<h2><SPAN name="chap29.2"></SPAN> Chapter XXIX: Division Of Roman Empire Between Sons Of Theodosius.—Part II. </h2>
<p>The impartiality which Stilicho affected, as the common guardian of the
royal brothers, engaged him to regulate the equal division of the arms,
the jewels, and the magnificent wardrobe and furniture of the deceased
emperor. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.28" name="linknoteref-29.28" id="linknoteref-29.28">28</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.29" name="linknoteref-29.29" id="linknoteref-29.29">29</SPAN>
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. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.30"
name="linknoteref-29.30" id="linknoteref-29.30">30</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.31" name="linknoteref-29.31" id="linknoteref-29.31">31</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.32" name="linknoteref-29.32" id="linknoteref-29.32">32</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.28" id="linknote-29.28">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
28 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.28">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ I. Cons. Stilich. ii.
88-94. Not only the robes and diadems of the deceased emperor, but even
the helmets, sword-hilts, belts, rasses, &c., were enriched with
pearls, emeralds, and diamonds.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.29" id="linknote-29.29">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
29 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.29">return</SPAN>)<br/> [—Tantoque remoto
Principe, mutatas orbis non sensit habenas. This high commendation (i.
Cons. Stil. i. 149) may be justified by the fears of the dying emperor,
(de Bell. Gildon. 292-301;) and the peace and good order which were
enjoyed after his death, (i. Cons. Stil i. 150-168.)]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.30" id="linknote-29.30">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
30 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.30">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Stilicho’s march, and
the death of Rufinus, are described by Claudian, (in Rufin. l. ii.
101-453, Zosimus, l. v. p. 296, 297,) Sozomen (l. viii. c. 1,) Socrates,
l. vi. c. 1,) Philostorgius, (l. xi c. 3, with Godefory, p. 441,) and the
Chronicle of Marcellinus.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.31" id="linknote-29.31">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
31 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.31">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The dissection of
Rufinus, which Claudian performs with the savage coolness of an anatomist,
(in Rufin. ii. 405-415,) is likewise specified by Zosimus and Jerom, (tom.
i. p. 26.)]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.32" id="linknote-29.32">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
32 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.32">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The Pagan Zosimus
mentions their sanctuary and pilgrimage. The sister of Rufinus, Sylvania,
who passed her life at Jerusalem, is famous in monastic history. 1. The
studious virgin had diligently, and even repeatedly, perused the
commentators on the Bible, Origen, Gregory, Basil, &c., to the amount
of five millions of lines. 2. At the age of threescore, she could boast,
that she had never washed her hands, face, or any part of her whole body,
except the tips of her fingers to receive the communion. See the Vitae
Patrum, p. 779, 977.]</p>
<p>The servile poet of Stilicho applauds, with ferocious joy, this horrid
deed, which, in the execution, perhaps, of justice, violated every law of
nature and society, profaned the majesty of the prince, and renewed the
dangerous examples of military license. The contemplation of the universal
order and harmony had satisfied Claudian of the existence of the Deity;
but the prosperous impunity of vice appeared to contradict his moral
attributes; and the fate of Rufinus was the only event which could dispel
the religious doubts of the poet. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.33"
name="linknoteref-29.33" id="linknoteref-29.33">33</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.34" name="linknoteref-29.34" id="linknoteref-29.34">34</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.35" name="linknoteref-29.35" id="linknoteref-29.35">35</SPAN>
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; <SPAN href="#linknote-29.36" name="linknoteref-29.36" id="linknoteref-29.36">36</SPAN> and the Greeks had not yet forgot the
sentiments of hatred and contempt, which their polished ancestors had so
long entertained for the rude inhabitants of the West. The distinction of
two governments, which soon produced the separation of two nations, will
justify my design of suspending the series of the Byzantine history, to
prosecute, without interruption, the disgraceful, but memorable, reign of
Honorius.</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.33" id="linknote-29.33">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
33 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.33">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ See the beautiful
exordium of his invective against Rufinus, which is curiously discussed by
the sceptic Bayle, Dictionnaire Critique, Rufin. Not. E.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.34" id="linknote-29.34">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
34 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.34">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ See the Theodosian
Code, l. ix. tit. xlii. leg. 14, 15. The new ministers attempted, with
inconsistent avarice, to seize the spoils of their predecessor, and to
provide for their own future security.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.35" id="linknote-29.35">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
35 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.35">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ See Claudian, (i. Cons.
