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    <h1>
      HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
    </h1>
    <h2>
      Edward Gibbon, Esq.
    </h2>
    <h2>
      With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman
    </h2>
    <h3>
      Vol. 3
    </h3>
    <h4>
      1782 (Written), 1845 (Revised)
    </h4>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <blockquote>
      <p class="toc">
        <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big>
      </p>
      <p>
        <br />
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link2HCH0001"> Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part
        I. </a>
      </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Death Of Gratian.&mdash;Ruin Of Arianism.&mdash;St. Ambrose.&mdash;First
     Civil War, Against Maximus.&mdash;Character, Administration, And
     Penance Of Theodosius.&mdash;Death Of Valentinian II.&mdash;Second
     Civil War, Against Eugenius.&mdash;Death Of Theodosius.
</pre>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link2HCH0002"> Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part
        II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link2HCH0003"> Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part
        III. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link2HCH0004"> Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part
        IV. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link2HCH0005"> Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part
        V. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link282HCH0001"> Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.&mdash;Part
        I. </a>
      </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Final Destruction Of Paganism.&mdash;Introduction Of The Worship
     Of Saints, And Relics, Among The Christians.
</pre>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link282HCH0002"> Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.&mdash;Part
        II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link282HCH0003"> Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.&mdash;Part
        III. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link292HCH0001"> Chapter XXIX: Division Of Roman Empire
        Between Sons Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part I. </a>
      </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Final Division Of The Roman Empire Between The Sons Of
     Theodosius.&mdash;Reign Of Arcadius And Honorius&mdash;Administration
     Of Rufinus And Stilicho.&mdash;Revolt And Defeat Of Gildo In
     Africa.
</pre>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link292HCH0002"> Chapter XXIX: Division Of Roman Empire
        Between Sons Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link302HCH0001"> Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.&mdash;Part
        I. </a>
      </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Revolt Of The Goths.&mdash;They Plunder Greece.&mdash;Two Great
     Invasions Of Italy By Alaric And Radagaisus.&mdash;They Are
     Repulsed By Stilicho.&mdash;The Germans Overrun Gaul.&mdash;Usurpation
     Of Constantine In The West.&mdash;Disgrace And Death Of Stilicho.
</pre>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link302HCH0002"> Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.&mdash;Part
        II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link302HCH0003"> Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.&mdash;Part
        III. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link302HCH0004"> Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.&mdash;Part
        IV. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link302HCH0005"> Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.&mdash;Part
        V. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link312HCH0001"> Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation
        Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part I. </a>
      </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Invasion Of Italy By Alaric.&mdash;Manners Of The Roman Senate
     And People.&mdash;Rome Is Thrice Besieged, And At Length
     Pillaged, By The Goths.&mdash;Death Of Alaric.&mdash;The Goths
     Evacuate Italy.&mdash;Fall Of Constantine.&mdash;Gaul And Spain Are
     Occupied By The Barbarians. &mdash;Independence Of Britain.
</pre>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link312HCH0002"> Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation
        Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link312HCH0003"> Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation
        Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link312HCH0004"> Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation
        Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part III. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link312HCH0005"> Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation
        Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part IV. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link312HCH0006"> Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation
        Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part V. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link312HCH0007"> Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation
        Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part VI. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link322HCH0001"> Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius,
        Theodosius II.&mdash;Part I. </a>
      </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Arcadius Emperor Of The East.&mdash;Administration And Disgrace
     Of Eutropius.&mdash;Revolt Of Gainas.&mdash;Persecution Of St. John
     Chrysostom.&mdash;Theodosius II. Emperor Of The East.&mdash;His Sister
     Pulcheria.&mdash;His Wife Eudocia.&mdash;The Persian War, And Division
     Of Armenia.
</pre>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link322HCH0002"> Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius,
        Theodosius II.&mdash;Part II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link322HCH0003"> Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius,
        Theodosius II.&mdash;Part III. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link332HCH0001"> Chapter XXXIII: Conquest Of Africa By The
        Vandals.&mdash;Part I. </a>
      </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Death Of Honorius.&mdash;Valentinian III.&mdash;Emperor Of The East.
     &mdash;Administration Of His Mother Placidia&mdash;Aetius And
     Boniface.&mdash;Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals.
</pre>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link332HCH0002"> Chapter XXXIII: Conquest Of Africa By The
        Vandals.&mdash;Part II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link342HCH0001"> Chapter XXXIV: Attila.&mdash;Part I. </a>
      </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     The Character, Conquests, And Court Of Attila, King Of The
     Huns.&mdash;Death Of Theodosius The Younger.&mdash;Elevation Of
     Marcian To The Empire Of The East.
</pre>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link342HCH0002"> Chapter XXXIV: Attila.&mdash;Part II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link342HCH0003"> Chapter XXXIV: Attila.&mdash;Part III. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link352HCH0001"> Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.&mdash;Part
        I. </a>
      </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Invasion Of Gaul By Attila.&mdash;He Is Repulsed By Aetius And
     The Visigoths.&mdash;Attila Invades And Evacuates Italy.&mdash;The
     Deaths Of Attila, Aetius, And Valentinian The Third.
</pre>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link352HCH0002"> Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.&mdash;Part
        II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link352HCH0003"> Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.&mdash;Part
        III. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link362HCH0001"> Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The
        Western Empire.&mdash;Part I. </a>
      </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Sack Of Rome By Genseric, King Of The Vandals.&mdash;His Naval
     Depredations.&mdash;Succession Of The Last Emperors Of The West,
     Maximus, Avitus, Majorian, Severus, Anthemius, Olybrius,
     Glycerius, Nepos, Augustulus.&mdash;Total Extinction Of The
     Western Empire.&mdash;Reign Of Odoacer, The First Barbarian King
     Of Italy.
</pre>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link362HCH0002"> Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The
        Western Empire.&mdash;Part II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link362HCH0003"> Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The
        Western Empire.&mdash;Part III. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link362HCH0004"> Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The
        Western Empire.&mdash;Part IV. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link362HCH0005"> Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The
        Western Empire.&mdash;Part V. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link372HCH0001"> Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians
        To Christianity.&mdash;Part I. </a>
      </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Origin Progress, And Effects Of The Monastic Life.&mdash;
     Conversion Of The Barbarians To Christianity And Arianism.&mdash;
     Persecution Of The Vandals In Africa.&mdash;Extinction Of
     Arianism Among The Barbarians.
</pre>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link372HCH0002"> Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians
        To Christianity.&mdash;Part II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link372HCH0003"> Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians
        To Christianity.&mdash;Part III. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link372HCH0004"> Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians
        To Christianity.&mdash;Part IV. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link382HCH0001"> Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.&mdash;Part
        I. </a>
      </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Reign And Conversion Of Clovis.&mdash;His Victories Over The
     Alemanni, Burgundians, And Visigoths.&mdash;Establishment Of The
     French Monarchy In Gaul.&mdash;Laws Of The Barbarians.&mdash;State Of
     The Romans.&mdash;The Visigoths Of Spain.&mdash;Conquest Of Britain By
     The Saxons.
</pre>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link382HCH0002"> Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.&mdash;Part
        II. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link382HCH0003"> Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.&mdash;Part
        III. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link382HCH0004"> Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.&mdash;Part
        IV. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link382HCH0005"> Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.&mdash;Part
        V. </a>
      </p>
      <p class="toc">
        <a href="#link382HCH0006"> Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.&mdash;Part
        VI. </a>
      </p>
    </blockquote>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br /> <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part I.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Death Of Gratian.&mdash;Ruin Of Arianism.&mdash;St. Ambrose.&mdash;First
     Civil War, Against Maximus.&mdash;Character, Administration, And
     Penance Of Theodosius.&mdash;Death Of Valentinian II.&mdash;Second
     Civil War, Against Eugenius.&mdash;Death Of Theodosius.
</pre>
    <p>
      The fame of Gratian, before he had accomplished the twentieth year of his
      age, was equal to that of the most celebrated princes. His gentle and
      amiable disposition endeared him to his private friends, the graceful
      affability of his manners engaged the affection of the people: the men of
      letters, who enjoyed the liberality, acknowledged the taste and eloquence,
      of their sovereign; his valor and dexterity in arms were equally applauded
      by the soldiers; and the clergy considered the humble piety of Gratian as
      the first and most useful of his virtues. The victory of Colmar had
      delivered the West from a formidable invasion; and the grateful provinces
      of the East ascribed the merits of Theodosius to the author of his
      greatness, and of the public safety. Gratian survived those memorable
      events only four or five years; but he survived his reputation; and,
      before he fell a victim to rebellion, he had lost, in a great measure, the
      respect and confidence of the Roman world.
    </p>
    <p>
      The remarkable alteration of his character or conduct may not be imputed
      to the arts of flattery, which had besieged the son of Valentinian from
      his infancy; nor to the headstrong passions which the that gentle youth
      appears to have escaped. A more attentive view of the life of Gratian may
      perhaps suggest the true cause of the disappointment of the public hopes.
      His apparent virtues, instead of being the hardy productions of experience
      and adversity, were the premature and artificial fruits of a royal
      education. The anxious tenderness of his father was continually employed
      to bestow on him those advantages, which he might perhaps esteem the more
      highly, as he himself had been deprived of them; and the most skilful
      masters of every science, and of every art, had labored to form the mind
      and body of the young prince. <a href="#linknote-1" name="linknoteref-1"
      id="linknoteref-1">1</a> The knowledge which they painfully communicated
      was displayed with ostentation, and celebrated with lavish praise. His
      soft and tractable disposition received the fair impression of their
      judicious precepts, and the absence of passion might easily be mistaken
      for the strength of reason. His preceptors gradually rose to the rank and
      consequence of ministers of state: <a href="#linknote-2"
      name="linknoteref-2" id="linknoteref-2">2</a> and, as they wisely
      dissembled their secret authority, he seemed to act with firmness, with
      propriety, and with judgment, on the most important occasions of his life
      and reign. But the influence of this elaborate instruction did not
      penetrate beyond the surface; and the skilful preceptors, who so
      accurately guided the steps of their royal pupil, could not infuse into
      his feeble and indolent character the vigorous and independent principle
      of action which renders the laborious pursuit of glory essentially
      necessary to the happiness, and almost to the existence, of the hero. As
      soon as time and accident had removed those faithful counsellors from the
      throne, the emperor of the West insensibly descended to the level of his
      natural genius; abandoned the reins of government to the ambitious hands
      which were stretched forwards to grasp them; and amused his leisure with
      the most frivolous gratifications. A public sale of favor and injustice
      was instituted, both in the court and in the provinces, by the worthless
      delegates of his power, whose merit it was made sacrilege to question. <a
      href="#linknote-3" name="linknoteref-3" id="linknoteref-3">3</a> The
      conscience of the credulous prince was directed by saints and bishops; <a
      href="#linknote-4" name="linknoteref-4" id="linknoteref-4">4</a> who
      procured an Imperial edict to punish, as a capital offence, the violation,
      the neglect, or even the ignorance, of the divine law. <a
      href="#linknote-5" name="linknoteref-5" id="linknoteref-5">5</a> Among the
      various arts which had exercised the youth of Gratian, he had applied
      himself, with singular inclination and success, to manage the horse, to
      draw the bow, and to dart the javelin; and these qualifications, which
      might be useful to a soldier, were prostituted to the viler purposes of
      hunting. Large parks were enclosed for the Imperial pleasures, and
      plentifully stocked with every species of wild beasts; and Gratian
      neglected the duties, and even the dignity, of his rank, to consume whole
      days in the vain display of his dexterity and boldness in the chase. The
      pride and wish of the Roman emperor to excel in an art, in which he might
      be surpassed by the meanest of his slaves, reminded the numerous
      spectators of the examples of Nero and Commodus, but the chaste and
      temperate Gratian was a stranger to their monstrous vices; and his hands
      were stained only with the blood of animals. <a href="#linknote-6"
      name="linknoteref-6" id="linknoteref-6">6</a> The behavior of Gratian,
      which degraded his character in the eyes of mankind, could not have
      disturbed the security of his reign, if the army had not been provoked to
      resent their peculiar injuries. As long as the young emperor was guided by
      the instructions of his 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
      faithful troops, appeared to be the objects of his attentive concern. But,
      after Gratian more freely indulged his prevailing taste for hunting and
      shooting, he naturally connected himself with the most dexterous ministers
      of his favorite amusement. A body of the Alani was received into the
      military and domestic service of the palace; and the admirable skill,
      which they were accustomed to display in the unbounded plains of Scythia,
      was exercised, on a more narrow theatre, in the parks and enclosures of
      Gaul. Gratian admired the talents and customs of these favorite guards, to
      whom alone he intrusted the defence of his person; and, as if he meant to
      insult the public opinion, he frequently showed himself to the soldiers
      and people, with the dress and arms, the long bow, the sounding quiver,
      and the fur garments of a Scythian warrior. The unworthy spectacle of a
      Roman prince, who had renounced the dress and manners of his country,
      filled the minds of the legions with grief and indignation. <a
      href="#linknote-7" name="linknoteref-7" id="linknoteref-7">7</a> Even the
      Germans, so strong and formidable in the armies of the empire, affected to
      disdain the strange and horrid appearance of the savages of the North,
      who, in the space of a few years, had wandered from the banks of the Volga
      to those of the Seine. A loud and licentious murmur was echoed through the
      camps and garrisons of the West; and as the mild indolence of Gratian
      neglected to extinguish the first symptoms of discontent, the want of love
      and respect was not supplied by the influence of fear. But the subversion
      of an established government is always a work of some real, and of much
      apparent, difficulty; and the throne of Gratian was protected by the
      sanctions of custom, law, religion, and the nice balance of the civil and
      military powers, which had been established by the policy of Constantine.
      It is not very important to inquire from what cause the revolt of Britain
      was produced. Accident is commonly the parent of disorder; the seeds of
      rebellion happened to fall on a soil which was supposed to be more
      fruitful than any other in tyrants and usurpers; <a href="#linknote-8"
      name="linknoteref-8" id="linknoteref-8">8</a> the legions of that
      sequestered island had been long famous for a spirit of presumption and
      arrogance; <a href="#linknote-9" name="linknoteref-9" id="linknoteref-9">9</a>
      and the name of Maximus was proclaimed, by the tumultuary, but unanimous
      voice, both of the soldiers and of the provincials. The emperor, or the
      rebel,&mdash;for this title was not yet ascertained by fortune,&mdash;was
      a native of Spain, the countryman, the fellow-soldier, and the rival of
      Theodosius whose elevation he had not seen without some emotions of envy
      and resentment: the events of his life had long since fixed him in
      Britain; and I should not be unwilling to find some evidence for the
      marriage, which he is said to have contracted with the daughter of a
      wealthy lord of Caernarvonshire. <a href="#linknote-10"
      name="linknoteref-10" id="linknoteref-10">10</a> But this provincial rank
      might justly be considered as a state of exile and obscurity; and if
      Maximus had obtained any civil or military office, he was not invested
      with the authority either of governor or general. <a href="#linknote-11"
      name="linknoteref-11" id="linknoteref-11">11</a> His abilities, and even
      his integrity, are acknowledged by the partial writers of the age; and the
      merit must indeed have been conspicuous that could extort such a
      confession in favor of the vanquished enemy of Theodosius. The discontent
      of Maximus might incline him to censure the conduct of his sovereign, and
      to encourage, perhaps, without any views of ambition, the murmurs of the
      troops. But in the midst of the tumult, he artfully, or modestly, refused
      to ascend the throne; and some credit appears to have been given to his
      own positive declaration, that he was compelled to accept the dangerous
      present of the Imperial purple. <a href="#linknote-12"
      name="linknoteref-12" id="linknoteref-12">12</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ Valentinian was less
      attentive to the religion of his son; since he intrusted the education of
      Gratian to Ausonius, a professed Pagan. (Mem. de l'Academie des
      Inscriptions, tom. xv. p. 125-138). The poetical fame of Ausonius condemns
      the taste of his age.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ Ausonius was successively
      promoted to the Praetorian praefecture of Italy, (A.D. 377,) and of Gaul,
      (A.D. 378;) and was at length invested with the consulship, (A.D. 379.) He
      expressed his gratitude in a servile and insipid piece of flattery, (Actio
      Gratiarum, p. 699-736,) which has survived more worthy productions.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3 (<a href="#linknoteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ Disputare de principali
      judicio non oportet. Sacrilegii enim instar est dubitare, an is dignus
      sit, quem elegerit imperator. Codex Justinian, l. ix. tit. xxix. leg. 3.
      This convenient law was revived and promulgated, after the death of
      Gratian, by the feeble court of Milan.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-4" id="linknote-4">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4 (<a href="#linknoteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ Ambrose composed, for his
      instruction, a theological treatise on the faith of the Trinity: and
      Tillemont, (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 158, 169,) ascribes to the
      archbishop the merit of Gratian's intolerant laws.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-5" id="linknote-5">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5 (<a href="#linknoteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ Qui divinae legis
      sanctitatem nesciendo omittunt, aut negligende violant, et offendunt,
      sacrilegium committunt. Codex Justinian. l. ix. tit. xxix. leg. 1.
      Theodosius indeed may claim his share in the merit of this comprehensive
      law.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-6" id="linknote-6">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6 (<a href="#linknoteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ Ammianus (xxxi. 10) and the
      younger Victor acknowledge the virtues of Gratian; and accuse, or rather
      lament, his degenerate taste. The odious parallel of Commodus is saved by
      "licet incruentus;" and perhaps Philostorgius (l. x. c. 10, and Godefroy,
      p. 41) had guarded with some similar reserve, the comparison of Nero.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-7" id="linknote-7">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7 (<a href="#linknoteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus (l. iv. p. 247) and
      the younger Victor ascribe the revolution to the favor of the Alani, and
      the discontent of the Roman troops Dum exercitum negligeret, et paucos ex
      Alanis, quos ingenti auro ad sa transtulerat, anteferret veteri ac Romano
      militi.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-8" id="linknote-8">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8 (<a href="#linknoteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ Britannia fertilis
      provincia tyrannorum, is a memorable expression, used by Jerom in the
      Pelagian controversy, and variously tortured in the disputes of our
      national antiquaries. The revolutions of the last age appeared to justify
      the image of the sublime Bossuet, "sette ile, plus orageuse que les mers
      qui l'environment."]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-9" id="linknote-9">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9 (<a href="#linknoteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus says of the British
      soldiers.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-10" id="linknote-10">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      10 (<a href="#linknoteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Helena, the daughter of
      Eudda. Her chapel may still be seen 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 perhaps be satisfied with such Welsh evidence.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-11" id="linknote-11">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      11 (<a href="#linknoteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ Camden (vol. i.
      introduct. p. ci.) appoints him governor at Britain; and the father of our
      antiquities is followed, as usual, by his blind progeny. Pacatus and
      Zosimus had taken some pains to prevent this error, or fable; and I shall
      protect myself by their decisive testimonies. Regali habitu exulem suum,
      illi exules orbis induerunt, (in Panegyr. Vet. xii. 23,) and the Greek
      historian still less equivocally, (Maximus) (l. iv. p. 248.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-12" id="linknote-12">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      12 (<a href="#linknoteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ Sulpicius Severus,
      Dialog. ii. 7. Orosius, l. vii. c. 34. p. 556. They both acknowledge
      (Sulpicius had been his subject) his innocence and merit. It is singular
      enough, that Maximus should be less favorably treated by Zosimus, the
      partial adversary of his rival.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But there was danger likewise in refusing the empire; and from the moment
      that Maximus had violated his allegiance to his lawful sovereign, he could
      not hope to reign, or even to live, if he confined his moderate ambition
      within the narrow limits of Britain. He boldly and wisely resolved to
      prevent the designs of Gratian; the youth of the island crowded to his
      standard, and he invaded Gaul with a fleet and army, which were long
      afterwards remembered, as the emigration of a considerable part of the
      British nation. <a href="#linknote-13" name="linknoteref-13"
      id="linknoteref-13">13</a> The emperor, in his peaceful residence of
      Paris, was alarmed by their hostile approach; and the darts which he idly
      wasted on lions and bears, might have been employed more honorably against
      the rebels. But his feeble efforts announced his degenerate spirit and
      desperate situation; and deprived him of the resources, which he still
      might have found, in the support of his subjects and allies. The armies of
      Gaul, instead of opposing the march of Maximus, received him with joyful
      and loyal acclamations; and the shame of the desertion was transferred
      from the people to the prince. The troops, whose station more immediately
      attached them to the service of the palace, abandoned the standard of
      Gratian the first time that it was displayed in the neighborhood of Paris.
      The emperor of the West 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 least a passage, he was taught, by cruel experience, that
      every gate is shut against the unfortunate. Yet he might still have
      reached, in safety, the dominions of his brother; and soon have returned
      with the forces of Italy and the East; if he had not suffered himself to
      be fatally deceived by the perfidious governor of the Lyonnese province.
      Gratian was amused by protestations of doubtful fidelity, and the hopes of
      a support, which could not be effectual; till the arrival of Andragathius,
      the general of the cavalry of Maximus, put an end to his suspense. That
      resolute officer executed, without remorse, the orders or the intention of
      the usurper. Gratian, as he rose from supper, was delivered into the hands
      of the assassin: and his body was denied to the pious and pressing
      entreaties of his brother Valentinian. <a href="#linknote-14"
      name="linknoteref-14" id="linknoteref-14">14</a> The death of the emperor
      was followed by that of his powerful general Mellobaudes, the king of the
      Franks; who maintained, to the last moment of his life, the ambiguous
      reputation, which is the just recompense of obscure and subtle policy. <a
      href="#linknote-15" name="linknoteref-15" id="linknoteref-15">15</a> These
      executions might be necessary to the public safety: but the successful
      usurper, whose power was acknowledged by all the provinces of the West,
      had the merit, and the satisfaction, of boasting, that, except those who
      had perished by the chance of war, his triumph was not stained by the
      blood of the Romans. <a href="#linknote-16" name="linknoteref-16"
      id="linknoteref-16">16</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-13" id="linknote-13">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      13 (<a href="#linknoteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 100,000 plebeians, who settled in Bretagne. Their
      destined brides, St. Ursula with 11,000 noble, and 60,000 plebeian,
      virgins, mistook their way; landed at Cologne, and were all most cruelly
      murdered by the Huns. But the plebeian sisters have been defrauded of
      their equal honors; and what is still harder, John Trithemius presumes to
      mention the children of these British virgins.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-14" id="linknote-14">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      14 (<a href="#linknoteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus (l. iv. p. 248,
      249) has transported the death of Gratian from Lugdunum in Gaul (Lyons) to
      Singidunum in Moesia. Some hints may be extracted from the Chronicles;
      some lies may be detected in Sozomen (l. vii. c. 13) and Socrates, (l. v.
      c. 11.) Ambrose is our most authentic evidence, (tom. i. Enarrat. in Psalm
      lxi. p. 961, tom ii. epist. xxiv. p. 888 &amp;c., and de Obitu Valentinian
      Consolat. Ner. 28, p. 1182.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-15" id="linknote-15">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      15 (<a href="#linknoteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ Pacatus (xii. 28)
      celebrates his fidelity; while his treachery is marked in Prosper's
      Chronicle, as the cause of the ruin of Gratian. Ambrose, who has occasion
      to exculpate himself, only condemns the death of Vallio, a faithful
      servant of Gratian, (tom. ii. epist. xxiv. p. 891, edit. Benedict.) *
      Note: Le Beau contests the reading in the chronicle of Prosper upon which
      this charge rests. Le Beau, iv. 232.&mdash;M. * Note: According to
      Pacatus, the Count Vallio, who commanded the army, was carried to Chalons
      to be burnt alive; but Maximus, dreading the imputation of cruelty, caused
      him to be secretly strangled by his Bretons. Macedonius also, master of
      the offices, suffered the death which he merited. Le Beau, iv. 244.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-16" id="linknote-16">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      16 (<a href="#linknoteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ He protested, nullum ex
      adversariis nisi in acissie occubu. Sulp. Jeverus in Vit. B. Martin, c.
      23. The orator Theodosius bestows reluctant, and therefore weighty, praise
      on his clemency. Si cui ille, pro ceteris sceleribus suis, minus crudelis
      fuisse videtur, (Panegyr. Vet. xii. 28.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      The events of this revolution had passed in such rapid succession, that it
      would have been impossible for Theodosius to march to the relief of his
      benefactor, before he received the intelligence of his defeat and death.
      During the season of sincere grief, or ostentatious mourning, the Eastern
      emperor was interrupted by the arrival of the principal chamberlain of
      Maximus; and the choice of a venerable old man, for an office which was
      usually exercised by eunuchs, announced to the court of Constantinople the
      gravity and temperance of the British usurper.
    </p>
    <p>
      The ambassador condescended to justify, or excuse, the conduct of his
      master; and to protest, in specious language, that the murder of Gratian
      had been perpetrated, without his knowledge or consent, by the precipitate
      zeal of the soldiers. But he proceeded, in a firm and equal tone, to offer
      Theodosius the alternative of peace, or war. The speech of the ambassador
      concluded with a spirited declaration, that although Maximus, as a Roman,
      and as the father of his people, would choose rather to employ his forces
      in the common defence of the republic, he was armed and prepared, if his
      friendship should be rejected, to dispute, in a field of battle, the
      empire of the world. An immediate and peremptory answer was required; but
      it was extremely difficult for Theodosius to satisfy, on this important
      occasion, either the feelings of his own mind, or the expectations of the
      public. The imperious voice of honor and gratitude called aloud for
      revenge. From the liberality of Gratian, he had received the Imperial
      diadem; his patience would encourage the odious suspicion, that he was
      more deeply sensible of former injuries, than of recent obligations; and
      if he accepted the friendship, he must seem to share the guilt, of the
      assassin. Even the principles of justice, and the interest of society,
      would receive a fatal blow from the impunity of Maximus; and the example
      of successful usurpation would tend to dissolve the artificial fabric of
      government, and once more to replunge the empire in the crimes and
      calamities of the preceding age. But, as the sentiments of gratitude and
      honor should invariably regulate the conduct of an individual, they may be
      overbalanced in the mind of a sovereign, by the sense of superior duties;
      and the maxims both of justice and humanity must permit the escape of an
      atrocious criminal, if an innocent people would be involved in the
      consequences of his punishment. The assassin of Gratian had usurped, but
      he actually possessed, the most warlike provinces of the empire: the East
      was exhausted by the misfortunes, and even by the success, of the Gothic
      war; and it was seriously to be apprehended, that, after the vital
      strength of the republic had been wasted in a doubtful and destructive
      contest, the feeble conqueror would remain an easy prey to the Barbarians
      of the North. These weighty considerations engaged Theodosius to dissemble
      his resentment, and to accept the alliance of the tyrant. But he
      stipulated, that Maximus should content himself with the possession of the
      countries beyond the Alps. The brother of Gratian was confirmed and
      secured in the sovereignty of Italy, Africa, and the Western Illyricum;
      and some honorable conditions were inserted in the treaty, to protect the
      memory, and the laws, of the deceased emperor. <a href="#linknote-17"
      name="linknoteref-17" id="linknoteref-17">17</a> According to the custom
      of the age, the images of the three Imperial colleagues were exhibited to
      the veneration of the people; nor should it be lightly supposed, that, in
      the moment of a solemn reconciliation, Theodosius secretly cherished the
      intention of perfidy and revenge. <a href="#linknote-18"
      name="linknoteref-18" id="linknoteref-18">18</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-17" id="linknote-17">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      17 (<a href="#linknoteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ Ambrose mentions the laws
      of Gratian, quas non abrogavit hostia (tom. ii epist. xvii. p. 827.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-18" id="linknote-18">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      18 (<a href="#linknoteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. iv. p. 251,
      252. We may disclaim his odious suspicions; but we cannot reject the
      treaty of peace which the friends of Theodosius have absolutely forgotten,
      or slightly mentioned.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The contempt of Gratian for the Roman soldiers had exposed him to the
      fatal effects of their resentment. His profound veneration for the
      Christian clergy was rewarded by the applause and gratitude of a powerful
      order, which has claimed, in every age, the privilege of dispensing
      honors, both on earth and in heaven. <a href="#linknote-19"
      name="linknoteref-19" id="linknoteref-19">19</a> The orthodox bishops
      bewailed his death, and their own irreparable loss; but they were soon
      comforted by the discovery, that Gratian had committed the sceptre of the
      East to the hands of a prince, whose humble faith and fervent zeal, were
      supported by the spirit and abilities of a more vigorous character. Among
      the benefactors of the church, the fame of Constantine has been rivalled
      by the glory of Theodosius. If Constantine had the advantage of erecting
      the standard of the cross, the emulation of his successor assumed the
      merit of subduing the Arian heresy, and of abolishing the worship of idols
      in the Roman world. Theodosius was the first of the emperors baptized in
      the true faith of the Trinity. Although he was born of a Christian family,
      the maxims, or at least the practice, of the age, encouraged him to delay
      the ceremony of his initiation; till he was admonished of the danger of
      delay, by the serious illness which threatened his life, towards the end
      of the first year of his reign. Before he again took the field against the
      Goths, he received the sacrament of baptism <a href="#linknote-20"
      name="linknoteref-20" id="linknoteref-20">20</a> from Acholius, the
      orthodox bishop of Thessalonica: <a href="#linknote-21"
      name="linknoteref-21" id="linknoteref-21">21</a> and, as the emperor
      ascended from the holy font, still glowing with the warm feelings of
      regeneration, he dictated a solemn edict, which proclaimed his own faith,
      and prescribed the religion of his subjects. "It is our pleasure (such is
      the Imperial style) that all the nations, which are governed by our
      clemency and moderation, should steadfastly adhere to the religion which
      was taught by St. Peter to the Romans; which faithful tradition has
      preserved; and which is now professed by the pontiff Damasus, and by
      Peter, bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the
      discipline of the apostles, and the doctrine of the gospel, let us believe
      the sole deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; under an equal
      majesty, and a pious Trinity. We authorize the followers of this doctrine
      to assume the title of Catholic Christians; and as we judge, that all
      others are extravagant madmen, we brand them with the infamous name of
      Heretics; and declare that their conventicles shall no longer usurp the
      respectable appellation of churches. Besides the condemnation of divine
      justice, they must expect to suffer the severe penalties, which our
      authority, guided by heavenly wisdom, shall think proper to inflict upon
      them." <a href="#linknote-22" name="linknoteref-22" id="linknoteref-22">22</a>
      The faith of a soldier is commonly the fruit of instruction, rather than
      of inquiry; but as the emperor always fixed his eyes on the visible
      landmarks of orthodoxy, which he had so prudently constituted, his
      religious opinions were never affected by the specious texts, the subtle
      arguments, and the ambiguous creeds of the Arian doctors. Once indeed he
      expressed a faint inclination to converse with the eloquent and learned
      Eunomius, who lived in retirement at a small distance from Constantinople.
      But the dangerous interview was prevented by the prayers of the empress
      Flaccilla, who trembled for the salvation of her husband; and the mind of
      Theodosius was confirmed by a theological argument, adapted to the rudest
      capacity. He had lately bestowed on his eldest son, Arcadius, the name and
      honors of Augustus, and the two princes were seated on a stately throne to
      receive the homage of their subjects. A bishop, Amphilochius of Iconium,
      approached the throne, and after saluting, with due reverence, the person
      of his sovereign, he accosted the royal youth with the same familiar
      tenderness which he might have used towards a plebeian child. Provoked by
      this insolent behavior, the monarch gave orders, that the rustic priest
      should be instantly driven from his presence. But while the guards were
      forcing him to the door, the dexterous polemic had time to execute his
      design, by exclaiming, with a loud voice, "Such is the treatment, O
      emperor! which the King of heaven has prepared for those impious men, who
      affect to worship the Father, but refuse to acknowledge the equal majesty
      of his divine Son." Theodosius immediately embraced the bishop of Iconium,
      and never forgot the important lesson, which he had received from this
      dramatic parable. <a href="#linknote-23" name="linknoteref-23"
      id="linknoteref-23">23</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-19" id="linknote-19">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      19 (<a href="#linknoteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ Their oracle, the
      archbishop of Milan, assigns to his pupil Gratian, a high and respectable
      place in heaven, (tom. ii. de Obit. Val. Consol p. 1193.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-20" id="linknote-20">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      20 (<a href="#linknoteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-21" id="linknote-21">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      21 (<a href="#linknoteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ Ascolius, or Acholius,
      was honored by the friendship, and the praises, of Ambrose; who styles him
      murus fidei atque sanctitatis, (tom. ii. epist. xv. p. 820;) and
      afterwards celebrates his speed and diligence in running to
      Constantinople, Italy, &amp;c., (epist. xvi. p. 822.) a virtue which does
      not appertain either to a wall, or a bishop.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-22" id="linknote-22">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      22 (<a href="#linknoteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ Codex Theodos. l. xvi.
      tit. i. leg. 2, with Godefroy's Commentary, tom. vi. p. 5-9. Such an edict
      deserved the warmest praises of Baronius, auream sanctionem, edictum pium
      et salutare.&mdash;Sic itua ad astra.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-23" id="linknote-23">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      23 (<a href="#linknoteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen, l. vii. c. 6.
      Theodoret, l. v. c. 16. Tillemont is displeased (Mem. Eccles. tom. vi. p.
      627, 628) with the terms of "rustic bishop," "obscure city." Yet I must
      take leave to think, that both Amphilochius and Iconium were objects of
      inconsiderable magnitude in the Roman empire.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      Constantinople was the principal seat and fortress of Arianism; and, in a
      long interval of forty years, <a href="#linknote-24" name="linknoteref-24"
      id="linknoteref-24">24</a> the faith of the princes and prelates, who
      reigned in the capital of the East, was rejected in the purer schools of
      Rome and Alexandria. The archiepiscopal throne of Macedonius, which had
      been polluted with so much Christian blood, was successively filled by
      Eudoxus and Damophilus. Their diocese enjoyed a free importation of vice
      and error from every province of the empire; the eager pursuit of
      religious controversy afforded a new occupation to the busy idleness of
      the metropolis; and we may credit the assertion of an intelligent
      observer, who describes, with some pleasantry, the effects of their
      loquacious zeal. "This city," says he, "is full of mechanics and slaves,
      who are all of them profound theologians; and preach in the shops, and in
      the streets. If you desire a man to change a piece of silver, he informs
      you, wherein the Son differs from the Father; 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 the bath is ready, the answer is, that
      the Son was made out of nothing." <a href="#linknote-25"
      name="linknoteref-25" id="linknoteref-25">25</a> The heretics, of various
      denominations, subsisted in peace under the protection of the Arians of
      Constantinople; who endeavored to secure the attachment of those obscure
      sectaries, while they abused, with unrelenting severity, the victory which
      they had obtained over the followers of the council of Nice. During the
      partial reigns of Constantius and Valens, the feeble remnant of the
      Homoousians was deprived of the public and private exercise of their
      religion; and it has been observed, in pathetic language, that the
      scattered flock was left without a shepherd to wander on the mountains, or
      to be devoured by rapacious wolves. <a href="#linknote-26"
      name="linknoteref-26" id="linknoteref-26">26</a> But, as their zeal,
      instead of being subdued, derived strength and vigor from oppression, they
      seized the first moments of imperfect freedom, which they had acquired by
      the death of Valens, to form themselves into a regular congregation, under
      the conduct of an episcopal pastor. Two natives of Cappadocia, Basil, and
      Gregory Nazianzen, <a href="#linknote-27" name="linknoteref-27"
      id="linknoteref-27">27</a> were distinguished above all their
      contemporaries, <a href="#linknote-28" name="linknoteref-28"
      id="linknoteref-28">28</a> by the rare union of profane eloquence and of
      orthodox piety.
    </p>
    <p>
      These orators, who might sometimes be compared, by themselves, and by the
      public, to the most celebrated of the ancient Greeks, were united by the
      ties of the strictest friendship. They had cultivated, with equal ardor,
      the same liberal studies in the schools of Athens; they had retired, with
      equal devotion, to the same solitude in the deserts of Pontus; and every
      spark of emulation, or envy, appeared to be totally extinguished in the
      holy and ingenuous breasts of Gregory and Basil. But the exaltation of
      Basil, from a private life to the archiepiscopal throne of Caesarea,
      discovered to the world, and perhaps to himself, the pride of his
      character; and the first favor which he condescended to bestow on his
      friend, was received, and perhaps was intended, as a cruel insult. <a
      href="#linknote-29" name="linknoteref-29" id="linknoteref-29">29</a>
      Instead of employing the superior talents of Gregory in some useful and
      conspicuous station, the haughty prelate selected, among the fifty
      bishoprics of his extensive province, the wretched village of Sasima, <a
      href="#linknote-30" name="linknoteref-30" id="linknoteref-30">30</a>
      without water, without verdure, without society, situate at the junction
      of three highways, and frequented only by the incessant passage of rude
      and clamorous wagoners. Gregory submitted with reluctance to this
      humiliating exile; he was ordained bishop of Sasima; but he solemnly
      protests, that he never consummated his spiritual marriage with this
      disgusting bride. He afterwards consented to undertake the government of
      his native church of Nazianzus, <a href="#linknote-31"
      name="linknoteref-31" id="linknoteref-31">31</a> of which his father had
      been bishop above five-and-forty years. But as he was still conscious that
      he deserved another audience, and another theatre, he accepted, with no
      unworthy ambition, the honorable invitation, which was addressed to him
      from the orthodox party of Constantinople. On his arrival in the capital,
      Gregory was entertained in the house of a pious and charitable kinsman;
      the most spacious room was consecrated to the uses of religious worship;
      and the name of Anastasia was chosen to express the resurrection of the
      Nicene faith. This private conventicle was afterwards converted into a
      magnificent church; and the credulity of the succeeding age was prepared
      to believe the miracles and visions, which attested the presence, or at
      least the protection, of the Mother of God. <a href="#linknote-32"
      name="linknoteref-32" id="linknoteref-32">32</a> The pulpit of the
      Anastasia was the scene of the labors and triumphs of Gregory Nazianzen;
      and, in the space of two years, he experienced all the spiritual
      adventures which constitute the prosperous or adverse fortunes of a
      missionary. <a href="#linknote-33" name="linknoteref-33"
      id="linknoteref-33">33</a> The Arians, who were provoked by the boldness
      of his enterprise, represented his 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 cathedral of St. Sophia there issued a
      motley crowd "of common beggars, who had forfeited their claim to pity; of
      monks, who had the appearance of goats or satyrs; and of women, more
      terrible than so many Jezebels." The doors of the Anastasia were broke
      open; much mischief was perpetrated, or attempted, with sticks, stones,
      and firebrands; and as a man lost his life in the affray, Gregory, who was
      summoned the next morning before the magistrate, had the satisfaction of
      supposing, that he publicly confessed the name of Christ. After he was
      delivered from the fear and danger of a foreign enemy, his infant church
      was disgraced and distracted by intestine faction. A stranger who assumed
      the name of Maximus, <a href="#linknote-34" name="linknoteref-34"
      id="linknoteref-34">34</a> and the cloak of a Cynic philosopher,
      insinuated himself into the confidence of Gregory; deceived and abused his
      favorable opinion; and forming a secret connection with some bishops of
      Egypt, attempted, by a clandestine ordination, to supplant his patron in
      the episcopal seat of Constantinople. These mortifications might sometimes
      tempt the Cappadocian missionary to regret his obscure solitude. But his
      fatigues were rewarded by the daily increase of his fame and his
      congregation; and he enjoyed the pleasure of observing, that the greater
      part of his numerous audience retired from his sermons satisfied with the
      eloquence of the preacher, <a href="#linknote-35" name="linknoteref-35"
      id="linknoteref-35">35</a> or dissatisfied with the manifold imperfections
      of their faith and practice. <a href="#linknote-36" name="linknoteref-36"
      id="linknoteref-36">36</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-24" id="linknote-24">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      24 (<a href="#linknoteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen, l. vii. c. v.
      Socrates, l. v. c. 7. Marcellin. in Chron. The account of forty years must
      be dated from the election or intrusion of Eusebius, who wisely exchanged
      the bishopric of Nicomedia for the throne of Constantinople.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-25" id="linknote-25">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      25 (<a href="#linknoteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ See Jortin's Remarks on
      Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 71. The thirty-third Oration of
      Gregory Nazianzen affords indeed some similar ideas, even some still more
      ridiculous; but I have not yet found the words of this remarkable passage,
      which I allege on the faith of a correct and liberal scholar.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-26" id="linknote-26">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      26 (<a href="#linknoteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ See the thirty-second
      Oration of Gregory Nazianzen, and the account of his own life, which he
      has composed in 1800 iambics. Yet every physician is prone to exaggerate
      the inveterate nature of the disease which he has cured.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-27" id="linknote-27">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      27 (<a href="#linknoteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ I confess myself deeply
      indebted to the two lives of Gregory Nazianzen, composed, with very
      different views, by Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 305-560, 692-731)
      and Le Clerc, (Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. xviii. p. 1-128.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-28" id="linknote-28">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      28 (<a href="#linknoteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ Unless Gregory Nazianzen
      mistook thirty years in his own age, he was born, as well as his friend
      Basil, about the year 329. The preposterous chronology of Suidas has been
      graciously received, because it removes the scandal of Gregory's father, a
      saint likewise, begetting children after he became a bishop, (Tillemont,
      Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 693-697.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-29" id="linknote-29">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      29 (<a href="#linknoteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ Gregory's Poem on his own
      Life contains some beautiful lines, (tom. ii. p. 8,) which burst from the
      heart, and speak the pangs of injured and lost friendship. &mdash;&mdash;In
      the Midsummer Night's Dream, Helena addresses the same pathetic complaint
      to her friend Hermia:&mdash;Is all the counsel that we two have shared.
      The sister's vows, &amp;c. Shakspeare had never read the poems of Gregory
      Nazianzen; he was ignorant of the Greek language; but his mother tongue,
      the language of Nature, is the same in Cappadocia and in Britain.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-30" id="linknote-30">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      30 (<a href="#linknoteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ This unfavorable portrait
      of Sasimae is drawn by Gregory Nazianzen, (tom. ii. de Vita sua, p. 7, 8.)
      Its precise situation, forty-nine miles from Archelais, and thirty-two
      from Tyana, is fixed in the Itinerary of Antoninus, (p. 144, edit.
      Wesseling.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-31" id="linknote-31">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      31 (<a href="#linknoteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ The name of Nazianzus has
      been immortalized by Gregory; but his native town, under the Greek or
      Roman title of Diocaesarea, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 692,) is
      mentioned by Pliny, (vi. 3,) Ptolemy, and Hierocles, (Itinerar. Wesseling,
      p. 709). It appears to have been situate on the edge of Isauria.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-32" id="linknote-32">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      32 (<a href="#linknoteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ See Ducange, Constant.
      Christiana, l. iv. p. 141, 142. The Sozomen (l. vii. c. 5) is interpreted
      to mean the Virgin Mary.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-33" id="linknote-33">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      33 (<a href="#linknoteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ Tillemont (Mem. Eccles.
      tom. ix. p. 432, &amp;c.) diligently collects, enlarges, and explains, the
      oratorical and poetical hints of Gregory himself.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-34" id="linknote-34">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      34 (<a href="#linknoteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ He pronounced an oration
      (tom. i. Orat. xxiii. p. 409) in his praise; but after their quarrel, the
      name of Maximus was changed into that of Heron, (see Jerom, tom. i. in
      Catalog. Script. Eccles. p. 301). I touch slightly on these obscure and
      personal squabbles.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-35" id="linknote-35">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      35 (<a href="#linknoteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 understood the true value of popular applause.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-36" id="linknote-36">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      36 (<a href="#linknoteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ Lachrymae auditorum
      laudes tuae sint, is the lively and judicious advice of St. Jerom.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The Catholics of Constantinople were animated with joyful confidence by
      the baptism and edict of Theodosius; and they impatiently waited the
      effects of his gracious promise. Their hopes were speedily accomplished;
      and the emperor, as soon as he had finished the operations of the
      campaign, made his public entry into the capital at the head of a
      victorious army. The next day after his arrival, he summoned Damophilus to
      his presence, and offered that Arian prelate the hard alternative of
      subscribing the Nicene creed, or of instantly resigning, to the orthodox
      believers, the use and possession of the episcopal palace, the cathedral
      of St. Sophia, and all the churches of Constantinople. The zeal of
      Damophilus, which in a Catholic saint would have been justly applauded,
      embraced, without hesitation, a life of poverty and exile, <a
      href="#linknote-37" name="linknoteref-37" id="linknoteref-37">37</a> and
      his removal was immediately followed by the purification of the Imperial
      city. The Arians might complain, with some appearance of justice, that an
      inconsiderable congregation of sectaries should usurp the hundred
      churches, which they were insufficient to fill; whilst the far greater
      part of the people was cruelly excluded from every place of religious
      worship. Theodosius was still inexorable; but as the angels who protected
      the Catholic cause were only visible to the eyes of faith, he prudently
      reenforced those heavenly legions with the more effectual aid of temporal
      and carnal weapons; and the church of St. Sophia was occupied by a large
      body of the Imperial guards. If the mind of Gregory was 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 archiepiscopal throne of
      Constantinople. But the saint (who had not subdued the imperfections of
      human virtue) was deeply affected by the mortifying consideration, that
      his entrance into the fold was that of a wolf, rather than of a shepherd;
      that the glittering arms which surrounded his person, were necessary for
      his safety; and that he alone was the object of the imprecations of a
      great party, whom, as men and citizens, it was impossible for him to
      despise. He beheld the innumerable multitude of either sex, and of every
      age, who crowded the streets, the windows, and the roofs of the houses; he
      heard the tumultuous voice of rage, grief, astonishment, and despair; and
      Gregory fairly confesses, that on the memorable day of his installation,
      the capital of the East wore the appearance of a city taken by storm, and
      in the hands of a Barbarian conqueror. <a href="#linknote-38"
      name="linknoteref-38" id="linknoteref-38">38</a> About six weeks
      afterwards, Theodosius declared his resolution of expelling from all the
      churches of his dominions the bishops and their clergy who should
      obstinately refuse to believe, or at least to profess, the doctrine of the
      council of Nice. His lieutenant, Sapor, was armed with the ample powers of
      a general law, a special commission, and a military force; <a
      href="#linknote-39" name="linknoteref-39" id="linknoteref-39">39</a> and
      this ecclesiastical revolution was conducted with so much discretion and
      vigor, that the religion of the emperor was established, without tumult or
      bloodshed, in all the provinces of the East. The writings of the Arians,
      if they had been permitted to exist, <a href="#linknote-40"
      name="linknoteref-40" id="linknoteref-40">40</a> would perhaps contain the
      lamentable story of the persecution, which afflicted the church under the
      reign of the impious Theodosius; and the sufferings of their holy
      confessors might claim the pity of the disinterested reader. Yet there is
      reason to imagine, that the violence of zeal and revenge was, in some
      measure, eluded by the want of resistance; and that, in their adversity,
      the Arians displayed much less firmness than had been exerted by the
      orthodox party under the reigns of Constantius and Valens. The moral
      character and conduct of the hostile sects appear to have been governed by
      the same common principles of nature and religion: but a very material
      circumstance may be discovered, which tended to distinguish the degrees of
      their theological faith. Both parties, in the schools, as well as in the
      temples, acknowledged and worshipped the divine majesty of Christ; and, as
      we are always prone to impute our own sentiments and passions to the
      Deity, it would be deemed more prudent and respectful to exaggerate, than
      to circumscribe, the adorable perfections of the Son of God. The disciple
      of Athanasius exulted in the proud confidence, that he had entitled
      himself to the divine favor; while the follower of Arius must have been
      tormented by the secret apprehension, that he was guilty, perhaps, of an
      unpardonable offence, by the scanty praise, and parsimonious honors, which
      he bestowed on the Judge of the World. The opinions of Arianism might
      satisfy a cold and speculative mind: but the doctrine of the Nicene creed,
      most powerfully recommended by the merits of faith and devotion, was much
      better adapted to become popular and successful in a believing age.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-37" id="linknote-37">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      37 (<a href="#linknoteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ Socrates (l. v. c. 7) and
      Sozomen (l. vii. c. 5) relate the evangelical words and actions of
      Damophilus without a word of approbation. He considered, says Socrates,
      that it is difficult to resist the powerful, but it was easy, and would
      have been profitable, to submit.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-38" id="linknote-38">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      38 (<a href="#linknoteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ See Gregory Nazianzen,
      tom. ii. de Vita sua, p. 21, 22. For the sake of posterity, the bishop of
      Constantinople records a stupendous prodigy. In the month of November, it
      was a cloudy morning, but the sun broke forth when the procession entered
      the church.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-39" id="linknote-39">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      39 (<a href="#linknoteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ Of the three
      ecclesiastical historians, Theodoret alone (l. v. c. 2) has mentioned this
      important commission of Sapor, which Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom.
      v. p. 728) judiciously removes from the reign of Gratian to that of
      Theodosius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-40" id="linknote-40">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      40 (<a href="#linknoteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ I do not reckon
      Philostorgius, though he mentions (l. ix. c. 19) the explosion of
      Damophilus. The Eunomian historian has been carefully strained through an
      orthodox sieve.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The hope, that truth and wisdom would be found in the assemblies of the
      orthodox clergy, induced the emperor to convene, at Constantinople, a
      synod of one hundred and fifty bishops, who proceeded, without much
      difficulty or delay, to complete the theological system which had been
      established in the council of Nice. The vehement disputes of the fourth
      century had been chiefly employed on the nature of the Son of God; and the
      various opinions which were embraced, concerning the Second, were extended
      and transferred, by a natural analogy, to the Third person of the Trinity.
      <a href="#linknote-41" name="linknoteref-41" id="linknoteref-41">41</a>
      Yet it was found, or it was thought, necessary, by the victorious
      adversaries of Arianism, to explain the ambiguous language of some
      respectable doctors; to confirm the faith of the Catholics; and to condemn
      an unpopular and inconsistent sect of Macedonians; who freely admitted
      that the Son was consubstantial to the Father, while they were fearful of
      seeming to acknowledge the existence of Three Gods. A final and unanimous
      sentence was pronounced to ratify the equal Deity of the Holy Ghost: the
      mysterious doctrine has been received by all the nations, and all the
      churches of the Christian world; and their grateful reverence has assigned
      to the bishops of Theodosius the second rank among the general councils.
      <a href="#linknote-42" name="linknoteref-42" id="linknoteref-42">42</a>
      Their knowledge of religious truth may have been preserved by tradition,
      or it may have been communicated by inspiration; but the sober evidence of
      history will not allow much weight to the personal authority of the
      Fathers of Constantinople. In an age when the ecclesiastics had
      scandalously degenerated from the model of apostolic purity, the most
      worthless and corrupt were always the most eager to frequent, and disturb,
      the episcopal assemblies. The conflict and fermentation of so many
      opposite interests and tempers inflamed the passions of the bishops: and
      their ruling passions were, the love of gold, and the love of dispute.
      Many of the same prelates who now applauded the orthodox piety of
      Theodosius, had repeatedly changed, with prudent flexibility, their creeds
      and opinions; and in the various revolutions of the church and state, the
      religion of their sovereign was the rule of their obsequious faith. When
      the emperor suspended his prevailing influence, the turbulent synod was
      blindly impelled by the absurd or selfish motives of pride, hatred, or
      resentment. The death of Meletius, which happened at the council of
      Constantinople, presented the most favorable opportunity of terminating
      the schism of Antioch, by suffering his aged rival, Paulinus, peaceably to
      end his days in the episcopal chair. The faith and virtues of Paulinus
      were unblemished. But his cause was supported by the Western churches; and
      the bishops of the synod resolved to perpetuate the mischiefs of discord,
      by the hasty ordination of a perjured candidate, <a href="#linknote-43"
      name="linknoteref-43" id="linknoteref-43">43</a> rather than to betray the
      imagined dignity of the East, which had been illustrated by the birth and
      death of the Son of God. Such unjust and disorderly proceedings forced the
      gravest members of the assembly to dissent and to secede; and the
      clamorous majority which remained masters of the field of battle, could be
      compared only to wasps or magpies, to a flight of cranes, or to a flock of
      geese. <a href="#linknote-44" name="linknoteref-44" id="linknoteref-44">44</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-41" id="linknote-41">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      41 (<a href="#linknoteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ Le Clerc has given a
      curious extract (Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. xviii. p. 91-105) of the
      theological sermons which Gregory Nazianzen pronounced at Constantinople
      against the Arians, Eunomians, Macedonians, &amp;c. He tells the
      Macedonians, who deified the Father and the Son without the Holy Ghost,
      that they might as well be styled Tritheists as Ditheists. Gregory himself
      was almost a Tritheist; and his monarchy of heaven resembles a
      well-regulated aristocracy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-42" id="linknote-42">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      42 (<a href="#linknoteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ The first general council
      of Constantinople now triumphs in the Vatican; but the popes had long
      hesitated, and their hesitation perplexes, and almost staggers, the humble
      Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 499, 500.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-43" id="linknote-43">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      43 (<a href="#linknoteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ Before the death of
      Meletius, six or eight of his most popular ecclesiastics, among whom was
      Flavian, had abjured, for the sake of peace, the bishopric of Antioch,
      (Sozomen, l. vii. c. 3, 11. Socrates, l. v. c. v.) Tillemont thinks it his
      duty to disbelieve the story; but he owns that there are many
      circumstances in the life of Flavian which seem inconsistent with the
      praises of Chrysostom, and the character of a saint, (Mem. Eccles. tom. x.
      p. 541.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-44" id="linknote-44">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      44 (<a href="#linknoteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ Consult Gregory
      Nazianzen, de Vita sua, tom. ii. p. 25-28. His general and particular
      opinion of the clergy and their assemblies may 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 by Tillemont, and fairly produced by Le
      Clerc.]
    </p>
    <p>
      A suspicion may possibly arise, that so unfavorable a picture of
      ecclesiastical synods has been drawn by the partial hand of some obstinate
      heretic, or some malicious infidel. But the name of the sincere historian
      who has conveyed this instructive lesson to the knowledge of posterity,
      must silence the impotent murmurs of superstition and bigotry. He was one
      of the most pious and eloquent bishops of the age; a saint, and a doctor
      of the church; the scourge of Arianism, and the pillar of the orthodox
      faith; a distinguished member of the council of Constantinople, in which,
      after the death of Meletius, he exercised the functions of president; in a
      word&mdash;Gregory Nazianzen himself. The harsh and ungenerous treatment
      which he experienced, <a href="#linknote-45" name="linknoteref-45"
      id="linknoteref-45">45</a> instead of derogating from the truth of his
      evidence, affords an additional proof of the spirit which actuated the
      deliberations of the synod. Their unanimous suffrage had confirmed the
      pretensions which the bishop of Constantinople derived from the choice of
      the people, and the approbation of the emperor. But Gregory soon became
      the victim of malice and envy. The bishops of the East, his strenuous
      adherents, provoked by his moderation in the affairs of Antioch, abandoned
      him, without support, to the adverse faction of the Egyptians; who
      disputed the validity of his election, and rigorously asserted the
      obsolete canon, that prohibited the licentious practice of episcopal
      translations. The pride, or the humility, of Gregory prompted him to
      decline a contest which might have been imputed to ambition and avarice;
      and he publicly offered, not without some mixture of indignation, to
      renounce the government of a church which had been restored, and almost
      created, by his labors. His resignation was accepted by the synod, and by
      the emperor, with more readiness than he seems to have expected. At the
      time when he might have hoped to enjoy the fruits of his victory, his
      episcopal throne was filled by the senator Nectarius; and the new
      archbishop, accidentally recommended by his easy temper and venerable
      aspect, was obliged to delay the ceremony of his consecration, till he had
      previously despatched the rites of his baptism. <a href="#linknote-46"
      name="linknoteref-46" id="linknoteref-46">46</a> After this 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 the exercises of poetry and
      devotion. The title of Saint has been added to his name: but the
      tenderness of his heart, <a href="#linknote-47" name="linknoteref-47"
      id="linknoteref-47">47</a> and the elegance of his genius, reflect a more
      pleasing lustre on the memory of Gregory Nazianzen.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-45" id="linknote-45">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      45 (<a href="#linknoteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ See Gregory, tom. ii. de
      Vita sua, p. 28-31. The fourteenth, twenty-seventh, and thirty-second
      Orations were pronounced in 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, &amp;c.,
      is pathetic, and almost sublime.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-46" id="linknote-46">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      46 (<a href="#linknoteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ The whimsical ordination
      of Nectarius is attested by Sozomen, (l. vii. c. 8;) but Tillemont
      observes, (Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 719,) Apres tout, ce narre de Sozomene
      est si honteux, pour tous ceux qu'il y mele, et surtout pour Theodose,
      qu'il vaut mieux travailler a le detruire, qu'a le soutenir; an admirable
      canon of criticism!]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-47" id="linknote-47">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      47 (<a href="#linknoteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ I can only be understood
      to mean, that such was his natural temper when it was not hardened, or
      inflamed, by religious zeal. From his retirement, he exhorts Nectarius to
      prosecute the heretics of Constantinople.]
    </p>
    <p>
      It was not enough that Theodosius had suppressed the insolent reign of
      Arianism, or that he had abundantly revenged the injuries which the
      Catholics sustained from the zeal of Constantius and Valens. The orthodox
      emperor considered every heretic as a rebel against the supreme powers of
      heaven and of earth; and each of those powers might exercise their
      peculiar jurisdiction over the soul and body of the guilty. The decrees of
      the council of Constantinople had ascertained the true standard of the
      faith; and the ecclesiastics, who governed the conscience of Theodosius,
      suggested the most effectual methods of persecution. In the space of
      fifteen years, he promulgated at least fifteen severe edicts against the
      heretics; <a href="#linknote-48" name="linknoteref-48" id="linknoteref-48">48</a>
      more especially against those who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity;
      and to deprive them of every hope of escape, he sternly enacted, that if
      any laws or rescripts should be alleged in their favor, the judges should
      consider them as the illegal productions either of fraud or forgery. The
      penal statutes were directed against the ministers, the assemblies, and
      the persons of the heretics; and the passions of the legislator were
      expressed in the language of declamation and invective. I. The heretical
      teachers, who usurped the sacred titles of Bishops, or Presbyters, were
      not only excluded from the privileges and emoluments so liberally granted
      to the orthodox clergy, but they were exposed to the heavy penalties of
      exile and confiscation, if they presumed to preach the doctrine, or to
      practise the rites, of their accursed sects. A fine of ten pounds of gold
      (above four hundred pounds sterling) was imposed on every person who
      should dare to confer, or receive, or promote, an heretical ordination:
      and it was reasonably expected, that if the race of pastors could be
      extinguished, their helpless flocks would be compelled, by ignorance and
      hunger, to return within the pale of the Catholic church. II. The rigorous
      prohibition of conventicles was carefully extended to every possible
      circumstance, in which the heretics could assemble with the intention of
      worshipping God and Christ according to the dictates of their conscience.
      Their religious meetings, whether public or secret, by day or by night, in
      cities or in the country, were equally proscribed by the edicts of
      Theodosius; and the building, or ground, which had been used for that
      illegal purpose, was forfeited to the Imperial domain. III. It was
      supposed, that the error of the heretics could proceed only from the
      obstinate temper of their minds; and that such a temper was a fit object
      of censure and punishment. The anathemas of the church were fortified by a
      sort of civil excommunication; which separated them from their
      fellow-citizens, by a peculiar brand of infamy; and this declaration of
      the supreme magistrate tended to justify, or at least to excuse, the
      insults of a fanatic populace. The sectaries were gradually disqualified
      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 that of the Father,
      they should be incapable of making their wills or of receiving any
      advantage from testamentary donations. The guilt of the Manichaean heresy
      was esteemed of such magnitude, that it could be expiated only by the
      death of the offender; and the same capital punishment was inflicted on
      the Audians, or Quartodecimans, <a href="#linknote-49"
      name="linknoteref-49" id="linknoteref-49">49</a> who should dare to
      perpetrate the atrocious crime of celebrating on an improper day the
      festival of Easter. Every Roman might exercise the right of public
      accusation; but the office of Inquisitors of the Faith, a name so
      deservedly abhorred, was first instituted under the reign of Theodosius.
      Yet we are assured, that the execution of his penal edicts was seldom
      enforced; and that the pious emperor appeared less desirous to punish,
      than to reclaim, or terrify, his refractory subjects. <a
      href="#linknote-50" name="linknoteref-50" id="linknoteref-50">50</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-48" id="linknote-48">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      48 (<a href="#linknoteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Theodosian Code,
      l. xvi. tit. v. leg. 6&mdash;23, with Godefroy's commentary on each law,
      and his general summary, or Paratitlon, tom vi. p. 104-110.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-49" id="linknote-49">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      49 (<a href="#linknoteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ They always kept their
      Easter, like the Jewish Passover, on the fourteenth day of the first moon
      after the vernal equinox; and thus pertinaciously opposed the Roman Church
      and Nicene synod, which had fixed Easter to a Sunday. Bingham's
      Antiquities, l. xx. c. 5, vol. ii. p. 309, fol. edit.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-50" id="linknote-50">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      50 (<a href="#linknoteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen, l. vii. c. 12.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The theory of persecution was established by Theodosius, whose justice and
      piety have been applauded by the saints: but the practice of it, in the
      fullest extent, was reserved for his rival and colleague, Maximus, the
      first, among the Christian princes, who shed the blood of his Christian
      subjects on account of their religious opinions. The cause of the
      Priscillianists, <a href="#linknote-51" name="linknoteref-51"
      id="linknoteref-51">51</a> a recent sect of heretics, who disturbed the
      provinces of Spain, was transferred, by appeal, from the synod of Bordeaux
      to the Imperial consistory of Treves; and by the sentence of the
      Praetorian praefect, seven persons were tortured, condemned, and executed.
      The first of these was Priscillian <a href="#linknote-52"
      name="linknoteref-52" id="linknoteref-52">52</a> himself, bishop of Avila,
      in Spain; who adorned the advantages of birth and fortune, by the
      accomplishments of eloquence and learning. <a href="#linknote-53"
      name="linknoteref-53" id="linknoteref-53">53</a> Two presbyters, and two
      deacons, accompanied their beloved master in his death, which they
      esteemed as a glorious martyrdom; and the number of religious victims was
      completed by the execution of Latronian, a poet, who rivalled the fame of
      the ancients; and of Euchrocia, a noble matron of Bordeaux, the widow of
      the orator Delphidius. <a href="#linknote-54" name="linknoteref-54"
      id="linknoteref-54">54</a> Two bishops who had embraced the sentiments of
      Priscillian, were condemned to a distant and dreary exile; <a
      href="#linknote-55" name="linknoteref-55" id="linknoteref-55">55</a> and
      some indulgence was shown to the meaner criminals, who assumed the merit
      of an early repentance. If any credit could be allowed to confessions
      extorted by fear or pain, and to vague reports, the offspring of malice
      and credulity, the heresy of the Priscillianists would be found to include
      the various abominations of magic, of impiety, and of lewdness. <a
      href="#linknote-56" name="linknoteref-56" id="linknoteref-56">56</a>
      Priscillian, who wandered about the world in the company of his spiritual
      sisters, was accused of praying stark naked in the midst of the
      congregation; and it was confidently asserted, that the effects of his
      criminal intercourse with the daughter of Euchrocia had been suppressed,
      by means still more odious and criminal. But an accurate, or rather a
      candid, inquiry will discover, that if the Priscillianists violated the
      laws of nature, it was not by the licentiousness, but by the austerity, of
      their lives. They absolutely condemned the use of the marriage-bed; and
      the peace of families was often 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. The speculative tenets of the sect, concerning the
      person of Christ, and the nature of the human soul, were derived from the
      Gnostic and Manichaean system; and this vain philosophy, which had been
      transported from Egypt to Spain, was ill adapted to the grosser spirits of
      the West. The obscure disciples of Priscillian suffered languished, and
      gradually disappeared: his tenets were rejected by the clergy and people,
      but his death was the subject of a long and vehement controversy; while
      some arraigned, and others applauded, the justice of his sentence. It is
      with pleasure that we can observe the humane inconsistency of the most
      illustrious saints and bishops, Ambrose of Milan, <a href="#linknote-57"
      name="linknoteref-57" id="linknoteref-57">57</a> and Martin of Tours, <a
      href="#linknote-58" name="linknoteref-58" id="linknoteref-58">58</a> who,
      on this occasion, asserted the cause of toleration. They pitied the
      unhappy men, who had been executed at Treves; they refused to hold
      communion with their episcopal murderers; and if Martin deviated from that
      generous resolution, his motives were laudable, and his repentance was
      exemplary. The bishops of Tours and Milan pronounced, without hesitation,
      the eternal damnation of heretics; but they were surprised, and shocked,
      by the bloody image of their temporal death, and the honest feelings of
      nature resisted the artificial prejudices of theology. The humanity of
      Ambrose and Martin was confirmed by the scandalous irregularity of the
      proceedings against Priscillian and his adherents. The civil and
      ecclesiastical ministers had transgressed the limits of their respective
      provinces. The secular judge had presumed to receive an appeal, and to
      pronounce a definitive sentence, in a matter of faith, and episcopal
      jurisdiction. The bishops had disgraced themselves, by exercising the
      functions of accusers in a criminal prosecution. The cruelty of Ithacius,
      <a href="#linknote-59" name="linknoteref-59" id="linknoteref-59">59</a>
      who beheld the tortures, and solicited the death, of the heretics,
      provoked the just indignation of mankind; and the vices of that profligate
      bishop were admitted as a proof, that his zeal was instigated by the
      sordid motives of interest. Since the death of Priscillian, the rude
      attempts of persecution have been refined and methodized in the holy
      office, which assigns their distinct parts to the ecclesiastical and
      secular powers. The devoted victim is regularly delivered by the priest to
      the magistrate, and by the magistrate to the executioner; and the
      inexorable sentence of the church, which declares the spiritual guilt of
      the offender, is expressed in the mild language of pity and intercession.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-51" id="linknote-51">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      51 (<a href="#linknoteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Sacred History of
      Sulpicius Severus, (l. ii. p. 437-452, edit. Ludg. Bat. 1647,) a correct
      and original writer. Dr. Lardner (Credibility, &amp;c., part ii. vol. ix.
      p. 256-350) has labored this article with pure learning, good sense, and
      moderation. Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 491-527) has raked
      together all the dirt of the fathers; a useful scavenger!]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-52" id="linknote-52">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      52 (<a href="#linknoteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ Severus Sulpicius
      mentions the arch-heretic with esteem and pity Faelix profecto, si non
      pravo studio corrupisset optimum ingenium 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-53" id="linknote-53">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      53 (<a href="#linknoteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ The bishopric (in Old
      Castile) is now worth 20,000 ducats a year, (Busching's Geography, vol.
      ii. p. 308,) and is therefore much less likely to produce the author of a
      new heresy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-54" id="linknote-54">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      54 (<a href="#linknoteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ Exprobrabatur mulieri
      viduae nimia religio, et diligentius culta divinitas, (Pacat. in Panegyr.
      Vet. xii. 29.) Such was the idea of a humane, though ignorant,
      polytheist.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-55" id="linknote-55">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      55 (<a href="#linknoteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ One of them was sent in
      Sillinam insulam quae ultra Britannianest. What must have been the ancient
      condition of the rocks of Scilly? (Camden's Britannia, vol. ii. p. 1519.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-56" id="linknote-56">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      56 (<a href="#linknoteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ The scandalous calumnies
      of Augustin, Pope Leo, &amp;c., which Tillemont swallows like a child, and
      Lardner refutes like a man, may suggest some candid suspicions in favor of
      the older Gnostics.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-57" id="linknote-57">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      57 (<a href="#linknoteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ Ambros. tom. ii. Epist.
      xxiv. p. 891.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-58" id="linknote-58">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      58 (<a href="#linknoteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ In the Sacred History,
      and the Life of St. Martin, Sulpicius Severus uses some caution; but he
      declares himself more freely in the Dialogues, (iii. 15.) Martin was
      reproved, however, by his own conscience, and by an angel; nor could he
      afterwards perform miracles with so much ease.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-59" id="linknote-59">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      59 (<a href="#linknoteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ The Catholic Presbyter
      (Sulp. Sever. l. ii. p. 448) and the Pagan Orator (Pacat. in Panegyr. Vet.
      xii. 29) reprobate, with equal indignation, the character and conduct of
      Ithacius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part III.
    </h2>
    <p>
      Among the ecclesiastics, who illustrated the reign of Theodosius, Gregory
      Nazianzen was distinguished by the talents of an eloquent preacher; the
      reputation of miraculous gifts added weight and dignity to the monastic
      virtues of Martin of Tours; <a href="#linknote-60" name="linknoteref-60"
      id="linknoteref-60">60</a> but the palm of episcopal vigor and ability was
      justly claimed by the intrepid Ambrose. <a href="#linknote-61"
      name="linknoteref-61" id="linknoteref-61">61</a> He was descended from a
      noble family of Romans; his father had exercised the important office of
      Praetorian praefect of Gaul; and the son, after passing through the
      studies of a liberal education, attained, in the regular gradation of
      civil honors, the station of consular of Liguria, a province which
      included the Imperial residence of Milan. At the age of thirty-four, and
      before he had received the sacrament of baptism, Ambrose, to his own
      surprise, and to that of the world, was suddenly transformed from a
      governor to an archbishop. Without the least mixture, as it is said, of
      art or intrigue, the whole body of the people unanimously saluted him with
      the episcopal title; the concord and perseverance of their acclamations
      were ascribed to a praeternatural impulse; and the reluctant magistrate
      was compelled to undertake a spiritual office, for which he was not
      prepared by the habits and occupations of his former life. But the active
      force of his genius soon qualified him to exercise, with zeal and
      prudence, the duties of his ecclesiastical jurisdiction; and while he
      cheerfully renounced the vain and splendid trappings of temporal
      greatness, he condescended, for the good of the church, to direct the
      conscience of the emperors, and to control the administration of the
      empire. Gratian loved and revered him as a father; and the elaborate
      treatise on the faith of the Trinity was designed for the instruction of
      the young prince. After his tragic death, at a time when the empress
      Justina trembled for her own safety, and for that of her son Valentinian,
      the archbishop of Milan was despatched, on two different embassies, to the
      court of Treves. He exercised, with equal firmness and dexterity, the
      powers of his spiritual and political characters; and perhaps contributed,
      by his authority and eloquence, to check the ambition of Maximus, and to
      protect the peace of Italy. <a href="#linknote-62" name="linknoteref-62"
      id="linknoteref-62">62</a> Ambrose had devoted his life, and his
      abilities, to the service of the church. Wealth was the object of his
      contempt; he had renounced his private patrimony; and he sold, without
      hesitation, the consecrated plate, for the redemption of captives. The
      clergy and people of Milan were attached to their archbishop; and he
      deserved the esteem, without soliciting the favor, or apprehending the
      displeasure, of his feeble sovereigns.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-60" id="linknote-60">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      60 (<a href="#linknoteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ The Life of St. Martin,
      and the Dialogues concerning his miracles contain facts adapted to the
      grossest barbarism, in a style not unworthy of the Augustan age. So
      natural is the alliance between good taste and good sense, that I am
      always astonished by this contrast.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-61" id="linknote-61">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      61 (<a href="#linknoteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ The short and superficial
      Life of St. Ambrose, by his deacon Paulinus, (Appendix ad edit. Benedict.
      p. i.&mdash;xv.,) has the merit of original evidence. Tillemont (Mem.
      Eccles. tom. x. p. 78-306) and the Benedictine editors (p. xxxi.&mdash;lxiii.)
      have labored with their usual diligence.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-62" id="linknote-62">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      62 (<a href="#linknoteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ Ambrose himself (tom. ii.
      Epist. xxiv. p. 888&mdash;891) gives the emperor a very spirited account
      of his own embassy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The government of Italy, and of the young emperor, naturally devolved to
      his mother Justina, a woman of beauty and spirit, but who, in the midst of
      an orthodox people, had the misfortune of professing the Arian heresy,
      which she endeavored to instil into the mind of her son. Justina was
      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 use of a
      single church, either in the city or the suburbs of Milan. But the conduct
      of Ambrose was governed by very different principles. <a
      href="#linknote-63" name="linknoteref-63" id="linknoteref-63">63</a> The
      palaces of the earth might indeed belong to Caesar; but the churches were
      the houses of God; and, within the limits of his diocese, he himself, as
      the lawful successor of the apostles, was the only minister of God. The
      privileges of Christianity, temporal as well as spiritual, were confined
      to the true believers; and the mind of Ambrose was satisfied, that his own
      theological opinions were the standard of truth and orthodoxy. The
      archbishop, who refused to hold any conference, or negotiation, with the
      instruments of Satan, declared, with modest firmness, his resolution to
      die a martyr, rather than to yield to the impious sacrilege; and Justina,
      who resented the refusal as an act of insolence and rebellion, hastily
      determined to exert the Imperial prerogative of her son. As she desired to
      perform her public devotions on the approaching festival of Easter,
      Ambrose was ordered to appear before the council. He obeyed the summons
      with the respect of a faithful subject, but he was followed, without his
      consent, by an innumerable people they pressed, with impetuous zeal,
      against the gates of the palace; and the affrighted ministers of
      Valentinian, instead of pronouncing a sentence of exile on the archbishop
      of Milan, humbly requested that he would interpose his authority, to
      protect the person of the emperor, and to restore the tranquility of the
      capital. But the promises which Ambrose received and communicated were
      soon violated by a perfidious court; and, during six of the most solemn
      days, which Christian piety had set apart for the exercise of religion,
      the city was agitated by the irregular convulsions of tumult and
      fanaticism. The officers of the household were directed to prepare, first,
      the Portian, and afterwards, the new, Basilica, for the immediate
      reception of the emperor and his mother. The splendid canopy and hangings
      of the royal seat were arranged in the customary manner; but it was found
      necessary to 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
      Ambrose enjoyed the merit and reputation of rescuing his personal enemies
      from the hands of the enraged multitude.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-63" id="linknote-63">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      63 (<a href="#linknoteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ His own representation of
      his principles and conduct (tom. ii. Epist. xx xxi. xxii. p. 852-880) is
      one of the curious monuments of ecclesiastical antiquity. It contains two
      letters to his sister Marcellina, with a petition to Valentinian and the
      sermon de Basilicis non madendis.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But while he labored to restrain the effects of their zeal, the pathetic
      vehemence of his sermons continually inflamed the angry and seditious
      temper of the people of Milan. The characters of Eve, of the wife of Job,
      of Jezebel, of Herodias, were indecently applied to the mother of the
      emperor; and her desire to obtain a church for the Arians was compared to
      the most cruel persecutions which Christianity had endured under the reign
      of Paganism. The measures of the court served only to expose the magnitude
      of the evil. A fine of two hundred pounds of gold was imposed on the
      corporate body of merchants and manufacturers: an order was signified, in
      the name of the emperor, to all the officers, and inferior servants, of
      the courts of justice, that, during the continuance of the public
      disorders, they should strictly confine themselves to their houses; and
      the ministers of Valentinian imprudently confessed, that the most
      respectable part of the citizens of Milan was attached to the cause of
      their archbishop. He was again solicited to restore peace to his country,
      by timely compliance with the will of his sovereign. The reply of Ambrose
      was couched in the most humble and respectful terms, which might, however,
      be interpreted as a serious declaration of civil war. "His life and
      fortune were in the hands of the emperor; but he would never betray the
      church of Christ, or degrade the dignity of the episcopal character. In
      such a cause he was prepared to suffer whatever the malice of the daemon
      could inflict; and he only wished to die in the presence of his faithful
      flock, and at the foot of the altar; he had not contributed to excite, but
      it was in the power of God alone to appease, the rage of the people: he
      deprecated the scenes of blood and confusion which were likely to ensue;
      and it was his fervent prayer, that he might not survive to behold the
      ruin of a flourishing city, and perhaps the desolation of all Italy." <a
      href="#linknote-64" name="linknoteref-64" id="linknoteref-64">64</a> The
      obstinate bigotry of Justina would have endangered the empire of her son,
      if, in this contest with the church and people of Milan, she could have
      depended on the active obedience of the troops of the palace. A large body
      of Goths had marched to occupy the Basilica, which was the object of the
      dispute: and it might be expected from the Arian principles, and barbarous
      manners, of these foreign mercenaries, that they would not entertain any
      scruples in the execution of the most sanguinary orders. They were
      encountered, on the sacred threshold, by the archbishop, who, thundering
      against them a sentence of excommunication, asked them, in the tone of a
      father and a master, whether it was to invade the house of God, that they
      had implored the hospitable protection of the republic. The suspense of
      the Barbarians allowed some hours for a more effectual negotiation; and
      the empress was persuaded, by the advice of her wisest counsellors, to
      leave the Catholics in possession of all the churches of Milan; and to
      dissemble, till a more convenient season, her intentions of revenge. The
      mother of Valentinian could never forgive the triumph of Ambrose; and the
      royal youth uttered a passionate exclamation, that his own servants were
      ready to betray him into the hands of an insolent priest.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-64" id="linknote-64">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      64 (<a href="#linknoteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ Retz had a similar
      message from the queen, to request that he would appease the tumult of
      Paris. It was no longer in his power, &amp;c. A quoi j'ajoutai tout ce que
      vous pouvez vous imaginer de respect de douleur, de regret, et de
      soumission, &amp;c. (Memoires, tom. i. p. 140.) Certainly I do not compare
      either the causes or the men yet the coadjutor himself had some idea (p.
      84) of imitating St. Ambrose]
    </p>
    <p>
      The laws of the empire, some of which were inscribed with the name of
      Valentinian, still condemned the Arian heresy, and seemed to excuse the
      resistance of the Catholics. By the influence of Justina, an edict of
      toleration was promulgated in all the provinces which were subject to the
      court of Milan; the free exercise of their religion was granted to those
      who professed the faith of Rimini; and the emperor declared, that all
      persons who should infringe this sacred and salutary constitution, should
      be capitally punished, as the enemies of the public peace. <a
      href="#linknote-65" name="linknoteref-65" id="linknoteref-65">65</a> The
      character and language of the archbishop of Milan may justify the
      suspicion, that his conduct soon afforded a reasonable ground, or at least
      a specious pretence, to the Arian ministers; who watched the opportunity
      of surprising him in some act of disobedience to a law which he strangely
      represents as a law of blood and tyranny. A sentence of easy and honorable
      banishment was pronounced, which enjoined Ambrose to depart from Milan
      without delay; whilst it permitted him to choose the place of his exile,
      and the number of his companions. But the authority of the saints, who
      have preached and practised the maxims of passive loyalty, appeared to
      Ambrose of less moment than the extreme and pressing danger of the church.
      He boldly refused to obey; and his refusal was supported by the unanimous
      consent of his faithful people. <a href="#linknote-66"
      name="linknoteref-66" id="linknoteref-66">66</a> They guarded by turns the
      person of their archbishop; the gates of the cathedral and the episcopal
      palace were strongly secured; and the Imperial troops, who had formed the
      blockade, were unwilling to risk the attack, of that impregnable fortress.
      The numerous poor, who had been relieved by the liberality of Ambrose,
      embraced the fair occasion of signalizing their zeal and gratitude; and as
      the patience of the multitude might have been exhausted by the length and
      uniformity of nocturnal vigils, he prudently introduced into the church of
      Milan the useful institution of a loud and regular psalmody. While he
      maintained this arduous contest, he was instructed, by a dream, to open
      the earth in a place where the remains of two martyrs, Gervasius and
      Protasius, <a href="#linknote-67" name="linknoteref-67" id="linknoteref-67">67</a>
      had been deposited above three hundred years. Immediately under the
      pavement of the church two perfect skeletons were found, <a
      href="#linknote-68" name="linknoteref-68" id="linknoteref-68">68</a> with
      the heads separated from their bodies, and a plentiful effusion of blood.
      The holy relics were presented, in solemn pomp, to the veneration of the
      people; and every circumstance of this fortunate discovery was admirably
      adapted 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 most distant objects,
      without losing any part of its original virtue. The extraordinary cure of
      a blind man, <a href="#linknote-69" name="linknoteref-69"
      id="linknoteref-69">69</a> and the reluctant confessions of several
      daemoniacs, appeared to justify the faith and sanctity of Ambrose; and the
      truth of those miracles is attested by Ambrose himself, by his secretary
      Paulinus, and by his proselyte, the celebrated Augustin, who, at that
      time, professed the art of rhetoric in Milan. The reason of the present
      age may possibly approve the incredulity of Justina and her Arian court;
      who derided the theatrical representations which were exhibited by the
      contrivance, and at the expense, of the archbishop. <a href="#linknote-70"
      name="linknoteref-70" id="linknoteref-70">70</a> Their effect, however, on
      the minds of the people, was rapid and irresistible; and the feeble
      sovereign of Italy found himself unable to contend with the favorite of
      Heaven. The powers likewise of the earth interposed in the defence of
      Ambrose: the disinterested advice of Theodosius was the genuine result of
      piety and friendship; and the mask of religious zeal concealed the hostile
      and ambitious designs of the tyrant of Gaul. <a href="#linknote-71"
      name="linknoteref-71" id="linknoteref-71">71</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-65" id="linknote-65">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      65 (<a href="#linknoteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen alone (l. vii. c.
      13) throws this luminous fact into a dark and perplexed narrative.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-66" id="linknote-66">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      66 (<a href="#linknoteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ Excubabat pia plebs in
      ecclesia, mori parata cum episcopo suo.... Nos, adhuc frigidi, excitabamur
      tamen civitate attonita atque curbata. Augustin. Confession. l. ix. c. 7]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-67" id="linknote-67">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      67 (<a href="#linknoteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ Tillemont, Mem. Eccles.
      tom. ii. p. 78, 498. Many churches in Italy, Gaul, &amp;c., were dedicated
      to these unknown martyrs, of whom St. Gervaise seems to have been more
      fortunate than his companion.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-68" id="linknote-68">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      68 (<a href="#linknoteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ Invenimus mirae
      magnitudinis viros duos, ut prisca aetas ferebat, tom. ii. Epist. xxii. p.
      875. The size of these skeletons was fortunately, or skillfully, suited to
      the popular prejudice of the gradual decrease of the human stature, which
      has prevailed in every age since the time of Homer.&mdash;Grandiaque
      effossis mirabitur ossa sepulchris.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-69" id="linknote-69">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      69 (<a href="#linknoteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ 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; he touched the holy garment, recovered his sight,
      and devoted the rest of his life (at least twenty-five years) to the
      service of the church. I should recommend this miracle to our divines, if
      it did not prove the worship of relics, as well as the Nicene creed.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-70" id="linknote-70">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      70 (<a href="#linknoteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ Paulin, in Tit. St.
      Ambros. c. 5, in Append. Benedict. p. 5.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-71" id="linknote-71">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      71 (<a href="#linknoteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ Tillemont, Mem. Eccles.
      tom. x. p. 190, 750. He partially allow the mediation of Theodosius, and
      capriciously rejects that of Maximus, though it is attested by Prosper,
      Sozomen, and Theodoret.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The reign of Maximus might have ended in peace and prosperity, could he
      have contented himself with the possession of three ample countries, which
      now constitute the three most flourishing kingdoms of modern Europe. But
      the aspiring usurper, whose sordid ambition was not dignified by the love
      of glory and of arms, considered his actual forces as the instruments only
      of his future greatness, and his success was the immediate cause of his
      destruction. The wealth which he extorted <a href="#linknote-72"
      name="linknoteref-72" id="linknoteref-72">72</a> from the oppressed
      provinces of Gaul, Spain, and Britain, was employed in levying and
      maintaining a formidable army of Barbarians, collected, for the most part,
      from the fiercest nations of Germany. The conquest of Italy was the object
      of his hopes and preparations: and he secretly meditated the ruin of an
      innocent youth, whose government was abhorred and despised by his Catholic
      subjects. But as Maximus wished to occupy, without resistance, the passes
      of the Alps, he received, with perfidious smiles, Domninus of Syria, the
      ambassador of Valentinian, and pressed him to accept the aid of a
      considerable body of troops, for the service of a Pannonian war. The
      penetration of Ambrose had discovered the snares of an enemy under the
      professions of friendship; <a href="#linknote-73" name="linknoteref-73"
      id="linknoteref-73">73</a> but the Syrian Domninus was corrupted, or
      deceived, by the liberal favor of the court of Treves; and the council of
      Milan obstinately rejected the suspicion of danger, with a blind
      confidence, which was the effect, not of courage, but of fear. The march
      of the auxiliaries was guided by the ambassador; and they were admitted,
      without distrust, into the fortresses of the Alps. But the crafty tyrant
      followed, with hasty and silent footsteps, in the rear; and, as he
      diligently intercepted all intelligence of his motions, the gleam of
      armor, and the dust excited by the troops of cavalry, first announced the
      hostile approach of a stranger to the gates of Milan. In this extremity,
      Justina and her son might accuse their own imprudence, and the perfidious
      arts of Maximus; but they wanted time, and force, and resolution, to stand
      against the Gauls and Germans, either in the field, or within the walls of
      a large and disaffected city. Flight was their only hope, Aquileia their
      only refuge; and as Maximus now displayed his genuine character, the
      brother of Gratian might expect the same fate from the hands of the same
      assassin. Maximus entered Milan in triumph; and if the wise archbishop
      refused a dangerous and criminal connection with the usurper, he might
      indirectly contribute to the success of his arms, by inculcating, from the
      pulpit, the duty of resignation, rather than that of resistance. <a
      href="#linknote-74" name="linknoteref-74" id="linknoteref-74">74</a> The
      unfortunate Justina reached Aquileia in safety; but she distrusted the
      strength of the fortifications: she dreaded the event of a siege; and she
      resolved to implore the protection of the great Theodosius, whose power
      and virtue were celebrated in all the countries of the West. A vessel was
      secretly provided to transport the Imperial family; they embarked with
      precipitation in one of the obscure harbors of Venetia, or Istria;
      traversed the whole extent of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas; turned the
      extreme promontory of Peloponnesus; and, after a long, but successful
      navigation, reposed themselves in the port of Thessalonica. All the
      subjects of Valentinian deserted the cause of a prince, who, by his
      abdication, had absolved them from the duty of allegiance; and if the
      little city of Aemona, on the verge of Italy, had not presumed to stop the
      career of his inglorious victory, Maximus would have obtained, without a
      struggle, the sole possession of the Western empire.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-72" id="linknote-72">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      72 (<a href="#linknoteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ The modest censure of
      Sulpicius (Dialog. iii. 15) inflicts a much deeper wound than the
      declamation of Pacatus, (xii. 25, 26.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-73" id="linknote-73">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      73 (<a href="#linknoteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ Esto tutior adversus
      hominem, pacis involurco tegentem, was the wise caution of Ambrose (tom.
      ii. p. 891) after his return from his second embassy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-74" id="linknote-74">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      74 (<a href="#linknoteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ Baronius (A.D. 387, No.
      63) applies to this season of public distress some of the penitential
      sermons of the archbishop.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Instead of inviting his royal guests to take the palace of Constantinople,
      Theodosius had some unknown reasons to fix their residence at
      Thessalonica; but these reasons did not proceed from contempt or
      indifference, as he speedily made a visit to that city, accompanied by the
      greatest part of his court and senate. After the first tender expressions
      of friendship and sympathy, the pious emperor of the East gently
      admonished Justina, that the guilt of heresy was sometimes punished in
      this world, as well as in the next; and that the public profession of the
      Nicene faith would be the most efficacious step to promote the restoration
      of her son, by the satisfaction which it must occasion both on earth and
      in heaven. The momentous question of peace or war was referred, by
      Theodosius, to the deliberation of his council; and the arguments which
      might be alleged on the side of honor and justice, had acquired, since the
      death of Gratian, a considerable degree of additional weight. The
      persecution of the Imperial family, to which Theodosius himself had been
      indebted for his fortune, was now aggravated by recent and repeated
      injuries. Neither oaths nor treaties could restrain the boundless ambition
      of Maximus; and the delay of vigorous and decisive measures, instead of
      prolonging the blessings of peace, would expose the Eastern empire to the
      danger of a hostile invasion. The Barbarians, who had passed the Danube,
      had lately assumed the character of soldiers and subjects, but their
      native fierceness was yet untamed: and the operations of a war, which
      would exercise their valor, and diminish their numbers, might tend to
      relieve the provinces from an intolerable oppression. Notwithstanding
      these specious and solid reasons, which were approved by a majority of the
      council, Theodosius still hesitated whether he should draw the sword in a
      contest which could no longer admit any terms of reconciliation; and his
      magnanimous character was not disgraced by the apprehensions which he felt
      for the safety of his infant sons, and the welfare of his exhausted
      people. In this moment of anxious doubt, while the fate of the Roman world
      depended on the resolution of a single man, the charms of the princess
      Galla most powerfully pleaded the cause of her brother Valentinian. <a
      href="#linknote-75" name="linknoteref-75" id="linknoteref-75">75</a> The
      heart of Theodosius wa softened by the tears of beauty; his affections
      were insensibly engaged by the graces of youth and innocence: the art of
      Justina managed and directed the impulse of passion; and the celebration
      of the royal nuptials was the assurance and signal of the civil war. The
      unfeeling critics, who consider every amorous weakness as an indelible
      stain on the memory of a great and orthodox emperor, are inclined, on this
      occasion, to dispute the suspicious evidence of the historian Zosimus. For
      my own part, I shall frankly confess, that I am willing to find, or even
      to seek, in the revolutions of the world, some traces of the mild and
      tender sentiments of domestic life; and amidst the crowd of fierce and
      ambitious conquerors, I can distinguish, with peculiar complacency, a
      gentle hero, who may be supposed to receive his armor from the hands of
      love. The alliance of the Persian king was secured by the faith of
      treaties; the martial Barbarians were persuaded to follow the standard, or
      to respect the frontiers, of an active and liberal monarch; and the
      dominions of Theodosius, from the Euphrates to the Adriatic, resounded
      with the preparations of war both by land and sea. The skilful disposition
      of the forces of the East seemed to multiply their numbers, and distracted
      the attention of Maximus. He had reason to fear, that a chosen body of
      troops, under the command of the intrepid Arbogastes, would direct their
      march along the banks of the Danube, and boldly penetrate through the
      Rhaetian provinces into the centre of Gaul. A powerful fleet was equipped
      in the harbors of Greece and Epirus, with an apparent design, that, as
      soon as the passage had been opened by a naval victory, Valentinian and
      his mother should land in Italy, proceed, without delay, to Rome, and
      occupy the majestic seat of religion and empire. In the mean while,
      Theodosius himself advanced at the head of a brave and disciplined army,
      to encounter his unworthy rival, who, after the siege of Aemona, <a
      href="#linknote-7511" name="linknoteref-7511" id="linknoteref-7511">7511</a>
      had fixed his camp in the neighborhood of Siscia, a city of Pannonia,
      strongly fortified by the broad and rapid stream of the Save.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-75" id="linknote-75">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      75 (<a href="#linknoteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ The flight of
      Valentinian, and the love of Theodosius for his sister, are related by
      Zosimus, (l. iv. p. 263, 264.) Tillemont produces some weak and ambiguous
      evidence to antedate the second marriage of Theodosius, (Hist. des
      Empereurs, to. v. p. 740,) and consequently to refute ces contes de
      Zosime, qui seroient trop contraires a la piete de Theodose.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-7511" id="linknote-7511">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7511 (<a href="#linknoteref-7511">return</a>)<br /> [ Aemonah, Laybach.
      Siscia Sciszek.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part IV.
    </h2>
    <p>
      The veterans, who still remembered the long resistance, and successive
      resources, of the tyrant Magnentius, might prepare themselves for the
      labors of three bloody campaigns. But the contest with his successor, who,
      like him, had usurped the throne of the West, was easily decided in the
      term of two months, <a href="#linknote-76" name="linknoteref-76"
      id="linknoteref-76">76</a> and within the space of two hundred miles. The
      superior genius of the emperor of the East might prevail over the feeble
      Maximus, who, in this important crisis, showed himself destitute of
      military skill, or personal courage; but the abilities of Theodosius were
      seconded by the advantage which he possessed of a numerous and active
      cavalry. The Huns, the Alani, and, after their example, the Goths
      themselves, were formed into squadrons of archers; who fought on
      horseback, and confounded the steady valor of the Gauls and Germans, by
      the rapid motions of a Tartar war. After the fatigue of a long march, in
      the heat of summer, they spurred their foaming horses into the waters of
      the Save, swam the river in the presence of the enemy, and instantly
      charged and routed the troops who guarded the high ground on the opposite
      side. Marcellinus, the tyrant's brother, advanced to support them with the
      select cohorts, which were considered as the hope and strength of the
      army. The action, which had been interrupted by the approach of night, was
      renewed in the morning; and, after a sharp conflict, the surviving remnant
      of the bravest soldiers of Maximus threw down their arms at the feet of
      the conqueror. Without suspending his march, to receive the loyal
      acclamations of the citizens of Aemona, Theodosius pressed forwards to
      terminate the war by the death or captivity of his rival, who fled before
      him with the diligence of fear. From the summit of the Julian Alps, he
      descended with such incredible speed into the plain of Italy, that he
      reached Aquileia on the evening of the first day; and Maximus, who found
      himself encompassed on all sides, had scarcely time to shut the gates of
      the city. But the gates could not long resist the effort of a victorious
      enemy; and the despair, the disaffection, the indifference of the soldiers
      and people, hastened the downfall of the wretched Maximus. He was dragged
      from his throne, rudely stripped of the Imperial ornaments, the robe, the
      diadem, and the purple slippers; and conducted, like a malefactor, to the
      camp and presence of Theodosius, at a place about three miles from
      Aquileia. The behavior of the emperor was not intended to insult, and he
      showed disposition to pity and forgive, the tyrant of the West, who had
      never been his personal enemy, and was now become the object of his
      contempt. Our sympathy is the most forcibly excited by the misfortunes to
      which we are exposed; and the spectacle of a proud competitor, now
      prostrate at his feet, could not fail of producing very serious and solemn
      thoughts in the mind of the victorious emperor. But the feeble emotion of
      involuntary pity was checked by his regard for public justice, and the
      memory of Gratian; and he abandoned the victim to the pious zeal of the
      soldiers, who drew him out of the Imperial presence, and instantly
      separated his head from his body. The intelligence of his defeat and death
      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 plans of Theodosius
      were successfully executed. When he had thus terminated the civil war,
      with less difficulty and bloodshed than he might naturally expect, he
      employed the winter months of his residence at Milan, to restore the state
      of the afflicted provinces; and early in the spring he made, after the
      example of Constantine and Constantius, his triumphal entry into the
      ancient capital of the Roman empire. <a href="#linknote-77"
      name="linknoteref-77" id="linknoteref-77">77</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-76" id="linknote-76">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      76 (<a href="#linknoteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ See Godefroy's Chronology
      of the Laws, Cod. Theodos, tom l. p. cxix.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-77" id="linknote-77">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      77 (<a href="#linknoteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ Besides the hints which
      may be gathered from chronicles and ecclesiastical history, Zosimus (l.
      iv. p. 259&mdash;267,) Orosius, (l. vii. c. 35,) and Pacatus, (in Panegyr.
      Vet. xii. 30-47,) supply the loose and scanty materials of this civil war.
      Ambrose (tom. ii. Epist. xl. p. 952, 953) darkly alludes to the well-known
      events of a magazine surprised, an action at Petovio, a Sicilian, perhaps
      a naval, victory, &amp;c., Ausonius (p. 256, edit. Toll.) applauds the
      peculiar merit and good fortune of Aquileia.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The orator, who may be silent without danger, may praise without
      difficulty, and without reluctance; <a href="#linknote-78"
      name="linknoteref-78" id="linknoteref-78">78</a> and posterity will
      confess, that the character of Theodosius <a href="#linknote-79"
      name="linknoteref-79" id="linknoteref-79">79</a> might furnish the subject
      of a sincere and ample panegyric. The wisdom of his laws, and the success
      of his arms, rendered his administration respectable in the eyes both of
      his subjects and of his enemies. He loved and practised the virtues of
      domestic life, which seldom hold their residence in the palaces of kings.
      Theodosius was chaste and temperate; he enjoyed, without excess, the
      sensual and social pleasures of the table; and the warmth of his amorous
      passions was never diverted from their lawful objects. The proud titles of
      Imperial greatness were adorned by the tender names of a faithful husband,
      an indulgent father; his uncle was raised, 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 distant and obscure branches of his numerous kindred. His
      familiar friends were judiciously selected from among those persons, who,
      in the equal intercourse of private life, had appeared before his eyes
      without a mask; the consciousness of personal and superior merit enabled
      him to despise the accidental distinction of the purple; and he proved by
      his conduct, that he had forgotten all the injuries, while he most
      gratefully remembered all the favors and services, which he had received
      before he ascended the throne of the Roman empire. The serious or lively
      tone of his conversation was adapted to the age, the rank, or the
      character of his subjects, whom he admitted into his society; and the
      affability of his manners displayed the image of his mind. Theodosius
      respected the simplicity of the good and virtuous: every art, every
      talent, of a useful, or even of an innocent nature, was rewarded by his
      judicious liberality; and, except the heretics, whom he persecuted with
      implacable hatred, the diffusive circle of his benevolence was
      circumscribed only by the limits of the human race. The government of a
      mighty empire may assuredly suffice to occupy the time, and the abilities,
      of a mortal: yet the diligent prince, without aspiring to the unsuitable
      reputation of profound learning, always reserved some moments of his
      leisure for the instructive amusement of reading. History, which enlarged
      his experience, was his favorite study. The annals of Rome, in the long
      period of eleven hundred years, presented him with a various and splendid
      picture of human life: and it has been particularly observed, that
      whenever he perused the cruel acts of Cinna, of Marius, or of Sylla, he
      warmly expressed his generous detestation of those enemies of humanity and
      freedom. His disinterested opinion of past events was usefully applied as
      the rule of his own actions; and Theodosius has deserved the singular
      commendation, that his virtues always seemed to expand with his fortune:
      the season of his prosperity was that of his moderation; and his clemency
      appeared the most conspicuous after the danger and success of a civil war.
      The Moorish guards of the tyrant had been massacred in the first heat of
      the victory, and a small number of the most obnoxious criminals suffered
      the punishment of the law. But the emperor showed himself much more
      attentive to relieve the innocent than to chastise the guilty. The
      oppressed subjects of the West, who would have deemed themselves happy in
      the restoration of their lands, were astonished to receive a sum of money
      equivalent to their losses; and the liberality of the conqueror supported
      the aged mother, and educated the orphan daughters, of Maximus. <a
      href="#linknote-80" name="linknoteref-80" id="linknoteref-80">80</a> A
      character thus accomplished might almost excuse the extravagant
      supposition of the orator Pacatus; that, if the elder Brutus could be
      permitted to revisit the earth, the stern republican would abjure, at the
      feet of Theodosius, his hatred of kings; and ingenuously confess, that
      such a monarch was the most faithful guardian of the happiness and dignity
      of the Roman people. <a href="#linknote-81" name="linknoteref-81"
      id="linknoteref-81">81</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-78" id="linknote-78">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      78 (<a href="#linknoteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ Quam promptum laudare
      principem, tam tutum siluisse de principe, (Pacat. in Panegyr. Vet. xii.
      2.) Latinus Pacatus Drepanius, a native of Gaul, pronounced this oration
      at Rome, (A.D. 388.) He was afterwards proconsul of Africa; and his friend
      Ausonius praises him as a poet second only to Virgil. See Tillemont, Hist.
      des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 303.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-79" id="linknote-79">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      79 (<a href="#linknoteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ See the fair portrait of
      Theodosius, by the younger Victor; the strokes are distinct, and the
      colors are mixed. The praise of Pacatus is too vague; and Claudian always
      seems afraid of exalting the father above the son.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-80" id="linknote-80">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      80 (<a href="#linknoteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ Ambros. tom. ii. Epist.
      xl. p. 55. Pacatus, from the want of skill or of courage, omits this
      glorious circumstance.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-81" id="linknote-81">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      81 (<a href="#linknoteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ Pacat. in Panegyr. Vet.
      xii. 20.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Yet the piercing eye of the founder of the republic must have discerned
      two essential imperfections, which might, perhaps, have abated his recent
      love of despostism. The virtuous mind of Theodosius was often relaxed by
      indolence, <a href="#linknote-82" name="linknoteref-82" id="linknoteref-82">82</a>
      and it was sometimes inflamed by passion. <a href="#linknote-83"
      name="linknoteref-83" id="linknoteref-83">83</a> In the pursuit of an
      important object, his active courage was capable of the most vigorous
      exertions; but, as soon as the design was accomplished, or the danger was
      surmounted, the hero sunk into inglorious repose; and, forgetful that the
      time of a prince is the property of his people, resigned himself to the
      enjoyment of the innocent, but trifling, pleasures of a luxurious court.
      The natural disposition of Theodosius was hasty and choleric; and, in a
      station where none could resist, and few would dissuade, the fatal
      consequence of his resentment, the humane monarch was justly alarmed by
      the consciousness of his infirmity and of his power. It was the constant
      study of his life to suppress, or regulate, the intemperate sallies of
      passion and the success of his efforts enhanced the merit of his clemency.
      But the painful virtue which claims the merit of victory, is exposed to
      the danger of defeat; and the reign of a wise and merciful prince was
      polluted by an act of cruelty which would stain the annals of Nero or
      Domitian. Within the space of three years, the inconsistent historian of
      Theodosius must relate the generous pardon of the citizens of Antioch, and
      the inhuman massacre of the people of Thessalonica.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-82" id="linknote-82">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      82 (<a href="#linknoteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. iv. p. 271,
      272. His partial evidence is marked by an air of candor and truth. He
      observes these vicissitudes of sloth and activity, not as a vice, but as a
      singularity in the character of Theodosius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-83" id="linknote-83">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      83 (<a href="#linknoteref-83">return</a>)<br /> [ This choleric temper is
      acknowledged and excused by Victor Sed 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, &amp;c.) exhorts his son to moderate
      his anger.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The lively impatience of the inhabitants of Antioch was never satisfied
      with their own situation, or with the character and conduct of their
      successive sovereigns. The Arian subjects of Theodosius deplored the loss
      of their churches; and as three rival bishops disputed the throne of
      Antioch, the sentence which decided their pretensions excited the murmurs
      of the two unsuccessful congregations. The exigencies of the Gothic war,
      and the inevitable expense that accompanied the conclusion of the peace,
      had constrained the emperor to aggravate the weight of the public
      impositions; and the provinces of Asia, as they had not been involved in
      the distress were the less inclined to contribute to the relief, of
      Europe. The auspicious period now approached of the tenth year of his
      reign; a festival more grateful to the soldiers, who received a liberal
      donative, than to the subjects, whose voluntary offerings had been long
      since converted into an extraordinary and oppressive burden. The edicts of
      taxation interrupted the repose, and pleasures, of Antioch; and the
      tribunal of the magistrate was besieged by a suppliant crowd; who, in
      pathetic, but, at first, in respectful language, solicited the redress of
      their grievances. They were gradually incensed by the pride of their
      haughty rulers, who treated their complaints as a criminal resistance;
      their satirical wit degenerated into sharp and angry invectives; and, from
      the subordinate powers of government, the invectives of the people
      insensibly rose to attack the sacred character of the emperor himself.
      Their fury, provoked by a feeble opposition, discharged itself on the
      images of the Imperial family, which were erected, as objects of public
      veneration, in the most conspicuous places of the city. The statues of
      Theodosius, of his father, of his wife Flaccilla, of his two sons,
      Arcadius and Honorius, were insolently thrown down from their pedestals,
      broken in pieces, or dragged with contempt through the streets; and the
      indignities which were offered to the representations of Imperial majesty,
      sufficiently declared the impious and treasonable wishes of the populace.
      The tumult was almost immediately suppressed by the arrival of a body of
      archers: and Antioch had leisure to reflect on the nature and consequences
      of her crime. <a href="#linknote-84" name="linknoteref-84"
      id="linknoteref-84">84</a> According to the duty of his office, the
      governor of the province despatched a faithful narrative of the whole
      transaction: while the trembling citizens intrusted the confession of
      their crime, and the assurances of their repentance, to the zeal of
      Flavian, their bishop, and to the eloquence of the senator Hilarius, the
      friend, and most probably the disciple, of Libanius; whose genius, on this
      melancholy occasion, was not useless to his country. <a href="#linknote-85"
      name="linknoteref-85" id="linknoteref-85">85</a> But the two capitals,
      Antioch and Constantinople, were separated by the distance of eight
      hundred miles; and, notwithstanding the diligence of the Imperial posts,
      the guilty city was severely punished by a long and dreadful interval of
      suspense. Every rumor agitated the hopes and fears of the Antiochians, and
      they heard with terror, that their sovereign, exasperated by the insult
      which had been offered to his own statues, and more especially, to those
      of his beloved wife, had resolved to level with the ground the offending
      city; and to massacre, without distinction of age or sex, the criminal
      inhabitants; <a href="#linknote-86" name="linknoteref-86"
      id="linknoteref-86">86</a> many of whom were actually driven, by their
      apprehensions, to seek a refuge in the mountains of Syria, and the
      adjacent desert. At length, twenty-four days after the sedition, the
      general Hellebicus and Caesarius, master of the offices, declared the will
      of the emperor, and the sentence of Antioch. That proud capital was
      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 of Laodicea. <a
      href="#linknote-87" name="linknoteref-87" id="linknoteref-87">87</a> The
      baths, the Circus, and the theatres were shut: and, that every source of
      plenty and pleasure might at the same time be intercepted, the
      distribution of corn was abolished, by the severe instructions of
      Theodosius. His commissioners then proceeded to inquire into the guilt of
      individuals; of those who had perpetrated, and of those who had not
      prevented, the destruction of the sacred statues. The tribunal of
      Hellebicus and Caesarius, encompassed with armed soldiers, was erected in
      the midst of the Forum. The noblest, and most wealthy, of the citizens of
      Antioch appeared before them in chains; the examination was assisted by
      the use of torture, and their sentence was pronounced or suspended,
      according to the judgment of these extraordinary magistrates. The houses
      of the criminals were exposed to sale, their wives and children were
      suddenly reduced, from affluence and luxury, to the most abject distress;
      and a bloody execution was expected to conclude the horrors of the day, <a
      href="#linknote-88" name="linknoteref-88" id="linknoteref-88">88</a> which
      the preacher of Antioch, the eloquent Chrysostom, has represented as a
      lively image of the last and universal judgment of the world. But the
      ministers of Theodosius performed, with reluctance, the cruel task which
      had been assigned them; they dropped a gentle tear over the calamities of
      the people; and they listened with reverence to the pressing solicitations
      of the monks and hermits, who descended in swarms from the mountains. <a
      href="#linknote-89" name="linknoteref-89" id="linknoteref-89">89</a>
      Hellebicus and Caesarius were persuaded to suspend the execution of their
      sentence; and it was agreed that the former should remain at Antioch,
      while the latter returned, with all possible speed, to Constantinople; and
      presumed once more to consult the will of his sovereign. The resentment of
      Theodosius had already subsided; the deputies of the people, both the
      bishop and the orator, had obtained a favorable audience; and the
      reproaches of the emperor were the complaints of injured friendship,
      rather than the stern menaces of pride and power. A free and general
      pardon was granted to the city and citizens of Antioch; the prison doors
      were thrown open; the senators, who despaired of their lives, recovered
      the possession of their houses and estates; and the capital of the East
      was restored to the enjoyment of her ancient dignity and splendor.
      Theodosius condescended to praise the senate of Constantinople, who had
      generously interceded for their distressed brethren: he rewarded the
      eloquence of Hilarius with the government of Palestine; and dismissed the
      bishop of Antioch with the warmest expressions of his respect and
      gratitude. A thousand new statues arose to the clemency of Theodosius; the
      applause of his subjects was ratified by the approbation of his own heart;
      and the emperor confessed, that, if the exercise of justice is the most
      important duty, the indulgence of mercy is the most exquisite pleasure, of
      a sovereign. <a href="#linknote-90" name="linknoteref-90"
      id="linknoteref-90">90</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-84" id="linknote-84">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      84 (<a href="#linknoteref-84">return</a>)<br /> [ The Christians and Pagans
      agreed in believing that the sedition of Antioch was excited by the
      daemons. A gigantic woman (says Sozomen, l. vii. c. 23) paraded the
      streets with a scourge in her hand. An old man, says Libanius, (Orat. xii.
      p. 396,) transformed himself into a youth, then a boy, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-85" id="linknote-85">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      85 (<a href="#linknoteref-85">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, in his short and
      disingenuous account, (l. iv. p. 258, 259,) is certainly mistaken in
      sending Libanius himself to Constantinople. His own orations fix him at
      Antioch.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-86" id="linknote-86">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      86 (<a href="#linknoteref-86">return</a>)<br /> [ Libanius (Orat. i. p. 6,
      edit. Venet.) declares, that under such a reign the fear of a massacre was
      groundless and absurd, especially in the emperor's absence, for his
      presence, according to the eloquent slave, might have given a sanction to
      the most bloody acts.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-87" id="linknote-87">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      87 (<a href="#linknoteref-87">return</a>)<br /> [ Laodicea, on the
      sea-coast, sixty-five miles from Antioch, (see Noris Epoch. Syro-Maced.
      Dissert. iii. p. 230.) The Antiochians were offended, that the dependent
      city of Seleucia should presume to intercede for them.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-88" id="linknote-88">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      88 (<a href="#linknoteref-88">return</a>)<br /> [ As the days of the tumult
      depend on the movable festival of Easter, they can only be determined by
      the previous determination of the 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.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-89" id="linknote-89">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      89 (<a href="#linknoteref-89">return</a>)<br /> [ Chrysostom opposes their
      courage, which was not attended with much risk, to the cowardly flight of
      the Cynics.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-90" id="linknote-90">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      90 (<a href="#linknoteref-90">return</a>)<br /> [ The sedition of Antioch
      is represented in a lively, and almost dramatic, manner by two orators,
      who had their respective shares of 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 do not 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 and diligence.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The sedition of Thessalonica is ascribed to a more shameful cause, and was
      productive of much more dreadful consequences. That great city, the
      metropolis of all the Illyrian provinces, had been protected from the
      dangers of the Gothic war by strong fortifications and a numerous
      garrison. Botheric, the general of those troops, and, as it should seem
      from his name, a Barbarian, had among his slaves a beautiful boy, who
      excited the impure desires of one of the charioteers of the Circus. The
      insolent and brutal lover was thrown into prison by the order of Botheric;
      and he sternly rejected the importunate clamors of the multitude, who, on
      the day of the public games, lamented the absence of their favorite; and
      considered the skill of a charioteer as an object of more importance than
      his virtue. The resentment of the people was imbittered by some previous
      disputes; and, as the strength of the garrison had been drawn away for the
      service of the Italian war, the feeble remnant, whose numbers were reduced
      by desertion, could not save the unhappy general from their licentious
      fury. Botheric, and several of his principal officers, were inhumanly
      murdered; their mangled bodies were dragged about the streets; and the
      emperor, who then resided at Milan, was surprised by the intelligence of
      the audacious and wanton cruelty of the people of Thessalonica. The
      sentence of a dispassionate judge would have inflicted a severe punishment
      on the authors of the crime; and the merit of Botheric might contribute to
      exasperate the grief and indignation of his master.
    </p>
    <p>
      The fiery and choleric temper of Theodosius was impatient of the dilatory
      forms of a judicial inquiry; and he hastily resolved, that the blood of
      his lieutenant should be expiated by the blood of the guilty people. Yet
      his mind still fluctuated between the counsels of clemency and of revenge;
      the zeal of the bishops had almost extorted from the reluctant emperor the
      promise of a general pardon; his passion was again inflamed 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. The punishment of a Roman city was
      blindly committed to the undistinguishing sword of the Barbarians; and the
      hostile preparations were concerted with the dark and perfidious artifice
      of an illegal conspiracy. The people of Thessalonica were treacherously
      invited, in the name of their sovereign, to the games of the Circus; and
      such was their insatiate avidity for those amusements, that every
      consideration of fear, or suspicion, was disregarded by the numerous
      spectators. As soon as the assembly was complete, the soldiers, who had
      secretly been posted round the Circus, received the signal, not of the
      races, but of a general massacre. The promiscuous carnage continued three
      hours, without discrimination of strangers or natives, of age or sex, of
      innocence or guilt; the most moderate accounts state the number of the
      slain at seven thousand; and it is affirmed by some writers that more than
      fifteen thousand victims were sacrificed to the names of Botheric. A
      foreign merchant, who had probably no concern in his murder, offered his
      own life, and all his wealth, to supply the place of one of his two sons;
      but, while the father hesitated with equal tenderness, while he was
      doubtful to choose, and unwilling to condemn, the soldiers determined his
      suspense, by plunging their daggers at the same moment into the breasts of
      the defenceless youths. The apology of the assassins, that they were
      obliged to produce the prescribed number of heads, serves only to
      increase, by an appearance of order and design, the horrors of the
      massacre, which was executed by the commands of Theodosius. The guilt of
      the emperor is aggravated by his long and frequent residence at
      Thessalonica. The situation of the unfortunate city, the aspect of the
      streets and buildings, the dress and faces of the inhabitants, were
      familiar, and even present, to his imagination; and Theodosius possessed a
      quick and lively sense of the existence of the people whom he destroyed.
      <a href="#linknote-91" name="linknoteref-91" id="linknoteref-91">91</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-91" id="linknote-91">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      91 (<a href="#linknoteref-91">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 is illustrated 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.) Zosimus alone, the partial enemy of Theodosius, most
      unaccountably passes over in silence the worst of his actions.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The respectful attachment of the emperor for the orthodox clergy, had
      disposed him to love and admire the character of Ambrose; who united all
      the episcopal virtues in the most eminent degree. The friends and
      ministers of Theodosius imitated the example of their sovereign; and he
      observed, with more surprise than displeasure, that all his secret
      counsels were immediately communicated to the archbishop; who acted from
      the laudable persuasion, that every measure of civil government may have
      some connection with the glory of God, and the interest of the true
      religion. The monks and populace of Callinicum, <a href="#linknote-9111"
      name="linknoteref-9111" id="linknoteref-9111">9111</a> an obscure town on
      the frontier of Persia, excited by their own fanaticism, and by that of
      their bishop, had tumultuously burnt a conventicle of the Valentinians,
      and a synagogue of the Jews. The seditious prelate was condemned, by the
      magistrate of the province, either to rebuild the synagogue, or to repay
      the damage; and this moderate sentence was confirmed by the emperor. But
      it was not confirmed by the archbishop of Milan. <a href="#linknote-92"
      name="linknoteref-92" id="linknoteref-92">92</a> He dictated an epistle of
      censure and reproach, more suitable, perhaps, if the emperor had received
      the mark of circumcision, and renounced the faith of his baptism. Ambrose
      considers the toleration of the Jewish, as the persecution of the
      Christian, religion; boldly declares that he himself, and every true
      believer, would eagerly dispute with the bishop of Callinicum the merit of
      the deed, and the crown of martyrdom; and laments, in the most pathetic
      terms, that the execution of the sentence would be fatal to the fame and
      salvation of Theodosius. As this private admonition did not produce an
      immediate effect, the archbishop, from his pulpit, <a href="#linknote-93"
      name="linknoteref-93" id="linknoteref-93">93</a> publicly addressed the
      emperor on his throne; <a href="#linknote-94" name="linknoteref-94"
      id="linknoteref-94">94</a> 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. The recantation of Theodosius was sincere; <a
      href="#linknote-95" name="linknoteref-95" id="linknoteref-95">95</a> and,
      during the term of his residence at Milan, his affection for Ambrose was
      continually increased by the habits of pious and familiar conversation.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-9111" id="linknote-9111">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9111 (<a href="#linknoteref-9111">return</a>)<br /> [ Raeca, on the
      Euphrates&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-92" id="linknote-92">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      92 (<a href="#linknoteref-92">return</a>)<br /> [ See the whole transaction
      in Ambrose, (tom. ii. Epist. xl. xli. p. 950-956,) and his biographer
      Paulinus, (c. 23.) Bayle and Barbeyrac (Morales des Peres, c. xvii. p.
      325, &amp;c.) have justly condemned the archbishop.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-93" id="linknote-93">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      93 (<a href="#linknoteref-93">return</a>)<br /> [ His sermon is a strange
      allegory of Jeremiah's rod, of an almond tree, of the woman who washed and
      anointed the feet of Christ. But the peroration is direct and personal.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-94" id="linknote-94">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      94 (<a href="#linknoteref-94">return</a>)<br /> [ Hodie, Episcope, de me
      proposuisti. Ambrose modestly confessed it; but he sternly reprimanded
      Timasius, general of the horse and foot, who had presumed to say that the
      monks of Callinicum deserved punishment.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-95" id="linknote-95">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      95 (<a href="#linknoteref-95">return</a>)<br /> [ Yet, five years
      afterwards, when Theodosius was absent from his spiritual guide, he
      tolerated the Jews, and condemned the destruction of their synagogues.
      Cod. Theodos. l. xvi. tit. viii. leg. 9, with Godefroy's Commentary, tom.
      vi. p. 225.]
    </p>
    <p>
      When Ambrose was informed of the massacre of Thessalonica, his mind was
      filled with horror and anguish. He retired into the country to indulge his
      grief, and to avoid the presence of Theodosius. But as the archbishop was
      satisfied that a timid silence would render him the accomplice of his
      guilt, he represented, in a private letter, the enormity of the crime;
      which could only be effaced by the tears of penitence. The episcopal vigor
      of Ambrose was tempered by prudence; and he contented himself with
      signifying <a href="#linknote-96" name="linknoteref-96" id="linknoteref-96">96</a>
      an indirect sort of excommunication, by the assurance, that he had been
      warned in a vision not to offer the oblation in the name, or in the
      presence, of Theodosius; and by the advice, that he would confine himself
      to the use of prayer, without presuming to approach the altar of Christ,
      or to receive the holy eucharist with those hands that were still polluted
      with the blood of an innocent people. The emperor was deeply affected by
      his own reproaches, and by those of his spiritual father; and after he had
      bewailed the mischievous and irreparable consequences of his rash fury, he
      proceeded, in the accustomed manner, to perform his devotions in the great
      church of Milan. He was stopped in the porch by the archbishop; who, in
      the tone and language of an ambassador of Heaven, declared to his
      sovereign, that private contrition was not sufficient to atone for a
      public fault, or to appease the justice of the offended Deity. Theodosius
      humbly represented, that if he had contracted the guilt of homicide,
      David, the man after God's own heart, had been guilty, not only of murder,
      but of adultery. "You have imitated David in his crime, imitate then his
      repentance," was the reply of the undaunted Ambrose. The rigorous
      conditions of peace and pardon were accepted; and the public penance of
      the emperor Theodosius has been recorded as one of the most honorable
      events in the annals of the church. According to the mildest rules of
      ecclesiastical discipline, which were established in the fourth century,
      the crime of homicide was expiated by the penitence of twenty years: <a
      href="#linknote-97" name="linknoteref-97" id="linknoteref-97">97</a> and
      as it was impossible, in the period of human life, to purge the
      accumulated guilt of the massacre of Thessalonica, the murderer should
      have been excluded from the holy communion till the hour of his death. But
      the archbishop, consulting the maxims of religious policy, granted some
      indulgence to the rank of his illustrious penitent, who humbled in the
      dust the pride of the diadem; and the public edification might be admitted
      as a weighty reason to abridge the duration of his punishment. It was
      sufficient, that the emperor of the Romans, stripped of the ensigns of
      royalty, should appear in a mournful and 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. <a href="#linknote-98" name="linknoteref-98"
      id="linknoteref-98">98</a> In this spiritual cure, Ambrose employed the
      various methods of mildness and severity. After a delay of about eight
      months, Theodosius was restored to the communion of the faithful; and the
      edict which interposes a salutary interval of thirty days between the
      sentence and the execution, may be accepted as the worthy fruits of his
      repentance. <a href="#linknote-99" name="linknoteref-99"
      id="linknoteref-99">99</a> Posterity has applauded the virtuous firmness
      of the archbishop; and the example of Theodosius may prove the beneficial
      influence of those principles, which could force a monarch, exalted above
      the apprehension of human punishment, to respect the laws, and ministers,
      of an invisible Judge. "The prince," says Montesquieu, "who is actuated by
      the hopes and fears of religion, may be compared to a lion, docile only to
      the voice, and tractable to the hand, of his keeper." <a
      href="#linknote-100" name="linknoteref-100" id="linknoteref-100">100</a>
      The motions of the royal animal will therefore depend on the inclination,
      and interest, of the man who has acquired such dangerous authority over
      him; and the priest, who holds in his hands the conscience of a king, may
      inflame, or moderate, his sanguinary passions. The cause of humanity, and
      that of persecution, have been asserted, by the same Ambrose, with equal
      energy, and with equal success.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-96" id="linknote-96">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      96 (<a href="#linknoteref-96">return</a>)<br /> [ Ambros. tom. ii. Epist.
      li. p. 997-1001. His epistle is a miserable rhapsody on a noble subject.
      Ambrose could act better than he could write. His compositions are
      destitute of taste, or genius; without the spirit of Tertullian, the
      copious elegance of Lactantius the lively wit of Jerom, or the grave
      energy of Augustin.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-97" id="linknote-97">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      97 (<a href="#linknoteref-97">return</a>)<br /> [ According to the
      discipline of St. Basil, (Canon lvi.,) the voluntary homicide was four
      years a mourner; five a hearer; seven in a 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 of St. Basil.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-98" id="linknote-98">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      98 (<a href="#linknoteref-98">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-99" id="linknote-99">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      99 (<a href="#linknoteref-99">return</a>)<br /> [ Codex Theodos. l. ix.
      tit. xl. leg. 13. The date and circumstances of this law are perplexed
      with difficulties; but I feel myself inclined to favor the honest efforts
      of Tillemont (Hist. des Emp. tom. v. p. 721) and Pagi, (Critica, tom. i.
      p. 578.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-100" id="linknote-100">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      100 (<a href="#linknoteref-100">return</a>)<br /> [ Un prince qui aime la
      religion, et qui la craint, est un lion qui cede a la main qui le flatte,
      ou a la voix qui l'appaise. Esprit des Loix, l. xxiv. c. 2.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part V.
    </h2>
    <p>
      After the defeat and death of the tyrant of Gaul, the Roman world was in
      the possession of Theodosius. He derived from the choice of Gratian his
      honorable title to the provinces of the East: he had acquired the West by
      the right of conquest; and the three years which he spent in Italy were
      usefully employed to restore the authority of the laws, and to correct the
      abuses which had prevailed with impunity under the usurpation of Maximus,
      and the minority of Valentinian. The name of Valentinian was regularly
      inserted in the public acts: but the tender age, and doubtful faith, of
      the son of Justina, appeared to require the prudent care of an orthodox
      guardian; and his specious ambition might have excluded the unfortunate
      youth, without a struggle, and almost without a murmur, from the
      administration, and even from the inheritance, of the empire. If
      Theodosius had consulted the rigid maxims of interest and policy, his
      conduct would have been justified by his friends; but the generosity of
      his behavior on this memorable occasion has extorted the applause of his
      most inveterate enemies. He seated Valentinian on the throne of Milan;
      and, without stipulating any present or future advantages, restored him to
      the absolute dominion of all the provinces, from which he had been driven
      by the arms of Maximus. To the restitution of his ample patrimony,
      Theodosius added the free and generous gift of the countries beyond the
      Alps, which his successful valor had recovered from the assassin of
      Gratian. <a href="#linknote-101" name="linknoteref-101"
      id="linknoteref-101">101</a> Satisfied with the glory which he had
      acquired, by revenging the death of his benefactor, and delivering the
      West from the yoke of tyranny, the emperor returned from Milan to
      Constantinople; and, in the peaceful possession of the East, insensibly
      relapsed into his former habits of luxury and indolence. Theodosius
      discharged his obligation to the brother, he indulged his conjugal
      tenderness to the sister, of Valentinian; and posterity, which admires the
      pure and singular glory of his elevation, must applaud his unrivalled
      generosity in the use of victory.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-101" id="linknote-101">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      101 (<a href="#linknoteref-101">return</a>)<br /> [ It is the niggard
      praise of Zosimus himself, (l. iv. p. 267.) Augustin says, with some
      happiness of expression, Valentinianum.... misericordissima veneratione
      restituit.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The empress Justina did not long survive her return to Italy; and, though
      she beheld the triumph of Theodosius, she was not allowed to influence the
      government of her son. <a href="#linknote-102" name="linknoteref-102"
      id="linknoteref-102">102</a> The pernicious attachment to the Arian sect,
      which Valentinian had imbibed from her example and instructions, was soon
      erased by the lessons of a more orthodox education. His growing zeal for
      the faith of Nice, and his filial reverence for the character and
      authority of Ambrose, disposed the Catholics to entertain the most
      favorable opinion of the virtues of the young emperor of the West. <a
      href="#linknote-103" name="linknoteref-103" id="linknoteref-103">103</a>
      They applauded his chastity and temperance, his contempt of pleasure, his
      application to business, and his tender affection for his two sisters;
      which could not, however, seduce his impartial equity to pronounce an
      unjust sentence against the meanest of his subjects. But this amiable
      youth, before he had accomplished the twentieth year of his age, was
      oppressed by domestic treason; and the empire was again involved in the
      horrors of a civil war. Arbogastes, <a href="#linknote-104"
      name="linknoteref-104" id="linknoteref-104">104</a> a gallant soldier of
      the nation of the Franks, held the second rank in the service of Gratian.
      On the death of his master he joined the standard of Theodosius;
      contributed, by his valor and military conduct, to the destruction of the
      tyrant; and was appointed, after the victory, master-general of the armies
      of Gaul. His real merit, and apparent fidelity, had gained the confidence
      both of the prince and people; his boundless liberality corrupted the
      allegiance of the troops; and, whilst he was universally esteemed as the
      pillar of the state, the bold and crafty Barbarian was secretly determined
      either to rule, or to ruin, the empire of the West. The important commands
      of the army were distributed among the Franks; the creatures of Arbogastes
      were promoted to all the honors and offices of the civil government; the
      progress of the conspiracy removed every faithful servant from the
      presence of Valentinian; and the emperor, without power and without
      intelligence, insensibly sunk into the precarious and dependent condition
      of a captive. <a href="#linknote-105" name="linknoteref-105"
      id="linknoteref-105">105</a> The indignation which he expressed, though it
      might arise only from the rash and impatient temper of youth, may be
      candidly ascribed to the generous spirit of a prince, who felt that he was
      not unworthy to reign. He secretly invited the archbishop of Milan to
      undertake the office of a mediator; as the pledge of his sincerity, and
      the guardian of his safety. He contrived to apprise the emperor of the
      East of his helpless situation, and he declared, that, unless Theodosius
      could speedily march to his assistance, he must attempt to escape from the
      palace, or rather prison, of Vienna in Gaul, where he had imprudently
      fixed his residence in the midst of the hostile faction. But the hopes of
      relief were distant, and doubtful: and, as every day furnished some new
      provocation, the emperor, without strength or counsel, too hastily
      resolved to risk an immediate contest with his powerful general. He
      received Arbogastes on the throne; and, as the count approached with some
      appearance of respect, delivered to him a paper, which dismissed him from
      all his employments. "My authority," replied Arbogastes, with insulting
      coolness, "does not depend on the smile or the frown of a monarch;" and he
      contemptuously threw the paper on the ground. The indignant monarch
      snatched at the sword of one of the guards, which he struggled to draw
      from its scabbard; and it was not without some degree of violence that he
      was prevented from using the deadly weapon against his enemy, or against
      himself. A few days after this extraordinary quarrel, in which he had
      exposed his resentment and his weakness, the unfortunate Valentinian was
      found strangled in his apartment; and some pains were employed to disguise
      the manifest guilt of Arbogastes, and to persuade the world, that the
      death of the young emperor had been the voluntary effect of his own
      despair. <a href="#linknote-106" name="linknoteref-106"
      id="linknoteref-106">106</a> His body was conducted with decent pomp to
      the sepulchre of Milan; and the archbishop pronounced a funeral oration to
      commemorate his virtues and his misfortunes. <a href="#linknote-107"
      name="linknoteref-107" id="linknoteref-107">107</a> On this occasion the
      humanity of Ambrose tempted him to make a singular breach in his
      theological system; and to comfort the weeping sisters of Valentinian, by
      the firm assurance, that their pious brother, though he had not received
      the sacrament of baptism, was introduced, without difficulty, into the
      mansions of eternal bliss. <a href="#linknote-108" name="linknoteref-108"
      id="linknoteref-108">108</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-102" id="linknote-102">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      102 (<a href="#linknoteref-102">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen, l. vii. c. 14.
      His chronology is very irregular.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-103" id="linknote-103">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      103 (<a href="#linknoteref-103">return</a>)<br /> [ See Ambrose, (tom. ii.
      de Obit. Valentinian. c. 15, &amp;c. p. 1178. c. 36, &amp;c. p. 1184.)
      When the young emperor gave an entertainment, he fasted himself; he
      refused to see a handsome actress, &amp;c. Since he ordered his wild
      beasts to to be killed, it is ungenerous in Philostor (l. xi. c. 1) to
      reproach him with the love of that amusement.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-104" id="linknote-104">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      104 (<a href="#linknoteref-104">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-105" id="linknote-105">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      105 (<a href="#linknoteref-105">return</a>)<br /> [ Gregory of Tours (l.
      ii. c. 9, p. 165, in the second volume of the Historians of France) has
      preserved a curious fragment of Sulpicius Alexander, an historian far more
      valuable than himself.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-106" id="linknote-106">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      106 (<a href="#linknoteref-106">return</a>)<br /> [ Godefroy (Dissertat.
      ad. Philostorg. p. 429-434) has diligently collected all the circumstances
      of the death of Valentinian II. The variations, and the ignorance, of
      contemporary writers, prove that it was secret.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-107" id="linknote-107">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      107 (<a href="#linknoteref-107">return</a>)<br /> [ De Obitu Valentinian.
      tom. ii. p. 1173-1196. He is forced to speak a discreet and obscure
      language: yet he is much bolder than any layman, or perhaps any other
      ecclesiastic, would have dared to be.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-108" id="linknote-108">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      108 (<a href="#linknoteref-108">return</a>)<br /> [ See c. 51, p. 1188, c.
      75, p. 1193. Dom Chardon, (Hist. des Sacramens, tom. i. p. 86,) who owns
      that St. Ambrose most strenuously maintains the indispensable necessity of
      baptism, labors to reconcile the contradiction.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The prudence of Arbogastes had prepared the success of his ambitious
      designs: and the provincials, in whose breast every sentiment of
      patriotism or loyalty was extinguished, expected, with tame resignation,
      the unknown master, whom the choice of a Frank might place on the Imperial
      throne. But some remains of pride and prejudice still opposed the
      elevation of Arbogastes himself; and the judicious Barbarian thought it
      more advisable to reign under the name of some dependent Roman. He
      bestowed the purple on the rhetorician Eugenius; <a href="#linknote-109"
      name="linknoteref-109" id="linknoteref-109">109</a> whom he had already
      raised from the place of his domestic secretary to the rank of master of
      the offices. In the course, both of his private and public service, the
      count had always approved the attachment and abilities of Eugenius; his
      learning and eloquence, supported by the gravity of his manners,
      recommended him to the esteem of the people; and the reluctance with which
      he seemed to ascend the throne, may inspire a favorable prejudice of his
      virtue and moderation. The ambassadors of the new emperor were immediately
      despatched to the court of Theodosius, to communicate, with affected
      grief, the unfortunate accident of the death of Valentinian; and, without
      mentioning the name of Arbogastes, to request, that the monarch of the
      East would embrace, as his lawful colleague, the respectable citizen, who
      had obtained the unanimous suffrage of the armies and provinces of the
      West. <a href="#linknote-110" name="linknoteref-110" id="linknoteref-110">110</a>
      Theodosius was justly provoked, that the perfidy of a Barbarian, should
      have destroyed, in a moment, the labors, and the fruit, of his former
      victory; and he was excited by the tears of his beloved wife, <a
      href="#linknote-111" name="linknoteref-111" id="linknoteref-111">111</a>
      to revenge the fate of her unhappy brother, and once more to assert by
      arms the violated majesty of the throne. But as the second conquest of the
      West was a task of difficulty and danger, he dismissed, with splendid
      presents, and an ambiguous answer, the ambassadors of Eugenius; and almost
      two years were consumed in the preparations of the civil war. Before he
      formed any decisive resolution, the pious emperor was anxious to discover
      the will of Heaven; and as the progress of Christianity had silenced the
      oracles of Delphi and Dodona, he consulted an Egyptian monk, who
      possessed, in the opinion of the age, the gift of miracles, and the
      knowledge of futurity. Eutropius, one of the favorite eunuchs of the
      palace of Constantinople, embarked for Alexandria, from whence he sailed
      up the Nile, as far as the city of Lycopolis, or of Wolves, in the remote
      province of Thebais. <a href="#linknote-112" name="linknoteref-112"
      id="linknoteref-112">112</a> In the neighborhood of that city, and on the
      summit of a lofty mountain, the holy John <a href="#linknote-113"
      name="linknoteref-113" id="linknoteref-113">113</a> had constructed, with
      his own hands, an humble cell, in which he had dwelt above fifty years,
      without opening his door, without seeing the face of a woman, and without
      tasting any food that had been prepared by fire, or any human art. Five
      days of the week he spent in prayer and meditation; but on Saturdays and
      Sundays he regularly opened a small window, and gave audience to the crowd
      of suppliants who successively flowed from every part of the Christian
      world. The eunuch of Theodosius approached the window with respectful
      steps, proposed his questions concerning the event of the civil war, and
      soon returned with a favorable oracle, which animated the courage of the
      emperor by the assurance of a bloody, but infallible victory. <a
      href="#linknote-114" name="linknoteref-114" id="linknoteref-114">114</a>
      The accomplishment of the prediction was forwarded by all the means that
      human prudence could supply. The industry of the two master-generals,
      Stilicho and Timasius, was directed to recruit the numbers, and to revive
      the discipline of the Roman legions. The formidable troops of Barbarians
      marched under the ensigns of their national chieftains. The Iberian, the
      Arab, and the Goth, who gazed on each other with mutual astonishment, were
      enlisted in the service of the same prince; <a href="#linknote-1141"
      name="linknoteref-1141" id="linknoteref-1141">1141</a> and the renowned
      Alaric acquired, in the school of Theodosius, the knowledge of the art of
      war, which he afterwards so fatally exerted for the destruction of Rome.
      <a href="#linknote-115" name="linknoteref-115" id="linknoteref-115">115</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-109" id="linknote-109">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      109 (<a href="#linknoteref-109">return</a>)<br /> [ Quem sibi Germanus
      famulam delegerat exul, is the contemptuous expression of Claudian, (iv.
      Cons. Hon. 74.) Eugenius professed Christianity; but his secret attachment
      to Paganism (Sozomen, l. vii. c. 22, Philostorg. l. xi. c. 2) is probable
      in a grammarian, and would secure the friendship of Zosimus, (l. iv. p.
      276, 277.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-110" id="linknote-110">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      110 (<a href="#linknoteref-110">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus (l. iv. p. 278)
      mentions this embassy; but he is diverted by another story from relating
      the event.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-111" id="linknote-111">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      111 (<a href="#linknoteref-111">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosim. l. iv. p. 277.
      He afterwards says (p. 280) that Galla died in childbed; and intimates,
      that the affliction of her husband was extreme but short.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-112" id="linknote-112">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      112 (<a href="#linknoteref-112">return</a>)<br /> [ Lycopolis is the modern
      Siut, or Osiot, a town of Said, about the size of St. Denys, which drives
      a profitable trade with the kingdom of Senaar, and has a very convenient
      fountain, "cujus potu signa virgini 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-113" id="linknote-113">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      113 (<a href="#linknoteref-113">return</a>)<br /> [ The Life of John of
      Lycopolis is described by his two friends, 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 the chronology.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-114" id="linknote-114">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      114 (<a href="#linknoteref-114">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen, l. vii. c. 22.
      Claudian (in Eutrop. l. i. 312) mentions the eunuch's journey; but he most
      contemptuously derides the Egyptian dreams, and the oracles of the Nile.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-1141" id="linknote-1141">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1141 (<a href="#linknoteref-1141">return</a>)<br /> [ Gibbon has embodied
      the picturesque verses of Claudian:&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     .... Nec tantis dissona linguis
     Turba, nec armorum cultu diversion unquam]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-115" id="linknote-115">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      115 (<a href="#linknoteref-115">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. iv. p. 280.
      Socrates, l. vii. 10. Alaric himself (de Bell. Getico, 524) dwells with
      more complacency on his early exploits against the Romans.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
.... Tot Augustos Hebro qui teste fugavi.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Yet his vanity could scarcely have proved this plurality of flying
      emperors.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The emperor of the West, or, to speak more properly, his general
      Arbogastes, was instructed by the misconduct and misfortune of Maximus,
      how dangerous it might prove to extend the line of defence against a
      skilful antagonist, who was free to press, or to suspend, to contract, or
      to multiply, his various methods of attack. <a href="#linknote-116"
      name="linknoteref-116" id="linknoteref-116">116</a> Arbogastes fixed his
      station on the confines of Italy; the troops of Theodosius were permitted
      to occupy, without resistance, the provinces of Pannonia, as far as the
      foot of the Julian Alps; and even the passes of the mountains were
      negligently, or perhaps artfully, abandoned to the bold invader. He
      descended from the hills, and beheld, with some astonishment, the
      formidable camp of the Gauls and Germans, that covered with arms and tents
      the open country which extends to the walls of Aquileia, and the banks of
      the Frigidus, <a href="#linknote-117" name="linknoteref-117"
      id="linknoteref-117">117</a> or Cold River. <a href="#linknote-118"
      name="linknoteref-118" id="linknoteref-118">118</a> This narrow theatre of
      the war, circumscribed by the Alps and the Adriatic, did not allow much
      room for the operations of military skill; the spirit of Arbogastes would
      have disdained a pardon; his guilt extinguished the hope of a negotiation;
      and Theodosius was impatient to satisfy his glory and revenge, by the
      chastisement of the assassins of Valentinian. Without weighing the natural
      and artificial obstacles that opposed his efforts, the emperor of the East
      immediately attacked the fortifications of his rivals, assigned the post
      of honorable danger to the Goths, and cherished a secret wish, that the
      bloody conflict might diminish the pride and numbers of the conquerors.
      Ten thousand of those auxiliaries, and Bacurius, general of the Iberians,
      died bravely on the field of battle. But the victory was not purchased by
      their blood; the Gauls maintained their advantage; and the approach of
      night protected the disorderly flight, or retreat, of the troops of
      Theodosius. The emperor retired to the adjacent hills; where he passed a
      disconsolate night, without sleep, without provisions, and without hopes;
      <a href="#linknote-119" name="linknoteref-119" id="linknoteref-119">119</a>
      except that strong assurance, which, under the most desperate
      circumstances, the independent mind may derive from the contempt of
      fortune and of life. The triumph of Eugenius was celebrated by the
      insolent and dissolute joy of his camp; whilst the active and vigilant
      Arbogastes secretly detached a considerable body of troops to occupy the
      passes of the mountains, and to encompass the rear of the Eastern army.
      The dawn of day discovered to the eyes of Theodosius the extent and the
      extremity of his danger; but his apprehensions were soon dispelled, by a
      friendly message from the leaders of those troops who expressed their
      inclination to desert the standard of the tyrant. The honorable and
      lucrative rewards, which they stipulated as the price of their perfidy,
      were granted without hesitation; and as ink and paper could not easily be
      procured, the emperor 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 a tyrant, whose principal officers appeared to distrust, either
      the justice or the success of his arms. In the heat of the battle, a
      violent tempest, <a href="#linknote-120" name="linknoteref-120"
      id="linknoteref-120">120</a> such as is often felt among the Alps,
      suddenly arose from the East. The army of Theodosius was sheltered by
      their position from the impetuosity of the wind, which blew a cloud of
      dust in the faces of the enemy, disordered their ranks, wrested their
      weapons from their hands, and diverted, or repelled, their ineffectual
      javelins. This accidental advantage was skilfully improved, the violence
      of the storm was magnified by the superstitious terrors of the Gauls; and
      they yielded without shame to the invisible powers of heaven, who seemed
      to militate on the side of the pious emperor. His victory was decisive;
      and the deaths of his two rivals were distinguished only by the difference
      of their characters. The rhetorician Eugenius, who had almost acquired the
      dominion of the world, was reduced to implore the mercy of the conqueror;
      and the unrelenting soldiers separated his head from his body as he lay
      prostrate at the feet of Theodosius. Arbogastes, after the loss of a
      battle, in which he had discharged the duties of a soldier and a general,
      wandered several days among the mountains. But when he was convinced that
      his cause was desperate, and his escape impracticable, the intrepid
      Barbarian imitated the example of the ancient Romans, and turned his sword
      against his own breast. The fate of the empire was determined in a narrow
      corner of Italy; and the legitimate successor of the house of Valentinian
      embraced the archbishop of Milan, and graciously received the submission
      of the provinces of the West. Those provinces were involved in the guilt
      of rebellion; while the inflexible courage of Ambrose alone had resisted
      the claims of successful usurpation. With a manly freedom, which might
      have been fatal to any other subject, the archbishop rejected the gifts of
      Eugenius, <a href="#linknote-1201" name="linknoteref-1201"
      id="linknoteref-1201">1201</a> declined his correspondence, and withdrew
      himself from Milan, to avoid the odious presence of a tyrant, whose
      downfall he predicted in discreet and ambiguous language. The merit of
      Ambrose was applauded by the conqueror, who secured the attachment of the
      people by his alliance with the church; and the clemency of Theodosius is
      ascribed to the humane intercession of the archbishop of Milan. <a
      href="#linknote-121" name="linknoteref-121" id="linknoteref-121">121</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-116" id="linknote-116">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      116 (<a href="#linknoteref-116">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian (in iv. Cons.
      Honor. 77, &amp;c.) contrasts the military plans of the two usurpers:&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     .... 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......]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-117" id="linknote-117">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      117 (<a href="#linknoteref-117">return</a>)<br /> [ The Frigidus, a small,
      though memorable, stream in the country of Goretz, now called the Vipao,
      falls into the Sontius, or Lisonzo, above Aquileia, some miles from the
      Adriatic. See D'Anville's ancient and modern maps, and the Italia Antiqua
      of Cluverius, (tom. i. c. 188.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-118" id="linknote-118">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      118 (<a href="#linknoteref-118">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian's wit is
      intolerable: the snow was dyed red; the cold ver smoked; and the channel
      must have been choked with carcasses the current had not been swelled with
      blood. Confluxit populus: totam pater undique secum Moverat Aurorem;
      mixtis hic Colchus Iberis, Hic mitra velatus Arabs, hic crine decoro
      Armenius, hic picta Saces, fucataque Medus, Hic gemmata tiger tentoria
      fixerat Indus.&mdash;De Laud. Stil. l. 145.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-119" id="linknote-119">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      119 (<a href="#linknoteref-119">return</a>)<br /> [ Theodoret affirms, that
      St. John, and St. Philip, appeared to the waking, or sleeping, emperor, on
      horseback, &amp;c. This is the first instance of apostolic chivalry, which
      afterwards became so popular in Spain, and in the Crusades.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-120" id="linknote-120">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      120 (<a href="#linknoteref-120">return</a>)<br /> [ Te propter, gelidis
      Aquilo de monte procellis
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
    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.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      These famous lines of Claudian (in iii. Cons. Honor. 93, &amp;c. A.D. 396)
      are alleged by his contemporaries, Augustin and Orosius; who suppress the
      Pagan deity of Aeolus, and add some circumstances from the information of
      eye-witnesses. Within four months after the victory, it was compared by
      Ambrose to the miraculous victories of Moses and Joshua.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-1201" id="linknote-1201">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1201 (<a href="#linknoteref-1201">return</a>)<br /> [ Arbogastes and his
      emperor had openly espoused the Pagan party, according to Ambrose and
      Augustin. See Le Beau, v. 40. Beugnot (Histoire de la Destruction du
      Paganisme) is more full, and perhaps somewhat fanciful, on this remarkable
      reaction in favor of Paganism, but compare p 116.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-121" id="linknote-121">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      121 (<a href="#linknoteref-121">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      After the defeat of Eugenius, the merit, as well as the authority, of
      Theodosius was cheerfully acknowledged by all the inhabitants of the Roman
      world. The experience of his past conduct encouraged the most pleasing
      expectations of his future reign; and the age of the emperor, which did
      not exceed fifty years, seemed to extend the prospect of the public
      felicity. His death, only four months after his victory, was considered by
      the people as an unforeseen and fatal event, which destroyed, in a moment,
      the hopes of the rising generation. But the indulgence of ease and luxury
      had secretly nourished the principles of disease. <a href="#linknote-122"
      name="linknoteref-122" id="linknoteref-122">122</a> The strength of
      Theodosius was unable to support the sudden and violent transition from
      the palace to the camp; and the increasing symptoms of a dropsy announced
      the speedy dissolution of the emperor. The opinion, and perhaps the
      interest, of the public had confirmed the division of the Eastern and
      Western empires; and the two royal youths, Arcadius and Honorius, who had
      already obtained, from the tenderness of their father, the title of
      Augustus, were destined to fill the thrones of Constantinople and of Rome.
      Those princes were not permitted to share the danger and glory of the
      civil war; <a href="#linknote-123" name="linknoteref-123"
      id="linknoteref-123">123</a> but as soon as Theodosius had triumphed over
      his unworthy rivals, he called his younger son, Honorius, to enjoy the
      fruits of the victory, and to receive the sceptre of the West from the
      hands of his dying father. The arrival of Honorius at Milan was welcomed
      by a splendid exhibition of the games of the Circus; and the emperor,
      though he was oppressed by the weight of his disorder, contributed by his
      presence to the public joy. But the remains of his strength were exhausted
      by the painful effort which he made to assist at the spectacles of the
      morning. Honorius supplied, during the rest of the day, the place of his
      father; and the great Theodosius expired in the ensuing night.
      Notwithstanding the recent animosities of a civil war, his death was
      universally lamented. The Barbarians, whom he had vanquished and the
      churchmen, by whom he had been subdued, celebrated, with loud and sincere
      applause, the qualities of the deceased emperor, which appeared the most
      valuable in their eyes. The Romans were terrified by the impending dangers
      of a feeble and divided administration, and every disgraceful moment of
      the unfortunate reigns of Arcadius and Honorius revived the memory of
      their irreparable loss.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-122" id="linknote-122">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      122 (<a href="#linknoteref-122">return</a>)<br /> [ This disease, ascribed
      by Socrates (l. v. c. 26) to the fatigues of war, is represented by
      Philostorgius (l. xi. c. 2) as the effect of sloth and intemperance; for
      which Photius calls him an impudent liar, (Godefroy, Dissert. p. 438.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-123" id="linknote-123">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      123 (<a href="#linknoteref-123">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus supposes, that
      the boy Honorius accompanied his father, (l. iv. p. 280.) Yet the quanto
      flagrabrant pectora voto is all that flattery would allow to a
      contemporary poet; who clearly describes the emperor's refusal, and the
      journey of Honorius, after the victory (Claudian in iii. Cons. 78-125.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      In the faithful picture of the virtues of Theodosius, his imperfections
      have not been dissembled; the act of cruelty, and the habits of indolence,
      which tarnished the glory of one of the greatest of the Roman princes. An
      historian, perpetually adverse to the fame of Theodosius, has exaggerated
      his vices, and their pernicious effects; he boldly asserts, that every
      rank of subjects imitated the effeminate manners of their sovereign; and
      that every species of corruption polluted the course of public and private
      life; and that the feeble restraints of order and decency were
      insufficient to resist the progress of that degenerate spirit, which
      sacrifices, without a blush, the consideration of duty and interest to the
      base indulgence of sloth and appetite. <a href="#linknote-124"
      name="linknoteref-124" id="linknoteref-124">124</a> The complaints of
      contemporary writers, who deplore the increase of luxury, and depravation
      of manners, are commonly expressive of their peculiar temper and
      situation. There are few observers, who possess a clear and comprehensive
      view of the revolutions of society; and who are capable of discovering the
      nice and secret springs of action, which impel, in the same uniform
      direction, the blind and capricious passions of a multitude of
      individuals. If it can be affirmed, with any degree of truth, that the
      luxury of the Romans was more shameless and dissolute in the reign of
      Theodosius than in the age of Constantine, perhaps, or of Augustus, the
      alteration cannot be ascribed to any beneficial improvements, which had
      gradually increased the stock of national riches. A long period of
      calamity or decay must have checked the industry, and diminished the
      wealth, of the people; and their profuse luxury must have been the result
      of that indolent despair, which enjoys the present hour, and declines the
      thoughts of futurity. The uncertain condition of their property
      discouraged the subjects of Theodosius from engaging in those useful and
      laborious undertakings which require an immediate expense, and promise a
      slow and distant advantage. The frequent examples of ruin and desolation
      tempted them not to spare the remains of a patrimony, which might, every
      hour, become the prey of the rapacious Goth. And the mad prodigality which
      prevails in the confusion of a shipwreck, or a siege, may serve to explain
      the progress of luxury amidst the misfortunes and terrors of a sinking
      nation.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-124" id="linknote-124">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      124 (<a href="#linknoteref-124">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. iv. p.
      244.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The effeminate luxury, which infected the manners of courts and cities,
      had instilled a secret and destructive poison into the camps of the
      legions; and their degeneracy has been marked by the pen of a military
      writer, who had accurately studied the genuine and ancient principles of
      Roman discipline. It is the just and important observation of Vegetius,
      that the infantry was invariably covered with defensive armor, from the
      foundation of the city, to the reign of the emperor Gratian. The
      relaxation of discipline, and the disuse of exercise, rendered the
      soldiers less able, and less willing, to support the fatigues of the
      service; they complained of the weight of the armor, which they seldom
      wore; and they successively obtained the permission of laying aside both
      their 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 shield is
      incompatible with that of the bow, they reluctantly marched into the
      field; condemned to suffer either the pain of wounds, or the ignominy of
      flight, and always disposed to prefer the more shameful alternative. The
      cavalry of the Goths, the Huns, and the Alani, had felt the benefits, and
      adopted the use, of defensive armor; and, as they excelled in the
      management of missile weapons, they easily overwhelmed the naked and
      trembling legions, whose heads and breasts were exposed, without defence,
      to the arrows of the Barbarians. The loss of armies, the destruction of
      cities, and the dishonor of the Roman name, ineffectually solicited the
      successors of Gratian to restore the helmets and the cuirasses of the
      infantry. The enervated soldiers abandoned their own and the public
      defence; and their pusillanimous indolence may be considered as the
      immediate cause of the downfall of the empire. <a href="#linknote-125"
      name="linknoteref-125" id="linknoteref-125">125</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="linknote-125" id="linknote-125">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      125 (<a href="#linknoteref-125">return</a>)<br /> [ Vegetius, de Re
      Militari, l. i. c. 10. The series of calamities which he marks, compel us
      to believe, that the Hero, to whom he dedicates his book, is the last and
      most inglorious of the Valentinians.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br /> <a name="link282HCH0001" id="link282HCH0001">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.&mdash;Part I.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Final Destruction Of Paganism.&mdash;Introduction Of The Worship
     Of Saints, And Relics, Among The Christians.
</pre>
    <p>
      The ruin of Paganism, in the age of Theodosius, is perhaps the only
      example of the total extirpation of any ancient and popular superstition;
      and may therefore deserve to be considered as a singular event in the
      history of the human mind. The Christians, more especially the clergy, had
      impatiently supported the prudent delays of Constantine, and the equal
      toleration of the elder Valentinian; nor could they deem their conquest
      perfect or secure, as long as their adversaries were permitted to exist.
      The influence which Ambrose and his brethren had acquired over the youth
      of Gratian, and the piety of Theodosius, was employed to infuse the maxims
      of persecution into the breasts of their Imperial proselytes. Two specious
      principles of religious jurisprudence were established, from whence they
      deduced a direct and rigorous conclusion, against the subjects of the
      empire who still adhered to the ceremonies 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, is the most abominable crime against the
      supreme majesty of the Creator. The laws of Moses, and the examples of
      Jewish history, <a href="#link28note-1" name="link28noteref-1"
      id="link28noteref-1">1</a> were hastily, perhaps erroneously, applied, by
      the clergy, to the mild and universal reign of Christianity. <a
      href="#link28note-2" name="link28noteref-2" id="link28noteref-2">2</a> The
      zeal of the emperors was excited to vindicate their own honor, and that of
      the Deity: and the temples of the Roman world were subverted, about sixty
      years after the conversion of Constantine.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-1" id="link28note-1">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1 (<a href="#link28noteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ St. Ambrose (tom. ii. de
      Obit. Theodos. p. 1208) expressly praises and recommends the zeal of
      Josiah in the destruction of idolatry The language of Julius Firmicus
      Maternus on the same subject (de Errore Profan. Relig. p. 467, edit.
      Gronov.) is piously inhuman. Nec filio jubet (the Mosaic Law) parci, nec
      fratri, et per amatam conjugera gladium vindicem ducit, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-2" id="link28note-2">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2 (<a href="#link28noteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ Bayle (tom. ii. p. 406,
      in his Commentaire Philosophique) justifies, and limits, these intolerant
      laws by the temporal reign of Jehovah over the Jews. The attempt is
      laudable.]
    </p>
    <p>
      From the age of Numa to the reign of Gratian, the Romans preserved the
      regular succession of the several colleges of the sacerdotal order. <a
      href="#link28note-3" name="link28noteref-3" id="link28noteref-3">3</a>
      Fifteen Pontiffs exercised their supreme jurisdiction over all things, and
      persons, that were consecrated to the service of the gods; and the various
      questions which perpetually arose in a loose and traditionary system, were
      submitted to the judgment of their holy tribunal Fifteen grave and learned
      Augurs observed the face of the heavens, and prescribed the actions of
      heroes, according to the flight of birds. Fifteen keepers of the Sibylline
      books (their name of Quindecemvirs was derived from their number)
      occasionally consulted the history of future, and, as it should seem, of
      contingent, events. Six Vestals devoted their virginity to the guard of
      the sacred fire, and of the unknown pledges of the duration of Rome; which
      no mortal had been suffered to behold with impunity. <a
      href="#link28note-4" name="link28noteref-4" id="link28noteref-4">4</a>
      Seven Epulos prepared the table of the gods, conducted the solemn
      procession, and regulated the ceremonies of the annual festival. The three
      Flamens of Jupiter, of Mars, and of Quirinus, were considered as the
      peculiar ministers of the three most powerful deities, who watched over
      the fate of Rome and of the universe. The King of the Sacrifices
      represented the person of Numa, and of his successors, in the religious
      functions, which could be performed only by royal hands. The
      confraternities of the Salians, the Lupercals, &amp;c., practised such
      rites as might extort a smile of contempt from every reasonable man, with
      a lively confidence of recommending themselves to the favor of the
      immortal gods. The authority, which the Roman priests had formerly
      obtained in the counsels of the republic, was gradually abolished by the
      establishment of monarchy, and the removal of the seat of empire. But the
      dignity of their sacred character was still protected by the laws, and
      manners of their country; and they still continued, more especially the
      college of pontiffs, to exercise in the capital, and sometimes in the
      provinces, the rights of their ecclesiastical and civil jurisdiction.
      Their robes of purple, chariotz of state, and sumptuous entertainments,
      attracted the admiration of the people; and they received, from the
      consecrated lands, and the public revenue, an ample stipend, which
      liberally supported the splendor of the priesthood, and all the expenses
      of the religious worship of the state. As the service of the altar was not
      incompatible with the command of armies, the Romans, after their
      consulships and triumphs, aspired to the place of pontiff, or of augur;
      the seats of Cicero <a href="#link28note-5" name="link28noteref-5"
      id="link28noteref-5">5</a> and Pompey were filled, in the fourth century,
      by the most illustrious members of the senate; and the dignity of their
      birth reflected additional splendor on their sacerdotal character. The
      fifteen priests, who composed the college of pontiffs, enjoyed a more
      distinguished rank as the companions of their sovereign; and the Christian
      emperors condescended to accept the robe and ensigns, which were
      appropriated to the office of supreme pontiff. But when Gratian ascended
      the throne, more scrupulous or more enlightened, he sternly rejected those
      profane symbols; <a href="#link28note-6" name="link28noteref-6"
      id="link28noteref-6">6</a> applied to the service of the state, or of the
      church, the revenues of the priests and vestals; abolished their honors
      and immunities; and dissolved the ancient fabric of Roman superstition,
      which was supported by the opinions and habits of eleven hundred years.
      Paganism was still the constitutional religion of the senate. The hall, or
      temple, in which they assembled, was adorned by the statue and altar of
      Victory; <a href="#link28note-7" name="link28noteref-7"
      id="link28noteref-7">7</a> a majestic female standing on a globe, with
      flowing garments, expanded wings, and a crown of laurel in her
      outstretched hand. <a href="#link28note-8" name="link28noteref-8"
      id="link28noteref-8">8</a> The senators were sworn on the altar of the
      goddess to observe the laws of the emperor and of the empire: and a solemn
      offering of wine and incense was the ordinary prelude of their public
      deliberations. <a href="#link28note-9" name="link28noteref-9"
      id="link28noteref-9">9</a> The removal of this ancient monument was the
      only injury which Constantius had offered to the superstition of the
      Romans. The altar of Victory was again restored by Julian, tolerated by
      Valentinian, and once more banished from the senate by the zeal of
      Gratian. <a href="#link28note-10" name="link28noteref-10"
      id="link28noteref-10">10</a> But the emperor yet spared the statues of the
      gods which were exposed to the public veneration: four hundred and
      twenty-four temples, or chapels, still remained to satisfy the devotion of
      the people; and in every quarter of Rome the delicacy of the Christians
      was offended by the fumes of idolatrous sacrifice. <a href="#link28note-11"
      name="link28noteref-11" id="link28noteref-11">11</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-3" id="link28note-3">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3 (<a href="#link28noteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ See the outlines of the
      Roman hierarchy in Cicero, (de Legibus, 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 English whig, as well as of a Roman antiquary.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-4" id="link28note-4">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4 (<a href="#link28noteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ These mystic, and perhaps
      imaginary, symbols have given birth to various fables and conjectures. It
      seems probable, that the Palladium 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, or barrel; and that a similar barrel was placed by
      its side to disconcert curiosity, or sacrilege. See Mezeriac (Comment. sur
      les Epitres d'Ovide, tom i. p. 60&mdash;66) and Lipsius, (tom. iii. p. 610
      de Vesta, &amp;c. c 10.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-5" id="link28note-5">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5 (<a href="#link28noteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ Cicero frankly (ad
      Atticum, l. ii. Epist. 5) or indirectly (ad Familiar. l. xv. Epist. 4)
      confesses that the Augurate is the supreme object of his wishes. Pliny is
      proud to tread in the footsteps of Cicero, (l. iv. Epist. 8,) and the
      chain of tradition might be continued from history and marbles.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-6" id="link28note-6">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6 (<a href="#link28noteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. iv. p. 249,
      250. I have suppressed the foolish pun about Pontifex and Maximus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-7" id="link28note-7">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7 (<a href="#link28noteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ This statue was
      transported from Tarentum to Rome, placed in the Curia Julia by Caesar,
      and decorated by Augustus with the spoils of Egypt.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-8" id="link28note-8">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8 (<a href="#link28noteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ Prudentius (l. ii. in
      initio) has drawn a very awkward portrait of Victory; but the curious
      reader will obtain more satisfaction from Montfaucon's Antiquities, (tom.
      i. p. 341.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-9" id="link28note-9">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9 (<a href="#link28noteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ See Suetonius (in August.
      c. 35) and the Exordium of Pliny's Panegyric.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-10" id="link28note-10">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      10 (<a href="#link28noteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ These facts are
      mutually allowed by the two advocates, Symmachus and Ambrose.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-11" id="link28note-11">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      11 (<a href="#link28noteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ The Notitia Urbis, more
      recent than Constantine, does not find one Christian church worthy to be
      named among the edifices of the city. Ambrose (tom. ii. Epist. xvii. p.
      825) deplores the public scandals of Rome, which continually offended the
      eyes, the ears, and the nostrils of the faithful.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But the Christians formed the least numerous party in the senate of Rome:
      <a href="#link28note-12" name="link28noteref-12" id="link28noteref-12">12</a>
      and it was only by their absence, that they could express their 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 respectable deputations were
      successively voted to the Imperial court, <a href="#link28note-13"
      name="link28noteref-13" id="link28noteref-13">13</a> to represent the
      grievances of the priesthood and the senate, and to solicit the
      restoration of the altar of Victory. The conduct of this important
      business was intrusted to the eloquent Symmachus, <a href="#link28note-14"
      name="link28noteref-14" id="link28noteref-14">14</a> a wealthy and noble
      senator, who united the sacred characters of pontiff and augur with the
      civil dignities of proconsul of Africa and praefect of the city. The
      breast of Symmachus was animated by the warmest zeal for the cause of
      expiring Paganism; and his religious antagonists lamented the abuse of his
      genius, and the inefficacy of his moral virtues. <a href="#link28note-15"
      name="link28noteref-15" id="link28noteref-15">15</a> The orator, whose
      petition is extant to the emperor Valentinian, was conscious of the
      difficulty and danger of the office which he had assumed. He cautiously
      avoids every topic which might appear to reflect on the religion of his
      sovereign; humbly declares, that prayers and entreaties are his only arms;
      and artfully draws his arguments from the schools of rhetoric, rather than
      from those of philosophy. Symmachus endeavors to seduce the imagination of
      a young prince, by displaying the attributes of the goddess of victory; he
      insinuates, that the confiscation of the revenues, which were consecrated
      to the service of the gods, was a measure unworthy of his liberal and
      disinterested character; and he maintains, that the Roman sacrifices would
      be deprived of their force and energy, if they were no longer celebrated
      at the expense, as well as in the name, of the republic. Even scepticism
      is made to supply an apology for superstition. The great and
      incomprehensible secret of the universe eludes the inquiry of man. Where
      reason cannot instruct, custom may be permitted to guide; and every nation
      seems to consult the dictates of prudence, by a faithful attachment to
      those rites and opinions, which have received the sanction of ages. If
      those ages have been crowned with glory and prosperity, if the devout
      people have frequently obtained the blessings which they have solicited at
      the altars of the gods, it must appear still more advisable to persist in
      the same salutary practice; and not to risk the unknown perils that may
      attend any rash innovations. The test of antiquity and success was applied
      with singular advantage to the religion of Numa; and Rome herself, the
      celestial genius that presided over the fates of the city, is introduced
      by the orator to plead her own cause before the tribunal of the emperors.
      "Most excellent princes," says the venerable matron, "fathers of your
      country! pity and respect my age, which has hitherto flowed in an
      uninterrupted course of piety. Since I do not repent, permit me to
      continue in the practice of my ancient rites. Since I am born free, allow
      me to enjoy my domestic institutions. This religion has reduced the world
      under my laws. These rites have repelled Hannibal from the city, and the
      Gauls from the Capitol. Were my gray hairs reserved for such intolerable
      disgrace? I am ignorant of the new system that I am required to adopt; but
      I am well assured, that the correction of old age is always an ungrateful
      and ignominious office." <a href="#link28note-16" name="link28noteref-16"
      id="link28noteref-16">16</a> The fears of the people supplied what the
      discretion of the orator had suppressed; and the calamities, which
      afflicted, or threatened, the declining empire, were unanimously imputed,
      by the Pagans, to the new religion of Christ and of Constantine.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-12" id="link28note-12">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      12 (<a href="#link28noteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ Ambrose repeatedly
      affirms, in contradiction to common sense (Moyle's Works, vol. ii. p.
      147,) that the Christians had a majority in the senate.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-13" id="link28note-13">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      13 (<a href="#link28noteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ The first (A.D. 382) to
      Gratian, who refused them audience; the second (A.D. 384) to Valentinian,
      when the field was disputed 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-14" id="link28note-14">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      14 (<a href="#link28noteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ Symmachus, who was
      invested with all the civil and sacerdotal honors, represented the emperor
      under the two characters of Pontifex Maximus, and Princeps Senatus. See
      the proud inscription at the head of his works. * Note: Mr. Beugnot has
      made it doubtful whether Symmachus was more than Pontifex Major.
      Destruction du Paganisme, vol. i. p. 459.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-15" id="link28note-15">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      15 (<a href="#link28noteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ As if any one, says
      Prudentius (in Symmach. i. 639) should dig in the mud with an instrument
      of gold and ivory. Even saints, and polemic saints, treat this adversary
      with respect and civility.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-16" id="link28note-16">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      16 (<a href="#link28noteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ See the fifty-fourth
      Epistle of the tenth book of Symmachus. In the form and disposition of his
      ten books of Epistles, he imitated the younger Pliny; whose rich and
      florid style he was supposed, by his friends, to equal or excel, (Macrob.
      Saturnal. l. v. c. i.) But the luxcriancy of Symmachus consists of barren
      leaves, without fruits, and even without flowers. Few facts, and few
      sentiments, can be extracted from his verbose correspondence.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But the hopes of Symmachus were repeatedly baffled by the firm and
      dexterous opposition of the archbishop of Milan, who fortified the
      emperors against the fallacious eloquence of the advocate of Rome. In this
      controversy, Ambrose condescends to speak the language of a philosopher,
      and to ask, with some contempt, why it should be thought necessary to
      introduce an imaginary and invisible power, as the cause of those
      victories, which were sufficiently explained by the valor and discipline
      of the legions. He justly derides the absurd reverence for antiquity,
      which could only tend to discourage the improvements of art, 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 and salvation; and that every
      mode of Polytheism conducts its deluded votaries, through the paths of
      error, to the abyss of eternal perdition. <a href="#link28note-17"
      name="link28noteref-17" id="link28noteref-17">17</a> Arguments like these,
      when they were suggested by a favorite bishop, had power to prevent the
      restoration of the altar of Victory; but the same arguments fell, with
      much more energy and effect, from the mouth of a conqueror; and the gods
      of antiquity were dragged in triumph at the chariot-wheels of Theodosius.
      <a href="#link28note-18" name="link28noteref-18" id="link28noteref-18">18</a>
      In a full meeting of the senate, the emperor proposed, according to the
      forms of the republic, the important question, Whether the worship of
      Jupiter, or that of Christ, should be the religion of the Romans. <a
      href="#link28note-1811" name="link28noteref-1811" id="link28noteref-1811">1811</a>
      The liberty of suffrages, which he affected to allow, was destroyed by the
      hopes and fears that his presence inspired; and the arbitrary exile of
      Symmachus was a recent admonition, that it might be dangerous to oppose
      the wishes of the monarch. On a regular division of the senate, Jupiter
      was condemned and degraded by the sense of a very large majority; and it
      is rather surprising, that any members should be found bold enough to
      declare, by their speeches and votes, that they were still attached to the
      interest of an abdicated deity. <a href="#link28note-19"
      name="link28noteref-19" id="link28noteref-19">19</a> The hasty conversion
      of the senate must be attributed either to supernatural or to sordid
      motives; and many of these reluctant proselytes betrayed, on every
      favorable occasion, their secret disposition to throw aside the mask of
      odious dissimulation. But they were gradually fixed in the new religion,
      as the cause of the ancient became more hopeless; they yielded to the
      authority of the emperor, to the fashion of the times, and to the
      entreaties of their wives and children, <a href="#link28note-20"
      name="link28noteref-20" id="link28noteref-20">20</a> who were instigated
      and governed by the clergy of Rome and the monks of the East. The edifying
      example of the Anician family was soon imitated by the rest of the
      nobility: the Bassi, the Paullini, the Gracchi, embraced the Christian
      religion; and "the luminaries of the world, the venerable assembly of
      Catos (such are the high-flown expressions of Prudentius) were impatient
      to strip themselves of their pontifical garment; to cast the skin of the
      old serpent; to assume the snowy robes of baptismal innocence, and to
      humble the pride of the consular fasces before tombs of the martyrs." <a
      href="#link28note-21" name="link28noteref-21" id="link28noteref-21">21</a>
      The citizens, who subsisted by their own industry, and the populace, who
      were supported by the public liberality, filled the churches of the
      Lateran, and Vatican, with an incessant throng of devout proselytes. The
      decrees of the senate, which proscribed the worship of idols, were
      ratified by the general consent of the Romans; <a href="#link28note-22"
      name="link28noteref-22" id="link28noteref-22">22</a> the splendor of the
      Capitol was defaced, and the solitary temples were abandoned to ruin and
      contempt. <a href="#link28note-23" name="link28noteref-23"
      id="link28noteref-23">23</a> Rome submitted to the yoke of the Gospel; and
      the vanquished provinces had not yet lost their reverence for the name and
      authority of Rome. <a href="#link28note-2311" name="link28noteref-2311"
      id="link28noteref-2311">2311</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-17" id="link28note-17">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      17 (<a href="#link28noteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ See Ambrose, (tom. ii.
      Epist. xvii. xviii. p. 825-833.) The former of these epistles is a short
      caution; the latter is a formal reply of the petition or libel of
      Symmachus. The same ideas are more copiously expressed in the poetry, if
      it may deserve that name, of Prudentius; who composed his two books
      against Symmachus (A.D. 404) while that senator was still alive. It is
      whimsical enough that Montesquieu (Considerations, &amp;c. c. xix. tom.
      iii. p. 487) should overlook the two professed antagonists of Symmachus,
      and amuse himself with descanting on the more remote and indirect
      confutations of Orosius, St. Augustin, and Salvian.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-18" id="link28note-18">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      18 (<a href="#link28noteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ See Prudentius (in
      Symmach. l. i. 545, &amp;c.) The Christian agrees with the Pagan Zosimus
      (l. iv. p. 283) in placing this visit of Theodosius after the second civil
      war, gemini bis victor caede Tyranni, (l. i. 410.) But the time and
      circumstances are better suited to his first triumph.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-1811" id="link28note-1811">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1811 (<a href="#link28noteref-1811">return</a>)<br /> [ M. Beugnot (in his
      Histoire de la Destruction du Paganisme en Occident, i. p. 483-488)
      questions, altogether, the truth of this statement. It is very remarkable
      that Zosimus and Prudentius concur in asserting the fact of the question
      being solemnly deliberated by the senate, though with directly opposite
      results. Zosimus declares that the majority of the assembly adhered to the
      ancient religion of Rome; Gibbon has adopted the authority of Prudentius,
      who, as a Latin writer, though a poet, deserves more credit than the Greek
      historian. Both concur in placing this scene after the second triumph of
      Theodosius; but it has been almost demonstrated (and Gibbon&mdash;see the
      preceding note&mdash;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
      Christian emperor would submit such a question to the senate, whose
      authority was nearly obsolete, except on one occasion, which was almost
      hailed as an epoch in the restoration of her ancient privileges. The
      silence of Ambrose and of Jerom on an event so striking, and redounding so
      much to the honor of Christianity, is of considerable weight. M. Beugnot
      would ascribe the whole scene to the poetic imagination of Prudentius; but
      I must observe, that, however Prudentius is sometimes elevated by the
      grandeur of his subject to vivid and eloquent language, this flight of
      invention would be so much bolder and more vigorous than usual with this
      poet, that I cannot but suppose there must have been some foundation for
      the story, though it may have been exaggerated by the poet, or
      misrepresented by the historian.&mdash;M]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-19" id="link28note-19">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      19 (<a href="#link28noteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ Prudentius, after
      proving that the sense of the senate is declared by a legal majority,
      proceeds to say, (609, &amp;c.)&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Zosimus ascribes to the conscript fathers a heathenish courage, which few
      of them are found to possess.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-20" id="link28note-20">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      20 (<a href="#link28noteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Jerom specifies the
      pontiff Albinus, who was surrounded with such a believing family of
      children and grandchildren, as would have been sufficient to convert even
      Jupiter himself; an extraordinary proselyted (tom. i. ad Laetam, p. 54.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-21" id="link28note-21">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      21 (<a href="#link28noteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Exultare Patres videas, pulcherrima mundi
     Lumina; Conciliumque senum gestire Catonum
     Candidiore toga niveum pietatis amictum
     Sumere; et exuvias deponere pontificales.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      The fancy of Prudentius is warmed and elevated by victory]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-22" id="link28note-22">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      22 (<a href="#link28noteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ Prudentius, after he
      has described the conversion of the senate and people, asks, with some
      truth and confidence,
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
    Et dubitamus adhuc Romam, tibi, Christe, dicatam
    In leges transisse tuas?]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-23" id="link28note-23">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      23 (<a href="#link28noteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ Jerom exults in the
      desolation of the Capitol, and the other temples of Rome, (tom. i. p. 54,
      tom. ii. p. 95.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-2311" id="link28note-2311">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2311 (<a href="#link28noteref-2311">return</a>)<br /> [ M. Beugnot is more
      correct in his general estimate of the measures enforced by Theodosius for
      the abolition of Paganism. He seized (according to Zosimus) the funds
      bestowed by the public for the expense of sacrifices. The public
      sacrifices ceased, not because they were positively prohibited, but
      because the public treasury would no longer bear the expense. The public
      and the private sacrifices in the provinces, which were not under the same
      regulations with those of the capital, 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 pontificates inscribed, according to ancient usage, among
      the family titles of honor; and it cannot be asserted that idolatry was
      completely destroyed by Theodosius. See Beugnot, p. 491.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link282HCH0002" id="link282HCH0002">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.&mdash;Part II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      The filial piety of the emperors themselves engaged them to proceed, with
      some caution and tenderness, in the reformation of the eternal city. Those
      absolute monarchs acted with less regard to the prejudices of the
      provincials. The pious labor which had been suspended near twenty years
      since the death of Constantius, <a href="#link28note-24"
      name="link28noteref-24" id="link28noteref-24">24</a> was vigorously
      resumed, and finally accomplished, by the zeal of Theodosius. Whilst that
      warlike prince yet struggled with the Goths, not for the glory, but for
      the safety, of the republic, he ventured to offend a considerable party of
      his subjects, by some acts which might perhaps secure the protection of
      Heaven, but which must seem rash and unseasonable in the eye of human
      prudence. The success of his first experiments against the Pagans
      encouraged the pious emperor to reiterate and enforce his edicts of
      proscription: the same laws which had been originally published in the
      provinces of the East, were applied, after the defeat of Maximus, to the
      whole extent of the Western empire; and every victory of the orthodox
      Theodosius contributed to the triumph of the Christian and Catholic faith.
      <a href="#link28note-25" name="link28noteref-25" id="link28noteref-25">25</a>
      He attacked superstition in her most vital part, by prohibiting the use of
      sacrifices, which he declared to be criminal as well as infamous; and if
      the terms of his edicts more strictly condemned the impious curiosity
      which examined the entrails of the victim, <a href="#link28note-26"
      name="link28noteref-26" id="link28noteref-26">26</a> every subsequent
      explanation tended to involve in the same guilt the general practice of
      immolation, which essentially constituted the religion of the Pagans. As
      the temples had been erected for the purpose of sacrifice, it was the duty
      of a benevolent prince to remove from his subjects the dangerous
      temptation of offending against the laws which he had enacted. A special
      commission was granted to Cynegius, the Praetorian praefect of the East,
      and afterwards to the counts Jovius and Gaudentius, two officers of
      distinguished rank in the West; by which they were directed to shut the
      temples, to seize or destroy the instruments of idolatry, to abolish the
      privileges of the priests, and to confiscate the consecrated property for
      the benefit of the emperor, of the church, or of the army. <a
      href="#link28note-27" name="link28noteref-27" id="link28noteref-27">27</a>
      Here the desolation might have stopped: and the naked edifices, which were
      no longer employed in the service of idolatry, might have been protected
      from the destructive rage of fanaticism. Many of those temples were the
      most splendid and beautiful monuments of Grecian architecture; and the
      emperor himself was interested not to deface the splendor of his own
      cities, or to diminish the value of his own possessions. Those stately
      edifices might be suffered to remain, as so many lasting trophies of the
      victory of Christ. In the decline of the arts they might be usefully
      converted into magazines, manufactures, or places of public assembly: and
      perhaps, when the walls of the temple had been sufficiently purified by
      holy rites, the worship of the true Deity might be allowed to expiate the
      ancient guilt of idolatry. But as long as they subsisted, the Pagans
      fondly cherished the secret hope, that an auspicious revolution, a second
      Julian, might again restore the altars of the gods: and the earnestness
      with which they addressed their unavailing prayers to the throne, <a
      href="#link28note-28" name="link28noteref-28" id="link28noteref-28">28</a>
      increased the zeal of the Christian reformers to extirpate, without mercy,
      the root of superstition. The laws of the emperors exhibit some symptoms
      of a milder disposition: <a href="#link28note-29" name="link28noteref-29"
      id="link28noteref-29">29</a> but their cold and languid efforts were
      insufficient to stem the torrent of enthusiasm and rapine, which was
      conducted, or rather impelled, by the spiritual rulers of the church. In
      Gaul, the holy Martin, bishop of Tours, <a href="#link28note-30"
      name="link28noteref-30" id="link28noteref-30">30</a> marched at the head
      of his faithful monks to destroy the idols, the temples, and the
      consecrated trees of his extensive diocese; and, in the execution of this
      arduous task, the prudent reader will judge whether Martin was supported
      by the aid of miraculous powers, or of carnal weapons. In Syria, the
      divine and excellent Marcellus, <a href="#link28note-31"
      name="link28noteref-31" id="link28noteref-31">31</a> as he is styled by
      Theodoret, a bishop animated with apostolic fervor, resolved to level with
      the ground the stately temples within the diocese of Apamea. His attack
      was resisted by the skill and solidity with which the temple of Jupiter
      had been constructed. The building was seated on an eminence: on each of
      the four sides, the lofty roof was supported by fifteen massy columns,
      sixteen feet in circumference; and the large stone, of which they were
      composed, were firmly cemented with lead and iron. The force of the
      strongest and sharpest tools had been tried without effect. It was found
      necessary to undermine the foundations of the columns, which fell down as
      soon as the temporary wooden props had been consumed with fire; and the
      difficulties of the enterprise are described under the allegory 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; a numerous troop of soldiers and
      gladiators marched under the episcopal banner, and he successively
      attacked the villages and country temples of the diocese of Apamea.
      Whenever any resistance or danger was apprehended, the champion of the
      faith, whose lameness would not allow him either to fight or fly, placed
      himself at a convenient distance, beyond the reach of darts. But this
      prudence was the occasion of his death: he was surprised and slain by a
      body of exasperated rustics; and the synod of the province pronounced,
      without hesitation, that the holy Marcellus had sacrificed his life in the
      cause of God. In the support of this cause, the monks, who rushed with
      tumultuous fury from the desert, distinguished themselves by their zeal
      and diligence. They deserved the enmity of the Pagans; and some of them
      might deserve the reproaches of avarice and intemperance; of avarice,
      which they gratified with holy plunder, and of intemperance, which they
      indulged at the expense of the people, who foolishly admired their
      tattered garments, loud psalmody, and artificial paleness. <a
      href="#link28note-32" name="link28noteref-32" id="link28noteref-32">32</a>
      A small number of temples was protected by the fears, the venality, the
      taste, or the prudence, of the civil and ecclesiastical governors. The
      temple of the Celestial Venus at Carthage, whose sacred precincts formed a
      circumference of two miles, was judiciously converted into a Christian
      church; <a href="#link28note-33" name="link28noteref-33"
      id="link28noteref-33">33</a> and a similar consecration has preserved
      inviolate the majestic dome of the Pantheon at Rome. <a
      href="#link28note-34" name="link28noteref-34" id="link28noteref-34">34</a>
      But in almost every province of the Roman world, an army of fanatics,
      without authority, and without discipline, invaded the peaceful
      inhabitants; and the ruin of the fairest structures of antiquity still
      displays the ravages of those Barbarians, who alone had time and
      inclination to execute such laborious destruction.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-24" id="link28note-24">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      24 (<a href="#link28noteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ Libanius (Orat. pro
      Templis, p. 10, Genev. 1634, published by James Godefroy, and now
      extremely scarce) accuses Valentinian and Valens of prohibiting
      sacrifices. Some partial order may have been issued by the Eastern
      emperor; but the idea of any general law is contradicted by the silence of
      the Code, and the evidence of ecclesiastical history. Note: See in
      Reiske's edition of Libanius, tom. ii. p. 155. Sacrific was prohibited by
      Valens, but not the offering of incense.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-25" id="link28note-25">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      25 (<a href="#link28noteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ See his laws in the
      Theodosian Code, l. xvi. tit. x. leg. 7-11.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-26" id="link28note-26">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      26 (<a href="#link28noteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ Homer's sacrifices are
      not accompanied with any inquisition of entrails, (see Feithius,
      Antiquitat. Homer. l. i. c. 10, 16.) The Tuscans, who produced the first
      Haruspices, subdued both the Greeks and the Romans, (Cicero de
      Divinatione, ii. 23.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-27" id="link28note-27">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      27 (<a href="#link28noteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 prove that the commands of Theodosius were not
      direct and positive. * Note: Libanius appears to be the best authority for
      the East, where, under Theodosius, the work of devastation was carried on
      with very different degrees of violence, according to the temper of the
      local authorities and of the clergy; and more especially the neighborhood
      of the more fanatican monks. Neander well observes, that the prohibition
      of sacrifice would be easily misinterpreted into an authority for the
      destruction of the buildings in which sacrifices were performed.
