DURING a long and disgraceful reign of of twenty-eight years, Honorius, emperor of the West, was separated from the friendship Last years and death of Hono­rius, A. D. 423, Aug. 27. of his brother, and afterwards of his nephew, who reigned over the East; and Constantinople beheld, with apparent indifference and secret joy, the calamities of Rome. The strange adventures of Placidia ¹ gradually renewed, and cemented, the alliance of the two empires. The daughter [Page 2] of the great Theodosius had been the captive and the queen of the Goths: she lost an affec­tionate husband; she was dragged in chains by his insulting assassin; she tasted the pleasure of revenge, and was exchanged, in the treaty of peace, for six hundred thousand measures of wheat. After her return from Spain to Italy, Placidia experienced a new persecution in the bosom of her family. She was averse to a mar­riage, which had been stipulated without her consent; and the brave Constantius, as a noble reward for the tyrants whom he had vanquished, received, from the hand of Honorius himself, the struggling and reluctant hand of the widow of Adolphus. But her resistance ended with the ceremony of the nuptials; nor did Placidia refuse to become the mother of Honoria and Valentinian the third, or to assume and exercise an absolute dominion over the mind of her grateful husband. The generous soldier, whose time had hitherto been divided between social pleasure and military service, was taught new lessons of avarice and ambition: he extorted the title of Augustus; and the servant of Honorius was associated to the empire of the West. The death of Constantius, in the seventh month of his reign, instead of diminishing, seemed to increase, the power of Placidia; and the indecent familiarity ² of her [Page 3] brother, which might be no more than the symp­toms of a childish affection, were universally attributed to incestuous love. On a sudden, by some base intrigues of a steward and a nurse, this excessive fondness was converted into an irrecon­cileable quarrel: the debates of the emperor and his sister were not long confined within the walls of the palace; and as the Gothic soldiers adhered to their queen, the city of Ravenna was agitated with bloody and dangerous tumults, which could only be appeased by the forced or voluntary re­treat of Placidia and her children. The royal exiles landed at Constantinople, soon after the marriage of Theodosius, during the festival of the Persian victories. They were treated with kindness and magnificence; but as the statues of the emperor Constantius had been rejected by the Eastern court, the title of Augusta could not de­cently be allowed to his widow. Within a few months after the arrival of Placidia, a swift mes­senger announced the death of Honorius, the consequence of a dropsy; but the important secret was not divulged, till the necessary orders had been dispatched for the march of a large body of troops to the sea-coast of Dalmatia. The shops and the gates of Constantinople remained shut during seven days; and the loss of a foreign prince, who could neither be esteemed nor re­gretted, [Page 4] was celebrated with loud and affected demonstrations of the public grief.

While the ministers of Constantinople delibe­rated, Elevation and fall of the usurper John, A. D. 423—425. the vacant throne of Honorius was usurped by the ambition of a stranger. The name of the rebel was John: he filled the confidential office of Primicerius, or principal secretary; and history has attributed to his character more virtues, than can easily be reconciled with the violation of the most sacred duty. Elated by the submission of Italy, and the hope of an alliance with the Huns, John presumed to insult, by an embassy, the majesty of the Eastern emperor; but when he understood that his agents had been banished, imprisoned, and at length chaced away with de­served ignominy, John prepared to assert, by arms, the injustice of his claims. In such a cause, the grandson of the great Theodosius should have marched in person: but the young emperor was easily diverted, by his physicians, from so rash and hazardous a design; and the conduct of the Italian expedition was prudently entrusted to Ardaburius, and his son Aspar, who had already signalised their valour against the Persians. It was resolved, that Ardaburius should embark with the infantry; whilst Aspar, at the head of the cavalry, conducted Placidia, and her son Valentinian, along the sea-coast of the Ha­driatic. The march of the cavalry was perform­ed with such active diligence, that they surprised, without resistance, the important city of Aquileia; when the hopes of Aspar were unexpectedly con­founded [Page 5] by the intelligence, that a storm had dispersed the Imperial fleet; and that his father, with only two gallies, was taken and carried a prisoner into the port of Ravenna. Yet this in­cident, unfortunate as it might seem, facilitated the conquest of Italy. Ardaburius employed, or abused, the courteous freedom, which he was permitted to enjoy, to revive among the troops a sense of loyalty and gratitude; and, as soon as the conspiracy was ripe for execution, he invited by private messages, and pressed the approach of, Aspar. A shepherd, whom the popular credulity transformed into an angel, guided the Eastern cavalry, by a secret, and, it was thought, an im­passable road, through the morasses of the Po: the gates of Ravenna, after a short struggle, were thrown open; and the defenceless tyrant was delivered to the mercy, or rather to the cruelty, of the conquerors. His right hand was first cut off; and, after he had been exposed, mounted on an ass, to the public derision, John was be­headed in the Circus of Aquileia. The emperor Theodosius, when he received the news of the victory, interrupted the horse-races; and singing, as he marched through the streets, a suitable psalm, conducted his people from the Hippo­drome to the church, where he spent the remain­der of the day in grateful devotion ³.

[Page 6] In a monarchy, which, according to various precedents, might be considered as elective, or hereditary, or patrimonial, it was impossible that Valenti­nian III. emperor of the West, A. D. 425-455. the intricate claims of female and collateral suc­cession should be clearly defined ⁴; and Theo­dosius, by the right of consanguinity or con­quest, might have reigned the sole legitimate emperor of the Romans. For a moment, per­haps, his eyes were dazzled by the prospect of unbounded sway; but his indolent temper gra­dually acquiesced in the dictates of sound policy. He contented himself with the possession of the East; and wisely relinquished the laborious task, of waging a distant and doubtful war against the Barbarians beyond the Alps; or of securing the obedience of the Italians and Africans, whose minds were alienated by the irreconcileable dif­ference of language and interest. Instead of listening to the voice of ambition, Theodosius resolved to imitate the moderation of his grand­father, and to seat his cousin Valentinian on the throne of the West. The royal infant was dis­tinguished at Constantinople by the title of Nobi­lissimus: he was promoted, before his departure from Thessalonica, to the rank and dignity of Caesar; and, after the conquest of Italy, the pa­trician Helion, by the authority of Theodosius, and in the presence of the senate, saluted Valen­tinian [Page 7] the third by the name of Augustus, and solemnly invested him with the diadem, and the Imperial purple ⁵. By the agreement of the three females who governed the Roman world, the son of Placidia was betrothed to Eudoxia, the daugh­ter of Theodosius and Athenais; and, as soon as the lover and his bride had attained the age of puberty, this honourable alliance was faithfully accomplished. At the same time, as a compen­sation, perhaps, for the expences of the war, the Western Illyricum was detached from the Italian dominions, and yielded to the throne, of Con­stantinople ⁶. The emperor of the East acquired the useful dominion of the rich and maritime province of Dalmatia, and the dangerous sove­reignty of Pannonia and Noricum, which had been filled and ravaged above twenty years, by a promiscuous crowd of Huns, Ostrogoths, Van­dals, and Bavarians. Theodosius and Valentinian continued to respect the obligations of their pub­lic and domestic alliance; but the unity of the Roman government was finally dissolved. By a positive declaration, the validity of all future laws was limited to the dominions of their pecu­liar author; unless he should think proper to communicate them, subscribed, with his own [Page 8] hand, for the approbation of his independent colleague ⁷.

Valentinian, when he received the title of Au­gustus, Admini­stration of his mother Placidia, A. D. 425—450. was no more than six years of age: and his long minority was entrusted to the guardian care of a mother, who might assert a female claim to the succession of the Western empire. Placidia envied, but she could not equal, the reputation and virtues of the wife and sister of Theodosius; the elegant genius of Eudocia, the wise and successful policy of Pulcheria. The mother of Valentinian was jealous of the power, which she was incapable of exercising ⁸: she reign­ed twenty-five years, in the name of her son; and the character of that unworthy emperor gra­dually countenanced the suspicion, that Placidia had enervated his youth by a dissolute education, and studiously diverted his attention from every manly and honourable pursuit. Amidst the de­cay Her two generals, Aetius and Boniface. of military spirit, her armies were command­ed [Page 9] by two generals, Aetius ⁹ and Boniface ¹⁰, who may be deservedly named as the last of the Romans. Their union might have supported a sinking empire; their discord was the fatal and immediate cause of the loss of Africa. The in­vasion and defeat of Attila has immortalized the fame of Aetius; and though time has thrown a shade over the exploits of his rival, the defence of Marscelles, and the deliverance of Africa, attest the military talents of count Boniface. In the field of battle, in partial encounters, in sin­gle combats, he was still the terror of the Bar­barians: the clergy, and particularly his friend Augustin, were edified by the Christian piety, which had once tempted him to retire from the world; the people applauded his spotless integrity; the army dreaded his equal and inexorable justice, which may be displayed in a very singular exam­ple. A peasant, who complained of the criminal intimacy between his wife and a Gothic soldier, was directed to attend his tribunal the following day: in the evening the count, who had dili­gently [Page 10] informed himself of the time and place of the assignation, mounted his horse, rode ten miles into the country, surprised the guilty couple, punished the soldier with instant death, and si­lenced the complaints of the husband, by pre­senting him, the next morning, with the head of the adulterer. The abilities of Aetius and Boni­face might have been usefully employed against the public enemies, in separate and important commands; but the experience of their past con­duct should have decided the real favour and con­fidence of the empress Placidia. In the melan­choly season of her exile and distress, Boniface alone had maintained her cause with unshaken fidelity; and the troops and treasures of Africa had essentially contributed to extinguish the rebellion. The same rebellion had been sup­ported by the zeal and activity of Aetius, who brought an army of sixty thousand Huns from the Danube to the confines of Italy, for the service of the usurper. The untimely death of John, compelled him to accept an advantageous treaty; but he still continued, the subject and the soldier of Valentinian, to entertain a secret, perhaps a treasonable, correspondence with his Barbarian allies, whose retreat had been purchased by liberal gifts, and more liberal promises. But Aetius possessed an advantage of singular moment in a female reign: he was present: he besieged, with artful and assiduous flattery, the palace of Ravenna; disguised his dark designs with the mask of loyalty and friendship; and at length [Page 11] deceived both his mistress and his absent rival, by a subtle conspiracy, which a weak woman, and a brave man, could not easily suspect. He Error and revolt of Boniface in Africa, A. D. 427. secretly persuaded ¹¹ Placidia to recal Boniface from the government of Africa; he secretly ad­vised Boniface to disobey the Imperial summons: to the one, he represented the order as a sentence of death; to the other, he stated the refusal as a signal of revolt; and when the credulous and un­suspectful count had armed the province in his defence, Aetius applauded his sagacity in fore­seeing the rebellion, which his own perfidy had excited. A temperate enquiry into the real motives of Boniface, would have restored a faith­ful servant to his duty and to the republic; but the arts of Aetius still continued to betray and to inflame, and the count was urged, by per­secution, to embrace the most desperate counsels. The success with which he eluded or repelled the first attacks, could not inspire a vain confidence, that, at the head of some loose, disorderly Afri­cans, he should be able to withstand the regular forces of the West, commanded by a rival, whose military character it was impossible for him to despise. After some hesitation, the last struggles of prudence and loyalty, Boniface dispatched a trusty friend to the court, or rather to the camp, of Gonderic, king of the Vandals, with the pro­posal [Page 12] of a strict alliance, and the offer of an ad­vantageous and perpetual settlement.

After the retreat of the Goths, the authority of He invites the Van­dals, A. D. 428. Honorius had obtained a precarious establishment in Spain; except only in the province of Gal­licia, where the Suevi and the Vandals had for­tified their camps, in mutual discord, and hostile independence. The Vandals prevailed; and their adversaries were besieged in the Nervasian hills, between Leon and Oviedo, till the approach of Count Asterius compelled, or rather provoked, the victorious Barbarians to remove the scene of the war to the plains of Boetica. The rapid progress of the Vandals soon required a more effectual opposition; and the master-general Castinus marched against them with a numerous army of Romans and Goths. Vanquished in battle by an inferior enemy, Castinus fled with dishonour to Tarragona; and this memorable defeat, which has been represented as the punishment, was most probably the effect, of his rash presumption ¹². Seville and Carthagena became the reward, or rather the prey, of the ferocious conquerors; and the vessels which they found in the harbour of Carthagena, might easily transport them to the isles of Majorca and Minorca, where the Spanish fugitives, as in a secure recess, had vainly con­cealed their families and their fortunes. The [Page 13] experience of navigation, and perhaps the prospect of Africa, encouraged the Vandals to accept the invitation which they received from Count Boni­face; and the death of Gonderic served only to forward and animate the bold enterprise. In the room of a prince, not conspicuous for any superior powers of the mind or body, they acquired his bastard brother, the terrible Genseric ¹³; a name, Genseric king of the Vandals. which, in the destruction of the Roman empire, has deserved an equal rank with the names of Alaric and Attila. The king of the Vandals is described to have been of a middle stature, with a lameness in one leg, which he had contracted by an accidental fall from his horse. His slow and cautious speech seldom declared the deep purposes of his soul: he disdained to imitate the luxury of the vanquished; but he indulged the sterner passions of anger and revenge. The am­bition of Genseric was without bounds, and with­out scruples; and the warrior could dexterously employ the dark engines of policy of solicit the allies who might be useful to his success, or to scatter among his enemies the seeds of hatred and contention. Almost in the moment of his depar­ture he was informed, that Hermanric, king of the Suevi, had presumed to ravage the Spanish [Page 14] territories, which he was resolved to abandon. Impatient of the insult, Genseric pursued the hasty retreat of the Suevi as far as Merida; precipitated the king and his army into the river Anas, and calmly returned to the sea-shore, to embark his victorious troops. The vessels which transported the Vandals over the modern Streights He lands in Africa, A. D. 429. May. of Gibraltar, a channel only twelve miles in breadth, were furnished by the Spaniards, who anxiously wished their departure; and by the African general, who had implored their for­midable assistance. ¹⁴

Our fancy, so long accustomed to exaggerate and re­views his army, A. D. 429. and multiply the martial swarms of Barbarians that seemed to issue from the North, will per­haps be surprised by the account of the army which Genseric mustered on the coast of Mau­ritania. The Vandals, who in twenty years had penetrated from the Elbe to Mount Atlas, were united under the command of their warlike king; and he reigned with equal authority over the Alani, who had passed, within the term of hu­man life, from the cold of Scythia to the excessive heat of an African climate. The hopes of the bold enterprise had excited many brave adven­turers of the Gothic nation; and many desperate provincials were tempted to repair their fortunes [Page 15] by the same means which had occasioned their ruin. Yet this various multitude amounted only to fifty thousand effective men; and though Gen­seric artfully magnified his apparent strength, by appointing eighty chiliarchs, or commanders of thousands, the fallacious increase of old men, of children, and of slaves, would scarcely have swelled his army to the number of fourscore thousand persons ¹⁵. But his own dexterity, and the discontents of Africa, soon fortified the Van­dal powers, by the accession of numerous and active allies. The parts of Mauritania, which The Moors. border on the great desert, and the Atlantic ocean, were filled with a fierce and untractable race of men, whose savage temper had been exasperated, rather than reclaimed, by their dread of the Roman arms. The wandering Moors ¹⁶, as they gradually ventured to approach the sea­shore, and the camp of the Vandals, must have viewed with terror and astonishment the dress, the armour, the martial pride and discipline of the unknown strangers, who had landed on their [Page 16] coast; and the fair complexions of the blue-eyed warriors of Germany, formed a very singular contrast with the swarthy or olive hue, which is derived from the neighbourhood of the torrid zone. After the first difficulties had in some measure been removed, which arose from the mutual ignorance of their respective language, the Moors, regardless of any future consequence, embraced the alliance of the enemies of Rome; and a crowd of naked savages rushed from the woods and vallies of Mount Atlas, to satiate their revenge on the polished tyrants, who had inju­riously expelled them from the native sovereignty of the land.

The persecution of the Donatists ¹⁷ was an The Do­natists. event not less favourable to the designs of Gen­seric. Seventeen years before he landed in Africa, a public conference was held at Carthage, by the order of the magistrate. The Catholics were satisfied, that, after the invincible reasons which they had alleged, the obstinacy of the schismatics must be inexcusable and voluntary; and the em­peror Honorius was persuaded to inflict the most rigorous penalties on a faction, which had so long abused his patience and clemency. Three hundred bishops ¹⁸, with many thousands of the inferior clergy, were torn from their churches, [Page 17] stripped of their ecclesiastical possessions, banished to the islands, and proscribed by the laws, if they presumed to conceal themselves in the provinces of Africa. Their numerous congregations, both in cities and in the country, were deprived of the rights of citizens, and of the exercise of religious worship. A regular scale of fines, from ten to two hundred pounds of silver, was curiously ascertained, according to the distinctions of rank and fortune, to punish the crime of assisting at a schismatic conventicle; and if the fine had been levied five times, without subduing the obstinacy of the offender, his future punishment was refer­red to the discretion of the Imperial court ¹⁹. By these severities, which obtained the warmest approbation of St. Augustin ²⁰, great numbers of Donatists were reconciled to the Catholic church: but the fanatics, who still persevered in their op­position, were provoked to madness and despair; the distracted country was filled with tumult and bloodshed; the armed troops of Circumcellions alternately pointed their rage against them­selves, or against their adversaries; and the calen­dar [Page 18] of martyrs received on both sides a consider­able augmentation ²¹. Under these circumstances, Genseric, a Christian, but an enemy of the ortho­dox communion, shewed himself to the Dona­tists as a powerful deliverer, from whom they might reasonably expect the repeal of the odious and oppressive edicts of the Roman emperors ²². The conquest of Africa was facilitated by the active zeal, or the secret favour, of a domestic faction; the wanton outrages against the churches, and the clergy, of which the Vandals are accused, may be fairly imputed to the fanaticism of their allies; and the intolerant spirit, which disgraced the triumph of Christianity, contributed to the loss of the most important province of the West ²³.

The court and the people were astonished by Tardy re­pentance of Boni­face, A. D. 430. the strange intelligence, that a virtuous hero, after so many favours, and so many services, had renounced his allegiance, and invited the Barba­rians [Page 19] to destroy the province entrusted to his command. The friends of Boniface, who still believed that his criminal behaviour might be excused by some honourable motive, solicited, during the absence of Aetius, a free conference with the Count of Africa; and Darius, an officer of high distinction, was named for the important embassy ²⁴. In their first interview at Carthage, the imaginary provocations were mutually ex­plained; the opposite letters of Aetius were pro­duced and compared; and the fraud was easily detected. Placidia and Boniface lamented their fatal error; and the Count had sufficient magna­nimity to confide in the forgiveness of his sove­reign, or to expose his head to her future resent­ment. His repentance was fervent and sincere; but he soon discovered, that it was no longer in his power to restore the edifice which he had shaken to its foundations. Carthage, and the Roman garrisons, returned with their general to the allegiance of Valentinian; but the rest of Africa was still distracted with war and faction; and the inexorable king of the Vandals, disdain­ing all terms of accommodation, sternly refused to relinquish the possession of his prey. The band of veterans, who marched under the stand­ard [Page 20] of Boniface, and his hasty levies of provincial troops, were defeated with considerable loss: the victorious Barbarians insulted the open country; and Carthage, Cirta, and Hippo Regius, were the only cities that appeared to rise above the general inundation.

The long and narrow tract of the African coast Desolation of Africa. was filled with frequent monuments of Roman art and magnificence; and the respective degrees of improvement might be accurately measured by the distance from Carthage and the Mediter­ranean. A simple reflection will impress every thinking mind with the clearest idea of fertility and cultivation: the country was extremely po­pulous; the inhabitants reserved a liberal sub­sistence for their own use; and the annual ex­portation, particularly of wheat, was so regular and plentiful, that Africa deserved the name of the common granary of Rome and of mankind. On a sudden, the seven fruitful provinces, from Tangier to Tripoli, were overwhelmed by the invasion of the Vandals; whose destructive rage has perhaps been exaggerated by popular ani­mosity, religious zeal, and extravagant declama­tion. War, in its fairest form, implies a per­petual violation of humanity and justice; and the hostilities of Barbarians are inflamed by the fierce and lawless spirit which incessantly disturbs their peaceful and domestic society. The Vandals, where they found resistance, seldom gave quarter; and the deaths of their valiant countrymen were expiated by the ruin of the cities under whose walls they had fallen. Careless of the distinctions [Page 21] of age, or sex, or rank, they employed every spe­cies of indignity and torture, to force from the captives a discovery of their hidden wealth. The stern policy of Genseric justified his frequent ex­amples of military execution: he was not always the master of his own passions, or of those of his followers; and the calamities of war were aggra­vated by the licentiousness of the Moors, and the fanaticism of the Donatists. Yet I shall not easily be persuaded, that it was the common prac­tice of the Vandals to extirpate the olives, and other fruit-trees, of a country where they intend­ed to settle: nor can I believe that it was a usual stratagem to slaughter great numbers of their prisoners before the walls of a besieged city, for the sole purpose of infecting the air, and pro­ducing a pestilence, of which they themselves must have been the first victims ²⁵.

The generous mind of Count Boniface was Siege of Hippo, A. D. 430, May. tortured by the exquisite distress of beholding the ruin, which he had occasioned, and whose rapid progress he was unable to check. After the loss of a battle, he retired into Hippo Regius; where he was immediately besieged by an enemy, who considered him as the real bulwark of Africa. [Page 22] The maritime colony of Hippo ²⁶, about two hun­dred miles westward of Carthage, had formerly acquired the distinguishing epithet of Regius, from the residence of Numidian kings; and some remains of trade and populousness still adhere to the modern city, which is known in Europe by the corrupted name of Bona. The military la­bours, and anxious reflexions, of Count Boniface, were alleviated by the edifying conversation of his friend St. Augustin ²⁷; till that bishop, the light and pillar of the Catholic church, was gently released, in the third month of the siege, Death of St. Augus­tine, A. D. 430, Aug. 28. and in the seventy-sixth year of his age, from the actual and the impending calamities of his coun­try. The youth of Augustin had been stained by the vices and errors, which he so ingenuously confesses; but from the moment of his conver­sion, to that of his death, the manners of the bishop of Hippo were pure and austere; and the most conspicuous of his virtues was an ardent zeal against heretics of every denomination; the Manichaeans, the Donatists, and the Pelagians, against whom he waged a perpetual controversy. [Page 23] When the city, some months after his death, was burnt by the Vandals, the library was fortunately saved, which contained his voluminous writings; two hundred and thirty-two separate books or treatises on theological subjects, besides a com­plete exposition of the psalter and the gospel, and a copious magazine of epistles and homilies ²⁸. According to the judgment of the most impartial critics, the superficial learning of Augustin was confined to the Latin language ²⁹; and his style, though sometimes animated by the eloquence of passion, is usually clouded by false and affected rhetoric. But he possessed a strong, capacious, argumentative mind; he boldly sounded the dark abyss of grace, predestination, free-will, and original sin; and the rigid system of Christianity which he framed or restored ³⁰, has been enter­tained, [Page 24] with public applause, and secret reluc­tance, by the Latin church ³¹.

By the skill of Boniface, and perhaps by the ignorance of the Vandals, the siege of Hippo Death and retreat of Boniface, A. D. 431. was protracted above fourteen months: the sea was continually open; and when the adjacent country had been exhausted by irregular rapine, the besiegers themselves were compelled by fa­mine to relinquish their enterprise. The im­portance and danger of Africa were deeply felt by the regent of the West. Placidia implored the assistance of her eastern ally; and the Italian fleet and army were reinforced by Aspar, who failed from Constantinople with a powerful arma­ment. As soon as the force of the two empires was united under the command of Boniface, he boldly marched against the Vandals; and the loss of a second battle irretrievably decided the fate of Africa. He embarked with the precipi­tation of despair; and the people of Hippo were permitted, with their families and effects, to occupy the vacant place of the soldiers, the great­est part of whom were either slain or made pri­soners by the Vandals. The Count, whose fatal [Page 25] credulity had wounded the vitals of the republic, might enter the palace of Ravenna with some anxiety, which was soon removed by the smiles of Placidia. Boniface accepted with gratitude the rank of patrician, and the dignity of master­general of the Roman armies; but he must have blushed at the sight of those medals, in which he was represented with the name and attributes of victory ³². The discovery of his fraud, the dis­pleasure of the empress, and the distinguished favour of his rival, exasperated the haughty and perfidious soul of Aetius. He hastily returned from Gaul to Italy, with a retinue, or rather with an army, of Barbarian followers; and such was the weakness of the government, that the two generals decided their private quarrel in a bloody battle. Boniface was successful; but he His death, A. D. 432. received in the conflict a mortal wound from the spear of his adversary, of which he expired within a few days, in such Christian and charitable sen­timents, that he exhorted his wife, a rich heiress of Spain, to accept Aetius for her second hus­band. But Aetius could not derive any imme­diate advantage from the generosity of his dying enemy: he was proclaimed a rebel by the justice of Placidia; and though he attempted to defend [Page 26] some strong fortresses erected on his patrimonial estate, the Imperial power soon compelled him to retire into Pannonia, to the tents of his faith­ful Huns. The republic was deprived, by their mutual discord, of the service of her two most illustrious champions ³³.

It might naturally be expected, after the re­treat Progress of the Van­dals in A­frica, A. D. 431—439. of Boniface, that the Vandals would atchieve, without resistance or delay, the conquest of Africa. Eight years however elapsed, from the evacua­tion of Hippo to the reduction of Carthage. In the midst of that interval, the ambitious Gen­seric, in the full tide of apparent prosperity, negociated a treaty of peace, by which he gave his son Hunneric for an hostage; and consented to leave the Western emperor in the undisturbed possession of the three Mauritanias ³⁴. This mo­deration, which cannot be imputed to the justice, must be ascribed to the policy, of the conqueror. His throne was encompassed with domestic ene­mies; who accused the baseness of his birth, and asserted the legitimate claims of his nephews, the sons of Gonderic. Those nephews, indeed, he [Page 27] sacrificed to his safety; and their mother, the widow of the deceased king, was precipitated, by his order, into the river Ampsaga. But the pub­lic discontent burst forth in dangerous and fre­quent conspiracies; and the warlike tyrant is supposed to have shed more Vandal blood by the hand of the executioner, than in the field of bat­tle ³⁵. The convulsions of Africa, which had favoured his attack, opposed the firm establish­ment of his power; and the various seditions of the Moors and Germans, the Donatists and Ca­tholics, continually disturbed, or threatened, the unsettled reign of the conqueror. As he ad­vanced towards Carthage, he was forced to with­draw his troops from the Western provinces; the sea-coast was exposed to the naval enter­prises of the Romans of Spain and Italy; and, in the heart of Numidia, the strong inland city of Corta still persisted in obstinate independence ³⁶. These difficulties were gradually subdued by the spirit, the perseverance, and the cruelty of Gen­seric; who alternately applied the arts of peace and war to the establishment of his African king­dom. He subscribed a solemn treaty, with the hope of deriving some advantage from the term of its continuance, and the moment of its vio­lation. The vigilance of his enemies was relaxed by the protestations of friendship, which con­cealed his hostile approach; and Carthage was at [Page 28] length surprised by the Vandals, five hundred and eighty-five years after the destruction of the city and republic by the younger Scipio ³⁷.

A new city had arisen from its ruins, with the They sur­prise Car­thage, A. D. 439, October 9. title of a colony; and though Carthage might yield to the royal prerogatives of Constantinople, and perhaps to the trade of Alexandria, or the splendor of Antioch, she still maintained the se­cond rank in the West; as the Rome (if we may use the style of contemporaries) of the African world. That wealthy and opulent metropolis ³⁸ displayed, in a dependent condition, the image of a flourishing republic. Carthage contained the manufactures, the arms, and the treasures of the six provinces. A regular subordination of civil honours, gradually ascended from the pro­curators of the streets and quarters of the city, to the tribunal of the supreme magistrate, who, with the title of proconsul, represented the state and dignity of a consul of ancient Rome. Schools and gymnasia were instituted for the education of the African youth; and the liberal arts and man­ners, grammar, rhetoric, and philosophy, were publicly taught in the Greek and Latin languages. [Page 29] The buildings of Carthage were uniform and magnificent: a shady grove was planted in the midst of the capital; the new port, a secure and capacious harbour, was subservient to the com­mercial industry of citizens and strangers; and the splendid games of the circus and theatre were exhibited almost in the presence of the Bar­barians. The reputation of the Carthaginians was not equal to that of their country, and the reproach of Punic faith still adhered to their sub­tle and faithless character ³⁹. The habits of trade, and the abuse of luxury, had corrupted their manners; but their impious contempt of monks, and the shameless practice of unnatural lusts, are the two abominations which excite the pious vehemence of Salvian, the preacher of the age ⁴⁰. The king of the Vandals severely reform­ed the vices of a voluptuous people; and the ancient, noble, ingenuous, freedom of Carthage (these expressions of Victor are not without ener­gy), was reduced by Genseric into a state of [Page 30] ignominious servitude. After he had permitted his licentious troops to satiate their rage and ava­rice, he instituted a more regular system of rapine and oppression. An edict was promulgated, which enjoined all persons, without fraud or de­lay, to deliver their gold, silver, jewels, and valuable furniture or apparel, to the royal officers; and the attempt to secrete any part of their patri­mony, was inexorably punished with death and torture, as an act of treason against the state. The lands of the proconsular province, which formed the immediate district of Carthage, were accurately measured, and divided among the Barbarians; and the conqueror reserved for his peculiar domain, the fertile territory of Byza­cium, and the adjacent parts of Numidia and Getulia ⁴¹.

It was natural enough that Genseric should hate African exiles and captives. those whom he had injured: the nobility and senators of Carthage were exposed to his jealousy and resentment; and all those who refused the ignominious terms, which their honour and reli­gion forbade them to accept, were compelled by the Arian tyrant to embrace the condition of perpetual banishment. Rome, Italy, and the provinces of the East, were filled with a crowd of exiles, of fugitives, and of ingenuous captives, who solicited the public compassion: and the benevolent epistles of Theodoret, still preserve the names and misfortunes of Caelestian and [Page 31] Maria ⁴². The Syrian bishop deplores the mis­fortunes of Caelestian, who, from the state of a noble and opulent senator of Carthage, was reduced, with his wife and family, and servants, to beg his bread in a foreign country; but he applauds the resignation of the Christian exile, and the philosophic temper, which, under the pressure of such calamities, could enjoy more real happiness, than was the ordinary lot of wealth and prosperity. The story of Maria, the daughter of the magnificent Eudaemon, is sin­gular and interesting. In the sack of Car­thage, she was purchased from the Vandals by some merchants of Syria, who afterwards sold her as a slave in their native country. A female attendant, transported in the same ship, and sold in the same family, still continued to respect a mistress whom fortune had reduced to the com­mon level of servitude; and the daughter of Eu­daemon received from her grateful affection the domestic services, which she had once required from her obedience. This remarkable behaviour divulged the real condition of Maria; who, in the absence of the bishop of Cyrrhus, was redeem­ed from slavery by the generosity of some soldiers of the garrison. The liberality of Theodoret provided for her decent maintenance; and she passed ten months among the deaconesses of the church; till she was unexpectedly informed, that her father, who had escaped from the ruin of [Page 32] Carthage, exercised an honourable office in one of the Western provinces. Her filial impatience was seconded by the pious bishop: Theodoret, in a letter still extant, recommends Maria to the bishop of Aegae, a maritime city of Cilicia, which was frequented, during the annual fair, by the vessels of the West; most earnestly requesting, that his colleague would use the maiden with a tenderness suitable to her birth; and that he would entrust her to the care of such faithful merchants, as would esteem it a sufficient gain, if they restored a daughter, lost beyond all human hope, to the arms of her afflicted parent.

Among the insipid legends of ecclesiastical Fable of the seven sleepers. history, I am tempted to distinguish the memo­rable fable of the SEVEN SLEEPERS ⁴³: whose imaginary date corresponds with the reign of the younger Theodosius, and the conquest of Africa by the Vandals ⁴⁴. When the emperor Decius persecuted the Christians, seven noble youths of [Page 33] Ephesus concealed themselves in a spacious ca­vern in the side of an adjacent mountain; where they were doomed to perish by the tyrant, who gave orders that the entrance should be firmly secured with a pile of huge stones. They imme­diately fell into a deep slumber, which was mi­raculously prolonged, without injuring the powers of life, during a period of one hundred and eighty-seven years. At the end of that time, the slaves of Adolius, to whom the inheritance of the mountain had descended, removed the stones, to supply materials for some rustic edifice: the light of the sun darted into the cavern; and the seven sleepers were permitted to awake. After a slumber, as they thought, of a few hours, they were pressed by the calls of hunger; and resolved that Jamblichus, one of their number, should secretly return to the city, to purchase bread for the use of his companions. The youth (if we may still employ that appellation) could no longer recognise the once familiar aspect of his native country; and his surprise was increased by the appearance of a large cross, triumphantly erected over the principal gate of Ephesus. His singular dress, and obsolete language, confounded the baker, to whom he offered an ancient medal of Decius as the current coin of the empire; and Jamblichus, on the suspicion of a secret trea­sure, was dragged before the judge. Their mu­tual enquiries produced the amazing discovery, that two centuries were almost elapsed since Jam­blichus, and his friends, had escaped from the rage of a Pagan tyrant. The bishop of Ephe­sus, [Page 34] the clergy, the magistrates, the people, and as it is said the emperor Theodosius himself, has­tened to visit the cavern of the Seven Sleepers; who bestowed their benediction, related their story, and at the same instant peaceably expired. The origin of this marvellous fable cannot be ascribed to the pious fraud and credulity of the modern Greeks, since the authentic tradition may be traced within half a century of the supposed miracle. James of Sarug, a Syrian bishop, who was born only two years after the death of the younger Theodosius, has devoted one of his two hundred and thirty homilies to the praise of the young men of Ephesus ⁴⁵. Their legend, before the end of the sixth century, was translated from the Syriac, into the Latin, language, by the care of Gregory of Tours. The hostile communions of the East preserve their memory with equal reverence; and their names are honourably in­scribed in the Roman, the Habyssinian, and the Russian calendar ⁴⁶. Nor has their reputation been confined to the Christian world. This po­pular [Page 35] tale, which Mahomet might learn when he drove his camels to the fairs of Syria, is intro­duced, as a divine revelation, into the Koran ⁴⁷. The story of the Seven Sleepers has been adopt­ed, and adorned by the nations, from Bengal to Africa, who profess the Mahometan religion ⁴⁸; and some vestiges of a similar tradition have been discovered in the remote extremities of Scan­dinavia ⁴⁹. This easy and universal belief, so expressive of the sense of mankind, may be as­cribed to the genuine merit of the fable itself. We imperceptibly advance from youth to age, without observing the gradual, but incessant, change of human affairs; and even in our larger experience of history, the imagination is accus­tomed, by a perpetual series of causes and effects, to unite the most distant revolutions. But if the interval between two memorable aeras could be instantly annihilated; if it were possible, after a momentary slumber of two hundred years, to display the new world to the eyes of a spectator, [Page 36] who still retained a lively and recent impression of the old, his surprise and his reflections would furnish the pleasing subject of a philosophical romance. The scene could not be more ad­vantageously placed, than in the two centuries which elapsed between the reigns of Decius and of Theodosius the Younger. During this pe­riod, the seat of government had been trans­ported from Rome to a new city on the banks of the Thracian Bosphorus; and the abuse of mili­tary spirit had been suppressed, by an artificial system of tame and ceremonious servitude. The throne of the persecuting Decius was filled by a succession of Christian and orthodox princes, who had extirpated the fabulous gods of antiquity: and the public devotion of the age was impatient to exalt the saints and martyrs of the Catholic church, on the altars of Diana and Hercules. The union of the Roman empire was dissolved: its genius was humbled in the dust; and armies of unknown Barbarians, issuing from the frozen regions of the North, had established their vic­torious reign over the fairest provinces of Europe and Africa.

THE western world was oppressed by the Goths and Vandals, who fled before the Huns; but the atchievements of the Huns them­selves The Huns, A. D. 376—433. were not adequate to their power and pro­sperity. Their victorious hords had spread from the Volga to the Danube; but the public force was exhausted by the discord of independent chief­tains; their valour was idly consumed in obscure and predatory excursions; and they often de­graded their national dignity by condescending, for the hopes of spoil, to enlist under the ban­ners of their fugitive enemies. In the reign of ATTILA The authentic materials for the history of Attila may be found in Jornandes (de Rebus Geticis, c. 34—50. p. 660—688. edit. Grot.) and Priscus (Excerpta de Legationibus, p. 33—76. Paris, 1648.). I have not seen the lives of Attila, composed by Juvencus Caelius Calanus Dalmatinus, in the twelfth century, or by Nicholas Olahus, archbishop of Gran, in the sixteenth. See Mascou's History of the Germans, ix. 23. and Maffei Osservazioni Litteraric, tom. i. p. 88, 89. Whatever the modern Hungarians have added, must be sabulous; and they do not seem to have excelled in the art of fiction. They suppose, that when Attila invaded Gaul and Italy, married innumerable wives, &c. he was one hundred and twenty years of age. Thwrocz Chron. p. i. c. 22. in Script. Hungar. tom. i. p. 76., the Huns again became the terror of [Page 38] the world; and I shall now describe the character and actions of that formidable Barbarian; who alternately insulted and invaded the East and the West, and urged the rapid downfal of the Ro­man empire.

In the tide of emigration, which impetuously Their esta­blishment in modern Hungary. rolled from the confines of China to those of Germany, the most powerful and populous tribes may commonly be found on the verge of the Roman provinces. The accumulated weight was sustained for a while by artificial barriers; and the easy condescension of the emperors invited, without satisfying, the insolent demands of the Barbarians, who had acquired an eager appetite for the luxuries of civilized life. The Hunga­rians, who ambitiously insert the name of Attila among their native kings, may affirm with truth, that the hords, which were subject to his uncle Roas, or Rugilas, had formed their encampments within the limits of modern Hungary Hungary has been successively occupied by three Scythian colo­nies. 1. The Huns of Attila; 2. the Abares, in the sixth century; and, 3. the Turks, or Magiars, A. D. 889.; the immediate and genuine ancestors of the modern Hungarians, whose connection with the two former is extremely faint and remote. The Prodromus and Notitia of Matthew Belius, appear to contain a rich fund of informa­tion concerning ancient and modern Hungary. I have seen the extracts in Bibliotheque Ancienne et Moderne, tom. xxii. p. 1—51. and Bibliotheque Raisonnée, tom. xvi. p. 127—175., in a fer­tile country, which liberally supplied the wants of a nation of hunters and shepherds. In this advantageous situation, Rugilas, and his valiant brothers, who continually added to their power and reputation, commanded the alternative of [Page 39] peace or war with the two empires. His alliance with the Romans of the West was cemented by his personal friendship for the great Aetius; who was always secure of finding, in the Barbarian camp, a hospitable reception, and a powerful support. At his solicitation, and in the name of John the usurper, sixty thousand Huns advanced to the confines of Italy; their march and their retreat were alike expensive to the state; and the grateful policy of Aetius abandoned the posses­sion of Pannonia to his faithful confederates. The Romans of the East were not less apprehen­sive of the arms of Rugilas, which threatened the provinces, or even the capital. Some eccle­siastical historians have destroyed the Barbarians with lightning and pestilence Socrates, l. vii. c. 43. Theodoret, l. v. c. 36. Tillemont, who always depends on the faith of his ecclesiastical authors, strenu­ously contends (Hist. des Emp. tom. vi. p. 136. 607.), that the wars and personages were not the same.; but Theodosius was reduced to the more humble expedient of stipulating an annual payment of three hundred and fifty pounds of gold, and of disguising this dishonourable tribute by the title of general, which the king of the Huns condescended to ac­cept. The public tranquillity was frequently interrupted by the fierce impatience of the Bar­barians, and the perfidious intrigues of the By­zantine court. Four dependent nations, among whom we may distinguish the Bavarians, dis­claimed the sovereignty of the Huns; and their revolt was encouraged and protected by a Roman alliance; till the just claims, and formidable [Page 40] power, of Rugilas, were effectually urged by the voice of Eslaw his ambassador. Peace was the unanimous wish of the senate: their decree was ratified by the emperor; and two ambassadors were named, Plinthas, a general of Scythian extraction, but of consular rank; and the quae­stor Epigenes, a wise and experienced statesman, who was recommended to that office by his am­bitious colleague.

The death of Rugilas suspended the progress Reign of Attila, A. D. 433—453. of the treaty. His two nephews, Attila and Bleda, who succeeded to the throne of their un­cle, consented to a personal interview with the ambassadors of Constantinople; but as they proudly refused to dismount, the business was transacted on horseback, in a spacious plain near the city of Margus, in the Upper Maesia. The kings of the Huns assumed the solid benefits, as well as the vain honours, of the negociation. They dictated the conditions of peace, and each condition was an insult on the majesty of the em­pire. Besides the freedom of a safe and plentiful market on the banks of the Danube, they re­quired that the annual contribution should be augmented from three hundred and fifty, to seven hundred, pounds of gold; that a fine, or ransom, of eight pieces of gold, should be paid for every Roman captive, who had escaped from his Bar­barian master; that the emperor should renounce all treaties and engagements with the enemies of the Huns; and that all the fugitives, who had taken refuge in the court, or provinces, of Theo­dofius, [Page 41] should be delivered to the justice of their offended sovereign. This justice was rigorously in­flicted on some unfortunate youths of a royal race. They were crucified on the territories of the em­pire, by the command of Attila: and, as soon as the king of the Huns had impressed the Ro­mans with the terror of his name, he indulged them in a short and arbitrary respite, whilst he subdued the rebellious or independent nations of Scythia and Germany ⁴.

Attila, the son of Mundzuk, deduced his no­ble, His figure and cha­racter; perhaps his regal, descent ⁵ from the ancient Huns, who had formerly contended with the monarchs of China. His features, according to the observation of a Gothic historian, bore the stamp of his national origin; and the portrait of Attila exhibits the genuine deformity of a mo­dern Calmuck ⁶; a large head, a swarthy com­plexion, small deep-seated eyes, a flat nose, a few hairs in the place of a beard, broad shoulders, and a short square body, of nervous strength, though of a disproportioned form. The haughty step and demeanor of the king of the Huns ex­pressed the consciousness of his superiority above the rest of mankind; and he had a custom of [Page 42] fiercely rolling his eyes, as if he wished to enjoy the terror which he inspired. Yet this savage hero was not inaccessible to pity: his suppliant enemies might confide in the assurance of peace or pardon; and Attila was considered by his sub­jects as a just and indulgent master. He delight­ed in war; but, after he had ascended the throne in a mature age, his head, rather than his hand, atchieved the conquest of the North; and the fame of an adventurous soldier was usefully exchanged for that of a prudent and successful general. The effects of personal valour are so incosiderable, except in poetry or romance, that victory, even among Barbarians, must depend on the degree of skill, with which the passions of the multitude are combined and guided for the service of a single man. The Scythian con­querors, Attila and Zingis, surpassed their rude countrymen in art, rather than in courage; and it may be observed, that the monarchies, both of the Huns, and of the Moguls, were erected by their founders on the basis of popular supersti­tion. The miraculous conception, which fraud and credulity ascribed to the virgin-mother of Zingis, raised him above the level of human nature; and the naked prophet, who, in the name of the Deity, invested him with the empire of the earth, pointed the valour of the Moguls with irresistible enthusiasm ⁷. The religious arts of [Page 43] Attila were not less skilfully adapted to the cha­racter of his age and country. It was natural enough, that the Scythians should adore, with peculiar devotion, the god of war; but as they were incapable of forming either an abstract idea, or a corporeal representation, they worshipped their tutelar deity under the symbol of an iron cimeter ⁸. One of the shepherds of the Huns he disco­vers the sword of Mars, perceived, that a heifer, who was grazing, had wounded herself in the foot, and curiously fol­lowed the track of the blood, till he discovered, among the long grass, the point of an ancient sword; which he dug out of the ground, and presented to Attila. That magnanimous, or rather that artful, prince accepted, with pious grati­tude, this celestial favour; and, as the rightful possessor of the sword of Mars, asserted his divine and indefeasible claim to the dominion of the earth ⁹. If the rites of Scythia were practised on this solemn occasion, a lofty altar, or rather pile of faggots, three hundred yards in length and in [Page 44] breadth, was raised in a spacious plain; and the sword of Mars was placed erect on the summit of this rustic altar, which was annually conse­crated by the blood of sheep, horses, and of the hundredth captive ¹⁰. Whether human sacrifices formed any part of the worship of Attila, or whether he propitiated the god of war with the victims which he continually offered in the field of battle, the favourite of Mars soon acquired a sacred character, which rendered his conquests more easy, and more permanent; and the Bar­barian princes confessed, in the language of de­votion or flattery, that they could not presume to gaze, with a steady eye, on the divine majesty of the king of the Huns ¹¹. His brother Bleda, who reigned over a considerable part of the na­tion, was compelled to resign his sceptre, and his life. Yet even this cruel act was attributed to a supernatural impulse; and the vigour with which Attila wielded the sword of Mars, convinced the world, that it had been reserved alone for his in­vincible arm ¹². But the extent of his empire affords the only remaining evidence of the num­ber, [Page 45] and importance, of his victories; and the Scythian monarch, however ignorant of the value of science and philosophy, might, perhaps, la­ment, that his illiterate subjects were destitute of the art which could perpetuate the memory of his exploits.

If a line of separation were drawn between the and ac­quires the empire of Scythia and Ger­many. civilized and the savage climates of the globe; between the inhabitants of cities, who cultivated the earth, and the hunters and shepherds, who dwelt in tents, Attila might aspire to the title of supreme and sole monarch of the Barbarians ¹³. He alone, among the conquerors of ancient and modern times, united the two mighty kingdoms of Germany and Scythia; and those vague ap­pellations, when they are applied to his reign, may be understood with an ample latitude. Thu­ringia, which stretched beyond its actual limits as far as the Danube, was in the number of his provinces: he interposed, with the weight of a powerful neighbour, in the domestic affairs of the Franks; and one of his lieutenants chastised, and almost exterminated, the Burgundians of the Rhine. He subdued the islands of the ocean, the kingdoms of Scandinavia, encompassed and di­vided by the waters of the Baltic; and the Huns might derive a tribute of furs from that northern region, which has been protected from all other [Page 46] conquerors by the severity of the climate, and the courage of the natives. Towards the East, it is difficult to circumscribe the dominion of Attila over the Scythian deserts; yet we may be assur­ed, that he reigned on the banks of the Volga; that the king of the Huns was dreaded, not only as a warrior, but as a magician ¹⁴; that he insulted and vanquished the Khan of the formid­able Geougen; and that he sent ambassadors to negociate an equal alliance with the empire of China. In the proud review of the nations who acknowledged the sovereignty of Attila, and who never entertained, during his lifetime, the thought of a revolt, the Gepidae and the Ostro­goths were distinguished by their numbers, their bravery, and the personal merit of their chiefs. The renowned Ardaric, king of the Gepidae, was the faithful and sagacious counsellor of the mo­narch; who esteemed his intrepid genius, whilst he loved the mild and discreet virtues of the no­ble Walamir, king of the Ostrogoths. The crowd of vulgar kings, the leaders of so many martial tribes, who served under the standard of Attila, were ranged in the submissive order of guards and domestics, round the person of their master. They watched his nod; they trembled at his frown; and, at the first signal of his will, [Page 47] they executed, without murmur or hesitation, his stern and absolute commands. In time of peace, the dependent princes, with their national troops, attended the royal camp in regular suc­cession; but when Attila collected his military force, he was able to bring into the field an army of five, or, according to another account, of seven hundred thousand Barbarians ¹⁵.

The ambassadors of the Huns might awaken The Huns invade Persia, A. D. 430—440. the attention of Theodosius, by reminding him, that they were his neighbours both in Europe and Asia; since they touched the Danube on one hand, and reached, with the other, as far as the Tanais. In the reign of his father Arcadius, a band of adventurous Huns had ravaged the pro­vinces of the East; from whence they brought away rich spoils and innumerable captives ¹⁶. [Page 48] They advanced, by a secret path, along the shores of the Caspian sea; traversed the snowy moun­tains of Armenia; passed the Tigris, the Euphra­tes, and the Halys; recruited their weary cavalry with the generous breed of Cappadocian horses; occupied the hilly country of Cilicia, and dis­turbed the festal songs, and dances, of the citizens of Antioch. Egypt trembled at their approach; and the monks and pilgrims of the Holy Land prepared to escape their fury by a speedy embark­ation. The memory of this invasion was still recent in the minds of the Orientals. The sub­jects of Attila might execute, with superior forces, the design which these adventurers had so boldly attempted; and it soon became the subject of anxious conjecture, whether the tempest would fall on the dominions of Rome, or of Persia. Some of the great vassals of the king of the Huns, who were themselves in the rank of powerful princes, had been sent to ratify an alliance and society of arms with the emperor, or rather with the general, of the West. They related, during their residence at Rome, the circumstances of an expedition, which they had lately made into the East. After passing a desert and a morass, sup­posed by the Romans to be the lake Moeotis, they penetrated through the mountains, and ar­rived, at the end of fifteen days march, on the confines of Media; where they advanced as far as the unknown cities of Basic and Cursic. They encountered the Persian army in the plains of Media; and the air, according to their own ex­pression, [Page 49] was darkened by a cloud of arrows. But the Huns were obliged to retire, before the num­bers of the enemy. Their laborious retreat was effected by a different road; they lost the great­est part of their booty; and at length returned to the royal camp, with some knowledge of the country, and an impatient desire of revenge. In the free conversation of the Imperial ambas­sadors, who discussed, at the court of Attila, the character and designs of their formidable enemy, the ministers of Constantinople expressed their hope, that his strength might be diverted and employed in a long and doubtful contest with the princes of the house of Sassan. The more saga­cious Italians admonished their Eastern brethren of the folly and danger of such a hope; and convinced them, that the Medes and Persians were incapable of resisting the arms of the Huns; and, that the easy and important acquisition would exalt the pride, as well as power, of the con­queror. Instead of contenting himself with a moderate contribution, and a military title, which equalled him only to the generals of Theodosius, Attila would proceed to impose a disgraceful and intolerable yoke on the necks of the prostrate and captive Romans, who would then be en­compassed, on all sides, by the empire of the Huns ¹⁷.