Stilich, l. i. 275, 292, 296, l. ii. 83,) and Zosimus, (l. v. p. 302.)]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.36" id="linknote-29.36">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
36 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.36">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Claudian turns the
consulship of the eunuch Eutropius into a national reflection, (l. ii.
134):—</p>
<p>—-Plaudentem cerne senatum,<br/>
Et Byzantinos proceres Graiosque Quirites:<br/>
O patribus plebes, O digni consule patres.<br/></p>
<p class="foot">
It is curious to observe the first symptoms of jealousy and schism between
old and new Rome, between the Greeks and Latins.]</p>
<p>The prudent Stilicho, instead of persisting to force the inclinations of a
prince, and people, who rejected his government, wisely abandoned Arcadius
to his unworthy favorites; and his reluctance to involve the two empires
in a civil war displayed the moderation of a minister, who had so often
signalized his military spirit and abilities. But if Stilicho had any
longer endured the revolt of Africa, he would have betrayed the security
of the capital, and the majesty of the Western emperor, to the capricious
insolence of a Moorish rebel. Gildo, <SPAN href="#linknote-29.37"
name="linknoteref-29.37" id="linknoteref-29.37">37</SPAN> 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; <SPAN href="#linknote-29.38" name="linknoteref-29.38" id="linknoteref-29.38">38</SPAN> and if his days were terrible to the rich,
his nights were not less dreadful to husbands and parents. The fairest of
their wives and daughters were prostituted to the embraces of the tyrant;
and afterwards abandoned to a ferocious troop of Barbarians and assassins,
the black, or swarthy, natives of the desert; whom Gildo considered as the
only guardians of his throne. In the civil war between Theodosius and Eugenius, the
count, or rather the sovereign, of Africa, maintained a haughty and
suspicious neutrality; refused to assist either of the contending parties
with troops or vessels, expected the declaration of fortune, and reserved
for the conqueror the vain professions of his allegiance. Such professions
would not have satisfied the master of the Roman world; but the death of
Theodosius, and the weakness and discord of his sons, confirmed the power
of the Moor; who condescended, as a proof of his moderation, to abstain
from the use of the diadem, and to supply Rome with the customary tribute,
or rather subsidy, of corn. In every division of the empire, the five
provinces of Africa were invariably assigned to the West; and Gildo had to
govern that extensive country in the name of Honorius, but his knowledge
of the character and designs of Stilicho soon engaged him to address his
homage to a more distant and feeble sovereign. The ministers of Arcadius
embraced the cause of a perfidious rebel; and the delusive hope of adding
the numerous cities of Africa to the empire of the East, tempted them to
assert a claim, which they were incapable of supporting, either by reason
or by arms. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.39" name="linknoteref-29.39" id="linknoteref-29.39">39</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.37" id="linknote-29.37">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
37 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.37">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Claudian may have
exaggerated the vices of Gildo; but his Moorish extraction, his notorious
actions, and the complaints of St. Augustin, may justify the poet’s
invectives. Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A.D. 398, No. 35-56) has treated the
African rebellion with skill and learning.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.38" id="linknote-29.38">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
38 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.38">return</SPAN>)<br/> [</p>
<p>Instat terribilis vivis, morientibus haeres,<br/>
Virginibus raptor, thalamis obscoenus adulter.<br/>
Nulla quies: oritur praeda cessante libido,<br/>
Divitibusque dies, et nox metuenda maritis.<br/>
Mauris clarissima quaeque<br/>
Fastidita datur.<br/>
——De Bello Gildonico, 165, 189.<br/></p>
<p class="foot">
Baronius condemns, still more severely, the licentiousness of Gildo; as
his wife, his daughter, and his sister, were examples of perfect chastity.
