 2, in tom. Iv. P. 271, 272, ) and Visigoths, (l. X. Tit. I. No. 8, 9, 16, intom. Iv. P. 428, 429, 430, ) are skillfully explained by the presidentMontesquieu, (Esprit des Loix, l. Xxx. C. 7, 8, 9. ) I shall only add, that among the Goths, the division seems to have been ascertained by thejudgment of the neighborhood, that the Barbarians frequently usurped theremaining third; and that the Romans might recover their right, unlessthey were barred by a prescription of fifty years. ]

[Footnote 861: Sismondi (Hist des Francais, vol. I. P. 197) observes, they were not a conquering people, who had emigrated with theirfamilies, like the Goths or Burgundians. The women, the children, theold, had not followed Clovis: they remained in their ancient possessionson the Waal and the Rhine. The adventurers alone had formed the invadingforce, and they always considered themselves as an army, not as acolony. Hence their laws retained no traces of the partition of theRoman properties. It is curious to observe the recoil from the nationalvanity of the French historians of the last century. M. Sismondicompares the position of the Franks with regard to the conquered peoplewith that of the Dey of Algiers and his corsair troops to the peacefulinhabitants of that province: M. Thierry (Lettres sur l'Histoire deFrance, p. 117) with that of the Turks towards the Raias or Phanariotes, the mass of the Greeks. --M. ]

[Footnote 87: It is singular enough that the president de Montesquieu(Esprit des Loix, l. Xxx. C. 7) and the Abbe de Mably (Observations, tomi. P. 21, 22) agree in this strange supposition of arbitrary and privaterapine. The Count de Boulainvilliers (Etat de la France, tom. I. P. 22, 23) shows a strong understanding through a cloud of ignorance andprejudice. Note: Sismondi supposes that the Barbarians, if a farm wereconveniently situated, would show no great respect for the laws ofproperty; but in general there would have been vacant land enough forthe lots assigned to old or worn-out warriors, (Hist. Des Francais, vol. I. P. 196. )--M. ]

The wealth of the Merovingian princes consisted in their extensivedomain. After the conquest of Gaul, they still delighted in the rusticsimplicity of their ancestors; the cities were abandoned to solitudeand decay; and their coins, their charters, and their synods, are stillinscribed with the names of the villas, or rural palaces, in which theysuccessively resided. 

One hundred and sixty of these palaces, a title which need not exciteany unseasonable ideas of art or luxury, were scattered through theprovinces of their kingdom; and if some might claim the honors of afortress, the far greater part could be esteemed only in the light ofprofitable farms. The mansion of the long-haired kings was surroundedwith convenient yards and stables, for the cattle and the poultry;the garden was planted with useful vegetables; the various trades, thelabors of agriculture, and even the arts of hunting and fishing, wereexercised by servile hands for the emolument of the sovereign;his magazines were filled with corn and wine, either for sale orconsumption; and the whole administration was conducted by the strictestmaxims of private economy. [88] This ample patrimony was appropriated tosupply the hospitable plenty of Clovis and his successors; and to rewardthe fidelity of their brave companions who, both in peace and war, were devoted to their persona service. Instead of a horse, or a suit ofarmor, each companion, according to his rank, or merit, or favor, wasinvested with a benefice, the primitive name, and most simple form, ofthe feudal possessions. These gifts might be resumed at the pleasure ofthe sovereign; and his feeble prerogative derived some support fromthe influence of his liberality. [881] But this dependent tenure wasgradually abolished [89] by the independent and rapacious noblesof France, who established the perpetual property, and hereditarysuccession, of their benefices; a revolution salutary to the earth, which had been injured, or neglected, by its precarious masters. [90]Besides these royal and beneficiary estates, a large proportion had beenassigned, in the division of Gaul, of allodial and Salic lands: theywere exempt from tribute, and the Salic lands were equally shared amongthe male descendants of the Franks. [91]

[Footnote 88: See the rustic edict, or rather code, of Charlemagne, which contains seventy distinct and minute regulations of that greatmonarch (in tom. V. P. 652-657. ) He requires an account of the horns andskins of the goats, allows his fish to be sold, and carefully directs, that the larger villas (Capitaneoe) shall maintain one hundred hens andthirty geese; and the smaller (Mansionales) fifty hens and twelve geese. Mabillon (de Re Diplomatica) has investigated the names, the number, andthe situation of the Merovingian villas. ]

[Footnote 881: The resumption of benefices at the pleasure of thesovereign, (the general theory down to his time, ) is ably contested byMr. Hallam; "for this resumption some delinquency must be imputed to thevassal. " Middle Ages, vol. I. P. 162. The reader will be interested bythe singular analogies with the beneficial and feudal system of Europein a remote part of the world, indicated by Col. Tod in his splendidwork on Raja'sthan, vol. Ii p. 129, &c. --M. ]

[Footnote 89: From a passage of the Burgundian law (tit. I. No. 4, intom. Iv. P. 257) it is evident, that a deserving son might expect tohold the lands which his father had received from the royal bounty ofGundobald. The Burgundians would firmly maintain their privilege, andtheir example might encourage the Beneficiaries of France. ]

[Footnote 90: The revolutions of the benefices and fiefs are clearlyfixed by the Abbe de Mably. His accurate distinction of times gives hima merit to which even Montesquieu is a stranger. ]

[Footnote 91: See the Salic law, (tit. Lxii. In tom. Iv. P. 156. ) Theorigin and nature of these Salic lands, which, in times of ignorance, were perfectly understood, now perplex our most learned and sagaciouscritics. * Note: No solution seems more probable, than that the ancientlawgivers of the Salic Franks prohibited females from inheritingthe lands assigned to the nation, upon its conquest of Gaul, bothin compliance with their ancient usages, and in order to secure themilitary service of every proprietor. But lands subsequently acquiredby purchase or other means, though equally bound to the public defence, were relieved from the severity of this rule, and presumed not to belongto the class of Sallic. Hallam's Middle Ages, vol. I. P. 145. CompareSismondi, vol. I. P. 196. --M. ]

In the bloody discord and silent decay of the Merovingian line, a neworder of tyrants arose in the provinces, who, under the appellation ofSeniors, or Lords, usurped a right to govern, and a license to oppress, the subjects of their peculiar territory. Their ambition might bechecked by the hostile resistance of an equal: but the laws wereextinguished; and the sacrilegious Barbarians, who dared to provoke thevengeance of a saint or bishop, [92] would seldom respect the landmarksof a profane and defenceless neighbor. The common or public rights ofnature, such as they had always been deemed by the Roman jurisprudence, [93] were severely restrained by the German conquerors, whose amusement, or rather passion, was the exercise of hunting. The vague dominion whichMan has assumed over the wild inhabitants of the earth, the air, and thewaters, was confined to some fortunate individuals of the human species. Gaul was again overspread with woods; and the animals, who were reservedfor the use or pleasure of the lord, might ravage with impunity thefields of his industrious vassals. The chase was the sacred privilegeof the nobles and their domestic servants. Plebeian transgressors werelegally chastised with stripes and imprisonment; [94] but in an agewhich admitted a slight composition for the life of a citizen, it was acapital crime to destroy a stag or a wild bull within the precincts ofthe royal forests. [95]

[Footnote 92: Many of the two hundred and six miracles of St. Martin(Greg Turon. In Maxima Bibliotheca Patrum, tom. Xi. P. 896-932) wererepeatedly performed to punish sacrilege. Audite haec omnes (exclaimsthe bishop of Tours) protestatem habentes, after relating, how somehorses ran mad, that had been turned into a sacred meadow. ]

[Footnote 93: Heinec. Element. Jur. German. L. Ii. P. 1, No. 8. ]

[Footnote 94: Jonas, bishop of Orleans, (A. D. 821-826. Cave, Hist. Litteraria, p. 443, ) censures the legal tyranny of the nobles. Proferis, quas cura hominum non aluit, sed Deus in commune mortalibus adutendum concessit, pauperes a potentioribus spoliantur, flagellantur, ergastulis detruduntur, et multa alia patiuntur. Hoc enim qui faciunt, lege mundi se facere juste posse contendant. De Institutione Laicorum, l. Ii. C. 23, apud Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. Iii. P. 1348. ]

[Footnote 95: On a mere suspicion, Chundo, a chamberlain of Gontram, king of Burgundy, was stoned to death, (Greg. Turon. L. X. C. 10, intom. Ii. P. 369. ) John of Salisbury (Policrat. L. I. C. 4) asserts therights of nature, and exposes the cruel practice of the twelfth century. See Heineccius, Elem. Jur. Germ. L. Ii. P. 1, No. 51-57. ]

According to the maxims of ancient war, the conqueror became thelawful master of the enemy whom he had subdued and spared: [96] and thefruitful cause of personal slavery, which had been almost suppressed bythe peaceful sovereignty of Rome, was again revived and multiplied bythe perpetual hostilities of the independent Barbarians. The Goth, theBurgundian, or the Frank, who returned from a successful expedition, dragged after him a long train of sheep, of oxen, and of human captives, whom he treated with the same brutal contempt. The youths of an elegantform and an ingenuous aspect were set apart for the domestic service; adoubtful situation, which alternately exposed them to the favorable orcruel impulse of passion. The useful mechanics and servants (smiths, carpenters, tailors, shoemakers, cooks, gardeners, dyers, and workmenin gold and silver, &c. ) employed their skill for the use, or profit, of their master. But the Roman captives, who were destitute of art, butcapable of labor, were condemned, without regard to their former rank, to tend the cattle and cultivate the lands of the Barbarians. The numberof the hereditary bondsmen, who were attached to the Gallic estates, wascontinually increased by new supplies; and the servile people, accordingto the situation and temper of their lords, was sometimes raised byprecarious indulgence, and more frequently depressed by capriciousdespotism. [97] An absolute power of life and death was exercised bythese lords; and when they married their daughters, a train of usefulservants, chained on the wagons to prevent their escape, was sent as anuptial present into a distant country. [98] The majesty of the Romanlaws protected the liberty of each citizen, against the rash effects ofhis own distress or despair. But the subjects of the Merovingian kingsmight alienate their personal freedom; and this act of legal suicide, which was familiarly practised, is expressed in terms most disgracefuland afflicting to the dignity of human nature. [99] The example of thepoor, who purchased life by the sacrifice of all that can render lifedesirable, was gradually imitated by the feeble and the devout, who, intimes of public disorder, pusillanimously crowded to shelter themselvesunder the battlements of a powerful chief, and around the shrine ofa popular saint. Their submission was accepted by these temporal orspiritual patrons; and the hasty transaction irrecoverably fixed theirown condition, and that of their latest posterity. From the reign ofClovis, during five successive centuries, the laws and manners of Gauluniformly tended to promote the increase, and to confirm the duration, of personal servitude. Time and violence almost obliterated theintermediate ranks of society; and left an obscure and narrow intervalbetween the noble and the slave. This arbitrary and recent division hasbeen transformed by pride and prejudice into a national distinction, universally established by the arms and the laws of the Merovingians. The nobles, who claimed their genuine or fabulous descent from theindependent and victorious Franks, have asserted and abused theindefeasible right of conquest over a prostrate crowd of slaves andplebeians, to whom they imputed the imaginary disgrace of Gallic orRoman extraction. 

