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Ex  Libris 
ISAAC  FOOT 


I 


THE 


HISTORY 


DECLINE  AND  PALL 


ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


EDWARD  GIBBON,  ESQ. 

IN  TWELVE  VOLUMES. 

VOL.  VII. 


Cftrttton. 


LONDON : 

PRINTED    FOR    W.    ALLASON  ;     B.     WHIT  ROW    AND    CO.  ;     C.    CHAPPLE 
W.  BARTON  ;    J.  EVANS    AND    SON;    J.    GREENH1LL ;    J.  HARWOOO 

R.  HILL;  G.  HEBERT;  w.  HARRIS;  T.  MASON;  B.  SCHOLEY 
j.  MAYNARD;  T.  BOHN;  w.  MASON;  J.  CARLISLE;  T.  FISHER 
j.  BUMPUS;  j.  CRANWELL;  i.  PARSONS  AND  co. ;  J.  ROE 
T.  LESTER; — ALSO  w.  AND  p.  JENKINS;  AND  E.  KHULL  AND  co 

GLASGOW  ;    J.  CUMMING  AND  C.  LA  GRANGE,  DUBLIN 

1820. 


DG-3// 


Plummer  and  lirewis,  Vrinters,  Love-Lane,  Little-Eastcbeap 


PREFACE. 


I  NOW  discharge  my:  promise,  and  complete 
my  design  of  writing  the  History  of  the  Decline 
and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  both  in  the 
West  and  the  East.  The  whole  period  ex- 
tends from  the  age  of  Trajan  and  the  Anto- 
nines,  to  the  taking  of  Constantinople  by  Ma- 
homet II. ;  and  includes  a  review  of  the  cru- 
sades and  the  state  of  Rome  during  the  middle 
ages.  _  Since  the  publication  of  the  first*  vo- 
lume, twelve  years  have  elapsed  ;  twelve  years, 
according  to  my  wish,  "  of  health,  of  leisure, 
"  and  of  perseverance."  I  may  now  congratu- 
late my  deliverance  from  a  long  and  laborious 
service,  and  my  satisfaction  will  be  pure  and 
perfect,  if  the  public  favour  should  be  extend- 
ed to  the  conclusion  of  my  work. 

It  was  my  first  intention  to  have  collected, 
under  one  view,  the  numerous  authors,  of  every 
age  and  language,  from  whom  I  have  derived 
the  materials  of  this  history ;  and  I  am  still 
convinced  that  the  apparent  ostentation  would 
be  more  than  compensated  by  real  use.  If  I 
have  renounced  this  idea;  if  I  have  declined 
an  undertaking  which  had  obtained  the  appro- 
bation of  a  master-artist,!  my  excuse  may  be 

*  Alluding  to  the  Quarto  Edition,  in  which  sire  the  Work  was  ori- 
ginally published. 

t  See  Dr.  Robertson's  Preface  to  his  HUtory  of  America. 

VOL.  vir.  a 


lv  PREFACE. 

found  in  the  extreme  difficulty  of  assigning  a 
proper  measure  to  such  a  catalogue.  A  naked 
list  of  names  and  editions  would  not  be  satis- 
factory either  to  myself  or  my  readers  ;  the 
characters  of  the  principal  authors  of  the  Ro- 
man and  Byzantine  History  have  been  occa- 
sionally connected  with  the  events  which  they 
describe  ;  a  more  copious  and  critical  inquiry 
might  indeed  deserve,  but  it  would  demand, 
an  elaborate  volume,  which  might  swell  by  de- 
grees into  a  general  library  of  historical  writers. 
For  the  present  I  shall  content  myself  with  re- 
newing my  serious  protestation,  that  I  have  al- 
ways endeavoured  to  draw  from  the  fountain- 
head  ;  that  my  curiosity,  as  well  as  a  sense  of 
duty,  has  always  urged  me  to  study  the  origi- 
nals ;  and  that,  if  they  have  sometimes  eluded 
my  search,  I  have  carefully  marked  the  secon- 
dary evidence,  on  whose  faith  a  passage  or  a 
fact  were  reduced  to  depend. 

1  shall  soon  revisit  the  banks  of  the  lake  of 
Lausanne,  a  country  which  I  have  known  and 
loved  from  my  early  youth.  Under  a  mild  go- 
vernment, amidst  a  beauteous  landskip,  in  a 
life  of  leisure  and  independence,  and  among  a 
people  of  easy  and  elegant  manners,  I  have  en- 
joyed, and  may  again  hope  to  enjoy,  the  varied 
pleasures  of  retirement  and  society.  But  I 
shall  ever  glory  in  the  name  and  character  of 
an  Englishman :  I  am  proud  of  my  birth  in  a 
free  and  enlightened  country  ;  and  the  appro- 
bation of  that  country  is  the  best  and  most  ho- 
nourable reward  of  my  labours.  Were  I  am- 
bitious of  any  other  patron  than  'he  Public.  I 


PREFACE;  v 

would  inscribe  this  work  to  a  Statesman,  who, 
in  a  long,  a  stormy,  and  at  length  an  unfortu- 
nate administration,  had  many  political  oppo- 
nents, almost  without  a  personal  enemy:  who 
has  retained,  in  his  fall  from  power,  many  faith- 
ful and  disinterested  friends  ;  and  who,  under 
the  pressure  of  severe  infirmity,  enjoys  the 
lively  vigour  of  his  mind,  and  the  felicity  of  hi£ 
incomparable  temper.  LORD  NORTH  will  per- 
mit me  to  express  the  feelings  of  friendship  in 
the  language  of  truth  :  but  even  truth  and 
friendship  should  be  silent,  if  he  still  dispensed 
the  favours  of  the  crown. 

In  a  remote  solitude,  vanity  may  still  whis- 
per in  my  ear,  that  my  readers,  perhaps,  may 
inquire,  whether,  in  the  conclusion  of  the  pre- 
sent work,  I  am  now  taking  an  everlasting  fare- 
wel.  They  shall  hear  all  that  I  know  myself, 
all  that  I  could  reveal  to  the  most  intimate 
friend.  The  motives  of  action  or  silence  are 
now  equally  balanced ;  nor  can  I  pronounce 
in  my  most  secret  thoughts,  on  which  side  the 
scale  will  preponderate.  I  cannot  dissemble 
that  Six  ample  Quartos  must  have  tried,  and 
may  have  exhausted,  the  indulgence  of  the 
Public ;  that  in  the  repetition  of  similar  at- 
tempts, a  successful  Author  has  much  more  to 
lose,  than  he  can  hope  to  gain  ;  that  I  am  now 
descending  into  the  vale  of  years  ;  and  that  the 
most  respectable  of  my  countrymen,  the  men 
whom  I  aspire  to  imitate,  have  resigned  the 
pen  of  history  about  the  same  period  of  their 
lives.  Yet  I  consider  that  the  annals  of  an- 


yj  PREFACE. 

cient  and  modern  times  may  afford  many  rich 
and  interesting  subjects ;  that  I  am  still  pos- 
sessed of  health  and  leisure  ;  that  by  the  prac- 
tice of  writing,  some  skill  and  facility  must  be 
acquired ;  and  that,  in  the  ardent  pursuit  of 
truth  and   knowledge,    I  am  not  conscious  of 
decay.     To  an  active  mind,  indolence  is  more 
painful  than  labour ;  and   the  first  months  of 
my  liberty  will  be  occupied  and  amused  in  the 
excursions   of  curiosity  and  taste.     By  such 
temptations,  I  have  been  sometimes  seduced 
from  the  rigid  duty  even  of  a  pleasing  and  vo- 
luntary task  :  but  my  time  will  now  be  my 
own  ;  and  in  the  use  or  abuse  of  independence, 
I  shall  no  longer  fear  my  own  reproaches  or 
those  of  my  friends.     I  am  fairly  entitled  to  a 
year  of  jubilee  :  next  summer  and  the  follow- 
ing winter  will  rapidly  pass  away ;  and  expe- 
rience only  can  determine  whether  I  shall  still 
prefer  the  freedom  and  variety  of  study  to  the 
design    and  composition   of  a    regular   work, 
which  animates,  while  it  confines,  the  daily  ap- 
plication of  the  Author.  Caprice  and  accident 
may  influence  my  choice ;  but  the  dexterity  of 
self-love  will  contrive  to  applaud  either  active 
industry,  or  philosophic  repose. 


Dowrjng-sireet,  May  1,  1788. 


PREFACE.  vjj 


P.  S.  I  shall  embrace  this  opportunity  of  in- 
troducing  two  verbal  remarks,  which  have  not 
conveniently  offered  themselves  to  my  notice. 
1.  As  often  as  1  use  the  definitions  of  beyond  the 
Alps,  the  Rhine,  the  Danube,  &c.  I  generally 
suppose  myself  at  Rome,  and  afterwards  at 
Constantinople  ;  without  observing  whether 
this  relative  geography  may  agree  with  the  lo- 
cal, but  variable,  situation  of  the  reader,  or  the 
historian. — 2.  In  proper  names  of  foreign,  and 
especially  of  oriental  origin,  it  should  be^  al- 
ways our  aim  to  express  in  our  English  version, 
a  faithful  copy  of  the  original.  But  this  rule, 
which  is  founded  on  a  just  regard  to  uniformi- 
ty and  truth,  must  often  be  relaxed  ;  and  the 
exceptions  will  be  limited  or  enlarged  by  the 
custom  of  the  language  and  the  taste  of  the  in- 
terpreter. Our  Alphabets  may  be  often  defec- 
tive :  a  harsh  sound,  an  uncouth  spelling,  might 
offend  the  ear  or  the  eye  of  our  countrymen ; 
and  some  words,  notoriously  corrupt,  are  fixed, 
and,  as  it  were,  naturalized  in  the  vulgar  tongue. 
The  prophet  Mohammed  can  no  longer  be  strip- 
ped of  the  famous,  though  improper,  appella- 
tion of  Mahomet:  the  well-known  cities  of 
Aleppo,  Damascus,  and  Cairo,  would  almost 
be  lost  in  the  strange  descriptions  of  Haleb, 
Damas/tk,  and  Al  Cahira :  the  titles  and  offi- 
ces of  the  Ottoman  empire  are  fashioned  by  the 
practice  of  three  hundred  years  ;  and  we  are 


PREFACE. 

pleased  to  blend  the  three  Chinese  monosylla- 
bles, Con-fu-tzee,  in  the  respectable  name  of 
Confucius,  or  even  to  adopt  the  Portuguese 
corruption  of  Mandarin.  But  I  would  vary 
the  use  of  Zoroaster  and  Zerdusht,  as  I  drew 
my  information  from  Greece  or  Persia :  since 
our  connection  with  India,  the  genuine  Timour 
is  restored  to  the  throne  of  Tamerlane :  our 
most  correct  writers  have  retrenched  the  Al, 
the  superfluous  article,  from  the  Koran  :  and 
we  escape  an  ambiguous  termination,  by  adopt- 
ing Moslem  instead  of  Mussulman,  in  the  plural 
number.  In  these,  and  in  a  thousand  exam- 
ples, the  shades  of  distinction  are  often  minute  ; 
and  I  can  feel,  where  I  cannot  explain,  the  mo- 
tives of  my  choice. 

%•  At  the  end  of  tlie  History,  tlie  reader  will  find  a  general  Index  to 
the  whole  Work,  which  has  been  drawn  up  by  a  person  fre- 
quently employed  in  works  of  this  nature. 


CONTENTS 


Of  THB 


SEVENTH    VOLUME. 


CHAP.  XXXIX. 

Zeno  and  Anastasius,  emperors  of  the  East — Birth,  education,  and  first 
exploits  of  Theodoric  the  Ostrogoth— His  invasion  and  conquest  of 
Italy — The  Gothic  kingdom  of  Italy — State  of  the  West— Military 
'and  civil  government — The  senator  Boethiut — Last  acts  and  death 
of  Theodoric. 

A.D.  PACE. 

466-475  Birth  and  education  of  Theodoric                -  2 

474-491  The  reign  of  Zeno        -           :rl*  M  4 

491-618  The  reign  of  Anastasius                -                -  € 

675-488  Service  and  revolt  of  Theodoric  7 

489  He  undertakes  the  conquest  of  Italy  9 

His  march                              -                -                 -  11 

489-490  The  three  defeats  of  Odoacer                        -  13 

493  His  capitulation  and  death                  -           w£-'  16 

493-526  Reign  of  Theodoric,  king  of  Italy                 -  16 

Partition  of  lands  17 

Separation  of  the  Goths  and  Italians                   -  19 

Foreign  policy  of  Theodoric  20 

His  defensive  wars  23 

609  His  naval  armaments           -  24 

609  Civil  government  of  Italy  according  to  the  Roman  laws    26 

Prosperity  of  Rome                  -                             -  29 

600  Visit  of  Theodoric                   ...  30 

Flourishing  state  of  Italy         •  ,                         -  33 

Theodoric  an  Arian                  -                            -  36 

His  toleration  of  the  catholics              -                -  ib. 

Vices  of  his  government          -                             -  38 

He  is  provoked  to  persecute  the  catholics  40 

Character,  studies,  and  honours  of  Boethius  42 

His  patriotism          -  45 

He  is  accused  of  treason                       -  47 

624  His  imprisonment  and  death                -  48 

526  Death  of  Symmaclma                            -  60 

526  Remorse  and  death  of  Theodorie                         -  ib. 


IV  COKTENTS. 

CHAP.  XL. 

Elevation  of  Justin  the  elder— Reign  of  Justinian— I.  The  emprett 
Theodora— \l,  Factions  of  the  circus,  and  tcdition  t/f  Constantinople 

—  III.  Trade  and  manufacture  of  silk — IV.  Finances  and  taxes — V. 
Edifices  of  Justinian — Church   of  St.  Sophia — Fortifications  and 

frontiers  of  the  eastern  empire  —  VI.  Abolition  of  the  schools  of 
Athens,  and  the  consulship  of  Rome. 

A.  D.  PAGE. 

482  or  483  Birth  of  the  emperor  Justinian  54 

518-527  Elevation  and  reign  of  his  uncle  Justin  I.  56 

520-527  Adoption  and  succession  of  Justinian  67 

627-565  The  reign  of  Justinian                 -  61 

Character  and  histories  of  Procopius                  -  ib. 

Division  of  the  reign  of  Justinian                       -  64 

xBirth  and  vices  of  the  empress  Theodora  ib. 

Her  marriage  with  Justinian  68 

Her  tyranny        -  71 

Her  virtues          -                -                -                -  72 

648  And  death          -               -               -                -  75 

648  The  factions  of  the  circus                  •  ib. 

At  Rome                -                             -                -  77 

They  distract  Constantinople  and  the  East  ib. 

Justinian  favours  the  blues                  -  78 

632  Sedition  of  Constantinople,  surnamed  Ni/ia  81 

The  distress  of  Justinian                    -  84 

Firmness  of  Theodora                        -  .             -  86 

The  sedition  is  suppressed                 -  87 

Agriculture  and  manufactures  of  the  eastern  empire  88 

The  use  of  silk  by  the  Romans          -  90 

Importation  from  China  by, land  and  sea           -  .              93 

Introduction  of  silk-worms  into  Greece              -  97 

State  of  the  revenue                                            -  101 

Avarice  and  profusion  of  Justinian                     -  102 

Pernicious  savings              -                -  103 

Remittances            -                           -                -  104 

Taxes            ...               .                .  ]05 

Monopolies            -                         ,!-:               -  106 

Venality        ...                                .  107 

Testaments                         -             '-Ii4*           .  108 

The  ministers  of  Justinian                 -  109 

John  of  Cappadocia           -                -  110 

His  edifices  and  architects                 •  113 

foundation  of  the  church  of  St.  Sophia         *^'/  117 

.-  '    Description            -            -    .            -               -  118 

Marbles         ...                .                .  121 

Riches                                •                                .  122 

Churches  and  palaces        -           r«*»^           -  ib. 

Fortifications  of  Europe                     -                -  126 

Security  of  Asia  after  the  conquest  of  Isauria  131 


CONTENTS.  * 

A.D.  PACE. 

Fortifications  of  the  empire,  from  the  ^Euxine  to  the 

Persian  frontier                              -                -,  134 

488  Death  of  Perezes,  king  of  Persia  137 

602-505  The  Persian  war                                             -  139 

Fortifications  of  Dara                                           -  140 

The  Caspian  or  Iberian  gates             -                -  141 

The  schools  of  Athens            -                            -  144 

They  arc  suppressed  by  Justinian  149 

Procliis          -                                      -  150 

485-529  His  successors                •  151 

The  last  of  the  philosophers               -                -  152 

541  The  Roman  consulship  extinguished  by  Justinian  153 

CHAP.  XLI. 

Conquestt  of  Justinian  in  the  West— Character  and  first  campaigns  of 
JBelisarins — He  invades  and  subdues  the  Vandal  kingdom  of  Africa — 
His  triumph — The  Gothic  war — He  recovers  Sicily,  Naples,  and 
Rome — Siege  of  Rome  by  the  Goths — Their  retreat  and  losses — Sur- 
render of  Ravenna — Glory  of  Belisarius — His  domestic  shame  and 
misfortunes. 

A.D.  PAGE' 

533  Justinian  resolves  to  invade  Africa                    '-  156 

523-530  State  of  the  Vandals.     Hilderic                 '-  157 

530-534  Gelimer                            -                             -  158 

Debates  on  the  African  war                -                -  160 

Character  and  choice  of  Belisarius                      -  162 

529-532  His  services  in  the  Persian  war  163 

533  Preparations  for  the  African  war  165 
Departure  of  the  fleet       %-                -                -  1C8 
Belisarius  lands  on  the  coast  of  Africa              -  172 
Defeats  the  Vandals  in  a  first  battle  175 
Reduction  of  Carthage                        -                -  178 
Final  defeat  of  Gelimer  and  the  Vandals          |-  182 

534  Conquest  of  Africa  by  Belisarius                       -  187 
Distress  and  captivity  of  Gelimer          -            -  190 
Return  and  triumph  of  Belisarius          -            -  1 94 

535  His  sole  consulship                —                -            -  196 
End  of  Gelimer  and  the  Vandals          -            -  197 
Manners  and  defeat  of  the  Moors         -            -  199 
Neutrality  of  the  Visigoths                     -            -  203 

650-620  Conquests  of  the  Romans  in  Spain             -  204 

534  Belisarius  threatens  the  Ostrogoths  of  Italy  205 
522-534  Government  and  death  of  Amalasontha,  queen  of 

Italy             ....  207 

535  Her  exile  and  death                             -  21 1 
Belisarius  invades  and  subdues  Sicily  212 

534-536  Reign  and  weakness  of  Theodatus,  the  Gothic 

king  of  Italy                 ...  216 

637  Belisarius  invades  Italy  and  reduces  Naples  218 

636-540  Vitiges,  king  of  Italy                   -                -  222 


VJ  CONTENT!. 

A- D.  PAGE. 

536  Belisarius  enters  Rome                    H«^f-  >            -  225 

537  Siege  .of  Rome  by  the  Goths  ib. 
Valour  of  Belisarius                -             -  228 
His  defence  of  Rome                          -                -  ib. 
Repulses  a  general  assault  of  the  Goths  232 
His  sallies                   ...                .  234 
Distress  of  the  city                                -  236 
Exile  of  Pope  Sylverius         -  239 
Deliverance  of  the  city          -            -  240 
Belisarius  recovers  many  cities  oCItaly  243 

638  The  Goths  raise  the  siege  of  Rome  244 

Lose  Rimini  -  -  -  -  246 

Retire  to  Ravenna  -  247 

Jealousy  of  the  Roman  generals  -  ib. 

Death  of  Constantine  •-  248 

The  eunuch  Narses  -  -  ib. 

Firmness  and  authority  of  Belisarius  •  250 

538,  539  Invasion  of  Italy  by  the  Franks  -  ib. 

Destruction  of  Milan  -  251 

Belisarius  besieges  Ravenna  -  -  254 

539  Subdues  the  Gothic  kingdom  of  Italy  257 

Captivity  of  Vitiges  -  258 

640  Return  and  glory  of  Belisarius  '        -  ib. 

^^Secret  history  of  his  wife  Autouina  -  262 

Her  lover  Theodosius  -  -  263 

Resentment  of  Belisarius  and  her  son  Photius  265 

Persecution  of  her  son  -  267 

Disgrace  and  submission  of  Belisarius  ^  268 

CHAP.  XLII. 

State  of  the  barbaric  world— Establishment  of  the  Lombards  mi  tlie 
Danube — Tribes  and  inroads  of  the  Sclavonians — Origin,  empire, 
and  embassies  of  the  Turks — The  flight  of  the  Avars — Chosroes  I,  or 
Nnshirvan,  king  of  Persia — Eis  prosperous  reign  and  wars  witJi  the 
Romans— The  Colchian  or  Lazic  war — The  Ethiopiant. 

A.D.  PAGE. 
527-565  Weakness  of  the  empire  of  Justinian  271 
State  of  the  barbarians                            -  274 
TheGepidae               -            ...            -            -  ib. 
The  Lombards  275 
The  Sclavonians       .n ,             -            -  278 
Their  inroads              -                 ...  282 
545  Origin  and  monarchy  of  the  Turks  in  Asia  285 
The  Avars  fly  before  the  Turks,  and  approach  the  em- 
pire                     .                                         -  290 
558  Their  embassy  to  Constantinople          -            -  292 
669-582  Embassies  of  the  Turks  and  Romans         -  294 
600-530  State  of  Persia      •'-                          -             -  298 
631-579  Reign  of  Nushirvan,  or  Chosroes  301 
Mis  love  oflearniti                      -  304 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

A.  D.  PAGE. 

633*539  Peace  and  war  with  the  Romans  -               308 

640  He  invades  Syria                    -  311 
And  ruins  Antioch                 -  -                313 

641  Defence  of  the  East  by  Belisarius  315 
Description  of  Colchos,  Lazica,  or  Mingrelia  319 
Manners  of  the  natives          -  -                322 
Revolutions  of  Colchos          -  -                325 
Under  the  Persians,  before  Christ,  600-326 
Under  the  Romans,  before  Christ,  60  -                 ib. 

130  Visit  of  Arrian           ...  -                327 

522  Conversion  of  the  Lazi           -  -                328 

542-549  Revolt  and  repentance  of  the  Colchians  329 

549-551  Siege  of  Petra  332 

549-556  The  Colchian  or  Lazic  war        -  -                334 
540-561  Negotiations  and  treaties  between  Justinian  and 

Chosroes             -  -                338 

622  Conquests  of  the  Abyssiuians            •  -                341 

633  Their  alliance  with  Justinian             •  -                343 


CHAP.  XLIII. 

Rebellions  of  Africa— Restoration  of  the  Gothic  kingdom  by  Totila — 

Loss  and  recovery  of  Rome — Final  conquests  of  Italy  by  Narsts— 

Extinction  of  the  Ostrogoths — Defeat  of  the  Franks  and  Alemanni'— 
Last  victory,  disgrace,  and  death  of  Belisarius— Death  and  charac- 
ter of  Justinian — Comets,  earthquakes,  and  plague. 

A.  D.  PAGE. 

535-645  The  troubles  of  Africa                -                -  346 

543-558  Rebellion  of  the  Moors                -                -  351 

540  Revolt  of  the  Goths            ...  354 

541-544  Victories  of  Totila,  king  of  Italy                 -  355 

Contrast  of  Greek  vice  and  Gothic  virtue         -  357 

o44-548  Second  command  of  Eelisarius  in  Italy  360 

546  Rome  besieged  by  the  Goths             -                -  362 
Attempt  of  Belisarius             -            -                -  364 
Rome  taken  by  the  Goths                  -                -  366 

547  Recovered  by  Belisarius                     -                -  370 

548  Final  recal  of  Belisarius                     -  372 
649  Rome  again  taken  by  the  Goths        -                -  376 
549-551  Preparations  of  Justinian  for  the  Gothic  war  378 
552  Character  and  expedition  of  the  eunuch  Narses  381 

Defeat  and  death  of  Totila                                 -  384 

Conquest  of  Rome  by  Narses            -                -  388 
Defeat  and  death  of  Teias,   the  last  king  of  the 

Goths  390 

Invasion  of  Italy  by  the  Franks  and  Alemanni  393 

654  Defeat  of  the  Franks  and  Alemanni  by  Narses  395 

664-568  Settlement  of  Italy                      -  396 


Vifl  CONTENTS. 

A.D.  PACK. 

669  Invasion  of  the  Bulgarians  -                -  401 

Last  victory  of  Belisarius  -                 -  403 

561  His  disgrace  and  death  -                -  405 

665  Death  and  character  of  Justinian  -  409 

631-539  Comets                 -              -  .  412 

Earthquakes               -                -  -  415 

542  Plague — its  origin  and  nature  -  418 

312-694  Extent  and  duration  -  421 


THE 

HISTORY 


OF    THE 


ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


CHAP.   XXXIX. 

Zeno  and  Anastasius,  emperors  of  the  East — 
Sir  thy  education,  and  first  exploits  of  Theodo- 
ric  the  Ostrogoth — His  invasion  and  conquest 
of  Italy — The  Gothic  kingdom  of  Italy —  State 
of  the  West — Military  and  civil  government — 
The  Senator Boethius — Last  acts  and  death  of 
Theodoric. 

AFTER  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire  in  the  CHAP. 
West,  an  interval  of  fifty  years,  till  the  memor-  fS^ 
able  reign  of  Justinian,  is  faintly  marked  by  the  A.  D.  470. 
obscure  names  and  imperfect  annals  of  Zeno, 
Anastasius,  and  Justin,  who  successively  as- 
cended the  throne  of  Constantinople.     During 
the  same  period,  Italy  revived  and  flourished 
tinder  the  government  of  a  Gothic  king,  who 

VOL.  VII  B 


2  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  might  have  deserved  a  statue  among  the  best 

XXXIX 

f ',and  bravest  of  the  ancient  Romans. 

Birth  and      Theodoric  the  Ostrogoth,  the  fourteenth  in 
of  Theo?0  lineal  descent  of  the  royal  line  of  the   Amali,' 
A?  D%55-  was  k°ru  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Vienna,"  two 
476-         years  after  the  death  of  Attila.     A  recent  vic- 
tory had  restored  the  independence  of  the  Os- 
trogoths ;    and  the  three   brothers,    Walamir, 
Theodemir,  and  Widimir,  who  ruled  that  war- 
like nation  with  united  counsels,  had  separate- 
ly pitched  their  habitations  in  the  fertile  though 
desolate  province  of  Pannonia.     The  Huns  still 
threatened  their  revolted  subjects,  but  their  has- 
ty attack  was  repelled  by  the  single  forces  of 
Walamir,  and  the  news  of  his  victory  reached 
the  distant  camp  of  his  brother  in  the  same  au- 
spicious moment  that  the  favourite  concubine 
of  Theodemir  was  delivered  of  a  son  and  heir. 
In  the  eighth  year  of  his  age,  Theodoric  was  re- 
luctantly yielded  by  his  father  to  the  public  in- 
terest, as  the  pledge  of  an  alliance  which  Leo, 
emperor  of  the  East,  had  consented  to  purchase 
by  an  annual  subsidy  of  three  hundred  pounds 
of  gold.     The  royal  hostage  was  educated  at 

*  Jornandes  (de  rubus  Geticis,  c.  13, 14,  p.  629,  630,  edit.  Grot.)  has 
drawn  the  pedigree  of  Theodoric  from  Gapt,  one  of  the  Antes  or  de- 
migods, who  lived  about  the  time  of  Domitian.  Cassiodorius,  the  first 
who  celebrates  the  royal  race  of  the  Amali,  ( Variar.  Tiii,  5 ;  ix,  25  ^  i, 
*  ;  xi,  1),  reckons  the  grandson  of  Theodoric  as  the  xviith  in  descent. 
Peringtciold  (the  Swedish  commentator  of  Cochlceus,  Vit.  Theodoric, 
p.  271,  Ac.  Stockholm,  1699)  labours  to  connect  this  genealogy  with 
the  legends  or  traditions  of  his  native  country. 

b  More  correctly  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  Pelso  (Nieusiedler-see), 
near  Carnnntiim,  almost  on  the  same  spot  where  Marcos  Antonias 
composed  his  meditations,  (Jornandes,  c.  62,  p.  659.  Severin.  Panno- 
•m  IHustrata,  p.  22.  Cellarius,  Geograpb.  Anti.  torn,  i,  p.  360). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

Constantinople  with  care  and  tenderness.  His  CHAP 
body  was  formed  to  all  the  exercises  of  war,  _.,_,,' 
his  mind  was  expanded  by  the  habits  of  liberal 
conversation  ;  he  frequented  the  schools  of  the 
most  skilful  masters  ;  but  he  disdained  or  ne- 
glected the  arts  of  Greece,  and  so  ignorant  did 
he  always  remain  of  the  first  elements  of 
science,  that  a  rude  mark  was  contrived  to  re- 
present the  signature  of  the  illiterate  king  of 
Italy.'  As  soon  as  he  had  attained  the  age  of 
eighteen,  he  was  restored  to  the  wishes  of  the 
Ostrogoths,  whom  the  emperor  aspired  to  gain 
by  liberality  and  confidence.  Walamir  had 
fallen  in  battle ;  the  youngest  of  the  brothers 
Widimir,  had  led  away  into  Italy  and  Gaul  an 
army  of  barbarians,  and  the  whole  nation  ac-  ; 
knowledged  for  their  king  the  father  of  Theo- 
doric.  His  ferocious  subjects  admired  the 
strength  and  stature  of  their  young  prince  ;d 
and  he  soon  convinced  them  that  he  had  not 
degenerated  from  the  valour  of  his  ancestors. — 
At  the  head  of  six  thousand  volunteers,  he  se- 
cretly left  the  camp  in  quest  of  adventures,  de- 
scended the  Danube  as  far  as  Singidunum  01 
Belgrade,  and  soon  returned  to  his  father  with 

c  The  first  four  letters  of  his  name  (ennA)  were  inscribed  on  a  gold 
plate,  and  when  it  was  fixed  on  the  paper,  the  king  drew  his  pen 
through  the  intervals,  (Anonym.  Valesian.  ad  Calcem  Amm.  Marcel- 
lin.  p.  722).  This  authentic  fact,  with  the  testimony  of  Procopins,  or 
at  least  of  the  contemporary  Goths,  (Gothic,  1.  i,  c,  2,  p.  311),  fai 
outweighs  ttie  vague  praises  of  Ennodius,  (Sirmond  Opera,  torn,  i,  p. 
1596),  and  Theophanes,  (Chronograph,  p;  112). 

*  Statura  est  quae  resignetproceritate  regnantem,  (Ennodius,  p.  1614). 
The  bishop  of  Pavia  (I  mean  the  ec  loiastic  who  wished  to  be  a  bi- 
shop) then  proceeds  to  celebrate  the  complexion,  eyes,  hands,  &c.  of 
his  sovereign. 


4  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    the  spoils  of  a  Sarmatian  kins   whom  he  had 

\XXIX  • 

'„„  ___  ',,  vanquished  and  slain.  Such  triumphs,  however, 
were  productive  only  of  fame,  and  the  invin- 
cible Ostrogoths  were  reduced  to  extreme 
distress  by  the  want  of  clothing  and  food.  — 
They  unanimously  resolved  to  desert  their  Pan- 
nonian  encampments,  and  boldly  to  advance 
into  the  warm  and  wealthy  neighbourhood  of 
the  Byzantine  court,  which  already  maintained 
in  pride  and  luxury  so  many  bands  of  confede- 
rate Goths.  After  proving  by  some  acts  of 
hostility  that  they  could  be  dangerous,  or  at 
least  troublesome,  enemies,  the  Ostrogoths  sold 
at  a  high  price  their  reconciliation  and  fidelity, 
accepted  a  donative  of  lands  and  money,  and 
were  intrusted  with  the  defence  of  the  lower 
Danube,  under  the  command  of  Theodoric,  who 
succeeded  after  his  father's  death  to  the  heredi- 
tary throne  of  the  Arnali." 


The  reign       An  hero,  descended  from   a  race  of 

of  Zeno, 

A.D.  474-  must  have  despised  the  base  Isaurian  who  was 
April  9,  invested  with  the  Roman  purple,  without  any 
endowments  of  mind  or  body,  without  any  ad- 
vantages of  royal  birth,  or  superior  qualifica- 
tions. After  the  failure  of  the  Theodosian  line, 
the  choice  of  Pulcheria  and  of  the  senate  might 
be  justified  in  some  measure  by  the  characters 
of  Martian  and  Leo,  but  the  latter  of  these  prin- 
ces confirmed  and  dishonoured  his  reign  by  the 
perfidious  murder  of  Aspar  and  his  sons,  who 
too  rigorously  exacted  the  debt  of  gratitude 
and  obedience.  The  inheritance  of  Leo  and  of 

e  The  state  of  the  Ostrogoths,  and  the  first  years  of  Theodoric,  are 
found  in  Jornande»,  (c.  52-56,  p.  680-696),  and  Malchus,  (Exc<-rpt. 
Ix-gat.  p  TS  80),  who  erroneously  styles  him  the  son  of  Walainir. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

the  East  was  peaceably  devolved  on  his  infant   CHAP 

• 
grandson,  the  son  of  his  daughter  Ariadne ;  and 

her  Isaurian  husband,  the  fortunate  Trascalis- 
seus,  exchanged  that  barbarous  sound  for  the 
Grecian  appellation  of  Zeno.  After  the  decease 
of  the  elder  Leo,  he  approached  with  unnatural 
respect  the  throne  of  his  son,  humbly  received, 
as  a  gift,  the  second  rank  in  the  empire,  and 
soon  excited  the  public  suspicion  on  the  sud- 
den and  premature  death  of  his  young  col- 
league, whose  life  could  no  longer  promote  the 
success  of  his  ambition.  But  the  palace  of 
Constantinople  was  ruled  by  female  influence, 
and  agitated  by  female  passions  :  and  Verina, 
the  widow  of  Leo,  claiming  his  empire  as  her 
own,  pronounced  a  sentence  of  deposition  a- 
gainst  the  worthless  and  ungrateful  servant  on 
whom  she  alone  had  bestowed  the  sceptre  of 
the  East/  As  soon  as  she  sounded  a  revolt  in 
the  ears  of  Zeno,  he  fled  with  precipitation  into 
the  mountains  of  Isauria,  and  her  brother  Ba- 
siliscus,  already  infamous  by  his  African  expe- 
dition^ was  unanimously  proclaimed  by  the  ser- 
vile senate.  But  the  reign  of  the  usurper  was 
short  and  turbulent.  Basiliscus  presumed  to 
assassinate  the  lover  of  his  sister  ;  he  dared  to 
offend  the  lover  of  his  wife,  the  vain  and  inso- 
lent Harmatius,  who,  in  the  midst  of  Asiatic 
luxury,  affected  the  dress,  the  demeanour,  and 
the  surname  of  Achilles.11  By  the  conspiracy 

f  Theophancs  (p.  Ill)  inserts  a  copy  of  her  sacred  letters  to  the  pro- 
vinces  :  tft  tm  (WiXEiov  SifAtrtfev  tf-t  .  .  .  .  Htu  O'TI  V(9\titwraf*t6a,  HzriKtut 
T£a<™*xxi3-aiov,  &c.  snc|j  female  pretensions  would  have  astonished  the 
•laves  of  tlie  first  Caesars. 

15  Vol.  vi,  p.  201-204. 

h  Suitlas,  torn,  i,  p.  332,  333,  edit.  Kuster. 


0  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

xxxix  °^  ^e  malecontents,  Zeno  was  recalled  from  ex- 
,-„..„'«.  ile  ;  the  armies,  the  capital,  the  person  of  Basi- 
liscus,  were  betrayed ;  and  his  whole  family 
was  condemned  to  the  long  agony  of  cold  and 
hunger  by  the  inhuman  conqueror,  who  wanted 
courage  to  encounter  or  to  forgive  his  enemies. 
The  haughty  spirit  of  Verina  was  still  incapa- 
ble of  submission  or  repose.  She  provoked  the 
enmity  of  a  favourite  general,  embraced  his 
cause  as  soon  as  he  was  disgraced,  created  a 
new  emperor  in  Syria  and  Egypt,  raised  an  ar- 
my of  seventy  thousand  men,  and  persisted  to 
the  last  moment  of  her  life  in  a  fruitless  rebel- 
lion, which,  according  to  the  fashion  of  the  age, 
had  been  predicted  by  Christian  hermits 
and  pagan  magicians.  While  the  East  was  af 
flicted  by  the  passions  of  Verina,  her  daughter 
Ariadne  was  distinguished  by  the  female  vir- 
tues of  mildness  and  fidelity;  she  followed  her 
husband  in  his  exile,  and  after  his  restoration 
she  implored  his  clemency  in  favour  of  her  mo- 
or  Anas-  ther.  On  the  decease  of  Zeno,  Ariadne,  the 
AaSDUS49i-  Daughter,  the  mother,  and  the  widow  of  an  em- 
sis.  peror,  gave  her  hand  and  the  imperial  title  to 

April  11,     •:  &.  * 

j«ty  s.  Anastasius,  an  aged  domestic  or  the  palace,  who 
survived  his  elevation  above  twenty-seven  years, 
and  whose  character  is  attested  by  the  acclama- 
tion of  the  people,  "  Reign  as  you  have  lived  I"1 

1  The  contemporary  histories  of  Malchus  and  Candidas  are  lost ;  but 
some  extracts  or  fragments  have  been  saved  by  Photins  (Ixxviii,  Ixxix, 
p.  100-102) ;  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus,  (Excerpt.  Leg.  p.  78-97), 
and  in  various  articles  of  the  Lexicon  of  Suidas.  The  chronicle  of 
M-"-cellinus  (Imago  Historise)  are  originals  for  the  reigns  of  Zeno  and 
Anastasius;  and  I  must  acknowledge,  almost  for  the  last  time,  my 
obligations  to  the  large  and  accurate  collections  of  Tiilemont,  (Hist. 
dis  Enip.  toni.  vi,  p.  472-652;. 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPJil£.  7 

Whatever  fear  or  affection  could  bestow,  was   CHAP. 

XXXIX 

profusely  lavished  by  Zeno  on  the  king  of  the, ^^ 

Ostrogoths ;  the  rank  of  patrician  and  consul,  service 
the  command  of  the  Palatine  troops,  an 
trian  statue,  a  treasure  in  gold  and  silver 
many  thousand  pounds,  the  name  of  son,  and488- 
the  promise  of  a  rich  and  honourable  wife.  As 
long  as  Theodoric  condescended  to  serve,  he 
supported  with  courage  and  fidelity  the  cause 
of  >his  benefactor  :  his  rapid  march  contributed 
to  the  restoration  of  Zeno ;  and  in  the  second 
revolt,  the  Walamirs,  as  they  were  called,  pur- 
sued and  pressed  the  Asiatic  rebels,  till  they 
left  an  easy  victory  to  the  imperial  troopsk. — 
But  the  faithful  servant  was  suddenly  convert- 
ed into  a  formidable  enemy,  who  spread  the 
flames  of  war  from  Constantinople  to  the  Adria- 
tic ;  many  flourishing  cities  were  reduced  to 
ashes,  and  the  agriculture  of  Thrace  was  al- 
most extirpated  by  the  wanton  cruelty  of  the 
Goths,  who  deprived  their  captive  peasants  of 
the  right  hand  that  guided  the  plough.1  On 
such  occasions,  Theodoric  sustained  the  loud 
and  specious  reproach  of  disloyalty,  of  ingrati- 
tude, and  of  insatiate  avarice,  which  could  be 
only  excused  by  the  hard  necessity  of  his  situa- 

k  In  ipsis  congressionis  tuae  foribus  cessit  invasor,  cmaprofug*  per  te 
sccptra  redderentur  de  salutae  dubitanti.  Errnodius  then  proceeds  (p. 
1596,  1597,  torn,  i,  Sirmond  )  to  transport  his  hero  (on  a  flying  dragon  !) 
into  .SSthopia,  beyond  Jthe  tropic  of  Cancer.  The  evidence  of  the  Va« 
lesian  Fragment,  (p.  717),  Liberatus,  (Brev.  lintych.  c.  25,  p.  118), 
and  The ophanes,  vp-  112),  is  more  sober  and  rational. 

1  This  cruel  practice  is  specially  imputed  to  the  Triarian  Goths,  less 
barbarous,  as  it  should  seem,  than  the  H'alamirs  :  but  the  son  of  Theo- 
d.-mir  it  charged  with  the  ruin  of  many  Roman  cities,  (Malchus  Ex- 
cerpt, Leg.  p  25). 


8  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.    tion.     He  reigned,  not  as  the  monarch,  but  as 
xxxix.  t^e  mmister  of  a  ferocious  people,  whose  spirit 
"  was  unbroken  by  slavery,  and  impatient  of  real 
or  imaginary  insults.     Their  poverty  was  incu- 
rable ;  since  the  most  liberal  donatives   were 
soon   dissipated  in  wasteful   luxury,  arid  the 
most   fertile   estates  became    barren    in    their 
hands ;  they  despised,  but  they  envied,  the  la- 
borious  provincials  ;  and   when   their  subsis- 
tence had  failed,  the  Ostrogoths  embraced  the 
familiar  resources  of  war  and  rapine.     It  had 
been  the  wish  of  Theodoric  (such  at  least  was 
his  declaration)  to  lead  a  peaceable,   obscure, 
obedient  life,  on  the  confines  of  Scythia,  till  the 
Byzantine  court,    by  splendid  and  fallacious 
promises,  seduced  him  to  attack  a  confederate 
tribe  of  Goths,  who  had  been  engaged  in  the 
party  of  Basiliscus.     He  marched  from  his  sta- 
tion at  Maesia,  on  the  solemn  assurance  that  be- 
fore he  reached  Adrianople,   he  should  meet  a 
plentiful  convoy  of  provisions,  and  a  reinforce- 
ment of  eight  thousand  horse  and  thirty  thou- 
sand foot,  while  the  legions  of  Asia  were  en- 
camped at  Heraclea  to  second  his  operations. 
These  measures  were  disappointed  by  mutual 
jealousy.     As  he  advanced  into  Thrace,  the  son 
of  Theodemir  found  an  inhospitable  solitude, 
and  his  Gothic  followers,  with  an  heavy  train 
of  horses,  of  mules,  and  of  waggons,  were  be- 
trayed by  their  guides  among  the  rocks  and 
precipices  of  Mount  Sondis,  where  he  was  as- 
saulted by  the  arms  and  invectives  of  Theodo- 
ric, the  son  of  Triarius.     From  a  neighbouring 
height,  his  artful  rival  harangued  the  camp  of 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  « 

the  Walamirs,  and  branded  their  leader  with  the  CHAJ>. 

Y  V  V  i  \" 

opprobrious  names  of  child,  of  madman,  of  per-  * t 

jured  traitor,  the  enemy  of  his  blood  and  na- 
tion.    "  Are  you  ignorant,"  exclaimed  the  son 
of  Triarius,   "  that  it  is  the  constant  policy  of 
"  the  Romans  to  destroy  the  Goths  by  each 
"  other's  swords  ?  Are  you  insensible  that  the 
"  victor  in   this   unnatural   contest  will  be  ex- 
"  posed,  and  justly  exposed,  to  their  implaca- 
"  ble  revenge  ?  Where  are  those  warriors,  my 
"  kinsmen  and   thy  own,   whose  widows  now 
"  lament  that  their  lives  were  sacrificed  to  thy 
"  rash  ambition  ?  Where  is  the  wealth  which 
"  thy  soldiers  possessed  when  they  were  first 
"  allured  from  their  native  homes  to  enlist  un- 
"  der  thy  standard?  Each  of  them  was  then 
"  master  of  three  or  four  horses;  they  now  fol- 
"  low  thee  on  foot  like  slaves,  through  the  de- 
"  serts  of  Thrace  ;  those  men  who  were  tempt- 
"  ed  by  the  hope  of  measuring  gold  with  a 
"  bushel,  those  brave  men  who  are  as  free  and 
"  as  noble  as    thyself."     A  language  so  well 
suited  to  the  temper  of  the  Goths,  excited  cla- 
mour and  discontent ;  and  the  son  of  Theode- 
mir,  apprehensive  of  being  left  alone,  was  com- 
pelled to  embrace  his  brethren,  and  to  imitate 
the  example  of  Roman  perfidy."1 

*"  Joinandes  (c.  56,  57,  p.  COG)  displays  the  services  of  Thcodorlc, 
confesses  his  rewards,  but  dissembles  his  revolt,  of  which  such  curious 
details  have  been  preserved  by  IMalehus,  (Excerpt.  Legat.  p.  78  97). 
Marcellinus,  a  domestic  of  Justinian,  undir  whose  ivth  consulship  (A. 
D.  534)  he  composed  his  chronicle,  (Scaliger,  Thesaurus  Temporum, 
P.  ii,  p.  34-57),  betrays  his  prejudice  and  passion;  in  Grzeciaua  de- 
bacchantem  .  .  .  Zciionis  munificentia  pene  pacatus  ....  beneficiis 
ounquam  satiatus,  <xc. 


10  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

xxxix       'n  every  state  of  his  fortune,  the  prudence  and 


firmness  of  Theodoric  were  equally  conspicu- 
OUS  '  whether  he  threatened  Constantinople  at 
conquest    the  head  of  the  confederate  Goths,  or  retreated 

of  Italy,     • 

A.  D.  489.  with  a  faithful  band  to  the  mountains  and  sea- 
coast  ofEpirus.  At  length  the  accidental  death 
of  the  son  of  Triarusn  destroyed  the  balance 
which  the  Romans  had  been  so  anxious  to  pre- 
serve ;  the  whole  nation  acknowledged  the  su- 
premacy of  the  Amali,  and  the  By  zautine  court 
subscribed  an  ignominious  and  oppressive  trea- 
ty.0 The  senate  had  already  declared,  that  it 
was  necessary  to  choose  a  party  among  the 
Goths,  since  the  public  was  unequal  to  the  sup- 
port of  their  united  forces  ;  a  subsidy  of  two 
thousand  pounds  of  gold,  with  the  ample  pay 
of  thirteen  thousand  men,  were  required  for  the 
least  considerable  of  their  armies  ;p  and  the 
Isaurians,  who  guarded  not  the  empire,  but  the 
emperor,  enjoyed,  besides  the  privilege  of  ra- 
pine, an  annual  pension  of  five  thousand  pounds. 
The  sagacious  mind  of  Theodoric  soon  perceiv- 
ed that  he  was  odious  to  the  Romans,  and  sus- 
pected by  the  barbarians  ;  he  understood  the 
popular  murmur,  that  his  subjects  were  expo- 
sed in  their  frozen  huts  to  intolerable  hardships, 
while  their  king  was  dissolved  in  the  luxury  ot 
Greece  ;  and  he  prevented  the  painful  alterna- 
tive of  encountering  the  Goths,  as  the  champion, 

0  As  he  was  riding  in  his  own  camp,  an  unruly  horse  threw  him 
against  the  point  of  a  spear  which  was  hung  before  a  tent,  or  was  fix- 
ed on  a  waggon,  (Marcellin.  in  Chi  on.  Evagrius,  1.  iii,  c.  25). 

0  See  Malchus,  D.  01),  and  Evagrius,  (1.  iii,  c.  35). 

p  Malchus,  p.  85.  In  a  single  action,  which  was  decided  by  the  skill 
and  discipline  of  Sabinian,  Theodoric  could  lose  5000  men. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  j  j 

or  of  leading  them  to  the  field  as  the  enemy,  of  CHAP. 

Zeno.     Embracing  an  enterprise  worthy  of  his  r,'^f ,', 

courage  and  ambition,  Theodoric  addressed  the 
emperor  in  the  following  words  : — "  Although 
"  your  servant  is  maintained  in  affluence  by 
"  your  liberality,  graciously  listen  to  the  wishes 
"  of  my  heart !  Italy,  the  inheritance  of  your 
"  predecessors,  and  Rome  itself,  the  head  and 
"  mistress  of  the  world,  now  fluctuate  under 
"  the  violence  and  oppression  of  Odoacer  the 
"  mercenary.  Direct  me,  with  my  national 
"  troops,  to  inarch  against  the  tyrant.  If  I  fall, 
"  you  will  be  relieved  from  an  expensive  and 
"  troublesome  friend:  if,  with  the  divine  per- 
"  mission,  I  succeed,  I  shall  govern  in  your 
"  name,  and  to  your  glory,  the  Roman  senate, 
"  and  the  part  of  the  republic  delivered  from 
"  slavery  by  iny  victorious  arms."  The  propo- 
sal of  Theodoric  was  accepted,  and  perhaps 
had  been  suggested,  by  the  Byzantine  court. 
But  the  forms  of  the  commission  or  grant,  ap- 
pear to  have  been  expressed  with  a  prudent  am- 
biguity, which  might  be  explained  by  the  event; 
and  it  was  left  doubtful,  whether  the  conqueror 
of  Italy  should  reign  as  the  lieutenant,  the  vas- 
sal, or  the  ally  of  the  emperor  of  the  East.q 

The  reputation  both  of  the  leader  and  of  the  His  march 
war  diffused  an  universal  ardour ;  the  Walamirs 
were  multiplied  by  the  Gothic  swarms  already 
engaged  in  the  service,  or  seated  in  the  provin- 
ces of  the  empire ;  and  each  bold  barbarian, 

*•  Jovnandes  (c.  57,  p.  696,  697)  has  abridged  tlie  great  history  of 
Cassiodonus.  See,  compare,  and  reconcile,  Piocopius,  (Gothic.  1.  i, 
e.  1),  the  Valesiau  Fragment,  p.  718),  Thccphants,  (p.  113),  and  Mar- 
eelliniia,  (in  Clirou.) 


|2  THE  DF.C1.1NE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    who  had  heard  of  the   wealth  and  beauty  of 
^  Italy,  was  impatient  to  seek,  through  the  most 
perilous  adventures,  the  possession  of  such  en- 
chanting objects.      The  march  of  Theodoric 
must  be  considered  as  the  emigration  of  an  en- 
tire people;  the  wives  and  children  of  the  Goths, 
their  aged  parents,  and  most  precious  effects, 
were  carefully  transported  ;  and  some  idea  may 
be'formed  of  the  heavy  baggage  that  now  fol- 
lowed the  camp,  by  the  loss  of  two  thousand 
waggons,  which  had  been  sustained  in  a  single 
action  in  the  war  of  Epirus.     For  their  subsis- 
tence, the  Goths  depended  on  the  magazines  of 
corn  which  was  ground  in  portable  mills  by.  the 
hands  of  their  women ;  on  the  milk  and  flesh  of 
their  flocks  and  herds  ;  on  the  casual  produce 
of  the  chase,  and  upon  the  contributions  which 
they  might  impose  on  all  who  should  presume 
to  dispute  the  passage,  or  to  refuse  their  friend- 
ly assistance.     Notwithstanding  these  precau- 
tions, they  were  exposed  to  the  danger,  and  al- 
most to  the  distress,  of  famine,  in  a  march  of 
seven  hundred  miles,  which  had  been  underta- 
ken in  the  depth  of  a  rigorous  winter.     Since 
the  fall  of  the  Roman  power,  Dacia  and  Panno- 
nia  no  longer  exhibited  the  rich  prospect  of  po- 
pulous cities,  well  cultivated  fields,  and  conve- 
nient highways  :  the  reign  of  barbarism  and  de- 
solation was  restored,  and  the  tribes  of  Bulga- 
rians, Gepidae,  and  Sarmatians,  who  had  occu- 
pied the  vacant  province,   were  prompted   by 
their  native  fierceness,   or   the  solicitations  of 
Odoacer,  to  resist  the  progress  of  his  enemy. — 
In  many  obscure  though  bloody  battles,  Theo- 
doric fougnt  and  vanquished  ;  till  at  length,  sur- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  13 

sf  every  obstacle  by  skilful  conduct  and  CHAP. 

'  "V  X  Y  1  Y 

persevering  courage,   he  descended  from    the  ^ 
Julian  Alps,  and  displayed  his  invincible  ban- 
ners on  the  confines  of  Italy/ 


Odoacer,  a  rival  not  unworthy  of  his  arms,  The 
had  already  occupied  the  advantageous  and 
well-known  post  of  the  river  Sontius  near  the 
ruins  of  Aquileia,  at  the  head  of  a  powerful 
host,  whose  independent  kings'  or  leaders  dis- 
dained  the  duties  of  subordination  and  the  pru- 
dence of  delays.  No  sooner  had  Theodoric 
granted  a  short  repose  and  refreshment  to  his 
wearied  cavalry,  than  he  boldly  attacked  the 
fortifications  of  the  enemy  ;  the  Ostrogoths 
shewed  more  ardour  to  acquire,  than  the  mer- 
enaries  to  defend,  the  lands  of  Italy  ;  and  the 
reward  of  the  first  victory  was  the  possession  of 
the  Venetian  province  as  far  as  the  walls  of 
Verona.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  that  city,  on 
the  steep  banks  of  the  rapid  Adige,  he  was  op- 
posed by  a  new  army,  reinforced  in  its  num- 
bers, and  not  impaired  in  its  courage  :  the  con- 
test was  more  obstinate,  but  the  event  was  still 
more  decisive  ;  Odoacer  fled  to  Ravenna,  Theo- 
doric advanced  to  Milan,  and  the  vanquished 
troops  saluted  their  conqueror  with  loud  ac- 
clamations of  respect  and  fidelity.  But  their 
want  either  of  constancy  or  of  faith,  soon  expo- 


*  Tlieodoric'i  march   is  supplied  and  illustrated  by  Ennodius,  (p. 
1598-1602),  when  the  bombast  of  the  oration  is  translated  into  the  lan- 
guage of  common  sense. 

*  Tot  reges,  &c.  (Ennodius,  p.  1602).     We  must  recollect  how  much 
the  royal  title  was  multiplied  and  degraded,  and  that  the  mercenarie» 
of  Italy  were  the  fragments  of  many  tribes  aud  nations. 


14  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 


xxxix  sec^  mm  to  *he  most  imminent  danger  ;  his  van- 
........  /.guard,  with  several  Gothic  counts,  which  had 

been  rashly  intrusted  to  a  deserter,  was  betray- 
ed and  destroyed  near  Faenza  by  his  double 
treachery  ;  Odoacer  again  appeared  master  of 
the  field,  and  the  invader,  strongly  intrenched 
in  his  camp  of  Pavia,  was  reduced  to  solicit 
the  aid  of  a  kindred  nation,  the  Visigoths  of 
Gaul.  In  the  course  of  this  history,  the  most 
voracious  appetite  for  war  will  be  abundantly 
satiated  ;  nor  can  I  much  lament  that  our  dark 
and  imperfect  materials  do  not  afford  a  more 
ample  narrative  of  the  distress  of  Italy,  and  of 
the  fierce  conflict,  which  was  finally  decided 
by  the  abilities,  experience,  and  valour  of  the 
Gothic  king.  Immediately  before  the  battle  of 
Verona,  he  visited  the  tent  of  his  mother1  and 
sister,  and  requested,  that  on  a  day,  the  most 
illustrious  festival  of  his  life,  they  would  adorn 
him  with  the  rich  garments  which  they  had 
worked  with  their  own  hands.  "  Our  glory," 
said  he,  "  is  mutual  and  inseparable.  You  are 
"  known  to  the  world  as  the  mother  of  Theo- 
"  doric  ;  and  it  becomes  me  to  prove  that  I  am 
"  the  genuine  offspring  of  those  heroes  from 
"  whom  I  claim  my  descent."  The  wife  or 
concubine  of  Theodemir  was  inspired  with  the 
spirit  of  the  German  matrons,  who  esteemed 
their  son's  honour  far  above  their  safety  ;  and 
it  is  reported,  that  in  a  desperate  action,  when 

*  See  Ennodins,  p.  1603,  1604.  Since  the  orator,  in  the  king's  pre- 
>«ncr,  could  mention  and  praise  his  mother,  we  may  conclude  that  the 
magnanimity  of  Theodoric  was  not  hurt  by  the  vulgar  reproaches  of 
cot  cubine  and  bastard. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  15 

Theodoric  himself  was  hurried  alone:  by  the  tor-   CHAP. 

XXXIX 

rent  of  a  flying  crowd,  she  boldly  met  them  at ^ 


the  entrance  of  the  cainp,  and,  by  her  generous 
reproaches,  drove  them  back  on  the  swords  of 
the  enemy." 

From  the  Alps  to  the  extremity  of  Calabria,  HU  capi- 
Tlieodoric  reigned  by  the  right  of  conquest :  the  and  death, 
Vandal  ambassadors  surrendered  the  island  of  March  s*' 
Sicily,  as  a  lawful  appendage  of  his  kingdom ; 
and  he  was  accepted  as  the  deliverer  of  Rome 
by  the  senate  and  people,  who  had  shut  their 
gates  against  the  flying  usurper/  Ravenna 
alone,  secure  in  the  fortifications  of  art  and  na- 
ture, still  sustained  a  siege  of  almost  three  years ; 
and  the  daring  sallies  of  Odoacer  carried  slaugh- 
ter and  dismay  into  the  Gothic  camp.  At 
length,  destitute  of  provisions,  and  hopeless  of 
relief,  that  unfortunate  monarch  yielded  to  the 
groans  of  his  subjects  and  the  clamours  of  his 
soldiers.  A  treaty  of  peace  was  negotiated  by 
the  bishop  of  Ravenna ;  the  Ostrogoths  were 
admitted  into  the  city,  and  the  hostile  kings 
consented,  under  the  sanction  of  an  oath,  to 
rule  with  equal  and  undivided  authority  the 
provinces  of  Italy.  The  event  of  such  an  agree- 
ment may  be  easily  foreseen.  After  some  days 
had  been  devoted  to  the  semblance  of  joy  and 

u  This  anecdote  is  related  on  the  modern  but  respectable  authority 
of  Sigonins,  (op.  torn,  i,  p.  580  ;  De  Occident.  Imp.  1.  xv)  ;  his  word* 
are  curious — "  Would  you  return  :"  /fee.  She  presented,  and  almost 
displayed,  the  original  recess. 

*  Hist.  Misccll.  1.  xv,  a  Roman  history  from  Janus  to  the  ixth  cen- 
tury, an  Epitome  of  Eutropius,  Panlus  Diaconus,  and  Theophane* 
which  Muratori  has  published  from  a  MS.  in  the  Ambrosian  Ubrarv.— 
(Script.  Rerum  Italicarum  torn,  i,  p.  100)  - 


JO  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    friendship,  Odoacer,  in  the  midst  of  a  solemn 

\XXIX 

^  .....  "^  banquet,  was  stabbed  by  the  hand,  or  at  least 

by  the  command,  of  his  rival.     Secret  and  ef- 

fectual orders  had  been  previously  despatched  ; 

the  faithless  and  rapacious  mercenaries,  at  the 

same   moment,  and   without  resistance,   were 

universally    massacred  ;     and  the   royalty    of 

Theodoric  was  proclaimed  by  the  Goths,  with 

the  tardy,  reluctant,  ambiguous  consent  of  the 

emperor  of  the  East.     The  design  of  a  conspi- 

racy was  imputed,  according  to  the  usual  forms, 

to  the  prostrate  tyrant  ;  but  his  innocence,  and 

the  guilt  of  his  conqueror/  ar<*  sufficiently  prov- 

ed  by  the   advantageous   treaty    which  force 

would  not  sincerely  have  granted,  nor  weakness 

have  rashly  infringed.     The  jealousy  of  power, 

and  the  mischiefs   of  discord,  may  suggest   a 

more  decent  apology,  and  a  sentence  less  rigo- 

rous may  be  pronounced  against  a  crime  which 

was  necessary  to  introduce  into  Italy  a  genera- 

Theodofic  ^on  °^  Pu^^c  felicity.     The  living  author  of 

king  of     this  felicity  was  audaciously  praised  in  his  own 

Italy,  £ 

A.D.493,  presence  by  sacred  and  profane  orators;    but 


history  (in  his  time  she  was  mute  and  inglorious) 
Aug.  j»o.    has  not  ieft  any  just  representation  of  the  events 
which  displayed,  or  of  the  defects  which  cloud- 

1  Procopins  (Gothic.  1.  i,  c.  i,)  approves  liiraaelf  an  impartial  scep- 
tic; jaa-i  .  .  .  JoXifw  TJOWW  MTiivE.  Cassiodorius,  (in  Chron.)  and  En- 
nodius,  (p.  1604),  are  loyal  and  credulous  ;  and  the  testimony  of  the 
Valcsian  Fragment  (p.  718)  may  justify  their  belief.  Marcellin»sspit» 
the  venom  of  a  Greek  subject  —  perjuriis  illcctus,  interfectusque  est, 
(in  Chron.) 

z  The  sonorous  and  servile  oration  of  Enuodius  was  pronounced  at 
Milan  or  Ravenna  in  the  yeais  507  or  508,  (Sirmond,  torn.  1,  p.  1615). 
Two  or  three  years  afterwards,  the  orator  was  rewarded  with  the 
bishopric  of  Pavia,  which  he  held  till  his  death  in  the  year  521.  (Dn- 
pin  Bibliot.  Eccles.  torn,  v,  p.  11-14.  See  Saxii  Onomasticon,  ton. 
ii,  p.  12). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  J7 

the  virtues  of  Theodoric.*  One  record  of  his  CHAP. 
fame,  the  volume  of  public  epistles  composed  by  f..^.*l.'.f 
Cassiodorius  in  the  royal  name  is  still  extant, 
and  has  obtained  more  implicit  credit  than  it 
seems  to  deserve.b  They  exhibit  the  forms,  ra- 
ther than  the  substance,  of  his  government ;  and 
\ve  should  vainly  search  for  the  pure  and  spon- 
taneous sentiments  of  the  barbarian  amidst  the 
declamation  and  learning  of  a  sophist,  the  wishes 
of  a  Roman  senator,  the  precedents  of  office, 
and  the  vague  professions,  which,  in  every 
court,  and  on  every  occasion,  compose  the  lan- 
guage of  discreet  ministers.  The  reputation  of 
Theodoric  may  repose  with  more  confidence  on 
the  visible  peace  and  prosperity  of  a  reign  of 
thirty-three  years;  the  unanimous  esteem  of  his 
own  times,  and  the  memory  of  his  wisdom  and 
courage,  his  justice  and  humanity,  which  was 
deeply  impressed  on  the  minds  of  the  Goths 
and  Italians. 

The  partition  of  the  lands  of  Italy,  of  which  Partition 
Theodoric  assigned  the  third  part  to  his  soldiers,  ° 
is  honourably  arraigned  as  the  sole  injustice  of 
his  life.     And  even  this  act  may  be  fairly  justi- 

*  Our  best  materials  are  occasional  hints  from  Procopius  and  the 
Yalesian  Fragment,  which  was  discovered  by  Sirmond,  and  is  pub- 
lished at  the  end  of  Ammianus  Marcellinus.  The  author's  name  is  un- 
known, and  his  style  is  barbarous  ;  but  in  hit  various  facts  he  exhibits 
the  knowledge,  without  the  passions  of  a  contemporary.  The  presi- 
dent Montesquieu  had  formed  the  plan  of  an  history  of  Tbeodoric, 
which  at  a  distance  might  appear  a  rich  and  interesting  subject. 

b  The  best  edition  of  the  Variorum  Libri  xii,  is  that  of  Job.  Garretuis, 
;Rotomagi,  1679,  in  Opp.  Cassiodor.  2  vol.  in  fol..) ;  but  they  deserved 
and  required  such  an  editor  as  the  Marqnis  Scipio  Maffei,  who  thought 
o/ publishing  them  at  Verona.  The  Barbara  Eltganza  (as  it  is  inge- 
aioitsly  named  by  Tiraboachi)  is  never  simple,  and  seldom  perspicuous, 

VOL.  VII.  C 


18  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  fied  by  the  example  of  Odoacer,  the  rights  of 
AX'  conquest,  the  true  interest  of  the  Italians,  and 
the  sacred  duty  of  subsisting  a  whole  people, 
who,  on  the  faith  of  his  promises,  had  transport- 
ed themselves  into  a  distant  land.'  Under  the 
reign  of  Theodoric,  and  in  the  happy  climate  of 
Italy,  the  Goths  soon  multiplied  to  a  formidable 
host  of  two  hundred  thousand  men,d  and  the 
whole  amount  of  their  families  may  be  comput- 
ed by  the  ordinary  addition  of  women  and  chil- 
dren. Their  invasion  of  property,  a  part  of 
which  must  have  been  already  vacant,  was  dis- 
guised by  the  generous  but  improper  name  of 
hospitality ;  these  unwelcome  guests  were  irre- 
gularly dispersed  over  the  face  of  Italy,  and  the 
lot  of  each  barbarian  was  adequate  to  his  birth 
and  office,  the  number  of  his  followers,  and  the 
rustic  wealth  which  he  possessed  in  slaves  and 
cattle.  The  distinctions  of  noble  and  plebeian 
were  acknowledged  ;e  but  the  lands  of  every 
freeman  were  exempt  from  taxes,  and  he  enjoy- 
ed the  inestimable  privilege  of  being  subject  on- 
ly to  the  laws  of  his  country'.  Fashion,  and 
even  convenience,  soon  persuaded  the  conque- 
rors to  assume  the  more  elegant  dress  of  the 
natives,  but  they  still  persisted  in  the  use  of 

c  Procopius,  Goth.  1.  i,  c.  i ;  Variarnm  ii.  Maffei  (Verona  Illustrat. 
p.  i,  p.  228)  exaggerates  the  injustice  of  the  Goths,  whom  he  hated  as 
an  Italian  noble.  The  plebeian  Moratori  crouches  under  their  op- 
pression. 

d  Procopius,  Goth.  1.  iii,  c.  4,  21.  Ennoclius  describes  (p.  1612,1613,) 
the  military  arts  and  increasing  numbers  of  the  Goths. 

e  When  Theodoric  gave  his  sister  to  the  king  of  the  Vandals,  she 
•ailed  for  Africa  with  a  guard  of  1000  noble  Goths,  each  of  whom  wa. 
attended  by  five  armed  followers,  (Procop.  Vandal.  I.  i,  c.  8).  Th« 
Gothic  nobility  must  have  been  as  numerous  as  brave. 

fSee  the  acknowledgment  of  Gothic  liberty,  Var.  v!  39. 


Ok   THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  JQ 

their  mother-tongue  ;  and  their  contempt  for  the   CHAP. 
Latin    schools  was    applauded   by  Theodoric  ^ 
himself,   who  gratified  their  prejudices,  or  his 
own,  by  declaring,  that  the  child  who  had  trem- 
bled at  a  rod,  would  never  dare  to  look  upon  a 
sword.2  Distress  would  sometimes  provoke  the 
indigent  Roman  to  assume  the  ferocious  man- 
ners which  were  insensibly  relinquished  by  the 
rich   and  luxurious  barbarian,:11  but  these  mu- 
tual conversions  were  not  encouraged  by  the  po- 
licy of  a  monarch  who  perpetuated  the  separa-  Separation 
tion  of  the  Italians  and  Goths;  reserving  the  Goths  and 
former  for  the  arts  of  peace,  and  the  latter  for Itahans- 
the  service  of  war.     To  accomplish  this  design, 
he  studied  to  protect  his  industrious  subjects, 
and  to  moderate  the  violence  without  enervat- 
ing the  valour  of  his  soldiers,   who  were  main- 
tained for  the  public  defence.     They  held  their 
lands  and  benefices  as  a  military  stipend  at  the 
sound  of  the  trumpet,  they   were  prepared  to 
march  under  the  conduct  of  their  provincial  of- 
ficers ;  and   the  whole  extent  of  Italy  was  dis- 
tributed into  the  several  quarters  of  a  well-re- 
gulated camp.     The  service  of  the  palace  and 
of  the  frontiers  was  performed  by  choice  or  by 
rotation ;  and   each  extraordinary  fatigue  was 
recompensed  by  an  increase  of  pay  and  occa- 
sional donatives.     Theodoric  had  convinced  his 
brave  companions,  that  empire  must  be  acquir- 

E  Procopius,  Goth.  1.  i,  c.  2.  The  Roman  boys  learnt  the  language 
(Var.  viii,  21)  of  the  Goths.  Their  general  ignorance  is  not  destroyed 
by  the  exceptions  of  Amalasuntha,  a  female,  who  might  study  without 
shame,  or  of  Theodatns,  whose  learning  provoked  the  indignation  and 
contempt  of  his  countrymen. 

h  A  faying  of  Theodoric  was  founded  on  experience. — "  Romanus 
"  miser  imitatur  Gotlnim  ;  et  utilis  (dirts)  Gothus  imitntHr  Romanum.** 
fSec  the  Fragment  and  Notes  ofYalesius  p,  719) 


20  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

xxxix   ec^  an(^  defended  b     tlje  same  arts.     After  his 


example,  they  strove  to  excel  in  the  use,  not 
only  of  the  lance  and  sword,  the  instruments  of 
their  victories,  but  of  the  missile  weapons,  which 
they  were  too  much  inclined  to  neglect ;  and 
the  lively  image  of  war  was  displayed  in  the 
daily  exercise  and  annual  reviews  of  the  Gothic 
cavalry.  A  firm  though  gentle  disciple  impos- 
ed the  habits  of  modesty,  obedience  and  tem- 
perance; and  the  Goths  were  instructed  to  spare 
the  people,  to  reverence  the  laws,  to  understand 
the  duties  of  civil  society,  and  to  disclaim  the 
barbarous  license  of  judicial  combat  and  pri- 
vate revenge.1 
Foreign  Amons:  the  barbarians  of  the  West,  the  vie- 

policy  or 

Theodoric  tory  of  Thcodoric  had  spread  a  general  alarm. 
But  as  soon  as  it  appeared  that  he  was  satis- 
fied with  conquest,  and  desirous  of  peace,  ter- 
ror was  changed  into  respect,  and  they  submit- 
ted to  a  powerful  mediation,  which  was  uniform- 
ly employed  for  the  best  purposes  of  reconcil- 
ing their  quarrels  and  civilizing  their  manners.* 
The  ambassadors  who  resorted  to  Ravenna  from 
the  most  distant  countries  of  Europe,  admired 
his  wisdom,  magnificence,1  and  courtesy  ;  and 

1  The  view  of  the  military  establishment  of  the  Goths  in  Italy,  is  col- 
lected from  the  Epistles  of  Cassiodorins,  (Var.  i,  24,  40;  Hi,  3,  24,  48  ; 
iv,  13,  14  ;  v.  2G,  27  ;  viii,  3,  4,  25).  They  are  illustrated  by  the  learn- 
ed Mascou,  (Hist,  of  the  Germans,  1.  xi,  40-44  ;  Annotation  xiv). 

*  See  the  clearness  and  vigour  of  his  negotiations  in  Ennodius,  (p. 
1607),  and  Cassiodorins,  (Var.  iii,  1,  2,  3,  4}  iv.  13  ;  v.  43,  44),  who 
gives  the  different  styles  of  friendship,  connsel,  expostulation,  &c. 

1  Even  of  his  table  (Var.  vi,  9)  and  palace  (vii,  5).  The  admiration 
of  strangers  is  represented  as  the  most  rational  motive  to  justify  thfie 
vain  expenses,  and  to  stimulate  the  diligence  of  the  officers  to  whom 
those  provinces  were  entrusted. 


OF  THE  KOMAN  EMPIRE.  21 

f   he   sometimes    either    accepted   slaves    or  CHAP. 

'Y  "Y  "V  TTC 

arms,  white  horses,  or  strange  animals,  the  gift  _,„,„ 
of  a  sun-dial,  a  water-clock,  or  a  musician,  ad- 
monished even  the  princes  of  Gaul,  of  the  su- 
perior art  and  industry  of  his  Italian  subjects. 
His  domestic  alliances,"1  a  wife,  two  daughters, 
a  sister,  and  a  niece,  united  the  family  of  Theo- 
doric  with  the  kings  of  the  Franks,  the  Bur- 
gundians,  the  Visigoths,  the  Vandals,  and  the 
Thuringians  ;  and  contributed  to  maintain  the 
harmony,  or  at  least  the  balance,  of  the  great 
republic  of  the  West."  It  is  difficult,  in  the 
dark  forests  of  Germany  and  Poland,  to  pur- 
sue the  emigrations  of  theHeruli,  a  fierce  people, 
who  disdained  the  use  of  armour,  and  who  con- 
demned their  widows  and  aged  not  to  survive 
the  loss  of  their  husbands,  or  the  decay  of  their 
strength.0  The  king  of  these  savage  warriors 
solicited  the  friendship  of  Theodoric,  and  was 
elevated  to  the  rank  of  his  son,  according  to  the 
barbaric  rites  of  a  military  adoption.1*  From 

m  See  the  public  and  private  alliances  of  the  Gothic  monarch,  with 
the  Burgundiana,  (Var.  i,  45,  46),  with  the  Franks,  (ii,  40),  with  the 
Thnringians,  (iv,  1),  and  with  the  Vandals,  (r,  1).  Each  of  these  epis- 
tles affords  some  curious  knowledge  of  the  policy  and  manners  of  the 
barbarians. 

n  His  political  system  may  be  observed  iu  Cassiodorius,  Var.  iv,  1*; 
ix,  1),  Jornandcs,  (c.  58,  p.  698,  699),  and  the  Valesian  Fragment,  (p. 
720, 721).  Peace/honourable  peace,  was  the  constant  aim  of  Theodoric. 

0  The  curious  reader  may  contemplate  the  Heruli  of  Procopius, 
(Goth.  1.  ii,  c.  14),  and  the  patient  reader  may  plunge  into  the  dark 
and  minute  researches  of  M.  de  Buat,  (Hist,  dcs  Peuples  Anciens, 
torn,  ix,  p.  348-396). 

f  Variarum,  iv,  2.  The  spirit  and  forms  of  this  martial  institutiou 
»re  noticed  by  Cassiodorius ;  but  he  seems  to  have  only  translated  the 
MrBtiments  of  the  Gothic  king  into  the  language  of  Roman  dnqiu>ncc. 


22  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  the  JEstians,  or  Livo- 
l*'  nians,  laid  their  offerings  of  native  amberq  at 
the  feet  of  a  prince,  whose  fame  had  excited 
them  to  undertake  an  unknown  and  dangerous 
journey  of  fifteen  hundred  miles.  With  the 
country1  from  whence  the  Gothic  nation  deri- 
ved their  origin,  he  maintained  a  frequent  and 
friendly  correspondence  ;  the  Italians  were 
clothed  in  the  rich  sables8  of  Sweden ;  and  one 
of  its  sovereigns,  after  a  voluntary  or  reluctant 
abdication,  found  an  hospitable  retreat  in  the 
palace  of  Ravenna.  He  had  i:eigned  over  one 
of  the  thirteen  populous  tribes  who  cultivated 
a  small  portion  of  the  great  island  or  peninsula 
of  Scandinavia,  to  which  the  vague  appellation 
of  Thule  has  been  sometimes  applied.  Tha 
northern  region  was  peopled,  or  had  been  ex- 
plored, as  high  as  the  sixty-eighth  degree  of  la- 
titude, where  the  natives  of  the  polar  circle  en- 
joy and  lose  the  presence  of  the  sun  at  each 
summer  and  winter  solstice  during  an  equal 

*  Cassiodorius,  who  quotes  Tacitus  to  the  jEstians,  the  unlettered 
savages  of  the  Baltic,  (Var.  v,  2),  describes  the  ainber  for  which  their 
shores  have  ever  been  famous,  as  (he  gum  of  a  tree,  hardened  by  the 
aim,  and  purified  and  wafted  by  the  waves.  When  that  singular  sub- 
stance is  analysed  by  the  chemists,  it  yields  a  vegetable  oil  and  a  mi- 
neral acid. 

r  Scanzia,  or  Thule,  is  described  by  Jornandes,  (c.  3,  p.  610-613)  and 
Procopius,  (Goth.  1.  ii,  e.  15).  Neither  the  Goth  nor  the  Greek  hid 
visited  the  country:  both  had  conversed  with  the  natives  in theirexile 
at  Ravenna  or  Constantinople. 

1  *  Saphorinas  pelles.  In  the  time  of  Jornandes,  they  inhabited  Suethans, 
the  proper  Sweden  ;  but  that  beautiful  race  of  animals  has  gradually 
been  driven  into  the  eastern  parts  of  Siberia.  See  tinffon,  (Hist.  Nat. 
torn,  xiii,  p.  309-313,  quarto  edition);  Pennant,  (System  of  Quadru- 
peds, vol.  i,  p.  322-328) ;  Gmelin,  (Hist.  Gen.  des  Voyages,  torn,  xviii, 
p.  257,  258),  and  Levesque,  ^Hist.  de  Russie,  torn,  v,  p.  165,  166,  514^ 
615). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  23 

» 

period  of  forty  days.1     The  long  night  of  his   CHAP. 
absence  or  death  was  the  mournful  season  of  dis-^. 


tress  and  anxiety,  till  the  messengers  who  had 
been  sent  to  the  mountain  tops,  descried  the 
first  rays  of  returning  light,  and  proclaimed  to 
the  plain  below  the  festival  of  his  resurrection." 

The  life  of  Theodoric  represents  the  rare  and  His  defen 
meritorious    example    of    a    barbarian,    who*" 
sheathed  his  sword  in  the  pride  of  victory  and 
the  vigour  of  his  age.     A  reign  of  three  and 
thirty  years  was  consecrated  to  the  duties  of 
civil  government,  and  the  hostilities  in  which 
he  was  sometimes  involved,  were  speedily  ter- 
minated by  the  conduct  of  his  lieutenants,  the 
discipline  of  his  troops,  the  arms  of  his  allies, 
and  even  by  the  terror  of  his  name.     He  redu- 
ced, under  a  strong  and  regular  government,    . 
the  unprofitable  countries  of  RhaBtia,  Noricum, 
Dalmatia,   and  Pannonia,  from  the  source  of 
the  Danube  and  the  territory  of  the  Bavarians/ 

1  In  the  system  or  romance  of  M.  Bailly,  (Retires  sur  les  Sciences  et 
sur  1'Atlantide,  torn,  i,  p.  249-256,  torn,  ii,  p.  114-139),  the  phoenix  of 
the  Edda,  and  the  annual  death  and  revival  of  Adonis  and  Osiris,  are 
the  allegorical  symbols  of  the  absence  and  return  of  the  sun  in  the  Are- 
tic  regions.  This  ingenious  writer  is  a  worthy  disciple  of  the  great 
Buffon :  nor  is  it  easy  for  the  coldest  reason  to  withstand  the  magic  of 
their  philosophy. 

u  'AUTH  TS  GuXirai;  *  fjiiytfr)  T«BV  IOJT*V  i{-»,  says  Procopius.  At  present 
a  rude  Manicheism  (generous  enough)  prevails  among  the  Samoyedes, 
in  Greenland  and  in  Lapland,  (Hist,  des  Voyages,  torn,  xviii,  p.  508, 
509 ;  torn,  xix,  p.  105,  106,  527,  S28)  ;  yet,  according  to  Grotius,  Sa« 
mojutag  crelum  atque  astra  adoraut,  minima  baud  aliis  iniqniori,  (de 
Rebus  Belgicis,  1.  iv,  p.  338,  folio  edition):  a  sentence  which  Tacitus 
would  not  have  disowned. 

*  See  the  Hist,  des  Pcnples  Anciens,  &c,  torn,  ix,  p.  255-273,  396- 
501.  The  Count  de  Buat  was  French  minister  at  the  court  of  Bavaria : 
%  liberal  curiosity  prompted  his  inquiries  into  the  antiqnities  of  the 

country, 


2  J  THE  DECLINE  AND  PALL 

xxxix  to  ^e  Petty  kingdom  erected  by  the  Gepidte 


on  the  ruins  of  Sirmium.  His  prudence  could 
not  safely  intrust  the  bulwark  of  Italy  to  such 
feeble  and  turbulent  neighbours  ;  and  his  jus- 
tice might  claim  the  lands  which  they  oppres- 
sed, either  as  a  part  of  his  kingdom,  or  as  the 
inheritance  of  his  father.  The  greatness  of  a  ser- 
vant, who  was  named  perfidious  because  he 
was  successful,  awakened  the  jealousy  of  the 
emperor  Anastasius  ;  and  a  war  wras  kindled 
on  the  Dacian  frontier,  by  the  protection  which 
the  Gothic  king,  in  the  vicissitude  of  human 
affairs,  had  granted  to  one  of  the  descendants 
of  Attila.  Sabinian,  a  general  illustrious  by 
his  own  and  his  father's  merit,  advanced  at  the 
head  of  ten  thousand  Romans  ;  and  the  pro- 
visions and  arms,  which  filled  a  long  train  of 
waggons,  were  distributed  to  the  fiercest  of  the 
Bulgarian  tribes.  But,  in  the  fields  of  Mar- 
gus,  the  eastern  powers  were  defeated  by  the 
inferior  forces  of  the  Goths  and  Huns  ;  the 
flower  and  even  the  hope  of  the  Roman  armies 
was  irretrievably  destroyed  ;  and  such  was  the 
temperance  with  which  Theodoric  had  inspired 
his  victorious  troops,  that  as  their  leader  had 
not  given  the  signal  of  pillage,  the  rich  spoils 
His  naval  of  the  enemy  lay  untouched  at  their  feet.7  Ex- 
'asperated  by  this  disgrace,  the  Byzantine  court 
despatched  two  hundred  ships  and  eight  thou- 

country,   and  that  curiosity  was  the  germ  of  twelve  respectable  vo- 
lumes. 

y  See  the  Gothic  transactions  on  the  Danube  and  in  Illy  ri  cum,  in 
Jornandes,  (c.  58,  p.  699)  ;  Ennodius,  (p.  1607-1G10)  ;  Marcellinus,  (in 
Chron.  p.  44,  47,  48),  and  Cassiodorius,  (in  Chron.andVar  iii,23,  SOj 
iv  13  ;  vii,4,  24  5  viii,  9,  10,  11,  21  ;  ix,  8,  9). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  25 

sand  men  to  plunder  the  sea-coast  of  Calabria  CHAP. 

XXXIX 

and  Apulia;  they  assaulted  the  ancient  city  of  ,,J ', 

Tarentum,  interrupted  the  trade  and  agricul- 
ture of  an  happy  country,  and  sailed  back  to 
the  Hellespont,  proud  of  their  piratical  victory 
over  a  people  whom  they  still  presumed  to  con- 
sider as  their  Roman  brethren.1  Their  retreat 
was  possibly  hastened  by  the  activity  of  Theo- 
doric  ;  Italy  was  covered  by  a  fleet  of  a  thou- 
sand light  vessels,*  which  he  constructed  with 
incredible  despatch ;  and  his  firm  moderation 
was  soon  rewarded  by  a  solid  and  honourable 
peace.  He  maintained  with  a  powerful  hand 
the  balance  of  the  West,  till  it  was  at  length 
overthrown  by  the  ambition  of  Clovis  ;  and  al- 
though unable  to  assist  his  rash  and  unfortu- 
nate kinsman  the  king  of  the  Visigoths,  he  - 
saved  the  remains  of  his  family  and  people,  and 
checked  the  Franks  in  the  midst  of  their  victo- 
rious career.  I  am  not  desirous  to  prolong  or 
repeatb  this  narrative  of  military  events,  the  least 
interesting  of  the  reign  of  Theodoric  ;  and  shall 
becontent  to  add,  that  the  Alemanni  were  pro- 
tected,6 that  an  inroad  of  the  Burgundians  was 

I  cannot  forbear  transcribing  the  liberal  and  classic  style  of  Count 
Marceliinus;  Romanus  comes  domesticorum,  et  Rusticus  conies  scho- 
larionmi  cum  centum  armatis  navibus,  totidemque  drnmonibtis,  octo 
millia  militnm  armatorum  serum  ferentibus,  ad  devastanda  Italioe  lit- 
tora  processcrnnt,  et  usque  ad  Tarentum  antiquissimam  civitatcm  ag- 
gressi  sniit ;  remensoqne  mari  inbonestam  victoriam  qiiiim  piratico  au- 
su  Roman!  ex  Romanis  rapuerunt,  Anastasio  Ca?sari  ivportarunt,  (in 
Chron.  p.  48).  See  Variar.  i,  16  ;  ii,  38. 

*  See  the  royal  orders  and  instructions,  (Var.  iv,  15  ;  v.  16-20).— • 
These  armed  boats  should  be  still  smaller  than  the  thousand  vessels  of 
Agamemnon  at  the  .siege  of  Trey. 

1  Vol.  vi,  p.  330  337. 

c  F.unodius,  (p.  1610),  and  Cassiodiorius,  in  the  royal  name,  (Var.  ii, 
41),  record  his  salutary  pi  election  of  the  Akmanui. 


0(3  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    severely  chastised,   and   that  the  conquest  of 
Aries   and   Marseilles  opened  a  free  communi- 

^++ *•++++++•  4. 

cation  with  the  \  isigoths,  who  revered  him  both 
as  their  pastoral  protector,  and  as  the  guardian 
of  his  grandchild,   the  infant  son  of  Alaric  — 
Under  this  respectable  character,    the  king  of 
Italy  restored   the   pretorian  prefecture  of  the 
Gauls,   reformed  some  abuses  in  the  civil  go- 
vernment of  Spain,   and  accepted   the  annual 
tribute  and  apparent  submission  of  its  military 
governor,  who  wisely  refused  to  trust  his  per- 
son in  the  palace  of  Ravenna/     The  Gothic  so- 
vereignty was  established  from  Sicily  to  the 
Danube,  from  Sirmium  or  Belgrade  to  the  At- 
lantic   ocean ;    and    the    Greeks    themselves 
have    acknowledged   that  Theodoric    reigned 
over  the   fairest  portion  of  the  Western  em- 
pire.' 

civil  go-  The  union  of  the  Goths  and  Romans  might 
ofiSy11*  nave  fixed  for  ages  the  transient  happiness  of 
according  Italy  ;  and  the  first  of  nations,  a  new  people  of 

to  the  Ro-  J1  i  i  •  •    i 

man  laws,  free  subjects  and  enlightened  soldiers,  might 
have  gradually  arisen  from  the  mutual  emula- 
tion of  their  respective  virtues.  But  the  su- 
blime merit  of  guiding  or  seconding  such  a  re- 
volution, was  not  reserved  for  the  reign  of  Theo- 
doric ;  he  wanted  either  the  genius  or  the  op- 

••  The  Gothic  transactions  in  Gaul  and  Spain  are  represented  with 
some  perplexity  iu  Cassiodorins,  (Var.  iii,  32,  38,  41,  43,  44;  v.  59; 
Jornandes,  (c.  58,  p.  G98,  699),  and  Procopius,  Goth.  1.  i,  c.  12).  I 
will  neither  hear  nor  reconcile  the  long  and  contradictory  argument* 
of  the  Abbe  Dubos  aiid  the  Count  de  Bnat,  about  the  wars  of  Bur- 
gundy. 

*  Tbeophanes,  p.  113. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

portunities  of  a  legislator  ;f  and  while  he  in-  CHAP. 
dulged  the  Goths  in  the  enjoyment  of  rude  fr 
berty,  he  servilely  copied  the  institutions,  and 
even  the  abuses,  of  the  political  system  which 
had  been  framed  by  Constantine  and  his  suc- 
cessors. From  a  tender  regard  to  the  expiring 
prejudices  of  Rome,  the  barbarian  declined  the 
name,  the  purple,  and  the  diadem  of  the  empe- 
rors -;  but  he  assumed,  under  the  hereditary 
title  of  king,  the  whole  substance  and  plenitude 
of  imperial  prerogative.8  His  addresses  to  the 
eastern  throne  were  respectful  and  ambiguous  ; 
he  celebrated  in  pompous  style  the  harmony 
of  the  two  republics,  applauded  his  own  go- 
vernment as  the  perfect  similitude  of  a  sole  and 
undivided  empire,  and  claimed  above  the  kings 
of  the  earth  the  same  pre-eminence  which  he 
modestly  allowed  to  the  person  or  rank  of 
Anastasius.  The  alliance  of  the  East  and 
West,  was  annually  declared  by  the  unanr- 
mous  choice  of  two  consuls  ;  but  it  should  seem 
that  the  Italian  candidate  who  was  named  by 
Theodoric,  accepted  a  formal  confirmation  from 
the  sovereign  of  Constantinople.11  The  Gothic 

f  Procopius  affirms  that  no  laws  whatsoever  were  promulgated  by 
Theodoric  and  the  succeeding  kings  of  Italy,  (Goth.  1.  ii,  c.  6).  He 
must  mean  in  the  Gothic  language.  A  Latin  edict  of  Theodoric  is 
still  extant,  in  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  articles.  • 

*  The  image  of  Theodoric  is  engraved  on  his  coins ;  his  modest  suc- 
cessors were  satisfied  with  adding  their  own  name  to  the  head  of  the 
reigning  emperor,  (Mnratori  Antiquitat.  Italiae  Mrdii  vEvi,  torn,  ii, 
dissert,  xxvii,  p.  577-579.  Giannone  Istoria  Civille  ill  Napoli,  torn,  i, 
p.  166). 

h  The  alliance  of  the  emperor  and  the  king  of  Italy  are  represented 
by  Cassiodorins,  (Var.  i,  1 ;  ii,  1,  2, 3  ;  vi,  1),  and  Proropius,  (Gotln  1. 
ii,  c.  6 ;  1.  iii,  c.  21),  who  celebrate  the  friendship  of  Anastasius  anrt 
Theodoric ;  but  the  figurative  style  of  compliment  van  interpreted  in 
a  very  different  sense  at  Constantinople  and  Ravenna. 


28  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

ctfAp.  palace  of  Ravenna  reflected  the  image  of  the 
XXXLX.  court  of  Theodosius  or  Valentinian.  The  pre- 
torian  prefect,  the  prefect  of  Rome,  the  ques- 
tor,  the  master  of  the  offices,  with  the  public 
and  patrimonial  treasurers,  whose  functions 
are  painted  in  gaudy  colours  by  the  rhetoric  of 
Cassiodorius,  still  continued  to  act  as  the  mi- 
nisters of  state.  And  the  subordinate  care  of 
justice  and  the  revenue  was  delegated  to  seven 
consulars,  three  correctors,  and  five  presidents, 
who  governed  the  fifteen  regions  of  Italy,  ac- 
cording to  the  principles  and  even  the  forms  of 
Roman  jurisprudence.1  The  violence  of  the 
conquerors  was  abated  or  eluded  by  the  slow  ar- 
tifice of  judicial  proceedings  ;  the  civil  admini- 
stration, with  its  honours  and  emoluments,  was 
confined  to  the  Italians  ;  and  the  people  still 
preserved  their  dress  and  language,  their  laws 
and  customs,  their  personal  freedom,  and  two- 
thirds  of  their  landed  property.  It  had  been 
the  object  of  Augustus  to  conceal  the  introduc- 
tion of  monarchy  ;  it  was  the  policy  of  Theo- 
doric  to  disguise  the  reign  of  a  barbarian*  If 

1  To  the  xvii  provinces  of  the  Notitia,  Paul  Warnefrid  the  deacon 
(De  Reb.  Longobard.  1.  ii,  c.  14-22)  has  subjoined  an  xviiith,  the  Ap- 
penine,  (Muratori  Script.  Rerum  Italicarum,  torn,  i,  p.  431-433).  But 
of  these  Sardinia  and  Corsica  were  possessed  by  the  Vandals,  and  the 
two  Rhaetias,  as  well  as  the  Cottian  Alps,  seem  to  have  been  abandon- 
ed to  a  military  government.  The  state  of  the  four  provinces  that  now 
form  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  is  laboured  by  Giannone  (torn,  i,  p.  172, 
178),  with  patriotic  diligence. 

k  See  the  Gothic  history  of  Procopius,  (I.  i,c.  1  ;  ii,  c.  6) ;  the  Epii- 
tles  of  Cassiodorius,  (passim,  but  especially  the  vih  and  vith  books, 
which  contain  the  formula-,  or  patents  of  offices),  and  the  Civil  History 
of  Giannone,  (torn,  i,  1.  ii,  iii).  The  Gothic  counts,  which  he  placet 
in  every  Italian  city,  are  annihilated,  however,  by  Maftei,  (Verona  II. 
luktrata,  p.  i,  1.  viii,  p.  227) ;  for  those  of  Syracuse  and  Naples  (Var. 
P-  22,  23)  were  special  and  temporary  commissions. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


his  subjects   were  sometimes  awakened  from   CHAP. 
•          .  Xxxix 

this  pleasing  vision  of  a  Roman   government,  _  ,,__". 


they  derived  more  substantial  comfort  from  the 
character  of  a  Gothic  prince,  who  had  penetra- 
tion to  discern,  and  firmness  to  pursue,  his  own 
and  the  public  interest.     Theodoric  loved  the 
virtues  which  he  possessed,  and  the  talents  of 
which  he  was  destitute.     Liberius  was  promot- 
ed to  the  office  of  pretorian  prefect  for  his  un- 
shaken fidelity    to  the  unfortunate   cause   of 
Odoacer.     The  ministers  of  Theodoric,  Cassio- 
dorius1  and  Boethius,  have  reflected  on  his  reign 
the  lustre  of  their  genius  and  learning.     More 
prudent  or  more  fortunate  than  his  colleague, 
Cassiodorius  preserved  his  own  esteem  without 
forfeiting  the  royal  favour  ;  and  after  passing 
thirty  years  in  the  honours  of  the  world,   he 
was  blessed  with   an  equal  term  of  repose  in 
the  devout  and  studious  solitude  of  Squillace. 

As  the  patron  of  the  republic,  it  was  the  in-  Parent 
terest  and  duty  of  the  Gothic  king  to  cultivate 
the  affections  of  the  senate111  and  people.  The 
nobles  of  Rome  were  flattered  by  sonorous  epi- 
thets and  formal  professions  of  respect,  which 
had  been  more  justly  applied  to  the  merit  and 
authority  of  their  ancestors.  The  people  en- 


1  Two  Italians  of  the  name  of  Cassiodorius,  the  father,  (Var.  i,  24, 
40),  and  the  son,  (ix,  24,  25),  were  successively  employed  in  the  admi- 
nistration of  Theodoric.  The  son  was  born  in  the  year  479;  his  va- 
rious epistles  as  questor,  master  of  the  offices,  and  pretorian  prefect, 
(  xteiid  from  509  to  539,  and  he  lived  a*  a  monk  about  30  years.  (Ti- 
rnbuschi  Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana,  torn,  iii,  p.  7  24.  Fabricius, 
Bibliot.  Lat.  Med.  ;Evi,  torn,  i,  p.  357,  358,  edit.  Mansi). 

m  See  his  regard  for  the  senate  in  Cochltcus,  (Vit.  Tlieoil.  viii,  p. 
72-SO). 


30  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

xxxix.  J°yed»  without  fear  or  danger,   the  three  blea- 

— ~» sings  of  a  capital,    order,   plenty,  and  public 

.  amusements.  A  visible  diminution  of  their 
numbers  may  be  found  even  in  the  measure  of 
liberality  ;n  yet  Apulia,  Calabria,  and  Sicily, 
poured  their  tribute  of  corn  into  the  granaries 
of  Rome ;  an  allowance  of  bread  and  meat  was 
distributed  to  the  indigent  citizens  ;  and  every 
office  was  deemed  honourable  which  was  con- 
secrated' to  the  care  of  their  health  and  happi- 
ness. The  public  games,  such  as  a  Greek  am- 
bassador might  politely  applaud,  exhibited  a 
faint  and  feeble  copy  of  the  magnificence  of  the 
Caesars :  yet  the  musical,  the  gymnastic,  and 
the  pantomime  arts,  had  not  totally  sunk  in 
oblivion  ;  the  wild  beasts  of  Africa  still  exer- 
cised in  the  amphitheatrethe  courage  and  dex- 
terity of  the  hunters :  and  the  indulgent  Goth 
.  either  patiently  tolerated  or  gently  restrained 
the  blue  and  green  factions,  whose  contests  so 
often  filled  the  circus  with  clamour,  and  even 
Visit  of  with  blood.0  In  the  seventh  year  of  his  pfeace- 

TLeodoric  .  .          •    •       i     i          -,  • 

A  D.  500.  ml  reign,  Iheodonc  visited  the  old  capital  of 
the  world  ;  the  senate  and  people  advanced  in 
solemn  procession  to  salute  a  second  Trajan,  a 
new  Valentinian  ;  and  he  nobly  supported  that 
character  by  the  assurance  of  a  just  and  legal 


"  No  mure  than  120,000  modii,  or  four  thousand  quarters.  (Anuonyni. 
Valesian.  p.  721,  and  Var.  i,  35  ;  vi,  18 ;  xi,  5,  39). 

c  See  his  regard  and  indulgence  for  the  spectacle  of  the  circus,  th? 
amphitheatre,  and  the  theatre,  in  the  Chronicle  and  Epistles  of  Cassio 
dorius,  (Var.  i,  20,  27,  SO,  31,  32  ;  iii,  51 ;  iv.  51,  illustrated  by  tt» 
aivth  Annotation  of  Majcou's  History),  who  has  contrired  to  yprinHs 
the  subject  with  ostentatious,  though  agreeable,  learning. 


Of  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE,  31 

<rovernment,p  in  a  discourse  which  he  was  not  CHAP. 

VV  YTY 

afraid  to  pronounce  in  public,   and  to  inscribe^ \ 

on  a  tablet  of  brass.  Rome,  in  this  august  ce- 
remony, shot  a  last  ray  of  declining  glory  ;  and 
a  saint,  the  spectator  of  this  pompous  scene, 
could  only  hope  in  his  pious  fancy,  that  it  was 
excelled  by  the  celestial  splendour  of  the  new 
Jerusalem.q  During  a  residence  of  six  months, 
the  fame,  the  person,  and  the  courteous  demea- 
nour of  the  Gothic  king,  excited  the  admira- 
tion of  the  Romans,  and  he  contemplated,  with 
equal  curiosity  and  surprise,  the  monuments 
that  remained  of  their  ancient  greatness.  He 
imprinted  the  footsteps  of  a  conqueror  on  the 
Capitoline  hill,  and  frankly  confessed  that  each 
day  he  viewed  with  fresh  wonder  the  forum  of 
Trajan  and  his  lofty  column.  The  theatre  of 
Pompey  appeared,  even  in  its  decay,  as  a  huge 
mountain  artificially  hollowed  and  polished, 
and  adorned  by  human  industry  ;  and  he 
vaguely  computed,  that  a  river  of  gold  must 
have  been  drained  to  erect  the  colossal  amphi- 
theatre of  Titus/  From  the  mouths  of  four- 


p  Anonym.  Vales,  p.  721 ;  Marius  Aventicensis  in  Chron.  In  the 
scale  of  public  and  personal  merit,  the  Gothic  conqueror  is  at  least  as 
much  above  Valentinian,  as  he  may  *eem  inferior  to  Trajan. 

i  Vit.  Fulgentii  in  Baron.  Annal.  Eccles.  A.  D.  500,  N°.  10. 

r  Cassiodorius  describes,  in  his  pompous  style,  the  forum  of  Trajan, 
(Var.  vii,  6),  the  theatre  of  Marcellus,  (iv,  51),  and  the  amphitheatre 
of  Titus,  (v,  42);  and  his  descriptions  are  not  unworthy  of  the  read- 
er's perusal.  According  to  the  modern  prices,  the  Abbe  Barthelemy 
computes  that  the  brick-work  and  masonry  of  the  Coliseum  would  now 
cost  twenty  millions  of  French  livies,  (Mem.  de  PAcademie  des  In- 
scriptions, torn,  xxviii,  p.  685,  586).  How  »mall  a  part  of  that  stupen- 
dous fabric ! 


32  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.  teen,  aqueducts,  a  pure  and  copious  stream 
xxxix.  was  diffused  into  every  part  of  the  city  ;  among 
these  the  Claudian  water,  which  arose  at  the 
distance  of  thirty-eight  miles  in  the  Sabine 
mountains,  was  conveyed  along  a  gentle  though 
constant  declivity  of  solid  arches,  till  it  de- 
scended on  the  summit  of  the  Aventine  hill. — 
The  long  and  spacious  vaults  which  had  been 
constructed  for  the  purpose  of  common  sewers, 
subsisted,  after  twelve  centuries,  in  their  pris- 
tine strength  ;  and  the  subterraneous  channels 
have  been  preferred  to  all  the  visible  wonders 
of  Rome.5  The  Gothic  kings,  so  injuriously 
accused  of  the  ruin  of  antiquity,  were  anxious 
to  preserve  the  monuments  of  the  nation  whom 
they  had  subdued.'  The  royal  edicts  were 
framed  to  prevent  the  abuses,  the  neglect,  or 
the  depredations  of  the  citizens  themselves ; 
and  a  professed  architect,  the  annual  sum  of 
two  hundred  pounds  of  gold,  twenty-five 
thousand  tiles,  and  the  receipt  of  customs 
from  the  Lucrine  port,  were  assigned  for 
the  ordinary  repairs  of  the  walls  and  public 
edifices.  A  similar  care  was  extended  to 
the  statues  of  metal  or  marble,  of  men 
or  animals.  The  spirit  of  the  horses,  which 
•  hare  given  a  modern  name  to  the  Quirinal, 


•  For  the  aqueducts  and  cloaca,  see  Strabo,  (I.  v,  p.  360) ;  Pliny, 
(Hist.  Nat.  xxxvi,  24) ;  Cassiodorius,  (Var.  iii,  30,  31 ;  vi,  6) ;  Proco- 
pius,  (Goth.  1.  i,  c.  19),  and  Nardini,  (Roma  Antica,  p.  514-522).  How 
such  works  could  be  executed  by  a  king  of  Rome,  it  yet  a  problem. 

For  the  Gothic  care  of  the  buildings  and  statues,  see  Cassiodo- 
rins,  (Var.  i,  21,  25 ;  ii,  J4 ;  i».  30  ;  vii,  6,  13,  15),  and  the  Valesiao 
Fragment,  (p.  721). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  33 

was  applauded  by  the  barbarians;"  the  brazen    CHAP. 

•  .  XXV"IX 

elephants  of  the  Via  sacra  were  diligently  restor- ,,', 

ed  ;x  the  famous  heifer  of  Myron  deceived  the 
cattle,  as  they  were  driven  through  the  forum  of 
peace*  and  an  officer  was  created  to  protect 
those  works  of  art,  which  Theodoric  consider- 
ed as  the  noblest  ornament  of  his  kingdom. 

After  the  example  of  the  last  emperors,  Theo- 
doric  preferred  the  residence  of  Ravenna,  where 
.he  cultivated  an  orchard  with  his  own  hands." 
As  often  as  the  peace  of  his  kingdom  was  threat- 
ened (for  it  was  never  invaded)  by  the  barba- 
rians, he  removed  his  court  to  Verona*  on  the 
northern  frontier,  and  the  image  of  his  palace, 
still  extant,  on  a  coin,  represents  the  oldest  and 
most  authentic  model  of  Gothic  architecture. 
These  two  capitals,  as  well  as  Pavia,  Spoleto, 
Naples,  and  the  rest  of  the  Italian  cities,  acquir- 
ed under  his  reign  the  useful  or  splendid  deco- 
rations of  churches,  aqueducts,  baths,  porticoes, 
and  palaces.b  But  the  happiness  of  the  sub- 

n  Var.  vii,  15.  These  horses  of  Monte-Cavallo  had  been  transport- 
ed from  Alexandria  to  the  baths  of  Coustantine,  (Nardini,  p.  188). 
Their  sculpture  is  disdained  by  the  Abbe  Dnbos,  (Reflection  sur  la 
Poesie  et  sur  la  Peinture,  torn,  i,  sect.  39),  and  admired  by  Winkleiuan, 
(Hist,  de  P  Art,  torn,  ii,  p.  159). 

1  Var.  x,  10.  They  were  probably  a  fragment  of  some  triumphal  car, 
(Cuper  de  Elephantis,  ii,  10). 

Procopius  (Goth.  1.  i<r,  c.  21)  relates  a  foolish  story  of  Myron's 
cow,  which  is  celebrated  by  the  false  wit  of  thirty-six  Greek  epigram*, 
fAnthoIog.  1.  ir,  p.  302— 30G,edit.Hen.Stt  ph.Auson.Epigram.lTiii-lxviii). 

1  See  an  epigram  of  Ennodins  (ii,  3,  p.  1893,  1894)  on  this  garden 
and  the  royal  gardener. 

*  His  affection  for  that  city  is  proved  by  the  epithet  of  "  Verona 
tua,"  and  the  legend  of  the  hero :  uudcr  the  barbarous  name  of  Die- 
trich of  Bern,  (Peringsciold  ad  Cochlcenm,  p.  240),  Maffei  traces  him 
*ith  knowledge  and  pleasure  in  his  native  country,  (I.  ix,  p.  230-236). 

k  See  Maffei,  Verona  Illustrata,  part  i,  p.  231,  232,  308,  £c.     He  im. 

pnter 
VOL.    Til.  D 


34  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   ject  was  more  truly  conspicuous  in  the  busy 
;  scene  of  labour  and  luxury,  in  the  rapid  increase 
and  bold  enjoyment  of  national  wealth  :  from 
the  shades  of  Tibur  and  Prseneste,  the  Roman 
senators  still  retired  in  the  winter  season  to  the 
warm  sun,  and  salubrious  springs  of  Baise ;  and 
their   villas,   which  advanced  on   solid  moles 
into  the  bay  of  Naples,  commanded  the  various 
prospect  of  the  sky,  the  earth,  and  the  water* 
On  the  eastern  side  of  the  Hadriatic,  a  new 
Campania  was  formed  in  the  fair  and  fruitful 
province  of  Istria,  which  communicated  with  the 
palace  of  Ravenna  by  an  easy  navigation  of  one 
hundred  miles.     The  rich   productions  of  Lu- 
cania  and  the  adjacent  provinces  were  exchang- 
ed at  the  Marcilian  fountain,  in  a  populous  fair 
annually  dedicated  to  trade,  intemperance,  and 
superstition.     In  the  solitude  of  Comum,  which 
had  once  been  animated  by  the  mild  genius  of 
Pliny,  a  transparent  bason,   above  sixty  miles 
in  length,   still  reflected  the  rural  seats  which 
encompassed  the  margin  of  the  Larian  lake' 
and  the  gradual  ascent  of  the  hills  was  covered 
by  a  triple  plantation  of  olives,  of  vines,  and  of 
chesnut  trees.'     Agriculture  revived  under  the 
shadow  of  peace,  and  the  number  of  husband- 
men was  multiplied  by  the  redemption  of  cap 


putes  Gothic  architecture,  like  the  corruption  of  language,  writing, 
&c.  not  to  the  barbarians,  but  to  the  Italians  themselves.  Compare 
his  sentiments  with  those  of  Tiraboschi,  (torn,  iii,  p.  61). 

•  The  villas,  climate,  andlandskip  of  Baiap,  (Var.  ix,6:  See  Cluvei. 
Italia  Antiq.  1.  iv,  c.  2,  p.  1119,  &c.)  i  Istria,  (Var.  xii,  22,  26),  and 
Comum,  (Var.  xi,  14,  compare  with  Pitnj's  two  villas,  ix,  7),  are  agre««- 
ably  painted  in  the  Epistles  of  Casstodorius. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  35 

tives.4  The  iron  mines  of  Dalmatia,  a  gold 
mine  in  Bruttium,  were  carefully  explored,  and 
the  Poraptine  marshes,  as  well  as  those  of  Spo- 
leto,  were  drained  and  cultivated  by  private  un- 
dertakers, whose  distant  reward  must  depend 
on  the  continuance  of  the  public  prosperity.* 
Whenever  the  seasons  were  Jess  propitious,  the 
doubtful  precautions  of  forming  magazines  of 
corn,  fixing  the  price,  and  prohibiting  the  ex- 
portation, attested  at  least  the  benevolence  of 
the  state;  but  such  was  the  extraordinary  plenty 
which  an  industrious  people  produced  from  a 
grateful  soil,  that  a  gallon  of  wine  was  some- 
times sold  in  Italy  for  less  than  three  farthings, 
and  a  quarter  of  wheat  at  about  five  shillings 
and  sixpence/  A  country  possessed  of  so  many 
valuable  objects  of  exchange,  soon  attracted  the 
merchants  of  the  world,  whose  beneficial  traffic 
was  encouraged  and  protected  by  the  liberal 
spirit  of  Theodoric.  The  free  intercourse  of  the 
provinces  by  land  and  water  was  restored  and 
extended;  the  city  gates  were  never  shut  either 


*  In  Liguria  numerosa  agricolarura  progenies,  (Ennodius,  p.  1678, 
1670,  1680).  St.  Epiphanius  of  Pavia  redeemed  by  prayer  or  ransom 
6000  captives  from  the  Burgundians  of  Lyons  and  Savoy.  Such  deed* 
are  the  best  of  miracles. 

'  The  political  economy  of  Tbeodoric  (see  Anonym.  ValeB  p.  721, 
and  Cassiodorius,  in  Chron.)  iray  be  distinctly  traced  under  the  follow- 
ing heads:  iron  mine,  (Var.  iii,  23);  gold  mine,  (ix,  3);  Pomptine 
marshes,  (ii,  32, 33) ;  Spoleto,  (ii,  21) ;  corn,  (i,  34  ;  x,  27,  28 ;  xi,  11, 
12) ;  trade,  (vi,  7,  9,  23) ;  fair  of  Lencothoe  or  St.  Cyprian  in  Lncania, 
(viii,  33) ;  plenty,  (xii,4)  ;  the  cnrsus,  or  public  post,  (i,  29 ;  ii,  31 ;  iv, 
47 ;  v,  5  -.  vi,  6 ;  vii,  33) ;  the  Flaminian  way,  (xii,  18). 

