Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 3 by Edward Gibbon

History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire

Edward Gibbon, Esq.

With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman

Vol. 3

Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.

Part I.

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

The fame of Gratian, before he had accomplished the
twentieth year 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

[Footnote 1: 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.]

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

[Footnote 3: 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.]
[Footnote 4: 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.]
[Footnote 5: 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.]

[Footnote 6: 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.]

[Footnote 7: 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.]

[Footnote 8: 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."]

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

[Footnote 10: 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.]

[Footnote 11: 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.)]
[Footnote 12: 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

[Footnote 13: Archbishop Usher (Antiquat. Britan. Eccles. p. 107,
108) has diligently collected the legends of the island, and the
continent. The whole emigration consisted of 30,000 soldiers,
and 100,000 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.]
[Footnote 14: 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.)]
[Footnote 15: 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.]

[Footnote 16: 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

[Footnote 17: Ambrose mentions the laws of Gratian, quas non
abrogavit hostia (tom. ii epist. xvii. p. 827.)]

[Footnote 18: 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

[Footnote 19: 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.)]

[Footnote 20: For the baptism of Theodosius, see Sozomen, (l.
vii. c. 4,) Socrates, (l. v. c. 6,) and Tillemont, (Hist. des
Empereurs, tom. v. p. 728.)]

[Footnote 21: Ascolius, or Acholius, was honored by the
friendship, 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.]

[Footnote 22: 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.]
[Footnote 23: 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

[Footnote 24: Sozomen, l. vii. c. v. Socrates, l. v. c. 7.
Marcellin. in Chron. The account of forty years must be dated
from the election or intrusion of Eusebius, who wisely exchanged
the bishopric of Nicomedia for the throne of Constantinople.]
[Footnote 25: See Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History,
vol. iv. p. 71. The thirty-third Oration of Gregory Nazianzen
affords indeed 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.]

[Footnote 26: 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.]

[Footnote 27: I confess myself deeply indebted to the two lives
of Gregory Nazianzen, composed, with very different views, by
Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 305 - 560, 692 - 731) and Le
Clerc, (Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. xviii. p. 1 - 128.)]
[Footnote 28: 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.)]

[Footnote 29: 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.]
[Footnote 30: 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.)]

[Footnote 31: 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.]

[Footnote 32: See Ducange, Constant. Christiana, l. iv. p. 141,
142. The Sozomen (l. vii. c. 5) is interpreted to mean the
Virgin Mary.]
[Footnote 33: Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 432, &c.)
diligently collects, enlarges, and explains, the oratorical and
poetical hints of Gregory himself.]

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

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

[Footnote 36: 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.

[Footnote 37: 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.]
[Footnote 38: 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.]

[Footnote 39: 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.]

[Footnote 40: 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

[Footnote 41: Le Clerc has given a curious extract (Bibliotheque
Universelle, tom. xviii. p. 91 - 105) of the theological sermons
which Gregory Nazianzen pronounced at Constantinople against the
Arians, Eunomians, Macedonians, &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.]
[Footnote 42: 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.)]

[Footnote 43: 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.)]

[Footnote 44: 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.

[Footnote 45: 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.]
[Footnote 46: 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!]

[Footnote 47: 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
[Footnote 48: 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.]

[Footnote 49: 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.]

[Footnote 50: 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
Praetorian praefect, 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. 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 anima food; and their continual prayers,
fasts, and vigils, inculcated a rule of strict and perfect
devotion. The speculative tenets of the sect, concerning the
person of Christ, and the nature of the human soul, were derived
from the Gnostic and Manichaean system; and this vain philosophy,
which had been transported from Egypt to Spain, was ill adapted
to the grosser spirits of the West. The obscure disciples of
Priscillian suffered languished, and gradually disappeared: his
tenets were rejected by the clergy and people, but his death was
the subject of a long and vehement controversy; while some
arraigned, and others applauded, the justice of his sentence. It
is with pleasure that we can observe the humane inconsistency of
the most illustrious saints and bishops, Ambrose of Milan, ^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.

[Footnote 51: See the Sacred History of Sulpicius Severus, (l.
ii. p. 437 - 452, edit. Ludg. Bat. 1647,) a correct and original
writer. Dr. Lardner (Credibility, &c., part ii. vol. ix. p. 256
- 350) has 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!]

[Footnote 52: 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.]

[Footnote 53: 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.]

[Footnote 54: 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.]
[Footnote 55: 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.)]
[Footnote 56: 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.]

[Footnote 57: Ambros. tom. ii. Epist. xxiv. p. 891.]

[Footnote 58: In the Sacred History, and the Life of St. Martin,
Sulpicius Severus uses some caution; but he declares himself more
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.]
[Footnote 59: 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 Praetorian praefect of Gaul; and the son, after passing
through the studies of a liberal education, attained, in the
regular gradation of civil honors, the station of consular of
Liguria, a province which included the Imperial residence of
Milan. At the age of thirty-four, and before he had received the
sacrament of baptism, Ambrose, to his own surprise, and to that
of the world, was suddenly transformed from a governor to an
archbishop. Without the least mixture, as it is said, of art or
intrigue, the whole body of the people unanimously saluted him
with the episcopal title; the concord and perseverance of their
acclamations were ascribed to a praeternatural impulse; and the
reluctant magistrate was compelled to undertake a spiritual
office, for which he was not prepared by the habits and
occupations of his former life. But the active force of his
genius soon qualified him to exercise, with zeal and prudence,
the duties of his ecclesiastical jurisdiction; and while he
cheerfully renounced the vain and splendid trappings of temporal
greatness, he condescended, for the good of the church, to direct
the conscience of the emperors, and to control the administration
of the empire. Gratian loved and revered him as a father; and
the elaborate treatise on the faith of the Trinity was designed
for the instruction of the young prince. After his tragic death,
at a time when the empress Justina trembled for her own safety,
and for that of her son Valentinian, the archbishop of Milan was
despatched, on two different embassies, to the court of Treves.
He exercised, with equal firmness and dexterity, the powers of
his spiritual and political characters; and perhaps contributed,
by his authority and eloquence, to check the ambition of Maximus,
and to protect the peace of Italy. ^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.

[Footnote 60: 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.]
[Footnote 61: 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.]
[Footnote 62: 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.

[Footnote 63: 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.

[Footnote 64: 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. (Memoires, tom. i. p. 140.) Certainly I do not
compare either the causes or the men yet the coadjutor himself
had some idea (p. 84) of imitating St. Ambrose]

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

[Footnote 65: Sozomen alone (l. vii. c. 13) throws this luminous
fact into a dark and perplexed narrative.]

[Footnote 66: 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]
[Footnote 67: 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.]
[Footnote 68: 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.]