While the powers of Europe and Asia were They at­tack the Eastern empire, A. D. 441, &c. solicitous to avert the impending danger, the alliance of Attila maintained the Vandals in the [Page 50] possession of Africa. An enterprise had been concerted between the courts of Ravenna and Constantinople, for the recovery of that valuable province; and the ports of Sicily were already filled with the military and naval forces of Theo­dosius. But the subtle Genseric, who spread his negociations round the world, prevented their designs, by exciting the king of the Huns to invade the Eastern empire; and a trifling inci­dent soon became the motive, or pretence, of a destructive war ¹⁸. Under the faith of the treaty of Margus, a free market was held on the north­ern side of the Danube, which was protected by a Roman fortress, surnamed Constantia. A troop of Barbarians violated the commercial se­curity: killed, or dispersed, the unsuspecting traders; and levelled the fortress with the ground. The Huns justified this outrage as an act of re­prisal; alleged, that the bishop of Margus had entered their territories, to discover and steal a secret treasure of their kings; and sternly de­manded the guilty prelate, the sacrilegious spoil, and the fugitive subjects, who had escaped from the justice of Attila. The refusal of the Byzan­tine [Page 51] court was the signal of war; and the Mae­sians at first applauded the generous firmness of their sovereign. But they were soon intimidated by the destruction of Viminiacum and the adja­cent towns; and the people was persuaded to adopt the convenient maxim, that a private citi­zen, however innocent or respectable, may be justly sacrificed to the safety of his country. The bishop of Margus, who did not possess the spirit of a martyr, resolved to prevent the designs which he suspected. He boldly treated with the princes of the Huns; secured, by solemn oaths, his par­don and reward; posted a numerous detachment of Barbarians, in silent ambush, on the banks of the Danube; and, at the appointed hour, opened, with his own hand, the gates of his episcopal city. This advantage, which had been obtained by treachery, served as a prelude to more ho­nourable and decisive victories. The Illyrian frontier was covered by a line of castles and for­tresses; and though the greatest part of them consisted only of a single tower, with a small gar­rison, they were commonly sufficient to repel, or to intercept, the inroads of an enemy, who was ignorant of the art, and impatient of the delay, of a regular siege. But these slight obstacles were instantly swept away by the inundation of the Huns ¹⁹. They destroyed, with fire and sword, the populous cities of Sirmium and Singi­dunum, [Page 52] of Ratiaria and Marcianapolis, of Na­issus and Sardica; where every circumstance, in the discipline of the people, and the construction of the buildings, had been gradually adapted to the sole purpose of defence. The whole breadth and ra­vage Eu­rope as far as Con­stantinople. of Europe, as it extends above five hundred miles from the Euxine to the Hadriatic, was at once invaded, and occupied, and desolated, by the myriads of Barbarians whom Attila led into the field. The public danger and distress could not, however, provoke Theodosius to interrupt his amusements and devotion, or to appear in person at the head of the Roman legions. But the troops, which had been sent against Genseric, were hastily recalled from Sicily; the garrisons, on the side of Persia, were exhausted; and a military force was collected in Europe, formid­able by their arms and numbers, if the generals had understood the science of command, and their soldiers the duty of obedience. The ar­mies of the Eastern empire were vanquished in three successive engagements; and the progress of Attila may be traced by the fields of battle. The two former, on the banks of the Utus, and under the walls of Marcianapolis, were fought in the extensive plains between the Danube and Mount Haemus. As the Romans were pressed by a victorious enemy, they gradually, and un­skilfully, retired towards the Chersonesus of Thrace; and that narrow peninsula, the last ex­tremity of the land, was marked by their third, and irreparable, defeat. By the destruction of [Page 53] this army, Attila acquired the indisputable pos­session of the field. From the Hellespont to Thermopylae, and the suburbs of Constantinople, he ravaged, without resistance, and without mercy, the provinces of Thrace and Macedonia. Heraclea and Hadrianople might, perhaps, es­cape this dreadful irruption of the Huns; but the words, the most expressive of total extirpa­tion and erasure, are applied to the calamities which they inflicted on seventy cities of the Eas­tern empire ²⁰. Theodosius, his court, and the unwarlike people, were protected by the walls of Constantinople; but those walls had been shaken by a recent earthquake, and the fall of fifty-eight towers had opened a large and tremendous breach. The damage indeed was speedily repaired; but this accident was aggravated by a superstitious fear, that Heaven itself had delivered the Impe­rial city to the shepherds of Scythia, who were strangers to the laws, the language, and the reli­gion, of the Romans ²¹.

In all their invasions of the civilized empires The Scy­thian, or Tartar, wars. of the South, the Scythian shepherds have been uniformly actuated by a savage and destructive spirit. The laws of war, that restrain the exer­cise [Page 54] of national rapine and murder, are founded on two principles of substantial interest: the knowledge of the permanent benefits which may be obtained by a moderate use of conquest; and a just apprehension, lest the desolation which we inflict on the enemy's country, may be retaliated on our own. But these considerations of hope and fear are almost unknown in the pastoral state of nations. The Huns of Attila may, without injustice, be compared to the Moguls and Tar­tars, before their primitive manners were changed by religion and luxury; and the evidence of Oriental history may reflect some light on the short and imperfect annals of Rome. After the Moguls had subdued the northern provinces of China, it was seriously proposed, not in the hour of victory and passion, but in calm deliberate council, to exterminate all the inhabitants of that populous country, that the vacant land might be converted to the pasture of cattle. The firmness of a Chinese mandarin ²², who insinuated some principles of rational policy into the mind of Zingis, diverted him from the execution of this horrid design. But in the cities of Asia, which yielded to the Moguls, the inhuman abuse of the rights of war was exercised, with a regular [Page 55] form of discipline, which may, with equal reason, though not with equal authority, be imputed to the victorious Huns. The inhabitants, who had submitted to their discretion, were ordered to evacuate their houses, and to assemble in some plain adjacent to the city; where a division was made of the vanquished into three parts. The first class consisted of the soldiers of the garrison, and of the young men capable of bearing arms; and their fate was instantly decided: they were either inlisted among the Moguls, or they were massacred on the spot by the troops, who, with pointed spears and bended bows, had formed a circle round the captive multitude. The second class, composed of the young and beautiful wo­men, of the artificers of every rank and profes­sion, and of the more wealthy or honourable citizens, from whom a private ransom might be expected, was distributed in equal or proportion­able lots. The remainder, whose life or death was alike useless to the conquerors, were per­mitted to return to the city; which, in the mean while, had been stripped of its valuable furniture; and a tax was imposed on those wretched inha­bitants for the indulgence of breathing their na­tive air. Such was the behaviour of the Moguls, when they were not conscious of any extraordinary rigour ²³. But the most casual provocation, the slightest motive, of caprice or convenience, of­ten provoked them to involve a whole people in [Page 56] an indiscriminate massacre: and the ruin of some flourishing cities was executed with such unrelent­ing perseverance, that, according to their own expression, horses might run, without stumbling, over the ground where they had once stood. The three great capitals of Khorasan, Maru, Neisabour, and Herat, were destroyed by the armies of Zingis; and the exact account, which was taken of the slain, amounted to four millions three hundred and forty-seven thousand persons ²⁴. Timur, or Tamerlane, was educated in a less barbarous age; and in the profession of the Ma­hometan religion: yet, if Attila equalled the hostile ravages of Tamerlane ²⁵, either the Tartar or the Hun might deserve the epithet of the SCOURGE OF GOD ²⁶.

[Page 57] It may be affirmed, with bolder assurance, that the Huns depopulated the provinces of the em­pire, by the number of Roman subjects whom State of the cap­tives. they led away into captivity. In the hands of a wise legislator, such an industrious colony might have contributed to diffuse, through the deserts of Scythia, the rudiments of the useful and or­namental arts; but these captives, who had been taken in war, were accidentally dispersed among the hords, that obeyed the empire, of Attila. The estimate of their respective value was form­ed by the simple judgment of unenlightened, and unprejudiced, Barbarians. Perhaps they might not understand the merit of a theologian, profoundly skilled in the controversies of the Trinity and the Incarnation: yet they respected the ministers of every religion; and the active zeal of the Christian missionaries, without ap­proaching the person, or the palace, of the mo­narch, successfully laboured in the propagation of the gospel ²⁷. The pastoral tribes, who were ignorant of the distinction of landed property, must have disregarded the use, as well as the abuse, of civil jurisprudence; and the skill of an eloquent lawyer could excite only their con­tempt, or their abhorrence ²⁸. The perpetual [Page 58] intercourse of the Huns and the Goths had com­municated the familiar knowledge of the two national dialects; and the Barbarians were ambi­tious of conversing in Latin, the military idiom, even of the Eastern empire ²⁹. But they disdain­ed the language, and the sciences, of the Greeks; and the vain sophist, or grave philosopher, who had enjoyed the flattering applause of the schools, was mortified to find, that his robust servant was a captive of more value and importance than himself. The mechanic arts were encouraged and esteemed, as they tended to satisfy the wants of the Huns. An architect, in the service of One­gesius, one of the favourites of Attila, was em­ployed to construct a bath; but this work was a rare example of private luxury; and the trades of the smith, the carpenter, the armourer, were much more adapted to supply a wandering people with the useful instruments of peace and war. But the merit of the physician was received with universal favour and respect; the Barbarians, who despised death, might be apprehensive of disease; and the haughty conqueror trembled in the presence of a captive, to whom he ascribed, perhaps, an imaginary power, of prolonging, or [Page 59] preserving, his life ³⁰. The Huns might be pro­voked to insult the misery of their slaves, over whom they exercised a despotic command ³¹; but their manners were not susceptible of a refin­ed system of oppression; and the efforts of cou­rage and diligence were often recompensed by the gift of freedom. The historian Priscus, whose embassy is a source of curious instruction, was accosted, in the camp of Attila, by a stranger, who saluted him in the Greek language, but whose dress and figure displayed the appearance of a wealthy Scythian. In the siege of Viminia­cum, he had lost, according to his own account, his fortune and liberty: he became the slave of Onegesius; but his faithful services, against the Romans and the Acatzires, had gradually raised him to the rank of the native Huns; to whom he was attached by the domestic pledges of a new wife and several children. The spoils of war had restored and improved his private property; he was admitted to the table of his former lord; and the apostate Greek blessed the hour of his captivity, since it had been the introduction to [Page 60] an happy and independent state; which he held by the honourable tenure of military service. This reflection naturally produced a dispute on the advantages, and defects, of the Roman go­vernment, which was severely arraigned by the apostate, and defended by Priscus in a prolix and feeble declamation. The freedman of Onegesius exposed, in true and lively colours, the vices of a declining empire, of which he had so long been the victim; the cruel absurdity of the Roman princes, unable to protect their subjects against the public enemy, unwilling to trust them with arms for their own defence; the intolerable weight of taxes, rendered still more oppressive by the intricate or arbitrary modes of collection; the obscurity of numerous and contradictory laws; the tedious and expensive forms of judicial pro­ceedings; the partial administration of justice; and the universal corruption, which increased the influence of the rich, and aggravated the mis­fortunes of the poor. A sentiment of patriotic sympathy was at length revived in the breast of the fortunate exile; and he lamented, with a flood of tears, the guilt or weakness of those magis­trates, who had perverted the wisest and most salutary institutions ³².

The timid, or selfish, policy of the western Treaty of peace be­tween At­tila and the Eastern empire, A. D. 446. Romans had abandoned the Eastern empire to the Huns ³³. The loss of armies, and the want of [Page 61] discipline, or virtue, were not supplied by the personal character of the monarch. Theodosius might still affect the style, as well as the title, of Invincible Augustus; but he was reduced to solicit the clemency of Attila, who imperiously dictated these harsh and humiliating conditions of peace. I. The emperor of the East resigned, by an ex­press or tacit convention, an extensive and im­portant territory, which stretched along the southern banks of the Danube, from Singidunum or Belgrade, as far as Novae, in the diocese of Thrace. The breadth was defined by the vague computation of fifteen days journey; but, from the proposal of Attila, to remove the situation of the national market, it soon appeared, that he comprehended the ruined city of Naissus within the limits of his dominions. II. The king of the Huns required, and obtained, that his tribute or subsidy should be augmented from seven hundred pounds of gold to the annual sum of two thou­sand one hundred; and he stipulated the imme­diate payment of six thousand pounds of gold to defray the expences, or to expiate the guilt, of the war. One might imagine, that such a de­mand, which scarcely equalled the measure of private wealth, would have been readily discharg­ed by the opulent empire of the East; and the public distress affords a remarkable proof of the impoverished, or at least of the disorderly, state of the finances. A large proportion of the taxes, extorted from the people, was detained and in­tercepted in their passage, through the foulest [Page 62] channels, to the treasury of Constantinople. The revenue was dissipated by Theodosius, and his favourites, in wasteful and profuse luxury; which was disguised by the names of Imperial magni­ficence, or Christian charity. The immediate supplies had been exhausted by the unforeseen necessity of military preparations. A personal contribution, rigorously, but capriciously, im­posed on the members of the senatorian order, was the only expedient that could disarm, with­out loss of time, the impatient avarice of At­tila: and the poverty of the nobles compelled them to adopt the scandalous resource of exposing to public auction the jewels of their wives, and the hereditary ornaments of their palaces ³⁴. III. The king of the Huns appears to have esta­blished, as a principle of national jurisprudence, that he could never lose the property, which he had once acquired, in the persons, who had yielded either a voluntary, or reluctant, submis­sion to his authority. From this principle he concluded, and the conclusions of Attila were irrevocable laws, that the Huns, who had been taken prisoners in war, should be released with­out delay, and without ransom; that every Ro­man captive, who had presumed to escape, should purchase his right to freedom at the price of twelve pieces of gold; and that all the Barba­rians, [Page 63] who had deserted the standard of Attila, should be restored, without any promise, or sti­pulation, of pardon. In the execution of this cruel and ignominious treaty, the Imperial offi­cers were forced to massacre several loyal and noble deserters, who refused to devote themselves to certain death; and the Romans forfeited all reasonable claims to the friendship of any Scy­thian people, by this public confession, that they were destitute either of faith, or power, to protect the suppliants, who had embraced the throne of Theodosius ³⁵.

The firmness of a single town, so obscure, Spirit of the Azi­muntines. that, except on this occasion, it has never been mentioned by any historian or geographer, ex­posed the disgrace of the emperor and empire. Azimus, or Azimuntium, a small city of Thrace on the Illyrian borders ³⁶, had been distinguished by the martial spirit of its youth, the skill and reputation of the leaders whom they had chosen, and their daring exploits against the innumerable host of the Barbarians. Instead of tamely ex­pecting [Page 64] their approach, the Azimuntines attack­ed, in frequent and successful sallies, the troops of the Huns, who gradually declined the danger­ous neighbourhood; rescued from their hands the spoil and the captives, and recruited their domes­tic force by the voluntary association of fugitives and deserters. After the conclusion of the treaty, Attila still menaced the empire with implacable war, unless the Azimuntines were persuaded, or compelled, to comply with the conditions which their sovereign had accepted. The ministers of Theodosius confessed with shame, and with truth, that they no longer possessed any authority over a society of men, who so bravely asserted their na­tural independence; and the king of the Huns condescended to negociate an equal exchange with the citizens of Azimus. They demanded the restitution of some shepherds, who, with their cattle, had been accidentally surprised. A strict, though fruitless inquiry, was allowed: but the Huns were obliged to swear, that they did not detain any prisoners belonging to the city, before they could recover two surviving countrymen, whom the Azimuntines had reserved as pledges for the safety of their lost companions. Attila, on his side, was satisfied, and deceived, by their solemn asseveration, that the rest of the captives had been put to the sword; and that it was their constant practice, immediately to dismiss the Romans and the deserters, who had obtained the security of the public faith. This prudent and officious dissimulation may be condemned, or excused, by the casuists, as they incline to the [Page 65] rigid decree of St. Augustin, or to the milder sentiment of St. Jerom and St. Chrysostom: but every soldier, every statesman, must acknowledge, that, if the race of the Azimuntines had been encouraged and multiplied, the Barbarians would have ceased to trample on the majesty of the empire ³⁷.

It would have been strange, indeed, if Theo­dosius Embassies from At­tila to Constanti­nople. had purchased, by the loss of honour, a secure and solid tranquillity; or if his tameness had not invited the repetition of injuries. The Byzantine court was insulted by five or six suc­cessive embassies ³⁸; and the ministers of Attila were uniformly instructed to press the tardy or imperfect execution of the last treaty; to produce the names of fugitives and deserters, who were still protected by the empire; and to declare, with seeming moderation, that unless their sove­reign obtained complete and immediate satis­faction, it would be impossible for him, were it even his wish, to check the resentment of his war­like tribes. Besides the motives of pride and interest, which might prompt the king of the Huns to continue this train of negociation, he [Page 66] was influenced by the less honourable view of enriching his favourites at the expence of his ene­mies. The Imperial treasury was exhausted, to procure the friendly offices of the ambassadors, and their principal attendants, whose favourable report might conduce to the maintenance of peace. The Barbarian monarch was flattered by the liberal reception of his ministers; he com­puted with pleasure the value and splendour of their gifts, rigorously exacted the performance of every promise, which would contribute to their private emolument, and treated as an important business of state, the marriage of his secretary Constantius ³⁹. That Gallic adventurer, who was recommended by Aetius to the king of the Huns, had engaged his service to the ministers of Con­stantinople, for the stipulated reward of a wealthy and noble wife; and the daughter of count Sa­turninus was chosen to discharge the obligations of her country. The reluctance of the victim, some domestic troubles, and the unjust confis­cation of her fortune, cooled the ardour of her interested lover; but he still demanded, in the name of Attila, an equivalent alliance; and, after many ambiguous delays and excuses, the Byzan­tine court was compelled to sacrifice to this inso­lent stranger the widow of Armatius, whose birth, opulence, and beauty, placed her in the most [Page 67] illustrious rank of the Roman matrons. For these importunate and oppressive embassies, At­tila claimed a suitable return: he weighed, with suspicious pride, the character and station of the Imperial envoys; but he condescended to pro­mise, that he would advance as far as Sardica, to receive any ministers who had been invested with the consular dignity. The council of Theodosius eluded this proposal, by representing the desolate and ruined condition of Sardica; and even ven­tured to insinuate, that every officer of the army or household was qualified to treat with the most powerful princes of Scythia. Maximin ⁴⁰, a re­spectable courtier, whose abilities had been long exercised in civil and military employments, ac­cepted with reluctance the troublesome, and, per­haps, dangerous commission, of reconciling the angry spirit of the king of the Huns. His friend, the historian Priscus ⁴¹, embraced the opportunity of observing the Barbarian hero in the peaceful and domestic scenes of life: but the secret of the [Page 68] embassy, a fatal and guilty secret, was entrusted only to the interpreter Vigilius. The two last ambassadors of the Huns, Orestes, a noble sub­ject of the Pannonian province, and Edecon, a valiant chieftain of the tribe of the Scyrri, re­turned at the same time from Constantinople to the royal camp. Their obscure names were after­wards illustrated by the extraordinary fortune and the contrast of their sons: the two servants of Attila became the fathers of the last Roman em­peror of the West, and of the first Barbarian king of Italy.

The ambassadors, who were followed by a nu­merous The em­bassy of Maximin to Attila, A. D. 448. train of men and horses, made their first halt at Sardica, at the distance of three hundred and fifty miles, or thirteen days journey, from Constantinople. As the remains of Sardica were still included within the limits of the empire, it was incumbent on the Romans to exercise the duties of hospitality. They provided, with the assistance of the provincials, a sufficient number of sheep and oxen; and invited the Huns to a splendid, or at least, a plentiful, supper. But the harmony of the entertainment was soon disturbed by mutual prejudice and indiscretion. The great­ness of the emperor and the empire was warmly maintained by their ministers; the Huns, with equal ardour, asserted the superiority of their victorious monarch: the dispute was inflamed by the rash and unseasonable flattery of Vigilius, who passionately rejected the comparison of a mere mortal with the divine Theodosius; and it was with extreme difficulty that Maximin and Priscus [Page 69] were able to divert the conversation, or to soothe the angry minds of the Barbarians. When they rose from table, the Imperial ambassador pre­sented Edecon and Orestes with rich gifts of silk robes and Indian pearls, which they thankfully accepted. Yet Orestes could not forbear insi­nuating, that he had not always been treated with such respect and liberality: and the offensive dis­tinction, which was implied, between his civil office and the hereditary rank of his colleague, seems to have made Edecon a doubtful friend, and Orestes an irreconcileable enemy. After this entertainment, they travelled about one hundred miles from Sardica to Naissus. That flourishing city, which had given birth to the great Constan­tine, was levelled with the ground: the inhabit­ants were destroyed, or dispersed; and the ap­pearance of some sick persons, who were still per­mitted to exist among the ruins of the churches, served only to increase the horror of the prospect. The surface of the country was covered with the bones of the slain; and the ambassadors, who directed their course to the north-west, were obliged to pass the hills of modern Servia, be­fore they descended into the flat and marshy grounds, which are terminated by the Danube. The Huns were masters of the great river: their navigation was performed in large canoes, hol­lowed out of the trunk of a single tree; the mi­nisters of Theodosius were safely landed on the opposite bank; and their Barbarian associates im­mediately hastened to the camp of Attila, which was equally prepared for the amusements of [Page 70] hunting, or of war. No sooner had Maximin advanced about two miles from the Danube, than he began to experience the fastidious inso­lence of the conqueror. He was sternly forbid to pitch his tents in a pleasant valley, lest he should infringe the distant awe that was due to the royal mansion. The ministers of Attila pressed him to communicate the business, and the instruc­tions, which he reserved for the ear of their sove­reign. When Maximin temperately urged the contrary practice of nations, he was still more confounded to find, that the resolutions of the Sacred Consistory, those secrets (says Priscus) which should not be revealed to the gods them­selves, had been treacherously disclosed to the public enemy. On his refusal to comply with such ignominious terms, the Imperial envoy was commanded instantly to depart: the order was recalled; it was again repeated; and the Huns renewed their ineffectual attempts to subdue the patient firmness of Maximin. At length, by the intercession of Scotta, the brother of Onegesius, whose friendship had been purchased by a liberal gift, he was admitted to the royal presence; but, instead of obtaining a decisive answer, he was compelled to undertake a remote journey to­wards the North, that Attila might enjoy the proud satisfaction of receiving, in the same camp, the ambassadors of the Eastern and Western em­pires. His journey was regulated by the guides, who obliged him to halt, to hasten his march, or to deviate from the common road, as it best suit­ed [Page 71] the convenience of the King. The Romans who traversed the plains of Hungary, suppose that they passed several navigable rivers, either in canoes or portable boats; but there is reason to suspect, that the winding stream of the Teyss, or Tibiscus, might present itself in different places, under different names. From the conti­guous villages they received a plentiful and re­gular supply of provisions; mead instead of wine, millet in the place of bread, and a certain liquor named camus, which, according to the report of Priscus, was distilled from barley ⁴². Such fare might appear coarse and indelicate to men who had tasted the luxury of Constantinople: but, in their accidental distress, they were relieved by the gentleness and hospitality of the same Bar­barians, so terrible and so merciless in war. The ambassadors had encamped on the edge of a large morass. A violent tempest of wind and rain, of thunder and lightning, overturned their tents, immersed their baggage and furniture in the water, and scattered their retinue, who wandered in the darkness of the night, uncertain of their road, and apprehensive of some unknown danger, till they awakened by their cries the inhabitants of a neighbouring village, the property of the [Page 72] widow of Bleda. A bright illumination, and, in a few moments, a comfortable fire of reeds, was kindled by their officious benevolence: the wants, and even the desires, of the Romans were libe­rally satisfied; and they seem to have been em­barrassed by the singular politeness of Bleda's widow, who added to her other favours the gift, or at least the loan, of a sufficient number of beautiful and obsequious damsels. The sunshine of the succeeding day was dedicated to repose; to collect and dry the baggage, and to the refresh­ment of the men and horses: but, in the even­ing, before they pursued their journey, the am­bassadors expressed their gratitude to the bounte­ous lady of the village, by a very acceptable pre­sent of silver cups, red fleeces, dried fruits, and Indian pepper. Soon after this adventure, they rejoined the march of Attila, from whom they had been separated about six days; and slowly proceeded to the capital of an empire, which did not contain, in the space of several thousand miles, a single city.

As far as we may ascertain the vague and ob­scure The royal village and palace. geography of Priscus, this capital appears to have been seated between the Danube, the Teyss, and the Carpathian hills, in the plains of Upper Hungary, and most probably in the neigh­bourhood of Jazberin, Agria, or Tokay ⁴³. In [Page 73] its origin it could be no more than an accidental camp, which, by the long and frequent residence of Attila, had insensibly swelled into a huge vil­lage, for the reception of his court, of the troops who followed his person, and of the various mul­titude of idle or industrious slaves and retainers ⁴⁴. The baths, constructed by Onegesius, were the only edifice of stone; the materials had been transported from Pannonia; and since the adja­cent country was destitute even of large timber, it may be presumed, that the meaner habitations of the royal village consisted of straw, of mud, or of canvas. The wooden houses of the more illustrious Huns, were built and adorned with rude magnificence, according to the rank, the fortune, or the taste of the proprietors. They seem to have been distributed with some degree of order and symmetry; and each spot became more honourable, as it approached the person of the sovereign. The palace of Attila, which sur­passed all other houses in his dominions, was built entirely of wood, and covered an ample space of ground. The outward enclosure was a lofty wall, or pallisade, of smooth square timber, intersected with high towers, but intended rather for orna­ment than defence. This wall, which seems to [Page 74] have encircled the declivity of a hill, compre­hended a great variety of wooden edifices, adapt­ed to the uses of royalty. A separate house was assigned to each of the numerous wives of Attila; and, instead of the rigid and illiberal confine­ment imposed by Asiatic jealousy, they politely admitted the Roman ambassadors to their pre­sence, their table, and even to the freedom of an innocent embrace. When Maximin offered his presents to Cerca, the principal queen, he ad­mired the singular architecture of her mansion, the height of the round columns, the size and beauty of the wood, which was curiously shaped or turned, or polished, or carved; and his atten­tive eye was able to discover some taste in the ornaments, and some regularity in the propor­tions. After passing through the guards, who watched before the gate, the ambassadors were introduced into the private apartment of Cerca. The wife of Attila received their visit sitting, or rather lying, on a soft couch; the floor was co­vered with a carpet; the domestics formed a cir­cle round the queen; and her damsels, seated on the ground, were employed in working the varie­gated embroidery which adorned the dress of the Barbaric warriors. The Huns were ambitious of displaying those riches which were the fruit and evidence of their victories: the trappings of their horses, their swords, and even their shoes, were studded with gold and precious stones; and their tables were profusely spread with plates, and gob­lets, and vases of gold and silver, which had [Page 75] been fashioned by the labour of Grecian artists. The monarch alone assumed the superior pride of still adhering to the simplicity of his Scythian ancestors ⁴⁵. The dress of Attila, his arms, and the furniture of his horse, were plain, without ornament, and of a single colour. The royal table was served in wooden cups and platters; flesh was his only food; and the conqueror of the North never tasted the luxury of bread.

When Attila first gave audience to the Roman ambassadors on the banks of the Danube, his tent The beha­viour of Attila to the Roman ambassa­dors. was encompassed with a formidable guard. The monarch himself was seated in a wooden chair. His stern countenance, angry gestures, and im­patient tone, astonished the firmness of Maximin; but Vigilius had more reason to tremble, since he distinctly understood the menace, that if At­tila did not respect the law of nations, he would nail the deceitful interpreter to a cross, and leave his body to the vultures. The Barbarian con­descended, by producing an accurate list, to ex­pose the bold falsehood of Vigilius, who had affirmed that no more than seventeen deserters could be found. But he arrogantly declared, that he apprehended only the disgrace of con­tending with his fugitive slaves; since he despised their impotent efforts to defend the provinces which Theodofius had entrusted to their arms: [Page 76] ‘"For what fortress" (added Attila), "what city, in the wide extent of the Roman empire, can hope to exist, secure and impregnable, if it is our pleasure that it should be erazed from the earth?"’ He dismissed, however, the in­terpreter, who returned to Constantinople with his peremptory demand of more complete resti­tution, and a more splendid embassy. His an­ger gradually subsided, and his domestic satis­faction, in a marriage which he celebrated on the road with the daughter of Eslam, might perhaps contribute to mollify the native fierceness of his temper. The entrance of Attila into the royal village, was marked by a very singular ceremony. A numerous troop of women came out to meet their hero, and their king. They marched be­fore him, distributed into long and regular files: the intervals between the files were filled by white veils of thin linen, which the women on either side bore aloft in their hands, and which formed a canopy for a chorus of young virgins, who chanted hymns and songs in the Scythian lan­guage. The wife of his favourite Onegesius, with a train of female attendants, saluted Attila at the door of her own house, on his way to the palace; and offered, according to the custom of the country, her respectful homage, by intreating him to taste the wine and meat, which she had prepared for his reception. As soon as the mo­narch had graciously accepted her hospitable gift, his domestics lifted a small silver table to a con­venient height, as he sat on horseback; and At­tila, [Page 77] when he had touched the goblet with his lips, again saluted the wife of Onegesius, and continued his march. During his residence at the seat of empire, his hours were not wasted in the recluse idleness of a seraglio; and the king of the Huns could maintain his superior dignity, without concealing his person from the public view. He frequently assembled his council, and gave audience to the ambassadors of the nations; and his people might appeal to the supreme tri­bunal, which he held at stated times, and, ac­cording to the eastern custom, before the prin­cipal gate of his wooden palace. The Romans, both of the East and of the West, were twice in­vited to the banquets, where Attila feasted with the princes and nobles of Scythia. Maximin The royal feast. and his colleagues were stopped on the threshold, till they had made a devout libation to the health and prosperity of the king of the Huns; and were conducted, after this ceremony, to their respective seats in a spacious hall. The royal table and couch, covered with carpets and fine linen, was raised by several steps in the midst of the hall; and a son, an uncle, or perhaps a fa­vourite king, were admitted to share the simple and homely repast of Attila. Two lines of small tables, each of which contained three or four guests, were ranged in order on either hand; the right was esteemed the most honourable, but the Romans ingenuously confess, that they were placed on the left; and that Beric, an unknown chieftain, most probably of the Gothic race, pre­ceded [Page 78] the representatives of Theodosius and Va­lentinian. The Barbarian monarch received from his cup-bearer a goblet filled with wine, and courteously drank to the health of the most distin­guished guest; who rose from his seat, and ex­pressed, in the same manner, his loyal and re­spectful vows. This ceremony was successively performed for all, or at least for the illustrious persons of the assembly; and a considerable time must have been consumed, since it was thrice repeated, as each course of service was placed on the table. But the wine still remained after the meat had been removed; and the Huns conti­nued to indulge their intemperance long after the sober and decent ambassadors of the two empires had withdrawn themselves from the nocturnal banquet. Yet before they retired, they enjoyed a singular opportunity of observing the manners of the nation in their convivial amusements. Two Scythians stood before the couch of Attila, and recited the verses which they had composed, to celebrate his valour and his victories. A pro­found silence prevailed in the hall; and the at­tention of the guests was captivated by the vocal harmony, which revived and perpetuated the memory of their own exploits: a martial ardour flashed from the eyes of the warriors, who were impatient for battle; and the tears of the old men expressed their generous despair, that they could no longer partake the danger and glory of the field ⁴⁶. This entertainment, which might be [Page 79] considered as a school of military virtue, was succeeded by a farce, that debased the dignity of human nature. A Moorish and a Scythian buffoon successively excited the mirth of the rude spec­tators, by their deformed figure, ridiculous dress, antic gestures, absurd speeches, and the strange unintelligible confusion of the Latin, the Gothic, and the Hunnic languages; and the hall resound­ed with loud and licentious peals of laughter. In the midst of this intemperate riot, Attila alone, without a change of countenance, maintained his stedfast and inflexible gravity; which was never relaxed, except on the entrance of Irnac, the youngest of his sons: he embraced the boy with a smile of paternal tenderness, gently pinched him by the cheek, and betrayed a partial affec­tion, which was justified by the assurance of his prophets, that Irnac would be the future support of his family and empire. Two days afterwards, the ambassadors received a second invitation; and they had reason to praise the politeness, as well as the hospitality, of Attila. The king of the Huns held a long and familiar conversation with Maxi­min; but his civility was interrupted by rude expressions, and haughty reproaches; and he was provoked, by a motive of interest, to support with unbecoming zeal, the private claims of his secretary Constantius. ‘"The emperor" (said Attila) "has long promised him a rich wife: Constantius must not be disappointed; nor should a Roman emperor deserve the name of liar."’ On the third day, the ambassadors [Page 80] were dismissed; the freedom of several captives was granted, for a moderate ransom, to their pressing entreaties; and, besides the royal pre­sents, they were permitted to accept from each of the Scythian nobles, the honourable and useful gift of a horse. Maximin returned, by the same road, to Constantinople; and though he was in­volved in an accidental dispute with Beric, the new ambassador of Attila, he flattered himself that he had contributed, by the laborious journey, to confirm the peace and alliance of the two na­tions ⁴⁷.

But the Roman ambassador was ignorant of the Conspira­cy of the Romans a­gainst the life of At­tila. treacherous design, which had been concealed un­der the mask of the public faith. The surprise and satisfaction of Edecon, when he contemplated the splendour of Constantinople, had encouraged the interpreter Vigilius to procure for him a secret interview with the eunuch Chrysaphius ⁴⁸, who governed the emperor and the empire. After some previous conversation, and a mutual oath of secrecy, the eunuch, who had not, from his [Page 81] own feelings or experience, imbibed any exalted notions of ministerial virtue, ventured to propose the death of Attila, as an important service, by which Edecon might deserve a liberal share of the wealth and luxury which he admired. The ambassador of the Huns listened to the tempting offer; and professed, with apparent zeal, his abi­lity, as well as readiness, to execute the bloody deed: the design was communicated to the mas­ter of the offices, and the devout Theodosius consented to the assassination of his invincible enemy. But this perfidious conspiracy was de­feated by the dissimulation, or the repentance, of Edecon; and, though he might exaggerate his inward abhorrence for the treason, which he seemed to approve, he dexterously assumed the merit of an early and voluntary confession. If we now review the embassy of Maximin, and the behaviour of Attila, we must applaud the Bar­barian, who respected the laws of hospitality, and generously entertained and dismissed the minister of a prince, who had conspired against his life. But the rashness of Vigilius will appear still more extraordinary, since he returned, conscious of his guilt and danger, to the royal camp; accom­panied by his son, and carrying with him a weighty purse of gold, which the favourite eu­nuch had furnished, to satisfy the demands of Edecon, and to corrupt the fidelity of the guards. The interpreter was instantly seized, and dragged before the tribunal of Attila, where he asserted his innocence with specious firmness, till the [Page 82] threat of inflicting instant death on his son, ex­torted from him a sincere discovery of the crimi­nal transaction. Under the name of ransom or confiscation, the rapacious king of the Huns accepted two hundred pounds of gold for the life of a traitor, whom he disdained to punish. He pointed his just indignation against a nobler ob­ject. His ambassadors Eslaw and Orestes were He repri­mands and forgives the Empe­ror. immediately dispatched to Constantinople, with a peremptory instruction, which it was much safer for them to execute than to disobey. They boldly entered the Imperial presence, with the fatal purse hanging down from the neck of Orestes; who interrogated the eunuch Chrysaphius, as he stood beside the throne, whether he recognised the evi­dence of his guilt. But the office of reproof was reserved for the superior dignity of his colleague Eslaw, who gravely addressed the Emperor of the East in the following words: ‘"Theodosius is the son of an illustrious and respectable parent: Attila likewise is descended from a noble race; and he has supported, by his actions, the dig­nity which he inherited from his father Mund­zuk. But Theodosius has forfeited his pater­nal honours, and, by consenting to pay tribute, has degraded himself to the condition of a slave. It is therefore just, that he should reve­rence the man whom fortune and merit have placed above him; instead of attempting, like a wicked slave, clandestinely to conspire against his master."’ The son of Arcadius, who was accustomed only to the voice of flattery, heard [Page 83] with astonishment the severe language of truth: he blushed and trembled; nor did he presume directly to refuse the head of Chrysaphius, which Eslaw and Orestes were instructed to demand. A solemn embassy, armed with full powers and magnificent gifts, was hastily sent to deprecate the wrath of Attila; and his pride was gratified by the choice of Nomius and Anatolius, two ministers of consular or patrician rank, of whom the one was great treasurer, and the other was master-general of the armies of the East. He condescended to meet these ambassadors on the banks of the river Drenco; and though he at first affected a stern and haughty demeanor, his anger was insensibly mollified by their eloquence and liberality. He condescended to pardon the em­peror, the eunuch, and the interpreter; bound himself by an oath to observe the conditions of peace; released a great number of captives; abandoned the fugitives and deserters to their fate; and resigned a large territory to the south of the Danube, which he had already exhausted of its wealth and inhabitants. But this treaty was purchased at an expence which might have supported a vigorous and successful war; and the subjects of Theodosius were compelled to redeem the safety of a worthless favourite by oppressive taxes, which they would more cheerfully have paid for his destruction ⁴⁹.

[Page 84] The emperor Theodosius did not long survive the most humiliating circumstance of an inglo­rious life. As he was riding, or hunting, in the Theodo­sius the Younger dies, A. D. 450. July 28. neighbourhood of Constantinople, he was thrown from his horse into the river Lycus: the spine of the back was injured by the fall; and he expired some days afterwards, in the fiftieth year of his age, and the forty-third of his reign ⁵⁰. His sister Pulcheria, whose authority had been con­trouled both in civil and ecclesiastical affairs by the pernicious influence of the eunuchs, was una­nimously proclaimed Empress of the East; and the Romans, for the first time, submitted to a female reign. No sooner had Pulcheria ascended the throne, than she indulged her own, and the public resentment, by an act of popular justice. Without any legal trial, the eunuch Chrysaphius was executed before the gates of the city; and the immense riches which had been accumulated by the rapacious favourite, served only to hasten and to justify his punishment ⁵¹. Amidst the general acclamations of the clergy and people, the empress did not forget the prejudice and dis­advantage to which her sex was exposed; and she [Page 85] wisely resolved to prevent their murmurs by the choice of a colleague, who would always respect the superior rank and virgin chastity of his wife. She gave her hand to Marcian, a senator, about and is suc­ceeded by Marcian, Aug. 25. sixty years of age, and the nominal husband of Pulcheria was solemnly invested with the Imperial purple. The zeal which he displayed for the or­thodox creed, as it was established by the council of Chalcedon, would alone have inspired the grateful eloquence of the Catholics. But the behaviour of Marcian in a private life, and after­wards on the throne, may support a more ratio­nal belief, that he was qualified to restore and invigorate an empire, which had been almost dissolved by the successive weakness of two here­ditary monarchs. He was born in Thrace, and educated to the profession of arms; but Marci­an's youth had been severely exercised by poverty and misfortune, since his only resource, when he first arrived at Constantinople, consisted in two hundred pieces of gold, which he had borrowed of a friend. He passed nineteen years in the domestic and military service of Aspar, and his son Ardaburius; followed those powerful generals to the Persian and African wars; and obtained, by their influence, the honourable rank of tri­bune and senator. His mild disposition, and useful talents, without alarming the jealousy, re­commended Marcian to the esteem and favour, of his patrons: he had seen, perhaps he had felt, the abuses of a venal and oppressive administra­tion; and his own example gave weight and [Page 86] energy to the laws, which he promulgated for the reformation of manners ⁵².

IT was the opinion of Marcian, that war should be avoided, as long as it is possible to pre­serve a secure and honourable peace; but it was Attila threatens both em­pires, and prepares to invade Gaul, A. D. 450. likewise his opinion, that peace cannot be ho­nourable or secure, if the sovereign betrays a pusillanimous aversion to war. This temperate courage dictated his reply to the demands of At­tila, who insolently pressed the payment of the annual tribute. The emperor signified to the Barbarians, that they must no longer insult the majesty of Rome, by the mention of a tribute; that he was disposed to reward, with becoming liberality, the faithful friendship of his allies; but that, if they presumed to violate the public peace, they should feel that he possessed troops, and arms, and resolution, to repel their attacks. The same language, even in the camp of the Huns, was used by his ambassador Apollonius, whose bold refusal to deliver the presents, till he had been admitted to a personal interview, displayed a sense of dignity, and a contempt of danger, which Attila was not prepared to expect from the [Page 88] degenerate Romans ¹. He threatened to chastise the rash successor of Theodosius; but he hesitated, whether he should first direct his invincible arms against the Eastern or the Western empire. While mankind awaited his decision with awful suspense, he sent an equal defiance to the courts of Ra­venna and Constantinople; and his ministers saluted the two emperors with the same haughty declaration. ‘"Attila, my lord, and thy lord, commands thee to provide a palace for his immediate reception ²."’ But as the Barbarian despised, or affected to despise, the Romans of the East, whom he had so often vanquished, he soon declared his resolution of suspending the easy conquest, till he had atchieved a more glo­rious and important enterprise. In the memo­rable invasions of Gaul and Italy, the Huns were naturally attracted by the wealth and fertility of those provinces; but the particular motives and provocations of Attila, can only be explained by the state of the Western empire under the reign of Valentinian, or, to speak more correctly, un­der the administration of Aetius ³.

After the death of his rival Boniface, Aetius Charac­ter and ad­ministra­tion of Ae­tius, had prudently retired to the tents of the Huns; [Page 89] and he was indebted to their alliance for his safety and his restoration. Instead of the suppliant lan­guage of a guilty exile, he solicited his pardon A. D. 433—454. at the head of sixty thousand Barbarians; and the empress Placidia confessed, by a feeble resistance, that the condescension, which might have been ascribed to clemency, was the effect of weakness or fear. She delivered herself, her son Valentinian, and the Western empire, into the hands of an insolent subject; nor could Placidia protect the son-in-law of Boniface, the virtuous and faithful Sebastian ⁴, from the implacable persecution, which urged him from one kingdom to another, till he miserably perished in the service of the Vandals. The fortunate Aetius, who was im­mediately promoted to the rank of patrician, and thrice invested with the honours of the confulship, assumed, with the title of master of the cavalry and infantry, the whole military power of the state; and he is sometimes styled, by contempo­rary writers, the Duke, or General, of the Ro­mans of the West. His prudence, rather than his virtue, engaged him to leave the grandson of Theodosius in the possession of the purple; and Valentinian was permitted to enjoy the peace and [Page 90] luxury of Italy, while the patrician appeared in the glorious light of a hero and a patriot, who supported near twenty years the ruins of the Western empire. The Gothic historian inge­nuously confesses, that Aetius was born for the salvation of the Roman republic ⁵; and the fol­lowing portrait, though it is drawn in the fairest colours, must be allowed to contain a much larger proportion of truth than of flattery. ‘"His mo­ther was a wealthy and noble Italian, and his father Gaudentius, who held a distinguished rank in the province of Scythia, gradually rose from the station of a military domestic, to the dignity of master of the cavalry. Their son, who was enrolled almost in his infancy in the guards, was given as a hostage, first to Alaric, and afterwards to the Huns; and he succes­sively obtained the civil and military honours of the palace, for which he was equally qua­lified by superior merit. The graceful figure of Aetius was not above the middle stature; but his manly limbs were admirably formed for strength, beauty, and agility; and he ex­celled in the martial exercises of managing a horse, drawing the bow, and darting the jave­lin. He could patiently endure the want of food or of sleep; and his mind and body were alike capable of the most laborious efforts. He possessed the genuine courage, that can despise not only dangers but injuries; and it [Page 91] was impossible either to corrupt, or deceive, or intimidate, the firm integrity of his soul ⁶."’ The Barbarians, who had seated themselves in the Western provinces, were insensibly taught to respect the faith and valour of the patrician Ae­tius. He soothed their passions, consulted their prejudices, balanced their interests, and checked their ambition. A seasonable treaty, which he concluded with Genseric, protected Italy from the depredations of the Vandals; the independent Britons implored and acknowledged his salutary aid; the Imperial authority was restored and maintained in Gaul and Spain; and he compelled the Franks and the Suevi, whom he had van­quished in the field, to become the useful con­federates of the republic.

From a principle of interest, as well as grati­tude, His con­nection with the Huns and Alani. Aetius assiduously cultivated the alliance of the Huns. While he resided in their tents as a hostage, or an exile, he had familiarly conversed with Attila himself, the nephew of his benefactor; and the two famous antagonists appear to have been connected by a personal and military friend­ship, which they afterwards confirmed by mutual gifts, frequent embassies, and the education of Carpilio, the son of Aetius, in the camp of At­tila. By the specious professions of gratitude [Page 92] and voluntary attachment, the patrician might disguise his apprehensions of the Scythian con­queror, who pressed the two empires with his in­numerable armies. His demands were obeyed or eluded. When he claimed the spoils of a van­quished city, some vases of gold, which had been fraudulently embezzled; the civil and military governors of Noricum were immediately dispatch­ed to satisfy his complaints ⁷: and it is evident, from their conversation with Maximin and Pris­cus, in the royal village, that the valour and prudence of Aetius had not saved the Western Romans from the common ignominy of tribute. Yet his dexterous policy prolonged the advan­tages of a salutary peace; and a numerous army of Huns and Alani, whom he had attached to his person, was employed in the defence of Gaul. Two colonies of these Barbarians were judiciously fixed in the territories of Valens and Orleans ⁸: and their active cavalry secured the important [Page 93] passages of the Rhone and of the Loire. These savage allies were not indeed less formidable to the subjects than to the enemies of Rome. Their original settlement was enforced with the licen­tious violence of conquest; and the province through which they marched, was exposed to all the calamities of an hostile invasion ⁹. Strangers to the emperor or the republic, the Alani of Gaul were devoted to the ambition of Aetius; and though he might suspect, that, in a contest with Attila himself, they would revolt to the standard of their national king, the patrician laboured to restrain, rather than to excite, their zeal and resentment against the Goths, the Burgundians, and the Franks.

The kingdom established by the Visigoths in The Visi­goths in Gaul un­der the reign of Theodo­ric, A. D. 419—451. the southern provinces of Gaul, had gradually acquired strength and maturity; and the conduct of those ambitious Barbarians, either in peace or war, engaged the perpetual vigilance of Aetius. After the death of Wallia, the Gothic sceptre devolved to Theodoric, the son of the great [Page 94] Alaric ¹⁰; and his prosperous reign, of more than thirty years, over a turbulent people, may be allowed to prove, that his prudence was sup­ported by uncommon vigour, both of mind and body. Impatient of his narrow limits, Theodoric aspired to the possession of Arles, the wealthy seat of government and commerce; but the city was saved by the timely approach of Aetius; and the Gothic king, who had raised the siege with some loss and disgrace, was persuaded, for an adequate subsidy, to divert the martial valour of his sub­jects in a Spanish war. Yet Theodoric still watch­ed, and eagerly seized, the favourable moment of renewing his hostile attempts. The Goths A. D. 435—439. besieged Narbonne, while the Belgic provinces were invaded by the Burgundians; and the pub­lic safety was threatened on every side by the apparent union of the enemies of Rome. On every side, the activity of Aetius, and his Scy­thian cavalry, opposed a firm and successful re­sistance. Twenty thousand Burgundians were slain in battle; and the remains of the nation humbly accepted a dependent seat in the moun­tains [Page 95] of Savoy ¹¹. The walls of Narbonne had been shaken by the battering engines, and the inhabitants had endured the last extremities of famine, when count Litorius, approaching in silence, and directing each horseman to carry behind him two sacks of flour, cut his way through the intrenchments of the besiegers. The siege was immediately raised; and the more decisive victory, which is ascribed to the personal conduct of Aetius himself, was marked with the blood of eight thousand Goths. But in the absence of the patrician, who was hastily summoned to Italy by some public or private interest, count Litorius succeeded to the command; and his presumption soon discovered, that far different talents are re­quired to lead a wing of cavalry, or to direct the operations of an important war. At the head of an army of Huns, he rashly advanced to the gates of Thoulouse, full of careless contempt for an enemy, whom his misfortunes had rendered prudent, and his situation made desperate. The predictions of the Augurs had inspired Litorius with the profane confidence, that he should enter the Gothic capital in triumph; and the trust which he reposed in his Pagan allies, encouraged him to reject the fair conditions of peace, which [Page 96] were repeatedly proposed by the bishops in the name of Theodoric. The king of the Goths ex­hibited in his distress the edifying contrast of Christian piety and moderation; nor did he lay aside his sackcloth and ashes till he was prepared to arm for the combat. His soldiers, animated with martial and religious enthusiasm, assaulted the camp of Litorius. The conflict was obstinate; the slaughter was mutual. The Roman general, after a total defeat, which could be imputed only to his unskilful rashness, was actually led through the streets of Thoulouse, not in his own, but in a hostile, triumph; and the misery which he expe­rienced, in a long and ignominious captivity, excited the compassion of the Barbarians them­selves ¹². Such a loss, in a country whose spirit and finances were long since exhausted, could not easily be repaired; and the Goths, assuming, in their turn, the sentiments of ambition and re­venge, would have planted their victorious stand­ards on the banks of the Rhone, if the presence of Aetius had not restored strength and discipline to the Romans ¹³. The two armies expected the [Page 97] signal of a decisive action; but the generals, who were conscious of each other's force, and doubt­ful of their own superiority, prudently sheathed their swords in the field of battle; and their re­conciliation was permanent and sincere. Theo­doric, king of the Visigoths, appears to have deserved the love of his subjects, the confidence of his allies, and the esteem of mankind. His throne was surrounded by six valiant sons, who were educated with equal care in the exercises of the Barbarian camp, and in those of the Gallic schools: from the study of the Roman jurispru­dence, they acquired the theory, at least, of law and justice; and the harmonious sense of Virgil contributed to soften the asperity of their native manners ¹⁴. The two daughters of the Gothic king were given in marriage to the eldest sons of the kings of the Suevi and of the Vandals, who reigned in Spain and Africa; but these illustri­ous alliances were pregnant with guilt and dis­cord. The queen of the Suevi bewailed the death of an husband, inhumanly massacred by her bro­ther. The princess of the Vandals was the vic­tim of a jealous tyrant, whom she called her fa­ther. The cruel Genseric suspected, that his [Page 98] son's wife had conspired to poison him; the sup­posed crime was punished by the amputation of her nose and ears; and the unhappy daughter of Theodoric was ignominiously returned to the court of Thoulouse in that deformed and muti­lated condition. This horrid act, which must seem incredible to a civilized age, drew tears from every spectator; but Theodoric was urged, by the feelings of a parent and a king, to revenge such irreparable injuries. The Imperial ministers, who always cherished the discord of the Barba­rians, would have supplied the Goths with arms, and ships, and treasures, for the African war; and the cruelty of Genseric might have been fatal to himself, if the artful Vandal had not armed, in his cause, the formidable power of the Huns. His rich gifts and pressing solicitations inflamed the ambition of Attila; and the designs of Aetius and Theodoric were prevented by the invasion of Gaul ¹⁵.