'  LX  inodii  tritici  in  solidtim  ipsius  terapore  fuerunt,  et  vinnm  xxx 
amphora*  in  solidum,  (Fragment.  Vales.).  Corn  was  distributed  from 
the  granaries  at  xv  or  xxv  modii  for  a  piece  of  gold,  and  the  price  was 
still  moderate 


36  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   by  day  or  by  night;  and  the  common  saying:, 

.„ ^  that  a   purse  of  gold  might  be  safely  left  in  the 

fields,  was  expressive  of  the  conscious  security 
of  the  inhabitants.8 

^  difference  of  religion  is  always  pernicious 
and  often  fatal  to  the  harmony  of  the  prince  and 
people;  the  Gothic  conqueror  had  been  educat- 
ed in  the  profession  of  Arianism,  and  Italy  was 
devoutedly  attached  to  the  Nicene  faith.  But 
the  persuasion  of  Theodoric  was  not  infected 
by  zeal,  and  he  piously  adhered  to  the  heresy 
of  his  fathers,  without  condescending  to  ba- 
lance the  subtle  arguments  of  theological  meta- 
physics. Satisfied  with  the  private  toleration 
of  his  Arian  sectaries,  he  justly  conceived  him- 
self to  be  the  guardian  of  the  public  worship ;  and 
his  external  reverence  for  a  superstition  which 
he  despised,  may  have  nourished  in  his  mind  the 
salutary  indifference  of  a  statesman  or  philoso- 
Pner-  The  catholics  of  his  dominions  acknow- 
cathoiics.  ledged,  perhaps  with  reluctance,  the  peace  of 
the  church;  their  clergy,  according  to  the  de- 
gree of  rank  or  merit,  were  honourably  enter- 
tained in  the  palace  of  Theodoric ;  he  esteem- 
ed the  living  sanctity  of  Caesarius*  and  Epipha- 
nius,1  the  orthodox  bishops  of  Aries  and  Pavia; 

*  See  the  life  of  St.  Caesarius  in  Baronius,  (A.  D.  508,  N°.  12, 13, 14) 
The  king  presented  him  with  300  gold  solid!,  and  a  discus  of  silver  of 
the  weight  of  sixty  pounds 

h  Ennodius  in  vid  St.  Epiphanii,  in  Sirmond  Op.  torn,  i,  p.  1672—* 
1690.  Theodoric  bestowed  some  important  favours  on  this  bishop, 
whom  he  used  as  a  connseUor  in  peace  and  war. 

'  Devotissimus  ac  si  Catholicns,  ( Annoym.  Vales,  p.  720) ;  yet  bis 
offering  was  no  more  than  two  silver  candlesticks,  (cerostrata}  of  the 
weight  of  seventy  pounds,  far  inferior  to  the  gold  and  gems  of  Con- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  37 

and  presented  a  decent  offering  on  the  tomb  of  CHAP. 
St.  Peter,  without  any  scrupulous  inquiry  into  j^x; 
the  creed  of  the  apostle.k  His  favourite  Goths, 
and  even  his  mother,  were  permitted  to  retain 
or  embrace  the  Athanasian  faith,  and  his  long 
reign  could  not  afford  the  example  of  an  Italian 
catholic,  who,  either  from  choice  or  compulsion, 
had  deviated  into  the  religion  of  the  conqueror.1 
The  people,  and  the  barbarians  themselves,  were 
edified  by  the  pomp  and  order  of  religious  wor- 
ship; the  magistrates  were  instructed  to  defend 
the  just  immunities  of  ecclesiastical  persons 
and  possessions;  the  bishops  held  their  synods, 
the  metropolitans  exercised  their  jurisdiction, 
and  the  privileges  of  sanctuary  were  maintain- 
ed or  moderated  according  to  the  spirit  of  the 
Roman  jurisprudence.  With  the  protection, 
Theodoric  assumed  the  legal  supremacy  of  the 
church;  and  his  firm  administration  restored 
or  extended  some  useful  prerogatives  which  had 
been  neglected  by  the  feeble  emperors  of  the  ^8iK 
West.  He  was  not  ignorant  of  the  dignity  and 
importance  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  to  whom  the 
venerable  name  of  POPE  was  now  appropriated. 

stantinople  and  France,  (Anastasiui  in  Vit.  Pont,  in  Hormisda,  p.  34, 
edit.  Paris.) 

k  The  tolerating  system  of  his  reign,  (Ennodius,  p.  1612;  Anonym. 
Vales,  p.  719 ;  Procop.  Goth.  1.  i,  c.  1 :  1.  ii,  c.  6}  may  be  studied  in  the 
Epistles  of  Cassiodorins,  under  the  following  heads :  bishops,  (Var.  i, 
9;  viii,  15,  24;  xi,  23)  ;  immunities,  (i,  26;  ii,  29, 30);  church-land*, 
(iv,  17,  20)  ;  sanctuaries,  (ii,  11 ;  iii,  47)  ;  church-plate,  (xii,  20)  ;  disci- 
pline, (iv,  44) ;  which  prove  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  the  head  of 
the  church  as  well  as  of  the  state. 

1  We  may  reject  a  foolish  tale  of  his  beheading  a  catholic  deacon 
who  turned  Arian,  (Theodor.  Lector,  tfo.  17).  Why  is  Theodoric 
•urnamed  Afer  ?  From  Vaftr  ?  (Vales,  ad  Joe.)  A  light  conjecture. 


38  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.  The  peace  or  the  revolt  of  Italy  might  depend 
^  on  the  character  of  a  wealthy  and  popular  bi- 
shop, who  claimed  such  ample  dominion  both 
in  heaven  and  earth ;  who  had  been  declared  in 
a  numerous  synod  to  be  pure  from  all  sin,  and 
exempt  from  all  judgment.1"  When  the  chair  of 
St.  Peter  was  disputed  by  Symmachus  and 
Laurence,  they  appeared  at  his  summons  before 
the  tribunal  of  an  Arian  monarch,  and  he  con- 
firmed the  election  of  the  most  worthy  or  the 
most  obsequious  candidate.  At  the  end  of  his 
life,  in  a  moment  of  jealousy  and  resentment,  he 
prevented  the  choice  of  the  Romans,  by  nomi- 
nating a  pope  in  the  palace  of  Ravenna.  The 
danger  and  furious  contests  of  a  schism  were 
mildly  restrained,  and  the  last  decree  of  the 
senate  was  enacted  to  extinguish,  if  it  were  pos- 
sible, the  scandalous  venality  of  the  papal  elec- 
tions." 

vice*  of  I  have  descanted  with  pleasure  on  the  fortu- 
ment°ve  nate  condition  of  Italy;  but  our  fancy  must  not 
hastily  conceive  that  the  golden  age  of  the  poets, 
a  race  of  men  without  vice  or  misery,  was  rea- 
lised under  the  Gothic  conquest.  The  fair  pros- 
pect was  sometimes  overcast  with  clouds;  the 
wisdom  of  Theodoric  might  be  deceived,  his 
power  might  be  resisted,  and  the  declining  age 
of  the  monarch  was  sullied  with  popular  hatred 

m  Ennodins,  p.  1621,  1622, 1636,  1638.  His  libel  was  approved  and 
registered  (synodaliter)  by  a  Roman  council,  (Baronius,  A.  D.  503, 
N°.  6 ;  Franciscus  Pagi  in  Breviar.  Pont,  Rom.  torn,  i,  p.  242). 

n  Sec  Cassiodorins,  (Vai1.  viii,  15;  ix,  15,  16);  Anastasius,  (hiSyirt- 
macho,  p.  31),  and  the  xviith  Annotation  of  Mascou  Baronins,  Pagi, 
and  most  of  the  catholic  doctors,  confess,  with  an  an^ry  grow),  this 
Gothic  usurpation. 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  39 

md  patrician  blood.     In  the  first  insolence  of    CHAP. 

XXXIX 

rictory,  he  had  been  tempted  to  deprive  the  ^~.~~~ 
whole  party  of  Odoacer  of  the  civil  and  even  the 
natural  rights  of  society;0  a  tax  unseasonably 
imposed  after  the  calamities  of  war,  would  have 
crushed  the  rising  agriculture  of  Liguria;  a  rigid 
pre-emption  of  corn,  which  was  intended  for  pub- 
blic  relief,  must  have  aggravated  the  distress  of 
Campania.  These  dangerous  projects  were  de- 
feated by  the  virtue  and  eloquence  of  Epipha- 
nius  and  Boethius,  who,  in  the  presence  of  Theo- 
doric  himself,  succesfully  pleaded  the  cause  of 
the  people  ;p  but  if  the  royal  ear  was  open  to  the 
voice  of  truth,  a  saint  and  a  philosopher  are  not 
always  to  be  found  at  the  ear  of  kings.  The 
privileges  of  rank,  or  office,  or  favour,  were  too 
frequently  abused  by  Italian  fraud  and  Gothic 
violence,  and  the  avarice  of  the  king's  nephew 
was  publicly  exposed,  at  first  by  the  usurpa- 
tion, and  afterwards  by  the  restitution,  of  the 
estates  which  he  had  unjustly  extorted  from  his 
Tuscan  neighbours.  Two  hundred  thousand 
barbarians,  formidable  even  to  their  master, 
were  seated  in  the  heart  of  Italy;  they  indig- 
nantly supported  the  restraints  of  peace  and  dis- 
cipline :  the  disorders  of  their  march  were  al- 
ways felt  and  sometimes  compensated;  and 

•  .t$  • 

0  He  disabled  them — a  licentia  teitandi ;  and  all  Italy  mourned — 
lamentabili  jnstitio.  I  wish  to  believe,  that  these  penalties  were  enact- 
ed against  the  rebels,  who  had  violated  their  oath  of  allegiance  ;  but 
the  testimony  of  Annodiiss,  p.  1675 — 1C78)  is  the  more  weighty,  as  b,e 
lived  and  died  under  the  reign  of  Theodoric. 

f  Ennodius,  in  Vit.  Epiphan.  p.  1689,  1690.  Boetniiw  de  Consola- 
tione  Philosophize,  1.  i,  pros,  iv,  45,  46,  47.  Respect,  but  weigh 
the  passions  of  the  saint  and  the  senator ;  arid  fortify  or  alleviate-  their 
complaints  by  the  various  hints  of  Cassi'odoritis,  (ii,  8 ;  iv,  3fi  -,  viii,  5). 


40  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   where  it  was  dangerous  to   punish,  it  might 

XXXIX  * 

^  be  prudent  to  dissemble,    the  sallies  of  their 

native  fierceness.  When  the  indulgence  of 
Theodoric  had  remitted  two-thirds  of  the 
Ligurian  tribute,  he  condescended  to  ex- 
plain the  difficulties  of  his  situation,  and 
to  lament  the  heavy  though  inevitable  burdens 
which  he  imposed  on  his  subjects  for  their  own 
defence.*1  These  ungrateful  subjects  could  never 
be  cordially  reconciled  to  the  origin,  the  religi- 
on, or  even  the  virtues  of  the  Gothic  conqueror; 
past  calamities  were  forgotten,  and  the  sense  or 
suspicion  of  injuries  was  renderd  still  more  ex- 
quisite by  the  present  felicity  of  the  times. 

yokedPto°~  Even  the  religious  toleration  which  Theo- 
doric  had  the  glory  of  introducing  into  the 
Christian  world,  was  painful  and  offensive  to 
the  orthodox  zeal  of  the  Italians.  They  re- 
spected the  armed  heresy  of  the  Goths;  but 
their  pious  rage  was  safely  pointed  against  the 
rich  and  defenceless  Jews,  who  had  formed 
their  establishments  at  Naples,  Rome,  Ravenna, 
Milan,  and  Genoa,  for  the  benefit  of  trade,  and 
under  the  sanction  of  the  laws/  Their  persons 
were  insulted,  their  effects  pillaged,  and  their 
synagogues  Avere  burnt  by  the  mad  populace  of 
Ravenna  and  Rome,  inflamed,  as  it  should  seem, 
by  the  most  frivolous  or  extravagant  pretences. 
The  government  which  could  neglect,  would 


i  Immanium  expensarum  pondui .pro  ipsorum  salute,  &c. ;  yet 

these  are  no  more  than  words. 

T  The  Jews  were  settled  at  Naples,  (Procopins,  Goth.  1.  i,  c.  ),  at 
Genca,  (Var.  ii,  28;  iv,  33),  Milan,  (v.  37),  Rome,  (iv,  43>  See 
''t-vvise  Basna;;c,  Hist  lies  Jtiifs,  torn,  viii,  c.  7,  p.  954. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  41 

have  deserved,  such  an  outrage.  A  legal  in-  CHAP. 
quiry  was  instantly  directed ;  and  as  the  au- 
thors  of  the  tumult  had  escaped  in  the  crowd, 
the  whole  community  was  condemned  to  repair 
the  damage ;  and  the  obstinate  bigots  who  re- 
fused their  contributions,  were  whipped  through 
the  streets  by  the  hand  of  the  executioner.  This 
simple  act  of  justice  exasperated  the  discontent 
of  the  catholics,  who  applauded  the  merit  and 
patience  of  these  holy  confessors;  three  hun- 
dred pulpits  deplored  the  persecution  of  the 
church ;  and  if  the  chapel  of  St.  Stephen  at  Ve- 
rona was  demolished  by  the  command  of  Theo- 
doric,  it  is  probable  that  some  miracle  hostile 
to  his  name  and  dignity  had  been  performed  on 
that  sacred  theatre.  At  the  close  of  a  glorious 
life,  the  king  of  Italy  discovered  that  he  had 
excited  the  hatred  of  a  people  whose  happiness 
he  had  so  assiduously  laboured  to  promote; 
and  his  mind  was  soured  by  indignation,  jea- 
lousy, and  the  bitterness  of  unrequited  love. 
The  Gothic  conqueror  condescended  to  disarm 
the  unwarlike  natives  of  Italy,  interdicting  all 
weapons  of  offence,  and  excepting  only  a  small 
knife  for  domestic  use.  The  deliverer  of 
Rome  was  accused  of  conspiring  with  the  vilest 
informers  against  the  lives  of  senators  whom  he 
suspected  of  a  secret  and  treasonable  corres 
pondence  with  the  Byzantine  court.'  After  the 
death  of  Anastasius,  the  diadem  had  been  placed 

*  Rex  avidoi  coinmunis  cxitii,  fee.  (Boethius,  1.  i,  p.  59) :  rrx  do- 
lum  Komanis  teudebat,  (Anonym.  Vales,  p.  723).  These  are  bard 
words:  they  speak  the  >nssions  of  the  Italian*, and  t!;ose  (I  fear)  of 
Theodoric  himself. 


42  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   on  the  head  of  a  feeble  old  man ;  but  the  powers 

Y  Y  YTY 

^  of  government  were  assumed  by  his  nephew  Jus- 
tinian, who  already  meditated  the  extirpation  of 
heresy,  and  the  conquest  of  Italy  and  Africa. 
A  rigorous  law  which  was  published  at  Con- 
stantinople, to  reduce  the  Arians  by  the  dread 
of  punishment,  within  the  pale  of  the  church, 
awakened   the  just  resentment  of  Theodoric, 
who  claimed  for  his  distressed  brethren  of  the 
East,  the  same  indulgence  which  he  had  so  long 
granted  to  the  catholics  of  tiis  dominions.    At  his 
stern  command, the  Roman  pontiff,  with  four  illus* 
£m>Mssenators,em  barked  on  an  embassy,  of  which 
he  must  have  alike  dreaded  the  failure  or  the  suc- 
cess.    The  singular  veneration   shewn  to  the 
first  pope  who  had  visited  Constantinople  was 
punished  as  a  crime  by  his  jealous  monarch; 
the  artful  or  peremptory  refusal  of  the  Byzan- 
tine court  might  excuse  an  equal,  and  would 
provoke  a  larger,  measure  of  retaliation ;  and  a 
mandate  was  prepared  in  Italy,  to  prohibit,  af- 
ter a  certain  day,  the  exercise  of  the  catholic 
worship.    By  the  bigotry  of  his  subjects  and  ene- 
mies, the  most   tolerant  of  princes  was  driven  to 
the  brink  of  persecution ;  and  the  life  of  Theo- 
doric was  too  long,  since  he  lived  to  condemn 
the  virtue  of  Boethius  and  Symmachus.' 

*  I  have  laboured  to  extract  a  rational  narrative  from  the  dark,  con- 
cise, and  varioui  hints  of  the  Valesian  Fragment,  (p.  722,  723,724); 
Thcophancs,  (p.  145);  Anastasius,  (in  Johanne,  p.  35),  and  the  Hist. 
Miscella.  (p.  103,  edit.  Muratori).  A  gentle  pressure  and  paraphrase 
of  their  words  is  no  violence.  Consult  likewise  Muratori,  (Annali  d* 
Italia,  torn.  iv.  p.  471—478),  with  the  Annals  and  Breviary  (torn,  i, 
959 — 263)  of  the  two  Pagis,  the  uncle  and  the  nephew. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  43 

The  senator  Boethius"  is  the  last  of  the  Ro-    CHAP. 

"Y  ~\  Y  I"V 

mans  whom  Cato  orTully  could  have  acknow- 
ledged for  their  countrymen.  As  a  wealthy  character, 
orphan,  he  inherited  the  patrimony  and  honours  ^"d  ho- 
of the  Anician  family,  a  name  ambitiously  as- 
sumed  by  the  kings  and  emperors  of  the  age ; 
and  the  appellation  of  Manlius  asserted  his  ge- 
nuine or  fabulous  descent  from  a  race  of  consuls 
and  dictators,  who  had  repulsed  the  Gauls  from 
the  Capitol,  and  sacrificed  their  sons  to  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  republic.  In  the  youth  of  Boe- 
thius,  the  studies  of  Rome  were  not  totally 
abandoned;  a  Virgil*  is  now  exant,  corrected 
by  the  hand  of  a  consul ;  and  the  professors  of 
grammar,  rhetoric,  and  jurisprudence,  were 
maintained  in  their  privileges  and  pensions,  by 
the  liberality  of  the  Goths.  But  the  erudition 
of  the  Latin  language  was  insufficient  to  satiate 
his  ardent  curiosity ;  and  Boethius  is  said  to 
have  employed  eighteen  laborious  years  in  the 
schools  of  Athens/  which  were  supported  by 
the  zeal,  the  learning,  and  the  diligence  of  Pro- 
clus  and  his  disciples.  The  reason  and  piety  of 

u  Le  Clcrc  has  composed  a  critical  and  philosophical  life  of  Anicius 
Manlius  Severinus  Boethius,  (Bibliot.  Choisic,  torn,  xvi,  p.  168—275); 
and  botli  Tiraboschi  (torn. iii)  and  Fabricius  (Bibliot.  Latin.)  maybe 
usefully  consulted.  The  date  of  his  birth  may  be  placed  about  the 
year  470,  and  his  death  ia  524,  in  a  premature  old  age,  (Consol.  Phil. 
Metrica,  i,  p.  5). 

*  For  the  age  and  value  of  this  MS.  now  in  the  Medicean  library  at 
Florence,  see  the  Centotaphia  Pisana  (p.  430—417)  of  Cardinal  N  01  is. 

y  The  Athenian  studies  of  Boethius  are  doubtful,  (Boronius  A.  D. 
510,  N°.  3,  from  a  spurious  tract,  De  Disciplina  Scholarum),  and  the  term 
of  eighteen  years  is  doubtless  too  loiig:  but  the  simple  fact  of  a  visit 
to  Athens  is  justified  by  much  internal  evidence,  (Brurker,  Hist.  Crit. 
Philosoph.  turn,  iii,  p.  524—527),  and  by  an  expression  (though  vague 
and  ambiguous)  of  bis  friend  Casaidoriti*,  (Var.  i,  45),  "  longe  positas 
Athenas  intromti." 


44  THE  nr.CLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   their  Roman  pupil  were  fortunately  saved  from 

YV  YfV 

the  contagion  of  mystery  and  magic,  which  pol- 
luted the  groves  of  the  academy ;  but  he  imbib- 
ed the  spirit,  and  imitated  the  method,  of  his 
dead  and  living  masters,  who  attempted  to  re- 
concile the  strong  and  subtle  sense  of  Aristotle 
with  the  devoutcontemplation  and  sublime  fancy 
of  Plato.  After  his  return  to  Rome,  and  his 
marriage  with  the  daughter  of  his  friend,  the 
patrician  Symmachus,  Boethius  still  continued, 
in  a  palace  of  ivory  and  marble,  to  prosecute 
the  same  studies.1  The  church  was  edified  by 
his  profound  defence  of  the  orthodox  creed 
against  the  Arian,  the  Eutychian,  and  the  Nes- 
torian  heresies;  and  the  catholic  unity  was  ex- 
plained or  exposed  in  a  formal  treatise  by  the 
indifference  of  three  distinct  though  consubstan- 
tial  persons.  For  the  benefit  of  his  Latin  readers, 
his  genius  submitted  to  teach  the  first  elements 
of  the  arts  and  sciences  of  Greece.  The  geo- 
metry of  Euclid,  the  music  of  Pythagoras,  the 
arithmetic  of  Nicomachus,  the  mechanics  of 
Archimedes,  the  astronomy  of  Ptolemy,  the 
theology  of  Plato,  and  the  logic  of  Aristotle,  with 
the  commentary  of  Porphyry,  were  translated 
and  illustrated  by  the  indefatigable  pen  of  the 
Roman  senator.  And  he  alone  was  esteemed 
capable  of  describing  the  wonders  of  art,  a  sun- 
dial, a  water-clock,  or  a  sphere  which  represent- 

1  Bibliothecae  comptos  ebore  ac  vitro  parictes,  &c.  (Consol.  Phil.  I. 
i,  pros.  T,  p.  74).  The  Epistles  of  Ennodins,  (vi,  6;  vii,  13  ;  viii,  1,31, 
37, 40),  and  Cassiodorius,  (Var.  i,  39 ;  iv,  6 ;  ix,  21),  afford  many  proofs 
of  the  high  reputation  which  he  enjoyed  in  his  own  times.  It  is  true, 
that  the  bishop  of  Pa  via  wanted  to  purchase  of  him  an  old  house  At  Milan, 
and  praise  might  be  tendered  and  accepted  in  part  of  payment, 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  46 

ed  the  motions  of  the  planets.     From  these  ob-  CHAP. 

struse  speculations,  Boethius  stooped,  or,   to ^ 

speak  more  truly,  he  rose  to  the  social  duties 
of  public  and  private  life;  the  indigent  were 
relieved  by  his  liberality;  and  his  eloquence, 
which  flattery  might  compare  to  the  voice  of  De- 
mosthenes or  Cicero,  was  uniformly  exerted  in 
the  cause  of  innocence  and  humanity.  Such 
conspicuous  merit  was  felt  and  rewarded  by  a 
discerning  prince;  the  dignity  of  Boethius  was 
adorned  with  the  titles  of  consul  and  patrician, 
and  his  talents  were  usefully  employed  in  the 
important  station  of  master  of  the  offices.  Not- 
withstanding the  equal  claims  of  the  East  and 
West,  his  two  sons  were  created,  in  their  tender 
youth,  the  consuls  of  the  same  year.*  On  the 
memorable  day  of  their  inauguration,  they  pro- 
ceeded in  solemn  pomp  from  their  palace  to  the 
forum,  amidst  the  applause  of  the  senate  and 
the  people;  and  their  joyful  father,  the  true 
consul  of  Rome,  after  pronouncing  an  oration 
in  the  praise  of  his  royal  benefactor,  distribut- 
ed a  triumphal  largess  in  the  games  of  the  cir- 
cus. Prosperous  in  his  fame  and  fortunes,  in 
his  public  honours  and  private  alliances,  in  the 
cultivation  of  science  and  the  consciousness  of 
virtue,  Boethius  might  have  been  styled  happy, 
if  that  precarious  epithet  could  be  safely  ap- 
plied before  the  last  term  of  the  life  of  man. 

*  Pagi,  Mnratori,  &c.  are  agreed  that  Boethius  himself  was  consul  in 
the  year  S10  his  two  sons  in  522,  and  in  487,  perhaps,  his  father.  A 
drsire  of  ascribing  the  last  of  these  consulships  to  the  philosopher,  had 
perplexed  the  chronology  of  his  life.  In  bis  honours,  alliances,  rhiU 
drtn,  he  celebrate*  his  own  felict'y — his  past  felicity,  (p.  109,  110). 


4U  THF  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP        A  philosopher,  liberal  of  his  wealth,  and  par- 

Y  Y  YT  Y 

*.„  simonious  of  his  time,  might  be  insensible  to  the 
His  patri-  common  allurements  of  ambition,  the  thirst  of 
gold  and  employment.  And  some  credit  may 
be  due  to  the  asseveration  of  Boethius,  that  he 
had  reluctantly  obeyed  the  divine  Plato,  who 
enjoins  every  virtuous  citizen  to  rescue  the  state 
from  the  usurpation  of  vice  and  ignorance.  For 
the  integrity  of  his  public  conduct,  he  appeals 
to  the  memory  of  his  country.  His  authority 
had  restrained  the  pride  and  oppression  of  the 
royal  officers,  and  his  eloquence  had  delivered 
Paulianus  from  the  dogs  of  the  palace.  He 
had  always  pitied,  and  often  relieved,  the  dis- 
tress of  the  provincials,  whose  fortunes  were 
exhausted  by  public  and  private  rapine ;  and 
Boethius  alone  had  courage  to  oppose  the  ty- 
ranny of  the  barbarians,  elated  by  conquest, 
excited  by  avarice,  and,  as  he  complains,  en- 
couraged by  impunity.  In  these  honourable 
contests,  his  spirit  soared  above  the  considera- 
tion of  danger,  and  perhaps  of  prudence;  and 
we  may  learn  from  the  example  of  Cato,  that  a 
character  of  pure  and  inflexible  virtue  is  the 
most  apt  to  be  misled  by  prejudice,  to  be  heat- 
ed by  enthusiasm,  and  to  confound  private  enmi- 
ties with  public  justice.  The  disciple  of  Plato 
might  exaggerate  the  infirmities  of  nature,  and 
the  imperfections  of  society  ;  and  the  mildest 
form  of  a  Gothic  kingdom,  even  the  weight  of 
allegiance  and  gratitude,  must  be  insupportable 
to  the  free  spirit  of  a  Roman  patriot.  But  the 
favour  and  fidelity  of  Boethius  declined  in  just 
proportion  with  the  public  happiness ;  and  an 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  47 

unworthy  colleague  was  imposed,  to  divide  and    CHAP. 
controul  the  power  of  the  master  of  the  offices.  f^ 
Irithe  last  gloomy  season  of  Theodoric,  he  indig- 
nantly felt  that  he  was  a  slave ;  but  as  his  mas- 
ter had  only  power  over  his  life,  he  stood  with- 
out arms  and  without  fear  against  the  face  of  an 
angry  barbarian,  who  had  been  provoked   to 
believe  that  the  safety  of  the  senate  was  incom- 
patible with  his  own.      The  senator  AlbinusHeisac- 
was  accused,  and  already  convicted  on  the  pre- cused  of  » 

/•  7  •  i-i  treason. 

sumption  of  hoping,  as  it  was  said,  the  liberty 
of  Rome.  "  If  Albinus  be  criminal,"  exclaim - 
"  ed  the  orator,  "  the  senate  and  myself  are  all 
"  guilty  of  the  same  crime.  If  we  are  innocent, 
"  Albinus  is  equally  entitled  to  the  protection 
"  of  the  laws."  These  laws  might  not  have  pun- 
ished the  simple  and  barren  wish  of  an  unattain- 
able blessing ;  but  they  would  have  shewn  less 
indulgence  to  the  rash  confession  of  Boethius, 
that,  had  he  known  of  a  conspiracy,  the  tyrant 
never  should.b  The  advocate  of  Albinus  was 
soon  involved  in  the  danger,  and  perhaps  the 
guilt,  of  his  client ;  their  signature  (which  they 
denied  as  a  forgery)  was  affixed  to  the  original 
address,  inviting  the  emperor  to  deliver  Italy 
from  the  Goths  ;  and  three  witnesses  of  honour- 
able rank,  perhaps  of  infamous  reputation,  at- 
tested the  treasonable  designs  of  the  Roman 
patrician/  Yet  his  innocence  must  be  presum- 

b  Si  ego  scissem  tn  nescisses.  Boethius  adopts  this  answer  (1.  i,  pro*. 
4,  p.  53)  of  Julius  Canus,  whose  philosophic  death  is  described  by 
Seneca,  (De  Traiiquillitate  Animi,  c.  14). 

e  The  characters  of  his  two  delators,  Basilius,  (Var.  ii,  10, 11 ;  iv, 
22),  and  Opilio,  (v,  41  •,  viii,  16),  are  illustrated,  not  ranch  to  their  ho- 
nour, in  the  Epistles  of  Cassiodoriws,  which  likewise  mention  Decoratus, 
(v,  31),  the  worthless  colleague  of  Boetuins,  (1.  iii,  pros.  4,  p.  193). 


43  THE  DECLINE  ,^D  FALL 

CHAP,  ed,  since  he  was  deprived  by  Theodoric  of  the 
xxxix.  means  of  justification,  and  rigorously  confin- 
ed in  the  tower  of  Pavia,  while  the  senate,  at 
the  distance  of  five  hundred  miles,  pronounced 
a  sentence  of  confiscation  and  death  against  the 
most  illustrious  of  its  members.  At  the  com- 
mand of  the  barbarians,  the  occult  science  of  a 
philosopher  was  stigmatized  with  the  names  of 
sacrilege  and  magic/  A  devout  and  dutiful 
attachment  to  the  senate  was  condemned  as 
criminal  by  the  trembling  voices  of  the  senators 
themselves;  and  their  ingratitude  deserved  the 
wish  or  prediction  of  Boethius,  that,  after  him 
..  .  .  none  should  be  found  guilty  of  the  same  offence.* 

His  impri- 
sonment        While  Boethius,  oppressed  with  fetters,   ex- 

A.'O.  524!'  pected  each  moment  the  sentence  or  the  strok^ 
of  death,  he  composed  in  the  tower  of  Pavia  the 
Consolation  of  Philosophy,  a  golden  volume  not 
unworthy  of  the  leisure  of  Plato  or  Tully,  but 
which  claims  incomparable  merit  from  the  bar- 
barism of  the  times,  and  the  situation  of  the 
author.  The  celestial  guide  whom  he  had  so 
long  invoked  at  Rome  and  Athens,  now  conde- 
scended to  illumine  his  dungeon,  to  revive  his 

• 

*  A  severe  inquiry  was  instituted  into  the  crime  of  magic,  (Van  ir, 
S3,  23  ;  ix,  18) :  and  it  wa*  believed  that  many  necromancers  had  escap- 
ed by  making  their  gaolers  mail ;  for  mad,  I  should  read  drunk. 

'  Boethius  had  composed  his  own  Apology,  (p.  53),  perhaps  more 
interestin.il  than  his  Consolation.  We  must  be  content  with  the  gene- 
ral view  of  his  honours,  principles,  persecution,  (I.  i,  pros,  iv,  p.  42— 
62),  which  may  be  compared  with  the  short  and  weighty  words  of  tit 
Valesian  Fragment,  (p.  723).  An  anonymous  writer  (Sinner,  Catalog 
MSS.  IJibliot  Bern.  torn,  i,  p.  287)  charges  him  hoihe  with  honourable 
and  patriotic  treason.  , 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  49 

courage,  and  to  pour  into  his  wounds  her  salu-   CHAP. 

tary  balm.     She   taught  him  to  compare   his,,, „'„ 

long  prosperity  and  his  recent  distress,  and  to 
conceive  new  hopes  from  the  inconstancy  of  for- 
tune. Reason  had  informed  him  of  the  preca- 
rious condition  of  her  gifts  ;  experience  had  sa- 
tisfied him  of  their  teal  value  ;  he  had  enjoyed 
them  without  guilt ;  he  might  resign  them  with- 
out a  sigh,  and  calmly  disdain  the  impotent 
malice  of  his  enemies,  who  had  left  him  happi- 
ness, since  they  had  left  him  virtue.  From  the 
earth,  Boethius  ascended  to  heaven  in  search 
of  the  SUPREME  GOOD  ;  explored  the  metaphy- 
sical labyrinth  of  chance  and  destiny,  of  pre- 
science and  free  will,  of  time  and  eternity  ;  and 
generously  attempted  to  reconcile  the  perfect 
attributes  of  the  Deity,  with  the  apparent  dis- 
orders of  his  moral  and  physical  government. — 
Such  topics  of  consolation,  so  obvious,  so 
vague,  or  so  abstruse,  are  ineffectual  to  subdue 
the  feelings  of  human  nature.  Yet  the  sense  of 
misfortune  may  be  diverted  by  the  labour  of 
thought;  and  the  sage,  who  could  artfully 
combine  in  the  same  work,  the  various  riches 
of  philosophy,  poetry,  and  eloquence,  must  al- 
ready have  possessed  the  intrepid  calmness, 
which  he  affected  to  seek.  Suspense,  the  worst 
of  evils,  was  at  length  determined  by  the  mini- 
sters of  death,  who  executed,  and  perhaps  ex- 
ceeded, the  inhuman  mandate  of  Theodoric.  A 
strong  cord  was  fastened  round  the  head  of 
Boethius,  and  forcibly  tightened,  till  his  eyes 

VOL.   VII.  F 


50  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

xxxix  a^mos^  sorted  from  their   sockets  ;  and  some 

„'„  mercy  may  be  discovered  in  the  milder  torture 

of  beating  him  with  clubs  till  he  expired/  But 
his  genius  survived  to  diffuse  a  ray  of  know- 
ledge over  the  darkest  ages  of  the  Latin  world  ; 
the  writings  of  the  philosopher  were  translated 
by  the  most  glorious  of  the  English  kings,8 
and  the  third  emperor  of  the  name  of  Otho  re- 
moved to  a  more  honourable  tomb  the  bones  of 
a  catholic  saint,  who,  from  his  Arian  persecu- 
tors, had  acquired  the  honours  of  martyrdom, 
and  the  fame  of  miracles.11  In  the  last  hours  of 
Boethius,he  derived  some  comfort  from  the  safe- 
ty of  his  two  sons,  of  his  wife,  and  of  his  father- 
in-law,  the  venerable  Syminachus.  But  the 
grief  of  Symmachus  was  indiscreet,  and  per- 
haps disrespectful  :  he  had  presumed  to  la- 
Death  of  ment,  he  might  dare  to  revenge,  the  death  of  an 
chu»,  injured  friend.  He  was  dragged  in  chains  from 
A.  D.525.  Rome  to  the  palace  of  Ravenna ;  and  the  sus- 

f  He  was  executed  in  Argo  Calventiano,  (Calvenzano,  between  Ma- 
rignano  and  Pavia),  Anonym.  Vales,  p.  732,  by  order  of  Eusebius 
count  of  Ticinum  or  Pavia.  The  place  of  his  confinement  is  styled 
the  baptistery,  an  edifice  and  name  peculiar  to  cathedrals.  It  is  claim- 
ed by  the  perpetual  tradition  of  the  church  of  Pavia.  The  tower  cf 
Boethins  subsisted  till  the  year  1584,  and  the  draught  is  yet  preserved, 
(Tiraboschi,  torn,  iii,  p.  47,48). 

*  See  the  Biographica  Britanniea,  ALFRED,  torn,  i,  p.  SO,  2d  edit. 
The  work  is  still  more  honourable  if  performed  under  tht  learned  eye 
of  Alfred  by  his  foreign  and  domestic  doctors.  For  the  reputation  of 
Boethus  in  the  middle  ages*  consult  Brncker,  (Hist.  Crit.  Philosoph. 
torn,  iii,  p.  563,  566). 

h  The  inscription  on  his  new  tom,b  was  composed  by  the  preceptor 
of  Otho  the  third,  the  learned  Pope  Silvester  II,  who,  like  Boethins 
himself,  was  styled  a  magician  by  the  ignorance  of  the  times.  The  ca- 
tholic martyr  bad  carried  his  head  in  his  hands  a  considerable  way, 
(Baronius,  A.  D.  526,  N°.  17, 18);  yet,  on  a  similar  tale,  a  lady  of  my 
acquaintance  once  observed — "  La  distance  n'y  fait  rien  j  il  n'y  a  que 
*'  le  premier  pas  qui  coute.'" 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  51 

picions  of  Theodoric  could  only  be  appeased  by   CHAP. 
the  blood  of  an  innocent  and  aged  senator.' 

Humanity  will  be  disposed  to  encourage  any  Remorse 
report  which  testifies  the  jurisdiction  of  cqn-rffbVoV 
science  and  the  remorse  of  kings  ;  and  philoso-  ^°'JJC'52G 
phy  is  not  ignorant  that  the  most  horrid  spec-  A"s-  20. 
tres  are  sometimes  created  by  the  powers  of  a 
disordered  fancy,  and  the  weakness  of  a  dis- 
tempered body.  After  a  life  of  virtue  and  glo- 
ry, Theodoric  was  now  descending  with  shame 
and  guilt  into  the  grave:  his  mind  was  hum- 
bled by  the  contrast  of  the  past,  and  justly  a- 
larmed  by  the  invisible  terrors  of  futurity.  One 
evening,  as  it  is  related,  when  the  head  of  a 
large  fish  was  served  on  the  royal  table,*  he 
suddenly  exclaimed,  that  he  beheld  the  angry 
countenance  of  Symmachus,  his  eyes  glaring- 
fury  and  revenge,  and  his  mouth  armed  with 
long  sharp  teeth,  which  threatened  to  devour 
him.  The  monarch  instantly  retired  to  his 
chamber,  and,  as  he  lay  trembling  with  aguish 
cold  under  a  weight  of  bed-clothes,  he  expres- 
sed in  broken  murmurs  to  his  physician  Elpi- 
dius,  his  deep  repentance  for  the  murders  of 
Boethius  and  Syminachus.1  His  malady  in- 

1  Boethius  applauds  the  virtues  of  his  father-in-law,  (I.  i,  pros.  4,  p. 
69;  1.  ii,  pros.  4,  p.  118).  Procopius,  (Goth.  1.  i,  c.  i).  the  Valesian 
Fragment,  ^p.  721),  and  the  Historia  Miscella,  (I.  xv,  p.  105),  agree  in 
praising  the  superior  innocence  or  sanctity  of  Symrnaehus;  and  in  the 
estimation  of  the  legend,  the  guilt  of  his  murder  is  equal  to  the  impri- 
sonment of  a  pope. 

*  In  the  fanciful  eloquence  of  Ca'ssiodorius,  the  variety  of  sea  and 
river  fish  are  an  evidence  of  extensive  dominion ;  and  those  of  the 
Rhine,  of  Sicily,  and  of  the  Danube,  were  served  on  the  table  of  Theo- 
doric, (Var.  xii,  14).  The  monstrous  turbot  of  Domitian  (Juvenal. 
Satir.  iii,  39)  had  been  caught  on  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic. 

1  Procopius,  Goth.  1.  i,  c.  1.  But  he  might  have  informed  us,  whe- 
ther lie  had  received  this  curious  anecdote  from  common  report,  or 
from  the  mouth  of  the  royal  physician. 


52  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALI 

CHAP,  creased,  and  after  a  dysentery  which  continued 
three  days,  he  expired  in  the  palace  of  Raven- 
na, in  the  thirty- third,  or,  if  we  compute  from 
the  invasion  of  Italy,  in  the  thirty-seventh  year 
of  his  reign.  Conscious  of  his  approaching 
end,  he  divided  his  treasures  and  provinces 
between  his  two  grandsons,  and  fixed  the  Rhone 
as  their  common  boundary.01  Amalaric  was 
restored  to  the  throne  of  Spain.  Italy,  with  all 
the  conquests  of  the  Ostrogoths,  was  bequeath- 
ed to  Athalaric  ;  whose  age  did  not  exceed  ten 
years,  but  who  was  cherished  as  the  last  male 
offspring  of  the  line  of  Amali,  by  the  short  lived 

marriasre  of  his  mother  Amalasuntha  with  a 

~ 

royal  fugitive  of  the  same  blood."  In  the  pre- 
sence of  the  dying  monarch,  the  Gothic  chiefs 
and  Italian  magistrates  mutually  engaged  their 
faith  and  loyalty  to  the  young  prince,  and  to 
his  guardian  mother;  and  received  in  the  same 
awful  moment,  his  last  salutary  advice,  to  main- 
tain the  laws,  to  love  the  senate  and  people  of 
Rome,  and  to  cultivate  with  decent  reverence 
the  friendship  of  the  emperor.*  The  monument 

m  Procopins,  Goth.  1.  i,  c.  1, 2,  12,  13.  This  partition  had  been  di. 
rected  by  Theodoric,  though  it  was  not  executed  till  after  hit  death.— 
Regni  hereditatem  snperttes  reliqnit,*  (Isidor.  Chron.  p.  721,  edit. 
Grot.). 

"  Bt  rimund,  the  third  in  descent  from  Herman! ic,  king  of  the  O»- 
trogoihs,  had  retired  into  Spain,  where  he  lived  and  died  in  obscurity, 
(Joruandes,  c.  33,  p.  202,  edit.  Murator.).  See  the  discovery,  nup- 
tials, and  death  of  his  grandson  Eutharic,  (c.  58,  p.  220.)  His  Roman 
games  might  render  him  popular,  (Cassiodor.  in  Chron.) ;  but  Eutharic 
was  asper  in  religione,  (Anonym.  Vales,  p.  722,  723). 

0  See  the  counsels  of  Theodoric,  and  the  professions  of  his  succes- 
sor, in  Procopius,  (Goth.  1.  i,  c.  1,  2)  ;  Jornandes,  (c.  59,  p.  220,  221), 
and  Cassiodorius,  (Var.  viii,  1-7).  These  epistles  are  the  triumph  of 
his  ministerial  eloquence. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  £3 

of  Theodoric  was  erected  by  his  daughter  Ama-   CHAP. 

XXXIX 

lasuntha,  in  a  conspicuous  situation,  whichww_^ 
commanded  the  city  of  Ravenna,  the  harbour, 
and  the  adjacent  coast.  A  chapel  of  a  circular 
form,  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  is  crowned  by  a 
dome  of  one  entire  piece  of  granite :  from  the 
centre  of  the  dome,  four  columns  arose,  which 
supported,  in  a  vase  of  porphyry,  the  remains 
of  the  Gothic  king,  surrounded  by  the  brazen 
statues  of  the  twelve  apostles.p  His  spirit,  af- 
ter some  previous  expiation,  might  have  been 
permitted  to  mingle  with  the  benefactors  of 
mankind,  if  an  Italian  hermit  had  not  been  wit- 
ness in  a  vision  to  the  damnation  of  Theodoricp, 
whose  soul  was  plunged,  by  the  ministers  of 
divine  vengeance,  into  the  vulcano  of  Lipari, 
one  of  the  flaming  mouths  of  the  infernal  world/ 

*  Anonym.  Vales,  p.  742.  Agnellus  de  Yitis  Pont.  Raven,  in  Mura- 
tori  Script.  Rerum  Ital.  torn,  ii,  P.  i,  p.  67.  Albert!  Descrittione 
d'ltalia,  p.  311. 

i  This  legend  is  related  by  Gregory  I,  (Dialog,  iv,  36),  and  approved 
by  Baron ius,  (A.  D.  520,  N°.  28) ;  and  both  the  pope  and  cardinal  are 
grave  doctors,  sufficient  to  establish  a  probable  opinion. 

'  Theodoric  himself,  or  rather  Cassiodorius,  had  described  in  tragic 
•trains  the  vulcanos  of  Lipari;  (Clover.  Sicilia,  p.  406-410),  and  Vetm- 
(iv,  50). 


54  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 


CHAP.  XL. 

Elevation  of  Justin  the  elder — Reign  of  Justi- 
nian— I.  The  Empress  Theodora — II.  Fac- 
tions of  the  circus,  and  sedition  of  Constantino- 
ple— III.  Trade  and  manufacture  of  silk — IV. 
Finances  and  taxes — V.  Edifices  of  Justinian — 
Church  of  St.  Sophia — Fortifications  and  fron- 
tiers of  the  eastern  empire — Abolition  of  the 
schools  of  Athens,  and  the  consulship  of  Rome. 

CHAP.   THE  emperor  Justinian  was  born*  near  the 

'„„  ruins  of  Sardica,   (the  modern  Sophia),  of  an 

Birih  of  obscure  raceb  of  barbarians,0  the  inhabitants  of 
rdr  j3£"  a  wild  and  desolate  country,  to  which  the  names 
""D!  JOB.  of  Dardania,  of  Dacia,  and  of  Bulgaria,  have 
May  a,  been  successively  applied.  His  elevation  was 

or  A.  D.  *         r 

483,  May  prepared  by  the  adventurous  spirit  of  his  uncle 
Justin,  who,  with  two  other  peasants  of  the 
same  village,  deserted,  for  the  profession  of 
arms,  the  more  useful  employment  of  husband- 
men or  shepherds.*1  On  foot,  with  a  scanty 

a  There  is  some  difficulty  in  the  date  of  his  birth,  (Ludewig  in  Vit. 
Justiniani,  p.  125; ;  none  in  the  place — the  district  Bederiana— the 
village  Tauresium,  which  he  afterwards  decorated  with  his  name  aud 
splendour,  (D'Anville,  His>t.  de  1'Acad.  &c.  torn,  xxxi,  p  28T-292). 

b  The  names  of  these  Dardanian  peasants  are  Gothic,  and  almost 
English;  Justinian  is  a  translation  of  ttprauda,  (upright);  his  father 
Sabaiius,  (in  Graeco-barbarous  language  stipes),  was  styled  in  his  vil- 
lage Istock,  (Stock)  ;  his  mother  Bigleniza  was  softened  into  Vigilantia. 

c  Ludewig  (p.  127-135)  attempts  to  justify  the  Anician  name  of 
Justinian  and  Theodora,  and  to  connect  them  with  a  family  from  which 
the  house  of  Austria  has  been  derived. 

d  See  the  anecdotes  of  Procopins  (c.  6)  with  the  notes  of  N.  Al»- 
mannus.  The  satirist  would  not  have  sunk,  in  the  vague  and  decent 

appe'lation 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


provision  of  biscuit  in  their  knapsacks,  the  three   CHAP. 
youths  followed  the  high-road  of  Constantino-  ^,_ 
pie,  and  were  soon  inrolled,  for  their  strength 
and  stature,  among  the  guards  of  the  emperor 
Leo.     Under  the  two  succeeding  reigns,  the 
fortunate  peasant  emerged  to  wealth  and  ho- 
nours ;  and  his  escape  from  some  dangers  which 
threatened  his  life,  was  afterwards  ascribed  to 
the  guardian  angel  who  watches  over  the  fate 
of  kings.     His  long  and  laudable  service  in  the 
Isaurian  and  Persian  wars,  would  not  have  pre- 
served from  oblivion  the  name  of  Justin  ;  yet 
they    might  warrant  the   military   promotion, 
which  in  the  course  of  fifty  years  he  gradually 
obtained  ;  the  rank  of  tribune,  of  count,  and  of 
general,  the  dignity  of  senator,  and   the  com- 
mand of  the  guards,  who  obeyed   him  as  their 
chief,  at  the  important  crisis  when  the  emperor 
Anastasius  was  removed  from  the  world.    The 
powerful  kinsmen  whom  he  had  raised  and  en- 
riched, were  excluded  from  the  throne  ;  and  the 
eunuch  Amantius,  who  reigned  in  the  palace, 
had  secretly  resolved  to  fix  the  diadem  on  the 
head  of  the  most  obsequious  of  his   creatures. 
A  liberal  donative,  to  conciliate  the  suffrage  of 
the  guards,  was  intrusted  for  that  purpose  in 
the   hands   of  their  commander.      But  these  Elevation 
weighty  arguments  were  treacherously  employ-  ofhilT*" 
ed  by  Justin  in  his  own  favour;  and  as  no  corn-j"^  r 
petitor  presumed  to  appear,  the  Dacian  peasant  A-  D  518> 
was  invested  with   the  purple,  by  the  unani-A.  0.527, 
mous  consent  of  the  soldiers,  who  knew  him 


appellation  of  yi<afyG>>  the  (3axcx©^  and  auq>cf&&  of  Zonaras.  Yet  why 
are  (hose  names  disgraceful  ?  —  and  what  German  baron  vronlii  not  be 
proud  to  descent}  from  the  Enmaens  of  the  Odysstyf 


5(J  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CXL  P  '  ^e  brave  and  gentle  ;  of  the  clergy  and  people, 

.-. who  believed  him  to  be  orthodox,   and  of  the 

provincials,  who  yielded  a  blind  and  implicit 
submission  to  the  will  of  the  capital.  The  el- 
der Justin,  as  he  is  distinguished  from  another 
emperor  of  the  same  family  and  name,  ascend- 
ed the  Byzantine  throne  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight  years  ;  and,  had  he  been  left  to  his  own 
guidance,  every  moment  of  a  nine  years  reign 
must  have  exposed  to  his  subjects  the  impro- 
priety of  their  choice.  His  ignorance  was  si- 
milar to  that  of  Theodoric  ;  and  it  is  remarka- 
ble, that  in  an  age  not  destitute  of  learning,  two 
contemporary  monarchs  had  never  been  in- 
structed in  the  knowledge  of  the  alphabet. — 
But  the  genius  of  Justin  was  far  inferior  to  tha 
of  the  Gothic  king  :  the  experience  of  a  soldier 
had  not  qualified  him  for  the  government  of  an 
empire  ;  and,  though  personally  brave,  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  own  weakness  was  naturally 
attended  with  doubt,  distrust,  and  political  ap- 
prehension. But  the  official  business  of  the 
state  was  diligently  and  faithfully  transacted 
by  the  questor  Proclus  ;'  and  the  aged  empe- 
ror adopted  the  talents  and  ambition  of  his  ne- 
phew Justinian,  an  aspiring  youth,  whom  his 
uncle  had  drawn  from  the  rustic  solitude  of 
Pacia,  and  educated  at  Constantinople,  as  the 
heir  of  his  private  fortune,  and  at  length  of  the 
Eastern  empire. 

Since  the  eunuch  Amantius  had  been  defraud- 


His  virtues  are  praised  by  Procopius,  (Persic.  1.  i,  c.  11).     The 

qnestcr  Piociuiwas  the  friend  of  Justinian,  and  the  enemy  of  every 
other  adoption. 

r 

• 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.1  57 

ed  of  his  money,  it  became  necessary  to  deprive   CHAP. 

him  of  his  life.     The  task   was  easily  accom-  „ „'„„ 

plished  by  the  charge  of  a  real  or  fictitious  con-  Adoption 
spiracy ;  and  the  judges  were  informed,  as  an 
accumulation    of   guilt,     that  he  was  secretly   ' 
addicted  to  the  Manichaean  heresy/    Amantius  *27- 
lost   his  head ;    three  of  his  companions,  the 
first  domestics  of  the  palace,  were  punished 
either  with  death  or  exile ;  and  their  unfortu- 
nate candidate  for  the  purple  was  cast  into  a 
deep  dungeon,  overwhelmed  with  stones,  and 
ign ominously  thrown,  without  burial,  into  the      ' 
sea.     The  ruin  of  Vitalian  was  a  work  of  more 
difficulty  and  danger.     That  Gothic  chief  had 
rendered  himself  popular    by  the   civil    war      , 
which  he  boldly  waged  against  Anastasius  for 
the  defence  of  the  orthodox  faith,  and,  after  the 
conclusion  of  an   advantageous  treaty,  he  still 
remained  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Constantino- 
ple, at  the  head  of  a  formidable  and  victorious 
army  of  barbarians.     By  the  frail  security  of 
oaths,  he  was  tempted  to  relinquish  this  ad- 
vantageous situation,  and  to  trust  his  person 
within  the  walls  of  a  city,  whose  inhabitants, 
particularly  the  Hue  faction,  were  artfully  in- 
censed against  him  by  the  remembrance  even 
of  his  pious  hostilities.     The  emperor  and  his 
nephew  embraced  him  as  the  faithful  and  wor- 
thy champion  of  the  church   and  state;    and 
gratefully    adorned    their  favourite  with   the 

f  Manichaean  signifies  Eutycbian.  Hear  the  furious  acclamations  «t 
Constantinople  and  Tyre,  the  former  no  more  than  six  days  after  the 
decease  of  Auastasius.  They  produced,  the  latter  applauded,  the 
eunuch's  death,  (Baronius,  A.  D.  518,  P.  ii,  N°.  I>.  FHnry,  Hi-t. 
Eccle*.  torn,  vii,  p.  200,  205,  from  the  Councils,  torn.  *,  p.  182,  207). 


58  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   titles  of  consul  and  general ;  but  in  the  seventh 

'„„  month  of  his  consulship,  Vitalian  was  stabbed 

with  seventeen  wounds  at  the  royal  banquet  ;K 
and  Justinian,  who  inherited  the  spoil,  was  ac- 
cused as  the  assassin  of  a  spiritual  brother,  to 
whom  he  had  recently  pledged  his  faith  in  the 
participation  of  the  Christian  mysteries.11  After 
the  fall  of  his  rival,  he  was  promoted,  without 
any  claim  of  military  service,  to  the  office  of 
master-general  of  the  eastern  armies,  whom  it 
was  his  duty  to  lead  into  the  field  against  the 
public  enemy.  But,  in  the  pursuit  of  fame, 
Justinian  might  have  lost  his  present  dominion 
over  the  age  and  weakness  of  his  uncle ;  and 
instead  of  acquiring  by  Scythian  or  Persian 
trophies  the  applause  of  his  countrymen,1  the 
prudent  warrior  solicited  their  favour  in  the 
churches,  the  circus,  and  the  senate,  of  Con- 
stantinople. The  catholics  were  attached  to 
the  nephew  of  Justin,  who,  between  the  Nesto- 
rian  and  Eutychian  heresies,  trod  the  narrow 
path  of  inflexible  and  intolerant  orthodoxy/ — 

s  His  power,  character,  and  intentions,  are  perfectly  explained  by 
the  Count  de  Buat,  (torn,  ix,  p.  54-81).  He  was  great-grandson  of 
Aspar,  hereditary  prince  in  the  Lesser  Scythia,  and  count  of  the  Go- 
thic fttderati  of  Thrace.  The  Bcssi,  whom  he  could  influence,  are  the 
minor  Goths  of  Jornandes,  (c.  61). 

h  Justiniani  patricii  factione  dicitur  interfectus  fuisse,  (Victor  TH- 
mnifiisis,  Chron.  in  Thesaur.  Temp.  Scaliger,  P.  ii,  p.  7).  Procopius 
(Anecdot.  c.  7)«  styles  him  a  tyrant,  but  acknowledges  the  uli^oir^ia, 
which  is  well  explained  by  Alemannus. 

1  In  his  earliest  youth  (plane  adoletcens)  he  had  passed  some  time 
as  an  hostage  with  Tbeodoric.  For  this  curious  fact,  Alemannus  (ad 
Procop.  Anecdot.  c.  9,  p.  34,  of  the  first  edition)  quotes  a  MS.  history 
of  Justinian,  by  his  preceptor  Theophilus.  Ludewig  (p.  143)  wishes 
to  make  him  a  soldier. 

"  The  ecclesiastical  history  of  Justinian  will  be  shewn  hereafter.  See 
Maronius,  A.  D.  518  521,  and  the  copious  article  Jiistiniimus  in  the  in- 
dex to  the  viith  volume  of  his  Annals. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  59 

I u  the  first  days  of  the  new  reign,  he  prompted  CHAP. 
and  gratified  the  popular  enthusiasm  against  _/^_ 
the  memory  of  the  deceased  emperor.  After  a 
schism  of  thirty-four  years,  he  reconciled  the 
proud  and  angry  spirit  of  the  Roman  pontiff, 
and  spread  among  the  Latins  a  favourable  re- 
port of  his  pious  respect  for  the  apostolic  see. 
The  thrones  of  the  East  were  filled  with  catho- 
lic bishops  devoted  to  his  interest,  the  clergy 
and  the  monks  were  gained  by  his  liberality, 
and  the  people  were  taught  to  pray  for  their  fu- 
ture sovereign,  the  hope  and  pillar  of  the  true 
religion.  The  magnificence  of  Justinian  was 
displayed  in  the  superior  pomp  of  his  public 
spectacles,  an  object  not  less  sacred  and  im- 
portant in  the  eyes  of  the  multitude,  than  the 
creed  of  Nice  or  Chalcedon ;  the  expence  of 
his  consulship  was  esteemed  at  two  hundred 
and  eighty-eight  thousand  pieces  of  gold ; 
twenty  lions,  and  thirty  leopards,  were  produ- 
ced at  the  same  time  in  the  amphitheatre,  and 
a  numerous  train  of  horses,  with  their  rich 
trappings,  was  bestowed  as  an  extraordinary 
gift  on  the  victorious  charioteers  of  the  circus. 
While  he  indulged  the  people  of  Constantinople, 
and  received  the  addresses  of  foreign  kings,  the 
nephew  of  Justin  assiduously  cultivated  the 
friendship  of  the  senate.  That  venerable  name 
seemed  to  qualify  its  members  to  declare  the 
sense  of  the  nation,  and  to  regulate  the  succes- 
sion of  the  imperial  throne  :  the  feeble  Anasta- 
sius  had  permitted  the  vigour  of  government  to 
degenerate  into  the  form  or  substance  of  an 


6C  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    aristocracy ;  and  the  military  officers  who  had 

f '„„  obtained  the  senatorial  rank,  were  followed  by 

their  domestic  guards,  a  band  of  veterans,  whose 
arms  or  acclamations  might  fix  in  a  tumultuous 
moment  the  diadem  of  the  East.     The  trea- 
sures of  the  state  were  lavished  to  procure  the 
voices  of  the  senators ;  and   their  unanimous 
wish,  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  adopt  Justi- 
nian for  his  colleague,  was  communicated  to 
the   emperor.      But  this  request,    which    too 
clearly  admonished  him   of  his   approaching 
end,  was  unwelcome  to  the  jealous  temper  of  an 
aged    monarch,   desirous  to  retain  the  power 
which  he  was  incapable  of  exercising :  and  Jus- 
tin, holding  his  purple  with  both  his  hands,  ad- 
vised them  to  prefer,  since  an  election  was  so 
profitable,    some  older  candidate.      Notwith- 
standing this  reproach,  the  senate  proceeded  to 
decorate  Justinian  with  the  royal  epithet  of  no- 
blissimus ;  and  their  decree  was  ratified  by  the 
affection  or  the  fears  of  his  uncle.     After  some 
time  the  langour  of  mind  and  body,  to  which 
he  was  reduced  by  an  incurable  wound  in  his 
thigh,  indispensably  required  the  aid  of  a  guar- 
dian.    He  summoned  the  patriarch  and  sena- 
tors ;  and  in  their  presence  solemnly  placed  the 
diadem  on  the  head  of  his  nephew,   who  was 
conducted  from  the  palace  to  the  circus,  and 
saluted  by  the  loud  and  joyful  applause  of  the 
people.       The   life    of  Justin   was    prolonged 
about  four  months,  but  from  the  instant  of  this 
ceremony,   he  was  considered  as  dead  to  the 
empire,  which  acknowledged  Justinian,  in  the 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


forty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  for  the  lawful  sove-   CHAP. 
reign  of  the  East.1  ^^,. 

From  his  elevation  to  his  death,  Justinian  go-  The  reign 
verned  the  Roman  empire  thirty-eight  years  se-  n*ian°  A!  D. 


ven  months   and  thirteen  days.     The  events  of  if!^" 
his  reign,  which  excite  our  curious  attention  ^  Nov- 
by  their  number,  variety,   and  importance,   are 
diligently  related  by  the  secretary  of  Belisarius, 
a  rhetorician  whom  eloquence  had  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  senator  and  prefect  of  Constantino- 
ple.    According  to  the  vicissitudes  of  courage 
or  servitude,  of  favour  or  disgrace,  Procopiusm  ^  j*^"- 
successively  composed  the  history,  the  panegy-  ries.of  Pr» 
ric,  and  the  satire  of  his  own  times.     The  eight 
books  of  the  Persian,  Vandalic,  and  Gothic 
«vars,*  which  are  continued  in  the  five  books  of 
Affathias,  deserve  our  esteem  as  a  laborious  and 

"^ 

successful  imitation  of  the  Attic,  or  at  least  of 
the  Asiatic,  writers  of  ancient  Greece.  His 
facts  are  collected  from  the  personal  experience 

and  free  conversation  of  a  soldier,  a  statesman,       it 

'•  '^  ^n  R  ' 

1  The  reign  of  the  elder  Justin  may  be  found  io  the  three  Chronicle* 
of  Marcelliiius,  Victor,  and  John  Malala,  (torn,  ii,  p.  130-150),  the  last 
of  whom  (in  spite  of  Hody,  Prolegom*  N°.  14,  39,  edit.  Oxon.)  lived 
soon  after  Justinian,  (  Jorton's  remarks,  &c.  vol.  iv,  p.  383)  ;  in  the 
Ecclesiastical  History  of  Evagrias,  (1.  i  v,  c.  1.  2,  3,  9),  and  the  Excerp* 
ta  of  Thcodorus,  ^Lector.  N°.  37),  and  in  Cedrenus,  (p.  362-366),  and 
Zonaras,  (1.  xiv,  p.  58-61),  who  may  pass  for  an  original. 

m  See  the  characters  of  Procopius  and  Agathias  in  La  Mothe  le  Vay- 
er,  (torn,  viii,  p.  144-174)  ;  Vosius,  (de  Historicis  Graecis,  I.  ii,  c,  22), 
and  Fabricius,  (Bibliot.  Gnec.  1.  5,  c.  5,  torn,  vi,  p.  248-278).  Their 
religion,  an  honourable  problem,  betrays  occasional  conformity,  with 
Si  secret  attachment  to  paganism  and  philosophy. 

n  In  the  first  seven  books,  two  Persic,  two  Vandalic,  and  three  Go- 
thic, Procopius  has  borrowed  from  Appian  fhe  division  of  province* 
and  wars:  the  viiitii  book,  though  it  bears  the  name  of  Gothic,  is  a 
miscellaneous  and  general  supplement  down  to  the  spring  of  the  year 
653,  from  whence  it  is  continued  by  Agathias  till  569,  (Pagi,  Critiea, 
A.  D.  579,  N".  5). 


6-2 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 


CHAP,  and  a  traveller ;  his  style  continually  aspires, 
-  '*„'„..  and  often  attains,  to  the  merit  of  strength  and 
elegance  ;  his  reflections,  more  especially  in  the 
speeches,  which  he  too  frequently  inserts,  con- 
tain a  rich  fund  of  political  knowledge ;  and 
the  historian,  excited  by  the  generous  ambition 
of  pleasing  and  instructing  posterity,  appears 
to  disdain  the  prejudices  of  the  people,  and  the 
flattery  of  courts.  The  writings  of  Procopius* 
were  read  and  applauded  by  his  contempora- 
ries ;p  but,  although  he  respectfully  laid  them 
at  the  foot  of  the  throne,  the  pride  of  Justinian 
must  have  been  wounded  by  the  praise  of  an 
hero,  who  perpetually  eclipses  the  glory  of  his 
inactive  sovereign.  The  conscious  dignity  of 
independence  was  subdued  by  the  hopes  and 
fears  of  a  slave  ;  and  the  secretary  of  Belisarius 
laboured  for  pardon  and  reward  in  the  six 


0  The  literary  fate  of  Procopius  has  been  somewhat  unlucky.  1.  Hii 
books  de  Bello  Gothico  were  stolen  by  Leonard  Aretin, and  published 
(Fulginii,  1470  ;  Veuet.  1471,  apud  Janson ;  Mattaire,  Annal.  Typo- 
graph,  torn,  i,  edit,  posterior,  p.  290,  304,  279,  289)  in  his  own  name, 
(See  Vossius  de  Hist.  Lat.  1.  iii,  c.  5,  and  the  feeble  defence  of  the 
Venice  Giornale  de  Letterati,  torn.  xix.  p.  202).  2.  His  works  were 
mutilated  by  the  first  Latin  translators,  Christopher  Persona,  (Gior- 
nale, torn,  xix,  p.  340-348),  and  Raphael  de  Volaterra,(Huet  deClaru. 
Interpretibus,  p.- 166),  who  did  not  even  consult  the  MS.  of  the  Vati- 
can library,  of  which  they  were  prefects,  (Aleman.  in  Praefat.  Anec- 
dot.)  3.  The  Greek  text  was  not  printed  till  1607,  by  Hoeschelius  of 
Augsburgh,  (Dictionaire  de  Bayle,  torn,  ii,  p.  782).  4.  The  Paris  edi- 
tion was  imperfectly  executed  by  Claude  Maltret,  a  Jesuit  of  Thou- 
louse,  (in  1663),  far  distant  from  the  Louvre  press  and  the  Vatican  MS 
from  which,  however,  he  obtained  some  supplements.  His  promised 
commentaries,  &c.  have  never  appeared.  The  Agathias  of  Leyden 
(1594)  has  been  wisely  reprinted  by  the  Paris  editor,  with  the  Latin 
version  of  Bonaventura  Vulcanius,  a  learned  interpreter,  (Huet  p.  176) 

r  Agathias  in  Praefat.  p.  7,  8, 1.  iv,  p.  137      Evagrim,  1.  iv,  c.  12.— 
See  likewise  Photius,  cod.  Ixiii,  p.  65. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE*  (33 

books  of  the  imperial  edifices.  He  had  dexter-  CHAP. 
ously  chosen  a  subject  of  apparent  splendour,  __^,_ 
in  which  he  could  loudly  celebrate  the  genius, 
the  magnificence,  and  the  piety  of  a  prince,  who, 
both  as  a  conqueror  and  a  legislator,  had  sur- 
prised the  puerile  virtues  of  Theinistocles  and 
Cyrus.p  Disappointment  might  urge  the  flat- 
terer to  secret  revenge  ;  and  the  first  glance  of 
favour  might  again  tempt  him  to  suspend  and 
suppress  a  libel  ;r  in  which  the  Roman  Cyrus 
is  degraded  into  an  odious  and  contemptible 
tyrant,  m  which  both  the  emperor  and  his  con- 
sort Theodora  are  seriously  represented  as  two 
demons,  who  had  assumed  an  human  form  for 
the  destruction  of  mankind.*  Such  base  incon- 
sistency must  doubtless  sully  the  reputation, 
and  detract  from  the  credit,  of  Procopius  :  \L(, 
after  the  venom  of  his  malignity  has  been  suf- 
fered to  exhale,  the  residue  of  the  anecdotes^ 
even  the  most  disgraceful  facts,  some  of  which 
had  been  tenderly  hinted  in  his  public  history, 

i  Kvpa  ittulti*  (says  he,  Praefat.  ad  1.  de  Edificiis  xspi  tnnr^ariei)  is  i.o 
more  than  Kupa  waitw— a  pun !  In  these  five  books,  Procopius  affects  a 
Christian,  as  well  as  a  courtly  style. 

r  Procopius  discloses  himself,  (Praefat.  ad  Anecdot.  c.  1.  2,  5),  and 
the  anecdotes  are  reckoned  as  the  ixth  book  by  Suidas,  (torn,  iii,  p. 
186,  edit.  Kuster).  The  silence  of  Evagrius  is  a  poor  objection.  Ba- 
ronius  (A.  D.  548,  N°.  24)  regrets  the  loss  of  this  secret  history:  it 
was  then  in  the  Vatican  library,  in  his  own  custody,  and  was  first  pub- 
lished sixteen  years  after  his  death,  with  the  learned,  but  partial,  note* 
of  Nicholas  Alemannus,  (Lndg.  1623). 

*  Justinian  an  ass — the  perfect  likeness  of  Domitian— (Anecdot.  c. 
8) — Theodora's  lovers  driven  from  her  bed  by  rival  demons— her  mar- 
riage- foretold  with  a  great  demon — a  monk  saw  the  prince  of  the  de 
rnons,  instead  of  Justinian,  on  the  throne— the  servants  who  watched, 
beheld  a  face  without  features,  a  body  walking  without  an  head,  &c. 
Ac.  Procopius  declares  his  own  and  his  friends  belief  in  these  diabo- 
lical stories,  (c.  12). 


64  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.  are  established  by  their  internal  evidence,  or 
.„...'„..  the  authentic  monuments  of  the  times.1  From 
these  various  materials,  I  shall  now  proceed  to 
describe  the  reign  of  Justinian,  which  will  de- 
serve and  occupy  an  ample  space.  The  pre- 
sent chapter  will  explain  the  elevation  and  cha- 
racter of  Theodora,  the  factions  of  the  circus, 
and  the  peaceful  administration  of  the  sovereign 
of  the  East.  In  the  three  succeeding  chapters, 
I  shall  relate  the  wars  of  Justinian  which 
achieved  the  conquest  of  Africa  and  Italy  ;  and 
I  shall  follow  the  victories  of  Belisarius  and 
Narses,  without  disguising  the  vanity  of  their 
triumphs,  or  the  hostile  virtue  of  the  Persian 
and  Gothic  heroes.  The  series  of  this  and  the 
following  volume  will  embrace  the  jurispru- 
dence and  theology  of  the  emperor ;  the  con- 
troversies and  sects  which  still  divide  the  orien- 
tal church ;  the  reformation  of  the  Roman  law, 
which  is  obeyed  or  respected  by  the  nations  of 
modern  Europe. 

,  and      I.  In  the  exercise  of  supreme  power,  the  first 
of    act  of  Justinian  was  to  divide  it  with  the  woman 

tlie  em- 

press        whom  he  lived,  the  famous  Theodora/  whose 
a*  strange  elevation  cannot  be  applauded  as  the  tri- 
umph of  female  virtue.  Under  the  reign  of  Anasta- 
sius,  the  care  of  the  wild  beasts  maintained  by 

*  Montesquieu  (Considerations  sur  la  Grandeur  et  la  Decadence  drs 
jRomains,  c.  xx)  gives  credit  to  these  anecdotes,  as  connected,  1  ,  with 
the  weakness  of  the  empire,  and,  2,  with  the  instability  of  Justinian's 
laws. 

u  Porthe  life  and  manners  of  the  empress  Theodora,  see  the  Anec- 
dotes; more  especially  c.  1-6,  9,  10-15,  16,  17,  with  the  learned  soles 
of  Alemannus — >a  reference  of  which  is  always  implied. 


the  green  faction  of  Constantinople,  was  intrusted  CHAP. 

to  Acacius,  a  native  of  the  isle  of  Cyprus,  who, _L 

from  his  employment  was  surnamed  the  master 
of  the  bears.  This  honourable  office  was  given 
after  his  death  to  anothercandidate,notwithstand- 
ing  the  diligence  of  his  widow,  who  had  already 
provided  a  husband  and  a  successor.  Acacius  had 
left  three  daughters,  Comito,*  THEODORA,  and 
Anastasia,  the  eldest  of  whom  dicHiot  then  ex- 
ceed the  age  of  seven  years.  On  a  solemn  fes- 
tival, these  helpless  orphans  were  sent  by  their 
distressed  and  indignant  mother,  in  the  garb  of 
suppliants,  into  the  midst  of  the  theatre:  the 
green  faction  received  them  with  contempt,  the 
blues  with  compassion;  and  this  difference, 
which  sunk  deep  into  the  mind  of  Theodora, 
was  felt  long  afterwards  in  the  administration 
of  the  empire.  As  they  improved  in  age  and 
beauty,  the  three  sisters  were  successively  de- 
voted to  the  public  and  private  pleasures  of  the 
Byzantine  people;  and  Theodora,  after  following 
Comito  on  the  stage,  in  the  dress  of  a  slave,  with 
a  stool  on  her  head,  was  at  length  permitted  to 
exercise  her  independent  talents.  She  neither 
danced,  nor  sung,  nor  played  on  the  flute;  her 
skill  was  confined  to  the  pantomime  arts;  she 
excelled  in  buffoon  characters,  and  as  often  as 
the  comedian  swelled  her  cheeks,  and  com- 
plained with  a  ridiculous  tone  and  gesture  of 

x  Comito  was  afterwards  married  to  Sittas  duke  of  Armenia,  the  fa* 
thcr  perhaps,  at  least  she  might  be  the  mother,  of  the  empress  Sophia. 
Two  nepiiews  of  Theodora  may  be  the  sons  of  Anastasia,  (Aleman.  p, 
3*  31). 

VOL.  VII.  F 


QQ  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALJ 

CHAP,  the  blows  that  were  inflicted,  the  whoie  theatre 
^'ffff  of  Constantinople  resounded  with  laughter  and 
applause.  The  beauty  of  Theodora1  was  the 
subject  of  more  flattering  praise,  and  the  source 
of  more  exquisite  delight.  Her  features  were 
delicate  and  regular ;  her  complexion,  though 
somewhat  pale,  was  tinged  with  a  natural  co- 
lour; every  sensation  was  instantly  expressed 
by  the  vivacity  of  her  eyes ;  her  easy  motions 
displayed  the  graces  of  a  small  but  elegant  fi- 
gure ;  and  either  love  or  adulation  might  pro- 
claim, that  painting  and  poetry  were  incapable  of 
delineating  the  matchless  excellence  of  her  form. 
But  this  form  was  degraded  by  the  facility  with 
which  it  was  exposed  to  the  public  eye,  and  pro- 
stituted to  licentious  desire.  Her  venal  charms 
were  abandoned  to  a  promiscuous  crowd  of 
citizens  and  strangers,  of  every  rank,  and  of  every 
profession  ;  the  fortunate  lover  who  had  been 
promised  a  night  of  enjoyment,  was  often  driven 
from  her  bed  by  a  stronger  or  more  wealthy  fa- 
vourite ;  and  when  she  passed  through  the  streets, 
her  presence  was  avoided  by  all  who  wished  to 
escape  either  the  scandal  or  the  temptation. 
The  satirical  historian  has  not  blushed2  to  de- 


>"  Her  statue  was  raised  at  Constantinople,  on  a  porphyry  column. 
See  Procopius,  (de  Edif.  1.  i,  c.  11),  who  gives  her  portrait  in  the 
Anecdotes,  (c.  10).  Alcraan.  (p.  47)  produces  one  from  a  Mosaic  at 
Ravenna,  loaded  with  pearls  and  jewels,  and  yet  handsome. 

z  A  fragment  of  the  Anecdotes,  (c.  9),  somewhat  too  naked,  was  sup- 
pressed by  Alemannus,  though  extant  in  the  Vatican  MS. ;  nor  has  the 
defect  been  supplied  in  the  Paris  or  Venice  editions.  La  Mothe  le 
Vayer  (torn,  viii,  p-  155)  gave  the  first  hint  of  this  carious  and  genuine 
passage,  (Jortin's  Remarks,  vol.  iv,  p.  366),  which  he  had  received 
from  Rome,  and  it  has  been  since  published  in  the  Menegiana,  (tow. 
iii,  p.  264— '239^,  with  a  latin  version. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  67 

ecribe  the  naked  scenes  which  Theodora  was    CHAP. 

YT 

not  ashamed  to  exhibit  in  the  theatre.*  After  ____  ,„'„„ 
exhausting  the  arts  of  sensual  pleasure,11  she 
most  ungratefully  murmured  against  the  parsi- 
mony of  Nature  ;c  but  her  murmurs,  her  plea- 
sures, and  her  arts,  must  be  veiled  in  the  ob- 
scurity of  a  learned  language.  After  reigning 
for  some  time,  the  delight  and  contempt  of  the 
capital,  she  condescended  to  accompany  Ece- 
bolus,  a  native  of  Tyre,  who  had  obtained  the 
government  of  the  African  Pentapolis.  But  this 
union  was  frail  and  transient  :  Ecebolus  soon 
rejected  an  expensive  or  faithless  concubine; 
she  was  reduced  at  Alexandria  to  extreme  dis- 
tress ;  and  in  her  laborious  return  to  Constan- 
tinople, every  city  of  the  East  admired  and  en- 
joyed the  fair  Cyprian,  whose  merit  appeared  to 
justify  her  descent  from  the  peculiar  island  of 
Venus,  The  vague  commerce  of  Theodora, 
and  the  most  detestable  precautions,  preserved 
her  from  the  danger  which  she  feared  ;  yet  once, 

*  After  the  mention  of  a  narrow  girdle,  (as  none  could  appear  stark- 
naked  in  the  theatre),  Procopius  thus  proceeds.—  Amirtir-ronvia  TE  I>T* 

E$A$E<     UTTTltt    EXEJTO.        ©»!TE{    Si     T(VE{     ....    Xpldttf    «UT»|   U7TEJ&EV    TMV  CuJ»l*ir 

ijijiTTTOV  aj  JE  oi  J£lV6f,  oi  t  J  Tttrt  ffajEr^suao-jUSvoi  EVTUJ/^*VSV  T«J;  fOfAag-iv  EiSsvJs 

na-ra.    fA.ta.-j  aviAojUEvoi   Eitrdiov.      I    have    heard  that   a   learned  prelate, 
now  deceased,  was  fond  of  quoting  this  passage  in  conversation. 

b  Theodora  surpassed  the  Crispa  of  Ausonius,  (Epigram  Ixxi  ),  who 
imitated  the  capitalis  luxus  of  the  females  of  Nola.  See  Quintiiian  In- 
stitut.  viii,  6,  and  Torentius  ad  Horat.  Sermon.  1.  i,  sat.  2,  v.  101.  At 
a  memorable  supper,  thirty  slaves  waited  jound  the  table  ;  ten  young 
men  feasted  with  Theodora.  Her  charity  was  universal. 

Et  lassata  viris,  necdum  satiata,  rccessit. 


vii  en 

it  fjiit  *ai  TiiTtf;  avTn  ivpirrsfm  x  vuv  urt  TJUTTIDV,  »ll(ai;  Suvarn  Et*  xm  tuitn 
ifya.^i^a.1.  She  wished  for  a  fourth  all;-;-,  on  wliich  she  might  ponr  li* 
hations  to  the  god  of  love. 


68  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

1  CHAP  and  once  only,  she  became  a  mother.  The  in- 
XL  fant  was  saved  and  educated  in  Arabia,  by  his 
"  father,  who  imparted  to  him  on  his  death-bed, 
that  he  was  the  son  of  an  empress.  Filled  with 
ambitious  hopes,  the  unsuspecting  youth  imme- 
diately hastened  to  the  palace  of  Constantinople, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  presence  of  his  mother. 
As  he  was  never  more  seen,  even  after  the  de- 
cease of  Theodora,  she  deserves  the  foul  impu- 
tation of  extinguishing  with  his  life  a  secret  so 
offensive  to  her  imperial  virtue. 

Her  mar-       In  the  most  abject  state  of  her  fortune  and 

riage  with  , .  .    .  .  ,  ..      ,  .. 

Jmtinian.  reputation,  some  vision,  either  of  sleep  or  of 
fancy,  had  whispered  to  Theodora  the  pleasing 
assurance  that  she  was  destined  to  become  the 
spouse  of  a  potent  monarch.  Conscious  of  her 
approaching  greatness,  she  returned  from  Paph- 
lagonia  to  Constantinople;  assumed,  like  a 
skilful  actress,  a  more  decent  character;  reliev- 
ed her  poverty  by  the  laudable  industry  of  spin- 
ning wool;  and  affected  a  life  of  chastity  and 
solitude  in  a  small  house,  which  she  afterwards 
changed  into  a  magnificent  temple/  Her  beau- 
ty, assisted  by  art  or  accident,  soon  attracted, 
captivated,  and  fixed,  the  patrician  Justinian, 
who  already  reigned  with  absolute  sway  under 
the  name  of  his  uncle.  Perhaps  she  contrived 
to  enhance  the  value  of  a  gift  which  she  had  so 
often  lavished  on  the  meanest  of  mankind :  per- 
haps she  inflamed,  at  first  by  modest  delays, 

*  Anonym,  de  Autiqnitat.  C.  P.  1.  iii,  132,  in  Banduri  Impcrium 
Orient,  torn.  i.  p.  48.  Lud  wig  (p.  164)  argues  sensibly  that  Theodora 
would  not  have  immortalized  a  brothel:  but  I  apply  this  fact  to  her 
second  and  chaster  residence  at  Constantinople. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  69 

and  at  last  by  sensual  allurements,  the  desires   CHAP. 

VT 

of  a  lover,  who  from  nature  or  devotion  was  ad-  „„„,'„, 
dieted  to  long  vigils  and  abstemious  diet.  When 
his  first  transports  had  subsided,  she  still  main- 
tained the  same  ascendant  over  his  mind,  by  the 
more  solid  merit  of  temper  and  understanding. 
Justinian  delighted  to  ennoble  and  enrich  the 
object  of  his  affection ;  the  treasures  of  the  East, 
were  poured  at  her  feet,  and  the  nephew  of  Jus- 
tin was  determined,  perhaps  by  religious  scru- 
ples to  bestow  on  his  concubine  the  sacred  and 
legal  character  of  a  wife.  But  the  laws  of 
Rome  expressly  prohibited  the  marriage  of  a 
senator  with  any  female  who  had  been  disho- 
noured by  servile  origin  or  theatrical  profes- 
sion: the  empress  Lupicina,  or  Euphemia,  a 
barbarian  of  rustic  manners,  but  of  irreproach- 
able virtue,  refused  to  accept  a  prostitute  for 
her  niece :  and  even  Vigilantia,  the  superstitious 
mother  of  Justinian,  though  she  acknowledged 
the  wit  and  beauty  of  Theodora,  was  seriously 
apprehensive,  lest  the  levity  and  arrogance  of 
that  artful  paramour  might  corrupt  the  piety 
and  happiness  of  her  son.  These  obstacles 
were  removed  by  the  inflexible  constancy  of 
Justinian.  He  patiently  expected  the  death  of 
the  empress ;  he  despised  the  tears  of  his  mo- 
ther, who  soon  sunk  under  the  weight  of  her 
affliction ;  and  a  law  was  promulgated  in  the 
name  of  the  emperor  Justin,  which  abolished 
the  rigid  jurisprudence  of  antiquity.  A  glori- 
ous repentance  (the  words  of  the  edict)  was  left 
open  for  the  unhappy  females  who  had  prosti- 
tuted their  persons  on  the  theatre,  and  they  were 


70  THE  DECLINE   AND  FALL 

CHAP,  permitted  to  contract  a  legal  union  with  the 
~J,J^  most  illustrious  of  the  Romans.'  This  indul- 
gence was  speedily  followed  by  the  solemnjiup- 
tials  of  Justinian  and  Theodora;  her  dignity 
was^FatluaTIy  exalted  witfi  that  of  her  lover; 
and,  as  soon  as  Justin  had  invested  his  nephew 
with  the  purple,  the  patriarch  of  Constantinople 
placed  the  diadem  on  the  heads  of  the  emperor 
and  empress  of  the  East.  But  the  usual  ho- 
nours which  the  severity  of  Roman  manners 
had  allowed  to  the  wives  of  princes,  could  not 
satisfy  either  the  ambition  of  Theodora  or  the 
fondness  of  Justinian.  He  seated  her  on  the 
throne  as  an  equal  and  independent  colleague 
in  the  sovereignty  of  the  empire,  and  an  oath  of 
allegiance  was  imposed  on  the  governors  of  the 
provinces  in  the  joint  names  of  Justinian  and 
Theodora/  The  eastern  world  fell  prostrate 
before  the  genius  and  Fortune VftfTcTclaughter  of 
Acacius.  The  prostitute,  who,  in  the  presence 
of  innumerable  spectators,  had  polluted  the 
theatre  of  Constantinople,  was  adored  as  a  queen 
in  the  same  city,  by  grave  magistrates,  orthodox 

'  See  the  old  law  in  Justinian's  Code,  (1.  v,  tit.  v,  leg.  7 ;  tit.  xxvii, 
leg.  1),  under  the  years  33G  and  454.  The  new  edict  (about  the  year 
521  or  522,  Alenian.  p.  38,  96)  very  awkwardly  repeals  no  more  than 
the  cause  of  mulicres  scenic*,  libertinze,  tabernariae.  See  the  novels 
89  and  117,  and  a  Greek  rescript  from  Justinian  to  the  bishops,  (Ale- 
nian.  p.  41i. 

f  I  swear  by  the-father,  &c.  by  the  Virgin  Mary,  by  the  four  Gospels, 
quae  in  manibus  teneo,  and  by  the  holy  archangels  Michael  and  Ga- 
briel, puratu  conscieutiam  germanumqtie  servitium  me  servatnrnm, 
sacratissimis  DDNN.  Jnstiniano  et  Theodore  conjtigi  ejus  (Novell, 
viii,  tit.  3).  Would  the  oath  have  been  binding  in  favour  of  the  wi» 
(low?  Communes  titnli  et  triumph!,  &c.  (Aleman.  p.  17,  48). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  71 

jishops,   victorious  generals,  and  captive  mo-  JCHAP. 

iarchs.E  L™~ 

Those  who  believe  that  the  female  mind  is 
totally  depraved  by  the  loss  of  chastity,  will 
eagerly  listen  to  all  the  invectives  of  private  envy 
or  popular  resentment,  which  have  dissembled 
the  virtues  of  Theodora,  exaggerated  her  vices, 
and  condemned  with  rigour  the  venal  or  volun- 
tary sins  of  the  youthful  harlot.  From  a  mo- 
tive of  shame  or  contempt,  she  often  declined 
the  servile  homage  of  the  multitude,  escaped 
from  the  odious  light  of  the  capital,  and  passed 
the  greatest  part  of  the  year  in  the  palaces  and 
gardens  which  were  pleasantly  seated  on  the 
sea-coast  of  the  Propontis  and  the  Bosphorus. 
Her  private  hours  were  devoted  to  the  prudent 
as  well  as  grateful  care  of  her  beauty,  the  luxury 
of  the  bath  and  table,  and  the  long  slumber  of 
the  evening  and  the  morning.  Her  secret  apart- 
ments were  occupied  by  the  favourite  women 
and  eunuchs,  whose  interests  and  passions  she 
indulged  at  the  expence  of  justice;  the  mostil- 
lustrious  personages  of  the  state  were  crowded 
into  a  dark  and  sultry  anti-chamber,  and  when 
at  last,  after  tedious  attendance,  they  were  ad- 
mitted to  kiss  the  feet  of  Theodora,  they  experi- 
enced, as  her  humour  might  suggest,  the  silent 
arrogance  of  an  empress,  or  the  capricious  levity 
of  a  comedian.  Her  rapacious  avarice  to  ac- 
cumulate an  immense  treasury,  may  be  excused 
by  the  apprehension  of  her  husband's  death, 

„   B        "  Let  greatness  own  her,  and  she's  mean  no  more,"  <kc. 
Without  Warburton's  critical  telescope,  1  should  never  have  seen,  in 
the  general  picture  of  triumphant  vice,  any  personal  allusion  to  Theo- 
•iora. 


72  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    which  could  leave  no  alternative  between  ruin 

^JJS and  the  throne;  and  fear  as  well  as  ambition 

might  exasperate  Theodora  against  two  gene- 
rals, who,  during  a  malady  of  the  emperor,  had 
rashly  declared  that  they  were  not  disposed  to 
acquiesce  in  the  choice  of  the  capital.  But  the 
reprpach  of  cruelty,  so  repugnant  even  to  her 
softer  vices,  has  left  an  indelible  stain  on  the 
memory  of  Theodora.  Her  numerous  spies  ob 
served,  and  zealously  reported,  every  action,  or 
word,  or  look,  injurious  to  their  royal  mistress. 
Whomsoever  they  accused  were  cast  into  her 
peculiar  prisons,11  inaccessible  to  the  inquiries 
of  justice;  and  it  was  rumoured,  that  the  tor- 
ture of  the  rack,  or  scourge,  had  been  inflicted 
in  the  presence  of  a  female  tyrant,  insensible  to 
the  voice  of  prayer  or  of  pity,1  Some  of  these 
unhappy  victims  perished  in  deep  unwholesome 
dungeons,  while  others  were  permitted,  after 
the  loss  of  their  limbs,  their  reason,  or  their  for- 
tune, to  appear  in  the  world  the  living  monu- 
ments of  her  vengeance,  which  was  commonly 
extended  to  the  children  of  those  whom  she  had 
suspected  or  injured.  The  senator  or  bishop, 
whose  death  or  exile  Theodora  had  pronounc- 
ed, was  delivered  to  a  trusty  messenger,  and 
his  diligence  was  quickened  by  a  menace  from 
her  own  mouth.  "  If  you  fail  in  the  execution 
"  of  my  commands,  I  swear  by  him  who  liveth 

h  Her  prisons,  a  labyrinth,  a  Tartarus,  (Anecdot.  c.  4),  were  under 
the.  palace.  Darkness  is  propitious  to  cruelty,  but  it  is  likewise  fa- 
vourable to  calumny  and  fiction. 

'  A  more  jocular  whipping  was  inflicted  on  Satnrninus,  for  presum- 
ing to  say  that  his  wife,  a  favourite  of  the  empreM,  had  not  been 
found  «T/,«r«f,  Anecdot.  c.  17> 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  73 

**  for  ever,   that  your  skin  shall  be  flayed  from   CHAP. 
"  your  body.vk  ,  J^« 

If  the  creed  of  Theodora  had  not  been  tainted  Her  vir. 
with  heresy,  her  exemplary  devotion  might  have 
atoned,  in  the  opinion  of  her  contemporaries,  for 
pride,  avarice,  and  cruelty.  But  if  she  employ- 
ed her  influence  to  assuage  the  intolerant  fury  of 
the  emperor,  the  present  age  will  allow  some 
merit  to  her  religion,  and  much  inoHiTgenceto  her 
speculative  errors?  The  name  of  Theodora  was 
introduced  with  equal  R^on^nai7^^^''tne"'prous 

,    ..    ..  _    _        A.....     -.,-.-.  '•     -         -      ...  .  .....       *•-.-  :     • 

and  charitable  foundations  of  Justinian ;  and  the 
mosf  benevolent  institution  of  his  reign  may  be 
ascribed  to  the  sympathy  of  the  empress  for  her 
less  fortunate  sisters,  who  had  been  seduced  or 
compelled  to  embrace  the  trade  of  prostitution. 
A  palace,  on  the  Asiatic  side  of  the  Bosphorus, 
was  converted  into  a  stately  and  spacious  mo- 
nastery, and  a  liberal  maintenance  was  assign- 
ed to  five  hundred  women,  who  had  been  col- 
lected from  the  streets  and  brothels  of  Constan- 
tinople. In  this  safe  and  holy  retreat,  they 
were  devoted  to  perpetual  confinement;  and 
the  despair  of  some,  who  threw  themselves 
headlong  into  the  sea,  was  lost  in  the  gratitude 
of  the  penitents,  who  had  been  delivered  from 
sin  and  misery  by  their  generous  benefactress.1* 

k  Per  viventem  in  sscula  excoriari  te  faciam.  Anastasius  de  Vitit 
Pont.  Roman,  in  Vigilio,  p.  40. 

1  .Ludewig.  p.  161 — 166.  I  give  him  credit  for  the  chrritable  at- 
tempt, although  he  hath  not  much  charity  in  his  temper. 

m  Compare  the  Anecdotes  (c.  17)  with  the  Edifices,  (1.  i,  c.  9).  How 
differently  may  the  same  fact  be  stated  !  John  Malula  (toni.  ii,  p.  174, 
175)  observes,  that  on  this,  or  a  similar  occasion,  she  released  and 
clothed  the  girls  whom  she  had  purchased  from  the  stews  at  five  aim  i 
a  piece. 


74 


THE  I :ii.C LINE  AND  FALL 


CHAP.   The  prudence  of  Theodora  is  celebrated  by  Jus 
tinian  himself:  and  his  laws  are  attributed  to 

•*y~1 *— *"""       'Tt i__i  M*  •^MtlMMEBME"^""' 

the  sage  counsels  of  his  most  reverend  wife, 
whom  he  had  received  as  the  gift  of  the  deity." 
Her  courage  was  displayed  amidst  the  tumult 
of  the  people  and  the  terrors  of  the  court.  Her 
chastity,  from  the  moment  of  her  union  with  Jus- 
tinian, is  founded  on  the  silence  of  her  implac- 
able enemies:  and,  although  the  daughter  of 
Acacius  might  be  satiated  with  love,  yet  some 
applause  is  due  to  the  firmness  of  a  mind  which 
could  sacrifice  pleasure  and  habit  to  the  stronger 
sense  either  of  duty  or  interest.  The  wishes 
and  prayers  of  Theodora  could  never  obtain  the 
blessing  of  a  lawful  son,  and  she  buried  an  in- 
fant daughter,  the  sole  offspring  of  her  marriage.0 
Notwithstanding  this  disappointment,  her  do- 
minion was  permanent  and  absolute ;  she  pre- 
served, by  art  or  merit,  the  affections  of  Justi- 
nian; and  their  seeming  dissensions  were  always 
fatal  to  the  courtiers  who  believed  them  to  be 
sincere.  Perhaps  her  health  had  been  impaired 
by  the  licentiousness  of  her  youth;  but  it 
was  always  delicate,  and  she  was  directed 
by  her  physicians  to  use  the  Pythian  warm 
baths.  In  this  journey,  the  empress  was 
followed  by  the  pretorian  prefect,  the  great  trea- 
surer, several  counts  and  patricians,  and  a  splen- 
did train  of  four  thousand  attendants :  the  high- 
ways were  repaired  at  her  approach ;  a  palace 

n  Novel,  viii,  1.     An  allusion  to  Theodora.    Her  enemies  read  the 
name  Daemonodora,  (Aleinan.  p.  66). 

"  St.  Sabas  refused  to  pray  for  a  son  of  Theodora,  lest  he  should 
prove  an  heretic  worse  than  Anastasins  himself,  (Cyril  in  Vit.  St. 
apiui  Aleman.  p.  70,  109). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  75 


was  erected  for  her  reception  ;  and  as  she  pass-  ^ 
ed  through  Bithynia,    she  distributed  liberal  _^-  ^ 
alms,  to  the  churches,  the  monasteries,  and  the 
hospitals  that  they  might  implore  heaven  for  and  death, 
the  restoration  of  her  health.  p     At  length,  in  the 
twenty-fourth  year   of  her  marriage,  and  the 
twenty-second  of  her  reign,  she  was  consumed 
by  a  cancer;'1  and  the  irreparable  loss  was  de- 
plored by  her  husband,  who,  in  the  room  of  a 
theatrical  prostitute,    might  have  selected  the 
purest  and  most  noble  virgin  of  the  East.1 

II.  A  material  difference  maybe  observed  in  The  ftc. 
the  games  of  antiquity  :  the  most  eminent  of  the  ti?™of  the 

?       J  circus. 

Greeks  were  actors,  the  Romans  were  merely 
spectators.  The  Olympic  stadium  was  open  to 
wealth,  merit,  and  ambition;  and  if  the  candi- 
dates could  depend  on  their  personal  skill  and 
activity,  they  might  pursue  the  footsteps  of  Dio- 
mede  and  Menelaus,  and  conduct  their  own 
horses  in  the  rapid  career/  Ten,  twenty,  forty, 
chariots,  were  allowed  to  start  at  the  same  in- 

p  See  John  Malala,  torn,  ii,  p.  174;  Theophancs,  p.  158;  Procopitis 
de  Edific.  1.  v,  c.  3. 

q  Theodora  Chalcedonensis  synodi  inimica  canceris  plagi  toto  cor- 
pore  perfusa  vitam  prodigiose  finivit,  (Victor  Tununensis  in  Chron.). 
On  such  occasions,  an  orthodox  mind  is  steeled  against  pity.  Alenian- 
nns  (p.  12,  13)  understands  the  twtCwc  M«/M»&»  of  Theophanes  as  civil 
language,  which  does  not  imply  either  piety  or  repentance  ;  yet  two 
years  after  her  death,  St.  Theodora  i*  celebrated  by  Paul  Silentiarius, 
(in  Proem,  v,  58—62). 

As  she  persecuted  the  popes,  and  rejected  a  council,  Baronius  ex- 
hausts the  names  of  Eve,  Dalila,  Herodias,  dec.:  after  which  he  hat 
recourse  to  his  infernal  dictionary  :  civis  inferni—  alumi.a  dsemonum  — 
•atanico  agitata  spirilii  —  aestro  pcrcita  diabolico,  <Scc.  &c.  (A.  D.  548, 
N°.  24). 

5  Read  an;l  feel  the  xxiiid  book  of  the  Iliad,  a  living  picture  of  man- 
ners, passions,  and  the  whole  form  and  spirit  of  the  chariot  race.  West's 
Dissertation  on  the  Olympic  Games  (xect.  xii-xvii)  affords  much  curi- 
ous and  authentic  information. 


76  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  stant;  a  crown  of  leaves  was  the  reward  of  the 
*^ffff  victor:  and  his  fame,  with  that  of  his  family  and 
country,  was  chaunted  in  lyric  strains  more 
durable  than  monuments  of  brass  and  marble. 
But  a  senator,  or  even  a  citizen,  conscious  of 
his  dignity,  would  have  blushed  to  expose  his 
person  or  his  horses  in  the  circus  of  Rome. 
The  games  were  exhibited  at  the  expence  of  the 
republic,  the  magistrates,  or  the  emperors ;  but 
the  reins  were  abandoned  to  servile  hands; 
and  if  the  profits  rf  a  favourite  charioteer  some- 
times exceeded  those  of  an  advocate,  they  must 
be  considered  as  the  effects  of  popular  extra- 
vagance, and  the  high  wages  of  a  disgraceful 
profession.  The  race,  in  its  first  institution,  was 
a  simple  contest  of  two  chariots,  whose  drivers 
were  distinguished  by  white  and  red  liveries ; 
two  additional  colours,  a  light  greira,  and  a  ceru- 
lean blue,  were  afterwards  introduced;  and  as 
the  races  were  repeated  twenty-five  times,  one 
hundred  chariots  contributed  in  the  same  day 
to  the  pomp  of  the  circus.  The  four  factions 
soon  acquired  a  legal  establishment,  and  a  mys- 
terious origin,  and  their  fanciful  colours  were 
derived  from  the  various  appearances  of  nature 
in  the  four  seasons  of  the  year ;  the  red  dog-star 
of  summer,  the  snows  of  winter,  the  deep  shades 
of  autumn,  and  the  cheerful  verdure  of  the 
spring.*  Another  interpretation  preferred  the 

*  The  four  colours,  allxtti,  russati,  prarini,  veneti,  represent  the  four 
seasons,  according  to  Cassiodorius,  (Var.  iii,  51),  who  lavishes  much 
wit  and  eloquence  on  this  theatrical  mystery.  Of  these  colours,  the 
three  first  may  be  fairly  translated  white,  red,  and  green.  Venetus  is  ex- 
plained  by  caruleut,  a  word  various  and  vague:  it  is  properly  the  sky 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  77 

elements  to  the  seasons,  and  the  struggle  of  the   CHAP. 

green  and  blue  was  supposed  to  represent  the  ^ J1^ 

conflict  of  the  earth  and  sea.  Their  respective 
victories  announced  either  a  plentiful  harvest 
or  a  prosperous  navigation,  and  the  hostility  of 
the  husbandmen  and  mariners  was  somewhat 
less  absurd  than  the  blind  ardour  of  the  Roman 
people,  who  devoted  their  lives  and  fortunes  to 
the  colour  which  they  had  espoused.  Such 
folly  was  disdained  and  indulged  by  the  wisest 
princes ;  but  the  names  of  Caligula,  Nero,  Vitel- 
lius,  Verus,  Commodus,  Caracalla,  and  Elaga- 
balus,  were  inrolled  in  the  blue  or  green  factions 
of  the  circus :  they  frequented  their  stables,  at  Roine 
applauded  their  favourites,  chastised  their  an 
tagonists,  and  deserved  the  esteem  of  the  popu- 
lace, by  the  natural  or  affected  imitation  of  their 
manners.  The  bloody  and  tumultuous  contest 
continued  to  disturb  the  public  festivity,  till  the 
last  age  of  the  spectacles  of  Rome ;  and  Theo- 
doric,  from  a  motive  of  justice  or  affection,  in- 
terposed his  authority  to  protect  the  greens 
against  the  violence  of  a  consul  and  a  patrician, 
who  were  passionately  addicted  to  the  blue  fac- 
tion of  the  circus.11 

Constantinople  adopted  the  follies,  though  They  du 
not  the  virtues  of  ancient  Rome ;  and  the  same  2ntin.°*" 
factions  which  had  agitated  the  circus,  raged  °Ple  and 
with  redoubled  fury  in  the  hippodrome.     Un- 


reflected  in  the  sea ;  but  custom  and  convenience  may  allow  blue  as  au 
equivalent,  (Robert.  Stephan.  snb.  voce.  Spence's  Polymetis,  p.  228). 
u  See  Onnplirins  Panvinius  de  laid  is  Circensibus,  1.  i,  c.  10j  11 ;  the 
xviith  Annotation  on  Mascou's  History  of  the  Germans,  and  Aleman, 
ad  c.  vji. 


78  THE  DECLINE  ASM  FALL 

CHAI.    der  the  reign  of  Anastasius,  this  popular  frenzy 

^  was  inflamed  by  religious  zeal ;  and  the  greens, 

who  had  treacherously  concealed  stones  and 
daggers  under  baskets  of  fruit,  massacred,  at  a 
solemn  festival,  three  thousand  of  their  blue  ad- 
versaries.1 From  the  capital  this  pestilence  was 
diffused  into  the  provinces  and  cities  of  the 
East,  and  the  sportive  distinction  of  two  c  - 
lours  produced  two  strong  and  irreconcilable 
factions,  which  shook  the  foundations  of  a  feeble 
government/  The  popular  dissensions,  found- 
ed on  the  most  serious  interest,  or  holy  pre- 
tence, have  scarcely  equalled  the  obstinacy  of 
this  wanton  discord,  which  invaded  the  peace 
of  families,  divided  friends  and  brothers,  and 
tempted  the  female  sex,  though  seldom  seen  in 
the  circus,  to  espouse  the  inclinations  of  their 
lovers,  or  to  contradict  the  wishes  of  their  hus- 
bands. Every  law,  either  human  or  divine,  was 
trampled  under  foot,  and  as  long  as  the  party 
was  successful,  its  deluded  followers  appeared 
careless  of  private  distress  or  public  calamity. 
The  license,  without  the  freedom  of  democracy, 
was  revived  at  Antioch  and  Constantinople,  and 
the  support  of  a  faction  became  necessary  to 
every  candidate  for  civil  or  ecclesiastical  hc- 
nours.  A  secret  attachment  to  the  family  or 

*  Marcellin.  Chron.  p.  47.  Instead  of  the  vulgar  word  veneta,  he 
HSCS  the  more  exquisite  terms  of  cerulea  and  eaerealis.  Baron  ius,  (A.  D. 
601,  N*.  4,  5,  6)  is  satisfied  that  the  bines  were  orthodox;  but  Tille- 
mont  is  angry  at  the  supposition,  and  will  not  allow  any  martyrs  in  a 
playhouse.  (Hist,  des  Emp.  torn,  vi,  p.  554). 

7  See  Procopins,  Persic.  1.  i,  c.  24.  In  describing  the  vices  of  the 
factions  and  of  the  government,  the  public  is  not  more  favourable  than 
the  secret  historian.  Alemau.  (p.  26)  has  quoted  a  fine  passage  from 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  which  proves  the  inveteracy  of  the  evil. 


OF  THE  ROMA1N  EMPIRE.  79 

sect  of  Anastasius  was  imputed  to  the  greens;    CHAP. 
the*blues  were  zealously  devoted  to  the  cause  ^ 


of  orthodoxy  and  Justinian,2  and  their  grateful  Justinian 
patron  protected,  above  five  years,  the  disorders  blue*" th* 
of  a  faction,  whose  seasonable  tumults  overawed 
the  palace,  the  senate,  and  the  capitals  of  the 
East.  Insolent  with  royal  favour,  the  blues  af- 
fected to  strike  terror  by  a  peculiar  and  barbaric 
dress,  the  long  hair  of  the  Huns,  their  close 
sleeves  and  ample  garments,  a  lofty  step,  and  a 
sonorous  voice.  In  the  day  they  concealed 
their  two  edged  poinards,  but  in  the  night  they 
boldly  assembled  in  arms,  and  in  numerous 
bands,  prepared  for  every  act  of  violence  and 
rapine.  Their  adversaries  of  the  green  faction, 
or  even  inoffensive  citizens,  were  stripped  and 
often  murdered  by  these  nocturnal  robbers,  and 
it  became  dangerous  to  wear  any  gold  buttons 
or  girdles,  or  to  appear  at  a  late  hour  in  the 
streets  of  a  peaceful  capital.  A  daring  spirit, 
rising  with  impunity,  proceeded  to  violate  the 
safeguard  of  private  houses ;  and  fire  was  em- 
ployed to  facilitate  the  attack,  or  to  conceal  the . 
crimes,  of  these  factious  rioters.  No  place  was 
safe  or  sacred  from  their  depredations;  to  gra- 
tify either  avarice  or  revenge,  they  profusely 
spilt  the  blood  of  the  innocent;  churches  and 
altars  were  polluted  by  atrocious  murders ;  and 
it  was  the  boast  of  the  assassins,  that  their  dex- 
terity could  always  inflict  a  mortal  wound  with 
a  single  stroke  of  their  dagger.  The  dissolute 
youth  of  Constantinople  adopted  the  blue  livery 

1  The  partiality  of  Justinian  for  the  blues,  .(Anecdot.  c.  7),  is  at- 
tested by  livagrius,  (Hist.  Eccles.  1.  iv,  c.  32)  John  Ma!ala,  (torn,  ii, 
p.  138,  ISO),  especially  for  Antioch ;  and  Theophanes,  (p.  142). 


