initial commit of ebook 733HEADmain

1 files changed, 27227 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/733-0.txt b/733-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e1427d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/733-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,27227 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
+       Volume 3
+
+Author: Edward Gibbon
+
+Commentator: H. H. Milman
+
+Release Date: November, 1996 [eBook #733]
+[Most recently updated: March 14, 2021]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: David Reed and David Widger
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE ***
+
+
+
+
+      HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
+
+      Edward Gibbon, Esq.
+
+      With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman
+
+      Vol. 3
+
+      1782 (Written), 1845 (Revised)
+
+        CONTENTS
+
+         Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part I.
+
+     Death Of Gratian.—Ruin Of Arianism.—St. Ambrose.—First Civil War,
+     Against Maximus.—Character, Administration, And Penance Of
+     Theodosius.—Death Of Valentinian II.—Second Civil War, Against
+     Eugenius.—Death Of Theodosius.
+
+         Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part II.
+
+         Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part III.
+
+         Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part IV.
+
+         Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part V.
+
+         Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.—Part I.
+
+     Final Destruction Of Paganism.—Introduction Of The Worship Of
+     Saints, And Relics, Among The Christians.
+
+         Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.—Part II.
+
+         Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.—Part III.
+
+         Chapter XXIX: Division Of Roman Empire Between Sons Of
+         Theodosius.—Part I.
+
+     Final Division Of The Roman Empire Between The Sons Of
+     Theodosius.—Reign Of Arcadius And Honorius—Administration Of
+     Rufinus And Stilicho.—Revolt And Defeat Of Gildo In Africa.
+
+         Chapter XXIX: Division Of Roman Empire Between Sons Of
+         Theodosius.—Part II.
+
+         Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.—Part I.
+
+     Revolt Of The Goths.—They Plunder Greece.—Two Great Invasions Of
+     Italy By Alaric And Radagaisus.—They Are Repulsed By Stilicho.—The
+     Germans Overrun Gaul.—Usurpation Of Constantine In The
+     West.—Disgrace And Death Of Stilicho.
+
+         Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.—Part II.
+
+         Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.—Part III.
+
+         Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.—Part IV.
+
+         Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.—Part V.
+
+         Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+         Barbarians.—Part I.
+
+     Invasion Of Italy By Alaric.—Manners Of The Roman Senate And
+     People.—Rome Is Thrice Besieged, And At Length Pillaged, By The
+     Goths.—Death Of Alaric.—The Goths Evacuate Italy.—Fall Of
+     Constantine.—Gaul And Spain Are Occupied By The Barbarians.
+     —Independence Of Britain.
+
+         Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+         Barbarians.—Part II.
+
+         Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+         Barbarians.—Part III.
+
+         Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+         Barbarians.—Part IV.
+
+         Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+         Barbarians.—Part V.
+
+         Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+         Barbarians.—Part VI.
+
+         Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+         Barbarians.—Part VII.
+
+         Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius, Theodosius
+         II.—Part I.
+
+     Arcadius Emperor Of The East.—Administration And Disgrace Of
+     Eutropius.—Revolt Of Gainas.—Persecution Of St. John
+     Chrysostom.—Theodosius II. Emperor Of The East.—His Sister
+     Pulcheria.—His Wife Eudocia.—The Persian War, And Division Of
+     Armenia.
+
+         Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius, Theodosius
+         II.—Part II.
+
+         Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius, Theodosius
+         II.—Part III.
+
+         Chapter XXXIII: Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals.—Part I.
+
+     Death Of Honorius.—Valentinian III.—Emperor Of The East.
+     —Administration Of His Mother Placidia—Ætius And
+     Boniface.—Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals.
+
+         Chapter XXXIII: Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals.—Part II.
+
+         Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part I.
+
+     The Character, Conquests, And Court Of Attila, King Of The
+     Huns.—Death Of Theodosius The Younger.—Elevation Of Marcian To The
+     Empire Of The East.
+
+         Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part II.
+
+         Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part III.
+
+         Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.—Part I.
+
+     Invasion Of Gaul By Attila.—He Is Repulsed By Ætius And The
+     Visigoths.—Attila Invades And Evacuates Italy.—The Deaths Of
+     Attila, Ætius, And Valentinian The Third.
+
+         Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.—Part II.
+
+         Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.—Part III.
+
+         Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.—Part I.
+
+     Sack Of Rome By Genseric, King Of The Vandals.—His Naval
+     Depredations.—Succession Of The Last Emperors Of The West,
+     Maximus, Avitus, Majorian, Severus, Anthemius, Olybrius,
+     Glycerius, Nepos, Augustulus.—Total Extinction Of The Western
+     Empire.—Reign Of Odoacer, The First Barbarian King Of Italy.
+
+         Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.—Part
+         II.
+
+         Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.—Part
+         III.
+
+         Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.—Part
+         IV.
+
+         Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.—Part V.
+
+         Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To
+         Christianity.—Part I.
+
+     Origin Progress, And Effects Of The Monastic Life.— Conversion Of
+     The Barbarians To Christianity And Arianism.— Persecution Of The
+     Vandals In Africa.—Extinction Of Arianism Among The Barbarians.
+
+         Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To
+         Christianity.—Part II.
+
+         Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To
+         Christianity.—Part III.
+
+         Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To
+         Christianity.—Part IV.
+
+         Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.—Part I.
+
+     Reign And Conversion Of Clovis.—His Victories Over The Alemanni,
+     Burgundians, And Visigoths.—Establishment Of The French Monarchy
+     In Gaul.—Laws Of The Barbarians.—State Of The Romans.—The
+     Visigoths Of Spain.—Conquest Of Britain By The Saxons.
+
+         Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.—Part II.
+
+         Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.—Part III.
+
+         Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.—Part IV.
+
+         Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.—Part V.
+
+         Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.—Part VI.
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part I.
+
+     Death Of Gratian.—Ruin Of Arianism.—St. Ambrose.—First Civil War,
+     Against Maximus.—Character, Administration, And Penance Of
+     Theodosius.—Death Of Valentinian II.—Second Civil War, Against
+     Eugenius.—Death Of Theodosius.
+
+      The fame of Gratian, before he had accomplished the twentieth
+      year 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.
+
+      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. 1 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: 2 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. 3 The
+      conscience of the credulous prince was directed by saints and
+      bishops; 4 who procured an Imperial edict to punish, as a capital
+      offence, the violation, the neglect, or even the ignorance, of
+      the divine law. 5 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. 6 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. 7
+      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; 8 the legions of that sequestered island had been long
+      famous for a spirit of presumption and arrogance; 9 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,—for this title was not yet ascertained by
+      fortune,—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. 10 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. 11 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.
+      12
+
+      1 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      2 (return) [ Ausonius was successively promoted to the Prætorian
+      præfecture 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.]
+
+      3 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      4 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      5 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      6 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      7 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      8 (return) [ 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.”]
+
+      9 (return) [ Zosimus says of the British soldiers.]
+
+      10 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      11 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      12 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 13 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. 14 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. 15 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. 16
+
+      13 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      14 (return) [ 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 &c.,
+      and de Obitu Valentinian Consolat. Ner. 28, p. 1182.)]
+
+      15 (return) [ 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.—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.—M.]
+
+      16 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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.
+
+      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. 17 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. 18
+
+      17 (return) [ Ambrose mentions the laws of Gratian, quas non
+      abrogavit hostia (tom. ii epist. xvii. p. 827.)]
+
+      18 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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.
+      19 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 20 from Acholius, the orthodox bishop of Thessalonica: 21
+      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.” 22 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. 23
+
+      19 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      20 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      21 (return) [ 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, &c., (epist. xvi. p. 822.) a virtue which
+      does not appertain either to a wall, or a bishop.]
+
+      22 (return) [ 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.—Sic itua ad astra.]
+
+      23 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part II.
+
+      Constantinople was the principal seat and fortress of Arianism;
+      and, in a long interval of forty years, 24 the faith of the
+      princes 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.” 25 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. 26 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, 27 were distinguished above all their contemporaries,
+      28 by the rare union of profane eloquence and of orthodox piety.
+
+      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. 29 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, 30
+      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, 31 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. 32
+      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. 33 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, 34 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, 35 or
+      dissatisfied with the manifold imperfections of their faith and
+      practice. 36
+
+      24 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      25 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      26 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      27 (return) [ 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, (Bibliothèque Universelle, tom. xviii. p. 1-128.)]
+
+      28 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      29 (return) [ 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. ——In the
+      Midsummer Night’s Dream, Helena addresses the same pathetic
+      complaint to her friend Hermia:—Is all the counsel that we two
+      have shared. The sister’s vows, &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.]
+
+      30 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      31 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      32 (return) [ See Ducange, Constant. Christiana, l. iv. p. 141,
+      142. The Sozomen (l. vii. c. 5) is interpreted to mean the Virgin
+      Mary.]
+
+      33 (return) [ Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 432, &c.)
+      diligently collects, enlarges, and explains, the oratorical and
+      poetical hints of Gregory himself.]
+
+      34 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      35 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      36 (return) [ Lachrymae auditorum laudes tuae sint, is the lively
+      and judicious advice of St. Jerom.]
+
+      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, 37 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. 38 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; 39 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, 40 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.
+
+      37 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      38 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      39 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      40 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 41 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. 42 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, 43
+      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. 44
+
+      41 (return) [ Le Clerc has given a curious extract (Bibliothèque
+      Universelle, tom. xviii. p. 91-105) of the theological sermons
+      which Gregory Nazianzen pronounced at Constantinople against the
+      Arians, Eunomians, Macedonians, &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.]
+
+      42 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      43 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      44 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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—Gregory Nazianzen himself. The harsh and
+      ungenerous treatment which he experienced, 45 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. 46 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, 47 and the
+      elegance of his genius, reflect a more pleasing lustre on the
+      memory of Gregory Nazianzen.
+
+      45 (return) [ 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, &c., is pathetic, and almost sublime.]
+
+      46 (return) [ 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!]
+
+      47 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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; 48 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, 49 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. 50
+
+      48 (return) [ See the Theodosian Code, l. xvi. tit. v. leg. 6—23,
+      with Godefroy’s commentary on each law, and his general summary,
+      or Paratitlon, tom vi. p. 104-110.]
+
+      49 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      50 (return) [ Sozomen, l. vii. c. 12.]
+
+      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, 51 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
+      Prætorian præfect, seven persons were tortured, condemned, and
+      executed. The first of these was Priscillian 52 himself, bishop
+      of Avila, in Spain; who adorned the advantages of birth and
+      fortune, by the accomplishments of eloquence and learning. 53 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. 54 Two bishops who had embraced the sentiments of
+      Priscillian, were condemned to a distant and dreary exile; 55 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. 56
+      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 animal 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, 57 and
+      Martin of Tours, 58 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, 59 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.
+
+      51 (return) [ See the Sacred History of Sulpicius Severus, (l.
+      ii. p. 437-452, edit. Ludg. Bat. 1647,) a correct and original
+      writer. Dr. Lardner (Credibility, &c., part ii. vol. ix. p.
+      256-350) has 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!]
+
+      52 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      53 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      54 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      55 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      56 (return) [ The scandalous calumnies of Augustin, Pope Leo,
+      &c., which Tillemont swallows like a child, and Lardner refutes
+      like a man, may suggest some candid suspicions in favor of the
+      older Gnostics.]
+
+      57 (return) [ Ambros. tom. ii. Epist. xxiv. p. 891.]
+
+      58 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      59 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part III.
+
+      Among the ecclesiastics, who illustrated the reign of Theodosius,
+      Gregory Nazianzen was distinguished by the talents of an eloquent
+      preacher; the reputation of miraculous gifts added weight and
+      dignity to the monastic virtues of Martin of Tours; 60 but the
+      palm of episcopal vigor and ability was justly claimed by the
+      intrepid Ambrose. 61 He was descended from a noble family of
+      Romans; his father had exercised the important office of
+      Prætorian præfect 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. 62 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.
+
+      60 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      61 (return) [ The short and superficial Life of St. Ambrose, by
+      his deacon Paulinus, (Appendix ad edit. Benedict. p. i.—xv.,) has
+      the merit of original evidence. Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. x.
+      p. 78-306) and the Benedictine editors (p. xxxi.—lxiii.) have
+      labored with their usual diligence.]
+
+      62 (return) [ Ambrose himself (tom. ii. Epist. xxiv. p. 888—891)
+      gives the emperor a very spirited account of his own embassy.]
+
+      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. 63
+      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.
+
+      63 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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.” 64 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.
+
+      64 (return) [ 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, &c. A quoi j’ajoutai tout ce que vous pouvez
+      vous imaginer de respect de douleur, de regret, et de soumission,
+      &c. (Mémoires, 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]
+
+      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. 65 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. 66 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, 67 had been deposited above three hundred years.
+      Immediately under the pavement of the church two perfect
+      skeletons were found, 68 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, 69 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. 70 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. 71
+
+      65 (return) [ Sozomen alone (l. vii. c. 13) throws this luminous
+      fact into a dark and perplexed narrative.]
+
+      66 (return) [ 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]
+
+      67 (return) [ Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. ii. p. 78, 498. Many
+      churches in Italy, Gaul, &c., were dedicated to these unknown
+      martyrs, of whom St. Gervaise seems to have been more fortunate
+      than his companion.]
+
+      68 (return) [ 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.—Grandiaque
+      effossis mirabitur ossa sepulchris.]
+
+      69 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      70 (return) [ Paulin, in Tit. St. Ambros. c. 5, in Append.
+      Benedict. p. 5.]
+
+      71 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 72 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; 73 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. 74 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.
+
+      72 (return) [ The modest censure of Sulpicius (Dialog. iii. 15)
+      inflicts a much deeper wound than the declamation of Pacatus,
+      (xii. 25, 26.)]
+
+      73 (return) [ Esto tutior adversus hominem, pacis involurco
+      tegentem, was the wise caution of Ambrose (tom. ii. p. 891) after
+      his return from his second embassy.]
+
+      74 (return) [ Baronius (A.D. 387, No. 63) applies to this season
+      of public distress some of the penitential sermons of the
+      archbishop.]
+
+      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. 75 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, 7511 had fixed his camp in the neighborhood of
+      Siscia, a city of Pannonia, strongly fortified by the broad and
+      rapid stream of the Save.
+
+      75 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      7511 (return) [ Aemonah, Laybach. Siscia Sciszek.—M.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part IV.
+
+      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, 76 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.
+      77
+
+      76 (return) [ See Godefroy’s Chronology of the Laws, Cod.
+      Theodos, tom l. p. cxix.]
+
+      77 (return) [ Besides the hints which may be gathered from
+      chronicles and ecclesiastical history, Zosimus (l. iv. p.
+      259—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, &c.,
+      Ausonius (p. 256, edit. Toll.) applauds the peculiar merit and
+      good fortune of Aquileia.]
+
+      The orator, who may be silent without danger, may praise without
+      difficulty, and without reluctance; 78 and posterity will
+      confess, that the character of Theodosius 79 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. 80 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. 81
+
+      78 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      79 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      80 (return) [ Ambros. tom. ii. Epist. xl. p. 55. Pacatus, from
+      the want of skill or of courage, omits this glorious
+      circumstance.]
+
+      81 (return) [ Pacat. in Panegyr. Vet. xii. 20.]
+
+      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, 82 and it was
+      sometimes inflamed by passion. 83 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.
+
+      82 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      83 (return) [ 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, &c.) exhorts his son to
+      moderate his anger.]
+
+      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. 84 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. 85 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; 86 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. 87 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, 88 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. 89 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. 90
+
+      84 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      85 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      86 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      87 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      88 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      89 (return) [ Chrysostom opposes their courage, which was not
+      attended with much risk, to the cowardly flight of the Cynics.]
+
+      90 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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.
+
+      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. 91
+
+      91 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 9111 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. 92 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, 93
+      publicly addressed the emperor on his throne; 94 nor would he
+      consent to offer the oblation of the altar, till he had obtained
+      from Theodosius a solemn and positive declaration, which secured
+      the impunity of the bishop and monks of Callinicum. The
+      recantation of Theodosius was sincere; 95 and, during the term of
+      his residence at Milan, his affection for Ambrose was continually
+      increased by the habits of pious and familiar conversation.
+
+      9111 (return) [ Raeca, on the Euphrates—M.]
+
+      92 (return) [ 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,
+      &c.) have justly condemned the archbishop.]
+
+      93 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      94 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      95 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 96 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: 97 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. 98
+      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. 99 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.” 100
+      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.
+
+      96 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      97 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      98 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      99 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      100 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part V.
+
+      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. 101
+      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.
+
+      101 (return) [ It is the niggard praise of Zosimus himself, (l.
+      iv. p. 267.) Augustin says, with some happiness of expression,
+      Valentinianum.... misericordissima veneratione restituit.]
+
+      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. 102 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. 103 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, 104 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. 105 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. 106 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.
+      107 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. 108
+
+      102 (return) [ Sozomen, l. vii. c. 14. His chronology is very
+      irregular.]
+
+      103 (return) [ See Ambrose, (tom. ii. de Obit. Valentinian. c.
+      15, &c. p. 1178. c. 36, &c. p. 1184.) When the young emperor gave
+      an entertainment, he fasted himself; he refused to see a handsome
+      actress, &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.]
+
+      104 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      105 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      106 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      107 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      108 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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; 109 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. 110
+      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, 111 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. 112 In the neighborhood of that city,
+      and on the summit of a lofty mountain, the holy John 113 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. 114 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; 1141 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. 115
+
+      109 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      110 (return) [ Zosimus (l. iv. p. 278) mentions this embassy; but
+      he is diverted by another story from relating the event.]
+
+      111 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      112 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      113 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      114 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      1141 (return) [ Gibbon has embodied the picturesque verses of
+      Claudian:—
+
+     .... Nec tantis dissona linguis Turba, nec armorum cultu diversion
+     unquam]
+
+      115 (return) [ 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.
+
+.... Tot Augustos Hebro qui teste fugavi.
+
+      Yet his vanity could scarcely have proved this plurality of
+      flying emperors.]
+
+      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. 116 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, 117 or Cold River. 118
+      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; 119
+      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, 120 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, 1201 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. 121
+
+      116 (return) [ Claudian (in iv. Cons. Honor. 77, &c.) contrasts
+      the military plans of the two usurpers:—
+
+     .... Novitas audere priorem Suadebat; cautumque dabant exempla
+     sequentem. Hic nova moliri praeceps: hic quaerere tuta Providus. 
+     Hic fusis; colectis viribus ille. Hic vagus excurrens; hic
+     claustra reductus Dissimiles, sed morte pares......]
+
+      117 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      118 (return) [ 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.—De Laud. Stil. l. 145.—M.]
+
+      119 (return) [ Theodoret affirms, that St. John, and St. Philip,
+      appeared to the waking, or sleeping, emperor, on horseback, &c.
+      This is the first instance of apostolic chivalry, which
+      afterwards became so popular in Spain, and in the Crusades.]
+
+      120 (return) [ Te propter, gelidis Aquilo de monte procellis
+
+    Obruit adversas acies; revolutaque tela Vertit in auctores, et
+    turbine reppulit hastas
+    O nimium dilecte Deo, cui fundit ab antris Aeolus armatas hyemes;
+    cui militat Aether, Et conjurati veniunt ad classica venti.
+
+      These famous lines of Claudian (in iii. Cons. Honor. 93, &c. A.D.
+      396) are alleged by his contemporaries, Augustin and Orosius; who
+      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.]
+
+      1201 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      121 (return) [ The events of this civil war are gathered from
+      Ambrose, (tom. ii. Epist. lxii. p. 1022,) Paulinus, (in Vit.
+      Ambros. c. 26-34,) Augustin, (de Civitat. Dei, v. 26,) Orosius,
+      (l. vii. c. 35,) Sozomen, (l. vii. c. 24,) Theodoret, (l. v. c.
+      24,) Zosimus, (l. iv. p. 281, 282,) Claudian, (in iii. Cons. Hon.
+      63-105, in iv. Cons. Hon. 70-117,) and the Chronicles published
+      by Scaliger.]
+
+      After the defeat of Eugenius, the merit, as well as the
+      authority, 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.
+      122 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; 123 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.
+
+      122 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      123 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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. 124 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.
+
+      124 (return) [ Zosimus, l. iv. p. 244.]