[Footnote 69: Ambros. tom. ii. Epist. xxii. p. 875. Augustin.
Confes, l. ix. c. 7, de Civitat. Dei, l. xxii. c. 8. Paulin. in
Vita St. Ambros. c. 14, in Append. Benedict. p. 4. The blind
man's name was Severus; 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.]

[Footnote 70: Paulin, in Tit. St. Ambros. c. 5, in Append.
Benedict. p. 5.]
[Footnote 71: Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. x. p. 190, 750. He
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.

[Footnote 72: The modest censure of Sulpicius (Dialog. iii. 15)
inflicts a much deeper wound than the declamation of Pacatus,
(xii. 25, 26.)]
[Footnote 73: Esto tutior adversus hominem, pacis involurco
tegentem, was the wise caution of Ambrose (tom. ii. p. 891) after
his return from his second embassy.]

[Footnote 74: 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, ^* had fixed his camp in
the neighborhood of Siscia, a city of Pannonia, strongly
fortified by the broad and rapid stream of the Save.

[Footnote 75: 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.]
[Footnote *: 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
[Footnote 76: See Godefroy's Chronology of the Laws, Cod.
Theodos, tom l. p. cxix.]

[Footnote 77: 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
[Footnote 78: 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.]

[Footnote 79: 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.]
[Footnote 80: Ambros. tom. ii. Epist. xl. p. 55. Pacatus, from
the want of skill or of courage, omits this glorious
circumstance.]

[Footnote 81: Pacat. in Panegyr. Vet. xii. 20.]

Yet the piercing eye of the founder of the republic must
have 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.
[Footnote 82: 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.]
[Footnote 83: 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

[Footnote 84: 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.]

[Footnote 85: 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.]
[Footnote 86: 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.]

[Footnote 87: 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.]

[Footnote 88: 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.)]
[Footnote 89: Chrysostom opposes their courage, which was not
attended with much risk, to the cowardly flight of the Cynics.]
[Footnote 90: 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
[Footnote 91: The original evidence of Ambrose, (tom. ii. Epist.
li. p. 998.) Augustin, (de Civitat. Dei, v. 26,) and Paulinus,
(in Vit. Ambros. c. 24,) is delivered in vague expressions of
horror and pity. It 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, ^* 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.

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

[Footnote 92: See the whole transaction in Ambrose, (tom. ii.
Epist. xl. xli. p. 950 - 956,) and his biographer Paulinus, (c.
23.) Bayle and Barbeyrac (Morales des Peres, c. xvii. p. 325,
&c.) have justly condemned the archbishop.]

[Footnote 93: 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.]

[Footnote 94: 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.]
[Footnote 95: 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.
[Footnote 96: 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.]

[Footnote 97: 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.]
[Footnote 98: The penance of Theodosius is authenticated by
Ambrose, (tom. vi. de Obit. Theodos. c. 34, p. 1207,) Augustin,
(de Civitat. Dei, v. 26,) and Paulinus, (in Vit. Ambros. c. 24.)
Socrates is ignorant; Sozomen (l. vii. c. 25) concise; and the
copious narrative of Theodoret (l. v. c. 18) must be used with
precaution.]

[Footnote 99: Codex Theodos. l. ix. tit. xl. leg. 13. The date
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.)]

[Footnote 100: 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.

[Footnote 101: It is the niggard praise of Zosimus himself, (l.
iv. p. 267.) Augustin says, with some happiness of expression,
Valentinianum .... misericordissima veneratione restituit.]
The 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

[Footnote 102: Sozomen, l. vii. c. 14. His chronology is very
irregular.]
[Footnote 103: 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.]

[Footnote 104: Zosimus (l. iv. p. 275) praises the enemy of
Theodosius. But he is detested by Socrates (l. v. c. 25) and
Orosius, (l. vii. c. 35.)]
[Footnote 105: Gregory of Tours (l. ii. c. 9, p. 165, in the
second volume of the Historians of France) has preserved a
curious fragment of Sulpicius Alexander, an historian far more
valuable than himself.]

[Footnote 106: 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.]

[Footnote 107: 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.]
[Footnote 108: See c. 51, p. 1188, c. 75, p. 1193. Dom Chardon,
(Hist. des Sacramens, tom. i. p. 86,) who owns that St. Ambrose
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; ^* 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

[Footnote 109: 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.)]

[Footnote 110: Zosimus (l. iv. p. 278) mentions this embassy; but
he is diverted by another story from relating the event.]

[Footnote 111: 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.]

[Footnote 112: Lycopolis is the modern Siut, or Osiot, a town of
Said, about the size of St. Denys, which drives a profitable
trade with 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.]

[Footnote 113: 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.]

[Footnote 114: 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.]
[Footnote *: Gibbon has embodied the picturesque verses of
Claudian: -
.... Nec tantis dissona linguis
Turba, nec armorum cultu diversion unquam]

[Footnote 115: 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, ^* 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
[Footnote 116: 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 intra claustra reductus
     Dissimiles, sed morte pares ......]

[Footnote 117: 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.)]
[Footnote 118: 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.]
[Footnote 119: 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.]
[Footnote 120: Te propter, gelidis Aquilo de monte procellis

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

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

These famous lines of Claudian (in iii. Cons. Honor. 93, &c.
A.D. 396) are alleged by his contemporaries, Augustin and
Orosius; who 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.]

[Footnote *: 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.]

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

After the defeat of Eugenius, the merit, as well as the
authority, 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.

[Footnote 122: 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.)]

[Footnote 123: 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.
[Footnote 124: Zosimus, l. iv. p. 244.]

The effeminate luxury, which infected the manners of courts
and cities, had instilled a secret and destructive poison into
the camps of 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

[Footnote 125: 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.

[Footnote 1: 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.]

[Footnote 2: 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. 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
[Footnote 3: 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.]

[Footnote 4: 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.)]

[Footnote 5: 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.]
[Footnote 6: Zosimus, l. iv. p. 249, 250. I have suppressed the
foolish pun about Pontifex and Maximus.]

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

[Footnote 8: 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.)]

[Footnote 9: See Suetonius (in August. c. 35) and the Exordium of
Pliny's Panegyric.]

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

[Footnote 11: The Notitia Urbis, more recent than Constantine,
does 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 praefect of
the city. The breast of Symmachus was animated by the warmest
zeal for the cause of expiring Paganism; and his religious
antagonists lamented the abuse of his genius, and the inefficacy
of his moral virtues. ^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.

[Footnote 12: Ambrose repeatedly affirms, in contradiction to
common sense (Moyle's Works, vol. ii. p. 147,) that the
Christians had a majority in the senate.]

[Footnote 13: 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.]