The Franks, whose monarchy was still confin­ed The Franks in Gaul, un­der the Merovin­gian kings, to the neighbourhood of the Lower Rhine, had wisely established the right of hereditary suc­cession in the noble family of the Merovingians ¹⁶. [Page 99] These princes were elevated on a buckler, the symbol of military command ¹⁷; and the royal fashion of long hair was the ensign of their birth A. D. 420—451. and dignity. Their flaxen locks, which they combed and dressed with singular care, hung down in flowing ringlets on their back and shoul­ders; while the rest of their nation were obliged, either by law or custom, to shave the hinder part of their head; to comb their hair over the fore­head, and to content themselves with the orna­ment of two small whiskers ¹⁸. The lofty stature of the Franks, and their blue eyes, denoted a Germanic origin; their close apparel accurately expressed the figure of their limbs; a weighty sword was suspended from a broad belt; their bodies were protected by a large shield: and these warlike Barbarians were trained, from their ear­liest [Page 100] youth, to run, to leap, to swim; to dart the javelin, or battle-axe, with unerring aim; to advance, without hesitation, against a superior enemy; and to maintain, either in life or death, the invincible reputation of their ancestors ¹⁹. Clodion, the first of their long-haired kings, whose name and actions are mentioned in authen­tic history, held his residence at Dispargum ²⁰, a village, or fortress, whose place may be assigned between Louvain and Brussels. From the report of his spies, the king of the Franks was inform­ed, that the defenceless state of the second Belgic must yield, on the slightest attack, to the valour of his subjects. He boldly penetrated through the thickets and morasses of the Carbonarian fo­rest ²¹; occupied Tournay and Cambray, the only cities which existed in the fifth century, and ex­tended his conquests as far as the river Somme, over a desolate country, whose cultivation and populousness are the effects of more recent in­dustry ²². While Clodion lay encamped in the [Page 101] plains of Artois ²³, and celebrated, with vain and ostentatious security, the marriage, perhaps, of his son, the nuptial feast was interrupted by the unexpected and unwelcome presence of Aetius, who had passed the Somme at the head of his light cavalry. The tables, which had been spread under the shelter of a hill, along the banks of a pleasant stream, were rudely overturned; the Franks were oppressed before they could recover their arms, or their ranks; and their unavailing valour was fatal only to themselves. The load­ed waggons, which had followed their march, afforded a rich booty; and the virgin-bride, with her female attendants, submitted to the new lovers, who were imposed on them by the chance of war. This advantage, which had been ob­tained by the skill and activity of Aetius, might reflect some disgrace on the military prudence of Clodion; but the king of the Franks soon re­gained his strength and reputation, and still maintained the possession of his Gallic kingdom from the Rhine to the Somme ²⁴. Under his [Page 102] reign, and most probably from the enterprising spirit of his subjects, the three capitals, Mentz, Treves, and Cologne, experienced the effects of hostile cruelty and avarice. The distress of Cologne was prolonged by the perpetual domi­nion of the same Barbarians, who evacuated the ruins of Treves; and Treves, which, in the space of forty years, had been four times besieged and pillaged, was disposed to lose the memory of her afflictions in the vain amusements of the circus ²⁵. The death of Clodion, after a reign of twenty years, exposed his kingdom to the discord and ambition of his two sons. Meroveus, the young­er ²⁶, was persuaded to implore the protection of Rome; he was received at the Imperial court, as the ally of Valentinian, and the adopted son of the patrician Aetius; and dismissed, to his native country, with splendid gifts, and the strongest assurances of friendship and support. During his absence, his elder brother had solicited, with equal ardour, the formidable aid of Attila; and the king of the Huns embraced an alliance, which [Page 103] facilitated the passage of the Rhine, and justified, by a specious and honourable pretence, the inva­sion of Gaul ²⁷.

When Attila declared his resolution of support­ing The ad­ventures of the prin­cess Hono­ria. the cause of his allies, the Vandals and the Franks, at the same time, and almost in the spi­rit of romantic chivalry, the savage monarch professed himself the lover and the champion of the princess Honoria. The sister of Valentinian was educated in the palace of Ravenna; and as her marriage might be productive of some dan­ger to the state, she was raised, by the title of Augusta ²⁸, above the hopes of the most presump­tuous subject. But the fair Honoria had no sooner attained the sixteenth year of her age, than she detested the importunate greatness, which must for ever exclude her from the comforts of honourable love: in the midst of vain and un­satisfactory pomp, Honoria sighed, yielded to the impulse of nature, and threw herself into the arms of her chamberlain Eugenius. Her guilt and shame (such is the absurd language of imperious man) were soon betrayed by the ap­perances of pregnancy: but the disgrace of the royal family was published to the world by the [Page 104] imprudence of the empress Placidia; who dis­missed her daughter, after a strict and shameful confinement, to a remote exile at Constantinople. The unhappy princess passed twelve or fourteen years in the irksome society of the sisters of Theodosius, and their chosen virgins; to whose crown Honoria could no longer aspire, and whose monastic assiduity of prayer, fasting, and vigils, she reluctantly imitated. Her impatience of long and hopeless celibacy, urged her to embrace a strange and desperate resolution. The name of Attila was familiar and formidable at Constantinople; and his frequent embassies entertained a perpetual intercourse between his camp and the Imperial palace. In the pursuit of love, or rather of re­venge, the daughter of Placidia sacrificed every duty, and every prejudice; and offered to deli­ver her person into the arms of a Barbarian, of whose language she was ignorant, whose figure was scarcely human, and whose religion and man­ners she abhorred. By the ministry of a faithful eunuch, she transmitted to Attila a ring, the pledge of her affection; and earnestly conjured him to claim her as a lawful spouse, to whom he had been secretly betrothed. These indecent advances were received, however, with coldness and disdain; and the king of the Huns con­tinued to multiply the number of his wives, till his love was awakened by the more forcible pas­sions of ambition and avarice. The invasion of Gaul was preceded, and justified, by a formal demand of the princess Honoria, with a just and [Page 105] equal share of the Imperial patrimony. His pre­decessors, the ancient Tanjous, had often ad­dressed, in the same hostile and peremptory man­ner, the daughters of China; and the pretensions of Attila were not less offensive to the majesty of Rome. A firm, but temperate, refusal was com­municated to his ambassadors. The right of female succession, though it might derive a spe­cious argument from the recent examples of Pla­cidia and Pulcheria, was strenuously denied; and the indissoluble engagements of Honoria were opposed to the claims of her Scythian lo­ver ²⁹. On the discovery of her connexion with the king of the Huns, the guilty princess had been sent away, as an object of horror, from Constantinople to Italy: her life was spared; but the ceremony of her marriage was performed with some obscure and nominal husband, before she was immured in a perpetual prison, to bewail those crimes and misfortunes, which Honoria might have escaped, had she not been born the daughter of an emperor ³⁰.

A native of Gaul, and a contemporary, the Attila in­vades Gaul, and besieges Orleans. learned and eloquent Sidonius, who was after­wards [Page 106] bishop of Clermont, had made a promise to one of his friends, that he would compose a regular history of the war of Attila. If the mo­desty A. D. 451. of Sidonius had not discouraged him from the prosecution of this interesting work ³¹, the historian would have related, with the simplicity of truth, those memorable events, to which the poet, in vague and doubtful metaphors, has con­cisely alluded ³². The kings and nations of Ger­many and Scythia, from the Volga perhaps to the Danube, obeyed the warlike summons of Attila. From the royal village, in the plains of Hungary, his standard moved towards the West; and, after a march of seven or eight hundred miles, he reached the conflux of the Rhine and the Necker; where he was joined by the Franks, who adhered to his ally, the elder of the sons of Clodion. A troop of light Barbarians, who roamed in quest of plunder, might chuse the winter for the convenience of passing the river [Page 107] on the ice; but the innumerable cavalry of the Huns required such plenty of forage and pro­visions, as could be procured only in a milder season; the Hercynian forest supplied materials for a bridge of boats; and the hostile myriads were poured, with resistless violence, into the Belgic provinces ³³. The consternation of Gaul was universal; and the various fortunes of its cities have been adorned by tradition with mar­tyrdoms and miracles ³⁴. Troyes was saved by the merits of St. Lupus; St. Servatius was re­moved from the world, that he might not behold the ruin of Tongres; and the prayers of St. Ge­nevieve diverted the march of Attila from the neighbourhood of Paris. But as the greatest part of the Gallic cities were alike destitute of saints and soldiers, they were besieged and stormed by the Huns; who practised, in the example of [Page 108] Metz ³⁵, their customary maxims of war. They involved, in a promiscuous massacre, the priests who served at the altar, and the infants, who, in the hour of danger, had been providently bap­tized by the bishop; the flourishing city was de­livered to the flames, and a solitary chapel of St. Stephen marked the place where it formerly stood. From the Rhine and the Moselle, Attila advanced into the heart of Gaul; crossed the Seine at Auxerre; and, after a long and laborious march, fixed his camp under the walls of Orleans. He was desirous of securing his conquests by the possession of an advantageous post, which com­manded the passage of the Loire; and he de­pended on the secret invitation of Sangiban, king of the Alani, who had promised to betray the city, and to revolt from the service of the em­pire. But this treacherous conspiracy was detect­ed and disappointed: Orleans had been strength­ened with recent fortifications; and the assaults of the Huns were vigorously repelled by the faith­ful valour of the soldiers, or citizens, who de­fended the place. The pastoral diligence of Anianus, a bishop of primitive sanctity and con­summate [Page 109] prudence, exhausted every art of reli­gious policy to support their courage, till the arrival of the expected succours. After an ob­stinate siege, the walls were shaken by the batter­ing rams; the Huns had already occupied the suburbs; and the people, who were incapable of bearing arms, lay prostrate in prayer. Anianus, who anxiously counted the days and hours, dis­patched a trusty messenger to observe, from the rampart, the face of the distant country. He returned twice, without any intelligence, that could inspire hope or comfort; but, in his third report, he mentioned a small cloud, which he had faintly descried at the extremity of the hori­zon. "It is the aid of God," exclaimed the bishop, in a tone of pious confidence; and the whole multitude repeated after him, "It is the aid of God." The remote object, on which every eye was fixed, became each moment larger, and more distinct; the Roman and Gothic banners were gradually perceived; and a favourable wind blowing aside the dust, discovered, in deep array, the impatient squadrons of Aetius and Theodoric, who pressed forwards to the relief of Orleans.

The facility with which Attila had penetrated Alliance of the Ro­mans and Visigoths. into the heart of Gaul, may be ascribed to his insidious policy, as well as to the terror of his arms. His public declarations were skilfully mitigated by his private assurances; he alter­nately soothed and threatened the Romans and the Goths; and the courts of Ravenna and Thou­louse, mutually suspicious of each other's inten­tions, [Page 110] beheld, with supine indifference, the ap­proach of their common enemy. Aetius was the sole guardian of the public safety; but his wisest measures were embarrassed by a faction, which, since the death of Placidia, infested the Imperial palace: the youth of Italy trembled at the sound of the trumpet; and the Barbarians, who, from fear or affection, were inclined to the cause of Attila, awaited, with doubtful and venal faith, the event of the war. The patrician passed the Alps at the head of some troops, whose strength and numbers scarcely deserved the name of an army ³⁶. But on his arrival at Arles, or Lyons, he was confounded by the intelligence, that the Visigoths, refusing to embrace the defence of Gaul, had determined to expect, within their own territories, the formidable invader, whom they professed to despise. The senator Avitus, who, after the honourable exercise of the praetorian Praefecture, had retired to his estate in Auvergne, was persuaded to accept the important embassy, which he executed with ability and success. He represented to Theodoric, that an ambitious con­queror, who aspired to the dominion of the earth, could be resisted only by the firm and unani­mous alliance of the powers whom he laboured to oppress. The lively eloquence of Avitus inflam­ed the Gothic warriors, by the description of the [Page 111] injuries which their ancestors had suffered from the Huns; whose implacable fury still pursued them from the Danube to the foot of the Pyre­nees. He strenuously urged, that it was the duty of every Christian to save, from sacrilegious vio­lation, the churches of God, and the relics of the saints: that it was the interest of every Bar­barian, who had acquired a settlement in Gaul, to defend the fields and vineyards, which were cultivated for his use, against the desolation of the Scythian shepherds. Theodoric yielded to the evidence of truth; adopted the measure at once the most prudent and the most honourable; and declared, that as the faithful ally of Aetius and the Romans, he was ready to expose his life and kingdom for the common safety of Gaul ³⁷. The Visigoths, who, at that time, were in the mature vigour of their fame and power, obeyed with alacrity the signal of war; prepared their arms and horses, and assembled under the stand­ard of their aged king, who was resolved, with his two eldest sons, Torismond and Theodoric, to command in person his numerous and valiant people. The example of the Goths determined several tribes or nations, that seemed to fluctuate between the Huns and the Romans. The inde­fatigable diligence of the patrician gradually col­lected [Page 112] the troops of Gaul and Germany, who had formerly acknowledged themselves the subjects, or soldiers, of the republic, but who now claimed the rewards of voluntary service, and the rank of independent allies; the Laeti, the Armoricans, the Breones, the Saxons, the Bur­gundians, the Sarmatians, or Alani, the Ripua­rians, and the Franks who followed Meroveus as their lawful prince. Such was the various army, which, under the conduct of Aetius and Theo­doric, advanced, by rapid marches, to relieve Orleans, and to give battle to the innumerable host of Attila ³⁸.

On their approach, the king of the Huns im­mediately Attila re­tires to the plains of Cham­pagne. raised the siege, and sounded a retreat to recal the foremost of his troops from the pillage of a city which they had already enter­ed ³⁹. The valour of Attila was always guided by his prudence; and as he foresaw the fatal consequences of a defeat in the heart of Gaul, he repassed the Seine, and expected the enemy in the plains of Châlons, whose smooth and level [Page 113] surface was adapted to the operations of his Scy­thian cavalry. But in this tumultuary retreat, the vanguard of the Romans, and their allies, continually pressed, and sometimes engaged, the troops whom Attila had posted in the rear; the hostile columns, in the darkness of the night, and the perplexity of the roads, might encounter each other without design; and the bloody conflict of the Franks and Gepidae, in which fifteen thou­sand ⁴⁰ Barbarians were slain, was a prelude to a more general and decisive action. The Cata­launian fields ⁴¹ spread themselves round Châlons, and extend, according to the vague measurement of Jornandes, to the length of one hundred and fifty, and the breadth of one hundred, miles, over the whole province, which is intitled to the appellation of a champaign country ⁴². This spacious plain was distinguished, however, by some inequalities of ground; and the importance of an height, which commanded the camp of Attila, was understood, and disputed, by the two generals. The young and valiant Toris­mond first occupied the summit; the Goths rushed with irresistible weight on the Huns, who [Page 114] laboured to ascend from the opposite side; and the possession of this advantageous post inspired both the troops and their leaders with a fair assurance of victory. The anxiety of Attila prompted him to consult his priests and haruspices. It was reported, that, after scrutinizing the en­trails of victims, and scraping their bones, they revealed, in mysterious language, his own de­feat, with the death of his principal adversary; and that the Barbarian, by accepting the equiva­lent, expressed his involuntary esteem for the superior merit of Aetius. But the unusual de­spondency, which seemed to prevail among the Huns, engaged Attila to use the expedient, so familiar to the generals of antiquity, of animating his troops by a military oration; and his language was that of a king, who had often fought and conquered at their head ⁴³. He pressed them to consider their past glory, their actual danger, and their future hopes. The same fortune, which opened the deserts and morasses of Scy­thia to their unarmed valour, which had laid so many warlike nations prostrate at their feet, had reserved the joys of this memorable field for the consummation of their victories. The cautious steps of their enemies, their strict alliance, and their advantageous posts he artfully represented as the effects, not of prudence, but [Page 115] of fear. The Visigoths alone were the strength and nerves of the opposite army; and the Huns might securely trample on the degenerate Ro­mans, whose close and compact order betrayed their apprehensions, and who were equally inca­pable of supporting the dangers, or the fatigues, of a day of battle. The doctrine of predestina­tion, so favourable to martial virtue, was care­fully inculcated by the king of the Huns; who assured his subjects, that the warriors, protected by Heaven, were safe and invulnerable amidst the darts of the enemy; but that the unerring Fates would strike their victims in the bosom of inglorious peace. ‘"I myself," continued Attila, "will throw the first javelin, and the wretch who refuses to imitate the example of his so­vereign, is devoted to inevitable death."’ The spirit of the Barbarians was rekindled by the pre­sence, the voice, and the example of their in­trepid leader; and Attila, yielding to their im­patience, immediately formed his order of battle. At the head of his brave and faithful Huns, he occupied, in person, the centre of the line. The nations, subject to his empire, the Rugians, the Heruli, the Thuringians, the Franks, the Bur­gundians, were extended, on either hand, over the ample space of the Catalaunian fields; the right wing was commanded by Ardaric, king of the Gepidae; and the three valiant brothers, who reigned over the Ostrogoths, were posted on the left to oppose the kindred tribes of the Visigoths. The disposition of the allies was regulated by a different principle. Sangiban, the faithless king of the Ala­ni, [Page 116] was placed in the centre; where his motions might be strictly watched, and his treachery might be instantly punished. Aetius assumed the command of the left, and Theodoric of the right, wing; while Torismond still continued to occupy the heights which appear to have stretched on the flank, and perhaps the rear, of the Scythian army. The nations from the Volga to the Atlan­tic were assembled on the plain of Châlons; but many of these nations had been divided by fac­tion, or conquest, or emigration; and the ap­pearance of similar arms and ensigns, which threatened each other, presented the image of a civil war.

The discipline and tactics of the Greeks and Romans form an interesting part of their national Battle of Châlons. manners. The attentive study of the military operations of Xenophon, or Caesar, or Frederic, when they are described by the same genius which conceived and executed them, may tend to im­prove (if such improvement can be wished) the art of destroying the human species. But the battle of Châlons can only excite our curiosity, by the magnitude of the object; since it was de­cided by the blind impetuosity of Barbarians, and has been related by partial writers, whose civil or ecclesiastical profession secluded them from the knowledge of military affairs. Cassiodorius, how­ever, had familiarly conversed with many Gothic warriors, who served in that memorable engage­ment; ‘"a conflict," as they informed him, "fierce, various, obstinate, and bloody; such as could not be paralleled, either in the pre­sent, [Page 117] or in past ages."’ The number of the slain amounted to one hundred and sixty-two thousand, or, according to another account, three hundred thousand persons ⁴⁴; and these incredible exaggerations suppose a real and effective loss, sufficient to justify the historian's remark, that whole generations may be swept away, by the madness of kings, in the space of a single hour. After the mutual and repeated discharge of missile weapons, in which the archers of Scythia might signalize their superior dexterity, the cavalry and infantry of the two armies were furiously mingled in closer combat. The Huns, who fought under the eyes of their king, pierced through the feeble and doubtful centre of the allies, separated their wings from each other, and wheeling, with a rapid effort, to the left, directed their whole force against the Visigoths. As Theodoric rode along the ranks, to animate his troops, he re­ceived a mortal stroke from the javelin of An­dages, a noble Ostrogoth, and immediately fell from his horse. The wounded king was op­pressed in the general disorder, and trampled under the feet of his own cavalry; and this im­portant death served to explain the ambiguous prophecy of the Haruspices. Attila already ex­ulted [Page 118] in the confidence of victory, when the valiant Torismond descended from the hills, and verified the remainder of the prediction. The Visigoths, who had been thrown into confusion by the flight, or defection, of the Alani, gra­dually restored their order of battle; and the Huns were undoubtedly vanquished, since Attila was compelled to retreat. He had exposed his person with the rashness of a private soldier; but the intrepid troops of the centre had pushed for­wards beyond the rest of the line: their attack was faintly supported; their flanks were un­guarded; and the conquerors of Scythia and Germany were saved by the approach of the night from a total defeat. They retired within the circle of waggons that fortified their camp; and the dismounted squadrons prepared themselves for a defence, to which neither their arms, nor their temper, were adapted. The event was doubtful: but Attila had secured a last and ho­nourable resource. The saddles and rich furni­ture of the cavalry were collected, by his order, into a funeral pile; and the magnanimous Bar­barian had resolved, if his intrenchments should be forced, to rush headlong into the flames, and to deprive his enemies of the glory which they might have acquired, by the death or captivity of Attila ⁴⁵.

[Page 119] But his enemies had passed the night in equal disorder and anxiety. The inconsiderate courage of Torismond was tempted to urge the pursuit, Retreat of Attila. till he unexpectedly found himself, with a few followers, in the midst of the Scythian waggons. In the confusion of a nocturnal combat, he was thrown from his horse; and the Gothic prince must have perished like his father, if his youth­ful strength, and the intrepid zeal of his com­panions, had not rescued him from this dangerous situation. In the same manner, but on the left of the line, Aetius himself, separated from his allies, ignorant of their victory, and anxious for their fate, encountered and escaped the hostile troops, that were scattered over the plains of Châlons; and at length reached the camp of the Goths, which he could only fortify with a slight rampart of shields, till the dawn of day. The Imperial general was soon satisfied of the defeat of Attila, who still remained inactive within his intrenchments; and when he contemplated the bloody scene, he observed, with secret satisfac­tion, that the loss had principally fallen on the Barbarians. The body of Theodoric, pierced with honourable wounds, was discovered under a heap of the slain: his subjects bewailed the death of their king and father; but their tears were min­gled with songs and acclamations, and his funeral rites were performed in the face of a vanquished enemy. The Goths, clashing their arms, elevated on a buckler his eldest son Torismond, to whom they justly ascribed the glory of their success; and the new king accepted the obligation of re­venge, [Page 120] as a sacred portion of his paternal inhe­ritance. Yet the Goths themselves were asto­nished by the fierce and undaunted aspect of their formidable antagonist; and their historian has compared Attila to a lion encompassed in his den, and threatening his hunters with redoubled fury. The kings and nations, who might have deserted his standard in the hour of distress, were made sensible, that the displeasure of their monarch was the most imminent and inevitable danger. All his instruments of martial music incessantly sounded a loud and animating strain of defiance; and the foremost troops who advanced to the assault, were checked, or destroyed, by showers of arrows from every side of the intrenchments. It was determined in a general council of war, to besiege the king of the Huns in his camp, to intercept his provisions, and to reduce him to the alternative of a disgraceful treaty, or an un­equal combat. But the impatience of the Bar­barians soon disdained these cautious and dilatory measures: and the mature policy of Aetius was apprehensive, that, after the extirpation of the Huns, the republic would be oppressed by the pride and power of the Gothic nation. The patrician exerted the superior ascendant of autho­rity and reason, to calm the passions, which the son of Theodoric considered as a duty; repre­sented, with seeming affection, and real truth, the dangers of absence and delay; and persuaded Torismond to disappoint, by his speedy return, the ambitious designs of his brothers, who might occupy the throne and treasures of Thou­louse ⁴⁶. [Page 121] After the departure of the Goths, and the separation of the allied army, Attila was sur­prised at the vast silence that reigned over the plains of Châlons: the suspicion of some hostile stratagem detained him several days within the circle of his waggons; and his retreat beyond the Rhine confessed the last victory which was attchieved in the name of the Western empire. Meroveus and his Franks, observing a prudent distance, and magnifying the opinion of their strength, by the numerous fires which they kin­dled every night, continued to follow the rear of the Huns, till they reached the confines of Thuringia. The Thuringians served in the army of Attila: they traversed, both in their march and in their return, the territories of the Franks; and it was perhaps in this war that they exercised the cruelties, which, about fourscore years after­wards, were revenged by the son of Clovis. They massacred their hostages, as well as their cap­tives: two hundred young maidens were tortured with exquisite and unrelenting rage; their bodies were torn asunder by wild horses, or their bones were crushed under the weight of rolling wag­gons; and their unburied limbs were abandoned on the public roads, as a prey to dogs and vul­tures. [Page 122] Such were those savage ancestors, whose imaginary virtues have sometimes excited the praise and envy of civilized ages ⁴⁷!

Neither the spirit, nor the forces, nor the Invasion of Italy by Attila, A. D. 452. reputation of Attila, were impaired by the fai­lure of the Gallic expedition. In the ensuing spring, he repeated his demand, of the princess Honoria, and her patrimonial treasures. The demand was again rejected, or eluded; and the indignant lover immediately took the field, passed the Alps, invaded Italy, and besieged Aquileia with an innumerable host of Barbarians. Those Barbarians were unskilled in the methods of con­ducting a regular siege, which, even among the ancients, required some knowledge, or at least some practice, of the mechanic arts. But the labour of many thousand provincials and captives, whose lives were sacrificed without pity, might execute the most painful and dangerous work. The skill of the Roman artists might be cor­rupted to the destruction of their country. The walls of Aquileia were assaulted by a formidable train of battering rams, moveable turrets, and engines, that threw stones, darts, and fire ⁴⁸; and [Page 123] the monarch of the Huns employed the forcible impulse of hope, fear, emulation, and interest, to subvert the only barrier which delayed the conquest of Italy. Aquileia was at that period one of the richest, the most populous, and the strongest of the maritime cities of the Hadriatic coast. The Gothic auxiliaries, who appear to have served under their native princes Alaric and Antala, communicated their intrepid spirit; and the citizens still remembered the glorious and successful resistance, which their ancestors had opposed to a fierce, inexorable Barbarian, who disgraced the majesty of the Roman purple. Three months were consumed without effect in the siege of Aquileia; till the want of provisions, and the clamours of his army, compelled Attila to relinquish the enterprise; and reluctantly to issue his orders, that the troops should strike their tents the next morning, and begin their retreat. But as he rode round the walls, pen­sive, angry, and disappointed, he observed a stork, preparing to leave her nest, in one of the towers, and to fly with her infant family towards the country. He seized, with the ready penetration of a statesman, this trifling incident, which chance had offered to superstition; and exclaimed, in a [Page 124] loud and cheerful tone, that such a domestic bird, so constantly attached to human society, would never have abandoned her ancient seats, unless those towers had been devoted to impend­ing ruin and solitude ⁴⁹. The favourable omen inspired an assurance of victory; the siege was renewed, and prosecuted with fresh vigour; a large breach was made in the part of the wall from whence the stork had taken her flight; the Huns mounted to the assault with irresistible fury; and the succeeding generation could scarcely dis­cover the ruins of Aquileia ⁵⁰. After this dread­ful chastisement, Attila pursued his march; and as he passed, the cities of Altinum, Concordia, and Padua, were reduced into heaps of stones and ashes. The inland towns, Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, were exposed to the rapacious cruelty of the Huns. Milan and Pavia submitted, with­out resistance, to the loss of their wealth; and applauded the unusual clemency, which preserv­ed from the flames the public, as well as private, buildings; and spared the lives of the captive multitude. The popular traditions of Comum, Turin, or Modena, may justly be suspected; yet [Page 125] they concur with more authentic evidence to prove, that Attila spread his ravages over the rich plains of modern Lombardy; which are divided by the Po, and bounded by the Alps and Apennine ⁵¹. When he took possession of the royal palace of Milan, he was surprised, and of­fended, at the sight of a picture, which repre­sented the Caesars seated on their throne, and the princes of Scythia prostrate at their feet. The revenge which Attila inflicted on this monument of Roman vanity, was harmless and ingenious. He commanded a painter to reverse the figures, and the attitudes; and the emperors were deli­neated on the same canvass, approaching in a suppliant posture to empty their bags of tributary gold before the throne of the Scythian monarch ⁵². The spectators must have confessed the truth and propriety of the alteration; and were perhaps tempted to apply, on this singular occasion, the well-known fable of the dispute between the lion and the man ⁵³.

[Page 126] It is a saying worthy of the ferocious pride of Attila, that the grass never grew on the spot where his horse had trod. Yet the savage de­stroyer Founda­tion of the republic of Venice. undesignedly laid the foundations of a republic, which revived, in the feudal state of Europe, the art and spirit of commercial industry. The celebrated name of Venice, or Venetia ⁵⁴, was formerly diffused over a large and fertile province of Italy, from the confines of Pannonia to the river Addua, and from the Po to the Rhae­tian and Julian Alps. Before the irruption of the Barbarians, fifty Venetian cities flourished in peace and prosperity: Aquileia was placed in the most conspicuous station: but the ancient dignity of Padua was supported by agriculture and ma­nufactures; and the property of five hundred citizens, who were entitled to the equestrian rank, must have amounted, at the strictest computation, to one million seven hundred thousand pounds. Many families of Aquileia, Padua, and the adja­cent towns, who fled from the sword of the Huns, found a safe, though obscure, refuge in the neigh­bouring islands ⁵⁵. At the extremity of the Gulf, [Page 127] where the Hadriatic feebly imitates the tides of the ocean, near an hundred small islands are sepa­rated by shallow water from the continent, and protected from the waves by several long slips of land, which admit the entrance of vessels through some secret and narrow channels ⁵⁶. Till the middle of the fifth century, these remote and sequestered spots remained without cultivation, with few inhabitants, and almost without a name. But the manners of the Venetian fugitives, their arts and their government, were gradually form­ed by their new situation; and one of the epistles of Cassiodorius ⁵⁷, which describes their condition about seventy years afterwards, may be consider­ed as the primitive monument of the republic. The minister of Theodoric compares them, in his quaint declamatory style, to water-fowl, who had fixed their nests on the bosom of the waves; and though he allows, that the Venetian provinces had formerly contained many noble families, he insinuates, that they were now reduced by mis­fortune to the same level of humble poverty. Fish was the common, and almost the universal, [Page 128] food of every rank: their only treasure consisted in the plenty of salt, which they extracted from the sea: and the exchange of that commodity, so essential to human life, was substituted in the neighbouring markets to the currency of gold and silver. A people, whose habitations might be doubtfully assigned to the earth or water, soon became alike familiar with the two elements; and the demands of avarice succeeded to those of necessity. The islanders, who, from Grado to Chiozza, were intimately connected with each other, penetrated into the heart of Italy, by the secure, though laborious, navigation of the rivers and inland canals. Their vessels, which were continually increasing in size and number, visited all the harbours of the Gulf; and the mar­riage, which Venice annually celebrates with the Hadriatic, was contracted in her early infancy. The epistle of Cassiodorius, the Praetorian prae­fect, is addressed to the maritime tribunes: and he exhorts them, in a mild tone of authority, to animate the zeal of their countrymen for the pub­lic service, which required their assistance to transport the magazines of wine and oil from the province of Istria to the royal city of Ravenna. The ambiguous office of these magistrates is ex­plained by the tradition, that, in the twelve prin­cipal islands, twelve tribunes, or judges, were created by an annual and popular election. The existence of the Venetian republic under the Gothic kingdom of Italy, is attested by the same authentic record, which annihilates their lofty [Page 129] claim of original and perpetual independ­ence ⁵⁸.

The Italians, who had long since renounced Attila gives peace to the Ro­mans. the exercise of arms, were surprised, after forty years peace, by the approach of a formidable Barbarian, whom they abhorred, as the enemy of their religion, as well as of their republic. Amidst the general consternation, Aetius alone was incapable of fear; but it was impossible that he should atchieve, alone, and unassisted, any military exploits worthy of his former renown. The Barbarians who had defended Gaul, refused to march to the relief of Italy; and the succours promised by the Eastern emperor were distant and doubtful. Since Aetius, at the head of his do­mestic troops, still maintained the field, and ha­rassed or retarded the march of Attila, he never shewed himself more truly great, than at the time when his conduct was blamed by an ignorant and ungrateful people ⁵⁹. If the mind of Valentinian had been susceptible of any generous sentiments, he would have chosen such a general for his ex­ample and his guide. But the timid grandson of [Page 130] Theodosius, instead of sharing the dangers, es­caped from the sound of war; and his hasty retreat from Ravenna to Rome, from an impreg­nable fortress to an open capital, betrayed his secret intention of abandoning Italy, as soon as the danger should approach his Imperial person. This shameful abdication was suspended, how­ever, by the spirit of doubt and delay, which commonly adheres to pusillanimous counsels, and sometimes corrects their pernicious tendency. The Western emperor, with the senate and peo­ple of Rome, embraced the more salutary reso­lution of deprecating, by a solemn and suppliant embassy, the wrath of Attila. This important commission was accepted by Avienus, who, from his birth and riches, his consular dignity, the numerous train of his clients, and his personal abilities, held the first rank in the Roman senate. The specious and artful character of Avienus ⁶⁰, was admirably qualified to conduct a negociation, either of public or private interest: his colleague Trigetius had exercised the Praetorian praefec­ture of Italy; and Leo, bishop of Rome, con­sented to expose his life for the safety of his flock. The genius of Leo ⁶¹ was exercised and displayed [Page 131] in the public misfortunes; and he has deserved the appellation of Great, by the successful zeal, with which he laboured to establish his opinions, and his authority, under the venerable names of orthodox faith, and ecclesiastical discipline. The Roman ambassadors were introduced to the tent of Attila, as he lay encamped at the place where the slow-winding Mincius is lost in the foaming waves of the lake Benacus ⁶², and trampled with his Scythian cavalry the farms of Catullus and Virgil ⁶³. The Barbarian monarch listened with favourable, and even respectful, attention; and the deliverance of Italy was purchased by the im­mense ransom, or dowry, of the princess Honoria. The state of his army might facilitate the treaty, and hasten his retreat. Their martial spirit was relaxed by the wealth and indolence of a warm climate. The shepherds of the North, whose ordinary food consisted of milk and raw flesh, in­dulged themselves too freely in the use of bread, of wine, and of meat, prepared and seasoned by the arts of cookery; and the progress of disease [Page 132] revenged in some measure the injuries of the Ita­lians ⁶⁴. When Attila declared his resolution of carrying his victorious arms to the gates of Rome, he was admonished by his friends, as well as by his enemies, that Alaric had not long survived the conquest of the eternal city. His mind, su­perior to real danger, was assaulted by imaginary terrors; nor could he escape the influence of superstition, which had so often been subservient to his designs ⁶⁵. The pressing eloquence of Leo, his majestic aspect, and sacerdotal robes, excited the veneration of Attila for the spiritual father of the Christians. The apparition of the two apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, who menaced the Bar­barian with instant death, if he rejected the prayer of their successor, is one of the noblest legends of ecclesiastical tradition. The safety of Rome might deserve the interposition of celestial beings; and some indulgence is due to a fable, which has been represented by the pencil of Raphael, and the chissel of Algardi ⁶⁶.

[Page 133] Before the king of the Huns evacuated Italy, he threatened to return more dreadful, and more implacable, if his bride, the princess Honoria, The death of Attila, A. D. 453. were not delivered to his ambassadors within the term stipulated by the treaty. Yet, in the mean while, Attila relieved his tender anxiety, by add­ing a beautiful maid, whose name was Ildico, to the list of his innumerable wives ⁶⁷. Their marriage was celebrated with barbaric pomp and festivity, at his wooden palace beyond the Da­nube; and the monarch, oppressed with wine and sleep, retired, at a late hour, from the ban­quet to the nuptial bed. His attendants con­tinued to respect his pleasures, or his repose, the greatest part of the ensuing day, till the unusual silence alarmed their fears and suspicions; and, after attempting to awaken Attila by loud and repeated cries, they at length broke into the royal apartment. They found the trembling bride sitting by the bedside, hiding her face with her veil, and lamenting her own danger, as well as the death of the king, who had expired during [Page 134] the night ⁶⁸. An artery had suddenly burst; and as Attila lay in a supine posture, he was suf­focated by a torrent of blood, which, instead of finding a passage through the nostrils, regurgi­tated into the lungs and stomach. His body was solemnly exposed in the midst of the plain, un­der a silken pavilion; and the chosen squadrons of the Huns, wheeling round in measured evo­lutions, chaunted a funeral song to the memory of a hero, glorious in his life, invincible in his death, the father of his people, the scourge of his enemies, and the terror of the world. Ac­cording to their national custom, the Barbarians cut off a part of their hair, gashed their faces with unseemly wounds, and bewailed their valiant leader as he deserved, not with the tears of wo­men, but with the blood of warriors. The re­mains of Attila were inclosed within three coffins, of gold, of silver, and of iron, and privately buried in the night: the spoils of nations were thrown into his grave; the captives who had opened the ground were inhumanly massacred; and the same Huns, who had indulged such ex­cessive grief, feasted, with dissolute and intem­perate mirth, about the recent sepulchre of their king. It was reported at Constantinople, that on [Page 135] the fortunate night in which he expired, Marcian beheld in a dream the bow of Attila broken asunder: and the report may be allowed to prove, how seldom the image of that formidable Bar­barian was absent from the mind of a Roman emperor ⁶⁹.

The revolution which subverted the empire of Destruc­tion of his empire. the Huns, established the fame of Attila, whose genius alone had sustained the huge and disjoint­ed fabric. After his death, the boldest chief­tains aspired to the rank of kings; the most pow­erful kings refused to acknowledge a superior; and the numerous sons, whom so many various mothers bore to the deceased monarch, divided and disputed, like a private inheritance, the so­vereign command of the nations of Germany and Scythia. The bold Ardaric felt and represented the disgrace of this servile partition; and his sub­jects, the warlike Gepidae, with the Ostrogoths, under the conduct of three valiant brothers, en­couraged their allies to vindicate the rights of freedom and royalty. In a bloody and decisive conflict on the banks of the river Netad, in Pan­nonia, the lance of the Gepidae, the sword of the Goths, the arrows of the Huns, the Suevic in­fantry, the light arms of the Heruli, and the heavy weapons of the Alani, encountered or sup­ported each other; and the victory of Ardaric was accompanied with the slaughter of thirty [Page 136] thousand of his enemies. Ellac, the eldest son of Attila, lost his life and crown in the memo­rable battle of Netad: his early valour had raised him to the throne of the Acatzires, a Scythian people, whom he subdued; and his father, who loved the superior merit, would have envied the death, of Ellac ⁷⁰. His brother Dengisich, with an army of Huns, still formidable in their flight and ruin, maintained his ground above fifteen years on the banks of the Danube. The palace of Attila, with the old country of Dacia, from the Carpathian hills to the Euxine, became the seat of a new power, which was erected by Ar­daric, king of the Gepidae. The Pannonian conquests, from Vienna to Sirmium, were occu­pied by the Ostrogoths; and the settlements of the tribes, who had so bravely asserted their native freedom, were irregularly distributed, according to the measure of their respective strength. Sur­rounded and oppressed by the multitude of his father's slaves, the kingdom of Dengisich was confined to the circle of his waggons; his des­perate courage urged him to invade the Eastern empire; he fell in battle; and his head, igno­miniously exposed in the Hippodrome, exhibited a grateful spectacle to the people of Constan­tinople. Attila had fondly or superstitiously be­lieved, [Page 137] that Irnac, the youngest of his sons, was destined to perpetuate the glories of his race. The character of that prince, who attempted to moderate the rashness of his brother Dengisich, was more suitable to the declining condition of the Huns; and Irnac, with his subject hords, re­tired into the heart of the Lesser Scythia. They were soon overwhelmed by a torrent of new Bar­barians, who followed the same road which their own ancestors had formerly discovered. The Geougen, or Avares, whose residence is assigned by the Greek writers to the shores of the ocean, impelled the adjacent tribes; till at length the Igours of the North, issuing from the cold Sibe­rian regions, which produce the most valuable furs, spread themselves over the desert, as far as the Boristhenes and Caspian gates; and finally extinguished the empire of the Huns ⁷¹.

Such an event might contribute to the safety Valentini­an mur­ders the patrician Aetius, A. D. 454. of the Eastern empire, under the reign of a prince, who conciliated the friendship, without forfeiting the esteem, of the Barbarians. But the emperor of the West, the feeble and dissolute Valentinian, who had reached his thirty-fifth year without attaining the age of reason or cou­rage, abused this apparent security, to undermine the foundations of his own throne, by the mur­der of the patrician Aetius. From the instinct [Page 138] of a base and jealous mind, he hated the man who was universally celebrated as the terror of the barbarians, and the support of the republic; and his new favourite, the eunuch Heraclius, awakened the emperor from the supine lethargy, which might be disguised, during the life of Placidia ⁷², by the excuse of filial piety. The fame of Aetius, his wealth and dignity, the nu­merous and martial train of Barbarian followers, his powerful dependents, who filled the civil offices of the state, and the hopes of his son Gaudentius, who was already contracted to Eu­doxia, the emperor's daughter, had raised him above the rank of a subject. The ambitious de­signs, of which he was secretly accused, excited the fears, as well as the resentment, of Valenti­nian. Aetius himself, supported by the conscious­ness of his merit, his services, and perhaps his innocence, seems to have maintained a haughty and indiscreet behaviour. The patrician offended his sovereign by an hostile declaration; he aggra­vated the offence, by compelling him to ratify, with a solemn oath, a treaty of reconciliation and alliance; he proclaimed his suspicions; he ne­glected his safety; and from a vain confidence that the enemy, whom he despised, was incapable [Page 139] even of a manly crime, he rashly ventured his person in the palace of Rome. Whilst he urged, perhaps with intemperate vehemence, the mar­riage of his son; Valentinian, drawing his sword, the first sword he had ever drawn, plunged it in the breast of a general who had saved his empire: his courtiers and eunuchs ambitiously struggled to imitate their master; and Aetius, pierced with an hundred wounds, fell dead in the royal pre­sence. Boethius, the Praetorian praefect, was killed at the same moment; and before the event could be divulged, the principal friends of the patrician were summoned to the palace, and separately murdered. The horrid deed, palliated by the specious names of justice and necessity, was immediately communicated by the emperor to his soldiers, his subjects, and his allies. The nations, who were strangers or enemies to Aetius, generously deplored the unworthy fate of a hero: the Barbarians, who had been attached to his service, dissembled their grief and resentment; and the public contempt, which had been so long entertained for Valentinian, was at once converted into deep and universal abhorrence. Such sentiments seldom pervade the walls of a palace; yet the emperor was confounded by the honest reply of a Roman, whose approbation he had not disdained to solicit. ‘"I am ignorant, Sir, of your motives or provocations; I only know, that you have acted like a man who cuts off his right hand with his left ⁷³."’

[Page 140] The luxury of Rome seems to have attracted the long and frequent visits of Valentinian; who was consequently more despised at Rome, than in and ra­vishes the wife of Maximus. any other part of his dominions. A republican spirit was insensibly revived in the senate, as their authority, and even their supplies, became ne­cessary for the support of his feeble government. The stately demeanour of an hereditary monarch offended their pride; and the pleasures of Valen­tinian were injurious to the peace and honour of noble families. The birth of the empress Eu­doxia was equal to his own, and her charms and tender affection deserved those testimonies of love, which her inconstant husband dissipated in vague and unlawful amours. Petronius Maxi­mus, a wealthy senator of the Anician family, who had been twice consul, was possessed of a chaste and beautiful wife: her obstinate resistance served only to irritate the desires of Valentinian; and he resolved to accomplish them either by strata­gem or force. Deep gaming was one of the vices of the court: the emperor, who, by chance or contrivance, had gained from Maximus a con­siderable sum, uncourteously exacted his ring as a security for the debt; and sent it by a trusty messenger to his wife, with an order, in her husband's name, that she should immediately at­tend the empress Eudoxia. The unsuspecting wife of Maximus was conveyed in her litter to the Imperial palace; the emissaries of her impa­tient lover conducted her to a remote and silent [Page 141] bed-chamber; and Valentinian violated, without remorse, the laws of hospitality. Her tears, when she returned home; her deep affliction; and her bitter reproaches against her husband, whom she considered as the accomplice of his own shame, excited Maximus to a just revenge; the desire of revenge was stimulated by ambition; and he might reasonably aspire, by the free suffrage of the Roman senate, to the throne of a detested and despicable rival. Valentinian, who supposed that every human breast was devoid, like his own, of friendship and gratitude, had impru­dently admitted among his guards several domes­tics and followers of Aetius. Two of these, of Bar­barian race, were persuaded to execute a sacred and honourable duty, by punishing with death the assassin of their patron; and their intrepid courage did not long expect a favourable mo­ment. Whilst Valentinian amused himself in the field of Mars with the spectacle of some military sports, they suddenly rushed upon him with drawn weapons, dispatched the guilty Heraclius, and stabbed the emperor to the heart, without the Death of Valentini­an, A. D. 455, March 16. least opposition from his numerous train, who seemed to rejoice in the tyrant's death. Such was the fate of Valentinian the Third ⁷⁴, the last [Page 142] Roman emperor of the family of Theodosius. He faithfully imitated the hereditary weakness of of his cousin and his two uncles, without inhe­riting the gentleness, the purity, the innocence, which alleviate, in their characters, the want of spirit and ability. Valentinian was less excusable, since he had passions, without virtues: even his religion was questionable; and though he never deviated into the paths of heresy, he scandalized the pious Christians by his attachment to the pro­fane arts of magic and divination.

As early as the time of Cicero and Varro, it Symptoms of decay and ruin. was the opinion of the Roman augurs, that the twelve vultures, which Romulus had seen, repre­sented the twelve centuries, assigned for the fatal period of his city ⁷⁵. This prophecy, disregarded perhaps in the season of health and prosperity, inspired the people with gloomy apprehensions, when the twelfth century, clouded with disgrace and misfortune, was almost elapsed ⁷⁶; and even posterity must acknowledge with some surprise, that the arbitrary interpretation of an accidental [Page 143] or fabulous circumstance, has been seriously veri­fied in the downfall of the Western empire. But its fall was announced by a clearer omen than the flight of vultures: the Roman government ap­peared every day less formidable to its enemies, more odious and oppressive to its subjects ⁷⁷. The taxes were multiplied with the public distress; oeconomy was neglected in proportion as it be­came necessary; and the injustice of the rich shifted the unequal burden from themselves to the people, whom they defrauded of the indul­gencies that might sometimes have alleviated their misery. The severe inquisition, which confis­cated their goods, and tortured their persons, compelled the subjects of Valentinian to prefer the more simple tyranny of the Barbarians, to fly to the woods and mountains, or to embrace the vile and abject condition of mercenary servants. They abjured and abhorred the name of Roman citizens, which had formerly excited the ambi­tion of mankind. The Armorican provinces of Gaul, and the greatest part of Spain, were thrown into a state of disorderly independence, by the confederations of the Bagaudae; and the Imperial ministers pursued with proscriptive laws, and ineffectual arms, the rebels whom they had made ⁷⁸. If all the Barbarian conquerors had [Page 144] been annihilated in the same hour, their total destruction would not have restored the empire of the West: and if Rome still survived, she survived the loss of freedom, of virtue, and of honour.

THE loss or desolation of the provinces, from the ocean to the Alps, impaired the glory and greatness of Rome: her internal prosperity was ir­retrievably Naval power of the Van­dals. A. D. 439—455. destroyed by the separation of Africa. The rapacious Vandals confiscated the patrimo­nial estates of the senators, and intercepted the regular subsidies, which relieved the poverty, and encouraged the idleness, of the plebeians. The distress of the Romans was soon aggravated by an unexpected attack; and the province, so long cultivated for their use by industrious and obedient subjects, was armed against them by an ambitious Barbarian. The Vandals and Alani, who followed the successful standard of Genseric, had acquired a rich and fertile territory, which stretched along the coast above ninety days jour­ney from Tangier to Tripoli; but their narrow limits were pressed and confined, on either side, by the sandy desert and the Mediterranean. The discovery and conquest of the Black nations, that might dwell beneath the torrid zone, could not [Page 146] tempt the rational ambition of Genseric: but he cast his eyes towards the sea; he resolved to create a naval power, and his bold resolution was executed with steady and active perseverance. The woods of mount Atlas afforded an inexhaustible nur­sery of timber; his new subjects were skilled in the arts of navigation and ship-building; he animated his daring Vandals to embrace a mode of warfare which would render every maritime country ac­cessible to their arms; the Moors and Africans were allured by the hopes of plunder; and, after an interval of six centuries, the fleets that issued from the port of Carthage again claimed the em­pire of the Mediterranean. The success of the Vandals, the conquest of Sicily, the sack of Pa­lermo, and the frequent descents on the coast of Lucania, awakened and alarmed the mother of Valentinian, and the sister of Theodosius. Al­liances were formed; and armaments, expensive and ineffectual, were prepared, for the destruction of the common enemy; who reserved his courage to encounter those dangers which his policy could not prevent or elude. The designs of the Roman government were repeatedly baffled by his artful delays, ambiguous promises, and apparent concessions; and the interposition of his formid­able confederate the king of the Huns, recalled the emperors from the conquest of Africa to the care of their domestic safety. The revolutions of the palace, which left the Western empire with­out a defender, and without a lawful prince, dis­pelled the apprehensions, and stimulated the ava­rice, [Page 147] of Genseric. He immediately equipped a numerous fleet of Vandals and Moors, and cast anchor at the mouth of the Tyber, about three months after the death of Valentinian, and the elevation of Maximus to the Imperial throne.

The private life of the senator Petronius Maxi­mus ¹, The cha­racter and reign of the empe­ror Maxi­mus, A. D. 455, March 17. was often alleged as a rare example of hu­man felicity. His birth was noble and illustrious, since he descended from the Anician family; his dignity was supported by an adequate patrimony in land and money: and these advantages of for­tune were accompanied with liberal arts, and de­cent manners, which adorn or imitate the inesti­mable gifts of genius and virtue. The luxury of his palace and table was hospitable and ele­gant. Whenever Maximus appeared in public, he was surrounded by a train of grateful and ob­sequious clients ²; and it is possible that among these clients, he might deserve and possess some real friends. His merit was rewarded by the favour of the prince and senate: he thrice exer­cised the office of Praetorian praefect of Italy; he was twice invested with the consulship, and he obtained the rank of patrician. These civil ho­nours were not incompatible with the enjoyment [Page 148] of leisure and tranquillity; his hours, according to the demands of pleasure or reason, were accu­rately distributed by a water-clock; and this ava­rice of time may be allowed to prove the sense which Maximus entertained of his own happiness. The injury which he received from the emperor Valentinian, appears to excuse the most bloody revenge. Yet a philosopher might have reflected, that, if the resistance of his wife had been sincere, her chastity was still inviolate, and that it could never be restored if she had consented to the will of the adulterer. A patriot would have hesitated, before he plunged himself and his country into those inevitable calamities, which must follow the extinction of the royal house of Theodosius. The imprudent Maximus disregarded these salu­tary considerations: he gratified his resentment and ambition; he saw the bleeding corpse of Va­lentinian at his feet; and he heard himself sa­luted emperor by the unanimous voice of the se­nate and people. But the day of his inaugura­tion was the last day of his happiness. He was imprisoned (such is the lively expression of Si­donius) in the palace; and after passing a sleep­less night he sighed, that he had attained the sum­mit of his wishes, and aspired only to descend from the dangerous elevation. Oppressed by the weight of the diadem, he communicated his anxious thoughts to his friend and quaestor Ful­gentius; and when he looked back with unavail­ing regret on the secure pleasures of his former life, the emperor exclaimed, ‘"O fortunate Da­mocles ³, [Page 149] thy reign began and ended with the same dinner:"’ a well-known allusion, which Fulgentius afterwards repeated as an instructive lesson for princes and subjects.