+
+      The effeminate luxury, which infected the manners of courts and
+      cities, had instilled a secret and destructive poison into the
+      camps of 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.
+      125
+
+      125 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.—Part I.
+
+     Final Destruction Of Paganism.—Introduction Of The Worship Of
+     Saints, And Relics, Among The Christians.
+
+      The ruin of Paganism, in the age of Theodosius, is perhaps 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, 1 were
+      hastily, perhaps erroneously, applied, by the clergy, to the mild
+      and universal reign of Christianity. 2 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.
+
+      1 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      2 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      From the age of Numa to the reign of Gratian, the Romans
+      preserved the regular succession of the several colleges of the
+      sacerdotal order. 3 Fifteen Pontiffs exercised their supreme
+      jurisdiction over all things, and persons, that were consecrated
+      to the service of the gods; and 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. 4 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, &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 5 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; 6 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; 7 a majestic female standing on a globe, with flowing
+      garments, expanded wings, and a crown of laurel in her
+      outstretched hand. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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. 11
+
+      3 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      4 (return) [ 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—66) and
+      Lipsius, (tom. iii. p. 610 de Vesta, &c. c 10.)]
+
+      5 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      6 (return) [ Zosimus, l. iv. p. 249, 250. I have suppressed the
+      foolish pun about Pontifex and Maximus.]
+
+      7 (return) [ This statue was transported from Tarentum to Rome,
+      placed in the Curia Julia by Caesar, and decorated by Augustus
+      with the spoils of Egypt.]
+
+      8 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      9 (return) [ See Suetonius (in August. c. 35) and the Exordium of
+      Pliny’s Panegyric.]
+
+      10 (return) [ These facts are mutually allowed by the two
+      advocates, Symmachus and Ambrose.]
+
+      11 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      But the Christians formed the least numerous party in the senate
+      of Rome: 12 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, 13 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, 14 a wealthy and noble
+      senator, who united the sacred characters of pontiff and augur
+      with the civil dignities of proconsul of Africa and præfect 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. 15 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.” 16 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.
+
+      12 (return) [ Ambrose repeatedly affirms, in contradiction to
+      common sense (Moyle’s Works, vol. ii. p. 147,) that the
+      Christians had a majority in the senate.]
+
+      13 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      14 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      15 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      16 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 17 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. 18 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. 1811 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. 19 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, 20 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.” 21 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; 22 the splendor of the Capitol was defaced, and the
+      solitary temples were abandoned to ruin and contempt. 23 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. 2311
+
+      17 (return) [ 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, &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.]
+
+      18 (return) [ See Prudentius (in Symmach. l. i. 545, &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.]
+
+      1811 (return) [ 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—see the preceding
+      note—seems to have acknowledged this) by Pagi and Tillemont, that
+      Theodosius did not visit Rome after the defeat of Eugenius. M.
+      Beugnot urges, with much force, the improbability that the
+      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.—M]
+
+      19 (return) [ Prudentius, after proving that the sense of the
+      senate is declared by a legal majority, proceeds to say, (609,
+      &c.)—
+
+     Adspice quam pleno subsellia nostra Senatu Decernant infame Jovis
+     pulvinar, et omne Idolum longe purgata ex urbe fugandum, Qua vocat
+     egregii sententia Principis, illuc Libera, cum pedibus, tum corde,
+     frequentia transit.
+
+      Zosimus ascribes to the conscript fathers a heathenish courage,
+      which few of them are found to possess.]
+
+      20 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      21 (return) [
+
+     Exultare Patres videas, pulcherrima mundi Lumina; Conciliumque
+     senum gestire Catonum Candidiore toga niveum pietatis amictum
+     Sumere; et exuvias deponere pontificales.
+
+      The fancy of Prudentius is warmed and elevated by victory]
+
+      22 (return) [ Prudentius, after he has described the conversion
+      of the senate and people, asks, with some truth and confidence,
+
+    Et dubitamus adhuc Romam, tibi, Christe, dicatam In leges transisse
+    tuas?]
+
+      23 (return) [ Jerom exults in the desolation of the Capitol, and
+      the other temples of Rome, (tom. i. p. 54, tom. ii. p. 95.)]
+
+      2311 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.—Part II.
+
+      The filial piety of the emperors themselves engaged them to
+      proceed, with some caution and tenderness, in the reformation of
+      the 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,
+      24 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. 25 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, 26
+      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 Prætorian præfect 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. 27 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, 28 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: 29 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,
+      30 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, 31 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. 32 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;
+      33 and a similar consecration has preserved inviolate the
+      majestic dome of the Pantheon at Rome. 34 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.
+
+      24 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      25 (return) [ See his laws in the Theodosian Code, l. xvi. tit.
+      x. leg. 7-11.]
+
+      26 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      27 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      28 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      29 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      30 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      31 (return) [ Compare Sozomen, (l. vii. c. 15) with Theodoret,
+      (l. v. c. 21.) Between them, they relate the crusade and death of
+      Marcellus.]
+
+      32 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      33 (return) [ Prosper. Aquitan. l. iii. c. 38, apud Baronium;
+      Annal. Eccles. A.D. 389, No. 58, &c. The temple had been shut
+      some time, and the access to it was overgrown with brambles.]
+
+      34 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      In this wide and various prospect of devastation, the spectator
+      may distinguish the ruins of the temple of Serapis, at
+      Alexandria. 35 Serapis does not appear to have been one of the
+      native gods, or monsters, who sprung from the fruitful soil of
+      superstitious Egypt. 36 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. 37 The Egyptians, who were obstinately
+      devoted to the religion of their fathers, refused to admit this
+      foreign deity within the walls of their cities. 38 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, 39 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, 40 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. 41 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. 42
+
+      35 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      36 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      37 (return) [ Origo dei nondum nostris celebrata. Aegyptiorum
+      antistites sic memorant, &c., Tacit. Hist. iv. 83. The Greeks,
+      who had travelled into Egypt, were alike ignorant of this new
+      deity.]
+
+      38 (return) [ Macrobius, Saturnal, l. i. c. 7. Such a living fact
+      decisively proves his foreign extraction.]
+
+      39 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      40 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      41 (return) [ See Mémoires 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.]
+
+      42 (return) [ Libanius (pro Templis, p. 21) indiscreetly provokes
+      his Christian masters by this insulting remark.]
+
+      At that time 43 the archiepiscopal throne of Alexandria was
+      filled by Theophilus, 44 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, 4411 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, 45 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. 46 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, 47 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; 4711 and their scandalous
+      abuse of the confidence of devout husbands and unsuspecting
+      females. 48 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 49 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. 50 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. 51 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. 52
+
+      43 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      44 (return) [ Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xi. p. 441-500. The
+      ambiguous situation of Theophilus—a saint, as the friend of Jerom
+      a devil, as the enemy of Chrysostom—produces a sort of
+      impartiality; yet, upon the whole, the balance is justly inclined
+      against him.]
+
+      4411 (return) [ No doubt a temple of Osiris. St. Martin, iv
+      398-M.]
+
+      45 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      46 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      47 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      4711 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      48 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      49 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      50 (return) [
+
+     Sed fortes tremuere manus, motique verenda Majestate loci, si
+     robora sacra ferirent In sua credebant redituras membra secures.
+
+      (Lucan. iii. 429.) “Is it true,” (said Augustus to a veteran of
+      Italy, at whose house he supped) “that the man who gave the first
+      blow to the golden statue of Anaitis, was instantly deprived of
+      his eyes, and of his life?”—“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)]
+
+      51 (return) [ The history of the reformation affords frequent
+      examples of the sudden change from superstition to contempt.]
+
+      52 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      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. 53 Whatever might be the truth
+      of the facts, or the merit of the distinction, 54 these vain
+      pretences were swept away by the last edict of Theodosius, which
+      inflicted a deadly wound on the superstition of the Pagans. 55
+      5511 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. 56
+
+      53 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      54 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      55 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      5511 (return) [ 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—M.]
+
+      56 (return) [ 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, (Bibliothèque 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.—M.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.—Part III.
+
+      In the cruel reigns of Decius and Diocletian, 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. 57 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. 58 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 59 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. 60
+
+      57 (return) [ 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?”]
+
+      58 (return) [ Libanius (pro Templis, p. 17, 18) mentions, without
+      censure the occasional conformity, and as it were theatrical
+      play, of these hypocrites.]
+
+      59 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      60 (return) [ Paulinus, in Vit. Ambros. c. 26. Augustin de
+      Civitat. Dei, l. v. c. 26. Theodoret, l. v. c. 24.]
+
+      A nation of slaves is always prepared to applaud the clemency of
+      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. 61 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. 6111
+      Theodosius distinguished his liberal regard for virtue and genius
+      by the consular dignity, which he bestowed on Symmachus; 62 and
+      by the personal friendship which he expressed to Libanius; 63 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, 64 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. 65 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. 66 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. 67
+
+      61 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      6111 (return) [ 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:—
+
+     Roma, ipsique tremant furialia murmura reges. Jam superos terris
+     atque hospita numina pelle: Romanos populare Deos, et nullus in
+     aris Vestoe exoratoe fotus strue palleat ignis. Ilis instructa
+     dolis palatia celsa subibo; Majorum mores, et pectora prisca
+     fugabo Funditus; atque simul, nullo discrimine rerum, Spernantur
+     fortes, nec sic reverentia justis. Attica neglecto pereat facundia
+     Phoebo: Indignis contingat honos, et pondera rerum; Non virtus sed
+     casus agat; tristique cupido; Pectoribus saevi demens furor
+     aestuet aevi; Omniaque hoec sine mente Jovis, sine numine sumimo.
+
+      Merobaudes in Niebuhr’s edit. of the Byzantines, p. 14.—M.]
+
+      62 (return) [ Denique pro meritis terrestribus aequa rependens
+
+     Munera, sacricolis summos impertit honores.
+     Dux bonus, et certare sinit cum laude suorum, Nec pago implicitos
+     per debita culmina mundi Ire viros prohibet. Ipse magistratum tibi
+     consulis, ipse tribunal
+     Contulit. Prudent. in Symmach. i. 617, &c.
+
+      Note: I have inserted some lines omitted by Gibbon.—M.]
+
+      63 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      64 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      65 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      66 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      67 (return) [ Paganos qui supersunt, quanquam jam nullos esse
+      credamus, &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.—M.]
+
+      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.” 68 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. 69 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; 70 and their venerable bones were
+      deposited under the altars of Christ, on which the bishops of the
+      royal city continually offered the unbloody sacrifice. 71 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. 72 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. 73 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,
+      74 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.
+
+      68 (return) [ See Eunapius, in the Life of the sophist Aedesius;
+      in that of Eustathius he foretells the ruin of Paganism.]
+
+      69 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      70 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      71 (return) [ Male facit ergo Romanus episcopus? qui, super
+      mortuorum hominum, Petri & Pauli, secundum nos, ossa veneranda
+      ... offeri Domino sacrificia, et tumulos eorum, Christi
+      arbitratur altaria. Jerom. tom. ii. advers. Vigilant. p. 183.]
+
+      72 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      73 (return) [ Jerom (tom. ii. p. 122) pompously describes the
+      translation of Samuel, which is noticed in all the chronicles of
+      the times.]
+
+      74 (return) [ The presbyter Vigilantius, the Protestant of his
+      age, firmly, though ineffectually, withstood the superstition of
+      monks, relics, saints, fasts, &c., for which Jerom compares him
+      to the Hydra, Cerberus, the Centaurs, &c., and considers him only
+      as the organ of 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.]
+
+      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.
+
+      I. The satisfactory experience, that the relics of saints were
+      more valuable than gold or precious stones, 75 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. 76 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.
+
+      75 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      76 (return) [ 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?]
+
+      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, 77 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, 78 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, 79 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. 80 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.
+
+      77 (return) [ 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, &c.)]
+
+      78 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      79 (return) [ 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, &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.]
+
+      80 (return) [ 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.”]
+
+      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. 81 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. 82 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. 83 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. 84 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. 85
+
+      81 (return) [ 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, &c.) the inconveniences which must arise, if they
+      possessed a more active and sensible existence.]
+
+      82 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      83 (return) [ Fleury Discours sur l’Hist. Ecclesiastique, iii p.
+      80.]
+
+      84 (return) [ 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, &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.)]
+
+      85 (return) [ Mr. Hume (Essays, vol. ii. p. 434) observes, like a
+      philosopher, the natural flux and reflux of polytheism and
+      theism.]
+
+      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, 86
+      Tertullian, or Lactantius, 87 had been suddenly raised from the
+      dead, to assist at the festival of some popular saint, or martyr,
+      88 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: 89 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. 90 9011
+
+      86 (return) [ D’Aubigne (see his own Mémoires, 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.]
+
+      87 (return) [ The worship practised and inculcated by Tertullian,
+      Lactantius Arnobius, &c., is so extremely pure and spiritual,
+      that their declamations against the Pagan sometimes glance
+      against the Jewish, ceremonies.]
+
+      88 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      89 (return) [ 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, &c.)]
+
+      90 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      9011 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXIX: Division Of Roman Empire Between Sons Of
+      Theodosius.—Part I.
+
+     Final Division Of The Roman Empire Between The Sons Of
+     Theodosius.—Reign Of Arcadius And Honorius—Administration Of
+     Rufinus And Stilicho.—Revolt And Defeat Of Gildo In Africa.
+
+      The genius of Rome expired with Theodosius; the last of the
+      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 Æthiopia. 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 præfecture 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.
+
+      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 1 had
+      urged Rufinus to abandon his native country, an obscure corner of
+      Gaul, 2 to advance his fortune in the capital of the East: the
+      talent of bold and ready elocution, 3 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; 4 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. 5 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 præfect of the
+      East, and of præfect of Constantinople, were filled by Tatian, 6
+      and his son Proculus; whose united authority balanced, for some
+      time, the ambition and favor of the master of the offices. The
+      two præfects 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 præfecture 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. 7 The punishment of the two præfects 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. 8
+      The new præfect 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. 9
+
+      1 (return) [ Alecto, envious of the public felicity, convenes an
+      infernal synod Megaera recommends her pupil Rufinus, and excites
+      him to deeds of mischief, &c. But there is as much difference
+      between Claudian’s fury and that of Virgil, as between the
+      characters of Turnus and Rufinus.]
+
+      2 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      3 (return) [ Philostorgius, l. xi c. 3, with Godefroy’s Dissert.
+      p. 440.]
+
+      4 (return) [ A passage of Suidas is expressive of his profound
+      dissimulation.]
+
+      5 (return) [ Zosimus, l. iv. p. 272, 273.]
+
+      6 (return) [ 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 præfect 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.)]
+
+      7 (return) [—Juvenum rorantia colla Ante patrum vultus stricta
+      cecidere securi.
+
+     Ibat grandaevus nato moriente superstes Post trabeas exsul. —-In
+     Rufin. i. 248.
+
+      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.]
+
+      8 (return) [ 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.
+
+    —-Exscindere cives Funditus; et nomen gentis delere laborat.
+
+      The scruples of Pagi and Tillemont can arise only from their zeal
+      for the glory of Theodosius.]
+
+      9 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 10 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
+      præfect 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, 11 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
+      præfect 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 præfect, 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
+      præfect 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 præfect 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. 12
+
+      10 (return) [ Montesquieu (Esprit des Loix, l. xii. c. 12)
+      praises one of the laws of Theodosius addressed to the præfect
+      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.]
+
+      11 (return) [
+
+     —fluctibus auri Expleri sitis ista nequit— ***** Congestae
+     cumulantur opes; orbisque ruinas Accipit una domus.
+
+      This character (Claudian, in. Rufin. i. 184-220) is confirmed by
+      Jerom, a disinterested witness, (dedecus insatiabilis avaritiae,
+      tom. i. ad Heliodor. p. 26,) by Zosimus, (l. v. p. 286,) and by
+      Suidas, who copied the history of Eunapius.]
+
+      12 (return) [
+
+     —Caetera segnis; Ad facinus velox; penitus regione remotas Impiger
+     ire vias.
+
+      This allusion of Claudian (in Rufin. i. 241) is again explained
+      by the circumstantial narrative of Zosimus, (l. v. p. 288, 289.)]
+
+      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
+      præfect 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, 13 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, 14 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. 15 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 præfect 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 præfect, 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. 16
+
+      13 (return) [ Zosimus (l. iv. p. 243) praises the valor,
+      prudence, and integrity of Bauto the Frank. See Tillemont, Hist.
+      des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 771.]
+
+      14 (return) [ 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, &c.; but the latter, for want
+      of authentic materials, has given too much credit to the legend
+      of Metaphrastes.]
+
+      15 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      16 (return) [ 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
+      præfect.]
+
+      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, 17 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. 18 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 returned 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 19
+      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. 20 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; 21 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. 22 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. 23 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. 24 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. 25 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. 26 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. 27 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.
+
+      17 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      18 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      19 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      20 (return) [ 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]
+
+      21 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      22 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      23 (return) [—Si bellica moles Ingrueret, quamvis annis et jure
+      minori,
+
+    Cedere grandaevos equitum peditumque magistros
+
+      Adspiceres. Claudian, Laus Seren. p. 196, &c. A modern general
+      would deem their submission either heroic patriotism or abject
+      servility.]
+
+      24 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      25 (return) [—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.]
+
+      26 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      27 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXIX: Division Of Roman Empire Between Sons Of
+      Theodosius.—Part II.
+
+      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. 28 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. 29 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. 30 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 præfect 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 præfect, 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. 31 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. 32
+
+      28 (return) [ I. Cons. Stilich. ii. 88-94. Not only the robes and
+      diadems of the deceased emperor, but even the helmets,
+      sword-hilts, belts, rasses, &c., were enriched with pearls,
+      emeralds, and diamonds.]
+
+      29 (return) [—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.)]
+
+      30 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      31 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      32 (return) [ 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, &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.]
+
+      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. 33 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. 34 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. 35 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;
+      36 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.
+
+      33 (return) [ See the beautiful exordium of his invective against
+      Rufinus, which is curiously discussed by the sceptic Bayle,
+      Dictionnaire Critique, Rufin. Not. E.]
+
+      34 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      35 (return) [ See Claudian, (i. Cons. Stilich, l. i. 275, 292,
+      296, l. ii. 83,) and Zosimus, (l. v. p. 302.)]
+
+      36 (return) [ Claudian turns the consulship of the eunuch
+      Eutropius into a national reflection, (l. ii. 134):—
+
+    —-Plaudentem cerne senatum, Et Byzantinos proceres Graiosque
+    Quirites: O patribus plebes, O digni consule patres.
+
+      It is curious to observe the first symptoms of jealousy and
+      schism between old and new Rome, between the Greeks and Latins.]
+
+      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,
+      37 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; 38 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 guardians 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. 39
+
+      37 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      38 (return) [
+
+     Instat terribilis vivis, morientibus haeres, Virginibus raptor,
+     thalamis obscoenus adulter. Nulla quies: oritur praeda cessante
+     libido, Divitibusque dies, et nox metuenda maritis. Mauris
+     clarissima quaeque Fastidita datur. ——De Bello Gildonico, 165,
+     189.
+
+      Baronius condemns, still more severely, the licentiousness of
+      Gildo; as his wife, his daughter, and his sister, were examples
+      of perfect chastity. The adulteries of the African soldiers are
+      checked by one of the Imperial laws.]
+
+      39 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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. 40 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 præfect 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, tranquility and perhaps the safety, of
+      the capital would be threatened by the hungry rage of a turbulent
+      multitude. 41 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. 42
+
+      40 (return) [ Symmachus (l. iv. epist. 4) expresses the judicial
+      forms of the senate; and Claudian (i. Cons. Stilich. l. i. 325,
+      &c.) seems to feel the spirit of a Roman.]
+
+      41 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      42 (return) [ See Claudian (in Eutrop. l. i 401, &c. i. Cons.
+      Stil. l. i. 306, &c. i. Cons. Stilich. 91, &c.)]