[Footnote 14: 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.]
[Footnote 15: 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.]
[Footnote 16: 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. ^* 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. ^*

[Footnote 17: See Ambrose, (tom. ii. Epist. xvii. xviii. p. 825 -
833.) The former of these epistles is a short caution; the latter
is a 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.]
[Footnote 18: 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.]

[Footnote *: 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]

[Footnote 19: 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 feathers a heathenish courage,
which few of them are found to possess.]

[Footnote 20: 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.)]

[Footnote 21: Exultare Patres videas, pulcherrima mundi
     Lumina; Conciliumque senum gestire Catonum
     Candidiore toga niveum pietatis amictum
     Sumere; et exuvias deponere pontificales.

The fancy of Prudentius is warmed and elevated by victory]
[Footnote 22: Prudentius, after he has described the conversion
of the senate and people, asks, with some truth and confidence,

Et dubitamus adhuc Romam, tibi, Christe, dicatam
In leges transisse tuas?]

[Footnote 23: Jerom exults in the desolation of the Capitol, and
the other temples of Rome, (tom. i. p. 54, tom. ii. p. 95.)]
[Footnote *: 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 Praetorian praefect of the East, and
afterwards to the counts Jovius and Gaudentius, two officers of
distinguished rank in the West; by which they were directed to
shut the temples, to seize or destroy the instruments of
idolatry, to abolish the privileges of the priests, and to
confiscate the consecrated property for the benefit of the
emperor, of the church, or of the army. ^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.

[Footnote 24: 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.]
[Footnote 25: See his laws in the Theodosian Code, l. xvi. tit.
x. leg. 7 - 11.]

[Footnote 26: Homer's sacrifices are not accompanied with 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.)]

[Footnote 27: Zosimus, l. iv. p. 245, 249. Theodoret. l. v. c.
21. Idatius in Chron. Prosper. Aquitan. l. iii. c. 38, apud
Baronium, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 389, No. 52. Libanius (pro
Templis, p. 10) labors to 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.]

[Footnote 28: 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.)]

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

[Footnote 30: See the Life of Martin by Sulpicius Severus, c. 9 -
14. The saint once mistook (as Don Quixote might have done) a
harmless funeral for an idolatrous procession, and imprudently
committed a miracle.]
[Footnote 31: Compare Sozomen, (l. vii. c. 15) with Theodoret,
(l. v. c. 21.) Between them, they relate the crusade and death of
Marcellus.]
[Footnote 32: Libanius, pro Templis, p. 10 - 13. He rails at
these black- garbed men, the Christian monks, who eat more than
elephants. Poor elephants! they are temperate animals.]

[Footnote 33: Prosper. Aquitan. l. iii. c. 38, apud Baronium;
Annal. Eccles. A.D. 389, No. 58, &c. The temple had been shut
some time, and the access to it was overgrown with brambles.]
[Footnote 34: 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

[Footnote 35: 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.]

[Footnote 36: Gerard Vossius (Opera, tom. v. p. 80, and de
Idoloaltria, l. i. c. 29) strives to support the strange notion
of the Fathers; 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.]

[Footnote 37: 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.]

[Footnote 38: Macrobius, Saturnal, l. i. c. 7. Such a living
fact decisively proves his foreign extraction.]

[Footnote 39: At Rome, Isis and Serapis were united in the same
temple. The precedency which the queen assumed, may seem to
betray her 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.]
[Footnote 40: Ammianus, (xxii. 16.) The Expositio totius Mundi,
(p. 8, in Hudson's Geograph. Minor. tom. iii.,) and Rufinus, (l.
ii. c. 22,) celebrate the Serapeum, as one of the wonders of the
world.]
[Footnote 41: See Memoires de l'Acad. des Inscriptions, tom. ix.
p. 397 - 416. The old library of the Ptolemies was totally
consumed 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.]

[Footnote 42: 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, ^* 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;
^* 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
[Footnote 43: We may choose between the date of Marcellinus (A.D.
389) or that of Prosper, ( A.D. 391.) Tillemont (Hist. des Emp.
tom. v. p. 310, 756) prefers the former, and Pagi the latter.]
[Footnote 44: Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xi. p. 441 - 500. The
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.]

[Footnote *: No doubt a temple of Osiris. St. Martin, iv 398 -
M.]
[Footnote 45: 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.]

[Footnote 46: 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.]

[Footnote 47: Eunapius, in the Lives of Antoninus and Aedesius,
execrates the sacrilegious rapine of Theophilus. Tillemont (Mem.
Eccles. tom. xiii. p. 453) quotes an epistle of Isidore of
Pelusium, which reproaches the primate with the idolatrous
worship of gold, the auri sacra fames.]
[Footnote *: 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.]

[Footnote 48: 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.]

[Footnote 49: 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.]

[Footnote 50: Sed fortes tremuere manus, motique verenda
Majestate loci, si robora sacra ferirent
In sua credebant redituras membra secures.

(Lucan. iii. 429.) "Is it true," (said Augustus to a veteran of
Italy, at whose house he supped) "that the man who gave the first
blow to 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)]
[Footnote 51: The history of the reformation affords frequent
examples of the sudden change from superstition to contempt.]
[Footnote 52: 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 ^* 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

[Footnote 53: 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.]
[Footnote 54: 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.)]

[Footnote 55: 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.]

[Footnote *: 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.]

[Footnote 56: Such a charge should not be lightly made; but it
may surely be justified by the authority of St. Augustin, who
thus addresses the Donatists: "Quis nostrum, quis vestrum non
laudat leges ab Imperatoribus datas adversus sacrificia
Paganorum? Et certe longe ibi poera severior constituta est;
illius quippe impietatis capitale supplicium est." Epist. xciii.
No. 10, quoted by Le Clerc, (Bibliotheque Choisie, tom. viii. p.
277,) who adds some judicious reflections on the intolerance of
the victorious Christians.
Note: Yet Augustine, with laudable inconsistency,
disapproved of the forcible demolition of the temples. "Let us
first extirpate the idolatry of the hearts of the heathen, and
they will either themselves invite us or anticipate us in the
execution of this good work," tom. v. p. 62. Compare Neander,
ii. 169, and, in p. 155, a beautiful passage from Chrysostom
against all violent means of propagating Christianity. - M.]
Chapter XXVIII: Destruction Of Paganism.

Part III.