      (Geschichte der Christlichen religion ii. p. 156.) An abuse of this kind
      led to this remarkable oration of Libanius. Neander, however, justly
      doubts whether this bold vindication or at least exculpation, of Paganism
      was ever delivered before, or even placed in the hands of the Christian
      emperor.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-28" id="link28note-28">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      28 (<a href="#link28noteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ Cod. Theodos, l. xvi.
      tit. x. leg. 8, 18. There is room to believe, that this temple of Edessa,
      which Theodosius wished to save for civil uses, was soon afterwards a heap
      of ruins, (Libanius pro Templis, p. 26, 27, and Godefroy's notes, p. 59.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-29" id="link28note-29">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      29 (<a href="#link28noteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-30" id="link28note-30">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      30 (<a href="#link28noteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Life of Martin
      by Sulpicius Severus, c. 9-14. The saint once mistook (as Don Quixote
      might have done) a harmless funeral for an idolatrous procession, and
      imprudently committed a miracle.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-31" id="link28note-31">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      31 (<a href="#link28noteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare Sozomen, (l.
      vii. c. 15) with Theodoret, (l. v. c. 21.) Between them, they relate the
      crusade and death of Marcellus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-32" id="link28note-32">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      32 (<a href="#link28noteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ Libanius, pro Templis,
      p. 10-13. He rails at these black-garbed men, the Christian monks, who eat
      more than elephants. Poor elephants! they are temperate animals.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-33" id="link28note-33">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      33 (<a href="#link28noteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ Prosper. Aquitan. l.
      iii. c. 38, apud Baronium; Annal. Eccles. A.D. 389, No. 58, &amp;c. The
      temple had been shut some time, and the access to it was overgrown with
      brambles.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-34" id="link28note-34">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      34 (<a href="#link28noteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ Donatus, Roma Antiqua
      et Nova, l. iv. c. 4, p. 468. This consecration was performed by Pope
      Boniface IV. I am ignorant of the favorable circumstances which had
      preserved the Pantheon above two hundred years after the reign of
      Theodosius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In this wide and various prospect of devastation, the spectator may
      distinguish the ruins of the temple of Serapis, at Alexandria. <a
      href="#link28note-35" name="link28noteref-35" id="link28noteref-35">35</a>
      Serapis does not appear to have been one of the native gods, or monsters,
      who sprung from the fruitful soil of superstitious Egypt. <a
      href="#link28note-36" name="link28noteref-36" id="link28noteref-36">36</a>
      The first of the Ptolemies had been commanded, by a dream, to import the
      mysterious stranger from the coast of Pontus, where he had been long
      adored by the inhabitants of Sinope; but his attributes and his reign were
      so imperfectly understood, that it became a subject of dispute, whether he
      represented the bright orb of day, or the gloomy monarch of the
      subterraneous regions. <a href="#link28note-37" name="link28noteref-37"
      id="link28noteref-37">37</a> The Egyptians, who were obstinately devoted
      to the religion of their fathers, refused to admit this foreign deity
      within the walls of their cities. <a href="#link28note-38"
      name="link28noteref-38" id="link28noteref-38">38</a> But the obsequious
      priests, who were seduced by the liberality of the Ptolemies, submitted,
      without resistance, to the power of the god of Pontus: an honorable and
      domestic genealogy was provided; and this fortunate usurper was introduced
      into the throne and bed of Osiris, <a href="#link28note-39"
      name="link28noteref-39" id="link28noteref-39">39</a> the husband of Isis,
      and the celestial monarch of Egypt. Alexandria, which claimed his peculiar
      protection, gloried in the name of the city of Serapis. His temple, <a
      href="#link28note-40" name="link28noteref-40" id="link28noteref-40">40</a>
      which rivalled the pride and magnificence of the Capitol, was erected on
      the spacious summit of an artificial mount, raised one hundred steps above
      the level of the adjacent parts of the city; and the interior cavity was
      strongly supported by arches, and distributed into vaults and
      subterraneous apartments. The consecrated buildings were surrounded by a
      quadrangular portico; the stately halls, and exquisite statues, displayed
      the triumph of the arts; and the treasures of ancient learning were
      preserved in the famous Alexandrian library, which had arisen with new
      splendor from its ashes. <a href="#link28note-41" name="link28noteref-41"
      id="link28noteref-41">41</a> After the edicts of Theodosius had severely
      prohibited the sacrifices of the Pagans, they were still tolerated in the
      city and temple of Serapis; and this singular indulgence was imprudently
      ascribed to the superstitious terrors of the Christians themselves; as if
      they had feared to abolish those ancient rites, which could alone secure
      the inundations of the Nile, the harvests of Egypt, and the subsistence of
      Constantinople. <a href="#link28note-42" name="link28noteref-42"
      id="link28noteref-42">42</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-35" id="link28note-35">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      35 (<a href="#link28noteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ Sophronius composed a
      recent and separate history, (Jerom, in Script. Eccles. tom. i. p. 303,)
      which has furnished materials to Socrates, (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 the event, may deserve the credit of an
      original witness.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-36" id="link28note-36">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      36 (<a href="#link28noteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ Gerard Vossius (Opera,
      tom. v. p. 80, and de Idoloaltria, l. i. c. 29) strives to support the
      strange notion of the Fathers; that the patriarch Joseph was adored in
      Egypt, as the bull Apis, and the god Serapis. * Note: Consult du Dieu
      Serapis et son Origine, par J D. Guigniaut, (the translator of Creuzer's
      Symbolique,) Paris, 1828; and in the fifth volume of Bournouf's
      translation of Tacitus.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-37" id="link28note-37">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      37 (<a href="#link28noteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ Origo dei nondum
      nostris celebrata. Aegyptiorum antistites sic memorant, &amp;c., Tacit.
      Hist. iv. 83. The Greeks, who had travelled into Egypt, were alike
      ignorant of this new deity.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-38" id="link28note-38">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      38 (<a href="#link28noteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ Macrobius, Saturnal, l.
      i. c. 7. Such a living fact decisively proves his foreign extraction.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-39" id="link28note-39">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      39 (<a href="#link28noteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ At Rome, Isis and
      Serapis were united in the same temple. The precedency which the queen
      assumed, may seem to betray her unequal alliance with the stranger of
      Pontus. But the superiority of the female sex was established in Egypt as
      a civil and religious institution, (Diodor. Sicul. tom. i. l. i. p. 31,
      edit. Wesseling,) and the same order is observed in Plutarch's Treatise of
      Isis and Osiris; whom he identifies with Serapis.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-40" id="link28note-40">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      40 (<a href="#link28noteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-41" id="link28note-41">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      41 (<a href="#link28noteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ See Memoires de l'Acad.
      des Inscriptions, tom. ix. p. 397-416. The old library of the Ptolemies
      was totally consumed in Caesar's Alexandrian war. Marc Antony gave the
      whole collection of Pergamus (200,000 volumes) to Cleopatra, as the
      foundation of the new library of Alexandria.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-42" id="link28note-42">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      42 (<a href="#link28noteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ Libanius (pro Templis,
      p. 21) indiscreetly provokes his Christian masters by this insulting
      remark.]
    </p>
    <p>
      At that time <a href="#link28note-43" name="link28noteref-43"
      id="link28noteref-43">43</a> the archiepiscopal throne of Alexandria was
      filled by Theophilus, <a href="#link28note-44" name="link28noteref-44"
      id="link28noteref-44">44</a> the perpetual enemy of peace and virtue; a
      bold, bad man, whose hands were alternately polluted with gold and with
      blood. His pious indignation was excited by the honors of Serapis; and the
      insults which he offered to an ancient temple of Bacchus, <a
      href="#link28note-4411" name="link28noteref-4411" id="link28noteref-4411">4411</a>
      convinced the Pagans that he meditated a more important and dangerous
      enterprise. In the tumultuous capital of Egypt, the slightest provocation
      was sufficient to inflame a civil war. The votaries of Serapis, whose
      strength and numbers were much inferior to those of their antagonists,
      rose in arms at the instigation of the philosopher Olympius, <a
      href="#link28note-45" name="link28noteref-45" id="link28noteref-45">45</a>
      who exhorted them to die in the defence of the altars of the gods. These
      Pagan fanatics fortified themselves in the temple, or rather fortress, of
      Serapis; repelled the besiegers by daring sallies, and a resolute defence;
      and, by the inhuman cruelties which they exercised on their Christian
      prisoners, obtained the last consolation of despair. The efforts of the
      prudent magistrate were usefully exerted for the establishment of a truce,
      till the answer of Theodosius should determine the fate of Serapis. The
      two parties assembled, without arms, in the principal square; and the
      Imperial rescript was publicly read. But when a sentence of destruction
      against the idols of Alexandria was pronounced, the Christians set up a
      shout of joy and exultation, whilst the unfortunate Pagans, whose fury had
      given way to consternation, retired with hasty and silent steps, and
      eluded, by their flight or obscurity, the resentment of their enemies.
      Theophilus proceeded to demolish the temple of Serapis, without any other
      difficulties, than those which he found in the weight and solidity of the
      materials: but these obstacles proved so insuperable, that he was obliged
      to leave the foundations; and to content himself with reducing the edifice
      itself to a heap of rubbish, a part of which was soon afterwards cleared
      away, to make room for a church, erected in honor of the Christian
      martyrs. The valuable library of Alexandria was pillaged or destroyed; and
      near twenty years afterwards, the appearance of the empty shelves excited
      the regret and indignation of every spectator, whose mind was not totally
      darkened by religious prejudice. <a href="#link28note-46"
      name="link28noteref-46" id="link28noteref-46">46</a> The compositions of
      ancient genius, so many of which have irretrievably perished, might surely
      have been excepted from the wreck of idolatry, for the amusement and
      instruction of succeeding ages; and either the zeal or the avarice of the
      archbishop, <a href="#link28note-47" name="link28noteref-47"
      id="link28noteref-47">47</a> might have been satiated with the rich
      spoils, which were the reward of his victory. While the images and vases
      of gold and silver were carefully melted, and those of a less valuable
      metal were contemptuously broken, and cast into the streets, Theophilus
      labored to expose the frauds and vices of the ministers of the idols;
      their dexterity in the management of the loadstone; their secret methods
      of introducing a human actor into a hollow statue; <a
      href="#link28note-4711" name="link28noteref-4711" id="link28noteref-4711">4711</a>
      and their scandalous abuse of the confidence of devout husbands and
      unsuspecting females. <a href="#link28note-48" name="link28noteref-48"
      id="link28noteref-48">48</a> Charges like these may seem to deserve some
      degree of credit, as they are not repugnant to the crafty and interested
      spirit of superstition. But the same spirit is equally prone to the base
      practice of insulting and calumniating a fallen enemy; and our belief is
      naturally checked by the reflection, that it is much less difficult to
      invent a fictitious story, than to support a practical fraud. The colossal
      statue of Serapis <a href="#link28note-49" name="link28noteref-49"
      id="link28noteref-49">49</a> was involved in the ruin of his temple and
      religion. A great number of plates of different metals, artificially
      joined together, composed the majestic figure of the deity, who touched on
      either side the walls of the sanctuary. The aspect of Serapis, his sitting
      posture, and the sceptre, which he bore in his left hand, were extremely
      similar to the ordinary representations of Jupiter. He was distinguished
      from Jupiter by the basket, or bushel, which was placed on his 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 were again terminated
      by the triple heads of a dog, a lion, and a wolf. It was confidently
      affirmed, that if any impious hand should dare to violate the majesty of
      the god, the heavens and the earth would instantly return to their
      original chaos. An intrepid soldier, animated by zeal, and armed with a
      weighty battle-axe, ascended the ladder; and even the Christian multitude
      expected, with some anxiety, the event of the combat. <a
      href="#link28note-50" name="link28noteref-50" id="link28noteref-50">50</a>
      He aimed a vigorous stroke against the cheek of Serapis; the cheek fell to
      the ground; the thunder was still silent, and both the heavens and the
      earth continued to preserve their accustomed order and tranquillity. The
      victorious soldier repeated his blows: the huge idol was overthrown, and
      broken in pieces; and the limbs of Serapis were ignominiously dragged
      through the streets of Alexandria. His mangled carcass was burnt in the
      Amphitheatre, amidst the shouts of the populace; and many persons
      attributed their conversion to this discovery of the impotence of their
      tutelar deity. The popular modes of religion, that propose any visible and
      material objects of worship, have the advantage of adapting and
      familiarizing themselves to the senses of mankind: but this advantage is
      counterbalanced by the various and inevitable accidents to which the faith
      of the idolater is exposed. It is scarcely possible, that, in every
      disposition of mind, he should preserve his implicit reverence for the
      idols, or the relics, which the naked eye, and the profane hand, are
      unable to distinguish from the most common productions of art or nature;
      and if, in the hour of danger, their secret and miraculous virtue does not
      operate for their own preservation, he scorns the vain apologies of his
      priests, and justly derides the object, and the folly, of his
      superstitious attachment. <a href="#link28note-51" name="link28noteref-51"
      id="link28noteref-51">51</a> After the fall of Serapis, some hopes were
      still entertained by the Pagans, that the Nile would refuse his annual
      supply to the impious masters of Egypt; and the extraordinary delay of the
      inundation seemed to announce the displeasure of the river-god. But this
      delay was soon compensated by the rapid swell of the waters. They suddenly
      rose to such an unusual height, as to comfort the discontented party with
      the pleasing expectation of a deluge; till the peaceful river again
      subsided to the well-known and fertilizing level of sixteen cubits, or
      about thirty English feet. <a href="#link28note-52" name="link28noteref-52"
      id="link28noteref-52">52</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-43" id="link28note-43">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      43 (<a href="#link28noteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-44" id="link28note-44">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      44 (<a href="#link28noteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ Tillemont, Mem. Eccles.
      tom. xi. p. 441-500. The ambiguous situation of Theophilus&mdash;a saint,
      as the friend of Jerom a devil, as the enemy of Chrysostom&mdash;produces
      a sort of impartiality; yet, upon the whole, the balance is justly
      inclined against him.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-4411" id="link28note-4411">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4411 (<a href="#link28noteref-4411">return</a>)<br /> [ No doubt a temple
      of Osiris. St. Martin, iv 398-M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-45" id="link28note-45">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      45 (<a href="#link28noteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ Lardner (Heathen
      Testimonies, vol. iv. p. 411) has alleged beautiful passage from Suidas,
      or rather from Damascius, which show the devout and virtuous Olympius, not
      in the light of a warrior, but of a prophet.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-46" id="link28note-46">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      46 (<a href="#link28noteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ Nos vidimus armaria
      librorum, quibus direptis, exinanita ea 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-47" id="link28note-47">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      47 (<a href="#link28noteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ 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, which reproaches the primate with the idolatrous
      worship of gold, the auri sacra fames.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-4711" id="link28note-4711">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4711 (<a href="#link28noteref-4711">return</a>)<br /> [ An English
      traveller, Mr. Wilkinson, has discovered the secret of the vocal Memnon.
      There was a cavity in which a person was concealed, 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.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-48" id="link28note-48">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      48 (<a href="#link28noteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ Rufinus names the
      priest of Saturn, who, in the character of the god, familiarly conversed
      with many pious ladies of quality, till he betrayed himself, in a moment
      of transport, when he could not disguise the tone of his voice. The
      authentic and impartial narrative of Aeschines, (see Bayle, Dictionnaire
      Critique, Scamandre,) and the adventure of Mudus, (Joseph. Antiquitat.
      Judaic. l. xviii. c. 3, p. 877 edit. Havercamp,) may prove that such
      amorous frauds have been practised with success.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-49" id="link28note-49">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      49 (<a href="#link28noteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ See the images of
      Serapis, in Montfaucon, (tom. ii. p. 297:) but the description of
      Macrobius (Saturnal. l. i. c. 20) is much more picturesque and
      satisfactory.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-50" id="link28note-50">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      50 (<a href="#link28noteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Sed fortes tremuere manus, motique verenda
     Majestate loci, si robora sacra ferirent
     In sua credebant redituras membra secures.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      (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 the golden
      statue of Anaitis, was instantly deprived of his eyes, and of his life?"&mdash;"I
      was that man, (replied the clear-sighted veteran,) and you now sup on one
      of the legs of the goddess." (Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxiii. 24)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-51" id="link28note-51">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      51 (<a href="#link28noteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ The history of the
      reformation affords frequent examples of the sudden change from
      superstition to contempt.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-52" id="link28note-52">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      52 (<a href="#link28noteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen, l. vii. c. 20.
      I have supplied the measure. The same standard, of the inundation, and
      consequently of the cubit, has uniformly subsisted since the time of
      Herodotus. See Freret, in the Mem. de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom.
      xvi. p. 344-353. Greaves's Miscellaneous Works, vol. i. p. 233. The
      Egyptian cubit is about twenty-two inches of the English measure. * Note:
      Compare Wilkinson's Thebes and Egypt, p. 313.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The temples of the Roman empire were deserted, or destroyed; but the
      ingenious superstition of the Pagans still attempted to elude the laws of
      Theodosius, by which all sacrifices had been severely prohibited. The
      inhabitants of the country, whose conduct was less opposed to the eye of
      malicious curiosity, disguised their religious, under the appearance of
      convivial, meetings. On the days of solemn festivals, they assembled in
      great numbers under the spreading shade of some consecrated trees; sheep
      and oxen were slaughtered and roasted; and this rural entertainment was
      sanctified by the use of incense, and by the hymns which were sung in
      honor of the gods. But it was alleged, that, as no part of the animal was
      made a burnt-offering, as no altar was provided to receive the blood, and
      as the previous oblation of salt cakes, and the concluding ceremony of
      libations, were carefully omitted, these festal meetings did not involve
      the guests in the guilt, or penalty, of an illegal sacrifice. <a
      href="#link28note-53" name="link28noteref-53" id="link28noteref-53">53</a>
      Whatever might be the truth of the facts, or the merit of the distinction,
      <a href="#link28note-54" name="link28noteref-54" id="link28noteref-54">54</a>
      these vain pretences were swept away by the last edict of Theodosius,
      which inflicted a deadly wound on the superstition of the Pagans. <a
      href="#link28note-55" name="link28noteref-55" id="link28noteref-55">55</a>
      <a href="#link28note-5511" name="link28noteref-5511"
      id="link28noteref-5511">5511</a> This prohibitory law is expressed in the
      most absolute and comprehensive terms. "It is our will and pleasure," says
      the emperor, "that none of our subjects, whether magistrates or private
      citizens, however exalted or however humble may be 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 entrails of the victim,
      are declared (without any regard to the object of the inquiry) a crime of
      high treason against the state, which can be expiated only by the death of
      the guilty. The rites of Pagan superstition, 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 enumerated and condemned; and the harmless claims of the
      domestic genius, of the household gods, are included in this rigorous
      proscription. The use of any of these profane and illegal ceremonies,
      subjects the offender to the forfeiture of the house or estate, where they
      have been performed; and if he has artfully chosen the property of another
      for the scene of his impiety, he is compelled to discharge, without delay,
      a heavy fine of twenty-five pounds of gold, or more than one thousand
      pounds sterling. A fine, not less considerable, is imposed on the
      connivance of the secret enemies of religion, who shall neglect the duty
      of their respective stations, either to reveal, or to punish, the guilt of
      idolatry. Such was the persecuting spirit of the laws of Theodosius, which
      were repeatedly enforced by his sons and grandsons, with the loud and
      unanimous applause of the Christian world. <a href="#link28note-56"
      name="link28noteref-56" id="link28noteref-56">56</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-53" id="link28note-53">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      53 (<a href="#link28noteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ Libanius (pro Templis,
      p. 15, 16, 17) pleads their cause with gentle and insinuating rhetoric.
      From the earliest age, such feasts had enlivened the country: and those of
      Bacchus (Georgic. ii. 380) had produced the theatre of Athens. See
      Godefroy, ad loc. Liban. and Codex Theodos. tom. vi. p. 284.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-54" id="link28note-54">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      54 (<a href="#link28noteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ Honorius tolerated
      these rustic festivals, (A.D. 399.) "Absque ullo sacrificio, atque ulla
      superstitione damnabili." But nine years afterwards he found it necessary
      to reiterate and enforce the same proviso, (Codex Theodos. l. xvi. tit. x.
      leg. 17, 19.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-55" id="link28note-55">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      55 (<a href="#link28noteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ Cod. Theodos. l. xvi.
      tit. x. leg. 12. Jortin (Remarks on Eccles. History, vol. iv. p. 134)
      censures, with becoming asperity, the style and sentiments of this
      intolerant law.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-5511" id="link28note-5511">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5511 (<a href="#link28noteref-5511">return</a>)<br /> [ Paganism maintained
      its ground for a considerable time in the rural districts. Endelechius, a
      poet who lived at the beginning of the fifth century, speaks of the cross
      as Signum quod perhibent esse crucis Dei, Magnis qui colitur solus
      inurbibus. In the middle of the same century, Maximus, bishop of Turin,
      writes against the heathen deities as if their worship was still in full
      vigor in the neighborhood of his city. Augustine complains of the
      encouragement of the Pagan rites by heathen landowners; and Zeno of
      Verona, still later, reproves the apathy of the Christian proprietors in
      conniving at this abuse. (Compare Neander, ii. p. 169.) M. Beugnot shows
      that this was the case throughout the north and centre of Italy and in
      Sicily. But neither of these authors has adverted to one fact, which must
      have tended greatly to retard the progress of Christianity in these
      quarters. It was still chiefly a slave population which cultivated the
      soil; and however, in the towns, the better class of Christians might be
      eager to communicate "the blessed liberty of the gospel" to this class of
      mankind; however their condition could not but be silently ameliorated by
      the humanizing influence of Christianity; yet, on the whole, no doubt the
      servile class would be the least fitted to receive the gospel; and its
      general propagation among them would be embarrassed by many peculiar
      difficulties. The rural population was probably not entirely converted
      before the general establishment of the monastic institutions. Compare
      Quarterly Review of Beugnot. vol lvii. p. 52&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-56" id="link28note-56">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      56 (<a href="#link28noteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ Such a charge should
      not be lightly made; but it may surely be justified by the authority of
      St. Augustin, who thus addresses the Donatists: "Quis nostrum, quis
      vestrum non laudat leges ab Imperatoribus datas adversus sacrificia
      Paganorum? Et certe longe ibi poera severior constituta est; illius quippe
      impietatis capitale supplicium est." Epist. xciii. No. 10, quoted by Le
      Clerc, (Bibliotheque Choisie, tom. viii. p. 277,) who adds some judicious
      reflections on the intolerance of the victorious Christians. * Note: Yet
      Augustine, with laudable inconsistency, disapproved of the forcible
      demolition of the temples. "Let us first extirpate the idolatry of the
      hearts of the heathen, and they will either themselves invite us or
      anticipate us in the execution of this good work," tom. v. p. 62. Compare
      Neander, ii. 169, and, in p. 155, a beautiful passage from Chrysostom
      against all violent means of propagating Christianity.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link282HCH0003" id="link282HCH0003">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.&mdash;Part III.
    </h2>
    <p>
      In the cruel reigns of Decius and Dioclesian, Christianity had been
      proscribed, as a revolt from the ancient and hereditary religion of the
      empire; and the unjust suspicions which were entertained of a dark and
      dangerous faction, were, in some measure, countenanced by the inseparable
      union and rapid conquests of the Catholic church. But the same excuses of
      fear and ignorance cannot be applied to the Christian emperors who
      violated the precepts of humanity and of the Gospel. The experience of
      ages had betrayed the weakness, as well as folly, of Paganism; the light
      of reason and of faith had already exposed, to the greatest part of
      mankind, the vanity of idols; and the declining sect, which still adhered
      to their worship, might have been permitted to enjoy, in peace and
      obscurity, the religious costumes of their ancestors. Had the Pagans been
      animated by the undaunted zeal which possessed the minds of the primitive
      believers, the triumph of the Church must have been stained with blood;
      and the martyrs of Jupiter and Apollo might have embraced the glorious
      opportunity of devoting their lives and fortunes at the foot of their
      altars. But such obstinate zeal was not congenial to the loose and
      careless temper of Polytheism. The violent and repeated strokes of the
      orthodox princes were broken by the soft and yielding substance against
      which they were directed; and the ready obedience of the Pagans protected
      them from the pains and penalties of the Theodosian Code. <a
      href="#link28note-57" name="link28noteref-57" id="link28noteref-57">57</a>
      Instead of asserting, that the authority of the gods was superior to that
      of the emperor, they desisted, with a plaintive murmur, from the use of
      those sacred rites which their sovereign had condemned. If they were
      sometimes tempted by a sally of passion, or by the hopes of concealment,
      to indulge their favorite superstition, their humble repentance disarmed
      the severity of the Christian magistrate, and they seldom refused to atone
      for their rashness, by submitting, with some secret reluctance, to the
      yoke of the Gospel. The churches were filled with the increasing multitude
      of these unworthy proselytes, who had conformed, from temporal motives, to
      the reigning religion; and whilst they devoutly imitated the postures, and
      recited the prayers, of the faithful, they satisfied their conscience by
      the silent and sincere invocation of the gods of antiquity. <a
      href="#link28note-58" name="link28noteref-58" id="link28noteref-58">58</a>
      If the Pagans wanted patience to suffer they wanted spirit to resist; and
      the scattered myriads, who deplored the ruin of the temples, yielded,
      without a contest, to the fortune of their adversaries. The disorderly
      opposition <a href="#link28note-59" name="link28noteref-59"
      id="link28noteref-59">59</a> of the peasants of Syria, and the populace of
      Alexandria, to the rage of private fanaticism, was silenced by the name
      and authority of the emperor. The Pagans of the West, without contributing
      to the elevation of Eugenius, disgraced, by their partial attachment, the
      cause and character of the usurper. The clergy vehemently exclaimed, that
      he aggravated the crime of rebellion by the guilt of apostasy; that, by
      his permission, the altar of victory was again restored; and that the
      idolatrous symbols of Jupiter and Hercules were displayed in the field,
      against the invincible standard of the cross. But the vain hopes of the
      Pagans were soon annihilated by the defeat of Eugenius; and they were left
      exposed to the resentment of the conqueror, who labored to deserve the
      favor of Heaven by the extirpation of idolatry. <a href="#link28note-60"
      name="link28noteref-60" id="link28noteref-60">60</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-57" id="link28note-57">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      57 (<a href="#link28noteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius, l. vii. c. 28,
      p. 537. Augustin (Enarrat. in Psalm cxl apud Lardner, Heathen Testimonies,
      vol. iv. p. 458) insults their cowardice. "Quis eorum comprehensus est in
      sacrificio (cum his legibus sta prohiberentur) et non negavit?"]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-58" id="link28note-58">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      58 (<a href="#link28noteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ Libanius (pro Templis,
      p. 17, 18) mentions, without censure the occasional conformity, and as it
      were theatrical play, of these hypocrites.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-59" id="link28note-59">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      59 (<a href="#link28noteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ Libanius concludes his
      apology (p. 32) by declaring to the emperor, that unless he expressly
      warrants the destruction of the temples, the proprietors will defend
      themselves and the laws.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-60" id="link28note-60">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      60 (<a href="#link28noteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ Paulinus, in Vit.
      Ambros. c. 26. Augustin de Civitat. Dei, l. v. c. 26. Theodoret, l. v. c.
      24.]
    </p>
    <p>
      A nation of slaves is always prepared to applaud the clemency of their
      master, who, in the abuse of absolute power, does not proceed to the last
      extremes of injustice and oppression. Theodosius might undoubtedly have
      proposed to his Pagan subjects the alternative of baptism or of death; and
      the eloquent Libanius has praised the moderation of a prince, who never
      enacted, by any positive law, that all his subjects should immediately
      embrace and practise the religion of their sovereign. <a
      href="#link28note-61" name="link28noteref-61" id="link28noteref-61">61</a>
      The profession of Christianity was not made an essential qualification for
      the enjoyment of the civil rights of society, nor were any peculiar
      hardships imposed on the sectaries, who credulously received the fables of
      Ovid, and obstinately rejected the miracles of the Gospel. The palace, the
      schools, the army, and the senate, were filled with declared and devout
      Pagans; they obtained, without distinction, the civil and military honors
      of the empire. <a href="#link28note-6111" name="link28noteref-6111"
      id="link28noteref-6111">6111</a> Theodosius distinguished his liberal
      regard for virtue and genius by the consular dignity, which he bestowed on
      Symmachus; <a href="#link28note-62" name="link28noteref-62"
      id="link28noteref-62">62</a> and by the personal friendship which he
      expressed to Libanius; <a href="#link28note-63" name="link28noteref-63"
      id="link28noteref-63">63</a> and the two eloquent apologists of Paganism
      were never required either to change or to dissemble their religious
      opinions. The Pagans were indulged in the most licentious freedom of
      speech and writing; the historical and philosophic remains of Eunapius,
      Zosimus, <a href="#link28note-64" name="link28noteref-64"
      id="link28noteref-64">64</a> and the fanatic teachers of the school of
      Plato, betray the most furious animosity, and contain the sharpest
      invectives, against the sentiments and conduct of their victorious
      adversaries. If these audacious libels were publicly known, we must
      applaud the good sense of the Christian princes, who viewed, with a smile
      of contempt, the last struggles of superstition and despair. <a
      href="#link28note-65" name="link28noteref-65" id="link28noteref-65">65</a>
      But the Imperial laws, which prohibited the sacrifices and ceremonies of
      Paganism, were rigidly executed; and every hour contributed to destroy the
      influence of a religion, which was supported by custom, rather than by
      argument. The devotion or the poet, or the philosopher, may be secretly
      nourished by prayer, meditation, and study; but the exercise of public
      worship appears to be the only solid foundation of the religious
      sentiments of the people, which derive their force from imitation and
      habit. The interruption of that public exercise may consummate, in the
      period of a few years, the important work of a national revolution. The
      memory of theological opinions cannot long be preserved, without the
      artificial helps of priests, of temples, and of books. <a
      href="#link28note-66" name="link28noteref-66" id="link28noteref-66">66</a>
      The ignorant vulgar, whose minds are still agitated by the blind hopes and
      terrors of superstition, will be soon persuaded by their superiors to
      direct their vows to the reigning deities of the age; and will insensibly
      imbibe an ardent zeal for the support and propagation of the new doctrine,
      which spiritual hunger at first compelled them to accept. The generation
      that arose in the world after the promulgation of the Imperial laws, was
      attracted within the pale of the Catholic church: and so rapid, yet so
      gentle, was the fall of Paganism, that only twenty-eight years after the
      death of Theodosius, the faint and minute vestiges were no longer visible
      to the eye of the legislator. <a href="#link28note-67"
      name="link28noteref-67" id="link28noteref-67">67</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-61" id="link28note-61">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      61 (<a href="#link28noteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ Libanius suggests the
      form of a persecuting edict, which Theodosius might enact, (pro Templis,
      p. 32;) a rash joke, and a dangerous experiment. Some princes would have
      taken his advice.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-6111" id="link28note-6111">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6111 (<a href="#link28noteref-6111">return</a>)<br /> [ The most remarkable
      instance of this, at a much later period, occurs in the person of
      Merobaudes, a general and a poet, who flourished in the first half of the
      fifth century. A statue in honor of Merobaudes was placed in the Forum of
      Trajan, of which the inscription is still extant. Fragments of his poems
      have been recovered by the industry and sagacity of Niebuhr. In one
      passage, Merobaudes, in the genuine heathen spirit, attributes the ruin of
      the empire to the abolition of Paganism, and almost renews the old
      accusation of Atheism against Christianity. He impersonates some deity,
      probably Discord, who summons Bellona to take arms for the destruction of
      Rome; and in a strain of fierce irony recommends to her other fatal
      measures, to extirpate the gods of Rome:&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Merobaudes in Niebuhr's edit. of the Byzantines, p. 14.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-62" id="link28note-62">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      62 (<a href="#link28noteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ Denique pro meritis
      terrestribus aequa rependens
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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, &amp;c.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Note: I have inserted some lines omitted by Gibbon.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-63" id="link28note-63">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      63 (<a href="#link28noteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ Libanius (pro Templis,
      p. 32) is proud that Theodosius should thus distinguish a man, who even in
      his presence would swear by Jupiter. Yet this presence seems to be no more
      than a figure of rhetoric.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-64" id="link28note-64">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      64 (<a href="#link28noteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, who styles
      himself Count and Ex-advocate of the Treasury, reviles, with partial and
      indecent bigotry, the Christian princes, and even the father of his
      sovereign. His work must have been privately circulated, since it escaped
      the invectives of the ecclesiastical historians prior to Evagrius, (l.
      iii. c. 40-42,) who lived towards the end of the sixth century. * Note:
      Heyne in his Disquisitio in Zosimum Ejusque Fidem. places Zosimum towards
      the close of the fifth century. Zosim. Heynii, p. xvii.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-65" id="link28note-65">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      65 (<a href="#link28noteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ Yet the Pagans of
      Africa complained, that the times would not allow them to answer with
      freedom the City of God; nor does St. Augustin (v. 26) deny the charge.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-66" id="link28note-66">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      66 (<a href="#link28noteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ The Moors of Spain, who
      secretly preserved the Mahometan religion above a century, under the
      tyranny of the Inquisition, possessed the Koran, with the peculiar use of
      the Arabic tongue. See the curious and honest story of their expulsion in
      Geddes, (Miscellanies, vol. i. p. 1-198.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-67" id="link28note-67">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      67 (<a href="#link28noteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ Paganos qui supersunt,
      quanquam jam nullos esse credamus, &amp;c. Cod. Theodos. l. xvi. tit. x.
      leg. 22, A.D. 423. The younger Theodosius was afterwards satisfied, that
      his judgment had been somewhat premature. Note: The statement of Gibbon is
      much too strongly worded. M. Beugnot has traced the vestiges of Paganism
      in the West, after this period, in monuments and inscriptions with curious
      industry. Compare likewise note, p. 112, on the more tardy progress of
      Christianity in the rural districts.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The ruin of the Pagan religion is described by the sophists as a dreadful
      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 into sepulchres, and
      that the holy places, which had been adorned by the statues of the gods,
      were basely polluted by the relics of Christian martyrs. "The monks" (a
      race of filthy animals, to whom Eunapius is tempted to refuse the name of
      men) "are the authors of the new worship, which, in the place of those
      deities who are conceived by the understanding, has substituted the
      meanest and most contemptible slaves. The heads, salted and pickled, of
      those infamous malefactors, who for the multitude of their crimes have
      suffered a just and ignominious death; their bodies still marked by the
      impression of the lash, and the scars of those tortures which were
      inflicted by the sentence of the magistrate; such" (continues Eunapius)
      "are the gods which the earth produces in our days; such are the martyrs,
      the supreme arbitrators of our prayers and petitions to the Deity, whose
      tombs are now consecrated as the objects of the veneration of the people."
      <a href="#link28note-68" name="link28noteref-68" id="link28noteref-68">68</a>
      Without approving the malice, it is natural enough to share the surprise
      of the sophist, the spectator of a revolution, which raised those obscure
      victims of the laws of Rome to the rank of celestial and invisible
      protectors of the Roman empire. The grateful respect of the Christians for
      the martyrs of the faith, was exalted, by time and victory, into religious
      adoration; and the most illustrious of the saints and prophets were
      deservedly associated to the honors of the martyrs. One hundred and fifty
      years after the glorious deaths of St. Peter and St. Paul, the Vatican and
      the Ostian road were distinguished by the tombs, or rather by the
      trophies, of those spiritual heroes. <a href="#link28note-69"
      name="link28noteref-69" id="link28noteref-69">69</a> In the age which
      followed the conversion of Constantine, the emperors, the consuls, and the
      generals of armies, devoutly visited the sepulchres of a tentmaker and a
      fisherman; <a href="#link28note-70" name="link28noteref-70"
      id="link28noteref-70">70</a> and their venerable bones were deposited
      under the altars of Christ, on which the bishops of the royal city
      continually offered the unbloody sacrifice. <a href="#link28note-71"
      name="link28noteref-71" id="link28noteref-71">71</a> The new capital of
      the Eastern world, unable to produce any ancient and domestic trophies,
      was enriched by the spoils of dependent 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 the apostles, which the magnificence of Constantine had
      founded on the banks of the Thracian Bosphorus. <a href="#link28note-72"
      name="link28noteref-72" id="link28noteref-72">72</a> About fifty years
      afterwards, the same banks were honored by the presence of Samuel, the
      judge and prophet of the people of Israel. His ashes, deposited in a
      golden vase, and covered with a silken veil, were delivered by the bishops
      into each other's hands. The relics of Samuel were received by the people
      with the same joy and reverence which they would have shown to the living
      prophet; the highways, from Palestine to the gates of Constantinople, were
      filled with 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 and
      claimed the homage of kings. <a href="#link28note-73"
      name="link28noteref-73" id="link28noteref-73">73</a> The example of Rome
      and Constantinople confirmed the faith and discipline of the Catholic
      world. The honors of the saints and martyrs, after a feeble and
      ineffectual murmur of profane reason, <a href="#link28note-74"
      name="link28noteref-74" id="link28noteref-74">74</a> were universally
      established; and in the age of Ambrose and Jerom, something was still
      deemed wanting to the sanctity of a Christian church, till it had been
      consecrated by some portion of holy relics, which fixed and inflamed the
      devotion of the faithful.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-68" id="link28note-68">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      68 (<a href="#link28noteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ See Eunapius, in the
      Life of the sophist Aedesius; in that of Eustathius he foretells the ruin
      of Paganism.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-69" id="link28note-69">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      69 (<a href="#link28noteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ Caius, (apud Euseb.
      Hist. Eccles. l. ii. c. 25,) a Roman presbyter, who lived in the time of
      Zephyrinus, (A.D. 202-219,) is an early witness of this superstitious
      practice.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-70" id="link28note-70">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      70 (<a href="#link28noteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ Chrysostom. Quod
      Christus sit Deus. Tom. i. nov. edit. No. 9. I am indebted for this
      quotation to Benedict the XIVth's pastoral letter on the Jubilee of the
      year 1759. See the curious and entertaining letters of M. Chais, tom.
      iii.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-71" id="link28note-71">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      71 (<a href="#link28noteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ Male facit ergo Romanus
      episcopus? qui, super mortuorum hominum, Petri &amp; Pauli, secundum nos,
      ossa veneranda ... offeri Domino sacrificia, et tumulos eorum, Christi
      arbitratur altaria. Jerom. tom. ii. advers. Vigilant. p. 183.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-72" id="link28note-72">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      72 (<a href="#link28noteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ Jerom (tom. ii. p. 122)
      bears witness to these translations, which are neglected by the
      ecclesiastical historians. The passion of St. Andrew at Patrae is
      described in an epistle from the clergy of Achaia, which Baronius (Annal.
      Eccles. A.D. 60, No. 34) wishes to believe, and Tillemont is forced to
      reject. St. Andrew was adopted as the spiritual founder of Constantinople,
      (Mem. Eccles. tom. i. p. 317-323, 588-594.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-73" id="link28note-73">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      73 (<a href="#link28noteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ Jerom (tom. ii. p. 122)
      pompously describes the translation of Samuel, which is noticed in all the
      chronicles of the times.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-74" id="link28note-74">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      74 (<a href="#link28noteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ The presbyter
      Vigilantius, the Protestant of his age, firmly, though ineffectually,
      withstood the superstition of monks, relics, saints, fasts, &amp;c., for
      which Jerom compares him to the Hydra, Cerberus, the Centaurs, &amp;c.,
      and considers him only as the organ of the Daemon, (tom. ii. p. 120-126.)
      Whoever will peruse the controversy of St. Jerom and Vigilantius, and St.
      Augustin's account of the miracles of St. Stephen, may speedily gain some
      idea of the spirit of the Fathers.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In the long period of twelve hundred years, which elapsed between the
      reign of Constantine and the reformation of Luther, the worship of saints
      and relics corrupted the pure and perfect simplicity of the Christian
      model: and some symptoms of degeneracy may be observed even in the first
      generations which adopted and cherished this pernicious innovation.
    </p>
    <p>
      I. The satisfactory experience, that the relics of saints were more
      valuable than gold or precious stones, <a href="#link28note-75"
      name="link28noteref-75" id="link28noteref-75">75</a> stimulated the clergy
      to multiply the treasures of the church. Without much regard for truth or
      probability, they invented names for skeletons, and actions for names. The
      fame of the apostles, and of the holy men who had imitated their virtues,
      was darkened by religious fiction. To the invincible band of genuine and
      primitive martyrs, they added myriads of imaginary heroes, who had never
      existed, except in the fancy of crafty or credulous legendaries; and there
      is reason to suspect, that Tours might not be the only diocese in which
      the bones of a malefactor were adored, instead of those of a saint. <a
      href="#link28note-76" name="link28noteref-76" id="link28noteref-76">76</a>
      A superstitious practice, which tended to increase the temptations of
      fraud, and credulity, insensibly extinguished the light of history, and of
      reason, in the Christian world.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-75" id="link28note-75">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      75 (<a href="#link28noteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ M. de Beausobre (Hist.
      du Manicheisme, tom. ii. p. 648) has applied a worldly sense to the pious
      observation of the clergy of Smyrna, who carefully preserved the relics of
      St. Polycarp the martyr.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-76" id="link28note-76">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      76 (<a href="#link28noteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ Martin of Tours (see
      his Life, c. 8, by Sulpicius Severus) extorted this confession from the
      mouth of the dead man. The error is allowed to be natural; the discovery
      is supposed to be miraculous. Which of the two was likely to happen most
      frequently?]
    </p>
    <p>
      II. But the progress of superstition would have been much less rapid and
      victorious, if the faith of the people had not been assisted by the
      seasonable aid of visions and miracles, to ascertain the authenticity and
      virtue of the most suspicious relics. In the reign of the younger
      Theodosius, Lucian, <a href="#link28note-77" name="link28noteref-77"
      id="link28noteref-77">77</a> a presbyter of Jerusalem, and the
      ecclesiastical minister of the village of Caphargamala, about twenty miles
      from the city, related a very singular dream, which, to remove his doubts,
      had been repeated on three successive Saturdays. A venerable figure 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, with the bodies of his son
      Abibas, his friend Nicodemus, and the illustrious Stephen, the first
      martyr of the Christian faith, were secretly buried in the adjacent field.
      He added, with some impatience, that it was time to release himself and
      his companions from their obscure prison; that their appearance would be
      salutary to a distressed world; and that they had made choice of Lucian to
      inform the bishop of Jerusalem of their situation and their wishes. The
      doubts and difficulties which still retarded this important discovery were
      successively removed by new visions; and the ground was opened by the
      bishop, in the presence of an innumerable multitude. The coffins of
      Gamaliel, of his son, and of his friend, were found in regular order; but
      when the fourth coffin, which contained the remains of Stephen, was shown
      to the light, the earth trembled, and an odor, such as that of paradise,
      was smelt, which instantly cured the various diseases of seventy-three of
      the assistants. The companions of Stephen were left in their peaceful
      residence of Caphargamala: but the relics of the first martyr were
      transported, in solemn procession, to a church constructed in their honor
      on Mount Sion; and the minute particles of those relics, a drop of blood,
      <a href="#link28note-78" name="link28noteref-78" id="link28noteref-78">78</a>
      or the scrapings of a bone, were acknowledged, in almost every province of
      the Roman world, to possess a divine and miraculous virtue. The grave and
      learned Augustin, <a href="#link28note-79" name="link28noteref-79"
      id="link28noteref-79">79</a> whose understanding scarcely admits the
      excuse of credulity, has attested the innumerable prodigies which were
      performed in Africa by the relics of St. Stephen; and this marvellous
      narrative is inserted in the elaborate work of the City of God, which the
      bishop of Hippo designed as a solid and immortal proof of the truth of
      Christianity. Augustin solemnly declares, that he has selected those
      miracles only which were publicly certified by the persons who were either
      the objects, or the spectators, of the power of the martyr. Many prodigies
      were omitted, or forgotten; and Hippo had been less favorably treated than
      the other cities of the province. And yet the bishop enumerates above
      seventy miracles, of which three were resurrections from the dead, in the
      space of two years, and within the limits of his own diocese. <a
      href="#link28note-80" name="link28noteref-80" id="link28noteref-80">80</a>
      If we enlarge our view to all the dioceses, and all the saints, of the
      Christian world, it will not be easy to calculate the fables, and the
      errors, which issued from this inexhaustible source. But we may surely be
      allowed to observe, that a miracle, in that age of superstition and
      credulity, lost its name and its merit, since it could scarcely be
      considered as a deviation from the ordinary and established laws of
      nature.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-77" id="link28note-77">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      77 (<a href="#link28noteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ Lucian composed in
      Greek his original narrative, which has been 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 many various readings. It is the
      character of falsehood to be loose and inconsistent. The most incredible
      parts of the legend are smoothed and softened by Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles.
      tom. ii. p. 9, &amp;c.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-78" id="link28note-78">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      78 (<a href="#link28noteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ A phial of St.
      Stephen's blood was annually liquefied at Naples, till he was superseded
      by St. Jamarius, (Ruinart. Hist. Persecut. Vandal p. 529.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-79" id="link28note-79">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      79 (<a href="#link28noteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ Augustin composed the
      two-and-twenty books de Civitate Dei in the space of thirteen years, A.D.
      413-426. Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 608, &amp;c.) His learning
      is too often borrowed, and his arguments are too often his own; but the
      whole work claims the merit of a magnificent design, vigorously, and not
      unskilfully, executed.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-80" id="link28note-80">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      80 (<a href="#link28noteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ See Augustin de
      Civitat. Dei, l. xxii. c. 22, and the Appendix, which contains two books
      of St. Stephen's miracles, by Evodius, bishop of Uzalis. Freculphus (apud
      Basnage, Hist. des Juifs, tom. vii. p. 249) has preserved a Gallic or a
      Spanish proverb, "Whoever pretends to have read all the miracles of St.
      Stephen, he lies."]
    </p>
    <p>
      III. The innumerable miracles, of which the tombs of the martyrs were the
      perpetual theatre, revealed to the pious believer the actual state and
      constitution of the invisible world; and his religious speculations
      appeared to be founded on the firm basis of fact and experience. Whatever
      might be the condition of vulgar souls, in the long interval between the
      dissolution and the resurrection of their bodies, it was evident that the
      superior spirits of the saints and martyrs did not consume that portion of
      their existence in silent and inglorious sleep. <a href="#link28note-81"
      name="link28noteref-81" id="link28noteref-81">81</a> It was evident
      (without presuming to determine the place of their habitation, or the
      nature of their felicity) that they enjoyed the lively and active
      consciousness of their happiness, their virtue, and their powers; and that
      they had already secured the possession of their eternal reward. The
      enlargement of their intellectual faculties surpassed the measure of the
      human imagination; since it was proved by experience, that they were
      capable of hearing and understanding the various petitions of their
      numerous votaries; who, in the same moment of time, but in the most
      distant parts of the world, invoked the name and assistance of Stephen or
      of Martin. <a href="#link28note-82" name="link28noteref-82"
      id="link28noteref-82">82</a> The confidence of their petitioners was
      founded on the persuasion, that the saints, who reigned with Christ, cast
      an eye of pity upon earth; that they were warmly interested in the
      prosperity of the Catholic Church; and that the individuals, who imitated
      the example of their faith and piety, were the peculiar and favorite
      objects of their most tender regard. Sometimes, indeed, their friendship
      might be influenced by considerations of a less exalted kind: they viewed
      with partial affection the places which had been consecrated by their
      birth, their residence, their death, their burial, or the possession of
      their relics. The meaner passions of pride, avarice, and revenge, may be
      deemed unworthy of a celestial breast; yet the saints themselves
      condescended to testify their grateful approbation of the liberality of
      their votaries; and the sharpest bolts of punishment were hurled against
      those impious wretches, who violated their magnificent shrines, or
      disbelieved their supernatural power. <a href="#link28note-83"
      name="link28noteref-83" id="link28noteref-83">83</a> Atrocious, indeed,
      must have been the guilt, and strange would have been the scepticism, of
      those men, if they had obstinately resisted the proofs of a divine agency,
      which the elements, the whole range of the animal creation, and even the
      subtle and invisible operations of the human mind, were compelled to obey.
      <a href="#link28note-84" name="link28noteref-84" id="link28noteref-84">84</a>
      The immediate, and almost instantaneous, effects that were supposed to
      follow the prayer, or the offence, satisfied the Christians of the ample
      measure of favor and authority which the saints enjoyed in the presence of
      the Supreme God; and it seemed almost superfluous to inquire whether they
      were continually obliged to intercede before the throne of grace; or
      whether they might not be permitted to exercise, according to the dictates
      of their benevolence and justice, the delegated powers of their
      subordinate ministry. The imagination, which had been raised by a painful
      effort to the contemplation and worship of the Universal Cause, eagerly
      embraced such inferior objects of adoration as were more proportioned to
      its gross conceptions and imperfect faculties. The sublime and simple
      theology of the primitive Christians was gradually corrupted; and the
      Monarchy of heaven, already clouded by metaphysical subtleties, was
      degraded by the introduction of a popular mythology, which tended to
      restore the reign of polytheism. <a href="#link28note-85"
      name="link28noteref-85" id="link28noteref-85">85</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-81" id="link28note-81">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      81 (<a href="#link28noteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ Burnet (de Statu
      Mortuorum, p. 56-84) collects the opinions of the Fathers, as far as they
      assert the sleep, or repose, of human souls till the day of judgment. He
      afterwards exposes (p. 91, &amp;c.) the inconveniences which must arise,
      if they possessed a more active and sensible existence.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-82" id="link28note-82">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      82 (<a href="#link28noteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ Vigilantius placed the
      souls of the prophets and martyrs, either in the bosom of Abraham, (in
      loco refrigerii,) or else under the altar of God. Nec posse suis tumulis
      et ubi voluerunt adesse praesentes. But Jerom (tom. ii. p. 122) sternly
      refutes this blasphemy. Tu Deo leges pones? Tu apostolis vincula injicies,
      ut usque ad diem judicii teneantur custodia, nec sint cum Domino suo; de
      quibus scriptum est, Sequuntur Agnum quocunque vadit. Si Agnus ubique,
      ergo, et hi, qui cum Agno sunt, ubique esse credendi sunt. Et cum diabolus
      et daemones tote vagentur in orbe, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-83" id="link28note-83">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      83 (<a href="#link28noteref-83">return</a>)<br /> [ Fleury Discours sur
      l'Hist. Ecclesiastique, iii p. 80.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-84" id="link28note-84">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      84 (<a href="#link28noteref-84">return</a>)<br /> [ At Minorca, the relics
      of St. Stephen converted, in eight days, 540 Jews; with the help, indeed,
      of some wholesome severities, such as burning the synagogue, driving the
      obstinate infidels to starve among the rocks, &amp;c. See the original
      letter of Severus, bishop of Minorca (ad calcem St. Augustin. de Civ.
      Dei,) and the judicious remarks of Basnage, (tom. viii. p. 245-251.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-85" id="link28note-85">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      85 (<a href="#link28noteref-85">return</a>)<br /> [ Mr. Hume (Essays, vol.
      ii. p. 434) observes, like a philosopher, the natural flux and reflux of
      polytheism and theism.]
    </p>
    <p>
      IV. As the objects of religion were gradually reduced to the standard of
      the imagination, the rites and ceremonies were introduced that seemed most
      powerfully to affect the senses of the vulgar. If, in the beginning of the
      fifth century, <a href="#link28note-86" name="link28noteref-86"
      id="link28noteref-86">86</a> Tertullian, or Lactantius, <a
      href="#link28note-87" name="link28noteref-87" id="link28noteref-87">87</a>
      had been suddenly raised from the dead, to assist at the festival of some
      popular saint, or martyr, <a href="#link28note-88" name="link28noteref-88"
      id="link28noteref-88">88</a> they would have gazed with astonishment, and
      indignation, on the profane spectacle, which had succeeded to the pure and
      spiritual worship of a Christian congregation. As soon as the doors of the
      church were thrown open, they must have been offended by the smoke of
      incense, the perfume of flowers, and the glare of lamps and tapers, which
      diffused, at noonday, a gaudy, superfluous, and, in their opinion, a
      sacrilegious light. If they approached the balustrade of the altar, they
      made their way through the prostrate crowd, consisting, for the most part,
      of strangers and pilgrims, who resorted to the city on the vigil of the
      feast; and who already felt the strong intoxication of fanaticism, and,
      perhaps, of wine. Their devout kisses were imprinted on the walls and
      pavement of the sacred edifice; and their fervent prayers were directed,
      whatever might be the language of their church, to the bones, the blood,
      or the ashes of the saint, which were usually concealed, by a linen or
      silken veil, from the eyes of the vulgar. The Christians frequented the
      tombs of the martyrs, in the hope of obtaining, from their powerful
      intercession, every sort of spiritual, but more especially of temporal,
      blessings. They implored the preservation of their health, or the cure of
      their infirmities; the fruitfulness of their barren wives, or the safety
      and happiness of their children. Whenever they undertook any distant or
      dangerous journey, they requested, that the holy martyrs would be their
      guides and protectors on the road; and if they returned without having
      experienced any misfortune, they again hastened to the tombs of the
      martyrs, to celebrate, with grateful thanksgivings, their obligations to
      the memory and relics of those heavenly patrons. The walls were hung round
      with symbols of the favors which they had received; eyes, and hands, and
      feet, of gold and silver: and edifying pictures, which could not long
      escape the abuse of indiscreet or idolatrous devotion, represented the
      image, the attributes, and the miracles of the tutelar saint. The same
      uniform original spirit of superstition might suggest, in the most distant
      ages and countries, the same methods of deceiving the credulity, and of
      affecting the senses of mankind: <a href="#link28note-89"
      name="link28noteref-89" id="link28noteref-89">89</a> but it must
      ingenuously be confessed, that the ministers of the Catholic church
      imitated the profane model, which they were impatient to destroy. The most
      respectable bishops had persuaded themselves that the ignorant rustics
      would more cheerfully renounce the superstitions of Paganism, if they
      found some resemblance, some compensation, in the bosom of Christianity.
      The religion of Constantine achieved, in less than a century, the final
      conquest of the Roman empire: but the victors themselves were insensibly
      subdued by the arts of their vanquished rivals. <a href="#link28note-90"
      name="link28noteref-90" id="link28noteref-90">90</a> <a
      href="#link28note-9011" name="link28noteref-9011" id="link28noteref-9011">9011</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-86" id="link28note-86">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      86 (<a href="#link28noteref-86">return</a>)<br /> [ D'Aubigne (see his own
      Memoires, p. 156-160) frankly offered, with the consent of the Huguenot
      ministers, to allow the first 400 years as the rule of faith. The Cardinal
      du Perron haggled for forty years more, which were indiscreetly given. Yet
      neither party would have found their account in this foolish bargain.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-87" id="link28note-87">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      87 (<a href="#link28noteref-87">return</a>)<br /> [ The worship practised
      and inculcated by Tertullian, Lactantius Arnobius, &amp;c., is so
      extremely pure and spiritual, that their declamations against the Pagan
      sometimes glance against the Jewish, ceremonies.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-88" id="link28note-88">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      88 (<a href="#link28noteref-88">return</a>)<br /> [ Faustus the Manichaean
      accuses the Catholics of idolatry. Vertitis idola in martyres.... quos
      votis similibus colitis. M. de Beausobre, (Hist. Critique du Manicheisme,
      tom. ii. p. 629-700,) a Protestant, but a philosopher, has represented,
      with candor and learning, the introduction of Christian idolatry in the
      fourth and fifth centuries.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-89" id="link28note-89">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      89 (<a href="#link28noteref-89">return</a>)<br /> [ The resemblance of
      superstition, which could not be imitated, might be traced from Japan to
      Mexico. Warburton has seized this idea, which he distorts, by rendering it
      too general and absolute, (Divine Legation, vol. iv. p. 126, &amp;c.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-90" id="link28note-90">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      90 (<a href="#link28noteref-90">return</a>)<br /> [ The imitation of
      Paganism is the subject of Dr. Middleton's agreeable letter from Rome.
      Warburton's animadversions obliged him to connect (vol. iii. p. 120-132,)
      the history of the two religions, and to prove the antiquity of the
      Christian copy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link28note-9011" id="link28note-9011">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9011 (<a href="#link28noteref-9011">return</a>)<br /> [ But there was
      always this important difference between Christian and heathen Polytheism.
      In Paganism this was the whole religion; in the darkest ages of
      Christianity, some, however obscure and vague, Christian notions of future
      retribution, of the life after death, lurked at the bottom, and operated,
      to a certain extent, on the thoughts and feelings, sometimes on the
      actions.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br /> <a name="link292HCH0001" id="link292HCH0001">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXIX: Division Of Roman Empire Between Sons Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part
      I.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Final Division Of The Roman Empire Between The Sons Of
     Theodosius.&mdash;Reign Of Arcadius And Honorius&mdash;Administration
     Of Rufinus And Stilicho.&mdash;Revolt And Defeat Of Gildo In
     Africa.
</pre>
    <p>
      The genius of Rome expired with Theodosius; the last of the successors of
      Augustus and Constantine, who appeared in the field at the head of their
      armies, and whose authority was universally acknowledged throughout the
      whole extent of the empire. The memory of his virtues still continued,
      however, to protect the feeble and inexperienced youth of his two sons.
      After the death of their father, Arcadius and Honorius were saluted, by
      the unanimous consent of mankind, as the lawful emperors of the East, and
      of the West; and the oath of fidelity was eagerly taken by every order of
      the state; the senates of old and new 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 princely education in the palace of Constantinople; and
      his inglorious life was spent in that peaceful and splendid seat of
      royalty, from whence he appeared to reign over the provinces of Thrace,
      Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt, 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; and the troops, which guarded the frontiers of his
      kingdom, were opposed, on one side, to the Caledonians, and on the other,
      to the Moors. The great and martial praefecture of Illyricum was divided
      between the two princes: the defence and possession of the provinces of
      Noricum, Pannonia, and Dalmatia still belonged to the Western empire; but
      the two large dioceses of Dacia and Macedonia, which Gratian had intrusted
      to the valor of Theodosius, were forever united to the empire of the East.
      The boundary in Europe was not very different from the line which now
      separates the Germans and the Turks; and the respective advantages of
      territory, riches, populousness, and military strength, were fairly
      balanced and compensated, in this final and permanent division of the
      Roman empire. The hereditary sceptre of the sons of Theodosius appeared to
      be the gift of nature, and of their father; the generals and ministers had
      been accustomed to adore the majesty of the royal infants; and the army
      and people were not admonished of their rights, and of their power, by the
      dangerous example of a recent election. The gradual discovery of the
      weakness of Arcadius and Honorius, and the repeated calamities of their
      reign, were not sufficient to obliterate the deep and early impressions of
      loyalty. The subjects of Rome, who still reverenced the persons, or rather
      the names, of their sovereigns, beheld, with equal abhorrence, the rebels
      who opposed, and the ministers who abused, the authority of the throne.
    </p>
    <p>
      Theodosius had tarnished the glory of his reign by the elevation of
      Rufinus; an odious favorite, who, in an age of civil and religious
      faction, has deserved, from every party, the imputation of every crime.
      The strong impulse of ambition and avarice <a href="#link29note-1"
      name="link29noteref-1" id="link29noteref-1">1</a> had urged Rufinus to
      abandon his native country, an obscure corner of Gaul, <a
      href="#link29note-2" name="link29noteref-2" id="link29noteref-2">2</a> to
      advance his fortune in the capital of the East: the talent of bold and
      ready elocution, <a href="#link29note-3" name="link29noteref-3"
      id="link29noteref-3">3</a> qualified him to succeed in the lucrative
      profession of the law; and his success in that profession was a regular
      step to the most honorable and important employments of the state. He was
      raised, by just degrees, to the station of master of the offices. In the
      exercise of his various functions, so essentially connected with the whole
      system of civil government, he acquired the confidence of a monarch, who
      soon discovered his diligence and capacity in business, and who long
      remained ignorant of the pride, the malice, and the covetousness of his
      disposition. These vices were concealed beneath the mask of profound
      dissimulation; <a href="#link29note-4" name="link29noteref-4"
      id="link29noteref-4">4</a> his passions were subservient only to the
      passions of his master; yet in the horrid massacre of Thessalonica, the
      cruel Rufinus inflamed the fury, without imitating the repentance, of
      Theodosius. The minister, who viewed with proud indifference the rest of
      mankind, never forgave the appearance of an injury; and his personal
      enemies had forfeited, in his opinion, the merit of all public services.
      Promotus, the master-general of the infantry, had saved the empire from
      the invasion of the Ostrogoths; but he indignantly supported the
      preeminence of a rival, whose character and profession he despised; and in
      the midst of a public council, the impatient soldier was provoked to
      chastise with a blow the indecent pride of the favorite. This act of
      violence was represented to the emperor as an insult, which it was
      incumbent on his dignity to resent. The disgrace and exile of Promotus
      were signified by a peremptory order, to repair, without delay, to a
      military station on the banks of the Danube; and the death of that general
      (though he was slain in a skirmish with the Barbarians) was imputed to the
      perfidious arts of Rufinus. <a href="#link29note-5" name="link29noteref-5"
      id="link29noteref-5">5</a> The sacrifice of a hero gratified his revenge;
      the honors of the consulship elated his vanity; but his power was still
      imperfect and precarious, as long as the important posts of praefect of
      the East, and of praefect of Constantinople, were filled by Tatian, <a
      href="#link29note-6" name="link29noteref-6" id="link29noteref-6">6</a> and
      his son Proculus; whose united authority balanced, for some time, the
      ambition and favor of the master of the offices. The two praefects were
      accused of rapine and corruption in the administration of the laws and
      finances. For the trial of these illustrious offenders, the emperor
      constituted a special commission: several judges were named to share the
      guilt and reproach of injustice; but the right of pronouncing sentence was
      reserved to the president alone, and that president was Rufinus himself.
      The father, stripped of the praefecture of the East, was thrown into a
      dungeon; but the son, conscious that few ministers can be found innocent,
      where an enemy is their judge, had secretly escaped; and Rufinus must have
      been satisfied with the least obnoxious victim, if despotism had not
      condescended to employ the basest and most ungenerous artifice. The
      prosecution was conducted with an appearance of equity and moderation,
      which flattered Tatian with the hope of a favorable event: his confidence
      was fortified by the solemn assurances, and perfidious oaths, of the
      president, who presumed to interpose the sacred name of Theodosius
      himself; and the unhappy father was at last persuaded to recall, by a
      private letter, the fugitive Proculus. He was instantly seized, examined,
      condemned, and beheaded, in one of the suburbs of Constantinople, with a
      precipitation which disappointed the clemency of the emperor. Without
      respecting the misfortunes of a consular senator, the cruel judges of
      Tatian compelled him to behold the execution of his son: the fatal cord
      was fastened round his own neck; but in the moment when he expected. and
      perhaps desired, the relief of a speedy death, he was permitted to consume
      the miserable remnant of his old age in poverty and exile. <a
      href="#link29note-7" name="link29noteref-7" id="link29noteref-7">7</a> The
      punishment of the two praefects might, perhaps, be excused by the
      exceptionable parts of their own conduct; the enmity of Rufinus might be
      palliated by the jealous and unsociable nature of ambition. But he
      indulged a spirit of revenge equally repugnant to prudence and to justice,
      when he degraded their native country of Lycia from the rank of Roman
      provinces; stigmatized a guiltless people with a mark of ignominy; and
      declared, that the countrymen of Tatian and Proculus should forever remain
      incapable of holding any employment of honor or advantage under the
      Imperial government. <a href="#link29note-8" name="link29noteref-8"
      id="link29noteref-8">8</a> The new praefect of the East (for Rufinus
      instantly succeeded to the vacant honors of his adversary) was not
      diverted, however, by the most criminal pursuits, from the performance of
      the religious duties, which in that age were considered as the most
      essential to salvation. In the suburb of Chalcedon, surnamed the Oak, he
      had built a magnificent villa; to which he devoutly added a stately
      church, consecrated to the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and
      continually sanctified by the prayers and penance 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 the founder. This double ceremony was performed
      with extraordinary pomp; and when Rufinus was purified, in the holy font,
      from all the sins that he had hitherto committed, a venerable hermit of
      Egypt rashly proposed himself as the sponsor of a proud and ambitious
      statesman. <a href="#link29note-9" name="link29noteref-9"
      id="link29noteref-9">9</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-1" id="link29note-1">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1 (<a href="#link29noteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ Alecto, envious of the
      public felicity, convenes an infernal synod Megaera recommends her pupil
      Rufinus, and excites him to deeds of mischief, &amp;c. But there is as
      much difference between Claudian's fury and that of Virgil, as between the
      characters of Turnus and Rufinus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-2" id="link29note-2">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2 (<a href="#link29noteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ It is evident,
      (Tillemont, Hist. des Emp. tom. v. p. 770,) though De Marca is ashamed of
      his countryman, that Rufinus was born at Elusa, the metropolis of
      Novempopulania, now a small village of Gassony, (D'Anville, Notice de
      l'Ancienne Gaule, p. 289.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-3" id="link29note-3">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3 (<a href="#link29noteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ Philostorgius, l. xi c.
      3, with Godefroy's Dissert. p. 440.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-4" id="link29note-4">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4 (<a href="#link29noteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ A passage of Suidas is
      expressive of his profound dissimulation.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-5" id="link29note-5">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5 (<a href="#link29noteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. iv. p. 272,
      273.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-6" id="link29note-6">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6 (<a href="#link29noteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, who describes
      the fall of Tatian and his son, (l. iv. p. 273, 274,) asserts their
      innocence; and even his testimony may outweigh the charges of their
      enemies, (Cod. Theod. tom. iv. p. 489,) who accuse them of oppressing the
      Curiae. The connection of Tatian with the Arians, while he was praefect of
      Egypt, (A.D. 373,) inclines Tillemont to believe that he was guilty of
      every crime, (Hist. des Emp. tom. v. p. 360. Mem. Eccles. tom vi. p.
      589.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-7" id="link29note-7">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7 (<a href="#link29noteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [&mdash;Juvenum rorantia
      colla Ante patrum vultus stricta cecidere securi.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Ibat grandaevus nato moriente superstes
     Post trabeas exsul.
    &mdash;-In Rufin. i. 248.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      The facts of Zosimus explain the allusions of Claudian; but his classic
      interpreters were ignorant of the fourth century. The fatal cord, I found,
      with the help of Tillemont, in a sermon of St. Asterius of Amasea.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-8" id="link29note-8">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8 (<a href="#link29noteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ This odious law is
      recited and repealed by Arcadius, (A.D. 296,) on the Theodosian Code, l.
      ix. tit. xxxviii. leg. 9. The sense as it is explained by Claudian, (in
      Rufin. i. 234,) and Godefroy, (tom. iii. p. 279,) is perfectly clear.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
    &mdash;-Exscindere cives
     Funditus; et nomen gentis delere laborat.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      The scruples of Pagi and Tillemont can arise only from their zeal for the
      glory of Theodosius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-9" id="link29note-9">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9 (<a href="#link29noteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ Ammonius.... Rufinum
      propriis manibus suscepit sacro fonte mundatum. 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 a conspicuous part.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The character of Theodosius imposed on his minister the task of hypocrisy,
      which disguised, and sometimes restrained, the abuse of power; and Rufinus
      was apprehensive of disturbing the indolent slumber of a prince still
      capable of exerting the abilities and the virtue, which had raised him to
      the throne. <a href="#link29note-10" name="link29noteref-10"
      id="link29noteref-10">10</a> But the absence, and, soon afterwards, the
      death, of the emperor, confirmed the absolute authority of Rufinus over
      the person and dominions of Arcadius; a feeble youth, whom the imperious
      praefect considered as his pupil, rather than his sovereign. Regardless of
      the public opinion, he indulged his passions without remorse, and without
      resistance; and his malignant and rapacious spirit rejected every passion
      that might have contributed to his own glory, or the happiness of the
      people. His avarice, <a href="#link29note-11" name="link29noteref-11"
      id="link29noteref-11">11</a> which seems to have prevailed, in his corrupt
      mind, over every other sentiment, attracted the wealth of the East, by the
      various arts of partial and general extortion; oppressive taxes,
      scandalous bribery, immoderate fines, unjust confiscations, forced or
      fictitious testaments, by which the tyrant despoiled of their lawful
      inheritance the children of strangers, or enemies; and the public sale of
      justice, as well as of favor, which he instituted in the palace of
      Constantinople. The ambitious candidate eagerly solicited, at the expense
      of the fairest part of his patrimony, the honors and emoluments of some
      provincial government; the lives and fortunes of the unhappy people were
      abandoned to the most liberal purchaser; and the public discontent was
      sometimes appeased by the sacrifice of an unpopular criminal, whose
      punishment was profitable only to the praefect of the East, his accomplice
      and his judge. If avarice were not the blindest of the human passions, the
      motives of Rufinus might excite our curiosity; and we might be tempted to
      inquire with what view he violated every principle of humanity and
      justice, to accumulate those immense treasures, which he could not spend
      without folly, nor possess without danger. Perhaps he vainly imagined,
      that he labored for the interest of an only daughter, on whom he intended
      to bestow his royal pupil, and the august rank of Empress of the East.
      Perhaps he deceived himself by the opinion, that his avarice was the
      instrument of his ambition. He aspired to place his fortune on a secure
      and independent basis, which should no longer depend on the caprice of the
      young emperor; yet he neglected to conciliate the hearts of the soldiers
      and people, by the liberal distribution of those riches, which he had
      acquired with so much toil, and with so much guilt. The extreme parsimony
      of Rufinus left him only the reproach and envy of ill-gotten wealth; his
      dependants served him without attachment; the universal hatred of mankind
      was repressed only by the influence of servile fear. The fate of Lucian
      proclaimed to the East, that the praefect, whose industry was much abated
      in the despatch of ordinary business, 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 his inheritance, the fruit of rapine and corruption, to purchase
      the friendship of Rufinus, and the high office of Count of the East. But
      the new magistrate imprudently departed from the maxims of the court, and
      of the times; disgraced his benefactor by the contrast of a virtuous and
      temperate administration; and presumed to refuse an act of injustice,
      which might have tended to the profit of the emperor's uncle. Arcadius was
      easily persuaded to resent the supposed insult; and the praefect of the
      East resolved to execute in person the cruel vengeance, which he meditated
      against this ungrateful delegate of his power. He performed with incessant
      speed the journey of seven or eight hundred miles, from Constantinople to
      Antioch, entered the capital of Syria at the dead of night, and spread
      universal consternation among a people ignorant of his design, but not
      ignorant of his character. The Count of the fifteen provinces of the East
      was dragged, like the vilest malefactor, before the arbitrary tribunal of
      Rufinus. Notwithstanding the clearest evidence of his integrity, which was
      not impeached even by the voice of an accuser, Lucian was condemned,
      almost with out a trial, to suffer a cruel and ignominious punishment. The
      ministers of the tyrant, by the orders, and in the presence, of their
      master, beat him on the neck with leather thongs armed at the extremities
      with lead; and when he fainted under the violence of the pain, he was
      removed in a close litter, to conceal his dying agonies from the eyes of
      the indignant city. No sooner had Rufinus perpetrated this inhuman act,
      the sole object of his expedition, than he returned, amidst the deep and
      silent curses of a trembling people, from Antioch to Constantinople; and
      his diligence was accelerated by the hope of accomplishing, without delay,
      the nuptials of his daughter with the emperor of the East. <a
      href="#link29note-12" name="link29noteref-12" id="link29noteref-12">12</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-10" id="link29note-10">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      10 (<a href="#link29noteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Montesquieu (Esprit des
      Loix, l. xii. c. 12) praises one of the laws of Theodosius addressed to
      the praefect Rufinus, (l. ix. tit. iv. leg. unic.,) to discourage the
      prosecution of treasonable, or sacrilegious, words. A tyrannical statute
      always proves the existence of tyranny; but a laudable edict may only
      contain the specious professions, or ineffectual wishes, of the prince, or
      his ministers. This, I am afraid, is a just, though mortifying, canon of
      criticism.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-11" id="link29note-11">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      11 (<a href="#link29noteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     &mdash;fluctibus auri Expleri sitis ista nequit&mdash;
     *****
     Congestae cumulantur opes; orbisque ruinas Accipit una domus.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      This character (Claudian, in. Rufin. i. 184-220) is confirmed by Jerom, a
      disinterested witness, (dedecus insatiabilis avaritiae, tom. i. ad
      Heliodor. p. 26,) by Zosimus, (l. v. p. 286,) and by Suidas, who copied
      the history of Eunapius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-12" id="link29note-12">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      12 (<a href="#link29noteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     &mdash;Caetera segnis;
     Ad facinus velox; penitus regione remotas
     Impiger ire vias.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      This allusion of Claudian (in Rufin. i. 241) is again explained by the
      circumstantial narrative of Zosimus, (l. v. p. 288, 289.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      But Rufinus soon experienced, that a prudent minister should constantly
      secure 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 capricious
      sovereign. While the praefect satiated his revenge at Antioch, a secret
      conspiracy of the favorite eunuchs, directed by the great chamberlain
      Eutropius, undermined his power in the palace of Constantinople. They
      discovered that Arcadius was not inclined to love the daughter of Rufinus,
      who had been chosen, without his consent, for his bride; and they
      contrived to substitute in her place the fair Eudoxia, the daughter of
      Bauto, <a href="#link29note-13" name="link29noteref-13"
      id="link29noteref-13">13</a> a general of the Franks in the service of
      Rome; and who was educated, since the death of her father, in the family
      of the sons of Promotus. The young emperor, whose chastity had been
      strictly guarded by the pious care of his tutor Arsenius, <a
      href="#link29note-14" name="link29noteref-14" id="link29noteref-14">14</a>
      eagerly listened to the artful and flattering descriptions of the charms
      of Eudoxia: he gazed with impatient ardor on her picture, and he
      understood the necessity of concealing his amorous designs from the
      knowledge of a minister who was so deeply interested to oppose the
      consummation of his happiness. Soon after the return of Rufinus, the
      approaching ceremony of the royal nuptials was announced to the people of
      Constantinople, who prepared to celebrate, with false and hollow
      acclamations, the fortune of his daughter. A splendid train of eunuchs and
      officers issued, in hymeneal pomp, from the gates of the palace; bearing
      aloft the diadem, the robes, and the inestimable ornaments, of the future
      empress. The solemn procession passed through the streets of the city,
      which were adorned with garlands, and filled with spectators; but when it
      reached the house of the sons of Promotus, the principal eunuch
      respectfully entered the mansion, invested the fair Eudoxia with the
      Imperial robes, and conducted her in triumph to the palace and bed of
      Arcadius. <a href="#link29note-15" name="link29noteref-15"
      id="link29noteref-15">15</a> The secrecy and success with which this
      conspiracy against Rufinus had been conducted, imprinted a mark of
      indelible ridicule on the character of a minister, who had suffered
      himself to be deceived, in a post where the arts of deceit and
      dissimulation constitute the most distinguished merit. He considered, with
      a mixture of indignation and fear, the victory of an aspiring eunuch, who
      had secretly captivated the favor of his sovereign; and the disgrace of
      his daughter, whose interest was inseparably connected with his own,
      wounded the tenderness, or, at least, the pride of Rufinus. At the moment
      when he flattered himself that he should become the father of a line of
      kings, a foreign maid, who had been educated in the house of his
      implacable enemies, was introduced into the Imperial bed; and Eudoxia soon
      displayed a superiority of sense and spirit, to improve the ascendant
      which her beauty must acquire over the mind of a fond and youthful
      husband. The emperor would soon be instructed to hate, to fear, and to
      destroy the powerful subject, whom he had injured; and the consciousness
      of guilt deprived Rufinus of every hope, either of safety or comfort, in
      the retirement of a private life. But he still possessed the most
      effectual means of defending his dignity, and perhaps of oppressing his
      enemies. The praefect still exercised an uncontrolled authority over the
      civil and military government of the East; and his treasures, if he could
      resolve to use them, might be employed to procure proper instruments for
      the execution of the blackest designs, that pride, ambition, and revenge
      could suggest to a desperate statesman. The character of Rufinus seemed to
      justify the accusations that he conspired against the person of his
      sovereign, to seat himself on the vacant throne; and that he had secretly
      invited the Huns and the Goths to invade the provinces of the empire, and
      to increase the public confusion. The subtle praefect, whose life had been
      spent in the intrigues of the palace, opposed, with equal arms, the artful
      measures of the eunuch Eutropius; but the timid soul of Rufinus was
      astonished by the hostile approach of a more formidable rival, of the
      great Stilicho, the general, or rather the master, of the empire of the
      West. <a href="#link29note-16" name="link29noteref-16"
      id="link29noteref-16">16</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-13" id="link29note-13">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      13 (<a href="#link29noteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus (l. iv. p. 243)
      praises the valor, prudence, and integrity of Bauto the Frank. See
      Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 771.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-14" id="link29note-14">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      14 (<a href="#link29noteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ Arsenius escaped from
      the palace of Constantinople, and passed fifty-five years in rigid penance
      in the monasteries of Egypt. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xiv. p.
      676-702; and Fleury, Hist Eccles. tom. v. p. 1, &amp;c.; but the latter,
      for want of authentic materials, has given too much credit to the legend
      of Metaphrastes.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-15" id="link29note-15">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      15 (<a href="#link29noteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ This story (Zosimus, l.
      v. p. 290) proves that the hymeneal rites of antiquity were still
      practised, without idolatry, by the Christians of the East; and the bride
      was forcibly conducted from the house of her parents to that of her
      husband. Our form of marriage requires, with less delicacy, the express
      and public consent of a virgin.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-16" id="link29note-16">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      16 (<a href="#link29noteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, (l. v. p.
      290,) Orosius, (l. vii. c. 37,) and the Chronicle of Marcellinus. Claudian
      (in Rufin. ii. 7-100) paints, in lively colors, the distress and guilt of
      the praefect.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The celestial gift, which Achilles obtained, and Alexander envied, of a
      poet worthy to celebrate the actions of heroes has been enjoyed by
      Stilicho, in a much higher degree than might have been expected from the
      declining state of genius, and of art. The muse of Claudian, <a
      href="#link29note-17" name="link29noteref-17" id="link29noteref-17">17</a>
      devoted to his service, was always prepared to stigmatize his adversaries,
      Rufinus, or Eutropius, with eternal infamy; or to paint, in the most
      splendid colors, the victories and virtues of a powerful benefactor. In
      the review of a period indifferently supplied with authentic materials, we
      cannot refuse to illustrate the annals of Honorius, from the invectives,
      or the panegyrics, of a contemporary writer; but as Claudian appears to
      have indulged the most ample privilege of a poet and a courtier, some
      criticism will be requisite to translate the language of fiction or
      exaggeration, into the truth and simplicity of historic prose. His silence
      concerning the family of Stilicho may be admitted as a proof, that his
      patron was neither able, nor desirous, to boast of a long series of
      illustrious progenitors; and the slight mention of his father, an officer
      of Barbarian cavalry in the service of Valens, seems to countenance the
      assertion, that the general, who so long commanded the armies of Rome, was
      descended from the savage and perfidious race of the Vandals. <a
      href="#link29note-18" name="link29noteref-18" id="link29noteref-18">18</a>
      If Stilicho had not possessed the external advantages of strength and
      stature, the most flattering bard, in the presence of so many thousand
      spectators, would have hesitated to affirm, that he surpassed the measure
      of the demi-gods of antiquity; and that whenever he moved, with lofty
      steps, through the streets of the capital, the astonished crowd made room
      for the stranger, who displayed, in a private condition, the awful majesty
      of a hero. From his earliest youth he embraced the profession of arms; his
      prudence and valor were soon distinguished in the field; the horsemen and
      archers of the East admired his superior dexterity; and in each degree of
      his military promotions, the public judgment always prevented and approved
      the choice of the sovereign. He was named, by Theodosius, to ratify a
      solemn treaty with the monarch of Persia; he supported, during that
      important embassy, the dignity of the Roman name; and after he return to
      Constantinople, his merit was rewarded by an intimate and honorable
      alliance with the Imperial family. Theodosius had been prompted, by a
      pious motive of fraternal affection, to adopt, for his own, the daughter
      of his brother Honorius; the beauty and accomplishments of Serena <a
      href="#link29note-19" name="link29noteref-19" id="link29noteref-19">19</a>
      were universally admired by the obsequious court; and Stilicho obtained
      the preference over a crowd of rivals, who ambitiously disputed the hand
      of the princess, and the favor of her adopted father. <a
      href="#link29note-20" name="link29noteref-20" id="link29noteref-20">20</a>
      The assurance that the husband of Serena would be faithful to the throne,
      which he was permitted to approach, engaged the emperor to exalt the
      fortunes, and to employ the abilities, of the sagacious and intrepid
      Stilicho. He rose, through the successive steps of master of the horse,
      and count of the domestics, to the supreme rank of master-general of all
      the cavalry and infantry of the Roman, or at least of the Western, empire;
      <a href="#link29note-21" name="link29noteref-21" id="link29noteref-21">21</a>
      and his enemies confessed, that he invariably disdained to barter for gold
      the rewards of merit, or to defraud the soldiers of the pay and
      gratifications which they deserved or claimed, from the liberality of the
      state. <a href="#link29note-22" name="link29noteref-22"
      id="link29noteref-22">22</a> The valor and conduct which he afterwards
      displayed, in the defence of Italy, against the arms of Alaric and
      Radagaisus, may justify the fame of his early achievements and in an age
      less attentive to the laws of honor, or of pride, the Roman generals might
      yield the preeminence of rank, to the ascendant of superior genius. <a
      href="#link29note-23" name="link29noteref-23" id="link29noteref-23">23</a>
      He lamented, and revenged, the murder of Promotus, his rival and his
      friend; and the massacre of many thousands of the flying Bastarnae is
      represented by the poet as a bloody sacrifice, which the Roman Achilles
      offered to the manes of another Patroclus. The virtues and victories of
      Stilicho deserved the hatred of Rufinus: and the arts of calumny might
      have been successful if the tender and vigilant Serena had not protected
      her husband against his domestic foes, whilst he vanquished in the field
      the enemies of the empire. <a href="#link29note-24" name="link29noteref-24"
      id="link29noteref-24">24</a> Theodosius continued to support an unworthy
      minister, to whose diligence he delegated the government of the palace,
      and of the East; but when he marched against the tyrant Eugenius, he
      associated his faithful general to the labors and glories of the civil
      war; and in the last moments of his life, the dying monarch recommended to
      Stilicho the care of his sons, and of the republic. <a
      href="#link29note-25" name="link29noteref-25" id="link29noteref-25">25</a>
      The ambition and the abilities of Stilicho were not unequal to the
      important trust; and he claimed the guardianship of the two empires,
      during the minority of Arcadius and Honorius. <a href="#link29note-26"
      name="link29noteref-26" id="link29noteref-26">26</a> The first measure of
      his administration, or rather of his reign, displayed to the nations the
      vigor and activity of a spirit worthy to command. He passed the Alps in
      the depth of winter; descended the stream of the Rhine, from the fortress
      of Basil to the marshes of Batavia; reviewed the state of the garrisons;
      repressed the enterprises of the Germans; and, after establishing along
      the banks a firm and honorable peace, returned, with incredible speed, to
      the palace of Milan. <a href="#link29note-27" name="link29noteref-27"
      id="link29noteref-27">27</a> The person and court of Honorius were subject
      to the master-general of the West; and the armies and provinces of Europe
      obeyed, without hesitation, a regular authority, which was exercised in
      the name of their young sovereign. Two rivals only remained to dispute the
      claims, and to provoke the vengeance, of Stilicho. Within the limits of
      Africa, Gildo, the Moor, maintained a proud and dangerous independence;
      and the minister of Constantinople asserted his equal reign over the
      emperor, and the empire, of the East.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-17" id="link29note-17">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      17 (<a href="#link29noteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ Stilicho, directly or
      indirectly, is the perpetual theme of Claudian. The youth and private life
      of the hero are vaguely expressed in the poem on his first consulship,
      35-140.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-18" id="link29note-18">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      18 (<a href="#link29noteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ Vandalorum, imbellis,
      avarae, perfidae, et dolosae, gentis, genere editus. Orosius, l. vii. c.
      38. Jerom (tom. i. ad Gerontiam, p. 93) call him a Semi-Barbarian.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-19" id="link29note-19">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      19 (<a href="#link29noteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian, in an
      imperfect poem, has drawn a fair, perhaps a flattering, portrait of
      Serena. That favorite niece of Theodosius was born, as well as here sister
      Thermantia, in Spain; from whence, in their earliest youth, they were
      honorably conducted to the palace of Constantinople.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-20" id="link29note-20">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      20 (<a href="#link29noteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Some doubt may be
      entertained, whether this adoption was legal or only metaphorical, (see
      Ducange, Fam. Byzant. p. 75.) An old inscription gives Stilicho the
      singular title of Pro-gener Divi Theodosius]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-21" id="link29note-21">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      21 (<a href="#link29noteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian (Laus Serenae,
      190, 193) expresses, in poetic language "the dilectus equorum," and the
      "gemino mox idem culmine duxit agmina." The inscription adds, "count of
      the domestics," an important command, which Stilicho, in the height of his
      grandeur, might prudently retain.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-22" id="link29note-22">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      22 (<a href="#link29noteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ The beautiful lines of
      Claudian (in i. Cons. Stilich. ii. 113) displays his genius; but the
      integrity of Stilicho (in the military administration) is much more firmly
      established by the unwilling evidence of Zosimus, (l. v. p. 345.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-23" id="link29note-23">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      23 (<a href="#link29noteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [&mdash;Si bellica moles
      Ingrueret, quamvis annis et jure minori,
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
    Cedere grandaevos equitum peditumque magistros
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Adspiceres. Claudian, Laus Seren. p. 196, &amp;c. A modern general would
      deem their submission either heroic patriotism or abject servility.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-24" id="link29note-24">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      24 (<a href="#link29noteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare the poem on the
      first consulship (i. 95-115) with the Laus Serenoe (227-237, where it
      unfortunately breaks off.) We may perceive the deep, inveterate malice of
      Rufinus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-25" id="link29note-25">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      25 (<a href="#link29noteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [&mdash;Quem fratribus
      ipse Discedens, clypeum defensoremque dedisti. Yet the nomination (iv.
      Cons. Hon. 432) was private, (iii. Cons. Hon. 142,) cunctos discedere...
      jubet; and may therefore be suspected. Zosimus and Suidas apply to
      Stilicho and Rufinus the same equal title of guardians, or procurators.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-26" id="link29note-26">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      26 (<a href="#link29noteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ The Roman law
      distinguishes two sorts of minority, which expired at the age of fourteen,
      and of twenty-five. The one was subject to the tutor, or guardian, of the
      person; the other, to the curator, or trustee, of the estate, (Heineccius,
      Antiquitat. Rom. ad Jurisprudent. pertinent. l. i. tit. xxii. xxiii. p.
      218-232.) But these legal ideas were never accurately transferred into the
      constitution of an elective monarchy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-27" id="link29note-27">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      27 (<a href="#link29noteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ See Claudian, (i. Cons.
      Stilich. i. 188-242;) but he must allow more than fifteen days for the
      journey and return between Milan and Leyden.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link292HCH0002" id="link292HCH0002">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXIX: Division Of Roman Empire Between Sons Of Theodosius.&mdash;Part
      II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      The impartiality which Stilicho affected, as the common guardian of the
      royal brothers, engaged him to regulate the equal division of the arms,
      the jewels, and the magnificent wardrobe and furniture of the deceased
      emperor. <a href="#link29note-28" name="link29noteref-28"
      id="link29noteref-28">28</a> But the most important object of the
      inheritance consisted of the numerous legions, cohorts, and squadrons, of
      Romans, or Barbarians, whom the event of the civil war had united under
      the standard of Theodosius. The various multitudes of Europe and Asia,
      exasperated by recent animosities, were overawed by the authority of a
      single man; and the rigid discipline of Stilicho protected the lands of
      the citizens from the rapine of the licentious soldier. <a
      href="#link29note-29" name="link29noteref-29" id="link29noteref-29">29</a>
      Anxious, however, and impatient, to relieve Italy from the presence of
      this formidable host, which could be useful only on the frontiers of the
      empire, 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 his
      private designs of ambition and revenge. <a href="#link29note-30"
      name="link29noteref-30" id="link29noteref-30">30</a> The guilty soul of
      Rufinus was alarmed by the approach of a warrior and a rival, whose enmity
      he deserved; he computed, with increasing terror, the narrow space of his
      life and greatness; and, as the last hope of safety, he interposed the
      authority of the emperor Arcadius. Stilicho, who appears to have directed
      his march along the sea-coast of the Adriatic, was not far distant from
      the city of Thessalonica, when he received a peremptory message, to recall
      the troops of the East, and to declare, that his nearer approach would be
      considered, by the Byzantine court, as an act of hostility. The prompt and
      unexpected obedience of the general of the West, convinced the vulgar of
      his loyalty and moderation; and, as he had already engaged the affection
      of the Eastern troops, he recommended to their zeal the execution of his
      bloody design, which might be accomplished in his absence, with less
      danger, perhaps, and with less reproach. Stilicho left the command of the
      troops of the East to Gainas, the Goth, on whose fidelity he firmly
      relied, with an assurance, at least, that the hardy Barbarians would never
      be diverted from his purpose by any consideration of fear or remorse. The
      soldiers were easily persuaded to punish the enemy of Stilicho and of
      Rome; and such was the general hatred which Rufinus had excited, that the
      fatal secret, communicated to thousands, was faithfully preserved during
      the long march from Thessalonica to the gates of Constantinople. As soon
      as they had resolved his death, they condescended to flatter his pride;
      the ambitious praefect was seduced to believe, that those powerful
      auxiliaries might be tempted to place the diadem on his head; and the
      treasures which he distributed, with a tardy and reluctant hand, were
      accepted 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, before
      the palace of Hebdomon, the troops halted: and the emperor, as well as his
      minister, advanced, according to ancient custom, respectfully to salute
      the power which supported their throne. As Rufinus passed along the ranks,
      and disguised, with studied courtesy, his innate haughtiness, the wings
      insensibly wheeled from the right and left, and enclosed the devoted
      victim within the circle of their arms. Before he could reflect on the
      danger of his situation, Gainas gave the signal of death; a daring and
      forward soldier plunged his sword into the breast of the guilty praefect,
      and Rufinus fell, groaned, and expired, at the feet of the affrighted
      emperor. If the agonies of a moment could expiate the crimes of a whole
      life, or if the outrages inflicted on a breathless corpse could be the
      object of pity, our humanity might perhaps be affected by the horrid
      circumstances which accompanied the murder of Rufinus. His mangled body
      was abandoned to the brutal fury of the populace of either sex, who
      hastened in crowds, from every quarter of the city, to trample on the
      remains of the haughty minister, at whose frown they had so lately
      trembled. His right hand was cut off, and carried through the streets of
      Constantinople, in cruel mockery, to extort contributions for the
      avaricious tyrant, whose head was publicly exposed, borne aloft on the
      point of a long lance. <a href="#link29note-31" name="link29noteref-31"
      id="link29noteref-31">31</a> According to the savage maxims of the Greek
      republics, his innocent family would have shared the punishment of his
      crimes. The wife and daughter of Rufinus were indebted for their safety to
      the influence of religion. Her sanctuary protected them from the raging
      madness of the people; and they were permitted to spend the remainder of
      their lives in the exercise of Christian devotions, in the peaceful
      retirement of Jerusalem. <a href="#link29note-32" name="link29noteref-32"
      id="link29noteref-32">32</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-28" id="link29note-28">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      28 (<a href="#link29noteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ I. Cons. Stilich. ii.
      88-94. Not only the robes and diadems of the deceased emperor, but even
      the helmets, sword-hilts, belts, rasses, &amp;c., were enriched with
      pearls, emeralds, and diamonds.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-29" id="link29note-29">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      29 (<a href="#link29noteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [&mdash;Tantoque remoto
      Principe, mutatas orbis non sensit habenas. This high commendation (i.
      Cons. Stil. i. 149) may be justified by the fears of the dying emperor,
      (de Bell. Gildon. 292-301;) and the peace and good order which were
      enjoyed after his death, (i. Cons. Stil i. 150-168.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-30" id="link29note-30">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      30 (<a href="#link29noteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ Stilicho's march, and
      the death of Rufinus, are described by 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. xi c. 3, with Godefory, p. 441,) and the
      Chronicle of Marcellinus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-31" id="link29note-31">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      31 (<a href="#link29noteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ The dissection of
      Rufinus, which Claudian performs with the savage coolness of an anatomist,
      (in Rufin. ii. 405-415,) is likewise specified by Zosimus and Jerom, (tom.
      i. p. 26.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-32" id="link29note-32">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      32 (<a href="#link29noteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ The Pagan Zosimus
      mentions their sanctuary and pilgrimage. The sister of Rufinus, Sylvania,
      who passed her life at Jerusalem, is famous in monastic history. 1. The
      studious virgin had diligently, and even repeatedly, perused the
      commentators on the Bible, Origen, Gregory, Basil, &amp;c., to the amount
      of five millions of lines. 2. At the age of threescore, 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 receive the communion. See the Vitae
      Patrum, p. 779, 977.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The servile poet of Stilicho applauds, with ferocious joy, this horrid
      deed, which, in the execution, perhaps, of justice, violated every law of
      nature and society, profaned the majesty of the prince, and renewed the
      dangerous examples of military license. The contemplation of the universal
      order and harmony had satisfied Claudian of the existence of the Deity;
      but the prosperous impunity of vice appeared to contradict his moral
      attributes; and the fate of Rufinus was the only event which could dispel
      the religious doubts of the poet. <a href="#link29note-33"
      name="link29noteref-33" id="link29noteref-33">33</a> Such an act might
      vindicate the honor of Providence, but it did not much contribute to the
      happiness of the people. In less than three months they were informed of
      the maxims of the new administration, by a singular edict, which
      established the exclusive right of the treasury over the spoils of
      Rufinus; and silenced, under heavy penalties, the presumptuous claims of
      the subjects of the Eastern empire, who had been injured by his rapacious
      tyranny. <a href="#link29note-34" name="link29noteref-34"
      id="link29noteref-34">34</a> Even Stilicho did not derive from the murder
      of his rival the fruit which he had proposed; and though he gratified his
      revenge, his ambition was disappointed. Under the name of a favorite, the
      weakness of Arcadius required a master, but he naturally preferred the
      obsequious arts of the eunuch Eutropius, who had obtained his domestic
      confidence: and the emperor contemplated, with terror and aversion, the
      stern genius of a foreign warrior. Till they were divided by the jealousy
      of power, the sword of Gainas, and the charms of Eudoxia, supported the
      favor of the great chamberlain of the palace: the perfidious 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 to support, against him, the
      independence of the throne of Constantinople. The favorites of Arcadius
      fomented a secret and irreconcilable war against a formidable hero, who
      aspired to govern, and to defend, the two empires of Rome, and the two
      sons of Theodosius. They incessantly labored, by dark and treacherous
      machinations, to deprive him of the esteem of the prince, the respect of
      the people, and the friendship of the Barbarians. The life of Stilicho was
      repeatedly attempted by the dagger of hired assassins; and a decree was
      obtained from the senate of Constantinople, to declare him an enemy of the
      republic, and to confiscate his ample possessions in the provinces of the
      East. At a time when the only hope of delaying the ruin of the Roman name
      depended on the firm union, and reciprocal aid, of all the nations to whom
      it had been gradually communicated, the subjects of Arcadius and Honorius
      were instructed, by their respective masters, to view each other in a
      foreign, and even hostile, light; to rejoice in their mutual calamities,
      and to embrace, as their faithful allies, the Barbarians, whom they
      excited to invade the territories of their countrymen. <a
      href="#link29note-35" name="link29noteref-35" id="link29noteref-35">35</a>
      The natives of Italy affected to despise the servile and effeminate Greeks
      of Byzantium, who presumed to imitate the dress, and to usurp the dignity,
      of Roman senators; <a href="#link29note-36" name="link29noteref-36"
      id="link29noteref-36">36</a> and the Greeks had not yet forgot the
      sentiments of hatred and contempt, which their polished ancestors had so
      long entertained for the rude inhabitants of the West. The distinction of
      two governments, which soon produced the separation of two nations, will
      justify my design of suspending the series of the Byzantine history, to
      prosecute, without interruption, the disgraceful, but memorable, reign of
      Honorius.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-33" id="link29note-33">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      33 (<a href="#link29noteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ See the beautiful
      exordium of his invective against Rufinus, which is curiously discussed by
      the sceptic Bayle, Dictionnaire Critique, Rufin. Not. E.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-34" id="link29note-34">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      34 (<a href="#link29noteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Theodosian
      Code, l. ix. tit. xlii. leg. 14, 15. The new ministers attempted, with
      inconsistent avarice, to seize the spoils of their predecessor, and to
      provide for their own future security.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-35" id="link29note-35">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      35 (<a href="#link29noteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ See Claudian, (i. Cons.
      Stilich, l. i. 275, 292, 296, l. ii. 83,) and Zosimus, (l. v. p. 302.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-36" id="link29note-36">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      36 (<a href="#link29noteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian turns the
      consulship of the eunuch Eutropius into a national reflection, (l. ii.
      134):&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
    &mdash;-Plaudentem cerne senatum,
     Et Byzantinos proceres Graiosque Quirites:
     O patribus plebes, O digni consule patres.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      It is curious to observe the first symptoms of jealousy and schism between
      old and new Rome, between the Greeks and Latins.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The prudent Stilicho, instead of persisting to force the inclinations of a
      prince, and people, who rejected his government, wisely abandoned Arcadius
      to his unworthy favorites; and his reluctance to involve the two empires
      in a civil war displayed the moderation of a minister, who had so often
      signalized his military spirit and abilities. But if Stilicho had any
      longer endured the revolt of Africa, he would have betrayed the security
      of the capital, and the majesty of the Western emperor, to the capricious
      insolence of a Moorish rebel. Gildo, <a href="#link29note-37"
      name="link29noteref-37" id="link29noteref-37">37</a> the brother of the
      tyrant Firmus, had preserved and obtained, as the reward of his apparent
      fidelity, the immense patrimony which was forfeited by treason: long and
      meritorious service, in the armies of Rome, raised him to the dignity of a
      military count; the narrow policy of the court of Theodosius had adopted
      the mischievous expedient of supporting a legal government by the interest
      of a powerful family; and the brother of Firmus was invested with the
      command of Africa. His ambition soon usurped the administration of
      justice, and of the finances, without account, and without control; and he
      maintained, during a reign of twelve years, the possession of an office,
      from which it was impossible to remove him, without the danger of a civil
      war. During those twelve years, the provinces of Africa groaned under the
      dominion of a tyrant, who seemed to unite the unfeeling temper of a
      stranger with the partial resentments of domestic faction. The forms of
      law were often superseded by the use of poison; and if the trembling
      guests, who were invited to the table of Gildo, presumed to express fears,
      the insolent suspicion served only to excite his fury, and he loudly
      summoned the ministers of death. Gildo alternately indulged the passions
      of avarice and lust; <a href="#link29note-38" name="link29noteref-38"
      id="link29noteref-38">38</a> and if his days were terrible to the rich,
      his nights were not less dreadful to husbands and parents. The fairest of
      their wives and daughters were prostituted to the embraces of the tyrant;
      and afterwards abandoned to a ferocious troop of Barbarians and assassins,
      the black, or swarthy, natives of the desert; whom Gildo considered as the
      only of his throne. In the civil war between Theodosius and Eugenius, the
      count, or rather the sovereign, of Africa, maintained a haughty and
      suspicious neutrality; refused to assist either of the contending parties
      with troops or vessels, expected the declaration of fortune, and reserved
      for the conqueror the vain professions of his allegiance. Such professions
      would not have satisfied the master of the Roman world; but the death of
      Theodosius, and the weakness and discord of his sons, confirmed the power
      of the Moor; who condescended, as a proof of his moderation, to abstain
      from the use of the diadem, and to supply Rome with the customary tribute,
      or rather subsidy, of corn. In every division of the empire, the five
      provinces of Africa were invariably assigned to the West; and Gildo had to
      govern that extensive country in the name of Honorius, but his knowledge
      of the character and designs of Stilicho soon engaged him to address his
      homage to a more distant and feeble sovereign. The ministers of Arcadius
      embraced the cause of a perfidious rebel; and the delusive hope of adding
      the numerous cities of Africa to the empire of the East, tempted them to
      assert a claim, which they were incapable of supporting, either by reason
      or by arms. <a href="#link29note-39" name="link29noteref-39"
      id="link29noteref-39">39</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-37" id="link29note-37">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      37 (<a href="#link29noteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian may have
      exaggerated the vices of Gildo; but his Moorish 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 and learning.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-38" id="link29note-38">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      38 (<a href="#link29noteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.
    &mdash;&mdash;De Bello Gildonico, 165, 189.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Baronius condemns, still more severely, the licentiousness of Gildo; as
      his wife, his daughter, and his sister, were examples of perfect chastity.
      The adulteries of the African soldiers are checked by one of the Imperial
      laws.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-39" id="link29note-39">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      39 (<a href="#link29noteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 by Zosimus, (l. v. p. 302.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      When Stilicho had given a firm and decisive answer to the pretensions of
      the Byzantine court, he solemnly accused the tyrant of Africa before the
      tribunal, which had formerly judged the kings and nations of the earth;
      and the image of the republic was revived, after a long interval, under
      the reign of Honorius. The emperor transmitted an accurate and ample
      detail of the complaints of the provincials, and the crimes of Gildo, to
      the Roman senate; and the members of that venerable assembly were required
      to pronounce the condemnation of the rebel. Their unanimous suffrage
      declared him the enemy of the republic; and the decree of the senate added
      a sacred and legitimate sanction to the Roman arms. <a
      href="#link29note-40" name="link29noteref-40" id="link29noteref-40">40</a>
      A people, who still remembered that their ancestors had been the masters
      of the world, would have applauded, with conscious pride, the
      representation of ancient freedom; if they had not since been accustomed
      to prefer the solid assurance of bread to the unsubstantial visions of
      liberty and greatness. The subsistence of Rome depended on the harvests of
      Africa; and it was evident, that a declaration of war would be the signal
      of famine. The praefect Symmachus, who presided in the deliberations of
      the senate, admonished the minister of his just apprehension, that as soon
      as the revengeful Moor should prohibit the exportation of corn, the and
      perhaps the safety, of the capital would be threatened by the hungry rage
      of a turbulent multitude. <a href="#link29note-41" name="link29noteref-41"
      id="link29noteref-41">41</a> The prudence of Stilicho conceived and
      executed, without delay, the most effectual measure for the relief of the
      Roman people. A large and seasonable supply of corn, collected in the
      inland provinces of Gaul, was embarked on the rapid stream of the Rhone,
      and transported, by an easy navigation, from the Rhone to the Tyber.
      During the whole term of the African war, the granaries of Rome were
      continually filled, her dignity was vindicated from the humiliating
      dependence, and the minds of an immense people were quieted by the calm
      confidence of peace and plenty. <a href="#link29note-42"
      name="link29noteref-42" id="link29noteref-42">42</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-40" id="link29note-40">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      40 (<a href="#link29noteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ Symmachus (l. iv.
      epist. 4) expresses the judicial forms of the senate; and Claudian (i.
      Cons. Stilich. l. i. 325, &amp;c.) seems to feel the spirit of a Roman.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-41" id="link29note-41">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      41 (<a href="#link29noteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian finely
      displays these complaints of Symmachus, in a speech of the goddess of
      Rome, before the throne of Jupiter, (de Bell Gildon. 28-128.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-42" id="link29note-42">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      42 (<a href="#link29noteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ See Claudian (in
      Eutrop. l. i 401, &amp;c. i. Cons. Stil. l. i. 306, &amp;c. i. Cons.
      Stilich. 91, &amp;c.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      The cause of Rome, and the conduct of the African war, were intrusted by
      Stilicho to a general, active and ardent to avenge his private injuries on
      the head of the tyrant. The spirit of discord which prevailed in the house
      of Nabal, had excited a deadly quarrel between two of his sons, Gildo and
      Mascezel. <a href="#link29note-43" name="link29noteref-43"
      id="link29noteref-43">43</a> The usurper pursued, with implacable rage,
      the life of his younger brother, whose courage and abilities he feared;
      and Mascezel, oppressed by superior power, refuge in the court of Milan,
      where he soon received the cruel intelligence that his two innocent and
      helpless children had been murdered by their inhuman uncle. The affliction
      of the father was suspended only by the desire of revenge. The vigilant
      Stilicho already prepared to collect the naval and military force of the
      Western empire; and he had resolved, if the tyrant should be able to wage
      an equal and doubtful war, to march against him in person. But as Italy
      required his presence, and as it might be dangerous to weaken the of the
      frontier, he judged it more advisable, that Mascezel should attempt this
      arduous adventure at the head of a chosen body of Gallic veterans, who had
      lately served exhorted to convince the world that they could subvert, as
      well as defend the throne of a usurper, consisted of the Jovian, the
      Herculian, and the Augustan legions; of the Nervian auxiliaries; of the
      soldiers who displayed in their banners the symbol of a lion, and of the
      troops which were distinguished by the auspicious names of Fortunate, and
      Invincible. Yet such was the smallness of their establishments, or the
      difficulty of recruiting, that these seven bands, <a href="#link29note-44"
      name="link29noteref-44" id="link29noteref-44">44</a> of high dignity and
      reputation in the service of Rome, amounted to no more than five thousand
      effective men. <a href="#link29note-45" name="link29noteref-45"
      id="link29noteref-45">45</a> The fleet of galleys and transports sailed in
      tempestuous weather from the port of Pisa, in Tuscany, and steered their
      course to the little island of Capraria; which had borrowed that name from
      the wild goats, its original inhabitants, whose place was occupied by a
      new colony of a strange and savage appearance. "The whole island (says an
      ingenious traveller of those times) is filled, or rather defiled, by men
      who fly from the light. They call themselves Monks, or solitaries, because
      they choose to live alone, without any witnesses of their actions. They
      fear the gifts of fortune, from the apprehension of losing them; and, lest
      they should be miserable, they embrace a life of voluntary wretchedness.
      How absurd is their choice! how perverse their understanding! to dread the
      evils, without being able to support the blessings, of the human
      condition. Either this melancholy madness is the effect of disease, or
      exercise on their own bodies the tortures which are inflicted on fugitive
      slaves by the hand of justice." <a href="#link29note-46"
      name="link29noteref-46" id="link29noteref-46">46</a> Such was the contempt
      of a profane magistrate for the monks as the chosen servants of God. <a
      href="#link29note-47" name="link29noteref-47" id="link29noteref-47">47</a>
      Some of them were persuaded, by his entreaties, to embark on board the
      fleet; and it is observed, to the praise of the 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 the dangerous rocks of Corsica,
      coasted along the eastern side of Sardinia, and secured his ships against
      the violence of the south wind, by casting anchor in the and capacious
      harbor of Cagliari, at the distance of one hundred and forty miles from
      the African shores. <a href="#link29note-48" name="link29noteref-48"
      id="link29noteref-48">48</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-43" id="link29note-43">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      43 (<a href="#link29noteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ He was of a mature age;
      since he had formerly (A.D. 373) served against his brother Firmus
      (Ammian. xxix. 5.) Claudian, who understood the court of Milan, dwells on
      the injuries, rather than the merits, of Mascezel, (de Bell. Gild.
      389-414.) The Moorish war was not worthy of Honorius, or Stilicho, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-44" id="link29note-44">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      44 (<a href="#link29noteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian, Bell. Gild.
      415-423. The change of discipline allowed him to use indifferently the
      names of Legio Cohors, Manipulus. See Notitia Imperii, S. 38, 40.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-45" id="link29note-45">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      45 (<a href="#link29noteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius (l. vii. c. 36,
      p. 565) qualifies this account with an expression of doubt, (ut aiunt;)
      and it scarcely coincides with Zosimus, (l. v. p. 303.) Yet Claudian,
      after some declamation about Cadmus, soldiers, frankly owns that Stilicho
      sent a small army lest the rebels should fly, ne timeare times, (i. Cons.
      Stilich. l. i. 314 &amp;c.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-46" id="link29note-46">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      46 (<a href="#link29noteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ Claud. Rutil. Numatian.
      Itinerar. i. 439-448. He afterwards (515-526) mentions a religious madman
      on the Isle of Gorgona. For such profane remarks, Rutilius and his
      accomplices are styled, by his commentator, Barthius, rabiosi canes
      diaboli. Tillemont (Mem. Eccles com. xii. p. 471) more calmly observes,
      that the unbelieving poet praises where he means to censure.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-47" id="link29note-47">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      47 (<a href="#link29noteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius, l. vii. c. 36,
      p. 564. Augustin commends two of these 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.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-48" id="link29note-48">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      48 (<a href="#link29noteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ Here the first book of
      the Gildonic war is terminated. The rest of Claudian's poem has been lost;
      and we are ignorant how or where the army made good their landing in
      Afica.]
    </p>
    <p>
      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 the
      doubtful allegiance of the Roman soldiers, whilst he attracted to his
      standard the distant tribes of Gaetulia and Aethiopia. He proudly reviewed
      an army of seventy thousand men, and boasted, with the rash presumption
      which is the forerunner of disgrace, that his numerous cavalry would
      trample under their horses' feet the troops of Mascezel, and involve, in a
      cloud of burning sand, the natives of the cold regions of Gaul and
      Germany. <a href="#link29note-49" name="link29noteref-49"
      id="link29noteref-49">49</a> But the Moor, who commanded the legions of
      Honorius, was too well acquainted with the manners of his countrymen, to
      entertain any serious apprehension of a naked and disorderly host of
      Barbarians; whose left arm, instead of a shield, was protected only by
      mantle; who were totally disarmed as soon as they had darted their javelin
      from their right hand; and whose horses had never He fixed his camp 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. <a
      href="#link29note-50" name="link29noteref-50" id="link29noteref-50">50</a>
      As Mascezel advanced before the front with fair offers of peace and
      pardon, he encountered one of the foremost standard-bearers of the
      Africans, and, on his refusal to yield, struck him on the arm with his
      sword. The arm, and the standard, sunk under the weight of the blow; and
      the imaginary act of submission was hastily repeated by all the standards
      of the line. At this the disaffected cohorts proclaimed the name of their
      lawful sovereign; the Barbarians, astonished by the defection of their
      Roman allies, dispersed, according to their custom, in tumultuary flight;
      and Mascezel obtained the of an easy, and almost bloodless, victory. <a
      href="#link29note-51" name="link29noteref-51" id="link29noteref-51">51</a>
      The tyrant escaped from the field of battle to the sea-shore; and threw
      himself into a small vessel, with the hope of reaching in safety some
      friendly port of the empire of the East; but the obstinacy of the wind
      drove him back into the harbor of Tabraca, <a href="#link29note-52"
      name="link29noteref-52" id="link29noteref-52">52</a> which had
      acknowledged, with the rest of the province, the dominion of Honorius, and
      the authority of his lieutenant. The inhabitants, as a proof of their
      repentance and loyalty, seized and confined the person of Gildo in a
      dungeon; and his own despair saved him from the intolerable torture of
      supporting the presence of an injured and victorious brother. <a
      href="#link29note-53" name="link29noteref-53" id="link29noteref-53">53</a>
      The captives and the spoils of Africa were laid at the feet of the
      emperor; but more sincere, in the midst of prosperity, still affected to
      consult the laws of the republic; and referred to the senate and people of
      Rome the judgment of the most illustrious criminals. <a
      href="#link29note-54" name="link29noteref-54" id="link29noteref-54">54</a>
      Their trial was public and solemn; but the judges, in the exercise of this
      obsolete and precarious jurisdiction, were impatient to punish the African
      magistrates, 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 of Gildo; and
      if an edict of Honorius seems to check the malicious industry of
      informers, a subsequent edict, at the distance of ten years, continues and
      renews the prosecution of the which had been committed in the time of the
      general rebellion. <a href="#link29note-55" name="link29noteref-55"
      id="link29noteref-55">55</a> The adherents of the tyrant who escaped the
      first fury of the soldiers, and the judges, might derive some consolation
      from the tragic fate of his brother, who could never obtain 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, affected gratitude, and secret
      jealousy; <a href="#link29note-56" name="link29noteref-56"
      id="link29noteref-56">56</a> and his death, which, perhaps, was the effect
      of passage of a bridge, the Moorish prince, who accompanied the
      master-general of the West, was suddenly thrown from his horse into the
      river; the officious haste of the attendants was on the countenance of
      Stilicho; and while they delayed the necessary assistance, the unfortunate
      Mascezel was irrecoverably drowned. <a href="#link29note-57"
      name="link29noteref-57" id="link29noteref-57">57</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-49" id="link29note-49">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      49 (<a href="#link29noteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius must be
      responsible for the account. The presumption of Gildo and his various
      train of Barbarians is celebrated by Claudian, Cons. Stil. l. i. 345-355.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-50" id="link29note-50">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      50 (<a href="#link29noteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ St. Ambrose, who had
      been dead about a year, revealed, in a vision, the time and place of the
      victory. Mascezel afterwards related his dream to Paulinus, the original
      biographer of the saint, from whom it might easily pass to Orosius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-51" id="link29note-51">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      51 (<a href="#link29noteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus (l. v. p. 303)
      supposes an obstinate combat; but the narrative of Orosius appears to
      conceal a real fact, under the disguise of a miracle.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-52" id="link29note-52">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      52 (<a href="#link29noteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ Tabraca lay between the
      two Hippos, (Cellarius, tom. ii. p. 112; D'Anville, tom. iii. p. 84.)
      Orosius has distinctly named the field of battle, but our ignorance cannot
      define the precise situation.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-53" id="link29note-53">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      53 (<a href="#link29noteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ The death of Gildo is
      expressed by Claudian (i. Cons. Stil. 357) and his best interpreters,
      Zosimus and Orosius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-54" id="link29note-54">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      54 (<a href="#link29noteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian (ii. Cons.
      Stilich. 99-119) describes their trial (tremuit quos Africa nuper, cernunt
      rostra reos,) and applauds the restoration of the ancient constitution. It
      is here that he introduces the famous sentence, so familiar to the friends
      of despotism:
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
    &mdash;-Nunquam libertas gratior exstat,
     Quam sub rege pio.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      But the freedom which depends on royal piety, scarcely deserves
      appellation]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-55" id="link29note-55">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      55 (<a href="#link29noteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Theodosian
      Code, l. ix. tit. xxxix. leg. 3, tit. xl. leg. 19.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-56" id="link29note-56">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      56 (<a href="#link29noteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ Stilicho, who claimed
      an equal share in all the victories of Theodosius and his son,
      particularly asserts, that Africa was recovered by the wisdom of his
      counsels, (see an inscription produced by Baronius.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-57" id="link29note-57">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      57 (<a href="#link29noteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ I have softened the
      narrative of Zosimus, which, in its crude simplicity, is almost
      incredible, (l. v. p. 303.) Orosius damns the victorious general (p. 538)
      for violating the right of sanctuary.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The joy of the African triumph was happily connected with the nuptials of
      the emperor Honorius, and of his cousin Maria, the daughter of Stilicho:
      and this equal and honorable alliance seemed to invest the powerful
      minister with the authority of a parent over his submissive pupil. The
      muse of Claudian was not silent on this propitious day; <a
      href="#link29note-58" name="link29noteref-58" id="link29noteref-58">58</a>
      he sung, in various and lively strains, the happiness of the royal pair;
      and the glory of the hero, who confirmed their union, and supported their
      throne. The ancient fables of Greece, which had almost ceased to be the
      object of religious faith, were saved from oblivion by the genius of
      poetry. The picture of the Cyprian grove, the seat of harmony and love;
      the triumphant progress of Venus over her native seas, and the mild
      influence which her presence diffused in the palace of Milan, express to
      every age the natural sentiments of the heart, in the just and pleasing
      language of allegorical fiction. But the amorous impatience which Claudian
      attributes to the young prince, <a href="#link29note-59"
      name="link29noteref-59" id="link29noteref-59">59</a> must excite the
      smiles of the court; and his beauteous spouse (if she deserved the praise
      of beauty) had not much to fear or to hope from the passions of her lover.
      Honorius was only in the fourteenth year of his age; Serena, the mother of
      his bride, deferred, by art of persuasion, the consummation of the royal
      nuptials; Maria died a virgin, after she had been ten years a wife; and
      the chastity of the emperor was secured by the coldness, perhaps, the
      debility,of his constitution. <a href="#link29note-60"
      name="link29noteref-60" id="link29noteref-60">60</a> His subjects, who
      attentively studied the character of their young sovereign, discovered
      that Honorius was without passions, and consequently without talents; and
      that his feeble and languid disposition was alike incapable of discharging
      the duties of his rank, or of enjoying the pleasures of his age. In his
      early youth he made some progress in the exercises of riding and drawing
      the bow: but he soon relinquished these fatiguing occupations, and the
      amusement of feeding poultry became the serious and daily care of the
      monarch of the West, <a href="#link29note-61" name="link29noteref-61"
      id="link29noteref-61">61</a> who resigned the reins of empire to the firm
      and skilful hand of his guardian Stilicho. The experience of history will
      countenance the suspicion that a prince who was born in the purple,
      received a worse education than the meanest peasant of his dominions; and
      that the ambitious minister suffered him to attain the age of manhood,
      without attempting to excite his courage, or to enlighten his under
      standing. <a href="#link29note-62" name="link29noteref-62"
      id="link29noteref-62">62</a> The predecessors of Honorius were accustomed
      to animate by their example, or at least by their presence, the valor of
      the legions; and the dates of their laws attest the perpetual activity of
      their motions through the provinces of the Roman world. But the son of
      Theodosius passed the slumber of his life, a captive in his palace, a
      stranger in his country, and the patient, almost the indifferent,
      spectator of the ruin of the Western empire, which was repeatedly
      attacked, and finally subverted, by the arms of the Barbarians. In the
      eventful history of a reign of twenty-eight years, it will seldom be
      necessary to mention the name of the emperor Honorius.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-58" id="link29note-58">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      58 (<a href="#link29noteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian,as the poet
      laureate, composed a serious and elaborate epithalamium of 340 lines;
      besides some gay Fescennines, which were sung, in a more licentious tone,
      on the wedding night.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-59" id="link29note-59">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      59 (<a href="#link29noteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Calet obvius ire
     Jam princeps, tardumque cupit discedere solem.
     Nobilis haud aliter sonipes.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      (De Nuptiis Honor. et Mariae, and more freely in the Fescennines 112-116)
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Dices, O quoties,hoc mihi dulcius
     Quam flavos decics vincere Sarmatas.
    ....
     Tum victor madido prosilias toro,
     Nocturni referens vulnera proelii.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-60" id="link29note-60">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      60 (<a href="#link29noteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ See Zosimus, l. v. p.
      333.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-61" id="link29note-61">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      61 (<a href="#link29noteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ Procopius de Bell.
      Gothico, l. i. c. 2. I have borrowed the general practice of Honorius,
      without adopting the singular, and indeed improbable tale, which is
      related by the Greek historian.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link29note-62" id="link29note-62">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      62 (<a href="#link29noteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ The lessons of
      Theodosius, or rather Claudian, (iv. Cons. Honor 214-418,) might compose a
      fine institution for the future prince of a great and free nation. It was
      far above Honorius, and his degenerate subjects.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br /> <a name="link302HCH0001" id="link302HCH0001">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.&mdash;Part I.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Revolt Of The Goths.&mdash;They Plunder Greece.&mdash;Two Great
     Invasions Of Italy By Alaric And Radagaisus.&mdash;They Are
     Repulsed By Stilicho.&mdash;The Germans Overrun Gaul.&mdash;Usurpation
     Of Constantine In The West.&mdash;Disgrace And Death Of Stilicho.
</pre>
    <p>
      If the subjects of Rome could be ignorant of their obligations to the
      great Theodosius, they were too soon convinced, how painfully the spirit
      and abilities of their deceased emperor had supported the frail and
      mouldering edifice of the republic. He died in the month of January; and
      before the end of the winter of the same year, the Gothic nation was in
      arms. <a href="#link30note-1" name="link30noteref-1" id="link30noteref-1">1</a>
      The Barbarian auxiliaries erected their independent standard; and boldly
      avowed the hostile designs, which they had long cherished in their
      ferocious minds. Their countrymen, who had been condemned, by the
      conditions of the last treaty, to a life of tranquility and labor,
      deserted their farms at the first sound of the trumpet; and eagerly
      resumed the weapons which they had reluctantly laid down. The barriers of
      the Danube were thrown open; the savage warriors of Scythia issued from
      their forests; and the uncommon severity of the winter allowed the poet to
      remark, "that they rolled their ponderous wagons over the broad and icy
      back of the indignant river." <a href="#link30note-2"
      name="link30noteref-2" id="link30noteref-2">2</a> The unhappy natives of
      the provinces to the south of the Danube submitted to the calamities,
      which, in the course of twenty years, were almost grown familiar to their
      imagination; and the various troops of Barbarians, who gloried in the
      Gothic name, were irregularly spread from woody shores of Dalmatia, to the
      walls of Constantinople. <a href="#link30note-3" name="link30noteref-3"
      id="link30noteref-3">3</a> The interruption, or at least the diminution,
      of the subsidy, which the Goths had received from the prudent liberality
      of Theodosius, was the specious pretence of their revolt: the affront was
      imbittered by their contempt for the unwarlike sons of Theodosius; and
      their resentment was inflamed by the weakness, or treachery, of the
      minister of Arcadius. The frequent visits of Rufinus to the camp of the
      Barbarians whose arms and apparel he affected to imitate, were considered
      as a sufficient evidence of his guilty correspondence, and the public
      enemy, from a motive either of gratitude or of policy, was attentive,
      amidst the general devastation, to spare the private estates of the
      unpopular praefect. The Goths, instead of being impelled by the blind and
      headstrong passions of their chiefs, were now directed by the bold and
      artful genius of Alaric. That renowned leader was descended from the noble
      race of the Balti; <a href="#link30note-4" name="link30noteref-4"
      id="link30noteref-4">4</a> which yielded only to the royal dignity of the
      Amali: he had solicited the command of the Roman armies; and the Imperial
      court provoked him to demonstrate the folly of their refusal, and the
      importance of their loss. Whatever hopes might be entertained of the
      conquest of Constantinople, the judicious general soon abandoned an
      impracticable enterprise. In the midst of a divided court and a
      discontented people, the emperor Arcadius was terrified by the aspect of
      the Gothic arms; but the want of wisdom and valor was supplied by the
      strength of the city; and the fortifications, both of the sea and land,
      might securely brave the impotent and random darts of the Barbarians.
      Alaric disdained to trample any longer on the prostrate and ruined
      countries of Thrace and Dacia, and he resolved to seek a plentiful harvest
      of fame and riches in a province which had hitherto escaped the ravages of
      war. <a href="#link30note-5" name="link30noteref-5" id="link30noteref-5">5</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-1" id="link30note-1">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1 (<a href="#link30noteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ The revolt of the Goths,
      and the blockade of Constantinople, are distinctly mentioned by Claudian,
      (in Rufin. l. ii. 7-100,) Zosimus, (l. v. 292,) and Jornandes, (de Rebus
      Geticis, c. 29.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-2" id="link30note-2">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2 (<a href="#link30noteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Alii per toga ferocis
     Danubii solidata ruunt; expertaque remis
     Frangunt stagna rotis.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Claudian and Ovid often amuse their fancy by interchanging the metaphors
      and properties of liquid water, and solid ice. Much false wit has been
      expended in this easy exercise.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-3" id="link30note-3">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3 (<a href="#link30noteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ Jerom, tom. i. p. 26. He
      endeavors to comfort his friend Heliodorus, bishop of Altinum, for the
      loss of his nephew, Nepotian, by a curious recapitulation of all the
      public and private misfortunes of the times. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles.
      tom. xii. p. 200, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-4" id="link30note-4">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4 (<a href="#link30noteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ Baltha or bold: origo
      mirifica, says Jornandes, (c. 29.) This illustrious race long continued to
      flourish in France, in the Gothic province of Septimania, or Languedoc;
      under the corrupted appellation of Boax; and a branch of that family
      afterwards settled in the kingdom of Naples (Grotius in Prolegom. ad Hist.
      Gothic. p. 53.) The lords of Baux, near Arles, and of seventy-nine
      subordinate places, were independent of the counts of Provence,
      (Longuerue, Description de la France, tom. i. p. 357).]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-5" id="link30note-5">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5 (<a href="#link30noteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus (l. v. p.
      293-295) is our best guide for the conquest of Greece: but the hints and
      allusion of Claudian are so many rays of historic light.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The character of the civil and military officers, on whom Rufinus had
      devolved the government of Greece, confirmed the public suspicion, that he
      had betrayed the ancient seat of freedom and learning to the Gothic
      invader. The proconsul Antiochus was the unworthy son of a respectable
      father; and Gerontius, who commanded the provincial troops, was much
      better qualified to execute the oppressive orders of a tyrant, than to
      defend, with courage and ability, a country most remarkably fortified by
      the hand of nature. Alaric had traversed, without resistance, the plains
      of Macedonia and Thessaly, as far as the foot of Mount Oeta, a steep and
      woody range of hills, almost impervious to his cavalry. They stretched
      from east to west, to the edge of the sea-shore; and left, between the
      precipice and the Malian Gulf, an interval of three hundred feet, which,
      in some places, was contracted to a road capable of admitting only a
      single carriage. <a href="#link30note-6" name="link30noteref-6"
      id="link30noteref-6">6</a> In this narrow pass of Thermopylae, where
      Leonidas and the three hundred Spartans had gloriously devoted their
      lives, the Goths might have been stopped, or destroyed, by a skilful
      general; and perhaps the view of that sacred spot might have kindled some
      sparks of military ardor in the breasts of the degenerate Greeks. The
      troops which had been posted to defend the Straits of Thermopylae,
      retired, as they were directed, without attempting to disturb the secure
      and rapid passage of Alaric; <a href="#link30note-7" name="link30noteref-7"
      id="link30noteref-7">7</a> and the fertile fields of Phocis and Boeotia
      were instantly covered by a deluge of Barbarians who massacred the males
      of an age to bear arms, and drove away the beautiful females, with the
      spoil and cattle of the flaming villages. The travellers, who visited
      Greece several years afterwards, could easily discover the deep and bloody
      traces of the march of the Goths; and Thebes was less indebted for her
      preservation to the strength of her seven gates, than to the eager haste
      of Alaric, who advanced to occupy the city of Athens, and the important
      harbor of the Piraeus. The same impatience urged him to prevent 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, they were easily persuaded
      to deliver the greatest part of their wealth, as the ransom of the city of
      Minerva and its inhabitants. The treaty was ratified by solemn oaths, and
      observed with mutual fidelity. The Gothic prince, with a small and select
      train, was admitted within the walls; he indulged himself in the
      refreshment of the bath, accepted a splendid banquet, which was provided
      by the magistrate, and affected to show that he was not ignorant of the
      manners of civilized nations. <a href="#link30note-8"
      name="link30noteref-8" id="link30noteref-8">8</a> But the whole territory
      of Attica, from the promontory of Sunium to the town of Megara, was
      blasted by his baleful presence; and, if we may use the comparison of a
      contemporary philosopher, Athens itself resembled the bleeding and empty
      skin of a slaughtered victim. The distance between Megara and Corinth
      could not much exceed thirty miles; but the bad road, an expressive name,
      which it still bears among the Greeks, was, or might easily have been
      made, impassable for the march of an enemy. The thick and gloomy woods of
      Mount Cithaeron covered the inland country; the Scironian rocks approached
      the water's edge, and hung over the narrow and winding path, which was
      confined above six miles along the sea-shore. <a href="#link30note-9"
      name="link30noteref-9" id="link30noteref-9">9</a> The passage of those
      rocks, so infamous in every age, was terminated by the Isthmus of Corinth;
      and a small a body of firm and intrepid soldiers might have successfully
      defended a temporary intrenchment of five or six miles from the Ionian to
      the Aegean Sea. The confidence of the cities of Peloponnesus in their
      natural rampart, had tempted them to neglect the care of their antique
      walls; and the avarice of the Roman governors had exhausted and betrayed
      the unhappy province. <a href="#link30note-10" name="link30noteref-10"
      id="link30noteref-10">10</a> Corinth, Argos, Sparta, yielded without
      resistance to the arms of the Goths; and the most fortunate of the
      inhabitants were saved, by death, from beholding the slavery of their
      families and the conflagration of their cities. <a href="#link30note-11"
      name="link30noteref-11" id="link30noteref-11">11</a> The vases and statues
      were distributed among the Barbarians, with more regard to the value of
      the materials, than to the elegance of the workmanship; the female
      captives submitted to the laws of war; the enjoyment of beauty was the
      reward of valor; and the Greeks could not reasonably complain of an abuse
      which was justified by the example of the heroic times. <a
      href="#link30note-12" name="link30noteref-12" id="link30noteref-12">12</a>
      The descendants of that extraordinary people, who had considered valor and
      discipline as the walls of Sparta, no longer remembered the generous reply
      of their ancestors 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 a
      man, advance:&mdash;and thou wilt find men equal to thyself." <a
      href="#link30note-13" name="link30noteref-13" id="link30noteref-13">13</a>
      From Thermopylae to Sparta, the leader of the Goths pursued his victorious
      march without encountering any mortal antagonists: but one of the
      advocates of expiring Paganism has confidently asserted, that the walls of
      Athens were guarded by the goddess Minerva, with her formidable Aegis, and
      by the angry phantom of Achilles; <a href="#link30note-14"
      name="link30noteref-14" id="link30noteref-14">14</a> and that the
      conqueror was dismayed by the presence of the hostile deities of Greece.
      In an age of miracles, it would perhaps be unjust to dispute the claim of
      the historian Zosimus to the common benefit: yet it cannot be dissembled,
      that the mind of Alaric was ill prepared to receive, either in sleeping or
      waking visions, the impressions of Greek superstition. The songs of Homer,
      and the fame of Achilles, had probably never reached the ear of the
      illiterate Barbarian; and the Christian faith, which he had devoutly
      embraced, taught him to despise the imaginary deities of Rome and Athens.
      The invasion of the Goths, instead of vindicating the honor, contributed,
      at least accidentally, to extirpate the last remains of Paganism: and the
      mysteries of Ceres, which had subsisted eighteen hundred years, did not
      survive the destruction of Eleusis, and the calamities of Greece. <a
      href="#link30note-15" name="link30noteref-15" id="link30noteref-15">15</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-6" id="link30note-6">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6 (<a href="#link30noteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare Herodotus (l.
      vii. c. 176) and Livy, (xxxvi. 15.) The narrow entrance of Greece was
      probably enlarged by each successive ravisher.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-7" id="link30note-7">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7 (<a href="#link30noteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ He passed, says Eunapius,
      (in Vit. Philosoph. p. 93, edit. Commelin, 1596,) through the straits, of
      Thermopylae.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-8" id="link30note-8">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8 (<a href="#link30noteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Nec fera Cecropias traxissent vincula matres.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Synesius (Epist. clvi. p. 272, edit. Petav.) observes, that Athens, whose
      sufferings he imputes to the proconsul's avarice, was at that time less
      famous for her schools of philosophy than for her trade of honey.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-9" id="link30note-9">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9 (<a href="#link30noteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Vallata mari Scironia rupes,
     Et duo continuo connectens aequora muro
     Isthmos.
     &mdash;Claudian de Bel. Getico, 188.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-10" id="link30note-10">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      10 (<a href="#link30noteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian (in Rufin. l.
      ii. 186, and de Bello Getico, 611, &amp;c.) vaguely, though forcibly,
      delineates the scene of rapine and destruction.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-11" id="link30note-11">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      11 (<a href="#link30noteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ These generous lines of
      Homer (Odyss. l. v. 306) were transcribed by one of the captive youths of
      Corinth: and the tears of Mummius may prove that the rude conqueror,
      though he was ignorant of the value of an original picture, possessed the
      purest source of good taste, a benevolent heart, (Plutarch, Symposiac. l.
      ix. tom. ii. p. 737, edit. Wechel.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-12" id="link30note-12">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      12 (<a href="#link30noteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ Homer perpetually
      describes the exemplary patience of those female captives, who gave their
      charms, and even their hearts, to the murderers of their fathers,
      brothers, &amp;c. Such a passion (of Eriphile for Achilles) is touched
      with admirable delicacy by Racine.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-13" id="link30note-13">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      13 (<a href="#link30noteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ Plutarch (in Pyrrho,
      tom. ii. p. 474, edit. Brian) gives the genuine answer in the Laconic
      dialect. Pyrrhus attacked Sparta with 25,000 foot, 2000 horse, and 24
      elephants, and the defence of that open town is a fine comment on the laws
      of Lycurgus, even in the last stage of decay.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-14" id="link30note-14">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      14 (<a href="#link30noteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ Such, perhaps, as Homer
      (Iliad, xx. 164) had so nobly painted him.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-15" id="link30note-15">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      15 (<a href="#link30noteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ Eunapius (in Vit.
      Philosoph. p. 90-93) intimates that a troop of monks betrayed Greece, and
      followed the Gothic camp. * Note: The expression is curious: Vit. Max. t.
      i. p. 53, edit. Boissonade.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The last hope of a people who could no longer depend on their arms, their
      gods, or their sovereign, was placed in the powerful assistance of the
      general of the West; and Stilicho, who had not been permitted to repulse,
      advanced to chastise, the invaders of Greece. <a href="#link30note-16"
      name="link30noteref-16" id="link30noteref-16">16</a> A numerous fleet was
      equipped in the ports of Italy; and the troops, after a short and
      prosperous navigation over the Ionian Sea, were safely disembarked on the
      isthmus, near the ruins of Corinth. The woody and mountainous country of
      Arcadia, the fabulous residence of Pan and the Dryads, became the scene of
      a long and doubtful conflict between the two generals not unworthy of each
      other. The skill and perseverance of the Roman at length prevailed; and
      the Goths, after sustaining a considerable loss from disease and
      desertion, gradually retreated to the lofty mountain of Pholoe, near the
      sources of the Peneus, and on the frontiers of Elis; a sacred country,
      which had formerly been exempted from the calamities of war. <a
      href="#link30note-17" name="link30noteref-17" id="link30noteref-17">17</a>
      The camp of the Barbarians was immediately besieged; the waters of the
      river <a href="#link30note-18" name="link30noteref-18"
      id="link30noteref-18">18</a> were diverted into another channel; and while
      they labored under the intolerable pressure of thirst and hunger, a strong
      line of circumvallation was formed to prevent their escape. After these
      precautions, Stilicho, too confident of victory, retired to enjoy his
      triumph, in the theatrical games, and lascivious dances, of the Greeks;
      his soldiers, deserting their standards, spread themselves over the
      country of their allies, which they stripped of all that had been saved
      from the rapacious hands of the enemy. Alaric appears to have seized the
      favorable moment to execute one of those hardy enterprises, in which the
      abilities of a general are displayed with more genuine lustre, than in the
      tumult of a day of battle. To extricate himself from the prison of
      Peloponnesus, it was necessary that he should pierce the intrenchments
      which surrounded his camp; that he should perform a difficult and
      dangerous march of thirty miles, as far as the Gulf of Corinth; and that
      he should transport his troops, his captives, and his spoil, over an arm
      of the sea, which, in the narrow interval between Rhium and the opposite
      shore, is at least half a mile in breadth. <a href="#link30note-19"
      name="link30noteref-19" id="link30noteref-19">19</a> The operations of
      Alaric must have been secret, prudent, and rapid; since the Roman general
      was confounded by the intelligence, that the Goths, who had eluded his
      efforts, were in full possession of the important province of Epirus. This
      unfortunate delay allowed Alaric sufficient time to conclude the treaty,
      which he secretly negotiated, with the ministers of Constantinople. The
      apprehension of a civil war compelled Stilicho to retire, at the haughty
      mandate of his rivals, from the dominions of Arcadius; and he respected,
      in the enemy of Rome, the honorable character of the ally and servant of
      the emperor of the East.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-16" id="link30note-16">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      16 (<a href="#link30noteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ For Stilicho's Greek
      war, compare the honest narrative of Zosimus (l. v. p. 295, 296) with the
      curious circumstantial flattery of Claudian, (i. Cons. Stilich. l. i.
      172-186, iv. Cons. Hon. 459-487.) As the event was not glorious, it is
      artfully thrown into the shade.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-17" id="link30note-17">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      17 (<a href="#link30noteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ The troops who marched
      through Elis delivered up their arms. This security enriched the Eleans,
      who were lovers of a rural life. Riches begat pride: they disdained their
      privilege, and they suffered. Polybius advises them to retire once more
      within their magic circle. See a learned and judicious discourse on the
      Olympic games, which Mr. West has prefixed to his translation of Pindar.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-18" id="link30note-18">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      18 (<a href="#link30noteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian (in iv. Cons.
      Hon. 480) alludes to the fact without naming the river; perhaps the
      Alpheus, (i. Cons. Stil. l. i. 185.)
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
   &mdash;-Et Alpheus Geticis angustus acervis
    Tardior ad Siculos etiamnum pergit amores.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      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 had been
      joined with the Alpheus to cleanse the Augean stable. (Cellarius, tom. i.
      p. 760. Chandler's Travels, p. 286.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-19" id="link30note-19">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      19 (<a href="#link30noteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ Strabo, l. viii. p.
      517. Plin. Hist. Natur. iv. 3. Wheeler, p. 308. Chandler, p. 275. They
      measured from different points the distance between the two lands.]
    </p>
    <p>
      A Grecian philosopher, <a href="#link30note-20" name="link30noteref-20"
      id="link30noteref-20">20</a> who visited Constantinople soon after the
      death of Theodosius, published his liberal opinions concerning the duties
      of kings, and the state of the Roman republic. Synesius observes, and
      deplores, the fatal abuse, which the imprudent bounty of the late emperor
      had introduced into the military service. The citizens and subjects had
      purchased an exemption from the indispensable duty of defending their
      country; which was supported by the arms of Barbarian mercenaries. The
      fugitives of Scythia were permitted to disgrace the illustrious dignities
      of the empire; their ferocious youth, who disdained the salutary restraint
      of laws, were more anxious to acquire the riches, than to imitate the
      arts, of a people, the object of their contempt and hatred; and the power
      of the Goths was the stone of Tantalus, perpetually suspended over the
      peace and safety of the devoted state. The measures which Synesius
      recommends, are the dictates of a bold and generous patriot. He exhorts
      the emperor to revive the courage of his subjects, by the example of manly
      virtue; to banish luxury from the court and from the camp; to substitute,
      in the place of the Barbarian mercenaries, an army of men, interested in
      the defence of their laws and of their property; to force, in such a
      moment of public danger, the mechanic from his shop, and the philosopher
      from his school; to rouse the indolent citizen from his dream of pleasure,
      and to arm, for the protection of agriculture, the hands of the laborious
      husbandman. At the head of such troops, who might deserve the name, and
      would display the spirit, of Romans, he animates the son of Theodosius to
      encounter a race of Barbarians, who were destitute of any real courage;
      and never to lay down his arms, till he had chased them far away into the
      solitudes of Scythia; or had reduced them to the state of ignominious
      servitude, which the Lacedaemonians formerly imposed on the captive
      Helots. <a href="#link30note-21" name="link30noteref-21"
      id="link30noteref-21">21</a> The court of Arcadius indulged the zeal,
      applauded the eloquence, and neglected the advice, of Synesius. Perhaps
      the philosopher who addresses the emperor of the East in the language of
      reason and virtue, which he might have used to a Spartan king, had not
      condescended to form a practicable scheme, consistent with the temper, and
      circumstances, of a degenerate age. Perhaps the pride of the ministers,
      whose business was seldom interrupted by reflection, might reject, as wild
      and visionary, every proposal, which exceeded the measure of their
      capacity, and deviated from the forms and precedents of office. While the
      oration of Synesius, and the downfall of the Barbarians, were the topics
      of popular conversation, an edict was published at Constantinople, which
      declared the promotion of Alaric to the rank of master-general of the
      Eastern Illyricum. The Roman provincials, and the allies, who had
      respected the faith of treaties, were justly indignant, that the ruin of
      Greece and Epirus should be so liberally rewarded. The Gothic conqueror
      was received as a lawful magistrate, 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 rebellion encouraged the ambition of every leader of the foreign
      mercenaries. The use to which Alaric applied his new command,
      distinguishes the firm and judicious character of his policy. He issued
      his orders to the four magazines and manufactures of offensive and
      defensive arms, Margus, Ratiaria, Naissus, and Thessalonica, to provide
      his troops with an extraordinary supply of shields, helmets, swords, and
      spears; the unhappy provincials were compelled to forge the instruments of
      their own destruction; and the Barbarians removed the only defect which
      had sometimes disappointed the efforts of their courage. <a
      href="#link30note-22" name="link30noteref-22" id="link30noteref-22">22</a>
      The birth of Alaric, the glory of his past exploits, and the confidence in
      his future designs, insensibly united the body of the nation under his
      victorious standard; and, with the unanimous consent of the Barbarian
      chieftains, the master-general of Illyricum was elevated, according to
      ancient custom, on a shield, and solemnly proclaimed king of the
      Visigoths. <a href="#link30note-23" name="link30noteref-23"
      id="link30noteref-23">23</a> Armed with this double power, seated on the
      verge of the two empires, he alternately sold his deceitful promises to
      the courts of Arcadius and Honorius; till he declared and executed his
      resolution of invading the dominions of the West. The provinces of Europe
      which belonged to the Eastern emperor, were already exhausted; those of
      Asia were inaccessible; and the strength of Constantinople had resisted
      his attack. But he was tempted by the fame, the beauty, the wealth of
      Italy, which he had twice visited; and he secretly aspired to plant the
      Gothic standard on the walls of Rome, and to enrich his army with the
      accumulated spoils of three hundred triumphs. <a href="#link30note-25"
      name="link30noteref-25" id="link30noteref-25">25</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-20" id="link30note-20">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      20 (<a href="#link30noteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Synesius passed three
      years (A.D. 397-400) at Constantinople, as deputy from Cyrene to the
      emperor Arcadius. He presented him with a crown of gold, and pronounced
      before him the instructive oration de Regno, (p. 1-32, edit. Petav. Paris,
      1612.) The philosopher was made bishop of Ptolemais, A.D. 410, and died
      about 430. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xii. p. 490, 554, 683-685.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-21" id="link30note-21">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      21 (<a href="#link30noteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ Synesius de Regno, p.
      21-26.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-22" id="link30note-22">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      22 (<a href="#link30noteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [&mdash;qui foedera
      rumpit
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
      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.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Claudian in Eutrop. l. ii. 212. Alaric applauds his own policy (de Bell
      Getic. 533-543) in the use which he had made of this Illyrian
      jurisdiction.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-23" id="link30note-23">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      23 (<a href="#link30noteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ Jornandes, c. 29, p.
      651. The Gothic historian adds, with unusual spirit, Cum suis deliberans
      suasit suo labore quaerere regna, quam alienis per otium subjacere.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Discors odiisque anceps civilibus orbis,
     Non sua vis tutata diu, dum foedera fallax
     Ludit, et alternae perjuria venditat aulae.
    &mdash;-Claudian de Bell. Get. 565]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-25" id="link30note-25">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      25 (<a href="#link30noteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ Alpibus Italiae ruptis
      penetrabis ad Urbem. This authentic prediction was announced by Alaric, or
      at least by Claudian, (de Bell. Getico, 547,) seven years before the
      event. But as it was not accomplished within the term which has been
      rashly fixed the interpreters escaped through an ambiguous meaning.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The scarcity of facts, <a href="#link30note-26" name="link30noteref-26"
      id="link30noteref-26">26</a> and the uncertainty of dates, <a
      href="#link30note-27" name="link30noteref-27" id="link30noteref-27">27</a>
      oppose our attempts to describe the circumstances of the first invasion of
      Italy by the arms of Alaric. His march, perhaps from Thessalonica, through
      the warlike and hostile country of Pannonia, as far as the foot of the
      Julian Alps; his passage of those mountains, which were strongly guarded
      by troops and intrenchments; the siege of Aquileia, and the conquest of
      the provinces of Istria and Venetia, appear to have employed a
      considerable time. Unless his operations were extremely cautious and slow,
      the length of the interval would suggest a probable suspicion, that the
      Gothic king retreated towards the banks of the Danube; and reenforced his
      army with fresh swarms of Barbarians, before he again attempted to
      penetrate into the heart of Italy. Since the public and important events
      escape the diligence of the historian, he may amuse himself with
      contemplating, for a moment, the influence of the arms of Alaric on the
      fortunes of two obscure individuals, a presbyter of Aquileia and a
      husbandman of Verona. The learned Rufinus, who was summoned by his enemies
      to appear before a Roman synod, <a href="#link30note-28"
      name="link30noteref-28" id="link30noteref-28">28</a> wisely preferred the
      dangers of a besieged city; and the Barbarians, who furiously shook the
      walls of Aquileia, might save him from the cruel sentence of another
      heretic, who, at the request of the same bishops, was severely whipped,
      and condemned to perpetual exile on a desert island. <a
      href="#link30note-29" name="link30noteref-29" id="link30noteref-29">29</a>
      The old man, <a href="#link30note-30" name="link30noteref-30"
      id="link30noteref-30">30</a> who had passed his simple and innocent life
      in the neighborhood of Verona, was a stranger to the quarrels both of
      kings and of bishops; his pleasures, his desires, his knowledge, were
      confined within the little circle of his paternal farm; and a staff
      supported his aged steps, on the same ground where he had sported in his
      infancy. Yet even this humble and rustic felicity (which Claudian
      describes with so much truth and feeling) was still exposed to the
      undistinguishing rage of war. His trees, his old contemporary trees, <a
      href="#link30note-31" name="link30noteref-31" id="link30noteref-31">31</a>
      must blaze in the conflagration of the whole country; a detachment of
      Gothic cavalry might sweep away his cottage and his family; and the power
      of Alaric could destroy this happiness, which he was not able either to
      taste or to bestow. "Fame," says the poet, "encircling with terror her
      gloomy wings, proclaimed the march of the Barbarian army, and filled Italy
      with consternation:" the apprehensions of each individual were increased
      in just proportion to the measure of his fortune: and the most timid, who
      had already embarked their valuable effects, meditated their escape to the
      Island of Sicily, or the African coast. The public distress was aggravated
      by the fears and reproaches of superstition. <a href="#link30note-32"
      name="link30noteref-32" id="link30noteref-32">32</a> Every hour produced
      some horrid tale of strange and portentous accidents; the Pagans deplored
      the neglect of omens, and the interruption of sacrifices; but the
      Christians still derived some comfort from the powerful intercession of
      the saints and martyrs. <a href="#link30note-33" name="link30noteref-33"
      id="link30noteref-33">33</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-26" id="link30note-26">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      26 (<a href="#link30noteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ Our best materials are
      970 verses of Claudian in the poem on the Getic war, and the beginning of
      that which celebrates the sixth consulship of Honorius. Zosimus is totally
      silent; and we are reduced to such scraps, or rather crumbs, as we can
      pick from Orosius and the Chronicles.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-27" id="link30note-27">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      27 (<a href="#link30noteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ Notwithstanding the
      gross errors of Jornandes, who confounds the Italian wars of Alaric, (c.
      29,) his date of the consulship 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 easily fill the interval.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-28" id="link30note-28">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      28 (<a href="#link30noteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ Tantum Romanae urbis
      judicium fugis, ut magis obsidionem barbaricam, quam pacatoe urbis
      judicium velis sustinere. Jerom, tom. ii. p. 239. Rufinus understood his
      own danger; the peaceful city was inflamed by the beldam Marcella, and the
      rest of Jerom's faction.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-29" id="link30note-29">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      29 (<a href="#link30noteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ Jovinian, the enemy of
      fasts and of celibacy, who was persecuted and insulted by the furious
      Jerom, (Jortin's Remarks, vol. iv. p. 104, &amp;c.) See the original edict
      of banishment in the Theodosian Code, xvi. tit. v. leg. 43.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-30" id="link30note-30">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      30 (<a href="#link30noteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ This epigram (de Sene
      Veronensi qui suburbium nusquam egres sus est) is one of the earliest and
      most pleasing compositions of Claudian. Cowley's imitation (Hurd's
      edition, vol. ii. p. 241) has some natural and happy strokes: but it is
      much inferior to the original portrait, which is evidently drawn from the
      life.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-31" id="link30note-31">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      31 (<a href="#link30noteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Ingentem meminit parvo qui germine quercum
     Aequaevumque videt consenuisse nemus.

     A neighboring wood born with himself he sees,
     And loves his old contemporary trees.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      In this passage, Cowley is perhaps superior to his original; and the
      English poet, who was a good botanist, has concealed the oaks under a more
      general expression.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-32" id="link30note-32">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      32 (<a href="#link30noteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian de Bell. Get.
      199-266. He may seem prolix: but fear and superstition occupied as large a
      space in the minds of the Italians.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-33" id="link30note-33">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      33 (<a href="#link30noteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ From the passages of
      Paulinus, which Baronius has produced, (Annal. Eccles. A.D. 403, No. 51,)
      it is manifest that the general alarm had pervaded all Italy, as far as
      Nola in Campania, where that famous penitent had fixed his abode.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link302HCH0002" id="link302HCH0002">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.&mdash;Part II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      The emperor Honorius was distinguished, above his subjects, by the
      preeminence of fear, as well as of rank. The pride and luxury in which he
      was educated, had not allowed him to suspect, that there existed on the
      earth any power presumptuous enough to invade the repose of the successor
      of Augustus. The arts of flattery concealed the impending danger, till
      Alaric approached the palace of Milan. But when the sound of war had
      awakened the young emperor, instead of flying to arms with the spirit, or
      even the rashness, of his age, he eagerly listened to those timid
      counsellors, who proposed to convey his sacred person, and his faithful
      attendants, to some secure and distant station in the provinces of Gaul.
      Stilicho alone <a href="#link30note-34" name="link30noteref-34"
      id="link30noteref-34">34</a> had courage and authority to resist his
      disgraceful measure, which would have abandoned Rome and Italy to the
      Barbarians; but as the troops of the palace had been lately detached to
      the Rhaetian frontier, and as the resource of new levies was slow and
      precarious, the general of the West could only promise, that if the court
      of Milan would maintain their ground during his absence, he would soon
      return with an army equal to the encounter of the Gothic king. Without
      losing a moment, (while each moment was so important to the public
      safety,) Stilicho hastily embarked on the Larian Lake, ascended the
      mountains of ice and snow, amidst the severity of an Alpine winter, and
      suddenly repressed, by his unexpected presence, the enemy, who had
      disturbed the tranquillity of Rhaetia. <a href="#link30note-35"
      name="link30noteref-35" id="link30noteref-35">35</a> 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 he
      condescended to make, of a select number of their bravest youth, was
      considered as a mark of his esteem and favor. The cohorts, who were
      delivered from the neighboring foe, diligently repaired to the Imperial
      standard; and Stilicho issued his orders to the most remote troops of the
      West, to advance, by rapid marches, to the defence of Honorius and of
      Italy. The fortresses of the Rhine were abandoned; and the safety of Gaul
      was protected only by the faith of the Germans, and the ancient terror of
      the Roman name. Even the legion, which had been stationed to guard the
      wall of Britain against the Caledonians of the North, was hastily
      recalled; <a href="#link30note-36" name="link30noteref-36"
      id="link30noteref-36">36</a> and a numerous body of the cavalry of the
      Alani was persuaded to engage in the service of the emperor, who anxiously
      expected the return of his general. The prudence and vigor of Stilicho
      were conspicuous on this occasion, which revealed, at the same time, the
      weakness of the falling empire. The legions of Rome, which had long since
      languished in the gradual decay of discipline and courage, were
      exterminated by the Gothic and civil wars; and it was found impossible,
      without exhausting and exposing the provinces, to assemble an army for the
      defence of Italy.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-34" id="link30note-34">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      34 (<a href="#link30noteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ Solus erat Stilicho,
      &amp;c., is the exclusive commendation which Claudian bestows, (del Bell.
      Get. 267,) without condescending to except the emperor. How insignificant
      must Honorius have appeared in his own court.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-35" id="link30note-35">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      35 (<a href="#link30noteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ The face of the
      country, and the hardiness of Stilicho, are finely described, (de Bell.
      Get. 340-363.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-36" id="link30note-36">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      36 (<a href="#link30noteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
    Venit et extremis legio praetenta Britannis,
    Quae Scoto dat frena truci.
   &mdash;-De Bell. Get. 416.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Yet the most rapid march from Edinburgh, or Newcastle, to Milan, must have
      required a longer space of time than Claudian seems willing to allow for
      the duration of the Gothic war.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link302HCH0003" id="link302HCH0003">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.&mdash;Part III.
    </h2>
    <p>
      When Stilicho seemed to abandon his sovereign in the unguarded palace of
      Milan, he had probably calculated the term of his absence, the distance of
      the enemy, and the obstacles that might retard their march. He principally
      depended on the rivers of Italy, the Adige, the Mincius, the Oglio, and
      the Addua, which, in the winter or spring, by the fall of rains, or by the
      melting of the snows, are commonly swelled into broad and impetuous
      torrents. <a href="#link30note-37" name="link30noteref-37"
      id="link30noteref-37">37</a> But the season happened to be remarkably dry:
      and the Goths could traverse, without impediment, the wide and stony beds,
      whose centre was faintly marked by the course of a shallow stream. The
      bridge and passage of the Addua were secured by a strong detachment of the
      Gothic army; and as Alaric approached the walls, or rather the suburbs, of
      Milan, he enjoyed the proud satisfaction of seeing the emperor of the
      Romans fly before him. Honorius, accompanied by a feeble train of
      statesmen and eunuchs, hastily retreated towards the Alps, with a design
      of securing his person in the city of Arles, which had often been the
      royal residence of his predecessors. <a href="#link30note-3711"
      name="link30noteref-3711" id="link30noteref-3711">3711</a> But Honorius <a
      href="#link30note-38" name="link30noteref-38" id="link30noteref-38">38</a>
      had scarcely passed the Po, before he was overtaken by the speed of the
      Gothic cavalry; <a href="#link30note-39" name="link30noteref-39"
      id="link30noteref-39">39</a> since the urgency of the danger compelled him
      to seek a temporary shelter within the fortifications of Asta, a town of
      Liguria or Piemont, situate on the banks of the Tanarus. <a
      href="#link30note-40" name="link30noteref-40" id="link30noteref-40">40</a>
      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 bold declaration, which the
      emperor might afterwards make, that his breast had never been susceptible
      of fear, did not probably obtain much credit, even in his own court. <a
      href="#link30note-41" name="link30noteref-41" id="link30noteref-41">41</a>
      In the last, and almost hopeless extremity, after the Barbarians had
      already proposed the indignity of a capitulation, the Imperial captive was
      suddenly relieved by the fame, the approach, and at length the presence,
      of the hero, whom he had so long expected. At the head of a chosen and
      intrepid vanguard, Stilicho swam the stream of the Addua, to gain the time
      which he must have lost in the attack of the bridge; the passage of the Po
      was an enterprise of much less hazard and difficulty; and the successful
      action, in which he cut his way through the Gothic camp under the walls of
      Asta, revived the hopes, and vindicated the honor, of Rome. Instead of
      grasping the fruit of his victory, the Barbarian was gradually invested,
      on every side, by the troops of the West, who successively issued through
      all the passes of the Alps; his quarters were straitened; his convoys were
      intercepted; and the vigilance of the Romans prepared to form a chain of
      fortifications, and to besiege the lines of the besiegers. A military
      council was assembled of the long-haired chiefs of the Gothic nation; of
      aged warriors, whose bodies were wrapped in furs, and whose stern
      countenances were marked with honorable wounds. They weighed the glory of
      persisting in their attempt against the advantage of securing their
      plunder; and they recommended the prudent measure of a seasonable retreat.
      In this important debate, Alaric displayed the spirit of the conqueror of
      Rome; and after he had reminded his countrymen of their achievements and
      of their designs, he concluded his animating speech by the solemn and
      positive assurance that he was resolved to find in Italy either a kingdom
      or a grave. <a href="#link30note-42" name="link30noteref-42"
      id="link30noteref-42">42</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-37" id="link30note-37">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      37 (<a href="#link30noteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ Every traveller must
      recollect the face of Lombardy, (see Fonvenelle, tom. v. p. 279,) which is
      often tormented by the capricious and irregular abundance of waters. The
      Austrians, before Genoa, were encamped in the dry bed of the Polcevera.
      "Ne sarebbe" (says Muratori) "mai passato per mente a que' buoni Alemanni,
      che quel picciolo torrente potesse, per cosi dire, in un instante
      cangiarsi in un terribil gigante." (Annali d'Italia, tom. xvi. p. 443,
      Milan, 1752, 8vo edit.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-3711" id="link30note-3711">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3711 (<a href="#link30noteref-3711">return</a>)<br /> [ According to Le
      Beau and his commentator M. St. Martin, Honorius did not attempt to fly.
      Settlements were offered to the Goths in Lombardy, and they advanced from
      the Po towards the Alps to take possession of them. But it was a
      treacherous stratagem of Stilicho, who surprised them while they were
      reposing on the faith of this treaty. Le Beau, v. x.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-38" id="link30note-38">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      38 (<a href="#link30noteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian does not
      clearly answer our question, Where was Honorius himself? Yet the flight is
      marked by the pursuit; and my idea of 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.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-39" id="link30note-39">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      39 (<a href="#link30noteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ One of the roads may be
      traced in the Itineraries, (p. 98, 288, 294, with Wesseling's Notes.) Asta
      lay some miles on the right hand.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-40" id="link30note-40">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      40 (<a href="#link30noteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ Asta, or Asti, a Roman
      colony, is now the capital of a pleasant country, which, in the sixteenth
      century, devolved to the dukes of Savoy, (Leandro Alberti Descrizzione
      d'Italia, p. 382.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-41" id="link30note-41">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      41 (<a href="#link30noteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ Nec me timor impulit
      ullus. He might hold this proud language the next year at Rome, five
      hundred miles from the scene of danger (vi. Cons. Hon. 449.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-42" id="link30note-42">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      42 (<a href="#link30noteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ Hanc ego vel victor
      regno, vel morte tenebo Victus, humum.&mdash;&mdash;The speeches (de Bell.
      Get. 479-549) of the Gothic Nestor, and Achilles, are strong,
      characteristic, adapted to the circumstances; and possibly not less
      genuine than those of Livy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The loose discipline of the Barbarians always exposed them to the danger
      of a surprise; but, instead of choosing the dissolute hours of riot and
      intemperance, Stilicho resolved to attack the Christian Goths, whilst they
      were devoutly employed in celebrating the festival of Easter. <a
      href="#link30note-43" name="link30noteref-43" id="link30noteref-43">43</a>
      The execution of the stratagem, or, as it was termed by the clergy of the
      sacrilege, was intrusted to Saul, a Barbarian and a Pagan, who had served,
      however, with distinguished reputation among the veteran generals of
      Theodosius. The camp of the Goths, which Alaric had pitched in the
      neighborhood of Pollentia, <a href="#link30note-44" name="link30noteref-44"
      id="link30noteref-44">44</a> was thrown into confusion by the sudden and
      impetuous charge of the Imperial cavalry; but, in a few moments, the
      undaunted genius of their leader gave them an order, and a field of
      battle; and, as soon as they had recovered from their astonishment, the
      pious confidence, that the God of the Christians would assert their cause,
      added new strength to their native valor. In this engagement, which was
      long maintained with equal courage and success, the chief of the Alani,
      whose diminutive and savage form concealed a magnanimous soul approved his
      suspected loyalty, by the zeal with which he fought, and fell, in the
      service of the republic; and the fame of this gallant Barbarian has been
      imperfectly preserved in the verses of Claudian, since the poet, who
      celebrates his virtue, has omitted the mention of his name. His death was
      followed by the flight and dismay of the squadrons which he commanded; and
      the defeat of the wing of cavalry might have decided the victory of
      Alaric, if Stilicho had not immediately led the Roman and Barbarian
      infantry to the attack. The skill of the general, and the bravery of the
      soldiers, surmounted every obstacle. In the evening of the bloody day, the
      Goths retreated from the field of battle; the intrenchments of their camp
      were forced, and the scene of rapine and slaughter made some atonement for
      the calamities which they had inflicted on the subjects of the empire. <a
      href="#link30note-45" name="link30noteref-45" id="link30noteref-45">45</a>
      The magnificent spoils of Corinth and Argos enriched the veterans of the
      West; the captive wife of Alaric, who had impatiently claimed his promise
      of Roman jewels and Patrician handmaids, <a href="#link30note-46"
      name="link30noteref-46" id="link30noteref-46">46</a> was reduced to
      implore the mercy of the insulting foe; and many thousand prisoners,
      released from the Gothic chains, dispersed through the provinces of Italy
      the praises of their heroic deliverer. The triumph of Stilicho <a
      href="#link30note-47" name="link30noteref-47" id="link30noteref-47">47</a>
      was compared by the poet, and perhaps by the public, to that of Marius;
      who, in the same part of Italy, had encountered and destroyed another army
      of Northern Barbarians. The huge bones, and the empty helmets, of the
      Cimbri and of the Goths, would easily be confounded by succeeding
      generations; and posterity might erect a common trophy to the memory of
      the two most illustrious generals, who had vanquished, on the same
      memorable ground, the two most formidable enemies of Rome. <a
      href="#link30note-48" name="link30noteref-48" id="link30noteref-48">48</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-43" id="link30note-43">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      43 (<a href="#link30noteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius (l. vii. c. 37)
      is shocked at the impiety of the Romans, who attacked, on Easter Sunday,
      such pious Christians. Yet, at the same time, public prayers were offered
      at the shrine of St. Thomas of Edessa, for the destruction of the Arian
      robber. See Tillemont (Hist des Emp. tom. v. p. 529) who quotes a homily,
      which has been erroneously ascribed to St. Chrysostom.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-44" id="link30note-44">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      44 (<a href="#link30noteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ The vestiges of
      Pollentia are twenty-five miles to the south-east of Turin. Urbs, in the
      same neighborhood, was a royal chase of the kings of Lombardy, and a small
      river, which excused the prediction, "penetrabis ad urbem," (Cluver. Ital.
      Antiq tom. i. p. 83-85.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-45" id="link30note-45">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      45 (<a href="#link30noteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius wishes, in
      doubtful words, to insinuate the defeat of the Romans. "Pugnantes vicimus,
      victores victi sumus." Prosper (in Chron.) makes it an equal and bloody
      battle, but the Gothic writers Cassiodorus (in Chron.) and Jornandes (de
      Reb. Get. c. 29) claim a decisive victory.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-46" id="link30note-46">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      46 (<a href="#link30noteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ Demens Ausonidum
      gemmata monilia matrum, Romanasque alta famulas cervice petebat. De Bell.
      Get. 627.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-47" id="link30note-47">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      47 (<a href="#link30noteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian (de Bell. Get.
      580-647) and Prudentius (in Symmach. n. 694-719) celebrate, without
      ambiguity, the Roman victory of Pollentia. They are poetical and party
      writers; yet some credit is due to the most suspicious witnesses, who are
      checked by the recent notoriety of facts.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-48" id="link30note-48">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      48 (<a href="#link30noteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian's peroration
      is strong and elegant; but the identity of the Cimbric and Gothic fields
      must be understood (like Virgil's Philippi, Georgic i. 490) according to
      the loose geography of a poet. Verselle and Pollentia are sixty miles from
      each other; and the latitude is still greater, if the Cimbri were defeated
      in the wide and barren plain of Verona, (Maffei, Verona Illustrata, P. i.
      p. 54-62.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      The eloquence of Claudian <a href="#link30note-49" name="link30noteref-49"
      id="link30noteref-49">49</a> has celebrated, with lavish applause, the
      victory of Pollentia, one of the most glorious days in the life of his
      patron; but his reluctant and partial muse bestows more genuine praise on
      the character of the Gothic king. His name is, indeed, branded with the
      reproachful epithets of pirate and robber, to which the conquerors of
      every age are so justly entitled; but the poet of Stilicho is compelled to
      acknowledge that Alaric possessed the invincible temper of mind, which
      rises superior to every misfortune, and derives new resources from
      adversity. After the total defeat of his infantry, he escaped, or rather
      withdrew, from the field of battle, with the greatest part of his cavalry
      entire and unbroken. Without wasting a moment to lament the irreparable
      loss of so many brave companions, he left his victorious enemy to bind in
      chains the captive images of a Gothic king; <a href="#link30note-50"
      name="link30noteref-50" id="link30noteref-50">50</a> and boldly resolved
      to break through the unguarded passes of the Apennine, to spread
      desolation over the fruitful face of Tuscany, and to conquer or die before
      the gates of Rome. The capital was saved by the active and incessant
      diligence of Stilicho; but he respected the despair of his enemy; and,
      instead of committing the fate of the republic to the chance of another
      battle, he proposed to purchase the absence of the Barbarians. The spirit
      of Alaric would have rejected such terms, the permission of a retreat, and
      the offer of a pension, with contempt and indignation; but he exercised a
      limited and precarious authority over the independent chieftains who had
      raised him, for their service, above the rank of his equals; they were
      still less disposed to follow an unsuccessful general, and many of them
      were tempted to consult their interest by a private negotiation with the
      minister of Honorius. The king submitted to the voice of his people,
      ratified the treaty with the empire of the West, and repassed the Po with
      the remains of the flourishing army which he had led into Italy. A
      considerable part of the Roman forces still continued to attend his
      motions; and Stilicho, who maintained a secret correspondence with some of
      the Barbarian chiefs, was punctually apprised of the designs that were
      formed in the camp and council of Alaric. The king of the Goths, ambitious
      to signalize his retreat by some splendid achievement, had resolved to
      occupy the important city of Verona, which commands the principal passage
      of the Rhaetian Alps; and, directing his march through the territories of
      those German tribes, whose alliance would restore his exhausted strength,
      to invade, on the side of the Rhine, the wealthy and unsuspecting
      provinces of Gaul. Ignorant of the treason which had already betrayed his
      bold and judicious enterprise, he advanced towards the passes of the
      mountains, already possessed by the Imperial troops; where he was exposed,
      almost at 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
      the walls of Verona, the loss of the Goths was not less heavy than that
      which they had sustained in the defeat of Pollentia; and their valiant
      king, who escaped by the swiftness of his horse, must either have been
      slain or made prisoner, if the hasty rashness of the Alani had not
      disappointed the measures of the Roman general. Alaric secured the remains
      of his army on the adjacent rocks; and prepared himself, with undaunted
      resolution, to maintain a siege against the superior numbers of the enemy,
      who invested him on all sides. But he could not oppose the destructive
      progress of hunger and disease; nor was it possible for him to check the
      continual desertion of his impatient and capricious Barbarians. In this
      extremity he still found resources in his own courage, or in the
      moderation of his adversary; and the retreat of the Gothic king was
      considered as the deliverance of Italy. <a href="#link30note-51"
      name="link30noteref-51" id="link30noteref-51">51</a> Yet the people, and
      even the clergy, incapable of forming any rational judgment of the
      business of peace and war, presumed to arraign the policy of Stilicho, who
      so often vanquished, so often surrounded, and so often dismissed the
      implacable enemy of the republic. The first momen of the public safety is
      devoted to gratitude and joy; but the second is diligently occupied by
      envy and calumny. <a href="#link30note-52" name="link30noteref-52"
      id="link30noteref-52">52</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-49" id="link30note-49">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      49 (<a href="#link30noteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian and Prudentius
      must be strictly examined, to reduce the figures, and extort the historic
      sense, of those poets.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-50" id="link30note-50">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      50 (<a href="#link30noteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Et gravant en airain ses freles avantages
     De mes etats conquis enchainer les images.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      The practice of exposing in triumph the images of kings and provinces was
      familiar to the Romans. The bust of Mithridates himself was twelve feet
      high, of massy gold, (Freinshem. Supplement. Livian. ciii. 47.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-51" id="link30note-51">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      51 (<a href="#link30noteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ The Getic war, and the
      sixth consulship of Honorius, obscurely connect the events of Alaric's
      retreat and losses.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-52" id="link30note-52">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      52 (<a href="#link30noteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ Taceo de Alarico...
      saepe visto, saepe concluso, semperque dimisso. Orosius, l. vii. c. 37, p.
      567. Claudian (vi. Cons. Hon. 320) drops the curtain with a fine image.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The citizens of Rome had been astonished by the approach of Alaric; and
      the diligence with which they labored to restore the walls of the capital,
      confessed their own fears, and the decline of the empire. After the
      retreat of the Barbarians, Honorius was directed to accept the dutiful
      invitation of the senate, and to celebrate, in the Imperial city, the
      auspicious aera of the Gothic victory, and of his sixth consulship. <a
      href="#link30note-53" name="link30noteref-53" id="link30noteref-53">53</a>
      The suburbs and the streets, from the Milvian bridge to the Palatine
      mount, were filled by the Roman people, who, in the space of a hundred
      years, had only thrice been honored with the presence of their sovereigns.
      While their eyes were fixed on the chariot where Stilicho was deservedly
      seated by the side of his royal pupil, they applauded the pomp of a
      triumph, which was not stained, like that of Constantine, or of
      Theodosius, with civil blood. The procession passed under a lofty arch,
      which had been purposely erected: but in less than seven years, the Gothic
      conquerors of Rome might read, if they were able to read, the superb
      inscription of that monument, which attested the total defeat and
      destruction of their nation. <a href="#link30note-54"
      name="link30noteref-54" id="link30noteref-54">54</a> The emperor resided
      several months in the capital, and every part of his behavior was
      regulated with care to conciliate the affection of the clergy, the senate,
      and the people of Rome. The clergy was edified by his frequent visits and
      liberal gifts to the shrines of the apostles. The senate, who, in the
      triumphal procession, had been excused from the humiliating ceremony of
      preceding on foot the Imperial chariot, was treated with the decent
      reverence which Stilicho always affected for that assembly. The people was
      repeatedly gratified by the attention and courtesy of Honorius in the
      public games, which were celebrated on that occasion with a magnificence
      not unworthy of the spectator. As soon as the appointed number of
      chariot-races was concluded, the decoration of the Circus was suddenly
      changed; the hunting of wild beasts afforded a various and splendid
      entertainment; and the chase was succeeded by a military dance, which
      seems, in the lively description of Claudian, to present the image of a
      modern tournament.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-53" id="link30note-53">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      53 (<a href="#link30noteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ The remainder of
      Claudian's poem on the sixth consulship of Honorius, describes the
      journey, the triumph, and the games, (330-660.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-54" id="link30note-54">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      54 (<a href="#link30noteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ See the inscription in
      Mascou's History of the Ancient Germans, viii. 12. The words are positive
      and indiscreet: Getarum nationem in omne aevum domitam, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In these games of Honorius, the inhuman combats of gladiators <a
      href="#link30note-55" name="link30noteref-55" id="link30noteref-55">55</a>
      polluted, for the last time, the amphitheater of Rome. The first Christian
      emperor may claim the honor of the first edict which condemned the art and
      amusement of shedding human blood; <a href="#link30note-56"
      name="link30noteref-56" id="link30noteref-56">56</a> but this benevolent
      law expressed the wishes of the prince, without reforming an inveterate
      abuse, which degraded a civilized nation below the condition of savage
      cannibals. Several hundred, perhaps several thousand, victims were
      annually slaughtered in the great cities of the empire; and the month of
      December, more peculiarly devoted to the combats of gladiators, still
      exhibited to the eyes of the Roman people a grateful spectacle of blood
      and cruelty. Amidst the general joy of the victory of Pollentia, a
      Christian poet exhorted the emperor to extirpate, by his authority, the
      horrid custom which had so long resisted the voice of humanity and
      religion. <a href="#link30note-57" name="link30noteref-57"
      id="link30noteref-57">57</a> The pathetic representations of Prudentius
      were less effectual than the generous boldness of Telemachus, and Asiatic
      monk, whose death was more useful to mankind than his life. <a
      href="#link30note-58" name="link30noteref-58" id="link30noteref-58">58</a>
      The Romans were provoked by the interruption of their pleasures; and the
      rash monk, who had descended into the arena to separate the gladiators,
      was overwhelmed under a shower of stones. But the madness of the people
      soon subsided; they respected the memory of Telemachus, who had deserved
      the honors of martyrdom; and they submitted, without a murmur, to the laws
      of Honorius, which abolished forever the human sacrifices of the
      amphitheater. <a href="#link30note-5811" name="link30noteref-5811"
      id="link30noteref-5811">5811</a> The citizens, who adhered to the manners
      of their ancestors, might perhaps insinuate that the last remains of a
      martial spirit were preserved in this school of fortitude, which
      accustomed the Romans to the sight of blood, and to the contempt of death;
      a vain and cruel prejudice, so nobly confuted by the valor of ancient
      Greece, and of modern Europe! <a href="#link30note-59"
      name="link30noteref-59" id="link30noteref-59">59</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-55" id="link30note-55">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      55 (<a href="#link30noteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ On the curious, though
      horrid, subject of the gladiators, consult the two books of the Saturnalia
      of Lipsius, who, as an antiquarian, is inclined to excuse the practice of
      antiquity, (tom. iii. p. 483-545.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-56" id="link30note-56">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      56 (<a href="#link30noteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ Cod. Theodos. l. xv.
      tit. xii. leg. i. The Commentary of Godefroy affords large materials (tom.
      v. p. 396) for the history of gladiators.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-57" id="link30note-57">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      57 (<a href="#link30noteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 not spared these bloody games, which were
      introduced in the religious festivals of Paganism.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-58" id="link30note-58">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      58 (<a href="#link30noteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-5811" id="link30note-5811">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5811 (<a href="#link30noteref-5811">return</a>)<br /> [ Muller, in his
      valuable Treatise, de Genio, moribus et luxu aevi Theodosiani, is disposed
      to question the effect produced by the heroic, or rather saintly, death of
      Telemachus. No prohibitory law of Honorius is to be found in the
      Theodosian Code, only the old and imperfect edict of Constantine. But
      Muller has produced no evidence or allusion to gladiatorial shows after
      this period. The combats with wild beasts certainly lasted till the fall
      of the Western empire; but the gladiatorial combats ceased either by
      common consent, or by Imperial edict.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-59" id="link30note-59">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      59 (<a href="#link30noteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ Crudele gladiatorum
      spectaculum et inhumanum nonnullis videri 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 these sports; oculis nulla poterat esse fortior
      contra dolorem et mortem disciplina. Seneca (epist. vii.) shows the
      feelings of a man.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The recent danger, to which the person of the emperor had been exposed in
      the defenceless palace of Milan, urged him to seek a retreat in some
      inaccessible fortress of Italy, where he might securely remain, while the
      open country was covered by a deluge of Barbarians. On the coast of the
      Adriatic, about ten or twelve miles from the most southern of the seven
      mouths of the Po, the Thessalians had founded the ancient colony of
      Ravenna, <a href="#link30note-60" name="link30noteref-60"
      id="link30noteref-60">60</a> which they afterwards resigned to the natives
      of Umbria. Augustus, who had observed the opportunity of the place,
      prepared, at the distance of three miles from the old town, a capacious
      harbor, for the reception of two hundred and fifty ships of war. This
      naval establishment, which included the arsenals and magazines, the
      barracks of the troops, and the houses of the artificers, derived its
      origin and name from the permanent station of the Roman fleet; the
      intermediate space was soon filled with buildings and inhabitants, and the
      three extensive and populous quarters of Ravenna gradually contributed to
      form one of the most important cities of Italy. The principal canal of
      Augustus poured a copious stream of the waters of the Po through the midst
      of the city, to the entrance of the harbor; the same waters were
      introduced into the profound ditches that encompassed the walls; they were
      distributed by a thousand subordinate canals, into every part of the city,
      which they divided into a variety of small islands; the communication was
      maintained only by the use of boats and bridges; and the houses of
      Ravenna, whose appearance may be compared to that of Venice, were raised
      on the foundation of wooden piles. The adjacent country, to the distance
      of many miles, was a deep and impassable morass; and the artificial
      causeway, which connected Ravenna with the continent, might be easily
      guarded or destroyed, on the approach 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. <a href="#link30note-61"
      name="link30noteref-61" id="link30noteref-61">61</a> The air, instead of
      receiving the sickly, and almost pestilential, exhalations of low and
      marshy grounds, was distinguished, like the neighborhood of Alexandria, as
      uncommonly pure and salubrious; and this singular advantage was ascribed
      to the regular tides of the Adriatic, which swept the canals, interrupted
      the unwholesome stagnation of the waters, and floated, every day, the
      vessels of the adjacent country into the heart of Ravenna. The gradual
      retreat of the sea has left the modern city at the distance of four miles
      from the Adriatic; and as early as the fifth or sixth century of the
      Christian aera, the port of Augustus was converted into pleasant orchards;
      and a lonely grove of pines covered the ground where the Roman fleet once
      rode at anchor. <a href="#link30note-62" name="link30noteref-62"
      id="link30noteref-62">62</a> Even this alteration contributed to increase
      the natural strength of the place, and the shallowness of the water was a
      sufficient barrier against the large ships of the enemy. This advantageous
      situation was fortified by art and labor; and in the twentieth year of his
      age, the emperor of the West, anxious only for his personal safety,
      retired to the perpetual confinement of the walls and morasses of Ravenna.
      The example of Honorius was imitated by his feeble successors, the Gothic
      kings, and afterwards the Exarchs, who occupied the throne and palace of
      the emperors; and till the middle of the eight century, Ravenna was
      considered as the seat of government, and the capital of Italy. <a
      href="#link30note-63" name="link30noteref-63" id="link30noteref-63">63</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-60" id="link30note-60">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      60 (<a href="#link30noteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ 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, &amp;c.,) Sidonius Apollinaris, (l. i. epist. 5, 8,)
      Jornandes, (de Reb. Get. c. 29,) Procopius (de Bell, (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 a good topographical map.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-61" id="link30note-61">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      61 (<a href="#link30noteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ Martial (Epigram iii.
      56, 57) plays on the trick of the knave, who had sold him wine instead of
      water; but he seriously declares that a cistern at Ravenna is more
      valuable than a vineyard. Sidonius complains that the town is destitute of
      fountains and aqueducts; and ranks the want of fresh water among the local
      evils, such as the croaking of frogs, the stinging of gnats, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-62" id="link30note-62">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      62 (<a href="#link30noteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ The fable of Theodore
      and Honoria, which Dryden has so admirably transplanted from Boccaccio,
      (Giornata iii. novell. viii.,) was acted in the wood of Chiassi, a corrupt
      word from Classis, the naval station which, with the intermediate road, or
      suburb the Via Caesaris, constituted the triple city of Ravenna.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-63" id="link30note-63">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      63 (<a href="#link30noteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ From the year 404, the
      dates of the Theodosian Code become sedentary at Constantinople and
      Ravenna. See Godefroy's Chronology of the Laws, tom. i. p. cxlviii., &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The fears of Honorius were not without foundation, nor were his
      precautions without effect. While Italy rejoiced in her deliverance from
      the Goths, a furious tempest was excited among the nations of Germany, who
      yielded to the irresistible impulse that appears to have been gradually
      communicated from the eastern extremity of the continent of Asia. The
      Chinese annals, as they have been interpreted by the earned industry of
      the present age, may be usefully applied to reveal the secret and remote
      causes of the fall of the Roman empire. The extensive territory to the
      north of the great wall was possessed, after the flight of the Huns, by
      the victorious Sienpi, who were sometimes broken into independent tribes,
      and sometimes reunited under a supreme chief; till at length, styling
      themselves Topa, or masters of the earth, they acquired a more solid
      consistence, and a more formidable power. The Topa soon compelled the
      pastoral nations of the eastern desert to acknowledge the superiority of
      their arms; they invaded China in a period of weakness and intestine
      discord; and these fortunate Tartars, adopting the laws and manners of the
      vanquished people, founded an Imperial dynasty, which reigned near one
      hundred and sixty years over the northern provinces of the monarchy. Some
      generations before they ascended the throne of China, one of the Topa
      princes had enlisted in his cavalry a slave of the name of Moko, renowned
      for his valor, but who was tempted, by the fear of punishment, to desert
      his standard, and to range the desert at the head of a hundred followers.
      This gang of robbers and outlaws swelled into a camp, a tribe, a numerous
      people, distinguished by the appellation of Geougen; and their hereditary
      chieftains, the posterity of Moko the slave, assumed their rank among the
      Scythian monarchs. The youth of Toulun, the greatest of his descendants,
      was exercised by those misfortunes which are the school of heroes. He
      bravely struggled with adversity, broke the imperious yoke of the Topa,
      and became the legislator of his nation, and the conqueror of Tartary. His
      troops were distributed into regular bands of a hundred and of a thousand
      men; cowards were stoned to death; the most splendid honors were proposed
      as the reward of valor; and Toulun, who had knowledge enough to despise
      the learning of China, adopted only such arts and institutions as were
      favorable to the military spirit of his government. His tents, which he
      removed in the winter season to a more southern latitude, were pitched,
      during the summer, on the fruitful banks of the Selinga. His conquests
      stretched from Corea far beyond the River Irtish. He vanquished, in the
      country to the north of the Caspian Sea, the nation of the Huns; and the
      new title of Khan, or Cagan, expressed the fame and power which he derived
      from this memorable victory. <a href="#link30note-64"
      name="link30noteref-64" id="link30noteref-64">64</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-64" id="link30note-64">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      64 (<a href="#link30noteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ See M. de Guignes,
      Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 179-189, tom ii p. 295, 334-338.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The chain of events is interrupted, or rather is concealed, as it passes
      from the Volga to the Vistula, through the dark interval which separates
      the extreme limits of the Chinese, and of the Roman, geography. Yet the
      temper of the Barbarians, and the experience of successive emigrations,
      sufficiently declare, that the Huns, who were oppressed by the arms of the
      Geougen, soon withdrew from the presence of an insulting victor. The
      countries towards the Euxine were already occupied by their kindred
      tribes; and their hasty flight, which they soon converted into a bold
      attack, would more naturally be directed towards the rich and level
      plains, through which the Vistula gently flows into the Baltic Sea. The
      North must again have been alarmed, and agitated, by the invasion of the
      Huns; <a href="#link30note-6411" name="link30noteref-6411"
      id="link30noteref-6411">6411</a> and the nations who retreated before them
      must have pressed with incumbent weight on the confines of Germany. <a
      href="#link30note-65" name="link30noteref-65" id="link30noteref-65">65</a>
      The inhabitants of those regions, which the ancients have assigned to the
      Suevi, the Vandals, and the Burgundians, might embrace the resolution of
      abandoning to the fugitives of Sarmatia their woods and morasses; or at
      least of discharging their superfluous numbers on the provinces of the
      Roman empire. <a href="#link30note-66" name="link30noteref-66"
      id="link30noteref-66">66</a> About four years after the victorious Toulun
      had assumed the title of Khan of the Geougen, another Barbarian, the
      haughty Rhodogast, or Radagaisus, <a href="#link30note-67"
      name="link30noteref-67" id="link30noteref-67">67</a> marched from the
      northern extremities of Germany almost to the gates of Rome, and left the
      remains of his army to achieve the destruction of the West. The Vandals,
      the Suevi, and the Burgundians, formed the strength of this mighty host;
      but the Alani, who had found a hospitable reception in their new seats,
      added their active cavalry to the heavy infantry of the Germans; and the
      Gothic adventurers crowded so eagerly to the standard of Radagaisus, that
      by some historians, he has been styled the King of the Goths. Twelve
      thousand warriors, distinguished above the vulgar by their noble birth, or
      their valiant deeds, glittered in the van; <a href="#link30note-68"
      name="link30noteref-68" id="link30noteref-68">68</a> and the whole
      multitude, which was not less than two hundred thousand fighting men,
      might be increased, by the accession of women, of children, and of slaves,
      to the amount of four hundred thousand persons. This formidable emigration
      issued from the same coast of the Baltic, which had poured forth the
      myriads of the Cimbri and Teutones, to assault Rome and Italy in the vigor
      of the republic. After the departure of those Barbarians, their native
      country, which was marked by the vestiges of their greatness, long
      ramparts, and gigantic moles, <a href="#link30note-69"
      name="link30noteref-69" id="link30noteref-69">69</a> remained, during some
      ages, a vast and dreary solitude; till the human species was renewed by
      the powers of generation, and the vacancy was filled by the influx of new
      inhabitants. The nations who now usurp an extent of land which they are
      unable to cultivate, would soon be assisted by the industrious poverty of
      their neighbors, if the government of Europe did not protect the claims of
      dominion and property.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-6411" id="link30note-6411">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6411 (<a href="#link30noteref-6411">return</a>)<br /> [ There is no
      authority which connects this inroad of the Teutonic tribes with the
      movements of the Huns. The Huns can hardly have reached the shores of the
      Baltic, and probably the greater part of the forces of Radagaisus,
      particularly the Vandals, had long occupied a more southern position.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-65" id="link30note-65">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      65 (<a href="#link30noteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ Procopius (de Bell.