[Footnote 96: The custom of enslaving prisoners of war was totallyextinguished in the thirteenth century, by the prevailing influence ofChristianity; but it might be proved, from frequent passages of Gregoryof Tours, &c. , that it was practised, without censure, under theMerovingian race; and even Grotius himself, (de Jure Belli et Pacisl. Iii. C. 7, ) as well as his commentator Barbeyrac, have labored toreconcile it with the laws of nature and reason. ]

[Footnote 97: The state, professions, &c. , of the German, Italian, andGallic slaves, during the middle ages, are explained by Heineccius, (Element Jur. Germ. L. I. No. 28-47, ) Muratori, (Dissertat. Xiv. Xv. , )Ducange, (Gloss. Sub voce Servi, ) and the Abbe de Mably, (Observations, tom. Ii. P. 3, &c. , p. 237, &c. ) Note: Compare Hallam, vol. I. P. 216. --M. ]

[Footnote 98: Gregory of Tours (l. Vi. C. 45, in tom. Ii. P. 289)relates a memorable example, in which Chilperic only abused the privaterights of a master. Many families which belonged to his domus fiscalesin the neighborhood of Paris, were forcibly sent away into Spain. ]

[Footnote 99: Licentiam habeatis mihi qualemcunque volueritisdisciplinam ponere; vel venumdare, aut quod vobis placuerit de mefacere Marculf. Formul. L. Ii. 28, in tom. Iv. P. 497. The Formula ofLindenbrogius, (p. 559, ) and that of Anjou, (p. 565, ) are to the sameeffect Gregory of Tours (l. Vii. C. 45, in tom. Ii. P. 311) speak ofmany person who sold themselves for bread, in a great famine. ]

The general state and revolutions of France, a name which was imposedby the conquerors, may be illustrated by the particular example ofa province, a diocese, or a senatorial family. Auvergne had formerlymaintained a just preeminence among the independent states and citiesof Gaul. The brave and numerous inhabitants displayed a singular trophy;the sword of Caesar himself, which he had lost when he was repulsedbefore the walls of Gergovia. [100] As the common offspring of Troy, they claimed a fraternal alliance with the Romans; [101] and if eachprovince had imitated the courage and loyalty of Auvergne, the fall ofthe Western empire might have been prevented or delayed. They firmlymaintained the fidelity which they had reluctantly sworn to theVisigoths, out when their bravest nobles had fallen in the battle ofPoitiers, they accepted, without resistance, a victorious and Catholicsovereign. This easy and valuable conquest was achieved and possessedby Theodoric, the eldest son of Clovis: but the remote province wasseparated from his Austrasian dominions, by the intermediate kingdoms ofSoissons, Paris, and Orleans, which formed, after their father's death, the inheritance of his three brothers. The king of Paris, Childebert, was tempted by the neighborhood and beauty of Auvergne. [102] TheUpper country, which rises towards the south into the mountains of theCevennes, presented a rich and various prospect of woods and pastures;the sides of the hills were clothed with vines; and each eminence wascrowned with a villa or castle. In the Lower Auvergne, the RiverAllier flows through the fair and spacious plain of Limagne; and theinexhaustible fertility of the soil supplied, and still supplies, without any interval of repose, the constant repetition of the sameharvests. [103] On the false report, that their lawful sovereign hadbeen slain in Germany, the city and diocese of Auvergne were betrayedby the grandson of Sidonius Apollinaris. Childebert enjoyed thisclandestine victory; and the free subjects of Theodoric threatened todesert his standard, if he indulged his private resentment, while thenation was engaged in the Burgundian war. But the Franks of Austrasiasoon yielded to the persuasive eloquence of their king. "Follow me, "said Theodoric, "into Auvergne; I will lead you into a province, whereyou may acquire gold, silver, slaves, cattle, and precious apparel, to the full extent of your wishes. I repeat my promise; I give you thepeople and their wealth as your prey; and you may transport them atpleasure into your own country. " By the execution of this promise, Theodoric justly forfeited the allegiance of a people whom he devotedto destruction. His troops, reenforced by the fiercest Barbarians ofGermany, [104] spread desolation over the fruitful face of Auvergne;and two places only, a strong castle and a holy shrine, were saved orredeemed from their licentious fury. The castle of Meroliac [105] wasseated on a lofty rock, which rose a hundred feet above the surface ofthe plain; and a large reservoir of fresh water was enclosed, with somearable lands, within the circle of its fortifications. The Franks beheldwith envy and despair this impregnable fortress; but they surprised aparty of fifty stragglers; and, as they were oppressed by the numberof their captives, they fixed, at a trifling ransom, the alternative oflife or death for these wretched victims, whom the cruel Baroarians wereprepared to massacre on the refusal of the garrison. Another detachmentpenetrated as far as Brivas, or Brioude, where the inhabitants, withtheir valuable effects, had taken refuge in the sanctuary of St. Julian. The doors of the church resisted the assault; but a daring soldierentered through a window of the choir, and opened a passage to hiscompanions. The clergy and people, the sacred and the profane spoils, were rudely torn from the altar; and the sacrilegious division was madeat a small distance from the town of Brioude. But this act of impietywas severely chastised by the devout son of Clovis. He punished withdeath the most atrocious offenders; left their secret accomplices to thevengeance of St. Julian; released the captives; restored the plunder;and extended the rights of sanctuary five miles round the sepulchre ofthe holy martyr. [106]

[Footnote 100: When Caesar saw it, he laughed, (Plutarch. In Caesar. Intom. I. P. 409:) yet he relates his unsuccessful siege of Gergovia withless frankness than we might expect from a great man to whom victory wasfamiliar. He acknowledges, however, that in one attack he lost forty-sixcenturions and seven hundred men, (de Bell. Gallico, l. Vi. C. 44-53, intom. I. P. 270-272. )]

[Footnote 101: Audebant se quondam fatres Latio dicere, et sanguine abIliaco populos computare, (Sidon. Apollinar. L. Vii. Epist. 7, in tomi. P. 799. ) I am not informed of the degrees and circumstances of thisfabulous pedigree. ]

[Footnote 102: Either the first, or second, partition among the sons ofClovis, had given Berry to Childebert, (Greg. Turon. L. Iii. C. 12, in tom. Ii. P. 192. ) Velim (said he) Arvernam Lemanem, quae tantajocunditatis gratia refulgere dicitur, oculis cernere, (l. Iii. C. P. 191. ) The face of the country was concealed by a thick fog, when theking of Paris made his entry into Clermen. ]

[Footnote 103: For the description of Auvergne, see Sidonius, (l. Iv. Epist. 21, in tom. I. P. 703, ) with the notes of Savaron and Sirmond, (p. 279, and 51, of their respective editions. ) Boulainvilliers, (Etatde la France, tom. Ii. P. 242-268, ) and the Abbe de la Longuerue, (Description de la France, part i. P. 132-139. )]

[Footnote 104; Furorem gentium, quae de ulteriore Rheni amnis partevenerant, superare non poterat, (Greg. Turon. L. Iv. C. 50, in tom. Ii. 229. ) was the excuse of another king of Austrasia (A. D. 574) for theravages which his troops committed in the neighborhood of Paris. ]

[Footnote 105: From the name and situation, the Benedictine editorsof Gregory of Tours (in tom. Ii. P. 192) have fixed this fortress ata place named Castel Merliac, two miles from Mauriac, in the UpperAuvergne. In this description, I translate infra as if I read intra; thetwo are perpetually confounded by Gregory, or his transcribed and thesense must always decide. ]

[Footnote 106: See these revolutions, and wars, of Auvergne, in Gregoryof Tours, (l. Ii. C. 37, in tom. Ii. P. 183, and l. Iii. C. 9, 12, 13, p. 191, 192, de Miraculis St. Julian. C. 13, in tom. Ii. P. 466. ) Hefrequently betrays his extraordinary attention to his native country. ]

Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis. --Part IV. 

Before the Austrasian army retreated from Auvergne, Theodoric exactedsome pledges of the future loyalty of a people, whose just hatred couldbe restrained only by their fear. A select band of noble youths, thesons of the principal senators, was delivered to the conqueror, as thehostages of the faith of Childebert, and of their countrymen. On thefirst rumor of war, or conspiracy, these guiltless youths werereduced to a state of servitude; and one of them, Attalus, [107] whoseadventures are more particularly related, kept his master's horses inthe diocese of Treves. After a painful search, he was discovered, inthis unworthy occupation, by the emissaries of his grandfather, Gregorybishop of Langres; but his offers of ransom were sternly rejected by theavarice of the Barbarian, who required an exorbitant sum of ten poundsof gold for the freedom of his noble captive. His deliverance waseffected by the hardy stratagem of Leo, an item belonging to thekitchens of the bishop of Langres. [108] An unknown agent easilyintroduced him into the same family. The Barbarian purchased Leo forthe price of twelve pieces of gold; and was pleased to learn that he wasdeeply skilled in the luxury of an episcopal table: "Next Sunday, " saidthe Frank, "I shall invite my neighbors and kinsmen. Exert thy art, andforce them to confess, that they have never seen, or tasted, such anentertainment, even in the king's house. " Leo assured him, that if hewould provide a sufficient quantity of poultry, his wishes shouldbe satisfied. The master who already aspired to the merit of eleganthospitality, assumed, as his own, the praise which the voracious guestsunanimously bestowed on his cook; and the dexterous Leo insensiblyacquired the trust and management of his household. After the patientexpectation of a whole year, he cautiously whispered his design toAttalus, and exhorted him to prepare for flight in the ensuing night. Atthe hour of midnight, the intemperate guests retired from the table;and the Frank's son-in-law, whom Leo attended to his apartment with anocturnal potation, condescended to jest on the facility with whichhe might betray his trust. The intrepid slave, after sustaining thisdangerous raillery, entered his master's bedchamber; removed his spearand shield; silently drew the fleetest horses from the stable; unbarredthe ponderous gates; and excited Attalus to save his life and libertyby incessant diligence. Their apprehensions urged them to leave theirhorses on the banks of the Meuse; [109] they swam the river, wanderedthree days in the adjacent forest, and subsisted only by the accidentaldiscovery of a wild plum-tree. As they lay concealed in a dark thicket, they heard the noise of horses; they were terrified by the angrycountenance of their master, and they anxiously listened to hisdeclaration, that, if he could seize the guilty fugitives, one of themhe would cut in pieces with his sword, and would expose the other ona gibbet. A length, Attalus and his faithful Leo reached the friendlyhabitation of a presbyter of Rheims, who recruited their faintingstrength with bread and wine, concealed them from the search of theirenemy, and safely conducted them beyond the limits of the Austrasiankingdom, to the episcopal palace of Langres. Gregory embraced hisgrandson with tears of joy, gratefully delivered Leo, with his wholefamily, from the yoke of servitude, and bestowed on him the property ofa farm, where he might end his days in happiness and freedom. Perhapsthis singular adventure, which is marked with so many circumstancesof truth and nature, was related by Attalus himself, to his cousin ornephew, the first historian of the Franks. Gregory of Tours [110] wasborn about sixty years after the death of Sidonius Apollinaris; andtheir situation was almost similar, since each of them was a native ofAuvergne, a senator, and a bishop. The difference of their style andsentiments may, therefore, express the decay of Gaul; and clearlyascertain how much, in so short a space, the human mind had lost of itsenergy and refinement. [111]

[Footnote 107: The story of Attalus is related by Gregory of Tours, (l. Iii. C. 16, tom. Ii. P. 193-195. ) His editor, the P. Ruinart, confoundsthis Attalus, who was a youth (puer) in the year 532, with a friend ofSilonius of the same name, who was count of Autun, fifty or sixty yearsbefore. Such an error, which cannot be imputed to ignorance, is excused, in some degree, by its own magnitude. ]

[Footnote 108: This Gregory, the great grandfather of Gregory of Tours, (in tom. Ii. P. 197, 490, ) lived ninety-two years; of which he passedforty as count of Autun, and thirty-two as bishop of Langres. Accordingto the poet Fortunatus, he displayed equal merit in these differentstations. Nobilis antiqua decurrens prole parentum, Nobilior gestis, nunc super astra manet. Arbiter ante ferox, dein pius ipse sacerdos, Quos domuit judex, fovit amore patris. ]

[Footnote 109: As M. De Valois, and the P. Ruinart, are determined tochange the Mosella of the text into Mosa, it becomes me to acquiesce inthe alteration. Yet, after some examination of the topography. I coulddefend the common reading. ]

[Footnote 110: The parents of Gregory (Gregorius Florentius Georgius)were of noble extraction, (natalibus. .. Illustres, ) and they possessedlarge estates (latifundia) both in Auvergne and Burgundy. He was born inthe year 539, was consecrated bishop of Tours in 573, and died in 593or 595, soon after he had terminated his history. See his life byOdo, abbot of Clugny, (in tom. Ii. P. 129-135, ) and a new Life in theMemoires de l'Academie, &c. , tom. Xxvi. P. 598-637. ]