The reign of Maximus continued about three His death, A. D. 455. June 12. months. His hours, of which he had lost the command, were disturbed by remorse, or guilt, or terror, and his throne was shaken by the sedi­tions of the soldiers, the people, and the con­federate Barbarians. The marriage of his son Palladius with the eldest daughter of the late em­peror, might tend to establish the hereditary suc­cession of his family; but the violence which he offered to the empress Eudoxia, could proceed only from the blind impulse of lust or revenge. His own wife, the cause of these tragic events, had been seasonably removed by death; and the widow of Valentinian was compelled to violate her decent mourning, perhaps her real grief, and to submit to the embraces of a presumptuous usurper, whom she suspected as the assassin of her deceased husband. These suspicions were soon justified by the indiscreet confession of Maximus himself; and he wantonly provoked the hatred of his reluctant bride, who was still conscious that she descended from a line of emperors. From [Page 150] the East, however, Eudoxia could not hope to obtain any effectual assistance: her father and her aunt Pulcheria were dead; her mother lan­guished at Jerusalem in disgrace and exile; and the sceptre of Constantinople was in the hands of a stranger. She directed her eyes towards Car­thage; secretly implored the aid of the king of the Vandals; and persuaded Genseric to improve the fair opportunity of disguising his rapacious designs by the specious names of honour, justice, and compassion ⁴. Whatever abilities Maximus might have shewn in a subordinate station, he was found incapable of administering an empire; and though he might easily have been informed of the naval preparations, which were made on the opposite shores of Africa, he expected with su­pine indifference the approach of the enemy, without adopting any measures of defence, of ne­gociation, or of a timely retreat. When the Van­dals disembarked at the mouth of the Tyber, the emperor was suddenly roused from his lethargy by the clamours of a trembling and exasperated multitude. The only hope which presented it­self to his astonished mind was that of a preci­pitate flight, and he exhorted the senators to imitate the example of their prince. But no [Page 151] sooner did Maximus appear in the streets, than he was assaulted by a shower of stones: a Roman, or a Burgundian, soldier claimed the honour of the first wound; his mangled body was ignomi­niously cast into the Tyber; the Roman people rejoiced in the punishment which they had in­flicted on the author of the public calamities; and the domestics of Eudoxia signalized their zeal in the service of their mistress ⁵.

On the third day after the tumult, Genseric Sack of Rome by the Van­dals, A. D. 455. June 15—29. boldly advanced from the port of Ostia to the gates of the defenceless city. Instead of a sally of the Roman youth, there issued from the gates an unarmed and venerable procession of the bishop at the head of his clergy ⁶. The fearless spirit of Leo, his authority and eloquence, again mitigated the fierceness of a Barbarian conqueror: the king of the Vandals promised to spare the unresisting multitude, to protect the buildings from fire, and to exempt the captives from torture; and although such orders were neither seriously given, nor strictly obeyed, the mediation of Leo was glorious to himself, and in some degree beneficial to his country. But Rome, and its inhabitants, were [Page 152] delivered to the licentiousness of the Vandals and Moors, whose blind passions revenged the injuries of Carthage. The pillage lasted fourteen days and nights; and all that yet remained of public or private wealth, of sacred or profane treasure, was diligently transported to the vessels of Gen­seric. Among the spoils, the splendid relics of two temples, or rather of two religions, exhibited a memorable example of the vicissitude of human and divine things. Since the abolition of Pa­ganism, the Capitol had been violated and aban­doned; yet the statues of the gods and heroes were still respected, and the curious roof of gilt bronze was reserved for the rapacious hands of Genseric ⁷. The holy instruments of the Jewish worship ⁸, the gold table, and the gold candle­stick with seven branches, originally framed ac­cording to the particular instructions of God him­self, and which were placed in the sanctuary of his temple, had been ostentatiously displayed to the Roman people in the triumph of Titus. They were afterwards deposited in the temple of Peace; [Page 153] and at the end of four hundred years, the spoils of Jerusalem were transferred from Rome to Car­thage, by a Barbarian who derived his origin from the shores of the Baltic. These ancient monuments might attract the notice of curiosity, as well as of avarice. But the Christian churches, enriched and adorned by the prevailing supersti­tion of the times, afforded more plentiful mate­rials for sacrilege; and the pious liberality of pope Leo, who melted six silver vases, the gift of Constantine, each of an hundred pounds weight, is an evidence of the damage which he attempted to repair. In the forty-five years, that had elapsed since the Gothic invasion, the pomp and luxury of Rome were in some measure restored; and it was difficult either to escape, or to satisfy, the avarice of a conqueror, who possessed leisure to collect, and ships to transport, the wealth of the capital. The imperial ornaments of the palace, the mag­nificent furniture and wardrobe, the sideboards of massy plate, were accumulated with disorderly ra­pine: the gold and silver amounted to several thousand talents; yet even the brass and copper were laboriously removed. Eudoxia herself, who advanced to meet her friend and deliverer, soon bewailed the imprudence of her own conduct. She was rudely stripped of her jewels; and the unfortunate empress, with her two daughters, the only surviving remains of the great Theodosius, was compelled, as a captive, to follow the haughty Vandal; who immediately hoisted sail, and re­turned with a prosperous navigation to the port [Page 154] of Carthage ⁹. Many thousand Romans of both sexes, chosen for some useful or agreeable qualifi­cations, reluctantly embarked on board the fleet of Genseric; and their distress was aggravated by the unfeeling Barbarians, who, in the division of the booty, separated the wives from their hus­bands, and the children from their parents. The charity of Deogratias, bishop of Carthage ¹⁰, was their only consolation and support. He generously sold the gold and silver plate of the church to pur­chase the freedom of some, to alleviate the slavery of others, and to assist the wants and infirmities of a captive multitude, whose health was impaired by the hardships which they had suffered in the passage from Italy to Africa. By his order, two spacious churches were converted into hospitals: the sick were distributed in convenient beds, and liberally supplied with food and medicines; and the aged prelate repeated his visits both in the day and night, with an assiduity that surpassed his strength, and a tender sympathy which enhanced the value of his services. Compare this scene with the field of Cannae; and judge between Han­nibal and the successor of St. Cyprian ¹¹.

[Page 155] The deaths of Aetius and Valentinian had re­laxed the ties which held the Barbarians of Gaul in peace and subordination. The seacoast was The em­peror Avi­tus, A. D. 455. July 10. infested by the Saxons; the Alemanni and the Franks advanced from the Rhine to the Seine; and the ambition of the Goths seemed to meditate more extensive and permanent conquests. The emperor Maximus relieved himself, by a judicious choice, from the weight of these distant cares; he silenced the solicitations of his friends, listened to the voice of fame, and promoted a stranger to the general command of the forces in Gaul. Avi­tus ¹², the stranger, whose merit was so nobly re­warded, descended from a wealthy and honourable family in the diocese of Auvergne. The convul­sions of the times urged him to embrace, with the same ardour, the civil and military professions; and the indefatigable youth blended the studies of literature and jurisprudence with the exercise of arms and hunting. Thirty years of his life were laudably spent in the public service; he alternately displayed his talents in war and negociation; and the soldier of Aetius, after executing the most im­portant embassies, was raised to the station of Praetorian praefect of Gaul. Either the merit of Avitus excited envy, or his moderation was desi­rous of repose, since he calmly retired to an estate, [Page 156] which he possessed in the neighbourhood of Cler­mont. A copious stream, issuing from the moun­tain, and falling headlong in many a loud and foaming cascade, discharged its waters into a lake about two miles in length, and the villa was plea­santly seated on the margin of the lake. The baths, the porticoes, the summer and winter apartments, were adapted to the purposes of luxury and use; and the adjacent country afforded the various prospects of woods, pastures, and mea­dows ¹³. In this retreat, where Avitus amused his leisure with books, rural sports, the practice of husbandry, and the society of his friends ¹⁴, he re­ceived the Imperial diploma, which constituted him master-general of the cavalry and infantry of Gaul. He assumed the military command; the Barbarians suspended their fury; and whatever means he might employ, whatever concessions he might be forced to make, the people enjoyed the benefits of actual tranquillity. But the fate of Gaul depended on the Visigoths; and the Roman [Page 157] general, less attentive to his dignity than to the public interest, did not disdain to visit Thoulouse in the character of an ambassador. He was re­ceived with courteous hospitality by Theodoric, the king of the Goths; but while Avitus laid the foundations of a solid alliance with that powerful nation, he was astonished by the intelligence, that the emperor Maximus was slain, and that Rome had been pillaged by the Vandals. A vacant throne, which he might ascend without guilt or danger, tempted his ambition ¹⁵; and the Visi­goths were easily persuaded to support his claim by their irresistible suffrage. They loved the per­son of Avitus; they respected his virtues; and they were not insensible of the advantage, as well A. D. 455. August 15. as honour, of giving an emperor to the West. The season was now approaching, in which the annual assembly of the seven provinces was held at Arles; their deliberations might perhaps be in­fluenced by the presence of Theodoric, and his martial brothers; but their choice would naturally incline to the most illustrious of their countrymen. Avitus, after a decent resistance, accepted the Imperial diadem from the representatives of Gaul; and his election was ratified by the acclamations of the Barbarians and provincials. The formal consent of Marcian, emperor of the East, was so­licited and obtained: but the senate, Rome, and [Page 158] Italy, though humbled by their recent calamities, submitted with a secret murmur to the presump­tion of the Gallic usurper.

Theodoric, to whom Avitus was indebted for the purple, had acquired the Gothic sceptre by Character of Theo­doric, king of the Visi­goths, A. D. 453—466. the murder of his elder brother Torismond; and he justified this atrocious deed by the design which his predecessor had formed of violating his alliance with the empire ¹⁶. Such a crime might not be incompatible with the virtues of a Barba­rian; but the manners of Theodoric were gentle and humane; and posterity may contemplate with­out terror the original picture of a Gothic king, whom Sidonius had intimately observed, in the hours of peace and of social intercourse. In an epistle, dated from the court of Thoulouse, the orator satisfies the curiosity of one of his friends, in the following description ¹⁷: ‘"By the majesty of his appearance, Theodoric would command the respect of those who are ignorant of his merit; and although he is born a prince, his merit would dignify a private station. He is of a middle stature, his body appears rather plump than fat, and in his well-proportioned [Page 159] limbs agility is united with muscular strength ¹⁸. If you examine his countenance, you will dis­tinguish a high forehead, large shaggy eye­brows, an aquiline nose, thin lips, a regular set of white teeth, and a fair complexion, that blushes more frequently from modesty than from anger. The ordinary distribution of his time, as far as it is exposed to the public view, may be concisely represented. Before day­break, he repairs, with a small train, to his domestic chapel, where the service is performed by the Arian clergy; but those who presume to interpret his secret sentiments, consider this assiduous devotion as the effect of habit and po­licy. The rest of the morning is employed in the administration of his kingdom. His chair is surrounded by some military officers of decent aspect and behaviour: the noisy crowd of his Barbarian guards occupies the hall of audience; but they are not permitted to stand within the veils or curtains, that conceal the council­chamber from vulgar eyes. The ambassadors of the nations are successively introduced: Theo­doric listens with attention, answers them with discreet brevity, and either announces or de­lays, according to the nature of their busi­ness, his final resolution. About eight (the second hour) he rises from his throne, and visits, [Page 160] either his treasury, or his stables. If he chuses to hunt, or at least to exercise himself on horse­back, his bow is carried by a favourite youth; but when the game is marked, he bends it with his own hand, and seldom misses the object of his aim: as a king, he disdains to bear arms in such ignoble warfare; but as a soldier, he would blush to accept any military service which he could perform himself. On common days, his dinner is not different from the repast of a private citizen; but every Saturday many ho­nourable guests are invited to the royal table, which, on these occasions, is served with the elegance of Greece, the plenty of Gaul, and the order and diligence of Italy ¹⁹. The gold or silver plate is less remarkable for its weight, than for the brightness and curious workman­ship: the taste is gratified without the help of foreign and costly luxury; the size and number of the cups of wine are regulated with a strict regard to the laws of temperance; and the re­spectful silence that prevails, is interrupted only by grave and instructive conversation. After dinner, Theodoric sometimes indulges himself in a short slumber; and as soon as he wakes, he calls for the dice and tables, encourages his friends to forget the royal majesty, and is de­lighted when they freely express the passions, which are excited by the incidents of play. At this game, which he loves as the image of war, [Page 161] he alternately displays his eagerness, his skill, his patience, and his cheerful temper. If he loses, he laughs; he is modest and silent, if he wins. Yet, notwithstanding this seeming indif­ference, his courtiers chuse to solicit any fa­vour in the moments of victory; and I myself, in my applications to the king, have derived some benefit from my losses ²⁰. About the ninth hour (three o'clock) the tide of business again returns, and flows incessantly till after sun-set, when the signal of the royal supper dis­misses the weary crowd of suppliants and pleaders. At the supper, a more familiar re­past, buffoons and pantomimes are sometimes introduced, to divert, not to offend, the com­pany, by their ridiculous wit: but female singers, and the soft effeminate modes of mu­sic, are severely banished, and such martial tunes as animate the soul to deeds of valour are alone grateful to the ear of Theodoric. He retires from table; and the nocturnal guards are immediately posted at the entrance of the treasury, the palace, and the private apart­ments."’

When the king of the Visigoths encouraged Avitus to assume the purple, he offered his per­son His expe­dition into Spain, A. D. 456. and his forces, as a faithful soldier of the re­public ²¹. [Page 162] The exploits of Theodoric soon con­vinced the world, that he had not degenerated from the warlike virtues of his ancestors. After the establishment of the Goths in Aquitain, and the passage of the Vandals into Africa, the Suevi, who had fixed their kingdom in Gallicia, aspired to the conquest of Spain, and threatened to extinguish the feeble remains of the Roman dominion. The provincials of Carthagena and Tarragona, afflicted by an hostile invasion, repre­sented their injuries and their apprehensions. Count Fronto was dispatched, in the name of the emperor Avitus, with advantageous offers of peace and alliance; and Theodoric interposed his weighty mediation, to declare, that, unless his bro­ther-in-law, the king of the Suevi, immediately retired, he should be obliged to arm in the cause of justice and of Rome. ‘"Tell him," replied the haughty Rechiarius, "that I despise his friend­ship and his arms; but that I shall soon try, whether he will dare to expect my arrival under the walls of Thoulouse."’ Such a challenge urged Theodoric to prevent the bold designs of his enemy: he passed the Pyrenees at the head of the Visigoths: the Franks and Burgundians served under his standard; and though he professed him­self the dutiful servant of Avitus, he privately stipulated, for himself and his successors, the ab­solute [Page 163] possession of his Spanish conquests. The two armies, or rather the two nations, encoun­tered each other on the banks of the river Urbi­cus, about twelve miles from Astorga; and the decisive victory of the Goths appeared for a while to have extirpated the name and kingdom of the Suevi. From the field of battle Theodoric ad­vanced to Braga, their metropolis, which still re­tained the splendid vestiges of its ancient com­merce and dignity ²². His entrance was not pol­luted with blood, and the Goths respected the chastity of their female captives, more especially of the consecrated virgins: but the greatest part of the clergy and people were made slaves, and even the churches and altars were confounded in the universal pillage. The unfortunate king of the Suevi had escaped to one of the ports of the ocean; but the obstinacy of the winds opposed his flight; he was delivered to his implacable rival; and Rechiarius, who neither desired nor expected mercy, received, with manly constancy, the death which he would probably have inflicted. After this bloody sacrifice to policy or resentment, Theodoric carried his victorious arms as far as Merida, the principal town of Lusitania, without meeting any resistance, except from the miracu­lous powers of St. Eulalia; but he was stopped in [Page 164] the full career of success, and recalled from Spain, before he could provide for the security of his conquests. In his retreat towards the Pyrenees, he revenged his disappointment on the country through which he passed, and in the sack of Pol­lentia and Astorga, he shewed himself a faithless ally, as well as a cruel enemy. Whilst the king of the Visigoths fought and vanquished in the name of Avitus, the reign of Avitus had expired; and both the honour and the interest of Theodoric were deeply wounded by the disgrace of a friend, whom he had seated on the throne of the Western empire ²³.

The pressing solicitations of the senate and peo­ple, Avitus is deposed, A. D. 456, Oct. 16. persuaded the emperor Avitus to fix his resi­dence at Rome, and to accept the consulship for the ensuing year. On the first day of January, his son-in-law, Sidonius Apollinaris, celebrated his praises in a panegyric of six hundred verses; but this composition, though it was rewarded with a brass statue ²⁴, seems to contain a very moderate proportion, either of genius or of truth. The poet, if we may degrade that sacred name, exag­gerates the merit of a sovereign and a father; and his prophecy of a long and glorious reign was [Page 165] soon contradicted by the event. Avitus, at a time when the Imperial dignity was reduced to a pre­eminence of toil and danger, indulged himself in the pleasures of Italian luxury: age had not ex­tinguished his amorous inclinations; and he is accused of insulting, with indiscreet and ungene­rous raillery, the husbands whose wives he had seduced or violated ²⁵. But the Romans were not inclined, either to excuse his faults, or to ac­knowledge his virtues. The several parts of the empire became every day more alienated from each other; and the stranger of Gaul was the ob­ject of popular hatred and contempt. The senate asserted their legitimate claim in the election of an emperor; and their authority, which had been originally derived from the old constitution, was again fortified by the actual weakness of a declin­ing monarchy. Yet even such a monarchy might have resisted the votes of an unarmed senate, if their discontent had not been supported, or per­haps inflamed, by Count Ricimer, one of the principal commanders of the Barbarian troops, who formed the military defence of Italy. The daughter of Wallia, king of the Visigoths, was the mother of Ricimer; but he was descended, on the father's side, from the nation of the Suevi ²⁶: [Page 166] his pride, or patriotism, might be exasperated by the misfortunes of his countrymen; and he obeyed, with reluctance, an emperor, in whose elevation he had not been consulted. His faithful and im­portant services against the common enemy, ren­dered him still more formidable ²⁷; and, after de­stroying, on the coast of Corsica, a fleet of Van­dals, which consisted of sixty gallies, Ricimer re­turned in triumph with the appellation of the De­liverer of Italy. He chose that moment to signify to Avitus, that his reign was at an end; and the feeble emperor, at a distance from his Gothic al­lies, was compelled, after a short and unavailing struggle, to abdicate the purple. By the cle­mency, however, or the contempt, of Ricimer ²⁸, he was permitted to descend from the throne, to the more desirable station of bishop of Placentia: but the resentment of the senate was still unsatis­fied; and their inflexible severity pronounced the sentence of his death. He fled towards the Alps, with the humble hope, not of arming the Visi­goths in his cause, but of securing his person and treasures in the sanctuary of Julian, one of the tutelar saints of Auvergne ²⁹. Disease, or the [Page 167] hand of the executioner, arrested him on the road; yet his remains were decently transported to Bri­vas, or Brioude, in his native province, and he reposed at the feet of his holy patron ³⁰. Avitus left only one daughter, the wife of Sidonius Apollinaris, who inherited the patrimony of his father-in-law; lamenting, at the same time, the disappointment of his public and private expec­tations. His resentment prompted him to join, or at least to countenance, the measures of a rebellious faction in Gaul; and the poet had con­tracted some guilt, which it was incumbent on him to expiate, by a new tribute of flattery to the succeeding emperor ³¹.

The successor of Avitus presents the welcome Character and eleva­tion of Majorian, A. D. 457. discovery of a great and heroic character, such as sometimes arise in a degenerate age, to vindicate the honour of the human species. The emperor Majorian has deserved the praises of his contem­poraries, [Page 168] and of posterity; and these praises may be strongly expressed in the words of a judicious and disinterested historian: ‘"That he was gentle to his subjects; that he was terrible to his ene­mies; and that he excelled in every virtue, all his predecessors who had reigned over the Romans ³²."’ Such a testimony may justify at least the panegyric of Sidonius; and we may acquiesce in the assurance, that, although the obsequious orator would have flattered, with equal zeal, the most worthless of princes, the extraordinary merit of his object confined him, on this occasion, within the bounds of truth ³³. Majorian derived his name from his maternal grandfather, who, in the reign of the great Theo­dosius, had commanded the troops of the Illyrian frontier. He gave his daughter in marriage to the father of Majorian, a respectable officer, who administered the revenues of Gaul with skill and integrity; and generously preferred the friendship of Aetius, to the tempting offers of an insidious court. His son, the future emperor, who was educated in the profession of arms, displayed, from his early youth, intrepid courage, premature [Page 169] wisdom, and unbounded liberality in a scanty fortune. He followed the standard of Aetius, contributed to his success, shared, and sometimes eclipsed, his glory, and at last excited the jea­lousy of the patrician, or rather of his wife, who forced him to retire from the service ³⁴. Majo­rian, after the death of Aetius, was recalled, and promoted; and his intimate connection with count Ricimer, was the immediate step by which he ascended the throne of the Western empire. During the vacancy that succeeded the abdication of Avitus, the ambitious Barbarian, whose birth excluded him from the Imperial dignity, govern­ed Italy, with the title of Patrician; resigned, to his friend, the conspicuous station of master­general of the cavalry and infantry; and, after an interval of some months, consented to the unanimous wish of the Romans, whose favour Majorian had solicited by a recent victory over the Alemanni ³⁵. He was invested with the pur­ple at Ravenna; and the epistle which he ad­dressed to the senate, will best describe his situa­tion and his sentiments. ‘"Your election, Con­script Fathers! and the ordinance of the most [Page 170] valiant army, have made me your emperor ³⁶. May the propitious Deity direct and prosper the counsels and events of my administration, to your advantage, and to the public welfare! For my own part, I did not aspire, I have sub­mitted, to reign; nor should I have discharged the obligations of a citizen, if I had refused, with base and selfish ingratitude, to support the weight of those labours, which were im­posed by the republic. Assist, therefore, the prince whom you have made; partake the du­ties which you have enjoined; and may our common endeavours promote the happiness of an empire, which I have accepted from your hands. Be assured, that, in our times, justice shall resume her ancient vigour, and that vir­tue shall become not only innocent, but meri­torious. Let none, except the authors them­selves, be apprehensive of delations ³⁷, which, as a subject, I have always condemned, and, as a prince, will severely punish. Our own vigilance, and that of our father, the patrician Ricimer, shall regulate all military affairs, and [Page 171] provide for the safety of the Roman world, which we have saved from foreign and domestic enemies ³⁸. You now understand the maxims of my government: you may confide in the faithful love and sincere assurances of a prince, who has formerly been the companion of your life and dangers; who still glories in the name of senator, and who is anxious, that you should never repent of the judgment which you have pronounced in his favour."’ The emperor, who, amidst the ruins of the Roman world, re­vived the ancient language of law and liberty, which Trajan would not have disclaimed, must have derived those generous sentiments from his own heart; since they were not suggested to his imitation by the customs of his age, or the ex­ample of his predecessors ³⁹.

The private and public actions of Majorian His salu­tary laws, A. D. 457—461. are very imperfectly known: but his laws, re­markable for an original cast of thought and expression, faithfully represent the character of a sovereign, who loved his people, who sympathized in their distress, who had studied the causes of the decline of the empire, and who was capable of applying, (as far as such reformation was [Page 172] practicable) judicious and effectual remedies to the public disorders ⁴⁰. His regulations concern­ing the finances manifestly tended to remove, or at least to mitigate, the most intolerable griev­ances. I. From the first hour of his reign, he was solicitous. (I translate his own words) to re­lieve the weary fortunes of the provincials, op­pressed by the accumulated weight of indictions and superindictions ⁴¹. With this view, he grant­ed an universal amnesty, a final and absolute dis­charge of all arrears of tribute, of all debts, which, under any pretence, the fiscal officers might demand from the people. This wise dere­liction of obsolete, vexatious, and unprofitable claims, improved and purified the sources of the public revenue; and the subject, who could now look back without despair, might labour with hope and gratitude for himself and for his coun­try. II. In the assessment and collection of taxes Majorian restored the ordinary jurisdiction of the provincial magistrates; and suppressed the extra­ordinary commissions which had been introduced, in the name of the emperor himself, or of the Praetorian praefects. The favourite servants, who obtained such irregular powers, were insolent in their behaviour, and arbitrary in their demands: they affected to despise the subordinate tribunals, [Page 173] and they were discontented, if their fees and pro­fits did not twice exceed the sum which they condescended to pay into the treasury. One in­stance of their extortion would appear incredible, were it not authenticated by the legislator him­self. They exacted the whole payment in gold: but they refused the current coin of the empire, and would accept only such ancient pieces as were stamped with the names of Faustina or the Antonines. The subject, who was unprovided with these curious medals, had recourse to the expedient of compounding with their rapacious demands; or, if he succeeded in the research, his imposition was doubled, according to the weight and value of the money of former times ⁴². III. ‘"The municipal corporations (says the em­peror), the lesser senates (so antiquity has justly styled them), deserve to be considered as the heart of the cities, and the sinews of the repub­lic. And yet so low are they now reduced, by the injustice of magistrates, and the venality of collectors, that many of their members, re­nouncing their dignity and their country, have taken refuge in distant and obscure exile."’ He urges, and even compels, their return to their respective cities; but he removes the griev­ance which had forced them to desert the exercise [Page 174] of their municipal functions. They are directed, under the authority of the provincial magistrates, to resume their office of levying the tribute; but, instead of being made responsible for the whole sum assessed on their district, they are only requir­ed to produce a regular account of the payments which they have actually received, and of the defaulters who are still indebted to the public. IV. But Majorian was not ignorant, that these corporate bodies were too much inclined to re­taliate the injustice and oppression which they had suffered; and he therefore revives the useful office of the defenders of cities. He exhorts the people to elect, in a full and free assembly, some man of discretion and integrity, who would dare to assert their privileges, to represent their griev­ances, to protect the poor from the tyranny of the rich, and to inform the emperor of the abuses that were committed under the sanction of his name and authority.

The spectator, who casts a mournful view over The edi­fices of Rome. the ruins of ancient Rome, is tempted to accuse the memory of the Goths and Vandals, for the mischief which they had neither leisure, nor power, nor perhaps inclination, to perpetrate. The tempest of war might strike some lofty tur­rets to the ground; but the destruction which un­dermined the foundations of those massy fabrics, was prosecuted, slowly and silently, during a period of ten centuries; and the motives of in­terest, that afterwards operated without shame or controul, were severely checked by the taste and spirit of the emperor Majorian. The decay of [Page 175] the city had gradually impaired the value of the public works. The circus and theatres might still excite, but they seldom gratified, the desires of the people: the temples, which had escaped the zeal of the Christians, were no longer inha­bited either by gods or men; the diminished crowds of the Romans were lost in the immense space of their baths and porticoes; and the stately libraries and halls of justice became use­less to an indolent generation, whose repose was seldom disturbed, either by study, or business. The monuments of consular, or Imperial, great­ness were no longer revered, as the immortal glory of the capital; they were only esteemed as an inexhaustible mine of materials, cheaper, and more convenient, than the distant quarry. Specious petitions were continually addressed to the easy magistrates of Rome, which stated the want of stones or bricks for some necessary ser­vice: the fairest forms of architecture were rudely defaced for the sake of some paltry, or pretended, repairs; and the degenerate Romans, who convert­ed the spoil to their own emolument, demolished, with sacrilegious hands, the labours of their an­cestors. Majorian, who had often sighed over the desolation of the city, applied a severe re­medy to the growing evil ⁴³ He reserved to [Page 176] the prince and senate the sole congnisance of the extreme cases which might justify the destruc­tion of an ancient edifice; imposed a fine of fifty pounds of gold (two thousand pounds sterling), on every magistrate, who should presume to grant such illegal and scandalous licence; and threaten­ed to chastise the criminal obedience of their subordinate officers, by a severe whipping, and the amputation of both their hands. In the last instance, the legislator might seem to forget the proportion of guilt and punishment; but his zeal arose from a generous principle, and Majorian was anxious to protect the monuments of those ages, in which he would have desired and deserved to live. The emperor conceived, that it was his interest to increase the number of his subjects; that it was his duty to guard the purity of the marriage-bed: but the means which he employed to accomplish these salutary purposes, are of an ambiguous, and perhaps exceptionable, kind. The pious maids, who consecrated their virginity to Christ, were restrained from taking the veil, till they had reached their fortieth year. Windows under that age were compelled to form a second alliance within the term of five years, by the for­feiture of half their wealth to their nearest rela­tions, or to the state. Unequal marriages were condemned or annulled. The punishment of confiscation and exile was deemed so inadequate [Page 177] to the guilt of adultery, that, if the criminal returned to Italy, he might, by the express de­claration of Majorian, be slain with impunity ⁴⁴.

While the emperor Majorian assiduously la­boured Majorian prepares to invade Africa, A. D. 457. to restore the happiness and virtue of the Romans, he encountered the arms of Genseric, from his character and situation, their most for­midable enemy. A fleet of Vandals and Moors landed at the mouth of the Liris, or Garigliano: but the Imperial troops surprised and attacked the disorderly Barbarians, who were encumbered with the spoils of Campania; they were chaced with slaughter to their ships, and their leader, the king's brother-in-law, was found in the num­ber of the slain ⁴⁵. Such vigilance might an­nounce the character of the new reign; but the strictest vigilance, and the most numerous forces, were insufficient to protect the long-extended coast of Italy, from the depredations of a naval war. The public opinion had imposed a nobler and more arduous task on the genius of Majo­rian. Rome expected from him alone the resti­tution of Africa; and the design, which he form­ed, of attacking the Vandals in their new settle­ments, was the result of bold and judicious po­licy. If the intrepid emperor could have infused his own spirit into the youth of Italy; if he could [Page 178] have revived, in the field of Mars, the manly exercises in which he had always surpassed his equals; he might have marched against Genseric at the head of a Roman army. Such a reforma­tion of national manners might be embraced by the rising generation; but it is the misfortune of those princes who laboriously sustain a declining monarchy, that, to obtain some immediate ad­vantage, or to avert some impending danger, they are forced to countenance, and even to mul­tiply, the most pernicious abuses. Majorian, like the weakest of his predecessors, was reduced to the disgraceful expedient of substituting Bar­barian auxiliaries in the place of his unwarlike subjects: and his superior abilities could only be displayed in the vigour and dexterity with which he wielded a dangerous instrument, so apt to recoil on the hand that used it. Besides the con­federates, who were already engaged in the ser­vice of the empire, the fame of his liberality and valour attracted the nations of the Danube, the Borysthenes, and perhaps of the Tanais. Many thousands of the bravest subjects of Attila, the Gepidae, the Ostrogoths, the Rugians, the Bur­gundians, the Suevi, the Alani, assembled in the plains of Liguria; and their formidable strength was balanced by their mutual animosities ⁴⁶. They passed the Alps in a severe winter. The emperor led the way, on foot, and in complete armour; [Page 179] sounding, with his long staff, the depth of the ice, or snow, and encouraging the Scythians, who complained of the extreme cold, by the cheerful assurance, that they should be satisfied with the heat of Africa. The citizens of Lyons had presumed to shut their gates: they soon im­plored, and experienced, the clemency of Majo­rian. He vanquished Theodoric in the field; and admitted to his friendship and alliance, a king whom he had found not unworthy of his arms. The beneficial, though precarious, re­union of the greatest part of Gaul and Spain, was the effect of persuasion, as well as of force ⁴⁷; and the independent Bagaudae, who had escaped, or resisted, the oppression of former reigns, were disposed to confide in the virtues of Majorian. His camp was filled with Barbarian allies; his throne was supported by the zeal of an affectinate people; but the emperor had foreseen, that it was impossible, without a maritime power, to atchieve the conquest of Africa. In the first Pu­nic war, the republic had exerted such incre­dible diligence, that, within sixty days after the first stroke of the axe had been given in the forest, a fleet of one hundred and sixty gallies proudly rode at anchor in the sea ⁴⁸. Under circumstances [Page 180] much less favourable, Majorian equalled the spi­rit and perseverance of the ancient Romans. The woods of the Apennine were felled; the arsenals and manufactures of Ravenna and Mise­num were restored; Italy and Gaul vied with each other in liberal contributions to the public service; and the Imperial navy of three hundred large gallies, with an adequate proportion of transports and smaller vessels, was collected in the secure and capacious harbour of Carthagena in Spain ⁴⁹. The intrepid countenance of Ma­jorian animated his troops with a confidence of victory; and if we might credit the historian Procopius, his courage sometimes hurried him beyond the bounds of prudence. Anxious to explore, with his own eyes, the state of the Van­dals, he ventured, after disguising the colour of his hair, to visit Carthage, in the character of his own ambassador: and Genseric was after­wards mortified by the discovery, that he had entertained and dismissed the emperor of the Romans. Such an anecdote may be rejected as an improbable fiction; but it is a fiction which would not have been imagined, unless in the life of a hero ⁵⁰.

[Page 181] Without the help of a personal interview, Gen­seric was sufficiently acquainted with the genius and designs of his adversary. He practised his The loss of his fleet. customary arts of fraud and delay, but he prac­tised them without success. His applications for peace became each hour more submissive, and perhaps more sincere; but the inflexible Majorian had adopted the ancient maxim, that Rome could not be safe, as long as Carthage existed in a hostile state. The king of the Vandals distrusted the valour of his native subjects, who were ener­vated by the luxury of the South ⁵¹; he suspected the fidelity of the vanquished people, who ab­horred him as an Arian tyrant; and the desperate measure, which he executed, of reducing Mau­ritania into a desert ⁵², could not defeat the operations of the Roman emperor, who was at liberty to land his troops on any part of the Afri­can coast. But Genseric was saved from im­pending and inevitable ruin, by the treachery of some powerful subjects; envious, or apprehen­sive, of their master's success. Guided by their secret intelligence, he surprised the unguarded [Page 182] fleet in the bay of Carthagena: many of the ships were sunk, or taken, or burnt; and the prepa­rations of three years were destroyed in a single day ⁵³. After this event, the behaviour of the two antagonists shewed them superior to their fortune. The Vandal, instead of being elated by this accidental victory, immediately renewed his solicitations for peace. The emperor of the West, who was capable of forming great designs, and of supporting heavy disappointments, consented to a treaty, or rather to a suspension of arms; in the full assurance that, before he could restore his navy, he should be supplied with provocations to justify a second war. Majorian returned to Italy, to prosecute his labours for the public happiness; and, as he was conscious of his own integrity, he might long remain ignorant of the dark conspi­racy which threatened his throne and his life. The recent misfortune of Carthagena sullied the glory which had dazzled the eyes of the multi­tude; almost every description of civil and mili­tary officers were exasperated against the Re­former, since they all derived some advantage from the abuses which he endeavoured to sup­press; and the patrician Rieimer impelled the inconstant passions of the Barbarians against a prince whom he esteemed and hated. The vir­tues of Majorian could not protect him from the impetuous sedition, which broke out in the camp [Page 183] near Tortona, at the foot of the Alps. He was compelled to abdicate the Imperial purple: five days after his abdication, it was reported that he died of a dysentery ⁵⁴; and the humble tomb, His death, A D. 461. August 7. which covered his remains, was consecrated by the respect and gratitude of succeeding genera­tions ⁵⁵. The private character of Majorian in­spired love and respect. Malicious calumny and satire excited his indignation, or, if he himself were the object, his contempt: but he protected the freedom of wit, and in the hours which the emperor gave to the familiar society of his friends, he could indulge his taste for pleasantry, without degrading the majesty of his rank ⁵⁶.

It was not perhaps without some regret, that Ricimer reigns un­der the name of Severus, A. D. 461—467. Ricimer sacrificed his friend to the interest of his ambition: but he resolved, in a second choice, to avoid the imprudent preference of superior virtue and merit. At his command, the obsequious [Page 184] senate of Rome bestowed the Imperial title on Libius Severus, who ascended the throne of the West without emerging from the obscurity of a private condition. History has scarcely deigned to notice his birth, his elevation, his character, or his death. Severus expired, as soon as his life became inconvenient to his patron ⁵⁷; and it would be useless to discriminate his nominal reign in the vacant interval of six years, between the death of Majorian, and the elevation of An­themius. During that period the government was in the hands of Ricimer alone; and although the modest Barbarian disclaimed the name of king, he accumulated treasures, formed a separate army, negociated private alliances, and ruled Italy with the same independent and despotic authority, which was afterwards exercised by Odoacer and Theodoric. But his dominions were bounded by the Alps; and two Roman ge­nerals, Marcellinus and Aegidius, maintained their allegiance to the Republic, by rejecting, with disdain, the phantom which he styled an emperor. Marcellinus still adhered to the old Revolt of Marcelli­nus in Dalmatia, religion; and the devout Pagans, who secretly disobeyed the laws of the church and state, ap­plauded his profound skill in the science of divination. But he possessed the more valuable [Page 185] qualifications of learning, virtue, and courage ⁵⁸; the study of the Latin literature had improved his taste; and his military talents had recom­mended him to the esteem and confidence of the great Aetius, in whose ruin he was involved. By a timely flight, Marcellinus escaped the rage of Valentinian, and boldly asserted his liberty amidst the convulsions of the Western empire. His voluntary, or reluctant, submission, to the authority of Majorian, was rewarded by the government of Sicily, and the command of an army, stationed in that island to oppose, or to attack, the Vandals; but his Barbarian merce­naries, after the emperor's death, were tempted to revolt by the artful liberality of Ricimer. At the head of a band of faithful followers, the intrepid Marcellinus occupied the province of Dalmatia, assumed the title of patrician of the West, secured the love of his subjects by a mild and equitable reign, built a fleet, which claimed the dominion of the Hadriatic, and alternately alarmed the coasts of Italy and of Africa ⁵⁹. Aegidius, the master-general of Gaul, who equalled, or at least who imitated, the heroes and of Aegidius in Gaul. of ancient Rome ⁶⁰, proclaimed his immortal [Page 186] resentment against the assassins of his beloved master. A brave and numerous army was at­tached to his standard; and, though he was pre­vented by the arts of Ricimer, and the arms of the Visigoths, from marching to the gates of Rome, he maintained his independent sove­reignty beyond the Alps, and rendered the name of Aegidius respectable both in peace and war. The Franks, who had punished with exile the youthful follies of Childeric, elected the Roman general for their king; his vanity, rather than his ambition, was gratified by that singular ho­nour; and when the nation, at the end of four years, repented of the injury which they had offered to the Merovingian family, he patiently acquiesced in the restoration of the lawful prince. The authority of Aegidius ended only with his life; and the suspicions of poison and secret vio­lence, which derived some countenance from the character of Ricimer, were eagerly entertained by the passionate credulity of the Gauls ⁶¹.

The kingdom of Italy, a name to which the Naval war of the Van­dals, A. D. 361—467. Western empire was gradually reduced, was [Page 187] afflicted, under the reign of Ricimer, by the incessant depredations of the Vandal pirates ⁶². In the spring of each year, they equipped a for­midable navy in the port of Carthage; and Gen­seric himself, though in a very advanced age, still commanded in person the most important expe­ditions. His designs were concealed with im­penetrable secrecy, till the moment that he hoisted sail. When he was asked by his pilot, what course he should steer; ‘"Leave the deter­mination to the winds (replied the Barbarian, with pious arrogance); they will transport us to the guilty coast, whose inhabitants have provoked the divine justice:"’ but if Genseric himself deigned to issue more precise orders, he judged the most wealthy to be the most criminal. The Vandals repeatedly visited the coasts of Spain, Liguria, Tuscany, Campania, Lucania, Bruttium, Apulia, Calabria, Venetia, Dalmatia, Epirus, Greece, and Sicily: they were tempted to subdue the island of Sardinia, so advantage­ously placed in the centre of the Mediterranean; [Page 188] and their arms spread desolation, or terror, from the columns of Hercules to the mouth of the Nile. As they were more ambitious of spoil than of glory, they seldom attacked any fortified cities, or engaged any regular troops in the open field. But the celerity of their motions enabled them, almost at the same time, to threaten and to attack the most distant objects, which at­tracted their desires; and as they always em­barked a sufficient number of horses, they had no sooner landed, than they swept the dismayed country with a body of light cavalry. Yet, not­withstanding the example of their king, the native Vandals and Alani insensibly declined this toilsome and perilous warfare; the hardy gene­ration of the first conquerors was almost extin­guished, and their sons, who were born in Africa, enjoyed the delicious baths and gardens which had been acquired by the valour of their fathers. Their place was readily supplied by a various multitude of Moors and Romans, of captives and outlaws; and those desperate wretches, who had already violated the laws of their country, were the most eager to promote the atrocious acts which disgrace the victories of Genseric. In the treatment of his unhappy pri­soners, he sometimes consulted his avarice, and sometimes indulged his cruelty; and the massacre of five hundred noble citizens of Zant or Za­cynthus, whose mangled bodies he cast into the Ionian sea, was imputed, by the public indig­nation, to his latest posterity.

[Page 189] Such crimes could not be excused by any pro­vocations; but the war, which the king of the Vandals prosecuted against the Roman empire, Negocia­tions with the Eastern empire, A. D. 462, &c. was justified by a specious and reasonable motive. The widow of Valentinian, Eudoxia, whom he had led captive from Rome to Carthage, was the sole heiress of the Theodosian house; her elder daughter, Eudocia, became the reluctant wife of Hunneric, his eldest son; and the stern father, asserting a legal claim, which could not easily be refuted or satisfied, demanded a just proportion of the Imperial patrimony. An adequate, or at least a valuable, compensation, was offered by the Eastern emperor, to purchase a necessary peace. Eudoxia and her younger daughter, Pla­cidia, were honourably restored, and the fury of the Vandals was confined to the limits of the Western empire. The Italians, destitute of a naval force, which alone was capable of protect­ing their coasts, implored the aid of the more fortunate nations of the East; who had formerly acknowledged, in peace and war, the supremacy of Rome. But the perpetual division of the two empires had alienated their interest and their in­clinations; the faith of a recent treaty was alleged; and the Western Romans, instead of arms and ships, could only obtain the assistance of a cold and ineffectual mediation. The haughty Ricimer, who had long struggled with the diffi­culties of his situation, was at length reduced to address the throne of Constantinople, in the humble language of a subject; and Italy sub­mitted, [Page 190] as the price and security of the alliance, to accept a master from the choice of the emperor of the East ⁶³. It is not the purpose of the pre­sent chapter, or even of the present volume, to continue the distinct series of the Byzantine history; but a concise view of the reign and cha­racter of the emperor Leo, may explain the last efforts that were attempted to save the falling empire of the West ⁶⁴.

Since the death of the younger Theodosius, the domestic repose of Constantinople had never been Leo, em­peror of the East, A. D. 457—474. interrupted by war or faction. Pulcheria had bestowed her hand, and the sceptre of the East, on the modest virtue of Marcian: he gratefully reverenced her august rank and virgin chastity; and, after her death, he gave his people the ex­ample of the religious worship, that was due to the memory of the Imperial saint ⁶⁵. Attentive [Page 191] to the prosperity of his own dominions, Marcian seemed to behold, with indifference, the misfor­tunes of Rome; and the obstinate refusal of a a brave and active prince, to draw his sword against the Vandals, was ascribed to a secret pro­mise, which had formerly been exacted from him when he was a captive in the power of Gense­ric ⁶⁶. The death of Marcian, after a reign of seven years, would have exposed the East to the danger of a popular election; if the superior weight of a single family, had not been able to incline the balance in favour of the candidate whose interest they supported. The patrician Aspar might have placed the diadem on his own head; if he would have subscribed the Nicene creed ⁶⁷. During three generations, the armies of the East were successively commanded by his father, by himself, and by his son Ardaburius: his Barbarian guards formed a military force that overawed the palace and the capital; and the liberal distribution of his immense treasures, rendered Aspar as popular, as he was powerful. He recommended the obscure name of Leo of Thrace, a military tribune, and the principal steward of his household. His nomination was unanimously ratified by the senate; and the ser­vant of Aspar received the Imperial crown from the hands of the patriarch, or bishop, who was permitted to express, by this unusual ceremony, [Page 192] the suffrage of the Deity ⁶⁸. This emperor, the first of the name of Leo, has been distinguished by the title of the Great; from a succession of princes, who gradually fixed, in the opinion of the Greeks, a very humble standard of heroic, or at least of royal, perfection. Yet the temperate firmness with which Leo resisted the oppression of his benefactor, shewed that he was conscious of his duty and of his prerogative. Aspar was asto­nished to find that his influence could no longer appoint a praefect of Constantinople: he pre­sumed to reproach his sovereign with a breach of promise, and insolently shaking his purple, ‘"It is not proper (said he), that the man who is invested with this garment, should be guilty of lying."’ ‘"Nor is it proper (replied Leo), that a prince should be compelled to resign his own judgment, and the public interest, to the will of a subject ⁶⁹."’ After this extraor­dinary scene, it was impossible that the reconci­liation of the emperor and the patrician could be sincere; or, at least, that it could be solid and permanent. An army of Isaurians ⁷⁰ was secretly levied, and introduced into Constantinople; and [Page 193] while Leo undermined the authority, and pre­pared the disgrace, of the family of Aspar, his mild and cautious behaviour restrained them from any rash and desperate attempts, which might have been fatal to themselves, or their enemies. The measures of peace and war were affected by this internal revolution. As long as Aspar degraded the majesty of the throne, the secret correspondence of religion and interest en­gaged him to favour the cause of Genseric. When Leo had delivered himself from that ig­nominious servitude, he listened to the com­plaints of the Italians; resolved to extirpate the tyranny of the Vandals; and declared his alliance with his colleague, Anthemius, whom he so­lemnly invested with the diadem and purple of the West.

The virtues of Anthemius have perhaps been Anthe­mius em­peror of the West, A. D. 467—72. magnified, since the Imperial descent, which he could only deduce from the usurper Procopius, has been swelled into a line of emperors ⁷¹. But the merit of his immediate parents, their honours, and their riches, rendered Anthemius one of the most illustrious subjects of the East. His father, Procopius, obtained, after his Persian embassy, the rank of general and patrician; and the name of Anthemius was derived from his maternal [Page 194] grandfather, the celebrated praefect, who pro­tected, with so much ability and success, the in­fant reign of Theodosius. The grandson of the praefect was raised above the condition of a pri­vate subject, by his marriage with Euphemia, the daughter of the emperor Marcian. This splen­did alliance, which might supersede the necessity of merit, hastened the promotion of Anthemius to the successive dignities of count, of master-general, of consul, and of patrician; and his merit or fortune claimed the honours of a victory, which was obtained on the banks of the Danube, over the Huns. Without indulging an extrava­gant ambition, the son-in-law of Marcian might hope to be his successor; but Anthemius supported the disappointment with courage and patience; and his subsequent elevation was universally ap­proved by the public, who esteemed him worthy to reign, till he ascended the throne ⁷². The em­peror of the West marched from Constantinople, attended by several counts of high distinction, and a body of guards, almost equal to the strength and numbers of a regular army: he en­tered Rome in triumph, and the choice of Leo A. D. 467, April 12. was confirmed by the senate, the people, and the Barbarian confederates of Italy ⁷³. The solemn [Page 195] inauguration of Anthemius was followed by the nuptials of his daughter and the patrician Rici­mer; a fortunate event, which was considered as the firmest security of the union and happiness of the state. The wealth of two empires was osten­tatiously displayed; and many senators completed their ruin by an expensive effort to disguise their poverty. All serious business was suspended du­ring this festival; the courts of justice were shut; the streets of Rome, the theatres, the places of public and private resort, resounded with hyme­naeal songs and dances; and the royal bride, clothed in silken robes, with a crown on her head, was conducted to the palace of Ricimer, who had changed his military dress for the habit of a consul and a senator. On this memorable occasion, Sidonius, whose early ambition had been so fatally blasted, appeared as the orator of Au­vergne, among the provincial deputies who ad­dressed the throne with congratulations or com­plaints ⁷⁴. The calends of January were now ap­proaching, and the venal poet, who had loved A. D. 468: January 1. Avitus, and esteemed Majorian, was persuaded by his friends, to celebrate, in heroic verse, the merit, the felicity, the second consulship, and the future triumphs of the emperor Anthemius. Sidonius pronounced, with assurance and success, a panegyric which is still extant; and whatever might be the imperfections, either of the subject [Page 196] or of the composition, the welcome flatterer was immediately rewarded with the praefecture of Rome; a dignity which placed him among the illustrious personages of the empire, till he wisely preferred the more respectable character of a bishop and a saint ⁷⁵.

The Greeks ambitiously commend the piety The festi­val of the Luperca­lia. and catholic faith of the emperor whom they gave to the West; nor do they forget to observe, that when he left Constantinople, he converted his pa­lace into the pious foundation of a public bath, a church, and an hospital for old men ⁷⁶. Yet some suspicious appearances are found to sully the theological fame of Anthemius. From the con­versation of Philotheus, a Macedonian sectary, he had imbibed the spirit of religious toleration; and the Heretics of Rome would have assembled with impunity, if the bold and vehement censure which pope Hilary pronounced in the church of St. Peter, had not obliged him to abjure the un­popular indulgence ⁷⁷. Even the Pagans, a feeble [Page 197] and obscure remnant, conceived some vain hopes from the indifference, or partiality, of Anthe­mius; and his singular friendship for the philo­sopher Severus, whom he promoted to the con­sulship, was ascribed to a secret project, of revi­ving the ancient worship of the Gods ⁷⁸. These idols were crumbled into dust: and the mytho­logy which had once been the creed of nations, was so universally disbelieved, that it might be em­ployed without scandal, or at least without suspi­cion, by Christian poets ⁷⁹. Yet the vestiges of superstition were not absolutely obliterated, and the festival of the Lupercalia, whose origin had preceded the foundation of Rome, was still cele­brated under the reign of Anthemius. The sa­vage and simple rites were expressive of an early state of society before the invention of arts and agriculture. The rustic deities who presided over the toils and pleasures of the pastoral life, Pan, Faunus, and their train of satyrs, were such as the fancy of shepherds might create, sportive, petulant, and lascivious; whose power was li­mited, and whose malice was inoffensive. A [Page 198] goat was the offering the best adapted to their character and attributes; the flesh of the victim was roasted on willow spits; and the riotous youths, who crowded to the feast, ran naked about the fields, with leather thongs in their hands, communicating, as it was supposed, the blessing of fecundity to the women whom they touched ⁸⁰. The altar of Pan was erected, perhaps by Evander the Arcadian, in a dark re­cess in the side of the Palatine-hill, watered by a perpetual fountain, and shaded by an hanging grove. A tradition, that, in the same place, Romulus and Remus were suckled by the wolf, rendered it still more sacred and venerable in the eyes of the Romans; and this sylvan spot was gradually surrounded by the stately edifices of the Forum ⁸¹. After the conversion of the Imperial city, the Christians still continued, in the month of February, the annual celebration of the Lu­percalia; to which they ascribed a secret and mysterious influence on the genial powers of the animal and vegetable world. The bishops of Rome were solicitous to abolish a profane cus­tom, so repugnant to the spirit of Christianity; but their zeal was not supported by the authority of the civil magistrate: the inveterate abuse sub­sisted [Page 199] till the end of the fifth century, and pope Gelasius, who purified the capital from the last stain of idolatry, appeased, by a formal apology, the murmurs of the senate and people ⁸².