+
+      The cause of Rome, and the conduct of the African war, were
+      intrusted 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. 43
+      The usurper pursued, with implacable rage, the life of his
+      younger brother, whose courage and abilities he feared; and
+      Mascezel, oppressed by superior power, took 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
+      defence 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 under the
+      standard of Eugenius. These troops, who were 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, 44 of high dignity and reputation in the service of Rome,
+      amounted to no more than five thousand effective men. 45 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.” 46 Such was the contempt of a profane magistrate for
+      the monks as the chosen servants of God. 47 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. 48
+
+      43 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      44 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      45 (return) [ 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 &c.)]
+
+      46 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      47 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      48 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 Æthiopia. 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. 49 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 been in combat. 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. 50 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 honors the of an easy,
+      and almost bloodless, victory. 51 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, 52 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. 53 The captives and the spoils of Africa were laid at
+      the feet of the emperor; but Stilicho, whose moderation appeared
+      more conspicuous and 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. 54 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 offences which had been committed in the time of the general
+      rebellion. 55 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; 56 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 restrained by a cruel and
+      perfidious smile which they observed on the countenance of
+      Stilicho; and while they delayed the necessary assistance, the
+      unfortunate Mascezel was irrecoverably drowned. 57
+
+      49 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      50 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      51 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      52 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      53 (return) [ The death of Gildo is expressed by Claudian (i.
+      Cons. Stil. 357) and his best interpreters, Zosimus and Orosius.]
+
+      54 (return) [ 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:
+
+    —-Nunquam libertas gratior exstat, Quam sub rege pio.
+
+      But the freedom which depends on royal piety, scarcely deserves
+      appellation]
+
+      55 (return) [ See the Theodosian Code, l. ix. tit. xxxix. leg. 3,
+      tit. xl. leg. 19.]
+
+      56 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      57 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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; 58 he sung, in various and lively
+      strains, the happiness of the royal pair; and the glory of the
+      hero, who confirmed their union, and 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, 59 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, or perhaps, the debility, of his constitution. 60 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, 61 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
+      understanding. 62 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.
+
+      58 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      59 (return) [
+
+     Calet obvius ire Jam princeps, tardumque cupit discedere solem.
+     Nobilis haud aliter sonipes.
+
+      (De Nuptiis Honor. et Mariae, and more freely in the Fescennines
+      112-116)
+
+     Dices, O quoties,hoc mihi dulcius Quam flavos decics vincere
+     Sarmatas. .... Tum victor madido prosilias toro, Nocturni referens
+     vulnera proelii.]
+
+      60 (return) [ See Zosimus, l. v. p. 333.]
+
+      61 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      62 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.—Part I.
+
+     Revolt Of The Goths.—They Plunder Greece.—Two Great Invasions Of
+     Italy By Alaric And Radagaisus.—They Are Repulsed By Stilicho.—The
+     Germans Overrun Gaul.—Usurpation Of Constantine In The
+     West.—Disgrace And Death Of Stilicho.
+
+      If the subjects of Rome could be ignorant of their obligations to
+      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. 1 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.” 2 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. 3 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 præfect. 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; 4 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. 5
+
+      1 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      2 (return) [—
+
+     Alii per toga ferocis Danubii solidata ruunt; expertaque remis
+     Frangunt stagna rotis.
+
+      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.]
+
+      3 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      4 (return) [ 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).]
+
+      5 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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.
+      6 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; 7
+      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. 8 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. 9
+      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. 10 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. 11 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. 12 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:—and thou wilt find men equal to thyself.” 13 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; 14 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. 15
+
+      6 (return) [ Compare Herodotus (l. vii. c. 176) and Livy, (xxxvi.
+      15.) The narrow entrance of Greece was probably enlarged by each
+      successive ravisher.]
+
+      7 (return) [ He passed, says Eunapius, (in Vit. Philosoph. p. 93,
+      edit. Commelin, 1596,) through the straits, of Thermopylae.]
+
+      8 (return) [ In obedience to Jerom and Claudian, (in Rufin. l.
+      ii. 191,) I have mixed some darker colors in the mild
+      representation of Zosimus, who wished to soften the calamities of
+      Athens.
+
+     Nec fera Cecropias traxissent vincula matres.
+
+      Synesius (Epist. clvi. p. 272, edit. Petav.) observes, that
+      Athens, whose sufferings he imputes to the proconsul’s avarice,
+      was at that time less famous for her schools of philosophy than
+      for her trade of honey.]
+
+      9 (return) [—
+
+     Vallata mari Scironia rupes, Et duo continuo connectens aequora
+     muro Isthmos. —Claudian de Bel. Getico, 188.
+
+      The Scironian rocks are described by Pausanias, (l. i. c. 44, p.
+      107, edit. Kuhn,) and our modern travellers, Wheeler (p. 436) and
+      Chandler, (p. 298.) Hadrian made the road passable for two
+      carriages.]
+
+      10 (return) [ Claudian (in Rufin. l. ii. 186, and de Bello
+      Getico, 611, &c.) vaguely, though forcibly, delineates the scene
+      of rapine and destruction.]
+
+      11 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      12 (return) [ 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, &c. Such a
+      passion (of Eriphile for Achilles) is touched with admirable
+      delicacy by Racine.]
+
+      13 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      14 (return) [ Such, perhaps, as Homer (Iliad, xx. 164) had so
+      nobly painted him.]
+
+      15 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      The last hope of a people who could no longer depend on their
+      arms, their gods, or their sovereign, was placed in the powerful
+      assistance of the general of the West; and Stilicho, who had not
+      been permitted to repulse, advanced to chastise, the invaders of
+      Greece. 16 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. 17 The camp of
+      the Barbarians was immediately besieged; the waters of the river
+      18 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. 19 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.
+
+      16 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      17 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      18 (return) [ Claudian (in iv. Cons. Hon. 480) alludes to the
+      fact without naming the river; perhaps the Alpheus, (i. Cons.
+      Stil. l. i. 185.)
+
+   —-Et Alpheus Geticis angustus acervis Tardior ad Siculos etiamnum
+   pergit amores.
+
+      Yet I should prefer the Peneus, a shallow stream in a wide and
+      deep bed, which runs through Elis, and falls into the sea below
+      Cyllene. It had been joined with the Alpheus to cleanse the
+      Augean stable. (Cellarius, tom. i. p. 760. Chandler’s Travels, p.
+      286.)]
+
+      19 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      A Grecian philosopher, 20 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. 21 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. 22 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. 23 Armed with this double power, seated on the verge
+      of the two empires, he alternately sold his deceitful promises to
+      the courts of Arcadius 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. 25
+
+      20 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      21 (return) [ Synesius de Regno, p. 21-26.]
+
+      22 (return) [—qui foedera rumpit
+
+      Ditatur: qui servat, eget: vastator Achivae Gentis, et Epirum
+      nuper populatus inultam, Praesidet Illyrico: jam, quos obsedit,
+      amicos Ingreditur muros; illis responsa daturus, Quorum
+      conjugibus potitur, natosque peremit.
+
+      Claudian in Eutrop. l. ii. 212. Alaric applauds his own policy
+      (de Bell Getic. 533-543) in the use which he had made of this
+      Illyrian jurisdiction.]
+
+      23 (return) [ 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.
+
+     Discors odiisque anceps civilibus orbis, Non sua vis tutata diu,
+     dum foedera fallax Ludit, et alternae perjuria venditat aulae.
+     —-Claudian de Bell. Get. 565]
+
+      25 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      The scarcity of facts, 26 and the uncertainty of dates, 27 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, 28 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. 29 The old man, 30 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, 31 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. 32 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. 33
+
+      26 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      27 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      28 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      29 (return) [ Jovinian, the enemy of fasts and of celibacy, who
+      was persecuted and insulted by the furious Jerom, (Jortin’s
+      Remarks, vol. iv. p. 104, &c.) See the original edict of
+      banishment in the Theodosian Code, xvi. tit. v. leg. 43.]
+
+      30 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      31 (return) [
+
+     Ingentem meminit parvo qui germine quercum Aequaevumque videt
+     consenuisse nemus.
+     A neighboring wood born with himself he sees, And loves his old
+     contemporary trees.
+
+      In this passage, Cowley is perhaps superior to his original; and
+      the English poet, who was a good botanist, has concealed the oaks
+      under a more general expression.]
+
+      32 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      33 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.—Part II.
+
+      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 34 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. 35 The Barbarians, perhaps some tribes of the Alemanni,
+      respected the firmness of a chief, who still assumed the language
+      of command; and the choice which 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; 36 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.
+
+      34 (return) [ Solus erat Stilicho, &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.]
+
+      35 (return) [ The face of the country, and the hardiness of
+      Stilicho, are finely described, (de Bell. Get. 340-363.)]
+
+      36 (return) [
+
+    Venit et extremis legio praetenta Britannis, Quae Scoto dat frena
+    truci. —-De Bell. Get. 416.
+
+      Yet the most rapid march from Edinburgh, or Newcastle, to Milan,
+      must have required a longer space of time than Claudian seems
+      willing to allow for the duration of the Gothic war.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.—Part III.
+
+      When Stilicho seemed to abandon his sovereign in the unguarded
+      palace 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. 37 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. 3711 But Honorius 38 had scarcely
+      passed the Po, before he was overtaken by the speed of the Gothic
+      cavalry; 39 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. 40 The
+      siege of an obscure place, which contained so rich a prize, and
+      seemed incapable of a long resistance, was instantly formed, and
+      indefatigably pressed, by the king of the Goths; and the 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. 41 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. 42
+
+      37 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      3711 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      38 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      39 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      40 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      41 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      42 (return) [ Hanc ego vel victor regno, vel morte tenebo Victus,
+      humum.——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.]
+
+      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. 43 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, 44 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. 45 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, 46 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 47 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. 48
+
+      43 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      44 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      45 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      46 (return) [ Demens Ausonidum gemmata monilia matrum, Romanasque
+      alta famulas cervice petebat. De Bell. Get. 627.]
+
+      47 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      48 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      The eloquence of Claudian 49 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; 50 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. 51 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. 52
+
+      49 (return) [ Claudian and Prudentius must be strictly examined,
+      to reduce the figures, and extort the historic sense, of those
+      poets.]
+
+      50 (return) [
+
+     Et gravant en airain ses freles avantages De mes etats conquis
+     enchainer les images.
+
+      The practice of exposing in triumph the images of kings and
+      provinces was familiar to the Romans. The bust of Mithridates
+      himself was twelve feet high, of massy gold, (Freinshem.
+      Supplement. Livian. ciii. 47.)]
+
+      51 (return) [ The Getic war, and the sixth consulship of
+      Honorius, obscurely connect the events of Alaric’s retreat and
+      losses.]
+
+      52 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 era of the
+      Gothic victory, and of his sixth consulship. 53 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. 54 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.
+
+      53 (return) [ The remainder of Claudian’s poem on the sixth
+      consulship of Honorius, describes the journey, the triumph, and
+      the games, (330-660.)]
+
+      54 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      In these games of Honorius, the inhuman combats of gladiators 55
+      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; 56 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. 57 The pathetic representations of Prudentius were
+      less effectual than the generous boldness of Telemachus, an
+      Asiatic monk, whose death was more useful to mankind than his
+      life. 58 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. 5811 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! 59
+
+      55 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      56 (return) [ Cod. Theodos. l. xv. tit. xii. leg. i. The
+      Commentary of Godefroy affords large materials (tom. v. p. 396)
+      for the history of gladiators.]
+
+      57 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      58 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      5811 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      59 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 60 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. 61
+      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 era, 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. 62 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. 63
+
+      60 (return) [ This account of Ravenna is drawn from Strabo, (l.
+      v. p. 327,) Pliny, (iii. 20,) Stephen of Byzantium, (sub voce, p.
+      651, edit. Berkel,) Claudian, (in vi. Cons. Honor. 494, &c.,)
+      Sidonius Apollinaris, (l. i. epist. 5, 8,) Jornandes, (de Reb.
+      Get. c. 29,) Procopius (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.]
+
+      61 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      62 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      63 (return) [ 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., &c.]
+
+      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 learned 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. 64
+
+      64 (return) [ See M. de Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p.
+      179-189, tom ii p. 295, 334-338.]
+
+      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; 6411 and the nations who retreated
+      before them must have pressed with incumbent weight on the
+      confines of Germany. 65 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. 66 About four years after the victorious Toulun had
+      assumed the title of Khan of the Geougen, another Barbarian, the
+      haughty Rhodogast, or Radagaisus, 67 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; 68 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, 69 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.
+
+      6411 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      65 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      66 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      67 (return) [ 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—Die Gottesdienstliche Alterthumer der Obotriter—Masch
+      and Wogen. Berlin, 1771.—M.]
+
+      68 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      69 (return) [ Tacit. de Moribus Germanorum, c. 37.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.—Part IV.
+
+      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. 70 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. 71 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. 72 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. 73 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, 74
+      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 approach 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. 75 7511
+
+      70 (return) [
+
+     Cujus agendi Spectator vel causa fui, —-(Claudian, vi. Cons. Hon.
+     439,)
+
+      is the modest language of Honorius, in speaking of the Gothic
+      war, which he had seen somewhat nearer.]
+
+      71 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      72 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      73 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      74 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      75 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      7511 (return) [ 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—M.]
+
+      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. 76 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. 77 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.
+      78 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 79 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. 80 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. 81 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. 82 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. 83
+
+      76 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      77 (return) [ 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!]
+
+      78 (return) [
+
+     Franguntur montes, planumque per ardua Caesar Ducit opus: pandit
+     fossas, turritaque summis Disponit castella jugis, magnoque
+     necessu Amplexus fines, saltus, memorosaque tesqua Et silvas,
+     vastaque feras indagine claudit.!
+
+      Yet the simplicity of truth (Caesar, de Bell. Civ. iii. 44) is
+      far greater than the amplifications of Lucan, (Pharsal. l. vi.
+      29-63.)]
+
+      79 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      80 (return) [ See Zosimus, l. v. p. 331, and the Chronicles of
+      Prosper and Marcellinus.]
+
+      81 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      82 (return) [ 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.——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.—M.]
+
+      83 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 84 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. 85 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. 86
+
+      84 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      85 (return) [ Orosius and Jerom positively charge him with
+      instigating the in vasion. “Excitatae a Stilichone gentes,” &c.
+      They must mean a directly. He saved Italy at the expense of Gaul]
+
+      86 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 87 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. 88
+
+      87 (return) [
+
+     Provincia missos Expellet citius fasces, quam Francia reges Quos
+     dederis.
+
+      Claudian (i. Cons. Stil. l. i. 235, &c.) is clear and
+      satisfactory. These kings of France are unknown to Gregory of
+      Tours; but the 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.]
+
+      88 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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.
+      89 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. 90 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. 91 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, 92
+      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:” 93
+      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.
+
+      89 (return) [ Claudian (i. Cons. Stil. l. i. 221, &c., l. ii.
+      186) describes the peace and prosperity of the Gallic frontier.
+      The Abbe Dubos (Hist. Critique, &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.]
+
+      90 (return) [—Germinasque viator Cum videat ripas, quae sit
+      Romana requirat.]
+
+      91 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      92 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      93 (return) [ See the Mémoires 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.]
+
+      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. 94 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. 95 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. 96 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. 97 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.
+
+      94 (return) [ 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,
+      &c.)]
+
+      95 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      96 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      97 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.—Part V.
+
+      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 præfecture. 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 98 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;
+      99 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.
+
+      98 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      99 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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. 100 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
+      præfecture of Illyricum; as it was claimed, according to the
+      true and ancient limits, by the minister of Honorius. 101 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, 102 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.
+
+      100 (return) [
+
+     Comitatur euntem Pallor, et atra fames; et saucia lividus ora
+     Luctus; et inferno stridentes agmine morbi. —-Claudian in vi.
+     Cons. Hon. 821, &c.]
+
+      101 (return) [ These dark transactions are investigated by the
+      Count de Bual (Hist. des Peuples de l’Europe, tom. vii. c.
+      iii.—viii. p. 69-206,) whose laborious accuracy may sometimes
+      fatigue a superficial reader.]
+
+      102 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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;” 103 and
+      escaped the danger of such bold opposition by immediately
+      retiring to the sanctuary of a Christian church. [See Palace Of
+      The Caesars]
+
+      103 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      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, 104 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. 105 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.
+
+      104 (return) [ 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, &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.]
+
+      105 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 Prætorian
+      præfects, 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. 106
+
+      106 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 107 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, 108 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. 109 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.
+      110 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. 111 1111 Serena had
+      borrowed her magnificent necklace from the statue of Vesta; 112
+      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. 113 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.
+
+      107 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      108 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      109 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      110 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      111 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      112 (return) [ Zosimus, l. v. p. 351. We may observe the bad
+      taste of the age, in dressing their statues with such awkward
+      finery.]
+
+      113 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      1111 (return) [ Hence, perhaps, the accusation of treachery is
+      countenanced by Hatilius:—
+
+     Quo magis est facinus diri Stilichonis iniquum Proditor arcani
+     quod fuit imperii. Romano generi dum nititur esse superstes,
+     Crudelis summis miscuit ima furor. Dumque timet, quicquid se
+     fecerat ipso timeri, Immisit Latiae barbara tela neci.  Rutil.
+     Itin. II. 41.—M.] Among the train of dependants whose wealth and
+     dignity attracted the notice of their own times, our curiosity is
+     excited by the celebrated name of the poet Claudian, who enjoyed
+     the favor of Stilicho, and was overwhelmed in the ruin of his
+     patron.]
+
+      Among the train of dependants whose wealth and dignity attracted
+      the notice of their own times, _our_ curiosity is excited by the
+      celebrated name of the poet Claudian, who enjoyed the favor of
+      Stilicho, and was overwhelmed in the ruin of his patron. The
+      titular offices of tribune and notary fixed his rank in the
+      Imperial court: he was indebted to the powerful intercession of
+      Serena for his marriage with a very rich heiress of the province
+      of Africa; 114 and the statute of Claudian, erected in the forum
+      of Trajan, was a monument of the taste and liberality of the
+      Roman senate. 115 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 Prætorian præfects 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!” 116 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
+      præfect. 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. 117 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,
+      118 who had received the education of a Greek, assumed, in a
+      mature age, the familiar use, and absolute command, of the Latin
+      language; 119 soared above the heads of his feeble
+      contemporaries; and placed himself, after an interval of three
+      hundred years, among the poets of ancient Rome. 120
+
+      114 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      115 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      116 (return) [ See Epigram xxx.
+
+     Mallius indulget somno noctesque diesque: Insomnis Pharius sacra,
+     profana, rapit. Omnibus, hoc, Italae gentes, exposcite votis;
+     Mallius ut vigilet, dormiat ut Pharius.
+
+      Hadrian was a Pharian, (of Alexandrian.) See his public life 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.)]
+
+      117 (return) [ 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—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,—and Honorius never became more than a child,—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—
+
+     ... Non littora nostro Sufficerent angusta Deo.
+
+      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:
+
+     ... Quae tunc documenta futuri? Quae voces avium? quanti per inane
+     volatus? Quis vatum discursus erat?  Tibi corniger Ammon, Et dudum
+     taciti rupere silentia Delphi. Te Persae cecinere Magi, te sensit
+     Etruscus Augur, et inspectis Babylonius horruit astris; Chaldaei
+     stupuere senes, Cumanaque rursus Itonuit rupes, rabidae delubra
+     Sibyllae. —Claud. iv. Cons. Hon. 141.
+
+      From the Quarterly Review of Beugnot. Hist. de la Paganisme en
+      Occident, Q. R. v. lvii. p. 61.—M.]
+
+      118 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      119 (return) [ His first Latin verses were composed during the
+      consulship of Probinus, A.D. 395.
+
+      Romanos bibimus primum, te consule, fontes, Et Latiae cessit
+      Graia Thalia togae.
+
+      Besides some Greek epigrams, which are still extant, the Latin
+      poet had composed, in Greek, the Antiquities of Tarsus,
+      Anazarbus, Berytus, Nice, &c. It is more easy to supply the loss
+      of good poetry, than of authentic history.]
+
+      120 (return) [ 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]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+      Barbarians.—Part I.
+
+     Invasion Of Italy By Alaric.—Manners Of The Roman Senate And
+     People.—Rome Is Thrice Besieged, And At Length Pillaged, By The
+     Goths.—Death Of Alaric.—The Goths Evacuate Italy.—Fall Of
+     Constantine.—Gaul And Spain Are Occupied By The Barbarians.