[Footnote 111: Decedente atque immo potius pereunte ab urbibusGallicanis liberalium cultura literarum, &c. , (in praefat. In tom. Ii. P. 137, ) is the complaint of Gregory himself, which he fully verifies byhis own work. His style is equally devoid of elegance and simplicity. Ina conspicuous station, he still remained a stranger to his own age andcountry; and in a prolific work (the five last books contain ten years)he has omitted almost every thing that posterity desires to learn. Ihave tediously acquired, by a painful perusal, the right of pronouncingthis unfavorable sentence] We are now qualified to despise the opposite, and, perhaps, artful, misrepresentations, which have softened, orexaggerated, the oppression of the Romans of Gaul under the reign of theMerovingians. The conquerors never promulgated any universal edict ofservitude, or confiscation; but a degenerate people, who excused theirweakness by the specious names of politeness and peace, was exposedto the arms and laws of the ferocious Barbarians, who contemptuouslyinsulted their possessions, their freedom, and their safety. Theirpersonal injuries were partial and irregular; but the great body of theRomans survived the revolution, and still preserved the property, andprivileges, of citizens. A large portion of their lands was exactedfor the use of the Franks: but they enjoyed the remainder, exempt fromtribute; [112] and the same irresistible violence which swept away thearts and manufactures of Gaul, destroyed the elaborate and expensivesystem of Imperial despotism. The Provincials must frequently deplorethe savage jurisprudence of the Salic or Ripuarian laws; but theirprivate life, in the important concerns of marriage, testaments, or inheritance, was still regulated by the Theodosian Code; and adiscontented Roman might freely aspire, or descend, to the title andcharacter of a Barbarian. The honors of the state were accessible tohis ambition: the education and temper of the Romans more peculiarlyqualified them for the offices of civil government; and, as soon asemulation had rekindled their military ardor, they were permitted tomarch in the ranks, or even at the head, of the victorious Germans. Ishall not attempt to enumerate the generals and magistrates, whose names[113] attest the liberal policy of the Merovingians. The supreme commandof Burgundy, with the title of Patrician, was successively intrustedto three Romans; and the last, and most powerful, Mummolus, [114] whoalternately saved and disturbed the monarchy, had supplanted his fatherin the station of count of Autun, and left a treasury of thirty talentsof gold, and two hundred and fifty talents of silver. The fierce andilliterate Barbarians were excluded, during several generations, fromthe dignities, and even from the orders, of the church. [115] The clergyof Gaul consisted almost entirely of native provincials; the haughtyFranks fell at the feet of their subjects, who were dignified with theepiscopal character: and the power and riches which had been lost inwar, were insensibly recovered by superstition. [116] In all temporalaffairs, the Theodosian Code was the universal law of the clergy; butthe Barbaric jurisprudence had liberally provided for their personalsafety; a sub-deacon was equivalent to two Franks; the antrustion, andpriest, were held in similar estimation: and the life of a bishop wasappreciated far above the common standard, at the price of nine hundredpieces of gold. [117] The Romans communicated to their conquerorsthe use of the Christian religion and Latin language; [118] but theirlanguage and their religion had alike degenerated from the simple purityof the Augustan, and Apostolic age. The progress of superstition andBarbarism was rapid and universal: the worship of the saints concealedfrom vulgar eyes the God of the Christians; and the rustic dialectof peasants and soldiers was corrupted by a Teutonic idiom andpronunciation. Yet such intercourse of sacred and social communioneradicated the distinctions of birth and victory; and the nations ofGaul were gradually confounded under the name and government of theFranks. 

[Footnote 112: The Abbe de Mably (tom. P. I. 247-267) has diligentlyconfirmed this opinion of the President de Montesquieu, (Esprit desLoix, l. Xxx. C. 13. )]

[Footnote 113: See Dubos, Hist. Critique de la Monarchie Francoise, tom. Ii. L. Vi. C. 9, 10. The French antiquarians establish as a principle, that the Romans and Barbarians may be distinguished by their names. Their names undoubtedly form a reasonable presumption; yet in readingGregory of Tours, I have observed Gondulphus, of Senatorian, orRoman, extraction, (l. Vi. C. 11, in tom. Ii. P. 273, ) and Claudius, aBarbarian, (l. Vii. C. 29, p. 303. )]

[Footnote 114: Eunius Mummolus is repeatedly mentioned by Gregory ofTours, from the fourth (c. 42, p. 224) to the seventh (c. 40, p. 310)book. The computation by talents is singular enough; but if Gregoryattached any meaning to that obsolete word, the treasures of Mummolusmust have exceeded 100, 000 L. Sterling. ]

[Footnote 115: See Fleury, Discours iii. Sur l'Histoire Ecclesiastique. ]

[Footnote 116: The bishop of Tours himself has recorded the complaint ofChilperic, the grandson of Clovis. Ecce pauper remansit Fiscus noster;ecce divitiae nostrae ad ecclesias sunt translatae; nulli penitus nisisoli Episcopi regnant, (l. Vi. C. 46, in tom. Ii. P. 291. )]

[Footnote 117: See the Ripuarian Code, (tit. Xxxvi in tom. Iv. P. 241. )The Salic law does not provide for the safety of the clergy; and wemight suppose, on the behalf of the more civilized tribe, that theyhad not foreseen such an impious act as the murder of a priest. YetPraetextatus, archbishop of Rouen, was assassinated by the order ofQueen Fredegundis before the altar, (Greg. Turon. L. Viii. C. 31, intom. Ii. P. 326. )]

[Footnote 118: M. Bonamy (Mem. De l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. Xxiv. P. 582-670) has ascertained the Lingua Romana Rustica, which, through the medium of the Romance, has gradually been polished into theactual form of the French language. Under the Carlovingian race, thekings and nobles of France still understood the dialect of their Germanancestors. ]

The Franks, after they mingled with their Gallic subjects, might haveimparted the most valuable of human gifts, a spirit and system ofconstitutional liberty. Under a king, hereditary, but limited, thechiefs and counsellors might have debated at Paris, in the palace of theCaesars: the adjacent field, where the emperors reviewed their mercenarylegions. Would have admitted the legislative assembly of freemen andwarriors; and the rude model, which had been sketched in the woods ofGermany, [119] might have been polished and improved by the civil wisdomof the Romans. But the careless Barbarians, secure of their personalindependence, disdained the labor of government: the annual assembliesof the month of March were silently abolished; and the nation wasseparated, and almost dissolved, by the conquest of Gaul. [120] Themonarchy was left without any regular establishment of justice, of arms, or of revenue. The successors of Clovis wanted resolution to assume, orstrength to exercise, the legislative and executive powers, which thepeople had abdicated: the royal prerogative was distinguished only by amore ample privilege of rapine and murder; and the love of freedom, sooften invigorated and disgraced by private ambition, was reduced, amongthe licentious Franks, to the contempt of order, and the desire ofimpunity. Seventy-five years after the death of Clovis, his grandson, Gontran, king of Burgundy, sent an army to invade the Gothic possessionsof Septimania, or Languedoc. The troops of Burgundy, Berry, Auvergne, and the adjacent territories, were excited by the hopes of spoil. Theymarched, without discipline, under the banners of German, or Gallic, counts: their attack was feeble and unsuccessful; but the friendlyand hostile provinces were desolated with indiscriminate rage. Thecornfields, the villages, the churches themselves, were consumed byfire: the inhabitants were massacred, or dragged into captivity; and, in the disorderly retreat, five thousand of these inhuman savageswere destroyed by hunger or intestine discord. When the pious Gontranreproached the guilt or neglect of their leaders, and threatened toinflict, not a legal sentence, but instant and arbitrary execution, theyaccused the universal and incurable corruption of the people. "No one, "they said, "any longer fears or respects his king, his duke, or hiscount. Each man loves to do evil, and freely indulges his criminalinclinations. The most gentle correction provokes an immediate tumult, and the rash magistrate, who presumes to censure or restrain hisseditious subjects, seldom escapes alive from their revenge. " [121] Ithas been reserved for the same nation to expose, by their intemperatevices, the most odious abuse of freedom; and to supply its loss by thespirit of honor and humanity, which now alleviates and dignifies theirobedience to an absolute sovereign. [1211]

[Footnote 119: Ce beau systeme a ete trouve dans les bois. Montesquieu, Esprit des Loix, l. Xi. C. 6. ]

[Footnote 120: See the Abbe de Mably. Observations, &c. , tom. I. P. 34-56. It should seem that the institution of national assemblies, whichare with the French nation, has never been congenial to its temper. ]

[Footnote 121: Gregory of Tours (l. Viii. C. 30, in tom. Ii. P. 325, 326) relates, with much indifference, the crimes, the reproof, and theapology. Nullus Regem metuit, nullus Ducem, nullus Comitem reveretur;et si fortassis alicui ista displicent, et ea, pro longaevitate vitaevestrae, emendare conatur, statim seditio in populo, statim tumultusexoritur, et in tantum unusquisque contra seniorem saeva intentionegrassatur, ut vix se credat evadere, si tandem silere nequiverit. ]

[Footnote 1211: This remarkable passage was published in 1779--M. ]

The Visigoths had resigned to Clovis the greatest part of their Gallicpossessions; but their loss was amply compensated by the easy conquest, and secure enjoyment, of the provinces of Spain. From the monarchyof the Goths, which soon involved the Suevic kingdom of Gallicia, themodern Spaniards still derive some national vanity; but the historianof the Roman empire is neither invited, nor compelled, to pursue theobscure and barren series of their annals. [122] The Goths of Spain wereseparated from the rest of mankind by the lofty ridge of the Pyrenaeanmountains: their manners and institutions, as far as they were common tothe Germanic tribes, have been already explained. I have anticipated, in the preceding chapter, the most important of their ecclesiasticalevents, the fall of Arianism, and the persecution of the Jews; and itonly remains to observe some interesting circumstances which relate tothe civil and ecclesiastical constitution of the Spanish kingdom. 

[Footnote 122: Spain, in these dark ages, has been peculiarlyunfortunate. The Franks had a Gregory of Tours; the Saxons, or Angles, a Bede; the Lombards, a Paul Warnefrid, &c. But the history of theVisigoths is contained in the short and imperfect Chronicles of Isidoreof Seville and John of Biclar] After their conversion from idolatry orheresy, the Frank and the Visigoths were disposed to embrace, withequal submission, the inherent evils and the accidental benefits, ofsuperstition. But the prelates of France, long before the extinctionof the Merovingian race, had degenerated into fighting and huntingBarbarians. They disdained the use of synods; forgot the laws oftemperance and chastity; and preferred the indulgence of privateambition and luxury to the general interest of the sacerdotalprofession. [123] The bishops of Spain respected themselves, and wererespected by the public: their indissoluble union disguised their vices, and confirmed their authority; and the regular discipline of the churchintroduced peace, order, and stability, into the government of thestate. From the reign of Recared, the first Catholic king, to that ofWitiza, the immediate predecessor of the unfortunate Roderic, sixteennational councils were successively convened. The six metropolitans, Toledo, Seville, Merida, Braga, Tarragona, and Narbonne, presidedaccording to their respective seniority; the assembly was composed oftheir suffragan bishops, who appeared in person, or by their proxies;and a place was assigned to the most holy, or opulent, of the Spanishabbots. During the first three days of the convocation, as long as theyagitated the ecclesiastical question of doctrine and discipline, theprofane laity was excluded from their debates; which were conducted, however, with decent solemnity. But, on the morning of the fourth day, the doors were thrown open for the entrance of the great officers of thepalace, the dukes and counts of the provinces, the judges of the cities, and the Gothic nobles, and the decrees of Heaven were ratified by theconsent of the people. 

The same rules were observed in the provincial assemblies, the annualsynods, which were empowered to hear complaints, and to redressgrievances; and a legal government was supported by the prevailinginfluence of the Spanish clergy. The bishops, who, in each revolution, were prepared to flatter the victorious, and to insult the prostratelabored, with diligence and success, to kindle the flames ofpersecution, and to exalt the mitre above the crown. Yet the nationalcouncils of Toledo, in which the free spirit of the Barbarians wastempered and guided by episcopal policy, have established some prudentlaws for the common benefit of the king and people. The vacancy of thethrone was supplied by the choice of the bishops and palatines; andafter the failure of the line of Alaric, the regal dignity was stilllimited to the pure and noble blood of the Goths. The clergy, whoanointed their lawful prince, always recommended, and sometimespractised, the duty of allegiance; and the spiritual censures weredenounced on the heads of the impious subjects, who should resist hisauthority, conspire against his life, or violate, by an indecentunion, the chastity even of his widow. But the monarch himself, whenhe ascended the throne, was bound by a reciprocal oath to God and hispeople, that he would faithfully execute this important trust. The realor imaginary faults of his administration were subject to the control ofa powerful aristocracy; and the bishops and palatines were guarded bya fundamental privilege, that they should not be degraded, imprisoned, tortured, nor punished with death, exile, or confiscation, unless by thefree and public judgment of their peers. [124]

[Footnote 123: Such are the complaints of St. Boniface, the apostle ofGermany, and the reformer of Gaul, (in tom. Iv. P. 94. ) The fourscoreyears, which he deplores, of license and corruption, would seem toinsinuate that the Barbarians were admitted into the clergy about theyear 660. ]

[Footnote 124: The acts of the councils of Toledo are still the mostauthentic records of the church and constitution of Spain. The followingpassages are particularly important, (iii. 17, 18; iv. 75; v. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8; vi. 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18; vii. 1; xiii. 2 3 6. ) I have foundMascou (Hist. Of the Ancient Germans, xv. 29, and Annotations, xxvi. And xxxiii. ) and Ferreras (Hist. Generale de l'Espagne, tom. Ii. ) veryuseful and accurate guides. ]