In all his public declarations, the emperor Leo Prepara­tions a­gainst the Vandals of Africa, A. D. 468. assumes the authority, and professes the affection, of a father, for his son Anthemius, with whom he had divided the administration of the universe ⁸³. The situation, and perhaps the character, of Leo, dissuaded him from exposing his person to the toils and dangers of an African war. But the powers of the Eastern empire were strenuously exerted to deliver Italy and the Mediterranean from the Van­dals; and Genseric, who had so long oppressed both the land and sea, was threatened from every side with a formidable invasion. The campaign was opened by a bold and successful enterprise of the praefect Heraclius ⁸⁴. The troops of Egypt, [Page 200] Thebais, and Libya, were embarked under his command: and the Arabs, with a train of horses and camels, opened the roads of the desert. He­raclius landed on the coast of Tripoli, surprised and subdued the cities of that province, and pre­pared, by a laborious march, which Cato had for­merly executed ⁸⁵, to join the Imperial army under the walls of Carthage. The intelligence of this loss extorted from Genseric, some insidious and ineffectual propositions of peace: but he was still more seriously alarmed by the reconciliation of Marcellinus with the two empires. The inde­pendent patrician had been persuaded to acknow­ledge the legitimate title of Anthemius, whom he accompanied in his journey to Rome; the Dal­matian fleet was received into the harbours of Italy; the active valour of Marcellinus expelled the Vandals from the island of Sardinia; and the languid efforts of the West added some weight to the immense preparations of the Eastern Romans. The expence of the naval armament, which Leo sent against the Vandals, has been distinctly ascer­tained; and the curious and instructive account displays the wealth of the declining empire. The royal demesnes, or private patrimony of the prince, supplied seventeen thousand pounds of gold; forty­seven [Page 201] thousand pounds of gold, and seven hun­dred thousand of silver, were levied and paid into the treasury by the Praetorian praefects. But the cities were reduced to extreme poverty; and the diligent calculation of fines and forfeitures, as a valuable object of the revenue, does not suggest the idea of a just, or merciful, administration. The whole expence, by whatsoever means it was defrayed, of the African campaign, amounted to the sum of one hundred and thirty thousand pounds of gold, about five millions two hundred thousand pounds sterling, at a time when the value of money appears, from the comparative price of corn, to have been somewhat higher than in the present age ⁸⁶. The fleet that sailed from Constantinople to Carthage, consisted of eleven hundred and thirteen ships, and the number of soldiers and mariners exceeded one hundred thousand men. Basiliscus, the brother of the empress Vorina, was entrusted with this important command. His sister, the wife of Leo, had exaggerated the merit of his former exploits against the Scythians. But the discovery of his guilt, or incapacity, was re­served for the African war; and his friends could only save his military reputation, by asserting, that he had conspired with Aspar to spare Gen­seric, [Page 202] and to betray the last hope of the Western empire.

Experience has shewn, that the success of an invader most commonly depends on the vigour Failure of the expedi­tion. and celerity of his operations. The strength and sharpness of the first impression are blunted by de­lay; the health and spirit of the troops insensibly languish in a distant climate; the naval and mili­tary force, a mighty effort which perhaps can never be repeated, is silently consumed; and every hour that is wasted in negociation, accustoms the enemy to contemplate and examine those hostile terrors, which, on their first appearance, he deemed irresistible. The formidable navy of Basiliscus pursued its prosperous navigation from the Thra­cian Bosphorus to the coast of Africa. He landed his troops at Cape Bona, or the promontory of Mercury, about forty miles from Carthage ⁸⁷. The army of Heraclius, and the fleet of Marcel­linus, either joined or seconded the Imperial lieu­tenant; and the Vandals, who opposed his pro­gress by sea or land, were successively van­quished ⁸⁸. If Basiliscus had seized the moment of consternation, and boldly advanced to the ca­pital, Carthage must have surrendered, and the [Page 203] kingdom of the Vandals was extinguished. Gen­seric beheld the danger with firmness, and eluded it with his veteran dexterity. He protested, in the most respectful language, that he was ready to submit his person, and his dominions, to the will of the emperor; but he requested a truce of five days to regulate the terms of his submission; and it was universally believed, that his secret libera­lity contributed to the success of this public nego­ciation. Instead of obstinately refusing whatever indulgence his enemy so earnestly solicited, the guilty, or the credulous, Basiliscus consented to the fatal truce; and his imprudent security seemed to proclaim, that he already considered himself as the conqueror of Africa. During this short inter­val, the wind became favourable to the designs of Genseric. He manned his largest ships of war with the bravest of the Moors and Vandals; and they towed after them many large barks, filled with combustible materials. In the obscurity of the night, these destructive vessels were impelled against the unguarded and unsuspecting fleet of the Romans, who were awakened by the sense of their instant danger. Their close and crowded order assisted the progress of the fire, which was communicated with rapid and irresistible violence; and the noise of the wind, the crackling of the flames, the dissonant cries of the soldiers and ma­riners, who could neither command, nor obey, increased the horror of the nocturnal tumult. Whilst they laboured to extricate themselves from the fireships, and to save at least a part of the [Page 204] navy, the gallies of Genseric assaulted them with temperate and disciplined valour; and many of the Romans, who escaped the fury of the flames, were destroyed or taken by the victorious Vandals. Among the events of that disastrous night, the he­roic, or rather desperate, courage of John, one of the principal officers of Basiliscus, has rescued his name from oblivion. When the ship, which he had bravely defended, was almost consumed, he threw himself in his armour into the sea, dis­dainfully rejected the esteem and pity of Genso, the son of Genseric, who pressed him to accept honourable quarter, and sunk under the waves; exclaiming with his last breath, that he would never fall alive into the hands of those impious dogs. Actuated by a far different spirit, Basiliscus, whose station was the most remote from danger, disgracefully fled in the beginning of the engage­ment, returned to Constantinople with the loss of more than half of his fleet and army, and sheltered his guilty head in the sanctuary of St. Sophia, till his sister, by her tears and entreaties, could obtain his pardon from the indignant emperor. Hera­clius effected his retreat through the desert; Mar­cellinus retired to Sicily, where he was assassinated, perhaps at the instigation of Ricimer, by one of his own captains; and the king of the Vandals expressed his surprise and satisfaction, that the Ro­mans themselves should remove from the world his most formidable antagonists ⁸⁹. After the fai­lure [Page 205] of this great expedition, Genseric again be­came the tyrant of the sea: the coasts of Italy, Greece, and Asia, were again exposed to his re­venge and avarice; Tripoli and Sardinia returned to his obedience; he added Sicily to the number of his provinces; and, before he died, in the ful­ness of years and of glory, he beheld the final ex­tinction A. D. 477. of the empire of the West ⁹⁰.

During his long and active reign, the African Conquests of the Vsi­goths in Spain and Gaul, A. D. 462—472. monarch had studiously cultivated the friendship of the Barbarians of Europe, whose arms he might employ in a seasonable and effectual diversion against the two empires. After the death of At­tila, he renewed his alliance with the Visigoths of Gaul; and the sons of the elder Theodoric, who successively reigned over that warlike nation, were easily persuaded, by the sense of interest, to forget the cruel affront which Genseric had inflicted on their sister ⁹¹. The death of the emperor Majo­rian delivered Theodoric the second from the re­straint of fear, and perhaps of honour; he violated his recent treaty with the Romans; and the ample territory of Narbonne, which he firmly united to [Page 206] his dominions, became the immediate reward of his perfidy. The selfish policy of Ricimer en­couraged him to invade the provinces which were in the possession of Aegidius, his rival; but the active count, by the defence of Arles, and the victory of Orleans, saved Gaul, and checked, during his lifetime, the progress of the Visigoths. Their ambition was soon rekindled; and the de­sign of extinguishing the Roman empire in Spain and Gaul, was conceived, and almost completed, in the reign of Euric, who assassinated his brother Theodoric, and displayed, with a more savage temper, superior abilities, both in peace and war. He passed the Pyrenees at the head of a numerous army, subdued the cities of Saragossa and Pampe­luna, vanquished in battle the martial nobles of the Tarragonese province, carried his victorious arms into the heart of Lusitania, and permitted the Suevi to hold the kingdom of Gallicia under the Gothic monarchy of Spain ⁹². The efforts of Euric were not less vigorous, or less successful in Gaul; and throughout the country that extends from the Pyrenees to the Rhône and the Loire, Berry, and Auvergne, were the only cities, or dioceses, which refused to acknowledge him as their master ⁹³. In the defence of Clermont, their principal town, the inhabitants of Auvergne sus­tained, with inflexible resolution, the miseries of [Page 207] war, pestilence, and famine; and the Visigoths, relinquishing the fruitless siege, suspended the hopes of that important conquest. The youth of the province were animated by the heroic, and al­most incredible, valour of Ecdicius, the son of the emperor Avitus ⁹⁴, who made a desperate sally with only eighteen horsemen, boldly attacked the Gothic army, and, after maintaining a flying skirmish, retired safe and victorious within the walls of Clermont. His charity was equal to his courage: in a time of extreme scarcity, four thou­sand poor were fed at his expence; and his private influence levied an army of Burgundians for the deliverance of Auvergne. From his virtues alone the faithful citizens of Gaul derived any hopes of safety or freedom; and even such virtues were in­sufficient to avert the impending ruin of their country, since they were anxious to learn from his authority and example, whether they should pre­fer the alternative of exile, or servitude ⁹⁵. The public confidence was lost; the resources of the state were exhausted; and the Gauls had too much reason to believe, that Anthemius, who reigned in Italy, was incapable of protecting his distressed subjects beyond the Alps. The feeble emperor could only procure for their defence the service of [Page 208] twelve thousand British auxiliaries. Riothamus, one of the independent kings, or chieftains, of the island, was persuaded to transport his troops to the continent of Gaul; he sailed up the Loire, and established his quarters in Berry, where the people complained of these oppressive allies, till they were destroyed, or dispersed, by the arms of the Visigoths ⁹⁶.

One of the last acts of jurisdiction, which the Trial of Arvandus, A. D. 468. Roman senate exercised over their subjects of Gaul, was the trial and condemnation of Arvan­dus, the Praetorian praefect. Sidonius, who rejoices that he lived under a reign in which he might pity and assist a state-criminal, has ex­pressed, with tenderness and freedom, the faults of his indiscreet and unfortunate friend ⁹⁷. From the perils which he had escaped, Arvandus im­bibed confidence rather than wisdom; and such was the various, though uniform, imprudence of his behaviour, that his prosperity must appear much more surprising than his downfal. The second praefecture, which he obtained within the term of five years, abolished the merit and popu­larity of his preceding administration. His easy [Page 209] temper was corrupted by flattery, and exasperated by opposition; he was forced to satisfy his im­portunate creditors with the spoils of the pro­vince; his capricious insolence offended the nobles of Gaul, and he sunk under the weight of the public hatred. The mandate of his disgrace summoned him to justify his conduct before the senate; and he passed the sea of Tuscany with a favourable wind, the presage, as he vainly ima­gined, of his future fortunes. A decent respect was still observed for the Praefectorian rank; and on his arrival at Rome, Arvandus was committed to the hospitality, rather than to the custody, of Flavius Asellus, the count of the sacred largesses, who resided in the Capitol ⁹⁸. He was eagerly pursued by his accusers, the four deputies of Gaul, who were all distinguished by their birth, their dignities, or their eloquence. In the name of a great province, and according to the forms of Roman jurisprudence, they instituted a civil and criminal action, requiring such a restitution as might compensate the losses of individuals, and such punishment as might satisfy the justice of the state. Their charges of corrupt oppres­sion were numerous and weighty; but they placed their secret dependence on a letter, which they had intercepted, and which they could prove, by the evidence of his secretary, to have been dic­tated [Page 210] by Arvandus himself. The author of this letter seemed to dissuade the king of the Goths from a peace with the Greek emperor: he sug­gested the attack of the Britons on the Loire; and he recommended a division of Gaul, ac­cording to the law of nations, between the Visi­goths and the Burgundians ⁹⁹. These pernicious schemes, which a friend could only palliate by the reproaches of vanity and indiscretion, were susceptible of a treasonable interpretation; and the deputies had artfully resolved, not to produce their most formidable weapons till the decisive moment of the contest. But their intentions were discovered by the zeal of Sidonius. He immediately apprised the unsuspecting criminal of his danger; and sincerely lamented, without any mixture of anger, the haughty presumption of Arvandus, who rejected, and even resented, the salutary advice of his friends. Ignorant of his real situation, Arvandus shewed himself in the Capitol in the white robe of a candidate, ac­cepted indiscriminate salutations and offers of service, examined the shops of the merchants, the silks and gems, sometimes with the indiffe­rence of a spectator, and sometimes with the at­tention of a purchaser; and complained of the times, of the senate, of the prince, and of the delays of justice. His complaints were soon re­moved. [Page 211] An early day was fixed for his trial; and Arvandus appeared, with his accusers, be­fore a numerous assembly of the Roman senate. The mournful garb, which they affected, excited the compassion of the judges, who were scan­dalized by the gay and splendid dress of their adversary; and when the praefect Arvandus, with the first of the Gallic deputies, were directed to take their places on the senatorial benches, the same contrast of pride and modesty was observed in their behaviour. In this memorable judg­ment, which presented a lively image of the old republic, the Gauls exposed, with force and freedom, the grievances of the province; and as soon as the minds of the audience were sufficiently inflamed, they recited the fatal epistle. The obstinacy of Arvandus was founded on the strange supposition, that a subject could not be convicted of treason, unless he had actually conspired to assume the purple. As the paper was read, he repeatedly, and with a loud voice, acknowledged it for his genuine composition; and his asto­nishment was equal to his dismay, when the unanimous voice of the senate declared him guilty of a capital offence. By their decree, he was degraded from the rank of a praefect to the obscure condition of a plebeian, and ignominiously dragged by servile hands to the public prison. After a fortnight's adjourn­ment, the senate was again convened to pro­nounce the sentence of his death: but while he expected, in the island of Aesculapius, the expi­ration [Page 212] of the thirty days allowed by an ancient law to the vilest malefactors ¹⁰⁰, his friends inter­posed, the emperor Anthemius relented, and the praefect of Gaul obtained the milder punishment of exile and confiscation. The faults of Arvan­dus might deserve compassion; but the impunity of Seronatus accused the justice of the republic, till he was condemned, and executed, on the complaint of the people of Auvergne. That flagitious minister, the Catiline of his age and country, held a secret correspondence with the Visigoths, to betray the province which he op­pressed: his industry was continually exercised in the discovery of new taxes and obsolete offences; and his extravagant vices would have inspired contempt, if they had not excited fear and ab­horrence ¹⁰¹.

Such criminals were not beyond the reach of Discord of Anthe­mius and Ricimer, A. D. 471. justice; but, whatever might be the guilt of Ri­cimer, that powerful Barbarian was able to con­tend or to negociate with the prince, whose alliance he had condescended to accept. The peaceful and prosperous reign which Anthemius had promised to the West, was soon clouded by misfortune and discord. Ricimer, apprehensive, or impatient, of a superior, retired from Rome, [Page 213] and fixed his residence at Milan; an advantage­ous situation, either to invite, or to repel, the warlike tribes that were seated between the Alps and the Danube ¹⁰². Italy was gradually divided into two independent and hostile kingdoms; and the nobles of Liguria, who trembled at the near approach of a civil war, fell prostrate at the feet of the patrician, and conjured him to spare their unhappy country. ‘"For my own part," replied Ricimer, in a tone of insolent moderation, "I am still inclined to embrace the friendship of the Galatian ¹⁰³; but who will undertake to appease his anger, or to mitigate the pride, which always rises in proportion to our sub­mission?"’ They informed him, that Epipha­nius, bishop of Pavia ¹⁰⁴, united the wisdom of the serpent with the innocence of the dove; and appeared confident, that the eloquence of such an ambassador must prevail against the strongest opposition, either of interest or passion. Their [Page 214] recommendation was approved; and Epiphanius, assuming the benevolent office of mediation, proceeded without delay to Rome, where he was received with the honours due to his merit and reputation. The oration of a bishop in favour of peace, may be easily supposed: he argued, that in all possible circumstances, the forgiveness of injuries must be an act of mercy, or magnani­mity, or prudence; and be seriously admonished the emperor to avoid a contest with a fierce Bar­barian, which might be fatal to himself, and must be ruinous to his dominions. Anthemius acknowledged the truth of his maxims; but he deeply felt, with grief and indignation, the be­haviour of Ricimer; and his passion gave elo­quence and energy to his discourse. ‘"What favours," he warmly exclaimed, "have we refused to this ungrateful man? What provo­cations have we not endured? Regardless of the majesty of the purple, I gave my daughter to a Goth; I sacrificed my own blood to the safety of the republic. The liberality which ought to have secured the eternal attachment of Ricimer, has exasperated him against his benefactor. What wars has he not excited against the empire? How often has he insti­gated and assisted the fury of hostile nations? Shall I now accept his perfidious friendship? Can I hope that he will respect the engage­ments of a treaty, who has already violated the duties of a son?"’ But the anger of Anthe­mius evaporated in these passionate exclamations: he insensibly yielded to the proposals of Epipha­nius; [Page 215] and the bishop returned to his diocese with the satisfaction of restoring the peace of Italy, by a reconciliation ¹⁰⁵, of which the sincerity and continuance might be reasonably suspected. The clemency of the emperor was extorted from his weakness; and Ricimer suspended his ambi­tious designs, till he had secretly prepared the engines, with which he resolved to subvert the throne of Anthemius. The mask of peace and moderation was then thrown aside. The army of Ricimer was fortified by a numerous reinforce­ment of Burgundians and Oriental Suevi: he disclaimed all allegiance to the Greek emperor, marched from Milan to the gates of Rome, and fixing his camp on the banks of the Anio, impa­tiently expected the arrival of Olybrius, his Im­perial candidate.

The senator Olybrius, of the Anician family, Olybrius emperor of the West, A. D. 472, March 23. might esteem himself the lawful heir of the Western empire. He had married Placidia, the younger daughter of Valentinian, after she was restored by Genseric; who still detained her sister Eudoxia, as the wife, or rather as the captive, of his son. The king of the Vandals supported, by threats and solicitations, the fair pretensions of his Roman ally; and assigned, as one of the motives of the war, the refusal of the senate and people to acknowledge their lawful prince, and the unworthy preference which they had given to [Page 216] a stranger ¹⁰⁶. The friendship of the public enemy might render Olybrius still more unpopu­lar to the Italians; but when Ricimer meditated the ruin of the emperor Anthemius, he tempted with the offer of a diadem the candidate who could justify his rebellion by an illustrious name, and a royal alliance. The husband of Placidia, who, like most of his ancestors, had been invested with the consular dignity, might have continued to enjoy a secure and splendid fortune in the peaceful residence of Constantinople; nor does he appear to have been tormented by such a genius, as cannot be amused or occupied, unless by the administration of an empire. Yet Oly­brius yielded to the importunities of his friends, perhaps of his wife; rashly plunged into the dangers and calamities of a civil war; and, with the secret connivance of the emperor Leo, ac­cepted the Italian purple, which was bestowed, and resumed, at the capricious will of a Barba­rian. He landed without obstacle (for Genseric was master of the sea) either at Ravenna or the port of Ostia, and immediately proceeded to the camp of Ricimer, where he was received as the sovereign of the Western world ¹⁰⁷.

[Page 217] The patrician, who had extended his posts from the Anio to the Milvian bridge, already possessed two quarters of Rome, the Vatican and Sack of Rome, and death of Anthe­mius, A. D. 472. July 11. the Janiculum, which are separated by the Tyber from the rest of the city ¹⁰⁸; and it may be con­jectured, that an assembly of seceding senators imitated, in the choice of Olybrius, the forms of a legal election. But the body of the senate and people firmly adhered to the cause of Anthemius; and the more effectual support of a Gothic army enabled him to prolong his reign, and the public distress, by a resistance of three months, which produced the concomitant evils of famine and pestilence. At length, Ricimer made a furious assault on the bridge of Hadrian, or St. Angelo; and the narrow pass was defended with equal valour by the Goths, till the death of Gilimer their leader. The victorious troops breaking down every barrier, rushed with irresistible violence into the heart of the city, and Rome (if we may use the language of a contemporary Pope) was subverted by the civil fury of Anthe­mius and Ricimer ¹⁰⁹. The unfortunate An­themius [Page 218] was dragged from his concealment, and inhumanly massacred by the command of his son-in-law; who thus added a third, or perhaps a fourth emperor to the number of his victims. The soldiers, who united the rage of factious citizens with the savage manners of Barbarians, were indulged, without controul, in the licence of rapine and murder: the crowd of slaves and plebeians, who were unconcerned in the event, could only gain by the indiscriminate pillage; and the face of the city exhibited the strange con­trast of stern cruelty, and dissolute intempe­rance ¹¹⁰. Forty days after this calamitous event, Death of Ricimer, Aug. 20. the subject, not of glory, but of guilt, Italy was delivered, by a painful disease, from the tyrant Ricimer, who bequeathed the command of his army. to his nephew Gundobald, one of the princes of the Burgundians. In the same year, all the principal actors in this great revolution, were removed from the stage; and the whole reign of Olybrius, whose death does not betray and of Olybrius, Oct. 23. any symptoms of violence, is included within the term of seven months. He left one daughter, the offspring of his marriage with Placidia; and the family of the great Theodosius, transplanted from [Page 219] Spain to Constantinople, was propagated in the female line as far as the eighth generation ¹¹¹.

Whilst the vacant throne of Italy was aban­doned Julius Ne­pos and Glycerius emperors of the West, A. D. 472—475. to lawless Barbarians ¹¹², the election of a new colleague was seriously agitated in the coun­cil of Leo. The empress Verina, studious to promote the greatness of her own family, had married one of her nieces to Julius Nepos, who succeeded his uncle Marcellinus in the sove­reignty of Dalmatia, a more solid possession than the title which he was persuaded to accept, of Emperor of the West. But the measures of the Byzantine court were so languid and irresolute, that many months elapsed after the death of Anthemius, and even of Olybrius, before their destined successor could shew himself, with a re­spectable force, to his Italian subjects. During that interval, Glycerius, an obscure soldier, was invested with the purple by his patron Gundo­bald; but the Burgundian prince was unable, or unwilling, to support his nomination by a civil war: the pursuits of domestic ambition recalled him beyond the Alps ¹¹³, and his client was per­mitted [Page 220] to exchange the Roman sceptre for the bishopric of Salona. After extinguishing such a competitor, the emperor Nepos was acknow­ledged by the senate, by the Italians, and by the provincials of Gaul; his moral virtues, and military talents, were loudly celebrated; and those who derived any private benefit from his government, announced, in prophetic strains, the restoration of the public felicity ¹¹⁴. Their hopes (if such hopes had been entertained) were confounded within the term of a single year; and the treaty of peace, which ceded Auvergne to the Visigoths, is the only event of his short and inglorious reign. The most faithful subjects of Gaul were sacrificed, by the Italian emperor, to the hope of domestic security ¹¹⁵; but his repose was soon invaded by a furious sedition of the Barbarian confederates, who, under the com­mand of Orestes, their general, were in full march from Rome to Ravenna. Nepos trembled at their approach; and, instead of placing a just confidence in the strength of Ravenna, he hastily escaped to his ships, and retired to his Dalma­tian principality, on the opposite coast of the Hadriatic. By this shameful abdication, he protracted his life about five years, in a very [Page 221] ambiguous state, between an emperor and an exile, till he was assassinated at Salona by the ungrateful Glycerius, who was translated, per­haps as the reward of his crime, to the arch­bishopric of Milan ¹¹⁶.

The nations, who had asserted their independ­ence The patri­cian Ores­tes, A. D. 475. after the death of Attila, were established, by the right of possession or conquest, in the boundless countries to the north of the Danube; or in the Roman provinces between the river and the Alps. But the bravest of their youth enlisted in the army of confederates, who formed the de­fence and the terror of Italy ¹¹⁷; and in this pro­miscuous multitude, the names of the Heruli, the Scyrri, the Alani, the Turcilingi, and the Ru­gians, appear to have predominated. The ex­ample of these warriors was imitated by Orestes ¹¹⁸, the son of Tatullus, and the father of the last Ro­man emperor of the West. Orestes, who has been already mentioned in this history, had never de­serted his country. His birth and fortunes ren­dered him one of the most illustrious subjects of [Page 222] Pannonia. When that province was ceded to the Huns, he entered into the service of Attila, his lawful sovereign, obtained the office of his secre­tary, and was repeatedly sent ambassador to Con­stantinople, to represent the person, and signify the commands, of the imperious monarch. The death of that conqueror restored him to his free­dom; and Orestes might honourably refuse either to follow the sons of Attila into the Scythian de­sert, or to obey the Ostrogoths, who had usurped the dominion of Pannonia. He preferred the ser­vice of the Italian princes, the successors of Va­lentinian; and, as he possessed the qualifications of courage, industry, and experience, he advanced with rapid steps in the military profession, till he was elevated, by the favour of Nepos himself, to the dignities of patrician, and master-general of the troops. These troops had been long accus­tomed to reverence the character and authority of Orestes, who affected their manners, conversed with them in their own language, and was inti­mately connected with their national chieftains, by long habits of familiarity and friendship. At his solicitation they rose in arms against the ob­scure Greek, who presumed to claim their obe­dience; and when Orestes, from some secret mo­tive, declined the purple, they consented, with the same facility, to acknowledge his son Au­gustulus, as the emperor of the West. By the ab­dication of Nepos, Orestes had now attained the His son Augustu­lus, the last emperor of the West, A. D. 476. summit of his ambitious hopes; but he soon dis­covered, before the end of the first year, that the lessons of perjury and ingratitude, which a rebel [Page 223] must inculcate, will be retorted against himself; and that the precarious sovereign of Italy was only permitted to chuse, whether he would be the slave, or the victim, of his Barbarian mercenaries. The dangerous alliance of these strangers, had op­pressed and insulted the last remains of Roman freedom and dignity. At each revolution, their pay and privileges were augmented; but their in­solence increased in a still more extravagant de­gree; they envied the fortune of their brethren in Gaul, Spain, and Africa, whose victorious arms had acquired an independent and perpetual inherit­ance; and they insisted on their peremptory de­mand, that a third part of the lands of Italy should be immediately divided among them. Orestes, with a spirit which, in another situation, might be entitled to our esteem, chose rather to en­counter the rage of an armed multitude, than to subscribe the ruin of an innocent people. He re­jected the audacious demand; and his refusal was favourable to the ambition of Odoacer; a bold Barbarian, who assured his fellow-soldiers, that, if they dared to associate under his command, they might soon extort the justice which had been denied to their dutiful petitions. From all the camps and garrisons of Italy, the confederates, actuated by the same resentment and the same hopes, impatiently flocked to the standard of this popular leader; and the unfortunate patrician, overwhelmed by the torrent, hastily retreated to the strong city of Pavia, the episcopal seat of the holy Epiphanites. Pavia was immediately be­sieged, [Page 224] the fortifications were stormed, the town was pillaged; and although the bishop might la­bour, with much zeal and some success, to save the property of the church, and the chastity of fe­male captives, the tumult could only be appeased by the execution of Orestes ¹¹⁹. His brother Paul was slain in an action near Ravenna; and the help­less Augustulus, who could no longer command the respect, was reduced to implore the clemency, of Odoacer.

That successful Barbarian was the son of Ede­con; Odoacer king of Italy. A. D. 476—490. who, in some remarkable transactions, par­ticularly described in a preceding chapter, had been the colleague of Orestes himself. The ho­nour of an ambassador should be exempt from sus­picion; and Edecon had listened to a conspiracy against the life of his sovereign. But this apparent guilt was expiated by his merit or repentance: his rank was eminent and conspicuous; he enjoyed the favour of Attila; and the troops under his command, who guarded, in their turn, the royal village, consisted in a tribe of Scyrri, his imme­diate and hereditary subjects. In the revolt of the nations, they still adhered to the Huns; and, more than twelve years afterwards, the name of Edecon is honourably mentioned, in their unequal contest with the Ostrogoths; which was termi­nated, after two bloody battles, by the defeat and [Page 225] dispersion of the Scyrri ¹²⁰. Their gallant leader, who did not survive this national calamity, left two sons, Onulf and Odoacer, to struggle with adversity, and to maintain as they might, by ra­pine or service, the faithful followers of their exile. Onulf directed his steps towards Constan­tinople, where he sullied, by the assassination of a generous benefactor, the fame which he had ac­quired in arms. His brother Odoacer led a wan­dering life among the Barbarians of Noricum, with a mind and a fortune suited to the most des­perate adventures; and when he had fixed his choice, he piously visited the cell of Severinus, the popular saint of the country, to solicit his ap­probation and blessing. The lowness of the door would not admit the lofty stature of Odoacer: he was obliged to stoop; but in that humble attitude the saint could discern the symptoms of his future greatness; and addressing him in a prophetic tone, ‘"Pursue" (said he) "your design; pro­ceed to Italy; you will soon cast away this coarse garment of skins; and your wealth will be adequate to the liberality of your mind ¹²¹."’ [Page 226] The Barbarian, whose daring spirit accepted and ratified the prediction, was admitted into the ser­vice of the Western empire, and soon obtained an honourable rank in the guards. His manners were gradually polished, his military skill was improved, and the confederates of Italy would not have elected him for their general, unless the exploits of Odoacer had established a high opinion of his courage and capacity ¹²². Their military acclamations saluted him with the title of king: but he abstained, during his whole reign, from the use of the purple and diadem ¹²³, lest he should offend those princes, whose subjects, by their ac­cidental mixture, had formed the victorious army, which time and policy might insensibly unite into a great nation.

Royalty was familiar to the Barbarians, and the Extinction of the Western empire, A. D. 476, or A. D. 479. submissive people of Italy was prepared to obey, without a murmur, the authority which he should condescend to exercise as the vicegerent of the emperor of the West. But Odoacer had resolved to abolish that useless and expensive office; and such is the weight of antique prejudice, that it re­quired some boldness and penetration to discover the extreme facility of the enterprise. The un­fortunate Augustulus was made the instrument of [Page 227] his own disgrace; he signified his resignation to the senate; and that assembly, in their last act of obedience to a Roman prince, still affected the spirit of freedom, and the forms of the constitu­tion. An epistle was addressed, by their unani­mous decree, to the emperor Zeno, the son-in-law and successor of Leo; who had lately been restored, after a short rebellion, to the Byzantine throne. They solemnly ‘"disclaim the necessity, or even the wish, of continuing any longer the Imperial succession in Italy; since, in their opi­nion, the majesty of a sole monarch is sufficient to pervade and protect, at the same time, both the East and the West. In their own name, and in the name of the people, they consent that the seat of universal empire shall be transferred from Rome to Constantinople; and they basely renounce the right of chusing their master, the only vestige that yet remained of the authority which had given laws to the world. The re­public (they repeat that name without a blush) might safely confide in the civil and military virtues of Odoacer; and they humbly request, that the emperor would invest him with the title of Patrician, and the administration of the dio­cese of Italy."’ The deputies of the senate were received at Constantinople with some marks of displeasure and indignation; and when they were admitted to the audience of Zeno, he sternly re­proached them with their treatment of the two emperors, Anthemius and Nepos, whom the East had successively granted to the prayers of Italy. [Page 228] ‘"The first" (continued he) "you have mur­dered; the second you have expelled: but the second is still alive, and whilst he lives he is your lawful sovereign."’ But the prudent Zeno soon deserted the hopeless cause of his abdicated colleague. His vanity was gratified by the title of sole emperor, and by the statues erected to his honour in the several quarters of Rome; he en­tertained a friendly, though ambiguous, corre­spondence with the patrician Odoacer; and he gratefully accepted the Imperial ensigns, the sa­cred ornaments of the throne and palace, which the Barbarian was not unwilling to remove from the sight of the people ¹²⁴.

In the space of twenty years since the death of Augustu­lus is ba­nished to the Lucul­lan villa. Valentinian, nine emperors had successively dis­appeared; and the son of Orestes, a youth re­commended only by his beauty, would be the least entitled to the notice of posterity, if his reign, which was marked by the extinction of the Roman empire in the West, did not leave a me­morable Aera in the history of mankind ¹²⁵. The patrician Orestes had married the daughter of Count Romulus, of Petovio, in Noricum: the [Page 229] name of Augustus, notwithstanding the jealousy of power, was known at Aquileia as a familiar sur­name; and the appellations of the two great founders, of the city, and, of the monarchy, were thus strangely united in the last of their suc­cessors ¹²⁶. The son of Orestes assumed and dis­graced the names of Romulus Augustus; but the first was corrupted into Momyllus, by the Greeks, and the second has been changed by the Latins into the contemptible diminutive Augustulus. The life of this inoffensive youth was spared by the generous clemency of Odoacer; who dismis­sed him, with his whole family, from the Impe­rial palace, fixed his annual allowance at six thousand pieces of gold, and assigned the castle of Lucullus, in Campania, for the place of his exile or retirement ¹²⁷. As soon as the Romans breathed from the toils of the Punic war, they were attracted by the beauties and the pleasures of Campania; and the country-house of the elder Scipio at Liternum, exhibited a lasting [Page 230] model of their rustic simplicity ¹²⁸. The delicious shores of the bay of Naples were crowded with villas; and Sylla applauded the masterly skill of his rival, who had seated himself on the lofty promontory of Misenum, that commands, on every side, the sea and land, as far as the boun­daries of the horizon ¹²⁹. The villa of Marius was purchased, within a few years, by Lucullus, and the price had increased from two thousand five hundred, to more than fourscore thousand, pounds sterling ¹³⁰. It was adorned by the new proprietor with Grecian arts, and Asiatic trea­sures; and the houses and gardens of Lucullus obtained a distinguished rank in the list of Im­perial palaces ¹³¹. When the Vandals became [Page 231] formidable to the sea-coast, the Lucullan villa, on the promontory of Misenum, gradually as­sumed the strength and appellation of a strong castle, the obscure retreat of the last emperor of the West. About twenty years after that great revolution, it was converted into a church and monastery, to receive the bones of St. Severinus. They securely reposed, amidst the broken tro­phies of Cimbric and Armenian victories, till the beginning of the tenth century; when the fortifi­cations, which might afford a dangerous shelter to the Saracens, were demolished by the people of Naples ¹³².

Odoacer was the first Barbarian who reigned in Decay of the Ro­man spirit. Italy, over a people who had once asserted their just superiority above the rest of mankind. The disgrace of the Romans still excites our respect­ful compassion, and we fondly sympathise with the imaginary grief and indignation of their degenerate posterity. But the calamities of Italy had gra­dually subdued the proud consciousness of free­dom and glory. In the age of Roman virtue, the provinces were subject to the arms, and the citizens to the laws, of the republic; till those laws were subverted by civil discord, and both [Page 232] the city and the provinces became the servile property of a tyrant. The forms of the consti­tution, which alleviated or disguised their abject slavery, were abolished by time and violence; the Italians alternately lamented the presence or the absence of the sovereigns, whom they de­tested or despised; and the succession of five cen­turies inflicted the various evils of military li­cence, capricious despotism, and elaborate op­pression. During the same period, the Barba­rians had emerged from obscurity and contempt, and the warriors of Germany and Scythia were introduced into the provinces, as the servants, the allies, and at length the masters, of the Ro­mans, whom they insulted or protected. The hatred of the people was suppressed by fear; they respected the spirit and splendour of the martial chiefs who were invested with the honours of the empire; and the fate of Rome had long de­pended on the sword of those formidable stran­gers. The stern Ricimer, who trampled on the ruins of Italy, had exercised the power, without assuming the title, of a king; and the patient Romans were insensibly prepared to acknow­ledge the royalty of Odoacer and his Barbaric successors.

The King of Italy was not unworthy of the high station to which his valour and fortune had ex­alted Character and reign of Odoa­cer, A. D. 476—490. him: his savage manners were polished by the habits of conversation; and he respected, though a conqueror and a Barbarian, the institu­tions, and even the prejudices, of his subjects. [Page 233] After an interval of seven years, Odoacer re­stored the consulship of the West. For himself, he modestly, or proudly, declined an honour which was still accepted by the emperors of the East; but the curule chair was successively filled by eleven of the most illustrious senators ¹³³; and the list is adorned by the respectable name of Ba­silius, whose virtues claimed the friendship and grateful applause of Sidonius, his client ¹³⁴. The laws of the emperors were strictly enforced, and the civil administration of Italy was still exercised by the Praetorian praefect, and his subordinate officers. Odoacer devolved on the Roman ma­gistrates the odious and oppressive task of col­lecting the public revenue; but he reserved for himself the merit of seasonable and popular in­dulgence ¹³⁵. Like the rest of the Barbarians, he had been instructed in the Arian heresy; but he revered the monastic and episcopal characters; and the silence of the Catholics attests the tole­ration which they enjoyed. The peace of the [Page 234] city required the interposition of his praefect Ba­silius, in the choice of a Roman pontiff: the de­cree which restrained the clergy from alienating their lands, was ultimately designed for the be­nefit of the people, whose devotion would have been taxed to repair the dilapidations of the church ¹³⁶. Italy was protected by the arms of its conqueror; and its frontiers were respected by the Barbarians of Gaul and Germany, who had so long insulted the feeble race of Theodosius. Odoacer passed the Hadriatic, to chastise the as­sassins of the emperor Nepos, and to acquire the maritime province of Dalmatia. He passed the Alps, to rescue the remains of Noricum from Fava, or Feletheus, king of the Rugians, who held his residence beyond the Danube. The king was vanquished in battle, and led away pri­soner; a numerous colony of captives and sub­jects was transplanted into Italy; and Rome, af­ter a long period of defeat and disgrace, might claim the triumph of her Barbarian master ¹³⁷.

Notwithstanding the prudence and success of Miserable state of Italy. Odoacer, his kingdom exhibited the sad pro­spect of misery and desolation. Since the age of Tiberius, the decay of agriculture had been felt [Page 235] in Italy; and it was a just subject of complaint, that the life of the Roman people depended on the accidents of the winds and waves ¹³⁸. In the division and the decline of the empire, the tributary harvests of Egypt and Africa were withdrawn; the numbers of the inhabitants continually diminished with the means of subsistence; and the country was exhausted by the irretrievable losses of war, famine ¹³⁹, and pestilence. St. Ambrose has de­plored the ruin of a populous district, which had been once adorned with the flourishing cities of Bologna, Modena, Regium, and Placentia ¹⁴⁰. Pope Gelasius was a subject of Odoacer; and he affirms, with strong exaggeration, that in Aemi­lia, Tuscany, and the adjacent provinces, the human species was almost extirpated ¹⁴¹. The plebeians of Rome, who were fed by the hand of their master, perished or disappeared, as soon as his liberality was suppressed; the decline of the arts reduced the industrious mechanic to idleness and want; and the senators, who might support with patience the ruin of their country, [Page 236] bewailed their private loss of wealth and luxury. One-third of those ample estates, to which the ruin of Italy is originally imputed ¹⁴², was ex­torted for the use of the conquerors. Injuries were aggravated by insults; the sense of actual sufferings was embittered by the fear of more dreadful evils; and as new lands were allotted to new swarms of Barbarians, each senator was ap­prehensive lest the arbitrary surveyors should ap­proach his favourite villa, or his most profitable farm. The least unfortunate were those who submitted without a murmur to the power which it was impossible to resist. Since they desired to live, they owed some gratitude to the tyrant who had spared their lives; and since he was the ab­solute master of their fortunes, the portion which he left must be accepted as his pure and volun­tary gift ¹⁴³. The distress of Italy was mitigated by the prudence and humanity of Odoacer, who had bound himself, at the price of his elevation, to satisfy the demands of a licentious and tur­bulent multitude. The kings of the Barbarians were frequently resisted, deposed, or murdered, by their native subjects; and the various bands of Italian mercenaries, who associated under the standard of an elective general, claimed a larger [Page 237] privilege of freedom and rapine. A monarchy destitute of national union, and hereditary right, hastened to its dissolution. After a reign of four­teen years, Odoacer was oppressed by the supe­rior genius of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths; a hero alike excellent in the arts of war and of government, who restored an age of peace and prosperity, and whose name still excites and de­serves the attention of mankind.

THE indissoluble connection of civil and ec­clesiastical affairs, has compelled and en­couraged me, to relate the progress, the perse­cutions, the establishment, the divisions, the final triumph, and the gradual corruption of Christian­ity. I have purposely delayed the consideration of two religious events, interesting in the study of human nature, and important in the decline and fall of the Roman empire. I. The institu­tion of the monastic life ¹; and, II. The conver­sion of the northern Barbarians.

1. Prosperity and peace introduced the distinc­tion of the vulgar and the Ascetic Christians ². I. THE MONAS­TIC LIFE. Origin of the monks. The loose and imperfect practice of religion sa­tisfied [Page 239] the conscience of the multitude. The prince or magistrate, the soldier or merchant, reconciled their fervent zeal, and implicit faith, with the exercise of their profession, the pursuit of their interest, and the indulgence of their pas­sions: but the Ascetics who obeyed and abused the rigid precepts of the gospel, were inspired by the savage enthusiasm, which represents man as a criminal, and God as a tyrant. They seriously renounced the business, and the pleasures, of the age; abjured the use of wine, of flesh, and of marriage; chastised their body, mortified their affections, and embraced a life of misery, as the price of eternal happiness. In the reign of Con­stantine, the Ascetics fled from a profane and degenerate world, to perpetual solitude, or reli­gious society. Like the first Christians of Jeru­salem ³, they resigned the use, or the property, of their temporal possessions; established regular communities of the same sex, and a similar dis­position; and assumed the names of Hermits, Monks, and Anachorets, expressive of their lonely retreat in a natural or artificial desert. They soon acquired the respect of the world, which they despised; and the loudest applause was be­stowed on this DIVINE PHILOSOPHY ⁴, which sur­passed, [Page 240] without the aid of science or reason, the laborious virtues of the Grecian schools. The monks might indeed contend with the Stoics, in the contempt of fortune, of pain, and of death: the Pythagorean silence and submission were re­vived in their servile discipline; and they dis­dained, as firmly as the Cynics themselves, all the forms and decencies of civil society. But the votaries of this Divine Philosophy aspired to imi­tate a purer and more perfect model. They trod in the footsteps of the prophets, who had retired to the desert ⁵; and they restored the devout and contemplative life, which had been instituted by the Essenians, in Palestine and Egypt. The philo­sophic eye of Pliny had surveyed with astonish­ment a solitary people, who dwelt among the palm-trees near the Dead Sea; who subsisted without money, who were propagated without women; and who derived from the disgust and [Page 241] repentance of mankind, a perpetual supply of voluntary associates ⁶.

Egypt, the fruitful parent of superstition, af­forded Antony and the monks of Egypt, A. D. 305. the first example of the monastic life. Antony ⁷, an illiterate ⁸ youth of the lower parts of Thebais, distributed his patrimony ⁹, deserted his family and native home, and executed his monastic penance with original and intrepid fana­ticism. After a long and painful noviciate, among the tombs, and in a ruined tower, he boldly advanced into the desert three days jour­ney to the eastward of the Nile; discovered a [Page 242] lonely spot, which possessed the advantages of shade and water, and fixed his last residence on mount Colzim near the Red Sea; where an an­cient monastery still preserves the name and me­mory of the saint ¹⁰. The curious devotion of the Christians pursued him to the desert; and when he was obliged to appear at Alexandria, in the face of mankind, he supported his fame with discretion and dignity. He enjoyed the friend­ship of Athanasius, whose doctrine he approved; and the Egyptian peasant respectfully declined a respectful invitation from the emperor Constan­tine. The venerable patriarch (for Antony at­tained A. D. 251—356. the age of one hundred and five years) beheld the numerous progeny which had been formed by his example and his lessons. The prolific colonies of monks multiplied with rapid increase on the sands of Libya, upon the rocks of Thebais, and in the cities of the Nile. To the south of Alexandria, the mountain, and ad­jacent desert, of Nitria, were peopled by five thousand anachorets; and the traveller may still investigate the ruins of fifty monasteries, which were planted in that barren soil, by the disciples of Antony ⁸¹. In the Upper Thebais, [Page 243] the vacant Island of Tabenne ¹² was occupied by Pachomius, and fourteen hundred of his bre­thren. That holy abbot successively founded nine monasteries of men, and one of women; and the festival of Easter sometimes collected fifty thou­sand religious persons, who followed his angelic rule of discipline ¹³. The stately and populous city of Oxyrinchus, the seat of Christian ortho­doxy, had devoted the temples, the public edi­fices, and even the ramparts, to pious and cha­ritable uses; and the bishop, who might preach in twelve churches, computed ten thousand fe­males, and twenty thousand males, of the mo­nastic profession ¹⁴. The Egyptians, who glo­ried in this marvellous revolution, were disposed to hope, and to believe, that the number of the monks was equal to the remainder of the people ¹⁵; and posterity might repeat the saying, which had formerly been applied to the sacred [Page 244] animals of the same country, That, in Egypt, it was less difficult to find a god, than a man.

Athanasius introduced into Rome the know­ledge Propaga­tion of the monastic life at Rome, A. D. 341. and practice of the monastic life; and a school of this new philosophy was opened by the disciples of Antony, who accompanied their pri­mate to the holy threshold of the Vatican. The strange and savage appearance of these Egyptians excited, at first, horror and contempt, and, at length, applause and zealous imitation. The senators, and more especially the matrons, transformed their palaces and villas into religious houses; and the narrow institution of six Vestals, was eclipsed by the frequent monasteries, which were seated on the ruins of ancient temples, and in the midst of the Roman Forum ¹⁶. Inflamed by the example of Antony, a Syrian youth, whose name was Hilarion ¹⁷, fixed his dreary abode on a sandy Hilarion, in Pales­tine, A. D. 328. beach, between the sea and a morass, about seven miles from Gaza. The austere penance, in which he persisted forty-eight years, diffused a similar enthusiasm; and the holy man was followed by a train of two or three thousand anachorets, when­ever he visited the innumerable monasteries of Pa­lestine. The same of Basil ¹⁸ is immortal in the Basil in Pontus, A. D. 360. [Page 245] monastic history of the East. With a mind, that had tasted the learning and eloquence of Athens; with an ambition, scarcely to be satisfied by the archbishopric of Caesarea, Basil retired to a sa­vage solitude in Pontus; and deigned, for a while, to give laws to the spiritual colonies which he pro­fusely scattered along the coast of the Black Sea. In the West, Martin of Tours ¹⁹, a soldier, an Martin in Gaul, A. D. 370. hermit, a bishop, and a saint, established the monasteries of Gaul; two thousand of his dis­ciples followed him to the grave; and his elo­quent historian challenges the deserts of Thebais, to produce, in a more favourable climate, a champion of equal virtue. The progress of the monks was not less rapid, or universal, than that of Christianity itself. Every province, and, at last, every city, of the empire, was filled with their increasing multitudes; and the bleak and barren isles, from Lerins to Lipari, that arise out of the Tuscan sea, were chosen by the anachorets, for the place of their voluntary exile. An easy and perpetual intercourse by sea and land con­nected the provinces of the Roman world; and the life of Hilarion displays the facility with which an indigent hermit of Palestine might tra­verse [Page 246] Egypt, embark for Sicily, escape to Epirus, and finally settle in the island of Cyprus ²⁰. The Latin Christians embraced the religious institu­tions of Rome. The pilgrims, who visited Jerusa­lem, eagerly copied, in the most distant climates of the earth, the faithful model of the monastic life. The disciples of Antony spread themselves be­yond the tropic over the Christian empire of Aethiopia ²¹. The monastery of Banchor ²², in Flintshire, which contained above two thousand brethren, dispersed a numerous colony among the Barbarians of Ireland ²³; and Iona, one of the Hebrides, which was planted by the Irish monks, diffused over the northern regions a doubtful ray of science and superstition ²⁴.

[Page 247] These unhappy exiles from social life, were im­pelled by the dark and implacable genius of su­perstition. Their mutual resolution was sup­ported Causes of its rapid progress. by the example of millions, of either sex, of every age, and of every rank; and each pro­selyte, who entered the gates of a monastery, was persuaded, that he trod the steep and thorny path of eternal happiness ²⁵. But the operation of these religious motives was variously determined by the temper and situation of mankind. Reason might subdue, or passion might suspend, their in­fluence: but they acted most forcibly on the in­firm minds of children and females; they were strengthened by secret remorse, or accidental mis­fortune; and they might derive some aid from the temporal considerations of vanity or interest. It was naturally supposed, that the pious and hum­ble monks, who had renounced the world, to ac­complish the work of their salvation, were the best qualified for the spiritual government of the Christians. The reluctant hermit was torn from his cell, and seated, amidst the acclamations of the people, on the episcopal throne: the mona­steries [Page 248] of Egypt, of Gaul, and of the East, sup­plied a regular succession of saints and bishops; and ambition soon discovered the secret road which led to the possession of wealth and ho­nours ²⁶. The popular monks, whose reputation was connected with the fame and success of the order, assiduously laboured to multiply the num­ber of their fellow-captives. They insinuated themselves into noble and opulent families; and the specious arts of flattery and seduction were employed to secure those proselytes, who might bestow wealth or dignity on the monastic profes­sion. The indignant father bewailed the loss, perhaps of an only son ²⁷; the credulous maid was betrayed by vanity to violate the laws of na­ture; and the matron aspired to imaginary per­fection, by renouncing the virtues of domestic life. Paula yielded to the persuasive eloquence of Jerom ²⁸; and the profane title of mother-in-law of God ²⁹, tempted that illustrious widow, to [Page 249] consecrate the virginity of her daughter Eusto­chium. By the advice, and in the company, of her spiritual guide, Paula abandoned Rome and her infant son; retired to the holy village of Beth­lem; founded an hospital and four monasteries; and acquired, by her alms and pennance, an eminent and conspicuous station in the catholic church. Such rare and illustrious penitents were celebrated as the glory and example of their age; but the monasteries were filled by a crowd of ob­scure and abject plebeians ³⁰, who gained in the cloyster much more than they had sacrificed in the world. Peasants, slaves, and mechanics, might escape from poverty and contempt, to a safe and honourable profession; whose apparent hardships were mitigated by custom, by popular applause, and by the secret relaxation of dis­cipline ³¹. The subjects of Rome, whose persons and fortunes were made responsible for unequal and exorbitant tributes, retired from the oppres­sion of the Imperial government; and the pusil­lanimous youth preferred the pennance of a mo­nastic, to the dangers of a military, life. The [Page 250] affrighted provincials, of every rank, who fled before the Barbarians, found shelter and sub­sistence; whole legions were buried in these re­ligious sanctuaries; and the same cause, which relieved the distress of individuals, impaired the strength and fortitude of the empire ³¹.