      Vandal. l. i. c. iii. p. 182) has observed an emigration from the Palus
      Maeotis to the north of Germany, which he ascribes to famine. But his
      views of ancient history are strangely darkened by ignorance and error.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-66" id="link30note-66">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      66 (<a href="#link30noteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus (l. v. p. 331)
      uses the general description of the nations beyond the Danube and the
      Rhine. Their situation, and consequently their names, are manifestly
      shown, even in the various epithets which each ancient writer may have
      casually added.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-67" id="link30note-67">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      67 (<a href="#link30noteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ The name of Rhadagast
      was that of a local deity of the Obotrites, (in Mecklenburg.) A hero might
      naturally assume the appellation of his tutelar god; but it is not
      probable that the Barbarians should worship an unsuccessful hero. See
      Mascou, Hist. of the Germans, viii. 14. * Note: The god of war and of
      hospitality with the Vends and all the Sclavonian races of Germany bore
      the name of Radegast, apparently the same with Rhadagaisus. His principal
      temple was at Rhetra in Mecklenburg. It was adorned with great
      magnificence. The statue of the gold was of gold. St. Martin, v. 255. A
      statue of Radegast, of much coarser materials, and of the rudest
      workmanship, was discovered between 1760 and 1770, with those of other
      Wendish deities, on the supposed site of Rhetra. The names of the gods
      were cut upon them in Runic characters. See the very curious volume on
      these antiquities&mdash;Die Gottesdienstliche Alterthumer der Obotriter&mdash;Masch
      and Wogen. Berlin, 1771.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-68" id="link30note-68">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      68 (<a href="#link30noteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ Olympiodorus (apud
      Photium, p. 180), uses the Greek word which does not convey any precise
      idea. I suspect that they were the princes and nobles with their faithful
      companions; the knights with their squires, as they would have been styled
      some centuries afterwards.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-69" id="link30note-69">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      69 (<a href="#link30noteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ Tacit. de Moribus
      Germanorum, c. 37.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link302HCH0004" id="link302HCH0004">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.&mdash;Part IV.
    </h2>
    <p>
      The correspondence of nations was, in that age, so imperfect and
      precarious, that the revolutions of the North might escape the knowledge
      of the court of Ravenna; till the dark cloud, which was collected along
      the coast of the Baltic, burst in thunder upon the banks of the Upper
      Danube. The emperor of the West, if his ministers disturbed his amusements
      by the news of the impending danger, was satisfied with being the
      occasion, and the spectator, of the war. <a href="#link30note-70"
      name="link30noteref-70" id="link30noteref-70">70</a> The safety of Rome
      was intrusted to the counsels, and the sword, of Stilicho; but such was
      the feeble and exhausted state of the empire, that it was impossible to
      restore the fortifications of the Danube, or to prevent, by a vigorous
      effort, the invasion of the Germans. <a href="#link30note-71"
      name="link30noteref-71" id="link30noteref-71">71</a> The hopes of the
      vigilant minister of Honorius were confined to the defence of Italy. He
      once more abandoned the provinces, recalled the troops, pressed the new
      levies, which were rigorously exacted, and pusillanimously eluded;
      employed the most efficacious means to arrest, or allure, the deserters;
      and offered the gift of freedom, and of two pieces of gold, to all the
      slaves who would enlist. <a href="#link30note-72" name="link30noteref-72"
      id="link30noteref-72">72</a> By these efforts he painfully collected, from
      the subjects of a great empire, an army of thirty or forty thousand men,
      which, in the days of Scipio or Camillus, would have been instantly
      furnished by the free citizens of the territory of Rome. <a
      href="#link30note-73" name="link30noteref-73" id="link30noteref-73">73</a>
      The thirty legions of Stilicho were reenforced by a large body of
      Barbarian auxiliaries; the faithful Alani were personally attached to his
      service; and the troops of Huns and of Goths, who marched under the
      banners of their native princes, Huldin and Sarus, were animated by
      interest and resentment to oppose the ambition of Radagaisus. The king of
      the confederate Germans passed, without resistance, the Alps, the Po, and
      the Apennine; leaving on one hand the inaccessible palace of Honorius,
      securely buried among the marshes of Ravenna; and, on the other, the camp
      of Stilicho, who had fixed his head-quarters at Ticinum, or Pavia, but who
      seems to have avoided a decisive battle, till he had assembled his distant
      forces. Many cities of Italy were pillaged, or destroyed; and the siege of
      Florence, <a href="#link30note-74" name="link30noteref-74"
      id="link30noteref-74">74</a> by Radagaisus, is one of the earliest events
      in the history of that celebrated republic; whose firmness checked and
      delayed the unskillful fury of the Barbarians. The senate and people
      trembled at their approached within a hundred and eighty miles of Rome;
      and anxiously compared the danger which they had escaped, with the new
      perils to which they were exposed. Alaric was a Christian and a soldier,
      the leader of a disciplined army; who understood the laws of war, who
      respected the sanctity of treaties, and who had familiarly conversed with
      the subjects of the empire in the same camps, and the same churches. The
      savage Radagaisus was a stranger to the manners, the religion, and even
      the language, of the civilized nations of the South. The fierceness of his
      temper was exasperated by cruel superstition; and it 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 the most illustrious of
      the Roman senators on the altars of those gods who were appeased by human
      blood. The public danger, which should have reconciled all domestic
      animosities, displayed the incurable madness of religious faction. The
      oppressed votaries of Jupiter and Mercury respected, in the implacable
      enemy of Rome, the character of a devout Pagan; loudly declared, that they
      were more apprehensive of the sacrifices, than of the arms, of Radagaisus;
      and secretly rejoiced in the calamities of their country, which condemned
      the faith of their Christian adversaries. <a href="#link30note-75"
      name="link30noteref-75" id="link30noteref-75">75</a> <a
      href="#link30note-7511" name="link30noteref-7511" id="link30noteref-7511">7511</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-70" id="link30note-70">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      70 (<a href="#link30noteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Cujus agendi
     Spectator vel causa fui,
    &mdash;-(Claudian, vi. Cons. Hon. 439,)
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      is the modest language of Honorius, in speaking of the Gothic war, which
      he had seen somewhat nearer.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-71" id="link30note-71">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      71 (<a href="#link30noteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus (l. v. p. 331)
      transports the war, and the victory of Stilisho, beyond the Danube. A
      strange error, which is awkwardly and imperfectly cured (Tillemont, Hist.
      des Emp. tom. v. p. 807.) In good policy, we must use the service of
      Zosimus, without esteeming or trusting him.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-72" id="link30note-72">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      72 (<a href="#link30noteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ Codex Theodos. l. vii.
      tit. xiii. leg. 16. The date of this 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, by certain obligations of civility and respect, to St.
      Paulinus of Nola.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-73" id="link30note-73">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      73 (<a href="#link30noteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 clearly explained by Montesquieu.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-74" id="link30note-74">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      74 (<a href="#link30noteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ Machiavel has
      explained, at least as a philosopher, the origin of Florence, which
      insensibly descended, for the benefit of trade, from the rock of Faesulae
      to the banks of the Arno, (Istoria Fiorentina, tom. i. p. 36. Londra,
      1747.) The triumvirs sent a colony to Florence, which, under Tiberius,
      (Tacit. Annal. i. 79,) deserved the reputation and name of a flourishing
      city. See Cluver. Ital. Antiq. tom. i. p. 507, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-75" id="link30note-75">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      75 (<a href="#link30noteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ Yet the Jupiter of
      Radagaisus, who worshipped Thor and Woden, was very different from the
      Olympic or Capitoline Jove. The accommodating temper of Polytheism might
      unite those various and remote deities; but the genuine Romans ahhorred
      the human sacrifices of Gaul and Germany.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-7511" id="link30note-7511">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7511 (<a href="#link30noteref-7511">return</a>)<br /> [ Gibbon has rather
      softened the language of Augustine as to this threatened insurrection of
      the Pagans, in order to restore the prohibited rites and ceremonies of
      Paganism; and their treasonable hopes that the success of Radagaisus would
      be the triumph of idolatry. Compare ii. 25&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Florence was reduced to the last extremity; and the fainting courage of
      the citizens was supported only by the authority of St. Ambrose; who had
      communicated, in a dream, the promise of a speedy deliverance. <a
      href="#link30note-76" name="link30noteref-76" id="link30noteref-76">76</a>
      On a sudden, they beheld, from their walls, the banners of Stilicho, who
      advanced, with his united force, to the relief of the faithful city; and
      who soon marked that fatal spot for the grave of the Barbarian host. The
      apparent contradictions of those writers who variously relate the defeat
      of Radagaisus, may be reconciled without offering much violence to their
      respective testimonies. Orosius and Augustin, who were intimately
      connected by friendship and religion, ascribed this miraculous victory to
      the providence of God, rather than to the valor of man. <a
      href="#link30note-77" name="link30noteref-77" id="link30noteref-77">77</a>
      They strictly exclude every idea of chance, or even of bloodshed; and
      positively affirm, that the Romans, whose camp was the scene of plenty and
      idleness, enjoyed the distress of the Barbarians, slowly expiring on the
      sharp and barren ridge of the hills of Faesulae, which rise above the city
      of Florence. Their extravagant assertion that not a single soldier of the
      Christian army was killed, or even wounded, may be dismissed with silent
      contempt; but the rest of the narrative of Augustin and Orosius is
      consistent with the state of the war, and the character of Stilicho.
      Conscious that he commanded the last army of the republic, his prudence
      would not expose it, in the open field, to the headstrong fury of the
      Germans. The method of surrounding the enemy with strong lines of
      circumvallation, which he had twice employed against the Gothic king, was
      repeated on a larger scale, and with more considerable effect. The
      examples of Caesar must have been familiar to the most illiterate of the
      Roman warriors; and the fortifications of Dyrrachium, which connected
      twenty-four castles, by a perpetual ditch and rampart of fifteen miles,
      afforded the model of an intrenchment which might confine, and starve, the
      most numerous host of Barbarians. <a href="#link30note-78"
      name="link30noteref-78" id="link30noteref-78">78</a> The Roman troops had
      less degenerated from the industry, than from the valor, of their
      ancestors; and if their servile and laborious work offended the pride of
      the soldiers, Tuscany could supply many thousand peasants, who would
      labor, though, perhaps, they would not fight, for the salvation of their
      native country. The imprisoned multitude of horses and men <a
      href="#link30note-79" name="link30noteref-79" id="link30noteref-79">79</a>
      was gradually destroyed, by famine rather than by the sword; but the
      Romans were exposed, during the progress of such an extensive work, to the
      frequent attacks of an impatient enemy. The despair of the hungry
      Barbarians would precipitate them against the fortifications of Stilicho;
      the general might sometimes indulge the ardor of his brave auxiliaries,
      who eagerly pressed to assault the camp of the Germans; and these various
      incidents might produce the sharp and bloody conflicts which dignify the
      narrative of Zosimus, and the Chronicles of Prosper and Marcellinus. <a
      href="#link30note-80" name="link30noteref-80" id="link30noteref-80">80</a>
      A seasonable supply of men and provisions had been introduced into the
      walls of Florence, and the famished host of Radagaisus was in its turn
      besieged. The proud monarch of so many warlike nations, after the loss of
      his bravest warriors, was reduced to confide either in the faith of a
      capitulation, or in the clemency of Stilicho. <a href="#link30note-81"
      name="link30noteref-81" id="link30noteref-81">81</a> But the death of the
      royal captive, who was ignominiously beheaded, disgraced the triumph of
      Rome and of Christianity; and the short delay of his execution was
      sufficient to brand the conqueror with the guilt of cool and deliberate
      cruelty. <a href="#link30note-82" name="link30noteref-82"
      id="link30noteref-82">82</a> The famished Germans, who escaped the fury of
      the auxiliaries, were sold as slaves, at the contemptible price of as many
      single pieces of gold; but the difference of food and climate swept away
      great numbers of those unhappy strangers; and it was observed, that the
      inhuman purchasers, instead of reaping the fruits of their labor were soon
      obliged to provide the expense of their interment Stilicho informed the
      emperor and the senate of his success; and deserved, a second time, the
      glorious title of Deliverer of Italy. <a href="#link30note-83"
      name="link30noteref-83" id="link30noteref-83">83</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-76" id="link30note-76">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      76 (<a href="#link30noteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ Paulinus (in Vit.
      Ambros c. 50) relates this story, which he received from the mouth of
      Pansophia herself, a religious matron of Florence. Yet the archbishop soon
      ceased to take an active part in the business of the world, and never
      became a popular saint.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-77" id="link30note-77">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      77 (<a href="#link30noteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ Augustin de Civitat.
      Dei, v. 23. Orosius, l. vii. c. 37, p. 567-571. The two friends wrote in
      Africa, ten or twelve years after the victory; and their authority is
      implicitly followed by Isidore of Seville, (in Chron. p. 713, edit. Grot.)
      How many interesting facts might Orosius have inserted in the vacant space
      which is devoted to pious nonsense!]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-78" id="link30note-78">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      78 (<a href="#link30noteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.!
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Yet the simplicity of truth (Caesar, de Bell. Civ. iii. 44) is far greater
      than the amplifications of Lucan, (Pharsal. l. vi. 29-63.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-79" id="link30note-79">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      79 (<a href="#link30noteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ The rhetorical
      expressions of Orosius, "in arido et aspero montis jugo;" "in unum ac
      parvum verticem," are not very suitable to the encampment of a great army.
      But Faesulae, only three miles from Florence, might afford space for the
      head-quarters of Radagaisus, and would be comprehended within the circuit
      of the Roman lines.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-80" id="link30note-80">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      80 (<a href="#link30noteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ See Zosimus, l. v. p.
      331, and the Chronicles of Prosper and Marcellinus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-81" id="link30note-81">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      81 (<a href="#link30noteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ Olympiodorus (apud
      Photium, p. 180) uses an expression which would denote a strict and
      friendly alliance, and render Stilicho still more criminal. The paulisper
      detentus, deinde interfectus, of Orosius, is sufficiently odious. * Note:
      Gibbon, by translating this passage of Olympiodorus, as if it had been
      good Greek, has probably fallen into an error. The natural order of the
      words is as Gibbon translates 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 the Byzantines, p. 450.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-82" id="link30note-82">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      82 (<a href="#link30noteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius, piously
      inhuman, sacrifices the king and people, Agag and the Amalekites, without
      a symptom of compassion. The bloody actor is less detestable than the
      cool, unfeeling historian.&mdash;&mdash;Note: Considering the vow, which
      he was universally believed to have made, to destroy Rome, and to
      sacrifice the senators on the altars, and that he is said to have
      immolated his prisoners to his gods, the execution of Radagaisus, if, as
      it appears, he was taken in arms, cannot deserve Gibbon's severe
      condemnation. Mr. Herbert (notes to his poem of Attila, p. 317) justly
      observes, that "Stilicho had probably authority for hanging him on the
      first tree." Marcellinus, adds Mr. Herbert, attributes the execution to
      the Gothic chiefs Sarus.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-83" id="link30note-83">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      83 (<a href="#link30noteref-83">return</a>)<br /> [ And Claudian's muse,
      was she asleep? had she been ill paid! Methinks the seventh consulship of
      Honorius (A.D. 407) would have furnished the subject of a noble poem.
      Before it was discovered that the state could no longer be saved, Stilicho
      (after Romulus, Camillus and Marius) might have been worthily surnamed the
      fourth founder of Rome.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The fame of the victory, and more especially of the miracle, has
      encouraged a vain persuasion, that the whole army, or rather nation, of
      Germans, who migrated from the shores of the Baltic, miserably perished
      under the walls of Florence. Such indeed was the fate of Radagaisus
      himself, of his brave and faithful companions, and of more than one third
      of the various multitude of Sueves and Vandals, of Alani and Burgundians,
      who adhered to the standard of their general. <a href="#link30note-84"
      name="link30noteref-84" id="link30noteref-84">84</a> The union of such an
      army might excite our surprise, but the causes of separation are obvious
      and forcible; the pride of birth, the insolence of valor, the jealousy of
      command, the impatience of subordination, and the obstinate conflict of
      opinions, of interests, and of passions, among so many kings and warriors,
      who were untaught to yield, or to obey. After the defeat of Radagaisus,
      two parts of the German host, which must have exceeded the number of one
      hundred thousand men, still remained in arms, between the Apennine and the
      Alps, or between the Alps and the Danube. It is uncertain whether they
      attempted to revenge the death of their general; but their irregular fury
      was soon diverted by the prudence and firmness of Stilicho, who opposed
      their march, and facilitated their retreat; who considered the safety of
      Rome and Italy as the great object of his care, and who sacrificed, with
      too much indifference, the wealth and tranquillity of the distant
      provinces. <a href="#link30note-85" name="link30noteref-85"
      id="link30noteref-85">85</a> The Barbarians acquired, from the junction of
      some Pannonian deserters, the knowledge of the country, and of the roads;
      and the invasion of Gaul, which Alaric had designed, was executed by the
      remains of the great army of Radagaisus. <a href="#link30note-86"
      name="link30noteref-86" id="link30noteref-86">86</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-84" id="link30note-84">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      84 (<a href="#link30noteref-84">return</a>)<br /> [ A luminous passage of
      Prosper's Chronicle, "In tres partes, pes diversos principes, diversus
      exercitus," reduces the miracle of Florence and connects the history of
      Italy, Gaul, and Germany.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-85" id="link30note-85">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      85 (<a href="#link30noteref-85">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius and Jerom
      positively charge him with instigating the in vasion. "Excitatae a
      Stilichone gentes," &amp;c. They must mean a directly. He saved Italy at
      the expense of Gaul]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-86" id="link30note-86">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      86 (<a href="#link30noteref-86">return</a>)<br /> [ The Count de Buat is
      satisfied, that the Germans who invaded Gaul were the two thirds that yet
      remained of the army of Radagaisus. See the Histoire Ancienne des Peuples
      de l'Europe, (tom. vii. p. 87, 121. Paris, 1772;) an elaborate work, which
      I had not the advantage of perusing till the year 1777. As early as 1771,
      I find the same idea expressed in a rough draught of the present History.
      I have since observed a similar intimation in Mascou, (viii. 15.) Such
      agreement, without mutual communication, may add some weight to our common
      sentiment.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Yet if they expected to derive any assistance from the tribes of Germany,
      who inhabited the banks of the Rhine, their hopes were disappointed. The
      Alemanni preserved a state of inactive neutrality; and the Franks
      distinguished their zeal and courage in the defence of the of the empire.
      In the rapid progress down the Rhine, which was the first act of the
      administration of Stilicho, he had applied himself, with peculiar
      attention, to secure the alliance of the warlike Franks, and to remove the
      irreconcilable enemies of peace and of the republic. Marcomir, one of
      their kings, was publicly convicted, before the tribunal of the Roman
      magistrate, of violating the faith of treaties. He was sentenced to a
      mild, but distant exile, in the province of Tuscany; and this degradation
      of the regal dignity was so far from exciting the resentment of his
      subjects, that they punished with death the turbulent Sunno, who attempted
      to revenge his brother; and maintained a dutiful allegiance to the
      princes, who were established on the throne by the choice of Stilicho. <a
      href="#link30note-87" name="link30noteref-87" id="link30noteref-87">87</a>
      When the limits of Gaul and Germany were shaken by the northern
      emigration, the Franks bravely encountered the single force of the
      Vandals; who, regardless of the lessons of adversity, had again separated
      their troops from the standard of their Barbarian allies. They paid the
      penalty of their rashness; and twenty thousand Vandals, with their king
      Godigisclus, were slain in the field of battle. The whole people must have
      been extirpated, if the squadrons of the Alani, advancing to their relief,
      had not trampled down the infantry of the Franks; who, after an honorable
      resistance, were compelled to relinquish the unequal contest. The
      victorious confederates pursued their march, and on the last day of the
      year, in a season when the waters of the Rhine were most probably frozen,
      they entered, without opposition, the defenceless provinces of Gaul. This
      memorable passage of the Suevi, the Vandals, the Alani, and the
      Burgundians, who never afterwards retreated, may be considered as the fall
      of the Roman empire in the countries beyond the Alps; and the barriers,
      which had so long separated the savage and the civilized nations of the
      earth, were from that fatal moment levelled with the ground. <a
      href="#link30note-88" name="link30noteref-88" id="link30noteref-88">88</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-87" id="link30note-87">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      87 (<a href="#link30noteref-87">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Provincia missos
     Expellet citius fasces, quam Francia reges
     Quos dederis.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Claudian (i. Cons. Stil. l. i. 235, &amp;c.) is clear and satisfactory.
      These kings of France are unknown to Gregory of Tours; but the author of
      the Gesta Francorum mentions both Sunno and Marcomir, and names the latter
      as the father of Pharamond, (in tom. ii. p. 543.) He seems to write from
      good materials, which he did not understand.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-88" id="link30note-88">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      88 (<a href="#link30noteref-88">return</a>)<br /> [ 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, in the second volume of the Historians of
      France) has preserved a valuable fragment of Renatus Profuturus
      Frigeridus, whose three names denote a Christian, a Roman subject, and a
      Semi-Barbarian.]
    </p>
    <p>
      While the peace of Germany was secured by the attachment of the Franks,
      and the neutrality of the Alemanni, the subjects of Rome, unconscious of
      their approaching calamities, enjoyed the state of quiet and prosperity,
      which had seldom blessed the frontiers of Gaul. Their flocks and herds
      were permitted to graze in the pastures of the Barbarians; their huntsmen
      penetrated, without fear or danger, into the darkest recesses of the
      Hercynian wood. <a href="#link30note-89" name="link30noteref-89"
      id="link30noteref-89">89</a> The banks of the Rhine were crowned, like
      those of the Tyber, with elegant houses, and well-cultivated farms; and if
      a poet descended the river, he might express his doubt, on which side was
      situated the territory of the Romans. <a href="#link30note-90"
      name="link30noteref-90" id="link30noteref-90">90</a> This scene of peace
      and plenty was suddenly changed into a desert; and the prospect of the
      smoking ruins could alone distinguish the solitude of nature from the
      desolation of man. The flourishing city of Mentz was surprised and
      destroyed; and many thousand Christians were inhumanly massacred in the
      church. Worms perished after a long and obstinate siege; Strasburgh,
      Spires, Rheims, Tournay, Arras, Amiens, experienced the cruel oppression
      of the German yoke; and the consuming flames of war spread from the banks
      of the Rhine over the greatest part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul.
      That rich and extensive country, as far as the ocean, the Alps, and the
      Pyrenees, was delivered to the Barbarians, who drove before them, in a
      promiscuous crowd, the bishop, the senator, and the virgin, laden with the
      spoils of their houses and altars. <a href="#link30note-91"
      name="link30noteref-91" id="link30noteref-91">91</a> The ecclesiastics, to
      whom we are indebted for this vague description of the public calamities,
      embraced the opportunity of exhorting the Christians to repent of the sins
      which had provoked the Divine Justice, and to renounce the perishable
      goods of a wretched and deceitful world. But as the Pelagian controversy,
      <a href="#link30note-92" name="link30noteref-92" id="link30noteref-92">92</a>
      which attempts to sound the abyss of grace and predestination, soon became
      the serious employment of the Latin clergy, the Providence which had
      decreed, or foreseen, or permitted, such a train of moral and natural
      evils, was rashly weighed in the imperfect and fallacious balance of
      reason. The crimes, and the misfortunes, of the suffering people, were
      presumptuously compared with those of their ancestors; and they arraigned
      the Divine Justice, which did not exempt from the common destruction the
      feeble, the guiltless, the infant portion of the human species. These idle
      disputants overlooked the invariable laws of nature, which have connected
      peace with innocence, plenty with industry, and safety with valor. The
      timid and selfish policy of the court of Ravenna might recall the Palatine
      legions for the protection of Italy; the remains of the stationary troops
      might be unequal to the arduous task; and the Barbarian auxiliaries might
      prefer the unbounded license of spoil to the benefits of a moderate and
      regular stipend. But the provinces of Gaul were filled with a numerous
      race of hardy and robust youth, who, in the defence of their houses, their
      families, and their altars, if they had dared to die, would have deserved
      to vanquish. The knowledge of their native country would have enabled them
      to oppose continual and insuperable obstacles to the progress of an
      invader; and the deficiency of the Barbarians, in arms, as well as in
      discipline, removed the only pretence which excuses the submission of a
      populous country to the inferior numbers of a veteran army. When France
      was invaded by Charles V., he inquired of a prisoner, how many days Paris
      might be distant from the frontier; "Perhaps twelve, but they will be days
      of battle:" <a href="#link30note-93" name="link30noteref-93"
      id="link30noteref-93">93</a> such was the gallant answer which checked the
      arrogance of that ambitious prince. The subjects of Honorius, and those of
      Francis I., were animated by a very different spirit; and in less than two
      years, the divided troops of the savages of the Baltic, whose numbers,
      were they fairly stated, would appear contemptible, advanced, without a
      combat, to the foot of the Pyrenean Mountains.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-89" id="link30note-89">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      89 (<a href="#link30noteref-89">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian (i. Cons.
      Stil. l. i. 221, &amp;c., l. ii. 186) describes the peace and prosperity
      of the Gallic frontier. The Abbe Dubos (Hist. Critique, &amp;c., tom. i.
      p. 174) would read Alba (a nameless rivulet of the Ardennes) instead of
      Albis; and expatiates on the danger of the Gallic cattle grazing beyond
      the Elbe. Foolish enough! In poetical geography, the Elbe, and the
      Hercynian, signify any river, or any wood, in Germany. Claudian is not
      prepared for the strict examination of our antiquaries.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-90" id="link30note-90">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      90 (<a href="#link30noteref-90">return</a>)<br /> [&mdash;Germinasque
      viator Cum videat ripas, quae sit Romana requirat.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-91" id="link30note-91">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      91 (<a href="#link30noteref-91">return</a>)<br /> [ Jerom, tom. i. p. 93.
      See in the 1st vol. of the Historians of France, p. 777, 782, the proper
      extracts from the Carmen de Providentil Divina, and Salvian. The anonymous
      poet was himself a captive, with his bishop and fellow-citizens.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-92" id="link30note-92">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      92 (<a href="#link30noteref-92">return</a>)<br /> [ The Pelagian doctrine,
      which was first agitated A.D. 405, was condemned, in the space of ten
      years, at Rome and Carthage. St Augustin fought and conquered; but the
      Greek church was favorable to his adversaries; and (what is singular
      enough) the people did not take any part in a dispute which they could not
      understand.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-93" id="link30note-93">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      93 (<a href="#link30noteref-93">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Memoires de
      Guillaume du Bellay, l. vi. In French, the original reproof is less
      obvious, and more pointed, from the double sense of the word journee,
      which alike signifies, a day's travel, or a battle.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In the early part of the reign of Honorius, the vigilance of Stilicho had
      successfully guarded the remote island of Britain from her incessant
      enemies of the ocean, the mountains, and the Irish coast. <a
      href="#link30note-94" name="link30noteref-94" id="link30noteref-94">94</a>
      But those restless Barbarians could not neglect the fair opportunity of
      the Gothic war, when the walls and stations of the province were stripped
      of the Roman troops. If any of the legionaries were permitted to return
      from the Italian expedition, their faithful report of the court and
      character of Honorius must have tended to dissolve the bonds of
      allegiance, and to exasperate the seditious temper of the British army.
      The spirit of revolt, which had formerly disturbed the age of Gallienus,
      was revived by the capricious violence of the soldiers; and the
      unfortunate, perhaps the ambitious, candidates, who were the objects of
      their choice, were the instruments, and at length the victims, of their
      passion. <a href="#link30note-95" name="link30noteref-95"
      id="link30noteref-95">95</a> Marcus was the first whom they placed on the
      throne, as the lawful emperor of Britain and of the West. They violated,
      by the hasty murder of Marcus, the oath of fidelity which they had imposed
      on themselves; and their disapprobation of his manners may seem to
      inscribe an honorable epitaph on his tomb. Gratian was the next whom they
      adorned with the diadem and the purple; and, at the end of four months,
      Gratian experienced the fate of his predecessor. The memory of the great
      Constantine, whom the British legions had given to the church and to the
      empire, suggested the singular motive of their third choice. They
      discovered in the ranks a private soldier of the name of Constantine, and
      their impetuous levity had already seated him on the throne, before they
      perceived his incapacity to sustain the weight of that glorious
      appellation. <a href="#link30note-96" name="link30noteref-96"
      id="link30noteref-96">96</a> Yet the authority of Constantine was less
      precarious, and his government was more successful, than the transient
      reigns of Marcus and of Gratian. The danger of leaving his inactive troops
      in those camps, which had been twice polluted with blood and sedition,
      urged him to attempt the reduction of the Western provinces. He landed at
      Boulogne with an inconsiderable force; and after he had reposed himself
      some days, he summoned the cities of Gaul, which had escaped the yoke of
      the Barbarians, to acknowledge their lawful sovereign. They obeyed the
      summons without reluctance. The neglect of the court of Ravenna had
      absolved a deserted people from the duty of allegiance; their actual
      distress encouraged them to accept any circumstances of change, without
      apprehension, and, perhaps, with some degree of hope; and they might
      flatter themselves, that the troops, the authority, and even the name of a
      Roman emperor, who fixed his residence in Gaul, would protect the unhappy
      country from the rage of the Barbarians. The first successes of
      Constantine against the detached parties of the Germans, were magnified by
      the voice of adulation into splendid and decisive victories; which the
      reunion and insolence of the enemy soon reduced to their just value. His
      negotiations procured a short and precarious truce; and if some tribes of
      the Barbarians were engaged, by the liberality of his gifts and promises,
      to undertake the defence of the Rhine, these expensive and uncertain
      treaties, instead of restoring the pristine vigor of the Gallic frontier,
      served only to disgrace the majesty of the prince, and to exhaust what yet
      remained of the treasures of the republic. Elated, however, with this
      imaginary triumph, the vain deliverer of Gaul advanced into the provinces
      of the South, to encounter a more pressing and personal danger. Sarus the
      Goth was ordered to lay the head of the rebel at the feet of the emperor
      Honorius; and the forces of Britain and Italy were unworthily consumed in
      this domestic quarrel. After the loss of his two bravest generals,
      Justinian and Nevigastes, the former of whom was slain in the field of
      battle, the latter in a peaceful but treacherous interview, Constantine
      fortified himself within the walls of Vienna. The place was ineffectually
      attacked seven days; and the Imperial army supported, in a precipitate
      retreat, the ignominy of purchasing a secure passage from the freebooters
      and outlaws of the Alps. <a href="#link30note-97" name="link30noteref-97"
      id="link30noteref-97">97</a> Those mountains now separated the dominions
      of two rival monarchs; and the fortifications of the double frontier were
      guarded by the troops of the empire, whose arms would have been more
      usefully employed to maintain the Roman limits against the Barbarians of
      Germany and Scythia.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-94" id="link30note-94">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      94 (<a href="#link30noteref-94">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian, (i. Cons.
      Stil. l. ii. 250.) It is supposed that the Scots of Ireland invaded, by
      sea, the whole western coast of Britain: and some slight credit may be
      given even to Nennius and the Irish traditions, (Carte's Hist. of England,
      vol. i. p. 169.) Whitaker's Genuine History of the Britons, p. 199. The
      sixty-six lives of St. Patrick, which were extant in the ninth century,
      must have contained as many thousand lies; yet we may believe, that, in
      one of these Irish inroads the future apostle was led away captive,
      (Usher, Antiquit. Eccles Britann. p. 431, and Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom.
      xvi. p. 45 782, &amp;c.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-95" id="link30note-95">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      95 (<a href="#link30noteref-95">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 the Chronicles. The Latins are ignorant of Marcus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-96" id="link30note-96">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      96 (<a href="#link30noteref-96">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 prince who had disgraced his grandfather.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-97" id="link30note-97">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      97 (<a href="#link30noteref-97">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 shall hear of them again.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link302HCH0005" id="link302HCH0005">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.&mdash;Part V.
    </h2>
    <p>
      On the side of the Pyrenees, the ambition of Constantine might be
      justified by the proximity of danger; but his throne was soon established
      by the conquest, or rather submission, of Spain; which yielded to the
      influence of regular and habitual subordination, and received the laws and
      magistrates of the Gallic praefecture. The only opposition which was made
      to the authority of Constantine proceeded not so much from the powers of
      government, or the spirit of the people, as from the private zeal and
      interest of the family of Theodosius. Four brothers <a
      href="#link30note-98" name="link30noteref-98" id="link30noteref-98">98</a>
      had obtained, by the favor of their kinsman, the deceased emperor, an
      honorable rank and ample possessions in their native country; and the
      grateful youths resolved to risk those advantages in the service of his
      son. After an unsuccessful effort to maintain their ground at the head of
      the stationary troops of Lusitania, they retired to their estates; where
      they armed and levied, at their own expense, a considerable body of slaves
      and dependants, and boldly marched to occupy the strong posts of the
      Pyrenean Mountains. This domestic insurrection alarmed and perplexed the
      sovereign of Gaul and Britain; and he was compelled to negotiate with some
      troops of Barbarian auxiliaries, for the service of the Spanish war. They
      were distinguished by the title of Honorians; <a href="#link30note-99"
      name="link30noteref-99" id="link30noteref-99">99</a> a name which might
      have reminded them of their fidelity to their lawful sovereign; and if it
      should candidly be allowed that the Scots were influenced by any partial
      affection for a British prince, the Moors and the Marcomanni could be
      tempted only by the profuse liberality of the usurper, who distributed
      among the Barbarians the military, and even the civil, honors of Spain.
      The nine bands of Honorians, which may be easily traced on the
      establishment of the Western empire, could not exceed the number of five
      thousand men: yet this inconsiderable force was sufficient to terminate a
      war, which had threatened the power and safety of Constantine. The rustic
      army of the Theodosian family was surrounded and destroyed in the
      Pyrenees: two of the brothers had the good fortune to escape by sea to
      Italy, or the East; the other two, after an interval of suspense, were
      executed at Arles; and if Honorius could remain insensible of the public
      disgrace, he might perhaps be affected by the personal misfortunes of his
      generous kinsmen. Such were the feeble arms which decided the possession
      of the Western provinces of Europe, from the wall of Antoninus to the
      columns of Hercules. The events of peace and war have undoubtedly been
      diminished by the narrow and imperfect view of the historians of the
      times, who were equally ignorant of the causes, and of the effects, of the
      most important revolutions. But the total decay of the national strength
      had annihilated even the last resource of a despotic government; and the
      revenue of exhausted provinces could no longer purchase the military
      service of a discontented and pusillanimous people.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-98" id="link30note-98">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      98 (<a href="#link30noteref-98">return</a>)<br /> [ Verinianus, Didymus,
      Theodosius, and Lagodius, who in modern courts would be styled princes of
      the blood, were not distinguished by any rank or privileges above the rest
      of their fellow-subjects.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-99" id="link30note-99">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      99 (<a href="#link30noteref-99">return</a>)<br /> [ These Honoriani, or
      Honoriaci, consisted of two bands of Scots, or Attacotti, two of Moors,
      two of Marcomanni, the Victores, the Asca in, and the Gallicani, (Notitia
      Imperii, sect. xxxiii. edit. Lab.) They were part of the sixty-five
      Auxilia Palatina, and are properly styled by Zosimus, (l. vi. 374.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      The poet, whose flattery has ascribed to the Roman eagle the victories of
      Pollentia and Verona, pursues the hasty retreat of Alaric, from the
      confines of Italy, with a horrid train of imaginary spectres, such as
      might hover over an army of Barbarians, which was almost exterminated by
      war, famine, and disease. <a href="#link30note-100"
      name="link30noteref-100" id="link30noteref-100">100</a> In the course of
      this unfortunate expedition, the king of the Goths must indeed have
      sustained a considerable loss; and his harassed forces required an
      interval of repose, to recruit their numbers and revive their confidence.
      Adversity had exercised and displayed the genius of Alaric; and the fame
      of his valor invited to the Gothic standard the bravest of the Barbarian
      warriors; who, from the Euxine to the Rhine, were agitated by the desire
      of rapine and conquest. He had deserved the esteem, and he soon accepted
      the friendship, of Stilicho himself. Renouncing the service of the emperor
      of the East, Alaric concluded, with the court of Ravenna, a treaty of
      peace and alliance, by which he was declared master-general of the Roman
      armies throughout the praefecture of Illyricum; as it was claimed,
      according to the true and ancient limits, by the minister of Honorius. <a
      href="#link30note-101" name="link30noteref-101" id="link30noteref-101">101</a>
      The execution of the ambitious design, which was either stipulated, or
      implied, in the articles of the treaty, appears to have been suspended by
      the formidable irruption of Radagaisus; and the neutrality of the Gothic
      king may perhaps be compared to the indifference of Caesar, who, in the
      conspiracy of Catiline, refused either to assist, or to oppose, the enemy
      of the republic. After the defeat of the Vandals, Stilicho resumed his
      pretensions to the provinces of the East; appointed civil magistrates for
      the administration of justice, and of the finances; and declared his
      impatience to lead to the gates of Constantinople the united armies of the
      Romans and of the Goths. The prudence, however, of Stilicho, his aversion
      to civil war, and his perfect knowledge of the weakness of the state, may
      countenance the suspicion, that domestic peace, rather than foreign
      conquest, was the object of his policy; and that his principal care was to
      employ the forces of Alaric at a distance from Italy. This design could
      not long escape the penetration of the Gothic king, who continued to hold
      a doubtful, and perhaps a treacherous, correspondence with the rival
      courts; who protracted, like a dissatisfied mercenary, his languid
      operations in Thessaly and Epirus, and who soon returned to claim the
      extravagant reward of his ineffectual services. From his camp near Aemona,
      <a href="#link30note-102" name="link30noteref-102" id="link30noteref-102">102</a>
      on the confines of Italy, he transmitted to the emperor of the West a long
      account of promises, of expenses, and of demands; called for immediate
      satisfaction, and clearly intimated the consequences of a refusal. Yet if
      his conduct was hostile, his language was decent and dutiful. He humbly
      professed himself the friend of Stilicho, and the soldier of Honorius;
      offered his person and his troops to march, without delay, against the
      usurper of Gaul; and solicited, as a permanent retreat for the Gothic
      nation, the possession of some vacant province of the Western empire.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-100" id="link30note-100">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      100 (<a href="#link30noteref-100">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Comitatur euntem
     Pallor, et atra fames; et saucia lividus ora
     Luctus; et inferno stridentes agmine morbi.
    &mdash;-Claudian in vi. Cons. Hon. 821, &amp;c.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-101" id="link30note-101">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      101 (<a href="#link30noteref-101">return</a>)<br /> [ These dark
      transactions are investigated by the Count de Bual (Hist. des Peuples de
      l'Europe, tom. vii. c. iii.&mdash;viii. p. 69-206,) whose laborious
      accuracy may sometimes fatigue a superficial reader.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-102" id="link30note-102">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      102 (<a href="#link30noteref-102">return</a>)<br /> [ See Zosimus, l. v. p.
      334, 335. He interrupts his scanty narrative to relate the fable of
      Aemona, and of the ship Argo; which was drawn 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 doubtful light; and Orosius (l. vii. c. 38, p. 571)
      is abominably partial.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The political and secret transactions of two statesmen, who labored to
      deceive each other and the world, must forever have been concealed in the
      impenetrable darkness of the cabinet, if the debates of a popular assembly
      had not thrown some rays of light on the correspondence of Alaric and
      Stilicho. The necessity of finding some artificial support for a
      government, which, from a principle, not of moderation, but of weakness,
      was reduced to negotiate with its own subjects, had insensibly revived the
      authority of the Roman senate; and the minister of Honorius respectfully
      consulted the legislative council of the republic. Stilicho assembled the
      senate in the palace of the Caesars; represented, in a studied oration,
      the actual state of affairs; proposed the demands of the Gothic king, and
      submitted to their consideration the choice of peace or war. The senators,
      as if they had been suddenly awakened from a dream of four hundred years,
      appeared, on this important occasion, to be inspired by the courage,
      rather than by the wisdom, of their predecessors. They loudly declared, in
      regular speeches, or in tumultuary acclamations, that it was unworthy of
      the majesty of Rome to purchase a precarious and disgraceful truce from a
      Barbarian king; and that, in the judgment of a magnanimous people, the
      chance of ruin was always preferable to the certainty of dishonor. The
      minister, whose pacific intentions were seconded only by the voice of a
      few servile and venal followers, attempted to allay the general ferment,
      by an apology for his own conduct, and even for the demands of the Gothic
      prince. "The payment of a subsidy, which had excited the indignation of
      the Romans, ought not (such was the language of Stilicho) to be considered
      in the odious light, either of a tribute, or of a ransom, extorted by the
      menaces of a Barbarian enemy. Alaric had faithfully asserted the just
      pretensions of the republic to the provinces which were usurped by the
      Greeks of Constantinople: he modestly required the fair and stipulated
      recompense of his services; and if he had desisted from the prosecution of
      his enterprise, he had obeyed, in his retreat, the peremptory, though
      private, letters of the emperor himself. These contradictory orders (he
      would not dissemble the errors of his own family) had been procured by the
      intercession of Serena. The tender piety of his wife had been too deeply
      affected by the discord of the royal brothers, the sons of her adopted
      father; and the sentiments of nature had too easily prevailed over the
      stern dictates of the public welfare." These ostensible reasons, which
      faintly disguise the obscure intrigues of the palace of Ravenna, were
      supported by the authority of Stilicho; and obtained, after a warm debate,
      the reluctant approbation of the senate. The tumult of virtue and freedom
      subsided; and the sum of four thousand pounds of gold was granted, under
      the name of a subsidy, to secure the peace of 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 is not a treaty of peace, but of
      servitude;" <a href="#link30note-103" name="link30noteref-103"
      id="link30noteref-103">103</a> and escaped the danger of such bold
      opposition by immediately retiring to the sanctuary of a Christian church.
      [See Palace Of The Caesars]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-103" id="link30note-103">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      103 (<a href="#link30noteref-103">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. v. p.
      338, 339. He repeats the words of Lampadius, as they were spoke in Latin,
      "Non est ista pax, sed pactio servi tutis," and then translates them into
      Greek for the benefit of his readers. * Note: From Cicero's XIIth
      Philippic, 14.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But the reign of Stilicho drew towards its end; and the proud minister
      might perceive the symptoms of his approaching disgrace. The generous
      boldness of Lampadius had been applauded; and the senate, so patiently
      resigned to a long servitude, rejected with disdain the offer of invidious
      and imaginary freedom. The troops, who still assumed the name and
      prerogatives of the Roman legions, were exasperated by the partial
      affection of Stilicho for the Barbarians: and the people imputed to the
      mischievous policy of the minister the public misfortunes, which were the
      natural consequence of their own degeneracy. Yet Stilicho might have
      continued to brave the clamors of the people, and even of the soldiers, if
      he could have maintained his dominion over the feeble mind of his pupil.
      But the respectful attachment of Honorius was converted into fear,
      suspicion, and hatred. The crafty Olympius, <a href="#link30note-104"
      name="link30noteref-104" id="link30noteref-104">104</a> who concealed his
      vices under the mask of Christian piety, had secretly undermined the
      benefactor, by whose favor he was promoted to the honorable offices of the
      Imperial palace. Olympius revealed to the unsuspecting emperor, who had
      attained the twenty-fifth year of his age, that he was without weight, or
      authority, in his own government; and artfully alarmed his timid and
      indolent disposition by a lively picture of the designs of Stilicho, who
      already meditated the death of his sovereign, with the ambitious hope of
      placing the diadem on the head of his son Eucherius. The emperor was
      instigated, by his new favorite, to assume the tone of independent
      dignity; and the minister was astonished to find, that secret resolutions
      were formed in the court and council, which were repugnant to his
      interest, or to his intentions. Instead of residing in the palace of Rome,
      Honorius declared that it was his pleasure to return to the secure
      fortress of Ravenna. On the first intelligence of the death of his brother
      Arcadius, he prepared to visit Constantinople, and to regulate, with the
      authority of a guardian, the provinces of the infant Theodosius. <a
      href="#link30note-105" name="link30noteref-105" id="link30noteref-105">105</a>
      The representation of the difficulty and expense of such a distant
      expedition, checked this strange and sudden sally of active diligence; but
      the dangerous project of showing the emperor to the camp of Pavia, which
      was composed of the Roman troops, the enemies of Stilicho, and his
      Barbarian auxiliaries, remained fixed and unalterable. The minister was
      pressed, by the advice of his confidant, Justinian, a Roman advocate, of a
      lively and penetrating genius, 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 his patron.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-104" id="link30note-104">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      104 (<a href="#link30noteref-104">return</a>)<br /> [ He came from the
      coast of the Euxine, and exercised a splendid office. His actions justify
      his character, which Zosimus (l. v. p. 340) exposes with visible
      satisfaction. Augustin revered the piety of Olympius, whom he styles a
      true son of the church, (Baronius, Annal. Eccles, Eccles. A.D. 408, No.
      19, &amp;c. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xiii. p. 467, 468.) But these
      praises, which the African saint so unworthily bestows, might proceed as
      well from ignorance as from adulation.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-105" id="link30note-105">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      105 (<a href="#link30noteref-105">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. v. p.
      338, 339. Sozomen, l. ix. c. 4. Stilicho offered to undertake the journey
      to Constantinople, that he might divert Honorius from the vain attempt.
      The Eastern empire would not have obeyed, and could not have been
      conquered.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In the passage of the emperor through Bologna, a mutiny of the guards was
      excited and appeased by the secret policy of Stilicho; who announced his
      instructions to decimate the guilty, and ascribed to his own intercession
      the merit of their pardon. After this tumult, Honorius embraced, for the
      last time, the minister whom he now considered as a tyrant, and proceeded
      on his way to the camp of Pavia; where he was received by the loyal
      acclamations of the troops who were assembled for the service of the
      Gallic war. On the morning of the fourth day, he pronounced, as he had
      been taught, a military oration in the presence of the soldiers, whom the
      charitable visits, and artful discourses, of Olympius had prepared to
      execute a dark and bloody conspiracy. At the first signal, they massacred
      the friends of Stilicho, the most illustrious officers of the empire; two
      Praetorian praefects, of Gaul and of Italy; two masters-general of the
      cavalry and infantry; the master of the offices; the quaestor, the
      treasurer, and the count of the domestics. Many lives were lost; many
      houses were plundered; the furious sedition continued to rage till the
      close of the evening; and the trembling emperor, who was seen in the
      streets of Pavia without his robes or diadem, yielded to the persuasions
      of his favorite; condemned the memory of the slain; and solemnly approved
      the innocence and fidelity of their assassins. The intelligence of the
      massacre of Pavia filled the mind of Stilicho with just and gloomy
      apprehensions; and he instantly summoned, in the camp of Bologna, a
      council of the confederate leaders, who were attached to his service, and
      would be involved in his ruin. The impetuous voice of the assembly called
      aloud for arms, and for revenge; to march, without a moment's delay, under
      the banners of a hero, whom they had so often followed to victory; to
      surprise, to oppress, 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 by success, Stilicho hesitated till he was irrecoverably lost.
      He was still ignorant of the fate of the emperor; he distrusted the
      fidelity of his own party; and he viewed with horror the fatal
      consequences of arming a crowd of licentious Barbarians against the
      soldiers and people of Italy. The confederates, impatient of his timorous
      and doubtful delay, hastily retired, with fear and indignation. At the
      hour of midnight, Sarus, a Gothic warrior, renowned among the Barbarians
      themselves for his strength and valor, suddenly invaded the camp of his
      benefactor, plundered the baggage, cut in pieces the faithful Huns, who
      guarded his person, and penetrated to the tent, where the minister,
      pensive and sleepless, meditated on the dangers of his situation. Stilicho
      escaped with difficulty from the sword of the Goths and, after issuing a
      last and generous admonition to the cities of Italy, to shut their gates
      against the Barbarians, his confidence, or his despair, urged him to throw
      himself into Ravenna, which was already in the absolute possession of his
      enemies. Olympius, who had assumed the dominion of Honorius, was speedily
      informed, that his rival had embraced, as a suppliant the altar of the
      Christian church. The base and cruel disposition of the hypocrite was
      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 gates of the
      church of Ravenna. The bishop was satisfied by a solemn oath, that the
      Imperial mandate only directed them to secure the person of Stilicho: but
      as soon as the unfortunate minister had been tempted beyond the holy
      threshold, he produced the warrant for his instant execution. Stilicho
      supported, with calm resignation, the injurious names of traitor and
      parricide; repressed the unseasonable zeal of his followers, who were
      ready to attempt an ineffectual rescue; and, with a firmness not unworthy
      of the last of the Roman generals, submitted his neck to the sword of
      Heraclian. <a href="#link30note-106" name="link30noteref-106"
      id="link30noteref-106">106</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-106" id="link30note-106">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      106 (<a href="#link30noteref-106">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus (l. v. p.
      336-345) has copiously, though not clearly, related the disgrace and death
      of Stilicho. Olympiodorus, (apud Phot. 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,) afford supplemental hints.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The servile crowd of the palace, who had so long adored the fortune of
      Stilicho, affected to insult his fall; and the most distant connection
      with the master-general of the West, which had so lately been a title to
      wealth and honors, was studiously denied, and rigorously punished. His
      family, united by a triple alliance with the family of Theodosius, might
      envy the condition of the meanest peasant. The flight of his son Eucherius
      was intercepted; and the death of that innocent youth soon followed the
      divorce of Thermantia, who filled the place of her sister Maria; and who,
      like Maria, had remained a virgin in the Imperial bed. <a
      href="#link30note-107" name="link30noteref-107" id="link30noteref-107">107</a>
      The friends of Stilicho, who had escaped the massacre of Pavia, were
      persecuted by the implacable revenge of Olympius; and the most exquisite
      cruelty was employed to extort the confession of a treasonable and
      sacrilegious conspiracy. They died in silence: their firmness justified
      the choice, <a href="#link30note-108" name="link30noteref-108"
      id="link30noteref-108">108</a> and perhaps absolved the innocence of their
      patron: and the despotic power, which could take his life without a trial,
      and stigmatize his memory without a proof, has no jurisdiction over the
      impartial suffrage of posterity. <a href="#link30note-109"
      name="link30noteref-109" id="link30noteref-109">109</a> The services of
      Stilicho are great and manifest; his crimes, as they are vaguely stated in
      the language of flattery and hatred, are obscure at least, and improbable.
      About four months after his death, an edict was published, in the name of
      Honorius, to restore the free communication of the two empires, which had
      been so long interrupted by the public enemy. <a href="#link30note-110"
      name="link30noteref-110" id="link30noteref-110">110</a> The minister,
      whose fame and fortune depended on the prosperity of the state, was
      accused of betraying Italy to the Barbarians; whom he repeatedly
      vanquished at Pollentia, at Verona, and before the walls of Florence. His
      pretended design of placing the diadem on the head of his son Eucherius,
      could not have been conducted without preparations or accomplices; and the
      ambitious father would not surely have left the future emperor, till the
      twentieth year of his age, in the humble station of tribune of the
      notaries. Even the religion of Stilicho was arraigned by the malice of his
      rival. The seasonable, and almost miraculous, deliverance was devoutly
      celebrated by the applause of the clergy; who asserted, that the
      restoration of idols, and the persecution of the church, would have been
      the first measure of the reign of Eucherius. The son of Stilicho, however,
      was educated in the bosom of Christianity, which his father had uniformly
      professed, and zealously supported. <a href="#link30note-111"
      name="link30noteref-111" id="link30noteref-111">111</a> <a
      href="#link30note-1111" name="link30noteref-1111" id="link30noteref-1111">1111</a>
      Serena had borrowed her magnificent necklace from the statue of Vesta; <a
      href="#link30note-112" name="link30noteref-112" id="link30noteref-112">112</a>
      and the Pagans execrated the memory of the sacrilegious minister, by whose
      order the Sibylline books, the oracles of Rome, had been committed to the
      flames. <a href="#link30note-113" name="link30noteref-113"
      id="link30noteref-113">113</a> The pride and power of Stilicho constituted
      his real guilt. An honorable reluctance to shed the blood of his
      countrymen appears to have contributed to the success of his unworthy
      rival; and it is the last humiliation of the character of Honorius, that
      posterity has not condescended to reproach him with his base ingratitude
      to the guardian of his youth, and the support of his empire.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-107" id="link30note-107">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      107 (<a href="#link30noteref-107">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. v. p.
      333. The marriage of a Christian with two sisters, scandalizes Tillemont,
      (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 557;) who expects, in vain, that Pope
      Innocent I. should have done something in the way either of censure or of
      dispensation.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-108" id="link30note-108">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      108 (<a href="#link30noteref-108">return</a>)<br /> [ Two of his friends
      are honorably mentioned, (Zosimus, l. v. p. 346:) Peter, chief of the
      school of notaries, and the great chamberlain Deuterius. Stilicho had
      secured the bed-chamber; and it is surprising that, under a feeble prince,
      the bed-chamber was not able to secure him.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-109" id="link30note-109">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      109 (<a href="#link30noteref-109">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius (l. vii. c.
      38, p. 571, 572) seems to copy the false and furious manifestos, which
      were dispersed through the provinces by the new administration.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-110" id="link30note-110">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      110 (<a href="#link30noteref-110">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Theodosian
      code, l. vii. tit. xvi. leg. 1, l. ix. tit. xlii. leg. 22. Stilicho is
      branded with the name of proedo publicus, who employed his wealth, ad
      omnem ditandam, inquietandamque Barbariem.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-111" id="link30note-111">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      111 (<a href="#link30noteref-111">return</a>)<br /> [ Augustin himself is
      satisfied with the effectual laws, which Stilicho had enacted against
      heretics and idolaters; and which are still extant in the Code. He only
      applies to Olympius for their confirmation, (Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A.D.
      408, No. 19.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-112" id="link30note-112">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      112 (<a href="#link30noteref-112">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. v. p.
      351. We may observe the bad taste of the age, in dressing their statues
      with such awkward finery.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-113" id="link30note-113">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      113 (<a href="#link30noteref-113">return</a>)<br /> [ See Rutilius
      Numatianus, (Itinerar. l. ii. 41-60,) to whom religious enthusiasm has
      dictated some elegant and forcible lines. Stilicho likewise stripped the
      gold plates from the doors of the Capitol, and read a prophetic sentence
      which was engraven under them, (Zosimus, l. v. p. 352.) These are foolish
      stories: yet the charge of impiety adds weight and credit to the praise
      which Zosimus reluctantly bestows on his virtues. Note: One particular in
      the extorted praise of Zosimus, deserved the notice of the historian, as
      strongly opposed to the former imputations of Zosimus himself, and
      indicative of he corrupt practices of a declining age. "He had never
      bartered promotion in the army for bribes, nor peculated in the supplies
      of provisions for the army." l. v. c. xxxiv.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-1111" id="link30note-1111">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1111 (<a href="#link30noteref-1111">return</a>)<br /> [ Hence, perhaps, the
      accusation of treachery is countenanced by Hatilius:&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.&mdash;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.]
</pre>
    <p>
      The titular offices of tribune and notary fixed his rank in the Imperial
      court: he was indebted to the powerful intercession of Serena for his
      marriage with a very rich heiress of the province of Africa; <a
      href="#link30note-114" name="link30noteref-114" id="link30noteref-114">114</a>
      and the statute of Claudian, erected in the forum of Trajan, was a
      monument of the taste and liberality of the Roman senate. <a
      href="#link30note-115" name="link30noteref-115" id="link30noteref-115">115</a>
      After the praises of Stilicho became offensive and criminal, Claudian was
      exposed to the enmity of a powerful and unforgiving courtier, whom he had
      provoked by the insolence of wit. He had compared, in a lively epigram,
      the opposite characters of two Praetorian praefects of Italy; he contrasts
      the innocent repose of a philosopher, who sometimes resigned the hours of
      business to slumber, perhaps to study, with the interesting diligence of a
      rapacious minister, indefatigable in the pursuit of unjust or
      sacrilegious, gain. "How happy," continues Claudian, "how happy might it
      be for the people of Italy, if Mallius could be constantly awake, and if
      Hadrian would always sleep!" <a href="#link30note-116"
      name="link30noteref-116" id="link30noteref-116">116</a> The repose of
      Mallius was not disturbed by this friendly and gentle admonition; but the
      cruel vigilance of Hadrian watched the opportunity of revenge, and easily
      obtained, from the enemies of Stilicho, the trifling sacrifice of an
      obnoxious poet. The poet concealed himself, however, during the tumult of
      the revolution; and, consulting the dictates of prudence rather than of
      honor, he addressed, in the form of an epistle, a suppliant and humble
      recantation to the offended praefect. He deplores, in mournful strains,
      the fatal indiscretion into which he had been hurried by passion and
      folly; submits to the imitation of his adversary the generous examples of
      the clemency of gods, of heroes, and of lions; and expresses his hope that
      the magnanimity of Hadrian will not trample on a defenceless and
      contemptible foe, already humbled by disgrace and poverty, and deeply
      wounded by the exile, the tortures, and the death of his dearest friends.
      <a href="#link30note-117" name="link30noteref-117" id="link30noteref-117">117</a>
      Whatever might be the success of his prayer, or the accidents of his
      future life, the period of a few years levelled in the grave the minister
      and the poet: but the name of Hadrian is almost sunk in oblivion, while
      Claudian is read with pleasure in every country which has retained, or
      acquired, the knowledge of the Latin language. If we fairly balance his
      merits and his defects, we shall acknowledge that Claudian does not either
      satisfy, or silence, our reason. It would not be easy to produce a passage
      that deserves the epithet of sublime or pathetic; to select a verse that
      melts the heart or enlarges the imagination. We should vainly seek, in the
      poems of Claudian, the happy invention, and artificial conduct, of an
      interesting fable; or the just and lively representation of the characters
      and situations of real life. For the service of his patron, he published
      occasional panegyrics and invectives: and the design of these slavish
      compositions encouraged his propensity to exceed the limits of truth and
      nature. These imperfections, however, are compensated in some degree by
      the poetical virtues of Claudian. He was endowed with the rare and
      precious talent of raising the meanest, of adorning the most barren, and
      of diversifying the most similar, topics: his coloring, more especially in
      descriptive poetry, is soft and splendid; and he seldom fails to display,
      and even to abuse, the advantages of a cultivated understanding, a copious
      fancy, an easy, and sometimes forcible, expression; and a perpetual flow
      of harmonious versification. To these commendations, independent of any
      accidents of time and place, we must add the peculiar merit which Claudian
      derived from the unfavorable circumstances of his birth. In the decline of
      arts, and of empire, a native of Egypt, <a href="#link30note-118"
      name="link30noteref-118" id="link30noteref-118">118</a> who had received
      the education of a Greek, assumed, in a mature age, the familiar use, and
      absolute command, of the Latin language; <a href="#link30note-119"
      name="link30noteref-119" id="link30noteref-119">119</a> soared above the
      heads of his feeble contemporaries; and placed himself, after an interval
      of three hundred years, among the poets of ancient Rome. <a
      href="#link30note-120" name="link30noteref-120" id="link30noteref-120">120</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-114" id="link30note-114">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      114 (<a href="#link30noteref-114">return</a>)<br /> [ At the nuptials of
      Orpheus (a modest comparison!) all the parts of animated nature
      contributed their various gifts; and the gods themselves enriched their
      favorite. Claudian had neither flocks, nor herds, 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.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-115" id="link30note-115">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      115 (<a href="#link30noteref-115">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian feels the
      honor like a man who deserved it, (in praefat Bell. Get.) The original
      inscription, on marble, was found at Rome, in the fifteenth century, in
      the house of Pomponius Laetus. The statue of a poet, far superior to
      Claudian, should have been erected, during his lifetime, by the men of
      letters, his countrymen and contemporaries. It was a noble design.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-116" id="link30note-116">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      116 (<a href="#link30noteref-116">return</a>)<br /> [ See Epigram xxx.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Mallius indulget somno noctesque diesque:
     Insomnis Pharius sacra, profana, rapit.
     Omnibus, hoc, Italae gentes, exposcite votis;
     Mallius ut vigilet, dormiat ut Pharius.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Hadrian was a Pharian, (of Alexandrian.) See his public life in Godefroy,
      Cod. Theodos. tom. vi. p. 364. Mallius did not always sleep. He composed
      some elegant dialogues on the Greek systems of natural philosophy, (Claud,
      in Mall. Theodor. Cons. 61-112.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-117" id="link30note-117">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      117 (<a href="#link30noteref-117">return</a>)<br /> [ See Claudian's first
      Epistle. Yet, in some places, an air of irony and indignation betrays his
      secret reluctance. * Note: M. Beugnot has pointed out one remarkable
      characteristic of Claudian's poetry, and of the times&mdash;his
      extraordinary religious indifference. Here is a poet writing at the actual
      crisis of the complete triumph of the new religion, the visible extinction
      of the old: if we may so speak, a strictly historical poet, whose works,
      excepting his Mythological poem on the rape of Proserpine, are confined to
      temporary subjects, and to the politics of his own eventful day; yet,
      excepting in one or two small and indifferent pieces, manifestly written
      by a Christian, and interpolated among his poems, there is no allusion
      whatever to the great religious strife. No one would know the existence of
      Christianity at that period of the world, by reading the works of
      Claudian. His panegyric and his satire preserve the same religious
      impartiality; award their most lavish praise or their bitterest invective
      on Christian or Pagan; he insults the fall of Eugenius, and glories in the
      victories of Theodosius. Under the child,&mdash;and Honorius never became
      more than a child,&mdash;Christianity continued to inflict wounds more and
      more deadly on expiring Paganism. Are the gods of Olympus agitated with
      apprehension at the birth of this new enemy? They are introduced as
      rejoicing at his appearance, and promising long years of glory. The whole
      prophetic choir of Paganism, all the oracles throughout the world, are
      summoned to predict the felicity of his reign. His birth is compared to
      that of Apollo, but the narrow limits of an island must not confine the
      new deity&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     ... Non littora nostro
     Sufficerent angusta Deo.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Augury and divination, the shrines of Ammon, and of Delphi, the Persian
      Magi, and the Etruscan seers, the Chaldean astrologers, the Sibyl herself,
      are described as still discharging their prophetic functions, and
      celebrating the natal day of this Christian prince. They are noble lines,
      as well as curious illustrations of the times:
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     ... 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.
     &mdash;Claud. iv. Cons. Hon. 141.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      From the Quarterly Review of Beugnot. Hist. de la Paganisme en Occident,
      Q. R. v. lvii. p. 61.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-118" id="link30note-118">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      118 (<a href="#link30noteref-118">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-119" id="link30note-119">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      119 (<a href="#link30noteref-119">return</a>)<br /> [ His first Latin
      verses were composed during the consulship of Probinus, A.D. 395.
    </p>
    <p>
      Romanos bibimus primum, te consule, fontes, Et Latiae cessit Graia Thalia
      togae.
    </p>
    <p>
      Besides some Greek epigrams, which are still extant, the Latin poet had
      composed, in Greek, the Antiquities of Tarsus, Anazarbus, Berytus, Nice,
      &amp;c. It is more easy to supply the loss of good poetry, than of
      authentic history.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link30note-120" id="link30note-120">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      120 (<a href="#link30noteref-120">return</a>)<br /> [ Strada (Prolusion v.
      vi.) allows him to contend with the five heroic poets, Lucretius, Virgil,
      Ovid, Lucan, and Statius. His patron is the accomplished courtier
      Balthazar Castiglione. His admirers are numerous and passionate. Yet the
      rigid critics reproach the exotic weeds, or flowers, which spring too
      luxuriantly in his Latian soil]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br /> <a name="link312HCH0001" id="link312HCH0001">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part
      I.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Invasion Of Italy By Alaric.&mdash;Manners Of The Roman Senate
     And People.&mdash;Rome Is Thrice Besieged, And At Length
     Pillaged, By The Goths.&mdash;Death Of Alaric.&mdash;The Goths
     Evacuate Italy.&mdash;Fall Of Constantine.&mdash;Gaul And Spain Are
     Occupied By The Barbarians. &mdash;Independence Of Britain.
</pre>
    <p>
      The incapacity of a weak and distracted government may often assume the
      appearance, and produce the effects, of a treasonable correspondence with
      the public enemy. If Alaric himself had been introduced into the council
      of Ravenna, he would probably have advised the same measures which were
      actually pursued by the ministers of Honorius. <a href="#link31note-1"
      name="link31noteref-1" id="link31noteref-1">1</a> The king of the Goths
      would have conspired, perhaps with some reluctance, to destroy the
      formidable adversary, by whose arms, in Italy, as well as in Greece, he
      had been twice overthrown. Their active and interested hatred laboriously
      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 to the friends of
      their country, who despised, or detested, the worthless characters of
      Turpilio, Varanes, and Vigilantius. By the pressing instances of the new
      favorites, these generals, unworthy as they had shown themselves of the
      names of soldiers, <a href="#link31note-2" name="link31noteref-2"
      id="link31noteref-2">2</a> were promoted to the command of the cavalry, of
      the infantry, and of the domestic troops. The Gothic prince would have
      subscribed with pleasure the edict which the 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 service of all those who dissented from
      his religion; and rashly disqualified many of his bravest and most skilful
      officers, who adhered to the Pagan worship, or who had imbibed the
      opinions of Arianism. <a href="#link31note-3" name="link31noteref-3"
      id="link31noteref-3">3</a> These measures, so advantageous to an enemy,
      Alaric would have approved, and might perhaps have suggested; but it may
      seem doubtful, whether the Barbarian would have promoted his interest at
      the expense of the inhuman and absurd cruelty which was perpetrated by the
      direction, or at least with 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 the safety of their wives and children; who were detained
      as hostages in the strong cities of Italy, where they had likewise
      deposited their most valuable effects. At the same hour, and as if by a
      common signal, the cities of Italy were polluted by the same horrid scenes
      of universal massacre and pillage, which involved, in promiscuous
      destruction, the families and fortunes of the Barbarians. Exasperated by
      such an injury, which might have awakened the tamest and most servile
      spirit, they cast a look of indignation and hope towards the camp of
      Alaric, and unanimously swore to pursue, with just and implacable war, the
      perfidious nation who had so basely violated the laws of hospitality. By
      the imprudent conduct of the ministers of Honorius, the republic lost the
      assistance, and deserved the enmity, of thirty thousand of her bravest
      soldiers; and the weight of that formidable army, which alone might have
      determined the event of the war, was transferred from the scale of the
      Romans into that of the Goths.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-1" id="link31note-1">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1 (<a href="#link31noteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ The series of events,
      from the death of Stilicho to the arrival of Alaric before Rome, can only
      be found in Zosimus, l. v. p. 347-350.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-2" id="link31note-2">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2 (<a href="#link31noteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ The expression of Zosimus
      is strong and lively, sufficient to excite the contempt of the enemy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-3" id="link31note-3">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3 (<a href="#link31noteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ Eos qui catholicae sectae
      sunt inimici, intra palatium militare pro hibemus. Nullus nobis sit aliqua
      ratione conjunctus, qui a nobis fidest religione discordat. Cod. Theodos.
      l. xvi. tit. v. leg. 42, and Godefroy's Commentary, tom. vi. p. 164. This
      law was applied in the utmost latitude, and rigorously executed. Zosimus,
      l. v. p. 364.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In the arts of negotiation, as well as in those of war, the Gothic king
      maintained his superior ascendant over an enemy, whose seeming changes
      proceeded from the total want of counsel and design. From his camp, on the
      confines of Italy, Alaric attentively observed the revolutions of the
      palace, watched the progress of faction and discontent, disguised the
      hostile aspect of a Barbarian invader, and assumed the more popular
      appearance of the friend and ally of the great Stilicho: to whose virtues,
      when they were no longer formidable, he could pay a just tribute of
      sincere praise and regret. The pressing invitation of the malecontents,
      who urged the king of the Goths to invade Italy, was enforced by a lively
      sense of his personal injuries; and he might especially complain, that the
      Imperial ministers still delayed and eluded the payment of the four
      thousand pounds of gold which had been granted by the Roman senate, either
      to reward his services, or to appease his fury. His decent firmness was
      supported by an artful moderation, which contributed to the success of his
      designs. He required a fair and reasonable satisfaction; but he gave the
      strongest assurances, that, as soon as he had obtained it, he would
      immediately retire. He refused to trust the faith of the Romans, unless
      Aetius and Jason, the sons of two great officers of state, were sent as
      hostages to his camp; but he offered to deliver, in exchange, several of
      the noblest youths of the Gothic nation. The modesty of Alaric was
      interpreted, by the ministers of Ravenna, as a sure evidence of his
      weakness and fear. They disdained either to negotiate a treaty, or to
      assemble an army; and with a rash confidence, derived only from their
      ignorance of the extreme danger, irretrievably wasted the decisive moments
      of peace and war. While they expected, in sullen silence, that the
      Barbarians would evacuate 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;
      increased his forces by the accession of thirty thousand auxiliaries; and,
      without meeting a single enemy in the field, advanced as far as the edge
      of the morass which protected the impregnable residence of the emperor of
      the West. Instead of attempting the hopeless siege of Ravenna, the prudent
      leader of the Goths proceeded to Rimini, stretched his ravages along the
      sea-coast of the Hadriatic, and meditated the conquest of the ancient
      mistress of the world. An Italian hermit, whose zeal and sanctity were
      respected by the Barbarians themselves, encountered the victorious
      monarch, and boldly denounced the indignation of Heaven against the
      oppressors of the earth; but the saint himself was confounded by the
      solemn asseveration of Alaric, that he felt a secret and praeternatural
      impulse, which directed, and even compelled, his march to the gates of
      Rome. He felt, that his genius and his fortune were equal to the most
      arduous enterprises; and the enthusiasm which he communicated to the
      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 Flaminian way, occupied the
      unguarded passes of the Apennine, <a href="#link31note-4"
      name="link31noteref-4" id="link31noteref-4">4</a> descended into the rich
      plains of Umbria; and, as they lay encamped on the banks of the Clitumnus,
      might wantonly slaughter and devour the milk-white oxen, which had been so
      long reserved for the use of Roman triumphs. A lofty situation, and a
      seasonable tempest of thunder and lightning, preserved the little city of
      Narni; but the king of the Goths, despising the ignoble prey, still
      advanced with unabated vigor; and after he had passed through the stately
      arches, adorned with the spoils of Barbaric victories, he pitched his camp
      under the walls of Rome. <a href="#link31note-6" name="link31noteref-6"
      id="link31noteref-6">6</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-4" id="link31note-4">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4 (<a href="#link31noteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ Addison (see his Works,
      vol. ii. p. 54, edit. Baskerville) has given a very picturesque
      description of the road through the Apennine. The Goths were not at
      leisure to observe the beauties of the prospect; but they were pleased to
      find that the Saxa Intercisa, a narrow passage which Vespasian had cut
      through the rock, (Cluver. Italia Antiq. tom. i. p. 168,) was totally
      neglected.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Hine albi, Clitumne, greges, et maxima taurus
     Victima, saepe tuo perfusi flumine sacro,
     Romanos ad templa Deum duxere triumphos.
     &mdash;Georg. ii. 147.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Besides Virgil, most of the Latin poets, Propertius, Lucan, Silius
      Italicus, Claudian, &amp;c., whose passages may be found in Cluverius and
      Addison, have celebrated the triumphal victims of the Clitumnus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-6" id="link31note-6">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6 (<a href="#link31noteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ Some ideas of the march
      of Alaric are borrowed from the journey of Honorius over the same ground.
      (See Claudian in vi. Cons. Hon. 494-522.) The measured distance between
      Ravenna and Rome was 254 Roman miles. Itinerar. Wesseling, p. 126.]
    </p>
    <p>
      During a period of six hundred and nineteen years, the seat of empire had
      never been violated by the presence of a foreign enemy. The unsuccessful
      expedition of Hannibal <a href="#link31note-7" name="link31noteref-7"
      id="link31noteref-7">7</a> served only to display the character of the
      senate and people; of a senate degraded, rather than ennobled, by the
      comparison of an assembly of kings; and of a people, to whom the
      ambassador of Pyrrhus ascribed the inexhaustible resources of the Hydra.
      <a href="#link31note-8" name="link31noteref-8" id="link31noteref-8">8</a>
      Each of the senators, in the time of the Punic war, had accomplished his
      term of the military service, either in a subordinate or a superior
      station; and the decree, which invested with temporary command all those
      who had been consuls, or censors, or dictators, gave the republic the
      immediate assistance of many brave and experienced generals. In the
      beginning of the war, the Roman people consisted of two hundred and fifty
      thousand citizens of an age to bear arms. <a href="#link31note-9"
      name="link31noteref-9" id="link31noteref-9">9</a> Fifty thousand had
      already died in the defence of their country; and the twenty-three legions
      which were employed in the different camps of Italy, Greece, Sardinia,
      Sicily, and Spain, required about one hundred thousand men. But there
      still remained an equal number in Rome, and the adjacent territory, who
      were animated by the same intrepid courage; and every citizen was trained,
      from his earliest youth, in the discipline and exercises of a soldier.
      Hannibal was astonished by the constancy of the senate, who, without
      raising the siege of Capua, or recalling their scattered forces, expected
      his approach. He encamped on the banks of the Anio, at the distance of
      three miles from the city; and he was soon informed, that the ground on
      which he had pitched his tent, was sold for an adequate price at a public
      auction; <a href="#link31note-911" name="link31noteref-911"
      id="link31noteref-911">911</a> and that a body of troops was dismissed by
      an opposite road, to reenforce the legions of Spain. <a
      href="#link31note-10" name="link31noteref-10" id="link31noteref-10">10</a>
      He led his Africans to the gates of Rome, where he found three armies in
      order of battle, prepared to receive him; but Hannibal dreaded the event
      of a combat, from which he could not hope to escape, unless he destroyed
      the last of his enemies; and his speedy retreat confessed the invincible
      courage of the Romans.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-7" id="link31note-7">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7 (<a href="#link31noteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 the interesting scene.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-8" id="link31note-8">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8 (<a href="#link31noteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ These comparisons were
      used by Cyneas, the counsellor of Pyrrhus, after his return from his
      embassy, in which he had diligently studied the discipline and manners of
      Rome. See Plutarch in Pyrrho. tom. ii. p. 459.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-9" id="link31note-9">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9 (<a href="#link31noteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 unanimity of the Mss., have suspected some corruption of the text of
      Livy. (See Drakenborch ad xxvii. 36, and Beaufort, Republique Romaine,
      tom. i. p. 325.) They did not consider that the second census was taken
      only at Rome, and that the numbers were diminished, not only by the death,
      but likewise by the absence, of many soldiers. In the third census, Livy
      expressly affirms, that the legions were mustered by the care of
      particular commissaries. From the numbers on the list we must always
      deduct one twelfth above threescore, and incapable of bearing arms. See
      Population de la France, p. 72.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-911" id="link31note-911">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      911 (<a href="#link31noteref-911">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare the
      remarkable transaction in Jeremiah xxxii. 6, to 44, where the prophet
      purchases his uncle's estate at the approach of the Babylonian captivity,
      in his undoubting confidence in the future restoration of the people. In
      the one case it is the triumph of religious faith, in the other of
      national pride.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-10" id="link31note-10">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      10 (<a href="#link31noteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Livy considers these
      two incidents as the effects only of chance and courage. I suspect that
      they were both managed by the admirable policy of the senate.]
    </p>
    <p>
      From the time of the Punic war, the uninterrupted succession of senators
      had preserved the name and image of the republic; and the degenerate
      subjects of Honorius ambitiously derived their descent from the heroes who
      had repulsed the arms of Hannibal, and subdued the nations of the earth.
      The temporal honors which the devout Paula <a href="#link31note-11"
      name="link31noteref-11" id="link31noteref-11">11</a> inherited and
      despised, are carefully recapitulated by Jerom, the guide of her
      conscience, and the historian of her life. The genealogy of her father,
      Rogatus, which ascended as high as Agamemnon, might seem to betray a
      Grecian origin; but her mother, Blaesilla, numbered the Scipios, Aemilius
      Paulus, and the Gracchi, in the list of her ancestors; and Toxotius, the
      husband of Paula, deduced his royal lineage from Aeneas, the father of the
      Julian line. The vanity of the rich, who desired to be noble, was
      gratified by these lofty pretensions. Encouraged by the applause of their
      parasites, they easily imposed on the credulity of the vulgar; and were
      countenanced, in some measure, by the custom of adopting the name of their
      patron, which had always prevailed among the freedmen and clients of
      illustrious families. Most of those families, however, attacked by so many
      causes of external violence or internal decay, were gradually extirpated;
      and it would be more reasonable to seek for a lineal descent of twenty
      generations, among the mountains of the Alps, or in the peaceful solitude
      of Apulia, than on the theatre of Rome, the seat of fortune, of danger,
      and of perpetual revolutions. Under each successive reign, and from every
      province of the empire, a crowd of hardy adventurers, rising to eminence
      by their talents or their vices, usurped the wealth, the honors, and the
      palaces of Rome; and oppressed, or protected, the poor and humble remains
      of consular families; who were ignorant, perhaps, of the glory of their
      ancestors. <a href="#link31note-12" name="link31noteref-12"
      id="link31noteref-12">12</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-11" id="link31note-11">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      11 (<a href="#link31noteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ See Jerom, tom. i. p.
      169, 170, ad Eustochium; he bestows on Paula the splendid titles of
      Gracchorum stirps, soboles Scipionum, Pauli haeres, cujus vocabulum
      trahit, Martiae Papyriae Matris Africani vera et germana propago. This
      particular description supposes a more solid title than the surname of
      Julius, which Toxotius shared with a thousand families of the western
      provinces. See the Index of Tacitus, of Gruter's Inscriptions, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-12" id="link31note-12">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      12 (<a href="#link31noteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ Tacitus (Annal. iii.
      55) affirms, that between the battle of Actium and the reign of Vespasian,
      the senate was gradually filled with new families from the Municipia and
      colonies of Italy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In the time of Jerom and Claudian, the senators unanimously yielded the
      preeminence to the Anician line; and a slight view of their history will
      serve to appreciate the rank and antiquity of the noble families, which
      contended only for the second place. <a href="#link31note-13"
      name="link31noteref-13" id="link31noteref-13">13</a> During the five first
      ages of the city, the name of the Anicians was unknown; they appear to
      have derived their origin from Praeneste; and the ambition of those new
      citizens was long satisfied with the Plebeian honors of tribunes of the
      people. <a href="#link31note-14" name="link31noteref-14"
      id="link31noteref-14">14</a> One hundred and sixty-eight years before the
      Christian aera, the family was ennobled by the Praetorship of Anicius, who
      gloriously terminated the Illyrian war, by the conquest of the nation, and
      the captivity of their king. <a href="#link31note-15"
      name="link31noteref-15" id="link31noteref-15">15</a> From the triumph of
      that general, three consulships, in distant periods, mark the succession
      of the Anician name. <a href="#link31note-16" name="link31noteref-16"
      id="link31noteref-16">16</a> From the reign of Diocletian to the final
      extinction of the Western empire, that name shone with a lustre which was
      not eclipsed, in the public estimation, by the majesty of the Imperial
      purple. <a href="#link31note-17" name="link31noteref-17"
      id="link31noteref-17">17</a> The several branches, to whom it was
      communicated, united, by marriage or inheritance, the wealth and titles of
      the Annian, the Petronian, and the Olybrian houses; and in each generation
      the number of consulships was multiplied by an hereditary claim. <a
      href="#link31note-18" name="link31noteref-18" id="link31noteref-18">18</a>
      The Anician family excelled in faith and in riches: they were the first of
      the Roman senate who embraced Christianity; and it is probable that
      Anicius Julian, who was afterwards consul and praefect of the city, atoned
      for his attachment to the party of Maxentius, by the readiness with which
      he accepted the religion of Constantine. <a href="#link31note-19"
      name="link31noteref-19" id="link31noteref-19">19</a> Their ample patrimony
      was increased 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. <a href="#link31note-20"
      name="link31noteref-20" id="link31noteref-20">20</a> His immense estates
      were scattered over the wide extent of the Roman world; and though the
      public might suspect or disapprove the methods by which they had been
      acquired, the generosity and magnificence of that fortunate statesman
      deserved the gratitude of his clients, and the admiration of strangers. <a
      href="#link31note-21" name="link31noteref-21" id="link31noteref-21">21</a>
      Such was the respect entertained for his memory, that the two sons of
      Probus, in their earliest youth, and at the request of the senate, were
      associated in the consular dignity; a memorable distinction, without
      example, in the annals of Rome. <a href="#link31note-22"
      name="link31noteref-22" id="link31noteref-22">22</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-13" id="link31note-13">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      13 (<a href="#link31noteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.
    &mdash;-Claud. in Prob. et Olybrii Coss. 18.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Such a compliment paid to the obscure name of the Auchenii has amazed the
      critics; but they all agree, that whatever may be the true reading, the
      sense of Claudian can be applied only to the Anician family.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-14" id="link31note-14">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      14 (<a href="#link31noteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-15" id="link31note-15">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      15 (<a href="#link31noteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ Livy, xliv. 30, 31,
      xlv. 3, 26, 43. He fairly appreciates the merit of Anicius, and justly
      observes, that his fame was clouded by the superior lustre of the
      Macedonian, which preceded the Illyrian triumph.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-16" id="link31note-16">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      16 (<a href="#link31noteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ The dates of the three
      consulships are, A. U. C. 593, 818, 967 the two last under the reigns of
      Nero and Caracalla. The second of these consuls distinguished himself only
      by his infamous flattery, (Tacit. Annal. xv. 74;) but even the evidence of
      crimes, if they bear the stamp of greatness and antiquity, is admitted,
      without reluctance, to prove the genealogy of a noble house.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-17" id="link31note-17">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      17 (<a href="#link31noteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ In the sixth century,
      the nobility of the Anician name is mentioned (Cassiodor. Variar. l. x.
      Ep. 10, 12) with singular respect by the minister of a Gothic king of
      Italy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-18" id="link31note-18">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      18 (<a href="#link31noteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      (Claudian in Prob. et Olyb. Consulat. 12, &amp;c.) The Annii, whose name
      seems to have merged in the Anician, mark the Fasti with many consulships,
      from the time of Vespasian to the fourth century.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-19" id="link31note-19">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      19 (<a href="#link31noteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ The title of first
      Christian senator may be justified by the authority of Prudentius (in
      Symmach. i. 553) and the dislike of the Pagans 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-20" id="link31note-20">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      20 (<a href="#link31noteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Probus... claritudine
      generis et potentia et opum magnitudine, cognitus Orbi Romano, per quem
      universum poene patrimonia sparsa possedit, juste an secus non judicioli
      est nostri. Ammian Marcellin. xxvii. 11. His children and widow erected
      for him a magnificent tomb in the Vatican, which was demolished in the
      time of Pope Nicholas V. to make room for the new church of St. Peter
      Baronius, who laments the ruin of this Christian monument, has diligently
      preserved the inscriptions and basso-relievos. See Annal. Eccles. A.D.
      395, No. 5-17.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-21" id="link31note-21">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      21 (<a href="#link31noteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ Two Persian satraps
      travelled to Milan and Rome, to hear St. Ambrose, and to see Probus,
      (Paulin. in Vit. Ambros.) Claudian (in Cons. Probin. et Olybr. 30-60)
      seems at a loss how to express the glory of Probus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-22" id="link31note-22">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      22 (<a href="#link31noteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ See the poem which
      Claudian addressed to the two noble youths.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link312HCH0002" id="link312HCH0002">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part
      II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      "The marbles of the Anician palace," were used as a proverbial expression
      of opulence and splendor; <a href="#link31note-23" name="link31noteref-23"
      id="link31noteref-23">23</a> but the nobles and senators of Rome aspired,
      in due gradation, to imitate that illustrious family. The accurate
      description of the city, which was composed in the Theodosian age,
      enumerates one thousand seven hundred and eighty houses, the residence of
      wealthy and honorable citizens. <a href="#link31note-24"
      name="link31noteref-24" id="link31noteref-24">24</a> Many of these stately
      mansions might almost excuse the exaggeration of the poet; that Rome
      contained a multitude of palaces, and that each palace was equal to a
      city: since it included within its own precincts every thing which could
      be subservient either to use or luxury; markets, hippodromes, temples,
      fountains, baths, porticos, shady groves, and artificial aviaries. <a
      href="#link31note-25" name="link31noteref-25" id="link31noteref-25">25</a>
      The historian Olympiodorus, who represents the state of Rome when it was
      besieged by the Goths, <a href="#link31note-26" name="link31noteref-26"
      id="link31noteref-26">26</a> continues to observe, that several of the
      richest senators received from their estates an annual income of four
      thousand pounds of gold, above one hundred and sixty thousand pounds
      sterling; without computing the stated provision of corn and wine, which,
      had they been sold, might have equalled in value one third of the money.
      Compared to this immoderate wealth, an ordinary revenue of a thousand or
      fifteen hundred pounds of gold might be considered as no more than
      adequate to the dignity of the senatorian rank, which required many
      expenses of a public and ostentatious kind. Several examples are recorded,
      in the age of Honorius, of vain and popular nobles, who celebrated the
      year of their praetorship by a festival, which lasted seven days, and cost
      above one hundred thousand pounds sterling. <a href="#link31note-27"
      name="link31noteref-27" id="link31noteref-27">27</a> The estates of the
      Roman senators, which so far exceeded the proportion of modern wealth,
      were not confined to the limits of Italy. Their possessions extended far
      beyond the Ionian and Aegean Seas, to the most distant provinces: the city
      of Nicopolis, which Augustus had founded as an eternal monument of the
      Actian victory, was the property of the devout Paula; <a
      href="#link31note-28" name="link31noteref-28" id="link31noteref-28">28</a>
      and it is observed by Seneca, that the rivers, which had divided hostile
      nations, now flowed through the lands of private citizens. <a
      href="#link31note-29" name="link31noteref-29" id="link31noteref-29">29</a>
      According to their temper and circumstances, the estates of the Romans
      were either cultivated by the labor of their slaves, or granted, for a
      certain and stipulated rent, to the industrious farmer. The economical
      writers of antiquity strenuously recommend the former method, wherever it
      may be practicable; but if the object should be removed, by its distance
      or magnitude, from the immediate eye of the master, they prefer the active
      care of an old hereditary tenant, attached to the soil, and interested in
      the produce, to the mercenary administration of a negligent, perhaps an
      unfaithful, steward. <a href="#link31note-30" name="link31noteref-30"
      id="link31noteref-30">30</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-23" id="link31note-23">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      23 (<a href="#link31noteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ Secundinus, the
      Manichaean, ap. Baron. Annal. Eccles. A.D. 390, No. 34.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-24" id="link31note-24">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      24 (<a href="#link31noteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ See Nardini, Roma
      Antica, p. 89, 498, 500.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-25" id="link31note-25">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      25 (<a href="#link31noteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
    Quid loquar inclusas inter laquearia sylvas;
    Vernula queis vario carmine ludit avis.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Claud. Rutil. Numatian. Itinerar. ver. 111. The poet lived at the time of
      the Gothic invasion. A moderate palace would have covered Cincinnatus's
      farm of four acres (Val. Max. iv. 4.) In laxitatem ruris excurrunt, says
      Seneca, Epist. 114. See a judicious note of Mr. Hume, Essays, vol. i. p.
      562, last 8vo edition.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-26" id="link31note-26">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      26 (<a href="#link31noteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ This curious account of
      Rome, in the reign of Honorius, is found in a fragment of the historian
      Olympiodorus, ap. Photium, p. 197.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-27" id="link31note-27">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      27 (<a href="#link31noteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 difficult to explain a law in the Theodosian Code, (l.
      vi. leg. 5,) which fixes the 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. de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxviii. p. 727) was
      equally applied to a purse of 125 pieces of silver, and to a small copper
      coin of the value of 1/2625 part of that purse. In the former sense, the
      25,000 folles would be equal to 150,000 L.; in the latter, to five or six
      ponuds sterling The one appears extravagant, the other is ridiculous.
      There must have existed some third and middle value, which is here
      understood; but ambiguity is an excusable fault in the language of laws.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-28" id="link31note-28">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      28 (<a href="#link31noteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ Nicopolis...... in
      Actiaco littore sita possessioris vestra 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-29" id="link31note-29">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      29 (<a href="#link31noteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ Seneca, Epist. lxxxix.
      His language is of the declamatory kind: but declamation could scarcely
      exaggerate the avarice and luxury of the Romans. The philosopher himself
      deserved some share of the reproach, 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 and another in the kingdom of Naples.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-30" id="link31note-30">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      30 (<a href="#link31noteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ Volusius, a wealthy
      senator, (Tacit. Annal. iii. 30,) always preferred tenants born on the
      estate. Columella, who received this maxim from him, argues very
      judiciously on the subject. De Re Rustica, l. i. c. 7, p. 408, edit.
      Gesner. Leipsig, 1735.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The opulent nobles of an immense capital, who were never excited by the
      pursuit of military glory, and seldom engaged in the occupations of civil
      government, naturally resigned their leisure to the business and
      amusements of private life. At Rome, commerce was always held in contempt:
      but the senators, from the first age of the republic, increased their
      patrimony, and multiplied their clients, by the lucrative practice of
      usury; and the obselete laws were eluded, or violated, by the mutual
      inclinations and interest of both parties. <a href="#link31note-31"
      name="link31noteref-31" id="link31noteref-31">31</a> A considerable mass
      of treasure must always have existed at Rome, either in the current coin
      of the empire, or in the form of gold and silver plate; and there were
      many sideboards in the time of Pliny which contained more solid silver,
      than had been transported by Scipio from vanquished Carthage. <a
      href="#link31note-32" name="link31noteref-32" id="link31noteref-32">32</a>
      The greater part of the nobles, who dissipated their fortunes in profuse
      luxury, found themselves poor in the midst of wealth, and idle in a
      constant round of dissipation. Their desires were continually gratified by
      the labor of a thousand hands; of the numerous train of their domestic
      slaves, who were actuated by the fear of punishment; and of the various
      professions of artificers and merchants, who were more powerfully impelled
      by the hopes of gain. The ancients were destitute of many of the
      conveniences of life, which have been invented or improved by the progress
      of industry; and the plenty of glass and linen has diffused more real
      comforts among the modern nations of Europe, than the senators of Rome
      could derive from all the refinements of pompous or sensual luxury. <a
      href="#link31note-33" name="link31noteref-33" id="link31noteref-33">33</a>
      Their luxury, and their manners, have been the subject of minute and
      laborious disposition: but as such inquiries would divert me too long from
      the design of the present work, I shall produce an authentic state of Rome
      and its inhabitants, which is more peculiarly applicable to the period of
      the Gothic invasion. Ammianus Marcellinus, who prudently chose the capital
      of the empire as the residence the best adapted to the historian of his
      own times, has mixed with the narrative of public events a lively
      representation 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 perhaps
      detect the latent prejudices, and personal resentments, which soured the
      temper of Ammianus himself; but he will surely observe, with philosophic
      curiosity, the interesting and original picture of the manners of Rome. <a
      href="#link31note-34" name="link31noteref-34" id="link31noteref-34">34</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-31" id="link31note-31">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      31 (<a href="#link31noteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ Valesius (ad Ammian.
      xiv. 6) has proved, from Chrysostom and 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 six percent., or one half of the legal interest;
      and, what is more singular, this permission was granted to the young
      senators.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-32" id="link31note-32">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      32 (<a href="#link31noteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ Plin. Hist. Natur.
      xxxiii. 50. He states the silver at only 4380 pounds, which is increased
      by Livy (xxx. 45) to 100,023: the former seems too little for an opulent
      city, the latter too much for any private sideboard.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-33" id="link31note-33">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      33 (<a href="#link31noteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ The learned Arbuthnot
      (Tables of Ancient Coins, &amp;c. p. 153) has observed with humor, and I
      believe with truth, that Augustus had neither glass to his windows, nor a
      shirt to his back. Under the lower empire, the use of linen and glass
      became somewhat more common. * Note: The discovery of glass in such common
      use at Pompeii, spoils the argument of Arbuthnot. See Sir W. Gell.
      Pompeiana, 2d ser. p. 98.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-34" id="link31note-34">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      34 (<a href="#link31noteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ It is incumbent on me
      to explain the liberties which I have taken with the text of Ammianus. 1.
      I have melted down into one piece the sixth chapter of the fourteenth and
      the fourth of the twenty-eighth book. 2. I have given order and connection
      to the confused mass of materials. 3. I have softened some extravagant
      hyperbeles, and pared away some superfluities of the original. 4. I have
      developed some observations which were insinuated rather than expressed.
      With these allowances, my version will be found, not literal indeed, but
      faithful and exact.]
    </p>
    <p>
      "The greatness of Rome"&mdash;such is the language of the historian&mdash;"was
      founded on the rare, and almost incredible, alliance of virtue and of
      fortune. The long period of her infancy was employed in a laborious
      struggle against the tribes of Italy, the neighbors and enemies of the
      rising city. In the strength and ardor of youth, she sustained the storms
      of war; carried her victorious arms beyond the seas and the mountains; and
      brought home triumphal laurels from every country of the globe. At length,
      verging towards old age, and sometimes conquering by the terror only of
      her name, she sought the blessings of ease and tranquillity. The venerable
      city, which had trampled on the necks of the fiercest nations, and
      established a system of laws, the perpetual guardians of justice and
      freedom, was content, like a wise and wealthy parent, to devolve on the
      Caesars, her favorite sons, the care of governing her ample patrimony. <a
      href="#link31note-35" name="link31noteref-35" id="link31noteref-35">35</a>
      A secure and profound peace, such as had been once enjoyed in the reign of
      Numa, succeeded to the tumults of a republic; while Rome was still adored
      as the queen of the earth; and the subject nations still reverenced the
      name of the people, and the majesty of the senate. But this native
      splendor," continues Ammianus, "is degraded, and sullied, by the conduct
      of some nobles, who, unmindful of their own dignity, and of that of their
      country, assume an unbounded license of vice and folly. They contend with
      each other in the empty vanity of titles and surnames; and curiously
      select, or invent, the most lofty and sonorous appellations, Reburrus, or
      Fabunius, Pagonius, or Tarasius, <a href="#link31note-36"
      name="link31noteref-36" id="link31noteref-36">36</a> which may impress the
      ears of the vulgar with astonishment and respect. From a vain ambition of
      perpetuating their memory, they affect to multiply their likeness, in
      statues of bronze and marble; nor are they satisfied, unless those statues
      are covered with plates of gold; an honorable distinction, first granted
      to Acilius the consul, after he had subdued, by his arms and counsels, the
      power of King 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 of every man, who recollects, that their poor and invincible
      ancestors were not distinguished from the meanest of the soldiers, by the
      delicacy of their food, or the splendor of their apparel. But the modern
      nobles measure their rank and consequence according to the loftiness of
      their chariots, <a href="#link31note-37" name="link31noteref-37"
      id="link31noteref-37">37</a> and the weighty magnificence of their dress.
      Their long robes of silk and purple float in the wind; and as they are
      agitated, by art or accident, they occasionally discover the under
      garments, the rich tunics, embroidered with the figures of various
      animals. <a href="#link31note-38" name="link31noteref-38"
      id="link31noteref-38">38</a> Followed by a train of fifty servants, and
      tearing up the pavement, they move along the streets with the same
      impetuous speed as if they travelled with post-horses; and the example of
      the senators is boldly imitated by the matrons and ladies, whose covered
      carriages are continually driving round the immense space of the city and
      suburbs. Whenever these persons of high distinction condescend to visit
      the public baths, they assume, on their entrance, a tone of loud and
      insolent command, and appropriate to their own use the conveniences which
      were designed for the Roman people. If, in these places of mixed and
      general resort, they meet any of the infamous ministers of their
      pleasures, they express their affection by a tender embrace; while they
      proudly decline the salutations of their fellow-citizens, who are not
      permitted to aspire above the honor of kissing their hands, or their
      knees. As soon as they have indulged themselves in the refreshment of the
      bath, they resume their rings, and the other ensigns of their dignity,
      select from their private wardrobe of the finest linen, such as might
      suffice for a dozen persons, the garments the most agreeable to their
      fancy, and maintain till their departure the same haughty demeanor; which
      perhaps might have been 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 toil of servile hands, the amusements of the chase. <a
      href="#link31note-39" name="link31noteref-39" id="link31noteref-39">39</a>
      If at any time, but more especially on a hot day, they have courage to
      sail, in their painted galleys, from the Lucrine Lake <a
      href="#link31note-40" name="link31noteref-40" id="link31noteref-40">40</a>
      to their elegant villas on the seacoast of Puteoli and Cayeta, <a
      href="#link31note-41" name="link31noteref-41" id="link31noteref-41">41</a>
      they compare their own expeditions to the marches of Caesar and Alexander.
      Yet should a fly presume to settle on the silken folds of their gilded
      umbrellas; should a sunbeam penetrate through some unguarded and
      imperceptible chink, they deplore their intolerable hardships, and lament,
      in affected language, that they were not born in the land of the
      Cimmerians, <a href="#link31note-42" name="link31noteref-42"
      id="link31noteref-42">42</a> the regions of eternal darkness. In these
      journeys into the country, <a href="#link31note-43" name="link31noteref-43"
      id="link31noteref-43">43</a> the whole body of the household marches with
      their master. In the same manner as the cavalry and infantry, the heavy
      and the light armed troops, the advanced guard and the rear, are
      marshalled by the skill of their military leaders; so the domestic
      officers, who bear a rod, as an ensign of authority, distribute and
      arrange the numerous train of slaves and attendants. The baggage and
      wardrobe move in the front; and are immediately followed by a multitude of
      cooks, and inferior ministers, employed in the service of the kitchens,
      and of the table. The main body is composed of a promiscuous crowd of
      slaves, increased by the accidental concourse of idle or dependent
      plebeians. The rear is closed by the favorite band of eunuchs, distributed
      from age to youth, according to the order of seniority. Their numbers and
      their deformity excite the horror of the indignant spectators, who are
      ready to execrate the memory of Semiramis, for the cruel art which she
      invented, of frustrating the purposes of nature, and of blasting in the
      bud the hopes of future generations. In the exercise of domestic
      jurisdiction, the nobles 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 his obedience, he is instantly chastised with three hundred lashes: but
      should the same slave commit a wilful murder, the master will mildly
      observe, that he is a worthless fellow; but that, if he repeats the
      offence, he shall not escape punishment. Hospitality was formerly the
      virtue of the Romans; and every stranger, who could plead either merit or
      misfortune, was relieved, or rewarded by their generosity. At present, if
      a foreigner, perhaps of no contemptible rank, is introduced to one of the
      proud and wealthy senators, he is welcomed indeed in the first audience,
      with such warm professions, and such kind inquiries, that he retires,
      enchanted with the affability of his illustrious friend, and full of
      regret that he had so long delayed his journey to Rome, the active seat of
      manners, as well as of empire. Secure of a favorable reception, he repeats
      his visit the ensuing day, and is mortified by the discovery, that his
      person, his name, and his country, are already forgotten. If he still has
      resolution to persevere, he is gradually numbered in the train of
      dependants, and obtains the permission to pay his assiduous and
      unprofitable court to a haughty patron, incapable of gratitude or
      friendship; who scarcely deigns to remark his presence, his departure, or
      his return. Whenever the rich prepare a solemn and popular entertainment;
      <a href="#link31note-44" name="link31noteref-44" id="link31noteref-44">44</a>
      whenever they celebrate, with profuse and pernicious luxury, their private
      banquets; the choice of the guests is the subject of anxious deliberation.
      The modest, the sober, and the learned, are seldom preferred; and the
      nomenclators, who are commonly swayed by interested motives, have the
      address to insert, in the list of invitations, the obscure names of the
      most worthless of mankind. But the frequent and familiar companions of the
      great, are those parasites, who practise the most useful of all arts, the
      art of flattery; who eagerly applaud each word, and every action, of their
      immortal patron; gaze with rapture on his marble columns and variegated
      pavements; and strenuously praise the pomp and elegance which he is taught
      to consider as a part of his personal merit. At the Roman tables, the
      birds, the squirrels, <a href="#link31note-45" name="link31noteref-45"
      id="link31noteref-45">45</a> or the fish, which appear of an uncommon
      size, are contemplated with curious attention; a pair of scales is
      accurately applied, to ascertain their real weight; and, while the more
      rational guests are disgusted by the vain and tedious repetition, notaries
      are summoned to attest, by an authentic record, the truth of such a
      marvelous event. Another method of introduction into the houses and
      society of the great, is derived from the profession of gaming, or, as it
      is more politely styled, of play. The confederates are united by a strict
      and indissoluble bond of friendship, or rather of conspiracy; a superior
      degree of skill in the Tesserarian art (which may be interpreted the game
      of dice and tables) <a href="#link31note-46" name="link31noteref-46"
      id="link31noteref-46">46</a> is a sure road to wealth and reputation. A
      master of that sublime science, who in a supper, or assembly, is placed
      below a magistrate, displays in his countenance the surprise and
      indignation which Cato might be supposed to feel, when he was refused the
      praetorship by the votes of a capricious people. The acquisition of
      knowledge seldom engages the curiosity of nobles, who abhor the fatigue,
      and disdain the advantages, of study; and the only books which they peruse
      are the Satires of Juvenal, and the verbose and fabulous histories of
      Marius Maximus. <a href="#link31note-47" name="link31noteref-47"
      id="link31noteref-47">47</a> The libraries, which they have inherited from
      their fathers, are secluded, like dreary sepulchres, from the light of
      day. <a href="#link31note-48" name="link31noteref-48" id="link31noteref-48">48</a>
      But the costly instruments of the theatre, flutes, and enormous lyres, and
      hydraulic organs, are constructed for their use; and the harmony of vocal
      and instrumental music is incessantly repeated in the palaces of Rome. In
      those palaces, sound is preferred to sense, and the care of the body to
      that of the mind."
    </p>
    <p>
      It is allowed as a salutary maxim, that the light and frivolous suspicion
      of a contagious malady, is of sufficient weight to excuse the visits of
      the most intimate friends; and even the servants, who are despatched to
      make the decent inquiries, are not suffered to return home, till they have
      undergone the ceremony of a previous ablution. Yet this selfish and
      unmanly delicacy occasionally yields to the more imperious passion of
      avarice. The prospect of gain will urge a rich and gouty senator as far as
      Spoleto; every sentiment of arrogance and dignity 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. The art of obtaining the signature of a
      favorable testament, and sometimes of hastening the moment of its
      execution, is perfectly understood; and it has happened, that in the same
      house, though in different apartments, a husband and a wife, with the
      laudable design of overreaching each other, have summoned their respective
      lawyers, to declare, at the same time, their mutual, but contradictory,
      intentions. The distress which follows and chastises extravagant luxury,
      often reduces the great to the use of the most humiliating expedients.
      When they desire to borrow, they employ the base and supplicating style of
      the slave in the comedy; but when they are called upon to pay, they assume
      the royal and tragic declamation of the grandsons of Hercules. If the
      demand is repeated, they readily procure some trusty sycophant, instructed
      to maintain a charge of poison, or magic, against the insolent creditor;
      who is seldom released from prison, till he has signed a discharge of the
      whole debt. These vices, which degrade the moral character of the Romans,
      are mixed with a puerile superstition, that disgraces their understanding.
      They listen with confidence to the predictions of haruspices, who pretend
      to read, in the entrails of victims, the signs of future greatness and
      prosperity; and there are many who do not presume either to bathe, or to
      dine, or to appear in public, till they have diligently consulted,
      according to the rules of astrology, the situation of Mercury, and the
      aspect of the moon. <a href="#link31note-49" name="link31noteref-49"
      id="link31noteref-49">49</a> It is singular enough, that this vain
      credulity may often be discovered among the profane sceptics, who
      impiously doubt, or deny, the existence of a celestial power."
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-35" id="link31note-35">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      35 (<a href="#link31noteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian, who seems to
      have read the history of Ammianus, speaks of this great revolution in a
      much less courtly style:&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Postquam jura ferox in se communia Caesar
     Transtulit; et lapsi mores; desuetaque priscis
     Artibus, in gremium pacis servile recessi.
     &mdash;De Be. Gildonico, p. 49.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-36" id="link31note-36">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      36 (<a href="#link31noteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ The minute diligence of
      antiquarians has not been able to verify these extraordinary names. I am
      of opinion that they were invented by the historian himself, who was
      afraid of any personal satire or application. It is certain, however, that
      the simple denominations of the Romans were gradually lengthened to the
      number of four, five, or even seven, pompous surnames; as, for instance,
      Marcus Maecius Maemmius Furius Balburius Caecilianus Placidus. See Noris
      Cenotaph Piran Dissert. iv. p. 438.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-37" id="link31note-37">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      37 (<a href="#link31noteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ The or coaches of the
      romans, were often of solid silver, curiously carved and engraved; and the
      trappings of the mules, or horses, were embossed with gold. This
      magnificence continued from the reign of Nero to that of Honorius; and the
      Appian way was covered with the 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. apud Baron. Annal. Eccles. A.D. 397, No. 5.) Yet pomp is
      well exchange for convenience; and a plain modern coach, that is hung upon
      springs, is much preferable to the silver or gold carts of antiquity,
      which rolled on the axle-tree, and were exposed, for the most part, to the
      inclemency of the weather.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-38" id="link31note-38">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      38 (<a href="#link31noteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ In a homily of
      Asterius, bishop of Amasia, M. de Valois has discovered (ad Ammian. xiv.
      6) that this was a new fashion; that bears, wolves lions, and tigers,
      woods, hunting-matches, &amp;c., were represented in embroidery: and that
      the more pious coxcombs substituted the figure or legend of some favorite
      saint.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-39" id="link31note-39">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      39 (<a href="#link31noteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ See Pliny's Epistles,
      i. 6. Three large wild boars were allured and taken in the toils without
      interrupting the studies of the philosophic sportsman.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-40" id="link31note-40">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      40 (<a href="#link31noteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ The change from the
      inauspicious word Avernus, which stands in the text, is immaterial. The
      two lakes, Avernus and Lucrinus, communicated with each other, and were
      fashioned by the stupendous moles of Agrippa into the Julian port, which
      opened, through a narrow entrance, into the Gulf of Puteoli. Virgil, who
      resided on the spot, has described (Georgic ii. 161) this work at the
      moment of its execution: and his commentators, especially Catrou, have
      derived much light from Strabo, Suetonius, and Dion. Earthquakes and
      volcanoes have changed the face of the country, and turned the Lucrine
      Lake, since the year 1538, into the Monte Nuovo. See Camillo Pellegrino
      Discorsi della Campania Felice, p. 239, 244, &amp;c. Antonii Sanfelicii
      Campania, p. 13, 88&mdash;Note: Compare Lyell's Geology, ii. 72.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-41" id="link31note-41">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      41 (<a href="#link31noteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ The regna Cumana et
      Puteolana; loca caetiroqui valde expe tenda, interpellantium autem
      multitudine paene fugienda. Cicero ad Attic. xvi. 17.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-42" id="link31note-42">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      42 (<a href="#link31noteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ The proverbial
      expression of Cimmerian darkness was originally borrowed from the
      description of Homer, (in the eleventh book of the Odyssey,) which he
      applies to a remote and fabulous country on the shores of the ocean. See
      Erasmi Adagia, in his works, tom. ii. p. 593, the Leyden edition.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-43" id="link31note-43">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      43 (<a href="#link31noteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ We may learn from
      Seneca (epist. cxxiii.) three curious circumstances relative to the
      journeys of the Romans. 1. They were preceded by a troop of Numidian light
      horse, who announced, by a cloud of dust, the approach of a great man. 2.
      Their baggage mules transported not only the precious vases, but even the
      fragile vessels of crystal and murra, which last is almost proved, by the
      learned French translator of Seneca, (tom. iii. p. 402-422,) to mean the
      porcelain of China and Japan. 3. The beautiful faces of the young slaves
      were covered with a medicated crust, or ointment, which secured them
      against the effects of the sun and frost.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-44" id="link31note-44">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      44 (<a href="#link31noteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ Distributio solemnium
      sportularum. The sportuloe, or sportelloe, were small baskets, supposed to
      contain a quantity of hot provisions of the value of 100 quadrantes, or
      twelvepence halfpenny, which were ranged in order in the hall, and
      ostentatiously distributed to the hungry or servile crowd who waited at
      the door. This indelicate custom is very frequently mentioned in the
      epigrams of Martial, and the satires of Juvenal. See likewise Suetonius,
      in Claud. c. 21, in Neron. c. 16, in Domitian, c. 4, 7. These baskets of
      provisions were afterwards converted into large pieces of gold and silver
      coin, or plate, which were mutually given and accepted even by persons of
      the highest rank, (see Symmach. epist. iv. 55, ix. 124, and Miscell. p.
      256,) on solemn occasions, of consulships, marriages, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-45" id="link31note-45">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      45 (<a href="#link31noteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ The want of an English
      name obliges me to refer to the common genus of squirrels, the Latin glis,
      the French loir; a little animal, who inhabits the woods, and remains
      torpid in cold weather, (see Plin. Hist. Natur. viii. 82. Buffon, Hist.
      Naturelle, tom. viii. 153. Pennant's Synopsis of Quadrupeds, p. 289.) The
      art of rearing and fattening great numbers of glires was practised in
      Roman villas as a profitable article of rural economy, (Varro, de Re
      Rustica, iii. 15.) The excessive demand of them for luxurious tables was
      increased by the foolish prohibitions of the censors; and it is reported
      that they are still esteemed in modern Rome, and are frequently sent as
      presents by the Colonna princes, (see Brotier, the last editor of Pliny
      tom. ii. p. 453. epud Barbou, 1779.)&mdash;Note: Is it not the dormouse?&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-46" id="link31note-46">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      46 (<a href="#link31noteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ This game, which might
      be translated by the more familiar names of trictrac, or backgammon, was a
      favorite amusement of the gravest Romans; and old Mucius Scaevola, the
      lawyer, had the reputation of a very skilful player. It was called ludus
      duodecim scriptorum, from the twelve scripta, or lines, which equally
      divided the alvevolus or table. On these, the two armies, the white and
      the black, each consisting of fifteen men, or catculi, were regularly
      placed, and alternately moved according to the laws of the game, and the
      chances of the tesseroe, or dice. Dr. Hyde, who diligently traces the
      history and varieties of the nerdiludium (a name of Persic etymology) from
      Ireland to Japan, pours forth, on this trifling subject, a copious torrent
      of classic and Oriental learning. See Syntagma Dissertat. tom. ii. p.
      217-405.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-47" id="link31note-47">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      47 (<a href="#link31noteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ Marius Maximus, homo
      omnium verbosissimus, qui, et mythistoricis se voluminibus implicavit.
      Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 242. He wrote the lives of the emperors, from
      Trajan to Alexander Severus. See Gerard Vossius de Historicis Latin. l.
      ii. c. 3, in his works, vol. iv. p. 47.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-48" id="link31note-48">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      48 (<a href="#link31noteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ This satire is probably
      exaggerated. The Saturnalia of Macrobius, and the epistles of Jerom,
      afford satisfactory proofs, that Christian theology and classic literature
      were studiously cultivated by several Romans, of both sexes, and of the
      highest rank.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-49" id="link31note-49">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      49 (<a href="#link31noteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ Macrobius, the friend
      of these Roman nobles, considered the siara as the cause, or at least the
      signs, of future events, (de Somn. Scipion l. i. c 19. p. 68.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link312HCH0003" id="link312HCH0003">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part
      II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      In populous cities, which are the seat of commerce and manufactures, the
      middle ranks of inhabitants, who derive their subsistence from the
      dexterity or labor of their hands, are commonly the most prolific, the
      most useful, and, in that sense, the most respectable part of the
      community. But the plebeians of Rome, who disdained such sedentary and
      servile arts, had been oppressed from the earliest times by the weight of
      debt and usury; and the husbandman, during the term of his military
      service, was obliged to abandon the cultivation of his farm. <a
      href="#link31note-50" name="link31noteref-50" id="link31noteref-50">50</a>
      The lands of Italy which had been originally divided among the families of
      free and indigent proprietors, were insensibly purchased or usurped by the
      avarice of the nobles; and in the age which preceded the fall of the
      republic, it was computed that only two thousand citizens were possessed
      of an independent substance. <a href="#link31note-51"
      name="link31noteref-51" id="link31noteref-51">51</a> 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 pride alleviated in some measure, the hardships of poverty; and
      their wants were seasonably supplied by the ambitious liberality of the
      candidates, who aspired to secure a venal majority in the thirty-five
      tribes, or the hundred and ninety-three centuries, of Rome. But when the
      prodigal commons had not only imprudently alienated the use, but the
      inheritance of power, they sunk, under the reign of the Caesars, into a
      vile and wretched populace, which must, in a few generations, have been
      totally extinguished, if it had not been continually recruited by the
      manumission of slaves, and the influx of strangers. As early as the time
      of Hadrian, it was the just complaint of the ingenuous natives, that the
      capital had attracted the vices of the universe, and the manners of the
      most opposite nations. The intemperance of the Gauls, the cunning and
      levity of the Greeks, the savage obstinacy of the Egyptians and Jews, the
      servile temper of the Asiatics, and the dissolute, effeminate prostitution
      of the Syrians, were mingled in the various multitude, which, under the
      proud and false denomination of Romans, presumed to despise their
      fellow-subjects, and even their sovereigns, who dwelt beyond the precincts
      of the Eternal City. <a href="#link31note-52" name="link31noteref-52"
      id="link31noteref-52">52</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-50" id="link31note-50">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      50 (<a href="#link31noteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ The histories of Livy
      (see particularly vi. 36) are full of 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 frequently repeated in those primitive times, which
      have been so undeservedly praised.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-51" id="link31note-51">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      51 (<a href="#link31noteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ Non esse in civitate
      duo millia hominum qui rem habereni. Cicero. Offic. ii. 21, and Comment.
      Paul. Manut. in edit. Graev. This vague computation was made A. U. C. 649,
      in a speech of the tribune Philippus, and it was his object, as well as
      that of the Gracchi, (see Plutarch,) to deplore, and perhaps to
      exaggerate, the misery of the common people.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-52" id="link31note-52">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      52 (<a href="#link31noteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ See the third Satire
      (60-125) of Juvenal, who indignantly complains,
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Quamvis quota portio faecis Achaei!
     Jampridem Syrus in Tiberem defluxit Orontes;
     Et linguam et mores, &amp;c.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      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 of exile,
      reminds her how few of the inhabitants of Rome were born in the city.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Yet the name of that city was still pronounced with respect: the frequent
      and capricious tumults of its inhabitants were indulged with impunity; and
      the successors of Constantine, instead of crushing the last remains of the
      democracy by the strong arm of military power, embraced the mild policy of
      Augustus, and studied to relieve the poverty, and to amuse the idleness,
      of an innumerable people. <a href="#link31note-53" name="link31noteref-53"
      id="link31noteref-53">53</a> I. For the convenience of the lazy plebeians,
      the monthly distributions of corn were converted into a daily allowance of
      bread; a great number of ovens were constructed and maintained at the
      public expense; and at the appointed hour, each citizen, who was furnished
      with a ticket, ascended the flight of steps, which had been assigned to
      his peculiar quarter or division, and received, either as a gift, or at a
      very low price, a loaf of 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, <a href="#link31note-54" name="link31noteref-54"
      id="link31noteref-54">54</a> afforded, as a species of tribute, a
      plentiful supply of cheap and wholesome meat. During five months of the
      year, a regular allowance of bacon was distributed to the poorer citizens;
      and the annual consumption of the capital, at a time when it was much
      declined from its former lustre, was ascertained, by an edict from
      Valentinian the Third, at three millions six hundred and twenty-eight
      thousand pounds. <a href="#link31note-55" name="link31noteref-55"
      id="link31noteref-55">55</a> III. In the manners of antiquity, the use of
      oil was indispensable for the lamp, as well as for the bath; and the
      annual tax, which was imposed on Africa for the benefit of Rome, amounted
      to the weight of three millions of pounds, to the measure, perhaps, of
      three hundred thousand English gallons. IV. The anxiety of Augustus to
      provide the metropolis with sufficient plenty of corn, was not extended
      beyond that necessary article of human subsistence; and when the popular
      clamor accused the dearness and scarcity of wine, a proclamation was
      issued, by the grave reformer, to remind his subjects that no man could
      reasonably complain of thirst, since the aqueducts of Agrippa had
      introduced into the city so many copious streams of pure and salubrious
      water. <a href="#link31note-56" name="link31noteref-56"
      id="link31noteref-56">56</a> This rigid sobriety was insensibly relaxed;
      and, although the generous design of Aurelian <a href="#link31note-57"
      name="link31noteref-57" id="link31noteref-57">57</a> does not appear to
      have been executed in its full extent, the use of wine was allowed on very
      easy and liberal terms. The administration of the public cellars was
      delegated to a magistrate of honorable rank; and a considerable part of
      the vintage of Campania was reserved for the fortunate inhabitants of
      Rome.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-53" id="link31note-53">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      53 (<a href="#link31noteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ Almost all that is said
      of the bread, bacon, oil, wine, &amp;c., may be found in the fourteenth
      book of the Theodosian Code; which expressly treats of the police of the
      great cities. See particularly the titles iii. iv. xv. xvi. xvii. xxiv.
      The collateral testimonies are produced in Godefroy's Commentary, and it
      is needless to transcribe them. According to a law of Theodosius, which
      appreciates in money the military allowance, a piece of gold (eleven
      shillings) was equivalent to eighty 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.) This equation, compared with another of seventy pounds of
      bacon for an amphora, (Cod. Theod. l. xiv. tit. iv. leg. 4,) fixes the
      price of wine at about sixteenpence the gallon.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-54" id="link31note-54">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      54 (<a href="#link31noteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ The anonymous author of
      the Description of the World (p. 14. in tom. iii. Geograph. Minor. Hudson)
      observes of Lucania, in his barbarous Latin, Regio optima, et ipsa omnibus
      habundans, et lardum multum foras. Proptor quod est in montibus, cujus
      aescam animalium rariam, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-55" id="link31note-55">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      55 (<a href="#link31noteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ See Novell. ad calcem
      Cod. Theod. D. Valent. l. i. tit. xv. This law was published at Rome, June
      29th, A.D. 452.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-56" id="link31note-56">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      56 (<a href="#link31noteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ Sueton. in August. c.
      42. The utmost debauch of the emperor himself, in his favorite wine of
      Rhaetia, never exceeded a sextarius, (an English pint.) Id. c. 77.
      Torrentius ad loc. and Arbuthnot's Tables, p. 86.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-57" id="link31note-57">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      57 (<a href="#link31noteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ His design was to plant
      vineyards along the sea-coast of Hetruria, (Vopiscus, in Hist. August. p.
      225;) the dreary, unwholesome, uncultivated Maremme of modern Tuscany]
    </p>
    <p>
      The stupendous aqueducts, so justly celebrated by the praises of Augustus
      himself, replenished the Thermoe, or baths, which had been constructed in
      every part of the city, with Imperial magnificence. The baths of Antoninus
      Caracalla, which were open, at stated hours, for the indiscriminate
      service of the senators and the people, contained above sixteen hundred
      seats of marble; and more than three thousand were reckoned in the baths
      of Diocletian. <a href="#link31note-58" name="link31noteref-58"
      id="link31noteref-58">58</a> The walls of the lofty apartments were
      covered with curious mosaics, that imitated the art of the pencil in the
      elegance of design, and the variety of colors. The Egyptian granite was
      beautifully encrusted with the precious green marble of Numidia; the
      perpetual stream of hot water was poured into the capacious basins,
      through so many wide mouths of bright and massy silver; and the meanest
      Roman could purchase, with a small copper coin, the daily enjoyment of a
      scene of pomp and luxury, which might excite the envy of the kings of
      Asia. <a href="#link31note-59" name="link31noteref-59"
      id="link31noteref-59">59</a> From these stately palaces issued a swarm of
      dirty and ragged plebeians, without shoes and without a mantle; who
      loitered away whole days in the street of Forum, to hear news and to hold
      disputes; who dissipated in extravagant gaming, the miserable pittance of
      their wives and children; and spent the hours of the night in the obscure
      taverns, and brothels, in the indulgence of gross and vulgar sensuality.
      <a href="#link31note-60" name="link31noteref-60" id="link31noteref-60">60</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-58" id="link31note-58">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      58 (<a href="#link31noteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ Olympiodor. apud Phot.
      p. 197.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-59" id="link31note-59">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      59 (<a href="#link31noteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ Seneca (epistol.
      lxxxvi.) compares the baths of Scipio Africanus, at his villa of Liternum,
      with the magnificence (which was continually increasing) of the public
      baths of Rome, long before the stately Thermae of Antoninus and Diocletian
      were erected. The quadrans paid for admission was the quarter of the as,
      about one eighth of an English penny.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-60" id="link31note-60">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      60 (<a href="#link31noteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ Ammianus, (l. xiv. c.
      6, and l. xxviii. c. 4,) after describing the luxury and pride of the
      nobles of Rome, exposes, with equal indignation, the vices and follies of
      the common people.]
    </p>
    <p>
      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 of gladiators; but
      the Roman people still considered the Circus as their home, their temple,
      and the seat of the republic. The impatient crowd rushed at the dawn of
      day to secure their places, and there were many who passed a sleepless and
      anxious night in the adjacent porticos. From the morning to the evening,
      careless of the sun, or of the rain, the spectators, who sometimes
      amounted to the number of four hundred thousand, remained in eager
      attention; their eyes fixed on the horses and charioteers, their minds
      agitated with hope and fear, for the success of the colors which they
      espoused: and the happiness of Rome appeared to hang on the event of a
      race. <a href="#link31note-61" name="link31noteref-61"
      id="link31noteref-61">61</a> The same immoderate ardor inspired their
      clamors and their applause, as often as they were entertained with the
      hunting of wild beasts, and the various modes of theatrical
      representation. These representations in modern capitals may 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, <a href="#link31note-62" name="link31noteref-62"
      id="link31noteref-62">62</a> had been almost totally silent since the fall
      of the republic; <a href="#link31note-63" name="link31noteref-63"
      id="link31noteref-63">63</a> and their place was unworthily occupied by
      licentious farce, effeminate music, and splendid pageantry. The
      pantomimes, <a href="#link31note-64" name="link31noteref-64"
      id="link31noteref-64">64</a> who maintained their reputation from the age
      of Augustus to the sixth century, expressed, without the use of words, the
      various fables of the gods and heroes of antiquity; and the perfection of
      their art, which sometimes disarmed the gravity of the philosopher, always
      excited the applause and wonder of the people. The vast and magnificent
      theatres of Rome were filled by three thousand female dancers, and by
      three thousand singers, with the masters of the respective choruses. Such
      was the popular favor which they enjoyed, that, in a time of scarcity,
      when all strangers were banished from the city, the merit of contributing
      to the public pleasures exempted them from a law, which was strictly
      executed against the professors of the liberal arts. <a
      href="#link31note-65" name="link31noteref-65" id="link31noteref-65">65</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-61" id="link31note-61">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      61 (<a href="#link31noteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ Juvenal. Satir. xi.
      191, &amp;c. The expressions of the historian Ammianus are not less strong
      and animated than those of the satirist and both the one and the other
      painted from the life. The numbers which the great Circus was capable of
      receiving are taken from the original Notitioe of the city. The
      differences between them prove that they did not transcribe each other;
      but the same may appear incredible, though the country on these occasions
      flocked to the city.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-62" id="link31note-62">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      62 (<a href="#link31noteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ Sometimes indeed they
      composed original pieces.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Vestigia Graeca
     Ausi deserere et celeb rare domestica facta.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Horat. Epistol. ad Pisones, 285, and the learned, though perplexed note of
      Dacier, who might have allowed the name of tragedies to the Brutus and the
      Decius of Pacuvius, or to the Cato of Maternus. The Octavia, ascribed to
      one of the Senecas, still remains a very unfavorable specimen of Roman
      tragedy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-63" id="link31note-63">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      63 (<a href="#link31noteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ In the time of
      Quintilian and Pliny, a tragic poet was reduced to the imperfect method of
      hiring a great room, and reading his play to the company, whom he invited
      for that purpose. (See Dialog. de Oratoribus, c. 9, 11, and Plin. Epistol.
      vii. 17.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-64" id="link31note-64">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      64 (<a href="#link31noteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 almost every art and science. Burette (in the
      Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. i. p. 127, &amp;c.) has
      given a short history of the art of pantomimes.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-65" id="link31note-65">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      65 (<a href="#link31noteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ Ammianus, l. xiv. c. 6.
      He complains, with decent indignation that the streets of Rome were filled
      with crowds of females, who might have given children to the state, but
      whose only occupation was to curl and dress their hair, and jactari
      volubilibus gyris, dum experimunt innumera simulacra, quae finxere fabulae
      theatrales.]
    </p>
    <p>
      It is said, that the foolish curiosity of Elagabalus attempted to
      discover, from the quantity of spiders' webs, the number of the
      inhabitants of Rome. A more rational method of inquiry might not have been
      undeserving of the attention of the wisest princes, who could easily have
      resolved a question so important for the Roman government, and so
      interesting to succeeding ages. The births and deaths of the citizens were
      duly registered; and if any writer of antiquity had condescended to
      mention the annual amount, or the common average, we might now produce
      some satisfactory calculation, which would destroy the extravagant
      assertions of critics, and perhaps confirm the modest and probable
      conjectures of philosophers. <a href="#link31note-66"
      name="link31noteref-66" id="link31noteref-66">66</a> The most diligent
      researches have collected only the following circumstances; which, slight
      and imperfect as they are, may tend, in some degree, to illustrate the
      question of the populousness of ancient Rome. I. When the capital of the
      empire was besieged by the Goths, the circuit of the walls was accurately
      measured, by Ammonius, the mathematician, who found it equal to twenty-one
      miles. <a href="#link31note-67" name="link31noteref-67"
      id="link31noteref-67">67</a> It should not be forgotten that the form of
      the city was almost that of a circle; the geometrical figure which is
      known to contain the largest space within any given circumference. II. The
      architect Vitruvius, who flourished in the Augustan age, and whose
      evidence, on this occasion, has peculiar weight and authority, observes,
      that the innumerable habitations of the Roman people would have spread
      themselves far beyond the narrow limits of the city; and that the want of
      ground, which was probably contracted on every side by gardens and villas,
      suggested the common, though inconvenient, practice of raising the houses
      to a considerable height in the air. <a href="#link31note-68"
      name="link31noteref-68" id="link31noteref-68">68</a> But the loftiness of
      these buildings, which often consisted of hasty work and insufficient
      materials, was the cause of frequent and fatal accidents; and it was
      repeatedly enacted by Augustus, as well as by Nero, that the height of
      private edifices within the walls of Rome, should not exceed the measure
      of seventy feet from the ground. <a href="#link31note-69"
      name="link31noteref-69" id="link31noteref-69">69</a> III. Juvenal <a
      href="#link31note-70" name="link31noteref-70" id="link31noteref-70">70</a>
      laments, as it should seem from his own experience, the hardships of the
      poorer citizens, to whom he addresses the salutary advice of emigrating,
      without delay, from the smoke of Rome, since they might purchase, in the
      little towns of Italy, a cheerful commodious dwelling, at the same price
      which they annually paid for a dark and miserable lodging. House-rent was
      therefore immoderately dear: the rich acquired, at an enormous expense,
      the ground, which they covered with palaces and gardens; but the body of
      the Roman people was crowded into a narrow space; and the different
      floors, and apartments, of the same house, were divided, as it is still
      the custom of Paris, and other cities, among several families of
      plebeians. IV. The total number of houses in the fourteen regions of the
      city, is accurately stated in the description of Rome, composed under the
      reign of Theodosius, and they amount to forty-eight thousand three hundred
      and eighty-two. <a href="#link31note-71" name="link31noteref-71"
      id="link31noteref-71">71</a> The two classes of domus and of insuloe, into
      which they are divided, include all the habitations of the capital, of
      every rank and condition from the marble palace of the Anicii, with a
      numerous establishment of freedmen and slaves, to the lofty and narrow
      lodging-house, where the poet Codrus and his wife were permitted to hire a
      wretched garret immediately under the files. If we adopt the same average,
      which, under similar circumstances, has been found applicable to Paris, <a
      href="#link31note-72" name="link31noteref-72" id="link31noteref-72">72</a>
      and indifferently allow about twenty-five persons for each house, of every
      degree, we may fairly estimate the inhabitants of Rome at twelve hundred
      thousand: a number which cannot be thought excessive for the capital of a
      mighty empire, though it exceeds the populousness of the greatest cities
      of modern Europe. <a href="#link31note-73" name="link31noteref-73"
      id="link31noteref-73">73</a> <a href="#link31note-7311"
      name="link31noteref-7311" id="link31noteref-7311">7311</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-66" id="link31note-66">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      66 (<a href="#link31noteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ Lipsius (tom. iii. p.
      423, de Magnitud. Romana, l. iii. c. 3) and Isaac Vossius (Observant. Var.
      p. 26-34) have indulged strange dreams, of four, or eight, or fourteen,
      millions in Rome. Mr. Hume, (Essays, vol. i. p. 450-457,) with admirable
      good sense and scepticism betrays some secret disposition to extenuate the
      populousness of ancient times.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-67" id="link31note-67">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      67 (<a href="#link31noteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ Olympiodor. ap. Phot.
      p. 197. See Fabricius, Bibl. Graec. tom. ix. p. 400.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-68" id="link31note-68">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      68 (<a href="#link31noteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ In ea autem majestate
      urbis, et civium infinita frequentia, innumerabiles habitationes opus fuit
      explicare. Ergo cum recipero non posset area plana tantam multitudinem in
      urbe, ad auxilium altitudinis aedificiorum res ipsa coegit devenire.
      Vitruv. ii. 8. This passage, which I owe to Vossius, is clear, strong, and
      comprehensive.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-69" id="link31note-69">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      69 (<a href="#link31noteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ The successive
      testimonies of Pliny, Aristides, Claudian, Rutilius, &amp;c., prove the
      insufficiency of these restrictive edicts. See Lipsius, de Magnitud.
      Romana, l. iii. c. 4.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Tabulata tibi jam tertia fumant;
     Tu nescis; nam si gradibus trepidatur ab imis
     Ultimus ardebit, quem tegula sola tuetur
     A pluvia. &mdash;-Juvenal. Satir. iii. 199]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-70" id="link31note-70">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      70 (<a href="#link31noteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ Read the whole third
      satire, but particularly 166, 223, &amp;c. The description of a crowded
      insula, or lodging-house, in Petronius, (c. 95, 97,) perfectly tallies
      with the complaints of Juvenal; and we learn from legal authority, that,
      in the time of Augustus, (Heineccius, Hist. Juris. Roman. c. iv. p. 181,)
      the ordinary rent of the several coenacula, or apartments of an insula,
      annually produced forty thousand sesterces, between three and four hundred
      pounds sterling, (Pandect. l. xix. tit. ii. No. 30,) a sum which proves at
      once the large extent, and high value, of those common buildings.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-71" id="link31note-71">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      71 (<a href="#link31noteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ This sum total is
      composed of 1780 domus, or great houses of 46,602 insuloe, or plebeian
      habitations, (see Nardini, Roma Antica, l. iii. p. 88;) and these numbers
      are ascertained by the agreement of the texts of the different Notitioe.
      Nardini, l. viii. p. 498, 500.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-72" id="link31note-72">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      72 (<a href="#link31noteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ See that accurate
      writer M. de Messance, Recherches sur la Population, p. 175-187. From
      probable, or certain grounds, he assigns to Paris 23,565 houses, 71,114
      families, and 576,630 inhabitants.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-73" id="link31note-73">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      73 (<a href="#link31noteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ This computation is not
      very different from that which M. Brotier, the last editor of Tacitus,
      (tom. ii. p. 380,) has assumed from similar principles; though he seems to
      aim at a degree of precision which it is neither possible nor important to
      obtain.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-7311" id="link31note-7311">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7311 (<a href="#link31noteref-7311">return</a>)<br /> [ M. Dureau de la
      Malle (Economic Politique des Romaines, t. i. p. 369) quotes a passage
      from the xvth chapter of Gibbon, in which he estimates the population of
      Rome at not less than a million, and adds (omitting any reference to this
      passage,) that he (Gibbon) could not have seriously studied the question.
      M. Dureau de la Malle proceeds to argue that Rome, as contained within the
      walls of Servius Tullius, occupying an area only one fifth of that of
      Paris, could not have contained 300,000 inhabitants; within those of
      Aurelian not more than 560,000, inclusive of soldiers and strangers. The
      suburbs, he endeavors to show, both up to the time of Aurelian, and after
      his reign, were neither so extensive, nor so populous, as generally
      supposed. M. Dureau de la Malle has but imperfectly quoted the important
      passage of Dionysius, that which proves that when he wrote (in the time of
      Augustus) the walls of Servius no longer marked the boundary of the city.
      In many places they were so built upon, that it was impossible to trace
      them. There was no certain limit, where the city ended and ceased to be
      the city; it stretched out to so boundless an extent into the country.
      Ant. Rom. iv. 13. None of M. de la Malle's arguments appear to me to
      prove, against this statement, that these irregular suburbs did not extend
      so far in many parts, as to make it impossible to calculate accurately the
      inhabited area of the city. Though no doubt the city, as reconstructed by
      Nero, was much less closely built and with many more open spaces for
      palaces, temples, and other public edifices, yet many passages seem to
      prove that the laws respecting the height of houses were not rigidly
      enforced. A great part of the lower especially of the slave population,
      were very densely crowded, and lived, even more than in our modern towns,
      in cellars and subterranean dwellings under the public edifices. Nor do M.
      de la Malle's arguments, by which he would explain the insulae insulae (of
      which the Notitiae Urbis give us the number) as rows of shops, with a
      chamber or two within the domus, or houses of the wealthy, satisfy me as
      to their soundness of their scholarship. Some passages which he adduces
      directly contradict his theory; none, as appears to me, distinctly prove
      it. I must adhere to the old interpretation of the word, as chiefly
      dwellings for the middling or lower classes, or clusters of tenements,
      often perhaps, under the same roof. On this point, Zumpt, in the
      Dissertation before quoted, entirely disagrees with M. de la Malle. Zumpt
      has likewise detected the mistake of M. de la Malle as to the "canon" of
      corn, mentioned in the life of Septimius Severus by Spartianus. On this
      canon the French writer calculates the inhabitants of Rome at that time.
      But the "canon" was not the whole supply of Rome, but that quantity which
      the state required for the public granaries to supply the gratuitous
      distributions to the people, and the public officers and slaves; no doubt
      likewise to keep down the general price. M. Zumpt reckons the population
      of Rome at 2,000,000. After careful consideration, I should conceive the
      number in the text, 1,200,000, to be nearest the truth&mdash;M. 1845.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Such was the state of Rome under the reign of Honorius; at the time when
      the Gothic army formed the siege, or rather the blockade, of the city. <a
      href="#link31note-74" name="link31noteref-74" id="link31noteref-74">74</a>
      By a skilful disposition of his numerous forces, who impatiently watched
      the moment of an assault, Alaric encompassed the walls, commanded the
      twelve principal gates, intercepted all communication with the adjacent
      country, and vigilantly guarded the navigation of the Tyber, from which
      the Romans derived the surest and most plentiful supply of provisions. The
      first emotions of the nobles, and of the people, were those of surprise
      and indignation, that a vile Barbarian should dare to insult the capital
      of the world: but their arrogance was soon humbled by misfortune; and
      their unmanly rage, instead of being directed against an enemy in arms,
      was meanly exercised on a defenceless and innocent victim. Perhaps in the
      person of Serena, the Romans might have respected the niece of Theodosius,
      the aunt, nay, even the adoptive mother, of the reigning emperor: but they
      abhorred the widow of Stilicho; and they listened with credulous passion
      to the tale of calumny, which accused her of maintaining a secret and
      criminal correspondence with the Gothic invader. Actuated, or overawed, by
      the same popular frenzy, the senate, without requiring any evidence of his
      guilt, pronounced the sentence of her death. Serena was ignominiously
      strangled; and the infatuated multitude were astonished to find, that this
      cruel act of injustice did not immediately produce the retreat of the
      Barbarians, and the deliverance of the city. That unfortunate city
      gradually experienced the distress of scarcity, and at length the horrid
      calamities of famine. The daily allowance of three pounds of bread was
      reduced to one half, to one third, to nothing; and the price of corn still
      continued to rise in a rapid and extravagant proportion. The poorer
      citizens, who were unable to purchase the necessaries of life, solicited
      the precarious charity of the rich; and for a while the public misery was
      alleviated by the humanity of Laeta, the widow of the emperor Gratian, who
      had fixed her residence at Rome, and consecrated to the use of the
      indigent the princely revenue which she annually received from the
      grateful successors of her husband. <a href="#link31note-75"
      name="link31noteref-75" id="link31noteref-75">75</a> But these private and
      temporary donatives were insufficient to appease the hunger of a numerous
      people; and the progress of famine invaded the marble palaces of the
      senators themselves. The persons of both sexes, who had been educated in
      the enjoyment of ease and luxury, discovered how little is requisite to
      supply the demands of nature; and lavished their unavailing treasures of
      gold and silver, to obtain the coarse and scanty sustenance which they
      would formerly have rejected with disdain. The food the most repugnant to
      sense or imagination, the aliments the most unwholesome and pernicious to
      the constitution, were eagerly devoured, and fiercely disputed, by the
      rage of hunger. A dark suspicion was entertained, that some desperate
      wretches fed on the bodies of their fellow-creatures, whom they had
      secretly murdered; and even mothers, (such was the horrid conflict of the
      two most powerful instincts implanted by nature in the human breast,) even
      mothers are said to have tasted the flesh of their slaughtered infants! <a
      href="#link31note-76" name="link31noteref-76" id="link31noteref-76">76</a>
      Many thousands of the inhabitants of Rome expired in their houses, or in
      the streets, for want of sustenance; and as the public sepulchres without
      the walls were in the power of the enemy the stench, which arose from so
      many putrid and unburied carcasses, infected the air; and the miseries of
      famine were succeeded and aggravated by the contagion of a pestilential
      disease. The assurances of speedy and effectual relief, which were
      repeatedly transmitted from the court of Ravenna, supported for some time,
      the fainting resolution of the Romans, till at length the despair of any
      human aid tempted them to accept the offers of a praeternatural
      deliverance. Pompeianus, praefect of the city, had been persuaded, by the
      art or fanaticism of some Tuscan diviners, that, by the mysterious force
      of spells and sacrifices, they could extract the lightning from the
      clouds, and point those celestial fires against the camp of the
      Barbarians. <a href="#link31note-77" name="link31noteref-77"
      id="link31noteref-77">77</a> The important secret was communicated to
      Innocent, the bishop of Rome; and the successor of St. Peter is accused,
      perhaps without foundation, of preferring the safety of the republic to
      the rigid severity of the Christian worship. But when the question was
      agitated in the senate; when it was proposed, as an essential condition,
      that those sacrifices should be performed in the Capitol, by the
      authority, and in the presence, of the magistrates, the majority of that
      respectable assembly, apprehensive either of the Divine or of the Imperial
      displeasure, refused to join in an act, which appeared almost equivalent
      to the public restoration of Paganism. <a href="#link31note-78"
      name="link31noteref-78" id="link31noteref-78">78</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-74" id="link31note-74">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      74 (<a href="#link31noteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ For the events of the
      first siege of Rome, which are often confounded 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-75" id="link31note-75">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      75 (<a href="#link31noteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ The mother of Laeta was
      named Pissumena. Her father, family, and country, are unknown. Ducange,
      Fam. Byzantium, p. 59.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-76" id="link31note-76">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      76 (<a href="#link31noteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ Ad nefandos cibos
      erupit esurientium rabies, et sua invicem membra laniarunt, dum mater non
      parcit lactenti infantiae; et recipit utero, quem paullo ante effuderat.
      Jerom. ad Principiam, tom. i. p. 121. The same horrid circumstance is
      likewise told of the sieges of Jerusalem and Paris. For the latter,
      compare the tenth book of the Henriade, and the Journal de Henri IV. tom.
      i. p. 47-83; and observe that a plain narrative of facts is much more
      pathetic, than the most labored descriptions of epic poetry]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-77" id="link31note-77">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      77 (<a href="#link31noteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus (l. v. p. 355,
      356) speaks of these ceremonies like a Greek unacquainted with the
      national superstition of Rome and Tuscany. I suspect, that they consisted
      of two parts, the secret and the public; the former were probably an
      imitation of the arts and spells, by which Numa had drawn down Jupiter and
      his thunder on Mount Aventine.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Quid agant laqueis, quae carmine dicant,
     Quaque trahant superis sedibus arte Jovem,
     Scire nefas homini.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      The ancilia, or shields of Mars, the pignora Imperii, which were carried
      in solemn procession on the calends of March, derived their origin from
      this mysterious event, (Ovid. Fast. iii. 259-398.) It was probably
      designed to revive this ancient festival, which had been suppressed by
      Theodosius. In that case, we recover a chronological date (March the 1st,
      A.D. 409) which has not hitherto been observed. * Note: On this curious
      question of the knowledge of conducting lightning, processed by the
      ancients, consult Eusebe Salverte, des Sciences Occultes, l. xxiv. Paris,
      1829.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-78" id="link31note-78">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      78 (<a href="#link31noteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen (l. ix. c. 6)
      insinuates that the experiment was actually, though unsuccessfully, made;
      but he does not mention the name of Innocent: and Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles.
      tom. x. p. 645) is determined not to believe, that a pope could be guilty
      of such impious condescension.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The last resource of the Romans was in the clemency, or at least in the
      moderation, of the king of the Goths. The senate, who in this emergency
      assumed the supreme powers of government, appointed two ambassadors to
      negotiate with the enemy. This important trust was delegated to Basilius,
      a senator, of Spanish extraction, and already conspicuous in the
      administration of provinces; and to John, the first tribune of the
      notaries, who was peculiarly qualified, by his dexterity in business, as
      well as by his former intimacy with the Gothic prince. When they were
      introduced into his presence, they declared, perhaps in a more lofty style
      than became their abject condition, that the Romans were resolved to
      maintain their dignity, either in peace or war; and that, if Alaric
      refused them a fair and honorable capitulation, he might sound his
      trumpets, and prepare to give battle to an innumerable people, exercised
      in arms, and animated by despair. "The thicker the hay, the easier it is
      mowed," was the concise reply of the Barbarian; and this rustic metaphor
      was accompanied by a loud and insulting laugh, expressive of his contempt
      for the menaces of an unwarlike populace, enervated by luxury before they
      were emaciated by famine. He then condescended to fix the ransom, which he
      would accept as the price of his retreat from the walls of Rome: all the
      gold and silver in the city, whether it were the property of the state, or
      of individuals; all the rich and precious movables; and all the slaves
      that could prove their title to the name of Barbarians. The ministers of
      the senate presumed to ask, in a modest and suppliant tone, "If such, O
      king, are your demands, what do you intend to leave us?" "Your Lives!"
      replied the haughty conqueror: they trembled, and retired. Yet, before
      they retired, a short suspension of arms was granted, which allowed some
      time for a more temperate negotiation. The stern features of Alaric were
      insensibly relaxed; he abated much of the rigor of his terms; and at
      length consented to raise the 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 thousand pounds weight of pepper. <a href="#link31note-79"
      name="link31noteref-79" id="link31noteref-79">79</a> But the public
      treasury was exhausted; the annual rents of the great estates in Italy and
      the provinces, had been exchanged, during the famine, for the vilest
      sustenance; the hoards of secret wealth were still concealed by the
      obstinacy of avarice; and some remains of consecrated spoils afforded the
      only resource that could avert the impending ruin of the city. As soon as
      the Romans had satisfied the rapacious demands of Alaric, they were
      restored, in some measure, to the enjoyment of peace and plenty. Several
      of the gates were cautiously opened; the importation of provisions from
      the river and the adjacent country was no longer obstructed by the Goths;
      the citizens resorted in crowds to the free market, which was held during
      three days in the suburbs; and while the merchants who undertook this
      gainful trade made a considerable profit, the future subsistence of the
      city was secured by the ample magazines which were deposited in the public
      and private granaries. A more regular discipline than could have been
      expected, was maintained in the camp of Alaric; and the wise Barbarian
      justified his regard for the faith of treaties, by the just severity with
      which he chastised a party of licentious Goths, who had insulted some
      Roman citizens on the road to Ostia. His army, enriched by the
      contributions of the capital, slowly advanced into the fair and fruitful
      province of Tuscany, where he proposed to establish his winter quarters;
      and the Gothic standard became the refuge of forty thousand Barbarian
      slaves, who had broke their chains, and aspired, under the command of
      their great deliverer, to revenge the injuries and the disgrace of their
      cruel servitude. About the same time, he received a more honorable
      reenforcement of Goths and Huns, whom Adolphus, <a href="#link31note-80"
      name="link31noteref-80" id="link31noteref-80">80</a> the brother of his
      wife, had conducted, at his pressing invitation, from the banks of the
      Danube to those of the Tyber, and who had cut their way, with some
      difficulty and loss, through the superior number of the Imperial troops. A
      victorious leader, who united the daring spirit of a Barbarian with the
      art and discipline of a Roman general, was at the head of a hundred
      thousand fighting men; and Italy pronounced, with terror and respect, the
      formidable name of Alaric. <a href="#link31note-81" name="link31noteref-81"
      id="link31noteref-81">81</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-79" id="link31note-79">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      79 (<a href="#link31noteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ Pepper was a favorite
      ingredient of the most expensive Roman cookery, and the best sort commonly
      sold for fifteen denarii, or ten shillings, the pound. See Pliny, Hist.
      Natur. xii. 14. It was brought from India; and the same country, the coast
      of Malabar, still affords the greatest plenty: but the improvement of
      trade and navigation has multiplied the quantity and reduced the price.
      See Histoire Politique et Philosophique, &amp;c., tom. i. p. 457.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-80" id="link31note-80">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      80 (<a href="#link31noteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 to be authorized by the practice of the
      Swedes, the sons or brothers of the ancient Goths.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-81" id="link31note-81">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      81 (<a href="#link31noteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ The treaty between
      Alaric and the Romans, &amp;c., is taken from Zosimus, l. v. p. 354, 355,
      358, 359, 362, 363. The additional circumstances are too few and trifling
      to require any other quotation.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link312HCH0004" id="link312HCH0004">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part
      III.
    </h2>
    <p>
      At the distance of fourteen centuries, we may be satisfied with relating
      the military exploits of the conquerors of Rome, without presuming to
      investigate the motives of their political conduct. In the midst of his
      apparent prosperity, Alaric was conscious, perhaps, of some secret
      weakness, some internal defect; or perhaps the moderation which he
      displayed, was intended only to deceive and disarm the easy credulity of
      the ministers of Honorius. The king of the Goths repeatedly declared, that
      it was his desire to be considered as the friend of peace, and of the
      Romans. Three senators, at his earnest request, were sent ambassadors to
      the court of Ravenna, to solicit the exchange of hostages, and the
      conclusion of the treaty; and the proposals, which he more clearly
      expressed during the course of the negotiations, could only inspire a
      doubt of his sincerity, as they might seem inadequate to the state of his
      fortune. The Barbarian still aspired to the rank of master-general of the
      armies of the West; he stipulated an annual subsidy of corn and money; and
      he chose the provinces of Dalmatia, Noricum, and Venetia, for the seat of
      his new kingdom, which would have commanded the important communication
      between Italy and the Danube. If these modest terms should be rejected,
      Alaric showed a disposition to relinquish his pecuniary demands, and even
      to content himself with the possession of Noricum; an exhausted and
      impoverished country, perpetually exposed to the inroads of the Barbarians
      of Germany. <a href="#link31note-82" name="link31noteref-82"
      id="link31noteref-82">82</a> But the hopes of peace were disappointed by
      the weak obstinacy, or interested views, of the minister Olympius. Without
      listening to the salutary remonstrances of the senate, he dismissed their
      ambassadors under the conduct of a military escort, too numerous for a
      retinue of honor, and too feeble for any army of defence. Six thousand
      Dalmatians, the flower of the Imperial legions, were ordered to march from
      Ravenna to Rome, through an open country which was occupied by the
      formidable myriads of the Barbarians. These brave legionaries, encompassed
      and betrayed, fell a sacrifice to ministerial folly; their general,
      Valens, with a hundred soldiers, escaped from the field of battle; and one
      of the ambassadors, who could no longer claim the protection of the law of
      nations, was obliged to purchase his freedom with a ransom of thirty
      thousand pieces of gold. Yet Alaric, instead of resenting this act of
      impotent hostility, immediately renewed his proposals of peace; and the
      second embassy of the Roman senate, which derived weight and dignity from
      the presence of Innocent, bishop of the city, was guarded from the dangers
      of the road by a detachment of Gothic soldiers. <a href="#link31note-83"
      name="link31noteref-83" id="link31noteref-83">83</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-82" id="link31note-82">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      82 (<a href="#link31noteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. v. p. 367
      368, 369.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-83" id="link31note-83">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      83 (<a href="#link31noteref-83">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. v. p. 360,
      361, 362. The bishop, by remaining at Ravenna, escaped the impending
      calamities of the city. Orosius, l. vii. c. 39, p. 573.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Olympius <a href="#link31note-84" name="link31noteref-84"
      id="link31noteref-84">84</a> might have continued to insult the just
      resentment of a people who loudly accused him as the author of the public
      calamities; but his power was undermined by the secret intrigues of the
      palace. The favorite eunuchs transferred the government of Honorius, and
      the empire, to Jovius, the Praetorian praefect; an unworthy servant, who
      did not atone, by the merit of personal attachment, for the errors and
      misfortunes of his administration. The exile, or escape, of the guilty
      Olympius, reserved him for more vicissitudes of fortune: he experienced
      the 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 expired
      under the lash; and his ignominious death afforded a grateful spectacle to
      the friends of Stilicho. After the removal of Olympius, whose character
      was deeply tainted with religious fanaticism, the Pagans and heretics were
      delivered from the impolitic proscription, which excluded them from the
      dignities of the state. The brave Gennerid, <a href="#link31note-85"
      name="link31noteref-85" id="link31noteref-85">85</a> a soldier of
      Barbarian origin, who still adhered to the worship of his ancestors, had
      been obliged to lay aside the military belt: and though he was repeatedly
      assured by the emperor himself, that laws were not made for persons of his
      rank or merit, he refused to accept any partial dispensation, and
      persevered in honorable disgrace, till he had extorted a general act of
      justice from the distress of the Roman government. The conduct of Gennerid
      in the important station to which he was promoted or restored, of
      master-general of Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Rhaetia, seemed to
      revive the discipline and spirit of the republic. From a life of idleness
      and want, his troops were soon habituated to severe exercise and plentiful
      subsistence; and his private generosity often supplied the rewards, which
      were denied by the avarice, or poverty, of the court of Ravenna. The valor
      of Gennerid, formidable to the adjacent Barbarians, was the firmest
      bulwark of the Illyrian frontier; and his vigilant care assisted the
      empire with a reenforcement of ten thousand Huns, who arrived on the
      confines of Italy, attended by such a convoy of provisions, and such a
      numerous train of sheep and oxen, as might have been sufficient, not only
      for the march of an army, but for the settlement of a colony. But the
      court and councils of Honorius still remained 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 principal eunuchs. The generals, under a perfidious promise
      of safety, were sent on shipboard, and privately executed; while the favor
      of the eunuchs procured them a mild and secure exile at Milan and
      Constantinople. Eusebius the eunuch, and the Barbarian Allobich, succeeded
      to the command of the bed-chamber and of the guards; and the mutual
      jealousy of these subordinate ministers was the cause of their mutual
      destruction. By the insolent order of the count of the domestics, the
      great chamberlain was shamefully beaten to death with sticks, before the
      eyes of the astonished emperor; and the subsequent assassination of
      Allobich, in the midst of a public procession, is the only circumstance of
      his life, in which Honorius discovered the faintest symptom of courage or
      resentment. Yet before they fell, Eusebius and Allobich had contributed
      their part to the ruin of the empire, by opposing the conclusion of a
      treaty which Jovius, from a selfish, and perhaps a criminal, motive, had
      negotiated with Alaric, in a personal interview under the walls of Rimini.
      During the absence of Jovius, the emperor was persuaded to assume a lofty
      tone of inflexible dignity, such as neither his situation, nor his
      character, could enable him to support; and a letter, signed with the name
      of Honorius, was immediately despatched to the Praetorian praefect,
      granting him a free permission to dispose of the public money, but sternly
      refusing to prostitute the military honors of Rome to the proud demands of
      a Barbarian. This letter was imprudently communicated to Alaric himself;
      and the Goth, who in the whole transaction had behaved with temper and
      decency, expressed, in the most outrageous language, his lively sense of
      the insult so wantonly offered to his person and to his nation. The
      conference of Rimini was hastily interrupted; and the praefect Jovius, on
      his return to Ravenna, was compelled to adopt, and even to encourage, the
      fashionable opinions of the court. By his advice and example, the
      principal officers of the state and army were obliged to swear, that,
      without listening, in any circumstances, to any conditions of peace, they
      would still persevere in perpetual and implacable war against the enemy of
      the republic. This rash engagement opposed an insuperable bar to all
      future negotiation. The ministers of Honorius were heard to declare, that,
      if they had only in 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 the sacred head of the emperor himself; they had sworn by the
      sacred head of the emperor himself; they had touched, in solemn ceremony,
      that august seat of majesty and wisdom; and the violation of their oath
      would exposethem to the temporal penalties of sacrilege and rebellion. <a
      href="#link31note-86" name="link31noteref-86" id="link31noteref-86">86</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-84" id="link31note-84">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      84 (<a href="#link31noteref-84">return</a>)<br /> [ For the adventures of
      Olympius, and his successors in the ministry, see Zosimus, l. v. p. 363,
      365, 366, and Olympiodor. ap. Phot. p. 180, 181. ]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-85" id="link31note-85">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      85 (<a href="#link31noteref-85">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus (l. v. p. 364)
      relates this circumstance with visible complacency, and celebrates the
      character of Gennerid as the last glory of expiring Paganism. Very
      different were the sentiments of the council of Carthage, who deputed four
      bishops to the court of Ravenna to complain of the law, which had been
      just enacted, that all conversions to Christianity should be free and
      voluntary. See Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 409, No. 12, A.D. 410, No.
      47, 48.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-86" id="link31note-86">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      86 (<a href="#link31noteref-86">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. v. p. 367,
      368, 369. This custom of swearing by the head, or life, or safety, or
      genius, of the sovereign, was of the highest antiquity, both in Egypt
      (Genesis, xlii. 15) and Scythia. It was soon transferred, by flattery, to
      the Caesars; and Tertullian complains, that it was the only oath which the
      Romans of his time affected to reverence. See an elegant Dissertation of
      the Abbe Mossieu on the Oaths of the Ancients, in the Mem de l'Academie
      des Inscriptions, tom. i. p. 208, 209.]
    </p>
    <p>
      While the emperor and his court enjoyed, with sullen pride, the security
      of the marches and fortifications of Ravenna, they abandoned Rome, almost
      without defence, to the resentment of Alaric. Yet such was the moderation
      which he still preserved, or affected, that, as he moved with his army
      along the Flaminian way, he successively despatched the bishops of the
      towns of Italy to reiterate his offers of peace, and to congradulate the
      emperor, that he would save the city and its inhabitants from hostile
      fire, and the sword of the Barbarians. <a href="#link31note-87"
      name="link31noteref-87" id="link31noteref-87">87</a> These impending
      calamities were, however, averted, not indeed by the wisdom 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 efforts against the Port of Ostia,
      one of the boldest and most stupendous works of Roman magnificence. <a
      href="#link31note-88" name="link31noteref-88" id="link31noteref-88">88</a>
      The accidents to which the precarious subsistence of the city was
      continually exposed in a winter navigation, and an open road, had
      suggested to the genius of the first Caesar the useful design, which was
      executed under the reign of Claudius. The artificial moles, which formed
      the narrow entrance, advanced far into the sea, and firmly repelled the
      fury of the waves, while the largest vessels securely rode at anchor
      within three deep and capacious basins, which received the northern branch
      of the Tyber, about two miles from the ancient colony of Ostia. <a
      href="#link31note-89" name="link31noteref-89" id="link31noteref-89">89</a>
      The Roman Port insensibly swelled to the size of an episcopal city, <a
      href="#link31note-90" name="link31noteref-90" id="link31noteref-90">90</a>
      where the corn of Africa was deposited in spacious granaries for the use
      of the capital. As soon as Alaric was in possession of that important
      place, he summoned the city to surrender at discretion; and his demands
      were enforced by the positive declaration, that a refusal, or even a
      delay, should be instantly followed by the destruction of the magazines,
      on which the life of the Roman people depended. The clamors of that
      people, and the terror of famine, subdued the pride of the senate; they
      listened, without reluctance, to the proposal of placing a new emperor on
      the throne of the unworthy Honorius; and the suffrage of the Gothic
      conqueror bestowed the purple on Attalus, praefect of the city. The
      grateful monarch immediately acknowledged his protector as master-general
      of the armies of the West; Adolphus, with the rank of count of the
      domestics, obtained the custody of the person of Attalus; and the two
      hostile nations seemed to be united in the closest bands of friendship and
      alliance. <a href="#link31note-91" name="link31noteref-91"
      id="link31noteref-91">91</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-87" id="link31note-87">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      87 (<a href="#link31noteref-87">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. v. p. 368,
      369. I have softened the expressions of Alaric, who expatiates, in too
      florid a manner, on the history of Rome]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-88" id="link31note-88">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      88 (<a href="#link31noteref-88">return</a>)<br /> [ See Sueton. in Claud.
      c. 20. Dion Cassius, l. lx. p. 949, edit Reimar, and the lively
      description of Juvenal, Satir. xii. 75, &amp;c. In the sixteenth century,
      when the remains of this Augustan port were still visible, the
      antiquarians sketched the plan, (see D'Anville, Mem. de l'Academie des
      Inscriptions, tom. xxx. p. 198,) and declared, with enthusiasm, that all
      the monarchs of Europe would be unable to execute so great a work,
      (Bergier, Hist. des grands Chemins des Romains, tom. ii. p. 356.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-89" id="link31note-89">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      89 (<a href="#link31noteref-89">return</a>)<br /> [ The Ostia Tyberina,
      (see Cluver. Italia Antiq. l. iii. p. 870-879,) in the plural number, the
      two mouths of the Tyber, were separated by the Holy Island, an equilateral
      triangle, whose sides were each of them computed at about two miles. The
      colony of Ostia was founded immediately beyond the left, or southern, and
      the Port immediately beyond the right, or northern, branch of hte river;
      and the distance between their remains measures something more than two
      miles on Cingolani's map. In the time of Strabo, the sand and mud
      deposited by the Tyber had choked the harbor of Ostia; the progress of the
      same cause has added much to the size of the Holy Islands, and gradually
      left both Ostia and the Port at a considerable distance from the shore.
      The dry channels (fiumi morti) and the large estuaries (stagno di Ponente,
      di Levante) mark the changes of the river, and the efforts of the sea.
      Consult, for the present state of this dreary and desolate tract, the
      excellent map of the ecclesiastical state by the mathematicians of
      Benedict XIV.; an actual survey of the Agro Romano, in six sheets, by
      Cingolani, which contains 113,819 rubbia, (about 570,000 acres;) and the
      large topographical map of Ameti, in eight sheets.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-90" id="link31note-90">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      90 (<a href="#link31noteref-90">return</a>)<br /> [ As early as the third,
      (Lardner's Credibility of the Gospel, 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 an episcopal city, which was demolished, as it should
      seem in the ninth century, by Pope Gregory IV., during the incursions of
      the Arabs. It is now reduced to an inn, a church, and the house, or
      palace, of the bishop; 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.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-91" id="link31note-91">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      91 (<a href="#link31noteref-91">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The gates of the city were thrown open, and the new emperor of the Romans,
      encompassed on every side by the Gothic arms, was conducted, in tumultuous
      procession, to the palace of Augustus and Trajan. After he had distributed
      the civil and military dignities among his favorites and followers,
      Attalus convened an assembly of the senate; before whom, in a format and
      florid speech, he asserted his resolution of restoring the majesty of the
      republic, and of uniting to the empire the provinces of Egypt and the
      East, which had once acknowledged the sovereignty of Rome. Such
      extravagant promises inspired every reasonable citizen with a just
      contempt for the character of an unwarlike usurper, whose elevation was
      the deepest and most ignominious wound which the republic had yet
      sustained from the insolence of the Barbarians. But the populace, with
      their usual levity, applauded the change of masters. The public discontent
      was favorable to the rival of Honorius; and the sectaries, oppressed by
      his persecuting edicts, expected some degree of countenance, or at least
      of toleration, from a prince, who, in his native country of Ionia, had
      been educated in the Pagan superstition, and who had since received the
      sacrament of baptism from the hands of an Arian bishop. <a
      href="#link31note-92" name="link31noteref-92" id="link31noteref-92">92</a>
      The first days of the reign of Attalus were fair and prosperous. An
      officer of confidence was sent with an inconsiderable body of troops to
      secure the obedience of Africa; the greatest part of Italy submitted to
      the terror of the Gothic powers; and though the city of Bologna made a
      vigorous and effectual resistance, the people of Milan, dissatisfied
      perhaps with the absence of Honorius, accepted, with loud acclamations,
      the choice of the Roman senate. At the head of a formidable army, Alaric
      conducted his royal captive almost to the gates of 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 of their sovereign, they consented to
      acknowledge the lawful election of his competitor, and to divide the
      provinces of Italy and the West between the two emperors. Their proposals
      were rejected with disdain; and the refusal was aggravated by the
      insulting clemency of Attalus, who condescended to promise, that, if
      Honorius would instantly resign the purple, he should be permitted to pass
      the remainder of his life in the peaceful exile of some remote island. <a
      href="#link31note-93" name="link31noteref-93" id="link31noteref-93">93</a>
      So desperate indeed did the situation of the son of Theodosius appear, to
      those who were the best acquainted with his strength and resources, that
      Jovius and Valens, his minister and his general, betrayed their trust,
      infamously deserted the sinking cause of their benefactor, and devoted
      their treacherous allegiance to the service of his more fortunate rival.
      Astonished by such examples of domestic treason, Honorius trembled at the
      approach of every servant, at the arrival of every messenger. He dreaded
      the secret enemies, who might lurk in his capital, his palace, his
      bed-chamber; and some ships lay ready in the harbor of Ravenna, to
      transport the abdicated monarch to the dominions of his infant nephew, the
      emperor of the East.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-92" id="link31note-92">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      92 (<a href="#link31noteref-92">return</a>)<br /> [ We may admit the
      evidence of Sozomen for the Arian baptism, and that of Philostorgius for
      the Pagan education, of Attalus. The visible joy of Zosimus, and the
      discontent which he imputes to the Anician family, are very unfavorable to
      the Christianity of the new emperor.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-93" id="link31note-93">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      93 (<a href="#link31noteref-93">return</a>)<br /> [ He carried his
      insolence so far, as to declare that he should mutilate Honorius before he
      sent him into exile. But this assertion of Zosimus is destroyed by the
      more impartial testimony of Olympiodorus; who attributes the ungenerous
      proposal (which was absolutely rejected by Attalus) to the baseness, and
      perhaps the treachery, of Jovius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But there is a Providence (such at least was the opinion of the historian
      Procopius) <a href="#link31note-94" name="link31noteref-94"
      id="link31noteref-94">94</a> that watches over innocence and folly; and
      the pretensions of Honorius to its peculiar care cannot reasonably be
      disputed. At the moment when his despair, incapable of any wise or manly
      resolution, meditated a shameful flight, a seasonable reenforcement of
      four thousand veterans unexpectedly landed in the port of Ravenna. To
      these valiant strangers, whose fidelity had not been corrupted by the
      factions of the court, he committed the walls and gates of the city; and
      the slumbers of the emperor were no longer disturbed by the apprehension
      of imminent and internal danger. The favorable intelligence which was
      received from Africa suddenly changed the opinions of men, and the state
      of public affairs. The troops and officers, whom Attalus had sent into
      that province, were defeated and slain; and the active zeal of Heraclian
      maintained his own allegiance, and that of his people. The faithful count
      of Africa transmitted a large sum of money, which fixed the attachment of
      the Imperial guards; and his vigilance, in preventing the exportation of
      corn and oil, introduced famine, tumult, and discontent, into the walls of
      Rome. The failure of the African expedition was the source of mutual
      complaint and recrimination in the party of Attalus; and the mind of his
      protector was insensibly alienated from the interest of a prince, who
      wanted spirit to command, or docility to obey. The most imprudent measures
      were adopted, without the knowledge, or against the advice, of Alaric; and
      the obstinate refusal of the senate, to allow, in the embarkation, the
      mixture even of five hundred Goths, betrayed a suspicious and distrustful
      temper, which, in their situation, was neither generous nor prudent. The
      resentment of the Gothic king was exasperated by the malicious arts of
      Jovius, who had been raised to the rank of patrician, and who afterwards
      excused his double perfidy, by declaring, without a blush, that he had
      only seemed to abandon the service of Honorius, more effectually to ruin
      the cause of the usurper. In a large plain near Rimini, and in the
      presence of an innumerable multitude of Romans and Barbarians, the
      wretched Attalus was publicly despoiled of the diadem and purple; and
      those ensigns of royalty were sent by Alaric, as the pledge of peace and
      friendship, to the son of Theodosius. <a href="#link31note-95"
      name="link31noteref-95" id="link31noteref-95">95</a> The officers who
      returned to their duty, were reinstated in their employments, and even the
      merit of a tardy repentance was graciously allowed; but the degraded
      emperor of the Romans, desirous of life, and insensible of disgrace,
      implored the permission of following the Gothic camp, in the train of a
      haughty and capricious Barbarian. <a href="#link31note-96"
      name="link31noteref-96" id="link31noteref-96">96</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-94" id="link31note-94">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      94 (<a href="#link31noteref-94">return</a>)<br /> [ Procop. de Bell.
      Vandal. l. i. c. 2.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-95" id="link31note-95">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      95 (<a href="#link31noteref-95">return</a>)<br /> [ See the cause and
      circumstances of the fall of Attalus in Zosimus, 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 the 8th of August, A.D. 410, evidently
      relate to this usurper.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-96" id="link31note-96">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      96 (<a href="#link31noteref-96">return</a>)<br /> [ In hoc, Alaricus,
      imperatore, facto, infecto, refecto, ac defecto... Mimum risit, et ludum
      spectavit imperii. Orosius, l. vii. c. 42, p. 582.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The degradation of Attalus removed the only real obstacle to the
      conclusion of the peace; and Alaric advanced within three miles of
      Ravenna, to press the irresolution of the Imperial ministers, whose
      insolence soon returned with the return of fortune. His indignation was
      kindled by the report, that a rival chieftain, that Sarus, the personal
      enemy of Adolphus, and the hereditary foe of the house of Balti, had been
      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; reentered the
      city in triumph; and was permitted to insult his adversary, by the voice
      of a herald, who publicly declared that the guilt of Alaric had forever
      excluded him from the friendship and alliance of the emperor. <a
      href="#link31note-97" name="link31noteref-97" id="link31noteref-97">97</a>
      The crime and folly of the court of Ravenna was expiated, a third time, by
      the calamities of Rome. The king of the Goths, who no longer dissembled
      his appetite for plunder and revenge, appeared in arms under the walls of
      the capital; and the trembling senate, without any hopes of relief,
      prepared, by a desperate resistance, to defray the ruin of their country.
      But they were unable to guard against the secret conspiracy of their
      slaves and domestics; who, either from birth or interest, were attached to
      the cause of the enemy. At the hour of midnight, the Salarian gate was
      silently opened, and the inhabitants were awakened by the tremendous sound
      of the Gothic trumpet. Eleven hundred and sixty-three years after the
      foundation of Rome, the Imperial city, which had subdued and civilized so
      considerable a part of mankind, was delivered to the licentious fury of
      the tribes of Germany and Scythia. <a href="#link31note-98"
      name="link31noteref-98" id="link31noteref-98">98</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-97" id="link31note-97">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      97 (<a href="#link31noteref-97">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. vi. p. 384.
      Sozomen, l. ix. c. 9. Philostorgius, l. xii. c. 3. In this place the text
      of Zosimus is mutilated, 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, we must take our leave of that historian with some regret.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-98" id="link31note-98">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      98 (<a href="#link31noteref-98">return</a>)<br /> [ Adest Alaricus,
      trepidam Romam obsidet, turbat, irrumpit. Orosius, l. vii. c. 39, p. 573.
      He despatches this great event in seven words; but he employs whole pages
      in celebrating the devotion of the Goths. I have extracted from an
      improbable story of Procopius, the circumstances which had an air of
      probability. Procop. de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 2. He supposes that the
      city was surprised while the senators slept in the afternoon; but Jerom,
      with more authority and more reason, affirms, that it was in the night,
      nocte Moab capta est. nocte cecidit murus ejus, tom. i. p. 121, ad
      Principiam.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The proclamation of Alaric, when he forced his entrance into a vanquished
      city, discovered, however, some regard for the laws of humanity and
      religion. He encouraged his troops boldly to seize the rewards of valor,
      and to enrich themselves with the spoils of a wealthy and effeminate
      people: but he exhorted them, at the same time, to spare the lives of the
      unresisting citizens, and to respect the churches of the apostles, St.
      Peter and St. Paul, as holy and inviolable sanctuaries. Amidst the horrors
      of a nocturnal tumult, several of the Christian Goths displayed the fervor
      of a recent conversion; and some instances of their uncommon piety and
      moderation are related, and perhaps adorned, by the zeal of ecclesiastical
      writers. <a href="#link31note-99" name="link31noteref-99"
      id="link31noteref-99">99</a> While the Barbarians roamed through the city
      in quest of prey, the humble dwelling of 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 a splendid hoard of massy plate, of the
      richest materials, and the most curious workmanship. The Barbarian viewed
      with wonder and delight this valuable acquisition, till he was interrupted
      by a serious admonition, addressed to him in the following words: "These,"
      said she, "are the consecrated vessels belonging to St. Peter: if you
      presume to touch them, the sacrilegious deed will remain on your
      conscience. For my part, I dare not keep what I am unable to defend." The
      Gothic captain, struck with reverential awe, despatched a messenger to
      inform the king of the treasure which he had discovered; and received a
      peremptory order from Alaric, that all the consecrated plate and ornaments
      should be transported, without damage or delay, to the church of the
      apostle. From the extremity, perhaps, of the Quirinal hill, to the 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, who bore aloft, on their heads,
      the sacred vessels of gold and silver; and the martial shouts of the
      Barbarians were mingled with the sound of religious psalmody. From all the
      adjacent houses, a crowd of Christians hastened to join this edifying
      procession; and a multitude of fugitives, without distinction of age, or
      rank, or even of sect, had the good fortune to escape to the secure and
      hospitable sanctuary of the Vatican. The learned work, concerning the City
      of God, was professedly composed by St. Augustin, to justify the ways of
      Providence in the destruction of the Roman greatness. He celebrates, with
      peculiar satisfaction, this memorable triumph of Christ; and insults his
      adversaries, by challenging them to produce some similar example of a town
      taken by storm, in which the fabulous gods of antiquity had been able to
      protect either themselves or their deluded votaries. <a
      href="#link31note-100" name="link31noteref-100" id="link31noteref-100">100</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-99" id="link31note-99">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      99 (<a href="#link31noteref-99">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius (l. vii. c. 39,
      p. 573-576) applauds the piety of the Christian Goths, without seeming to
      perceive that the greatest part of them were Arian heretics. Jornandes (c.
      30, p. 653) and Isidore of Seville, (Chron. p. 417, edit. Grot.,) who were
      both attached to the Gothic cause, have repeated and embellished these
      edifying tales. According to Isidore, Alaric himself was heard to say,
      that he waged war with the Romans, and not with the apostles. Such was the
      style of the seventh century; two hundred years before, the fame and merit
      had been ascribed, not to the apostles, but to Christ.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-100" id="link31note-100">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      100 (<a href="#link31noteref-100">return</a>)<br /> [ See Augustin, de
      Civitat. Dei, l. i. c. 1-6. He particularly appeals to the examples of
      Troy, Syracuse, and Tarentum.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In the sack of Rome, some rare and extraordinary examples of Barbarian
      virtue have been deservedly applauded. But the holy precincts of the
      Vatican, and the apostolic churches, could receive a very small proportion
      of the Roman people; many thousand warriors, more especially of the Huns,
      who served under the standard of Alaric, were strangers to 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 savage license, when every passion
      was inflamed, and every restraint was removed, the precepts of the Gospel
      seldom influenced the behavior of the Gothic Christians. The writers, the
      best disposed to exaggerate their clemency, have freely confessed, that a
      cruel slaughter was made of the Romans; <a href="#link31note-101"
      name="link31noteref-101" id="link31noteref-101">101</a> and that the
      streets of the city were filled with dead bodies, which remained without
      burial during the general consternation. The despair of the citizens was
      sometimes converted into fury: and whenever the Barbarians were provoked
      by opposition, they extended the promiscuous massacre to the feeble, the
      innocent, and the helpless. The private revenge of forty thousand slaves
      was exercised without pity or remorse; and the ignominious lashes, which
      they had formerly received, were washed away in the blood of the guilty,
      or obnoxious, families. The matrons and virgins of Rome were exposed to
      injuries more dreadful, in the apprehension of chastity, than death
      itself; and the ecclesiastical historian has selected an example of female
      virtue, for the admiration of future ages. <a href="#link31note-102"
      name="link31noteref-102" id="link31noteref-102">102</a> A Roman lady, of
      singular beauty and orthodox faith, had excited the impatient desires of a
      young Goth, who, according to the sagacious remark of Sozomen, was
      attached to the Arian heresy. Exasperated by her obstinate resistance, he
      drew his sword, and, with the anger of a lover, slightly wounded her neck.
      The bleeding heroine still continued to brave his resentment, and to repel
      his love, till the ravisher desisted from his unavailing efforts,
      respectfully conducted her to the sanctuary of the Vatican, and gave six
      pieces of gold to the guards of the church, on condition that they should
      restore her inviolate to the arms of her husband. Such instances of
      courage and generosity were not extremely common. The brutal soldiers
      satisfied their sensual appetites, without consulting either the
      inclination or the duties of their female captives: and a nice question of
      casuistry was seriously agitated, Whether those tender victims, who had
      inflexibly refused their consent to the violation which they sustained,
      had lost, by their misfortune, the glorious crown of virginity. <a
      href="#link31note-103" name="link31noteref-103" id="link31noteref-103">103</a>
      Their were other losses indeed of a more substantial kind, and more
      general concern. It cannot be presumed, that all the Barbarians were at
      all times capable of perpetrating such amorous outrages; and the want of
      youth, or beauty, or chastity, protected the greatest part of the Roman
      women from the danger of a rape. But avarice is an insatiate and universal
      passion; since the enjoyment of almost every object that can afford
      pleasure to the different tastes and tempers of mankind may be procured by
      the possession of wealth. In the pillage of Rome, a just preference was
      given to gold and jewels, which contain the greatest value in the smallest
      compass and weight: but, after these portable riches had been removed by
      the more diligent robbers, the palaces of Rome were rudely stripped of
      their splendid and costly furniture. The sideboards of massy plate, and
      the variegated wardrobes of silk and purple, were irregularly piled in the
      wagons, that always followed the march of a Gothic army. The most
      exquisite works of art were roughly handled, or wantonly destroyed; many a
      statue was melted for the sake of the precious materials; and many a vase,
      in the division of the spoil, was shivered into fragments by the stroke of
      a battle-axe.
    </p>
    <p>
      The acquisition of riches served only to stimulate the avarice of the
      rapacious Barbarians, who proceeded, by threats, by blows, and by
      tortures, to force from their prisoners the confession of hidden treasure.
      <a href="#link31note-104" name="link31noteref-104" id="link31noteref-104">104</a>
      Visible splendor and expense were alleged as the proof of a plentiful
      fortune; the appearance of poverty was imputed to a parsimonious
      disposition; and the obstinacy of some misers, who endured the most cruel
      torments before they would discover the secret object of their affection,
      was fatal to many unhappy wretches, who expired under the lash, for
      refusing to reveal their imaginary treasures. The edifices of Rome, though
      the damage has been much exaggerated, received some injury from the
      violence of the Goths. At their entrance through the Salarian gate, they
      fired the adjacent houses to guide their march, and to distract the
      attention of the citizens; the flames, which encountered no obstacle in
      the disorder of the night, consumed many private and public buildings; and
      the ruins of the palace of Sallust <a href="#link31note-105"
      name="link31noteref-105" id="link31noteref-105">105</a> remained, in the
      age of Justinian, a stately monument of the Gothic conflagration. <a
      href="#link31note-106" name="link31noteref-106" id="link31noteref-106">106</a>
      Yet a contemporary historian has observed, that fire could scarcely
      consume the enormous beams of solid brass, and that the strength of man
      was insufficient to subvert the foundations of ancient structures. Some
      truth may possibly be concealed in his devout assertion, that the wrath of
      Heaven supplied the imperfections of hostile rage; and that the proud
      Forum of Rome, decorated with the statues of so many gods and heroes, was
      levelled in the dust by the stroke of lightning. <a href="#link31note-107"
      name="link31noteref-107" id="link31noteref-107">107</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-101" id="link31note-101">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      101 (<a href="#link31noteref-101">return</a>)<br /> [ Jerom (tom. i. p.
      121, ad Principiam) has applied to the sack of Rome all the strong
      expressions of Virgil:&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Quis cladem illius noctis, quis funera fando,
     Explicet, &amp;c.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Procopius (l. i. c. 2) positively affirms that great numbers were slain by
      the Goths. Augustin (de Civ. Dei, l. i. c. 12, 13) offers Christian
      comfort for the death of those whose bodies (multa corpora) had remained
      (in tanta strage) unburied. Baronius, from the different writings of the
      Fathers, has thrown some light on the sack of Rome. Annal. Eccles. A.D.
      410, No. 16-34.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-102" id="link31note-102">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      102 (<a href="#link31noteref-102">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen. l. ix. c.
      10. Augustin (de Civitat. Dei, l. i. c. 17) intimates, that some virgins
      or matrons actually killed themselves to escape violation; and though he
      admires their spirit, he is obliged, by his theology, to condemn their
      rash presumption. Perhaps the good bishop of Hippo was too easy in the
      belief, as well as too rigid in the censure, of this act of female
      heroism. The twenty maidens (if they ever existed) who threw themselves
      into the Elbe, when Magdeburgh was taken by storm, have been multiplied to
      the number of twelve hundred. See Harte's History of Gustavus Adolphus,
      vol. i. p. 308.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-103" id="link31note-103">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      103 (<a href="#link31noteref-103">return</a>)<br /> [ See Augustin de
      Civitat. Dei, l. i. c. 16, 18. He treats the subject with remarkable
      accuracy: and after admitting that there cannot be any crime where there
      is no consent, he adds, Sed quia non solum quod ad dolorem, verum etiam
      quod ad libidinem, pertinet, in corpore alieno pepetrari potest; quicquid
      tale factum fuerit, etsi retentam constantissimo animo pudicitiam non
      excutit, pudorem tamen incutit, ne credatur factum cum mentis etiam
      voluntate, quod fieri fortasse sine carnis aliqua voluptate non potuit. In
      c. 18 he makes some curious distinctions between moral and physical
      virginity.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-104" id="link31note-104">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      104 (<a href="#link31noteref-104">return</a>)<br /> [ Marcella, a Roman
      lady, equally respectable for her rank, her age, and her piety, was thrown
      on the ground, and cruelly beaten and whipped, caesam fustibus
      flagellisque, &amp;c. Jerom, tom. i. p. 121, ad Principiam. See Augustin,
      de Civ. Dei, l. c. 10. The modern Sacco di Roma, p. 208, gives an idea of
      the various methods of torturing prisoners for gold.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-105" id="link31note-105">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      105 (<a href="#link31noteref-105">return</a>)<br /> [ The historian
      Sallust, who usefully practiced the vices which he has so eloquently
      censured, employed the plunder of Numidia to adorn his palace and gardens
      on the Quirinal hill. The spot where the house stood is now marked by the
      church of St. Susanna, separated only by a street from the baths of
      Diocletian, and not far distant from the Salarian gate. See Nardini, Roma
      Antica, p. 192, 193, and the great I'lan of Modern Rome, by Nolli.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-106" id="link31note-106">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      106 (<a href="#link31noteref-106">return</a>)<br /> [ The expressions of
      Procopius are distinct and moderate, (de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 2.) The
      Chronicle of Marcellinus speaks too strongly partem urbis Romae cremavit;
      and the words of Philostorgius (l. xii. c. 3) convey a false and
      exaggerated idea. Bargaeus has composed a particular dissertation (see
      tom. iv. Antiquit. Rom. Graev.) to prove that the edifices of Rome were
      not subverted by the Goths and Vandals.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-107" id="link31note-107">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      107 (<a href="#link31noteref-107">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius, l. ii. c.