One of these legislative councils of Toledo examined and ratified thecode of laws which had been compiled by a succession of Gothic kings, from the fierce Euric, to the devout Egica. As long as the Visigothsthemselves were satisfied with the rude customs of their ancestors, theyindulged their subjects of Aquitain and Spain in the enjoyment of theRoman law. Their gradual improvement in arts, in policy, and at lengthin religion, encouraged them to imitate, and to supersede, these foreigninstitutions; and to compose a code of civil and criminal jurisprudence, for the use of a great and united people. The same obligations, andthe same privileges, were communicated to the nations of the Spanishmonarchy; and the conquerors, insensibly renouncing the Teutonic idiom, submitted to the restraints of equity, and exalted the Romans tothe participation of freedom. The merit of this impartial policy wasenhanced by the situation of Spain under the reign of the Visigoths. The provincials were long separated from their Arian masters by theirreconcilable difference of religion. After the conversion of Recaredhad removed the prejudices of the Catholics, the coasts, both of theOcean and Mediterranean, were still possessed by the Eastern emperors;who secretly excited a discontented people to reject the yoke of theBarbarians, and to assert the name and dignity of Roman citizens. Theallegiance of doubtful subjects is indeed most effectually secured bytheir own persuasion, that they hazard more in a revolt, than theycan hope to obtain by a revolution; but it has appeared so naturalto oppress those whom we hate and fear, that the contrary system welldeserves the praise of wisdom and moderation. [125]

[Footnote 125: The Code of the Visigoths, regularly divided into twelvebooks, has been correctly published by Dom Bouquet, (in tom. Iv. P. 273-460. ) It has been treated by the President de Montesquieu (Espritdes Loix, l. Xxviii. C. 1) with excessive severity. I dislike the style;I detest the superstition; but I shall presume to think, that thecivil jurisprudence displays a more civilized and enlightened state ofsociety, than that of the Burgundians, or even of the Lombards. ]

While the kingdom of the Franks and Visigoths were established in Gauland Spain, the Saxons achieved the conquest of Britain, the thirdgreat diocese of the Praefecture of the West. Since Britain was alreadyseparated from the Roman empire, I might, without reproach, decline astory familiar to the most illiterate, and obscure to the most learned, of my readers. The Saxons, who excelled in the use of the oar, or thebattle-axe, were ignorant of the art which could alone perpetuate thefame of their exploits; the Provincials, relapsing into barbarism, neglected to describe the ruin of their country; and the doubtfultradition was almost extinguished, before the missionaries of Romerestored the light of science and Christianity. The declamations ofGildas, the fragments, or fables, of Nennius, the obscure hints of theSaxon laws and chronicles, and the ecclesiastical tales of the venerableBede, [126] have been illustrated by the diligence, and sometimesembellished by the fancy, of succeeding writers, whose works I am notambitious either to censure or to transcribe. [127] Yet the historian ofthe empire may be tempted to pursue the revolutions of a Roman province, till it vanishes from his sight; and an Englishman may curiously tracethe establishment of the Barbarians, from whom he derives his name, hislaws, and perhaps his origin. 

[Footnote 126: See Gildas de Excidio Britanniae, c. 11-25, p. 4-9, edit. Gale. Nennius, Hist. Britonum, c. 28, 35-65, p. 105-115, edit. Gale. Bede, Hist. Ecclesiast. Gentis Angloruml. I. C. 12-16, p. 49-53. C. 22, p. 58, edit. Smith. Chron. Saxonicum, p. 11-23, &c. , edit. Gibson. TheAnglo-Saxon laws were published by Wilkins, London, 1731, in folio; andthe Leges Wallicae, by Wotton and Clarke, London, 1730, in folio. ]

[Footnote 127: The laborious Mr. Carte, and the ingenious Mr. Whitaker, are the two modern writers to whom I am principally indebted. Theparticular historian of Manchester embraces, under that obscure title, a subject almost as extensive as the general history of England. * Note:Add the Anglo-Saxon History of Mr. S. Turner; and Sir F. Palgrave Sketchof the "Early History of England. "--M. ]

About forty years after the dissolution of the Roman government, Vortigern appears to have obtained the supreme, though precariouscommand of the princes and cities of Britain. That unfortunate monarchhas been almost unanimously condemned for the weak and mischievouspolicy of inviting [128] a formidable stranger, to repel the vexatiousinroads of a domestic foe. His ambassadors are despatched, by thegravest historians, to the coast of Germany: they address a patheticoration to the general assembly of the Saxons, and those warlikeBarbarians resolve to assist with a fleet and army the suppliants of adistant and unknown island. If Britain had indeed been unknown to theSaxons, the measure of its calamities would have been less complete. Butthe strength of the Roman government could not always guard the maritimeprovince against the pirates of Germany; the independent and dividedstates were exposed to their attacks; and the Saxons might sometimesjoin the Scots and the Picts, in a tacit, or express, confederacy ofrapine and destruction. Vortigern could only balance the various perils, which assaulted on every side his throne and his people; and his policymay deserve either praise or excuse, if he preferred the alliance ofthose Barbarians, whose naval power rendered them the most dangerousenemies and the most serviceable allies. Hengist and Horsa, as theyranged along the Eastern coast with three ships, were engaged, by thepromise of an ample stipend, to embrace the defence of Britain; andtheir intrepid valor soon delivered the country from the Caledonianinvaders. The Isle of Thanet, a secure and fertile district, wasallotted for the residence of these German auxiliaries, and theywere supplied, according to the treaty, with a plentiful allowanceof clothing and provisions. This favorable reception encouraged fivethousand warriors to embark with their families in seventeen vessels, and the infant power of Hengist was fortified by this strong andseasonable reenforcement. The crafty Barbarian suggested to Vortigernthe obvious advantage of fixing, in the neighborhood of the Picts, a colony of faithful allies: a third fleet of forty ships, under thecommand of his son and nephew, sailed from Germany, ravaged the Orkneys, and disembarked a new army on the coast of Northumberland, or Lothian, at the opposite extremity of the devoted land. It was easy to foresee, but it was impossible to prevent, the impending evils. The two nationswere soon divided and exasperated by mutual jealousies. The Saxonsmagnified all that they had done and suffered in the cause of anungrateful people; while the Britons regretted the liberal rewards whichcould not satisfy the avarice of those haughty mercenaries. The causesof fear and hatred were inflamed into an irreconcilable quarrel. TheSaxons flew to arms; and if they perpetrated a treacherous massacreduring the security of a feast, they destroyed the reciprocal confidencewhich sustains the intercourse of peace and war. [129]

[Footnote 128: This invitation, which may derive some countenance fromthe loose expressions of Gildas and Bede, is framed into a regular storyby Witikind, a Saxon monk of the tenth century, (see Cousin, Hist. Del'Empire d'Occident, tom. Ii. P. 356. ) Rapin, and even Hume, have toofreely used this suspicious evidence, without regarding the precise andprobable testimony of Tennius: Iterea venerunt tres Chinlae a exiliopulsoe, in quibus erant Hors et Hengist. ]

[Footnote 129: Nennius imputes to the Saxons the murder of three hundredBritish chiefs; a crime not unsuitable to their savage manners. But weare not obliged to believe (see Jeffrey of Monmouth, l. Viii. C. 9-12) that Stonehenge is their monument, which the giants had formerlytransported from Africa to Ireland, and which was removed to Britain bythe order of Ambrosius, and the art of Merlin. * Note: Sir f. Palgrave(Hist. Of England, p. 36) is inclined to resolve the whole of thesestories, as Niebuhr the older Roman history, into poetry. To the editorthey appeared, in early youth, so essentially poetic, as to justify therash attempt to embody them in an Epic Poem, called Samor, commencedat Eton, and finished before he had arrived at the maturer taste ofmanhood. --M. ]

Hengist, who boldly aspired to the conquest of Britain, exhorted hiscountrymen to embrace the glorious opportunity: he painted in livelycolors the fertility of the soil, the wealth of the cities, thepusillanimous temper of the natives, and the convenient situation of aspacious solitary island, accessible on all sides to the Saxon fleets. The successive colonies which issued, in the period of a century, fromthe mouths of the Elbe, the Weser, and the Rhine, were principallycomposed of three valiant tribes or nations of Germany; the Jutes, theold Saxons, and the Angles. The Jutes, who fought under the peculiarbanner of Hengist, assumed the merit of leading their countrymen in thepaths of glory, and of erecting, in Kent, the first independent kingdom. The fame of the enterprise was attributed to the primitive Saxons; andthe common laws and language of the conquerors are described by thenational appellation of a people, which, at the end of four hundredyears, produced the first monarchs of South Britain. The Angles weredistinguished by their numbers and their success; and they claimed thehonor of fixing a perpetual name on the country, of which they occupiedthe most ample portion. The Barbarians, who followed the hopes of rapineeither on the land or sea, were insensibly blended with this tripleconfederacy; the Frisians, who had been tempted by their vicinity to theBritish shores, might balance, during a short space, the strength andreputation of the native Saxons; the Danes, the Prussians, the Rugians, are faintly described; and some adventurous Huns, who had wandered asfar as the Baltic, might embark on board the German vessels, for theconquest of a new world. [130] But this arduous achievement was notprepared or executed by the union of national powers. Each intrepidchieftain, according to the measure of his fame and fortunes, assembledhis followers; equipped a fleet of three, or perhaps of sixty, vessels;chose the place of the attack; and conducted his subsequent operationsaccording to the events of the war, and the dictates of his privateinterest. In the invasion of Britain many heroes vanquished and fell;but only seven victorious leaders assumed, or at least maintained, thetitle of kings. Seven independent thrones, the Saxon Heptarchy, [1301]were founded by the conquerors, and seven families, one of which hasbeen continued, by female succession, to our present sovereign, derivedtheir equal and sacred lineage from Woden, the god of war. It hasbeen pretended, that this republic of kings was moderated by a generalcouncil and a supreme magistrate. But such an artificial scheme ofpolicy is repugnant to the rude and turbulent spirit of the Saxons:their laws are silent; and their imperfect annals afford only a dark andbloody prospect of intestine discord. [131]

[Footnote 130: All these tribes are expressly enumerated by Bede, (l. I. C. 15, p. 52, l. V. C. 9, p. 190;) and though I have considered Mr. Whitaker's remarks, (Hist. Of Manchester, vol. Ii. P. 538-543, ) I do notperceive the absurdity of supposing that the Frisians, &c. , were mingledwith the Anglo-Saxons. ]

[Footnote 1301: This term (the Heptarchy) must be rejected because anidea is conveyed thereby which is substantially wrong. At no one periodwere there ever seven kingdoms independent of each other. Palgrave, vol. I. P. 46. Mr. Sharon Turner has the merit of having first confutedthe popular notion on this subject. Anglo-Saxon History, vol. I. P. 302. --M. ]

[Footnote 131: Bede has enumerated seven kings, two Saxons, a Jute, andfour Angles, who successively acquired in the heptarchy an indefinitesupremacy of power and renown. But their reign was the effect, not oflaw, but of conquest; and he observes, in similar terms, that one ofthem subdued the Isles of Man and Anglesey; and that another imposed atribute on the Scots and Picts. (Hist. Eccles. L. Ii. C. 5, p. 83. )]

A monk, who, in the profound ignorance of human life, has presumed toexercise the office of historian, strangely disfigures the state ofBritain at the time of its separation from the Western empire. Gildas[132] describes in florid language the improvements of agriculture, the foreign trade which flowed with every tide into the Thames and theSevern the solid and lofty construction of public and private edifices;he accuses the sinful luxury of the British people; of a people, according to the same writer, ignorant of the most simple arts, andincapable, without the aid of the Romans, of providing walls of stone, or weapons of iron, for the defence of their native land. [133] Underthe long dominion of the emperors, Britain had been insensibly mouldedinto the elegant and servile form of a Roman province, whose safetywas intrusted to a foreign power. The subjects of Honorius contemplatedtheir new freedom with surprise and terror; they were left destitute ofany civil or military constitution; and their uncertain rulers wantedeither skill, or courage, or authority, to direct the public forceagainst the common enemy. The introduction of the Saxons betrayed theirinternal weakness, and degraded the character both of the prince andpeople. Their consternation magnified the danger; the want of uniondiminished their resources; and the madness of civil factions was moresolicitous to accuse, than to remedy, the evils, which they imputed tothe misconduct of their adversaries. 

Yet the Britons were not ignorant, they could not be ignorant, of themanufacture or the use of arms; the successive and disorderly attacksof the Saxons allowed them to recover from their amazement, and theprosperous or adverse events of the war added discipline and experienceto their native valor. 