80  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  of  disorder;  the  laws  were  silent,  and  the  bonds 
„ 'f of  society  were  relaxed ;  creditors  were  com- 
pelled to  resign  their  obligations;  judges  to  re- 
yerse  their  sentence;  masters  to  enfranchise 
their  slaves;  fathers  to  supply  the  extravagance 
of  their  children ;  noble  matrons  were  prositut- 
ed  to  the  lust  of  their  servants ;  beautiful  boys 
were  torn  from  the  arms  of  their  parents;  and 
wives,  unless  they  preferred  a  voluntary  death, 
were  ravished  in  the  presence  of  their  husbands.* 
The  despair  of  the  greens,  who  were  persecut- 
ed by  their  enemies,  and  deserted  by  the  magis- 
trate, assumed  the  privilege  of  defence,  per- 
haps of  retaliation :  but  those  who  survived  the 
combat  were  dragged  to  execution,  and  the  un- 
happy fugitives  escaping  to  woods  and  caverns, 
preyed  without  mercy  on  the  society  from  whence 
they  were  expelled.  Those  ministers  of  justice 
who  had  courage  to  punish  the  crimes,  and 
to  brave  the  resentment  of  the  blues,  became 
the  victims  of  their  indiscreet  zeal :  a  pre- 
fect of  Constantinople  fled  for  refuge  to 
the  holy  sepulchre;  a  count  of  the  East  was 
ignominiously  whipped,  and  a  governor  of 
Cilicia  was  hanged,  by  the  order  of  Theodora, 
on  the  tomb  of  two  assassins  whom  he  had 
condemned  for  the  murder  of  his  groom,  and  a 
daring  attack  upon  his  own  life.k  An  aspiring 

a  A  wife,  (says  Procopius),  who  was  seized  and  almost  ravished  by 
a  blue  coat,  threw  herself  into  the  Bosphorns.  The  bishops  of  the 
second  Syria  (Aleman.  p.  26)  deplore  a  similar  suicide,  the  guilt  or 
glory  of  female  chastity,  and  name  the  heroine. 

b  The  doutful  credit  of  Procopius  (Anecdot.  c.  17)  is  supported  by 
the  less  partial  Evagrius,  who  confirms  the  fact,  and  specifies  the  names. 
The  tragic  fate  of  the  prefect  of  Constantinople  ia  related  by  JoLn 
Malala,  (torn,  ii,  p.  139), 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

candidate  may  be  tempted  to  build  his  greatness  clup. 
on  the  public  confusion,  but  it  is  the  interest  as,,,.,.,^ 
well  as  duty  of  a  sovereign  to  maintain  the  au- 
thority of  the  laws.  The  first  edict  of  Justinian, 
which  was  often  repeated,  and  sometimes  exe- 
cuted, announced  his  firm  resolution  to  support 
the  innocent,  and  to  chastise  the  guilty  of  every 
denomination  and  colour.  Yet  the  balance  of 
justice  was  still  inclined  in  favour  of  the  blue 
faction,  by  the  secret  affection,  the  habits,  and 
the  fears  of  the  emperor ;  his  equity,  after  an 
apparent  struggle,  submitted,  without  reluc- 
tance, to  the  implacable  passions  of  Theodora, 
and  the  empress  never  forgot,  or  forgave,  the 
injuries  of  the  comedian.  At  the  accession  of 
the  younger  Justin,  the  proclamation  of  equal 
and  rigorous  justice  indirectly  condemned  the 
partiality  of  the  former  reign.  "  Ye  blues,  Jus- 
"  tinian  is  no  more  !  ye  greens,  he  is  still  alive  1"" 

A  sedition,  which  almost  laid  Constantinople  Sedition  of 
in  ashes,  was  excited  by  the  mutual  hatred  andtinopie" 
momentary  reconciliation  of  the  two  factions,  JJJ£ained 
In  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign,  Justinian  celebrat-A-»-632» 
ed  the  festival  of  the  ides  of  January  :  the  games 
were  incessantly  disturbed  by  the  clamorous 
discontent  of  the  greens  ;  till  the  twenty-second 
race,  the  emperor  maintained  his  silent  gravity  ; 
at  length,  yielding  to  his  impatience,  he  conde- 
scended to  hold,  in  abrupt  sentences,  and  by 

'  See  John  Malala,  (torn,  ii,  p.  147) ;  yet  he  owns  that  Justinian 
was  attached  to  the  blues.  The  seeming  discord  of  the  emperor  and 
Theodora,  is  perhaps  viewed  with  too  much  jealousy  and  refinement 
by  Proi  opiuf,  (Anecdot  c.  10).  S«e  Alemau.  Praefat.  p.  6. 

voi,.  vn  ;  *»• 


82  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL) 

CHAR    tne  voice  of  a  crier,  the  most  singular  dialogue4 
.„ that  ever  passed  between  a  prince  and  his  sub- 
jects.    Their  first  complaints   were  respectful 
and  modest ;  they  accused  the  subordinate  mi- 
nisters   of    oppression,    and  proclaimed    their 
wishes  for  the  long  life  and  victory  of  the  em- 
peror.    "  Be  patient  and  attentive,  ye  insolent 
"  railers  !"  exclaimed  Justinian  ;  "  be  mute,  ye 
"  Jews,  Samaritans,   and  Manichaeans  !" — The 
greens  still  attempted  to  awaken  his  compas- 
sion.    "  We  are  poor,  we  are  innocent,  we  are 
"  injured,  we  dare  not  pass  through  the  streets : 
"  a  general  persecution  is  exercised  against  our 
"  name  and  colour.     Let  us  die,  O   emperor ! 
"  but  let  us  die  by  your  command,  and  for  your 
"  service  !"  But  the  repetition  of  partial  and  pas- 
sionate invectives,  degraded,  in  their  eyes,  the 
majesty   of  the  purple  ;  they  renounced  alle- 
giance to  the  prince  who  refused  justice  to  his 
people ;  lamented  that  the  father  of  Justinian 
had  been  born  ;  and  branded  his  son  with  the 
opprobrious  names  of  an  homicide,  an  ass,  and 
a   perjured  tyrant.     "    Do    you  despise   your 
"  lives  ?"    cried  the  indignant   monarch  :    the 
blues  rose  with  fury  from  their  seats  ;  their  hos- 
tile clamours  thundered  in   the  hippodrome  ; 
and   their  adversaries,   deserting  the    unequal 
contest,  spread  terror  and  despair  through  the 
streets  of  Constantinople.     At  this  dangerous 
moment,  seven  notorious  assassins  of  both  fac- 


d  This  dialogue,  which  Theophanes  has  preserved,  exhibits  the  p»- 
pnlar  language,  as  well  as  the  manners,  of  Constantinople  in  the'  vith 
century.  Their  Greek  i.«  mingled  with  many  strange  and  barbarous 
«ror<5:»,  for  which  Diicanse  rannot  always  find  a  meaning  or  etymolo^r. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  83 

tions,  who  had  been  condemned  by  the  prefect,    CHAP, 

were  carried  round   the  city,   and  afterwards  „ '„„ 

transported  to  the  place  of  execution  in  the  su- 
burb of  Pera.  four  were  immediately  behead- 
ed ;  a  fifth  was  hanged  :  but  when  the  same 
punishment  was  inflicted  on  the  remaining  two, 
the  rope  broke,  they  fell  alive  to  the  ground, 
the  populace  applauded  their  escape,  and  the 
monks  of  St.  Conon,  issuing  from  the  neigh- 
bouring convent,  conveyed  them  in  a  boat  to 
the  sanctuary  of  the  church.'  As  one  of  these 
criminals  was  of  the  blue,  and  the  other  of  the 
green  livery,  the  two  factions  were  equally  pro- 
voked by  the  cruelty  of  their  oppressor,  or  the 
ingratitude  of  their  patron  ;  and  a  short  truce 
was  concluded  till  they  had  delivered  their  pri- 
soners, and  satisfied  their  revenge.  The  pa- 
lace of  the  prefect,  who  withstood  the  seditious 
torrent,  was  instantly  burnt,  his  officers  and 
guards  were  massacred,  the  prisons  were  forc- 
ed open,  and  freedom  was  restored  to  those 
who  could  only  use  it  for  the  public  destruc- 
tion. A  military  force,  which  had  been  de- 
spatched to  the  aid  of  the  civil  magistrate,  was 
fiercely  encountered  by  an  armed  multitude, 
whose  numbers  and  boldness  continually  in- 
creased ;  and  the  Heruli,  the  wildest  barba- 
rians in  the  service  of  the  empire,  overturned 
the  priests  and  their  relics,  which,  from  a  pious 
motive,  had  been  rashly  interposed  to  separate 
the  bloody  conflict.  The  tumult  was  exaspe- 
rated by  this  sacrilege,  the  people  fought  with 

'  See  this  church  and  monastery  in  Ducange,  C.  P.  Christiana,  1.  iw, 
p.  182. 


84  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of  God  ;  the  women, 
.*..„„.,  from  the  roofs  and  windows,  showered  stones 
on  the  heads  of  the  soldiers  ;  who  darted  fire- 
brands against  the  houses ;  and  the  various 
flames,  which  had  been  kindled  by  the  hands 
of  citizens  and  strangers,  spread  without  con- 
trol over  the  face  of  the  city.  The  conflagra- 
tion involved  the  cathedral  of  St.  Sophia,  the 
baths  of  Zeuxippus,  a  part  of  the  palace,  from 
the  first  entrance  to  the  altar  of  Mars,  and  the 
long  portico  from  the  palace  to  the  forum  of 
Constantine;  a  large  hospital,  with  the  sick 
patients,  was  consumed ;  many  churches  and 
stately  edifices  were  destroyed ;  and  an  im- 
mense treasure  of  gold  and  silver  was  either 
melted  or  lost.  From  such  scenes  of  horror 
and  distress,  the  wise  and  wealthy  citizens 
escaped  over  the  Bosphorus  to  the  Asiatic  side; 
and  during  five  days  Constantinople  was  aban- 
doned to  the  factions,  whose  watch-word, 
NIKA,  vanquish !  has  given  a  name  to  this  me- 
morable sedition/ 

The  dis-  As  long  as  the  factions  were  divided,  the  tri- 
VuSnUn.  umphant  blues,  and  desponding  greens,  appear- 
ed to  behold  with  the  same  indifference  the  dis- 
orders of  the  state.  They  agreed  to  censure 
the  corrupt  management  of  justice  and  the 
finance ;  and  the  two  responsible  ministers,  the 
artful  Tribonian,  and  the  rapacious  John  of 
Cappadocia,  were  loudly  arraigned  as  the  au- 

fThe  history  of  the  Nika  sedition  is  extracted  from  M arctllinus,  (in 
Chron.) ;  Procopius,  (Persic.  1.  i,  c.  26) ;  John  Malala,  (toin.  ii,  p.  213- 
J18) ;  Chron.  Paschal,  (p.  336-340)  ;  Theophanes,  (Chronograph,  p. 

164-158),  and  Zocaras,  (J.  xiv,  p.  61-63). 


OF.THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  gj 

thors  of  the  public  misery.  The  peaceful  mur-  CHAP. 
mnrs  of  the  people  would  have  been  disregard-  fffe< 
ed  :  they  were  heard  with  respect  when  the 
?ity  was  in  flames  ;  the  questor,  and  the  pre- 
Vect,  were  instantly  removed,  and  their  offices 
were  filled  by  t\vo  senators  of  blameless  inte- 
grity. After  this  popular  concession,  Justinian 
proceeded  to  the  hippodrome  to  confess  his 
own  errors,  and  to  accept  the  repentance  of  his 
grateful  subjects ;  but  they  distrusted  his  as- 
surances, though  solemnly  pronounced  in  the 
presence  of  the  holy  gospels  ;  and  the  empe- 
ror, alarmed  by  their  distrust,  retreated  with 
precipitation  to  the  strong  fortress  of  the  pa- 
lace. The  obstinacy  of  the  tumult  was  now 
imputed  to  a  secret  and  ambitious  conspiracy, 
and  a  suspicion  was  entertained,  that  the  insur 
gents,  more  especially  the  green  faction,  had 
been  supplied  with  arms  and  money  by  Hypa- 
tius  and  Pompey,  two  patricians,  who  could 
neither  forget  with  honour,  nor  remember  with 
safety,  that  they  were  the  nephews  of  the  em- 
peror Anastasius.  Capriciously  trusted,  dis- 
graced, and  pardoned,  by  the  jealous  levity  of 
the  monarch,  they  had  appeared  as  loyal  ser- 
vants before  the  throne  ;  and,  during  five  days 
of  the  tumult,  they  were  detained  as  important 
hostages ;  till  at  length,  the  fears  of  Justinian 
prevailing  over  his  prudence,  he  viewed  the 
two  brothers  in  the  light  of  spies,  perhaps  of 
assassins,,  and  sternly  commanded  them  to  de- 
part from  the  palace.  After  a  fruitless  repre- 
sentation, that  obedience  might  lead  to  invo- 
luntary treason,  they  retired  to  their  houses, 


8(5 


THB  DECLINE  AND  FALL 


C~AP   and  in  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day,  Hypatius 

..„ ,,  was  surrounded  and  seized  by  the  people,  who, 

regardless  of  his  virtuous  resistance,  and  the 
tears  of  his  wife,  transported  their  favourite  to 
the  forum  of  Constantine,  and,  instead  of  a 
diadem,  placed  a  rich  collar  on  his  head.  If 
the  usurper,  who  afterwards  pleaded  the  merit 
of  his  delay,  had  complied  with  the  advice  of 
his  senate,  and  urged  the  fury  of  the  multitude, 
their  first  irresistible  effort  might  have  oppres- 
sed or  expelled  his  trembling  competitor.  The 
Byzantine  palace  enjoyed  a  free  communication 
with  the  sea  ;  vessels  lay  ready  at  the  garden 
stairs  ;  and  a  secret  resolution  was  already 
formed,  to  convey  the  emperor  with  his  family 
and  treasures  to  a  safe  retreat,  at  some  distance 
from  the  capital. 
Firmness  Justinian  was  lost,  if  the  prostitute  whom  he 

of  Tlieo-  .  _r 

dora.  raised  from  the  theatre  had  not  renounced  the 
timidity,  as  well  as  the  virtues,  of  her  sex.  In 
the  midst  of  a  council,  where  Belisarius  was 
present,  Theodora  alone  displayed  the  spirit  of 
an  hero  ;  and  she  alone,  without  apprehending 
his  future  hatred,  could  save  the  emperor  from 
the  imminent  danger,  and  his  unworthy  fears. 
"  If  flight/'  said  the  consort  of  Justinian,  "  were 
"  the  only  means  of  safety,  yet  I  should  disdain 
"  to  fly.  Death  is  the  condition  of  our  birth  ; 
"  but  they  who  have  reigned  should  never  sur- 
"  vive  the  loss  of  dignity  and  dominion.  I  im- 
"  plore  heaven,  (hat  I  may  never  be  seen,  not  a 
"  day,  without  my  diadem  and  purple  ;  that  I 
"  may  no  longer  behold  the  light,  when  I  cease 
"  to  be  saluted  with  the  name  of  queen.  If 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  87 

'«  you  resolve,  O  Caesar !  to  fly,  you  have  trea- 
"  sures  ;  behold  the  sea,  you  have  ships  ;  but  — 
"  tremble  lest  the  desire  of  life  should  expose 
"  you  to  wretched  exile  and  ignominious  death. 
"  For  my  own  part,  I  adhere  to  the  maxim  of 
"  antiquity,  that  the  throne  is  a  glorious  sepul- 
"  chre."  The  firmness  of  a  woman  restored  the 
courage  to  deliberate  and  act,  and  courage  soon 
discovers  the  resources  of  the  most  desperate 
situation.  It  was  an  easy  and  a  decisive  mea- 
sure to  revive  the  -animosity  of  the  factions ; 
the  blues  were  astonished  at  their  own  guilt  and 
folly,  that  a  trifling  injury  should  provoke  them 
to  conspire  with  their  implacable  enemies 
against  a  gracious  and  liberal  benefactor ;  they 
again  proclaimed  the  majesty  of  Justinian,  and 
the  greens,  with  their  upstart  emperor,  were  left 
alone  in  the  hippodrome.  The  fidelity  of  the 
guards  was  doubtful ;  but  the  military  force  of 
Justinian  consisted  in  three  thousand  veterans, 
who  had  been  trained  to  valour  and  discipline 
in  the  Persian  and  Illyrian  wars.  Under  the 
command  of  Belisarius  and  Mundus,  they  si- 
lently marched  in  two  divisions  from  the  pa- 
lace, forced  their  obscure  way  through  narrow 
passages,  expiring  flames,  and  falling  edifices, 
and  burst  open  at  the  same  moment  the  two 
opposite  gates  of  the  hippodrome.  In  this  nar- 
row space,  the  disorderly  and  affrighted  crowd 
was  incapable  of  resisting  on  either  side  a  firm 
and  regular  attack  ;  the  blues  signalized  the 
fury  of  their  repentance;  and  it  is  computed, 
that  about  thirty  thousand  persons  were  slain 
in  the  merciless  and  promiscuous  carnaae  of 


88  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CXL,P    *ne  ^av'      Hypatius    was    dragged   from   his 
....,.„..  throne,  and  conducted  with  his  brother  Pom- 
pey  to  the  feet  of  the  emperor :  they  implored 
his  clemency  ;  but  their  crime  was  manifest, 
their  innocence  uncertain,  and  Justinian   had 
been  too  much  terrified  to  forgive.     The  next 
morning  the  two  nephews  of  Anastasius,  with 
eighteen  illustrious  accomplices,  of  patrician  or 
consular  rank,  were  privately  executed  by  the 
soldiers  ;  their  bodies  were  thrown  into  the  sea, 
J       their  palaces  razed,   and  their  fortunes  confis- 
cated.    The  hippodrome  itself  was  condemned 
.    during  several  years  to  a   mournful   silence: 
with  the  restoration  of  the  games,  the  same  dis- 
orders  revived :  and  the  blue  and  green  fac- 
tions continued  to  afflict  the  reign  of  Justinian, 
and  to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  the  eastern 
empire.8 

Agricni-        HI.  That  empire,  after  Rome  was  barbarous, 
mamifac-  still  embraced  the  nations  whom  she  had  con- 
thTe'asternquered  beyond  the  Hadriatic,  and  as  far  as  the 
empire,     frontiers  of  ./Ethiopia  and  Persia.     Justinian 
reigned   over   sixty-four   provinces,    and  nine 
hundred  and  thirty-five  cities  ;k  his  dominions 
were  blessed  by  nature  with  the  advantages  of 
soil,  situation,  and  climate :  and  the  improve- 
ments of  human  art  had  been  perpetually  dif- 
fused along  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  and 

8  Marcellinns  says  in  general  terms,  innumeris  populis  in  circo  tru- 
cidatis.  Procopius  numbers  30,000  victims  ;  and  the  35,000  of  Iheo- 
phanes  are  swelled  to  40,000  by  the  more  recent  Zonaras.  Such  is  the 
usual  progress  of  exaggeration. 

b  Hierocles,  a  contemporary  of  Justinian,  composed  his  ZiAlf^u^, 
(Itincraria,  p.  631),  or  review  of  the  eastern  provinces  and  cities,  be- 
fore the  year  535,  CWesseling  in  Fraefat.  and  Not.  ad.  p.  623,  &c.) 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  89 

the  banks  of  the  Nile,  from  ancient  Troy  to  the  CHAP. 
./Egyptian   Thebes.     Abraham1   had   been  re-ww^ 
lieved  by  the  well  known  plenty  of  Egypt;  the 
same  country,  a  small  and  populous  tract,  was 
still  capable  of  exporting,  each  year,  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty  thousand  quarters  of  wheat  for 
the  use  of  Constantinople  ;k  and  the  capital  of 
Justinian  was  supplied  with  the  manufactures 
of  Sid  on,  fifteen  centuries  after  they  had  been 
celebrated  in  the  poems  of  Homer.1    The  an-  r 

nual  powers  of  vegetation,  instead  of  being  ex- 
hausted by  two  thousand  harvests,wererenewed 
and  invigorated  by  skilful  husbandry,  rich  ma- 
nure, and  seasonable  repose.  The  breed  of  do- 
mestic animals  was  infinitely  multiplied.  Plan- 
tations, buildings,  and  the  instruments  of  la- 
bour and  luxury,  which  are  more  durable  than 
the  term  of  human  life,  were  accumulated  by 
the  care  of  successive  generations.  Tradition 
preserved,  and  experience  simplified,  the  hum- 
ble practice  of  the  arts  :  society  was  enriched 
by  the  division  of  labour  and  the  facility  of  ex- 
change ;  and  every  Roman  was  lodged,  cloth- 
nob  'g'ii'- 

1  See  the  book  of  Genesis,  (xii,  10),  and  the  administration  of  Jo- 
seph. The  annals  of  the  Greeks  and  Hebrews  agree  in  the  early  arts 
and  plenty  of  .Egypt :  bat  this  antiquity  supposes  a  long  series  of  im- 
provements :  and  Warburton,  who  is  almost  stifled  by  the  Hebrew, 
calls  aloud  for  the  Samaritan  chronology,  (Divine  Legation,  vol.  iii,  p. 
29,  &c.J 

k  Eight  millions  of  Roman  modii,  besides  a  contribution  of  80,000 
aurei  for  the  expences  of  water-carriage,  from  which  the  subject  wa§ 
graciously  excused.  See  the  xiiith  Edict  of  Justinian ;  the  numbers 
are  checked  and  verified  by  the  agreement  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  texts. 

1  Homer's  Iliad,  vi,  289.  These  veils,  wurXci  ira^uvMxiXu,  were  the 
work  of  the  Sidonian  women.  But  this  passage  is  more  honourable  to 
the  manufactures  than  to  the  navigation  of  Phoenicia,  from  whence 
they  had  been  imported  to  Troy  in  Phrygian  bottoms. 


90  THE  DFX'LINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP  ed}  and  subsisted,  by  the  industry  of  a  thou- 
,^.~~..  sand  hands.  The  invention  of  the  loom  and 
distaff  has  been  piously  ascribed  to  the  gods. 
In  every  age,  a  variety  of  animal  and  vegetable 
productions,  hair,  skins,  wool,  flax,  cotton,  and 
at  length  silk,  have  been  skilfully  manufactur- 
ed to  hide  or  adorn  the  human  body ;  they 
were  stained  with  an  infusion  of  permanent  co- 
lours ;  and  the  pencil  was  successfully  employ- 
ed to  improve  the  labours  of  the  loom.  In  the 
choice  of  those  colours"1  which  imitate  the  beau- 
ties of  nature,  the  freedom  of  taste  and  fashion 
was  indulged  ;  but  the  deep  purple"  which  the 
Phcenicians  extracted  from  a  shell-fish,  was  re- 
strained to  the  sacred  person  and  palace  of  the 
emperor ;  and  the  penalties  of  treason  were 
denounced  against  the  ambitious  subjects, 
who  dared  to  usurp  the  prerogative  of  the 
throne.0 


m  See  in  Ovid  (de  Arte  Amandi,  iii,  269,  &c.)  a  poetical  list  of  twelve 
colours  borrowed  from  flowers,  the  elements,  ice.  But  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  discriminate  by  words  all  the  nice  and  various  shades  both 
of  art  and  nature. 

n  By  the  discovery  of  cochineal,  Ac.  we  far  surpass  the  colours  of 
antiquity.  Their  royal  purple  had  a  strong  smell,  and  a  dark  cast  as 
deep  as  bull's  blood.-' Obscuritas  rubens,  (says  Cassiodorius,  Var.  i, 
2),  nigredo  sanguinea.  The  president  Goguet  (Origine  des  Loix  et 
drs  Arts,  part  ii,  I.  ii,  c.  2,  p.  184-215)  will  amuse  and  satisfy  the  rea- 
der. I  doubt  whether  his  book,  especially  in  England,  is  as  well 
known  as  it  deserves  to  be. 

*  Historical  proofs  of  this  jealousy  have  been  occasionally  introduced, 
and  many  more  might  have  been  added  ;  but  the  arbitrary  acts  of  des- 
potism were  justified  by  the  sober  and  general  declarations  of  law, 
(Codex  Theodosian.  1.  x,  tit.  21,  leg.  3.  Codex.  Justinian.  1.  xi,  tit.  8, 
leg.  6).  An  inglorious  permission,  and  necessary  restriction,  was  ap- 
plied to  the  mimce,  the  female-dancers,  (Cod.  Theodos.  1.  XT,  tit.  7,  leg. 
11). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  91 

I  need  not  explain  that  sil/P  is  originally   CHAP. 
spun  from  the  bowels  of  a  caterpillar,  and  that 


it  composes  the  golden  tomb  from  whence  a  The  use  of 
worm  emerges  in  the  form  of  a  butterfly.  Till  R 
the  reign  of  Justinian,  the  silk-worms  who  feed 
on  the  leaves  of  the  white  mulberry  tree,  were 
confined  to  China  ;  those  of  the  pine,  the  oak, 
and  the  ash,  were  common  in  the  forests  both 
of  Asia  and  Europe ;  but  as  their  education  is 
more  difficult,  and  their  produce  more  uncer- 
tain, they  were  generally  neglected,  except  in 
the  little  island  of  Ceos,  near  the  coast  of  At- 
tica. A  thin  gauze  was  prepared  from  their 
webs  ;  and  this  Cean  manufacture,  the  inven- 
tion of  a  woman,  for  female  use,  was  long  ad- 
mired both  in  the  East  and  at  Rome.  What- 
ever suspicions  may  be  raised  by  the  garments 
of  the  Medes  and  Assyrians,  Virgil  is  the  most 
ancient  writer,  who  expressly  mentions  the  soft 
wool  which  was  combed  from  the  trees  of  the 
Seres  or  Chinese  ;q  and  this  natural  error,  less 
marvellous  than  the  truth,  was  slowly  correct- 
ed by  the  knowledge  of  a  valuable  insect,  the 
first  artificer  of  the  luxury  of  nations.  That 

p.In  the  history  of  insects  (far  more  wonderful  than  Ovid's  "Meta- 
morphoses) the  silk-worm  holds  a  conspicuous  place.  The  Ijmbjx 
of  the  isle  of  Ceos,  as  described  by  Pliny,  (Hist.  Natur.  xi,  26,  27, 
with  the  notes  of  the  two  learned  Jesuits,  Hardouinand  Brotier),  may 
be  illustrated  by  a  similar  species  in  China,  (Memoires  sur  les  Ch'mois, 
torn,  ii,  p.  575-598);  but  our  silk-work,  as  well  as  the  white  mulberry- 
tree,  were  unknown  to  Theophrastus  and  Pliny. 

q  Georgic.  ii,  121.  Serica  quando  venerint  in  usum  pianissimo  noo 
scio :  sn.'picor  tamen  in  Julii  Caesaris  aevo,  narn  ante  non  invenio,  say* 
Justus  Lipsius,  (Excursus  i,  ad  Tacit.  Anna),  ii,  32).  See  Dion  Cas- 
sius,  (1.  xliii,  p.  358,  edit.  Reimar),  and  Pausauias,  (1.  vi,  p.  519),  tb« 
firtt  who  describes,  however  strangely,  the  Seric  insect. 


I0  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL, 

rm 

CHAP,  rare  and  elegant  luxury  was  censured  in  the 
.,..*....  reign  of  Tiberius,  by  the  gravest  of  the  Ro- 
mans ;  and  Pliny,  in  affected  though  forcible 
language,  has  condemned  the  thirst  of  gain, 
which  explored  the  last  confines  of  the  earth, 
for  the  pernicious  purpose  of  exposing  to  the 
public  eye  naked  draperies  and  transparent 
matrons/  A  dress  which  shewed  the  turn  of 
the  limbs,  and  colour  of  the  skin,  might  gratify 
vanity,  or  provoke  desire ;  the  silks  which  had 
been  closely  woven  in  China,  were  sometimes 
unravelled  by  the  Phoenician  women,  and  the 
precious  materials  were  multiplied  by  a  looser 
texture,  and  the  intermixture  of  linen  threads/ 
Two  hundred  years  after  the  age  of  Pliny,  the 
use  of  pure  or  even  of  mixed  silks  was  confined" 
to  the  female  sex,  till  the  opulent  citizens  of 
Rome  and  the  provinces  were  insensibly  fami- 
liarized with  the  example  of  Elagabalus,  the 
first  who,  by  this  effeminate  habit,  had  sullied 
the  dignity  of  an  emperor  and  a  man.  Aure- 
lian  complained,  that  a  pound  of  silk  was  sold 
at  Rome  for  twelve  ounces  of  gold:  but  the 
supply  increased  with  the  demand,  and  the 
price  diminished  with  the  supply.  If  accident 

r  Tarn  longinqno  orbe  petitur,  ut  in  publico  matrona  translnceat  .  .  . 
ut  denudet  foeminas  vesti.s,  (Plin.  vi,  20,  xi,  21).  Varro  and  Pnblin* 
Syrus  had  already  played  on  the  Toga  ventrea,  ventns  texilis,  and  ne- 
bula linea,  (Horat.  Sermon,  i,  2, 101,  with  the  notes  of  Toirentius  and 
Dacier). 

•  On  the  texture,  colours,  names,  and  nse  of  the  silk,  half  silk,  and 
linen  garments  of  antiquity,  see  the  profound,  diffuse,  and  obscure  re- 
searches of  the  great  Salmasius,  (in  Hist.  August,  p.  127,  309,  310,  339, 
»41,  342, 344,  388-391,  395,  513),  who  was  ignorant  of  the  most  com- 
mon trades  of  Dijon  or  Ley  den. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  93 

or  monopoly  sometimes  raised  the  value  even   CHAP 
above  the  standard  of  Aurelian,  the  manufac- „„ 

turers  of  Tyre  and  Berytus   were  sometimes 

'   L*nj        • 
compelled,  by  the  operation  of  the  same  causes, 

to  content  themselves  with  a  ninth  part  of  that 

*f  s\ 

extravagant  rate.1  A  law  was  thought  neces- 
sary to  discriminate  the  dress  of  comedians 
from  that  of  senators  ;  and  of  the  silk  exported 
from  its  native  country,  the  far  greater  part  was 
consumed  by  the  subjects  of  Justinian.  They 
were  still  more  intimately  acquainted  with  a 
shell-fish  of  the  Mediterranean,  surnamed  the 
silk-worm  of  the  sea ;  the  fine  wool  or  hair  by 
which  the  mother-of-pearl  affixes  itself  to  the 
rock,  is  now  manufactured  for  curiosity  rather 
than  use ;  and  a  robe  obtained  from  the  same 
singular  materials,  was  the  gift  of  the  Roman 
emperor  to  the  satraps  of  Armenia." 

A  valuable    merchandize  of  small  bulk  is  import*. 
capable  of  defraying  the  expence  of  land-car-  China  t>y 
riage  ;  and  the  caravans  traversed  the  whole  ['^  and 
latitude   of  Asia   in   two  hundred  and    forty- 
three    days    from  the   Chinese  ocean   to    the 
sea   coast  of    Syria.       Silk  was    immediate- 
ly delivered  to    the   Romans  by  the  Persian 
merchants,*  who  frequented  the  fairs  of  Ar- 

•  fff  ,'iit    '•)$  ;t»  ':.i*fH  '  ,*?«•»»  »H!i5o.'«Hi '.-•*•'. 

1  Flavins  Vopiscns  In  Aurelian.  c.  45,  in  Hist.  August,  p.  224.  Se» 
Salmasius  ad  Hist.  Aug.  p.  392,  and  Plinian.  Exercitat.  in  Solinmn,  p. 
694,  695.  The  Anecdotes  of  Procopins  (c.  25)  state  a  partial  and  im- 
perfect rate  of  the  price  of  silk  in  the  time  of  Justinian. 

"  Procopius  de  Edif.  1.  iii,c.  1.  These  primes  de  mer  are  found  near 
Smyrna,  Sicily,  Corsica,  and  Minorca ;  and  a  pair  of  gloves  of  their 
silk  was  presented  to  Pope  Benedict  XIV. 

x  Procopius  Persic.  1.  i,  c.  20 ;  I.  ii,  c.  25.  Gothic.  1.  iv,  c.  17.  Me- 
nander  in  Excerpt,  Legat.  p.  107.  Of  the  Parthian  or  Persian  em- 
pire, 


94  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  menia  and  Nisibis:  but  this  trade,  which  in 
XL'  the  intervals  of  truce  was  opposed  by  avarice 
and  jealousy,  was  totally  interrupted  by  the 
long  wars  of  the  rival  monarchies*  The  great 
king  might  proudly  number  Sogdiana,  and  even 
Serica,  among  the  provinces  of  his  empire;  but 
his  real  dominion  was  bounded  by  the  Oxus, 
and  his  useful  intercourse  with  the  Sogdoites, 
beyond  the  river,  depended  on  the  pleasure  of 
their  conquerors,  the  white  Huns,  arid  the  Turks, 
who  successively  reigned  over  that  industrious 
people.  Yet  the  most  savage  dominion  has  not 
extirpated  the  seeds  of  agriculture  and  com- 
merce, in  a  region  which  is  celebrated  as  one 
of  the  four  gardens  of  Asia;  the  cities  of  Sa- 
mavcand  and  Bochara  are  advantageously  seat- 
ed for  the  exchange  of  its  various  productions  ; 
and  their  merchants  purchased  from  the  Chi- 
nese* the  raw  or  manufactured  silk  which  they 
transported  into  Persia  for  the  use  of  the  Roman 
empire.  In  the  vain  capital  of  China,  the  Sog- 
dian  caravans  were  entertained  as  the  suppliant 
embassies  of  tributary  kingdoms,  and  if  they 
returned  in  safety,  the  bold  adventure  was  re- 
mire,  Isidore  of  Charax  (iu  Statlnnis  Parthicis,  p.  7,  8,  in  Hudson.  Geo- 
graph.  Minor,  torn,  ii),  has  marked  the  roads,  and  Ammianus  Marcell- 
inus  (I.  xxiii,  c.  6,  p.  400)  has  enumerated  the  provinces. 

y  The  blind  admiration  of  the  Jesuits  confounds  the  different  periods 
of  the  Chinese  history.  They  are  more  critically  distinguished  by  M. 
de  Guignes,  (Hist,  des  Huns,  torn,  i,  part  i,  in  the  Tables,  part  ii,  in 
the  Geography  ;  Memoires  de  PAcademie  des  Inscriptions,  torn,  xxxii, 
xxxvi,  xlii,  xliii),  who  discovers  the  gradual  progress  of  the  truth  of 
the  annals,  and  the  extent  of  the  monarchy,  till  the  Christian  era.  He 
has  searched,  with  a  curious  eye,  the  connections  of  the  Chinese  with 
the  nations  of  the  West:  but  these  connections  are  slight,  casual,  and 
obscure ;  nor  did  the  Romans  entertain  a  suspicion  that  the  Seres  or 
Sinn  possessed  an  empire  not  inferior  to  their  own. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE,  95 

warded  with  exorbitant  gain.     But  the  difficult    CHAP. 

and  perilous  inarch  from  Samarcand  to  the  first 'rfft 

town  of  Sheusi,  could  not  be  performed  in  less 
than  sixty,  eighty,  or  one  hundred  days :  as  soon 
as  they  had  passed  the  Jazartes,  they  entered 
the  desert;  and  the  wandering  hords,  unless 
they  are  restrained  by  armies  and  garrisons, 
have  always  considered  the  citizen  and  the  tra- 
veller as  the  objects  of  lawful  rapine.  To  escape 
the  Tartar  robbers,  and  the  tyrants  of  Persia, 
the  silk  caravans  explored  a >  more  southern 
road ;  they  traversed  the  mountains  of  Thibet, 
descended  the  streams  of  the  Ganges  or  the 
Indus,  and  patiently  expected  in  the  ports  of 
Guzerat  and  Malabar,  the  annual  fleets  of  the 
West.2  But  the  dangers  of  the  desert  were 
found  less  intolerable  than  toil,  hunger,  and  the 
loss  of  time;  the  attempt  was  seldom  renewed, 
and  the  only  European  who  has  passed  that  un- 
frequented way,  applauds  his  own  diligence, 
that  in  nine  months  after  his  departure  from 
Pekin,  he  reached  the  mouth  of  the.  Indus.  The 
ocean,  however,  was  open  to  the  free  communi- 
cation of  mankind.  From  the  great  river  to  the 
tropic  of  Cancer,  the  provinces  of  China  were 
subdued  and  civilized  by  the  emperors  of  the 
North ;  they  were  filled  about  the  time  of  the 
Christian  era  with  cities  and  men,  mulberry 
trees  and  their  precious  inhabitants ;  and  if  the 

z  The  road  from  China  to  Persia  and  Hindostan  maybe  investigated 
in  the  relations  of  Hackhiyt  and  Thevenot,  (the  ambassadors  of  Sha- 
rokh,  Anlhony  Jenkinson,  the  Pere  Grenber,  &c.  See  likewise  Han- 
way's  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  345-357).  A  communication  through  Thibet 
has  been  lately  explored  by  the  English  sovereigns  of  Bengal. 


06  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.  Chinese,  with  the  knowledge  of  the  compass, 
fj^ had  possessed  the  genius  of  the  Greeks  or  Phoe- 
nicians, they  might  have  spread  their  discoveries 
over  the  southern  hemisphere.  I  am  not  qua- 
lified to  examine,  and  I  am  not  disposed  to  be- 
lieve, their  distant  voyages  to  the  Persian  gulf, 
or  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope:  but  their  ancestors 
might  equal  the  labours  and  success  of  the  pre- 
sent race,  and  the  sphere  of  their  navigation 
might  extend  from  the  isles  of  Japan  to  the 
straits  of  Malacca,  the  pillars,  if  we  may  apply 
that  name,  of  an  Oriental  Hercules.2  Without 
loosing  sight  of  land,  they  might  sail  along  the 
coast  to  the  extreme  promontory  of  Achin,  which 
is  annually  visited  by  ten  or  twelve  ships  laden 
with  the  productions,  the  manufactures,  and  even 
the  artificers  of  China ;  the  island  of  Sumatra 
and  the  opposite  peninsula,  are  faintly  delineat- 
ed* as  the  regions  of  gold  and  silver;  and  the 
trading  cities  named  in  the  geography  of  Pto- 
lemy, may  indicate,  that  this  wealth  was  not 
solely  derived  from  the  mines.  The  direct  in- 
terval between  Sumatra  and  Ceylon  is  about 
three  hundred  leagues;  the  Chinese  and  Indian 

1  For  the  Chinese  navigation  to  Malacca  and  Achin,  perhaps  to  Cey- 
lon, See  Renaudot,  (on  the  two  Mahometan  Travellers,  p.  8 — 11,  13 — 
17,  141—157);  Dampier,  (vol.  ii,  p.  136);  the  Hist.  Philosophique  de« 
dt  ux  Indea,  (torn,  i,  p.  98),  and  the  Hist.  Generals  des  Voyages,  (torn, 
vi,  p  201). 

fc  Tbe  knowledge,  or  rather  ignorance,  of  Strabo,  Pliny,  Ptolemy, 
Arrian,  Alarcian,  &c.  of  the  countries  eastward  of  the  Cape  Comorin, 
is  finely  illustrated  by  d'Anville,  (Antiquite  Geographique  de  1'Inde, 
especially  p.  161 — 198).  Our  geography  of  India  is  improved  by  com- 
merce and  conquest;  and  has  been  illustrated  by  the  excellent  maps 
ami  memoirs  of  Major  Rennel.  If  he  extends  the  sphere  of  his  en- 
quiries with  the  same  critical  knowledge  and  sagacity,  he  will  succeed. 
and  may  surpass  the  first  of  modern  geographer*. 


fttt 

OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  97 

navigators  were  conducted  by  the  flight  of  birds    CHAP.. 

and  periodical  winds,  and  the  ocean  might  be J^, 

securely  traversed  in  square-built  ships,  which 
instead  of  iron,  were  sewed  together  with  the 
strong  thread  of  the  cocoa-nut.  Ceylon,  Seren- 
dib,  or  Taprobana,  was  divided  between  two 
hostile  princes ;  one  of  whom  possessed  the 
mountains,  the  elephants,  and  the  luminous  car- 
buncle, and  the  other  enjoyed  the  more  solid 
riches  of  domestic  industry,  foreign  trade,  and 
the  capacious  habour  of  Trinquemale,  which  re- 
ceived and  dismissed  the  fleets  of  the  East  and 
West.  In  this  hospitable  isle,  at  an  equal  dis- 
tance (as  it  was  computed)  from  their  respec- 
tive countries,  the  silk  merchants  of  China,  who 
had  collected  in  their  voyages  aloes,  cloves,  nut- 
megs and  santal  wood,  maintained  a  free  and 
beneficial  commerce  with  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Persian  gulf.  The  subjects  of  the  great  king 
exalted,  without  a  rival,  his  power  and  magni- 
ficence; and  the  Roman,  who  confounded  their 
vanity  by  comparing  his  paltry  coin  with  a  gold 
medal  of  the  emperor  Anastasius,  had  sailed  to 
Ceylon  in  an  ^Ethiopian  ship,  as  a  simple  pas- 
senger.' 

As  silk  became  of  indispensable  use,  the  em-  JjJJ^Jjf^ 
peror  Justinian  saw,  with  concern,  that  the  Per- worm8  «- 
sian  had  occupied  by  land  and  sea  the  monopoly 

c  The  Taprobane  of  Pliny,  (vi,  24),  Solimis,  (c.  53),  and  Salmas. 
Plinianae  Exercitat.  (p.  781, 782),  and  most  of  the  anoients,  who  often 
confound  the  islands  of  Ceylon  and  Sumatra,  is  more  clearly  describ- 
ed by  Cosmas  Indicoplcnstes :  yet  even  the  Christian  topographer  has 
exaggerated  its  dimensions.  His  information  on  the  Indian  and  Chinese 
trade  is  rare  and  curium,  (1.  ii,  p.  138  ;  1.  xi,  p.  337,  338,  edit. 
faucou).  VOL<  H 


8  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    of  this  important  supply,  and  that  the  wealth  of 
f  his  subjects  was  continually  drained  by  a  na- 
tion of  enemies  and  idolaters.     An  active  go- 
vernment would  have  restored  the  trade  of  Egypt 
and  the  navigation  of  the  Red  Sea,  which  had 
decayed  with  the  prosperity  of  the  empire;  and 
the  Roman  vessels  might'  have  sailed,  for  the 
purchase  of  silk,  to  the  ports  of  Ceylon,  of  Ma- 
lacca, or  even  of  China.     Justinian  embraced  a 
more  humble  expedient,  and  solicited  the  aid  of 
his  Christian  allies,  the  ^Ethiopians  of  Abyssinia, 
who  had  recently  acquired  the  arts  of  naviga- 
tion,   the  spirit  of  trade,   and  the  sea-port  of 
Adulis,4  still  decorated  with  the  trophies  of  a 
Grecian  conqueror.     Along  the  African  coast, 
they  prenetrated  to  the  equator  in  search   of 
gold,  emeralds,  and  aromatics;  but  they  wisely 
declined  an  unequal  competition,  in  which  they 
must  be  always  prevented  by  the  vicinity  of  the 
Persians  to  the  markets  of  India;  and  the  em- 
peror submitted  to  the  disappointment,  till  his 
wishes  were  gratified  by  an  unexpected  event. 
The  gospel  had  been  preached  to  the  Indians: 
a  bishop  already  governed  the  Christians  of  St. 
Thomas  on  the  pepper-coast  of  Malabar;   a 
church  was  planted  in  Ceylon,  and  the  missi- 
onaries pursued  the  footsteps  of  commerce  to 
the  extremities  of  Asia."     Two  Persian  monks 

d  See  Procopius,  Persic.  (1.  ii,  c.  20).  Cosmas  affords  some  inte« 
resting  knowledge  of  the  port  and  inscription  of  Adulis,  (Topograph. 
Christ.  1.  ii,  p.  138,  140—143),  and  of  the  trade  of  the  Axnmites  along 
the  African  coast  of  Herbaria  or  Zingi,  p.  138,  139),  and  as  far  at 
Taprobane,  (I.  xi,  p.  339). 

'  See  the  Christian  missions  in  India,  hi  Cosmos,  (1.  iii,  p.  178,  179, 
I-  >:',  p.  337),  and  consrlt  Ass<  man.  BiWfijt.  Orient,  (torn,  iv,  p.  413 — 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

had  long  resided  in  China,  perhaps  in  the  royal    CHAP. 

city  of  Nankin,  the  seat  of  a  monarch  addicted 

to  foreign  superstitions,  and  who  "actually  re- 
ceived an  embassy  from  the  isle  of  Ceylon. 
Amidst  their  pious  occupations,  they  viewed 
with  a  curious  eye  the  common  dress  of  the 
Chinese,  the  manufactures  of  silk,  and  the  my- 
riads of  silk^worms  whose  education  (either 
on  trees  or  in  houses)  had  once  been  consider- 
ed as  the  labour  of  queens/  They  soon  disco- 
vered that  it  was  impracticable  to  transport  the 
short-lived  insect,  but  that  in  the  eggs  a  numer- 
ous progeny  might  be  preserved  and  multiplied 
in  a  distant  climate.  Religion  or  interest  had 
more  power  over  the  Persian  monks  than  the 
love  of  their  country ;  after  a  long  journey,  they 
arrived  at  Constantinople,  imparted  their  pro- 
ject to  the  emperor,  and  were  liberally  encour- 
aged by  the  gifts  and  promises  of  Justinian.  To 
the  historians  of  that  prince,  a  campaign  at  the 
foot  of  mount  Caucasus  has  seemed  more  de- 
serving of  a  minute  relation,  than  fhe  labours 
of  these  missionaries  of  commerce,  who  again 
entered  China,  deceived  a  jealous  people  by 
concealing  the  eggs  of  the  silk-worm  in  a  hollow 
cane,  and  returned  in  triumph  with  the  spoils  of 
the  East.  Under  their  direction  the  eggs  were 
hatched  at  the  proper  season  by  the  artificial 
heat  of  dung;  the  worms  were  fed  with  mul-~ 
berry  leaves  ;  they  lived  and  laboured  in  a.  fo- 

The  invention,  manufacture,  and  general  use  of  silk  in  China,  may 
be  seen  in  Dnlialcle,  (Description  Generate  de  la^Chine,  torn,  ii,  p.  165, 
205—223;.  The  province  of  Chckian  is  the  most  renowned  both  for 
quantity  and  qnaliry. 


100_  1HE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

•CHAP,  reisrn  climate  :  a  sufficient  number  of  butterflies 

XL 

saved  to  propagate  the  race,  and  trees  were 


planted  to  supply  the  nourishment  of  the  rising 
generations.  Experience  and  reflection  correct- 
ed the  errors  of  a  new  attempt,  and  the  Sog- 
doite  ambassadors  acknowledged,  in  the  suc- 
ceeding reign,  that  the  Romans  were  not  infe- 
rior to  the  natives  of  China  in  the  education  of 
the  insects,  and  the  manufactures  of  silk,6  in 
which  both  China  and  Constantinople  have 
been  surpassed  by  the  industry  of  modern  Eu- 
rope. I  am  not  insensible  of  the  benefits  of  ele- 
gant luxury;  yet  I  reflect  with  some  pain,  that 
if  the  importers  of  silk  had  introduced  the  art 
of  printing,  already  practised  by  the  Chinese, 
the  comedies  of  Menander,  and  the  entire  decads 
of  XJvy,  would  have  been  perpetuated  in  the 
editions  of  the  sixth  century.  A  larger  view  of 
the  globe  might  at  least  have  promoted  the  im- 
provement of  speculative  science,  but  the  Chris- 
tian geography  was  forcibly  extracted  from  texts 
of  scripture,  and  the  study  of  nature  was  the 
surest  symptom  of  an  unbelieving  mind.  The 
orthodox  faith  confined  the  habitable  world  to 
one  temperate  zone,  and  represented  the  earth 
as  an  oblong  surface,  four  hundred  days  jour- 
ney in  length,  two  hundred  in  breadth,  encom- 


8  Procopim,  1,  viii.  Gothic,  ir,  c,  17.  Theophanes,  By/ant,  apud 
Phot.  Cod.  Ixxxir,  p.  S8.  Zonaras,  torn,  fi,  1.  xir.  p.  69.  Pagi  (torn. 
ii,  p.  C02)  assigns  to  the  year  552  this  memorable  importation.  Me- 
nander (in  Excerpt.  Legat.  p.  107)  mentions  the  admiration  of  the  So. 
gdoites ;  and  Theophylact  Simocatta  (1.  vii,  c.  P)  darkly  repre«en.tt 
the  t WD  rival  kingdoms  in  (China)  the  country  o'  silk. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  101 

passed  by  the  ocean,  and  covered  by  the  solid    CH\P. 

chrystal  of  the  firmament.1*  ,'w 

IV.  The  subjects  of  Justinian  were  dissatis-  state  of 
fied  with  the  time,  and  with  the  government.  I,ue€.re' 
Europe  was  over-run  by  the  barbarians,  and 
Asia  by  the  monks:  the  poverty  of  the  West 
discouraged  the  trade  and  manufactures  of  the 
East;  the  produce  of  labour  was  consumed  by 
the  unprofitable  servants  of  the  church,  the  state, 
and  the  army,  and  a  rapid  decrease  was  felt  in 
the  fixed  and  circulating  capitals  which  consti- 
tute the  national  wealth.  The  public  distress 
had  been  alleviated  by  the  economy  of  Anas- 
tasius,  and  that  prudent  emperor  accumulated 
an  immense  treasure,  while  he  delivered  his  peo- 
ple from  the  most  odious  or  oppressive  taxes. 
Their  gratitude  universally  applauded  the  abo- 
lition of  the  gold  of  affliction,  a  personal  tribute 
on  the  industry  of  the  poor;1  but  more  toler- 

b  Cosmas,  surnamcd  Indicopleustes,  or  the  Indian  navigator,  per- 
formed his  voyage  about  the  year  522,  and  composed  at  Alexandria, 
between  535  and  547,  Christian  Topography,  (Montfaucon,  Prsefat. 
c.  i)  in  which  he  refutes  the  impious  opinion,  that  the  earth  is  a  globe ; 
and  Photius  had  red  this  work,  (Cod.  xxxvi,  p.  9,  10),  which  displays 
the  prejudices  of  a  monk,  with  the  knowledge  of  a  merchant:  the  most 
valuable  part  has  been  given  in  French,  and  in  Greek  by  Melohisedec 
Thevenot,  (Relations  Ciirieuses,  part  i.),  and  the  whole  is  since  pub- 
lished in  a  splendid  edition  by  the  Pere  Montfaucon,  (Nova  Collectio 
Patrum,  Paris  1707,  2  vols.  in  fol.  toin.  ii,  p.  113—346).  But  the  edi- 
tor, a  theologian,  might  blush  at  not  discovering  the  Neslorian  heresy  of 
Cosmas,  which  has  been  detected  by  la  Croze,  (Christianisme  des  Iiides, 
torn,  i,  p.  40 — 56). 

'  Evagrius  (1.  iii,  c.  39,  49)  is  minute  and  grateful,  but  angry  with 
Zosimus  for  calumniating  the  great  Constantine.  In  collecting  all  the 
bonds  and  records  of  the  tax,  the  humanity  of  Anastasius  was  diligent 
and  artful ;  fathers  were  sometimes  compelled  to  prostitute  their  daugh- 
ters (Zosim.  Hist.  I.  ii,  c.  88,  p.  165,  166;  Lipsia,  1784).  Timotheut. 
of  Gaza  chose  such  an  event  for  the  subject  of  a  tragedy,  (Suitlas, 
torn,  iii,  p.  475),  which  contributed  to  the  abolition  of  the  tax,  (C«- 


102 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 


CHAP,  able,  as  it  should  seem,  in  the  form  than  in  the 
^'  substance,  since  the  flourishing  city  of  Edessa 
paid  only  one  hundred  and  forty  pounds  of  gold, 
which  was  collected  in  four  years  from  ten 
thousand  artificers.10  Yet  such  -was  the  parsi- 
mony which  supported  this  liberal  disposition, 
that  in  a  reign  of  twenty-seven  years,  Anas- 
tasius  saved,  from  his  annual  revenue,  the  enor- 
mous sum  of  thirteen  millions  sterling,  or  three 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  pounds  of  gold.1 
His  example  was  neglected,  and  his  treasure 
was  abused,  by  the  nephew  of  Justin.  The 
riches  of  Justinian  were  speedily  exhausted  by 
alms  and  buildings,  by  ambitious  wars  and  ig- 
nominious treaties.  His  revenues  were  found 
inadequate  to  his  expences.  Every  art  was 
Avarice  tried  to  extort  from  the  people  the  gold  and  sil- 
fuslon'of  ver  which  he  scattered  with  a  lavish  hand  from 
Justinian.  Persia  to  France  ;m  his  reign  was  marked  by 
the  vicissitudes,  or  rather  by  the  combat,  of  ra- 
paciousness  and  avarice,  of  splendour  and  po- 
verty; he  lived  with  the  reputation  of  hidden 
treasures,"  and  bequeathed  to  his  successor  the 

drcnus,  p.  35),    an*  happy  instance  (if  it  be  true)    of  the  use  of  the 
theatre. 

k  See  Josna  Stylites,  in  the  Bibliotheca  Orientalis  of  Asseman,  (torn. 
i,  p-  268).  This  capitation-tax  is  slightly  mentioned  in  the  Chronicle  of 
Edessa. 

I  Procopius  (Anecdot.  c.  19)   fixes  this  sum  from  the  report  of  the 
treasurers  themselves.     Tiberius  had  vices  ter  milieu ;  but  far  different 
was  his  empire  from  that  Anastasius. 

m  Evagrins,  1.  iv,  c.  30),  in  the  next  generation,  was  moderate  and 
well-informed  j  and  Zonaras,  (1.  14,  c.  61),  in  the  xiith  century,  had 
read -with  care,  and  thought  without  prejudice  :  yet  their  colours  are 
almost  as  black  as  those  of  the  Anecdotes. 

II  Procopius    (Anecdot.  c.  30)    relates  the  idle  conjectures  of  tne 
times.     The  death  of  Justinian,  lays  the  secret  historian,  will  expose 
his  wealth  or  poverty. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIKE.  103 

payment  of  his  debts.0     Such  a  character  has    CHAP. 
l>een  justly  accused  by  the  voice  of  the  people  ^ 


and  of  posterity :  but  public  discontent  is  cre- 
dulous ;  private  malice  is  bold ;  and  a  lover  of 
truth  will  peruse  with  a  suspicious  eye  the  in- 
structive anecdotes  of  Procopius.  The  secret 
historian  represents  only  the  vices  of  Justinian, 
and  those  vices  are  darkened  by  his  malevolent 
pencil.  Ambiguous  actions  are  imputed  to  the 
worst  motives :  error  is  confounded  with  guilt, 
accident  with  design,  and  laws  with  abuses: 
the  partial  injustice  of  a  moment  is  dexterously 
applied  as  the  general  maxim  of  a  reign  of  thirty- 
two  years:  the  emperor  alone  is  made  respon- 
sible for  the  faults  of  his  officers,  the  disorders 
of  the  times,  and  the  corruption  of  his  subjects; 
and  even  the  calamities  of  nature,  plagues,  earth- 
quakes, and  innundations,  are  imputed  to  the 
prince  of  the  demons,  who  had  mischievously 
assumed  the  form  of  Justinian. 

After  this  precaution,  I  shall  briefly  relate  the 
anecdotes  of  avarice  and  rapine,  under  the  fol- 
lowing heads.  I.  Justinian  was  so  profuse  that 
he  could  not  be  liberal.  The  civil  and  military  Pernicious 
officers,  when  they  were  admitted  into  the 
service  of  the  palace,  obtained  an  humble  rank 
am1  a  moderate  stipend ;  they  ascended  by  sc. 
niority  to  a  station  of  affluence  and  repose ;  the 

*  See  Corippus  de  Laudibus  Justini  Ang.  1.  ii,  269,  &c.  384,  &c. 
•"  Plarima  stint  vivo  minium  neglecta  parenti, 
"  Udde  tot  exhaustus  contraxit  debita  ASCIIS." 
Centenaries  of  gold  were  brought  by  strong  arms  into  the  hippodrome. 

"  Debita  geuitoris  persolvit,  cauta  recepit." 

p  The  Anecdotes  (c.  11-14,  18,  20-30)  supply  many  facts  and  more 
complaints. 


104  THE  DKCLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    annual  pensions,  of  which  the  most  honourable 
XL"      class  was  abolished  by  Justinian,  amounted  to 


four  hundred  thousand  pounds;  and  this  do- 
mestic economy  was  deplored  by  the  venal  or 
indigent  courtiers  as  the  last  outrage  on  the  ma- 
jesty of  the  empire.  The  posts,  the  salaries  of 
physicians,  and  the  nocturnal  illuminations, 
were  objects  of  more  general  concern ;  and  the 
cities  might  justly  complain,  that  he  usurped 
the  municipal  revenues  which  had  been  appro- 
priated to  these  useful  institutions.  Even  the 
soldiers  were  injured;  and  such  was  the  decay 
of  military  spirit,  that  they  were  injured  with 
impunity.  The  emperor  refused,  at  the  return 
of  each  fifth  year,  the  customary  donative  of  five 
pieces  of  gold,  reduced  his  veterans  to  beg  their 
bread,  and  suffered  unpaid  armies  to  melt  away 
Remit-  m  the  wars  of  Italy  and  Persia,  II.  The  hu- 

tances.  .  . 

manity  of  his  predecessors  had  always  remitted, 
in  some  auspicious  circumstances  of  their  reign, 
the  arrears  of  the  public  tribute;  and  they  dex- 
terously assumed  the  merit  of  resigning  those 
claims  which  it  was  impracticable  to  enforce. 
"  Justinian,  in  the  space  of  thirty-two  years. 
"has  never  granted  a  similar  indulgence;  and 
"  many  of  his  subjects  have  renounced  the  pos- 
"  session  of  those  lands  whose  value  is  insuffi- 
*'  cient  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  treasury. 
"  To  the  cities  which  had  suffered  by  hostile 
"  inroads,  Anastasius  promised  a  general  ex- 
"  emption  of  seven  years:  the  provinces  of  Jus- 
"  tinian  have  been  ravaged  by  the  Persians  and 
"Arabs,  the  Huns  and  Sclavonians;  but  his 
V  vain  and  ridiculous  dispensation  of  a  single 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  105 

"  year  has  been  confined  to  those  places  which  CHAP. 
*'  were  actually  taken  by  the  enemy."  Such  is  www, 
the  language  of  the  secret  historian,  who 
expressly  denies  that  any  indulgence  was  grant- 
ed to  Palestine  after  the  revolt  of  the  Samari- 
tans; a  false  and  odious  charge,  confuted  by 
the  authentic  record,  which  attests  a  relief  of 
thirteen  centenaries  of  gold,  (fifty-two  thousand 
pounds),  obtained  for  that  desolate  province 
by  the  intercession  of  St.  Sabas.q  III.  Proco- 
pius  has  not  condescended  to  explain  the  sys- 
tem of  taxation,  which  fell  like  a  hail  storm 
upon  the  land,  like  a  devouring  pestilence  on 
its  inhabitants;  but  we  should  become  the  ac- 
complices of  his  malignity,  if  we  imputed  to 
Justinian  alone  the  ancient  though  rigorous 
principle,  that  a  whole  district  should  be  con- 
demned to  sustain  the  partial  loss  of  the  persons 
or  property  of  individuals.  The  Anona,  or  sup-  Taxe« 
ply  of  corn  for  the  use  of  the  army  and  capital, 
was  a  grievous  and  arbitrary  exaction,  which 
exceeded,  perhaps  in  a  tenfold  proportion,  the 
ability  of  the  farmer;  and  his  distress  was  ag- 
gravated by  the  partial  injustice  of  weights  and 
measures,  and  the  expence  and  labour  of  dis- 
tant carriage.  In  a  time  of  scarcity,  an  extra- 
ordinary requisition  was  made  to  the  adjacent 
provinces  of  Thrace,  JBithynia,  and  Phrygia; 
but  the  proprietors,  after  a  wearisome  journey 
and  a  perilous  navigation,  received  so  inade- 

4  One  to  Scythopolis,  capital  of  (he  second  Palestine,  and  twelve  for 
the  rest  of  the  province.  Aleman.  (p.  59)  honestly  produces  this  fact 
from  a  MS.  life  of  St.  Sabas,  by  his  disciple  Cyril,  in  the  Vatican  It* 
brary,  and  since  published  by  Cotclerius 


106  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  quate  a  compensation,  that  they  would  have 
fe  chosen  the  alternative  of  delivering  both  the 
corn  and  price  at  the  doors  of  their  granaries. 
These  precautions  might  indicate  a  tender  so- 
licitude for  the  welfare  of  the  capital;  yet  Con- 
stantinople did  not  escape  the  rapacious  des- 
potism of  Justinian.  Till  his  reign,  the  straits 
of  the  Bosphorus  and  Hellespont  were  open  to 
the  freedom  of  trade,  and  nothing  was  prohi- 
bited except  the  exportation  of  arms  for  the 
service  of  the  barbarians.  At  each  of  the  gates 
of  the  city,  a  pretor  was  stationed,  the  minister 
of  imperial  avarice;  heavy  customs  were  impos- 
ed on  the  vessels  and  their  merchandise;  the 
oppression  was  retaliated  on  the  helpless  con- 
sumer; the  poor  were  afflicted  by  the  artificial 
scarcity,  and  exorbitant  price  of  the  market; 
and  a  people,  accustomed  to  depend  on  the  li- 
berality of  their  prince,  might  sometimes  com- 
plain of  the  deficiency  of  water  and  bread/  The 
aerial  tribute,  without  a  name,  a  law,  or  a  defi- 
nitive object,  was  an  annual  gift  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  pounds,  which  the  em- 
peror accepted  from  his  pretorian  prefect;  and 
the  means  of  payment  were  abandoned  to  the 
discretion  of  that  powerful  magistrate.  IV. 
Even  such  a  tax  was  less  intolerable  than  the 
privilege  of  monopolies,  which  checked  the  fair 
competition  of  industry,  and,  for  the  sake  of  a 
small  and  dishonest  gain,  imposed  an  arbitrary 
burden  on  the  wants  and  luxury  of  the  subject. 

'  John  Malala  (torn,  ii,  p.  232)  mentions  the  want  of  bread,  and 
Zonaras  (1.  xiv,  p.  63)  the  leaden  pipes,  which  Justinian,  or  his  ser- 
vants, stole  from  tne  aqueducts 


OF  THIS  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  107 

•'  As  soon    (I  transcribe  the  anecdotes)  as  the   CHAP 

"  exclusive  sale  of  silk  was  usurped  by  the  im- '_„,' 

"  perial  treasurer,  a  whole  people,  the  manufao 
"  turers  of  Tyre  and  Berytus,  was  reduced  to 
"  extreme  misery,  and  either  perished  with  hun- 
"  ger,  or  fled  to  the  hostile  dominions  of  Persia." 
A  province  might  suffer  by  the  decay  of  its 
manufactures;  but  in  this  example  of  silk,  Pro- 
copius  has  partially  overlooked  the  inestimable 
and  lasting-  benefit  which  the  empire  received 
from  the  curiosity  of  Justinian.  His  addition 
of  one-seventh  to  the  ordinary  price  of  copper 
money  may  be  interpreted  with  the  same  can- 
dour ;  and  the  alteration,  which  might  be  wise, 
appears  to  have  been  innocent;  since  he  neither 
allayed  the  purity,  nor  enhanced  the  value,  of 
the  gold  coin,*  the  legal  measure  of  public  and 
private  payments.  V.  The  ample  jurisdiction 
required  by  the  farmers  of  the  revenue  to  ac 
complish  their  engagements,  might  be  placed  in  Venality, 
an  odious  light,  as  if  they  had  purchased  from 
the  emperor  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  their  fel- 
low citizens.  And  a  more  direct  sale  of  ho- 
nours and  offices  was  transacted  in  the  palace, 
with  the  permission,  or  at  "least  with  the  con- 
nivance, of  Justinian  and  Theodora.  The  claims 
of  merit,  even  those  of  favour,  were  disregarded, 
and  it  was  almost  reasonable  to  expect,  that 
the  bold  adventurer,  who  had  undertaken  the 
trade  of  a  magistrate,  should  find  a  rich  com- 
pensation for  infamy,  labour,  danger,  the  debts 

1  For  an  anrens,  one-sixth  of  an  ounce  of  gold,  instead  of  210,  he 
gave  no  more  than  180  folles,  or  ounce  of  copper.  A  disproportion  of 
the  mint  below  the  m'nrkct  price,  must  have  soon  produced  a  scarcity 
of  small  money.  In  Zugland,  twelve  pence  in  copper  would  sell  for  no 
more  than  seven  pence,  (Smith's  Inquiry  into  the  Wealth  of  Nations, 
>ol.  i,p  10).  For  Justinian's  sold  coin,  see  Evagrins,  (1.  iv,  c.  30). 


108  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAH.    which  he  had  contracted,  and  the  heavy  interest 

Y  T 

\fff  which  he  paid.  A  sense  of  the  disgrace  and 
mischief  of  this  venal  practice,  at  length  awak- 
ened the  slumbering  virtue  of  Justinian;  and  he 
attempted,  by  the  sanction  of  oaths'  and  penal- 
ties, to  guard  the  integrity  of  his  government; 
but  at  the  end  of  a  year  of  perjury,  his  rigorous 
edict  was  suspended,  and  corruption  licentious- 
ly abused  her  triumph  over  the  impotence  of 
Testa-  the  laws.  VI.  The  testament  of  Eulalius,  count 
of  the  domestics,  declared  the  emperor  his  sole 
heir,  on  condition,  however,  that  he  should  dis- 
charge his  debts  and  legacies,  allow  to  his  three 
daughters  a  decent  maintenance,  and  bestow 
each  of  them  in  marriage,  with  a  portion  of  ten 
pounds  of  gold.  But  the  splendid  fortune  of 
Eulalius  had  been  consumed  by  fire ;  and  the 
inventory  of  his  goods  did  not  exceed  the  trifl- 
ing sum  of  five  hundred  and  sixty-four  pieces 
of  gold.  A  similar  instance,  in  Grecian  history, 
admonished  the  emperor  of  the  honourable  part 
prescribed  for  his  imitation.  He  checked  the 
selfish  murmurs  of  the  treasury,  applauded  the 
confidence  of  his  friend,  discharged  the  legacies 
and  debts,  educated  the  three  virgins  under  the 
eye  of  the  empress  Theodora,  and  doubled  the 
marriage  portion  which  had  satisfied  the  ten- 
derness of  their  father."  The  humanity  of  a 
prince  (for  princes  cannot  be  generous)  is  en- 

1  The  oath  is  conceived  in  the  most  formidable  words,  Novell,  viii, 
tit.  3).  The  defaulters  imprecate  on  themselves,  quit-quid  habent  te- 
loriun  armamentaria  coeli;  the  part  of  Judas;  the  leprosy  of  Giezi,  the 
tremor  of  Cain,  &c.  besides  all  temporal  pains. 

"  A  similar  or  more  generous  act  of  friendship  is  related  by  Lucian 
<ft*  liiuiamidas  of  Corinth,  (in  Toxare,  c.  22,  23,  torn,  ii,  p.  530),  and 
t!i«  Mory  has  produced  an  ingenious,  though  feeble,  comedy  of  Fon- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  109 

titled  to  some  praise;  yet  even  in  this  act  of  vir-  CHAP. 
tue  we  may  discover  the  inveterate  custom  of  ,„.„„,,„ 
supplanting  the  legal  or  natural  heirs,  which 
Procopius  imputes  to  the  reign  of  Justinian. 
His  charge  is  supported  by  eminent  names  and 
scandalous  examples;  neither  widows  nor  or- 
phans were  spared;  and  the  art  of  soliciting, 
or  extorting,  or  supposing  testaments,  was  be- 
neficially practised  by  the  agents  of  the  palace. 
This  base  and  mischievous  tyranny  invades  the 
security  of  private  life;  and  the  monarch  who 
has  indulged  an  appetite  for  gain  will  soon  be 
tempted  to  anticipate  the  moment  of  succession, 
to  interpret  wealth  as  an  evidence  of  guilt,  and 
to  proceed,  from  the  claim  of  inheritance,  to  the 
power  of  confiscation.  VII.  Among  the  forms  of 
rapine,  a  philosopher  may  be  permitted  to  name 
the  conversion  of  pagan  or  heretical  riches  to 
the  use  of  the  faithful ;  but  in  the  time  of  Justi- 
nian this  holy  plunder  was  condemned  by  the 
sectaries  alone,  who  became  the  victims  of  his 
orthodox  avarice/ 

Dishonour  might  be  ultimately  reflected  on  The  mini, 
the  character  of  Justinian ;  but  much  of  the 
guilt,  and  still  more  of  the  profit,  was  intercept- 
ed by  the  ministers,  who  were  seldom  promot- 
ed for  their  virtues,  and  not  always  selected 
for  their  talents/  The  merits  of  Tribonian  the 
questor  will  hereafter  be  weighed  in  the  refor- 
mation of  the  Roman  law;  but  the  economy  of 
the  East  was  subordinate  to  the  pretorian  pre- 

x  John  Malala,  torn,  ii,  p.  101,  102, 103.- 

1  One  of  these,  Anatolius,  perished  in  an  earthquake— doubtless  a 
judgment !  The  complaints  and  clamuurs  of  the  people  in  Agathias 
(I.  v,  p.  146,  147)  are  almost  an  echo  of  the  anecdote.  The  aliena 
pecnnia  reddenda  of  Corippus  (1.  ii,  381,  &c.)  is  not  very  honourable 
to  Justinian's  memory. 


1  10  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    feet,  and  Procopius  has  justified  his  anecdotes 
by  the  portrait  which  he  exposes  in  his  public 


history,  of  the  notorious  vices  of  John  of  Cap- 
cah"a-f  padocia."  His  knowledge  was  not  borrowed 
from  the  schools,*  and  his  style  was  scarcely 
legible;  but  he  excelled  in  the  powers  of  native 
genius,  to  suggest  the  wisest  counsels,  and  to 
find  expedients  in  the  most  desperate  situations. 
The  corruption  of  his  heart  was  equal  to  the 
vigour  of  his  understanding.  Although  he  was 
suspected  of  magic  and  pagan  superstition,  he 
appeared  insensible  to  the  fear  of  God  or  the 
reproaches  of  man;  and  his  aspiring  fortune 
was  raised  on  the  death  of  thousands,  the  po- 
verty of  millions,  the  ruin  of  cities,  and  the  de- 
solation of  provinces.  From  the  dawn  of  light 
to  the  moment  of  dinner,  he  assiduously  labour- 
ed to  enrich  his  master  and  himself  at  the  ex- 
pence  of  the  Roman  world;  the  remainder  of 
the  day  was  spent  in  sensual  and  obscene  plea- 
sures, and  the  silent  hours  of  the  night  were 
interrupted  by  the  perpetual  dread  of  the  jus- 
tice of  an  assassin.  His  abilities,  perhaps  his 
vices,  recommended  him  to  the  lasting  friend- 
ship of  Justinian:  the  emperor  yielded  with  re- 
luctance to  the  fury  of  the  people;  his  victory 
was  displayed  by  the  immediate  restoration  of 
their  enemy ;  and  they  felt  above  ten  years,  un- 
der his  oppressive  administration,  that  he  was 
stimulated  by  revenge,  rather  than  instructed 
by  misfortune.  Their  murmurs  served  only 

*  See  the  history  and  character  of  John  of  Cappadocia  in  Proco- 
pins,  (Persic.  1.  i,  c.  24,  25  ;  1.  ii,  c.30.     Vandal  1.  i,  c.  13.     Anecdot. 
c.  2, 17,  22).     The  agreements  of  the  history  and  anecdotes  is  a  morta1 
wound  te  the  reputation  of  the  prefect. 

*  Ot;  yap    «XXo  aJsy  ej  y{a,«jc*aT!;-ac    tyiirav   EjUsSlv    CT<    fjin 
»— TS  *axa  xa**>;  yfn^ai — a  forcible  expression. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  TMPIRfi.  Ill 

to  fortify  the  resolution  of  Justinian ;  but  the  CHAP, 
prefect,  in  the  insolence  of  favour,  provoked  the  XL" 
resentment  of  Theodora,  disdained  a  power  be- 
fore which  every  knee  was  bent,  and  attempted 
to  sow  the  seeds  of  discord  between  the  em- 
peror and  his  beloved  consort.  Even  Theo- 
dora herself  was  constrained  to  "dissemble,  to 
wait  a  favourable  moment,  and  by  an  artful 
conspiracy  to  render  John  of  Cappadocia  the 
accomplice  of  his  own  destruction.  At  a  time 
when  Belisarius,  unless  he  had  been  a  hero, 
must  have  shewn  himself  a  rebel,  his  wife  An- 
tonina,  who  enjoyed  the  secret  confidence  of 
the  empress,  communicated  his  feigned  discon- 
tent to  Euphemia,  the  daughter  of  the  prefect; 
the  credulous  virgin  imparted  to  her  father  the 
dangerous  project,  and  John,  who  might  have 
known  the  value  of  oaths  and  promises,  was 
tempted  to  accept  a  nocturnal,  and  almost  trea- 
sonable, interview  with  the  wife  of  Belisarius. 
An  ambuscade  of  guards  and  eunuchs  had  been 
posted  by  the  command  of  Theodora ;  they 
rushed  with  drawn  swords  to  seize  or  punish 
the  guilty  minister:  he  was  saved  by  the  fide- 
lity of  his  attendants  ;  but  instead  of  appealing 
to  a  gracious  sovereign,  who  had  privately  warned 
him  of  his  danger,  he  pusillanimously  fled  to  the 
sanctuary  of  the  church.  The  favourite  of  Jus- 
tinian was  sacrificed  to  conjugal  tenderness  or 
domestic  tranquillity;  the  conversion  of  a  pre- 
fect into  a  priest  extinguished  his  ambitious 
hopes,  but  the  friendship  of  the  emperor  al- 
leviated his  disgrace,  and  he  retained,  in 
the  mild  exile  of  Cyzicus,  an  ample  portion  of 


}  1 2  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CH\P.  his  riches.  Such  imperfect  revenge  could  not 
satisfy  the  unrelenting  hatred  of  Theodora  ;  the 
murder  of  his  old  enemy,  the  bishop  of  Cyzicus, 
afforded  a  decent  pretence;  and  John  of  Cap- 
padocia,  whose  actions  had  deserved  a  thou- 
sand deaths,  was  at  last  condemned  for  a  crime 
of  which  he  was  innocent.  A  great  minister, 
who  had  been  invested  with  the  honours  of  con 
sul  and  patrician,  was  ignominiously  scourged 
like  the  vilest  of  malefactors  ;  a  tattered  cloak 
was  the  sole  remnant  of  his  fortunes  ;  he  was 
transported  in  a  bark  to  the  place  of  his  ba- 
nishment at  Antinopolis  in  Upper  Egypt,  and 
the  prefect  of  the  East  begged  his  bread  through 
the  cities  which  had  trembled  at  his  name. — 
During  an  exile  of  seven  years,  his  life  was  pro- 
tracted and  threatened  by  the  ingenious  cruel- 
ty of  Theodora  ;  and  when  her  death  permitted 
the  emperor  to  recal  a  servant  whom  he  had 
abandoned  with  regret,  the  ambition  of  John  of 
Ctippadocia  was  reduced  to  the  humble  duties 
of  the  sacerdotal  profession.  His  successors 
convinced  the  subjects  of  Justinian,  that  the 
arts  of  oppression  might  still  be  improved  by 
experience  and  industry ;  the  frauds  of  a  Sy- 
rian banker  were  introduced  into  the  admini- 
stration of  the  finances ;  and  the  example  of 
the  prefect  was  diligently  copied  by  the  ques- 
tor,  the  public  and  private  treasurer,  the  go- 
vernors of  provinces,  and  the  principal  magis- 
trates of  the  eastern  empire.*1 

*"  Thr- chronology  of  Procopius  is  loose  and  obscnrc ,  but  with  tti« 
aid  of  Pa^i>  lean  discern  that  John  vas  appointed  pretorian  prefect 

of 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  ll't 

V.  The  edifices  of  Justinian  were  cemented   c"tP< 

with  the~KTooH  and  treasure  of  his  people;  but 

those  stately  structures  appeared  to  announce  His  edifi- 

/  11       j-        ees  and 

the  prosperity  of  the  empire,  and  actually  dis- 
played the  skill  of  their  architects.  Both  the 
theory  and  practice  of  the  arts  which  depend 
on  mathematical  science  and  mechanical  pow- 
er, were  cultivated  under  the  patronage  of  the 
emperors  ;  the  fame  of  Archimedes  was  rivalled 
by  Proclus  and  Anthemius  ;  and  if  their  mira- 
cles had  been  related  by  intelligent  spectators, 
they  might  now  enlarge  the  speculations,  in- 
stead of  exciting  the  distrust,  of  philosophers. 
A  tradition  has  prevailed,  that  the  Roman  fleet 
was  reduced  to  ashes  in  the  port  of  Syracuse 
by  the  burning-glasses  of  Archimedes  ;e  and  it 
is  asserted  that  a  similar  expedient  was  em- 
ployed by  Proclus  to  destroy  the  Gothic  ves- 
sels in  the  harbour  of  Constantinople,  and  to 
protect  his  benefactor  Anastasius  against  the 
bold  enterprise  of  Vitalian.*  A  machine  was 
Axed  on  the  walls  of  the  city,  consisting  of  an 
hexagon  mirror  of  polished  brass,  with  many 

of  the  East  in  the  year  530;  that  he  was  removed  in  January  532— 
restored  before  June  533— banished  in  541— and  recalled  between  June 
548  and  April  1,  549 ,  Aleman.  (p.  96,  97)  gives  the  list  of  his  ten  suc- 
cessors— a  rapid  series  in  a  part  of  a  single  reign. 

e  This  conflagration  is  hinted  by  Lucian,  (in  Hippia,  c.  2),  and  Ga- 
len, (1.  iii,  de  temperamentis,  torn,  i,  p.  81,  edit.  Basil),  in  the  second 
century.  A  thousand  years  afterwards,  it  is  positively  affirmed  by  Zo- 
naras,  (1.  ix,  p.  424),  on  the  faith  of  Dion  Cassius,  by  Tzetzes,  (Chi- 
liad ii,  119,  &c.),  Eustathins,  (ad  Iliad  E,  p.  338),  and  the  scholiast  of 
Lncian.  See  Fabricius,  (Bibliot.  Graec.  1.  iii,  c.  22,  torn,  ii,  p.  551, 
552),  to  whom  I  am  more  or  less  indebted  for  several  of  these  quota- 
tion. 

"  Zonaras  (1.  *iv,  p     3)  affirms  the  fact,  without  quoting  any  *** 

VOL.   VII.  i 


4  THE  IJF.CIJNE  AND  FALL 

. 

CHAT.  srnaller  and  moveable  polygons  to  receive  and 
„*„*.».  reflect  the  rays  of  the  meridian  sun ;  and  a 
consuming  flame  was  darted,  to  the  distance, 
perhaps,  of  two  hundred  feet.e  The  truth  of 
these  two  extraordinary  facts  is  invalidated  by 
the  silence  of  the  most  authentic  historians ; 
and  the  use  of  burning-glasses  was  never  adopt- 
ed in  the  attack  or  defence  of  places/  Yet  the 
admirable  experiments  of  a  French  philoso- 
pher6 have  demonstrated  the  possibility  of  such 
a  mirror;  and,  since  it  is  possible,  I  am  more 
disposed  to  attribute  the  art  to  the  greatest 
mathematicians  of  antiquity,  than  to  give  the 
merit  of  the  fiction  to  the  idle  fancy  of  a  monk 
or  a  sophist.  According  to  another  story, 
Proclus  applied  sulphur  to  the  destruction  of 
the  Gothic  fleet  ;h  in  a  modern  imagination,  the 
name  of  sulphur  is  instantly  connected  with  the 
suspicion  of  gun-powder,  and  that  suspicion  is 
propagated  by  the  secret  arts  of  his  disciple 

'  Tzetzes  describes  the  artifice  of  these  burning-glasses,  which  lie 
had  read,  perhaps  with  no  learned  eyes,  in  a  mathematical  treatise  of 
Anthernius.  That  treatise,  irtft  trapa3c£«y  jun^a^njuaTov,  has  been  lately 
published,  translated,  and  illustrated,  by  M.  Dupuys,  a  scholar  and  a 
mathematician,  (Memoires  de  1'Academie  des  Inscriptions,  torn,  xlii, 
p.  892  451). 

f  In  the  siege  of  Syracuse,  by  the  silence  of  Polybius,  Plniarch, 
Livy  ;  ia  the  siege  of  Constantinople,  by  that  of  Marcellimis,  and  all 
the  contemporaries  of  the  vith  century. 

*  Without  any  previous  knowledge  of  Tzelzes  or  Anthemius,  the  im- 
mortal Buffon  imagined  and  executed  a  set  of  burning-glasses,  with 
which  he  could  inflame  planks  at  the  distance  of  200  feet,  (Supplement 
it  I'Hist.  Naturelle,  torn,  i,  p.  389-483,  quarto  edition).  What  miracles 
would  not  his  genius  have  performed  for  the  public  service,  with  roy- 
al expence*  and  in  the  strong  SUB  of  Constantinople  or  Syracuse  ? 
,  '•  John  Malala  (torn,  ii,  p.  120-124)  relates  the  fact  •.  but  he  seems  to 

confound  the  names  or  persons  of  Vroclns  aiid  Marinus. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  \  15 

Anthemius.1     A  citizen  of  Tralles  in  Asia,  had    <;HAP 

five  sons,   who  were  all  distinguished  in  their  , „ 

respective  professions  by  merit  and  success.— 
Olympius  excelled  in  the  knowledge  and  prac- 
tice of  the  Roman  jurisprudence.  Dioscorus 
and  Alexander  became  learned  physicians; 
but  the  skill  of  the  former  was  exercised  for 
the  benefit  of  his  fellow  citizens,  while  his  more 
ambitious  brother  acquired  wealth  and  reputa- 
tion at  Rome.  The  fame  of  Metrodorus  the 
grammarian,  and  of  Anthemius  the  mathemati- 
cian and  architect,  reached  the  ears  of  the  em- 
peror Justinian,  who  invited  them  to  Constanti- 
nople ;  and  while  the  one  instructed  the  rising 
generation  in  the  schools  of  eloquence,  the 
other  filled  the  capital  and  provinces  with  more 
lasting  monuments  of  his  art.  In  a  trifling  dis- 
pute relative  to  the  \valls  or  windows  of  their 
contiguous  houses,  he  had  been  vanquished  by 
the  eloquence  of  his  neighbour  Zeno ;  but  the 
orator  was  defeated  in  his  turn  by  the  master  of 
mechanics,  whose  malicious,  though  harmless, 
stratagems,  are  darkly  represented  by  the  ig- 
norance of  Agathias.  In  a  lower  room,  Anthe- 
mius arranged  several  vessels,  or  cauldrons  of 
water,  each  of  them  covered  by  the  wide  bot- 
tom of  a  leathern  tube,  which  rose  to  a  narrow 
top,  and  was  artificially  conveyed  among  the 
joists  and  rafters  of  the  adjacent  building,  A 
fire  was  kindled  beneath  the  cauldron  ;  the 

1  Agathias,  1.  v,  p.  149-152.  The  merit  of  Anthemius  as  an  architect 
it  loudly  praised  by  Procopius,  (de  Edlf.  1.  i,  c.  1),  and  Paulus  Silen- 
tiarhis,  (part  i,  134,  *c.). 