      19, p. 143. He speaks as if he disapproved all statues; vel Deum vel
      hominem mentiuntur. They consisted of the kings of Alba and Rome from
      Aeneas, the Romans, illustrious either in arms or arts, and the deified
      Caesars. The expression which he uses of Forum is somewhat ambiguous,
      since there existed five principal Fora; but as they were all contiguous
      and adjacent, in the plain which is surrounded by the Capitoline, the
      Quirinal, the Esquiline, and the Palatine hills, they might fairly be
      considered as one. See the Roma Antiqua of Donatus, p. 162-201, and the
      Roma Antica of Nardini, p. 212-273. The former is more useful for the
      ancient descriptions, the latter for the actual topography.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link312HCH0005" id="link312HCH0005">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part
      IV.
    </h2>
    <p>
      Whatever might be the numbers of equestrian or plebeian rank, who perished
      in the massacre of Rome, it is confidently affirmed that only one senator
      lost his life by the sword of the enemy. <a href="#link31note-108"
      name="link31noteref-108" id="link31noteref-108">108</a> But it was not
      easy to compute the multitudes, who, from an honorable station and a
      prosperous fortune, were suddenly reduced to the miserable condition of
      captives and exiles. As the Barbarians had more occasion for money than
      for slaves, they fixed at a moderate price the redemption of their
      indigent prisoners; and the ransom was often paid by the benevolence of
      their friends, or the charity of strangers. <a href="#link31note-109"
      name="link31noteref-109" id="link31noteref-109">109</a> The captives, who
      were regularly sold, either in open market, or by private contract, would
      have legally regained their native freedom, which it was impossible for a
      citizen to lose, or to alienate. <a href="#link31note-110"
      name="link31noteref-110" id="link31noteref-110">110</a> But as it was soon
      discovered that the vindication of their liberty would endanger their
      lives; and that the Goths, unless they were tempted to sell, might be
      provoked to murder, their useless prisoners; the civil jurisprudence had
      been already qualified by a wise regulation, that they should be obliged
      to serve the moderate term of five years, till they had discharged by
      their labor the price of their redemption. <a href="#link31note-111"
      name="link31noteref-111" id="link31noteref-111">111</a> The nations who
      invaded the Roman empire, had driven before them, into Italy, whole troops
      of hungry and affrighted provincials, less apprehensive of servitude than
      of famine. The calamities of Rome and Italy dispersed the inhabitants to
      the most lonely, the most secure, the most distant places of refuge. While
      the Gothic cavalry spread terror and desolation along the sea-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 woods of that sequestered
      spot. <a href="#link31note-112" name="link31noteref-112"
      id="link31noteref-112">112</a> The ample patrimonies, which many
      senatorian families possessed in Africa, invited them, if they had time,
      and prudence, to escape from the ruin of their country, to embrace the
      shelter of that hospitable province. The most illustrious of these
      fugitives was the noble and pious Proba, <a href="#link31note-113"
      name="link31noteref-113" id="link31noteref-113">113</a> the widow of the
      praefect Petronius. After the death of her husband, the most powerful
      subject of Rome, she had remained at the head of the Anician family, and
      successively supplied, from her private fortune, the expense of the
      consulships of her three sons. When the city was besieged and taken by the
      Goths, Proba supported, with Christian resignation, the loss of immense
      riches; embarked in a small vessel, from whence she beheld, at sea, the
      flames of her burning palace, and fled with her daughter Laeta, and her
      granddaughter, the celebrated virgin, Demetrias, to the coast of Africa.
      The benevolent profusion with which the matron distributed the fruits, or
      the price, of her estates, contributed to alleviate the misfortunes of
      exile and captivity. But even the family of Proba herself was not exempt
      from the rapacious oppression of Count Heraclian, who basely sold, in
      matrimonial prostitution, the noblest maidens of Rome to the lust or
      avarice of the Syrian merchants. The Italian fugitives were dispersed
      through the provinces, along the coast of Egypt and Asia, as far as
      Constantinople and Jerusalem; and the village of Bethlem, the solitary
      residence of St. Jerom and his female converts, was crowded with
      illustrious beggars of either sex, and every age, who excited the public
      compassion by the remembrance of their past fortune. <a
      href="#link31note-114" name="link31noteref-114" id="link31noteref-114">114</a>
      This awful catastrophe of Rome filled the astonished empire with grief and
      terror. So interesting a contrast of greatness and ruin, disposed the fond
      credulity of the people to deplore, and even to exaggerate, the
      afflictions of the queen of cities. The clergy, who applied to recent
      events the lofty metaphors of oriental prophecy, were sometimes tempted to
      confound the destruction of the capital and the dissolution of the globe.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-108" id="link31note-108">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      108 (<a href="#link31noteref-108">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius (l. ii. c.
      19, p. 142) compares the cruelty of the Gauls and the clemency of the
      Goths. Ibi vix quemquam inventum senatorem, qui vel absens evaserit; hic
      vix quemquam requiri, qui forte ut latens perierit. But there is an air of
      rhetoric, and perhaps of falsehood, in this antithesis; and Socrates (l.
      vii. c. 10) affirms, perhaps by an opposite exaggeration, that many
      senators were put to death with various and exquisite tortures.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-109" id="link31note-109">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      109 (<a href="#link31noteref-109">return</a>)<br /> [ Multi... Christiani
      incaptivitatem ducti sunt. Augustin, de Civ Dei, l. i. c. 14; and the
      Christians experienced no peculiar hardships.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-110" id="link31note-110">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      110 (<a href="#link31noteref-110">return</a>)<br /> [ See Heineccius,
      Antiquitat. Juris Roman. tom. i. p. 96.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-111" id="link31note-111">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      111 (<a href="#link31noteref-111">return</a>)<br /> [ Appendix Cod.
      Theodos. xvi. in Sirmond. Opera, tom. i. p. 735. This edict was published
      on the 11th of December, A.D. 408, and is more reasonable than properly
      belonged to the ministers of Honorius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-112" id="link31note-112">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      112 (<a href="#link31noteref-112">return</a>)<br /> [ Eminus Igilii sylvosa
      cacumina miror; Quem fraudare nefas laudis honore suae.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.

    &mdash;-Rutilius, in Itinerar. l. i. 325
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      The island is now called Giglio. See Cluver. Ital. Antiq. l. ii. ]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-113" id="link31note-113">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      113 (<a href="#link31noteref-113">return</a>)<br /> [ As the adventures of
      Proba and her family are connected with the life of St. Augustin, they are
      diligently illustrated by Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xiii. p. 620-635.
      Some time after their arrival in Africa, Demetrias took the veil, and made
      a vow of virginity; an event which was considered as of the highest
      importance to Rome and to the world. All the Saints wrote congratulatory
      letters to her; that of Jerom is still extant, (tom. i. p. 62-73, ad
      Demetriad. de servand Virginitat.,) and contains a mixture of absurd
      reasoning, spirited declamation, and curious facts, some of which relate
      to the siege and sack of Rome.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-114" id="link31note-114">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      114 (<a href="#link31noteref-114">return</a>)<br /> [ See the pathetic
      complaint of Jerom, (tom. v. p. 400,) in his preface to the second book of
      his Commentaries on the Prophet Ezekiel.]
    </p>
    <p>
      There exists in human nature a strong propensity to depreciate the
      advantages, and to magnify the evils, of the present times. Yet, when the
      first emotions had subsided, and a fair estimate was made of the real
      damage, the more learned and judicious contemporaries were forced to
      confess, that infant Rome had formerly received more essential injury from
      the Gauls, than she had now sustained from the Goths in her declining age.
      <a href="#link31note-115" name="link31noteref-115" id="link31noteref-115">115</a>
      The experience of eleven centuries has enabled posterity to produce a much
      more singular parallel; and to affirm with confidence, that the ravages of
      the Barbarians, whom Alaric had led from the banks of the Danube, were
      less destructive than the hostilities exercised by the troops of Charles
      the Fifth, a Catholic prince, who styled himself Emperor of the Romans. <a
      href="#link31note-116" name="link31noteref-116" id="link31noteref-116">116</a>
      The Goths evacuated the city at the end of six days, but Rome remained
      above nine months in the possession of the Imperialists; and every hour
      was stained by some atrocious act of cruelty, lust, and rapine. The
      authority of Alaric preserved some order and moderation among the
      ferocious multitude which acknowledged him for their leader and king; but
      the constable of Bourbon had gloriously fallen in the attack of the walls;
      and the death of the general removed every restraint of discipline from an
      army which consisted of three independent nations, the Italians, the
      Spaniards, and the Germans. In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the
      manners of Italy exhibited a remarkable scene of the depravity of mankind.
      They united the sanguinary crimes that prevail in an unsettled state of
      society, with the polished vices which spring from the abuse of art and
      luxury; and the loose adventurers, who had violated every prejudice of
      patriotism 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 and New
      World: but their high-spirited valor was disgraced by gloomy pride,
      rapacious avarice, and unrelenting cruelty. Indefatigable in the pursuit
      of fame and riches, they had improved, by repeated practice, the most
      exquisite and effectual methods of torturing their prisoners: many of the
      Castilians, who pillaged Rome, were familiars of the holy inquisition; and
      some volunteers, perhaps, were lately returned from the conquest of Mexico
      The Germans were less corrupt than the Italians, less cruel than the
      Spaniards; and the rustic, or even savage, aspect of those Tramontane
      warriors, often disguised a simple and merciful disposition. But they had
      imbibed, in the first fervor of the reformation, the spirit, as well as
      the principles of Luther. It was their favorite amusement to insult, or
      destroy, the consecrated objects of Catholic superstition; they indulged,
      without pity or remorse, a devout hatred against the clergy of every
      denomination and degree, who form so considerable a part of the
      inhabitants of modern Rome; and their fanatic zeal might aspire to subvert
      the throne of Anti-christ, to purify, with blood and fire, the
      abominations of the spiritual Babylon. <a href="#link31note-117"
      name="link31noteref-117" id="link31noteref-117">117</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-115" id="link31note-115">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      115 (<a href="#link31noteref-115">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius, though with
      some theological partiality, states this 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 is uncertain, and perhaps fabulous. See Beaufort sur
      l'Incertitude, &amp;c., de l'Histoire Romaine, p. 356; and Melot, in the
      Mem. de l'Academie des Inscript. tom. xv. p. 1-21.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-116" id="link31note-116">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      116 (<a href="#link31noteref-116">return</a>)<br /> [ The reader who wishes
      to inform himself of the circumstances of his famous event, may peruse an
      admirable narrative in Dr. Robertson's History of Charles V. vol. ii. p.
      283; or consult the Annali d'Italia of the learned Muratori, tom. xiv. p.
      230-244, octavo edition. If he is desirous of examining the originals, he
      may have recourse to the eighteenth book of the great, but unfinished,
      history of Guicciardini. But the account which most truly deserves the
      name of authentic and original, is a little book, entitled, Il Sacco di
      Roma, composed, within less than a month after the assault of the city, by
      the brother of the historian Guicciardini, who appears to have been an
      able magistrate and a dispassionate writer.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-117" id="link31note-117">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      117 (<a href="#link31noteref-117">return</a>)<br /> [ The furious spirit of
      Luther, the effect of temper and enthusiasm, has been forcibly attacked,
      (Bossuet, Hist. des Variations des 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.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      The retreat of the victorious Goths, who evacuated Rome on the sixth day,
      <a href="#link31note-118" name="link31noteref-118" id="link31noteref-118">118</a>
      might be the result of prudence; but it was not surely the effect of fear.
      <a href="#link31note-119" name="link31noteref-119" id="link31noteref-119">119</a>
      At the head of an army encumbered with rich and weighty spoils, their
      intrepid leader advanced along the Appian way into the southern provinces
      of Italy, destroying whatever dared to oppose his passage, and contenting
      himself with the plunder of the unresisting country. The fate of Capua,
      the proud and luxurious metropolis of Campania, and which was respected,
      even in its decay, as the eighth city of the empire, <a
      href="#link31note-120" name="link31noteref-120" id="link31noteref-120">120</a>
      is buried in oblivion; whilst the adjacent town of Nola <a
      href="#link31note-121" name="link31noteref-121" id="link31noteref-121">121</a>
      has been illustrated, on this occasion, by the sanctity of Paulinus, <a
      href="#link31note-122" name="link31noteref-122" id="link31noteref-122">122</a>
      who was successively a consul, a monk, and a bishop. At the age of forty,
      he renounced the enjoyment of wealth and honor, of society and literature,
      to embrace a life of solitude and penance; and the loud applause of the
      clergy encouraged him to despise the reproaches of his worldly friends,
      who ascribed this desperate act to some disorder of the mind or body. <a
      href="#link31note-123" name="link31noteref-123" id="link31noteref-123">123</a>
      An early and passionate attachment determined him to fix his humble
      dwelling in one of the suburbs of Nola, near the miraculous tomb of St.
      Faelix, which the public devotion had already surrounded with five large
      and populous churches. The remains of his fortune, and of his
      understanding, were dedicated to the service of the glorious martyr; whose
      praise, on the day of his festival, Paulinus never failed to celebrate by
      a solemn hymn; and in whose name he erected a sixth church, of superior
      elegance and beauty, which was decorated with many curious pictures, from
      the history of the Old and New Testament. Such assiduous zeal secured the
      favor of the saint, <a href="#link31note-124" name="link31noteref-124"
      id="link31noteref-124">124</a> or at least of the people; and, after
      fifteen years' retirement, the Roman consul was compelled to accept the
      bishopric of Nola, a few months before the city was invested by the Goths.
      During the siege, some religious persons were satisfied that they had
      seen, either in dreams or visions, the divine form of their tutelar
      patron; yet it soon appeared by the event, that Faelix wanted power, or
      inclination, to preserve the flock of which he had formerly been the
      shepherd. Nola was not saved from the general devastation; <a
      href="#link31note-125" name="link31noteref-125" id="link31noteref-125">125</a>
      and the captive bishop was protected only by the general opinion of his
      innocence and poverty. Above four years elapsed from the successful
      invasion of Italy by the arms of Alaric, to the voluntary retreat of the
      Goths under the conduct of his successor Adolphus; and, during the whole
      time, they reigned without control over a country, which, in the opinion
      of the ancients, had united all the various excellences of nature and art.
      The prosperity, indeed, which Italy had attained in the auspicious age of
      the Antonines, had gradually declined with the decline of the empire.
    </p>
    <p>
      The fruits of a long peace perished under the rude grasp of the
      Barbarians; and they themselves were incapable of tasting the more elegant
      refinements of luxury, which had been prepared for the use of the soft and
      polished Italians. Each soldier, however, claimed an ample portion of the
      substantial plenty, the corn and cattle, oil and wine, that was daily
      collected and consumed in the Gothic camp; and the principal warriors
      insulted the villas and gardens, once inhabited by Lucullus and Cicero,
      along the beauteous coast of Campania. Their trembling captives, the sons
      and daughters of Roman senators, presented, in goblets of gold and gems,
      large draughts of Falernian wine to the haughty victors; who stretched
      their huge limbs under the shade of plane-trees, <a href="#link31note-126"
      name="link31noteref-126" id="link31noteref-126">126</a> artificially
      disposed to exclude the scorching rays, and to admit the genial warmth, of
      the sun. These delights were enhanced by the memory of past hardships: the
      comparison of their native soil, the bleak and barren hills of Scythia,
      and the frozen banks of the Elbe and Danube, added new charms to the
      felicity of the Italian climate. <a href="#link31note-127"
      name="link31noteref-127" id="link31noteref-127">127</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-118" id="link31note-118">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      118 (<a href="#link31noteref-118">return</a>)<br /> [ Marcellinus, in
      Chron. Orosius, (l. vii. c. 39, p. 575,) asserts, that he left Rome on the
      third day; but this difference is easily reconciled by the successive
      motions of great bodies of troops.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-119" id="link31note-119">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      119 (<a href="#link31noteref-119">return</a>)<br /> [ Socrates (l. vii. c.
      10) pretends, without any color of truth, or reason, that Alaric fled on
      the report that the armies of the Eastern empire were in full march to
      attack him.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-120" id="link31note-120">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      120 (<a href="#link31noteref-120">return</a>)<br /> [ Ausonius de Claris
      Urbibus, p. 233, edit. Toll. The luxury of Capua had formerly surpassed
      that of Sybaris itself. See Athenaeus Deipnosophist. l. xii. p. 528, edit.
      Casaubon.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-121" id="link31note-121">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      121 (<a href="#link31noteref-121">return</a>)<br /> [ Forty-eight years
      before the foundation of Rome, (about 800 before the Christian aera,) the
      Tuscans built Capua and Nola, at the distance of twenty-three miles from
      each other; but the latter of the two cities never emerged from a state of
      mediocrity.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-122" id="link31note-122">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      122 (<a href="#link31noteref-122">return</a>)<br /> [ Tillemont (Mem.
      Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 1-46) has compiled, with his usual diligence, all
      that relates to the life and writings of Paulinus, whose retreat is
      celebrated by his own pen, and by the praises of St. Ambrose, St. Jerom,
      St. Augustin, Sulpicius Severus, &amp;c., his Christian friends and
      contemporaries.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-123" id="link31note-123">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      123 (<a href="#link31noteref-123">return</a>)<br /> [ See the affectionate
      letters of Ausonius (epist. xix.&mdash;xxv. p. 650-698, edit. Toll.) to
      his colleague, his friend, and his disciple, Paulinus. The religion of
      Ausonius is still a problem, (see Mem. de l'Academie des Inscriptions,
      tom. xv. p. 123-138.) I believe that it was such in his own time, and,
      consequently, that in his heart he was a Pagan.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-124" id="link31note-124">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      124 (<a href="#link31noteref-124">return</a>)<br /> [ The humble Paulinus
      once presumed to say, that he believed St. Faelix did love him; at least,
      as a master loves his little dog.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-125" id="link31note-125">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      125 (<a href="#link31noteref-125">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-126" id="link31note-126">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      126 (<a href="#link31noteref-126">return</a>)<br /> [ The platanus, or
      plane-tree, was a favorite of the ancients, by whom it was propagated, for
      the sake of shade, from the East to Gaul. Plin. Hist. Natur. xii. 3, 4, 5.
      He mentions several of an enormous size; one in the Imperial villa, at
      Velitrae, which Caligula called his nest, as the branches were capable of
      holding a large table, the proper attendants, and the emperor himself,
      whom Pliny quaintly styles pars umbroe; an expression which might, with
      equal reason, be applied to Alaric]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-127" id="link31note-127">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      127 (<a href="#link31noteref-127">return</a>)<br /> [ The prostrate South
      to the destroyer yields
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      See Gray's Poems, published by Mr. Mason, p. 197. Instead of compiling
      tables of chronology and natural history, why did not Mr. Gray apply the
      powers of his genius to finish the philosophic poem, of which he has left
      such an exquisite specimen?]
    </p>
    <p>
      Whether fame, or conquest, or riches, were the object or Alaric, he
      pursued that object with an indefatigable ardor, which could neither be
      quelled by adversity nor satiated by success. No sooner had he reached the
      extreme land of Italy, than he was attracted by the neighboring prospect
      of a fertile and peaceful island. Yet even the possession of Sicily he
      considered only as an intermediate step to the important expedition, which
      he already meditated against the continent of Africa. The Straits of
      Rhegium and Messina <a href="#link31note-128" name="link31noteref-128"
      id="link31noteref-128">128</a> are twelve miles in length, and, in the
      narrowest passage, about one mile and a half broad; and the fabulous
      monsters of the deep, the rocks of Scylla, and the whirlpool of Charybdis,
      could terrify none but the most timid and unskilful mariners. Yet as soon
      as the first division of the Goths had embarked, a sudden tempest arose,
      which sunk, or scattered, many of the transports; their courage was
      daunted by the terrors of a new element; and the whole design was defeated
      by the premature death of Alaric, which fixed, after a short illness, the
      fatal term of his conquests. The ferocious character of the Barbarians was
      displayed in the funeral of a hero whose valor and fortune they celebrated
      with mournful applause. By the labor of a captive multitude, they forcibly
      diverted the course of the Busentinus, a small river that washes the walls
      of Consentia. The royal sepulchre, adorned with the splendid spoils and
      trophies of Rome, was constructed in the vacant bed; the waters were then
      restored to their natural channel; and the secret spot, where the remains
      of Alaric had been deposited, was forever concealed by the inhuman
      massacre of the prisoners, who had been employed to execute the work. <a
      href="#link31note-129" name="link31noteref-129" id="link31noteref-129">129</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-128" id="link31note-128">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      128 (<a href="#link31noteref-128">return</a>)<br /> [ For the perfect
      description of the Straits of Messina, Scylla, Clarybdis, &amp;c., see
      Cluverius, (Ital. Antiq. l. iv. p. 1293, and Sicilia Antiq. l. i. p.
      60-76), who had diligently studied the ancients, and surveyed with a
      curious eye the actual face of the country.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-129" id="link31note-129">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      129 (<a href="#link31noteref-129">return</a>)<br /> [ Jornandes, de Reb
      Get. c. 30, p. 654.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link312HCH0006" id="link312HCH0006">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part
      V.
    </h2>
    <p>
      The personal animosities and hereditary feuds of the Barbarians were
      suspended by the strong necessity of their affairs; and the brave
      Adolphus, the brother-in-law of the deceased monarch, was unanimously
      elected to succeed to his throne. The character and political system of
      the new king of the Goths may be best understood from his own conversation
      with an illustrious citizen of Narbonne; who afterwards, in a pilgrimage
      to the Holy Land, related it to St. Jerom, in the presence of the
      historian Orosius. "In the full confidence of valor and victory, I once
      aspired (said Adolphus) to change the face of the universe; to obliterate
      the name of Rome; to erect on its ruins the dominion of the Goths; and to
      acquire, like Augustus, the immortal fame of the founder of a new empire.
      By repeated experiments, I was gradually convinced, that laws are
      essentially necessary to maintain and regulate a well-constituted state;
      and that the fierce, untractable humor of the Goths was incapable of
      bearing the salutary yoke of laws and civil government. From that moment I
      proposed to myself a different object of glory and ambition; and it is now
      my sincere wish that the gratitude of future ages should acknowledge the
      merit of a stranger, who employed the sword of the Goths, not to subvert,
      but to restore and maintain, the prosperity of the Roman empire." <a
      href="#link31note-130" name="link31noteref-130" id="link31noteref-130">130</a>
      With these pacific views, the successor of Alaric suspended the operations
      of war; and seriously negotiated with the Imperial court a treaty of
      friendship and alliance. It was the interest of the ministers of Honorius,
      who were now released from the obligation of their extravagant oath, to
      deliver Italy from the intolerable weight of the Gothic powers; and they
      readily accepted their service against the tyrants and Barbarians who
      infested the provinces beyond the Alps. <a href="#link31note-131"
      name="link31noteref-131" id="link31noteref-131">131</a> Adolphus, assuming
      the character of a Roman general, directed his march from the extremity of
      Campania to the southern 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
      of Marseilles, they soon extended their quarters from the Mediterranean to
      the Ocean.
    </p>
    <p>
      The oppressed provincials might exclaim, that the miserable remnant, which
      the enemy had spared, was cruelly ravished by their pretended allies; yet
      some specious colors were not wanting to palliate, or justify the violence
      of the Goths. The cities of Gaul, which they attacked, might perhaps be
      considered as in a state of rebellion against the government of Honorius:
      the articles of the treaty, or the secret instructions of the court, might
      sometimes be alleged in favor of the seeming usurpations of Adolphus; and
      the guilt of any irregular, unsuccessful act of hostility might always be
      imputed, with an appearance of truth, to the ungovernable spirit of a
      Barbarian host, impatient of peace or discipline. The luxury of Italy had
      been less effectual to soften the temper, than to relax the courage, of
      the Goths; and they had imbibed the vices, without imitating the arts and
      institutions, of civilized society. <a href="#link31note-132"
      name="link31noteref-132" id="link31noteref-132">132</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-130" id="link31note-130">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      130 (<a href="#link31noteref-130">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-131" id="link31note-131">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      131 (<a href="#link31noteref-131">return</a>)<br /> [ Jornandes supposes,
      without much probability, that Adolphus visited and plundered Rome a
      second time, (more locustarum erasit) Yet he agrees with Orosius in
      supposing that a treaty of peace was 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-132" id="link31note-132">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      132 (<a href="#link31noteref-132">return</a>)<br /> [ The retreat of the
      Goths from Italy, and their first transactions in Gaul, are dark and
      doubtful. I have derived much assistance from Mascou, (Hist. of the
      Ancient Germans, l. viii. c. 29, 35, 36, 37,) who has illustrated, and
      connected, the broken chronicles and fragments of the times.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The professions of Adolphus were probably sincere, and his attachment to
      the cause of the republic was secured by the ascendant which a Roman
      princess had acquired over the heart and understanding of the Barbarian
      king. Placidia, <a href="#link31note-133" name="link31noteref-133"
      id="link31noteref-133">133</a> the daughter of the great Theodosius, and
      of Galla, his second wife, had received a royal education in the palace of
      Constantinople; but the eventful story of her life is connected with the
      revolutions which agitated the Western empire under the reign of her
      brother 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 cruel and
      ungrateful appearance, which, according to the circumstances of the
      action, may be aggravated, or excused, by the consideration of her tender
      age. <a href="#link31note-134" name="link31noteref-134"
      id="link31noteref-134">134</a> The victorious Barbarians detained, either
      as a hostage or a captive, <a href="#link31note-135"
      name="link31noteref-135" id="link31noteref-135">135</a> the sister of
      Honorius; but, while she was exposed to the disgrace of following round
      Italy the motions of a Gothic camp, she experienced, however, a decent and
      respectful treatment. The authority of Jornandes, who praises the beauty
      of Placidia, may perhaps be counterbalanced by the silence, the expressive
      silence, of her flatterers: yet the splendor of her birth, the bloom of
      youth, the elegance of manners, and the dexterous insinuation which she
      condescended 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 an
      alliance so injurious to every sentiment of Roman pride; and repeatedly
      urged the restitution of Placidia, as an indispensable condition of the
      treaty of peace. But the daughter of Theodosius submitted, without
      reluctance, to the desires of the conqueror, a young and valiant prince,
      who yielded to Alaric in loftiness of stature, but who excelled in the
      more attractive qualities of grace and beauty. The marriage of Adolphus
      and Placidia <a href="#link31note-136" name="link31noteref-136"
      id="link31noteref-136">136</a> was consummated before the Goths retired
      from Italy; and the solemn, perhaps the anniversary day of their nuptials
      was afterwards celebrated in the house of Ingenuus, one of the most
      illustrious citizens of Narbonne in Gaul. The bride, attired and adorned
      like a Roman empress, was placed on a throne of state; and the king of the
      Goths, who assumed, on this occasion, the Roman habit, contented himself
      with a less honorable seat by her side. The nuptial gift, which, according
      to the custom of his nation, <a href="#link31note-137"
      name="link31noteref-137" id="link31noteref-137">137</a> was offered to
      Placidia, consisted of the rare and magnificent spoils of her country.
      Fifty beautiful youths, in silken robes, carried a basin in each hand; and
      one of these basins was filled with pieces of gold, the other with
      precious stones of an inestimable value. Attalus, so long the sport of
      fortune, and of the Goths, was appointed to lead the chorus of the
      Hymeneal song; and the degraded emperor might aspire to the praise of a
      skilful musician. The Barbarians enjoyed the insolence of their triumph;
      and the provincials rejoiced in this alliance, which tempered, by the mild
      influence of love and reason, the fierce spirit of their Gothic lord. <a
      href="#link31note-138" name="link31noteref-138" id="link31noteref-138">138</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-133" id="link31note-133">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      133 (<a href="#link31noteref-133">return</a>)<br /> [ See an account of
      Placidia in Ducange Fam. Byzant. p. 72; and Tillemont, Hist. des
      Empereurs, tom. v. p. 260, 386, &amp;c. tom. vi. p. 240.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-134" id="link31note-134">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      134 (<a href="#link31noteref-134">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosim. l. v. p. 350.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-135" id="link31note-135">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      135 (<a href="#link31noteref-135">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosim. l. vi. p. 383.
      Orosius, (l. vii. c. 40, p. 576,) and the Chronicles of Marcellinus and
      Idatius, seem to suppose, that the Goths did not carry away Placidia till
      after the last siege of Rome.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-136" id="link31note-136">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      136 (<a href="#link31noteref-136">return</a>)<br /> [ See the pictures of
      Adolphus and Placidia, and the account of their marriage, in Jornandes, de
      Reb. Geticis, c. 31, p. 654, 655. With regard to the place where the
      nuptials were stipulated, or consummated, or celebrated, the Mss. of
      Jornandes vary between two neighboring 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 swears that it is not worth while to try to conciliate
      Jornandes with any good authors.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-137" id="link31note-137">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      137 (<a href="#link31noteref-137">return</a>)<br /> [ The Visigoths (the
      subjects of Adolphus) restrained by subsequent laws, the prodigality of
      conjugal love. It was illegal for a husband to make any gift or settlement
      for the benefit of his wife during the first year of their marriage; and
      his liberality could not at any time exceed the tenth part of his
      property. The Lombards were somewhat more indulgent: they allowed the
      morgingcap immediately after the wedding night; and this famous gift, the
      reward of virginity might equal the fourth part of the husband's
      substance. Some cautious maidens, indeed, were wise enough to stipulate
      beforehand a present, which they were too sure of not deserving. See
      Montesquieu, Esprit des Loix, l. xix. c. 25. Muratori, delle Antichita
      Italiane, tom. i. Dissertazion, xx. p. 243.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-138" id="link31note-138">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      138 (<a href="#link31noteref-138">return</a>)<br /> [ We owe the curious
      detail of this nuptial feast to the historian Olympiodorus, ap. Photium,
      p. 185, 188.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The hundred basins of gold and gems, presented to Placidia at her nuptial
      feast, formed an inconsiderable portion of the Gothic treasures; of which
      some extraordinary specimens may be selected from the history of the
      successors of Adolphus. Many curious and costly ornaments of pure gold,
      enriched with jewels, were found in their palace of Narbonne, when it 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: this consecrated wealth
      <a href="#link31note-139" name="link31noteref-139" id="link31noteref-139">139</a>
      was distributed by the son of Clovis among the churches of his dominions,
      and his pious liberality seems to upbraid some former sacrilege of the
      Goths. They possessed, with more security of conscience, the famous
      missorium, or great dish for the service of the table, of massy gold, of
      the weight of five hundred pounds, and of far 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 Torismond purchased the aid of the French monarch
      by the promise of this magnificent gift. When he was seated on the throne
      of Spain, he delivered it with reluctance to the ambassadors of Dagobert;
      despoiled them on the road; stipulated, after a long negotiation, the
      inadequate ransom of two hundred thousand pieces of gold; and preserved
      the missorium, as the pride of the Gothic treasury. <a
      href="#link31note-140" name="link31noteref-140" id="link31noteref-140">140</a>
      When that treasury, after the conquest of Spain, was plundered by the
      Arabs, they admired, and they have celebrated, another object still more
      remarkable; a table of considerable size, of one single piece of solid
      emerald, <a href="#link31note-141" name="link31noteref-141"
      id="link31noteref-141">141</a> encircled with three rows of fine pearls,
      supported by three hundred and sixty-five feet of gems and massy gold, and
      estimated at the price of five hundred thousand pieces of gold. <a
      href="#link31note-142" name="link31noteref-142" id="link31noteref-142">142</a>
      Some portion of the Gothic treasures might be the gift of friendship, or
      the tribute of obedience; but the far greater part had been the fruits of
      war and rapine, the spoils of the empire, and perhaps of Rome.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-139" id="link31note-139">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      139 (<a href="#link31noteref-139">return</a>)<br /> [ See in the great
      collection of the Historians of France by Dom Bouquet, tom. ii. Greg.
      Turonens. l. iii. c. 10, p. 191. Gesta Regum Francorum, c. 23, p. 557. The
      anonymous writer, with an ignorance worthy of his times, supposes that
      these instruments of Christian worship had belonged to the temple of
      Solomon. If he has any meaning it must be, that they were found in the
      sack of Rome.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-140" id="link31note-140">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      140 (<a href="#link31noteref-140">return</a>)<br /> [ Consult the following
      original testimonies in the Historians 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 the foundation of the church of St. Denys.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-141" id="link31note-141">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      141 (<a href="#link31noteref-141">return</a>)<br /> [ The president Goguet
      (Origine des Loix, &amp;c., tom. ii. p. 239) is of opinion, that the
      stupendous pieces of emerald, the statues and columns which antiquity has
      placed in Egypt, at Gades, at Constantinople, were in reality artificial
      compositions of colored glass. The famous emerald dish, which is shown at
      Genoa, is supposed to countenance the suspicion.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-142" id="link31note-142">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      142 (<a href="#link31noteref-142">return</a>)<br /> [ Elmacin. Hist.
      Saracenica, l. i. p. 85. Roderic. Tolet. Hist. Arab. c. 9. Cardonne, Hist.
      de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne sous les Arabes tom. i. p. 83. It was called
      the Table of Solomon, according to the custom of the Orientals, who
      ascribe to that prince every ancient work of knowledge or magnificence.]
    </p>
    <p>
      After the deliverance of Italy from the oppression of the Goths, some
      secret counsellor was permitted, amidst the factions of the palace, to
      heal the wounds of that afflicted country. <a href="#link31note-143"
      name="link31noteref-143" id="link31noteref-143">143</a> By a wise and
      humane regulation, the eight provinces which had been the most deeply
      injured, Campania, Tuscany, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Calabria, Bruttium,
      and Lucania, obtained an indulgence of five years: the ordinary tribute
      was reduced to one fifth, and even that fifth was destined to restore and
      support the useful institution of the public posts. By another law, the
      lands which had been left without inhabitants or cultivation, were
      granted, with some diminution of taxes, to the neighbors who should
      occupy, or the strangers who should solicit them; and the new possessors
      were secured against the future claims of the fugitive proprietors. About
      the same time a general amnesty was published in the name of Honorius, to
      abolish the guilt and memory of all the involuntary offences which had
      been committed by his unhappy subjects, during the term of the public
      disorder and calamity A decent and respectful attention was paid to the
      restoration of the capital; the citizens were encouraged to rebuild the
      edifices which had been destroyed or damaged by hostile fire; and
      extraordinary supplies of corn were imported from the coast of Africa. The
      crowds that so lately fled before the sword of the Barbarians, were soon
      recalled by the hopes of plenty and pleasure; and Albinus, praefect of
      Rome, informed the court, with some anxiety and surprise, that, in a
      single day, he had taken an account of the arrival of fourteen thousand
      strangers. <a href="#link31note-144" name="link31noteref-144"
      id="link31noteref-144">144</a> In less than seven years, the vestiges of
      the Gothic invasion were almost obliterated; and the city appeared to
      resume its former splendor and tranquillity. The venerable matron replaced
      her crown of laurel, which had been ruffled by the storms of war; and was
      still amused, in the last moment of her decay, with the prophecies of
      revenge, of victory, and of eternal dominion. <a href="#link31note-145"
      name="link31noteref-145" id="link31noteref-145">145</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-143" id="link31note-143">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      143 (<a href="#link31noteref-143">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 they contain not only a pardon, but an apology.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-144" id="link31note-144">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      144 (<a href="#link31noteref-144">return</a>)<br /> [ Olympiodorus ap.
      Phot. p. 188. Philostorgius (l. xii. c. 5) observes, that when Honorius
      made his triumphal entry, he encouraged the Romans, with his hand and
      voice, to rebuild their city; and the Chronicle of Prosper commends
      Heraclian, qui in Romanae urbis reparationem strenuum exhibuerat
      ministerium.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-145" id="link31note-145">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      145 (<a href="#link31noteref-145">return</a>)<br /> [ The date of the
      voyage of Claudius Rutilius Numatianus is clogged with some difficulties;
      but Scaliger has deduced from astronomical characters, that he left Rome
      the 24th of September and embarked at Porto the 9th of October, A.D. 416.
      See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom, v. p. 820. In this poetical
      Itinerary, Rutilius (l. i. 115, &amp;c.) addresses Rome in a high strain
      of congratulation:&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      Erige crinales lauros, seniumque sacrati Verticis in virides, Roma,
      recinge comas, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      This apparent tranquillity was soon disturbed by the approach of a hostile
      armament from the country which afforded the daily subsistence of the
      Roman people. Heraclian, count of Africa, who, under the most difficult
      and distressful circumstances, had supported, with active loyalty, the
      cause of Honorius, was tempted, in the year of his consulship, to assume
      the character of a rebel, and the title of emperor. The ports of Africa
      were immediately filled with the naval forces, 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 the fleets of Xerxes and Alexander, if all
      the vessels, including the royal galley, and the smallest boat, did
      actually amount to the incredible number of three thousand two hundred. <a
      href="#link31note-146" name="link31noteref-146" id="link31noteref-146">146</a>
      Yet with such an armament, which might have subverted, or restored, the
      greatest empires of the earth, the African usurper made a very faint and
      feeble impression on the provinces of his rival. As he marched from the
      port, along the road which leads to the gates of Rome, he was encountered,
      terrified, and routed, by one of the Imperial captains; and the lord of
      this mighty host, deserting his fortune and his friends, ignominiously
      fled with a single ship. <a href="#link31note-147" name="link31noteref-147"
      id="link31noteref-147">147</a> When Heraclian landed in the harbor of
      Carthage, he found that the whole province, disdaining such an unworthy
      ruler, had returned to their allegiance. The rebel was beheaded in the
      ancient temple of Memory his consulship was abolished: <a
      href="#link31note-148" name="link31noteref-148" id="link31noteref-148">148</a>
      and the remains of his private fortune, not exceeding the moderate sum of
      four thousand pounds of gold, were granted to the brave Constantius, who
      had already defended the throne, which he afterwards shared with his
      feeble sovereign. Honorius viewed, with supine indifference, the
      calamities of Rome and Italy; <a href="#link31note-149"
      name="link31noteref-149" id="link31noteref-149">149</a> but the rebellious
      attempts of Attalus and Heraclian, against his personal safety, awakened,
      for a moment, the torpid instinct of his nature. He was probably ignorant
      of the causes and events which preserved him from these impending dangers;
      and as Italy was no longer invaded by any foreign or domestic enemies, he
      peaceably existed in the palace of Ravenna, while the tyrants beyond the
      Alps were repeatedly vanquished in the name, and by the lieutenants, of
      the son of Theodosius. <a href="#link31note-150" name="link31noteref-150"
      id="link31noteref-150">150</a> In the course of a busy and interesting
      narrative 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.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-146" id="link31note-146">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      146 (<a href="#link31noteref-146">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius composed his
      history in Africa, only two years after the event; yet his authority seems
      to be overbalanced by the improbability of the fact. The Chronicle of
      Marcellinus gives Heraclian 700 ships and 3000 men: the latter of these
      numbers is ridiculously corrupt; but the former would please me very
      much.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-147" id="link31note-147">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      147 (<a href="#link31noteref-147">return</a>)<br /> [ The Chronicle of
      Idatius affirms, without the least appearance 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-148" id="link31note-148">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      148 (<a href="#link31noteref-148">return</a>)<br /> [ See Cod. Theod. l.
      xv. tit. xiv. leg. 13. The legal acts performed in his name, even the
      manumission of slaves, were declared invalid, till they had been formally
      repeated.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-149" id="link31note-149">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      149 (<a href="#link31noteref-149">return</a>)<br /> [ I have disdained to
      mention a very foolish, and probably a false, report, (Procop. de Bell.
      Vandal. l. i. c. 2,) that Honorius was alarmed by the loss of Rome, till
      he understood that it was not a favorite chicken of that name, but only
      the capital of the world, which had been lost. Yet even this story is some
      evidence of the public opinion.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-150" id="link31note-150">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      150 (<a href="#link31noteref-150">return</a>)<br /> [ The materials for the
      lives of all these tyrants are taken 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 the four Chronicles of Prosper Tyro, Prosper of Aquitain, Idatius,
      and Marcellinus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The usurpation of Constantine, who received the purple from the legions of
      Britain, had been successful, and seemed to be secure. His title was
      acknowledged, from the wall of Antoninus to the columns of Hercules; and,
      in the midst of the public disorder he shared the dominion, and the
      plunder, of Gaul and Spain, with the tribes of Barbarians, whose
      destructive progress was no longer checked by the Rhine or Pyrenees.
      Stained with the blood of the kinsmen of Honorius, he extorted, from the
      court of Ravenna, with which he secretly corresponded, the ratification of
      his rebellious claims Constantine engaged himself, by a solemn promise, to
      deliver Italy from the Goths; advanced as far as the banks of the Po; and
      after alarming, rather than assisting, his pusillanimous ally, hastily
      returned to the palace of Arles, to celebrate, with intemperate luxury,
      his vain and ostentatious triumph. But this transient prosperity was soon
      interrupted and destroyed by the revolt of Count Gerontius, the bravest of
      his generals; who, during the absence of his son Constants, a prince
      already invested with the Imperial purple, had been left to command in the
      provinces of Spain. From some reason, of which we are ignorant, Gerontius,
      instead of assuming the diadem, placed it on the head of his friend
      Maximus, who fixed his residence at Tarragona, while the active count
      pressed forwards, through the Pyrenees, to surprise the two emperors,
      Constantine and Constans, before they could prepare for their defence. The
      son was made prisoner at Vienna, and immediately put to death: and the
      unfortunate youth had scarcely leisure to deplore the elevation of his
      family; which had tempted, or compelled him, sacrilegiously to desert the
      peaceful obscurity of the monastic life. The father maintained a siege
      within the walls of Arles; but those walls must have yielded to the
      assailants, had not the city been unexpectedly relieved by the approach of
      an Italian army. The name of Honorius, the proclamation of a lawful
      emperor, astonished the contending parties of the rebels. Gerontius,
      abandoned by his own troops, escaped to the confines of Spain; and rescued
      his name from oblivion, by the Roman courage which appeared to animate the
      last moments of his life. In the middle of the night, a great body of his
      perfidious soldiers surrounded and attacked his house, which he had
      strongly barricaded. His wife, a valiant friend of the nation of the
      Alani, and some faithful slaves, were still attached to his person; and he
      used, with so much skill and resolution, a large magazine of darts and
      arrows, that above three hundred of the assailants lost their lives in the
      attempt. His slaves when all the missile weapons were spent, fled at the
      dawn of day; and Gerontius, if he had not been restrained by conjugal
      tenderness, might have imitated their example; till the soldiers, provoked
      by such obstinate resistance, applied fire on all sides to the house. In
      this fatal extremity, he complied with the request of his Barbarian
      friend, and cut off his head. The wife of Gerontius, who conjured him not
      to abandon her to a life of misery and disgrace, eagerly presented her
      neck to his sword; and the tragic scene was terminated by the death of the
      count himself, who, after three ineffectual strokes, drew a short dagger,
      and sheathed it in his heart. <a href="#link31note-151"
      name="link31noteref-151" id="link31noteref-151">151</a> The unprotected
      Maximus, whom he had invested with the purple, was indebted for his life
      to the contempt that was entertained of his power and abilities. The
      caprice of the Barbarians, who ravaged Spain, once more seated this
      Imperial phantom on the throne: but they soon resigned him to the justice
      of Honorius; and the tyrant Maximus, after he had been shown to the people
      of Ravenna and Rome, was publicly executed.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-151" id="link31note-151">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      151 (<a href="#link31noteref-151">return</a>)<br /> [ The praises which
      Sozomen has bestowed on this act of despair, appear strange and scandalous
      in the mouth of an ecclesiastical historian. He observes (p. 379) that the
      wife of Gerontius was a Christian; and that her death was worthy of her
      religion, and of immortal fame.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The general, (Constantius was his name,) who raised by his approach the
      siege of Arles, and dissipated the troops of Gerontius, was born a Roman;
      and this remarkable distinction is strongly expressive of the decay of
      military spirit among the subjects of the empire. The strength and majesty
      which were conspicuous in the person of that general, <a
      href="#link31note-152" name="link31noteref-152" id="link31noteref-152">152</a>
      marked him, in the popular opinion, as a candidate worthy of the throne,
      which he afterwards ascended. In the familiar intercourse of private life,
      his manners were cheerful and engaging; nor would he sometimes disdain, in
      the license of convivial mirth, to vie with the pantomimes themselves, in
      the exercises of their ridiculous profession. But when the 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, Constantius then struck terror into
      his foes, and inspired his soldiers with the assurance of victory. He had
      received from the court of Ravenna the important commission of extirpating
      rebellion in the provinces of the West; and the pretended emperor
      Constantine, after enjoying a short and anxious respite, was again
      besieged in his capital by the arms of a more formidable enemy. Yet this
      interval allowed time for a successful negotiation with the Franks and
      Alemanni and his ambassador, Edobic, soon returned at the head of an army,
      to disturb the operations of the siege of Arles. The Roman general,
      instead of expecting the attack in his lines, boldly and perhaps wisely,
      resolved to pass the Rhone, and to meet the Barbarians. His measures were
      conducted with so much skill and secrecy, that, while they engaged the
      infantry of Constantius in the front, they were suddenly attacked,
      surrounded, and destroyed, by the cavalry of his lieutenant Ulphilas, who
      had silently gained an advantageous post in their rear. The remains of the
      army of Edobic were preserved by flight or submission, and their leader
      escaped from the field of battle to the house of a faithless friend; who
      too clearly understood, that the head of his obnoxious guest would be an
      acceptable and 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
      acknowledged the merit and services of Ulphilas; but he turned with horror
      from the assassin of Edobic; and sternly intimated his commands, that the
      camp should 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, was tempted
      to place some confidence in so generous a conqueror. He required a solemn
      promise for his security; and after receiving, by the imposition of hands,
      the sacred character of a Christian Presbyter, he ventured to open the
      gates of the city. But he soon experienced that the principles of honor
      and integrity, which might regulate the ordinary conduct of Constantius,
      were superseded by the loose doctrines of political morality. The Roman
      general, indeed, refused to sully his laurels with the blood of
      Constantine; but the abdicated emperor, and his son Julian, were sent
      under a strong guard into Italy; and before they reached the palace of
      Ravenna, they met the ministers of death.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-152" id="link31note-152">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      152 (<a href="#link31noteref-152">return</a>)<br /> [ It is the expression
      of Olympiodorus, which he seems to have borrowed from Aeolus, a tragedy of
      Euripides, of which some fragments only are now extant, (Euripid. Barnes,
      tom. ii. p. 443, ver 38.) This allusion may prove, that the ancient tragic
      poets were still familiar to the Greeks of the fifth century.]
    </p>
    <p>
      At a time when it was universally confessed, that almost every man in the
      empire was superior in personal merit to the princes whom the accident of
      their birth had seated on the throne, a rapid succession of usurpers,
      regardless of the fate of their predecessors, still continued to arise.
      This mischief was peculiarly felt in the provinces of Spain and Gaul,
      where the principles of order and obedience had been extinguished by war
      and rebellion. Before Constantine resigned the purple, and in the fourth
      month of the siege of Arles, intelligence was received in the Imperial
      camp, that Jovinus has assumed the diadem at Mentz, in the Upper Germany,
      at the instigation of Goar, king of the Alani, and of Guntiarius, king of
      the Burgundians; and that the candidate, on whom they had bestowed the
      empire, advanced with a formidable host of Barbarians, from the banks of
      the Rhine to those of the Rhone. Every circumstance is dark and
      extraordinary in the short history of the reign of Jovinus. It was natural
      to expect, that a brave and skilful general, at the head of a victorious
      army, would have asserted, 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; and Dardanus, the Praetorian praefect, is recorded as the only
      magistrate who refused to yield obedience to the usurper. <a
      href="#link31note-153" name="link31noteref-153" id="link31noteref-153">153</a>
      When the Goths, two years after the siege of Rome, established their
      quarters in Gaul, it was natural to suppose that their inclinations could
      be divided only between the emperor Honorius, with whom they had formed a
      recent alliance, and the degraded Attalus, whom they reserved in their
      camp for the 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;
      and imposed on Attalus the ignominious task of negotiating the treaty,
      which ratified his own disgrace. We are again surprised to read, that,
      instead of considering the Gothic alliance as the firmest support of his
      throne, Jovinus upbraided, in dark and ambiguous language, the officious
      importunity of Attalus; that, scorning the advice of his great ally, he
      invested with the purple his brother Sebastian; and that he most
      imprudently accepted the service of Sarus, when that gallant chief, the
      soldier of Honorius, was provoked to desert the court of a prince, who
      knew not how to reward or punish. Adolphus, educated among a race of
      warriors, who esteemed the duty of revenge as the most precious and sacred
      portion of their inheritance, advanced with a body of ten thousand Goths
      to encounter the hereditary enemy of the house of Balti. He attacked Sarus
      at an unguarded moment, when he was accompanied only by eighteen or twenty
      of his valiant followers. United by friendship, animated by despair, but
      at length oppressed by multitudes, this band of heroes deserved the
      esteem, without exciting the compassion, of their enemies; and the lion
      was no sooner taken in the toils, <a href="#link31note-154"
      name="link31noteref-154" id="link31noteref-154">154</a> than he was
      instantly despatched. The death of Sarus dissolved the loose alliance
      which Adolphus still maintained with the usurpers of Gaul. He again
      listened to the dictates of love and prudence; and soon satisfied the
      brother of Placidia, by the assurance that he would immediately transmit
      to the palace of Ravenna the heads of the two tyrants, Jovinus and
      Sebastian. The king of the Goths executed his promise without difficulty
      or delay; the helpless brothers, unsupported by any personal merit, were
      abandoned by their Barbarian auxiliaries; and the short opposition of
      Valentia was expiated by the ruin of one of the noblest cities of Gaul.
      The emperor, chosen by the Roman senate, who had been promoted, degraded,
      insulted, restored, again degraded, and again insulted, was finally
      abandoned to his fate; but when the Gothic king withdrew his protection,
      he was restrained, by pity or contempt, from offering any violence to the
      person of Attalus. The unfortunate Attalus, who was left without subjects
      or allies, embarked in one of the ports of Spain, in search of some secure
      and solitary retreat: but he was intercepted at sea, conducted to the
      presence of Honorius, led in triumph through the streets of Rome or
      Ravenna, and publicly exposed to the gazing multitude, on the second step
      of the throne of his invincible conqueror. The same measure of punishment,
      with which, in the days of his prosperity, he was accused of menacing his
      rival, was inflicted on Attalus himself; he was condemned, after the
      amputation of two fingers, to a perpetual exile in the Isle of Lipari,
      where he was supplied with the decent necessaries of life. The remainder
      of the reign of Honorius was undisturbed by rebellion; and it may be
      observed, that, in the space of five years, seven usurpers had yielded to
      the fortune of a prince, who was himself incapable either of counsel or of
      action.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-153" id="link31note-153">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      153 (<a href="#link31noteref-153">return</a>)<br /> [ Sidonius Apollinaris,
      (l. v. epist. 9, p. 139, and Not. Sirmond. p. 58,) after stigmatizing the
      inconstancy of Constantine, the facility of Jovinus, the perfidy of
      Gerontius, continues to observe, that all the vices of these tyrants were
      united in the person of Dardanus. Yet the praefect supported a respectable
      character in the world, 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 Nobilium Christianissime.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-154" id="link31note-154">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      154 (<a href="#link31noteref-154">return</a>)<br /> [ The expression may be
      understood almost literally: Olympiodorus says a sack, or a loose garment;
      and this method of entangling and catching an enemy, laciniis contortis,
      was much practised by the Huns, (Ammian. xxxi. 2.) Il fut pris vif avec
      des filets, is the translation of Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v.
      p. 608. * Note: Bekker in his Photius reads something, but in the new
      edition of the Bysantines, he retains the old version, which is translated
      Scutis, as if they protected him with their shields, in order to take him
      alive. Photius, Bekker, p. 58.&mdash;M]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link312HCH0007" id="link312HCH0007">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By Barbarians.&mdash;Part
      VI.
    </h2>
    <p>
      The situation of Spain, separated, on all sides, from the enemies of Rome,
      by the sea, by the mountains, and by intermediate provinces, had secured
      the long tranquillity of that remote and sequestered country; and we may
      observe, as a sure symptom of domestic happiness, that, in a period of
      four hundred years, Spain furnished very few materials to the history of
      the Roman empire. The footsteps of the Barbarians, who, in the reign of
      Gallienus, had penetrated beyond the Pyrenees, were soon obliterated by
      the return of peace; and in the fourth century of the Christian aera, the
      cities of Emerita, or Merida, of Corduba, Seville, Bracara, and Tarragona,
      were numbered with the most illustrious of the Roman world. The various
      plenty of the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms, was
      improved and manufactured by the skill of an industrious people; and the
      peculiar advantages of naval stores contributed to support an extensive
      and profitable trade. <a href="#link31note-155" name="link31noteref-155"
      id="link31noteref-155">155</a> The arts and sciences flourished under the
      protection of the emperors; and if the character of the Spaniards was
      enfeebled by peace and servitude, the hostile approach of the Germans, who
      had spread terror and desolation from the Rhine to the Pyrenees, seemed to
      rekindle some sparks of military ardor. As long as the defence of the
      mountains was intrusted to the hardy and faithful militia of the country,
      they successfully repelled the frequent attempts of the Barbarians. But no
      sooner had the national troops been compelled to resign their post to the
      Honorian bands, in the service of Constantine, than the gates of Spain
      were treacherously betrayed to the public enemy, about ten months before
      the sack of Rome by the Goths. <a href="#link31note-156"
      name="link31noteref-156" id="link31noteref-156">156</a> The consciousness
      of guilt, and the thirst of rapine, prompted the mercenary guards of the
      Pyrenees to desert their station; to invite the arms of the Suevi, the
      Vandals, and the Alani; and to swell the torrent which was poured with
      irresistible violence from the frontiers of Gaul to the sea of Africa. The
      misfortunes of Spain may be described in the language of its most eloquent
      historian, who has concisely expressed the passionate, and perhaps
      exaggerated, declamations of contemporary writers. <a
      href="#link31note-157" name="link31noteref-157" id="link31noteref-157">157</a>
      "The irruption of these nations was followed by the most dreadful
      calamities; as the Barbarians exercised their indiscriminate cruelty on
      the fortunes of the Romans and the Spaniards, and ravaged with equal fury
      the cities and the open country. The progress of famine reduced the
      miserable inhabitants to feed on the flesh of their fellow-creatures; and
      even the wild beasts, who multiplied, without control, in the desert, were
      exasperated, by the taste of blood, and the impatience of hunger, boldly
      to attack and devour their human prey. Pestilence soon appeared, the
      inseparable companion of famine; a large proportion of the people was
      swept away; and the groans of the dying excited only the envy of their
      surviving friends. At length the Barbarians, satiated with carnage and
      rapine, and afflicted by the contagious evils which they themselves had
      introduced, fixed their permanent seats in the depopulated country. The
      ancient Gallicia, whose limits included the kingdom of Old Castille, was
      divided between the Suevi and the Vandals; the Alani were scattered over
      the provinces of Carthagena and Lusitania, from the Mediterranean to the
      Atlantic Ocean; and the fruitful territory of Boetica was allotted to the
      Silingi, another branch of the Vandalic nation. After regulating this
      partition, the conquerors contracted with their new subjects some
      reciprocal engagements of protection and obedience: the lands were again
      cultivated; and the towns and villages were again occupied by a captive
      people. The greatest part of the Spaniards was even disposed to prefer
      this new condition of poverty and barbarism, to the severe oppressions of
      the Roman government; yet there were many who still asserted their native
      freedom; and who refused, more especially in the mountains of Gallicia, to
      submit to the Barbarian yoke." <a href="#link31note-158"
      name="link31noteref-158" id="link31noteref-158">158</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-155" id="link31note-155">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      155 (<a href="#link31noteref-155">return</a>)<br /> [ Without recurring to
      the more ancient writers, I shall quote three respectable testimonies
      which belong to the fourth and seventh centuries; the Expositio totius
      Mundi, (p. 16, in the third volume 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 fertility and trade of Spain may be found in
      Nonnius, Hispania Illustrata; and in Huet, Hist. du Commerce des Anciens,
      c. 40. p. 228-234.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-156" id="link31note-156">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      156 (<a href="#link31noteref-156">return</a>)<br /> [ The date is
      accurately fixed in the Fasti, and the Chronicle of Idatius. Orosius (l.
      vii. c. 40, p. 578) imputes the loss of Spain to the treachery of the
      Honorians; while Sozomen (l. ix. c. 12) accuses only their negligence.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-157" id="link31note-157">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      157 (<a href="#link31noteref-157">return</a>)<br /> [ Idatius wishes to
      apply the prophecies of Daniel to these national calamities; and is
      therefore obliged to accommodate the circumstances of the event to the
      terms of the prediction.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-158" id="link31note-158">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      158 (<a href="#link31noteref-158">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 the Barbarians had turned their
      swords into ploughshares; and that many of the Provincials had preferred
      inter Barbaros pauperem libertatem, quam inter Romanos tributariam
      solicitudinem, sustinere.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The important present of the heads of Jovinus and Sebastian had approved
      the friendship of Adolphus, and restored Gaul to the obedience of his
      brother Honorius. Peace was incompatible with the situation and temper of
      the king of the Goths. He readily accepted the proposal of turning his
      victorious arms against the Barbarians of Spain; the troops of Constantius
      intercepted his communication with the seaports of Gaul, and gently
      pressed his march towards the Pyrenees: <a href="#link31note-159"
      name="link31noteref-159" id="link31noteref-159">159</a> he passed the
      mountains, and surprised, in the name of the emperor, the city of
      Barcelona. The fondness of Adolphus for his Roman bride, was not abated by
      time or possession: and the birth of a son, surnamed, from his illustrious
      grandsire, Theodosius, appeared to fix him forever in the interest of the
      republic. The loss of that infant, whose remains were deposited in a
      silver coffin in one of the churches near Barcelona, afflicted his
      parents; but the grief of the Gothic king was suspended by the labors of
      the field; and the course of his victories was soon interrupted by
      domestic treason.
    </p>
    <p>
      He had imprudently received into his service one of the followers of
      Sarus; a Barbarian of a daring spirit, but of a diminutive stature; whose
      secret desire of revenging the death of his beloved patron was continually
      irritated by the sarcasms of his insolent master. Adolphus was
      assassinated in the palace of Barcelona; the laws of the succession were
      violated by a tumultuous faction; <a href="#link31note-160"
      name="link31noteref-160" id="link31noteref-160">160</a> and a stranger to
      the royal race, Singeric, the brother of Sarus himself, was seated on the
      Gothic throne. The first act of his reign was the inhuman murder of the
      six children of Adolphus, the issue of a former marriage, whom he tore,
      without pity, from the feeble arms of a venerable bishop. <a
      href="#link31note-161" name="link31noteref-161" id="link31noteref-161">161</a>
      The unfortunate Placidia, instead of the respectful compassion, which she
      might have excited in the most savage breasts, was treated with cruel and
      wanton insult. The daughter of the emperor Theodosius, confounded among a
      crowd of vulgar captives, was compelled to march on foot above twelve
      miles, before the horse of a Barbarian, the assassin of a husband whom
      Placidia loved and lamented. <a href="#link31note-162"
      name="link31noteref-162" id="link31noteref-162">162</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-159" id="link31note-159">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      159 (<a href="#link31noteref-159">return</a>)<br /> [ This mixture of force
      and persuasion may be fairly inferred from comparing Orosius and
      Jornandes, the Roman and the Gothic historian.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-160" id="link31note-160">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      160 (<a href="#link31noteref-160">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 the tribes of the Ostrogoths in some
      distant parts of Germany or Scythia.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-161" id="link31note-161">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      161 (<a href="#link31noteref-161">return</a>)<br /> [ The murder is related
      by Olympiodorus: but the number of the children is taken from an epitaph
      of suspected authority.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-162" id="link31note-162">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      162 (<a href="#link31noteref-162">return</a>)<br /> [ The death of Adolphus
      was celebrated at Constantinople with illuminations and Circensian games.
      (See Chron. Alexandrin.) It may seem doubtful whether the Greeks were
      actuated, on this occasion, be their hatred of the Barbarians, or of the
      Latins.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But Placidia soon obtained the pleasure of revenge, and the view of her
      ignominious sufferings might rouse an indignant people against the tyrant,
      who was assassinated on the seventh day of his usurpation. After the death
      of Singeric, the free choice of the nation bestowed the Gothic sceptre on
      Wallia; whose warlike and ambitious temper appeared, in the beginning of
      his reign, extremely hostile to the republic. He marched in arms from
      Barcelona to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, which the ancients revered
      and dreaded as the boundary of the world. But when he reached the southern
      promontory of Spain, <a href="#link31note-163" name="link31noteref-163"
      id="link31noteref-163">163</a> and, from the rock now covered by the
      fortress of Gibraltar, contemplated the neighboring and fertile coast of
      Africa, Wallia resumed the designs of conquest, which had been interrupted
      by the death of Alaric. The winds and waves again disappointed the
      enterprise of the Goths; and the minds of a superstitious people were
      deeply affected by the repeated disasters of storms and shipwrecks. In
      this disposition the successor of Adolphus no longer refused to listen to
      a Roman ambassador, whose proposals were enforced by the real, or
      supposed, approach of a numerous army, under the conduct of the brave
      Constantius. A solemn treaty was stipulated and observed; Placidia was
      honorably restored to her brother; six hundred thousand measures of wheat
      were delivered to the hungry Goths; <a href="#link31note-164"
      name="link31noteref-164" id="link31noteref-164">164</a> and Wallia engaged
      to draw his sword in the service of the empire. A bloody war was instantly
      excited among the Barbarians of Spain; and the contending princes are said
      to have addressed their letters, their ambassadors, and their hostages, to
      the throne of the Western emperor, exhorting him to remain a tranquil
      spectator of their contest; the events of which must be favorable to the
      Romans, by the mutual slaughter of their common enemies. <a
      href="#link31note-165" name="link31noteref-165" id="link31noteref-165">165</a>
      The Spanish war was obstinately supported, during three campaigns, with
      desperate valor, and various success; and the martial achievements of
      Wallia diffused through the empire the superior renown of the Gothic hero.
      He exterminated the Silingi, who had irretrievably ruined the elegant
      plenty of the province of Boetica. He slew, in battle, the king of the
      Alani; and the remains of those Scythian wanderers, who escaped from the
      field, instead of choosing a new leader, humbly sought a refuge under the
      standard of the Vandals, with whom they were ever afterwards confounded.
      The Vandals themselves, and the Suevi, yielded to the efforts of the
      invincible Goths. The promiscuous multitude of Barbarians, whose retreat
      had been intercepted, were driven into the mountains of Gallicia; where
      they still continued, in a narrow compass and on a barren soil, to
      exercise their domestic and implacable hostilities. In the pride of
      victory, Wallia was faithful to his engagements: he restored his Spanish
      conquests to the obedience of Honorius; and the tyranny of the Imperial
      officers soon reduced an oppressed people to regret the time of their
      Barbarian servitude. While the event of the war was still doubtful, the
      first advantages obtained by the arms of Wallia had encouraged the court
      of Ravenna to decree the honors of a triumph to their feeble sovereign. He
      entered Rome like the ancient conquerors of nations; and if the monuments
      of servile corruption had not long since met with the fate which they
      deserved, we should probably find that a crowd of poets and orators, of
      magistrates and bishops, applauded the fortune, the wisdom, and the
      invincible courage, of the emperor Honorius. <a href="#link31note-166"
      name="link31noteref-166" id="link31noteref-166">166</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-163" id="link31note-163">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      163 (<a href="#link31noteref-163">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Quod Tartessiacis avus hujus Vallia terris
     Vandalicas turmas, et juncti Martis Alanos
     Stravit, et occiduam texere cadavera Calpen.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Sidon. Apollinar. in Panegyr. Anthem. 363 p. 300, edit. Sirmond.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-164" id="link31note-164">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      164 (<a href="#link31noteref-164">return</a>)<br /> [ This supply was very
      acceptable: the Goths were insulted by the Vandals of Spain with the
      epithet of Truli, because in their extreme distress, they had given a
      piece of gold for a trula, or about half a pound of flour. Olympiod. apud
      Phot. p. 189.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-165" id="link31note-165">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      165 (<a href="#link31noteref-165">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius inserts a
      copy of these pretended letters. Tu cum omnibus pacem habe, omniumque
      obsides accipe; nos nobis confligimus nobis perimus, tibi vincimus;
      immortalis vero quaestus erit Reipublicae tuae, si utrique pereamus. The
      idea is just; but I cannot persuade myself that it was entertained or
      expressed by the Barbarians.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-166" id="link31note-166">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      166 (<a href="#link31noteref-166">return</a>)<br /> [ Roman triumphans
      ingreditur, is the formal expression of Prosper'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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Such a triumph might have been justly claimed by the ally of Rome, if
      Wallia, before he repassed the Pyrenees, had extirpated the seeds of the
      Spanish war. His victorious Goths, forty-three years after they had passed
      the Danube, were established, according to the faith of treaties, in the
      possession of the second Aquitain; a maritime province between the Garonne
      and the Loire, under the civil and ecclesiastical jurisdiction of
      Bourdeaux. That metropolis, advantageously situated for the trade of the
      ocean, was built in a regular and elegant form; and its numerous
      inhabitants were distinguished among the Gauls by their wealth, their
      learning, and the politeness of their manners. The adjacent province,
      which has been fondly compared to the garden of Eden, is blessed with a
      fruitful soil, and a temperate climate; the face of the country displayed
      the arts and the rewards of industry; and the Goths, after their martial
      toils, luxuriously exhausted the rich vineyards of Aquitain. <a
      href="#link31note-167" name="link31noteref-167" id="link31noteref-167">167</a>
      The Gothic limits were enlarged by the additional gift of some neighboring
      dioceses; and the successors of Alaric fixed their royal residence at
      Thoulouse, which included five populous quarters, or cities, 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 provinces of Gaul. The
      liberal grant of the usurper Jovinus to his Burgundian allies, was
      confirmed by the lawful emperor; the lands of the First, or Upper,
      Germany, were ceded to those formidable Barbarians; and they gradually
      occupied, either by conquest or treaty, the two provinces which still
      retain, with the titles of Duchy and County, the national appellation of
      Burgundy. <a href="#link31note-168" name="link31noteref-168"
      id="link31noteref-168">168</a> The Franks, the valiant and faithful allies
      of the Roman republic, were soon tempted to imitate the invaders, whom
      they had so bravely resisted. Treves, the capital of Gaul, was pillaged by
      their lawless bands; and the humble colony, which they so long maintained
      in the district of Toxandia, in Brabant, insensibly multiplied along the
      banks of the Meuse and Scheld, till their independent power filled the
      whole extent of the Second, or Lower Germany. 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 justly arraigned by the impartial
      severity of modern criticism. <a href="#link31note-169"
      name="link31noteref-169" id="link31noteref-169">169</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-167" id="link31note-167">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      167 (<a href="#link31noteref-167">return</a>)<br /> [ Ausonius (de Claris
      Urbibus, p. 257-262) celebrates Bourdeaux with the partial affection of a
      native. See in Salvian (de Gubern. Dei, p. 228. Paris, 1608) a florid
      description of the provinces of Aquitain and Novempopulania.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-168" id="link31note-168">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      168 (<a href="#link31noteref-168">return</a>)<br /> [ Orosius (l. vii. c.
      32, p. 550) commends the mildness and modesty of these Burgundians, who
      treated their subjects of Gaul as their Christian brethren. Mascou has
      illustrated the origin of their kingdom in the four first annotations at
      the end of his laborious History of the Ancient Germans, vol. ii. p.
      555-572, of the English translation.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-169" id="link31note-169">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      169 (<a href="#link31noteref-169">return</a>)<br /> [ See Mascou, l. viii.
      c. 43, 44, 45. Except in a short and suspicious line of the Chronicle of
      Prosper, (in tom. i. p. 638,) the name of Pharamond is never mentioned
      before the seventh century. The author of the Gesta Francorum (in tom. ii.
      p. 543) suggests, probably enough, that the choice of Pharamond, or at
      least of a king, was recommended to the Franks by his father Marcomir, who
      was an exile in Tuscany. Note: The first mention of Pharamond is in the
      Gesta Francorum, assigned to about the year 720. St. Martin, iv. 469. The
      modern French writers in general subscribe to the opinion of Thierry:
      Faramond fils de Markomir, 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.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The ruin of the opulent provinces of Gaul may be dated from the
      establishment of these Barbarians, whose alliance was dangerous and
      oppressive, and who were capriciously impelled, by interest or passion, to
      violate the public peace. A heavy and partial ransom was imposed on the
      surviving provincials, who had escaped the calamities of war; the fairest
      and most fertile lands were assigned to the rapacious strangers, for the
      use of their families, their slaves, and their cattle; and the trembling
      natives relinquished with a sigh the inheritance of their fathers. Yet
      these domestic misfortunes, which are seldom the lot of a vanquished
      people, had been felt and inflicted by the Romans themselves, not only in
      the insolence of foreign conquest, but in the madness of civil discord.
      The Triumvirs proscribed eighteen of the most flourishing colonies of
      Italy; and distributed their lands and houses to the veterans who revenged
      the death of Caesar, and oppressed the liberty of their country. Two poets
      of unequal fame have deplored, in similar circumstances, the loss of their
      patrimony; but the legionaries of Augustus appear to have surpassed, in
      violence and injustice, the Barbarians who invaded Gaul under the reign of
      Honorius. It was not without the utmost difficulty that Virgil escaped
      from the sword of the Centurion, who had usurped his farm in the
      neighborhood of Mantua; <a href="#link31note-170" name="link31noteref-170"
      id="link31noteref-170">170</a> but Paulinus of Bourdeaux received a sum of
      money from his Gothic purchaser, which he accepted with pleasure and
      surprise; and though it was much inferior to the real value of his estate,
      this act of rapine was disguised by some colors of moderation and equity.
      <a href="#link31note-171" name="link31noteref-171" id="link31noteref-171">171</a>
      The odious name of conquerors was softened into the mild and friendly
      appellation of the guests of the Romans; and the Barbarians of Gaul, more
      especially the Goths, repeatedly declared, that they were bound to the
      people by the ties of hospitality, and to the emperor by the duty of
      allegiance and military service. The title of Honorius and his successors,
      their laws, and their civil magistrates, were still respected in the
      provinces of Gaul, of which they had resigned the possession to the
      Barbarian allies; and the kings, who exercised a supreme and independent
      authority over their native subjects, ambitiously solicited the more
      honorable rank of master-generals of the Imperial armies. <a
      href="#link31note-172" name="link31noteref-172" id="link31noteref-172">172</a>
      Such was the involuntary reverence which the Roman name still impressed on
      the minds of those warriors, who had borne away in triumph the spoils of
      the Capitol.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-170" id="link31note-170">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      170 (<a href="#link31noteref-170">return</a>)<br /> [ O Lycida, vivi
      pervenimus: advena nostri (Quod nunquam veriti sumus) ut possessor agelli
      Diseret: Haec mea sunt; veteres migrate coloni. Nunc victi tristes, &amp;c.&mdash;&mdash;See
      the whole of the ninth eclogue, with the useful Commentary of Servius.
      Fifteen miles of the Mantuan territory were assigned to the veterans, with
      a reservation, in favor of the inhabitants, of three miles round the city.
      Even in this favor they were cheated by Alfenus Varus, a famous lawyer,
      and one of the commissioners, who measured eight hundred paces of water
      and morass.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-171" id="link31note-171">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      171 (<a href="#link31noteref-171">return</a>)<br /> [ See the remarkable
      passage of the Eucharisticon of Paulinus, 575, apud Mascou, l. viii. c.
      42.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-172" id="link31note-172">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      172 (<a href="#link31noteref-172">return</a>)<br /> [ This important truth
      is established by the accuracy of Tillemont, (Hist. des Emp. tom. v. p.
      641,) and by the ingenuity of the Abbe Dubos, (Hist. de l'Etablissement de
      la Monarchie Francoise dans les Gaules, tom. i. p. 259.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      Whilst Italy was ravaged by the Goths, and a succession of feeble tyrants
      oppressed the provinces beyond the Alps, the British island separated
      itself from the body of the Roman empire. The regular forces, which
      guarded that remote province, had been gradually withdrawn; and Britain
      was abandoned without defence to the Saxon pirates, and the savages of
      Ireland and Caledonia. The Britons, reduced to this extremity, no longer
      relied on the tardy and doubtful aid of a declining monarchy. They
      assembled in arms, repelled the invaders, and rejoiced in the important
      discovery of their own strength. <a href="#link31note-173"
      name="link31noteref-173" id="link31noteref-173">173</a> Afflicted by
      similar calamities, and actuated by the same spirit, the Armorican
      provinces (a name which comprehended the maritime countries of Gaul
      between the Seine and the Loire <a href="#link31note-174"
      name="link31noteref-174" id="link31noteref-174">174</a> resolved to
      imitate the example of the neighboring island. They expelled the Roman
      magistrates, who acted under the authority of the usurper Constantine; and
      a free government was established among a people who had so long been
      subject to the arbitrary will of a master. The independence of Britain and
      Armorica was soon confirmed by Honorius himself, the lawful emperor of the
      West; and the letters, by which he committed to the new states the care of
      their own safety, might be interpreted as an absolute and perpetual
      abdication of the exercise and rights of sovereignty. This interpretation
      was, in some measure, justified by the event.
    </p>
    <p>
      After the usurpers of Gaul had successively fallen, the maritime provinces
      were restored to the empire. Yet their obedience was imperfect and
      precarious: the vain, inconstant, rebellious disposition of the people,
      was incompatible either with freedom or servitude; <a
      href="#link31note-175" name="link31noteref-175" id="link31noteref-175">175</a>
      and Armorica, though it could not long maintain the form of a republic, <a
      href="#link31note-176" name="link31noteref-176" id="link31noteref-176">176</a>
      was agitated by frequent and destructive revolts. Britain was
      irrecoverably lost. <a href="#link31note-177" name="link31noteref-177"
      id="link31noteref-177">177</a> But as the emperors wisely acquiesced in
      the independence of a remote province, the separation was not imbittered
      by the reproach of tyranny or rebellion; and the claims of allegiance and
      protection were succeeded by the mutual and voluntary offices of national
      friendship. <a href="#link31note-178" name="link31noteref-178"
      id="link31noteref-178">178</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-173" id="link31note-173">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      173 (<a href="#link31noteref-173">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus (l. vi. 376,
      383) relates in a few words the revolt of Britain and Armorica. Our
      antiquarians, even the great Cambder himself, have been betrayed into many
      gross errors, by their imperfect knowledge of the history of the
      continent.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-174" id="link31note-174">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      174 (<a href="#link31noteref-174">return</a>)<br /> [ The limits of
      Armorica are defined by two national geographers, Messieurs De Valois and
      D'Anville, in their Notitias of Ancient Gaul. The word had been used in a
      more extensive, and was afterwards contracted to a much narrower,
      signification.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-175" id="link31note-175">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      175 (<a href="#link31noteref-175">return</a>)<br /> [ Gens inter geminos
      notissima clauditur amnes,
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Armoricana prius veteri cognomine dicta.
     Torva, ferox, ventosa, procax, incauta, rebellis;
     Inconstans, disparque sibi novitatis amore;
     Prodiga verborum, sed non et prodiga facti.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Erricus, Monach. in Vit. St. Germani. l. v. apud Vales. Notit. Galliarum,
      p. 43. Valesius alleges several testimonies to confirm this character; to
      which I shall add the evidence of the presbyter Constantine, (A.D. 488,)
      who, in the life of St. Germain, calls the Armorican rebels mobilem et
      indisciplinatum populum. See the Historians of France, tom. i. p. 643.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-176" id="link31note-176">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      176 (<a href="#link31noteref-176">return</a>)<br /> [ I thought it
      necessary to enter my protest against this part of the system of the Abbe
      Dubos, which Montesquieu has so vigorously opposed. See Esprit des Loix,
      l. xxx. c. 24. Note: See Memoires de Gallet sur l'Origine des Bretons,
      quoted by Daru Histoire de Bretagne, i. p. 57. According to the opinion of
      these authors, the government of Armorica was monarchical from the period
      of its independence on the Roman empire.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-177" id="link31note-177">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      177 (<a href="#link31noteref-177">return</a>)<br /> [ The words of
      Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 2, p. 181, Louvre edition) in a very
      important passage, which has been too much neglected Even Bede (Hist.
      Gent. Anglican. l. i. c. 12, p. 50, edit. Smith) acknowledges that the
      Romans finally left Britain in the reign of Honorius. Yet our modern
      historians and antiquaries extend the term of their dominion; and there
      are some who allow only the interval of a few months between their
      departure and the arrival of the Saxons.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-178" id="link31note-178">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      178 (<a href="#link31noteref-178">return</a>)<br /> [ Bede has not
      forgotten the occasional aid of the legions against the Scots and Picts;
      and more authentic proof will hereafter be produced, that the independent
      Britons raised 12,000 men for the service of the emperor Anthemius, in
      Gaul.]
    </p>
    <p>
      This revolution dissolved the artificial fabric of civil and military
      government; and the independent country, during a period of forty years,
      till the descent of the Saxons, was ruled by the authority of the clergy,
      the nobles, and the municipal towns. <a href="#link31note-179"
      name="link31noteref-179" id="link31noteref-179">179</a> I. Zosimus, who
      alone has preserved the memory of this singular transaction, very
      accurately observes, that the letters of Honorius were addressed to the
      cities of Britain. <a href="#link31note-180" name="link31noteref-180"
      id="link31noteref-180">180</a> Under the protection of the Romans,
      ninety-two considerable towns had arisen in the several parts of that
      great province; and, among these, thirty-three cities were distinguished
      above the rest by their superior privileges and importance. <a
      href="#link31note-181" name="link31noteref-181" id="link31noteref-181">181</a>
      Each of these cities, as in all the other provinces of the empire, formed
      a legal corporation, for the purpose of regulating their domestic policy;
      and the powers of municipal government were distributed among annual
      magistrates, a select senate, and the assembly of the people, according to
      the original model of the Roman constitution. <a href="#link31note-182"
      name="link31noteref-182" id="link31noteref-182">182</a> The management of
      a common revenue, the exercise of civil and criminal jurisdiction, and the
      habits of public counsel and command, were inherent to these petty
      republics; and when they asserted their independence, the youth of the
      city, and of the adjacent districts, would naturally range themselves
      under the standard of the magistrate. But the desire of obtaining the
      advantages, and of escaping the burdens, of political society, is a
      perpetual and inexhaustible source of discord; nor can it reasonably be
      presumed, that the restoration of British freedom was exempt from tumult
      and faction. The preeminence of birth and fortune must have been
      frequently violated by bold and popular citizens; and the haughty nobles,
      who complained that they were become the subjects of their own servants,
      <a href="#link31note-183" name="link31noteref-183" id="link31noteref-183">183</a>
      would sometimes regret the reign of an arbitrary monarch.
    </p>
    <p>
      II. The jurisdiction of each city over the adjacent country, was supported
      by the patrimonial influence of the principal senators; and the smaller
      towns, the villages, and the proprietors of land, consulted their own
      safety by adhering to the shelter of these rising republics. The sphere of
      their attraction was proportioned to the respective degrees of their
      wealth and populousness; but the hereditary lords of ample possessions,
      who were not oppressed by the neighborhood of any powerful city, aspired
      to the rank of independent princes, and boldly exercised the rights of
      peace and war. The gardens and villas, which exhibited some faint
      imitation of Italian elegance, would soon be converted into strong
      castles, the refuge, in time of danger, of the adjacent country: <a
      href="#link31note-184" name="link31noteref-184" id="link31noteref-184">184</a>
      the produce of the land was applied to purchase arms and horses; to
      maintain a military force of slaves, of peasants, and of licentious
      followers; and the chieftain might assume, within his own domain, the
      powers of a civil magistrate. Several of these British chiefs might be the
      genuine posterity of ancient kings; and many more would be tempted to
      adopt this honorable genealogy, and to vindicate their hereditary claims,
      which had been suspended by the usurpation of the Caesars. <a
      href="#link31note-185" name="link31noteref-185" id="link31noteref-185">185</a>
      Their situation and their hopes would dispose them to affect the dress,
      the language, and the customs of their ancestors. If the princes of
      Britain relapsed into barbarism, while the cities studiously preserved the
      laws and manners of Rome, the whole island must have been gradually
      divided by the distinction of two national parties; again broken into a
      thousand subdivisions of war and faction, by the various provocations of
      interest and resentment. The public strength, instead of being united
      against a foreign enemy, was consumed in obscure and intestine quarrels;
      and the personal merit which had placed a successful leader at the head of
      his equals, might enable him to subdue the freedom of some neighboring
      cities; and to claim a rank among the tyrants, <a href="#link31note-186"
      name="link31noteref-186" id="link31noteref-186">186</a> who infested
      Britain after the dissolution of the Roman government. III. The British
      church might be composed of thirty or forty bishops, <a
      href="#link31note-187" name="link31noteref-187" id="link31noteref-187">187</a>
      with an adequate proportion of the inferior clergy; and the want of riches
      (for they seem to have been poor <a href="#link31note-188"
      name="link31noteref-188" id="link31noteref-188">188</a> would compel them
      to deserve the public esteem, by a decent and exemplary behavior.
    </p>
    <p>
      The interest, as well as the temper of the clergy, was favorable to the
      peace and union of their distracted country: those salutary lessons might
      be frequently inculcated in their popular discourses; and the episcopal
      synods were the only councils that could pretend to the weight and
      authority of a national assembly.
    </p>
    <p>
      In such councils, where the princes and magistrates sat promiscuously with
      the bishops, the important affairs of the state, as well as of the church,
      might be freely debated; differences reconciled, alliances formed,
      contributions imposed, wise resolutions often concerted, and sometimes
      executed; and there is reason to believe, that, in moments of extreme
      danger, a Pendragon, or Dictator, was elected by the general consent of
      the Britons. These pastoral cares, so worthy of the episcopal character,
      were interrupted, however, by zeal and superstition; and the British
      clergy incessantly labored to eradicate the Pelagian heresy, which they
      abhorred, as the peculiar disgrace of their native country. <a
      href="#link31note-189" name="link31noteref-189" id="link31noteref-189">189</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-179" id="link31note-179">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      179 (<a href="#link31noteref-179">return</a>)<br /> [ I owe it to myself,
      and to historic truth, to declare, that some circumstances in this
      paragraph are founded only on conjecture and analogy. The stubbornness of
      our language has sometimes forced me to deviate from the conditional into
      the indicative mood.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-180" id="link31note-180">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      180 (<a href="#link31noteref-180">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. vi. p.
      383.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-181" id="link31note-181">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      181 (<a href="#link31noteref-181">return</a>)<br /> [ Two cities of Britain
      were municipia, nine colonies, ten Latii jure donatoe, twelve
      stipendiarioe of eminent note. This detail is taken from Richard of
      Cirencester, de Situ Britanniae, p. 36; and though it 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 monk of the
      fourteenth century.
    </p>
    <p>
      Note: The names may be found in Whitaker's Hist. of Manchester vol. ii.
      330, 379. Turner, Hist. Anglo-Saxons, i. 216.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-182" id="link31note-182">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      182 (<a href="#link31noteref-182">return</a>)<br /> [ See Maffei Verona
      Illustrata, part i. l. v. p. 83-106.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-183" id="link31note-183">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      183 (<a href="#link31noteref-183">return</a>)<br /> [ Leges restituit,
      libertatemque reducit, Et servos famulis non sinit esse suis. Itinerar.
      Rutil. l. i. 215.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-184" id="link31note-184">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      184 (<a href="#link31noteref-184">return</a>)<br /> [ An inscription (apud
      Sirmond, Not. ad Sidon. Apollinar. p. 59) describes a castle, cum muris et
      portis, tutioni omnium, erected by Dardanus on his own estate, near
      Sisteron, in the second Narbonnese, and named by him Theopolis.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-185" id="link31note-185">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      185 (<a href="#link31noteref-185">return</a>)<br /> [ The establishment of
      their power would have been easy indeed, if we could adopt the
      impracticable scheme of a lively and learned antiquarian; who supposes
      that the British monarchs of the several tribes continued to reign, though
      with subordinate jurisdiction, from the time of Claudius to that of
      Honorius. See Whitaker's History of Manchester, vol. i. p. 247-257.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-186" id="link31note-186">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      186 (<a href="#link31noteref-186">return</a>)<br /> [ Procopius, de Bell.
      Vandal. l. i. c. 3, p. 181. Britannia fertilis provincia tyrannorum, was
      the expression of Jerom, in the year 415 (tom. ii. p. 255, ad Ctesiphont.)
      By the pilgrims, who resorted every year to the Holy Land, the monk of
      Bethlem received the earliest and most accurate intelligence.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-187" id="link31note-187">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      187 (<a href="#link31noteref-187">return</a>)<br /> [ See Bingham's Eccles.
      Antiquities, vol. i. l. ix. c. 6, p. 394.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-188" id="link31note-188">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      188 (<a href="#link31noteref-188">return</a>)<br /> [ It is reported of
      three British bishops who assisted at the council of Rimini, A.D. 359, tam
      pauperes fuisse ut nihil haberent. Sulpicius Severus, Hist. Sacra, l. ii.
      p. 420. Some of their brethren however, were in better circumstances.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-189" id="link31note-189">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      189 (<a href="#link31noteref-189">return</a>)<br /> [ Consult Usher, de
      Antiq. Eccles. Britannicar. c. 8-12.]
    </p>
    <p>
      It is somewhat remarkable, or rather it is extremely natural, that the
      revolt of Britain and Armorica should have introduced an appearance of
      liberty into the obedient provinces of Gaul. In a solemn edict, <a
      href="#link31note-190" name="link31noteref-190" id="link31noteref-190">190</a>
      filled with the strongest assurances of that paternal affection which
      princes so often express, and so seldom feel, the emperor Honorius
      promulgated his intention of convening an annual assembly of the seven
      provinces: a name peculiarly appropriated to Aquitain and the ancient
      Narbonnese, which had long since exchanged their Celtic rudeness for the
      useful and elegant arts of Italy. <a href="#link31note-191"
      name="link31noteref-191" id="link31noteref-191">191</a> Arles, the seat of
      government and commerce, was appointed for the place of the assembly;
      which regularly continued twenty-eight days, from the fifteenth of August
      to the thirteenth of September, of every year. It consisted of the
      Praetorian praefect of the Gauls; of seven provincial governors, one
      consular, and six presidents; of the magistrates, and perhaps the bishops,
      of about sixty cities; and of a competent, though indefinite, number of
      the most honorable and opulent possessors of land, who might justly be
      considered as the representatives of their country. They were empowered to
      interpret and communicate the laws of their sovereign; to expose the
      grievances and wishes of their constituents; to moderate the excessive or
      unequal weight of taxes; and to deliberate on every subject of local or
      national importance, that could tend to the restoration of the peace and
      prosperity of the seven provinces. If such an institution, which gave the
      people an interest in their own government, had been universally
      established by Trajan or the Antonines, the seeds of public wisdom and
      virtue might have been cherished and propagated in the empire of Rome. The
      privileges of the subject would have secured the throne of the monarch;
      the abuses of an arbitrary administration might have been prevented, in
      some degree, or corrected, by the interposition of these representative
      assemblies; and the country would have been defended against a foreign
      enemy by the arms of natives and freemen. Under the mild and generous
      influence of liberty, the Roman empire might have remained invincible and
      immortal; or if its excessive magnitude, and the instability of human
      affairs, had opposed such perpetual continuance, its vital and constituent
      members might have separately preserved their vigor and independence. But
      in the decline of the empire, when every principle of health and life had
      been exhausted, the tardy application of this partial remedy was incapable
      of producing any important or salutary effects. The emperor Honorius
      expresses his surprise, that he must compel the reluctant provinces to
      accept a privilege which they should ardently have solicited. A fine of
      three, or even five, pounds of gold, was imposed on the absent
      representatives; who seem to have declined this imaginary gift of a free
      constitution, as the last and most cruel insult of their oppressors.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-190" id="link31note-190">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      190 (<a href="#link31noteref-190">return</a>)<br /> [ See the correct text
      of this edict, as published by Sirmond, (Not. ad Sidon. Apollin. p. 148.)
      Hincmar of Rheims, who assigns 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]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link31note-191" id="link31note-191">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      191 (<a href="#link31noteref-191">return</a>)<br /> [ It is evident from
      the Notitia, that the seven provinces were the Viennensis, the maritime
      Alps, the first and second Narbonnese Novempopulania, and the first and
      second Aquitain. In the room of the first Aquitain, the Abbe Dubos, on the
      authority of Hincmar, desires to introduce the first Lugdunensis, or
      Lyonnese.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br /> <a name="link322HCH0001" id="link322HCH0001">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius, Theodosius II.&mdash;Part I.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Arcadius Emperor Of The East.&mdash;Administration And Disgrace
     Of Eutropius.&mdash;Revolt Of Gainas.&mdash;Persecution Of St. John
     Chrysostom.&mdash;Theodosius II. Emperor Of The East.&mdash;His Sister
     Pulcheria.&mdash;His Wife Eudocia.&mdash;The Persian War, And Division
     Of Armenia.
</pre>
    <p>
      The division of the Roman world between the sons of Theodosius marks the
      final establishment of the empire of the East, which, from the reign of
      Arcadius to the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, subsisted one
      thousand and fifty-eight years, in a state of premature and perpetual
      decay. The sovereign of that empire assumed, and obstinately retained, the
      vain, and at length fictitious, title of Emperor of the Romans; and the
      hereditary appellation of Caesar and Augustus continued to declare, that
      he was the legitimate successor of the first of men, who had reigned over
      the first of nations. The place of Constantinople rivalled, and perhaps
      excelled, the magnificence of Persia; and the eloquent sermons of St.
      Chrysostom <a href="#link32note-1" name="link32noteref-1"
      id="link32noteref-1">1</a> celebrate, while they condemn, the pompous
      luxury of the reign of Arcadius. "The emperor," says he, "wears on his
      head either a diadem, or a crown of gold, decorated with precious stones
      of inestimable value. These ornaments, and his purple garments, are
      reserved for his sacred person alone; and his robes of silk are
      embroidered with the figures of golden dragons. His throne is of massy
      gold. Whenever he appears in public, he is surrounded by his courtiers,
      his guards, and his attendants. Their spears, their shields, their
      cuirasses, the bridles and trappings of their horses, have either the
      substance or the appearance of gold; and the large splendid boss in the
      midst of their shield is encircled with smaller bosses, which represent
      the shape of the human eye. The two mules that drew the chariot of the
      monarch are perfectly white, and shining all over with gold. The chariot
      itself, of pure and solid gold, attracts the admiration of the spectators,
      who contemplate the purple curtains, the snowy carpet, the size of the
      precious stones, and the resplendent plates of gold, that glitter as they
      are agitated by the motion of the carriage. The Imperial pictures are
      white, on a blue ground; the emperor appears seated on his throne, with
      his arms, his horses, and his guards beside him; and his vanquished
      enemies in chains at his feet." The successors of Constantine established
      their perpetual residence in the royal city, which he had erected on the
      verge of Europe and Asia. Inaccessible to the menaces of their enemies,
      and perhaps to the complaints of their people, they received, with each
      wind, the tributary productions of every climate; while the impregnable
      strength of their capital continued for ages to defy the hostile attempts
      of the Barbarians. Their dominions were bounded by the Adriatic and the
      Tigris; and the whole interval of twenty-five days' navigation, which
      separated the extreme cold of Scythia from the torrid zone of Aethiopia,
      <a href="#link32note-2" name="link32noteref-2" id="link32noteref-2">2</a>
      was comprehended within the limits of the empire of the East. The populous
      countries of that empire were the seat of art and learning, of luxury and
      wealth; and the inhabitants, who had assumed the language and manners of
      Greeks, styled themselves, with some appearance of truth, the most
      enlightened and civilized portion of the human species. The form of
      government was a pure and simple monarchy; the name of the Roman Republic,
      which so long preserved a faint tradition of freedom, was confined to the
      Latin provinces; and the princes of Constantinople measured their
      greatness by the servile obedience of their people. They were ignorant how
      much this passive disposition enervates and degrades every faculty of the
      mind. The subjects, who had resigned their will to the absolute commands
      of a master, were equally incapable of guarding their lives and fortunes
      against the assaults of the Barbarians, or of defending their reason from
      the terrors of superstition.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-1" id="link32note-1">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1 (<a href="#link32noteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ Father Montfaucon, who,
      by the command of his Benedictine superiors, was compelled (see
      Longueruana, tom. i. p. 205) to execute the laborious edition of St.
      Chrysostom, in thirteen volumes in folio, (Paris, 1738,) amused himself
      with extracting from that immense collection of morals, some curious
      antiquities, which illustrate the manners of the Theodosian age, (see
      Chrysostom, Opera, tom. xiii. p. 192-196,) and his French Dissertation, in
      the Memoires de l'Acad. des Inscriptions, tom. xiii. p. 474-490.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-2" id="link32note-2">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2 (<a href="#link32noteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ According to the loose
      reckoning, that a ship could sail, with a fair wind, 1000 stadia, or 125
      miles, in the revolution of a day and night, Diodorus Siculus computes ten
      days from the Palus Moeotis to Rhodes, and four days from Rhodes to
      Alexandria. The navigation of the Nile from Alexandria to Syene, under the
      tropic of Cancer, required, as it was against the stream, ten days more.
      Diodor. Sicul. tom. i. l. iii. p. 200, edit. Wesseling. He might, without
      much impropriety, measure the extreme heat from the verge of the torrid
      zone; but he speaks of the Moeotis in the 47th degree of northern
      latitude, as if it lay within the polar circle.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The first events of the reign of Arcadius and Honorius are so intimately
      connected, that the rebellion of the Goths, and the fall of Rufinus, have
      already claimed a place in the history of the West. It has already been
      observed, that Eutropius, <a href="#link32note-3" name="link32noteref-3"
      id="link32noteref-3">3</a> one of the principal eunuchs of the palace of
      Constantinople, succeeded the haughty minister whose ruin he had
      accomplished, and whose vices he soon imitated. Every order of the state
      bowed to the new favorite; and their tame and obsequious submission
      encouraged him to insult the laws, and, what is still more difficult and
      dangerous, the manners of his country. Under the weakest of the
      predecessors of Arcadius, the reign of the eunuchs had been secret and
      almost invisible. They insinuated themselves into the confidence of the
      prince; but their ostensible functions were confined to the menial service
      of the wardrobe and Imperial bed-chamber. They might direct, in a whisper,
      the public counsels, and blast, by their malicious suggestions, the fame
      and fortunes of the most illustrious citizens; but they never presumed to
      stand forward in the front of empire, <a href="#link32note-4"
      name="link32noteref-4" id="link32noteref-4">4</a> or to profane the public
      honors of the state. Eutropius was the first of his artificial sex, who
      dared to assume the character of a Roman magistrate and general.
      Sometimes, in the presence of the blushing senate, he ascended the
      tribunal to pronounce judgment, or to repeat elaborate harangues; and,
      sometimes, appeared on horseback, at the head of his troops, in the dress
      and armor of a hero. The disregard of custom and decency always betrays a
      weak and ill-regulated mind; nor does Eutropius seem to have compensated
      for the folly of the design by any superior merit or ability in the
      execution. His former habits of life had not introduced him to the study
      of the laws, or the exercises of the field; his awkward and unsuccessful
      attempts provoked the secret contempt of the spectators; the Goths
      expressed their wish that such a general might always command the armies
      of Rome; and the name of the minister was branded with ridicule, more
      pernicious, perhaps, than hatred, to a public character. The subjects of
      Arcadius were exasperated by the recollection, that this deformed and
      decrepit eunuch, <a href="#link32note-6" name="link32noteref-6"
      id="link32noteref-6">6</a> who so perversely mimicked the actions of a
      man, was born in the most abject condition of servitude; that before he
      entered the Imperial palace, he had been successively sold and purchased
      by a hundred masters, who had exhausted his youthful strength in every
      mean and infamous office, and at length dismissed him, in his old age, to
      freedom and poverty. <a href="#link32note-7" name="link32noteref-7"
      id="link32noteref-7">7</a> While these disgraceful stories were
      circulated, and perhaps exaggerated, in private conversation, the vanity
      of the favorite was flattered with the most extraordinary honors. In the
      senate, in the capital, in the provinces, the statues of Eutropius were
      erected, in brass, or marble, decorated with the symbols of his civil and
      military virtues, and inscribed with the pompous title of the third
      founder of Constantinople. He was promoted to the rank of patrician, which
      began to signify in a popular, and even legal, acceptation, the father of
      the emperor; and the last year of the fourth century was polluted by the
      consulship of a eunuch and a slave. This strange and inexpiable prodigy <a
      href="#link32note-8" name="link32noteref-8" id="link32noteref-8">8</a>
      awakened, however, the prejudices of the Romans. The effeminate consul was
      rejected by the West, as an indelible stain to the annals of the republic;
      and without invoking the shades of Brutus and Camillus, the colleague of
      Eutropius, a learned and respectable magistrate, <a href="#link32note-9"
      name="link32noteref-9" id="link32noteref-9">9</a> sufficiently represented
      the different maxims of the two administrations.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-3" id="link32note-3">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3 (<a href="#link32noteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ Barthius, who adored his
      author with the blind superstition of a commentator, gives the preference
      to the two books which Claudian composed against Eutropius, above all his
      other productions, (Baillet Jugemens des Savans, tom. iv. p. 227.) They
      are indeed a very elegant and spirited satire; and would be more valuable
      in an historical light, if the invective were less vague and more
      temperate.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-4" id="link32note-4">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4 (<a href="#link32noteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ After lamenting the
      progress of the eunuchs in the Roman palace, and defining their proper
      functions, Claudian adds,
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     A fronte recedant.
     Imperii.
    &mdash;-In Eutrop. i. 422.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Yet it does not appear that the eunuchs had assumed any of the efficient
      offices of the empire, and he is styled only Praepositun sacri cubiculi,
      in the edict of his banishment. See Cod. Theod. l. leg 17.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Jamque oblita sui, nec sobria divitiis mens
     In miseras leges hominumque negotia ludit
     Judicat eunuchus.......
     Arma etiam violare parat......
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Claudian, (i. 229-270,) with that mixture of indignation and humor which
      always pleases in a satiric poet, describes the insolent folly of the
      eunuch, the disgrace of the empire, and the joy of the Goths.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Gaudet, cum viderit, hostis,
     Et sentit jam deesse viros.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-6" id="link32note-6">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6 (<a href="#link32noteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 away the face of Eutropius
      appeared more ugly and wrinkled than that of an old woman. Claudian
      remarks, (i. 469,) and the remark must have been founded on experience,
      that there was scarcely an interval between the youth and the decrepit age
      of a eunuch.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-7" id="link32note-7">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7 (<a href="#link32noteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ Eutropius appears to have
      been a native of Armenia or Assyria. His three services, which Claudian
      more particularly describes, were these: 1. He spent many years as the
      catamite of Ptolemy, a groom or soldier of the Imperial stables. 2.
      Ptolemy gave him to the old general Arintheus, for whom he very skilfully
      exercised the profession of a pimp. 3. He was given, on her marriage, to
      the daughter of Arintheus; and the future consul was employed to comb her
      hair, to present the silver ewer to wash and to fan his mistress in hot
      weather. See l. i. 31-137.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-8" id="link32note-8">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8 (<a href="#link32noteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian, (l. i. in
      Eutrop. l.&mdash;22,) after enumerating the various prodigies of monstrous
      births, speaking animals, showers of blood or stones, double suns, &amp;c.,
      adds, with some exaggeration,
    </p>
    <p>
      Omnia cesserunt eunucho consule monstra.
    </p>
    <p>
      The first book concludes with a noble speech of the goddess of Rome to her
      favorite Honorius, deprecating the new ignominy to which she was exposed.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-9" id="link32note-9">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9 (<a href="#link32noteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ Fl. Mallius Theodorus,
      whose civil honors, and philosophical works, have been celebrated by
      Claudian in a very elegant panegyric.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The bold and vigorous mind of Rufinus seems to have been actuated by a
      more sanguinary and revengeful spirit; but the avarice of the eunuch was
      not less insatiate than that of the praefect. <a href="#link32note-10"
      name="link32noteref-10" id="link32noteref-10">10</a> As long as he
      despoiled the oppressors, who had enriched themselves with the plunder of
      the people, Eutropius might gratify his covetous disposition without much
      envy or injustice: but the progress of his rapine soon invaded the wealth
      which had been acquired by lawful inheritance, or laudable industry. The
      usual methods of extortion were practised and improved; and Claudian has
      sketched a lively and original picture of the public auction of the state.
      "The impotence of the eunuch," says that agreeable satirist, "has served
      only to stimulate his avarice: the same hand which in his servile
      condition, was exercised in petty thefts, to unlock the coffers of his
      master, now grasps the riches of the world; and this infamous broker of
      the empire appreciates and divides the Roman provinces from Mount Haemus
      to the Tigris. One man, at the expense of his villa, is made proconsul of
      Asia; a second purchases Syria with his wife's jewels; and a third laments
      that he has exchanged his paternal estate for the government of Bithynia.
      In the antechamber of Eutropius, a large tablet is exposed to public view,
      which marks the respective prices of the provinces. The different value of
      Pontus, of Galatia, of Lydia, is accurately distinguished. Lycia may be
      obtained for so many thousand pieces of gold; but the opulence of Phrygia
      will require a more considerable sum. The eunuch wishes to obliterate, by
      the general disgrace, his personal ignominy; and as he has been sold
      himself, he is desirous of selling the rest of mankind. In the eager
      contention, the balance, which contains the fate and fortunes of the
      province, often trembles on the beam; and till one of the scales is
      inclined, by a superior weight, the mind of the impartial judge remains in
      anxious suspense. Such," continues the indignant poet, "are the fruits of
      Roman valor, of the defeat of Antiochus, and of the triumph of Pompey."
      This venal prostitution of public honors secured the impunity of future
      crimes; but the riches, which Eutropius derived from confiscation, were
      already stained with injustice; since it was decent to accuse, and to
      condemn, the proprietors of the wealth, which he was impatient to
      confiscate. Some noble blood was shed by the hand of the executioner; and
      the most inhospitable extremities of the empire were filled with innocent
      and illustrious exiles. Among the generals and consuls of the East,
      Abundantius <a href="#link32note-12" name="link32noteref-12"
      id="link32noteref-12">12</a> had reason to dread the first effects of the
      resentment of Eutropius. He had been guilty of the unpardonable crime of
      introducing that abject slave to the palace of Constantinople; and some
      degree of praise must be allowed to a powerful and ungrateful favorite,
      who was satisfied with the disgrace of his benefactor. Abundantius was
      stripped of his ample fortunes by an Imperial rescript, and banished to
      Pityus, on the Euxine, the last frontier of the Roman world; where he
      subsisted by the precarious mercy of the Barbarians, till he could obtain,
      after the fall of Eutropius, a milder exile at Sidon, in Phoenicia. The
      destruction of Timasius <a href="#link32note-13" name="link32noteref-13"
      id="link32noteref-13">13</a> required a more serious and regular mode of
      attack. That great officer, the master-general of the armies 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 to abandon his
      confidence to wicked and designing flatterers. Timasius had despised the
      public clamor, by promoting an infamous dependant to the command of a
      cohort; and he deserved to feel the ingratitude of Bargus, who was
      secretly instigated by the favorite to accuse his patron of a treasonable
      conspiracy. The general was arraigned before the tribunal of Arcadius
      himself; and the principal eunuch stood by the side of the throne to
      suggest the questions and answers of his sovereign. But as this form of
      trial might be deemed partial and arbitrary, the further inquiry into the
      crimes of Timasius was delegated to Saturninus and Procopius; the former
      of consular rank, the latter still respected as the father-in-law of the
      emperor Valens. The appearances of a fair and legal proceeding were
      maintained by the blunt honesty of Procopius; and he yielded with
      reluctance to the obsequious dexterity of his colleague, who pronounced a
      sentence of condemnation against the unfortunate Timasius. His immense
      riches were confiscated in the name of the emperor, and for the benefit of
      the favorite; and he was doomed to perpetual exile a Oasis, a solitary
      spot in the midst of the sandy deserts of Libya. <a href="#link32note-14"
      name="link32noteref-14" id="link32noteref-14">14</a> Secluded from all
      human converse, the master-general of the Roman armies was lost forever to
      the world; but the circumstances of his fate have been related in a
      various and contradictory manner. It is insinuated that Eutropius
      despatched a private order for his secret execution. <a
      href="#link32note-15" name="link32noteref-15" id="link32noteref-15">15</a>
      It was reported, that, in attempting to escape from Oasis, he perished in
      the desert, of thirst and hunger; and that his dead body was found on the
      sands of Libya. <a href="#link32note-16" name="link32noteref-16"
      id="link32noteref-16">16</a> It has been asserted, with more confidence,
      that his son Syagrius, after successfully eluding the pursuit of the
      agents and emissaries of the court, collected a band of African robbers;
      that he rescued Timasius from the place of his exile; and that both the
      father and the son disappeared from the knowledge of mankind. <a
      href="#link32note-17" name="link32noteref-17" id="link32noteref-17">17</a>
      But the ungrateful Bargus, instead of being suffered to possess the reward
      of guilt was soon after circumvented and destroyed, by the more powerful
      villany of the minister himself, who retained sense and spirit enough to
      abhor the instrument of his own crimes.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-10" id="link32note-10">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      10 (<a href="#link32noteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Drunk with riches, is
      the forcible expression of Zosimus, (l. v. p. 301;) and the avarice of
      Eutropius is equally execrated in the Lexicon of Suidas and the Chronicle
      of Marcellinus Chrysostom had often admonished the favorite of the vanity
      and danger of immoderate wealth, tom. iii. p. 381. -certantum saepe duorum
      Diversum suspendit onus: cum pondere judex Vergit, et in geminas nutat
      provincia lances. Claudian (i. 192-209) so curiously distinguishes the
      circumstances of the sale, that they all seem to allude to particular
      anecdotes.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-12" id="link32note-12">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      12 (<a href="#link32noteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian (i. 154-170)
      mentions the guilt and exile of Abundantius; nor could he fail to quote
      the example of the artist, who made 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 place is 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-13" id="link32note-13">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      13 (<a href="#link32noteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ Suidas (most probably
      from the history of Eunapius) has given a very unfavorable picture of
      Timasius. The account of his accuser, the judges, trial, &amp;c., is
      perfectly agreeable to the practice of ancient and modern courts. (See
      Zosimus, l. v. p. 298, 299, 300.) I am almost tempted to quote the romance
      of a great master, (Fielding's Works, vol. iv. p. 49, &amp;c., 8vo.
      edit.,) which may be considered as the history of human nature.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-14" id="link32note-14">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      14 (<a href="#link32noteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ The great Oasis was one
      of the spots in the sands of Libya, watered with springs, and capable of
      producing wheat, barley, and palm-trees. It was about three days' journey
      from north to south, about half a day in breadth, and at the distance of
      about five days' march to the 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 the epithet of the happy island ]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-15" id="link32note-15">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      15 (<a href="#link32noteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ The line of Claudian,
      in Eutrop. l. i. 180,
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Marmaricus claris violatur caedibus Hammon,
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      evidently alludes to his persuasion of the death of Timasius. * Note: A
      fragment of Eunapius confirms this account. "Thus having deprived this
      great person of his life&mdash;a eunuch, a man, a slave, a consul, a
      minister of the bed-chamber, one bred in camps." Mai, p. 283, in Niebuhr.
      87&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-16" id="link32note-16">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      16 (<a href="#link32noteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen, l. viii. c. 7.
      He speaks from report.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-17" id="link32note-17">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      17 (<a href="#link32noteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. v. p. 300.
      Yet he seems to suspect that this rumor was spread by the friends of
      Eutropius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The public hatred, and the despair of individuals, continually threatened,
      or seemed to threaten, the personal safety of Eutropius; as well 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 of humanity and
      justice. <a href="#link32note-18" name="link32noteref-18"
      id="link32noteref-18">18</a> I. It is enacted, in the name, and by the
      authority of Arcadius, that all those who should conspire, either with
      subjects or with strangers, against the lives of any of the persons whom
      the emperor considers as the members of his own body, shall be punished
      with death and confiscation. This species of fictitious and metaphorical
      treason is extended to protect, not only the illustrious officers of the
      state and army, who were admitted into the sacred consistory, but likewise
      the principal domestics of the palace, the senators of Constantinople, the
      military commanders, and the civil magistrates of the provinces; a vague
      and indefinite list, which, under the successors of Constantine, included
      an obscure and numerous train of subordinate ministers. II. This extreme
      severity might perhaps be justified, had it been only directed to secure
      the representatives of the sovereign from any actual violence in the
      execution of their office. But the whole body of Imperial dependants
      claimed a privilege, or rather impunity, which screened them, in the
      loosest moments of their lives, from the hasty, perhaps the justifiable,
      resentment of their fellow-citizens; and, by a strange perversion of the
      laws, the same degree of guilt and punishment was applied to a private
      quarrel, and to a deliberate conspiracy against the emperor and the
      empire. The edicts of Arcadius most positively and most absurdly declares,
      that in such cases of treason, thoughts and actions ought to be punished
      with equal severity; that the knowledge of a mischievous intention, unless
      it be instantly revealed, becomes equally criminal with the intention
      itself; <a href="#link32note-19" name="link32noteref-19"
      id="link32noteref-19">19</a> and that those rash men, who shall presume to
      solicit the pardon of traitors, shall themselves be branded with public
      and perpetual infamy. III. "With regard to the sons of the traitors,"
      (continues the emperor,) "although they ought to share the punishment,
      since they will probably imitate the guilt, of their parents, yet, by the
      special effect of our Imperial lenity, we grant them their lives; but, at
      the same time, we declare them incapable of inheriting, either on the
      father's or on the mother's side, or of receiving any gift or legacy, from
      the testament either of kinsmen or of strangers. Stigmatized with
      hereditary infamy, excluded from the hopes of honors or fortune, let them
      endure the pangs of poverty and contempt, till they shall consider life as
      a calamity, and death as a comfort and relief." In such words, so well
      adapted to insult the feelings of mankind, did the emperor, or rather his
      favorite eunuch, applaud the moderation of a law, which transferred the
      same unjust and inhuman penalties to the children of all those who had
      seconded, or who had not disclosed, their fictitious conspiracies. Some of
      the noblest regulations of Roman jurisprudence have been suffered to
      expire; but this edict, a convenient and forcible engine of ministerial
      tyranny, was carefully inserted in the codes of Theodosius and Justinian;
      and the same maxims have been revived in modern ages, to protect the
      electors of Germany, and the cardinals of the church of Rome. <a
      href="#link32note-20" name="link32noteref-20" id="link32noteref-20">20</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-18" id="link32note-18">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      18 (<a href="#link32noteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Theodosian
      Code, l. ix. tit. 14, ad legem Corneliam de Sicariis, leg. 3, and the Code
      of Justinian, l. ix. tit. viii, viii. ad legem Juliam de Majestate, leg.
      5. The alteration of the title, from murder to treason, was an improvement
      of the subtle Tribonian. Godefroy, in a formal dissertation, which he has
      inserted in his Commentary, illustrates this law of Arcadius, and explains
      all the difficult passages which had been perverted by the jurisconsults
      of the darker ages. See tom. iii. p. 88-111.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-19" id="link32note-19">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      19 (<a href="#link32noteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ Bartolus understands a
      simple and naked consciousness, without any sign of approbation or
      concurrence. For this opinion, says Baldus, he is now roasting in hell.
      For my own part, continues the discreet Heineccius, (Element. Jur. Civil
      l. iv. p. 411,) I must approve the theory of Bartolus; but in practice I
      should incline to the sentiments of Baldus. Yet Bartolus was gravely
      quoted by the lawyers of Cardinal Richelieu; and Eutropius was indirectly
      guilty of the murder of the virtuous De Thou.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-20" id="link32note-20">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      20 (<a href="#link32noteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Godefroy, tom. iii. p.
      89. It is, however, suspected, that this law, so repugnant to the maxims
      of Germanic freedom, has been surreptitiously added to the golden bull.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Yet these sanguinary laws, which spread terror among a disarmed and
      dispirited people, were of too weak a texture to restrain the bold
      enterprise of Tribigild <a href="#link32note-21" name="link32noteref-21"
      id="link32noteref-21">21</a> the Ostrogoth. The colony of that warlike
      nation, which had been planted by Theodosius in one of the most fertile
      districts of Phrygia, <a href="#link32note-22" name="link32noteref-22"
      id="link32noteref-22">22</a> impatiently compared the slow returns of
      laborious husbandry with the successful rapine and liberal rewards of
      Alaric; and their leader resented, as a personal affront, his own
      ungracious reception in the palace of Constantinople. A soft and wealthy
      province, in the heart of the empire, was astonished by the sound of war;
      and the faithful vassal who had been disregarded or oppressed, was again
      respected, as soon as he resumed the hostile character of a Barbarian. The
      vineyards and fruitful fields, between the rapid Marsyas and the winding
      Maeander, <a href="#link32note-23" name="link32noteref-23"
      id="link32noteref-23">23</a> were consumed with fire; the decayed walls of
      the cities crumbled into dust, at the first stroke of an enemy; the
      trembling inhabitants escaped from a bloody massacre to the shores of the
      Hellespont; and a considerable part of Asia Minor was desolated by the
      rebellion of Tribigild. His rapid progress was checked by the resistance
      of the peasants of Pamphylia; and the Ostrogoths, attacked in a narrow
      pass, between the city of Selgae, <a href="#link32note-24"
      name="link32noteref-24" id="link32noteref-24">24</a> a deep morass, and
      the craggy cliffs of Mount Taurus, were defeated with the loss of their
      bravest troops. But the spirit of their chief was not daunted by
      misfortune; and his army was continually recruited by swarms of Barbarians
      and outlaws, who were desirous of exercising the profession of robbery,
      under the more honorable names of war and conquest. The rumors of the
      success of Tribigild might for some time be suppressed by fear, or
      disguised by flattery; yet they gradually alarmed both the court and the
      capital. Every misfortune was exaggerated in dark and doubtful hints; and
      the future designs of the rebels became the subject of anxious conjecture.
      Whenever Tribigild advanced into the inland country, the Romans were
      inclined to suppose that he meditated the passage of Mount Taurus, and the
      invasion of Syria. If he descended towards the sea, they imputed, and
      perhaps suggested, to the Gothic chief, the more dangerous project of
      arming a fleet in the harbors of Ionia, and of extending his depredations
      along the maritime coast, from the mouth of the Nile to the port of
      Constantinople. The approach of danger, and the obstinacy of Tribigild,
      who refused all terms of accommodation, compelled Eutropius to summon a
      council of war. <a href="#link32note-25" name="link32noteref-25"
      id="link32noteref-25">25</a> After claiming for himself the privilege of a
      veteran soldier, the eunuch intrusted the guard of Thrace and the
      Hellespont to Gainas the Goth, and the command of the Asiatic army to his
      favorite, Leo; two generals, who differently, but effectually, promoted
      the cause of the rebels. Leo, <a href="#link32note-26"
      name="link32noteref-26" id="link32noteref-26">26</a> who, from the bulk of
      his body, and the dulness of his mind, was surnamed the Ajax of the East,
      had deserted his original trade of a woolcomber, to exercise, with much
      less skill and success, the military profession; and his uncertain
      operations were capriciously framed and executed, with an ignorance of
      real difficulties, and a timorous neglect of every favorable opportunity.
      The rashness of the Ostrogoths had drawn them into a disadvantageous
      position between the Rivers Melas and Eurymedon, where they were almost
      besieged by the peasants of Pamphylia; but the arrival of an Imperial
      army, instead of completing their destruction, afforded the means of
      safety and victory. Tribigild surprised the unguarded camp of the Romans,
      in the darkness of the night; seduced the faith of the greater part of the
      Barbarian auxiliaries, and dissipated, without much effort, the troops,
      which had been corrupted by the relaxation of discipline, and the luxury
      of the capital. The discontent of Gainas, who had so boldly contrived and
      executed the death of Rufinus, was irritated by the fortune of his
      unworthy successor; he accused his own dishonorable patience under the
      servile reign of a eunuch; and the ambitious Goth was convicted, at least
      in the public opinion, of secretly fomenting the revolt of Tribigild, with
      whom he was connected by a domestic, as well as by a national alliance. <a
      href="#link32note-27" name="link32noteref-27" id="link32noteref-27">27</a>
      When Gainas passed the Hellespont, to unite under his standard the remains
      of the Asiatic troops, he skilfully adapted his motions to the wishes of
      the Ostrogoths; abandoning, by his retreat, the country which they desired
      to invade; or facilitating, by his approach, the desertion of the
      Barbarian auxiliaries. To the Imperial court he repeatedly magnified the
      valor, the genius, the inexhaustible resources of Tribigild; confessed his
      own inability to prosecute the war; and extorted the permission of
      negotiating with his invincible adversary. The conditions of peace were
      dictated by the haughty rebel; and the peremptory demand of the head of
      Eutropius revealed the author and the design of this hostile conspiracy.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-21" id="link32note-21">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      21 (<a href="#link32noteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ A copious and
      circumstantial narrative (which he might have reserved for more important
      events) is bestowed by Zosimus (l. v. p. 304-312) on the revolt of
      Tribigild and Gainas. See likewise Socrates, l. vi. c. 6, and Sozomen, l.
      viii. c. 4. The second book of Claudian against Eutropius, is a fine,
      though imperfect, piece of history.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-22" id="link32note-22">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      22 (<a href="#link32noteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian (in Eutrop. l.
      ii. 237-250) very accurately observes, that the ancient name and nation of
      the Phrygians extended very far on every side, till their limits were
      contracted by the colonies of the Bithvnians of Thrace, of the Greeks, and
      at last of the Gauls. His description (ii. 257-272) of the fertility of
      Phrygia, and of the four rivers that produced gold, is just and
      picturesque.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-23" id="link32note-23">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      23 (<a href="#link32noteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ Xenophon, Anabasis, l.
      i. p. 11, 12, edit. Hutchinson. Strabo, l. xii p. 865, edit. Amstel. Q.
      Curt. l. iii. c. 1. Claudian compares the junction of the Marsyas and
      Maeander to that of the Saone and the Rhone, with this difference,
      however, that the smaller of the Phrygian rivers is not accelerated, but
      retarded, by the larger.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-24" id="link32note-24">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      24 (<a href="#link32noteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ Selgae, a colony of the
      Lacedaemonians, had formerly numbered twenty thousand citizens; but in the
      age of Zosimus it was reduced to a small town. See Cellarius, Geograph.
      Antiq tom. ii. p. 117.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-25" id="link32note-25">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      25 (<a href="#link32noteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ The council of
      Eutropius, in Claudian, may be compared to that of Domitian in the fourth
      Satire of Juvenal. The principal members of the former were juvenes
      protervi lascivique senes; one of them had been a cook, a second a
      woolcomber. The language of their original profession exposes their
      assumed dignity; and their trifling conversation about tragedies, dancers,
      &amp;c., is made still more ridiculous by the importance of the debate.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-26" id="link32note-26">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      26 (<a href="#link32noteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ Claudian (l. ii.
      376-461) has branded him with infamy; and Zosimus, in more temperate
      language, confirms his reproaches. L. v. p. 305.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-27" id="link32note-27">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      27 (<a href="#link32noteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ The conspiracy of
      Gainas and Tribigild, which is attested by the Greek historian, had not
      reached the ears of Claudian, who attributes the revolt of the Ostrogoth
      to his own martial spirit, and the advice of his wife.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link322HCH0002" id="link322HCH0002">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius, Theodosius II.&mdash;Part II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      The bold satirist, who has indulged his discontent by the partial and
      passionate censure of the Christian emperors, violates the dignity, rather
      than the truth, of history, by comparing the son of Theodosius to one of
      those harmless and simple animals, who scarcely feel that they are the
      property of their shepherd. Two passions, however, fear and conjugal
      affection, awakened the languid soul of Arcadius: he was terrified by the
      threats of a victorious Barbarian; and he yielded to the tender eloquence
      of his wife Eudoxia, who, with a flood of artificial tears, presenting her
      infant children to their father, implored his justice for some real or
      imaginary insult, which she imputed to the audacious eunuch. <a
      href="#link32note-28" name="link32noteref-28" id="link32noteref-28">28</a>
      The emperor's hand was directed to sign the condemnation of Eutropius; the
      magic spell, which during four years had bound the prince and the people,
      was instantly dissolved; and the acclamations that so lately hailed the
      merit and fortune of the favorite, were converted into the clamors of the
      soldiers and people, who reproached his crimes, and pressed his immediate
      execution. In this hour of distress and despair, his only refuge was in
      the sanctuary of the church, whose privileges he had wisely or profanely
      attempted to circumscribe; and the most eloquent of the saints, John
      Chrysostom, enjoyed the triumph of protecting a prostrate minister, whose
      choice had raised him to the ecclesiastical throne of Constantinople. The
      archbishop, ascending the pulpit of the cathedral, that he might be
      distinctly seen and heard by an innumerable crowd of either sex and of
      every age, pronounced a seasonable and pathetic discourse on the
      forgiveness of injuries, and the instability of human greatness. The
      agonies of the pale and affrighted wretch, who lay grovelling under the
      table of the altar, exhibited a solemn and instructive spectacle; and the
      orator, who was afterwards accused of insulting the misfortunes of
      Eutropius, labored to excite the contempt, that he might assuage the fury,
      of the people. <a href="#link32note-29" name="link32noteref-29"
      id="link32noteref-29">29</a> The powers of humanity, of superstition, and
      of eloquence, prevailed. The empress Eudoxia was restrained by her own
      prejudices, or by those of her subjects, from violating the sanctuary of
      the church; and Eutropius was tempted to capitulate, by the milder arts of
      persuasion, and by an oath, that his life should be spared. <a
      href="#link32note-30" name="link32noteref-30" id="link32noteref-30">30</a>
      Careless of the dignity of their sovereign, the new ministers of the
      palace immediately published an edict to declare, that his late favorite
      had disgraced the names of consul and patrician, to abolish his statues,
      to confiscate his wealth, and to inflict a perpetual exile in the Island
      of Cyprus. <a href="#link32note-31" name="link32noteref-31"
      id="link32noteref-31">31</a> A despicable and decrepit eunuch could no
      longer alarm the fears of his enemies; nor was he capable of enjoying what
      yet remained, the comforts of peace, of solitude, and of a happy climate.
      But their implacable revenge still envied him the last moments of a
      miserable life, and Eutropius had no sooner touched the shores of Cyprus,
      than he was hastily recalled. The vain hope of eluding, by a change of
      place, the obligation of an oath, engaged the empress to transfer the
      scene of his trial and execution from Constantinople to the adjacent
      suburb of Chalcedon. The consul Aurelian pronounced the sentence; and the
      motives of that sentence expose the jurisprudence of a despotic
      government. The crimes which Eutropius had committed against the people
      might have justified his death; but he was found guilty of harnessing to
      his chariot the sacred animals, who, from their breed or color, were
      reserved for the use of the emperor alone. <a href="#link32note-32"
      name="link32noteref-32" id="link32noteref-32">32</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-28" id="link32note-28">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      28 (<a href="#link32noteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ This anecdote, which
      Philostorgius alone has preserved, (l xi. c. 6, and Gothofred. Dissertat.
      p. 451-456) is curious and important; since it connects the revolt of the
      Goths with the secret intrigues of the palace.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-29" id="link32note-29">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      29 (<a href="#link32noteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Homily of
      Chrysostom, tom. iii. p. 381-386, which the 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; and that he commanded the
      soldiers who were ordered to seize Eutropius Even Claudian, a Pagan poet,
      (praefat. ad l. ii. in Eutrop. 27,) has mentioned the flight of the eunuch
      to the sanctuary.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Suppliciterque pias humilis prostratus ad aras,
     Mitigat iratas voce tremente nurus,]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-30" id="link32note-30">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      30 (<a href="#link32noteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ Chrysostom, in another
      homily, (tom. iii. p. 386,) affects to declare that Eutropius would not
      have been taken, had he not deserted the church. Zosimus, (l. v. p. 313,)
      on the contrary, pretends, that his enemies forced him from the sanctuary.
      Yet the promise is an evidence of some treaty; and the strong assurance of
      Claudian, (Praefat. ad l. ii. 46,) Sed tamen exemplo non feriere tuo, may
      be considered as an evidence of some promise.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-31" id="link32note-31">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      31 (<a href="#link32noteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ Cod. Theod. l. ix. tit.
      xi. leg. 14. The date of that law (Jan. 17, A.D. 399) is erroneous and
      corrupt; since the fall of Eutropius could not happen till the autumn of
      the same year. See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 780.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-32" id="link32note-32">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      32 (<a href="#link32noteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. v. p. 313.
      Philostorgius, l. xi. c. 6.]
    </p>
    <p>
      While this domestic revolution was transacted, Gainas <a
      href="#link32note-33" name="link32noteref-33" id="link32noteref-33">33</a>
      openly revolted from his allegiance; united his forces at Thyatira in
      Lydia, with those of Tribigild; and still maintained his superior
      ascendant over the rebellious 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
      Asiatic dominions, by resigning his authority and his person to the faith
      of the Barbarians. The church of the holy martyr Euphemia, situate on a
      lofty eminence near Chalcedon, <a href="#link32note-34"
      name="link32noteref-34" id="link32noteref-34">34</a> was chosen for the
      place of the interview. Gainas bowed with reverence at the feet of the
      emperor, whilst he required the sacrifice of Aurelian and Saturninus, two
      ministers of consular rank; and their naked necks were exposed, by the
      haughty rebel, to the edge of the sword, till he condescended to grant
      them a precarious and disgraceful respite. The Goths, according to the
      terms of the agreement, were immediately transported from Asia into
      Europe; and their victorious chief, who accepted the title of
      master-general of the Roman armies, soon filled Constantinople with his
      troops, and distributed among his dependants the honors and rewards of the
      empire. In his early youth, Gainas had passed the Danube as a suppliant
      and a fugitive: his elevation had been the work of valor and fortune; and
      his indiscreet or perfidious conduct was the cause of his rapid downfall.
      Notwithstanding the vigorous opposition of the archbishop, he
      importunately claimed for his Arian sectaries the possession of a peculiar
      church; and the pride of the Catholics was offended by the public
      toleration of heresy. <a href="#link32note-35" name="link32noteref-35"
      id="link32noteref-35">35</a> Every quarter of Constantinople was filled
      with tumult and disorder; and the Barbarians gazed with such ardor 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 to remove those
      dangerous temptations from their sight. They resented the injurious
      precaution; and some alarming attempts were made, during the night, to
      attack and destroy with fire the Imperial palace. <a href="#link32note-36"
      name="link32noteref-36" id="link32noteref-36">36</a> In this state of
      mutual and suspicious hostility, the guards and the people of
      Constantinople shut the gates, and rose in arms to prevent or to punish
      the conspiracy of the Goths. During the absence of Gainas, his troops were
      surprised and oppressed; seven thousand Barbarians perished in this bloody
      massacre. In the fury of the pursuit, the Catholics uncovered the roof,
      and continued to throw down flaming logs of wood, till they overwhelmed
      their adversaries, who had retreated to the church or conventicle of the
      Arians. Gainas was either innocent of the design, or too confident of his
      success; he was astonished by the intelligence that the flower of his army
      had been ingloriously destroyed; that he himself was declared a public
      enemy; and that his countryman, Fravitta, a brave and loyal confederate,
      had assumed the management of the war by sea and land. The enterprises of
      the rebel, against the cities of Thrace, were encountered by a firm and
      well-ordered defence; his hungry soldiers were soon reduced to the grass
      that grew on the margin of the fortifications; and Gainas, who vainly
      regretted the wealth and luxury of Asia, embraced a desperate resolution
      of forcing the passage of the Hellespont. He was destitute of vessels; but
      the woods of the Chersonesus afforded materials for rafts, and his
      intrepid Barbarians did not refuse to trust themselves to the waves. But
      Fravitta attentively watched the progress of their undertaking As soon as
      they had gained the middle of the stream, the Roman galleys, <a
      href="#link32note-37" name="link32noteref-37" id="link32noteref-37">37</a>
      impelled by the full force of oars, of the current, and of a favorable
      wind, rushed forwards in compact order, and with irresistible weight; and
      the Hellespont was covered with the fragments of the Gothic shipwreck.
      After the destruction of his hopes, and the loss of many thousands of his
      bravest soldiers, Gainas, who could no longer aspire to govern or to
      subdue the Romans, determined to resume the independence of a savage life.
      A light and active body of Barbarian horse, disengaged from their infantry
      and baggage, might perform in eight or ten days a march of three hundred
      miles from the Hellespont to the Danube; <a href="#link32note-38"
      name="link32noteref-38" id="link32noteref-38">38</a> the garrisons of that
      important frontier had been gradually annihilated; the river, in the month
      of December, would be deeply frozen; and the unbounded prospect of Scythia
      was opened to the ambition of Gainas. This design was secretly
      communicated to the national troops, who devoted themselves to the
      fortunes of their leader; and before the signal of departure was given, a
      great number of provincial auxiliaries, whom he suspected of an attachment
      to their native country, were perfidiously massacred. The Goths advanced,
      by rapid marches, through the plains of Thrace; and they were soon
      delivered from the fear of a pursuit, by the vanity of Fravitta, <a
      href="#link32note-3811" name="link32noteref-3811" id="link32noteref-3811">3811</a>
      who, instead of extinguishing the war, hastened to enjoy the popular
      applause, and to assume the peaceful honors of the consulship. But a
      formidable ally appeared in arms to vindicate the majesty of the empire,
      and to guard the peace and liberty of Scythia. <a href="#link32note-39"
      name="link32noteref-39" id="link32noteref-39">39</a> The superior forces
      of Uldin, king of the Huns, opposed the progress of Gainas; a hostile and
      ruined country prohibited his retreat; he disdained to capitulate; and
      after repeatedly attempting to cut his way through the ranks of the enemy,
      he was slain, with his desperate followers, in the field of battle. Eleven
      days after the naval victory of the Hellespont, the head of Gainas, the
      inestimable gift of the conqueror, was received at Constantinople with the
      most liberal expressions of gratitude; and the public deliverance was
      celebrated by festivals and illuminations. The triumphs of Arcadius became
      the subject of epic poems; <a href="#link32note-40" name="link32noteref-40"
      id="link32noteref-40">40</a> and the monarch, no longer oppressed by any
      hostile terrors, resigned himself to the mild and absolute dominion of his
      wife, the fair and artful Eudoxia, who was sullied her fame by the
      persecution of St. John Chrysostom.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-33" id="link32note-33">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      33 (<a href="#link32noteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ 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, and death of Gainas.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-34" id="link32note-34">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      34 (<a href="#link32noteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 of Chalcedon was afterwards held.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-35" id="link32note-35">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      35 (<a href="#link32noteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ The pious remonstrances
      of Chrysostom, which do not appear in his own writings, are strongly urged
      by Theodoret; but his insinuation, 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 the plate of the church of the apostles.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-36" id="link32note-36">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      36 (<a href="#link32noteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ The ecclesiastical
      historians, who sometimes guide, and sometimes follow, the public opinion,
      most confidently assert, that the palace of Constantinople was guarded by
      legions of angels.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-37" id="link32note-37">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      37 (<a href="#link32noteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosmius (l. v. p. 319)
      mentions these galleys by the name of Liburnians, and observes that they
      were as swift (without explaining the difference between them) as the
      vessels with fifty oars; but that they were far inferior in speed to the
      triremes, which had been long disused. Yet he reasonably concludes, from
      the testimony of Polybius, that galleys of a still larger size had been
      constructed in the Punic wars. Since the establishment of the Roman empire
      over the Mediterranean, the useless art of building large ships of war had
      probably been neglected, and at length forgotten.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-38" id="link32note-38">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      38 (<a href="#link32noteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ Chishull (Travels, p.
      61-63, 72-76) proceeded from Gallipoli, through Hadrianople to the Danube,
      in about fifteen days. He was in the train of an English ambassador, whose
      baggage consisted of seventy-one wagons. That learned traveller has the
      merit of tracing a curious and unfrequented route.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-3811" id="link32note-3811">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3811 (<a href="#link32noteref-3811">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-39" id="link32note-39">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      39 (<a href="#link32noteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ The narrative of
      Zosimus, who actually leads Gainas beyond the Danube, must be corrected by
      the testimony of Socrates, aud Sozomen, that he was killed in Thrace; and
      by the precise and authentic dates of the Alexandrian, or Paschal,
      Chronicle, p. 307. The naval victory of the Hellespont is fixed to the
      month Apellaeus, the tenth of the Calends of January, (December 23;) the
      head of Gainas was brought to Constantinople the third of the nones of
      January, (January 3,) in the month Audynaeus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-40" id="link32note-40">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      40 (<a href="#link32noteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ Eusebius Scholasticus
      acquired much fame by his poem on the Gothic war, in which he had served.
      Near forty years afterwards Ammonius recited another poem on the same
      subject, in the presence of the emperor Theodosius. See Socrates, l. vi.
      c. 6.]
    </p>
    <p>
      After the death of the indolent Nectarius, the successor of Gregory
      Nazianzen, the church of Constantinople was distracted by the ambition of
      rival candidates, who were not ashamed to solicit, with gold or flattery,
      the suffrage of the people, or of the favorite. On this occasion Eutropius
      seems to have deviated from his ordinary maxims; and his uncorrupted
      judgment was determined only by the superior merit of a stranger. In a
      late journey into the East, he had admired the sermons of John, a native
      and presbyter of Antioch, whose name has been distinguished by the epithet
      of Chrysostom, or the Golden Mouth. <a href="#link32note-41"
      name="link32noteref-41" id="link32noteref-41">41</a> A private order was
      despatched to the governor of Syria; and as the people might be unwilling
      to resign their favorite preacher, he was transported, with speed and
      secrecy in a post-chariot, from Antioch to Constantinople. The unanimous
      and unsolicited consent of the court, the clergy, and the people, ratified
      the choice of the minister; and, both as a saint and as an orator, the new
      archbishop surpassed the sanguine expectations of the public. Born of a
      noble and opulent family, in the capital of Syria, Chrysostom had been
      educated, by the care of a tender mother, under the tuition of the most
      skilful masters. He studied the art of rhetoric in the school of Libanius;
      and that celebrated sophist, who soon discovered the talents of his
      disciple, ingenuously confessed that John would have deserved to succeed
      him, had he not been stolen away by the Christians. His piety soon
      disposed him to receive the sacrament of baptism; to renounce the
      lucrative and honorable profession of the law; and to bury himself in the
      adjacent desert, where he subdued the lusts of the flesh by an austere
      penance of six years. His infirmities compelled him to return to the
      society of mankind; and the authority of Meletius devoted his talents to
      the service of the church: but in the midst of his family, and afterwards
      on the archiepiscopal throne, Chrysostom still persevered in the practice
      of the monastic virtues. The ample revenues, which his predecessors had
      consumed in pomp and luxury, he diligently applied to the establishment of
      hospitals; and the multitudes, who were supported by his charity,
      preferred the eloquent and edifying discourses of their archbishop to the
      amusements of the theatre or the circus. The monuments of that eloquence,
      which was admired near twenty years at Antioch and Constantinople, have
      been carefully preserved; and the possession of near one thousand sermons,
      or homilies has authorized the critics <a href="#link32note-42"
      name="link32noteref-42" id="link32noteref-42">42</a> of succeeding times
      to appreciate the genuine merit of Chrysostom. They unanimously attribute
      to the Christian orator the free command of an elegant and copious
      language; the judgment to conceal the advantages which he derived from the
      knowledge of rhetoric and philosophy; an inexhaustible fund of metaphors
      and similitudes of ideas and images, to vary and illustrate the most
      familiar topics; the happy art of engaging the passions in the service of
      virtue; and of exposing the folly, as well as the turpitude, of vice,
      almost with the truth and spirit of a dramatic representation.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-41" id="link32note-41">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      41 (<a href="#link32noteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ The sixth book of
      Socrates, the eighth of Sozomen, and the fifth of Theodoret, afford
      curious and authentic materials for the life of John Chrysostom. Besides
      those general historians, I have taken for my guides the four principal
      biographers of the saint. 1. The author of a partial and passionate
      Vindication of the archbishop of Constantinople, composed in the form of a
      dialogue, and under the name of his zealous partisan, Palladius, bishop of
      Helenopolis, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xi. p. 500-533.) It is inserted
      among the works of Chrysostom. tom. xiii. p. 1-90, edit. Montfaucon. 2.
      The moderate Erasmus, (tom. iii. epist. Mcl. p. 1331-1347, edit. Lugd.
      Bat.) His vivacity and good sense were his own; his errors, in the
      uncultivated state of ecclesiastical antiquity, were almost inevitable. 3.
      The learned Tillemont, (Mem. Ecclesiastiques, tom. xi. p. 1-405, 547-626,
      &amp;c. &amp;c.,) who compiles the lives of the saints with incredible
      patience and religious accuracy. He has minutely searched the voluminous
      works of Chrysostom himself. 4. Father Montfaucon, who has perused those
      works with the curious diligence of an editor, discovered several new
      homilies, and again reviewed and composed the Life of Chrysostom, (Opera
      Chrysostom. tom. xiii. p. 91-177.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-42" id="link32note-42">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      42 (<a href="#link32noteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ As I am almost a
      stranger to the voluminous sermons of Chrysostom, I have given my
      confidence to the two most judicious and moderate of the ecclesiastical
      critics, Erasmus (tom. iii. p. 1344) and Dupin, (Bibliotheque
      Ecclesiastique, tom. iii. p. 38:) yet the good taste of the former is
      sometimes vitiated by an excessive love of antiquity; and the good sense
      of the latter is always restrained by prudential considerations.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The pastoral labors of the archbishop of Constantinople provoked, and
      gradually united against him, two sorts of enemies; the aspiring clergy,
      who envied his success, and the obstinate sinners, who were offended by
      his reproofs. When Chrysostom thundered, from the pulpit of St. Sophia,
      against the degeneracy of the Christians, his shafts were spent among the
      crowd, without wounding, or even marking, the character of any individual.
      When he declaimed against the peculiar vices of the rich, poverty might
      obtain a transient consolation from his invectives; but the guilty were
      still sheltered by their numbers; and the reproach itself was dignified by
      some ideas of superiority and enjoyment. But as the pyramid rose towards
      the summit, it insensibly diminished to a point; and the magistrates, the
      ministers, the favorite eunuchs, the ladies of the court, <a
      href="#link32note-43" name="link32noteref-43" id="link32noteref-43">43</a>
      the empress Eudoxia herself, had a much larger share of guilt to divide
      among a smaller proportion of criminals. The personal applications of the
      audience were anticipated, or confirmed, by the testimony of their own
      conscience; and the intrepid preacher assumed the dangerous right of
      exposing both the offence and the offender to the public abhorrence. The
      secret resentment of the court encouraged the discontent of the clergy and
      monks of Constantinople, who were too hastily reformed by the fervent zeal
      of their archbishop. He had condemned, from the pulpit, the domestic
      females of the clergy of Constantinople, who, under the name of servants,
      or sisters, afforded a perpetual occasion either of sin or of scandal. The
      silent and solitary ascetics, who had secluded themselves from the world,
      were entitled to the 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 frequently infested the streets of the capital. To the voice of
      persuasion, the archbishop was obliged to add the terrors of authority;
      and his ardor, in the exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, was not
      always exempt from passion; nor was it always guided by prudence.
      Chrysostom was naturally of a choleric disposition. <a
      href="#link32note-44" name="link32noteref-44" id="link32noteref-44">44</a>
      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 and of the church; and his sentiments were sometimes
      delivered with too much energy of countenance and expression. He still
      maintained, from some considerations of health or abstinence, his former
      habits of taking his repasts alone; and this inhospitable custom, <a
      href="#link32note-45" name="link32noteref-45" id="link32noteref-45">45</a>
      which his enemies imputed to pride, contributed, at least, to nourish the
      infirmity of a morose and unsocial humor. Separated from that familiar
      intercourse, which facilitates the knowledge and the despatch of business,
      he reposed an unsuspecting confidence in his deacon Serapion; and seldom
      applied his speculative knowledge of human nature to the particular
      character, either of his dependants, or of his equals.
    </p>
    <p>
      Conscious of the purity of his intentions, and perhaps of the superiority
      of his genius, the archbishop of Constantinople extended the jurisdiction
      of the Imperial city, that he might enlarge the sphere of his pastoral
      labors; and the conduct which the profane imputed to an ambitious motive,
      appeared to Chrysostom himself in the light of a sacred and indispensable
      duty. In his visitation through the Asiatic provinces, he deposed thirteen
      bishops of Lydia and Phrygia; and indiscreetly declared that a deep
      corruption of simony and licentiousness had infected the whole episcopal
      order. <a href="#link32note-46" name="link32noteref-46"
      id="link32noteref-46">46</a> If those bishops were innocent, such a rash
      and unjust condemnation must excite a well-grounded discontent. If they
      were guilty, the numerous associates of their guilt would soon discover
      that their own safety depended on the ruin of the archbishop; whom they
      studied to represent as the tyrant of the Eastern church.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-43" id="link32note-43">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      43 (<a href="#link32noteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ The females of
      Constantinople distinguished themselves by their enmity or their
      attachment to Chrysostom. Three noble and opulent widows, Marsa,
      Castricia, and Eugraphia, were the leaders of the persecution, (Pallad.
      Dialog. tom. xiii. p. 14.) It was impossible that they should forgive a
      preacher who reproached their affectation to conceal, by the ornaments of
      dress, their age and ugliness, (Pallad p. 27.) Olympias, by equal zeal,
      displayed in a more pious cause, has obtained the title of saint. See
      Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xi p. 416-440.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-44" id="link32note-44">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      44 (<a href="#link32noteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen, and more
      especially Socrates, have defined the real character of Chrysostom with a
      temperate and impartial freedom, very offensive to his blind admirers.
      Those historians lived in the next generation, when party violence was
      abated, and had conversed with many persons intimately acquainted with the
      virtues and imperfections of the saint.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-45" id="link32note-45">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      45 (<a href="#link32noteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ Palladius (tom. xiii.
      p. 40, &amp;c.) very seriously defends the archbishop 1. He never tasted
      wine. 2. The weakness of his stomach required a peculiar diet. 3.
      Business, or study, or devotion, often kept him fasting till sunset. 4. He
      detested the noise and levity of great dinners. 5. He saved the expense
      for the use of the poor. 6. He was apprehensive, in a capital like
      Constantinople, of the envy and reproach of partial invitations.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-46" id="link32note-46">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      46 (<a href="#link32noteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ Chrysostom declares his
      free opinion (tom. ix. hom. iii in Act. Apostol. p. 29) that the number of
      bishops, who might be saved, bore a very small proportion to those who
      would be damned.]
    </p>
    <p>
      This ecclesiastical conspiracy was managed by Theophilus, <a
      href="#link32note-47" name="link32noteref-47" id="link32noteref-47">47</a>
      archbishop of Alexandria, an active and ambitious prelate, who displayed
      the fruits of rapine in monuments of ostentation. His national dislike to
      the rising greatness of a city which degraded him from the second to the
      third rank in the Christian world, was exasperated by some personal
      dispute with Chrysostom himself. <a href="#link32note-48"
      name="link32noteref-48" id="link32noteref-48">48</a> By the private
      invitation of the empress, Theophilus landed at Constantinople with a stou
      body of Egyptian mariners, to encounter the populace; and a train of
      dependent bishops, to secure, by their voices, the majority of a synod.
      The synod <a href="#link32note-49" name="link32noteref-49"
      id="link32noteref-49">49</a> was convened in the suburb of Chalcedon,
      surnamed the Oak, where Rufinus had erected a stately church and
      monastery; and their proceedings were continued during fourteen days, or
      sessions. A bishop and a deacon accused the archbishop of Constantinople;
      but the frivolous or improbable nature of the forty-seven articles which
      they presented against him, may justly be considered as a fair and
      unexceptional panegyric. Four successive summons were signified to
      Chrysostom; but he still refused to trust either his person or his
      reputation in the hands of his implacable enemies, who, prudently
      declining the examination of any particular charges, condemned his
      contumacious disobedience, and hastily pronounced a sentence of
      deposition. The synod of the Oak immediately addressed the emperor to
      ratify and execute their judgment, and charitably insinuated, that the
      penalties of treason might be inflicted on the audacious preacher, who had
      reviled, under the name of Jezebel, the empress Eudoxia herself. The
      archbishop was rudely arrested, and conducted through the city, by one of
      the Imperial messengers, who landed him, after a short navigation, near
      the entrance of the Euxine; from whence, before the expiration of two
      days, he was gloriously recalled.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-47" id="link32note-47">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      47 (<a href="#link32noteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ See Tillemont, Mem.
      Eccles. tom. xi. p. 441-500.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-48" id="link32note-48">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      48 (<a href="#link32noteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ I have purposely
      omitted the controversy which arose among the monks of Egypt, concerning
      Origenism and Anthropomorphism; the dissimulation and violence of
      Theophilus; his artful management of the simplicity of Epiphanius; the
      persecution and flight of the long, or tall, brothers; the ambiguous
      support which they received at Constantinople from Chrysostom, &amp;c.
      &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-49" id="link32note-49">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      49 (<a href="#link32noteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ Photius (p. 53-60) has
      preserved the original acts of the synod of the Oak; which destroys the
      false assertion, that Chrysostom was condemned by no more than thirty-six
      bishops, of whom twenty-nine were Egyptians. Forty-five bishops subscribed
      his sentence. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xi. p. 595. * Note:
      Tillemont argues strongly for the number of thirty-six&mdash;M]
    </p>
    <p>
      The first astonishment of his faithful people had been mute and passive:
      they suddenly rose with unanimous and irresistible fury. Theophilus
      escaped, but the promiscuous crowd of monks and Egyptian mariners was
      slaughtered without pity in the streets of Constantinople. <a
      href="#link32note-50" name="link32noteref-50" id="link32noteref-50">50</a>
      A seasonable earthquake justified the interposition of Heaven; the torrent
      of 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 the
      restoration of Chrysostom. The Bosphorus was covered with innumerable
      vessels; the shores of Europe and Asia were profusely illuminated; and the
      acclamations of a victorious people accompanied, from the port to the
      cathedral, the triumph of the archbishop; who, too easily, consented to
      resume the exercise of his functions, before his sentence had been legally
      reversed by the authority of an ecclesiastical synod. Ignorant, or
      careless, of the impending danger, Chrysostom indulged his zeal, or
      perhaps his resentment; declaimed with peculiar asperity against female
      vices; and condemned the profane honors which were addressed, almost in
      the precincts of St. Sophia, to the statue of the empress. His imprudence
      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 more requires
      the head of John;" an insolent allusion, which, as a woman and a
      sovereign, it was impossible for her to forgive. <a href="#link32note-51"
      name="link32noteref-51" id="link32noteref-51">51</a> The short interval of
      a perfidious truce was employed to concert more effectual measures for the
      disgrace and ruin of the archbishop. A numerous council of the Eastern
      prelates, who were guided from a distance by the advice of Theophilus,
      confirmed the validity, without examining the justice, of the former
      sentence; and a detachment of Barbarian troops was introduced into the
      city, to suppress the emotions of the people. On the vigil of Easter, the
      solemn administration of baptism was rudely interrupted by the soldiers,
      who alarmed the modesty of the naked catechumens, and violated, by their
      presence, the awful mysteries of the Christian worship. Arsacius occupied
      the church of St. Sophia, and the archiepiscopal throne. The Catholics
      retreated to the baths of Constantine, and afterwards to the fields; where
      they were still pursued and insulted by the guards, the bishops, and the
      magistrates. The fatal day of the second and final exile of Chrysostom was
      marked by the conflagration of the cathedral, of the senate-house, and of
      the adjacent buildings; and this calamity was imputed, without proof, but
      not without probability, to the despair of a persecuted faction. <a
      href="#link32note-52" name="link32noteref-52" id="link32noteref-52">52</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-50" id="link32note-50">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      50 (<a href="#link32noteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ Palladius owns (p. 30)
      that if the people of Constantinople had found Theophilus, they would
      certainly have thrown him into the sea. Socrates mentions (l. vi. c. 17) a
      battle between the mob and the sailors of Alexandria, in which many wounds
      were given, and some lives were lost. The massacre of the monks is
      observed only by the Pagan Zosimus, (l. v. p. 324,) who acknowledges that
      Chrysostom had a singular talent to lead the illiterate multitude.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-51" id="link32note-51">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      51 (<a href="#link32noteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ See Socrates, l. vi. c.
      18. Sozomen, l. viii. c. 20. Zosimus (l. v. p 324, 327) mentions, in
      general terms, his invectives against Eudoxia. The homily, which begins
      with those famous words, is rejected as spurious. Montfaucon, tom. xiii.
      p. 151. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom xi. p. 603.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-52" id="link32note-52">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      52 (<a href="#link32noteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ We might naturally
      expect such a charge from Zosimus, (l. v. p. 327;) but it is remarkable
      enough, that it should be confirmed by Socrates, (l. vi. c. 18,) and the
      Paschal Chronicle, (p. 307.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      Cicero might claim some merit, if his voluntary banishment preserved the
      peace of the republic; <a href="#link32note-53" name="link32noteref-53"
      id="link32noteref-53">53</a> but the submission of Chrysostom was the
      indispensable duty of a Christian and a subject. Instead of listening to
      his humble prayer, that he might be permitted to reside at Cyzicus, or
      Nicomedia, the inflexible empress assigned for his exile the remote and
      desolate town of Cucusus, among the ridges of Mount Taurus, in the Lesser
      Armenia. A secret hope was entertained, that the archbishop might perish
      in a difficult and dangerous march of seventy days, in the heat of summer,
      through the provinces of Asia Minor, where he was continually threatened
      by the hostile attacks of the Isaurians, and the more implacable fury of
      the monks. Yet Chrysostom arrived in safety at the place of his
      confinement; and the three years which he spent at Cucusus, and the
      neighboring town of Arabissus, were the last and most glorious of his
      life. His character was consecrated by absence and persecution; the faults
      of his administration were no longer remembered; but every tongue repeated
      the praises of his genius and virtue: and the respectful attention of the
      Christian world was fixed on a desert spot among the mountains of Taurus.
      From that solitude the archbishop, whose active mind was invigorated by
      misfortunes, maintained a strict and frequent correspondence <a
      href="#link32note-54" name="link32noteref-54" id="link32noteref-54">54</a>
      with the most distant provinces; exhorted the separate congregation of his
      faithful adherents to persevere in their allegiance; urged the destruction
      of the temples of Phoenicia, and the extirpation of heresy in the Isle of
      Cyprus; extended his pastoral care to 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 general council. The mind of the illustrious exile
      was still independent; but his captive body was exposed to the revenge of
      the oppressors, who continued to abuse the name and authority of Arcadius.
      <a href="#link32note-55" name="link32noteref-55" id="link32noteref-55">55</a>
      An order was despatched for the instant removal of Chrysostom to the
      extreme desert of Pityus: and his guards so faithfully obeyed their cruel
      instructions, that, before he reached the sea-coast of the Euxine, he
      expired at Comana, in Pontus, in the sixtieth year of his age. The
      succeeding generation acknowledged his innocence and merit. The
      archbishops of the East, who might blush that their predecessors had been
      the enemies of Chrysostom, were gradually disposed, by the firmness of the
      Roman pontiff, to restore the honors of that venerable name. <a
      href="#link32note-56" name="link32noteref-56" id="link32noteref-56">56</a>
      At the pious solicitation of the clergy and people of Constantinople, his
      relics, thirty years after his death, were transported from their obscure
      sepulchre to the royal city. <a href="#link32note-57"
      name="link32noteref-57" id="link32noteref-57">57</a> The emperor
      Theodosius advanced to receive them as far as Chalcedon; and, falling
      prostrate on the coffin, implored, in the name of his guilty parents,
      Arcadius and Eudoxia, the forgiveness of the injured saint. <a
      href="#link32note-58" name="link32noteref-58" id="link32noteref-58">58</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-53" id="link32note-53">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      53 (<a href="#link32noteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ He displays those
      specious motives (Post Reditum, c. 13, 14) in the language of an orator
      and a politician.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-54" id="link32note-54">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      54 (<a href="#link32noteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ Two hundred and
      forty-two of the epistles of Chrysostom are still extant, (Opera, tom.
      iii. p. 528-736.) They are addressed to a great variety of persons, and
      show a firmness of mind much superior to that of Cicero in his exile. The
      fourteenth epistle contains a curious narrative of the dangers of his
      journey.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-55" id="link32note-55">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      55 (<a href="#link32noteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ After the exile of
      Chrysostom, Theophilus published an enormous and horrible volume against
      him, in which he perpetually repeats the polite expressions of hostem
      humanitatis, sacrilegorum principem, immundum daemonem; he affirms, that
      John Chrysostom had delivered his soul to be adulterated by the devil; and
      wishes that some further punishment, adequate (if possible) to the
      magnitude of his crimes, may be inflicted on him. St. Jerom, at the
      request of his friend Theophilus, translated this edifying performance
      from Greek into Latin. See Facundus Hermian. Defens. pro iii. Capitul. l.
      vi. c. 5 published by Sirmond. Opera, tom. ii. p. 595, 596, 597.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-56" id="link32note-56">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      56 (<a href="#link32noteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ His name was inserted
      by his successor Atticus in the Dyptics of the church of Constantinople,
      A.D. 418. Ten years afterwards he was revered as a saint. Cyril, who
      inherited the place, and the passions, of his uncle Theophilus, yielded
      with much reluctance. See Facund. Hermian. l. 4, c. 1. Tillemont, Mem.
      Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 277-283.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-57" id="link32note-57">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      57 (<a href="#link32noteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ Socrates, l. vii. c.
      45. Theodoret, l. v. c. 36. This event reconciled the Joannites, who had
      hitherto refused to acknowledge his successors. During his lifetime, the
      Joannites were respected, by the Catholics, as the true and orthodox
      communion of Constantinople. Their obstinacy gradually drove them to the
      brink of schism.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-58" id="link32note-58">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      58 (<a href="#link32noteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ According to some
      accounts, (Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 438 No. 9, 10,) the emperor was
      forced to send a letter of invitation and excuses, before the body of the
      ceremonious saint could be moved from Comana.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link322HCH0003" id="link322HCH0003">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius, Theodosius II.&mdash;Part
      III.
    </h2>
    <p>
      Yet a reasonable doubt may be entertained, whether any stain of hereditary
      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 familiar confidence of the empress; and
      the public named him as the real father of Theodosius the younger. <a
      href="#link32note-59" name="link32noteref-59" id="link32noteref-59">59</a>
      The birth of a son was accepted, however, by the pious husband, as an
      event the most fortunate and honorable to himself, to his family, and to
      the Eastern world: and the royal infant, by an unprecedented favor, was
      invested with the titles of Caesar and Augustus. In less than four years
      afterwards, Eudoxia, in the bloom of youth, was destroyed by the
      consequences of a miscarriage; and this untimely death confounded the
      prophecy of a holy bishop, <a href="#link32note-60" name="link32noteref-60"
      id="link32noteref-60">60</a> who, amidst the universal joy, had ventured
      to foretell, that she should behold the long and auspicious reign of her
      glorious son. The Catholics applauded the justice of Heaven, which avenged
      the persecution of St. Chrysostom; and perhaps the emperor was the only
      person who sincerely bewailed the loss of the haughty and rapacious
      Eudoxia. Such a domestic misfortune afflicted him more deeply than the
      public calamities of the East; <a href="#link32note-61"
      name="link32noteref-61" id="link32noteref-61">61</a> the licentious
      excursions, from Pontus to Palestine, of the Isaurian robbers, whose
      impunity accused the weakness of the government; and the earthquakes, the
      conflagrations, the famine, and the flights of locusts, <a
      href="#link32note-62" name="link32noteref-62" id="link32noteref-62">62</a>
      which the popular discontent was equally disposed to attribute to the
      incapacity of the monarch. At length, in the thirty-first year of his age,
      after a reign (if we may abuse that word) of thirteen years, three months,
      and fifteen days, Arcadius expired in the palace of Constantinople. It is
      impossible to delineate his character; since, in a period very copiously
      furnished with historical materials, it has not been possible to remark
      one action that properly belongs to the son of the great Theodosius.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-59" id="link32note-59">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      59 (<a href="#link32noteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosimus, l. v. p. 315.
      The chastity of an empress should not be impeached without producing a
      witness; but it is astonishing, that the witness should write and live
      under a prince whose legitimacy he dared to attack. We must suppose that
      his history was a party libel, privately read and circulated by the
      Pagans. Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 782) is not averse to
      brand the reputation of Eudoxia.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-60" id="link32note-60">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      60 (<a href="#link32noteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ Porphyry of Gaza. His
      zeal was transported by the order which he had obtained for the
      destruction of eight Pagan temples of that 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-61" id="link32note-61">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      61 (<a href="#link32noteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ Philostorg. l. xi. c.
      8, and Godefroy, Dissertat. p. 457.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-62" id="link32note-62">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      62 (<a href="#link32noteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ Jerom (tom. vi. p. 73,
      76) describes, in lively colors, the regular and destructive march of the
      locusts, which spread a dark cloud, between heaven and earth, over the
      land of Palestine. Seasonable winds scattered them, partly into the Dead
      Sea, and partly into the Mediterranean.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The historian Procopius <a href="#link32note-63" name="link32noteref-63"
      id="link32noteref-63">63</a> has indeed illuminated the mind of the dying
      emperor with a ray of human prudence, or celestial wisdom. Arcadius
      considered, with anxious foresight, the helpless condition of his son
      Theodosius, who was no more than seven years of age, the dangerous
      factions of a minority, and the aspiring spirit of Jezdegerd, the Persian
      monarch. Instead of tempting the allegiance of an ambitious subject, by
      the participation of supreme power, he boldly appealed to the magnanimity
      of a king; and placed, by a solemn testament, the sceptre of the East in
      the hands of Jezdegerd himself. The royal guardian accepted and discharged
      this honorable trust with unexampled fidelity; and the infancy of
      Theodosius was protected by the arms and councils of Persia. Such is the
      singular narrative of Procopius; and his veracity is not disputed by
      Agathias, <a href="#link32note-64" name="link32noteref-64"
      id="link32noteref-64">64</a> while he presumes to dissent from his
      judgment, and to arraign the wisdom of a Christian emperor, who, so
      rashly, though so fortunately, committed his son and his dominions to the
      unknown faith of a stranger, a rival, and a heathen. At the distance of
      one hundred and fifty years, this political question might be debated in
      the court of Justinian; but a prudent historian will refuse to examine the
      propriety, till he has ascertained the truth, of the testament of
      Arcadius. As it stands without a parallel in the history of the world, we
      may justly require, that it should be attested by the positive and
      unanimous evidence of contemporaries. The strange novelty of the event,
      which excites our distrust, must have attracted their notice; and their
      universal silence annihilates the vain tradition of the succeeding age.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-63" id="link32note-63">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      63 (<a href="#link32noteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ Procopius, de Bell.
      Persic. l. i. c. 2, p. 8, edit. Louvre.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-64" id="link32note-64">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      64 (<a href="#link32noteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ Agathias, l. iv. p.
      136, 137. Although he confesses the prevalence of the tradition, he
      asserts, that Procopius was the first who had committed it to writing.
      Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. vi. p. 597) argues very sensibly on
      the merits of this fable. His criticism was not warped by any
      ecclesiastical authority: both Procopius and Agathias are half Pagans. *
      Note: See St Martin's article on Jezdegerd, in the Biographie Universelle
      de Michand.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The maxims of Roman jurisprudence, if they could fairly be transferred
      from private property to public dominion, would have adjudged to the
      emperor 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 prosecuting this
      natural claim; and such was the absolute separation of the two monarchies,
      both in interest and affection, that Constantinople would have obeyed,
      with less reluctance, the orders of the Persian, than those of the
      Italian, court. Under a prince whose weakness is disguised by the external
      signs of manhood and discretion, the most worthless favorites may secretly
      dispute the empire of the palace; and dictate to submissive provinces the
      commands of a master, whom they direct and despise. But the ministers of a
      child, who is incapable of arming them with the sanction of the royal
      name, must acquire and exercise an independent authority. The great
      officers of the state and army, who had been appointed before the death of
      Arcadius, formed an aristocracy, which might have inspired them with the
      idea of a free republic; and the government of the Eastern empire was
      fortunately assumed by the praefect Anthemius, <a href="#link32note-65"
      name="link32noteref-65" id="link32noteref-65">65</a> who obtained, by his
      superior abilities, a lasting ascendant over the minds of his equals. The
      safety of the young emperor proved the merit and integrity of Anthemius;
      and his prudent firmness sustained the force and reputation of an infant
      reign. Uldin, with a formidable host of Barbarians, was encamped in the
      heart of Thrace; he proudly rejected all terms of accommodation; and,
      pointing to the rising sun, declared to the Roman ambassadors, that the
      course of that planet should alone terminate the conquest of the Huns. But
      the desertion of his confederates, who were privately convinced of the
      justice and liberality of the Imperial ministers, obliged Uldin to repass
      the Danube: the tribe of the Scyrri, which composed his rear-guard, was
      almost extirpated; and many thousand captives were dispersed to cultivate,
      with servile labor, the fields of Asia. <a href="#link32note-66"
      name="link32noteref-66" id="link32noteref-66">66</a> In the midst of the
      public triumph, Constantinople was protected by a strong enclosure of new
      and more extensive walls; the same vigilant care was applied to restore
      the fortifications of the Illyrian cities; and a plan was judiciously
      conceived, which, in the space of seven years, would have secured the
      command of the Danube, by establishing on that river a perpetual fleet of
      two hundred and fifty armed vessels. <a href="#link32note-67"
      name="link32noteref-67" id="link32noteref-67">67</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-65" id="link32note-65">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      65 (<a href="#link32noteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ Socrates, l. vii. c. l.
      Anthemius was the grandson of Philip, one of the ministers of Constantius,
      and the grandfather of the emperor Anthemius. After his return from the
      Persian embassy, he was appointed consul and Praetorian praefect of the
      East, in the year 405 and held the praefecture about ten years. See his
      honors and praises in Godefroy, Cod. Theod. tom. vi. p. 350. Tillemont,
      Hist. des Emptom. vi. p. 1. &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-66" id="link32note-66">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      66 (<a href="#link32noteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen, l. ix. c. 5.
      He saw some Scyrri at work near Mount Olympus, in Bithynia, and cherished
      the vain hope that those captives were the last of the nation.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-67" id="link32note-67">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      67 (<a href="#link32noteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ Cod. Theod. l. vii.
      tit. xvi. l. xv. tit. i. leg. 49.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But the Romans had so long been accustomed to the authority of a monarch,
      that the first, even among the females, of the Imperial family, who
      displayed any courage or capacity, was permitted to ascend the vacant
      throne of Theodosius. His sister Pulcheria, <a href="#link32note-68"
      name="link32noteref-68" id="link32noteref-68">68</a> who was only two
      years older than himself, received, at the age of sixteen, the title of
      Augusta; and though her favor might be sometimes clouded by caprice or
      intrigue, she continued to govern the Eastern empire near forty years;
      during the long minority of her brother, and after his death, in her own
      name, and in the name of Marcian, her nominal husband. From a motive
      either of prudence or religion, she embraced a life of celibacy; and
      notwithstanding some aspersions on the chastity of Pulcheria, <a
      href="#link32note-69" name="link32noteref-69" id="link32noteref-69">69</a>
      this resolution, which she communicated to her sisters Arcadia and Marina,
      was celebrated by the Christian world, as the sublime effort of heroic
      piety. In the presence of the clergy and people, the three daughters of
      Arcadius <a href="#link32note-70" name="link32noteref-70"
      id="link32noteref-70">70</a> dedicated their virginity to God; and the
      obligation of their solemn vow was inscribed on a tablet of gold and gems;
      which they publicly offered in the great church of Constantinople. Their
      palace was converted into a monastery; and all males, except the guides of
      their conscience, the saints who had forgotten the distinction of sexes,
      were scrupulously excluded from the holy threshold. Pulcheria, her two
      sisters, and a chosen train of favorite damsels, formed a religious
      community: they denounced the vanity of dress; interrupted, by frequent
      fasts, their simple and frugal diet; allotted a portion of their time to
      works of embroidery; and devoted several hours of the day and night to the
      exercises of prayer and psalmody. The piety of a Christian virgin was
      adorned by the zeal and liberality of an empress. Ecclesiastical history
      describes the splendid churches, which were built at the expense of
      Pulcheria, in all the provinces of the East; her charitable foundations
      for the benefit of strangers and the poor; the ample donations which she
      assigned for the perpetual maintenance of monastic societies; and the
      active severity with which she labored to suppress the opposite heresies
      of Nestorius and Eutyches. Such virtues were supposed to deserve the
      peculiar favor of the Deity: and the relics of martyrs, as well as the
      knowledge of future events, were communicated in visions and revelations
      to the Imperial saint. <a href="#link32note-71" name="link32noteref-71"
      id="link32noteref-71">71</a> Yet the devotion of Pulcheria never diverted
      her indefatigable attention from temporal affairs; and she alone, among
      all the descendants of the great Theodosius, appears to have inherited any
      share of his manly spirit and abilities. The elegant and familiar use
      which she had acquired, both of the Greek and Latin languages, was readily
      applied to the various occasions of speaking or writing, on public
      business: her deliberations were maturely weighed; her actions were prompt
      and decisive; and, while she moved, without noise or ostentation, the
      wheel of government, she discreetly attributed to the genius of the
      emperor the long tranquillity of his reign. In the last years of his
      peaceful life, Europe was indeed afflicted by the arms of war; but the
      more extensive provinces of Asia still continued to enjoy a profound and
      permanent repose. Theodosius the younger was never reduced to the
      disgraceful necessity of encountering and punishing a rebellious subject:
      and since we cannot applaud the vigor, some praise may be due to the
      mildness and prosperity, of the administration of Pulcheria.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-68" id="link32note-68">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      68 (<a href="#link32noteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen has filled
      three chapters with a magnificent panegyric of Pulcheria, (l. ix. c. 1, 2,
      3;) and Tillemont (Memoires Eccles. tom. xv. p. 171-184) has dedicated a
      separate article to the honor of St. Pulcheria, virgin and empress. *
      Note: The heathen Eunapius gives a frightful picture of the venality and a
      justice of the court of Pulcheria. Fragm. Eunap. in Mai, ii. 293, in p.
      97.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-69" id="link32note-69">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      69 (<a href="#link32noteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ Suidas, (Excerpta, p.
      68, in Script. Byzant.) pretends, on the credit of the Nestorians, that
      Pulcheria was exasperated against their founder, because he censured her
      connection with the beautiful Paulinus, and her incest with her brother
      Theodosius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-70" id="link32note-70">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      70 (<a href="#link32noteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ See Ducange, Famil.
      Byzantin. p. 70. Flaccilla, the eldest daughter, either died before
      Arcadius, or, if she lived till the year 431, (Marcellin. Chron.,) some
      defect of mind or body must have excluded her from the honors of her
      rank.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-71" id="link32note-71">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      71 (<a href="#link32noteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ She was admonished, by
      repeated dreams, of the place where the relics of the forty martyrs had
      been buried. The ground had successively belonged to the house and garden
      of a woman of Constantinople, to a monastery of Macedonian monks, and to a
      church of St. Thyrsus, erected by Caesarius, who was consul A.D. 397; and
      the memory of the relics was almost obliterated. Notwithstanding the
      charitable wishes of Dr. Jortin, (Remarks, tom. iv. p. 234,) it is not
      easy to acquit Pulcheria of some share in the pious fraud; which must have
      been transacted when she was more than five-and-thirty years of age.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The Roman world was deeply interested in the education of its master. A
      regular course of study and exercise was judiciously instituted; of the
      military exercises of riding, and shooting with the bow; of the liberal
      studies of grammar, rhetoric, and philosophy: the most skilful masters of
      the East ambitiously solicited the attention of their royal pupil; and
      several noble youths were introduced into the palace, to animate his
      diligence by the emulation of friendship. Pulcheria alone discharged the
      important task of instructing her brother in the arts of government; but
      her precepts may countenance some suspicions of the extent of her
      capacity, or of the purity of her intentions. She taught him to maintain a
      grave and majestic deportment; to walk, to hold his robes, to seat himself
      on his throne, in a manner worthy of a great prince; to abstain from
      laughter; to listen with condescension; to return suitable answers; to
      assume, by turns, a serious or a placid countenance: in a word, to
      represent with grace and dignity the external figure of a Roman emperor.
      But Theodosius <a href="#link32note-72" name="link32noteref-72"
      id="link32noteref-72">72</a> was never excited to support the weight and
      glory of an 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
      Honorius had been assisted by the guardian care of a parent, whose lessons
      were enforced by his authority and example. But the unfortunate prince,
      who is born in the purple, must remain a stranger to the voice of truth;
      and the son of Arcadius was condemned to pass his perpetual infancy
      encompassed only by a servile train of women and eunuchs. The ample
      leisure which he acquired by neglecting the essential duties of his high
      office, was filled by idle amusements and unprofitable studies. Hunting
      was the only active pursuit that could tempt him beyond the limits of the
      palace; but he most assiduously labored, sometimes by the light of a
      midnight lamp, in the mechanic occupations of painting and carving; and
      the elegance with which he transcribed religious books entitled the Roman
      emperor to the singular epithet of Calligraphes, or a fair writer.
      Separated from the world by an impenetrable veil, Theodosius trusted the
      persons whom he loved; he loved those who were accustomed to amuse and
      flatter his indolence; and as he never perused the papers that were
      presented for the royal signature, the acts of injustice the most
      repugnant to his character were frequently perpetrated in his name. The
      emperor himself was chaste, temperate, liberal, and merciful; but these
      qualities, which can only deserve the name of virtues when they are
      supported by courage and regulated by discretion, were seldom beneficial,
      and they sometimes proved mischievous, to mankind. His mind, enervated by
      a royal education, was oppressed and degraded by abject superstition: he
      fasted, he sung psalms, he blindly accepted the miracles and doctrines
      with which his faith was continually nourished. Theodosius devoutly
      worshipped the dead and living saints of the Catholic church; and he once
      refused to eat, till an insolent monk, who had cast an excommunication on
      his sovereign, condescended to heal the spiritual wound which he had
      inflicted. <a href="#link32note-73" name="link32noteref-73"
      id="link32noteref-73">73</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-72" id="link32note-72">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      72 (<a href="#link32noteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ There is a remarkable
      difference between the two ecclesiastical historians, who in general bear
      so close a resemblance. Sozomen (l. ix. c. 1) ascribes to Pulcheria the
      government of the empire, and the education of her brother, whom he
      scarcely condescends to praise. Socrates, though he affectedly disclaims
      all hopes of favor or fame, composes an elaborate panegyric on the
      emperor, and cautiously suppresses the merits of his sister, (l. vii. c.
      22, 42.) Philostorgius (l. xii. c. 7) expresses the influence of Pulcheria
      in gentle and courtly language. Suidas (Excerpt. p. 53) gives a true
      character of Theodosius; and I have followed the example of Tillemont
      (tom. vi. p. 25) in borrowing some strokes from the modern Greeks.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-73" id="link32note-73">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      73 (<a href="#link32noteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ Theodoret, l. v. c. 37.
      The bishop of Cyrrhus, one of the first men of his age for his learning
      and piety, applauds the obedience of Theodosius to the divine laws.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The story of a fair and virtuous maiden, exalted from a private condition
      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 <a href="#link32note-74" name="link32noteref-74"
      id="link32noteref-74">74</a> was educated by her father Leontius in the
      religion and sciences of the Greeks; and so advantageous was the opinion
      which the Athenian philosopher entertained of his contemporaries, that he
      divided his patrimony between his two sons, bequeathing to his daughter a
      small legacy of one hundred pieces of gold, in the lively confidence that
      her beauty and merit would be a sufficient portion. The jealousy and
      avarice of her brothers soon compelled Athenais to seek a refuge at
      Constantinople; and, with some hopes, either of justice or favor, to throw
      herself at the feet of Pulcheria. That sagacious princess listened to her
      eloquent complaint; and secretly destined the daughter of the philosopher
      Leontius for the future wife of the emperor of the East, who had now
      attained the twentieth year of his age. She easily excited the curiosity
      of her brother, by an interesting picture of the charms of Athenais; large
      eyes, a well-proportioned nose, a fair complexion, 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 his sister, was permitted to behold the Athenian virgin: the
      modest youth immediately declared his pure and honorable love; and the
      royal nuptials were celebrated amidst the acclamations of the capital and
      the provinces. Athenais, who was easily persuaded to renounce the errors
      of Paganism, received at her baptism the Christian name of Eudocia; but
      the cautious Pulcheria withheld the title of Augusta, till the wife of
      Theodosius had approved her fruitfulness by the birth of a daughter, who
      espoused, fifteen years afterwards, the emperor of the West. The brothers
      of Eudocia obeyed, with some anxiety, her Imperial summons; but as she
      could easily forgive their unfortunate unkindness, she indulged the
      tenderness, or perhaps the vanity, of a sister, by promoting them to the
      rank of consuls and praefects. In the luxury of the palace, she still
      cultivated those ingenuous arts which had contributed to her greatness;
      and wisely dedicated her talents to the honor of religion, and of her
      husband. Eudocia composed a poetical paraphrase of the first eight books
      of the Old Testament, and of the prophecies of Daniel and Zechariah; a
      cento of the verses of Homer, applied to the life and miracles of Christ,
      the legend of St. Cyprian, and a panegyric on the Persian victories of
      Theodosius; and her writings, which were applauded by a servile and
      superstitious age, have not been disdained by the candor of impartial
      criticism. <a href="#link32note-75" name="link32noteref-75"
      id="link32noteref-75">75</a> The fondness of the emperor was not abated by
      time and possession; and Eudocia, after the marriage of her daughter, was
      permitted to discharge her grateful vows by a solemn pilgrimage to
      Jerusalem. Her ostentatious progress through the East may seem
      inconsistent with the spirit of Christian humility; she pronounced, from a
      throne of gold and gems, an eloquent oration to the senate of Antioch,
      declared her royal intention of enlarging the walls of the city, bestowed
      a donative of two hundred pounds of gold to restore the public baths, and
      accepted the statues, which were decreed by the gratitude of Antioch. In
      the Holy Land, her alms and pious foundations exceeded the munificence of
      the great Helena, and though the public treasure might be impoverished by
      this excessive liberality, she enjoyed the conscious satisfaction of
      returning to Constantinople with the chains of St. Peter, the right arm of
      St. Stephen, and an undoubted picture of the Virgin, painted by St. Luke.
      <a href="#link32note-76" name="link32noteref-76" id="link32noteref-76">76</a>
      But this pilgrimage was the fatal term of the glories of Eudocia. Satiated
      with empty pomp, and unmindful, perhaps, of her obligations to Pulcheria,
      she ambitiously aspired to the government of the Eastern empire; the
      palace was distracted by female discord; but the victory was at last
      decided, by the superior ascendant of the sister of Theodosius. The
      execution of Paulinus, master of the offices, and the disgrace of Cyrus,
      Praetorian praefect of the East, convinced the public that the favor of
      Eudocia was insufficient to protect her most faithful friends; and the
      uncommon beauty of Paulinus encouraged the secret rumor, that his guilt
      was that of a successful lover. <a href="#link32note-77"
      name="link32noteref-77" id="link32noteref-77">77</a> As soon as the
      empress perceived that the affection of Theodosius was irretrievably lost,
      she requested the permission of retiring to the distant solitude of
      Jerusalem. She obtained her request; but the jealousy of Theodosius, or
      the vindictive spirit of Pulcheria, pursued her in her last retreat; and
      Saturninus, count of the domestics, was directed to punish with death two
      ecclesiastics, her most favored servants. Eudocia instantly revenged them
      by the assassination of the count; the furious passions which she indulged
      on this suspicious occasion, seemed to justify the severity of Theodosius;
      and the empress, ignominiously stripped of the honors of her rank, <a
      href="#link32note-78" name="link32noteref-78" id="link32noteref-78">78</a>
      was disgraced, perhaps unjustly, in the eyes of the world. The remainder
      of the life of Eudocia, about sixteen years, was spent in exile and
      devotion; and the approach of age, the death of Theodosius, the
      misfortunes of her only daughter, who was led a captive from Rome to
      Carthage, and the society of the Holy Monks of Palestine, insensibly
      confirmed the religious temper of her mind. After a full experience of the
      vicissitudes of human life, the daughter of the philosopher Leontius
      expired, at Jerusalem, in the sixty-seventh year of her age; protesting,
      with her dying breath, that she had never transgressed the bounds of
      innocence and friendship. <a href="#link32note-79" name="link32noteref-79"
      id="link32noteref-79">79</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-74" id="link32note-74">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      74 (<a href="#link32noteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ Socrates (l. vii. c.
      21) mentions her name, (Athenais, the daughter of Leontius, an Athenian
      sophist,) her baptism, marriage, and poetical genius. The most ancient
      account of her history is in John Malala (part ii. p. 20, 21, edit. Venet.
      1743) and in the Paschal Chronicle, (p. 311, 312.) Those authors had
      probably seen original pictures of the empress Eudocia. The modern Greeks,
      Zonaras, Cedrenus, &amp;c., have displayed the love, rather than the
      talent of fiction. From Nicephorus, indeed, I have ventured to assume her
      age. The writer of a romance would not have imagined, that Athenais was
      near twenty eight years old when she inflamed the heart of a young
      emperor.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-75" id="link32note-75">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      75 (<a href="#link32noteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ Socrates, l. vii. c.
      21, Photius, p. 413-420. The Homeric cento is still extant, and has been
      repeatedly printed: but the claim of Eudocia to that insipid performance
      is disputed by the critics. See Fabricius, Biblioth. Graec. tom. i. p.
      357. The Ionia, a miscellaneous dictionary of history and fable, was
      compiled by another empress of the name of Eudocia, who lived in the
      eleventh century: and the work is still extant in manuscript.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-76" id="link32note-76">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      76 (<a href="#link32noteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ Baronius (Annal.
      Eccles. A.D. 438, 439) is copious and florid, but he is accused of placing
      the lies of different ages on the same level of authenticity.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-77" id="link32note-77">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      77 (<a href="#link32noteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ In this short view of
      the disgrace of Eudocia, I have imitated the caution of Evagrius (l. i. c.
      21) and Count Marcellinus, (in Chron A.D. 440 and 444.) The two authentic
      dates assigned by the latter, overturn a great part of the Greek fictions;
      and the celebrated story of the apple, &amp;c., is fit only for the
      Arabian Nights, where something not very unlike it may be found.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-78" id="link32note-78">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      78 (<a href="#link32noteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ Priscus, (in Excerpt.
      Legat. p. 69,) a contemporary, and a courtier, dryly mentions her Pagan
      and Christian names, without adding any title of honor or respect.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-79" id="link32note-79">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      79 (<a href="#link32noteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ For the two pilgrimages
      of Eudocia, and her long residence at Jerusalem, her devotion, alms, &amp;c.,
      see Socrates (l. vii. c. 47) and Evagrius, (l. i. c. 21, 22.) The Paschal
      Chronicle may sometimes deserve regard; and in the domestic history of
      Antioch, John Malala becomes a writer of good authority. The Abbe Guenee,
      in a memoir on the fertility of Palestine, of which I have only seen an
      extract, calculates the gifts of Eudocia at 20,488 pounds of gold, above
      800,000 pounds sterling.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The gentle mind of Theodosius was never inflamed by the ambition of
      conquest, or military renown; and the slight alarm of a Persian war
      scarcely interrupted the tranquillity of the East. The motives of this war
      were just and honorable. In the last year of the reign of Jezdegerd, the
      supposed guardian of Theodosius, a bishop, who aspired to the crown of
      martyrdom, destroyed one of the fire-temples of Susa. <a
      href="#link32note-80" name="link32noteref-80" id="link32noteref-80">80</a>
      His zeal and obstinacy were revenged on his brethren: the Magi excited a
      cruel persecution; and the intolerant zeal of Jezdegerd was imitated by
      his son Varanes, or Bahram, who soon afterwards ascended the throne. Some
      Christian fugitives, who escaped to the Roman frontier, were sternly
      demanded, and generously refused; and the refusal, aggravated by
      commercial disputes, soon kindled a war between the rival monarchies. The
      mountains of Armenia, and the plains of Mesopotamia, were filled with
      hostile armies; but the operations of two successive campaigns were not
      productive of any decisive or memorable events. Some engagements were
      fought, some towns were besieged, with various and doubtful success: and
      if the Romans failed in their attempt to recover the long-lost possession
      of Nisibis, the Persians were repulsed from the walls of a Mesopotamian
      city, by the valor of a martial bishop, who pointed his thundering engine
      in the name of St. Thomas the Apostle. Yet the splendid victories which
      the incredible speed of the messenger Palladius repeatedly announced to
      the palace of Constantinople, were celebrated with festivals and
      panegyrics. From these panegyrics the historians <a href="#link32note-81"
      name="link32noteref-81" id="link32noteref-81">81</a> of the age might
      borrow their extraordinary, and, perhaps, fabulous tales; of the proud
      challenge of a Persian hero, who was entangled by the net, and despatched
      by the sword, of Areobindus the Goth; of the ten thousand Immortals, who
      were slain in the attack of the Roman camp; and of the hundred thousand
      Arabs, or Saracens, who were impelled by a panic terror to throw
      themselves headlong into the Euphrates. Such events may be disbelieved or
      disregarded; but the charity of a bishop, Acacius of Amida, whose name
      might have dignified the saintly calendar, shall not be lost in oblivion.