+     —Independence Of Britain.
+
+      The incapacity of a weak and distracted government may often
+      assume 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. 1 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, 2 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. 3 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.
+
+      1 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      2 (return) [ The expression of Zosimus is strong and lively,
+      sufficient to excite the contempt of the enemy.]
+
+      3 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 Ætius 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,
+      4 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. 6
+
+      4 (return) [ 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.
+
+     Hine albi, Clitumne, greges, et maxima taurus Victima, saepe tuo
+     perfusi flumine sacro, Romanos ad templa Deum duxere triumphos.
+     —Georg. ii. 147.
+
+      Besides Virgil, most of the Latin poets, Propertius, Lucan,
+      Silius Italicus, Claudian, &c., whose passages may be found in
+      Cluverius and Addison, have celebrated the triumphal victims of
+      the Clitumnus.]
+
+      6 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 7 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. 8 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. 9 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; 911 and that a body of troops was
+      dismissed by an opposite road, to reenforce the legions of Spain.
+      10 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.
+
+      7 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      8 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      9 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      911 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      10 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 11 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. 12
+
+      11 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      12 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 13
+      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. 14
+      One hundred and sixty-eight years before the Christian era, the
+      family was ennobled by the Prætorship of Anicius, who gloriously
+      terminated the Illyrian war, by the conquest of the nation, and
+      the captivity of their king. 15 From the triumph of that general,
+      three consulships, in distant periods, mark the succession of the
+      Anician name. 16 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. 17 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. 18 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 præfect of the city, atoned for his
+      attachment to the party of Maxentius, by the readiness with which
+      he accepted the religion of Constantine. 19 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 Prætorian præfect. 20
+      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. 21 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. 22
+
+      13 (return) [
+
+     Nec quisquam Procerum tentet (licet aere vetusto Floreat, et claro
+     cingatur Roma senatu) Se jactare parem; sed prima sede relicta
+     Aucheniis, de jure licet certare secundo. —-Claud. in Prob. et
+     Olybrii Coss. 18.
+
+      Such a compliment paid to the obscure name of the Auchenii has
+      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.]
+
+      14 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      15 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      16 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      17 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      18 (return) [
+
+     Fixus in omnes Cognatos procedit honos; quemcumque requiras Hac de
+     stirpe virum, certum est de Consule nasci. Per fasces numerantur
+     Avi, semperque renata Nobilitate virent, et prolem fata sequuntur.
+
+      (Claudian in Prob. et Olyb. Consulat. 12, &c.) The Annii, whose
+      name seems to have merged in the Anician, mark the Fasti with
+      many consulships, from the time of Vespasian to the fourth
+      century.]
+
+      19 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      20 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      21 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      22 (return) [ See the poem which Claudian addressed to the two
+      noble youths.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+      Barbarians.—Part II.
+
+      “The marbles of the Anician palace,” were used as a proverbial
+      expression of opulence and splendor; 23 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. 24 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. 25 The historian Olympiodorus, who represents the state
+      of Rome when it was besieged by the Goths, 26 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. 27 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; 28 and it is observed by Seneca, that the rivers, which
+      had divided hostile nations, now flowed through the lands of
+      private citizens. 29 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. 30
+
+      23 (return) [ Secundinus, the Manichaean, ap. Baron. Annal.
+      Eccles. A.D. 390, No. 34.]
+
+      24 (return) [ See Nardini, Roma Antica, p. 89, 498, 500.]
+
+      25 (return) [
+
+    Quid loquar inclusas inter laquearia sylvas; Vernula queis vario
+    carmine ludit avis.
+
+      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.]
+
+      26 (return) [ This curious account of Rome, in the reign of
+      Honorius, is found in a fragment of the historian Olympiodorus,
+      ap. Photium, p. 197.]
+
+      27 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      28 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      29 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      30 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 31 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. 32 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. 33 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. 34
+
+      31 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      32 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      33 (return) [ The learned Arbuthnot (Tables of Ancient Coins, &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.—M.]
+
+      34 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      “The greatness of Rome”—such is the language of the
+      historian—“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. 35 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, 36
+      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, 37 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. 38 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. 39 If at any time, but more especially on a hot day, they
+      have courage to sail, in their painted galleys, from the Lucrine
+      Lake 40 to their elegant villas on the seacoast of Puteoli and
+      Cayeta, 41 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,
+      42 the regions of eternal darkness. In these journeys into the
+      country, 43 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; 44 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, 45 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) 46 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. 47 The
+      libraries, which they have inherited from their fathers, are
+      secluded, like dreary sepulchres, from the light of day. 48 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.”
+
+      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. 49 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.”
+
+      35 (return) [ Claudian, who seems to have read the history of
+      Ammianus, speaks of this great revolution in a much less courtly
+      style:—
+
+     Postquam jura ferox in se communia Caesar Transtulit; et lapsi
+     mores; desuetaque priscis Artibus, in gremium pacis servile
+     recessi. —De Be. Gildonico, p. 49.]
+
+      36 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      37 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      38 (return) [ 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, &c., were represented in embroidery: and that
+      the more pious coxcombs substituted the figure or legend of some
+      favorite saint.]
+
+      39 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      40 (return) [ 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, &c. Antonii Sanfelicii Campania, p.
+      13, 88—Note: Compare Lyell’s Geology, ii. 72.—M.]
+
+      41 (return) [ The regna Cumana et Puteolana; loca caetiroqui
+      valde expe tenda, interpellantium autem multitudine paene
+      fugienda. Cicero ad Attic. xvi. 17.]
+
+      42 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      43 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      44 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      45 (return) [ 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.)—Note: Is it not the
+      dormouse?—M.]
+
+      46 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      47 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      48 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      49 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+      Barbarians.—Part III.
+
+      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. 50
+      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. 51 Yet as long as the people bestowed, by their
+      suffrages, the honors of the state, the command of the legions,
+      and the administration of wealthy provinces, their conscious
+      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. 52
+
+      50 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      51 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      52 (return) [ See the third Satire (60-125) of Juvenal, who
+      indignantly complains,
+
+     Quamvis quota portio faecis Achaei! Jampridem Syrus in Tiberem
+     defluxit Orontes; Et linguam et mores, &c.
+
+      Seneca, when he proposes to comfort his mother (Consolat. ad
+      Helv. c. 6) by the reflection, that a great part of mankind were
+      in a state of exile, reminds her how few of the inhabitants of
+      Rome were born in the city.]
+
+      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. 53 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, 54 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. 55 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. 56 This rigid
+      sobriety was insensibly relaxed; and, although the generous
+      design of Aurelian 57 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.
+
+      53 (return) [ Almost all that is said of the bread, bacon, oil,
+      wine, &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.]
+
+      54 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      55 (return) [ See Novell. ad calcem Cod. Theod. D. Valent. l. i.
+      tit. xv. This law was published at Rome, June 29th, A.D. 452.]
+
+      56 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      57 (return) [ 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]
+
+      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. 58 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. 59 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. 60
+
+      58 (return) [ Olympiodor. apud Phot. p. 197.]
+
+      59 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      60 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 61 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, 62 had been almost totally
+      silent since the fall of the republic; 63 and their place was
+      unworthily occupied by licentious farce, effeminate music, and
+      splendid pageantry. The pantomimes, 64 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. 65
+
+      61 (return) [ Juvenal. Satir. xi. 191, &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.]
+
+      62 (return) [ Sometimes indeed they composed original pieces.
+
+     Vestigia Graeca Ausi deserere et celeb rare domestica facta.
+
+      Horat. Epistol. ad Pisones, 285, and the learned, though
+      perplexed 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.]
+
+      63 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      64 (return) [ 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 Mémoires de l’Academie des Inscriptions, tom. i. p. 127,
+      &c.) has given a short history of the art of pantomimes.]
+
+      65 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 66 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. 67 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. 68 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. 69 III. Juvenal 70 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. 71 The two classes of domus and of
+      insulæ, 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 tiles. If we adopt the same average, which,
+      under similar circumstances, has been found applicable to Paris,
+      72 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. 73 7311
+
+      66 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      67 (return) [ Olympiodor. ap. Phot. p. 197. See Fabricius, Bibl.
+      Graec. tom. ix. p. 400.]
+
+      68 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      69 (return) [ The successive testimonies of Pliny, Aristides,
+      Claudian, Rutilius, &c., prove the insufficiency of these
+      restrictive edicts. See Lipsius, de Magnitud. Romana, l. iii. c.
+      4.
+
+     Tabulata tibi jam tertia fumant; Tu nescis; nam si gradibus
+     trepidatur ab imis Ultimus ardebit, quem tegula sola tuetur A
+     pluvia. —-Juvenal. Satir. iii. 199]
+
+      70 (return) [ Read the whole third satire, but particularly 166,
+      223, &c. The description of a crowded insula, or lodging-house,
+      in Petronius, (c. 95, 97,) perfectly tallies with the complaints
+      of Juvenal; and 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.]
+
+      71 (return) [ This sum total is composed of 1780 domus, or great
+      houses of 46,602 insulæ, 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.]
+
+      72 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      73 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      7311 (return) [ 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—M. 1845.]
+
+      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. 74 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. 75 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! 76 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,
+      præfect 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. 77 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. 78
+
+      74 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      75 (return) [ The mother of Laeta was named Pissumena. Her
+      father, family, and country, are unknown. Ducange, Fam.
+      Byzantium, p. 59.]
+
+      76 (return) [ 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]
+
+      77 (return) [ 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.
+
+     Quid agant laqueis, quae carmine dicant, Quaque trahant superis
+     sedibus arte Jovem, Scire nefas homini.
+
+      The ancilia, or shields of Mars, the pignora Imperii, which were
+      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.—M.]
+
+      78 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 79 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, 80 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. 81
+
+      79 (return) [ 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,
+      &c., tom. i. p. 457.]
+
+      80 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      81 (return) [ The treaty between Alaric and the Romans, &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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+      Barbarians.—Part IV.
+
+      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. 82 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. 83
+
+      82 (return) [ Zosimus, l. v. p. 367 368, 369.]
+
+      83 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      Olympius 84 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 Prætorian præfect; 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, 85 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 præfect 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
+      Prætorian præfect, 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
+      præfect 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 invoked 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 touched, in solemn ceremony, that
+      august seat of majesty and wisdom; and the violation of their
+      oath would expose them to the temporal penalties of sacrilege and
+      rebellion. 86
+
+      84 (return) [ 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. ]
+
+      85 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      86 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 conjure the
+      emperor, that he would save the city and its inhabitants from
+      hostile fire, and the sword of the Barbarians. 87 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. 88 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. 89 The Roman Port insensibly
+      swelled to the size of an episcopal city, 90 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, præfect 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. 91
+
+      87 (return) [ 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]
+
+      88 (return) [ See Sueton. in Claud. c. 20. Dion Cassius, l. lx.
+      p. 949, edit Reimar, and the lively description of Juvenal,
+      Satir. xii. 75, &c. In the sixteenth century, when the remains of
+      this Augustan port 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.)]
+
+      89 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      90 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      91 (return) [ For the elevation of Attalus, consult Zosimus, l.
+      vi. p. 377-380, Sozomen, l. ix. c. 8, 9, Olympiodor. ap. Phot. p.
+      180, 181, Philostorg. l. xii. c. 3, and Godefroy’s Dissertat. p.
+      470.]
+
+      The gates of the city were thrown open, and the new emperor of
+      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 formal 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. 92 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 Prætorian præfect, 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. 93 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.
+
+      92 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      93 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      But there is a Providence (such at least was the opinion of the
+      historian Procopius) 94 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. 95 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. 96
+
+      94 (return) [ Procop. de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 2.]
+
+      95 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      96 (return) [ In hoc, Alaricus, imperatore, facto, infecto,
+      refecto, ac defecto... Mimum risit, et ludum spectavit imperii.
+      Orosius, l. vii. c. 42, p. 582.]
+
+      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. 97 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. 98
+
+      97 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      98 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 99 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. 100
+
+      99 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      100 (return) [ See Augustin, de Civitat. Dei, l. i. c. 1-6. He
+      particularly appeals to the examples of Troy, Syracuse, and
+      Tarentum.]
+
+      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; 101 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. 102 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. 103
+      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.
+
+      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. 104 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 105 remained, in the age of Justinian, a stately monument
+      of the Gothic conflagration. 106 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.
+      107
+
+      101 (return) [ Jerom (tom. i. p. 121, ad Principiam) has applied
+      to the sack of Rome all the strong expressions of Virgil:—
+
+     Quis cladem illius noctis, quis funera fando, Explicet, &c.
+
+      Procopius (l. i. c. 2) positively affirms that great numbers were
+      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.]
+
+      102 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      103 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      104 (return) [ 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, &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.]
+
+      105 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      106 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      107 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+      Barbarians.—Part V.
+
+      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. 108 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. 109 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. 110 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. 111 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. 112 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, 113
+      the widow of the præfect 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. 114 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.
+
+      108 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      109 (return) [ Multi... Christiani incaptivitatem ducti sunt.
+      Augustin, de Civ Dei, l. i. c. 14; and the Christians experienced
+      no peculiar hardships.]
+
+      110 (return) [ See Heineccius, Antiquitat. Juris Roman. tom. i.
+      p. 96.]
+
+      111 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      112 (return) [ Eminus Igilii sylvosa cacumina miror; Quem
+      fraudare nefas laudis honore suae.
+
+     Haec proprios nuper tutata est insula saltus;
+     Sive loci ingenio, seu Domini genio. Gurgite cum modico
+     victricibus obstitit armis, Tanquam longinquo dissociata mari.
+     Haec multos lacera suscepit ab urbe fugates,
+     Hic fessis posito certa timore salus. Plurima terreno populaverat
+     aequora bello,
+     Contra naturam classe timendus eques: Unum, mira fides, vario
+     discrimine portum!
+     Tam prope Romanis, tam procul esse Getis.
+    —-Rutilius, in Itinerar. l. i. 325
+
+      The island is now called Giglio. See Cluver. Ital. Antiq. l. ii.
+      ]
+
+      113 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      114 (return) [ See the pathetic complaint of Jerom, (tom. v. p.
+      400,) in his preface to the second book of his Commentaries on
+      the Prophet Ezekiel.]
+
+      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. 115 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. 116 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
+      era, 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. 117
+
+      115 (return) [ 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, &c., de l’Histoire Romaine, p. 356; and Melot, in
+      the Mem. de l’Academie des Inscript. tom. xv. p. 1-21.]
+
+      116 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      117 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      The retreat of the victorious Goths, who evacuated Rome on the
+      sixth day, 118 might be the result of prudence; but it was not
+      surely the effect of fear. 119 At the head of an 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, 120 is buried in oblivion; whilst the adjacent town of
+      Nola 121 has been illustrated, on this occasion, by the sanctity
+      of Paulinus, 122 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. 123 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, 124 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; 125 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.
+
+      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, 126 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. 127
+
+      118 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      119 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      120 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      121 (return) [ Forty-eight years before the foundation of Rome,
+      (about 800 before the Christian era,) 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.]
+
+      122 (return) [ 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, &c., his Christian friends and
+      contemporaries.]
+
+      123 (return) [ See the affectionate letters of Ausonius (epist.
+      xix.—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.]
+
+      124 (return) [ The humble Paulinus once presumed to say, that he
+      believed St. Faelix did love him; at least, as a master loves his
+      little dog.]
+
+      125 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      126 (return) [ 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]
+
+      127 (return) [ The prostrate South to the destroyer yields
+
+     Her boasted titles, and her golden fields; With grim delight the
+     brood of winter view A brighter day, and skies of azure hue; Scent
+     the new fragrance of the opening rose, And quaff the pendent
+     vintage as it grows.
+
+      See Gray’s Poems, published by Mr. Mason, p. 197. Instead of
+      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?]
+
+      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 128 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. 129
+
+      128 (return) [ For the perfect description of the Straits of
+      Messina, Scylla, Clarybdis, &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.]
+
+      129 (return) [ Jornandes, de Reb Get. c. 30, p. 654.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+      Barbarians.—Part VI.
+
+      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.” 130 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. 131 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 or
+      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.
+
+      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. 132
+
+      130 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      131 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      132 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 133 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. 134 The victorious
+      Barbarians detained, either as a hostage or a captive, 135 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 136 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, 137 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. 138
+
+      133 (return) [ See an account of Placidia in Ducange Fam. Byzant.
+      p. 72; and Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 260, 386,
+      &c. tom. vi. p. 240.]
+
+      134 (return) [ Zosim. l. v. p. 350.]
+
+      135 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      136 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      137 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      138 (return) [ We owe the curious detail of this nuptial feast to
+      the historian Olympiodorus, ap. Photium, p. 185, 188.]
+
+      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, 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 139 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 Ætius, 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. 140 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, 141 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. 142 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.
+
+      139 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      140 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      141 (return) [ The president Goguet (Origine des Loix, &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.]
+
+      142 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 143 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, præfect 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. 144 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. 145
+
+      143 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      144 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      145 (return) [ 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, &c.) addresses Rome in a
+      high strain of congratulation:—
+
+      Erige crinales lauros, seniumque sacrati Verticis in virides,
+      Roma, recinge comas, &c.]
+
+      This apparent tranquillity was soon disturbed by the approach of
+      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. 146 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. 147 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: 148 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; 149 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. 150 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.
+
+      146 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      147 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      148 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      149 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      150 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 Constans, 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. 151 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.
+
+      151 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 152 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.
+
+      152 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 Prætorian præfect, is recorded as the only
+      magistrate who refused to yield obedience to the usurper. 153
+      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, 154 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.
+
+      153 (return) [ 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 præfect 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.]
+
+      154 (return) [ 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.—M]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXI: Invasion Of Italy, Occupation Of Territories By
+      Barbarians.—Part VII.
+
+      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 era, 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. 155 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. 156 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. 157 “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.” 158
+
+      155 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      156 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      157 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      158 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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: 159 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.
+
+      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; 160 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.
+      161 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. 162
+
+      159 (return) [ This mixture of force and persuasion may be fairly
+      inferred from comparing Orosius and Jornandes, the Roman and the
+      Gothic historian.]
+
+      160 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      161 (return) [ The murder is related by Olympiodorus: but the
+      number of the children is taken from an epitaph of suspected
+      authority.]
+
+      162 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 163 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; 164 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. 165 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. 166
+
+      163 (return) [
+
+     Quod Tartessiacis avus hujus Vallia terris Vandalicas turmas, et
+     juncti Martis Alanos Stravit, et occiduam texere cadavera Calpen.
+
+      Sidon. Apollinar. in Panegyr. Anthem. 363 p. 300, edit. Sirmond.]
+
+      164 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      165 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      166 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 167 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. 168 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. 169
+
+      167 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      168 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      169 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      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; 170 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. 171 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. 172 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.
+
+      170 (return) [ O Lycida, vivi pervenimus: advena nostri (Quod
+      nunquam veriti sumus) ut possessor agelli Diseret: Haec mea sunt;
+      veteres migrate coloni. Nunc victi tristes, &c.——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.]
+
+      171 (return) [ See the remarkable passage of the Eucharisticon of
+      Paulinus, 575, apud Mascou, l. viii. c. 42.]
+
+      172 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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. 173 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 174 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.
+
+      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; 175 and Armorica, though it could not long maintain
+      the form of a republic, 176 was agitated by frequent and
+      destructive revolts. Britain was irrecoverably lost. 177 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. 178
+
+      173 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      174 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      175 (return) [ Gens inter geminos notissima clauditur amnes,
+
+     Armoricana prius veteri cognomine dicta. Torva, ferox, ventosa,
+     procax, incauta, rebellis; Inconstans, disparque sibi novitatis
+     amore; Prodiga verborum, sed non et prodiga facti.
+
+      Erricus, Monach. in Vit. St. Germani. l. v. apud Vales. Notit.
+      Galliarum, p. 43. Valesius alleges several testimonies to 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.]
+
+      176 (return) [ 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 Mémoires 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.—M.]
+
+      177 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      178 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 179
+      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. 180 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. 181 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. 182 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, 183 would sometimes regret the reign of an arbitrary
+      monarch.