'  1G  THE  DFrUVF.  4\r>  FALL 

»;HAI».  steam  of  the  boiling  water  ascended  through 
~~~*<  the  tubes  ;  the  house  was  shaken  by  the  efforts 
of  imprisoned  air,  and  its  trembling  inhabitants 
might  wonder  that  the  city  was  unconscious  of 
the  earthquake  which  they  had  felt.    At  another 
time,  the  friends  of  Zeno,    as  they  sat  at  table, 
were  dazzled  by  the  intolerable  light  which 
flashed  in  their  eyes  from  the  reflecting  mirrors 
of  Anthemius ;  they  were  astonished   by  the 
noise  which   he  produced   from  a  collision  of 
certain  minute  and  sonorous  particles  ;  and  the 
orator  declared,  in  tragic  style,  to  the  senate, 
that  a  mere  mortal  must  yield  to  the  power  of 
an  antagonist,  who  shook  the   earth  with  the 
trident  of  Neptune,   and  imitated   the  thunder 
and  lightning  of  Jove  himself.     The  genius  of 
Anthemius  and  his  colleague  Isidore  the  Mile- 
sian, was  excited  and  employed  by  a  prince, 
whose  taste  for  architecture  had  degenerated 
into  a  mischievous  and   costly  passion.     His 
favourite  architects  submitted  their  designs  and 
difficulties  to  Justinian,  and  discreetly  confes- 
sed how  much  their  laborious  meditations  were 
surpassed  by  the  intuitive  knowledge  or  celes- 
tial  inspiration   of  an  emperor,   whose  views 
were  always  directed  to  the  benefit  of  his  peo- 
ple, the  glory  of  his  reign,  and  the  salvatioa  of 
his  soul.k 


k  See  Procoptns,  (de  Edificiis,  l.i,  c.  1,  2 ;  I.  ii,  c.  3).  He  relates  a 
coincidence  of  dreams  which  supposes  some  fraud  in  Justinian  or  his 
architect.  They  both  saw,  in  a  vision,  the  same  plan  for  stopping  an 
inundation  at  Dai  a.  A  stone-quarry  near  Jerusalem  was  revealed  to 
the  emperor,  (I.  v,  c.  6) :  an  angel  was  tricked  into  the  perpetual  cut- 
tad  y  of  St.  Sophia,  (Anonym,  de  Antiq.  C.  P.  1.  iv,  p.  70). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  117 


The  principal  church,  which  was  dedicated 
oy  the  founder  of  Constantinople  to  St.  Sophia, 
or  the  eternal  wisdom,  had  been  twice^destroy- 
ecTBy  fire  :  after"  the  exile  of  John  Chrysostom,  £hulch  °f 

*      *  .  J  St.  Sophia 

and  during  the  Nika  of  the  blue  and  green  fac- 
tions. No  sooner  did  the  tumult  subside,  than 
the  Christian  populace  deplored  their  sacrile- 
gious rashness  ;  but  they  might  have  rejoiced 
in  the  calamity,  had  they  foreseen  the  glory  of 
the  new  temple,  which  at  the  end  of  forty  days 
was  strenuously  undertaken  by  the  piety  of  < 
Justinian.1  The  ruins  were  cleared  away,  a 
more  spacious  plan  was  described,  and  as  it 
required  the  consent  of  some  proprietors  of 
ground,  they  obtained  the  most  exorbitant  terms 
from  the  eager  desires  and  timorous  conscience 
of  the  monarch.  Anthemius  formed  the  design, 
and  his  genius  directed  the  hands  of  ten  thou- 
sand workmen,  whose  payment  in  pieces  of  fine 
silver  was  never  delayed  beyond  the  evening. 


1  Among  the  crowd  of  ancients  and  moderns  who  have  celebrated 
the  edifice  of  St.  Sophia,  I  shall  distinguish  and  follow — 1.  Four  origi- 
nal spectators  and  historians:  Procopins,  (de  Edific.  1.  i,  c.  1);  Agm- 
thias,  (1.  v.  p.  152,  153) ;  Paul  Silentiariu;,  (in  a  poem  of  1026  hexa- 
meters, ad  calceni  Annas  Comnem.  Alexiad.),  and  Evagiius,  (1.  iv,  c. 
31%  2.  Two  legendary  Greeks  of  a  later  period :  George  Codimu, 
(de  Origin.  C-  P.  p.  64-74),  and  the  anonymous  writer  of  Banduri, 
(Imp.  Orient,  torn,  i,  1.  iv.  p.  65-80).  The  great  Byzantine  antiqua- 
rian, Ducange,  (Comment,  ad  Paul  Silentiar.  p.  525-598,  and  C.  P. 
Christ.  1  iii,  p.  5-78).  4  Two  French  travellers— the  onr,  Peter  Gyl- 
lius,  (de  Topograph.  C.  P.  1.  ii,  c.  3,  4),  in  the  xvith ;  the  other,  Gre- 
k)t,  (Voyage  de  C.  P.  p.  95-164;  Paris,  1680,  in  4to) :  he  has  given 
plans,  prospects,  and  inside-views  of  St.  Sophia;  and  his  plans,  though 
on  a  smaller  scale,  appear  more  correct  than  those  of  Ducange.  I 
have  adopted  and  reduced  the  measures  of  GH  lot :  but  as  no  Christian 
can  now  ascend  the  dome,  the  height  is  borrowed  from  Evagrius,  com- 
pared with  Gyllius  Gictvs.  and  the  Oriental  Geograober. 


llcj  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CXLP"   ^he  emPeror  himself,  clad  in  a  linen  tunic,  sur- 
,,~,,,,~  veyed  each  day  their  rapid  progress,  and  en- 
couraged their  diligence  by  his  familiarity,  his 
zeal,  and  his  rewards.     The  new  cathedral  of 
St.  Sophia  was  consecrated  by  the  patriarch, 
five  years  eleven  months  and  ten  days  from  the 
I     first  foundation  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  the  solemn 
festival,  Justinian  exclaimed  with  devout  vani- 
ty, "  Glory  be  to  God,   who  hath  thought  me 
"  worthy  to  accomplish   so  great  a   work  ;  I 
"  have  vanquished  thee,   O  Solomon  !"m     But 
the  pride  of  the  Roman  Solomon,  before  twen- 
ty years  had  elapsed,  was  humbled  by  an  earth- 
,    quake,  which  overthrew  the  eastern  part  of  the 
dome.     Its   splendour  was  again  restored  by 
the  perseverance  of  the  same  prince  ;  and  in 
the  thirty-sixth  year  of  his  reign,  Justinian  ce- 
lebrated  the  second   dedication  of  a   temple, 
I    which  remains,  after  twelve  centuries,  a  stately 
monument  of  his  fame.     The  architecture  of 
St.  Sophia,   which  is  now  converted   into  the 
principal  mosch,  has  been  imitated  by  the  Tur- 
kish Sultans,  and  that  venerable  pile  continues 
to  excite  the  fond  admiration  of  the  Greeks, 
and   the  more  rational   curiosity  of  European 
Desorip-     travellers.     The  eye  of  the  spectator  is  disap- 
tion.         pointed  by  an  irregular  prospect  of  half  domes 
and  shelving  roofs  :  the  western  front,  the  prin- 

m  Solomon's  temple  was  surrounded  with  courts,  porticoes,  &c. ;  but 
the  proper  structure  of  the  house  of  God  was  no  more  (if  we  take  the 
Egyptian  or  Hebrew  cubit  at  22  inches)  than  55  feet  in  height,  3C.^ 
in  breadth,  and  110  in  length— a  small  parish  church,  says  Pridi-aux, 
(Connection,  vol.  i,  p.  144,  folio; ,  but  few  sanctuaries  could  be  valued 
at  four  or  fire  millions  sterling ! 


OF  THE  ROMAN   EMI-'iSlE. 

ciple  approach,   is  destitute  of  simplicity  and  C5£p' 

magnificence  :  and  the  scale  of  dimensions  has .- 

been  much  surpassed  by  several  of  the  Latin 
cathedrals.  But  the  architect  who  first  erect- 
ed an  aerial  cupola,  is  entitled  to  the  praise  of 
bold  design  and  skilful  execution.  The  dome 
of  St.  Sophia,  illuminated  by  four-and-twenty 
windows,  is  formed  with  so  small  a  curve,  that 
the  depth  is  equal  only  to  one-sixth  of  its  dia- 
meter ;  the  measure  of  that  diameter  is  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  feet,  and  the  lofty  centre,  where 
a  crescent  has  supplanted  the  cross,  rises  to 
the  perpendicular  height  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty  feet  above  the  pavement.  The  circle 
which  encompasses  the  dome,  lightly  reposes 
on  four  strong  arches,  and  their  weight  is  firm- 
ly supported  by  four  massy  piles,  whose 
strength  is  assisted  on  the  northern  and  sou- 
thern sides  by  four  columns  of  Egyptian  gra- 
nite. A  Greek  cross,  inscribed  in  a  quadran- 
gle, represents  the  form  of  the  edifice  ;  the  ex 
act  breadth  is  two  hundred  and  forty-three  feet 
and  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  may  be  assign 
ed  for  the  extreme  length  from  the  sanctuary  in 
the  east  to  the  nine  western  doors  which  open 
into  the  vestibule,  and  from  thence  into  the 
narthex,  or  exterior  portico.  That  portico  was 
the  humble  station  of  the  penitents.  The  nave 
or  body  of  the  church  was  filled  by  the  con- 
gregation of  the  faithful ;  but  the  two  sexes 
were  prudently  distinguished,  and  the  upper 
and  lower  galleries  were  allotted  for  the  more 
rivate  devotion  of  the  women.  Beyond  the 


<.~0  THE  DECLINE  AND  PALL 

CHAP,  northern  and  southern  piles,  a  balustrade,  ter 
^L-  minated  on  either  side  by  the  thrones  of  the 
emperor  and  the  patriarch,  divided  the  nave 
from  the  choir  :  and  the  space,  as  far  as  the 
steps  of  the  altar,  was  occupied  by  the  clergy 
and  singers.  The  altar  itself,  a  name  which 
insensibly  became  familiar  to  Christian  ears, 
was  placed.,,  in  the  eastern  recess,  artificially 
built  in  the  form  of  a  demi-cylinder  ;  and  this 
sanctuary  communicated  by  several  doors  with 
the  sacristy,  the  vestry,  the  baptistery,  and  the 
contiguous  buildings,  subservient  either  to  the 
pomp  of  worship,  or  the  private  use  of  the  ec- 
clesiastical ministers.  The  memory  of  past  ca- 
lamities inspired  Justinian  with  a  \vise  resolu- 
tion, that  no  wood,  except  for  the  doors,  should 
be  admitted  into  the  new  edifice ;  and  the  choice 
of  the  materials  was  applied  to  the  strength,  the 
lightness  or  the  splendour  of  the  respective 
parts.  The  solid  piles  which  sustained  the 
cupola  were  composed  of  huge  blocks  of  free- 
stone, hewn  into  squares  and  triangles,  fortified 
by  circles  of  iron,  and  firmly  cemented  by  the 
tf  infusion  of  lead  and  quick  lime  :  but  the  weight 
of  the  cupola  was  diminished  by  the  levity  of 
its  substance,  which  consists  either  of  pumice- 
stone  that  floats  in  the  water,  or  of  bricks  from 
the  isle  of  Rhodes,  five  times  less  ponderous 
than  the  ordinary  sort.  The  whole  frame  of 
the  edifice  was  constructed  of  brick  ;  but  those 
materials  were  concealed  by  a  crust  of  marble  ; 
dnd  the  inside  of  St.  Sophia,  the  cupola,  the 
wo  larger,  and  the  six  smaller,  semi-domes,  the 
walls,  the  hundred  columns,  and  the  pavement, 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

CHAP 

delight  even  the  eye  of  the  barbarians,  with  a  XL 
rich  and  variegated  picture.  A  poet,"  who  be-  "T^'w 
held  the  primitive  lustre  of  St.  Sophia,  enume- 
rates the  colours,  the  shades,  and  the  spots  of 
ten  or  twelve  marbles,  jaspers,  and  porphyries, 
which  nature  had  profusely  diversified,  and 
which  were  blended  and  contrasted  as  it  were 
by  a  skilful  painter.  The  triumph  of  Christ 
was  adorned  with  the  last  spoils  of  paganism, 
but  the  greater  part  of  these  costly  stones  was 
extracted  from  the  quarries  of  Asia  Minor,  the 
isles  and  continent  of  Greece,  Egypt,  Africa, 
and  Gaul.  Eight  columns  of  porphyry,  which 
Aurelian  had  placed  in  the  temple  of  the  sun, 
were  offered  by  the  piety  of  a  Roman  matron  ; 
eight  others  of  green  marble  were  presented  by 
the  ambitious  zeal  of  the  magistrates  of  Ephe- 
sus  :  both  are  admirable  by  their  size  and  beau- 
ty, but  every  order  of  architecture  disclaims 
their  fantastic  capitals.  A  variety  of  orna- 
ments and  figures  was  curiously  expressed  in 
mosaic ;  and  the  images  of  Christ,  of  the  Vir- 
gin, of  saints,  and  of  angels,  which  have  been 
defaced  by  Turkish  fanaticism,  were  dange- 

"  Paul  Sileiitiarius,  in  dark  and  poetic  language,  describes  the  va- 
rious stones  and  marbles  that  were  employed  in  the  edifice  of  St.  So- 
phia, (P.  ii,  p.  129,  133,  &c.  &c.):  1.  The  Caryrfian—  pale,  with  iron 
veins.  2  The  Phrygian— of  two  sorts,  both  of  a  rosy  hue ;  the  one 
with  a  white  shade,  the  other  purple,  with  silver  flowers.  3.  The  Por- 
phyry of  Egypt — with  small  stars.  4.  The  green  marble  of  Laconia.  5. 
The  Carutn — from  Mount  las.'is,  with  oblique  veins,  white  and  red.  6. 
The  Lydiitn — pale,  with  a  red  flower.  7.  The  African  or  Mauritani<m 
—of  a  pold  or  saffron  line.  8.  The  Celtic — black,  with  white  veins. 
0.  The  Botphoric — white,  with  black  edpes.  Besides  the  Proeonne»ian, 
whi'-h  formed  the  ravemont ;  the  Thessalian,  Mohssia*,  &c.  which  are 
Jess  distinctly  j-aijin  H. 


\2'2  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

XL.  '  rously  exposed  to  the,  superstition  of  the 
— ' — '  Greeks.  According  to  the  sanctity  of  each  ob 
ject,  the  precious  metals  were  distributed  in 
thin  leaves  or  in  solid  masses.  The  balustrade 
of  the  choir,  the  capitals  of  the  pillars,  the  or- 
naments of  the  doors  and  galleries,  were  of  gilt 
bronze  ;  the  spectator  was  dazzled  by  the  glit- 
tering aspect  of  the  cupola;  the  sanctuary  con- 
tained forty  thousand  pound  weight  of  silver; 
and  the  holy  vases  and  vestments  of  the  altar 
were  of  the  purest  gold,  enriched  with  inesti- 
mable gems.  Before  the  structure  of  the  church 
had  risen  two  cubits  above  the  ground,  forty- 
five  thousand  two  hundred  pounds  were  alrea- 
dy  consumed ;  and  the  whole  expence  amount- 
ed to  three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand :, 
each  reader,  according  to  the  measure  of  his 
belief,  may  estimate  their  value  either  in  gold 
or  silver  ;  but  the  sum  of  one  million  sterling  is 
the  result  of  the  lowest  computation.  A  mag- 
nificent temple  is  a  laudable  monument  of  na- 
tional taste  and  religion,  and  the  enthusiast  who 
entered  the  dome  of  St.  Sophia,  might  be  tempt- 
ed to  suppose  that  it  was  the  residence,  or  even 
the  workmanship,  of  the  Deity.  Yet  how  dull 
is  the  artifice,  how  insignificant  is  the  labour 
if  it  be  compared  with  the  formation  of  the 
vilest  insect  that  crawls  upon  the  surface  of  the 
temple ! 

So  minute  a  description  of  an  edifice  which 
time  has  respected,  may  attest  the  truth,  and 
excuse  the  relation  of  the  innumerable  works. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  123 

both  in  the  capital  and  provinces,  which  Justi-    CHAP. 
nian  constructed  on  a  smaller  scale  and  less  du-  „. — '„.„ 
rable  foundations.0     In  Constantinople  alone, 
and  the  adjacent  suburbs,  he  dedicated  twenty- 
five  churches  to  the  honour  of  Christ,  the  Vir- 
gin, and  the  saints  ;  most  of  these  churches 
were    decorated    with  marble  and  gold;  and 
their  various  situation  was  skilfully  chosen  in 
a  populous  square,  or  a  pleasant  grove;  on  the 
margin  of  the  sea-shore,  or  on  some  lofty  emi- 
nence which  overlooked  the  continents  of  Eu- 
rope and  Asia.     The  church  of  the  Holy  Apos- 
tles at  Constantinople,  and  that  of  St.  John  at  \ 
Ephesus,  appear  to  have  been  framed   on  the 
same  model :  their  domes  aspired    to   imitate 
the  cupolas  of  St.  Sophia ;  but  the  altar  was 
more  judiciously  placed  under  the  centre  of 
the  dome,  at  the  junction  of  four  stately  porti- 
cos,   which   more    accurately   expressed    the 
figure  of  the  Greek  cross.     The  Virgin  of  Jeru- 
salem might  exult  in  the  temple  erected  by  her 
imperial   votary  on  a   most    ungrateful    spot, 
which  afforded  neither  ground  nor  materials  to 
the  architect.     A  level  was  formed,  by  raising 
part  of  a  deep  valley  to  the  height  of  the  moun- 
tain.     The  stones  of  a  neighbouring  quarry 

••  ')<•'  vtijf-r^jiij  <W-  .*""•'- 

•  The  six  books  of  the  Edifices  of  Procopins  are  thus  distributed — 
fb.^  first  is  confined  to  Constantinople;  the  second  includes  Mesopota- 
mia and  Syria;  the  third,  Armenia  and  the  Euxine ;  the  fourth,  En- 
rope  j  the  fifth,  Asia  Minor  and  Palestine;  the  ria-th,  Egypt  and  Afri- 
ca. Italy  is  forgot  by  the  emperor  or  the  historian,  who  published 
this  work  of  adulation  before  the  date  (A.  D.  555)  of  its  final  conquest. 


I  24  THE  DECLLML  AND  FnLL 

were  hewn  into  regular  forms  ;  each  block  was 
fixed  on  a  peculiar  carriage,  drawn  by  forty  of 
the  strongest  oxen,  and  the  roads  were  widen- 
ed for  the  passage  of  such  enormous  weights. 
Lebanon  furnished  her  loftiest  cedars  for  the 
timbers  of  the  church  ;  and  the  seasonable  dis- 
covery of  a  vein  of  red  marble,  supplied  its 
beautiful  columns,  two  of  which,  the  suppor- 
ters of  the  exterior  portico,  were  esteemed  the 
largest  in  the  world.  The  pious  munificence  of 
the  emperor  was  diffused  over  the  Holy  Land  ; 
and  if  reason  should  condemn  the  monasteries 
of  both  sexes  which  were  built  or  restored  by 
Justinian,  yet  charity  must  applaud  the  wells 
which  he  sunk,  and  the  hospitals  which  he 
founded,  for  the  relief  of  the  weary  pilgrims. — ' 
The  schismatical  temper  of  Egypt  was  ill  en- 
titled to  the  royal  bounty ;  but  in  Syria  and 
Africa  some  remedies  were  applied  to  the  dis- 
asters of  wars  and  earthquakes,  and  both.  Car- 
thage and  Antioch,  emerging  from  their  ruins, 
might  revere  the  name  of  their  gracious  bene- 
factor.p  Almost  every  saint  in  the  calendar  ac- 
quired the  honours  of  a  temple ;  almost  every 
city  of  the  empire  obtained  the  solid  advanta- 
ges of  bridges,  hospitals,  and  aqueducts  ;  but 
the  severe  liberality  of  the  monarch  disdained 
to  indulge  his  subjects  in  the  popular  luxury  of 
baths  and  theatres.  While  Justinian  laboured 
for  the  public  service,  he  was  not  unmindful  ol 

p  Justinian  once  gave  forty-fire  centenaries  of  gold  (180fOlK)l.)  'or 
tin-  repairs  of  Antioch  after  the  earthquake,  (John  Malala,  torn,  ii,  p. 
141.  119). 


OF  THE  fcOMAN  EMPIRE.  i  n  a. 

I  Zu 

his  own  dignity  and  ease.  The  Byzantine  pa- 
lace,  which  had  been  damaged  by  the  confla- 
gration,  was  restored  with  new  magnificence ; 
and  some  notion  may  be  conceived  of  the  whole 
edifice,  by  the  vestibule  or  hall,  which,  from  the 
doors,  perhaps,  or  the  roof,  was  surnamed 
choice,  or  the  brazen.  The  dome  of  a  spacious 
quadrangle  was  supported  by  massy  pillars ; 
the  pavement  arid  walls  were  incrusted  with 
many-coloured  marbles — the  emerald  green  of 
Laconia,  the  fiery  red,  and  the  white  Phrygian 
stone  intersected  with  veins  of  a  sea-green  hue  : 
the  mosaic  paintings  of  the  dome  and  sides  re- 
presented the  glories  of  the  African  and  Italian 
triumphs.  On  the  Asiatic  shore  of  the  Pro- 
pontis,  at  a  small  distance  to  the  east  of  Chal- 
cedon,  the  costly  palace  and  gardens  of  Herae- 
umq  were  prepared  for  the  summer  residence  of 
Justinian,  and  more  especially  of  Theodora.—- 
The  poets  of  the  age  have  celebrated  the  rare 
alliance  of  nature  and  art,  the  harmony  of  the 
nymphs  of  the  groves,  the  fountains,  and  the 
waves ;  yet  the  crowd  of  attendants  who  fol- 
lowed the  court  complained  of  their  inconve- 
nient lodgings'/  and  the  nymphs  were  too  often 
alarmed  by  the  famous  Porphyrio,  a  whale  of 
ten  cubits  in  breadth,  and  thirty  in  length,  who 


q  For  the  Heraeum,  the  palace  of  Theodora,  see  Gyllius,  (de  Ko>- 
phoro  Thracio,  1.  iii,  c  xi) ;  Aleman.  (Mot.  ad  Anecdot.  p.  80,  81,  who 
quotes  several  epigrams  of  the  Anthology),  and  Ducange,(C.  P.  Christ. 
1.  iv,  c.  13,  p.  175,  176). 

'  Compare,  in  the  Edifices,  (1.  i,  c.  11),  and  in  the  Anecdotes,  (c.  8, 
15),  the  different  styles  of  adulation  and  malevolence :  stript  of  the 
paint,  or  cleansed  from  the  dirt,  the  object  appear*  to  be  the  same. 


^26  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

(  '  I  I  i  P  • 

XL       was  stranded  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Sanga-, 
ris,  after  he  had  infested  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury the  seas  of  Constantinople.' 

The  fortifications  of  Europe  and  Asia  were 
multiplied  by  Justinian  ;  but  the  repetition  of 
those  timid  and  fruitless  precautions  exposes 
to  a  philosophic  eye  the  debility  of  the  empire.' 
From  Belgrade  to  the  Euxine,  from  the  conflux 
of  the  Save  to  the  mouth  of  the  Danube,  a 
chain  of  above  fourscore  fortified  places  was 
extended  along  the  banks  of  the  great  river.—* 
Single  watch-towers  were  changed  into  spacious 
citadels  ;  vacant   walls,    which  the   engineers 
contracted  or  enlarged  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  ground,  were  filled  with  colonies  or  gar- 
risons ;  a  strong  fortress  defended  the  ruins  of 
Trajan's  bridge,"  and  several  military  stations 
affected  to  spread  beyond  the  Danube  the  pride 
of  the  Roman  name.     But  that  name  was  di- 
vested of  its  terrors ;  the  barbarians,  in  their 
annual  inroads,   passed,  and  contemptuously 

*  Procopins,  1.  viii,  29 ;  most  probably  a  stranger  and  wanderer,  as 
the  Mediterranean  does  not  breed  whales.  Balaenae  quoquc  in  nostra 
maria  penetrant,  (Plin.  Hist.  Natur.  ix,  2).  Between  the  polar  circle 
and  the  tropic,  the  cetaceous  animals  of  the  ocean  grow  to  the  length 
of  50,  80,  or  100  feet,  (Hist,  dcs  Voyages,  torn,  xv,  p.  289.  Pennant'i 
British  Zoology,  vol.  iii,  p.  35). 

1  Montesquieu  observes  (torn,  iii,  p.  503,  Considerations  sur  la  Gran- 
deur et  la  Decadence  des  Remains,  c.  xx)  that  Justinian's  empire  was 
like  France  in  the  time  of  the  Norman  inroads — never  so  weak  as 
when  every  village  was  fortified. 

"  Procopius  affirms,  (1.  iv,  c.  6),  that  the  Danube  was  stopped  by 
the  ruin»  of  the  bridge.  Had  Apolodorns,  the  architect,  left  a  descrip- 
tion of  his  own  work,  the  fabulous  wonders  of  Dion  Cassius  (I.  Ixviii, 
p.  1129)  would  have  been  corrected  by  the  genuine  picture.  Tra 
jan's  bridge  consisted  of  twenty  or  twenty-two  stone  piles  with  wooden 
arches ;  (he  riv«r  is  shallow,  the  current  gentle,  and  the  whole  inter- 
*  ral  no  more  than  443  (Reiinar  and  Dion,  from  Marsigli)  or  515  toiun, 
(rf»Anwiil«>  Gpojjraphie  Aiieicnne,  torn,  i,  p  305). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  1^7 

repassed,  before  these  useless  bulwarks;  und  XL. 
the  inhabitants  of  the  frontier,  instead  of  re-  — — ' 
posing  under  the  shadow  of  the  general  de- 
fence,1 were  compelled  to  guard,  with  incessant 
vigilance,  their  separate  habitations.  The  so- 
litude of  ancient  cities  was  replenished ;  the 
new  foundations  of  Justinian  acquired,  perhaps 
too  hastily,  the  epithets  of  impregnable  and  po- 
pulous ;  and  the  auspicious  place  of  his  own 
nativity  attracted  the  grateful  reverence  of  the 
vivinest  of  princes.  Under  the  name  of  Justi- 
nian>  prima,  the  obscure  village  of  Tauresium 
became  the  seat  of  an  archbishop  and  a  prefect, 
whose  jurisdiction  extended  over  seven  warlike 
provinces  of  Illyricum,*  and  the  corrupt  appel- 
lation of  Giustencfilstitt  indicates,  about  twenty 
miles  to  the  south  of  Sophia,  the  residence  of  a 
Turkish  sanjak/  For  the  use  of  the  emperor's 
countrymen,  a  cathedral,  a  palace,  and  an  aque- 
duct, were  speedily  constructed  ;  the  public 
and  private  edifices  were  adapted  to  the  great- 
ness of  a  royal  city ;  and  the  strength  of  the 
walls  resisted,  during  the  lifetime  of  Justinian, 
the  unskilful  assaults  of  the  Huns  and  Sclavo- 
nians.  Their  progress  was  sometimes  retard- 
ed, and  their  hopes  of  rapine  were  disappoint- 
ed, by  the  innumerable  castles,  which,  in  the 

*  Of  th'e  two  Dacias,  Mediterranea  and  Ripensis,  Dardania,  Pratvali- 
tana,  the  second  Maesia,  and  the  second  Macedonia.  See  Justinian, 
(Novell,  xi),  who  speaks  of  his  castles  beyond  the  Danube,  and  of  ho- 
mines semper  bellicis  sudoribus  inliaerentes. 

1  See  d'Anviile,  (Meraoires  de  PAcademie,  &c.  torn,  xxi,  p.  289t 
290) ;  Rycntu,  (Present  State  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  p.  97,  316) ; 
Massigli,  (Stato  Militare  del  Imperio  Ottomano,  p.  139).  The  san- 
jak of  Ginstf  ndil  is  one  of  the  twenty  nr.der  the  beplerh^g  of  Rnmr- 
lia,  and  his  district  maintains  48  zatmx  and  588  tim-nriotn. 


128 

THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

HAP. 

XL*  provinces  of  Dacia,  Epirus,  Thessaly,  Mace- 
donia, and  Thrace,  appeared  to  cover  the  whole 
face  of  the  country.  Six  hundred  of  these  forts 
were  built  or  repaired  by  the  emperor  :  but  it 
seems  reasonable  to  believe,  that  the  far  greater 
part  consisted  only  of  a  stone  or  brick  tower, 
in  the  midst  of  a  square  or  circular  area,  which 
was  surrounded  by  a  wall  and  ditch,  and  af- 
forded in  a  moment  of  danger  some  protection 
to  the  peasants  and  cattle  of  the  neighbouring 
villages.*  Yet  these  military  works,  which  ex- 
hausted the  public  treasure,  could  not  remove 
the  just  apprehensions  of  Justinian  and  his  Eu- 
ropean subjects.  The  warm  baths  of  Anchia- 
lus  in  Thrace  were  rendered  as  safe  as  they 
were  salutary  ;  but  the  rich  pastures  ofThessa- 
lonica  were  foraged  by  the  Scythian  cavalry ; 
the  delicious  vale  of  Tempe,  three  hundred 
miles  from  the  Danube,  was  continually  alarm- 
ed by  the  sound  of  war  ;*  and  no  unfortified 
spot,  however  distant  or  solitary,  could  secure- 
ly enjoy  the  blessings  of  peace.  The  streights 
of  Thermopylae,  which  seemed  to  protect,  but 
which  had  so  often  betrayed,  the  safety  of 
Greece,  were  diligently  strengthened  by  the 
labours  of  Justinian.  From  the  edge  of  the 
sea-shore,  through  the  forest  and  valleys,  and 

These  fortifications  may  be  compared  to  the  castles  in  Mingrelia, 
(Chardin,  Voyages  en  Perse,  torn,  i,  p.  60,  131) — a  natural  picture. 

'  The  valley  of  Tempe  is  situate  along  the  river  Peneus,  between 
the  hills  of  Ossa  and  Olympus:  it  is  only  five  miles  lorm,  and  in  some 
places  no  more  than  120  feet  in  breadth.  Its  verdant  beauties  areele- 
gintly  described  by  Pliny,  (Hist.  Natur.  1.  iv,  15),  and  more  diffu»ely 
by  /Elian,  (Hut.  Var.  1.  iii,  c.  i). 


0?  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  120 

as  far  as  the  summit  of  the  Thessalian  monn-  CHAP 
tains,  a  strong  wall  was  continued,  which  oc-  XL- 
cupied  every  practicable  entrance.  Instead  of'" 
an  hasty  crowd  of  peasants,  a  garrison  of  two 
thousand  soldiers  was  stationed  along  the  ram- 
part ;  granaries  of  corn,  and  reservoirs  of  wa- 
ter, were  provided  for  their  use ;  and  by  a  pre- 
caution that  inspired  the  cowardice  which  it 
foresaw,  convenient  fortresses  were  'erected  for 
their  retreat.  The  walls  of  Corinth,  overthrown 
by  an  earthquake,  and  the  mouldering  bulwarks 
of  Athens  and  Plataea,  were  carefully  restored  ; 
the  barbarians  were  discouraged  by  the  pros- 
pect of  successive  and  painful  sieges ;  and  the 
naked  cities  of  Peloponnesus  were  covered  by 
the  fortifications  of  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth. — 
At  the  extremity  of  Europe,  another  peninsula, 
the  Thracian  Chersonesus,  runs  three  days 
journey  into  the  sea,  to  form,  with  the  adjacent 
shores  of  Asia,  the  straits  of  the  Hellespont.-— 
The  intervals  between  eleven  populous  towns 
were  filled  by  lofty  woods,  fair  pastures,  and 
arable  lands  ;  and  the  isthmus,  of  thirty-seven 
stadia  or  furlongs,  had  been  fortified  by  a  Spar- 
tan general  nine  hundred  years  before  the  reign 
of  Justinian.b  In  an  age  of  freedom  and  va- 
lour, the  slightest  rampart  may  prevent  a  sur- 
prise; .and  Procopius  appears  insensible  of  the 
superiority  of  ancient  times,  while  he  praises 
the  solid  construction  and  double  parapet  of  a 

b  Zenophon  Hellenic.  1.  iii,  c.  2.  After  a  long  and  tedious  conversa- 
tion with  the  Byzantine  declaimers,  how  refreshing  is  the  truth,  the 
timpliciiy,  the  elegance  of  an  Attic  writer ! 

VOL.    VII  K 


130  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  wall,  whose  long  arms  stretched  on  either 
„  side  into  the  sea ;  but  whose  strength  was 
deemed  insufficient  to  guard  the  Chersonesus, 
if  each  city,  and  particularly  Galipoli  arid  Ses- 
tus,  had  not  been  secured  by  their  peculiar  for- 
tifications. The  long  wall,  as  it  was  emphati- 
cally styled,  was  a  work  as  disgraceful  in  the 
object,  as  it  was  respectable  in  the  execution. 
The  riches  of  a  capital  diffuse  themselves  over 
the  neighbouring  country,  and  the  territory  of 
Constantinople,  a  paradise  of  nature,  TV  as  adorn- 
ed with  the  luxurious  gardens  and  villas  of  the 
senators  and  opulent  citizens.  But  their  wealth 
served  only  to  attract  the  bold  and  rapacious 
barbarians  ;  the  noblest  of  the  Romans,  in  the 
bosom  of  peaceful  indolence,  were  led  away  in 
to  Scythian  captivity,  and  their  sovereign 
might  view,  from  his  palace,  the  hostile  flames 
which  were  insolently  spread  to  the  gates  of 
the  imperial  city.  At  the  distance  only  of  for- 
ty miles,  Anastasius  was  constrained  to  esta- 
blish a  last  frontier  ;  his  long  wall,  of  sixty 
miles  from  the  Propontis  to  the  Euxine,  pro- 
el  limed  the  impotence  of  his  arms  ;  and  as  the 
danger  became  more  imminent,  new  fortifica- 
tions were  added  by  the  indefatigable  pruderi2e 
of  Justinian.' 

Asia  Minor,  after  the  submission  of  the  Isnu- 
rians,d   remained  without  enemies  and  without 

c  See  She  long  wall  in  Evagrius,  (1.  iv,  c.  38).  This  whole  ai  tide  is 
drawu  from  the  fourth  book  of  the  Edifices,  except  Anchiaiut,  (1.  iii, 
c.  7). 

*  Turn  back  to  vol.  i,  p  454.  In  the  course  of  this  hi>tory,  I  have 
soui;-tiii!is  nie.itiom-ii,  and  much  oftener  slighted,  the  hasty  iii'cads  of 
the  IsiiUiians,  wl.irii  \x  re  uot  attended  with  any  consequences. 


OF  T  H  li  RO  M  A  JV    EM  Pi  R  K<  f  3  J 

fortifications.  Those  bold  savages,  wbo  had  CHAP. 
disdained  to  be  the  subjects  of  Galienus,  per- 
sisted two  hundred  and  thirty  years  in  a  life  of 
independence  and  rapine.  The  most  success- 
ful  princes  respected  the  strength  of  the  rnoun-  t"1eesct°°^ 
tains  and  the  despair  of  the  natives  ;  their  fierce  isauri». 
spirit  was  sometimes  soothed  with  gifts,  and 
sometimes  restrained  by  terror  ;  and  a  military 
count,  with  three  legions,  fixed  his  permanent 
and  ignominious  station  in  the  heart  of  the  Ro- 
man provinces."  But  no  sooner  was  the  vigi- 
lance of  power  relaxed  or  diverted,  than  the 
light-armed  squadrons  descended  from  the  hills, 
and  invaded  the  peaceful  plenty  of  Asia.  Al- 
though the  Isaurians  were  not  remarkable  for 
stature  or  bravery,  want  rendered  them  bold, 
and  experience  made  them  skilful  in  the  exer- 
cise of  predatory  war.  They  advanced  with 
secrecy  and  speed  to  the  attack  of  villages  and 
defenceless  towns  ;  their  flying  parties  have 
sometimes  touched  the  Hellespont,  the  Euxine, 
and  the  gates  of  Tarsus,  Antioch,  or  Damas- 
cus ;f  and  the  spoil  was  lodged  in  their  inacces- 
sible mountains,  before  the  Roman  troops  had 
received  their  orders,  or  the  distant  province 
had  computed  its  loss.  The  guilt  of  rebellion 
and  robbery  excluded  them  from  the  rights  of 
national  enemies ;  and  the  magistrates  were  in* 

*  Trebellins  Pollio  in  Hist.  August,  p.  107,  who  lived  under  Diocle- 
tian, or  Constautine.  See  likewise  Pancirolus  ad  Not.  Imp.  Orient, 
e.  115,  141.  See  Cod.  Theodos.  1.  ix,  tit.  35,  leg.  37,  with  a  copious 
collective  Annotation  of  Godefroy,  torn,  iii,  p.  256,  257. 

f  See  the  full  and  wide  extent  of  their  inroads  in  Philostcrgius,  (Hist. 
Ef  vlrs.  1.  xi,  c.  8).  with  Godefroy's  learned  Dissertations. 


132  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

structed  by  an  edict,  that  the  trial  or  punish 
ment  of  an  Isaurian,  even  on  the  festival  of  Eas- 
ter, was  a  meritorious  act  of  justice  and  piety.* 
If  the  captives   were  condemned  to  domestic 
slavery,  they  maintained,  with  their  sword  or 
dagger,  the  private  quarrel   of  their  masters ; 
and  it  was  found  expedient  for  the  public  tran- 
quillity, to  prohibit  the  service  of  such  dai^r- 
rous  retainers.     When  their  countryman  Tar- 
calissaeus  or  Zeno  ascended  the  throne,  he  in- 
vited a  faithful  and  formidable  band  of  Isau- 
rians,   who   insulted  the  court  and   city,   and 
were  rewarded    by  an  annual   tribute  of  five 
thousand  pounds   of  gold.     But  the  hopes  of 
fortune   depopulated    the    mountains,    luxury 
enervated  the  hardiness  of  their  minds  and  bo- 
dies,  and  in   proportion  as  they  mixed    with 
mankind,  they  became  less  qualified  for  the  en- 
joyment of  poor  and  solitary  freedom.     After 
the  death   of  Zeno,  his   successor  Anastasius 
suppressed  their  pensions,   exposed  their  per- 
sons to  the  revenge  of  the  people,  banished  them 
from  Constantinople,  and  prepared   to  sustain 
a  war,  which  left  only  the  alternative  of  victory 
or  servitude.     A  brother  of  the  last  emperor 
usurped  the  title  of  Augustus ;  his  cause  was 
powerfully  supported  by  the  arms,   the  trea- 
sures,  and  the  magazines,  collected  by  Zeno ; 
and  the  native  Isaurians  must  have  formed  the 
smallest  portion  of  the  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand barbarians  under  his  standard,  which  was 

*  Cod.  Justinian.  I.  ix,  tit  12  lip.  10.  The  pimUhnients  arc  srv«r? 
—a  fine  of  an  hundred  pound*  of  gold,  drjrrailation,  and  even  dentil. 
'Wic  public  peace  might  affon!  a  preu-noe,  hut  ZPIIO  was  desirous  of 
mouopoliaiug  the  valour  and  soviet  of  the  Isanrians. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  KM  PI  HE.  133 

sanctified,  for  the  first  time,  by  the  presence  of  ^fj*' 

a  fighting  bishop.     Their  disorderly  numbers,,.,, -.* 

were  vanquished  in  the  plains  of  Phrygia  by  the  A.  D.  492- 
valour  and  discipline  of  the  Goths ;  but  a  war 
of  six  years  almost  exhausted  the  courage  of 
the  emperor.k  The  Isaurians  retired  to  their 
mountains ;  their  fortresses  were  successively 
besieged  and  ruined ;  their  communication  witfi 
the  sea  was  intercepted  ;  the  bravest  of  their 
leaders  died  in  arms ;  the  surviving  chiefs,  before 
their  execution,  were  dragged  in  chains  through 
the  hippodrome  ;  a  colony  of  their  youth  was 
transplanted  into  Thrace,  and  the  remnant  of 
the  people  submitted  to  the  Roman  govern- 
ment. Yet  some  generations  elapsed  before 
their  minds  were  reduced  to  the  level  of  slavery. 
The  populous  villages  of  mount  Taurus  were 
filled  with  horsemen  and  archers  ;  they  resisted 
the  imposition  of  tributes,  but  they  recruited 
the  armies  of  Justinian ;  and  his  civil  magis- 
trates, the  proconsul  of  Cappadocia,  the  count 
of  tsauria,  and  the  pretors  of  Lycaonia  and  Pi- 
sidia,  were  invested  with  military  power  to  re- 
strain the  licentious  practice  of  rapes  and  assa- 
sinations.1 


"  The  Isaurian  war  and  the  triumph  of  Anaitasiui  are  briefly  and 
darkly  represented  by  John  Malala,  (torn,  ii,  p.  106,  107) ;  Evagrius, 
(I.  iii,  c.  35)  j  Theophanet,  (p.  118-120),  and  the  Chronicle  of  MarceU 
linni. 

1  Fortes  ea  regio  (says  Justinian)  viros  habet,  nee  in  ullo  differt  ab 
Isauria,  though  Procopins  (Persic.  1.  i,  c.  18)  marks  an  essential  diffe- 
rence between  their  military  character ;  yet  in  former  times  the  Ly- 
caonians  and  Pisidians  had  defended  their  liberty  against  the  great 
king,  (Xenophon.  Anabasis,  1.  Hi,  c.  2).  Justinian  introduces  some 
false  and  ridiculous  erudition  of  the  ancient  empire  of  the  Pisidiani, 
and  of  Lycaon,  who,  after  visiting  Rome,  (long  before  JEnc'aS  ,  gave  a 
name  and  people  to  Lycaonin,  (Novell.  24,  S5,  27,  SO). 


134  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.       If  we  extend  our  view  from  the  tropic  to  the 
, _,,  mouth  of  the  Tanais,   we  may  observe  on   one 


hand,  the  precautions  of  Justinian  to  curb  the 
the  em-  savages  of  ./Ethiopia,"  and  on  the  other,  the  long 
Prom  the  walls  wliich  he  constructed  in  Crimsea  for  the 
^"*perto  protection  of  his  friendly  Goths,  a  colony  of 
sian  fron-  three  thousand  shepherds  and  warriors.1  From 

tier 

that  peninsula  to  Trebizond,  the  eastern  curve 
of  the  Euxine  was  secured  by  forts,  by  alliance, 
or  by  religion  ;  and  the  possession  of  Lazica, 
the  Colchos  of  ancient,  the  Mingrelia  of  mo- 
dern, geography,  soon  became  the  object  of  an 
important  war.  Trebizond,  in  after-times  the 
seat  of  a  romantic  empire,  was  indebted  to  the 
liberality  of  Justinian  for  a  church,  an  aque- 
duct, and  a  castle,  whose  ditches  are  hewn  in 
the  solid  rock.  From  that  maritime  city,  a 
frontier- line  of  five  hundred  miles  may  be  drawn 
to  the  fortress  of  Circesium,  the  last  Roman 
station  on  the  Euphrates.™  Above  Trebizond 
immediately,  and  five  days  journey  to  the  south, 
the  country  rises  into  dark  forests  and  craggy 
mountains,  as  savage,  though  not  so  lofty,  as 
the  Alps  and  the  Pyrenees,  In  this  rigorous 


*  Sec  Procopius,  Persic.  1.  i,  c.  19.  The  altar  of  national  concord, 
of  annual  sacrifice  and  oaths,  which  D.  had  erected  in  the  isle 

of  Elephantine,  was  demolished  by  Justiiiian  with  less  policy  than  zt-al. 

1  Procopius  de  Edificiis,  1.  iii,  c.  7.  Hist.  1.  viii,  c.  ;?,  -1.  These  un- 
ambitious Goths  had  refused  to  follow  the  standard  of  Theodoric.— 
As  late  as  the  xvth  and  xvith  century,  the  name  and  nation  might  be 
discovered  between  Caffa  and  the  straits  of  Azoph,  (d'Anville  Memoires 
de  PAcademie,  torn,  xxx,  p.  240).  They  well  deserved  the  curiosity 
of  Busbequius,  (p.  321-326) ;  but  seem  to  have  vanished  in  the  more  re- 
cent account  of  the  Missions  du  Levant,  (torn,  i),  Tott,  Peyssonel,  &c. 

m  For  the  geography  and  architecture  of  this  Armenian  border,  see 
the  Persian  Wars  and  Edifices  (I.  ii,  c.  4-7  ;  1.  iii,c.  2-7)  ofProcopiu*. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  135 

climate,"  where  the  snows  seldom  melt,  the  CHAP. 
fruits  are  tardy  and  tasteless :  even  honey  is 
poisonous ;  the  most  industrious  tillage  would 
be  confined  to  some  pleasant  valleys  ;  and  the  ^ 
pastoral  tribes  obtained  a  scanty  sustenance 
from  the  flesh  and  milk  of  their  cattle.  The 
Chalybians"  derived  their  name  and  tern  per  from 
the  iron  quality  of  the  soil ;  and,  since  the  days 
of  Cyrus,  they  might  produce,  under  the  various 
appellations  of  Chaldaeans  and  Zanians,  an  un- 
interrupted prescription  of  war  and  rapine. — 
Under  the  reign  of  Justinian,  they  acknowledg- 
ed the  God  and  the  emperor  of  the  Romans, 
and  seven  fortresses  were  built  in  the  most  ac- 
cessible passes,  to  exclude  the  ambition  of  the 
Persian  monarch.1"  The  principal  source  of  the 
Euphrates  descends  from  the  Chalybian  moun- 
tains, and  seems  to  flow  towards  the  west  and 
the  Euxine;  bending  to  the  south-west,  the 
river  passes  under  the  walls  of  Satala  and  Me- 

n  The  country  is  described  by  Tournefort,  (Voyage  au  Levant,  torn, 
iii,  lettre  xvii,  xviii).  That  skilful  botanist  soon  discovered  the  plan 
that  infects  the  honey,  (Plin.  xxi,  44,  45).  He  observe?,  that  the  sol- 
diers of  Lucullus  might  indeed  be  astonished  at  the  cold,  since,  even 
in  the  plain  of  Erzerum,  snow  sometimes  falls  in  June,  and  the  harvest 
is  seldom  finished  before  September.  The  hills  of  Armenia  are  below 
the  fortieth  degree  of  latitude ;  but  in  the  mountainous  country  which 
I  inhabit,  it  is  well  known  that  an  ascent  of  some  hours  carries  the 
traveller  from  the  climate  of  Languedoc  to  that  of  Norway,  and  a  ge- 
neral theory  has  been  introduced,  that  under  the  line,  an  elevation  of 
2,400  toisesis  equivalent  to  the  cold  of  the  polar  circle,  (Remond,  Ob- 
servations sur  les  Voyages  de  Coxe  dans  la  Suisse,  torn,  ii,  p.  104). 

0  The  identity  or  proximity  of  the  Chalybians,  or  Chaldsans,  may 
be  investigated  in  Strabo,  (1.  xii,  p.  825,  826) ;  Cellarius,  Geograpb. 
Antiq.  torn,  ii,  p.  202-204),  and  Freret,  (Mem.  de  1' Academic,  torn,  ir, 
p.  594).  Xenophou  supposes,  in  his  romance,  (Dyropcd.  1.  iii),  the 
•ame  barbarians  against  whom  he  had  fought  in  his  retreat,  (Anabasis. 

'  Procopius,  Persic.  1.  i,  c.  15.     De  Edific.  1.  iii,  c.  6. 


136  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.    litene,  (which  were  restored  by  Justinian  as  the 

XL  • 

f ^_  bulwarks  of  the  Lesser  Armenia),  and  gradual- 
ly approaches  the  Mediterranean  sea ;  till  at 
length,   repelled  by  mount  Taurus,q   the  Eu- 
phrates inclines  his  long  and  flexible  course  to 
the  south-east  and  the  gulph  of  Persia.   Among 
the  Roman  cities   beyond  the  Euphrates,  we 
distinguish  two  recent  foundations,  which  were 
named  from  Theodosius,  and  the  relics  of  the 
martyrs  ;  and  two  capitals,  Amid  a  and  Edessa, 
which  are  celebrated  in  the  history  of  every 
age.     Their  strength  was  proportioned,  by  Jus- 
tinian, to  the  danger  of  their  situation.  A  ditch 
and  palisade  might  be  sufficient  to  resist  the 
artless  force  of  the  cavalry  of  Scythia ;  but  more 
elaborate  works  were  required  to  sustain  a  re- 
gular siege  against  the  arms  and  treasures  of 
the  great  king.     His   skilful  engineers  under- 
stood the  methods  of  conducting  deep  mines, 
and  of  raising  platforms  to  the  level  of  the  ram- 
part :  he  shook  the  strongest  battlements  with 
his  military  engines,  and  sometimes  advanced 
to  the  assault  with  a  line  of  moveable  turrets 
on  the  backs  of  elephants.     In  the  great  cities 
of  the  East,   the  disadvantage  of  space,  per- 
haps of  position,  was  compensated  by  the  zeal 
of  the  people,  who  seconded  the  garrison  in  the 
defence  of  their  country  and  religion  ;  and  the 
fabulous  promise  of  the  Son  of  God,  that  Edes- 
sa should  never  be  taken,   tilled  the  citizens 

q  Ni  Taurus  obstet  in  rostra  maria  venturus,  (Pomponiire  Mela,  iii, 
,  8).     Pliny,  a  poet  as  well  as  a  naturalist,  (v,  20),  personifies  the  rivei 

and  mountain,  and  describes  their  combat.     See  the  course  of  the  Ti- 
.  jjiis  and  Euoliratcs  in  the  exceilen    treatise  of  d'Anville. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  137 

with  violent  confidence,  and  chilled  the  besieg-    CHAP. 

ers  with  doubt  and  dismay/     The  subordinate ^ 

towns  of  Armenia  and  Mesopotamia  were  di- 
ligently strengthened,  and  the  posts  which  ap- 
peared to  have  any  command  of  ground  or  wa- 
ter, were  occupied  by  numerous  forts,  substan- 
tially built  of  stone,  or  more  hastily  erected 
with  the  obvious  materials  of  earth  and  brick. 
The  eye  of  Justinian  investigated  every  spot; 
and  his  cruel  precautions  might  attract  the  war 
into  some  lonely  vale,  whose  peaceful  natives, 
connected  by  trade  and  marriage,  were  ignorant 
of  national  discord  and  the  quarrels  of  princes. 
Westward  of  the  Euphrates,  a  sandy  desert  ex- 
tends above  six  hundred  miles  to  the  Red  Sea. 
Nature  has  interposed  a  vacant  solitude  be- 
tween the  ambition  of  the  two  rival  empires  : 
the  Arabians,  till  Mahomet  arose,  were  formid- 
able only  as  robbers :  and,  in  the  proud  secu- 
rity of  peace,  the  fortifications  of  Syria  were 
neglected  on  the  most  vulnerable  side. 

But  the  national  enmity,  at  least  the  effects  ocath  of 
of  that  enmity,  had  been  suspended  by  a  truce,  *fng*S ' 
which  continued  above  fourscore  years.  An  1Vlsia- 

J  A    1).  -lbt. 

ambassador  from  the  emperor  Zeno  accompa- 
nied the  rash  and  unfortunate  Perozes,  in  his 
expedition  against  the  Nepthalites  or  White 
Huns,  whose  conquest  had  been  stretched  from 
the  Caspian  to  the  heart  of  India,  whose  throne 

r  Procopins  (Persic.  1.  ii,  c.  12)  tells  the  story  with  the  tone  half 
srt-ptical,  half  superstitious,  of  Herodotus.  The  promise  was  not  in 
lite  primitive  lie  of  Euselrins,  but  dates  at  least  front  the  year  400;  and 
a  liiird  lie,  the  Veronica,  was  soon  raised  on  the  two  former,  (Evagrius, 
1.  iv,  c.  27).  As  Ecessa/ia*  been  taken,  Tillemont  must  disclaim  the 
l>i'oiai«c,  (Mem.  Eccles.  torn,  i  p  3G2  383,  617). 


138  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

°XLP'  was  eni'icne(l  with  emeralds,*  and  whose  caval- 

..  ry  was  supported   by  a   line  of  two  thousand 

elephants.1  The  Persians  were  twice  circum- 
vented, in  a  situation  which  made  valour  use- 
less and  flight  impossible  ;  and  the  double  vic- 
tory of  the  Huns  was  achieved  by  military  stra- 
tagem. They  dismissed  their  royal  captive  af- 
ter he  had  submitted  to  adore  the  majesty  of  a 
barbarian ;  and  the  humiliation  was  poorly 
evaded  by  the  casuistical  subtility  of  the  Magi, 
who  instructed  Perozes  to  direct  his  intention 
to  the  rising  sun.  The  indignant  successor  of 
Cyrus  forgot  his  danger  and  his  gratitude  ;  he 
renewed  the  attack  with  headstrong  fury,  and 
lost  both  his  army  and  his  life."  The  death  of 
Perozes  abandoned  Persia  to  her  foreign  and 
domestic  enemies ;  and  twelve  years  of  confu- 
sion elapsed  before  his  son  Cabades  or  Kobad 
could  embrace  any  designs  of  ambition  or  re- 

1  They  were  purchased  from  the  merchants  of  Adulis  who  traded  to 
India,  (Cosmus,  Topograph.  Christ.  1.  ix,  p.  339) ;  yet,  in  the  estimate 
of  precious  stones,  the  Scythian  emerald  was  the  first,  the  Bactrian  the 
second,  the  ./Ethiopian  only  the  third,  (Hill's  Theophrastns,  p.  61,  &c. 
92).  The  production,  mines,  &c.  of  emeralds,  are  involved  in  dark- 
ness ;  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  we  possess  any  of  the  twelve  sorts 
known  to  the  ancients,  (Goguet.  Origine  des  Loix,  &c.  part  ii,  1.  ii,  c. 
2,  art.  3).  In  this  war  the  Huns  got,  or  at  least  Perozes  lost,  the  finest 
pearl  in  the  world,  of  which  Procopius  relates  a  ridiculous  fable. 

1  The  Indo-Scythae  continued  to  reign  from  the  time  of  Augustus 
(Dionys.  Perieget.  1088,  with  the  Commentary  of  Eustatliius,  in  Hud- 
son, Geograph.  Minor,  torn,  iv)  to  that  of  the  elder  Justin,  (Cosmas, 
Topograph.  Christ.  1.  xi,  p.  338,  339).  On  their  origin  and  conquests, 
see  d'Anville,  (sur  1'Inde,  p.  18,  45,  &c.  69,  85,  89).  In  the  second 
century  they  were  masters  of  Larice  or  Guzerat. 

0  See  the  fate  of  Phirouz  or  Perozes,  and  its  consequences,  in  Proco- 
pius, (Persic.  1.  i,  c,  3-6),  who  may  be  compared  with  the  fragment* 
of  oriental  history,  (d'Herbelot,  Bibliot.  Orient,  p.  361,  and  Texeira, 
History  of  Persia,  translated  or  abridged  by  Stevens,  1.  i,  c.  32,  p.  132- 
138).  The  chronology  it  ably  ascertained  by  Atienan,  (Bibliot. 
Orient,  ton.  iii,  p.  396-424). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

venge.     The  unkind  parsimony  of  Ar.astasius    CHAP. 

was  the  motive  or  pretence  of  a  Roman  war  ;x  ^ „'„ 

the  Huns  and  Arabs  marched  under  the  Per- The  Per- 
sian standard,  and  the  fortifications  of  Armenia  A^i 
and  Mesopotamia  were,  at  that  time,  in  a  rui- 605> 
nous  or  imperfect  condition.  The  emperor  re- 
turned his  thanks  to  the  governor  and  people 
of  Martyropolis,  for  the  prompt  surrender  of  a 
city  which  could  not  be  successfully  defended, 
and  the  conflagration  of  Theodosiopolis  might 
justify  the  conduct  of  their  prudent  neighbours. 
Amida  sustained  a  long  and  destructive  siege: 
at  the  end  of  three  months  the  loss  of  fifty  thou- 
sand of  the  soldiers  of  Cabades  was  not  balan- 
ced by  any  prospect  of  success,  and  it  was  in 
vain  that  the  Magi  deduced  a  flattering  predic- 
tion from  the  indecency  of  the  women  on  the 
ramparts,  who  had  revealed  their  most  secret 
charms  to  the  eyes  of  the  assailants.  At  length, 
in  a  silent  night,  they  ascended  the  most  acces- 
sible tower,  which  was  guarded  only  by  some 
monks,  oppressed,  after  the  duties  of  a  festival, 
with  sleep  and  wine.  Scaling  ladders  were  ap- 
plied at  the  dawn  of  day ;  the  presence  of  Ca- 
bades, his  stern  command,  and  his  drawn  sword, 
compelled  the  Persians  to  vanquish  ;  and  be- 
fore it  was  sheathed,  fourscore  thousand  of  the 
inhabitants  had  expiated  the  blood  of  their 
companions.  After  the  siege  of  Amida,  the 
war  continued  three  years,  and  the  unhappy 

i,':    •        )  '  •••:    '^Jq  V,:J    K.,'v!l    ."•   'K  M 

"The  Persian  war,  under  the  reigns  of  Ana^tasins  and  Justin,  may 
he  collected  from  Procuping,  (Persic.  I.  i,  <*.  7.  8,  9;  Theophanes,  (in 
Chronograph,  p.  124-127):  Kvagriiif.,  (I.  iii,  c.  37) ;  lUarcellinno,  (in 
Oli  on  p.  47).  ant]  Josiiv  Mylitt-.s,  (apnti  Assfinav).  tosi.  i,  p-  272-^81). 


140 
(  XLP'  fr°ntier  tasted  the  full  measure  of  its  calamities. 

,'.,.  The  gold  of  Ariastasius  was  offered  too  late,  the 

number  of  his  troops  was  defeated  by  the  num- 
ber of  their  generals  ;  the  country  was  stripped 
of  its  inhabitants,  and  both  the  living  and  the 
dead  were  abandoned  to  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
desert.  The  resistance  of  Edessa,  and  the  de- 
ficiency of  spoil,  inclined  the  mind  of  Cabades 
to  peace ;  he  sold  his  conquests  for  an  exorbi- 
tant price:  and  the  same  line,  though  marked 
with  slaughter  and  devastation,  still  separated 
the  two  empires.  To  avert  the  repetition  of  the 
same  evils,  Anastasius  resolved  to  found  a  new 
colony,  so  strong,  that  it  should  defy  the  pow- 
er of  the  Persian,  so  far  advanced  towards  As- 
syria, that  its  stationary  troops  might  defend 
the  province  by  the  menace  or  operation  of  of- 
fensive war.  For  this  purpose,  the  town  of 

Fortieca-  Dara/  fourteen  'miles  from  Nisibis,  and  four 

pm.  days  journey  from  the  Tigris,  was  peopled  and 
adorned  ;  the  hasty  works  of  Anastasius  were 
improved  by  the  perseverance  of  Justinian ;  and 
without  insisting  on  places  less  important,  the 
fortifications  of  Dara  may  represent  the  military 
architecture  of  the  age.  The  city  was  sur- 
rounded with  two  walls,  and  the  interval  be- 
tween them  of  fifty  paces,  afforded  a  retreat  to 
the  cattle  of  the  besieged.  The  inner  wall  was 
a  monument  of  strength  and  beauty  ;  it  measur- 


1  The  description  of  Dara  is  amply  and  correctly  given  by  Proco- 
piu.s,  (Persic.  1.  i,  c.  10  ;  1.  ii,  c.  13.  De  Edific.  1.  ii,  c.  1,2,3;  1.  iii, 
c.  5).  See  the  situation  in  d'Anville.  (TEuphi ate  et  le  Tigre,  p.  5S, 
54,  55),  though  he  seems  to  doable  the  interval  between  Dara  and  Ni- 
•ibis. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  14 1 

ed  sixty  feet  from  the  ground,  and  the  height  of  CHAP. 
the  towers  was  one  hundred  feet ;  the   loop-     XL" 

f      u*+t**ri* 

holes,  from  whence  an  enemy  might  be  annoy- 
ed with  missile  weapons,  were  small,  but  nu- 
merous :  the  soldiers  were  planted  along  the 
rampart,  under  the  shelter  of  double  galleries, 
and  a  third  platform,  spacious  and  secure,  was 
raised  on  the  summit  of  the  towers.  The  exte- 
rior wall  appears  to  have  been  less  lofty,  but 
more  solid  ;  and  each  tower  was  protected  by 
a  quadrangular  bulwark;  A  hard  rocky  soil 
resisted  the  tools  of  the  miners,  and  on  the  south- 
east, where  the  ground  was  more  tractable, 
their  approach  was  retarded  by  a  new  work, 
which  advanced  in  the  shape  of  a  half-moon.— 
The  double  and  treble  ditches  were  filled  with 
a  stream  of  water  ;  and  in  the  management  of 
the  river,  the  most  skilful  labour  was  employ- 
ed to  supply  the  inhabitants,  to  distress  the  be- 
siegers, and  to  prevent  the  mischiefs  of  a  natu- 
ral or  artificial  inundation.  Dara  continued 
more  than  sixty  years  to  fulfil  the  wishes  of  its 
founders,  and  to  provoke  the  jealousy  of  the 
Persians,  who  incessantly  complained,  that  this 
impregnable  fortress  had  been  constructed  in 
manifest  violation  of  the  treaty  of  peace  be- 
tween the  two  empires. 

Between  the  Euxine  and  the  Caspian,  theT.heCai* 

pian  or 

countries  of  Cholchos,  Iberia,  and  Albania,  are  Iberian 
intersected  in  every  direction  by  the  branches  gat< 
of  mount   Caucasus ;    and  the   two  principal 
gates,  or  passes,  from  north  to  south,  have  been 
frequently  confounded  in  the  geography  both 
of  the  ancients    and  moderns.     The  name  of 


142  'HE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

\LP    Caspian  or  Albanian  gates,  is  properly  applied 

, .  to  Derbend,2  which  occupies  a  short  declivity 

between  the  mountains  and  the  sea  ;  the  city, 
if  we  give  credit  to  local  tradition,  had  been 
founded  by  the  Greeks  ;  and  this  dangerous  en- 
trance was  fortified  by  the  kings  of  Persia  with 
a  mole,  double  walls,  and  doors  of  iron.  The 
Iberian  gates*  are  formed  by  a  narrow  passage 
of  six  miles  in  mount  Caucasus,  which  opens 
from  the  northern  side  of  Iberia  or  Georgia, 
into  the  plain  that  reaches  to  the  Tanais  and 
the  Volga.  A  fortress,  designed  by  Alexander 
perhaps,  or  one  of  his  successors,  to  command 
that  important  pass,  had  descended  by  right  of 
conquest  or  inheritance  to  a  prince  of  the  Huns, 
who  offered  it  for  a  moderate  price  to  the  em- 
peror :  but  while  Anastasius  paused,  while  he 
timorously  computed  the  cost  and  the  distance, 
a  more  vigilant  rival  interposed,  and  Cabades 
forcibly  occupied  the  straits  of  Caucasus, — 
The  Albanian  and  Iberian  gates  excluded  the 
horsemen  of  Scythia  from  the  shortest  and 
most  practicable  roads,  and  the  whole  front  of 
the  mountains  was  covered  by  the  rampart  of 
Gog  and  Magog,  the  long  wall  which  has  ex- 
cited the  curiosity  of  an  Arabian  caliph*  and  a 


x  For  the  city  and  pass  of  Derbend,  see  d'Herbelot,  (fiibliot.  Orient. 
p.  157,  291,  807)  ;  Petite  d<?  la  Croix,  (Hist,  de  Gengiscan,  I.  iv,  c.  9) ; 
Histoire  Genealogique  des  Tatars,  torn,  i,  p.  120)  ;  Olearins,  (Voyage 
en  Perse,  p.  1039-1041),  and  Corneille  le  Bruyn,  (Voyages-,  torn,  i,  p. 
146,  1-17):  his  view  may  be  compared  with  the  plan  of  Olearius,  who 
judges  the  wall  to  be  of  shells  and  gravel  hardened  by  time. 

a  Procopins,  though  with  some  confusion,  always  denominates  them- 
Caspian,  (Persic.  1.  i,  c.  10).  The  pass  is  now  styled  Tatartopa,  th* 
Tartar  gates,  d'Anville,  Geographic  Ancienne,  torn,  ii,  p.  119,  120). 

k  The  imaginary  rampart  of  Gog  and  Magog,  which  was  seriously 

explored 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  |  43 

Russian  conqueror/    According  to  a  recent    CHAP. 
description,  huge  stones,  seven  feet  thick,  twen-  aff..Z~. 

ty-one  feet  in  length,  or  height,  are  artificially 
joined  without  iron  or  cement,  to  compose  a 
wall,  which  runs  above  three  hundred  miles 
from  the  shores  of  Derbend,  over  the  hills  and 
through  the  valleys  of  Daghestan  and  Georgia. 
Without  a  vision,  such  a  work  might  be  under 
taken  by  the  policy  of  Cabades  ;  without  a  mi- 
racle, it  might  be  accomplished  by  his  son,  so 
formidable  to  the  Romans  under  the  name  of 
Chosroes ;  so  dear  to  the  Orientals,  under  the 
appellation  of  Nushirwan.  The  Persian  mo- 
narch held  in  his  hand  the  keys  both  of  peace 
and  war;  but  he  stipulated  in  every  treaty, 
that  Justinian  should  contribute  to  the  expence 
of  a  common  barrier,  which  equally  protected 
the  two  empires  from  the  inroads  of  the  Scy- 
thians/ 

VII.  Justinian  suppressed  the  schools  of 
Athens  and  the  consulship  of  Rome,  which  had 
given  so  many  sages  and  heroes  to  mankind. — 
Both  these  institutions  had  long  since  degene- 
rated from  their  primitive  glory ;  yet  some  re- 
proach may  be  justly  inflicted  on  the  avarice  and 

explored  and  believed  by  a  caliph  of  the  ixth  century,  appears  to  be 
derived  from  the  gates  of  Mount  Caucasus,  and  a  vague  report  of  the 
wall  of  China,  (Geograph.  Nubiensis,  p.  267-270.  Mcmoires  de  1'Aca- 
demie,  torn,  xxxi,  p.  210-210). 

c  .See  a  learned  dissertation  of  Baler,  de  muro  Caucaseo,  in  Comment. 
Acad.  Petropol.  ann.  1726,  torn,  i,  p.  425-463  ;  but  it  is  destitute  of  a 
map  or  plan.  When  the  Czar  Peter  I.  became  master  of  Derbend  in 
the  year  1722,  the  measure  of  the  wall  was  found  to  be  3285  Russian 
orgyga,  or  fathom,  each  of  seven  feet  English ;  in  the  whole  somewhat 
more  than  four  miles  in  length. 

*  See  the  fortifications  and  treaties  of  Chosroes  or  Nushirwan,  ia 
Proccpius,  (Pfisic.  1.  i,  c.  16,  22;  1.  ii),  and  d'Herbelot,  (p,  682). 


144  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP-  jealousy  of  a  prince,  by  whose  hands  such  ve- 

5^-  nerable  ruins  were  destroyed. 
The  Athens,  after  her  Persian  triumphs,  adopted 

Athh°enss.°f  the  philosophy  of  Ionia  and  the  rhetoric  of  Si- 
cily ;  and  the  studies  became  the  patrimony  of 
a  city  whose  inhabitants,  about  thirty  thousand 
males,  condensed,  within  the  period  of  a  single 
life,  the  genius  of  ages  and  millions.  Our  sense 
of  the  dignity  of  human  nature  is  exalted  by  the 
simple  recollection,  that  Isocrates'  was  the 
companion  of  Plato  and  Xenophon ;  that  he 
assisted,  perhaps  with  the  historian Thucydides, 
at  the  first  representations  of  the  Oedipus  of 
Sophocles  and  the  Iphigenia  of  Euripides  ;  and 
that  his  pupils  jiEschines  and  Demosthenes  con- 
tended for  the  crown  of  patriotism  in  the  pre- 
sence of  Aristotle,  the  master  of  Theophrastus, 
who  taught  at  Athens  with  the  founders  of  the 
Stoic  and  Epicurean  sects/  The  ingenious 
youth  of  Attica  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  their 
domestic  education,  which  was  communicated 
without  envy  to  the  rival  cities.  Two  thousand 
disciples  heard  the  lessons  of  Theophrastus  ;8 
the  schools  of  rhetoric  must  have  been  still 
more  populous  than  those  of  philosophy  ;  and 
a  rapid  succession  of  students  diffused  the  fame 

e  The  life  of  Isocrates  extends  from  Olynip.  Kxxvi,  1,  to  ex,  3,  (ante 
Christ.  436-538).  See  Diouys.  Halicarn.  torn,  ii,  p.  149,  150,  edit. 
Hudson ;  Plutarch  (sive  anonymous)  in  Vit.  X,  Oratornm,  p.  1538- 
1643,  edit.  H.  Steph. ;  Phot.  cod.  cclix,  p.  1453. 

'The  schools  of  Athens  are  copiously,  though  concisely,  represented 
in  the  Fortuna  Attica  of  Meursius,  (c.  viii,  p.  59-73,  in  torn,  i,  Opp.). 
For  the  state  and  arts  of  the  city,  seethe  first  book  of  Pausanias,  and 
a  small  tract  of  Dicaearchus,  (in  the  second  volume  of  Hudson's  Geo 
graphers),  who  wrote  about  Olymp.  cxxii ;  DodwelPs  Dissertat.  sect 
*). 

*  Diogen.  Laert  de  Vit.  Philosoph.  1.  v,  segm.  37.  p.  289. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

of  their  teachers,  as  far  as  the  utmost  limits  of 

B 

the  Grecian  language  and  name.  Those  limits 
were  enlarged  by  the  victories  of  Alexander  ; 
the  arts  of  Athens  survived  her  freedom  and 
dominion ;  and  the  Greek  colonies  which  the 
Macedonians  planted  in  Egypt,  and  scattered 
over  Asia,  undertook  long  and  frequent  pilgri- 
mages to  worship  the  Muses  in  their  favourite 
temple  on  the  banks  of  the  Ilissus.  The  Latin 
conquerors  respectfully  listened  to  the  instruc- 
tions of  their  subjects  and  captives  ;  the  names 
of  Cicero  and  Horace  were  inrolled  in  the 
schools  of  Athens  ;  and  after  the  perfect  settle- 
ment of  the  Roman  empire,  the  natives  of  Italy, 
of  Africa,  and  of  Britain,  conversed  in  the 
groves  of  the  academy  with  their  fellow-stu- 
dents of  the  East.  The  studies  of  philosophy 
and  eloquence  are  congenial  to  a  popular  state, 
which  encourages  the  freedom  of  inquiry,  and 
submits  only  to  the  force  of  persuasion.  In 
the  republics  of  Greece  and  Rome,  the  art  of 
speaking  was  the  powerful  engine  of  patriotism 
or  ambition  ;  and  the  schools  of  rhetoric  pour- 
ed forth  a  colony  of  statesmen  and  legislators. 
When  the  liberty  of  public  debate  was  sup- 
pressed, the  orator,  in  the  honourable  profes- 
sion of  an  advocate,  might  plead  the  cause  of 
innocence  and  justice;  he  might  abuse  his  ta- 
lents in  the  more  profitable  trade  of  panegyric ; 
and  the  same  precepts  continued  to  dictate  the 
fanciful  declamations  of  the  sophist,  and  the 
chaster  beauties  of  historical  composition. — 
The  systems  which  professed  to  unfold  the  na- 

VOL.   VII.  L, 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    ture  of  God,  of  man,  and  of  the  universe,  enter- 

Y  1 

'f     tamed  the  curiosity  of  the  philosophic  student ; 
and  according  to  the  temper  of  his  mind,  he 
might  doubt  with  the  sceptics,  or  decide   with 
the  stoics,   sublimely  speculate  with  Plato,  or 
severely  argue  with  Aristotle.     The  pride  of 
the  adverse   sects    had  fixed   an  unattainable 
term  of  moral  happiness  and  perfection ;  but 
the  race  was  glorious   and   salutary  ;  the  dis- 
ciples of  Zeno,   and   even   those  of  Epicurus, 
were  taught  both  to  act  and  to  suffer ;  and  the 
death  of  Petronius  was  not  less  effectual  than 
that  of  Seneca,  to  humble  a  tyrant  by  the  dis- 
covery of  his  impotence.     The  light  of  science 
could  not  indeed  be  confined  within  the  walls 
of  Athens.     Her  incomparable  writers  address 
themselves  to  the  human  race  ;  the  living  mas- 
ters emigrated  to  Italy  and  Asia;  Berytus,  in 
later  times,    was  devoted   to  the  study  of  the 
law ;  astronomy  and  physic  were  cultivated  in 
the   museum   of  Alexandria  ;    but  the   Attic 
schools  of  rhetoric  and  philosophy  maintained 
their  superior  reputation  from  the  Peloponne- 
sian    war   to   the  reign  of  Justinian,   Athens, 
though  situate  in  a  barren  soil,  possessed  a  pure 
air,  a  free   navigation,  and  the  monuments   of 
ancient  art.     That  sacred  retirement  was  sel- 
dom disturbed  by  the  business  of  trade  or  go- 
vernment ;  and  the  last  of  the  Athenians  were 
distinguished  by  their  lively  wit,  the  purity  of 
their  taste,  and  language,  their  social  manners, 
and  some  traces,   at  least  in  discourse,  of  the 
magnanimity  of  their  fathers.     In  the  suburbs 
of  the  city,  the  academy  of  the  Platonists,  the 


OF  THF.  ROMAN  EMl'IRE. 

fi/ceum  of  the  Peripatetics,   the  portico  of  the   CHAP 
Stoics,  and  the  garden  of  the  Epicureans,  were     XL- 
planted  with  trees  and  decorated  with  statues  ; 
and  the  philosophers,  instead  of  being  immur- 
ed in  a  cloister,  delivered  their  instructions  in 
spacious  and  pleasant  walks,  which,  at  different 

hours,  were  consecrated  to  the  exercises  of  the 

•« 

mind  and  body.  The  genius  of  the  founders 
still  lived  in  those  venerable  seats  ;  the  ambition 
of  succeeding  to  the  masters  of  human  reason, 
excited  a  generous  emulation  ;  and  the  merit  of 
the  candidates  was  determined,  on  each  vacan- 
cy, by  the  free  voices  of  an  enlightened  people. 
The  Athenian  professors  were  paid  by  their 
disciples  :  according  to  their  mutual  wants  and 
abilities,  the  price  appears  to  have  varied  from 
a  mina  to  a  talent ;  and  Isocrates  himself,  who 
derides  the  avarice  of  the  sophists,  required  in 
his  school  of  rhetoric,  about  thirty  pounds  from 
each  of  his  hundred  pupils.  The  wages  of  in- 
dustry are  just  and  honourable,  yet  the  same 
Isocrates  shed  tears  at  the  first  receipt  of  a  sti- 
pend ;  the  stoic  might  blush  when  he  was  hired 
to  preach  the  contempt  of  money  ;  and  I  should 
be  sorry  to  discover,  that  Aristotle  or  Plato  so 
far  degenerated  from  the  example  of  Socrates, 
as  to  exchange  knowledge  for  gold.  But  some 
property  of  lands  and  houses  were  settled  by 
the  permission  of  the  laws,  and  the  legacies  of 
deceased  friends,  on  the  philosophic  chairs  of 
Athens.  Epicurus  bequeathed  to  his  disciples 
the  gardens  which  he  had  purchased  for  eighty 
minae,  or  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  with 
a  fund  sufficient  for  their  frugal  subsistence  and 


148  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   monthly  festivals;11  and  the  patrimony  of  Plato 
^. afforded  an  annual  rent,  which,  in  eight  centu- 
ries, was  gradually  increased  from  three  to  one 
thousand   pieces  of  gold.1      The    schools   of 
Athens  were  protected  by  the  wisest  and  most 
•virtuous  of  the  Roman  princes.     The  library 
which  Hadrian  founded,  was  placed  in  a  porti- 
co, adorned  with  pictures,  statues,  and  a  roof 
of  alabaster,   and  supported  by  one  hundred 
columns  of  Phrygian  marble.     The  public  sa- 
laries were  assigned  by' the  generous  spirit  of 
the  Antonines  ;  and  each  professor,  of  politics, 
of  rhetoric,  of  the  Platonic,  the  Peripatetic,  the 
Stoic,  and  the  Epicurean  philosophy,   received 
an  annual  stipend  often  thousand  drachmae,  or 
more   than  three  hundred  pounds  sterling/ — 
After  the  death  of  Marcus,  these  liberal  dona- 
tions, and  the  privileges  attached  to  the  thrones 
of  science,  were  abolished  and  revived,   dimi- 
nished and  enlarged  :  but  some  vestige  of  royal 
bounty  may  be  found  under  the  successors  of 
Constantino ;  and  their  arbitrary  choice  of  an 
unworthy  candidate  might  tempt  the  philoso- 
phers of  Athens  to  regret  the  days  of  indepen  - 

h  See  the  testament  of  Epicurus  in  Diogen.  Laert.  1.  x.  segm.  16-20, 
p.  611,  612.  A  single  epistle  (ad  Familiares,  xiii,  1)  displays  the  in- 
justice of  the  Areopagus,  the  fidelity  of  the  Epicureans,  the  dexterous 
politeness  of  Cicero,  and  the  mixture  of  contempt  and  esteem  with 
which  the  Roman  senators  considered  the  philosophy  and  philosopher* 
of  Greece. 

1  Damascius,  in  Vit.  Isidor.  apud  Photium,  cod.  ccxlii,  p .  1054. 

k  See  Lucian,  (in  Eunech.  torn,  ii,  p.  350-359,  edit.  Reitz) ;  Pliilo- 
itratus,  (in  Vit.  Sophist.  1.  ii,  c.  2),  and  Dion  Cassius,  or  Xiphilin,  (1. 
Ixxi,  p.  1195),  with  their  editors  Du  Soul,  Olearius,  and  Reimar,  and, 
above  all,  Salmasius,  (ad  Hist.  August,  p.  72).  A  judicious  philoso- 
pher (Smith's  Wealth  of  Nations,  vol.  ii,  p.  340-374)  prefers  the  free 
contributions  of  the  students  to  a  fixed  stipend  for  the  professor 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  149 

ctence  and  poverty.1  It  is  remarkable,  that  the  CHAP.' 
impartial  favour  of  the  Antonines  was  bestow-  aff.^..f 
ed  on  the  four  adverse  sects  of  philosophy, 
which  they  considered  as  equally  useful,  or  at 
least  as  equally  innocent.  Socrates  had  for- 
merly been  the  glory  and  the  reproach  of  his 
country :  and  the  first  lessons  of  Epicurus  so 
strangely  scandalized  the  pious  ears  of  the 
Athenians,  that  by  his  exile,  and  that  ofihis  an- 
tagonists, they  silenced  all  vain  disputes  con- 
cerning the  nature  of  the  gods.  But  in  the  en- 
suing year  they  recalled  the  hasty  decree,  re- 
stored the  liberty  of  the  schools,  and  were  con- 
vinced, by  the  experience  of  ages,  that  the  mo- 
al  character  of  philosophers  is  not  affected  by 
he  diversity  of  their  theological  speculations.1" 

The  Gothic  arms  were  less  fatal  to  the  schools  They  are 
of  Athens  than  the  establishment  of  a  new  reli-  " 
gion,  whose  ministers  superseded  the  exercise  ni 
of  reason,  resolved  every  question  by  an  article 
of  faith,  and  condemned  the  infidel  or  sceptic  to 
eternal  flames.     la  many  a  volume  of  laborious 
controversy,  they  exposed  the  weakness  of  the 
understanding  and  the  corruption  of  the  heart, 
insulted  human  nature  in  the  sages  of  antiqui- 
ty, and  proscribed  the  spirit  of  philosophical 
inquiry,  so  repugnant  to  the  doctrine,  or  at  least 

1  Brucker,  Hist.  Crit.  Philosoph.  torn,  ii,  p.  310,  &c 
m  The  birth  of  Epicurus  is  fixed  to  the  year  342  before  Christ, 
(Bayle),  Olympiad,  cix,  3  ;  and  he  opened  his  selioolat  Athens,  Olymp. 
cxviii,  3,  306  years  before  the  same  era.  This  intolerant  law  (Athe- 
naeus,  I.  xiii,  p.  610;  Diogen.  Laertius,  J.  v,  s.  38,  p.  290;  Julius  Pol- 
lux, ix,  5)  was  enacted  in  the  same,  or  the  succeeding  year,  (Sigonius, 
Opp.  torn,  v,  p.  62;  Menagius,  ad  Diogen.  Laert.  p.  204;  Corsioi 
Faiti  Attici,  torn.  iv.  p.  67,  68).  Theophrastus,  chief  of  the  Peripate- 
tics, and  disciple  of  Aristotle,  was  involved  in  the  same  exile. 


J50  THE  DECLINE  AND  PA  LL 

CXLP'  to  ^e  temPer»   °f  an   humble  believer.     The 

> ,",,.  surviving  sect  of  the  Platonists,  whom   Plato 

would  have  blushed  to  acknowledge,  extrava- 
gantly mingled  a  sublime  theory  with  the  prac- 
tice of  superstition  and  magic  ;  and  as  they  re- 
mained alone  in  the  midst  of  a  Christian  world, 
they  indulged  a  secret  rancour  against  the  go- 
vernment of  the  church  and  state ;  whose  seve- 
rity was  still  suspended  over  their  heads. — 
About  a  century  after  the  reign  of  Julian",  Pro- 
Prociu*.  clus°  was  permitted  to  teach  in  the  philosophic 
chair  of  the  academy ;  and  such  was  his  indus- 
try that  he  frequently,  in  the  same  day,  pro- 
nounced five  lessons,  and  composed  seven  hun- 
dred lines.  His  sagacious  mind  explored  the 
deepest  questions  of  morals  and  metaphysics, 
and  he  ventured  to  urge  eighteen  arguments  a- 
gainst  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  creation  of 
the  world.  But  in  the  intervals  of  study,  he 
personally  conversed  with  Pan,  .ZEsculapius,  and 
Minerva,  in  whose  mysteries  he  was  secretly 
initiated,  and  whose  prostrate  statues  he  ador- 
ed ;  in  the  devout  persuasion  that  the  philoso- 
pher, who  is  a  citizen  of  the  universe,  should 
be  the  priest  of  its  various  deities.  Ah  eclipse 
of  the  sun  announced  his  approaching  end  ; 
and  his  life,  with  that  of  his  scholar  Isi- 

*  This  is  no  fanciful  era;  the  pagans  reckonrd  their  calamities  from 
the  reign  of  their  hero.  Proclns,  whose  nativity  is  marked  by  his  ho- 
roscope, (A.  D.  412,  February  8,  at  C.  P.),  died  124  years  aw»  leX<«»a 
&M-IXM;,  A.  D.  485,  (Marin.  in  Vita  Procli,  c.  36). 

"The  life  of  Proclus,  by  Marinas,  was  published  by  Fahriciui 
(Hamburgh,  1700,  et  ad  calcem  Bibliot.  Latin.  Lond.  1703.)  See  Sui- 
rfas,  (torn,  iii,  p.  185,  186);  Fabririns,  (Bibliot.  Grace.  1.  v,  c.  2«,  p. 
449-552),  and  Brncker,  (Hist.  Ciit.  Phjlosoph.  toni.  ii,  p.  319-326). 


OF  'iHE  ROMAN  EMPIIIE.  15 

dore,*  compiled  by  two  of  their  most  learned    CHAP. 
disciples,  exhibits  a  deplorable  picture  of  the_      ^.. 
second  childhood  of  human  reason.     Yet  theHi«Suc 
golden  chain,   as  it  was   fondly   styled,  of  t 
Platonic  succession,  continued  forty-four  years 529' 
from  the  death  of  Proclus,  to  the  edict  of  Justi- 
nian,*1 which  imposed  a  perpetual  silence  on  the 
schools  of  Athens,  and  excited  the  grief  and  in- 
dignation of  the  few  remaining  votaries  of  Gre- 
cian science  and   superstition.  '  Seven  friends 
and  philosophers,  Diogenes  and  Hermias,  Eu- 
lalius  and  Priscian,   Damascius,  Isidore,  and 
Simplicius,  who  dissented  from  the  religion  of 
their  sovereign,  embraced  the  resolution  of  seek- 
ing in  a  foreign  land  the  freedom  which  was 
denied  in  their  native  country.  They  had  heard,' 
and  they  credulously  believed,  that  the  repub- 
lic of  Plato  was  realized  in  the  despotic  go- 
vernment of  Persia,   and  that  a  patriot  king 
reigned  over  the  happiest  and  most  virtuous  of 
nations.     They  were  soon  astonished  by  the 
natural   discovery   that   Persia  resembled  the 
other  countries  of  the  globe ;  that  Chosroes, 
who  affected  the  name  of  a  philosopher,  was 
vain,  cruel,  and  ambitious  ;  that  bigotry,  and 
a  spirit  of  intolerance,    prevailed   among   the 
Magi ;  that  the  nobles  were  haughty,  the  cour- 
tiers servile,  and  the  magistrates  unjust;  that 
the  guilty  sometimes  escaped,  and  that  the  in- 
nocent were  often  oppressed.     The  disappoint- 

p  The  life  of  Isidore  was  composed  by  Damasc'ms,  (apud  Photium, 
cod.  ccxlii,  p.  1028-1076).  See  the  last  sge  of  the  pagan  philosophers 
in  Bnickcr,  (torn,  ii,  p.  341.33 1J. 

q  The  suppression  of  the  schools  of  Athens  is  recorded  by  John  Ma 
la!a,  (torn,  ii,  p.  187,  stir  Decio  Cos,  Sol.),  and  an  anonymons  Chroa 
tie  isi  the  Vatican  Hbrarj'j  (ap«d  Airman,  p.  10f>). 


152  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CXL,P'  ment  °f  the  philosophers    provoked  them  to 

-,~*-  overlook  the  real  virtues  of  the  Persians  ;  and 

they  were  scandalized,  more  deeply  perhaps 
than  became  their  profession,  with  the  plurali- 
ty of  wives  and  concubines,  the  incestuous  mar- 
riages, and  the  custom  of  exposing  dead  bodies 
to  the  dogs  and  vultures,  instead  of  hiding  them 
in  the  earth,  or  consuming  them  with  fire. — 
Their  repentance  was  expressed  by  a  precipi- 
tate return,  and  they  loudly  declared  that  they 
would  rather  die  on  the  borders  of  the  empire, 
than  enjoy  the  wealth  and  favour  of  the  barba- 
rian. From  this  journey,  however,  they  derived 
a  benefit  which  reflects  the  purest  lustre  on  the 
character  of  Chosroes.  He  required,  that  the 
seven  sages  who  had  visited  the  court  of  Persia, 
should  be  exempted  from  the  penal  laws  which 
Justinian  enacted  against  his  pagan  subjects ; 
and  this  privilege,  expressly  stipulated  in  a 
treaty  of  peace,  was  guarded  by  the  vigilance  of 
The  last  of  a  powerful  mediator/  Simplicius  and  his  com- 
!!!e>he!s°  panions  ended  their  lives  in  peace  and  obscuri- 
ty :  and  as  they  left  no  disciples,  they  terminate 
the  long  list  of  Grecian  philosophers,  who  may 
be  justly  praised,  notwithstanding  their  defects, 
as  the  wisest  and  most  virtuous  of  their  con- 
temporaries. The  writings  of  Simplicius  are 
now  extant.  His  physical  and  metaphysical 
commentaries  on  Aristotle  have  passed  away 
with  the  fashion  of  the  times;  but  his  moral  in- 

r  Agathias,  (1.  ii,  p.  69,  70,  71),  relates  this  curious  story.  Chosroes 
ascended  the  throne  in  the  year  531,  and  made  his  first  peace  \\iih  the 
Romans  in  the  beginning  of  533,  a  date  most  compatible  with  his  young 
fame,  and  the  old  age  of  Isidore,  (Asseman.  Bibliot.  Orient,  torn-  iii, 
p.  40 1.  Pagijftom.  ii,  p.  543,  550). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

terpretation  of  Epictetus  is  preserved  in  the  li-  CHAP 
brary  of  nations  as  a  classic  book,  most  excel-  ^,J, 
lently  adapted  to  direct  the  will,  to  purify  the 
heart,  and  to  confirm  the  understanding,  by  a 
just  confidence  in  the  nature  both  of  God  and 
man. 

About  the  same  time  that  Pythagoras  first  The  Re- 
invented the  appellation  of  philosopher,  liberty 
and  the  consulship  were  founded  at  Rome  by 
the  elder  Brutus.  The  revolutions  of  the  con-nian» 
sular  office,  which  may  be  viewed  in  the  suc- 
cessive lights  of  a  substance,  a  shadow,  and  a 
name,  have  been  occasionally  mentioned  in  the 
present  history.  The  first  magistrates  of  the 
republic  had  been  chosen  by  the  people,  to  ex- 
ercise, in  the  senate  and  in  the  camp,  the  pow- 
rs  of  peace  and  war,  which  were  afterwards 
translated  to  the  emperors.  But  the  tradition 
of  ancient  dignity  was  long  revered  by  the  Ro- 
mans and  barbarians.  A  Gothic  historian  ap- 
plauds the  consulship  of  Theodoric  as  the 
height  of  all  temporal  glory  and  greatness  ;'  the 
king  of  Italy  himself  congratulates  those  an- 
nual favourites  of  fortune,  who,  without  the 
cares,  enjoyed  the  splendour  of  the  throne; 
and  at  the  end  of  a  thousand  years,  two  consuls 
were  created  by  the  sovereigns  of  Rome  and 
Constantinople,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  giving  a 
date  to  the  year,  and  a  festival  to  the  people. 
But  the  expences  of  this  festival,  in  which  the 
wealthy  and  the  vain  aspired  to  surpass  their 

•  Cassiodor.  Variarnm  Epist.  vi,  1.     Jornandes,  c.  57,  p.  696,  edit. 
Grot.     Quod  Minimum  bonum  primumaue  in  mundo  decus  cdicitur. 


154  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CXL,P   predecessors,  insensibly  arose  to  the  enormous 

* -sum  of  fourscore  thousand  pounds  ;  the  wisest 

senators  declined  an  useless  honour,  which  in- 
volved the  certain  ruin  of  their  families  ;  and  to 
this  reluctance  I  should  impute  tlie  frequent 
chasms  in  the  last  age  of  the  consular  Fasti.— 
The  predecessors  of  Justinian  had  assisted 
from  the  public  treasures  the  dignity  of  the 
less  opulent  candidates  ;  the  avarice  of  that 
prince  preferred  the  cheaper  and  more  conve- 
nient method  of  advice  and  regulation,*  Seven 
processions  or  spectacles  were  the  number  to 
which  his  edict  confined  the  horse  and  chariot 
races,  the  athletic  sports,  the  music,  and  the 
pantomimes  of  the  theatre,  and  the  hunting  of 
wild  beasts ;  and  small  pieces  of  silver  were 
discreetly  substituted  to  the  gold  medals,  which 
had  always  excited  tumult  arid  drunkenness, 
when  they  were  scattered  with  a  profuse  hand 
among  the  populace.  Notwithstanding  these 
precautions  and  his  own  example,  the  succes- 
sion of  consuls  finally  ceased  in  the  thirteenth 
year  of  Justinian,  whose  despotic  temper  might 
be  gratified  by  the  silent  extinction  of  a  title 
which  admonished  the  Romans  of  their  ancient 
freedom."  Yet  the  annual  consulship  still  lived 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  ;  they  fondly  expect- 
ed its  speedy  restoration ;  they  applauded  the 
gracious  condescension  of  successive  princes, 
by  whom  it  was  assumed  in  the  first  year  of 

*  See  the  regulations  of  Justinian,  (Novell,  cv),  dated  at  Constant! 
nople,  July  5,  and  addressed  to  Strategics,  treasurer  of  the  empire. 

"  Procopins,  in  Anecdot.  c.  26.  Airman  p.  106.  In  the  xviiitli 
year  after  the  consulship  of  Basilitts,  according  to  the  reckoning  o: 
Marcellinus,  Victor,  Marias,  &c.  the  secret  history  was  composed,  and 
in  the  eyes  of  Procopius,  the  consulship  was  finally  abolished. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

their  reign :  and  three  centuries  elapsed,  after  CHAP 
the  death  of  Justinian,  before  that  obsolete  dig-     XL- 
nity,  which  had  been  suppressed  by  custom, " 
could   be   abolished  by  law.x     The  imperfect 
mode  of  distinguishing  each  year  by  the  name 
of  a  magistrate,  was  usually  supplied  by  the 
date  of  a  permanent  era :  the  creation  of  the 
world,  according  to  the  septuagint  version,  was 
adopted  by  the  Greeks  ;y  and  the  Latins,  since 
the  age  of  Charlemagne,   have  computed  their 
time  from  the  birth  of  Christ/ 

x  By  Leo  the  philosopher,  (Novell,  rciv,  A.  D.  886-911).     See  Pagi, 
(Disscrtar.  Hypatica,   p.  325-362),  and   Ducange,   (Gloss.    Giaec.  p. 
1635,  1636).     Even  the  title  was  vilified  ;  consulatus  codicilli  .... 
vilesciuit,  says  the  emperor  himself. 

1  According  to  Julius  Africanus,  &c.  the  world  was  created  the  first 
if  September,  5508  years,  three  months,  and  twenty-five  days  before 
the  birth  of  Christ,  (see  Pezron,  Antiquite  des  Terns  defendue,  p.  20- 
28);  and  this  era  lias  been  used  by  the  Greeks,  the  Oriental  Chris- 
tians,  and  even  by  the  Russian;,  till  the  reign  of  Pet*  r  I.  The  period, 
however  arbitrary,  is  clear  and  convenient.  Of  the  7296  years  which 
are  supposed  to  elapse  since  the  creation*  we  ohall  find  3000  of  igno- 
rance and  darkness ;  2000  either  fabulous  or  doubtful;  1000  of  an- 
cient history,  commencing  with  the  Persian  empire,  and  the  republics 
of  Rome  and  Athens ;  1000  from  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire  in  the 
west  to  the  discovery  of  America  ;  and  the  remaining  296  will  almost 
complete  three  centuries  of  the  modern  state  of  Europe  and  mankind. 
I  regret  this  chronology,  so  far  preferable  to  our  double  and  perplexed 
method  of  counting  backwards  and  forwards  the  years  before  and  af- 
ter the  Christian  era. 

*  The  era  of  the  world  has  prevailed  in  the  East  since  the  vith  gene 
rtl  council,  (A.  D.  681).  In  the  West  the  Christian  era  was  first  in 
vented  in  the  vith  century :  it  was  propagated  in  the  viith  by  the  an- 
thority  and  writings  of  venerable  Bede;  but  it  was  not  till  the  xth 
that  the  use  became  legal  and  popular.  See  1'Artde  vereficr  le»  Dates, 
Dissert.  Preliminaire,  p.  iii,  xii.  Dictionaire  Diplomatique,  torn,  i, 
P  380-337  ;  the  works  of  a  laborious  society  of  Benedictine  monk* 


156  THE  DECLINE  AND  FA  LI. 


CHAP.  XLI. 

Conquests  of  Justinian  in  the  West  —  Character 
and  first  campaigns  of  Belisarius  —  He  invades 
and  subdues  the  Vandal  kingdom  of  Africa  — 
His  triumph  —  The  Gothic  war—  He  recovers 
Sicily,  Naples,  and  Rome  —  Siege  of  R  ome  by 
the  Goths  —  Their  retreat  and  losses  —  Surren- 
der of  Ravenna  —  Glory  of  Belisarius  —  His 
domestic  shame  and  misfortunes. 


Justinian  ascended  the  throne,  about 
XLI.'  fifty  years  after  the  fall  of  the  western  empire, 
—  "-  the  kingdoms  of  the  Goths  and  Vandals  had 
obtained  a  solid,  and,  as  it  might  seem,  a  legal 
Africa  establishment  both  in  Europe  and  Africa.  The 
A.D.533.  titles  which  Roman  victory  had  inscribed,  were 
erazed  with  equal  justice  by  the  sword  of  the 
barbarians;  and  their  successful  rapine  derived 
a  more  venerable  sanction  from  time,  from  trea- 
ties, and  from  the  oaths  of  fidelity,  already  re- 
peated by  a  second  or  third  generation  of  obe- 
dient subjects.  Experience  and  Christianity 
had  refuted  the  superstitious  hope,  that  Rome 
was  founded  by  the  gods  to  reign  forever  over 
the  nations  of  the  earth.  But  the  proud  claim 
of  perpetual  and  indefeasible  dominion,  which 
her  soldiers  could  no  longer  maintain,  was  firm- 
ly asserted  by  her  statesmen  and  lawyers, 
whose  opinions  have  been  sometimes  revived 
and  propagated  in  the  modern  schools  of  juris- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  157 

prudence.     After  Rome  herself  had  been  strip-   CHAP. 
ped  of  the  imperial  purple,  the  princes  of  Con-^  JfJ^, 
stantinople  assumed  the  sole  and  sacred  sceptre 
of  the  monarchy  ;  demanded,   as  their  rightful 
inheritance,  the  provinces  which  had  been  sub- 
dued   by  the    consuls    or    possessed   by    the 
Caesars ;  and   feebly   aspired    to   deliver  their 
faithful  subjects  of  the  West  from  the  usurpa- 
tion of  heretics  and  barbarians.     The  execution 
of  this  splendid  design  was  in  some  degree  re- 
served for  Justinian.    During  the  five  first  years 
of  his  reign,  he  reluctantly  waged  a  costly  and 
unprofitable  war  against  the  Persians  ;  till  his 
pride   submitted  to  his  ambition,  and  he  pur- 
chased, at  the  price  of  four  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  pounds  sterling,  the  benefit  of  a  pre- 
carious truce,  which,  in  the  language  of  both 
nations,  was  dignified  with  the  appellation  of 
the  endless  peace.     The  safety  of  the  East  ena- 
bled the  emperor  to  employ  his  forces  against 
the  Vandals  ;  and  the  internal  state  of  Africa 
afforded  an  honourable  motive,  and  promised 
a  powerful  support,  to  the  Rom  an  arms." 

According  to  the  testament  of  the  founder,  state  of 
the  African  kingdom  had  lineally  descended  to|£jgVan~ 
Hilderic  the  eldest  of  the  Vandal  princes.     AHiiderir, 
mild  disposition  inclined  the  son  of  a  tyrant,  530. 
the  grandson  of  a  conqueror,  to  prefer  the  coun- 
sels of  clemency  and  peace;  and  his  accession 

*  The  complete  series  of  the  Vandal  war  is  related  by  Procopins  in 
a  regular  and  elegant  narrative,  (1.  i,  c.  9-25  ;  1.  ii,  c.  1-13)  ;  and  hap-  '  , 
py  would  be  my  lot,  could  I  always  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  such  a 
guide.  From  the  entire  and  diligent  perusal  of  the  Greek  text,  I  have 
a  right  to  pronounce  that  the  Latin  and  French  versions  of  Grotius 
and  Cousin  may  not  be  implicitly  trusted:  yet  the  president  Couain 
has  been  often  praised,  ana  Hugo  Grotius  was  the  first  scholar  of  a 
learned  age. 


158  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  was  marked  by  the  salutary  edict,  which  re- 
*„}...„  stored  two  hundred  bishops  to  their  churches, 
and  allowed  the  free  profession  of  the  Athana- 
siau  creed.*  But  the  catholics  accepted,  with 
cold  and  transient  gratitude,  a  favour  so  inade- 
quate to  their  pretensions,  and  the  virtues  of 
Hilderic  offended  the  prejudices  of  his  country- 
men. The  Arian  clergy  presumed  to  insinuate 
that  he  had  renounced  the  faith,  and  the  sol- 
diers more  loudly  complained  that  he  had  de- 
generated from  the  courage,  of  his  ancestors. — 
His  ambassadors  were  suspected  of  a  secret 
and  disgraceful  negotiation  in  the  Byzantine 
court ;  and  his  general,  the  Achilles4,  as  he  was 
named,  of  the  Vandals,  lost  a  battle  against  the 
"?.e»I7so.  naked  and  disorderly  Moors.  The  public  dis- 
634t  content  was  exasperated  by  Gelimer,  whose 
age,  descent,  and  military  fame,  gave  him  an 
apparent  title  to  the  succession :  he  assumed, 
with  the  consent  of  the  nation,  the  reins  of  go- 
vernment ;  and  his  unfortunate  sovereign  sunk 
without  a  struggle  from  the  throne  to  a  dungeon, 
where  he  was  strictly  guarded  with  a  faithful 
counsellor,  and  his  unpopular  nephew  the 

*  See  Rninart,  Hist.  Persecut.  Vandal,  c.  xii,  p.  589.  His  best  evi- 
dence is  drawn  from  the  life  of  St.  Fulgentius,  composed  by  one  of  his 
disciples,  transcribed  in  a  great  measure  in  the  annals  of  Barouhis,  and 
printed  in  several  great  collections,  (Catalog.  Bibliot.  Bunnaviaenae, 
torn,  i,  vol.  ii,  p.  1258. 

c  For  what  quality  of  the  mind  or  body  ?  For  speed,  or  beauty,  or 
valour? — In  what  language  did  the  Vandals  read  Homer? — Did  he 
speak  German?— The  Latins  had  four  versions,  (Fabric,  torn,  i,  1.  ii, 
c.  3,  p.  297):  yet  in  spite  of  the  praises  of  Seneca,  (Consol.  c.  26),  they 
appear  to  have  been  more  successfnl  in  imitating,  than  in  translating, 
the  Greek  poets.  But  the  name  of  Achilles  might  be  famous  and  po- 
pular, even  among  the  illiterate  barbarians. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

Achilles  of  the  Vandals.     But  the  induia-erice    CHAP. 

XLI 

which  Hilderic  had  shewn  to  his  catholic  sub-  „„ „ 

jects  had  powerfully  recommended  him  to  the 
favour  of  Justinian,  who,  for  the  benefit  of  his 
own  sect,  could  acknowledge  the  use  and  jus- 
tice of  religious  toleration  :  their  alliance,  while 
the  nephew  of  Justin  remained  in  a  private  sta- 
tion, was  cemented  by  the  mutual  exchange  of 
gifts  and  letters ;  and  the  emperor  Justinian  as- 
serted the  cause  of  royalty  and  friendship.  In 
two  successive  embassies,  he  admonished  the 
usurper  to  repent  of  his  treason,  or  to  abstain, 
at  least,  from  any  further  violence,  which  might 
provoke  the  displeasure  of  God  and  of  the  Ro- 
mans ;  to  reverence  the  laws  of  kindred  and 
succession,  and  to  suffer  an  infirm  old  man 
peaceably  to  end  his  days,  either  on  the  throne 
of  Carthage,  or  in  the  palace  of  Constantinople. 
The  passions  or  even  the  prudence  of  Gelimer 
compelled  him  to  reject  these  requests,  which 
were  urged  in  the  haughty  tone  of  menace  and 
command ;  and  he  justified  his  ambition  in  a 
language  rarely  spoken  in  the  Byzantine  court, 
by  alleging  the  right  of  a  free  people  to  remove 
or  punish  their  chief  magistrate,  who  had  failed 
in  the  execution  of  the  kingly  office.  After 
this  fruitless  expostulation,  the  captive  monarch 
was  more  rigorously  treated,  his  nephew  was 
deprived  of  his  eyes,  and  the  cruel  Vandal, 
confident  in  his  strength  and  distance,  derided 
the  vain  threats  and  slow  preparations  of  the 
emperor  of  the  East.  Justinian  resolved  to  de- 


war. 


160  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   liver  or  revenge  his  friend,  Gelimer  to  maintain 
,*^l'.~.  his  usurpation  :  and  the  war  was  preceded,  ac- 
cording to  the  practice  of  civilized  nations,  by 
the  most  solemn  protestations  that  each  party 
was  sincerely  desirous  of  peace. 

ub""  The  report  of  an  African  war  was  grateful  on- 
African  jy  to  tne  vain  and  idle  populace  of  Constanti- 
nople, whose  poverty  exempted  them  from  tri- 
bute, and  whose  cowardice  was  seldom  exposed 
to  military  service.  But  the  wiser  citizens,  who 
judged  of  the  future  by  the  past,  revolved  in 
their  memory  the  immense  loss,  both  of  men 
and  money,  which  the  empire  had  sustained  in 
the  expedition  of  Basiliscus.  The  troops, 
which  after  five  laborious  campaigns  had  been 
recalled  from  the  Persian  frontier,  dreaded  the 
sea,  the  climate,  and  the  arms  of  an  unknown 
enemy.  The  ministers  of  the  finances  comput- 
ed, as  far  as  they  might  compute,  the  demands 
of  an  African  war ;  the  taxes  which  might 
be  found  and  levied  to  supply  those  insa- 
tiate demands  ;  and  the  danger,  lest  their 
own  lives,  or  at  least  their  lucrative  employ- 
ments, should  be  made  responsible  for  the 
deficiency  of  the  supply.  Inspired  by  such 
selfish  motives,  (for  we  may  not  suspect 
him  of  any  zeal  for  the  public  good),  John 
of  Cappadocia  ventured  to  oppose  in  full  coun- 
cil the  inclinations  of  his  master.  He  con- 
fessed, that  a  victory  of  such  importance  could 
not  be  too  dearly  purchased;  but  he  represented 
in  a  grave  discourse  the  certain  difficulties  and 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

the  uncertain  event.     "  You  undertake,"  said    CHAP. 

the  prefect,   "  to  besiege  Carthage  by  land  ;  the ,,1 

"  distance  is  not  less  than  one  hundred  and 
"  forty  days  journey ;  on  the  sea  a  wlioleyear4 
"  must  elapse  before  you  pj^T6^6™6*^  mtel- 
"  ligence  from  your  fleet.  If  Africa  should  be 
"  reduced,  it  cannot  be  preserved  without  the 
"  additional  conquest  of  Sicily  and  Italy.  Sue- 
"  cess  will  impose  the  obligation  of  new  labours; 
"  a  single  misfortune  will  attract  the  barbarians 
"  into  the  heart  of  your  exhausted  empire." — 
Justinian  felt  the  weight  of  this  salutary  advice; 
he  was  confounded  by  the  unwonted  freedom 
of  an  obsequious  servant ;  and  the  design  of  the 
war  would  perhaps  have  been  relinquished, if  his 
courage  had  not  been  revived  by  a  voice  which 
silenced  the  doubts  of  profane  reason.  "  I  have 
"  seen  a  vision,"  cried  an  artful  or  fanatic  bi- 
shop of  the  East.  "  It  is  the  will  of  heaven, 
"  O  emperor!  that  you  should  not  abandon  your 
"  holy  enterprise  for  the  deliverence  of  the  Af- 
"  rican  church.  The  God  of  battles  will  march 
"  before  your  standard,  and  disperse  your  ene- 
"  mies,  who  are  the  enemies  of  his  Son."  The 
emperor  might  be  tempted,  and  his  counsellors 
were  constrained,  to  give  credit  to  this  season- 
able revelation :  but  they  derived  more  rational 
hope  from  the  revolt,  which  the  adherents  of 
Hilderic  or  Athanasius  had  already  excited  on 

d  A  year— absurd  exaggeration !  The  conquest  of  Africa  may  be 
dated  A.  D.  533,  September  14  :  it  is  celebrated  by  Justinian  in  the 
preface  to  his  Institutes,  which  were  published  November  21  of  the 
game  year.  Including  the  voyage  and  return,  such  a  computation 
might  be  truly  applied  to  our  Indian  empire. 
VOL.  VIT.  M 


162  «  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    the  borders  of  the  Vandal  monarchy.     Puden- 

V  T  T 

tins,  an  African  subject,  had  privately  signified 
his  loyal  intentions,  and  a  small  military  aid  re- 
stored the  province  of  Tripoli  to  the  obedience 
of  the  Romans.  The  government  of  Sardinia 
had  been  intrusted  to  Godas,  a  valiant  barba- 
rian ;  he  suspended  the  payment  of  the  tribute, 
disclaimed  his  allegiance  to  the  usurper,  and 
gave  audience  to  the  emissaries  of  Justinian, 
who  found  him  master  of  that  fruitful  island,  at 
the  head  of  his  guards,  and  proudly  invested 
with  the  ensigns  of  royalty.  The  forces  of  the 
Vandals  were  diminished  by  discord  and  sus- 
picion ;  the  Roman  armies  were  animated  by 

I    the  spirit  of  Belisarius  ;    one  of  those  heroic 
names  which  are  familiar  to  every  age  and  to 
every  nation. 
Character      The  Africanus  of  new  Rome  was  born,  and 

and  choice 

perhaps  educated,  among  the  Ihracian  pea- 
sants,6 without  any  of  those  advantages  which 
had  formed  the  virtues  of  the  elder  and  the 
younger  Scipio;  a  noble  origin,  liberal  studies, 
and  the  emulation  61"  a  tree  stale:  TheTsiTence 
ofli  loqua^ioTis~sec"fefary^ay  be  admitted,  to 
prove  that  the  youth  of  Belisarius  could  not  af- 
ford  any  subject  of  praise:  he  served,  most  as- 
suredly with  valour  and  reputation,  among  the 
private  guards  of  Justinian;  and  when  his  pa- 
tron became  emperor,  the  domestic  was  pro- 
moted to  military  command.  After  a  bold  in- 


xsi 

(Procop.  Vandal.  1.  i,  c.  11).  Aleman,  (Not.  ad  Anecdot.  p.  5),  an 
Italian,  could  easily  reject  the  German  vanity  of  Giphanius  and  Vel- 
serns,  who  wished  to  claim  the  hero  ;  but  his  Germania,  a  metropolis 
of  Thrace,  I  cannot  find  in  any  civil  or  ecclesiastical  lists  of  the  pro- 
».i>c<><»  and  cities. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  163 

road  into  Persarmenia,  in  which  his  jdory  was    CHAP. 

XLI 

shared  by  a  colleague,   and  his  progress  was  fffffr^ft 


checked  by  an  enemy,  Belisarius  repaired  to 
the  important  station  of  Dara,  where  he  first  ac- 
cepted the  service  of  Procopius,  the  faithful 
companion,  and  diligent  historian  of  his  ex- 
ploits/ The  Mirranes  of  Persia  advanced,  with  Ces  totti? 
forty  thousand  of  her  best  troops,  to  raze  the  ^™lan 
fortifications  of  Dara ;  and  signified  the  day  and  A^.  529- 
the  hour  on  which  the  citizens  should  prepare 
a  bath  for  his  refreshment  after  the  toils  of  vic- 
tory. He  encountered  an  adversary  equal  to 
himself,  by  the  new  title  of  General  of  the  East; 
his  superior  in  the  science  of  war,  but  much  in- 
ferior in  the  number  and  quality  of  his  troops, 
which  amounted  only  to  twenty-five  thousand 
Romans  and  strangers,  relaxed  in  their  disci- 
pline, and  humbled  by  recent  disasters.  As  the 
plain  of  Dara  refused  all  shelter  to  stratagem  and 
ambush,  Belisarius  protected  his  front  with  a 
deep  trench,  which  was  prolonged  at  first  in  per- 
pendicular, and  afterwards  in  parallel,  lines, 
to  cover  the  wings  of  cavalry  advantageously 
posted  to  command  the  flanks  and  rear  of  the 
enemy.  When  the  Roman  centre  was  shaken, 
their  well-timed  and  rapid  charge  decided  the 
conflict:  the  standard  of  Persia  fell ;  the  immor- 
tals fled  ;  the  infantry  threw  away  their  bucklers, 
and  eight  thousand  of  the  vanquished  were  left 
on-  the  field  of  battle.  In  the  next  campaign, 
Syria  was  invaded  on  the  side  of  the  desert; 
and  Belisarius,  with  twenty  thousand  men,  has- 

f  The  two  first  Persian  campaigns  of  Belisarius  are  fairly  and  co- 
piously related  by  his  secretary,  (Persic  1.  i,  c,  12—18). 


l  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

<\ljiP*    tenec*  fr°m  Dara  to  the  relief  of  the  province. 

*,,/,,' During  the  whole  summer,  the  designs  of  the 

enemy  were  baffled  by  his  skilful  dispositions: 
he  pressed  their  retreat,  occupied  each  night 
their  camp  of  the  preceding  day,   and  would 
have  secured  a  bloodless  victory,   if  he  could 
have  resisted  the  impatience  of  his  own  troops. 
Their  valiant  promise  was  faintly  supported  in 
the  hour  of  battle;  the  right  wing  was  exposed 
by    the    treacherous    or    cowardly    desertion 
of  the  Christian  Arabs ;    the  Huns,   a  veteran 
band  of  eight  hundred  warriors,  were  oppres- 
sed by  superior     numbers ;    the  flight  of  the 
Isaurianswas  intercepted;   but  the  Roman  in- 
fantry stood  firm  on  the  left,  for  Belisarius  him- 
self, dismounting  from  his  horse,  shewed  them 
that  intrepid  despair  was  their  only  safety.  They 
turned  their  backs  to  the  Euphrates,  and  their 
faces  to  the  enemy;  innumerable  arrows  glanced 
without  effect  from  the  compact  and  shelving 
order  of  their  bucklers ;  an  impenetrable  line  of 
pikes  was  opposed  to  the  repeated  assaults  of 
the  Persian  cavalry ;    and  after  a  resistance  of 
many  hours,  the  remaining  troops  were  skilful- 
ly embarked  under  the  shadow  of  the  night. 
The  Persian  commander  retired  with  disorder 
and  disgrace,  to  answer  a  strict  account  of  the 
lives  of  so  many  soldiers  which  he  had  consum- 
ed in  a  barren  victory.     But  the  fame  of  Beli- 
sarius was  not  sullied  by  a  defeat,  in  which  alone 
he  had  saved  his  army  from  the  consequences 
of  their  own  rashness :  the  approach  of  peace 
relieved  him  from  the  guard  of  the  eastern  fron- 
tier, and  his  conduct  in  the  sedition  of  Constan- 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  165 

tinople  amply  discharged  his  obligations  to  the  CHAP. 
emperor.     When  the  African  war  became  the  ,„ '„„ 


topic  of  popular  discourse  and  secret  delibera- 
tion, each  of  the  Roman  generals  was  apprehen- 
sive, rather  than  ambitious,  of  the  dangerous 
honour ;  but  as  soon  as  Justinian  had  declared 
his  preference  of  superior  merit,  their  envy  was 
rekindled  by  the  unanimous  applause  which  was 
given  to  the  choice  of  Belisarius.  The  temper 
of  the  Byzantine  court  may  encourage  a  suspi- 
cion, that  the  hero  was  darkly  assisted  by  the 
intrigues  of  his  wife,  the  fair  and  subtle  Antonina, 
who  alternately  enjoyed  the  confidence,  and  in- 
curred the  hatred,  of  the  empress  Theodora. 
The  birth  of  Antonina  was  ignoble;  she  de- 
scended from  a  family  of  charioteers;  and  her 
chastity  has  been  stained  with  the  foulest  re- 
proach. Yet  she  reigned  with  long  and  abso- 
lute power  over  the  mind  of  her  illustrious  hus- 
band ;  and  if  Antonina  disdained  the.  merit  of 
conjugal  fidelity,  she  expressed  a  manly  friend- 
ship to  Belisarius,  whom  she  accompanied  with 
undaunted  resolution  in  all  the  hardships  and 
dangers  of  a  military  life.e 

The  preparations  for  the  African  war  were  P 

_,  tions  for 

not  unworthy  of  the  last  contest  between  ttome  the  Afri- 
and  Carthage.  The  pride  and  flower  of  the 
army  consisted  of  the  guards  of  Belisarius,  who 
according  to  the  pernicious  indulgence  of  the 
times,  devoted  themselves  by  a  particular  oath 
of  fidelity  to  the  service  of  their  patron.  Their 
strength  and  stature,  for  which  they  had  been 

•  See  the  birth  and  character  of  Antonina,  in  the  Anecdotes,  c.  1, 
and  the  notei  of  Alemannus,  p.  3. 


166  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    curiously  selected,  the  goodness  of  their  horses 
XLL    and  armour,  and  the  assiduous  practice  of  all 
the  exercises  of  war,  enabled  them  to  act  what- 
ever their   courage  might  prompt;    and  their 
courage  was  exalted  by  the  social ]  honour  of 
their  rank,  and  the  personal  ambition  of  favour 
and  fortune.     Four  hundred  of  the  bravest  of 
the  Heruli  marched   under  the  banner  of  the 
faithful  and  active  Pharas;    their  untractable 
valour  was  more  highly  prized  than  the  tame 
submission  of  the  Greeks  and  Syrians;  and  of 
such  importance  was  it  deemed  to  procure  a 
reinforcement  of  six  hundred   Massagetae,  or 
Huns,  that  they  were  allured  by  fraud  and  de- 
ceit to  engage  in  a  naval  expedition.     Five  thou- 
sand horse  and  ten  thousand  foot  were  embark- 
ed at  Constantinople  for  the  conquest  of  Africa ; 
but  the  infantry,   for  the  most  part  levied   in 
Thrace  and  Isauria,   yielded  to  the  more  pre- 
vailing use  and  reputation  of  the  cavalry;  and 
the  Scythian   bow  was  the  weapon   on  Avhich 
the  armies  of  Rome  were  now  reduced  to  place 
their  principal  dependence.     From  a  laudable 
desire  to  assert  the  dignity  of  this  theme,  Pro- 
copius   defends  the  soldiers  of  his  own   time 
against  the  morose  critics,   who  confined  that 
respectable  name  to  the  heavy- armed  warriors 
of  antiquity,  and  maliciously  observed,  that  the 
word  archer  is  introduced  by  Homerhas  a  term 

h  See  the  preface  of  Procopius.  The  enemies  of  archery  might  cpiote 
the  reproaches  of  Diomede,  (Iliad  A.  335,  &c ),  and  the  permittere 
vulnera  ventis  of  Lucan,  (viii,  384)  :  yet  the  Romans  could  not  des- 
pise the  arrows  of  the  Parthians  ;  and  in  the  siege  of  Troy,  Panda  nis," 
Paris,  and  Tencer,  pierced  those  haughty  warriors  who  insulted  them 
*s  women  or  children. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  167 

of  contempt.  "  Such  contempt  might  perhaps  CHAP 
"  be  due  to  the  naked  youths  who  appeared  on  „/.  ----- 
"  foot  in  the  fields  of  Troy,  and,  lurking  behind 
"  a  tomb-stone,  or  the  shield  of  a  friend,  drew 
"  the  bow-string  to  their  breast/  and  dismissed 
"  a  feeble  and  lifeless  arrow.  But  our  archers 
"  (pursues  the  historian)  are  mounted  on  horses, 
"  which  they  manage  with  admirable  skill;  their 
"  head  and  shoulders  are  protected  by  a  cask 
"  or  buckler;  they  wear  greaves  of  iron  on  their 
"  legs,  and  their  bodies  are  guarded  by  a  coat 
"  of  mail.  On  their  right  side  hangs  a  quiver, 
'  a  sword  on  their  left,  and  their  hand  is  accus- 
"  tomed  towield  a  lanceor  javelin,  in  closer  com- 
"  bat.  Their  bows  are  strong  and  weighty; 
"  they  shoot  in  every  possible  direction,  advanc- 
"  ing,  retreating,  to  the  front,  to  the  rear,  or  to 
"either  flank;  and  as  they  are  taught  to  draw 
"  the  bow-string  not  to  the  breast,  but  to  the 
"  right  ear,  firm  indeed  must  be  the  armour  that 
4<  can  resist  the  rapid  violence  of  their  shaft." 
Five  hundred  transports,  navigated  by  twenty 
thousand  mariners  of  Egypt,  Cilicia,  and  Ionia, 
were  collected  in  the  harbour  of  Constantinople. 
The  smallest  of  these  vessels  may  be  computed 
at  thirty,  the  largest  at  five  hundred  tons;  and 
the  fair  average  will  supply  an  allowance,  liber- 
al, but  not  profuse,  of  about  one  hundred  thou- 
sand tons,k  for  the  reception  of  thirty-five  thou- 


1  Nivf»  jixtv  |us£w  wiXao-Ev,  TO£»  tt  (nJwpov,  (Iliad.  A,  123).  How  concise 
—  how  just  —  how  beautiful  is  the  whole  picture  !  I  gee  the  atfiindcs 
of  the  archer  —  I  hear  the  twanging  of  the  bow,—  ' 

AIJ^S  £10;,  vsy*>!  h  pey'  tx-^vi,    «>T;  3'<Mf»c. 

k  The  text  appears  to  allow  for  the  largest  vessels  SOjOOO  niedinmi, 
or  3000  tons,  (since  the  nu-dimnvt  weighed  160  Roman,  or  120  dvoiruii- 
poisi*,  pounds).  I  have  given  a  more  rational  interpretation,  by  sup- 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  sand  soldiers  and  sailors,  of  five  thousand  horses, 
,w~,~,  of  arms,  engines,  and  military  stores,  and  of  a 
sufficient  stock  of  water  and  provisions  for  a 
voyage,  perhaps,  of  three  months.  The  proud 
galleys,  which  in  former  ages  swept  the  Medi- 
terranean with  so  many  hundred  oars,  had  long 
since  disappeared;  and  the  fleet  of  Justinian 
was  escorted  only  by  ninety-two  light  brigan- 
tines,  covered  from  the  missile  weapons  of  the 
enemy,  and  rowed  by  two  thousand  of  the  brave 
and  robust  youth  of  Constantinople.  Twenty- 
two  generals  are  named,  most  of  whom  were  af- 
terwards distinguished  in  the  wars  of  Africa  and 
Italy:  but  the  supreme  command,  both  by  land 
and  sea,  was  delegated  to  Belisarius  alone,  with 
a  boundless  power  of  acting  according  to  his 
discretion,  as  if  the  emperor  himself  were  pre- 
sent. The  separation  of  the  naval  and  military 
professions  is  at  once  the  effect  and  the  cause 
of  the  modern  improyements  in  the  science  of 
navigation  and  maritime  war. 

Departure      In  the  seventh  year  of  the  reign  of  Justinian, 
fleet*       an(^  aDOUt  the  time  of  the  summer  solstice,  the 
A.  D  533,  whole  fleet  of  six  hundred  ships  was  ranged  in 
martial  pomp  before  the  gardens  of  the  palace. 
The  patriarch  pronounced  his  benediction,  the 
emperor  signified  his  last  commands,  the  gene- 
ral's trumpet  gave  the  signal  of  departure,  and 

posing  that  the  Attic  style  of  Procopiiis  conceals  the  legal  and  popular 
inodius,  a  sixth  part  of  the  medimnus,  (Hooper's  Ancient  Measures,  p. 
J52,  &c.).  A  contrary,  and  indeed  a  stranger,  mistake,  has  crept  into 
an  oration  of  Dinarchns,  (contra  Demosthenem,  in  Reiske  Orator. 
Graec.  torn,  iv,  P.  ii,  p.  34.  By  reducing  the  number  of  ships  from  500 
to  50,  and  translating  juiJi/uvoi  by  mines,  or  pounds,  Cousin  has  generous- 
ly allowed  500  tons  for  the  whole  of  the  imperial  fleet! — Did  he  never 
think? 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  169 

every  heart,  according  to  its  fears  or  wishes,  ex-  CHAP. 
plored  with  anxious  curiosity  the  omens  of  mis-  ^.,,,<^,, 
fortune  and  success.  The  first  halt  was  made 
at  Perinthus  or  Heraclea,  where  Belisarius 
waited  five  days  to  receive  some  Thracian 
horses,  a  military  gift  of  his  sovereign.  From 
thence  the  fleet  pursued  their  course  through 
the  midst  of  the  Propontis;  but  as  they  strug- 
gled to  pass  the  straits  of  the  Hellespont,  an 
unfavourable  wind  detained  them  four  days  at 
Abydus,  where  the  general  exhibited  a  memor- 
able lesson  of  firmness  and  severity.  Two  of 
the  Huns,  who,  in  a  drunken  quarrel,  had  slain 
one  of  their  fellow  soldiers,  were  instantly  shewn 
to  the  army  suspended  on  a  lofty  gibbet.  The 
national  indignity  was  resented  by  their  coun- 
trymen, who  disclaimed  the  servile  laws  of  the 
empire,  and  asserted  the  free  privilege  of  Scy- 
thia,  where  a  small  fine  was  allowed  to  expiate 
the  hasty  sallies  of  intemperance  and  anger. 
Their  complaints  were  specious,  their  clamours 
were  loud,  and  the  Romans  were  not  averse  to 
the  example  of  disorder  and  impunity.  But 
the  rising  sedition  was  appeased  by  the  authori- 
ty and  eloquence  of  the  general :  and  he  repre- 
sented to  the  assembled  troops  the  obligation 
of  justice,  the  importance  of  discipline,  the  re- 
wards of  piety  and  virtue,  and  the  unpardon- 
able guilt  of  murder,  which,  in  his  apprehen- 
sion, \vas  aggravated  rather  than  excused  by 
the  vice  of  intoxication.1  In  the  navigation  from 
the  Hellespont  to  Peloponnesus,  which  the 

1  I  have  read  of  a  Greek  legislator,  who  inflicted  a  double  penalty  on 
the  crimes  committed  in  a  state  of  intoxication ;  but  it  seems  agreed 
that  this  VH-  rather  a  political  than  a  moral  law. 


170  THE  DECLINE  AND  PALL 

CHAP.    Greeks  after  the  siege  of  Troy,  had  performed 

,« '„„  in  four  days,m  the  fleet  of  Belisarius  was  guided 

in  their  course  by  his  master-galley,  conspicuous 
in  the  day  by  the  redness  of  the  sails,  and  in 
the  night  by  the  torches  blazing  from  the  mast 
head.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  pilots,  as  they 
steered  between  the  islands,  and  turned  the 
capes  of  Malea  and  Ta3narium,  to  preserve  the 
just  order  and  regular  intervals  of  such  a  mul- 
titude of  ships;  as  the  wind  was  fair  and  mode- 
rate, their  labours  were  not  unsuccessful,  and 
the  troops  were  safely  disembarked  at  Methone 
on  the  Messenian  coast,  to  repose  themselves 
for  a  while  after  the  fatigues  of  the  sea.  In  this 
place  they  experienced  how  avarice,  invested 
with  authority,  may  sport  with  the  lives  of  thou- 
sands which  are  bravely  exposed  for  the  public 
service.  According  to  military  practice  the 
bread  or  biscuit  of  the  Romans  was  twice  pre- 
pared in  the  oven,  and  a  diminution  of  one-fourth 
was  cheerfully  allowed  for  the  loss  of  weight. 
To  gain  this  miserable  profit,  and  to  save  the 
expence  of  wood,  the  prefect  John  of  Cap  pad  o- 
cia  had  given  orders  that  the  flour  should  be 
slightly  baked  by  the  same  fire  which  warmed 
the  baths  of  Constantinople :  and  when  the  sacks 
were  opened,  a  soft  and  mouldy  paste  was  dis- 
tributed to  the  army.  Such  unwholesome  food, 
assisted  by  the  heat  of  the  climate  and  season, 
soon  produced  an  epidemical  disease,  which 

m  Or  even  in  three  days,  since  they  anchored  the  first  evening  in 
the  neighbouring  isle  of  Tenedos  :  the  second  day  tiiev  sailed  to  Lrs- 
bos,  the  third  to  the  promontory  of  Euboea,  and  on  the  fourth  they 
reached  Argos,  (Homer,  Odyss.  r,  130 — 183.  Wood's  Essay  on  Ho- 
mer, p.  40 — 46).  A  pirate  sailed  from  the  Hellespont  to  the  seaport 
»l  Sparta  in  three  days,  (Xenophon,  Hcilti>.  I.  ii,  c.  1) 


171 


swept  away  five  hundred  soldiers.  Their  health  CHAP 
was  restored  by  the  diligence  of  Belisarius,  who  ^,,^. 
provided  fresh  bread  at  Methone,  and  boldly 
expressed  his  just  and  humane  indignation:  the 
emperor  heard  his  complaint;  the  general  was 
praised;  but  the  minister  was  not  punished. 
From  the  port  of  Methone,  the  pilots  steered 
along  the  western  coast  of  Peloponnesus,  as  far 
as  the  isle  of  Zacynthus  or  Zant,  before  they  un- 
dertook the  voyage  (in  their  eyes  a  most  arduous 
voyage)  of  one  hundred  leagues  over  the  Ionian 
sea.  As  the  fleet  was  surprised  by  a  calm,  six- 
teen days  were  consumed  in  the  slow  navigation; 
and  even  the  general  would  have  suffered  the 
intolerable  hardship  of  thirst,  if  the  ingenuity 
of  Antonina  had  not  preserved  the  water  in 
glass  bottles,  which  she  buried  deep  in  the  sand, 
in  a  part  of  the  ship  impervious  to  the  rays  of 
the  sun.  At  length  the  harbour  of  Caucaria,* 
on  the  southern  side  of  Sicily,  afforded  a  secure 
and  hospitable  shelter.  The  Gothic  officers 
who  governed  the  island  in  the  name  of  the 
daughter  and  grandson  of  Theodoric,  obeyed 
their  imprudent  orders,  to  receive  the  troops  of 
Justinian  like  friends  and  allies;  provisions 
were  liberally  supplied,  the  cavalry  was  re- 
mounted,0 and  Procopius  soon  returned  from 
Syracuse  with  correct  information  of  the  state 

"  Caiicana,  near  Camarina,  is  at  least  50  miles  (350  or  400  stadia) 
from  Syracuse,  (Cluver,  Sicilia  Antiqua,  p.  191). 

0  Procopius,  Gothic.  1.  i,  c.  3.  Tibi  tollit  liinnitnm  apta  quadrigis 
fqua,  in  the  Sicilian  pastures  of  Grosphus,  (Horat.  Carm.  ii,  16;. 
Arragas  .  .  .  niagnanimum  quoiula:n  generator  t  quorum,  (Virg. 
/Eneid.  iii,  704).  There's  horse*,  whose  victories  are  immortalized  by 
Pidar,  were  bred  in  this  country. 


172  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  and  designs  of  the  Vandals.  His  intelligence 
determined  Belisarius  to  hasten  his  operations, 
and  his  wise  impatience  was  seconded  by  the 
winds.  The  fleet  lost  sight  of  Sicily,  passed 
before  the  isle  of  Malta,  discovered  the  capes 
of  Africa,  ran  along  the  coast  with  a  strong  gale 
from  the  north-east,  and  finally  cast  anchor  at 
the  promontory  of  Caput  Vada,  about  five  days 
journey  to  the  south  of  Carthage.p 

If  Gelimer  had  been  informed  of  the  approach 


th"  c'oast  of  the  enemy,  he  must  have  delayed  the  conquest 
°f  Sardinia,  for  the  immediate  defence  of  his 
person  and  kingdom.  A  detachment  of  five 
thousand  soldiers,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty 
galleys,  would  have  joined  the  remaining  forces 
of  the  Vandals;  and  the  descendant  of  Gense- 
ric  might  have  surprised  and  oppressed  a  fleet 
of  deep-laden  transports,  incapable  of  action, 
and  of  light  brigantines,  that  seemed  only  qua- 
lified for  flight.  Belisarius  had  secretly  trem- 
bled when  he  overheard  his  soldiers,  in  the  pas- 
sage, emboldening  each  oth  -  to  confess  their 
apprehensions  :  if  they  were  once  on  shore,  they 
hoped  to  maintain  the  honour  of  their  arms ; 
but  if  they  should  be  attacked  at  sea,  they  did 
not  blush  to  acknowledge  they  wanted  courage 
to  contend  at  the  same  time  with  the  winds,  the 
waves,  and  the  barbarians.*1  The  knowledge 

*  The  Caput  Vada  of  Procopius,  Cwhere  Justinian  afterwards  found- 
ed arity— tie  Edific.  1.  vi,  c.  6),  is  the  promontory  of  Ammon  inStiabo, 
the  Brachodes  of  Ptolemy,  the  Capaudia  of  the  moderns,  a  long  narrow 
•lip  that  runs  into  the  sea,  (Shaw's  Travels,  p.  111). 

i  A  centurion  of  Mark  Antony  expressed,  though  in  a  more  manly 
•train,  the  same  dislike  to  the  sea  and  to  naval  combats,  (Plutarch  ia 
Antonio,  p.  1730,  edit.  Hen.  Steph.). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  173 

of  their  sentiments  decided  Belisarius  to  seize  CHAP. 
the  first  opportunity  of  landing  them  on  the  ^ 
coast  of  Africa;  and  he  prudently  rejected,  in 
a  council  of  war,  the  proposal  of  sailing  with 
the  fleet  and  army  into  the  port  of  Carthage. 
Three  months  after  their  departure  from  Con- 
santinople,  the  men  and  horses,  the  arms  and 
military  stores,  were  safely  disembarked,  and 
five  soldiers  were  left  as  a  guard  on  board  each 
of  the  ships,  which   were  disposed  in  the  form 
of  a  semicircle.     The  remainder  of  the  troops 
occupied  a  camp  on  the  sea-shore,  which  they 
fortified,   according  to  ancient  discipline,   with 
a  ditch  and  rampart;    and  the  discovery  of  a 
source  of  fresh  water,  while  it  allayed  the  thirst, 
excited  the  superstitious  confidence  of  the  Ro- 
mans.    The  next  morning,  some  of  the  neigh- 
bouring gardens  were  pillaged ;  and  Belisarius, 
after  chastising  the  offenders,     embraced   the 
slight  occasion,   but  the  decisive  moment,  of 
inculcating  the  maxims  of  justice,  moderation, 
and  genuine  policy. — "  When  I  first  accepted 
"  the  commission  of  subduing  Africa,  I  depend- 
"  ed  much  less,"  said  the  general,  "  on  the  nuin- 
"  bers,  or  even  the  bravery  of  my  troops,  than 
"  upon  the  friendly  disposition  of  the  natives, 
"  and  their  immortal  hatred  to  the  Vandals. 
"  You  alone  can  deprive  me  of  this  hope:  if  you 
"  continue  to  extort  by  rapine  what  might  be 
"  purchased  for  a  little  money,   such  acts  of 
"  violence  will  reconcile  these  implacable  ene- 
•'  mies  and  unite  them  in  a  just  and  holy  league 
"  against  the  invaders  of  their  country."     These 
exhortations  were  enforced  by  a  rigid  discipline, 


174  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    of  which  the  soldiers  themselves  soon  felt  and 

XI  I. 

„ '„„  praised  the  salutary  effects.     The  inhabitants, 

instead  of  deserting  their  houses,  or  hiding  their 
corn,  supplied  the  Romans  with  a  fair  and  li- 
beral market:  the  civil  officers  of  the  province 
.  continued  to  exercise  their  functions  m  the  name 
of  Justinian;  and  the  clergy,  from  motives  of 
conscience  and  interest,  assiduously  laboured 
to  promote  the  cause  of  a  catholic  emperor. 
The  small  town  of  Sullecte/  one  day's  journey 
from  the  camp,  had  the  honour  of  being  fore- 
most to  open  her  gates,  and  to  resume  her  an- 
cient allegiance:  the  larger  cities  of  Leptisand 
Adrumetum  imitated  the  example  of  loyalty  as 
soon  as  Belisarius  appeared ;  and  he  advanced 
without  opposition  as  far  as  Grasse,  a  palace  of 
the  Vandal  kings,  at  the  distance  of  fifty  miles 
from  Carthage.  The  weary  Romans  indulged 
themselves  in  the  refreshment  of  shady  groves, 
cool  fountains,  and  delicious  fruits;  and  the 
preference  which  Procopius  allows  to  these  gar- 
dens over  any  that  he  had  seen  either  in  the 
East  or  West,  may  be  ascribed  either  to  the 
taste  or  the  fatigue  of  the  historian.  In  three 
generations  prosperity  and  a  warm  climate  had 
dissolved  the  hardy  virtue  of  the  Vandals,  who 
insensibly  became  the  most  luxurious  of  man- 
kind. In  their  villas  and  gardens,  which  might 
deserve  the  Persian  name  of  paradise,5  they  en- 

'  Sullecte  is  perhaps  the  Tunis  Hannibalis,  an  old  building,  now  as 
large  as  the  tower  of  London.  The  march  of  Belisarius  to  Leptis, 
Adrumetum,  &c.  is  illustrated  by  the  campaign  of  Caesar,  (Hirtius, 
de  Bello  Africano,  with  the  Analyse  of  Guichardt)  and  Shaw's  Travels, 
p.  105-113),  in  the  same  country. 

TiafaZurtt  KtXXicc;  ufaYTav  iv  D^ufic  tffj.it.     The  paradises,  a  name 
and  fashion  adopted  from  Persia,  may  be  represented  by   the  royal 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  175 

joyed  a  cool  and  elegant  repose ;  and,  after  the   CHAP. 

daily  use  of  the  bath,  the  barbarians  were  seat- ^ 

ed  at  a  table  profusely  spread  with  the  delica- 
cies of  the  land  and  sea.  Their  silken  robes, 
loosely  flowing,  after  the  fashion  of  the  Medes, 
were  embroidered  with  gold:  love  and  hunting 
were  the  labours  of  their  life;  and  their  vacant 
hours  were  amused  by  pantomimes,  chariot- 
races,  and  the  music  and  dances  of  the  theatre. 

In  a  march  of  ten  or  twelve  days,  the  vigi-  Defeat* 
lance  of  Belisarius  was  constantly  awake  and  daisina 
active  against  his  unseen  enemies,  by  whom,  infir§tbattle- 
every  place,  and  at  every  hour,  he  might  be 
suddenly  attacked.  An  officer  of  confidence 
and  merit,  John  the  Armenian,  led  the  vanguard 
of  three  hundred  horse;  six  hundred  Massa- 
geta?  covered  at  a  certain  distance  the  left  flank ; 
and  the  whole  fleet  steering  along  the  coast, 
seldom  lost  sight  of  the  army,  which  moved 
each  day  about  twelve  miles,  and  lodged  in  the 
evening  in  strong  camps  or  in  friendly  towns. 
The  near  approach  of  the  Romans  to  Carthage 
filled  the  mind  of  Gelimer  with  anxiety  and 
terror.  He  prudently  wished  to  protract  the 
war  till  his  brother,  with  his  veteran  trocps, 
should  return  from  the  conquest  of  Sardinia; 
and  he  now  lamented  the  rash  policy  of  his 
ancestors,  who,  by  destroying  the  fortifications 
of  Africa,  had  left  him  only  the  dangerous  re- 
source of  risking  a  battle  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  his  capital.  The  Vandal  conquerors,  from 
their  original  number  of  fifty  thousand,  were 

garden  of  Ispahan,  (Voyage  d'Olearius,  p.  774).  See,  in  the  Greek 
romances,  their  most  perfect  model,  (Lougus,  Pastoral.  1.  iv,  p.  90 — 
101.  Achilles  Taiiiis,  1.  i,  p.  22,  23). 


176  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    multiplied,  without  including  their  women  and 

^'^  children,  to  one  hundred   and  sixty  thousand 

fighting  men:  and  such  forces,  animated  with 
valour  and  union,  might  have  crushed,  at  their 
first  landing,  the  feeble  and  exhausted  bands 
of  the  Roman  general.  But  the  friends  of  the 
captive  king  were  more  inclined  to  accept  the 
invitations,  than  to  resist  the  progress  of  Beli- 
sanus;  and  many  a  proud  barbarian  disguised 
his  aversion  to  war  under  the  more  specious 
name  of  his  hatred  to  the  usurper.  Yet  the  au- 
thority and  promises  of  G^limer  collected  a  for- 
midable army,  and  his  plans  were  concerted 
with  some  degree  of  military  skill.  An  order 
was  despatched  to  his  brother  Ammatas,  to  col- 
lect all  the  forces  of  Carthage,  and  to  encoun- 
ter the  van  of  the  Roman  army  at  the  distance 
of  ten  miles  from  the  city;  his  nephew  Giba- 
mund,  with  two  thousand  horse,  was  destined 
to  attack  their  left,  when  the  monarch  himself, 
who  silently  followed,  should  charge  their  rear, 
in  a  situation  which  excluded  them  from  the 
aid  or  even  the  view  of  their  fleet.  But  the  rash- 
ness of  Ammatas  was  fatal  to  himself  and  his 
country.  He  anticipated  the  hour  of  attack, 
outstripped  his  tardy  followers,  and  was  pierced 
with  a  mortal  wound,  after  he  had  slain  with  his 
own  hand  'twelve  of  his  boldest  antagonists. 
His  Vandals  fled  to  Carthage;  the  highway, 
almost  ten  miles,  was  strewed  with  dead  bodies; 
and  it  seemed  incredible  that  such  multitudes 
could  be  slaughtered  by  the  swords  of  three 
hundred  Romans.  The  nephew  of  Gelimer  was 
defeated  after  a  slight  combat  by  the  six  hun- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

dred  Massagetae  :  they  did  not  equal  the  third   CHA.K 

part  of  his  numbers:    but  each  Scythian  was 'frt 

fired  by  the  example  of  his  chief,  who  glorious- 
ly exercised  the  privilege  of  his  family,  by  rid 
ing  foremost  and  alone  to  shoot  the  first  arrow 
against  the  enemy.  In  the  meanwhile,  Gelimer 
himself,  ignorant  of  the  event,  and  misguided 
by  the  windings  of  the  hills,  inadvertently  pass- 
ed the  Roman  army,  and  reached  the  scene  of 
action  where  Ammatas  had  fallen.  He  wept 
the  fate  of  his  brother  and  of  Carthage,  charg- 
ed with  irresistible  fury  the  advancing  squa- 
drons, and  might  have  pursued,  and  perhaps 
decided,  the  victory,  if  he  had  not  wasted  those 
inestimable  moments  in  the  discharge  of  a  vain, 
though  pious,  duty  to  the  dead.  While  his 
spirit  was  broken  by  this  mournful  office,  ho 
heard  the  trumpet  of  Belisarius,  who  leaving 
Antonina  and  his  infantry  in  the  camp,  pressed 
forwards  with  his  guards  and  the  remainder  of 
the  cavalry  to  rally  his  flying  troops,  and  to  re- 
store the  fortune  of  the  day.  Much  room 
could  not  be  found  in  this  disorderly  battle  for 
the  talents  of  a  general ;  but  the  king  fled  be- 
fore the  hero ;  and  th,e  Vandals,  accustomed 
only  to  a  Moorish  enemy,  were  incapable  of 
withstanding  the  arms  and  discipline  of  the  Ro- 
mans. Gelimer  retired  with  hasty  steps  to- 
wards the  desert  of  Numidia;  but  he  had  soon 
the  consolation  of  learning  that  his  private  or 
ders  for  the  execution  of  Hilderic  and  his  cap- 
tive friends  had  been  faithfully  obeyed.  The 
tyrant's  revenge  was  useful  only  to  his 

VOL      VII  N 


178  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

JHAP.  The  death  of  a  lawful  prince  excited  the  com 
\..  passion  of  his  people;  his  life  might  have  per- 
plexed the  victorious  Romans ;  and  the  lieu- 
tenant of  Justinian,  by  a  crime  of  which  he  was 
innocent,  was  relieved  from  the  painful  alterna- 
tive of  forfeiting  his  honour  or  relinquishing  his 
conquests. 

Reduction  As  soon  as.  the  tumult  had  subsided,  the  se- 
veral  parts  of  the  army  informed  each  other  of 
'  the  accidents  of  the  day;  and  Belisarius  pitch- 
ed his  camp  on  the  field  of  victory,  to  which 
the  tenth  mile-stone  from  Carthage  had  applied 
the  Latin  appellation  of  decimus.  From  a  wise 
suspicion  of  the  stratagems  and  resources  of 
the  Vandals,  he  inarched  the  next  day  in  order 
of  battle,  halted  in  the  evening  before  the  gates 
of  Carthage,  and  allowed  a  night  of  repose,  that 
he  might  not,  in  darkness  and  disorder,  expose 
the  city  to  the  license  of  the  soldiers,  or  the 
soldiers  themselves  to  the  secret  ambush  of  the 
city.  But  as  the  fears  of  Belisarius  were  the 
result  of  calm  and  intrepid  reason,  he  was  soon 
satisfied  that  he  might  confide,  without  danger, 
in  the  peaceful  and  friendly  aspect  of  the  capi- 
tal. Carthage  blazed  with  innumerable  torches, 
the  signals  of  the  public  joy;  the  chain  was  re- 
moved that  guarded  the  entrance  of  the  port; 
the  gates  were  thrown  open,  and  the  people, 
with  acclamations  of  gratitude,  hailed  and  in- 
vited their  Roman  deliverers.  The  defeat  of 
the  Vandals,  and  the  freedom  of  Africa,  were 
announced  to  the  city  on  the  eve  of  St.  Cyprian, 
when  the  churches  were  already  adorned  and 
illuminated  for  the  festival  of  the  martyr,  whom 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  179 

three  centuries  of  superstition  had  almost  raised   CHAP. 

to  a  local  deity.     The  Arians,  conscious  that ^'fff 

their  reign  had  expired,  resigned  the  temple  to 
the  catholics,  who  rescued  their  saint  from  pro- 
fane hands,  performed  the  holy  rites,  and  loud- 
ly proclaimed  the  creed  of  Athanasius  and  Jus- 
tinian. One  awful  hour  reversed  the  fortunes 
of  the  contending  parties.  The  suppliant  Van- 
dals, who  had  so  lately  indulged  the  vices  of 
conquerors,  sought  an  humble  refuge  in  the 
sanctuary  of  the  church ;  while  the  merchants 
of  the  East  were  delivered  from  the  deepest 
dungeon  of  the  palace  by  their  affrighted  keeper, 
who  implored  the  protection  of  his  captives,  and 
shewed  them,  through  an  aperture  in  the  wall, 
the  sails  of  the  Roman  fleet.  After  their  sepa- 
ration from  the  army,  the  naval  commanders 
had  proceeded  with  slow  caution  along  the 
coast,  till  they  reached  the  Hermaean  promon- 
tory, and  obtained  the  first  intelligence  of  the 
victory  of  Belisarius.  Faithful  to  his  instruc- 
tions, they  would  have  cast  anchor  about  twen- 
ty miles  from  Carthage,  if  the  more  skilful  sea- 
men had  not  represented  the  perils  of  the  shore, 
and  the  signs  of  an  impending  tempest.  Still 
ignorant  of  the  revolution,  they  declined,  how- 
ever, the  rash  attempt  of  forcing  the  chain  of  the 
po:i;  and  the  adjacent  harbour  and  suburb  of 
Mandracium  were  insulted  only  by  the  rapine  of 
a  private  officer  who  disobeyed  and  deserted  his 
leaders.  But  the  imperial  fleet,  advancing  with 
a  fair  wind,  steered  through  the  narrow  en- 
trance of  the  Goletta,  and  occupied  in  the  deep 
and  capacious  lake  of  Tunis,  a  secure  station 


THE  DEC  Lift  £  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  about  live  miles  from  the  capital.'  No  sooner 
XLI-  was  Belisarius  informed  of  their  arrival,  than 
he  despatched  orders  that  the  greatest  part  of 
the  mariners  should  be  immediately  landed  to 
join  the  triumph,  and  to  swell  the  apparent 
numbers  of  the  Romans.  Before  he  allowed 
them  to  enter  the  gates  of  Carthage,  he  exhort- 
ed them,  in  a  discourse  worthy  of  himself  and 
the  occasion,  not  to  disgrace  the  glory  of  their 
i  arms ;  and  to  remember  that  the  Vandals  had 
been  the  tyrants,  but  that  they  were  the  deliver- 
ers of  the  Africans,  who  must  now  be  respect- 
ed as  the  voluntary  and  affectionate  subjects 
of  their  common  sovereign.  The  Romans  march- 
ed through  the  streets  in  close  ranks,  prepared 
for  battle  if  an  enemy  had  appeared ;  the  strict 
order  maintained  by  the  general,  imprinted  on 
their  minds  the  duty  of  obedience;  and  in  an 
age  in  which  custom  and  impunity  almost  sanc- 
tified the  abuse  of  conquest,  the  genius  of  one 
man  repressed  the  passions  of  a  victorious  army. 
The  voice  of  menace  and  complaint  was  silent; 
the  trade  of  Carthage  was  not  interrupted ; 
while  Africa  changed  her  master  and  her  go- 
vernment, the  shops  continued  open  and  busy; 
and  the  soldiers,  after  sufficient  guards  had  been 
posted,  modestly  departed  to  the  houses  which 
were  allotted  for  their  reception.  Belisarius 

*  The  neighbourhood  of  Carthage,  the  sea,  the  land,  and  the  rivers, 
are  changed  almost  ai  much  as  the  works  of  man.  The  isthmus,  or 
aeck,  of  the  city  is  now  confounded  with  the  continent;  the  harbour 
h  a  dry  plain  ;  and  the  lake,  or  stagnum,  no  more  than  a  morass,  with 
six  or  seven  feet  water  in  the  mid-channel.  See  d'Anville,  (Geogra- 
phic Ancieruie,  torn,  ii,  p.  82) ;  Shaw,  (Travels,  p.  77-84) ;  Marmol, 
(Description  de  I'Alfrique,  torn,  ii,  p.  405),  and  Thuanns,  (Iviii,  12, 
torn,  iii,  p.  S34). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  181 

fixed  his  residence  in  the  palace;  seated  him-   CHAP. 

self  on  the  throne  of  Genseric;   accepted  and „',„ 

distributed  the  barbaric  spoil;  granted  their 
lives  to  the  suppliant  Vandals ;  and  laboured 
to  repair  the  damage  which  the  suburb  of  Man- 
dracium  had  sustained  in  the  preceding  night. 
At  supper  he  entertained  his  principal  officers 
with  the  form  and  magnificence  of  a  royal  ban- 
quet." The  victor  was  respectfully  served  by 
the  captive  officers  of  the  household ;  and  in 
the  moments  of  festivity,  when  the  impartial 
spectators  applauded  the  fortune  and  merit  of 
Belisarius,  his  envious  flatterers  secretly  shed 
their  venom  on  every  word  and  gesture  which 
might  alarm  the  suspicions  of  a  jealous  mo- 
narch. One  day  was  given  to  these  pompous 
scenes,  which  may  not  be  despised  as  useless, 
if  they  attracted  the  popular  veneration;  but 
the  active  mind  of  Belisarius,  which  in  the  pride 
of  victory  could  suppose  a  defeat,  had  already 
resolved,  that  the  Roman  empire  in  Africa 
should  not  depend  on  the  chance  of  arms,  or 
the  favour  of  the  people.  The  fortifications 
of  Carthage  had  alone  been  exempted  from  the 
general  proscription  ;  but  in  the  reign  of  ninety- 
five  years  they  were  suffered  to  decay  by  the 
thoughtless  and  indolent  Vandals.  A  wiser 
conqueror  restored  with  incredible  despatch 
the  walls  and  ditches  of  the  city.  His  libera- 

u  From  Delphi,  the  name  of  Delphicum  was  given,  both  in  Greek 
and  Latin,  to  a  tripod :  and,  by  an  easy  analogy,  the  same  appellation 
was  extended  at  Rome,  Constantinople,  and  Carthage,  to  the  royal 
banqueting  room,  (Procopius,  Vandal.  1.  i,  c.  21.  Ducange,  Glou. 
Craer.  p.  277.  A£\<J*XCV,  td  Alexiad.  o.  412\ 


182  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL" 

CHAP.    lity  encouraged  the  workmen;  the  soldiers,  the 
„  mariners,  and  the  citizens,  vied  with  each  other 


in  the  salutary  labour;  and  Gelimer,   who  had 
feared  to  trust  his  person  in  an  open  town,  be- 
held with  astonishment  and  despair  the  rising 
strength  of  an  impregnable  fortress. 
Final  de-       That  unfortunate  monarch,  after  the  loss  of 

feat  of  . 

Gelimer  Ins  capital,  applied  himself  to  collect  the  re- 
Vandafc,  mains  of  an  army  scattered,  rather  than  destroy- 
Novenf*'  e<^'  ^  tne  preceding  battle;  and  the  hopes  of 
bcr-  pillage  attracted  some  Moorish  bands  to  the 
standard  of  Gelimer.  He  encamped  in  the  fields 
of  Bulla,  four  days  journey  from  Carthage;  in- 
sulted the  capital,  which  he  deprived  of  the  use 
of  an  aqueduct;  proposed  an  high  reward  for 
the  head  of  every  Roman ;  affected  to  spare  the 
persons  and  property  of  his  African  subjects, 
and  secretly  negociated  with  the  Arian  sectaries 
and  the  confederate  Huns.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, the  conquest  of  Sardinia  served 
only  to  aggravate  his  distress ;  he  reflected  with 
the  deepest  anguish,  that  he  had  wasted,  in 
that  useless  enterprise,  five  thousand  of  his 
bravest  troops;  and  he  read,  with  grief  and 
shame,  the  victorious  letters  of  his  brother 
Zano,  who  expressed  a  sanguine  confidence 
that  the  king,  after  the  example  of  their  an- 
cestors, had  already  chastised  the  rashness  of 
the  Roman  invader.  "  Alas!  my  brother," 
replied  Gelimer,  "  heaven  has  declared  against 
"  our  unhappy  nation.  While  you  have  sub- 
'*  dued  Sardinia,  we  have  lost  Africa.  No 
"  sooner  did  Belisarius  appear  with  a  handful 
•'  of  soldiers,  than  courage  and  prosperity  c!e- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  183 

"  serted  the  cause  of  the  Vandals.     Your  ne-   CHAP. 

"  phew   Gibamund,    your  brother    Ammatas, 'M 

"  have  been  betrayed  to  death  by  the  cowardice 
"  of  their  followers.  Our  horses,  our  ships, 
"  Carthage  itself,  and  all  Africa,  are  in  the  power 
"  of  the  enemy.  Yet  the  Vandals  still  prefer 
"  an  ignominious  repose,  at  the  expenceof  their 
"  wives  and  children,  their  wealth  and  liberty. 
"  Nothing  now  remains,  except  the  field  of 
"  Bulla,  and  the  hope  of  your  valour.  Aban- 
"  don  Sardinia;  fly  to  our  relief;  restore  our 
"  empire,  or  perish  by  our  side."  On  the  re- 
ceipt of  this  epistle,  Zano  imparted  his  grief 
to  the  principal  Vandals;  but  the  intelligence 
was  prudently  concealed  from  the  natives  of 
the  island.  The  troops  embarked  in  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  galleys  at  the  port  of  Cagliari, 
cast  anchor  the  third  day  on  the  confines  of 
Mauritania,  and  hastily  pursued  their  march  to 
join  the  royal  standard  in  the  camp  of  Bulla. 
Mournful  was  the  interview:  the  two  brothers 
embraced;  they  wept  in  silence;  no  questions 
were  asked  of  the  Sardinian  victory;  no  inqui- 
ries were  made  of  the  African  misfortunes:  they 
saw  before  their  eyes  the  whole  extent  of  their 
calamities;  and  the  absence  of  their  wives  and 
children  afforded  a  melancholy  proof,  that 
either  death  or  captivity  had  been  their  lot. 
The  languid  spirit  of  the  Vandals  was  at  length 
awakened  and  united  by  the  entreaties  of  their 
king,  the  example  of  Zano,  and  the  instant 
danger  which  threatened  their  monarchy  and 
religion.  The  military  strength  of  the  nation 
advanced  to  battle;  and  such  was  the  rapid  in- 


184  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.    crease,that,  before  their  armv  reached  Tricame- 

XLI. 

„*„ 'fff  ron,  about  twenty  miles  from  Carthage,   they 

might  boast,  perhaps  with  some  exaggeration, 
that  they  surpassed,  in  a  tenfold  proportion, 
the  diminutive  powers  of  the  Romans.  But 
these  powers  were  under  the  command  of  Beli- 
sarius:  and,  as  he  was  conscious  of  their  su- 
perior merit,  he  permitted  the  barbarians  to 
surprise  him  at  an  unseasonable  hour.  The 
Romans  were  instantly  under  arms:  a  rivulet 
covered  their  front;  the  cavalry  formed  the  first 
line,  which  Belisarius  supported  in  the  centre, 
at  the  head  of  five  hundred  guards;  the  infan- 
try, at  some  distance  was  posted  in  the  second 
line ;  and  the  vigilance  of  the  general  watched 
the  separate  station  and  ambiguous  faith  of  the 
Massagetae,  who  secretly  reserved  their  aid  for 
the  conquerors.  The  historian  has  inserted, 
and  the  reader  may  easily  supply,  the  speeches1 
of  the  commanders,  who,  by  arguments  the 
most  apposite  to  their  situation,  inculcated  the 
importance  of  victory,  and  the  contempt  of  life, 
Zano,  with  the  troops  which  had  followed  him 
to  the  conquest  of  Sardinia,  was  placed  in  the 
centre;  and  the  throne  of  Genseric  might  have 
stood,  if  the  multitude  of  Vandals  had  imitated 
their  intrepid  resolution.  Casting  away  their 
lance  and  missile  weapons,  they  drew  their 
swords,  and  expected  the  charge :  the  Roman 
cavalry  thrice  passed  the  rivulet ;  they  were 

*  These  orations  always  express  the  sense  of  the  times,  and  some- 
times of  the  actors.  I  have  -Condensed  that  sense,  and  thrown  awaj 
declamation. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  185 

thrice  repulsed;    and  the  conflict  was  firmly    CHAP. 

maintained,  till  Zano  fell,  and  the  standard  of  ^ '„. 

Belisarius  was  displayed.  Gelimer  retreated 
to  his  camp  ;  the  Huns  joined  the  pursuit ;  and 
the  victors  despoiled  the  bodies  of  the  slain. 
Yet  no  more  than  fifty  Romans,  and  eight  hun- 
dred Vandals,  were  found  on  the  field  of  battle; 
so  inconsiderable  was  the  carnage  of  a  day, 
which  extinguished  a  nation,  and  transferred 
the  empire  of  Africa.  In  the  evening,  Belisarius 
led  his  infantry  to  the  attack  of  the  camp  ;  and 
the  pusillanimous  flight  of  Gelimer  exposed  the 
vanity  of  his  recent  declarations,  that,  to  the 
vanquished,  death  was  a  relief,  like  a  burden, 
and  infamy  the  only  object  of  terror.  His  de- 
parture was  secret;  but  as  soon  as  the  Vandals 
discovered  that  their  king  had  deserted  them, 
they  hastily  dispersed,  anxious  only  for  their 
personal  safety,  and  careless  of  every  object  that 
is  dear  or  valuable  to  mankind.  The  Romans 
entered  the  camp  without  resistance;  and  the 
wildest  scenes  of  disorder  were  veiled  in  the 
darkness  and  confusion  of  the  night.  Every 
barbarian  who  met  their  swords  was  inhuman- 
ly massacred;  their  widows  and  daughters,  as 
rich  l>eirs,  or  beautiful  concubines,  were  em- 
braced by  the  licentious  soldiers;  and  avarice 
itself  was  almost  satiated  with  the  treasures  of 
gold  and  silver,  the  accumulated  fruits  of  con- 
quest or  economy  in  a  long  period  of  prosperity 
and  peace.  In  this  frantic  search,  the  troops, 
even  of  Belisarius,  forgot  their  caution  and  re- 
s»iH-ct.  Intoxicated  with  lust  and  rapine, 


186  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    they  explored  in  small  parties,   or  alone,  the 

!„  adjacent  fields,  the  woods,  the  rocks,  and  the 

caverns,  that  might  possibly  conceal  any  de- 
sirable prize:  laden  with  booty,  they  deserted 
their  ranks,  and  wandered,  without  a  guide, 
on  the  high  road  to  Carthage;  and  if  the  flying 
enemies  had  dared  to  return,  very  few  of  the 
conquerors  would  have  escaped.  Deeply  sen- 
sible of  the  disgrace  and  danger,  Belisarius 
passed  an  apprehensive  night  in  the  field  of  vic- 
tory :  at  the  dawn  of  day,  he  planted  his  stand- 
ard on  a  hill,  recalled  his  guards  and  veterans, 
and  gradually  restored  the  modesty  and  obedi- 
ence of  the  camp.  It  was  equally  the  concern 
of  the  Roman  general  to  subdue  the  hostile, 
and  to  save  the  prostrate  barbarian;  and  the 
suppliant  Vandals,  who  could  be  found  only  in 
churches,  were  protected  by  his  authority, 
disarmed,  and  separately  confined,  that  they 
might  neither  disturb  the  public  peace,  nor  be- 
come the  victims  of  popular  revenge.  After 
despatching  a  light  detachment  to  tread  the 
footsteps  of  Gelimer,  he  advanced  with  his  whole 
army,  about  ten  days  march,  as  far  as  Hippo 
Regius,  which  no  longer  possessed  the  relics 
of  St.  Augustin.y  The  season,  and  the  certain 
» 

y  The  relics  of  St.  Angnstin  were  carried  by  the  African  bishops  ta  , 
their  Sardinian  exile,  (A.  D.  500)  ;  and  it  was  believed  in  the  viiith 
century,  that  Liutprand,  king  of  the  Lombards,  transported  them  (A. 
D.  721)  from  Sardinia  to  Pavia.  In  the  year  1695,  the  Augustin  friars 
of  that  city  found  a  brick  arch,  marble  coffin,  silver  case,  silk  wrapper, 
bones,  blood,  &c.  and  perhaps  an  inscription  of  A»ostino,  in  Gothic 
letters.  But  this  useful  discovery  has  been  disputed  by  reason  and 
jealousy,  (Baronuis,  Annal.  A.  D.  725,  Ne.  2-9.  Tillemont  Mem. 
Eeclea.  torn,  xiii,  p.  944.  Montfaucou,  Diarium  Ital.  p.  26'30.  Mura- 

tori. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  187 

intelligence  that  the  Vandal  had  fled  to  the  CHAP. 
inaccessible  country  of  the  Moors,  determined 
Belisarius  to  relinquish  the  vain  pursuit,  and 
to  fix  his  winter-quarters  at  Carthage.  From 
thence  he  despatched  his  principal  lieutenant, 
to  inform  the  emperor,  that  in  the  space  of 
three  months  he  had  achieved  the  conquest  of 
Africa. 

Belisarius  spoke  the  language  of  truth.    The 
surviving  Vandals  yielded,  without  resistance,  by 

.  •  "us,  A.D. 

their  arms  and  their  freedom:  the  neighbour- 534. 
hood  of  Carthage  submitted  to  his  presence; 
and  the  more  distant  provinces  were  successive- 
ly subdued  by  the  report  of  his  victory.  Tri- 
poli was  confirmed  in  her  voluntary  allegiance; 
Sardinia  and  Corsica  surrendered  to  an  officer, 
who  carried,  instead  of  a  sword,  the  head  of 
the  valiant  Zano;  and  the  isles  of  Majorca,  Mi- 
norca, and  Yvica,  consented  to  remain  an  hum- 
ble appendage  of  the  African  kingdom.  Caesa- 
rea,  a  royal  city,  which  in  looser  geography 
may  be  confounded  with  the  modern  Algiers, 
was  situate  thirty  days  march  to  the  westward 
of  Carthage:  by  land  the  road  was  infested  by 
the  Moors;  but  the  sea  was  open,  and  the  Ro- 
mans were  now  masters  of  the  sea.  An  active 
and  discreet  tribune  sailed  as  far  as  the  Straits, 
where  he  occupied  Septem  or  Ceuta,2  which 

tori.  Antiq.  Ital.  Merlii  jEvi,  torn,  v,  dissert.  Iviii,  p.  9,  who  had  com- 
posed a  separate  treatise  before  the  decree  of  the  bishop  of  Pavia,  and 
Pope  Benedict  XIII). 

*  TO.  -me  jroXiTtiaj  •g^tufjua.,  is  the  expression  of  Procopius,  (de  Edifie. 
1.  vi,  c.  7).  Centa,  which  has  been  defaced  by  the  Portuguese,  flourish- 
ed in  nobles  and  palaces,  in  agricBltnre  and  manufactures,  under  the 

more 


188  THr  DK( LINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  rises  opposite  to  Gibraltar  on  the  African 
*f'rM  coast;  that  remote  place  was  afterwards  adorn- 
ed and  fortified  by  Justinian  ;  and  he  seems  to 
have  indulged  the  vain  ambition  of  extending 
his  empire  to  the  columns  of  Hercules.  He  re- 
ceived the  messengers  of  victory  at  the  time 
when  he  was  preparing  to  publish  the  pandects 
of  the  Roman  law ;  and  the  devout  or  jealous 
emperor  celebrated  the  divine  goodness,  and 
confessed,  in  silence,  the  merit  of  his  success- 
ful general.*  Impatient  to  abolish  the  temporal 
and  spiritual  tyranny  of  the  Vandals,  he  pro- 
ceeded, without  delay,  to  the  full  establishment 
of  the  catholic  church.  Her  jurisdiction, 
wealth,  and  immunities,  perhaps  the  most  es- 
sential part  of  episcopal  religion,  were  restored 
and  amplified  with  a  liberal  hand ;  the  Arian 
worship  was  suppressed ;  the  Donatist  meet- 
ings were  proscribed ;b  and  the  synod  of  Car- 
thage, by  the  voice  of  two  hundred  and  seven- 
teen bishops,'  applauded  the  just  measure  of 
pious  retaliation.  On  such  an  occasion,  it  may 
not  be  presumed,  that  many  orthodox  prelates 
were  absent;  but  the  comparative  smallness  of 

more  prosperons  reign  of  the  Arabs,  (I'Afrique  de  Marmol  torn,  ii, 
p.  236). 

*  See  the  second  and  third  preambles  to  the  Digest,  or  Pandects, 
promulgated  A.  D.  533,  December  16.  To  the  titles  of  Vandnlicut  and 
Ajricanus,  Justinian,  or  rather  Belisarius  had  acquired  a  just  claim: 
Gothicus  was  premature,  and  Francicvt  false,  and  offensive  to  a  great 
nation. 

b  See  the  original  acts  in  Baronius,  (A.  D.  535,  N°.  21—54).  The 
emperor  applauds  his  own  clemency  to  the  heretics,  cum  sufficiat  ei§ 
vivere. 

c  Dupin  (Geograph.  Sacra  Africana,  p.  lix,  ad  Optat.  Milev.)  ob- 
serves and  bewails  this  episcopal  decay.  In  the  more  prosperous  age 
of  the  church,  he  had  notired  690  bishoprics;  but  however  minute 
were  ilie  dioce*ses,  it  is  not  probable  that  they  all  existed  at  the  same 
time. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  189 

their  number,   which  in  ancient  councils  had   CHAP. 

XLI 

been  twice  or  even  thrice  multiplied,  most  clear- ^ 

ly  indicates  the  decay  both  of  the  church  and 
state.  While  Justinian  approved  himself  the 
defender  of  the  faith,  he  entertained  an  ambi- 
tious hope,  that  his  victorious  lieutenant  would 
speedily  enlarge  the  narrow  limits  of  his  do- 
minion to  the  space  which  they  occupied  be- 
fore the  invasion  of  the  Moors  and  Vandals; 
and  Belisarius  was  instructed  to  establish  five 
dukes  or  commanders  in  the  convenient  stations 
of  Tripoli,  Leptis,  Cirta,  Catsarea,  and  Sardi- 
nia, and  to  compute  the  military  forces  of  pala- 
tines or  borderers  that  might  be  sufficient  for  the 
defence  of  Africa.  The  kingdom  of  the  Van- 
dals was  not  unworthy  of  the  presence  of  a 
pretorian  prefect;  and  four  consulars,  three 
presidents,  were  appointed  to  administer  the 
seven  provinces  under  his  civil  jurisdiction. 
The  number  of  their  subordinate  officers,  clerks, 
messengers,  or  assistants,  was  minutely  ex- 
pressed, three  hundred  and  ninety-six  for  the 
prefect  himself,  fifty  for  each  of  his  vicegerents; 
and  the  rigid  definition  of  their  fees  and  sala- 
ries was  more  effectual  to  confirm  the  right, 
than  to  prevent  the  abuse.  These  magistrates 
might  be  oppressive,  but  they  were  not  idle: 
and  the  subtle  questions  of  justice  and  revenue 
were  infinitely  propagated  under  the  new  go- 
vernment, which  professed  to  revive  the  free- 
dom and  equity  of  the  Roman  republic.  The 
conqueror  was  solicitous  to  exact  a  prompt 
and  plentiful  supply  from  his  African  sub- 


1<)0  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

(HAP.   jects ;  and  he  allowed  them  to  claim,  even  in 

XLI 

\.f  the  third  degree,  and  from  the  collateral  line, 

the  houses  and  lands  of  which  their  families 
had  been  unjustly  despoiled  by  the  Vandals. 
After  the  departure  of  Belisarius,  who  acted 
by  an  high  and  special  commission,  no  ordi- 
nary provision  was  made  for  a  master-general 
of  the  forces;  but  the  office  of  pretorian  prefect 
was  intrusted  to  a  soldier;  the  civil  and  mili- 
tary powers  were  united,  according  to  the  prac- 
tice of  Justinian,  in  the  chief  governor;  and  the 
representative  of  the  emperor  in  Africa,  as  well 
as  in  Italy,  was  soon  distinguished  by  the  ap- 
pellation of  Exarch/ 

Yet  the  conquest  of  Africa  was  imperfect, 

Gdiiiner     *'^  ^er  ^ormer  sovereign  was   delivered,  either 

A.  n.  534,  alive  or  dead,  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans. 

Spring.  Doubtful  of  the  event,  Gelimer  had  given  secret 
orders  that  a  part  of  his  treasure  should  be 
transported  to  Spain,  where  he  hoped  to  find 
a  secure  refuge  at  the  court  of  the  king  of  the 
Visgoths.  But  these  intentions  were  disap- 
pointed by  accident,  treachery,  and  the  indefa- 
tigable pursuit  of  his  enemies,  who  intercepted 
his  flight  from  the  sea-shore,  and  chased  the 
unfortunate  monarch,  with  some  faithful  fol- 
lowers, to  the  inaccessible  mountain  of  Papua,c 
in  the  inland  country  of  Numidia.  He  was  im- 

d  The  African  laws  of  Justinian  are  illustrated  by  his  German  bio- 
grapher, Cod.  1.  i,  tit.  27.  Novell.  36,  57,  131.  Vit.  Justinian,  p. 
S49— 377.) 

'  Mount  Papua  is  placed  by  d'Anville  (toni.  iii.  p.  92,  and  Tabul 
Imp.  Rom.  Occident.)  near  Hippo  Regius  and  the  sea;  yet  this  situa- 
tion ill  agrees  with  the  long  pursuit  beyond  Hippo,  and  the  word*  of 
Procopius,  (1.  ii,  c.  4).  «  T«K  Nu^uZu.-;  wjca™;. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  191 

mediately  besieged  by  Pharas,  an  officer  whose  CHAP. 
truth  and  sobriety  were  the  more  applauded,  ^ 
as  such  qualities  could  seldom  be  found  among' 
the  Heruli,  the  most  corrupt  of  the  barbarian 
tribes.  To  his  vigilance  Belisarius  had  intrust- 
ed this  important  charge;  and,  after  a  bold  at- 
tempt to  scale  the  mountain,  in  which  he  lost 
an  hundred  and  ten  soldiers,  Pharas  expected, 
during  a  winter  siege,  the  operation  of  distress 
and  famine  on  the  mind  of  the  Vandal  king. 
From  the  softest  habits  of  pleasure,  from  the 
unbounded  command  of  industry  and  wealth, 
he  was  reduced  to  share  the  poverty  of  the 
Moors/  supportable  only  to  themselves  by  their 
ignorance  of  a  happier  condition.  In  their  rude 
hovels,  of  mud  and  hurdles,  which  confined 
the  smoke  and  excluded  the  light,  they  promis- 
cuously slept  on  the  ground,  perhaps  on  a  sheep- 
skin, with  their  wives,  their  children,  and  their 
cattle.  Sordid  and  scanty  were  their  garments ; 
the  use  of  bread  and  wine  was  unknown ;  and 
their  oaten  or  barley  cakes,  imperfectly  baked 
in  the  ashes,  were  devoured  almost  in  a  crude 
state  by  the  hungry  savages.  The  health  of 
Gelimer  must  have  sunk  under  these  strange 
and  unwonted  hardships,  from  whatsoever 
cause  they  had  been  endured ;  but  his  actual 
misery  was  embittered  by  the  recollection  of 
past  greatness,  and  the  daily  insolence  of 
his  protectors,  the  just  apprehension,  that 

'  Shaw  (Travels,  p.  220)  most  accurately  represents  the  manners  of 
the  Bedoweens  and  Kabyles,  the  last  of  whom,  by  their  language,  are 
the  remnant  of  the  Moors  :  yet  how  changed — how  civilized  are  these 
modern  savages !— provisions  are  plenty  among  them,  and  bread  is, 
common. 


192  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CH  A;>.    the  light  and  venal  Moors  might  be  tempted  to 
XLL     betray   the  rights  of  hospitality.     The  know- 
ledge of  his  situation  dictated  the  humane  and 
friendly  epistle  of  Pharas.     "  Like  yourself," 
said  the  chief  of  the  Heruli,  "  I  am  an  illiterate 
"  barbarian,  but  I  speak  the  language  of  plain 
"  sense,   and  an  honest  heart.     Why  will  you 
"  persist  in  hopless  obstinacy?     Why  will  you 
"  ru'n  yourself,  your  family,  and  nation?     The 
"  love  of  freedom  and  abhorrence  of  slavery  ? 
"  Alas!  my  dear  Gelimer,   are  you  not  already 
"  the  worst  of  slaves,  the  slave  of  the  vile  na- 
tion of  the  Moors?     Would  it  not  be  prefer- 
"  able  to  sustain  at  Constantinople  a  life  of  po- 
"  verty  and  servitude  rather  than  to  reign  the 
'*  undoubted  monarch  of  the  mountain  of  Pa- 
"  pua?     Do  you  think  it  a  disgrace  to  be  the 
"  subject  of  Justinian?  Belisarius  is  his  subject; 
"  and  we  ourselves,  whose  birth  is  not  inferior 
"  to  your  own,   are  not  ashamed  of  our  obeci- 
"  ence  to  the  Roman  emperor.     That  generous 
"  prince  will  grant  you  a  rich  inheritance  of 
"  lands,  a  place  in  the  senate,   and  the  dignity 
"  of  patrician:  such  are  his  gracious  intentions, 
"  and  you  may  depend  with  full  assurance  on 
"  the  word  of  Belisarius.     So  long  as  heaven 
"  has  condemned  us  to  suffer,  patience  is  a  vir- 
"  tue;  but  if  we  reject  the  proffered  deliverance, 
"  it  degenerates  into  blind  and  stupid  despair." 
"  I  am  not  insensible,"  replied  the  king  of  the 
Vandals,     "  how    kind   and    rational   is    your 
*'  advice.      But  I  cannot  persuade  myself  to 
"  become  the  slave  of  an   unjust  enemy,  who 
"  has  deserved  my  implacable  hatred.     Him 


OK  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE 

*'  I  had  never  injured  either  bv  word  or  deed  ;   CHAP 

XLl 

"  yet  he  has  sent  against  me,  I  know  not  from  ^  ,,„'„ 
"  whence,  a  certain  Belisarius,  who  has  cast  me 
"  headlong  from  the  throne  into  this  abyss  of 
"  misery.  Justinian  is  a  man  ;  he  is  a  prince  ; 
"  does  he  not  dread  for  himself  a  similar  re- 
"  verse  of  fortune  ?  I  can  write  no  more :  my 
"  grief  oppresses  me.  Send  me,  I  beseech  you, 
"  my  dear  Pharas,  send  me,  a  lyre,8  a  spunge, 
"  and  a  loaf  of  bread."  From  the  Vandal  mes- 
senger, Pharas  was  informed  of  the  motives  of 
this  singular  request.  It  was  long  since  the 
king  of  Africa  had  tasted  bread ;  a  defluxion 
had  fallen  on  his  eyes,  the  effect  of  fatigue  or 
incessant  weeping ;  and  he  wished  to  solace  the 
melancholy  hours,  by  singing  to  the  lyre  the 
sad  story  of  his  own  misfortunes.  The  huma- 
nity of  Pharas  was  moved  ;  he  sent  the  three 
extraordinary  gifts  ;  but  even  his  humanity 
prompted  him  to  redouble  the  vigilance  of  his 
guard,  that  he  might  sooner  compel  his  prison- 
er to  embrace  a  resolution  advantageous  to  the 
Romans,  but  salutary  to  himself.  The  obsti- 
nacy of  Gelimer  at  length  yielded  to  reason  and 
necessity  ;  the  solemn  assurances  of  safety  and 
honourable  treatment  were  ratified  in  the  em- 
perors name,  by  the  ambassador  of  Belisarius  ; 
and  the  king  of  the  Vandals  descended  from 
the  mountain.  The  first  public  interview  was 
in  one  of  the  suburbs  of  Carthage,  and  when 

*  By  Procopius  it  is  styled  a  lyrt :  perhaps  harp  would  have  been 
more  national.  The  instruments  of  music  are  thus  distinguished  bv 
Venantius  Fortunatus — 

Romanusque  lyra  tibi  plaudat,  Barbaras  harpa. 
VOL.  VII.  O 


194  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CXLJP  tne  r°yal  captive  accosted  his  conqueror,  he 
w — ^^  burst  into  a  lit  of  laughter.  The  crowd  might 
naturally  believe,  that  extreme  grief  had  de- 
prived Gelimer  of  his  senses  ;  but  in  this  mourn- 
ful state,  unseasonable  mirth  insinuated  to 
more  intelligent  observer!-!,  that  the  vain  and 
transitory  scenes  of  human  greatness  are  un- 
worthy of  a  serious  thought.11 

Retnm  Their  contempt  was  soon  justified  by  a  new 
fiSf  hof  example  °f  a  vulgar  truth  ;  that  flattery  ad- 
Beiisarius,heres  to  power,  and  envy  to  superior  merit; — 
Autumn.'  The  chiefs  of  the  Roman  army  presumed  to 
think  themselves  the  rival  of  an  hero.  Their 
private  despatches  maliciously  affirmed,  that 
the  conqueror  of  Africa,  strong  in  his  reputa- 
tion and  the  public  love,  conspired  to  seat  him- 
self on  the  throne  of  the  Vandals.  Justinian 
listened  with  too  patient  an  ear;  and  his  si- 
lence was  the  result  of  jealousy  rather  than  of 
confidence.  An  honourable  alternative,  of  re- 
maining in  the  province,  or  of  returning  to  the 
capital,  was  indeed  submitted  to  the  discretion 
of  Belisarius ;  but  he  wisely  concluded,  from 
intercepted  letters,  arid  the  knowledge  of  his 
sovereign's  temper,  that  he  must  either  resign 
his  head,  erect  his  standard,  or  confound  his 
enemies  by  his  presence  and  submission.  In- 
nocence and  courage  decided  his  choice :  his 
guards,  captives,  and  treasures,  were  diligent- 
ly embarked ;  and  so  prosperous  was  the  navi- 

n  Herodotns  elegantly  describes  the  strange  effects  of  grief  in  ano- 
ther royal  captive,  Psammetiehns  of  Egypt,  who  wept  at  the  lesser, 
and  was  silent  at  the  greatest  of  his  calamities,  (1.  iii,  c.  14).  In  the 
interview  of  Panlus  jtmiiins  and  Parses,  Belisarius  might  shuly  liis 
y;t!'t:  but  it  is  probable  that  be  never  read  either  Livy  or  Plutarch; 
»nd  i»  it,  rerfain  that  his  eerie  ro?:ty  <lul  fiot  net-d  a  tutor. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  105 

gation,  that  his  arrival  at  Constantinople  pre-  CHAP. 
ceded  any  certain  account  of  his  departure  from 
the  port  of  Carthage.  Such  unsuspecting-  loy- 
alty removed  the  apprehensions  of  Justinian  : 
envy  was  silenced  and  inflamed  by  the  public 
gratitude  ;  and  the  third  Africanus  obtained 
the  honours  of  a  triumph,  a  ceremony  which 
the  city  of  Constantinople  had  never  seen,  and 
which  anc.ent  Rome,  since  the  reign  of  Tiberius, 
had  reserved  for  the  auspicious  arms  of  the 
Csesars.1  From  the  palace  of  Belisarius,  the 
procession  was  conducted  through  the  princi- 
pal streets  to  the  hippodrome ;  and  this  memor- 
able day  seemed  to  avenge  the  injuries  of  Gen- 
seric,  and  to  expiate  the  shame  of  the  Romans. 
The  wealth  of  nations  was  displayed,  the  tro- 
phies of  martial  or  effeminate  luxury:  rich  ar- 
mour, golden  thrones,  and  the  chariots  of  state 
which  had  been  used  by  the  Vandal  queen  ; 
the  massy  furniture  of  the  royal  banquet,  the 
splendour  of  precious  stones,  the  elegant  forms 
of  statues  and  vases,  the  more  substantial  trea- 
sure of  gold,  and  the  holy  vessels  of  the  Jewish 
temple,  which,  after  their  long  peregrination, 
were  respectfully  deposited  in  the  Christian 
church  of  Jerusalem.  A  long  train  of  the  no- 
blest Vandals  reluctantly  exposed  their  lofty 
stature  and  manly  countenance.  Gelimer  slow- 
ly advanced  :  he  was  clad  in  a  purple  robe, 
and  still  maintained  the  majesty  of  a  king.  Not 
a  tear  escaped  from  his  eyes,  not  a  sigh  was 

1  After  the  title  of  imperator  had  lost  the  old  military  sense,  and  the 
Roman  auspices  were  abolished  by  Christianity,  (see  Blcterie,  Mem.  de 
PAcadpmie,  toin.  xxi,  p.  302-332),  a  triumph  might  be  given  with  less 
inconsistency  to  a  private  general. 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    heard  :  but  his  pride  or  piety  derived  some  se- 
>f,, ',,.  cret  consolation  from  the  words  of  Solomon/ 

I  which  he  repeatedly  pronounced,  VANITY  !  VA- 
NITY !  ALL  is  VANITY  !  Instead  of  ascending  a 
triumphal  car  drawn  by  four  horses  or  ele- 
phants, the  modest  conqueror  marched  on  foot 
at  the  head  of  his  brave  companions  ;  his  pru- 
dence might  decline  an  honour  too  conspicuous 
for  a  subject :  and  his  magnanimity  might  just- 
ly disdain  what  had  been  so  often  sullied  by 
the  vilest  of  tyrants.  The  glorious  procession 
entered  the  gate  of  the  hippodrome ;  was  sa- 
Juted  by  the  acclamations  of  the  senate  and 
people,  and  halted  before  the  throne  where  Jus- 
tinian and  Theodora  were  seated  to  receive  the 
homage  of  the  captive  monarch  and  the  victo- 
rious hero.  They  both  performed  the  custo- 
mary adoration  ;  and  falling  prostrate  on  the 
ground,  respectfully  touched  the  footstool  of  a 
prince  who  had  not  unsheathed  his  sword,  and 
of  a  prosfitute  who  had  danced  on  the  theatre  : 
some  gen  tie  violence  was  used  to  bend  the  stub- 
born spirit  of  the  grandson  of  Genseric  ;  and 
however  trained  to  servitude,  the  genius  of  Be- 
lisarius  must  have  secretly  rebelled.  He  was 

His  sole      .  * 

consul-      immediately  declared  consul  for  the  ensuing 

A.'D'.  535,  year,  and  the  day  of  his  inauguration  resembled 

January  i.  tne  pOmp  of  a  second  triumph  :  his  curule  chair 

wasx  borne  aloft  on  the  shoulders  of  captive 


*  If  the  Ecclesiastes  be  truly  a  work  of  Solomon,  and  not,  like  Prior's 
poem,  a  pious  and  moral  composition  of  more  recent  times,  in  his 
name,  and  on  the  subject  of  his  repentance.  The  latter  is  the  opinion 
of  the  learned  and  free-spirited  Grotius,  (Opp.  Theolog.  torn,  i,  p. 
258) ;  and  indeed  the  Ecclesiattes  and  Proverbs  display  a  larger  com- 
pass of  thought  and  experience  than  seem  to  belong  either  to  a  Jew  or 
a  king. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  197 

Vandals  ;  and  the  spoils  of  war,  gold  cups,  and  CHAP. 
rich  girdles,  were  profusely  scattered  among  the  _ 
populace. 

But  the  purest  reward  of  Belisarius  was  in  End  of 
the  faithful  execution  of  a  treaty  for  which  his  and  th" 
honour  had  been  pledged  to  the  king  of  theVandals* 
Vandals.  The  religious  scruples  of  Gelimer, 
who  adhered  to  the  Arian  heresy,  were  incom- 
patible with  the  dignity  of  senator  or  patrician  : 
but  he  received  from  the  emperor  an  ample 
estate  in  the  province  of  Galatia,  where  the  ab- 
dicated monarch  retired  with  his  family  and 
friends,  to  a  life  of  peace,  of  affluence,  and  per- 
haps of  content.1  The  daughters  of  Hilderic  were 
entertained  with  the  respectful  tenderness  due  to 
their  age  and  misfortune ;  and  Justinian  Theo- 
dora accepted  the  honour  of  educating  and  en 
riching  the  female  descendants  of  the  great 
Theodosius.  The  bravest  of  the  Vandal  youth 
were  distributed  into  five  squadrons  of  cavalry, 
which  adopted  the  name  of  their  benefactor, 
and  supported  in  the  Persian  wars  the  glory  of 
their  ancestors.  But  these  rare  exceptions,  the 
reward  of  birth  or  valour,  are  insufficient  to  ex- 
plain the  fate  of  a  nation,  whose  numbers,  be- 
fore a  short  and  bloodless  war,  amounted  to 
more  than  six  hundred  thousand  persons.  Af- 
ter the  exile  of  their  king  and  nobles,  the  ser- 
vile crowd  might  purchase  their  safety,  by  ab- 
juring their  character,  religion,  and.  language ; 

1  In  the  Belisaire  of  Marmontel,  the  king  and  conqueror  of  Africa 
meet,  sup,  and  converse,  without  recollecting  each  other.  It  is  surely 
a  fault  of  that  romance,  that  not  only  the  hero,  but  all  to  whom  he  had 
been  so  conspicuously  known,  appear  to  have  lost  their  eyes  or  th«il 
siemory. 


198  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   and  their  degenerate  posterity  would  he  insen- 

,'„,  sibly  mingled  with  the  common  herd  of  African 

subjects.  Yet  even  in  the  present  age,  and  in 
the  heart  of  the  Moorish  tribes,  a  curious  tra- 
veller has  discovered  the  white  complexion  and 
long  flaxen  hair  of  a  northern  race  ;m  and  it  was 
formerly  believed,  that  the  boldest  of  the  Van- 
dals fled  beyond  the  power,  or  even  the  know- 
ledge, of  the  Romans,  to  enjoy  their  solitary 
freedom  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  ocean." — 
Africa  had  been  their  empire,  it  became  their  pri- 
son ;  nor  could  they  entertain  an  hope,  or  even  a 
wish,  of  returning  to  the  banks  of  the  Elbe,  where 
their  brethren,  of  a  spirit  less  adventurous, 
still  wandered  in  their  native  forests.  It  was  im- 
possible for  cowards  to  surmount  the  barriers 
of  unknown  seas  and  hostile  barbarians  ;  it 
was  impossible  for  brave  men  to  expose  their 
nakedness  and  defeat  before  the  eyes  of  their 
countrymen,  to  describe  the  kingdoms  which 
they  bad  lost,  and  to  claim  a  share  of  the  hum- 
ble inheritance,  which,  in  a  happier  hour,  they 
had  almost  unanimously  renounced.0  In  the 
country  between  the  Elbe  and  the  Oder,  seve- 


m  Shaw,  p.  59.  Yet  since  Procopuis  (I.  ii,  c.  13)  speaks  of  a  people 
of  mount  Atlas,  as  already  distinguished  by  white  bodies  and  yellow 
hair,  the  pheuomeuon  (which  is  likewise  visible  in  the  Andes  of  Peru, 
Buffon,  torn,  iii,  p.  504)  may  naturally  be  ascribed  to  the  elevation  of 
the  ground  and  the  temperature  of  the  air. 

•The  geographer  of  Ravenna  (1.  iii,  c.  xi,  p.  129,  130^  131;  Paris, 
1688)  describes  the  Mauritannia  Gadituna,  (opposite  to  Cadiz),  ubi 
gens  Vandalornm,  a  Belisario  devicta  iii  Africa,  fugit,  et  mimquam 
comparnit. 

0  A  single  voice  had  protested,  and  Genseric  dismissed,  without  a 
formal  answer,  the  Vandftls  of  Germany  :  but  those  of  Africa  derided 
his  prudence,  and  affected  to  despise  the  poverty  of  thtii  frm>t.«,  (Pro- 
co]>iu&,  Vandal.  I.  i,  c.  22). 


OF  THE  ROWAN  EMPIRE. 

ral  populous  villages  of  Lusatia  are  inhabited  CHAP. 
by  the  Vandals  :  they  still  preserve  their  Ian-  ^^,^f. 
guage,  their  customs,  and  the  purity  of  their 
blood  ;  support,  with  some  impatience,  the 
Saxon,  or  Prussian  yoke ;  and  serve  with  se- 
cret and  voluntary  allegiance,  the  descendant 
of  their  ancient  kings,  who  in  his  garb  and  pre- 
sent fortune  is  confounded  with  the  meanest  of 
his  vassals.p  The  name  and  situation  of  this 
unhappy  people  might  indicate  their  descent 
from  one  common  stock  with  the  conquerors 
of  Africa.  But  the  use  of  a  Sclavonian  dialect 
more  clearly  represents  them  as  the  last  rem- 
nant of  the  new  colonies,  who  succeeded  to  the 
genuine  Vandals,  already  scattered  or  destroy- 
ed in  the  age  of  Procopius.q 

If  Belisarius  had  been  tempted  to  hesitate  in  Manners 
his  allegiance,  he  might  have  urged,  even  against  *£  f^'^* 
the  emperor  himself,  the  indispensable 'duty  ofMoor*- 

.         f.  •>          A.  D.  635. 

saving  Africa  from  an  enemy  more  barbarous 
than  the  Vandals.  The  origin  of  the  Moors  is 
involved  in  darkness  ;  they  were  ignorant  of 
the  use  of  letters/  Their  limits  cannot  be  pre- 

p  From  the  month  of  the  great  elector,  (in  1687),  Tollius  describes 
the  secret  royalty  and  rebellious  spirit  of  the  Vandals  of  Branden- 
burgh,  who  could  muster  five  or  six  thousand  soldiers  who  had  procur- 
ed some  cannon,  &c.  (Itinerar.  Hungar.  p.  42,  apud  Dubos,  Hist,  de 
la  Monarchic  Francoise,  torn,  i,  p.  182,  183).  The  veracity,  not  of 
the  elector,  but  of  Tollius  himself,  may  justly  be  suspected. 

15  Procopius  (1.  i,  c.  22)  was  in  total  darkness — n9e  ^UVU^D  TK  ati  wop* 
K  tyti  fu^irm.  Under  the  reign  of  Dagobert,  (A.  D.  630),  the  Scla»o- 
nian  tribes  of  the  Sorbi  and  Venedi  already  bordered  ou  Thuringia, 
(Mascou,  Hist,  of  the  Germans,  xv,  3,  4,  6).'' 

1  Sallust  represents  the  Moors  as  a  remnant  of  the  army  of  Heracles, 
(de  Bell.  Jugiirth.  c.  21),  and  Procopius  (Vandal.  1.  ii,  c.  10)  as  th« 
posterity  of  the  Cananaeans  who  fled  from  the  robber  Joshua,  (XBJIJJ). 
He  quotes  two  columns,  with  a  Phoenician  inscription.  I  bflicve  in 
ih«  columns— I  doubt  the  inscription— and  1  r«jcct  the  pedigree.. 


200  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    cisely  defined  :  a  boundless  continent  was  opeu 
.  *°  the  Libyan  shepherds  ;  the  change  of  sea- 
sons and  pastures  regulated  their  motions  ;  and 
their   rude   huts    and  slender   furniture   were 
transported  with  the  same  ease  as  their  arms, 
their  families,  and  their  cattle,  which  consisted 
of  sheep,   oxen,   and  camels.'     During  the  vi- 
gour of  the  Roman  power,  they  observed  a  re- 
spectful distance  from  Carthage  and  the  sea- 
shore ;  under  the  feeble  reign  of  the  Vandals, 
they  invaded  the  cities  of  Numidia,  occupied 
the  sea-coast  from  Tangier  to    Caesaria,    and 
pitched  their  camps,  with  impunity,  in  the  fer- 
tile province  of  Byzacium.     The  formidable 
strength  and  artful  conduct  of  Belisarius  secur- 
ed the  neutrality  of  the  Moorish  princes,  whose 
vanity   aspired    to    receive,    in   the    emperor's 
name,  the  ensigns  of  their  regal  dignity.'    They 
were  astonished  by  the  rapid  event,  and  trem- 
bled in  the  presence  of  their  conqueror.     But 
his  approaching  departure  soon  relieved  the 
apprehensions   of  a  savage  and    superstitious 
people  ;  the  number  of  their  wives  allowed  them 
to  disregard  the  safety  of  their  infant  hostages  ; 
and  when  the  Roman  general  hoisted  sail  in  the 
port  of  Carthage,  he  heard  the  cries,   and  al- 
most beheld  the  flames,  of  the  desolated  pro- 


'  Virgil,  (Georgic.  iii,  339),  and  Pomponitis  Mela,  (i,  8), describe  the 
wandering  life  of  the  African  shepherds,  similar  to  that  of  the  Arabs 
and  Tartars;  and  Shaw  (p.  222)  is  the  best  commentator  on  the  poet 
and  the  geographer. 

r  The  customary  gifts  were  a  sceptre,  a  crown  or  cap,  a  white  cloak, 
a  figured  tunic  and  shoes,  all  adorned  with  gold  and  silver :  nor  were 
these  precious  metals  less  acceptable  in  the  shape  of  coin,  <  1'rocou. 
Vandal.  1.  i,  c.  25). 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIKE  201 

vince.     Yet  he  persisted  in  his  resolution  ;  and  CHAP. 

"YT  T 

leaving  only  a  part  of  his  guards  to  reinforce  ^ 
the  feeble  garrisons,  he  intrusted  the  command 
of  Africa  to  the  eunuch  Solomon,"  who  proved 
himself  not  unworthy  to  be  the  successor  of 
Belisarius.      In  the  first  invasion,   some   de- 
tachments, with  two  officers  of  merit,  were  sur- 
prised and  intercepted  ;  but  Solomon  speedily 
assembled  his  troops,  marched  from  Carthage 
into  the  heart  of  the  country,   and  in  two  great 
battles  destroyed  sixty  thousand  of  the  barba- 
rians.    The  Moors  depended  on  their  multi  »  | 
tude,    their    swiftness,    and    their  inaccessible  I 
mountains  ;  and   the  aspect  and  smell  of  their 
camels  are  said  to  have  produced  some  confu- 
sion in  the  Roman  cavalry/     But  as  soon  as 
they  were  commanded  to  dismount,  they  derid- 
ed this   contemptible  obstacle  :  as  soon  as  the 
columns  ascended  the  hills,  the  naked  and  dis- 
orderly crowd  was  dazzled  by  glittering  arms 
and    regular   evolutions  ;  and  the   menace    of 
their  female  prophets  was  repeatedly  fulfilled, 
that  the  Moors  should  be  discomfited    by   a 
beardless   antagonist.     The  victorious   eunuch 


u  See  the  African  government  and  welfare  of  Solomon,  in  Procopins, 
(Vandal.  1.  ii,  c.  10,  11,  12,  13,  19,  20;.  He  was  recalled,  and  again 
restored  ;  and  his  last  victory  dates  in  the  xiiith  year  of  Justinian,  (A. 
D.  539)..  An  accident  in  his  childhood  had  rendered  him  an  ennucli, 
(1.  i,  c.  11)  :  the  other  Roman  generals  were  amply  furnished  with 
beards,  xuyont  toritrXa/uEvoi,  (1.  ii,  c.  8). 

x  This  natural  intipathy  of  the  horse  for  the  camel,  is  affirmed  hy 
the  ancients,  (Xenophon.  Cyropatd.  1.  vi,  p.  438  ;  1.  vii,  p.  483,  492, 
edit.  Hntchinson.  Polysen.  Stratagem,  vii,  6.  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  viii, 
36.  jEiian  de  Natur.  Animal.  1.  iii,  c.  7)  ;  but  it  is  disproved,  by  daiiy 
experience,  and  derided  by  the  best  judges,  the  Orientals,  (Voyage 
1'Oleariiis,  p.  553). 


2Q2  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   advanced  thirteen  days  journey  from  Carthage, 

*_  to  besiege  mount  Aurasius,7  the  citadel,  and  at 

the  same  time  the  garden,  of  Numidia,  That 
range  of  hills,  a  branch  of  the  great  Atlas,  con- 
tains within  a  circumference  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles,  a  rare  variety  of  soil  and  cli- 
mate ;  the  intermediate  valleys  and  elevated 
plains  abound  with  rich  pastures,  perpetual 
streams,  and  fruits  of  a  delicious  taste  and  un- 
common magnitude.  This  fair  solitude  is  de- 
corated with  the  ruins  of  Lambesa,  a  Roman 
city,  once  the  seat  of  a  legion,  and  the  residence 
of  forty  thousand  inhabitants.  The  Ionic  tern- 
pie  of  ^Esculapius  is  encompassed  with  Moor- 
ish huts,  and  the  cattle  now  graze  in  the  midst 
of  an  amphitheatre,  under  the  shade  of  Corin- 
thian columns.  A  sharp  perpendicular  rock 
rises  above  the  level  of  the  mountain,  where 
the  African  princes  deposited  their  wives  and 
treasure ;  and  a  proverb  is  familiar  to  the 
Arabs,  that  the  man  may  eat  fire,  who  dares  to 
attack  the  craggy  clifts  and  inhospitable  na- 
tives of  mount  Aurasius.  This  hardy  enter- 
prise was  twice  attempted  by  the  eunuch  Solo- 
mon :  from  the  first,  he  retreated  with  some 
disgrace  ;  and  in  the  second,  his  patience  and 
provisions  were  almost  exhausted  ;  and  he  must 
again  have  retired,  if  he  had  not  yielded  to  the 
impetuous  courage  of  his  troops,  who  auda- 
ciously scaled,  to  the  astonishment  of  the 
Moors,  the  mountain,  the  hostile  camp,  and  the 

r  Procopius  is  the  first  who  describes  mount  Arurasius,  (Vandal.  I. 
ii,  c.  13.  De  edific.  1.  vi,  c.  7).  He  may  be  compared  with  Leo  Afri- 
canns,  (dell  Africa,  parte  v.  in  Ramtisio,  torn,  i,  fol.  77,  recto).  Mar 
mol,  (torn,  ii,  p.  430),  and  Shaw,  (p.  56-50). 


OF  THE  ROMAN   EMPIRE.  2C3 

summit  of  the  Geminian  rock.     A  citadel  was   CHAP. 
erected  to  secure  this  important  conquest,  and     XI  r 
to  remind  the  barbarians  of  their  defeat :  and  " 
as  Solomon  pursued  his  march  to  the  west,  the 
long-lost  province  of  Mauritanian  Sitifi  was 
again  annexed    to  the   Roman   empire.     The 
Moorish  war  continued  several  years  after  the 
departure  of  Belisarius ;  but  the  laurels  which 
he  resigned  to  a  faithful  lieutenant,  may  be  just- 
ly ascribed  to  his  own  triumph. 
The  experience  of  past   faults,   which  may  Neutrality 

f  .      ,.    r    oftheVi- 

sometimes  correct  the  mature  age  or  an  indivi-  si 
dual,  is  seldom  profitable  to  the  successive  ge- 
nerations of  mankind.  The  nations  of  antiqui- 
ty,  careless  of  each  other's  safety,  were  sepa- 
rately vanquished  and  enslaved  by  the  Romans. 
This  awful  lesson  might  have  instructed  the* 
barbarians  of  the  West  to  oppose,  with  timely 
councils  and  confederate  arms,  the  unbounded 
ambition  of  Justinian.  Yet  the  same  error  was 
repeated,  the  same  consequences  were  felt,  and 
the  Goths,  both  of  Italy  and  Spain,  insensible 
of  their  approaching  danger,  beheld  with  indif- 
ference, and  even  with  jey^  the  rapid  downfal 
of  the  Vandals.  After  the  failure  of  the  royal 
line,  Theudes,  a  valiant  and  powerful  chief,  as- 
cended the  throne  of  Spain,  which  he  had  for- 
merly administered  in  the  name  of  Theodoric, 
and  his  infant  grandson.  Under  his  command, 
the  Visigoths  besieged  the  fortue^  of  Ceutaon 
the  African  coast:  but,  while  they  spent  the 
sabbath-clay  in  peace  and  devotion,  the  pious 
security  of  their  camp  was  invaded  by  a  sally 
from  the  town ;  and  the  king  himself  with 


204  THK  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CXLIP'  some  difficulty  and  danger,  escaped  from  the 

.„ hands  of  a  sacrilegious  enemy/     It  was   not 

long  before  his  pride  and  resentment  were  gra- 
tified by  a  suppliant  embassy  from  the  unfortu- 
nate Gelimer,  who  implored,  in  his  distress,  the 
aid  of  the  Spanish  monarch.  But  instead  of 
sacrificing  these  unworthy  passions  to  the  dic- 
tates of  generosity  and  prudence.  Theudes 
amused  the  ambassadors,  till  he  was  secretly 
informed  of  the  loss  of  Carthage,  and  then  dis- 
missed them  with  obscure  and  contemptuous 
advice,  to  seek  in  their  native  country  a  true 
ofThqeUests  knowledge  of  the  state  of  the  Vandals/  The 
Romans  long  continuance  of  the  Italian  war  delayed  the 
A.».65(£  punishment  of  the  Visigoths  ;  and  the  eyes  of 
Theudes  were  closed  before  they  tasted  the 
fruits  of  his  mistaken  policy.  After  his  death, 
the  sceptre  of  Spain  was  disputed  by  a  civil 
war.  The  weaker  candidate  solicited  the  pro- 
tection of  Justinian  ;  and  ambitiously  subscrib- 
ed a  treaty  of  alliance,  which  deeply  wounded 
the  independence  and  happiness  of  his  country. 
Several  cities,  both  on  the  ocean  and  the  Medi- 
terranean, .were  ceded  to  the  Roman  troops, 
who  afterwards  refused  to  evacuate  those 
pledges,  as  it  should  seem,  either  of  safety  or 
payment ;  and  as  they  were  fortified  by  perpe- 
tual supplies  from  Africa,  they  maintained  their 
impregnable  stations,  for  the  mischievous  pur- 
pose of  inflaming  the  civil  and  religious  factions 


1  Isidor.  Chron.  p.  722.  edit.  Grot.  Mariana,  Hist.  Hispan.  1.  v,  e, 
6,  p.  173.  Yet  according  to  Isidore,  tbe  siege  of  Ceuta,  and  the  death 
of  Thendes,  happened  A.  JE.  H.  586,  A  D.  548;  and  the  place  wai 
defended,  not  by  the  Vandals,  but  by  the  Romans. 

'  Procopius,  Vandal.  I.  i,  c.  24. 


OF -THE  KOM AN  KMPIRE,  205 

of  the  barbarians.     Seventy  years  elapsed  be-   CHAP. 
fore  this  painful  thorn  could  be  extirpated  from 


the  bosom  of  the  monarchy  ;  and  as  long  as 
the  emperors  retained  any  share  of  these  re- 
mote and  useless  possessions,  their  vanity  might 
number  Spain  in  the  list  of  their  provinces,  and 
the  successors  of  Alaric  in.  the  rank  of  their 
vassals.b 

The  error  of  the  Goths  who  reigned  in  Italy 

0     m      _.  .        threatens 

was  less  excusable  than  that  of  their  Spanish  the  Ostro- 
brethren,  and  their  punishment  was  still  moreitaiyS,° 
immediate  and  terrible.  From  a  motive  of  pri-  *"  D' 534' 
vate  revenge,  they  enabled  their  most  danger- 
ous enemy  to  destroy  their  most  valuable  ally. 
A  sister  of  the  great  Theodoric  had  been  given 
in  marriage  to  Thrasimond  the  African  king  :c 
on  this  occasion  the  fortress  of  Lilybaeum*  in 
Sicily  was  resigned  to  the  Aua'ils:  and  the 
princessAmalafrida  was  attended  by  a  martial 
train  of  one  thousand  nobles,  and  five  thousand 
Gothic  soldiers,  who  signalized  their  valour  in 
the  Moorish  wars.  Their  merit  was  over-rated 
by  themselves,  and  perhaps  neglected  by  the 
Vandals  :  they  viewed  the  country  with  envy, 
and  the  conquerors  with  disdain  ;  but  their  zeal 
or  fictitious  conspiracy  was  prevented  by  a 

b  See  the  original  Chronicle  of  Isidore,  and  the  vth  and  vith  books 
of  the  History  of  Spain  by  Mariana.  The  Romans  were  finally  expel, 
led  by  Snintilla  king  of  the  Visigoths,  (A.  D.  621-626),  after  their  re- 
union to  the  catholic  church. 

cSee  the  marriage  and  fate  of  Amalafrida  in  Procopius,  (Vandal.  1. 
i,  c.  8,  9.),  and  Cassiodorius,  (Var.  ix,  1),  the  expostulation  of  her  roy- 
al brother.  Compare  likewise  the  Chronicle  of  Victor  Tunnensis. 

d  Lilybzemn  was  built  by  the  Carthaginians,  Olynip.  xcv,  4;  and  in 
the  first  Punic  war,  a  strong  situation,  and  excellent  karbour,  render- 
ed that  place  an  important  object  to  both  nations. 


20(>  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  massacre ;  the  Goths  were  oppressed,  and  the 
ff  captivity  of  Araalafrida  was  soon  followed  by 
her  secret  and  suspicious  death.  The  eloquent 
pen  of  Cassiodorius  was  employed  to  reproach 
the  Vandal  court  with  the  cruel  violation  of 
every  social  and  public  duty  ;  but  the  ven- 
geance which  he  threatened  in  the  name  of  his 
sovereign,  might  be  derided  with  impunity,  as 
long  as  Africa  was  protected  by  the  sea,  and 
the  Goths  were  destitute  of  a  navy.  In  the 
blind  impotence  of  grief  and  indignation,  they 
joyfully  saluted  the  approach  of  the  Romans, 
entertained  the  fleet  of  Belisarius  in  the  ports 
of  Sicily,  and  were  speedily  delighted  or  alarm- 
ed by  the  surprising  intelligence,  that  their  re- 
venge was  executed  beyond  the  measure  of 
their  hopes,  or  perhaps  of  their  wishes.  To 
their  friendship  the  emperor  was  indebted  for 
the  kingdom  of  Africa,  and  the  Goths  might 
reasonably  think,  that  they  were  entitled  to  re- 
sume the  possession  of  a  barren  rock,  so  re- 
cently separated  as  a  nuptial  gift  from  the 
island  of  Sicily.  They  were  soon  undeceived 
by  the  haughty  mandate  of  Belisarius,  which 
excited  their  tardy  and  unavailing  repentance. 
"  The  city  and  promontory  of  Lilybaeum,"  said 
the  Roman  general,  "  belonged  to  the  Vandals, 
"  and  I  claim  them  by  the  right  of  conquest. — 
"  Your  submission  may  deserve  the  favour  of 
"  the  emperor ;  your  obstinacy  will  provoke 
"  his  displeasure,  and  must  kindle  a  war,  that 
"  can  but  terminate  only  in  your  utter  ruin. — • 
".If  you  compel  us  to  take  up  arms,  we  shall 
•*  contend,  not  to  regain  the  possession  of  a 


OF  THE  ROMAN   EMPIRE,  207 

"  single  city,  but  to  deprive  you  of  all  the  pro-    CHAP. 
"  vinces  which   you   unjustly   withhold   from  ,J| 
"  their  lawful    sovereign."     A   nation  of  two 
hundred  thousand  soldiers  might  have  smiled 
at  the  vain  menace  of  Justinian  and  his  lieute- 
nant :  but  a  spirit  of  discord  and  disaffection 
prevailed  in  Italy,  and  the  Goths  supported, 
with  reluctance,  the  indignity  of  a  female  reign.* 

The  birth  of  Amalasontha,   the  regent  and  Govern- 
queen  of  Italyf,  united  the  two  most  illustrious 
families  of  the  barbarians.     Her  mother,  the 


sister  of  Clovis,  was  descended  from  the  long-  queen  or 


haired  kings  of  the  Merovingian  race  ;g  and  the  A 
regal  succession  of  the  Amali  was  illustrated  in  534 
the  eleventh  generation,  by  her  father,  the  great 
Theodoric,  whose  merit  might  have  ennobled 
a  plebeian  origin.  The  sex  of  his  daughter  ex- 
cluded her  from  the  Gothic  throne;  but  his  vi- 
gilant tenderness  for  his  family  and  his  people 
discovered  the  last  heir  of  the  royal  line,  whose 
ancestors  had  taken  refuge  in  Spain  ;  and  the 
fortunate  Eutharic  was  suddenly  exalted  to  the 
rank  of  a  consul  and  a  prince.  He  enjoyed 
only  a  short  time  the  charms  of  Amalasontha, 
and  the  hopes  of  the  succession  ;  and  his  wi- 
dow, after  the  death  of  her  husband  and  fa- 

'  Compare  the  different  passages  of  Procopms,  (Vandal.  1.  ii,  c.  5. 
Gothic.  1.  i,  c.  3). 

f  For  the  rr  i-jn  and  character  of  Amalasontha,  see  Proropins,  (Go 
thic.  1.  i,  c.  2,  3,  4,  and  Anecdot.  e.  1C,  with  the  Notes  of  Alemannus), 
Cassiodorius,  (Var.  viii,  ix,  x,  and  xi,  I),  and  Jornandes,  (de  Rtbn» 
Geticis,  c.  59,  and  De  Successione  Rfgnon.m,  in  Muratori,  torn,  s,  p. 
Mi). 

*  The  marriage  of  Theodoric  with  Andrflfda,  the  sister  of  Clovi*, 
may  be  placed  in  tlie  year  495,  soon  aftc  i  the  conpiiest  of  IMy,  (de 
Buat.  Hist,  Of*  Peoples,  torn,  ix,  p.  i!3).  The  ntiptials  of  Entharic 
and  Amaiasontlia  uei  e  celtbra'ed  <n  515,  (Cawiodor.  in  Chron.  p.  453). 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP  ther,  was  left  the  guardian  of  her  son  Athala* 
_  ric,  and  the  kingdom  of  Italy.  At  the  age  of 
about  twenty-eight  years,  the  endowments  of 
her  mind  and  person  had  attained  their  perfect 
maturity.  Her  beauty,  which,  in  the  appre- 
hension of  Theodora  herself,  might  have  dis- 
puted the  conquest  of  an  emperor,  was  animat- 
ed by  manly  sense,  activity,  and  resolution. — 
Education  and  experience  had  cultivated  her 
talents ;  her  philosophic  studies  were  exempt 
from  vanity ;  and,  though  she  expressed  her- 
self with  equal  elegance  and  ease  in  the  Greek, 
the  Latin,  and  the  Gothic  tongue,  the  daughter 
of  Theodoric  maintained  in  her  counsels  a  dis- 
creet and  impenetrable  silence.  By  a  faithful 
imitation  of  the  virtues,  she  revived  the  prospe- 
rity of  his  reign  :  while  she  strove,  with  pious 
care,  to  expiate  the  faults,  and  to  obliterate  the 
darker  memory  of  his  declining  age.  The 
children  of  Boethius  and  Symmachus  were  re- 
stored to  their  paternal  inheritance ;  her  ex- 
treme lenity  never  consented  to  inflict  any  cor- 
poral or  pecuniary  penalties  on  her  Roman  sub- 
jects ;  and  she  generously  despised  the  cla- 
mours of  the  Goths,  who,  at  the  end  of  forty 
years,  still  considered  the  people  of  Italy  as 
their  slaves  or  their  enemies.  Her  salutary 
measures  were  directed  by  the  wisdom,  and 
celebrated  by  the  eloquence,  of  Cassiodorius  ; 
she  solicited  and  deserved  the  friendship  of  the 
emperor  ;  and  the  kingdoms  of  Europe  respect- 
ed, both  in  peace  and  war,  the  majesty  of  the 
Gothic  throne.  But  the  future  happiness  of 
the  queen  and  of  Italy  depended  on  the  educa- 
tion of  her  son,  who  was  destined,  by  his  birth, 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  20$ 

to  support  the  different  and  almost  incompati-  CHAP 
ble  characters  of  the  chief  of  a  barbarian  camp, 
and  the  first  magistrate  of  a  civilized  nation. — 
From  the  age  of  ten  years,11  Athalaric  was  dili- 
gently instructed  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  either 
useful  or  ornamental  for  a  Roman  prince ;  and 
three  venerable  Goths  were  chosen  to  instil  the 
principles  of  honour  and  virtue  into  the  mind 
of  their  young  king.     But  the  pupil  who  is  in- 
sensible of  the  benefits,   must  abhor  the   re- 
straints of  education  ;  and  the  solicitude  of  the 
queen,   which  affection  rendered  anxious  and 
severe,   offended  the  untractable  nature  of  her 
son  and  his   subjects.     On  a  solemn  festival, 
when  the  Goths  were  assembled  in  the  palace 
of  Ravenna,   the  royal  youth  escaped  from  his 
mother's  apartment,   and,   with  tears  of  pride 
and  anger,   complained  of  a  blow  which  his 
stubborn  disobedience  had  provoked  her  to  in- 
flict.    The  barbarians  resented   the  indignity 
which  had  been  offerer]  to  their  king ;  accused 
the   regent  of  conspiring  against  his  life  and 
crown ;  and  imperiously   demanded,   that  the 
grandson  of  Theodoric  should  be  rescued  from 
the  dastardly  discipline  of  women  and  pedants, 
and  educated,  like  a  valiant  Goth,  in  the  socie- 
ty of  his  equals,  and  the  glorious  ignorance  of 
his  ancestors.     To  this  rude  clamour,  impor- 
tunately urged  as  the  voice  of  the  nation,  Ama- 
lasontha  was  compelled  to  yield  her  reason,  and 

h  At  the  death  of  Theodoric,  his  grandson  Athalaric  is  described  by 
Procopifis  as  a  hoy  about  eight  years  old— OXT»  yiymut  STH.  Cassiodo- 
rius,  with  -authority  and  reason,  adds  two  years  to  his  age — infantnlum 
a  ilh  uc  TJ\  decenncm.  « 

VOL.  VII.  P 

•  -      i  .    ••• 


jQ  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

*C>1jAfP'  t^ie  Dearest  wishes  of  her  heart.  The  king  of 
~~~  ..Italy  was  abandoned  to  wine,  to  women,  and 
to  rustic  sports  ;  and  the  indiscreet  contempt 
of  the  ungrateful  youth,  betrayed  the  mischie- 
vous designs  of  his  favourites  and  her  enemies. 
Encompassed  with  domestic  foes,  she  entered 
into  a  secret  negociation  with  the  emperor  Jus- 
tinian ;  obtained  the  assurance  of  a  friendly  re- 
ception, and  had  actually  deposited  at  Dyra- 
chium  in  Epirus,  a  treasure  of  forty  thousand 
pounds  of  gold.  Happy  would  it  have  been 
for  her  fame  and  safety,  if  she  had  calmly  re- 
tired from  barbarous  faction,  to  the  peace  and 
splendour  of  Constantinople.  But  the  mind  of 
Amalasontha  was  inflamed  by  ambition  and  re- 
venge ;  and  while  her  ships  lay  at  anchor  in  the 
port,  she  waited  for  the  success  of  a  crime  which 
her  passions  excused  or  applauded  as  an  act 
of  justice.  Three  of  the  most  dangerous  mal- 
contents had  been  separately  removed,  under 
the  pretence  of  trust  and  command,  to  the  fron- 
tiers of  Italy  :  they  were  assassinated  by  her 
private  emissaries ;  and  the  blood  of  these  no- 
ble Goths  rendered  the  queen-mother  absolute 
in  the  court  of  Ravenna,  and  justly  odious  to 
a  free  people.  But  if  she  had  lamented  the 
disorders  of  her  son,  she  soon  wept  his  irrepa- 
rable loss  ;  and  the  death  of  Athalaric,  who,  at 
the  age  of  sixteen,  was  consumed  by  premature 
intemperance,  left  her  destitute  of  any  firm  sup- 
port or  legal  authority.  Instead  of  submitting 
to  the  laws  of  her  country,  which  held  as  a  fun- 
damental maxim,  that  the  succession  could  ne- 
ver pass  from  the  lance  to  the  distaff,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Theodoric  conceived  the  impracticable 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  211 