[Footnote 132: See Gildas de Excidio Britanniae, c. I. P. L. Edit. Gale. ]

[Footnote 133: Mr. Whitaker (Hist. Of Manchester, vol. Ii. P. 503, 516)has smartly exposed this glaring absurdity, which had passed unnoticedby the general historians, as they were hastening to more interestingand important events]

While the continent of Europe and Africa yielded, without resistance, to the Barbarians, the British island, alone and unaided, maintaineda long, a vigorous, though an unsuccessful, struggle, against theformidable pirates, who, almost at the same instant, assaulted theNorthern, the Eastern, and the Southern coasts. The cities which hadbeen fortified with skill, were defended with resolution; the advantagesof ground, hills, forests, and morasses, were diligently improved by theinhabitants; the conquest of each district was purchased with blood; andthe defeats of the Saxons are strongly attested by the discreet silenceof their annalist. Hengist might hope to achieve the conquest ofBritain; but his ambition, in an active reign of thirty-five years, wasconfined to the possession of Kent; and the numerous colony which he hadplanted in the North, was extirpated by the sword of the Britons. Themonarchy of the West Saxons was laboriously founded by the perseveringefforts of three martial generations. The life of Cerdic, one of thebravest of the children of Woden, was consumed in the conquest ofHampshire, and the Isle of Wight; and the loss which he sustained inthe battle of Mount Badon, reduced him to a state of inglorious repose. Kenric, his valiant son, advanced into Wiltshire; besieged Salisbury, atthat time seated on a commanding eminence; and vanquished an armywhich advanced to the relief of the city. In the subsequent battle ofMarlborough, [134] his British enemies displayed their military science. Their troops were formed in three lines; each line consisted of threedistinct bodies, and the cavalry, the archers, and the pikemen, weredistributed according to the principles of Roman tactics. The Saxonscharged in one weighty column, boldly encountered with their shordswords the long lances of the Britons, and maintained an equal conflicttill the approach of night. Two decisive victories, the death of threeBritish kings, and the reduction of Cirencester, Bath, and Gloucester, established the fame and power of Ceaulin, the grandson of Cerdic, whocarried his victorious arms to the banks of the Severn. 

[Footnote 134: At Beran-birig, or Barbury-castle, near Marlborough. TheSaxon chronicle assigns the name and date. Camden (Britannia, vol. I. P. 128) ascertains the place; and Henry of Huntingdon (Scriptorespest Bedam, p. 314) relates the circumstances of this battle. They areprobable and characteristic; and the historians of the twelfth centurymight consult some materials that no longer exist. ] After a war of ahundred years, the independent Britons still occupied the wholeextent of the Western coast, from the wall of Antoninus to the extremepromontory of Cornwall; and the principal cities of the inland countrystill opposed the arms of the Barbarians. Resistance became morelanguid, as the number and boldness of the assailants continuallyincreased. Winning their way by slow and painful efforts, the Saxons, the Angles, and their various confederates, advanced from the North, from the East, and from the South, till their victorious banners wereunited in the centre of the island. Beyond the Severn the Britons stillasserted their national freedom, which survived the heptarchy, and eventhe monarchy, of the Saxons. The bravest warriors, who preferredexile to slavery, found a secure refuge in the mountains of Wales: thereluctant submission of Cornwall was delayed for some ages; [135] and aband of fugitives acquired a settlement in Gaul, by their own valor, or the liberality of the Merovingian kings. [136] The Western angleof Armorica acquired the new appellations of Cornwall, and the LesserBritain; and the vacant lands of the Osismii were filled by a strangepeople, who, under the authority of their counts and bishops, preservedthe laws and language of their ancestors. To the feeble descendants ofClovis and Charlemagne, the Britons of Armorica refused the customarytribute, subdued the neighboring dioceses of Vannes, Rennes, and Nantes, and formed a powerful, though vassal, state, which has been united tothe crown of France. [137]

[Footnote 135: Cornwall was finally subdued by Athelstan, (A. D. 927-941, ) who planted an English colony at Exeter, and confined theBritons beyond the River Tamar. See William of Malmsbury, l. Ii. , inthe Scriptores post Bedam, p. 50. The spirit of the Cornish knightswas degraded by servitude: and it should seem, from the Romance of SirTristram, that their cowardice was almost proverbial. ]

[Footnote 136: The establishment of the Britons in Gaul is proved inthe sixth century, by Procopius, Gregory of Tours, the second councilof Tours, (A. D. 567, ) and the least suspicious of their chronicles andlives of saints. The subscription of a bishop of the Britons tothe first council of Tours, (A. D. 461, or rather 481, ) the army ofRiothamus, and the loose declamation of Gildas, (alii transmarinaspetebant regiones, c. 25, p. 8, ) may countenance an emigration as earlyas the middle of the fifth century. Beyond that era, the Britons ofArmorica can be found only in romance; and I am surprised that Mr. Whitaker (Genuine History of the Britons, p. 214-221) should sofaithfully transcribe the gross ignorance of Carte, whose venial errorshe has so rigorously chastised. ]

[Footnote 137: The antiquities of Bretagne, which have been the subjecteven of political controversy, are illustrated by Hadrian Valesius, (Notitia Galliarum, sub voce Britannia Cismarina, p. 98-100. ) M. D'Anville, (Notice de l'Ancienne Gaule, Corisopiti, Curiosolites, Osismii, Vorganium, p. 248, 258, 508, 720, and Etats de l'Europe, p. 76-80, ) Longuerue, (Description de la France, tom. I. P. 84-94, ) and theAbbe de Vertot, (Hist. Critique de l'Etablissement des Bretons dansles Gaules, 2 vols. In 12 mo. , Paris, 1720. ) I may assume the meritof examining the original evidence which they have produced. * Note:Compare Gallet, Memoires sur la Bretagne, and Daru, Histoire deBretagne. These authors appear to me to establish the point of theindependence of Bretagne at the time that the insular Britons tookrefuge in their country, and that the greater part landed as fugitivesrather than as conquerors. I observe that M. Lappenberg (Geschichte vonEngland, vol. I. P. 56) supposes the settlement of a military colonyformed of British soldiers, (Milites limitanei, laeti, ) during theusurpation of Maximus, (381, 388, ) who gave their name and peculiarcivilization to Bretagne. M. Lappenberg expresses his surprise thatGibbon here rejects the authority which he follows elsewhere. --M. ]

Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis. --Part V. 

In a century of perpetual, or at least implacable, war, much courage, and some skill, must have been exerted for the defence of Britain. Yetif the memory of its champions is almost buried in oblivion, we neednot repine; since every age, however destitute of science or virtue, sufficiently abounds with acts of blood and military renown. The tombof Vortimer, the son of Vortigern, was erected on the margin of thesea-shore, as a landmark formidable to the Saxons, whom he had thricevanquished in the fields of Kent. Ambrosius Aurelian was descended froma noble family of Romans; [138] his modesty was equal to his valor, andhis valor, till the last fatal action, [139] was crowned with splendidsuccess. But every British name is effaced by the illustrious name ofArthur, [140] the hereditary prince of the Silures, in South Wales, and the elective king or general of the nation. According to the mostrational account, he defeated, in twelve successive battles, the Anglesof the North, and the Saxons of the West; but the declining age of thehero was imbittered by popular ingratitude and domestic misfortunes. Theevents of his life are less interesting than the singular revolutionsof his fame. During a period of five hundred years the tradition of hisexploits was preserved, and rudely embellished, by the obscure bards ofWales and Armorica, who were odious to the Saxons, and unknown tothe rest of mankind. The pride and curiosity of the Norman conquerorsprompted them to inquire into the ancient history of Britain: theylistened with fond credulity to the tale of Arthur, and eagerlyapplauded the merit of a prince who had triumphed over the Saxons, theircommon enemies. His romance, transcribed in the Latin of Jeffrey ofMonmouth, and afterwards translated into the fashionable idiom of thetimes, was enriched with the various, though incoherent, ornaments whichwere familiar to the experience, the learning, or the fancy, of thetwelfth century. The progress of a Phrygian colony, from the Tyber tothe Thames, was easily ingrafted on the fable of the Aeneid; and theroyal ancestors of Arthur derived their origin from Troy, and claimedtheir alliance with the Caesars. His trophies were decorated withcaptive provinces and Imperial titles; and his Danish victories avengedthe recent injuries of his country. The gallantry and superstitionof the British hero, his feasts and tournaments, and the memorableinstitution of his Knights of the Round Table, were faithfully copiedfrom the reigning manners of chivalry; and the fabulous exploits ofUther's son appear less incredible than the adventures which wereachieved by the enterprising valor of the Normans. Pilgrimage, andthe holy wars, introduced into Europe the specious miracles of Arabianmagic. Fairies and giants, flying dragons, and enchanted palaces, wereblended with the more simple fictions of the West; and the fate ofBritain depended on the art, or the predictions, of Merlin. Every nationembraced and adorned the popular romance of Arthur, and the Knights ofthe Round Table: their names were celebrated in Greece and Italy; andthe voluminous tales of Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristram were devoutlystudied by the princes and nobles, who disregarded the genuine heroesand historians of antiquity. At length the light of science and reasonwas rekindled; the talisman was broken; the visionary fabric melted intoair; and by a natural, though unjust, reverse of the public opinion, the severity of the present age is inclined to question the existence ofArthur. [141]

[Footnote 138: Bede, who in his chronicle (p. 28) places Ambrosius underthe reign of Zeno, (A. D. 474-491, ) observes, that his parents had been"purpura induti;" which he explains, in his ecclesiastical history, by "regium nomen et insigne ferentibus, " (l. I. C. 16, p. 53. ) Theexpression of Nennius (c. 44, p. 110, edit. Gale) is still moresingular, "Unus de consulibus gentis Romanicae est pater meus. "]

[Footnote 139: By the unanimous, though doubtful, conjecture of ourantiquarians, Ambrosius is confounded with Natanleod, who (A. D. 508)lost his own life, and five thousand of his subjects, in a battleagainst Cerdic, the West Saxon, (Chron. Saxon. P. 17, 18. )]

[Footnote 140: As I am a stranger to the Welsh bards, Myrdhin, Llomarch, and Taliessin, my faith in the existence and exploits of Arthurprincipally rests on the simple and circumstantial testimony of Nennius. (Hist. Brit. C. 62, 63, p. 114. ) Mr. Whitaker, (Hist. Of Manchester, vol. Ii. P. 31-71) had framed an interesting, and even probable, narrative of the wars of Arthur: though it is impossible to allow thereality of the round table. * Note: I presume that Gibbon means LlywarchHen, or the Aged. --The Elegies of this Welsh prince and bard have beenpublished by Mr. Owen; to whose works and in the Myvyrian Archaeology, slumbers much curious information on the subject of Welsh tradition andpoetry. But the Welsh antiquarians have never obtained a hearing fromthe public; they have had no Macpherson to compensate for his corruptionof their poetic legends by forcing them into popularity. --See also Mr. Sharon Turner's Essay on the Welsh Bards. --M. ]

[Footnote 141: The progress of romance, and the state of learning, inthe middle ages, are illustrated by Mr. Thomas Warton, with the taste ofa poet, and the minute diligence of an antiquarian. I have derived muchinstruction from the two learned dissertations prefixed to the firstvolume of his History of English Poetry. * Note: These valuabledissertations should not now be read without the notes and preliminaryessay of the late editor, Mr. Price, which, in point of taste andfulness of information, are worthy of accompanying and completingthose of Warton. --M. ] Resistance, if it cannot avert, must increase themiseries of conquest; and conquest has never appeared more dreadfuland destructive than in the hands of the Saxons; who hated the valor oftheir enemies, disdained the faith of treaties, and violated, withoutremorse, the most sacred objects of the Christian worship. The fields ofbattle might be traced, almost in every district, by monuments of bones;the fragments of falling towers were stained with blood; the last of theBritons, without distinction of age or sex, was massacred, [142] inthe ruins of Anderida; [143] and the repetition of such calamities wasfrequent and familiar under the Saxon heptarchy. The arts and religion, the laws and language, which the Romans had so carefully planted inBritain, were extirpated by their barbarous successors. After thedestruction of the principal churches, the bishops, who had declinedthe crown of martyrdom, retired with the holy relics into Wales andArmorica; the remains of their flocks were left destitute of anyspiritual food; the practice, and even the remembrance, of Christianitywere abolished; and the British clergy might obtain some comfortfrom the damnation of the idolatrous strangers. The kings of Francemaintained the privileges of their Roman subjects; but the ferociousSaxons trampled on the laws of Rome, and of the emperors. Theproceedings of civil and criminal jurisdiction, the titles of honor, theforms of office, the ranks of society, and even the domestic rights ofmarriage, testament, and inheritance, were finally suppressed; and theindiscriminate crowd of noble and plebeian slaves was governed by thetraditionary customs, which had been coarsely framed for the shepherdsand pirates of Germany. The language of science, of business, and ofconversation, which had been introduced by the Romans, was lost in thegeneral desolation. A sufficient number of Latin or Celtic words mightbe assumed by the Germans, to express their new wants and ideas; [144]but those illiterate Pagans preserved and established the use of theirnational dialect. [145] Almost every name, conspicuous either in thechurch or state, reveals its Teutonic origin; [146] and the geographyof England was universally inscribed with foreign characters andappellations. The example of a revolution, so rapid and so complete, maynot easily be found; but it will excite a probable suspicion, that thearts of Rome were less deeply rooted in Britain than in Gaul or Spain;and that the native rudeness of the country and its inhabitants wascovered by a thin varnish of Italian manners. 