+
+      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: 184 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. 185 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, 186
+      who infested Britain after the dissolution of the Roman
+      government. III. The British church might be composed of thirty
+      or forty bishops, 187 with an adequate proportion of the inferior
+      clergy; and the want of riches (for they seem to have been poor
+      188) would compel them to deserve the public esteem, by a decent
+      and exemplary behavior.
+
+      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.
+
+      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. 189
+
+      179 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      180 (return) [ Zosimus, l. vi. p. 383.]
+
+      181 (return) [ 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.
+
+      Note: The names may be found in Whitaker’s Hist. of Manchester
+      vol. ii. 330, 379. Turner, Hist. Anglo-Saxons, i. 216.—M.]
+
+      182 (return) [ See Maffei Verona Illustrata, part i. l. v. p.
+      83-106.]
+
+      183 (return) [ Leges restituit, libertatemque reducit, Et servos
+      famulis non sinit esse suis. Itinerar. Rutil. l. i. 215.]
+
+      184 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      185 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      186 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      187 (return) [ See Bingham’s Eccles. Antiquities, vol. i. l. ix.
+      c. 6, p. 394.]
+
+      188 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      189 (return) [ Consult Usher, de Antiq. Eccles. Britannicar. c.
+      8-12.]
+
+      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, 190 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. 191 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 Prætorian præfect 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.
+
+      190 (return) [ 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]
+
+      191 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius, Theodosius II.—Part
+      I.
+
+     Arcadius Emperor Of The East.—Administration And Disgrace Of
+     Eutropius.—Revolt Of Gainas.—Persecution Of St. John
+     Chrysostom.—Theodosius II. Emperor Of The East.—His Sister
+     Pulcheria.—His Wife Eudocia.—The Persian War, And Division Of
+     Armenia.
+
+      The division of the Roman world between the sons of Theodosius
+      marks 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 1 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 Æthiopia, 2 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.
+
+      1 (return) [ 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 Mémoires de l’Acad. des Inscriptions, tom.
+      xiii. p. 474-490.]
+
+      2 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 3 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, 4 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, 6 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. 7
+      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 8 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,
+      9 sufficiently represented the different maxims of the two
+      administrations.
+
+      3 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      4 (return) [ After lamenting the progress of the eunuchs in the
+      Roman palace, and defining their proper functions, Claudian adds,
+
+     A fronte recedant. Imperii. —-In Eutrop. i. 422.
+
+      Yet it does not appear that the eunuchs had assumed any of the
+      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.
+
+     Jamque oblita sui, nec sobria divitiis mens In miseras leges
+     hominumque negotia ludit Judicat eunuchus....... Arma etiam
+     violare parat......
+
+      Claudian, (i. 229-270,) with that mixture of indignation and
+      humor 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.
+
+     Gaudet, cum viderit, hostis, Et sentit jam deesse viros.]
+
+      6 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      7 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      8 (return) [ Claudian, (l. i. in Eutrop. l.—22,) after
+      enumerating the various prodigies of monstrous births, speaking
+      animals, showers of blood or stones, double suns, &c., adds, with
+      some exaggeration,
+
+      Omnia cesserunt eunucho consule monstra.
+
+      The first book concludes with a noble speech of the goddess of
+      Rome to her favorite Honorius, deprecating the new ignominy to
+      which she was exposed.]
+
+      9 (return) [ Fl. Mallius Theodorus, whose civil honors, and
+      philosophical works, have been celebrated by Claudian in a very
+      elegant panegyric.]
+
+      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 præfect. 10
+      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 12 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
+      13 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. 14 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. 15 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. 16 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. 17 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.
+
+      10 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      12 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      13 (return) [ Suidas (most probably from the history of Eunapius)
+      has given a very unfavorable picture of Timasius. The account of
+      his accuser, the judges, trial, &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, &c., 8vo.
+      edit.,) which may be considered as the history of human nature.]
+
+      14 (return) [ 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 ]
+
+      15 (return) [ The line of Claudian, in Eutrop. l. i. 180,
+
+     Marmaricus claris violatur caedibus Hammon,
+
+      evidently alludes to his persuasion of the death of Timasius. *
+      Note: A fragment of Eunapius confirms this account. “Thus having
+      deprived this great person of his life—a eunuch, a man, a slave,
+      a consul, a minister of the bed-chamber, one bred in camps.” Mai,
+      p. 283, in Niebuhr. 87—M.]
+
+      16 (return) [ Sozomen, l. viii. c. 7. He speaks from report.]
+
+      17 (return) [ Zosimus, l. v. p. 300. Yet he seems to suspect that
+      this rumor was spread by the friends of Eutropius.]
+
+      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. 18
+      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; 19
+      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. 20
+
+      18 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      19 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      20 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 21 the Ostrogoth. The colony of that
+      warlike nation, which had been planted by Theodosius in one of
+      the most fertile districts of Phrygia, 22 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, 23 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, 24 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. 25 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, 26 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. 27 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.
+
+      21 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      22 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      23 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      24 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      25 (return) [ 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, &c., is made still more ridiculous by the importance of
+      the debate.]
+
+      26 (return) [ Claudian (l. ii. 376-461) has branded him with
+      infamy; and Zosimus, in more temperate language, confirms his
+      reproaches. L. v. p. 305.]
+
+      27 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius, Theodosius II.—Part
+      II.
+
+      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. 28 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. 29 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. 30 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. 31 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. 32
+
+      28 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      29 (return) [ 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.
+
+     Suppliciterque pias humilis prostratus ad aras, Mitigat iratas
+     voce tremente nurus,]
+
+      30 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      31 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      32 (return) [ Zosimus, l. v. p. 313. Philostorgius, l. xi. c. 6.]
+
+      While this domestic revolution was transacted, Gainas 33 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, 34 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. 35 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. 36 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, 37 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; 38 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,
+      3811 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. 39 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; 40 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.
+
+      33 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      34 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      35 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      36 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      37 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      38 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      3811 (return) [ Fravitta, according to Zosimus, though a Pagan,
+      received the honors of the consulate. Zosim, v. c. 20. On
+      Fravitta, see a very imperfect fragment of Eunapius. Mai. ii.
+      290, in Niebuhr. 92.—M.]
+
+      39 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      40 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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.
+      41 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 42 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.
+
+      41 (return) [ 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, &c. &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.)]
+
+      42 (return) [ 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, (Bibliothèque 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.]
+
+      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, 43 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. 44 Although he struggled, according to
+      the precepts of the gospel, to love his private enemies, he
+      indulged himself in the privilege of hating the enemies of God
+      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, 45 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.
+
+      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. 46 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.
+
+      43 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      44 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      45 (return) [ Palladius (tom. xiii. p. 40, &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.]
+
+      46 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      This ecclesiastical conspiracy was managed by Theophilus, 47
+      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. 48
+      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 49
+      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.
+
+      47 (return) [ See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xi. p. 441-500.]
+
+      48 (return) [ 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, &c. &c.]
+
+      49 (return) [ 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—M]
+
+      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. 50 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. 51 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. 52
+
+      50 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      51 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      52 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      Cicero might claim some merit, if his voluntary banishment
+      preserved the peace of the republic; 53 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 54 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. 55 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. 56 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. 57
+      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. 58
+
+      53 (return) [ He displays those specious motives (Post Reditum,
+      c. 13, 14) in the language of an orator and a politician.]
+
+      54 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      55 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      56 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      57 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      58 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXII: Emperors Arcadius, Eutropius, Theodosius II.—Part
+      III.
+
+      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. 59 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, 60 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; 61 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, 62 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.
+
+      59 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      60 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      61 (return) [ Philostorg. l. xi. c. 8, and Godefroy, Dissertat.
+      p. 457.]
+
+      62 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      The historian Procopius 63 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, 64 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.
+
+      63 (return) [ Procopius, de Bell. Persic. l. i. c. 2, p. 8, edit.
+      Louvre.]
+
+      64 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      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
+      præfect Anthemius, 65 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. 66 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. 67
+
+      65 (return) [ 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 Prætorian præfect
+      of the East, in the year 405 and held the præfecture about ten
+      years. See his honors and praises in Godefroy, Cod. Theod. tom.
+      vi. p. 350. Tillemont, Hist. des Emptom. vi. p. 1. &c.]
+
+      66 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      67 (return) [ Cod. Theod. l. vii. tit. xvi. l. xv. tit. i. leg.
+      49.]
+
+      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, 68
+      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, 69
+      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 70 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. 71 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.
+
+      68 (return) [ Sozomen has filled three chapters with a
+      magnificent panegyric of Pulcheria, (l. ix. c. 1, 2, 3;) and
+      Tillemont (Mémoires 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.—M.]
+
+      69 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      70 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      71 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 72 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. 73
+
+      72 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      73 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 74 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 præfects. 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. 75 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. 76 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, Prætorian præfect 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. 77 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, 78 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. 79
+
+      74 (return) [ 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, &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.]
+
+      75 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      76 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      77 (return) [ 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, &c., is fit only
+      for the Arabian Nights, where something not very unlike it may be
+      found.]
+
+      78 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      79 (return) [ For the two pilgrimages of Eudocia, and her long
+      residence at Jerusalem, her devotion, alms, &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.]
+
+      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. 80 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 81 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.
+
+      80 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      81 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      Since the Roman and Parthian standards first encountered on the
+      banks of the Euphrates, the kingdom of Armenia 82 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; 83 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. 8111 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 84 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
+      8411 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.” 85 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, 86 which they had possessed
+      above five hundred and sixty years; 87 and the dominions of the
+      unfortunate Artasires, 8711 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: 8712 and a territorial acquisition, which Augustus might
+      have despised, reflected some lustre on the declining empire of
+      the younger Theodosius.
+
+      82 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      83 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      84 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      8111 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      8411 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      85 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      86 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      87 (return) [ 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.—M.——Note: According to M. St. Martin, vi. 32, Vagharschah,
+      or Valarsaces, was appointed king by his brother Mithridates the
+      Great, king of Parthia.—M.]
+
+      8711 (return) [ Artasires or Ardaschir was probably sent to the
+      castle of Oblivion. St. Martin, vi. 31.—M.]
+
+      8712 (return) [ The duration of the Armenian kingdom according to
+      M. St. Martin, was 580 years.—M]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXIII: Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals.—Part I.
+
+     Death Of Honorius.—Valentinian III.—Emperor Of The East.
+     —Administration Of His Mother Placidia—Ætius And
+     Boniface.—Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals.
+
+      During a long and disgraceful reign of twenty-eight years,
+      Honorius, emperor of the West, was separated from the friendship
+      of 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 1 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 2 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.
+
+      1 (return) [ See vol. iii. p. 296.]
+
+      2 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 3
+
+      3 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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; 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7
+
+      4 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      5 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      6 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      7 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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; 8 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, Ætius 9 and Boniface, 10
+      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 Ætius; 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
+      Ætius 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
+      Ætius, 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 Ætius 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 11 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, Ætius 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 Ætius 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.
+
+      8 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      9 (return) [ Philostorgius, l. xii. c. 12, and Godefroy’s
+      Dissertat. p. 493, &c.; and Renatus Frigeridus, apud Gregor.
+      Turon. l. ii. c. 8, in tom. ii. p. 163. The father of Ætius 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, Ætius, as a soldier and
+      a hostage, had conversed with the Barbarians.]
+
+      10 (return) [ For the character of Boniface, see Olympiodorus,
+      apud Phot. p. 196; and St. Augustin apud Tillemont, Mémoires
+      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.]
+
+      11 (return) [ Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 3, 4, p.
+      182-186) relates the fraud of Ætius, 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.]
+
+      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. 12 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; 13 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.
+
+      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. 14
+
+      12 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      13 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      14 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      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. 15 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, 16 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.
+
+      15 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      16 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      The persecution of the Donatists 17 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, 18 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.
+      19 By these severities, which obtained the warmest approbation of
+      St. Augustin, 20 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. 21 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. 22 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. 23
+
+      17 (return) [ See Tillemont, Mémoires 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.]
+
+      18 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      19 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      20 (return) [ St. Augustin altered his opinion with regard tosthe
+      proper treatment of heretics. His pathetic declaration of pity
+      and indulgence for the Manichæans, 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.]
+
+      21 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      22 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      23 (return) [ 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. &c.]
+
+      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 Ætius, a free conference with the Count of
+      Africa; and Darius, an officer of high distinction, was named for
+      the important embassy. 24 In their first interview at Carthage,
+      the imaginary provocations were mutually explained; the opposite
+      letters of Ætius 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.
+
+      24 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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. 25
+
+      25 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 26 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; 27 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
+      Manichæans, 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. 28 According to the
+      judgment of the most impartial critics, the superficial learning
+      of Augustin was confined to the Latin language; 29 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, 30
+      has been entertained, with public applause, and secret
+      reluctance, by the Latin church. 31
+
+      26 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      27 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      28 (return) [ 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 (Bibliothèque 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.]
+
+      29 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      30 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      31 (return) [ 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, Bibliothèque 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXIII: Conquest Of Africa By The Vandals.—Part II.
+
+      By the skill of Boniface, and perhaps by the ignorance of the
+      Vandals, the siege of Hippo was protracted above fourteen months:
+      the sea 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. 32 The discovery of his fraud,
+      the displeasure of the empress, and the distinguished favor of
+      his rival, exasperated the haughty and perfidious soul of Ætius.
+      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 Ætius for her second husband.
+      But Ætius 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. 33
+
+      32 (return) [ 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—M.]
+
+      33 (return) [ 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 Ætius, the day before, had
+      provided himself with a longer spear, implies something like a
+      regular duel.]
+
+      It might naturally be expected, after the retreat of Boniface,
+      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. 34 This moderation, which cannot be imputed to the
+      justice, must be ascribed to the policy, of the conqueror.
+
+      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. 35 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. 36 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. 37
+
+      34 (return) [ 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 præfect of Rome.
+      Cod. Theod. tom. vi. Novell. p. 11, 12.]
+
+      35 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      36 (return) [ Possidius, in Vit. Augustin. c. 28, apud Ruinart,
+      p. 428.]
+
+      37 (return) [ See the Chronicles of Idatius, Isidore, Prosper,
+      and Marcellinus. They mark the same year, but different days, for
+      the surprisal of Carthage.]
+
+      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 38
+      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 industry 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. 39 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. 40 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. 41
+
+      38 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      39 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      40 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      41 (return) [ Compare Procopius de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 5, p.
+      189, 190, and Victor Vitensis, de Persecut Vandal. l. i. c. 4.]
+
+      It was natural enough that Genseric should hate those whom he 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 Theodoret still preserve the
+      names and misfortunes of Cælestian and Maria. 42 The Syrian
+      bishop deplores the misfortunes of Cælestian, 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 by 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.
+
+      42 (return) [ Ruinart (p. 441-457) has collected from Theodoret,
+      and other authors, the misfortunes, real and fabulous, of the
+      inhabitants of Carthage.]
+
+      Among the insipid legends of ecclesiastical history, I am tempted
+      to distinguish the memorable fable of the Seven Sleepers; 43
+      whose imaginary date corresponds with the reign of the younger
+      Theodosius, and the conquest of Africa by the Vandals. 44 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. 45 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. 46 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. 47 The story of the Seven
+      Sleepers has been adopted and adorned by the nations, from Bengal
+      to Africa, who profess the Mahometan religion; 48 and some
+      vestiges of a similar tradition have been discovered in the
+      remote extremities of Scandinavia. 49 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 eras 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.
+
+      43 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      44 (return) [ 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 era 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.]
+
+      45 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      46 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      47 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      48 (return) [ See D’Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale, p. 139; and
+      Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alexandrin. p. 39, 40.]
+
+      49 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part I.
+
+     The Character, Conquests, And Court Of Attila, King Of The
+     Huns.—Death Of Theodosius The Younger.—Elevation Of Marcian To The
+     Empire Of The East.
+
+      The Western world was oppressed by the Goths and Vandals, who
+      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, 1 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.
+
+      1 (return) [ 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, &c., he
+      was one hundred and twenty years of age. Thewrocz Chron. c. i. p.
+      22, in Script. Hunger. tom. i. p. 76.]
+
+      In the tide of emigration which impetuously rolled from the
+      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, 2 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
+      Ætius; 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 Ætius 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; 3
+      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.
+
+      2 (return) [ 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 Bibliothèque Ancienne et Moderne, tom.
+      xxii. p. 1-51, and Bibliothèque Raisonnée, 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—M.]
+
+      3 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 4
+
+      4 (return) [ See Priscus, p. 47, 48, and Hist. de Peuples de
+      l’Europe, tom. v. i. c. xii, xiii, xiv, xv.]
+
+      Attila, the son of Mundzuk, deduced his noble, perhaps his regal,
+      descent 5 from the ancient Huns, who had formerly contended 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; 6 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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 rendered 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. 11 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. 12 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.
+
+      5 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      6 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      7 (return) [ 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, &c. &c.]
+
+      8 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      9 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      10 (return) [ 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]
+
+      11 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      12 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 13 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.
+
+      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; 14 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. 15
+
+      13 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      14 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      15 (return) [ 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:—
+
+     Ils ne sont pas venus, nos deux rois!  qu’on leur die Qu’ils se
+     font trop attendre, et qu’Attila s’ennuie.
+
+      The two kings of the Gepidae and the Ostrogoths are profound
+      politicians and sentimental lovers, and the whole piece exhibits
+      the defects without the genius, of the poet.]
+
+      The ambassadors of the Huns might awaken the attention of
+      Theodosius, by reminding him that they were his neighbors both in
+      Europe and Asia; since they touched the Danube on one hand, and
+      reached, with the other, as far as the Tanais. In the reign of
+      his father Arcadius, a band of adventurous Huns had ravaged the
+      provinces of the East; from whence they brought away rich spoils
+      and innumerable captives. 16 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 escape 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. 1611 They encountered the Persian army in the plains of
+      Media and the air, according to their own expression, was
+      darkened by a cloud of arrows. But the Huns were obliged to
+      retire before the numbers of the enemy. Their laborious retreat
+      was effected by a different road; they lost 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. 17
+
+      16 (return) [
+
+     Alii per Caspia claustra Armeniasque nives, inopino tramite ducti
+     Invadunt Orientis opes: jam pascua fumant Cappadocum, volucrumque
+     parens Argaeus equorum. Jam rubet altus Halys, nec se defendit
+     iniquo Monte Cilix; Syriae tractus vestantur amoeni Assuetumque
+     choris, et laeta plebe canorum, Proterit imbellem sonipes hostilis
+     Orontem. —-Claudian, in Rufin. l. ii. 28-35.
+
+      See likewise, in Eutrop. l. i. 243-251, and the strong
+      description 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.]
+
+      1611 (return) [ Gibbon has made a curious mistake; Basic and
+      Cursic were the names of the commanders of the Huns. Priscus,
+      edit. Bonn, p. 200.—M.]
+
+      17 (return) [ See the original conversation in Priscus, p. 64,
+      65.]
+
+      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. 18 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. 19 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.
+
+      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. 20 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. 21
+
+      18 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      19 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      20 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      21 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 22 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. 23 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. 24 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, 25 either the
+      Tartar or the Hun might deserve the epithet of the Scourge of
+      God. 26
+
+      22 (return) [ 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.—M]
+
+      23 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      24 (return) [ At Maru, 1,300,000; at Herat, 1,600,000; at
+      Neisabour, 1,747,000. D’Herbelot, Bibliothèque 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.]
+
+      25 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      26 (return) [ The ancients, Jornandes, Priscus, &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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part II.
+
+      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. 27 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. 28 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. 29 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. 30 The Huns might be provoked to insult the
+      misery of their slaves, over whom they exercised a despotic
+      command; 31 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. 32
+
+      27 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      28 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      29 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      30 (return) [ Philip de Comines, in his admirable picture of the
+      last moments of Lewis XI., (Mémoires, 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.]
+
+      31 (return) [ 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]
+
+      32 (return) [ See the whole conversation in Priscus, p. 59-62.]
+
+      The timid or selfish policy of the Western Romans had abandoned
+      the Eastern empire to the Huns. 33 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 3311 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. 34 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.