In the cruel reigns of Decius and Dioclesian, Christianity
had been proscribed, as a revolt from the ancient and hereditary
religion of the empire; and the unjust suspicions which were
entertained of a dark and dangerous faction, were, in some
measure, countenanced by the inseparable union and rapid
conquests of the Catholic church. But the same excuses of fear
and ignorance cannot be applied to the Christian emperors who
violated the precepts of humanity and of the Gospel. The
experience of ages had betrayed the weakness, as well as folly,
of Paganism; the light of reason and of faith had already
exposed, to the greatest part of mankind, the vanity of idols;
and the declining sect, which still adhered to their worship,
might have been permitted to enjoy, in peace and obscurity, the
religious costumes of their ancestors. Had the Pagans been
animated by the undaunted zeal which possessed the minds of the
primitive believers, the triumph of the Church must have been
stained with blood; and the martyrs of Jupiter and Apollo might
have embraced the glorious opportunity of devoting their lives
and fortunes at the foot of their altars. But such obstinate
zeal was not congenial to the loose and careless temper of
Polytheism. The violent and repeated strokes of the orthodox
princes were broken by the soft and yielding substance against
which they were directed; and the ready obedience of the Pagans
protected them from the pains and penalties of the Theodosian
Code. ^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
[Footnote 57: 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?"]
[Footnote 58: Libanius (pro Templis, p. 17, 18) mentions, without
censure the occasional conformity, and as it were theatrical
play, of these hypocrites.]

[Footnote 59: 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.]

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

A nation of slaves is always prepared to applaud the
clemency of 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. ^* 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
[Footnote 61: 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.]

[Footnote *: 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.]
[Footnote 62: Denique pro meritis terrestribus aequa rependens

Munera, sacricolis summos impertit honores.

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

Contulit.

Prudent. in Symmach. i. 617, &c.

Note: I have inserted some lines omitted by Gibbon. - M.]
[Footnote 63: Libanius (pro Templis, p. 32) is proud that
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.]
[Footnote 64: 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.]
[Footnote 65: 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.]

[Footnote 66: 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.)]

[Footnote 67: 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.

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

[Footnote 69: 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.]
[Footnote 70: 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.]

[Footnote 71: 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.]
[Footnote 72: 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.)]
[Footnote 73: Jerom (tom. ii. p. 122) pompously describes the
translation of Samuel, which is noticed in all the chronicles of
the times.]
[Footnote 74: The presbyter Vigilantius, the Protestant of his
age, firmly, though ineffectually, withstood the superstition of
monks, relics, saints, fasts, &c., for which Jerom compares him
to the Hydra, Cerberus, the Centaurs, &c., and considers him only
as the organ of 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.
[Footnote 75: 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.]
[Footnote 76: Martin of Tours (see his Life, c. 8, by Sulpicius
Severus) extorted this confession from the mouth of the dead man.

The error 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.

[Footnote 77: 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.)]

[Footnote 78: 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.)]

[Footnote 79: 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.]

[Footnote 80: 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

[Footnote 81: 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.]
[Footnote 82: 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.]

[Footnote 83: Fleury Discours sur l'Hist. Ecclesiastique, iii p.
80.]
[Footnote 84: 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.)]

[Footnote 85: 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 ^*
[Footnote 86: D'Aubigne (see his own Memoires, p. 156 - 160)
frankly offered, with the consent of the Huguenot ministers, to
allow the first 400 years as the rule of faith. The Cardinal du
Perron haggled for forty years more, which were indiscreetly
given. Yet neither party would have found their account in this
foolish bargain.]

[Footnote 87: 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.]

[Footnote 88: 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.]
[Footnote 89: 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.)]

[Footnote 90: 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.]

[Footnote *: 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 Aethiopia. His younger brother
Honorius, assumed, in the eleventh year of his age, the nominal
government of Italy, Africa, Gaul, Spain, and Britain; and the
troops, which guarded the frontiers of his kingdom, were opposed,
on one side, to the Caledonians, and on the other, to the Moors.
The great and martial praefecture of Illyricum was divided
between the two princes: the defence and possession of the
provinces of Noricum, Pannonia, and Dalmatia still belonged to
the Western empire; but the two large dioceses of Dacia and
Macedonia, which Gratian had intrusted to the valor of
Theodosius, were forever united to the empire of the East. The
boundary in Europe was not very different from the line which now
separates the Germans and the Turks; and the respective
advantages of territory, riches, populousness, and military
strength, were fairly balanced and compensated, in this final and
permanent division of the Roman empire. The hereditary sceptre
of the sons of Theodosius appeared to be the gift of nature, and
of their father; the generals and ministers had been accustomed
to adore the majesty of the royal infants; and the army and
people were not admonished of their rights, and of their power,
by the dangerous example of a recent election. The gradual
discovery of the weakness of Arcadius and Honorius, and the
repeated calamities of their reign, were not sufficient to
obliterate the deep and early impressions of loyalty. The
subjects of Rome, who still reverenced the persons, or rather the
names, of their sovereigns, beheld, with equal abhorrence, the
rebels who opposed, and the ministers who abused, the authority
of the throne.

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
praefect of the East, and of praefect 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 praefects were accused of rapine and
corruption in the administration of the laws and finances. For
the trial of these illustrious offenders, the emperor constituted
a special commission: several judges were named to share the
guilt and reproach of injustice; but the right of pronouncing
sentence was reserved to the president alone, and that president
was Rufinus himself. The father, stripped of the praefecture of
the East, was thrown into a dungeon; but the son, conscious that
few ministers can be found innocent, where an enemy is their
judge, had secretly escaped; and Rufinus must have been satisfied
with the least obnoxious victim, if despotism had not
condescended to employ the basest and most ungenerous artifice.
The prosecution was conducted with an appearance of equity and
moderation, which flattered Tatian with the hope of a favorable
event: his confidence was fortified by the solemn assurances, and
perfidious oaths, of the president, who presumed to interpose the
sacred name of Theodosius himself; and the unhappy father was at
last persuaded to recall, by a private letter, the fugitive
Proculus. He was instantly seized, examined, condemned, and
beheaded, in one of the suburbs of Constantinople, with a
precipitation which disappointed the clemency of the emperor.
Without respecting the misfortunes of a consular senator, the
cruel judges of Tatian compelled him to behold the execution of
his son: the fatal cord was fastened round his own neck; but in
the moment when he expected. and perhaps desired, the relief of
a speedy death, he was permitted to consume the miserable remnant
of his old age in poverty and exile. ^7 The punishment of the two
praefects might, perhaps, be excused by the exceptionable parts
of their own conduct; the enmity of Rufinus might be palliated by
the jealous and unsociable nature of ambition. But he indulged a
spirit of revenge equally repugnant to prudence and to justice,
when he degraded their native country of Lycia from the rank of
Roman provinces; stigmatized a guiltless people with a mark of
ignominy; and declared, that the countrymen of Tatian and
Proculus should forever remain incapable of holding any
employment of honor or advantage under the Imperial government.
^8 The new praefect of the East (for Rufinus instantly succeeded
to the vacant honors of his adversary) was not diverted, however,
by the most criminal pursuits, from the performance of the
religious duties, which in that age were considered as the most
essential to salvation. In the suburb of Chalcedon, surnamed the
Oak, he had built a magnificent villa; to which he devoutly added
a stately church, consecrated to the apostles St. Peter and St.
Paul, and continually sanctified by the prayers and penance of a
regular society of monks. A numerous, and almost general, synod
of the bishops of the Eastern empire, was summoned to celebrate,
at the same time, the dedication of the church, and the baptism
of the founder. This double ceremony was performed with
extraordinary pomp; and when Rufinus was purified, in the holy
font, from all the sins that he had hitherto committed, a
venerable hermit of Egypt rashly proposed himself as the sponsor
of a proud and ambitious statesman. ^9
[Footnote 1: 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.]
[Footnote 2: It is evident, (Tillemont, Hist. des Emp. tom. v. p.
770,) though De Marca is ashamed of his countryman, that Rufinus
was born at Elusa, the metropolis of Novempopulania, now a small
village of Gassony, (D'Anville, Notice de l'Ancienne Gaule, p.
289.)]