[Footnote 142: Hoc anno (490) Aella et Cissa obsederuntAndredes-Ceaster; et interfecerunt omnes qui id incoluerunt; adeo ut neunus Brito ibi superstes fuerit, (Chron. Saxon. P. 15;) an expressionmore dreadful in its simplicity, than all the vague and tediouslamentations of the British Jeremiah. ]

[Footnote 143: Andredes-Ceaster, or Anderida, is placed by Camden(Britannia, vol. I. P. 258) at Newenden, in the marshy grounds of Kent, which might be formerly covered by the sea, and on the edge of the greatforest (Anderida) which overspread so large a portion of Hampshire andSussex. ]

[Footnote 144: Dr. Johnson affirms, that few English words are ofBritish extraction. Mr. Whitaker, who understands the British language, has discovered more than three thousand, and actually produces a longand various catalogue, (vol. Ii. P. 235-329. ) It is possible, indeed, that many of these words may have been imported from the Latin or Saxoninto the native idiom of Britain. * Note: Dr. Prichard's very curiousresearches, which connect the Celtic, as well as the Teutonic languageswith the Indo-European class, make it still more difficult to decidebetween the Celtic or Teutonic origin of English words. --See Prichard onthe Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations Oxford, 1831. --M. ]

[Footnote 145: In the beginning of the seventh century, the Franks andthe Anglo-Saxons mutually understood each other's language, which wasderived from the same Teutonic root, (Bede, l. I. C. 25, p. 60. )]

[Footnote 146: After the first generation of Italian, or Scottish, missionaries, the dignities of the church were filled with Saxonproselytes. ]

This strange alteration has persuaded historians, and even philosophers, that the provincials of Britain were totally exterminated; and thatthe vacant land was again peopled by the perpetual influx, and rapidincrease, of the German colonies. Three hundred thousand Saxons are saidto have obeyed the summons of Hengist; [147] the entire emigation of theAngles was attested, in the age of Bede, by the solitude of their nativecountry; [148] and our experience has shown the free propagation of thehuman race, if they are cast on a fruitful wilderness, where their stepsare unconfined, and their subsistence is plentiful. The Saxon kingdomsdisplayed the face of recent discovery and cultivation; the townswere small, the villages were distant; the husbandry was languid andunskilful; four sheep were equivalent to an acre of the best land; [149]an ample space of wood and morass was resigned to the vague dominion ofnature; and the modern bishopric of Durham, the whole territory from theTyne to the Tees, had returned to its primitive state of a savageand solitary forest. [150] Such imperfect population might have beensupplied, in some generations, by the English colonies; but neitherreason nor facts can justify the unnatural supposition, that the Saxonsof Britain remained alone in the desert which they had subdued. Afterthe sanguinary Barbarians had secured their dominion, and gratifiedtheir revenge, it was their interest to preserve the peasants as well asthe cattle, of the unresisting country. In each successive revolution, the patient herd becomes the property of its new masters; and thesalutary compact of food and labor is silently ratified by their mutualnecessities. Wilfrid, the apostle of Sussex, [151] accepted from hisroyal convert the gift of the Vpeninsula of Selsey, near Chichester, with the persons and property of its inhabitants, who then amountedto eighty-seven families. He released them at once from spiritual andtemporal bondage; and two hundred and fifty slaves of both sexes werebaptized by their indulgent master. The kingdom of Sussex, which spreadfrom the sea to the Thames, contained seven thousand families; twelvehundred were ascribed to the Isle of Wight; and, if we multiply thisvague computation, it may seem probable, that England was cultivated bya million of servants, or villains, who were attached to the estates oftheir arbitrary landlords. The indigent Barbarians were often temptedto sell their children, or themselves into perpetual, and even foreign, bondage; [152] yet the special exemptions which were granted to nationalslaves, [153] sufficiently declare that they were much less numerousthan the strangers and captives, who had lost their liberty, or changedtheir masters, by the accidents of war. When time and religion hadmitigated the fierce spirit of the Anglo-Saxons, the laws encouragedthe frequent practice of manumission; and their subjects, of Welshor Cambrian extraction, assumed the respectable station of inferiorfreemen, possessed of lands, and entitled to the rights of civilsociety. [154] Such gentle treatment might secure the allegiance of afierce people, who had been recently subdued on the confines of Walesand Cornwall. The sage Ina, the legislator of Wessex, united the twonations in the bands of domestic alliance; and four British lords ofSomersetshire may be honorably distinguished in the court of a Saxonmonarch. [155]

[Footnote 147: Carte's History of England, vol. I. P. 195. He quotes theBritish historians; but I much fear, that Jeffrey of Monmouth (l. Vi. C. 15) is his only witness. ]

[Footnote 148: Bede, Hist. Ecclesiast. L. I. C. 15, p. 52. The fact isprobable, and well attested: yet such was the loose intermixture ofthe German tribes, that we find, in a subsequent period, the law of theAngli and Warini of Germany, (Lindenbrog. Codex, p. 479-486. )]

[Footnote 149: See Dr. Henry's useful and laborious History of GreatBritain, vol. Ii. P. 388. ]

[Footnote 150: Quicquid (says John of Tinemouth) inter Tynam et Tesamfluvios extitit, sola eremi vastitudo tunc temporis fuit, et idcirconullius ditioni servivit, eo quod sola indomitorum et sylvestriumanimalium spelunca et habitatio fuit, (apud Carte, vol. I. P. 195. ) Frombishop Nicholson (English Historical Library, p. 65, 98) I understandthat fair copies of John of Tinemouth's ample collections are preservedin the libraries of Oxford, Lambeth, &c. ]

[Footnote 151: See the mission of Wilfrid, &c. , in Bede, Hist. Eccles. L. Iv. C. 13, 16, p. 155, 156, 159. ]

[Footnote 152: From the concurrent testimony of Bede (l. Ii. C. 1, p. 78) and William of Malmsbury, (l. Iii. P. 102, ) it appears, thatthe Anglo-Saxons, from the first to the last age, persisted in thisunnatural practice. Their youths were publicly sold in the market ofRome. ]

[Footnote 153: According to the laws of Ina, they could not be lawfullysold beyond the seas. ]

[Footnote 154: The life of a Wallus, or Cambricus, homo, who possessed ahyde of land, is fixed at 120 shillings, by the same laws (of Ina, tit. Xxxii. In Leg. Anglo-Saxon. P. 20) which allowed 200 shillings for afree Saxon, 1200 for a Thane, (see likewise Leg. Anglo-Saxon. P. 71. )We may observe, that these legislators, the West Saxons and Mercians, continued their British conquests after they became Christians. The lawsof the four kings of Kent do not condescend to notice the existence ofany subject Britons. ]

[Footnote 155: See Carte's Hist. Of England, vol. I. P. 278. ]

The independent Britons appear to have relapsed into the state oforiginal barbarism, from whence they had been imperfectly reclaimed. Separated by their enemies from the rest of mankind, they soon becamean object of scandal and abhorrence to the Catholic world. [156]Christianity was still professed in the mountains of Wales; but the rudeschismatics, in the form of the clerical tonsure, and in the day of thecelebration of Easter, obstinately resisted the imperious mandatesof the Roman pontiffs. The use of the Latin language was insensiblyabolished, and the Britons were deprived of the art and learning whichItaly communicated to her Saxon proselytes. In Wales and Armorica, the Celtic tongue, the native idiom of the West, was preserved andpropagated; and the Bards, who had been the companions of the Druids, were still protected, in the sixteenth century, by the laws ofElizabeth. Their chief, a respectable officer of the courts of Pengwern, or Aberfraw, or Caermarthen, accompanied the king's servants to war: themonarchy of the Britons, which he sung in the front of battle, excitedtheir courage, and justified their depredations; and the songsterclaimed for his legitimate prize the fairest heifer of the spoil. His subordinate ministers, the masters and disciples of vocal andinstrumental music, visited, in their respective circuits, the royal, the noble, and the plebeian houses; and the public poverty, almostexhausted by the clergy, was oppressed by the importunate demands of thebards. Their rank and merit were ascertained by solemn trials, and thestrong belief of supernatural inspiration exalted the fancy of the poet, and of his audience. [157] The last retreats of Celtic freedom, the extreme territories of Gaul and Britain, were less adapted toagriculture than to pasturage: the wealth of the Britons consisted intheir flocks and herds; milk and flesh were their ordinary food; andbread was sometimes esteemed, or rejected, as a foreign luxury. Libertyhad peopled the mountains of Wales and the morasses of Armorica; buttheir populousness has been maliciously ascribed to the loose practiceof polygamy; and the houses of these licentious barbarians have beensupposed to contain ten wives, and perhaps fifty children. [158] Theirdisposition was rash and choleric; they were bold in action and inspeech; [159] and as they were ignorant of the arts of peace, theyalternately indulged their passions in foreign and domestic war. The cavalry of Armorica, the spearmen of Gwent, and the archers ofMerioneth, were equally formidable; but their poverty could seldomprocure either shields or helmets; and the inconvenient weight wouldhave retarded the speed and agility of their desultory operations. Oneof the greatest of the English monarchs was requested to satisfy thecuriosity of a Greek emperor concerning the state of Britain; and HenryII. Could assert, from his personal experience, that Wales was inhabitedby a race of naked warriors, who encountered, without fear, thedefensive armor of their enemies. [160]

[Footnote 156: At the conclusion of his history, (A. D. 731, ) Bededescribes the ecclesiastical state of the island, and censures theimplacable, though impotent, hatred of the Britons against the Englishnation, and the Catholic church, (l. V. C. 23, p. 219. )]

[Footnote 157: Mr. Pennant's Tour in Wales (p. 426-449) has furnished mewith a curious and interesting account of the Welsh bards. In the year1568, a session was held at Caerwys by the special command of QueenElizabeth, and regular degrees in vocal and instrumental music wereconferred on fifty-five minstrels. The prize (a silver harp) wasadjudged by the Mostyn family. ]

[Footnote 158: Regio longe lateque diffusa, milite, magis quam credibilesit, referta. Partibus equidem in illis miles unus quinquaginta generat, sortitus more barbaro denas aut amplius uxores. This reproach of Williamof Poitiers (in the Historians of France, tom. Xi. P. 88) is disclaimedby the Benedictine editors. ]

[Footnote 159: Giraldus Cambrensis confines this gift of bold and readyeloquence to the Romans, the French, and the Britons. The maliciousWelshman insinuates that the English taciturnity might possibly be theeffect of their servitude under the Normans. ]

[Footnote 160: The picture of Welsh and Armorican manners is drawnfrom Giraldus, (Descript. Cambriae, c. 6-15, inter Script. Camden. P. 886-891, ) and the authors quoted by the Abbe de Vertot, (Hist. Critiquetom. Ii. P. 259-266. )]

By the revolution of Britain, the limits of science, as well as ofempire, were contracted. The dark cloud, which had been cleared by thePhoenician discoveries, and finally dispelled by the arms of Caesar, again settled on the shores of the Atlantic, and a Roman province wasagain lost among the fabulous Islands of the Ocean. One hundred andfifty years after the reign of Honorius, the gravest historian of thetimes [161] describes the wonders of a remote isle, whose eastern andwestern parts are divided by an antique wall, the boundary of lifeand death, or, more properly, of truth and fiction. The east is a faircountry, inhabited by a civilized people: the air is healthy, the watersare pure and plentiful, and the earth yields her regular and fruitfulincrease. In the west, beyond the wall, the air is infectious andmortal; the ground is covered with serpents; and this dreary solitudeis the region of departed spirits, who are transported from the oppositeshores in substantial boats, and by living rowers. Some families offishermen, the subjects of the Franks, are excused from tribute, inconsideration of the mysterious office which is performed by theseCharons of the ocean. Each in his turn is summoned, at the hour ofmidnight, to hear the voices, and even the names, of the ghosts: he issensible of their weight, and he feels himself impelled by an unknown, but irresistible power. After this dream of fancy, we read withastonishment, that the name of this island is Brittia; that it lies inthe ocean, against the mouth of the Rhine, and less than thirty milesfrom the continent; that it is possessed by three nations, the Frisians, the Angles, and the Britons; and that some Angles had appeared atConstantinople, in the train of the French ambassadors. From theseambassadors Procopius might be informed of a singular, though notimprobable, adventure, which announces the spirit, rather than thedelicacy, of an English heroine. She had been betrothed to Radiger, kingof the Varni, a tribe of Germans who touched the ocean and the Rhine;but the perfidious lover was tempted, by motives of policy, to preferhis father's widow, the sister of Theodebert, king of the Franks. [162]The forsaken princess of the Angles, instead of bewailing, revenged herdisgrace. Her warlike subjects are said to have been ignorant of theuse, and even of the form, of a horse; but she boldly sailed fromBritain to the mouth of the Rhine, with a fleet of four hundred ships, and an army of one hundred thousand men. After the loss of a battle, the captive Radiger implored the mercy of his victorious bride, whogenerously pardoned his offence, dismissed her rival, and compelled theking of the Varni to discharge with honor and fidelity the duties ofa husband. [163] This gallant exploit appears to be the last navalenterprise of the Anglo-Saxons. The arts of navigation, by which theyacquired the empire of Britain and of the sea, were soon neglectedby the indolent Barbarians, who supinely renounced all the commercialadvantages of their insular situation. Seven independent kingdomswere agitated by perpetual discord; and the British world was seldomconnected, either in peace or war, with the nations of the Continent. [164]