The adulteries of the African soldiers are checked by one of the Imperial
laws.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.39" id="linknote-29.39">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
39 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.39">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Inque tuam sortem
numerosas transtulit urbes. Claudian (de Bell. Gildonico, 230-324) has
touched, with political delicacy, the intrigues of the Byzantine court,
which are likewise mentioned by Zosimus, (l. v. p. 302.)]</p>
<p>When Stilicho had given a firm and decisive answer to the pretensions of
the Byzantine court, he solemnly accused the tyrant of Africa before the
tribunal, which had formerly judged the kings and nations of the earth;
and the image of the republic was revived, after a long interval, under
the reign of Honorius. The emperor transmitted an accurate and ample
detail of the complaints of the provincials, and the crimes of Gildo, to
the Roman senate; and the members of that venerable assembly were required
to pronounce the condemnation of the rebel. Their unanimous suffrage
declared him the enemy of the republic; and the decree of the senate added
a sacred and legitimate sanction to the Roman arms. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.40" name="linknoteref-29.40" id="linknoteref-29.40">40</SPAN>
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, tranquility and
perhaps the safety, of the capital would be threatened by the hungry rage
of a turbulent multitude. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.41" name="linknoteref-29.41" id="linknoteref-29.41">41</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.42"
name="linknoteref-29.42" id="linknoteref-29.42">42</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.40" id="linknote-29.40">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
40 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.40">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ 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.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.41" id="linknote-29.41">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
41 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.41">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Claudian finely
displays these complaints of Symmachus, in a speech of the goddess of
Rome, before the throne of Jupiter, (de Bell Gildon. 28-128.)]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.42" id="linknote-29.42">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
42 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.42">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ See Claudian (in
Eutrop. l. i 401, &c. i. Cons. Stil. l. i. 306, &c. i. Cons.
Stilich. 91, &c.)]</p>
<p>The cause of Rome, and the conduct of the African war, were intrusted by
Stilicho to a general, active and ardent to avenge his private injuries
on the head of the tyrant. The spirit of discord which prevailed in the
house of Nabal, had excited a deadly quarrel between two of his sons,
Gildo and Mascezel. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.43" name="linknoteref-29.43" id="linknoteref-29.43">43</SPAN> The usurper pursued, with implacable rage,
the life of his younger brother, whose courage and abilities he feared;
and Mascezel, oppressed by superior power, took refuge in the court of
Milan, where he soon received the cruel intelligence that his two
innocent and helpless children had been murdered by their inhuman uncle.
The affliction of the father was suspended only by the desire of revenge.
The vigilant Stilicho already prepared to collect the naval and military
force of the Western empire; and he had resolved, if the tyrant should be
able to wage an equal and doubtful war, to march against him in person.