design  of  sharing,  with  one  of  her  cousins,  the   CHAP, 

•  ^4  T   I' 

regal  title,  and  of  reserving  in  her  own  hands  _' 
the  substance  of  supreme  power.  He  received 
the  proposal  with  profound  respect  and  affect- 
ed gratitude  ;  and  the  eloquent  Cassioclorius  an- 
nounced to  the  senate  and  the  emperor,  that 
Amalasontha  and  Theodatus  had  ascended  the 
throne  of  Italy.  His  birth  (for  his  mother  was 
the  sister  of  Theodoric)  might  be  considered 
as  an  imperfect  title  ;  and  the  choice  of  Amala- 
sontha was  more  strongly  directed  by  her  con- 
tempt of  his  avarice  and  pusillanimity,  which 
had  deprived  him  of  the  love  of  the  Italians, 
and  the  esteem  of  the  barbarians.  But  Theo- 
datus was  exasperated  by  the  contempt  which 
he  deserved  ;  her  justice  had  repressed  and  re- 
proached the  oppression  which  he  exercised 
against  his  Tuscan  neighbours  ;  and  the  prin- 
cipal Goths,  united  by  common  guilt  and  re- 
sentment, conspired  to  instigate  his  slow  and 
timid  disposition.  The  letters  of  congratula-  Herrxiie 
tion  were  scarcely  despatched  before  the  queen  A.  u.  535,' 
of  Italy  was  imprisoned  in  a  small  island  of  the  Apnl 
lake  of  Bolsena,1  where,  after  a  short  confine- 
ment, she  was  strangled  in  the  bath,  by  the  or 
der,  or  with  the  connivance,  of  the  new  king, 
who  instructed  his  turbulent  subjects  to  shed 
the  blood  of  their  sovereigns, 

Justinian  beheld  with  joy  the  dissensions  of 

1  The  lake,  froni-tlie  neighbouring  towns  of  Etruria,  was  styled  either 
Vulsiniensis  (now  of  Bolscua)  or  Tarqiiiniensis.  It  is  surrounded  with 
white  rocks, "and  stored  with  fish  and  wild  fowl.  The  younger  Pliny 
•  (  Epist.  ii,  96)  celebrates  two  woody  islands  that  floated  on  its  waters  • 
if  a  fable,  how  credulous  the  ancients  ! — if  a  fact,  how  careless  the  mo- 
derns !  Yet  since  Pliny,  the  island  may  have  been  fixed  by  new  and 
gradual  successions. 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    the  Goths  :  and  the  mediation  of  an   ally  con- 

XT  i 

____  J,_  cealed  and  promoted  the  ambitious  views  of  the 
Beiisarius  conqueror.  His  ambassadors,  in  their  public 
3  sub-  audience,  demanded  the  fortress  of  Lilybaeum, 


duessici-  ten  barbarian  fugitives,  and  a  just  compensa- 
A.  0.525-  tion  for  the  pillage  of  a  small  town  on  the  Illy- 
rian  borders  ;  but  they  secretly  negotiated  with 
Theodatus,  to  betray  the  province  of  Tuscany, 
and  tempted  Amalasontha  to  extricate  herself 
from  danger  and  perplexity,  by  a  free  surrender 
of  the  kingdom  of  Italy.  A  false  and  servile 
epistle  was  subscribed  by  the  reluctant  hand 
of  the  captive  queen  :  but  the  confession  of  the 
Roman  senators,  who  were  sent  to  Constanti- 
nople, revealed  the  truth  of  her  deplorable  si- 
tuation ;  and  Justinian,  by  the  voice  of  a  new 
ambassador,  most  powerfully  interceded  for 
her  life  and  liberty.  Yet  the  secret  instruc- 
tions of  the  same  minister  were  adapted  to 
serve  the  cruel  jealousy  of  Theodora,  who 
dreaded  the  presence  and  superior  charms  of 
a  rival  :  he  prompted,  with  artful  and  ambigu- 
ous hints,  the  execution  of  a  crime  so  useful  to 
the  Romans  ;k  received  the  intelligence  of  her 
death  with  grief  and  indignation,  and  denoun- 
ced, in  his  master's  name,  immortal  war  against 
the  perfidious  assassin.  In  Italy,  as  well  as 
in  Africa,  the  guilt  of  an  usurper  appeared  to 
justify  the  arms  of  Justinian  ;  but  the  forces 
which  he  prepared,  were  insufficient  for  the  sub- 

*  Yet  Procopius  discredits  his  own  evidence,  (Anecdot.  c.  16),  by 
confessing  that  in  bis  public  history  he  had  not  spoken  the  truth.  See 
the  Epistles  from  Queen  Gundelina  to  the  empress  Theodora,  (Var,  x, 
*0,  21,2<J,  and  observe  a  suspicious  word,  de  ilia  peisou*,  Sic,),  with 
tl»e  elaborate  Commentary  of  Buat,  (torn,  x,  p.  ITT  185). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  213 

version  of  a  mighty  kingdom,  if  their  feeble    CHAP. 

numbers  had  not  been  multiplied  by  the  name,  r J,., 

the  spirit,  and  the  conduct  of  an  hero.  A  cho- 
sen troop  of  guards,  who  served  on  horseback, 
and  were  armed  with  lances  and  bucklers,  at- 
tended the  person  of  Belisarius  :  his  cavalry 
was  composed  of  two  hundred  Huns,  three 
hundred  Moors,  and  four  thousand  confederates, 
and  the  infantry  consisted  only  of  three  thou- 
sand Isaurians.  Steering  the  same  course  as 
in  his  former  expedition,  the  Roman  consul 
cast  anchor  before  Catana  in  Sicily,  to  survey 
the  strength  of  the  island,  and  to  decide  whe- 
ther he  should  attempt  the  conquest,  or  peace- 
ably pursue  his  voyage  for  the  African  coast. 
He  found  a  fruitful  land  and  a  friendly  people. 
Notwithstanding  the  decay  of  agriculture,  Si- 
cily still  supplied  the  granaries  of  Rome;  the 
farmers  were  graciously  exempted  from  the  op- 
pression of  military  quarters  ;  and  the  Goths, 
who  trusted  the  defence  of  the  island  to  the  in- 
habitants, had  some  reason  to  complain,  that 
their  confidence  was  ungratefully  betrayed :  in- 
stead of  soliciting  and  expecting  the  aid  of  the 
king  of  Italy,  they  yielded  to  the  first  sum- 
mons a  cheerful  obedience  :  and  this  province, 
the  first  fruits  of  the  Punic  wars,  was  again, 
after  a  long  separation,  united  to  the  Roman 
empire.1  The  Gothic  garrison  of  Palermo, 
which  alone  attempted  to  resist,  was  reduced, 
after  a  short  siege,  by  a  singular  stratagem. — 

For  the  conquest  of  Sicily,  compare  the  narrative  of  Procopin* 
with  the  complaints  of  Totila,  (Gothic.  I.  i,  c.  5  ;  J.  iii,  r.  10).  The 
Gothic  queen  had  lately  relieved  that  thankless  island,  (Var.  ix,  10, 
H). 


214  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CXLIP  Belisari"8  introduced  his  ships  into  the  deepest 
«,,.„„*„  recess  of  the  harbour  ;  their  boats  were  labo- 
riously hoisted  with  ropes  and  pulleys  to  the 
top-mast  head,  and  he  filled  them  with  archers, 
who,  from  that  superior  station,  commanded 
the  ramparts  of  the  city.  After  this  easy, 
though  successful  campaign,  the  conqueror  en- 
tered Syracuse  in  triumph,  at  the  head  of  his 
victorious  bands,  distributing  gold  medals  to 
the  people,  on  the  day  which  so  gloriously  ter- 
minated the  year  of  the  consulship.  He  pas- 
sed the  winter  season  in  the  palace  of  ancient 
kings,  amidst  the  ruins  of  a  Grecian  colony, 
which  once  extended  to  a  circumference  of  two 
and  twenty  miles  :m  but  in  the  spring,  about 
the  festival  of  Easter,  the  prosecution  of  his  de- 
signs was  interrupted  by  a  dangerous  revolt  of 
the  African  forces.  Carthage  was  saved  by  the 
presence  of  Belisarius,  who  suddenly  landed 
with  a  thousand  guards.  Two  thousand  sol- 
diers of  doubtful  faith  returned  to  the  standard 
of  their  old  commander  :  and  he  marched,  with- 
out hesitation,  above  fifty  miles,  to  seek  an  ene- 
my, whom  he  affected  to  pity  and  despise. — 

»  Eight   thousand   rebels   trembled    at   his   ap- 

proach ;  they  were  routed  at  the  first  onset,  by 
the  dexterity  of  their  master:  and  this  ignoble 
victory  would  have  restored  the  peace  of  Africa, 
if  the  conqueror  had  not  been  hastily  recalled 
to  Sicily,  to  appease  a  sedition  which  was  kind- 

m  The  ancient  magnitude  and  splendour  of  the  five  quarters  of  Sy 
racuse,  are  delineated  by  Cicero,  (in  V>rrem,  actio,  ii,  i.  iv,c.  52,  53); 
Strabo,  (I.  vi,  p.  415),  and  d'Orvilie  Sicula,  (t«m.  ii,  p.  174-20*).  The 
new  city,  restored  by  Augustus,  shrunk  towards  the  island. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  215 

led  during  his  absence  in  his  own  camp.0  Dis-  CHAP. 

Y  T   T 

order  and  disobedience  were  the  common  ma-^     ff'fff 
lady  of  the  times  :  the  genius  to  command,  and 
the  virtue  to  obey,  resided  only  in  the  mind  of 
Belisarius. 

Although  Theodatus  descended  from  a  race 
of  heroes,  he  was  ignorant  of  the  art,  and  averse 

i    '  t*  AII  1111  datns,  the 

to  the  dangers,  of  war.     Although  he  had  stu-  Gothic 
died  the  writings  of  Plato  and  Tully,   philoso-  itafy° 
phy  was  incapable  of  purifying  his  mind  from  October*' 
the  basest  passions,  avarice  and  fear.     He  had  *•»•  635> 

i  i  August. 

purchased  a  sceptre  by  ingratitude  and  mur- 
der :  at  the  first  menace  of  an  enemy,  he  de- 
graded his  own  majesty,  and  that  of  a  nation, 
which  already  disdained  their  unworthy  sove- 
reign. Astonished  by  the  recent  example  of 
Gelimer,  he  saw  himself  dragged  in  chains 
through  the  streets  of  Constantinople  :  the  ter- 
rors which  Belisarius  inspired,  were  heighten- 
ed by  the  eloquence  of  Peter,  the  Byzantine 
ambassador ;  and  that  bold  and  subtle  advo- 
cate persuaded  him  to  sign  a  treaty,  too  igno- 
minious to  become  the  foundation  of  a  lasting 
peace.  It  was  stipulated,  that  in  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  Roman  people,  the  name  of  the  em- 
peror should  be  always  proclaimed  before  that 
of  the  Gothic  king ;  and  that  as  often  as  the 
statue  of  Theodatus  was  erected  in  brass  or 

ttf 

marble,  the  divine  image  of  Justinian  should  be 
placed  on  its  right  hand.  Instead  of  conferring, 
the  king  of  Italy  was  reduced  to  solicit,  the 

•  Procopius  (Vandal.  I.  ii,  c.  14, 15)  so  clearly  relates  the  return  of 
Belisarius  into  Sicily,  (p.  146,  edit.  Hoeschelii),  that  I  am  astonished 
at  the  strange  misapprehension  and  reproaches  of  a  learned  critic, 
(Oeuvres  de  la  Mothe  le  Vayer,  torn,  viii,  p.  162, 163). 


21(5  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   honours  of  the  senate :  and  the  consent  of  the 

, ],,.  emperor  was    made    indispensible    before   he 

could  execute,  against  a  priest  or  senator,  the 
sentence  either  of  death  or  confiscation.  The 
feeble  monarch  resigned  the  possession  of  Sici- 
ly ;  offered,  as  the  annual  mark  of  his  depen- 
dence, a  crown  of  gold,  of  the  weight  of  three 
hundred  pounds  ;  and  promised  to  supply,  at 
the  requisition  of  his  sovereign,  three  thousand 
Gothic  auxiliaries  for  the  service  of  the  empire. 
Satisfied  with  these  extraordinary  concessions, 
the  successful  agent  of  Justinian  hastened  his 
journey  to  Constantinople ;  but  no  sooner  had 
he  reached  the  Alban  villa,0  than  he  was  re- 
called by  the  anxiety  of  Theodatus ;  and  the 
dialogue  which  passed  between  the  king  and 
the  ambassador,  deserves  to  be  represented  in 
its  original  simplicity.  "Are  you  of  opinion 
"  that  the  emperor  will  ratify  this  treaty  ?  Per- 
"  haps.  If  he  refuses,  what  consequence  will 
"  ensue?  War.  Will  such  a  war  be  just  or 
*'  reasonable?  Most  assuredly:  every  one  should 
"  act  according  to  his  character.  What  is  your 
"  meaning?  You  are  a  philosopher — Justinian 
"  is  emperor  of  the  JRomans :  it  would  ill  become 
"  the  disciple  of  Plato  to  shed  the  blood  of  thou- 
11  sands  in  his  private  quarrel :  the  successor  of 
"  Augustus  should  vindicate  his  rights,  and  reco- 
"  ver  by  arms  the  ancient  provinces  of  his  empire" 
This  reasoning  might  not  convince,  but  it  was 

8  The  ancient  Alba  was  ruined  in  the  first  age  of  Rome.  On  the 
•ame  spot,  or  at  least  in  the  neighbourhood,  successively  arose,  1.  The 
villa  of  Pompey,  &c.  2.  A  camp  of  the  pretorian  cohorts.  3.  The 
modern  episcopal  city  of  Albanum  or  Albano,  (Procop.  Goth.  1.  ii,  e 
4.  Cluvei.  Ital.  Antio.  torn,  ii  «.  9li* 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  2  J  7 

sufficient  to  alarm  and  subdue  the  weakness  of  CHAP. 
Theodatus  ;  and  he  soon  descended  to  his  last     XLI 
offer,  that  for  the  poor  equivalent  of  a  pension 
of  forty-eight   thousand   pounds   sterling,   he 
would   resign  the  kingdom  of  the  Goths  and 
Italians,  and  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days 
in  the  innocent  pleasures  of  philosophy  and  a- 
griculture.     Both  treaties  were  intrusted  to  the 
hands  of  the  ambassador,  on  the  frail  security 
of  an  oath  not  to  produce  the  second  till  the 
first  had  been  positively  rejected.     The  event 
may  be  easily  foreseen  ;  Justinian  required  and 
accepted  the  abdication  of  the  Gothic  king. — 
His  indefatigable  agent  returned  from  Constan- 
tinople to  Ravenna,  with  ample  instructions; 
and  a  fair  epistle,   which  praised  the  wisdom 
and  generosity  of  the  royal  philosopher,  grant- 
ed his  pension,  with  the  assurance  of  such  ho- 
nours, as  a  subject  and  a  catholic  might  enjoy  ; 
and  wisely   referred  the  final  execution  of  the 
treaty,  to  the  presence  and  authority  of  Belisa- 
rius.     But  in  the  interval  of  suspense,  two  Ro- 
man generals,  who  had  entered  the  province  of 
Dalmatia,  were  defeated  and  slain  by  the  Go- 
thic troops.     From  blind  and  abject  despair, 
Theodatus  capriciously  rose  to  groundless  and 
fatal  presumptionp,  and  dared  to  receive,  with 
menace  and  contempt,  the  ambassador  of  Jus- 
tinian ;  who  claimed  his  promise,  solicited  the 
allegiance  of  his  subjects,  and  boldly  asserted 

*  A  Sibylline  oracle  was  ready  to  pronounced-Africa  capta  mundui 
cum  nato  peribit;  a  sentence  of  portentous  ambiguity,  (Gothic.  1.  i, 
c.  7),  which  has  been  published  in  unknown  characters  byvOpsop«ui, 
an  editor  of  the  oracles.  The  Pere  Maltret  has  promised  I  commen- 
tary ;  but  all  his  promises  have  been  vain  and  fruitless. 


2  I  8  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.  the  inviolable  privilege  of  his  own  character.  — 
The  march  of  Belisarius  dispelled  this  visionary 
pride  ;  and  as  the  first  campaignq  was  employ- 
ed in  the  reduction  of  Sicily,  the  invasion  of 
Italy  is  applied  by  Procopius  to  the  second 
year  of  the  GOTHIC  WAR/ 

After  Belisarius  had  left  sufficient  garrisons 
*1  Palermo  and   Syracuse,   he   embarked   his 


NaTe?  troops  at  Messina,  and  landed  them,  without 
A.  D.  5»7.  resistance,  on  the  opposite  shores  of  Rhegium. 
A  Gothic  prince,  who  had  married  the  daugh- 
ter of  Theodatus,  was  stationed  with  an  army 
to  guard  the  entrance  of  Italy  ;  but  he  imitated, 
without  scruple,  the  example  of  a  sovereign, 
faithless  to  his  public  and  private  duties.  The 
perfidious  Ebermor  deserted  with  his  follow- 
ers to  the  Roman  camp,  and  was  dismissed  to 
enjoy  the  servile  honours  of  the  Byzantine 
court.5  From  Rhegium  to  Naples,  the  fleet 
and  army  of  Belisarius,  almost  always  in  view 
of  each  other,  advanced  near  three  hundred 
miles  along  the  sea-coast.  The  people  of  Brut- 
tium,  Lucania,  and  Campania,  who  abhorred 
the  name  and  religion  of  the  Goths,  embraced 

q  In  his  chronology,  imitated  in  some  degree  from  Thucydides,  Pro- 
copius begins  each  spring  the  years  of  Justinian  and  of  the  Gothic 
war;  and  his  first  era  coincides  with  the  first  of  April  535,  and  not 
536,  according  to  the  annals  of  Baronius,  (Pagi  Crit.  torn,  ii,  p  555, 
who  is  followed  by  Muratori  and  the  editors  of  Sigonius).  Yet  in  som« 
passages  we  are  at  a  loss  to  reconcile  the  dates  of  Procopius  with  him- 
self, and  with  the  Chronicle  of  Marcellinus. 

r  The  series  of  the  first  Gothic  war  is  represented  by  Procopius,  (! 
i,  c.  5-29;  J.  ii,  c.  1-30;  1.  Hi,  c.  1),  till  the  captivity  of  Vitiges.- 
With  the  aid  of  Sigonius,  (Opp.  torn,  i,  de  I»p.  Occident.  1.  xvii, 
xviii),  and  flliiratori,  (Annali  d'ltalia,  torn,  v),  1  have  gleaned  sonic 
few  additional  facts. 

1  Jornandes,  de  Rebus  Getic-.is,  r.  60,  p.  702,  edit.  Grot.,  and  torn.  i« 
p.  221.  Muratori,  de  Sncces*.  Rrgii.  p.  241. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  2  If) 

the  specious  excuse,  that  their  ruined  walls  CHAP. 
were  incapable  of  defence  ;  the  soldiers  paid  a  ,^  „„',.. 
just  equivalent  for  a  plentiful  market;  and  cu- 
riosity alone  interrupted  the  peaceful  occupa- 
tions of  the  husbandman  or  artificer.  Naples, 
which  has  swelled  to  a  great  and  populous  ca- 
pital, long  cherished  the  language  and  manners 
of  a  Grecian  colony  ;*  and  the  choice  of  Virgil 
had  ennobled  this  elegant  retreat,  which  attract- 
ed the  lovers  of  repose  and  study,  from  the 
noise,  the  smoke,  and  the  laborious  opulence 
of  Rome."  As  soon  as  the  place  was  invested 
by  sea  and  land,  Belisarius  gave  audience  to 
the  deputies  of  the  people,  who  exported  him 
to  disregard  a  conquest  unworthy  of  his  arms, 
to  seek  the  Gothic  king  in  a  field  of  battle,  and, 
after  his  victory,  to  claim,  as  the  sovereign  of 
Rome,  the  allegiance  of  the  dependent  cities. — 
"  When  I  treat  with  my  enemies,"  replied  the 
Roman  chief,  with  an  haughty  smile,  "  I  am 
"  more  accustomed  to  give  than  to  receive 
"  counsel :  but  I  hold  in  one  hand  inevitable 
"  ruin,  and  in  the  other,  peace  and  freedom, 
"  such  as  Sicily  now  enjoys."  The  impatience 
of  delay  urged  him  to  grant  the  most  liberal 
terms;  his  honour  secured  their  performance; 

1  Nero  (says  Tacitus,  Armal.  xv,  35)  Neapolim  quasi  Graecam  urbem 
delegit.  One  hundred  and  fifty  years  afterwards,  in  the  time  of  Sep. 
timius  Severus,  the  Hellenitm  of  the  Neapolitans  is  praised  by  Pbilo- 
stratlll  :  j/cvt;  EX.XHVE;  KO.I  acuxirt,  t6iv  xttt  TO.{  ffiraSaf  TJII  Xoj/«y  EXXnv;xot  tirt, 
(Icon.  1.  i,  p.  763,  edit.  Clear.). 

u  The  otium  of  Naples  is  praised  by  the  Roman  poets,  by  Virgil, 
Horace,  Silius  Italious,  and  Statins,  (CInver.  Ital.  Ant.  i.  iv,  p.  1149, 
1150).  In  an  elegant  epistle,  (Sylv.  1.  iii,  5,  p  94-08,  edit.  Markland), 
Statins  undertakes  the  difficult  tEsk  of  drawing  his  wife  frosn  tiie  plea- 
sures of  Rome  to  that  calm  retreat. 


220  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  but  Naples  was  divided  into  two  factions ;  and 
XLL    the  Greek  democracy  was  inflamed  by  their 

•*  *•  •*••*  *•+  *rj  +  +  ** 

orators,  who,  with  much  spirit  and  some  truth, 
represented  to  the  multitude,  that  the  Goths 
would  punish  their  defection,  and  that  Belisa- 
rius  himself  must  esteem  their  loyalty  and  va- 
lour. Their  deliberations,  however,  were  not 
perfectly  free:  the  city  was  commanded  by 
eight  hundred  barbarians,  whose  wives  and 
children  were  detained  at  Ravenna  as  the  pledge 
of  their  fidelity ;  and  even  the  Jews,  who  were 
rich  and  numerous,  resisted,  with  desperate 
enthusiasm,  the  intolerant  laws  of  Justinian. — 
In  a  much  later  period,  the  circumference  of 
Naples"  measured  only  two  thousand  three 
hundred  and  sixty-three  paces  :T  the  fortifica- 
tions were  defended  by  precipices  or  the  sea : 
when  the  aqueducts  were  intercepted,  a  supply 
of  water  might  be  drawn  from  wells  and  foun- 
tains ;  and  the  stock  of  provisions  was  suffi- 
cient to  consume  the  patience  of  the  besiegers. 
At  the  end  of  twenty  days.,  that  of  Belisarius 
was  almost  exhausted,  and  he  had  reconciled 
himself  to  the  disgrace  of  abandoning  the  siege, 
that  he  might  march,  before  the  winter  season, 
against  Rome  and  the  Gothic  king.  But  his 
anxiety  was  relieved  by  the  bold  curiosity  of  an 

*  This  measure  was  taken  by  Roger  I.  after  the  conquest  of  Naples, 
(A.  D.  1139),  which  he  made  the  capital  of  his  new  kingdom,  (Gian- 
none,  Istoria  Civile,  torn,  ii,  p.  169).  That  city,  the  third  in  Christiai 
Europe,  is  now  at  least  twelve  miles  in  circumference,  (Jul.  Caesar 
Capaccii  Hist.  Neapol.  1.  i,  p.  47),  and  contains  more  inhabitant* 
(350,000)  in  a  given  space,  than  any  other  spot  in  the  known  world. 

y  Not  geometrical,  but  common,  paces  or  steps,  of  22  French  inches, 
(u'Anville,  Mesures  Itineraires,  p.  7,  8) :  the  2363  do  not  raak*  an  En 
glish  mile. 


OF  THE  KOMAN  EMPIRE.  221 

Isaurian,  who  explored  the  dry  channel  of  an  CHAP. 
aqueduct,  and  secretly  reported,  that  a  passage 
might  be  perforated  to  introduce  a  file  of  arm- 
ed soldiers  into  the  heart  of  the  city.     When 
the  work  had  been  silently  executed,   the  hu- 
mane general  risked  the  discovery  of  his  secret, 
by  a  last  and  fruitless  admonition  of  the  im- 
pending danger.     In  the  darkness  of  the  night, 
four  hundred  Romans  entered  the  aqueduct, 
raised  themselves  by  a  rope,   which  they  fas- 
tened to  an  olive  tree,  into  the  house  or  garden 
of  a  solitary  matron,   sounded  their  trumpets, 
surprised  the  sentinels,  and  gave  admittance  to 
their  companions,  who,  on  all  sides,  scaled  the 
walls,  and  burst  open  the  gates  of  the  city.—— 
Every  crime  which  is  punished  by  social  jus- 
tice, was  practised  as  the  rights  of  war;  the 
Huns  were  distinguished  by  cruelty  and  sacri- 
lege,   and    Belisarius  alone   appeared    in   the 
streets  and  churches  of  Naples,  to  moderate  the 
calamities   which  he    predicted.     "  The   gold 
"  and  silver,"  he  repeatedly  exclaimed,   "  are 
"  the  just  rewards  of  your  valour.     But  spare 
"  the  inhabitants,  they  are  Christians,  they  are 
"  suppliants,  they  are  now  your  fellow-subjects. 
"  Restore  the  children    to    their  parents,  the 
"  wives  to  their  husbands  ;  and  shew  them  by 
"  your  generosity,  of  what  friends   they  have 
"  obstinately  deprived  themselves."     The  city 
was  saved  by  the  virtue  and  authority  of  its 
conqueror,2  and  when  the  Neapolitans  return- 

1  Belisirius  was  reproved  bj  Pope  Sylverins  tor  the  massacre.  He 
repeopled  Naples,  and  imported  colonies  of  African  captives  into  Si- 
cily, Calabria,  and  Apulia,  (Hist.  Miscrll.  '.  xvi,  in  Muratori,  totn.  i, 
p.  106,  107). 


222  THB  DECLINE  AND  FALL 


CXLIP'    ^  to  ^e^r  nouses'  they  found  some  consolation 
..........  in  the  secret  enjoyment  of  their  hidden  trea 

sures.  The  barbarian  garrison  inlisted  in  the 
service  of  the  emperor  ;  Apulia  and  Calabria, 
delivered  from  the  odious  presence  of  the  Goths, 
acknowledged  his  dominion  ;  and  the  tusks  of 
the  Calydonian  boar,  which  were  still  shewn 
at  Beneventum,  are  curiously  described  by  the 
historian  of  Belisarius/ 

viiiges,         The  faithful  soldiers  and  citizens  of  Naples 

Ttaiy.        had  expected  their  deliverance  from  a  prince, 

August,  '  wn°  remained  the  inactive  and  almost  indiffe- 

A.  i>,54o.  rent  spectator  of  their  ruin.     Theodatus  secur- 

ed his  person  within  the  walls  of  Rome,   while 

his  cavalry  advanced  forty  miles    on  the  Ap- 

pian  way,  and  encamped  in  the  Pompine  mar- 

shes ;  which,  by  a  canal  of  nineteen  miles  in 

length,  had  been  recently  drained  and  convert- 

ed into  excellent  pastures.11     But  the  principal 

forces  of  the  Goths  were  dispersed  in  Dalmatia, 

Venetia,    and  Gaul  ;  and  the  feeble   mind  of 

their  king  was  confounded  by  the  unsuccessful 

event  of  a  divination,  which  seemed  to  presage 

the  downfal  of  his  empire.'     The  most  abject 

*  Beneventum   was  built  by   Diomede,   the  jiephew   of  Meleager 
(Clnvcr.  torn,  ii,  p.  1195,  1196).    The  Calydonian  Hunt  is  a  picture  of 
savage  life,  (Ovid.  Metamorpb.  1.  vii).     Thirty  or  forty  beroes   were 
leagued  against  a  hog:  the  brutes  (not  the  hog)  quarrelled  with  a  lady 
for  the  bead. 

b  The  Decennovium  is  strangely  confounded  by  Cluverius  (torn,  ii,  p. 
p.  1007)  with  the  river  Ufens.  It  was  in  truth  a  canal  of  nineteen 
miles,  from  Forum  Appii  to  Terracina,  on  which  Horace  embarked  in 
the  night.  The  Deceimovinm  which  is  mentioned  by  Lncaii,  Dion 
Cassius,  and  Cassiodorius,  has  been  sufficiently  ruined,  restored,  and 
obliterated,  (d'Anville,  Analyse  de  Tltalie,  p.  i85,  <Stc.). 

€  A  Jew  gratified  his  contempt  and  hatred  for  all  the  Christians,  by 

inclo&in? 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  223 

slaves  have  arraigned  the  gnilt,  or  weakness,  of  CHAP. 
an  unfortunate  master.  The  character  of  Theo- 
dattis  was  rigorously  scrutinized  by  a  free  and 
idle  camp  of  barbarians,  conscious  of  their  pri- 
vilege and  power :  he  was  declared  unworthy 
of  his  race,  his  nation,  and  his  throne  ;  and 
their  general,  Vitiges,  whose  valour  had  been 
signalized  in  the  Illyrian  war,  was  raised,  with 
unanimous  applause,  on  the  bucklers  of  his 
companions.  On  the  first  rumour,  the  abdi- 
cated monarch  fled  from  the  justice  of  his  coun- 
try ;  but  he  was  pursued  by  private  revenge. 
A  Goth  whom  he  had  injured  in  his  love,  over- 
took Theodatus  on  the  Flaminian  way,  and, 
regardless  of  his  unmanly  cries,  slaughtered 
him,  as  he  lay  prostrate  on  the  ground,  like  a 
victim  (says  the  historian)  at  the  foot  of  the  al- 
tar. The  choice  of  the  people  is  the  best  and 
purest  title  to  reign  over  them  :  yet  such  is  the 
prejudice  of  every  age,  that  Vitiges  impatiently 
wished  to  return  to  Ravenna,  where  he  might 
seize,  with  the  reluctant  hand  of  the  daughter 
of  Amalasontha,  some  faint  shadow  of  heredi- 
tary right.  A  national  council  was  immediate- 
ly held,  and  the  new  monarch  reconciled  the 
impatient  spirit  of  the  barbarians,  to  a  measure 
of  disgrace,  which  the  misconduct  of  his  prede- 
cessors rendered  wise  and  indispensable.  The 
Goths  consented  to  retreat  in  the  presence  of  a 
victorious  enemy  ;  to  delay  till  the  next  spring 

inclosing  three  bands,  each  of  ten  hogs,  and  discriminated  by  the 
names  of  Goths,  Greeks,  and  Romans.  Of  the  first,  almost  all  \vsre 
found  dead— almost  aif  the  second  were  alive — of  the  third,  half  died, 
and  the  rest  lost  their  bristles.  No  unsuitable  emblem  of  the  event. 