+
+      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. 35
+
+      33 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      3311 (return) [ Five in the last edition of Priscus. Niebuhr,
+      Byz. Hist. p 147—M]
+
+      34 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      35 (return) [ The articles of the treaty, expressed without much
+      order or precision, may be found in Priscus, (p. 34, 35, 36, 37,
+      53, &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.]
+
+      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, 36 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. 37
+
+      36 (return) [ 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]
+
+      37 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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;
+      38 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. 39 That Gallic
+      adventurer, who was recommended by Ætius 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, 40 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, 41
+      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.
+
+      38 (return) [ Montesquieu (Considerations sur la Grandeur, &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.]
+
+      39 (return) [ See Priscus, p. 69, 71, 72, &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.]
+
+      40 (return) [ 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
+      Æthiopia, whose incursions he had repressed. See Priscus, p. 40,
+      41.]
+
+      41 (return) [ 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.—M]
+
+      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 4111 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. 4112 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, instead 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. 42 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.
+
+      4111 (return) [ 70 stadia. Priscus, 173.—M.]
+
+      4112 (return) [ He was forbidden to pitch his tents on an
+      eminence because Attila’s were below on the plain. Ibid.—M.]
+
+      42 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      As far as we may ascertain the vague and obscure geography of
+      Priscus, this capital appears to have been seated between the
+      Danube, the Teyss, and the Carpathian hills, in the plains of
+      Upper Hungary, and most probably in the neighborhood of Jezberin,
+      Agria, or Tokay. 43 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. 44 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.
+
+      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, 4411 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.
+
+      The monarch alone assumed the superior pride of still adhering to
+      the simplicity of his Scythian ancestors. 45 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.
+
+      43 (return) [ 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, &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.—M]
+
+      44 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      4411 (return) [ The name of this queen occurs three times in
+      Priscus, and always in a different form—Cerca, Creca, and Rheca.
+      The Scandinavian poets have preserved her memory under the name
+      of Herkia. St. Martin, vi. 192.—M.]
+
+      45 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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.
+
+      His anger gradually subsided, and his domestic satisfaction in a
+      marriage which he celebrated on the road with the daughter of
+      Eslam, 4511 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. 4512 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. 46 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 buffoon 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.
+
+      “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.
+
+      4511 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      4512 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      A Latin poem, de prima expeditione Attilæ, 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.
+
+      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.)
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part III.
+
+      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.
+      4612 4712
+
+      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, &c. Herbert’s Attila, p. 510, et seq.—M.]
+
+      46 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      4612 (return) [ The Scythian was an idiot or lunatic; the Moor a
+      regular buffoon—M.]
+
+      4712 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 48 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.
+      49
+
+      48 (return) [ 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]
+
+      49 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 50 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. 51 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. 52
+
+      50 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      51 (return) [ 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?—M.]
+
+      52 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.—Part I.
+
+     Invasion Of Gaul By Attila.—He Is Repulsed By Ætius And The
+     Visigoths.—Attila Invades And Evacuates Italy.—The Deaths Of
+     Attila, Ætius, And Valentinian The Third.
+
+      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. 1 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.” 2
+      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 Ætius. 3
+
+      1 (return) [ See Priscus, p. 39, 72.]
+
+      2 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      3 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      After the death of his rival Boniface, Ætius 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, 4 from the implacable persecution which urged
+      him from one kingdom to another, till he miserably perished in
+      the service of the Vandals. The fortunate Ætius, 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
+      Ætius was born for the salvation of the Roman republic; 5 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. 411 “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;
+      412 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 Ætius 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.” 6 The
+      Barbarians, who had seated themselves in the Western provinces,
+      were insensibly taught to respect the faith and valor of the
+      patrician Ætius. He soothed their passions, consulted their
+      prejudices, balanced their interests, and checked their ambition.
+      611 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.
+
+      4 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      5 (return) [ Reipublicae Romanae singulariter natus, qui
+      superbiam Suevorum, Francorumque barbariem immensis caedibus
+      servire Imperio Romano coegisset. Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c.
+      34, p. 660.]
+
+      411 (return) [ Some valuable fragments of a poetical panegyric on
+      Ætius 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 Ætius. The verses are very
+      spirited. The poet was rewarded by a statue publicly dedicated to
+      his honor in Rome.
+
+     Danuvii cum pace redit, Tanaimque furore Exuit, et nigro candentes
+     aethere terras Marte suo caruisse jubet.  Dedit otia ferro
+     Caucasus, et saevi condemnant praelia reges. Addidit hiberni
+     famulantia foedera Rhenus Orbis...... Lustrat Aremoricos jam
+     mitior incola saltus; Perdidit et mores tellus, adsuetaque saevo
+     Crimine quaesitas silvis celare rapinas, Discit inexpertis Cererem
+     committere campis; Caesareoque diu manus obluctata labori Sustinet
+     acceptas nostro sub consule leges; Et quamvis Geticis sulcum
+     confundat aratris, Barbara vicinae refugit consortia gentis.
+     —Merobaudes, p. 1]
+
+      412 (return) [—cum Scythicis succumberet ensibus orbis,
+
+     Telaque Tarpeias premerent Arctoa secures, Hostilem fregit rabiem,
+     pignus quesuperbi Foederis et mundi pretium fuit.  Hinc modo voti
+     Rata fides, validis quod dux premat impiger armis Edomuit quos
+     pace puer; bellumque repressit Ignarus quid bella forent. 
+     Stupuere feroces In tenero jam membra Getae.  Rex ipse, verendum
+     Miratus pueri decus et prodentia fatum Lumina, primaevas dederat
+     gestare faretras, Laudabatque manus librantem et tela gerentem
+     Oblitus quod noster erat Pro nescia regis Corda, feris quanto
+     populis discrimine constet Quod Latium docet arma ducem.
+     —Merobaudes, Panegyr. p. 15.—M.]
+
+      6 (return) [ 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 Ætius; but he
+      would have shown more dexterity if he had not insisted on his
+      patient, forgiving disposition.]
+
+      611 (return) [
+
+     Insessor Libyes, quamvis, fatalibus armis Ausus Elisaei solium
+     rescindere regni, Milibus Arctois Tyrias compleverat arces, Nunc
+     hostem exutus pactis proprioribus arsit
+     Romanam vincire fidem, Latiosque parentes Adnumerare sib,
+     sociamque intexere prolem. —-Merobaudes, p. 12.—M.]
+
+      From a principle of interest, as well as gratitude, Ætius
+      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 Ætius, 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: 7
+      and it is evident, from their conversation with Maximin and
+      Priscus, in the royal village, that the valor and prudence of
+      Ætius 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; 8 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. 9 Strangers to the emperor or
+      the republic, the Alani of Gaul were devoted to the ambition of
+      Ætius, 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.
+
+      7 (return) [ 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 Ætius; and, as Attila was no
+      more, he could safely boast of their manly, intrepid behavior in
+      his presence.]
+
+      8 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      9 (return) [ See Prosper. Tyro, p. 639. Sidonius (Panegyr. Avit.
+      246) complains, in the name of Auvergne, his native country,
+
+     Litorius Scythicos equites tunc forte subacto Celsus Aremorico,
+     Geticum rapiebat in agmen Per terras, Averne, tuas, qui proxima
+     quaedue Discursu, flammis, ferro, feritate, rapinis, Delebant;
+     pacis fallentes nomen inane.
+
+      another poet, Paulinus of Perigord, confirms the complaint:—
+
+     Nam socium vix ferre queas, qui durior hoste. —-See Dubos, tom. i.
+     p. 330.]
+
+      The kingdom established by the Visigoths in the southern
+      provinces 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 Ætius. After the death
+      of Wallia, the Gothic sceptre devolved to Theodoric, the son of
+      the great Alaric; 10 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 Ætius; 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 Ætius,
+      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. 11 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
+      Ætius 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. 12 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 Ætius had not restored strength and discipline to
+      the Romans. 13 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. 14 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
+      Ætius and Theodoric were prevented by the invasion of Gaul. 15
+
+      10 (return) [ Theodoric II., the son of Theodoric I., declares to
+      Avitus his resolution of repairing, or expiating, the faults
+      which his grandfather had committed,—
+
+      Quae noster peccavit avus, quem fuscat id unum, Quod te, Roma,
+      capit.
+
+      Sidon. Panegyric. Avit. 505.
+
+      This character, applicable only to the great Alaric, establishes
+      the genealogy of the Gothic kings, which has hitherto been
+      unnoticed.]
+
+      11 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      12 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      13 (return) [
+
+     —Capto terrarum damna patebant Litorio, in Rhodanum proprios
+     producere fines, Thendoridae fixum; nec erat pugnare  necesse, Sed
+     migrare Getis; rabidam trux asperat iram Victor; quod sensit
+     Scythicum sub moenibus hostem Imputat, et nihil estgravius, si
+     forsitan unquam Vincerecontingat, trepido. —Panegyr. Avit. 300,
+     &c.
+
+      Sitionius then proceeds, according to the duty of a panegyrist,
+      to transfer the whole merit from Ætius to his minister Avitus.]
+
+      14 (return) [ Theodoric II. revered, in the person of Avitus, the
+      character of his preceptor.
+
+     Mihi Romula dudum Per te jura placent; parvumque ediscere jussit
+     Ad tua verba pater, docili quo prisca Maronis Carmine molliret
+     Scythicos mihi pagina mores. —-Sidon. Panegyr. Avit. 495 &c.]
+
+      15 (return) [ Our authorities for the reign of Theodoric I. are,
+      Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 34, 36, and the Chronicles of
+      Idatius, and the two Prospers, inserted in the historians of
+      France, tom. i. p. 612-640. To these we may add Salvian de
+      Gubernatione Dei, l. vii. p. 243, 244, 245, and the panegyric of
+      Avitus, by Sidonius.]
+
+      The Franks, whose monarchy was still confined to the neighborhood
+      of the Lower Rhine, had wisely established the right of
+      hereditary succession in the noble family of the Merovingians. 16
+      These princes were elevated on a buckler, the symbol of military
+      command; 17 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. 18 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. 19 Clodion, the first of their
+      long-haired kings, whose name and actions are mentioned in
+      authentic history, held his residence at Dispargum, 20 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; 21 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. 22 While Clodion lay encamped in the plains of Artois,
+      23 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 Ætius, 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 Ætius, 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. 24
+      Under his reign, and most probably from the 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. 25 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,
+      26 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 Ætius; 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. 27
+
+      16 (return) [ 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 Mémoires de l’Academie des
+      Inscriptions, tom. xx. p. 52-90, tom. xxx. p. 557-587.]
+
+      17 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      18 (return) [ Caesaries prolixa... crinium flagellis per terga
+      dimissis, &c. See the Preface to the third volume of the
+      Historians of France, and the Abbe Le Boeuf, (Dissertat. tom.
+      iii. p. 47-79.) This 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.)]
+
+      19 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      20 (return) [ Dubos, Hist. Critique, &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.]
+
+      21 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      22 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      23 (return) [
+
+     —Francus qua Cloio patentes Atrebatum terras pervaserat. —Panegyr.
+     Majorian 213
+
+      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.]
+
+      24 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      25 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      26 (return) [ 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.—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.]
+
+      27 (return) [ 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 Mémoires de l’Academie.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.—Part II.
+
+      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, 28 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. 29 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. 30
+
+      28 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      29 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      30 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 31
+      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. 32 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. 33 The consternation of Gaul
+      was universal; and the various fortunes of its cities have been
+      adorned by tradition with martyrdoms and miracles. 34 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, 35 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 rampart, 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 Ætius and Theodoric, who
+      pressed forwards to the relief of Orleans.
+
+      31 (return) [ Exegeras mihi, ut promitterem tibi, Attilæ bellum
+      stylo me posteris intimaturum.... coeperam scribere, sed operis
+      arrepti fasce perspecto, taeduit inchoasse. Sidon. Apoll. l.
+      viii. epist. 15, p. 235]
+
+      32 (return) [
+
+     Subito cum rupta tumultu Barbaries totas in te transfuderat
+     Arctos,
+     Gallia.  Pugnacem Rugum comitante Gelono, Gepida trux sequitur;
+     Scyrum Burgundio cogit:
+     Chunus, Bellonotus, Neurus, Basterna, Toringus,
+     Bructerus, ulvosa vel quem Nicer abluit unda
+
+      Prorumpit Francus. Cecidit cito secta bipenni Hercynia in
+      lintres, et Rhenum texuit alno. Et jam terrificis diffuderat
+      Attila turmis In campos se, Belga, tuos. Panegyr. Avit.]
+
+      33 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      34 (return) [ 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, &c., in the Historians of
+      France, tom. i. p. 644, 645, 649, tom. iii. p. 369.]
+
+      35 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. Ætius 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.
+      36 But on his arrival at Arles, or Lyons, he was confounded by
+      the intelligence, that the Visigoths, refusing to embrace the
+      defence of Gaul, had determined to expect, within their own
+      territories, the formidable invader, whom they professed to
+      despise. The senator Avitus, who, after the honorable exercise of
+      the Prætorian præfecture, 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 Ætius and the Romans, he was ready to expose
+      his life and kingdom for the common safety of Gaul. 37 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 Læti, 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 Ætius and Theodoric, advanced, by rapid marches to
+      relieve Orleans, and to give battle to the innumerable host of
+      Attila. 38
+
+      36 (return) [
+
+     Vix liquerat Alpes Ætius, tenue, et rarum sine milite ducens
+     Robur, in auxiliis Geticum male credulus agmen Incassum propriis
+     praesumens adfore castris. —-Panegyr. Avit. 328, &c.]
+
+      37 (return) [ The policy of Attila, of Ætius, 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, &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.]
+
+      38 (return) [ The review of the army of Ætius 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.]
+
+      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. 39 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 40 Barbarians were slain, was
+      a prelude to a more general and decisive action. The Catalaunian
+      fields 41 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. 42 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 Ætius. 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. 43 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 martial 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.
+      Ætius 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.
+
+      39 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      40 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      41 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      42 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      43 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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; 44 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. 45
+
+      44 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      45 (return) [ The count de Buat, (Hist. des Peuples, &c., tom.
+      vii. p. 554-573,) still depending on the false, and again
+      rejecting the true, Idatius, has divided the defeat of Attila
+      into two great battles; the former near Orleans, the latter in
+      Champagne: in the one, Theodoric was slain in the other, he was
+      revenged.]
+
+      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, Ætius 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: his 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 Ætius 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. 46 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. 47
+
+      46 (return) [ Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 41, p. 671. The
+      policy of Ætius, 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 Ætius 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.]
+
+      47 (return) [ 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]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.—Part III.
+
+      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; 48 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. 49 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. 50 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. 51 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. 52 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. 53
+
+      48 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      49 (return) [ 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 Ætius.]
+
+      50 (return) [ 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, &c.
+
+ Repleta quondam domibus sublimibus, ornatis mire, niveis, marmorels,
+ Nune ferax frugum metiris funiculo ruricolarum.
+
+      The monkish poet has his consolation in Attila’s sufferings in
+      soul and body.
+
+ Vindictam tamen non evasit impius destructor tuus Attila sevissimus,
+ Nunc igni simul gehennae et vermibus excruciatur—P. 290.—M.]
+
+      51 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      52 (return) [ This anecdote may be found under two different
+      articles of the miscellaneous compilation of Suidas.]
+
+      53 (return) [
+
+     Leo respondit, humana, hoc pictum manu: Videres hominem dejectum,
+     si pingere Leones scirent. —Appendix ad Phaedrum, Fab. xxv.
+
+      The lion in Phaedrus very foolishly appeals from pictures to 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.]
+
+      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, 54 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.
+      55 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. 56 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, 57 which
+      describes their condition about seventy years afterwards, may be
+      considered as the primitive monument of the republic. 571 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
+      Prætorian præfect, 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. 58
+
+      54 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      55 (return) [ 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,
+      &c.]
+
+      56 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      57 (return) [ 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 præfecture, 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.]
+
+      571 (return) [ 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.—G. ——Compare, on the origin of Venice,
+      Daru, Hist. de Venise, vol. i. c. l.—M.]
+
+      58 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, Ætius 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 Ætius, 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. 59 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 60 was
+      admirably qualified to conduct a negotiation either of public or
+      private interest: his colleague Trigetius had exercised the
+      Prætorian præfecture of Italy; and Leo, bishop of Rome,
+      consented to expose his life for the safety of his flock. The
+      genius of Leo 61 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, 62 and trampled, with his Scythian cavalry, the
+      farms of Catullus and Virgil. 63 The Barbarian monarch listened
+      with favorable, and even respectful, attention; and the
+      deliverance of Italy was purchased by the 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. 64 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. 65 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. 66
+
+      59 (return) [ 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, &c. He reproaches Ætius 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.]
+
+      60 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      61 (return) [ 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, Bibliothèque Ecclesiastique, tom.
+      iii. part ii p. 120-165.]
+
+      62 (return) [
+
+     Tardis ingens ubi flexibus errat Mincius, et tenera praetexit
+     arundine ripas ———- Anne lacus tantos, te Lari maxime, teque
+     Fluctibus, et fremitu assurgens Benace marino.]
+
+      63 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      64 (return) [ 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, &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.]
+
+      65 (return) [ The historian Priscus had positively mentioned the
+      effect which this example produced on the mind of Attila.
+      Jornandes, c. 42, p. 673]
+
+      66 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 67 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. 68 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. 69
+
+      67 (return) [ 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.
+
+      He afterwards adds, (c. 50, p. 686,) Filii Attilæ, 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.]
+
+      68 (return) [ 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,
+
+     S’il ne veut s’arreter, (his blood.) (Dit-il) on me payera ce qui
+     m’en va couter.]
+
+      69 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 70 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. 71
+
+      70 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      71 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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
+      Ætius. 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; 711 and his new
+      favorite, the eunuch Heraclius, awakened the emperor from the
+      supine lethargy, which might be disguised, during the life of
+      Placidia, 72 by the excuse of filial piety. The fame of Ætius,
+      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. Ætius 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
+      Ætius, pierced with a hundred wounds, fell dead in the royal
+      presence. Boethius, the Prætorian præfect, 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 Ætius,
+      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.” 73
+
+      711 (return) [ The praises awarded by Gibbon to the character of
+      Ætius 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 Ætius:
+      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.—M.]
+
+      72 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      73 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 demeanor 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
+      Ætius. 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, 74 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.
+
+      74 (return) [ With regard to the cause and circumstances of the
+      deaths of Ætius 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.]
+
+      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. 75 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; 76 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. 77 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. 78 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.
+
+      75 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      76 (return) [ According to Varro, the twelfth century would
+      expire A.D. 447, but the uncertainty of the true era 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.
+
+     Jam reputant annos, interceptoque volatu Vulturis, incidunt
+     properatis saecula metis. ....... Jam prope fata tui bissenas
+     Vulturis alas Implebant; seis namque tuos, scis, Roma, labores.
+     —See Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. i. p. 340-346.]
+
+      77 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      78 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.—Part I.
+
+     Sack Of Rome By Genseric, King Of The Vandals.—His Naval
+     Depredations.—Succession Of The Last Emperors Of The West,
+     Maximus, Avitus, Majorian, Severus, Anthemius, Olybrius,
+     Glycerius, Nepos, Augustulus.—Total Extinction Of The Western
+     Empire.—Reign Of Odoacer, The First Barbarian King Of Italy.
+
+      The loss or desolation of the provinces, from the Ocean to the
+      Alps, impaired the glory and greatness of Rome: her internal
+      prosperity 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.
+
+      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.
+
+      The private life of the senator Petronius Maximus 1 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;
+      2 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
+      Prætorian præfect 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, 3
+      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.
+
+      1 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      2 (return) [ Clientum, praevia, pedisequa, circumfusa,
+      populositas, is the train which Sidonius himself (l. i. epist. 9)
+      assigns to another senator of rank]
+
+      3 (return) [
+
+     Districtus ensis cui super impia Cervice pendet, non Siculoe dapes
+     Dulcem elaborabunt saporem: Non avium citharaeque cantus Somnum
+     reducent. —Horat. Carm. iii. 1.
+
+      Sidonius concludes his letter with the story of Damocles, which
+      Cicero (Tusculan. v. 20, 21) had so inimitably told.]