      Boldly declaring, that vases of gold and silver are useless to a God who
      neither eats nor 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
      them to their native country, to inform their king of the true spirit of
      the religion which he persecuted. The practice of benevolence in the midst
      of war must always tend to assuage the animosity of contending nations;
      and I wish to persuade myself, that Acacius contributed to the restoration
      of peace. In the conference which was held on the limits of the two
      empires, the Roman ambassadors degraded the personal character of their
      sovereign, by a vain attempt to magnify the extent of his power; when they
      seriously advised the Persians to prevent, by a timely accommodation, the
      wrath of a monarch, who was yet ignorant of this distant war. A truce of
      one hundred years was solemnly ratified; and although the revolutions of
      Armenia might threaten the public tranquillity, the essential conditions
      of this treaty were respected near fourscore years by the successors of
      Constantine and Artaxerxes.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-80" id="link32note-80">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      80 (<a href="#link32noteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 his martyrdom. Yet I do not clearly understand
      the casuistry which prohibits our repairing the damage which we have
      unlawfully committed.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-81" id="link32note-81">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      81 (<a href="#link32noteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ Socrates (l. vii. c.
      18, 19, 20, 21) is the best author for the Persian war. We may likewise
      consult the three Chronicles, the Paschal and those of Marcellinus and
      Malala.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Since the Roman and Parthian standards first encountered on the banks of
      the Euphrates, the kingdom of Armenia <a href="#link32note-82"
      name="link32noteref-82" id="link32noteref-82">82</a> was alternately
      oppressed by its formidable protectors; and in the course of this History,
      several events, which inclined the balance of peace and war, have been
      already related. A disgraceful treaty had resigned Armenia to the ambition
      of Sapor; and the scale of Persia appeared to preponderate. But the royal
      race of Arsaces impatiently submitted to the house of Sassan; the
      turbulent nobles asserted, or betrayed, their hereditary independence; and
      the nation was still attached to the Christian princes of Constantinople.
      In the beginning of the fifth century, Armenia was divided by the progress
      of war and faction; <a href="#link32note-83" name="link32noteref-83"
      id="link32noteref-83">83</a> and the unnatural division precipitated the
      downfall of that ancient monarchy. Chosroes, the Persian vassal, reigned
      over the Eastern and most extensive portion of the country; while the
      Western province acknowledged the jurisdiction of Arsaces, and the
      supremacy of the emperor Arcadius. <a href="#link32note-8111"
      name="link32noteref-8111" id="link32noteref-8111">8111</a> After the death
      of Arsaces, the Romans suppressed the regal government, and imposed on
      their allies the condition of subjects. The military command was delegated
      to the count of the Armenian frontier; the city of Theodosiopolis <a
      href="#link32note-84" name="link32noteref-84" id="link32noteref-84">84</a>
      was built and fortified in a strong situation, on a fertile and lofty
      ground, near the sources of the Euphrates; and the dependent territories
      were ruled by five satraps, whose dignity was marked by a peculiar habit
      of gold and purple. The less fortunate nobles, who lamented the loss of
      their king, and envied the honors of their equals, were provoked to
      negotiate their peace and pardon at the Persian court; and returning, with
      their followers, to the palace of Artaxata, acknowledged Chosroes <a
      href="#link32note-8411" name="link32noteref-8411" id="link32noteref-8411">8411</a>
      for their lawful sovereign. About thirty years afterwards, Artasires, the
      nephew and successor of Chosroes, fell under the displeasure of the
      haughty and capricious nobles of Armenia; and they unanimously desired a
      Persian governor in the room of an unworthy king. The answer of the
      archbishop Isaac, whose sanction they earnestly solicited, is expressive
      of the character of a superstitious people. He deplored the manifest and
      inexcusable vices of Artasires; and declared, that he should not hesitate
      to accuse him before the tribunal of a Christian emperor, who would
      punish, without destroying, the sinner. "Our king," continued Isaac, "is
      too much addicted to licentious pleasures, but he has been purified in the
      holy waters of baptism. He is a lover of women, but he does not adore the
      fire or the elements. He may deserve the reproach of lewdness, but he is
      an undoubted Catholic; and his faith is pure, though his manners are
      flagitious. I will never consent to abandon my sheep to the rage of
      devouring wolves; and you would soon repent your rash exchange of the
      infirmities of a believer, for the specious virtues of a heathen." <a
      href="#link32note-85" name="link32noteref-85" id="link32noteref-85">85</a>
      Exasperated by the firmness of Isaac, the factious nobles accused both the
      king and the archbishop as the secret adherents of the emperor; and
      absurdly rejoiced in the sentence of condemnation, which, after a partial
      hearing, was solemnly pronounced by Bahram himself. The descendants of
      Arsaces were degraded from the royal dignity, <a href="#link32note-86"
      name="link32noteref-86" id="link32noteref-86">86</a> which they had
      possessed above five hundred and sixty years; <a href="#link32note-87"
      name="link32noteref-87" id="link32noteref-87">87</a> and the dominions of
      the unfortunate Artasires, <a href="#link32note-8711"
      name="link32noteref-8711" id="link32noteref-8711">8711</a> under the new
      and significant appellation of Persarmenia, were reduced into the form of
      a province. This usurpation excited the jealousy of the Roman government;
      but the rising disputes were soon terminated by an amicable, though
      unequal, partition of the ancient kingdom of Armenia: <a
      href="#link32note-8712" name="link32noteref-8712" id="link32noteref-8712">8712</a>
      and a territorial acquisition, which Augustus might have despised,
      reflected some lustre on the declining empire of the younger Theodosius.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-82" id="link32note-82">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      82 (<a href="#link32noteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ This account of the
      ruin and division of the kingdom of Armenia is taken from the third book
      of the Armenian history of Moses of Chorene. Deficient as he is in every
      qualification of a good historian, his local information, his passions,
      and his prejudices are strongly expressive of a native and contemporary.
      Procopius (de Edificiis, l. iii. c. 1, 5) relates the same facts in a very
      different manner; but I have extracted the circumstances the most probable
      in themselves, and the least inconsistent with Moses of Chorene.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-83" id="link32note-83">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      83 (<a href="#link32noteref-83">return</a>)<br /> [ The western Armenians
      used the Greek language and characters in their religious offices; but the
      use of that hostile tongue was prohibited by the Persians in the Eastern
      provinces, which were obliged to use the Syriac, till the invention of the
      Armenian letters by Mesrobes, in the beginning of the fifth century, and
      the subsequent version of the Bible into the Armenian language; an event
      which relaxed to the connection of the church and nation with
      Constantinople.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-84" id="link32note-84">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      84 (<a href="#link32noteref-84">return</a>)<br /> [ Moses Choren. l. iii.
      c. 59, p. 309, and p. 358. Procopius, de Edificiis, l. iii. c. 5.
      Theodosiopolis stands, or rather stood, about thirty-five miles to the
      east of Arzeroum, the modern capital of Turkish Armenia. See D'Anville,
      Geographie Ancienne, tom. ii. p. 99, 100.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-8111" id="link32note-8111">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8111 (<a href="#link32noteref-8111">return</a>)<br /> [ The division of
      Armenia, according to M. St. Martin, took place much earlier, A. C. 390.
      The Eastern or Persian division was four times as large as the Western or
      Roman. This partition took place during the reigns of Theodosius the
      First, and Varanes (Bahram) the Fourth. St. Martin, Sup. to Le Beau, iv.
      429. This partition was but imperfectly accomplished, as both parts were
      afterwards reunited under Chosroes, who paid tribute both to the Roman
      emperor and to the Persian king. v. 439.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-8411" id="link32note-8411">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8411 (<a href="#link32noteref-8411">return</a>)<br /> [ Chosroes, according
      to Procopius (who calls him Arsaces, the common name of the Armenian
      kings) and the Armenian writers, bequeathed to his two sons, to Tigranes
      the Persian, to Arsaces the Roman, division of Armenia, A. C. 416. With
      the assistance of the discontented nobles the Persian king placed his son
      Sapor on the throne of the Eastern division; the Western at the same time
      was united to the Roman empire, and called the Greater Armenia. It was
      then that Theodosiopolis was built. Sapor abandoned the throne of Armenia
      to assert his rights to that of Persia; he perished in the struggle, and
      after a period of anarchy, Bahram V., who had ascended the throne of
      Persia, placed the last native prince, Ardaschir, son of Bahram Schahpour,
      on the throne of the Persian division of Armenia. St. Martin, v. 506. This
      Ardaschir was the Artasires of Gibbon. The archbishop Isaac is called by
      the Armenians the Patriarch Schag. St. Martin, vi. 29.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-85" id="link32note-85">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      85 (<a href="#link32noteref-85">return</a>)<br /> [ Moses Choren, l. iii.
      c. 63, p. 316. According to the institution of St. Gregory, the Apostle of
      Armenia, the archbishop was always of the royal family; a circumstance
      which, in some degree, corrected the influence of the sacerdotal
      character, and united the mitre with the crown.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-86" id="link32note-86">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      86 (<a href="#link32noteref-86">return</a>)<br /> [ A branch of the royal
      house of Arsaces still subsisted with the rank and possessions (as it
      should seem) of Armenian satraps. See Moses Choren. l. iii. c. 65, p.
      321.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-87" id="link32note-87">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      87 (<a href="#link32noteref-87">return</a>)<br /> [ Valarsaces was
      appointed king of Armenia by his brother the Parthian monarch, immediately
      after the defeat of Antiochus Sidetes, (Moses Choren. l. ii. c. 2, p. 85,)
      one hundred and thirty years before Christ. Without depending on the
      various and contradictory periods of the reigns of the last kings, we may
      be assured, that the ruin of the Armenian 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.&mdash;M.&mdash;&mdash;Note: According to M. St. Martin, vi. 32,
      Vagharschah, or Valarsaces, was appointed king by his brother Mithridates
      the Great, king of Parthia.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-8711" id="link32note-8711">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8711 (<a href="#link32noteref-8711">return</a>)<br /> [ Artasires or
      Ardaschir was probably sent to the castle of Oblivion. St. Martin, vi. 31.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link32note-8712" id="link32note-8712">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8712 (<a href="#link32noteref-8712">return</a>)<br /> [ The duration of the
      Armenian kingdom according to M. St. Martin, was 580 years.&mdash;M]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br /> <a name="link332HCH0001" id="link332HCH0001">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXIII: Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals.&mdash;Part I.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Death Of Honorius.&mdash;Valentinian III.&mdash;Emperor Of The East.
     &mdash;Administration Of His Mother Placidia&mdash;Aetius And
     Boniface.&mdash;Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals.
</pre>
    <p>
      During a long and disgraceful reign of twenty-eight years, Honorius,
      emperor of the West, was separated from the friendship of his brother, and
      afterwards of his nephew, who reigned over the East; and Constantinople
      beheld, with apparent indifference and secret joy, the calamities of Rome.
      The strange adventures of Placidia <a href="#link33note-1"
      name="link33noteref-1" id="link33noteref-1">1</a> gradually renewed and
      cemented the alliance of the two empires. The daughter of the great
      Theodosius had been the captive, and the queen, of the Goths; she lost an
      affectionate husband; she was dragged in chains by his insulting assassin;
      she tasted the pleasure of revenge, and was exchanged, in the treaty of
      peace, for six hundred thousand measures of wheat. After her return from
      Spain to Italy, Placidia experienced a new persecution in the bosom of her
      family. She was averse to a marriage, which had been stipulated without
      her consent; and the brave Constantius, as a noble reward for the tyrants
      whom he had vanquished, received, from the hand of Honorius himself, the
      struggling and the reluctant hand of the widow of Adolphus. But her
      resistance ended with the ceremony of the nuptials: nor did Placidia
      refuse to become the mother of Honoria and Valentinian the Third, or to
      assume and exercise an absolute dominion over the mind of her grateful
      husband. The generous soldier, whose time had hitherto been divided
      between social pleasure and military service, was taught new lessons of
      avarice and ambition: he extorted the title of Augustus: and the servant
      of Honorius was associated to the empire of the West. The death of
      Constantius, in the seventh month of his reign, instead of diminishing,
      seemed to inerease the power of Placidia; and the indecent familiarity <a
      href="#link33note-2" name="link33noteref-2" id="link33noteref-2">2</a> of
      her brother, which might be no more than the symptoms of a childish
      affection, were universally attributed to incestuous love. On a sudden, by
      some base intrigues of a steward and a nurse, this excessive fondness was
      converted into an irreconcilable quarrel: the debates of the emperor and
      his sister were not long confined within the walls of the palace; and as
      the Gothic soldiers adhered to their queen, the city of Ravenna was
      agitated with bloody and dangerous tumults, which could only be appeased
      by the forced or voluntary retreat of Placidia and her children. The royal
      exiles landed at Constantinople, soon after the marriage of Theodosius,
      during the festival of the Persian victories. They were treated with
      kindness and magnificence; but as the statues of the emperor Constantius
      had been rejected by the Eastern court, the title of Augusta could not
      decently be allowed to his widow. Within a few months after the arrival of
      Placidia, a swift messenger announced the death of Honorius, the
      consequence of a dropsy; but the important secret was not divulged, till
      the necessary orders had been despatched for the march of a large body of
      troops to the sea-coast of Dalmatia. The shops and the gates of
      Constantinople remained shut during seven days; and the loss of a foreign
      prince, who could neither be esteemed nor regretted, was celebrated with
      loud and affected demonstrations of the public grief.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-1" id="link33note-1">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1 (<a href="#link33noteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ See vol. iii. p. 296.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-2" id="link33note-2">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2 (<a href="#link33noteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ It is the expression of
      Olympiodorus (apud Phetium p. 197;) who means, perhaps, to describe the
      same caresses which Mahomet bestowed on his daughter Phatemah. Quando,
      (says the prophet himself,) quando subit mihi desiderium Paradisi, osculor
      eam, et ingero linguam meam in os ejus. But this sensual indulgence was
      justified by miracle and mystery; and the anecdote has been communicated
      to the public by the Reverend Father Maracci in his Version and
      Confutation of the Koran, tom. i. p. 32.]
    </p>
    <p>
      While the ministers of Constantinople deliberated, the vacant throne of
      Honorius was usurped by the ambition of a stranger. The name of the rebel
      was John; he filled the confidential office of Primicerius, or principal
      secretary, and history has attributed to his character more virtues, than
      can easily be reconciled with the violation of the most sacred duty.
      Elated by the submission of Italy, and the hope of an alliance with the
      Huns, John presumed to insult, by an embassy, the majesty of the Eastern
      emperor; but when he understood that his agents had been banished,
      imprisoned, and at length chased away with deserved ignominy, John
      prepared to assert, by arms, the injustice of his claims. In such a cause,
      the grandson of the great Theodosius should have marched in person: but
      the young emperor was easily diverted, by his physicians, from so rash and
      hazardous a design; and the conduct of the Italian expedition was
      prudently intrusted to Ardaburius, and his son Aspar, who had already
      signalized their valor against the Persians. It was resolved, that
      Ardaburius should embark with the infantry; whilst Aspar, at the head of
      the cavalry, conducted Placidia and her son Valentinian along the
      sea-coast of the Adriatic. The march of the cavalry was performed with
      such active diligence, that they surprised, without resistance, the
      important city of Aquileia: when the hopes of Aspar were unexpectedly
      confounded by the intelligence, that a storm had dispersed the Imperial
      fleet; and that his father, with only two galleys, was taken and carried a
      prisoner into the port of Ravenna. Yet this incident, unfortunate as it
      might seem, facilitated the conquest of Italy. Ardaburius employed, or
      abused, the courteous freedom which he was permitted to enjoy, to revive
      among the troops a sense of loyalty and gratitude; and as soon as the
      conspiracy was ripe for execution, he invited, by private messages, and
      pressed the approach of, Aspar. A shepherd, whom the popular credulity
      transformed into an angel, guided the eastern cavalry by a secret, and, it
      was thought, an impassable road, through the morasses of the Po: the gates
      of Ravenna, after a short struggle, were thrown open; and the defenceless
      tyrant was delivered to the mercy, or rather to the cruelty, of the
      conquerors. His right hand was first cut off; and, after he had been
      exposed, mounted on an ass, to the public derision, John was beheaded in
      the circus of Aquileia. The emperor Theodosius, when he received the news
      of the victory, interrupted the horse-races; and singing, as he marched
      through the streets, a suitable psalm, conducted his people from the
      Hippodrome to the church, where he spent the remainder of the day in
      grateful devotion. <a href="#link33note-3" name="link33noteref-3"
      id="link33noteref-3">3</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-3" id="link33note-3">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3 (<a href="#link33noteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ For these revolutions of
      the Western empire, consult Olympiodor, apud Phot. p. 192, 193, 196, 197,
      200; Sozomen, l. ix. c. 16; Socrates, l. vii. 23, 24; Philostorgius, l.
      xii. c. 10, 11, and Godefroy, Dissertat p. 486; Procopius, de Bell.
      Vandal. l. i. c. 3, p. 182, 183, in Chronograph, p. 72, 73, and the
      Chronicles.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In a monarchy, which, according to various precedents, might be considered
      as elective, or hereditary, or patrimonial, it was impossible that the
      intricate claims of female and collateral succession should be clearly
      defined; <a href="#link33note-4" name="link33noteref-4"
      id="link33noteref-4">4</a> and Theodosius, by the right of consanguinity
      or conquest, might have reigned the sole legitimate emperor of the Romans.
      For a moment, perhaps, his eyes were dazzled by the prospect of unbounded
      sway; but his indolent temper gradually acquiesced in the dictates of
      sound policy. He contented himself with the possession of the East; and
      wisely relinquished the laborious task of waging a distant and doubtful
      war against the Barbarians beyond the Alps; or of securing the obedience
      of the Italians and Africans, whose minds were alienated by the
      irreconcilable difference of language and interest. Instead of listening
      to the voice of ambition, Theodosius resolved to imitate the moderation of
      his grandfather, and to seat his cousin Valentinian on the throne of the
      West. The royal infant was distinguished at Constantinople by the title of
      Nobilissimus: he was promoted, before his departure from Thessalonica, to
      the rank and dignity of Caesar; and after the conquest of Italy, the
      patrician Helion, by the authority of Theodosius, and in the presence of
      the senate, saluted Valentinian the Third by the name of Augustus, and
      solemnly invested him with the diadem and the Imperial purple. <a
      href="#link33note-5" name="link33noteref-5" id="link33noteref-5">5</a> By
      the agreement of the three females who governed the Roman world, the son
      of Placidia was betrothed to Eudoxia, the daughter of Theodosius and
      Athenais; and as soon as the lover and his bride had attained the age of
      puberty, this honorable alliance was faithfully accomplished. At the same
      time, as a compensation, perhaps, for the expenses of the war, the Western
      Illyricum was detached from the Italian dominions, and yielded to the
      throne of Constantinople. <a href="#link33note-6" name="link33noteref-6"
      id="link33noteref-6">6</a> The emperor of the East acquired the useful
      dominion of the rich and maritime province of Dalmatia, and the dangerous
      sovereignty of Pannonia and Noricum, which had been filled and ravaged
      above twenty years by a promiscuous crowd of Huns, Ostrogoths, Vandals,
      and Bavarians. Theodosius and Valentinian continued to respect the
      obligations of their public and domestic alliance; but the unity of the
      Roman government was finally dissolved. By a positive declaration, the
      validity of all future laws was limited to the dominions of their peculiar
      author; unless he should think proper to communicate them, subscribed with
      his own hand, for the approbation of his independent colleague. <a
      href="#link33note-7" name="link33noteref-7" id="link33noteref-7">7</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-4" id="link33note-4">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4 (<a href="#link33noteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ See Grotius de Jure Belli
      et Pacis, l. ii. c. 7. He has laboriously out vainly, attempted to form a
      reasonable system of jurisprudence from the various and discordant modes
      of royal succession, which have been introduced by fraud or force, by time
      or accident.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-5" id="link33note-5">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5 (<a href="#link33noteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ The original writers are
      not agreed (see Muratori, Annali d'Italia tom. iv. p. 139) whether
      Valentinian received the Imperial diadem at Rome or Ravenna. In this
      uncertainty, I am willing to believe, that some respect was shown to the
      senate.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-6" id="link33note-6">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6 (<a href="#link33noteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ The count de Buat (Hist.
      des Peup es de l'Europe, tom. vii. p. 292-300) has established the
      reality, explained the motives, and traced the consequences, of this
      remarkable cession.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-7" id="link33note-7">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7 (<a href="#link33noteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ See the first Novel of
      Theodosius, by which he ratifies and communicates (A.D. 438) the
      Theodosian Code. About forty years before that time, the unity of
      legislation had been proved by an exception. The Jews, who were numerous
      in the cities of Apulia and Calabria, produced a law of the East to
      justify their exemption from municipal offices, (Cod. Theod. l. xvi. tit.
      viii. leg. 13;) and the Western emperor was obliged to invalidate, by a
      special edict, the law, quam constat meis partibus esse damnosam. Cod.
      Theod. l. xi. tit. i. leg. 158.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Valentinian, when he 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 of the wife and sister of Theodosius, the elegant genius of
      Eudocia, the wise and successful policy of Pulcheria. The mother of
      Valentinian was jealous of the power which she was incapable of
      exercising; <a href="#link33note-8" name="link33noteref-8"
      id="link33noteref-8">8</a> she reigned twenty-five years, in the name of
      her son; and the character of that unworthy emperor gradually countenanced
      the suspicion that Placidia had enervated his youth by a dissolute
      education, and studiously diverted his attention from every manly and
      honorable pursuit. Amidst the decay of military spirit, her armies were
      commanded by two generals, Aetius <a href="#link33note-9"
      name="link33noteref-9" id="link33noteref-9">9</a> and Boniface, <a
      href="#link33note-10" name="link33noteref-10" id="link33noteref-10">10</a>
      who may be deservedly named as the last of the Romans. Their union might
      have supported a sinking empire; their discord was the fatal and immediate
      cause of the loss of Africa. The invasion 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 the military talents of Count Boniface. In the field of
      battle, in partial encounters, in single combats, he was still the terror
      of the Barbarians: the clergy, and particularly his friend Augustin, were
      edified by the Christian piety which had once tempted him to retire from
      the world; the people applauded his spotless integrity; the army dreaded
      his equal and inexorable justice, which may be displayed in a very
      singular example. A peasant, who complained of the criminal intimacy
      between his wife and a Gothic soldier, was directed to attend his tribunal
      the following day: in the evening the count, who had diligently informed
      himself of the time and place of the assignation, mounted his horse, rode
      ten miles into the country, surprised the guilty couple, punished the
      soldier with instant death, and silenced the complaints of the husband by
      presenting him, the next morning, with the head of the adulterer. The
      abilities of Aetius and Boniface might have been usefully employed against
      the public enemies, in separate and important commands; but the experience
      of their past conduct should have decided the real favor and confidence of
      the empress Placidia. In the melancholy season of her exile and distress,
      Boniface alone had maintained her cause with unshaken fidelity: and the
      troops and treasures of Africa had essentially contributed to extinguish
      the rebellion. The same rebellion had been supported by the zeal and
      activity of Aetius, who brought an army of sixty thousand Huns from the
      Danube to the confines of Italy, for the service of the usurper. The
      untimely death of John compelled him to accept an advantageous treaty; but
      he still continued, the subject and the soldier of Valentinian, to
      entertain a secret, perhaps a treasonable, correspondence with his
      Barbarian allies, whose retreat had been purchased by liberal gifts, and
      more liberal promises. But Aetius possessed an advantage of singular
      moment in a female reign; he was present: he besieged, with artful and
      assiduous flattery, the palace of Ravenna; disguised his dark designs with
      the mask of loyalty and friendship; and at length deceived both his
      mistress and his absent rival, by a subtle conspiracy, which a weak woman
      and a brave man could not easily suspect. He had secretly persuaded <a
      href="#link33note-11" name="link33noteref-11" id="link33noteref-11">11</a>
      Placidia to recall Boniface from the government of Africa; he secretly
      advised Boniface to disobey the Imperial summons: to the one, he
      represented the order as a sentence of death; to the other, he stated the
      refusal as a signal of revolt; and when the credulous and unsuspectful
      count had armed the province in his defence, Aetius applauded his sagacity
      in foreseeing the rebellion, which his own perfidy had excited. A
      temperate inquiry into the real motives of Boniface would have restored a
      faithful servant to his duty and to the republic; but the arts of Aetius
      still continued to betray and to inflame, and the count was urged, by
      persecution, to embrace the most desperate counsels. The success with
      which he eluded or repelled the first attacks, could not inspire a vain
      confidence, that at the head of some loose, disorderly Africans, he should
      be able to withstand the regular forces of the West, commanded by a rival,
      whose military character it was impossible for him to despise. After some
      hesitation, the last struggles of prudence and loyalty, Boniface
      despatched a trusty friend to the court, or rather to the camp, of
      Gonderic, king of the Vandals, with the proposal of a strict alliance, and
      the offer of an advantageous and perpetual settlement.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-8" id="link33note-8">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8 (<a href="#link33noteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ Cassiodorus (Variar. l.
      xi. Epist. i. p. 238) has compared the regencies of Placidia and
      Amalasuntha. He arraigns the weakness of the mother of Valentinian, and
      praises the virtues of his royal mistress. On this occasion, flattery
      seems to have spoken the language of truth.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-9" id="link33note-9">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9 (<a href="#link33noteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ Philostorgius, l. xii. c.
      12, and Godefroy's Dissertat. p. 493, &amp;c.; and Renatus Frigeridus,
      apud Gregor. Turon. l. ii. c. 8, in tom. ii. p. 163. The father of Aetius
      was Gaudentius, an illustrious citizen 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-10" id="link33note-10">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      10 (<a href="#link33noteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ For the character of
      Boniface, see Olympiodorus, apud Phot. p. 196; and St. Augustin apud
      Tillemont, Memoires Eccles. tom. xiii. p. 712-715, 886. The bishop of
      Hippo at length deplored the fall of his friend, who, after a solemn vow
      of chastity, had married a second wife of the Arian sect, and who was
      suspected of keeping several concubines in his house.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-11" id="link33note-11">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      11 (<a href="#link33noteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ Procopius (de Bell.
      Vandal. l. i. c. 3, 4, p. 182-186) relates the fraud of Aetius, the revolt
      of Boniface, and the loss of Africa. This anecdote, which is supported by
      some collateral testimony, (see Ruinart, Hist. Persecut. Vandal. p. 420,
      421,) seems agreeable to the practice of ancient and modern courts, and
      would be naturally revealed by the repentance of Boniface.]
    </p>
    <p>
      After the retreat of the Goths, the authority of Honorius had obtained a
      precarious establishment in Spain; except only in the province of
      Gallicia, where the Suevi and the Vandals had fortified their camps, in
      mutual discord and hostile independence. The Vandals prevailed; and their
      adversaries were besieged in the Nervasian hills, between Leon and Oviedo,
      till the approach of Count Asterius compelled, or rather provoked, the
      victorious Barbarians to remove the scene of the war to the plains of
      Boetica. The rapid progress of the Vandals soon acquired a more effectual
      opposition; and the master-general Castinus marched against them with a
      numerous army of Romans and Goths. Vanquished in battle 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. <a href="#link33note-12"
      name="link33noteref-12" id="link33noteref-12">12</a> Seville and
      Carthagena became the reward, or rather the prey, of the ferocious
      conquerors; and the vessels which they found in the harbor of Carthagena
      might easily transport them to the Isles of Majorca and Minorca, where the
      Spanish fugitives, as in a secure recess, had vainly concealed their
      families and their fortunes. The experience of navigation, and perhaps the
      prospect of Africa, encouraged the Vandals to accept the invitation which
      they received from Count Boniface; and the death of Gonderic served only
      to forward and animate the bold enterprise. In the room of a prince not
      conspicuous for any superior powers of the mind or body, they acquired his
      bastard brother, the terrible Genseric; <a href="#link33note-13"
      name="link33noteref-13" id="link33noteref-13">13</a> a name, which, in the
      destruction of the Roman empire, has deserved an equal rank with the names
      of Alaric and Attila. The king of the Vandals is described to have been of
      a middle stature, with a lameness in one leg, which he had contracted by
      an accidental fall from his horse. His slow and cautious speech seldom
      declared the deep purposes of his soul; he disdained to imitate the luxury
      of the vanquished; but he indulged the sterner passions of anger and
      revenge. The ambition of Genseric was without bounds and without scruples;
      and the warrior could dexterously employ the dark engines of policy to
      solicit the allies who might be useful to his success, or to scatter among
      his enemies the seeds of hatred and contention. Almost in the moment of
      his departure he was informed that Hermanric, king of the Suevi, had
      presumed to ravage the Spanish territories, which he was resolved to
      abandon.
    </p>
    <p>
      Impatient of the insult, Genseric pursued the hasty retreat of the Suevi
      as far as Merida; precipitated the king and his army into the River Anas,
      and calmly returned to the sea-shore to embark his victorious troops. The
      vessels which transported the Vandals over the modern Straits of
      Gibraltar, a channel only twelve miles in breadth, were furnished by the
      Spaniards, who anxiously wished their departure; and by the African
      general, who had implored their formidable assistance. <a
      href="#link33note-14" name="link33noteref-14" id="link33noteref-14">14</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-12" id="link33note-12">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      12 (<a href="#link33noteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Chronicles of
      Prosper and Idatius. Salvian (de Gubernat. Dei, l. vii. p. 246, Paris,
      1608) ascribes the victory of the Vandals to their superior piety. They
      fasted, they prayed, they carried a Bible in the front of the Host, with
      the design, perhaps, of reproaching the perfidy and sacrilege of their
      enemies.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-13" id="link33note-13">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      13 (<a href="#link33noteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ Gizericus (his name is
      variously expressed) statura mediocris et equi casu claudicans, animo
      profundus, sermone rarus, luxuriae contemptor, ira turbidus, habendi
      cupidus, ad solicitandas gentes providentissimus, semina contentionum
      jacere, odia miscere paratus. Jornandes, de Rebus Geticis, c. 33, p. 657.
      This portrait, which is drawn with some skill, and a strong likeness, must
      have been copied from the Gothic history of Cassiodorus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-14" id="link33note-14">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      14 (<a href="#link33noteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Chronicle of
      Idatius. That bishop, a Spaniard and a 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 Spanish bishop, and is justly preferred to the opinion
      of those writers who have marked for that event one of the two preceding
      years. See Pagi Critica, tom. ii. p. 205, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Our fancy, so long accustomed to exaggerate and multiply the martial
      swarms of Barbarians that seemed to issue from the North, will perhaps be
      surprised by the account of the army which Genseric mustered on the coast
      of Mauritania. The Vandals, who in twenty years had penetrated from the
      Elbe to Mount Atlas, were united under the command of their warlike king;
      and he reigned with equal authority over the Alani, who had passed, within
      the term of human life, from the cold of Scythia to the excessive heat of
      an African climate. The hopes of the bold enterprise had excited many
      brave adventurers of the Gothic nation; and many desperate provincials
      were tempted to repair their fortunes by the same means which had
      occasioned their ruin. Yet this various multitude amounted only to fifty
      thousand effective men; and though Genseric artfully magnified his
      apparent strength, by appointing eighty chinarchs, or commanders of
      thousands, the fallacious increase of old men, of children, and of slaves,
      would scarcely have swelled his army to the number of four-score thousand
      persons. <a href="#link33note-15" name="link33noteref-15"
      id="link33noteref-15">15</a> But his own dexterity, and the discontents of
      Africa, soon fortified the Vandal powers, by the accession of numerous and
      active allies. The parts of Mauritania which border on the Great Desert
      and the Atlantic Ocean, were filled with a fierce and untractable race of
      men, whose savage temper had been exasperated, rather than reclaimed, by
      their dread of the Roman arms. The wandering Moors, <a
      href="#link33note-16" name="link33noteref-16" id="link33noteref-16">16</a>
      as they gradually ventured to approach the seashore, and the camp of the
      Vandals, must have viewed with terror and astonishment the dress, the
      armor, the martial pride and discipline of the unknown strangers who had
      landed on their coast; and the fair complexions of the blue-eyed warriors
      of Germany formed a very singular contrast with the swarthy or olive hue
      which is derived from the neighborhood of the torrid zone. After the first
      difficulties had in some measure been removed, which arose from the mutual
      ignorance of their respective language, the Moors, regardless of any
      future consequence, embraced the alliance of the enemies of Rome; and a
      crowd of naked savages rushed from the woods and valleys of Mount Atlas,
      to satiate their revenge on the polished tyrants, who had injuriously
      expelled them from the native sovereignty of the land.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-15" id="link33note-15">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      15 (<a href="#link33noteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ 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, cum Vandalis omnibus eorumque familiis; and
      Possidius (in Vit. Augustin. c. 28, apud Ruinart, p. 427) describes his
      army as manus ingens immanium gentium Vandalorum et Alanorum, commixtam
      secum babens Gothorum gentem, aliarumque diversarum personas.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-16" id="link33note-16">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      16 (<a href="#link33noteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 in general, that the Moors had joined the Vandals
      before the death of Valentinian, (de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 5, p. 190;)
      and it is probable that the independent tribes did not embrace any uniform
      system of policy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The persecution of the Donatists <a href="#link33note-17"
      name="link33noteref-17" id="link33noteref-17">17</a> was an event not less
      favorable to the designs of Genseric. Seventeen years before he landed in
      Africa, a public conference was held at Carthage, by the order of the
      magistrate. The Catholics were satisfied, that, after the invincible
      reasons which they had alleged, the obstinacy of the schismatics must be
      inexcusable and voluntary; and the emperor Honorius was persuaded to
      inflict the most rigorous penalties on a faction which had so long abused
      his patience and clemency. Three hundred bishops, <a href="#link33note-18"
      name="link33noteref-18" id="link33noteref-18">18</a> with many thousands
      of the inferior clergy, were torn from their churches, stripped of their
      ecclesiastical possessions, banished to the islands, and proscribed by the
      laws, if they presumed to conceal themselves in the provinces of Africa.
      Their numerous congregations, both in cities and in the country, were
      deprived of the rights of citizens, and of the exercise of religious
      worship. A regular scale of fines, from ten to two hundred pounds of
      silver, was curiously ascertained, according to the distinction of rank
      and fortune, to punish the crime of assisting at a schismatic conventicle;
      and if the fine had been levied five times, without subduing the obstinacy
      of the offender, his future punishment was referred to the discretion of
      the Imperial court. <a href="#link33note-19" name="link33noteref-19"
      id="link33noteref-19">19</a> By these severities, which obtained the
      warmest approbation of St. Augustin, <a href="#link33note-20"
      name="link33noteref-20" id="link33noteref-20">20</a> great numbers of
      Donatists were reconciled to the Catholic Church; but the fanatics, who
      still persevered in their opposition, were provoked to madness and
      despair; the distracted country was filled with tumult and bloodshed; the
      armed troops of Circumcellions alternately pointed their rage against
      themselves, or against their adversaries; and the calendar of martyrs
      received on both sides a considerable augmentation. <a
      href="#link33note-21" name="link33noteref-21" id="link33noteref-21">21</a>
      Under these circumstances, Genseric, a Christian, but an enemy of the
      orthodox communion, showed himself to the Donatists as a powerful
      deliverer, from whom they might reasonably expect the repeal of the odious
      and oppressive edicts of the Roman emperors. <a href="#link33note-22"
      name="link33noteref-22" id="link33noteref-22">22</a> The conquest of
      Africa was facilitated by the active zeal, or the secret favor, of a
      domestic faction; the wanton outrages against the churches and the clergy
      of which the Vandals are accused, may be fairly imputed to the fanaticism
      of their allies; and the intolerant spirit which disgraced the triumph of
      Christianity, contributed to the loss of the most important province of
      the West. <a href="#link33note-23" name="link33noteref-23"
      id="link33noteref-23">23</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-17" id="link33note-17">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      17 (<a href="#link33noteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-18" id="link33note-18">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      18 (<a href="#link33noteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ The Donatist Bishops,
      at the conference of Carthage, amounted to 279; and they asserted that
      their whole number was not less than 400. The Catholics had 286 present,
      120 absent, besides sixty four vacant bishoprics.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-19" id="link33note-19">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      19 (<a href="#link33noteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ The fifth title of the
      sixteenth book of the Theodosian Code exhibits a series of the Imperial
      laws against the Donatists, from the year 400 to the year 428. Of these
      the 54th law, promulgated by Honorius, A.D. 414, is the most severe and
      effectual.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-20" id="link33note-20">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      20 (<a href="#link33noteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ St. Augustin altered
      his opinion with regard tosthe proper treatment of heretics. His pathetic
      declaration of pity and indulgence for the Manichaeans, has been inserted
      by Mr. Locke (vol. iii. p. 469) among the choice specimens of his
      common-place book. Another philosopher, the celebrated Bayle, (tom. ii. p.
      445-496,) has refuted, with superfluous diligence and ingenuity, the
      arguments by which the bishop of Hippo justified, in his old age, the
      persecution of the Donatists.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-21" id="link33note-21">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      21 (<a href="#link33noteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 much exaggerated; but he sternly maintains, that it was
      better that some should burn themselves in this world, than that all
      should burn in hell flames.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-22" id="link33note-22">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      22 (<a href="#link33noteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ According to St.
      Augustin and Theodoret, the Donatists were inclined to the principles, or
      at least to the party, of the Arians, which Genseric supported. Tillemont,
      Mem. Eccles. tom. vi. p. 68.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-23" id="link33note-23">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      23 (<a href="#link33noteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ See Baronius, Annal.
      Eccles. A.D. 428, No. 7, A.D. 439, No. 35. The cardinal, though more
      inclined to seek the cause of great events in heaven than on the earth,
      has observed the apparent connection of the Vandals and the Donatists.
      Under the reign of the Barbarians, the schismatics of Africa enjoyed an
      obscure peace of one hundred years; at the end of which we may again trace
      them by the fight of the Imperial persecutions. See Tillemont, Mem.
      Eccles. tom. vi. p. 192. &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The court and the people were astonished by the strange intelligence, that
      a virtuous hero, after so many favors, and so many services, had renounced
      his allegiance, and invited the Barbarians to destroy the province
      intrusted to his command. The friends of Boniface, who still believed that
      his criminal behavior might be excused by some honorable motive,
      solicited, during the absence of Aetius, a free conference with the Count
      of Africa; and Darius, an officer of high distinction, was named for the
      important embassy. <a href="#link33note-24" name="link33noteref-24"
      id="link33noteref-24">24</a> In their first interview at Carthage, the
      imaginary provocations were mutually explained; the opposite letters of
      Aetius were produced and compared; and the fraud was easily detected.
      Placidia and Boniface lamented their fatal error; and the count had
      sufficient magnanimity to confide in the forgiveness of his sovereign, or
      to expose his head to her future resentment. His repentance was fervent
      and sincere; but he soon discovered that it was no longer in his power to
      restore the edifice which he had shaken to its foundations. Carthage and
      the Roman garrisons returned with their general to the allegiance of
      Valentinian; but the rest of Africa was still distracted with war and
      faction; and the inexorable king of the Vandals, disdaining all terms of
      accommodation, sternly refused to relinquish the possession of his prey.
      The band of veterans who marched under the standard of Boniface, and his
      hasty levies of provincial troops, were defeated with considerable loss;
      the victorious Barbarians insulted the open country; and Carthage, Cirta,
      and Hippo Regius, were the only cities that appeared to rise above the
      general inundation.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-24" id="link33note-24">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      24 (<a href="#link33noteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ In a confidential
      letter to Count Boniface, St. Augustin, without examining the grounds of
      the quarrel, piously exhorts him to discharge the duties of a Christian
      and a subject: to extricate himself without delay from his dangerous and
      guilty situation; and even, if he could obtain the consent of his wife, to
      embrace a life of celibacy and penance, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom.
      xiii. p. 890.) The bishop was intimately connected with Darius, the
      minister of peace, (Id. tom. xiii. p. 928.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      The long and narrow tract of the African coast was filled with frequent
      monuments of Roman art and magnificence; and the respective degrees of
      improvement might be accurately measured by the distance from Carthage and
      the Mediterranean. A simple reflection will impress every thinking mind
      with the clearest idea of fertility and cultivation: the country was
      extremely populous; the inhabitants reserved a liberal subsistence for
      their own use; and the annual exportation, particularly of wheat, was so
      regular and plentiful, that Africa deserved the name of the common granary
      of Rome and of mankind. On a sudden the seven fruitful provinces, from
      Tangier to Tripoli, were overwhelmed by the invasion of the Vandals; whose
      destructive rage has perhaps been exaggerated by popular animosity,
      religious zeal, and extravagant declamation. War, in its fairest form,
      implies a perpetual violation of humanity and justice; and the hostilities
      of Barbarians are inflamed by the fierce and lawless spirit which
      incessantly disturbs their peaceful and domestic society. The Vandals,
      where they found resistance, seldom gave quarter; and the deaths of their
      valiant countrymen were expiated by the ruin of the cities under whose
      walls they had fallen. Careless of the distinctions of age, or sex, or
      rank, they employed every species of indignity and torture, to force from
      the captives a discovery of their hidden wealth. The stern policy of
      Genseric justified his frequent examples of military execution: he was not
      always the master of his own passions, or of those of his followers; and
      the calamities of war were aggravated by the licentiousness of the Moors,
      and the fanaticism of the Donatists. Yet I shall not easily be persuaded,
      that it was the common practice of the Vandals to extirpate the olives,
      and other fruit trees, of a country where they intended to settle: nor can
      I believe that it was a usual stratagem to slaughter great numbers of
      their prisoners before the walls of a besieged city, for the sole purpose
      of infecting the air, and producing a pestilence, of which they themselves
      must have been the first victims. <a href="#link33note-25"
      name="link33noteref-25" id="link33noteref-25">25</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-25" id="link33note-25">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      25 (<a href="#link33noteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ The original complaints
      of the desolation of Africa are contained 1. In a letter from Capreolus,
      bishop of Carthage, to excuse his absence from the council of Ephesus,
      (ap. Ruinart, p. 427.) 2. In the life of St. Augustin, by his friend and
      colleague Possidius, (ap. Ruinart, p. 427.) 3. In the history of the
      Vandalic persecution, by Victor Vitensis, (l. i. c. 1, 2, 3, edit.
      Ruinart.) The last picture, which was drawn sixty years after the event,
      is more expressive of the author's passions than of the truth of facts.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The generous mind of Count Boniface was tortured by the exquisite distress
      of beholding the ruin which he had occasioned, and whose rapid progress he
      was unable to check. After the loss of a battle he retired into Hippo
      Regius; where he was immediately besieged by an enemy, who considered him
      as the real bulwark of Africa. The maritime colony of Hippo, <a
      href="#link33note-26" name="link33noteref-26" id="link33noteref-26">26</a>
      about two hundred miles westward of Carthage, had formerly acquired the
      distinguishing epithet of Regius, from the residence of Numidian kings;
      and some remains of trade and populousness still adhere to the modern
      city, which is known in Europe by the corrupted name of Bona. The military
      labors, and anxious reflections, of Count Boniface, were alleviated by the
      edifying conversation of his friend St. Augustin; <a href="#link33note-27"
      name="link33noteref-27" id="link33noteref-27">27</a> till that bishop, the
      light and pillar of the Catholic church, was gently released, in the third
      month of the siege, and in the seventy-sixth year of his age, from the
      actual and the impending calamities of his country. The youth of Augustin
      had been stained by the vices and errors which he so ingenuously
      confesses; but from the moment of his conversion to that of his death, the
      manners of the bishop of Hippo were pure and austere: and the most
      conspicuous of his virtues was an ardent zeal against heretics of every
      denomination; the Manichaeans, the Donatists, and the Pelagians, against
      whom he waged a perpetual controversy. When the city, some months after
      his death, was burnt by the Vandals, the library was fortunately saved,
      which contained his voluminous writings; two hundred and thirty-two
      separate books or treatises on theological subjects, besides a complete
      exposition of the psalter and the gospel, and a copious magazine of
      epistles and homilies. <a href="#link33note-28" name="link33noteref-28"
      id="link33noteref-28">28</a> According to the judgment of the most
      impartial critics, the superficial learning of Augustin was confined to
      the Latin language; <a href="#link33note-29" name="link33noteref-29"
      id="link33noteref-29">29</a> and his style, though sometimes animated by
      the eloquence of passion, is usually clouded by false and affected
      rhetoric. But he possessed a strong, capacious, argumentative mind; he
      boldly sounded the dark abyss of grace, predestination, free will, and
      original sin; and the rigid system of Christianity which he framed or
      restored, <a href="#link33note-30" name="link33noteref-30"
      id="link33noteref-30">30</a> has been entertained, with public applause,
      and secret reluctance, by the Latin church. <a href="#link33note-31"
      name="link33noteref-31" id="link33noteref-31">31</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-26" id="link33note-26">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      26 (<a href="#link33noteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 finally destroyed by the Arabs in the
      seventh century; but a new town, at the distance 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 a pure air, a fertile soil, and plenty
      of exquisite fruits.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-27" id="link33note-27">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      27 (<a href="#link33noteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ The life of St.
      Augustin, by Tillemont, fills a quarto volume (Mem. Eccles. tom. xiii.) of
      more than one thousand pages; and the diligence of that learned Jansenist
      was excited, on this occasion, by factious and devout zeal for the founder
      of his sect.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-28" id="link33note-28">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      28 (<a href="#link33noteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ Such, at least, is the
      account of Victor Vitensis, (de Persecut. Vandal. l. i. c. 3;) though
      Gennadius seems to doubt whether any 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 them as they stand in the last edition of the
      Benedictines. My personal acquaintance with the bishop of Hippo does not
      extend beyond the Confessions, and the City of God.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-29" id="link33note-29">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      29 (<a href="#link33noteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ In his early youth
      (Confess. i. 14) St. Augustin disliked and neglected the study of Greek;
      and he frankly owns that he read the Platonists in a Latin version,
      (Confes. vii. 9.) Some modern critics have thought, that his ignorance of
      Greek disqualified him from expounding the Scriptures; and Cicero or
      Quintilian would have required the knowledge of that language in a
      professor of rhetoric.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-30" id="link33note-30">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      30 (<a href="#link33noteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ These questions were
      seldom agitated, from the time of St. Paul to that of St. Augustin. I am
      informed that the Greek fathers maintain the natural sentiments of the
      Semi-Pelagians; and that the orthodoxy of St. Augustin was derived from
      the Manichaean school.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-31" id="link33note-31">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      31 (<a href="#link33noteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ The church of Rome has
      canonized Augustin, and reprobated Calvin. Yet as the real difference
      between them is invisible even to a theological microscope, the Molinists
      are oppressed by the authority of the saint, and the Jansenists are
      disgraced by their resemblance to the heretic. In the mean while, the
      Protestant Arminians stand aloof, and deride the mutual perplexity of the
      disputants, (see a curious Review of the Controversy, by Le Clerc,
      Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. xiv. p. 144-398.) Perhaps a reasoner still
      more independent may smile in his turn, when he peruses an Arminian
      Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link332HCH0002" id="link332HCH0002">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXIII: Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals.&mdash;Part II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      By the skill of Boniface, and perhaps by the ignorance of the Vandals, the
      siege of Hippo was protracted above fourteen months: the sea was
      continually open; and when the adjacent country had been exhausted by
      irregular rapine, the besiegers themselves were compelled by famine to
      relinquish their enterprise. The importance and danger of Africa were
      deeply felt by the regent of the West. Placidia implored the assistance of
      her eastern ally; and the Italian fleet and army were reenforced by Asper,
      who sailed from Constantinople with a powerful armament. As soon as the
      force of the two empires was united under the command of Boniface, he
      boldly marched against the Vandals; and the loss of a second battle
      irretrievably decided the fate of Africa. He embarked with the
      precipitation of despair; and the people of Hippo were permitted, with
      their families and effects, to occupy the vacant place of the soldiers,
      the greatest part of whom were either slain or made prisoners by the
      Vandals. The count, whose fatal credulity had wounded the vitals of the
      republic, might enter the palace of Ravenna with some anxiety, which was
      soon removed by the smiles of Placidia. Boniface accepted with gratitude
      the rank of patrician, and the dignity of master-general of the 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. <a
      href="#link33note-32" name="link33noteref-32" id="link33noteref-32">32</a>
      The discovery of his fraud, the displeasure of the empress, and the
      distinguished favor of his rival, exasperated the haughty and perfidious
      soul of Aetius. He hastily returned from Gaul to Italy, with a retinue, or
      rather with an army, of Barbarian followers; and such was the weakness of
      the government, that the two generals decided their private quarrel in a
      bloody battle. Boniface was successful; but he received in the conflict a
      mortal wound from the spear of his adversary, of which he expired within a
      few days, in such Christian and charitable sentiments, that he exhorted
      his wife, a rich heiress of Spain, to accept Aetius for her second
      husband. But Aetius could not derive any immediate advantage from the
      generosity of his dying enemy: he was proclaimed a rebel by the justice of
      Placidia; and though he attempted to defend some strong fortresses,
      erected on his patrimonial estate, the Imperial power soon compelled him
      to retire into Pannonia, to the tents of his faithful Huns. The republic
      was deprived, by their mutual discord, of the service of her two most
      illustrious champions. <a href="#link33note-33" name="link33noteref-33"
      id="link33noteref-33">33</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-32" id="link33note-32">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      32 (<a href="#link33noteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ Ducange, Fam. Byzant.
      p. 67. On one side, the head of Valentinian; on the reverse, Boniface,
      with a scourge in one hand, and a palm in the other, standing in a
      triumphal car, which is drawn by four horses, or, in another medal, by
      four stags; an unlucky emblem! I should doubt whether another example can
      be found of the head of a subject on the reverse of an Imperial medal. See
      Science des Medailles, by the Pere Jobert, 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 Belisarius on the authority of Cedrenus&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-33" id="link33note-33">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      33 (<a href="#link33noteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ Procopius (de Bell.
      Vandal. l. i. c. 3, p. 185) continues the history of Boniface no further
      than his return to Italy. His death is 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      It might naturally be expected, after the retreat of Boniface, that the
      Vandals would achieve, without resistance or delay, the conquest of
      Africa. Eight years, however, elapsed, from the evacuation of Hippo to the
      reduction of Carthage. In the midst of that interval, the ambitious
      Genseric, in the full tide of apparent prosperity, negotiated a treaty of
      peace, by which he gave his son Hunneric for a hostage; and consented to
      leave the Western emperor in the undisturbed possession of the three
      Mauritanias. <a href="#link33note-34" name="link33noteref-34"
      id="link33noteref-34">34</a> This moderation, which cannot be imputed to
      the justice, must be ascribed to the policy, of the conqueror.
    </p>
    <p>
      His throne was encompassed with domestic enemies, who accused the baseness
      of his birth, and asserted the legitimate claims of his nephews, the sons
      of Gonderic. Those nephews, indeed, he sacrificed to his safety; and their
      mother, the widow of the deceased king, was precipitated, by his order,
      into the river Ampsaga. But the public discontent burst forth in dangerous
      and frequent conspiracies; and the warlike tyrant is supposed to have shed
      more Vandal blood by the hand of the executioner, than in the field of
      battle. <a href="#link33note-35" name="link33noteref-35"
      id="link33noteref-35">35</a> The convulsions of Africa, which had favored
      his attack, opposed the firm establishment of his power; and the various
      seditions of the Moors and Germans, the Donatists and Catholics,
      continually disturbed, or threatened, the unsettled reign of the
      conqueror. As he advanced towards Carthage, he was forced to withdraw his
      troops from the Western provinces; the sea-coast was exposed to the naval
      enterprises of the Romans of Spain and Italy; and, in the heart of
      Numidia, the strong inland city of Corta still persisted in obstinate
      independence. <a href="#link33note-36" name="link33noteref-36"
      id="link33noteref-36">36</a> These difficulties were gradually subdued by
      the spirit, the perseverance, and the cruelty of Genseric; who alternately
      applied the arts of peace and war to the establishment of his African
      kingdom. He subscribed a solemn treaty, with the hope of deriving some
      advantage from the term of its continuance, and the moment of its
      violation. The vigilance of his enemies was relaxed by the protestations
      of friendship, which concealed his hostile approach; and Carthage was at
      length surprised by the Vandals, five hundred and eighty-five years after
      the destruction of the city and republic by the younger Scipio. <a
      href="#link33note-37" name="link33noteref-37" id="link33noteref-37">37</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-34" id="link33note-34">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      34 (<a href="#link33noteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ See Procopius, de Bell.
      Vandal. l. i. c. 4, p. 186. Valentinian published several humane laws, to
      relieve the distress of his Numidian and Mauritanian subjects; he
      discharged them, in a great measure, from the payment of their debts,
      reduced their tribute to one eighth, and gave them a right of appeal from
      their provincial magistrates to the praefect of Rome. Cod. Theod. tom. vi.
      Novell. p. 11, 12.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-35" id="link33note-35">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      35 (<a href="#link33noteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ Victor Vitensis, de
      Persecut. Vandal. l. ii. c. 5, p. 26. The cruelties of Genseric towards
      his subjects are strongly expressed in Prosper's Chronicle, A.D. 442.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-36" id="link33note-36">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      36 (<a href="#link33noteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ Possidius, in Vit.
      Augustin. c. 28, apud Ruinart, p. 428.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-37" id="link33note-37">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      37 (<a href="#link33noteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Chronicles of
      Idatius, Isidore, Prosper, and Marcellinus. They mark the same year, but
      different days, for the surprisal of Carthage.]
    </p>
    <p>
      A new city had arisen from its ruins, with the title of a colony; and
      though Carthage might yield to the royal prerogatives of Constantinople,
      and perhaps to the trade of Alexandria, or the splendor of Antioch, she
      still maintained the second rank in the West; as the Rome (if we may use
      the style of contemporaries) of the African world. That wealthy and
      opulent metropolis <a href="#link33note-38" name="link33noteref-38"
      id="link33noteref-38">38</a> displayed, in a dependent condition, the
      image of a flourishing republic. Carthage contained the manufactures, the
      arms, and the treasures of the six provinces. A regular subordination of
      civil honors gradually ascended from the procurators of the streets and
      quarters of the city, to the tribunal of the supreme magistrate, who, with
      the title of proconsul, represented the state and dignity of a consul of
      ancient Rome. Schools and gymnasia were instituted for the education of
      the African youth; and the liberal arts and manners, grammar, rhetoric,
      and philosophy, were publicly taught in the Greek and Latin languages. The
      buildings of Carthage were uniform and magnificent; a shady grove was
      planted in the midst of the capital; the new port, a secure and capacious
      harbor, was subservient to the commercial indus try of citizens and
      strangers; and the splendid games of the circus and theatre were exhibited
      almost in the presence of the Barbarians. The reputation of the
      Carthaginians was not equal to that of their country, and the reproach of
      Punic faith still adhered to their subtle and faithless character. <a
      href="#link33note-39" name="link33noteref-39" id="link33noteref-39">39</a>
      The habits of trade, and the abuse of luxury, had corrupted their manners;
      but their impious contempt of monks, and the shameless practice of
      unnatural lusts, are the two abominations which excite the pious vehemence
      of Salvian, the preacher of the age. <a href="#link33note-40"
      name="link33noteref-40" id="link33noteref-40">40</a> The king of the
      Vandals severely reformed the vices of a voluptuous people; and the
      ancient, noble, ingenuous freedom of Carthage (these expressions of Victor
      are not without energy) was reduced by Genseric into a state of
      ignominious servitude. After he had permitted his licentious troops to
      satiate their rage and avarice, he instituted a more regular system of
      rapine and oppression. An edict was promulgated, which enjoined all
      persons, without fraud or delay, to deliver their gold, silver, jewels,
      and valuable furniture or apparel, to the royal officers; and the attempt
      to secrete any part of their patrimony was inexorably punished with death
      and torture, as an act of treason against the state. The lands of the
      proconsular province, which formed the immediate district of Carthage,
      were accurately measured, and divided among the Barbarians; and the
      conqueror reserved for his peculiar domain the fertile territory of
      Byzacium, and the adjacent parts of Numidia and Getulia. <a
      href="#link33note-41" name="link33noteref-41" id="link33noteref-41">41</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-38" id="link33note-38">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      38 (<a href="#link33noteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ The picture of
      Carthage; as it flourished in the fourth and fifth centuries, is taken
      from the Expositio totius Mundi, p. 17, 18, in the third volume of
      Hudson's Minor Geographers, from Ausonius de Claris Urbibus, p. 228, 229;
      and principally from Salvian, de Gubernatione Dei, l. vii. p. 257, 258.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-39" id="link33note-39">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      39 (<a href="#link33noteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ The anonymous author of
      the Expositio totius Mundi compares in his barbarous Latin, the country
      and the inhabitants; and, after stigmatizing their want of faith, he
      coolly concludes, Difficile autem inter eos invenitur bonus, tamen in
      multis pauci boni esse possunt P. 18.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-40" id="link33note-40">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      40 (<a href="#link33noteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ He declares, that the
      peculiar vices of each country were collected in the sink of Carthage, (l.
      vii. p. 257.) In the indulgence of vice, the Africans applauded their
      manly virtue. Et illi se magis virilis fortitudinis esse crederent, qui
      maxime vires foeminei usus probositate fregissent, (p. 268.) The streets
      of Carthage were polluted by 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 testantibus ridentium cachinnis, (p. 289.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-41" id="link33note-41">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      41 (<a href="#link33noteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare Procopius de
      Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 5, p. 189, 190, and Victor Vitensis, de Persecut
      Vandal. l. i. c. 4.]
    </p>
    <p>
      It was natural enough that Genseric should hate those whom he had injured:
      the nobility and senators of Carthage were exposed to his jealousy and
      resentment; and all those who refused the ignominious terms, which their
      honor and religion forbade them to accept, were compelled by the Arian
      tyrant to embrace the condition of perpetual banishment. Rome, Italy, and
      the provinces of the East, were filled with a crowd of exiles, of
      fugitives, and of ingenuous captives, who solicited the public compassion;
      and the benevolent epistles of Theod oret still preserve the names and
      misfortunes of Caelestian and Maria. <a href="#link33note-42"
      name="link33noteref-42" id="link33noteref-42">42</a> The Syrian bishop
      deplores the misfortunes of Caelestian, who, from the state of a noble and
      opulent senator of Carthage, was reduced, with his wife and family, and
      servants, to beg his bread in a foreign country; but he applauds the
      resignation of the Christian exile, and the philosophic temper, which,
      under the pressure of such calamities, could enjoy more real happiness
      than was the ordinary lot of wealth and prosperity. The story of Maria,
      the daughter of the magnificent Eudaemon, is singular and interesting. In
      the sack of Carthage, she was purchased from the Vandals by some merchants
      of Syria, who afterwards sold her as a slave in their native country. A
      female attendant, transported in the same ship, and sold in the same
      family, still continued to respect a mistress whom fortune had reduced to
      the common level of servitude; and the daughter of Eudaemon received from
      her grateful affection the domestic services which she had once required
      from her obedience. This remarkable behavior divulged the real condition
      of Maria, who, in the absence of the bishop of Cyrrhus, was redeemed from
      slavery oy the generosity of some soldiers of the garrison. The liberality
      of Theodoret provided for her decent maintenance; and she passed ten
      months among the deaconesses of the church; till she was unexpectedly
      informed, that her father, who had escaped from the ruin of Carthage,
      exercised an honorable office in one of the Western provinces. Her filial
      impatience was seconded by the pious bishop: Theodoret, in a letter still
      extant, recommends Maria to the bishop of Aegae, a maritime city of
      Cilicia, which was frequented, during the annual fair, by the vessels of
      the West; most earnestly requesting, that his colleague would use the
      maiden with a tenderness suitable to her birth; and that he would intrust
      her to the care of such faithful merchants, as would esteem it a
      sufficient gain, if they restored a daughter, lost beyond all human hope,
      to the arms of her afflicted parent.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-42" id="link33note-42">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      42 (<a href="#link33noteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ Ruinart (p. 441-457)
      has collected from Theodoret, and other authors, the misfortunes, real and
      fabulous, of the inhabitants of Carthage.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Among the insipid legends of ecclesiastical history, I am tempted to
      distinguish the memorable fable of the Seven Sleepers; <a
      href="#link33note-43" name="link33noteref-43" id="link33noteref-43">43</a>
      whose imaginary date corresponds with the reign of the younger Theodosius,
      and the conquest of Africa by the Vandals. <a href="#link33note-44"
      name="link33noteref-44" id="link33noteref-44">44</a> When the emperor
      Decius persecuted the Christians, seven noble youths of Ephesus concealed
      themselves in a spacious cavern in the side of an adjacent mountain; where
      they were doomed to perish by the tyrant, who gave orders that the
      entrance should be firmly secured by the a pile of huge stones. They
      immediately fell into a deep slumber, which was miraculously prolonged
      without injuring the powers of life, during a period of one hundred and
      eighty-seven years. At the end of that time, the slaves of Adolius, to
      whom the inheritance of the mountain had descended, removed the stones to
      supply materials for some rustic edifice: the light of the sun darted into
      the cavern, and the Seven Sleepers were permitted to awake. After a
      slumber, as they thought of a few hours, they were pressed by the calls of
      hunger; and resolved that Jamblichus, one of their number, should secretly
      return to the city to purchase bread for the use of his companions. The
      youth (if we may still employ that appellation) could no longer recognize
      the once familiar aspect of his native country; and his surprise was
      increased by the appearance of a large cross, triumphantly erected over
      the principal gate of Ephesus. His singular dress, and obsolete language,
      confounded the baker, to whom he offered an ancient medal of Decius as the
      current coin of the empire; and Jamblichus, on the suspicion of a secret
      treasure, was dragged before the judge. Their mutual inquiries produced
      the amazing discovery, that two centuries were almost elapsed since
      Jamblichus and his friends had escaped from the rage of a Pagan tyrant.
      The bishop of Ephesus, the clergy, the magistrates, the people, and, as it
      is said, the emperor Theodosius himself, hastened to visit the cavern of
      the Seven Sleepers; who bestowed their benediction, related their story,
      and at the same instant peaceably expired. The origin of this marvellous
      fable cannot be ascribed to the pious fraud and credulity of the modern
      Greeks, since the authentic tradition may be traced within half a century
      of the supposed miracle. James of Sarug, a Syrian bishop, who was born
      only two years after the death of the younger Theodosius, has devoted one
      of his two hundred and thirty homilies to the praise of the young men of
      Ephesus. <a href="#link33note-45" name="link33noteref-45"
      id="link33noteref-45">45</a> Their legend, before the end of the sixth
      century, was translated from the Syriac into the Latin language, by the
      care of Gregory of Tours. The hostile communions of the East preserve
      their memory with equal reverence; and their names are honorably inscribed
      in the Roman, the Abyssinian, and the Russian calendar. <a
      href="#link33note-46" name="link33noteref-46" id="link33noteref-46">46</a>
      Nor has their reputation been confined to the Christian world. This
      popular tale, which Mahomet might learn when he drove his camels to the
      fairs of Syria, is introduced as a divine revelation, into the Koran. <a
      href="#link33note-47" name="link33noteref-47" id="link33noteref-47">47</a>
      The story of the Seven Sleepers has been adopted and adorned by the
      nations, from Bengal to Africa, who profess the Mahometan religion; <a
      href="#link33note-48" name="link33noteref-48" id="link33noteref-48">48</a>
      and some vestiges of a similar tradition have been discovered in the
      remote extremities of Scandinavia. <a href="#link33note-49"
      name="link33noteref-49" id="link33noteref-49">49</a> This easy and
      universal belief, so expressive of the sense of mankind, may be ascribed
      to the genuine merit of the fable itself. We imperceptibly advance from
      youth to age, without observing the gradual, but incessant, change of
      human affairs; and even in our larger experience of history, the
      imagination is accustomed, by a perpetual series of causes and effects, to
      unite the most distant revolutions. But if the interval between two
      memorable aeras could be instantly annihilated; if it were possible, after
      a momentary slumber of two hundred years, to display the new world to the
      eyes of a spectator, who still retained a lively and recent impression of
      the old, his surprise and his reflections would furnish the pleasing
      subject of a philosophical romance. The scene could not be more
      advantageously placed, than in the two centuries which elapsed between the
      reigns of Decius and of Theodosius the Younger. During this period, the
      seat of government had been transported from Rome to a new city on the
      banks of the Thracian Bosphorus; and the abuse of military spirit had been
      suppressed by an artificial system of tame and ceremonious servitude. The
      throne of the persecuting Decius was filled by a succession of Christian
      and orthodox princes, who had extirpated the fabulous gods of antiquity:
      and the public devotion of the age was impatient to exalt the saints and
      martyrs of the Catholic church, on the altars of Diana and Hercules. The
      union of the Roman empire was dissolved; its genius was humbled in the
      dust; and armies of unknown Barbarians, issuing from the frozen regions of
      the North, had established their victorious reign over the fairest
      provinces of Europe and Africa.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-43" id="link33note-43">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      43 (<a href="#link33noteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ The choice of fabulous
      circumstances is of small importance; yet I have confined myself to the
      narrative which was translated from the Syriac by the care of Gregory of
      Tours, (de Gloria Martyrum, l. i. c. 95, in Max. Bibliotheca Patrum, tom.
      xi. p. 856,) to the Greek acts of their martyrdom (apud Photium, p. 1400,
      1401) and to the Annals of the Patriarch Eutychius, (tom. i. p. 391, 531,
      532, 535, Vers. Pocock.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-44" id="link33note-44">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      44 (<a href="#link33noteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ Two Syriac writers, as
      they are quoted by Assemanni, (Bibliot. Oriental. tom. i. p. 336, 338,)
      place the resurrection of the Seven Sleepers in the year 736 (A.D. 425) or
      748, (A.D. 437,) of the aera of the Seleucides. Their Greek acts, which
      Photius had read, assign the date of the thirty-eighth year of the reign
      of Theodosius, which may coincide either with A.D. 439, or 446. The period
      which had elapsed since the persecution of Decius is easily ascertained;
      and nothing less than the ignorance of Mahomet, or the legendaries, could
      suppose an internal of three or four hundred years.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-45" id="link33note-45">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      45 (<a href="#link33noteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 made bishop 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 the homily de Pueris Ephesinis,
      see p. 335-339: though I could wish that Assemanni had translated the text
      of James of Sarug, instead of answering the objections of Baronius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-46" id="link33note-46">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      46 (<a href="#link33noteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Acta Sanctorum
      of the Bollandists, Mensis Julii, tom. vi. p. 375-397. This immense
      calendar of Saints, in one hundred and twenty-six years, (1644-1770,) and
      in fifty volumes in folio, has advanced no further than the 7th day of
      October. The suppression of the Jesuits has most probably checked an
      undertaking, which, through the medium of fable and superstition,
      communicates much historical and philosophical instruction.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-47" id="link33note-47">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      47 (<a href="#link33noteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ See Maracci Alcoran.
      Sura xviii. tom. ii. p. 420-427, and tom. i. part iv. p. 103. With such an
      ample privilege, Mahomet has not shown much taste or ingenuity. He has
      invented the dog (Al Rakim) the Seven Sleepers; the respect of the sun,
      who altered his course twice a day, that he might not shine into the
      cavern; and the care of God himself, who preserved their bodies from
      putrefaction, by turning them to the right and left.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-48" id="link33note-48">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      48 (<a href="#link33noteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ See D'Herbelot,
      Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 139; and Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alexandrin.
      p. 39, 40.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link33note-49" id="link33note-49">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      49 (<a href="#link33noteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ Paul, the deacon of
      Aquileia, (de Gestis Langobardorum, l. i. c. 4, p. 745, 746, edit. Grot.,)
      who lived towards the end of the eight century, has placed in a cavern,
      under a rock, on the shore of the ocean, the Seven Sleepers of the North,
      whose long repose was respected by the Barbarians. Their dress declared
      them to be Romans and the deacon conjectures, that they were reserved by
      Providence as the future apostles of those unbelieving countries.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br /> <a name="link342HCH0001" id="link342HCH0001">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXIV: Attila.&mdash;Part I.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     The Character, Conquests, And Court Of Attila, King Of The
     Huns.&mdash;Death Of Theodosius The Younger.&mdash;Elevation Of
     Marcian To The Empire Of The East.
</pre>
    <p>
      The Western world was oppressed by the Goths and Vandals, who fled before
      the Huns; but the achievements of the Huns themselves were not adequate to
      their power and prosperity. Their victorious hordes had spread from the
      Volga to the Danube; but the public force was exhausted by the discord of
      independent chieftains; their valor was idly consumed in obscure and
      predatory excursions; and they often degraded their national dignity, by
      condescending, for the hopes of spoil, to enlist under the banners of
      their fugitive enemies. In the reign of Attila, <a href="#link34note-1"
      name="link34noteref-1" id="link34noteref-1">1</a> the Huns again became
      the terror of the world; and I shall now describe the character and
      actions of that formidable Barbarian; who alternately insulted and invaded
      the East and the West, and urged the rapid downfall of the Roman empire.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-1" id="link34note-1">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1 (<a href="#link34noteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ The authentic materials
      for the history of Attila, may be found in Jornandes (de Rebus Geticis, c.
      34-50, p. 668-688, edit. Grot.) and Priscus (Excerpta de Legationibus, p.
      33-76, Paris, 1648.) I have not seen the Lives of Attila, composed by
      Juvencus Caelius Calanus Dalmatinus, in the twelfth century, or by
      Nicholas Olahus, archbishop of Gran, in the sixteenth. See Mascou's
      History of the Germans, ix., and Maffei Osservazioni Litterarie, tom. i.
      p. 88, 89. Whatever the modern Hungarians have added must be fabulous; and
      they do not seem to have excelled in the art of fiction. They suppose,
      that when Attila invaded Gaul and Italy, married innumerable wives, &amp;c.,
      he was one hundred and twenty years of age. Thewrocz Chron. c. i. p. 22,
      in Script. Hunger. tom. i. p. 76.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In the tide of emigration which impetuously rolled from the confines of
      China to those of Germany, the most powerful and populous tribes may
      commonly be found on the verge of the Roman provinces. The accumulated
      weight was sustained for a while by artificial barriers; and the easy
      condescension of the emperors invited, without satisfying, the insolent
      demands of the Barbarians, who had acquired an eager appetite for the
      luxuries of civilized life. The Hungarians, who ambitiously insert the
      name of Attila among their native kings, may affirm with truth that the
      hordes, which were subject to his uncle Roas, or Rugilas, had formed their
      encampments within the limits of modern Hungary, <a href="#link34note-2"
      name="link34noteref-2" id="link34noteref-2">2</a> in a fertile country,
      which liberally supplied the wants of a nation of hunters and shepherds.
      In this advantageous situation, Rugilas, and his valiant brothers, who
      continually added to their power and reputation, commanded the alternative
      of peace or war with the two empires. His alliance with the Romans of the
      West was cemented by his personal friendship for the great Aetius; who was
      always secure of finding, in the Barbarian camp, a hospitable reception
      and a powerful support. At his solicitation, and in the name of John the
      usurper, sixty thousand Huns advanced to the confines of Italy; their
      march and their retreat were alike expensive to the state; and the
      grateful policy of Aetius abandoned the possession of Pannonia to his
      faithful confederates. The Romans of the East were not less apprehensive
      of the arms of Rugilas, which threatened the provinces, or even the
      capital. Some ecclesiastical historians have destroyed the Barbarians with
      lightning and pestilence; <a href="#link34note-3" name="link34noteref-3"
      id="link34noteref-3">3</a> but Theodosius was reduced to the more humble
      expedient of stipulating an annual payment of three hundred and fifty
      pounds of gold, and of disguising this dishonorable tribute by the title
      of general, which the king of the Huns condescended to accept. The public
      tranquillity was frequently interrupted by the fierce impatience of the
      Barbarians, and the perfidious intrigues of the Byzantine court. Four
      dependent nations, among whom we may distinguish the Barbarians,
      disclaimed the sovereignty of the Huns; and their revolt was encouraged
      and protected by a Roman alliance; till the just claims, and formidable
      power, of Rugilas, were effectually urged by the voice of Eslaw his
      ambassador. Peace was the unanimous wish of the senate: their decree was
      ratified by the emperor; and two ambassadors were named, Plinthas, a
      general of Scythian extraction, but of consular rank; and the quaestor
      Epigenes, a wise and experienced statesman, who was recommended to that
      office by his ambitious colleague.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-2" id="link34note-2">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2 (<a href="#link34noteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ Hungary has been
      successively occupied by three Scythian colonies. 1. The Huns of Attila;
      2. The Abares, in the sixth century; and, 3. The Turks or Magiars, A.D.
      889; the immediate and genuine ancestors of the modern Hungarians, whose
      connection with the two former is extremely faint and remote. The
      Prodromus and Notitia of Matthew Belius appear to contain a rich fund of
      information concerning ancient and modern Hungary. I have seen the
      extracts in Bibli otheque Ancienne et Moderne, tom. xxii. p. 1-51, and
      Bibliotheque Raisonnee, tom. xvi. p. 127-175. * Note: Mailath (in his
      Geschichte der Magyaren) considers the question of the origin of the
      Magyars as still undecided. The old Hungarian chronicles unanimously
      derived them from the Huns of Attila See note, vol. iv. pp. 341, 342. The
      later opinion, adopted by Schlozer, Belnay, and Dankowsky, ascribes them,
      from their language, to the Finnish race. Fessler, in his history of
      Hungary, agrees with Gibbon in supposing them Turks. Mailath has inserted
      an ingenious dissertation of Fejer, which attempts to connect them with
      the Parthians. Vol. i. Ammerkungen p. 50&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-3" id="link34note-3">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3 (<a href="#link34noteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 wars and personages were not the same.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The death of Rugilas suspended the progress of the treaty. His two
      nephews, Attila and Bleda, who succeeded to the throne of their uncle,
      consented to a personal interview with the ambassadors of Constantinople;
      but as they proudly refused to dismount, the business was transacted on
      horseback, in a spacious plain near the city of Margus, in the Upper
      Maesia. The kings of the Huns assumed the solid benefits, as well as the
      vain honors, of the negotiation. They dictated the conditions of peace,
      and each condition was an insult on the majesty of the empire. Besides the
      freedom of a safe and plentiful market on the banks of the Danube, they
      required that the annual contribution should be augmented from three
      hundred and fifty to seven hundred pounds of gold; that a fine or ransom
      of eight pieces of gold should be paid for every Roman captive who had
      escaped from his Barbarian master; that the emperor should renounce all
      treaties and engagements with the enemies of the Huns; and that all the
      fugitives who had taken refuge in the court or provinces of Theodosius,
      should be delivered to the justice of their offended sovereign. This
      justice was rigorously inflicted on some unfortunate youths of a royal
      race. They were crucified on the territories of the empire, by the command
      of Attila: and as soon as the king 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 the rebellious or independent nations of
      Scythia and Germany. <a href="#link34note-4" name="link34noteref-4"
      id="link34noteref-4">4</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-4" id="link34note-4">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4 (<a href="#link34noteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ See Priscus, p. 47, 48,
      and Hist. de Peuples de l'Europe, tom. v. i. c. xii, xiii, xiv, xv.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Attila, the son of Mundzuk, deduced his noble, perhaps his regal, descent
      <a href="#link34note-5" name="link34noteref-5" id="link34noteref-5">5</a>
      from the ancient Huns, who had formerly contended with the monarchs of
      China. His features, according to the observation of a Gothic historian,
      bore the stamp of his national origin; and the portrait of Attila exhibits
      the genuine deformity of a modern Calmuk; <a href="#link34note-6"
      name="link34noteref-6" id="link34noteref-6">6</a> a large head, a swarthy
      complexion, small, deep-seated eyes, a flat nose, a few hairs in the place
      of a beard, broad shoulders, and a short square body, of nervous strength,
      though of a disproportioned form. The haughty step and demeanor of the
      king of the Huns expressed the consciousness of his superiority above the
      rest of mankind; and he had a custom of fiercely rolling his eyes, as if
      he wished to enjoy the terror which 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 indulgent master. He delighted in war; but, after he had
      ascended the throne in a mature age, his head, rather than his hand,
      achieved the conquest of the North; and the fame of an adventurous soldier
      was usefully exchanged for that of a prudent and successful general. The
      effects of personal valor are so inconsiderable, except in poetry or
      romance, that victory, even among Barbarians, must depend on the degree of
      skill with which the passions of the multitude are combined and guided for
      the service of a single man. The Scythian conquerors, Attila and Zingis,
      surpassed their rude countrymen in art rather than in courage; and it may
      be observed that the monarchies, both of the Huns and of the Moguls, were
      erected by their founders on the basis of popular superstition The
      miraculous conception, which fraud and credulity ascribed to the
      virgin-mother of Zingis, raised him above the level of human nature; and
      the naked prophet, who in the name of the Deity invested him with the
      empire of the earth, pointed the valor of the Moguls with irresistible
      enthusiasm. <a href="#link34note-7" name="link34noteref-7"
      id="link34noteref-7">7</a> The religious arts of Attila were not less
      skillfully adapted to the character of his age and country. It was natural
      enough that the Scythians should adore, with peculiar devotion, the god of
      war; but as they were incapable of forming either an abstract idea, or a
      corporeal representation, they worshipped their tutelar deity under the
      symbol of an iron cimeter. <a href="#link34note-8" name="link34noteref-8"
      id="link34noteref-8">8</a> One of the shepherds of the Huns perceived,
      that a heifer, who was grazing, had wounded herself in the foot, and
      curiously followed the track of the blood, till he discovered, among the
      long grass, the point of an ancient sword, which he dug out of the ground
      and presented to Attila. That magnanimous, or rather that artful, prince
      accepted, with pious gratitude, this celestial favor; and, as the rightful
      possessor of the sword of Mars, asserted his divine and indefeasible claim
      to the dominion of the earth. <a href="#link34note-9"
      name="link34noteref-9" id="link34noteref-9">9</a> If the rites of Scythia
      were practised on this solemn occasion, a lofty altar, or rather pile of
      fagots, three hundred yards in length and in breadth, was raised in a
      spacious plain; and the sword of Mars was placed erect on the summit of
      this rustic altar, which was annually consecrated by the blood of sheep,
      horses, and of the hundredth captive. <a href="#link34note-10"
      name="link34noteref-10" id="link34noteref-10">10</a> Whether human
      sacrifices formed any part of the worship of Attila, or whether he
      propitiated the god of war with the victims which he continually offered
      in the field of battle, the favorite of Mars soon acquired a sacred
      character, which rended his conquests more easy and more permanent; and
      the Barbarian princes confessed, in the language of devotion or flattery,
      that they could not presume to gaze, with a steady eye, on the divine
      majesty of the king of the Huns. <a href="#link34note-11"
      name="link34noteref-11" id="link34noteref-11">11</a> His brother Bleda,
      who reigned over a considerable part of the nation, was compelled to
      resign his sceptre and his life. Yet even this cruel act was attributed to
      a supernatural impulse; and the vigor with which Attila wielded the sword
      of Mars, convinced the world that it had been reserved alone for his
      invincible arm. <a href="#link34note-12" name="link34noteref-12"
      id="link34noteref-12">12</a> But the extent of his empire affords the only
      remaining evidence of the number and importance of his victories; and the
      Scythian monarch, however ignorant of the value of science and philosophy,
      might perhaps lament that his illiterate subjects were destitute of the
      art which could perpetuate the memory of his exploits.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-5" id="link34note-5">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5 (<a href="#link34noteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ Priscus, p. 39. The
      modern Hungarians have deduced his genealogy, which ascends, in the
      thirty-fifth degree, to Ham, the son of Noah; yet they are ignorant of his
      father's real name. (De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. ii. p. 297.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-6" id="link34note-6">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6 (<a href="#link34noteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare Jornandes (c. 35,
      p. 661) with Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. iii. p. 380. The former had a
      right to observe, originis suae sigua restituens. The character and
      portrait of Attila are probably transcribed from Cassiodorus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-7" id="link34note-7">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7 (<a href="#link34noteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ Abulpharag. Pocock, p.
      281. Genealogical History of the Tartars, by Abulghazi Bahader Khan, part
      iii c. 15, part iv c. 3. Vie de Gengiscan, par Petit de la Croix, l. 1, c.
      1, 6. The relations of the missionaries, who visited Tartary in the
      thirteenth century, (see the seventh volume of the Histoire des Voyages,)
      express the popular language and opinions; Zingis is styled the son of
      God, &amp;c. &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-8" id="link34note-8">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8 (<a href="#link34noteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ Nec templum apud eos
      visitur, aut delubrum, ne tugurium quidem culmo tectum cerni usquam
      potest; sed gladius Barbarico ritu humi figitur nudus, eumque ut Martem
      regionum quas circumcircant praesulem verecundius colunt. Ammian.
      Marcellin. xxxi. 2, and the learned Notes of Lindenbrogius and Valesius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-9" id="link34note-9">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9 (<a href="#link34noteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ Priscus relates this
      remarkable story, both in his own text (p. 65) and in the quotation made
      by Jornandes, (c. 35, p. 662.) He might have explained the tradition, or
      fable, which characterized this famous sword, and the name, as well as
      attributes, of the Scythian deity, whom he has translated into the Mars of
      the Greeks and Romans.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-10" id="link34note-10">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      10 (<a href="#link34noteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Herodot. l. iv. c. 62.
      For the sake of economy, I have calculated by the smallest stadium. In the
      human sacrifices, they cut off the shoulder and arm of the victim, which
      they threw up into the air, and drew omens and presages from the manner of
      their falling on the pile]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-11" id="link34note-11">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      11 (<a href="#link34noteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ Priscus, p. 65. A more
      civilized hero, Augustus himself, was pleased, if the person on whom he
      fixed his eyes seemed unable to support their divine lustre. Sueton. in
      August. c. 79.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-12" id="link34note-12">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      12 (<a href="#link34noteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ The Count de Buat
      (Hist. des Peuples de l'Europe, tom. vii. p. 428, 429) attempts to clear
      Attila from the murder of his brother; and is almost inclined to reject
      the concurrent testimony of Jornandes, and the contemporary Chronicles.]
    </p>
    <p>
      If a line of separation were drawn between the civilized and the savage
      climates of the globe; between the inhabitants of cities, who cultivated
      the earth, and the hunters and shepherds, who dwelt in tents, Attila might
      aspire to the title of supreme and sole monarch of the Barbarians. <a
      href="#link34note-13" name="link34noteref-13" id="link34noteref-13">13</a>
      He alone, among the conquerors of ancient and modern times, united the two
      mighty kingdoms of Germany and Scythia; and those vague appellations, when
      they are applied to his reign, may be understood with an ample latitude.
      Thuringia, which stretched beyond its actual limits as 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 the Franks; and one of his
      lieutenants chastised, and almost exterminated, the Burgundians of the
      Rhine.
    </p>
    <p>
      He subdued the islands of the ocean, the kingdoms of Scandinavia,
      encompassed and divided by the waters of the Baltic; and the Huns might
      derive a tribute of furs from that northern region, which has been
      protected from all other conquerors by the severity of the climate, and
      the courage of the natives. Towards the East, it is difficult to
      circumscribe the dominion of Attila over the Scythian deserts; yet we may
      be assured, that he reigned on the banks of the Volga; that the king of
      the Huns was dreaded, not only as a warrior, but as a magician; <a
      href="#link34note-14" name="link34noteref-14" id="link34noteref-14">14</a>
      that he insulted and vanquished the khan of the formidable Geougen; and
      that he sent ambassadors to negotiate an equal alliance with the empire of
      China. In the proud review of the nations who acknowledged the sovereignty
      of Attila, and who never entertained, during his lifetime, the thought of
      a revolt, the Gepidae and the Ostrogoths were distinguished by their
      numbers, their bravery, and the personal merits of their chiefs. The
      renowned Ardaric, king of the Gepidae, was the faithful and sagacious
      counsellor of the monarch, who esteemed his intrepid genius, whilst he
      loved the mild and discreet virtues of the noble Walamir, king of the
      Ostrogoths. The crowd of vulgar kings, the leaders of so many martial
      tribes, who served under the standard of Attila, were ranged in the
      submissive order of guards and domestics round the person of their master.
      They watched his nod; they trembled at his frown; and at the first signal
      of his will, they executed, without murmur or hesitation, his stern and
      absolute commands. In time of peace, the dependent princes, with their
      national troops, attended the royal camp in regular succession; but when
      Attila collected his military force, he was able to bring into the field
      an army of five, or, according to another account, of seven hundred
      thousand Barbarians. <a href="#link34note-15" name="link34noteref-15"
      id="link34noteref-15">15</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-13" id="link34note-13">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      13 (<a href="#link34noteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ Fortissimarum gentium
      dominus, qui inaudita ante se potentia colus Scythica et Germanica regna
      possedit. Jornandes, c. 49, p. 684. Priscus, p. 64, 65. M. de Guignes, by
      his knowledge of the Chinese, has acquired (tom. ii. p. 295-301) an
      adequate idea of the empire of Attila.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-14" id="link34note-14">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      14 (<a href="#link34noteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ See Hist. des Huns,
      tom. ii. p. 296. The Geougen believed that the Huns could excite, at
      pleasure, storms of wind and rain. This phenomenon was produced by the
      stone Gezi; to whose magic power the loss of a battle was ascribed by the
      Mahometan Tartars of the fourteenth century. See Cherefeddin Ali, Hist. de
      Timur Bec, tom. i. p. 82, 83.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-15" id="link34note-15">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      15 (<a href="#link34noteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ Jornandes, c. 35, p.
      661, c. 37, p. 667. See Tillemont, Hist. dea Empereurs, tom. vi. p. 129,
      138. Corneille has represented the pride of Attila to his subject kings,
      and his tragedy opens with these two ridiculous lines:&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Ils ne sont pas venus, nos deux rois!  qu'on leur die
     Qu'ils se font trop attendre, et qu'Attila s'ennuie.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      The two kings of the Gepidae and the Ostrogoths are profound politicians
      and sentimental lovers, and the whole piece exhibits the defects without
      the genius, of the poet.]
    </p>
    <p>
      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 of adventurous
      Huns had ravaged the provinces of the East; from whence they brought away
      rich spoils and innumerable captives. <a href="#link34note-16"
      name="link34noteref-16" id="link34noteref-16">16</a> They advanced, by a
      secret path, along the shores of the Caspian Sea; traversed the snowy
      mountains of Armenia; passed the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Halys;
      recruited their weary cavalry with the generous breed of Cappadocian
      horses; occupied the hilly country of Cilicia, and disturbed the festal
      songs and dances of the citizens of Antioch. Egypt trembled at their
      approach; and the monks and pilgrims of the Holy Land prepared to escaped
      their fury by a speedy embarkation. The memory of this invasion was still
      recent in the minds of the Orientals. The subjects of Attila might
      execute, with superior forces, the design which these adventurers had so
      boldly attempted; and it soon became the subject of anxious conjecture,
      whether the tempest would fall on the dominions of Rome, 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 to ratify an alliance and
      society of arms with the emperor, or rather with the general of the West.
      They related, during their residence at Rome, the circumstances of an
      expedition, which they had lately made into the East. After passing a
      desert and a morass, supposed by the Romans to be the Lake Maeotis, they
      penetrated through the mountains, and arrived, at the end of fifteen days'
      march, on the confines of Media; where they advanced as far as the unknown
      cities of Basic and Cursic. <a href="#link34note-1611"
      name="link34noteref-1611" id="link34noteref-1611">1611</a> 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 the greatest 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 formidable enemy, the ministers
      of Constantinople expressed their hope, that his strength might be
      diverted and employed in a long and doubtful contest with the princes of
      the house of Sassan. The more sagacious Italians admonished their Eastern
      brethren of the folly and danger of such a hope; and convinced them, that
      the Medes and Persians were incapable of resisting the arms of the Huns;
      and that the easy and important acquisition would exalt the pride, as well
      as power, of the conqueror. Instead of contenting himself with a moderate
      contribution, and a military title, which equalled him only to the
      generals of Theodosius, Attila would proceed to impose a disgraceful and
      intolerable yoke on the necks of the prostrate and captive Romans, who
      would then be encompassed, on all sides, by the empire of the Huns. <a
      href="#link34note-17" name="link34noteref-17" id="link34noteref-17">17</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-16" id="link34note-16">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      16 (<a href="#link34noteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.
    &mdash;-Claudian, in Rufin. l. ii. 28-35.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      See likewise, in Eutrop. l. i. 243-251, and the strong description of
      Jerom, who wrote from his feelings, tom. i. p. 26, ad Heliodor. p. 200 ad
      Ocean. Philostorgius (l. ix. c. 8) mentions this irruption.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-1611" id="link34note-1611">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1611 (<a href="#link34noteref-1611">return</a>)<br /> [ Gibbon has made a
      curious mistake; Basic and Cursic were the names of the commanders of the
      Huns. Priscus, edit. Bonn, p. 200.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-17" id="link34note-17">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      17 (<a href="#link34noteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ See the original
      conversation in Priscus, p. 64, 65.]
    </p>
    <p>
      While the powers of Europe and Asia were solicitous to avert the impending
      danger, the alliance of Attila maintained the Vandals in the possession of
      Africa. An enterprise had been concerted between the courts of Ravenna and
      Constantinople, for the recovery of that valuable province; and the ports
      of Sicily were already filled with the military and naval forces of
      Theodosius. But the subtle Genseric, who spread his negotiations round the
      world, prevented their designs, by exciting the king of the Huns to invade
      the Eastern empire; and a trifling incident soon became the motive, or
      pretence, of a destructive war. <a href="#link34note-18"
      name="link34noteref-18" id="link34noteref-18">18</a> Under the faith of
      the treaty of Margus, a free market was held on the Northern side of the
      Danube, which was protected by a Roman fortress surnamed Constantia. A
      troop of Barbarians violated the commercial security; killed, or
      dispersed, the unsuspecting traders; and levelled the fortress with the
      ground. The Huns justified this outrage as an act of reprisal; alleged,
      that the bishop of Margus had entered their territories, to discover and
      steal a secret treasure of their kings; and sternly demanded the guilty
      prelate, the sacrilegious spoil, and the fugitive subjects, who had
      escaped from the justice of Attila. The refusal of the Byzantine court was
      the signal of war; and the Maesians at first applauded the generous
      firmness of their sovereign. But they were soon intimidated by the
      destruction of Viminiacum and the adjacent towns; and the people was
      persuaded to adopt the convenient maxim, that a private citizen, however
      innocent or respectable, may be justly sacrificed to the safety of his
      country. The bishop of Margus, who did not possess the spirit of a martyr,
      resolved to prevent the designs which he suspected. He boldly treated with
      the princes of the Huns: secured, by solemn oaths, his pardon and reward;
      posted a numerous detachment of Barbarians, in silent ambush, on the banks
      of the Danube; and, at the appointed hour, opened, with his own hand, the
      gates of his episcopal city. This advantage, which had been obtained by
      treachery, served as a prelude to more honorable and decisive victories.
      The Illyrian frontier was covered by a line of castles and fortresses; and
      though the greatest part of them consisted only of a single tower, with a
      small garrison, they were commonly sufficient to repel, or to intercept,
      the inroads of an enemy, who was ignorant of the art, and impatient of the
      delay, of a regular siege. But these slight obstacles were instantly swept
      away by the inundation of the Huns. <a href="#link34note-19"
      name="link34noteref-19" id="link34noteref-19">19</a> They destroyed, with
      fire and sword, the populous cities of Sirmium and Singidunum, of Ratiaria
      and Marcianopolis, of Naissus and Sardica; where every circumstance of the
      discipline of the people, and the construction of the buildings, had been
      gradually adapted to the sole purpose of defence. The whole breadth of
      Europe, as it extends above five hundred miles from the Euxine to the
      Hadriatic, was at once invaded, and occupied, and desolated, by the
      myriads of Barbarians whom Attila led into the field. The public danger
      and distress could not, however, provoke Theodosius to interrupt his
      amusements and devotion, or to appear in person at the head of the Roman
      legions. But the troops, which had been sent against Genseric, were
      hastily recalled from Sicily; the garrisons, on the side of Persia, were
      exhausted; and a military force was collected in Europe, formidable by
      their arms and numbers, if the generals had understood the science of
      command, and the soldiers the duty of obedience. The armies of the Eastern
      empire were vanquished in three successive engagements; and the progress
      of Attila may be traced by the fields of battle.
    </p>
    <p>
      The two former, on the banks of the Utus, and under the walls of
      Marcianopolis, were fought in the extensive plains between the Danube and
      Mount Haemus. As the Romans were pressed by a victorious enemy, they
      gradually, and unskilfully, retired towards the Chersonesus of Thrace; and
      that narrow peninsula, the last extremity of the land, was marked by their
      third, and irreparable, defeat. By the destruction of this army, Attila
      acquired the indisputable possession of the field. From the Hellespont to
      Thermopylae, and the suburbs of Constantinople, he ravaged, without
      resistance, and without mercy, the provinces of Thrace and Macedonia.
      Heraclea and Hadrianople might, perhaps, escape this dreadful irruption of
      the Huns; but the words, the most expressive of total extirpation and
      erasure, are applied to the calamities which they inflicted on seventy
      cities of the Eastern empire. <a href="#link34note-20"
      name="link34noteref-20" id="link34noteref-20">20</a> Theodosius, his
      court, and the unwarlike people, were protected by the walls of
      Constantinople; but those walls had been shaken by a recent earthquake,
      and the fall of fifty-eight towers had opened a large and tremendous
      breach. The damage indeed was speedily repaired; but this accident was
      aggravated by a superstitious fear, that Heaven itself had delivered the
      Imperial city to the shepherds of Scythia, who were strangers to the laws,
      the language, and the religion, of the Romans. <a href="#link34note-21"
      name="link34noteref-21" id="link34noteref-21">21</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-18" id="link34note-18">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      18 (<a href="#link34noteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ Priscus, p. 331. His
      history contained a copious and elegant account of the war, (Evagrius, l.
      i. c. 17;) but the extracts which relate to the embassies are the only
      parts that have reached our times. The original work was accessible,
      however, to the writers from whom we borrow our imperfect knowledge,
      Jornandes, Theophanes, Count Marcellinus, Prosper-Tyro, and the author of
      the Alexandrian, or Paschal, Chronicle. M. de Buat (Hist. des Peuples de
      l'Europe, tom. vii. c. xv.) has examined the cause, the circumstances, and
      the duration of this war; and will not allow it to extend beyond the year
      44.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-19" id="link34note-19">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      19 (<a href="#link34noteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ Procopius, de
      Edificiis, l. 4, c. 5. These fortresses were afterwards restored,
      strengthened, and enlarged by the emperor Justinian, but they were soon
      destroyed by the Abares, who succeeded to the power and possessions of the
      Huns.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-20" id="link34note-20">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      20 (<a href="#link34noteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Septuaginta civitates
      (says Prosper-Tyro) depredatione vastatoe. The language of Count
      Marcellinus is still more forcible. Pene totam Europam, invasis excisisque
      civitatibus atque castellis, conrasit.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-21" id="link34note-21">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      21 (<a href="#link34noteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ Tillemont (Hist des
      Empereurs, tom. vi. p. 106, 107) has paid great attention to this
      memorable earthquake; which was felt as far from Constantinople as Antioch
      and Alexandria, and is celebrated by all the ecclesiastical writers. In
      the hands of a popular preacher, an earthquake is an engine of admirable
      effect.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In all their invasions of the civilized empires of the South, the Scythian
      shepherds have been uniformly actuated by a savage and destructive spirit.
      The laws of war, that restrain the exercise of national rapine and murder,
      are founded on two principles of substantial interest: the knowledge of
      the permanent benefits which may be obtained by a moderate use of
      conquest; and a just apprehension, lest the desolation which we inflict on
      the enemy's country may be retaliated on our own. But these considerations
      of hope and fear are almost unknown in the pastoral state of nations. The
      Huns of Attila may, without injustice, be compared to the Moguls and
      Tartars, before their primitive manners were changed by religion and
      luxury; and the evidence of Oriental history may reflect some light on the
      short and imperfect annals of Rome. After the Moguls had subdued the
      northern provinces of China, it was seriously proposed, not in the hour of
      victory and passion, but in calm deliberate council, to exterminate all
      the inhabitants of that populous country, that the vacant land might be
      converted to the pasture of cattle. The firmness of a Chinese mandarin, <a
      href="#link34note-22" name="link34noteref-22" id="link34noteref-22">22</a>
      who insinuated some principles of rational policy into the mind of Zingis,
      diverted him from the execution of this horrid design. But in the cities
      of Asia, which yielded to the Moguls, the inhuman abuse of the rights of
      war was exercised with a regular form of discipline, which may, with equal
      reason, though not with equal authority, be imputed to the victorious
      Huns. The inhabitants, who had submitted to their discretion, were ordered
      to evacuate their houses, and to assemble in some plain adjacent to the
      city; where a division was made of the vanquished into three parts. The
      first class consisted of the soldiers of the garrison, and of the young
      men capable of bearing arms; and their fate was instantly decided they
      were either enlisted among the Moguls, or they were massacred on the spot
      by the troops, who, with pointed spears and bended bows, had formed a
      circle round the captive multitude. The second class, composed of the
      young and beautiful women, of the artificers of every rank and profession,
      and of the more wealthy or honorable citizens, from whom a private ransom
      might be expected, was distributed in equal or proportionable lots. The
      remainder, whose life or death was alike useless to the conquerors, were
      permitted to return to the city; which, in the mean while, had been
      stripped of its valuable furniture; and a tax was imposed on those
      wretched inhabitants for the indulgence of breathing their native air.
      Such was the behavior of the Moguls, when they were not conscious of any
      extraordinary rigor. <a href="#link34note-23" name="link34noteref-23"
      id="link34noteref-23">23</a> But the most casual provocation, the
      slightest motive of caprice or convenience, often provoked them to involve
      a whole people in an indiscriminate massacre; and the ruin of some
      flourishing cities was executed with such unrelenting perseverance, that,
      according to their own expression, horses might run, without stumbling,
      over the ground where they had once stood. The three great capitals of
      Khorasan, Maru, Neisabour, and Herat, were destroyed by the armies of
      Zingis; and the exact account which was taken of the slain amounted to
      four millions three hundred and forty-seven thousand persons. <a
      href="#link34note-24" name="link34noteref-24" id="link34noteref-24">24</a>
      Timur, or Tamerlane, was educated in a less barbarous age, and in the
      profession of the Mahometan religion; yet, if Attila equalled the hostile
      ravages of Tamerlane, <a href="#link34note-25" name="link34noteref-25"
      id="link34noteref-25">25</a> either the Tartar or the Hun might deserve
      the epithet of the Scourge of God. <a href="#link34note-26"
      name="link34noteref-26" id="link34noteref-26">26</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-22" id="link34note-22">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      22 (<a href="#link34noteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ He represented to the
      emperor of the Moguls that the four provinces, (Petcheli, Chantong,
      Chansi, and Leaotong,)which he already possessed, might annually produce,
      under a mild administration, 500,000 ounces 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 (such was the name of the mandarin) was
      a wise and virtuous minister, who saved his country, and civilized the
      conquerors. * Note: Compare the life of this remarkable man, translated
      from the Chinese by M. Abel Remusat. Nouveaux Melanges Asiatiques, t. ii.
      p. 64.&mdash;M]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-23" id="link34note-23">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      23 (<a href="#link34noteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ Particular instances
      would be endless; but the curious reader may consult the life of
      Gengiscan, by Petit de la Croix, the Histoire des Mongous, and the
      fifteenth book of the History of the Huns.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-24" id="link34note-24">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      24 (<a href="#link34noteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ At Maru, 1,300,000; at
      Herat, 1,600,000; at Neisabour, 1,747,000. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque
      Orientale, p. 380, 381. I use the orthography of D'Anville's maps. It
      must, however, be allowed, that the Persians were disposed to exaggerate
      their losses and the Moguls to magnify their exploits.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-25" id="link34note-25">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      25 (<a href="#link34noteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ Cherefeddin Ali, his
      servile panegyrist, would afford us many horrid examples. In his camp
      before Delhi, Timour massacred 100,000 Indian prisoners, who had smiled
      when the army of their countrymen appeared in sight, (Hist. de Timur Bec,
      tom. iii. p. 90.) The people of Ispahan supplied 70,000 human skulls for
      the structure of several lofty towers, (id. tom. i. p. 434.) A similar tax
      was levied on the revolt of Bagdad, (tom. iii. p. 370;) and the exact
      account, which Cherefeddin was not able to procure from the proper
      officers, is stated by another historian (Ahmed Arabsiada, tom. ii. p.
      175, vera Manger) at 90,000 heads.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-26" id="link34note-26">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      26 (<a href="#link34noteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ The ancients,
      Jornandes, Priscus, &amp;c., are ignorant of this epithet. The modern
      Hungarians have imagined, that it was applied, by a hermit of Gaul, to
      Attila, who was pleased to insert it among the titles of his royal
      dignity. Mascou, ix. 23, and Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. vi. p.
      143.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link342HCH0002" id="link342HCH0002">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXIV: Attila.&mdash;Part II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      It may be affirmed, with bolder assurance, that the Huns depopulated the
      provinces of the empire, by the number of Roman subjects whom they led
      away into captivity. In the hands of a wise legislator, such an
      industrious colony might have contributed to diffuse through the deserts
      of Scythia the rudiments of the useful and ornamental arts; but these
      captives, who had been taken in war, were accidentally dispersed among the
      hordes that obeyed the empire of Attila. The estimate of their respective
      value was formed by the simple judgment of unenlightened and unprejudiced
      Barbarians. Perhaps they might not understand the merit of a theologian,
      profoundly skilled in the controversies of the Trinity and the
      Incarnation; yet they respected the ministers of every religion and the
      active zeal of the Christian missionaries, without approaching the person
      or the palace of the monarch, successfully labored in the propagation of
      the gospel. <a href="#link34note-27" name="link34noteref-27"
      id="link34noteref-27">27</a> The pastoral tribes, who were ignorant of the
      distinction of landed property, must have disregarded the use, as well as
      the abuse, of civil jurisprudence; and the skill of an eloquent lawyer
      could excite only their contempt or their abhorrence. <a
      href="#link34note-28" name="link34noteref-28" id="link34noteref-28">28</a>
      The perpetual intercourse of the Huns and the Goths had communicated the
      familiar knowledge of the two national dialects; and the Barbarians were
      ambitious of conversing in Latin, the military idiom even of the Eastern
      empire. <a href="#link34note-29" name="link34noteref-29"
      id="link34noteref-29">29</a> But they disdained the language and the
      sciences of the Greeks; and the vain sophist, or grave philosopher, who
      had enjoyed the flattering applause of the schools, was mortified to find
      that his robust servant was a captive of more value and importance than
      himself. The mechanic arts were encouraged and esteemed, as they tended to
      satisfy the wants of the Huns. An architect in the service of Onegesius,
      one of the favorites of Attila, was employed to construct a bath; but this
      work was a rare example of private luxury; and the trades of the smith,
      the carpenter, the armorer, were much more adapted to supply a wandering
      people with the useful instruments of peace and war. But the merit 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 whom he ascribed,
      perhaps, an imaginary power of prolonging or preserving his life. <a
      href="#link34note-30" name="link34noteref-30" id="link34noteref-30">30</a>
      The Huns might be provoked to insult the misery of their slaves, over whom
      they exercised a despotic command; <a href="#link34note-31"
      name="link34noteref-31" id="link34noteref-31">31</a> but their manners
      were not susceptible of a refined system of oppression; and the efforts of
      courage and diligence were often recompensed by the gift of freedom. The
      historian Priscus, whose embassy is a source of curious instruction, was
      accosted in the camp of Attila by a stranger, who saluted him in the Greek
      language, but whose dress and figure displayed the appearance of a wealthy
      Scythian. In the siege of Viminiacum, he had lost, according to his own
      account, his fortune and liberty; he became the slave of Onegesius; but
      his faithful services, against the Romans and the Acatzires, had gradually
      raised him to the rank of the native Huns; to whom he was attached by the
      domestic pledges of a new wife and several children. The spoils of war had
      restored and improved his private property; he was admitted to the table
      of his former lord; and the apostate Greek blessed the hour of his
      captivity, since it had been the introduction to a happy and independent
      state; which he held by the honorable tenure of military service. This
      reflection naturally produced a dispute on the advantages and defects of
      the Roman government, which was severely arraigned by the apostate, and
      defended by Priscus in a prolix and feeble declamation. The freedman of
      Onegesius exposed, in true and lively colors, the vices of a declining
      empire, of which he had so long been the victim; the cruel absurdity of
      the Roman princes, unable to protect their subjects against the public
      enemy, unwilling to trust them with arms for their own defence; the
      intolerable weight of taxes, rendered still more oppressive by the
      intricate or arbitrary modes of collection; the obscurity of numerous and
      contradictory laws; the tedious and expensive forms of judicial
      proceedings; the partial administration of justice; and the universal
      corruption, which increased the influence of the rich, and aggravated the
      misfortunes of the poor. A sentiment of patriotic sympathy was at length
      revived in the breast of the fortunate exile; and he lamented, with a
      flood of tears, the guilt or weakness of those magistrates who had
      perverted the wisest and most salutary institutions. <a
      href="#link34note-32" name="link34noteref-32" id="link34noteref-32">32</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-27" id="link34note-27">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      27 (<a href="#link34noteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ The missionaries of St.
      Chrysostom had converted great numbers of the Scythians, who dwelt beyond
      the Danube in tents and wagons. Theodoret, l. v. c. 31. Photius, p. 1517.
      The Mahometans, the Nestorians, and the Latin Christians, thought
      themselves secure of gaining the sons and grandsons of Zingis, who treated
      the rival missionaries with impartial favor.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-28" id="link34note-28">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      28 (<a href="#link34noteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ The Germans, who
      exterminated Varus and his legions, had been particularly offended with
      the Roman laws and lawyers. One of the Barbarians, after the effectual
      precautions of cutting out the tongue of an advocate, and sewing up his
      mouth, observed, with much satisfaction, that the viper could no longer
      hiss. Florus, iv. 12.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-29" id="link34note-29">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      29 (<a href="#link34noteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ Priscus, p. 59. It
      should seem that the Huns preferred the Gothic and Latin languages to
      their own; which was probably a harsh and barren idiom.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-30" id="link34note-30">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      30 (<a href="#link34noteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ Philip de Comines, in
      his admirable picture of the last moments of Lewis XI., (Memoires, l. vi.
      c. 12,) represents the insolence of his physician, who, in five months,
      extorted 54,000 crowns, and a rich bishopric, from the stern, avaricious
      tyrant.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-31" id="link34note-31">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      31 (<a href="#link34noteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ Priscus (p. 61) extols
      the equity of the Roman laws, which protected the life of a slave.
      Occidere solent (says Tacitus of the Germans) non disciplina et
      severitate, sed impetu et ira, ut inimicum, nisi quod impune. De Moribus
      Germ. c. 25. The Heruli, who were the subjects of Attila, claimed, and
      exercised, the power of life and death over their slaves. See a remarkable
      instance in the second book of Agathias]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-32" id="link34note-32">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      32 (<a href="#link34noteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ See the whole
      conversation in Priscus, p. 59-62.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The timid or selfish policy of the Western Romans had abandoned the
      Eastern empire to the Huns. <a href="#link34note-33"
      name="link34noteref-33" id="link34noteref-33">33</a> The loss of armies,
      and the want of discipline or virtue, were not supplied by the personal
      character of the monarch. Theodosius might still affect the style, as well
      as the title, of Invincible Augustus; but he was reduced to solicit the
      clemency of Attila, who imperiously dictated these harsh and humiliating
      conditions of peace. I. The emperor of the East resigned, by an express or
      tacit convention, an extensive and important territory, which stretched
      along the southern banks of the Danube, from Singidunum, or Belgrade, as
      far as Novae, in the diocese of Thrace. The breadth was defined by the
      vague computation of fifteen <a href="#link34note-3311"
      name="link34noteref-3311" id="link34noteref-3311">3311</a> days' journey;
      but, from the proposal of Attila to remove the situation of the national
      market, it soon appeared, that he comprehended the ruined city of Naissus
      within the limits of his dominions. II. The king of the Huns required and
      obtained, that his tribute or subsidy should be augmented from seven
      hundred pounds of gold to the annual sum of two thousand one hundred; and
      he stipulated the immediate payment of six thousand pounds of gold, to
      defray the expenses, or to expiate the guilt, of the war. One might
      imagine, that such 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 proportion of the taxes extorted from the people was detained and
      intercepted in their passage, though the foulest channels, to the treasury
      of Constantinople. The revenue was dissipated by Theodosius and his
      favorites in wasteful and profuse luxury; which was disguised by the names
      of Imperial magnificence, or Christian charity. The immediate supplies had
      been exhausted by the unforeseen necessity of military preparations. A
      personal contribution, rigorously, but capriciously, imposed on the
      members of the senatorian order, was the only expedient that could disarm,
      without loss of time, the impatient avarice of Attila; and the poverty of
      the nobles compelled them to adopt the scandalous resource of exposing to
      public auction the jewels of their wives, and the hereditary ornaments of
      their palaces. <a href="#link34note-34" name="link34noteref-34"
      id="link34noteref-34">34</a> III. The king of the Huns appears to have
      established, as a principle of national jurisprudence, that he could never
      lose the property, which he had once acquired, in the persons who had
      yielded either a voluntary, or reluctant, submission to his authority.
      From this principle he concluded, and the conclusions of Attila were
      irrevocable laws, that the Huns, who had been taken prisoner in war,
      should be released without delay, and without ransom; that every Roman
      captive, who had presumed to escape, should purchase his right to freedom
      at the price of twelve pieces of gold; and that all the Barbarians, who
      had deserted the standard of Attila, should be restored, without any
      promise or stipulation of pardon.
    </p>
    <p>
      In the execution of this cruel and ignominious treaty, the Imperial
      officers were forced to massacre several loyal and noble deserters, who
      refused to devote themselves to certain death; and the Romans forfeited
      all reasonable claims to the friendship of any Scythian people, by this
      public confession, that they were destitute either of faith, or power, to
      protect the suppliant, who had embraced the throne of Theodosius. <a
      href="#link34note-35" name="link34noteref-35" id="link34noteref-35">35</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-33" id="link34note-33">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      33 (<a href="#link34noteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ Nova iterum Orienti
      assurgit ruina... quum nulla ab Cocidentalibus ferrentur auxilia. Prosper
      Tyro composed his Chronicle in the West; and his observation implies a
      censure.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-3311" id="link34note-3311">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3311 (<a href="#link34noteref-3311">return</a>)<br /> [ Five in the last
      edition of Priscus. Niebuhr, Byz. Hist. p 147&mdash;M]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-34" id="link34note-34">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      34 (<a href="#link34noteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ According to the
      description, or rather invective, of Chrysostom, an auction of Byzantine
      luxury must have been very productive. Every wealthy house possessed a
      semicircular table of massy silver such as two men could scarcely lift, a
      vase of solid gold of the weight of forty pounds, cups, dishes, of the
      same metal, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-35" id="link34note-35">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      35 (<a href="#link34noteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ The articles of the
      treaty, expressed without much order or precision, may be found in
      Priscus, (p. 34, 35, 36, 37, 53, &amp;c.) Count Marcellinus dispenses some
      comfort, by observing, 1. That Attila himself solicited the peace and
      presents, which he had formerly refused; and, 2dly, That, about the same
      time, the ambassadors of India presented a fine large tame tiger to the
      emperor Theodosius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The firmness of a single town, so obscure, that, except on this occasion,
      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, <a href="#link34note-36"
      name="link34noteref-36" id="link34noteref-36">36</a> had been
      distinguished by the martial spirit of its youth, the skill and reputation
      of the leaders whom they had chosen, and their daring exploits against the
      innumerable host of the Barbarians. Instead of tamely expecting their
      approach, the Azimuntines attacked, in frequent and successful sallies,
      the troops of the Huns, who gradually declined the dangerous neighborhood,
      rescued from their hands the spoil and the captives, and recruited their
      domestic force by the voluntary association of fugitives and deserters.
      After the conclusion of the treaty, Attila still menaced the empire with
      implacable war, unless the Azimuntines were persuaded, or compelled, to
      comply with the conditions which their sovereign had accepted. The
      ministers of Theodosius confessed with shame, and with truth, that they no
      longer possessed any authority over a society of men, who so bravely
      asserted their natural independence; and the king of the Huns condescended
      to negotiate an equal exchange with the citizens of Azimus. They demanded
      the restitution of some shepherds, who, with their cattle, had been
      accidentally surprised. A strict, though fruitless, inquiry was allowed:
      but the Huns were obliged to swear, that they did not detain any prisoners
      belonging to the city, before they could recover two surviving countrymen,
      whom the Azimuntines had reserved as pledges for the safety of their lost
      companions. Attila, on his side, was satisfied, and deceived, by their
      solemn asseveration, that the rest of the captives had been put to the
      sword; and that it was their constant practice, immediately to dismiss the
      Romans and the deserters, who had obtained the security of the public
      faith. This prudent and officious dissimulation may be condemned, or
      excused, by the casuists, as they incline to the rigid decree of St.
      Augustin, or to the milder sentiment of St. Jerom and St. Chrysostom: but
      every soldier, every statesman, must acknowledge, that, if the race of the
      Azimuntines had been encouraged and multiplied, the Barbarians would have
      ceased to trample on the majesty of the empire. <a href="#link34note-37"
      name="link34noteref-37" id="link34noteref-37">37</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-36" id="link34note-36">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      36 (<a href="#link34noteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ Priscus, p. 35, 36.
      Among the hundred and eighty-two forts, 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 of Esimontou, whose position is doubtfully
      marked, in the neighborhood of Anchialus and the Euxine Sea. The name and
      walls of Azimuntium might subsist till the reign of Justinian; but the
      race of its brave defenders had been carefully extirpated by the jealousy
      of the Roman princes]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-37" id="link34note-37">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      37 (<a href="#link34noteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ The peevish dispute of
      St. Jerom and St. Augustin, who labored, by different expedients, to
      reconcile the seeming quarrel of the two apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul,
      depends on the solution of an important question, (Middleton's Works, vol.
      ii. p. 5-20,) which has been frequently agitated by Catholic and
      Protestant divines, and even by lawyers and philosophers of every age.]
    </p>
    <p>
      It would have been strange, indeed, if Theodosius had purchased, by the
      loss of honor, a secure and solid tranquillity, or if his tameness had not
      invited the repetition of injuries. The Byzantine court was insulted by
      five or six successive embassies; <a href="#link34note-38"
      name="link34noteref-38" id="link34noteref-38">38</a> and the ministers of
      Attila were uniformly instructed to press the tardy or imperfect execution
      of the last treaty; to produce the names of fugitives and deserters, who
      were still protected by the empire; and to declare, with seeming
      moderation, that, unless their sovereign obtained complete and immediate
      satisfaction, it would be impossible for him, were it even his wish, to
      check the resentment of his warlike tribes. Besides the motives of pride
      and interest, which might prompt the king of the Huns to continue this
      train of negotiation, he was influenced by the less honorable view of
      enriching his favorites at the expense of his enemies. The Imperial
      treasury was exhausted, to procure the friendly offices of the ambassadors
      and their principal attendants, whose favorable report might conduce to
      the maintenance of peace. The Barbarian monarch was flattered by the
      liberal reception of his ministers; he computed, with pleasure, the value
      and splendor of their gifts, rigorously exacted the performance of every
      promise which would contribute to their private emolument, and treated as
      an important business of state the marriage of his secretary Constantius.
      <a href="#link34note-39" name="link34noteref-39" id="link34noteref-39">39</a>
      That Gallic adventurer, who was recommended by Aetius to the king of the
      Huns, had engaged his service to the ministers of Constantinople, for the
      stipulated reward of a wealthy and noble wife; and the daughter of Count
      Saturninus was chosen to discharge the obligations of her country. The
      reluctance of the victim, some domestic troubles, and the unjust
      confiscation of her fortune, cooled the ardor of her interested lover; but
      he still demanded, in the name of Attila, an equivalent alliance; and,
      after many ambiguous delays and excuses, the Byzantine court was compelled
      to sacrifice to this insolent stranger the widow of Armatius, whose birth,
      opulence, and beauty, placed her in the most illustrious rank of the Roman
      matrons. For these importunate and oppressive embassies, Attila claimed a
      suitable return: he weighed, with suspicious pride, the character and
      station of the Imperial envoys; but he condescended to promise that he
      would advance as far as Sardica to receive any ministers who had been
      invested with the consular dignity. The council of Theodosius eluded this
      proposal, by representing the desolate and ruined condition of Sardica,
      and even ventured to insinuate that every officer of the army or household
      was qualified to treat with the most powerful princes of Scythia. Maximin,
      <a href="#link34note-40" name="link34noteref-40" id="link34noteref-40">40</a>
      a respectable courtier, whose abilities 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, <a href="#link34note-41"
      name="link34noteref-41" id="link34noteref-41">41</a> embraced the
      opportunity of observing the Barbarian hero in the peaceful and domestic
      scenes of life: but the secret of the embassy, a fatal and guilty secret,
      was intrusted only to the interpreter Vigilius. The two last ambassadors
      of the Huns, Orestes, a noble subject of the Pannonian province, and
      Edecon, a valiant chieftain of the tribe of the Scyrri, returned at the
      same time from Constantinople to the royal camp. Their obscure names were
      afterwards illustrated by the extraordinary fortune and the contrast of
      their sons: the two servants of Attila became the fathers of the last
      Roman emperor of the West, and of the first Barbarian king of Italy.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-38" id="link34note-38">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      38 (<a href="#link34noteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ Montesquieu
      (Considerations sur la Grandeur, &amp;c. c. xix.) has delineated, with a
      bold and easy pencil, some of the most striking circumstances of the pride
      of Attila, and the disgrace of the Romans. He deserves the praise of
      having read the Fragments of Priscus, which have been too much
      disregarded.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-39" id="link34note-39">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      39 (<a href="#link34noteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ See Priscus, p. 69, 71,
      72, &amp;c. I would fain believe, that this adventurer was afterwards
      crucified by the order of Attila, on a suspicion of treasonable practices;
      but Priscus (p. 57) has too plainly distinguished two persons of the name
      of Constantius, who, from the similar events of their lives, might have
      been easily confounded.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-40" id="link34note-40">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      40 (<a href="#link34noteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ In the Persian treaty,
      concluded in the year 422, the wise and eloquent Maximin had been the
      assessor of Ardaburius, (Socrates, l. vii. c. 20.) When Marcian ascended
      the throne, the office of Great Chamberlain 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 the Eastern provinces; and his death was lamented
      by the savages of Aethiopia, whose incursions he had repressed. See
      Priscus, p. 40, 41.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-41" id="link34note-41">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      41 (<a href="#link34noteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 comprised in seven books. See Fabricius, Bibliot. Graec. tom.
      vi. p. 235, 236. Notwithstanding the charitable judgment of the critics, I
      suspect that Priscus was a Pagan. * Note: Niebuhr concurs in this opinion.
      Life of Priscus in the new edition of the Byzantine historians.&mdash;M]
    </p>
    <p>
      The ambassadors, who were followed by a numerous train of men and horses,
      made their first halt at Sardica, at the distance of three hundred and
      fifty miles, or thirteen days' journey, from Constantinople. As the
      remains of Sardica were still included within the limits of the empire, it
      was incumbent on the Romans to exercise the duties of hospitality. They
      provided, with the assistance of the provincials, a sufficient number of
      sheep and oxen, and invited the Huns to a splendid, or at least, a
      plentiful supper. But the harmony of the entertainment was soon disturbed
      by mutual prejudice and indiscretion. The greatness of the emperor and the
      empire was warmly maintained by their ministers; the Huns, with equal
      ardor, asserted the superiority of their victorious monarch: the dispute
      was inflamed by the rash and unseasonable flattery of Vigilius, who
      passionately rejected the comparison of a mere mortal with the divine
      Theodosius; and it was with extreme difficulty that Maximin and Priscus
      were able to divert the conversation, or to soothe the angry minds, of the
      Barbarians. When they rose from table, the Imperial ambassador presented
      Edecon and Orestes with rich gifts of silk robes and Indian pearls, which
      they thankfully accepted. Yet Orestes could not forbear insinuating that
      he had not always been treated with such respect and liberality: and the
      offensive distinction which was implied, between his civil office and the
      hereditary rank of his colleague seems to have made Edecon a doubtful
      friend, and Orestes an irreconcilable enemy. After this entertainment,
      they travelled about one hundred miles from Sardica to Naissus. That
      flourishing city, which has given birth to the great Constantine, was
      levelled with the ground: the inhabitants were destroyed or dispersed; and
      the appearance of some sick persons, who were still permitted to exist
      among the ruins of the churches, served only to increase the horror of the
      prospect. The surface of the country was covered with the bones of the
      slain; and the ambassadors, who directed their course to the north-west,
      were obliged to pass the hills of modern Servia, before they descended
      into the flat and marshy grounds which are terminated by the Danube. The
      Huns were masters of the great river: their navigation was performed in
      large canoes, hollowed out of the trunk of a single tree; the ministers of
      Theodosius were safely landed on the opposite bank; and their Barbarian
      associates immediately hastened to the camp of Attila, which was equally
      prepared for the amusements of hunting or of war. No sooner had Maximin
      advanced about two miles <a href="#link34note-4111"
      name="link34noteref-4111" id="link34noteref-4111">4111</a> from the
      Danube, than he began to experience the fastidious insolence of the
      conqueror. He was sternly forbid to pitch his tents in a pleasant valley,
      lest he should infringe the distant awe that was due to the royal mansion.
      <a href="#link34note-4112" name="link34noteref-4112"
      id="link34noteref-4112">4112</a> The ministers of Attila pressed them to
      communicate the business, and the instructions, which he reserved for the
      ear of their sovereign When Maximin temperately urged the contrary
      practice of nations, he was still more confounded to find that the
      resolutions of the Sacred Consistory, those secrets (says Priscus) which
      should not be revealed to the gods themselves, had been treacherously
      disclosed to the public enemy. On his refusal to comply with such
      ignominious terms, the Imperial envoy was commanded instantly to depart;
      the order was recalled; it was again repeated; and the Huns renewed their
      ineffectual attempts to subdue the patient firmness of Maximin. At length,
      by the intercession of Scotta, the brother of Onegesius, whose friendship
      had been purchased by a liberal gift, he was admitted to the royal
      presence; but, in stead of obtaining a decisive answer, he was compelled
      to undertake a remote journey towards the north, that Attila might enjoy
      the proud satisfaction of receiving, in the same camp, the ambassadors of
      the Eastern and Western empires. His journey was regulated by the guides,
      who obliged him to halt, to hasten his march, or to deviate from the
      common road, as it best suited the convenience of the king. The Romans,
      who traversed the plains of Hungary, suppose that they passed several
      navigable rivers, either in canoes or portable boats; but there is reason
      to suspect that the winding stream of the Teyss, or Tibiscus, might
      present itself in different places under different names. From the
      contiguous villages they received a plentiful and regular supply of
      provisions; mead instead of wine, millet in the place of bread, and a
      certain liquor named camus, which according to the report of Priscus, was
      distilled from barley. <a href="#link34note-42" name="link34noteref-42"
      id="link34noteref-42">42</a> Such fare might appear coarse and indelicate
      to men who had tasted the luxury of Constantinople; but, in their
      accidental distress, they were relieved by the gentleness and hospitality
      of the same Barbarians, so terrible and so merciless in war. The
      ambassadors had encamped on the edge of a large morass. A violent tempest
      of wind and rain, of thunder and lightning, overturned their tents,
      immersed their baggage and furniture in the water, and scattered their
      retinue, who wandered in the darkness of the night, uncertain of their
      road, and apprehensive of some unknown danger, till they awakened by their
      cries the inhabitants of a neighboring village, the property of the widow
      of Bleda. A bright illumination, and, in a few moments, a comfortable 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 of Bleda's widow, who added to
      her other favors the gift, or at least the loan, of a sufficient number of
      beautiful and obsequious damsels. The sunshine of the succeeding day was
      dedicated to repose, to collect and dry the baggage, and to the
      refreshment of the men and horses: but, in the evening, before they
      pursued their journey, the ambassadors expressed their gratitude to the
      bounteous lady of the village, by a very acceptable present of silver
      cups, red fleeces, dried fruits, and Indian pepper. Soon after this
      adventure, they rejoined the march of Attila, from whom they had been
      separated about six days, and slowly proceeded to the capital of an
      empire, which did not contain, in the space of several thousand miles, a
      single city.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-4111" id="link34note-4111">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4111 (<a href="#link34noteref-4111">return</a>)<br /> [ 70 stadia. Priscus,
      173.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-4112" id="link34note-4112">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4112 (<a href="#link34noteref-4112">return</a>)<br /> [ He was forbidden to
      pitch his tents on an eminence because Attila's were below on the plain.
      Ibid.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-42" id="link34note-42">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      42 (<a href="#link34noteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ The Huns themselves
      still continued to despise the labors of agriculture: they abused the
      privilege of a victorious nation; and the Goths, their industrious
      subjects, who cultivated the earth, dreaded their neighborhood, like that
      of so many ravenous wolves, (Priscus, p. 45.) In the same manner the Sarts
      and Tadgics provide for their own subsistence, and for that of the Usbec
      Tartars, their lazy and rapacious sovereigns. See Genealogical History of
      the Tartars, p. 423 455, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      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 most
      probably in the neighborhood of Jezberin, Agria, or Tokay. <a
      href="#link34note-43" name="link34noteref-43" id="link34noteref-43">43</a>
      In its origin it could be no more than an accidental camp, which, by the
      long and frequent residence of Attila, had insensibly swelled into a huge
      village, for the reception of his court, of the troops who followed his
      person, and of the various multitude of idle or industrious slaves and
      retainers. <a href="#link34note-44" name="link34noteref-44"
      id="link34noteref-44">44</a> The baths, constructed by Onegesius, were the
      only edifice of stone; the materials had been transported from Pannonia;
      and since the adjacent country was destitute even of large timber, it may
      be presumed, that the meaner habitations of the royal village consisted of
      straw, or mud, or of canvass. The wooden houses of the more illustrious
      Huns were built and adorned with rude magnificence, according to the rank,
      the fortune, or the taste of the proprietors. They seem to have been
      distributed with some degree of order and symmetry; and each spot became
      more honorable as it approached the person of the sovereign. The palace 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 square timber,
      intersected with high towers, but intended rather for ornament than
      defence. This wall, which seems to have encircled the declivity of a hill,
      comprehended a great variety of wooden edifices, adapted to the uses of
      royalty.
    </p>
    <p>
      A separate house was assigned to each of the numerous wives of Attila;
      and, instead of the rigid and illiberal confinement imposed by Asiatic
      jealousy they politely admitted the Roman ambassadors to their presence,
      their table, and even to the freedom of an innocent embrace. When Maximin
      offered his presents to Cerca, <a href="#link34note-4411"
      name="link34noteref-4411" id="link34noteref-4411">4411</a> the principal
      queen, he admired the singular architecture on her mansion, the height of
      the round columns, the size and beauty of the wood, which was curiously
      shaped or turned or polished or carved; and his attentive eye was able to
      discover some taste in the ornaments and some regularity in the
      proportions. After passing through the guards, who watched before the
      gate, the ambassadors were introduced into the private apartment of Cerca.
      The wife of Attila received their visit sitting, or rather lying, on a
      soft couch; the floor was covered with a carpet; the domestics formed a
      circle round the queen; and her damsels, seated on the ground, were
      employed in working the variegated embroidery which adorned the dress of
      the Barbaric warriors. The Huns were ambitious of displaying those riches
      which were the fruit and evidence of their victories: the trappings of
      their horses, their swords, and even their shoes, were studded with gold
      and precious stones; and their tables were profusely spread with plates,
      and goblets, and vases of gold and silver, which had been fashioned by the
      labor of Grecian artists.
    </p>
    <p>
      The monarch alone assumed the superior pride of still adhering to the
      simplicity of his Scythian ancestors. <a href="#link34note-45"
      name="link34noteref-45" id="link34noteref-45">45</a> The dress of Attila,
      his arms, and the furniture of his horse, were plain, without ornament,
      and of a single color. The royal table was served in wooden cups and
      platters; flesh was his only food; and the conqueror of the North never
      tasted the luxury of bread.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-43" id="link34note-43">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      43 (<a href="#link34noteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ It is evident that
      Priscus passed the Danube and the Teyss, and that he did not reach the
      foot of the Carpathian hills. Agria, Tokay, and Jazberin, are situated in
      the plains circumscribed by this definition. M. de Buat (Histoire des
      Peuples, &amp;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-six miles westward of Buda and the Danube. * Note: M. St.
      Martin considers the narrative of Priscus, the only authority of M. de
      Buat and of Gibbon, too vague to fix the position of Attila's camp. "It is
      worthy of remark, that in the Hungarian traditions collected by Thwrocz,
      l. 2, c. 17, precisely on the left branch of the Danube, where Attila's
      residence was situated, in the same parallel stands the present city of
      Buda, in Hungarian Buduvur. It is for this reason that this city has
      retained for a long time among the Germans of Hungary the name of
      Etzelnburgh or Etzela-burgh, i. e., the city of Attila. The distance of
      Buda from the place where Priscus crossed the Danube, on his way from
      Naissus, is equal to that which he traversed to reach the residence of the
      king of the Huns. I see no good reason for not acceding to the relations
      of the Hungarian historians." St. Martin, vi. 191.&mdash;M]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-44" id="link34note-44">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      44 (<a href="#link34noteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ The royal village of
      Attila may be compared to the city of Karacorum, the residence of the
      successors of Zingis; which, though it appears to have been a more stable
      habitation, did not equal the size or splendor of the town and abbey of
      St. Denys, in the 13th century. (See Rubruquis, in the Histoire Generale
      des Voyages, tom. vii p. 286.) The camp of Aurengzebe, as it is so
      agreeably described by Bernier, (tom. ii. p. 217-235,) blended the manners
      of Scythia with the magnificence and luxury of Hindostan.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-4411" id="link34note-4411">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4411 (<a href="#link34noteref-4411">return</a>)<br /> [ The name of this
      queen occurs three times in Priscus, and always in a different form&mdash;Cerca,
      Creca, and Rheca. The Scandinavian poets have preserved her memory under
      the name of Herkia. St. Martin, vi. 192.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-45" id="link34note-45">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      45 (<a href="#link34noteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ When the Moguls
      displayed the spoils of Asia, in the diet of Toncat, the throne of Zingis
      was still covered with the original black felt carpet, on which he had
      been seated, when he was raised to the command of his warlike countrymen.
      See Vie de Gengiscan, v. c. 9.]
    </p>
    <p>
      When Attila first gave audience to the Roman ambassadors on the banks of
      the Danube, his tent was encompassed with a formidable guard. The monarch
      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 understood the
      menace, that if Attila did not respect the law of nations, he would nail
      the deceitful interpreter to the cross. and leave his body to the
      vultures. The Barbarian condescended, by producing an accurate list, to
      expose the bold falsehood of Vigilius, who had affirmed that no more than
      seventeen deserters could be found. But he arrogantly declared, that he
      apprehended only the disgrace of contending with his fugitive slaves;
      since he despised their impotent efforts to defend the provinces which
      Theodosius had intrusted to their arms: "For what fortress," (added
      Attila,) "what city, in the wide extent of the Roman empire, can hope to
      exist, secure and impregnable, if it is our pleasure that it should be
      erased from the earth?" He dismissed, however, the interpreter, who
      returned to Constantinople with his peremptory demand of more complete
      restitution, and a more splendid embassy.
    </p>
    <p>
      His anger gradually subsided, and his domestic satisfaction in a marriage
      which he celebrated on the road with the daughter of Eslam, <a
      href="#link34note-4511" name="link34noteref-4511" id="link34noteref-4511">4511</a>
      might perhaps contribute to mollify the native fierceness of his temper.
      The entrance of Attila into the royal village was marked by a very
      singular ceremony. A numerous troop of women came out to meet their hero
      and their king. They marched before him, distributed into long and regular
      files; the intervals between the files were filled by white veils of thin
      linen, which the women on either side bore aloft in their hands, and which
      formed a canopy for a chorus of young virgins, who chanted hymns and songs
      in the Scythian language. The wife of his favorite Onegesius, with a train
      of female attendants, saluted Attila at the door of her own house, on his
      way to the palace; and offered, according to the custom of the country,
      her respectful homage, by entreating him to taste the wine and meat which
      she had prepared for his reception. As soon as the monarch had graciously
      accepted her hospitable gift, his domestics lifted a small silver table to
      a convenient height, as he sat on horseback; and Attila, when he had
      touched the goblet with his lips, again saluted the wife of Onegesius, and
      continued his march. During his residence at the seat of empire, his hours
      were not wasted in the recluse idleness of a seraglio; and the king of the
      Huns could maintain his superior dignity, without concealing his person
      from the public view. He frequently assembled his council, and gave
      audience to the ambassadors of the nations; and his people might appeal to
      the supreme tribunal, which he held at stated times, and, according to the
      Eastern custom, before the principal gate of his wooden palace. The
      Romans, both of the East and of the West, were twice invited to the
      banquets, where Attila feasted with the princes and nobles of Scythia.
      Maximin and his colleagues were stopped on the threshold, till they had
      made a devout libation to the health and prosperity of the king of the
      Huns; and were conducted, after this ceremony, to their respective seats
      in a spacious hall. The royal table and couch, covered with carpets and
      fine linen, was raised by several steps in the midst of the hall; and a
      son, an uncle, or perhaps a favorite king, were admitted to share the
      simple and homely repast of Attila. Two lines of small tables, each of
      which contained three or four guests, were ranged in order on either hand;
      the right was esteemed the most honorable, but the Romans ingenuously
      confess, that they were placed on the left; and that Beric, an unknown
      chieftain, most probably of the Gothic race, preceded the representatives
      of Theodosius and Valentinian. The Barbarian monarch received from his
      cup-bearer a goblet filled with wine, and courteously drank to the health
      of the most distinguished guest; who rose from his seat, and expressed, in
      the same manner, his loyal and respectful vows. This ceremony was
      successively performed for all, or at least for the illustrious persons of
      the assembly; and a considerable time must have been consumed, since it
      was thrice repeated as each course or service was placed on the table. But
      the wine still remained after the meat had been removed; and the Huns
      continued to indulge their intemperance long after the sober and decent
      ambassadors of the two empires had withdrawn themselves from the nocturnal
      banquet. Yet before they retired, they enjoyed a singular opportunity of
      observing the manners of the nation in their convivial amusements. Two
      Scythians stood before the couch of Attila, and recited the verses which
      they had composed, to celebrate his valor and his victories. <a
      href="#link34note-4512" name="link34noteref-4512" id="link34noteref-4512">4512</a>
      A profound silence prevailed in the hall; and the attention of the guests
      was captivated by the vocal harmony, which revived and perpetuated the
      memory of their own exploits; a martial ardor flashed from the eyes of the
      warriors, who were impatient for battle; and the tears of the old men
      expressed their generous despair, that they could no longer partake the
      danger and glory of the field. <a href="#link34note-46"
      name="link34noteref-46" id="link34noteref-46">46</a> This entertainment,
      which might be considered as a school of military virtue, was succeeded by
      a farce, that debased the dignity of human nature. A Moorish and a
      Scythian buffcon successively excited the mirth of the rude spectators, by
      their deformed figure, ridiculous dress, antic gestures, absurd speeches,
      and the strange, unintelligible confusion of the Latin, the Gothic, and
      the Hunnic languages; and the hall resounded with loud and licentious
      peals of laughter. In the midst of this intemperate riot, Attila alone,
      without a change of countenance, maintained his steadfast and inflexible
      gravity; which was never relaxed, except on the entrance of Irnac, the
      youngest of his sons: he embraced the boy with a smile of paternal
      tenderness, gently pinched him by the cheek, and betrayed a partial
      affection, which was justified by the assurance of his prophets, that
      Irnac would be the future support of his family and empire. Two days
      afterwards, the ambassadors received a second invitation; and they had
      reason 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 haughty
      reproaches; and he was provoked, by a motive of interest, to support, with
      unbecoming zeal, the private claims of his secretary Constantius.
    </p>
    <p>
      "The emperor" (said Attila) "has long promised him a rich wife:
      Constantius must not be disappointed; nor should a Roman emperor deserve
      the name of liar." On the third day, the ambassadors were dismissed; the
      freedom of several captives was granted, for a moderate ransom, to their
      pressing entreaties; and, besides the royal presents, they were permitted
      to accept from each of the Scythian nobles the honorable and useful gift
      of a horse. Maximin returned, by the same road, to Constantinople; and
      though he was involved in an accidental dispute with Beric, the new
      ambassador of Attila, he flattered himself that he had contributed, by the
      laborious journey, to confirm the peace and alliance of the two nations.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-4511" id="link34note-4511">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4511 (<a href="#link34noteref-4511">return</a>)<br /> [ Was this his own
      daughter, or the daughter of a person named Escam? (Gibbon has written
      incorrectly Eslam, an unknown name. The officer of Attila, called Eslas.)
      In either case the construction is imperfect: a good Greek writer would
      have introduced an article to determine the sense. Nor is it quite clear,
      whether Scythian usage is adduced to excuse the polygamy, or a marriage,
      which would be considered incestuous in other countries. The Latin version
      has carefully preserved the ambiguity, filiam Escam uxorem. I am not
      inclined to construe it 'his own daughter' though I have too little
      confidence in the uniformity of the grammatical idioms of the Byzantines
      (though Priscus is one of the best) to express myself without
      hesitation.-M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-4512" id="link34note-4512">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4512 (<a href="#link34noteref-4512">return</a>)<br /> [ This passage is
      remarkable from the connection of the name of Attila with that
      extraordinary cycle of poetry, which is found in different forms in almost
      all the Teutonic languages.]
    </p>
    <p>
      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 is
      occasionally not without some rude spirit and some copiousness of fancy in
      the variation of the circumstances in the different combats of the hero
      Walther, prince of Aquitania. It contains little which can be supposed
      historical, and still less which is characteristic concerning Attila. It
      relates to a first expedition of Attila into Europe which cannot be traced
      in history, during which the kings of the Franks, of the Burgundians, and
      of Aquitaine, submit themselves, and give hostages to Attila: the king of
      the Franks, a personage who seems the same with the Hagen of Teutonic
      romance; the king of Burgundy, his daughter Heldgund; the king of
      Aquitaine, his son Walther. The main subject of the 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 his twelve peers, among whom
      is Hagen. Walther had been betrayed while he passed through Worms, the
      city of the Frankish king. by paying for his ferry over the Rhine with
      some strange fish, which he had caught during his flight, and which were
      unknown in the waters of the Rhine. Gunthar was desirous of plundering him
      of the treasure, which Walther had carried 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, as Iceland, venture to assign its date. It
      was, evidently, recited in a monastery, 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 been formed upon some local tradition, as Walther, the
      hero, seems to have turned monk.
    </p>
    <p>
      This poem, however, in its character and its incidents, bears no relation
      to the Teutonic cycle, of which the Nibelungen Lied is the most complete
      form. In this, in the Heldenbuch, in some of the Danish Sagas. in countess
      lays and ballads in all the dialects of Scandinavia, appears King Etzel
      (Attila) in strife with the Burgundians and the Franks. With these
      appears, by a poetic anachronism, Dietrich of Berne. (Theodoric of
      Verona,) the celebrated Ostrogothic king; and many other very singular
      coincidences of historic names, which appear in the poems. (See Lachman
      Kritik der Sage in his volume of various readings to the Nibelungen;
      Berlin, 1836, p. 336.)
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link342HCH0003" id="link342HCH0003">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXIV: Attila.&mdash;Part III.
    </h2>
    <p>
      I must acknowledge myself unable to form any satisfactory theory as to the
      connection of these poems with the history of the time, or the period,
      from which they may date their origin; notwithstanding the laborious
      investigations and critical sagacity of the Schlegels, the Grimms, of P.
      E. Muller and Lachman, and a whole host of German critics and antiquaries;
      not to omit our own countryman, Mr. Herbert, whose theory concerning
      Attila is certainly neither deficient in boldness nor originality. I
      conceive the only way to obtain any thing like a clear conception on this
      point would be what Lachman has begun, (see above,) patiently to collect
      and compare the various forms which the traditions have assumed, without
      any preconceived, either mythical or poetical, theory, and, if possible,
      to discover the original basis of the whole rich and fantastic legend. One
      point, which to me is strongly in favor of the antiquity of this poetic
      cycle, is, that the manners are so clearly anterior to chivalry, and to
      the influence exercised on the poetic literature of Europe by the
      chivalrous poems and romances. I think I find some traces of that
      influence in the Latin poem, though strained through the imagination of a
      monk. The English reader will find an amusing account of the German
      Nibelungen and Heldenbuch, and of some of the Scandinavian Sagas, in the
      volume of Northern Antiquities published by Weber, the friend of Sir
      Walter Scott. Scott himself contributed a considerable, no doubt far the
      most valuable, part to the work. <a href="#link34note-4612"
      name="link34noteref-4612" id="link34noteref-4612">4612</a> <a
      href="#link34note-4712" name="link34noteref-4712" id="link34noteref-4712">4712</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      See also the various German editions of the Nibelungen, to which Lachman,
      with true German perseverance, has compiled a thick volume of various
      readings; the Heldenbuch, the old Danish poems by Grimm, the Eddas, &amp;c.
      Herbert's Attila, p. 510, et seq.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-46" id="link34note-46">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      46 (<a href="#link34noteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ If we may believe
      Plutarch, (in Demetrio, tom. v. p. 24,) it was the custom of the
      Scythians, when they indulged in the pleasures of the table, to awaken
      their languid courage by the martial harmony of twanging their
      bow-strings.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-4612" id="link34note-4612">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4612 (<a href="#link34noteref-4612">return</a>)<br /> [ The Scythian was an
      idiot or lunatic; the Moor a regular buffcon&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-4712" id="link34note-4712">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4712 (<a href="#link34noteref-4712">return</a>)<br /> [ The curious
      narrative of this embassy, which required few observations, and was not
      susceptible of any collateral evidence, may be found in Priscus, p. 49-70.
      But I have not confined myself to the same order; and I had previously
      extracted the historical circumstances, which were less intimately
      connected with the journey, and business, of the Roman ambassadors.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But the Roman ambassador was ignorant of the treacherous design, which had
      been concealed under the mask of the public faith. The surprise and
      satisfaction of Edecon, when he contemplated the splendor of
      Constantinople, had encouraged the interpreter Vigilius to procure for him
      a secret interview with the eunuch Chrysaphius, <a href="#link34note-48"
      name="link34noteref-48" id="link34noteref-48">48</a> who governed the
      emperor and the empire. After some previous conversation, and a mutual
      oath of secrecy, the eunuch, who had not, from his own feelings or
      experience, imbibed any exalted notions of ministerial virtue, ventured to
      propose the death of Attila, as an important service, by which Edecon
      might deserve a liberal share of the wealth and luxury which he admired.
      The ambassador of the Huns listened to the tempting offer; and professed,
      with apparent zeal, his ability, as well as readiness, to execute the
      bloody deed; the design was communicated to the master of the offices, and
      the devout Theodosius consented to the assassination of his invincible
      enemy. But this perfidious conspiracy was defeated by the dissimulation,
      or the repentance, of Edecon; and though he might exaggerate his inward
      abhorrence for the treason, which he seemed to approve, he dexterously
      assumed the merit of an early and voluntary confession. If we now review
      the embassy of Maximin, and the behavior of Attila, we must applaud the
      Barbarian, who respected the laws of hospitality, and generously
      entertained and dismissed the minister of a prince who had conspired
      against his life. But the rashness of Vigilius will appear still more
      extraordinary, since he 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 of Edecon, and to corrupt the fidelity of the guards. The
      interpreter was instantly seized, and dragged before the tribunal of
      Attila, where he asserted his innocence with specious firmness, till the
      threat of inflicting instant death on his son extorted from him a sincere
      discovery of the criminal transaction. Under the name of ransom, or
      confiscation, the rapacious king of the Huns accepted two hundred pounds
      of gold for the life of a traitor, whom he disdained to punish. He pointed
      his just indignation against a nobler object. His ambassadors, Eslaw and
      Orestes, were immediately despatched to Constantinople, with a peremptory
      instruction, which it was much safer for them to execute than to disobey.
      They boldly entered the Imperial presence, with the fatal purse hanging
      down from the neck of Orestes; who interrogated the eunuch Chrysaphius, as
      he stood beside the throne, whether he recognized the evidence of his
      guilt. But the office of reproof was reserved for the superior dignity of
      his colleague Eslaw, who gravely addressed the emperor of the East in the
      following words: "Theodosius is the son of an illustrious and respectable
      parent: Attila likewise is descended from a noble race; and he has
      supported, by his actions, the dignity which he inherited from his father
      Mundzuk. But Theodosius has forfeited his paternal honors, and, by
      consenting to pay tribute has degraded himself to the condition of a
      slave. It is therefore just, that he should reverence the man whom fortune
      and merit have placed above him; instead of attempting, like a wicked
      slave, clandestinely to conspire against his master." The son of Arcadius,
      who was accustomed only to the voice of flattery, heard with astonishment
      the severe language of truth: he blushed and trembled; nor did he presume
      directly to refuse the head of Chrysaphius, which Eslaw and Orestes were
      instructed to demand. A solemn embassy, armed with full powers and
      magnificent gifts, was hastily sent to deprecate the wrath of Attila; and
      his pride was gratified by the choice of Nomius and Anatolius, two
      ministers of consular or patrician rank, of whom the one was great
      treasurer, and the other was master-general of the armies of the East. He
      condescended to meet these ambassadors on the banks of the River Drenco;
      and though he at first affected a stern and haughty demeanor, his anger
      was insensibly mollified by their eloquence and liberality. He
      condescended to pardon the emperor, the eunuch, and the interpreter; bound
      himself by an oath to observe the conditions of peace; released a great
      number of captives; abandoned the fugitives and deserters to their fate;
      and resigned a large territory, to the south of the Danube, which he had
      already exhausted of its wealth and inhabitants. But this treaty was
      purchased at an expense which might have supported a vigorous and
      successful war; and the subjects of Theodosius were compelled to redeem
      the safety of a worthless favorite by oppressive taxes, which they would
      more cheerfully have paid for his destruction. <a href="#link34note-49"
      name="link34noteref-49" id="link34noteref-49">49</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-48" id="link34note-48">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      48 (<a href="#link34noteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ M. de Tillemont has
      very properly given the succession of chamberlains, who reigned in the
      name of Theodosius. Chrysaphius was the last, and, according to the
      unanimous evidence of history, the worst of these favorites, (see Hist.
      des Empereurs, tom. vi. p. 117-119. Mem. Eccles. tom. xv. p. 438.) His
      partiality for his godfather the heresiarch Eutyches, engaged him to
      persecute the orthodox party]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-49" id="link34note-49">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      49 (<a href="#link34noteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ This secret conspiracy
      and its important consequences, may be 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; but the series of negotiations between Attila
      and the Eastern empire must be included within the three or four years
      which are terminated, A.D. 450. by the death of Theodosius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The emperor Theodosius did not long survive the most humiliating
      circumstance of an inglorious life. As he was riding, or hunting, in the
      neighborhood of Constantinople, he was thrown from his horse into the
      River Lycus: the spine of the back was injured by the fall; and he expired
      some days afterwards, in the fiftieth year of his age, and the forty-third
      of his reign. <a href="#link34note-50" name="link34noteref-50"
      id="link34noteref-50">50</a> His sister Pulcheria, whose authority had
      been controlled both in civil and ecclesiastical affairs by the pernicious
      influence of the eunuchs, was unanimously proclaimed Empress of the East;
      and the Romans, for the first time, submitted to a female reign. No sooner
      had Pulcheria ascended the throne, than she indulged her own and the
      public resentment, by an act of popular justice. Without any legal trial,
      the eunuch Chrysaphius was executed before the gates of the city; and the
      immense riches which had been accumulated by the rapacious favorite,
      served only to hasten and to justify his punishment. <a
      href="#link34note-51" name="link34noteref-51" id="link34noteref-51">51</a>
      Amidst the general acclamations of the clergy and people, the empress did
      not forget the prejudice and disadvantage to which her sex was exposed;
      and she wisely resolved to prevent their murmurs by the choice of a
      colleague, who would always respect the superior rank and virgin chastity
      of his wife. She gave her hand to Marcian, a senator, about sixty years of
      age; and the nominal husband of Pulcheria was solemnly invested with the
      Imperial purple. The zeal which he displayed for the orthodox creed, as it
      was established by the council of Chalcedon, would alone have inspired the
      grateful eloquence of the Catholics. But the behavior of Marcian in a
      private life, and afterwards on the throne, may support a more rational
      belief, that he was qualified to restore and invigorate an empire, which
      had been almost dissolved by the successive weakness of two hereditary
      monarchs. He was born in Thrace, and educated to the profession of arms;
      but Marcian's youth had been severely exercised by poverty and misfortune,
      since his only resource, when he first arrived at Constantinople,
      consisted in two hundred pieces of gold, which he had borrowed of a
      friend. He passed nineteen years in the domestic and military service of
      Aspar, and his son Ardaburius; followed those powerful generals to the
      Persian and African wars; and obtained, by their influence, the honorable
      rank of tribune and senator. His mild disposition, and useful talents,
      without alarming the jealousy, recommended Marcian to the esteem and favor
      of his patrons; he had seen, perhaps he had felt, the abuses of a venal
      and oppressive administration; and his own example gave weight and energy
      to the laws, which he promulgated for the reformation of manners. <a
      href="#link34note-52" name="link34noteref-52" id="link34noteref-52">52</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-50" id="link34note-50">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      50 (<a href="#link34noteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ Theodorus the Reader,
      (see Vales. Hist. Eccles. tom. iii. p. 563,) and the Paschal Chronicle,
      mention the fall, without specifying the injury: but the consequence was
      so likely to happen, and so unlikely to be invented, that we may safely
      give credit to Nicephorus Callistus, a Greek of the fourteenth century.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-51" id="link34note-51">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      51 (<a href="#link34noteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ Pulcheriae nutu (says
      Count Marcellinus) sua cum avaritia interemptus est. She abandoned the
      eunuch to the pious revenge of a son, whose father had suffered at his
      instigation. Note: Might not the execution of Chrysaphius have been a
      sacrifice to avert the anger of Attila, whose assassination the eunuch had
      attempted to contrive?&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link34note-52" id="link34note-52">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      52 (<a href="#link34noteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 future princes.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br /> <a name="link352HCH0001" id="link352HCH0001">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.&mdash;Part I.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Invasion Of Gaul By Attila.&mdash;He Is Repulsed By Aetius And
     The Visigoths.&mdash;Attila Invades And Evacuates Italy.&mdash;The
     Deaths Of Attila, Aetius, And Valentinian The Third.
</pre>
    <p>
      It was the opinion of Marcian, that war should be avoided, as long as it
      is possible to preserve a secure and honorable peace; but it was likewise
      his opinion, that peace cannot be honorable or secure, if the sovereign
      betrays a pusillanimous aversion to war. This temperate courage dictated
      his reply to the demands of Attila, who insolently pressed the payment of
      the annual tribute. The emperor signified to the Barbarians, that they
      must no longer insult the majesty of Rome by the mention of a tribute;
      that he was disposed to reward, with becoming liberality, the faithful
      friendship of his allies; but that, if they presumed to violate the public
      peace, they should feel that he possessed troops, and arms, and
      resolution, to repel their attacks. The same language, even in the camp of
      the Huns, was used by his ambassador Apollonius, whose bold refusal to
      deliver the presents, till he had been admitted to a personal interview,
      displayed a sense of dignity, and a contempt of danger, which Attila was
      not prepared to expect from the degenerate Romans. <a href="#link35note-1"
      name="link35noteref-1" id="link35noteref-1">1</a> He threatened to
      chastise the rash successor of Theodosius; but he hesitated whether he
      should first direct his invincible arms against the Eastern or the Western
      empire. While mankind awaited his decision with awful suspense, he sent an
      equal defiance to the courts of Ravenna and Constantinople; and his
      ministers saluted the two emperors with the same haughty declaration.
      "Attila, my lord, and thy lord, commands thee to provide a palace for his
      immediate reception." <a href="#link35note-2" name="link35noteref-2"
      id="link35noteref-2">2</a> But as the Barbarian despised, or affected to
      despise, the Romans of the East, whom he had so often vanquished, he soon
      declared his resolution of suspending the easy conquest, till he had
      achieved a more glorious and important enterprise. In the memorable
      invasions of Gaul and Italy, the Huns were naturally attracted by the
      wealth and fertility of those provinces; but the particular motives and
      provocations of Attila can only be explained by the state of the Western
      empire under the reign of Valentinian, or, to speak more correctly, under
      the administration of Aetius. <a href="#link35note-3"
      name="link35noteref-3" id="link35noteref-3">3</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-1" id="link35note-1">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1 (<a href="#link35noteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ See Priscus, p. 39, 72.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-2" id="link35note-2">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2 (<a href="#link35noteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ The Alexandrian or
      Paschal Chronicle, which introduces this haughty message, during the
      lifetime of Theodosius, may have anticipated the date; but the dull
      annalist was incapable of inventing the original and genuine style of
      Attila.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-3" id="link35note-3">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3 (<a href="#link35noteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ The second book of the
      Histoire Critique de l'Etablissement de la Monarchie Francoise tom. i. p.
      189-424, throws great light on the state of Gaul, when it was invaded by
      Attila; but the ingenious author, the Abbe Dubos, too often bewilders
      himself in system and conjecture.]
    </p>
    <p>
      After the death of his rival Boniface, Aetius had prudently retired to the
      tents of the Huns; and he was indebted to their alliance for his safety
      and his restoration. Instead of the suppliant language of a guilty exile,
      he solicited his pardon at the head of sixty thousand Barbarians; 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 son Valentinian, and the
      Western empire, into the hands of an insolent subject; nor could Placidia
      protect the son-in-law of Boniface, the virtuous and faithful Sebastian,
      <a href="#link35note-4" name="link35noteref-4" id="link35noteref-4">4</a>
      from the implacable persecution which urged him from one kingdom to
      another, till he miserably perished in the service of the Vandals. The
      fortunate Aetius, who was immediately promoted to the rank of patrician,
      and thrice invested with the honors of the consulship, assumed, with the
      title of master of the cavalry and infantry, the whole military power of
      the state; and he is sometimes styled, by contemporary writers, the duke,
      or general, of the Romans of the West. His prudence, rather than his
      virtue, engaged him to leave the grandson of Theodosius in the possession
      of the purple; and Valentinian was permitted to enjoy the peace and luxury
      of Italy, while the patrician appeared in the glorious light of a hero and
      a patriot, who supported near twenty years the ruins of the Western
      empire. The Gothic historian ingenuously confesses, that Aetius was born
      for the salvation of the Roman republic; <a href="#link35note-5"
      name="link35noteref-5" id="link35noteref-5">5</a> and the following
      portrait, though it is drawn in the fairest colors, must be allowed to
      contain a much larger proportion of truth than of flattery. <a
      href="#link35note-411" name="link35noteref-411" id="link35noteref-411">411</a>
      "His mother was a wealthy and noble Italian, and his father Gaudentius,
      who held a distinguished rank in the province of Scythia, gradually rose
      from the station of a military domestic, to the dignity of master of the
      cavalry. Their son, who was enrolled almost in his infancy in the guards,
      was given as a hostage, first to Alaric, and afterwards to the Huns; <a
      href="#link35note-412" name="link35noteref-412" id="link35noteref-412">412</a>
      and he successively obtained the civil and military honors of the palace,
      for which he was equally qualified by superior merit. The graceful figure
      of Aetius was not above the middle stature; but his manly limbs were
      admirably formed for strength, beauty, and agility; and he excelled in the
      martial exercises of managing a horse, drawing the bow, and darting the
      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, or
      intimidate the firm integrity of his soul." <a href="#link35note-6"
      name="link35noteref-6" id="link35noteref-6">6</a> The Barbarians, who had
      seated themselves in the Western provinces, were insensibly taught to
      respect the faith and valor of the patrician Aetius. He soothed their
      passions, consulted their prejudices, balanced their interests, and
      checked their ambition. <a href="#link35note-611" name="link35noteref-611"
      id="link35noteref-611">611</a> A seasonable treaty, which he concluded
      with Genseric, protected Italy from the depredations of the Vandals; the
      independent Britons implored and acknowledged his salutary aid; the
      Imperial authority was restored and maintained in Gaul and Spain; and he
      compelled the Franks and the Suevi, whom he had vanquished in the field,
      to become the useful confederates of the republic.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-4" id="link35note-4">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4 (<a href="#link35noteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ 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; and Sebastian 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 of Marcellinus and Idatius. In his distress he was always
      followed by a numerous train; since he could ravage the Hellespont and
      Propontis, and seize the city of Barcelona.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-5" id="link35note-5">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5 (<a href="#link35noteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ Reipublicae Romanae
      singulariter natus, qui superbiam Suevorum, Francorumque barbariem
      immensis caedibus servire Imperio Romano coegisset. Jornandes de Rebus
      Geticis, c. 34, p. 660.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-411" id="link35note-411">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      411 (<a href="#link35noteref-411">return</a>)<br /> [ Some valuable
      fragments of a poetical panegyric on Aetius by Merobaudes, a Spaniard,
      have been recovered from a palimpsest MS. by the sagacity and industry of
      Niebuhr. They have been reprinted in the new edition of the Byzantine
      Historians. The poet speaks in glowing terms of the long (annosa) peace
      enjoyed under the administration of Aetius. The verses are very spirited.
      The poet was rewarded by a statue publicly dedicated to his honor in Rome.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.
     &mdash;Merobaudes, p. 1]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-412" id="link35note-412">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      412 (<a href="#link35noteref-412">return</a>)<br /> [&mdash;cum Scythicis
      succumberet ensibus orbis,
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.
     &mdash;Merobaudes, Panegyr. p. 15.&mdash;M.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-6" id="link35note-6">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6 (<a href="#link35noteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ This portrait is drawn by
      Renetus Profuturus Frigeridus, a contemporary historian, known only by
      some extracts, which are preserved by Gregory of Tours, (l. ii. c. 8, in
      tom. ii. p. 163.) It was probably the duty, or at least the interest, of
      Renatus, to magnify the virtues of Aetius; but he would have shown more
      dexterity if he had not insisted on his patient, forgiving disposition.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-611" id="link35note-611">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      611 (<a href="#link35noteref-611">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.
    &mdash;-Merobaudes, p. 12.&mdash;M.]
</pre>
    <p>
      From a principle of interest, as well as gratitude, Aetius assiduously
      cultivated the alliance of the Huns. While he resided in their tents as a
      hostage, or an exile, he had familiarly conversed with Attila himself, the
      nephew of his benefactor; and the two famous antagonists appeared to have
      been connected by a personal and military friendship, which they
      afterwards confirmed by mutual gifts, frequent embassies, and the
      education of Carpilio, the son of Aetius, in the camp of Attila. By the
      specious professions of gratitude and voluntary attachment, the patrician
      might disguise his apprehensions of the Scythian conqueror, who pressed
      the two empires with his innumerable armies. His demands were obeyed or
      eluded. When he claimed the spoils of a vanquished city, some vases of
      gold, which had been fraudulently embezzled, the civil and military
      governors of Noricum were immediately despatched to satisfy his
      complaints: <a href="#link35note-7" name="link35noteref-7"
      id="link35noteref-7">7</a> and it is evident, from their conversation with
      Maximin and Priscus, in the royal village, that the valor and prudence of
      Aetius had 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 his
      person, was employed in the defence of Gaul. Two colonies of these
      Barbarians were judiciously fixed in the territories of Valens and
      Orleans; <a href="#link35note-8" name="link35noteref-8"
      id="link35noteref-8">8</a> and their active cavalry secured the important
      passages of the Rhone and of the Loire. These savage allies were not
      indeed less formidable to the subjects than to the enemies of Rome. Their
      original settlement was enforced with the licentious violence of conquest;
      and the province through which they marched was exposed to all the
      calamities of a hostile invasion. <a href="#link35note-9"
      name="link35noteref-9" id="link35noteref-9">9</a> Strangers to the emperor
      or the republic, the Alani of Gaul was devoted to the ambition of Aetius,
      and though he might suspect, that, in a contest with Attila himself, they
      would revolt to the standard of their national king, the patrician labored
      to restrain, rather than to excite, their zeal and resentment against the
      Goths, the Burgundians, and the Franks.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-7" id="link35note-7">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7 (<a href="#link35noteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ The embassy consisted of
      Count Romulus; of Promotus, president of Noricum; and of Romanus, the
      military duke. They were accompanied by Tatullus, an illustrious citizen
      of Petovio, in the same province, and father of Orestes, who had married
      the daughter of Count Romulus. See Priscus, p. 57, 65. Cassiodorus
      (Variar. i. 4) mentions another embassy, which was executed by his father
      and Carpilio, the son of Aetius; and, as Attila was no more, he could
      safely boast of their manly, intrepid behavior in his presence.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-8" id="link35note-8">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8 (<a href="#link35noteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ Deserta Valentinae urbis
      rura Alanis partienda traduntur. Prosper. Tyronis Chron. in Historiens de
      France, tom. i. p. 639. A few lines afterwards, Prosper observes, that
      lands in the ulterior Gaul were assigned to the Alani. Without admitting
      the correction of Dubos, (tom. i. p. 300,) the reasonable supposition of
      two colonies or garrisons of Alani will confirm his arguments, and remove
      his objections.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-9" id="link35note-9">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9 (<a href="#link35noteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ See Prosper. Tyro, p.
      639. Sidonius (Panegyr. Avit. 246) complains, in the name of Auvergne, his
      native country,
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      another poet, Paulinus of Perigord, confirms the complaint:&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Nam socium vix ferre queas, qui durior hoste.
    &mdash;-See Dubos, tom. i. p. 330.]
</pre>
    <p>
      The kingdom established by the Visigoths in the southern provinces of
      Gaul, had gradually acquired strength and maturity; and the conduct of
      those ambitious Barbarians, either in peace or war, engaged the perpetual
      vigilance of Aetius. After the death of Wallia, the Gothic sceptre
      devolved to Theodoric, the son of the great Alaric; <a
      href="#link35note-10" name="link35noteref-10" id="link35noteref-10">10</a>
      and his prosperous reign of more than thirty years, over a turbulent
      people, may be allowed to prove, that his prudence was supported by
      uncommon vigor, both of mind and body. Impatient of his narrow limits,
      Theodoric aspired to the possession of Arles, the wealthy seat of
      government and commerce; but the city was saved by the timely approach of
      Aetius; and the Gothic king, who had raised the siege with some loss and
      disgrace, was persuaded, for an adequate subsidy, to divert the martial
      valor of his subjects in a Spanish war. Yet Theodoric still watched, and
      eagerly seized, the favorable moment of renewing his hostile attempts. The
      Goths besieged Narbonne, while the Belgic provinces were invaded by the
      Burgundians; and the public safety was threatened on every side by the
      apparent union of the enemies of Rome. On every side, the activity of
      Aetius, and his Scythian cavalry, opposed a firm and successful
      resistance. Twenty thousand Burgundians were slain in battle; and the
      remains of the nation humbly accepted a dependent seat in the mountains of
      Savoy. <a href="#link35note-11" name="link35noteref-11"
      id="link35noteref-11">11</a> The walls of Narbonne had been shaken by the
      battering engines, and the inhabitants had endured the last extremities of
      famine, when Count Litorius, approaching in silence, and directing each
      horseman to carry behind him two sacks of flour, cut his way through the
      intrenchments of the besiegers. The siege was immediately raised; and the
      more decisive victory, which is ascribed to the personal conduct of Aetius
      himself, was marked with the blood of eight thousand Goths. But in the
      absence of the patrician, who was hastily summoned to Italy by some public
      or private interest, Count Litorius succeeded to the command; and his
      presumption soon discovered that far different talents are required to
      lead a wing of cavalry, or to direct the operations of an important war.
      At the head of an army of Huns, he rashly advanced to the gates of
      Thoulouse, full of careless contempt for an enemy whom his misfortunes had
      rendered prudent, and his situation made desperate. The predictions of the
      augurs had inspired Litorius with the profane confidence that he should
      enter the Gothic capital in triumph; and the trust which he reposed in his
      Pagan allies, encouraged him to reject the fair conditions of peace, which
      were repeatedly proposed by the bishops in the name of Theodoric. The king
      of the Goths exhibited in his distress the edifying contrast of Christian
      piety and moderation; nor did he lay aside his sackcloth and ashes till he
      was prepared to arm for the combat. His soldiers, animated with martial
      and religious enthusiasm, 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
      actually led through the streets of Thoulouse, not in his own, but in a
      hostile triumph; and the misery which he experienced, in a long and
      ignominious captivity, excited the compassion of the Barbarians
      themselves. <a href="#link35note-12" name="link35noteref-12"
      id="link35noteref-12">12</a> Such a loss, in a country whose spirit and
      finances were long since exhausted, could not easily be repaired; and the
      Goths, assuming, in their turn, the sentiments of ambition and revenge,
      would have planted their victorious standards on the banks of the Rhone,
      if the presence of Aetius had not restored strength and discipline to the
      Romans. <a href="#link35note-13" name="link35noteref-13"
      id="link35noteref-13">13</a> The two armies expected the signal of a
      decisive action; but the generals, who were conscious of each other's
      force, and doubtful of their own superiority, prudently sheathed their
      swords in the field of battle; and their reconciliation was permanent and
      sincere. Theodoric, king of the Visigoths, appears to have deserved the
      love of his subjects, the confidence of his allies, and the esteem of
      mankind. His throne was surrounded by six valiant sons, who were educated
      with equal care in the 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 Virgil contributed to soften the asperity of their native
      manners. <a href="#link35note-14" name="link35noteref-14"
      id="link35noteref-14">14</a> The two daughters of the Gothic king were
      given in marriage to the eldest sons of the kings of the Suevi and of the
      Vandals, who reigned in Spain and Africa: but these illustrious alliances
      were pregnant with guilt and discord. The queen of the Suevi bewailed the
      death of a husband inhumanly massacred by her brother. The princess of the
      Vandals was the victim of a jealous tyrant, whom she called her father.
      The cruel Genseric suspected that his son's wife had conspired to poison
      him; the supposed crime was punished by the amputation of her nose and
      ears; and the unhappy daughter of Theodoric was ignominiously returned to
      the court of Thoulouse in that deformed and mutilated condition. This
      horrid act, which must seem incredible to a civilized age drew tears from
      every spectator; but Theodoric was urged, by the feelings of a parent and
      a king, to revenge such irreparable injuries. The Imperial ministers, who
      always cherished the discord of the Barbarians, would have supplied the
      Goths with arms, and ships, and treasures, for the African war; and the
      cruelty of Genseric might have been fatal to himself, if the artful Vandal
      had not armed, in his cause, the formidable power of the Huns. His rich
      gifts and pressing solicitations inflamed the ambition of Attila; and the
      designs of Aetius and Theodoric were prevented by the invasion of Gaul. <a
      href="#link35note-15" name="link35noteref-15" id="link35noteref-15">15</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-10" id="link35note-10">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      10 (<a href="#link35noteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Theodoric II., the son
      of Theodoric I., declares to Avitus his resolution of repairing, or
      expiating, the faults which his grandfather had committed,&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      Quae noster peccavit avus, quem fuscat id unum, Quod te, Roma, capit.
    </p>
    <p>
      Sidon. Panegyric. Avit. 505.
    </p>
    <p>
      This character, applicable only to the great Alaric, establishes the
      genealogy of the Gothic kings, which has hitherto been unnoticed.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-11" id="link35note-11">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      11 (<a href="#link35noteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ The name of Sapaudia,
      the origin of Savoy, is first mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus; and two
      military posts are ascertained by the Notitia, within the limits of that
      province; a cohort was stationed at Grenoble in Dauphine; and Ebredunum,
      or Iverdun, sheltered a fleet of small vessels, which commanded the Lake
      of Neufchatel. See Valesius, Notit. Galliarum, p. 503. D'Anville, Notice
      de l'Ancienne Gaule, p. 284, 579.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-12" id="link35note-12">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      12 (<a href="#link35noteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ Salvian has attempted
      to explain the moral government of the Deity; a task which may be readily
      performed by supposing that the calamities of the wicked are judgments,
      and those of the righteous, trials.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-13" id="link35note-13">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      13 (<a href="#link35noteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     &mdash;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.
     &mdash;Panegyr. Avit. 300, &amp;c.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Sitionius then proceeds, according to the duty of a panegyrist, to
      transfer the whole merit from Aetius to his minister Avitus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-14" id="link35note-14">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      14 (<a href="#link35noteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ Theodoric II. revered,
      in the person of Avitus, the character of his preceptor.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Mihi Romula dudum
     Per te jura placent; parvumque ediscere jussit
     Ad tua verba pater, docili quo prisca Maronis
     Carmine molliret Scythicos mihi pagina mores.
    &mdash;-Sidon. Panegyr. Avit. 495 &amp;c.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-15" id="link35note-15">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      15 (<a href="#link35noteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The Franks, whose monarchy was still confined to the neighborhood of the
      Lower Rhine, had wisely established the right of hereditary succession in
      the noble family of the Merovingians. <a href="#link35note-16"
      name="link35noteref-16" id="link35noteref-16">16</a> These princes were
      elevated on a buckler, the symbol of military command; <a
      href="#link35note-17" name="link35noteref-17" id="link35noteref-17">17</a>
      and the royal 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 the
      rest of the nation were obliged, either by law or custom, to shave the
      hinder part of their head, to comb their hair over the forehead, and to
      content themselves with the ornament of two small whiskers. <a
      href="#link35note-18" name="link35noteref-18" id="link35noteref-18">18</a>
      The lofty stature of the Franks, and their blue eyes, denoted a Germanic
      origin; their close apparel accurately expressed the figure of their
      limbs; a weighty sword was suspended from a broad belt; their bodies were
      protected by a large shield; and these warlike Barbarians were trained,
      from their earliest youth, to run, to leap, to swim; to dart the javelin,
      or battle-axe, with unerring aim; to advance, without hesitation, against
      a superior enemy; and to maintain, either in life or death, the invincible
      reputation of their ancestors. <a href="#link35note-19"
      name="link35noteref-19" id="link35noteref-19">19</a> Clodion, the first of
      their long-haired kings, whose name and actions are mentioned in authentic
      history, held his residence at Dispargum, <a href="#link35note-20"
      name="link35noteref-20" id="link35noteref-20">20</a> a village or
      fortress, whose place may be assigned between Louvain and Brussels. From
      the report of his spies, the king of the Franks was informed, that the
      defenceless state of the second Belgic must yield, on the slightest
      attack, to the valor of his subjects. He boldly penetrated through the
      thickets and morasses of the Carbonarian forest; <a href="#link35note-21"
      name="link35noteref-21" id="link35noteref-21">21</a> occupied Tournay and
      Cambray, the only cities which existed in the fifth century, and extended
      his conquests as far as the River Somme, over a desolate country, whose
      cultivation and populousness are the effects of more recent industry. <a
      href="#link35note-22" name="link35noteref-22" id="link35noteref-22">22</a>
      While Clodion lay encamped in the plains of Artois, <a
      href="#link35note-23" name="link35noteref-23" id="link35noteref-23">23</a>
      and celebrated, with vain and ostentatious security, the marriage,
      perhaps, of his son, the nuptial feast was interrupted by the unexpected
      and unwelcome presence of Aetius, who had passed the Somme at the head of
      his light cavalry. The tables, which had been spread under the shelter of
      a hill, along the banks of a pleasant stream, were rudely overturned; the
      Franks were oppressed before they could recover their arms, or their
      ranks; and their unavailing valor was fatal only to themselves. The loaded
      wagons, which had followed their march, afforded a rich booty; and the
      virgin-bride, with her female attendants, submitted to the new lovers, who
      were imposed on them by the chance of war. This advance, which had been
      obtained by the skill and activity of Aetius, 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 Rhine to the Somme. <a href="#link35note-24"
      name="link35noteref-24" id="link35noteref-24">24</a> Under his reign, and
      most probably from the thee enterprising spirit of his subjects, his three
      capitals, Mentz, Treves, and Cologne, experienced the effects of hostile
      cruelty and avarice. The distress of Cologne was prolonged by the
      perpetual dominion of the same Barbarians, who evacuated the ruins of
      Treves; and Treves, which in the space of forty years had been four times
      besieged and pillaged, was disposed to lose the memory of her afflictions
      in the vain amusements of the Circus. <a href="#link35note-25"
      name="link35noteref-25" id="link35noteref-25">25</a> The death of Clodion,
      after a reign of twenty years, exposed his kingdom to the discord and
      ambition of his two sons. Meroveus, the younger, <a href="#link35note-26"
      name="link35noteref-26" id="link35noteref-26">26</a> was persuaded to
      implore the protection of Rome; he was received at the Imperial court, as
      the ally of Valentinian, and the adopted son of the patrician Aetius; and
      dismissed to his native country, with splendid gifts, and the strongest
      assurances of friendship and support. During his absence, his elder
      brother had solicited, with equal ardor, the formidable aid of Attila; and
      the king of the Huns embraced an alliance, which facilitated the passage
      of the Rhine, and justified, by a specious and honorable pretence, the
      invasion of Gaul. <a href="#link35note-27" name="link35noteref-27"
      id="link35noteref-27">27</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-16" id="link35note-16">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      16 (<a href="#link35noteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ Reges Crinitos se
      creavisse de prima, et ut ita dicam nobiliori suorum familia, (Greg.
      Turon. l. ii. c. 9, p. 166, of the second volume of the Historians of
      France.) Gregory himself does not mention the Merovingian name, which may
      be traced, however, to the beginning of the seventh century, as the
      distinctive appellation of the royal family, and even of the French
      monarchy. An ingenious critic has deduced the Merovingians from the great
      Maroboduus; and he has clearly proved, that the prince, who gave his name
      to the first race, was more ancient than the father of Childeric. See
      Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xx. p. 52-90, tom. xxx. p.
      557-587.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-17" id="link35note-17">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      17 (<a href="#link35noteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ This German custom,
      which may be traced from Tacitus to Gregory of Tours, was at length
      adopted by the emperors of Constantinople. From a MS. of the tenth
      century, Montfaucon has delineated the representation of a similar
      ceremony, which the ignorance of the age had applied to King David. See
      Monumens de la Monarchie Francoise, tom. i. Discours Preliminaire.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-18" id="link35note-18">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      18 (<a href="#link35noteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ Caesaries prolixa...
      crinium flagellis per terga dimissis, &amp;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 peculiar fashion of the Merovingians has been
      remarked by natives and strangers; by Priscus, (tom. i. p. 608,) by
      Agathias, (tom. ii. p. 49,) and by Gregory of Tours, (l. viii. 18, vi. 24,
      viii. 10, tom. ii. p. 196, 278, 316.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-19" id="link35note-19">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      19 (<a href="#link35noteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 a real and intrinsic value. Father Daniel (History de
      la Milice Francoise, tom. i. p. 2-7) has illustrated the description.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-20" id="link35note-20">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      20 (<a href="#link35noteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Dubos, Hist. Critique,
      &amp;c., tom. i. p. 271, 272. Some geographers have placed Dispargum on
      the German side of the Rhine. See a note of the Benedictine Editors, to
      the Historians of France, tom. ii p. 166.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-21" id="link35note-21">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      21 (<a href="#link35noteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ The Carbonarian wood
      was that part of the great forest of the Ardennes which lay between the
      Escaut, or Scheldt, and the Meuse. Vales. Notit. Gall. p. 126.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-22" id="link35note-22">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      22 (<a href="#link35noteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-23" id="link35note-23">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      23 (<a href="#link35noteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     &mdash;Francus qua Cloio patentes
     Atrebatum terras pervaserat.
     &mdash;Panegyr. Majorian 213
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      The precise spot was a town or village, called Vicus Helena; and both the
      name and place are discovered by modern geographers at Lens See Vales.
      Notit. Gall. p. 246. Longuerue, Description de la France tom. ii. p. 88.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-24" id="link35note-24">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      24 (<a href="#link35noteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ See a vague account of
      the action in Sidonius. Panegyr. Majorian 212-230. The French critics,
      impatient to establish their monarchy in Gaul, have drawn a strong
      argument from the silence of Sidonius, who dares not insinuate, that the
      vanquished Franks were compelled to repass the Rhine. Dubos, tom. i. p.
      322.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-25" id="link35note-25">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      25 (<a href="#link35noteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ Salvian (de Gubernat.
      Dei, l. vi.) has expressed, in vague and declamatory language, the
      misfortunes of these three cities, which are distinctly ascertained by the
      learned Mascou, Hist. of the Ancient Germans, ix. 21.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-26" id="link35note-26">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      26 (<a href="#link35noteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ Priscus, in relating
      the contest, does not name the two brothers; 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 the sons of some unknown king of the Franks, who
      reigned on the banks of the Neckar; but the arguments of M. de Foncemagne
      (Mem. de l'Academie, tom. viii. p. 464) seem to prove that the succession
      of Clodion was disputed by his two sons, and that the younger was
      Meroveus, the father of Childeric. * Note: The relationship of Meroveus to
      Clodion is extremely doubtful.&mdash;By some he is called an illegitimate
      son; by others merely of his race. Tur ii. c. 9, in Sismondi, Hist. des
      Francais, i. 177. See Mezeray.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-27" id="link35note-27">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      27 (<a href="#link35noteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ Under the Merovingian
      race, the throne was hereditary; but all the sons of the deceased monarch
      were equally entitled to their share of his treasures and territories. See
      the Dissertations of M. de Foncemagne, in the sixth and eighth volumes of
      the Memoires de l'Academie.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link352HCH0002" id="link352HCH0002">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.&mdash;Part II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      When Attila declared his resolution of supporting the cause of his allies,
      the Vandals and the Franks, at the same time, and almost in the spirit of
      romantic chivalry, the savage monarch professed himself the lover and the
      champion of the princess Honoria. The sister of Valentinian was educated
      in the palace of Ravenna; and as her marriage might be productive of some
      danger to the state, she was raised, by the title of Augusta, <a
      href="#link35note-28" name="link35noteref-28" id="link35noteref-28">28</a>
      above the hopes of the most presumptuous subject. But the fair Honoria had
      no sooner attained the sixteenth year of her age, than she detested the
      importunate greatness which must forever exclude her from the comforts of
      honorable love; in the midst of vain and unsatisfactory pomp, Honoria
      sighed, yielded to the impulse of nature, and threw herself into the arms
      of her chamberlain Eugenius. Her guilt and shame (such is the absurd
      language of imperious man) were soon betrayed by the appearances of
      pregnancy; but the disgrace of the royal family was published to the world
      by the imprudence of the empress Placidia who dismissed her daughter,
      after a strict and shameful confinement, to a remote exile at
      Constantinople. The unhappy princess passed twelve or fourteen years in
      the irksome society of the sisters of Theodosius, and their chosen
      virgins; to whose crown Honoria could no longer aspire, and whose monastic
      assiduity of prayer, fasting, and vigils, she reluctantly imitated. Her
      impatience of long and hopeless celibacy urged her to embrace a strange
      and desperate resolution. The name of Attila was familiar and formidable
      at Constantinople; and his frequent embassies entertained a perpetual
      intercourse between his camp and the Imperial palace. In the pursuit of
      love, or rather of revenge, the daughter of Placidia sacrificed every duty
      and every prejudice; and offered to deliver her person into the arms of a
      Barbarian, of whose language she was ignorant, whose figure was scarcely
      human, and whose religion and manners she abhorred. By the ministry of a
      faithful eunuch, she transmitted to Attila a ring, the pledge of her
      affection; and earnestly conjured him to claim her as a lawful spouse, to
      whom he had been secretly betrothed. These indecent advances were
      received, however, with coldness and disdain; and the king of the Huns
      continued to multiply the number of his wives, till his love was awakened
      by the more forcible passions of ambition and avarice. The invasion of
      Gaul was 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 and peremptory manner, the daughters of China; and the pretensions
      of Attila were not less offensive to the majesty of Rome. A firm, but
      temperate, refusal was communicated to his ambassadors. The right of
      female succession, though it might derive a specious argument from the
      recent examples of Placidia and Pulcheria, was strenuously denied; and the
      indissoluble engagements of Honoria were opposed to the claims of her
      Scythian lover. <a href="#link35note-29" name="link35noteref-29"
      id="link35noteref-29">29</a> On the discovery of her connection with the
      king of the Huns, the guilty princess had been sent away, as an object of
      horror, from Constantinople to Italy: her life was spared; but the
      ceremony of her marriage was performed with some obscure and nominal
      husband, before she was immured in a perpetual prison, to bewail those
      crimes and misfortunes, which Honoria might have escaped, had she not been
      born the daughter of an emperor. <a href="#link35note-30"
      name="link35noteref-30" id="link35noteref-30">30</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-28" id="link35note-28">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      28 (<a href="#link35noteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ A medal is still
      extant, which exhibits the pleasing countenance 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-29" id="link35note-29">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      29 (<a href="#link35noteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ See Priscus, p, 39, 40.
      It might be fairly alleged, that if females could succeed to the throne,
      Valentinian himself, who had married the daughter and heiress of the
      younger Theodosius, would have asserted her right to the Eastern empire.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-30" id="link35note-30">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      30 (<a href="#link35noteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ The adventures of
      Honoria are imperfectly related by Jornandes, de Successione Regn. c. 97,
      and de Reb. Get. c. 42, p. 674; and in the Chronicles of Prosper and
      Marcellinus; but they cannot be made consistent, or probable, unless we
      separate, by an interval of time and place, her intrigue with Eugenius,
      and her invitation of Attila.]