But as Italy required his presence, and as it might be dangerous to
weaken the defence of the frontier, he judged it more advisable, that
Mascezel should attempt this arduous adventure at the head of a chosen
body of Gallic veterans, who had lately served under the standard of
Eugenius. These troops, who were exhorted to convince the world that they
could subvert, as well as defend the throne of a usurper, consisted of
the Jovian, the Herculian, and the Augustan legions; of the Nervian
auxiliaries; of the soldiers who displayed in their banners the symbol of
a lion, and of the troops which were distinguished by the auspicious
names of Fortunate, and Invincible. Yet such was the smallness of their
establishments, or the difficulty of recruiting, that these seven bands,
<SPAN href="#linknote-29.44" name="linknoteref-29.44" id="linknoteref-29.44">44</SPAN> of high dignity and reputation in the
service of Rome, amounted to no more than five thousand effective men. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.45" name="linknoteref-29.45" id="linknoteref-29.45">45</SPAN> 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.” <SPAN href="#linknote-29.46" name="linknoteref-29.46" id="linknoteref-29.46">46</SPAN> Such was the contempt of a profane
magistrate for the monks as the chosen servants of God. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.47" name="linknoteref-29.47" id="linknoteref-29.47">47</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.48" name="linknoteref-29.48" id="linknoteref-29.48">48</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.43" id="linknote-29.43">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
43 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.43">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ He was of a mature age;
since he had formerly (A.D. 373) served against his brother Firmus
(Ammian. xxix. 5.) Claudian, who understood the court of Milan, dwells on
the injuries, rather than the merits, of Mascezel, (de Bell. Gild.
389-414.) The Moorish war was not worthy of Honorius, or Stilicho, &c.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.44" id="linknote-29.44">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
44 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.44">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Claudian, Bell. Gild.
415-423. The change of discipline allowed him to use indifferently the
names of Legio Cohors, Manipulus. See Notitia Imperii, S. 38, 40.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.45" id="linknote-29.45">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
45 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.45">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Orosius (l. vii. c. 36,
p. 565) qualifies this account with an expression of doubt, (ut aiunt;)
and it scarcely coincides with Zosimus, (l. v. p. 303.) Yet Claudian,
after some declamation about Cadmus, soldiers, frankly owns that Stilicho
sent a small army lest the rebels should fly, ne timeare times, (i. Cons.
Stilich. l. i. 314 &c.)]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.46" id="linknote-29.46">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
46 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.46">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Claud. Rutil. Numatian.
Itinerar. i. 439-448. He afterwards (515-526) mentions a religious madman
on the Isle of Gorgona. For such profane remarks, Rutilius and his
accomplices are styled, by his commentator, Barthius, rabiosi canes
diaboli. Tillemont (Mem. Eccles com. xii. p. 471) more calmly observes,
that the unbelieving poet praises where he means to censure.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.47" id="linknote-29.47">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
47 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.47">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Orosius, l. vii. c. 36,
p. 564. Augustin commends two of these savage saints of the Isle of Goats,
(epist. lxxxi. apud Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xiii. p. 317, and
Baronius, Annal Eccles. A.D. 398 No. 51.)]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.48" id="linknote-29.48">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
48 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.48">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Here the first book of
the Gildonic war is terminated. The rest of Claudian’s poem has been lost;
and we are ignorant how or where the army made good their landing in
Afica.]</p>
<p>Gildo was prepared to resist the invasion with all the forces of Africa.
By the liberality of his gifts and promises, he endeavored to secure the
doubtful allegiance of the Roman soldiers, whilst he attracted to his
standard the distant tribes of Gaetulia and Æthiopia. He proudly
reviewed an army of seventy thousand men, and boasted, with the rash
presumption which is the forerunner of disgrace, that his numerous
cavalry would trample under their horses’ feet the troops of
Mascezel, and involve, in a cloud of burning sand, the natives of the
cold regions of Gaul and Germany. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.49"
name="linknoteref-29.49" id="linknoteref-29.49">49</SPAN> But the Moor, who