224  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   the  operations  of  offensive  war ;  to  summon 

"VT  T 

their  scattered  forces  ;  to  relinquish  their  dis- 
tant possessions,  and  to  trust  even  Rome  itself 
to  the  faith  of  its  inhabitants.     Leuderis,  an 
aged  warrior,  was  left  in  the  capital  with  four 
thousand   soldiers ;  a  feeble   garrison,    which 
might  have  seconded  the  zeal,  though  it  was 
incapable  of  opposing  the  wishes,   of  the  Ro- 
mans.    But  a  momentary  enthusiasm  of  reli- 
gion and  patriotism  was  kindled  in  their  minds. 
They  furiously  exclaimed,  that  the   apostolic 
throne  should  no  longer  be  profaned  by  the  tri- 
umph or  toleration  of  Arianism  ;  that  the  tombs 
of  the  Caesars  should  no  longer  be  trampled  by 
the  savages  of  the  North ;  and,  without  reflect- 
ing that  Italy  must  sink  into  a  province  of  Con- 
stantinople, they  fondly  hailed  the  restoration 
of  a  Roman  emperor  as  a  new  era  of  freedom 
and  prosperity.     The  deputies  of  the  pope  and 
clergy,  of  the  senate  and  people,  invited   the 
lieutenant  of  Justinian  to  accept  their  voluntary 
allegiance,  and  to  enter  the  city,  whose  gates 
would  be  thrown  open  for  his  reception.     As 
soon  as  Belisarius   had  fortified  his  new  con- 
quests, Naples  and  Cumae,  he  advanced  about 
twenty  miles  to  the  banks  of  the  Vulturnus, 
contemplated  the  decayed  grandeur  of  Capua, 
and  halted  at  the  separation  of  the  Latin  and 
Appian  ways.     The  work  of  the  censor,   after 
the  incessant  use  of  nine  centuries,  still  pre- 
served its  primeval  beauty,  and  not  a  flaw  could 
be  discovered  in  the  large  polished  stones,  of 
which  that  solid,  though  narrow  road,  was  so 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  225 

firmly  compacted/     Belisarius,  however,  pre-  CHAP 

ferred  the  Latin  way,  which,  at  a  distance  from 

the  sea  and  the  marshes,  skirted,  in  a  space  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  along  the  foot 
of  the   mountains.     His   enemies   had  disap- 
peared :  when  he  made  his  entrance  through 
the  Asinarian  gale,  the  garrison  departed  with-  ££ -™6 
out  molestation  along  the  Flaminian  way  ;  and 
the  city,  after  sixty  years  servitude,  was  deliver 
ed  from  the  yoke  of  the  barbarians.     Leuderis    1 
alone,  from  a  motive  of  pride  or  discontent,  re- 
fused to  accompany  the  fugitives  ;  and  the  Go- 
thic chief,  himself  a  trophy  of  the  victory,  was 
sent  with  the  keys  of  Rome  to  the  throne  of 
the  emperor  Justinian." 

The  first  days,  which  coincided  with  the  old  siege  of 
Saturnalia,  were  devoted  to  mutual  congratu- 
lation  and  the  public  joy ;  and  the  catholics 
prepared  to  celebrate,  without  a  rival,  the  ap- 
proaching festival  of  the  nativity  of  Christ.  In 
the  familiar  conversation  of  a  hero,  the  Romans 
acquired  some  notion  of  the  virtues  which  his- 
tory ascribed  to  their  ancestors  ;  they  were 
edified  by  the  apparent  respect  of  Belisarius 
for  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  and  his  rigid 

4  Bergier  (Hist,  des  Grands  Cbemins  des  Remains,  torn,  i,  p.  231- 
228,  440-444)  examines  the  structure  and  material*,  while  d'Aaville 
(Analyse  d'ltalie,  p.  200-213)  defines  the  geographical  line. 

c  Of  the  first  recovery  of  Rome,  the  year  (536)  is  certain,  from  the 
series  of  events,  rather  than  from  the  corrupt,  or  interpolated,  text  of 
Procopius :  the  month  (December)  is  ascertained  by  Evagrins,  (1.  iv, 
c.  19) ;  and  the  day  (the  tenth)  may  be  admitted  on  the  slight  evidence 
of  Nicephorus  Callistbus,  (1.  xvii,  c.  13).  For  this  accurate  chronolo- 
gy, we  are  indebted  to  the  diligence  and  judgment  of  Pagi,  (torn.  ii. 
p.  559,  5GO). 

VOL.  vii.  g 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  discipline  secured,  in  the  midst  of  war,  the 
rf  blessings  of  tranquillity  and  justice.  They 
applauded  the  rapid  success  of  his  arms,  which 
over-ran  the  adjacent  country,  as  far  as  Narni, 
Perusia,  andSpoleto:  but  they  trembled,  the 
senate,  the  clergy,  and  the  unwarlike  people, 
as  soon  as  they  understood  that  he  had  resolv- 
ed, and  would  speedily  be  reduced,  to  sustain 
a  siege  against  the  powers  of  the  Gothic  mo- 
narchy. The  designs  of  Vitiges  were  execut- 
ed, during  the  winter-season,  with  diligence  and 
effect.  From  their  rustic  habitations,  from 
their  distant  garrisons,  the  Goths  assembled  at 
Ravenna  for  the  defence  of  their  country  ;  and 
such  were  their  numbers,  that  after  an  army 
had  been  detached  for  the  relief  of  Dalmatia, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  fighting  men 
marched  under  the  royal  standard.  Accord- 
ing to  the  degrees  of  rank  or  merit,  the  Gothic 
king  distributed  arms  and  horses,  rich  gifts, 
and  liberal  promises ;  he  moved  along  the  Fla- 
minian  way,  declined  the  useless  sieges  of  Pe- 
rusia and  Spoleto,  respected  the  impregnable 
rock  of  Narni,  and  arrived  within  two  miles  of 
Rome,  at  the  foot  of  the  Milvian  bridge.  The 
narrow  passage  was  fortified  with  a  tower,  and 
Belisarius  had  computed  the  value  of  the  twen- 
ty days,  which  must  be  lost  in  the  construc- 
tion of  another  bridge.  But  the  consternation 
of  the  soldiers  of  the  tower,  who  either  fled  or 
deserted,  disappointed  his  hopes,  and  betray- 
ed his  person  into  the  most  imminent  danger. 
At  the  head  of  one  thousand  horse,  the  Roman 
general  sallied  from  the  Flaminian  gate  to  mark 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

the  ground  of  an  advantageous  position,  and  to  CHAP. 
survey  the  camp  of  the  barbarians  ;  but  while  „„„„'„> 
he  still  believed  them  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Tiber,  he  was  suddenly  encompassed  and  as- 
saulted by  their  innumerable  squadrons.  The 
fate  of  Italy  depended  on  his  life  *  and  the  de- 
serters pointed  to  the  conspicuous  horse,  a  bay/ 
with  a  white  face,  which  he  rode  on  that  me- 
morable day.  "  Aim  at  the  bay  horse,"  was 
the  universal  cry.  Every  bow  was  bent,  every 
javelin  was  directed,  against  that  fatal  object, 
and  the  command  was  repeated  and  obeyed  by 
thousands  who  were  ignorant  of  its  real  mo- 
tive. The  bolder  barbarians  advanced  to  the 
more  honourable  combat  of  swords  and  spears  ; 
and  the  praise  of  an  enemy  has  graced  the  fall 
of  Visandus,  the  standard-bearer,8  who  main- 
tained his  foremost  station,  till  he  was  pierced 
with  thirteen  wounds,  perhaps  by  the  hand  of 
Belisarius  himself.  The  Roman  general  was 
strong,  active,  and  dexterous  :  on  every  side  he 
discharged  his  weighty  and  mortal  strokes  : 
his  faithful  guards  imitated  his  valour,  and  de- 
fended his  person  ;  and  the  Goths,  after  the 
loss  of  a  thousand  men,  fled  before  the  arms  of 
an  hero.  They  were  rashly  pursued  to  their 

camp  ;  and   the  Romans,  oppressed  by  multi- 

• 

f  An  horse  of  a  bay  or  red  colour  was  styled  <$>oXtaf  by  the  Greeks, 
baton  by  the  barbarians,  and  spadix  by  the  Romans.  Honest!  spadi- 
ces,  says  Virgil,  (Georgic.  I.  iii,  72,  with  the  observations  of  Martin 
and  Heyne).  2iraSi£  or  |3aicv,  signifies  a  branch  of  the  palm  tree, 
whose  name,  ^awf,  is  synonimous  to  red,  (Auhis  Gellius,  ii,  26). 

s  I  interpret  /2avJaXapiof,  not  as  a  proper  name,  but  an  office,  stand- 
ard-bearer, from  bandum,  (vesillnm),  a  barbaric  word  adopted  by  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  (Paul  Diacon.  1.  i,  c.  20,  p.  760.  Grot.  Nomina 
Oothica,  p.  575.  Dticange,  Gloss.  Latin,  torn,  i,  p.  539,  540). 


228  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  tudes,  made  a  gradual,  and  at  length  a  precipi- 
J^^  •  tate,  retreat  to  the  gates  of  the  city  :  the  gates 
were  shut  against  the  fugitives  ;  and  the  pub- 
lic terror  was  increased,  by  the  report  that  Be- 
lisarius  was  slain.  His  countenance  was  indeed 
disfigured  by  sweat,  dust,  and  blood ;  his  voice 
was  hoarse,  his  strength  was  almost  exhausted  ; 
but  his  unconquerable  spirit  still  remained  ;  he 
imparted  that  spirit  to  his  desponding  compa- 
nions ;  and  their  last  desperate  charge  was  felt 
by  the  flying  barbarians,  as  if  a  new  army,  vi- 
gorous and  entire,  had  been  poured  from  the 
valour  of  Q\^  Tta  Flaminian  was  thrown  open  to  a 

Belisarms.         - 

real  triumph  ;  but  it  was  not  before  Belisarius 
had  visited  every  post,  and  provided  for  the 
public  safety,  that  he  could  be  persuaded  by 
his  wife  and  friends,  to  taste  the  needful  re- 
freshments of  food  and  sleep.  In  the  more  im- 
proved state  of  the  art  of  war,  a  general  is  sel- 
dom required,  or  even  permitted,  to  display  the 
personal  prowess  of  a  soldier  :  and  the  exam- 

Iple  of  Belisarius  may  be  added  to  the  rare  ex- 
amples of  Henry  IV.  of  Pyrrhus,  and  of  Alex- 
ander. 

HU  de-  After  this  first  and  unsuccessful  trial  of  their 
enemies,  the  whole  army  of  the  Goths  passed 
the  Tiber,  and  formed  the  siege  of  the  city, 
which  continued  above  a  year,  till  their  final 
departure.  Whatever  fancy  may  conceive,  the 
severe  compass  of  the  geographer  defines  the 
circumference  of  Rome  within  a  line  of  twelve 
miles  and  three  hundred  and  forty-five  paces  ; 
and  that  circumference,  except  in  the  Vatican, 
has  invariably  been  the  same  from  the  triumph 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  22D 

of  Aurelian  to  the  peaceful  but  obscure  reign  CHAP. 
of  the  modern  popes. h  But  in  the  day  of  her  ,^,.,J,, 
greatness,  the  space  within  her  walls  was 
crowded  with  habitations  and  inhabitants  ;  and 
the  populous  suburbs,  that  stretched  along  the 
public  roads,  were  darted  like  so  many  rays 
from  one  common  centre.  Adversity  swept 
away  these  extraneous  ornaments,  and  left  na- 
ked and  desolate  a  considerable  part  even  of 
the  seven  hills.  Yet  Rome,  in  its  present  state, 
could  send  into  the  field  above  thirty  thousand 
males,  of  a  military  age ;!  and,  notwithstanding 
the  want  of  discipline  and  exercise,  the  far 
greater  part,  inured  to  the  hardships  of  pover-  s 

ty,  might  be  capable  of  bearing  arms  for  the 
defence  of  their  country  and  religion.  The  pru- 
dence of  Belisarius  did  not  neglect  this  impor- 
tant resource.  His  soldiers  were  relieved  by 
the  zeal  and  diligence  of  the  people,  who  watch- 
ed while  they  slept,  and  laboured  while  they  re- 
posed :  he  accepted  the  voluntary  service  of 
the  bravest  and  most  indigent  of  the  Roman 
youth  ;  and  the  companies  of  townsmen  some- 
times represented,  in  a  vacant  post,  the  pre- 
sence of  the  troops  which  had  been  drawn; 
away  to  more  essential  duties.  But  his  just 

"  M  d'Anville  has  given,  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy  for  the 
year  1756,  (torn,  xxx,  p.  198-236),  a  plan  of  Rome  on  a  smaller  scale, 
but  far  more  accurate  than  that  which  he  had  delineated  in  1738  for 
Rollin's  history.  Experience  had  improved  his  knowledge;  and,  in- 
stead of  Rossi's  topography,  he  used  the  new  and  excellent  map  of 
Nolli.  Pliny's  old  measure  of  xiii  must  be  reduced  to  viii  miles.  It 
is  easier  to  alter  a  text,  than  to  remove  hills  or  buildings. 

1  In  the  year  1709,  Labat  (Voyages  en  Italic,  torn,  iii,  p.  218) 
reckoned  138/68  Christian  souls,  besides  8  or  10,000  Jews — without 
souls.  In  the  year  1763,  the  number*  exceeded  160,000  . 


230  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  confidence  was  placed  in  the  veterans  who  had 

YT  T 

fought  under  his  banner  in  the  Persian  and 
African  wars  ;  and  although  that  gallant  baud 
was  reduced  to  five  thousand  men,  he  under- 
took, with  such  contemptible  numbers,  to  de- 
fend a  circle  of  twelve  miles,  against  an  army 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  barbarians. 
In  the  walls  of  Rome,  which  Belisarius  con- 
structed or  restored,  the  materials  of  ancient 
architecture  may  be  discerned  ;k  and  the  whole 
fortification  was  completed,  except  in  a  chasm 
still  extant  between  the  Pincian  and  Flaminian 
gates,  which  the  prejudices  of  the  Goths  and 
Romans  left  under  the  effectual  guard  of  St. 
Peter  the  apostle.1  The  battlements  or  bas- 
tions were  shaped  in  sharp  angles ;  a  ditch, 
broad  and  deep,  protected  the  foot  of  the  ram- 
part ;  and  the  archers  on  the  rampart  were  as- 
sisted by  military  engines  ;  the  balista,  a  pow- 
erful cross-bow,  which  darted  short  but  massy 
arrows  ;  the  onagri,  or  wild  asses,  which,  on 
the  principle  of  a  sling,  threw  stones  and  bul- 
lets of  an  enormous  size.m  A  chain  was  drawn 
across  the  Tiber ;  the  arches  of  the  aqueducts 
were  made  impervious,  and  the  mole  or  sepul- 

k  The  accurate  eye  of  Nardini  (Roma  Antica,  1.  i,  c.  viii,  p.  31) 
could  distinguish  the  tumultuaric  di  Belisario. 

1  The  fissure  and  leaning  in  the  upper  part  of  the  wall,  which  Pro- 
copitis  observed,  (Goth.  1.  i,  c.  13),  is  visible  to  the  present  hour, 
(Donat.  Roma  Vetus,  1.  1,  c.  17,  p.  53,  54). 

m  Lipsius  (Opp.  torn,  iii ;  Poliorcet.  1.  iii)  was  ignorant  of  this  clear 
and  conspicnous  passage  of  Proconius,  (Goth,  1.  i,  c.  21).  The  engine 
was  named  «v«ypo?,  the  wild  ass,  a  caicitrando,  (Hen.  Steph.  Thesanr. 
Linguae  Graaec.  torn,  ii,  p.  1340,  1341 ;  torn,  iii,  p.  877).  1  have  seen 
an  ingenious  model,  contrived  and  executed  by  General  Melville, 
which  imitates  or  surpasses  the  art  of  antiquity. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  231 

of  Hadrian."  was  converted,  for  the  first  CHAV. 

VT  |- 

time,  to  the  uses  of  a  citadel.     That  venerable  ^_ 

structure,  w hich  contained  the  ashes  of  the 
Antonines^  was  a  circular  turret  rising  from  a 
quadrangular  basis  :  it  was  covered  with  the 
white  marble  of  Paros,  and  decorated  by  the 
statues  of  gods  and  heroes ;  and  the  lover  of 
the  arts  must  read  with  a  sigh,  that  the  works 
of  Praxiteles  or  Lysippus  were  torn  from  their 
lofty  pedestal,  and  hurled  into  the  ditch  on  the 
heads  of  the  besiegers,0  To  each  of  his  lieute- 
nants, Belisarius  assigned  the  defence  of  a  gate, 
with  the  wise  and  peremptory  instruction,  that, 
whatever  might  be  the  alarm,  they  should  stea- 
dily adhere  to  their  respective  posts,  and  trust 
their  general  for  the  safety  of  Rome.  The  for- 
midable host  of  the  Goths  was  insufficient  to 
embrace  the  ample  measure  of  the  city  ;  of  the 
fourteen  gates,  seven  only  were  invested  from 
the  PraBnestine  to  the  Flaminian  way  ;  and  Vi- 
tiges  divided  his  troops  into  six  camps,  each 
of  which  was  fortified  with  a  ditch  and  rampart. 
On  the  Tuscan  side  of  the  river,  a  seventh  en- 
campment was  formed  in  the  field  or  circus  of 
the  Vatican,  for  the  important  purpose  of  com- 
manding the  Milvian  bridge  and  the  course  of 
the  Tiber ;  but  they  approached  with  devotion 

•  The  description  of  this  mausoleum,  or  mole,  in  Procopius,  (1.  i,  c. 
25)  is  the  first  and  best.  The  height  above  the  walls  a^eScy  i;  Xi0»  9«x»» 
On  Nolli's  great  plan,  the  sides  measure  260  English  feet. 

0  Praxiteles  excelled  in  Fauns,  and  that  of  Athens  was  his  ownmas« 
ter-piece.  Rome  now  contains  above  thirty  of  the  same  character.— 
When  the  ditch  of  St.  Angelo  was  claused  under  Urban  VIII,  the 
workmen  found  the  sleeping  Faun  of  the  Berbciini  palace-,  but  a  leg. 
a  thigh,  and  the  right  arm,  had  been  broken  from  t!;at  beautiful  «ta. 
tue,  (Winrkelman,  Hist,  de  1'Art,  lorn  ii,  p.  52,  53 ;  torn,  iii,  p.  265> 


23'2  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CVH,ATP'    the   adjacent   church   of  St.   Peter :  and    the 

A  I  - 1 . 

threshold  of  the  holy   apostles  was  respected 

during  the  siege  by  a  Christian  enemy.  In  the 
ages  of  victory,  as  often  as  the  senate  decreed 
some  distant  conquest,  the  consul  denounced 
hostilities,  by  unbarring,  in  solemn  pomp,  the 
gates  of  the  temple  of  Janus.p  Domestic  war 
now  rendered  the  admonition  superfluous,  and 
the  ceremony  was  superseded  by  the  establish- 
ment of  a  new  religion.  But  the  brazen  tem- 
ple of  Janus  was  left  standing  in  the  forum  ;  of 
a  size  sufficient  only  to  contain  the  statue  of 
the  god,  five  cubits  in  height,  of  a  human  form, 
but  with  two  faces,  directed  to  the  east  and 
west.  The  double  gates  were  likewise  of  brass, 
and  a  fruitless  effort  to  turn  them  on  their  rus- 
ty hinges,  revealed  the  scandalous  secret,  that 
some  Romans  were  still  attached  to  the  super- 
stition of  their  ancestors. 

general**  *      Eighteen   days  were  employed  by  the  be- 
assauit  of  siegers,  to  provide  all  the  instruments  of  attack 

theGothi.         *?  .....  ,         -^ 

which  antiquity  had  invented,  rascmes  were 
prepared  to  fill  the  ditches,  scaling-ladders  to 
ascend  the  walls.  The  largest  trees  of  the  fo- 
rest supplied  the  timbers  of  four  battering- 
rams  ;  their  heads  were  armed  with  iron ;  they 
were  suspended  by  ropes,  and  each  of  them 
was  worked  by  the  labour  of  fifty  men.  The 
lofty  wooden  turrets  moved  on  wheels  or  rol- 
lers, and  formed  a  spacious  platform  of  the  le- 

p  Procopius  has  giren  the  best  description  of  the  temple  of  Janus,  a 
national  deity  of  Latium,  (Heyne,  F.xcuvs.  v,  ad  1.  vii,  JEneid).  It 
was  once  a  gate  in  the  primitive  city  of  Romulus  and  Numa,  (Nardini, 
p.  13,  256,  329).  Virgil  has  described  the  ancient  rite,  like  a  poet  and 
an  antiquarian. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  233 

vel  of  the  rampart.  On  the  morning  of  the  CHAP. 
nineteenth  day,  a  general  attack  was  made  from  ^ 
the  Prsenestine  gate  to  the  Vatican  :  seven  Go- 
thic columns,  with  their  military  engines,  ad- 
vanced to  the  assault ;  and  the  Romans  who 
lined  the  ramparts,  listened  with  doubt  and 
anxiety  to  the  cheerful  assurances  of  their  com- 
mander. As  soon  as  the  enemy  approached 
the  ditch,.  Belisarius  himself  drew  the  first  ar- 
row ;  and  such  was  his  strength  and  dexterity, 
that  he  transfixed  the  foremost  of  the  barbarian 
leaders.  A  shout  of  applause  and  victory  was 
re-echoed  along  the  wall.  He  drew  a  second 
arrow,  and  the  stroke  was  followed  with  the 
same  success  and  the  same  acclamation.  The 
Roman  general  then  gave  the  word,  that  the 
archers  should  aim  at  the  teams  of  oxen ;  they 
were  instantly  covered  with  mortal  wounds; 
the  towers  which  they  drew,  remained  useless 
and  immovable,  and  a  single  moment  discon- 
certed the  laborious  projects  of  the  king  of  the 
Goths.  After  this  disappointment,  Vitiges  still 
continued,  or  feigned  to  continue,  the  assault 
of  the  Salarian  gate,  that  he  might  divert  the 
attention  of  his  adversary,  while  his  principal 
forces  more  strenuously  attacked  the  Praenes- 
tine gate  and  the  sepulchre  of  Hadrian,  at  the 
distance  of  three  miles  from  each  other.  Near 
the  former,  the  double  walls  of  the  Vivarium'1 
were  low  or  broken  :  the  fortifications  of  the 


*  rinarttim  was  an  angle  in  tl.c  new  wall,  inclosed  for  wild  beast*, 
(Procopins,  Goth.  I.  i,  c.  23).  The  spot  is  still  visible  in  Nardiui  (i. 
i»,  c.  S.  p.  159,  100)  and  Nolli's  great  plan  of  Rome. 


234  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    latter  were  feebly  guarded :  the  vigour  of  the 

.„„  Goths  was  excited  by  the  hope  of  victory  and 

spoil ;  and  if  a  single  post  had  given  way,  the 
Romans,  and  Rome  itself,  were  irrecoverably 
lost.  This  perilous  day  was  the  most  glorious 
in  the  life  of  Belisarius.  Amidst  tumult  and 
dismay,  the  whole  plan  of  the  attack  and  de- 
fence was  distinctly  present  to  his  mind  ;  he 
observed  the  changes  of  each  instant,  weighed 
every  possible  advantage,  transported  his  per- 
son to  the  scenes  of  danger,  and  communicat- 
ed his  spirit  in  calm  and  decisive  orders.  The 
contest  was  fiercely  maintained  from  morning 
to  the  evening ;  the  Goths  were  repulsed  on  all 
sides,  and  each  Roman  might  boast,  that  he 
had  vanquished  thirty  barbarians,  if  the  strange 
disproportion  of  numbers  were  not  counterba- 
lanced by  the  merit  of  one  man.  Thirty  thou- 
sand Goths,  according  to  the  confession  of 
their  own  chiefs,  perished  in  this  bloody  ac- 
tion:  and  the  multitude  of  the  wounded  was 
equal  to  that  of  the  slain.  When  they  advan- 
ced to  the  assault,  their  close  disorder  suffered 
not  a  javelin  to  fall  without  effect;  and  as  they 
retired,  the  populace  of  the  city  joined  the 
pursuit,  and  slaughtered,  with  impunity,  the 
backs  of  their  flying  enemies.  Belisarius  in- 
stantly sallied  from  the  gates  ;  and  while  the 
soldiers  chaunted  his  name.and  victory,  the  hos- 
tile engines  of  war  were  reduced  to  ashes. — 
Such  was  the  loss  and  consternation  of  the 
Goths,  that,  from  this  day,  the  siege  of  Rome 
degenerated  into  a  tedious  and  indolent  block- 
„  ade  ;  and  they  were  incessantly  harassed  by  the 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

Roman  general,  who,  in  frequent  skirmishes,   CHAP 
destroyed  above  five  thousand  of  their  bravest^     'J 
troops.     Their  cavalry  was  unpractised  in  the 
use  of  the  bow ;  their  archers  served  on  foot ; 
and  this  divided  force  was  incapable  of  con- 
tending with  their  adversaries,  whose  lances 
and  arrows,  at  a  distance,   or  at  hand,  were 
alike   formidable.     The  consummate   skill  o 
Belisarius  embraced  the  favourable  opportuni- 
ties :  and  as  he  chose  the  ground  and  the  mo- 
ment, as  he  pressed  the  charge,  or  sounded  the 
retreat/  the  squadrons  which  he  detached  were 
seldom  unsuccessful.     These  partial  advanta- 
ges  diffused  an  impatient  ardour   among  the 
soldiers  and  people,  who  began  to  feel  the  hard- 
ships of  a  siege,  and  to  disregard  the  dangers 
of  a  general  engagement.     Each  plebeian  con- 
ceived himself  to  be  an  hero,  and  the  infantry, 
who,  since  the  decay  of  discipline,  were  reject- 
ed from  the  line  of  battle,  aspired  to  the  an-r 
cient  honours  of  the  Roman  legion.     Belisarius 
praised   the  spirit  of  his    troops,    condemned 
their  presumption,  yielded  to  their  clamours, 
and  prepared  the  remedies  of  a  defeat,  the  pos- 
sibility of  which  he  alone  had  courage  to  sus- 
pect.    In  the  quarter  of  the  Vatican,   the  Ro- 
mans prevailed ;  and  if  the  irreparable  moments 
had  not  been  wasted  in  the  pillage  of  the  camp, 
they  might  have  occupied  the  Milvian  bridge, 
and  charged  in  the  rear  of  the  Gothic  host. — 

r  For  the  Roman  trumpet  and  its  various  notes,  consult  Lipsins,  d« 
Militia,  Romana,  (Opp.  torn,  iii,  1.  IT.;  Dialog,  x,  p.  125-129}  A 
mode  of  distinguishing  the  charge  by  the  horse-trumpet  of  solid  brats, 
and  the  retreat  by  th«  foot-trumpet  of  leather  and  light  wood,  was  re- 
commended bv  Procopiu?,  and  adopted  by  Belisarius,  (Goth.  1.  ii,  c, 
23) 


236  THE  DECLINE  AND  PALL 

CHAP.    On  the  other  side  of  the  Tiber,  Belisarius  ad- 
LI'     vanced  from  the  Pincian  and  Salarian  ffates.— 

•***+**rr+* 

But  his  army,  four  thousand  soldiers  perhaps, 
was  lost  in  a  spacious  plain ;  they  were  encom- 
passed and  oppressed  by  fresh  multitudes,  who 
continually  relieved  the  broken  ranks  of  the 
barbarians.  The  valiant  leaders  of  the  infan- 
try were  unskilful  to  conquer;  they  died  :  the 
retreat,  (an  hasty  retreat)  was  covered  by  the 
prudence  of  the  general,  and  the  victors  start- 
ed back  with  affright  from  the  formidable  as- 
pect of  an  armed  rampart.  The  reputation  of 
Belisarius  was  unsullied  by  a  defeat ;  and  the 
vain  confidence  of  the  Goths  was  not  less  ser- 
viceable to  his  designs,  than  the  repentance 
and  modesty  of  the  Roman  troops. 
DUtre«»of  From  the  moment  that  Belisarius  had  deter- 
the  city,  mined  to  sustain  a  siege,  his  assiduous  care 
provided  Rome  against  the  danger  of  famine, 
more  dreadful  than  the  Gothic  arms.  An  ex- 
traordinary supply  of  corn  was  imported  from 
Sicily  :  the  harvests  of  Campania  and  Tuscany 
were  forcibly  swept  for  the  use  of  the  city  :  and 
the  rights  of  private  property  were  infringed 
by  the  strong  plea  of  the  public  safety.  It 
might  easily  be  foreseen  that  the  enemy  would 
intercept  the  aqueducts  ;  and  the  cessation  oi1 
the  water-mills  was  the  first  inconvenience, 
which  was  speedily  removed  by  mooring  large 
vessels,  and  fixing  mill-stones  in  the  current  o. 
the  river.  This  stream  was  soon  embarrassec 
by  the  trunks  of  trees,  and  polluted  with  dead 
bodies  ;  yet  so  effectual  were  the  precautions 
of  the  Roman  general,  that  the  waters  of  the 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  237 

Tiber  still  continued  to  give  motion  to  the  mills  CHAP. 
and  drink  to  the  inhabitants  ;  the  more  distant 
quarters  were  supplied  from  domestic  wells  : 
and  a  besieged  city  might  support,  without  im- 
patience, the  privation  of  her  public  baths.  A 
large  portion  of  Rome,  from  the  Praenestine 
gate  to  the  church  of  St.  Paul,  was  never  in- 
vested by  the  Goths ;  their  excursions  were  re- 
strained by  the  activity  of  the  Moorish  troops  ; 
the  navigation  of  the  Tiber,  and  the  Latin,  Ap- 
pian,  and  Ostian  ways,  were  left  free  and  un- 
molested for  the  introduction  of  corn  and  cattle, 
or  the  retreat  of  the  inhabitants,  who  sought  a 
refuge  in  Campania  or  Sicily.  Anxious  to  re- 
lieve himself  from  an  useless  and  devouring 
multitude,  Belisarius  issued  his  peremptory  or- 
ders for  the  instant  departure  of  the  women, 
the  children,  and  the  slaves ;  required  his  sol- 
diers to  dismiss  their  male  and  female  atten- 
dants, and  regulated  their  allowance,  that  one 
moiety  should  be  given  in  provisions,  and  the 
other  in  money.  His  foresight  was  justified 
by  the  increase  of  the  public  distress,  as  soon 
as  the  Goths  had  occupied  two  important  posts 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome.  By  the  loss  of 
the  port,  or,  as  it  is  now  called,  the  city  of  Por- 
to, he  was  deprived  of  the  country  on  the  right 
of  the  Tiber,  and  the  best  communication  with 
the  sea ;  and  he  reflected  with  grief  and  anger, 
that  three  hundred  men,  could  he  have  spared 
such  a  feeble  band,  might  have  defended  its  im- 
pregnable works.  Seven  miles  from  the  capi- 
tal, between  the  Appian  and  the  Latin  ways, 
two  principal  aqueducts,  crossing,  and  again 


238  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  crossing  each  other,  inclosed  within  their  solid 
XLL  and  lofty  arches  a  fortified  space,1  where  Viti- 
ges  established  a  camp  of  seven  thousand  Goths 
to  intercept  the  convoys  of  Sicily  and  Campa- 
nia. The  granaries  of  Rome  were  insensihly 
exhausted,  the  adjacent  country  had  been  wast-' 
ed  with  fire  and  sword :  such  scanty  supplies 
as  might  yet  be  obtained  by  hasty  excursions, 
were  the  reward  of  valour,  and  the  purchase  of 
wealth  :  the  forage  of  the  horses,  and  the  bread 
of  the  soldiers,  never  failed  ;  but  in  the  last 
months  of  the  siege,  the  people  were  exposed 
to  the  miseries  of  scarcity,  unwholesome  food,1 
and  contagious  disorders.  Belisarius  saw  and 
pitied  their  sufferings  ;  but  he  had  foreseen, 
and  he  watched  the  decay  of  their  loyalty,  and 
the  progress  of  their  discontent.  Adversity 
had  awakened  the  Romans  from  the  dreams  of 
grandeur  and  freedom,  and  taught  them  the 
humiliating  lesson,  that  it  was  of  small  moment 
to  their  real  happiness,  whether  the  name  of 
their  master  was  derived  from  the  Gothic  or 
the  Latin  language.  The  lieutenant  of  Justi- 
nian listened  to  their  just  complaints,  but  he 
rejected  with  disdain  the  idea  of  flight  or  capi- 
tulation ;  repressed  their  clamorous  impatience 

*  Procopius  (Goth  1.  ii,  c.  3),  has  forgot  to  name  these  aqueducts  .• 
nor  can  such  a  donble  intersection,  at  such  a  distance  from  Rome,  be 
clearly  ascertained  from  the  writings  of  Frontinus  Fabretti  and  E^ci.i- 
nard,  de  Aquis  and  de  Agro  Romano,  or  from  the  local  maps  of  La- 
raeti  and  Cingolani.  Seven  or  eight  miles  from  the  city,  (50  stadia), 
on  the  road  to  Albano,  between  the  Latin  and  Appian  ways,  I  discern 
the  remains  of  an  aqueduct,  (probably  the  Septimian),  a  series  (630 
pares)  of  arches  twenty-five  feet  high,  (t^nXw  fa-ayav). 

1  They  made  sausages,  aXXara?,  of  mules  flesh:  unwholesome,  if  the 
animals  had  died  of  the  plague.  Otherwise  the  famous  Bologna  sausa- 
ges are  said  to  be  made  of  ass  flesh,  (Voyages  de  Lehat,  torn,  ii,  p. 
218). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  239 

for  battle ;  amused  them  with  the  prospect  of  CHAP. 
sure  and  speedy  relief;  and  secured  himself ^^^J^, 
and  the  city  from  the  effects  of  their  despair  or 
treachery.  Twice  in  each  month  he  changed 
the  station  of  the  officers  to  whom  the  custody 
of  the  gates  was  committed:  the  various  pre- 
cautions,  of  patroles,  of  watch-words,  lights, 
and  music,  were  repeatedly  employed  to  disco- 
ver whatever  passed  on  the  ramparts ;  out- 
guards  were  posted  beyond  the  ditch,  and  the 
trusty  vigilance  of  dogs  supplied  the  more 
doubtful  fidelity  of  mankind.  A  letter  was  in- 
tercepted, which  assured  the  king  of  the  Goths, 
that  the  Asinarian  gate,  adjoining  to  the  Late- 
ran  church,  should  be  secretly  opened  to  his 
troops.  On  the  proof  or  suspicion  of  treason, 
several  senators  were  banished,  and  the  pope 
Sylveritis  was  summoned  to  attend  the"78ffre- NOT'.  IT.' 
setl'fcrtivt;  of  his  sovereign,  at  his  head-quarters 
in  the  Pincian  palace."  The  ecclesiastics  who 
followed  their  bishop,  were  detained  in  the  first 
or  second  apartment,"  and  he  alone  was  admit- 
ted to  the  presence  of  Belisarius.  The  con- 
queror of  Rome  and  Carthage  was  modestly 
seated  at  the  feet  of  Antonina,  who  reclined 
on  a  stately  couch:  the  general  was  silent,  but 

"  The  name  of  the  palace,  the  hill,  and  the  adjoining  gate,  were  all 
derived  from  the  senator  Pincius.  Some  recent  vestiges  of  temples 
and  churches  are  now  smoothed  in  the  garden  of  the  Minims  of  the 
Trinira  del  Monte,  (Nardini,  1.  iv,  c.  7,  p.  196 ;  Eschinard,  p.  209, 210 ; 
the  old  plan  of  Buffalino,  and  the  great  plan  of  Nolli).  Belisarius  had 
fixed  his  station  between  the  Pincian  and  Salarian  gates,  (Procop. 
Goth.  1.  i,  c.  15). 

*  From  the  mention  of  the  primum  et  sccnndum  velum,  it  should 
seem  that  Belisarius,  even  in  a  siege,  represented  the  emperor,  and 
maintained  the  proud  ceremonial  of  the  Byzantine  palace. 


240  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CH<VP.  the  voice  of  reproach  and  menace  issued  from 
~~^tne  mouth  of  his  imperious  wife.  Accused  by 
credible  witnesses,  and  the  evidence  of  his  own 
subscription,  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  was 
despoiled  of  his  pontifical  ornaments,  clad  in 
the  mean  habit  of  a  monk,  and  embarked, 
without  delay,  for  a  distant  exile  in  the  East. 
At  the  emperor's  command,  the  clergy  of  Rome 
proceeded  to  the  choice  of  a  new  bishop ;  and 
after  a  solemn  invocation  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
elected  the  deacon  Vigilius,  who  had  purchas- 
ed the  papal  throne  by  a  bribe  of  two  hundred 
pounds  of  gold.  The  profit,  and  consequent- 
ly the  guilt,  of  this  simony,  was  imputed  to 
Belisarius  :  but  the  hero  obeyed  the  orders  oJ 
his  wife  :  Antonina  served  the  passions  of  the 
empress ;  and  Theodora  lavished  her  trea- 
sures, in  the  vain  hope  of  obtaining  a  pontiff 
hostile  or  indifferent  to  the  council  of  Chalce- 
don.y 

Deliver.  The  epistie  of  Belisarius  to  the  emperor 
theCcity.  announced  his  victory,  his  danger,  and  his 
resolution.  "  According  to  your  commands, 
"  we  have  entered  the  dominions  of  the  Goths, 
"  and  reduced  to  your  obedience,  Sicily,  Cam- 
"  pania,  and  the  city  of  Rome :  but  the  loss 
"  of  these  conquests  will  be  more  disgrace- 
"  ful  than  their  acquisition  was  glorious.  Hi- 
"  therto  we  have  successfully  fought  against 
"  the  multitude  of  the  barbarians,  but  their 

1  Of  this  act  of  sacrilege,  Procopius  (Goth.  1.  i,  c.  25)  is  a  dry  and 
reluctant  witness.  The  narratives  of  Liberatns,  (Breviarium,  c.  22), 
and  Anastasins,  (de  Vit.  Pont  p.  39),  are  characteristic,  but  passion- 
ate. Hear  the  execrations  of  Cardinal  Baronins,  (A.  D.  536,  N"  121; 
A:  D.  538,  N  4-20)  :  portentnm,  fad  mis  onmi  execratione  dignum 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  241 

"  multitudes  may  finally  prevail.    Victory  is  the    CHAP. 

"  gift  of  Providence,  but  the  reputation  of  kings >x^ 

"  and  generals  depends  on  the  success  or  the 
"  failure  of  their  designs.  Permit  me  to  speak 
"  with  freedom :  if  you  wish  that  we  should 
"  live,  send  us  subsistence ;  if  you  desire  that 
"  we  should  conquer,  send  us  arms,  hprses, 
"  and  men.  The  Romans  liave  received  us  as 
"  friends  and  deliverers;  but  in  our  present  dis- 
"  tress,  they  will  be  either  betrayed  by  their 
"  confidence,  or  we  shall  be  oppressed  by  their 
"  treachery  and  hatred.  For  myself,  my  life  is 
"  consecrated  to  your  service:  it  is  yours  to 
"  reflect,  whether  my  death  in  this  situation 
"  will  contribute  to  the  glory  and  prosperity 
"  of  your  reign."  Perhaps  that  reign  would 
have  been  equally  prosperous,  if  the  peaceful 
master  of  the  East  had  abstained  from  the  con- 
quest of  Africa  and  Italy;  but  as  Justinian 
Avas  ambitious  of  fame,  he  made  some  efforts, 
they  were  feeble  and  languid,  to  support  and 
rescue  his  victorious  general.  A  reinforcement 
of  sixteen  hundred  Sclavonians  and  Huns  was 
led  by  Martin  and  Valerian;  and  as  they  had 
reposed  during  the  winter  season  in  the  har- 
bours of  Greece,  the  strength  of  the  men  and 
horses  was  not  impaired  by  the  fatigues  of  a 
sea-voyage;  and  they  distinguished  their  va- 
lour in  the  first  sally  against  the  besiegers. — 
About  the  time  of  the  summer  solstice,  Euthalius 
landed  atTerracinawith  large  sums  of  money  for 
the  payment  of  the  troops ;  he  cautiously  proceed- 
ed along  the  Appian  way,  and  this  convoy  entered 
VOL  vii.  K 


242  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.    Rome  through  the  gate  Capena,'  while  Belisa- 

'ffff  rius,  on  the  other  side,  diverted  the  attention  of 

the  Goths  by  a  vigorous  and  successful  skir- 
mish. These  seasonable  aids,  the  use  and  re- 
putation of  which  were  dexterously  managed 
by  the  Roman  general,  revived  the  courage,  or 
at  least  the  hopes,  of  the  soldiers  and  people. 
The  historian  Procopius  was  despatched  with 
an  important  commission,  to  collect  the  troops 
and  provisions  which  Campania  could  furnish, 
or  Constantinople  had  sent;  and  the  secretary 
of  Belisarius  was  soon  followed  by  Antoniua 
herself,*  who  boldly  traversed  the  posts  of  the 
enemy,  and  returned  with  the  oriental  succours 
to  the  relief  of  her  husband  and  the  besieged 
city.  A  fleet  of  three  thousand  Isaurians  cast 
anchor  in  the  bay  of  Naples,  and  afterwards 
at  Ostia.  Above  two  thousand  horse,  of  whom 
a  part  \jpere  Thracians,  landed  at  Tarentum ; 
and,  after  the  junction  of  five  hundred  soldiers 
of  Campania,  and  a  train  of  waggons  laden  with 
wine  and  flour,  they  directed  their  march  on 
the  Appian  way,  from  Capua  to  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Rome.  The  forces  that  arrived  by 
land  and  sea,  were  united  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Tiber.  Antonina  convened  a  council  of  war, 
it  was  resolved  to  surmount  with  sails  and  oars, 
the  adverse  stream  of  the  river:  and  the  Goths 
were  apprehensive  of  disturbing,  by  any  rash 

z  The  old  Capena  was  removed  by  Aurelian  to,  or  near  the  modern 
,      gate  of  St.  Sebastian,    (see  Nolli's  plan).    That  memorable  spot  has 
been  consecrated  by  the  Egerian  grove,  the  memory  of  Nunia,  trium- 
:phal  arches,  the  sepulchres  of  the  Scipios,  Metelli,  &c. 

*  The  expression  of  Proeophis  has  an  invidious  cast — TU^K»  s*  rt 
ar^aXuj  TDV  a-^yi  TOpXttjifani  KaeaSaxsiy,  (Goth.  I.  ii,  c.  4).  Yet  he  i: 
speakiti"  of  ?•  woman. 


-OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  243 

hostilities,  the  negotiation  to  which  Belisarius    CHAP. 
had  craftily  listened.      They   credulously  be- ^ 


lieved,  that  they  saw  no  more  than  the  vanguard 
of  a  fleet  arid  army,  which  already  covered  the 
Ionian  sea  and  the  plains  of  Campania;  and  the 
illusion  was  supported  by  the  haughty  lan- 
guage of  the  Roman  general,  when  he  gave  au- 
dience to  the  ambassadors  of  Vitiges.  After  a 
specious  discourse  to  vindicate  the  justice  of 
his  cause,  they  declared  that  for  the  sake  of 
peace  they  were  disposed  to  renounce  the  pos- 
session of  Sicily.  "  The  emperor  is  not  less 
generous,"  replied  his  lieutenant,  with  a  dis- 
dainful smile ;  "  in  return  for  a  gift  which  you 
"  no  longer  possess,  he  presents  you  with  an 
"  ancient  province  of  the  empire ;  he  resigns  to 
"  the  Goths  the  sovereignty  of  the  British 
"island."  Belisarius  rejected  with  equal  firm- 
ness aud  contempt  the  offer  of  a  tribute ;  but 
he  allowed  the  Gothic  ambassadors  to  seek 
their  fate  from  the  mouth  of  Justinian  himself; 
and  consented,  with  seeming  reluctance,  to  a 
truce  of  three  months,  from  the  winter  solstice 
to  the  equinox  of  spring.  Prudence  might  not 
safely  trust  either  the  oaths  or  hostages  of  the 
barbarians,  but  the  conscious  superiority  of  the 
Roman  chief  was  expressed  in  the  distribution 
of  his  troops.  As  soon  as  fear  or  hunger  com- 
pelled the  Goths  to  evacuate  Alba,  Porto,  and 
Centumacellse,  their  place  was  instantly  sup,- 
plied ;  the  garrisons  of  Narni,  Spoleto,  and  JJ2  ° 
Perusia,  were  reinforced,  and  the  seven  camps 
of  the  besiegers  were  gradually  encompassed 
with  the  calamities  of  a  siege.  The  prayers  and 


244  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  pilgrimage  of  Datius,  bishop  of  Milan,  were  not 
,~~J~,  without  effect;  and  he  obtained  one  thousand 
Thracians  and  Isaurians,  to  assist  the  revolt  of 
Liguria  against  her  Arian  tyrant.  At  the  same 
time,  John  the  Sanguinary,1  the  nephew  of  Vi- 
tal i  an,  was  detached  with  two  thousand  chosen 
horse,  first  to  Alba  on  the  Fucme  lake,  and  af- 
terwards to  the  frontiers  of  Picenum  on  the 
Hadriatic  sea.  "  In  that  province,"  said  Beli- 
sarius,  "  tiie  Goths  have  deposited  their  fazni- 
"  lies  and  treasures,  without  a  guard  or  the  sus- 
"  picion  of  danger.  Doubtless  they  will  vio- 
"  late  the  truce:  let  them  feel  your  presence  be- 
"  fore  they  hear  of  your  motions.  Spare  the 
"  Italians;  suffer  not  any  fortified  places  to  re- 
"  main  hostile  in  your  rear;  and  faithfully  re- 
"  serve  the  spoil  for  an  equal  and  common  par- 
"  tition.  It  would  not  be  reasonable,"  he  add- 
ed with  a  laugh,  "  that  whilst  we  are  toiling 
"  to  the  destruction  of  the  drones,  our  more 
"  fortunate  brethren  should  rifle  and  enjoy  the 

honey." 

The  whole  nation  of  the  Ostrogoths  had  been 
of     assembled  for' the  attack,   and  was  almost  en- 
A.  D.  538,  'tirely  consumed  in  the  siege  of  Rome.     If  any 
ch'      credit  be  due  to  an  intelligent  spectator,   one 
third  at  least  of  their  enormous  host  was  de- 
stroyed, in  frequent  and  bloody  combats  under 
the  walls  of  the  city.     The  bad  fame  and  per- 
nicious qualities  of  the  summer  air,  might  al- 
ready be  imputed  to  the  decay  of  agriculture 
and  population;   and  the  evils  of  famine  and  ' 

b  Anastasius  (p.  40)  has  preserved  this  epithet  of  Sawg-ui 
might  do  honour  to  a  tiger. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  245 

pestilence  were  aggravated  by  their  own  licen-   CHAP 

tiousness,    and  the    unfriendly   disposition  of _ 

the  country.  While  Vitiges  struggled  with  his 
fortune;  while  he  hesitated  between  shame  and 
ruin,  his  retreat  was  hastened  by  domestic 
alarms.  The  king  of  the  Goths  was  informed 
by  trembling  messengers,  that  John  the  Sangui- 
nary spread  the  devastation  of  war  from  the 
Appenine  to  the  Hadriatic ;  that  the  rich  spoils 
and  innumerable  captives  of  Picenum  were 
lodged  in  the  fortifications  of  Rimini ;  and  that 
this  formidable  chief  had  defeated  his  uncle, 
insulted  his  capital,  and  seduced,  by  secret 
correspondence,  the  fidelity  of  his  wife,  the  im- 
perious daughter  of  Amalasontha.  Yet,  before 
he  retired,  Vitiges  made  a  last  effort  either  to 
storm  or  surprise  the  city.  A  secret  passage 
was  discovered  in  one  of  the  aqueducts;  two 
citizens  of  the  Vatican  were  tempted  by  bribes 
to  intoxicate  the  guards  of  the  Aurelian  gate ; 
an  attack  was  meditated  on  the  walls  beyond 
the  Tiber  in  a  place  which  was  not  fortified 
.with  towers;  and  the  barbarians  advanced, 
with  torches  and  scaling-ladders,  to  the  assault 
of  the  Pincian  gate.  But  every  attempt  was 
defeated  by  the  intrepid  vigilance  of  Belisarius 
and  his  band  of  veterans,  who,  in  the  most 
perilous  moments,  did  not  regret  the  absence  of 
their  companions ;  and  the  Goths,  alike  desti- 
tute of  hope  and  subsistence,  clamorously  urged 
their  departure,  before  the  truce  should  expire, 
and  the  Roman  cavalry  should  again  be  united. 
One  year  and  nine  days  after  the  commencement 
of  the  siege,  an  army  so  lately  strong  and  trium- 


240  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    phant,  burnt  their  tents,  and  tumultuously  re 
Ll'    passed   the   Milvian  bridge.      They  repassed 


not  with  impunity:  their  thronging  multitudes, 
oppressed  in  a  narrow  passage,    were  driven 
head  long  into  the  Tiber,  by  their  own  fears  and 
the  pursuit  of  the  enemy;  and  the.  Roman  ge- 
neral, sallying  from  the  Pincian  gate,  inflicted 
a  severe  and  disgraceful  wound  on  their  retreat. 
The  slow  length  of  a   sickly  and  desponding 
host  was  heavily  dragged  along  the  Flaminian 
way;  from  whence  the  barbarians  were  some- 
times compelled  to  deviate,  lest  they  should  en- 
counter the  hostile  garrisons  that  guarded   the 
high   road  to  Rimini  and  Ravenna.      Yet  so 
powerful  was   this  flying  army,    that  Vitiges 
spared  ten  thousand  men  for  the  defence  of  the 
cities  which  he  was  most  solicitous  to  preserve, 
and  detached  his  nephew  Urias,  with  an  ade- 
quate force,   for  the  chastisement  of  rebellious 
Milan.     At  the  head  of  his  principal  army  he 
besieged  Rimini,  only  thirty-three  miles  distant 
from  the  Gothic  capital.     A  feeble  rampart,  and 
a  shallow  ditch,  were  maintained  by  the  skill 
and  valour  of  John  the  Sanguinary,  who  shared 
the  danger  and  fatigue  of  the  meanest  soldier, 
and  emulated,  on  a  theatre  less  illustrious,  the 
military  virtues  of  his  great  commander.     The 
towers  and  battering  engines  of  the  barbarians 
were  rendered  useless;    their  attacks  were  re- 
pulsed ;  and  the  tedious   blockade,  which  re- 
duced    the    garrison    to   the    last    extremity 
of   hunger,    afforded  time  for  the  union   and 
march  of  the  Roman  forces.      A  fleet  which 
had  surprised  Ancona,  sailed  along  the  coast  of 
the  Hadriatic,  to  the  relief  of  the  besieged  city. 


num. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  247 

The  eunuch  Narses  landed  in  Picenum  with   CHAP 

XL¥ 

two  thousand  Heruli  and  five  thousand  of  the  „„„,*„ 
bravest  troops  of  the  East.  The  rock  of  the 
Appenine  was  forced;  ten  thousand  veterans 
moved  round  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  under 
the  command  of  Belisarius  himself;  and  a  new 
army,  whose  encampment  blazed  with  innumer- 
able lights,  appeared  to  advance  along  the  Fla- 
minian  way.  Overwhelmed  with  astonishment 
and  despair  the  Goths  abandoned  the  siege  of 
Rimini,  their  tents,  their  standards,  and  their 
leaojers ;  and  Vitiges,  who  gave  or  followed  the 
example  of  flight,  never  halted  till  he  found  a  Retire  to, 
shelter  within  the  walls  and  morasses  of  Ra- 
venna. 

To  these  walls,  and  to  some  fortresses  desti-  Jealousy 
tute  of  any  mutual  support,  the  Gothic  mo-mai/ge-0* 
narchy  was  now  reduced.  The  provinces  of  "e™ls5'38p 
Italy  had  embraced  the  party  of  the  emperor; 
and  his  army,  gradually  recruited  to  the  num- 
ber of  twenty-thousand  men,  must  have  achiev- 
ed an  easy  and  rapid  conquest,  if  their  invinci- 
ble powers  had  not  been  weakened  by  the  dis- 
cord of  the  Roman  chiefs.  Before  the  end  of 
the  siege,  an  act  of  blood,  ambiguous  and  in- 
discreet, sullied  the  fair  fame  of  Belisarius. 
Presidius,  a  loyal  Italian,  as  he  fled  from  Ra- 
venna to  Rome,  was  rudely  stopped  by  Con- 
stantine,  the  military  governor  of  Spoleto,  and 
despoiled,  even  in  a  church,  of  two  daggers 
richly  inlaid  with  gold  and  precious  stones. 
As  soon  as  the  public  danger  had  subsided, 
Presidius  complained  of  the  loss  and  injury: 
his  complaint  was  heard,  but  the  order  of  res- 


2  18  THE  DECLINE  AND'  FALL 

CHAP,  titution  was  disobeyed  by  the  pride  and  avarice 
^  of  the  offender.  Exasperated  by  the  delay, 
Presidius  boldly  arrested  the  general's  horse  as 
he  passed  through  the  forum  ;  and  with  the 
spirit  of  a  citizen,  demanded  the  common  bene- 
fit of  the  Roman  laws.  The  honour  of  Belisa- 
rius  was  engaged;  he  summoned  a  council; 
claimed  the  obedience  of  his  subordinate  offi- 
cer ;  and  was  provoked  by  an  insolent  reply, 
to  call  hastily  for  the  presence  of  his  guards. 
Constantine,  viewing  their  entrance  as  the  sig- 
nal of  death,  drew  his  sword,  and  rushed  on 
the  general,  who  nimbly  eluded  the  stroke,  and 
was  protected  by  his  friends;  while  the  des- 
perate assassin  was  disarmed,  dragged  into  a 
neighbouring  chamber,  and  executed,  or  rather 
murdered,  by  the  guards,  at  the  arbitrary  com- 
.  mand  of  Belisarius.'  In  this  hasty  act  of  vio- 

Death  of 

Constan-  lence,  the  guilt  of  Constantme  was  no  longer 
remembered;  the  despair  and  death  of  that  va- 
liant officer  were  secretly  imputed  to  the  revenge 
of  Antonina;  and  each  of  his  colleagues,  con- 
scious of  the  same  rapine,  was  apprehensive  of 
the  same  fate.  The  fear  of  a  common  enemy 
suspended  the  effects  of  their  envy  and  discon- 
tent: but  in  the  confidence  of  approaching  vic- 
tory, they  instigated  a  powerful  rival  to  oppose 
the  conqueror  of  Rome  and  Africa.  From  the 

Naties.     domestic  service  of  the  palace,  and  the 


'  This  transaction  is  related  in  the  public  history  (Goth.  1.  ii,  c.  8) 
with  candour  or  caution  ;  in  the  Anecdotes  (c.  7)  with  malevolence 
or  freedom  ;  but  Marcellinus,  or  rather  his  continuator,  (in  Cliron.), 
casts  a  shade  of  premeditated  assassination  over  the  death  of  Constan- 
tine. He  had  performed  a  good  service  at  Rome  and  Spoleto,  (Pro- 
cop.  Goth.  1.  i,  c.  7,  14);  but  Alemaunus  confounds  him  with  a  Con- 
itantius  comes  stabuli 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  249 

stration  of  the  private  revenue,  Narses  the  CHAP. 
eunuch  was  suddenly  exalted  to  the  head  of  an 
army;  and  the  spirit  of  an  hero,  who  afterwards 
equalled  the  merit  and  glory  of  Belisarius, 
served  only  to  perplex  the  operations  of  the 
Gothic  war.  To  his  prudent  counsels,  the  re- 
lief of  Rimini  was  ascribed  by  the  leaders  of 
the  discontented  faction,  who  exhorted  Narses 
to  assume  an  independent  and  separate  com- 
mand. The  epistle  of  Justinian  had  indeed  en- 
joined his  obedience  to  the  general;  but  the 
dangerous  exception,  "  as  far  as  may  be  advan- 
"  tageous  to  the  public  service,"  reserved  some 
freedom  of  judgment  to  the  discreet  favourite, 
who  had  so  lately  departed  from  the  sacred  and 
familiar  conversation  of  his  sovereign.  In  the 
exercise  of  this  doubtful  right,  the  eunuch  per- 
petually dissented  from  the  opinions  of  Beli- 
sarius; and,  after  yielding  with  reluctance  to 
the  siege  of  Urbino,  he  deserted  his  colleague 
in  the  night,  and  marched  away  to  the  cou- 
quest  of  the  j3Emilian  province.  The  fierce  and 
formidable  bands  of  the  Heruli  were  attached 
to  the  person  of  Narses  ;d  ten  thousand  Romans 
and  confederates  were  persuaded  to  march  un- 
der his  banners;  every  malecontent  embraced 
the  fair  opportunity  of  revenging  his  private  or 
imaginary  wrongs ;  and  the  remaining  troops  of 
Belisarius  were  divided  and  dispersed  from  the 
garrisons  of  Sicily  to  the  shores  of  the  Hadriatic. 

4  They  refused  to  serve  after  bis  departure;  sold  their  captives  and 
cattle  to  the  Goths ;  and  swore  never  to  fight  against  them.  Proco- 
piiis  introduces  a  curious  digression  on  the  manners  and  adventures  of 
this  wandriing  nation,  a  part  of  whom  finally  emigrated  to  Tliulc  or 
Scandinavia,  (Golh.  1.  ii,  c.  14,  15). 


250  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.  His  skill  and  perseverance  overcame  every  ob- 
iL*'  stacle :  Urbino  was  taken,  the  sieges  of  Faesulae, 
Firmness  Orvieto,  and  Auximum,  were  undertaken  and 
*0f  vigorously  prosecuted;  and  the  eunuch  Narses 
was  at  length  recalled  to  the  domestic  cares  of 
the  palace.  All  dissentions  were  healed,  and 
all  opposition  was  subdued,  by  the  temperate 
authority  of  the  Roman  general,  to  whom  his 
enemies  could  not  refuse  their  esteem;  and 
Belisarius  inculcated  the  salutary  lesson,  that 
the  forces  of  the  state  should  compose  one  body 
and  be  animated  by  one  soul.  But,  in  the  in- 
terval of  discord,  the  Goths  were  permitted  to 
breathe;  an  important  season  was  lost,  Milan 
was  destroyed,  and  the  northern  provinces  of 
Italy  were  afflicted  by  an  inundation  of  the 
Franks. 

of  itaiy"  When  Justinian  first  meditated  the  conquest 
Franks  °^  Italy*  he  sent  ambassadors  to.  the  kings  of 
A.  D.  538,  the  Franks,  and  abjured  them,  by  the  common 
ties  of  alliance  and  religion,  to  join  in  the  holy 
enterprise  against  the  Arians.  The  Goths,  as 
their  wants  were  more  urgent,  employed  a  more 
effectual  mode  of  persuasion,  and  vainly  strove, 
by  the  gift  of  lands  and  money,  to  purchase  the 
friendship,  or  at  least  the  neutrality  of  a  light 
and  perfidious  nation."  But  the  arms  of  Beli- 
sarius, and  the  revolt  of  the  Italians,  had  no 
sooner  shaken  the  Gothic  monarchy,  than  Theo- 
debert  of  Austrasia,  the  most  powerful  and 
warlike  of  the  Merovingian  kings,  was  persuad- 

•  This  national  reproach  of  perfidy  (Procop.  Goth.  I.  ii,  c.  25)  of- 
fends the  ear  of  la  Mothe  le  Vayer,  (torn,  viii,  p.  163 — 165),  who  cri- 
ticises, as  if  he  had  not  read,  the  Greek  historian. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

cd  to  succour  their  distress  by  an  indirect  and    CHAP 

*V"T  I 

seasonable  aid.  Without  expecting  the  con-  ^ 
sent  of  their  sovereign,  ten  thousand  Burgun- 
dians,  his  recent  subjects,  descended  from  the 
Alps,  and  joined  the  troops  which  Vitiges  had 
sent  to  chastise  the  revolt  of  Milan.  After  an 
obstinate  siege,  the  capital  of  Liguria  was  re- 
duced by  famine,  but  no  capitulation  could  be 
obtained,  except  for  the  safe  retreat  of  the  Ro- 
man garrison.  Datius,  the  orthodox  bishop, 
who  had  seduced  his  countrymen  to  rebellion' 
and  ruin,  escaped  to  the  luxury  and  honours 
of  the  Byzantine  court;5  but  the  clergy,  per- 
haps the  Arian  clergy,  were  slaughtered  at  the 
foot  of  their  own  altars  by  the  defenders  of  the 
catholic  faith.  Three  hundred  thousand  males 
were  reported  to  be  slain  ;h  the  female  sex,  and 
the  more  precious  spoil,  was  resigned  to  the 
Bursrundians ;  and  the  houses,  or  at  least  the  J?cstr"c- 

.  tion  of 

walls  of  Milan,  were  levelled  with  the  ground.  Milan. 
The  Goths,  in  their  last  moments,  were  reveng- 
ed by  the  destruction  of  a  city,  second  only  to 
Rome  in  size  and  opulence,  m  me'spJendour  of 

.1.1  n  i  f   ii-  -—  -      .    i  IIL     i  •  • ""  ' "      r~ — mnifWTTi — viimjrfyHi*m{^rtm~~~'^^m*li^* 

its  Duildinsrs,  or  the  number  of  its  inhabitants; 

~r»    i  •          •  '7i  • 

and  Behsanus  sympathized  alone  m  the  fate  of 

'  Baronius  applauds  his  treason,  and  justifies  the  catholic  bishops— 
qui  ne  sub  heretico  principe  degaut  omnem  lapidem  movent — an  use- 
ful caution.  The  more  rational  Mnratori  (Annail  d'ltaiia,  torn,  v,  p. 
54)  hints  at  the  guilt  of  perjury,  and  blames  at  least  the  imprudence  of 
Datiui. 

8  St.  Datius  was  more  successful  against  devils  than  against  barba- 
rians. He  travelled  with  a  numerous  retinue,  and  occupied  at  Corinth 
a  large  house,  (Baronins,  A.  D.  538,  N°.  89  j  A  D.  539  N°.  20). 

h  Myj(«Xj{  TfuaxovTit,  (compare  Procopius,  Goth.  1.  ii,  c.  7,  21).  Yet 
such  population  is  incredible  ;  and  the  second  or  third  city  of  Italy 
need  not  repine  if  we  only  decimate  the  numbers  of  the  present  text. 
Both  Milan  and  Genoa  revived  in  less  than  thirty  years,  (Paul  Diacon. 
de  Gestis  Langobard.  1.  ii.  c.  38}. 


252  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  his  deserted  and  devoted  friends.  Encouraged 
XLL  by  this  successful  inroad,  Theodebert  himself, 
in  the  ensuing  spring,  invaded  the  plains  of  Italy 
with  an  army  of  one  hundred  thousand  barba- 
rians.1 The  king,  and  some  chosen  followers, 
were  mounted  on  horseback,  and  armed  with 
lances;  the  infantry,  without  bows  or  spears, 
were  satisfied  with  a  shield,  a  sword,  and  a 
double-edged  battle-axe,  which  in  their  hands 
became  a  deadly  and  unerring  weapon.  Italy 
trembled  at  the  march  of  the  Franks ;  and  both 
the  Gothic  prince  and  the  Roman  general,  alike 
ignorant  of  their  designs,  solicited  with  hope 
and  terror,  the  friendship  of  these  dangerous 
allies.  Till  he  had  secured  the  passage  of  the 
Po  on  the  bridge  of  Pavia,  the  grandson  of 
Cloyis  dissembled  his  intentions,  which  he  at 
length  declared,  by  assaulting,  almost  at  the 
same  instant,  the  hostile  camps  of  the  Romans 
and  Goths.  Instead  of  uniting  their  arms,  they 
fled  with  equal  precipitation ;  and  the  fertile, 
though  desolate,  provinces  of  Liguria  and 
jEmilia,  were  abandoned  to  a  licentious  host 
of  barbarians,  whose  rage  was  not  mitigated 
by  any  thoughts  of  settlement  or  conquest. 
Among  the  cities  which  they  ruined,  Genoa, 
not  yet  constructed  of  marble,  is  particularly 
enumerated:  and  the  deaths  of  thousands,  ac- 
cording to  the  regular  practice  of  war,  appear 
to  have  excited  less  horror  than  some  idola- 

1  Besides  Procopius,  perhaps  too  Roman,  seethe  Chronicles  ofMari' 
us  and  Marcellinus,  Jornandcs,  (in  Success.  Regn.  in  Muratori,  torn. 
i,«p.  241),  and  Gregory  of  Tours,  (1.  iii,  c.  32,  in  torn,  ii,  of  the  His- 
torians of  France).  Gregory  supposes  a  defeat  of  Belisarius,  who,  in 
Almoin,  (de  Gestis  Franc.  1.  ii,  c.  23,  in  torn,  iii,  p.  59),  is  slaiu  by  the 
Pranks. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  253 

trous  sacrifices  of  women  and  children,  which   CHAP. 

were  performed  with  impunity  in  the  camp  of,, 'w 

the  most  Christian  king.  If  it  were  not  a  me- 
lancholy truth,  that  the  first  and  most  cruel 
sufferings  must  be  the  lot  of  the  innocent  and 
helpless,  history  might  exult  in  the  misery  of 
the  conquerors,  who,  in  the  midst  of  riches, 
were  left  destitute  of  bread  or  wine,  reduced  to 
drink  the  waters  of  the  Po,  and  to  feed  on  the 
flesh  of  distempered  cattle.  The  dysentry 
swept  away  one-third  of  their  army;  and  the 
clamours  of  his  subjects,  who  were  impatient 
to  pass  the  Alps,  disposed  Theodebert  to  listen 
with  respect  to  the  mild  exhortations  of  Beli- 
sarius.  The  memory  of  this  inglorious  and  de- 
structive warfare  was  perpetuated  on  the  medals 
of  Gaul ;  and  Justinian,  without  unsheathing  • 
his  sword,  assumed  the  title  of  conqueror  of  the  I 
Franks.  The  Merovingian  prince  was  offend- 
ed by  the  vanity  of  the  emperor ;  he  affected 
to  pity  the  fallen  fortunes  of  the  Goths;  and 
his  insidious  offer  of  a  federal  union  was  forti- 
fied by  the  promise  or  menace  of  descending 
from  the  Alps  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  thou- 
sand men.  His  plans  of  conquest  were  bound- 
less and  perhaps  chimerical.  The  king  of 
Austrasia  threatened  to  chastise  Justinian,  and 
to  march  to  the  gates  of  Constantinople  :k 
he  was  overthrown  and  slain1  by  a  wild 

k  Agathias,  1.  i,  p.  14,  15.  Could  be  have  seduced  or  subdued  the 
Gepidae  or  Lombards  of  Pannonia,  the  Greek  historian  is  confident  that 
he  must  have  been  destroyed  in  Thrace. 

1  The  king  pointed  his  spear — the  bull  overturned  a  tree  on  his  head 
—he  expired  the  same  day.  Such  is  the  story  of  Agathias-;  but  the 
original  historians  of  France  (torn,  ii,  p.  202,  403,  558,667)  impute  hit 
death  to  a  fever. 


254  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    bull,"1  as  he  hunted  in  the  Belgic  or  German 
XLI*    forests. 

Beiisarius       As  soon  as  Belisaiuus  \vas  delivered  from  his 
Ravenna    f°reign  an^  domestic  enemies,  he  seriously  ap- 
plied his  forces  to  the  final  reduction  of  Italy. 
In  the  siege  of  Osimo,  the  general  was   nearly 
transpierced  with  an  arrow,  if  the  mortal  stroke 
had  not  been  intercepted  by  one  of  his  guards, 
who  lost  in  that  pious  office  the  use  of  his  hand. 
The  Goths  of  Osimo,   four  thousand   warriors, 
with  those  of  Fsesulse  and   the  Cottian  Alps, 
were  among  the  last  who  maintained  their  in- 
dependence; and  their  gallant  resistance,  which 
almost  tired  the  patience,  deserved  the  esteem, 
of  the  conqueror.     His   prudence  refused  to 
subscribe  the  safe  conduct  which   they  asked, 
to  join  their  brethren  of  Ravenna;    but  they 
saved,  by  an  honourable  capitulation,  one  moie- 
ty at  least  of  their  wealth,  with  the  free  alterna- 
tive of  retiring  peaceably  to  their  estates,  or  in- 
listing  to  serve  the  emperor  in  his  Persian  wars. 
The  multitudes  which  yet  adhered  to  the  stand- 
ard of  Vitiges,  far  surpassed  the  number  of  the 
Roman  troops ;  but  neither  prayers,   nor  defi- 
ance, nor  the  extreme  danger  of  his  most  faith- 
ful subjects,   could  tempt  the  Gothic  king  be- 
yond the  fortifications  of  Ravenna.     These  for- 
tifications were,  indeed,  impregnable  to  the  as- 
saults of  art  or  violence:  and  when  Beiisarius 
invested  the  capital,  he  was  soon  convinced  that 

m  Without  losing  myself  in  a  labyrinth  of  species  and  names — the 
aurochs,  urns,  bisons,  bubalus,  bonasus,  buffalo,  &c.  (Bnffon,  Hist. 
Nat.  torn,  xi,  and  Supplement,  torn,  iii,  vi),  it  is  certain,  that  in  the 
sixth  century  a  large  wild  species  of  horned  cattle  was  hunted  in  the 
great  forests  or'  the  Vosges  in  Lorraine,  and  the  Ardennes,  (Greg. 
Tnron.  Urn.  ii,  1.  x,  c.  10,  p.  369). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  2,56 

famine  only  could  tame  the  stubborn  spirit  of  CHAP. 
the  barbarians.  The  sea,  the  land,  and  the  _ 
channels  of  the  Po,  were  guarded  by  the  vigi- 
lance of  the  Roman  general;  and  his  morality 
extended  the  rights  of  war  to  the  practice  of  , 
poisoning  the  waters,*  and  secretly  firing  the 
granaries0  of  a  besieged  city.p  While  he  press- 
ed the  blockade  of  Ravenna,  he  was  surprised 
by  the  arrival  of  two  ambassadors  from  Con- 
stantinople, with  a  treaty  of  peace,  which  Jus- 
tinian had  imprudently  signed,  without  deign- 
ing to  consult  the  author  of  his  victory.  By 
this  disgraceful  and  precarious  agreement,  Italy 
and  the  Gothic  treasure  were  divided,  and  the 
provinces  beyond  the  Po  were  left  with  the  re- 
gal title  to  the  successor  of  Theodoric.  The 
ambassadors  were  eager  to  accomplish  their  sa- 
lutary commission ;  the  captive  Vitiges  accept- 
ed, with  transport,  the  unexpected  offer  of  a 
crown;  honour  was  less  prevalent  among  the 
Goths,  than  the  want  and  appetite  of  food ;  and 
the  Roman  chiefs,  who  murmured  at  the  con- 

h  In  the  siege  of  Auximimi,  he  first  laboured  to  demolish  an  old  aque- 
duct, and  then  cast  into  the  stream,  I.  dead  bodies  :  2.  mischievous 
herbs ;  and,  3.  quick  lime,  which  is  named  (says  Procopius,  1.  ii,  c. 
29).  TiTftvo;  l>y  the  ancients:  by  the  moderns  ao-8t?ts.  Yet  both  words 
are  used  as  synonymous  in  Galen,  Dioscorides,  and  Lucian,  (Hen. 
Steph.  Thesaur.  Ling.  Graec.  torn,  iii,  p.  748). 

0  The  Goths  suspected  Matuasuintha  as  an  accomplice  in  the  mis- 
chief, which  perhaps  was  occasioned  by  accidental  lightning. 

p  In  strict  philosophy,  a  limitation  of  the  rights  of  war  seems  to  im- 
ply nonsense  and  contradiction.  Grotius  himself  is  lost  in  an  idle  dis- 
tinction between  the  jus  naturae  and  the  jus  gentium,  between  poison 
and  infection.  He  balances  in  one  scale  the  passages  of  Homer, 
(Odyss.  A,  259,  &c.),  and  Floras,  (1.  ii,  c.  20,  N°.  7,  ult.)j  and  in  the 
other,  the  examples  of  Solon  (Pausanias,  1.  x,  c.  37)  and  Belisariui. 
See  his  great  work  De  Jure  Belli  et  Pacis,  1.  iii,  c.  4,s.  15,16,  17,  and 
in  Barbeyrac's  version,  torn,  ii,  p.  257,  &c.  Yet  lean  understand  the 
benefit  and  validity  of  an  agreement,  tacit  or  express,  mutually  to  ab- 
stain from  certain  modes  of  hostility.  See  the  Amphictyonic  oath  in 
Eschines.  de  Fals£  Legatione. 


THE  DECLINE  AND  PALL 

CHAP,  tinuance  of  the  war,  professed  implicit  subnris- 
sion  to  the  commands  of  the  emperor.  If  Be- 
lisarius  had  possessed  only  the  courage  of  a 
soldier,  the  laurel  would  have  been  snatched 
from  his  hand  by  timid  and  envious  counsels; 
but  in  this  decisive  moment,  he  resolved,  with 
the  magnanimity  of  a  statesman,  to  sustain  alone 
the  danger  and  merit  of  generous  disobedience. 
Each  of  his  officers  gave  a  written  opinion,  that 
the  siege  of  Ravenna  was  impracticable  and 
hopeless:  the  general  then  rejected  the  treaty 
of  partition,  and  declared  his  own  resolution 
of  leading  Vitiges  in  chains  to  the  feet  of  Justi- 
nian. The  Goths  retired  with  doubt  and  dis- 
may: this  peremptory  refusal  deprived  them  of 
the  only  signature  which  they  could  trust,  and 
filled  their  minds  with  a  just  apprehension,  that 
a  sagacious  enemy  had  discovered  the  full  ex- 
tent of  their  deplorable  state.  They  compared 
the  fame  and  fortune  of  Belisarius  with  the 
weakness  of  their  ill-fated  king;  and  the  com- 
parison suggested  an  extraordinary  project,  to 
which  Vitiges,  with  apparent  resignation,  was 
compelled  to  acquiesce.  Partition  would  ruin 
the  strength,  exile  would  disgrace  the  honour, 
of  the  nation;  but  they  offered  their  arms,  their 
treasures,  and  the  fortifications  of  Ravenna,  if 
Belisarius  would  disclaim  the  authority  of  a 
master,  accept  the  choice  of  the  Goths,  and 
assume,  as  he  had  deserved,  the  kingdom  of 
Italy.  If  the  false  lustre  of  a  diadem  could 
have  tempted  the  loyalty  of  a  faithful  subject, 
his  prudence  must  have  foreseen  the  incon- 
stancy of  the  barbarians,  and  his  rational  am- 
bition would  prefer  the  safe  and  honourable 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE,  257 

station  of  a  Roman  general.     Even  the  patience  CHAP 
and  seeming  satisfaction  with  which  he  enter-     XLL 
tained  a  proposal  of  treason,  might  be  suscep- 
tible of  a  malignant  interpretation.      But  the 
lieutenant  ot"  Justinian  was   conscious  of  his 
own  rectitude:    he   entered   into  a  dark  and 
crooked  path,  as  it  might  lead  to  the  voluntary 
submission  of  the  Goths ;  and  this  dexterous 
policy  persuaded  them  that  he  was  disposed  to 
comply  with  their  wishes,  without  engaging  an 
oath  or  a  promise  for  the  performance  of  a  trea- 
ty which  he  secretly  abhorred.     The  day  of  the 
surrender  of  Ravenna  was  stipulated  by  the 
Gothic  ambassadors :  a  fleet,  laden  with  provi- 
sions, sailed  as  a  welcome  guest  into  the  deepest 
recess  of  the  harbour:  the  gateg  were  opened  Subdues 
to  the  fancied   king  of  Italy;    and  Belisarius,  thic  kinV 
without  meeting  an  enemy,  triumphantly  inarch-  i™y°f 
ed  through  the  streets  of  an  impregnable  city.q  6; D- 53,9- 

•  i  i  December 

The  Romans  were  astonished  by  their  success; 
the  multitude  of  tall  and  robust  barbarians  were 
confounded  by  the  image  of  their  own  patience; 
and  the  masculine  females,  spitting  in  the  faces 
of  their  sons  and  husbands,  most  bitterly  re- 
proached them  for  betraying  their  dominion  and 
freedom  to  these  pigmies  of  the  south,  contempt- 
ible in  their  numbers,  diminutive  in  their  stature. 
Before  the  Goths  could  recover  from  the  first 
surprise,  and  claim  the  accomplishment  of  their 

q  Ravenna  was  taken,  not  in  the  year  540,  but  in  the  latter  end  of 
539  ;  and  Pagi  (torn,  ii,  p.  569)  is  rectified  by  Muratori,  (Annali 
d'ltalia,  torn,  v,  p.  62),  who  proves,  from  an  original  act  on  papyrus, 
(Antiquit.  Italiae  Medii  JEvi,  torn,  ii,  dissert,  xxxii,  p.  999—1007  ; 
Maffei,  Istoria  Diplomat,  p.  155—160),  that  before  the  3d  of  January 
640,  peace  and  free  correspondence  were  restored  between  Ravenna 
and  Faenza. 

VOL.    VII.  S 


>  THE  DECLINli  AND  FALL 

cn.\ij.   doubtful    hopes,    the    victor    established    his 
x^i.     pOwer  jn  Ravenna,   beyond  the  danger  of  re- 
Captivity  pentance  and  revolt.     Vitiges,  who  perhaps  had 
of  vitiges.  attempted  to  escape,   \vas  honourably  guarded 
in  his  palace;1"  the  flower  of  the  Gothic  youth 
was  selected  for  the  service  of  the  emperor;  the 
remainder  of  the  people  was  dismissed  to  their 
peaceful  habitations  in  the  southern  provinces; 
and  a  colony  of  Italians  was  invited  to  replenish 
the  depopulated  city.     The  submission  of  the 
capital  was  imitated  in  the  towns  and  villages 
of  Italy,  which  had  not  been  subdued,  or  even 
visited,  by  the  Romans;  and  the  independent 
Goths  who  remained  in  arms  at  Pavia  and  Ve- 
rona, were  ambitious  only  to  become  the'  sub- 
jects of  Belisarius.     But  his  inflexible  loyalty 
rejected,  except  as  the  substitute  of  Justinian, 
their  oaths  of  allegiance;    and  he  was   not  of- 
fended by  the  reproach  of  their  deputies,  that 
he  rather  chose  to  be  a  slave  than  a  king. 
Sdnrior-       After  the  second  victory  of  Belisarius,  envy 
ot  Beiisa-  again  whispered,  Justinian    listened,  and   the 
hero  was  recalled.    "  The  remnant  of  the  Gothic 
"  war  was  no  longer  worthy  of  his  presence:  a 
"  gracious  sovereign  was  impatient  to  reward 
«      "  his  services,  and  to  consult  his  Avisdom;  and 
"  he  alone  was  capable  of  defending  the   East 
"  against  the  innumerable  armies  of  Persia." 
Belisarius  understood  the  suspicion,  accepted 
the  excuse,    embarked  at  Ravenna  his  spoils 

"  He  was  seized  by- John  the  Sanguinary,  but  an  oath  or  sacrament 
was  pledged  for  his  safety  in  the  Basilica  Julii,  (Hist.  Miscell.  1.  xvii, 
iu  Miiratori,  torn  i,  p.  107).  Anastasius  (in  Vit.  Pont.  p.  40)  gives  a 
dark  but  probable  account.  Montfaucou  is  quoted  by  Mascou  (Hist, 
of  the  Germans,  xii,  21)  for  a  votive  shield  u-presenting  the  captivity 
wf  Vitiges}  and  now  in  ftie  collection  of  Signer  Laudi  at  Rome 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  259 

and  trophies;  and  proved  by  his  ready  obedi-  CHAP. 
ence,  that  such  an  abrupt  removal  from  the  ^f,'f.f. 
government  of  Italy  was  not  less  unjust  than  it 
might  have  been  indiscreet.  The  emperor  re- 
ceived with  honourable  courtesy,  both  Vitiges 
and  his  more  noble  consort:  and  as  the  king 
of  the  Goths  conformed  to  the  Athanasian  faith, 
he  obtained,  with  a  rich  inheritance  of  lands  in 
Asia,  the  rank  of  senator  and  patrician.1  Every 
spectator  admired,  without  peril,  the  strength 
and  stature  of  the  young  barbarians:  they 
adored  the  majesty  of  the  throne,  and  promised 
to  shed  their  blood  in  the  service  of  their  bene- 
factor. Justinian  deposited  in  the  Byzantine 
palace  the  treasures  of  the  Gothic  monarchy. 
A  flattering  senate  was  sometimes  admitted  to 
gaze  on  tne  magnificent  spectacle;  but  it  was 
enviously  secluded  from  the  public  view;  and 
the  conqueror  of  Italy  renounced,  without  a 
murmur,  perhaps  without  a  sigh,  the  well-earn- 
ed honours  of  a  second  triumph.  His  glory 
was  indeed  exalted  above  all  external  pomp; 
and  the  faint  and  hollow  praises  of  the  court 
were  supplied,  even  in  a  servile  age,  by  the  re- 
spect and  admiration  of  his  country.  When- 
ever he  appeared  in  the  streets  and  public  places 
of  Constantinople,  Belisarius  attracted  and  sa- 
tisfied the  eyes  of  the  people.  His  lofty  stature 
and  majestic  countenance  fulfilled  their  expec- 
tations of  an  hero ;  the  meanest  of  his  fellow- 

*  Vitiges  lived  two  years  at  Constantinople,  and  imperatoris  in  af- 
fectu  convictus  (or  conjunctus)  rebus  cxcessit  humanis.  His  widow, 
Mathasuenta,  the  wife  and  mother  of  the  patricians,  the  elder  and 
younger  Germanus,  united  the  streams  of- Anician  and  Amali  blood, 
(Jornandes,  c.  60,  p.  221,  in  Muratori,  torn.  L). 


SCO  THE  bKCLIX      AND  FALL 

CHAP,   citizens  were  emboldened  by  his  gentle  and  gra 
„„.'„'„„  cious  demeanour;  and  the  martial  train  which 
attended  his  footsteps,  left  his  person  more  ac- 
cessible than  in  a  day  of  battle.     Seven  thou- 
sand horsemen,  matchless  for  beauty  and  va- 
lour, were  maintained  in  the  service,  and  at  the 
private  expence  of  the  general.1     Their  prowess 
was  always  conspicuous  in  single  combats,  or 
in  the  foremost  ranks  ;  and  both  parties  confes- 
sed, that  in  the  siege  of  Rome,   the  guards   of 
Belisarius  had  alone  vanquished  the  barbarian 
host.     Their  numbers  were  continually  aug- 
mented by  the  bravest  and  most  faithful  of  the 
enemy;  and  his  fortunate  captives,  the  Vandals, 
the  Moors,  and  the  Goths,  emulated  the  attach- 
ment of  his  domestic  followers.     By  the  union 
of  liberality  and  justice,  he  acquired  the  love 
of  the  soldiers,  without  alienating  the  affections 
of  the  people.     The  sick  and  wounded   were 
relieved  with  medicines  and   money;  and  still 
more  efficaciously,   by  the  healing  visits  and 
smiles  of  their  commander.     The  loss  of  a  wea- 
pon or  an  horse  was  instantly  repaired,  and 
each  deed  of  valour  was  rewarded  by  the  rich 
and  honourable  gifts  of  a  bracelet  or  a  collar, 
which    were  rendered    more  precious  by  the 
judgment  of  Belisarius.     He  was  endeared  to 
the  husbandman,  by  the  peace  and  plenty  which 
they  enjoyed  under  the  shadow  of  his  standard. 
Instead  of  being  injured,   the  country  was  en- 

'  Procopius,  Goth.  1.  iii,  c.  1.  Aimoin,  a  French  monk  of  the  xith 
century,  who  had  obtained,  and  has  disfigured,  some  authentic  infor- 
mation of  Belisarius,  mentions,  in  his  name,  12,000  pueri  or  slaves— 
qnos  piopriis  alimus  stipendiis — besides  18,000  soldiers,  (Historians  of 
Fiance,  torn.  iii.  I)e  Gestis  Franc.  1-  ii,  c.  6,  p.  48). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  261 

riched  by  the  march  of  the  Roman  armies  ;  and   CHAP. 

\LI 

such  was  the  rigid  discipline  of  their  camp,  that , 'w 

not  an  apple  was  gathered  from  the  tree,  not  a 
path  could  be  traced  in  the  fields  of  corn.  Be- 
lisarius  was  chaste  and  sober.  In  the  license 
of  a  military  life,  none  could  boast  that  they 
had  seen  him  intoxicated  with  wine :  the  most 
beautiful  captives  of  Gothic  or  Vandal  race  were 
offered  to  his  embraces ;  but  he  turned  aside 
from  their  charms,  and  the  husband  of  Anto- 
nina  was  never  suspected  of  violating  the  laws 
of  conjugal  fidelity.  The  spectator  and  histo- 
rian of  his  exploits  has  observed,  that  amidst 
the  perils  of  war,  he  was  daring  without  rash- 
ness, prudent  without  fearT^sTbw  or  rapid 
according  to  the  exigencies  of  the  moment; 
that  in  th-e  deepest  distress  he  was  animated  by 
real  or  apparent  liopej  but,  that  he  was  modest 
arid  humble  in  the  most  prosperous  fortune. 
By  these  virtues,  he  equalled  or  excelled  the 
ancient  masters  of  the  military  art.  Victory  by 
sea  and  land,  attended  his  arms.  He  subdued 
Africa,  Italy,  and  the  adjacent  islands,  led  away 
captives  the  successors  of  Genseric  and  Theo-  f 
doric;  filled  Constantinople  with  the  spoils  of 
their  palaces,  and  in  the  space  of  six  years 
recovered  half  the  provinces  of  the  western  em- 
pire. In  his  fame  and  merit,  in  wealth  and 
power,  he  remained  without  a  rival,  the  first  of 
the  Roman  subjects  :  the  voice  of  envy  could 
only  magnify  his  dangerous  importance ;  and 
the  emperor  might  applaud  his  own  discerning 
spirit  which  had  discovered  and  raised  the  geni- 
us of  Belisarius 


262  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.       It  was  the  custom  of  the  Roman  triumphs. 

XLL     that  a  slave  should  be  placed  behind  the  chariot 

Secret  his-  *°  remind  the  conqueror  of  tne  instability  of 

toryofhis  fortune,   and  the   infirmities  of  "human  nature. 

Wife  An-         _^       i  "'      .         'r  y  •-"-•" — -rr rr-imrniiin    <i  mi**»t*»i^ai,,___ 

tonina.  Frocopius,  Hi  his  Anecdotes,  has  assumed  that 
servile  and  ungrateful  office.  The  generous 
reader  may  cast  away  the  libel,  but  the  evidence 
ef  facts  will  adhere  to  his  memory;  and  he  will 
reluctantly  confess,  that  the  fame,  and  even  the 
virtue,  of  Belisarius,  were  polluted  by  the  lust 
and  cruelty  of  his  wife;  and  that  the  hero  de- 
served an  appellation  which  may  not  drop  from 
the  pen  of  the  decent  historian.  The  mother  of 
Antonina"  was  a  theatrical  prostitute,  and  both 
her  father  and  grandfather  exercised  at  Thes- 
salonica  and  Constantinople  the  vile,  though 
lucrative,  profession  of  charioteers.  In  the  va- 
rious situations  of  their  fortune,  she  became  the 
companion,  the  enemy,  the  servant,  and  the  fa- 
vourite of  the  empress  Theodora;  these  loose 
and  ambitious  fetnales  had  been  connected  by 
similar  pleasures;  they  were  separated  by  the 
jealousy  of  vice,  and  at  length  reconciled  by 
the  partnership  of  guilt.  Before  her  marriage 
with  Belisarius,  Antonina  had  one  husband  and 
many  lovers;  Photius,  the  son  of  her  former 
nuptials,  was  of  an  age  to  distinguish  himself 
at  the  siege  of  Naples;  ajid  it  was  not  till  the 
autumn  of  her  age  and  beauty*  that  she  indulg- 

u  The  diligence  of  Aleraannus  could  add  but  little  to  the  four  first 
and  most  curious  chapters  of  the  Anecdotes.  Of  these  strange  Anec- 
dotes, a  part  may  be  true,  because  probable — and  a  part  true,  becansf 
improbable.  Procopius  must  have  known  the  former,  and  the  latter  h« 
could  scarcely  invent. 

x  Procopius  insinuates,  (Anecdot.  c.  4),  th»t,  when  Beliiarius  re 

tnrnec 


F  THE  ROMAN  F.faPIRE.  263 

ed  a  scandalous  attachment  to  a  Thracian  CHAP. 
youth.  Theodosius  had  been  educated  in  the  XLI' 
Eunomian  heresy;  the  African  voyage  was  con-  Her  lover 
secrated  by  the  baptism  and  auspicious  name 
of  the  first  soldier  who  embarked;  and  the  pro- 
selyte was  adopted  into  the  family  of  his  spiri- 
tual parents,7  Belisarius  and  Antonina.  Before 
they  touched  the  shores  of  Africa,  this  holy 
kindred  degenerated  into  sensual  love;  and  as 
Antonina  soon  overleaped  the  bounds  of  modes- 
ty and  caution,  the  Roman  general  was  alone 
ignorant  of  his  own,  dishonour.  During  their 
residence  at  Carthage,  he  surprised  the  two 
lovers  in  a  subterraneous  chamber,  solitary, 
warm,  and  almost  naked.  Anger  flashed  from 
his  eyes.  "  With  the  help  of  this  young  man," 
said  the  unblushing  Antonina,  "  I  was  secret- 
"  ing  our  most  precious  effects  from  the  know- 
ledge of  Justinian."  The  youth  resumed  his 
garments,  and  the  pious  husband  consented  to 
disbelieve  the  evidence  of  his  own  senses. 
From  this  pleasing  and  perhaps  voluntary  de- 
lusion, Belisarius  was  awakened  at  Syracuse,  v 
by  the  officious  information  of  Macedonia:  and 
that  female  attendant,  after  requiring  an  oath 
for  her  security,  produced  two  chamberlains,' 
who,  like  herself,  had  often  beheld  the  adul- 
teries of  Antonina.  An  hasty  flight  into  Asia 
saved  Theodosius  from  the  justice  of  an  injur- 

tnrned  to  Italy,  (A.  D.  543),  Antonina  was  sixty  years  of  age.  A 
forced,  but  more  polite  construction,  which  refers  that  date  to  the  mo- 
mcnt  when  he  was  writing,  (A.D.  559),  would  be  compatible  with  the 
manhood  of  Photins,  (Gothic.  1.  i,  c.  10),  in  536. 

y  Compare  the  Vandalic  War  (1.  i,  c.  12)  with  the  Anecdotes,  (c.  i). 
and  Alemanuus,  (p.  2,3).  This  mode  of  baptismal  adoption  was  re- 
rived  by  Leo  the  philosopher. 


2()-l  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CXLIP'    ed  husband,   who  had  signified   to  one  of  his 

'„.  guards  the  order  of  his  death ;  but  the  tears  of 

Antonina,  and  her  artful  seductions,  assured 
the  credulous  hero  of  her  innocence;  and  he 
stooped,  against  his  faith  and  judgment  to  aban- 
don those  imprudent  friends  who  had  presumed 
to  accuse  or  doubt  the  chastity  of  his  wife.  The 
revenge  of  a  guilty  woman  is  implacable  and 
bloody:  the  unfortunate  Macedonia,  with  the 
two  witnesses,  were  secretly  arrested  by  the  mi- 
nister of  her  cruelty:  their  tongues  were  cut 
out,  their  bodies  were  hacked  into  small  pieces, 
and  their  remains  were  cast  into  the  sea  of  Sy- 
racuse. A  rash,  though  judicious  saying  of 
Constantine,  "  I  would  sooner  have  punished 
"  the  adultress  than  the  boy/'  was  deeply  re- 
membered by  Antonina:  and  two  years  after- 
wards, when  despair  had  armed  that  officer 
against  his  general,  her  sanguinary  advice  de- 
cided and  hastened  his  execution.  Even  the 
indignation  of  Photius  was  not  forgiven  by  his 
mother;  the  exile  of  her  son  prepared  the  recal 
of  her  lover;  and  Theodosius  condescended  to 
accept  the  pressing  and  humble  invitation  of 
the  conqueror  of  Italy.  In  the  absolute  direc- 
tion of  his  household,  and  in  the  important  com- 
missions of  peace  and  war,2  the  favourite  youth 
most  rapidly  acquired  a  fortune  of  four  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds  sterling;  and  after  their 
return  to  Constantinople,  the  passion  of  Anto- 
nina, at  least,  continued  ardent  and  unabated. 

1  In  November  537,  Photius  arrested  the  pope,  (Liberal.  iJiev.  c. 
22.  Pagi.  torn,  ii,  p.  562)  About  the  end  of  539,  Beiisarins  sent 
Tlitodo»ius— rtv  T»  cnutt  T>I avra  i^£f»T» — on  an  impoitant  and  !ncr?,» 
live  commission  to  Ravenna,  (Goth.  1.  ii,  c.  18), 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  265 

But  fear,  devotion,  and  lassitude,  perhaps,  in-  CHAP. 
spired  Theodosius  with  more  serious  thoughts. 
He  dreaded  the  busy  scandal  of  the  capital,  and 
the  indiscreet  fondness  of  the  wife  of  Belisa- 
rius;  escaped  from  her  embraces,  and  retiring 
to  Ephesus,  shaved  his  head,  and  took  refuge 
in  the  sanctuary  of  a  monastic  life.  The  de- 
spair of  the  new  Ariadne  could  scarcely  have 
been  excused  by  the  death  of  her  husband.  She 
wept,  she  tore  her  hair,  she  filled  the  palace  with 
her  cries ;  "  she  had  lost  the  dearest  of  friends, 
"  a  tender,  a  faithful,  a  laborious  friend  !"  But 
her  warm  entreaties,  fortified  by  the  prayers  of 
Belisarius,  were  insufficient  to  draw  the  holy 
monk  from  the  solitude  of  Ephesus.  It  was 
not  till  the  general  moved  forward  for  the  Per- 
sian war,  that  Theodosius  could  be  tempted  to 
return  to  Constantinople;  and  the  short  inter- 
val before  the  departure  of  Antonina  herself  was 
boldly  devoted  to  love  and  pleasure. 

A  philosopher  may  pity  and  may  forgive  the  Resent- 

.    .  J    f     J  ,  •    ?    ,  nwnl  of 

infirmities  of  female  nature,   from  which  he  re- Beiisai  us 
ceives  no  real  injury;  but  contemptible  is  the  s"n  vl'u 
husband  who  feels,  and  yet  endures,  his  own  tuls- 
infamy  in  that  of  his  wife.     Antonina  pursued 
her  son  with  implacable  hatred  ;    and  the  gal- 
lant Photius*  was  exposed  to  her  secret  perse- 
cutions in  the  camp  beyond  the  Tigris.     Enrag- 
ed by  his  own  wrongs,   and  by  the   dishonour 
of  his  blood,  he  castaway  in  his  turn  the  senti- 
ments of  nature,  and  revealed  to  Belisarius  the 
turpitude  of  a  woman  who  had  violated  all  the 

*  Theophancg  (Chronograph,  p.  204)    style*  him  Photinut,  the  ton- 
in  law  of  Belisaiius;    and  he  is  copied  by  the  Histora  Miscella  and 

Anastasius 


2G6  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALT 

CHAP.;  duties  of  a  mother  and  a  wife.     From  the  sur- 

XLI 

*„  prise  and  indignation  of  the  Roman  general,  his 

former  credulity  appears  to  have  been  sincere : 
he  embraced  the  knees  of  the  son  of  Antorima, 
adjured  him  to  remember  his  obligations  rather 
than  his  birth,  and  confirmed  at  the  altar  their 
holy  vows  of  revenge  and  mutual  defence.  The 
dominion  of  Antonina  was  impaired  by  absence; 
and  when  she  met  her  husband,  on  his  return 
from  the  Persian  confines,  Belisarius,  in  his 
first  and  transient  emotions,  confined  her  person, 
pml  threatened  her  life.  Photius  was  more  re- 
solved to  punish,  and  less  prompt  to  pardon; 
he  flew  to  Ephesus;  extorted  from  a  trusty 
eunuch  of  his  mother  the  full  confession  of  her 
guilt;  arrested  Theodosius  and  his  treasures 
in  the  church  of  St.  John  the  apostle,  and  con- 
cealed his  captives,  whose  execution  was  only 
delayed,  in  a  secure  and  sequestered  fortress  of 
Cilicia.  Such  a  daring  outrage  against  public 
justice  could  not  pass  with  impunity;  and  the 
cause  of  Antonina  was  espoused  by  the  empress, 
whose  favour  she  had  deserved  by  the  recent  ser- 
vices of  the  disgrace  of  a  prefect,  and  the  exile  and 
murder  of  a  pope.  At  the  end  of  the  campaign, 
Belisarius  was  recalled;  he  complied,  as  usual, 
with  the  imperial  mandate.  His  mind  was  not 
prepared  for  rebellion ;  his  obedience,  however 
adverse  to  the  dictates  of  honour,  was  conso- 
nant to  the  wishes  of  his  heart;  and  when  he 
embraced  his  wife,  at  the  command,  and  per- 
haps in  the  presence,  of  the  empress,  the  tender 
husband  was  disposed  to  forgive  or  to  be  f 
given.  The  bounty  of  Theodora  reserved 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  267 

her  companion  a  more  precious  favour.  **  I  CHAP. 
"  have  found,"  she  said,  "  my  dearest  patrician  XLL 
"  a  pearl  of  inestimable  value;  it  has  not  yet 
"  been  viewed  by  any  mortal  eye  ;  but  the  sight 
"  and  the  possession  of  this  jewel  are  destined 
"  for  my  friend."  As  soon  as  the  curiosity  and 
impatience  of  Antonina  were  kindled,  the  door 
of  a  bed-chamber  was  thrown  open,  and  she 
beheld  her  lover,  whom  the  diligence  of  the 
eunuchs  had  discovered  in  his  secret  prison. 
Her  silent  wonder  burst  into  passionate  excla- 
mations of  gratitude  and  joy,  and  she  named 
Theodora  her  queen,  her  benefactress,  and  her 
saviour.  The  monk  of  Ephesus  was  nourish- 
ed in  the  palace  with  luxury  and  ambition: 
but  instead  of  assuming,  as-he  was  promised, 
the  command  of  the  Roman  armies,  Theodosius 
expired  in  the  first  fatigues  of  an  amorous  in- 
terview. The  grief  of  Antonina  could  only 


assuaged  by  the  sufferings  of  her  son.  A  youth  son. 
of  consular'  rank,  and  a  sickly  constitution, 
was  punished,  without  a  trial,  like  a  malefactor 
and  a  slave:  yet  such  was  the  constancy  of  his 
mind,  that  Photius  sustained  the  tortures  of  the 
scourge  and  the  rack,  without  violating  the 
faith  which  he  had  sworn  to  Belisarius.  After 
this  fruitless  cruelty,  the  son  of  Antonina,  while 
his  mother  feasted  with  the  empress,  was  buried 
in  her  subterraneous  prisons,  which  admitted 
not  the  distinction  of  night  and  day.  He  twice 
escaped  to  the  most  venerable  sanctuaries  of 
Constantinople,  the  churches  of  St.  Sophia  and 
of  the  Virgin:  but  his  tyrants  were  insensible 
of  religion  as  of  pity;  aud  the  helpless  youth, 


268  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   amidst  the  clamours  of  the  clergy  and  people, 

„!_,,' was  twice  dragged  from  the  altar  to  the  dungeon. 

His  third  attempt  was  more  successful.  At 
the  end  of  three  years,  the  prophet  Zacharia, 
or  some  mortal  friend,  indicated  the  means  of 
an  escape:  he  eluded  the  spies  and  guards  of 
the  empress,  reached  the  holy  sepulchre  of 
Jerusalem,  embraced  the  profession  of  a  monk ; 
and  the  abbot  Photius  was  employed,  after  the 
death  of  Justinian,  to  reconcile  and  regulate  the 
churches  of  Egypt.  The  son  of  Antonina  suf- 
fered all  that  an  enemy  can  inflict :  her  patient 
husband  imposed  on  himself  the  more  exqui- 
site misery  of  violating  his  promise  and  desert- 
ing his  friend. 
Di»grace  In  the  succeeding  campaign,  Belisarius  was 

and  sub- 

mission  of  again  sent  against  the  .Persians:  he  saved  the 
*'  East,  but  he  offended  Theodora,  and  perhaps 
the  emperor  himself,  The  malady  of  Justinian 
had  countenanced  the  rumour  of  his  death;  and 
the  Roman  general,  on  the  supposition  of  thatpro- 
bable  event,  spoke  the  free  language  of  a  citizen 
andasoldier.  His  colleague  Buzes, who  concur- 
red in  the  same  sentiments,  lost  his  rank,  his  li- 
berty, and  his  health,  by  the  persecution  of  the 
empress :  but  the  disgrace  of  Belisarius  was 
alleviated  by  the  dignity  of  his  own  character, 
and  the  influence  of  his  wife,  who  might  wish  to 
humble,  but  could  not  desire  to  ruin,  the  partner 
of  her  fortunes.  Even  his  removal  was  colour- 
ed by  the  assurance,  that  the  sinking  state  oi 
Italy  would  be  retrieved  by  the  single  presence 
of  its  conqueror.  But  no  sooner  had  he  return- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  269 

ed,  alone  and  defenceless,  than  an  hostile  com-   CHAP. 

•  *  'VI  T 

mission  was  sent  to  the  East,  to  seize  his  trea- 
sures and   criminate  his  actions :    the  guards 
and  veterans  who  followed  his  private  banner, 
were  distributed  among  the  chiefs  of  the  army, 
and  even  the  eunuchs   presumed   to  cast  lots 
for  the  partition  of  his  martial  domestics.  When 
he   passed    with   a  small  and   sordid   retinue 
through  the  streets  of  Constantinople,  his  for- 
lorn  appearance  excited  the  amazement  and 
compassion  of  the  people.     Justinian  and  Theo- 
dora received  him  with  cold  ingratitude;    the 
servile  crowd,  with   insolence  and   contempt; 
and  in  the  evening  he  retired  with  trembling 
steps  to  his  deserted  palace.     An  indisposition, 
feigned  or  real,  had  confined  Antonina  to  her 
apartment;  and  she  walked  disdainfully  silent 
in  the  adjacent  portico,  while  Belisarius  threw 
himself  on  his  bed,  and  expected,  in  an  agony 
of  grief  and  terror,  the  death   which  he  had  so 
often  braved  under  the  walls  of  Rome.     Long 
after  sun-set  a  messenger  was  announced  from 
the  empress;  he  opened  with  anxious  curiosity 
the  letter  which  contained  the  sentence  of  his 
fate.     "  You  cannot  be  ignorant  how  much  you 
"  have  deserved  my  displeasure.     I  am  not  in- 
"  sensible  of  the  services  of  Antonina.     To  her 
"  merits  and  intercession  I  have  granted  your 
"  life,  and  permit  you  to  retain  a  part  of  your 
"  treasures,  which  might  be  justly  forfeited  to 
"  the  state.     Let  your  gratitude,  where  it  is  due 
"  be  displayed,   not  in  words,   but  in  your  fu- 
"  ture  behaviour."     I  know  not  how  to  believe 
or  to  relate  the  transports  with  which  the  hero 


270  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.  ig  said  to  have  received  this  ignominious  par- 
XLT<  don.  He  fell  prostrate  before  his  wife,  he  kiss- 
ed the  feet  of  his  saviour,  and  he  devoutly  pro- 
mised to  live  the  grateful  and  submissive  slave 
of  Antonina.  A  fine  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  pounds  sterling  was  levied  on  the  for- 
tunes of  Belisarius,  and  with  the  office  of  count 
or  master  of  the  royal  stables,  he  accepted  the 
conduct  of  the  Italian  war.  At  his  departure 
from  Constantinople,  his  friends,  and  even  the 
public,  were  persuaded,  that  as  soon  as  he  re- 
gained his  freedom,  he  would  renounce  his  dis- 
simulation; and  that  his  wife,  Theodora,  and 
perhaps  the  emperor  himself,  would  be  sacri- 
ficed to  the  just  revenge  of  a  virtuous  rebel. 
Their  hopes  were  deceived ;  and  the  unconquer- 
able patience  and  loyalty  of  Belisarius  appear 
either  below  or  above  the  character  of  a  MAN.b 

b  The  continuator  of  the  chronicle  of  Marcellinus  gives,  in  a  few 
decent  words,  the  substance  of  the  Anecdotes — Belisarius  de  Oric  nte 
evocatus,  in  offensam  peiiculiimque  incnrrens  grave,  et  invidiap  sub- 
jnccns  rursus  lemittitur  in  Italiam,  (p.  54) 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  271 


CHAP.  XLII. 

State  of  the  barbaric  world — Establishment  of 
the  Lombards  on  the  Danube  —  Tribes  and  in- 
roads of  the  Sclavonians — Origin,  empire,  and  "V 
embassies  of  the  Turks — The  flight  of  the  Avars 
—Chosroes  I.  or  Nushirvan,  king-  of  Persia — 
His  prosperous  reign  and  wars  with  the  Ro- 
mans— The  Cholchian  or  JLazic  war — The 
^Ethiopians. 

OUR  estimate  of  personal  merit  is  relative  to    CHAP. 
the  common  faculties  of  mankind.     The  aspir-  ^ 
ing  efforts  of  genius,  or  virtue,  either  in  active  we 
or  speculative  life,  are  measured,  not  so  much  jJ 
by  their  real  elevation,  as  by  the  height  to  which  Justinian, 
they  ascend  above  the  level  of  their  age  or  sos. 
country :  and  the  same  stature,  which  in  a  peo- 
ple of  giants  would  pass  unnoticed,  must  ap- 
pear conspicuous  in  a  race  of  pigmies.     Leo- 
nidas,  and  his  three  hundred  companions,   de- 
voted their  lives  at  Thermopylae  ;  but  the  edu- 
cation of  the  infant,  the  boy,  and  the  man,  had 
prepared,  and  almost  insured,  this  memorable 
sacrifice;    and   each  Spartan  would  approve, 
rather  than  admire,  an  act  of  duty,  of  which 
himself  and  eight  thousand  of  his  fellow  citizens 
were  equally  capable.1      The   great  Pompey 

*  It  will  be  a  pleasure,  not  a  task,  to  read  Herodotiu,  (1.  vii,  c.  104, 
134,  p.  560,  615).  The  conversation  of  Xerxes  and  Demaratns  at 
Thermopylae,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  moral  scenes  in  his- 

tory. 


272  THE  DECLINK  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  might  inscribe  on  his  trophies,  that  he  had  de- 
feated  in  battle  two  millions  of  enemies,  and  re- 
duced fifteen  hundred  cities  from  the  lake  Maeo- 
tius  to  the  Red  Sea;b  but  the  fortune  of  Rome 
flew  before  his  eagles ;  the  nations  were  oppres- 
ed  by  their  own  fears,  and  the  invincible  legions 
which  he  commanded,  had  been  formed  by  the 
habits  of  conquest  and  the  discipline  of  ages. 
In  this  view,  the  character  of  Belisarius  maybe 
deservedly  placed  above  the  heroes  of  the  an- 
cient republics.  His  imperfections  flowed  from 
the  contagion  of  the  times ;  his  virtues  were  his 
own,  the  free  gift  of  nature  or  reflection ;  he  rais- 
sed  himself  without  a  master  or  a  rival ;  and  so 
inadequate  were  the  arms  committed  to  his  hand, 
that  his  sole  advantage  was  derived  from  the 
pride  and  presumption  of  his  adversaries.  Un- 
der his  command,  the  subjects  of  Justinian  often 
deserved  to  be  called  Romans :  but  the  un  warlike 
appellation  of  Greeks  was  imposed  as  a  term 
of  reproach  by  the  haughty  Goths;  who  affected 
to  blush,  that  they  must  dispute  the  kingdom  of 
Italy  with  a  nation  of  tragedians,  pantomimes, 
and  pirates.'  The  climate  of  Asia  has  indeed 
been  found  less  congenial  than  that  of  Europe,  to 
military  spirit:  those  populous  countries  were 
enervated  by  luxury,  despotism,  and  supersti- 

tory.  It  was  the  torture  of  the  royal  Spartan  to  behold,  with  anguish 
and  remorse,  the  virtue  of  his  country. 

b  See  this  proud  inscription  in  Pliny,  (Hist.  Natur.  vii,  27).  Few 
men  have  more  exquisitely  tasted  of  glory  and  disgrace :  nor  could 
Juvenal  (Satir.  x)  produce  a  more  striking  example  of  the  vicissitudes 
of  fortune,  and  the  vanity  of  human  wishes. 

c  Tfautuf  ...  £*  wv  TS  TjsrEpa  aJsva  f;  IraXiav  fcxovra  If  Jov,  OTI  ,u»  TftywJu;  xai 
»atrrac  x*w»)i/Taf.  This  last  epithet  of  Procopius  is  too  nobly  translated 
by  pirates ;  naval  thieve*  is  the  proper  word:  itrippers  of  garments 
either  for  injury  or  insult,  (Demosthenes  contra  Conon.  in  Kriske 
Orator.  Grac.  toiu.  ii  p.  1264). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

tion;  an<l  the  monks  were  more  expensive  and    CHAP. 

more  numerous  than  the  soldiers  of  the  East.  „ ,'. 