The monastic profession of the ancients ³² was Obedience of the monks. an act of voluntary devotion. The inconstant fa­natic was threatened with the eternal vengeance of the God whom he deserted: but the doors of the monastery were still open for repentance. Those monks, whose conscience was fortified by reason or passion, were at liberty to resume the cha­racter of men and citizens; and even the spouses of Christ might accept the legal embraces of an earthly lover ³³. The examples of scandal, and the progress of superstition, suggested the pro­priety of more forcible restraints. After a suf­ficient [Page 251] trial, the fidelity of the novice was secured by a solemn and perpetual vow; and his irrevo­cable engagement was ratified by the laws of the church and state. A guilty fugitive was purfued, arrested, and restored to his perpetual prison; and the interposition of the magistrate oppressed the freedom and merit, which had alleviated, in some degree, the abject slavery of the monastic dis­cipline ³⁴. The actions of a monk, his words, and even his thoughts, were determined by an inflexible rule ³⁵, or a capricious superior: the slightest offences were corrected by disgrace or confinement, extraordinary fasts or bloody flagel­lation; and disobedience, murmur, or delay, were ranked in the catalogue of the most heinous sins ³⁶. A blind submission to the commands of [Page 252] the abbot, however absurd, or even criminal, they might seem, was the ruling principle, the first virtue of the Egyptian monks; and their pa­tience was frequently exercised by the most ex­travagant trials. They were directed to remove an enormous rock; assiduously to water a barren staff, that was planted in the ground, till, at the end of three years, it should vegetate and blossom like a tree; to walk into a fiery furnace; or to cast their infant into a deep pond: and several saints, or madmen, have been immortalized in monastic story, by their thoughtless, and fear­less, obedience ³⁷. The freedom of the mind, the source of every generous and rational sen­timent, was destroyed by the habits of credu­lity and submission; and the monk, contracting the vices of a slave, devoutly followed the faith and passions of his ecclesiastical tyrant. The peace of the eastern church was invaded by a swarm of fanatics, incapable of fear, or reason, or hu­manity; and the Imperial troops acknowledged, without shame, that they were much less appre­hensive of an encounter with the fiercest Bar­barians ³⁸.

[Page 253] Superstition has often framed and consecrated the fantastic garments of the monks ³⁹: but their apparent singularity sometimes proceeds from Their dress and habita­tions. their uniform attachment to a simple and primi­tive model, which the revolutions of fashion have made ridiculous in the eyes of mankind. The father of the Benedictines expressly disclaims all idea of choice, or merit; and soberly exhorts his disciples to adopt the coarse and convenient dress of the countries which they may inhabit ⁴⁰. The monastic habits of the ancients varied with the climate, and their mode of life; and they as­sumed, with the same indifference, the sheep­skin of the Egyptian peasants, or the cloak of the Grecian philosophers. They allowed them­selves the use of linen in Egypt, where it was a cheap and domestic manufacture; but in the West, they rejected such an expensive article of foreign luxury ⁴¹. It was the practice of the monks either to cut or shave their hair; they wrapped their heads in a cowl, to escape the sight of profane objects; their legs and feet were naked, except in the extreme cold of winter; and their slow and feeble steps were supported by a long staff. The aspect of a genuine anachoret was horrid and disgusting: every sensation that [Page 254] is offensive to man, was thought acceptable to God; and the angelic rule of Tabenne con­demned the salutary custom of bathing the limbs in water, and of anointing them with oil ⁴². The austere monks slept on the ground, on a hard mat, or a rough blanket; and the same bundle of palm-leaves served them as a seat in the day, and a pillow in the night. Their original cells were low narrow huts, built of the slightest ma­terials; which formed, by the regular distribu­tion of the streets, a large and populous village, inclosing, within the common wall, a church, an hospital, perhaps a library, some necessary offices, a garden, and a fountain or reservoir of fresh water. Thirty or forty brethren composed a family of separate discipline and diet; and the great monasteries of Egypt consisted of thirty or forty families.

Pleasure and guilt are synonymous terms in the Their diet. language of the monks: and they had discovered, by experience, that rigid fasts, and abstemious diet, are the most effectual preservatives against the impure desires of the flesh ⁴³. The rules of ab­stinence, [Page 255] which they imposed, or practised, were not uniform or perpetual: the cheerful festival of the Pentecost was balanced by the extraor­dinary mortification of Lent; the fervour of new monasteries was insensibly relaxed; and the vora­cious appetite of the Gauls could not imitate the patient, and temperate, virtue of the Egyp­tians ⁴⁴. The disciples of Anthony and Pacho­mius were satisfied with their daily pittance ⁴⁵, of twelve ounces of bread, or rather biscuit ⁴⁶, which they divided into two frugal repasts, of the afternoon, and of the evening. It was esteemed a merit, and almost a duty, to abstain from the boiled vegetables, which were provided for the refectory; but the extraordinary bounty of the abbot sometimes indulged them with the luxury of cheese, fruit, sallad, and the small dried fish of the Nile ⁴⁷. A more ample latitude [Page 256] of sea and river fish was gradually allowed or assumed: but the use of flesh was long confined to the sick or travellers; and when it gradually prevailed in the less rigid monasteries of Europe, a singular distinction was introduced; as if birds, whether wild or domestic, had been less profane than the grosser animals of the field. Water was the pure and innocent beveridge of the primitive monks; and the founder of the Benedictines re­grets the daily portion of half a pint of wine, which had been extorted from him by the intem­perance of the age ⁴⁸. Such an allowance might be easily supplied by the vineyards of Italy; and his victorious disciples, who passed the Alps, the Rhine, and the Baltic, required, in the place of wine, an adequate compensation of strong beer or cyder.

The candidate who aspired to the virtue of evangelical poverty, abjured, at his first entrance Their ma­nual la­bour. into a regular community, the idea, and even the name, of all separate, or exclusive, posses­sion ⁴⁹. The brethren were supported by their manual labour; and the duty of labour was [Page 257] strenuously recommended as a pennance, as an exercise, and as the most laudable means of se­curing their daily subsistence ⁵⁰. The garden, and fields, which the industry of the monks had often rescued from the forest or the morass, were diligently cultivated by their hands. They per­formed, without reluctance, the menial offices of slaves and domestics; and the several trades that were necessary to provide their habits, their uten­sils, and their lodging, were exercised within the precincts of the great monasteries. The monastic studies have tended, for the most part, to darken, rather than to dispel, the cloud of superstition. Yet the curiosity or zeal of some learned solita­ries has cultivated the ecclesiastical, and even the profane, sciences: and posterity must gratefully acknowledge, that the monuments of Greek and Roman literature have been preserved and mul­tiplied by their indefatigable pens ⁵¹. But the more humble industry of the monks, especially in Egypt, was contented with the silent, seden­tary, [Page 258] occupation, of making wooden sandals, or of twisting the leaves of the palm-tree into mats and baskets. The superfluous stock, which was not consumed in domestic use, supplied, by trade, the wants of the community: the boats of Ta­benne, and the other monasteries of Thebais, descended the Nile as far as Alexandria; and, in a Christian market, the sanctity of the workmen might enhance the intrinsic value of the work.

But the necessity of manual labour was insen­sibly Their riches. superseded. The novice was tempted to bestow his fortune on the saints, in whose society he was resolved to spend the remainder of his life; and the pernicious indulgence of the laws per­mitted him to receive, for their use, any future accessions of legacy or inheritance ⁵². Melania contributed her plate, three hundred pounds weight of silver; and Paula contracted an im­mense debt, for the relief of their favourite monks; who kindly imparted the merits of their prayers and pennance to a rich and liberal sin­ner ⁵³. Time continually increased, and acci­dents could seldom diminish, the estates of the popular monasteries, which spread over the ad­jacent [Page 259] country and cities: and, in the first cen­tury of their institution, the infidel Zosimus has maliciously observed, that, for the benefit of the poor, the Christian monks had reduced a great part of mankind to a state of beggary ⁵⁴. As long as they maintained their original fervour, they approved themselves, however, the faithful and benevolent stewards of the charity, which was entrusted to their care. But their discipline was corrupted by prosperity: they gradually assumed the pride of wealth, and at last indulged the luxury of expence. Their public luxury might be excused by the magnificence of reli­gious worship, and the decent motive of erecting durable habitations for an immortal society. But every age of the church has accused the licen­tiousness of the degenerate monks; who no longer remembered the object of their institution, embraced the vain and sensual pleasures of the world, which they had renounced ⁵⁵, and scan­dalously abused the riches which had been ac­quired by the austere virtues of their found­ers ⁵⁶. [Page 260] Their natural descent, from such painful and dangerous virtue, to the common vices of huma­nity, will not, perhaps, excite much grief or indignation in the mind of a philosopher.

The lives of the primitive monks were con­sumed Their soli­tude. in pennance and solitude; undisturbed by the various occupations which fill the time, and exercise the faculties, of reasonable, active, and social beings. Whenever they were permitted to step beyond the precincts of the monastery, two jealous companions were the mutual guards and spies of each other's actions; and, after their return, they were condemned to forget, or, at least, to suppress, whatever they had seen or heard in the world. Strangers, who professed the orthodox faith, were hospitably entertained in a separate apartment; but their dangerous conversation was restricted to some chosen elders of approved discretion and fidelity. Except in their presence, the monastic slave might not receive the visits of his friends or kindred; and it was deemed highly meritorious, if he afflicted a tender sister, or an aged parent, by the obsti­nate refusal of a word or look ⁵⁷. The monks themselves passed their lives, without personal [Page 261] attachments, among a crowd, which had been formed by accident, and was detained, in the same prison, by force or prejudice. Recluse fanatics have few ideas or sentiments to commu­nicate: a special licence of the abbot regulated the time and duration of their familiar visits; and, at their silent meals, they were enveloped in their cowls, inaccessible, and almost invisible, to each other ⁵⁸. Study is the resource of soli­tude: but education had not prepared and qua­lified for any liberal studies the mechanics and peasants, who filled the monastic communities. They might work: but the vanity of spiritual perfection was tempted to disdain the exercise of manual labour; and the industry must be faint and languid, which is not excited by the sense of personal interest.

According to their faith and zeal, they might Their de­votion and visions. employ the day, which they passed in their cells, either in vocal or mental prayer: they assembled in the evening, and they were awakened in the night, for the public worship of the monastery. The precise moment was determined by the stars, which are seldom clouded in the serene sky of Egypt; and a rustic horn, or trumpet, the signal of devotion, twice interrupted the vast silence of the desert ⁵⁹. Even sleep, the last refuge of [Page 262] the unhappy, was rigorously measured: the va­cant hours of the monk heavily rolled along, without business or pleasure; and, before the close of each day, he had repeatedly accused the tedious progress of the Sun ⁶⁰. In this comfort­less state, superstition still pursued and tormented her wretched votaries ⁶¹. The repose which they had sought in the cloister was disturbed by tardy repentance, profane doubts, and guilty desires; and, while they considered each natural impulse as an unpardonable sin, they perpetually trembled on the edge of a flaming and bottomless abyss. From the painful struggles of disease and despair, these unhappy victims were sometimes relieved by madness or death; and, in the sixth century, an hospital was founded at Jerusalem for a small portion of the austere penitents, who were de­prived of their senses ⁶². Their visions, before they attained this extreme and acknowledged term of frenzy, have afforded ample materials of supernatural history. It was their firm persua­sion, [Page 263] that the air, which they breathed, was peopled with invisible enemies; with innume­rable daemons, who watched every occasion, and assumed every form, to terrify, and above all to tempt, their unguarded virtue. The imagina­tion, and even the senses, were deceived by the illusions of distempered fanaticism; and the her­mit, whose midnight prayer was oppressed by involuntary slumber, might easily confound the phantoms of horror or delight, which had occu­pied his sleeping, and his waking dreams ⁶³.

The monks were divided into two classes: the The Coe­nobites and Anacho­rets. Coenobites, who lived under a common, and regu­lar, discipline; and the Anachorets, who indulged their unsocial, independent, fanaticism ⁶⁴. The most devout, or the most ambitious, of the spiri­tual brethren, renounced the convent, as they had renounced the world. The fervent monasteries of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, were surrounded by a Laura ⁶⁵, a distant circle of solitary cells; and [Page 264] the extravagant pennance of the Hermits was sti­mulated by applause and emulation ⁶⁶. They sunk under the painful weight of crosses and chains; and their emaciated limbs were confined by col­lars, bracelets, gauntlets, and greaves, of massy, and rigid, iron. All superfluous incumbrance of dress they contemptuously cast away; and some savage saints of both sexes have been admired, whose naked bodies were only covered by their long hair. They aspired to reduce themselves to the rude and miserable state in which the human brute is scarcely distinguished above his kindred animals: and a numerous sect of Anachorets de­rived their name from their humble practice of grazing in the fields of Mesopotamia with the common herd ⁶⁷. They often usurped the den of some wild beast whom they affected to resemble; they buried themselves in some gloomy cavern, which art or nature had scooped out of the rock; and the marble quarries of Thebais are still in­scribed with the monuments of their pennance ⁶⁸. The most perfect Hermits are supposed to have passed many days without food, many nights without sleep, and many years without speaking; [Page 265] and glorious was the man (I abuse that name) who contrived any cell, or seat, of a peculiar con­struction, which might expose him, in the most inconvenient posture, to the inclemency of the seasons.

Among these heroes of the monastic life, the Simeon Stylites. A. D. 395—451. name and genius of Simeon Stylites ⁶⁹ have been immortalized by the singular invention of an aerial pennance. At the age of thirteen, the young Syrian deserted the profession of a shepherd, and threw himself into an austere monastery. After a long and painful noviciate, in which Simeon was repeatedly saved from pious suicide, he established his residence on a mountain, about thirty or forty miles to the East of Antioch. Within the space of a mandra, or circle of stones, to which he had attached himself by a ponderous chain, he as­cended a column, which was successively raised from the height of nine, to that of sixty, feet, from the ground ⁷⁰. In this last, and lofty, sta­tion, the Syrian Anachoret resisted the heat of thirty summers, and the cold of as many winters. Habit and exercise instructed him to maintain his dangerous situation without fear or giddiness, and successively to assume the different postures of de­votion. He sometimes prayed in an erect atti­tude, [Page 266] with his out-stretched arms, in the figure of a cross; but his most familiar practice was that of bending his meagre skeleton from the forehead to the feet: and a curious spectator, after num­bering twelve hundred and forty-four repetitions, at length desisted from the endless account. The progress of an ulcer in his thigh ⁷¹ might shorten, but it could not disturb, this celestial life; and the patient Hermit expired, without descending from his column. A prince, who should capriciously inflict such tortures, would be deemed a tyrant; but it would surpass the power of a tyrant, to im­pose a long and miserable existence on the re­luctant victims of his cruelty. This voluntary martyrdom must have gradually destroyed the sen­sibility both of the mind and body; nor can it be presumed that the fanatics, who torment them­selves, are susceptible of any lively affection for the rest of mankind. A cruel unfeeling temper has distinguished the monks of every age and country: their stern indifference, which is seldom mollified by personal friendship, is inflamed by religious hatred; and their merciless zeal has strenuously administered the holy office of the In­quisition.

The monastic saints, who excite only the con­tempt and pity of a philosopher, were respected, Miracles and wor­ship of the monks. and almost adored, by the prince and people. [Page 267] Successive crowds of pilgrims from Gaul and India saluted the divine pillar of Simeon: the tribes of Saracens disputed in arms the honour of his bene­diction; the queens of Arabia and Persia grate­fully confessed his supernatural virtue; and the angelic Hermit was consulted by the younger Theodosius, in the most important concerns of the church and state. His remains were transported from the mountain of Telenissa, by a solemn pro­cession of the patriarch, the master-general of the East, six bishops, twenty-one counts or tribunes, and six thousand soldiers; and Antioch revered his bones, as her glorious ornament and impreg­nable defence. The fame of the apostles and martyrs was gradually eclipsed by these recent and popular Anachorets; the Christian world fell prostrate before their shrines; and the miracles ascribed to their relics exceeded, at least in num­ber and duration, the spiritual exploits of their lives. But the golden legend of their lives ⁷² was embellished by the artful credulity of their in­terested brethren; and a believing age was easily persuaded, that the slightest caprice of an Egyp­tian or a Syrian monk, had been sufficient to in­terrupt the eternal laws of the universe. The fa­vourites of Heaven were accustomed to cure in­veterate diseases with a touch, a word, or a dis­tant [Page 268] message; and to expel the most obstinate daemons from the souls, or bodies, which they possessed. They familiarly accosted, or impe­riously commanded, the lions and serpents of the desert; infused vegetation into a sapless trunk; suspended iron on the surface of the water; passed the Nile on the back of a crocodile, and refreshed themselves in a fiery furnace. These extravagant tales, which display the fiction, without the ge­nius, of poetry, have seriously affected the reason, the faith, and the morals, of the Christians. Their Supersti­tion of the age. credulity debased and vitiated the faculties of the mind: they corrupted the evidence of history; and superstition gradually extinguished the hostile light of philosophy and science. Every mode of religious worship which had been practised by the saints, every mysterious doctrine which they be­lieved, was fortified by the sanction of divine re­velation, and all the manly virtues were oppressed by the servile and pusillanimous reign of the monks. If it be possible to measure the interval, between the philosophic writings of Cicero and the sacred legend of Theodoret, between the cha­racter of Cato and that of Simeon, we may ap­preciate the memorable revolution which was ac­complished in the Roman empire within a period of five hundred years.

II. The progress of Christianity has been II. CON­VERSION OF THE BARBA­RIANS. marked by two glorious and decisive victories; over the learned and luxurious citizens of the Ro­man empire; and over the warlike Barbarians of Scythia and Germany, who subverted the empire, and embraced the religion, of the Romans. The [Page 269] Goths were the foremost of these savage prose­lytes; and the nation was indebted for its conver­sion to a countryman, or, at least, to a subject, worthy to be ranked among the inventors of use­ful arts, who have deserved the remembrance and gratitude of posterity. A great number of Ro­man provincials had been led away into captivity by the Gothic bands, who ravaged Asia in the time of Gallienus: and of these captives, many were Christians, and several belonged to the ec­clesiastical order. Those involuntary missionaries, dispersed as slaves in the villages of Dacia, suc­cessively laboured for the salvation of their mas­ters. The seeds, which they planted of the evan­gelic doctrine, were gradually propagated; and, before the end of a century, the pious work was atchieved by the labours of Ulphilas, whose an­cestors had been transported beyond the Danube from a small town of Cappadocia.

Ulphilas, the bishop and apostle of the Goths ⁷³, Ulphilas, apostle of the Goths, A. D. 360, &c. acquired their love and reverence by his blameless life and indefatigable zeal; and they received, with implicit confidence, the doctrines of truth and virtue, which he preached and practised. He executed the arduous task of translating the Scrip­tures into their native tongue, a dialect of the German, or Teutonic, language; but he pru­dently suppressed the four books of Kings, as they might tend to irritate the fierce and sanguinary [Page 270] spirit of the Barbarians. The rude, imperfect, idiom of soldiers and shepherds, so ill-qualified to communicate any spiritual ideas, was improved and modulated by his genius; and Ulphilas, be­fore he could frame his version, was obliged to compose a new alphabet of twenty-four letters; four of which he invented, to express the peculiar sounds that were unknown to the Greek, and La­tin, pronunciation ⁷⁴. But the prosperous state of the Gothic church was soon afflicted by war and intestine discord, and the chieftains were divided by religion as well as by interest. Fritigern, the friend of the Romans, became the proselyte of Ulphilas; while the haughty soul of Athanaric disdained the yoke of the empire, and of the Go­spel. The faith of the new converts was tried by the persecution which he excited. A waggon, bearing aloft the shapeless image, of Thor, per­haps, or of Woden, was conducted in solemn pro­cession through the streets of the camp; and the rebels, who refused to worship the God of their fathers, were immediately burnt, with their tents and families. The character of Ulphilas recom­mended him to the esteem of the Eastern court, where he twice appeared as the minister of peace; [Page 271] he pleaded the cause of the distressed Goths, who implored the protection of Valens; and the name of Moses was applied to this spiritual guide, who conducted his people, through the deep waters of the Danube, to the Land of Promise ⁷⁵. The de­vout shepherds, who were attached to his person, and tractable to his voice, acquiesced in their set­tlement, at the foot of the Maesian mountains, in a country of woodlands and pastures, which sup­ported their flocks and herds, and enabled them to purchase the corn and wine of the more plenti­ful provinces. These harmless Barbarians mul­tiplied, in obscure peace, and the profession of Christianity ⁷⁶.

Their fiercer brethren, the formidable Visi­goths, The Goths, Vandals, Burgun­dians, &c. embrace Christian­ity, A. D. 400, &c. universally adopted the religion of the Ro­mans, with whom they maintained a perpetual intercourse, of war, of friendship, or of conquest. In their long and victorious march from the Da­nube to the Atlantic ocean, they converted their allies; they educated the rising generation; and the devotion which reigned in the camp of Alaric, or the court of Thoulouse, might edify, or dis­grace, the palaces of Rome and Constantinople ⁷⁷. [Page 272] During the same period, Christianity was em­braced by almost all the Barbarians, who esta­blished their kingdoms on the ruins of the Western empire; the Burgundians in Gaul, the Suevi in Spain, the Vandals in Africa, the Ostrogoths in Pannonia, and the various bands of Mercenaries, that raised Odoacer to the throne of Italy. The Franks and the Saxons still persevered in the er­rors of Paganism; but the Franks obtained the mo­narchy of Gaul by their submission to the example of Clovis; and the Saxon conquerors of Britain were reclaimed from their savage superstition by the missionaries of Rome. These Barbarian pro­felytes displayed an ardent and successful zeal in the propagation of the faith. The Merovingian kings, and their successors, Charlemagne and the Othos, extended by their laws and victories, the dominion of the cross. England produced the apostle of Germany; and the evangelic light was gradually diffused from the neighbourhood of the Rhine, to the nations of the Elbe, the Vistula, and the Baltic. ⁷⁸.

The different motives which influenced the Motives of their faith. reason, or the passions, of the Barbarian converts, cannot easily be ascertained. They were often capricious and accidental; a dream, an omen, the report of a miracle, the example of some priest, or hero, the charms of a believing wife, and above all, the fortunate event of a prayer, or vow, [Page 273] which, in a moment of danger, they had ad­dressed to the God of the Christians ⁷⁹. The early prejudices of education were insensibly erazed by the habits of frequent and familiar society; the moral precepts of the Gospel were protected by the extravagant virtues of the monks; and a spi­ritual theology was supported by the visible power of relics, and the pomp of religious worship. But the rational and ingenious mode of persuasion, which a Saxon bishop ⁸⁰ suggested to a popular saint, might sometimes be employed by the mis­sionaries, who laboured for the conversion of infi­dels. ‘"Admit," says the sagacious disputant, "whatever they are pleased to assert of the fa­bulous, and carnal, genealogy of their gods and gooddesses, who are propagated from each other. From this principle deduce their im­perfect nature, and human infirmities, the as­surance they were born, and the probability that they will die. At what time, by what means, from what cause, were the eldest of the gods or goddesses produced? Do they still continue, or have they ceased, to propagate? If they have ceased, summon your antagonists to declare the reason of this strange alteration. If they still continue, the number of the gods must [Page 274] become infinite; and shall we not risk, by the indiscreet worship of some impotent deity, to excite the resentment of his jealous superior? The visible heavens and earth, the whole system of the universe, which may be conceived by the mind, is it created or eternal? If created, how, or where, could the gods themselves exist before the creation? If eternal, how could they assume the empire of an independent and pre­existing world? Urge these arguments with temper and moderation; insinuate, at season­able intervals, the truth, and beauty, of the Christian revelation; and endeavour to make the unbelievers ashamed, without making them angry."’ This metaphysical reasoning, too re­fined perhaps for the Barbarians of Germany, was fortified by the grosser weight of authority and po­pular consent. The advantage of temporal pro­sperity had deserted the Pagan cause, and passed over to the service of Christianity. The Romans themselves, the most powerful and enlightened nation of the globe, had renounced their ancient superstition; and, if the ruin of their empire seemed to accuse the efficacy of the new faith, the disgrace was already retrieved by the conversion of the victorious Goths. The valiant and fortunate Barbarians, who subdued the provinces of the West, successively received, and reflected, the same edifying example. Before the age of Char­lemagne, the Christian nations of Europe might exult in the exclusive possession of the temperate climates, of the fertile lands, which produced [Page 275] corn, wine, and oil; while the savage idolaters, and their helpless idols, were confined to the ex­tremities of the earth, the dark and frozen regions of the North ⁸¹.

Christianity, which opened the gates of Heaven Effects of their con­version. to the Barbarians, introduced an important change in their moral and political condition. They re­ceived, at the same time, the use of letters, so es­sential to a religion whose doctrines are contained in a sacred book; and while they studied the di­vine truth, their minds were insensibly enlarged by the distant view of history, of nature, of the arts, and of society. The version of the Scrip­tures into their native tongue, which had facili­tated their conversion, must excite, among their clergy, some curiosity to read the original text, to understand the sacred liturgy of the church, and to examine, in the writings of the fathers, the chain of ecclesiastical tradition. These spiritual gifts were preserved in the Greek and Latin lan­guages, which concealed the inestimable monu­ments of ancient learning. The immortal pro­ductions of Virgil, Cicero, and Livy, which were accessible to the Christian Barbarians, maintained a silent intercourse between the reign of Augustus, and the times of Clovis and Charlemagne, The emulation of mankind was encouraged by the re­membrance of a more perfect state; and the flame of science was secretly kept alive, to warm and [Page 276] enlighten the mature age of the Western world. In the most corrupt state of Christianity, the Bar­barians might learn justice from the law, and mercy from the gospel: and if the knowledge of their duty was insufficient to guide their actions, or to regulate their passions; they were sometimes restrained by conscience, and frequently punished by remorse. But the direct authority of religion was less effectual, than the holy communion which united them with their Christian brethren in spi­ritual friendship. The influence of these senti­ments contributed to secure their fidelity in the service, or the alliance, of the Romans, to alle­viate the horrors of war, to moderate the insolence of conquest, and to preserve, in the downfall of the empire, a permanent respect for the name and institutions of Rome. In the days of Paganism, the priests of Gaul and Germany reigned over the people, and controuled the jurisdiction of the ma­gistrates; and the zealous proselytes transferred an equal, or more ample, measure of devout obe­dience, to the pontiffs of the Christian faith. The sacred character of the bishops was supported by their temporal possessions; they obtained an ho­nourable seat in the legislative assemblies of sol­diers and freemen; and it was their interest, as well as their duty, to mollify, by peaceful coun­sels, the fierce spirit of the Barbarians. The per­petual correspondence of the Latin clergy, the frequent pilgrimages to Rome and Jerusalem, and the growing authority of the Popes, cemented the union of the Christian republic: and gradually produced the similar manners, and common juris­prudence, [Page 277] which have distinguished, from the rest of mankind, the independent, and even hos­tile, nations of modern Europe.

But the operation of these causes was checked They are involved in the Arian heresy. and retarded by the unfortunate accident, which infused a deadly poison into the cup of Salvation. Whatever might be the early sentiments of Ul­philas, his connections with the empire and the church were formed during the reign of Arianism. The apostle of the Goths subscribed the creed of Rimini; professed with freedom, and perhaps with sincerity, that the SON was not equal, or consub­stantial to the FATHER ⁸²; communicated these er­rors to the clergy and people; and infected the Barbaric world with an heresy ⁸³, which the great Theodosius proscribed and extinguished among the Romans. The temper and understanding of the new proselytes were not adapted to metaphy­sical subtleties; but they strenuously maintained, what they had piously received, as the pure and genuine doctrines of Christianity. The advantage [Page 278] of preaching and expounding the Scriptures in the Teutonic language, promoted the apostolic la­bours of Ulphilas, and his successors; and they ordained a competent number of bishops and pres­byters, for the instruction of the kindred tribes. The Ostrogoths, the Burgundians, the Suevi, and the Vandals, who had listened to the eloquence of the Latin clergy ⁸⁴, preferred the more intelligible lessons of their domestic teachers; and Arianism was adopted as the national faith of the warlike converts, who were seated on the ruins of the Western empire. This irreconcilable difference of religion was a perpetual source of jealousy and hatred; and the reproach of Barbarian was embit­tered by the more odious epithet of Heretic. The heroes of the North, who had submitted, with some reluctance, to believe that all their ancestors were in hell ⁸⁵; were astonished and exasperated to learn, that they themselves had only changed the mode of their eternal condemnation. Instead of the smooth applause, which Christian kings are accustomed to expect from their loyal prelates, the orthodox bishops and their clergy were in a state of opposition to the Arian courts; and their indis­creet opposition frequently became criminal, and might sometimes be dangerous ⁸⁶. The pulpit, [Page 279] that safe and sacred organ of sedition, resounded with the names of Pharaoh and Holofernes ⁸⁷; the public discontent was inflamed by the hope or promise of a glorious deliverance; and the sedi­tious saints were tempted to promote the accom­plishment of their own predictions. Notwithstand­ing these provocations, the Catholics of Gaul, General toleration. Spain, and Italy, enjoyed, under the reign of the Arians, the free, and peaceful, exercise of their religion. Their haughty masters respected the zeal of a numerous people, resolved to die at the foot of their altars; and the example of their de­vout constancy was admired and imitated by the Barbarians themselves. The conquerors evaded, however, the disgraceful reproach, or confession, of fear, by attributing their toleration to the li­beral motives of reason and humanity; and while they affected the language, they imperceptibly imbibed the spirit, of genuine Christianity.

The peace of the church was sometimes inter­rupted. Arian per­secution of the Van­dals. The Catholics were indiscreet, the Bar­barians were impatient; and the partial acts of severity or injustice which had been recommended by the Arian clergy, were exaggerated by the or­thodox writers. The guilt of persecution may be imputed to Euric, king of the Visigoths; who suspended the exercise of ecclesiastical, or at least, of episcopal, functions; and punished the popular [Page 280] bishops of Aquitain with imprisonment, exile, and confiscation ⁸⁸. But the cruel and absurd enter­prise of subduing the minds of a whole people, was undertaken by the Vandals alone. Genseric Genseric, A. D. 429—477. himself, in his early youth, had renounced the orthodox communion; and the apostate could neither grant, nor expect, a sincere forgiveness. He was exasperated to find, that the Africans, who had fled before him in the field, still pre­sumed to dispute his will in synods and churches; and his ferocious mind was incapable of fear, or of compassion. His Catholic subjects were oppressed by intolerant laws, and arbitrary punishments. The language of Genseric was furious, and for­midable; the knowledge of his intentions might justify the most unfavourable interpretation of his actions; and the Arians were reproached with the frequent executions, which stained the palace, and the dominions, of the tyrant. Arms and am­bition were, however, the ruling passions of the monarch of the sea. But Hunneric, his inglorious Hunneric. A. D. 477. son, who seemed to inherit only his vices, tor­mented the Catholics with the same unrelenting fury, which had been fatal to his brother, his ne­phews, and the friends and favourites of his fa­ther: and, even to the Arian patriarch, who was inhumanly burnt alive in the midst of Carthage. [Page 281] The religious war was preceded and prepared by an insidious truce; persecution was made the serious and important business of the Vandal court; and the loathsome disease, which hastened the death of Hunneric, revenged the injuries, without contributing to the deliverance, of the church. The throne of Africa was successively filled by the two nephews of Hunneric; by Gun­damund, who reigned about twelve, and by Gunda­mund, A. D. 484. Thrasimund, who governed the nation above twenty-seven years. Their administration was hostile and oppressive to the orthodox party. Gundamund appeared to emulate, or even to surpass, the cruelty of his uncle; and, if at length he relented, if he recalled the bishops, and restored the freedom of Athanasian worship, a premature death intercepted the benefits of his tardy clemency. His brother, Thrasimund, was the greatest and most accomplished of the Vandal Thrasi­mund, A. D. 496. kings, whom he excelled in beauty, prudence, and magnanimity of soul. But this magnanimous character was degraded by his intolerant zeal and deceitful clemency. Instead of threats and tor­tures, he employed the gentle, but efficacious, powers of seduction. Wealth, dignity, and the royal favour, were the liberal rewards of apo­stacy; the Catholics, who had violated the laws, might purchase their pardon by the renunciation of their faith; and whenever Thrasimund medi­tated any rigorous measure, he patiently waited till the indiscretion of his adversaries furnished him with a specious opportunity. Bigotry was his last sentiment in the hour of death: and he [Page 282] exacted from his successor a solemn oath, that he would never tolerate the sectaries of Athana­sius. But his successor, Hilderic, the gentle son of the savage Hunneric, preferred the duties of Hilderic, A. D. 523. humanity and justice, to the vain obligation of an impious oath; and his accession was gloriously marked by the restoration of peace and universal freedom. The throne of that virtuous, though feeble monarch, was usurped by his cousin Geli­mer, a zealous Arian: but the Vandal kingdom, Gelimer, A. D. 530. before he could enjoy or abuse his power, was subverted by the arms of Belisarius; and the orthodox party retaliated the injuries which they had endured ⁸⁹.

The passionate declamations of the Catholics, A general view of the persecu­tion in Africa. the sole historians of this persecution, cannot afford any distinct series of causes and events; any impartial view of characters, or counsels; but the most remarkable circumstances, that de­serve either credit or notice, may be referred to the following heads: I. In the original law, which is still extant ⁹⁰, Hunneric expressly de­clares, [Page 283] and the declaration appears to be correct, that he had faithfully transcribed the regulations and penalties of the Imperial edicts; against the heretical congregations, the clergy, and the people, who dissented from the established reli­gion. If the rights of conscience had been un­derstood, the Catholics must have condemned their past conduct, or acquiesced in their actual sufferings. But they still persisted to refuse the indulgence which they claimed. While they trembled under the lash of persecution, they praised the laudable severity of Hunneric himself, who burnt or banished great numbers of Ma­nichaeans ⁹¹; and they rejected, with horror, the ignominious compromise, that the disciples of Arius, and of Athanasius, should enjoy a reci­procal and similar toleration in the territories of the Romans, and in those of the Vandals ⁹². II. The practice of a conference, which the Ca­tholics had so frequently used to insult and punish their obstinate antagonists, was retorted against themselves ⁹³. At the command of Hunneric, four hundred and sixty-six orthodox bishops assembled at Carthage; but when they were ad­mitted [Page 284] into the hall of audience, they had the mortification of beholding the Arian Cirila ex­alted on the patriarchal throne. The disputants were separated, after the mutual and ordinary reproaches of noise and silence, of delay and precipitation, of military force and of popular clamour. One martyr and one confessor were selected among the Catholic bishops; twenty-eight escaped by flight, and eighty-eight by con­formity; forty-six were sent into Corsica to cut timber for the royal navy; and three hundred and two were banished to the different parts of Africa, exposed to the insults of their enemies, and carefully deprived of all the temporal and spiritual comforts of life ⁹⁴. The hardships of ten years exile must have reduced their numbers; and if they had complied with the law of Thra­simund, which prohibited any episcopal conse­crations, the orthodox church of Africa must have expired with the lives of its actual members. They disobeyed; and their disobedience was pu­nished by a second exile of two hundred and twenty bishops into Sardinia; where they lan­guished fifteen years, till the accession of the gracious Hilderic ⁹⁵. The two islands were judi­ciously [Page 285] chosen by the malice of their Arian tyrants. Seneca, from his own experience, has deplored and exaggerated the miserable state of Corsica ⁹⁶, and the plenty of Sardinia was over­balanced by the unwholesome quality of the air ⁹⁷. III. The zeal of Genseric, and his successors, for the conversion of the Catholics, must have ren­dered them still more jealous to guard the purity of the Vandal faith. Before the churches were finally shut, it was a crime to appear in a Bar­barian dress; and those who presumed to neglect the royal mandate, were rudely dragged back­wards by their long hair ⁹⁸. The Palatine offi­cers, who refused to profess the religion of their prince, were ignominiously stripped of their ho­nours, and employments; banished to Sardinia and Sicily; or condemned to the servile labours of slaves and peasants in the fields of Utica. In the districts which had been peculiarly allotted to the Vandals, the exercise of the Catholic worship was more strictly prohibited; and severe penal­ties [Page 286] were denounced against the guilt, both of the missionary, and the proselyte. By these arts, the faith of the Barbarians was preserved, and their zeal was inflamed: they discharged, with devout fury, the office of spies, informers, or execu­tioners; and whenever their cavalry took the field, it was the favourite amusement of the march, to defile the churches, and to insult the clergy of the adverse faction ⁹⁹. IV. The citizens who had been educated in the luxury of the Ro­man province, were delivered, with exquisite cruelty, to the Moors of the desert. A vene­rable train of bishops, presbyters, and deacons, with a faithful crowd of four thousand and ninety-six persons, whose guilt is not precisely ascertained, were torn from their native homes, by the command of Hunneric. During the night they were confined, like a herd of cattle, amidst their own ordure: during the day they pursued their march over the burning sands; and if they fainted under the heat and fatigue, they were goaded, or dragged along, till they expired in the hands of their tormentors ¹⁰⁰. These un­happy exiles, when they reached the Moorish huts, might excite the compassion of a people, whose native humanity was neither improved by reason, nor corrupted by fanaticism: but if they escaped the dangers, they were condemned to [Page 287] share the distress, of a savage life. V. It is in­cumbent on the authors of persecution previously to reflect, whether they are determined to sup­port it in the last extreme. They excite the flame which they strive to extinguish; and it soon becomes necessary to chastise the contumacy, as well as the crime, of the offender. The fine, which he is unable or unwilling to discharge, exposes his person to the severity of the law; and his contempt of lighter penalties suggests the use and propriety of capital punishment. Through the veil of fiction and declamation, we may clearly perceive, that the Catholics, more espe­cially under the reign of Hunneric, endured the most cruel and ignominious treatment ¹⁰¹. Respect­able citizens, noble matrons, and consecrated virgins, were stripped naked, and raised in the air by pullies, with a weight suspended at their feet. In this painful attitude their naked bodies were torn with scourges, or burnt in the most tender parts with red-hot plates of iron. The amputation of the ears, the nose, the tongue, and the right-hand, was inflicted by the Arians; and although the precise number cannot be defined, it is evident that many persons, among whom a bishop ¹⁰² and a proconsul ¹⁰³ may be named, [Page 288] were entitled to the crown of martyrdom. The same honour has been ascribed to the me­mory of count Sebastian, who professed the Nicene creed with unshaken constancy; and Genseric might detest, as an heretic, the brave and ambitious fugitive whom he dreaded as a rival ¹⁰⁴. VI. A new mode of conversion, which might subdue the feeble, and alarm the timorous, was employed by the Arian ministers. They imposed, by fraud or violence, the rites of bap­tism; and punished the apostacy of the Catholics, if they disclaimed this odious and profane cere­mony, which scandalously violated the freedom of the will, and the unity of the sacrament ¹⁰⁵. The hostile sects had formerly allowed the vali­dity of each other's baptism; and the innovation, so fiercely maintained by the Vandals, can be imputed only to the example and advice of the Donatists. VII. The Arian clergy surpassed, in religious cruelty, the king and his Vandals; but they were incapable of cultivating the spiritual vineyard, which they were so desirous to possess. A patriarch ¹⁰⁶ might seat himself on the throne of Carthage; some bishops, in the principal cities, might usurp the place of their rivals; but [Page 289] the smallness of their numbers, and their igno­rance of the Latin language ¹⁰⁷, disqualified the Barbarians for the ecclesiastical ministry of a great church; and the Africans, after the loss of their orthodox pastors, were deprived of the pub­lic exercise of Christianity. VIII. The em­perors were the natural protectors of the Ho­moousian doctrine: and the faithful people of Africa, both as Romans and as Catholics, pre­ferred their lawful sovereignty to the usurpation of the Barbarous heretics. During an interval of peace and friendship, Hunneric restored the cathedral of Carthage; at the intercession of Zeno, who reigned in the East, and of Placidia, the daughter and relict of emperors, and the sister of the queen of the Vandals ¹⁰⁸. But this decent regard was of short duration; and the haughty tyrant displayed his contempt for the religion of the Empire, by studiously arranging the bloody images of persecution, in all the principal streets through which the Roman am­bassador must pass in his way to the palace ¹⁰⁹. An oath was required from the bishops, who were assembled at Carthage, that they would support the succession of his son Hilderic, and [Page 290] that they would renounce all foreign or transma­rine correspondence. This engagement, consistent as it should seem with their moral and religious duties, was refused by the more sagacious mem­bers ¹¹⁰ of the assembly. Their refusal, faintly coloured by the pretence that it is unlawful for a Christian to swear, must provoke the suspicious of a jealous tyrant.

The Catholics, oppressed by royal and military Catholic frauds, force, were far superior to their adversaries in numbers and learning. With the same weapons which the Greek ¹¹¹ and Latin fathers had already provided for the Arian controversy, they re­peatedly silenced, or vanquished, the fierce and illiterate successors of Ulphilas. The conscious­ness of their own superiority might have raised them above the arts, and passions, of religious warfare. Yet, instead of assuming such honourable pride, the orthodox theologians were tempted, by the assurance of impunity, to compose fictions, which must be stigmatized with the epithets of fraud and forgery. They ascribed their own polemical works to the most venerable names of Christian antiquity: the characters of Athanasius [Page 291] and Augustin were aukwardly personated by Vi­gilius and his disciples ¹¹²; and the famous creed, which so clearly expounds the mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation, is deduced, with strong probability, from this African school ¹¹³. Even the Scriptures themselves were profaned by their rash and sacrilegious hands. The memo­rable text, which asserts the unity of the THREE who bear witness in heaven ¹¹⁴, is condemned by the universal silence of the orthodox fathers, ancient versions, and authentic manuscripts ¹¹⁵. [Page 292] It was first alleged by the Catholic bishops whom Hunneric summoned to the conference of Car­thage ¹¹⁶. An allegorical interpretation, in the form, perhaps, of a marginal note, invaded the text of the Latin Bibles, which were renewed and corrected in a dark period of ten centuries ¹¹⁷. After the invention of printing ¹¹⁸, the editors of the Greek Testament yielded to their own pre­judices, or those of the times ¹¹⁹; and the pious fraud, which was embraced with equal zeal at Rome and at Geneva, has been infinitely mul­tiplied [Page 293] in every country and every language of modern Europe.

The example of fraud must excite suspicion; and mi­racles. and the specious miracles by which the African Catholics have defended the truth and justice of their cause, may be ascribed, with more reason, to their own industry, than to the visible pro­tection of Heaven. Yet the historian, who views this religious conflict with an impartial eye, may condescend to mention one preternatural event, which will edify the devout, and surprise the in­credulous. Tipasa ¹²⁰, a maritime colony of Mauritania, sixteen miles to the east of Caesarea, had been distinguished, in every age, by the orthodox zeal of its inhabitants. They had braved the fury of the Donatists ¹²¹; they resisted, or eluded, the tyranny of the Arians. The town was deserted on the approach of an heretical bishop: most of the inhabitants who could pro­cure ships passed over to the coast of Spain; and the unhappy remnant, refusing all communion with the usurper, still presumed to hold their pious, but illegal, assemblies. Their disobe­dience exasperated the cruelty of Hunneric. A military count was dispatched from Carthage to Tipasa: he collected the Catholics in the Forum, and, in the presence of the whole province, de­prived [Page 294] the guilty of their right-hands and their tongues. But the holy confessors continued to speak without tongues; and this miracle is at­tested by Victor, an African bishop, who pub­lished an history of the persecution within two years after the event ¹²². ‘"If any one," says Victor, "should doubt of the truth, let him repair to Constantinople, and listen to the clear and perfect language of Restitutus, the sub­deacon, one of these glorious sufferers, who is now lodged in the palace of the emperor Zeno, and is respected by the devout em­press."’ At Constantinople we are astonished to find a cool, a learned, an unexceptionable witness, without interest, and without passion. Aeneas of Gaza, a Platonic philosopher, has ac­curately described his own observations on these African sufferers. ‘"I saw them myself: I heard them speak: I diligently enquired by what means such an articulate voice could be formed without any organ of speech: I used my eyes to examine the report of my ears: I opened their mouth, and saw that the whole tongue had been completely torn away by the roots; an opera­tion which the physicians generally suppose to be mortal ¹²³."’ The testimony of Aeneas of Gaza [Page 295] might be confirmed by the superfluous evidence of the emperor Justinian, in a perpetual edict; of count Marcellinus, in his Chronicle of the times; and of Pope Gregory the First, who had resided at Constantinople, as the minister of the Roman pontiff ¹²⁴. They all lived within the compass of a century; and they all appeal to their personal knowledge, or the public notoriety, for the truth of a miracle, which was repeated in several instances, displayed on the greatest theatre of the world, and submitted, during a series of years, to the calm examination of the senses. This supernatural gift of the African confessors, who spoke without tongues, will command the assent of those, and of those only, who already believe, that their language was pure and ortho­dox. But the stubborn mind of an infidel is guarded by secret, incurable, suspicion; and the Arian, or Socinian, who has seriously rejected the doctrine of the Trinity, will not be shaken by the most plausible evidence of an Athanasian miracle.

The Vandals and the Ostrogoths persevered in The ruin of Aria­nism a­mong the Barba­rians, A. D. 500—700. the profession of Arianism till the final ruin of the kingdoms which they had founded in Africa and Italy. The Barbarians of Gaul submitted to [Page 296] the orthodox dominion of the Franks; and Spain was restored to the Catholic church by the volun­tary conversion of the Visigoths.

This salutary revolution ¹²⁵ was hastened by the Revolt and martyr­dom of Hermene­gild in Spain, A. D. 577—584. example of a royal martyr, whom our calmer reason may style an ungrateful rebel. Leovigild, the Gothic monarch of Spain, deserved the respect of his enemies, and the love of his subjects: the Catholics enjoyed a free toleration, and his Ari­an synods attempted, without much success, to reconcile their scruples by abolishing the unpo­pular rite of a second baptism. His eldest son Hermenegild, who was invested by his father with the royal diadem, and the fair principality of Boetica, contracted an honourable and ortho­dox alliance with a Merovingian princess, the daughter of Sigibert king of Austrasia, and of the famous Brunechild. The beauteous Ingun­dis, who was no more than thirteen years of age, was received, beloved, and persecuted, in the Arian court of Toledo; and her religious con­stancy was alternately assaulted with blandish­ments and violence by Goisvintha, the Gothic queen, who abused the double claim of maternal authority ¹²⁶. Incensed by her resistance, Gois­vintha [Page 297] seized the Catholic princess by her long hair, inhumanly dashed her against the ground, kicked her till she was covered with blood, and at last gave orders that she should be stripped, and thrown into a bason, or fish-pond ¹²⁷. Love and honour might excite Hermenegild to resent this injurious treatment of his bride; and he was gradually persuaded, that Ingundis suffered for the cause of divine truth. Her tender complaints, and the weighty arguments of Leander, arch­bishop of Seville, accomplished his conversion; and the heir of the Gothic monarchy was initiated in the Nicene faith by the solemn rites of con­firmation ¹²⁸. The rash youth, inflamed by zeal, and perhaps by ambition, was tempted to violate the duties of a son, and a subject; and the Ca­tholics of Spain, although they could not com­plain of persecution, applauded his pious rebel­lion against an heretical father. The civil war was protracted by the long and obstinate sieges of Merida, Cordova, and Seville, which had stre­nuously espoused the party of Hermenegild. He invited the orthodox Barbarians, the Suevi, and [Page 298] the Franks, to the destruction of his native land: he folicited the dangerous aid of the Romans, who possessed Africa, and a part of the Spanish coast; and his holy ambassador, the archbishop Leander, effectually negociated in person with the Byzantine court. But the hopes of the Ca­tholics were crushed by the active diligence of a monarch who commanded the troops and trea­sures of Spain; and the guilty Hermenegild, after his vain attempts to resist or to escape, was com­pelled to surrender himself into the hands of an incensed father. Leovigild was still mindful of that sacred character; and the rebel, despoiled of the regal ornaments, was still permitted, in a decent exile, to profess the Catholic religion. His repeated and unsuccessful treasons at length provoked the indignation of the Gothic king; and the sentence of death, which he pronounced with apparent reluctance, was privately executed in the tower of Seville. The inflexible constancy with which he refused to accept the Arian com­munion, as the price of his safety, may excuse the honours that have been paid to the memory of St. Hermenegild. His wife and infant son were detained by the Romans in ignominious captivity: and this domestic misfortune tarnish­ed the glories of Leovigild, and embittered the last moments of his life.

His son and successor, Recared, the first Ca­tholic king of Spain, had imbibed the faith of Conversion of Recared and the Visigoths of Spain, A. D. 586—589. his unfortunate brother, which he supported with more prudence and success. Instead of revolting [Page 299] against his father, Recared patiently expected the hour of his death. Instead of condemning his memory, he piously supposed, that the dying monarch had abjured the errors of Arianism, and recommended to his son the conversion of the Gothic nation. To accomplish that salutary end, Recared convened an assembly of the Arian clergy and nobles, declared himself a Catholic, and ex­horted them to imitate the example of their prince. The laborious interpretation of doubtful texts, or the curious pursuit of metaphysical arguments, would have excited an endless controversy; and the monarch discreetly proposed to his illiterate audience, two substantial and visible arguments, the testimony of Earth, and of Heaven. The Earth had submitted to the Nicene synod: the Romans, the Barbarians, and the inhabitants of Spain, unanimously professed the same orthodox creed; and the Visigoths resisted, almost alone, the consent of the Christian world. A supersti­tious age was prepared to reverence, as the testi­mony of Heaven, the preternatural cures, which were performed by the skill or virtue of the Ca­tholic clergy; the baptismal fonts of Osset in Boetica ¹²⁹, which were spontaneously replenished [Page 300] each year, on the vigil of Easter ¹³⁰; and the miraculous shrine of St. Martin of Tours, which had already converted the Suevic prince and peo­ple of Gallicia ¹³¹. The Catholic king encoun­tered some difficulties on this important change of the national religion. A conspiracy, secretly fomented by the queen-dowager, was formed against his life; and two counts excited a dan­gerous revolt in the Narbonnese Gaul. But Re­cared disarmed the conspirators, defeated the rebels, and executed severe justice; which the Arians, in their turn, might brand with the re­proach of persecution. Eight bishops, whose names betray their Barbaric origin, abjured their errors; and all the books of Arian theology were reduced to ashes, with the house in which they had been purposely collected. The whole body of the Visigoths and Suevi were allured or driven into the pale of the Catholic communion; the faith, at least of the rising generation, was fer­vent and sincere; and the devout liberality of the Barbarians enriched the churches and monas­teries of Spain. Seventy bishops, assembled in the council of Toledo, received the submission of their conquerors; and the zeal of the Spaniards improved the Nicene creed, by declaring the pro­cession [Page 301] of the Holy Ghost, from the Son, as well as from the Father; a weighty point of doctrine, which produced, long afterwards, the schism of the Greek and Latin churches ¹³². The royal proselyte immediately saluted and consulted pope Gregory, surnamed the Great, a learned and holy prelate, whose reign was distinguished by the conversion of heretics and infidels. The ambas­sadors of Recared respectfully offered on the threshold of the Vatican his rich presents of gold and gems: they accepted, as a lucrative ex­change, the hairs of St. John the Baptist; a cross, which inclosed a small piece of the true wood; and a key, that contained some particles of iron which had been scraped from the chains of St. Peter ¹³³.

