XXVI.

CHAP. of the forest, his enemies, or his victims, would multiply in the free and undisturbed possession of their solitary domain. The various tribes that people the air, or the waters, are still less connected with the fate of the human species; and it is highly probable, that the fish of the Danube would have felt more terror and distress, from the approach of a voracious pike, than from the hostile inroad of a Gothic army.

Massacre

of the Go

in Asia,

A. D. 378.

Whatever may have been the just measure of thic youth the calamities of Europe, there was reason to fear that the same calamities would soon extend to the peaceful countries of Asia. The sons of the Goths had been judiciously distributed through the cities of the East; and the arts of education were employed to polish, and subdue, the native fierceness of their temper. In the space of about twelve years, their numbers had continually increased; and the children, who, in the first emigration, were sent over the Hellespont, had attained, with rapid growth, the strength and spirit of perfect manhood *. It was impossible to conceal from their knowledge the events of the Gothic war; and, as those daring youths had not studied the language of dissimulation, they betrayed their wish, their desire, perhaps their intention, to emulate the glorious example of their fathers. The danger of the times seemed to justify the jealous suspicions of the provincials; and

Eunapius (in Excerpt. Legat. p. 20.) foolishly supposes a preternatural growth of the young Goths; that he may in troduce Cadmus's armed men, who sprung from the dragon's teeth, &c. Such was the Greek eloquence of the times.

XXVI.

and these suspicions were admitted as unquestion- CHAP able evidence, that the Goths of Asia had formed a secret and dangerous conspiracy against the public safety. The death of Valens had left the East without a sovereign; and Julius, who filled the important station of master-general of the troops, with a high reputation of diligence and ability, thought it his duty to consult the senate of Constantinople; which he considered, during the vacancy of the throne, as the representative council of the nation. As soon as he had obtained the discretionary power of acting as he should judge most expedient for the good of the republic, he assembled the principal officers; and privately concerted effectual measures for the execution of his bloody design. An order was immediately promulgated, that, on a stated day, the Gothic youth should assemble in the capital cities of their respective provinces; and as a report was industriously circulated, that they were summoned to receive a liberal gift of lands and money, the pleasing hope allayed the fury of their resentment, and perhaps suspended the motions of the conspiracy. On the appointed day, the unarmed crowd of the Gothic youth was carefully collected in the square, or Forum: the streets and avenues were occupied by the Roman troops; and the roofs of the houses were covered with archers and slingers. At the same hour, in all the cities of the East, the signal was given of indiscriminate slaughter; and the provinces of Asia were delivered, by the cruel prudence of Fe 2

Julius,

XXVI.

CHAP. Julius, from a domestic enemy, who, in a few months, might have carried fire and sword from the Hellespont to the Euphrates *. The urgent consideration of the public safety may undoubtedly authorise the violation of every positive law. How far that, or any other consideration, may operate, to dissolve the natural obligations of humanity and justice, is a doctrine of which I still desire to remain ignorant.

The empe

The emperor Gratian was far advanced on his for Gratian march towards the plains of Hadrianople, when

invests

with the

empire of

the East,

A. D. 579.

Jan. 19.

Theodosius he was informed, at first by the confused voice of fame, and afterwards by the more accurate reports of Victor and Richomer, that his impatient colleague bad been slain in battle, and that two-thirds of the Roman army were exterminated by the sword of the victorious Goths. Whatever resentment the rash and jealous vanity of his uncle might deserve, the resentment of a generous mind is easily subdued by the softer emotions of grief and compassion: and even the sense of pity was soon lost in the serious and alarming consideration of the state of the republic. Gratian was too late to assist, he was too weak to revenge, his unfortunate colleague: and the valiant and modest youth felt himself unequal to the support of a sinking world. A formidable tempest of the Barbarians of Germany seemed ready to burst

over

* Ammianus evidently approves this execution, efficacia velox et salutaris, which concludes his work (xxxi. 16.). Zosimus, who is curious and copious (1. iv. P. 233-236.), mistakes the date, and labours to find the reason why Julius did not consult the emperor Theodosius, who had not yet ascended the throne of the East.

XXVI.

over the provinces of Gaul; and the mind of CHAP.
Gratian was oppressed and distracted by the ad-
ministration of the Western empire. In this
important crisis, the government of the East, and
the conduct of the Gothic war, required the
undivided attention of a hero and a statesman. A
subject invested with such ample command
would not long have preserved his fidelity to a
distant benefactor; and the imperial council em-
braced the wise and manly resolution, of con-
ferring an obligation, rather than of yielding to
an insult. It was the wish of Gratian to bestow
the purple as the reward of virtue; but, at the
age of nineteen, it is not easy for a prince, edu-
cated in the supreme rank, to understand the
true characters of his ministers and generals. He
attempted to weigh, with an impartial hand,
their various merits and defects; and, whilst he
checked the rash confidence of ambition, he dis-
trusted the cautious wisdom, which despaired of
the republic. As each moment of delay dimi-
nished something of the power and resources of
the future sovereign of the East, the situation of
the times would not allow a tedious debate. The
choice of Gratian was soon declared in favour of

an exile, whose father, only three years before,
had suffered, under the sanction of his authority,
an unjust and ignominious death.
The great
Theodosius, a name celebrated in history, and
dear to the Catholic church *, was summoned

* A life of Theodosius the Great was composed in the last century (Paris 1679, in 4to; 1680, in 12mo), to inflame the

miud

XXVI.

CHAP. to the imperial court, which had gradually retreated from the confines of Thrace to the more secure station of Sirmium. Five months after the death of Valens, the emperor Gratian produced before the assembled troops, his colleague, and their master; who, after a modest, perhaps a sincere, resistance, was compelled to accept, amidst the general acclamations, the diadem, the purple, and the equal title of Augustus *. The provinces of Thrace, Asia, and Egypt, over which Valens had reigned, were resigned to the administration of the new emperor; but, as he was specially intrusted with the conduct of the Gothic war, the Illyrian præfecture was dismembered; and the two great dioceses of Dacia and Macedonia were added to the dominions of the Eastern empire t.

Birth and character of Theodosius.

The same province, and, perhaps, the same city, which had given to the throne the virtues

of

mind of the young Dauphin with Catholic zeal. The author,
Flechier, afterwards bishop of Nismes, was a celebrated preach-
er; and his history is adorned, or tainted, with pulpit-elo-
quence; but he takes his learning from Baronius, and his prin-
ciples from St Ambrose and St Augustin.

The birth, character, and elevation of Theodosius, are
marked in Pacatus (in Panegyr. Vet. xii. 10, 11, 12.), The-
mistius (Orat. xiv. p. 182.), Zosimus (1. iv. p. 231.), Augus
tin (de Civitat. Dei, v. 25.), Orosius (1. vii. c. 34.), Sozo-
men (1. vii. c. 2.), Socrates (1. v. c. 2.), Theodoret (1. v.
c. 5.), Philostorgius (1. ix. c. 17. with Godefroy, p. 393.),
the Epitome of Victor, and the Chronicles of Prosper, Idatius,
and Marcellinus, in the Thesaurus Temporum of Scaliger.

Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 716, &c. Italica, founded by Scipio Africanus for his wounded ve terans of Italy. The ruins still appear, about a league above Seville, but on the opposite bank of the river. See the His pania Illustrata of Nonius, a short, though valuable treatise. C. xvii. p. 64-67.