The  regular  force  of  the  empire  had  once  a- 
mounted  to  six  hundred  and  forty-five  thousand 
men  ;  it  was  reduced,  in  the  time  of  Justinian, 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  ;  and  this 
number,  lar£e  as  it  may  seem,  was  thinly  scat- 
tered over  the  sea  and  land  ;  in  Spain  and  Italy, ' 
in  Africa  and  Egypt,  on  the  banks  of  the  Da- 
nube, the  coast  of  the  Euxine,  and  the  frontiers 
of  Persia.     The  citizen  was  exhausted,  yet  the 
soldier  was  unpaid ;  his  poverty  was  mischie- 
viously  soothed  by  the  privilege  of  rapine  and 
indolence:   and  the  tardy  payments  were  de- 
tained and  intercepted  by  the  fraud  of  those- 
agents  who  usurp,  without  courage  or  danger, 
the  emoluments  of  war.     Public  and  private 
distress  recruited  the  armies  of  the  state  ;  but 
in  the  field,   and  still   more  in  the  presence  of 
the  enemy,  their  numbers  were  always  defec- 
tive.    The  want  of  national  spirit  was  supplied 
by  the  precarious  fai'h  and  disorderly  service 
of  barbarian  mercenaries.     Even  military  ho* 
nour,  which  has  often  survived  the  loss  of  vir- 
tue and  freedom,  was  almost  totally  extinct. — 
The  generals,  who  were  multiplied  beyond  the 
example  of  former  times,  laboured  only  to  pre- 
vent the  success,  or  to  sully  the  reputation,  of 
their  colleagues  ;  and  they  had  been  taught  by 
experience,  that  if  merit  sometimes  provoked 
the  jealousy,  error,  or  even  guilt,  would  obtain 
the  indulgence,  of  a  gracious   emperor.'1      In 

*  See  the  third  and  fourth  books  of  the  Gothic  war-  the  writer  of 
the  Anecdotes  cannot  aggravate  these  abases. 

VOL.  VII.  T 


274 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL- 


CHAP.  such  an  age  the  triumphs  of  Belisarius,  and  af- 
terwards of  Narses,  shine  with  incomparable 
lustre  ;  but  they  are  encompassed  with  the 
darkest  shades  of  disgrace  and  calamity.  While 
the  lieutenant  of  Justinian  subdued  the  king- 
doms of  the  Goths  and  Vandals,  the  emperor,* 
timid,  though  ambitious,  balanced  the  forces 
of  the  barbarians,  fomented  their  divisions  by 
flattery  and  falsehood,  and  invited  by  his  pa- 
tience and  liberality  the  repetition  of  injuries/ 
The  keys  of  Carthage,  Rome,  and  Ravenna, 
were  presented  to  their  conqueror,  while  An- 
tioch  was  destroyed  by  the  Persians,  and  Jus- 
tinian trembled  for  the  safety  of  Constantino- 
ple. 
?.tat??i  Even  the  Gothic  victories  of  Belisarius  were 

the  barba- 

rians. prejudicial  to  the  state,  since  they  abolished 
the  important  barrier  of  the  Upper  Danube, 
which  had  been  so  faithfully  guarded  by  Theo- 
doric  and  his  daughter.  For  the  defence  of 
Italy,  the  Goths  evacuated  Pannoniaand  Nori- 
cum,  which  they  left  in  a  peaceful  and  flourish- 
ing condition  :  the  sovereignty  was  claimed  by 
the  emperor  of  the  Romans  :  the  actual  pos- 
session was  abandoned  to  the  boldness  of  the 
first  invader.  On  the  opposite  banks  of  the 
Danube,  the  plains  of  Upper  Hungary  and  the 
Transylvanian  hills  were  possessed,  since  the 

The  Gepi-  death  of  Attija>  by  the  tribes  of  the  Qepidae, 


e  Agathias,  1.  v,  p.  157,  158.  He  confines  this  weakness  of  the  em- 
peror and  the  empire  to  the  old  age  of  Justinian  ;  but,  alas  !  he  was 
never  young. 

f  This  mischievous  policy,  which  Procopius  (Anecdot.  e.  19)  im- 
putes to  the  emperor,  is  revealed  in  his  epistle  to  a  Scythian  prince, 
who  was  capable  of  understanding  it.  Ayav  TrpOjunflii  xai  ajr^infa-aTOf, 
tays  Agathias,  (1.  v,  p.  170,  171). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMl'IRE.  275 

who  respected  the  Gothic  arms,  and  despised,  CHAP. 
not  indeed  the  gold  of  the  Romans,  but  the  se-  ^ 
cret  motive  of  their  annual  subsidies.  The  va- 
cant fortifications  of  the  river  were  instantly 
occupied  by  these  barbarians  :  their  standards 
were  planted  on  the  walls  of  Sirmium  and  Bel- 
grade ;  and  the  ironical  tone  of  their  apology 
aggravated  this  insult  on  the  majesty  of  the  em- 
pire. "  So  extensive,  O  Caesar,  are  your  do- 
'*  minions  ;  so  numerous  are  your  cities ;  that 
"  you  are  continually  seeking  for  nations  to 
"  whom,  either  in  peace  or  war,  you  may  re- 
**  linquish  these  useless  possessions.  The  Ge- 
*'  pidse  are  your  brave  and  faithful  allies  ;  and 
"  if  they  have  anticipated  your  gifts,  they  have 
"  shewn  a  just  confidence  in  your  bounty." — 
Their  presumption  was  excused  by  the  mode 
of  revenge  which  Justinian  embraced.  Instead 
of  asserting  the  rights  of  a  sovereign  for  the 
protection  of  his  subjects,  the  emperor  invited 
a  strange  people  to  invade  and  possess  the  Ro- 
man provinces  between  the  Danv1  e  and.  the 
Alps ;  and  the  ambition  of  the  Gepidae  was 
checked  by  the  rising  power  and  fame  of  the 
LOMBARDS.*  This  corrupt  appellation  has  been  The  Lom. 
diffused  in  .the  thirteenth  century  by  the  mer-  bard*' 
chants  and  bankers,  the  Italian  posterity  of 

*  Gens  Germana  feritate  ferociore,  lays  Velleins  Paterculus  of  the 
Lombards,  (ii,  106).  Langobardos  paucitas  nobilitat.  Plurimis-ac 
•valentissimis  nationibus  cincti  non  per  obsequium  sed  praeliis  et  perie- 
iitando  tuti  sunt,  (Tacit  de  Muribus  German,  c.  40).  See  likewise 
Strabo,  (1.  vii,  p.  446).  The  best  geographers  place  them  beyond  the 
Elbe,  in  the  bishopric  of  Magdeburgh  and  the  middle  march  of  Bran- 
denburgh  ;  and  their  situation  will  agree  with  the  patriotic  remark  of 
the  Count  de  Hertzberg,  that  most  of  the  barbarian  conquerors  issued 
from  the  same  countries  \vhirh  still  produce  the  armies  of  Prussia. 


276 

*hese  savage  warriors :  but  the  original  name 
„  of  Langobards  is  expressive  only  of  the  pecu- 
liar length  and  fashion  of  their  beards.     I  am 
not  disposed  either  to  question  or  to  justify 
their  Scandinavian  origin  ;k  nor  to  pursue  the 
migrations  of  the  Lombards  through  unknown 
regions  and  marvellous  adventures.     About  the 
time  of  Augustus  and  Trajan,  a  ray  of  historic 
light  breaks  on  the   darkness  of  their  antiqui- 
ties, and  they  are  discovered,  for  the  first  time, 
between  the  Elbe  and  the  Oder.     Fierce,  be- 
yond the  example  of  the  Germans,  they  delight- 
ed to  propagate  the  tremendous   belief,   that 
their  heads  were  formed  like  the  heads  of  dogs, 
and  that  they  drank  the  blood  of  their  enemies 
whom   they  vanquished  in  battle.     The  small- 
ness   of  their  numbers  was  recruited   by  the 
adoption  of  their  bravest  slaves  ;  and  alone, 
amidst  their  powerful  neighbours,  they  defend- 
ed by  arms  their  high-spirited  independence. — 
In  the  tempests  of  the  north,  which  overwhelm- 
ed so  many  names  and  nations,  this  little  bark 
of  the  Lombards   still  floated  on  the  surface: 
they  gradually  descended  towards  the  south 
and  the  Danube;  and  at  the  end  of  four  him 
dred  years  they  a  g-aia  appear  with  their  ancient 
valour  and  renqwn.     Their  manners  were  not 
less  ferocious.     The  assassination  of  a  royal 
guest  was  executed  in  the  presence,  and  by  the 
command,  of  the  king's  daughter,  who  had  been 
provoked  by  some  words  of  insult,  and  disap- 

*  The  Scandinavian  origin  of  the  Goths  and  Lombards,  as  stated  by 
J»anl  Warnefrid,  snrnamed  the  deacon,  is  attacked  by  Cluvcrius, 
(Germania  Antiq.Liii,  c.  26,  p.  102,  Ac.),  a  native  of  Prussia,  and 
defended  by  Grotins,  (Prolegom.  ad  Hist.  G«th.  p.  28,  Ac.)  the 
•wedisli  ambassador. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  277 

pointed  by  his  diminutive  stature;  and  a  tri-  CHAP. 
bnte,  the  price  of  blood,  was  imposed  on  the ,^.^.. 
Lombards,  by  his  brother,  the  king  of  the  He- 
ruli.  Adversity  revived  a  sense  of  moderation 
and  justice,  and  the  insolence  of  conquest  was 
chastised  by  the  signal  defeat  and  irreparable 
dispersion  of  the  Heruli,  who  were  seated  in 
the  southern  provinces  of  Poland.1  The  vic- 
tories of  the  Lombards  recommended  them  to 
the  friendship  of  the  emperors :  and  at  the  soli- 
citation of  Justinian,  they  passed  the  Danube, 
to  reduce,  according  to  their  treaty,  the  cities 
of  Noricum  and  the  fortresses  of  Pannonia. — 
But  the  spirit  of  rapine  soon  tempted  them  be- 
vond  these  ample  limits  ;  they  wandered  along 
the  coast  of  the  Haclriatic  as  far  as  Dyrrachium, 
and  presumed,  with  familiar  rudeness,  to  enter 
the  towns  and  houses  of  their  Roman  allies, 
and  to  seize  the  captives  who  had  escaped  from 
their  audacious  hands.  These  acts  of  hostili- 
ty, the  sallies,  as  it  might  be  pretended,  of  some 
loose  adventurers,  were  disowned  by  the  na- 
tion, and  excused  by  the  emperor ;  but  the 
arms  of  the  Lombards  were  more  seriously  en- 
gaged by  a  contest  of  thirty  years,  which  was 
terminated  only  by  the  extirpation  of  the  Ge- 
pidae.  The  hostile  nations  often  pleaded  their 
cause  before  the  throne  of  Constantinople;  and 
the  crafty  Justinian,  to  whom  the  barbarians 
were  almost  equally  odious,  pronounced  a  par- 
tial and  ambiguous  sentence,  and  dexterously 

1  Two  facts  in  the  narrative  of  Paul  Diaeonus  (I.  i,  c.  20)  are  ex- 
pressive of  national  manners.— 1.  Duin  adiabulam  luderet— while  he 
played  at  draughts.  2.  Caroporum  viridantia  Una.  The  cultivation 
of  flax  supposes  property,  coranr.«rce,  agriculture,  and  manufacture!. 


278  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  protracted  the  war  by  slow  and  ineffectual  sue 
^J^cours.  Their  strength  was  formidable,  since 
the  Lombards,  who  sent  into  the  field  several 
myriads  of  soldiers,  still  claimed,  as  the  weak- 
er side,  the  protection  of  the  Romans.  Their 
spirit  was  intrepid ;  yet  such  is  the  uncertain- 
ty of  courage,  that  the  two  armies  were  sudden- 
ly struck  with  a  panic ;  they  fled  from  each 
other,  and  the  rival  kings  remained  with  their 
guards  in  the  midst  of  an  empty  plain.  A 
short  truce  was  obtained  ;  but  their  mutual  re- 
sentment again  kindled  ;  and  the  remembrance 
of  their  shame  rendered  the  next  encounter 
more  desperate  and  bloody.  Forty  thousand 
of  the  barbarians  perished  in  the  decisive  battle, 
which  broke  the  power  of  the  Gepidae,  trans- 
ferred the  fears  and  wishes  of  Justinian,  and 
first  displayed  the  character  of  Alboin,  the 
youthful  prince  of  the  Lombards,  and  the  fu- 
ture conqueror  of  Italy.* 

The  wild  people  who  dwelt  or  wandered  in 
plains  of  Russia,   Lithuania,  and  Poland, 
might  be  reduced,  in  the  age  of  Justinian,  un- 
der the  two  great  families  of  the  BULGARIANS' 
and   the   SCLAVONIANS.       According    to    the 

f  *  I  have  used,  without  undertaking  to  reconcile,  the  facts  in  Proco- 
pius,  (Goth.  1.  ii,  c.  14;  1.  iii,  c.  33,  34;  1.  iv,  c.  18,  25);  Paul  Dia- 
conus,  (de  Gestis  Langobard.  I.  i,  c.  1-23,  in  Mnratori,  Script.  Rerum 
Italicartim,  torn,  i,  p.  405-419),  and  Jornandes,  (de  Success.  Regno- 
rum,  p.  S42J.  The  patient  reader  may  draw  some  light  from  Mascon, 
(Hist,  of  the  Germans,  and  Annot.  xxiii),  and  de,  Buat,  (Hist,  dei 
Peoples,  &c.  torn,  ix,  x,  xi). 

1  I  adopt  the  appellation  of  Bulgarians,  fiomEnnodius,  (in  Panq;\r. 
Theodorici,  Opp.  Sirmond,  torn,  i,  p.  1598,  1599) ;  Jornandes,  (de 
Rebus  Geticis,  c.  5,  p.  194,  et  de  Regn.  Successione,  p.  242;  Theo. 
phanes,  p.  185),  and  the  Chronicles  of  Cassiodotius  and  Mau-ellinns. 
The  name  of  Huns  is  too  vague  ;  the  tribes  of  the  Cnlturgnriaus  ahd 
Utturgc.i  Kins  are  too  minute  and  too  harsh. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  275J 

Greek  writers,  the  former,   who  touched  the  CHAP. 
Euxine  and  the  lake  Maeotis,  derived  from  the     XLIL 
Huns  their  name  or  descent ;  and  it  is  needless 
to  renew  the  simple  and  well-known  picture  of 
Tartar  manners.     They  were  bold  and  dexter- 
ous archers,  who  drank  the  milk,   and  feasted 
on   the  flesh   of  their  fleet  and  indefatigable 
horses  ;  whose  flocks  and  herds  followed,  or 
rather   guided,   the   motions   of    their    roving 
camps ;  to  whose  inroads  no  country  was  re- 
mote or  impervious,  and  who  were  practised  in 
flight,  though  incapable  of  fear.     The  nation 
was  divided   into   two   powerful    and    hostile 
tribes,  who  pursued  each  other  with  fraternal 
hatred.     They  eagerly  disputed  the  friendship 
or  rather  the  gifts  of  the  emperor  ;  and  the  dis- 
tinction which  nature  had  fixed  between  the 
faithful  dog  and   the  rapacious  wolf,   was  ap- 
plied   by    an   ambassador  who  received  only 
verbal  instructions  from  the  mouth  of  his  illite- 
rate prince.™     The  Bulgarians,  of  whatsoever 
species,    were   equally   attracted    by    Roman 
wealth:  they  assumed  a  vague  dominion  over 
the  Sclavonian  name,  and  their  rapid  marches 
could  only  be  stopped  by  the  Baltic  sea,  or  the 
extreme  cold  and  poverty  of  the  north.     But 
the  same  race  of  Sclavonians  appears  to  have 
maintained,  in  every  age,  the  possession  of  the 
same  countries.     Their  numerous  tribes,  how- 
ever distant  or  adverse,  used  one  common  lan- 
guage,  (it  was  harsh  and  irregular;,   and  were 
known  by  the  resemblance  of  their  form,  which 

m  FrocopiiK,  (Goth.  1.  iv,  o.  19).  His  verbal  mes?age  (lie  owns 
himself  an  illiterate  barbarian)  i»  delivered  as  ait  epistle.  The  fctylc 
is  savage,  figurative,  and  original.  . 


280  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  deviated  from  the  swarthy  Tartar,  and  ap- 
XLII.  poached,  without  attaining  the  lofty  stature, 
and  fair  complexion  of  the  German.  Four 
thousand  six  hundred  villages,*  were  scattered 
over  the  provinces  of  Russia  and  Poland,  and 
their  huts  were  hastily  built  of  rough  timber, 
in  a  country  deficient  both  in  stone  and  iron. — 
Erected,  or  rather  concealed,  in  the  depth  of 
forests,  on  the  banks  of  rivers,  or  the  edge  of 
morasses,  we  may  not  perhaps,  without  flattery, 
compare  them  to  the  architecture  of  the  beaver  ; 
which  they  resembled  in  a  double  issue,  to  the 
land  and  water,  for  the  escape  of  the  savage  in- 
habitant, an  animal  less  cleanly,  less  diligent, 
and  less  social,  than  that  marvellous  quadru- 
pede.  The  fertility  of  the  soil,  rather  than  the 
labour  of  the  natives,  supplied  the  rustic  plen- 
ty of  the  Sclavonians.  Their  sheep  and  horn- 
ed cattle  were  large  and  numerous,  and  the 
fields  which  they  sowed  with  millet  and  panic,' 
afforded,  in  the  place  of  bread,  a  coarse  and 
less  nutritive  food.  The  incessant  rapine  of 
their  neighbours  compelled  them  to  bury  this 
treasure  in  the  earth ;  but  on  the  appearance  of 
a  stranger,  it  was  freely  imparted  by  a  people, 
whose  unfavourable  character  is  qualified  by 

•  This  mm  is  the  remit  of  a  particular  list,  in  a  curious  MS.  frag- 
ment of  the  year  550,  found  in  the  library  of  Milan.  The  obscure 
geography  of  the  times  provokes  and  exercises  the  patience  of  the 
count  de  Buat,  (torn,  xi,  p.  69-189).  The  French  minister  often  loses 
himself  in  a  wilderness  which  requires  a  Saxon  and  Polish  guide. 

0  Pm.icum  tnilium.  See  Columclla,  J.  ii,  c.  9,  p.  430,  edit.  Gesuer. 
Plin.  Hist.  Natnr.  xyiii,  24,  25.  The  Sarmatians  made  a  pap  of  mil- 
let, mingled  with  mare's  milk  or  blood.  In  the  wealth  of  modern  hus- 
bandry, our  millet  feeds  poultry,  and  not  heroes.  See  the  dictionaries 
pf  Romaic  and  Mi)lerf 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  281 

the  epithets  of  chaste,  patient,  and  hospitable.  CHAP 
As  their  supreme  god,  they  adored  an  invisible 
master  of  the  thunder.  The  rivers  and  the 
nymphs  obtained  their  subordinate  honours, 
and  the  popular  worship  was  expressed  in  vows 
and  sacrifice.  The  Sclavonians  disdained  to 
obey  a  despot,  a  prince,  or  even  a  magistrate  ; 
but  their  experience  was  too  narrow,  their  pas- 
sions too  headstrong,  to  compose  a  system  ot 
equal  law  or  general  defence.  Some  voluntary 
respect  was  yielded  to  age  and  valour;  but 
each  tribe  or  village  existed  as  a  separate  re- 
public, and  all  must  be  persuaded  where  none 
could  be  compelled.  They  fought  on  foot,  al- 
most naked,  and,  except  an  unwieldy  shield, 
without  any  defensive  armour:  their  weapons 
of  defence  were  a  bow,  a  quiver  of  small  poi- 
soned arrows,  and  a  long  rope,  which  they  dex- 
terously threw  from  a  distance,  and  entangled 
their  enemy  in  a  running  noose.  In  the  field, 
the  Sclavonian  infantry  was  dangerous  by  (heir 
speed,  agility,  and  hardiness:  they  swam,  they 
dived,  they  remained  under  water,  drawing 
their  breath  through  a  hollow  cane;  and  a 
river  or  lake  was  often  the  scene  of  their  un- 
suspected ambuscade.  But  these  were  the 
achievements  of  spies  or  stragglers ;  the  mili- 
tary art  was  unknown  to  the  Sclavonians  ;  their 
name  was  obscure,  and  their  conquests  were 
inglorious.1* 

*  For  the  name  and  nation,  the  situation  and  manners  of  the  Scla> 
vunians,  see  the  original  evidenre  of  the  vitli  century,  in  Procopiui, 
(Goth.  1.  ii,  c.  26;  1.  iii,  e.  14),  and  the  emperor  Mauritius  or  Maurice, 

(Stratagcmat. 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 


CHAP.        I  have  marked  the  faint  and  general  outline 
,'„  of  the  Sclavonians  and  Bulgarians,  without  at- 


tempting  to  define  their  intermediate  bounda- 

roads.  '1*1  <i   i      i 

nes,  which  were  not  accurately  known,  or  re- 
spected, by  the  barbarians  themselves.  Their 
importance  was  measured  by  their  vicinity  to 
the  empire  ;  and  the  level  country  of  Moldavia 
and  Walachia  was  occupied  by  the  Antes,q  a 
Sclavonian  tribe,  which  swelled  the  titles  of 
Justinian  with  an  epithet  of  conquest/  Against 
the  Antes  he  erected  the  fortifications  of  the 
Lower  Danube ;  and  laboured  to  secure  the 
alliance  of  a  people  seated  in  the  direct  channel 
of  northern  inundation,  an  interval  of  two  hun- 
dred miles  between  the  mountains  of  Transyl- 
vania and  the  Euxine  sea.  But  the  Antes 
wanted  power  and  inclination  to  stem  the  fury 
'  of  the  torrent:  and  the  light-armed  Sclavo- 
nians, from  an  hundred  tribes,  pursued  with  al- 
most equal  speed  the  footsteps  of  the  Bulga- 
rian horse.  The  payment  of  one  piece  of  gold 
for  each  soldier,  procured  a  safe  and  easy  re- 
treat through  the  country  of  the  Gepidae,  who 
commanded  the  passage  of  the  Upper  Da- 

(Stratagemat.  1.  ii,  c.  5,  apud  Maicou,  Annotat.' xxxi).  The  Strata- 
gems of  Maurice  have  been  printed  only,  as  I  understand,  at  the  end 
of  Scheffer's  edition  of  Arrian's  Tactics,  at  Upsal,  1CC4,  (Fabric  Bib- 
liot.  Grace.  1.  iv,  c.  8,  torn.  iii,p-  278),  a  scarce,  and  hitherto,  to  me, 
an  inaccessible  book. 

q  Antes  eorum  fortissimi  ....  Taysis  qni  rapid  us  et  vorticosus  in 
Histri  fluenta  fin  ens  devolvitur,  (Jornandes,  c.  5,  p.  194,  edit.  Mu- 
rator.  Procopius,  Goth.  1.  iii,  c.  14,  et  de  Edific.  1.  iv,  c,  7.)  Yet 
the  same  Procopius  mentions  the  Goths  and  Huns  ax  neighbours, 
AUTOVSVT*,  to  the  Danube,  (de  Edific.  1.  iv,  c.  1). 

"  The  national  title  of  Anticus,  in  the  laws  and  inscriptions  of  Justi- 
nian, was  adopted  by  his  successors,  and  is  justified  by  the  pious  Lu- 
dewig,  (in  Vit.  Justinian,  p.  515).  It  had  strangely  puzzled  the  civi- 
lians of  the  middle  age. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  283 

nube.s    The  hopes  or  fears  of  the  barbarians  ;    CHAP. 

their  intestine  union  or  discord  ;  the  accident J., 

of  a  frozen  or  shallow  stream;  the  prospect  of 
harvest  or  vintage  ;  the  prosperity  or  distress 
of  the  Romans ;  were  the  causes  which  pro- 
duced the  uniform  repetition  of  annual  visits,1 
tedious  in  the  narrative,  and  destructive  in  the 
event.  The  same  year,  and  possibly  the  same 
month,  in  which  Ravenna  surrendered,  was  , 
marked  by  an  invasion  of  the  Huns  or  Bulga- 
rians, so  dreadful,  that  it  almost  effaced  the 
memory  of  their  past  inroads.  They  spread 
from  the  suburbs  of  Constantinople  to  the 
Ionian  gulf,  destroyed  thirty-two  cities  or, cas- 
tles, erazed  Potidaea,  which  Athens  had  built 
and  Philip  had  besieged,  and  repassed  the  Da- 
nube, dragging  at  their  horses  heels  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  thousand  of  the  subjects  of 
Justinian.  In  a  subsequent  inroad  they  pierced 
the  wall  of  the  Thracian  Chersonesus,  extirpat- 
ed the  habitations  and  the  inhabitants,  boldly 
traversed  the  Hellespont,  and  returned  to  their 
companions,  laden  with  the  spoils  of  Asia. — 
Another  party,  which  seemed  a  multitude  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Romans,  penetrated,  without 
opposition,  from  the  straits  of  ThennopylaB  to 
the  isthmus  of  Corinth  ;  and  the  last  ruin  of 
Greece  has  appeared  an  object  too  minute  for 
the  attention  of  history..  The  works  which  the 
emperor  raised  for  the  protection,  but  at  the 


'  Procopins,  Gotli.  I.  iv,  c.  25. 

;  An  inroad  of  the  Huns  is  connected,  by  Procopins,  with  a  cornet ; 
perhaps  that  of  531,  (Persic.  1.  ii,  c.  4).  Agntbias  (I  v,  j>.  151,  lio), 
borrows  from  his  predecessor  some  early  fiji-ls. 


•J,'ji  THE  DKCLINE  AND 

CHAP,  expence,  of  his  subjects,  served  only  to  dis- 
,'„  close  the  weakness  of  some  neglected  part ;  and 
the  walls,  which,  by  flattery,  had  been  deemed 
impregnable,  were  either  deserted  by  the  garri- 
son, or  scaled  by  the  barbarians.  Three  thou- 
sand Sclavonians,  who  insolently  divided  them- 
selves into  two  bands,  discovered  the  weakness 
and  misery  of  a  triumphant  reign.  They  pas- 
sed the  Danube  and  the  Hebrus,  vanquished 
the  Roman  generals  who  dared  to  oppose  their 
progress,  and  plundered,  with  impunity,  the 
cities  of  Illyricum  and  Thrace,  each  of  which 
had  arms  and  numbers  to  overwhelm  their  con- 
temptible assailants.  Whatever  praise  the 
boldness  of  the  Sclavonians  may  deserve,  it  is 
sullied  by  the  wanton  and  deliberate  cruelty 
which  they  are  accused  of  exercising  on  their 
prisoners.  Without  distinction  of  rank,  or 
«i-i  age»  °r  sex>  the  captives  were  impaled  or  flay 
ed  alive,  or  suspended  between  four  posts,  and 
beaten  with  clubs  till  they  expired,  or  exposed 
in  some  spacious  building,  and  left  to  perish  in 
the  flames  witn  the  spoil  and  cattle  which 
might  impede  the  march  of  these  savage  vic- 
tors." Perhaps  a  more  impartial  narrative 
would  reduce  the  number,  and  qualify  the  na- 
ture, of  these  horrid  acts  ;  and  they  might 
sometimes  be  excused  by  the  cruel  laws  of  re- 
taliation. In  the  siege  of  Topirus,*  whose  ob- 

u  The  cruelties  of  the  Sclaroniani  are  related  or  magnified  by  Pro- 
eopiiu,  (Goth.  1.  Hi,  c.  29,  38).  For  their  mild  and  liberal  behaviour 
to  their  prisoners,  we  may  appeal  to  the  authority,  somewhat  more  re- 
cent,  of  the  emperor  Maurice,  (Stratagem.  1.  ii,  c.  5). 

1  Topirns  was  situate  near  Phillippi  in  Thrace,  or  Macedonia,  oppo- 
site to  the  isle  of  Tbuos,  twelve  days  journey  from  Constantinople, 
(Cellariut,  tom.  i,  p.  676.  840). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  285 

stinatr  defence  had  enraged  the  Sclavonians,  CHAP. 
they  massacred  fifteen  thousand  males;  but^ 
they  spared  the  women  and  children  ;  the  most 
valuable  captives  were  always  reserved  for  la- 
bour or  ransom  ;  the  servitude  was  not  rigor- 
ous, and  the  terms  of  their  deliverance  were 
speedy  and  moderate.  But  the  subject,  or  the 
historian  of  Justinian,  exhaled  his  just  indigna- 
tion in  the  language  of  complaint  and  reproach  ; 
and  Procopius  has  confidently  affirmed,  that 
in  a  reign  of  thirty-two  years,  each  annual  in* 
road  of  the  barbarians  consumed  two  hundred 
thousand  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire. The  entire  population  of  Turkish  Eu- 
rope, which  nearly  corresponds  with  the  pro- 
vinces of  Justinian,  would  perhaps  be  incapa- 
ble of  supplying  six  millions  of  persons,  there- 
suit  of  this  incredible  estimate.7 

In  the  midst  of  these  obscure  calamities,  Eu-  Olj*'n 

'  and  mo- 

Tope  felt  the  shock  of  a  revolution,  which  first 


revealed  to  the  world  the  name  and  nation  of  in  Aiia, 
the  TURKS.  Like  Romulus,  the  founder  of  that  £c"'  64fi* 
martial  people  was  suckled  by  a  she-wolf,  who 
afterwards  made  him  the  father  of  a  numerous 
progeny  ;  and  the  representation  of  that  animal 
in  the  banners  of  the  Turks  preserved  the  me- 
mory, or  rather  suggested  the  idea,  of  a  fable, 
which  was  invented,  without  any  mutual  inter- 
course, by  the  shepherds  of  Latium  and  those 
of  Scythia.  At  the  equal  distance  of  two  thou- 
sand miles  from  the  Caspian,  the  Icy,  the  Chi- 


'  According  to  the  malevolent  testimony  of  the  Anerdotr*,  (c.  18), 
theie  inroads  had  reduced  the  provinces,  aooth  of  the  Danube,  to  the 
itate  of  a  Scythian  wildern««. 

(OJs  ,*'<>   $  ,;  •*.;.-    •• 


286  THE  DECLINE  APPALL 

CHAP,  nese,  and  the  Bengal  seas,  a  ridge  of  mountains 
XLIL  is  conspicuous,  the  centre,  and  perhaps  the 
summit,  of  Asia ;  which,  in  the  language  of  dif- 
ferent nations,  has  been  styled  Iinaus,  and  Caf,* 
and  Altai,  and  the  Golden  Mountains,  and  the 
Girdle  of  the  Earth.  The  sides  of  the  hills 
were  productive  of  minerals  ;  and  the  iron  for- 
ges,' for  the  purpose  of  war,  were  exercised  by 
the  Turks,  the  most  despised  portion  of  the 
slaves  of  the  great  khan  of  the  Geougen.  But 
their  servitude  could  only  last  till  a  leader, 
bold  and  eloquent,  should  arise,  to  persuade 
his  countrymen  that  the  same  arms  which  they 
forged  for  their  masters,  might  become,  in  their 
own  hands,  the  instruments  of  freedom  and 
victory.  They  sallied  from  the  mountain  ;b  a 
sceptre  was  the  reward  of  his  advice  ;  and  the 
annual  ceremony,  in  which  a  piece  of  iron  was 

z  From  Caf  to  Caf;  which  a  more  ratiuual  geography  would  inter- 
pret from  Imaus,  perhaps,  to  mount  Atlas.  According  to  the  religious 
philosophy  of  the  Mahometans,  the  basis  of  mount  Caf  is  an  emerald, 
whose  reflection  produces  the  azure  of  the  sky.  The  mountain  i.s  en- 
dowed with  a  sensitive  action  in  its  roots  or  nerves  ;  and  their  vibra- 
tion, at  the  command  of  God,  is  the  cause  of  earthquakes,  (D'Herbe- 
lot,  p.  230,  231). 

a  The  Siberian  iron  is  the  best  and  most  plentiful  in  the  world  ;  and 
in  the  southern  parts,  above  sixty  mints  are  no, v  worked  by  the  indus- 
try of  the  Russians,  (Strahlenberg,  Hist,  of  Siberia,  p.  342,  387.  Voy- 
age en  Siberie,  par  1'Abbe  Chappe  d'Auteroche,  p.  603-608,  edit,  in 
12mo,  Amsterdam,  1770).  The  Turks  offered  iron  for  sale;  yet  the 
Roman  ambassadors,  with  strange  obstinacy,  persisted  in  believing 
that  it  was  all  a  trick,  and  that  their  countr  y  produced  none,  (Menan  - 
der  in  Excerpt.  Leg.  p.  152). 

b  Of  Irgana  kon,  (Abulghazi  Khan,  Hist.  Genealogique  des  Tatars, 
P.  ii,  c.  5,  p.  71-77  ;  c.  15,  p.  155).  The  tradition  of  the  Moguls,  ot 
the  450  years  which  they  passed  in  the  mountains,  agrees  with  the 
Chinese  periods  of  the  history  of  the  Huns  and  Turks,  (De  Guignes, 
torn,  i,  part  ii,  p.  376),  and  the  twenty  generations,  from  their  resrora- 
ion  to  ZingLs. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  £87 

heated  in  the  fire,  and  a  smith's  hammer  was  CHAP 
successively  handled  by  the  prince  and  his^  ^',, 
nobles,  recorded  for  ages  the  humble  profes- 
sion and  rational  pride  of  the  Turkish  nation. 
Bertezena,  their  first  leader,  signalized  their  va- 
lour and  his  own  in  successful  combats  against 
the  neighbouring  tribes  ;  but  when  he  presum- 
ed to  ask  in  marriage  the  daughter  of  the  khan, 
the  insolent  demand  of  a  slave  and  a  mechanic 
was  contemptuously  rejected.  The  disgrace 
was  expiated  by  a  more  noble  alliance  with  a 
princess  of  China ;  and  the  decisive  battle 
which  almost  extirpated  the  nation  of  the  Geou- 
gen,  established  in  Tartary  the  new  and  more 
powerful  empire  of  the  Turks.  They  reigned 
over  the  north  ;  but  they  confessed  the  vanity 
of  conquest,  by  their  faithful  attachment  to  the 
mountain  of  their  fathers.  The  royal  encamp- 
ment seldom  lost  sight  of  mount  Altai,  from 
whence  the  river  Irtish  descends  to  water  the 
rich  pastures  of  the  Calmucks,6  which  nourish 
the  largest  sheep  and  oxen  in  the  world.  The 
soil  is  fruitful,  and  the  climate  mild  and  tem- 
perate: the  happy  region  was  ignorant  of  earth- 
quake and  pestilence  ;  and  the  emperor's  throne 
was  turned  towards  the  east,  and  a  golden  wolf 
on  the  top  of  a  spear  seemed  to  guard  the  en- 
trance of  his  tent.  One  of  the  successors  of 
Bertezena  was  tempted  by  the  luxury  and  su- 
perstition of  China;  but  his  design  of  building 

c  The  country  of  the  Turks,  now  of  the  Calmucks,  u  well  described 
in  tlie  Genealogical  History,  p.  521-562.  The  curion*  note*  of  th« 
French  translator  are  enlarged  and  digested  in  the  second  volume  of 
the  English  version. 


288  THE  DECLINE  AND  PALL 

CHAP,  cities  and  temples  was  defeated  by  the  simple 
„  wisdom  of  a  barbarian  counsellor.  "  The 
"  Turks,"  he  said,  "  are  not  equal  in  number 
"  to  one  hundredth  part  of  the  inhabitants  of 
"  China.  If  we  balance  their  power,  and  elude 
"  their  armies,  it  is  because  we  wander  without 
"  any  fixed  habitations,  in  the  exercise  of  war 
"  and  hunting.  Are  we  strong?  we  advance 
"  and  conquer :  are  we  feeble?  we  retire  and  are 
"  concealed.  Should  the  Turks  confine  them- 
"  selves  within  the  walls  of  cities,  the  loss  of  a 
"  battle  would  be  the  destruction  of  their  em- 
"  pire.  The  Bonzes  preach  only  patience,  hu- 
"  mility,  and  the  renunciation  of  the  world. — 
"  Such,  O  king  !  is  not  the  religion  of  heroes." 
They  entertained  with  less  reluctance  the  doc- 
trines of  Zoroaster;  but  the  greatest  part  of 
the  nation  acquiesced,  without  inquiry,  in  the 
opinions,  or  rather  in  the  practice,  of  their  an. 
cestors.  The  honours  of  sacrifice  were  reserv- 
ed for  the  supreme  deity  ;  they  acknowledged, 
in  rude  hymns,  their  obligations  to  the  air,  the 
fire,  the  water,  and  the  earth  ;  and  their  priests 
derived  some  profit  from  the  art  of  divination. 
Their  unwritten  laws  were  rigorous  and  impar- 
tial i  theft  was  punished  by  a  tenfold  restitu- 
tion:  adultery,  treason,  and  murder,  with 
death :  and  no  chastisement  could  be  inflicted 
too  severe  for  the  rare  and  inexpiable  guilt  of 
cowardice.  As  the  subject  nations  marched 
under  the  standard  of  the  Turks,  their  cavalry, 
both  men  and  horses,  were  proudly  computed 
by  millions  ;  one  of  their  effective  armies  COD- 


Ofr  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  289 

listed  of  four  hundred  thousand  soldiers,  and    CHAP. 

YJ  TT 

in  less  than  fifty  years  they  were  connected  in  ......  '^r 

peace  and  war  with  the  Romans,  the  Persians, 
and  the  Chinese.  In  their  northern  limits, 
some  vestige  may  be  discovered  of  the  form  and 
situation  of  Kamtchatka,  of  a  people,  of  hun- 
ters and  fishermen,  whose  sledges  were  drawn 
by  dogs,  and  whose  habitations  were  buried 
in  the  earth.  The  Turks  were  ignorant  of 
astronomy  ;  but  the  observation  taken  by  some 
learned  Chinese,  with  a  gnomon  of  eight  feet, 
fixes  the  royal  camp  in  the  latitude  of  forty-nine 
degrees,  and  marks  their  extreme  progress 
within  three,  or  at  least  ten  degrees,  of  the  po- 
lar circle.*  Among  their  southern  conquests, 
the  most  splendid  was  that  of  the  Neptyalites 
or  White  Huns,  a  polite  and  warlike  people, 
who  possessed  the  commercial  cities  of  Bocha- 
ra  and  Samarcand,  who  had  vanquished  the 
Persian  monarch,  and  carried  their  victorious 
arms  along  the  banks,  and  perhaps  to  the  mouth, 
of  the  Indus.  On  the  side  of  the  west,  the  Tur- 
kish cavalry  advanced  to  the  lake  Mreotis.  — 
They  passed  that  lake  on  the  ice.  The  khan  . 
who  dwelt  at  the  foot  of  mount  Altai,  issued 
his  commands  for  the  siege  of  Bosphorus,c  a 
city,  the  voluntary  subjectof  Rome,  and  whose 
princes  had  formerly  been  the  friends  of 


*  Visdelon,  p.  141,  151.  The  fact,  though  it  strictly  belongs  to  a 
subordinate  and  successive  tribe,  may  be  introduced  here. 

'Procopins,  Persic.  1.  i,  c.  12;  1.  ii,  c.  3.  Peyssonnel  (Observa- 
tions snr  les  Penples  Barbares,  p.  99,  100)  defines  the  distance  between 
Cafta  and  the  old  Bosphorus  at  xri  long  Tartar  leagues. 

VOL.  VII.  U 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.  Athens/  To  the  east,  the  Turks  invaded  China, 
,.*..*..'.,*  as  often  as  the  vigour  of  the  government  was 
relaxed  :  and  I  am  taught  to  read  in  the  history 
of  the  times,  that  they  mowed  down  their  pa- 
tient enemies  like  hemp  or  grass  ;  and  that  the 
mandarins  applauded  the  wisdom  of  an  empe- 
ror, who  repulsed  these  barbarians  with  golden 
lances.  This  extent  of  savage  empire  compel- 
led the  Turkish  monarch  to  establish  three  su- 
bordinate princes  of  his  own  blood,  who  soon 
forgot  their  gratitude  and  allegiance.  The  con- 
querors were  enervated  by  luxury,  which  is 
always  fatal  except  to  an  industrious  people ; 
the  policy  of  China  solicited  the  vanquished 
nations  to  resume  their  independence  ;  and  the 
power  of  the  Turks  was  limited  to  a  period  of 
two  hundred  years.  The  revival  of  their  name 
and  dominion  in  the  southern  countries  of  Asia, 
are  the  events  of  a  later  age ;  and  the  dynas- 
ties, which  succeeded  to  their  native  realms, 
n:ay  sleep  in  oblivion  ;  since  their  history  bears 
no  relation  to  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Roman 
empire.6 

fly  before  In  the  rapid  career  of  conquest,  the  Turks 
MdTp'ks'  attacked  and  subdued  the  nation  of  the  Ogors 
proachtheor  Varchonites  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Til, 

empire. 

f  See,  in  a  Memoir  of  M.  de  Boze,  (Mem.  de  PAcademie  dcs  Inscrip- 
liuns,  torn,  vi,  p.  549  565),  the  ancient  kings  and  medals  of  the  Cim- 
merian Bosphorus ;  and  the  gratitude  of  Athens,  in  the  Oration  of 
Demosthenes  against  Leptines,  (in  Reiske,  Orator.  Grsec.  torn,  i,  p. 
466,  467). 

u  For  the  origin  and  revolutions  of  the  first  Turkish  empire,  the 
Chinese  details  are  borrowed  from  De  Guignes,  (Hist,  des  Huns,  torn, 
i,  P.  ii,  p.  367-462),  and  Visdelo'.i,  (Supplement  a  la  Bibliotheque 
Oriprt.  d'Herbelot,  p.  82-114).  The  Greek  or  Roman  hints  are  ga- 
thered in  Mertander,  p.  108-164),  and  Theophylact  Simocatta,  (1.  vii, 
c.  7,8). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

which  derived  the  epithet  of  black  from  iis  (HAP.' 
dark  water  or  gloomy  forests.*1  The  khan  of 
the  Ogors  was  slain  with  three  hundred  thou- 
sand of  his  subjects,  and  their  bodies  were 
scattered  over  the  space  of  four  days  journey  ; 
their  surviving  countrymen  acknowledged  the 
strength  and  mercy  of  the  Turks  ;  and  a  small 
portion,  about  twenty  thousand  warriors,  pre- 
ferred exile  to  servitude.  They  followed  the 
well-known  road  of  the  Volga,  cherished  the 
error  of  the  nations  who  confounded  them  with 
the  AVARS,  and  spread  the  terror  of  that  false 
though  famous  appellation,  which  had  not, 
however,  saved  its  lawful  proprietors 'from  the 
yoke  of  the  Turks.*  After  a  long  and  victorious 
march,  the  new  Avars  arrived  at  the  foot  of 
mount  Caucasus,  in  the  country  of  the  Alanik 
and  Circassians,  where  they  first  heard  of  the 
splendour  and  weakness  of  the  Roman  empire. 
They  humbly  requested  their  confederate,  the 
prince  of  the  Alani,  to  lead  them  to  this  source 
of  riches  ;  and  their  ambassador,  with  the  per- 
mission of  the  governor  of  Lazica,  was  trans- 

h  The  river  Til,  or  Tula,  according  to  the  geography  of  De  Guigues, 
(torn,  i,  part  ii,  p.  Iviii  and  352),  is  a  small  though  grateful  stream  of 
the  desert,  that  falls  into  the  Orhon,  Selinga,  &c.  See  Bell,  Journey 
from  Petersburgh  to  Pekin,  (vol.  ii,  p.  124) ;  yet  his  ovn  description 
of  1he  Keat,  down  which  he  sailed  into  the  Oby,  represents  the  name 
and  atuibntes  of  the  black  river,  (p.  139). 

1  Theophylact,  1.  vii,,c.  7,  8.  And  yet  his  true  Avar*  are  invisible 
even  to  the  eyes  of  M.  de  Guignes;  and  what  can  be  more  illustrious 
than  the  false?  The  right  of  the  fugitive  Ogors  to  that  national  appel- 
lation is  confessed  by  the  Turks  themselves,  (Menander,  p.  108). 

k  The  Alani  are  still  found  in  the  Genealogical  History  of  the  Tar. 
tars,  (p.  617),  and  in  d'Aiiville's  maps.  They  opposed  the  march  of 
the  generals  of  Zingis  round  the  Caspian  sea,  and  were  overthrown  in 
a  great  battle,  (Hist,  de  Gengiscan,  1.  iv,  c.  9,  p.  447). 


292  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  ported  by  the  Euxine  sea  to  Constantinople. 

„ V,'.,Tlie   whole  city  was  poured   forth  to  behoLI 

with  curiosity  and  terror  the  aspect  of  a  strange 

people  ;  their  long  hair  which  hung  in  tresses 

down  their  backs,  was  gracefully  bound  with 

ribbons,  but  the  rest  of  their  habit  appeared  to 

batytom"imitate  the  fashion  of  the  Huns.     When  they 

Constan-   were  admitted  to  the    audience  of  Justinian, 

tinople, 

A.  0.C58.  Gandish,  the  first  of  the  ambassadors,   addres- 
sed the  Roman  emperor  in  these  terms : — "  You 
"  see  before  yon,   O  mighty  prince,  the  repre- 
"  sentatives  of  the  strongest  and  most  popu- 
"  lous  of  nations,  the  invincible,  the  irresistible 
"  Avars.     We  are  willing  to  devote  ourselves 
"  to  your  service  :  we  are  able  to  vanquish  and 
"  destroy  all  the   enemies    who  now   disturb 
"  your  repose.     But  we  expect,  as  the  price  of 
"  our  alliance,  as  the  reward  of  our  valour,  pre- 
"  cious  gifts,  annual  subsidies,  and  fruitful  pos- 
"  sessions."     At  the  time  of  this  embassy,  Jus- 
tinian had  reigned  above  thirty,   he  had  lived 
about  seventy-five  years  :  his  mind,   as  well  as 
his  body,  was  feeble  and  languid  ;  and  the  con- 
queror of  Africa  and  Italy,  careless  of  the  per- 
manent interest  of  his  people,  aspired  only  to 
end  his  clays  in  the  bosom  even  of  inglorious 
peace.     In  a  studied  oration,  he  imparted  to 
the  senate  his  resolution  to  dissemble  the  in- 
sult,  and  to   purchase   the    friendship    of  the 
Avars ;  and  the  whole  senate,  like  the  manda- 
rins of  China,  applauded  the  incomparable  wis- 
dom and  foresight  of  their  sovereign.     The  in- 
struments of  luxury  were  immediately  prepared 
to  motivate  the  barbarians;  silken  garments, 
soft  and  splendid  beds,  and  chains  and  collars 


v   -  OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  293 

incrusted  with  gold.  The  ambassadors,  con-  CHAP. 
tent  with  such  liberal  reception,  departed  from 
Constantinople,  and  Valentin,  one  of  the  empe- 
ror's guards,  was  sent  with  a  similar  character 
to  their  camp  at  the  foot  of  mount  Caucasus. 
As  their  destruction  or  their  success  must  be 
alike  advantageous  to  the  empire,  he  persuad- 
ed them  to  invade  the  enemies  of  Rome ;  and 
they  were  easily  tempted,  by  gifts  and  pro- 
mises, to  gratify  their  ruling  inclinations. — 
These  fugitives,  who  fled  before  the  Turkish 
arms,  passed  the  Tanais  and  Borysthenes,  and 
boldly  advanced  into  the  heart  of  Poland  and 
Germany,  violating  the  law  of  nations,  and 
abusing  the  rights  of  victory.  Before  ten  years 
had  elapsed,  their  camps  were  seated  on  the 
Danube  and  the  Elbe,  many  Bulgarian  and 
Sclavonian  names  were  obliterated  from  the 
earth,  and  the  remainder  of  their  tribes  are 
found,  as  tributaries  and  vassals,  under  the 
standard  of  the  Avars.  The  chagan,  the  pecu- 
liar title  of  their  king,  still  affected  to  cultivate 
the  friendship  of  the  emperor ;  and  Justinian 
entertained  some  thoughts  of  fixing  them  in 
Pannonia,  to  balance  the  prevailing  power  of 
the  Lombards.  But  the  virtue  or  treachery  of 
an  Avar  betrayed  the  secret  enmity  and  ambi- 
tious designs  of  their  countrymen ;  and  they 
loudly  complained  o/  the  timid,  though  jealous 
policy,  of  detaining  their  ambassadors,  and  de- 
nying the  arms  which  they  had  been  allowed 
to  purchase  in  the  capital  of  the  empire.1 

1  The  embassies  and  first  conquests  of  the  Avars  may  be  read  in  Me- 
nander,  (Excerpt,  Legat.  p.  99,  100,  101,  154,  155)  ;  Theophanes,  (p. 
196) ;  the  Histoiia  MisceHa,  (I.  xvi,  p  100),  aud  Gregory  or"  Tours, 
i\.  iv,  c.  23,  29,  iu  the  Historiaus  of  Franc*-,  tosn  ii,  j>.  214,  217). 


294  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALI 

CHAP.        Perhaps  the  apparent  change  in  the  disposi- 
XLII.    tjons  of  tne  emperors,  may  be  ascribed  to  the 
Embassies  embassy  which  was  received  from  the  conque- 
rors of  the  Avars.™     The  immense    distance, 


Turks  and  ... 

Romans,  which  eluded  their  arms,  could  not  extinguish 
682? 5  their  resentment:  the  Turkish  ambassadors 
pursued  the  footsteps  of  the  vanquished  to  the 
Jaik,  the  Volga,  mount  Caucasus,  the  Euxine, 
and  Constantinople,  and  at  length  appeared  be- 
fore the  successor  of  Constantine,  to  request 
that  he  would  not  espouse  the  cause  of  rebels 
arid  fugitives.  Even  commerce  had  some  share 
in  this  remarkable  negotiation :  and  the  Sog- 
doites,  who  were  now  the  tributaries  of  the 
Turks,  embraced  the  fair  occasion  of  opening, 
by  the  north  of  the  Caspian,  a  new  road  for 
the  importation  of  Chinese  silk  into  the  Roman 
empire.  The  Persian,  who  preferred  the  na- 
vigation of  Ceylon,  had  stopped  the  caravans 
of  Bochara  and  Samarcand  :  their  silk  was 
contemptuously  burnt :  some  Turkish  ambas- 
sadors died  in  Persia,  with  a  suspicion  of  poi- 
son ;  and  the  great  khan  permitted  his  faithful 
vassal  Maniach,  the  prince  of  the  Sogdoites,  to 
propose,  at  the  Byzantine  court,  a  treaty  of  al- 
legiance against  their  common  enemies.  Their 
splendid  apparel  and  rich  presents,  the  fruit  of 
oriental  luxury,  distinguished  Maniach  and  his 
colleagues,  from  the  rude  savages  of  the  north  : 
their  letters,  in  the  Scythian  character  and  lan- 

m  Theopbanes,  (Chron,  p.  204),  and  the  Hist.  Miscella,  (1.  xvi,  p. 
110),  as  understood  by  DC  Guignes,  (torn,  i,  part  fi,  p.  354),  appear  to 
speak  of  a  Turkish  embassy  to  Justinian  hi'ti.'-elf;  but  tJ.at  of  Maiifficli, 
;.i  tlit  fourth  year  of  his  successor  Justin,  is  positively  the  first  that 
readied  Constantinople,  (Menandt-  r,  p.  lOfc). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  2JJ5 

guage,  announced  a  people  who  had  attained  CHAP. 
the  rudiments  of  science,"  they  enumerated  the  t 
conquests,  they  offered  the  friendship  and  mi- 
litary aid  of  the  Turks  ;  and  their  sincerity  was 
attested  by  direful  imprecations  (if  they  were 
guilty  of  falsehood)  against  their  own  head, 
and  the  head  of  Disabul  their  master.  The 
Greek  prince  entertained  with  hospitable  re- 
gard the  ambassadors  of  a  remote  and  powerful 
monarch :  the  sight  of  silk  worms  and  looms 
disappointed  the  hopes  of  the  Sogdoites  ;  the 
emperor  renounced,  or  seemed  to  renounce,  the 
fugitive  Avars,  but  he  accepted  the  alliance  of 
the  Turks :  and  the  ratification  of  the  treaty 
was  carried  by  a  Roman  minister  to  the  foot  of 
mount  Altai.  Under  the  successors  of  Justi- 
nian, the  friendship  of  the  two  nations  was  cul- 
tivated by  frequent  and  cordial  intercourse: 
the  most  favoured  vassals  were  permitted  to 
imitate  the  example  of  the  great  khan,  and  one 
hundred  and  six  Turks,  who,  on  various  occa- 
sions, had  visited  Constantinople,  departed  at 
the  same  time  for  their  native  country.  The 
duration  and  length  of  the  journey  from  the 
Byzantine  court  to  mount  Altai,  are  not  speci- 
fied :  it  might  have  been  difficult  to  mark  a 
road  through  the  nameless  deserts,  the  moun- 
tains, rivers,  .and  morasses  of  Tartary ;  but  a 
curious  account  has  been  preserved  of  the  re- 

•  The  Russians  have  found  characters,  rude  hieroglyphics,  on  the 
Irtish  and  Yenisei,  »n  medals,  tombs,  idols,  rorks,  obelisks,  &c.(Streh- 
Icnberg,  Hist,  of  Siberia,  p  324,  346,  4CC,  429).  Dr.  Hyde  (fie  Keli- 
gione  Veterum  Persarnm,  p.  621,  «»:c.)  has  riven  two  alphabets  of  Thi- 
bet and  of  the  Eygours,  I  have  long  harboured  a  suspicion  that  all 
the  Scytiiian,  ar,d  some,  perhaps  much,  of  the  Indian  science  was  de» 
rived  from  the  Greeks  of  Bactrians. 


296  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CXLn*    ^ption  °f  the  Roman  ambassadors  at  the  royal 

camp.     After  they  had  been  purified  with  fire 

and  incense,   according  to  a  rite  still  practised 
under  the  sons  of  Zing-is,  they  were  introduced 
to  the  presence  of  Disabul.     In  a  valley  of  the 
Golden  Mountain,  they  found  the  great  khan  in 
his  tent,  seated  in  a  chair  with  wheels,  to  which 
an  horse  might  be  occasionally  harnessed.    As 
soon  as  they  had  delivered  their  presents,  which 
were  received  by  the  proper   officers,  they  ex- 
posed, in  a  florid  oration,  the  wishes  of  the  Ro- 
man emperor,    that  victory    might  attend  the 
arms  of  the  Turks,  that  their  reign  might  be 
long  and  prosperous,  and  that  a  strict  alliance, 
without  envy  or  deceit,  might  for  ever  be  main- 
tained between  the  two  most  powerful  nation 
of  the  earth.     The  answer  of  Disabul  corres- 
ponded with  these  friendly  professions,  and  the 
ambassadors  were  seated  by  his  side,  at  a  ban- 
quet which  lasted  the  greatest  part  of  the  day  ; 
the  tent  was  surrounded  with  silk  hangings,  and 
a  tartar  liquor  was  served  on  the  table,  which 
possessed  at  least  the  intoxicating  qualities  of 
wine.     The  entertainment  of  the  succeeding  day 
was  more  sumptuous  ;  the  silk  hangings  of  the 
second  tent  were  embroidered  in  various  figures ; 
and  the  royal  seat,   the   cups,  and  the  vases, 
were  of  gold.     A  third  pavilion  was  supported 
by  columns  of  gilt  wood  ;  a  bed  of  pure  and 
massy  gold  was  raised  on  four  peacocks  of  the 
same  metal ;  and  before  the  entrance  of  the  tent, 
dishes,  basons,  and  statues  of  solid  silver,  and 
admirable  art,  were  ostentatiously  piled  in  w?g- 
gons,   the  monuments  of  valour  rather  than  of 
industry.  When  Disabul  led  his  armies  against 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE,  297 

the  frontiers  of  Persia,  his  Roman  allies  follow-  CHAP. 
ed  many  days  the  march  of  the  Turkish  camp, 
nor  were  they  dismissed  till  they  had  enjoyed 
their  precedency  over  the  envoy  of  the  great 
king,  whose  loud  and  intemperate  clamours  in- 
terrupted the  silence  of  the  royal  banquet.  The 
power  and  ambition  of  Chosroes  cemented  the 
union  of  the  Turks  and  Romans,  who  touched 
his  dominions  on  either  side  :  but  those  distant 
nations,  regardless  of  each  other,  consulted  the 
dictates  of  interest,  without  recollecting  the 
obligations  of  oaths  and  treaties.  While  the 
successor  of  Disabul  celebrated  his  father's  ob- 
sequies, he  was  saluted  by  the  ambassadors  of 
the  emperor  Tiberius,  who  proposed  an  inva- 
sion of  Persia,  and  sustained  with  firmness,  the 
angry,  and  perhaps  the  just,  reproaches  of  that 
haughty  barbarian.  "  You  see  my  ten  fingers," 
said  the  great  khan,  and  he  applied  them  to  his 
mouth.  "  You  Romans  speak  with  as  many 
"  tongues,  but  they  are  tongues  of  deceit  and 
"  perjury.  To  me  you  hold  One  language,  to 
"  my  subjects  another  :  and  the  nations  are  sue- 
"  cessively  deluded  by  your  perfidious  elo- 
"  quence.  You  precipitate  ydur  allies  into  war 
"  and  danger,  you  enjoy  their  labours,  and  you 
"  neglect  your  benefactors.  Hasten  your  re- 
"  turn,  inform  your  master  that  a  Turk  isincapa- 
"  ble  of  uttering  or  forgiving  falsehood,  and  that 
"  he  shall  speedily  meet  the  punishment  which 
"  he  deserves.  While  he  solicits  my  friendship 
"  with  flattering  and  hollow  words,' he  is  sunk 
"  to  a  confederate  of  my  fugitive  Varchonites. 
"  If  I  condescend  to  march  against  those  con- 
"  temptible  slaves,  they  will  tremble  at  the 


298  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.  "  sound  of  our  whips ;   they  will  be  trampled, 
,U,,"  like  a  nest  of  ants,  under  the  feet  of  my  innu- 
"  merable  cavalry.     I  am  not  ignorant  of  the 
"  road   which  they  have  followed    to   invade 
your  empire  $  nor  can  be   deceived  by   the 
'  vain  pretence,  that  mount   Caucasus  is  the 
"  impregnable  barrier  of  the  Romans.     I  know 
"  the  course  of  the  Niester,  the  Danube,  and 
"  the  Hebrus  ;  the  most  warlike  nations  have 
"  yielded  to  the  arms  of  the  Turks  ;  and  from 
"  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun,  the  earth  is  my 
"  inheritance."     Notwithstanding  this  menace, 
a  sense  of  mutual  advantage  soon  renewed  the 
alliance  of  the  Turks   and  Romans :  but  the 
pride  of  the  great  khan  survived  his  resentment: 
and  when  he  announced  an  important  conquest 
to  his  friend  the  emperor  Maurice,  he  styled 
himself  the  master  of  the  seven  races,  and  the 
lord  of  the  seven  climates  of  the  world.0 
Bute  of        Disputes  have  often  arisen  between  the  sove- 
A.  D.  500-  reigns  of  Asia,  for  the  title  of  king  of  the  world  ; 
while  the  contest  has  proved  that  it  could  not 
belong  to  either  of  the  competitors.     The  king- 
dom of  the  Turks   was  bounded  by  the  Oxus 
or  Qihon  ;  and   Touran  was  separated  by  that 
i»  reat  river  from  the  rival  monarchy  of  Iran,  or 
.Persia,  which,  in  a  smaller  compass,  contained 
perhaps  a  larger  measure  of  power  and  popula- 
tion.    The  Persians,  who  alternately  invaded 
and  repulsed  the  Turks  and  the  Romans,  were 


'  *  AH  the  details  of  these  Turkish  and  Roman  embassies,  so  cnrion* 
in  the  history  of  Itmran  manners,  are  drawn  from  the  Extracts  of  Me- 
nander,  (p.  106-110,  151-154,  161-1(54),  in  which  we  often  regret  1h« 
want  of  order  and  connection. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  299 

still  ruled  by  the  house  of  Sassan,  which  as-  CHAP. 
cended  the  throne  three  hundred  years  before  ^ 
the  accession  of  Justinian.  His  contemporary, 
Cabades,  or  Kobad,  had  been  successful  in 
war  against  the  emperor  Anastasius  ;  but  the 
reign  of  that  prince  was  distracted  by  civil  and 
religious  troubles.  A  prisoner  in  the  hands  of 
his  subjects ;  an  exile  among  the  enemies  of 
Persia  ;  he  recovered  his  liberty  by  prostitut- 
ing the  honour  of  his  wife,  and  regained  his 
kingdom  with  the  dangerous  and  mercenary 
aid  of  the  barbarians,  who  had  slain  his  father. 
His  nobles  were  suspicious  that  Kobad  never 
forgave  the  authors  of  his  expulsion,  or  even 
those  of  his  restoration.  The  people  was  de- 
luded and  inflamed  by  the  fanaticism  of  Maz- 
dak,p  who  asserted  the  community  of  women,q 
and  the  equality  of  mankind,  whilst  he  appro- 
priated the  richest  lands  and  most  beautiful  fe- 
males to  the  use  of  his  sectaries.  The  view  of 
these  disorders,  which  had  been  fomented  by 
his  laws  and  example/  embittered  the  declining 
age  of  the  Persian  monarch  ;  and  his  fears  were 
increased  by  the  consciousness  of  his  design  tc 
reverse  the  natural  and  customary  order  of  sue* 

"  Sec  d'Herbelot,  (Bibliot.  Orient,  p.  568,929);  Hyde,  (dcReligione 
Vet.  Pcrsarum,  c.  21,  p.  290,291);  Pocock,  (Specimen  Hist.  Arab.  p. 
70,71);  Eutychius,  (Annal  torn,  ii,  p.  176);  Tcxeira,  (in  Stevens, 
Hist,  of  Persia,  1.  i,  c.  34). 

,  1  The  fame  of  the  new  law  for  the  community  of  women  wa«  soon 
propagated  in  Syria  (Asseman.  BibHot.  Orient,  torn,  iii,  p.  402)  and 
Greece,  (Procop.  Persic.  1.  i,  c.  5). 

'  He  offered  his  own  wife  and  sister  to  the  prophet ;  but  the  prayers 
ofNushirvan  saved  his  mother,  and  the  indignant  monarch  never  forgave 
the  humiliation  to  which  his  filial  piety  had  stooped:  p«des  tuos  deos- 
rulatns,  (said  he  to  Mazdak),  cujns  factor  adhuc  »a«es  occnpat,  (Po- 
cock, Sprdmeu  Hist.  Arab.  p.  71). 


300  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  cession,  in  favour  of  his  third  and  most  favour- 
*~i~  ec*  son>  so  fanious  under  the  names  of  Chosroes 
and  Nushirvan,  To  render  the  youth  more  il- 
lustrious in  the  eyes  of  the  nations,  Kobad  was 
desirous  that  he  should  be  adopted  by  the  empe- 
ror Justin  :  the  hope  of  peace  inclined  the  By- 
zantine court  to  accept  this  singular  proposal ; 
and  Chosroes  might  have  acquired  a  specious 
claim  to  the  inheritance  of  his  Roman  parent. 
But  the  future  mischief  was  diverted  by  the 
advice  of  the  questor  Proclus  :  a  difficulty  was 
started,  whether  the  adoption  should  be  per- 
formed as  a  civil  or  military  rite  ;5  the  treaty 
was  abruptly  dissolved;  and  the  sense  of  this 
indignity  sunk  deep  into  the  mind  of  Chosroes, 
who  had  already  advanced  to  the  Tigris  on  his 
road  to  Constantinople.  His  father  did  not 
long  survive  the  disappointment  of  his  wishes ; 
the  testament  of  their  deceased  sovereign  was 
read  in  the  assembly  of  the  nobles  ;  and  a  pow- 
erful faction,  prepared  for  the  event,  and  re- 
gardless of  the  priority  of  age,  exalted  Chos- 
roes to  the  throne  of  Persia.  He  filled  lhat 
throne  during  a  prosperous  period  of  forty- 
eight  years;1  and  the  JUSTICE  of  Nushirvan  is 

*  Procopius,  Periic.  1.  i,  c.  11.  Was  not  Proclus  over-wise  ? — Was 
not  the  danger  imaginary? — The  excuse,  at  least,  was  injurious  to  a 
nation  not  ignorant  of  letters  :  u  yfn/jt/uan  »l  /3«p/3a«oi  TV;  TraiJa?  froiwrai 
*xx*  e«pX<wy  fKiim.  Whether  any  mode  of  adoption  was  practised  in 
Persia,  I  much  doubt. 

1  From  Procopius  and  Agathias,  Pagi  (torn  ii,  p.  543, 626)  has  prov- 
ed that  Chosroes  Nushirvan  ascended  the  throne  in  the  vth  year  of  Jus- 
tinian,  (A.  D.  531,  April  1-A.  D.  532,  April  1).  But  the  true  chrono- 
logy, which  harmonizes  with  the  Greeks  and  Orientals,  is  ascertained 
i.y  John  Malala,  (torn,  ii,  211).  Cabades,  or  Kobad,  after  a  reign  of 
forty-three  years  and  two  months,  sickened  the  8th,  and  died  the  13th 

of 


OF  THE  ROMAN   EMPIRE.  3Q  J 

Celebrated  as  the  theme  of  immortal  praise,  by    CHAP. 
the  nations  of  the  East. 

But  the  justice  of  kings  is  understood 


themselves,  and  even  by  their  subjects,  with  an  VM,  or 


ample  indulgence  for  the  gratification  of  pas-  D 
sion  and  interest.  The  virtue  of  Chosroes  was  579 
that  of  a  conqueror,  who,  in  the  measures  of 
peace  and  war,  is  excited  by  ambition  and  re- 
strained by  prudence  ;  who  confounds  the 
greatness  with  the  happiness  of  a  nation,  and 
calmly  devotes  the  lives  of  thousands  to  the 
fame,  or  even  the  amusement,  of  a  single  man. 
In  his  domestic  administration,  the  just  Nu- 
shirvan  would  merit,  in  our  feelings,  the  appel- 
lation of  a  tyrant.  His  two  elder  brothers  had 
been  deprived  of  their  fair  expectations  of  the 
diadem  :  their  future  life,  between  the  supreme 
rank  and  the  condition  of  subjects,  was  anxious 
to  themselves  and  formidable  to  their  master: 
fear  as  well  as  revenge  might  tempt  them  to  re-^ 
bel  ;  the  slightest  evidence  of  a  conspiracy  sa- 
tisfied the  author  of  their  wrongs  ;  and  the  re- 
pose of  Chosroes  was  secured  by  the  death  of 
these  unhappy  princes,  with  their  families  and 
adherents.  One  guiltless  youth  was  saved  and 
dismissed  by  the  compassion  of  a  veteran  gene- 
ral ;  and  this  act  of  humanity,  which  was  re- 
vealed by  his  son,  overbalanced  the  merit  of 
reducing  twelve  nations  to  the  obedience  of 
Persia.  The  zeal  and  prudence  of  Mebodes 
had  fixed  the  diadem  on  the  head  of  Chosroes 
himself;  but  he  delayed  to  attend  the  royal 

of  September,  A.  D.  631,  aged  eighty-two  years.  According  to  the 
annals  of  EutycLius,  Nusiiirvan  reigned  forty-seven  years  end  six 
mouths  ;  and  his  death  must  consequently  be  placed  in  March  A.  D 
§79. 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  summons,  till  he  bad  performed  the  duties  of  a 
XLII.  mjlitary  review  :  he  was  instantly  commanded 
to  repair  to  the  iron  tripod,  which  stood  before 
the  gate  of  the  palace,"  where  it  was  death  to 
relieve  or  approach  the  victim  ;  and  Mebodes 
languished  several  days  before  his  sentence  was 
pronounced,  by  the  inflexible  pride  and  calm 
ingratitude  of  the  son  ofKobad.  But  the  peo- 
ple, more  especially  in  the  East,  is  disposed  to 
forgive,  and  even  to  applaud,  the  cruelty  which 
strikes  at  the  loftiest  heads ;  at  the  slaves  of 
ambition,  whose  voluntary  choice  has  exposed 
them  to  live  in  the  smiles,  and  to  perish  by  the 
frown,  of  a  capricious  monarch,  in  the  execu- 
tion of  the  laws  which  he  had  no  temptation  to 
violate  ;  in  the  punishment  of  crimes  which  at- 
tacked his  own  dignity,  as  well  as  the  happi- 
ness of  individuals ;  Nushirvan,  or  Chosroes, 
deserved  the  appellation  of  just.  His  go- 
vernment was  firm,  rigorous,  and  impartial. — 
It  was  the  first  labour  of  his  reign  to  abolish 
the  dangerous  theory  of  common  or  equal  pos- 
v  sessions  :  the  lands  and  women  which  the  sec- 
taries of  Mazdak  had  usurped,  were  restored 
to  their  lawful  owners  ;  and  the  temperate  chas- 
tisement of  the  fanatics  or  impostors  confirmed 
the  domestic  rights  of  society.  Instead  of  lis- 
tening with  blind  confidence  to  a  favourite  mi- 
nister, he  established  four  viziers  over  the  four 
great  provinces  of  his  empire,  Assyria,  Media, 
Persia,  and  Bactriana.  In  the  choice  of  judges, 

u  Procopins,  Persic.  1.  i,  c.  23.  Brisson  de  Regn.  Pers.  p.  494.— 
The  gate  of  the  palace  oflsaphan  is,  or  was,  the  fatal  scene  of  disgrace 
or  death,  (Chardin,  Voyage  en  Perse,  torn.  IT,  p.  312,  S13) 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  303 

prefects,  and  counsellors,  he  strove  to  remove  CHAP. 
the  mask  which  is  always  worn  in  the  presence     XLL 

+++*•*  ~+^  ++ 

of  kings  ;  he  wished  to  substitute  the  natural 
order  of  talents  for  the  accidental  distinctions 
of  birth  and  fortune  ;  he  professed,  in  specious 
language,  his  intention  to  prefer  those  men  who 
carried  the  poor  in  their  bosoms,  and  to  banish 
corruption  from  the  seat  of  justice,  as  dogs 
were  excluded  from  the  temples  of  the  Magi. 
The  code  of  laws  of  the  first  Artaxerxes  was 
revived  and  published  as  the  rule  of  the  magis- 
trates ;  but  the  assurance  of  speedy  punish- 
ment was  the  best  security  of  their  virtue. — 
Their  behaviour  was  inspected  by  a  thousand 
eyes,  their  words  were  overheard  by  a  thousand 
ears,  the  secret  or  public  agents  of  the  throne; 
and  the  provinces^  from  the  Indian  to  the  Ara- 
bian confines,  were  enlightened  by  the  frequent 
visits  of  a  sovereign,  who  affected  to  emulate 
his  celestial  brother  in  his  rapid  and  salutary 
career.  Education  and  agriculture  he  viewed 
as  the  two  objects  most  deserving  of  his  care. 
In  every  city  of  Persia,  orphans  and  the  chil- 
dren of  the  poor  were  maintained  and  instruct- 
ed at  the  public  expence  ;  the  daughters  were 
given  in  marriage  to  the  richest  citizens  of  their 
own  rank  ;  and  the  sons,  according  to  their 
different  talents,  were  employed  in  mechanic 
trades,  or  promoted  to  more  honourable 
service.  The  deserted  villages  were  relieved 
by  his  bounty;  to  the  peasants  and  farmers 
who  were  found  incapable  of  cultivating  their 
lands,  he  distributed  cattle,  seed,  and  the  in- 
struments of  husbandry ;  and  the  rare  and  in- 


304  TH£  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  estimable  treasure  of  fresh  water  was  parsimo- 
IL  niously  managed  and  skilfully  dispersed  over 
the  arid  territory  of  Persia/  The  prosperity 
of  that  kingdom  was  the  effect  and  evidence  of 
his  virtues :  his  vices  are  those  of  oriental  des- 
potism ;  but  in  the  long  competition  between 
Chosroes  and  Justinian,  the  advantage  both  of 
merit  and  fortune  is  almost  always  on  the  side 
of  the  barbarian/ 

or"rarnt  To  tne  praise  of  justice  Nushirvan  united  the 
ins-  reputation  of  knowledge  ;  and  the  seven  Greek 
philosophers,  who  visited  his  court,  were  invit- 
ed and  deceived  by  the  strange  assurance,  that 
a  disciple  of  Plato  was  seated  on  the  Persiar. 
throne.  Did  they  expect  that  a  prince,  stre 
nuously  exercised  in  the  toils  of  war  and  go 
vernment,  should  agitate,  with  dexterity  like 
their  own,  the  abstruse  and  profound  questions 
which  amused  the  leisure  of  the  schools  of 
Athens  ?  Could  they  hope  that  the  precepts  of 
philosophy  should  direct  the  life,  and  controul 
the  passions,  of  a  despot,  whose  infancy  had  been 
taught  to  consider  his  absolute  and  fluctuating 


x  In  Persia,  the  prince  of  the  waters  is  an  officer  of  state.  The  num- 
ber of  wells  aud  subterraneous  channels  is  much  diminished,  and  with 
it  the  fertility  of  the  soil ;  400  wells  Lave  been  recently  lost  near  Tau- 
ris,  and  42,000  were  once  reckoned  in  the  province  of  Khorasan, 
(Chardin.  torn,  iii,  p.  99,  100.  Tavernier,  torn,  i,  p.  466). 

7  The  character  and  government  of  Nushirvan  is  represented  some- 
times in  the  words  of  d'Herbelot,  (Bibliot.  Orient,  p.  680,  &c.  from 
Rhondemir) ;  Eutychins,  (Annal.  torn,  ii,  p.  179,  180 — very  rich); 
Abulpharagius,  (Dynast,  vii,  p.  94,95— very  poor);  Tarikh  Schikard, 
(p.  144-150);  Texeira,  (in  Stevens,  1.  i,  c.  35);  Asseman,  (Bibliot. 
Orient  torn,  iii,  p.  404-410;,  and  the  Abbe  Fourmont,  (Hist,  de  PAcad. 
des  Inscriptions,  torn,  vii,  p  325-334),  who  has  translated  a  spurious 
c!  genuine  testament  of  Nushirvan. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  305 

will  as  the  only  rule  of  moral  obligation*    The   CHAP. 

'Y  -w   -r-r 

studies  of  Chosroes  were  ostentatious  and  su 
perficial :  but  his  example  awakened  the  curi- 
osity of  an  ingenious  people,  and  the  light  of 
science  was  diffused  over  the  dominions  of  Per- 
sia.* At  Gondi  Sapor,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  royal  city  of  Susa,  an  academy  of  physic 
was  founded,  which  insensibly  became  a  liber- 
al school  of  poetry,  philosophy,  and  rhetoric.1" 
The  annals  of  the  monarchy'  were  composed ; 
and  while  recent  and  authentic  history  might 
afford  some  useful  lessons  both  to  the  prince  and 
people,  the  darkness  of  the  first  ages  was  embel- 
lished by  the  giants,  the  dragons,  and  the  fabu- 
lous heroes  of  oriental  romance.*1  Every  learned 
or  confident  stranger  was  enriched  by  the  boun- 
ty, and  flattered  by  the  conversation,  of  the  mo- 
narch: he  nobly  rewarded  a  Greek  physician," 

1  A  thousand  years  before  his  birth,  the  Judges  of  Persia  had  given 
a  solemn  opinion — TV  B«S-»AIVOVTJ  nepirav  tfctwat  iroittw  to  «v  BouXuTai  (He- 
rodot.  1.  iii,  c.  31,  p.  210,  edit.  Wesseling).  Nor  had  this  constitutional 
maxim  been  neglected  as  an  useless  and  barren  theory. 

*  On  the  literary  state  of  Persia,  the  Greek  versions,  philosophers, 
sophists,  the  learning  or  ignorance  of  Chosroes,  Agathias  (1,  ii,  c.  66 — 
71)  displays  much  information  and  strong  prejudices. 

L  Asseman.  Bibliot.  Orient,  torn,  iv,  p.  DCCXLV,  vi,  vii. 

c  The  Shah  Nameh,  or  book  of  Kings,  is  perhaps  the  original  record 
of  history  which  was  translated  into  Greek  by  the  interpreter  Sergins, 
(Agathias,  1.  v,  p.  141),  preserved  after  the  Mahometan  conquest,  and 
versified  in  the  year  994,  by  the  national  poet  Ferdoussi.  See  d'An- 
quetil,  (Mem.  de  PAcademie,  torn,  xxxi,  p.  379),  and  Sir  William 
Jones,  (Hist,  of  Nader  Shah,  p  161). 

d  In  the  fifth  century,  the  name  of  Restom  or  Rostam,  an  hero  who 
equalled  the  strength  of  twelve  Elephants,  was  familiar  to  the  Arme- 
nians, (Moses  Chorenensis,  Hist.  Armen.  1.  ii,  c.  7,  p.  96,  edit.  Whis- 
ton.)  In  the  beginning  of  the  seventh,  the  Persian  Romance  of  Ros- 
tam and  Isfendiar  was  applauded  at  Mecca,  (Sale's  Koran,  c.  xxxi,  p. 
335).  Yet  this  exposition  of  ludicrnm  novae  historiae,  is  not  given  by 
Maracci,  (Refutat.  Alcoran,  p.  544—548). 

•  Procop.  Goth.  1.  iv,  c.  10.     Kobad  had  a  favourite  Greek  physt* 

ciae 
VOL.    VII.      '  X 


300  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  by  the  deliverance  of  three  thousand  captives; 
..'*.„*...  and  the  sophists  who  contended  for  his  favour, 
were  exasperated  by  the  wealth  and  insolence 
of  Uranius,  their  more  successful  rival.  Nush- 
irvan  believed,  or  at  least  respected,  the  religion 
of  the  Magi;  and  some  traces  of  persecution  may 
be  discovered  in  his  reign/  Yet  he  allowed 
himself  freely  to  compare  the  tenets  of  the  vari- 
ous sects ;  and  the  theological  disputes  in  which 
he  frequently  presided,  diminished  the  authori- 
ty of  the  priest,  and  enlightened  the  minds  of 
the  people.  At  his  command,  the  most  celebrat- 
ed writers  of  Greece  and  India  were  translated 
into  the  Persian  language;  a  smooth  and  ele- 
gant idiom,  recommended  by  Mahomet  to  the 
use  of  paradise:  though  it  is  branded  with  the 
epithets  of  savage  and  unmusical,  by  the  igno- 
rance and  presumption  of  Agathias.8  Yet  the 
Greek  historian  might  reasonably  wonder,  that 
it  should  be  found  possible  to  execute  an  en- 
tire version  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  in  a  foreign 
dialect,  which  had  not  been  framed  to  express 
the  spirit  of  freedom  and  the  subtleties  of  phi- 
losophic disquisition.  And,  if  the  reason  of  the 
Stagyrite  might  be  equally  dark,  or  equally  in- 
telligible in  every  tongue,  the  dramatic  art  and 

cian,  Stephen  of  Etlessa,  (Persic.  1.  ii,  c.  26).  The  practice  was  an- 
cient j  and  Herodotus  relates  the  adventures  of  Democedes  of  Croto- 
ni,  (1.  iii,  c.  125-137). 

'  See  Pagi,  torn,  ii,  p.  G26.  In  one  of  the  treaties  an  honourable 
article  was  inserted  for  the  toleration  and  burial  of  the  catholics,  (Me- 
nander,  in  Excerpt.  Legal,  p.  142).  Nushizad,  a  son  of  Nushir?an, 
was  a  Christian, a  rebel,  and — a  martyr?  (D'Herbelot,  p.  681). 

8  On  the  Persian  language,  and  its  three  dialects,  consult  d'Anqne- 
til,  (p.  339 — 343),  and  Jones  (p.  153 — 185) :  «yfi?  TIK  yx«r1>>  *»i  «,<*«- 
rtraT*,  is  the  character  which  Agathias  (1.  ii,  p.  66)  ascribes  to  an  idiom 
renowned  in  the  East  for  poetical  softness 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  507 

verbal  argumentation  of  the  disciple  of  Socra-  CHAP. 
tes,h  appear  to  be  indissolubly  mingled  with  ^ 
the  grace  and  perfection  of  his  Attic  style.  In 
the  search  of  universal  knowledge,  Nushirvan 
was  informed,  that  the  moral  and  political  fables 
of  Pilpay,  an  ancient  Brachman,  were  preserv- 
ed with  jealous  reverence  among  the  treasures 
of  the  kings  of  India.  The  physician  Perozes 
was  secretly  despatched  to  the  banks  of  the 
Ganges,  with  instructions  to  procure,  at  any 
price,  the  communication  of  this  valuable  work. 
His  dexterity  obtained  a  transcript,  his  learned 
diligence  accomplished  the  translation;  and  the 
fables  of  Pilpay*  were  read  and  admired  in  the 
assembly  of  Nushirvan  and  his  nobles.  The 
Indian  original,  and  the  Persian  copy,  have  long 
since  disappeared :  but  this  venerable  monu- 
ment has  been  saved  by  the  curiosity  of  the  Ara- 
bian caliphs,  revived  in  the  modern  Persic,  the 
Turkish,  the  Syriac,  the  Hebrew,  and  the  Greek 
idioms,  and  transfused  through  successive  ver- 
sions into  the  modern  languages  of  Europe.  In 
their  present  form,  the  peculiar  character,  the 
manners  and  religion  of  the  Hindoos,  are  com- 
plete obliterated:  and  the  intrinsic  merit  of  the  fa- 

h  Agathias  specifies  the  Gorgias,  Phaedon,  Parmenides,  and  Timaeus. 
Rcnaudot  (Fabricius,  Bibliot.  Graec.  torn,  xii,  p.  246 — 261)  does  not 
mention  this  barbaric  version  of  Aristotle. 

'  Ot  these  fables,  I  have  seen  three  copies  in  three  different  langua- 
ges,— 1.  Iu  Greek,  translated  by  Simeon  Seth  (A.  D.  1100)  from  the 
Arabic,  and  published  by  Slarck  at  Berlin  in  1679,  in  12mo.  2.  In 
Latin,  a  version  from  the  Greek,  Sapientia  Indornm,  inserted  by  Pere 
Pousin  at  the  end  of  his  edition  of  Pachyraer,  (p.  547—620,  edit 
Roman).  3.  In  French,  from  the  Turkish,  dedicated,  in  1540,  to 
Sultan  Soliman.  Contes  et  Fables  Indiennes  de  Bidpai  et  de  Lokman, 
par  M.  M.  Gallant!  et  Cartlonne,  Paris,  1778,  3  vols.  in  12mo.  W  bar  ton 
(History  of  English  poetry,  vol.  i,  p.  129—131)  takes  a  larger  scope. 