+
+      The reign of Maximus continued about three months. His hours, of
+      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. 4 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. 5
+
+      4 (return) [ Notwithstanding the evidence of Procopius, Evagrius,
+      Idatius Marcellinus, &c., the learned Muratori (Annali d’Italia,
+      tom. iv. p. 249) doubts the reality of this invitation, and
+      observes, 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.]
+
+      5 (return) [
+
+     Infidoque tibi Burgundio ductu Extorquet trepidas mactandi
+     principis iras. —-Sidon. in Panegyr. Avit. 442.
+
+      A remarkable line, which insinuates that Rome and Maximus were
+      betrayed by their Burgundian mercenaries.]
+
+      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. 6 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.
+
+      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. 7 The holy instruments of the
+      Jewish worship, 8 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. 9 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, 10
+      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. 11
+
+      6 (return) [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.]
+
+      7 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      8 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      9 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      10 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      11 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      The deaths of Ætius 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.
+
+      Avitus, 12 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 Ætius, after executing the most important embassies,
+      was raised to the station of Prætorian præfect 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 meadows. 13 In this retreat, where Avitus
+      amused his leisure with books, rural sports, the practice of
+      husbandry, and the society of his friends, 14 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; 15 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.
+
+      12 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      13 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      14 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      15 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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. 16 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: 17 “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. 18 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. 19 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. 20 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.”
+
+      16 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      17 (return) [ 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, Mémoires Eccles. tom.
+      xvi. p. 264.]
+
+      18 (return) [ 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 sale, (Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom.
+      i. p. 404.)]
+
+      19 (return) [ Videas ibi elegantiam Græcam, abundantiam
+      Gallicanam; celeritatem Italam; publicam pompam, privatam
+      diligentiam, regiam disciplinam.]
+
+      20 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 21 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. 22 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. 23
+
+      21 (return) [ Theodoric himself had given a solemn and voluntary
+      promise of fidelity, which was understood both in Gaul and Spain.
+
+     Romae sum, te duce, Amicus, Principe te, Miles. Sidon. Panegyr.
+     Avit. 511.]
+
+      22 (return) [ Quaeque sinu pelagi jactat se Bracara dives. Auson.
+      de Claris Urbibus, p. 245. ——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.]
+
+      23 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.—Part II.
+
+      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, 24 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. 25 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; 26 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; 27 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, 28 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. 29 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. 30 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. 31
+
+      24 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      25 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      26 (return) [ Sidonius (Panegyr. Anthem. 302, &c.) praises the
+      royal birth of Ricimer, the lawful heir, as he chooses to
+      insinuate, both of the Gothic and Suevic kingdoms.]
+
+      27 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      28 (return) [ 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]
+
+      29 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      30 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      31 (return) [ After a modest appeal to the examples of his
+      brethren, Virgil and Horace, Sidonius honestly confesses the
+      debt, and promises payment.
+
+     Sic mihi diverso nuper sub Marte cadenti Jussisti placido Victor
+     ut essem animo. Serviat ergo tibi servati lingua poetae, Atque
+     meae vitae laus tua sit pretium. —Sidon. Apoll. Carm. iv. p. 308
+
+      See Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. i. p. 448, &c.]
+
+      The successor of Avitus presents the welcome discovery of a great
+      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.” 32 Such a testimony may justify at
+      least the panegyric of Sidonius; 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. 33 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 Ætius 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 Ætius, 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. 34 Majorian, after the death of Ætius, 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. 35 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. 36 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, 37
+      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. 38 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. 39
+
+      32 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      33 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      34 (return) [ She pressed his immediate death, and was scarcely
+      satisfied with his disgrace. It should seem that Ætius, 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.]
+
+      35 (return) [ 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, &c.) betrays the extreme weakness of Italy.]
+
+      36 (return) [ 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:—
+
+     Postquam ordine vobis Ordo omnis regnum dederat; plebs, curia,
+     nules, —-Et collega simul. 386.
+
+      This language is ancient and constitutional; and we may observe,
+      that the clergy were not yet considered as a distinct order of
+      the state.]
+
+      37 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      38 (return) [ 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, &c., that he may escape
+      the dangerous name of Avitus (805-369.)]
+
+      39 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 40 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. 41 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 Prætorian præfects. 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. 42 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.
+
+      40 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      41 (return) [ Fessas provincialium varia atque multiplici
+      tributorum exactione fortunas, et extraordinariis fiscalium
+      solutionum oneribus attritas, &c. Novell. Majorian. tit. iv. p.
+      34.]
+
+      42 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 43 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. 44
+
+      43 (return) [ 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” &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.]
+
+      44 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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. 45 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. 46
+      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; 47 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. 48 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. 49 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. 50
+
+      45 (return) [ Sidon. Panegyr. Majorian, 385-440.]
+
+      46 (return) [ 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, &c., tom. viii. p. 49-55) is a
+      more satisfactory commentator, than either Savaron or Sirmond.]
+
+      47 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      48 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      49 (return) [
+
+     Iterea duplici texis dum littore classem Inferno superoque mari,
+     cadit omnis in aequor Sylva tibi, &c. —-Sidon. Panegyr. Majorian,
+     441-461.
+
+      The number of ships, which Priscus fixed at 300, is magnified, by
+      an indefinite comparison with the fleets of Agamemnon, Xerxes,
+      and Augustus.]
+
+      50 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.—Part III.
+
+      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; 51 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, 52 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. 53 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; 54 and the humble
+      tomb, which covered his remains, was consecrated by the respect
+      and gratitude of succeeding generations. 55 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. 56
+
+      51 (return) [
+
+     Spoliisque potitus Immensis, robux luxu jam perdidit omne, Quo
+     valuit dum pauper erat. —Panegyr. Majorian, 330.
+
+      He afterwards applies to Genseric, unjustly, as it should seem,
+      the vices of his subjects.]
+
+      52 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      53 (return) [ Idatius, who was safe in Gallicia from the power of
+      Recimer boldly and honestly declares, Vandali per proditeres
+      admoniti, &c: i. e. dissembles, however, the name of the
+      traitor.]
+
+      54 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      55 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      56 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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;
+      57 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; 58 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 Ætius,
+      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. 59 Aegidius, the master-general of Gaul, who equalled, or
+      at least who imitated, the heroes of ancient Rome, 60 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. 61
+
+      57 (return) [ Sidonius (Panegyr. Anthem. 317) dismisses him to
+      heaven:—Auxerat Augustus naturae lege Severus—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.)]
+
+      58 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      59 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      60 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      61 (return) [ 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., &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.]
+
+      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. 62 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.
+
+      62 (return) [ 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:—
+
+     Hinc Vandalus hostis Urget; et in nostrum numerosa classe
+     quotannis Militat excidium; conversoque ordine Fati Torrida
+     Caucaseos infert mihi Byrsa furores]
+
+      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 of the alliance, to accept a master from the choice of
+      the emperor of the East. 63 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. 64
+
+      63 (return) [ The poet himself is compelled to acknowledge the
+      distress of Ricimer:—
+
+     Præterea invictus Ricimer, quem publica fata Respiciunt, proprio
+     solas vix Marte repellit Piratam per rura vagum.
+
+      Italy addresses her complaint to the Tyber, and Rome, at 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.]
+
+      64 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 65 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. 66 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. 67
+      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. 68 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
+      præfect 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.”69
+      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 70 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.
+
+      65 (return) [ 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, Mémoires Eccles. tom. xv p. 181-184.]
+
+      66 (return) [ See Procopius, de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 4, p.
+      185.]
+
+      67 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      68 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      69 (return) [ Cedrenus, (p. 345, 346,) who was conversant with
+      the writers of better days, has preserved the remarkable words of
+      Aspar.]
+
+      70 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 71 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 præfect,
+      who protected, with so much ability and success, the infant reign
+      of Theodosius. The grandson of the præfect 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. 72 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. 73 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. 74
+      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 præfecture
+      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. 75
+
+      71 (return) [
+
+     Tali tu civis ab urbe Procopio genitore micas; cui prisca propago
+     Augustis venit a proavis.
+
+      The poet (Sidon. Panegyr. Anthem. 67-306) then proceeds to relate
+      the private life and fortunes of the future emperor, with which
+      he must have been imperfectly acquainted.]
+
+      72 (return) [ Sidonius discovers, with tolerable ingenuity, that
+      this disappointment added new lustre to the virtues of Anthemius,
+      (210, &c.,) who declined one sceptre, and reluctantly accepted
+      another, (22, &c.)]
+
+      73 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      74 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      75 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 76 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. 77 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. 78 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. 79 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. 80 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. 81 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.
+
+      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. 82
+
+      76 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      77 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      78 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      79 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      80 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      81 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      82 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.—Part IV.
+
+      In all his public declarations, the emperor Leo assumes the
+      authority, and professes the affection, of a father, for his son
+      Anthemius, with whom he had divided the administration of the
+      universe. 83 The situation, and perhaps the character, of Leo,
+      dissuaded him 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 præfect Heraclius. 84 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, 85 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 Prætorian præfects. 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. 86 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.
+
+      83 (return) [ 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, &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.]
+
+      84 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      85 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      86 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      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. 87 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. 88 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. 89 After
+      the failure of this great expedition, 891 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. 90
+
+      87 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      88 (return) [ 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]
+
+      89 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      891 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      90 (return) [ For the African war, see Procopius, de Bell.
+      (Vandal. l. i. c. 6, p. 191, 192, 193,) Theophanes, (p. 99, 100,
+      101,) Cedrenus, (p. 349, 350,) and Zonaras, (tom. ii. l. xiv. p.
+      50, 51.) Montesquieu (Considerations sur la Grandeur, &c., c. xx.
+      tom. iii. p. 497) has made a judicious observation on the failure
+      of these great naval armaments.]
+
+      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. 91 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. 92 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. 93 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, 94
+      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. 95 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. 96
+
+      91 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      92 (return) [ See Mariana, Hist. Hispan. tom. i. l. v. c. 5. p.
+      162.]
+
+      93 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      94 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      95 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      96 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 Prætorian præfect. 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. 97
+      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 præfecture, 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. 98 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. 99 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 præfect
+      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 præfect 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,
+      100 his friends interposed, the emperor Anthemius relented, and
+      the præfect 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.
+      101
+
+      97 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      98 (return) [ 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, &c., might be
+      allowed to expose then precious wares in the porticos.]
+
+      99 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      100 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      101 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 102
+      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;
+      103 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, 104 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, 105 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.
+
+      102 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      103 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      104 (return) [ 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]
+
+      105 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 106 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. 107
+
+      106 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      107 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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; 108 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.
+      109 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. 110 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. 111
+
+      108 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      109 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      110 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      111 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.—Part V.
+
+      Whilst the vacant throne of Italy was abandoned to lawless
+      Barbarians, 112 the election of a new colleague was seriously
+      agitated in 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, 113 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. 114 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; 115 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. 116
+
+      112 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      113 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      114 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      115 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      116 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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; 117 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, 118 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. 119 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.
+
+      117 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      118 (return) [ 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]
+
+      119 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 1191 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. 120 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.” 121
+      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. 122 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, 123 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.
+
+      1191 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      120 (return) [ 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—M.]
+
+      121 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      122 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      123 (return) [ 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—M.]
+
+      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. 124
+
+      124 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 125 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. 126 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. 127 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. 128 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. 129 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. 130 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. 131 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. 132
+
+      125 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      126 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      127 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      128 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      129 (return) [ 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:—
+
+     Caesar Tiberius quum petens Neapolim, In Misenensem villam
+     venissit suam; Quae monte summo posita Luculli manu Prospectat
+     Siculum et prospicit Tuscum mare.]
+
+      130 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      131 (return) [ Lucullus had other villa of equal, though various,
+      magnificence, at Baiae, Naples, Tusculum, &c., He boasted that he
+      changed his climate with the storks and cranes. Plutarch, in
+      Lucull. tom. iii. p. 193.]
+
+      132 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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; 133 and the list is adorned by the
+      respectable name of Basilius, whose virtues claimed the
+      friendship and grateful applause of Sidonius, his client. 134 The
+      laws of the emperors were strictly enforced, and the civil
+      administration of Italy was still exercised by the Prætorian
+      præfect 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. 135 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 præfect 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. 136 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. 137
+
+      133 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      134 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      135 (return) [ 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
+      Prætorian præfect, (Ennodius in Vit St. Epiphan., in Sirmond,
+      Oper. tom. i. p. 1670-1672.)]
+
+      136 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      137 (return) [ 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, &c., tom. viii. c. 1, 4, 8, 9) has diligently
+      studied, illustrates the ruin of Noricum and the Bavarian
+      antiquities]
+
+      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.
+      138 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, 139 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. 140
+      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. 141 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. 1411 One third of those ample
+      estates, to which the ruin of Italy is originally imputed, 142
+      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. 143 The distress of Italy 1431 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.
+
+      138 (return) [ Tacit. Annal. iii. 53. The Recherches sur
+      l’Administration des Terres chez les Romains (p. 351-361) clearly
+      state the progress of internal decay.]
+
+      139 (return) [ 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]
+
+      140 (return) [ See the xxxixth epistle of St. Ambrose, as it is
+      quoted by Muratori, sopra le Antichita Italiane, tom. i. Dissert.
+      xxi. p. 354.]
+
+      141 (return) [ Aemilia, Tuscia, ceteraeque provinciae in quibus
+      hominum propenullus exsistit. Gelasius, Epist. ad Andromachum,
+      ap. Baronium, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 496, No. 36.]
+
+      1411 (return) [ 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.)—M.]
+
+      142 (return) [ Verumque confitentibus, latifundia perdidere
+      Italiam. Plin. Hist. Natur. xviii. 7.]
+
+      143 (return) [ 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]
+
+      1431 (return) [ Compare, on the desolation and change of property
+      in Italy, Manno des Ost-Gothischen Reiches, Part ii. p. 73, et
+      seq.—M.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To
+      Christianity.—Part I.
+
+     Origin Progress, And Effects Of The Monastic Life.— Conversion Of
+     The Barbarians To Christianity And Arianism.— Persecution Of The
+     Vandals In Africa.—Extinction Of Arianism Among The Barbarians.
+
+      The indissoluble connection of civil and ecclesiastical affairs
+      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; 1 and, II. The conversion of the northern
+      Barbarians.
+
+      1 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      I. Prosperity and peace introduced the distinction of the vulgar
+      and the Ascetic Christians. 2 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, 3 311 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, 4
+      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; 5 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. 6
+
+      2 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      3 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      311 (return) [ It has before been shown that the first Christian
+      community was not strictly coenobitic. See vol. ii.—M.]
+
+      4 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      5 (return) [ 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, &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.)]
+
+      6 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      Egypt, the fruitful parent of superstition, afforded the first
+      example of the monastic life. Antony, 7 an illiterate 8 youth of
+      the lower parts of Thebais, distributed his patrimony, 9 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. 10 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. 11 In the Upper Thebais, the vacant island
+      of Tabenne, 12 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. 13 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. 14 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; 15 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.
+
+      7 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      8 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      9 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      10 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      11 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      12 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      13 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      14 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      15 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 16
+      Inflamed by the example of Antony, a Syrian youth, whose name was
+      Hilarion, 17 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 18 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, 19 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. 20 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 Æthiopia. 21 The monastery
+      of Banchor, 22 in Flintshire, which contained above two thousand
+      brethren, dispersed a numerous colony among the Barbarians of
+      Ireland; 23 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. 24
+
+      16 (return) [ The introduction of the monastic life into Rome and
+      Italy is occasionally mentioned by Jerom, tom. i. p. 119, 120,
+      199.]
+
+      17 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      18 (return) [ 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]
+
+      19 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      20 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      21 (return) [ See Jerom, (tom. i. p. 126,) Assemanni, Bibliot.
+      Orient. tom. iv. p. 92, p. 857-919, and Geddes, Church History of
+      Æthiopia, p. 29-31. The Abyssinian monks adhere very strictly to
+      the primitive institution.]
+
+      22 (return) [ Camden’s Britannia, vol. i. p. 666, 667.]
+
+      23 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      24 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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. 25 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. 26 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; 27 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; 28 and the profane title of mother-in-law of God 29
+      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, 30 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. 31 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.
+      32
+
+      25 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      26 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      27 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      28 (return) [ 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,” &c.]
+
+      29 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      30 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      31 (return) [ 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.”]
+
+      32 (return) [ 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.—G.]
+
+      The monastic profession of the ancients 33 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. 34 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. 35
+      The actions of a monk, his words, and even his thoughts, were
+      determined by an inflexible rule, 36 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. 37 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. 38 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. 39
+
+      33 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      34 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      35 (return) [ 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, &c., tom. iv. p. 855,) &c.]
+
+      36 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      37 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      38 (return) [ Sulp. Sever. Dialog. i. 12, 13, p. 532, &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.]
+
+      39 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      Superstition has often framed and consecrated the fantastic
+      garments of the monks: 40 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. 41 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. 42 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. 43 431 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 day, 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.
+
+      40 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      41 (return) [ Regul. Benedict. No. 55, in Cod. Regul. part ii. p.
+      51.]
+
+      42 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      43 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      431 (return) [ Athanasius (Vit. Ant. c. 47) boasts of Antony’s
+      holy horror of clear water, by which his feet were uncontaminated
+      except under dire necessity—M.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To
+      Christianity.—Part II.
+
+      Pleasure and guilt are synonymous terms in the language of the
+      monks, and they discovered, by experience, that rigid fasts, and
+      abstemious diet, are the most effectual preservatives against the
+      impure desires of the flesh. 44 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. 45 The disciples of Antony and Pachomius were
+      satisfied with their daily pittance, 46 of twelve ounces of
+      bread, or rather biscuit, 47 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. 48 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.
+      49 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.
+
+      44 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      45 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      46 (return) [ “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.]
+
+      47 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      48 (return) [ See the banquet to which Cassian (Collation viii.
+      1) was invited by Serenus, an Egyptian abbot.]
+
+      49 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      The candidate who aspired to the virtue of evangelical poverty,
+      abjured, at his first entrance into a regular community, the
+      idea, and even the name, of all separate or exclusive
+      possessions. 50 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. 51 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.
+      52 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.
+
+      50 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      51 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      52 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 53 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.
+      54 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. 55 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, 56 and
+      scandalously abused the riches which had been acquired by the
+      austere virtues of their founders. 57 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.
+
+      53 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      54 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      55 (return) [ Zosim. l. v. p. 325. Yet the wealth of the Eastern
+      monks was far surpassed by the princely greatness of the
+      Benedictines.]
+
+      56 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      57 (return) [ 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.”—I forget the consequences of his vow
+      of chastity.]
+
+      The lives of the primitive monks were consumed in penance and
+      solitude; undisturbed by the various occupations which fill the
+      time, and 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. 58 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. 59 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.
+
+      58 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      59 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 60 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. 61 In this comfortless state, superstition still pursued and
+      tormented her wretched votaries. 62 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. 63
+      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. 64
+
+      60 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      61 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      62 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      63 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      64 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 65 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, 66 a distant circle of solitary cells; and
+      the extravagant penance of Hermits was stimulated by applause and
+      emulation. 67 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. 68 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. 69 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.
+
+      65 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      66 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      67 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      68 (return) [ Sozomen, l. vi. c. 33. The great St. Ephrem
+      composed a panegyric on these or grazing monks, (Tillemont, Mem.
+      Eccles. tom. viii. p. 292.)]
+
+      69 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      Among these heroes of the monastic life, the name and genius of
+      Simeon Stylites 70 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. 71 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 72 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 distinguished
+      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.
+
+      70 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      71 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      72 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 73 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.
+
+      73 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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.
+
+      Ulphilas, the bishop and apostle of the Goths, 74 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; 741 four of which he invented, to express the peculiar
+      sounds that were unknown to the Greek and Latin pronunciation. 75
+      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. 76 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. 77
+
+      74 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      741 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      75 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      76 (return) [ Philostorgius erroneously places this passage under
+      the reign of Constantine; but I am much inclined to believe that
+      it preceded the great emigration.]
+
+      77 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 78 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. 79
+
+      78 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      79 (return) [ 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]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To
+      Christianity.—Part III.
+
+      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. 80 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
+      81 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. 82
+
+      80 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      81 (return) [ 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]
+
+      82 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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.
+
+      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.