    </p>
    <p>
      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 his
      friends, that he would compose a regular history of the war of Attila. If
      the modesty of Sidonius had not discouraged him from the prosecution of
      this interesting work, <a href="#link35note-31" name="link35noteref-31"
      id="link35noteref-31">31</a> the historian would have related, with the
      simplicity of truth, those memorable events, to which the poet, in vague
      and doubtful metaphors, has concisely alluded. <a href="#link35note-32"
      name="link35noteref-32" id="link35noteref-32">32</a> The kings and nations
      of Germany and Scythia, from the Volga perhaps to the Danube, obeyed the
      warlike summons of Attila. From the royal village, in the plains of
      Hungary his standard moved towards the West; and after a march of seven or
      eight hundred miles, he reached the conflux of the Rhine and the 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, who roamed in quest of
      plunder, might choose the winter for the convenience of passing the river
      on the ice; but the innumerable cavalry of the Huns required such plenty
      of forage and provisions, as could be procured only in a milder season;
      the Hercynian forest supplied materials for a bridge of boats; and the
      hostile myriads were poured, with resistless violence, into the Belgic
      provinces. <a href="#link35note-33" name="link35noteref-33"
      id="link35noteref-33">33</a> The consternation of Gaul was universal; and
      the various fortunes of its cities have been adorned by tradition with
      martyrdoms and miracles. <a href="#link35note-34" name="link35noteref-34"
      id="link35noteref-34">34</a> Troyes was saved by the merits of St. Lupus;
      St. Servatius was removed from the world, that he might not behold the
      ruin of Tongres; and the prayers of St. Genevieve diverted the march of
      Attila from the neighborhood of Paris. But as the greatest part of the
      Gallic cities were alike destitute of saints and soldiers, they were
      besieged and stormed by the Huns; who practised, in the example of Metz,
      <a href="#link35note-35" name="link35noteref-35" id="link35noteref-35">35</a>
      their customary maxims of war. They involved, in a promiscuous massacre,
      the priests who served at the altar, and the infants, who, in the hour of
      danger, had been providently baptized by the bishop; the flourishing city
      was delivered to the flames, and a solitary 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 securing his conquests by the possession of an
      advantageous post, which commanded the passage of the Loire; and he
      depended on the secret invitation of Sangiban, king of the Alani, who had
      promised to betray the city, and to revolt from the service of the empire.
      But this treacherous conspiracy was detected and disappointed: Orleans had
      been strengthened with recent fortifications; and the assaults of the Huns
      were vigorously repelled by the faithful valor of the soldiers, or
      citizens, who defended the place. The pastoral diligence of Anianus, a
      bishop of primitive sanctity and consummate prudence, exhausted every art
      of religious policy to support their courage, till the arrival of the
      expected succors. After an obstinate siege, the walls were shaken by the
      battering rams; the Huns had already occupied the suburbs; and the people,
      who were incapable of bearing arms, lay prostrate in prayer. Anianus, who
      anxiously counted the days and hours, despatched a trusty messenger to
      observe, from the rampari, the face of the distant country. He returned
      twice, without any intelligence that could inspire hope or comfort; but,
      in his third report, he mentioned a small cloud, which he had faintly
      descried at the extremity of the horizon. "It is the aid of God!"
      exclaimed the bishop, in a tone of pious confidence; and the whole
      multitude repeated after him, "It is the aid of God." The remote object,
      on which every eye was fixed, became each moment larger, and more
      distinct; the Roman and Gothic banners were gradually perceived; and a
      favorable wind blowing aside the dust, discovered, in deep array, the
      impatient squadrons of Aetius and Theodoric, who pressed forwards to the
      relief of Orleans.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-31" id="link35note-31">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      31 (<a href="#link35noteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ Exegeras mihi, ut
      promitterem tibi, Attilae bellum stylo me posteris intimaturum....
      coeperam scribere, sed operis arrepti fasce perspecto, taeduit inchoasse.
      Sidon. Apoll. l. viii. epist. 15, p. 235]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-32" id="link35note-32">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      32 (<a href="#link35noteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Prorumpit Francus. Cecidit cito secta bipenni Hercynia in lintres, et
      Rhenum texuit alno. Et jam terrificis diffuderat Attila turmis In campos
      se, Belga, tuos. Panegyr. Avit.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-33" id="link35note-33">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      33 (<a href="#link35noteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ The most authentic and
      circumstantial account of this war is contained in Jornandes, (de Reb.
      Geticis, c. 36-41, p. 662-672,) who has sometimes abridged, and sometimes
      transcribed, the larger history of Cassiodorus. Jornandes, a quotation
      which it would be superfluous to repeat, 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 Historians of France; but the reader should be
      cautioned against a supposed extract from the Chronicle of Idatius, (among
      the fragments of Fredegarius, tom. ii. p. 462,) which often contradicts
      the genuine text of the Gallician bishop.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-34" id="link35note-34">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      34 (<a href="#link35noteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ The ancient legendaries
      deserve some regard, as they are obliged to connect their fables with the
      real history of their own times. See the lives of St. Lupus, St. Anianus,
      the bishops of Metz, Ste. Genevieve, &amp;c., in the Historians of France,
      tom. i. p. 644, 645, 649, tom. iii. p. 369.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-35" id="link35note-35">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      35 (<a href="#link35noteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ The scepticism of the
      count de Buat (Hist. des Peuples, tom. vii. p. 539, 540) cannot be
      reconciled with any principles of reason or criticism. Is not Gregory of
      Tours precise and positive in his account of the destruction of Metz? At
      the distance of no more than a hundred years, could he be ignorant, could
      the people be ignorant of the fate of a city, the actual residence of his
      sovereigns, the kings of Austrasia? The learned count, who seems to have
      undertaken the apology of Attila and the Barbarians, appeals to the false
      Idatius, parcens Germaniae et Galliae, and forgets that the true Idatius
      had explicitly affirmed, plurimae civitates effractoe, among which he
      enumerates Metz.]
    </p>
    <p>
      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 his arms.
      His public declarations were skilfully mitigated by his private
      assurances; he alternately soothed and threatened the Romans and the
      Goths; and the courts of Ravenna and Thoulouse, mutually suspicious of
      each other's intentions, beheld, with supine indifference, the approach of
      their common enemy. Aetius was the sole guardian of the public safety; but
      his wisest measures were embarrassed by a faction, which, since the death
      of Placidia, infested the Imperial palace: the youth of Italy trembled at
      the sound of the trumpet; and the Barbarians, who, from fear or affection,
      were inclined to the cause of Attila, awaited with doubtful and venal
      faith, the event of the war. The patrician passed the Alps at the head of
      some troops, whose strength and numbers scarcely deserved the name of an
      army. <a href="#link35note-36" name="link35noteref-36"
      id="link35noteref-36">36</a> 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 they professed to despise. The
      senator Avitus, who, after the honorable exercise of the Praetorian
      praefecture, had retired to his estate in Auvergne, was persuaded to
      accept the important embassy, which he executed with ability and success.
      He represented to Theodoric, that an ambitious conqueror, who aspired to
      the dominion of the earth, could be resisted only by the firm and
      unanimous alliance of the powers whom he labored to oppress. The lively
      eloquence of Avitus inflamed the Gothic warriors, by the description of
      the injuries which their ancestors had suffered from the Huns; whose
      implacable fury still pursued them from the Danube to the foot of the
      Pyrenees. He strenuously urged, that it was the duty of every Christian to
      save, from sacrilegious violation, the churches of God, and the relics of
      the saints: that it was the interest 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 to the evidence of truth; adopted the measure at once
      the most prudent and the most honorable; and declared, that, as the
      faithful ally of Aetius and the Romans, he was ready to expose his life
      and kingdom for the common safety of Gaul. <a href="#link35note-37"
      name="link35noteref-37" id="link35noteref-37">37</a> The Visigoths, who,
      at that time, were in the mature vigor of their fame and power, obeyed
      with alacrity the signal of war; prepared their arms and horses, and
      assembled under the standard of their aged king, who was resolved, with
      his two eldest sons, Torismond and Theodoric, to command in person his
      numerous and valiant people. The example of the Goths determined several
      tribes or nations, that seemed to fluctuate between the Huns and the
      Romans. The indefatigable diligence of the patrician gradually collected
      the troops of Gaul and Germany, who had formerly acknowledged themselves
      the subjects, or soldiers, of the republic, but who now claimed the
      rewards of voluntary service, and the rank of independent allies; the
      Laeti, the Armoricans, the Breones the Saxons, the Burgundians, the
      Sarmatians, or Alani, the Ripuarians, and the Franks who followed Meroveus
      as their lawful prince. Such was the various army, which, under the
      conduct of Aetius and Theodoric, advanced, by rapid marches to relieve
      Orleans, and to give battle to the innumerable host of Attila. <a
      href="#link35note-38" name="link35noteref-38" id="link35noteref-38">38</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-36" id="link35note-36">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      36 (<a href="#link35noteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Vix liquerat Alpes
     Aetius, tenue, et rarum sine milite ducens
     Robur, in auxiliis Geticum male credulus agmen
     Incassum propriis praesumens adfore castris.
    &mdash;-Panegyr. Avit. 328, &amp;c.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-37" id="link35note-37">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      37 (<a href="#link35noteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ The policy of Attila,
      of Aetius, and of the Visigoths, is imperfectly described in the Panegyric
      of Avitus, and the thirty-sixth chapter of Jornandes. The poet and the
      historian were both biased by personal or national prejudices. The former
      exalts the merit and importance of Avitus; orbis, Avite, salus, &amp;c.!
      The latter is anxious to show the Goths in the most favorable light. Yet
      their agreement when they are fairly interpreted, is a proof of their
      veracity.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-38" id="link35note-38">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      38 (<a href="#link35noteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 promiscuous race of Barbarians, born or naturalized in Gaul;
      and the Riparii, or Ripuarii, derived their name from their post on the
      three rivers, the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Moselle; the Armoricans
      possessed the independent cities between the Seine and the Loire. A colony
      of Saxons had been planted in the diocese of Bayeux; the Burgundians were
      settled in Savoy; and the Breones were a warlike tribe of Rhaetians, to
      the east of the Lake of Constance.]
    </p>
    <p>
      On their approach the king of the Huns immediately raised the siege, and
      sounded a retreat to recall the foremost of his troops from the pillage of
      a city which they had already entered. <a href="#link35note-39"
      name="link35noteref-39" id="link35noteref-39">39</a> The valor of Attila
      was always guided by his prudence; and as he foresaw the fatal
      consequences of a defeat in the heart of Gaul, he repassed the Seine, and
      expected the enemy in the plains of Chalons, whose smooth and level
      surface was adapted to the operations of his Scythian cavalry. But in this
      tumultuary retreat, the vanguard of the Romans and their allies
      continually pressed, and sometimes engaged, the troops whom Attila had
      posted in the rear; the hostile columns, in the darkness of the night and
      the perplexity of the roads, might encounter each other without design;
      and the bloody conflict of the Franks and Gepidae, in which fifteen
      thousand <a href="#link35note-40" name="link35noteref-40"
      id="link35noteref-40">40</a> Barbarians were slain, was a prelude to a
      more general and decisive action. The Catalaunian fields <a
      href="#link35note-41" name="link35noteref-41" id="link35noteref-41">41</a>
      spread themselves round Chalons, and extend, according to the vague
      measurement of Jornandes, to the length of one hundred and fifty, and the
      breadth of one hundred miles, over the whole province, which is entitled
      to the appellation of a champaign country. <a href="#link35note-42"
      name="link35noteref-42" id="link35noteref-42">42</a> This spacious plain
      was distinguished, however, by some inequalities of ground; and the
      importance of a height, which commanded the camp of Attila, was understood
      and disputed by the two generals. The young and valiant Torismond first
      occupied the summit; the Goths rushed with irresistible weight on the
      Huns, who labored to ascend from the opposite side: and the possession of
      this advantageous post inspired both the troops and their leaders with a
      fair assurance of victory. The anxiety of Attila prompted him to consult
      his priests and haruspices. It was reported, that, after scrutinizing the
      entrails of victims, and scraping their bones, they revealed, in
      mysterious language, his own defeat, with the death of his principal
      adversary; and that the Barbarians, by accepting the equivalent, expressed
      his involuntary esteem for the superior merit of Aetius. But the unusual
      despondency, which seemed to prevail among the Huns, engaged Attila to use
      the expedient, so familiar to the generals of antiquity, of animating his
      troops by a military oration; and his language was that of a king, who had
      often fought and conquered at their head. <a href="#link35note-43"
      name="link35noteref-43" id="link35noteref-43">43</a> He pressed them to
      consider their past glory, their actual danger, and their future hopes.
      The same fortune, which opened the deserts and morasses of Scythia to
      their unarmed valor, which had laid so many warlike nations prostrate at
      their feet, had reserved the joys of this memorable field for the
      consummation of their victories. The cautious steps of their enemies,
      their strict alliance, and their advantageous posts, he artfully
      represented as the effects, not of prudence, but of fear. The Visigoths
      alone were the strength and nerves of the opposite army; and the Huns
      might securely trample on the degenerate Romans, whose close and compact
      order betrayed their apprehensions, and who were equally incapable of
      supporting the dangers or the fatigues of a day of battle. The doctrine of
      predestination, so favorable to martia virtue, was carefully inculcated by
      the king of the Huns; who assured his subjects, that the warriors,
      protected by Heaven, were safe and invulnerable amidst the darts of the
      enemy; but that the unerring Fates would strike their victims in the bosom
      of inglorious peace. "I myself," continued Attila, "will throw the first
      javelin, and the wretch who refuses to imitate the example of his
      sovereign, is devoted to inevitable death." The spirit of the Barbarians
      was rekindled by the presence, the voice, and the example of their
      intrepid leader; and Attila, yielding to their impatience, immediately
      formed his order of battle. At the head of his brave and faithful Huns, he
      occupied in person the centre of the line. The nations subject to his
      empire, the Rugians, the Heruli, the Thuringians, the Franks, the
      Burgundians, were extended on either hand, over the ample space of the
      Catalaunian fields; the right wing was commanded by Ardaric, king of the
      Gepidae; and the three valiant brothers, who reigned over the Ostrogoths,
      were posted on the left to oppose the kindred tribes of the Visigoths. The
      disposition of the allies was regulated by a different principle.
      Sangiban, the faithless king of the Alani, was placed in the centre, where
      his motions might be strictly watched, and that the treachery might be
      instantly punished. Aetius assumed the command of the left, and Theodoric
      of the right wing; while Torismond still continued to occupy the heights
      which appear to have stretched on the flank, and perhaps the rear, of the
      Scythian army. The nations from the Volga to the Atlantic were assembled
      on the plain of Chalons; but many of these nations had been divided by
      faction, or conquest, or emigration; and the appearance of similar arms
      and ensigns, which threatened each other, presented the image of a civil
      war.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-39" id="link35note-39">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      39 (<a href="#link35noteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ Aurelianensis urbis
      obsidio, oppugnatio, irruptio, nec direptio, l. v. Sidon. Apollin. l.
      viii. Epist. 15, p. 246. The preservation of Orleans might easily be
      turned into a miracle, obtained and foretold by the holy bishop.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-40" id="link35note-40">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      40 (<a href="#link35noteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ The common editions
      read xcm but there is some authority of manuscripts (and almost any
      authority is sufficient) for the more reasonable number of xvm.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-41" id="link35note-41">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      41 (<a href="#link35noteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ Chalons, or
      Duro-Catalaunum, afterwards Catalauni, had formerly made a part of the
      territory of Rheims from whence it is distant only twenty-seven miles. See
      Vales, Notit. Gall. p. 136. D'Anville, Notice de l'Ancienne Gaule, p. 212,
      279.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-42" id="link35note-42">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      42 (<a href="#link35noteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ The name of Campania,
      or Champagne, is frequently mentioned by Gregory of Tours; and that great
      province, of which Rheims was the capital, obeyed the command of a duke.
      Vales. Notit. p. 120-123.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-43" id="link35note-43">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      43 (<a href="#link35noteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ I am sensible that
      these military orations are usually composed by the historian; yet the old
      Ostrogoths, who had served under Attila, might repeat his discourse to
      Cassiodorus; the ideas, and even the expressions, have an original
      Scythian cast; and I doubt, whether an Italian of the sixth century would
      have thought of the hujus certaminis gaudia.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The discipline and tactics of the Greeks and Romans form an interesting
      part of their national manners. The attentive study of the military
      operations of Xenophon, or Caesar, or Frederic, when they are described by
      the same genius which conceived and executed them, may tend to improve (if
      such improvement can be wished) the art of destroying the human species.
      But the battle of Chalons can only excite our curiosity by the magnitude
      of the object; since it was decided by the blind impetuosity of
      Barbarians, and has been related by partial writers, whose civil or
      ecclesiastical profession secluded them from the knowledge of military
      affairs. Cassiolorus, however, had familiarly conversed with many Gothic
      warriors, who served in that memorable engagement; "a conflict," as they
      informed him, "fierce, various, obstinate, and bloody; such as could not
      be paralleled either in the present or in past ages." The number of the
      slain amounted to one hundred and sixty-two thousand, or, according to
      another account, three hundred thousand persons; <a href="#link35note-44"
      name="link35noteref-44" id="link35noteref-44">44</a> and these incredible
      exaggerations suppose a real and effective loss sufficient to justify the
      historian's remark, that whole generations may be swept away by the
      madness of kings, in the space of a single hour. After the mutual and
      repeated discharge of missile weapons, in which the archers of Scythia
      might signalize their superior dexterity, the cavalry and infantry of the
      two armies were furiously mingled in closer combat. The Huns, who fought
      under the eyes of their king pierced through the feeble and doubtful
      centre of the allies, separated their wings from each other, and wheeling,
      with a rapid effort, to the left, directed their whole force against the
      Visigoths. As Theodoric rode along the ranks, to animate his troops, he
      received a mortal stroke from the javelin of Andages, a noble Ostrogoth,
      and immediately fell from his horse. The wounded king was oppressed in the
      general disorder, and trampled under the feet of his own cavalry; and this
      important death served to explain the ambiguous prophecy of the
      haruspices. Attila already exulted in the confidence of victory, when the
      valiant Torismond descended from the hills, and verified the remainder of
      the prediction. The Visigoths, who had been thrown into confusion by the
      flight or defection of the Alani, gradually restored their order of
      battle; and the Huns were undoubtedly vanquished, since Attila was
      compelled to retreat. He had exposed his person with the rashness of a
      private soldier; but the intrepid troops of the centre had pushed forwards
      beyond the rest of the line; their attack was faintly supported; their
      flanks were unguarded; and the conquerors of Scythia and Germany were
      saved by the approach of the night from a total defeat. They retired
      within the circle of wagons that fortified their camp; and the dismounted
      squadrons prepared themselves for a defence, to which neither their arms,
      nor their temper, were adapted. The event was doubtful: but Attila had
      secured a last and honorable resource. The saddles and rich furniture of
      the cavalry were collected, by his order, into a funeral pile; and the
      magnanimous Barbarian had resolved, if his intrenchments should be forced,
      to rush headlong into the flames, and to deprive his enemies of the glory
      which they might have acquired, by the death or captivity of Attila. <a
      href="#link35note-45" name="link35noteref-45" id="link35noteref-45">45</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-44" id="link35note-44">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      44 (<a href="#link35noteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ The expressions of
      Jornandes, or rather of Cassiodorus, are extremely strong. Bellum atrox,
      multiplex, immane, pertinax, cui simile nulla usquam narrat antiquitas:
      ubi talia gesta referuntur, ut nihil esset quod in vita sua conspicere
      potuisset egregius, qui hujus miraculi privaretur aspectu. Dubos (Hist.
      Critique, tom. i. p. 392, 393) attempts to reconcile the 162,000 of
      Jornandes with the 300,000 of Idatius and Isidore, by supposing that the
      larger number included the total destruction of the war, the effects of
      disease, the slaughter of the unarmed people, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-45" id="link35note-45">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      45 (<a href="#link35noteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ The count de Buat,
      (Hist. des Peuples, &amp;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; the former near Orleans, the latter in
      Champagne: in the one, Theodoric was slain in the other, he was revenged.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But his enemies had passed the night in equal disorder and anxiety. The
      inconsiderate courage of Torismond was tempted to urge the pursuit, till
      he unexpectedly found himself, with a few followers, in the midst of the
      Scythian wagons. In the confusion of a nocturnal combat, he was thrown
      from his horse; and the Gothic prince must have perished like his father,
      if his youthful strength, and the intrepid zeal of his companions, had not
      rescued him from this dangerous situation. In the same manner, but on the
      left of the line, Aetius himself, separated from his allies, ignorant of
      their victory, and anxious for their fate, encountered and escaped the
      hostile troops that were scattered over the plains of Chalons; and at
      length reached the camp of the Goths, which he could only fortify with a
      slight rampart of shields, till the dawn of day. The Imperial general was
      soon satisfied of the defeat of Attila, who still remained inactive within
      his intrenchments; and when he contemplated the bloody scene, he observed,
      with secret satisfaction, that the loss had principally fallen on the
      Barbarians. The body of Theodoric, pierced with honorable wounds, was
      discovered under a heap of the slain: is subjects bewailed the death of
      their king and father; but their tears were mingled with songs and
      acclamations, and his funeral rites were performed in the face of a
      vanquished enemy. The Goths, clashing their arms, elevated on a buckler
      his eldest son Torismond, to whom they justly ascribed the glory of their
      success; and the new king accepted the obligation of revenge as a sacred
      portion of his paternal inheritance. Yet the Goths themselves were
      astonished by the fierce and undaunted aspect of their formidable
      antagonist; and their historian has compared Attila to a lion encompassed
      in his den, and threatening his hunters with redoubled fury. The kings and
      nations who might have deserted his standard in the hour of distress, were
      made sensible that the displeasure of their monarch was the most imminent
      and inevitable danger. All his instruments of martial music incessantly
      sounded a loud and animating strain of defiance; and the foremost troops
      who advanced to the assault were checked or destroyed by showers of arrows
      from every side of the intrenchments. It was determined, in a general
      council of war, to besiege the king of the Huns in his camp, to intercept
      his provisions, and to reduce him to the alternative of a disgraceful
      treaty or an unequal combat. But the impatience of the Barbarians soon
      disdained these cautious and dilatory measures; and the mature policy of
      Aetius was apprehensive that, after the extirpation of the Huns, the
      republic would be oppressed by the pride and power of the Gothic nation.
      The patrician exerted the superior ascendant of authority and reason to
      calm the passions, which the son of Theodoric considered as a duty;
      represented, with seeming affection and real truth, the dangers of absence
      and delay and persuaded Torismond to disappoint, by his speedy return, the
      ambitious designs of his brothers, who might occupy the throne and
      treasures of Thoulouse. <a href="#link35note-46" name="link35noteref-46"
      id="link35noteref-46">46</a> After the departure of the Goths, and the
      separation of the allied army, Attila was surprised at the vast silence
      that reigned over the plains of Chalons: the suspicion of some hostile
      stratagem detained him several days within the circle of his wagons, and
      his retreat beyond the Rhine confessed the last victory which was achieved
      in the name of the Western empire. Meroveus and his Franks, observing a
      prudent distance, and magnifying the opinion of their strength by the
      numerous fires which they kindled every night, continued to follow the
      rear of the Huns till they reached the confines of Thuringia. The
      Thuringians served in the army of Attila: they traversed, both in their
      march and in their return, the territories of the Franks; and it was
      perhaps in this war that they exercised the cruelties which, about
      fourscore years afterwards, were revenged by the son of Clovis. They
      massacred their hostages, as well as their captives: two hundred young
      maidens were tortured with exquisite and unrelenting rage; their bodies
      were torn asunder by wild horses, or their bones were crushed under the
      weight of rolling wagons; and their unburied limbs were abandoned on the
      public roads, as a prey to dogs and vultures. Such were those savage
      ancestors, whose imaginary virtues have sometimes excited the praise and
      envy of civilized ages. <a href="#link35note-47" name="link35noteref-47"
      id="link35noteref-47">47</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-46" id="link35note-46">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      46 (<a href="#link35noteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ Jornandes de Rebus
      Geticis, c. 41, p. 671. The policy of Aetius, and the behavior of
      Torismond, are extremely natural; and the patrician, according to Gregory
      of Tours, (l. ii. c. 7, p. 163,) dismissed the prince of the Franks, by
      suggesting to him a similar apprehension. The false Idatius ridiculously
      pretends, that Aetius paid a clandestine nocturnal visit to the kings of
      the Huns and of the Visigoths; from each of whom he obtained a bribe of
      ten thousand pieces of gold, as the price of an undisturbed retreat.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-47" id="link35note-47">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      47 (<a href="#link35noteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ These cruelties, which
      are passionately deplored by Theodoric, the son of Clovis, (Gregory of
      Tours, l. iii. c. 10, p. 190,) suit the time and circumstances of the
      invasion of Attila. His residence in Thuringia was long attested by
      popular tradition; and he is supposed to have assembled a couroultai, or
      diet, in the territory of Eisenach. See Mascou, ix. 30, who settles with
      nice accuracy the extent of ancient Thuringia, and derives its name from
      the Gothic tribe of the Therungi]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link352HCH0003" id="link352HCH0003">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.&mdash;Part III.
    </h2>
    <p>
      Neither the spirit, nor the forces, nor the reputation, of Attila, were
      impaired by the failure of the Gallic expedition In the ensuing spring he
      repeated his demand of the princess Honoria, and her patrimonial
      treasures. The demand was again rejected, or eluded; and the indignant
      lover immediately took the field, passed the Alps, invaded Italy, and
      besieged Aquileia with an innumerable host of Barbarians. Those Barbarians
      were unskilled in the methods of conducting a regular siege, which, even
      among the ancients, required some knowledge, or at least some practice, of
      the mechanic arts. But the labor of many thousand provincials and
      captives, whose lives were sacrificed without pity, might execute the most
      painful and dangerous work. The skill of the Roman artists might be
      corrupted to the destruction of their country. The walls of Aquileia were
      assaulted by a formidable train of battering rams, movable turrets, and
      engines, that threw stones, darts, and fire; <a href="#link35note-48"
      name="link35noteref-48" id="link35noteref-48">48</a> and the monarch of
      the Huns employed the forcible impulse of hope, fear, emulation, and
      interest, to subvert the only barrier which delayed the conquest of Italy.
      Aquileia was at that period one of the richest, the most populous, and the
      strongest of the maritime cities of the Adriatic coast. The Gothic
      auxiliaries, who appeared to have served under their native princes,
      Alaric and Antala, communicated their intrepid spirit; and the citizens
      still remembered the glorious and successful 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, compelled Attila to relinquish the enterprise; and reluctantly
      to issue his orders, that the troops should strike their tents the next
      morning, and begin their retreat. But as he rode round the walls, pensive,
      angry, and disappointed, he observed a stork preparing to leave her nest,
      in one of the towers, and to fly with her infant family towards the
      country. He seized, with the ready penetration of a statesman, this
      trifling incident, which chance had offered to superstition; and
      exclaimed, in a loud and cheerful tone, that such a domestic bird, so
      constantly attached to human society, would never have abandoned her
      ancient seats, unless those towers had been devoted to impending ruin and
      solitude. <a href="#link35note-49" name="link35noteref-49"
      id="link35noteref-49">49</a> The favorable omen inspired an assurance of
      victory; the siege was renewed and prosecuted with fresh vigor; a large
      breach was made in the part of the wall from whence the stork had taken
      her flight; the Huns mounted to the assault with irresistible fury; and
      the succeeding generation could scarcely discover the ruins of Aquileia.
      <a href="#link35note-50" name="link35noteref-50" id="link35noteref-50">50</a>
      After this dreadful chastisement, Attila pursued his march; and as he
      passed, the cities of Altinum, Concordia, and Padua, were reduced into
      heaps of stones and ashes. The inland towns, Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo,
      were exposed to the rapacious cruelty of the Huns. Milan and Pavia
      submitted, without resistance, to the loss of their wealth; and applauded
      the unusual clemency which preserved from the flames the public, as well
      as private, buildings, and spared the lives of the captive multitude. The
      popular traditions of Comum, Turin, or Modena, may justly be suspected;
      yet they concur with more authentic evidence to prove, that Attila spread
      his ravages over the rich plains of modern Lombardy; which are divided by
      the Po, and bounded by the Alps and Apennine. <a href="#link35note-51"
      name="link35noteref-51" id="link35noteref-51">51</a> When he took
      possession of the royal palace of Milan, he was surprised and offended at
      the sight of a picture which represented the Caesars seated on their
      throne, and the princes of Scythia prostrate at their feet. The revenge
      which Attila inflicted on this monument of Roman vanity, was harmless and
      ingenious. He commanded a painter to reverse the figures and the
      attitudes; and the emperors were delineated on the same canvas,
      approaching in a suppliant posture to empty their bags of tributary gold
      before the throne of the Scythian monarch. <a href="#link35note-52"
      name="link35noteref-52" id="link35noteref-52">52</a> The spectators must
      have confessed the truth and propriety of the alteration; and were perhaps
      tempted to apply, on this singular occasion, the well-known fable of the
      dispute between the lion and the man. <a href="#link35note-53"
      name="link35noteref-53" id="link35noteref-53">53</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-48" id="link35note-48">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      48 (<a href="#link35noteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ Machinis constructis,
      omnibusque tormentorum generibus adhibitis. Jornandes, c. 42, p. 673. In
      the thirteenth century, the Moguls battered the cities of China with large
      engines, constructed by the Mahometans or Christians in their service,
      which threw stones from 150 to 300 pounds weight. In the defence of their
      country, the Chinese used gunpowder, and even bombs, above a hundred years
      before they were known in Europe; yet even those celestial, or infernal,
      arms were insufficient to protect a pusillanimous nation. See Gaubil.
      Hist. des Mongous, p. 70, 71, 155, 157, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-49" id="link35note-49">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      49 (<a href="#link35noteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ The same story is told
      by Jornandes, and by Procopius, (de Bell Vandal. l. i. c. 4, p. 187, 188:)
      nor is it easy to decide which is the original. But the Greek historian is
      guilty of an inexcusable mistake, in placing the siege of Aquileia after
      the death of Aetius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-50" id="link35note-50">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      50 (<a href="#link35noteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ Jornandes, about a
      hundred years afterwards, affirms, that Aquileia was so completely ruined,
      ita ut vix ejus vestigia, ut appareant, reliquerint. See Jornandes de Reb.
      Geticis, c. 42, p. 673. Paul. Diacon. l. ii. c. 14, p. 785. Liutprand,
      Hist. l. iii. c. 2. The name of Aquileia was sometimes applied to Forum
      Julii, (Cividad del Friuli,) 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 the library of Vienna, p. 298, &amp;c.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
 Repleta quondam domibus sublimibus, ornatis mire, niveis, marmorels,
 Nune ferax frugum metiris funiculo ruricolarum.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      The monkish poet has his consolation in Attila's sufferings in soul and
      body.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
 Vindictam tamen non evasit impius destructor tuus Attila sevissimus,
 Nunc igni simul gehennae et vermibus excruciatur&mdash;P. 290.&mdash;M.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-51" id="link35note-51">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      51 (<a href="#link35noteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ In describing this war
      of Attila, a war so famous, but so imperfectly 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; and Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. iv. p. 229-236, 8vo.
      edition.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-52" id="link35note-52">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      52 (<a href="#link35noteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ This anecdote may be
      found under two different articles of the miscellaneous compilation of
      Suidas.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-53" id="link35note-53">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      53 (<a href="#link35noteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Leo respondit, humana, hoc pictum manu:
     Videres hominem dejectum, si pingere
     Leones scirent.
     &mdash;Appendix ad Phaedrum, Fab. xxv.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      The lion in Phaedrus very foolishly appeals from pictures to the
      amphitheatre; and I am glad to observe, that the native taste of La
      Fontaine (l. iii. fable x.) has omitted this most lame and impotent
      conclusion.]
    </p>
    <p>
      It is a saying worthy of the ferocious pride of Attila, that the grass
      never grew on the spot where his horse had trod. Yet the savage destroyer
      undesignedly laid the foundation of a republic, which revived, in the
      feudal state of Europe, the art and spirit of commercial industry. The
      celebrated name of Venice, or Venetia, <a href="#link35note-54"
      name="link35noteref-54" id="link35noteref-54">54</a> was formerly diffused
      over a large and fertile province of Italy, from the confines of Pannonia
      to the River Addua, and from the Po to the Rhaetian and Julian Alps.
      Before the irruption of the Barbarians, fifty Venetian cities flourished
      in peace and prosperity: Aquileia was placed in the most conspicuous
      station: but the ancient dignity of Padua was supported by agriculture and
      manufactures; and the property of five hundred citizens, who were entitled
      to the equestrian rank, must have amounted, at the strictest computation,
      to one million seven hundred thousand pounds. Many families of Aquileia,
      Padua, and the adjacent towns, who fled from the sword of the Huns, found
      a safe, though obscure, refuge in the neighboring islands. <a
      href="#link35note-55" name="link35noteref-55" id="link35noteref-55">55</a>
      At the extremity of the Gulf, where the Adriatic feebly imitates the tides
      of the ocean, near a hundred small islands are separated by shallow water
      from the continent, and protected from the waves by several long slips of
      land, which admit the entrance of vessels through some secret and narrow
      channels. <a href="#link35note-56" name="link35noteref-56"
      id="link35noteref-56">56</a> Till the middle of the fifth century, these
      remote and sequestered spots remained without cultivation, with few
      inhabitants, and almost without a name. But the manners of the Venetian
      fugitives, their arts and their government, were gradually formed by their
      new situation; and one of the epistles of Cassiodorus, <a
      href="#link35note-57" name="link35noteref-57" id="link35noteref-57">57</a>
      which describes their condition about seventy years afterwards, may be
      considered as the primitive monument of the republic. <a
      href="#link35note-571" name="link35noteref-571" id="link35noteref-571">571</a>
      The minister of Theodoric compares them, in his quaint declamatory style,
      to water-fowl, who had fixed their nests on the bosom of the waves; and
      though he allows, that the Venetian provinces had formerly contained many
      noble families, he insinuates, that they were now reduced by misfortune to
      the same level of humble poverty. Fish was the common, and almost the
      universal, food of every rank: their only treasure consisted in the plenty
      of salt, which they extracted from the sea: and the exchange of that
      commodity, so essential to human life, was substituted in the neighboring
      markets to the currency of gold and silver. A people, whose habitations
      might be doubtfully assigned to the earth or water, soon became alike
      familiar with the two elements; and the demands of avarice succeeded to
      those of necessity. The islanders, who, from Grado to Chiozza, were
      intimately connected with each other, penetrated into the heart of Italy,
      by the secure, 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 Venice
      annually celebrates with the Adriatic, was contracted in her early
      infancy. The epistle of Cassiodorus, the Praetorian praefect, is addressed
      to the maritime tribunes; and he exhorts them, in a mild tone of
      authority, to animate the zeal of their countrymen for the public service,
      which required their assistance to transport the magazines of wine 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, were created by an
      annual and popular election. The existence of the Venetian republic under
      the Gothic kingdom of Italy, is attested by the same authentic record,
      which annihilates their lofty claim of original and perpetual
      independence. <a href="#link35note-58" name="link35noteref-58"
      id="link35noteref-58">58</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-54" id="link35note-54">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      54 (<a href="#link35noteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ Paul the Deacon (de
      Gestis Langobard. l. ii. c. 14, p. 784) describes the provinces of Italy
      about the end of the eighth century Venetia non solum in paucis insulis
      quas nunc Venetias dicimus, constat; sed ejus terminus a Pannoniae finibus
      usque Adduam fluvium protelatur. The history of that province till the age
      of Charlemagne forms the first and most interesting part of the Verona
      (Illustrata, p. 1-388,) in which the marquis Scipio Maffei has shown
      himself equally capable of enlarged views and minute disquisitions.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-55" id="link35note-55">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      55 (<a href="#link35noteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ This emigration is not
      attested by any contemporary evidence; but the fact is proved by the
      event, and the circumstances might be preserved by tradition. The citizens
      of Aquileia retired to the Isle of Gradus, those of Padua to Rivus Altus,
      or Rialto, where the city of Venice was afterwards built, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-56" id="link35note-56">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      56 (<a href="#link35noteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ The topography and
      antiquities of the Venetian islands, from Gradus to Clodia, or Chioggia,
      are accurately stated in the Dissertatio Chorographica de Italia Medii
      Aevi. p. 151-155.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-57" id="link35note-57">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      57 (<a href="#link35noteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ Cassiodor. Variar. l.
      xii. epist. 24. Maffei (Verona Illustrata, part i. p. 240-254) has
      translated and explained this curious letter, in the spirit of a learned
      antiquarian and a faithful subject, who considered Venice as the only
      legitimate offspring of the Roman republic. He fixes the date of the
      epistle, and consequently the praefecture, of Cassiodorus, A.D. 523; and
      the marquis's authority has the more weight, as he prepared an edition of
      his works, and actually published a dissertation on the true orthography
      of his name. See Osservazioni Letterarie, tom. ii. p. 290-339.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-571" id="link35note-571">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      571 (<a href="#link35noteref-571">return</a>)<br /> [ The learned count
      Figliasi has proved, in his memoirs upon 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 Venetian States or Terra Firma, likewise inhabited
      the islands scattered upon the coast, and that from thence arose the names
      of Venetia prima and secunda, of which the first applied to the main land
      and the second to the islands and lagunes. From the time of the Pelasgi
      and of the Etrurians, the first Veneti, inhabiting a fertile and pleasant
      country, devoted themselves to agriculture: the second, placed in the
      midst of canals, at the mouth of several rivers, conveniently situated
      with regard to the islands of Greece, as well as the fertile plains of
      Italy, applied themselves to navigation and commerce. Both submitted to
      the Romans a short time before the second Punic war; yet it was not till
      after the victory of Marius over the Cimbri, that their country was
      reduced to a Roman province. Under the emperors, Venetia Prima obtained
      more than once, by its calamities, a place in history. * * But the
      maritime province was occupied in salt works, fisheries, and commerce. The
      Romans have considered the inhabitants of this part as beneath the dignity
      of history, and have left them in obscurity. * * * They dwelt there until
      the period when their islands afforded a retreat to their ruined and
      fugitive compatriots. Sismondi. Hist. des Rep. Italiens, v. i. p. 313.&mdash;G.
      &mdash;&mdash;Compare, on the origin of Venice, Daru, Hist. de Venise,
      vol. i. c. l.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-58" id="link35note-58">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      58 (<a href="#link35noteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ See, in the second
      volume of Amelot de la Houssaie, Histoire du Gouvernement de Venise, a
      translation of the famous Squittinio. This book, which has been exalted
      far above its merits, is stained, in every line, with the disingenuous
      malevolence of party: but the principal evidence, genuine and apocryphal,
      is brought together and the reader will easily choose the fair medium.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The Italians, who had long since renounced the exercise of arms, were
      surprised, after forty years' peace, by the approach of a formidable
      Barbarian, whom they abhorred, as the enemy of their religion, as well as
      of their republic. Amidst the general consternation, Aetius alone was
      incapable of fear; but it was impossible that he should achieve, alone and
      unassisted, any military exploits worthy of his former renown. The
      Barbarians who had defended Gaul, refused to march to the relief of Italy;
      and the succors promised by the Eastern emperor were distant and doubtful.
      Since Aetius, at the head of his domestic troops, still maintained the
      field, and harassed or retarded the march of Attila, he never showed
      himself more truly great, than at the time when his conduct was blamed by
      an ignorant and ungrateful people. <a href="#link35note-59"
      name="link35noteref-59" id="link35noteref-59">59</a> If the mind of
      Valentinian had been susceptible of any generous sentiments, he would have
      chosen such a general for his example and his guide. But the timid
      grandson of Theodosius, instead of sharing the dangers, escaped from the
      sound of war; and his hasty retreat from Ravenna to Rome, from an
      impregnable fortress to an open capital, betrayed his secret intention of
      abandoning Italy, as soon as the danger should approach his Imperial
      person. This shameful abdication was suspended, however, by the spirit of
      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 salutary resolution of
      deprecating, by a solemn and suppliant embassy, the wrath of Attila. This
      important commission was accepted by Avienus, who, from his birth and
      riches, his consular dignity, the numerous train of his clients, and his
      personal abilities, held the first rank in the Roman senate. The specious
      and artful character of Avienus <a href="#link35note-60"
      name="link35noteref-60" id="link35noteref-60">60</a> was admirably
      qualified to conduct a negotiation either of public or private interest:
      his colleague Trigetius had exercised the Praetorian praefecture of Italy;
      and Leo, bishop of Rome, consented to expose his life for the safety of
      his flock. The genius of Leo <a href="#link35note-61"
      name="link35noteref-61" id="link35noteref-61">61</a> was exercised and
      displayed in the public misfortunes; and he has deserved the appellation
      of Great, by the successful zeal with which he labored to establish his
      opinions and his authority, under the venerable names of orthodox faith
      and ecclesiastical discipline. The Roman ambassadors were introduced to
      the tent of Attila, as he lay encamped at the place where the slow-winding
      Mincius is lost in the foaming waves of the Lake Benacus, <a
      href="#link35note-62" name="link35noteref-62" id="link35noteref-62">62</a>
      and trampled, with his Scythian cavalry, the farms of Catullus and Virgil.
      <a href="#link35note-63" name="link35noteref-63" id="link35noteref-63">63</a>
      The Barbarian monarch listened with favorable, and even respectful,
      attention; and the deliverance of Italy was purchased by the immense
      ransom, or dowry, of the princess Honoria. The state of his army might
      facilitate the treaty, and hasten his retreat. Their martial spirit was
      relaxed by the wealth and idolence of a warm climate. The shepherds of the
      North, whose ordinary food consisted of milk and raw flesh, indulged
      themselves too freely in the use of bread, of wine, and of meat, prepared
      and seasoned by the arts of cookery; and the progress of disease revenged
      in some measure the injuries of the Italians. <a href="#link35note-64"
      name="link35noteref-64" id="link35noteref-64">64</a> When Attila declared
      his resolution of carrying his victorious arms to the gates of Rome, he
      was admonished by his friends, as well as by his enemies, that Alaric had
      not long survived the conquest of the eternal city. His mind, superior to
      real danger, was assaulted by imaginary terrors; nor could he escape the
      influence of superstition, which had so often been subservient to his
      designs. <a href="#link35note-65" name="link35noteref-65"
      id="link35noteref-65">65</a> The pressing eloquence of Leo, his majestic
      aspect and sacerdotal robes, excited the veneration of Attila for the
      spiritual father of the Christians. The apparition of the two apostles,
      St. Peter and St. Paul, who menaced the Barbarian with instant death, if
      he rejected the prayer of their successor, is one of the noblest legends
      of ecclesiastical tradition. The safety of Rome might deserve the
      interposition of celestial beings; and some indulgence is due to a fable,
      which has been represented by the pencil of Raphael, and the chisel of
      Algardi. <a href="#link35note-66" name="link35noteref-66"
      id="link35noteref-66">66</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-59" id="link35note-59">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      59 (<a href="#link35noteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ Sirmond (Not. ad Sidon.
      Apollin. p. 19) has published a curious passage from the Chronicle of
      Prosper. Attila, redintegratis viribus, quas in Gallia amiserat, Italiam
      ingredi per Pannonias intendit; nihil duce nostro Aetio secundum prioris
      belli opera prospiciente, &amp;c. He reproaches Aetius with neglecting to
      guard the Alps, and with a design to abandon Italy; but this rash censure
      may at least be counterbalanced by the favorable testimonies of Idatius
      and Isidore.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-60" id="link35note-60">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      60 (<a href="#link35noteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ See the original
      portraits of Avienus and his rival Basilius, delineated and contrasted in
      the epistles (i. 9. p. 22) of Sidonius. He had studied the characters of
      the two chiefs of the senate; but he attached himself to Basilius, as the
      more solid and disinterested friend.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-61" id="link35note-61">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      61 (<a href="#link35noteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ The character and
      principles of Leo may be traced in one hundred and forty-one original
      epistles, which illustrate the ecclesiastical history of his long and busy
      pontificate, from A.D. 440 to 461. See Dupin, Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique,
      tom. iii. part ii p. 120-165.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-62" id="link35note-62">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      62 (<a href="#link35noteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Tardis ingens ubi flexibus errat
     Mincius, et tenera praetexit arundine ripas
   &mdash;&mdash;&mdash;-
     Anne lacus tantos, te Lari maxime, teque
     Fluctibus, et fremitu assurgens Benace marino.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-63" id="link35note-63">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      63 (<a href="#link35noteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ The marquis Maffei
      (Verona Illustrata, part i. p. 95, 129, 221, part ii. p. 2, 6) has
      illustrated with taste and learning this interesting topography. He places
      the interview of Attila and St. Leo near Ariolica, or Ardelica, now
      Peschiera, at the conflux of the lake and river; ascertains the villa of
      Catullus, in the delightful peninsula of Sirmio, and discovers the Andes
      of Virgil, in the village of Bandes, precisely situate, qua se subducere
      colles incipiunt, where the Veronese hills imperceptibly slope down into
      the plain of Mantua. * Note: Gibbon has made a singular mistake: the
      Mincius flows out of the Bonacus at Peschiera, not into it. The interview
      is likewise placed at Ponte Molino. 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 of the latter place, commemorative of the event.
      Descrizione di Verona a de la sua provincia. C. 11, p. 126.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-64" id="link35note-64">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      64 (<a href="#link35noteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ Si statim infesto
      agmine urbem petiissent, grande discrimen esset: sed in Venetia quo fere
      tractu Italia mollissima est, ipsa soli coelique clementia robur elanquit.
      Ad hoc panis usu carnisque coctae, et dulcedine vini mitigatos, &amp;c.
      This passage of Florus (iii. 3) is still more applicable to the Huns than
      to the Cimbri, and it may serve as a commentary on the celestial plague,
      with which Idatius and Isidore have afflicted the troops of Attila.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-65" id="link35note-65">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      65 (<a href="#link35noteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ The historian Priscus
      had positively mentioned the effect which this example produced on the
      mind of Attila. Jornandes, c. 42, p. 673]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-66" id="link35note-66">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      66 (<a href="#link35noteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ The picture of Raphael
      is in the Vatican; the basso (or perhaps 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 sustains the truth of the apparition; which is
      rejected, however, by the most learned and pious Catholics.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Before the king of the Huns evacuated Italy, he threatened to return more
      dreadful, and more implacable, if his bride, the princess Honoria, were
      not delivered to his ambassadors within the term stipulated by the treaty.
      Yet, in the mean while, Attila relieved his tender anxiety, by adding a
      beautiful maid, whose name was Ildico, to the list of his innumerable
      wives. <a href="#link35note-67" name="link35noteref-67"
      id="link35noteref-67">67</a> Their marriage was celebrated with barbaric
      pomp and festivity, at his wooden palace beyond the Danube; and the
      monarch, oppressed with wine and sleep, retired at a late hour from the
      banquet to the nuptial bed. His attendants continued to respect his
      pleasures, or his repose, the greatest part of the ensuing day, till the
      unusual silence alarmed their fears and suspicions; and, after attempting
      to awaken Attila by loud and repeated cries, they at length broke into the
      royal apartment. They found the trembling bride sitting by the bedside,
      hiding her face with her veil, and lamenting her own danger, as well as
      the death of the king, who had expired during the night. <a
      href="#link35note-68" name="link35noteref-68" id="link35noteref-68">68</a>
      An artery had suddenly burst: and as Attila lay in a supine posture, he
      was suffocated by a torrent of blood, which, instead of finding a passage
      through the nostrils, regurgitated into the lungs and stomach. His body
      was solemnly exposed in the midst of the plain, under a silken pavilion;
      and the chosen squadrons of the Huns, wheeling round in measured
      evolutions, chanted a funeral song to the memory of a hero, glorious in
      his life, invincible in his death, the father of his people, the scourge
      of his enemies, and the terror of the world. According to their national
      custom, the Barbarians cut off a part of their hair, gashed their faces
      with unseemly wounds, and bewailed their valiant leader as he deserved,
      not with the tears of women, but with the blood of warriors. The remains
      of Attila were enclosed within three coffins, of gold, of silver, and of
      iron, and privately buried in the night: the spoils of nations were thrown
      into his grave; the captives who had opened the ground were inhumanly
      massacred; and the same Huns, who had indulged such excessive grief,
      feasted, with dissolute and intemperate mirth, about the recent sepulchre
      of their king. It was reported at Constantinople, that on the fortunate
      night on which he expired, Marcian beheld in a dream the bow of Attila
      broken asunder: and the report may be allowed to prove, how seldom the
      image of that formidable Barbarian was absent from the mind of a Roman
      emperor. <a href="#link35note-69" name="link35noteref-69"
      id="link35noteref-69">69</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-67" id="link35note-67">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      67 (<a href="#link35noteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ Attila, ut Priscus
      historicus refert, extinctionis suae tempore, puellam Ildico nomine,
      decoram, valde, sibi matrimonium post innumerabiles uxores... socians.
      Jornandes, c. 49, p. 683, 684.
    </p>
    <p>
      He afterwards adds, (c. 50, p. 686,) Filii Attilae, quorum per licentiam
      libidinis poene populus fuit. Polygamy has been established among the
      Tartars of every age. The rank of plebeian wives is regulated only by
      their 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. See
      Genealogical History, p. 406, 407, 408.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-68" id="link35note-68">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      68 (<a href="#link35noteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ The report of her guilt
      reached Constantinople, where it obtained a very different name; and
      Marcellinus observes, that the tyrant of Europe was slain in the night by
      the hand, and the knife, of a woman Corneille, who has adapted the genuine
      account to his tragedy, describes the irruption of blood in forty bombast
      lines, and Attila exclaims, with ridiculous fury,
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     S'il ne veut s'arreter, (his blood.)
    (Dit-il) on me payera ce qui m'en va couter.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-69" id="link35note-69">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      69 (<a href="#link35noteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ The curious
      circumstances of the death and funeral of Attila are related by Jornandes,
      (c. 49, p. 683, 684, 685,) and were probably transcribed from Priscus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The revolution which subverted the empire of the Huns, established the
      fame of Attila, whose genius alone had sustained the huge and disjointed
      fabric. After his death, the boldest chieftains aspired to the rank of
      kings; the most powerful kings refused to acknowledge a superior; and the
      numerous sons, whom so many various mothers bore to the deceased monarch,
      divided and disputed, like a private inheritance, the sovereign command of
      the nations of Germany and Scythia. The bold Ardaric felt and represented
      the disgrace of this servile partition; and his subjects, the warlike
      Gepidae, with the Ostrogoths, under the conduct of three valiant brothers,
      encouraged their allies to vindicate the rights of freedom and royalty. In
      a bloody and decisive conflict on the banks of the River Netad, in
      Pannonia, the lance of the Gepidae, the sword of the Goths, the arrows of
      the Huns, the Suevic infantry, the light arms of the Heruli, and the heavy
      weapons of the Alani, encountered or supported each other; and the victory
      of the Ardaric was accompanied with the slaughter of thirty thousand of
      his enemies. Ellac, the eldest son of Attila, lost his life and crown in
      the memorable battle of Netad: his early valor had raised him to the
      throne of the Acatzires, a Scythian people, whom he subdued; and his
      father, who loved the superior merit, would have envied the death of
      Ellac. <a href="#link35note-70" name="link35noteref-70"
      id="link35noteref-70">70</a> His brother, Dengisich, with an army of Huns,
      still formidable in their flight and ruin, maintained his ground above
      fifteen years on the banks of the Danube. The palace of Attila, with the
      old country of Dacia, from the Carpathian hills to the Euxine, 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 irregularly distributed, according to the
      measure of their respective strength. Surrounded and oppressed by the
      multitude of his father's slaves, the kingdom of Dengisich was confined to
      the circle of his wagons; his desperate courage urged him to invade the
      Eastern empire: he fell in battle; and his head ignominiously exposed in
      the Hippodrome, exhibited a grateful spectacle to the people of
      Constantinople. Attila had fondly or superstitiously believed, that Irnac,
      the youngest of his sons, was destined to perpetuate the glories of his
      race. The character of that prince, 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 followed the same road which their own ancestors had
      formerly discovered. The Geougen, or Avares, whose residence is assigned
      by the Greek writers to the shores of the ocean, impelled the adjacent
      tribes; till at length the Igours of the North, issuing from the cold
      Siberian regions, which produce the most valuable furs, spread themselves
      over the desert, as far as the Borysthenes and the Caspian gates; and
      finally extinguished the empire of the Huns. <a href="#link35note-71"
      name="link35noteref-71" id="link35noteref-71">71</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-70" id="link35note-70">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      70 (<a href="#link35noteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 tela frangentem, Suevum pede, Hunnum sagitta
      praesumere, Alanum gravi Herulum levi, armatura, aciem instruere. I am not
      precisely informed of the situation of the River Netad.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-71" id="link35note-71">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      71 (<a href="#link35noteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ Two modern historians
      have thrown much new light on the ruin and division of the empire of
      Attila; M. de Buat, by his laborious and minute diligence, (tom. viii. p.
      3-31, 68-94,) and M. de Guignes, by his extraordinary knowledge of the
      Chinese language and writers. See Hist. des Huns, tom. ii. p. 315-319.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Such an event might contribute to the safety of the Eastern empire, under
      the reign of a prince who conciliated the friendship, without forfeiting
      the esteem, of the Barbarians. But the emperor of the West, the feeble and
      dissolute Valentinian, who had reached his thirty-fifth year without
      attaining the age of reason or courage, abused this apparent security, to
      undermine the foundations of his own throne, by the murder of the
      patrician Aetius. From the instinct of a base and jealous mind, he hated
      the man who was universally celebrated as the terror of the Barbarians,
      and the support of the republic; <a href="#link35note-711"
      name="link35noteref-711" id="link35noteref-711">711</a> and his new
      favorite, the eunuch Heraclius, awakened the emperor from the supine
      lethargy, which might be disguised, during the life of Placidia, <a
      href="#link35note-72" name="link35noteref-72" id="link35noteref-72">72</a>
      by the excuse of filial piety. The fame of Aetius, his wealth and dignity,
      the numerous and martial train of Barbarian followers, his powerful
      dependants, who filled the civil offices of the state, and the hopes of
      his son Gaudentius, who was already contracted to Eudoxia, the emperor's
      daughter, had raised him above the rank of a subject. The ambitious
      designs, of which he was secretly accused, excited the fears, as well as
      the resentment, of Valentinian. Aetius himself, supported by the
      consciousness of his merit, his services, and perhaps his innocence, seems
      to have maintained a haughty and indiscreet behavior. The patrician
      offended his sovereign by a hostile declaration; he aggravated the
      offence, by compelling him to ratify, with a solemn oath, a treaty of
      reconciliation and alliance; he proclaimed his suspicions, he neglected
      his safety; and from a vain confidence that the enemy, whom he despised,
      was incapable even of a manly crime, he rashly ventured his person in the
      palace of Rome. Whilst he urged, perhaps with intemperate vehemence, the
      marriage of his son; Valentinian, drawing his sword, the first sword he
      had ever drawn, plunged it in the breast of a general who had saved his
      empire: his courtiers and eunuchs ambitiously struggled to imitate their
      master; and Aetius, pierced with a hundred wounds, fell dead in the royal
      presence. Boethius, the Praetorian praefect, was killed at the same
      moment, and before the event could be divulged, the principal friends of
      the patrician were summoned to the palace, and separately murdered. The
      horrid deed, palliated by the specious names of justice and necessity, was
      immediately communicated by the emperor to his soldiers, his subjects, and
      his allies. The nations, who were strangers or enemies to Aetius,
      generously deplored the unworthy fate of a hero: the Barbarians, who had
      been attached to his service, dissembled their grief and resentment: and
      the public contempt, which had been so long entertained for Valentinian,
      was at once converted into deep and universal abhorrence. Such sentiments
      seldom pervade the walls of a palace; 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 a man who cuts off his right hand with his
      left." <a href="#link35note-73" name="link35noteref-73"
      id="link35noteref-73">73</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-711" id="link35note-711">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      711 (<a href="#link35noteref-711">return</a>)<br /> [ The praises awarded
      by Gibbon to the character of Aetius have been animadverted upon with
      great severity. (See Mr. Herbert's Attila. p. 321.) I am not aware that
      Gibbon has dissembled or palliated any of the crimes or treasons of
      Aetius: but his position at the time of his murder was certainly that of
      the preserver of the empire, the conqueror of the most dangerous of the
      barbarians: it is by no means clear that he was not "innocent" of any
      treasonable designs against Valentinian. If the early acts of his life,
      the introduction of the Huns into Italy, and of the Vandals into Africa,
      were among the proximate causes of the ruin of the empire, his murder was
      the signal for its almost immediate downfall.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-72" id="link35note-72">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      72 (<a href="#link35noteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ Placidia died at Rome,
      November 27, A.D. 450. She was buried at Ravenna, where her sepulchre, and
      even her corpse, seated in a chair of cypress wood, were preserved for
      ages. The empress received many compliments from the orthodox clergy; and
      St. Peter Chrysologus assured her, that her zeal for the Trinity had been
      recompensed by an august trinity of children. See Tillemont, Uist. Jer
      Emp. tom. vi. p. 240.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-73" id="link35note-73">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      73 (<a href="#link35noteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ Aetium Placidus
      mactavit semivir amens, is the expression of Sidonius, (Panegyr. Avit.
      359.) The poet knew the world, and was not inclined to flatter a minister
      who had injured or disgraced Avitus and Majorian, the successive heroes of
      his song.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The luxury of Rome seems to have attracted the long and frequent visits of
      Valentinian; who was consequently more despised at Rome than in any other
      part of his dominions. A republican spirit was insensibly revived in the
      senate, as their authority, and even their supplies, became necessary for
      the support of his feeble government. The stately demeano of an hereditary
      monarch offended their pride; and the pleasures of Valentinian were
      injurious to the peace and honor of noble families. The birth of the
      empress Eudoxia was equal to his own, and her charms and tender affection
      deserved those testimonies of love which her inconstant husband dissipated
      in vague and unlawful amours. Petronius Maximus, a wealthy senator of the
      Anician family, who had been twice consul, was possessed of a chaste and
      beautiful wife: her obstinate resistance served only to irritate the
      desires of Valentinian; and he resolved to accomplish them, either by
      stratagem or force. Deep gaming was one of the vices of the court: the
      emperor, who, by chance or contrivance, had gained from Maximus a
      considerable sum, uncourteously exacted his ring as a security for the
      debt; and sent it by a trusty messenger to his wife, with an order, in her
      husband's name, that she should immediately attend the empress Eudoxia.
      The unsuspecting wife of Maximus was conveyed in her litter to the
      Imperial palace; the emissaries of her impatient lover conducted her to a
      remote and silent bed-chamber; and Valentinian violated, without remorse,
      the laws of hospitality. Her tears, when she returned home, her deep
      affliction, and her bitter reproaches against a husband whom she
      considered as the accomplice of his own shame, excited Maximus to a just
      revenge; the desire of revenge was stimulated by ambition; and he might
      reasonably aspire, by the free suffrage of the Roman senate, to the throne
      of a detested and despicable rival. Valentinian, who supposed that every
      human breast was devoid, like his own, of friendship and gratitude, had
      imprudently admitted among his guards several domestics and followers of
      Aetius. Two of these, of Barbarian race were persuaded to execute a sacred
      and honorable 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 the spectacle of
      some military sports, they suddenly rushed upon him with drawn weapons,
      despatched the guilty Heraclius, and stabbed the emperor to the heart,
      without the least opposition from his numerous train, who seemed to
      rejoice in the tyrant's death. Such was the fate of Valentinian the Third,
      <a href="#link35note-74" name="link35noteref-74" id="link35noteref-74">74</a>
      the last Roman emperor of the family of Theodosius. He faithfully imitated
      the hereditary weakness of his cousin and his two uncles, without
      inheriting the gentleness, the purity, the innocence, which alleviate, in
      their characters, the want of spirit and ability. Valentinian was less
      excusable, since he had passions, without virtues: even his religion was
      questionable; and though he never deviated into the paths of heresy, he
      scandalized the pious Christians by his attachment to the profane arts of
      magic and divination.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-74" id="link35note-74">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      74 (<a href="#link35noteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ With regard to the
      cause and circumstances of the deaths of Aetius and Valentinian, our
      information is dark and imperfect. Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 4,
      p. 186, 187, 188) is a fabulous writer for the events which precede his
      own memory. His narrative must therefore be supplied and corrected by five
      or six Chronicles, none of which were composed in Rome or Italy; and which
      can only express, in broken sentences, the popular rumors, as they were
      conveyed to Gaul, Spain, Africa, Constantinople, or Alexandria.]
    </p>
    <p>
      As early as the time of Cicero and Varro, it was the opinion of the Roman
      augurs, that the twelve vultures which Romulus had seen, represented the
      twelve centuries, assigned for the fatal period of his city. <a
      href="#link35note-75" name="link35noteref-75" id="link35noteref-75">75</a>
      This prophecy, disregarded perhaps in the season of health and prosperity,
      inspired the people with gloomy apprehensions, when the twelfth century,
      clouded with disgrace and misfortune, was almost elapsed; <a
      href="#link35note-76" name="link35noteref-76" id="link35noteref-76">76</a>
      and even posterity must acknowledge with some surprise, that the arbitrary
      interpretation of an accidental or fabulous circumstance has been
      seriously verified in the downfall of the Western empire. But its fall was
      announced by a clearer omen than the flight of vultures: the Roman
      government appeared every day less formidable to its enemies, more odious
      and oppressive to its subjects. <a href="#link35note-77"
      name="link35noteref-77" id="link35noteref-77">77</a> The taxes were
      multiplied with the public distress; economy was neglected in proportion
      as it became necessary; and the injustice of the rich shifted the unequal
      burden from themselves to the people, whom they defrauded of the
      indulgences that might sometimes have alleviated their misery. The severe
      inquisition which confiscated their goods, and tortured their persons,
      compelled the subjects of Valentinian to prefer the more simple tyranny of
      the Barbarians, to fly to the woods and mountains, or to embrace the vile
      and abject condition of mercenary servants. They abjured and abhorred the
      name of Roman citizens, which had formerly excited the ambition of
      mankind. The Armorican provinces of Gaul, and the greatest part of Spain,
      were-thrown into a state of disorderly independence, by the confederations
      of the Bagaudae; and the Imperial ministers pursued with proscriptive
      laws, and ineffectual arms, the rebels whom they had made. <a
      href="#link35note-78" name="link35noteref-78" id="link35noteref-78">78</a>
      If all the Barbarian conquerors had been annihilated in the same hour,
      their total destruction would not have restored the empire of the West:
      and if Rome still survived, she survived the loss of freedom, of virtue,
      and of honor.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-75" id="link35note-75">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      75 (<a href="#link35noteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ This interpretation of
      Vettius, a celebrated augur, was quoted by Varro, in the xviiith book of
      his Antiquities. Censorinus, de Die Natali, c. 17, p. 90, 91, edit.
      Havercamp.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-76" id="link35note-76">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      76 (<a href="#link35noteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ According to Varro, the
      twelfth century would expire A.D. 447, but the uncertainty of the true
      aera of Rome might allow some latitude of anticipation or delay. The poets
      of the age, Claudian (de Bell Getico, 265) and Sidonius, (in Panegyr.
      Avit. 357,) may be admitted as fair witnesses of the popular opinion.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Jam reputant annos, interceptoque volatu
     Vulturis, incidunt properatis saecula metis.
     .......
     Jam prope fata tui bissenas Vulturis alas
     Implebant; seis namque tuos, scis, Roma, labores.
     &mdash;See Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. i. p. 340-346.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-77" id="link35note-77">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      77 (<a href="#link35noteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ The fifth book of
      Salvian is filled with pathetic lamentations and vehement invectives. His
      immoderate freedom serves to prove the weakness, as well as the
      corruption, of the Roman government. His book was published after the loss
      of Africa, (A.D. 439,) and before Attila's war, (A.D. 451.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link35note-78" id="link35note-78">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      78 (<a href="#link35noteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ The Bagaudae of Spain,
      who fought pitched battles with the Roman troops, are repeatedly mentioned
      in the Chronicle of Idatius. Salvian has described their distress and
      rebellion in very forcible language. Itaque nomen civium Romanorum... nunc
      ultro repudiatur ac fugitur, nec vile tamen sed etiam abominabile poene
      habetur... Et hinc est ut etiam hi quid ad Barbaros non confugiunt,
      Barbari tamen esse coguntur, scilicet ut est pars magna Hispanorum, et non
      minima Gallorum.... De Bagaudis nunc mihi sermo est, qui per malos judices
      et cruentos spoliati, afflicti, necati postquam jus Romanae libertatis
      amiserant, etiam honorem Romani nominis perdiderunt.... Vocamus rabelles,
      vocamus perditos quos esse compulimua criminosos. De Gubernat. Dei, l. v.
      p. 158, 159.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br /> <a name="link362HCH0001" id="link362HCH0001">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.&mdash;Part I.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Sack Of Rome By Genseric, King Of The Vandals.&mdash;His Naval
     Depredations.&mdash;Succession Of The Last Emperors Of The West,
     Maximus, Avitus, Majorian, Severus, Anthemius, Olybrius,
     Glycerius, Nepos, Augustulus.&mdash;Total Extinction Of The
     Western Empire.&mdash;Reign Of Odoacer, The First Barbarian King
     Of Italy.
</pre>
    <p>
      The loss or desolation of the provinces, from the Ocean to the Alps,
      impaired the glory and greatness of Rome: her internal prosperity was
      irretrievably destroyed by the separation of Africa. The rapacious Vandals
      confiscated the patrimonial estates of the senators, and intercepted the
      regular subsidies, which relieved the poverty and encouraged the idleness
      of the plebeians. The distress of the Romans was soon aggravated by an
      unexpected attack; and the province, so long cultivated for their use by
      industrious and obedient subjects, was armed against them by an ambitious
      Barbarian. The Vandals and Alani, who followed the successful standard of
      Genseric, had acquired a rich and fertile territory, which stretched along
      the coast above ninety days' journey from Tangier to Tripoli; but their
      narrow limits were pressed and confined, on either side, by the sandy
      desert and the Mediterranean. The discovery and conquest of the Black
      nations, that might dwell beneath the torrid zone, could not tempt the
      rational ambition of Genseric; but he cast his eyes towards the sea; he
      resolved to create a naval power, and his bold resolution was executed
      with steady and active perseverance.
    </p>
    <p>
      The woods of Mount Atlas afforded an inexhaustible nursery of timber: his
      new subjects were skilled in the arts of navigation and ship-building; he
      animated his daring Vandals to embrace a mode of warfare which would
      render every maritime country accessible to their arms; the Moors and
      Africans were allured by the hopes of plunder; and, after an interval of
      six centuries, the fleets that issued from the port of Carthage again
      claimed the empire of the Mediterranean. The success of the Vandals, the
      conquest of Sicily, the sack of Palermo, and the frequent descents on the
      coast of Lucania, awakened and alarmed the mother of Valentinian, and the
      sister of Theodosius. Alliances were formed; and armaments, expensive and
      ineffectual, were prepared, for the destruction of the common enemy; who
      reserved his courage to encounter those dangers which his policy could not
      prevent or elude. The designs of the Roman government were repeatedly
      baffled by his artful delays, ambiguous promises, and apparent
      concessions; and the interposition of his formidable confederate, the king
      of the Huns, recalled the emperors from the conquest of Africa to the care
      of their domestic safety. The revolutions of the palace, which left the
      Western empire without a defender, and without a lawful prince, dispelled
      the apprehensions, and stimulated the avarice, of Genseric. He immediately
      equipped a numerous fleet of Vandals and Moors, and cast anchor at the
      mouth of the Tyber, about three months after the death of Valentinian, and
      the elevation of Maximus to the Imperial throne.
    </p>
    <p>
      The private life of the senator Petronius Maximus <a href="#link36note-1"
      name="link36noteref-1" id="link36noteref-1">1</a> was often alleged as a
      rare example of human felicity. His birth was noble and illustrious, since
      he descended from the Anician family; his dignity was supported by an
      adequate patrimony in land and money; and these advantages of fortune were
      accompanied with liberal arts and decent manners, which adorn or imitate
      the inestimable gifts of genius and virtue. The luxury of his palace and
      table was hospitable and elegant. Whenever Maximus appeared in public, he
      was surrounded by a train of grateful and obsequious clients; <a
      href="#link36note-2" name="link36noteref-2" id="link36noteref-2">2</a> and
      it is possible that among these clients, he might deserve and possess some
      real friends. His merit was rewarded by the favor of the prince and
      senate: he thrice exercised the office of Praetorian praefect of Italy; he
      was twice invested with the consulship, and he obtained the rank of
      patrician. These civil honors were not incompatible with the enjoyment of
      leisure and tranquillity; his hours, according to the demands of pleasure
      or reason, were accurately distributed by a water-clock; and this avarice
      of time may be allowed to prove the sense which Maximus entertained of his
      own happiness. The injury which he received from the emperor Valentinian
      appears to excuse the most bloody revenge. Yet a philosopher might have
      reflected, that, if the resistance of his wife had been sincere, her
      chastity was still inviolate, and that it could never be restored if she
      had consented to the will of the adulterer. A patriot would have hesitated
      before he plunged himself and his country into those inevitable calamities
      which must follow the extinction of the royal house of Theodosius. The
      imprudent Maximus disregarded these salutary considerations; he gratified
      his resentment and ambition; he saw the bleeding corpse of Valentinian at
      his feet; and he heard himself saluted Emperor by the unanimous voice of
      the senate and people. But the day of his inauguration was the last day of
      his happiness. He was imprisoned (such is the lively expression of
      Sidonius) in the palace; and after passing a sleepless night, he sighed
      that he had attained the summit of his wishes, and aspired only to descend
      from the dangerous elevation. Oppressed by the weight of the diadem, he
      communicated his anxious thoughts to his friend and quaestor Fulgentius;
      and when he looked back with unavailing regret on the secure pleasures of
      his former life, the emperor exclaimed, "O fortunate Damocles, <a
      href="#link36note-3" name="link36noteref-3" id="link36noteref-3">3</a> thy
      reign began and ended with the same dinner;" a well-known allusion, which
      Fulgentius afterwards repeated as an instructive lesson for princes and
      subjects.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-1" id="link36note-1">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1 (<a href="#link36noteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ Sidonius Apollinaris
      composed the thirteenth epistle of the second book, to refute the paradox
      of his friend Serranus, who entertained a singular, though generous,
      enthusiasm for the deceased emperor. This epistle, with some indulgence,
      may claim the praise of an elegant composition; and it throws much light
      on the character of Maximus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-2" id="link36note-2">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2 (<a href="#link36noteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ Clientum, praevia,
      pedisequa, circumfusa, populositas, is the train which Sidonius himself
      (l. i. epist. 9) assigns to another senator of rank]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-3" id="link36note-3">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3 (<a href="#link36noteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Districtus ensis cui super impia
     Cervice pendet, non Siculoe dapes
     Dulcem elaborabunt saporem:
     Non avium citharaeque cantus
     Somnum reducent.
     &mdash;Horat. Carm. iii. 1.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Sidonius concludes his letter with the story of Damocles, which Cicero
      (Tusculan. v. 20, 21) had so inimitably told.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The reign of Maximus continued about three months. His hours, of which he
      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 with the
      eldest daughter of the late emperor, might tend to establish the
      hereditary succession of his family; but the violence which he offered to
      the empress Eudoxia, could proceed only from the blind impulse of lust or
      revenge. His own wife, the cause of these tragic events, had been
      seasonably removed by death; and the widow of Valentinian was compelled to
      violate her decent mourning, perhaps her real grief, and to submit to the
      embraces of a presumptuous usurper, whom she suspected as the assassin of
      her deceased husband. These suspicions were soon justified by the
      indiscreet confession of Maximus himself; and he wantonly provoked the
      hatred of his reluctant bride, who was still conscious 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 at Jerusalem in disgrace and
      exile; and the sceptre of Constantinople was in the hands of a stranger.
      She directed her eyes towards Carthage; secretly implored the aid of the
      king of the Vandals; and persuaded Genseric to improve the fair
      opportunity of disguising his rapacious designs by the specious names of
      honor, justice, and compassion. <a href="#link36note-4"
      name="link36noteref-4" id="link36noteref-4">4</a> Whatever abilities
      Maximus might have shown in a subordinate station, he was found incapable
      of administering an empire; and though he might easily have been informed
      of the naval preparations which were made on the opposite shores of
      Africa, he expected with supine indifference the approach of the enemy,
      without adopting any measures of defence, of negotiation, or of a timely
      retreat. When the Vandals disembarked at the mouth of the Tyber, the
      emperor was suddenly roused from his lethargy by the clamors of a
      trembling and exasperated multitude. The only hope which presented itself
      to his astonished mind was that of a precipitate flight, and he exhorted
      the senators to imitate the example of their prince. But no sooner did
      Maximus appear in the streets, than he was assaulted by a shower of
      stones; a Roman, or a Burgundian soldier, claimed the honor of the first
      wound; his mangled body was ignominiously cast into the Tyber; the Roman
      people rejoiced in the punishment which they had inflicted on the author
      of the public calamities; and the domestics of Eudoxia signalized their
      zeal in the service of their mistress. <a href="#link36note-5"
      name="link36noteref-5" id="link36noteref-5">5</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-4" id="link36note-4">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4 (<a href="#link36noteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ Notwithstanding the
      evidence of Procopius, Evagrius, Idatius Marcellinus, &amp;c., the learned
      Muratori (Annali d'Italia, tom. iv. p. 249) doubts the reality of this
      invitation, and observes, with great truth, "Non si puo dir quanto sia
      facile il popolo a sognare e spacciar voci false." But his argument, from
      the interval of time and place, is extremely feeble. The figs which grew
      near Carthage were produced to the senate of Rome on the third day.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-5" id="link36note-5">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5 (<a href="#link36noteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Infidoque tibi Burgundio ductu
     Extorquet trepidas mactandi principis iras.
    &mdash;-Sidon. in Panegyr. Avit. 442.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      A remarkable line, which insinuates that Rome and Maximus were betrayed by
      their Burgundian mercenaries.]
    </p>
    <p>
      On the third day after the tumult, Genseric boldly advanced from the port
      of Ostia to the gates of the defenceless city. Instead of a sally of the
      Roman youth, there issued from the gates an unarmed and venerable
      procession of the bishop at the head of his clergy. <a href="#link36note-6"
      name="link36noteref-6" id="link36noteref-6">6</a> The fearless spirit of
      Leo, his authority and eloquence, again mitigated the fierceness of a
      Barbarian conqueror; the king of the Vandals promised to spare the
      unresisting multitude, to protect the buildings from fire, and to exempt
      the captives from torture; and although such orders were neither seriously
      given, nor strictly obeyed, the mediation of Leo was glorious to himself,
      and in some degree beneficial to his country. But Rome and its inhabitants
      were delivered to the licentiousness of the Vandals and Moors, whose blind
      passions revenged the injuries of Carthage. The pillage lasted fourteen
      days and nights; and all that yet remained of public or private wealth, of
      sacred or profane treasure, was diligently transported to the vessels of
      Genseric. Among the spoils, the splendid relics of two temples, or rather
      of two religions, exhibited a memorable example of the vicissitudes of
      human and divine things.
    </p>
    <p>
      Since the abolition of Paganism, the Capitol had been violated and
      abandoned; yet the statues of the gods and heroes were still respected,
      and the curious roof of gilt bronze was reserved for the rapacious hands
      of Genseric. <a href="#link36note-7" name="link36noteref-7"
      id="link36noteref-7">7</a> The holy instruments of the Jewish worship, <a
      href="#link36note-8" name="link36noteref-8" id="link36noteref-8">8</a> the
      gold table, and the gold candlestick with seven branches, originally
      framed according to the particular instructions of God himself, and which
      were placed in the sanctuary of his temple, had been ostentatiously
      displayed to the Roman people in the triumph of Titus. They were
      afterwards deposited in the temple of Peace; and at the end of four
      hundred years, the spoils of Jerusalem were transferred from Rome to
      Carthage, by a Barbarian who derived his origin from the shores of the
      Baltic. These ancient monuments might attract the notice of curiosity, as
      well as of avarice. But the Christian churches, enriched and adorned by
      the prevailing superstition of the times, afforded more plentiful
      materials for sacrilege; and the pious liberality of Pope Leo, who melted
      six silver vases, the gift of Constantine, each of a hundred pounds
      weight, is an evidence of the damage which he attempted to repair. In the
      forty-five years that had elapsed since the Gothic invasion, the pomp and
      luxury of Rome were in some measure restored; and it was difficult either
      to escape, or to satisfy, the avarice of a conqueror, who possessed
      leisure to collect, and ships to transport, the wealth of the capital. The
      Imperial ornaments of the palace, the magnificent furniture and wardrobe,
      the sideboards of massy plate, were accumulated with disorderly rapine;
      the gold and silver amounted to several thousand talents; yet even the
      brass and copper were laboriously removed. Eudoxia herself, who advanced
      to meet her friend and deliverer, soon bewailed the imprudence of her own
      conduct. She was rudely stripped of her jewels; and the unfortunate
      empress, with her two daughters, the only surviving remains of the great
      Theodosius, was compelled, as a captive, to follow the haughty Vandal; who
      immediately hoisted sail, and returned with a prosperous navigation to the
      port of Carthage. <a href="#link36note-9" name="link36noteref-9"
      id="link36noteref-9">9</a> Many thousand Romans of both sexes, chosen for
      some useful or agreeable qualifications, reluctantly embarked on board the
      fleet of Genseric; and their distress was aggravated by the unfeeling
      Barbarians, who, in the division of the booty, separated the wives from
      their husbands, and the children from their parents. The charity of
      Deogratias, bishop of Carthage, <a href="#link36note-10"
      name="link36noteref-10" id="link36noteref-10">10</a> was their only
      consolation and support. He generously sold the gold and silver plate of
      the church to purchase the freedom of some, to alleviate the slavery of
      others, and to assist the wants and infirmities of a captive multitude,
      whose health was impaired by the hardships which they had suffered in
      their passage from Italy to Africa. By his order, two spacious churches
      were converted into hospitals; the sick were distributed into convenient
      beds, and liberally supplied with food and medicines; and the aged prelate
      repeated his visits both in the day and night, with an assiduity that
      surpassed his strength, and a tender sympathy which enhanced the value of
      his services. Compare this scene with the field of Cannae; and judge
      between Hannibal and the successor of St. Cyprian. <a href="#link36note-11"
      name="link36noteref-11" id="link36noteref-11">11</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-6" id="link36note-6">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6 (<a href="#link36noteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [The apparant success of
      Pope Leo may be justified by Prosper, and the Historia Miscellan.; but the
      improbable notion of Baronius A.D. 455, (No. 13) that Genseric spared the
      three apostolical churches, is not countenanced even by the doubtful
      testimony of the Liber Pontificalis.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-7" id="link36note-7">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7 (<a href="#link36noteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ The profusion of Catulus,
      the first who gilt the roof of the Capitol, was not universally approved,
      (Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxiii. 18;) but it was far exceeded by the emperor's,
      and the external gilding of the temple cost Domitian 12,000 talents,
      (2,400,000 L.) The expressions of Claudian and Rutilius (luce metalli
      oemula.... fastigia astris, and confunduntque vagos delubra micantia
      visus) manifestly prove, that this splendid covering was not removed
      either by the Christians or the Goths, (see Donatus, Roma Antiqua, l. ii.
      c. 6, p. 125.) It should seem that the roof of the Capitol was decorated
      with gilt statues, and chariots drawn by four horses.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-8" id="link36note-8">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8 (<a href="#link36noteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ The curious reader may
      consult the learned and accurate treatise of Hadrian Reland, de Spoliis
      Templi Hierosolymitani in Arcu Titiano Romae conspicuis, in 12mo. Trajecti
      ad Rhenum, 1716.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-9" id="link36note-9">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9 (<a href="#link36noteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ The vessel which
      transported the relics of the Capitol was the only one of the whole fleet
      that suffered shipwreck. If a bigoted sophist, a Pagan bigot, had
      mentioned the accident, he might have rejoiced that this cargo of
      sacrilege was lost in the sea.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-10" id="link36note-10">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      10 (<a href="#link36noteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ See Victor Vitensis, de
      Persecut. Vandal. l. i. c. 8, p. 11, 12, edit. Ruinart. Deogratius
      governed the church of Carthage only three years. If he had not been
      privately buried, his corpse would have been torn piecemeal by the mad
      devotion of the people.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-11" id="link36note-11">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      11 (<a href="#link36noteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ The general evidence
      for the death of Maximus, and the sack 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, (de Reb. Geticis, c. 45, p. 677,) and the
      Chronicles of Idatius, Prosper, Marcellinus, and Theophanes, under the
      proper year.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The deaths of Aetius and Valentinian had relaxed the ties which held the
      Barbarians of Gaul in peace and subordination. The sea-coast was infested
      by the Saxons; the Alemanni and the Franks advanced from the Rhine to the
      Seine; and the ambition of the Goths seemed to meditate more extensive and
      permanent conquests. The emperor Maximus relieved himself, by a judicious
      choice, from the weight of these distant cares; he silenced the
      solicitations of his friends, listened to the voice of fame, and promoted
      a stranger to the general command of the forces of Gaul.
    </p>
    <p>
      Avitus, <a href="#link36note-12" name="link36noteref-12"
      id="link36noteref-12">12</a> the stranger, whose merit was so nobly
      rewarded, descended from a wealthy and honorable family in the diocese of
      Auvergne. The convulsions of the times urged him to embrace, with the same
      ardor, the civil and military professions: and the indefatigable youth
      blended the studies of literature and jurisprudence with the exercise of
      arms and hunting. Thirty years of his life were laudably spent in the
      public service; 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 the merit of Avitus excited envy, or his moderation was desirous of
      repose, since he calmly retired to an estate, which he possessed in the
      neighborhood of Clermont. A copious stream, issuing from the mountain, and
      falling headlong in many a loud and foaming cascade, discharged its waters
      into a lake about two miles in length, and the villa was pleasantly seated
      on the margin of the lake. The baths, the porticos, the summer and winter
      apartments, were adapted to the purposes of luxury and use; and the
      adjacent country afforded the various prospects of woods, pastures, and
      meodows. <a href="#link36note-13" name="link36noteref-13"
      id="link36noteref-13">13</a> In this retreat, where Avitus amused his
      leisure with books, rural sports, the practice of husbandry, and the
      society of his friends, <a href="#link36note-14" name="link36noteref-14"
      id="link36noteref-14">14</a> he received the Imperial diploma, which
      constituted him master-general of the cavalry and infantry of Gaul. He
      assumed the military command; the Barbarians suspended their fury; and
      whatever means he might employ, whatever concessions he might be forced to
      make, the people enjoyed the benefits of actual tranquillity. But the fate
      of Gaul depended on the Visigoths; and the Roman general, less attentive
      to his dignity than to the public interest, did not disdain to visit
      Thoulouse in the character of an ambassador. He was received with
      courteous hospitality by Theodoric, the king of the Goths; but while
      Avitus laid the foundations of a solid alliance with that powerful nation,
      he was astonished by the intelligence, that the emperor Maximus was slain,
      and that Rome had been pillaged by the Vandals. A vacant throne, which he
      might ascend without guilt or danger, tempted his ambition; <a
      href="#link36note-15" name="link36noteref-15" id="link36noteref-15">15</a>
      and the Visigoths were easily persuaded to support his claim by their
      irresistible suffrage. They loved the person of Avitus; they respected his
      virtues; and they were not insensible of the advantage, as well as honor,
      of giving an emperor to the West. The season was now approaching, in which
      the annual assembly of the seven provinces was held at Arles; their
      deliberations might perhaps be influenced by the presence of Theodoric and
      his martial brothers; but their choice would naturally incline to the most
      illustrious of their countrymen. Avitus, after a decent resistance,
      accepted the Imperial diadem from the representatives of Gaul; and his
      election was ratified by the acclamations of the Barbarians and
      provincials. The formal consent of Marcian, emperor of the East, was
      solicited and obtained; but the senate, Rome, and Italy, though humbled by
      their recent calamities, submitted with a secret murmur to the presumption
      of the Gallic usurper.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-12" id="link36note-12">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      12 (<a href="#link36noteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ The private life and
      elevation of Avitus must be deduced, with becoming suspicion, from the
      panegyric pronounced by Sidonius Apollinaris, his subject, and his
      son-in-law.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-13" id="link36note-13">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      13 (<a href="#link36noteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ After the example of
      the younger Pliny, Sidonius (l. ii. c. 2) has labored the florid, prolix,
      and obscure description of his villa, which bore the name, (Avitacum,) and
      had been the property of Avitus. The precise situation is not ascertained.
      Consult, however, the notes of Savaron and Sirmond.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-14" id="link36note-14">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      14 (<a href="#link36noteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ Sidonius (l. ii. epist.
      9) has described the country life of the Gallic nobles, in a visit which
      he made to his friends, whose estates were in the neighborhood of Nismes.
      The morning hours were spent in the sphoeristerium, or tennis-court; or in
      the library, which was furnished with Latin authors, profane and
      religious; the former for the men, the latter for the ladies. The table
      was twice served, at dinner and supper, with hot meat (boiled and roast)
      and wine. During the intermediate time, the company slept, took the air on
      horseback, and need the warm bath.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-15" id="link36note-15">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      15 (<a href="#link36noteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ Seventy lines of
      panegyric (505-575) which describe the importunity of Theodoric and of
      Gaul, struggling to overcome the modest reluctance of Avitus, are blown
      away by three words of an honest historian. Romanum ambisset Imperium,
      (Greg. Turon. l. ii. c. 1l, in tom. ii. p. 168.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      Theodoric, to whom Avitus was indebted for the purple, had acquired the
      Gothic sceptre by the murder of his elder brother Torismond; and he
      justified this atrocious deed by the design which his predecessor had
      formed of violating his alliance with the empire. <a href="#link36note-16"
      name="link36noteref-16" id="link36noteref-16">16</a> Such a crime might
      not be incompatible with the virtues of a Barbarian; but the manners of
      Theodoric were gentle and humane; and posterity may contemplate without
      terror the original picture of a Gothic king, whom Sidonius had intimately
      observed, in the hours of peace and of social intercourse. In an epistle,
      dated from the court of Thoulouse, the orator satisfies the curiosity of
      one of his friends, in the following description: <a href="#link36note-17"
      name="link36noteref-17" id="link36noteref-17">17</a> "By the majesty of
      his appearance, Theodoric would command the respect of those who are
      ignorant of his merit; and although he is born a prince, his merit would
      dignify a private station. He is of a middle stature, his body appears
      rather plump than fat, and in his well-proportioned limbs agility is
      united with muscular strength. <a href="#link36note-18"
      name="link36noteref-18" id="link36noteref-18">18</a> If you examine his
      countenance, you will distinguish a high forehead, large shaggy eyebrows,
      an aquiline nose, thin lips, a regular set of white teeth, and a fair
      complexion, that blushes more frequently from modesty than from anger. The
      ordinary distribution of his time, as far 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 who presume to interpret his secret sentiments,
      consider this assiduous devotion as the effect of habit and policy. The
      rest of the morning is employed in the administration of his kingdom. His
      chair is surrounded by some military officers of decent aspect and
      behavior: the noisy crowd of his Barbarian guards occupies the hall of
      audience; but they are not permitted to stand within the veils or curtains
      that conceal the council-chamber from vulgar eyes. The ambassadors of the
      nations are successively introduced: Theodoric listens with attention,
      answers them with discreet brevity, and either announces or delays,
      according to the nature of their business, his final resolution. About
      eight (the second hour) he rises from his throne, and visits either his
      treasury or his stables. If he chooses to hunt, or at least to exercise
      himself on horseback, his bow is carried by a favorite youth; but when the
      game is marked, he bends it with his own hand, and seldom misses the
      object of his 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 he could perform himself. On common days, his dinner is not
      different from the repast of a private citizen, but every Saturday, many
      honorable guests are invited to the royal table, which, on these
      occasions, is served with the elegance of Greece, the plenty of Gaul, and
      the order and diligence of Italy. <a href="#link36note-19"
      name="link36noteref-19" id="link36noteref-19">19</a> The gold or silver
      plate is less remarkable for its weight than for the brightness and
      curious workmanship: the taste is gratified without the help of foreign
      and costly luxury; the size and number of the cups of wine are regulated
      with a strict regard to the laws of temperance; and the respectful silence
      that prevails, is interrupted only by grave and instructive conversation.
      After dinner, Theodoric sometimes indulges himself in a short slumber; and
      as soon as he wakes, he calls for the dice and tables, encourages his
      friends to forget the royal majesty, and is delighted when they freely
      express the passions which are excited by the incidents of play. At this
      game, which he loves as the image of war, he alternately displays his
      eagerness, his skill, his patience, and his cheerful temper. If he loses,
      he laughs; he is modest and silent if he wins. Yet, notwithstanding this
      seeming indifference, his courtiers choose to solicit any favor in the
      moments of victory; and I myself, in my applications to the king, have
      derived some benefit from my losses. <a href="#link36note-20"
      name="link36noteref-20" id="link36noteref-20">20</a> About the ninth hour
      (three o'clock) the tide of business again returns, and flows incessantly
      till after sunset, when the signal of the royal supper dismisses the weary
      crowd of suppliants and pleaders. At the supper, a more familiar repast,
      buffoons and pantomimes are sometimes introduced, to divert, not to
      offend, the company, by their ridiculous wit: but female singers, and the
      soft, effeminate modes of music, are severely banished, and such martial
      tunes as animate the soul to deeds of valor are alone grateful to the ear
      of Theodoric. He retires from table; and the nocturnal guards are
      immediately posted at the entrance of the treasury, the palace, and the
      private apartments."
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-16" id="link36note-16">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      16 (<a href="#link36noteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ Isidore, archbishop of
      Seville, who was himself of the blood royal of the Goths, acknowledges,
      and almost justifies, (Hist. Goth. p. 718,) the crime which their slave
      Jornandes had basely dissembled, (c 43, p. 673.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-17" id="link36note-17">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      17 (<a href="#link36noteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ This elaborate
      description (l. i. ep. ii. p. 2-7) was dictated by some political motive.
      It was designed for the public eye, and had been shown by the friends of
      Sidonius, before it was inserted in the collection of his epistles. The
      first book was published separately. See Tillemont, Memoires Eccles. tom.
      xvi. p. 264.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-18" id="link36note-18">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      18 (<a href="#link36noteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ I have suppressed, in
      this portrait of Theodoric, several minute circumstances, and technical
      phrases, which could be tolerable, or indeed intelligible, to those only
      who, like the contemporaries of Sidonius, had frequented the markets where
      naked slaves were exposed to male, (Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. i. p.
      404.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-19" id="link36note-19">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      19 (<a href="#link36noteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ Videas ibi elegantiam
      Graecam, abundantiam Gallicanam; celeritatem Italam; publicam pompam,
      privatam diligentiam, regiam disciplinam.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-20" id="link36note-20">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      20 (<a href="#link36noteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Tunc etiam ego aliquid
      obsecraturus feliciter vincor, et mihi tabula perit ut causa salvetur.
      Sidonius of Auvergne was not a subject of Theodoric; but he might be
      compelled to solicit either justice or favor at the court of Thoulouse.]
    </p>
    <p>
      When the king of the Visigoths encouraged Avitus to assume the purple, he
      offered his person and his forces, as a faithful soldier of the republic.
      <a href="#link36note-21" name="link36noteref-21" id="link36noteref-21">21</a>
      The exploits of Theodoric soon convinced the world that he had not
      degenerated from the warlike virtues of his ancestors. After the
      establishment of the Goths in Aquitain, and the passage of the Vandals
      into Africa, the Suevi, who had fixed their kingdom in Gallicia, aspired
      to the conquest of Spain, and threatened to extinguish the feeble remains
      of the Roman dominion. The provincials of Carthagena and Tarragona,
      afflicted by a hostile invasion, represented their injuries and their
      apprehensions. Count Fronto was despatched, in the name of the emperor
      Avitus, with advantageous offers of peace and alliance; and Theodoric
      interposed his weighty mediation, to declare, that, unless his
      brother-in-law, the king of the Suevi, immediately retired, he should be
      obliged to arm in the cause of justice and of Rome. "Tell him," replied
      the haughty Rechiarius, "that I despise his friendship and his arms; but
      that I shall soon try whether he will dare to expect my arrival under the
      walls of Thoulouse." Such a challenge urged Theodoric to prevent the bold
      designs of his enemy; he passed the Pyrenees at the head of the Visigoths:
      the Franks and Burgundians served under his standard; and though he
      professed himself the dutiful servant of Avitus, he privately stipulated,
      for himself and his successors, the absolute possession of his Spanish
      conquests. The two armies, or rather the two nations, encountered each
      other on the banks of the River Urbicus, about twelve miles from Astorga;
      and the decisive victory of the Goths appeared for a while to have
      extirpated the name and kingdom of the Suevi. From the field of battle
      Theodoric advanced to Braga, their metropolis, which still retained the
      splendid vestiges of its ancient commerce and dignity. <a
      href="#link36note-22" name="link36noteref-22" id="link36noteref-22">22</a>
      His entrance was not polluted with blood; and the Goths respected the
      chastity of their female captives, more especially of the consecrated
      virgins: but the greatest part of the clergy and people were made slaves,
      and even the churches and altars were confounded in the universal pillage.
      The unfortunate king of the Suevi had escaped to one of the ports of the
      ocean; but the obstinacy of the winds opposed his flight: he was delivered
      to his implacable rival; and Rechiarius, who neither desired nor expected
      mercy, received, with manly constancy, the death which he would probably
      have inflicted. After this bloody sacrifice to policy or resentment,
      Theodoric carried his victorious arms as far as Merida, the principal town
      of Lusitania, without meeting any resistance, except from the miraculous
      powers of St. Eulalia; but he was stopped in the full career of success,
      and recalled from Spain before he could provide for the security of his
      conquests. In his retreat towards the Pyrenees, he revenged his
      disappointment on the country through which he passed; and, in the sack of
      Pollentia and Astorga, he showed himself a faithless ally, as well as a
      cruel enemy. Whilst the king of the Visigoths fought and vanquished in the
      name of Avitus, the reign of Avitus had expired; and both the honor and
      the interest of Theodoric were deeply wounded by the disgrace of a friend,
      whom he had seated on the throne of the Western empire. <a
      href="#link36note-23" name="link36noteref-23" id="link36noteref-23">23</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-21" id="link36note-21">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      21 (<a href="#link36noteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ Theodoric himself had
      given a solemn and voluntary promise of fidelity, which was understood
      both in Gaul and Spain.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Romae sum, te duce, Amicus,
     Principe te, Miles.
     Sidon. Panegyr. Avit. 511.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-22" id="link36note-22">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      22 (<a href="#link36noteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ Quaeque sinu pelagi
      jactat se Bracara dives. Auson. de Claris Urbibus, p. 245. &mdash;&mdash;From
      the design of the king of the Suevi, it is evident that the navigation
      from the ports of Gallicia to the Mediterranean was known and practised.
      The ships of Bracara, or Braga, cautiously steered along the coast,
      without daring to lose themselves in the Atlantic.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-23" id="link36note-23">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      23 (<a href="#link36noteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ This Suevic war is the
      most authentic part of the Chronicle of Idatius, who, as bishop of Iria
      Flavia, was himself a spectator and a sufferer. Jornandes (c. 44, p. 675,
      676, 677) has expatiated, with pleasure, on the Gothic victory.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link362HCH0002" id="link362HCH0002">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.&mdash;Part II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      The pressing solicitations of the senate and people persuaded the emperor
      Avitus to fix his residence at Rome, and to accept the consulship for the
      ensuing year. On the first day of January, his son-in-law, Sidonius
      Apollinaris, celebrated his praises in a panegyric of six hundred verses;
      but this composition, though it was rewarded with a brass statue, <a
      href="#link36note-24" name="link36noteref-24" id="link36noteref-24">24</a>
      seems to contain a very moderate proportion, either of 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 a long and glorious reign was
      soon contradicted by the event. Avitus, at a time when the Imperial
      dignity was reduced to a preeminence of toil and danger, indulged himself
      in the pleasures of Italian luxury: age had not extinguished his amorous
      inclinations; and he is accused of insulting, with indiscreet and
      ungenerous raillery, the husbands whose wives he had seduced or violated.
      <a href="#link36note-25" name="link36noteref-25" id="link36noteref-25">25</a>
      But the Romans were not inclined either to excuse his faults or to
      acknowledge his virtues. The several parts of the empire became every day
      more alienated from each other; and the stranger of Gaul was the object of
      popular hatred and contempt. The senate asserted their legitimate claim in
      the election of an emperor; and their authority, which had been originally
      derived from the old constitution, was again fortified by the actual
      weakness of a declining monarchy. Yet even such a monarchy might have
      resisted the votes of an unarmed senate, if their discontent had not been
      supported, or perhaps inflamed, by the Count Ricimer, one of the principal
      commanders of the Barbarian troops, who formed the military defence of
      Italy. The daughter of Wallia, king of the Visigoths, was the mother of
      Ricimer; but he was descended, on the father's side, from the nation of
      the Suevi; <a href="#link36note-26" name="link36noteref-26"
      id="link36noteref-26">26</a> his pride or patriotism might be exasperated
      by the misfortunes of his countrymen; and he obeyed, with reluctance, an
      emperor in whose elevation he had not been consulted. His faithful and
      important services against the common enemy rendered him still more
      formidable; <a href="#link36note-27" name="link36noteref-27"
      id="link36noteref-27">27</a> and, after destroying on the coast of Corsica
      a fleet of Vandals, which consisted of sixty galleys, Ricimer returned in
      triumph with the appellation of the Deliverer of Italy. He chose that
      moment to signify to Avitus, that his reign was at an end; and the feeble
      emperor, at a distance from his Gothic allies, was compelled, after a
      short and unavailing struggle to abdicate the purple. By the clemency,
      however, or the contempt, of Ricimer, <a href="#link36note-28"
      name="link36noteref-28" id="link36noteref-28">28</a> he was permitted to
      descend from the throne to the more desirable station of bishop of
      Placentia: but the resentment of the senate was still unsatisfied; and
      their inflexible severity pronounced the sentence of his death He fled
      towards the Alps, with the humble hope, not of arming the Visigoths in his
      cause, but of securing his person and treasures in the sanctuary of
      Julian, one of the tutelar saints of Auvergne. <a href="#link36note-29"
      name="link36noteref-29" id="link36noteref-29">29</a> Disease, or the hand
      of the executioner, arrested him on the road; yet his remains were
      decently transported to Brivas, or Brioude, in his native province, and he
      reposed at the feet of his holy patron. <a href="#link36note-30"
      name="link36noteref-30" id="link36noteref-30">30</a> Avitus left only one
      daughter, the wife of Sidonius Apollinaris, who inherited the patrimony of
      his father-in-law; lamenting, at the same time, the disappointment of his
      public and private expectations. His resentment prompted him to join, or
      at least to countenance, the measures of a rebellious faction in Gaul; and
      the poet had contracted some guilt, which it was incumbent on him to
      expiate, by a new tribute of flattery to the succeeding emperor. <a
      href="#link36note-31" name="link36noteref-31" id="link36noteref-31">31</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-24" id="link36note-24">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      24 (<a href="#link36noteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ In one of the porticos
      or galleries belonging to Trajan's library, among the statues of famous
      writers and orators. Sidon. Apoll. l. ix. epist, 16, p. 284. Carm. viii.
      p. 350.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-25" id="link36note-25">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      25 (<a href="#link36noteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ Luxuriose agere volens
      a senatoribus projectus est, is the concise 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 of Avitus, which seems more applicable
      to Rome than to Treves.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-26" id="link36note-26">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      26 (<a href="#link36noteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ Sidonius (Panegyr.
      Anthem. 302, &amp;c.) praises the royal birth of Ricimer, the lawful heir,
      as he chooses to insinuate, both of the Gothic and Suevic kingdoms.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-27" id="link36note-27">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      27 (<a href="#link36noteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Chronicle of
      Idatius. Jornandes (c. xliv. p. 676) styles him, with some truth, virum
      egregium, et pene tune in Italia ad ex ercitum singularem.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-28" id="link36note-28">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      28 (<a href="#link36noteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ Parcens innocentiae
      Aviti, is the compassionate, but contemptuous, language of Victor
      Tunnunensis, (in Chron. apud Scaliger Euseb.) In another place, he calls
      him, vir totius simplicitatis. This commendation is more humble, but it is
      more solid and sincere, than the praises of Sidonius]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-29" id="link36note-29">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      29 (<a href="#link36noteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ He suffered, as it is
      supposed, in the persecution of Diocletian, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom.
      v. p. 279, 696.) Gregory of Tours, his peculiar votary, has dedicated to
      the glory of Julian the Martyr an entire book, (de Gloria Martyrum, l. ii.
      in Max. Bibliot. Patrum, tom. xi. p. 861-871,) in which he relates about
      fifty foolish miracles performed by his relics.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-30" id="link36note-30">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      30 (<a href="#link36noteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ Gregory of Tours (l.
      ii. c. xi. p. 168) is concise, but correct, in the reign of his
      countryman. The words of Idatius, "cadet imperio, caret et vita," seem to
      imply, that the death of Avitus was violent; but it must have been secret,
      since Evagrius (l. ii. c. 7) could suppose, that he died of the plaque.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-31" id="link36note-31">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      31 (<a href="#link36noteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ After a modest appeal
      to the examples of his brethren, Virgil and Horace, Sidonius honestly
      confesses the debt, and promises payment.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     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.
     &mdash;Sidon. Apoll. Carm. iv. p. 308
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      See Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. i. p. 448, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The successor of Avitus presents the welcome discovery of a great and
      heroic character, such as sometimes arise, in a degenerate age, to
      vindicate the honor of the human species. The emperor Majorian has
      deserved the praises of his contemporaries, and of posterity; and these
      praises may be strongly expressed in the words of a judicious and
      disinterested historian: "That he was gentle to his subjects; that he was
      terrible to his enemies; and that he excelled, in every virtue, all his
      predecessors who had reigned over the Romans." <a href="#link36note-32"
      name="link36noteref-32" id="link36noteref-32">32</a> Such a testimony may
      justify at least the panegyric of S donius; and we may acquiesce in the
      assurance, that, although the obsequious orator would have flattered, with
      equal zeal, the most worthless of princes, the extraordinary merit of his
      object confined him, on this occasion, within the bounds of truth. <a
      href="#link36note-33" name="link36noteref-33" id="link36noteref-33">33</a>
      Majorian derived his name from his maternal grandfather, who, in the reign
      of the great Theodosius, had commanded the troops of the Illyrian
      frontier. He gave his daughter in marriage to the father of Majorian, a
      respectable officer, who administered the revenues of Gaul with skill and
      integrity; and generously preferred the friendship of Aetius to the
      tempting offer of an insidious court. His son, the future emperor, who was
      educated in the profession of arms, displayed, from his early youth,
      intrepid courage, premature wisdom, and unbounded liberality in a scanty
      fortune. He followed the standard of Aetius, contributed to his success,
      shared, and sometimes eclipsed, his glory, and at last excited the
      jealousy of the patrician, or rather of his wife, who forced him to retire
      from the service. <a href="#link36note-34" name="link36noteref-34"
      id="link36noteref-34">34</a> Majorian, after the death of Aetius, was
      recalled and promoted; and his intimate connection with Count Ricimer was
      the immediate step by which he ascended the throne of the Western empire.
      During the vacancy that succeeded the abdication of Avitus, the ambitious
      Barbarian, whose birth excluded him from the Imperial dignity, governed
      Italy with the title of Patrician; resigned to his friend the conspicuous
      station of master-general of the cavalry and infantry; and, after an
      interval of some months, consented to the unanimous wish of the Romans,
      whose favor Majorian had solicited by a recent victory over the Alemanni.
      <a href="#link36note-35" name="link36noteref-35" id="link36noteref-35">35</a>
      He was invested with the purple at Ravenna: and the epistle which he
      addressed to the senate, will best describe his situation and his
      sentiments. "Your election, Conscript Fathers! and the ordinance of the
      most valiant army, have made me your emperor. <a href="#link36note-36"
      name="link36noteref-36" id="link36noteref-36">36</a> May the propitious
      Deity direct and prosper the counsels and events of my administration, to
      your advantage and to the public welfare! For my own part, I did not
      aspire, I have submitted to reign; nor should I have discharged the
      obligations of a citizen if I had refused, with base and selfish
      ingratitude, to support the weight of those labors, which were imposed by
      the republic. Assist, therefore, the prince whom you have made; partake
      the duties which you have enjoined; and may our common endeavors promote
      the happiness of an empire, which I have accepted from your hands. Be
      assured, that, in our times, justice shall resume her ancient vigor, and
      that virtue shall become, not only innocent, but meritorious. Let none,
      except the authors themselves, be apprehensive of delations, <a
      href="#link36note-37" name="link36noteref-37" id="link36noteref-37">37</a>
      which, as a subject, I have always condemned, and, as a prince, will
      severely punish. Our own vigilance, and that of our father, the patrician
      Ricimer, shall regulate all military affairs, and provide for the safety
      of the Roman world, which we have saved from foreign and domestic enemies.
      <a href="#link36note-38" name="link36noteref-38" id="link36noteref-38">38</a>
      You now understand the maxims of my government; you may confide in the
      faithful love and sincere assurances of a prince who has formerly been the
      companion of your life and dangers; who still glories in the name of
      senator, and who is anxious that you should never repent the judgment
      which you have pronounced in his favor." The emperor, who, amidst the
      ruins of the Roman world, revived the ancient language of law and liberty,
      which Trajan would not have disclaimed, must have derived those generous
      sentiments from his own heart; since they were not suggested to his
      imitation by the customs of his age, or the example of his predecessors.
      <a href="#link36note-39" name="link36noteref-39" id="link36noteref-39">39</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-32" id="link36note-32">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      32 (<a href="#link36noteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ The words of Procopius
      deserve to be transcribed (de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 7, p. 194;) a concise
      but comprehensive definition of royal virtue.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-33" id="link36note-33">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      33 (<a href="#link36noteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ The Panegyric was
      pronounced at Lyons before the end of the year 458, while the emperor was
      still consul. It has more art than genius, and more labor than art. The
      ornaments are false and trivial; the expression is feeble and prolix; and
      Sidonius wants the skill to exhibit the principal figure in a strong and
      distinct light. The private life of Majorian occupies about two hundred
      lines, 107-305.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-34" id="link36note-34">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      34 (<a href="#link36noteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ She pressed his
      immediate death, and was scarcely satisfied with his disgrace. It should
      seem that Aetius, like Belisarius and Marlborough, was governed by his
      wife; whose fervent piety, though it might work miracles, (Gregor. Turon.
      l. ii. c. 7, p. 162,) was not incompatible with base and sanguinary
      counsels.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-35" id="link36note-35">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      35 (<a href="#link36noteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ The Alemanni had passed
      the Rhaetian Alps, and were defeated in the Campi Canini, or Valley of
      Bellinzone, through which the Tesin flows, in its descent from Mount Adula
      to the Lago Maggiore, (Cluver Italia Antiq. tom. i. p. 100, 101.) This
      boasted victory over nine hundred Barbarians (Panegyr. Majorian. 373,
      &amp;c.) betrays the extreme weakness of Italy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-36" id="link36note-36">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      36 (<a href="#link36noteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 unanimous voice of the empire:&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Postquam ordine vobis
     Ordo omnis regnum dederat; plebs, curia, nules,
    &mdash;-Et collega simul. 386.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      This language is ancient and constitutional; and we may observe, that the
      clergy were not yet considered as a distinct order of the state.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-37" id="link36note-37">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      37 (<a href="#link36noteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ Either dilationes, or
      delationes would afford a tolerable reading, but there is much more sense
      and spirit in the latter, to which I have therefore given the preference.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-38" id="link36note-38">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      38 (<a href="#link36noteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ Ab externo hoste et a
      domestica clade liberavimus: by the latter, Majorian must understand the
      tyranny of Avitus; whose death he consequently avowed as a meritorious
      act. On this occasion, Sidonius is fearful and obscure; he describes the
      twelve Caesars, the nations of Africa, &amp;c., that he may escape the
      dangerous name of Avitus (805-369.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-39" id="link36note-39">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      39 (<a href="#link36noteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ See the whole edict or
      epistle of Majorian to the senate, (Novell. tit. iv. p. 34.) Yet the
      expression, regnum nostrum, bears some taint of the age, and does not mix
      kindly with the word respublica, which he frequently repeats.]
    </p>
    <p>
      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 the
      decline of the empire, and who was capable of applying (as far as such
      reformation was practicable) judicious and effectual remedies to the
      public disorders. <a href="#link36note-40" name="link36noteref-40"
      id="link36noteref-40">40</a> His regulations concerning the finances
      manifestly tended to remove, or at least to mitigate, the most intolerable
      grievances. I. From the first hour of his reign, he was solicitous (I
      translate his own words) to relieve the weary fortunes of the provincials,
      oppressed by the accumulated weight of indictions and superindictions. <a
      href="#link36note-41" name="link36noteref-41" id="link36noteref-41">41</a>
      With this view he granted a universal amnesty, a final and absolute
      discharge of all arrears of tribute, of all debts, which, under any
      pretence, the fiscal officers might demand from the people. This wise
      dereliction of obsolete, vexatious, and unprofitable claims, improved and
      purified the sources of the public revenue; and the subject who could now
      look back without despair, might labor with hope and gratitude for himself
      and for his country. II. In the assessment and collection of taxes,
      Majorian restored the ordinary jurisdiction of the provincial magistrates;
      and suppressed the extraordinary commissions which had been introduced, in
      the name of the emperor himself, or of the Praetorian praefects. The
      favorite servants, who obtained such irregular powers, were insolent in
      their behavior, and arbitrary in their demands: they affected to despise
      the subordinate tribunals, and they were discontented, if their fees and
      profits did not twice exceed the sum which they condescended to pay into
      the treasury. One instance of their extortion would appear incredible,
      were it not authenticated by the legislator himself. They exacted the
      whole payment in gold: but they refused the current coin of the empire,
      and would accept only such ancient pieces as were stamped with the names
      of Faustina or the Antonines. The subject, who was unprovided with these
      curious medals, had recourse to the expedient of compounding with their
      rapacious demands; or if he succeeded in the research, his imposition was
      doubled, according to the weight and value of the money of former times.
      <a href="#link36note-42" name="link36noteref-42" id="link36noteref-42">42</a>
      III. "The municipal corporations, (says the emperor,) the lesser senates,
      (so antiquity has justly styled them,) deserve to be considered as the
      heart of the cities, and the sinews of the republic. And yet so low are
      they now reduced, by the injustice of magistrates and the venality of
      collectors, that many of their members, renouncing their dignity and their
      country, have taken refuge in distant and obscure exile." He urges, and
      even compels, their return to their respective cities; but he removes the
      grievance which had forced them to desert the exercise of their municipal
      functions. They are directed, under the authority of the provincial
      magistrates, to resume their office of levying the tribute; but, instead
      of being made responsible for the whole sum assessed on their district,
      they are only required to produce a regular account of the payments which
      they have actually received, and of the defaulters who are still indebted
      to the public. IV. But Majorian was not ignorant that these corporate
      bodies were too much inclined to retaliate the injustice and oppression
      which they had suffered; and he therefore revives the useful office of the
      defenders of cities. He exhorts the people to elect, in a full and free
      assembly, some man of discretion and integrity, who would dare to assert
      their privileges, to represent their grievances, to protect the poor from
      the tyranny of the rich, and to inform the emperor of the abuses that were
      committed under the sanction of his name and authority.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-40" id="link36note-40">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      40 (<a href="#link36noteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 these additional pieces.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-41" id="link36note-41">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      41 (<a href="#link36noteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ Fessas provincialium
      varia atque multiplici tributorum exactione fortunas, et extraordinariis
      fiscalium solutionum oneribus attritas, &amp;c. Novell. Majorian. tit. iv.
      p. 34.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-42" id="link36note-42">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      42 (<a href="#link36noteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ The learned Greaves
      (vol. i. p. 329, 330, 331) has found, by a diligent inquiry, that aurei of
      the Antonines weighed one hundred and eighteen, and those of the fifth
      century only sixty-eight, English grains. Majorian gives currency to all
      gold coin, excepting only the Gallic solidus, from its deficiency, not in
      the weight, but in the standard.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The spectator who casts a mournful view over the ruins of ancient Rome, is
      tempted to accuse the memory of the Goths and Vandals, for the mischief
      which they had neither leisure, nor power, nor perhaps inclination, to
      perpetrate. The tempest of war might strike some lofty turrets to the
      ground; but the destruction which undermined the foundations of those
      massy fabrics was prosecuted, slowly and silently, during a period of ten
      centuries; and the motives of interest, that afterwards operated without
      shame or control, were severely checked by the taste and spirit of the
      emperor Majorian. The decay of the city had gradually impaired the value
      of the public works. The circus and theatres might still excite, but they
      seldom gratified, the desires of the people: the temples, which had
      escaped the zeal of the Christians, were no longer inhabited, either by
      gods or men; the diminished crowds of the Romans were lost in the immense
      space of their baths and porticos; and the stately libraries and halls of
      justice became useless to an indolent generation, whose repose was seldom
      disturbed, either by study or business. The monuments of consular, or
      Imperial, greatness were no longer revered, as the immortal glory of the
      capital: they were only esteemed as an inexhaustible mine of materials,
      cheaper, and more convenient than the distant quarry. Specious petitions
      were continually addressed to the easy magistrates of Rome, which stated
      the want of stones or bricks, for some necessary service: the fairest
      forms of architecture were rudely defaced, for the sake of some paltry, or
      pretended, repairs; and the degenerate Romans, who converted the spoil to
      their own emolument, demolished, with sacrilegious hands, the labors of
      their ancestors. Majorian, who had often sighed over the desolation of the
      city, applied a severe remedy to the growing evil. <a href="#link36note-43"
      name="link36noteref-43" id="link36noteref-43">43</a> He reserved to the
      prince and senate the sole cognizance of the extreme cases which might
      justify the destruction of an ancient edifice; imposed a fine of fifty
      pounds of gold (two thousand pounds sterling) on every magistrate who
      should presume to grant such illegal and scandalous license, and
      threatened to chastise the criminal obedience of their subordinate
      officers, by a severe whipping, and the amputation of both their hands. In
      the last instance, the legislator might seem to forget the proportion of
      guilt and punishment; but his zeal arose from a generous principle, and
      Majorian was anxious to protect the monuments of those ages, in which he
      would have desired and deserved to live. The emperor conceived, that it
      was his interest to increase the number of his subjects; and that it was
      his duty to guard the purity of the marriage-bed: but the means which he
      employed to accomplish these salutary purposes are of an ambiguous, and
      perhaps exceptionable, kind. The pious maids, who consecrated their
      virginity to Christ, were restrained from taking the veil till they had
      reached their fortieth year. Widows under that age were compelled to form
      a second alliance within the term of five years, by the forfeiture of half
      their wealth to their nearest relations, or to the state. Unequal
      marriages were condemned or annulled. The punishment of confiscation and
      exile was deemed so inadequate to the guilt of adultery, that, if the
      criminal returned to Italy, he might, by the express declaration of
      Majorian, be slain with impunity. <a href="#link36note-44"
      name="link36noteref-44" id="link36noteref-44">44</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-43" id="link36note-43">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      43 (<a href="#link36noteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ The whole edict
      (Novell. Majorian. tit. vi. p. 35) is curious. "Antiquarum aedium
      dissipatur speciosa constructio; et ut aliquid reparetur, magna diruuntur.
      Hinc jam occasio nascitur, ut etiam unusquisque privatum aedificium
      construens, per gratiam judicum..... praesumere de publicis locis
      necessaria, et transferre non dubitet" &amp;c. With equal zeal, but with
      less power, Petrarch, in the fourteenth century, repeated the same
      complaints. (Vie de Petrarque, tom. i. p. 326, 327.) If I prosecute this
      history, I shall not be unmindful of the decline and fall of the city of
      Rome; an interesting object to which any plan was originally confined.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-44" id="link36note-44">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      44 (<a href="#link36noteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ The emperor chides the
      lenity of Rogatian, consular of Tuscany in a style of acrimonious reproof,
      which sounds almost like personal resentment, (Novell. tit. ix. p. 47.)
      The law of Majorian, which punished obstinate widows, was soon afterwards
      repealed by his successor Severus, (Novell. Sever. tit. i. p. 37.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      While the emperor Majorian assiduously labored to restore the happiness
      and virtue of the Romans, he encountered the arms of Genseric, from his
      character and situation their most formidable enemy. A fleet of Vandals
      and Moors landed at the mouth of the Liris, or Garigliano; but the
      Imperial troops surprised and attacked the disorderly Barbarians, who were
      encumbered with the spoils of Campania; they were chased with slaughter to
      their ships, and their leader, the king's brother-in-law, was found in the
      number of the slain. <a href="#link36note-45" name="link36noteref-45"
      id="link36noteref-45">45</a> Such vigilance might announce the character
      of the new reign; but the strictest vigilance, and the most numerous
      forces, were insufficient to protect the long-extended coast of Italy from
      the depredations of a naval war. The public opinion had 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, was the result of bold and
      judicious policy. If the intrepid emperor could have infused his own
      spirit into the youth of Italy; if he could have revived in the field of
      Mars, the manly exercises in which he had always surpassed his equals; he
      might have marched against Genseric at the head of a Roman army. Such a
      reformation of national manners might be embraced by the rising
      generation; but it is the misfortune of those princes who laboriously
      sustain a declining monarchy, that, to obtain some immediate advantage, or
      to avert some impending danger, they are forced to countenance, and even
      to multiply, the most pernicious abuses. Majorian, like the weakest of his
      predecessors, was reduced to the disgraceful expedient of substituting
      Barbarian auxiliaries in the place of his unwarlike subjects: and his
      superior abilities could only be displayed in the vigor and dexterity with
      which he wielded a dangerous instrument, so apt to recoil on the hand that
      used it. Besides the confederates, who were already engaged in the service
      of the empire, the fame of his liberality and valor attracted the nations
      of the Danube, the Borysthenes, and perhaps of the Tanais. Many thousands
      of the bravest subjects of Attila, the Gepidae, the Ostrogoths, the
      Rugians, the Burgundians, the Suevi, the Alani, assembled in the plains of
      Liguria; and their formidable strength was balanced by their mutual
      animosities. <a href="#link36note-46" name="link36noteref-46"
      id="link36noteref-46">46</a> They passed the Alps in a severe winter. The
      emperor led the way, on foot, and in complete armor; sounding, with his
      long staff, the depth of the ice, or snow, and encouraging the Scythians,
      who complained of the extreme cold, by the cheerful assurance, that they
      should be satisfied with the heat of Africa. The citizens of Lyons had
      presumed to shut their gates; they soon implored, and experienced, the
      clemency of Majorian. He vanquished Theodoric in the field; and admitted
      to his friendship and alliance a king whom he had found not unworthy of
      his arms. The beneficial, though precarious, reunion of the greater part
      of Gaul and Spain, was the effect of persuasion, as well as of force; <a
      href="#link36note-47" name="link36noteref-47" id="link36noteref-47">47</a>
      and the independent Bagaudae, who had escaped, or resisted, the
      oppression, of former reigns, were disposed to confide in the virtues of
      Majorian. His camp was filled with Barbarian allies; his throne was
      supported by the zeal of an affectionate people; but the emperor had
      foreseen, that it was impossible, without a maritime power, to achieve the
      conquest of Africa. In the first Punic war, the republic had exerted such
      incredible diligence, that, within sixty days after the first stroke of
      the axe had been given in the forest, a fleet of one hundred and sixty
      galleys proudly rode at anchor in the sea. <a href="#link36note-48"
      name="link36noteref-48" id="link36noteref-48">48</a> Under circumstances
      much less favorable, Majorian equalled the spirit and perseverance of the
      ancient Romans. The woods of the Apennine were felled; the arsenals and
      manufactures of Ravenna and Misenum were restored; Italy and Gaul vied
      with each other in liberal contributions to the public service; and the
      Imperial navy of three hundred large galleys, with an adequate proportion
      of transports and smaller vessels, was collected in the secure and
      capacious harbor of Carthagena in Spain. <a href="#link36note-49"
      name="link36noteref-49" id="link36noteref-49">49</a> The intrepid
      countenance of Majorian animated his troops with a confidence of victory;
      and, if we might credit the historian Procopius, his courage sometimes
      hurried him beyond the bounds of prudence. Anxious to explore, with his
      own eyes, the state of the Vandals, he ventured, after disguising the
      color of his hair, to visit Carthage, in the character of his own
      ambassador: and Genseric was afterwards mortified by the discovery, that
      he had entertained and dismissed the emperor of the Romans. Such an
      anecdote may be rejected as an improbable fiction; but it is a fiction
      which would not have been imagined, unless in the life of a hero. <a
      href="#link36note-50" name="link36noteref-50" id="link36noteref-50">50</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-45" id="link36note-45">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      45 (<a href="#link36noteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ Sidon. Panegyr.
      Majorian, 385-440.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-46" id="link36note-46">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      46 (<a href="#link36noteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ The review of the army,
      and passage of the Alps, contain the most tolerable passages of the
      Panegyric, (470-552.) M. de Buat (Hist. des Peuples, &amp;c., tom. viii.
      p. 49-55) is a more satisfactory commentator, than either Savaron or
      Sirmond.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-47" id="link36note-47">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      47 (<a href="#link36noteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ It is the just and
      forcible distinction of Priscus, (Excerpt. Legat. p. 42,) in a short
      fragment, which throws much light on the history of Majorian. Jornandes
      has suppressed the defeat and alliance of the Visigoths, which were
      solemnly proclaimed in Gallicia; and are marked in the Chronicle of
      Idatius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-48" id="link36note-48">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      48 (<a href="#link36noteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ Florus, l. ii. c. 2. He
      amuses himself with the poetical fancy, that the trees had been
      transformed into ships; and indeed the whole transaction, as it is related
      in the first book of Polybius, deviates too much from the probable course
      of human events.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-49" id="link36note-49">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      49 (<a href="#link36noteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Iterea duplici texis dum littore classem
     Inferno superoque mari, cadit omnis in aequor
     Sylva tibi, &amp;c.
    &mdash;-Sidon. Panegyr. Majorian, 441-461.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      The number of ships, which Priscus fixed at 300, is magnified, by an
      indefinite comparison with the fleets of Agamemnon, Xerxes, and Augustus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-50" id="link36note-50">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      50 (<a href="#link36noteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ Procopius de Bell.
      Vandal. l. i. c. 8, p. 194. When Genseric conducted his unknown guest into
      the arsenal of Carthage, the arms clashed of their own accord. Majorian
      had tinged his yellow locks with a black color.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link362HCH0003" id="link362HCH0003">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.&mdash;Part III.
    </h2>
    <p>
      Without the help of a personal interview, Genseric was sufficiently
      acquainted with the genius and designs of his adversary. He practiced his
      customary arts of fraud and delay, but he practiced them without success.
      His applications for peace became each hour more submissive, and perhaps
      more sincere; but the inflexible Majorian had adopted the ancient maxim,
      that Rome could not be safe, as long as Carthage existed in a hostile
      state. The king of the Vandals distrusted the valor of his native
      subjects, who were enervated by the luxury of the South; <a
      href="#link36note-51" name="link36noteref-51" id="link36noteref-51">51</a>
      he suspected the fidelity of the vanquished people, who abhorred him as an
      Arian tyrant; and the desperate measure, which he executed, of reducing
      Mauritania into a desert, <a href="#link36note-52" name="link36noteref-52"
      id="link36noteref-52">52</a> could not defeat the operations of the Roman
      emperor, who was at liberty to land his troops on any part of the African
      coast. But Genseric was saved from impending and inevitable ruin by the
      treachery of some powerful subjects, envious, or apprehensive, of their
      master's success. Guided by their secret intelligence, he surprised the
      unguarded fleet in the Bay of Carthagena: many of the ships were sunk, or
      taken, or burnt; and the preparations of three years were destroyed in a
      single day. <a href="#link36note-53" name="link36noteref-53"
      id="link36noteref-53">53</a> After this event, the behavior of the two
      antagonists showed them superior to their fortune. The Vandal, instead of
      being elated by this accidental victory, immediately renewed his
      solicitations for peace. The emperor of the West, who was capable of
      forming great designs, and of supporting heavy disappointments, consented
      to a treaty, or rather to a suspension of arms; in the full assurance
      that, before he could restore his navy, he should be supplied with
      provocations to justify a second war. Majorian returned to Italy, to
      prosecute his labors for the public happiness; and, as he was conscious of
      his own integrity, he might long remain ignorant of the dark conspiracy
      which threatened his throne and his life. The recent misfortune of
      Carthagena sullied the glory which had dazzled the eyes of the multitude;
      almost every description of civil and military officers were exasperated
      against the Reformer, since they all derived some advantage from the
      abuses which he endeavored to suppress; and the patrician Ricimer impelled
      the inconstant passions of the Barbarians against a prince whom he
      esteemed and hated. The virtues of Majorian could not protect him from the
      impetuous sedition, which broke out in the camp near Tortona, at the foot
      of the Alps. He was compelled to abdicate the Imperial purple: five days
      after his abdication, it was reported that he died of a dysentery; <a
      href="#link36note-54" name="link36noteref-54" id="link36noteref-54">54</a>
      and the humble tomb, which covered his remains, was consecrated by the
      respect and gratitude of succeeding generations. <a href="#link36note-55"
      name="link36noteref-55" id="link36noteref-55">55</a> The private character
      of Majorian inspired love and respect. Malicious calumny and satire
      excited his indignation, or, if he himself were the object, his contempt;
      but he protected the freedom of wit, and, in the hours which the emperor
      gave to the familiar society of his friends, he could indulge his taste
      for pleasantry, without degrading the majesty of his rank. <a
      href="#link36note-56" name="link36noteref-56" id="link36noteref-56">56</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-51" id="link36note-51">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      51 (<a href="#link36noteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Spoliisque potitus
     Immensis, robux luxu jam perdidit omne,
     Quo valuit dum pauper erat.
     &mdash;Panegyr. Majorian, 330.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      He afterwards applies to Genseric, unjustly, as it should seem, the vices
      of his subjects.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-52" id="link36note-52">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      52 (<a href="#link36noteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ He burnt the villages,
      and poisoned the springs, (Priscus, p. 42.) Dubos (Hist. Critique, tom. i.
      p. 475) observes, that the magazines which the Moors buried in the earth
      might escape his destructive search. Two or three hundred pits are
      sometimes dug in the same place; and each pit contains at least four
      hundred bushels of corn Shaw's Travels, p. 139.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-53" id="link36note-53">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      53 (<a href="#link36noteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ Idatius, who was safe
      in Gallicia from the power of Recimer boldly and honestly declares,
      Vandali per proditeres admoniti, &amp;c: i. e. dissembles, however, the
      name of the traitor.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-54" id="link36note-54">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      54 (<a href="#link36noteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ Procop. de Bell.
      Vandal. l. i. i. c. 8, p. 194. The testimony of Idatius is fair and
      impartial: "Majorianum de Galliis Romam redeuntem, et Romano imperio vel
      nomini res necessarias ordinantem; Richimer livore percitus, et invidorum
      consilio fultus, fraude interficit circumventum." Some read Suevorum, and
      I am unwilling to efface either of the words, as they express the
      different accomplices who united in the conspiracy against Majorian.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-55" id="link36note-55">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      55 (<a href="#link36noteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Epigrams of
      Ennodius, No. cxxxv. inter Sirmond. Opera, tom. i. p. 1903. It is flat and
      obscure; but Ennodius was made bishop of Pavia fifty years after the death
      of Majorian, and his praise deserves credit and regard.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-56" id="link36note-56">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      56 (<a href="#link36noteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ Sidonius gives a
      tedious account (l. i. epist. xi. p. 25-31) of a supper at Arles, to which
      he was invited by Majorian, a short time before his death. He had no
      intention of praising a deceased emperor: but a casual disinterested
      remark, "Subrisit Augustus; ut erat, auctoritate servata, cum se
      communioni dedisset, joci plenus," outweighs the six hundred lines of his
      venal panegyric.]
    </p>
    <p>
      It was not, perhaps, without some regret, that Ricimer sacrificed his
      friend to the interest of his ambition: but he resolved, in a second
      choice, to avoid the imprudent preference of superior virtue and merit. At
      his command, the obsequious senate of Rome bestowed the Imperial title on
      Libius Severus, who ascended the throne of the West without emerging from
      the obscurity of a private condition. History has scarcely deigned to
      notice his birth, his elevation, his character, or his death. Severus
      expired, as soon as his life became inconvenient to his patron; <a
      href="#link36note-57" name="link36noteref-57" id="link36noteref-57">57</a>
      and it would be useless to discriminate his nominal reign in the vacant
      interval of six years, between the death of Majorian and the elevation of
      Anthemius. During that period, the government was in the hands of Ricimer
      alone; and, although the modest Barbarian disclaimed the name of king, he
      accumulated treasures, formed a separate army, negotiated private
      alliances, and ruled Italy with the same independent and despotic
      authority, which was afterwards exercised by Odoacer and Theodoric. But
      his dominions were bounded by the Alps; and two Roman generals,
      Marcellinus and Aegidius, maintained their allegiance to the republic, by
      rejecting, with disdain, the phantom which he styled an emperor.
      Marcellinus still adhered to the old religion; and the devout Pagans, who
      secretly disobeyed the laws of the church and state, applauded his
      profound skill in the science of divination. But he possessed the more
      valuable qualifications of learning, virtue, and courage; <a
      href="#link36note-58" name="link36noteref-58" id="link36noteref-58">58</a>
      the study of the Latin literature had improved his taste; and his military
      talents had recommended him to the esteem and confidence of the great
      Aetius, in whose ruin he was involved. By a timely flight, Marcellinus
      escaped the rage of Valentinian, and boldly asserted his liberty amidst
      the convulsions of the Western empire. His voluntary, 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 his Barbarian mercenaries, after the emperor's
      death, were tempted to revolt by the artful liberality of Ricimer. At the
      head of a band of faithful followers, the intrepid Marcellinus occupied
      the province of Dalmatia, assumed the title of patrician of the West,
      secured the love of his subjects by a mild and equitable reign, built a
      fleet which claimed the dominion of the Adriatic, and alternately alarmed
      the coasts of Italy and of Africa. <a href="#link36note-59"
      name="link36noteref-59" id="link36noteref-59">59</a> Aegidius, the
      master-general of Gaul, who equalled, or at least who imitated, the heroes
      of ancient Rome, <a href="#link36note-60" name="link36noteref-60"
      id="link36noteref-60">60</a> proclaimed his immortal resentment against
      the assassins of his beloved master. A brave and numerous army was
      attached to his standard: and, though he was prevented by the arts of
      Ricimer, and the arms of the Visigoths, from marching to the gates of
      Rome, he maintained his independent sovereignty beyond the Alps, and
      rendered the name of Aegidius, respectable both in peace and war. The
      Franks, who had punished with exile the youthful follies of Childeric,
      elected the Roman general for their king: his vanity, rather than his
      ambition, was gratified by that singular honor; and when the nation, at
      the end of four years, repented of the injury which they had offered to
      the Merovingian family, he patiently acquiesced in the restoration of the
      lawful prince. The authority of Aegidius ended only with his life, and the
      suspicions of poison and secret violence, which derived some countenance
      from the character of Ricimer, were eagerly entertained by the passionate
      credulity of the Gauls. <a href="#link36note-61" name="link36noteref-61"
      id="link36noteref-61">61</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-57" id="link36note-57">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      57 (<a href="#link36noteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ Sidonius (Panegyr.
      Anthem. 317) dismisses him to heaven:&mdash;Auxerat Augustus naturae lege
      Severus&mdash;Divorum numerum. And an old list of the emperors, composed
      about the time of Justinian, praises his piety, and fixes his residence at
      Rome, (Sirmond. Not. ad Sidon. p. 111, 112.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-58" id="link36note-58">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      58 (<a href="#link36noteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ Tillemont, who is
      always scandalized by the virtues of infidels, attributes this
      advantageous portrait of Marcellinus (which Suidas has preserved) to the
      partial zeal of some Pagan historian, (Hist. des Empereurs. tom. vi. p.
      330.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-59" id="link36note-59">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      59 (<a href="#link36noteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ Procopius de Bell.
      Vandal. l. i. c. 6, p. 191. In various circumstances of the life of
      Marcellinus, it is not easy to reconcile the Greek historian with the
      Latin Chronicles of the times.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-60" id="link36note-60">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      60 (<a href="#link36noteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ I must apply to
      Aegidius the praises which Sidonius (Panegyr Majorian, 553) bestows on a
      nameless master-general, who commanded the rear-guard of Majorian.
      Idatius, from public report, commends his Christian piety; and Priscus
      mentions (p. 42) his military virtues.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-61" id="link36note-61">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      61 (<a href="#link36noteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ Greg. Turon. l. ii. c.
      12, in tom. ii. p. 168. The Pere Daniel, whose ideas were superficial and
      modern, has started some objections against the story of Childeric, (Hist.
      de France, tom. i. Preface Historique, p. lxxvii., &amp;c.:) but they have
      been fairly satisfied by Dubos, (Hist. Critique, tom. i. p. 460-510,) and
      by two authors 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
      necessary either to prolong the life of Aegidius beyond the date assigned
      by the Chronicle of Idatius or to correct the text of Gregory, by reading
      quarto anno, instead of octavo.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The kingdom of Italy, a name to which the Western empire was gradually
      reduced, was afflicted, under the reign of Ricimer, by the incessant
      depredations of the Vandal pirates. <a href="#link36note-62"
      name="link36noteref-62" id="link36noteref-62">62</a> In the spring of each
      year, they equipped a formidable navy in the port of Carthage; and
      Genseric himself, though in a very advanced age, still commanded in person
      the most important expeditions. His designs were concealed with
      impenetrable secrecy, till the moment that he hoisted sail. When he was
      asked, by his pilot, what course he should steer, "Leave the determination
      to the winds, (replied the Barbarian, with pious arrogance;) they will
      transport us to the guilty coast, whose inhabitants have provoked the
      divine justice;" but if Genseric himself deigned to issue more precise
      orders, he judged the most wealthy to be the most criminal. The Vandals
      repeatedly 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, so
      advantageously placed in the centre of the Mediterranean; and their arms
      spread desolation, or terror, from the columns of Hercules to the mouth of
      the Nile. As they were more ambitious of spoil than of glory, they seldom
      attacked any fortified cities, or engaged any regular troops in the open
      field. But the celerity of their motions enabled them, almost at the same
      time, to threaten and to attack the most distant objects, which attracted
      their desires; and as they always embarked a sufficient number of horses,
      they had no sooner landed, than they swept the dismayed country with a
      body of light cavalry. Yet, notwithstanding the example of their king, the
      native Vandals and Alani insensibly declined this toilsome and perilous
      warfare; the hardy generation of the first conquerors was almost
      extinguished, and their sons, who were born in Africa, enjoyed the
      delicious baths and gardens which had been acquired by the valor of their
      fathers. Their place was readily supplied by a various multitude of Moors
      and Romans, of captives and outlaws; and those desperate wretches, who had
      already violated the laws of their country, were the most eager to promote
      the atrocious acts which disgrace the victories of Genseric. In the
      treatment of his unhappy prisoners, he sometimes consulted his avarice,
      and sometimes indulged his cruelty; and the massacre of five hundred noble
      citizens of Zant or Zacynthus, whose mangled bodies he cast into the
      Ionian Sea, was imputed, by the public indignation, to his latest
      posterity.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-62" id="link36note-62">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      62 (<a href="#link36noteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 both of Savaron and Sirmond. (Avit. Carm. vii.
      441-451. Majorian. Carm. v. 327-350, 385-440. Anthem. Carm. ii. 348-386)
      In one passage the poet seems inspired by his subject, and expresses a
      strong idea by a lively image:&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Hinc Vandalus hostis
     Urget; et in nostrum numerosa classe quotannis
     Militat excidium; conversoque ordine Fati
     Torrida Caucaseos infert mihi Byrsa furoree]
</pre>
    <p>
      Such crimes could not be excused by any provocations; but the war, which
      the king of the Vandals prosecuted against the Roman empire was justified
      by a specious and reasonable motive. The widow of Valentinian, Eudoxia,
      whom he had led captive from Rome to Carthage, was the sole heiress of the
      Theodosian house; her elder daughter, Eudocia, became the 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 at least a valuable,
      compensation, was offered by the Eastern emperor, to purchase a necessary
      peace. Eudoxia and her younger daughter, Placidia, were honorably
      restored, and the fury of the Vandals was confined to the limits of the
      Western empire. The Italians, destitute of a naval force, which alone was
      capable of protecting their coasts, implored the aid of the more fortunate
      nations of the East; who had formerly acknowledged, in peace and war, the
      supremacy of Rome. But the perpetual divisions of the two empires had
      alienated their interest and their inclinations; the faith of a recent
      treaty was alleged; and the Western Romans, instead of arms and ships,
      could only obtain the assistance of a cold and ineffectual mediation. The
      haughty Ricimer, who had long struggled with the difficulties of his
      situation, was at length reduced to address the throne of Constantinople,
      in the humble language of a subject; and Italy submitted, as the price and
      security to accept a master from the choice of the emperor of the East. <a
      href="#link36note-63" name="link36noteref-63" id="link36noteref-63">63</a>
      It is not the purpose of the present chapter, or even of the present
      volume, to continue the distinct series of the Byzantine history; but a
      concise view of the reign and character of the emperor Leo, may explain
      the last efforts that were attempted to save the falling empire of the
      West. <a href="#link36note-64" name="link36noteref-64"
      id="link36noteref-64">64</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-63" id="link36note-63">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      63 (<a href="#link36noteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ The poet himself is
      compelled to acknowledge the distress of Ricimer:&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Praeterea invictus Ricimer, quem publica fata
     Respiciunt, proprio solas vix Marte repellit
     Piratam per rura vagum.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      Italy addresses her complaint to the Tyber, and Rome, at the solicitation
      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 of Claudian had used and
      abused, is the constant and miserable resource of the muse of Sidonius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-64" id="link36note-64">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      64 (<a href="#link36noteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ The original authors of
      the reigns of Marcian, Leo, and Zeno, are reduced to some imperfect
      fragments, whose deficiencies must be supplied from the more recent
      compilations of Theophanes, Zonaras, and Cedrenus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Since the death of the younger Theodosius, the domestic repose of
      Constantinople had never been interrupted by war or faction. Pulcheria had
      bestowed her hand, and the sceptre of the East, on the modest virtue of
      Marcian: he gratefully reverenced her august rank and virgin chastity;
      and, after her death, he gave his people the example of the religious
      worship that was due to the memory of the Imperial saint. <a
      href="#link36note-65" name="link36noteref-65" id="link36noteref-65">65</a>
      Attentive to the prosperity of his own dominions, Marcian seemed to
      behold, with indifference, the misfortunes of Rome; and the obstinate
      refusal of a brave and active prince, to draw his sword against the
      Vandals, was ascribed to a secret promise, which had formerly been exacted
      from him when he was a captive in the power of Genseric. <a
      href="#link36note-66" name="link36noteref-66" id="link36noteref-66">66</a>
      The death of Marcian, after a reign of seven years, would have exposed the
      East to the danger of a popular election; if the superior weight of a
      single family had not been able to incline the balance in favor of the
      candidate whose interest they supported. The patrician Aspar might have
      placed the diadem on his own head, if he would have subscribed the Nicene
      creed. <a href="#link36note-67" name="link36noteref-67"
      id="link36noteref-67">67</a> During three generations, the armies of the
      East were successively commanded by his father, by himself, and by his son
      Ardaburius; his Barbarian guards formed a military force that overawed the
      palace and the capital; and the liberal distribution of his immense
      treasures rendered Aspar as popular as he was powerful. He recommended the
      obscure name of Leo of Thrace, a military tribune, and the principal
      steward of his household. His nomination was unanimously ratified by the
      senate; and the servant of Aspar received the Imperial crown from the
      hands of the patriarch or bishop, who was permitted to express, by this
      unusual ceremony, the suffrage of the Deity. <a href="#link36note-68"
      name="link36noteref-68" id="link36noteref-68">68</a> This emperor, the
      first of the name of Leo, has been distinguished by the title of the
      Great; from a succession of princes, who gradually fixed in the opinion of
      the Greeks a very humble standard of heroic, or at least of royal,
      perfection. Yet the temperate firmness with which Leo resisted the
      oppression of his benefactor, showed that he was conscious of his duty and
      of his prerogative. Aspar was astonished to find that his influence could
      no longer appoint a praefect of Constantinople: he presumed to reproach
      his sovereign with a breach of promise, and insolently shaking his purple,
      "It is not proper, (said he,) that the man who is invested with this
      garment, should be guilty of lying." "Nor is it proper, (replied Leo,)
      that a prince should be compelled to resign his own judgment, and the
      public interest, to the will of a subject."<a href="#link36note-69"
      name="link36noteref-69" id="link36noteref-69">69</a> After this
      extraordinary scene, it was impossible that the reconciliation of the
      emperor and the patrician could be sincere; or, at least, that it could be
      solid and permanent. An army of Isaurians <a href="#link36note-70"
      name="link36noteref-70" id="link36noteref-70">70</a> was secretly levied,
      and introduced into Constantinople; and while Leo undermined the
      authority, and prepared the disgrace, of the family of Aspar, his mild and
      cautious behavior restrained them from any rash and desperate attempts,
      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 secret correspondence of
      religion and interest engaged him to favor the cause of Genseric. When Leo
      had delivered himself from that ignominious servitude, he listened to the
      complaints of the Italians; resolved to extirpate the tyranny of the
      Vandals; and declared his alliance with his colleague, Anthemius, whom he
      solemnly invested with the diadem and purple of the West.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-65" id="link36note-65">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      65 (<a href="#link36noteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ St. Pulcheria died A.D.
      453, four years before her nominal husband; and her festival is celebrated
      on the 10th of September by the modern Greeks: she bequeathed an immense
      patrimony to pious, or, at least, to ecclesiastical, uses. See Tillemont,
      Memoires Eccles. tom. xv p. 181-184.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-66" id="link36note-66">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      66 (<a href="#link36noteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ See Procopius, de Bell.
      Vandal. l. i. c. 4, p. 185.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-67" id="link36note-67">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      67 (<a href="#link36noteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ From this disability of
      Aspar to ascend the throne, it may be inferred that the stain of Heresy
      was perpetual and indelible, while that of Barbarism disappeared in the
      second generation.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-68" id="link36note-68">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      68 (<a href="#link36noteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ Theophanes, p. 95. This
      appears to be the first origin of a ceremony, which all the Christian
      princes of the world have since adopted and from which the clergy have
      deduced the most formidable consequences.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-69" id="link36note-69">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      69 (<a href="#link36noteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ Cedrenus, (p. 345,
      346,) who was conversant with the writers of better days, has preserved
      the remarkable words of Aspar.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-70" id="link36note-70">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      70 (<a href="#link36noteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ The power of the
      Isaurians agitated the Eastern empire in the two succeeding reigns of Zeno
      and Anastasius; but it ended in the destruction of those Barbarians, who
      maintained their fierce independences about two hundred and thirty years.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The virtues of Anthemius have perhaps been magnified, since the Imperial
      descent, which he could only deduce from the usurper Procopius, has been
      swelled into a line of emperors. <a href="#link36note-71"
      name="link36noteref-71" id="link36noteref-71">71</a> But the merit of his
      immediate parents, their honors, and their riches, rendered Anthemius one
      of the most illustrious subjects of the East. His father, Procopius,
      obtained, after his Persian embassy, the rank of general and patrician;
      and the name of Anthemius was derived from his maternal grandfather, the
      celebrated praefect, who protected, with so much ability and success, the
      infant reign of Theodosius. The grandson of the praefect was raised above
      the condition of a private subject, by his marriage with Euphemia, the
      daughter of the emperor Marcian. This splendid alliance, which might
      supersede the necessity of merit, hastened the promotion of Anthemius to
      the successive dignities of count, of master-general, of consul, and of
      patrician; and his merit or fortune claimed the honors of a victory, which
      was obtained on the banks of the Danube, over the Huns. Without indulging
      an extravagant ambition, the son-in-law of Marcian might hope to be his
      successor; but Anthemius supported the disappointment with courage and
      patience; and his subsequent elevation was universally approved by the
      public, who esteemed him worthy to reign, till he ascended the throne. <a
      href="#link36note-72" name="link36noteref-72" id="link36noteref-72">72</a>
      The emperor of the West marched from Constantinople, attended by several
      counts of high distinction, and a body of guards almost equal to the
      strength and numbers of a regular army: he entered Rome in triumph, and
      the choice of Leo was confirmed by the senate, the people, and the
      Barbarian confederates of Italy. <a href="#link36note-73"
      name="link36noteref-73" id="link36noteref-73">73</a> The solemn
      inauguration of Anthemius was followed by the nuptials of his daughter and
      the patrician Ricimer; a fortunate event, which was considered as the
      firmest security of the union and happiness of the state. The wealth of
      two empires was ostentatiously displayed; and many senators completed
      their ruin, by an expensive effort to disguise their poverty. All serious
      business was suspended during this festival; the courts of justice were
      shut; the streets of Rome, the theatres, the places of public and private
      resort, resounded with hymeneal songs and dances: and the royal bride,
      clothed in silken robes, with a crown on her head, was conducted to the
      palace of Ricimer, who had changed his military dress for the habit of a
      consul and a senator. On this memorable occasion, Sidonius, whose early
      ambition had been so fatally blasted, appeared as the orator of Auvergne,
      among the provincial deputies who addressed the throne with
      congratulations or complaints. <a href="#link36note-74"
      name="link36noteref-74" id="link36noteref-74">74</a> The calends of
      January were now approaching, and the venal poet, who had loved Avitus,
      and esteemed Majorian, was persuaded by his friends to celebrate, in
      heroic verse, the merit, the felicity, the second consulship, and the
      future triumphs, of the emperor Anthemius. Sidonius pronounced, with
      assurance and success, a panegyric which is still extant; and whatever
      might be the imperfections, either of the subject or of the composition,
      the welcome flatterer was immediately rewarded with the praefecture of
      Rome; a dignity which placed him among the illustrious personages of the
      empire, till he wisely preferred the more respectable character of a
      bishop and a saint. <a href="#link36note-75" name="link36noteref-75"
      id="link36noteref-75">75</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-71" id="link36note-71">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      71 (<a href="#link36noteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Tali tu civis ab urbe
     Procopio genitore micas; cui prisca propago
     Augustis venit a proavis.
</pre>
    <p class="foot">
      The poet (Sidon. Panegyr. Anthem. 67-306) then proceeds to relate the
      private life and fortunes of the future emperor, with which he must have
      been imperfectly acquainted.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-72" id="link36note-72">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      72 (<a href="#link36noteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ Sidonius discovers,
      with tolerable ingenuity, that this disappointment added new lustre to the
      virtues of Anthemius, (210, &amp;c.,) who declined one sceptre, and
      reluctantly accepted another, (22, &amp;c.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-73" id="link36note-73">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      73 (<a href="#link36noteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ The poet again
      celebrates the unanimity of all orders of the state, (15-22;) and the
      Chronicle of Idatius mentions the forces which attended his march.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-74" id="link36note-74">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      74 (<a href="#link36noteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ Interveni autem nuptiis
      Patricii Ricimeris, cui filia perennis Augusti in spem publicae
      securitatis copulabator. The journey of Sidonius from Lyons, and the
      festival of Rome, are described with some spirit. L. i. epist. 5, p. 9-13,
      epist. 9, p. 21.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-75" id="link36note-75">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      75 (<a href="#link36noteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ Sidonius (l. i. epist.
      9, p. 23, 24) very fairly states his motive, his labor, and his reward.
      "Hic ipse Panegyricus, si non judicium, certa eventum, boni operis,
      accepit." He was made bishop of Clermont, A.D. 471. Tillemont, Mem.
      Eccles. tom. xvi. p. 750.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The Greeks ambitiously commend the piety and catholic faith of the emperor
      whom they gave to the West; nor do they forget to observe, that when he
      left Constantinople, he converted his palace into the pious foundation of
      a public bath, a church, and a hospital for old men. <a
      href="#link36note-76" name="link36noteref-76" id="link36noteref-76">76</a>
      Yet some suspicious appearances are found to sully the theological fame of
      Anthemius. From the conversation of Philotheus, a Macedonian sectary, he
      had imbibed the spirit of religious toleration; and the Heretics of Rome
      would have assembled with impunity, if the bold and vehement censure which
      Pope Hilary pronounced in the church of St. Peter, had not obliged him to
      abjure the unpopular indulgence. <a href="#link36note-77"
      name="link36noteref-77" id="link36noteref-77">77</a> Even the Pagans, a
      feeble and obscure remnant, conceived some vain hopes, from the
      indifference, or partiality, of Anthemius; and his singular friendship for
      the philosopher Severus, whom he promoted to the consulship, was ascribed
      to a secret project, of reviving the ancient worship of the gods. <a
      href="#link36note-78" name="link36noteref-78" id="link36noteref-78">78</a>
      These idols were crumbled into dust: and the mythology which had once been
      the creed of nations, was so universally disbelieved, that it might be
      employed without scandal, or at least without suspicion, by Christian
      poets. <a href="#link36note-79" name="link36noteref-79"
      id="link36noteref-79">79</a> Yet the vestiges of superstition were not
      absolutely obliterated, and the festival of the Lupercalia, whose origin
      had preceded the foundation of Rome, was still celebrated under the reign
      of Anthemius. The savage and simple rites were expressive of an early
      state of society before the invention of arts and agriculture. The rustic
      deities who presided over the toils and pleasures of the pastoral life,
      Pan, Faunus, and their train of satyrs, were such as the fancy of
      shepherds might create, sportive, petulant, and lascivious; whose power
      was limited, and whose malice was inoffensive. A goat was the offering the
      best adapted to their character and attributes; the flesh of the victim
      was roasted on willow spits; and the riotous youths, who crowded to the
      feast, ran naked about the fields, with leather thongs in their hands,
      communicating, as it was supposed, the blessing of fecundity to the women
      whom they touched. <a href="#link36note-80" name="link36noteref-80"
      id="link36noteref-80">80</a> The altar of Pan was erected, perhaps by
      Evander the Arcadian, in a dark recess in the side of the Palantine hill,
      watered by a perpetual fountain, and shaded by a hanging grove. A
      tradition, that, in the same place, Romulus and Remus were suckled by the
      wolf, rendered it still more sacred and venerable in the eyes of the
      Romans; and this sylvan spot was gradually surrounded by the stately
      edifices of the Forum. <a href="#link36note-81" name="link36noteref-81"
      id="link36noteref-81">81</a> After the conversion of the Imperial city,
      the Christians still continued, in the month of February, the annual
      celebration of the Lupercalia; to which they ascribed a secret and
      mysterious influence on the genial powers of the animal and vegetable
      world.
    </p>
    <p>
      The bishops of Rome were solicitous to abolish a profane custom, so
      repugnant to the spirit of Christianity; but their zeal was not supported
      by the authority of the civil magistrate: the inveterate abuse subsisted
      till the end of the fifth century, and Pope Gelasius, who purified the
      capital from the last stain of idolatry, appeased by a formal apology, the
      murmurs of the senate and people. <a href="#link36note-82"
      name="link36noteref-82" id="link36noteref-82">82</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-76" id="link36note-76">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      76 (<a href="#link36noteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ The palace of Anthemius
      stood on the banks of the Propontis. In the ninth century, Alexius, the
      son-in-law of the emperor Theophilus, obtained permission to purchase the
      ground; and ended his days in a monastery which he founded on that
      delightful spot. Ducange Constantinopolis Christiana, p. 117, 152.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-77" id="link36note-77">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      77 (<a href="#link36noteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ Papa Hilarius... apud
      beatum Petrum Apostolum, palam ne id fieret, clara voce constrinxit, in
      tantum ut non ea facienda cum interpositione juramenti idem promitteret
      Imperator. Gelasius Epistol ad Andronicum, apud Baron. A.D. 467, No. 3.
      The cardinal observes, with some complacency, that it was much easier to
      plant heresies at Constantinople, than at Rome.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-78" id="link36note-78">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      78 (<a href="#link36noteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ Damascius, in the life
      of the philosopher Isidore, apud Photium, p. 1049. Damascius, who lived
      under Justinian, composed another work, consisting of 570 praeternatural
      stories of souls, daemons, apparitions, the dotage of Platonic Paganism.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-79" id="link36note-79">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      79 (<a href="#link36noteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ In the poetical works
      of Sidonius, which he afterwards condemned, (l. ix. epist. 16, p. 285,)
      the fabulous deities are the principal actors. If Jerom was scourged by
      the angels for only reading Virgil, the bishop of Clermont, for such a
      vile imitation, deserved an additional whipping from the Muses.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-80" id="link36note-80">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      80 (<a href="#link36noteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ Ovid (Fast. l. ii.
      267-452) has given an amusing description of the follies of antiquity,
      which still inspired so much respect, that a grave magistrate, running
      naked through the streets, was not an object of astonishment or laughter.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-81" id="link36note-81">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      81 (<a href="#link36noteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ See Dionys. Halicarn.
      l. i. p. 25, 65, edit. Hudson. The Roman antiquaries Donatus (l. ii. c.
      18, p. 173, 174) and Nardini (p. 386, 387) have labored to ascertain the
      true situation of the Lupercal.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-82" id="link36note-82">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      82 (<a href="#link36noteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ Baronius published,
      from the MSS. of the Vatican, this epistle of Pope Gelasius, (A.D. 496,
      No. 28-45,) which is entitled Adversus Andromachum Senatorem, caeterosque
      Romanos, qui Lupercalia secundum morem pristinum colenda constituebant.
      Gelasius always supposes that his adversaries are nominal Christians, and,
      that he may not yield to them in absurd prejudice, he imputes to this
      harmless festival all the calamities of the age.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link362HCH0004" id="link362HCH0004">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.&mdash;Part IV.
    </h2>
    <p>
      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. <a href="#link36note-83"
      name="link36noteref-83" id="link36noteref-83">83</a> The situation, and
      perhaps the character, of Leo, dissuaded him from exposing his person to
      the toils and dangers of an African war. But the powers of the Eastern
      empire were strenuously exerted to deliver Italy and the Mediterranean
      from the Vandals; and Genseric, who had so long oppressed both the land
      and sea, was threatened from every side with a formidable invasion. The
      campaign was opened by a bold and successful enterprise of the praefect
      Heraclius. <a href="#link36note-84" name="link36noteref-84"
      id="link36noteref-84">84</a> The troops of Egypt, Thebais, and Libya, were
      embarked, under his command; and the Arabs, with a train of horses and
      camels, opened the roads of the desert. Heraclius landed on the coast of
      Tripoli, surprised and subdued the cities of that province, and prepared,
      by a laborious march, which Cato had formerly executed, <a
      href="#link36note-85" name="link36noteref-85" id="link36noteref-85">85</a>
      to join the Imperial army under the walls of Carthage. The intelligence of
      this loss extorted from Genseric some insidious and ineffectual
      propositions of peace; but he was still more seriously alarmed by the
      reconciliation of Marcellinus with the two empires. The independent
      patrician had been persuaded to acknowledge the legitimate title of
      Anthemius, whom he accompanied in his journey to Rome; the Dalmatian fleet
      was received into the harbors of Italy; the active valor of Marcellinus
      expelled the Vandals from the Island of Sardinia; and the languid efforts
      of the West added some weight to the immense preparations of the Eastern
      Romans. The expense of the naval armament, which Leo sent against the
      Vandals, has been distinctly ascertained; and the curious and instructive
      account displays the wealth of the declining empire. The Royal demesnes,
      or private patrimony of the prince, supplied seventeen thousand pounds of
      gold; forty-seven thousand pounds of gold, and seven hundred thousand of
      silver, were levied and paid into the treasury by the Praetorian
      praefects. But the cities were reduced to extreme poverty; and the
      diligent calculation of fines and forfeitures, as a valuable object of the
      revenue, does not suggest the idea of a just or merciful administration.
      The whole expense, by whatsoever means it was defrayed, of the African
      campaign, amounted to the sum of one hundred and thirty thousand pounds of
      gold, about five millions two hundred thousand pounds sterling, at a time
      when the value of money appears, from the comparative price of corn, to
      have been somewhat higher than in the present age. <a href="#link36note-86"
      name="link36noteref-86" id="link36noteref-86">86</a> The fleet that sailed
      from Constantinople to Carthage, consisted of eleven hundred and thirteen
      ships, and the number of soldiers and mariners exceeded one hundred
      thousand men. Basiliscus, the brother of the empress Vorina, was intrusted
      with this important command. His sister, the wife of Leo, had exaggerated
      the merit of his former exploits against the Scythians. But the discovery
      of his guilt, or incapacity, was reserved for the African war; and his
      friends could only save his military reputation by asserting, that he had
      conspired with Aspar to spare Genseric, and to betray the last hope of the
      Western empire.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-83" id="link36note-83">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      83 (<a href="#link36noteref-83">return</a>)<br /> [ Itaque nos quibus
      totius mundi regimen commisit superna provisio.... Pius et triumphator
      semper Augustus filius noster Anthemius, licet Divina Majestas et nostra
      creatio pietati ejus plenam Imperii commiserit potestatem, &amp;c.....
      Such is the dignified style of Leo, whom Anthemius respectfully names,
      Dominus et Pater meus Princeps sacratissimus Leo. See Novell. Anthem. tit.
      ii. iii. p. 38, ad calcem Cod. Theod.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-84" id="link36note-84">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      84 (<a href="#link36noteref-84">return</a>)<br /> [ The expedition of
      Heraclius is clouded with difficulties, (Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs,
      tom. vi. p. 640,) and it requires some dexterity to use the circumstances
      afforded by Theophanes, without injury to the more respectable evidence of
      Procopius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-85" id="link36note-85">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      85 (<a href="#link36noteref-85">return</a>)<br /> [ The march of Cato from
      Berenice, in the province of Cyrene, was much longer than that of
      Heraclius from Tripoli. He passed the deep sandy desert in thirty days,
      and it was found necessary to provide, besides the ordinary supplies, a
      great number of skins filled with water, and several Psylli, who were
      supposed to possess the art of sucking the wounds which had been made by
      the serpents of their native country. See Plutarch in Caton. Uticens. tom.
      iv. p. 275. Straben Geograph. l. xxii. p. 1193.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-86" id="link36note-86">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      86 (<a href="#link36noteref-86">return</a>)<br /> [ The principal sum is
      clearly expressed by Procopius, (de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 6, p. 191;) the
      smaller constituent parts, which Tillemont, (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. vi.
      p. 396) has laboriously collected from the Byzantine writers, are less
      certain, and less important. The historian Malchus laments the public
      misery, (Excerpt. ex Suida in Corp. Hist. Byzant. p. 58;) but he is surely
      unjust, when he charges Leo with hoarding the treasures which he extorted
      from the people. * Note: Compare likewise the newly-discovered work of
      Lydus, de Magistratibus, ed. Hase, Paris, 1812, (and in the new collection
      of the Byzantines,) l. iii. c. 43. Lydus states the expenditure at 65,000
      lbs. of gold, 700,000 of silver. But Lydus exaggerates the fleet to the
      incredible number of 10,000 long ships, (Liburnae,) and the troops to
      400,000 men. Lydus describes this fatal measure, of which he charges the
      blame on Basiliscus, as the shipwreck of the state. From that time all the
      revenues of the empire were anticipated; and the finances fell into
      inextricable confusion.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Experience has shown, that the success of an invader most commonly depends
      on the vigor and celerity of his operations. The strength and sharpness of
      the first impression are blunted by delay; the health and spirit of the
      troops insensibly languish in a distant climate; the naval and military
      force, a mighty effort which perhaps can never be repeated, is silently
      consumed; and every hour that is wasted in negotiation, accustoms the
      enemy to contemplate and examine those hostile terrors, which, on their
      first appearance, he deemed irresistible. The formidable navy of
      Basiliscus pursued its prosperous navigation from the Thracian Bosphorus
      to the coast of Africa. He landed his troops at Cape Bona, or the
      promontory of Mercury, about forty miles from Carthage. <a
      href="#link36note-87" name="link36noteref-87" id="link36noteref-87">87</a>
      The army of Heraclius, and the fleet of Marcellinus, either joined or
      seconded the Imperial lieutenant; and the Vandals who opposed his progress
      by sea or land, were successively vanquished. <a href="#link36note-88"
      name="link36noteref-88" id="link36noteref-88">88</a> If Basiliscus had
      seized the moment of consternation, and boldly advanced to the capital,
      Carthage must have surrendered, and the kingdom of the Vandals was
      extinguished. Genseric beheld the danger with firmness, and eluded it with
      his veteran dexterity. He protested, in the most respectful language, that
      he was ready to submit his person, and his dominions, to the will of the
      emperor; but he requested a truce of five days to regulate the terms of
      his submission; and it was universally believed, that his secret
      liberality contributed to the success of this public negotiation. Instead
      of obstinately refusing whatever indulgence his enemy so earnestly
      solicited, the guilty, or the credulous, Basiliscus consented to the fatal
      truce; and his imprudent security seemed to proclaim, that he already
      considered himself as the conqueror of Africa. During this short interval,
      the wind became favorable to the designs of Genseric. He manned his
      largest ships of war with the bravest of the Moors and Vandals; and they
      towed after them many large barks, filled with combustible materials. In
      the obscurity of the night, these destructive vessels were impelled
      against the unguarded and unsuspecting fleet of the Romans, who were
      awakened by the sense of their instant danger. Their close and crowded
      order assisted the progress of the fire, which was communicated with rapid
      and irresistible violence; and the noise of the wind, the crackling of the
      flames, the dissonant cries of the soldiers and mariners, who could
      neither command nor obey, increased the horror of the nocturnal tumult.
      Whilst they labored to extricate themselves from the fire-ships, and to
      save at least a part of the navy, the galleys of Genseric assaulted them
      with temperate and disciplined valor; and many of the Romans, who escaped
      the fury of the flames, were destroyed or taken by the victorious Vandals.
      Among the events of that disastrous night, the heroic, or rather
      desperate, courage of John, one of the principal officers of Basiliscus,
      has rescued his name from oblivion. When the ship, which he had bravely
      defended, was almost consumed, he threw himself in his armor into the sea,
      disdainfully rejected the esteem and pity of Genso, the son of Genseric,
      who pressed him to accept honorable quarter, and sunk under the waves;
      exclaiming, with his last breath, that he would never fall alive into the
      hands of those impious dogs. Actuated by a far different spirit,
      Basiliscus, whose station was the most remote from danger, disgracefully
      fled in the beginning of the engagement, returned to Constantinople with
      the loss of more than half of his fleet and army, and sheltered his guilty
      head in the sanctuary of St. Sophia, till his sister, by her tears and
      entreaties, could obtain his pardon from the indignant emperor. Heraclius
      effected his retreat through the desert; Marcellinus retired to Sicily,
      where he was assassinated, perhaps at the instigation of Ricimer, by one
      of his own captains; and the king of the Vandals expressed his surprise
      and satisfaction, that the Romans themselves should remove from the world
      his most formidable antagonists. <a href="#link36note-89"
      name="link36noteref-89" id="link36noteref-89">89</a> After the failure of
      this great expedition, <a href="#link36note-891" name="link36noteref-891"
      id="link36noteref-891">891</a> Genseric again became the tyrant of the
      sea: the coasts of Italy, Greece, and Asia, were again exposed to his
      revenge and avarice; Tripoli and Sardinia returned to his obedience; he
      added Sicily to the number of his provinces; and before he died, in the
      fulness of years and of glory, he beheld the final extinction of the
      empire of the West. <a href="#link36note-90" name="link36noteref-90"
      id="link36noteref-90">90</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-87" id="link36note-87">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      87 (<a href="#link36noteref-87">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 the animated description of Livy, xxix.
      26, 27.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-88" id="link36note-88">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      88 (<a href="#link36noteref-88">return</a>)<br /> [ Theophanes (p. 100)
      affirms that many ships of the Vandals were sunk. The assertion of
      Jornandes, (de Successione Regn.,) that Basiliscus attacked Carthage, must
      be understood in a very qualified sense]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-89" id="link36note-89">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      89 (<a href="#link36noteref-89">return</a>)<br /> [ Damascius in Vit.
      Isidor. apud Phot. p. 1048. It will appear, by comparing the three short
      chronicles of the times, that Marcellinus had fought near Carthage, and
      was killed in Sicily.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-891" id="link36note-891">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      891 (<a href="#link36noteref-891">return</a>)<br /> [ According to Lydus,
      Leo, distracted by this and the other calamities of his reign,
      particularly a dreadful fire at Constantinople, abandoned the palace, like
      another Orestes, and was preparing to quit Constantinople forever l iii.
      c. 44, p. 230.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-90" id="link36note-90">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      90 (<a href="#link36noteref-90">return</a>)<br /> [ 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, &amp;c.,
      c. xx. tom. iii. p. 497) has made a judicious observation on the failure
      of these great naval armaments.]
    </p>
    <p>
      During his long and active reign, the African monarch had studiously
      cultivated the friendship of the Barbarians of Europe, whose arms he might
      employ in a seasonable and effectual diversion against the two empires.
      After the death of Attila, he renewed his alliance with the Visigoths of
      Gaul; and the sons of the elder Theodoric, who successively reigned over
      that warlike nation, were easily persuaded, by the sense of interest, to
      forget the cruel affront which Genseric had inflicted on their sister. <a
      href="#link36note-91" name="link36noteref-91" id="link36noteref-91">91</a>
      The death of the emperor Majorian delivered Theodoric the Second from the
      restraint of fear, and perhaps of honor; he violated his recent treaty
      with the Romans; and the ample territory of Narbonne, which he firmly
      united to his dominions, became the immediate reward of his perfidy. The
      selfish policy of Ricimer encouraged him to invade the provinces which
      were in the possession of Aegidius, his rival; but the active count, by
      the defence of Arles, and the victory of Orleans, saved Gaul, and checked,
      during his lifetime, the progress of the Visigoths. Their ambition was
      soon rekindled; and the design of extinguishing the Roman empire in Spain
      and Gaul was conceived, and almost completed, in the reign of Euric, who
      assassinated his brother Theodoric, and displayed, with a more savage
      temper, superior abilities, both in peace and war. He passed the Pyrenees
      at the head of a numerous army, subdued the cities of Saragossa and
      Pampeluna, vanquished in battle the martial nobles of the Tarragonese
      province, carried his victorious arms into the heart of Lusitania, and
      permitted the Suevi to hold the kingdom of Gallicia under the Gothic
      monarchy of Spain. <a href="#link36note-92" name="link36noteref-92"
      id="link36noteref-92">92</a> The efforts of Euric were not less vigorous,
      or less successful, in Gaul; and throughout the country that extends from
      the Pyrenees to the Rhone and the Loire, Berry and Auvergne were the only
      cities, or dioceses, which refused to acknowledge him as their master. <a
      href="#link36note-93" name="link36noteref-93" id="link36noteref-93">93</a>
      In the defence of Clermont, their principal town, the inhabitants of
      Auvergne sustained, with inflexible resolution, the miseries of war,
      pestilence, and famine; and the Visigoths, relinquishing the fruitless
      siege, suspended the hopes of that important conquest. The youth of the
      province were animated by the heroic, and almost incredible, valor of
      Ecdicius, the son of the emperor Avitus, <a href="#link36note-94"
      name="link36noteref-94" id="link36noteref-94">94</a> who made a desperate
      sally with only eighteen horsemen, boldly attacked the Gothic army, and,
      after maintaining a flying skirmish, retired safe and victorious within
      the walls of Clermont. His charity was equal to his courage: in a time of
      extreme scarcity, four thousand poor were fed at his expense; and his
      private influence levied an army of Burgundians for the deliverance of
      Auvergne. From his virtues alone the faithful citizens of Gaul derived any
      hopes of safety or freedom; and even such virtues were insufficient to
      avert the impending ruin of their country, since they were anxious to
      learn, from his authority and example, whether they should prefer the
      alternative of exile or servitude. <a href="#link36note-95"
      name="link36noteref-95" id="link36noteref-95">95</a> The public confidence
      was lost; the resources of the state were exhausted; and the Gauls had too
      much reason to believe, that Anthemius, who reigned in Italy, was
      incapable of protecting his distressed subjects beyond the Alps. The
      feeble emperor could only procure for their defence the service of twelve
      thousand British auxiliaries. Riothamus, one of the independent kings, or
      chieftains, of the island, was persuaded to transport his troops to the
      continent of Gaul: he sailed up the Loire, and established his quarters in
      Berry, where the people complained of these oppressive allies, till they
      were destroyed or dispersed by the arms of the Visigoths. <a
      href="#link36note-96" name="link36noteref-96" id="link36noteref-96">96</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-91" id="link36note-91">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      91 (<a href="#link36noteref-91">return</a>)<br /> [ Jornandes is our best
      guide through the reigns of Theodoric II. and Euric, (de Rebus Geticis, c.
      44, 45, 46, 47, p. 675-681.) Idatius ends too soon, and Isidore is too
      sparing of the information which he might have given on the affairs of
      Spain. The events that relate to Gaul are laboriously illustrated in the
      third book of the Abbe Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. i. p. 424-620.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-92" id="link36note-92">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      92 (<a href="#link36noteref-92">return</a>)<br /> [ See Mariana, Hist.
      Hispan. tom. i. l. v. c. 5. p. 162.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-93" id="link36note-93">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      93 (<a href="#link36noteref-93">return</a>)<br /> [ An imperfect, but
      original, picture of Gaul, more especially of Auvergne, is shown by
      Sidonius; who, as a senator, and afterwards as a bishop, was deeply
      interested in the fate of his country. See l. v. epist. 1, 5, 9, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-94" id="link36note-94">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      94 (<a href="#link36noteref-94">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 Ecdicius was only the son-in-law of
      Avitus, his wife's son by another husband.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-95" id="link36note-95">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      95 (<a href="#link36noteref-95">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 the clerical tonsure, which was indeed the choice of
      Sidonius himself.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-96" id="link36note-96">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      96 (<a href="#link36noteref-96">return</a>)<br /> [ The history of these
      Britons may be traced in Jornandes, (c. 45, p. 678,) Sidonius, (l. iii.
      epistol. 9, p. 73, 74,) and Gregory of Tours, (l. ii. c. 18, in tom. ii.
      p. 170.) Sidonius (who styles these mercenary troops argutos, armatos,
      tumultuosos, virtute numero, contul ernio, contumaces) addresses their
      general in a tone of friendship and familiarity.]
    </p>
    <p>
      One of the last acts of jurisdiction, which the Roman senate exercised
      over their subjects of Gaul, was the trial and condemnation of Arvandus,
      the Praetorian praefect. Sidonius, who rejoices that he lived under a
      reign in which he might pity and assist a state criminal, has expressed,
      with tenderness and freedom, the faults of his indiscreet and unfortunate
      friend. <a href="#link36note-97" name="link36noteref-97"
      id="link36noteref-97">97</a> From the perils which he had escaped,
      Arvandus imbibed confidence rather than wisdom; and such was the various,
      though uniform, imprudence of his behavior, that his prosperity must
      appear much more surprising than his downfall. The second praefecture,
      which he obtained within the term of five years, abolished the merit and
      popularity of his preceding administration. His easy temper was corrupted
      by flattery, and exasperated by opposition; he was forced to satisfy his
      importunate creditors with the spoils of the province; his capricious
      insolence offended the nobles of Gaul, and he sunk under the weight of the
      public hatred. The mandate of his disgrace summoned him to justify his
      conduct before the senate; and he passed the Sea of Tuscany with a
      favorable wind, the presage, as he vainly imagined, of his future
      fortunes. A decent respect was still observed for the Proefectorian rank;
      and on his arrival at Rome, Arvandus was committed to the hospitality,
      rather than to the custody, of Flavius Asellus, the count of the sacred
      largesses, who resided in the Capitol. <a href="#link36note-98"
      name="link36noteref-98" id="link36noteref-98">98</a> He was eagerly
      pursued by his accusers, the four deputies of Gaul, who were all
      distinguished by their birth, their dignities, or their eloquence. In the
      name of a great province, and according to the forms of Roman
      jurisprudence, they instituted a civil and criminal action, requiring such
      restitution as might compensate the losses of individuals, and such
      punishment as might satisfy the justice of the state. Their charges of
      corrupt oppression were numerous and weighty; but they placed their secret
      dependence on a letter which they had intercepted, and which they could
      prove, by the evidence of his secretary, to have been dictated by Arvandus
      himself. The author of this letter seemed to dissuade the king of the
      Goths from a peace with the Greek 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. <a
      href="#link36note-99" name="link36noteref-99" id="link36noteref-99">99</a>
      These pernicious schemes, which a friend could only palliate by the
      reproaches of vanity and indiscretion, were susceptible of a treasonable
      interpretation; and the deputies had artfully resolved not to produce
      their most formidable weapons till the decisive moment of the contest. But
      their intentions were discovered by the zeal of Sidonius. He immediately
      apprised the unsuspecting criminal of his danger; and sincerely lamented,
      without any mixture of anger, the haughty presumption of Arvandus, who
      rejected, and even resented, the salutary advice of his friends. Ignorant
      of his real situation, Arvandus showed himself in the Capitol in the white
      robe of a candidate, accepted indiscriminate salutations and offers of
      service, examined the shops of the merchants, the silks and gems,
      sometimes with the indifference of a spectator, and sometimes with the
      attention of a purchaser; and complained of the times, of the senate, of
      the prince, and of the delays of justice. His complaints were soon
      removed. An early day was fixed for his trial; and Arvandus appeared, with
      his accusers, before a numerous assembly of the Roman senate. The mournful
      garb which they affected, excited the compassion of the judges, who were
      scandalized by the gay and splendid dress of their adversary: and when the
      praefect Arvandus, with the first of the Gallic deputies, were directed to
      take their places on the senatorial benches, the same contrast of pride
      and modesty was observed in their behavior. In this memorable judgment,
      which presented a lively image of the old republic, the Gauls exposed,
      with force and freedom, the grievances of the province; and as soon as the
      minds of the audience were sufficiently inflamed, they recited the fatal
      epistle. The obstinacy of Arvandus was founded on the strange supposition,
      that a subject could not be convicted of treason, unless he had actually
      conspired to assume the purple. As the paper was read, he repeatedly, and
      with a loud voice, acknowledged it for his genuine composition; and his
      astonishment was equal to his dismay, when the unanimous voice of the
      senate declared him guilty of a capital offence. By their decree, he was
      degraded from the rank of a praefect to the obscure condition of a
      plebeian, and ignominiously dragged by servile hands to the public prison.
      After a fortnight's adjournment, the senate was again convened to
      pronounce the sentence of his death; but while he expected, in the Island
      of Aesculapius, the expiration of the thirty days allowed by an ancient
      law to the vilest malefactors, <a href="#link36note-100"
      name="link36noteref-100" id="link36noteref-100">100</a> his friends
      interposed, the emperor Anthemius relented, and the praefect of Gaul
      obtained the milder punishment of exile and confiscation. The faults of
      Arvandus might deserve compassion; but the impunity of Seronatus accused
      the justice of the republic, till he was condemned and executed, on the
      complaint of the people of Auvergne. That flagitious minister, the
      Catiline of his age and country, held a secret correspondence with the
      Visigoths, to betray the province which he oppressed: his industry was
      continually exercised in the discovery of new taxes and obsolete offences;
      and his extravagant vices would have inspired contempt, if they had not
      excited fear and abhorrence. <a href="#link36note-101"
      name="link36noteref-101" id="link36noteref-101">101</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-97" id="link36note-97">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      97 (<a href="#link36noteref-97">return</a>)<br /> [ See Sidonius, l. i.
      epist. 7, p. 15-20, with Sirmond's notes. This letter does honor to his
      heart, as well as to his understanding. The prose of Sidonius, however
      vitiated by a false and affected taste, is much superior to his insipid
      verses.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-98" id="link36note-98">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      98 (<a href="#link36noteref-98">return</a>)<br /> [ When the Capitol ceased
      to be a temple, it was appropriated to the use of the civil magistrate;
      and it is still the residence of the Roman senator. The jewellers, &amp;c.,
      might be allowed to expose then precious wares in the porticos.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-99" id="link36note-99">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      99 (<a href="#link36noteref-99">return</a>)<br /> [ Haec ad regem Gothorum,
      charta videbatur emitti, pacem cum Graeco Imperatore dissuadens, Britannos
      super Ligerim sitos impugnari oportere, demonstrans, cum Burgundionibus
      jure gentium Gallias dividi debere confirmans.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-100" id="link36note-100">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      100 (<a href="#link36noteref-100">return</a>)<br /> [ Senatusconsultum
      Tiberianum, (Sirmond Not. p. 17;) but that law allowed only ten days
      between the sentence and execution; the remaining twenty were added in the
      reign of Theodosius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-101" id="link36note-101">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      101 (<a href="#link36noteref-101">return</a>)<br /> [ Catilina seculi
      nostri. Sidonius, l. ii. epist. 1, p. 33; l. v. epist 13, p. 143; l. vii.
      epist. vii. p. 185. He execrates the crimes, and applauds the punishment,
      of Seronatus, perhaps with the indignation of a virtuous citizen, perhaps
      with the resentment of a personal enemy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Such criminals were not beyond the reach of justice; but whatever might be
      the guilt of Ricimer, that powerful Barbarian was able to contend or to
      negotiate with the prince, whose alliance he had condescended to accept.
      The peaceful and prosperous reign which Anthemius had promised to the
      West, was soon clouded by misfortune and discord. Ricimer, apprehensive,
      or impatient, of a superior, retired from Rome, and fixed his residence at
      Milan; an advantageous situation either to invite or to repel the warlike
      tribes that were seated between the Alps and the Danube. <a
      href="#link36note-102" name="link36noteref-102" id="link36noteref-102">102</a>
      Italy was gradually divided into two independent and hostile kingdoms; and
      the nobles of Liguria, who trembled at the near approach 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 inclined to embrace the friendship of the
      Galatian; <a href="#link36note-103" name="link36noteref-103"
      id="link36noteref-103">103</a> but who will undertake to appease his
      anger, or to mitigate the pride, which always rises in proportion to our
      submission?" They informed him, that Epiphanius, bishop of Pavia, <a
      href="#link36note-104" name="link36noteref-104" id="link36noteref-104">104</a>
      united the wisdom of the serpent with the innocence of the dove; and
      appeared confident, that the eloquence of such an ambassador must prevail
      against the strongest opposition, either of interest or passion. Their
      recommendation was approved; and Epiphanius, assuming the benevolent
      office of mediation, proceeded without delay to Rome, where he was
      received with the honors due to his merit and reputation. The oration of a
      bishop in favor of peace may be easily supposed; he argued, that, in all
      possible circumstances, the forgiveness of injuries must be an act of
      mercy, or magnanimity, or prudence; and he seriously admonished the
      emperor to avoid a contest with a fierce Barbarian, which might be fatal
      to himself, and must be ruinous to his dominions. Anthemius acknowledged
      the truth of his maxims; but he deeply felt, with grief and indignation,
      the behavior of Ricimer, and his passion gave eloquence and energy to his
      discourse. "What favors," he warmly exclaimed, "have we refused to this
      ungrateful man? What provocations have we not endured! Regardless of the
      majesty of the purple, I gave my daughter to a Goth; I sacrificed my own
      blood to the safety of the republic. The liberality which ought to have
      secured the eternal attachment of Ricimer has exasperated him against his
      benefactor. What wars has he not excited against the empire! How often has
      he instigated and assisted the fury of hostile nations! Shall I now accept
      his perfidious friendship? Can I hope that he will respect the engagements
      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 bishop returned to his
      diocese with the satisfaction of restoring the peace of Italy, by a
      reconciliation, <a href="#link36note-105" name="link36noteref-105"
      id="link36noteref-105">105</a> of which the sincerity and continuance
      might be reasonably suspected. The clemency of the emperor was extorted
      from his weakness; and Ricimer suspended his ambitious designs till he had
      secretly prepared the engines with which he resolved to subvert the throne
      of Anthemius. The mask of peace and moderation was then thrown aside. The
      army of Ricimer was fortified by a numerous reenforcement of Burgundians
      and Oriental Suevi: he disclaimed all allegiance to the Greek emperor,
      marched from Milan to the Gates of Rome, and fixing his camp on the banks
      of the Anio, impatiently expected the arrival of Olybrius, his Imperial
      candidate.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-102" id="link36note-102">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      102 (<a href="#link36noteref-102">return</a>)<br /> [ Ricimer, under the
      reign of Anthemius, defeated and slew in battle Beorgor, king of the
      Alani, (Jornandes, c. 45, p. 678.) His sister had married the king of the
      Burgundians, and he maintained an intimate connection with the Suevic
      colony established in Pannonia and Noricum.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-103" id="link36note-103">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      103 (<a href="#link36noteref-103">return</a>)<br /> [ Galatam concitatum.
      Sirmond (in his notes to Ennodius) applies this appellation to Anthemius
      himself. The emperor was probably born in the province of Galatia, whose
      inhabitants, the Gallo-Grecians, were supposed to unite the vices of a
      savage and a corrupted people.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-104" id="link36note-104">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      104 (<a href="#link36noteref-104">return</a>)<br /> [ Epiphanius was thirty
      years bishop of Pavia, (A.D. 467-497;) see Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom.
      xvi. p. 788. His name and actions would have been unknown to posterity, if
      Ennodius, one of his successors, had not written his life; (Sirmond, Opera
      tom. i. p. 1647-1692;) in which he represents him as one of the greatest
      characters of the age]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-105" id="link36note-105">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      105 (<a href="#link36noteref-105">return</a>)<br /> [ Ennodius (p.