The same Gregory, the spiritual conqueror of Conversion of the Lombards of Italy, A. D. 600, &c. Britain, encouraged the pious Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards, to propagate the Nicene faith among the victorious savages, whose recent Christianity was polluted by the Arian heresy. Her devout labours still left room for the indus­try and success of future missionaries; and many cities of Italy were still disputed by hostile bishops. But the cause of Arianism was gradually sup­pressed by the weight of truth, of interest, and of example; and the controversy, which Egypt had [Page 302] derived from the Platonic school, was terminat­ed, after a war of three hundred years, by the final conversion of the Lombards of Italy ¹³⁴.

The first missionaries who preached the gospel Persecu­tion of the Jews in Spain, A. D. 612—712. to the Barbarians, appealed to the evidence of reason, and claimed the benefit of toleration ¹³⁵. But no sooner had they established their spiritual dominion, than they exhorted the Christian kings to extirpate, without mercy, the remains of Ro­man or Barbaric superstition. The successors of Clovis inflicted one hundred lashes on the peasants who refused to destroy their idols; the crime of sacrificing to the daemons was punished by the Anglo-Saxon laws with the heavier penalties of imprisonment and confiscation; and even the wise Alfred adopted, as an indispensable duty, the extreme rigour of the Mosaic institutions ¹³⁶. But the punishment, and the crime, were gra­dually abolished among a Christian people: the theological disputes of the schools were suspend­ed by propitious ignorance; and the intolerant spirit, which could find neither idolaters nor he­retics, [Page 303] was reduced to the persecution of the Jews. That exiled nation had founded some synagogues in the cities of Gaul; but Spain, since the time of Hadrian, was filled with their numerous colonies ¹³⁷. The wealth which they accumulated by trade, and the management of the finances, invited the pious avarice of their masters; and they might be oppressed without danger, as they had lost the use, and even the re­membrance, of arms. Sisebut, a Gothic king, who reigned in the beginning of the seventh cen­tury, proceeded at once to the last extremes of persecution ¹³⁸. Ninety thousand Jews were com­pelled to receive the sacrament of baptism; the fortunes of the obstinate infidels were confiscated, their bodies were tortured; and it seems doubt­ful whether they were permitted to abandon their native country. The excessive zeal of the Ca­tholic king was moderated, even by the clergy of Spain, who solemnly pronounced an inconsistent sentence: that the sacraments should not be for­cibly imposed; but that the Jews who had been baptized should be constrained, for the honour of the church, to persevere in the external practice [Page 304] of a religion which they disbelieved, and detested. Their frequent relapses provoked one of the suc­cessors of Sisebut to banish the whole nation from his dominions; and a council of Toledo pub­lished a decree, that every Gothic king should swear to maintain this salutary edict. But the tyrants were unwilling to dismiss the victims, whom they delighted to torture, or to deprive themselves of the industrious slaves, over whom they might exercise a lucrative oppression. The Jews still continued in Spain, under the weight of the civil and ecclesiastical laws, which in the same country have been faithfully transcribed in the Code of the Inquisition. The Gothic kings and bishops at length discovered, that injuries will produce hatred, and that hatred will find the opportunity of revenge. A nation, the secret or professed enemies of Christianity, still multiplied in servitude, and distress; and the intrigues of the Jews promoted the rapid success of the Ara­bian conquerors ¹³⁹.

As soon as the Barbarians withdrew their Conclu­sion. powerful support, the unpopular heresy of Arius sunk into contempt and oblivion. But the Greeks still retained their subtle and loquacious dispo­sition: the establishment of an obscure doctrine suggested new questions, and new disputes; and it was always in the power of an ambitious pre­late, or a fanatic monk, to violate the peace of [Page 305] the church, and, perhaps, of the empire. The historian of the empire may overlook those dis­putes which were confined to the obscurity of schools and synods. The Manichaeans, who la­boured to reconcile the religions of Christ and of Zoroaster, had secretly introduced themselves into the provinces: but these foreign sectaries were involved in the common disgrace of the Gnostics, and the Imperial laws were executed by the pub­lic hatred. The rational opinions of the Pela­gians were propagated from Britain to Rome, Africa, and Palestine, and silently expired in a superstitious age. But the East was distracted by the Nestorian and Eutychian controversies; which attempted to explain the mystery of the incarna­tion, and hastened the ruin of Christianity in her native land. These controversies were first agi­tated under the reign of the younger Theodosius: but their important consequences extend far be­yond the limits of the present volume. The me­taphysical chain of argument, the contests of ec­clesiastical ambition, and their political influence on the decline of the Byzantine empire, may afford an interesting and instructive series of his­tory, from the general councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, to the conquest of the East by the successors of Mahomet.

THE Gauls ¹, who impatiently supported the Roman yoke, received a memorable lesson from one of the lieutenants of Vespasian, The revo­lution of Gaul. whose weighty sense has been refined and expressed by the genius of Tacitus ². ‘"The protection of the republic has delivered Gaul from inter­nal discord, and foreign invasions. By the loss of national independence, you have acquir­ed the name and privileges of Roman citizens. You enjoy, in common with ourselves, the permanent benefits of civil government; and your remote situation is less exposed to the accidental mischiefs of tyranny. Instead of [Page 307] exercising the rights of conquest, we have been contented to impose such tributes as are requi­site for your own preservation. Peace cannot be secured without armies; and armies must be supported at the expence of the people. It is for your sake, not for our own, that we guard the barrier of the Rhine against the ferocious Germans, who have so often attempt­ed, and who will always desire, to exchange the solitude of their woods and morasses for the wealth and fertility of Gaul. The fall of Rome would be fatal to the provinces; and you would be buried in the ruins of that mighty fabric, which has been raised by the valour and wis­dom of eight hundred years. Your imaginary freedom would be insulted and oppressed by a savage master; and the expulsion of the Ro­mans would be succeeded by the eternal hosti­lities of the Barbarian conquerors ³."’ This salutary advice was accepted, and this strange prediction was accomplished. In the space of four hundred years, the hardy Gauls, who had encountered the arms of Caesar, were impercep­tibly melted into the general mass of citizens and subjects: the Western empire was dissolved; and the Germans, who had passed the Rhine, fiercely contended for the possession of Gaul, and excited the contempt, or abhorrence, of its peaceful and polished inhabitants. With that conscious pride [Page 308] which the pre-eminence of knowledge and lux­ury seldom fails to inspire, they derided the hairy and gigantic savages of the North; their rustic manners, dissonant joy, voracious appetite, and their horrid appearance, equally disgusting to the sight and to the smell. The liberal studies were still cultivated in the schools of Autun and Bor­deaux; and the language of Cicero and Virgil was familiar to the Gallic youth. Their ears were astonished by the harsh and unknown sounds of the Germanic dialect, and they ingeniously lamented that the trembling muses fled from the harmony of a Burgundian lyre. The Gauls were endowed with all the advantages of art and nature; but as they wanted courage to defend them, they were justly condemned to obey, and even to flat­ter, the victorious Barbarians, by whose clemency they held their precarious fortunes and their lives ⁴.

As soon as Odoacer had extinguished the West­ern Euric, king of the Visigoths, A. D. 476—485. empire, he sought the friendship of the most powerful of the Barbarians. The new sovereign of Italy resigned to Euric, king of the Visigoths, all the Roman conquests beyond the Alps, as far as the Rhine and the Ocean ⁵: and the senate might confirm this liberal gift with some ostenta­tion of power, and without any real loss of reve­nue [Page 309] or dominion. The lawful pretensions of Euric were justified by ambition and success; and the Gothic nation might aspire, under his com­mand, to the monarchy of Spain and Gaul. Arles and Marseilles surrendered to his arms: he op­pressed the freedom of Auvergne; and the bishop condescended to purchase his recal from exile by a tribute of just, but reluctant, praise. Sidonius waited before the gates of the palace among a crowd of ambassadors and suppliants; and their various business at the court of Bordeaux attested the power, and the renown, of the king of the Visigoths. The Heruli of the distant ocean, who painted their naked bodies, with its caerulean co­lour, implored his protection; and the Saxons respected the maritime provinces of a prince, who was destitute of any naval force. The tall Bur­gundians submitted to his authority; nor did he restore the captive Franks, till he had imposed on that fierce nation the terms of an unequal peace. The Vandals of Africa cultivated his useful friend­ship; and the Ostrogoths of Pannonia were sup­ported by his powerful aid against the oppression of the neighbouring Huns. The North (such are the lofty strains of the poet) was agitated, or ap­peased, by the nod of Euric; the great king of Persia consulted the oracle of the West; and the aged god of the Tyber was protected by the swell­ing genius of the Garonne ⁶. The fortune of na­tions has often depended on accidents; and [Page 310] France may ascribe her greatness to the premature death of the Gothic king, at a time when his son Alaric was an helpless infant, and his adversary Clovis ⁷ an ambitious and valiant youth.

While Childeric, the father of Clovis, lived an Clovis, king of the Franks, A. D. 481—511. exile in Germany, he was hospitably entertained by the queen as well as by the king, of the Thuringians. After his restoration, Basina escaped from her husband's bed to the arms of her lover; freely declaring, that if she had known a man wiser, stronger, or more beautiful, than Chil­deric, that man should have been the object or her preference ⁸. Clovis was the offspring of this voluntary union; and, when he was no more than fifteen years of age, he succeeded, by his father's death, to the command of the Salian tribe. The narrow limits of his kingdom ⁹ were confined to the island of the Batavians, with the ancient dio­ceses of Tournay and Arras ¹⁰; and at the bap­tism [Page 311] of Clovis, the number of his warriors could not exceed five thousand. The kindred tribes of the Franks, who had seated themselves along the Belgic rivers, the Scheld, the Meuse, the Mo­selle, and the Rhine, were governed by their in­dependent kings, of the Merovingian race; the equals, the allies, and sometimes the enemies, of the Salic prince. But the Germans, who obeyed, in peace, the hereditary jurisdiction of their chiefs, were free to follow the standard of a popular and victorious general; and the superior merit of Clovis attracted the respect and allegiance of the national confederacy. When he first took the field, he had neither gold and silver in his coffers, nor wine and corn in his magazines ¹¹: but he imitated the example of Caesar, who, in the same country, had acquired wealth by the sword, and purchased soldiers with the fruits of conquest. After each successful battle or expedition, the spoils were accumulated in one common mass; every warrior received his proportionable share, and the royal prerogative submitted to the equal regula­tions of military law. The untamed spirit of the Barbarians was taught to acknowledge the ad­vantages of regular discipline ¹². At the annual re­view [Page 312] of the month of March, their arms were diligently inspected; and when they traversed a peaceful territory, they were prohibited from touching a blade of grass. The justice of Clovis was inexorable; and his careless or disobedient soldiers were punished with instant death. It would be superfluous to praise the valour of a Frank: but the valour of Clovis was directed by cool and consummate prudence ¹³. In all his transactions with mankind, he calculated the weight of interest, of passion, and of opinion; and his measures were sometimes adapted to the sanguinary manners of the Germans, and some­times moderated by the milder genius of Rome, and Christianity. He was intercepted in the career of victory, since he died in the forty-fifth year of his age: but he had already accomplished, in a reign of thirty years, the establishment of the French monarchy in Gaul.

The first exploit of Clovis was the defeat of His victory over Sya­grius, A. D. 486. Syagrius, the son of Aegidius; and the public quarrel might, on this occasion, be inflamed by private resentment. The glory of the father still insulted the Merovingian race; the power of the son might excite the jealous ambition of the king of the Franks. Syagrius inherited, as a patrimo­nial estate, the city and diocese of Soissons: the desolate remnant of the second Belgic, Rheims and Troyes, Beauvais and Amiens, would na­turally [Page 313] submit to the count or patrician ¹⁴; and after the dissolution of the Western empire, he might reign with the title, or at least with the authority, of king of the Romans ¹⁵. As a Ro­man, he had been educated in the liberal studies of rhetoric and jurisprudence; but he was en­gaged by accident and policy in the familiar use of the Germanic idiom. The independent Bar­barians resorted to the tribunal of a stranger, who possessed the singular talent of explaining, in their native tongue, the dictates of reason and equity. The diligence and affability of their judge ren­dered him popular, the impartial wisdom of his decrees obtained their voluntary obedience, and the reign of Syagrius over the Franks and Bur­gundians, seemed to revive the original institu­tion of civil society ¹⁶. In the midst of these peaceful occupations, Syagrius received, and boldly accepted, the hostile defiance of Clovis; who challenged his rival, in the spirit, and al­most in the language, of chivalry, to appoint the [Page 314] day, and the field ¹⁷, of battle. In the time of Caesar, Soissons would have poured forth a body of fifty thousand horse; and such an army might have been plentifully supplied with shields, cui­rasses, and military engines, from the three arsenals, or manufactures, of the city ¹⁸. But the courage and numbers of the Gallic youth were long since exhausted; and the loose bands of vo­lunteers, or mercenaries, who marched under the standard of Syagrius, were incapable of contend­ing with the national valour of the Franks. It would be ungenerous, without some more accu­rate knowledge of his strength and resources, to condemn the rapid flight of Syagrius, who escaped, after the loss of a battle, to the distant court of Thoulouse. The feeble minority of Alaric could not assist, or protect, an unfortunate fugitive; the pusillanimous ¹⁹ Goths were intimidated by the menaces of Clovis; and the Roman king, after a short confinement, was delivered into the hands of the executioner. The Belgic cities surrendered to the king of the Franks; and his dominions [Page 315] were enlarged towards the East by the ample dio­cese of Tongres ²⁰, which Clovis subdued in the tenth year of his reign.

The name of the Alemanni has been absurdly Defeat and submission of the Alemanni, A. D. 496. derived from their imaginary settlement on the banks of the Leman lake ²¹. That fortunate district, from the lake to Avenche, and Mount Jura, was occupied by the Burgundians ²². The northern parts of Helvetia had indeed been sub­dued by the ferocious Alemanni, who destroyed with their own hands the fruits of their conquest. A province, improved and adorned by the arts of Rome, was again reduced to a savage wilderness; and some vestige of the stately Vindonissa may still be discovered in the fertile and populous val­ley of the Aar ²³. From the source of the Rhine, [Page 316] to its conflux with the Mein and the Moselle, the formidable swarms of the Alemanni commanded either side of the river, by the right of ancient possession, or recent victory. They had spread themselves into Gaul, over the modern provinces of Alsace and Lorraine; and their bold invasion of the kingdom of Cologne summoned the Salic prince to the defence of his Ripuarian allies. Clovis encountered the invaders of Gaul in the plain of Tolbiac, about twenty-four miles from Cologne; and the two fiercest nations of Germany were mutually animated by the memory of past ex­ploits, and the prospect of future greatness. The Franks, after an obstinate struggle, gave way; and the Alemanni, raising a shout of victory, im­petuously pressed their retreat. But the battle was restored by the valour, the conduct, and perhaps by the piety, of Clovis; and the event of the bloody day decided for ever the alternative of empire or servitude. The last king of the Alemanni was slain in the field, and his people was slaughtered and pursued, till they threw down their arms, and yielded to the mercy of the con­queror. Without discipline it was impossible for them to rally; they had contemptuously demo­lished the walls and fortifications which might have protected their distress; and they were fol­lowed into the heart of their forests, by an enemy, [Page 317] not less active, or intrepid, than themselves. The great Theodoric congratulated the victory of Clovis, whose sister Albofleda the king of Italy had lately married; but he mildly interceded with his brother in favour of the suppliants and fugitives, who had implored his protection. The Gallic territories, which were possessed by the Alemanni, became the prize of their con­queror; and the haughty nation, invincible, or rebellious, to the arms of Rome, acknowledged the sovereignty of the Merovingian kings, who graciously permitted them to enjoy their peculiar manners and institutions, under the government of official, and, at length, of hereditary, dukes. After the conquest of the Western provinces, the Franks alone maintained their ancient habitations beyond the Rhine. They gradually subdued, and civilised, the exhausted countries, as far as the Elbe, and the mountains of Bohemia; and the peace of Europe was secured by the obedience of Germany ²⁴.

Till the thirtieth year of his age, Clovis con­tinued Conversion of Clovis, A. D. 496. to worship the gods of his ancestors ²⁵. [Page 318] His disbelief, or rather disregard, of Christianity, might encourage him to pillage with less remorse the churches of an hostile territory: but his sub­jects of Gaul enjoyed the free exercise of religious worship; and the bishops entertained a more fa­vourable hope of the idolater, than of the here­tics. The Merovingian prince had contracted a fortunate alliance with the fair Clotilda, the niece of the king of Burgundy, who, in the midst of an Arian court, was educated in the profession of the Catholic faith. It was her interest, as well as her duty, to atchieve the conversion ²⁶ of a Pagan husband; and Clovis insensibly listened to the voice of love and religion. He consented (per­haps such terms had been previously stipulated) to the baptism of his eldest son; and though the sudden death of the infant excited some super­stitious fears, he was persuaded, a second time, to repeat the dangerous experiment. In the distress of the battle of Tolbiac, Clovis loudly invoked the god of Clotilda and the Christians; and vic­tory disposed him to hear, with respectful grati­tude, [Page 319] the eloquent ²⁷ Remigius ²⁸, bishop of Rheims, who forcibly displayed the temporal and spiritual advantages of his conversion. The king declared himself satisfied of the truth of the Ca­tholic faith; and the political reasons which might have suspended his public profession, were re­moved by the devout or loyal acclamations of the Franks, who shewed themselves alike prepared to follow their heroic leader, to the field of battle, or to the baptismal font. The important ceremony was performed in the cathedral of Rheims, with every circumstance of magnificence and solemnity, that could impress an awful sense of religion on the minds of its rude proselytes ²⁹. The new Con­stantine was immediately baptised, with three thousand of his warlike subjects; and their ex­ample [Page 320] was imitated by the remainder of the gentle Barbarians, who, in obedience to the victorious prelate, adored the cross which they had burnt, and burnt the idols which they had formerly adored ³⁰. The mind of Clovis was susceptible of transient fervour: he was exasperated by the pa­thetic tale of the passion and death of Christ; and, instead of weighing the salutary consequences of that mysterious sacrifice, he exclaimed with in­discreet fury, ‘"Had I been present at the head of my valiant Franks, I would have revenged his injuries ³¹."’ But the savage conqueror of Gaul was incapable of examining the proofs of a religion, which depends on the laborious investi­gation of historic evidence, and speculative theo­logy. He was still more incapable of feeling the mild influence of the gospel, which persuades and purifies the heart of a genuine convert. His am­bitious reign was a perpetual violation of moral and Christian duties; his hands were stained with blood, in peace as well as in war; and, as soon as Clovis had dismissed a synod of the Galli­can church, he calmly assassinated all the princes of the Merovingian race ³². Yet the king of the [Page 321] Franks might sincerely worship the Christian God, as a Being more excellent and powerful than his national deities; and the signal deliverance and victory of Tolbiac encouraged Clovis to con­fide in the future protection of the Lord of Hosts. Martin, the most popular of the saints, had filled the Western world with the fame of those miracles, which were incessantly performed at his holy se­pulchre of Tours. His visible or invisible aid promoted the cause of a liberal and orthodox prince; and the profane remark of Clovis him­self, that St. Martin was an expensive friend ³³, need not be interpreted as the symptom of any permanent, or rational, scepticism. But earth, as well as heaven, rejoiced in the conversion of the Franks. On the memorable day, when Clovis ascended from the baptismal font, he alone, in the Christian world, deserved the name and pre­rogatives of a Catholic king. The emperor Anastasius entertained some dangerous errors con­cerning the nature of the divine incarnation; and the Barbarians of Italy, Africa, Spain, and Gaul were involved in the Arian heresy. The eldest, or rather the only, son of the church, was ac­knowledged by the clergy as their lawful sove­reign, [Page 322] or glorious deliverer; and the arms of Clovis were strenuously supported by the zeal and favour of the Catholic faction ³⁴.

Under the Roman empire, the wealth and ju­risdiction Submission of the Ar­moricans and the Roman troops, A. D. 497, &c. of the bishops, their sacred character, and perpetual office, their numerous dependents, popular eloquence, and provincial assemblies, had rendered them always respectable, and some­times dangerous. Their influence was aug­mented with the progress of superstition, and the establishment of the French monarchy may, in some degree, be ascribed to the firm alliance of an hundred prelates, who reigned in the discon­tented, or independent, cities of Gaul. The slight foundations of the Armorican republic had been repeatedly shaken, or overthrown; but the same people still guarded their domestic freedom; asserted the dignity of the Roman name; and bravely resisted the predatory inroads, and regular attacks, of Clovis, who laboured to extend his conquests from the Seine to the Loire. Their successful opposition introduced an equal and honourable union. The Franks esteemed the va­lour of the Armoricans ³⁵, and the Armoricans [Page 323] were reconciled by the religion of the Franks. The military force, which had been stationed for the defence of Gaul, consisted of one hundred dif­ferent bands of cavalry or infantry; and these troops, while they assumed the title and privileges of Roman soldiers, were renewed by an incessant supply of the Barbarian youth. The extreme for­tifications, and scattered fragments, of the em­pire, were still defended by their hopeless courage. But their retreat was intercepted, and their com­munication was impracticable: they were aban­doned by the Greek princes of Constantinople, and they piously disclaimed all connection with the Arian usurpers of Gaul. They accepted, without shame or reluctance, the generous capitulation, which was proposed by a Catholic hero; and this spurious, or legitimate, progeny of the Roman legions, was distinguished in the succeeding age by their arms, their ensigns, and their peculiar dress and institutions. But the national strength was increased by these powerful and voluntary ac­cessions; and the neighbouring kingdoms dread­ed the numbers, as well as the spirit, of the Franks. The reduction of the Northern pro­vinces of Gaul, instead of being decided by the chance of a single battle, appears to have been slowly effected by the gradual operation of war and treaty; and Clovis acquired each object of his ambition, by such efforts, or such conces­sions, as were adequate to its real value. His savage character, and the virtues of Henry IV. suggest the most opposite ideas of human nature: yet some resemblance may be found in the situa­tion [Page 324] of two princes, who conquered France by their valour, their policy, and the merits of a seasonable conversion ³⁶.

The kingdom of the Burgundians, which was defined by the course of two Gallic rivers, the The Bur­gundian war, A. D. 499. Saone and the Rhône, extended from the forest of Vosges to the Alps and the sea of Marseilles ³⁷. The sceptre was in the hands of Gundobald. That valiant and ambitious prince had reduced the number of royal candidates by the death of two brothers, one of whom was the father of Clo­tilda ³⁸; but his imperfect prudence still permitted Godegesil, the youngest of his brothers, to possess the dependent principality of Geneva. The Arian monarch was justly alarmed by the satisfaction, and the hopes, which seemed to animate his [Page 325] clergy and people, after the conversion of Clovis; and Gundobald convened at Lyons an assembly of his bishops, to reconcile, if it were possible, their religious and political discontents. A vain con­ference was agitated between the two factions. The Arians upbraided the Catholics with the worship of three Gods: the Catholics defended their cause by theological distinctions; and the usual arguments, objections, and replies, were reverberated with obstinate clamour; till the king revealed his secret apprehensions, by an abrupt but decisive question, which he addressed to the orthodox bishops. ‘"If you truly profess the Christian religion, why do you not restrain the king of the Franks? He has declared war against me, and forms alliances with my ene­mies for my destruction. A sanguinary and covetous mind is not the symptom of a sincere conversion: let him shew his faith by his works."’ The answer of Avitus, bishop of Vienna, who spoke in the name of his brethren, was delivered with the voice and countenance of an angel. ‘"We are ignorant of the motives and intentions of the king of the Franks: but we are taught by scripture, that the kingdoms which abandon the divine law, are frequently subverted; and that enemies will arise on every side against those who have made God their enemy. Return, with thy people, to the law of God, and he will give peace and security to thy dominions."’ The king of Burgundy, who was not prepared to accept the condition, which the Catholics considered as essential to the treaty, [Page 326] delayed and dismissed the ecclesiastical conference; after reproaching his bishops, that Clovis, their friend and proselyte, had privately tempted the allegiance of his brother ³⁹.

The allegiance of his brother was already se­duced; Victory of Clovis, A. D. 500. and the obedience of Godegesil, who joined the royal standard with the troops of Ge­neva, more effectually promoted the success of the conspiracy. While the Franks and Burgun­dians contended with equal valour, his season­able desertion decided the event of the battle; and as Gundobald was faintly supported by the disaffected Gauls, he yielded to the arms of Clo­vis, and hastily retreated from the field, which appears to have been situate between Langres and Dijon. He distrusted the strength of Dijon, a quadrangular fortress, encompassed by two ri­vers, and by a wall thirty feet high, and fifteen thick, with four gates, and thirty-three towers ⁴⁰: he abandoned to the pursuit of Clovis the im­portant cities of Lyons and Vienna; and Gundo­bald still fled with precipitation, till he had reached Avignon, at the distance of two hundred and fifty miles from the field of battle. A long [Page 327] siege, and an artful negociation, admonished the king of the Franks of the danger and difficulty of his enterprise. He imposed a tribute on the Bur­gundian prince, compelled him to pardon and reward his brother's treachery, and proudly re­turned to his own dominions, with the spoils and captives of the southern provinces. This splen­did triumph was soon clouded by the intelligence, that Gundobald had violated his recent obliga­tions, and that the unfortunate Godegesil, who was left at Vienna with a garrison of five thou­sand Franks ⁴¹, had been besieged, surprised, and massacred, by his inhuman brother. Such an outrage might have exasperated the patience of the most peaceful sovereign; yet the conqueror of Gaul dissembled the injury, released the tri­bute, and accepted the alliance, and military service, of the king of Burgundy. Clovis no longer possessed those advantages which had as­sured the success of the preceding war; and his rival, instructed by adversity, had found new re­sources in the affections of his people. The Gauls or Romans applauded the mild and impar­tial laws of Gundobald, which almost raised them to the same level with their conquerors. The bishops were reconciled, and flattered, by the hopes, which he artfully suggested, of his ap­proaching conversion; and though he eluded their [Page 328] accomplishment to the last moment of his life; his moderation secured the peace, and suspended the ruin, of the kingdom of Burgundy ⁴².

I am impatient to pursue the final ruin of that Final con­quest of Burgundy by the Franks, A. D. 532. kingdom, which was accomplished under the reign of Sigismond, the son of Gundobald. The Catholic Sigismond has acquired the honours of a saint and martyr ⁴³; but the hands of the royal saint were stained with the blood of his innocent son, whom he inhumanly sacrificed to the pride and resentment of a stepmother. He soon dis­covered his error, and bewailed the irreparable loss. While Sigismond embraced the corpse of the unfortunate youth, he received a severe ad­monition from one of his attendants: ‘"It is not his situation, O king! it is thine which de­serves pity and lamentation."’ The reproaches of a guilty conscience were alleviated, however, by his liberal donations to the monastery of Agau­num, or St. Maurice, in Vallais; which he him­self had founded in honour of the imaginary mar­tyrs of the Thebaean legion ⁴⁴. A full chorus of [Page 329] perpetual psalmody was instituted by the pious king; he assiduously practised the austere devo­tion of the monks; and it was his humble prayer, that heaven would inflict in this world the pu­nishment of his sins. His prayer was heard: the avengers were at hand; and the provinces of Bur­gundy were overwhelmed by an army of victo­rious Franks. After the event of an unsuccessful battle, Sigismond, who wished to protract his life that he might prolong his pennance, con­cealed himself in the desert in a religious habit, till he was discovered and betrayed by his sub­jects, who solicited the favour of their new mas­ters. The captive monarch, with his wife and two children, was transported to Orleans, and buried alive in a deep well, by the stern com­mand of the sons of Clovis; whose cruelty might derive some excuse from the maxims and exam­ples of their barbarous age. Their ambition, which urged them to atchieve the conquest of Burgundy, was inflamed, or disguised, by filial piety: and Clotilda, whose sanctity did not con­sist in the forgiveness of injuries, pressed them to revenge her father's death on the family of his assassin. The rebellious Burgundians, for they at­tempted to break their chains, were still permit­ted to enjoy their national laws under the obliga­tion of tribute and military service; and the Me­rovingian [Page 330] princes peaceably reigned over a king­dom, whose glory and greatness had been first overthrown by the arms of Clovis ⁴⁵.

The first victory of Clovis had insulted the ho­nour of the Goths. They viewed his rapid pro­gress The Go­thic war, A. D. 507. with jealousy and terror; and the youthful fame of Alaric was oppressed by the more potent genius of his rival. Some disputes inevitably arose on the edge of their contiguous dominions; and after the delays of fruitless negociation, a per­sonal interview of the two kings was proposed and accepted. This conference of Clovis and Alaric was held in a small island of the Loire, near Amboise. They embraced, familiarly con­versed, and feasted together; and separated with the warmest professions of peace, and brotherly love. But their apparent confidence concealed a dark suspicion of hostile and treacherous de­signs; and their mutual complaints solicited, eluded, and disclaimed, a final arbitration. At Paris, which he already considered as his royal seat, Clovis declared to an assembly of the princes and warriors, the pretence, and the motive, of a Gothic war. ‘"It grieves me to see that the Arians still possess the fairest portion of Gaul. Let us march against them with the aid of God; and, having vanquished the heretics, we will possess, and divide, their fertile pro­vinces ⁴⁶."’ [Page 331] The Franks, who were inspired by hereditary valour and recent zeal, applauded the generous design of their monarch; expressed their resolution to conquer or die, since death and conquest would be equally profitable; and solemnly protested that they would never shave their beards, till victory should absolve them from that inconvenient vow. The enterprise was pro­moted by the public, or private, exhortations of Clotilda. She reminded her husband, how ef­fectually some pious foundation would propitiate the Deity, and his servants: and the Christian hero, darting his battle axe with a skilful and nervous hand, ‘"There (said he), on that spot where my Francisca ⁴⁷ shall fall, will I erect a church in honour of the holy apostles."’ This ostentatious piety confirmed and justified the at­tachment of the Catholics, with whom he secretly corresponded; and their devout wishes were gra­dually ripened into a formidable conspiracy. The people of Aquitain was alarmed by the indiscreet reproaches of their Gothic tyrants, who justly ac­cused them of preferring the dominion of the [Page 332] Franks; and their zealous adherent Quintianus, bishop of Rodez ⁴⁸, preached more forcibly in his exile than in his diocese. To resist these foreign and domestic enemies, who were fortified by the alliance of the Burgundians, Alaric collected his troops, far more numerous than the military powers of Clovis. The Visigoths resumed the exercise of arms, which they had neglected in a long and luxurious peace ⁴⁹: a select band of va­liant and robust slaves attended their masters to the field ⁵⁰; and the cities of Gaul were com­pelled to furnish their doubtful and reluctant aid. Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, who reigned in Italy, had laboured to maintain the tranquil­lity of Gaul; and he assumed, or affected for that purpose, the impartial character of a mediator. But the sagacious monarch dreaded the rising empire of Clovis, and he was firmly engaged to support the national and religious cause of the Goths.

[Page 333] The accidental, or artificial, prodigies which adorned the expedition of Clovis, were accepted by a superstitious age, as the manifest declaration Victory of Clovis, A. D. 507. of the Divine favour. He marched from Paris; and as he proceeded with decent reverence through the holy diocese of Tours, his anxiety tempted him to consult the shrine of St. Mar­tin, the sanctuary, and the oracle of Gaul. His messengers were instructed to remark the words of the Psalm, which should happen to be chaunt­ed at the precise moment when they entered the church. Those words most fortunately expressed the valour and victory of the champions of Hea­ven, and the application was easily transferred to the new Joshua, the new Gideon, who went forth to battle against the enemies of the Lord ⁵¹. Orleans secured to the Franks a bridge on the Loire; but, at the distance of forty miles from Poitiers, their progress was intercepted by an ex­traordinary swell of the river Vigenna, or Vienne; and the opposite banks were covered by the encampment of the Visigoths. Delay must be always dangerous to Barbarians, who consume the country through which they march; and had Clovis possessed leisure and materials, it might [Page 334] have been impracticable to construct a bridge, or to force a passage, in the face of a superior enemy. But the affectionate peasants, who were impatient to welcome their deliverer, could easily betray some unknown, or unguarded, ford: the merit of the discovery was enhanced by the useful in­terposition of fraud or fiction; and a white hart, of singular size and beauty, appeared to guide and animate the march of the Catholic army. The counsels of the Visigoths were irresolute and distracted. A crowd of impatient warriors, pre­sumptuous in their strength, and disdaining to sly before the robbers of Germany, excited Ala­ric to assert in arms the name and blood of the conqueror of Rome. The advice of the graver chieftains pressed him to elude the first ardour of the Franks; and to expect, in the southern provinces of Gaul, the veteran and victorious Ostrogoths, whom the king of Italy had already sent to his assistance. The decisive moments were wasted in idle deliberation; the Goths too hastily abandoned, perhaps, an advantageous post; and the opportunity of a secure retreat was lost by their slow and disorderly motions. After Clo­vis had passed the ford, as it is still named, of the Hart, he advanced with bold and hasty steps to prevent the escape of the enemy. His nocturnal march was directed by a flaming meteor, suspend­ed in the air above the cathedral of Poitiers; and this signal, which might be previously concerted with the orthodox successor of St. Hilary, was compared to the column of fire that guided the [Page 335] Israelites in the desert. At the third hour of the day, about ten miles beyond Poitiers, Clovis overtook, and instantly attacked, the Gothic army; whose defeat was already prepared by ter­ror and confusion. Yet they rallied in their ex­treme distress, and the martial youths, who had clamorously demanded the battle, refused to survive the ignominy of flight. The two kings encountered each other in single combat. Alaric fell by the hand of his rival; and the victorious Frank was saved by the goodness of his cuirass, and the vigour of his horse, from the spears of two desperate Goths, who furiously rode against him, to revenge the death of their sovereign. The vague expression of a mountain of the slain, serves to indicate a cruel, though indefinite, slaughter; but Gregory has carefully observed, that his valiant countryman Apollinaris, the son of Sidonius, lost his life at the head of the nobles of Auvergne. Perhaps these suspected Catholics had been maliciously exposed to the blind assault of the enemy; and perhaps the influence of reli­gion was superseded by personal attachment, or military honour ⁵².

Such is the empire of Fortune (if we may still Conquest of Aqui­tain by the Franks, A. D. 508. disguise our ignorance under that popular name), [Page 336] that it is almost equally difficult to foresee the events of war, or to explain their various con­sequences. A bloody and complete victory has sometimes yielded no more than the possession of the field; and the loss of ten thousand men has sometimes been sufficient to destroy, in a single day, the work of ages. The decisive battle of Poitiers was followed by the conquest of Aqui­tain. Alaric had left behind him an infant son, a bastard competitor, factious nobles, and a dis­loyal people; and the remaining forces of the Goths were oppressed by the general consterna­tion, or opposed to each other in civil discord. The victorious king of the Franks proceeded without delay to the siege of Angoulême. At the sound of his trumpets the walls of the city imitated the example of Jericho, and instantly fell to the ground; a splendid miracle, which may be reduced to the supposition, that some clerical engineers had secretly undermined the foundations of the rampart ⁵³. At Bordeaux, which had submitted without resistance, Clovis established his winter-quarters; and his prudent oeconomy transported from Thoulouse the royal treasures, which were deposited in the capital of the monarchy. The conqueror penetrated as far as the confines of Spain ⁵⁴; restored the honours [Page 337] of the Catholic church; fixed in Aquitain a colony of Franks ⁵⁵; and delegated to his lieu­tenants the easy task of subduing, or extirpating, the nation of the Visigoths. But the Visigoths were protected by the wise and powerful monarch of Italy. While the balance was still equal, Theodoric had perhaps delayed the march of the Ostrogoths; but their strenuous efforts success­fully resisted the ambition of Clovis; and the army of the Franks, and their Burgundian allies, was compelled to raise the siege of Arles, with the loss, as it is said, of thirty thousand men. These vicissitudes inclined the fierce spirit of Clovis to acquiesce in an advantageous treaty of peace. The Visigoths were suffered to retain the posses­sion of Septimania, a narrow tract of sea-coast, from the Rhone to the Pyrenees; but the ample province of Aquitain, from those mountains to the Loire, was indissolubly united to the kingdom of France ⁵⁶.

[Page 338] After the success of the Gothic war, Clovic ac­cepted the honours of the Roman consulship. The emperor Anastasius ambitiously bestowed on Consulship of Clovis, A. D. 510. the most powerful rival of Theodoric, the title and ensigns of that eminent dignity; yet, from some unknown cause, the name of Clovis has not been inscribed in the Fasti either of the East or West ⁵⁷. On the solemn day, the monarch of Gaul, placing a diadem on his head, was in­vested, in the church of St. Martin, with a purple tunic and mantle. From thence he proceeded on horseback to the cathedral of Tours; and, as he passed through the streets, profusely scattered, with his own hand, a donative of gold and silver to the joyful multitude, who incessantly repeated their acclamations of Consul and Augustus. The actual, or legal authority of Clovis, could not receive any new accessions from the consular dig­nity. It was a name, a shadow, an empty pa­geant; and, if the conqueror had been instructed [Page 339] to claim the ancient prerogatives of that high of­fice, they must have expired with the period of its annual duration. But the Romans were dis­posed to revere, in the person of their master, that antique title, which the emperors conde­scended to assume: the Barbarian himself seemed to contract a sacred obligation to respect the majesty of the republic; and the successors of Theodosius, by soliciting his friendship, tacitly forgave, and almost ratified, the usurpation of Gaul.

Twenty-five years after the death of Clovis, Final esta­blishment of the French monarchy in Gaul, A. D. 536. this important concession was more formally de­clared, in a treaty between his sons and the em­peror Justinian. The Ostrogoths of Italy, un­able to defend their distant acquisitions, had re­signed to the Franks the cities of Arles and Mar­seilles: of Arles, still adorned with the seat of a Praetorian praefect; and of Marseilles, enriched by the advantages of trade and navigation ⁵⁸. This transaction was confirmed by the Imperial authority; and Justinian, generously yielding to the Franks the sovereignty of the countries be­yond the Alps, which they already possessed, ab­solved the provincials from their allegiance; and established on a more lawful, though not more solid, foundation, the throne of the Merovingians ⁵⁹. [Page 340] From that aera, they enjoyed the right of cele­brating at Arles, the games of the Circus; and by a singular privilege, which was denied even to the Persian monarch, the gold coin, impressed with their name and image, obtained a legal currency in the empire ⁶⁰. A Greek historian of that age has praised the private and public vir­tues of the Franks, with a partial enthusiasm, which cannot be sufficiently justified by their do­mestic annals ⁶¹. He celebrates their politeness and urbanity, their regular government, and or­thodox religion; and boldly asserts, that these Barbarians could be distinguished only by their dress and language from the subjects of Rome. Perhaps the Franks already displayed the social disposition, and lively graces, which in every age have disguised their vices, and sometimes concealed their intrinsic merit. Perhaps Aga­thias, and the Greeks, were dazzled by the rapid [Page 341] progress of their arms, and the splendour of their empire. Since the conquest of Burgundy, Gaul, except the Gothic province of Septimania, was subject, in its whole extent, to the sons of Clo­vis. They had extinguished the German king­dom of Thuringia, and their vague dominion penetrated beyond the Rhine, into the heart of their native forests. The Alemanni, and Bava­rians, who had occupied the Roman provinces of Rhaetia and Noricum, to the south of the Da­nube, confessed themselves the humble vassals of the Franks; and the feeble barrier of the Alps was incapable of resisting their ambition. When the last survivor of the sons of Clovis united the inheritance and conquests of the Merovingians, his kingdom extended far beyond the limits of modern France. Yet modern France, such has been the progress of arts and policy, far surpasses in wealth, populousness, and power, the spa­cious but savage realms of Clotaire or Dago­bert ⁶².

The Franks, or French, are the only people of Political contro­versy. Europe, who can deduce a perpetual succession from the conquerors of the Western empire. But their conquest of Gaul was followed by ten cen­turies of anarchy, and ignorance. On the revi­val of learning, the students who had been formed in the schools of Athens and Rome, dis­dained their Barbarian ancestors; and a long [Page 342] period elapsed before patient labour could pro­vide the requisite materials to satisfy, or rather to excite, the curiosity of more enlightened times ⁶³. At length the eye of criticism and phi­losophy was directed to the antiquities of France: but even philosophers have been tainted by the contagion of prejudice and passion. The most extreme and exclusive systems, of the personal servitude of the Gauls, or of their voluntary and equal alliance with the Franks, have been rashly conceived, and obstinately defended: and the in­temperate disputants have accused each other of conspiring against the prerogative of the crown, the dignity of the nobles, or the freedom of the people. Yet the sharp conflict has usefully exer­cised the adverse powers of learning and genius; and each antagonist, alternately vanquished and victorious, has extirpated some ancient errors, and established some interesting truths. An im­partial stranger, instructed by their discoveries, their disputes, and even their faults, may de­scribe, from the same original materials, the state of the Roman provincials, after Gaul had sub­mitted [Page 343] to the arms and laws of the Merovingian kings ⁶⁴.

The rudest, or the most servile condition of Laws of the Barba­rians. human society, is regulated however by some fixed and general rules. When Tacitus surveyed the primitive simplicity of the Germans, he dis­covered some permanent maxims, or customs, of public and private life, which were preserved by faithful tradition, till the introduction of the art of writing, and of the Latin tongue ⁶⁵. Before the election of the Merovingian kings, the most powerful tribe, or nation, of the Franks, ap­pointed four venerable chieftains to compose the Salic laws ⁶⁶; and their labours were examined and approved in three successive assemblies of the people. After the baptism of Clovis, he re­formed [Page 344] several articles that appeared incompati­ble with Christianity: the Salic law was again amended by his sons; and at length, under the reign of Dagobert, the code was revised and pro­mulgated in its actual form, one hundred years after the establishment of the French monarchy. Within the same period, the customs of the Ripua­rians were transcribed and published; and Char­lemagne himself, the legislator of his age and country, had accurately studied the two national laws, which still prevailed among the Franks ⁶⁷. The same care was extended to their vassals; and the rude institutions of the Alemanni and Bava­rians were diligently compiled and ratified by the supreme authority of the Merovingian kings. The Visigoths and Burgundians, whose conquests in Gaul preceded those of the Franks, shewed less impatience to attain one of the principal benefits of civilised society. Euric was the first of the Gothic princes, who expressed in writing the man­ners and customs of his people; and the compo­sition of the Burgundian laws was a measure of policy rather than of justice; to alleviate the yoke, and regain the affections, of their Gallic subjects ⁶⁸. Thus, by a singular coincidence, the [Page 345] Germans framed their artless institutions, at a time when the elaborate system of Roman juris­prudence was finally consummated. In the Salic laws, and the Pandects of Justinian, we may compare the first rudiments, and the full matu­rity, of civil wisdom; and whatever prejudices may be suggested in favour of Barbarism, our calmer reflections will ascribe to the Romans the superior advantages, not only of science and rea­son, but of humanity and justice. Yet the laws of the Barbarians were adapted to their wants and desires, their occupations and their capacity; and they all contributed to preserve the peace, and promote the improvements, of the society for whose use they were originally established. The Merovingians, instead of imposing an uniform rule of conduct on their various subjects, per­mitted each people, and each family of their empire, freely to enjoy their domestic institu­tions ⁶⁹; nor were the Romans excluded from the common benefits of this legal toleration ⁷⁰. The [Page 346] children embraced the law of their parents, the wife that of her husband, the freedman that of his patron; and, in all causes, where the parties were of different nations, the plaintiff, or accu­ser, was obliged to follow the tribunal of the de­fendant, who may always plead a judicial pre­sumption of right, or innocence. A more ample latitude was allowed, if every citizen, in the pre­sence of the judge, might declare the law under which he desired to live, and the national so­ciety to which he chose to belong. Such an in­dulgence would abolish the partial distinctions of victory; and the Roman provincials might pa­tiently acquiesce in the hardships of their condi­tion; since it depended on themselves to assume the privilege, if they dared to assert the charac­ter, of free and warlike Barbarians ⁷¹.

When justice inexorably requires the death of Pecuniary fines for homicide. a murderer, each private citizen is fortified by the assurance, that the laws, the magistrate, and [Page 347] the whole community, are the guardians of his personal safety. But in the loose society of the Germans, revenge was always honourable, and often meritorious: the independent warrior cha­stised, or vindicated, with his own hand, the in­juries which he had offered, or received; and he had only to dread the resentment of the sons, and kinsmen, of the enemy whom he had sacrificed to his selfish or angry passions. The magistrate, conscious of his weakness, interposed, not to pu­nish, but to reconcile; and he was satisfied if he could persuade, or compel, the contending par­ties to pay, and to accept, the moderate fine which had been ascertained as the price of blood ⁷². The fierce spirit of the Franks would have opposed a more rigorous sentence; the same fierceness despised these ineffectual restraints: and, when their simple manners had been cor­rupted by the wealth of Gaul, the public peace was continually violated by acts of hasty or deli­berate guilt. In every just government, the same penalty is inflicted, or at least is imposed, for the murder of a peasant, or a prince. But the na­tional inequality established by the Franks, in their criminal proceedings, was the last insult [Page 348] and abuse of conquest ⁷³. In the calm moments of legislation, they solemnly pronounced, that the life of a Roman was of smaller value than that of a Barbarian. The Antrustion ⁷⁴, a name expres­sive of the most illustrious birth or dignity among the Franks, was appreciated at the sum of six hundred pieces of gold; while the noble provin­cial, who was admitted to the king's table, might be legally murdered at the expence of three hun­dred pieces. Two hundred were deemed suffi­cient for a Frank of ordinary condition; but the meaner Romans were exposed to disgrace and danger by a trifling compensation of one hun­dred, or even fifty, pieces of gold. Had these laws been regulated by any principle of equity or reason, the public protection should have sup­plied in just proportion the want of personal strength. But the legislator had weighed in the scale, not of justice, but of policy, the loss of a soldier against that of a slave: the head of an in­solent and rapacious Barbarian was guarded by an heavy fine; and the slightest aid was afforded to [Page 349] the most defenceless subjects. Time insensibly abated the pride of the conquerors, and the pa­tience of the vanquished; and the boldest citizen was taught by experience, that he might suffer more injuries than he could inflict. As the man­ners of the Franks became less ferocious, their laws were rendered more severe; and the Mero­vingian kings attempted to imitate the impartial rigour of the Visigoths and Burgundians ⁷⁵. Un­der the empire of Charlemagne, murder was uni­versally punished with death; and the use of ca­pital punishments has been liberally multiplied in the jurisprudence of modern Europe ⁷⁶.

The civil and military professions, which had Judgments of God. been separated by Constantine, were again united by the Barbarians. The harsh sound of the Teu­tonic appellations was mollified into the Latin titles of Duke, of Count, or of Praefect; and the same officer assumed, within his district, the com­mand of the troops, and the administration of [Page 350] justice ⁷⁷. But the fierce and illiterate chieftain was seldom qualified to discharge the duties of a judge, which require all the faculties of a philo­lophic mind, laboriously cultivated by experience and study; and his rude ignorance was compelled to embrace some simple, and visible, methods of ascertaining the cause of justice. In every reli­gion, the Deity has been invoked to confirm the truth, or to punish the falsehood, of human tes­timony; but this powerful instrument was mis­applied, and abused, by the simplicity of the Ger­man legislators. The party accused might justify his innocence, by producing before their tribu­nal a number of friendly witnesses, who solemnly declared their belief or assurance, that he was not guilty. According to the weight of the charge, this legal number of compurgators was multi­plied; seventy-two voices were required to ab­solve an incendiary, or assassin: and when the chastity of a queen of France was suspected, three hundred gallant nobles swore, without hesitation, that the infant prince had been actually begotten by her deceased husband ⁷⁸. The sin, and scan­dal, of manifest and frequent perjuries engaged [Page 351] the magistrates to remove these dangerous tempt­ations; and to supply the defects of human testi­mony, by the famous experiments of fire and water. These extraordinary trials were so capri­ciously contrived, that, in some cases, guilt, and innocence in others, could not be proved with­out the interposition of a miracle. Such mira­cles were readily provided by fraud and credulity; the most intricate causes were determined by this easy and infallible method; and the turbulent Barbarians, who might have disdained the sen­tence of the magistrate, submissively acquiesced in the judgment of God ⁷⁹.

But the trials by single combat gradually ob­tained Judicial combats. superior credit and authority, among a warlike people, who could not believe, that a brave man deserved to suffer, or that a coward deserved to live ⁸⁰. Both in civil and criminal proceedings, the plaintiff, or accuser, the de­fendant, or even the witness, were exposed to mortal challenge from the antagonist who was destitute of legal proofs; and it was incumbent on them, either to desert their cause, or publicly to maintain their honour in the lists of battle. They fought either on foot or on horseback, ac­cording [Page 352] to the custom of their nation ⁸¹; and the decision of the sword, or lance, was ratified by the sanction of Heaven, of the judge, and of the people. This sanguinary law was introduced into Gaul by the Burgundians; and their legislator Gundobald ⁸² condescended to answer the com­plaints and objections of his subject Avitus. ‘"Is it not true," said the king of Burgundy to the bishop, "that the event of national wars, and private combats, is directed by the judg­ment of God; and that his providence awards the victory to the juster cause?"’ By such pre­vailing arguments, the absurd and cruel practice of judicial duels, which had been peculiar to some tribes of Germany, was propagated and established in all the monarchies of Europe, from Sicily to the Baltic. At the end of ten centu­ries, the reign of legal violence was not totally extinguished; and the ineffectual censures of saints, of popes, and of synods, may seem to prove, that the influence of superstition is weak­ened by its unnatural alliance with reason and [Page 353] humanity. The tribunals were stained with the blood, perhaps, of innocent and respectable citi­zens; the law, which now favours the rich, then yielded to the strong; and the old, the feeble, and the infirm, were condemned, either to re­nounce their fairest claims and possessions, to sustain the dangers of an unequal conflict ⁸³, or to trust the doubtful aid of a mercenary champion. This oppressive jurisprudence was imposed on the provincials of Gaul, who complained of any in­juries in their persons and property. Whatever might be the strength, or courage, of individuals, the victorious Barbarians excelled in the love and exercise of arms; and the vanquished Roman was unjustly summoned to repeat, in his own person, the bloody contest, which had been already de­cided against his country ⁸⁴.