[Footnote 3: Philostorgius, l. xi c. 3, with Godefroy's Dissert.
p. 440.]
[Footnote 4: A passage of Suidas is expressive of his profound
dissimulation.]
[Footnote 5: Zosimus, l. iv. p. 272, 273.]

[Footnote 6: Zosimus, who describes the fall of Tatian and his
son, (l. iv. p. 273, 274,) asserts their innocence; and even his
testimony may outweigh the charges of their enemies, (Cod. Theod.
tom. iv. p. 489,) who accuse them of oppressing the Curiae. The
connection of Tatian with the Arians, while he was praefect of
Egypt, (A.D. 373,) inclines Tillemont to believe that he was
guilty of every crime, (Hist. des Emp. tom. v. p. 360. Mem.
Eccles. tom vi. p. 589.)]

[Footnote 7: - 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.]
[Footnote 8: This odious law is recited and repealed by Arcadius,
(A.D. 296,) on the Theodosian Code, l. ix. tit. xxxviii. leg. 9.
The 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.]

[Footnote 9: 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
praefect considered as his pupil, rather than his sovereign.
Regardless of the public opinion, he indulged his passions
without remorse, and without resistance; and his malignant and
rapacious spirit rejected every passion that might have
contributed to his own glory, or the happiness of the people.
His avarice, ^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
praefect of the East, his accomplice and his judge. If avarice
were not the blindest of the human passions, the motives of
Rufinus might excite our curiosity; and we might be tempted to
inquire with what view he violated every principle of humanity
and justice, to accumulate those immense treasures, which he
could not spend without folly, nor possess without danger.
Perhaps he vainly imagined, that he labored for the interest of
an only daughter, on whom he intended to bestow his royal pupil,
and the august rank of Empress of the East. Perhaps he deceived
himself by the opinion, that his avarice was the instrument of
his ambition. He aspired to place his fortune on a secure and
independent basis, which should no longer depend on the caprice
of the young emperor; yet he neglected to conciliate the hearts
of the soldiers and people, by the liberal distribution of those
riches, which he had acquired with so much toil, and with so much
guilt. The extreme parsimony of Rufinus left him only the
reproach and envy of ill-gotten wealth; his dependants served him
without attachment; the universal hatred of mankind was repressed
only by the influence of servile fear. The fate of Lucian
proclaimed to the East, that the praefect, whose industry was
much abated in the despatch of ordinary business, was active and
indefatigable in the pursuit of revenge. Lucian, the son of the
praefect Florentius, the oppressor of Gaul, and the enemy of
Julian, had employed a considerable part of his inheritance, the
fruit of rapine and corruption, to purchase the friendship of
Rufinus, and the high office of Count of the East. But the new
magistrate imprudently departed from the maxims of the court, and
of the times; disgraced his benefactor by the contrast of a
virtuous and temperate administration; and presumed to refuse an
act of injustice, which might have tended to the profit of the
emperor's uncle. Arcadius was easily persuaded to resent the
supposed insult; and the praefect of the East resolved to execute
in person the cruel vengeance, which he meditated against this
ungrateful delegate of his power. He performed with incessant
speed the journey of seven or eight hundred miles, from
Constantinople to Antioch, entered the capital of Syria at the
dead of night, and spread universal consternation among a people
ignorant of his design, but not ignorant of his character. The
Count of the fifteen provinces of the East was dragged, like the
vilest malefactor, before the arbitrary tribunal of Rufinus.
Notwithstanding the clearest evidence of his integrity, which was
not impeached even by the voice of an accuser, Lucian was
condemned, almost with out a trial, to suffer a cruel and
ignominious punishment. The ministers of the tyrant, by the
orders, and in the presence, of their master, beat him on the
neck with leather thongs armed at the extremities with lead; and
when he fainted under the violence of the pain, he was removed in
a close litter, to conceal his dying agonies from the eyes of the
indignant city. No sooner had Rufinus perpetrated this inhuman
act, the sole object of his expedition, than he returned, amidst
the deep and silent curses of a trembling people, from Antioch to
Constantinople; and his diligence was accelerated by the hope of
accomplishing, without delay, the nuptials of his daughter with
the emperor of the East. ^12

[Footnote 10: Montesquieu (Esprit des Loix, l. xii. c. 12)
praises one of the laws of Theodosius addressed to the praefect
Rufinus, (l. ix. tit. iv. leg. unic.,) to discourage the
prosecution of treasonable, or sacrilegious, words. A tyrannical
statute always proves the existence of tyranny; but a laudable
edict may only contain the specious professions, or ineffectual
wishes, of the prince, or his ministers. This, I am afraid, is a
just, though mortifying, canon of criticism.]

[Footnote 11: - fluctibus auri
Expleri sitis ista nequit -

- - - - - - -

Congestae cumulantur opes; orbisque ruinas
Accipit una domus.

This character (Claudian, in. Rufin. i. 184 - 220) is confirmed
by Jerom, a disinterested witness, (dedecus insatiabilis
avaritiae, tom. i. ad Heliodor. p. 26,) by Zosimus, (l. v. p.
286,) and by Suidas, who copied the history of Eunapius.]

Footnote 12: - Caetera segnis;
Ad facinus velox; penitus regione remotas
Impiger ire vias.