      1659-1664) has related this embassy of Epiphanius; and his narrative,
      verbose and turgid as it must appear, illustrates some curious passages in
      the fall of the Western empire.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The senator Olybrius, of the Anician family, might esteem himself the
      lawful heir of the Western empire. He had married Placidia, the younger
      daughter of Valentinian, after she was restored by Genseric; who still
      detained her sister Eudoxia, as the wife, or rather as the captive, of his
      son. The king of the Vandals supported, by threats and solicitations, the
      fair pretensions of his Roman ally; and assigned, as one of the motives of
      the war, the refusal of the senate and people to acknowledge their lawful
      prince, and the unworthy preference which they had given to a stranger. <a
      href="#link36note-106" name="link36noteref-106" id="link36noteref-106">106</a>
      The friendship of the public enemy might render Olybrius still more
      unpopular to the Italians; but when Ricimer meditated the ruin of the
      emperor Anthemius, he tempted, with the offer of a diadem, the candidate
      who could justify his rebellion by an illustrious 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 the peaceful residence of Constantinople;
      nor does he appear to have been tormented by such a genius as cannot be
      amused or occupied, unless by the administration of an empire. Yet
      Olybrius yielded to the importunities of his friends, perhaps of his wife;
      rashly plunged into the dangers and calamities of a civil war; and, with
      the secret connivance of the emperor Leo, accepted the Italian purple,
      which was bestowed, and resumed, at the capricious will of a Barbarian. He
      landed without 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. <a
      href="#link36note-107" name="link36noteref-107" id="link36noteref-107">107</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-106" id="link36note-106">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      106 (<a href="#link36noteref-106">return</a>)<br /> [ Priscus, Excerpt.
      Legation p. 74. Procopius de Bell. Vandel l. i. c. 6, p. 191. Eudoxia and
      her daughter were restored after the death of Majorian. Perhaps the
      consulship of Olybrius (A.D. 464) was bestowed as a nuptial present.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-107" id="link36note-107">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      107 (<a href="#link36noteref-107">return</a>)<br /> [ The hostile
      appearance of Olybrius is fixed (notwithstanding the opinion of Pagi) by
      the duration of his reign. The secret connivance of Leo is acknowledged by
      Theophanes and the Paschal Chronicle. We are ignorant of his motives; but
      in this obscure period, our ignorance extends to the most public and
      important facts.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The patrician, who had extended his posts from the Anio to the Melvian
      bridge, already possessed two quarters of Rome, the Vatican and the
      Janiculum, which are separated by the Tyber from the rest of the city; <a
      href="#link36note-108" name="link36noteref-108" id="link36noteref-108">108</a>
      and it may be conjectured, that an assembly of seceding senators imitated,
      in the choice of Olybrius, the forms of a legal election. But the body of
      the senate and people firmly adhered to the cause of Anthemius; and the
      more effectual support of a Gothic army enabled him to prolong his reign,
      and the public distress, by a resistance of three months, which produced
      the concomitant evils of famine and pestilence. At length Ricimer made a
      furious assault on the bridge of Hadrian, or St. Angelo; and the narrow
      pass was defended with equal valor by the Goths, till the death of
      Gilimer, their leader. The victorious troops, breaking down every barrier,
      rushed with irresistible violence into the heart of the city, and Rome (if
      we may use the language of a contemporary pope) was subverted by the civil
      fury of Anthemius and Ricimer. <a href="#link36note-109"
      name="link36noteref-109" id="link36noteref-109">109</a> The unfortunate
      Anthemius was dragged from his concealment, and inhumanly massacred by the
      command of his son-in-law; who thus added a third, or perhaps a fourth,
      emperor to the number of his victims. The soldiers, who united the rage of
      factious citizens with the savage manners of Barbarians, were indulged,
      without control, in the license of rapine and murder: the crowd of slaves
      and plebeians, who were unconcerned in the event, could only gain by the
      indiscriminate pillage; and the face of the city exhibited the strange
      contrast of stern cruelty and dissolute intemperance. <a
      href="#link36note-110" name="link36noteref-110" id="link36noteref-110">110</a>
      Forty days after this calamitous event, the subject, not of glory, but of
      guilt, Italy was delivered, by a painful disease, from the tyrant Ricimer,
      who bequeathed the command of his army to his nephew Gundobald, one of the
      princes of the Burgundians. In the same year all the principal actors in
      this great revolution were removed from the stage; and the whole reign of
      Olybrius, whose death does not betray any symptoms of violence, is
      included within the term of seven months. He left one daughter, the
      offspring of his marriage with Placidia; and the family of the great
      Theodosius, transplanted from Spain to Constantinople, was propagated in
      the female line as far as the eighth generation. <a href="#link36note-111"
      name="link36noteref-111" id="link36noteref-111">111</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-108" id="link36note-108">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      108 (<a href="#link36noteref-108">return</a>)<br /> [ Of the fourteen
      regions, or quarters, into which Rome was divided by Augustus, only one,
      the Janiculum, lay on the Tuscan side of the Tyber. But, in the fifth
      century, the Vatican suburb formed a considerable city; and in the
      ecclesiastical distribution, which had been recently made by Simplicius,
      the reigning pope, two of the seven regions, or parishes of Rome, depended
      on the church of St. Peter. See Nardini Roma Antica, p. 67. It would
      require a tedious dissertation to mark the circumstances, in which I am
      inclined to depart from the topography of that learned Roman.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-109" id="link36note-109">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      109 (<a href="#link36noteref-109">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 less imperfect Ms. of the Historia Miscella., have
      illustrated this dark and bloody transaction.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-110" id="link36note-110">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      110 (<a href="#link36noteref-110">return</a>)<br /> [ Such had been the
      saeva ac deformis urbe tota facies, when Rome was assaulted and stormed by
      the troops of Vespasian, (see Tacit. Hist. iii. 82, 83;) and every cause
      of mischief had since acquired much additional energy. The revolution of
      ages may bring round the same calamities; but ages may revolve without
      producing a Tacitus to describe them.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-111" id="link36note-111">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      111 (<a href="#link36noteref-111">return</a>)<br /> [ See Ducange, Familiae
      Byzantin. p. 74, 75. Areobindus, who appears to have married the niece of
      the emperor Justinian, was the eighth descendant of the elder Theodosius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link362HCH0005" id="link362HCH0005">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.&mdash;Part V.
    </h2>
    <p>
      Whilst the vacant throne of Italy was abandoned to lawless Barbarians, <a
      href="#link36note-112" name="link36noteref-112" id="link36noteref-112">112</a>
      the election of a new colleague was seriously agitated in the council of
      Leo. The empress Verina, studious to promote the greatness of her own
      family, had married one of her nieces to Julius Nepos, who succeeded his
      uncle Marcellinus in the sovereignty of Dalmatia, a more solid possession
      than the title which he was persuaded to accept, of Emperor of the West.
      But the measures of the Byzantine court were so languid and irresolute,
      that many months elapsed after the death of Anthemius, and even of
      Olybrius, before their destined successor could show himself, with a
      respectable force, to his Italian subjects. During that interval,
      Glycerius, an obscure soldier, was invested with the purple by his patron
      Gundobald; but the Burgundian prince was unable, or unwilling, to support
      his nomination by a civil war: the pursuits of domestic ambition recalled
      him beyond the Alps, <a href="#link36note-113" name="link36noteref-113"
      id="link36noteref-113">113</a> and his client was permitted to exchange
      the Roman sceptre for the bishopric of Salona. After extinguishing such a
      competitor, the emperor Nepos was acknowledged by the senate, by the
      Italians, and by the provincials of Gaul; 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. <a href="#link36note-114" name="link36noteref-114"
      id="link36noteref-114">114</a> Their hopes (if such hopes had been
      entertained) were confounded within the term of a single year, and the
      treaty of peace, which ceded Auvergue to the Visigoths, is the only event
      of his short and inglorious reign. The most faithful subjects of Gaul were
      sacrificed, by the Italian emperor, to the hope of domestic security; <a
      href="#link36note-115" name="link36noteref-115" id="link36noteref-115">115</a>
      but his repose was soon invaded by a furious sedition of the Barbarian
      confederates, who, under the command of Orestes, their general, were in
      full march from Rome to Ravenna. Nepos trembled at their approach; and,
      instead of placing a just confidence in the strength of Ravenna, he
      hastily escaped to his ships, and retired to his Dalmatian principality,
      on the opposite coast of the Adriatic. By this shameful abdication, he
      protracted his life about five years, in a very ambiguous state, between
      an emperor and an exile, till he was assassinated at Salona by the
      ungrateful Glycerius, who was translated, perhaps as the reward of his
      crime, to the archbishopric of Milan. <a href="#link36note-116"
      name="link36noteref-116" id="link36noteref-116">116</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-112" id="link36note-112">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      112 (<a href="#link36noteref-112">return</a>)<br /> [ The last revolutions
      of the Western empire are faintly marked in Theophanes, (p. 102,)
      Jornandes, (c. 45, p. 679,) the Chronicle of Marcellinus, and the
      Fragments of an anonymous writer, published by Valesius at the end of
      Ammianus, (p. 716, 717.) If Photius had not been so wretchedly concise, we
      should derive much information from the contemporary histories of Malchus
      and Candidus. See his Extracts, p. 172-179.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-113" id="link36note-113">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      113 (<a href="#link36noteref-113">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 his two brothers, Gundobald acquired the sole
      possession of the kingdom of Burgundy, whose ruin was hastened by their
      discord.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-114" id="link36note-114">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      114 (<a href="#link36noteref-114">return</a>)<br /> [ Julius Nepos armis
      pariter summus Augustus ac moribus. Sidonius, l. v. ep. 16, p. 146. Nepos
      had given to Ecdicius the title of Patrician, which Anthemius had
      promised, decessoris Anthemii fidem absolvit. See l. viii. ep. 7, p. 224.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-115" id="link36note-115">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      115 (<a href="#link36noteref-115">return</a>)<br /> [ Epiphanius was sent
      ambassador from Nepos to the Visigoths, for the purpose of ascertaining
      the fines Imperii Italici, (Ennodius in Sirmond, tom. i. p. 1665-1669.)
      His pathetic discourse concealed the disgraceful secret which soon excited
      the just and bitter complaints of the bishop of Clermont.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-116" id="link36note-116">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      116 (<a href="#link36noteref-116">return</a>)<br /> [ Malchus, apud Phot.
      p. 172. Ennod. Epigram. lxxxii. in Sirmond. Oper. tom. i. p. 1879. Some
      doubt may, however, be raised on the identity of the emperor and the
      archbishop.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The nations who had asserted their independence after the death of Attila,
      were established, by the right of possession or conquest, in the boundless
      countries to the north of the Danube; or in the Roman provinces between
      the river and the Alps. But the bravest of their youth enlisted in the
      army of confederates, who formed the defence and the terror of Italy; <a
      href="#link36note-117" name="link36noteref-117" id="link36noteref-117">117</a>
      and in this promiscuous multitude, the names of the Heruli, the Scyrri,
      the Alani, the Turcilingi, and the Rugians, appear to have predominated.
      The example of these warriors was imitated by Orestes, <a
      href="#link36note-118" name="link36noteref-118" id="link36noteref-118">118</a>
      the son of Tatullus, and the father of the last Roman emperor of the West.
      Orestes, who has been already mentioned in this History, had never
      deserted his country. His birth and fortunes rendered him one of the most
      illustrious subjects of Pannonia. When that province was ceded to the
      Huns, he entered into the service of Attila, his lawful sovereign,
      obtained the office of his secretary, and was repeatedly sent ambassador
      to Constantinople, to represent the person, and signify the commands, of
      the imperious monarch. The death of that conqueror restored him to his
      freedom; and Orestes might honorably refuse either to follow the sons of
      Attila into the Scythian desert, or to obey the Ostrogoths, who had
      usurped the dominion of Pannonia. He preferred the service of the Italian
      princes, the successors of Valentinian; and as he possessed the
      qualifications of courage, industry, and experience, he advanced with
      rapid steps in the military profession, till he was elevated, by the favor
      of Nepos himself, to the dignities of patrician, and master-general of the
      troops. These troops had been long accustomed to reverence the character
      and authority of Orestes, who affected their manners, conversed with them
      in their own language, and was intimately connected with their national
      chieftains, by long habits of familiarity and friendship. At his
      solicitation they rose in arms against the obscure Greek, who presumed to
      claim their obedience; and when Orestes, from some secret motive, declined
      the purple, they consented, with the same facility, to acknowledge his son
      Augustulus as the emperor of the West. By the abdication of Nepos, Orestes
      had now attained the summit of his ambitious hopes; but he soon
      discovered, before the end of the first year, that the lessons of perjury
      and ingratitude, which a rebel must inculcate, will be resorted to against
      himself; and that the precarious sovereign of Italy was only permitted to
      choose, whether he would be the slave, or the victim, of his Barbarian
      mercenaries. The dangerous alliance of these strangers had oppressed and
      insulted the last remains of Roman freedom and dignity. At each
      revolution, their pay and privileges were augmented; but their insolence
      increased in a still more extravagant degree; they envied the fortune of
      their brethren in Gaul, Spain, and Africa, whose victorious arms had
      acquired an independent and perpetual inheritance; and they insisted on
      their peremptory demand, that a third part of the lands of Italy should be
      immediately divided among them. Orestes, with a spirit, which, in another
      situation, might be entitled to our esteem, chose rather to encounter the
      rage of an armed multitude, than to subscribe the ruin of an innocent
      people. He rejected the audacious demand; and his refusal was favorable to
      the ambition of Odoacer; a bold Barbarian, who assured his
      fellow-soldiers, that, if they dared to associate under his command, they
      might soon extort the justice which had been denied to their dutiful
      petitions. From all the camps and garrisons of Italy, the confederates,
      actuated by the same resentment and the same hopes, impatiently flocked to
      the standard of this popular leader; and the unfortunate patrician,
      overwhelmed by the torrent, hastily retreated to the strong city of Pavia,
      the episcopal seat of the holy Epiphanites. Pavia was immediately
      besieged, the fortifications were stormed, the town was pillaged; and
      although the bishop might labor, with much zeal and some success, to save
      the property of the church, and the chastity of female captives, the
      tumult could only be appeased by the execution of Orestes. <a
      href="#link36note-119" name="link36noteref-119" id="link36noteref-119">119</a>
      His brother Paul was slain in an action near Ravenna; and the helpless
      Augustulus, who could no longer command the respect, was reduced to
      implore the clemency, of Odoacer.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-117" id="link36note-117">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      117 (<a href="#link36noteref-117">return</a>)<br /> [ Our knowledge of
      these mercenaries, who subverted the Western empire, is derived from
      Procopius, (de Bell. Gothico, l. i. c. i. p. 308.) The popular opinion,
      and the recent historians, represent Odoacer in the false light of a
      stranger, and a king, who invaded Italy with an army of foreigners, his
      native subjects.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-118" id="link36note-118">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      118 (<a href="#link36noteref-118">return</a>)<br /> [ Orestes, qui eo
      tempore quando Attila ad Italiam venit, se illi unxit, ejus notarius
      factus fuerat. Anonym. Vales. p. 716. He is mistaken in the date; but we
      may credit his assertion, that the secretary of Attila was the father of
      Augustulus]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-119" id="link36note-119">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      119 (<a href="#link36noteref-119">return</a>)<br /> [ See Ennodius, (in
      Vit. Epiphan. Sirmond, tom. i. p. 1669, 1670.) He adds weight to the
      narrative of Procopius, though we may doubt whether the devil actually
      contrived the siege of Pavia, to distress the bishop and his flock.]
    </p>
    <p>
      That successful Barbarian was the son of Edecon; who, in some remarkable
      transactions, particularly described in a preceding chapter, had been the
      colleague of Orestes himself. <a href="#link36note-1191"
      name="link36noteref-1191" id="link36noteref-1191">1191</a> The honor of an
      ambassador should be exempt from suspicion; and Edecon had listened to a
      conspiracy against the life of his sovereign. But this apparent guilt was
      expiated by his merit or repentance; his rank was eminent and conspicuous;
      he enjoyed the favor of Attila; and the troops under his command, who
      guarded, in their turn, the royal village, consisted of a tribe of Scyrri,
      his immediate and hereditary subjects. In the revolt of the nations, they
      still adhered to the Huns; and more than twelve years afterwards, the name
      of Edecon is honorably mentioned, in their unequal contests with the
      Ostrogoths; which was terminated, after two bloody battles, by the defeat
      and dispersion of the Scyrri. <a href="#link36note-120"
      name="link36noteref-120" id="link36noteref-120">120</a> Their gallant
      leader, who did not survive this national calamity, left two sons, Onulf
      and Odoacer, to struggle with adversity, and to maintain as they might, by
      rapine or service, the faithful followers of their exile. Onulf directed
      his steps towards Constantinople, where he sullied, by the assassination
      of a generous benefactor, the fame which he had acquired in arms. His
      brother Odoacer led a wandering life among the Barbarians of Noricum, with
      a mind and a fortune suited to the most desperate adventures; and when he
      had fixed his choice, he piously visited the cell of Severinus, the
      popular saint of the country, to solicit his approbation and blessing. The
      lowness of the door would not admit the lofty stature of Odoacer: he was
      obliged to stoop; but in that humble attitude 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." <a href="#link36note-121"
      name="link36noteref-121" id="link36noteref-121">121</a> The Barbarian,
      whose daring spirit accepted and ratified the prediction, was admitted
      into the service of the Western empire, and soon obtained an honorable
      rank in the guards. His manners were gradually polished, his military
      skill was improved, and the confederates of Italy would not have elected
      him for their general, unless the exploits of Odoacer had established a
      high opinion of his courage and capacity. <a href="#link36note-122"
      name="link36noteref-122" id="link36noteref-122">122</a> Their military
      acclamations saluted him with the title of king; but he abstained, during
      his whole reign, from the use of the purple and diadem, <a
      href="#link36note-123" name="link36noteref-123" id="link36noteref-123">123</a>
      lest he should offend those princes, whose subjects, by their accidental
      mixture, had formed the victorious army, which time and policy might
      insensibly unite into a great nation.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-1191" id="link36note-1191">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1191 (<a href="#link36noteref-1191">return</a>)<br /> [ Manso observes that
      the evidence which identifies Edecon, the father of Odoacer, with the
      colleague of Orestes, is not conclusive. Geschichte des Ost-Gothischen
      Reiches, p. 32. But St. Martin inclines to agree with Gibbon, note, vi.
      75.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-120" id="link36note-120">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      120 (<a href="#link36noteref-120">return</a>)<br /> [ Jornandes, c. 53, 54,
      p. 692-695. M. de Buat (Hist. des Peuples de l'Europe, tom. viii. p.
      221-228) has clearly explained the origin and adventures of Odoacer. I am
      almost inclined to believe that he was the same who pillaged Angers, and
      commanded a fleet of Saxon pirates 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 this conjecture, vii 5&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-121" id="link36note-121">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      121 (<a href="#link36noteref-121">return</a>)<br /> [ Vade ad Italiam, vade
      vilissimis nunc pellibus coopertis: sed multis cito plurima largiturus.
      Anonym. Vales. p. 717. He quotes the life of St. Severinus, which is
      extant, and contains much unknown and valuable 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-122" id="link36note-122">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      122 (<a href="#link36noteref-122">return</a>)<br /> [ Theophanes, who calls
      him a Goth, affirms, that he was educated, aursed in Italy, (p. 102;) and
      as this strong expression will not bear a literal interpretation, it must
      be explained by long service in the Imperial guards.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-123" id="link36note-123">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      123 (<a href="#link36noteref-123">return</a>)<br /> [ Nomen regis Odoacer
      assumpsit, cum tamen neque purpura nee regalibus uteretur insignibus.
      Cassiodor. in Chron. A.D. 476. He seems to have assumed the abstract title
      of a king, without applying it to any particular nation or country. 8
      Note: Manso observes that Odoacer never called himself king of Italy,
      assume the purple, and no coins are extant with his name. Gescnichte Osi
      Goth. Reiches, p. 36&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Royalty was familiar to the Barbarians, and the submissive people of Italy
      was prepared to obey, without a murmur, the authority which he should
      condescend to exercise as the vicegerent of the emperor of the West. But
      Odoacer had resolved to abolish that useless and expensive office; and
      such is the weight of antique prejudice, that it required some boldness
      and penetration to discover the extreme facility of the enterprise. The
      unfortunate Augustulus was made the instrument of his own disgrace: he
      signified his resignation to the senate; and that assembly, in their last
      act of obedience to a Roman prince, still affected the spirit of freedom,
      and the forms of the constitution. An epistle was addressed, by their
      unanimous decree, to the emperor Zeno, the son-in-law and successor of
      Leo; who had lately been restored, after a short rebellion, to the
      Byzantine throne. They solemnly "disclaim the necessity, or even the wish,
      of continuing any longer the Imperial succession in Italy; since, in their
      opinion, the majesty of a sole monarch is sufficient to pervade and
      protect, at the same time, both the 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 from Rome to Constantinople; and they basely
      renounce the right of choosing their master, the only vestige that yet
      remained of the authority which had given laws to the world. The republic
      (they repeat that name without a blush) might safely confide in the civil
      and military virtues of Odoacer; and they humbly request, that the emperor
      would invest him with the title of Patrician, and the administration of
      the diocese of Italy." The deputies of the senate were received at
      Constantinople with some marks of displeasure and indignation: and when
      they were admitted to the audience of Zeno, he sternly reproached them
      with their treatment of the two emperors, Anthemius and Nepos, whom the
      East had successively granted to the prayers of Italy. "The first"
      (continued he) "you have murdered; the second you have expelled; but the
      second is still alive, and whilst he lives he is your lawful sovereign."
      But the prudent Zeno soon deserted the hopeless cause of his abdicated
      colleague. His vanity was gratified by the title of sole emperor, and by
      the statues erected to his honor in the several quarters of Rome; he
      entertained a friendly, though ambiguous, correspondence with the
      patrician Odoacer; and he gratefully accepted the Imperial ensigns, the
      sacred ornaments of the throne and palace, which the Barbarian was not
      unwilling to remove from the sight of the people. <a href="#link36note-124"
      name="link36noteref-124" id="link36noteref-124">124</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-124" id="link36note-124">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      124 (<a href="#link36noteref-124">return</a>)<br /> [ Malchus, whose loss
      excites our regret, has preserved (in Excerpt. Legat. p. 93) this
      extraordinary embassy from the senate to Zeno. The anonymous fragment, (p.
      717,) and the extract from Candidus, (apud Phot. p. 176,) are likewise of
      some use.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In the space of twenty years since the death of Valentinian, nine emperors
      had successively disappeared; and the son of Orestes, a youth recommended
      only by his beauty, would be the least entitled to the notice of
      posterity, if his reign, which was marked by the extinction of the Roman
      empire in the West, did not leave a memorable era in the history of
      mankind. <a href="#link36note-125" name="link36noteref-125"
      id="link36noteref-125">125</a> The patrician Orestes had married the
      daughter of Count Romulus, of Petovio in Noricum: the name of Augustus,
      notwithstanding the jealousy of power, was known at Aquileia as a familiar
      surname; and the appellations of the two great founders, of the city and
      of the monarchy, were thus strangely united in the last of their
      successors. <a href="#link36note-126" name="link36noteref-126"
      id="link36noteref-126">126</a> The son of Orestes assumed and disgraced
      the names of Romulus Augustus; but the first was corrupted into Momyllus,
      by the Greeks, and the second has been changed by the Latins into the
      contemptible diminutive Augustulus. The life of this inoffensive youth was
      spared by the generous clemency of Odoacer; who dismissed him, with his
      whole family, from the Imperial palace, fixed his annual allowance at six
      thousand pieces of gold, and assigned the castle of Lucullus, in Campania,
      for the place of his exile or retirement. <a href="#link36note-127"
      name="link36noteref-127" id="link36noteref-127">127</a> As soon as the
      Romans breathed from the toils of the Punic war, they were attracted by
      the beauties and the pleasures of Campania; and the country-house of the
      elder Scipio at Liternum exhibited a lasting model of their rustic
      simplicity. <a href="#link36note-128" name="link36noteref-128"
      id="link36noteref-128">128</a> The delicious shores of the Bay of Naples
      were crowded with villas; and Sylla applauded the masterly skill of his
      rival, who had seated himself on the lofty promontory of Misenum, that
      commands, on every side, the sea and land, as far as the boundaries of the
      horizon. <a href="#link36note-129" name="link36noteref-129"
      id="link36noteref-129">129</a> The villa of Marius was purchased, within a
      few years, by Lucullus, and the price had increased from two thousand five
      hundred, to more than fourscore thousand, pounds sterling. <a
      href="#link36note-130" name="link36noteref-130" id="link36noteref-130">130</a>
      It was adorned by the new proprietor with Grecian arts and Asiatic
      treasures; and the houses and gardens of Lucullus obtained a distinguished
      rank in the list of Imperial palaces. <a href="#link36note-131"
      name="link36noteref-131" id="link36noteref-131">131</a> When the Vandals
      became formidable to the sea-coast, the Lucullan villa, on the promontory
      of Misenum, gradually assumed the strength and appellation of a strong
      castle, the obscure retreat of the last emperor of the West. About twenty
      years after that great revolution, it was converted into a church and
      monastery, to receive the bones of St. Severinus. They securely reposed,
      amidst the the broken trophies of Cimbric and Armenian victories,till the
      beginning of the tenth century; when the fortifications, which might
      afford a dangerous shelter to the Saracens, were demolished by the people
      of Naples. <a href="#link36note-132" name="link36noteref-132"
      id="link36noteref-132">132</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-125" id="link36note-125">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      125 (<a href="#link36noteref-125">return</a>)<br /> [ The precise year in
      which the Western empire was extinguished, is not positively ascertained.
      The vulgar era of A.D. 476 appears to have the sanction of authentic
      chronicles. But the two dates assigned by Jornandes (c. 46, p. 680) would
      delay that great event to the year 479; and though M. de Buat has
      overlooked his evidence, he produces (tom. viii. p. 261-288) many
      collateral circumstances in support of the same opinion.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-126" id="link36note-126">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      126 (<a href="#link36noteref-126">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 meanest subjects of the Roman empire assumed the
      illustrious name of Patricius, which, by the conversion of Ireland has
      been communicated to a whole nation.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-127" id="link36note-127">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      127 (<a href="#link36noteref-127">return</a>)<br /> [ Ingrediens autem
      Ravennam deposuit Augustulum de regno, cujus infantiam misertus concessit
      ei sanguinem; et quia pulcher erat, tamen donavit ei reditum sex millia
      solidos, et misit eum intra Campaniam cum parentibus suis libere vivere.
      Anonym. Vales. p. 716. Jornandes says, (c 46, p. 680,) in Lucullano
      Campaniae castello exilii poena damnavit.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-128" id="link36note-128">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      128 (<a href="#link36noteref-128">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 study and conversation, was himself accused of
      that vice by his ruder contemporaries, (Livy, xxix. 19.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-129" id="link36note-129">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      129 (<a href="#link36noteref-129">return</a>)<br /> [ Sylla, in the
      language of a soldier, praised his peritia castrametandi, (Plin. Hist.
      Natur. xviii. 7.) Phaedrus, who makes its shady walks (loeta viridia) the
      scene of an insipid fable, (ii. 5,) has thus described the situation:&mdash;
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Caesar Tiberius quum petens Neapolim,
     In Misenensem villam venissit suam;
     Quae monte summo posita Luculli manu
     Prospectat Siculum et prospicit Tuscum mare.]
</pre>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-130" id="link36note-130">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      130 (<a href="#link36noteref-130">return</a>)<br /> [ From seven myriads
      and a half to two hundred and fifty myriads of drachmae. Yet even in the
      possession of Marius, it was a luxurious retirement. The Romans derided
      his indolence; they soon bewailed his activity. See Plutarch, in Mario,
      tom. ii. p. 524.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-131" id="link36note-131">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      131 (<a href="#link36noteref-131">return</a>)<br /> [ Lucullus had other
      villa of equal, though various, magnificence, at Baiae, Naples, Tusculum,
      &amp;c., He boasted that he changed his climate with the storks and
      cranes. Plutarch, in Lucull. tom. iii. p. 193.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-132" id="link36note-132">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      132 (<a href="#link36noteref-132">return</a>)<br /> [ Severinus died in
      Noricum, A.D. 482. Six years afterwards, his body, which scattered
      miracles as it passed, was transported by his disciples into Italy. The
      devotion of a Neapolitan lady invited the saint to the Lucullan villa, in
      the place of Augustulus, 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
      migration of Severinus to Naples is likewise an authentic piece.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Odoacer was the first Barbarian who reigned in Italy, over a people who
      had once asserted their just superiority above the rest of mankind. The
      disgrace of the Romans still excites our respectful compassion, and we
      fondly sympathize with the imaginary grief and indignation of their
      degenerate posterity. But the calamities of Italy had gradually subdued
      the proud consciousness of freedom and glory. In the age of Roman virtue
      the provinces were subject to the arms, and the citizens to the laws, of
      the republic; till those laws were subverted by civil discord, and both
      the city and the province became the servile property of a tyrant. The
      forms of the constitution, which alleviated or disguised their abject
      slavery, were abolished by time and violence; the Italians alternately
      lamented the presence or the absence of the sovereign, whom they detested
      or despised; and the succession of five centuries inflicted the various
      evils of military license, capricious despotism, and elaborate oppression.
      During the same period, the Barbarians had emerged from obscurity and
      contempt, and the warriors of Germany and Scythia were introduced into the
      provinces, as the servants, the allies, and at length the masters, of the
      Romans, whom they insulted or protected. The hatred of the people was
      suppressed by fear; they respected the spirit and splendor of the martial
      chiefs who were invested with the honors of the empire; and the fate of
      Rome had long depended on the sword of those formidable strangers. The
      stern Ricimer, who trampled on the ruins of Italy, had exercised the
      power, without assuming the title, of a king; and the patient Romans were
      insensibly prepared to acknowledge the royalty of Odoacer and his Barbaric
      successors. The king of Italy was not unworthy of the high station to
      which his valor and fortune had exalted him: his savage manners were
      polished by the habits of conversation; and he respected, though a
      conqueror and a Barbarian, the institutions, and even the prejudices, of
      his subjects. After an interval of seven years, Odoacer restored the
      consulship of the West. For himself, he modestly, or proudly, declined an
      honor which was still accepted by the emperors of the East; but the curule
      chair was successively filled by eleven of the most illustrious senators;
      <a href="#link36note-133" name="link36noteref-133" id="link36noteref-133">133</a>
      and the list is adorned by the respectable name of Basilius, whose virtues
      claimed the friendship and grateful applause of Sidonius, his client. <a
      href="#link36note-134" name="link36noteref-134" id="link36noteref-134">134</a>
      The laws of the emperors were strictly enforced, and the civil
      administration of Italy was still exercised by the Praetorian praefect and
      his subordinate officers. Odoacer devolved on the Roman magistrates the
      odious and oppressive task of collecting the public revenue; but he
      reserved for himself the merit of seasonable and popular indulgence. <a
      href="#link36note-135" name="link36noteref-135" id="link36noteref-135">135</a>
      Like the rest of the Barbarians, he had been instructed in the Arian
      heresy; but he revered the monastic and episcopal characters; and the
      silence of the Catholics attest the toleration which they enjoyed. The
      peace of the city required the interposition of his praefect Basilius in
      the choice of a Roman pontiff: the decree which restrained the clergy from
      alienating their lands was ultimately designed for the benefit of the
      people, whose devotions would have been taxed to repair the dilapidations
      of the church. <a href="#link36note-136" name="link36noteref-136"
      id="link36noteref-136">136</a> Italy was protected by the arms of its
      conqueror; and its frontiers were respected by the Barbarians of Gaul and
      Germany, who had so long insulted the feeble race of Theodosius. Odoacer
      passed the Adriatic, to chastise the assassins of the emperor Nepos, and
      to acquire the maritime province of Dalmatia. He passed the Alps, to
      rescue the remains of Noricum from Fava, or Feletheus, king of the
      Rugians, who held his residence beyond the Danube. The king was vanquished
      in battle, and led away prisoner; a numerous colony of captives and
      subjects was transplanted into Italy; and Rome, after a long period of
      defeat and disgrace, might claim the triumph of her Barbarian master. <a
      href="#link36note-137" name="link36noteref-137" id="link36noteref-137">137</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-133" id="link36note-133">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      133 (<a href="#link36noteref-133">return</a>)<br /> [ The consular Fasti
      may be found in Pagi or Muratori. The consuls named by Odoacer, or perhaps
      by the Roman senate, appear to have been acknowledged in the Eastern
      empire.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-134" id="link36note-134">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      134 (<a href="#link36noteref-134">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 the specious, to the latter the solid, virtues of
      public and private life. A Basilius junior, possibly his son, was consul
      in the year 480.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-135" id="link36note-135">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      135 (<a href="#link36noteref-135">return</a>)<br /> [ Epiphanius interceded
      for the people of Pavia; and the king first granted an indulgence of five
      years, and afterwards relieved them from the oppression of Pelagius, the
      Praetorian praefect, (Ennodius in Vit St. Epiphan., in Sirmond, Oper. tom.
      i. p. 1670-1672.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-136" id="link36note-136">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      136 (<a href="#link36noteref-136">return</a>)<br /> [ See Baronius, Annal.
      Eccles. A.D. 483, No. 10-15. Sixteen years afterwards the irregular
      proceedings of Basilius were condemned by Pope Symmachus in a Roman
      synod.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-137" id="link36note-137">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      137 (<a href="#link36noteref-137">return</a>)<br /> [ The wars of Odoacer
      are concisely mentioned by Paul the Deacon, (de Gest. Langobard. l. i. c.
      19, p. 757, edit. Grot.,) and in the two Chronicles of Cassiodorus and
      Cuspinian. The life of St. Severinus by Eugippius, which the count de Buat
      (Hist. des Peuples, &amp;c., tom. viii. c. 1, 4, 8, 9) has diligently
      studied, illustrates the ruin of Noricum and the Bavarian antiquities]
    </p>
    <p>
      Notwithstanding the prudence and success of Odoacer, his kingdom exhibited
      the sad prospect of misery and desolation. Since the age of Tiberius, the
      decay of agriculture had been felt in Italy; and it was a just subject of
      complaint, that the life of the Roman people depended on the accidents of
      the winds and waves. <a href="#link36note-138" name="link36noteref-138"
      id="link36noteref-138">138</a> In the division and the decline of the
      empire, the tributary harvests of Egypt and Africa were withdrawn; the
      numbers of the inhabitants continually diminished with the means of
      subsistence; and the country was exhausted by the irretrievable losses of
      war, famine, <a href="#link36note-139" name="link36noteref-139"
      id="link36noteref-139">139</a> and pestilence. St. Ambrose has deplored
      the ruin of a populous district, which had been once adorned with the
      flourishing cities of Bologna, Modena, Regium, and Placentia. <a
      href="#link36note-140" name="link36noteref-140" id="link36noteref-140">140</a>
      Pope Gelasius was a subject of Odoacer; and he affirms, with strong
      exaggeration, that in Aemilia, Tuscany, and the adjacent provinces, the
      human species was almost extirpated. <a href="#link36note-141"
      name="link36noteref-141" id="link36noteref-141">141</a> The plebeians of
      Rome, who were fed by the hand of their master, perished or disappeared,
      as soon as his liberality was suppressed; the decline of the arts reduced
      the industrious mechanic to idleness and want; and the senators, who might
      support with patience the ruin of their country, bewailed their private
      loss of wealth and luxury. <a href="#link36note-1411"
      name="link36noteref-1411" id="link36noteref-1411">1411</a> One third of
      those ample estates, to which the ruin of Italy is originally imputed, <a
      href="#link36note-142" name="link36noteref-142" id="link36noteref-142">142</a>
      was extorted for the use of the conquerors. Injuries were aggravated by
      insults; the sense of actual sufferings was imbittered by the fear of more
      dreadful evils; and as new lands were allotted to the new swarms of
      Barbarians, each senator was apprehensive lest the arbitrary surveyors
      should approach his favorite villa, or his most profitable farm. The least
      unfortunate were those who submitted without a murmur to the power which
      it was impossible to resist. Since they desired to live, they owed some
      gratitude to the tyrant who had spared their lives; and since he was the
      absolute master of their fortunes, the portion which he left must be
      accepted as his pure and voluntary gift. <a href="#link36note-143"
      name="link36noteref-143" id="link36noteref-143">143</a> The distress of
      Italy <a href="#link36note-1431" name="link36noteref-1431"
      id="link36noteref-1431">1431</a> was mitigated by the prudence and
      humanity of Odoacer, who had bound himself, as the price of his elevation,
      to satisfy the demands of a licentious and turbulent multitude. The kings
      of the Barbarians were frequently resisted, deposed, or murdered, by their
      native subjects, and the various bands of Italian mercenaries, who
      associated under the standard of an elective general, claimed a larger
      privilege of freedom and rapine. A monarchy destitute of national union,
      and hereditary right, hastened to its dissolution. After a reign of
      fourteen years, Odoacer was oppressed by the superior genius of Theodoric,
      king of the Ostrogoths; a hero alike excellent in the arts of war and of
      government, who restored an age of peace and prosperity, and whose name
      still excites and deserves the attention of mankind.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-138" id="link36note-138">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      138 (<a href="#link36noteref-138">return</a>)<br /> [ Tacit. Annal. iii.
      53. The Recherches sur l'Administration des Terres chez les Romains (p.
      351-361) clearly state the progress of internal decay.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-139" id="link36note-139">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      139 (<a href="#link36noteref-139">return</a>)<br /> [ A famine, which
      afflicted Italy at the time of the irruption of Odoacer, king of the
      Heruli, is eloquently described, in prose 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 the truth of history]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-140" id="link36note-140">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      140 (<a href="#link36noteref-140">return</a>)<br /> [ See the xxxixth
      epistle of St. Ambrose, as it is quoted by Muratori, sopra le Antichita
      Italiane, tom. i. Dissert. xxi. p. 354.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-141" id="link36note-141">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      141 (<a href="#link36noteref-141">return</a>)<br /> [ Aemilia, Tuscia,
      ceteraeque provinciae in quibus hominum propenullus exsistit. Gelasius,
      Epist. ad Andromachum, ap. Baronium, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 496, No. 36.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-1411" id="link36note-1411">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1411 (<a href="#link36noteref-1411">return</a>)<br /> [ Denina supposes
      that the Barbarians were compelled by necessity to turn their attention to
      agriculture. Italy, either imperfectly cultivated, or not at all, by the
      indolent or ruined proprietors, not only could not furnish the imposts, on
      which the pay of the soldiery depended, but not even a certain supply of
      the necessaries of life. The neighboring countries were now occupied by
      warlike nations; the supplies of corn from Africa were cut off; foreign
      commerce nearly destroyed; they could not look for supplies beyond the
      limits of Italy, throughout which the agriculture had been long in a state
      of progressive but rapid depression. (Denina, Rev. d'Italia t. v. c. i.)&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-142" id="link36note-142">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      142 (<a href="#link36noteref-142">return</a>)<br /> [ Verumque
      confitentibus, latifundia perdidere Italiam. Plin. Hist. Natur. xviii. 7.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-143" id="link36note-143">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      143 (<a href="#link36noteref-143">return</a>)<br /> [ Such are the topics
      of consolation, or rather of patience, which Cicero (ad Familiares, lib.
      ix. Epist. 17) suggests to his friend Papirius Paetus, under the military
      despotism of Caesar. The argument, however, of "vivere pulcherrimum duxi,"
      is more forcibly addressed to a Roman philosopher, who possessed the free
      alternative of life or death]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link36note-1431" id="link36note-1431">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1431 (<a href="#link36noteref-1431">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare, on the
      desolation and change of property in Italy, Manno des Ost-Gothischen
      Reiches, Part ii. p. 73, et seq.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br /> <a name="link372HCH0001" id="link372HCH0001">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To Christianity.&mdash;Part
      I.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Origin Progress, And Effects Of The Monastic Life.&mdash;
     Conversion Of The Barbarians To Christianity And Arianism.&mdash;
     Persecution Of The Vandals In Africa.&mdash;Extinction Of
     Arianism Among The Barbarians.
</pre>
    <p>
      The indissoluble connection of civil and ecclesiastical affairs has
      compelled, and encouraged, me to relate the progress, the persecutions,
      the establishment, the divisions, the final triumph, and the gradual
      corruption, of Christianity. I have purposely delayed the consideration of
      two religious events, interesting in the study of human nature, and
      important in the decline and fall of the Roman empire. I. The institution
      of the monastic life; <a href="#link37note-1" name="link37noteref-1"
      id="link37noteref-1">1</a> and, II. The conversion of the northern
      Barbarians.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-1" id="link37note-1">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1 (<a href="#link37noteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ The origin of the
      monastic institution has been laboriously discussed by Thomassin
      (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 1119-1426) and Helyot, (Hist. des
      Ordres Monastiques, tom. i. p. 1-66.) These authors are very learned, and
      tolerably honest, and their difference of opinion shows the subject in its
      full extent. Yet the cautious Protestant, who distrusts any popish guides,
      may consult the seventh book of Bingham's Christian Antiquities.]
    </p>
    <p>
      I. Prosperity and peace introduced the distinction of the vulgar and the
      Ascetic Christians. <a href="#link37note-2" name="link37noteref-2"
      id="link37noteref-2">2</a> The loose and imperfect practice of religion
      satisfied the conscience of the multitude. The prince or magistrate, the
      soldier 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 and abused
      the rigid precepts of the gospel, were inspired by the savage enthusiasm
      which represents man as a criminal, and God as a tyrant. They seriously
      renounced the business, and the pleasures, of the age; abjured the use of
      wine, of flesh, and of marriage; chastised their body, mortified their
      affections, and embraced a life of misery, as the price of eternal
      happiness. In the reign of Constantine, the Ascetics fled from a profane
      and degenerate world, to perpetual solitude, or religious society. Like
      the first Christians of Jerusalem, <a href="#link37note-3"
      name="link37noteref-3" id="link37noteref-3">3</a> <a href="#link37note-311"
      name="link37noteref-311" id="link37noteref-311">311</a> they resigned the
      use, or the property of their temporal possessions; established regular
      communities of the same sex, and a similar disposition; and assumed the
      names of Hermits, Monks, and Anachorets, expressive of their lonely
      retreat in a natural or artificial desert. They soon acquired the respect
      of the world, which they despised; and the loudest applause was bestowed
      on this Divine Philosophy, <a href="#link37note-4" name="link37noteref-4"
      id="link37noteref-4">4</a> which surpassed, without the aid of science or
      reason, the laborious virtues of the Grecian schools. The monks might
      indeed contend with the Stoics, in the contempt of fortune, of pain, and
      of death: the Pythagorean silence and submission were revived in their
      servile discipline; and they disdained, as firmly as the Cynics
      themselves, all the forms and decencies of civil society. But the votaries
      of this Divine Philosophy aspired to imitate a purer and more perfect
      model. They trod in the footsteps of the prophets, who had retired to the
      desert; <a href="#link37note-5" name="link37noteref-5" id="link37noteref-5">5</a>
      and they restored the devout and contemplative life, which had been
      instituted by the Essenians, in Palestine and Egypt. The philosophic eye
      of Pliny had surveyed with astonishment a solitary people, who dwelt among
      the palm-trees near the Dead Sea; who subsisted without money, who were
      propagated without women; and who derived from the disgust and repentance
      of mankind a perpetual supply of voluntary associates. <a
      href="#link37note-6" name="link37noteref-6" id="link37noteref-6">6</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-2" id="link37note-2">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2 (<a href="#link37noteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 ignorant that a similar institution was
      actually revived in Egypt.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-3" id="link37note-3">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3 (<a href="#link37noteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ Cassian (Collat. xviii.
      5.) claims this origin for the institution of the Coenobites, which
      gradually decayed till it was restored by Antony and his disciples.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-311" id="link37note-311">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      311 (<a href="#link37noteref-311">return</a>)<br /> [ It has before been
      shown that the first Christian community was not strictly coenobitic. See
      vol. ii.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-4" id="link37note-4">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4 (<a href="#link37noteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ These are the expressive
      words of Sozomen, who copiously and agreeably describes (l. i. c. 12, 13,
      14) the origin and progress of this monkish philosophy, (see Suicer.
      Thesau, Eccles., tom. ii. p. 1441.) Some modern writers, Lipsius (tom. iv.
      p. 448. Manuduct. ad Philosoph. Stoic. iii. 13) and La Mothe le Vayer,
      (tom. ix. de la Vertu des Payens, p. 228-262,) have compared the
      Carmelites to the Pythagoreans, and the Cynics to the Capucins.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-5" id="link37note-5">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5 (<a href="#link37noteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ The Carmelites derive
      their pedigree, in regular succession, 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, &amp;c., and the prolix irony of the
      Ordres Monastiques, an anonymous work, tom. i. p. 1-433, Berlin, 1751.)
      Rome, and the inquisition of Spain, silenced the profane criticism of the
      Jesuits of Flanders, (Helyot, Hist. des Ordres Monastiques, tom. i. p.
      282-300,) and the statue of Elijah, the Carmelite, has been erected in the
      church of St. Peter, (Voyages du P. Labat tom. iii. p. 87.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-6" id="link37note-6">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6 (<a href="#link37noteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ Plin. Hist. Natur. v. 15.
      Gens sola, et in toto orbe praeter ceteras mira, sine ulla femina, omni
      venere abdicata, sine pecunia, socia palmarum. Ita per seculorum millia
      (incredibile dictu) gens aeterna est in qua nemo nascitur. Tam foecunda
      illis aliorum vitae poenitentia est. He places them just beyond the
      noxious influence of the lake, and names Engaddi and Massada as the
      nearest towns. The Laura, and monastery of St. Sabas, could not be far
      distant from this place. See Reland. Palestin., tom. i. p. 295; tom. ii.
      p. 763, 874, 880, 890.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Egypt, the fruitful parent of superstition, afforded the first example of
      the monastic life. Antony, <a href="#link37note-7" name="link37noteref-7"
      id="link37noteref-7">7</a> an illiterate <a href="#link37note-8"
      name="link37noteref-8" id="link37noteref-8">8</a> youth of the lower parts
      of Thebais, distributed his patrimony, <a href="#link37note-9"
      name="link37noteref-9" id="link37noteref-9">9</a> deserted his family and
      native home, and executed his monastic penance with original and intrepid
      fanaticism. After a long and painful novitiate, among the tombs, and in a
      ruined tower, he boldly advanced into the desert three days' journey to
      the eastward of the Nile; discovered a lonely spot, which possessed the
      advantages of shade and water, and fixed his last residence on Mount
      Colzim, near the Red Sea; where an ancient monastery still preserves the
      name and memory of the saint. <a href="#link37note-10"
      name="link37noteref-10" id="link37noteref-10">10</a> The curious devotion
      of the Christians pursued him to the desert; and when he was obliged to
      appear at Alexandria, in the face of mankind, he supported his fame with
      discretion and dignity. He enjoyed the friendship of Athanasius, whose
      doctrine he approved; and the Egyptian peasant respectfully declined a
      respectful invitation from the emperor Constantine. The venerable
      patriarch (for Antony attained the age of one hundred and five years)
      beheld the numerous progeny which had been formed by his example and his
      lessons. The prolific colonies of monks multiplied with rapid increase on
      the sands of Libya, upon the rocks of Thebais, and in the cities of the
      Nile. To the south of Alexandria, the mountain, and adjacent desert, of
      Nitria, were peopled by five thousand anachorets; and the traveller may
      still investigate the ruins of fifty monasteries, which were planted in
      that barren soil by the disciples of Antony. <a href="#link37note-11"
      name="link37noteref-11" id="link37noteref-11">11</a> In the Upper Thebais,
      the vacant island of Tabenne, <a href="#link37note-12"
      name="link37noteref-12" id="link37noteref-12">12</a> was occupied by
      Pachomius and fourteen hundred of his brethren. That holy abbot
      successively founded nine monasteries of men, and one of women; and the
      festival of Easter sometimes collected fifty thousand religious persons,
      who followed his angelic rule of discipline. <a href="#link37note-13"
      name="link37noteref-13" id="link37noteref-13">13</a> The stately and
      populous city of Oxyrinchus, the seat of Christian orthodoxy, had devoted
      the temples, the public edifices, and even the ramparts, to pious and
      charitable uses; and the bishop, who might preach in twelve churches,
      computed ten thousand females and twenty thousand males, of the monastic
      profession. <a href="#link37note-14" name="link37noteref-14"
      id="link37noteref-14">14</a> The Egyptians, who gloried in this marvellous
      revolution, were disposed to hope, and to believe, that the number of the
      monks was equal to the remainder of the people; <a href="#link37note-15"
      name="link37noteref-15" id="link37noteref-15">15</a> and posterity might
      repeat the saying, which had formerly been applied to the sacred animals
      of the same country, That in Egypt it was less difficult to find a god
      than a man.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-7" id="link37note-7">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7 (<a href="#link37noteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ See Athanas. Op. tom. ii.
      p. 450-505, and the Vit. Patrum, p. 26-74, with Rosweyde's Annotations.
      The former is the Greek original the latter, a very ancient Latin version
      by Evagrius, the friend of St. Jerom.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-8" id="link37note-8">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8 (<a href="#link37noteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ Athanas. tom. ii. in Vit.
      St. Anton. p. 452; and the assertion of his total ignorance has been
      received by many of the ancients and moderns. But Tillemont (Mem. Eccles.
      tom. vii. p. 666) shows, by some probable arguments, that Antony could
      read and write in the Coptic, his native tongue; and that he was only a
      stranger to the Greek letters. The philosopher Synesius (p. 51)
      acknowledges that the natural genius of Antony did not require the aid of
      learning.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-9" id="link37note-9">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9 (<a href="#link37noteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ Aruroe autem erant ei
      trecentae uberes, et valde optimae, (Vit. Patr. l. v. p. 36.) If the Arura
      be a square measure, of a hundred Egyptian cubits, (Rosweyde, Onomasticon
      ad Vit. Patrum, p. 1014, 1015,) and the Egyptian cubit of all ages be
      equal to twenty-two English inches, (Greaves, vol. i. p. 233,) the arura
      will consist of about three quarters of an English acre.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-10" id="link37note-10">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      10 (<a href="#link37noteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ The description of the
      monastery is given by Jerom (tom. i. p. 248, 249, in Vit. Hilarion) and
      the P. Sicard, (Missions du Levant tom. v. p. 122-200.) Their accounts
      cannot always be reconciled the father painted from his fancy, and the
      Jesuit from his experience.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-11" id="link37note-11">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      11 (<a href="#link37noteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 four monasteries, and twenty or thirty monks.
      See D'Anville, Description de l'Egypte, p. 74.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-12" id="link37note-12">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      12 (<a href="#link37noteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ Tabenne is a small
      island in the Nile, in the diocese of Tentyra or Dendera, between the
      modern town of Girge and the ruins of ancient Thebes, (D'Anville, p. 194.)
      M. de Tillemont doubts whether it was an isle; but I may conclude, from
      his own facts, that the primitive name was afterwards transferred to the
      great monastery of Bau or Pabau, (Mem. Eccles. tom. vii. p. 678, 688.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-13" id="link37note-13">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      13 (<a href="#link37noteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ See in the Codex
      Regularum (published by Lucas Holstenius, Rome, 1661) a preface of St.
      Jerom to his Latin version of the Rule of Pachomius, tom. i. p. 61.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-14" id="link37note-14">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      14 (<a href="#link37noteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ Rufin. c. 5, in Vit.
      Patrum, p. 459. He calls it civitas ampla ralde et populosa, and reckons
      twelve churches. Strabo (l. xvii. p. 1166) and Ammianus (xxii. 16) have
      made honorable mention of Oxyrinchus, whose inhabitants adored a small
      fish in a magnificent temple.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-15" id="link37note-15">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      15 (<a href="#link37noteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ Quanti populi habentur
      in urbibus, tantae paene habentur in desertis multitudines monachorum.
      Rufin. c. 7, in Vit. Patrum, p. 461. He congratulates the fortunate
      change.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Athanasius introduced into Rome the knowledge and practice of the monastic
      life; and a school of this new philosophy was opened by the disciples of
      Antony, who accompanied their primate to the holy threshold of the
      Vatican. The strange and savage appearance of these Egyptians excited, at
      first, horror and contempt, and, at length, applause and zealous
      imitation. The senators, and more especially the matrons, transformed
      their palaces and villas into religious houses; and the narrow institution
      of six vestals was eclipsed by the frequent monasteries, which were seated
      on the ruins of ancient temples, and in the midst of the Roman forum. <a
      href="#link37note-16" name="link37noteref-16" id="link37noteref-16">16</a>
      Inflamed by the example of Antony, a Syrian youth, whose name was
      Hilarion, <a href="#link37note-17" name="link37noteref-17"
      id="link37noteref-17">17</a> fixed his dreary abode on a sandy beach,
      between the sea and a morass, about seven miles from Gaza. The austere
      penance, in which he persisted forty-eight years, diffused a similar
      enthusiasm; and the holy man was followed by a train of two or three
      thousand anachorets, whenever he visited the innumerable monasteries of
      Palestine. The fame of Basil <a href="#link37note-18"
      name="link37noteref-18" id="link37noteref-18">18</a> is immortal in the
      monastic history of the East. With a mind that had tasted the learning and
      eloquence of Athens; with an ambition scarcely to be satisfied with the
      archbishopric of Caesarea, Basil retired to a savage solitude in Pontus;
      and deigned, for a while, to give laws to the spiritual colonies which he
      profusely scattered along the coast of the Black Sea. In the West, Martin
      of Tours, <a href="#link37note-19" name="link37noteref-19"
      id="link37noteref-19">19</a> a soldier, a hermit, a bishop, and a saint,
      established the monasteries of Gaul; two thousand of his disciples
      followed him to the grave; and his eloquent historian challenges the
      deserts of Thebais to produce, in a more favorable climate, a champion of
      equal virtue. The progress of the monks was not less rapid, or universal,
      than that of Christianity itself. Every province, and, at last, every
      city, of the empire, was filled with their increasing multitudes; and the
      bleak and barren isles, from Lerins to Lipari, that arose out of the
      Tuscan Sea, were chosen by the anachorets for the place of their voluntary
      exile. An easy and perpetual intercourse by sea and land connected the
      provinces of the Roman world; and the life of Hilarion displays the
      facility with which an indigent hermit of Palestine might traverse Egypt,
      embark for Sicily, escape to Epirus, and finally settle in the Island of
      Cyprus. <a href="#link37note-20" name="link37noteref-20"
      id="link37noteref-20">20</a> The Latin Christians embraced the religious
      institutions of Rome. The pilgrims, who visited Jerusalem, eagerly copied,
      in the most distant climates of the earth, the faithful model of the
      monastic life. The disciples of Antony spread themselves beyond the
      tropic, over the Christian empire of Aethiopia. <a href="#link37note-21"
      name="link37noteref-21" id="link37noteref-21">21</a> The monastery of
      Banchor, <a href="#link37note-22" name="link37noteref-22"
      id="link37noteref-22">22</a> in Flintshire, which contained above two
      thousand brethren, dispersed a numerous colony among the Barbarians of
      Ireland; <a href="#link37note-23" name="link37noteref-23"
      id="link37noteref-23">23</a> and Iona, one of the Hebrides, which was
      planted by the Irish monks, diffused over the northern regions a doubtful
      ray of science and superstition. <a href="#link37note-24"
      name="link37noteref-24" id="link37noteref-24">24</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-16" id="link37note-16">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      16 (<a href="#link37noteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ The introduction of the
      monastic life into Rome and Italy is occasionally mentioned by Jerom, tom.
      i. p. 119, 120, 199.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-17" id="link37note-17">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      17 (<a href="#link37noteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 compositions is the want of truth and common
      sense.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-18" id="link37note-18">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      18 (<a href="#link37noteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ His original retreat
      was in a small village on the banks of the Iris, not far from
      Neo-Caesarea. The ten or twelve years of his monastic life were disturbed
      by long and frequent avocations. Some critics have disputed the
      authenticity of his Ascetic rules; but the external evidence is weighty,
      and they can only prove that it is the work 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]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-19" id="link37note-19">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      19 (<a href="#link37noteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ See his Life, and the
      three Dialogues by Sulpicius Severus, who asserts (Dialog. i. 16) that the
      booksellers of Rome were delighted with the quick and ready sale of his
      popular work.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-20" id="link37note-20">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      20 (<a href="#link37noteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 from Alexandria 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, that it might be ready for the sailing of the
      fleets, (tom. ii. p. 451.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-21" id="link37note-21">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      21 (<a href="#link37noteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 primitive institution.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-22" id="link37note-22">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      22 (<a href="#link37noteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ Camden's Britannia,
      vol. i. p. 666, 667.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-23" id="link37note-23">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      23 (<a href="#link37noteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ All that learning can
      extract from the rubbish of the dark ages is copiously stated by
      Archbishop Usher in his Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, cap. xvi.
      p. 425-503.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-24" id="link37note-24">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      24 (<a href="#link37noteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ This small, though not
      barren, spot, Iona, Hy, or Columbkill, only two miles in length, aud one
      mile in breadth, has been distinguished, 1. By the monastery of St.
      Columba, founded A.D. 566; whose abbot exercised an extraordinary
      jurisdiction over the bishops of Caledonia; 2. By a classic library, which
      afforded some hopes of an entire Livy; and, 3. By the tombs of sixty
      kings, Scots, Irish, and Norwegians, who reposed in holy ground. See Usher
      (p. 311, 360-370) and Buchanan, (Rer. Scot. l. ii. p. 15, edit.
      Ruddiman.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      These unhappy exiles from social life were impelled by the dark and
      implacable genius of superstition. Their mutual resolution was supported
      by the example of millions, of either sex, of every age, and of every
      rank; and each proselyte who entered the gates of a monastery, was
      persuaded that he trod the steep and thorny path of eternal happiness. <a
      href="#link37note-25" name="link37noteref-25" id="link37noteref-25">25</a>
      But the operation of these religious motives was variously determined by
      the temper and situation of mankind. Reason might subdue, or passion might
      suspend, their influence: but they acted most forcibly on the infirm minds
      of children and females; they were strengthened by secret remorse, or
      accidental misfortune; and they might derive some aid from the temporal
      considerations of vanity or interest. It was naturally supposed, that the
      pious and humble monks, who had renounced the world to accomplish the work
      of their salvation, were the best qualified for the spiritual government
      of the Christians. The reluctant hermit was torn from his cell, and
      seated, amidst the acclamations of the people, on the episcopal throne:
      the monasteries of Egypt, of Gaul, and of the East, supplied a regular
      succession of saints and bishops; and ambition soon discovered the secret
      road which led to the possession of wealth and honors. <a
      href="#link37note-26" name="link37noteref-26" id="link37noteref-26">26</a>
      The popular monks, whose reputation was connected with the fame and
      success of the order, assiduously labored to multiply the number of their
      fellow-captives. They insinuated themselves into noble and opulent
      families; and the specious arts of flattery and seduction were employed to
      secure those proselytes who might bestow wealth or dignity on the monastic
      profession. The indignant father bewailed the loss, perhaps, of an only
      son; <a href="#link37note-27" name="link37noteref-27" id="link37noteref-27">27</a>
      the credulous maid was betrayed by vanity to violate the laws of nature;
      and the matron aspired to imaginary perfection, by renouncing the virtues
      of domestic life. Paula yielded to the persuasive eloquence of Jerom; <a
      href="#link37note-28" name="link37noteref-28" id="link37noteref-28">28</a>
      and the profane title of mother-in-law of God <a href="#link37note-29"
      name="link37noteref-29" id="link37noteref-29">29</a> tempted that
      illustrious widow to consecrate the virginity of her daughter Eustochium.
      By the advice, and in the company, of her spiritual guide, Paula abandoned
      Rome and her infant son; retired to the holy village of Bethlem; founded a
      hospital and four monasteries; and acquired, by her alms and penance, an
      eminent and conspicuous station in the Catholic church. Such rare and
      illustrious penitents were celebrated as the glory and example of their
      age; but the monasteries were filled by a crowd of obscure and abject
      plebeians, <a href="#link37note-30" name="link37noteref-30"
      id="link37noteref-30">30</a> who gained in the cloister much more than
      they had sacrificed in the world. Peasants, slaves, and mechanics, might
      escape from poverty and contempt to a safe and honorable profession; whose
      apparent hardships are mitigated by custom, by popular applause, and by
      the secret relaxation of discipline. <a href="#link37note-31"
      name="link37noteref-31" id="link37noteref-31">31</a> The subjects of Rome,
      whose persons and fortunes were made responsible for unequal and
      exorbitant tributes, retired from the oppression of the Imperial
      government; and the pusillanimous youth preferred the penance of a
      monastic, to the dangers of a military, life. The affrighted provincials
      of every rank, who fled before the Barbarians, found shelter and
      subsistence: whole legions were buried in these religious sanctuaries; and
      the same cause, which relieved the distress of individuals, impaired the
      strength and fortitude of the empire. <a href="#link37note-32"
      name="link37noteref-32" id="link37noteref-32">32</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-25" id="link37note-25">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      25 (<a href="#link37noteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ Chrysostom (in the
      first tome of the Benedictine edition) has consecrated three books to the
      praise and defence of the monastic life. He is encouraged, by the example
      of the ark, to presume that none 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,) and allows different degrees of glory, like the sun,
      moon, and stars. In his lively comparison of a king and a monk, (l. iii.
      p. 116-121,) he supposes (what is hardly fair) that the king will be more
      sparingly rewarded, and more rigorously punished.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-26" id="link37note-26">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      26 (<a href="#link37noteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ Thomassin (Discipline
      de l'Eglise tom. i. p. 1426-1469) and Mabillon, (Oeuvres Posthumes, tom.
      ii. p. 115-158.) The monks were gradually adopted as a part of the
      ecclesiastical hierarchy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-27" id="link37note-27">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      27 (<a href="#link37noteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ Dr. Middleton (vol. i.
      p. 110) liberally censures the conduct and writings of Chrysostom, one of
      the most eloquent and successful advocates for the monastic life.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-28" id="link37note-28">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      28 (<a href="#link37noteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ Jerom's devout ladies
      form a very considerable portion of his works: the particular treatise,
      which he styles the Epitaph of Paula, (tom. i. p. 169-192,) is an
      elaborate and extravagant panegyric. The exordium is ridiculously turgid:
      "If all the members of my body were changed into tongues, and if all my
      limbs resounded with a human voice, yet should I be incapable," &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-29" id="link37note-29">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      29 (<a href="#link37noteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ Socrus Dei esse
      coepisti, (Jerom, tom. i. p. 140, ad Eustochium.) Rufinus, (in Hieronym.
      Op. tom. iv. p. 223,) who was justly scandalized, asks his adversary, from
      what Pagan poet he had stolen an expression so impious and absurd.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-30" id="link37note-30">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      30 (<a href="#link37noteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ Nunc autem veniunt
      plerumque ad hanc professionem servitutis Dei, et ex conditione servili,
      vel etiam liberati, vel propter hoc a Dominis liberati sive liberandi; et
      ex vita rusticana et ex opificum exercitatione, et plebeio labore.
      Augustin, de Oper. Monach. c. 22, ap. Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise,
      tom. iii. p. 1094. The Egyptian, who blamed Arsenius, owned that he led a
      more comfortable life as a monk than as a shepherd. See Tillemont, Mem.
      Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 679.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-31" id="link37note-31">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      31 (<a href="#link37noteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ A Dominican friar,
      (Voyages du P. Labat, tom. i. p. 10,) who lodged at Cadiz in a convent of
      his brethren, soon understood that their repose was never interrupted by
      nocturnal devotion; "quoiqu'on ne laisse pas de sonner pour l'edification
      du peuple."]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-32" id="link37note-32">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      32 (<a href="#link37noteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ See a very sensible
      preface of Lucas Holstenius to the Codex Regularum. The emperors attempted
      to support the obligation of public and private duties; but the feeble
      dikes were swept away by the torrent of superstition; and Justinian
      surpassed the most sanguine wishes 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
      desertis civitatum muneribus, captant solitudines secreta, et specie
      religionis cum coetibus monachorum congregantur. Cad. Theod l. xii. tit.
      i. leg. 63.&mdash;G.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The monastic profession of the ancients <a href="#link37note-33"
      name="link37noteref-33" id="link37noteref-33">33</a> was an act of
      voluntary devotion. The inconstant fanatic was threatened with the eternal
      vengeance of the God whom he deserted; but the doors of the monastery were
      still open for repentance. Those monks, whose conscience was fortified by
      reason or passion, were at liberty to resume the character of men and
      citizens; and even the spouses of Christ might accept the legal embraces
      of an earthly lover. <a href="#link37note-34" name="link37noteref-34"
      id="link37noteref-34">34</a> The examples of scandal, and the progress of
      superstition, suggested the propriety of more forcible restraints. After a
      sufficient trial, the fidelity of the novice was secured by a solemn and
      perpetual vow; and his irrevocable engagement was ratified by the laws of
      the church and state. A guilty fugitive was pursued, arrested, and
      restored to his perpetual prison; and the interposition of the magistrate
      oppressed the freedom and the merit, which had alleviated, in some degree,
      the abject slavery of the monastic discipline. <a href="#link37note-35"
      name="link37noteref-35" id="link37noteref-35">35</a> The actions of a
      monk, his words, and even his thoughts, were determined by an inflexible
      rule, <a href="#link37note-36" name="link37noteref-36"
      id="link37noteref-36">36</a> or a capricious superior: the slightest
      offences were corrected by disgrace or confinement, extraordinary fasts,
      or bloody flagellation; and disobedience, murmur, or delay, were ranked in
      the catalogue of the most heinous sins. <a href="#link37note-37"
      name="link37noteref-37" id="link37noteref-37">37</a> A blind submission to
      the commands of the abbot, however absurd, or even criminal, they might
      seem, was the ruling principle, the first virtue of the Egyptian monks;
      and their patience was frequently exercised by the most extravagant
      trials. They were directed to remove an enormous rock; assiduously to
      water a barren staff, that was planted in the ground, till, at the end of
      three years, it should vegetate and blossom like a tree; to walk into a
      fiery furnace; or to cast their infant into a deep pond: and several
      saints, or madmen, have been immortalized in monastic story, by their
      thoughtless and fearless obedience. <a href="#link37note-38"
      name="link37noteref-38" id="link37noteref-38">38</a> The freedom of the
      mind, the source of every generous and rational sentiment, was destroyed
      by the habits of credulity and submission; and the monk, contracting the
      vices of a slave, devoutly followed the faith and passions of his
      ecclesiastical tyrant. The peace of the Eastern church was invaded by a
      swarm of fanatics, incapable of fear, or reason, or humanity; and the
      Imperial troops acknowledged, without shame, that they were much less
      apprehensive of an encounter with the fiercest Barbarians. <a
      href="#link37note-39" name="link37noteref-39" id="link37noteref-39">39</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-33" id="link37note-33">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      33 (<a href="#link37noteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 or Conferences.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-34" id="link37note-34">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      34 (<a href="#link37noteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ The example of Malchus,
      (Jerom, tom. i. p. 256,) and the design of Cassian and his friend,
      (Collation. xxiv. 1,) are incontestable proofs of their freedom; which is
      elegantly described by Erasmus in his Life of St. Jerom. See Chardon,
      Hist. des Sacremens, tom. vi. p. 279-300.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-35" id="link37note-35">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      35 (<a href="#link37noteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Laws of
      Justinian, (Novel. cxxiii. No. 42,) and of Lewis the Pious, (in the
      Historians of France, tom vi. p. 427,) and the actual jurisprudence of
      France, in Denissart, (Decisions, &amp;c., tom. iv. p. 855,) &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-36" id="link37note-36">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      36 (<a href="#link37noteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ The ancient Codex
      Regularum, collected by Benedict Anianinus, the reformer of the monks in
      the beginning of the ninth century, and published in the seventeenth, by
      Lucas Holstenius, contains thirty different rules for men and women. Of
      these, seven were composed in Egypt, one in the East, one in Cappadocia,
      one in Italy, one in Africa, four in Spain, eight in Gaul, or France, and
      one in England.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-37" id="link37note-37">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      37 (<a href="#link37noteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ The rule of Columbanus,
      so prevalent in the West, inflicts one hundred lashes for very slight
      offences, (Cod. Reg. part ii. p. 174.) Before the time of Charlemagne, the
      abbots indulged themselves in mutilating their monks, or putting out their
      eyes; a punishment much less cruel than the tremendous vade in pace (the
      subterraneous dungeon or sepulchre) which was afterwards invented. See an
      admirable discourse of the learned Mabillon, (Oeuvres Posthumes, tom. ii.
      p. 321-336,) who, on this occasion, seems to be inspired by the genius of
      humanity. For such an effort, I can forgive his defence of the holy tear
      of Vendeme (p. 361-399.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-38" id="link37note-38">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      38 (<a href="#link37noteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ Sulp. Sever. Dialog. i.
      12, 13, p. 532, &amp;c. Cassian. Institut. l. iv. c. 26, 27. "Praecipua
      ibi virtus et prima est obedientia." Among the Verba seniorum, (in Vit.
      Patrum, l. v. p. 617,) the fourteenth libel or discourse is on the subject
      of obedience; and the Jesuit Rosweyde, who published that huge volume for
      the use of convents, has collected all the scattered passages in his two
      copious indexes.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-39" id="link37note-39">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      39 (<a href="#link37noteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ Dr. Jortin (Remarks on
      Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 161) has observed the scandalous valor
      of the Cappadocian monks, which was exemplified in the banishment of
      Chrysostom.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Superstition has often framed and consecrated the fantastic garments of
      the monks: <a href="#link37note-40" name="link37noteref-40"
      id="link37noteref-40">40</a> but their apparent singularity sometimes
      proceeds from their uniform attachment to a simple and primitive model,
      which the revolutions of fashion have made ridiculous in the eyes of
      mankind. The father of the Benedictines expressly disclaims all idea of
      choice of merit; and soberly exhorts his disciples to adopt the coarse and
      convenient dress of the countries which they may inhabit. <a
      href="#link37note-41" name="link37noteref-41" id="link37noteref-41">41</a>
      The monastic habits of the ancients varied with the climate, and their
      mode of life; and they assumed, with the same indifference, the sheep-skin
      of the Egyptian peasants, or the cloak of the Grecian philosophers. They
      allowed themselves the use of linen in Egypt, where it was a cheap and
      domestic manufacture; but in the West they rejected such an expensive
      article of foreign luxury. <a href="#link37note-42" name="link37noteref-42"
      id="link37noteref-42">42</a> It was the practice of the monks either to
      cut or shave their hair; they wrapped their heads in a cowl to escape the
      sight of profane objects; their legs and feet were naked, except in the
      extreme cold of winter; and their slow and feeble steps were supported by
      a long staff. The aspect of a genuine anachoret was horrid and disgusting:
      every sensation that is offensive to man was thought acceptable to God;
      and the angelic rule of Tabenne condemned the salutary custom of bathing
      the limbs in water, and of anointing them with oil. <a
      href="#link37note-43" name="link37noteref-43" id="link37noteref-43">43</a>
      <a href="#link37note-431" name="link37noteref-431" id="link37noteref-431">431</a>
      The austere monks slept on the ground, on a hard mat, or a rough blanket;
      and the same bundle of palm-leaves served them as a seat in the lay, and a
      pillow in the night. Their original cells were low, narrow huts, built of
      the slightest materials; which formed, by the regular distribution of the
      streets, a large and populous village, enclosing, within the common wall,
      a church, a hospital, perhaps a library, some necessary offices, a garden,
      and a fountain or reservoir of fresh water. Thirty or forty brethren
      composed a family of separate discipline and diet; and the great
      monasteries of Egypt consisted of thirty or forty families.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-40" id="link37note-40">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      40 (<a href="#link37noteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ Cassian has simply,
      though copiously, described the monastic habit of Egypt, (Institut. l.
      i.,) to which Sozomen (l. iii. c. 14) attributes such allegorical meaning
      and virtue.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-41" id="link37note-41">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      41 (<a href="#link37noteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ Regul. Benedict. No.
      55, in Cod. Regul. part ii. p. 51.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-42" id="link37note-42">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      42 (<a href="#link37noteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ See the rule of
      Ferreolus, bishop of Usez, (No. 31, in Cod. Regul part ii. p. 136,) and of
      Isidore, bishop of Seville, (No. 13, in Cod. Regul part ii. p. 214.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-43" id="link37note-43">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      43 (<a href="#link37noteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ Some partial
      indulgences were granted for the hands and feet "Totum autem corpus nemo
      unguet nisi causa infirmitatis, nec lavabitur aqua nudo corpore, nisi
      languor perspicuus sit," (Regul. Pachom xcii. part i. p. 78.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-431" id="link37note-431">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      431 (<a href="#link37noteref-431">return</a>)<br /> [ Athanasius (Vit. Ant.
      c. 47) boasts of Antony's holy horror of clear water, by which his feet
      were uncontaminated except under dire necessity&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link372HCH0002" id="link372HCH0002">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To Christianity.&mdash;Part
      II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      Pleasure and guilt are synonymous terms in the language of the monks, and
      they discovered, by experience, that rigid fasts, and abstemious diet, are
      the most effectual preservatives against the impure desires of the flesh.
      <a href="#link37note-44" name="link37noteref-44" id="link37noteref-44">44</a>
      The rules of abstinence which they imposed, or practised, were not uniform
      or perpetual: the cheerful festival of the Pentecost was balanced by the
      extraordinary mortification of Lent; the fervor of new monasteries was
      insensibly relaxed; and the voracious appetite of the Gauls could not
      imitate the patient and temperate virtue of the Egyptians. <a
      href="#link37note-45" name="link37noteref-45" id="link37noteref-45">45</a>
      The disciples of Antony and Pachomius were satisfied with their daily
      pittance, <a href="#link37note-46" name="link37noteref-46"
      id="link37noteref-46">46</a> of twelve ounces of bread, or rather biscuit,
      <a href="#link37note-47" name="link37noteref-47" id="link37noteref-47">47</a>
      which they divided into two frugal repasts, of the afternoon and of the
      evening. It was esteemed a merit, and almost a duty, to abstain from the
      boiled vegetables which were provided for the refectory; but the
      extraordinary bounty of the abbot sometimes indulged them with the luxury
      of cheese, fruit, salad, and the small dried fish of the Nile. <a
      href="#link37note-48" name="link37noteref-48" id="link37noteref-48">48</a>
      A more ample latitude of sea and river fish was gradually allowed or
      assumed; but the use of flesh was long confined to the sick or travellers;
      and when it gradually prevailed in the less rigid monasteries of Europe, a
      singular distinction was introduced; as if birds, whether wild or
      domestic, had been less profane than the grosser animals of the field.
      Water was the pure and innocent beverage of the primitive monks; and the
      founder of the Benedictines regrets the daily portion of half a pint of
      wine, which had been extorted from him by the intemperance of the age. <a
      href="#link37note-49" name="link37noteref-49" id="link37noteref-49">49</a>
      Such an allowance might be easily supplied by the vineyards of Italy; and
      his victorious disciples, who passed the Alps, the Rhine, and the Baltic,
      required, in the place of wine, an adequate compensation of strong beer or
      cider.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-44" id="link37note-44">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      44 (<a href="#link37noteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ St. Jerom, in strong,
      but indiscreet, language, expresses the most important use of fasting and
      abstinence: "Non quod Deus universitatis Creator et Dominus, intestinorum
      nostrorum rugitu, et inanitate ventris, pulmonisque ardore delectetur, sed
      quod aliter pudicitia tuta esse non possit." (Op. tom. i. p. 32, ad
      Eustochium.) See the twelfth and twenty-second Collations of Cassian, de
      Castitate and de Illusionibus Nocturnis.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-45" id="link37note-45">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      45 (<a href="#link37noteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ Edacitas in Graecis
      gula est, in Gallis natura, (Dialog. i. c. 4 p. 521.) Cassian fairly owns,
      that the perfect model of abstinence cannot be imitated in Gaul, on
      account of the aerum temperies, and the qualitas nostrae fragilitatis,
      (Institut. iv. 11.) Among the Western rules, that of Columbanus is the
      most austere; he had been educated amidst the poverty of Ireland, as
      rigid, perhaps, and inflexible as the abstemious virtue of Egypt. The rule
      of Isidore of Seville is the mildest; on holidays he allows the use of
      flesh.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-46" id="link37note-46">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      46 (<a href="#link37noteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ "Those who drink only
      water, and have no nutritious liquor, 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-47" id="link37note-47">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      47 (<a href="#link37noteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 monks some latitude in the quantity of their food;
      but he made them work in proportion as they ate, (Pallad. in Hist.
      Lausiac. c. 38, 39, in Vit. Patrum, l. viii. p. 736, 737.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-48" id="link37note-48">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      48 (<a href="#link37noteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ See the banquet to
      which Cassian (Collation viii. 1) was invited by Serenus, an Egyptian
      abbot.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-49" id="link37note-49">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      49 (<a href="#link37noteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 allows them a Roman hemina, a measure which may
      be ascertained from Arbuthnot's Tables.]
    </p>
    <p>
      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. <a href="#link37note-50"
      name="link37noteref-50" id="link37noteref-50">50</a> The brethren were
      supported by their manual labor; and the duty of labor was strenuously
      recommended as a penance, as an exercise, and as the most laudable means
      of securing their daily subsistence. <a href="#link37note-51"
      name="link37noteref-51" id="link37noteref-51">51</a> The garden and
      fields, which the industry of the monks had often rescued from the forest
      or the morass, were diligently cultivated by their hands. They performed,
      without reluctance, the menial offices of slaves and domestics; and the
      several trades that were necessary to provide their habits, their
      utensils, and their lodging, were exercised within the precincts of the
      great monasteries. The monastic studies have tended, for the most part, to
      darken, rather than to dispel, the cloud of superstition. Yet the
      curiosity or zeal of some learned solitaries has cultivated the
      ecclesiastical, and even the profane, sciences; and posterity must
      gratefully acknowledge, that the monuments of Greek and Roman literature
      have been preserved and multiplied by their indefatigable pens. <a
      href="#link37note-52" name="link37noteref-52" id="link37noteref-52">52</a>
      But the more humble industry of the monks, especially in Egypt, was
      contented with the silent, sedentary occupation of making wooden sandals,
      or of twisting the leaves of the palm-tree into mats and baskets. The
      superfluous stock, which was not consumed in domestic use, supplied, by
      trade, the wants of the community: the boats of Tabenne, and the other
      monasteries of Thebais, descended the Nile as far as Alexandria; and, in a
      Christian market, the sanctity of the workmen might enhance the intrinsic
      value of the work.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-50" id="link37note-50">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      50 (<a href="#link37noteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ Such expressions as my
      book, my cloak, my shoes, (Cassian Institut. l. iv. c. 13,) were not less
      severely prohibited among the Western monks, (Cod. Regul. part ii. p. 174,
      235, 288;) and the rule of Columbanus punished them with six lashes. The
      ironical author of the Ordres Monastiques, who laughs at the foolish
      nicety of modern convents, seems ignorant that the ancients were equally
      absurd.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-51" id="link37note-51">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      51 (<a href="#link37noteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ Two great masters of
      ecclesiastical science, the P. Thomassin, (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom.
      iii. p. 1090-1139,) and the P. Mabillon, (Etudes Monastiques, tom. i. p.
      116-155,) have seriously examined the manual labor of the monks, which the
      former considers as a merit and the latter as a duty.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-52" id="link37note-52">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      52 (<a href="#link37noteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ Mabillon (Etudes
      Monastiques, tom. i. p. 47-55) has collected many curious facts to justify
      the literary labors of his predecessors, both in the East and West. Books
      were copied in the ancient monasteries of Egypt, (Cassian. Institut. l.
      iv. c. 12,) and by the disciples of St. Martin, (Sulp. Sever. in Vit.
      Martin. c. 7, p. 473.) Cassiodorus has allowed an ample scope for the
      studies of the monks; and we shall not be scandalized, if their pens
      sometimes wandered from Chrysostom and Augustin to Homer and Virgil. But
      the necessity of manual labor was insensibly superseded.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The novice was tempted to bestow his fortune on the saints, in whose
      society he was resolved to spend the remainder of his life; and the
      pernicious indulgence of the laws permitted him to receive, for their use,
      any future accessions of legacy or inheritance. <a href="#link37note-53"
      name="link37noteref-53" id="link37noteref-53">53</a> Melania contributed
      her plate, three hundred pounds weight of silver; and Paula contracted an
      immense debt, for the relief of their favorite monks; who kindly imparted
      the merits of their prayers and penance to a rich and liberal sinner. <a
      href="#link37note-54" name="link37noteref-54" id="link37noteref-54">54</a>
      Time continually increased, and accidents could seldom diminish, the
      estates of the popular monasteries, which spread over the adjacent country
      and cities: and, in the first century of their institution, the infidel
      Zosimus has maliciously observed, that, for the benefit of the poor, the
      Christian monks had reduced a great part of mankind to a state of beggary.
      <a href="#link37note-55" name="link37noteref-55" id="link37noteref-55">55</a>
      As long as they maintained their original fervor, they approved
      themselves, however, the faithful and benevolent stewards of the charity,
      which was entrusted to their care. But their discipline was corrupted by
      prosperity: they gradually assumed the pride of wealth, and at last
      indulged the luxury of expense. Their public luxury might be excused by
      the magnificence of religious worship, and the decent motive of erecting
      durable habitations for an immortal society. But every age of the church
      has accused the licentiousness of the degenerate monks; who no longer
      remembered the object of their institution, embraced the vain and sensual
      pleasures of the world, which they had renounced, <a href="#link37note-56"
      name="link37noteref-56" id="link37noteref-56">56</a> and scandalously
      abused the riches which had been acquired by the austere virtues of their
      founders. <a href="#link37note-57" name="link37noteref-57"
      id="link37noteref-57">57</a> Their natural descent, from such painful and
      dangerous virtue, to the common vices of humanity, will not, perhaps,
      excite much grief or indignation in the mind of a philosopher.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-53" id="link37note-53">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      53 (<a href="#link37noteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ Thomassin (Discipline
      de l'Eglise, tom. iii. p. 118, 145, 146, 171-179) has examined the
      revolution of the civil, canon, and common law. Modern France confirms the
      death which monks have inflicted on themselves, and justly deprives them
      of all right of inheritance.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-54" id="link37note-54">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      54 (<a href="#link37noteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ See Jerom, (tom. i. p.
      176, 183.) The monk Pambo made a sublime answer to Melania, who wished to
      specify the value of her gift: "Do you offer it to me, or to God? If to
      God, He who suspends the mountain in a balance, need not be informed of
      the weight of your plate." (Pallad. Hist. Lausiac. c. 10, in the Vit.
      Patrum, l. viii. p. 715.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-55" id="link37note-55">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      55 (<a href="#link37noteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ Zosim. l. v. p. 325.
      Yet the wealth of the Eastern monks was far surpassed by the princely
      greatness of the Benedictines.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-56" id="link37note-56">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      56 (<a href="#link37noteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ The sixth general
      council (the Quinisext in Trullo, Canon xlvii in Beveridge, tom. i. p.
      213) restrains women from passing the night in a male, or men in a female,
      monastery. The seventh general council (the second Nicene, Canon xx. in
      Beveridge, tom. i. p. 325) prohibits the erection of double or promiscuous
      monasteries of both sexes; but it appears from Balsamon, that the
      prohibition was not effectual. On the irregular pleasures and expenses of
      the clergy and monks, see Thomassin, tom. iii. p. 1334-1368.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-57" id="link37note-57">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      57 (<a href="#link37noteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ I have somewhere heard
      or read the frank confession of a Benedictine abbot: "My vow of poverty
      has given me a hundred thousand crowns a year; my vow of obedience has
      raised me to the rank of a sovereign prince."&mdash;I forget the
      consequences of his vow of chastity.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The lives of the primitive monks were consumed in penance and solitude;
      undisturbed by the various occupations which fill the time, and exercise
      the faculties, of reasonable, active, and social beings. Whenever they
      were permitted to step beyond the precincts of the monastery, two jealous
      companions were the mutual guards and spies of each other's actions; 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 entertained in a separate
      apartment; but their dangerous conversation was restricted to some chosen
      elders of approved discretion and fidelity. Except in their presence, the
      monastic slave might not receive the visits of his friends or kindred; and
      it was deemed highly meritorious, if he afflicted a tender sister, or an
      aged parent, by the obstinate refusal of a word or look. <a
      href="#link37note-58" name="link37noteref-58" id="link37noteref-58">58</a>
      The monks themselves passed their lives, without personal attachments,
      among a crowd which had been formed by accident, and was detained, in the
      same prison, by force or prejudice. Recluse fanatics have few ideas or
      sentiments to communicate: a special license of 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. <a href="#link37note-59" name="link37noteref-59"
      id="link37noteref-59">59</a> Study is the resource of solitude: but
      education had not prepared and qualified for any liberal studies the
      mechanics and peasants who filled the monastic communities. They might
      work: but the vanity of spiritual perfection was tempted to disdain the
      exercise of manual labor; and the industry must be faint and languid,
      which is not excited by the sense of personal interest.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-58" id="link37note-58">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      58 (<a href="#link37noteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-59" id="link37note-59">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      59 (<a href="#link37noteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ The 7th, 8th, 29th,
      30th, 31st, 34th, 57th, 60th, 86th, and 95th articles of the Rule of
      Pachomius, impose most intolerable laws of silence and mortification.]
    </p>
    <p>
      According to their faith and zeal, they might employ the day, which they
      passed in their cells, either in vocal or mental prayer: they assembled in
      the evening, and they were awakened in the night, for the public worship
      of the monastery. The precise moment was determined by the stars, which
      are seldom clouded in the serene sky of Egypt; and a rustic horn, or
      trumpet, the signal of devotion, twice interrupted the vast silence of the
      desert. <a href="#link37note-60" name="link37noteref-60"
      id="link37noteref-60">60</a> Even sleep, the last refuge of the unhappy,
      was rigorously measured: the vacant hours of the monk heavily rolled
      along, without business or pleasure; and, before the close of each day, he
      had repeatedly accused the tedious progress of the sun. <a
      href="#link37note-61" name="link37noteref-61" id="link37noteref-61">61</a>
      In this comfortless state, superstition still pursued and tormented her
      wretched votaries. <a href="#link37note-62" name="link37noteref-62"
      id="link37noteref-62">62</a> The repose which they had sought in the
      cloister was disturbed 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 victims were sometimes relieved by madness or death; and, in the
      sixth century, a hospital was founded at Jerusalem for a small portion of
      the austere penitents, who were deprived of their senses. <a
      href="#link37note-63" name="link37noteref-63" id="link37noteref-63">63</a>
      Their visions, before they attained this extreme and acknowledged term of
      frenzy, have afforded ample materials of supernatural history. It was
      their firm persuasion, that the air, which they breathed, was peopled with
      invisible enemies; with innumerable demons, who watched every occasion,
      and assumed every form, to terrify, and above all to tempt, their
      unguarded virtue. The imagination, and even the senses, were deceived by
      the illusions of distempered fanaticism; and the hermit, whose midnight
      prayer was oppressed by involuntary slumber, might easily confound the
      phantoms of horror or delight, which had occupied his sleeping and his
      waking dreams. <a href="#link37note-64" name="link37noteref-64"
      id="link37noteref-64">64</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-60" id="link37note-60">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      60 (<a href="#link37noteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ The diurnal and
      nocturnal prayers of the monks are copiously discussed by Cassian, in the
      third and fourth books of his Institutions; and he constantly prefers the
      liturgy, which an angel had dictated to the monasteries of Tebennoe.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-61" id="link37note-61">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      61 (<a href="#link37noteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ Cassian, from his own
      experience, describes the acedia, or listlessness of mind and body, to
      which a monk was exposed, when he sighed to find himself alone. Saepiusque
      egreditur et ingreditur cellam, et Solem velut ad occasum tardius
      properantem crebrius intuetur, (Institut. x. l.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-62" id="link37note-62">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      62 (<a href="#link37noteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ The temptations and
      sufferings of Stagirius were communicated by that unfortunate youth to his
      friend St. Chrysostom. See Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 107-110.
      Something similar introduces the life of every saint; and the famous
      Inigo, or Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, (vide d'Inigo de
      Guiposcoa, tom. i. p. 29-38,) may serve as a memorable example.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-63" id="link37note-63">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      63 (<a href="#link37noteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ Fleury, Hist.
      Ecclesiastique, tom. vii. p. 46. I have read somewhere, in the Vitae
      Patrum, but I cannot recover the place that several, I believe many, of
      the monks, who did not reveal their temptations to the abbot, became
      guilty of suicide.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-64" id="link37note-64">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      64 (<a href="#link37noteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ See the seventh and
      eighth Collations of Cassian, who gravely examines, why the demons were
      grown less active and numerous since the time of St. Antony. Rosweyde's
      copious index to the Vitae Patrum will point out a variety of infernal
      scenes. The devils were most formidable in a female shape.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The monks were divided into two classes: the Coenobites, who lived under a
      common and regular discipline; and the Anachorets, who indulged their
      unsocial, independent fanaticism. <a href="#link37note-65"
      name="link37noteref-65" id="link37noteref-65">65</a> The most devout, or
      the most ambitious, of the spiritual brethren, renounced the convent, as
      they had renounced the world. The fervent monasteries of Egypt, Palestine,
      and Syria, were surrounded by a Laura, <a href="#link37note-66"
      name="link37noteref-66" id="link37noteref-66">66</a> a distant circle of
      solitary cells; and the extravagant penance of Hermits was stimulated by
      applause and emulation. <a href="#link37note-67" name="link37noteref-67"
      id="link37noteref-67">67</a> They sunk under the painful weight of crosses
      and chains; and their emaciated limbs were confined by collars, bracelets,
      gauntlets, and greaves of massy and rigid iron. All superfluous
      encumbrance of dress they contemptuously cast away; and some savage saints
      of both sexes have been admired, whose naked bodies were only covered by
      their long hair. They aspired to reduce themselves to the rude and
      miserable state in which the human brute is scarcely distinguishable above
      his kindred animals; and the numerous sect of Anachorets derived their
      name from their humble practice of grazing in the fields of Mesopotamia
      with the common herd. <a href="#link37note-68" name="link37noteref-68"
      id="link37noteref-68">68</a> They often usurped the den of some wild beast
      whom they affected to resemble; they buried themselves in some gloomy
      cavern, which art or nature had scooped out of the rock; and the marble
      quarries of Thebais are still inscribed with the monuments of their
      penance. <a href="#link37note-69" name="link37noteref-69"
      id="link37noteref-69">69</a> The most perfect Hermits are supposed to have
      passed many days without food, many nights without sleep, and many years
      without speaking; and glorious was the man ( I abuse that name) who
      contrived any cell, or seat, of a peculiar construction, which might
      expose him, in the most inconvenient posture, to the inclemency of the
      seasons.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-65" id="link37note-65">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      65 (<a href="#link37noteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ For the distinction of
      the Coenobites and the Hermits, especially in Egypt, see Jerom, (tom. i.
      p. 45, ad Rusticum,) the first Dialogue 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 the abuse and danger of the latter.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-66" id="link37note-66">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      66 (<a href="#link37noteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ Suicer. Thesaur.
      Ecclesiast. tom. ii. p. 205, 218. Thomassin (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom.
      i. p. 1501, 1502) gives a good account of these cells. When Gerasimus
      founded his monastery in the wilderness of Jordan, it was accompanied by a
      Laura of seventy cells.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-67" id="link37note-67">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      67 (<a href="#link37noteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ Theodoret, in a large
      volume, (the Philotheus in Vit. Patrum, l. ix. p. 793-863,) has collected
      the lives and miracles of thirty Anachorets. Evagrius (l. i. c. 12) more
      briefly celebrates the monks and hermits of Palestine.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-68" id="link37note-68">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      68 (<a href="#link37noteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ Sozomen, l. vi. c. 33.
      The great St. Ephrem composed a panegyric on these or grazing monks,
      (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 292.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-69" id="link37note-69">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      69 (<a href="#link37noteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 the Christians of Abyssinia.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Among these heroes of the monastic life, the name and genius of Simeon
      Stylites <a href="#link37note-70" name="link37noteref-70"
      id="link37noteref-70">70</a> have been immortalized by the singular
      invention of an aerial penance. At the age of thirteen, the young Syrian
      deserted the profession of a shepherd, and threw himself into an austere
      monastery. After a long and painful novitiate, in which Simeon was
      repeatedly saved from pious suicide, he established his residence on a
      mountain, about thirty or forty miles to the east of Antioch. Within the
      space of a mandra, or circle of stones, to which he had attached himself
      by a ponderous chain, he ascended a column, which was successively raised
      from the height of nine, to that of sixty, feet from the ground. <a
      href="#link37note-71" name="link37noteref-71" id="link37noteref-71">71</a>
      In this last and lofty station, the Syrian Anachoret resisted the heat of
      thirty summers, and the cold of as many winters. Habit and exercise
      instructed him to maintain his dangerous situation without fear or
      giddiness, and successively to assume the different postures of devotion.
      He sometimes prayed in an erect attitude, with his outstretched arms in
      the figure of a cross, but his most familiar practice was that of bending
      his meagre skeleton from the forehead to the feet; and a curious
      spectator, after numbering twelve hundred and forty-four repetitions, at
      length desisted from the endless account. The progress of an ulcer in his
      thigh <a href="#link37note-72" name="link37noteref-72"
      id="link37noteref-72">72</a> might shorten, but it could not disturb, this
      celestial life; and the patient Hermit expired, without descending from
      his column. A prince, who should capriciously inflict such tortures, would
      be deemed a tyrant; but it would surpass the power of a tyrant to impose a
      long and miserable existence on the reluctant victims of his cruelty. This
      voluntary martyrdom must have gradually destroyed the sensibility both of
      the mind and body; nor can it be presumed that the fanatics, who torment
      themselves, are susceptible of any lively affection for the rest of
      mankind. A cruel, unfeeling temper has distinguiseed the monks of every
      age and country: their stern indifference, which is seldom mollified by
      personal friendship, is inflamed by religious hatred; and their merciless
      zeal has strenuously administered the holy office of the Inquisition.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-70" id="link37note-70">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      70 (<a href="#link37noteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ 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,) and Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. tom. xv. p. 347-392.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-71" id="link37note-71">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      71 (<a href="#link37noteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ The narrow
      circumference of two cubits, or three feet, which Evagrius assigns for the
      summit of the column is inconsistent with reason, with facts, and with the
      rules of architecture. The people who saw it from below might be easily
      deceived.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-72" id="link37note-72">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      72 (<a href="#link37noteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ I must not conceal a
      piece of ancient scandal concerning the origin of this ulcer. It has been
      reported that the Devil, assuming an angelic form, invited him to ascend,
      like Elijah, into a fiery chariot. The saint too hastily raised his foot,
      and Satan seized the moment of inflicting this chastisement on his
      vanity.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The monastic saints, who excite only the contempt and pity of a
      philosopher, were respected, and almost adored, by the prince and people.
      Successive crowds of pilgrims from Gaul and India saluted the divine
      pillar of Simeon: the tribes of Saracens disputed in arms the honor of his
      benediction; the queens of Arabia and Persia gratefully confessed his
      supernatural virtue; and the angelic Hermit was consulted by the younger
      Theodosius, in the most important concerns of the church and 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 impregnable defence. The
      fame of the apostles and martyrs was gradually eclipsed by these recent
      and popular Anachorets; the Christian world fell prostrate before their
      shrines; and the miracles ascribed to their relics exceeded, at least in
      number and duration, the spiritual exploits of their lives. But the golden
      legend of their lives <a href="#link37note-73" name="link37noteref-73"
      id="link37noteref-73">73</a> was embellished by the artful credulity of
      their interested brethren; and a believing age was easily persuaded, that
      the slightest caprice of an Egyptian or a Syrian monk had been sufficient
      to interrupt the eternal laws of the universe. The favorites of Heaven
      were accustomed to cure inveterate diseases with a touch, a word, or a
      distant message; and to expel the most obstinate demons from the souls or
      bodies which they possessed. They familiarly accosted, or imperiously
      commanded, the lions and serpents of the desert; infused vegetation into a
      sapless trunk; suspended iron on the surface of the water; passed the Nile
      on the back of a crocodile, and refreshed themselves in a fiery furnace.
      These extravagant tales, which display the fiction without the genius, of
      poetry, have seriously affected the reason, the faith, and the morals, of
      the Christians. Their credulity debased and vitiated the faculties of the
      mind: they corrupted the evidence of history; and superstition gradually
      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 the sanction of divine
      revelation, and all the manly virtues were oppressed by the servile and
      pusillanimous reign of the monks. If it be possible to measure the
      interval between the philosophic writings of Cicero and the sacred legend
      of Theodoret, between the character of Cato and that of Simeon, we may
      appreciate the memorable revolution which was accomplished in the Roman
      empire within a period of five hundred years.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-73" id="link37note-73">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      73 (<a href="#link37noteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ I know not how to
      select or specify the miracles contained in the Vitae Patrum of Rosweyde,
      as the number very much exceeds the thousand pages of that voluminous
      work. An elegant specimen may be found in the dialogues of Sulpicius
      Severus, and his Life of St. Martin. He reveres the monks of Egypt; yet he
      insults them with the remark, that they never raised the dead; whereas the
      bishop of Tours had restored three dead men to life.]
    </p>
    <p>
      II. The progress of Christianity has been marked by two glorious and
      decisive victories: over the learned and luxurious citizens of the Roman
      empire; and over the warlike Barbarians of Scythia and Germany, who
      subverted the empire, and embraced the religion, of the Romans. The Goths
      were the foremost of these savage proselytes; and the nation was indebted
      for its conversion to a countryman, or, at least, to a subject, worthy to
      be ranked among the inventors of useful arts, who have deserved the
      remembrance and gratitude of posterity. A great number of Roman
      provincials had been led away into captivity by the Gothic bands, who
      ravaged Asia in the time of Gallienus; and of these captives, many were
      Christians, and several belonged to the ecclesiastical order. Those
      involuntary missionaries, dispersed as slaves in the villages of Dacia,
      successively labored for the salvation of their masters. The seeds which
      they planted, of the evangelic doctrine, were gradually propagated; and
      before the end of a century, the pious work was achieved by the labors of
      Ulphilas, whose ancestors had been transported beyond the Danube from a
      small town of Cappadocia.
    </p>
    <p>
      Ulphilas, the bishop and apostle of the Goths, <a href="#link37note-74"
      name="link37noteref-74" id="link37noteref-74">74</a> acquired their love
      and reverence by his blameless life and indefatigable zeal; and they
      received, with implicit confidence, the doctrines of truth and virtue
      which he preached and practised. He executed the arduous task of
      translating the Scriptures into their native tongue, a dialect of the
      German or Teutonic language; but he prudently suppressed the four books of
      Kings, as they might tend to irritate the fierce and sanguinary spirit of
      the Barbarians. The rude, imperfect idiom of soldiers and shepherds, so
      ill qualified to communicate any spiritual ideas, was improved and
      modulated by his genius: and Ulphilas, before he could frame his version,
      was obliged to compose a new alphabet of twenty-four letters; <a
      href="#link37note-741" name="link37noteref-741" id="link37noteref-741">741</a>
      four of which he invented, to express the peculiar sounds that were
      unknown to the Greek and Latin pronunciation. <a href="#link37note-75"
      name="link37noteref-75" id="link37noteref-75">75</a> But the prosperous
      state of the Gothic church was soon afflicted by war and intestine
      discord, and the chieftains were divided by religion as well as by
      interest. Fritigern, the friend of the Romans, became the proselyte of
      Ulphilas; while the haughty soul of Athanaric disdained the yoke of the
      empire and of the gospel The faith of the new converts was tried by the
      persecution which he excited. A wagon, bearing aloft the shapeless image
      of Thor, perhaps, or of Woden, was conducted in solemn procession through
      the streets of the camp; and the rebels, who refused to worship the god of
      their fathers, were immediately burnt, with their tents and families. The
      character of Ulphilas recommended him to the esteem of the Eastern court,
      where he twice appeared as the minister of peace; he pleaded the cause of
      the distressed Goths, who implored the protection of Valens; and the name
      of Moses was applied to this spiritual guide, who conducted his people
      through the deep waters of the Danube to the Land of Promise. <a
      href="#link37note-76" name="link37noteref-76" id="link37noteref-76">76</a>
      The devout shepherds, who were attached to his person, and tractable to
      his voice, acquiesced in their settlement, at the foot of the Maesian
      mountains, in a country of woodlands and pastures, which supported their
      flocks and herds, and enabled them to purchase the corn and wine of the
      more plentiful provinces. These harmless Barbarians multiplied in obscure
      peace and the profession of Christianity. <a href="#link37note-77"
      name="link37noteref-77" id="link37noteref-77">77</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-74" id="link37note-74">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      74 (<a href="#link37noteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ On the subject of
      Ulphilas, and the conversion of the Goths, 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 appears to have given him superior means of
      information.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-741" id="link37note-741">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      741 (<a href="#link37noteref-741">return</a>)<br /> [ This is the
      Moeso-Gothic alphabet of which many of the letters are evidently formed
      from the Greek and Roman. M. St. Martin, however contends, that it is
      impossible but that some written alphabet must have been known long before
      among the Goths. He supposes that their former letters were those
      inscribed on the runes, which, being inseparably connected with the old
      idolatrous superstitions, were proscribed by the Christian missionaries.
      Everywhere the runes, so common among all the German tribes, disappear
      after the propagation of Christianity. S. Martin iv. p. 97, 98.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-75" id="link37note-75">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      75 (<a href="#link37noteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ A mutilated copy of the
      four Gospels, in the Gothic version, was published A.D. 1665, and is
      esteemed the most ancient monument of the Teutonic language, though
      Wetstein attempts, by some frivolous conjectures, to deprive Ulphilas of
      the honor of the work. Two of the four additional letters express the W,
      and our own Th. See Simon, Hist. Critique du Nouveau Testament, tom ii. p.
      219-223. Mill. Prolegom p. 151, edit. Kuster. Wetstein, Prolegom. tom. i.
      p. 114. * Note: The Codex 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 1762 Knettel discovered and published from a
      Palimpsest MS. four chapters of the Epistle to the Romans: they were
      reprinted at Upsal, 1763. M. Mai has since that time discovered further
      fragments, and other remains of Moeso-Gothic literature, from a Palimpsest
      at Milan. See Ulphilae partium inedi arum in Ambrosianis Palimpsestis ab
      Ang. Maio repertarum specimen Milan. Ito. 1819.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-76" id="link37note-76">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      76 (<a href="#link37noteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ Philostorgius
      erroneously places this passage under the reign of Constantine; but I am
      much inclined to believe that it preceded the great emigration.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-77" id="link37note-77">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      77 (<a href="#link37noteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ 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. The last words, if they are not mere tautology,
      imply some temporal jurisdiction.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Their fiercer brethren, the formidable Visigoths, universally adopted the
      religion of the Romans, with whom they maintained a perpetual intercourse,
      of war, of friendship, or of conquest. In their long and victorious march
      from the Danube to the Atlantic Ocean, they converted their allies; they
      educated the rising generation; and the devotion which reigned in the camp
      of Alaric, or the court of Thoulouse, might edify or disgrace the palaces
      of Rome and Constantinople. <a href="#link37note-78"
      name="link37noteref-78" id="link37noteref-78">78</a> During the same
      period, Christianity was embraced by almost all the Barbarians, who
      established their kingdoms on the ruins of the Western empire; the
      Burgundians in Gaul, the Suevi in Spain, the Vandals in Africa, the
      Ostrogoths in Pannonia, and the various bands of mercenaries, that raised
      Odoacer to the throne of Italy. The Franks and the Saxons still persevered
      in the errors of Paganism; but the Franks obtained the monarchy of Gaul by
      their submission to the example of Clovis; and the Saxon conquerors of
      Britain were reclaimed from their savage superstition by the missionaries
      of Rome. These Barbarian proselytes displayed 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 was gradually diffused from the
      neighborhood of the Rhine, to the nations of the Elbe, the Vistula, and
      the Baltic. <a href="#link37note-79" name="link37noteref-79"
      id="link37noteref-79">79</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-78" id="link37note-78">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      78 (<a href="#link37noteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ At non ita Gothi non
      ita Vandali; malis licet doctoribus instituti meliores tamen etiam in hac
      parte quam nostri. Salvian, de Gubern, Dei, l. vii. p. 243.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-79" id="link37note-79">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      79 (<a href="#link37noteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ Mosheim has slightly
      sketched the progress of Christianity in the North, from the fourth to the
      fourteenth century. The subject would afford materials for an
      ecclesiastical and even philosophical, history]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link372HCH0003" id="link372HCH0003">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To Christianity.&mdash;Part
      III.
    </h2>
    <p>
      The different motives which influenced the reason, or the passions, of the
      Barbarian converts, cannot easily be ascertained. They were often
      capricious 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 a moment of
      danger, they had addressed to the God of the Christians. <a
      href="#link37note-80" name="link37noteref-80" id="link37noteref-80">80</a>
      The early prejudices of education were insensibly erased by the habits of
      frequent and familiar society, the moral precepts of the gospel were
      protected by the extravagant virtues of the monks; and a spiritual
      theology was supported by the visible power of relics, and the pomp of
      religious worship. But the rational and ingenious mode of persuasion,
      which a Saxon bishop <a href="#link37note-81" name="link37noteref-81"
      id="link37noteref-81">81</a> suggested to a popular saint, might sometimes
      be employed by the missionaries, who labored for the conversion of
      infidels. "Admit," says the sagacious disputant, "whatever they are
      pleased to assert of the fabulous, and carnal, genealogy of their gods and
      goddesses, who are propagated from each other. From this principle deduce
      their imperfect nature, and human infirmities, the assurance they were
      born, and the probability that they will die. At what time, by what means,
      from what cause, were the eldest of the gods or goddesses produced? Do
      they still continue, or have they ceased, to propagate? If they have
      ceased, summon your antagonists to declare the reason of this strange
      alteration. If they still continue, the number of the gods must become
      infinite; and shall we not risk, by the indiscreet worship of some
      impotent deity, to excite the resentment of his jealous superior? The
      visible heavens and earth, the whole system of the universe, which may 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 preexisting world? Urge
      these arguments with temper and moderation; insinuate, at seasonable
      intervals, the truth and beauty of the Christian revelation; and endeavor
      to make the unbelievers ashamed, without making them angry." This
      metaphysical reasoning, too refined, perhaps, for the Barbarians of
      Germany, was fortified by the grosser weight of authority and popular
      consent. The advantage of temporal prosperity had deserted the Pagan
      cause, and passed over to the service of Christianity. The Romans
      themselves, the most powerful and enlightened nation of the globe, had
      renounced their ancient superstition; and, if the ruin of their empire
      seemed to accuse the efficacy of the new faith, the disgrace was already
      retrieved by the conversion of the victorious Goths. The valiant and
      fortunate Barbarians, who subdued the provinces of the West, successively
      received, and reflected, the same edifying example. Before the age of
      Charlemagne, the Christian nations of Europe might exult in the exclusive
      possession of the temperate climates, of the fertile lands, which produced
      corn, wine, and oil; while the savage idolaters, and their helpless idols,
      were confined to the extremities of the earth, the dark and frozen regions
      of the North. <a href="#link37note-82" name="link37noteref-82"
      id="link37noteref-82">82</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-80" id="link37note-80">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      80 (<a href="#link37noteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ To such a cause has
      Socrates (l. vii. c. 30) ascribed the conversion of the Burgundians, whose
      Christian piety is celebrated by Orosius, (l. vii. c. 19.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-81" id="link37note-81">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      81 (<a href="#link37noteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ See an original and
      curious epistle from Daniel, the first bishop of Winchester, (Beda, Hist.
      Eccles. Anglorum, l. v. c. 18, p. 203, edit Smith,) to St. Boniface, who
      preached the gospel among the savages of Hesse and Thuringia. Epistol.
      Bonifacii, lxvii., in the Maxima Bibliotheca Patrum, tom. xiii. p. 93]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-82" id="link37note-82">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      82 (<a href="#link37noteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ The sword of
      Charlemagne added weight to the argument; but when Daniel wrote this
      epistle, (A.D. 723,) the Mahometans, who reigned from India to Spain,
      might have retorted it against the Christians.]
    </p>
    <p>
      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 a
      religion whose doctrines are contained in a sacred book; and while they
      studied the divine truth, their minds were insensibly enlarged by the
      distant view of history, of nature, of the arts, and of society. The
      version of the Scriptures into their native tongue, which had facilitated
      their conversion, must excite among their clergy some curiosity to read
      the original text, to understand the sacred liturgy of the church, and to
      examine, in the writings of the fathers, the chain of ecclesiastical
      tradition. These spiritual gifts were preserved in the Greek and Latin
      languages, which concealed the inestimable monuments of ancient learning.
      The immortal productions of Virgil, Cicero, and Livy, which were
      accessible to the Christian Barbarians, maintained a silent intercourse
      between the reign of Augustus and the times of Clovis and Charlemagne. The
      emulation of mankind was encouraged by the remembrance of a more perfect
      state; and the flame of science was secretly kept alive, to warm and
      enlighten the mature age of the Western world.
    </p>
    <p>
      In the most corrupt state of Christianity, the Barbarians might learn
      justice from the law, and mercy from the gospel; and if the knowledge of
      their duty was insufficient to guide their actions, or to regulate their
      passions, they were sometimes restrained by conscience, and frequently
      punished by remorse. But the direct authority of religion was less
      effectual than the holy communion, which united them with their Christian
      brethren in spiritual friendship. The influence of these sentiments
      contributed to secure their fidelity in the service, or the alliance, of
      the Romans, to alleviate the horrors of war, to moderate the insolence of
      conquest, and to preserve, in the downfall of the empire, a permanent
      respect for the name and institutions of Rome. In the days of Paganism,
      the priests of Gaul and Germany reigned over the people, and controlled
      the jurisdiction of the magistrates; and the zealous proselytes
      transferred an equal, or more ample, measure of devout obedience, to the
      pontiffs of the Christian faith. The sacred character of the bishops was
      supported by their temporal possessions; they obtained an honorable seat
      in the legislative assemblies of soldiers 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 frequent pilgrimages to Rome and Jerusalem, and the growing
      authority of the popes, cemented the union of the Christian republic, and
      gradually produced the similar manners, and common jurisprudence, which
      have distinguished, from the rest of mankind, the independent, and even
      hostile, nations of modern Europe.
    </p>
    <p>
      But the operation of these causes was checked and retarded by the
      unfortunate accident, which infused a deadly poison into the cup of
      Salvation. Whatever might be the early sentiments of Ulphilas, his
      connections with the empire and the church were formed during the reign of
      Arianism. The apostle of the Goths subscribed the creed of Rimini;
      professed with freedom, and perhaps with sincerity, that the Son was not
      equal, or consubstantial to the Father; <a href="#link37note-83"
      name="link37noteref-83" id="link37noteref-83">83</a> communicated these
      errors to the clergy and people; and infected the Barbaric world with a
      heresy, <a href="#link37note-84" name="link37noteref-84"
      id="link37noteref-84">84</a> which the great Theodosius proscribed and
      extinguished among the Romans. The temper and understanding of the new
      proselytes were not adapted to metaphysical subtilties; but they
      strenuously maintained, what they had piously received, as the pure and
      genuine doctrines of Christianity. The advantage of preaching and
      expounding the Scriptures in the Teutonic language promoted the apostolic
      labors of Ulphilas and his successors; and they ordained a competent
      number of bishops and presbyters for the instruction of the kindred
      tribes. The Ostrogoths, the Burgundians, the Suevi, and the Vandals, who
      had listened to the eloquence of the Latin clergy, <a href="#link37note-85"
      name="link37noteref-85" id="link37noteref-85">85</a> preferred the more
      intelligible lessons of their domestic teachers; and Arianism was adopted
      as the national faith of the warlike converts, who were seated on the
      ruins of the Western empire. This irreconcilable difference of religion
      was a perpetual source of jealousy and hatred; and the reproach of
      Barbarian was imbittered by the more odious epithet of Heretic. The heroes
      of the North, who had submitted, with some reluctance, to believe that all
      their ancestors were in hell, <a href="#link37note-86"
      name="link37noteref-86" id="link37noteref-86">86</a> were astonished and
      exasperated to learn, that they themselves had only changed the mode of
      their eternal condemnation. Instead of the smooth applause, which
      Christian kings are accustomed to expect from their royal prelates, the
      orthodox bishops and their clergy were in a state of opposition to the
      Arian courts; and their indiscreet opposition frequently became criminal,
      and might sometimes be dangerous. <a href="#link37note-87"
      name="link37noteref-87" id="link37noteref-87">87</a> The pulpit, that safe
      and sacred organ of sedition, resounded with the names of Pharaoh and
      Holofernes; <a href="#link37note-88" name="link37noteref-88"
      id="link37noteref-88">88</a> the public discontent was inflamed by the
      hope or promise of a glorious deliverance; and the seditious saints were
      tempted to promote the accomplishment of their own predictions.
      Notwithstanding these provocations, the Catholics of Gaul, Spain, and
      Italy, enjoyed, under the reign of the Arians, the free and peaceful
      exercise of their religion. Their haughty masters respected the zeal of a
      numerous people, resolved to die at the foot of their altars; and the
      example of their devout 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 motives of reason and humanity; and while they affected the
      language, they imperceptiby imbibed the spirit, of genuine Christianity.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-83" id="link37note-83">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      83 (<a href="#link37noteref-83">return</a>)<br /> [ The opinions of
      Ulphilas and the Goths inclined to semi-Arianism, since they would not say
      that the Son was a creature, though they held communion with those who
      maintained that heresy. Their apostle represented the whole controversy as
      a question of trifling moment, which had been raised by the passions of
      the clergy. Theodoret l. iv. c. 37.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-84" id="link37note-84">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      84 (<a href="#link37noteref-84">return</a>)<br /> [ The Arianism of the
      Goths has been imputed to the emperor Valens: "Itaque justo Dei judicio
      ipsi eum vivum incenderunt, qui propter 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 homme entraina dans l'enfer un nombre infini de
      Septentrionaux, &amp;c." Salvian (de Gubern. Dei, l. v p. 150, 151) pities
      and excuses their involuntary error.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-85" id="link37note-85">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      85 (<a href="#link37noteref-85">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-86" id="link37note-86">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      86 (<a href="#link37noteref-86">return</a>)<br /> [ Radbod, king of the
      Frisons, was so much scandalized by this rash declaration of a missionary,
      that he drew back his foot after he had entered the baptismal font. See
      Fleury, Hist. Eccles. tom. ix p. 167.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-87" id="link37note-87">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      87 (<a href="#link37noteref-87">return</a>)<br /> [ The epistles of
      Sidonius, bishop of Clermont, under the Visigotha, and of Avitus, bishop
      of Vienna, under the Burgundians, explain sometimes in dark hints, the
      general dispositions of the Catholics. The history of Clovis and Theodoric
      will suggest some particular facts]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-88" id="link37note-88">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      88 (<a href="#link37noteref-88">return</a>)<br /> [ Genseric confessed the
      resemblance, by the severity with which he punished such indiscreet
      allusions. Victor Vitensis, l. 7, p. 10.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The peace of the church was sometimes interrupted. The Catholics were
      indiscreet, the Barbarians were impatient; and the partial acts of
      severity or injustice, which had been recommended by the Arian clergy,
      were exaggerated by the orthodox writers. The guilt of persecution may be
      imputed to Euric, king of the Visigoths; who suspended the exercise of
      ecclesiastical, or, at least, of episcopal functions; and punished the
      popular bishops of Aquitain with imprisonment, exile, and confiscation. <a
      href="#link37note-89" name="link37noteref-89" id="link37noteref-89">89</a>
      But the cruel and absurd enterprise of subduing the minds of a whole
      people was undertaken by the Vandals alone. Genseric himself, in his early
      youth, had renounced the orthodox communion; and the apostate could
      neither grant, nor expect, a sincere forgiveness. He was exasperated to
      find that the Africans, who had fled before him in the field, still
      presumed to dispute his will in synods and churches; and his ferocious
      mind was incapable of fear or of compassion. His Catholic subjects were
      oppressed by intolerant laws and arbitrary punishments. The language of
      Genseric was furious and formidable; the knowledge of his intentions might
      justify the most unfavorable interpretation of his actions; and the Arians
      were reproached with the frequent executions which stained the palace and
      the dominions of the tyrant. Arms and ambition were, however, the ruling
      passions of the monarch of the sea. But Hunneric, his inglorious son, who
      seemed to inherit only his vices, tormented the Catholics with the same
      unrelenting fury which had been fatal to his brother, his nephews, and the
      friends and favorites of his father; and even to the Arian patriarch, 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 Vandal court; and the loathsome
      disease which hastened the death of Hunneric, revenged the injuries,
      without contributing to the deliverance, of the church. The throne of
      Africa was successively filled by the two nephews of Hunneric; by
      Gundamund, who reigned about twelve, and by Thrasimund, who governed the
      nation about twenty-seven, years. Their administration was hostile and
      oppressive to the orthodox party. Gundamund appeared to emulate, or even
      to surpass, the cruelty of his uncle; and, if at length he relented, if he
      recalled the bishops, and restored the freedom of Athanasian worship, a
      premature death intercepted the benefits of his tardy clemency. His
      brother, Thrasimund, was the greatest and most accomplished of the Vandal
      kings, whom he excelled in beauty, prudence, and magnanimity of soul. But
      this magnanimous character was degraded by his intolerant zeal and
      deceitful clemency. Instead of threats and tortures, he employed the
      gentle, but efficacious, powers of seduction. Wealth, dignity, and the
      royal favor, were the liberal rewards of apostasy; the Catholics, who had
      violated the laws, might purchase their pardon by the renunciation of
      their faith; and whenever Thrasimund meditated any rigorous measure, he
      patiently waited till the indiscretion of his adversaries furnished him
      with a specious opportunity. Bigotry was his last sentiment in the hour of
      death; and he exacted from his successor a solemn oath, that he would
      never tolerate the sectaries of Athanasius. But his successor, Hilderic,
      the gentle son of the savage Hunneric, preferred the duties of humanity
      and justice to the vain obligation of an impious oath; and his accession
      was gloriously marked by the restoration of peace and universal freedom.
      The throne of that virtuous, though feeble monarch, was usurped by his
      cousin Gelimer, a zealous Arian: but the Vandal kingdom, before he could
      enjoy or abuse his power, was subverted by the arms of Belisarius; and the
      orthodox party retaliated the injuries which they had endured. <a
      href="#link37note-90" name="link37noteref-90" id="link37noteref-90">90</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-89" id="link37note-89">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      89 (<a href="#link37noteref-89">return</a>)<br /> [ Such are the
      contemporary complaints of Sidonius, bishop of Clermont (l. vii. c. 6, p.
      182, &amp;c., edit. Sirmond.) Gregory of Tours who quotes this Epistle,
      (l. ii. c. 25, in tom. ii. p. 174,) extorts an unwarrantable assertion,
      that of the nine vacancies in Aquitain, some had been produced by
      episcopal martyrdoms]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-90" id="link37note-90">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      90 (<a href="#link37noteref-90">return</a>)<br /> [ The original monuments
      of the Vandal persecution are preserved in the five books of the history
      of Victor Vitensis, (de Persecutione Vandalica,) a bishop who was exiled
      by Hunneric; in the life of St. Fulgentius, who was distinguished in the
      persecution of Thrasimund (in Biblioth. Max. Patrum, tom. ix. p. 4-16;)
      and in the first book of the Vandalic War, by the impartial Procopius, (c.
      7, 8, p. 196, 197, 198, 199.) Dom Ruinart, the last editor of Victor, has
      illustrated the whole subject with a copious and learned apparatus of
      notes and supplement (Paris, 1694.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      The passionate declamations of the Catholics, the sole historians of this
      persecution, cannot afford any distinct series of causes and events; any
      impartial view of the characters, or counsels; but the most remarkable
      circumstances that deserve either credit or notice, may be referred to the
      following heads; I. In the original law, which is still extant, <a
      href="#link37note-91" name="link37noteref-91" id="link37noteref-91">91</a>
      Hunneric expressly declares, (and the declaration appears to be correct,)
      that he had faithfully transcribed the regulations and penalties of the
      Imperial edicts, against the heretical congregations, the clergy, and the
      people, who dissented from the established religion. If the rights of
      conscience had been understood, the Catholics must have condemned their
      past conduct or acquiesced in their actual suffering. But they still
      persisted to refuse the indulgence which they claimed. While they trembled
      under the lash of persecution, they praised the laudable severity of
      Hunneric himself, who burnt or banished great numbers of Manichaeans; <a
      href="#link37note-92" name="link37noteref-92" id="link37noteref-92">92</a>
      and they rejected, with horror, the ignominious compromise, that the
      disciples of Arius and of Athanasius should enjoy a reciprocal and similar
      toleration in the territories of the Romans, and in those of the Vandals.
      <a href="#link37note-93" name="link37noteref-93" id="link37noteref-93">93</a>
      II. The practice of a conference, which the Catholics had so frequently
      used to insult and punish their obstinate antagonists, was retorted
      against themselves. <a href="#link37note-94" name="link37noteref-94"
      id="link37noteref-94">94</a> At the command of Hunneric, four hundred and
      sixty-six orthodox bishops assembled at Carthage; but when they were
      admitted into the hall of audience, they had the mortification of
      beholding the Arian Cyrila exalted on the patriarchal throne. The
      disputants were separated, after the mutual and ordinary reproaches of
      noise and silence, of delay and precipitation, of military force and of
      popular clamor. One martyr and one confessor were selected among the
      Catholic bishops; twenty-eight escaped by flight, and eighty-eight by
      conformity; forty-six were sent into Corsica to cut timber for the royal
      navy; and three hundred and two were banished to the different parts of
      Africa, exposed to the insults of their enemies, and carefully deprived of
      all the temporal and spiritual comforts of life. <a href="#link37note-95"
      name="link37noteref-95" id="link37noteref-95">95</a> The hardships of ten
      years' exile must have reduced their numbers; and if they had complied
      with the law of Thrasimund, which prohibited any episcopal consecrations,
      the orthodox church of Africa must have expired with the lives of its
      actual members. They disobeyed, and their disobedience was punished by a
      second exile of two hundred and twenty bishops into Sardinia; where they
      languished fifteen years, till the accession of the gracious Hilderic. <a
      href="#link37note-96" name="link37noteref-96" id="link37noteref-96">96</a>
      The two islands were judiciously chosen by the malice of their Arian
      tyrants. Seneca, from his own experience, has deplored and exaggerated the
      miserable state of Corsica, <a href="#link37note-97"
      name="link37noteref-97" id="link37noteref-97">97</a> and the plenty of
      Sardinia was overbalanced by the unwholesome quality of the air. <a
      href="#link37note-98" name="link37noteref-98" id="link37noteref-98">98</a>
      III. The zeal of Generic and his successors, for the conversion of the
      Catholics, must have rendered them still more jealous to guard the purity
      of the Vandal faith. Before the churches were finally shut, it was a crime
      to appear in a Barbarian dress; and those who presumed to neglect the
      royal mandate were rudely dragged backwards by their long hair. <a
      href="#link37note-99" name="link37noteref-99" id="link37noteref-99">99</a>
      The palatine officers, who refused to profess the religion of their
      prince, were ignominiously stripped of their honors and employments;
      banished to Sardinia and Sicily; or condemned to the servile labors of
      slaves and peasants in the fields of Utica. In the districts which had
      been peculiarly allotted to the Vandals, the exercise of the Catholic
      worship was more strictly prohibited; and severe penalties were denounced
      against the guilt both of the missionary and the proselyte. By these arts,
      the faith of the Barbarians was preserved, and their zeal was inflamed:
      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, and to insult the
      clergy of the adverse faction. <a href="#link37note-100"
      name="link37noteref-100" id="link37noteref-100">100</a> IV. The citizens
      who had been educated in the luxury of the Roman province, were delivered,
      with exquisite cruelty, to the Moors of the desert. A venerable train of
      bishops, presbyters, and deacons, with a faithful crowd of four thousand
      and ninety-six persons, whose guilt is not precisely ascertained, were
      torn from their native homes, by the command of Hunneric. During the night
      they were confined, like a herd of cattle, amidst their own ordure: during
      the day they pursued their march over the burning sands; and if they
      fainted under the heat and fatigue, they were goaded, or dragged along,
      till they expired in the hands of their tormentors. <a
      href="#link37note-101" name="link37noteref-101" id="link37noteref-101">101</a>
      These unhappy exiles, when they reached the Moorish huts, might excite the
      compassion of a people, whose native humanity was neither improved by
      reason, nor corrupted by fanaticism: but if they escaped the dangers, they
      were condemned to share the distress of a savage life. V. It is incumbent
      on the authors of persecution previously to reflect, whether they are
      determined to support it in the last extreme. They excite the flame which
      they strive to extinguish; and it soon becomes necessary to chastise the
      contumacy, as well as the crime, of the offender. The fine, which he is
      unable or unwilling to discharge, exposes his person to the severity of
      the law; and his contempt of lighter penalties suggests the use and
      propriety of capital punishment. Through the veil of fiction and
      declamation we may clearly perceive, that the Catholics more especially
      under the reign of Hunneric, endured the most cruel and ignominious
      treatment. <a href="#link37note-102" name="link37noteref-102"
      id="link37noteref-102">102</a> Respectable citizens, noble matrons, and
      consecrated virgins, were stripped naked, and raised in the air by
      pulleys, with a weight suspended at their feet. In this painful attitude
      their naked bodies were torn with scourges, or burnt in the most tender
      parts with red-hot plates of iron. The amputation of the ears the nose,
      the tongue, and the right hand, was inflicted by the Arians; and although
      the precise number cannot be defined, it is evident that many persons,
      among whom a bishop <a href="#link37note-103" name="link37noteref-103"
      id="link37noteref-103">103</a> and a proconsul <a href="#link37note-104"
      name="link37noteref-104" id="link37noteref-104">104</a> may be named, were
      entitled to the crown of martyrdom. The same honor has been ascribed to
      the memory of Count Sebastian, who professed the Nicene creed with
      unshaken constancy; and Genseric might detest, as a heretic, the brave and
      ambitious fugitive whom he dreaded as a rival. <a href="#link37note-105"
      name="link37noteref-105" id="link37noteref-105">105</a> VI. A new mode of
      conversion, which might subdue the feeble, and alarm the timorous, was
      employed by the Arian ministers. They imposed, by fraud or violence, the
      rites of baptism; and punished the apostasy of the Catholics, if they
      disclaimed this odious and profane ceremony, which scandalously violated
      the freedom of the will, and the unity of the sacrament. <a
      href="#link37note-106" name="link37noteref-106" id="link37noteref-106">106</a>
      The hostile sects had formerly allowed the validity of each other's
      baptism; and the innovation, so fiercely maintained by the Vandals, can be
      imputed only to the example and advice of the Donatists. VII. The Arian
      clergy surpassed in religious cruelty the king and his Vandals; but they
      were incapable of cultivating the spiritual vineyard, which they were so
      desirous to possess. A patriarch <a href="#link37note-107"
      name="link37noteref-107" id="link37noteref-107">107</a> might seat himself
      on the throne of Carthage; some bishops, in the principal cities, might
      usurp the place of their rivals; but the smallness of their numbers, and
      their ignorance of the Latin language, <a href="#link37note-108"
      name="link37noteref-108" id="link37noteref-108">108</a> disqualified the
      Barbarians for the ecclesiastical ministry of a great church; and the
      Africans, after the loss of their orthodox pastors, were deprived of the
      public exercise of Christianity. VIII. The emperors were the natural
      protectors of the Homoousian doctrine; and the faithful people of Africa,
      both as Romans and as Catholics, preferred their lawful sovereignty to the
      usurpation of the Barbarous heretics. During an interval of peace and
      friendship, Hunneric restored the cathedral of Carthage; at the
      intercession of Zeno, who reigned in the East, and of Placidia, the
      daughter and relict of emperors, and the sister of the queen of the
      Vandals. <a href="#link37note-109" name="link37noteref-109"
      id="link37noteref-109">109</a> But this decent regard was of short
      duration; and the haughty tyrant displayed his contempt for the religion
      of the empire, by studiously arranging the bloody images of persecution,
      in all the principal streets through which the Roman ambassador must pass
      in his way to the palace. <a href="#link37note-110"
      name="link37noteref-110" id="link37noteref-110">110</a> An oath was
      required from the bishops, who were assembled at Carthage, that they would
      support the succession of his son Hilderic, and that they would renounce
      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 <a href="#link37note-111" name="link37noteref-111"
      id="link37noteref-111">111</a> of the assembly. Their refusal, faintly
      colored by the pretence that it is unlawful for a Christian to swear, must
      provoke the suspicions of a jealous tyrant.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-91" id="link37note-91">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      91 (<a href="#link37noteref-91">return</a>)<br /> [ Victor, iv. 2, p. 65.
      Hunneric refuses the name of Catholics to the Homoousians. He describes,
      as the veri Divinae Majestatis cultores, his own party, who professed the
      faith, confirmed by more than a thousand bishops, in the synods of Rimini
      and Seleucia.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-92" id="link37note-92">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      92 (<a href="#link37noteref-92">return</a>)<br /> [ Victor, ii, 1, p. 21,
      22: Laudabilior... videbatur. In the Mss which omit this word, the passage
      is unintelligible. See Ruinart Not. p. 164.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-93" id="link37note-93">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      93 (<a href="#link37noteref-93">return</a>)<br /> [ Victor, ii. p. 22, 23.
      The clergy of Carthage called these conditions periculosoe; and they seem,
      indeed, to have been proposed as a snare to entrap the Catholic bishops.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-94" id="link37note-94">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      94 (<a href="#link37noteref-94">return</a>)<br /> [ See the narrative of
      this conference, and the treatment of the 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 or confession of faith.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-95" id="link37note-95">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      95 (<a href="#link37noteref-95">return</a>)<br /> [ See the list of the
      African bishops, in Victor, p. 117-140, and Ruinart's notes, p. 215-397.
      The schismatic name of Donatus frequently occurs, and they appear to have
      adopted (like our fanatics of the last age) the pious appellations of
      Deodatus, Deogratias, Quidvultdeus, Habetdeum, &amp;c. Note: These names
      appear to have been introduced by the Donatists.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-96" id="link37note-96">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      96 (<a href="#link37noteref-96">return</a>)<br /> [ Fulgent. Vit. c. 16-29.
      Thrasimund affected the praise of moderation and learning; and Fulgentius
      addressed three books of controversy to the Arian tyrant, whom he styles
      piissime Rex. Biblioth. Maxim. Patrum, tom. ix. p. 41. Only sixty bishops
      are mentioned as exiles in the life of Fulgentius; they are increased to
      one hundred and twenty by Victor Tunnunensis and Isidore; but the number
      of two hundred and twenty is specified in the Historia Miscella, and a
      short authentic chronicle of the times. See Ruinart, p. 570, 571.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-97" id="link37note-97">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      97 (<a href="#link37noteref-97">return</a>)<br /> [ See the base and
      insipid epigrams of the Stoic, who could not support exile with more
      fortitude than Ovid. Corsica might not produce corn, wine, or oil; but it
      could not be destitute of grass, water, and even fire.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-98" id="link37note-98">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      98 (<a href="#link37noteref-98">return</a>)<br /> [ Si ob gravitatem coeli
      interissent vile damnum. Tacit. Annal. ii. 85. In this application,
      Thrasimund would have adopted the reading of some critics, utile damnum.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-99" id="link37note-99">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      99 (<a href="#link37noteref-99">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-100" id="link37note-100">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      100 (<a href="#link37noteref-100">return</a>)<br /> [ See Procopius de
      Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 7, p. 197, 198. A Moorish prince endeavored to
      propitiate the God of the Christians, by his diligence to erase the marks
      of the Vandal sacrilege.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-101" id="link37note-101">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      101 (<a href="#link37noteref-101">return</a>)<br /> [ See this story in
      Victor. ii. 8-12, p. 30-34. Victor describes the distress of these
      confessors as an eye-witness.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-102" id="link37note-102">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      102 (<a href="#link37noteref-102">return</a>)<br /> [ See the fifth book of
      Victor. His passionate complaints are confirmed by the sober testimony of
      Procopius, and the public declaration of the emperor Justinian. Cod. l. i.
      tit. xxvii.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-103" id="link37note-103">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      103 (<a href="#link37noteref-103">return</a>)<br /> [ Victor, ii. 18, p.
      41.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-104" id="link37note-104">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      104 (<a href="#link37noteref-104">return</a>)<br /> [ Victor, v. 4, p. 74,
      75. His name was Victorianus, and he was a wealthy citizen of Adrumetum,
      who enjoyed the confidence of the king; by whose favor he had obtained the
      office, or at least the title, of proconsul of Africa.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-105" id="link37note-105">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      105 (<a href="#link37noteref-105">return</a>)<br /> [ Victor, i. 6, p. 8,
      9. After relating the firm resistance and dexterous reply of Count
      Sebastian, he adds, quare alio generis argumento postea bellicosum virum
      eccidit.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-106" id="link37note-106">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      106 (<a href="#link37noteref-106">return</a>)<br /> [ Victor, v. 12, 13.
      Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. vi. p. 609.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-107" id="link37note-107">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      107 (<a href="#link37noteref-107">return</a>)<br /> [ Primate was more
      properly the title of the bishop of Carthage; but the name of patriarch
      was given by the sects and nations to their principal ecclesiastic. See
      Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 155, 158.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-108" id="link37note-108">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      108 (<a href="#link37noteref-108">return</a>)<br /> [ The patriarch Cyrila
      himself publicly declared, that he did not understand Latin (Victor, ii.
      18, p. 42:) Nescio Latine; and he might converse with tolerable ease,
      without being capable of disputing or preaching in that language. His
      Vandal clergy were still more ignorant; and small confidence could be
      placed in the Africans who had conformed.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-109" id="link37note-109">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      109 (<a href="#link37noteref-109">return</a>)<br /> [ Victor, ii. 1, 2, p.
      22.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-110" id="link37note-110">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      110 (<a href="#link37noteref-110">return</a>)<br /> [ Victor, v. 7, p. 77.
      He appeals to the ambassador himself, whose name was Uranius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-111" id="link37note-111">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      111 (<a href="#link37noteref-111">return</a>)<br /> [ Astutiores, Victor,
      iv. 4, p. 70. He plainly intimates that their quotation of the gospel "Non
      jurabitis in toto," was only meant to elude the obligation of an
      inconvenient oath. The forty-six bishops who refused were banished to
      Corsica; the three hundred and two who swore were distributed through the
      provinces of Africa.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link372HCH0004" id="link372HCH0004">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To Christianity.&mdash;Part
      IV.
    </h2>
    <p>
      The Catholics, oppressed by royal and military force, were far superior to
      their adversaries in numbers and learning. With the same weapons which the
      Greek <a href="#link37note-112" name="link37noteref-112"
      id="link37noteref-112">112</a> and Latin fathers had already provided for
      the Arian controversy, they repeatedly silenced, or vanquished, the fierce
      and illiterate successors of Ulphilas. The consciousness of their own
      superiority might have raised them above the arts and passions of
      religious warfare. Yet, instead of assuming such honorable pride, the
      orthodox theologians were tempted, by the assurance of impunity, to
      compose fictions, which must be stigmatized with the epithets of fraud and
      forgery. They ascribed their own polemical works to the most venerable
      names of Christian antiquity; the characters of Athanasius and Augustin
      were awkwardly personated by Vigilius and his disciples; <a
      href="#link37note-113" name="link37noteref-113" id="link37noteref-113">113</a>
      and the famous creed, which so clearly expounds the mysteries of the
      Trinity and the Incarnation, is deduced, with strong probability, from
      this African school. <a href="#link37note-114" name="link37noteref-114"
      id="link37noteref-114">114</a> Even the Scriptures themselves were
      profaned by their rash and sacrilegious hands. The memorable text, which
      asserts the unity of the three who bear witness in heaven, <a
      href="#link37note-115" name="link37noteref-115" id="link37noteref-115">115</a>
      is condemned by the universal silence of the orthodox fathers, ancient
      versions, and authentic manuscripts. <a href="#link37note-116"
      name="link37noteref-116" id="link37noteref-116">116</a> It was first
      alleged by the Catholic bishops whom Hunneric summoned to the conference
      of Carthage. <a href="#link37note-117" name="link37noteref-117"
      id="link37noteref-117">117</a> An allegorical interpretation, in the form,
      perhaps, of a marginal note, invaded the text of the Latin Bibles, which
      were renewed and corrected in a dark period of ten centuries. <a
      href="#link37note-118" name="link37noteref-118" id="link37noteref-118">118</a>
      After the invention of printing, <a href="#link37note-119"
      name="link37noteref-119" id="link37noteref-119">119</a> the editors of the
      Greek Testament yielded to their own prejudices, or those of the times; <a
      href="#link37note-120" name="link37noteref-120" id="link37noteref-120">120</a>
      and the pious fraud, which was embraced with equal zeal at Rome and at
      Geneva, has been infinitely multiplied in every country and every language
      of modern Europe.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-112" id="link37note-112">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      112 (<a href="#link37noteref-112">return</a>)<br /> [ Fulgentius, bishop of
      Ruspae, in the Byzacene province, was of a senatorial family, and had
      received a liberal education. He could repeat all Homer and Menander
      before he was allowed to study Latin his native tongue, (Vit. Fulgent. c.
      l.) Many African bishops might understand Greek, and many Greek
      theologians were translated into Latin.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-113" id="link37note-113">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      113 (<a href="#link37noteref-113">return</a>)<br /> [ Compare the two
      prefaces to the Dialogue of Vigilius of Thapsus, (p. 118, 119, edit.
      Chiflet.) He might amuse his learned reader with an innocent fiction; but
      the subject was too grave, and the Africans were too ignorant.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-114" id="link37note-114">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      114 (<a href="#link37noteref-114">return</a>)<br /> [ The P. Quesnel
      started this opinion, which has been favorably received. But the three
      following truths, however surprising they 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 in our churches. 2. It does not appear
      to have existed within a century after his death. 3. It was originally
      composed in the Latin tongue, and, consequently in the Western provinces.
      Gennadius patriarch of Constantinople, 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-115" id="link37note-115">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      115 (<a href="#link37noteref-115">return</a>)<br /> [ 1 John, v. 7. See
      Simon, Hist. Critique du Nouveau Testament, 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 Wetstein to their editions of the Greek
      Testament. In 1689, the papist Simon strove 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 his sect. * Note: This controversy has
      continued to be agitated, but with declining interest even in the more
      religious part of the community; and may now be considered to have
      terminated in an almost general acquiescence of the learned to the
      conclusions of Porson in his Letters to Travis. See the pamphlets of the
      late Bishop of Salisbury and of Crito Cantabrigiensis, Dr. Turton of
      Cambridge.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-116" id="link37note-116">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      116 (<a href="#link37noteref-116">return</a>)<br /> [ Of all the Mss. now
      extant, above fourscore in number, some of which are more than 1200 years
      old, (Wetstein ad loc.) The orthodox copies of the Vatican, of the
      Complutensian editors, of Robert Stephens, are become invisible; and the
      two Mss. of Dublin and Berlin are unworthy to form an exception. See
      Emlyn's Works, vol. ii. p 227-255, 269-299; and M. de Missy's four
      ingenious letters, in tom. viii. and ix. of the Journal Britannique.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-117" id="link37note-117">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      117 (<a href="#link37noteref-117">return</a>)<br /> [ Or, more properly, by
      the four bishops who composed and published the profession of faith in the
      name of their brethren. They styled this text, luce clarius, (Victor
      Vitensis de Persecut. Vandal. l. iii. c. 11, p. 54.) It is quoted soon
      afterwards by the African polemics, Vigilius and Fulgentius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-118" id="link37note-118">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      118 (<a href="#link37noteref-118">return</a>)<br /> [ In the eleventh and
      twelfth centuries, the Bibles were corrected 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, the passage is still wanting in
      twenty-five Latin Mss., (Wetstein ad loc.,) the oldest and the fairest;
      two qualities seldom united, except in manuscripts.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-119" id="link37note-119">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      119 (<a href="#link37noteref-119">return</a>)<br /> [ The art which the
      Germans had invented was applied in Italy to the profane writers of Rome
      and Greece. The original Greek of the New Testament was published about
      the same time (A.D. 1514, 1516, 1520,) by the industry of Erasmus, and the
      munificence of Cardinal Ximenes. 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-120" id="link37note-120">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      120 (<a href="#link37noteref-120">return</a>)<br /> [ The three witnesses
      have been established in our Greek Testaments by the prudence of Erasmus;
      the honest bigotry of the Complutensian editors; the typographical fraud,
      or error, of Robert Stephens, in the placing a crotchet; and the
      deliberate falsehood, or strange misapprehension, of Theodore Beza.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The example of fraud must excite suspicion: and the specious miracles by
      which the African Catholics have defended the truth and justice of their
      cause, may be ascribed, with more reason, to their own industry, than to
      the visible protection of Heaven. Yet the historian, who views this
      religious conflict with an impartial eye, may condescend to mention one
      preternatural event, which will edify the devout, and surprise the
      incredulous. Tipasa, <a href="#link37note-121" name="link37noteref-121"
      id="link37noteref-121">121</a> a maritime colony of Mauritania, sixteen
      miles to the east of Caesarea, had been distinguished, in every age, by
      the orthodox zeal of its inhabitants. They had braved the fury of the
      Donatists; <a href="#link37note-122" name="link37noteref-122"
      id="link37noteref-122">122</a> they resisted, or eluded, the tyranny of
      the Arians. The town was deserted on the approach of an heretical bishop:
      most of the inhabitants who could procure ships passed over to the coast
      of Spain; and the unhappy remnant, refusing all communion with the
      usurper, still presumed to hold their pious, but illegal, assemblies.
      Their disobedience exasperated the cruelty of Hunneric. A military count
      was despatched from Carthage to Tipasa: he collected the Catholics in the
      Forum, and, in the presence of the whole province, deprived the guilty of
      their right hands and their tongues. But the holy confessors continued to
      speak without tongues; and this miracle is attested by Victor, an African
      bishop, who published a history of the persecution within two years after
      the event. <a href="#link37note-123" name="link37noteref-123"
      id="link37noteref-123">123</a> "If any one," says Victor, "should doubt of
      the truth, let him repair to Constantinople, and listen to the clear and
      perfect language of Restitutus, the sub-deacon, one of these glorious
      sufferers, who is now lodged in the palace of the emperor Zeno, and is
      respected by the devout empress." At Constantinople we are astonished to
      find a cool, a learned, and unexceptionable witness, without interest, and
      without passion. Aeneas of Gaza, a Platonic philosopher, has accurately
      described his own observations on these African sufferers. "I saw them
      myself: I heard them speak: I diligently inquired by what means such an
      articulate voice could be formed without any 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 completely torn away by the roots; an operation
      which the physicians generally suppose to be mortal." <a
      href="#link37note-124" name="link37noteref-124" id="link37noteref-124">124</a>
      The testimony of Aeneas of Gaza might be confirmed by the superfluous
      evidence of the emperor Justinian, in a perpetual edict; of Count
      Marcellinus, in his Chronicle of the times; and of Pope Gregory the First,
      who had resided at Constantinople, as the minister of the Roman pontiff.
      <a href="#link37note-125" name="link37noteref-125" id="link37noteref-125">125</a>
      They all lived within the compass of a century; and they all appeal to
      their personal knowledge, or the public notoriety, for the truth of a
      miracle, which was repeated in several instances, displayed on the
      greatest theatre of the world, and submitted, during a series of years, to
      the calm examination of the senses. This supernatural gift of the African
      confessors, who spoke without tongues, will command the assent of those,
      and of those only, who already believe, that their language was pure and
      orthodox. But the stubborn mind of an infidel, is guarded by secret,
      incurable suspicion; and the Arian, or Socinian, who has seriously
      rejected the doctrine of a Trinity, will not be shaken by the most
      plausible evidence of an Athanasian miracle.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-121" id="link37note-121">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      121 (<a href="#link37noteref-121">return</a>)<br /> [ Plin. Hist. Natural.
      v. 1. Itinerar. Wesseling, p. 15. Cellanius, Geograph. Antiq. tom. ii.
      part ii. p. 127. This Tipasa (which must not be confounded with another in
      Numidia) was a town of some note since Vespasian endowed it with the right
      of Latium.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-122" id="link37note-122">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      122 (<a href="#link37noteref-122">return</a>)<br /> [ Optatus Milevitanus
      de Schism. Donatist. l. ii. p. 38.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-123" id="link37note-123">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      123 (<a href="#link37noteref-123">return</a>)<br /> [ Victor Vitensis, v.
      6, p. 76. Ruinart, p. 483-487.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-124" id="link37note-124">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      124 (<a href="#link37noteref-124">return</a>)<br /> [ Aeneas Gazaeus in
      Theophrasto, in Biblioth. Patrum, tom. viii. p. 664, 665. He was a
      Christian, and composed this Dialogue (the Theophrastus) on the
      immortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the body; besides
      twenty-five Epistles, still extant. See Cave, (Hist. Litteraria, p. 297,)
      and Fabricius, (Biblioth. Graec. tom. i. p. 422.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-125" id="link37note-125">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      125 (<a href="#link37noteref-125">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 witnesses have specified the number of the
      confessors, which is fixed at sixty in an old menology, (apud Ruinart. p.
      486.) Two of them lost their speech by fornication; but the miracle is
      enhanced by the singular instance of a boy who had never spoken before his
      tongue was cut out. ]
    </p>
    <p>
      The Vandals and the Ostrogoths persevered in the profession of Arianism
      till the final ruin of the kingdoms which they had founded in Africa and
      Italy. The Barbarians of Gaul submitted to the orthodox dominion of the
      Franks; and Spain was restored to the Catholic church by the voluntary
      conversion of the Visigoths.
    </p>
    <p>
      This salutary revolution <a href="#link37note-126" name="link37noteref-126"
      id="link37noteref-126">126</a> was hastened by the example of a royal
      martyr, whom our calmer reason may style an ungrateful rebel. Leovigild,
      the Gothic monarch of Spain, deserved the respect of his enemies, and the
      love of his subjects; the Catholics enjoyed a free toleration, and his
      Arian synods attempted, without much success, to reconcile their scruples
      by abolishing the unpopular rite of a second baptism. His eldest son
      Hermenegild, who was invested by his father with the royal diadem, and the
      fair principality of Boetica, contracted an honorable and orthodox
      alliance with a Merovingian princess, the daughter of Sigebert, king of
      Austrasia, and of the famous Brunechild. The beauteous Ingundis, who was
      no more than thirteen years of age, was received, beloved, and persecuted,
      in the Arian court of Toledo; and her religious constancy was alternately
      assaulted with blandishments and violence by Goisvintha, the Gothic queen,
      who abused the double claim of maternal authority. <a
      href="#link37note-127" name="link37noteref-127" id="link37noteref-127">127</a>
      Incensed by her resistance, Goisvintha seized the Catholic princess by her
      long hair, inhumanly dashed her against the ground, kicked her till she
      was covered with blood, and at last gave orders that she should be
      stripped, and thrown into a basin, or fish-pond. <a href="#link37note-128"
      name="link37noteref-128" id="link37noteref-128">128</a> Love and honor
      might excite Hermenegild to resent this injurious treatment of his bride;
      and he was gradually persuaded that Ingundis 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 was initiated in the Nicene faith by the solemn rites
      of confirmation. <a href="#link37note-129" name="link37noteref-129"
      id="link37noteref-129">129</a> The rash youth, inflamed by zeal, and
      perhaps by ambition, was tempted to violate the duties of a son and a
      subject; and the Catholics of Spain, although they could not complain of
      persecution, applauded his pious rebellion against an heretical father.
      The civil war was protracted by the long and obstinate sieges of Merida,
      Cordova, and Seville, which had strenuously espoused the party of
      Hermenegild He invited the orthodox Barbarians, the Seuvi, and the Franks,
      to the destruction of his native land; he solicited the dangerous aid of
      the Romans, who possessed Africa, and a part of the Spanish coast; and his
      holy ambassador, the archbishop Leander, effectually negotiated in person
      with the Byzantine court. But the hopes of the Catholics were crushed by
      the active diligence of the monarch who commanded the troops and treasures
      of Spain; and the guilty Hermenegild, after his vain attempts to resist or
      to escape, was compelled to surrender himself into the hands of an
      incensed father. Leovigild was still mindful of that sacred character; and
      the rebel, despoiled of the regal ornaments, was still permitted, in a
      decent exile, to profess the Catholic religion. His repeated and
      unsuccessful treasons at length provoked the indignation of the Gothic
      king; and the sentence of death, which he pronounced with apparent
      reluctance, was privately executed in the tower of Seville. The inflexible
      constancy with which he refused to accept the Arian communion, as the
      price of his safety, may excuse the honors that have been paid to the
      memory of St. Hermenegild. His wife and infant son were detained by the
      Romans in ignominious captivity; and this domestic misfortune tarnished
      the glories of Leovigild, and imbittered the last moments of his life.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-126" id="link37note-126">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      126 (<a href="#link37noteref-126">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 that he is a Jesuit, to assume the style
      and spirit of a Roman classic. Ferreras, an industrious compiler, reviews
      his facts, and rectifies his chronology.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-127" id="link37note-127">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      127 (<a href="#link37noteref-127">return</a>)<br /> [ Goisvintha
      successively married two kings of the Visigoths: Athanigild, to whom she
      bore Brunechild, the mother of Ingundis; and Leovigild, whose two sons,
      Hermenegild and Recared, were the issue of a former marriage.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-128" id="link37note-128">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      128 (<a href="#link37noteref-128">return</a>)<br /> [ Iracundiae furore
      succensa, adprehensam per comam capitis puellam in terram conlidit, et diu
      calcibus verberatam, ac sanguins cruentatam, jussit exspoliari, et
      piscinae immergi. Greg. Turon. l. v. c. 39. in tom. ii. p. 255. Gregory is
      one of our best originals for this portion of history.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-129" id="link37note-129">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      129 (<a href="#link37noteref-129">return</a>)<br /> [ The Catholics who
      admitted the baptism of heretics repeated the rite, or, as it was
      afterwards styled, the sacrament, of confirmation, to which they ascribed
      many mystic and marvellous prerogatives both visible and invisible. See
      Chardon. Hist. des Sacremens, tom. 1. p. 405-552.]
    </p>
    <p>
      His son and successor, Recared, the first Catholic king of Spain, had
      imbibed the faith of his unfortunate brother, which he supported with more
      prudence and success. Instead of revolting against his father, Recared
      patiently expected the hour of his death. Instead of condemning his
      memory, he piously supposed, that the dying monarch had abjured the errors
      of Arianism, and recommended to his son the conversion of the Gothic
      nation. To accomplish that salutary end, Recared convened an assembly of
      the Arian clergy and nobles, declared himself a Catholic, and exhorted
      them to imitate the example of their prince. The laborious interpretation
      of doubtful texts, or the curious pursuit of metaphysical arguments, would
      have excited an endless controversy; and the monarch discreetly proposed
      to his illiterate audience two substantial and visible arguments,&mdash;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 professed the same orthodox creed; and the Visigoths resisted,
      almost alone, the consent of the Christian world. A superstitious age was
      prepared to reverence, as the testimony of Heaven, the preternatural
      cures, which were performed by the skill or virtue of the Catholic clergy;
      the baptismal fonts of Osset in Boetica, <a href="#link37note-130"
      name="link37noteref-130" id="link37noteref-130">130</a> which were
      spontaneously replenished every year, on the vigil of Easter; <a
      href="#link37note-131" name="link37noteref-131" id="link37noteref-131">131</a>
      and the miraculous shrine of St. Martin of Tours, which had already
      converted the Suevic prince and people of Gallicia. <a
      href="#link37note-132" name="link37noteref-132" id="link37noteref-132">132</a>
      The Catholic king encountered some difficulties on this important change
      of the national religion. A conspiracy, secretly fomented by the
      queen-dowager, was formed against his life; and two counts excited a
      dangerous revolt in the Narbonnese Gaul. But Recared disarmed the
      conspirators, defeated the rebels, and executed severe justice; which the
      Arians, in their turn, might brand with the reproach of persecution. Eight
      bishops, whose names betray their Barbaric origin, abjured their errors;
      and all the books of Arian theology were reduced to ashes, with the house
      in which they had been purposely collected. The whole body of the
      Visigoths and Suevi were allured or driven into the pale of the Catholic
      communion; the faith, at least of the rising generation, was fervent and
      sincere: and the devout liberality of the Barbarians enriched the churches
      and monasteries of Spain. Seventy bishops, assembled in the council of
      Toledo, received the submission of their conquerors; and the zeal of the
      Spaniards improved the Nicene creed, by declaring the procession of the
      Holy Ghost from the Son, as well as from the Father; a weighty point of
      doctrine, which produced, long afterwards, the schism of the Greek and
      Latin churches. <a href="#link37note-133" name="link37noteref-133"
      id="link37noteref-133">133</a> The royal proselyte immediately saluted and
      consulted Pope Gregory, surnamed the Great, a learned and holy prelate,
      whose reign was distinguished by the conversion of heretics and infidels.
      The ambassadors of Recared respectfully offered on the threshold of the
      Vatican his rich presents of gold and gems; they accepted, as a lucrative
      exchange, the hairs of St. John the Baptist; a cross, which enclosed a
      small piece of the true wood; and a key, that contained some particles of
      iron which had been scraped from the chains of St. Peter. <a
      href="#link37note-134" name="link37noteref-134" id="link37noteref-134">134</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-130" id="link37note-130">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      130 (<a href="#link37noteref-130">return</a>)<br /> [ Osset, or Julia
      Constantia, was opposite to Seville, on the northern side of the Boetis,
      (Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 3:) and the authentic 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 superstitious Portuguese, (Ferreras, Hist.
      d'Espagne, tom. ii. p. 166.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-131" id="link37note-131">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      131 (<a href="#link37noteref-131">return</a>)<br /> [ This miracle was
      skilfully performed. An Arian king sealed the doors, and dug a deep trench
      round the church, without being able to intercept the Easter supply of
      baptismal water.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-132" id="link37note-132">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      132 (<a href="#link37noteref-132">return</a>)<br /> [ Ferreras (tom. ii. p.
      168-175, A.D. 550) has illustrated the difficulties which regard the time
      and circumstances of the conversion of the Suevi. They had been recently
      united by Leovigild to the Gothic monarchy of Spain.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-133" id="link37note-133">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      133 (<a href="#link37noteref-133">return</a>)<br /> [ This addition to the
      Nicene, or rather the Constantinopolitan creed, was first made in the
      eighth council of Toledo, A.D. 653; but it was expressive of the popular
      doctrine, (Gerard Vossius, tom. vi. p. 527, de tribus Symbolis.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-134" id="link37note-134">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      134 (<a href="#link37noteref-134">return</a>)<br /> [ See Gregor. Magn. l.
      vii. epist. 126, apud Baronium, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 559, No. 25, 26.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The same Gregory, the spiritual conqueror of Britain, encouraged the pious
      Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards, to propagate the Nicene faith among
      the victorious savages, whose recent Christianity was polluted by the
      Arian heresy. Her devout labors still left room for the industry and
      success of future missionaries; and many cities of Italy were still
      disputed by hostile bishops. But the cause of Arianism was gradually
      suppressed by the weight of truth, of interest, and of example; and the
      controversy, which Egypt had derived from the Platonic school, was
      terminated, after a war of three hundred years, by the final conversion of
      the Lombards of Italy. <a href="#link37note-135" name="link37noteref-135"
      id="link37noteref-135">135</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-135" id="link37note-135">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      135 (<a href="#link37noteref-135">return</a>)<br /> [ Paul Warnefrid (de
      Gestis Langobard. l. iv. c. 44, p. 153, edit Grot.) allows that Arianism
      still prevailed under the reign of Rotharis, (A.D. 636-652.) The pious
      deacon does not attempt to mark the precise era of the national
      conversion, which was accomplished, however, before the end of the seventh
      century.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The first missionaries who preached the gospel to the Barbarians, appealed
      to the evidence of reason, and claimed the benefit of toleration. <a
      href="#link37note-136" name="link37noteref-136" id="link37noteref-136">136</a>
      But no sooner had they established their spiritual dominion, than they
      exhorted the Christian kings to extirpate, without mercy, the remains of
      Roman or Barbaric superstition. The successors of Clovis inflicted one
      hundred lashes on the peasants who refused to destroy their idols; the
      crime of sacrificing to the demons was punished by the Anglo-Saxon laws
      with the heavier penalties of imprisonment and confiscation; and even the
      wise Alfred adopted, as an indispensable duty, the extreme rigor of the
      Mosaic institutions. <a href="#link37note-137" name="link37noteref-137"
      id="link37noteref-137">137</a> But the punishment and the crime were
      gradually abolished among a Christian people; the theological disputes of
      the schools were suspended by propitious ignorance; and the intolerant
      spirit which could find neither idolaters nor heretics, was reduced to the
      persecution of the Jews. That exiled nation had founded some synagogues in
      the cities of Gaul; but Spain, since the time of Hadrian, was filled with
      their numerous colonies. <a href="#link37note-138" name="link37noteref-138"
      id="link37noteref-138">138</a> The wealth which they accumulated by trade,
      and the management 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
      reigned in the beginning of the seventh century, proceeded at once to the
      last extremes of persecution. <a href="#link37note-139"
      name="link37noteref-139" id="link37noteref-139">139</a> Ninety thousand
      Jews were compelled to receive the sacrament of baptism; the fortunes of
      the obstinate infidels were confiscated, their bodies were tortured; and
      it seems doubtful whether they were permitted to abandon their native
      country. The excessive zeal of the Catholic king was moderated, even by
      the clergy of Spain, who solemnly pronounced an inconsistent sentence:
      that the sacraments should not be forcibly imposed; but that the Jews who
      had been baptized should be constrained, for the honor of the church, to
      persevere in the external practice of a religion which they disbelieved
      and detested. Their frequent relapses provoked one of the successors of
      Sisebut to banish the whole nation from his dominions; and a council of
      Toledo published a decree, that every Gothic king should swear to maintain
      this salutary edict. But the tyrants were unwilling to dismiss the
      victims, whom they delighted to torture, or to deprive themselves of the
      industrious slaves, over whom they might exercise a lucrative oppression.
      The Jews still continued in Spain, under the weight of the civil and
      ecclesiastical laws, which in the same country have been faithfully
      transcribed in the Code of the Inquisition. The Gothic kings and bishops
      at length discovered, that injuries will produce hatred, and that hatred
      will find the opportunity of revenge. A nation, the secret or professed
      enemies of Christianity, still multiplied in servitude and distress; and
      the intrigues of the Jews promoted the rapid success of the Arabian
      conquerors. <a href="#link37note-140" name="link37noteref-140"
      id="link37noteref-140">140</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-136" id="link37note-136">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      136 (<a href="#link37noteref-136">return</a>)<br /> [ Quorum fidei et
      conversioni ita congratulatus esse rex perhibetur, ut nullum tamen cogeret
      ad Christianismum.... Didiceret enim a doctoribus auctoribusque suae
      salutis, servitium Christi voluntarium non coactitium esse debere. Bedae
      Hist. Ecclesiastic. l. i. c. 26, p. 62, edit. Smith.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-137" id="link37note-137">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      137 (<a href="#link37noteref-137">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Historians of
      France, tom. iv. p. 114; and Wilkins, Leges Anglo-Saxonicae, p. 11, 31.
      Siquis sacrificium immolaverit praeter Deo soli morte moriatur.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-138" id="link37note-138">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      138 (<a href="#link37noteref-138">return</a>)<br /> [ The Jews pretend that
      they were introduced into Spain by the fleets of Solomon, and the arms of
      Nebuchadnezzar; that Hadrian transported forty thousand families of the
      tribe of Judah, and ten thousand of the tribe of Benjamin, &amp;c.
      Basnage, Hist. des Juifs, tom. vii. c. 9, p. 240-256.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-139" id="link37note-139">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      139 (<a href="#link37noteref-139">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 of Almoin, (l. iv. c. 22;) but the evidence is
      weak, and I have not been able to verify the quotation, (Historians of
      France, tom. iii. p. 127.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link37note-140" id="link37note-140">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      140 (<a href="#link37noteref-140">return</a>)<br /> [ Basnage (tom. viii.
      c. 13, p. 388-400) faithfully represents the state of the Jews; but he
      might have added from the canons of the Spanish councils, and the laws of
      the Visigoths, many curious circumstances, essential to his subject,
      though they are foreign to mine. * Note: Compare Milman, Hist. of Jews
      iii. 256&mdash;M]
    </p>
    <p>
      As soon as the Barbarians withdrew their powerful support, the unpopular
      heresy of Arius sunk into contempt and oblivion. But the Greeks still
      retained their subtle and loquacious disposition: the establishment of an
      obscure doctrine suggested new questions, and new disputes; and it was
      always in the power of an ambitious prelate, or a fanatic monk, to violate
      the peace of the church, and, perhaps, of the empire. The historian of the
      empire may overlook those disputes which were confined to the obscurity of
      schools and synods. The Manichaeans, who labored to reconcile the
      religions of Christ and of Zoroaster, had secretly introduced themselves
      into the provinces: but these foreign sectaries were involved in the
      common disgrace of the Gnostics, and the Imperial laws were executed by
      the public hatred. The rational opinions of the Pelagians were propagated
      from Britain to Rome, Africa, and Palestine, and silently expired in a
      superstitious age. But the East was distracted by the Nestorian and
      Eutychian controversies; which attempted to explain the mystery of the
      incarnation, and hastened the ruin of Christianity in her native land.
      These controversies were first agitated under the reign of the younger
      Theodosius: but their important consequences extend far beyond the limits
      of the present volume. The metaphysical chain of argument, the contests of
      ecclesiastical ambition, and their political influence on the decline of
      the Byzantine empire, may afford an interesting and instructive series of
      history, from the general councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, to the
      conquest of the East by the successors of Mahomet.
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /> <br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /> <br /> <a name="link382HCH0001" id="link382HCH0001">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.&mdash;Part I.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
     Reign And Conversion Of Clovis.&mdash;His Victories Over The
     Alemanni, Burgundians, And Visigoths.&mdash;Establishment Of The
     French Monarchy In Gaul.&mdash;Laws Of The Barbarians.&mdash;State Of
     The Romans.&mdash;The Visigoths Of Spain.&mdash;Conquest Of Britain By
     The Saxons.
</pre>
    <p>
      The Gauls, <a href="#link38note-1" name="link38noteref-1"
      id="link38noteref-1">1</a> who impatiently supported the Roman yoke,
      received a memorable lesson from one of the lieutenants of Vespasian,
      whose weighty sense has been refined and expressed by the genius of
      Tacitus. <a href="#link38note-2" name="link38noteref-2"
      id="link38noteref-2">2</a> "The protection of the republic has delivered
      Gaul from internal discord and foreign invasions. By the loss of national
      independence, you have acquired the name and privileges of Roman citizens.
      You enjoy, in common with yourselves, the permanent benefits of civil
      government; and your remote situation is less exposed to the accidental
      mischiefs of tyranny. Instead of exercising the rights of conquest, we
      have been contented to impose such tributes as are requisite for your own
      preservation. Peace cannot be secured without armies; and armies must be
      supported at the expense of the people. It is for your sake, not for our
      own, that we guard the barrier of the Rhine against the ferocious Germans,
      who have so often attempted, and who will always desire, to exchange the
      solitude of their woods and morasses for the wealth and fertility of Gaul.
      The fall of Rome would be fatal to the provinces; and you would be buried
      in the ruins of that mighty fabric, which has been raised by the valor and
      wisdom of eight hundred years. Your imaginary freedom would be insulted
      and oppressed by a savage master; and the expulsion of the Romans would be
      succeeded by the eternal hostilities of the Barbarian conquerors." <a
      href="#link38note-3" name="link38noteref-3" id="link38noteref-3">3</a>
      This salutary advice was accepted, and this strange prediction was
      accomplished. In the space of four hundred years, the hardy Gauls, who had
      encountered the arms of Caesar, were imperceptibly melted into the general
      mass of citizens and subjects: the Western empire was dissolved; and the
      Germans, who had passed the Rhine, fiercely contended for the possession
      of Gaul, and excited the contempt, or abhorrence, of its peaceful and
      polished inhabitants. With that conscious pride which the preeminence of
      knowledge and luxury seldom fails to inspire, they derided the hairy and
      gigantic savages of the North; their rustic manners, dissonant joy,
      voracious appetite, and their horrid appearance, equally disgusting to the
      sight and to the smell. The liberal studies were still cultivated in the
      schools of Autun and Bordeaux; and the language of Cicero and Virgil was
      familiar to the Gallic youth. Their ears were astonished by the harsh and
      unknown sounds of the Germanic dialect, and they ingeniously lamented that
      the trembling muses fled from the harmony of a Burgundian lyre. The Gauls
      were endowed with all the advantages of art and nature; but as they wanted
      courage to defend them, they were justly condemned to obey, and even to
      flatter, the victorious Barbarians, by whose clemency they held their
      precarious fortunes and their lives. <a href="#link38note-4"
      name="link38noteref-4" id="link38noteref-4">4</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-1" id="link38note-1">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1 (<a href="#link38noteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ In this chapter I shall
      draw my quotations from the Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la
      France, Paris, 1738-1767, in eleven volumes in folio. By the labor of Dom
      Bouquet, and the other Benedictines, all the original testimonies, as far
      as A.D. 1060, are disposed in chronological order, and illustrated with
      learned notes. Such a national work, which will be continued to the year
      1500, might provoke our emulation.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-2" id="link38note-2">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2 (<a href="#link38noteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ Tacit. Hist. iv. 73, 74,
      in tom. i. p. 445. To abridge Tacitus would indeed be presumptuous; but I
      may select the general ideas which he applies to the present state and
      future revelations of Gaul.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-3" id="link38note-3">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3 (<a href="#link38noteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ Eadem semper causa
      Germanis transcendendi in Gallias libido atque avaritiae et mutandae sedis
      amor; ut relictis paludibus et solitudinibus, suis, fecundissimum hoc
      solum vosque ipsos possiderent.... Nam pulsis Romanis quid aliud quam
      bella omnium inter se gentium exsistent?]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-4" id="link38note-4">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4 (<a href="#link38noteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ Sidonius Apollinaris
      ridicules, with affected wit and pleasantry, the hardships of his
      situation, (Carm. xii. in tom. i. p. 811.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      As soon as Odoacer had extinguished the Western empire, he sought the
      friendship of the most powerful of the Barbarians. The new sovereign of
      Italy resigned to Euric, king of the Visigoths, all the Roman conquests
      beyond the Alps, as far as the Rhine and the Ocean: <a href="#link38note-5"
      name="link38noteref-5" id="link38noteref-5">5</a> and the senate might
      confirm this liberal gift with some ostentation of power, and without any
      real loss of revenue and dominion. The lawful pretensions of Euric were
      justified by ambition and success; and the Gothic nation might aspire,
      under his command, to the monarchy of Spain and Gaul. Arles and Marseilles
      surrendered to his arms: he oppressed the freedom of Auvergne; and the
      bishop condescended to purchase his recall from exile by a tribute of
      just, but reluctant praise. Sidonius waited before the gates of the palace
      among a crowd of ambassadors and suppliants; and their various business at
      the court of Bordeaux attested the power, and the renown, of the king of
      the Visigoths. The Heruli of the distant ocean, who painted their naked
      bodies with its coerulean color, implored his protection; and the Saxons
      respected the maritime provinces of a prince, who was destitute of any
      naval force. The tall Burgundians submitted to his authority; nor did he
      restore the captive Franks, till he had imposed on that fierce nation the
      terms of an unequal peace. The Vandals of Africa cultivated his useful
      friendship; and the Ostrogoths of Pannonia were supported by his powerful
      aid against the oppression of the 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 Persia consulted the oracle of the West; and the
      aged god of the Tyber was protected by the swelling genius of the Garonne.
      <a href="#link38note-6" name="link38noteref-6" id="link38noteref-6">6</a>
      The fortune of nations has often depended on accidents; and France may
      ascribe her greatness to the premature death of the Gothic king, at a time
      when his son Alaric was a helpless infant, and his adversary Clovis <a
      href="#link38note-7" name="link38noteref-7" id="link38noteref-7">7</a> an
      ambitious and valiant youth.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-5" id="link38note-5">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5 (<a href="#link38noteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 not substituted the Rhine for the Rhone (Hist.
      Gothorum, p. 175) without the authority of some Ms.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-6" id="link38note-6">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6 (<a href="#link38noteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-7" id="link38note-7">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7 (<a href="#link38noteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ I use the familiar
      appellation of Clovis, from the Latin Chlodovechus, or Chlodovoeus. But
      the Ch expresses only the German aspiration, and the true name is not
      different from Lewis, (Mem. de 'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xx. p.
      68.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      While Childeric, the father of Clovis, lived an exile in Germany, he was
      hospitably entertained by the queen, as well as by the king, of the
      Thuringians. After his restoration, Basina escaped from her husband's bed
      to the arms of her lover; freely declaring, that if she had known a man
      wiser, stronger, or more beautiful, than Childeric, that man should have
      been the object of her preference. <a href="#link38note-8"
      name="link38noteref-8" id="link38noteref-8">8</a> <a href="#link38note-9"
      name="link38noteref-9" id="link38noteref-9">9</a> Clovis was the offspring
      of this voluntary union; and, when he was no more than fifteen years of
      age, he succeeded, by his father's death, to the command of the Salian
      tribe. The narrow limits of his kingdom were confined to the island of the
      Batavians, with the ancient dioceses of Tournay and Arras; <a
      href="#link38note-10" name="link38noteref-10" id="link38noteref-10">10</a>
      and at the baptism of Clovis the number of his warriors could not exceed
      five thousand. The kindred tribes of the Franks, who had seated themselves
      along the Belgic rivers, the Scheld, the Meuse, the Moselle, and the
      Rhine, were governed by their independent kings, of the Merovingian race;
      the equals, the allies, and sometimes the enemies of the Salic prince. But
      the Germans, who obeyed, in peace, the hereditary jurisdiction of their
      chiefs, were free to follow the standard of a popular and victorious
      general; and the superior merit of Clovis attracted the respect and
      allegiance of the national confederacy. When he first took the field, he
      had neither gold and silver in his coffers, nor wine and corn in his
      magazine; <a href="#link38note-11" name="link38noteref-11"
      id="link38noteref-11">11</a> but he imitated the example of Caesar, who,
      in the same country, had acquired wealth by the sword, and purchased
      soldiers with the fruits of conquest. After each successful battle or
      expedition, the spoils were accumulated in one common mass; every warrior
      received his proportionable share; and the royal prerogative submitted to
      the equal regulations of military law. The untamed spirit of the
      Barbarians was taught to acknowledge the advantages of regular discipline.
      <a href="#link38note-12" name="link38noteref-12" id="link38noteref-12">12</a>
      At the annual review of the month of March, their arms were diligently
      inspected; and when they traversed a peaceful territory, they were
      prohibited from touching a blade of grass. The justice of Clovis was
      inexorable; and his careless or disobedient soldiers were punished with
      instant death. It would be superfluous to praise the valor of a Frank; but
      the valor of Clovis was directed by cool and consummate prudence. <a
      href="#link38note-13" name="link38noteref-13" id="link38noteref-13">13</a>
      In all his transactions with mankind, he calculated the weight of
      interest, of passion, and of opinion; and his measures were sometimes
      adapted to the sanguinary manners of the Germans, and sometimes moderated
      by the milder genius of 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 already accomplished, in a reign of thirty years, the establishment
      of the French monarchy in Gaul.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-8" id="link38note-8">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8 (<a href="#link38noteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ Greg. l. ii. c. 12, in
      tom. i. p. 168. Basina speaks the language of nature; the Franks, who had
      seen her in their youth, might converse with Gregory in their old age; and
      the bishop of Tours could not wish to defame the mother of the first
      Christian king.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-9" id="link38note-9">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9 (<a href="#link38noteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ The Abbe Dubos (Hist.
      Critique de l'Etablissement de la Monarchie Francoise dans les Gaules,
      tom. i. p. 630-650) has the merit of defining the primitive kingdom of
      Clovis, and of ascertaining the genuine number of his subjects.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-10" id="link38note-10">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      10 (<a href="#link38noteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Ecclesiam incultam ac
      negligentia civium Paganorum praetermis sam, veprium densitate oppletam,
      &amp;c. Vit. St. Vedasti, in tom. iii. p. 372. This description supposes
      that Arras was possessed by the Pagans many years before the baptism of
      Clovis.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-11" id="link38note-11">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      11 (<a href="#link38noteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ Gregory of Tours (l v.
      c. i. tom. ii. p. 232) contrasts the poverty of Clovis with the wealth of
      his grandsons. Yet Remigius (in tom. iv. p. 52) mentions his paternas
      opes, as sufficient for the redemption of captives.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-12" id="link38note-12">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      12 (<a href="#link38noteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 power and the character of Clovis. As a point
      of controversy, it has been strangely tortured by Boulainvilliers Dubos,
      and the other political antiquarians.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-13" id="link38note-13">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      13 (<a href="#link38noteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ The duke of Nivernois,
      a noble statesman, who has managed weighty and delicate negotiations,
      ingeniously illustrates (Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscriptions, tom. xx. p.
      147-184) the political system of Clovis.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The first exploit of Clovis was the defeat of Syagrius, the son of
      Aegidius; and the public quarrel might, on this occasion, be inflamed by
      private resentment. The glory of the father still insulted the Merovingian
      race; the power of the son might excite the jealous ambition of the king
      of the Franks. Syagrius inherited, as a patrimonial estate, the city and
      diocese of Soissons: the desolate remnant of the second Belgic, Rheims and
      Troyes, Beauvais and Amiens, would naturally submit to the count or
      patrician: <a href="#link38note-14" name="link38noteref-14"
      id="link38noteref-14">14</a> and after the dissolution of the Western
      empire, he might reign with the title, or at least with the authority, of
      king of the Romans. <a href="#link38note-15" name="link38noteref-15"
      id="link38noteref-15">15</a> As a Roman, he had been educated in the
      liberal studies of rhetoric and jurisprudence; but he was engaged by
      accident and policy in the familiar use of the Germanic idiom. The
      independent Barbarians resorted to the tribunal of a stranger, who
      possessed the singular talent of explaining, in their native tongue, the
      dictates of reason and equity. The diligence and affability of their judge
      rendered him popular, the impartial wisdom of his decrees obtained their
      voluntary obedience, and the reign of Syagrius over the Franks and
      Burgundians seemed to revive the original institution of civil society. <a
      href="#link38note-16" name="link38noteref-16" id="link38noteref-16">16</a>
      In the midst of these peaceful occupations, Syagrius received, and boldly
      accepted, the hostile defiance of Clovis; who challenged his rival in the
      spirit, and almost in the language, of chivalry, to appoint the day and
      the field <a href="#link38note-17" name="link38noteref-17"
      id="link38noteref-17">17</a> of battle. In the time of Caesar Soissons
      would have poured forth a body of fifty thousand horse and such an army
      might have been plentifully supplied with shields, cuirasses, and military
      engines, from the three arsenals or manufactures of the city. <a
      href="#link38note-18" name="link38noteref-18" id="link38noteref-18">18</a>
      But the courage and numbers of the Gallic youth were long since exhausted;
      and the loose bands of volunteers, or mercenaries, who marched under the
      standard of Syagrius, were incapable of contending with the national valor
      of the Franks. It would be ungenerous without some more accurate knowledge
      of his strength and resources, to condemn the rapid flight of Syagrius,
      who escaped, after the loss of a battle, to the distant court of
      Thoulouse. The feeble minority of Alaric could not assist or protect an
      unfortunate fugitive; the pusillanimous <a href="#link38note-19"
      name="link38noteref-19" id="link38noteref-19">19</a> Goths were
      intimidated by the menaces of Clovis; and the Roman king, after a short
      confinement, was delivered into the hands of the executioner. The Belgic
      cities surrendered to the king of the Franks; and his dominions were
      enlarged towards the East by the ample diocese of Tongres <a
      href="#link38note-20" name="link38noteref-20" id="link38noteref-20">20</a>
      which Clovis subdued in the tenth year of his reign.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-14" id="link38note-14">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      14 (<a href="#link38noteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ M. Biet (in a
      Dissertation which deserved the prize of the Academy of Soissons, p.
      178-226,) has accurately defined the nature and extent of the kingdom of
      Syagrius and his father; but he too readily allows the slight evidence of
      Dubos (tom. ii. p. 54-57) to deprive him of Beauvais and Amiens.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-15" id="link38note-15">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      15 (<a href="#link38noteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ I may observe that
      Fredegarius, in his epitome of Gregory of Tours, (tom. ii. p. 398,) has
      prudently substituted the name of Patricius for the incredible title of
      Rex Romanorum.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-16" id="link38note-16">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      16 (<a href="#link38noteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ Sidonius, (l. v. Epist.
      5, in tom. i. p. 794,) who styles him the Solon, the Amphion, of the
      Barbarians, addresses this imaginary king in the tone of friendship and
      equality. From such offices of arbitration, the crafty Dejoces had raised
      himself to the throne of the Medes, (Herodot. l. i. c. 96-100.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-17" id="link38note-17">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      17 (<a href="#link38noteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ Campum sibi praeparari
      jussit. M. Biet (p. 226-251) has diligently ascertained this field of
      battle, at Nogent, a Benedictine abbey, about ten miles to the north of
      Soissons. The ground was marked by a circle of Pagan sepulchres; and
      Clovis bestowed the adjacent lands of Leully and Coucy on the church of
      Rheims.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-18" id="link38note-18">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      18 (<a href="#link38noteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ See Caesar. Comment. de
      Bell. Gallic. ii. 4, in tom. i. p. 220, and the Notitiae, tom. i. p. 126.
      The three Fabricae of Soissons were, Seutaria, Balistaria, and Clinabaria.
      The last supplied the complete armor of the heavy cuirassiers.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-19" id="link38note-19">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      19 (<a href="#link38noteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ The epithet must be
      confined to the circumstances; and history cannot justify the French
      prejudice of Gregory, (l. ii. c. 27, in tom. ii. p. 175,) ut Gothorum
      pavere mos est.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-20" id="link38note-20">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      20 (<a href="#link38noteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Dubos has satisfied me
      (tom. i. p. 277-286) that Gregory of Tours, his transcribers, or his
      readers, have repeatedly confounded the German kingdom of Thuringia,
      beyond the Rhine, and the Gallic city of Tongria, on the Meuse, which was
      more anciently the country of the Eburones, and more recently the diocese
      of Liege.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The name of the Alemanni has been absurdly derived from their imaginary
      settlement on the banks of the Leman Lake. <a href="#link38note-21"
      name="link38noteref-21" id="link38noteref-21">21</a> That fortunate
      district, from the lake to the Avenche, and Mount Jura, was occupied by
      the Burgundians. <a href="#link38note-22" name="link38noteref-22"
      id="link38noteref-22">22</a> The northern parts of Helvetia had indeed
      been subdued by the ferocious Alemanni, who destroyed with their own hands
      the fruits of their conquest. A province, improved and adorned by the arts
      of Rome, was again reduced to a savage wilderness; and some vestige of the
      stately Vindonissa may still be discovered in the fertile and populous
      valley of the Aar. <a href="#link38note-23" name="link38noteref-23"
      id="link38noteref-23">23</a> From the source of the Rhine to its conflux
      with the Mein and the Moselle, the formidable swarms of the Alemanni
      commanded either side of the river, by the right of ancient possession, or
      recent victory. They had spread themselves into Gaul, over the modern
      provinces of Alsace and Lorraine; and their bold invasion of the kingdom
      of Cologne summoned the Salic prince to the defence of his Ripuarian
      allies.
    </p>
    <p>
      Clovis encountered the invaders of Gaul in the plain of Tolbiac, about
      twenty-four miles from Cologne; and the two fiercest nations of Germany
      were mutually animated by the memory of past exploits, and the prospect of
      future greatness. The Franks, after an obstinate struggle, gave way; and
      the Alemanni, raising a shout of victory, impetuously pressed their
      retreat. But the battle was restored by the valor, and the conduct, and
      perhaps by the piety, of Clovis; and the event of the bloody day decided
      forever the alternative of empire or servitude. The last king of the
      Alemanni was slain in the field, and his people were slaughtered or
      pursued, till they threw down their arms, and yielded to the mercy of the
      conqueror. Without discipline it was impossible for them to rally: they
      had contemptuously demolished the walls and fortifications which might
      have protected their distress; and they were followed into the heart of
      their forests by an enemy not less active, or intrepid, than themselves.
      The great Theodoric congratulated the victory of Clovis, whose sister
      Albofleda the king of Italy had lately married; but he mildly interceded
      with his brother in favor of the suppliants and fugitives, who had
      implored his protection. The Gallic territories, which were possessed by
      the Alemanni, became the prize of their conqueror; and the haughty nation,
      invincible, or rebellious, to the arms of Rome, acknowledged the
      sovereignty of the Merovingian kings, who graciously permitted them to
      enjoy their peculiar manners and institutions, under the government of
      official, and, at length, of hereditary, dukes. After the conquest of the
      Western provinces, the Franks alone maintained their ancient habitations
      beyond the Rhine. They gradually subdued, and civilized, the exhausted
      countries, as far as the Elbe, and the mountains of Bohemia; and the peace
      of Europe was secured by the obedience of Germany. <a href="#link38note-24"
      name="link38noteref-24" id="link38noteref-24">24</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-21" id="link38note-21">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      21 (<a href="#link38noteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ Populi habitantes juxta
      Lemannum lacum, Alemanni dicuntur. Servius, ad Virgil. Georgic. iv. 278.
      Don Bouquet (tom. i. p. 817) has only alleged the more recent and corrupt
      text of Isidore of Seville.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-22" id="link38note-22">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      22 (<a href="#link38noteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ Gregory of Tours sends
      St. Lupicinus inter illa Jurensis deserti secreta, quae, inter Burgundiam
      Alamanniamque sita, Aventicae adja cent civitati, in tom. i. p. 648. M. de
      Watteville (Hist. de la Confederation Helvetique, tom. i. p. 9, 10) has
      accurately defined the Helvetian limits of the Duchy of Alemannia, and the
      Transjurane Burgundy. They were commensurate with the dioceses of
      Constance and Avenche, or Lausanne, and are still discriminated, in modern
      Switzerland, by the use of the German, or French, language.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-23" id="link38note-23">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      23 (<a href="#link38noteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ See Guilliman de Rebus
      Helveticis, l i. c. 3, p. 11, 12. Within the ancient walls of Vindonissa,
      the castle of Hapsburgh, the abbey of Konigsfield, and the town of Bruck,
      have successively risen. The philosophic traveller may compare the
      monuments of Roman conquest of feudal or Austrian tyranny, of monkish
      superstition, and of industrious freedom. If he be truly a philosopher, he
      will applaud the merit and happiness of his own times.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-24" id="link38note-24">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      24 (<a href="#link38noteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ Gregory of Tours, (l.
      ii. 30, 37, in tom. ii. p. 176, 177, 182,) the Gesta Francorum, (in tom.
      ii. p. 551,) and the epistle of Theodoric, (Cassiodor. Variar. l. ii. c.