+
+      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; 83 communicated these errors to the clergy and people;
+      and infected the Barbaric world with a heresy, 84 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, 85 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, 86 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. 87 The pulpit, that safe and sacred organ
+      of sedition, resounded with the names of Pharaoh and Holofernes;
+      88 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.
+
+      83 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      84 (return) [ 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, &c.” Salvian (de Gubern. Dei, l. v p.
+      150, 151) pities and excuses their involuntary error.]
+
+      85 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      86 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      87 (return) [ 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]
+
+      88 (return) [ Genseric confessed the resemblance, by the severity
+      with which he punished such indiscreet allusions. Victor
+      Vitensis, l. 7, p. 10.]
+
+      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. 89 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. 90
+
+      89 (return) [ Such are the contemporary complaints of Sidonius,
+      bishop of Clermont (l. vii. c. 6, p. 182, &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]
+
+      90 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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, 91 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 Manichæans; 92
+      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. 93 II. The practice of a
+      conference, which the Catholics had so frequently used to insult
+      and punish their obstinate antagonists, was retorted against
+      themselves. 94 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. 95 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. 96 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, 97 and the plenty of Sardinia was overbalanced by the
+      unwholesome quality of the air. 98 III. The zeal of Genseric 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. 99 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. 100 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. 101 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. 102 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 103 and a proconsul 104 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. 105
+      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. 106 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 107 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, 108 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. 109 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. 110 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 111 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.
+
+      91 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      92 (return) [ Victor, ii, 1, p. 21, 22: Laudabilior... videbatur.
+      In the Mss which omit this word, the passage is unintelligible.
+      See Ruinart Not. p. 164.]
+
+      93 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      94 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      95 (return) [ 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, &c. Note: These names appear
+      to have been introduced by the Donatists.—M.]
+
+      96 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      97 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      98 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      99 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      100 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      101 (return) [ See this story in Victor. ii. 8-12, p. 30-34.
+      Victor describes the distress of these confessors as an
+      eye-witness.]
+
+      102 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      103 (return) [ Victor, ii. 18, p. 41.]
+
+      104 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      105 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      106 (return) [ Victor, v. 12, 13. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom.
+      vi. p. 609.]
+
+      107 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      108 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      109 (return) [ Victor, ii. 1, 2, p. 22.]
+
+      110 (return) [ Victor, v. 7, p. 77. He appeals to the ambassador
+      himself, whose name was Uranius.]
+
+      111 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVII: Conversion Of The Barbarians To
+      Christianity.—Part IV.
+
+      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 112 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; 113 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. 114 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, 115 is condemned by the universal silence of the orthodox
+      fathers, ancient versions, and authentic manuscripts. 116 It was
+      first alleged by the Catholic bishops whom Hunneric summoned to
+      the conference of Carthage. 117 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. 118 After the invention of printing, 119 the
+      editors of the Greek Testament yielded to their own prejudices,
+      or those of the times; 120 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.
+
+      112 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      113 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      114 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      115 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      116 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      117 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      118 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      119 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      120 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 121 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; 122 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. 123 “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.”
+      124 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. 125 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.
+
+      121 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      122 (return) [ Optatus Milevitanus de Schism. Donatist. l. ii. p.
+      38.]
+
+      123 (return) [ Victor Vitensis, v. 6, p. 76. Ruinart, p.
+      483-487.]
+
+      124 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      125 (return) [ 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. ]
+
+      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.
+
+      This salutary revolution 126 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.
+      127 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. 128 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
+      Leander, 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. 129 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.
+
+      126 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      127 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      128 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      129 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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,—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, 130 which were spontaneously
+      replenished every year, on the vigil of Easter; 131 and the
+      miraculous shrine of St. Martin of Tours, which had already
+      converted the Suevic prince and people of Gallicia. 132 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. 133 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. 134
+
+      130 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      131 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      132 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      133 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      134 (return) [ See Gregor. Magn. l. vii. epist. 126, apud
+      Baronium, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 559, No. 25, 26.]
+
+      The same Gregory, the spiritual conqueror of Britain, encouraged
+      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. 135
+
+      135 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      The first missionaries who preached the gospel to the Barbarians,
+      appealed to the evidence of reason, and claimed the benefit of
+      toleration. 136 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.
+      137 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. 138 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. 139 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. 140
+
+      136 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      137 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      138 (return) [ 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, &c. Basnage,
+      Hist. des Juifs, tom. vii. c. 9, p. 240-256.]
+
+      139 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      140 (return) [ 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—M]
+
+      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 Manichæans, 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.
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.—Part I.
+
+     Reign And Conversion Of Clovis.—His Victories Over The Alemanni,
+     Burgundians, And Visigoths.—Establishment Of The French Monarchy
+     In Gaul.—Laws Of The Barbarians.—State Of The Romans.—The
+     Visigoths Of Spain.—Conquest Of Britain By The Saxons.
+
+      The Gauls, 1 who impatiently supported the Roman yoke, received a
+      memorable lesson from one of the lieutenants of Vespasian, whose
+      weighty sense has been refined and expressed by the genius of
+      Tacitus. 2 “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.” 3 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. 4
+
+      1 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      2 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      3 (return) [ 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?]
+
+      4 (return) [ Sidonius Apollinaris ridicules, with affected wit
+      and pleasantry, the hardships of his situation, (Carm. xii. in
+      tom. i. p. 811.)]
+
+      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: 5 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. 6 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 7 an
+      ambitious and valiant youth.
+
+      5 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      6 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      7 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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. 8 9 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; 10 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; 11 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. 12 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. 13 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.
+
+      8 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      9 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      10 (return) [ Ecclesiam incultam ac negligentia civium Paganorum
+      praetermis sam, veprium densitate oppletam, &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.]
+
+      11 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      12 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      13 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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: 14 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. 15 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. 16 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 17 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. 18
+      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 19 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 20 which Clovis subdued in the tenth
+      year of his reign.
+
+      14 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      15 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      16 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      17 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      18 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      19 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      20 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      The name of the Alemanni has been absurdly derived from their
+      imaginary settlement on the banks of the Leman Lake. 21 That
+      fortunate district, from the lake to the Avenche, and Mount Jura,
+      was occupied by the Burgundians. 22 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. 23 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.
+
+      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. 24
+
+      21 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      22 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      23 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      24 (return) [ 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, &c. Annotation xxxvi.) and Guilliman, (de Reb.
+      Helvet. l. ii. c. 10-12, p. 72-80.)]
+
+      Till the thirtieth year of his age, Clovis continued to worship
+      the gods of his ancestors. 25 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 26 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 27 Remigius, 28
+      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. 29
+      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. 30 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.” 31 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. 32 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, 33 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. 34
+
+      25 (return) [ 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]
+
+      26 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      27 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      28 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      29 (return) [ 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 (Mémoires de
+      l’Academie des Inscriptions, tom. ii. p. 619-633) has undermined,
+      with profound respect and consummate dexterity.]
+
+      30 (return) [ Mitis depone colla, Sicamber: adora quod
+      incendisti, incende quod adorasti. Greg. Turon. l. ii. c. 31, in
+      tom. ii. p. 177.]
+
+      31 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      32 (return) [ 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.”]
+
+      33 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      34 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 35 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. 36
+
+      35 (return) [ 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—M.]
+
+      36 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      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. 37 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; 38 but his
+      imperfect prudence still permitted Godegisel, 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. 39
+
+      37 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      38 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      39 (return) [ 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, (Bibliothèque
+      Ecclesiastique, tom. v. p. 5-10.)]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.—Part II.
+
+      The allegiance of his brother was already seduced; and the
+      obedience of Godegisel, 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: 40 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.
+
+      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 Godegisel, who was left at Vienna with a
+      garrison of five thousand Franks, 41 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. 42
+
+      40 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      41 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      42 (return) [ 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, &c., tom. ii. p. 126-162) has distinctly represented
+      the causes and the events.]
+
+      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; 43 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. 44 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. 45
+
+      43 (return) [ 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]
+
+      44 (return) [ 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 Bibliothèque Raisonnée (tom.
+      xxxvi. p. 435-438) the curious remarks of a learned librarian of
+      Geneva.]
+
+      45 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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.” 46 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, 47 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, 48 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; 49 a select band of valiant and robust
+      slaves attended their masters to the field; 50 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.
+
+      46 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      47 (return) [ Tunc rex projecit a se in directum Bipennem suam
+      quod est Francisca, &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.]
+
+      48 (return) [ 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,
+      &c., tom. ii. p. 179.)]
+
+      49 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      50 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 51 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. 52
+
+      51 (return) [ 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 Mémoires de l’Academie, tom. xix. p. 287-310]
+
+      52 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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 Angoulême. 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. 53 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; 54 restored the
+      honors of the Catholic church; fixed in Aquitain a colony of
+      Franks; 55 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. 56
+
+      53 (return) [ Angoulême 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.]
+
+      54 (return) [ 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—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.]
+
+      55 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      56 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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. 57 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.
+
+      57 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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 Prætorian præfect, and of Marseilles, enriched by
+      the advantages of trade and navigation. 58 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. 59
+      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. 60
+      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. 61 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. 62
+
+      58 (return) [ Under the Merovingian kings, Marseilles still
+      imported from the East paper, wine, oil, linen, silk, precious
+      stones, spices, &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.]
+
+      59 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      60 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      61 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      62 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 63 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.
+      64
+
+      63 (return) [ 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, &c.,) Germany
+      received with indifference and contempt the codes of Barbaric
+      laws, which were published by Heroldus, Lindenbrogius, &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.]
+
+      64 (return) [ In the space of [about] thirty years (1728-1765)
+      this interesting subject has been agitated by the free spirit of
+      the count de Boulainvilliers, (Mémoires 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.)]
+
+      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. 65 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; 66 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. 67 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. 68 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 681
+      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; 69 nor were
+      the Romans excluded from the common benefits of this legal
+      toleration. 70 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. 71
+
+      65 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      66 (return) [ 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, &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.—M.]
+
+      67 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      68 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      69 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      681 (return) [ The most complete collection of these codes is in
+      the “Barbarorum leges antiquae,” by P. Canciani, 5 vols. folio,
+      Venice, 1781-9.—M.]
+
+      70 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      71 (return) [ 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—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.—M.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.—Part III.
+
+      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. 72 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. 73 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, 74 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.
+
+      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. 75 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. 76
+
+      72 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      73 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      74 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      75 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      76 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 77 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. 78 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.
+      79
+
+      77 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      78 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      79 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 80 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; 81 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 82 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, 83 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. 84
+
+      80 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      81 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      82 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      83 (return) [ “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.]
+
+      84 (return) [ 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,” &c., expressions too general to exclude the noblest of
+      their tribes.]
+
+      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. 85 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. 86 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. 861 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. 87
+
+      85 (return) [ Caesar de Bell. Gall. l. i. c. 31, in tom. i. p.
+      213.]
+
+      86 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      861 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      87 (return) [ 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.)—M.]
+
+      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.
+
+      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. 88 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 personal
+      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. 881 But this dependent tenure
+      was gradually abolished 89 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. 90 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. 91
+
+      88 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      881 (return) [ 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, &c.—M.]
+
+      89 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      90 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      91 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      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, 92 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, 93
+      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; 94 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. 95
+
+      92 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      93 (return) [ Heinec. Element. Jur. German. l. ii. p. 1, No. 8.]
+
+      94 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      95 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      According to the maxims of ancient war, the conqueror became the
+      lawful master of the enemy whom he had subdued and spared: 96 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, &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. 97 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. 98 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. 99 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.
+
+      96 (return) [ 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, &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.]
+
+      97 (return) [ The state, professions, &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, &c., p. 237, &c.)
+      Note: Compare Hallam, vol. i. p. 216.—M.]
+
+      98 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      99 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 100 As the common offspring of Troy, they claimed a
+      fraternal alliance with the Romans; 101 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. 102 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. 103 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, 104
+      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 105
+      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
+      Barbarians 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. 106
+
+      100 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      101 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      102 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      103 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      104 (return) [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.]
+
+      105 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      106 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.—Part IV.
+
+      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, 107 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, a slave belonging to the kitchens of the bishop of Langres.
+      108 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; 109
+      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
+      110 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. 111
+
+      107 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      108 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      109 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      110 (return) [ 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 Mémoires de
+      l’Academie, &c., tom. xxvi. p. 598-637.]
+
+      111 (return) [ Decedente atque immo potius pereunte ab urbibus
+      Gallicanis liberalium cultura literarum, &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]
+
+      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; 112 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 113 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, 114 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. 115 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. 116 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. 117 The Romans communicated to their
+      conquerors the use of the Christian religion and Latin language;
+      118 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.
+
+      112 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      113 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      114 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      115 (return) [ See Fleury, Discours iii. sur l’Histoire
+      Ecclesiastique.]
+
+      116 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      117 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      118 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 119 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. 120 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.” 121 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. 1211
+
+      119 (return) [ Ce beau systeme a ete trouve dans les bois.
+      Montesquieu, Esprit des Loix, l. xi. c. 6.]
+
+      120 (return) [ See the Abbe de Mably. Observations, &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.]
+
+      121 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      1211 (return) [ This remarkable passage was published in 1779—M.]
+
+      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. 122 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.
+
+      122 (return) [ 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, &c. But the
+      history of the Visigoths is contained in the short and imperfect
+      Chronicles of Isidore of Seville and John of Biclar]
+
+      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. 123 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.
+
+      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. 124
+
+      123 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      124 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 125
+
+      125 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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, 126 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. 127 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.
+
+      126 (return) [ See Gildas de Excidio Britanniae, c. 11-25, p.
+      4-9, edit. Gale. Nennius, Hist. Britonum, c. 28, 35-65, p.
+      105-115, edit. Gale. Bede, Hist. Ecclesiast. Gentis Angloruml. i.
+      c. 12-16, p. 49-53. c. 22, p. 58, edit. Smith. Chron. Saxonicum,
+      p. 11-23, &c., edit. Gibson. The Anglo-Saxon laws were published
+      by Wilkins, London, 1731, in folio; and the Leges Wallicae, by
+      Wotton and Clarke, London, 1730, in folio.]
+
+      127 (return) [ 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.”—M.]
+
+      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 128 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. 129
+
+      128 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      129 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      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. 130 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, 1301 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. 131
+
+      130 (return) [ 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, &c., were mingled with the Anglo-Saxons.]
+
+      1301 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      131 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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 132 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. 133 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.
+
+      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.
+
+      132 (return) [ See Gildas de Excidio Britanniae, c. i. p. l.
+      edit. Gale.]
+
+      133 (return) [ 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]
+
+      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, 134
+      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.
+
+      134 (return) [ 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; 135 and a band of fugitives acquired a
+      settlement in Gaul, by their own valor, or the liberality of the
+      Merovingian kings. 136 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. 137
+
+      135 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      136 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      137 (return) [ 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, Mémoires 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.—M.]
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.—Part V.
+
+      In a century of perpetual, or at least implacable, war, much
+      courage, and some skill, must have been exerted for the defence
+      of Britain. 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; 138 his modesty was equal to his valor,
+      and his valor, till the last fatal action, 139 was crowned with
+      splendid success. But every British name is effaced by the
+      illustrious name of Arthur, 140 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. 141
+
+      138 (return) [ 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.”]
+
+      139 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      140 (return) [ 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.—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.—See also Mr. Sharon Turner’s Essay
+      on the Welsh Bards.—M.]
+
+      141 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      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, 142 in the ruins of
+      Anderida; 143 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; 144 but those illiterate Pagans preserved and
+      established the use of their national dialect. 145 Almost every
+      name, conspicuous either in the church or state, reveals its
+      Teutonic origin; 146 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.
+
+      142 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      143 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      144 (return) [ 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.—See
+      Prichard on the Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations Oxford,
+      1831.—M.]
+
+      145 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      146 (return) [ After the first generation of Italian, or
+      Scottish, missionaries, the dignities of the church were filled
+      with Saxon proselytes.]
+
+      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; 147 the entire emigation of the Angles was attested,
+      in the age of Bede, by the solitude of their native country; 148
+      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; 149 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. 150 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, 151 accepted from
+      his royal convert the gift of the peninsula 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; 152 yet the special exemptions which were
+      granted to national slaves, 153 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. 154 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. 155
+
+      147 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      148 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      149 (return) [ See Dr. Henry’s useful and laborious History of
+      Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 388.]
+
+      150 (return) [ 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, &c.]
+
+      151 (return) [ See the mission of Wilfrid, &c., in Bede, Hist.
+      Eccles. l. iv. c. 13, 16, p. 155, 156, 159.]
+
+      152 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      153 (return) [ According to the laws of Ina, they could not be
+      lawfully sold beyond the seas.]
+
+      154 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      155 (return) [ See Carte’s Hist. of England, vol. i. p. 278.]
+
+      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. 156 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. 157 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. 158 Their
+      disposition was rash and choleric; they were bold in action and
+      in speech; 159 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. 160
+
+      156 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      157 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      158 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      159 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      160 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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 161 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. 162
+      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. 163
+      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. 164
+
+      161 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      162 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      163 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      164 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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.
+
+
+
+
+      Chapter XXXVIII: Reign Of Clovis.—Part VI.
+
+    General Observations On The Fall Of The Roman Empire In The West.
+
+      The Greeks, after their country had been reduced into a province,
+      imputed the triumphs of Rome, not to the merit, but to the
+      fortune, 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. 1000 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. 2000 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. 3000 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, 4000 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. 5000
+
+      1000 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      2000 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      3000 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      4000 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      5000 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      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.
+
+      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.
+
+      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. 511 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.
+
+      511 (return) [ 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.—M.]
+
+      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 philosopher may 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.
+
+      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. 6000 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.
+
+      6000 (return) [ 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, (Mémoires 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.]
+
+      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. 7000 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. 8000
+
+      7000 (return) [ 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.)]
+
+      8000 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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; 9000 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.
+
+      9000 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 1001 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 1101 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.
+
+      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 1201 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, 1302 still continued annually to
+      mow the harvests of Italy; and the human feasts of the
+      Laestrigons 1401 have never been renewed on the coast of
+      Campania.
+
+      1001 (return) [ 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, &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.]
+
+      1101 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      1201 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      1302 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      1401 (return) [ 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.]
+
+      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. 1501
+
+      1501 (return) [ 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.]
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 733-0.txt or 733-0.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+    https://www.gutenberg.org/7/3/733/
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
+be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
+law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
+so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the
+United States without permission and without paying copyright
+royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
+of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
+and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
+the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
+of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
+copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
+easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
+of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
+Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may
+do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
+by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
+license, especially commercial redistribution.
+
+START: FULL LICENSE
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
+Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
+www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+
+1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
+destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
+possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
+Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
+by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
+person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
+1.E.8.
+
+1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
+paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
+agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
+Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
+of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
+works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
+States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
+United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
+claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
+displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
+all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
+that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
+free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
+works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
+Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
+comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
+same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
+you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
+in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
+check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
+agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
+distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
+other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
+representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
+country other than the United States.
+
+1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
+immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
+prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
+on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
+performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
+
+  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
+  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
+  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
+  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
+  United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
+  you are located before using this eBook.
+
+1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
+derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
+contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
+copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
+the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
+redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
+either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
+obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
+trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
+additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
+will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
+posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
+beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
+any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
+to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
+other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
+version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website
+(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
+to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
+of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
+Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
+full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+provided that:
+
+* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
+  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
+  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
+  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
+  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
+  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
+  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
+  Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
+  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
+  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
+  works.
+
+* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
+  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
+  receipt of the work.
+
+* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
+are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
+from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
+the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
+forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
+Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
+contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
+or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
+other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
+cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
+with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
+with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
+lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
+or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
+opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
+the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
+without further opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
+OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
+damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
+violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
+agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
+limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
+unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
+remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
+accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
+production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
+including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
+the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
+or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
+additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
+Defect you cause.
+
+Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
+computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
+exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
+from people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
+generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
+Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
+www.gutenberg.org
+
+Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
+U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
+Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
+to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website
+and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+
+Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without
+widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
+DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
+state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
+donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
+freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
+distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
+volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
+the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
+necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
+edition.
+
+Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
+facility: www.gutenberg.org
+
+This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+