This allusion of Claudian (in Rufin. i. 241) is again explained
by 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
praefect satiated his revenge at Antioch, a secret conspiracy of
the favorite eunuchs, directed by the great chamberlain
Eutropius, undermined his power in the palace of Constantinople.
They discovered that Arcadius was not inclined to love the
daughter of Rufinus, who had been chosen, without his consent,
for his bride; and they contrived to substitute in her place the
fair Eudoxia, the daughter of Bauto, ^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 praefect
still exercised an uncontrolled authority over the civil and
military government of the East; and his treasures, if he could
resolve to use them, might be employed to procure proper
instruments for the execution of the blackest designs, that
pride, ambition, and revenge could suggest to a desperate
statesman. The character of Rufinus seemed to justify the
accusations that he conspired against the person of his
sovereign, to seat himself on the vacant throne; and that he had
secretly invited the Huns and the Goths to invade the provinces
of the empire, and to increase the public confusion. The subtle
praefect, whose life had been spent in the intrigues of the
palace, opposed, with equal arms, the artful measures of the
eunuch Eutropius; but the timid soul of Rufinus was astonished by
the hostile approach of a more formidable rival, of the great
Stilicho, the general, or rather the master, of the empire of the
West. ^16

[Footnote 13: Zosimus (l. iv. p. 243) praises the valor,
prudence, and integrity of Bauto the Frank. See Tillemont, Hist.
des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 771.]

[Footnote 14: 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.]

[Footnote 15: 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.]
[Footnote 16: Zosimus, (l. v. p. 290,) Orosius, (l. vii. c. 37,)
and the Chronicle of Marcellinus. Claudian (in Rufin. ii. 7 -
100) paints, in lively colors, the distress and guilt of the
praefect.]

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 return to Constantinople, his merit was
rewarded by an intimate and honorable alliance with the Imperial
family. Theodosius had been prompted, by a pious motive of
fraternal affection, to adopt, for his own, the daughter of his
brother Honorius; the beauty and accomplishments of Serena ^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.
[Footnote 17: 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.]

[Footnote 18: 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.]

[Footnote 19: 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.]

[Footnote 20: 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]
[Footnote 21: 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.]

[Footnote 22: 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.)]

[Footnote 23: - Si bellica moles
Ingrueret, quamvis annis et jure minori,

Cedere grandaevos equitum peditumque magistros

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

[Footnote 24: 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.]

[Footnote 25: - 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.]

[Footnote 26: 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.]
[Footnote 27: 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 praefect was seduced to believe, that those powerful
auxiliaries might be tempted to place the diadem on his head; and
the treasures which he distributed, with a tardy and reluctant
hand, were accepted by the indignant multitude as an insult,
rather than as a gift. At the distance of a mile from the
capital, in the field of Mars, before the palace of Hebdomon, the
troops halted: and the emperor, as well as his minister,
advanced, according to ancient custom, respectfully to salute the
power which supported their throne. As Rufinus passed along the
ranks, and disguised, with studied courtesy, his innate
haughtiness, the wings insensibly wheeled from the right and
left, and enclosed the devoted victim within the circle of their
arms. Before he could reflect on the danger of his situation,
Gainas gave the signal of death; a daring and forward soldier
plunged his sword into the breast of the guilty praefect, and
Rufinus fell, groaned, and expired, at the feet of the affrighted
emperor. If the agonies of a moment could expiate the crimes of
a whole life, or if the outrages inflicted on a breathless corpse
could be the object of pity, our humanity might perhaps be
affected by the horrid circumstances which accompanied the murder
of Rufinus. His mangled body was abandoned to the brutal fury of
the populace of either sex, who hastened in crowds, from every
quarter of the city, to trample on the remains of the haughty
minister, at whose frown they had so lately trembled. His right
hand was cut off, and carried through the streets of
Constantinople, in cruel mockery, to extort contributions for the
avaricious tyrant, whose head was publicly exposed, borne aloft
on the point of a long lance. ^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

[Footnote 28: 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.]

[Footnote 29: - 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.)]
[Footnote 30: 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.]

[Footnote 31: 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.)]

[Footnote 32: 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.

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

[Footnote 34: 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.]
[Footnote 35: See Claudian, (i. Cons. Stilich, l. i. 275, 292,
296, l. ii. 83,) and Zosimus, (l. v. p. 302.)]

[Footnote 36: Claudian turns the consulship of the eunuch
Eutropius 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 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

[Footnote 37: 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.]

[Footnote 38: Instat terribilis vivis, morientibus haeres,
Virginibus raptor, thalamis obscoenus adulter.
     Nulla quies: oritur praeda cessante libido,
     Divitibusque dies, et nox metuenda maritis.
      - Mauris clarissima quaeque
     Fastidita datur.

De Bello Gildonico, 165, 189.

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

[Footnote 39: Inque tuam sortem numerosas transtulit urbes.
Claudian (de Bell. Gildonico, 230 - 324) has touched, with
political delicacy, the intrigues of the Byzantine court, which
are likewise mentioned 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 praefect Symmachus, who presided in
the deliberations of the senate, admonished the minister of his
just apprehension, that as soon as the revengeful Moor should
prohibit the exportation of corn, the and perhaps the safety, of
the capital would be threatened by the hungry rage of a turbulent
multitude. ^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

[Footnote 40: 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.]

[Footnote 41: 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.)]

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

The cause of Rome, and the conduct of the African war, were
intrusted 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, refuge in the court of
Milan, where he soon received the cruel intelligence that his two
innocent and helpless children had been murdered by their inhuman
uncle. The affliction of the father was suspended only by the
desire of revenge. The vigilant Stilicho already prepared to
collect the naval and military force of the Western empire; and
he had resolved, if the tyrant should be able to wage an equal
and doubtful war, to march against him in person. But as Italy
required his presence, and as it might be dangerous to weaken the
of the frontier, he judged it more advisable, that Mascezel
should attempt this arduous adventure at the head of a chosen
body of Gallic veterans, who had lately served exhorted to
convince the world that they could subvert, as well as defend the
throne of a usurper, consisted of the Jovian, the Herculian, and
the Augustan legions; of the Nervian auxiliaries; of the soldiers
who displayed in their banners the symbol of a lion, and of the
troops which were distinguished by the auspicious names of
Fortunate, and Invincible. Yet such was the smallness of their
establishments, or the difficulty of recruiting, that these seven
bands, ^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

[Footnote 43: 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.]

[Footnote 44: 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.]

[Footnote 45: 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.)]

[Footnote 46: 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.]
[Footnote 47: 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.)]
[Footnote 48: 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 Aethiopia. He proudly reviewed an army of
seventy thousand men, and boasted, with the rash presumption
which is the forerunner of disgrace, that his numerous cavalry
would trample under their horses' feet the troops of Mascezel,
and involve, in a cloud of burning sand, the natives of the cold
regions of Gaul and Germany. ^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 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 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 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 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 on the countenance of
Stilicho; and while they delayed the necessary assistance, the
unfortunate Mascezel was irrecoverably drowned. ^57

[Footnote 49: 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.]