commanded the legions of Honorius, was too well acquainted with the
manners of his countrymen, to entertain any serious apprehension of a
naked and disorderly host of Barbarians; whose left arm, instead of a
shield, was protected only by mantle; who were totally disarmed as soon
as they had darted their javelin from their right hand; and whose horses
had never been in combat. He fixed his camp of five thousand veterans in
the face of a superior enemy, and, after the delay of three days, gave
the signal of a general engagement. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.50"
name="linknoteref-29.50" id="linknoteref-29.50">50</SPAN> 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 honors of an easy, and almost bloodless, victory. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.51" name="linknoteref-29.51" id="linknoteref-29.51">51</SPAN> 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, <SPAN href="#linknote-29.52" name="linknoteref-29.52" id="linknoteref-29.52">52</SPAN> 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. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.53"
name="linknoteref-29.53" id="linknoteref-29.53">53</SPAN> The captives and
the spoils of Africa were laid at the feet of the emperor; but Stilicho,
whose moderation appeared more conspicuous and more sincere, in the midst
of prosperity, still affected to consult the laws of the republic; and
referred to the senate and people of Rome the judgment of the most
illustrious criminals. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.54" name="linknoteref-29.54" id="linknoteref-29.54">54</SPAN> Their trial was public and solemn; but the
judges, in the exercise of this obsolete and precarious jurisdiction,
were impatient to punish the African magistrates, who had intercepted the
subsistence of the Roman people. The rich and guilty province was
oppressed by the Imperial ministers, who had a visible interest to
multiply the number of the accomplices of Gildo; and if an edict of
Honorius seems to check the malicious industry of informers, a subsequent
edict, at the distance of ten years, continues and renews the prosecution
of the offences which had been committed in the time of the general
rebellion. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.55" name="linknoteref-29.55" id="linknoteref-29.55">55</SPAN> 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; <SPAN href="#linknote-29.56" name="linknoteref-29.56" id="linknoteref-29.56">56</SPAN> and his death, which, perhaps, was the
effect of passage of a bridge, the Moorish prince, who accompanied the
master-general of the West, was suddenly thrown from his horse into the
river; the officious haste of the attendants was restrained by a cruel
and perfidious smile which they observed on the countenance of Stilicho;
and while they delayed the necessary assistance, the unfortunate Mascezel
was irrecoverably drowned. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.57"
name="linknoteref-29.57" id="linknoteref-29.57">57</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.49" id="linknote-29.49">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
49 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.49">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Orosius must be
responsible for the account. The presumption of Gildo and his various
train of Barbarians is celebrated by Claudian, Cons. Stil. l. i. 345-355.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.50" id="linknote-29.50">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
50 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.50">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ St. Ambrose, who had
been dead about a year, revealed, in a vision, the time and place of the
victory. Mascezel afterwards related his dream to Paulinus, the original
biographer of the saint, from whom it might easily pass to Orosius.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.51" id="linknote-29.51">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
51 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.51">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Zosimus (l. v. p. 303)
supposes an obstinate combat; but the narrative of Orosius appears to
conceal a real fact, under the disguise of a miracle.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.52" id="linknote-29.52">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
52 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.52">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Tabraca lay between the
two Hippos, (Cellarius, tom. ii. p. 112; D’Anville, tom. iii. p. 84.)
Orosius has distinctly named the field of battle, but our ignorance cannot
define the precise situation.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.53" id="linknote-29.53">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
53 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.53">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The death of Gildo is
expressed by Claudian (i. Cons. Stil. 357) and his best interpreters,
Zosimus and Orosius.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.54" id="linknote-29.54">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
54 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.54">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Claudian (ii. Cons.