A devouring host of one hundred and twenty thousand Germans had formerly passed the Rhine Division of lands by the Bar­barians. under the command of Ariovistus. One third [Page 354] part of the fertile lands of the Sequani was ap­propriated to their use; and the conqueror soon repeated his oppressive demand of another third, for the accommodation of a new colony of twenty­four thousand Barbarians, whom he had invited to share the rich harvest of Gaul ⁸⁵. At the dis­tance of five hundred years, the Visigoths and Burgundians, who revenged the defeat of Ario­vistus, usurped the same unequal proportion of two thirds of the subject lands. But this distri­bution, instead of spreading over the province, may be reasonably confined to the peculiar dis­tricts where the victorious people had been planted, by their own choice, or by the policy of their leader. In these districts, each Barbarian was connected by the ties of hospitality with some Roman provincial. To this unwelcome guest, the proprietor was compelled to abandon two-thirds of his patrimony: but the German, a shepherd, and a hunter, might sometimes con­tent himself with a spacious range of wood and pasture, and resign the smallest, though most va­luable, portion, to the toil of the industrious husbandman ⁸⁶. The silence of ancient and au­thentic [Page 335] testimony has encouraged an opinion, that the rapine of the Franks was not moderated, or disguised, by the forms of a legal division; that they dispersed themselves over the provinces of Gaul, without order or controul; and that each victorious robber, according to his wants, his avarice, and his strength, measured, with his sword, the extent of his new inheritance. At a distance from their sovereign, the Barbarians might indeed be tempted to exercise such arbi­trary depredation; but the firm and artful policy of Clovis must curb a licentious spirit, which would aggravate the misery of the vanquished, whilst it corrupted the union and discipline of the conquerors. The memorable vase of Soissons is a monument, and a pledge, of the regular dis­tribution of the Gallic spoils. It was the duty, and the interest, of Clovis, to provide rewards for a successful army, and settlements for a numerous people; without inflicting any wanton, or super­fluous injuries, on the loyal catholics of Gaul. The ample fund, which he might lawfully ac­quire, of the Imperial patrimony, vacant lands, and Gothic usurpations, would diminish the cruel necessity of seizure and confiscation; and the humble provincials would more patiently ac­quiesce in the equal and regular distribution of their loss ⁸⁷.

[Page 356] The wealth of the Merovingian princes con­sisted in their extensive domain. After the con­quest of Gaul, they still delighted in the rustic Domain and bene­fices of the Merovin­gians. simplicity of their ancestors: the cities were abandoned to solitude and decay; and their coins, their charters, and their synods, are still inscribed with the names of the villas, or rural palaces, in which they successively resided. One hundred and sixty of these palaces, a title which need not excite any unseasonable ideas of art or luxury, were scattered through the provinces of their kingdom; and if some might claim the honours of a fortress, the far greater part could be esteemed only in the light of profitable farms. The mansion of the long-haired kings was surrounded with convenient yards, and stables, for the cattle and the poultry; the garden was planted with useful vegetables; the various trades, the labours of agriculture, and even the arts of hunting and fishing, were exer­cised by servile hands for the emolument of the sovereign; his magazines were filled with corn and wine, either for sale or consumption; and the whole administration was conducted by the strictest maxims of private oeconomy ⁸⁸. This ample pa­trimony [Page 357] was appropriated to supply the hospitable plenty of Clovis, and his successors; and to re­ward the fidelity of their brave companions, who, both in peace and war, were devoted to their per­sonal service. Instead of an horse, or a suit of ar­mour, each companion, according to his rank, or merit, or favour, was invested with a benefice, the primitive name, and most simple form of the feudal possessions. These gifts might be resumed at the pleasure of the sovereign; and his feeble prerogative derived some support from the influ­ence of his liberality. But this dependent tenure was gradually abolished ⁸⁹ by the independent and rapacious nobles of France, who established the perpetual property, and hereditary succession, of their benefices: a revolution salutary to the earth, which had been injured, or neglected, by its pre­carious masters ⁹⁰. Besides these royal and bene­ficiary estates, a large proportion had been assign­ed, in the division of Gaul, of allodial and Salic lands: they were exempt from tribute, and the Salic lands were equally shared among the male descendants of the Franks ⁹¹.

[Page 358] In the bloody discord, and silent decay of the Merovingian line, a new order of tyrants arose in the provinces, who, under the appellation of Se­niors, Private usurpa­tions. or Lords, usurped a right to govern, and a licence to oppress, the subjects of their peculiar territory. Their ambition might be checked by the hostile resistance of an equal: but the laws were extinguished; and the sacrilegious Barba­rians, who dared to provoke the vengeance of a saint or bishop ⁹², would seldom respect the land­marks of a profane and defenceless neighbour. The common, or public, rights of nature, such as they had always been deemed by the Roman jurisprudence ⁹³, were severely restrained by the German conquerors, whose amusement, or rather passion, was the exercise of hunting. The vague dominion, which MAN has assumed over the wild inhabitants of the earth, the air, and the waters, was confined to some fortunate individuals of the human species. Gaul was again overspread with woods; and the animals, who were reserved for the use, or pleasure, of the lord, might ravage, with impunity, the fields of his industrious vassals. The chace was the sacred privilege of the nobles, and their domestic servants. Plebeian transgressors were legally chastised with stripes and imprison­ment ⁹⁴; [Page 359] but in an age which admitted a slight composition for the life of a citizen, it was a ca­pital crime to destroy a stag or a wild bull within the precincts of the royal forests ⁹⁵.

According to the maxims of ancient war, the Personal servitude. conqueror became the lawful master of the enemy whom he had subdued and spared ⁹⁶: and the fruit­ful cause of personal slavery, which had been al­most suppressed by the peaceful sovereignty of Rome, was again revived and multiplied by the perpetual hostilities of the independent Barbarians. The Goth, the Burgundian, or the Frank, who returned from a successful expedition, dragged after him a long train of sheep, of oxen, and of human captives, whom he treated with the same brutal contempt. The youths of an elegant form [Page 360] and ingenuous aspect, were set apart for the do­mestic service; a doubtful situation, which alter­nately exposed them to the favourable, or cruel, impulse of passion. The useful mechanics and servants (smiths, carpenters, taylors, shoemakers, cooks, gardeners, dyers, and workmen in gold and silver, &c.) employed their skill for the use, or profit, of their master. But the Roman captives who were destitute of art, but capable of labour, were condemned, without regard to their former rank, to tend the cattle, and cultivate the lands of the Barbarians. The number of the hereditary bondsmen, who were attached to the Gallic estates, was continually increased by new supplies; and the servile people, according to the situation and temper of their lords, was sometimes raised by precarious indulgence, and more frequently de­pressed by capricious despotism ⁹⁷. An absolute power of life and death was exercised by these lords; and when they married their daughters, a train of useful servants, chained on the waggons to prevent their escape, was sent as a nuptial pre­sent into a distant country ⁹⁸. The majesty of the Roman laws protected the liberty of each citizen, against the rash effects of his own distress, or de­spair. [Page 361] But the subjects of the Merovingian kings might alienate their personal freedom; and this act of legal suicide, which was familiarly practised, is expressed in terms most disgraceful and afflict­ing to the dignity of human nature ⁹⁹. The ex­ample of the poor, who purchased life by the sa­crifice of all that can render life desirable, was gradually imitated by the feeble and the devout, who, in times of public disorder, pusillanimously crowded to shelter themselves under the battle­ments of a powerful chief, and around the shrine of a popular saint. Their submission was accepted by these temporal, or spiritual, patrons; and the hasty transaction irrecoverably fixed their own con­dition, and that of their latest posterity. From the reign of Clovis, during five successive cen­turies, the laws and manners of Gaul uniformly tended to promote the increase, and to confirm the duration, of personal servitude. Time and violence almost obliterated the intermediate ranks of society; and left an obscure and narrow inter­val between the noble and the slave. This arbi­trary and recent division has been transformed by pride and prejudice into a national distinction, universally established by the arms and the laws of the Merovingians. The nobles, who claimed their genuine, or fabulous, descent, from the in­dependent [Page 362] and victorious Franks, have asserted, and abused, the indefeasible right of conquest, over a prostrate crowd of slaves and plebeians, to whom they imputed the imaginary disgrace of a Gallic, or Roman, extraction.

The general state and revolutions of France, a name which was imposed by the conquerors, may Example of Au­vergne. be illustrated by the particular example of a pro­vince, a diocese, or a senatorial family. Auvergne had formerly maintained a just pre-eminence among the independent states and cities of Gaul. The brave and numerous inhabitants displayed a singular trophy; the sword of Caesar himself, which he had lost when he was repulsed before the walls of Gergovia ¹⁰⁰. As the common offspring of Troy, they claimed a fraternal alliance with the the Romans ¹⁰¹; and if each province had imitated the courage and loyalty of Auvergne, the fall of the Western empire might have been prevented, or delayed. They firmly maintained the fidelity which they had reluctantly sworn to the Visigoths; but when their bravest nobles had fallen in the battle of Poitiers, they accepted, without resist­ance, a victorious and catholic sovereign. This [Page 363] easy and valuable conquest was atchieved, and possessed, by Theodoric, the eldest son of Clovis: but the remote province was separated from his Austrasian dominions, by the intermediate king­doms of Soissons, Paris, and Orleans, which formed, after their father's death, the inheritance of his three brothers. The king of Paris, Childe­bert, was tempted by the neighbourhood and beauty of Auvergne ¹⁰². The Upper country, which rises towards the south into the mountains of the Cevennes, presented a rich and various pro­spect of woods and pastures; the sides of the hills were clothed with vines; and each eminence was crowned with a villa or castle. In the Lower Au­vergne, the river Allier flows through the fair and spacious plain of Limagne; and the inexhaustible fertility of the soil supplied, and still supplies, without any interval of repose, the constant repe­tition of the same harvests ¹⁰³. On the false re­port, that their lawful sovereign had been slain in Germany, the city and diocese of Auvergne were betrayed by the grandson of Sidonius Apollinaris. Childebert enjoyed this clandestine victory; and [Page 364] the free subjects of Theodoric threatened to desert his standard, if he indulged his private resent­ment, while the nation was engaged in the Bur­gundian war. But the Franks of Austrasia soon yielded to the persuasive eloquence of their king. ‘"Follow me," said Thedoric, "into Auvergne: I will lead you into a province, where you may acquire gold, silver, slaves, cattle, and precious apparel, to the full extent of your wishes. I re­peat my promise; I give you the people, and their wealth, as your prey; and you may tran­sport them at pleasure into your own country."’ By the execution of this promise, Theodoric justly forfeited the allegiance of a people, whom he de­voted to destruction. His troops, reinforced by the fiercest Barbarians of Germany ¹⁰⁴, spread de­solation over the fruitful face of Auvergne; and two places only, a strong castle, and a holy shrine, were saved, or redeemed, from their licentious fury. The castle of Meroliac ¹⁰⁵ was seated on a lofty rock, which rose an hundred feet above the surface of the plain; and a large reservoir of fresh water was inclosed, with some arable lands, with­in [Page 365] the circle of its fortifications. The Franks be­held with envy and despair this impregnable fort­ress: but they surprised a party of fifty stragglers; and, as they were oppressed by the number of their captives, they fixed, at a trifling ransom, the alternative of life or death for these wretched victims, whom the cruel Barbarians were prepared to massacre on the refusal of the garrison. Ano­ther detachment penetrated as far as Brivas, or Brioude, where the inhabitants, with their valu­able effects, had taken refuge in the sanctuary of St. Julian. The doors of the church resisted the assault; but a daring soldier entered through a window of the choir, and opened a passage to his companions. The clergy and people, the sacred and the profane spoils, were rudely torn from the altar; and the sacrilegious division was made at a small distance from the town of Brioude. But this act of impiety was severely chastised by the devout son of Clovis. He punished with death the most atrocious offenders; left their secret ac­complices to the vengeance of St. Julian, released the captives; restored the plunder; and extended the rights of sanctuary, five miles round the se­pulchre of the holy martyr ¹⁰⁶.

Before the Austrasian army retreated from Au­vergne, Story of Attalus. Theodoric exacted some pledges of the [Page 366] future loyalty of a people, whose just hatred could be restrained only by their fear. A select band of noble youths, the sons of the principal senators, was delivered to the conqueror, as the hostages of the faith of Childebert, and of their countrymen. On the first rumour of war, or conspiracy, these guiltless youths were reduced to a state of servitude; and one of them, Atta­lus ¹⁰⁷, whose adventures are more particularly related, kept his master's horses in the diocese of Treves. After a painful search, he was disco­vered, in this unworthy occupation, by the emissaries of his grandfather, Gregory bishop of Langres; but his offers of ransom were sternly rejected by the avarice of the Barbarian, who re­quired an exorbitant sum of ten pounds of gold for the freedom of his noble captive. His deli­verance was effected by the hardy stratagem of Leo, a slave belonging to the kitchens of the bishop of Langres ¹⁰⁸. An unknown agent easily [Page 367] introduced him into the same family. The Bar­barian purchased Leo for the price of twelve pieces of gold; and was pleased to learn, that he was deeply skilled in the luxury of an episcopal table: ‘"Next Sunday," said the Frank, "I shall invite my neighbours, and kinsmen. Exert thy art, and force them to confess, that they have never seen, or tasted, such an en­tertainment, even in the king's house."’ Leo assured him, that, if he would provide a sufficient quantity of poultry, his wishes should be satis­fied. The master, who already aspired to the merit of elegant hospitality, assumed, as his own, the praise which the voracious guests unanimously bestowed on his cook; and the dextrous Leo insensibly acquired the trust and management of his household. After the patient expectation of a whole year, he cautiously whispered his design to Attalus, and exhorted him to prepare for flight in the ensuing night. At the hour of midnight, the intemperate guests retired from table; and the Frank's son-in-law, whom Leo attended to his apartment with a nocturnal potation, conde­scended to jest on the facility with which he might betray his trust. The intrepid slave, after sus­taining this dangerous raillery; entered his ma­ster's bed-chamber; removed his spear and shield; silently drew the fleetest horses from the stable; unbarred the ponderous gates; and ex­cited Attalus to save his life and liberty by incessant diligence. Their apprehensions urged them to leave their horses on the banks of the [Page 368] Meuse ¹⁰⁹; they swam the river, wandered three days in the adjacent forest, and subsisted only by the accidental discovery of a wild plum-tree. As they lay concealed in a dark thicket, they heard the noise of horses; they were terrified by the angry countenance of their master, and they anxiously listened to his declaration, that, if he could seize the guilty fugitives, one of them he would cut in pieces with his sword, and would expose the other on a gibbet. At length, Atta­lus, and his faithful Leo, reached the friendly habitation of a presbyter of Rheims, who re­cruited their fainting strength with bread and wine, concealed them from the search of their enemy, and safely conducted them, beyond the limits of the Austrasian kingdom, to the episco­pal palace of Langres. Gregory embraced his grandson with tears of joy, gratefully delivered Leo, with his whole family, from the yoke of servitude, and bestowed on him the property of a farm, where he might end his days in happiness and freedom. Perhaps this singular adventure, which is marked with so many circumstances of truth and nature, was related by Attalus himself, to his cousin, or nephew, the first historian of the Franks. Gregory of Tours ¹¹⁰ was born [Page 369] about sixty years after the death of Sidonius Apollinaris; and their situation was almost simi­lar, since each of them was a native of Auvergne, a senator, and a bishop. The difference of their style and sentiments may, therefore, express the decay of Gaul; and clearly ascertain how much, in so short a space, the human mind had lost of its energy and refinement ¹¹¹.

We are now qualified to despise the opposite, Privileges of the Ro­mans of Gaul. and, perhaps, artful, misrepresentations, which have softened, or exaggerated, the oppression of the Romans of Gaul under the reign of the Me­rovingians. The conquerors never promulgated any universal edict of servitude, or confiscation: but a degenerate people, who excused their weakness by the specious names of politeness and peace, was exposed to the arms and laws of the ferocious Barbarians, who contemptuously in­sulted their possessions, their freedom, and their safety. Their personal injuries were partial and irregular; but the great body of the Romans [Page 370] survived the revolution, and still preserved the property, and privileges, of citizens. A large portion of their lands was exacted for the use of the Franks: but they enjoyed the remainder, exempt from tribute ¹¹²; and the same irresistible violence which swept away the arts and manu­factures of Gaul, destroyed the elaborate and expensive system of Imperial despotism. The Provincials must frequently deplore the savage jurisprudence of the Salic or Ripuarian laws; but their private life, in the important concerns of marriage, testaments, or inheritance, was still regulated by the Theodosian Code; and a dis­contented Roman might freely aspire, or descend, to the title and character of a Barbarian. The honours of the state were accessible to his ambi­tion: the education and temper of the Romans more peculiarly qualified them for the offices of civil government; and, as soon as emulation had rekindled their military ardour, they were per­mitted to march in the ranks, or even at the head, of the victorious Germans. I shall not attempt to enumerate the generals and magi­strates, whose names ¹¹³ attest the liberal policy [Page 371] of the Merovingians. The supreme command of Burgundy, with the title of patrician, was successively entrusted to three Romans; and the last, and most powerful, Mummolus ¹¹⁴, who alternately saved and disturbed the monarchy, had supplanted his father in the station of count of Autun, and left a treasure of thirty talents of gold, and two hundred and fifty talents of silver. The fierce and illiterate Barbarians were ex­cluded, during several generations, from the dignities, and even from the orders, of the church ¹¹⁵. The clergy of Gaul consisted almost entirely of native Provincials; the haughty Franks fell prostrate at the feet of their subjects, who were dignified with the episcopal character; and the power and riches which had been lost in war, were insensibly recovered by superstition ¹¹⁶. In all temporal affairs, the Theodosian Code was the universal law of the clergy; but the Barbaric jurisprudence had liberally provided for their personal safety: a sub-deacon was equivalent to two Franks; the antrustion, and priest, were held in similar estimation; and the life of a bishop was appreciated far above the common [Page 372] standard, at the price of nine hundred pieces of gold ¹¹⁷. The Romans communicated to their conquerors the use of the Christian religion and Latin language ¹¹⁸: but their language and their religion had alike degenerated from the simple purity of the Augustan, and Apostolic, age. The progress of superstition and Barbarism was rapid and universal: the worship of the saints concealed from vulgar eyes the God of the Christians; and the rustic dialect of peasants and soldiers was corrupted by a Teutonic idiom and pronunciation. Yet such intercourse of sacred and social communion, eradicated the distinctions of birth and victory; and the nations of Gaul were gradually confounded under the name and government of the Franks.

The Franks, after they mingled with their Anarchy of the Franks. Gallic subjects, might have imparted the most valuable of human gifts, a spirit, and system, of constitutional liberty. Under a king, here­ditary but limited, the chiefs and counsellors [Page 373] might have debated, at Paris, in the palace of the Caesars: the adjacent field, where the em­perors reviewed their mercenary legions, would have admitted the legislative assembly of freemen and warriors; and the rude model, which had been sketched in the woods of Germany ¹¹⁹, might have been polished and improved by the civil wisdom of the Romans. But the careless Barbarians, secure of their personal independence, disdained the labour of government: the annual assemblies of the month of March were silently abolished; and the nation was separated, and al­mist dissolved, by the conquest of Gaul ¹²⁰. The monarchy was left without any regular establish­ment of justice, of arms, or of revenue. The successors of Clovis wanted resolution to assume, or strength to exercise, the legislative and exe­cutive powers, which the people had abdicated: the royal prerogative was distinguished only by a more ample privilege of rapine and murder; and the love of freedom, so often invigorated and disgraced by private ambition, was reduced, among the licentious Franks, to the contempt of order, and the desire of impunity. Seventy-five years after the death of Clovis, his grandson, Gontran, king of Burgundy, sent an army to invade the Gothic possessions of Septimania, or [Page 374] Languedoc. The troops of Burgundy, Berry, Auvergne, and the adjacent territories, were ex­cited by the hopes of spoil. They marched, without discipline, under the banners of German, or Gallic, counts: their attack was feeble and unsuccessful; but the friendly and hostile pro­vinces were desolated with indiscriminate rage. The corn-fields, the villages, the churches them­selves, were consumed by fire; the inhabitants were massacred, or dragged into captivity; and, in the disorderly retreat, five thousand of these inhuman savages were destroyed by hunger or intestine discord. When the pious Gontran re­proached the guilt, or neglect, of their leaders; and threatened to inflict, not a legal sentence, but instant and arbitrary execution; they accused the universal and incurable corruption of the people. ‘"No one," they said, "any longer fears or respects his king, his duke, or his count. Each man loves to do evil, and freely indulges his criminal inclinations. The most gentle correction provokes an immediate tumult; and the rash magistrate, who pre­sumes to censure, or restrain, his seditious subjects, seldom escapes alive from their re­venge ¹²¹."’ It has been reserved for the same [Page 375] nation to expose, by their intemperate vices, the most odious abuse of freedom; and to supply its loss by the spirit of honour and humanity, which now alleviates and dignifies their obedience to an absolute sovereign.

The Visigoths had resigned to Clovis the The Visi­goths of Spain. greatest part of their Gallic possessions; but their loss was amply compensated by the easy conquest, and secure enjoyment, of the provinces of Spain. From the monarchy of the Goths, which soon in­volved the Suevic kingdom of Galicia, the mo­dern Spaniards still derive some national vanity: but the historian of the Roman Empire is neither invited, nor compelled, to pursue the obscure and barren series of their annals ¹²². The Goths of Spain were separated from the rest of mankind, by the lofty ridge of the Pyrenaean mountains: their manners and institutions, as far as they were common to the Germanic tribes, have been al­ready explained. I have anticipated, in the pre­ceding chapter, the most important of their eccle­siastical events, the fall of Arianism, and the per­secution of the Jews: and it only remains to ob­serve some interesting circumstances, which re­late to the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of the Spanish kingdom.

After their conversion from idolatry or heresy, Legislative assemblies of Spain. the Franks and the Visigoths were disposed to [Page 376] embrace, with equal submission, the inherent evils, and the accidental benefits, of superstition. But the prelates of France, long before the ex­tinction of the Merovingian race, had degene­rated into fighting and hunting Barbarians. They disdained the use of synods; forgot the laws of temperance and chastity; and preferred the in­dulgence of private ambition and luxury, to the general interest of the sacerdotal profession ¹²³. The bishops of Spain respected themselves, and were respected by the public: their indissoluble union disguised their vices, and confirmed their authority: and the regular discipline of the church introduced peace, order, and stability into the government of the state. From the reign of Re­cared, the first Catholic king, to that of Witiza, the immediate predecessor of the unfortunate Ro­deric, sixteen national councils were successively convened. The six metropolitans, Toledo, Se­ville, Merida, Braga, Tarragona, and Narbonne, presided according to their respective seniority; the assembly was composed of their suffragan bishops, who appeared in person, or by their proxies; and a place was assigned to the most holy or opulent of the Spanish abbots. During the first three days of the convocation, as long as they agitated the ecclesiastical questions of doctrine and discipline, the profane laity was excluded from [Page 377] their debates; which were conducted, however, with decent solemnity. But, on the morning of the fourth day, the doors were thrown open for the entrance of the great officers of the palace, the dukes and counts of the provinces, the judges of the cities, and the Gothic nobles: and the de­crees of Heaven were ratified by the consent of the people. The same rules were observed in the provincial assemblies, the annual synods which were empowered to hear complaints, and to re­dress grievances; and a legal government was supported by the prevailing influence of the Spa­nish clergy. The bishops, who, in each revolu­tion, were prepared to flatter the victorious, and to insult the prostrate, laboured, with diligence and success, to kindle the flames of persecution, and to exalt the mitre above the crown. Yet the national councils of Toledo, in which the free spirit of the Barbarians was tempered and guided by episcopal policy, have established some pru­dent laws for the common benefit of the king and people. The vacancy of the throne was supplied by the choice of the bishops and Pala­tines; and, after the failure of the line of Alaric, the regal dignity was still limited to the pure and noble blood of the Goths. The clergy, who anointed their lawful prince, always recommend­ed, and sometimes practised, the duty of alle­giance: and the spiritual censures were de­nounced on the heads of the impious subjects, who should resist his authority, conspire against his life, or violate, by an indecent union, the chastity even of his widow. But the monarch [Page 378] himself, when he ascended the throne, was bound by a reciprocal oath to God and his people, that he would faithfully execute his important trust. The real or imaginary faults of his administration were subject to the controul of a powerful aristo­cracy; and the bishops and palatines were guarded by a fundamental privilege, that they should not be degraded, imprisoned, tortured, nor punished with death, exile, or confiscation, unless by the free and public judgment of their peers ¹²⁴.

One of these legislative councils of Toledo, Code of the Visi­goths. examined and ratified the code of laws which had been compiled by a succession of Gothic kings, from the fierce Euric, to the devout Egica. As long as the Visigoths themselves were satisfied with the rude customs of their ancestors, they indulged their subjects of Aquitain and Spain in the enjoyment of the Roman law. Their gradual improvement in arts, in policy, and at length in religion, encouraged them to imitate, and to su­persede, these foreign institutions; and to com­pose a code of civil and criminal jurisprudence, for the use of a great and united people. The same obligations, and the same privileges, were communicated to the nations of the Spanish mo­narchy: and the conquerors, insensibly renoun­cing [Page 379] the Teutonic idiom, submitted to the re­straints of equity, and exalted the Romans to the participation of freedom. The merit of this im­partial policy was enhanced by the situation of Spain, under the reign of the Visigoths. The Provincials were long separated from their Arian masters, by the irreconcilable difference of re­ligion. After the conversion of Recared had re­moved the prejudices of the Catholics, the coasts, both of the Ocean and Mediterranean, were still possessed by the Eastern emperors; who secretly excited a discontented people, to reject the yoke of the Barbarians, and to assert the name and dignity of Roman citizens. The allegiance of doubtful subjects is indeed most effectually se­cured by their own persuasion, that they hazard more in a revolt, than they can hope to obtain by a revolution; but it has appeared so natural to oppress those whom we hate and fear, that the contrary system well deserves the praise of wisdom and moderation ¹²⁵.

While the kingdoms of the Franks and Visi­goths Revolu­tion of Britain. were established in Gaul and Spain, the Saxons atchieved the conquest of Britain, the third great diocese of the Praefecture of the West. Since Britain was already separated from the Ro­man [Page 380] empire, I might, without reproach, decline a story, familiar to the most illiterate, and ob­scure to the most learned, of my readers. The Saxons, who excelled in the use of the oar, or the battle-axe, were ignorant of the art which could alone perpetuate the fame of their exploits: the Provincials, relapsing into Barbarism, neglected to describe the ruin of their country; and the doubtful tradition was almost extinguished, be­fore the missionaries of Rome restored the light of science and Christianity. The declamations of Gildas, the fragments, or fables, of Nennius, the obscure hints of the Saxon laws and chro­nicles, and the ecclesiastical tales of the venerable Bede ¹²⁶, have been illustrated by the diligence, and sometimes embellished by the fancy, of suc­ceeding writers, whose works I am not ambitious either to censure, or to transcribe ¹²⁷. Yet the historian of the empire may be tempted to pursue the revolutions of a Roman province, till it va­nishes from his sight; and an Englishman may curiously trace the establishment of the Bar­barians, from whom he derives his name, his laws, and perhaps his origin.

[Page 381] About forty years after the dissolution of the Roman government, Vortigern appears to have obtained the supreme, though precarious, com­mand Descent of the Saxons, A. D. 449. of the princes and cities of Britain. That unfortunate monarch has been almost unanimously condemned for the weak and mischievous policy of inviting ¹²⁸ a formidable stranger, to repel the vexatious inroads of a domestic foe. His am­bassadors are dispatched, by the gravest histo­rians, to the coast of Germany; they address a pathetic oration to the general assembly of the Saxons, and those warlike Barbarians resolve to assist with a fleet and army the suppliants of a distant and unknown island. If Britain had in­deed been unknown to the Saxons, the measure of its calamities would have been less complete. But the strength of the Roman government could not always guard the maritime province against the pirates of Germany: the independent and di­vided states were exposed to their attacks; and the Saxons might sometimes join the Scots and the Picts, in a tacit, or express, confederacy of rapine and destruction. Vortigern could only balance the various perils, which assaulted on every side his throne and his people; and his po­licy may deserve either praise or excuse, if he pre­ferred the alliance of those Barbarians, whose naval [Page 382] power rendered them the most dangerous enemies, and the most serviceable allies. Hengist and Horsa, as they ranged along the Eastern coast with three ships, were engaged, by the promise of an ample stipend, to embrace the defence of Britain; and their intrepid valour soon delivered the country from the Caledonian invaders. The isle of Thanet, a secure and fertile district, was allotted for the residence of these German auxi­liaries, and they were supplied, according to the treaty, with a plentiful allowance of clothing and provisions. This favourable reception encou­raged five thousand warriors to embark with their families in seventeen vessels, and the infant power of Hengist was fortified by this strong and season­able reinforcement. The crafty Barbarian sug­gested to Vortigern the obvious advantage of fix­ing, in the neighbourhood of the Picts, a colony of faithful allies: a third fleet of forty ships, under the command of his son and nephew, sailed from Germany, ravaged the Orkneys, and disembarked a new army on the coast of Northumberland, or Lothian, at the opposite extremity of the devoted land. It was easy to foresee, but it was im­possible to prevent, the impending evils. The two nations were soon divided and exasperated by mutual jealousies. The Saxons magnified all that they had done and suffered in the cause of an un­grateful people; while the Britons regretted the liberal rewards which could not satisfy the avarice of those haughty mercenaries. The causes of fear and hatred were inflamed into an irrecon­cileable quarrel. The Saxons flew to arms; and, [Page 383] if they perpetrated a treacherous massacre during the security of a feast, the destroyed the recipro­cal confidence which sustains the intercourse of peace and war ¹²⁹.

Hengist, who boldly aspired to the conquest of Establish­ment of the Saxon heptarchy, A. D. 455—582. Britain, exhorted his countrymen to embrace the glorious opportunity: he painted in lively co­lours the fertility of the soil, the wealth of the cities, the pusillanimous temper of the natives, and the convenient situation of a spacious solitary island, accessible on all sides to the Saxon fleets. The successive colonies which issued, in the period of a century, from the mouths of the Elbe, the Weser, and the Rhine, were principally com­posed of three valiant tribes or nations of Ger­many; the Jutes, the old Saxons, and the Angles. The Jutes, who fought under the peculiar banner of Hengist, assumed the merit of leading their countrymen in the paths of glory, and of erecting, in Kent, the first independent kingdom. The fame of the enterprise was attributed to the pri­mitive Saxons; and the common laws and lan­guage of the conquerors are described by the na­tional appellation of a people, which, at the end of four hundred years, produced the first mo­narchs of South Britain. The Angles were dis­tinguished by their numbers and their success; [Page 384] and they claimed the honour of fixing a perpetual name on the country, of which they occupied the most ample portion. The Barbarians, who fol­lowed the hopes of rapine either on the land or sea, were insensibly blended with this triple con­federacy; the Frisians, who had been tempted by their vicinity to the British shores, might balance, during a short space, the strength and reputation of the native Saxons; the Danes, the Prussians, the Rugians are faintly described; and some ad­venturous Huns, who had wandered as far as the Baltic, might embark on board the German ves­sels, for the conquest of a new world ¹³⁰. But this arduous atchievement was not prepared or executed by the union of national powers. Each intrepid chieftain, according to the measure of his fame and fortunes, assembled his followers; equipped a fleet of three, or perhaps of sixty, vessels; chose the place of the attack; and con­ducted his subsequent operations according to the events of the war and the dictates of his private interest. In the invasion of Britain many heroes vanquished and fell; but only seven victorious leaders assumed, or at least maintained, the title of kings. Seven independent thrones, the Saxon Heptarchy, were founded by the conquerors, and seven families, one of which has been con­tinued, by female succession, to our present sove­reign, derived their equal and sacred lineage from [Page 385] Woden, the god of war. It has been pretended, that this republic of kings was moderated by a general council and a supreme magistrate. But such an artificial scheme of policy is repugnant to the rude and turbulent spirit of the Saxons: their laws are silent; and their imperfect annals afford only a dark and bloody prospect of intestine dis­cord ¹³¹.

A monk, who, in the profound ignorance of State of the Britons. human life, has presumed to exercise the office of historian, strangely disfigures the state of Britain at the time of its separation from the Western em­pire. Gildas ¹³² describes in florid language the improvements of agriculture, the foreign trade which flowed with every tide into the Thames and the Severn, the solid and lofty construction of public and private edifices: he accuses the sin­ful luxury of the British people; of a people, ac­cording to the same writer, ignorant of the most simple arts, and incapable, without the aid of the Romans, of providing walls of stone, or weapons of iron, for the defence of their native land ¹³³. Under the long dominion of the emperors, Britain [Page 386] had been insensibly moulded into the elegant and servile form of a Roman province, whose safety was entrusted to a foreign power. The subjects of Honorius contemplated their new freedom with surprise and terror; they were left destitute of any civil or military constitution; and their un­certain rulers wanted either skill, or courage, or authority, to direct the public force against the common enemy. The introduction of the Saxons betrayed their internal weakness, and degraded the character both of the prince and people. Their consternation magnified the danger; the want of union diminished their resources; and the madness of civil factions was more solicitous to accuse, than to remedy, the evils, which they imputed to the misconduct of their adversaries. Yet the Britons were not ignorant, they could not be ignorant, of the manufacture or the use of arms: the successive and disorderly attacks of the Saxons, allowed them to recover from their amazement, and the prosperous or adverse events of the war added discipline and experience to their native valour.

While the continent of Europe and Africa Their re­sistance, yielded, without resistance, to the Barbarians, the British island, alone and unaided, maintained a long, a vigorous, though an unsuccessful struggle, against the formidable pirates, who, almost at the same instant, assaulted the Northern, the Eastern, and the Southern coasts. The cities which had been fortified with skill, were defended with resolution; the advantages of ground, hills, [Page 387] forests, and morasses, were diligently improved by the inhabitants; the conquest of each district was purchased with blood; and the defeats of the Saxons are strongly attested by the discreet silence of their annalist. Hengist might hope to atchieve the conquest of Britain; but his ambition, in an active reign of thirty-five years, was confined to the possession of Kent; and the numerous colony which he had planted in the North, was extirpated by the sword of the Britons. The monarchy of the West-Saxons was laboriously founded by the persevering efforts of three martial generations. The life of Cerdic, one of the bravest of the children of Woden, was consumed in the con­quest of Hampshire, and the isle of Wight; and the loss which he sustained in the battle of Mount Badon, reduced him to a state of inglorious re­pose. Kenric, his valiant son, advanced into Wiltshire; besieged Salisbury, at that time seated on a commanding eminence; and vanquished an army which advanced to the relief of the city. In the subsequent battle of Marlborough ¹³⁴, his British enemies displayed their military science. Their troops were formed in three lines; each line consisted of three distinct bodies, and the ca­valry, the archers, and the pikemen, were distri­buted [Page 388] according to the principles of Roman tac­tics. The Saxons charged in one weighty co­lumn, boldly encountered with their short swords the long lances of the Britons, and maintained an equal conflict till the approach of night. Two decisive victories, the death of three British kings, and the reduction of Cirencester, Bath, and Gloucester, established the fame and power of Ceaulin, the grandson of Cerdic, who carried his victorious arms to the banks of the Severn.

After a war of an hundred years, the independent and flight. Britons still occupied the whole extent of the Western coast, from the wall of Antoninus to the extreme promontory of Cornwall; and the prin­cipal cities of the inland country still opposed the arms of the Barbarians. Resistance became more languid, as the number and boldness of the as­sailants continually increased. Winning their way by slow and painful efforts, the Saxons, the Angles, and their various confederates, advanced from the North, from the East, and from the South, till their victorious banners were united in the centre of the island. Beyond the Severn the Britons still asserted their national freedom, which survived the heptarchy, and even the monarchy, of the Saxons. The bravest warriors, who pre­ferred exile to slavery, found a secure refuge in the mountains of Wales: the reluctant submission of Cornwall was delayed for some ages ¹³⁵; and a [Page 389] band of fugitives acquired a settlement in Gaul, by their own valour, or the liberality of the Me­rovingian kings ¹³⁶. The Western angle of Ar­morica acquired the new appellations of Cornwall, and the Lesser Britain; and the vacant lands of the Osismii were filled by a strange people, who, under the authority of their counts and bishops, preserved the laws and language of their ancestors. To the feeble descendants of Clovis and Charle­magne, the Britons of Armorica refused the cus­tomary tribute, subdued the neighbouring dio­ceses of Vannes, Rennes, and Nantes, and formed a powerful, though vassal, state, which has been united to the crown of France ¹³⁷.

[Page 390] In a century of perpetual, or at least impla­cable, war, much courage, and some skill, must have been exerted for the defence of Britain. Yet The fame of Arthur. if the memory of its champions is almost buried in oblivion, we need not repine; since every age, however destitute of science or virtue, sufficiently abounds with acts of blood and military renown. The tomb of Vortimer, the son of Vortigern, was erected on the margin of the sea-shore, as a landmark formidable to the Saxons, whom he had thrice vanquished in the fields of Kent. Ambro­sius Aurelian was descended from a noble family of Romans ¹³⁸; his modesty was equal to his va­lour, and his valour, till the last fatal action ¹³⁹, was crowned with splendid success. But every British name is effaced by the illustrious name of ARTHUR ¹⁴⁰, the hereditary prince of the Silures, in South Wales, and the elective king or general of the nation. According to the most rational ac­count, [Page 391] he defeated, in twelve successive battles, the Angles of the North, and the Saxons of the West; but the declining age of the hero was em­bittered by popular ingratitude, and domestic mis­fortunes. The events of his life are less interest­ing, than the singular revolutions of his fame. During a period of five hundred years the tradition of his exploits was preserved, and rudely embel­lished, by the obscure bards of Wales and Armo­rica, who were odious to the Saxons, and un­known to the rest of mankind. The pride and curiosity of the Norman conquerors, prompted them to enquire into the ancient history of Bri­tain: they listened with fond credulity to the tale of Arthur, and eagerly applauded the merit of a prince, who had triumphed over the Saxons, their common enemies. His romance, transcribed in the Latin of Jeffrey of Monmouth, and afterwards translated into the fashionable idiom of the times, was enriched with the various, though incoherent, ornaments, which were familiar to the experience, the learning, or the fancy, of the twelfth century. The progress of a Phrygian colony, from the Ty­ber to the Thames, was easily engrafted on the fable of the Aeneid; and the royal ancestors of Arthur derived their origin from Troy, and claimed their alliance with the Caesars. His tro­phies were decorated with captive provinces, and Imperial titles; and his Danish victories avenged the recent injuries of his country. The gallantry and superstition of the British hero, his feasts and tournaments, and the memorable institution of [Page 392] his Knights of the Round Table, were faithfully copied from the reigning manners of chivalry; and the fabulous exploits of Uther's son, appear less incredible, than the adventures which were atchieved by the enterprising valour of the Nor­mans. Pilgrimage, and the holy wars, intro­duced into Europe the specious miracles of Ara­bian magic. Fairies, and giants, flying dragons, and enchanted palaces, were blended with the more simple sictions of the West; and the fate of Britain depended on the art, or the predictions, of Merlin. Every nation embraced and adorned the popular romance of Arthur, and the Knights of the Round Table: their names were celebrated in Greece and Italy; and the voluminous tales of Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristram were devoutly studied by the princes and nobles, who disregarded the genuine heroes and historians of antiquity. At length the light of science and reason was re­kindled; the talisman was broken; the visionary fabric melted into air; and by a natural, though unjust, reverse of the public opinion, the severity of the present age is inclined to question the ex­istence of Arthur ¹⁴⁰.

Resistance, if it cannot avert, must increase the Desolation of Britain. miseries of conquest; and conquest has never ap­peared more dreadful and destructive than in the hands of the Saxons; who hated the valour of [Page 393] their enemies, disdained the faith of treaties, and violated, without remorse, the most sacred objects of the Christian worship. The fields of battle might be traced, almost in every district, by mo­numents of bones; the fragments of falling towers were stained with blood; the last of the Britons, without distinction of age or sex, was massacred ¹⁴¹; in the ruins of Anderida ¹⁴²; and the repetition of such calamities was frequent and familiar under the Saxon heptarchy. The arts and religion, the laws and language, which the Romans had so carefully planted in Britain, were extirpated by their barbarous successors. After the destruction of the principal churches, the bishops, who had declined the crown of martyrdom, retired with the holy relics into Wales and Armorica; the remains of their flocks were left destitute of any spiritual food; the practice, and even the remembrance, of Christianity were abolished; and the British clergy might obtain some comfort from the damnation of the idolatrous strangers. The kings of France maintained the privileges of their Roman subjects; but the ferocious Saxons trampled on the laws of Rome, and of the emperors. The proceedings [Page 394] of civil and criminal jurisdiction, the titles of ho­nour, the forms of office, the ranks of society, and even the domestic rights of marriage, testa­ment, and inheritance, were finally suppressed; and the indiscriminate crowd of noble and plebeian slaves was governed by the traditionary customs, which had been coarsely framed for the shepherds, and pirates of Germany. The language of science, of business, and of conversation, which had been introduced by the Romans, was lost in the general desolation. A sufficient number of Latin or Celtic words might be assumed by the Germans, to ex­press their new wants and ideas ¹⁴³; but those il­literate Pagans preserved and established the use of their national dialect ¹⁴⁴. Almost every name, conspicuous either in the church or state, reveals its Teutonic origin ¹⁴⁵; and the geography of Eng­land was universally inscribed with foreign cha­racters and appellations. The example of a revo­lution, so rapid and so complete, may not easily be found; but it will excite a probable suspicion, that the arts of Rome were less deeply rooted in Britain than in Gaul or Spain; and that the na­tive [Page 395] rudeness of the country and its inhabitants, was covered by a thin varnish of Italian manners.

This strange alteration has persuaded historians, Servitude. and even philosophers, that the provincials of Bri­tain were totally exterminated; and that the va­cant land was again peopled by the perpetual in­flux, and rapid increase, of the German colonies. Three hundred thousand Saxons are said to have obeyed the summons of Hengist ¹⁴⁶; the entire emigration of the Angles was attested, in the age of Bede, by the solitude of their native country ¹⁴⁷; and our experience has shewn the free propaga­tion of the human race, if they are cast on a fruit­ful wilderness, where their steps are unconfined, and their subsistence is plentiful. The Saxon king­doms displayed the face of recent discovery and cultivation: the towns were small, the villages were distant; the husbandry was languid and un­skilful; four sheep were equivalent to an acre of the best land ¹⁴⁸; an ample space of wood and mo­rass was resigned to the vague dominion of na­ture; and the modern bishopric of Durham, the whole territory from the Tyne to the Tees, had returned to its primitive state of a savage and soli­tary [Page 396] forest ¹⁴⁹. Such imperfect population might have been supplied, in some generations, by the English colonies; but neither reason nor facts can justify the unnatural supposition, that the Saxons of Britain remained alone in the desert which they had subdued. After the sanguinary Barbarians had secured their dominion, and gratified their revenge, it was their interest to preserve the pea­sants, as well as the cattle, of the unresisting country. In each successive revolution, the pa­tient herd becomes the property of its new ma­sters; and the salutary compact of food and la­bour is silently ratified by their mutual necessities. Wilfrid, the apostle of Sussex ¹⁵⁰, accepted from his royal convert the gift of the peninsula of Sel­sey, near Chichester, with the persons and pro­perty of its inhabitants, who then amounted to eighty-seven families. He released them at once from spiritual and temporal bondage; and two hundred and fifty slaves of both sexes were bap­tized by their indulgent master. The kingdom of Sussex, which spread from the sea to the Thames, contained seven thousand families; twelve hundred were ascribed to the Isle of Wight; and, if we multiply this vague computation, it may [Page 397] seem probable, that England was cultivated by a million of servants, or villains, who were attached to the estates of their arbitrary landlords. The indigent Barbarians were often tempted to sell their children or themselves into perpetual, and even foreign, bondage ¹⁵¹; yet the special exemp­tions, which were granted to national slaves ¹⁵², sufficiently declare, that they were much less nu­merous than the strangers and captives, who had lost their liberty, or changed their masters, by the accidents of war. When time and religion had mitigated the fierce spirit of the Anglo-Saxons, the laws encouraged the frequent practice of ma­numission; and their subjects, of Welsh or Cam­brian extraction, assume the respectable station of inferior freemen, possessed of lands, and intitled to the rights of civil society ¹⁵³. Such gentle treatment might secure the allegiance of a fierce people, who had been recently subdued on the confines of Wales and Cornwall. The sage Ina, the legislator of Wessex, united the two nations [Page 398] in the bands of domestic alliance; and four Bri­tish lords of Somersetshire may be honourably distinguished in the court of a Saxon monarch ¹⁵⁴.

The independent Britons appear to have re­lapsed Manners of the Britons. into the state of original barbarism, from whence they had been imperfectly reclaimed. Se­parated by their enemies from the rest of man­kind, they soon became an object of scandal and abhorrence to the Catholic world ¹⁵⁵. Christianity was still professed in the mountains of Wales; but the rude schismatics, in the form of the clerical tonsure, and in the day of the celebration of Easter, obstinately resisted the imperious mandates of the Roman pontiffs. The use of the Latin language was insensibly abolished, and the Britons were de­prived of the arts and learning which Italy com­municated to her Saxon proselytes. In Wales and Armorica, the Celtic tongue, the native idiom of the West, was preserved and propa­gated; and the Bards, who had been the compa­nions of the Druids, were still protected, in the sixteenth century, by the laws of Elizabeth. Their chief, a respectable officer of the courts of Peng­wern, or Aberfraw, or Caermathaen, accompa­nied the king's servants to war: the monarchy of the Britons, which he sung in the front of battle, excited their courage, and justified their depre­dations; [Page 399] and the songster claimed for his legiti­mate prize the fairest heifer of the spoil. His subordinate ministers, the masters and disciples of vocal and instrumental music, visited, in their re­spective circuits, the royal, the noble, and the plebeian houses; and the public poverty, almost exhausted by the clergy, was oppressed by the importunate demands of the bards. Their rank and merit were ascertained by solemn trials, and the strong belief of supernatural inspiration ex­alted the fancy of the poet, and of his audi­ence ¹⁵⁷. The last retreats of Celtic freedom, the extreme territories of Gaul and Britain, were less adapted to agriculture than to pasturage: the wealth of the Britons consisted in their flocks and herds; milk and flesh were their ordinary food; and bread was sometimes esteemed, or rejected, as a foreign luxury. Liberty had peopled the moun­tains of Wales and the morasses of Armorica: but their populousness has been maliciously ascribed to the loose practice of polygamy; and the houses of these licentious barbarians have been supposed to contain ten wives, and per­haps fifty children ¹⁵⁸. Their disposition was rash [Page 400] and choleric: they were bold in action and in speech ¹⁵⁹; and as they were ignorant of the arts of peace, they alternately indulged their pas­sions in foreign and domestic war. The cavalry of Armorica, the spearmen of Gwent, and the archers of Merioneth, were equally formidable; but their poverty could seldom procure either shields or helmets; and the inconvenient weight would have retarded the speed and agility of their desultory operations. One of the greatest of the English monarchs was requested to satisfy the curiosity of a Greek emperor concerning the state of Britain; and Henry II. could assert, from his personal experience, that Wales was inhabited by a race of naked warriors, who encountered without fear, the defensive armour of their ene­mies ¹⁶⁰.

By the revolution of Britain, the limits of sci­ence, as well as of empire, were contracted. The Obscure or fabulous state of Britain. dark cloud, which had been cleared by the Phoe­nician discoveries, and finally dispelled by the arms of Caesar, again settled on the shores of the Atlantic, and a Roman province was again lost among the fabulous islands of the Ocean. One hundred and fifty years after the reign of Hono­rius, [Page 401] the gravest historian of the times ¹⁶¹ describes the wonders of a remote isle, whose eastern and western parts are divided by an antique wall, the boundary of life and death, or, more properly, of truth and fiction. The east is a fair country, inhabited by a civilised people: the air is healthy, the waters are pure and plentiful, and the earth yields her regular and fruitful increase. In the west, beyond the wall, the air is infectious and mortal; the ground is covered with serpents; and this dreary solitude is the region of departed spirits, who are transported from the opposite shores in substantial boats, and by living rowers. Some families of fishermen, the subjects of the Franks, are excused from tribute, in consideration of the mysterious office which is performed by these Charons of the ocean. Each in his turn is summoned, at the hour of midnight, to hear the voices, and even the names, of the ghosts: he is sensible of their weight, and he feels himself impelled by an unknown, but irresistible, power. After this dream of fancy, we read with astonish­ment, that the name of this island is Brittia; that it lies in the ocean, against the mouth of the Rhine, and less than thirty miles from the con­tinent; that it is possessed by three nations, the Frisians, the Angles, and the Britons; and that some Angles had appeared at Constantinople, in [Page 402] the train of the French ambassadors. From these ambassadors Procopius might be informed of a singular, though not improbable, adventure, which announces the spirit, rather than the deli­cacy, of an English heroine. She had been be­trothed to Radiger king of the Varni, a tribe of Germans who touched the ocean and the Rhine; but the perfidious lover was tempted, by motives of policy, to prefer his father's widow, the sister of Theodebert king of the Franks ¹⁶². The for­saken princess of the Angles, instead of bewail­ing, revenged her disgrace. Her warlike subjects are said to have been ignorant of the use, and even of the form, of an horse; but she boldly sailed from Britain to the mouth of the Rhine, with a fleet of four hundred ships, and an army of one hundred thousand men. After the loss of a battle, the captive Radiger implored the mercy of his victorious bride, who generously pardoned his offence, dismissed her rival, and compelled the king of the Varni to discharge with honour and fidelity the duties of an hus­band ¹⁶³ This gallant exploit appears to be the [Page 403] last naval enterprise of the Anglo-Saxons. The arts of navigation, by which they had acquired the empire of Britain and of the sea, were soon neglected by the indolent Barbarians, who su­pinely renounced all the commercial advantages of their insular situation. Seven independent kingdoms were agitated by perpetual discord; and the British world was seldom connected, either in peace or war, with the nations of the con­tinent ¹⁶⁴.

I have now accomplished the laborious narra­tive Fall of the Roman empire in the West. of the decline and fall of the Roman empire, from the fortunate age of Trajan and the Anto­nines, to its total extinction in the West, about five centuries after the Christian aera. At that unhappy period, the Saxons fiercely struggled with the natives for the possession of Britain: Gaul and Spain were divided between the power­ful monarchies of the Franks and Visigoths, and the dependent kingdoms of the Suevi and Bur­gundians: Africa was exposed to the cruel perse­cution of the Vandals, and the savage insults of the Moors: Rome and Italy, as far as the banks [Page 404] of the Danube, were afflicted by an army of Bar­barian mercenaries, whose lawless tyranny was succeeded by the reign of Theodoric the Ostro­goth. All the subjects of the empire, who, by the use of the Latin language, more particularly deserved the name and privileges of Romans, were oppressed by the disgrace and calamities of foreign conquest; and the victorious nations of Germany established a new system of manners and government in the western countries of Eu­rope. The majesty of Rome was faintly repre­sented by the princes of Constantinople, the feeble and imaginary successors of Augustus. Yet they continued to reign over the East, from the Da­nube to the Nile and Tigris; the Gothic and Vandal kingdoms of Italy and Africa were sub­verted by the arms of Justinian; and the history of the Greek emperors may still afford a long series of instructive lessons, and interesting re­volutions.