      41, in tom. iv. p. 4,) represent the defeat of the Alemanni. Some of their
      tribes settled in Rhaetia, under the protection of Theodoric; whose
      successors ceded the colony and their country to the grandson of Clovis.
      The state of the Alemanni under the Merovingian kings may be seen in
      Mascou (Hist. of the Ancient Germans, xi. 8, &amp;c. Annotation xxxvi.)
      and Guilliman, (de Reb. Helvet. l. ii. c. 10-12, p. 72-80.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      Till the thirtieth year of his age, Clovis continued to worship the gods
      of his ancestors. <a href="#link38note-25" name="link38noteref-25"
      id="link38noteref-25">25</a> His disbelief, or rather disregard, of
      Christianity, might encourage him to pillage with less remorse the
      churches of a hostile territory: but his subjects of Gaul enjoyed the free
      exercise of religious worship; and the bishops entertained a more
      favorable hope of the idolater, than of the heretics. The Merovingian
      prince had contracted a fortunate alliance with the fair Clotilda, the
      niece of the king of Burgundy, who, in the midst of an Arian court, was
      educated in the profession of the Catholic faith. It was her interest, as
      well as her duty, to achieve the conversion <a href="#link38note-26"
      name="link38noteref-26" id="link38noteref-26">26</a> of a Pagan husband;
      and Clovis insensibly listened to the voice of love and religion. He
      consented (perhaps such terms had been previously stipulated) to the
      baptism of his eldest son; and though the sudden death of the infant
      excited some superstitious fears, he was persuaded, a second time, to
      repeat the dangerous experiment. In the distress of the battle of Tolbiac,
      Clovis loudly invoked the God of Clotilda and the Christians; and victory
      disposed him to hear, with respectful gratitude, the eloquent <a
      href="#link38note-27" name="link38noteref-27" id="link38noteref-27">27</a>
      Remigius, <a href="#link38note-28" name="link38noteref-28"
      id="link38noteref-28">28</a> bishop of Rheims, who forcibly displayed the
      temporal and spiritual advantages of his conversion. The king declared
      himself satisfied of the truth of the Catholic faith; and the political
      reasons which might have suspended his public profession, were removed by
      the devout or loyal acclamations of the Franks, who showed themselves
      alike prepared to follow their heroic leader to the field of battle, or to
      the baptismal font. The important ceremony was performed in the cathedral
      of Rheims, with every circumstance of magnificence and solemnity that
      could impress an awful sense of religion on the minds of its rude
      proselytes. <a href="#link38note-29" name="link38noteref-29"
      id="link38noteref-29">29</a> The new Constantine was immediately baptized,
      with three thousand of his warlike subjects; and their example was
      imitated by the remainder of the gentle Barbarians, who, in obedience to
      the victorious prelate, adored the cross which they had burnt, and burnt
      the idols which they had formerly adored. <a href="#link38note-30"
      name="link38noteref-30" id="link38noteref-30">30</a> The mind of Clovis
      was susceptible of transient fervor: he was exasperated by the pathetic
      tale of the passion and death of Christ; and, instead of weighing the
      salutary consequences of that mysterious sacrifice, he exclaimed, with
      indiscreet fury, "Had I been present at the head of my valiant Franks, I
      would have revenged his injuries." <a href="#link38note-31"
      name="link38noteref-31" id="link38noteref-31">31</a> But the savage
      conqueror of Gaul was incapable of examining the proofs of a religion,
      which depends on the laborious investigation of historic evidence and
      speculative theology. He was still more incapable of feeling the mild
      influence of the gospel, which persuades and purifies the heart of a
      genuine convert. His ambitious reign was a perpetual violation of moral
      and Christian duties: 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, he calmly assassinated all the princes of the Merovingian race. <a
      href="#link38note-32" name="link38noteref-32" id="link38noteref-32">32</a>
      Yet the king of the Franks might sincerely worship the Christian God, as a
      Being more excellent and powerful than his national deities; and the
      signal deliverance and victory of Tolbiac encouraged Clovis to confide in
      the future protection of the Lord of Hosts. Martin, the most popular of
      the saints, had filled the Western world with the fame of those miracles
      which were incessantly performed at his holy sepulchre of Tours. His
      visible or invisible aid promoted the cause of a liberal and orthodox
      prince; and the profane remark of Clovis himself, that St.Martin was an
      expensive friend, <a href="#link38note-33" name="link38noteref-33"
      id="link38noteref-33">33</a> need not be interpreted as the symptom of any
      permanent or rational scepticism. But earth, as well as heaven, rejoiced
      in the conversion of the Franks. On the memorable day when Clovis ascended
      from the baptismal font, he alone, in the Christian world, deserved the
      name and prerogatives of a Catholic king. The emperor Anastasius
      entertained some dangerous errors concerning the nature of the divine
      incarnation; and the Barbarians of Italy, Africa, Spain, and Gaul, were
      involved in the Arian heresy. The eldest, or rather the only, son of the
      church, was acknowledged by the clergy as their lawful sovereign, or
      glorious deliverer; and the armies of Clovis were strenuously supported by
      the zeal and fervor of the Catholic faction. <a href="#link38note-34"
      name="link38noteref-34" id="link38noteref-34">34</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-25" id="link38note-25">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      25 (<a href="#link38noteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ Clotilda, or rather
      Gregory, supposes that Clovis worshipped the gods of Greece and Rome. The
      fact is incredible, and the mistake only shows how completely, in less
      than a century, the national religion of the Franks had been abolished and
      even forgotten]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-26" id="link38note-26">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      26 (<a href="#link38noteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ Gregory of Tours
      relates the marriage and conversion of Clovis, (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 the Gesta 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. Tradition might long preserve some curious
      circumstances of these important transactions.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-27" id="link38note-27">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      27 (<a href="#link38noteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ A traveller, who
      returned from Rheims to Auvergne, had stolen a copy of his declamations
      from the secretary or bookseller of the modest archbishop, (Sidonius
      Apollinar. l. ix. epist. 7.) Four epistles of Remigius, which are still
      extant, (in tom. iv. p. 51, 52, 53,) do not correspond with the splendid
      praise of Sidonius.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-28" id="link38note-28">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      28 (<a href="#link38noteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ Hincmar, one of the
      successors of Remigius, (A.D. 845-882,) had composed his life, (in tom.
      iii. p. 373-380.) The authority of ancient MSS. of the church of Rheims
      might inspire some confidence, which is destroyed, however, by the selfish
      and audacious fictions of Hincmar. It is remarkable enough, that Remigius,
      who was consecrated at the age of twenty-two, (A.D. 457,) filled the
      episcopal chair seventy-four years, (Pagi Critica, in Baron tom. ii. p.
      384, 572.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-29" id="link38note-29">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      29 (<a href="#link38noteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ A phial (the Sainte
      Ampoulle of holy, or rather celestial, oil,) was brought down by a white
      dove, for the baptism of Clovis; and it 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 of this fable, (in tom. iii. p. 377,) whose
      slight foundations the Abbe de Vertot (Memoires de l'Academie des
      Inscriptions, tom. ii. p. 619-633) has undermined, with profound respect
      and consummate dexterity.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-30" id="link38note-30">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      30 (<a href="#link38noteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ Mitis depone colla,
      Sicamber: adora quod incendisti, incende quod adorasti. Greg. Turon. l.
      ii. c. 31, in tom. ii. p. 177.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-31" id="link38note-31">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      31 (<a href="#link38noteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ Si ego ibidem cum
      Francis meis fuissem, injurias ejus vindicassem. This rash expression,
      which Gregory has prudently concealed, 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 de St. Denys, (l. i. c. 20, in tom. iii. p.
      171,) as an admirable effusion of Christian zeal.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-32" id="link38note-32">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      32 (<a href="#link38noteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ Gregory, (l. ii. c.
      40-43, in tom. ii. p. 183-185,) after coolly relating the repeated crimes,
      and affected remorse, of Clovis, concludes, perhaps undesignedly, with a
      lesson, which ambition will never hear. "His ita transactis obiit."]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-33" id="link38note-33">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      33 (<a href="#link38noteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ After the Gothic
      victory, Clovis made rich offerings to St. Martin of Tours. He wished to
      redeem his war-horse by the gift of one hundred pieces of gold, but the
      enchanted steed could not remove from the stable till the price of his
      redemption had been doubled. This miracle provoked the king to exclaim,
      Vere B. Martinus est bonus in auxilio, sed carus in negotio. (Gesta
      Francorum, in tom. ii. p. 554, 555.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-34" id="link38note-34">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      34 (<a href="#link38noteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ See the epistle from
      Pope Anastasius to the royal convert, (in Com. iv. p. 50, 51.) Avitus,
      bishop of Vienna, addressed Clovis on the same subject, (p. 49;) and many
      of the Latin bishops would assure him of their joy and attachment.]
    </p>
    <p>
      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 always
      respectable, and sometimes dangerous. Their influence was augmented with
      the progress of superstition; and the establishment of the French monarchy
      may, in some degree, be ascribed to the firm alliance of a hundred
      prelates, who reigned in the discontented, or independent, cities of Gaul.
      The slight foundations of the Armorican republic had been repeatedly
      shaken, or overthrown; but the same people still guarded their domestic
      freedom; asserted the dignity of the Roman name; and bravely resisted the
      predatory inroads, and regular attacks, of Clovis, who labored to extend
      his conquests from the Seine to the Loire. Their successful opposition
      introduced an equal and honorable union. The Franks esteemed the valor of
      the Armoricans <a href="#link38note-35" name="link38noteref-35"
      id="link38noteref-35">35</a> and the Armoricans were reconciled by the
      religion of the Franks. The military force which had been stationed for
      the defence of Gaul, consisted of one hundred different bands of cavalry
      or infantry; and these troops, while they assumed the title and privileges
      of Roman soldiers, were renewed by an incessant supply of the Barbarian
      youth. The extreme fortifications, and scattered fragments of the empire,
      were still defended by their hopeless courage. But their retreat was
      intercepted, and their communication was impracticable: they were
      abandoned by the Greek princes of Constantinople, and they piously
      disclaimed all connection with the Arian usurpers of Gaul. They accepted,
      without shame or reluctance, the generous capitulation, which was proposed
      by a Catholic hero; and this spurious, or legitimate, progeny of the Roman
      legions, was distinguished in the succeeding age by their arms, their
      ensigns, and their peculiar dress and institutions. But the national
      strength was increased by these powerful and voluntary accessions; and the
      neighboring kingdoms dreaded the numbers, as well as the spirit, of the
      Franks. The reduction of the Northern provinces of Gaul, instead of being
      decided by the chance of a single battle, appears to have been slowly
      effected by the gradual operation of war and treaty and Clovis acquired
      each object of his ambition, by such efforts, or such concessions, as were
      adequate to its real value. His savage character, and the virtues of Henry
      IV., suggest the most opposite ideas of human nature; yet some resemblance
      may be found in the situation of two princes, who conquered France by
      their valor, their policy, and the merits of a seasonable conversion. <a
      href="#link38note-36" name="link38noteref-36" id="link38noteref-36">36</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-35" id="link38note-35">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      35 (<a href="#link38noteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ Instead of an unknown
      people, who now appear on the text of Procopious, Hadrian de Valois has
      restored the proper name of the easy correction has been almost
      universally approved. Yet an unprejudiced reader would naturally suppose,
      that Procopius means to describe a tribe of Germans in the alliance of
      Rome; and not a confederacy 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&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-36" id="link38note-36">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      36 (<a href="#link38noteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ This important
      digression of Procopius (de Bell. Gothic. l. i. c. 12, in tom. ii. p.
      29-36) illustrates the origin of the French monarchy. Yet I must observe,
      1. That the Greek historian betrays an inexcusable ignorance of the
      geography of the West. 2. That these treaties and privileges, which should
      leave some lasting traces, are totally invisible in Gregory of Tours, the
      Salic laws, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The kingdom of the Burgundians, which was defined by the course of two
      Gallic rivers, the Saone and the Rhone, extended from the forest of Vosges
      to the Alps and the sea of Marscilles. <a href="#link38note-37"
      name="link38noteref-37" id="link38noteref-37">37</a> The sceptre was in
      the hands of Gundobald. That valiant and ambitious prince had reduced the
      number of royal candidates by the death of two brothers, one of whom was
      the father of Clotilda; <a href="#link38note-38" name="link38noteref-38"
      id="link38noteref-38">38</a> but his imperfect prudence still permitted
      Godegesil, the youngest of his brothers, to possess the dependent
      principality of Geneva. The Arian monarch was justly alarmed by the
      satisfaction, and the hopes, which seemed to animate his clergy and people
      after the conversion of Clovis; and Gundobald convened at Lyons an
      assembly of his bishops, to reconcile, if it were possible, their
      religious and political discontents. A vain conference was agitated
      between the two factions. The Arians upbraided the Catholics with the
      worship of three Gods: the Catholics defended their cause by theological
      distinctions; and the usual arguments, objections, and replies were
      reverberated with obstinate clamor; till the king revealed his secret
      apprehensions, by an abrupt but decisive question, which he addressed to
      the orthodox bishops. "If you truly profess the Christian religion, why do
      you not restrain the king of the Franks? He has declared war against me,
      and forms alliances with my enemies for my destruction. A sanguinary and
      covetous mind is not the symptom of a sincere conversion: let him show his
      faith by his works." The answer of Avitus, bishop of Vienna, who spoke in
      the name of his brethren, was delivered with the voice and countenance of
      an angel. "We are ignorant of the motives and intentions of the king of
      the Franks: but we are taught by Scripture, that the kingdoms which
      abandon the divine law are frequently subverted; and that enemies will
      arise on every side against those who have made God their enemy. Return,
      with thy people, to the law of God, and he will give peace and security to
      thy dominions." The king of Burgundy, who was not prepared to accept the
      condition which the Catholics considered as essential to the treaty,
      delayed and dismissed the ecclesiastical conference; after reproaching his
      bishops, that Clovis, their friend and proselyte, had privately tempted
      the allegiance of his brother. <a href="#link38note-39"
      name="link38noteref-39" id="link38noteref-39">39</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-37" id="link38note-37">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      37 (<a href="#link38noteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ Regnum circa Rhodanum
      aut Ararim cum provincia Massiliensi retinebant. Greg. Turon. l. ii. c.
      32, in tom. ii. p. 178. The province of Marseilles, as far as the Durance,
      was afterwards ceded to the Ostrogoths; and the signatures of twenty-five
      bishops are supposed to represent the kingdom of Burgundy, A.D. 519.
      (Concil. Epaon, in tom. iv. p. 104, 105.) Yet I would except Vindonissa.
      The bishop, who lived under the Pagan Alemanni, would naturally resort to
      the synods of the next Christian kingdom. Mascou (in his four first
      annotations) has explained many circumstances relative to the Burgundian
      monarchy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-38" id="link38note-38">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      38 (<a href="#link38noteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ Mascou, (Hist. of the
      Germans, xi. 10,) who very reasonably distracts the testimony of Gregory
      of Tours, has produced a passage from Avitus (epist. v.) to prove that
      Gundobald affected to deplore the tragic event, which his subjects
      affected to applaud.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-39" id="link38note-39">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      39 (<a href="#link38noteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 be fouud in Dupin, (Bibliotheque
      Ecclesiastique, tom. v. p. 5-10.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link382HCH0002" id="link382HCH0002">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.&mdash;Part II.
    </h2>
    <p>
      The allegiance of his brother was already seduced; and the obedience of
      Godegesil, who joined the royal standard with the troops of Geneva, more
      effectually promoted the success of the conspiracy. While the Franks and
      Burgundians contended with equal valor, his seasonable desertion decided
      the event of the battle; and as Gundobald was faintly supported by the
      disaffected Gauls, he yielded to the arms of Clovis, and hastily retreated
      from the field, which appears to have been situate between Langres and
      Dijon. He distrusted the strength of Dijon, a quadrangular fortress,
      encompassed by two rivers, and by a wall thirty feet high, and fifteen
      thick, with four gates, and thirty-three towers: <a href="#link38note-40"
      name="link38noteref-40" id="link38noteref-40">40</a> he abandoned to the
      pursuit of Clovis the important cities of Lyons and Vienna; and Gundobald
      still fled with precipitation, till he had reached Avignon, at the
      distance of two hundred and fifty miles from the field of battle.
    </p>
    <p>
      A long siege and an artful negotiation, admonished the king of the Franks
      of the danger and difficulty of his enterprise. He imposed a tribute on
      the Burgundian prince, compelled him to pardon and reward his brother's
      treachery, and proudly returned to his own dominions, with the spoils and
      captives of the southern provinces. This splendid triumph was soon clouded
      by the intelligence, that Gundobald had violated his recent obligations,
      and that the unfortunate Godegesil, who was left at Vienna with a garrison
      of five thousand Franks, <a href="#link38note-41" name="link38noteref-41"
      id="link38noteref-41">41</a> had been besieged, surprised, and massacred
      by his inhuman brother. Such an outrage might have exasperated the
      patience of the most peaceful sovereign; yet the conqueror of Gaul
      dissembled the injury, released the tribute, and accepted the alliance,
      and military service, of the king of Burgundy. Clovis no longer possessed
      those advantages which had assured the success of the preceding war; and
      his rival, instructed by adversity, had found new resources in the
      affections of his people. The Gauls or Romans applauded the mild and
      impartial laws of Gundobald, which almost raised them to the same level
      with their conquerors. The bishops were reconciled, and flattered, by the
      hopes, which he artfully suggested, of his approaching conversion; and
      though he eluded their accomplishment to the last moment of his life, his
      moderation secured the peace, and suspended the ruin, of the kingdom of
      Burgundy. <a href="#link38note-42" name="link38noteref-42"
      id="link38noteref-42">42</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-40" id="link38note-40">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      40 (<a href="#link38noteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ Gregory of Tours (l.
      iii. c. 19, in tom. ii. p. 197) indulges his genius, or rather describes
      some more eloquent writer, in the description of Dijon; a castle, which
      already deserved the title of a city. It depended on the bishops of
      Langres till the twelfth century, and afterwards became the capital of the
      dukes of Burgundy Longuerue Description de la France, part i. p. 280.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-41" id="link38note-41">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      41 (<a href="#link38noteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ The Epitomizer of
      Gregory of Tours (in tom. ii. p. 401) has supplied this number of Franks;
      but he rashly supposes that they were cut in pieces by Gundobald. The
      prudent Burgundian spared the soldiers of Clovis, and sent these captives
      to the king of the Visigoths, who settled them in the territory of
      Thoulouse.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-42" id="link38note-42">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      42 (<a href="#link38noteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ In this Burgundian war
      I have followed Gregory of Tours, (l. ii. c. 32, 33, in tom. ii. p. 178,
      179,) whose narrative appears so incompatible with that of Procopius, (de
      Bell. Goth. l. i. c. 12, in tom. ii. p. 31, 32,) that some critics have
      supposed two different wars. The Abbe Dubos (Hist. Critique, &amp;c., tom.
      ii. p. 126-162) has distinctly represented the causes and the events.]
    </p>
    <p>
      I am impatient to pursue the final ruin of that kingdom, which was
      accomplished under the reign of Sigismond, the son of Gundobald. The
      Catholic Sigismond has acquired the honors of a saint and martyr; <a
      href="#link38note-43" name="link38noteref-43" id="link38noteref-43">43</a>
      but the hands of the royal saint were stained with the blood of his
      innocent son, whom he inhumanly sacrificed to the pride and resentment of
      a step-mother. He soon discovered his error, and bewailed the irreparable
      loss. While Sigismond embraced the corpse of the unfortunate youth, he
      received a severe admonition from one of his attendants: "It is not his
      situation, O king! it is thine which deserves pity and lamentation." The
      reproaches of a guilty conscience were alleviated, however, by his liberal
      donations to the monastery of Agaunum, or St. Maurice, in Vallais; which
      he himself had founded in honor of the imaginary martyrs of the Thebaean
      legion. <a href="#link38note-44" name="link38noteref-44"
      id="link38noteref-44">44</a> A full chorus of perpetual psalmody was
      instituted by the pious king; he assiduously practised the austere
      devotion of the monks; and it was his humble prayer, that Heaven would
      inflict in this world the punishment of his sins. His prayer was heard:
      the avengers were at hand: and the provinces of Burgundy were overwhelmed
      by an army of victorious Franks. After the event of an unsuccessful
      battle, Sigismond, who wished to protract his life that he might prolong
      his penance, concealed himself in the desert in a religious habit, till he
      was discovered and betrayed by his subjects, who solicited the favor of
      their new masters. The captive monarch, with his wife and two children,
      was transported to Orleans, and buried 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 of their barbarous age. Their ambition, which
      urged them to achieve the conquest of Burgundy, was inflamed, or
      disguised, by filial piety: and Clotilda, whose sanctity did not consist
      in the forgiveness of injuries, pressed them to revenge her father's death
      on the family of his assassin. The rebellious Burgundians (for they
      attempted to break their chains) were still permitted to enjoy their
      national laws under the obligation of tribute and military service; and
      the Merovingian princes peaceably reigned over a kingdom, whose glory and
      greatness had been first overthrown by the arms of Clovis. <a
      href="#link38note-45" name="link38noteref-45" id="link38noteref-45">45</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-43" id="link38note-43">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      43 (<a href="#link38noteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ See his life or legend,
      (in tom. iii. p. 402.) A martyr! how strangely has that word been
      distorted from its original sense of a common witness. St. Sigismond was
      remarkable for the cure of fevers]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-44" id="link38note-44">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      44 (<a href="#link38noteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ Before the end of the
      fifth century, the church of St. Maurice, and his Thebaean legion, had
      rendered Agaunum a place of devout pilgrimage. A promiscuous community of
      both sexes had introduced some deeds of darkness, which were abolished
      (A.D. 515) by the regular monastery of Sigismond. Within fifty years, his
      angels of light made a nocturnal sally to murder their bishop, and his
      clergy. See in the Bibliotheque Raisonnee (tom. xxxvi. p. 435-438) the
      curious remarks of a learned librarian of Geneva.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-45" id="link38note-45">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      45 (<a href="#link38noteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ Marius, bishop of
      Avenche, (Chron. in tom. ii. p. 15,) has marked the authentic dates, and
      Gregory of Tours (l. iii. c. 5, 6, in tom. ii. p. 188, 189) has expressed
      the principal facts, of the life of Sigismond, and the conquest of
      Burgundy. Procopius (in tom. ii. p. 34) and Agathias (in tom. ii. p. 49)
      show their remote and imperfect knowledge.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The first victory of Clovis had insulted the honor of the Goths. They
      viewed his rapid progress with jealousy and terror; and the youthful fame
      of Alaric was oppressed by the more potent genius of his rival. Some
      disputes inevitably arose on the edge of their contiguous dominions; and
      after the delays of fruitless negotiation, a personal interview of the two
      kings was proposed and accepted. The conference of Clovis and Alaric was
      held in a small island of the Loire, near Amboise. They embraced,
      familiarly conversed, and feasted together; and separated with the warmest
      professions of peace and brotherly love. But their apparent confidence
      concealed a dark suspicion of hostile and treacherous designs; and their
      mutual complaints solicited, eluded, and disclaimed, a final arbitration.
      At Paris, which he already considered as his royal seat, Clovis declared
      to an assembly of the princes and warriors, the pretence, and the motive,
      of a Gothic war. "It grieves me to see that the Arians still possess the
      fairest portion of Gaul. Let us march against them with the aid of God;
      and, having vanquished the heretics, we will possess and divide their
      fertile provinces." <a href="#link38note-46" name="link38noteref-46"
      id="link38noteref-46">46</a> The Franks, who were inspired by hereditary
      valor and recent zeal, applauded the generous design of their monarch;
      expressed their resolution to conquer or die, since death and conquest
      would be equally profitable; and solemnly protested that they would never
      shave their beards till victory should absolve them from that inconvenient
      vow. The enterprise was promoted by the public or private exhortations of
      Clotilda. She reminded her husband how effectually some pious foundation
      would propitiate the Deity, and his servants: and the Christian hero,
      darting his battle-axe with a skilful and nervous band, "There, (said he,)
      on that spot where my Francisca, <a href="#link38note-47"
      name="link38noteref-47" id="link38noteref-47">47</a> shall fall, will I
      erect a church in honor of the holy apostles." This ostentatious piety
      confirmed and justified the attachment of the Catholics, with whom he
      secretly corresponded; and their devout wishes were gradually ripened into
      a formidable conspiracy. The people of Aquitain were alarmed by the
      indiscreet reproaches of their Gothic tyrants, who justly accused them of
      preferring the dominion of the Franks: and their zealous adherent
      Quintianus, bishop of Rodez, <a href="#link38note-48"
      name="link38noteref-48" id="link38noteref-48">48</a> preached more
      forcibly in his exile than in his diocese. To resist these foreign and
      domestic enemies, who were fortified by the alliance of the Burgundians,
      Alaric collected his troops, far more numerous than the military powers of
      Clovis. The Visigoths resumed the exercise of arms, which they had
      neglected in a long and luxurious peace; <a href="#link38note-49"
      name="link38noteref-49" id="link38noteref-49">49</a> a select band of
      valiant and robust slaves attended their masters to the field; <a
      href="#link38note-50" name="link38noteref-50" id="link38noteref-50">50</a>
      and the cities of Gaul were compelled to furnish their doubtful and
      reluctant aid. Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, who reigned in Italy,
      had labored to maintain the tranquillity of Gaul; and he assumed, or
      affected, for that purpose, the impartial character of a mediator. But the
      sagacious monarch dreaded the rising empire of Clovis, and he was firmly
      engaged to support the national and religious cause of the Goths.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-46" id="link38note-46">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      46 (<a href="#link38noteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 Gesta Francorum, in tom. ii. p. 553, adds the precious
      epithet of optimam,) camus cum Dei adjutorio, et, superatis eis, redigamus
      terram in ditionem nostram.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-47" id="link38note-47">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      47 (<a href="#link38noteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ Tunc rex projecit a se
      in directum Bipennem suam quod est Francisca, &amp;c. (Gesta Franc. in
      tom. ii. p. 554.) The form and use of this weapon are clearly described by
      Procopius, (in tom. ii. p. 37.) Examples of its national appellation in
      Latin and French may be found in the Glossary of Ducange, and the large
      Dictionnaire de Trevoux.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-48" id="link38note-48">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      48 (<a href="#link38noteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ It is singular enough
      that some important and authentic facts should be found in a Life of
      Quintianus, composed in rhyme in the old Patois of Rouergue, (Dubos, Hist.
      Critique, &amp;c., tom. ii. p. 179.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-49" id="link38note-49">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      49 (<a href="#link38noteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ Quamvis fortitudini
      vestrae confidentiam tribuat parentum ves trorum innumerabilis multitudo;
      quamvis Attilam potentem reminiscamini Visigotharum viribus inclinatum;
      tamen quia populorum ferocia corda longa pace mollescunt, cavete subito in
      alean aleam mittere, quos constat tantis temporibus exercitia non habere.
      Such was the salutary, but fruitless, advice of peace of reason, and of
      Theodoric, (Cassiodor. l. iii. ep. 2.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-50" id="link38note-50">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      50 (<a href="#link38noteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ Montesquieu (Esprit des
      Loix, l. xv. c. 14) mentions and approves 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 a tenth of their slaves.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The accidental, or artificial, prodigies which adorned the expedition of
      Clovis, were accepted by a superstitious age, as the manifest declaration
      of the divine favor. He marched from Paris; and as he proceeded with
      decent reverence through the holy diocese of Tours, his anxiety tempted
      him to consult the shrine of St. Martin, the sanctuary and the oracle of
      Gaul. His messengers were instructed to remark the words of the Psalm
      which should happen to be chanted at the precise moment when they entered
      the church. Those words most fortunately expressed the valor and victory
      of the champions of Heaven, and the application was easily transferred to
      the new Joshua, the new Gideon, who went forth to battle against the
      enemies of the Lord. <a href="#link38note-51" name="link38noteref-51"
      id="link38noteref-51">51</a> Orleans secured to the Franks a bridge on the
      Loire; but, at the distance of forty miles from Poitiers, their progress
      was intercepted by an extraordinary swell of the River Vigenna or Vienne;
      and the opposite banks were covered by the encampment of the Visigoths.
      Delay must be always dangerous to Barbarians, who consume the country
      through which they march; and had Clovis possessed leisure and materials,
      it might have been impracticable to construct a bridge, or to force a
      passage, in the face of a superior enemy. But the affectionate peasants
      who were impatient to welcome their deliverer, could easily betray some
      unknown or unguarded ford: the merit of the discovery was enhanced by the
      useful interposition of fraud or fiction; and a white hart, of singular
      size and beauty, appeared to guide and animate the march of the Catholic
      army. The counsels of the Visigoths were irresolute and distracted. A
      crowd of impatient warriors, presumptuous in their strength, and
      disdaining to fly before the robbers of Germany, excited Alaric to assert
      in arms the name and blood of the conquerors of Rome. The advice of the
      graver chieftains pressed him to elude the first ardor of the Franks; and
      to expect, in the southern provinces of Gaul, the veteran and victorious
      Ostrogoths, whom the king of Italy had already sent to his assistance. The
      decisive moments were wasted in idle deliberation the Goths too hastily
      abandoned, perhaps, an advantageous post; and the opportunity of a secure
      retreat was lost by their slow and disorderly motions. After Clovis had
      passed the ford, as it is still named, of the Hart, he advanced with bold
      and hasty steps to prevent the escape of the enemy. His nocturnal march
      was directed by a flaming meteor, suspended in the air above the cathedral
      of Poitiers; and this signal, which might be previously concerted with the
      orthodox successor of St. Hilary, was compared to the column of fire that
      guided the Israelites in the desert. At the third hour of the day, about
      ten miles beyond Poitiers, Clovis overtook, and instantly attacked, the
      Gothic army; whose defeat was already prepared by terror and confusion.
      Yet they rallied in their extreme distress, and the martial youths, who
      had clamorously demanded the battle, refused to survive the ignominy of
      flight. The two kings encountered each other in single combat. Alaric fell
      by the hand of his rival; and the victorious Frank was saved by the
      goodness of his cuirass, and the vigor of his horse, from the spears of
      two desperate Goths, who furiously rode against him to revenge the death
      of their sovereign. The vague expression of a mountain of the slain,
      serves to indicate a cruel though indefinite slaughter; but Gregory has
      carefully observed, that his valiant countryman Apollinaris, the son of
      Sidonius, lost his life at the head of the nobles of Auvergne. Perhaps
      these suspected Catholics had been maliciously exposed to the blind
      assault of the enemy; and perhaps the influence of religion was superseded
      by personal attachment or military honor. <a href="#link38note-52"
      name="link38noteref-52" id="link38noteref-52">52</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-51" id="link38note-51">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      51 (<a href="#link38noteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ This mode of
      divination, by accepting as an omen the first sacred words, which in
      particular circumstances should be presented to the 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 to the fourteenth century,
      these sortes sanctorum, as they are styled, were repeatedly condemned by
      the decrees of councils, and repeatedly practised by kings, bishops, and
      saints. See a curious dissertation of the Abbe du Resnel, in the Memoires
      de l'Academie, tom. xix. p. 287-310]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-52" id="link38note-52">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      52 (<a href="#link38noteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ After correcting the
      text, or excusing the mistake, of Procopius, who places the defeat of
      Alaric near Carcassone, we may conclude, from the evidence of Gregory,
      Fortunatus, and the author of the Gesta Francorum, that the battle was
      fought in campo Vocladensi, on the banks of the Clain, about ten miles to
      the south of Poitiers. Clovis overtook and attacked the Visigoths near
      Vivonne, and the victory was decided near a village still named Champagne
      St. Hilaire. See the Dissertations of the Abbe le Boeuf, tom. i. p.
      304-331.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Such is the empire of Fortune, (if we may still disguise our ignorance
      under that popular name,) that it is almost equally difficult to foresee
      the events of war, or to explain their various consequences. A bloody and
      complete victory has sometimes yielded no more than the possession of the
      field and the loss of ten thousand men has sometimes been sufficient to
      destroy, in a single day, the work of ages. The decisive battle of
      Poitiers was followed by the conquest of Aquitain. Alaric had left behind
      him an infant son, a bastard competitor, factious nobles, and a disloyal
      people; and the remaining forces of the Goths were oppressed by the
      general consternation, or opposed to each other in civil discord. The
      victorious king of the Franks proceeded without delay to the siege of
      Angouleme. At the sound of his trumpets the walls of the city imitated the
      example of Jericho, and instantly fell to the ground; a splendid miracle,
      which may be reduced to the supposition, that some clerical engineers had
      secretly undermined the foundations of the rampart. <a
      href="#link38note-53" name="link38noteref-53" id="link38noteref-53">53</a>
      At Bordeaux, which had submitted without resistance, Clovis established
      his winter quarters; and his prudent economy transported from Thoulouse
      the royal treasures, which were deposited in the capital of the monarchy.
      The conqueror penetrated as far as the confines of Spain; <a
      href="#link38note-54" name="link38noteref-54" id="link38noteref-54">54</a>
      restored the honors of the Catholic church; fixed in Aquitain a colony of
      Franks; <a href="#link38note-55" name="link38noteref-55"
      id="link38noteref-55">55</a> and delegated to his lieutenants the easy
      task of subduing, or extirpating, the nation of the Visigoths. But the
      Visigoths were protected by the wise and powerful monarch of Italy. While
      the balance was still equal, Theodoric had perhaps delayed the march of
      the Ostrogoths; but their strenuous efforts successfully resisted the
      ambition of Clovis; and the army of the Franks, and their Burgundian
      allies, was compelled to raise the siege of Arles, with the loss, as it is
      said, of thirty thousand men. These vicissitudes inclined the fierce
      spirit of Clovis to acquiesce in an advantageous treaty of peace. The
      Visigoths were suffered to retain the possession of Septimania, a narrow
      tract of sea-coast, from the Rhone to the Pyrenees; but the ample province
      of Aquitain, from those mountains to the Loire, was indissolubly united to
      the kingdom of France. <a href="#link38note-56" name="link38noteref-56"
      id="link38noteref-56">56</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-53" id="link38note-53">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      53 (<a href="#link38noteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ Angouleme is in the
      road from Poitiers to Bordeaux; and although Gregory delays the siege, I
      can more readily believe that he confounded the order of history, than
      that Clovis neglected the rules of war.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-54" id="link38note-54">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      54 (<a href="#link38noteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ Pyrenaeos montes usque
      Perpinianum subjecit, is the expression of Rorico, which betrays his
      recent date; since Perpignan did not exist before the tenth century,
      (Marca Hispanica, p. 458.) This florid and fabulous writer (perhaps a monk
      of Amiens&mdash;see the Abbe le Boeuf, Mem. de l'Academie, tom. xvii. p.
      228-245) relates, in the allegorical character of a shepherd, the general
      history of his countrymen the Franks; but his narrative ends with the
      death of Clovis.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-55" id="link38note-55">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      55 (<a href="#link38noteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ The author of the Gesta
      Francorum positively affirms, that Clovis fixed a body of Franks in the
      Saintonge and Bourdelois: and he is not injudiciously followed by Rorico,
      electos milites, atque fortissimos, cum parvulis, atque mulieribus. Yet it
      should seem that they soon mingled with the Romans of Aquitain, till
      Charlemagne introduced a more numerous and powerful colony, (Dubos, Hist.
      Critique, tom. ii. p. 215.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-56" id="link38note-56">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      56 (<a href="#link38noteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ In the composition of
      the Gothic war, I have used the following materials, with due regard to
      their unequal value. Four epistles 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, (in Chron. Goth. in tom. ii. p. 702;) the Epitome of Gregory of
      Tours, (in tom. 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.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      After the success of the Gothic war, Clovis accepted the honors of the
      Roman consulship. The emperor Anastasius ambitiously bestowed on the most
      powerful rival of Theodoric the title and ensigns of that eminent dignity;
      yet, from some unknown cause, the name of Clovis has not been inscribed in
      the Fasti either of the East or West. <a href="#link38note-57"
      name="link38noteref-57" id="link38noteref-57">57</a> On the solemn day,
      the monarch of Gaul, placing a diadem on his head, was invested, in the
      church of St. Martin, with a purple tunic and mantle. From thence he
      proceeded on horseback to the cathedral of Tours; and, as he passed
      through the streets, profusely scattered, with his own hand, a donative of
      gold and silver to the joyful multitude, who incessantly repeated their
      acclamations of Consul and Augustus. The actual or legal authority of
      Clovis could not receive any new accessions from the consular dignity. It
      was a name, a shadow, an empty pageant; and if the conqueror had been
      instructed to claim the ancient prerogatives of that high office, 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: the Barbarian himself seemed to
      contract a sacred obligation to respect the majesty of the republic; and
      the successors of Theodosius, by soliciting his friendship, tacitly
      forgave, and almost ratified, the usurpation of Gaul.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-57" id="link38note-57">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      57 (<a href="#link38noteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ The Fasti of Italy
      would naturally reject a consul, the enemy of their sovereign; but any
      ingenious hypothesis that might explain the silence of Constantinople and
      Egypt, (the Chronicle of Marcellinus, and the Paschal,) is overturned by
      the similar silence of Marius, bishop of Avenche, who composed his Fasti
      in the kingdom of Burgundy. If the evidence of Gregory of Tours were less
      weighty and positive, (l. ii. c. 38, in tom. ii. p. 183,) I could believe
      that Clovis, like Odoacer, received the lasting title and honors of
      Patrician, (Pagi Critica, tom. ii. p. 474, 492.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      Twenty-five years after the death of Clovis this important concession was
      more formally declared, in a treaty between his sons and the emperor
      Justinian. The Ostrogoths of Italy, unable to defend their distant
      acquisitions, had resigned to the Franks the cities of Arles and
      Marseilles; of Arles, still adorned with the seat of a Praetorian
      praefect, and of Marseilles, enriched by the advantages of trade and
      navigation. <a href="#link38note-58" name="link38noteref-58"
      id="link38noteref-58">58</a> This transaction was confirmed by the
      Imperial authority; and Justinian, generously yielding to the Franks the
      sovereignty of the countries beyond the Alps, which they already
      possessed, absolved the provincials from their allegiance; and established
      on a more lawful, though not more solid, foundation, the throne of the
      Merovingians. <a href="#link38note-59" name="link38noteref-59"
      id="link38noteref-59">59</a> From that era they enjoyed the right of
      celebrating at Arles the games of the circus; and by a singular privilege,
      which was denied even to the Persian monarch, the gold coin, impressed
      with their name and image, obtained a legal currency in the empire. <a
      href="#link38note-60" name="link38noteref-60" id="link38noteref-60">60</a>
      A Greek historian of that age has praised the private and public virtues
      of the Franks, with a partial enthusiasm, which cannot be sufficiently
      justified by their domestic annals. <a href="#link38note-61"
      name="link38noteref-61" id="link38noteref-61">61</a> He celebrates their
      politeness and urbanity, their regular government, and orthodox religion;
      and boldly asserts, that these Barbarians could be distinguished only by
      their dress and language from the subjects of Rome. Perhaps the Franks
      already displayed the social disposition, and lively graces, which, in
      every age, have disguised their vices, and sometimes concealed their
      intrinsic merit. Perhaps Agathias, and the Greeks, were dazzled by the
      rapid progress of their arms, and the splendor of their empire. Since the
      conquest of Burgundy, Gaul, except the Gothic province of Septimania, was
      subject, in its whole extent, to the sons of Clovis. They had extinguished
      the German kingdom of Thuringia, and their vague dominion penetrated
      beyond the Rhine, into the heart of their native forests. The Alemanni,
      and Bavarians, who had occupied the Roman provinces of Rhaetia and
      Noricum, to the south of the Danube, confessed themselves the humble
      vassals of the Franks; and the feeble barrier of the Alps was incapable of
      resisting their ambition. When the last survivor of the sons of Clovis
      united the inheritance and conquests of the Merovingians, his kingdom
      extended far beyond the limits of modern France. Yet modern France, such
      has been the progress of arts and policy, far surpasses, in wealth,
      populousness, and power, the spacious but savage realms of Clotaire or
      Dagobert. <a href="#link38note-62" name="link38noteref-62"
      id="link38noteref-62">62</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-58" id="link38note-58">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      58 (<a href="#link38noteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ Under the Merovingian
      kings, Marseilles still imported from the East paper, wine, oil, linen,
      silk, precious stones, spices, &amp;c. The Gauls, or Franks, traded to
      Syria, and the Syrians were established in Gaul. See M. de Guignes, Mem.
      de l'Academie, tom. xxxvii. p. 471-475.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-59" id="link38note-59">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      59 (<a href="#link38noteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ This strong declaration
      of Procopius (de Bell. Gothic. l. iii. cap. 33, in tom. ii. p. 41) would
      almost suffice to justify the Abbe Dubos.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-60" id="link38note-60">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      60 (<a href="#link38noteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ The Franks, who
      probably used the mints of Treves, Lyons, and Arles, imitated the coinage
      of the Roman emperors of seventy-two solidi, or pieces, to the pound of
      gold. But as the Franks established only a decuple proportion of gold and
      silver, ten shillings will be a sufficient valuation of their solidus of
      gold. It was the common standard of the Barbaric fines, and contained
      forty denarii, or silver three pences. Twelve of these denarii made a
      solidus, or shilling, the twentieth 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,
      &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-61" id="link38note-61">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      61 (<a href="#link38noteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ Agathias, in tom. ii.
      p. 47. Gregory of Tours exhibits a very different picture. Perhaps it
      would not be easy, within the same historical space, to find more vice and
      less virtue. We are continually shocked by the union of savage and corrupt
      manners.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-62" id="link38note-62">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      62 (<a href="#link38noteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ M. de Foncemagne has
      traced, in a correct and elegant dissertation, (Mem. de l'Academie, tom.
      viii. p. 505-528,) the extent and limits of the French monarchy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The Franks, or French, are the only people of Europe who can deduce a
      perpetual succession from the conquerors of the Western empire. But their
      conquest of Gaul was followed by ten centuries of anarchy and ignorance.
      On the revival of learning, the students, who had been formed in the
      schools of Athens and Rome, disdained their Barbarian ancestors; and a
      long period elapsed before patient labor could provide the requisite
      materials to satisfy, or rather to excite, the curiosity of more
      enlightened times. <a href="#link38note-63" name="link38noteref-63"
      id="link38noteref-63">63</a> At length the eye of criticism and philosophy
      was directed to the antiquities of France; but even philosophers have been
      tainted by the contagion of prejudice and passion. The most extreme and
      exclusive systems, of the personal servitude of the Gauls, or of their
      voluntary and equal alliance with the Franks, have been rashly conceived,
      and obstinately defended; and the intemperate disputants have accused each
      other of conspiring against the prerogative of the crown, the dignity of
      the nobles, or the freedom of the people. Yet the sharp conflict has
      usefully exercised the adverse powers of learning and genius; and each
      antagonist, alternately vanquished and victorious has extirpated some
      ancient errors, and established some interesting truths. An impartial
      stranger, instructed by their discoveries, their disputes, and even their
      faults, may describe, from the same original materials, the state of the
      Roman provincials, after Gaul had submitted to the arms and laws of the
      Merovingian kings. <a href="#link38note-64" name="link38noteref-64"
      id="link38noteref-64">64</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-63" id="link38note-63">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      63 (<a href="#link38noteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ The Abbe Dubos
      (Histoire Critique, tom. i. p. 29-36) has truly and agreeably represented
      the slow progress of these studies; and he observes, that Gregory of Tours
      was only once printed before the year 1560. According to the complaint of
      Heineccius, (Opera, tom. iii. Sylloge, iii. p. 248, &amp;c.,) Germany
      received with indifference and contempt the codes of Barbaric laws, which
      were published by Heroldus, Lindenbrogius, &amp;c. At present those laws,
      (as far as they relate to Gaul,) the history of Gregory of Tours, and all
      the monuments of the Merovingian race, appear in a pure and perfect state,
      in the first four volumes of the Historians of France.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-64" id="link38note-64">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      64 (<a href="#link38noteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ In the space of [about]
      thirty years (1728-1765) this interesting subject has been agitated by the
      free spirit of the count de 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 les Gaules, 2 vols. in 4to;) the comprehensive genius of
      the president de Montesquieu, (Esprit des Loix, particularly l. xxviii.
      xxx. xxxi.;) and the good sense and diligence of the Abbe de Mably,
      (Observations sur l'Histoire de France, 2 vols. 12mo.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      The rudest, or the most servile, condition of human society, is regulated,
      however, by some fixed and general rules. When Tacitus surveyed the
      primitive simplicity of the Germans, he discovered some permanent maxims,
      or customs, of public and private life, which were preserved by faithful
      tradition till the introduction of the art of writing, and of the Latin
      tongue. <a href="#link38note-65" name="link38noteref-65"
      id="link38noteref-65">65</a> Before the election of the Merovingian kings,
      the most powerful tribe, or nation, of the Franks, appointed four
      venerable chieftains to compose the Salic laws; <a href="#link38note-66"
      name="link38noteref-66" id="link38noteref-66">66</a> and their labors were
      examined and approved in three successive assemblies of the people. After
      the baptism of Clovis, he reformed several articles that appeared
      incompatible with Christianity: the Salic law was again amended by his
      sons; and at length, under the reign of Dagobert, the code was revised and
      promulgated in its actual form, one hundred years after the establishment
      of the French monarchy. Within the same period, the customs of the
      Ripuarians were transcribed and published; and Charlemagne himself, the
      legislator of his age and country, had accurately studied the two national
      laws, which still prevailed among the Franks. <a href="#link38note-67"
      name="link38noteref-67" id="link38noteref-67">67</a> The same care was
      extended to their vassals; and the rude institutions of the Alemanni and
      Bavarians were diligently compiled and ratified by the supreme authority
      of the Merovingian kings. The Visigoths and Burgundians, whose conquests
      in Gaul preceded those of the Franks, showed less impatience to attain one
      of the principal benefits of civilized society. Euric was the first of the
      Gothic princes who expressed, in writing, the manners and customs of his
      people; and the composition of the Burgundian laws was a measure of policy
      rather than of justice; to alleviate the yoke, and regain the affections,
      of their Gallic subjects. <a href="#link38note-68" name="link38noteref-68"
      id="link38noteref-68">68</a> Thus, by a singular coincidence, the Germans
      framed their artless institutions, at a time when the elaborate system of
      Roman jurisprudence was finally consummated. In the Salic laws, and the
      Pandects of Justinian, we may compare the first rudiments, and the full
      maturity, of civil wisdom; and whatever prejudices may be suggested in
      favor of Barbarism, our calmer reflections will ascribe to the Romans the
      superior advantages, not only of science and reason, but of humanity and
      justice. Yet the laws <a href="#link38note-681" name="link38noteref-681"
      id="link38noteref-681">681</a> of the Barbarians were adapted to their
      wants and desires, their occupations and their capacity; and they all
      contributed to preserve the peace, and promote the improvement, of the
      society for whose use they were originally established. The Merovingians,
      instead of imposing a uniform rule of conduct on their various subjects,
      permitted each people, and each family, of their empire, freely to enjoy
      their domestic institutions; <a href="#link38note-69"
      name="link38noteref-69" id="link38noteref-69">69</a> nor were the Romans
      excluded from the common benefits of this legal toleration. <a
      href="#link38note-70" name="link38noteref-70" id="link38noteref-70">70</a>
      The children embraced the law of their parents, the wife that of her
      husband, the freedman that of his patron; and in all causes where the
      parties were of different nations, the plaintiff or accuser was obliged to
      follow the tribunal of the defendant, who may always plead a judicial
      presumption of right, or innocence. A more ample latitude was allowed, if
      every citizen, in the presence of the judge, might declare the law under
      which he desired to live, and the national society to which he chose to
      belong. Such an indulgence would abolish the partial distinctions of
      victory: and the Roman provincials might patiently acquiesce in the
      hardships of their condition; since it depended on themselves to assume
      the privilege, if they dared to assert the character, of free and warlike
      Barbarians. <a href="#link38note-71" name="link38noteref-71"
      id="link38noteref-71">71</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-65" id="link38note-65">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      65 (<a href="#link38noteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ I have derived much
      instruction from two learned works of Heineccius, the History, and the
      Elements, of the Germanic law. In a judicious preface to the Elements, he
      considers, and tries to excuse the defects of that barbarous
      jurisprudence.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-66" id="link38note-66">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      66 (<a href="#link38noteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ Latin appears to have
      been the original language of the Salic law. It was probably composed in
      the beginning of the fifth century, before the era (A.D. 421) of the real
      or fabulous Pharamond. The preface mentions the four cantons which
      produced the four legislators; and many provinces, Franconia, Saxony,
      Hanover, Brabant, &amp;c., have claimed them as their own. See an
      excellent Dissertation of Heinecties de Lege Salica, tom. iii. Sylloge
      iii. p. 247-267. * Note: The relative antiquity of the two copies of the
      Salic law has been contested with great learning and ingenuity. The work
      of M. Wiarda, History and Explanation of the Salic Law, Bremen, 1808,
      asserts that what is called the Lex Antiqua, or Vetustior in which many
      German words are mingled with the Latin, has no claim to superior
      antiquity, and may be suspected to be more modern. M. Wiarda has been
      opposed by M. Fuer bach, who maintains the higher age of the "ancient"
      Code, which has been greatly corrupted by the transcribers. See Guizot,
      Cours de l'Histoire Moderne, vol. i. sect. 9: and the preface to the
      useful republication of five of the different texts of the Salic law, with
      that of the Ripuarian in parallel columns. By E. A. I. Laspeyres, Halle,
      1833.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-67" id="link38note-67">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      67 (<a href="#link38noteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 the Rhine, (tom. iv. p. 222.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-68" id="link38note-68">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      68 (<a href="#link38noteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ Consult the ancient and
      modern prefaces of the several codes, in the fourth volume of the
      Historians of France. The original prologue to the Salic law expresses
      (though in a foreign dialect) the genuine spirit of the Franks more
      forcibly than the ten books of Gregory of Tours.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-69" id="link38note-69">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      69 (<a href="#link38noteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ The Ripuarian law
      declares, and defines, this indulgence in favor of the plaintiff, (tit.
      xxxi. in tom. iv. p. 240;) and the same toleration is understood, or
      expressed, in all the codes, except that of the Visigoths of Spain. Tanta
      diversitas legum (says Agobard in the ninth century) quanta non solum in
      regionibus, aut civitatibus, sed etiam in multis domibus habetur. Nam
      plerumque contingit ut simul eant aut sedeant quinque homines, et nullus
      eorum communem legem cum altero habeat, (in tom. vi. p. 356.) He foolishly
      proposes to introduce a uniformity of law, as well as of faith. * Note: It
      is the object of the important work of M. Savigny, Geschichte des
      Romisches Rechts in Mittelalter, to show the perpetuity of the Roman law
      from the 5th to the 12th century.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-681" id="link38note-681">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      681 (<a href="#link38noteref-681">return</a>)<br /> [ The most complete
      collection of these codes is in the "Barbarorum leges antiquae," by P.
      Canciani, 5 vols. folio, Venice, 1781-9.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-70" id="link38note-70">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      70 (<a href="#link38noteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ Inter Romanos negotia
      causarum Romanis legibus praecipimus terminari. Such are the words of a
      general constitution promulgated by Clotaire, the son of Clovis, the sole
      monarch of the Franks (in tom. iv. p. 116) about the year 560.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-71" id="link38note-71">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      71 (<a href="#link38noteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ This liberty of choice
      has been aptly deduced (Esprit des Loix, l. xxviii. 2) from the
      constitution of Lothaire I. (Leg. Langobard. l. ii. tit. lvii. in Codex
      Lindenbrog. p. 664;) though the example is too recent and partial. From a
      various reading in the Salic law, (tit. xliv. not. xlv.) the Abbe de Mably
      (tom. i. p. 290-293) has conjectured, 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, that the stricter sense (Barbarum) is expressed in the reformed
      copy of Charlemagne; which is confirmed by the Royal and Wolfenbuttle MSS.
      The looser interpretation (hominem) is authorized only by the MS. of
      Fulda, from from whence Heroldus published his edition. See the four
      original texts of the Salic law in tom. iv. p. 147, 173, 196, 220. * Note:
      Gibbon appears 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
      origin and progress of this error. As a general principle, though liable
      to some exceptions, each lived according to his native law. Romische
      Recht. vol. i. p. 123-138&mdash;M. * Note: This constitution of Lothaire
      at first related only to the duchy of Rome; it afterwards found its way
      into the Lombard code. Savigny. p. 138.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link382HCH0003" id="link382HCH0003">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.&mdash;Part III.
    </h2>
    <p>
      When justice inexorably requires the death of a murderer, each private
      citizen is fortified by the assurance, that the laws, the magistrate, and
      the whole community, are the guardians of his personal safety. But in the
      loose society of the Germans, revenge was always honorable, and often
      meritorious: the independent warrior chastised, or vindicated, with his
      own hand, the injuries which he had offered or received; and he had 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 contending parties to pay and
      to accept the moderate fine which had been ascertained as the price of
      blood. <a href="#link38note-72" name="link38noteref-72"
      id="link38noteref-72">72</a> The fierce spirit of the Franks would have
      opposed a more rigorous sentence; the same fierceness despised these
      ineffectual restraints; and, when their simple manners had been corrupted
      by the wealth of Gaul, the public peace was continually violated by acts
      of hasty or deliberate guilt. In every just government the same penalty is
      inflicted, or at least is imposed, for the murder of a peasant or a
      prince. But the national inequality established by the Franks, in their
      criminal proceedings, was the last insult and abuse of conquest. <a
      href="#link38note-73" name="link38noteref-73" id="link38noteref-73">73</a>
      In the calm moments of legislation, they solemnly pronounced, that the
      life of a Roman was of smaller value than that of a Barbarian. The
      Antrustion, <a href="#link38note-74" name="link38noteref-74"
      id="link38noteref-74">74</a> a name expressive of the most illustrious
      birth or dignity among the Franks, was appreciated at the sum of six
      hundred pieces of gold; while the noble provincial, who was admitted to
      the king's table, might be legally murdered at the expense of three
      hundred pieces.
    </p>
    <p>
      Two hundred were deemed sufficient for a Frank of ordinary condition; but
      the meaner Romans were exposed to disgrace and danger by a trifling
      compensation of one hundred, or even fifty, pieces of gold. Had these laws
      been regulated by any principle of equity or reason, the public protection
      should have supplied, in just proportion, the want of personal strength.
      But the legislator had weighed in the scale, not of justice, but of
      policy, the loss of a soldier against that of a slave: the head of an
      insolent and rapacious Barbarian was guarded by a heavy fine; and the
      slightest aid was afforded to the most defenceless subjects. Time
      insensibly abated the pride of the conquerors and the patience of the
      vanquished; and the boldest citizen was taught, by experience, that he
      might suffer more injuries than he could inflict. As the manners of the
      Franks became less ferocious, their laws were rendered more severe; and
      the Merovingian kings attempted to imitate the impartial rigor of the
      Visigoths and Burgundians. <a href="#link38note-75" name="link38noteref-75"
      id="link38noteref-75">75</a> Under the empire of Charlemagne, murder was
      universally punished with death; and the use of capital punishments has
      been liberally multiplied in the jurisprudence of modern Europe. <a
      href="#link38note-76" name="link38noteref-76" id="link38noteref-76">76</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-72" id="link38note-72">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      72 (<a href="#link38noteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ In the heroic times of
      Greece, the guilt of murder was expiated by a pecuniary satisfaction to
      the family of the deceased, (Feithius Antiquitat. Homeric. l. ii. c. 8.)
      Heineccius, in his preface to the Elements of Germanic Law, favorably
      suggests, that at Rome and Athens homicide was only punished with exile.
      It is true: but exile was a capital punishment for a citizen of Rome or
      Athens.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-73" id="link38note-73">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      73 (<a href="#link38noteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ 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, and the Burgundians and Alemanni
      between the Franks and the Romans.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-74" id="link38note-74">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      74 (<a href="#link38noteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ The Antrustiones, qui
      in truste Dominica sunt, leudi, fideles, undoubtedly represent the first
      order of Franks; but it is a question whether their rank was personal or
      hereditary. The Abbe de Mably (tom. i. p. 334-347) is not displeased to
      mortify the pride of birth (Esprit, l. xxx. c. 25) by dating the origin of
      the French nobility from the reign Clotaire II. (A.D. 615.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-75" id="link38note-75">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      75 (<a href="#link38noteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Burgundian
      laws, (tit. ii. in tom. iv. p. 257,) the code of the Visigoths, (l. vi.
      tit. v. in tom. p. 384,) and the constitution of Childebert, not of Paris,
      but most evidently of Austrasia, (in tom. iv. p. 112.) Their premature
      severity was sometimes rash, and excessive. Childebert condemned not only
      murderers but robbers; quomodo sine lege involavit, sine lege moriatur;
      and even the negligent judge was involved in the same sentence. The
      Visigoths abandoned an unsuccessful surgeon to the family of his deceased
      patient, ut quod de eo facere voluerint habeant potestatem, (l. xi. tit.
      i. in tom. iv. p. 435.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-76" id="link38note-76">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      76 (<a href="#link38noteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ See, in the sixth
      volume of the works of Heineccius, the Elementa Juris Germanici, l. ii. p.
      2, No. 261, 262, 280-283. Yet some vestiges of these pecuniary
      compositions for murder have been traced in Germany as late as the
      sixteenth century.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The civil and military professions, which had been separated by
      Constantine, were again united by the Barbarians. The harsh sound of the
      Teutonic appellations was mollified into the Latin titles of Duke, of
      Count, or of Praefect; and the same officer assumed, within his district,
      the command of the troops, and the administration of justice. <a
      href="#link38note-77" name="link38noteref-77" id="link38noteref-77">77</a>
      But the fierce and illiterate chieftain was seldom qualified to discharge
      the duties of a judge, which required all the faculties of a philosophic
      mind, laboriously cultivated by experience and study; and his rude
      ignorance was compelled to embrace some simple, and visible, methods of
      ascertaining the cause of justice. In every religion, the Deity has been
      invoked to confirm the truth, or to punish the falsehood of human
      testimony; but this powerful instrument was misapplied and abused by the
      simplicity of the German legislators. The party accused might justify his
      innocence, by producing before their tribunal a number of friendly
      witnesses, who solemnly declared their belief, or assurance, that he was
      not guilty. According to the weight of the charge, this legal number of
      compurgators was multiplied; seventy-two voices were required to absolve
      an incendiary or assassin: and when the chastity of a queen of France was
      suspected, three hundred gallant nobles swore, without hesitation, that
      the infant prince had been actually begotten by her deceased husband. <a
      href="#link38note-78" name="link38noteref-78" id="link38noteref-78">78</a>
      The sin and scandal of manifest and frequent perjuries engaged the
      magistrates to remove these dangerous temptations; and to supply the
      defects of human testimony by the famous experiments of fire and water.
      These extraordinary trials were so capriciously contrived, that, in some
      cases, guilt, and innocence in others, could not be proved without the
      interposition of a miracle. Such miracles were really provided by fraud
      and credulity; the most intricate causes were determined by this easy and
      infallible method, and the turbulent Barbarians, who might have disdained
      the sentence of the magistrate, submissively acquiesced in the judgment of
      God. <a href="#link38note-79" name="link38noteref-79" id="link38noteref-79">79</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-77" id="link38note-77">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      77 (<a href="#link38noteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ The whole subject of
      the Germanic judges, and their jurisdiction, is copiously treated by
      Heineccius, (Element. Jur. Germ. l. iii. No. 1-72.) I cannot find any
      proof that, under the Merovingian race, the scabini, or assessors, were
      chosen by the people. * Note: The question of the scabini is treated at
      considerable length by Savigny. He questions the existence of the scabini
      anterior to Charlemagne. Before this time the decision was by an open
      court of the freemen, the boni Romische Recht, vol. i. p. 195. et seq.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-78" id="link38note-78">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      78 (<a href="#link38noteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ Gregor. Turon. l. viii.
      c. 9, in tom. ii. p. 316. Montesquieu observes, (Esprit des Loix. l.
      xxviii. c. 13,) that the Salic law did not admit these negative proofs so
      universally established in the Barbaric codes. Yet this obscure concubine
      (Fredegundis,) who became the wife of the grandson of Clovis, must have
      followed the Salic law.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-79" id="link38note-79">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      79 (<a href="#link38noteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ Muratori, in the
      Antiquities of Italy, has given two Dissertations (xxxvii. xxxix.) on the
      judgments of God. It was expected that fire would not burn the innocent;
      and that the pure element of water would not allow the guilty to sink into
      its bosom.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But the trials by single combat gradually obtained superior credit and
      authority, among a warlike people, who could not believe that a brave man
      deserved to suffer, or that a coward deserved to live. <a
      href="#link38note-80" name="link38noteref-80" id="link38noteref-80">80</a>
      Both in civil and criminal proceedings, the plaintiff, or accuser, the
      defendant, or even the witness, were exposed to mortal challenge from the
      antagonist who was destitute of legal proofs; and it was incumbent on them
      either to desert their cause, or publicly to maintain their honor, in the
      lists of battle. They fought either on foot, or on horseback, according to
      the custom of their nation; <a href="#link38note-81"
      name="link38noteref-81" id="link38noteref-81">81</a> and the decision of
      the sword, or lance, was ratified by the sanction of Heaven, of the judge,
      and of the people. This sanguinary law was introduced into Gaul by the
      Burgundians; and their legislator Gundobald <a href="#link38note-82"
      name="link38noteref-82" id="link38noteref-82">82</a> condescended to
      answer the complaints and objections of his subject Avitus. "Is it not
      true," said the king of Burgundy to the bishop, "that the event of
      national wars, and private combats, is directed by the judgment of God;
      and that his providence awards the victory to the juster cause?" By such
      prevailing arguments, the absurd and cruel practice of judicial duels,
      which had been peculiar to some tribes of Germany, was propagated and
      established in all the monarchies of Europe, from Sicily to the Baltic. At
      the end of ten centuries, the reign of legal violence was not totally
      extinguished; and the ineffectual censures of saints, of popes, and of
      synods, may seem to prove, that the influence of superstition is weakened
      by its unnatural alliance with reason and humanity. The tribunals were
      stained with the blood, perhaps, of innocent and respectable citizens; the
      law, which now favors the rich, then yielded to the strong; and the old,
      the feeble, and the infirm, were condemned, either to renounce their
      fairest claims and possessions, to sustain the dangers of an unequal
      conflict, <a href="#link38note-83" name="link38noteref-83"
      id="link38noteref-83">83</a> or to trust the doubtful aid of a mercenary
      champion. This oppressive jurisprudence was imposed on the provincials of
      Gaul, who complained of any injuries in their persons and property.
      Whatever might be the strength, or courage, of individuals, the victorious
      Barbarians excelled in the love and exercise of arms; and the vanquished
      Roman was unjustly summoned to repeat, in his own person, the bloody
      contest which had been already decided against his country. <a
      href="#link38note-84" name="link38noteref-84" id="link38noteref-84">84</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-80" id="link38note-80">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      80 (<a href="#link38noteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ Montesquieu (Esprit des
      Loix, l. xxviii. c. 17) has condescended to explain and excuse "la maniere
      de penser de nos peres," on the subject of judicial combats. He follows
      this strange institution from the age of Gundobald to that of St. Lewis;
      and the philosopher is some times lost in the legal antiquarian.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-81" id="link38note-81">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      81 (<a href="#link38noteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ In a memorable duel at
      Aix-la-Chapelle, (A.D. 820,) before the emperor Lewis the Pious, his
      biographer observes, secundum legem propriam, 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 ars nova of fighting on horseback, which was unknown
      to the Franks.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-82" id="link38note-82">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      82 (<a href="#link38noteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 an Arian tyrant, (in tom. vi. p. 356-358.) He
      relates the conversation of Gundobald and Avitus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-83" id="link38note-83">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      83 (<a href="#link38noteref-83">return</a>)<br /> [ "Accidit, (says
      Agobard,) ut non solum valentes viribus, sed etiam infirmi et senes
      lacessantur ad pugnam, etiam pro vilissimis rebus. Quibus foralibus
      certaminibus contingunt homicidia injusta; et crudeles ac perversi eventus
      judiciorum." Like a prudent rhetorician, he suppresses the legal privilege
      of hiring champions.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-84" id="link38note-84">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      84 (<a href="#link38noteref-84">return</a>)<br /> [ Montesquieu, (Esprit
      des Loix, xxviii. c. 14,) who understands why the judicial combat was
      admitted by the Burgundians, Ripuarians, Alemanni, Bavarians, Lombards,
      Thuringians, Frisons, and Saxons, is satisfied (and Agobard seems to
      countenance the assertion) that it was not allowed by the Salic law. Yet
      the same custom, at least in case of treason, is mentioned by Ermoldus,
      Nigellus (l. iii. 543, in tom. vi. p. 48,) and the anonymous biographer of
      Lewis the Pious, (c. 46, in tom. vi. p. 112,) as the "mos antiquus
      Francorum, more Francis solito," &amp;c., expressions too general to
      exclude the noblest of their tribes.]
    </p>
    <p>
      A devouring host of one hundred and twenty thousand Germans had formerly
      passed the Rhine under the command of Ariovistus. One third part of the
      fertile lands of the Sequani was appropriated to their use; and the
      conqueror soon repeated his oppressive demand of another third, for the
      accommodation of a new colony of twenty-four thousand Barbarians, whom he
      had invited to share the rich harvest of Gaul. <a href="#link38note-85"
      name="link38noteref-85" id="link38noteref-85">85</a> At the distance of
      five hundred years, the Visigoths and Burgundians, who revenged the defeat
      of Ariovistus, usurped the same unequal proportion of two thirds of the
      subject lands. But this distribution, instead of spreading over the
      province, may be reasonably confined to the peculiar districts where the
      victorious people had been planted by their own choice, or by the policy
      of their leader. In these districts, each Barbarian was connected by the
      ties of hospitality with some Roman provincial. To this unwelcome guest,
      the proprietor was compelled to abandon two thirds of his patrimony, but
      the German, a shepherd and a hunter, might sometimes content himself with
      a spacious range of wood and pasture, and resign the smallest, though most
      valuable, portion, to the toil of the industrious husbandman. <a
      href="#link38note-86" name="link38noteref-86" id="link38noteref-86">86</a>
      The silence of ancient and authentic testimony has encouraged an opinion,
      that the rapine of the Franks was not moderated, or disguised, by the
      forms of a legal division; that they dispersed themselves over the
      provinces of Gaul, without order or control; and that each victorious
      robber, according to his wants, his avarice, and his strength, measured
      with his sword the extent of his new inheritance. At a distance from their
      sovereign, the Barbarians might indeed be tempted to exercise such
      arbitrary depredation; but the firm and artful policy of Clovis must curb
      a licentious spirit, which would aggravate the misery of the vanquished,
      whilst it corrupted the union and discipline of the conquerors. <a
      href="#link38note-861" name="link38noteref-861" id="link38noteref-861">861</a>
      The memorable vase of Soissons is a monument and a pledge of the regular
      distribution of the Gallic spoils. It was the duty and the interest of
      Clovis to provide rewards for a successful army, settlements for a
      numerous people; without inflicting any wanton or superfluous injuries on
      the loyal Catholics of Gaul. The ample fund, which he might lawfully
      acquire, of the Imperial patrimony, vacant lands, and Gothic usurpations,
      would diminish the cruel necessity of seizure and confiscation, and the
      humble provincials would more patiently acquiesce in the equal and regular
      distribution of their loss. <a href="#link38note-87"
      name="link38noteref-87" id="link38noteref-87">87</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-85" id="link38note-85">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      85 (<a href="#link38noteref-85">return</a>)<br /> [ Caesar de Bell. Gall.
      l. i. c. 31, in tom. i. p. 213.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-86" id="link38note-86">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      86 (<a href="#link38noteref-86">return</a>)<br /> [ The obscure hints of a
      division of lands occasionally scattered 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, in tom. iv. p. 428, 429, 430,) are skillfully explained
      by the president Montesquieu, (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 the judgment of the neighborhood, that the Barbarians
      frequently usurped the remaining third; and that the Romans might recover
      their right, unless they were barred by a prescription of fifty years.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-861" id="link38note-861">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      861 (<a href="#link38noteref-861">return</a>)<br /> [ Sismondi (Hist des
      Francais, vol. i. p. 197) observes, they were not a conquering people, who
      had emigrated with their families, like the Goths or Burgundians. The
      women, the children, the old, had not followed Clovis: they remained in
      their ancient possessions on the Waal and the Rhine. The adventurers alone
      had formed the invading force, and they always considered themselves as an
      army, not as a colony. Hence their laws retained no traces of the
      partition of the Roman properties. It is curious to observe the recoil
      from the national vanity of the French historians of the last century. M.
      Sismondi compares the position of the Franks with regard to the conquered
      people with that of the Dey of Algiers and his corsair troops to the
      peaceful inhabitants of that province: M. Thierry (Lettres sur l'Histoire
      de France, p. 117) with that of the Turks towards the Raias or
      Phanariotes, the mass of the Greeks.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-87" id="link38note-87">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      87 (<a href="#link38noteref-87">return</a>)<br /> [ It is singular enough
      that the president de Montesquieu (Esprit des Loix, l. xxx. c. 7) and the
      Abbe de Mably (Observations, tom i. p. 21, 22) agree in this strange
      supposition of arbitrary and private rapine. The Count de Boulainvilliers
      (Etat de la France, tom. i. p. 22, 23) shows a strong understanding
      through a cloud of ignorance and prejudice. Note: Sismondi supposes that
      the Barbarians, if a farm were conveniently situated, would show no great
      respect for the laws of property; but in general there would have been
      vacant land enough for the lots assigned to old or worn-out warriors,
      (Hist. des Francais, vol. i. p. 196.)&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The wealth of the Merovingian princes consisted in their extensive domain.
      After the conquest of Gaul, they still delighted in the rustic simplicity
      of their ancestors; the cities were abandoned to solitude and decay; and
      their coins, their charters, and their synods, are still inscribed with
      the names of the villas, or rural palaces, in which they successively
      resided.
    </p>
    <p>
      One hundred and sixty of these palaces, a title which need not excite any
      unseasonable ideas of art or luxury, were scattered through the provinces
      of their kingdom; and if some might claim the honors of a fortress, the
      far greater part could be esteemed only in the light of profitable farms.
      The mansion of the long-haired kings was surrounded with convenient yards
      and stables, for the cattle and the poultry; the garden was planted with
      useful vegetables; the various trades, the labors of agriculture, and even
      the arts of hunting and fishing, were exercised by servile hands for the
      emolument of the sovereign; his magazines were filled with corn and wine,
      either for sale or consumption; and the whole administration was conducted
      by the strictest maxims of private economy. <a href="#link38note-88"
      name="link38noteref-88" id="link38noteref-88">88</a> This ample patrimony
      was appropriated to supply the hospitable plenty of Clovis and his
      successors; and to reward the fidelity of their brave companions who, both
      in peace and war, were devoted to their persona service. Instead of a
      horse, or a suit of armor, each companion, according to his rank, or
      merit, or favor, was invested with a benefice, the primitive name, and
      most simple form, of the feudal possessions. These gifts might be resumed
      at the pleasure of the sovereign; and his feeble prerogative derived some
      support from the influence of his liberality. <a href="#link38note-881"
      name="link38noteref-881" id="link38noteref-881">881</a> But this dependent
      tenure was gradually abolished <a href="#link38note-89"
      name="link38noteref-89" id="link38noteref-89">89</a> by the independent
      and rapacious nobles of France, who established the perpetual property,
      and hereditary succession, of their benefices; a revolution salutary to
      the earth, which had been injured, or neglected, by its precarious
      masters. <a href="#link38note-90" name="link38noteref-90"
      id="link38noteref-90">90</a> Besides these royal and beneficiary estates,
      a large proportion had been assigned, in the division of Gaul, of allodial
      and Salic lands: they were exempt from tribute, and the Salic lands were
      equally shared among the male descendants of the Franks. <a
      href="#link38note-91" name="link38noteref-91" id="link38noteref-91">91</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-88" id="link38note-88">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      88 (<a href="#link38noteref-88">return</a>)<br /> [ See the rustic edict,
      or rather code, of Charlemagne, which contains seventy distinct and minute
      regulations of that great monarch (in tom. v. p. 652-657.) He requires an
      account of the horns and skins of the goats, allows his fish to be sold,
      and carefully directs, that the larger villas (Capitaneoe) shall maintain
      one hundred hens and thirty geese; and the smaller (Mansionales) fifty
      hens and twelve geese. Mabillon (de Re Diplomatica) has investigated the
      names, the number, and the situation of the Merovingian villas.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-881" id="link38note-881">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      881 (<a href="#link38noteref-881">return</a>)<br /> [ The resumption of
      benefices at the pleasure of the sovereign, (the general theory down to
      his time,) is ably contested by Mr. Hallam; "for this resumption some
      delinquency must be imputed to the vassal." Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 162.
      The reader will be interested by the singular analogies with the
      beneficial and feudal system of Europe in a remote part of the world,
      indicated by Col. Tod in his splendid work on Raja'sthan, vol. ii p. 129,
      &amp;c.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-89" id="link38note-89">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      89 (<a href="#link38noteref-89">return</a>)<br /> [ From a passage of the
      Burgundian law (tit. i. No. 4, in tom. iv. p. 257) it is evident, that a
      deserving son might expect to hold the lands which his father had received
      from the royal bounty of Gundobald. The Burgundians would firmly maintain
      their privilege, and their example might encourage the Beneficiaries of
      France.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-90" id="link38note-90">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      90 (<a href="#link38noteref-90">return</a>)<br /> [ The revolutions of the
      benefices and fiefs are clearly fixed by the Abbe de Mably. His accurate
      distinction of times gives him a merit to which even Montesquieu is a
      stranger.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-91" id="link38note-91">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      91 (<a href="#link38noteref-91">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Salic law,
      (tit. lxii. in tom. iv. p. 156.) The origin and nature of these Salic
      lands, which, in times of ignorance, were perfectly understood, now
      perplex our most learned and sagacious critics. * Note: No solution seems
      more probable, than that the ancient lawgivers of the Salic Franks
      prohibited females from inheriting the lands assigned to the nation, upon
      its conquest of Gaul, both in compliance with their ancient usages, and in
      order to secure the military service of every proprietor. But lands
      subsequently acquired by purchase or other means, though equally bound to
      the public defence, were relieved from the severity of this rule, and
      presumed not to belong to the class of Sallic. Hallam's Middle Ages, vol.
      i. p. 145. Compare Sismondi, vol. i. p. 196.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      In the bloody discord and silent decay of the Merovingian line, a new
      order of tyrants arose in the provinces, who, under the appellation of
      Seniors, or Lords, usurped a right to govern, and a license to oppress,
      the subjects of their peculiar territory. Their ambition might be checked
      by the hostile resistance of an equal: but the laws were extinguished; and
      the sacrilegious Barbarians, who dared to provoke the vengeance of a saint
      or bishop, <a href="#link38note-92" name="link38noteref-92"
      id="link38noteref-92">92</a> would seldom respect the landmarks of a
      profane and defenceless neighbor. The common or public rights of nature,
      such as they had always been deemed by the Roman jurisprudence, <a
      href="#link38note-93" name="link38noteref-93" id="link38noteref-93">93</a>
      were severely restrained by the German conquerors, whose amusement, or
      rather passion, was the exercise of hunting. The vague dominion which Man
      has assumed over the wild inhabitants of the earth, the air, and the
      waters, was confined to some fortunate individuals of the human species.
      Gaul was again overspread with woods; and the animals, who were reserved
      for the use or pleasure of the lord, might ravage with impunity the fields
      of his industrious vassals. The chase was the sacred privilege of the
      nobles and their domestic servants. Plebeian transgressors were legally
      chastised with stripes and imprisonment; <a href="#link38note-94"
      name="link38noteref-94" id="link38noteref-94">94</a> but in an age which
      admitted a slight composition for the life of a citizen, it was a capital
      crime to destroy a stag or a wild bull within the precincts of the royal
      forests. <a href="#link38note-95" name="link38noteref-95"
      id="link38noteref-95">95</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-92" id="link38note-92">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      92 (<a href="#link38noteref-92">return</a>)<br /> [ Many of the two hundred
      and six miracles of St. Martin (Greg Turon. in Maxima Bibliotheca Patrum,
      tom. xi. p. 896-932) were repeatedly performed to punish sacrilege. Audite
      haec omnes (exclaims the bishop of Tours) protestatem habentes, after
      relating, how some horses ran mad, that had been turned into a sacred
      meadow.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-93" id="link38note-93">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      93 (<a href="#link38noteref-93">return</a>)<br /> [ Heinec. Element. Jur.
      German. l. ii. p. 1, No. 8.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-94" id="link38note-94">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      94 (<a href="#link38noteref-94">return</a>)<br /> [ Jonas, bishop of
      Orleans, (A.D. 821-826. Cave, Hist. Litteraria, p. 443,) censures the
      legal tyranny of the nobles. Pro feris, quas cura hominum non aluit, sed
      Deus in commune mortalibus ad utendum 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.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-95" id="link38note-95">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      95 (<a href="#link38noteref-95">return</a>)<br /> [ On a mere suspicion,
      Chundo, a chamberlain of Gontram, king of Burgundy, was stoned to death,
      (Greg. Turon. l. x. c. 10, in tom. ii. p. 369.) John of Salisbury
      (Policrat. l. i. c. 4) asserts the rights of nature, and exposes the cruel
      practice of the twelfth century. See Heineccius, Elem. Jur. Germ. l. ii.
      p. 1, No. 51-57.]
    </p>
    <p>
      According to the maxims of ancient war, the conqueror became the lawful
      master of the enemy whom he had subdued and spared: <a
      href="#link38note-96" name="link38noteref-96" id="link38noteref-96">96</a>
      and the fruitful cause of personal slavery, which had been almost
      suppressed by the peaceful sovereignty of Rome, was again revived and
      multiplied by the perpetual hostilities of the independent Barbarians. The
      Goth, the Burgundian, 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
      elegant form and an ingenuous aspect were set apart for the domestic
      service; a doubtful situation, which alternately exposed them to the
      favorable or cruel impulse of passion. The useful mechanics and servants
      (smiths, carpenters, tailors, shoemakers, cooks, gardeners, dyers, and
      workmen in gold and silver, &amp;c.) employed their skill for the use, or
      profit, of their master. But the Roman captives, who were destitute of
      art, but capable of labor, were condemned, without regard to their former
      rank, to tend the cattle and cultivate the lands of the Barbarians. The
      number of the hereditary bondsmen, who were attached to the Gallic
      estates, was continually increased by new supplies; and the servile
      people, according to the situation and temper of their lords, was
      sometimes raised by precarious indulgence, and more frequently depressed
      by capricious despotism. <a href="#link38note-97" name="link38noteref-97"
      id="link38noteref-97">97</a> An absolute power of life and death was
      exercised by these lords; and when they married their daughters, a train
      of useful servants, chained on the wagons to prevent their escape, was
      sent as a nuptial present into a distant country. <a href="#link38note-98"
      name="link38noteref-98" id="link38noteref-98">98</a> The majesty of the
      Roman laws protected the liberty of each citizen, against the rash effects
      of his own distress or despair. But the subjects of the Merovingian kings
      might alienate their personal freedom; and this act of legal suicide,
      which was familiarly practised, is expressed in terms most disgraceful and
      afflicting to the dignity of human nature. <a href="#link38note-99"
      name="link38noteref-99" id="link38noteref-99">99</a> The example of the
      poor, who purchased life by the sacrifice of all that can render life
      desirable, was gradually imitated by the feeble and the devout, who, in
      times of public disorder, pusillanimously crowded to shelter themselves
      under the battlements of a powerful chief, and around the shrine of a
      popular saint. Their submission was accepted by these temporal or
      spiritual patrons; and the hasty transaction irrecoverably fixed their own
      condition, and that of their latest posterity. From the reign of Clovis,
      during five successive centuries, the laws and manners of Gaul uniformly
      tended to promote the increase, and to confirm the duration, of personal
      servitude. Time and violence almost obliterated the intermediate ranks of
      society; and left an obscure and narrow interval between the noble and the
      slave. This arbitrary and recent division has been 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 the independent and victorious Franks,
      have asserted and abused the indefeasible right of conquest over a
      prostrate crowd of slaves and plebeians, to whom they imputed the
      imaginary disgrace of Gallic or Roman extraction.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-96" id="link38note-96">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      96 (<a href="#link38noteref-96">return</a>)<br /> [ The custom of enslaving
      prisoners of war was totally extinguished in the thirteenth century, by
      the prevailing influence of Christianity; but it might be proved, from
      frequent passages of Gregory of Tours, &amp;c., that it was practised,
      without censure, under the Merovingian race; and even Grotius himself, (de
      Jure Belli et Pacis l. iii. c. 7,) as well as his commentator Barbeyrac,
      have labored to reconcile it with the laws of nature and reason.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-97" id="link38note-97">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      97 (<a href="#link38noteref-97">return</a>)<br /> [ The state, professions,
      &amp;c., of the German, Italian, and Gallic 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, &amp;c., p. 237, &amp;c.)
      Note: Compare Hallam, vol. i. p. 216.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-98" id="link38note-98">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      98 (<a href="#link38noteref-98">return</a>)<br /> [ Gregory of Tours (l.
      vi. c. 45, in tom. ii. p. 289) relates a memorable example, in which
      Chilperic only abused the private rights of a master. Many families which
      belonged to his domus fiscales in the neighborhood of Paris, were forcibly
      sent away into Spain.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-99" id="link38note-99">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      99 (<a href="#link38noteref-99">return</a>)<br /> [ Licentiam habeatis mihi
      qualemcunque volueritis disciplinam ponere; vel venumdare, aut quod vobis
      placuerit de me facere Marculf. Formul. l. ii. 28, in tom. iv. p. 497. The
      Formula of Lindenbrogius, (p. 559,) and that of Anjou, (p. 565,) are to
      the same effect Gregory of Tours (l. vii. c. 45, in tom. ii. p. 311) speak
      of many person who sold themselves for bread, in a great famine.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The general state and revolutions of France, a name which was imposed by
      the conquerors, may be illustrated by the particular example of a
      province, a diocese, or a senatorial family. Auvergne had formerly
      maintained a just preeminence among the independent states and cities of
      Gaul. The brave and numerous inhabitants displayed a singular trophy; the
      sword of Caesar himself, which he had lost when he was repulsed before the
      walls of Gergovia. <a href="#link38note-100" name="link38noteref-100"
      id="link38noteref-100">100</a> As the common offspring of Troy, they
      claimed a fraternal alliance with the Romans; <a href="#link38note-101"
      name="link38noteref-101" id="link38noteref-101">101</a> and if each
      province had imitated the courage and loyalty of Auvergne, the fall of the
      Western empire might have been prevented or delayed. They firmly
      maintained the fidelity which they had reluctantly sworn to the Visigoths,
      out when their bravest nobles had fallen in the battle of Poitiers, they
      accepted, without resistance, a victorious and Catholic sovereign. This
      easy and valuable conquest was achieved and possessed by Theodoric, the
      eldest son of Clovis: but the remote province was separated from his
      Austrasian dominions, by the intermediate kingdoms of Soissons, 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. <a href="#link38note-102"
      name="link38noteref-102" id="link38noteref-102">102</a> The Upper country,
      which rises towards the south into the mountains of the Cevennes,
      presented a rich and various prospect of woods and pastures; the sides of
      the hills were clothed with vines; and each eminence was crowned with a
      villa or castle. In the Lower Auvergne, the River Allier flows through the
      fair and spacious plain of Limagne; and the inexhaustible fertility of the
      soil supplied, and still supplies, without any interval of repose, the
      constant repetition of the same harvests. <a href="#link38note-103"
      name="link38noteref-103" id="link38noteref-103">103</a> On the false
      report, that their lawful sovereign had been slain in Germany, the city
      and diocese of Auvergne were betrayed by the grandson of Sidonius
      Apollinaris. Childebert enjoyed this clandestine victory; and the free
      subjects of Theodoric threatened to desert his standard, if he indulged
      his private resentment, while the nation was engaged in the Burgundian
      war. But the Franks of Austrasia soon yielded to the persuasive eloquence
      of their king. "Follow me," said Theodoric, "into Auvergne; I will lead
      you into a province, where you may acquire gold, silver, slaves, cattle,
      and precious apparel, to the full extent of your wishes. I repeat my
      promise; I give you the people and their wealth as your prey; and you may
      transport them at pleasure into your own country." By the execution of
      this promise, Theodoric justly forfeited the allegiance of a people whom
      he devoted to destruction. His troops, reenforced by the fiercest
      Barbarians of Germany, <a href="#link38note-104" name="link38noteref-104"
      id="link38noteref-104">104</a> spread desolation over the fruitful face of
      Auvergne; and two places only, a strong castle and a holy shrine, were
      saved or redeemed from their licentious fury. The castle of Meroliac <a
      href="#link38note-105" name="link38noteref-105" id="link38noteref-105">105</a>
      was seated on a lofty rock, which rose a hundred feet above the surface of
      the plain; and a large reservoir of fresh water was enclosed, with some
      arable lands, within the circle of its fortifications. The Franks beheld
      with envy and despair this impregnable fortress; but they surprised a
      party of fifty stragglers; and, as they were oppressed by the number of
      their captives, they fixed, at a trifling ransom, the alternative of life
      or death for these wretched victims, whom the cruel Baroarians were
      prepared to massacre on the refusal of the garrison. Another detachment
      penetrated as far as Brivas, or Brioude, where the inhabitants, with their
      valuable effects, had taken refuge in the sanctuary of St. Julian. The
      doors of the church resisted the assault; but a daring soldier entered
      through a window of the choir, and opened a passage to his companions. The
      clergy and people, the sacred and the profane spoils, were rudely torn
      from the altar; and the sacrilegious division was made at a small distance
      from the town of Brioude. But this act of impiety was severely chastised
      by the devout son of Clovis. He punished with death the most atrocious
      offenders; left their secret accomplices to the vengeance of St. Julian;
      released the captives; restored the plunder; and extended the rights of
      sanctuary five miles round the sepulchre of the holy martyr. <a
      href="#link38note-106" name="link38noteref-106" id="link38noteref-106">106</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-100" id="link38note-100">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      100 (<a href="#link38noteref-100">return</a>)<br /> [ When Caesar saw it,
      he laughed, (Plutarch. in Caesar. in tom. i. p. 409:) yet he relates his
      unsuccessful siege of Gergovia with less frankness than we might expect
      from a great man to whom victory was familiar. He acknowledges, however,
      that in one attack he lost forty-six centurions and seven hundred men, (de
      Bell. Gallico, l. vi. c. 44-53, in tom. i. p. 270-272.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-101" id="link38note-101">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      101 (<a href="#link38noteref-101">return</a>)<br /> [ Audebant se quondam
      fatres Latio dicere, et sanguine ab Iliaco populos computare, (Sidon.
      Apollinar. l. vii. epist. 7, in tom i. p. 799.) I am not informed of the
      degrees and circumstances of this fabulous pedigree.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-102" id="link38note-102">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      102 (<a href="#link38noteref-102">return</a>)<br /> [ Either the first, or
      second, partition among the sons of Clovis, had given Berry to Childebert,
      (Greg. Turon. l. iii. c. 12, in tom. ii. p. 192.) Velim (said he) Arvernam
      Lemanem, quae tanta jocunditatis gratia refulgere dicitur, oculis cernere,
      (l. iii. c. p. 191.) The face of the country was concealed by a thick fog,
      when the king of Paris made his entry into Clermen.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-103" id="link38note-103">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      103 (<a href="#link38noteref-103">return</a>)<br /> [ 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, (Etat de la France, tom. ii. p. 242-268,) and
      the Abbe de la Longuerue, (Description de la France, part i. p. 132-139.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-104" id="link38note-104">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      104 (<a href="#link38noteref-104">return</a>)<br /> [Furorem gentium, quae
      de ulteriore Rheni amnis parte venerant, 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 the ravages which his troops committed in the
      neighborhood of Paris.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-105" id="link38note-105">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      105 (<a href="#link38noteref-105">return</a>)<br /> [ From the name and
      situation, the Benedictine editors of Gregory of Tours (in tom. ii. p.
      192) have fixed this fortress at a place named Castel Merliac, two miles
      from Mauriac, in the Upper Auvergne. In this description, I translate
      infra as if I read intra; the two are perpetually confounded by Gregory,
      or his transcribed and the sense must always decide.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-106" id="link38note-106">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      106 (<a href="#link38noteref-106">return</a>)<br /> [ See these
      revolutions, and wars, of Auvergne, in Gregory of 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.) He frequently betrays his
      extraordinary attention to his native country.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link382HCH0004" id="link382HCH0004">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.&mdash;Part IV.
    </h2>
    <p>
      Before the Austrasian army retreated from Auvergne, Theodoric exacted some
      pledges of the future loyalty of a people, whose just hatred could be
      restrained only by their fear. A select band of noble youths, the sons of
      the principal senators, was delivered to the conqueror, as the hostages of
      the faith of Childebert, and of their countrymen. On the first rumor of
      war, or conspiracy, these guiltless youths were reduced to a state of
      servitude; and one of them, Attalus, <a href="#link38note-107"
      name="link38noteref-107" id="link38noteref-107">107</a> whose adventures
      are more particularly related, kept his master's horses in the diocese of
      Treves. After a painful search, he was discovered, in this unworthy
      occupation, by the emissaries of his grandfather, Gregory bishop of
      Langres; but his offers of ransom were sternly rejected by the avarice of
      the Barbarian, who required an exorbitant sum of ten pounds of gold for
      the freedom of his noble captive. His deliverance was effected by the
      hardy stratagem of Leo, an item belonging to the kitchens of the bishop of
      Langres. <a href="#link38note-108" name="link38noteref-108"
      id="link38noteref-108">108</a> An unknown agent easily introduced him into
      the same family. The Barbarian purchased Leo for the price of twelve
      pieces of gold; and was pleased to learn that he was deeply skilled in the
      luxury of an episcopal table: "Next Sunday," said the Frank, "I shall
      invite my neighbors and kinsmen. Exert thy art, and force them to confess,
      that they have never seen, or tasted, such an entertainment, even in the
      king's house." Leo assured him, that if he would provide a sufficient
      quantity of poultry, his wishes should be satisfied. The master who
      already aspired to the merit of elegant hospitality, assumed, as his own,
      the praise which the voracious guests unanimously bestowed on his cook;
      and the dexterous Leo insensibly acquired the trust and management of his
      household. After the patient expectation of a whole year, he cautiously
      whispered his design to Attalus, and exhorted him to prepare for flight in
      the ensuing night. At the hour of midnight, the intemperate guests retired
      from the table; and the Frank's son-in-law, whom Leo attended to his
      apartment with a nocturnal potation, condescended to jest on the facility
      with which he might betray his trust. The intrepid slave, after sustaining
      this dangerous raillery, entered his master's bedchamber; removed his
      spear and shield; silently drew the fleetest horses from the stable;
      unbarred the ponderous gates; and excited Attalus to save his life and
      liberty by incessant diligence. Their apprehensions urged them to leave
      their horses on the banks of the Meuse; <a href="#link38note-109"
      name="link38noteref-109" id="link38noteref-109">109</a> they swam the
      river, wandered three days in the adjacent forest, and subsisted only by
      the accidental discovery of a wild plum-tree. As they lay concealed in a
      dark thicket, they heard the noise of horses; they were terrified by the
      angry countenance of their master, and they anxiously listened to his
      declaration, that, if he could seize the guilty fugitives, one of them he
      would cut in pieces with his sword, and would expose the other on a
      gibbet. A length, Attalus and his faithful Leo reached the friendly
      habitation of a presbyter of Rheims, who recruited their fainting strength
      with bread and wine, concealed them from the search of their enemy, and
      safely conducted them beyond the limits of the Austrasian kingdom, to the
      episcopal palace of Langres. Gregory embraced his grandson with tears of
      joy, gratefully delivered Leo, with his whole family, from the yoke of
      servitude, and bestowed on him the property of a farm, where he might end
      his days in happiness and freedom. Perhaps this singular adventure, which
      is marked with so many circumstances of truth and nature, was related by
      Attalus himself, to his cousin or nephew, the first historian of the
      Franks. Gregory of Tours <a href="#link38note-110" name="link38noteref-110"
      id="link38noteref-110">110</a> was born about sixty years after the death
      of Sidonius Apollinaris; and their situation was almost similar, since
      each of them was a native of Auvergne, a senator, and a bishop. The
      difference of their style and sentiments may, therefore, express the decay
      of Gaul; and clearly ascertain how much, in so short a space, the human
      mind had lost of its energy and refinement. <a href="#link38note-111"
      name="link38noteref-111" id="link38noteref-111">111</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-107" id="link38note-107">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      107 (<a href="#link38noteref-107">return</a>)<br /> [ The story of Attalus
      is related by Gregory of Tours, (l. iii. c. 16, tom. ii. p. 193-195.) His
      editor, the P. Ruinart, confounds this Attalus, who was a youth (puer) in
      the year 532, with a friend of Silonius of the same name, who was count of
      Autun, fifty or sixty years before. Such an error, which cannot be imputed
      to ignorance, is excused, in some degree, by its own magnitude.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-108" id="link38note-108">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      108 (<a href="#link38noteref-108">return</a>)<br /> [ This Gregory, the
      great grandfather of Gregory of Tours, (in tom. ii. p. 197, 490,) lived
      ninety-two years; of which he passed forty as count of Autun, and
      thirty-two as bishop of Langres. According to the poet Fortunatus, he
      displayed equal merit in these different stations. Nobilis antiqua
      decurrens prole parentum, Nobilior gestis, nunc super astra manet. Arbiter
      ante ferox, dein pius ipse sacerdos, Quos domuit judex, fovit amore
      patris.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-109" id="link38note-109">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      109 (<a href="#link38noteref-109">return</a>)<br /> [ As M. de Valois, and
      the P. Ruinart, are determined to change the Mosella of the text into
      Mosa, it becomes me to acquiesce in the alteration. Yet, after some
      examination of the topography. I could defend the common reading.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-110" id="link38note-110">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      110 (<a href="#link38noteref-110">return</a>)<br /> [ The parents of
      Gregory (Gregorius Florentius Georgius) were of noble extraction,
      (natalibus... illustres,) and they possessed large estates (latifundia)
      both in Auvergne and Burgundy. He was born in the year 539, was
      consecrated bishop of Tours in 573, and died in 593 or 595, soon after he
      had terminated his history. See his life by Odo, abbot of Clugny, (in tom.
      ii. p. 129-135,) and a new Life in the Memoires de l'Academie, &amp;c.,
      tom. xxvi. p. 598-637.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-111" id="link38note-111">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      111 (<a href="#link38noteref-111">return</a>)<br /> [ Decedente atque immo
      potius pereunte ab urbibus Gallicanis liberalium cultura literarum, &amp;c.,
      (in praefat. in tom. ii. p. 137,) is the complaint of Gregory himself,
      which he fully verifies by his own work. His style is equally devoid of
      elegance and simplicity. In a conspicuous station, he still remained a
      stranger to his own age and country; and in a prolific work (the five last
      books contain ten years) he has omitted almost every thing that posterity
      desires to learn. I have tediously acquired, by a painful perusal, the
      right of pronouncing this unfavorable sentence]
    </p>
    <p>
      We are now qualified to despise the opposite, and, perhaps, artful,
      misrepresentations, which have softened, or exaggerated, the oppression of
      the Romans of Gaul under the reign of the Merovingians. The conquerors
      never promulgated any universal edict of servitude, or confiscation; but a
      degenerate people, who excused their weakness by the specious names of
      politeness and peace, was exposed to the arms and laws of the ferocious
      Barbarians, who contemptuously insulted their possessions, their freedom,
      and their safety. Their personal injuries were partial and irregular; but
      the great body of the Romans survived the revolution, and still preserved
      the property, and privileges, of citizens. A large portion of their lands
      was exacted for the use of the Franks: but they enjoyed the remainder,
      exempt from tribute; <a href="#link38note-112" name="link38noteref-112"
      id="link38noteref-112">112</a> and the same irresistible violence which
      swept away the arts and manufactures of Gaul, destroyed the elaborate and
      expensive system of Imperial despotism. The Provincials must frequently
      deplore the savage jurisprudence of the Salic or Ripuarian laws; but their
      private life, in the important concerns of marriage, testaments, or
      inheritance, was still regulated by the Theodosian Code; and a
      discontented Roman might freely aspire, or descend, to the title and
      character of a Barbarian. The honors of the state were accessible to his
      ambition: the education and temper of the Romans more peculiarly qualified
      them for the offices of civil government; and, as soon as emulation had
      rekindled their military ardor, they were permitted to march in the ranks,
      or even at the head, of the victorious Germans. I shall not attempt to
      enumerate the generals and magistrates, whose names <a
      href="#link38note-113" name="link38noteref-113" id="link38noteref-113">113</a>
      attest the liberal policy of the Merovingians. The supreme command of
      Burgundy, with the title of Patrician, was successively intrusted to three
      Romans; and the last, and most powerful, Mummolus, <a
      href="#link38note-114" name="link38noteref-114" id="link38noteref-114">114</a>
      who alternately saved and disturbed the monarchy, had supplanted his
      father in the station of count of Autun, and left a treasury of thirty
      talents of gold, and two hundred and fifty talents of silver. The fierce
      and illiterate Barbarians were excluded, during several generations, from
      the dignities, and even from the orders, of the church. <a
      href="#link38note-115" name="link38noteref-115" id="link38noteref-115">115</a>
      The clergy of Gaul consisted almost entirely of native provincials; the
      haughty Franks fell at the feet of their subjects, who were dignified with
      the episcopal character: and the power and riches which had been lost in
      war, were insensibly recovered by superstition. <a href="#link38note-116"
      name="link38noteref-116" id="link38noteref-116">116</a> In all temporal
      affairs, the Theodosian Code was the universal law of the clergy; but the
      Barbaric jurisprudence had liberally provided for their personal safety; a
      sub-deacon was equivalent to two Franks; the antrustion, and priest, were
      held in similar estimation: and the life of a bishop was appreciated far
      above the common standard, at the price of nine hundred pieces of gold. <a
      href="#link38note-117" name="link38noteref-117" id="link38noteref-117">117</a>
      The Romans communicated to their conquerors the use of the Christian
      religion and Latin language; <a href="#link38note-118"
      name="link38noteref-118" id="link38noteref-118">118</a> but their language
      and their religion had alike degenerated from the simple purity of the
      Augustan, and Apostolic age. The progress of superstition and Barbarism
      was rapid and universal: the worship of the saints concealed from vulgar
      eyes the God of the Christians; and the rustic dialect of peasants and
      soldiers was corrupted by a Teutonic idiom and pronunciation. Yet such
      intercourse of sacred and social communion eradicated the distinctions of
      birth and victory; and the nations of Gaul were gradually confounded under
      the name and government of the Franks.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-112" id="link38note-112">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      112 (<a href="#link38noteref-112">return</a>)<br /> [ The Abbe de Mably
      (tom. p. i. 247-267) has diligently confirmed this opinion of the
      President de Montesquieu, (Esprit des Loix, l. xxx. c. 13.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-113" id="link38note-113">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      113 (<a href="#link38noteref-113">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 reading Gregory of Tours, I have observed Gondulphus,
      of Senatorian, or Roman, extraction, (l. vi. c. 11, in tom. ii. p. 273,)
      and Claudius, a Barbarian, (l. vii. c. 29, p. 303.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-114" id="link38note-114">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      114 (<a href="#link38noteref-114">return</a>)<br /> [ Eunius Mummolus is
      repeatedly mentioned by Gregory of Tours, from the fourth (c. 42, p. 224)
      to the seventh (c. 40, p. 310) book. The computation by talents is
      singular enough; but if Gregory attached any meaning to that obsolete
      word, the treasures of Mummolus must have exceeded 100,000 L. sterling.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-115" id="link38note-115">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      115 (<a href="#link38noteref-115">return</a>)<br /> [ See Fleury, Discours
      iii. sur l'Histoire Ecclesiastique.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-116" id="link38note-116">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      116 (<a href="#link38noteref-116">return</a>)<br /> [ The bishop of Tours
      himself has recorded the complaint of Chilperic, the grandson of Clovis.
      Ecce pauper remansit Fiscus noster; ecce divitiae nostrae ad ecclesias
      sunt translatae; nulli penitus nisi soli Episcopi regnant, (l. vi. c. 46,
      in tom. ii. p. 291.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-117" id="link38note-117">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      117 (<a href="#link38noteref-117">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Ripuarian
      Code, (tit. xxxvi in tom. iv. p. 241.) The Salic law does not provide for
      the safety of the clergy; and we might suppose, on the behalf of the more
      civilized tribe, that they had not foreseen such an impious act as the
      murder of a priest. Yet Praetextatus, archbishop of Rouen, was
      assassinated by the order of Queen Fredegundis before the altar, (Greg.
      Turon. l. viii. c. 31, in tom. ii. p. 326.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-118" id="link38note-118">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      118 (<a href="#link38noteref-118">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 the actual form of the French language. Under
      the Carlovingian race, the kings and nobles of France still understood the
      dialect of their German ancestors.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The Franks, after they mingled with their Gallic subjects, might have
      imparted the most valuable of human gifts, a spirit and system of
      constitutional liberty. Under a king, hereditary, but limited, the chiefs
      and counsellors might have debated at Paris, in the palace of the Caesars:
      the adjacent field, where the emperors reviewed their mercenary legions.
      would have admitted the legislative assembly of freemen and warriors; and
      the rude model, which had been sketched in the woods of Germany, <a
      href="#link38note-119" name="link38noteref-119" id="link38noteref-119">119</a>
      might have been polished and improved by the civil wisdom of the Romans.
      But the careless Barbarians, secure of their personal independence,
      disdained the labor of government: the annual assemblies of the month of
      March were silently abolished; and the nation was separated, and almost
      dissolved, by the conquest of Gaul. <a href="#link38note-120"
      name="link38noteref-120" id="link38noteref-120">120</a> The monarchy was
      left without any regular establishment of justice, of arms, or of revenue.
      The successors of Clovis wanted resolution to assume, or strength to
      exercise, the legislative and executive powers, which the people had
      abdicated: the royal prerogative was distinguished only by a more ample
      privilege of rapine and murder; and the love of freedom, so often
      invigorated and disgraced by private ambition, was reduced, among the
      licentious Franks, to the contempt of order, and the desire of impunity.
      Seventy-five years after the death of Clovis, his grandson, Gontran, king
      of Burgundy, sent an army to invade the Gothic possessions of Septimania,
      or Languedoc. The troops of Burgundy, Berry, Auvergne, and the adjacent
      territories, were excited by the hopes of spoil. They marched, without
      discipline, under the banners of German, or Gallic, counts: their attack
      was feeble and unsuccessful; but the friendly and hostile provinces were
      desolated with indiscriminate rage. The cornfields, the villages, the
      churches themselves, were consumed by fire: the inhabitants were
      massacred, or dragged into captivity; and, in the disorderly retreat, five
      thousand of these inhuman savages were destroyed by hunger or intestine
      discord. When the pious Gontran reproached the guilt or neglect of their
      leaders, and threatened to inflict, not a legal sentence, but instant and
      arbitrary execution, they accused the universal and incurable corruption
      of the people. "No one," they said, "any longer fears or respects his
      king, his duke, or his count. Each man loves to do evil, and freely
      indulges his criminal inclinations. The most gentle correction provokes an
      immediate tumult, and the rash magistrate, who presumes to censure or
      restrain his seditious subjects, seldom escapes alive from their revenge."
      <a href="#link38note-121" name="link38noteref-121" id="link38noteref-121">121</a>
      It has been reserved for the same nation to expose, by their intemperate
      vices, the most odious abuse of freedom; and to supply its loss by the
      spirit of honor and humanity, which now alleviates and dignifies their
      obedience to an absolute sovereign. <a href="#link38note-1211"
      name="link38noteref-1211" id="link38noteref-1211">1211</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-119" id="link38note-119">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      119 (<a href="#link38noteref-119">return</a>)<br /> [ Ce beau systeme a ete
      trouve dans les bois. Montesquieu, Esprit des Loix, l. xi. c. 6.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-120" id="link38note-120">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      120 (<a href="#link38noteref-120">return</a>)<br /> [ See the Abbe de
      Mably. Observations, &amp;c., tom. i. p. 34-56. It should seem that the
      institution of national assemblies, which are with the French nation, has
      never been congenial to its temper.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-121" id="link38note-121">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      121 (<a href="#link38noteref-121">return</a>)<br /> [ Gregory of Tours (l.
      viii. c. 30, in tom. ii. p. 325, 326) relates, with much indifference, the
      crimes, the reproof, and the apology. Nullus Regem metuit, nullus Ducem,
      nullus Comitem reveretur; et si fortassis alicui ista displicent, et ea,
      pro longaevitate vitae vestrae, emendare conatur, statim seditio in
      populo, statim tumultus exoritur, et in tantum unusquisque contra seniorem
      saeva intentione grassatur, ut vix se credat evadere, si tandem silere
      nequiverit.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-1211" id="link38note-1211">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1211 (<a href="#link38noteref-1211">return</a>)<br /> [ This remarkable
      passage was published in 1779&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The Visigoths had resigned to Clovis the greatest part of their Gallic
      possessions; but their loss was amply compensated by the easy conquest,
      and secure enjoyment, of the provinces of Spain. From the monarchy of the
      Goths, which soon involved the Suevic kingdom of Gallicia, the modern
      Spaniards still derive some national vanity; but the historian of the
      Roman empire is neither invited, nor compelled, to pursue the obscure and
      barren series of their annals. <a href="#link38note-122"
      name="link38noteref-122" id="link38noteref-122">122</a> The Goths of Spain
      were separated from the rest of mankind by the lofty ridge of the
      Pyrenaean mountains: their manners and institutions, as far as they were
      common to the Germanic tribes, have been already explained. I have
      anticipated, in the preceding chapter, the most important of their
      ecclesiastical events, the fall of Arianism, and the persecution of the
      Jews; and it only remains to observe some interesting circumstances which
      relate to the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of the Spanish
      kingdom.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-122" id="link38note-122">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      122 (<a href="#link38noteref-122">return</a>)<br /> [ Spain, in these dark
      ages, has been peculiarly unfortunate. The Franks had a Gregory of Tours;
      the Saxons, or Angles, a Bede; the Lombards, a Paul Warnefrid, &amp;c. But
      the history of the Visigoths is contained in the short and imperfect
      Chronicles of Isidore of Seville and John of Biclar]
    </p>
    <p>
      After their conversion from idolatry or heresy, the Frank and the
      Visigoths were disposed to embrace, with equal submission, the inherent
      evils and the accidental benefits, of superstition. But the prelates of
      France, long before the extinction of the Merovingian race, had
      degenerated into fighting and hunting Barbarians. They disdained the use
      of synods; forgot the laws of temperance and chastity; and preferred the
      indulgence of private ambition and luxury to the general interest of the
      sacerdotal profession. <a href="#link38note-123" name="link38noteref-123"
      id="link38noteref-123">123</a> The bishops of Spain respected themselves,
      and were respected by the public: their indissoluble union disguised their
      vices, and confirmed their authority; and the regular discipline of the
      church introduced peace, order, and stability, into the government of the
      state. From the reign of Recared, the first Catholic king, to that of
      Witiza, the immediate predecessor of the unfortunate Roderic, sixteen
      national councils were successively convened. The six metropolitans,
      Toledo, Seville, Merida, Braga, Tarragona, and Narbonne, presided
      according to their respective seniority; the assembly was composed of
      their suffragan bishops, who appeared in person, or by their proxies; and
      a place was assigned to the most holy, or opulent, of the Spanish abbots.
      During the first three days of the convocation, as long as they agitated
      the ecclesiastical question of doctrine and discipline, the profane 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 the palace, the
      dukes and counts of the provinces, the judges of the cities, and the
      Gothic nobles, and the decrees of Heaven were ratified by the consent of
      the people.
    </p>
    <p>
      The same rules were observed in the provincial assemblies, the annual
      synods, which were empowered to hear complaints, and to redress
      grievances; and a legal government was supported by the prevailing
      influence of the Spanish clergy. The bishops, who, in each revolution,
      were prepared to flatter the victorious, and to insult the prostrate
      labored, with diligence and success, to kindle the flames of persecution,
      and to exalt the mitre above the crown. Yet the national councils of
      Toledo, in which the free spirit of the Barbarians was tempered and guided
      by episcopal policy, have established some prudent laws for the common
      benefit of the king and people. The vacancy of the throne was supplied by
      the choice of the bishops and palatines; and after the failure of the line
      of Alaric, the regal dignity was still limited to the pure and noble blood
      of the Goths. The clergy, who anointed their lawful prince, always
      recommended, and sometimes practised, the duty of allegiance; and the
      spiritual censures were denounced on the heads of the impious subjects,
      who should resist his authority, conspire against his life, or violate, by
      an indecent union, the chastity even of his widow. But the monarch
      himself, when he ascended the throne, was bound by a reciprocal oath to
      God and his people, that he would faithfully execute this important trust.
      The real or imaginary faults of his administration were subject to the
      control of a powerful aristocracy; and the bishops and palatines were
      guarded by a fundamental privilege, that they should not be degraded,
      imprisoned, tortured, nor punished with death, exile, or confiscation,
      unless by the free and public judgment of their peers. <a
      href="#link38note-124" name="link38noteref-124" id="link38noteref-124">124</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-123" id="link38note-123">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      123 (<a href="#link38noteref-123">return</a>)<br /> [ Such are the
      complaints of St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany, and the reformer of
      Gaul, (in tom. iv. p. 94.) The fourscore years, which he deplores, of
      license and corruption, would seem to insinuate that the Barbarians were
      admitted into the clergy about the year 660.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-124" id="link38note-124">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      124 (<a href="#link38noteref-124">return</a>)<br /> [ The acts of the
      councils of Toledo are still the most authentic records of the church and
      constitution of Spain. The following passages 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 found Mascou (Hist. of the Ancient Germans, xv.
      29, and Annotations, xxvi. and xxxiii.) and Ferreras (Hist. Generale de
      l'Espagne, tom. ii.) very useful and accurate guides.]
    </p>
    <p>
      One of these legislative councils of Toledo examined and ratified the code
      of laws which had been compiled by a succession of Gothic kings, from the
      fierce Euric, to the devout Egica. As long as the Visigoths themselves
      were satisfied with the rude customs of their ancestors, they indulged
      their subjects of Aquitain and Spain in the enjoyment of the Roman law.
      Their gradual improvement in arts, in policy, and at length in religion,
      encouraged them to imitate, and to supersede, these foreign institutions;
      and to compose a code of civil and criminal jurisprudence, for the use of
      a great and united people. The same obligations, and the same privileges,
      were communicated to the nations of the Spanish monarchy; and the
      conquerors, insensibly renouncing the Teutonic idiom, submitted to the
      restraints of equity, and exalted the Romans to the participation of
      freedom. The merit of this impartial policy was enhanced by the situation
      of Spain under the reign of the Visigoths. The provincials were long
      separated from their Arian masters by the irreconcilable difference of
      religion. After the conversion of Recared had removed the prejudices of
      the Catholics, the coasts, both of the Ocean and Mediterranean, were still
      possessed by the Eastern emperors; who secretly excited a discontented
      people to reject the yoke of the Barbarians, and to assert the name and
      dignity of Roman citizens. The allegiance of doubtful subjects is indeed
      most effectually secured by their own persuasion, that they hazard more in
      a revolt, than they can hope to obtain by a revolution; but it has
      appeared so natural to oppress those whom we hate and fear, that the
      contrary system well deserves the praise of wisdom and moderation. <a
      href="#link38note-125" name="link38noteref-125" id="link38noteref-125">125</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-125" id="link38note-125">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      125 (<a href="#link38noteref-125">return</a>)<br /> [ The Code of the
      Visigoths, regularly divided into twelve books, has been correctly
      published by Dom Bouquet, (in tom. iv. p. 273-460.) It has been treated by
      the President de Montesquieu (Esprit des Loix, l. xxviii. c. 1) with
      excessive severity. I dislike the style; I detest the superstition; but I
      shall presume to think, that the civil jurisprudence displays a more
      civilized and enlightened state of society, than that of the Burgundians,
      or even of the Lombards.]
    </p>
    <p>
      While the kingdom of the Franks and Visigoths were established in Gaul and
      Spain, the Saxons achieved the conquest of Britain, the third great
      diocese of the Praefecture of the West. Since Britain was already
      separated from the Roman empire, I might, without reproach, decline a
      story 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 the
      battle-axe, were ignorant of the art which could alone perpetuate the fame
      of their exploits; the Provincials, relapsing into barbarism, neglected to
      describe the ruin of their country; and the doubtful tradition was almost
      extinguished, before the missionaries of Rome restored the light of
      science and Christianity. The declamations of Gildas, the fragments, or
      fables, of Nennius, the obscure hints of the Saxon laws and chronicles,
      and the ecclesiastical tales of the venerable Bede, <a
      href="#link38note-126" name="link38noteref-126" id="link38noteref-126">126</a>
      have been illustrated by the diligence, and sometimes embellished by the
      fancy, of succeeding writers, whose works I am not ambitious either to
      censure or to transcribe. <a href="#link38note-127"
      name="link38noteref-127" id="link38noteref-127">127</a> Yet the historian
      of the empire may be tempted to pursue the revolutions of a Roman
      province, till it vanishes from his sight; and an Englishman may curiously
      trace the establishment of the Barbarians, from whom he derives his name,
      his laws, and perhaps his origin.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-126" id="link38note-126">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      126 (<a href="#link38noteref-126">return</a>)<br /> [ 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, &amp;c., edit. Gibson. The Anglo-Saxon laws were published by
      Wilkins, London, 1731, in folio; and the Leges Wallicae, by Wotton and
      Clarke, London, 1730, in folio.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-127" id="link38note-127">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      127 (<a href="#link38noteref-127">return</a>)<br /> [ The laborious Mr.
      Carte, and the ingenious Mr. Whitaker, are the two modern writers to whom
      I am principally indebted. The particular 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 Sketch of the "Early History of England."&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      About forty years after the dissolution of the Roman government, Vortigern
      appears to have obtained the supreme, though precarious command of the
      princes and cities of Britain. That unfortunate monarch has been almost
      unanimously condemned for the weak and mischievous policy of inviting <a
      href="#link38note-128" name="link38noteref-128" id="link38noteref-128">128</a>
      a formidable stranger, to repel the vexatious inroads of a domestic foe.
      His ambassadors are despatched, by the gravest historians, to the coast of
      Germany: they address a pathetic oration to the general assembly of the
      Saxons, and those warlike Barbarians resolve to assist with a fleet and
      army the suppliants of a distant and unknown island. If Britain had indeed
      been unknown to the Saxons, the measure of its calamities would have been
      less complete. But the strength of the Roman government could not always
      guard the maritime province against the pirates of Germany; the
      independent and divided states were exposed to their attacks; and the
      Saxons might sometimes join the Scots and the Picts, in a tacit, or
      express, confederacy of rapine and destruction. Vortigern could only
      balance the various perils, which assaulted on every side his throne and
      his people; and his policy may deserve either praise or excuse, if he
      preferred the alliance of those Barbarians, whose naval power rendered
      them the most dangerous enemies and the most serviceable allies. Hengist
      and Horsa, as they ranged along the Eastern coast with three ships, were
      engaged, by the promise of an ample stipend, to embrace the defence of
      Britain; and their intrepid valor soon delivered the country from the
      Caledonian invaders. The Isle of Thanet, a secure and fertile district,
      was allotted for the residence of these German auxiliaries, and they were
      supplied, according to the treaty, with a plentiful allowance of clothing
      and provisions. This favorable reception encouraged five thousand warriors
      to embark with their families in seventeen vessels, and the infant power
      of Hengist was fortified by this strong and seasonable reenforcement. The
      crafty Barbarian suggested to Vortigern the obvious advantage of fixing,
      in the neighborhood of the Picts, a colony of faithful allies: a third
      fleet of forty ships, under the command 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 nations were soon divided and exasperated by mutual
      jealousies. The Saxons magnified all that they had done and suffered in
      the cause of an ungrateful people; while the Britons regretted the liberal
      rewards which could not satisfy the avarice of those haughty mercenaries.
      The causes of fear and hatred were inflamed into an irreconcilable
      quarrel. The Saxons flew to arms; and if they perpetrated a treacherous
      massacre during the security of a feast, they destroyed the reciprocal
      confidence which sustains the intercourse of peace and war. <a
      href="#link38note-129" name="link38noteref-129" id="link38noteref-129">129</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-128" id="link38note-128">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      128 (<a href="#link38noteref-128">return</a>)<br /> [ This invitation,
      which may derive some countenance from the loose expressions of Gildas and
      Bede, is framed into a regular story by Witikind, a Saxon monk of the
      tenth century, (see Cousin, Hist. de l'Empire d'Occident, tom. ii. p.
      356.) Rapin, and even Hume, have too freely used this suspicious evidence,
      without regarding the precise and probable testimony of Tennius: Iterea
      venerunt tres Chinlae a exilio pulsoe, in quibus erant Hors et Hengist.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-129" id="link38note-129">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      129 (<a href="#link38noteref-129">return</a>)<br /> [ Nennius imputes to
      the Saxons the murder of three hundred British chiefs; a crime not
      unsuitable to their savage manners. But we are not obliged to believe (see
      Jeffrey of Monmouth, l. viii. c. 9-12) that Stonehenge is their monument,
      which the giants had formerly transported from Africa to Ireland, and
      which was removed to Britain by the order of Ambrosius, and the art of
      Merlin. * Note: Sir f. Palgrave (Hist. of England, p. 36) is inclined to
      resolve the whole of these stories, as Niebuhr the older Roman history,
      into poetry. To the editor they appeared, in early youth, so essentially
      poetic, as to justify the rash attempt to embody them in an Epic Poem,
      called Samor, commenced at Eton, and finished before he had arrived at the
      maturer taste of manhood.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Hengist, who boldly aspired to the conquest of Britain, exhorted his
      countrymen to embrace the glorious opportunity: he painted in lively
      colors the fertility of the soil, the wealth of the cities, the
      pusillanimous temper of the natives, and the convenient situation of a
      spacious solitary island, accessible on all sides to the Saxon fleets. The
      successive colonies which issued, in the period of a century, from the
      mouths of the Elbe, the Weser, and the Rhine, were principally composed of
      three valiant tribes or nations of Germany; the Jutes, the old Saxons, and
      the Angles. The Jutes, who fought under the peculiar banner of Hengist,
      assumed the merit of leading their countrymen in the paths of glory, and
      of erecting, in Kent, the first independent kingdom. The fame of the
      enterprise was attributed to the primitive Saxons; and the common laws and
      language of the conquerors are described by the national appellation of a
      people, which, at the end of four hundred years, produced the first
      monarchs of South Britain. The Angles were distinguished by their numbers
      and their success; and they claimed the honor of fixing a perpetual name
      on the country, of which they occupied the most ample portion. The
      Barbarians, who followed the hopes of rapine either on the land or sea,
      were insensibly blended with this triple confederacy; the Frisians, who
      had been tempted by their vicinity to the British shores, might balance,
      during a short space, the strength and reputation of the native Saxons;
      the Danes, the Prussians, the Rugians, are faintly described; and some
      adventurous Huns, who had wandered as far as the Baltic, might embark on
      board the German vessels, for the conquest of a new world. <a
      href="#link38note-130" name="link38noteref-130" id="link38noteref-130">130</a>
      But this arduous achievement was not prepared or executed by the union of
      national powers. Each intrepid chieftain, according to the measure of his
      fame and fortunes, assembled his followers; equipped a fleet of three, or
      perhaps of sixty, vessels; chose the place of the attack; and conducted
      his subsequent operations according to the events of the war, and the
      dictates of his private interest. In the invasion of Britain many heroes
      vanquished and fell; but only seven victorious leaders assumed, or at
      least maintained, the title of kings. Seven independent thrones, the Saxon
      Heptarchy, <a href="#link38note-1301" name="link38noteref-1301"
      id="link38noteref-1301">1301</a> were founded by the conquerors, and seven
      families, one of which has been continued, by female succession, to our
      present sovereign, derived their equal and sacred lineage from Woden, the
      god of war. It has been pretended, that this republic of kings was
      moderated by a general council and a supreme magistrate. But such an
      artificial scheme of policy is repugnant to the rude and turbulent spirit
      of the Saxons: their laws are silent; and their imperfect annals afford
      only a dark and bloody prospect of intestine discord. <a
      href="#link38note-131" name="link38noteref-131" id="link38noteref-131">131</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-130" id="link38note-130">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      130 (<a href="#link38noteref-130">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 not perceive the absurdity of supposing that
      the Frisians, &amp;c., were mingled with the Anglo-Saxons.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-1301" id="link38note-1301">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1301 (<a href="#link38noteref-1301">return</a>)<br /> [ This term (the
      Heptarchy) must be rejected because an idea is conveyed thereby which is
      substantially wrong. At no one period were there ever seven kingdoms
      independent of each other. Palgrave, vol. i. p. 46. Mr. Sharon Turner has
      the merit of having first confuted the popular notion on this subject.
      Anglo-Saxon History, vol. i. p. 302.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-131" id="link38note-131">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      131 (<a href="#link38noteref-131">return</a>)<br /> [ Bede has enumerated
      seven kings, two Saxons, a Jute, and four Angles, who successively
      acquired in the heptarchy an indefinite supremacy of power and renown. But
      their reign was the effect, not of law, but of conquest; and he observes,
      in similar terms, that one of them subdued the Isles of Man and Anglesey;
      and that another imposed a tribute on the Scots and Picts. (Hist. Eccles.
      l. ii. c. 5, p. 83.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      A monk, who, in the profound ignorance of human life, has presumed to
      exercise the office of historian, strangely disfigures the state of
      Britain at the time of its separation from the Western empire. Gildas <a
      href="#link38note-132" name="link38noteref-132" id="link38noteref-132">132</a>
      describes in florid language the improvements of agriculture, the foreign
      trade which flowed with every tide into the Thames and the Severn 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, and incapable, without the
      aid of the Romans, of providing walls of stone, or weapons of iron, for
      the defence of their native land. <a href="#link38note-133"
      name="link38noteref-133" id="link38noteref-133">133</a> Under the long
      dominion of the emperors, Britain had been insensibly moulded into the
      elegant and servile form of a Roman province, whose safety was intrusted
      to a foreign power. The subjects of Honorius contemplated their new
      freedom with surprise and terror; they were left destitute of any civil or
      military constitution; and their uncertain rulers wanted either skill, or
      courage, or authority, to direct the public force against the common
      enemy. The introduction of the Saxons betrayed their internal weakness,
      and degraded the character both of the prince and people. Their
      consternation magnified the danger; the want of union diminished their
      resources; and the madness of civil factions was more solicitous to
      accuse, than to remedy, the evils, which they imputed to the misconduct of
      their adversaries.
    </p>
    <p>
      Yet the Britons were not ignorant, they could not be ignorant, of the
      manufacture or the use of arms; the successive and disorderly attacks of
      the Saxons allowed them to recover from their amazement, and the
      prosperous or adverse events of the war added discipline and experience to
      their native valor.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-132" id="link38note-132">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      132 (<a href="#link38noteref-132">return</a>)<br /> [ See Gildas de Excidio
      Britanniae, c. i. p. l. edit. Gale.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-133" id="link38note-133">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      133 (<a href="#link38noteref-133">return</a>)<br /> [ Mr. Whitaker (Hist.
      of Manchester, vol. ii. p. 503, 516) has smartly exposed this glaring
      absurdity, which had passed unnoticed by the general historians, as they
      were hastening to more interesting and important events]
    </p>
    <p>
      While the continent of Europe and Africa yielded, without resistance, to
      the Barbarians, the British island, alone and unaided, maintained a long,
      a vigorous, though an unsuccessful, struggle, against the formidable
      pirates, who, almost at the same instant, assaulted the Northern, the
      Eastern, and the Southern coasts. The cities which had been fortified with
      skill, were defended with resolution; the advantages of ground, hills,
      forests, and morasses, were diligently improved by the inhabitants; the
      conquest of each district was purchased with blood; and the defeats of the
      Saxons are strongly attested by the discreet silence of their annalist.
      Hengist might hope to achieve the conquest of Britain; but his ambition,
      in an active reign of thirty-five years, was confined to the possession of
      Kent; and the numerous colony which he had planted in the North, was
      extirpated by the sword of the Britons. The monarchy of the West Saxons
      was laboriously founded by the persevering efforts of three martial
      generations. The life of Cerdic, one of the bravest of the children of
      Woden, was consumed in the conquest of Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight;
      and the loss which he sustained in the battle of Mount Badon, reduced him
      to a state of inglorious repose. Kenric, his valiant son, advanced into
      Wiltshire; besieged Salisbury, at that time seated on a commanding
      eminence; and vanquished an army which advanced to the relief of the city.
      In the subsequent battle of Marlborough, <a href="#link38note-134"
      name="link38noteref-134" id="link38noteref-134">134</a> his British
      enemies displayed their military science. Their troops were formed in
      three lines; each line consisted of three distinct bodies, and the
      cavalry, the archers, and the pikemen, were distributed according to the
      principles of Roman tactics. The Saxons charged in one weighty column,
      boldly encountered with their shord swords the long lances of the Britons,
      and maintained an equal conflict till the approach of night. Two decisive
      victories, the death of three British kings, and the reduction of
      Cirencester, Bath, and Gloucester, established the fame and power of
      Ceaulin, the grandson of Cerdic, who carried his victorious arms to the
      banks of the Severn.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-134" id="link38note-134">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      134 (<a href="#link38noteref-134">return</a>)<br /> [ At Beran-birig, or
      Barbury-castle, near Marlborough. The Saxon chronicle assigns the name and
      date. Camden (Britannia, vol. i. p. 128) ascertains the place; and Henry
      of Huntingdon (Scriptores pest Bedam, p. 314) relates the circumstances of
      this battle. They are probable and characteristic; and the historians of
      the twelfth century might consult some materials that no longer exist.]
      After a war of a hundred years, the independent Britons still occupied the
      whole extent of the Western coast, from the wall of Antoninus to the
      extreme promontory of Cornwall; and the principal cities of the inland
      country still opposed the arms of the Barbarians. Resistance became more
      languid, as the number and boldness of the assailants continually
      increased. 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 were united in the
      centre of the island. Beyond the Severn the Britons still asserted their
      national freedom, which survived the heptarchy, and even the monarchy, of
      the Saxons. The bravest warriors, who preferred exile to slavery, found a
      secure refuge in the mountains of Wales: the reluctant submission of
      Cornwall was delayed for some ages; <a href="#link38note-135"
      name="link38noteref-135" id="link38noteref-135">135</a> and a band of
      fugitives acquired a settlement in Gaul, by their own valor, or the
      liberality of the Merovingian kings. <a href="#link38note-136"
      name="link38noteref-136" id="link38noteref-136">136</a> The Western angle
      of Armorica acquired the new appellations of Cornwall, and the Lesser
      Britain; and the vacant lands of the Osismii were filled by a strange
      people, who, under the authority of their counts and bishops, preserved
      the laws and language of their ancestors. To the feeble descendants of
      Clovis and Charlemagne, the Britons of Armorica refused the customary
      tribute, subdued the neighboring dioceses of Vannes, Rennes, and Nantes,
      and formed a powerful, though vassal, state, which has been united to the
      crown of France. <a href="#link38note-137" name="link38noteref-137"
      id="link38noteref-137">137</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-135" id="link38note-135">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      135 (<a href="#link38noteref-135">return</a>)<br /> [ Cornwall was finally
      subdued by Athelstan, (A.D. 927-941,) who planted an English colony at
      Exeter, and confined the Britons beyond the River Tamar. See William of
      Malmsbury, l. ii., in the Scriptores post Bedam, p. 50. The spirit of the
      Cornish knights was degraded by servitude: and it should seem, from the
      Romance of Sir Tristram, that their cowardice was almost proverbial.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-136" id="link38note-136">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      136 (<a href="#link38noteref-136">return</a>)<br /> [ The establishment of
      the Britons in Gaul is proved in the sixth century, by Procopius, Gregory
      of Tours, the second council of Tours, (A.D. 567,) and the least
      suspicious of their chronicles and lives of saints. The subscription of a
      bishop of the Britons to the first council of Tours, (A.D. 461, or rather
      481,) the army of Riothamus, and the loose declamation of Gildas, (alii
      transmarinas petebant regiones, c. 25, p. 8,) may countenance an
      emigration as early as the middle of the fifth century. Beyond that era,
      the Britons of Armorica can be found only in romance; and I am surprised
      that Mr. Whitaker (Genuine History of the Britons, p. 214-221) should so
      faithfully transcribe the gross ignorance of Carte, whose venial errors he
      has so rigorously chastised.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-137" id="link38note-137">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      137 (<a href="#link38noteref-137">return</a>)<br /> [ The antiquities of
      Bretagne, which have been the subject even 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 the Abbe de Vertot, (Hist. Critique de l'Etablissement
      des Bretons dans les Gaules, 2 vols. in 12 mo., Paris, 1720.) I may assume
      the merit of examining the original evidence which they have produced. *
      Note: Compare Gallet, Memoires sur la Bretagne, and Daru, Histoire de
      Bretagne. These authors appear to me to establish the point of the
      independence of Bretagne at the time that the insular Britons took refuge
      in their country, and that the greater part landed as fugitives rather
      than as conquerors. I observe that M. Lappenberg (Geschichte von England,
      vol. i. p. 56) supposes the settlement of a military colony formed of
      British soldiers, (Milites limitanei, laeti,) during the usurpation of
      Maximus, (381, 388,) who gave their name and peculiar civilization to
      Bretagne. M. Lappenberg expresses his surprise that Gibbon here rejects
      the authority which he follows elsewhere.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link382HCH0005" id="link382HCH0005">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.&mdash;Part V.
    </h2>
    <p>
      In a century of perpetual, or at least implacable, war, much courage, and
      some skill, must have been exerted for the defence of Britain. Yet if the
      memory of its champions is almost buried in oblivion, we need not repine;
      since every age, however destitute of science or virtue, sufficiently
      abounds with acts of blood and military renown. The tomb of Vortimer, the
      son of Vortigern, was erected on the margin of the sea-shore, as a
      landmark formidable to the Saxons, whom he had thrice vanquished in the
      fields of Kent. Ambrosius Aurelian was descended from a noble family of
      Romans; <a href="#link38note-138" name="link38noteref-138"
      id="link38noteref-138">138</a> his modesty was equal to his valor, and his
      valor, till the last fatal action, <a href="#link38note-139"
      name="link38noteref-139" id="link38noteref-139">139</a> was crowned with
      splendid success. But every British name is effaced by the illustrious
      name of Arthur, <a href="#link38note-140" name="link38noteref-140"
      id="link38noteref-140">140</a> the hereditary prince of the Silures, in
      South Wales, and the elective king or general of the nation. According to
      the most rational account, he defeated, in twelve successive battles, the
      Angles of the North, and the Saxons of the West; but the declining age of
      the hero was imbittered by popular ingratitude and domestic misfortunes.
      The events of his life are less interesting than the singular revolutions
      of his fame. During a period of five hundred years the tradition of his
      exploits was preserved, and rudely embellished, by the obscure bards of
      Wales and Armorica, who were odious to the Saxons, and unknown to the rest
      of mankind. The pride and curiosity of the Norman conquerors prompted them
      to inquire into the ancient history of Britain: they listened with fond
      credulity to the tale of Arthur, and eagerly applauded the merit of a
      prince who had triumphed over the Saxons, their common enemies. His
      romance, transcribed in the Latin of Jeffrey of Monmouth, and afterwards
      translated into the fashionable idiom of the times, was enriched with the
      various, though incoherent, ornaments which were familiar to the
      experience, the learning, or the fancy, of the twelfth century. The
      progress of a Phrygian colony, from the Tyber to the Thames, was easily
      ingrafted on the fable of the Aeneid; and the royal ancestors of Arthur
      derived their origin from Troy, and claimed their alliance with the
      Caesars. His trophies were decorated with captive provinces and Imperial
      titles; and his Danish victories avenged the recent injuries of his
      country. The gallantry and superstition of the British hero, his feasts
      and tournaments, and the memorable institution of his Knights of the Round
      Table, were faithfully copied from the reigning manners of chivalry; and
      the fabulous exploits of Uther's son appear less incredible than the
      adventures which were achieved by the enterprising valor of the Normans.
      Pilgrimage, and the holy wars, introduced into Europe the specious
      miracles of Arabian magic. Fairies and giants, flying dragons, and
      enchanted palaces, were blended with the more simple fictions of the West;
      and the fate of Britain depended on the art, or the predictions, of
      Merlin. Every nation embraced and adorned the popular romance of Arthur,
      and the Knights of the Round Table: their names were celebrated in Greece
      and Italy; and the voluminous tales of Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristram were
      devoutly studied by the princes and nobles, who disregarded the genuine
      heroes and historians of antiquity. At length the light of science and
      reason was rekindled; the talisman was broken; the visionary fabric melted
      into air; and by a natural, though unjust, reverse of the public opinion,
      the severity of the present age is inclined to question the existence of
      Arthur. <a href="#link38note-141" name="link38noteref-141"
      id="link38noteref-141">141</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-138" id="link38note-138">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      138 (<a href="#link38noteref-138">return</a>)<br /> [ Bede, who in his
      chronicle (p. 28) places Ambrosius under the 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.) The expression of Nennius (c. 44, p.
      110, edit. Gale) is still more singular, "Unus de consulibus gentis
      Romanicae est pater meus."]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-139" id="link38note-139">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      139 (<a href="#link38noteref-139">return</a>)<br /> [ By the unanimous,
      though doubtful, conjecture of our antiquarians, Ambrosius is confounded
      with Natanleod, who (A.D. 508) lost his own life, and five thousand of his
      subjects, in a battle against Cerdic, the West Saxon, (Chron. Saxon. p.
      17, 18.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-140" id="link38note-140">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      140 (<a href="#link38noteref-140">return</a>)<br /> [ As I am a stranger to
      the Welsh bards, Myrdhin, Llomarch, and Taliessin, my faith in the
      existence and exploits of Arthur principally 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 the reality of the round table. * Note: I presume
      that Gibbon means Llywarch Hen, or the Aged.&mdash;The Elegies of this
      Welsh prince and bard have been published by Mr. Owen; to whose works and
      in the Myvyrian Archaeology, slumbers much curious information on the
      subject of Welsh tradition and poetry. But the Welsh antiquarians have
      never obtained a hearing from the public; they have had no Macpherson to
      compensate for his corruption of their poetic legends by forcing them into
      popularity.&mdash;See also Mr. Sharon Turner's Essay on the Welsh Bards.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-141" id="link38note-141">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      141 (<a href="#link38noteref-141">return</a>)<br /> [ The progress of
      romance, and the state of learning, in the middle ages, are illustrated by
      Mr. Thomas Warton, with the taste of a poet, and the minute diligence of
      an antiquarian. I have derived much instruction from the two learned
      dissertations prefixed to the first volume of his History of English
      Poetry. * Note: These valuable dissertations should not now be read
      without the notes and preliminary essay of the late editor, Mr. Price,
      which, in point of taste and fulness of information, are worthy of
      accompanying and completing those of Warton.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Resistance, if it cannot avert, must increase the miseries of conquest;
      and conquest has never appeared more dreadful and destructive than in the
      hands of the Saxons; who hated the valor of their enemies, disdained the
      faith of treaties, and violated, without remorse, the most sacred objects
      of the Christian worship. The fields of battle might be traced, almost in
      every district, by monuments of bones; the fragments of falling towers
      were stained with blood; the last of the Britons, without distinction of
      age or sex, was massacred, <a href="#link38note-142"
      name="link38noteref-142" id="link38noteref-142">142</a> in the ruins of
      Anderida; <a href="#link38note-143" name="link38noteref-143"
      id="link38noteref-143">143</a> and the repetition of such calamities was
      frequent and familiar under the Saxon heptarchy. The arts and religion,
      the laws and language, which the Romans had so carefully planted in
      Britain, were extirpated by their barbarous successors. After the
      destruction of the principal churches, the bishops, who had declined the
      crown of martyrdom, retired with the holy relics into Wales and Armorica;
      the remains of their flocks were left destitute of any spiritual food; the
      practice, and even the remembrance, of Christianity were abolished; and
      the British clergy might obtain some comfort from the damnation of the
      idolatrous strangers. The kings of France maintained the privileges of
      their Roman subjects; but the ferocious Saxons trampled on the laws of
      Rome, and of the emperors. The proceedings of civil and criminal
      jurisdiction, the titles of honor, the forms of office, the ranks of
      society, and even the domestic rights of marriage, testament, and
      inheritance, were finally suppressed; and the indiscriminate crowd of
      noble and plebeian slaves was governed by the traditionary customs, which
      had been coarsely framed for the shepherds and pirates of Germany. The
      language of science, of business, and of conversation, which had been
      introduced by the Romans, was lost in the general desolation. A sufficient
      number of Latin or Celtic words might be assumed by the Germans, to
      express their new wants and ideas; <a href="#link38note-144"
      name="link38noteref-144" id="link38noteref-144">144</a> but those
      illiterate Pagans preserved and established the use of their national
      dialect. <a href="#link38note-145" name="link38noteref-145"
      id="link38noteref-145">145</a> Almost every name, conspicuous either in
      the church or state, reveals its Teutonic origin; <a href="#link38note-146"
      name="link38noteref-146" id="link38noteref-146">146</a> and the geography
      of England was universally inscribed with foreign characters and
      appellations. The example of a revolution, so rapid and so complete, may
      not easily be found; but it will excite a probable suspicion, that the
      arts of Rome were less deeply rooted in Britain than in Gaul or Spain; and
      that the native rudeness of the country and its inhabitants was covered by
      a thin varnish of Italian manners.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-142" id="link38note-142">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      142 (<a href="#link38noteref-142">return</a>)<br /> [ Hoc anno (490) Aella
      et Cissa obsederunt Andredes-Ceaster; et interfecerunt omnes qui id
      incoluerunt; adeo ut ne unus Brito ibi superstes fuerit, (Chron. Saxon. p.
      15;) an expression more dreadful in its simplicity, than all the vague and
      tedious lamentations of the British Jeremiah.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-143" id="link38note-143">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      143 (<a href="#link38noteref-143">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 great forest (Anderida) which overspread so large a
      portion of Hampshire and Sussex.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-144" id="link38note-144">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      144 (<a href="#link38noteref-144">return</a>)<br /> [ Dr. Johnson affirms,
      that few English words are of British extraction. Mr. Whitaker, who
      understands the British language, has discovered more than three thousand,
      and actually produces a long and various catalogue, (vol. ii. p. 235-329.)
      It is possible, indeed, that many of these words may have been imported
      from the Latin or Saxon into the native idiom of Britain. * Note: Dr.
      Prichard's very curious researches, which connect the Celtic, as well as
      the Teutonic languages with the Indo-European class, make it still more
      difficult to decide between the Celtic or Teutonic origin of English
      words.&mdash;See Prichard on the Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations
      Oxford, 1831.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-145" id="link38note-145">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      145 (<a href="#link38noteref-145">return</a>)<br /> [ In the beginning of
      the seventh century, the Franks and the Anglo-Saxons mutually understood
      each other's language, which was derived from the same Teutonic root,
      (Bede, l. i. c. 25, p. 60.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-146" id="link38note-146">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      146 (<a href="#link38noteref-146">return</a>)<br /> [ After the first
      generation of Italian, or Scottish, missionaries, the dignities of the
      church were filled with Saxon proselytes.]
    </p>
    <p>
      This strange alteration has persuaded historians, and even philosophers,
      that the provincials of Britain were totally exterminated; and that the
      vacant land was again peopled by the perpetual influx, and rapid increase,
      of the German colonies. Three hundred thousand Saxons are said to have
      obeyed the summons of Hengist; <a href="#link38note-147"
      name="link38noteref-147" id="link38noteref-147">147</a> the entire
      emigation of the Angles was attested, in the age of Bede, by the solitude
      of their native country; <a href="#link38note-148" name="link38noteref-148"
      id="link38noteref-148">148</a> and our experience has shown the free
      propagation of the human race, if they are cast on a fruitful wilderness,
      where their steps are unconfined, and their subsistence is plentiful. The
      Saxon kingdoms displayed the face of recent discovery and cultivation; the
      towns were small, the villages were distant; the husbandry was languid and
      unskilful; four sheep were equivalent to an acre of the best land; <a
      href="#link38note-149" name="link38noteref-149" id="link38noteref-149">149</a>
      an ample space of wood and morass was resigned to the vague dominion of
      nature; and the modern bishopric of Durham, the whole territory from the
      Tyne to the Tees, had returned to its primitive state of a savage and
      solitary forest. <a href="#link38note-150" name="link38noteref-150"
      id="link38noteref-150">150</a> Such imperfect population might have been
      supplied, in some generations, by the English colonies; but neither reason
      nor facts can justify the unnatural supposition, that the Saxons of
      Britain remained alone in the desert which they had subdued. After the
      sanguinary Barbarians had secured their dominion, and gratified their
      revenge, it was their interest to preserve the peasants as well as the
      cattle, of the unresisting country. In each successive revolution, the
      patient herd becomes the property of its new masters; and the salutary
      compact of food and labor is silently ratified by their mutual
      necessities. Wilfrid, the apostle of Sussex, <a href="#link38note-151"
      name="link38noteref-151" id="link38noteref-151">151</a> accepted from his
      royal convert the gift of the Vpeninsula of Selsey, near Chichester, with
      the persons and property of its inhabitants, who then amounted to
      eighty-seven families. He released them at once from spiritual and
      temporal bondage; and two hundred and fifty slaves of both sexes were
      baptized by their indulgent master. The kingdom of Sussex, which spread
      from the sea to the Thames, contained seven thousand families; twelve
      hundred were ascribed to the Isle of Wight; and, if we multiply this vague
      computation, it may seem probable, that England was cultivated by a
      million of servants, or villains, who were attached to the estates of
      their arbitrary landlords. The indigent Barbarians were often tempted to
      sell their children, or themselves into perpetual, and even foreign,
      bondage; <a href="#link38note-152" name="link38noteref-152"
      id="link38noteref-152">152</a> yet the special exemptions which were
      granted to national slaves, <a href="#link38note-153"
      name="link38noteref-153" id="link38noteref-153">153</a> sufficiently
      declare that they were much less numerous than the strangers and captives,
      who had lost their liberty, or changed their masters, by the accidents of
      war. When time and religion had mitigated the fierce spirit of the
      Anglo-Saxons, the laws encouraged the frequent practice of manumission;
      and their subjects, of Welsh or Cambrian extraction, assumed the
      respectable station of inferior freemen, possessed of lands, and entitled
      to the rights of civil society. <a href="#link38note-154"
      name="link38noteref-154" id="link38noteref-154">154</a> Such gentle
      treatment might secure the allegiance of a fierce people, who had been
      recently subdued on the confines of Wales and Cornwall. The sage Ina, the
      legislator of Wessex, united the two nations in the bands of domestic
      alliance; and four British lords of Somersetshire may be honorably
      distinguished in the court of a Saxon monarch. <a href="#link38note-155"
      name="link38noteref-155" id="link38noteref-155">155</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-147" id="link38note-147">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      147 (<a href="#link38noteref-147">return</a>)<br /> [ Carte's History of
      England, vol. i. p. 195. He quotes the British historians; but I much
      fear, that Jeffrey of Monmouth (l. vi. c. 15) is his only witness.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-148" id="link38note-148">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      148 (<a href="#link38noteref-148">return</a>)<br /> [ Bede, Hist.
      Ecclesiast. l. i. c. 15, p. 52. The fact is probable, and well attested:
      yet such was the loose intermixture of the German tribes, that we find, in
      a subsequent period, the law of the Angli and Warini of Germany,
      (Lindenbrog. Codex, p. 479-486.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-149" id="link38note-149">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      149 (<a href="#link38noteref-149">return</a>)<br /> [ See Dr. Henry's
      useful and laborious History of Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 388.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-150" id="link38note-150">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      150 (<a href="#link38noteref-150">return</a>)<br /> [ Quicquid (says John
      of Tinemouth) inter Tynam et Tesam fluvios extitit, sola eremi vastitudo
      tunc temporis fuit, et idcirco nullius ditioni servivit, eo quod sola
      indomitorum et sylvestrium animalium spelunca et habitatio fuit, (apud
      Carte, vol. i. p. 195.) From bishop Nicholson (English Historical Library,
      p. 65, 98) I understand that fair copies of John of Tinemouth's ample
      collections are preserved in the libraries of Oxford, Lambeth, &amp;c.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-151" id="link38note-151">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      151 (<a href="#link38noteref-151">return</a>)<br /> [ See the mission of
      Wilfrid, &amp;c., in Bede, Hist. Eccles. l. iv. c. 13, 16, p. 155, 156,
      159.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-152" id="link38note-152">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      152 (<a href="#link38noteref-152">return</a>)<br /> [ From the concurrent
      testimony of Bede (l. ii. c. 1, p. 78) and William of Malmsbury, (l. iii.
      p. 102,) it appears, that the Anglo-Saxons, from the first to the last
      age, persisted in this unnatural practice. Their youths were publicly sold
      in the market of Rome.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-153" id="link38note-153">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      153 (<a href="#link38noteref-153">return</a>)<br /> [ According to the laws
      of Ina, they could not be lawfully sold beyond the seas.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-154" id="link38note-154">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      154 (<a href="#link38noteref-154">return</a>)<br /> [ The life of a Wallus,
      or Cambricus, homo, who possessed a hyde 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 a free 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 laws of the four kings of Kent do not condescend to
      notice the existence of any subject Britons.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-155" id="link38note-155">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      155 (<a href="#link38noteref-155">return</a>)<br /> [ See Carte's Hist. of
      England, vol. i. p. 278.]
    </p>
    <p>
      The independent Britons appear to have relapsed into the state of original
      barbarism, from whence they had been imperfectly reclaimed. Separated by
      their enemies from the rest of mankind, they soon became an object of
      scandal and abhorrence to the Catholic world. <a href="#link38note-156"
      name="link38noteref-156" id="link38noteref-156">156</a> Christianity was
      still professed in the mountains of Wales; but the rude schismatics, in
      the form of the clerical tonsure, and in the day of the celebration of
      Easter, obstinately resisted the imperious mandates of the Roman pontiffs.
      The use of the Latin language was insensibly abolished, and the Britons
      were deprived of the art and learning which Italy communicated to her
      Saxon proselytes. In Wales and Armorica, the Celtic tongue, the native
      idiom of the West, was preserved and propagated; and the Bards, who had
      been the companions of the Druids, were still protected, in the sixteenth
      century, by the laws of Elizabeth. Their chief, a respectable officer of
      the courts of Pengwern, or Aberfraw, or Caermarthen, accompanied the
      king's servants to war: the monarchy of the Britons, which he sung in the
      front of battle, excited their courage, and justified their depredations;
      and the songster claimed for his legitimate prize the fairest heifer of
      the spoil. His subordinate ministers, the masters and disciples of vocal
      and instrumental music, visited, in their respective circuits, the royal,
      the noble, and the plebeian houses; and the public poverty, almost
      exhausted by the clergy, was oppressed by the importunate demands of the
      bards. Their rank and merit were ascertained by solemn trials, and the
      strong belief of supernatural inspiration exalted the fancy of the poet,
      and of his audience. <a href="#link38note-157" name="link38noteref-157"
      id="link38noteref-157">157</a> The last retreats of Celtic freedom, the
      extreme territories of Gaul and Britain, were less adapted to agriculture
      than to pasturage: the wealth of the Britons consisted in their flocks and
      herds; milk and flesh were their ordinary food; and bread was sometimes
      esteemed, or rejected, as a foreign luxury. Liberty had peopled the
      mountains of Wales and the morasses of Armorica; but their populousness
      has been maliciously ascribed to the loose practice of polygamy; and the
      houses of these licentious barbarians have been supposed to contain ten
      wives, and perhaps fifty children. <a href="#link38note-158"
      name="link38noteref-158" id="link38noteref-158">158</a> Their disposition
      was rash and choleric; they were bold in action and in speech; <a
      href="#link38note-159" name="link38noteref-159" id="link38noteref-159">159</a>
      and as they were ignorant of the arts of peace, they alternately indulged
      their passions in foreign and domestic war. The cavalry of Armorica, the
      spearmen of Gwent, and the archers of Merioneth, were equally formidable;
      but their poverty could seldom procure either shields or helmets; and the
      inconvenient weight would have retarded the speed and agility of their
      desultory operations. One of the greatest of the English monarchs was
      requested to satisfy the curiosity of a Greek emperor concerning the state
      of Britain; and Henry II. could assert, from his personal experience, that
      Wales was inhabited by a race of naked warriors, who encountered, without
      fear, the defensive armor of their enemies. <a href="#link38note-160"
      name="link38noteref-160" id="link38noteref-160">160</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-156" id="link38note-156">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      156 (<a href="#link38noteref-156">return</a>)<br /> [ At the conclusion of
      his history, (A.D. 731,) Bede describes the ecclesiastical state of the
      island, and censures the implacable, though impotent, hatred of the
      Britons against the English nation, and the Catholic church, (l. v. c. 23,
      p. 219.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-157" id="link38note-157">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      157 (<a href="#link38noteref-157">return</a>)<br /> [ Mr. Pennant's Tour in
      Wales (p. 426-449) has furnished me with a curious and interesting account
      of the Welsh bards. In the year 1568, a session was held at Caerwys by the
      special command of Queen Elizabeth, and regular degrees in vocal and
      instrumental music were conferred on fifty-five minstrels. The prize (a
      silver harp) was adjudged by the Mostyn family.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-158" id="link38note-158">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      158 (<a href="#link38noteref-158">return</a>)<br /> [ Regio longe lateque
      diffusa, milite, magis quam credibile sit, referta. Partibus equidem in
      illis miles unus quinquaginta generat, sortitus more barbaro denas aut
      amplius uxores. This reproach of William of Poitiers (in the Historians of
      France, tom. xi. p. 88) is disclaimed by the Benedictine editors.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-159" id="link38note-159">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      159 (<a href="#link38noteref-159">return</a>)<br /> [ Giraldus Cambrensis
      confines this gift of bold and ready eloquence to the Romans, the French,
      and the Britons. The malicious Welshman insinuates that the English
      taciturnity might possibly be the effect of their servitude under the
      Normans.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-160" id="link38note-160">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      160 (<a href="#link38noteref-160">return</a>)<br /> [ The picture of Welsh
      and Armorican manners is drawn from Giraldus, (Descript. Cambriae, c.
      6-15, inter Script. Camden. p. 886-891,) and the authors quoted by the
      Abbe de Vertot, (Hist. Critique tom. ii. p. 259-266.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      By the revolution of Britain, the limits of science, as well as of empire,
      were contracted. The dark cloud, which had been cleared by the Phoenician
      discoveries, and finally dispelled by the arms of Caesar, again settled on
      the shores of the Atlantic, and a Roman province was again lost among the
      fabulous Islands of the Ocean. One hundred and fifty years after the reign
      of Honorius, the gravest historian of the times <a href="#link38note-161"
      name="link38noteref-161" id="link38noteref-161">161</a> describes the
      wonders of a remote isle, whose eastern and western parts are divided by
      an antique wall, the boundary of life and death, or, more properly, of
      truth and fiction. The east is a fair country, inhabited by a civilized
      people: the air is healthy, the waters are pure and plentiful, and the
      earth yields her regular and fruitful increase. In the west, beyond the
      wall, the air is infectious and mortal; the ground is covered with
      serpents; and this dreary solitude is the region of departed spirits, who
      are transported from the opposite shores in substantial boats, and by
      living rowers. Some families of fishermen, the subjects of the Franks, are
      excused from tribute, in consideration of the mysterious office which is
      performed by these Charons of the ocean. Each in his turn is summoned, at
      the hour of midnight, to hear the voices, and even the names, of the
      ghosts: he is sensible of their weight, and he feels himself impelled by
      an unknown, but irresistible power. After this dream of fancy, we read
      with astonishment, that the name of this island is Brittia; that it lies
      in the ocean, against the mouth of the Rhine, and less than thirty miles
      from the continent; that it is possessed by three nations, the Frisians,
      the Angles, and the Britons; and that some Angles had appeared at
      Constantinople, in the train of the French ambassadors. From these
      ambassadors Procopius might be informed of a singular, though not
      improbable, adventure, which announces the spirit, rather than the
      delicacy, of an English heroine. She had been betrothed to Radiger, king
      of the Varni, a tribe of Germans who touched the ocean and the Rhine; but
      the perfidious lover was tempted, by motives of policy, to prefer his
      father's widow, the sister of Theodebert, king of the Franks. <a
      href="#link38note-162" name="link38noteref-162" id="link38noteref-162">162</a>
      The forsaken princess of the Angles, instead of bewailing, revenged her
      disgrace. Her warlike subjects are said to have been ignorant of the use,
      and even of the form, of a horse; but she boldly sailed from Britain 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, who generously pardoned his
      offence, dismissed her rival, and compelled the king of the Varni to
      discharge with honor and fidelity the duties of a husband. <a
      href="#link38note-163" name="link38noteref-163" id="link38noteref-163">163</a>
      This gallant exploit appears to be the last naval enterprise of the
      Anglo-Saxons. The arts of navigation, by which they acquired the empire of
      Britain and of the sea, were soon neglected by the indolent Barbarians,
      who supinely renounced all the commercial advantages of their insular
      situation. Seven independent kingdoms were agitated by perpetual discord;
      and the British world was seldom connected, either in peace or war, with
      the nations of the Continent. <a href="#link38note-164"
      name="link38noteref-164" id="link38noteref-164">164</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-161" id="link38note-161">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      161 (<a href="#link38noteref-161">return</a>)<br /> [ See Procopius de
      Bell. Gothic. l. iv. c. 20, p. 620-625. The Greek historian is himself so
      confounded by the wonders which he relates, that he weakly attempts to
      distinguish the islands of Britia and Britain, which he has identified by
      so many inseparable circumstances.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-162" id="link38note-162">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      162 (<a href="#link38noteref-162">return</a>)<br /> [ Theodebert, grandson
      of Clovis, and king of Austrasia, was the most powerful and warlike prince
      of the age; and this remarkable adventure may be placed between the years
      534 and 547, the extreme terms of his reign. His sister Theudechildis
      retired to Sens, where she founded monasteries, and distributed alms, (see
      the notes of the Benedictine editors, in tom. ii. p. 216.) If we may
      credit the praises of Fortunatus, (l. vi. carm. 5, in tom. ii. p. 507,)
      Radiger was deprived of a most valuable wife.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-163" id="link38note-163">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      163 (<a href="#link38noteref-163">return</a>)<br /> [ Perhaps she was the
      sister of one of the princes or chiefs of the Angles, who landed in 527,
      and the following years, between the Humber and the Thames, and gradually
      founded the kingdoms of East Anglia and Mercia. The English writers are
      ignorant of her name and existence: but Procopius may have suggested to
      Mr. Rowe the character and situation of Rodogune in the tragedy of the
      Royal Convert.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-164" id="link38note-164">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      164 (<a href="#link38noteref-164">return</a>)<br /> [ In the copious
      history of Gregory of Tours, we cannot find any traces of hostile or
      friendly intercourse between France and England except in the marriage of
      the daughter of Caribert, king of Paris, quam regis cujusdam in Cantia
      filius matrimonio copulavit, (l. ix. c. 28, in tom. ii. p. 348.) The
      bishop of Tours ended his history and his life almost immediately before
      the conversion of Kent.]
    </p>
    <p>
      I have now accomplished the laborious narrative of the decline and fall of
      the Roman empire, from the fortunate age of Trajan and the Antonines, to
      its total extinction in the West, about five centuries after the Christian
      era. At that unhappy period, the Saxons fiercely struggled with the
      natives for the possession of Britain: Gaul and Spain were divided between
      the powerful monarchies of the Franks and Visigoths, and the dependent
      kingdoms of the Suevi and Burgundians: Africa was exposed to the cruel
      persecution of the Vandals, and the savage insults of the Moors: Rome and
      Italy, as far as the banks of the Danube, were afflicted by an army of
      Barbarian mercenaries, whose lawless tyranny was succeeded by the reign of
      Theodoric the Ostrogoth. All the subjects of the empire, who, by the use
      of the Latin language, more particularly deserved the name and privileges
      of Romans, were oppressed by the disgrace and calamities of foreign
      conquest; and the victorious nations of Germany established a new system
      of manners and government in the western countries of Europe. The majesty
      of Rome was faintly represented by the princes of Constantinople, the
      feeble and imaginary successors of Augustus. Yet they continued to reign
      over the East, from the Danube to the Nile and Tigris; the Gothic and
      Vandal kingdoms of Italy and Africa were subverted by the arms of
      Justinian; and the history of the Greek emperors may still afford a long
      series of instructive lessons, and interesting revolutions.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link382HCH0006" id="link382HCH0006">
      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.&mdash;Part VI.
    </h2>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
    General Observations On The Fall Of The Roman Empire
		In The West.
</pre>
    <p>
      The Greeks, after their country had been reduced into a province, imputed
      the triumphs of Rome, not to the merit, but to the fortune, of the
      republic. The inconstant goddess, who so blindly distributes and resumes
      her favors, had now consented (such was the language of envious flattery)
      to resign her wings, to descend from her globe, and to fix her firm and
      immutable throne on the banks of the Tyber. <a href="#link38note-1000"
      name="link38noteref-1000" id="link38noteref-1000">1000</a> A wiser Greek,
      who has composed, with a philosophic spirit, the memorable history of his
      own times, deprived his countrymen of this vain and delusive comfort, by
      opening to their view the deep foundations of the greatness of Rome. <a
      href="#link38note-2000" name="link38noteref-2000" id="link38noteref-2000">2000</a>
      The fidelity of the citizens to each other, and to the state, was
      confirmed by the habits of education, and the prejudices of religion.
      Honor, as well as virtue, was the principle of the republic; the ambitious
      citizens labored to deserve the solemn glories of a triumph; and the ardor
      of the Roman youth was kindled into active emulation, as often as they
      beheld the domestic images of their ancestors. <a href="#link38note-3000"
      name="link38noteref-3000" id="link38noteref-3000">3000</a> The temperate
      struggles of the patricians and plebeians had finally established the firm
      and equal balance of the constitution; which united the freedom of popular
      assemblies, with the authority and wisdom of a senate, and the executive
      powers of a regal magistrate. When the consul displayed the standard of
      the republic, each citizen bound himself, by the obligation of an oath, to
      draw his sword in the cause of his country, till he had discharged the
      sacred duty by a military service of ten years. This wise institution
      continually poured into the field the rising generations of freemen and
      soldiers; and their numbers were reenforced by the warlike and populous
      states of Italy, who, after a brave resistance, had yielded to the valor
      and embraced the alliance, of the Romans. The sage historian, who excited
      the virtue of the younger Scipio, and beheld the ruin of Carthage, <a
      href="#link38note-4000" name="link38noteref-4000" id="link38noteref-4000">4000</a>
      has accurately described their military system; their levies, arms,
      exercises, subordination, marches, encampments; and the invincible legion,
      superior in active strength to the Macedonian phalanx of Philip and
      Alexander. From these institutions of peace and war Polybius has deduced
      the spirit and success of a people, incapable of fear, and impatient of
      repose. The ambitious design of conquest, which might have been defeated
      by the seasonable conspiracy of mankind, was attempted and achieved; and
      the perpetual violation of justice was maintained by the political virtues
      of prudence and courage. The arms of the republic, sometimes vanquished in
      battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the
      Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the Ocean; and the images of gold,
      or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their
      kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome. <a
      href="#link38note-5000" name="link38noteref-5000" id="link38noteref-5000">5000</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-1000" id="link38note-1000">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1000 (<a href="#link38noteref-1000">return</a>)<br /> [ Such are the
      figurative expressions of Plutarch, (Opera, tom. ii. p. 318, edit.
      Wechel,) to whom, on the faith of his son Lamprias, (Fabricius, Bibliot.
      Graec. tom. iii. p. 341,) I shall boldly impute the malicious declamation.
      The same opinions had prevailed among the Greeks two hundred and fifty
      years before Plutarch; and to confute them is the professed intention of
      Polybius, (Hist. l. i. p. 90, edit. Gronov. Amstel. 1670.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-2000" id="link38note-2000">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      2000 (<a href="#link38noteref-2000">return</a>)<br /> [ See the inestimable
      remains of the sixth book of Polybius, and many other parts of his general
      history, particularly a digression in the seventeenth book, in which he
      compares the phalanx and the legion.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-3000" id="link38note-3000">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      3000 (<a href="#link38noteref-3000">return</a>)<br /> [ Sallust, de Bell.
      Jugurthin. c. 4. Such were the generous professions of P. Scipio and Q.
      Maximus. The Latin historian had read and most probably transcribes,
      Polybius, their contemporary and friend.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-4000" id="link38note-4000">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      4000 (<a href="#link38noteref-4000">return</a>)<br /> [ While Carthage was
      in flames, Scipio repeated two lines of the Iliad, which express the
      destruction of Troy, acknowledging to Polybius, his friend and preceptor,
      (Polyb. in Excerpt. de Virtut. et Vit. tom. ii. p. 1455-1465,) that while
      he recollected the vicissitudes of human affairs, he inwardly applied them
      to the future calamities of Rome, (Appian. in Libycis, p. 136, edit.
      Toll.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-5000" id="link38note-5000">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      5000 (<a href="#link38noteref-5000">return</a>)<br /> [ See Daniel, ii.
      31-40. "And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; forasmuch as iron
      breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things." The remainder of the prophecy
      (the mixture of iron and clay) was accomplished, according to St. Jerom,
      in his own time. Sicut enim in principio nihil Romano Imperio fortius et
      durius, ita in fine rerum nihil imbecillius; quum et in bellis civilibus
      et adversus diversas nationes, aliarum gentium barbararum auxilio
      indigemus, (Opera, tom. v. p. 572.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      The rise of a city, which swelled into an empire, may deserve, as a
      singular prodigy, the reflection of a philosophic mind. But the decline of
      Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness.
      Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction
      multiplied with the extent of conquest; and as soon as time or accident
      had removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the
      pressure of its own weight. The story of its ruin is simple and obvious;
      and instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should
      rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long. The victorious legions,
      who, in distant wars, acquired the vices of strangers and mercenaries,
      first oppressed the freedom of the republic, and afterwards violated the
      majesty of the purple. The emperors, anxious for their personal safety and
      the public peace, were reduced to the base expedient of corrupting the
      discipline which rendered them alike formidable to their sovereign and to
      the enemy; the vigor of the military government was relaxed, and finally
      dissolved, by the partial institutions of Constantine; and the Roman world
      was overwhelmed by a deluge of Barbarians.
    </p>
    <p>
      The decay of Rome has been frequently ascribed to the translation of the
      seat of empire; but this History has already shown, that the powers of
      government were divided, rather than removed. The throne of Constantinople
      was erected in the East; while the West was still possessed by a series of
      emperors who held their residence in Italy, and claimed their equal
      inheritance of the legions and provinces. This dangerous novelty impaired
      the strength, and fomented the vices, of a double reign: the instruments
      of an oppressive and arbitrary system were multiplied; and a vain
      emulation of luxury, not of merit, was introduced and supported between
      the degenerate successors of Theodosius. Extreme distress, which unites
      the virtue of a free people, imbitters the factions of a declining
      monarchy. The hostile favorites of Arcadius and Honorius betrayed the
      republic to its common enemies; and the Byzantine court beheld with
      indifference, perhaps with pleasure, the disgrace of Rome, the misfortunes
      of Italy, and the loss of the West. Under the succeeding reigns, the
      alliance of the two empires was restored; but the aid of the Oriental
      Romans was tardy, doubtful, and ineffectual; and the national schism of
      the Greeks and Latins was enlarged by the perpetual difference of language
      and manners, of interests, and even of religion. Yet the salutary event
      approved in some measure the judgment of Constantine. During a long period
      of decay, his impregnable city repelled the victorious armies of
      Barbarians, protected the wealth of Asia, and commanded, both in peace and
      war, the important straits which connect the Euxine and Mediterranean
      Seas. The foundation of Constantinople more essentially contributed to the
      preservation of the East, than to the ruin of the West.
    </p>
    <p>
      As the happiness of a future life is the great object of religion, we may
      hear without surprise or scandal, that the introduction or at least the
      abuse, of Christianity had some influence on the decline and fall of the
      Roman empire. The clergy successfully preached the doctrines of patience
      and pusillanimity: the active virtues of society were discouraged; and the
      last remains of military spirit were buried in the cloister: a large
      portion of public and private wealth was consecrated to the specious
      demands of charity and devotion; and the soldiers' pay was lavished on the
      useless multitudes of both sexes, who could only plead the merits of
      abstinence and chastity. <a href="#link38note-511" name="link38noteref-511"
      id="link38noteref-511">511</a> Faith, zeal, curiosity, and the more
      earthly passions of malice and ambition, kindled the flame of theological
      discord; the church, and even the state, were distracted by religious
      factions, whose conflicts were sometimes bloody, and always implacable;
      the attention of the emperors was diverted from camps to synods; the Roman
      world was oppressed by a new species of tyranny; and the persecuted sects
      became the secret enemies of their country. Yet party spirit, however
      pernicious or absurd, is a principle of union as well as of dissension.
      The bishops, from eighteen hundred pulpits, inculcated the duty of passive
      obedience to a lawful and orthodox sovereign; their frequent assemblies,
      and perpetual correspondence, maintained the communion of distant
      churches; and the benevolent temper of the gospel was strengthened, though
      confined, by the spiritual alliance of the Catholics. The sacred indolence
      of the monks was devoutly embraced by a servile and effeminate age; but if
      superstition had not afforded a decent retreat, the same vices would have
      tempted the unworthy Romans to desert, from baser motives, the standard of
      the republic. Religious precepts are easily obeyed, which indulge and
      sanctify the natural inclinations of their votaries; but the pure and
      genuine influence of Christianity may be traced in its beneficial, though
      imperfect, effects on the Barbarian proselytes of the North. If the
      decline of the Roman empire was hastened by the conversion of Constantine,
      his victorious religion broke the violence of the fall, and mollified the
      ferocious temper of the conquerors.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-511" id="link38note-511">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      511 (<a href="#link38noteref-511">return</a>)<br /> [ It might be a curious
      speculation, how far the purer morals of the genuine and more active
      Christians may have compensated, in the population of the Roman empire,
      for the secession of such numbers into inactive and unproductive celibacy.&mdash;M.]
    </p>
    <p>
      This awful revolution may be usefully applied to the instruction of the
      present age. It is the duty of a patriot to prefer and promote the
      exclusive interest and glory of his native country: but a philosmay be
      permitted to enlarge his views, and to consider Europe as one great
      republic whose various inhabitants have obtained almost the same level of
      politeness and cultivation. The balance of power will continue to
      fluctuate, and the prosperity of our own, or the neighboring kingdoms, may
      be alternately exalted or depressed; but these partial events cannot
      essentially injure our general state of happiness, the system of arts, and
      laws, and manners, which so advantageously distinguish, above the rest of
      mankind, the Europeans and their colonies. The savage nations of the globe
      are the common enemies of civilized society; and we may inquire, with
      anxious curiosity, whether Europe is still threatened with a repetition of
      those calamities, which formerly oppressed the arms and institutions of
      Rome. Perhaps the same reflections will illustrate the fall of that mighty
      empire, and explain the probable causes of our actual security.
    </p>
    <p>
      I. The Romans were ignorant of the extent of their danger, and the number
      of their enemies. Beyond the Rhine and Danube, the Northern countries of
      Europe and Asia were filled with innumerable tribes of hunters and
      shepherds, poor, voracious, and turbulent; bold in arms, and impatient to
      ravish the fruits of industry. The Barbarian world was agitated by the
      rapid impulse of war; and the peace of Gaul or Italy was shaken by the
      distant revolutions of China. The Huns, who fled before a victorious
      enemy, directed their march towards the West; and the torrent was swelled
      by the gradual accession of captives and allies. The flying tribes who
      yielded to the Huns assumed in their turn the spirit of conquest; the
      endless column of Barbarians pressed on the Roman empire with accumulated
      weight; and, if the foremost were destroyed, the vacant space was
      instantly replenished by new assailants. Such formidable emigrations can
      no longer issue from the North; and the long repose, which has been
      imputed to the decrease of population, is the happy consequence of the
      progress of arts and agriculture. Instead of some rude villages, thinly
      scattered among its woods and morasses, Germany now produces a list of two
      thousand three hundred walled towns: the Christian kingdoms of Denmark,
      Sweden, and Poland, have been successively established; and the Hanse
      merchants, with the Teutonic knights, have extended their colonies along
      the coast of the Baltic, as far as the Gulf of Finland. From the Gulf of
      Finland to the Eastern Ocean, Russia now assumes the form of a powerful
      and civilized empire. The plough, the loom, and the forge, are introduced
      on the banks of the Volga, the Oby, and the Lena; and the fiercest of the
      Tartar hordes have been taught to tremble and obey. The reign of
      independent Barbarism is now contracted to a narrow span; and the remnant
      of Calmucks or Uzbecks, whose forces may be almost numbered, cannot
      seriously excite the apprehensions of the great republic of Europe. <a
      href="#link38note-6000" name="link38noteref-6000" id="link38noteref-6000">6000</a>
      Yet this apparent security should not tempt us to forget, that new
      enemies, and unknown dangers, may possibly arise from some obscure people,
      scarcely visible in the map of the world, The Arabs or Saracens, who
      spread their conquests from India to Spain, had languished in poverty and
      contempt, till Mahomet breathed into those savage bodies the soul of
      enthusiasm.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-6000" id="link38note-6000">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      6000 (<a href="#link38noteref-6000">return</a>)<br /> [ The French and
      English editors of the Genealogical History of the Tartars have subjoined
      a curious, though imperfect, description, of their present state. We might
      question the independence of the Calmucks, or Eluths, since they have been
      recently vanquished by the Chinese, who, in the year 1759, subdued the
      Lesser Bucharia, and advanced into the country of Badakshan, near the
      source of the Oxus, (Memoires sur les Chinois, tom. i. p. 325-400.) But
      these conquests are precarious, nor will I venture to insure the safety of
      the Chinese empire.]
    </p>
    <p>
      II. The empire of Rome was firmly established by the singular and perfect
      coalition of its members. The subject nations, resigning the hope, and
      even the wish, of independence, embraced the character of Roman citizens;
      and the provinces of the West were reluctantly torn by the Barbarians from
      the bosom of their mother country. <a href="#link38note-7000"
      name="link38noteref-7000" id="link38noteref-7000">7000</a> But this union
      was purchased by the loss of national freedom and military spirit; and the
      servile provinces, destitute of life and motion, expected their safety
      from the mercenary troops and governors, who were directed by the orders
      of a distant court. The happiness of a hundred millions depended on the
      personal merit of one or two men, perhaps children, whose minds were
      corrupted by education, luxury, and despotic power. The deepest wounds
      were inflicted on the empire during the minorities of the sons and
      grandsons of Theodosius; and, after those incapable princes seemed to
      attain the age of manhood, they abandoned the church to the bishops, the
      state to the eunuchs, and the provinces to the Barbarians. Europe is now
      divided into twelve powerful, though unequal kingdoms, three respectable
      commonwealths, and a variety of smaller, though independent, states: the
      chances of royal and ministerial talents are multiplied, at least, with
      the number of its rulers; and a Julian, or Semiramis, may reign in the
      North, while Arcadius and Honorius again slumber on the thrones of the
      South. The abuses of tyranny are restrained by the mutual influence of
      fear and shame; republics have acquired order and stability; monarchies
      have imbibed the principles of freedom, or, at least, of moderation; and
      some sense of honor and justice is introduced into the most defective
      constitutions by the general manners of the times. In peace, the progress
      of knowledge and industry is accelerated by the emulation of so many
      active rivals: in war, the European forces are exercised by temperate and
      undecisive contests. If a savage conqueror should issue from the deserts
      of Tartary, he must repeatedly vanquish 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. Should the victorious Barbarians carry slavery and desolation as
      far as the Atlantic Ocean, ten thousand vessels would transport beyond
      their pursuit the remains of civilized society; and Europe would revive
      and flourish in the American world, which is already filled with her
      colonies and institutions. <a href="#link38note-8000"
      name="link38noteref-8000" id="link38noteref-8000">8000</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-7000" id="link38note-7000">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      7000 (<a href="#link38noteref-7000">return</a>)<br /> [ The prudent reader
      will determine how far this general proposition is weakened by the revolt
      of the Isaurians, the independence of Britain and Armorica, the Moorish
      tribes, or the Bagaudae of Gaul and Spain, (vol. i. p. 328, vol. iii. p.
      315, vol. iii. p. 372, 480.)]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-8000" id="link38note-8000">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      8000 (<a href="#link38noteref-8000">return</a>)<br /> [ America now
      contains about six millions of European blood and descent; and their
      numbers, at least in the North, are continually increasing. Whatever may
      be the changes of their political situation, they must preserve the
      manners of Europe; and we may reflect with some pleasure, that the English
      language will probably be diffused ever an immense and populous
      continent.]
    </p>
    <p>
      III. Cold, poverty, and a life of danger and fatigue, fortify the strength
      and courage of Barbarians. In every age they have oppressed the polite and
      peaceful nations of China, India, and Persia, who neglected, and still
      neglect, to counterbalance these natural powers by the resources of
      military art. The warlike states of antiquity, Greece, Macedonia, and
      Rome, educated a race of soldiers; exercised their bodies, disciplined
      their courage, multiplied their forces by regular evolutions, and
      converted the iron, which they possessed, into strong and serviceable
      weapons. But this superiority insensibly declined with their laws and
      manners; and the feeble policy of Constantine and his successors armed and
      instructed, for the ruin of the empire, the rude valor of the Barbarian
      mercenaries. The military art has been changed by the invention of
      gunpowder; which enables man to command the two most powerful agents of
      nature, air and fire. Mathematics, chemistry, mechanics, architecture,
      have been applied to the service of war; and the adverse parties oppose to
      each other the most elaborate modes of attack and of defence. Historians
      may indignantly observe, that the preparations of a siege would found and
      maintain a flourishing colony; <a href="#link38note-9000"
      name="link38noteref-9000" id="link38noteref-9000">9000</a> yet we cannot
      be displeased, that the subversion of a city should be a work of cost and
      difficulty; or that an industrious people should be protected by those
      arts, which survive and supply the decay of military virtue. Cannon and
      fortifications now form an impregnable barrier against the Tartar horse;
      and Europe is secure from any future irruptions of Barbarians; since,
      before they can conquer, they must cease to be barbarous. Their gradual
      advances in the science of war would 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 whom they subdue.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-9000" id="link38note-9000">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      9000 (<a href="#link38noteref-9000">return</a>)<br /> [ On avoit fait venir
      (for the siege of Turin) 140 pieces de canon; et il est a remarquer que
      chaque gros canon monte revient a environ ecus: il y avoit 100,000
      boulets; 106,000 cartouches d'une facon, et 300,000 d'une autre; 21,000
      bombes; 27,700 grenades, 15,000 sacs a terre, 30,000 instruments pour la
      pionnage; 1,200,000 livres de poudre. Ajoutez a ces munitions, le plomb,
      le fer, et le fer-blanc, les cordages, tout ce qui sert aux mineurs, le
      souphre, le salpetre, les outils de toute espece. Il est certain que les
      frais de tous ces preparatifs de destruction suffiroient pour fonder et
      pour faire fleurir la plus aombreuse colonie. Voltaire, Siecle de Louis
      XIV. c. xx. in his Works. tom. xi. p. 391.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Should these speculations be found doubtful or fallacious, there still
      remains a more humble source of comfort and hope. The discoveries of
      ancient and modern navigators, and the domestic history, or tradition, of
      the most enlightened nations, represent the human savage, naked both in
      body and mind and destitute of laws, of arts, of ideas, and almost of
      language. <a href="#link38note-1001" name="link38noteref-1001"
      id="link38noteref-1001">1001</a> From this abject condition, perhaps the
      primitive and universal state of man, he has gradually arisen to command
      the animals, to fertilize the earth, to traverse the ocean and to measure
      the heavens. His progress in the improvement and exercise of his mental
      and corporeal faculties <a href="#link38note-1101"
      name="link38noteref-1101" id="link38noteref-1101">1101</a> has been
      irregular and various; infinitely slow in the beginning, and increasing by
      degrees with redoubled velocity: ages of laborious ascent have been
      followed by a moment of rapid downfall; and the several climates of the
      globe have felt the vicissitudes of light and darkness. Yet the experience
      of four thousand years should enlarge our hopes, and diminish our
      apprehensions: we cannot determine to what height the human species may
      aspire in their advances towards perfection; but it may safely be
      presumed, that no people, unless the face of nature is changed, will
      relapse into their original barbarism. The improvements of society may be
      viewed under a threefold aspect. 1. The poet or philosopher illustrates
      his age and country by the efforts of a single mind; but those superior
      powers of reason or fancy are rare and spontaneous productions; and the
      genius of Homer, or Cicero, or Newton, would excite less admiration, if
      they could be 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 and sciences, are more solid and permanent: and many individuals
      may be qualified, by education and discipline, to promote, in their
      respective stations, the interest of the community. But this general order
      is the effect of skill and labor; and the complex machinery may be decayed
      by time, or injured by violence.
    </p>
    <p>
      3. Fortunately for mankind, the more useful, or, at least, more necessary
      arts, can be performed without superior talents, or national
      subordination: without the powers of one, or the union of many. Each
      village, each family, each individual, must always possess both ability
      and inclination to perpetuate the use of fire <a href="#link38note-1201"
      name="link38noteref-1201" id="link38noteref-1201">1201</a> and of metals;
      the propagation and service of domestic animals; the methods of hunting
      and fishing; the rudiments of navigation; the imperfect cultivation of
      corn, or other nutritive grain; and the simple practice of the mechanic
      trades. Private genius and public industry may be extirpated; but these
      hardy plants survive the tempest, and strike an everlasting root into the
      most unfavorable soil. The splendid days of Augustus and Trajan were
      eclipsed by a cloud of ignorance; and the Barbarians subverted the laws
      and palaces of Rome. But the scythe, the invention or emblem of Saturn, <a
      href="#link38note-1302" name="link38noteref-1302" id="link38noteref-1302">1302</a>
      still continued annually to mow the harvests of Italy; and the human
      feasts of the Laestrigons <a href="#link38note-1401"
      name="link38noteref-1401" id="link38noteref-1401">1401</a> have never been
      renewed on the coast of Campania.
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-1001" id="link38note-1001">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1001 (<a href="#link38noteref-1001">return</a>)<br /> [ It would be an
      easy, though tedious, task, to produce the authorities of poets,
      philosophers, and historians. I shall therefore content myself with
      appealing to the decisive and authentic testimony of Diodorus Siculus,
      (tom. i. l. i. p. 11, 12, l. iii. p. 184, &amp;c., edit. Wesseling.) The
      Icthyophagi, who in his time wandered along the shores of 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, may still suppose an extreme and
      absolute state of nature far below the level of these savages, who had
      acquired some arts and instruments.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-1101" id="link38note-1101">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1101 (<a href="#link38noteref-1101">return</a>)<br /> [ 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 most difficult steps of human invention.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-1201" id="link38note-1201">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1201 (<a href="#link38noteref-1201">return</a>)<br /> [ It is certain,
      however strange, that many nations have been ignorant of the use of fire.
      Even the ingenious natives of Otaheite, who are destitute of metals, have
      not invented any earthen vessels capable of sustaining the action of fire,
      and of communicating the heat to the liquids which they contain.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-1302" id="link38note-1302">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1302 (<a href="#link38noteref-1302">return</a>)<br /> [ Plutarch. Quaest.
      Rom. in tom. ii. p. 275. Macrob. Saturnal. l. i. c. 8, p. 152, edit.
      London. The arrival of Saturn (of his religious worship) in a ship, may
      indicate, that the savage coast of Latium was first discovered and
      civilized by the Phoenicians.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-1401" id="link38note-1401">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1401 (<a href="#link38noteref-1401">return</a>)<br /> [ In the ninth and
      tenth books of the Odyssey, Homer has embellished the tales of fearful and
      credulous sailors, who transformed the cannibals of Italy and Sicily into
      monstrous giants.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Since the first discovery of the arts, war, commerce, and religious zeal
      have diffused, among the savages of the Old and New World, these
      inestimable gifts: they have been successively propagated; they can never
      be lost. We may therefore acquiesce in the pleasing conclusion, that every
      age of the world has increased, and still increases, the real wealth, the
      happiness, the knowledge, and perhaps the virtue, of the human race. <a
      href="#link38note-1501" name="link38noteref-1501" id="link38noteref-1501">1501</a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <a name="link38note-1501" id="link38note-1501">
      <!-- Note --></a>
    </p>
    <p class="foot">
      1501 (<a href="#link38noteref-1501">return</a>)<br /> [ The merit of
      discovery has too often been stained with avarice, cruelty, and
      fanaticism; and the intercourse of nations has produced the communication
      of disease and prejudice. A singular exception is due to the virtue of our
      own times and country. The five great voyages, successively undertaken by
      the command of his present Majesty, were inspired by the pure and generous
      love of science and of mankind. The same prince, adapting his benefactions
      to the different stages of society, has founded his school of painting in
      his capital; and has introduced into the islands of the South Sea the
      vegetables and animals most useful to human life.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /><br />
    </p>
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