[Footnote 50: 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.]

[Footnote 51: 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.]

[Footnote 52: 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.]

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

[Footnote 54: Claudian (ii. Cons. Stilich. 99 - 119) describes
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]

[Footnote 55: See the Theodosian Code, l. ix. tit. xxxix. leg. 3,
tit. xl. leg. 19.]

[Footnote 56: Stilicho, who claimed an equal share in all the
victories of Theodosius and his son, particularly asserts, that
Africa was recovered by the wisdom of his counsels, (see an
inscription produced by Baronius.)]
[Footnote 57: 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, 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 under standing. ^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.
[Footnote 58: 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.]
[Footnote 59: - Calet obvius ire
Jam princeps, tardumque cupit discedere solem.

Nobilis haud aliter sonipes.

(De Nuptiis Honor. et Mariae, and more freely in the Fescennines
112 - 116)
Dices, O quoties,hoc mihi dulcius
Quam flavos decics vincere Sarmatas.

......

Tum victor madido prosilias toro,
Nocturni referens vulnera proelii.

[Footnote 60: See Zosimus, l. v. p. 333.]

[Footnote 61: Procopius de Bell. Gothico, l. i. c. 2. I have
borrowed the general practice of Honorius, without adopting the
singular, and indeed improbable tale, which is related by the
Greek historian.]
[Footnote 62: The lessons of Theodosius, or rather Claudian, (iv.
Cons. Honor 214 - 418,) might compose a fine institution for the
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 praefect. The Goths, instead of being
impelled by the blind and headstrong passions of their chiefs,
were now directed by the bold and artful genius of Alaric. That
renowned leader was descended from the noble race of the Balti;
^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

[Footnote 1: 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.)]
[Footnote 2: - 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.]

[Footnote 3: 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.]
[Footnote 4: 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).]
[Footnote 5: 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

[Footnote 6: Compare Herodotus (l. vii. c. 176) and Livy, (xxxvi.
15.) The narrow entrance of Greece was probably enlarged by each
successive ravisher.]

[Footnote 7: He passed, says Eunapius, (in Vit. Philosoph. p. 93,
edit. Commelin, 1596,) through the straits, of Thermopylae.]
[Footnote 8: In obedience to Jerom and Claudian, (in Rufin. l.
ii. 191,) I have mixed some darker colors in the mild
representation of Zosimus, who wished to soften the calamities of
Athens.

Nec fera Cecropias traxissent vincula matres.

Synesius (Epist. clvi. p. 272, edit. Petav.) observes, that
Athens, whose sufferings he imputes to the proconsul's avarice,
was at that time less famous for her schools of philosophy than
for her trade of honey.]
[Footnote 9: - Vallata mari Scironia rupes,
Et duo continuo connectens aequora muro
Isthmos.

Claudian de Bel. Getico, 188.

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

[Footnote 10: Claudian (in Rufin. l. ii. 186, and de Bello
Getico, 611, &c.) vaguely, though forcibly, delineates the scene
of rapine and destruction.]
[Footnote 11: 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.)]
[Footnote 12: 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.]

[Footnote 13: 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.]
[Footnote 14: Such, perhaps, as Homer (Iliad, xx. 164) had so
nobly painted him.]

[Footnote 15: 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.

[Footnote 16: 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.]
[Footnote 17: 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.]

[Footnote 18: 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.)]

[Footnote 19: 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; ^24 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

[Footnote 20: 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.]
[Footnote 21: Synesius de Regno, p. 21 - 26.]

[Footnote 22: - qui foedera rumpit
Ditatur: qui servat, eget: vastator Achivae

Gentis, et Epirum nuper populatus inultam,

Praesidet Illyrico: jam, quos obsedit, amicos

Ingreditur muros; illis responsa daturus,

Quorum conjugibus potitur, natosque peremit.
Claudian in Eutrop. l. ii. 212. Alaric applauds his own policy
(de Bell Getic. 533 - 543) in the use which he had made of this
Illyrian jurisdiction.]

[Footnote 23: 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]

[Footnote 25: 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
[Footnote 26: 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.]
[Footnote 27: 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.]

[Footnote 28: 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.]

[Footnote 29: 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.]

[Footnote 30: 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.]

[Footnote 31: Ingentem meminit parvo qui germine quercum
Aequaevumque videt consenuisse nemus.
A neighboring wood born with himself he sees,

And loves his old contemporary trees.

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

[Footnote 32: 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.]
[Footnote 33: 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.
[Footnote 34: 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.]
[Footnote 35: The face of the country, and the hardiness of
Stilicho, are finely described, (de Bell. Get. 340 - 363.)]
[Footnote 36: Venit et extremis legio praetenta Britannis,

Quae Scoto dat frena truci.

De Bell. Get. 416.

Yet the most rapid march from Edinburgh, or Newcastle, to Milan,
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. ^* 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

[Footnote 37: 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.)]

[Footnote *: 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.]
[Footnote 38: 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.)]
[Footnote 39: One of the roads may be traced in the Itineraries,
(p. 98, 288, 294, with Wesseling's Notes.) Asta lay some miles on
the right hand.]
[Footnote 40: 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.)]

[Footnote 41: 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.)]

[Footnote 42: 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

[Footnote 43: 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.]

[Footnote 44: 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.)]
[Footnote 45: 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.]
[Footnote 46: Demens Ausonidum gemmata monilia matrum,
Romanasque alta famulas cervice petebat.

De Bell. Get. 627.]

[Footnote 47: 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.]

[Footnote 48: 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

[Footnote 49: Claudian and Prudentius must be strictly examined,
to reduce the figures, and extort the historic sense, of those
poets.]
[Footnote 50: Et gravant en airain ses freles avantages
De mes etats conquis enchainer les images.

The practice of exposing in triumph the images of kings and
provinces was familiar to the Romans. The bust of Mithridates
himself was twelve feet high, of massy gold, (Freinshem.
Supplement. Livian. ciii. 47.)]
[Footnote 51: The Getic war, and the sixth consulship of
Honorius, obscurely connect the events of Alaric's retreat and
losses.]
[Footnote 52: Taceo de Alarico ... saepe visto, saepe concluso,
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 aera 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.
[Footnote 53: The remainder of Claudian's poem on the sixth
consulship of Honorius, describes the journey, the triumph, and
the games, (330 - 660.)]
[Footnote 54: 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, and 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. ^*
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

[Footnote 55: 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.)]
[Footnote 56: Cod. Theodos. l. xv. tit. xii. leg. i. The
Commentary of Godefroy affords large materials (tom. v. p. 396)
for the history of gladiators.]