Stilich. 99-119) describes their trial (tremuit quos Africa nuper, cernunt
rostra reos,) and applauds the restoration of the ancient constitution. It
is here that he introduces the famous sentence, so familiar to the friends
of despotism:</p>
<p>—-Nunquam libertas gratior exstat,<br/>
Quam sub rege pio.<br/></p>
<p class="foot">
But the freedom which depends on royal piety, scarcely deserves
appellation]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.55" id="linknote-29.55">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
55 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.55">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ See the Theodosian
Code, l. ix. tit. xxxix. leg. 3, tit. xl. leg. 19.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.56" id="linknote-29.56">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
56 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.56">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Stilicho, who claimed
an equal share in all the victories of Theodosius and his son,
particularly asserts, that Africa was recovered by the wisdom of his
counsels, (see an inscription produced by Baronius.)]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.57" id="linknote-29.57">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
57 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.57">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ I have softened the
narrative of Zosimus, which, in its crude simplicity, is almost
incredible, (l. v. p. 303.) Orosius damns the victorious general (p. 538)
for violating the right of sanctuary.]</p>
<p>The joy of the African triumph was happily connected with the nuptials of
the emperor Honorius, and of his cousin Maria, the daughter of Stilicho:
and this equal and honorable alliance seemed to invest the powerful
minister with the authority of a parent over his submissive pupil. The
muse of Claudian was not silent on this propitious day; <SPAN href="#linknote-29.58" name="linknoteref-29.58" id="linknoteref-29.58">58</SPAN> 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, <SPAN href="#linknote-29.59" name="linknoteref-29.59" id="linknoteref-29.59">59</SPAN> must excite the smiles of the court; and
his beauteous spouse (if she deserved the praise of beauty) had not much
to fear or to hope from the passions of her lover. Honorius was only in
the fourteenth year of his age; Serena, the mother of his bride,
deferred, by art of persuasion, the consummation of the royal nuptials;
Maria died a virgin, after she had been ten years a wife; and the
chastity of the emperor was secured by the coldness, or perhaps, the
debility, of his constitution. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.60"
name="linknoteref-29.60" id="linknoteref-29.60">60</SPAN> 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, <SPAN href="#linknote-29.61"
name="linknoteref-29.61" id="linknoteref-29.61">61</SPAN> who resigned the
reins of empire to the firm and skilful hand of his guardian Stilicho.
The experience of history will countenance the suspicion that a prince
who was born in the purple, received a worse education than the meanest
peasant of his dominions; and that the ambitious minister suffered him to
attain the age of manhood, without attempting to excite his courage, or
to enlighten his understanding. <SPAN href="#linknote-29.62"
name="linknoteref-29.62" id="linknoteref-29.62">62</SPAN> The predecessors
of Honorius were accustomed to animate by their example, or at least by
their presence, the valor of the legions; and the dates of their laws
attest the perpetual activity of their motions through the provinces of
the Roman world. But the son of Theodosius passed the slumber of his
life, a captive in his palace, a stranger in his country, and the
patient, almost the indifferent, spectator of the ruin of the Western
empire, which was repeatedly attacked, and finally subverted, by the arms
of the Barbarians. In the eventful history of a reign of twenty-eight
years, it will seldom be necessary to mention the name of the emperor
Honorius.</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.58" id="linknote-29.58">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
58 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.58">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Claudian,as the poet
laureate, composed a serious and elaborate epithalamium of 340 lines;
besides some gay Fescennines, which were sung, in a more licentious tone,
on the wedding night.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.59" id="linknote-29.59">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
59 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.59">return</SPAN>)<br/> [</p>
<p>Calet obvius ire<br/>
Jam princeps, tardumque cupit discedere solem.<br/>
Nobilis haud aliter sonipes.<br/></p>
<p class="foot">
(De Nuptiis Honor. et Mariae, and more freely in the Fescennines 112-116)</p>
<p>Dices, O quoties,hoc mihi dulcius<br/>
Quam flavos decics vincere Sarmatas.<br/>
....<br/>
Tum victor madido prosilias toro,<br/>
Nocturni referens vulnera proelii.]<br/></p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.60" id="linknote-29.60">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
60 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.60">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ See Zosimus, l. v. p.
333.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.61" id="linknote-29.61">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
61 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.61">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Procopius de Bell.
Gothico, l. i. c. 2. I have borrowed the general practice of Honorius,
without adopting the singular, and indeed improbable tale, which is
related by the Greek historian.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="linknote-29.62" id="linknote-29.62">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
62 (<SPAN href="#linknoteref-29.62">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The lessons of
Theodosius, or rather Claudian, (iv. Cons. Honor 214-418,) might compose a
fine institution for the future prince of a great and free nation. It was
far above Honorius, and his degenerate subjects.]</p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />