<h2><SPAN name="chap27.5"></SPAN> Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part V. </h2>
<p>After the defeat and death of the tyrant of Gaul, the Roman world was in
the possession of Theodosius. He derived from the choice of Gratian his
honorable title to the provinces of the East: he had acquired the West by
the right of conquest; and the three years which he spent in Italy were
usefully employed to restore the authority of the laws, and to correct the
abuses which had prevailed with impunity under the usurpation of Maximus,
and the minority of Valentinian. The name of Valentinian was regularly
inserted in the public acts: but the tender age, and doubtful faith, of
the son of Justina, appeared to require the prudent care of an orthodox
guardian; and his specious ambition might have excluded the unfortunate
youth, without a struggle, and almost without a murmur, from the
administration, and even from the inheritance, of the empire. If
Theodosius had consulted the rigid maxims of interest and policy, his
conduct would have been justified by his friends; but the generosity of
his behavior on this memorable occasion has extorted the applause of his
most inveterate enemies. He seated Valentinian on the throne of Milan;
and, without stipulating any present or future advantages, restored him to
the absolute dominion of all the provinces, from which he had been driven
by the arms of Maximus. To the restitution of his ample patrimony,
Theodosius added the free and generous gift of the countries beyond the
Alps, which his successful valor had recovered from the assassin of
Gratian. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.101" name="linknoteref-27.101" id="linknoteref-27.101">101</SPAN> Satisfied with the glory which he had
acquired, by revenging the death of his benefactor, and delivering the
West from the yoke of tyranny, the emperor returned from Milan to
Constantinople; and, in the peaceful possession of the East, insensibly
relapsed into his former habits of luxury and indolence. Theodosius
discharged his obligation to the brother, he indulged his conjugal
tenderness to the sister, of Valentinian; and posterity, which admires the
pure and singular glory of his elevation, must applaud his unrivalled
generosity in the use of victory.</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.101" id="linknote-27.101">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
101 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.101">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ It is the niggard
praise of Zosimus himself, (l. iv. p. 267.) Augustin says, with some
happiness of expression, Valentinianum.... misericordissima veneratione
restituit.]</p>
<p>The empress Justina did not long survive her return to Italy; and, though
she beheld the triumph of Theodosius, she was not allowed to influence the
government of her son. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.102" name="linknoteref-27.102" id="linknoteref-27.102">102</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.103" name="linknoteref-27.103" id="linknoteref-27.103">103</SPAN>
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, <SPAN href="#linknote-27.104"
name="linknoteref-27.104" id="linknoteref-27.104">104</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.105" name="linknoteref-27.105" id="linknoteref-27.105">105</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.106" name="linknoteref-27.106" id="linknoteref-27.106">106</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.107"
name="linknoteref-27.107" id="linknoteref-27.107">107</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.108" name="linknoteref-27.108" id="linknoteref-27.108">108</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.102" id="linknote-27.102">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
102 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.102">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Sozomen, l. vii. c. 14.
His chronology is very irregular.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.103" id="linknote-27.103">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
103 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.103">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ 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.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.104" id="linknote-27.104">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
104 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.104">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Zosimus (l. iv. p. 275)
praises the enemy of Theodosius. But he is detested by Socrates (l. v. c.
25) and Orosius, (l. vii. c. 35.)]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.105" id="linknote-27.105">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
105 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.105">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Gregory of Tours (l.
ii. c. 9, p. 165, in the second volume of the Historians of France) has
preserved a curious fragment of Sulpicius Alexander, an historian far more
valuable than himself.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.106" id="linknote-27.106">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
106 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.106">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Godefroy (Dissertat.
ad. Philostorg. p. 429-434) has diligently collected all the circumstances
of the death of Valentinian II. The variations, and the ignorance, of
contemporary writers, prove that it was secret.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.107" id="linknote-27.107">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
107 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.107">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ De Obitu Valentinian.
tom. ii. p. 1173-1196. He is forced to speak a discreet and obscure
language: yet he is much bolder than any layman, or perhaps any other
ecclesiastic, would have dared to be.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.108" id="linknote-27.108">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
108 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.108">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ See c. 51, p. 1188, c.
75, p. 1193. Dom Chardon, (Hist. des Sacramens, tom. i. p. 86,) who owns
that St. Ambrose most strenuously maintains the indispensable necessity of
baptism, labors to reconcile the contradiction.]</p>
<p>The prudence of Arbogastes had prepared the success of his ambitious
designs: and the provincials, in whose breast every sentiment of
patriotism or loyalty was extinguished, expected, with tame resignation,
the unknown master, whom the choice of a Frank might place on the Imperial
throne. But some remains of pride and prejudice still opposed the
elevation of Arbogastes himself; and the judicious Barbarian thought it
more advisable to reign under the name of some dependent Roman. He
bestowed the purple on the rhetorician Eugenius; <SPAN href="#linknote-27.109"
name="linknoteref-27.109" id="linknoteref-27.109">109</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.110" name="linknoteref-27.110" id="linknoteref-27.110">110</SPAN>
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, <SPAN href="#linknote-27.111" name="linknoteref-27.111" id="linknoteref-27.111">111</SPAN>
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. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.112" name="linknoteref-27.112" id="linknoteref-27.112">112</SPAN> In the neighborhood of that city, and on the
summit of a lofty mountain, the holy John <SPAN href="#linknote-27.113"
name="linknoteref-27.113" id="linknoteref-27.113">113</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.114" name="linknoteref-27.114" id="linknoteref-27.114">114</SPAN>
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; <SPAN href="#linknote-27.1141"
name="linknoteref-27.1141" id="linknoteref-27.1141">1141</SPAN> 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.
<SPAN href="#linknote-27.115" name="linknoteref-27.115" id="linknoteref-27.115">115</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.109" id="linknote-27.109">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
109 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.109">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Quem sibi Germanus
famulam delegerat exul, is the contemptuous expression of Claudian, (iv.
Cons. Hon. 74.) Eugenius professed Christianity; but his secret attachment
to Paganism (Sozomen, l. vii. c. 22, Philostorg. l. xi. c. 2) is probable
in a grammarian, and would secure the friendship of Zosimus, (l. iv. p.
276, 277.)]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.110" id="linknote-27.110">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
110 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.110">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Zosimus (l. iv. p. 278)
mentions this embassy; but he is diverted by another story from relating
the event.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.111" id="linknote-27.111">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
111 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.111">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Zosim. l. iv. p. 277.
He afterwards says (p. 280) that Galla died in childbed; and intimates,
that the affliction of her husband was extreme but short.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.112" id="linknote-27.112">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
112 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.112">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Lycopolis is the modern
Siut, or Osiot, a town of Said, about the size of St. Denys, which drives
a profitable trade with the kingdom of Senaar, and has a very convenient
fountain, “cujus potu signa virgini tatis eripiuntur.” See D’Anville,
Description de l’Egypte, p. 181 Abulfeda, Descript. Egypt. p. 14, and the
curious Annotations, p. 25, 92, of his editor Michaelis.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.113" id="linknote-27.113">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
113 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.113">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The Life of John of
Lycopolis is described by his two friends, Rufinus (l. ii. c. i. p. 449)
and Palladius, (Hist. Lausiac. c. 43, p. 738,) in Rosweyde’s great
Collection of the Vitae Patrum. Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. x. p. 718,
720) has settled the chronology.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.114" id="linknote-27.114">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
114 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.114">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Sozomen, l. vii. c. 22.
Claudian (in Eutrop. l. i. 312) mentions the eunuch’s journey; but he most
contemptuously derides the Egyptian dreams, and the oracles of the Nile.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.1141" id="linknote-27.1141">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
1141 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.1141">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Gibbon has embodied
the picturesque verses of Claudian:—</p>
<p>.... Nec tantis dissona linguis<br/>
Turba, nec armorum cultu diversion unquam]<br/></p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.115" id="linknote-27.115">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
115 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.115">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Zosimus, l. iv. p. 280.
Socrates, l. vii. 10. Alaric himself (de Bell. Getico, 524) dwells with
more complacency on his early exploits against the Romans.</p>
<p>.... Tot Augustos Hebro qui teste fugavi.<br/></p>
<p class="foot">
Yet his vanity could scarcely have proved this plurality of flying
emperors.]</p>
<p>The emperor of the West, or, to speak more properly, his general
Arbogastes, was instructed by the misconduct and misfortune of Maximus,
how dangerous it might prove to extend the line of defence against a
skilful antagonist, who was free to press, or to suspend, to contract, or
to multiply, his various methods of attack. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.116"
name="linknoteref-27.116" id="linknoteref-27.116">116</SPAN> 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, <SPAN href="#linknote-27.117" name="linknoteref-27.117" id="linknoteref-27.117">117</SPAN> or Cold River. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.118"
name="linknoteref-27.118" id="linknoteref-27.118">118</SPAN> 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;
<SPAN href="#linknote-27.119" name="linknoteref-27.119" id="linknoteref-27.119">119</SPAN>
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, <SPAN href="#linknote-27.120" name="linknoteref-27.120" id="linknoteref-27.120">120</SPAN> 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, <SPAN href="#linknote-27.1201" name="linknoteref-27.1201" id="linknoteref-27.1201">1201</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.121" name="linknoteref-27.121" id="linknoteref-27.121">121</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.116" id="linknote-27.116">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
116 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.116">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Claudian (in iv. Cons.
Honor. 77, &c.) contrasts the military plans of the two usurpers:—</p>
<p>.... Novitas audere priorem<br/>
Suadebat; cautumque dabant exempla sequentem.<br/>
Hic nova moliri praeceps: hic quaerere tuta<br/>
Providus. Hic fusis; colectis viribus ille.<br/>
Hic vagus excurrens; hic claustra reductus<br/>
Dissimiles, sed morte pares......]<br/></p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.117" id="linknote-27.117">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
117 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.117">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The Frigidus, a small,
though memorable, stream in the country of Goretz, now called the Vipao,
falls into the Sontius, or Lisonzo, above Aquileia, some miles from the
Adriatic. See D’Anville’s ancient and modern maps, and the Italia Antiqua
of Cluverius, (tom. i. c. 188.)]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.118" id="linknote-27.118">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
118 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.118">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Claudian’s wit is
intolerable: the snow was dyed red; the cold ver smoked; and the channel
must have been choked with carcasses the current had not been swelled with
blood. Confluxit populus: totam pater undique secum Moverat Aurorem;
mixtis hic Colchus Iberis, Hic mitra velatus Arabs, hic crine decoro
Armenius, hic picta Saces, fucataque Medus, Hic gemmata tiger tentoria
fixerat Indus.—De Laud. Stil. l. 145.—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.119" id="linknote-27.119">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
119 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.119">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ 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.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.120" id="linknote-27.120">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
120 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.120">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Te propter, gelidis
Aquilo de monte procellis</p>
<p>Obruit adversas acies; revolutaque tela<br/>
Vertit in auctores, et turbine reppulit hastas<br/>
<br/>
O nimium dilecte Deo, cui fundit ab antris<br/>
Aeolus armatas hyemes; cui militat Aether,<br/>
Et conjurati veniunt ad classica venti.<br/></p>
<p class="foot">
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.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.1201" id="linknote-27.1201">
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<p class="foot">
1201 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.1201">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Arbogastes and his
emperor had openly espoused the Pagan party, according to Ambrose and
Augustin. See Le Beau, v. 40. Beugnot (Histoire de la Destruction du
Paganisme) is more full, and perhaps somewhat fanciful, on this remarkable
reaction in favor of Paganism, but compare p 116.—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.121" id="linknote-27.121">
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<p class="foot">
121 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.121">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The events of this
civil war are gathered from Ambrose, (tom. ii. Epist. lxii. p. 1022,)
Paulinus, (in Vit. Ambros. c. 26-34,) Augustin, (de Civitat. Dei, v. 26,)
Orosius, (l. vii. c. 35,) Sozomen, (l. vii. c. 24,) Theodoret, (l. v. c.
24,) Zosimus, (l. iv. p. 281, 282,) Claudian, (in iii. Cons. Hon. 63-105,
in iv. Cons. Hon. 70-117,) and the Chronicles published by Scaliger.]</p>
<p>After the defeat of Eugenius, the merit, as well as the authority, of
Theodosius was cheerfully acknowledged by all the inhabitants of the Roman
world. The experience of his past conduct encouraged the most pleasing
expectations of his future reign; and the age of the emperor, which did
not exceed fifty years, seemed to extend the prospect of the public
felicity. His death, only four months after his victory, was considered by
the people as an unforeseen and fatal event, which destroyed, in a moment,
the hopes of the rising generation. But the indulgence of ease and luxury
had secretly nourished the principles of disease. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.122"
name="linknoteref-27.122" id="linknoteref-27.122">122</SPAN> 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; <SPAN href="#linknote-27.123" name="linknoteref-27.123" id="linknoteref-27.123">123</SPAN> but as soon as Theodosius had triumphed over
his unworthy rivals, he called his younger son, Honorius, to enjoy the
fruits of the victory, and to receive the sceptre of the West from the
hands of his dying father. The arrival of Honorius at Milan was welcomed
by a splendid exhibition of the games of the Circus; and the emperor,
though he was oppressed by the weight of his disorder, contributed by his
presence to the public joy. But the remains of his strength were exhausted
by the painful effort which he made to assist at the spectacles of the
morning. Honorius supplied, during the rest of the day, the place of his
father; and the great Theodosius expired in the ensuing night.
Notwithstanding the recent animosities of a civil war, his death was
universally lamented. The Barbarians, whom he had vanquished and the
churchmen, by whom he had been subdued, celebrated, with loud and sincere
applause, the qualities of the deceased emperor, which appeared the most
valuable in their eyes. The Romans were terrified by the impending dangers
of a feeble and divided administration, and every disgraceful moment of
the unfortunate reigns of Arcadius and Honorius revived the memory of
their irreparable loss.</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.122" id="linknote-27.122">
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<p class="foot">
122 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.122">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ This disease, ascribed
by Socrates (l. v. c. 26) to the fatigues of war, is represented by
Philostorgius (l. xi. c. 2) as the effect of sloth and intemperance; for
which Photius calls him an impudent liar, (Godefroy, Dissert. p. 438.)]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.123" id="linknote-27.123">
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<p class="foot">
123 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.123">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Zosimus supposes, that
the boy Honorius accompanied his father, (l. iv. p. 280.) Yet the quanto
flagrabrant pectora voto is all that flattery would allow to a
contemporary poet; who clearly describes the emperor’s refusal, and the
journey of Honorius, after the victory (Claudian in iii. Cons. 78-125.)]</p>
<p>In the faithful picture of the virtues of Theodosius, his imperfections
have not been dissembled; the act of cruelty, and the habits of indolence,
which tarnished the glory of one of the greatest of the Roman princes. An
historian, perpetually adverse to the fame of Theodosius, has exaggerated
his vices, and their pernicious effects; he boldly asserts, that every
rank of subjects imitated the effeminate manners of their sovereign; and
that every species of corruption polluted the course of public and private
life; and that the feeble restraints of order and decency were
insufficient to resist the progress of that degenerate spirit, which
sacrifices, without a blush, the consideration of duty and interest to the
base indulgence of sloth and appetite. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.124"
name="linknoteref-27.124" id="linknoteref-27.124">124</SPAN> The complaints of
contemporary writers, who deplore the increase of luxury, and depravation
of manners, are commonly expressive of their peculiar temper and
situation. There are few observers, who possess a clear and comprehensive
view of the revolutions of society; and who are capable of discovering the
nice and secret springs of action, which impel, in the same uniform
direction, the blind and capricious passions of a multitude of
individuals. If it can be affirmed, with any degree of truth, that the
luxury of the Romans was more shameless and dissolute in the reign of
Theodosius than in the age of Constantine, perhaps, or of Augustus, the
alteration cannot be ascribed to any beneficial improvements, which had
gradually increased the stock of national riches. A long period of
calamity or decay must have checked the industry, and diminished the
wealth, of the people; and their profuse luxury must have been the result
of that indolent despair, which enjoys the present hour, and declines the
thoughts of futurity. The uncertain condition of their property
discouraged the subjects of Theodosius from engaging in those useful and
laborious undertakings which require an immediate expense, and promise a
slow and distant advantage. The frequent examples of ruin and desolation
tempted them not to spare the remains of a patrimony, which might, every
hour, become the prey of the rapacious Goth. And the mad prodigality which
prevails in the confusion of a shipwreck, or a siege, may serve to explain
the progress of luxury amidst the misfortunes and terrors of a sinking
nation.</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.124" id="linknote-27.124">
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<p class="foot">
124 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.124">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Zosimus, l. iv. p.
244.]</p>
<p>The effeminate luxury, which infected the manners of courts and cities,
had instilled a secret and destructive poison into the camps of the
legions; and their degeneracy has been marked by the pen of a military
writer, who had accurately studied the genuine and ancient principles of
Roman discipline. It is the just and important observation of Vegetius,
that the infantry was invariably covered with defensive armor, from the
foundation of the city, to the reign of the emperor Gratian. The
relaxation of discipline, and the disuse of exercise, rendered the
soldiers less able, and less willing, to support the fatigues of the
service; they complained of the weight of the armor, which they seldom
wore; and they successively obtained the permission of laying aside both
their cuirasses and their helmets. The heavy weapons of their ancestors,
the short sword, and the formidable pilum, which had subdued the world,
insensibly dropped from their feeble hands. As the use of the shield is
incompatible with that of the bow, they reluctantly marched into the
field; condemned to suffer either the pain of wounds, or the ignominy of
flight, and always disposed to prefer the more shameful alternative. The
cavalry of the Goths, the Huns, and the Alani, had felt the benefits, and
adopted the use, of defensive armor; and, as they excelled in the
management of missile weapons, they easily overwhelmed the naked and
trembling legions, whose heads and breasts were exposed, without defence,
to the arrows of the Barbarians. The loss of armies, the destruction of
cities, and the dishonor of the Roman name, ineffectually solicited the
successors of Gratian to restore the helmets and the cuirasses of the
infantry. The enervated soldiers abandoned their own and the public
defence; and their pusillanimous indolence may be considered as the
immediate cause of the downfall of the empire. <SPAN href="#linknote-27.125"
name="linknoteref-27.125" id="linknoteref-27.125">125</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-27.125" id="linknote-27.125">
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<p class="foot">
125 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-27.125">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Vegetius, de Re
Militari, l. i. c. 10. The series of calamities which he marks, compel us
to believe, that the Hero, to whom he dedicates his book, is the last and
most inglorious of the Valentinians.]</p>
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