[Footnote 161: See Procopius de Bell. Gothic. L. Iv. C. 20, p. 620-625. The Greek historian is himself so confounded by the wonders which herelates, that he weakly attempts to distinguish the islands ofBritia and Britain, which he has identified by so many inseparablecircumstances. ]

[Footnote 162: Theodebert, grandson of Clovis, and king of Austrasia, was the most powerful and warlike prince of the age; and this remarkableadventure may be placed between the years 534 and 547, the extremeterms of his reign. His sister Theudechildis retired to Sens, whereshe founded monasteries, and distributed alms, (see the notes of theBenedictine editors, in tom. Ii. P. 216. ) If we may credit the praisesof Fortunatus, (l. Vi. Carm. 5, in tom. Ii. P. 507, ) Radiger wasdeprived of a most valuable wife. ]

[Footnote 163: Perhaps she was the sister of one of the princes orchiefs of the Angles, who landed in 527, and the following years, between the Humber and the Thames, and gradually founded the kingdoms ofEast Anglia and Mercia. The English writers are ignorant of her name andexistence: but Procopius may have suggested to Mr. Rowe the characterand situation of Rodogune in the tragedy of the Royal Convert. ]

[Footnote 164: In the copious history of Gregory of Tours, we cannotfind any traces of hostile or friendly intercourse between France andEngland except in the marriage of the daughter of Caribert, king ofParis, quam regis cujusdam in Cantia filius matrimonio copulavit, (l. Ix. C. 28, in tom. Ii. P. 348. ) The bishop of Tours ended his historyand his life almost immediately before the conversion of Kent. ]

I have now accomplished the laborious narrative of the decline and fallof the Roman empire, from the fortunate age of Trajan and the Antonines, to its total extinction in the West, about five centuries after theChristian era. At that unhappy period, the Saxons fiercely struggledwith the natives for the possession of Britain: Gaul and Spain weredivided between the powerful monarchies of the Franks and Visigoths, andthe dependent kingdoms of the Suevi and Burgundians: Africa was exposedto the cruel persecution of the Vandals, and the savage insults of theMoors: Rome and Italy, as far as the banks of the Danube, were afflictedby an army of Barbarian mercenaries, whose lawless tyranny was succeededby the reign of Theodoric the Ostrogoth. All the subjects of the empire, who, by the use of the Latin language, more particularly deservedthe name and privileges of Romans, were oppressed by the disgrace andcalamities of foreign conquest; and the victorious nations of Germanyestablished a new system of manners and government in the westerncountries of Europe. The majesty of Rome was faintly represented bythe princes of Constantinople, the feeble and imaginary successors ofAugustus. Yet they continued to reign over the East, from the Danube tothe Nile and Tigris; the Gothic and Vandal kingdoms of Italy and Africawere subverted by the arms of Justinian; and the history of the Greekemperors may still afford a long series of instructive lessons, andinteresting revolutions. 

Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis. --Part VI. 

General Observations On The Fall Of The Roman Empire In The West. 

The Greeks, after their country had been reduced into a province, imputed the triumphs of Rome, not to the merit, but to the fortune, ofthe republic. The inconstant goddess, who so blindly distributes andresumes her favors, had now consented (such was the language of enviousflattery) to resign her wings, to descend from her globe, and to fix herfirm and immutable throne on the banks of the Tyber. [1000] A wiser Greek, who has composed, with a philosophic spirit, the memorable historyof his own times, deprived his countrymen of this vain and delusivecomfort, by opening to their view the deep foundations of the greatnessof Rome. [2000] The fidelity of the citizens to each other, and to thestate, was confirmed by the habits of education, and the prejudices ofreligion. Honor, as well as virtue, was the principle of the republic;the ambitious citizens labored to deserve the solemn glories of atriumph; and the ardor of the Roman youth was kindled into activeemulation, as often as they beheld the domestic images of theirancestors. [3000] The temperate struggles of the patricians and plebeianshad finally established the firm and equal balance of the constitution;which united the freedom of popular assemblies, with the authority andwisdom of a senate, and the executive powers of a regal magistrate. Whenthe consul displayed the standard of the republic, each citizen boundhimself, by the obligation of an oath, to draw his sword in the causeof his country, till he had discharged the sacred duty by a militaryservice of ten years. This wise institution continually poured into thefield the rising generations of freemen and soldiers; and their numberswere reenforced by the warlike and populous states of Italy, who, aftera brave resistance, had yielded to the valor and embraced the alliance, of the Romans. The sage historian, who excited the virtue of the youngerScipio, and beheld the ruin of Carthage, [4000] has accurately describedtheir military system; their levies, arms, exercises, subordination, marches, encampments; and the invincible legion, superior in activestrength to the Macedonian phalanx of Philip and Alexander. From theseinstitutions of peace and war Polybius has deduced the spirit andsuccess of a people, incapable of fear, and impatient of repose. Theambitious design of conquest, which might have been defeated by theseasonable conspiracy of mankind, was attempted and achieved; and theperpetual violation of justice was maintained by the political virtuesof prudence and courage. The arms of the republic, sometimes vanquishedin battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to theEuphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the Ocean; and the images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and theirkings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome. [5000]

[Footnote 1000: Such are the figurative expressions of Plutarch, (Opera, tom. Ii. P. 318, edit. Wechel, ) to whom, on the faith of his sonLamprias, (Fabricius, Bibliot. Graec. Tom. Iii. P. 341, ) I shall boldlyimpute the malicious declamation. The same opinions had prevailed amongthe Greeks two hundred and fifty years before Plutarch; and to confutethem is the professed intention of Polybius, (Hist. L. I. P. 90, edit. Gronov. Amstel. 1670. )]

[Footnote 2000: See the inestimable remains of the sixth book of Polybius, and many other parts of his general history, particularly a digressionin the seventeenth book, in which he compares the phalanx and thelegion. ]

[Footnote 3000: Sallust, de Bell. Jugurthin. C. 4. Such were the generousprofessions of P. Scipio and Q. Maximus. The Latin historian had readand most probably transcribes, Polybius, their contemporary and friend. ]

[Footnote 4000: While Carthage was in flames, Scipio repeated two linesof the Iliad, which express the destruction of Troy, acknowledging toPolybius, his friend and preceptor, (Polyb. In Excerpt. De Virtut. EtVit. Tom. Ii. P. 1455-1465, ) that while he recollected the vicissitudesof human affairs, he inwardly applied them to the future calamities ofRome, (Appian. In Libycis, p. 136, edit. Toll. )]

[Footnote 5000: See Daniel, ii. 31-40. "And the fourth kingdom shall bestrong as iron; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth allthings. " The remainder of the prophecy (the mixture of iron and clay)was accomplished, according to St. Jerom, in his own time. Sicut enimin principio nihil Romano Imperio fortius et durius, ita in fine rerumnihil imbecillius; quum et in bellis civilibus et adversus diversasnationes, aliarum gentium barbararum auxilio indigemus, (Opera, tom. V. P. 572. )]

The rise of a city, which swelled into an empire, may deserve, as asingular prodigy, the reflection of a philosophic mind. But the declineof Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destructionmultiplied with the extent of conquest; and as soon as time or accidenthad removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded tothe pressure of its own weight. The story of its ruin is simple andobvious; and instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, weshould rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long. The victoriouslegions, who, in distant wars, acquired the vices of strangers andmercenaries, first oppressed the freedom of the republic, and afterwardsviolated the majesty of the purple. The emperors, anxious for theirpersonal safety and the public peace, were reduced to the base expedientof corrupting the discipline which rendered them alike formidable totheir sovereign and to the enemy; the vigor of the military governmentwas relaxed, and finally dissolved, by the partial institutionsof Constantine; and the Roman world was overwhelmed by a deluge ofBarbarians. 

The decay of Rome has been frequently ascribed to the translation of theseat of empire; but this History has already shown, that the powersof government were divided, rather than removed. The throne ofConstantinople was erected in the East; while the West was stillpossessed by a series of emperors who held their residence in Italy, and claimed their equal inheritance of the legions and provinces. Thisdangerous novelty impaired the strength, and fomented the vices, of adouble reign: the instruments of an oppressive and arbitrary system weremultiplied; and a vain emulation of luxury, not of merit, was introducedand supported between the degenerate successors of Theodosius. Extremedistress, which unites the virtue of a free people, imbitters thefactions of a declining monarchy. The hostile favorites of Arcadius andHonorius betrayed the republic to its common enemies; and the Byzantinecourt beheld with indifference, perhaps with pleasure, the disgraceof Rome, the misfortunes of Italy, and the loss of the West. Under thesucceeding reigns, the alliance of the two empires was restored; but theaid of the Oriental Romans was tardy, doubtful, and ineffectual; and thenational schism of the Greeks and Latins was enlarged by the perpetualdifference of language and manners, of interests, and even of religion. Yet the salutary event approved in some measure the judgment ofConstantine. During a long period of decay, his impregnable cityrepelled the victorious armies of Barbarians, protected the wealth ofAsia, and commanded, both in peace and war, the important straitswhich connect the Euxine and Mediterranean Seas. The foundation ofConstantinople more essentially contributed to the preservation of theEast, than to the ruin of the West. 

As the happiness of a future life is the great object of religion, wemay hear without surprise or scandal, that the introduction or at leastthe abuse, of Christianity had some influence on the decline and fallof the Roman empire. The clergy successfully preached the doctrinesof patience and pusillanimity: the active virtues of society werediscouraged; and the last remains of military spirit were buried in thecloister: a large portion of public and private wealth was consecratedto the specious demands of charity and devotion; and the soldiers' paywas lavished on the useless multitudes of both sexes, who couldonly plead the merits of abstinence and chastity. [511] Faith, zeal, curiosity, and the more earthly passions of malice and ambition, kindledthe flame of theological discord; the church, and even the state, weredistracted by religious factions, whose conflicts were sometimes bloody, and always implacable; the attention of the emperors was diverted fromcamps to synods; the Roman world was oppressed by a new species oftyranny; and the persecuted sects became the secret enemies of theircountry. Yet party spirit, however pernicious or absurd, is a principleof union as well as of dissension. The bishops, from eighteen hundredpulpits, inculcated the duty of passive obedience to a lawfuland orthodox sovereign; their frequent assemblies, and perpetualcorrespondence, maintained the communion of distant churches; and thebenevolent temper of the gospel was strengthened, though confined, bythe spiritual alliance of the Catholics. The sacred indolence of themonks was devoutly embraced by a servile and effeminate age; but ifsuperstition had not afforded a decent retreat, the same vices wouldhave tempted the unworthy Romans to desert, from baser motives, thestandard of the republic. Religious precepts are easily obeyed, whichindulge and sanctify the natural inclinations of their votaries; butthe pure and genuine influence of Christianity may be traced in itsbeneficial, though imperfect, effects on the Barbarian proselytes of theNorth. If the decline of the Roman empire was hastened by the conversionof Constantine, his victorious religion broke the violence of the fall, and mollified the ferocious temper of the conquerors. 

[Footnote 511: It might be a curious speculation, how far the purermorals of the genuine and more active Christians may have compensated, in the population of the Roman empire, for the secession of such numbersinto inactive and unproductive celibacy. --M. ]

This awful revolution may be usefully applied to the instruction ofthe present age. It is the duty of a patriot to prefer and promote theexclusive interest and glory of his native country: but a philosmaybe permitted to enlarge his views, and to consider Europe as one greatrepublic whose various inhabitants have obtained almost the same levelof politeness and cultivation. The balance of power will continue tofluctuate, and the prosperity of our own, or the neighboring kingdoms, may be alternately exalted or depressed; but these partial events cannotessentially injure our general state of happiness, the system of arts, and laws, and manners, which so advantageously distinguish, above therest of mankind, the Europeans and their colonies. The savage nationsof the globe are the common enemies of civilized society; and we mayinquire, with anxious curiosity, whether Europe is still threatened witha repetition of those calamities, which formerly oppressed the arms andinstitutions of Rome. Perhaps the same reflections will illustratethe fall of that mighty empire, and explain the probable causes of ouractual security. 