[Footnote 57: See the peroration of Prudentius (in Symmach. l.
ii. 1121 - 1131) who had doubtless read the eloquent invective of
Lactantius, (Divin. Institut. l. vi. c. 20.) The Christian
apologists have not spared these bloody games, which were
introduced in the religious festivals of Paganism.]

[Footnote 58: Theodoret, l. v. c. 26. I wish to believe the
story of St. Telemachus. Yet no church has been dedicated, no
altar has been erected, to the only monk who died a martyr in the
cause of humanity.]
[Footnote *: 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.]
[Footnote 59: 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 aera,
the port of Augustus was converted into pleasant orchards; and a
lonely grove of pines covered the ground where the Roman fleet
once rode at anchor. ^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

[Footnote 60: This account of Ravenna is drawn from Strabo, (l.
v. p. 327,) Pliny, (iii. 20,) Stephen of Byzantium, (sub voce, p.
651, edit. Berkel,) Claudian, (in vi. Cons. Honor. 494, &c.,)
Sidonius Apollinaris, (l. i. epist. 5, 8,) Jornandes, (de Reb.
Get. c. 29,) Procopius (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.]
[Footnote 61: 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.]

[Footnote 62: 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.]

[Footnote 63: 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 earned industry of the present age,
may be usefully applied to reveal the secret and remote causes of
the fall of the Roman empire. The extensive territory to the
north of the great wall was possessed, after the flight of the
Huns, by the victorious Sienpi, who were sometimes broken into
independent tribes, and sometimes reunited under a supreme chief;
till at length, styling themselves Topa, or masters of the earth,
they acquired a more solid consistence, and a more formidable
power. The Topa soon compelled the pastoral nations of the
eastern desert to acknowledge the superiority of their arms; they
invaded China in a period of weakness and intestine discord; and
these fortunate Tartars, adopting the laws and manners of the
vanquished people, founded an Imperial dynasty, which reigned
near one hundred and sixty years over the northern provinces of
the monarchy. Some generations before they ascended the throne
of China, one of the Topa princes had enlisted in his cavalry a
slave of the name of Moko, renowned for his valor, but who was
tempted, by the fear of punishment, to desert his standard, and
to range the desert at the head of a hundred followers. This gang
of robbers and outlaws swelled into a camp, a tribe, a numerous
people, distinguished by the appellation of Geougen; and their
hereditary chieftains, the posterity of Moko the slave, assumed
their rank among the Scythian monarchs. The youth of Toulun, the
greatest of his descendants, was exercised by those misfortunes
which are the school of heroes. He bravely struggled with
adversity, broke the imperious yoke of the Topa, and became the
legislator of his nation, and the conqueror of Tartary. His
troops were distributed into regular bands of a hundred and of a
thousand men; cowards were stoned to death; the most splendid
honors were proposed as the reward of valor; and Toulun, who had
knowledge enough to despise the learning of China, adopted only
such arts and institutions as were favorable to the military
spirit of his government. His tents, which he removed in the
winter season to a more southern latitude, were pitched, during
the summer, on the fruitful banks of the Selinga. His conquests
stretched from Corea far beyond the River Irtish. He vanquished,
in the country to the north of the Caspian Sea, the nation of the
Huns; and the new title of Khan, or Cagan, expressed the fame and
power which he derived from this memorable victory. ^64

[Footnote 64: 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; ^* 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.

[Footnote *: 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.]
[Footnote 65: 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.]

[Footnote 66: 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.]

[Footnote 67: 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.]

[Footnote 68: 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.]

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

Chapter XXX: Revolt Of The Goths.

Part IV.

The correspondence of nations was, in that age, so imperfect
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 approached within a hundred and eighty miles of
Rome; and anxiously compared the danger which they had escaped,
with the new perils to which they were exposed. Alaric was a
Christian and a soldier, the leader of a disciplined army; who
understood the laws of war, who respected the sanctity of
treaties, and who had familiarly conversed with the subjects of
the empire in the same camps, and the same churches. The savage
Radagaisus was a stranger to the manners, the religion, and even
the language, of the civilized nations of the South. The
fierceness of his temper was exasperated by cruel superstition;
and it was universally believed, that he had bound himself, by a
solemn vow, to reduce the city into a heap of stones and ashes,
and to sacrifice the most illustrious of the Roman senators on
the altars of those gods who were appeased by human blood. The
public danger, which should have reconciled all domestic
animosities, displayed the incurable madness of religious
faction. The oppressed votaries of Jupiter and Mercury
respected, in the implacable enemy of Rome, the character of a
devout Pagan; loudly declared, that they were more apprehensive
of the sacrifices, than of the arms, of Radagaisus; and secretly
rejoiced in the calamities of their country, which condemned the
faith of their Christian adversaries. ^75 ^*

[Footnote 70: - Cujus agendi
Spectator vel causa fui,

(Claudian, vi. Cons. Hon. 439,)

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

[Footnote 71: 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.]
[Footnote 72: 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.]

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

[Footnote 74: 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.]
[Footnote 75: 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.]
[Footnote *: 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

[Footnote 76: 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.]

[Footnote 77: Augustin de Civitat. Dei, v. 23. Orosius, l. vii.
c. 37, p. 567 - 571. The two friends wrote in Africa, ten or
twelve years 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!]
[Footnote 78: Franguntur montes, planumque per ardua Caesar

Ducit opus: pandit fossas, turritaque summis

  Disponit castella jugis, magnoque necessu
               Amplexus fines, saltus, memorosaque tesqua
               Et silvas, vastaque feras indagine claudit.! Yet
the simplicity of truth (Caesar, de Bell. Civ. iii. 44) is far
greater than the amplifications of Lucan, (Pharsal. l. vi. 29 -
63.)]
[Footnote 79: 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.]

[Footnote 80: See Zosimus, l. v. p. 331, and the Chronicles of
Prosper and Marcellinus.]

[Footnote 81: 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.]

[Footnote 82: 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.]

[Footnote 83: 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

[Footnote 84: 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.]
[Footnote 85: 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]

[Footnote 86: 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

[Footnote 87: - Provincia missos
Expellet citius fasces, quam Francia reges

Quos dederis.

Claudian (i. Cons. Stil. l. i. 235, &c.) is clear and
satisfactory. These kings of France are unknown to Gregory of
Tours; but the 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.]

[Footnote 88: See Zosimus, (l. vi. p. 373,) Orosius, (l. vii. c.
40, p. 576,) and the Chronicles. Gregory of Tours (

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 3 by Edward Gibbon Hypertext Meanings and Commentaries from the Encyclopedia of the Self by Mark ZimmermanGo to Part 2 of 2

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 3
by Edward Gibbon
Hypertext Meanings and Commentaries
from the Encyclopedia of the Self
by Mark Zimmerman
Go to Part 2 of 2