I. The Romans were ignorant of the extent of their danger, and thenumber of their enemies. Beyond the Rhine and Danube, the Northerncountries of Europe and Asia were filled with innumerable tribes ofhunters and shepherds, poor, voracious, and turbulent; bold in arms, and impatient to ravish the fruits of industry. The Barbarian world wasagitated by the rapid impulse of war; and the peace of Gaul or Italy wasshaken by the distant revolutions of China. The Huns, who fled before avictorious enemy, directed their march towards the West; and the torrentwas swelled by the gradual accession of captives and allies. The flyingtribes who yielded to the Huns assumed in their turn the spirit ofconquest; the endless column of Barbarians pressed on the Roman empirewith accumulated weight; and, if the foremost were destroyed, the vacantspace was instantly replenished by new assailants. Such formidableemigrations can no longer issue from the North; and the long repose, which has been imputed to the decrease of population, is the happyconsequence of the progress of arts and agriculture. Instead of somerude villages, thinly scattered among its woods and morasses, Germanynow produces a list of two thousand three hundred walled towns:the Christian kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden, and Poland, have beensuccessively established; and the Hanse merchants, with the Teutonicknights, have extended their colonies along the coast of the Baltic, as far as the Gulf of Finland. From the Gulf of Finland to the EasternOcean, Russia now assumes the form of a powerful and civilized empire. The plough, the loom, and the forge, are introduced on the banks of theVolga, the Oby, and the Lena; and the fiercest of the Tartar hordes havebeen taught to tremble and obey. The reign of independent Barbarism isnow contracted to a narrow span; and the remnant of Calmucks or Uzbecks, whose forces may be almost numbered, cannot seriously excite theapprehensions of the great republic of Europe. [6000] Yet this apparentsecurity should not tempt us to forget, that new enemies, and unknowndangers, may possibly arise from some obscure people, scarcely visiblein the map of the world, The Arabs or Saracens, who spread theirconquests from India to Spain, had languished in poverty and contempt, till Mahomet breathed into those savage bodies the soul of enthusiasm. 

[Footnote 6000: The French and English editors of the Genealogical Historyof the Tartars have subjoined a curious, though imperfect, description, of their present state. We might question the independence of theCalmucks, or Eluths, since they have been recently vanquished bythe Chinese, who, in the year 1759, subdued the Lesser Bucharia, andadvanced into the country of Badakshan, near the source of the Oxus, (Memoires sur les Chinois, tom. I. P. 325-400. ) But these conquestsare precarious, nor will I venture to insure the safety of the Chineseempire. ]

II. The empire of Rome was firmly established by the singular andperfect coalition of its members. The subject nations, resigning thehope, and even the wish, of independence, embraced the character ofRoman citizens; and the provinces of the West were reluctantly tornby the Barbarians from the bosom of their mother country. [7000] But thisunion was purchased by the loss of national freedom and military spirit;and the servile provinces, destitute of life and motion, expected theirsafety from the mercenary troops and governors, who were directed by theorders of a distant court. The happiness of a hundred millions dependedon the personal merit of one or two men, perhaps children, whose mindswere corrupted by education, luxury, and despotic power. The deepestwounds were inflicted on the empire during the minorities of the sonsand grandsons of Theodosius; and, after those incapable princes seemedto attain the age of manhood, they abandoned the church to the bishops, the state to the eunuchs, and the provinces to the Barbarians. Europeis now divided into twelve powerful, though unequal kingdoms, threerespectable commonwealths, and a variety of smaller, though independent, states: the chances of royal and ministerial talents are multiplied, atleast, with the number of its rulers; and a Julian, or Semiramis, mayreign in the North, while Arcadius and Honorius again slumber on thethrones of the South. The abuses of tyranny are restrained by themutual influence of fear and shame; republics have acquired order andstability; monarchies have imbibed the principles of freedom, or, atleast, of moderation; and some sense of honor and justice is introducedinto the most defective constitutions by the general manners of thetimes. In peace, the progress of knowledge and industry is acceleratedby the emulation of so many active rivals: in war, the Europeanforces are exercised by temperate and undecisive contests. If a savageconqueror should issue from the deserts of Tartary, he must repeatedlyvanquish the robust peasants of Russia, the numerous armies of Germany, the gallant nobles of France, and the intrepid freemen of Britain;who, perhaps, might confederate for their common defence. Shouldthe victorious Barbarians carry slavery and desolation as far as theAtlantic Ocean, ten thousand vessels would transport beyond theirpursuit the remains of civilized society; and Europe would reviveand flourish in the American world, which is already filled with hercolonies and institutions. [8000]

[Footnote 7000: The prudent reader will determine how far this generalproposition is weakened by the revolt of the Isaurians, the independenceof Britain and Armorica, the Moorish tribes, or the Bagaudae of Gaul andSpain, (vol. I. P. 328, vol. Iii. P. 315, vol. Iii. P. 372, 480. )]

[Footnote 8000: America now contains about six millions of European bloodand descent; and their numbers, at least in the North, are continuallyincreasing. Whatever may be the changes of their political situation, they must preserve the manners of Europe; and we may reflect with somepleasure, that the English language will probably be diffused ever animmense and populous continent. ]

III. Cold, poverty, and a life of danger and fatigue, fortify thestrength and courage of Barbarians. In every age they have oppressed thepolite and peaceful nations of China, India, and Persia, who neglected, and still neglect, to counterbalance these natural powers by theresources of military art. The warlike states of antiquity, Greece, Macedonia, and Rome, educated a race of soldiers; exercised theirbodies, disciplined their courage, multiplied their forces by regularevolutions, and converted the iron, which they possessed, into strongand serviceable weapons. But this superiority insensibly declined withtheir laws and manners; and the feeble policy of Constantine and hissuccessors armed and instructed, for the ruin of the empire, the rudevalor of the Barbarian mercenaries. The military art has been changedby the invention of gunpowder; which enables man to command the twomost powerful agents of nature, air and fire. Mathematics, chemistry, mechanics, architecture, have been applied to the service of war; andthe adverse parties oppose to each other the most elaborate modes ofattack and of defence. Historians may indignantly observe, that thepreparations of a siege would found and maintain a flourishing colony;[9000] yet we cannot be displeased, that the subversion of a city should bea work of cost and difficulty; or that an industrious people should beprotected by those arts, which survive and supply the decay of militaryvirtue. Cannon and fortifications now form an impregnable barrieragainst the Tartar horse; and Europe is secure from any futureirruptions of Barbarians; since, before they can conquer, they mustcease to be barbarous. Their gradual advances in the science of warwould always be accompanied, as we may learn from the example of Russia, with a proportionable improvement in the arts of peace and civil policy;and they themselves must deserve a place among the polished nations whomthey subdue. 

[Footnote 9000: On avoit fait venir (for the siege of Turin) 140 piecesde canon; et il est a remarquer que chaque gros canon monte revienta environ ecus: il y avoit 100, 000 boulets; 106, 000 cartouches d'unefacon, et 300, 000 d'une autre; 21, 000 bombes; 27, 700 grenades, 15, 000sacs a terre, 30, 000 instruments pour la pionnage; 1, 200, 000 livres depoudre. Ajoutez a ces munitions, le plomb, le fer, et le fer-blanc, lescordages, tout ce qui sert aux mineurs, le souphre, le salpetre, lesoutils de toute espece. Il est certain que les frais de tous cespreparatifs de destruction suffiroient pour fonder et pour faire fleurirla plus aombreuse colonie. Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV. C. Xx. In hisWorks. Tom. Xi. P. 391. ]

Should these speculations be found doubtful or fallacious, there stillremains a more humble source of comfort and hope. The discoveries ofancient and modern navigators, and the domestic history, or tradition, of the most enlightened nations, represent the human savage, naked bothin body and mind and destitute of laws, of arts, of ideas, and almostof language. [1001] From this abject condition, perhaps the primitive anduniversal state of man, he has gradually arisen to command the animals, to fertilize the earth, to traverse the ocean and to measure theheavens. His progress in the improvement and exercise of his mental andcorporeal faculties [1101] has been irregular and various; infinitely slowin the beginning, and increasing by degrees with redoubled velocity:ages of laborious ascent have been followed by a moment of rapiddownfall; and the several climates of the globe have felt thevicissitudes of light and darkness. Yet the experience of four thousandyears should enlarge our hopes, and diminish our apprehensions: wecannot determine to what height the human species may aspire in theiradvances towards perfection; but it may safely be presumed, that nopeople, unless the face of nature is changed, will relapse into theiroriginal barbarism. The improvements of society may be viewed under athreefold aspect. 1. The poet or philosopher illustrates his age andcountry by the efforts of a single mind; but those superior powers ofreason or fancy are rare and spontaneous productions; and the genius ofHomer, or Cicero, or Newton, would excite less admiration, if they couldbe created by the will of a prince, or the lessons of a preceptor. 2. The benefits of law and policy, of trade and manufactures, of arts andsciences, are more solid and permanent: and many individuals may bequalified, by education and discipline, to promote, in their respectivestations, the interest of the community. But this general order is theeffect of skill and labor; and the complex machinery may be decayed bytime, or injured by violence. 

3. Fortunately for mankind, the more useful, or, at least, morenecessary arts, can be performed without superior talents, or nationalsubordination: without the powers of one, or the union of many. Eachvillage, each family, each individual, must always possess both abilityand inclination to perpetuate the use of fire [1201] and of metals; thepropagation and service of domestic animals; the methods of hunting andfishing; the rudiments of navigation; the imperfect cultivation ofcorn, or other nutritive grain; and the simple practice of the mechanictrades. Private genius and public industry may be extirpated; but thesehardy plants survive the tempest, and strike an everlasting root intothe most unfavorable soil. The splendid days of Augustus and Trajan wereeclipsed by a cloud of ignorance; and the Barbarians subverted the lawsand palaces of Rome. But the scythe, the invention or emblem of Saturn, [1301] still continued annually to mow the harvests of Italy; and thehuman feasts of the Laestrigons [1401] have never been renewed on thecoast of Campania. 

[Footnote 1001: It would be an easy, though tedious, task, to produce theauthorities of poets, philosophers, and historians. I shall thereforecontent myself with appealing to the decisive and authentic testimony ofDiodorus Siculus, (tom. I. L. I. P. 11, 12, l. Iii. P. 184, &c. , edit. Wesseling. ) The Icthyophagi, who in his time wandered along the shoresof the Red Sea, can only be compared to the natives of New Holland, (Dampier's Voyages, vol. I. P. 464-469. ) Fancy, or perhaps reason, maystill suppose an extreme and absolute state of nature far below thelevel of these savages, who had acquired some arts and instruments. ]

[Footnote 1101: See the learned and rational work of the president Goguet, de l'Origine des Loix, des Arts, et des Sciences. He traces from facts, or conjectures, (tom. I. P. 147-337, edit. 12mo. , ) the first and mostdifficult steps of human invention. ]

[Footnote 1201: It is certain, however strange, that many nationshave been ignorant of the use of fire. Even the ingenious natives ofOtaheite, who are destitute of metals, have not invented any earthenvessels capable of sustaining the action of fire, and of communicatingthe heat to the liquids which they contain. ]

[Footnote 1301: Plutarch. Quaest. Rom. In tom. Ii. P. 275. Macrob. Saturnal. L. I. C. 8, p. 152, edit. London. The arrival of Saturn (ofhis religious worship) in a ship, may indicate, that the savage coast ofLatium was first discovered and civilized by the Phoenicians. ]

[Footnote 1401: In the ninth and tenth books of the Odyssey, Homer hasembellished the tales of fearful and credulous sailors, who transformedthe cannibals of Italy and Sicily into monstrous giants. ]

Since the first discovery of the arts, war, commerce, and religiouszeal have diffused, among the savages of the Old and New World, theseinestimable gifts: they have been successively propagated; they cannever be lost. We may therefore acquiesce in the pleasing conclusion, that every age of the world has increased, and still increases, the realwealth, the happiness, the knowledge, and perhaps the virtue, of thehuman race. [1501]

[Footnote 1501: The merit of discovery has too often been stained withavarice, cruelty, and fanaticism; and the intercourse of nationshas produced the communication of disease and prejudice. A singularexception is due to the virtue of our own times and country. The fivegreat voyages, successively undertaken by the command of his presentMajesty, were inspired by the pure and generous love of science and ofmankind. The same prince, adapting his benefactions to the differentstages of society, has founded his school of painting in his capital;and has introduced into the islands of the South Sea the vegetables andanimals most useful to human life. ]