308  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

•CHAP,   bles  of  Pilpay  is  far  inferior  to  the  concise  ele- 

XLII 

~~~,,^  gance  of  Phaedrus  and  the  native  graces  of  La 
Fontaine.  Fifteen  moral  and  political  sentences 
are  illustrated  in  a  series  of  apologues:  but  the 
composition  is  intricate,  the  narrative  prolix, 
and  the  precept  obvious  and  barren.  Yet  the 
Brachman  may  assume  the  merit  of  inventing 
a  pleasing  fiction,  which  adorns  the  nakedness 
of  truth,  and  alleviates,  perhaps,  to  a  royal  ear, 
the  harshness  of  instruction.  With  a  similar  de- 
sign, to  admonish  kings  that  they  are  strong 
only  in  the  strength  of  their  subjects,  the  same 
Indians  invented  the  game  of  chess,  which  was 
likewise  introduced  into  Persia  under  the  reign 
of  Nushirvan.*. 
Peace  rod  fhe  son  of  Kobad  found  his  kingdom  involv- 

war  with 

theRo-     ed  in  a  war  with  the  successor  of  Constantine; 

.1.0.543-  and  the  anxiety  of  his  domestic  situation  inclin- 
ed him  to  grant  the  suspension  of  arms,  which 
Justinian  was  impatient  to  purchase.  Chos- 
roes  saw  the  Roman  ambassadors  at  his  feet. 
He  accepted  eleven  thousand  pounds  of  gold, 
as  the  price  of  an  endless  or  indefinite  peace  ;l 
some  mutual  exchanges  were  regulated;  the 
Persian  assumed  the  guard  of  the  gates  of  Cau- 
casus, and  the  demolition  of  Dara  was  suspend- 
ed, on  condition  that  it  should  never  be  made 
the  residence  of  the  general  of  the  East.  This 
interval  of  repose  had  been  solicited,  and  was 

k  See  the  Historia  Shahiludii  of  Dr.  Hyde,  (Syntagm.  Dissertat. 
toot,  ii,  p.  61 — GO). 

1  The  endless  peace  (Procopius,  Persic.  1.  i,  c.  21)  was  concluded  or 
ratified  in  the  vitli  year,  and  iiid  consulship  of  Justinian,  (A.  D.  533, 
between  January  1  and  April  1  ;  Pagi,  torn,  ii,  p.  550).  Alarccllitiiu, 
in  his  Chronicle,  uses  the  style  of  the  Medes  and  Persians. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPlKE.  309 

diligently  improved  by  the  ambition  of  the  en>    CHAP. 
peror:    his  African  conquests    were  the  first    X<LII> 
fruits  of  the  Persian  treaty;  and  the  avarice  of 
Chosroes  was  soothed  by  a  large  portion  of  the 
spoils  of  Carthage,  which  his  ambassadors  re- 
quired in  a  tone  of  pleasantry  and  under  the 
colour  of  friendship."1      But    the   trophies   of 
Belisarius    disturbed    the    slumbers    of    the 
great  king ;   and  he  heard  with  astonishment, 
envy  and  fear,  that  Sicily,  Italy,  and  Rome  it- 
self,  had    been  reduced,  in  three  rapid  cam- 
paigns, to  the  obedience  of  Justinian.     Unprac- 
tised in  the  art  of  violating  treaties,  he  secretly 
excited  his  bold   and  subtle  vassal  Almondar. 
That  prince  of  the  Saracens,  who  resided  at 
Hira,"  had  not  been  included  in  the  general 
peace,  and  still  waged  an  obscure  war  against 
his  rival  Arethas,  the  chief  of  the  tribe  of  Gas- 
sen,  and  confederate  of  the  empire.     The  sub- 
ject of  their  dispute  was  an  extensive  sheep-walk 
in  the  desert  to  the  south  of  Palmyra.     An  im- 
memorial tribute  for  the  license  of  pasture  ap- 
peared to  attest  the  rights  of  Almondar,  while 
the  Gassanite  appealed  to  the  Latin  name  of 
strata,  a  paved  road,  as  an  unquestionable  evi- 
dence of  the  sovereignty  and  labour  of  the  Ro- 
mans.0    The  two  monarchs  supported  the  cause 
of  their   respective   vassals ;  and  the  Persian 

*  Procopius,  Persic,  1.  i.  c.  26. 

n  Almondar,  king  of  Hira,  was  deposed  by  Kobad,  and  restored  by 
Nnshirvan.  His  mother,  from  her  beauty,  was  surnamed  CelettM 
Water,  an  appellation  which  became  hereditary,  and  was  extended  for 
a  more  noble  cause  (liberality  in  famine)  to  the  Arab  princes  of  Syria 
(Pocock,  Specimen  Hist.  Arab.  p.  69, 70). 

,°  Procopius^  Persic.  1.  ii,  c.  1.  We  are  ignorant  of  the  origin  and 
object  of  this  strata,  a  paved  road  of  ten  days  journey  from  Auranitis 
to  Babylonia,  (see  a  Latin  note  in  Deiisle's  Map  Imp.  Orient.)  Wes- 
seling  and  d'Anville  are  silent. 


310  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.    Arab,   without  expecting  the  event  of  a  slow 
VJjIIt    and  doubtful   arbitration,  enriched  his   flying 
camp  with  the  spoil  and  captives  of  Syria.    In- 
stead of  repelling  the  arms,  Justinian  attempted 
to  seduce  the  fidelity  of  Almondar,  while  he 
called  from  the  extremities  of  the  earth,  the  na- 
tions of  Ethiopia  and  Scythia  to  invade  the 
dominions  of  his  rival.     But   the  aid  of  such 
allies  was  distant  and  precarious,  and  the  dis- 
covery of  this  hostile  correspondence  justified 
the  -complaints  of  the  Goths  and  Armenians, 
who  implored,  almost   at  the  same  time,  the 
protection  of  Chosroes.     The  descendants  of 
Arsaces,  who  were  still  numerous  in  Armenia, 
had  been  provoked  to  assert  the  last  relics  of 
national  freedom  and  hereditary  rank ;  and  the 
ambassadors  of  Vitiges  had  secretly  traversed 
the  empire  to  expose  the  instant,  and  almost  in- 
evitable, danger  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy.     Their 
representations  were  uniform,   weighty,  and  ef- 
fectual.     "  We  stand  before  your  throne,  the 
"  advocates   of   your    interest    as    well  as   of 
"  our  own.     The  ambitious  and  faithless  Jus- 
"  tinian  aspires  to  be  the  sole  master  of  the 
"  world.     Since  the  endless  peace  which  be- 
"  trayed  the  common  freedom  of  mankind,  that 
"  prince,  your  ally  in  words,  your  enemy  in  ac- 
"  tions  has  alike  insulted  his  friends  and  foes, 
"  and  has  filled  the  earth  with   blood  and  con- 
"  fusion.     Has  he  not  violated  the   privileges 
"  of  Armenia,  the  independence  of  Colchos,  and 
"  the  wild  liberty  of  the  Tzanian  mountains? 
"  Has  he  not  usurped,  with  equal  avidity,  the 
"  city  of  Bosphorus  on  the  frozen  Maeotus,  and 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  311 

"  the  Tale  of  palm-trees  on  the  shores  of  the  CHAP. 
"  Red  Sea?  The  Moors,  the  Vandals,  the  ^2J!L. 
"  Goths,  have  been  successively  oppressed,  and 
"  each  nation  has  calmly  remained  the  specta- 
"  tor  of  their  neighbour's  ruin.  Embrace,  O 
"king!  the  favourable  moment;  the  East  is 
"  left  without  defence,  while  the  armies  of  Jus- 
"  tinian  and  his  renowned  general  are  detained 
"  in  the  distant  regions  of  the  West.  If  you 
"  hesitate  and  delay,  Belisarius  and  his  victori- 
"  ous  troops  will  soon  return  from  the  Tiber  to 
"  the  Tigris,  and  Persia  may  enjoy  the  wretch- 
"  ed  consolation  of  being  the  last  devoured."1" 
By  such  arguments,  Chosroes  was  easily  per- 
suaded to  imitate  the  example  which  he  con- 
demned :  but  the  Persian,  ambitious  of  military 
fame,  disdained  the  inactive  warfare  of  a  rival, 
who  issued  his  sanguinary  commands  from  the 
secure  station  of  the  Byzantine  palace. 

Whatever  might  be  the  provocations  of  Chos-  He  in- 
roes,  he  abused  the  confidence  of  treaties;  and  Ha," 
the  just  reproaches  of  dissimulation  and  false- A-D'640' 
hood  could  only  be  concealed  by  the  lustre  of 
his  victories.*1     The  Persian  army,    which   had 
been  assembled  in  the  plains  of  Babylon,  pru- 
dently declined  the  strong  cities  of  Mesopota- 

p  I  have  blended,  in  a  short  speech,  the  two  orations  of  the  Arsa- 
cides  of  Armenia  and  the  Gothic  ambassadors.  Procopius,  in  his  pub- 
Jic  history,  feels,  and  makes  us  feel,  that  Justinian  was  the  true  au- 
thor of  the  war,  (Persic.  1.  ii,  c.  2,  3). 

i  The  invasion  of  Syria,  the  ruin  of  Antioch,  &c.  are  related  in  a 
flill  and  regular  series  by  Procopius,  (Persic.  L  ii,  c.  5 — 14).  Small 
collateral  aid  can  be  drawn  from  the  orientals :  yet  not  they,  but 
D'Herbelot  himself,  (p.  680),  should  biush,  when  he  blames  them  tor 
making  Justinian  and  Nushirvan  contemporaries.  On  the  geography 
of  the  scat  of  war,  D'Anville  (1'Eupbrate  ot  le  Tigre)  13  sufficient  a:  id 
satisfactory. 


312  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    mia,  and  followed  the  western  bank  of  the  Eu- 
']]' ^  phrates,  till  the  small  though  populous  town  of 
Dura  presumed   to  arrest  the  progress  of  the 
great  king.     The  gates  of  Dura,   by  treachery 
and  surprise,  were  burst  open;  and  as  soon  as 
Chosroes  had  stained  his  simiter  with  the  blood 
of  the  inhabitants,  he  dismissed  the  ambassador 
of  Justinian  to  inform  his  master  in  what  place 
he  had  left  the  enemy  of  the  Romans.     The  con- 
queror still  affected  the  praise  of  humanity  and 
justice ;  and  as  he  beheld  a  noble  matron  with  her 
infant  rudely  dragged  along  the  ground,  he  sigh- 
ed, he  wept,  and  implored  the  divine  justice  to 
punish  the    author  of  these  calamities.     Yet 
the  herd  of  twelve  thousand  captives  was  ran- 
somed for  two  hundred   pounds  of  gold ;  the 
neighbouring  bishop  of  Serioplis   pledged  his 
faith  for  the  payment;  and  in  the  subsequent 
year  the  unfeeling  avarice  of  Chosroes  exacted 
the  penalty  of  an  obligation  which  it  was  gener- 
ous to  'contract,  and  impossible  to  discharge. 
He  advanced  into  the  heart  of  Syria;    but  a 
feeble  enemy,  who  vanished  at  his  approach, 
disappointed  him  of  the  honour  of  victory ;  and 
as  he  could  not  hope  to  establish  his  dominion, 
the   Persian  king  displayed  in  this  inroad  the 
mean  and  rapacious  vices  of  a  robber.     Hiera- 
polis,  Berrhsea  or  Aleppo,  Apamea  and  Chalcis, 
were  successively    besieged:     they  redeemed 
their  safety  by  a  ransom  of  gold  or  silver,  pro- 
portioned to  their  respective  strength  and  opu- 
lence ;  and  their  new  master  enforced,  without 
observing,  the  terms  of  capitulation.     Educat 
ed  in  the  religion  of  the  Magi,  he  exercised  with- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  313 

out  remorse  the  lucrative  trade  of  sacrilege;  CHAP. 

XLIF 
and,  after  stripping- of  its  gold  and  gems,  a  piece  „ ,'„ 

of  the  true  cross,   he  generously  restored  the 
naked  relic   to  the  devotion  of  the  Christians  of 
Apamea.     No  more  than  fourteen  years  had  Antioch. 
elapsed  since  Antioch  was  ruined  by  an  earth- 
quake;   but  the  queen  of  the  East,  the  new 
Theopolis,  had  been  raised  from  the  ground  by 
the  liberality  of  Justinian;  and  the  increasing 
greatness  of  the  buildings  and  the  people  already 
erased  the  memory  of  this  recent  disaster.     On 
one  side,  the  city  was  defended  by  the  mountain, 
on  the  other  by  the  river  Orontes;but  the  most 
accessible  part  was  commanded  by  a  superior 
eminence :  the  proper  remedies  were  rejected, 
from  the  despicable  fear  of  discovering  its  weak- 
ness to   the  enemy;    and    Germanus,  the  em- 
peror's nephew,  refused  to  trust  his  person  and 
dignity  within  the  walls  of  a  besieged  city.  The 
people  of  Antioch  had  inherited  the  vain  and 
satirical  genius  of  their  ancestors:    they  were 
elated  by  a  sudden  reinforcement  of  six  thou- 
sand soldiers;    they  disdained  the  offers  of  an 
easy  capitulation;    and  their  intemperate  cla- 
mours insulted  from  the  ramparts  the  majesty 
of  the  great  king.     Under  his  eye  the  Persian 
myriads  mounted  with  scaling-ladders   to  the 
assault;  the  Roman  mercenaries  fled  through 
the  opposite  gate  of  Daphne;  and  the  generous 
assistance  of  the  youth  of  Antioch  served  only 
to  aggravate  the  miseries  of  their  country.    As 
Chosroes,  attended  by  the  ambassadors  of  Jus- 
tinian,   was    descending   from   the    mountain, 
lie  affected,  in  a  plaintive  voice,  to  deplore  the 


3  14  THL  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  obstinacy  and  ruin  of  that  unhappy  people 
!~l~~  but  the  slaughter  still  raged  with  unrelenting 
fury;  and  the  city,  at  the  command  of  a  barba- 
rian, was  delivered  to  the  flames.  The  cathe- 
dral of  Antioch  was  indeed  preserved  by  the 
avarice,  not  the  piety,  of  the  conqueror :  a  more 
honourable  exemption  was  granted  to  the  church 
of  St.  Julian,  and  the  quarter  of  the  town  where 
the  ambassadors  resided ;  some  distant  streets 
were  saved  by  the  shifting  of  the  wind,  and  the 
walls  still  subsisted  to  protect,  and  soon  to  be- 
tray, their  new  inhabitants.  Fanaticism  had 
defaced  the  ornaments  of  Daphne,  but  Chosroes 
breathed  a  purer  air  amidst  her  groves  and  foun- 
tains ;  and  some  idolaters  in  his  train  might 
sacrifice  with  impunity  to  the  nymphs  of  that 
elegant  retreat.  Eighteen  miles  below  Antioch, 
the  river  Orontes  falls  into  the  Mediterranean. 
The  haughty  Persian  visited  the  term  of  his 
conquests  :  and  after  bathing  alone  in  the  sea, 
he  offered  a  solemn  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving  to 
the  sun,  or  rather  to  the  creator  of  the  sun, 
whom  the  Magi  adored.  If  this  act  of  supersti- 
tion offended  the  prejudices  of  the  Syrians, 
they  were  pleased  by  the  courteous  and  even 
eager  attention  with  which  he  assisted  at  the 
games  of  the  circus ;  and  as  Chosroes  had  heard 
that  the  blue  faction  was  espoused  by  the  em- 
peror, his  peremptory  command  secured  the 
victory  of  the  green  charioteer.  From  the  dis- 
.cipline  of  his  camp  the  people  derived  more 
selid  consolation;  and  they  interceded  in  vain 
for  the  life  of  a  soldier  who  had  too  faithfully 

copied  the  rapine  of  the  just  Nushirvan.      At 

- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  315 

length,  fatigued,  though  unsatiated,  with  the   CHAP. 

spoil  of  Syria,    he  slowly  moved  to  the  Eu- '.„ 

phrates,  formed  a  temporary  bridge  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Barbalissus,  and  denned  the  space 
of  three  days  for  the  entire'  passage  of  his  nu- 
merous host.  After  his  return,  he  founded,  at 
the  distance  of  one  day's  journey  from  the  pa- 
lace of  Ctesiphon,  a  new  city,  which  perpetuat- 
ed the  joint  names  of  Chosroes  and  of  Antioch. 
The  Syrian  captives  recognised  the  form  and 
situation  of  their  native  abodes:  baths  and  a 
stately  circus  were  constructed  for  their  use; 
and  a  colony  of  musicians  and  charioteers  re- 
vived in  Assyria  the  pleasures  of  a  Greek  capi- 
tal. By  the  munificence  of  the  royal  founder, 
a  liberal  allowance  was  assigned  to  these  for- 
tunate exiles;  and  they  enjoyed  the  singular 
privilege  of  bestowing  freedom  on  the  slaves 
whom  they  acknowledged  as  their  kinsmen. 
Palestine,  and  the  holy  wealth  of  Jerusalem, 
were  the  next  objects  that  attracted  the  ambi- 
tion, or  rather  the  avarice,  of  Chosroes.  Constan- 
tinople, and  the  palace  of  the  Caesars,no  longer 
appeared  impregnable  or  remote ;  and  his  aspir- 
ing fancy  already  covered  Asia  Minor  with  the 
troops,  and  the  Black  Sea  with  the  navies,  of 
Persia. 

These  hopes  might  hare  been;  realized,  if  the 
conqueror  of  Italy  had  not  been  seasonably  re-  Defence  «f 

the  East  by 

called  to  the  defence  of  the  Eastr.     While  Chos-  Beiisanns. 
roes  pursued  his  ambitious  designs  on  the  coast*'"' 

*  In  the  public  history  of  Procopins,  (Persic.  1.  ii,  c.  16,  18,  19, 20, 
21,  24,  25,26,  27,  28;  and,  with  some  slight  exceptions,  we  may  rea- 
sonably shut  oar  ears  against  the  malevolent  whisper  of  the  Anecdotes, 
(i-.  2,  3,  with  the  Notes,  a>  usual,  of  Alemannus). 


544. 


316  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  of  the  Euxine,  Eelisarius,  at  the  head  of  an 
^J^  army  without  pay  or  discipline,  encamped  be- 
yond the  Euphrates,  within  six  miles  of  Nisi- 
bis.     He  meditated,  by  a  skilful  operation,  to 
draw  the  Persians  from  their  impregnable  cita- 
del, and  improving  his  advantage  in  the  field, 
either  to  intercept  their  retreat,  or  perhaps  to 
enter  the  gates  with  the  flying  barb-n -'ans.    He 
advanced  one  day's  journey  on  the  territories 
of  Persia,  reduced  the  fortress  of  Sisaurane, 
and    sent  the    governor,    with  eight  hundred 
chosen  horsemen,  to  serve  the  emperor  in  his 
Italian  wars.      He  detached  Arethas  and  his 
Arabs,  supported  by  twelve  hundred  Romans, 
to  pass  the  Tigris,   and  to  ravage  the  harvests 
of  Assyria,  a  fruitful  province,  long  exempt  from 
the  calamities  of  war.     But  the  plans  of  Beli- 
sarius  were  disconcerted  by  the  untractable 
spirit  of  Arethas,  who  neither  returned  to  the 
camp,  nor  sent  any  intelligence  of  his  motions. 
The  Roman  general  was  fixed  in  anxious  ex- 
pectation to  the  same  spot;  the  time  of  action 
elapsed,  the  ardent  sun  of  Mesopotamia  inflam- 
ed with  fevers  the  blood  of  his  European  sol- 
diers: and  the  stationary  troops  and  officers  of 
Syria,  affected  to  tremble  for  the  safety  of  their 
defenceless  cities.     Yet  this  diversion  had  al- 
ready succeeded  in  forcing  Chosroes  to  return 
with  loss  and  precipitation;  and  if  the  skill  of 
Belisarius  had  been  seconded  by  discipline  and 
valour,  his  success  might  have  satisfied  the  san- 
guine wishes  of  the  public,  who  required  at  his 
hands  the  conquest  of  Ctesiphon  and  the  deli- 
.  D  &42.  verance  of  the  captives  of  Antioch.     At  the  end 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  317 

of  the  campaign,  he  was  recalled  to  Constan-  CHAP. 
tinople  by  an  ungrateful  court,  but  the  dangers  fi 
of  the  ensuing  spring  restored  his  confidence " 
and  command;  and  the  hero,  almost  alone,  was 
despatched,  with  the  speed  of  post  horses,  to 
repel,  by  his  name  and  presence,  the  invasion 
of  Syria.  He  found  the  Roman  generals,  among 
whom  was  a  nephew  of  Justinian,  imprisoned 
by  their  fears  in  the  fortifications  of  Hierapolis. 
But  instead  of  listening  to  their  timid  counsels, 
Belisarius  commanded  them  to  follow  him  to 
Europus,  where  he  had  resolved  to  collect  his 
forces,  and  to  execute  whatever  God  should  in- 
spire him  to  achieve  against  the  enemy.  His 
firm  attitude  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  re- 
strained Chosroes  from  advancing  towards  Pa- 
lestine ;  and  he  received  with  art  and  dignity, 
the  ambassadors,  or  rather  spies,  of  the  Persian 
monarch.  The  plain  between  Hierapolis  and 
the  river  was  covered  with  the  squadrons  of 
cavalry,  six  thousand  hunters  tall  and  robust, 
who  pursued  their  game  without  the  apprehen- 
sion of  an  enemy.  On  the  opposite  bank  the 
ambassadors  descried  a  thousand  Armenian 
horse,  who  appeared  to  guard  the  passage  of 
the  Euphrates.  The  tent  of  Belisarius  was  of 
the  coarsest  linen,  the  simple  equipage  of  a  waF- 
rior  who  disdained  the  luxury  of  the  East 
Around  his  tent,  the  nations  who  marched  un- 
der his  standard  were  arranged  with  skilful  con- 
fusion. The  Thracians  and  Illyrians  were  post- 
ed in  the  front,  the  Heruli  and  Goths  in  the  cen- 
tre; the  prospect  was  closed  by  the  Moors  and 
Vandals,  and  their  loose  array  seemed  to  mul- 


318  THE  DECLINE  AND  PALL 

CH AP.  tiply  their  numbers.  Their  dress  was  light  and 
1LIIt  active;  one  soldier  carried  a  whip,  another  a 
sword,  a  third  a  bow,  a  fourth  perhaps  a  battle- 
axe,  and  the  whole  picture  exhibited  the  intrepi- 
dity of  the  troops  and  the  vigilance  of  the  general. 
Chosroes  was  deluded  by  the  address,  and  awed 
by  the  genius,  of  the  lieutenant  of  Justinian. 
Conscious  of  the  merit,  and  ignorant  of  the 
force  of  his  antagonist,  he  dreaded  a  decisive 
battle  in  a  distant  country,  from  whence  not  a 
Persian  might  return  to  relate  the  melancholy 
tale.  The  great  king  hastened  to  repass  the 
Euphrates ;  and  Belisarius  pressed  his  retreat, 
by  affecting  to  oppose  a  measure  so  salutary  to 
the  empire,  and  which  could  scarcely  have  been 
prevented  by  an  army  of  an  hundred  thousand 
men.  Envy  might  suggest  to  ignorance  and 
pride  that  the  public  enemy  had  been  suffered 
to  escape:  but  the  African  and  Gothic  triumphs 
are  less  glorious  than  this  safe  and  bloodless 
victory,  in  which  neither  fortune,  nor  the  va- 
lour of  the  soldiers,  can  subtract  any  part  of  the 
A.  n.543.  general's  renown.  The  second  removal  of  Be- 
*c<  lisarius  from  the  Persian  to  the  Italian  war,  re- 
vealed the  extent  of  his  personal  merit,  which 
had  corrected  or  supplied  the  want  of  discipline 
and  courage.  Fifteen  generals,  without  con- 
cert or  skill,  led  through  the  mountains  of  Ar- 
menia an  army  of  thirty  thousand  Romans,  in- 
attentive to  their  signals,  their  ranks,  and  their 
ensigns.  Four  thousand  Persians,  intrenched 
in  the  camp  of  Dubis,  vanquished,  almost  with- 
out a  combat,  this  disorderly  multitude;  their 
useless  arms  were  scattered  along  the  road, 


OF  THE  ROJtfAN  EMPIRE.  319 

and  their  horses  suiik  under  the  fatigue  of  their 
rapid  flight.  But  the  Arabs  of  the  Roman 
party  prevailed  over  their  brethren;  the  Arme- 
nians returned  to  their  allegiance;  the  cities  of 
Dara  and  Edessa  resisted  a  sudden  assault  and 
a  regular  siege,  and  the  calamities  of  war  were 
suspended  by  those  of  pestilence.  A  tacit  or 
formal  agreement  between  the  two  sovereigns 
protected  the  tranquillity  of  the  eastern  fron- 
tier; and  the  arms  of  Chosroes  were  confined 
to  the  Colchian  or  Lazic  war,  which  has  been 
too  minutely  described  by  the  historians  of  the 
times.* 

The  extreme  length  of  the  Euxine  sea,*  from  D 
Constantinople  to  the  mouth  of  Phasis,  may  be 
computed  as  a  voyage  of  nine  days,  and  a  mea- 
sure of  seven  hundred  miles.  From  the  Iberian 
Caucasus,  the  most  lofty  and  craggy  mountains 
of  Asia,  that  river  descends  with  such  oblique 
vehemence,  that,  in  a  short  space,  it  is  traversed 
by  one  hundred  and  twenty  bridges.  Nor  does 

*  The  Lazic  war,  the  contest  of  Rome  anrl  Persia  on  the  Phasis  >s 
tediously  spun  through  many  a  page  of  Procopius,  (Persic.  1  ii,  c.  15, 
17,  28,  29,  30;  Gothic.  1.  iv,  c.  7—16),  and  Agathias,  (K  ii,  iii,  and  iv, 
p.  55—132,  141). 

*  The  Periplua,  or  circumnavigation  of  the  Etixine  sea,  was  describ- 
ed in  Latin  by  Sallust,  and  iu  Greek  by  Ariian. — 1.  The  former  work, 
which  no  longer  exist?,  has  been  restored  by  the  singular  diligence  of 
M.  de  Brosses,  first  president  of  the  parliament  of  Dijon,  (Hist,  de  la 
Republique  Remain,  torn,  ii,  1.  iii,  p.  199 — 298),  who  ventures  to  as- 
sume the  character  of  the  Roman  historian.     His  description  of  the 
Euxine  is  ingeniously  formed  of  all  the  fragments  of  the  original,  and 
of  nil  the  Greeks  and  Latins  whom  Sallust  might  copy,  or  by  whom 
he  might  be  copied  ;   and  the  merit  of  the  execution  atones   for  the 
whimsical  design.     2.  The  Pcriplus  of  Arrian  is  addressed  to  the  em- 
peror Adrian,  (iii  Geograph.  Minor.  Hudson,  torn,  i),    and  contains 
whatever  the  governor  of  Pontus  had  seen,  from  Trebizond  to  Dios- 
curias ;  whatever  he  had  heard  from  Dioscurias  to  the  Danube  ;  and 
whatever  he  knew  from  the  Danube  to  Trebixond. 


320  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    the  stream  become  placid  and  navigable  till  it 
*,~ — ,„  reaches  the  town  of  Sarapana,  five  days  journey 
from   the  Cyrus,  which  flows  from  the  same 
hills,  but  in  a  contrary  direction,  to  the  Caspian 
lake.     The  proximity  of  these  rivers  have  sug- 
gested the  practice,  or  at  least  the  idea,  of  waft- 
ing the  precious  merchandise  of  India  down  the 
Oxus,  over  the  Caspian,  up  the  Cyrus,  and  with 
the  current  of  the  Phasis  into  the  Euxine  and 
Mediterranean  seas.      As  it  successively  col- 
lects the  streams  of  the  plain  of  Colchos,  the 
Phasis  moves  with  diminished  speed,   though 
accumulated  weight.     At  the  mouth  it  is  sixty 
fathom  deep   and  half  a  league  broad,  but  a 
small  woody  island  is  interposed  in  the  midst 
of  the  channel:  the  water,  so  soon  as  it  has  de- 
posited an  earthy  or  metallic  sediment,  floats 
on  the  surface  of  the  waves,  and  is  no  longer 
susceptible  of  corruption.     In  a  course  of  one 
hundred  miles,  forty  of  which  are  navigable  for 
large  vessels,  the  Phasis  divides  the  celebrated 
region  of  Colchos,11  or  Mingrelia,*  which,  on 
three  sides,  is  fortified  by  the  Iberian  and  Ar- 
menian mountains,  and  whose  maritime  coast 

u  Besides  the  many  occasional  hints  from  the  poets,  historians,  &c. 
of  antiquity,  we  may  consult  the  geographical  descriptions  of  Colchos, 
by  Strabo,  (1.  xi,  p. 760— 765),  and  Pliny,  (Hist.  Natur.  vi,  5, 19,  &c.) 

*  I  shall  quote,  and  have  used  three  modern  descriptions  of  Mingre- 
lia  and  the  adjacent  countries.  1.  Of  the  Pere  Archangeli  Lambert! , 
(Relations  de  Thevenot.  part  i,  p.  31—52,  with  a  map),  who  has  all 
the  knowledge  and  prejudices  of  a  missionary.  2.  Of  Chardin,  (Voy- 
ages en  Perse,  torn,  i,  p.  54,  68 — 168) :  his  observations  are  judicious  ; 
and  his  own  adventures  in  the  country  are  still  more  instructive  than 
his  observations.  3.  Of  Peyssonnel,  (Observations  sur  less  Peuples 
Barbares,  p.  49,  50,  51,  58,  62,64,  65,  71,  &c.  and  a  more  recent  trea- 
tise, Sur  Ic  Commerce  de  la  Mer  Noire,  torn,  ii,  p.  1 — 53) :  he  bad 
long  resided  at  CafTa,  as  consul  of  France ;  and  his  erudition  U  lest 
valuable  than  his  experience. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  32 1 

extends  about  two   hundred  miles,  from  the    CHAP. 

"VT    TT 

neighbourhood  of  Trebizond  to  Dioscurias,  and  _ ^ 

the  confines  of  Circassia.  Both  the  soil  and 
climate  are  relaxed  by  excessive  moisture: 
twenty-eight  rivers,  besides  the  Phasis  and  his 
dependent  streams,  convey  their  waters  to  the 
sea;  and  the  hollowness  of  the  ground  appears 
to  indicate  the  subterraneous  channels  between 
the  Euxine  and  the  Caspian.  In  the  fields  where 
wheat  or  barley  is  sown,  the  earth  is  too 
soft  to  sustain  the  action  of  the  plough;  but 
the  gom,  a  small  grain  not  unlike  the  millet  or 
coriander  seed,  supplies  the  ordinary  food  of 
the  people ;  and  the  use  of  bread  is  confined  to 
the  prince  and  his  nobles.  Yet  the  vintage  is 
more  plentiful  than  the  harvest;  and  the  bulk 
of  the  stems,  as  well  as  the  quality  of  the  wine, 
display  the  unassisted  powers  of  nature.  The 
same  powers  continually  tend  to  overshadow 
the  face  of  the  country  with  thick  forests;  the 
timber  of  the  hills,  and  the  flax  of  the  plains, 
contribute  to  the  abundance  of  naval  stores; 
the  wild  and  tame  animals,  the  horse,  the  ox, 
and  the  hog,  are  remarkably  prolific,  and  the 
name  of  the  pheasant  is  expressive  of  his  native 
habitation  on  the  banks  of  the  Phasis.  The 
gold-mines  to  the  south  of  Trebizond,  which  are 
still  worked  with  sufficient  profit,  were  a  subject 
of  national  dispute  between  Justinian  andChos- 
roes ;  and  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  believe,  that  a 
vein  of  precious  metal  may  be  equally  diffused 
through  the  circle  of  the  hills,  although  these  se- 
cret treasures  are  neglected  by  the laziness,or  con- 
cealed by  the  prudence,  of  theMingrelians.  The 

VOL.    VII.  Y 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  waters,  impregnated  with  particles  of  gold,  are 
n'  carefully  strained  through  sheep  skins  or  fleeces; 
but  this  expedient,  the  ground-work  perhaps  of 
a  marvellous  fable,  affords  a  faint  image  of  the, 
wealth  extracted  from  a  virgin  earth  by  the 
power  and  industry  of  ancient  kings.  Their 
silver  palaces  and  golden  chambers  surpass  our 
belief;  but  the  fame  of  their  riches  is  said  to 
have  excited  the  enterprising  avarice  of  the  Ar- 
gonauts/ Tradition  has  affirmed,  with  some 
colour  of  reason,  that  Egypt  planted  on  the 
Phasis  a  learned  and  polite  colony,*  which  ma- 
nufactured linen,  built  navies,  and  invented 
geographical  maps.  The  ingenuity  of  the  mo- 
derns has  peopled,  with  flourishing  cities  and 
nations,  the  isthmus  between  the  Euxine  and 
the  Caspian;*  and  a  lively  writer,  observing  the 
resemblance  of  climate,  and,  in  his  apprehen- 
sion, of  trade,  has  not  hesitated  to  pronounce 
Colchos  the  Holland  of  antiquity." 

But  the  riches  of  Colchos  shine  only  through 
the  darkness  of  conjecture  or  tradition  ;  and  its 
genuine  history  presents  an  uniform  scene  of 
rudeness  and  poverty.  If  one  hundred  and 
thirty  languages  were  spoken  in  the  market  of 

y  Pliny,  Hist.  Natur.  1.  xxxiii,  15.  The  gold  and  silver  mines,  of 
Colchos  attracted  the  Argonauts,  (Strab.  1.  i,  p  77).  The  sagacious 
Ckardin  could  find  no  gold  in  mines,  rivers,  or  elsewhere.  Yet  a  Mhi- 
grelian  lost  his  hand  and  foot  for  showing  some  specimens  at  Constan- 
tinople of  native  gold 

T  Herodot.  1.  ii,  c.  104,  105,  p.  150,  151 ;  Diodjjr.  Sicul.  1.  i.  p.  33, 
edit.  Wesseling ;  Dionys.  Perieget.  689,  and  Etistath.  ad  loc.  Scholiast, 
id  Apollonimn  Argonaut.  1.  iv,  282 — 291. 

*  Montesquieu,  Esprit  des  Loix,  1.  xxi,  c.  6.  L'Istheme  .  .  .  couvert 
de  Titles  et  nations  qui  ne  font  plus. 

b  Bougainville,  Memoires  de  PAcadf-mie  des  Inscription.',  torn,  xxvi, 
p.  84  on  the  African  voyage  of  Hanno  and  tlie  commerce  of  antiquity 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  323 

Dioscurias,"  they  were  the  imperfect  idioms  of  CHAP. 
so  many  savage  tribes  or  families,  sequestered 
from  each   other  in  the  valleys  of  mount  Cau- 
casus ;  and  their,  separation,  which  diminished 
the  importance,  must  have  multiplied  the  num- 
ber,  of  their  rustic  capitals.     In   the  present 
state    of  Mingrelia,    a    village   is   an   assem- 
blage of  huts  within  a  wooden  fence;  the  for- 
tresses are  scattered  in  the  depths  of  forests ; 
the  princely  town  of  Cyta,  or  Cotatis,  consists 
of  two  hundred  houses,  and  a  stone-edifice  apper- 
tains only  to  the  magnificence  of  kings.     Twelve 
ships  from   Constantinople,    and    about  sixty 
barks,  laden  with  the  fruits  of  industry,  annual- 
ly cast  anchor  on  the  coast ;  and  the  list  of  Col- 
chian  exports  is  much  increased,  since  the  na- 
tives had  only  slaves  and  hides  to  offer  in  ex- 
change for  the  corn  and  salt  which  they  pur- 
chased from  the  subjects  of  Justinian.     Not  a 
vestige  can  be  found  of  the  art,  the  knowledge, 
or  the  navigation,  of  the  ancient   Colchians: 
few  Greeks  desired  or  dared  to  pursue  the  foot- 
steps of  the  Argonauts;  and  even  the  marks  of 
an  Egyptian  colony  are  lost  on  a  nearer  ap- 
proach.    The  rite  of  circumcision  is  practised 
only  by  the  Mahometans  of  the  Euxine;  and 
the  curled  hair  and  swarthy  complexion  of  Af- 
rica no  longer  disfigure  the  most  perfect  of  the 
human  race.     It  is  in  the  adjacent  climates  of 
Georgia,  Mingrelia,  and  Circassia,  that  nature 
has  placed,  at  least  to  our  eyes,  the  model  of 

c  A  Greek  historian,  Timosthenes,  had  affirmed,  in  cam  ccc  nationes 
disfcimilibus  lingnis  descendere;  and  the  modest  Pliny  is  content  to 
add,  et  postea  a  nostris  cxxx  interpretibus  negotia  ibi  gesta,  (vi,  5); 
but  tl-.e  tjvords  mine  deserta  cover  a  multitude  of  past  fictions. 


324  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  beauty,  in  the  shape  of  the  limbs,  the  colour  of 
'f'^  the  skin,  the  symmetry  of  the  features,  and  the 
expression  of  the  countenance.11  According  to 
the  destination  of  the  two  sexes,  the  men  seemed 
formed  for  action,  the  women  for  love;  and  the 
perpetual  supply  of  females  from  mount  Cau- 
casus has  purified  the  blood,  and  improved  the 
breed,  of  the  southern  nations  of  Asia.  The 
proper  district  of  Mingrelia,  a  portion  only  of 
the  ancient  Colchos,  has  long  sustained  an  ex- 
portation of  twelve  thousand  slaves.  The  num- 
ber of  prisoners  or  criminals  would  be  inade- 
quate to  the  annual  demand;  but  the  common 
people  are  in  a  state  of  servitude  to  their  lords ; 
the  exercise  of  fraud  or  rapine  is  unpunished  in 
a  lawless  community ;  and  the  market  is  con- 
tinually replenished  by  the  abuse  of  civil  and 
paternal  authority.  Such  a  trade,"  which  re- 
duces the  human  species  to  the  level  of  cattle, 
may  tend  to  encourage  marriage  and  popula- 
tion; since  the  multitude  of  children  enriches 
their  sordid  and  inhuman  parent.  But  this 
source  of  impure  wealth  must  inevitably  poi- 
son the  national  manners,  obliterate  the  sense 
of  honour  and  virtue,  and  almost  extinguish  the 
instincts  of  nature;  the  Christians  of  Georgia 
and  Mingrelia  are  the  most  dissolute  of  man- 
kind ;  and  their  children,  who,  in  a  tender  age, 

d  Buffon  (Hist.  Nat.  ton),  iii,  p.  433—437)  collects  the  unanimous 
suffrage  of  naturalists  and  travellers.  If  in  the  time  of  Herodotus, 
they  v,  ere  in  truth  /cttXay^posf  and  «Xorpi^t;,  (and  he  had  observed 
them  with  care),  this  precious  fact  is  an  example  of  the  influence  of 
climate  on  a  foreign  colony. 

e  The  Miugrelian  ambassador  arrived  at  Constantinople  with  two 
Iiwidrcd  persons;  but  he  ate  (soidj  them  day  by  day,  till  his  retinue 
v.  F.S  diminiMicd  to  a  secretary  and  two  valets,  (Tavernier,  torn,  i,  p. 
Sfw),  ^o  purchase  his  mistress,  a  .Mingreliau  gentleman  sold  twelve 
I'iirMo  and  Li's  wife  to  the  Turks,  (f'hardin,  torn,  i,  p.  66}, 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  325 

are  sold  into  foreign  Slavery,  have  already  CHAP. 
learnt  to  imitate  the  rapine  of  the  father  and  the  fi 
prostitution  of  the  mother.  Yet  amidst  the 
rudest  ignorance,  the  untaught  natives  disco- 
ver a  singular  dexterity  both  of  mind  and 
hand;  and  although  the  want  of  union  and  dis- 
cipline exposes  them  to  their  more  powerful 
neighbours,  a  bold  and  intrepid  spirit  has  ani- 
mated the  Colchians  of  every  age.  In  the  host 
of  Xerxes,  they  served  on  foot;  and  their  arms 
were,  a  dagger  or  a  javelin,  a  wooden  casque, 
and  a  buckler  of  raw  hides.  But  in  their  own 
country  the  use  of  cavalry  has  more  generally 
prevailed;  the  meanest  of  the  peasants  disdain 
to  walk  ;  the  martial  nobles  are  possessed,  per- 
haps, of  two  hundred  horses;  and  above  five 
thousand  are  numbered  in  the  train  of  the  prince 
of  Mingrelia.  The  Colchian  government  has 
been  always  a  pure  and  hereditary  kingdom; 
arid  the  authority  of  the  sovereign  is  only  re- 
strained by  the  turbulence  of  his  subjects. 
Whenever  they  were  obedient,  he  could  lead  a 
numerous  army  into  the  field;  but  some  faith 
is  requisite  to  believe,  that  the  single  tribe  of 
the  Suanians  was  composed  of  two  hundred 
thousand  soldiers,  or  that  the  population  of 
Mingrelia  now  amounts  to  four  millions  of  in- 
habitants/ 

It  was  the  boast  of  the  Colchians,  that  their  Rerolu. 
ancestors  had  checked  the  victories  of  Sesos-  ^°"'.of 

L  OlCnoi  ; 

tris ;  and  the  defeat  of  the  Egyptian  is  less  m- 

*  Strabo,  1.  xi,  p.  765.  Lamberti,  Relation  de  la  Mingrelie.  Yet 
we  must  avoid  the  contrary  extreme  of  Chardin,  who  allows  no  more 
(ban  200,006  inhabitants  to  supply  an  annual  exportation  of  19,000 
glavei,  an  absurdity  unworthy  of  that  judicious  traveller. 


32ti  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  credible  than  his  successful  progress,  as  far  as 
*.'.„..'...  the  foot  of  mount  Caucasus.  They  sunk,  with- 
out any  memorable  effort,  under  the  arms  of 
Cyrus;  followed  in  distant  wars  the  standard 
of  the  great  king,  and  presented  him  every  fifth 
year  with  one  hundred  boys,  and  as  many  vir 
gins,  the. fairest  produce  of  the  land.2  Yet  he 


before  '  accepted  this  gift  like  the  gold  and  ebony  of 
'  India,  the  frankincense  of  the  Arabs,  or  the  ne- 
groes and  ivory  of  Ethiopia :  the  Colchians 
were  not  subject  to  the  dominion  of  a  satrap, 
and  they  continued  to  enjoy  the  name  as  well 
as  substance  of  national  independence.*1  After 
the  fall  of  the  Persian  empire,  Mithridates,  king 
of  Pontus,  added  Colchos  to  the  wide  circle  of 
his  dominions  on  the  Euxirie;  and  when  the  na- 
tives presumed  to  request  that  his  son  might 
reign  over  them,  he  bound  the  ambitious  youth 
in  chains  of  gold,  and  delegated  a  servant  in  his 

.inJerthe  place.     Ill  the  pursuit  of  Mithridates,  the  Ro- 

Komans,  * 

in-fore  mans  advanced  to  the  banks  of  the  Phasis,  and 
'  their  galleys  ascended  the  river  till  they  reach- 
ed the  camp  of  Pompey  and  his  legions.1  But 
the  senate,  and  afterwards  the  emperors,  dis- 
dained to  reduce  that  distant  and  useless  con- 
quest into  the  form  of  a  province.  The  family 
of  a  Greek  rhetorician  was  permitted  to  reign 

*  Herodot.  1.  iii,  c.  97.  Sec,  in  1.  vii,  c.  79,  their  arms  and  service  in 
the  expedition  of  Xerxes  against  Greece. 

h  Xenophon,  who  had  encountered  the  Colchians  in  his  retreat, 
(Anabasis,  1.  iv,  p.  320,  343,  348,  edit.  Hutchinson  ;  and  Poster's  Dis- 
sertation, p.  53 — 58,  in  Spelman's  English  version,  vol.  ii),  styles  them 
e.\rr»w(4.oi.  Before  the  conquest  of  Mithridates,  they  are  named  by 
Appian  i9v»?  apsifxave;,  (<le  Bell.  Mithridatico,  c.  15,  torn,  i,  p.  661,  of  the 
last  and  best  edition,  by  John  Schweighaeitser,  Lipsiae,  1785,  3  vols. 
large  octavo). 

'  The  conquest  of  Colchos  by  Mithridates  and  Pompey,  is  marked 
by  Appian,  (de  Bell.  Mithridat.),  and  Plutarch,  (in  Vit.  Pomp.)- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  327 

in  Colchos  and  the  adjacent  kingdoms,  from  the  CHAP. 
time  of  Mark  Antony  to  that  of  Nero;  and  af-^  ^ 
ter  the  race  of  Polenio*  was  extinct,  the  eastern 
Pontus,  which  preserved  his  name,  extended 
no  farther  than  the  neighbourhood  of  Trebi- 
zond.  Beyond  these  limits  the  fortifications  of 
Hyssus,  of  Apsarus,  of  the  Phasis,  of  Dioscu- 
rias  or  Sebastopolis,  and  of  Pityus,  were  guard- 
ed by  sufficient  detachments  of  horse  and  foot; 
and  six  princes  of  Colchos  received  their  dia- 
dems from  the  lieutenants  of  Caesar.  One  of  visit  of 
these  lieutenants,  the  eloquent  and  philosophic 
Arrian,  surveyed,  and  has  described,  the  Eux- 
ine  coast,  under  the  reign  of  Hadrian.  The 
garrison  which  he  reviewed  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Phasis,  consisted  of  four  hundred  chosen  legi- 
onaries ;  the  brick-walls  and  towers,  the  double 
ditch,  and  the  military  engines  on  the  rampart, 
rendered  this  place  inaccessible  to  the  barba- 
rians;  but  the  new  suburbs,  which  had  been 
built  by  the  merchants  and  veterans,  required, 
in  the  opinion  of  Arrian,  some  external  defence.1 
As  the  strength  of  the  empire  was  gradually 
impaired,  the  Romans  stationed  on  the  Phasis, 
were  either  withdrawn  or  expelled;  and  the 

k  We  may  trace  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  family  of  Polemo,  in  Strabo, 
(1.  xi,  p.  755  ;  1.  xii,  p.  867)  ;  Dion  Cassius  or  Xiphilin,  (p.  588,  593, 
601,719,754,  915,946,  edit.  Kcimer);  Suetonius,  (in  Neron.  c.  18; 
in  Vaspasian.  c.  8) ;  Eutropius,  (vii,  14) ;  Josephus,  (Antiq.  Judaic. 
1.  xx,  c.  7,  p.  970,  edit.  Havercamp),  and  Eusebius,  (Chron.  with  Sca- 
liger,  Animadvers.  p.  19G). 

1  In  the  time  of  Procopins,  there  where  no  Roman  forts  on  the  Pha 
sis.  Pityns  and  Sebastopolis  were  evacuated  on  the  rumour  of  the 
Persians,  (Goth.  1  iv,  c.  4) ;  bnt  the  latter  was  afterwards  restored  by 
Justinian,  (de  Edit.  I.  iv,  c.  7. 

r  '  {£  i<j»i)''t'J  'c.    ... 
tti3iK!niH' fens  /Jtsbiri.'ji!/'  .ii-.ii  %j 


328  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    tribe  of  the  Lazi,m  whose  posterity  speak  a  fo 
mj. ,„  reign  dialect,  and  inhabit  the  sea-coast  of  Tre- 


bizond,  imposed  their  name  and  dominion  on 
the  ancient  kingdom  of  Colchos.  Their  inde- 
pendence was  soon  invaded  by  a  formidable 
neighbour,  who  had  acquired,  by  arms  and 
treaties,  the  sovereignty  of  Iberia.  The  depen- 
dent king  of  Lazica  received  his  sceptre  at  the 
hands  of  the  Persian  monarch,  and  the  succes- 
sors of  Constantine  acquiesced  in  this  injurious 
claim,  which  was  proudly  urged  as  a  right  of 
conver-  immemorial  prescription.  In  the  beginning  of 

sionofthe     ...  .      . 

the  sixth  century,  their  influence  was  restored 


by  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  which  the 
Mingrelians  still  professed  with  becoming  zeal, 
without  understanding  the  doctrines,  or  ob- 
serving the  precepts,  of  their  religion.  After 
the  decease  of  his  father,  Zathus  was  exalted  to 
the  regal  dignity  by  the  favour  of  the  great  king  ; 
but  the  pious  youth  abhorred  the  ceremonies  of 
the  Magi,  and  sought,  in  the  palace  of  Constan- 
tinople, an  orthodox  baptism,  a  noble  wife,  and 
the  alliance  of  the  emperor  Justin.  The  king 
of  Lazica  was  solemnly  invested  with  the  dia- 
dem, and  his  cloak  and  tunic  of  white  silk, 
with  a  gold  border,  displayed,  in  rich  em- 
broidery, the  figure  of  his  new  patron;  who 
soothed  the  jealousy  of  the  Persian  court,  and 
excused  the  revolt  of  Colchos,  by  the  venerable 

ro  In  the  time  of  Pliny,  A  man,  and  Ptolemy,  the  Lazi  were  a  par- 
ticular tribe  on  the  northern  skirts  of  Colchos,  (Ccllarius,  Geograpb. 
Antiq.  torn,  ii,  p.  222).  In  the  age  of  Justinian,  they  spread,  or  at 
least  reigned,  over  the  whole  country.  At  present  they  have  migrat- 
ed along  the  coast  towards  Trebizond,  and  compose  a  rude  seafaring 
people,  with  a  peculiar  language,  (Chardin,  p.  149.  Peyssontl,  p.  64} 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  3'29 

names  of  hospitality  and  religion.     The  com-    CHAP. 
mon   interest  of  both  empires  imposed  on  the 


Colchians  the  duty  of  guarding  the  passes  of 
mount  Caucasus,  where  a  wall  of  sixty  miles 
is  now  defended  by  the  monthly  service  of  the 
musqueteers  of  Mingrelia." 

But  this  honourable  connection  was  soon  cor-  Revolt 
rupted  by  the  avarice  and  ambition  of  the  Ro- 
mans.  Degraded  from  the  rank  of  allies,  the 
Lazi  were  incessantly  reminded,  by  words  and 
actions,  of  their  dependent  state.  At  the  dis-^J-  542 
tanceof  a  day's  journey  beyond  the  Apsarus, 
they  beheld  the  rising  fortress  of  Petra0,  which 
commanded  the  maritime  country  to  the  south 
of  the  Phasis.  Instead  of  being  protected  by 
the  valour,  Colchos  was  insulted  by  the  licen- 
tiousness, of  foreign  mercenaries;  the  benefits 
of  commerce  were  converted  into  base  and 
vexatious  monopoly;  and  Gubazes,  the  native 
prince,  was  reduced  to  a  pageant  of  royalty,  by 
the  superior  influence  of  the  officers  of  Justinian. 
Disappointed  in  their  expectations  of  Christian 
virtue,  the  indignant  Lazi  reposed  some  confi- 
dence in  the  justice  of  an  unbeliever.  After  a 
private  assurance  that  their  ambassador  should 
not  be  delivered  to  the  Romans,  they  publicly 

"  John  Malala,  Chron.  torn,  ii,  p.  134—137.  Theophanes,  p.  144. 
Hist.  Miscell.  1.  xv,  p.  103.  The  fact  it  authentic,  but  the  date  seems 
too  recent.  In  speaking  of  their  Persian  alliance,  the  Lazi  contem- 
poraries of  Justinian  employ  the  most  obsolete  words — sv  •yfa.up.a.n 
ftnyaiac,  vpiyn»tt  &c.  Could  they  belong  to  a  connection  which  had 
not  been  dissolved  above  twenty  years? 

*  The  sole  vestige  of  Petra  subsists  in  the  writings  of  Procopius  and 
Agathi&s.  Mo<t  of  the  towns  and  castles  of  Lazica  may  be  found  by 
comparing  their  names  and  position  with  the  map  of  Mingrelia,  .H 
I^mberti. 


,°.;{0  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CXLIL    ^icited  the  friendship  and  aid  of  Chosroes. 

• .„  The  sagacious  monarch  instantly  discerned  the 

use  and  importance  ofColchos;  and  meditated 
a  plan  of  conquest,  which  was  renewed  at  the 
end  of  a  thousand  years  by  Shah  Abbas,  the 
wisest  and  most  powerful  of  his  successors.1* 
His  ambition  was  fired  by  the  hope  of  launch- 
ing a  Persian  navy  from  the  Phasis,  of  com- 
manding the  trade  and  navigation  of  the  Euxine 
sea,  of  desolating  the  coast  of  Pontus  and  Bi- 
thynia,  of  distressing,  perhaps  of  attacking, 
Constantinople,  and  of  persuading  the  barbari- 
ans of  Europe  to  second  his  arms  and  counsels 
against  the  common  enemy  of  mankind.  Un- 
der the  pretence  of  a  Scythian  war,  he  silently 
led  his  troops  to  the  frontiers  of  Iberia;  the 
Colchiau  guides  were  prepared  to  conduct  them 
through  the  woods  and  along  the  precipices  of 
mount  Caucasus;  and  a  narrow  path  was  la- 
boriously formed  into  a  safe  and  spacious  high- 
way, for  the  march  of  cavalry,  and  even  of  ele- 
phants. Gub~^^  laid  his  person  and  diadem 
at  the  feet  of  the  king  of  Persia;  his  Colchians 
imitated  the  submission  of  their  prince;  and  af- 
ter the  walls  of  Petra  had  been  shaken,  the  Ro- 
man garrison  prevented,  by  a  capitulation,  the 
impending  fury  of  the  last  assault.  But  the 
Lazi  soon  discovered,  that  their  impatience  had 
urged  them  to  choose  an  evil  more  in  toft  cable 
than  the  calamities  which  they  strove  to  escape. 

p  See  the  amusing  letters  of  Pietro  della  Valle,  the  Romau  travel- 
It  T,  (Vraggi,  torn,  ii,  207,  209,  213,  215,  206,  286,  300;  torn.  iii.  p.  64, 
127).  In  the  years  1618, 1619,  and  1620,  he  conversed  with  Shah  Ahbai, 
and  strongly  encouraged  a  design  which  might  have  united  Per.ia  and 
Europe  against  their  co'nmon  enemy  the  Turk. 

; 


JF  THE  ROiMAN  EMPIRE.  33 1 

The  monopoly  of  salt  and  corn  was  effectually  CHAP. 
removed  by  the  loss  of  those  valuable  commo-  SLII< 
dities.  The  authority  of  a  Roman  legislator 
was  succeeded  by  the  pride  of  an  oriental  des- 
pot, who  beheld  with  equal  disdain,  the  slaves 
whom  he  had  exalted,  and  the  kings  whom  he 
had  humbled  before  the  footstool  of  his  throne. 
The  adoration  of  fire  was  introduced  into  Col- 
chos  by  the  zeal  of  the  Magi:  their  intolerant 
spirit  provoked  the  fervour  of  a  Christian  peo- 
ple; and  the  prejudice  of  nature  or  education 
was  wounded  by  the  impious  practice  of  ex- 
posing the  dead  bodies  of  their  parents,  on  the 
summit  of  a  loft  tower,  to  the  crows  and  vul- 
tures of  the  air.q  Conscions  f  the  increasing 
hatred,  which  retarded  the  execution  of  his 
great  designs,  the  just  Nushirvan  had  secretly 
given  orders  to  assassinate  the  king  of  the  Lazi, 
to  transplant  the  people  into  some  distant  land, 
and  to  fix  a  faithful  and  warlike  colony  on  the 
banks  of  the  Phasis.  The  watchful  jealousy 
of  the  Colchians  foresaw  and  averted  the  ap 
proaching  ruin.  Their  repentance  was  accept- 
ed at  Constantinople  by  the  prudence,  rather 
than  the  clemency,  of  Justinian ;  and  he  com- 
manded Dagisteus,  with  seven  thousand  Ro- 
mans, and  one  thousand  of  the  Zani,  to  expel 
the  Persians  from  the  coast  of  th&Euxine. 
The  siege  of  Petra,  which  the  Roman  gene- 

q  See  Herodotus,  (1.  i,  c.  140,  p.  69),  who  speaks  with  diffidence ; 
Larcher,  (torn,  i,  p.  S99 — 401,  Notes  sur  Hcrodote);  Procopins,  (Per- 
sic.  1.  i,  c.  11),  and  Agatiiias,  (I.  ii,  p.  GI,  02).  This  practice,  agree- 
able to  tiie  ZendaveUa,  (H}de,  de  Relig.  Pers.  c.  34,  p.  414 — 421), 
demonstrates  that  the  burial  of  the  Persian  kings,  (Xenophon.  Cyro- 
paed.  1.  viii,  p.  658),  T«  ya.f  TU-TU  ji*a*api»Ti^«v  ra  tn  yn  /us^Crntai,  is  a  Greek 
fiction,  that  their  tombs  could  be  no  more  than  cenotaphs. 


332  THE  DECLINE  AND  PALL 

CHAP,    ral   with  the  aid  of  the  Lazi,  immediately  un- 

XLII.  J 

dertook,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  actions 

siege  of    of  the  age.     The  city  was  seated  on  a  craggy 
A.  D.549-  rock,  which  hung  over  the  sea,  and   communi- 
cated by  a  steep  and  narrow  path  with  the  land. 
Since  the  approach  was   difficult,   the  attack 
might  be  deemed  impossible;  the  Persian  con- 
queror had  strengthened  the  fortifications  of 
Justinian;     and  the  places   least  inaccessible 
were  covered  by  additional  bulwarks.     In  this 
important  fortress,  the  vigilance  of  Chosroes 
had  deposited  a  magazine  of  offensive  and  de- 
fensive arms,  sufficient  for  five  times  the  num- 
ber, not  only  of  the  garrison,  but  of  the  besieg- 
ers themselves.     The  stock  of  flour  and  salt 
provisions  was  adequate  to  the  consumption  of 
five  years;  the  want  of  wine  was   supplied  by 
vinegar,  and  of  grain  from  whence  a  strong  li- 
quor  was    extracted;    and   a  triple  aqueduct 
eluded  the  diligence,  and  even  the  suspicions, 
of  the  enemy.     But  the  firmest  defence  of  Petra 
was  placed  in  the  valour    of  fifteen  hundred 
Persians,  who  resisted  the  assaults  of  the  Ro- 
mans, whilst,  in  a  softer  vein  of  earth,  a  mine 
was  secretly  perforated.     The  wall,  supported 
by  slender  and  temporary  props,   hung  totter- 
ing in   the  air;  but  Dagisteus  delayed  the  at- 
tack till  he  had  secured  a  specific  recompence; 
and  the  town  was  relieved   before     the    return 
of  his  messenger  from  Constantinople.     Thr 
Persian  garison  was  reduced  to  four  hundred 
men,  of  whom  no  more  than  fifty  were  exempt 
from  sickness  or  wounds;  yet  such  had  been 
their  inflexible  perseverance,  that  they  conceal- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  333 

ed  their  losses  from  the  enemy,  by  enduring,    CHAP. 
without  a  murmur,    the  sight  and  putrifying 
stench  of  the  dead  bodies  of  their  eleven  hun- 
dred companions.     After  their  deliverance,  the 
breaches  were  hastily  stopped  with  sand-bags; 
the  mine  was  replenished  with  earth;    a  new 
wall  was  erected  on  a  frame  of  substantial  tim- 
ber; and  a  fresh  garrison  of  three  thousand 
men  was  stationed  at  Petra,   to  sustain  the  la- 
bours of  a  second  siege.     The  operations,  both 
of  the  attack  and  defence,  were  conducted  with 
skilful  obstinacy;  and  each  party  derived  use- 
ful lessons  from  the  experience  of  their  past 
faults.     A  battering  ram  was  invented,  of  light 
construction  and  powerful  effect;  it  was  trans- 
ported and  worked  by  the  hands  of  forty  sol- 
diers; and  as  the  stones  were  loosened  by  its 
repeated  strokes,  they  were  torn  with  long  iron 
hooks  from  the  wall.      From  those  walls,   a 
shower  of  darts  was  incessantly  poured  on  the 
heads  of  the  assailants,  but  they  were  most  dan- 
gerously annoyed  by  a  fiery  composition  of  sul- 
phur and  bitumen,  which  in  Colchos  might  with 
some  propriety  be  named  the  oil  of  Medea.    Of 
six  thousand  Romans  who  mounted  the  scal- 
ing-ladders, their  general,  Bessas,  was  the  first, 
a  gallant  veteran  of  seventy  years  of  age:  the 
courage  of  their  leader,   his  fall,   and  extreme 
danger,   animated  the  irresistible  effort  of  his 

O         "  •_•      .  ,-  - 

troops;  and  their  prevailing  numbers  oppressed 
the  strength,  without  subduing  the  spirit,  of  the 
Persian  garrison.      The  fate  of  these  valiant 
men   deserves   to  be  more   distinctly  noticed 
Seven  hundred   had  perished  in  the  siege,  two 


334  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    thousand  three  hundred  survived  to  defend  the 
breach.     One  thousand  and   seventy  were  de- 


stroyed with  fire  and  sword  in  the  last  assault; 
and  if  seven  hundred  and  thirty  were  made 
prisoners,  only  eighteen  among  them  were  found 
\vithoutthemarksofhonourablewounds.  The 
remaining  five  hundred  escaped  into  the  citadel, 
which  they  maintained  without  any  hopes  of 
relief,  rejecting  the  fairest  terms  of  capitulation 
and  service,  till  they  were  lost  in  the  flames. 
They  died  in  obedience  to  the  commands  of 
their  prince;  and  such  examples  of  loyalty  and 
valour  might  excite  their  countrymen  to  deeds 
of  equal  despair  and  more  prosperous  event. 
The  instant  demolition  of  the  works  of  Petra 
confessed  the  astonishment  and  apprehension 
of  the  conqueror. 

^  Spartan  would  have  praised  and  pitied  the 
war  virtue  of  these  heroic  slaves ;  but  the  tedious 
SSL'  warfare  and  alternate  success  of  the  Roman  and 
Persian  arms  cannot  detain  the  attention  of  pos- 
terity on  the  foot  of  mount  Caucassus.  The 
advantages  obtained  by  the  troops  of  Justinian 
were  more  frequent  and  splendid  ;  but  the  forces 
of  the  great  king  were  continually  supplied,  till 
they  amounted  to  eight  elephants  and  seventy 
thousand  men,  including  twelve  thousand  Scy- 
thian allies,  arid  above  three  thousand  Delemites, 
who  descended  by  their  free  choice  from  the 
hills  of  Hyrcania,  and  were  equally  formidable 
in  close  or  in  distant  combat.  The  siege  of 
Arcbaeiopolis,  a  name  imposed  or  corrupted  by 
the  Greeks,  was  raised  with  some  loss  and  pre- 
cipitation ;  but  the  Persians  occupied  the  pas- 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  335 

ses  of  Iberia :  Colchos  was  enslaved  by  their  CHAP 
forts  and  garrisons;  they  devoured  the  scanty 
sustenance  of  the  people;  and  the  prince  of 
the  Lazi  fled  into  the  mountains.  In  the 
Roman  camp  faith  and  discipline  were  un- 
known; and  the  independent  leaders,  who  were 
invested  with  equal  power,  disputed  with  each 
other  the  pre-eminence  of  vice  and  corruption. 
The  Persians  followed,  without  a  murmur,  the 
commands  of  a  single  chief,  who  implicitly 
obeyed  the  instructions  of  their  supreme  lord. 
Their  general  was  distinguished  among  the 
heroes  of  the  East,  by  his  wisdom  in  council, 
and  his  valour  in  the  field.  The  advanced  age 
of  Mermeroes,  and  the  lameness  of  both  his 
feet,  could  not  diminish  the  activity  of  his  mind 
or  even  of  his  body ;  and  whilst  he  was  carried 
in  a  litter  in  the  front  of  battle,  he  inspired  ter- 
ror to  the  enemy,  and  a  just  confidence  to  the 
troops,  who,  under  his  banners,  were  always 
successful.  After  his  death,  the  command  de- 
volved to  Nacoragan,  a  proud  satrap,  who,  in 
conference  with  the  imperial  chiefs,  had  pre- 
sumed to  declare  that  he  disposed  of  victory  as 
absolutely  as  of  the  ring  on  his  finger.  Such 
presumption  was  the  natural  cause  and  fore- 
runner of  a  shameful  defeat.  The  Romans  had 
been  gradually  repulsed  to  the  edge  of  the  sea- 
shore; and  their  last  camp,  on  the  ruins  of  the 
Grecian  colony  of  Phasis,  was  defended  on  all 
sides  by  strong  intrenchments,  the  river,  the 
Euxine,  and  a  fleet  of  galleys.  Despair  united 
their  counsels  and  invigorated  their  arms;  they 
withstood  the  assault  of  the  Persians;  and  the 


336  THE  DECLINE  AND  PALI 

CHAP,   flight  of  Nacoragan  preceded  or  followed  the 

„'„  slaughter  often  thousand  of  his  bravest  soldiers. 

He  escaped  from  the  Romans  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  an  unforgiving  master,  who  severely 
chastised  the  error  of  his  own  choice;  the  un- 
fortunate general  was  flayed  alive,  and  his  skin, 
stuffed  into  the  human  form,  was  exposed  on 
a  mountain :  a  dreadful  warning  to  those  who 
might  hereafter  be  intrusted  with  the  fame  and 
fortune  of  Persia/  Yet  the  prudence  of  Chos- 
roes  insensibly  relinquished  the  prosecution  of 
the  Colchian  war,  in  the  just  persuasion  that  it 
is  impossible  to  reduce,  or,  at  least,  to  hold  a 
distant  country  against  the  wishes  and  efforts 
of  its  inhabitants.  The  fidelity  of  Gubazes  sus- 
tained the  most  rigorous  trials.  He  patiently 
endured  the  hardships  of  a  savage  life,  and  re- 
jected, with  disdain,  the  specious  temptations 
of  the  Persian  court.  The  king  of  the  Lazi  had 
been  educated  in  the  Christian  religion  ;  his 
mother  was  the  daughter  of  a  senator;  dur- 
ing his  youth  he  had  served  ten  years  a  si- 
lentiary  of  the  Byzantine  palace,5  and  the  ar- 
rears of  an  unpaid  salary  were  a  motive  of  at- 
tachment as  well  as  of  complaint.  But  the  long 
continuance  of  his  sufferings  extorted  from  him 
a  naked  representation  of  the  truth;  and  truth 
was  an  unpardonable  libel  on  the  lieutenants 
of  Justinian,  who,  amidst  the  delays  of  a  ruin- 

T  The  punishment  of  flaying  alive  could  not  be  introduced  into  Per- 
sia by  Sapor,  (Brison  de  Regn.  Pers.  1.  ii.  p.  578),  nor  could  it  be 
copied  from  the  foolish  tale  of  Marsyas  the  Phrygian  piper,  most  fool- 
ishly quoted  as  a  precedent  by  Agathias,  (I.  iv,  p.  132,  133). 

1  In  the  palace  of  Constantinople  there  were  thirty  silentiaries,  who 
are  stiled  liastati  ante  fores  cubicnli,  ~r.;  a-iyns  cTric-arm,  an  honourable 
title,  which  conferred  the  rank,  without  imposing  the  duties,  of  a  sena- 
tor, 'Co<l.  Theodos.  I.  vi,  tit  23.  Goihofit-.J.  Comment,  torn,  ii,  p.  129> 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  537 

ous  war,  had  spared  his  enemies,  and  trampled   CHAP. 

V  T     TT 

on  his  allies.     Their  malicious  information  per- "^^ 

suaded  the  emperor,  that  his  faithless  vassal 
already  meditated  a  second  defection  :  an  order 
was  issued  to  send  him  prisoner  to  Constan- 
tinople; a  treacherous  clause  was  inserted,  that 
he  might  be  lawfully  killed  in  case  of  resist- 
ance; and  Gubazes,  without  arms,  or  suspicion 
of  danger,  was  stabbed  in  the  security  of  a  friend- 
ly interview.  In  the  first  moments  of  rage  and 
despair,  the  Colchians  would  have  sacrificed 
their  country  and  religion  to  the  gratification 
of  revenge.  But  the  authority  and  eloquence 
of  the  wiser  few  obtained  a  salutary  pause : 
the  victory  of  the  Phasis  restored  the  terror  of 
the  Roman  arms,  and  the  emperor  was  solicit- 
ous to  absolve  his  own  name  from  the  imputa- 
tion of  so  foul  a  murder.  A  judge  of  senato- 
rial rank  was  commissioned  to  inquire  into  the 
conduct  and  death  of  the  king  of  the  Lazi.  He 
ascended  a  stately  tribunal,  encompassed  by 
the  ministers  of  justice  and  punishment:  in  the 
presence  of  both  nations,  this  extraordinary 
cause  was  pleaded,  according  to  the  forms  of 
civil  jurisprudence,  and  some  satisfaction  was 
granted  to  an  injured  people,  by  the  sentence 
and  execution  of  the  meaner  criminals.* 

In  peace,  the  king  of  Persia  continually  sought 
the  pretences  of  a  rupture ;  but  no  sooner  had 
he  taken  up  arms,  than  he  expressed  his  desire 

*  On  these  judicial  orations,  Agathias  (1.  iii,  p.  81 — 89 ;  I.  iv,  p. 
108—119)  lavishes  eighteen  or  twenty  pages  of  false  and  florid  rhe- 
toric. His  ignorance  or  carelessness  orerlooks  the  strongest  argument 
against  the  king  of  Lazica — his  former  revolt. 

VOL.    VII.  C 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

<  HAP.    of  a  safe  and   honourable  treaty.     During  the 

.,,-*„  fiercest  hostilities,  the  two  monarchs entertained 

thin  -u!d    a  deceitful  negotiation ;  and  such  was   the  su- 

treatiea     perioi'ity  of  Chosroes,  that  whilst  he  treated  the 

between       *  .    .  .  '     . 

Justinian  Koman  ministers  with  insolence  and  contempt, 
[Toes,  he  obtained  the  most  unprecedented  honours 
se?.'  54°"  f°r  his  own  ambassadors  at  the  imperial  court. 
The  successor  of  Cyrus  assumed  the  majesty  of 
the  eastern  sun,  and  graciously  permitted  his 
younger  brother  Justinian  to  reign  oyer  the  west, 
with  the  pale  and  reflected  splendour  of  the 
moon.  This  gigantic  style  was  supported  by 
the  pomp  and  eloquence  of  Isdigune,  one  of  the 
royal  chamberlains.  His  wife  and  daughters, 
with  a  train  of  eunuchs  and  camels,  attended 
the  inarch  of  the  ambassador :  two  satraps  with 
golden  diadems  were  numbered  among  his  fol- 
lowers: he  was  guarded  by  five  hundred  horse 
the  most  valiant  of  the  Persians;  and  the  Ro- 
man governor  of  Dara  wisely  refused  to  admit 
more  than  twenty  of  this  martial  and  hostile 
caravan.  When  Isdigune  had  saluted  the  em- 
peror, and  delivered  his  presents,  he  passed  ten 
months  at  Constantinople  without  discussing 
any  serious  affairs.  Instead  of  being  confined 
to  his  palace,  and  receiving  food  and  water  from 
the  hands  of  his  keepers,  the  Persian  ambassa- 
dor, without  spies  or  guards,  was  allowed  to 
visit  the  capital ;  and  the  freedom  of  conversa- 
tion and  trade  enjoyed  by  his  domestics  offend- 
ed the  prejudices  of  an  age,  which  rigorously 
practised  the  law  of  nations,  without  confidence 
or  courtesy."  By  an  unexampled  indulgence, 

u  Procopius  re  presets  the  practice  of  the  Gothic  court  of  Ravenna, 
(Goth.  1.  i,  c.  7) ;  am'  foreign  ambassadors  have  beet  treated  with  fhe 

same 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  339 

his  interpreter,  a  servant  below  the  notice  of  a  CHAP. 
Roman  magistrate,  was  seated,  at  the  table  of  XLIL 
Justinian,  by  the  side  of  his.  master;  and  one 
thousand  pounds  of  gold  might  be  assigned  for 
the  expence  of  his  journey  and  entertainment. 
Yet  the  repeated  labours  of  Isdigune  could  pro- 
cure only  a  partial  and  imperfect  truce,  which ' 
was  always  purchased  with  the  treasures,  and 
renewed  at  the  solicitation,  of  the  Byzantine 
court.  Many  years  of  fruitless  desolation  elaps- 
ed before  Justinian  and  Chosroes  were  com- 
pelled, by  mutual  lassitude,  to  consult  the  re- 
pose of  their  declining  age.  At  a-conference  held 
on  the  frontier,  each  party,  without  expecting 
to  gain  credit,  displayed  the  power,  the  justice, 
and  the  pacific  intentions  of  their  respective 
sovereigns ;  but  necessity  and  interest  dictated 
the  treaty  of  peace,  which  was  concluded  for 
a  term  of  fifty  years,  diligently  composed  in  the 
Greek  and  Persian  language,  and  attested  by  the 
seals  of  twelve  interpreters.  The  liberty  of 
commerce  and  religion  was  fixed  and  defined ; 
the  allies  of  the  emperor  and  the  great  king  were 
included  in  the  same  benefits  and  obligations ; 
and  the  most  scrupulous  precautions  were  pro- 
vided to  prevent  or  determine  the  accidental 
disputes  that  might  arise  on  the  confines  of  two 
hostile  nations.  After  twenty  years  of  destruc- 
tive though  feeble  war,  the  limits  still  remain- 
ed without  alteration;  and  Chosroes  was  per- 
suaded to  renounce  his  dangerous  claim  to  the 
possession  or  sovereignty  of  Colchos  and  its  de- 
same  jealousy  and  rigour  in  Turkey,  (Busbequius,  epist.  iii,  p.  149, 
242,  &c.),  Russia,  (Voyage  d'  Oleartns),  and  China,  (Narrative  of 
M.  de  Lange,  in  Bell's  Travels,  vol.  ii,  p.  189—311). 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    pendent  states.     Rich  in  the  accumulated  trea* 

,  sures  of  the  East,  he  extorted  from  the  Romans 

an  annual  payment  of  thirty  thousand  pieces  of 
gold ;  and  the  smallness  of  the  sum  revealed  the 
disgrace  of  a  tribute  in  its  naked  deformity. 
In  a  previous  debate,  the  chariot  of  Sesostris, 
and  the  wheel  of  fortune  were  appjied  by  one  of 
the  ministers  of  Justinian,  who  observed  that 
the  reduction  of  Antioch,  and  some  Syrian  cities, 
had  elevated  beyond  measure  the  vain  and  am- 
bitious spirit  of  the  barbarian.  "  You  are  mis- 
"taken,"  replied  the  modest  Persian:  "the 
"  king  of  kings,  the  lord  of  mankind,  looks 
"  down  with  contempt  on  such  petty  acquisi- 
"  tions ;  and  of  the  ten  nations,  vanquished  by 
"  his  invincible  arms,  he  esteems  the  Romans 
"  as  the  least  formidable.""  According  to  the  ori- 
entals, the  empire  of  Nushirvan  extended  from 
Ferganah  in  Transoxiana,  to  Yemen  or  Arabia 
Felix.  He  subdued  the  rebels  of  Hyrcania,  re- 
duced the  provinces  of  Cabnl  and  Zablestan  on 
the  banks  of  the  Indus,  broke  the  power  of  the 
Euthalites,  terminated  by  an  honourable  treaty 
the  Turkish  war,  and  admitted  the  daughter  of 
the  great  khan  into  the  number  of  his  lawful 
wives.  Victorious  and  respected  among  the 
princes  of  Asia,  he  gave  audience,  in  his  palace 
of  Madain,  or  Ctesiphon,  to  the  ambassadors 
of  the  world.  Their  gifts  or  tributes,  arms,  rich 
garments,  gems,  slaves,  or  aromatics,  were 

x  The  negotiations  and  treaties  between  Justinian  and  Cliosroes  are 
copiously  explained  by  Procopius,  (Persic.  1.  ii,  c.  10,  13,  26,  27,  28; 
Gothic.  I  ii,  c.  11,  15);  Asjathias,  (I.  iv,  p.  141,  142),  and  Menander, 
(i;i  EX<M  rpt.  Legat.  p.  132 — 147),  Consult  Barbeyrac.  Hist,  des  An- 
ticus  T raitfs,  torn,  ii,  p.  151,  181 — 184,  193—200. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  34  I 

humbly  presented  at  the  foot  of  his  throne;  and    CHAP. 
he  condescended  to  accept  from  the  king  of  ^ 
India,  ten  quintals  of  the  wood  of  aloes,  a  maid 
seven  cubits  in  height,  aiid  a  carpet  softer  than 
silk,  the  skin,   as  it  was  reported,  of  an  extra- 
ordinary serpent/ 

Justinian  had  been  reproached  for  his  alliance  conquest 
with  the  ^Ethiopians,  as  if  he  attempted  to  in- 
troduce  a  people  of  savage  negroes  into  theM8» 
system  of  civilized  society.  But  the  friends  of 
the  Roman  empire,  the  Axumites,  or  Abyssi- 
niaus,  may  be  always  distinguished  from  the 
originial  natives  of  Africa/  The  hand  of  na- 
ture has  flattened  the  noses  of  the  negroes,  co- 
vered their  heads  with  shaggy  wool,  and  tinged 
their  skin  with  inherent  and  indelible  blackness. 
But  the  olive  complexion  of  the  Abyssinians, 
their  hair,  shape,  and  features,  distinctly  mark 
them  as  a  colony  of  Arabs  ;  and  this  descent  is 
confirmed  by  the  resemblance  of  language  and 
manners,  the  report  of  an  ancient  emigration, 
and  the  narrow  interval  between  the  shores  of 
the  Red  Sea.  Christianity  had  raised  that  na- 
tion above  the  level  of  African  barbarism;4 

'  D'Herbelol,  Bibliot.  Orient,  p.  680,  681,  294,  295. 

*  See  Bnffon,  Hist.  Naturelle,  torn,  iii,  p.  449.  This  Arab  cast  of 
features  and  complexion,  which  has  continued  3400  years,  (Lndolph. 
Hist,  et  Comment.  JEthiopic.  1.  i,  c.  4),  in  the  colony  of  Abyssinia, 
will  justify  the  snspicion,  that  race,  as  well  as  climate,  must  have  con- 
tributed to  form  the  negroes  of  the  adjacent  and  similar  regions. 

2  The  Portuguese  missionaries,  Alvarez,  (Ramusio,  torn,  i,  fol.  204, 
rect.  274  vers.);  Burmudez,  (Purchas's  Pilgrims,  vol.  ii.  1.  v,  c.  7,  p. 
1149 — 11&8);  Lobo,  (Relation,  &c.  par  M.  le  Grand,  with  xv  Disser- 
tations; Paris,  1728),  and  Tellez,  (Relations  de  Thevenot,  part  iv), 
could  only  relate  of  modern  Abyssinia  what  they  bad  seen  or  invented 
The  erudition  of  Ludolphus,  (Hist.  -'Ethiopica,  Francofurt.  1681 ;  Com- 
inentarius,  1691 ;  Appendix,  1694),  in  twenty-five  languages,  could 


342  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   their  intercourse  with  E^ypt  and  the  succes- 

YT  TT 

sors  of  Constantine,b  had  communicated  the  ru- 
diments of  the  arts  and  sciences ;  their  vessels 
traded  to  the  isle  of  Ceylon,0  and  seven  king- 
doms obeyed  the  Negus  or  supreme  prince  of 
Abyssinia.  The  independence  of  the  Home- 
rites,  who  reigned  in  the  rich  and  happy  Arabia, 
was  first  violated  by  an  ^Ethiopian  conqueror ; 
he  drew  his  hereditary  claim  from  the  queen  of 
Sheba,*  and  his  ambition  was  sanctified  by  re- 
ligious zeal.  The  Jews,  powerful  and  active 
in  exile,  had  seduced  the  mind  of  Duhaan, 
prince  of  the  Homerites.  They  urged  him  to 
retaliate  the  persecution  inflicted  by  the  impe- 
rial laws  on  their  unfortunate  brethren :  some 
Roman  merchants  were  injuriously  treated ; 
and  several  Christians  of  Negra"  were  honour- 
ed with  the  crown  of  martyrdom/  The 

add  little  concerning  its  ancient  history.  Yet  the  fame  of  Caled,  or 
Ellisthaeus,  the  conqueror  of  Yemen,  is  celebrated  in  national  songs 
and  legends. 

b  The  negotiations  of  Justinian  with  the  Axuinites,  or  /Ethiopians, 
are  recorded  by  Procopius,  (Persic.  1.  i,  c.  19,  20),  and  John  Malala, 
(torn,  ii,  p.  163 — 165,  193 — 196).  The  historian  of  Antioch  qnoto--  the 
original  narrative  of  the  ambassador  Nonnosus,  of  which.  Photius  (Bib- 
liot.  cod.  iii)  Las  preserved  a  curious  extract. 

c  The  trade  of  the  Axumites  to  the  coast  of  India  and  Africa,  and 
the  isle  of  Ceylon,  is  curiously  represented  by  Cosmas  Indicoplenstes, 
(Topograph.  Christian.  1.  ii,  p.  132,  138, 139,  140  ;  1.  xi,  p.  338,  33S. 

d  Ludolph.  Hist,  et  Comment.  vEthiop.  1.  ii,  c.  3. 

•  The  city  of  Negra,  or  Nag' ran,  in  Yemen,  is  surrounded  with 
palm-trees,  and  stands  in  the  high  road  between  Saana,  the  capital, 
and  Mecca,  from  the  former  ten,  from  the  latter  twenty,  days  journey 
of  a  caravan  of  camels,  (Abulfeda,  Descript.  Arabia?,  p.  52). 

f  The  martyrdom  of  St.  Arethas  prince  of  Negra,  and  his  three  hun- 
dred and  forty  companions,  is  embellished  in  the  legends  of  Meta- 
phrastes  and  Nicephorns  Callistus,  copied  by  Baronius  (A.  D.  522, 
N8.  22— 66;  A.  D.  523,  N°.  16— 29),  and  refuted,  with  obscure  dili- 
gence, by  Basnage,  (Hist,  des  Jtiit's,  torn,  xii,  1.  viii,  c.  ii,  p.  333 — 348), 
who  investigates  the  state  of  the  Jews  in  Arabia  and  ^Ethiopia. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  «"43 

churches  of  Arabia  implored  the  protection  of  CHAP. 
the  Abyssinian  monarch.     The  Negus  passed  JJJJJl. 
the  Red  Sea  with  a  fleet  and  army,   deprived 
the  Jewish  proselyte  of  his  kingdom  and  life, 
and  extinguished  a  race  of  princes,  who  had 
ruled  above  two  thousand  years  the  sequester- 
ed region  of  myrrh  and  frankincense.     The  con- 
queror immediately  announced  the  victory  of 
the  gospel,  requested  an  orthodox  patriarch, 
and  so  warmly  professed  his  friendship  to  the 
Roman  empire,  that  Justinian  was  flattered  by 
the   hope  tof    diverting  the  silk-trade  through 
the  channel  of  Abyssinia,   and  of  exciting  the 
forces  of   Arabia  against    the    Persian  king.     . 
Nonnosus,  descended  from  a  family  of  ambas-  Their  *"*• 

ance  with 

sadors,  was  named  by  the  emperor  to  execute  Justinian, 
this  important  commission.  He  wisely  declin- A 
ed  the  shorter,  but  more  dangerous,  road 
through  the  sandy  deserts  of  Nubia;  ascended 
the  Nile,  embarked  on  the  Red  Sea,  and  safely 
landed  at  the  African  port  of  Adulis.  From 
Adulis  to  the  royal  city  of  Axume  is  no  more 
than  fifty  leagues,  in  a  direct  line ;  but  the 
winding  passes  of  the  mountains  detained  the 
ambassador  fifteen  days;  and  as  he  traversed 
the  forests,  he  saw,  and  vaguely  computed, 
about  five  thousand  wild  elephants.  The  ca- 
pital, according  to  his  report,  was  large  and 
populous;  and  the  village  of  Axume  is  still  con- 
spicuous by  the  regal  coronations,  by  the  ruins 
of  a  Christian  temple,  and  by  sixteen  or  seventeen 
obelisks  inscribed  with  Grecian  characters.* 

8.  Alvarez  (in  Ramusio,  torn,  i,  fo!.  219  vers.  221)  saw  tlie  flourishing 
utate  of  Aximic  in  the  year  1520 — luogo  molto  buona  c  grnutie,     It  was 

ruin  nl  •    . 


344  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.    But  the  Negus  gave  audience  in  the  open  field 

„* '.„  seated  on  a  lofty  chariot,  which  was  drawn  by 

four  elephants  superbly  caparisoned,  and  sur- 
rounded by  his  nobles  and  musicians.  He  was 
clad  in  a  linen-garment  and  cap,  holding  in  his 
hand  two  javelins  and  a  light  shield;  and,  al- 
though his  nakedness  was  imperfectly  covered, 
he  displayed  the  barbaric  pomp  of  gold  chains, 
collars,  and  bracelets,  richly  adorned  with 
pearls  and  precious  stones.  The  ambassador 
of  Justinian  knelt;  the  Negus  raised  him  from 
the  ground,  embraced  Nonnosus,  kissed  the 
seal,  perused  the  letter,  accepted  the  Roman 
alliance,  and,  brandishing  his  weapons,  de- 
nounced implacable  war  against  the  worship- 
pers of  fire.  But  the  proposal  of  the  silk-trade 
was  eluded;  and  notwithstanding  the  assur- 
ances, and  perhaps  the  wishes,  of  the  Abyssini- 
ans,  these  hostile  menaces  evaporated  without 
effect.  The  Homerites  were  unwilling  to  aban- 
don their  aromatic  groves,  to  explore  a  sandy 
desert,  and  to  encounter,  after  all  their  fatigues, 
a  formidable  nation  from  whom  they  had  never 
received  any  personal  injuries.  Instead  of  en- 
larging his  conquests,  the  king  of  ./Ethiopia 
was  incapable  of  defending  his  possessions. 
Abrahah,  the  slave  of  a  Roman  merchant  of 
Adulis,  assumed  the  sceptre  of  the  Homerites; 
the  troops  of  Africa  were  seduced  by  the  lux- 
ury of  the  climate;  and  Justinian  solicited  the 
friendship  of  the  usurper,  who  honoured,  with 

ruined  in  the  same  centnry  by  the  Turkish  invasion.  No  more  than 
one  hundred  houses  remain;  but  the  memory  of  its  past  greatness  is 
preserved  by  the  regal  coronation,  (Ludolph.  Hist,  et  Comment.  1.  ii. 
c  11). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  345 

a  slight  tribute,  the  supremacy  of  his  prince.  CHAP. 
After  a  long  series  of  prosperity,  the  power  of  ^ 
Abrahah  was  overthrown  before  the  gates  ojf 
Mecca;  his  children  were  despoiled  by  the 
Persian  conqueror;  and  the  ^Ethiopians  were 
finally  expelled  from  the  continent  of  Asia. 
This  narrative  of  obscure  and  remote  events  is 
not  foreign  to  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Ro- 
man empire.  If  a  Christian  power  had  been 
maintained  in  Arabia,  Mahomet  must  have  been 
crushed  in  his  cradle,  and  Abyssinia  would 
have  prevented  a  revolution  which  has  changed 
the  civil  and  religious  state  of  the  world.11 

h  The  revolutions  of  Yemen  in  the  sixth  century  must  be  collected 
from  Procopius,  (Persic.  1.  i,  c.  19,  20) ;  Theophanes  Byzant,  (apud 
Phot.  cod.  Ixiii,  p.  80);  St.  Theophanes,  (in  Chronograph,  p.  144,  145, 
188,  189,  206,  207,  who  is  full  of  strange  blunders) ;  Pocock, 
(Specimen  Hist.  Arab.  p.  62,  65) ;  d'Heibelot,  (Bibliot.  Orientate,  p. 
12,  477),  and  Sale's  Preliminary  Discourse  and  Koran,  (c.  105).  The 
revolt  of  Abrahah  is  mentioned  by  Procopius ;  and  his  fall,  though 
clouded  with  miracles,  it  an  historical  fact. 


S4t>  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 


CHAP.  XLIII. 

Rebellions  of  Africa  —  Restoration  of  the  Gothic 
kingdom  by  Totila  —  Loss  and  recovery  of 
Home—  Final  conquest  of  Italy  by  jN  arses  — 
Extinction  of  the  Ostrogoths—  Defeat  of  the 
Franks  and  Alemanni  —  Last  victory,  disgrace, 
and  death  of  Helisarius—  Death  and  character 
of  Justinian  —  -Comet,  earthquakes,  and  plague. 


XLin"    -*"E  review  of  the  nations  from  the  Danube 
„  to  the  Nile  has  exposed  on  every  side  the  weak- 


ness of  the  Romans  ;  and  our  wonder  is  rea- 
sonably excited  that  they  should  presume  to 
enlarge  an  empire,  -hose  ancient  limits  they 
were  incapable  of  defending.  But  the  wars, 
the  conquests,  and  the  triumphs  of  Justinian, 
are  the  feeble  and  pernicious  efforts  of  old  age, 
which  exhaust  the  remains  of  strength,  and  ac- 
celerate the  decay  of  the  powers  of  life.  He  ex- 
ulted in  the  glorious  act  of  restoring  Africa  and 
Italy  to  the  republic  ;  but  the  calamities  which 
followed  the  departure  of  Belisarius  betrayed 
the  impotence  of  the  conqueror,  and  accom- 
plished the  ruin  of  those  unfortunate  countries. 
Ti.e  trou-  From  his  new  acquisitions,  Justinian  expect- 
ti'^s.  of  ed  that  his  avarice,  as  well  as  pride,  should  be 

Africa,          .  .  .    . 

A.  D  535.  richly  gratified.  A  rapacious  minister  of  the 
finances  closely  pursued  the  footsteps  of  Beli- 
sarius; and  as  the  old  registers  of  tribute  had 
been  burnt  by  the  Vandals,  he  indulged  his 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.-  347 

fancy  in  a  liberal  calculation  and  arbitrary  as-    CHAP. 

sessment  of  the  wealth  of  Africa.*     The  in-  „„, \. 

crease  of  taxes,  which  were  drawn  away  by  a 
distant  sovereign,  and  a  general  resumption  of 
the  patrimony  or  crown  lands,  soon  dispelled 
the  intoxication  of  the  public  joy :  but  the  em- 
peror was  insensible  to  the  modest  complaints 
of  the  people,  till  he  was  awakened  and  alarm- 
ed by  the  clamours  of  military  discontent. — 
Many  of  the  Roman  soldiers  had  married  the 
widows  and  daughters  of  the  Vandals.  As 
their  own,  by  the  double  right  of  conquest  and 
inheritance,  they  claimed  the  estates  which 
Genseric  had  assigned  to  his  victorious  troops. 
They  heard  with  disdain  the  cold  and  selfish 
representations  of  their  officers,  that  the  libera- 
lity of  Justinian  had  raised  them  from  a  savage 
or  servile  condition  ;  that  they  were  already  en- 
riched by  the  spoils  of  Africa,  the  treasure,  the 
slaves,  and  the  moveables,  of  the  vanquished 
barbarians  ;  and  that  the  ancient  and  lawful 
patrimony  of  the  emperors  would  be  applied 
only  to  the  support  of  that  government  on 
which  their  own  safety  and  reward  must  ulti- 
mately depend.  The  mutiny  was  secretly  in- 
flamed by  a  thousand  soldiers,  for  the  most 
part  Heruli,  who  had  imbibed  the  doctrines, 

*  For  the  troubles  of  Africa,  I  neither  have  nor  desire  another  guide 
than  Procopius,  whose  eye  contemplated  the -linage,  and 'whose  car 
collected  the  reports,  of  the  memorable  events  of  his  own  times.  In 
the  second  book  of  the  Vandalic  war  he  relates  the  revolt  of  Stozas, 
(c.  14  24),  the  return  of  Belisiirhrs,  (c.  15),  the  victory  of  Germanns, 
(c.  15,  17,  18),  the  second  administration  of  Solomon,  (c.  19,  20,  21), 
the  government  of  Sergius,  (c.  22,  23),  of  Areobindus,  (c.  24),  the  ty- 
ranny and  death  of  Gontharis,  (c.  25,  26,  27,  28) ;  nor  can  I  discern 
*ny  symptoms  of  flattery  or  malevolence  in  his  various  portraits-  ^ 


348  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  and  were  instigated  by  the  clergy,  of  the  Arian 
^ sect;  and  the  cause  of  perjury  and  rebellion 
was  sanctified  by  the  dispensing  powers  of  fa- 
naticism. The  Arians  deplored  the  ruin  of 
their  church,  triumphant  above  a  century  in 
Africa  ;  and  they  were  justly  provoked  by  the 
laws  of  the  conqueror,  which  interdicted  the 
baptism  of  their  children,  and  the  exercise  of 
all  religious  worship.  Of  the  Vandals  chosen 
by  Belisarius,  the  far  greater  part,  in  the  ho- 
nours of  the  eastern  service,  forgot  their  coun- 
try and  religion.  But  a  generous  band  of  four 
hundred  obliged  the  mariners,  when  they  were 
in  sight  of  the  isle  of  Lesbos,  to  alter  their 
course :  they  touched  on  Peloponnesus,  ran 
ashore  on  a  desert  coast  of  Africa,  and  boldly 
erected,  on  mount  Aurasius,  the  standard  of  in- 
dependence and  revolt.  While  the  troops  of 
the  province  disclaimed  the  command  of  their 
superiors,  a  conspiracy  was  formed  at  Carthage 
against  the  life  of  Solomon,  who  tilled  with  ho- 
nour the  place  of  Belisarius  ;  and  the  Arians 
had  piously  resolved  to  sacrifice  the  tyrant  at 
the  foot  of  the  altar,  during  the  awful  mysteries 
of  the  festival  of  Easter.  Fear  or  remorse  re- 
strained the  daggers  of  the  assassins,  but  the 
patience  of  Solomon  emboldened  their  discon- 
tent ;  and  at  the  end  of  ten  days,  a  furious  se- 
dition was  kindled  in  the  circus,  which  deso- 
lated Africa  above  ten  years.  The  pillage  oi 
the  city,  and  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  its 
inhabitants,  were  suspended  only  by  darkness, 
sleep,  and  intoxication :  the  governor,  with  se- 
ven companions,  among  whom  was  the  histo- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

rian  Procopius,   escaped  to  Sicily  :  two-thirds   CHAP, 
of  the  army  were  involved  in  the  guilt  of  trea- 
son  ;  and    eight   thousand  insurgents,   assem- 
bling in  the  field  of  Bulla,  elected  Stoza  for 
their  chief,  a  private  soldier,  who  possessed,  in 
a  superior  degree,   the  virtues  of  a  rebel.     Un- 
der the  mask  of  freedom,  his  eloquence  could 
lead,  or  at  least  impel,  the  passions  of  his  equals. 
He  raised  himself  to  a  level  with  Belisarius,  and 
the  nephew  of  the  emperor,   by  daring  to  en- 
counter them  in  the  field;  and  the  victorious 
generals  were  compelled  to  acknowledge,  that 
Stoza  deserved  a  purer  cause  and  a  more  legi- 
timate command.      Vanquished   in  battle,  he 
dexterously  employed  the  arts  of  negotiation  : 
a  Roman  army  was  seduced  from  their  alle- 
giance, and  the  chiefs,  who  had  trusted  to  his 
faithless  promise,  were  murdered,  by  his  order, 
in  a  church  of  Numidia.  When  every  resource, 
either  of  force  or  perfidy,   was  exhausted,  Sto- 
za, with  some  desperate  Vandals,  retired  to  the 
wilds  of  Mauritania,  obtained  the  daughter  of 
a  barbarian  prince,  and  eluded  the  pursuit  of 
his  enemies,  by  the  report  of  '':«   death.     The 
personal  weight  of  Belisarius,  the  rank,  the  spi- 
rit, and  the  temper,  of  Germanus,  the  emperor's 
nephew,  and  the  vigour  and  success  of  the  se- 
cond administration  of  the  eunuch  Solomon,  re- 
stored the  modesty  of  the  camp,  and  maintain- 
ed,  for  a  while,  the  tranquillity  of  Africa.— 
But  the  vices  of  the  Byzantine  court  were  felt 
in  that  distant  province;  the  troops  complain- 
ed that  they  were  neither  paid  nor  relieved ; 
and  as  soon  as  the  public  disorders  were  suffi- 
ciently mature,  Stoza  was  again  alive,  in  arms, 


350  THE  DECLINE  AND  PALL 

CHAP,   and  at  the  gates   of  Carthage.     He  fell  in  a 

XLIII 

, f'if,  single  combat,  but  he  smiled  in  the  agonies  of 

.  death,  when  he  was  informed  that  his  own  ja- 
velin had  reached  the  heart  of  his  antagonist. 
The  example  of  Stoza,  and  the  assurance  that 
a  fortunate  soldier  had  been  the  first  king,  en- 
couraged the  ambition  of  Gontharis,  and  he 
promised,  by  a  private  treaty,  to  divide  Africa 
with  the  Moors,  if,  with  their  dangerous  aid, 
he  should  ascend  the  throne  of  Carthage.  The 
feeble  Areobindus,  unskilled  in  the  affairs  of 
peace  and  war,  was  raised  by  his  marriage  with 
the  niece  of  Justinian,  to  the  office  of  exarch.— 
He  was  suddenly  oppressed  by  a  sedition  of 
the  guards,  and  his  abject  supplications,  which 
provoked  the  contempt,  could  not  move  the 
pity,  of  the  inexorable  tyrant.  After  a  reign 
of  thirty  days,  Gontharis  himself  was  stabbed 
at  a  banquet,  by  the  hand  of  Artaban  ;  and  it 
is  singular  enough,  that  an  Armenian  prince, 
of  the  royal  family  of  Arsaces,  should  re-esta- 
blish, at  Carthage,  the  authority  of  the  Roman 
empire.  In  the  conspiracy  which  unsheathed 
the  dagger  of  Brutus  against  the  life  of  Cassar, 

v  every  circumstance  is  curious  and  important  to 

the  eyes  of  posterity  :  but  the  guilt  or  merit  of 
these  loyal  or  rebellious  assassins  could  interest 
only  the  contemporaries  of  Procopius,  who,  by 
their  hopes  and  fears,  their  friendship  or  re- 
sentment, were  personally  engaged  in  the  revo- 
lutions of  Africa.b 

b  Yet  I  most  nat  Defuse  him  the  merit  of  painting,  in  lively  colours, 
the  murder  of  Gontharis.  One  of  the  assassins  uttered  a  .sentiment 
not  unworthy  of  a  Roman  patriot. — "  If  I  fail,"  said  Artasires,  "  in 
"  the  first  itroke,  kill  me  on  the  spot,  lest  the  rack  should  extort  a  dis- 
"  co  very  of  my  accomplices." 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  351 

That  country  was  rapidly  sinking  into  the  CHAP. 
state  of  barbarism,  from  whence  it  had  been  XLIIr- 
raised  by  the  Phoanician  colonies  and  Roman  Rebellion 
laws:  and  every  step  of  intestine  discord  wasjjoors 
marked  by  some  deplorable  victory  of  savage  A-  D-  Ba- 
nian over  civilized  society.  The  Moors,'  though 
ignorant  of  justice,  were  impatient  of  impres- 
sion :  their  vagrant  life  and  boundless  wilder- 
ness disappointed  the  arms,  and  eluded  the 
chains,  of  a  conqueror ;  and  experience  had 
shewn,  that  neither  oaths  nor  obligations  could 
secure  the  fidelity  of  their  attachment.  The 
victory  of  mount  Auras  had  awed  them  into 
momentary  submission ;  but  if  they  respected 
the  character  of  Solomon,  they  hated  and  de- 
spised the  pride  and  luxury  of  his  two  nephews, 
Cyrus  and  Sergius,  on  whom  their  uncle  had 
imprudently  bestowed  the  provincial  govern- 
ments of  Tripoli  and  Pentapolis.  A  Moorish 
tribe  encamped  under  the  walls  of  Leptis,  to 
renew  their  alliance,  and  receive  from  the  go- 
vernor the  customary  gif*  .  Fourscore  of  their 
deputies  were  introduced  as  friends  into  the 
city  ;  but,  on  the  dark  suspicion  of  a  conspira- 
cy, they  were  massacred  at  the  table  of  Sergius, 
and  the  clamour  of  arms  and  revenge  was  re- 
echoed through  the  valleys  of  mount  Atlas, 
from  both  the  Syrtes  to  the  Atlantic  ocean.—- 
A  personal  injury,  the  unjust  execution,  or 
murder,  of  his  brother,  rendered  Antalus  the 
enemy  of  the  Romans.  The  defeat  of  the  Van- 

c  The  Moorish  wars  are  occasionally  introduced  into  the  narrative 
ofProcopius,  (Vandal.  1.  ii,  c.  19-23,25,  27,  28;  Gothic.  1.  iv,c.lT); 
and  Thcoplianes  adds  some  prosperous  and  adverse  events  in  the  lait 
years  of  Justinian. 


352  THE  DECLINE  AND  PALL 

CHAP,  dais  had  formerly  signalized  his  valour;  the 
rudiments  of  justice  and  prudence  were  still 
more  conspicuous  in  a  Moor;  and  while  he 
laid  Adrumetum  in  ashes,  he  calmly  admonish- 
ed the  emperor  that  the  peace  of  Africa  might 
be  secured  by  the  recal  of  Solomon  and  his  un- 
worthy nephews.  The  exarch  led  forth  his 
troops  from  Carthage :  but,  at  the  distance  of 
six  days  journey,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Te- 
beste,d  he  was  astonished  by  the  superior  num- 
bers and  fierce  aspect  of  the  barbarians.  He 
proposed  a  treaty ;  solicited  a  reconciliation; 
and  offered  to  bind  himself  by  the  most  solemn 
oaths.  "  By  what  oaths  can  he  bind  himself?" 
interrupted  the  indignant  Moors,  "  Will  he 
"  swear  by  the  gospels,  the  divine  books  of  the 
"  Christians  ?  It  was  on  those  books  that  the 
"  faith  of  his  nephew  Sergius  was  pledged  to 
"  eighty  of  our  innocent  and  unfortunate  bre- 
"  thren.  Before  we  trust  them  a  second  time 
'•  let  us  try  their  efficacy  in  the  chastisement  of 
"  perjury,  and  the  vindication  of  their  own  ho- 
"  nour."  Their  honour  was  vindicated  in  the 
field  of  Tebeste,  by  the  death  of  Solomon,  and 
the  total  loss  of  his  army.  The  arrival  of  fresh 
troops  and  more  skilful  commanders,  soon 
checked  the  insolence  of  the  Moors  ;  seventeen 
of  their  princes  were  slain  in  the  same  battle ; 
and  the  doubtful  and  transient  submission  o.f 

*  Now  Tibesb,  in  the  kingdom  of  Algiers.  It  is  watered  by  a  river, 
tne  Sujerass,  which  falls  into  the  Mejerda,  (BagradasJ.  Tibesh  is  still 
remarkable  for  its  walls  of  large  stones,  (like  the  Coliseum  of  Rome), 
a  fountain  and  a  grove  of  walnut-  trees :  the  country  is  fruitful,  and 
the  neighbouring  Bereberes  are  warlike.  It  appears  from  an  inscrip- 
tion, that  under  the  reign  of  Adrian,  the  road  from  Carthage  to  Te 
beste  was  constructed  by  the  third  legion,  (Marmol.  Description  dc 
1'Afrraue,  ton*,  ii,  p.  442,  44X  Shaw's  Travels,  p.  64,  65,  66;. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  363 

their  tribes  was  celebrated  with  lavish  applause  CHAP. 

VI  TTT 

by  the  people  of  Constantinople.  Successive  J 
inroads  had  reduced  the  province  of  Africa  to 
one-third  of  the  measure  of  Italy  ;  yet  the  Ro- 
man emperors  continued  to  reign  above  a  cen- 
tury over  Carthage,  and  the  fruitful  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean.  But  the  victories  and  the 
losses  of  Justinian  were  alike  pernicious  to  man- 
kind ;  and  such  was  the  desolation  of  Africa, 
that  in  many  parts  a  stranger  might  wander 
whole  days  without  meeting  the  face  either  of 
a  friend  or  an  enemy.  The  nation  of  the  Van- 
dals had  disappeared  ;  they  once  amounted  to 
an  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  warriors,  with- 
out including  the  children,  the  women,  or  the 
slaves.  Their  numbers  were  infinitely  surpas- 
sed by  the  number  of  the  Moorish  families  ex- 
tirpated in  a  relentless  war  :  and  the  same  de- 
struction was  retaliated  on  the  Romans  and 
their  allies,  who  perished  by  the  climate,  their 
mutual  quarrels,  and  the  rage  of  the  barbarians. 
When  Procopius  first  landed,  he  admired  the 
populousness  of  the  cities  and  country,  strenu- 
ously exercised  in  the  labours  of  commerce  and 
agriculture.  In  less  than  twenty  years,  that 
busy  scene  was  converted  into  a  silent  solitude ; 
the  wealthy  citizens  escaped  to  Sicily  and  Con- 
stantinople ;  and  the  secret  historian  has  con- 
fidently affirmed,  that  five  millions  of  Africans 
were  consumed  by  the  wars  and  government  of 
the  emperor  Justinian." 


'  Proropitis,  Anecdot.  c.  18.     The  scries  of  the  African  history  at« 
tests  this  melancholy  truth. 

VOL.  VJI. 


354  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.        The  jeafousy  of  the  Byzantine  court  had  not 
''*'    permitted  Belisarius  to  achieve  the  conquest  of 


Revolt  of  Italy  i  a°d  his  abrupt  departure  revived  the 
th«Goth«,  courage  of  the  Goths/  who  respected  his  ge- 
nius, his  virtue,  and  even  the  laudable  motive 
which  had  urged  the  servant  of  Justinian  to  de- 
ceive and  reject  them.  They  had  lost  their 
king,  (an  inconsiderable  loss),  their  capital, 
their  treasures,  the  provinces  from  Sicily  to  the 
Alps,  and  the  military  force  of  two  hundred 
thousand  barbarians,  magnificently  equipped 
with  horses  and  arms.  Yet  all  was  not  lost,  a? 

long  as  Pavia  was  defended  by  one  thousand 

•  ,  j 

Goths,  inspired  by  a  sense  of  honour,  the  lovt 
of  freedom,  and  the  memory  of  their  past  great- 
ness. The  supreme  command  was  unanimous- 
ly offered  to  the  brave  Uraias;  and  it  was  in 
his  eyes  alone  that  the  disgrace  of  his  uncle  Vi- 
tiges  could  appear  as  a  reason  of  exclusion.  — 
His  voice  inclined  the  election  in  favour  of  Hil- 
dibiild,  whose  personal  merit  was  recommend- 
ed by  the  vain  hope  that  his  kinsman  Theu- 
des,  the  Spanish  monarch,  would  support  the 
common  interest  of  the  Gothic  nation.  The 
success  of  his  arms  in  Liguria  and  Venetia 
seemed  to  justify  their  choice  ;  but  he  soon  de- 
clared to  the  world,  that  he  was  incapable  of 
forgiving  or  commanding  his  benefactor.  The 
consort  of  Hildibald  was  deeply  wounded  by 

f  In  the  second  (c.  30)  and  third  books,  (c.  1-40).  Procopitu  con- 
tinues the  history  of  the  Gothic  war  from  the  fifth  to  the  fifteenth  year 
of  Justiui^;.  As  the  events  are  less  interesting  than  in  the  former  pe- 
riod, he  allots  only  half  the  space  to  double  the  time.  Jornandes  and 
the  Chronicle  of  Maioelltnus,  afford  some  collateral  hints.  Sigoniui 
FiiL'i,  Muratori,  Mascou,  aud  De  Buat,  an-  useful,  and  have  been 
•sed. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE,  355 

the  beauty,  the  riches,  and  the  pride  of  the  CHAP, 
wife  of  Uraias  ;  and  the  death  of  that  virtuous  ^ff^^f 
patriot  excited  the  indignation  of  a  free  people. 
A  bold  assassin  executed  their  sentence  by 
striking  off  the  head  of  Hildibald  in  the  midst 
of  a  banquet :  the  Rugians,  a  foreign  tribe,  as- 
sumed the  privilege  of  election  ;  and  Totila,  the 
nephew  of  the  late  king,  was  tempted,  by  re- 
venge, to  deliver  himself  and  the  garrison  of 
Trevigo  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans.  But 
the  gallant  and  accomplished  youth  was  easily 
persuaded  to  prefer  the  Gothic  throne  before 
the  service  of  Justinian  ;  and  as  soon  as  the  pa- 
lace of  Pavia  had  been  purified  from  the  Ru- 
gian  usurper,  he  reviewed  the  national  force  of 
five  thousand  soldiers,  and  generously  under- 
took the  restoration  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy. 

The  successors  of  Belisarius,  eleven  generals  victories 
of  equal  rank,  neglected  to  crush  the  feeble  and  ki^°ofa' 
disunited  Goths,  till  thev  were  roused  to  action  Italy' 

'  ,     *  A.  D.  641. 

by  the  progress  of  Totila  and  the  reproaches  of  5*4. 
Justinian.  The  gates  of  Verona  were  secretly 
opened  to  Artabazus,  at  the  head  of  one  hun- 
dred Persians  in  the  service  of  the  empire. — 
The  Goths  fled  from  the  city.  At  the  distance 
of  sixty  furlongs  the  Roman  generals  halted  to 
regulate  the  division  of  the  spoil.  While  they 
disputed,  the  enemy  discovered  the  real  num- 
ber of  the  victors  :  the  Persians  were  instantly 
overpowered,  and  it  was  by  leaping  from  the 
wall  that  Artabazus  preserved  a  life  which  he 
lost  in  a  few  days  by  the  lance  of  a  barbarian, 
who  had  defied  him  to  single  combat.  Twen- 
£y  thousand  Romans  encountered  the  forces  of 
Totila,  near  Faenza,  and  on  the  hills  of  Mugel- 


156  rHE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  lo,  of  the  Florentine  territory.  The  ardour  of 
~~,~,>  freedmen,  who  fought  to  regain  their  country, 
was  opposed  to  the  languid  temper  of  merce- 
nary troops,  who  were  even  destitute  of  the 
merits  of  strong  and  well-disciplined  servitude. 
On  the  first  attack  they  abandoned  their  en- 
signs, threw  down  their  arms,  and  dispersed  on 
all  sides  with  an  active  speed  which  abated 
the  loss,  whilst  it  aggravated  the  shame,  of  their 
defeat.  The  king  of  the  Goths,  who  blushed 
for  the  baseness  of  his  enemies,  pursued  with 
rapid  steps  the  path  of  honour  and  victory. — 
Totila  passed  the  Po,  traversed  the  Apennine, 
suspended  the  important  conquest  of  Ravenna, 
Florence,  and  Rome,  and  marched  through  the 
heart  of  Italy,  to  form  the  siege,  or  rather 
blockade,  of  Naples.  The  Roman  chiefs,  im- 
prisoned in  their  respective  cities,  and  accusing 
each  other  of  the  common  disgrace,  did  not  pre- 
sume to  disturb  his  enterprise.  But  the  em- 
peror, alarmed  by  the  distress  and  danger  of 
his  Italian  conquests,  despatched  to  the  relief 
of  Naples  a  fleet  of  galleys,  and  a  body  of  Thra*- 
cian  and  Armenian  soldiers.  They  landed  in 
Sicily,  which  yielded  its  copious  stores  of  pro- 
visions ;  but  the  delays  of  the  new  commander, 
an  un warlike  magistrate,  protracted  the  su£ 
ferings  of  the  besieged ;  and  the  succours, 
which  he  dropt  with  a  timid  and  tardy  hand, 
were  successively  intercepted  by  the  armed 
vessels  stationed  by  Totila  in  the  bay  of  Naples. 
The  principal  officer  of  the  Romans  was  drag- 
ged, with  a  rope  round  his  neck,  to  the  foot  of 
the  wall,  from  whence,  with  a  trembling  voice, 
he  exhorted  the  citizens  to  implore,  like  him- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  357 

self,  the  mercy  of  the  conqueror.  They  re-  ,CHAP. 
quested  a  truce,  with  a  promise  of  surrender-  XLIIL 
ing  the  city,  if  no  effectual  relief  should  appear 
at  the  end  of  thirty  days.  Instead  of  owe  month, 
the  audacious  barbarian  granted  them  three,  in 
the  just  confidence  that  famine  would  antici- 
pate the  term  of  their  capitulation.  After  the 
reduction  of  Naples  and  Cumae,  the  provinces 
of  Lacania,  Apulia,  and  Calabria,  submitted  to 
the  king  of  the  Goths.  Totila  led  his  army  to 
the  gates  of  Rome,  pitched  his  camp  at  Tibur, 
Or  Tivoli,  within  twenty  miles  of  the  capital, 
and  calmly  exhorted  the  senate  and  people  to 
compare  the  tyranny  of  the  Greeks  with  the 
blessings  of  the  Gothic  reign. 

The  rapid  success  of  Totila  may  be  partly  Contra^ 
ascribed  to  the  revolution  which  three  years  ex-  and  vir- 
perience  had  produced  in  the  sentiments  of  the 
Italians.     At  the  command,  or  at  least  in  the 
name,  of  a  catholic  emperor,  the  pope,8  their 
spiritual  father,  had  been  torn  from  the  Roman 
church,  and  either  starved  or  murdered  on  a 
desolate  island.11      The   virtues   of  Belisarius 
were  replaced  by  the  various  or  uniform  vices 
of  eleven  chiefs,  at  Rome,  Ravenna,  Florence, 
Perugia,  Spoleto.  &c.  who  abused  their  autho- 
rity for  the  indulgence  of  lust  or  avarice.    The 
improvement  of  the  revenue  was  committed  to 

•""»{''  •»>  •••i/i ' 

Sylverins,  bishop  of  Rome,  was  first  transported  to  Patara,  in  Ly- 
ria,  and  at  Length  starved  (sub  corum  custodia  inedia  confectu*)  in  the 
i«le  of  Palmaria,  A.  D.  538,  June  20,  (Liberal,  in  Breviar.  e.  22.— 
Anastaains  in  Sylverio.  Baronius,  A.  D.  340,  N°.  2,  3  Pagi  in  Vit. 
Pout.  torn,  i,  p.  285,  286).  Procopins  (Anecdot.  c.  1)  accuses  only  tbet 
empress  and  Antonnia. 

k  Palmaria,   a  small  island,    opposite  to  Tarracina  and  the  coast  of 
the  Volsci,  (Chiver.  Ital.  Antiq.  I.  Hi,  c.  7,  p.  1014). 


363        JWOt     ,.        THfc  DECLINE  AND  FALL 


CHAP.  Alexander,  a  subtle  scribe,  long  practised  in 
f.f  .....  ',.the  fraud  and  oppression  of  the  Byzantine 
schools  ;  and  whose  name  of  Psalliction,  the 
scissars,1  was  drawn  from  the  dexterous  artifice 
with  which  he  reduced  the  size,  without  defac- 
ing the  figure,  of  the  gold  coin.  Instead  of  ex- 
pecting the  restoration  of  peace  and  industry, 
he  imposed  an  heavy  assessment  on  the  fortunes 
of  the  Italians.  Yet  his  present  or  future  de- 
mands were  less  odious  than  a  prosecution  of 
arbitrary  rigour  against  the  persons  and  proper* 
ty  of  all  those,  who,  under  the  Gothic  kings, 
had  been  concerned  in  the  receipt  and  expen- 
diture of  the  public  money.  The  subjects  of 
Justinian,  who  escaped  these  partial  vexations, 
were  oppressed  by  the  irregular  maintenance  of 
the  soldiers,  whom  Alexander  defrauded  and 
despised;  and  their  hasty  sallies  in  quest  of 
wealth,  or  subsistence,  provoked  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country  to  auait  or  implore  their 
deliverance  from  the  virtues  of  a  barbarian.  — 
Totila*  was  chaste  and  temperate  :  and  none 
were  deceived,  either  friends  or  enemies,  who 
depended  on  his  faith  or  his  clemency.  To  the 
husbandmen  of  Italy  the  Gothic  king  issued  a 
welcome  proclamation,  enjoining  them  to  pur- 
sue their  important  labours,  and  to  rest  assured, 
that,  on  the  payment  of  the  ordinary  taxes  they 
should  be  defended  by  his  valour  and  disci- 

*  As  the  Logothetc  Alexander,  and  most  of  his  civil  and  military  col- 
leagues, were  either  disgraced  or  despised,  the  ink  of  the  Anecdotei, 
(c.  4,  5,  18)  is  scarcely  blacker  than  that  of  the  Gothic  History,  (1.  in, 
c.  i,3,4,9,20,  21,  &c). 

k  Procopius  (1.  iii,  c.  2,  3,  Ate.")  does  ample  and  willing  justice  to  the 
merit  of  Totila.  The  Roman  historians,  from  Sallust  and  Tacitus, 
were  happy  to  forget  the  vices  of  their  countrymen  in  the  contempla- 
tion of  barbaric  virtue 


OF  THE  RO  IAN  EMPIRE.  359 

pline  from  the  injuries  of  war.  The  strong  towns   CHAP. 
he  successively  attacked  :  and  as  soon  as  they   XLIIL 

•7    *  +  **,***  +  + 

had  yielded  to  his  arms,  he  demolished  the  for- 
tifications ;  to  save  the  people  from  the  calami- 
ties of  a  future  siege,  to  deprive  the  Romans  of 
the  arts  of  defence,  and  to  decide  the  tedious 
quarrel  of  the  two  nations,  by  an  equal  and  ho- 
nourable conflict  in  the  field  of  battle.  The 
Roman  captives  and  deserters  were  tempted  to 
inlist  in  the  service  of  a  liberal  and  courteous 
adversary ;  the  slaves  were  attracted  by  the 
firm  and  faithful  promise,  that  they  should  ne- 
ver be  delivered  to  their  masters ;  and  from  the 
thousand  warriors  of  Pavia,  anew  people,  un- 
der the  same  appellation  of  Goths,  was  insensi- 
bly formed  in  the  camp  of  Totila.  He  sincere- 
ly accomplished  the  articles  of  capitulation, 
without  seeking  or  accepting  any  sinister  ad- 
vantage from  ambiguous  expressions  or  unfore- 
seen events ;  the  garrison  of  Naples  had  stipu- 
lated, that  they  should  be  transported  by  sea ; 
the  obstinacy  of  the  winds  prevented  their  voy- 
age, but  they  were  generously  supplied  with 
horses,  provisions,  and  a  safe  conduct  to  the 
gates  of  Rome.  The  wives  of  the  senators, 
who  had  been  surprised  in  the  villas  of  Campa- 
nia, were  restored,  without  a  ransom,  to  their 
husbands  ;  the  violation  of  female  chastity  was 
inexorably  chastised  with  death ;  and,  in  the 
salutary  regulation  of  the  diet  of  the  famished 
Neapolitans,  the  conqueror  assumed  the  office 
of  an  humane  and  attentive  physician.  The 
virtues  of  Totila  are  equally  laudable,  whether 
they  proceeded  from  truepolicy,  religious  prin- 
ciple, or  the  instinct  of  humanity  :  he  often  ha- 


360  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

/CHAP,  rangued  his   troops;  and  it  was  his  constant 
]  theme,  that  national  vice  and  ruin  are  insepa- 
rably connected  ;  that  victory  is  the  fruit  of 
moral  as  well  as  military  virtue ;  and  that  the 
prince,  and  even  the  people,  are  responsible  fof 
the  crimes  which  they  neglect  to  punish. 
Second          The  return  of  Belisarius  to  save  the  country 

command  .  * 

of  Bciisa-  which  he  had  subdued,  was  pressed  with  equal 
Italy,"  vehemence  by  his  friends  and  enemies  ;  and  the 
Ms"'614"  Gothic  war  was  imposed  as  a  trust  or  an  exile 
on  the  veteran  commander.  An  hero  on  the 
banks  of  the  Euphrates,  a  slave  in  the  palace 
of  Constantinople,  he  accepted,  with  reluctance, 
the  painful  task  of  supporting  his  own  reputa- 
tion, and  retrieving  the  faults  of  his  successors. 
The  sea  was  open  to  the  Romans :  the  ships 
and  soldiers  were  assembled  at  Salona,  nea 
the  palace  of  Diocletian:  he  refreshed  and  re- 
viewed his  troops  at  Pola  in  Istria,  coasted 
round  the  head  of  the  Hadriatic,  entered  the 
port  of  Ravenna,  and  despatched  orders  rather 
,than  supplies  to  the  subordinate  cities.  His 
first  public  oration  was  addressed  to  the 
Goths  and  Romans,  in  the  name  of  the  empe- 
ror, who  had  suspended  for  a  while  the  con- 
quest of  Persia,  and  listened  to  the  prayers  of 
his  Italian  subjects.  He  gently  touched  on 
the  causes  and  the  authors  of  the  recent  disas- 
ters ;  striving  to  remove  the  fear  of  punishment 
for  the  past,  and  the  hope  of  impunity  for  the 
future,  and  labouring,  with  more  zeal  than  suc- 
cess, to  unite  all  the  members  of  his  govern- 
ment in  a  firm  league  of  affection  and  obedience. 
Justinian,  his  gracious  master,  was  inclined  to 
pardon  and  reward ;  and  it  was  their  interest. 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  301 

as  well  as  duty,  to  reclaim  their  deluded  bre-   CHAP. 
thren,  who   had  been  seduced  by  the  arts  of  JJJ^JJ^ 
the  usurper.     Not  a  man  was  tempted  to  de- 
sert the  standard  of  the  Gothic  king.     Belisa- 
ritis  soon  discovered,  that  he  was  sent  to  re- 
main the  idle  and  impotent  spectator  of  the 
glory  of  a  young  barbarian  ;  and  his  own  epis- 
tle exhibits  a  genuine  and  lively  picture  of  the 
distress   of  a  noble  mind. — "  Most  excellent 
"  prince,  we  are  arrived  in  Italy,  destitute  of  all 
"  the  necessary  implements  of  war,  men,  horses, 
"  arms,  and  money.  In  our  late  circuit  through 
"  the  villages  of  Thrace  and  Illyricum,  we  have 
"  collected,  with  extreme  difficulty,  about  four 
"  thousand   recruits,  naked,  and   unskilled  in 
"  the  use  of  weapons  and  the  exercises  of  the 
"  camp.     The  soldiers  already  stationed  in  the 
"  province,  are  discontented,  fearful,   and  dis- 
"  mayed  ;  at  the  sound  of  an  enemy,  they  dis- 
"  miss  their  horses,  and  cast  their  arms  on  the 
"  ground.      No    taxes   can   be   raised,    since 
"  Italy  is  in  the  hands  of  the  barbarians ;  the 
"  failure   of  payment  has  deprived   us   of  the 
"  right  of  command,  or  even  of  admonition.— 
"  Be  assured,  dread  sir,  that  the  greater  part 
"  of  your  troops  have  already  deserted  to  the 
"  Goths.     If  the  war  could  be  achieved  by  the 
"  presence  of  Belisarius  alone,  your  wishes  are 
"  satisfied  ;  Belisarius  is  in  the  midst  of  Italy. 
"  But  if  you  desire  to  conquer,   far  other  pre- 
"  parations   are  requisite :  without  a  military 
"  force,  the  title  of  general  is  an  empty  name. — 
"  It  would  be  expedient  to  restore  to  my  ser- 
"  vice  my  own  veterans  and  domestic  guards. 
"  Before  I  can  take  the  field,  I  must  receive  an 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL  . 

XLIII*    "  adequate  supply  of  light  and  heavy  armed 

.'.. '„  "  troops ;  and  it  is  only  with  ready  money  that 

"  you  can  procure  the  indispensible  aid  of  a 
"  powerful  body  of  the  cavalry  of  the  Huns."1 
An  officer  in  whom  Belisarius  confided  was 
sent  from  Ravenna  to  hasten  and  conduct  the 
succours;  but  the  message  was  neglected,  and 
the  messenger  detained  at  Constantinople  by 
an  advantageous  marriage.  After  his  patience 
had  been  exhausted  by  delay  and  disappoint- 
ment, the  Roman  general  repassed  the  Hadria- 
tic,  and  expected  at  Dyrrachium  the  arrival  of 
the  troops,  which  were  slowly  assembled  among 
the  subjects  and  allies  of  the  empire.  His 
powers  were  still  inadequate  to  the  deliverance 
of  Rome,  which  was  closely  besieged  by  the 
Gothic  king.  The  Appian  way,  a  march  of 
forty  days,  was  covered  by  the  barbarians  ;  and 
as  the  prudence  of  Belisarius  declined  a  battle, 
he  preferred  the  safe  and  speedy  navigation  of 
five  days  from  the  coast  of  Epirus  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Tiber. 

Rome  be-  After  reducing,  by  force  or  treaty,  the  towns 
ti?ootht|  of  inferior  note  in  the  midland  provinces  of 
Italy,  Totila  proceeded,  not  to  assault,  but  to 
encompass  and  starve,  the  ancient  capital. — 
Rome  was  afflicted  by  the  avarice,  and  guard- 
ed by  the  valour,  of  Bessas,  a  veteran  chief  of 
Gothic  extraction,  who  filled,  with  a  garrison 
of  three  thousand  soldiers,  the  spacious  circle 
of  her  venerable  walls.  From  the  distress  of 
the  people  he  extracted  a  profitable  trade,  and 


1  Procopins,  1.  iii,  c.  12.  The  *onl  of  an  hero  is  deeply  impressed 
on  the  letter  :  nor  can  we  confound  such  genuine  and  original  acts  with 
the  elaborate  and  often  empty  speechea  of  the  Byzantine  hiitoriam. 

lerfi  ,11901^1*0003  K'H\  qWsri          I  tijoun  ,< 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  363 

secretly  rejoiced  in  the  continuance  of  the  siege.  CHAP. 
It  was  for  his  use  that  the  granaries  had  been  '' 
replenished  ;  the  charity  of  Pope  Vigilius  had 
purchased  and  embarked  an  ample  supply  of 
Sicilian  corn  ;  but  the  vessels  which  escaped 
the  barbarians  were  seized  by  a  rapacious  go- 
vernor, who  imparted  a  scanty  sustenance  to 
the  soldiers,  and  sold  the  remainder  to  the 
wealthy  Romans.  The  medimnus,  or  fifth  part 
of  the  quarter  of  wheat,  was  exchanged  for  se-  • 
ven  pieces  of  gold  ;  fifty  pieces  were  given  for 
an  ox,  a  rare  and  accidental  prize ;  the  pro-  •  • 
gress  of  famine  enhanced  this  exorbitant  value, 
and  the  mercenaries  were  tempted  to  deprive 
themselves  of  the  allowance  which  was  scarce- 
ly sufficient  for  the  support  of  life :  a  tasteless  and 
unwholesome  mixture,  in  which  the  bran  thrice 
exceeded  the  quantity  of  flour,  appeased  the 
hunger  of  the  poor ;  they  were  gradually  re- 
duced to  feed  on  dead  horses,  dogs,  cats,  and 
mice,  and  eagerly  to  snatch  the  grass,  and  even 
the  nettles,  which  grew  among  the  ruins  of  the 
city.  A  crowd  of  spectres,  pale  and  emaciat- 
ed, their  bodies  oppressed  with  disease,  &od 
their  minds  with  despair,  surrounded  the  pa- 
lace of  the  governor,  urged,  with  unavailing 
truth,  that  it  was  the  duty  of  a  master  to  main- 
1  tain  his  slaves,  and  humbly  requested,  that  he 
*»k>would  provide  for  their  subsistence,  permit 
to  their  flight,  or  command  their  immediate  exe- 
cution. Bessas  replied,  with  unfeeling  tran- 
quillity, that  it  was  impossible  to  feed,  unsafe 
to  dismiss,  and  unlav.ful  to  lull,  the  subjects 
of  the  emperor.  Yet  the  example  of  a  private 
rjlizen  might  have  shewn  his  countrymen,  that 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 


CHAP,  a  tyrant  cannot  withhold  the  privilege  of  death. 
xi  nr  . 

^  Pierced  by  the  cries  of  five  children,  who  vain- 


ly called  on  their  father  for  bread,  he  ordered 
them  to  follow  his  steps,  advanced  with  calm 
and  silent  despair  to  one  of  the  bridges  of  the 
Tiber,  and,  covering  his  face,  threw  himself 
headlong  into  the  stream,  in  the  presence  of  his 
family  and  the  Roman  people.  To  the  rich 
and  pusillanimous,  Bessas™  sold  the  permission 
of  departure ;  but  the  greatest  part  of  the  fugi- 
tives expired  on  the  public  highways,  or  were 
intercepted  by  the  flying  parties  of  barbarians. 
In  the  meanwhile,  the  artful  governor  soothed 
the  discontent,  and  revived  the  hopes,  of  the 
Romans,  by  the  vague  reports  of  the  fleets  and 
armies  which  were  hastening  to  their  relief  from 
the  extremities  of  the  East.  They  derived 
more  rational  comfort  from  the  assurance  that 
Belisarius  had  landed  at  th«  port;  and,  with- 
out numbering  his  forces,  they  firmly  relied  on 
the  humanity,  the  courage,  and  the  skill  of 
their  great  deliverer. 

Attempt  The  foresight  of  Totila  had  raised  obstacles 
worthy  of  such  an  antagonist.  Ninety  furlongs 
below  the  city,  in  the  narrowest  part  of  the 
river,  he  joined  the  two  banks  by  strong  and 
solid  timbers  in  the  form  of  a  bridge ;  on  which 
he  erected  two  lofty  towers,  manned  by  the 
bravest  of  his  Goths,  and  profusely  stored  with 

•The  avarice  of  Beicas  is  not  dissembled  by  Procopius,  (1.  iii,  c.  17, 
SO).  He  expiated  the  loss  of  Rome  by  the  glorious  conquest  of  Pe. 
traea,  (Goth.  1.  iv,  c.  12) :  but  the  same  vices  followed  him  from  the 
Tiber  to  the  Phasis,  (c.  13) ;  and  the  historian  is  equally  true  to  the 
merits  and  defects  of  his  character.  The  chastisement  wkich  the  au- 
thor of  the  romance  of  BfHsaire  has  inflicted  on  the  oppressors  of 
Rome  is  more  agreeable  to  justice  than  to  history. 


ruts. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRF  355 

missile  weapons  and  engines  of  offence.     The  CHAP. 
approach  of  the  bridge  and  towers  was  covered  J 
by  a  strong  and  massy  chain  of  iron  ;  and  the 
chain,  at  either  end,  on  the  opposite  sides  of 
the  Tiber,  was  defended  by  a  numerous  and 
chosen  detachment  of  archers.     But  the  enter- 
prise of  forcing  these  barriers,  and  relieving  the 
capital,  displays  a  shining  example  of  the  bold- 
ness and  conduct  of  Belisarius.     His  cavalry 
advanced  from  the  port  along  the  public  road, 
to  awe  the  motions  and  distract  the  attention 
of  the   enemy.     His  infantry   and   provisions 
were  distributed  in  two  hundred  large  boats ; 
and  each  boat  was   shielded  by  an  high  ram- 
part of  thick  planks,  pierced  with  many  small 
holes  for  the  discharge  of  missile  weapons.    In 
the  front,  two  large  vessels  were  linked  together 
to  sustain  a  floating  castle,   which  commanded 
the  towers  of  the  bridge,  and  contaii.ed  a  ma- 
gazine  of  fire,    sulphur,    and    bitumen.       The 
whole  fleet,   which  the  general  led  in  person, 
was  laboriously  moved  against  the  torrent  of 
the  river.     The  chain  yielded  to  their  weight,     $qa»w 
and  the  enemies  who  guarded  the  banks  were 
either    slain    or  scattered.     As  soon    as  they 
touched  the  principal  barrier,  the  fire-ship  was 
instantly  grappled  to   the  bridge;  one  of  the 
towers  with  two  hundred  Goths,  was  consume, 
ed  by  the  flames  ;  the  assailants  shouted  vic- 
tory ;  and  Rome  was  saved,  if  the  wisdom  of 
Belisarius   had   not  been  defeated  by  the  mis- 
conduct of  his  officers.     He   had   previously 
sent  orders  to  Bessas  to  second  his  operations 
by  a  timely  sally  from  the  town  ;  and  he  had 
fixed   his  lieutenant,   Isaac,   by   a   peremptory 


THE  DECLINE  A&D  PALL 

command,  to  the  station  of  the  port.  But  ava- 
.  rice  rendered  Bessas  immoveable ;  while  the 
youthful  ardour  of  Isaac  delivered  him  into  the 
hands  of  a  superior  enemy.  The  exaggerated 
rumour  of  his  defeat  was  hastily  carried  to  the 
ears  of  Belisarius :  he  paused  ;  betrayed  in 
that  single  moment  of  his  life  some  emotions 
of  surprise  and  perplexity;  and  reluctantly 
sounded  a  retreat  to  save  his  wife  Antonina,  his 
treasures,  and  the  only  harbour  which  he  pos- 
sessed on  the  Tuscan  coast.  The  vexation  of 
his  mind  produced  an  ardent  and  almost  mortal 
fever ;  and  Rome  was  left  without  protection 
to  the  mercy  or  indignation  of  Totila.  The 
continuance  of  hostilities  had  embittered  the 
national  hatred,  the  Arian  clergy  was  ignomi- 
niously  driven  from  Rome ;  Pelagius,  the  arch- 
deacon, returned  without  success  from  an  em- 
bassy to  the  Gothic  camp ;  and  a  Sicilian 
bishop,  the  envoy  or  nuncio  of  the  pope,  was 
deprived  of  both  his  hnnrte,  for  daring  to  utter 
falsehoods  in  the  service  of  ;he  church  and  state. 
Famine  had  relaxed  the  strength  and  discip- 

lakrn  by     ..  -  .  _  _fr  .        L. 

tn«-  Goihi,  line  of  the  garrison  of  Rome.  They  could  de- 
*  e"  ir!*'  rive  n°  effectual  service  from  a  dying  people  ; 
and  the  inhuman  avarice  of  the  merchant  at 
length  absorbed  the  vigilance  of  the  governor. 
Four  Isaurian  sentinels,  while  their  companions 
slept,  and  their  officers  were  absent,  descended 
by  a  rope  from  the  wall,  and  secretly  proposed 
to  the  Gothic  king  to  introduce  his  troops  into 
the  city.  The  offer  was  entertained  with  cold- 
ness and  suspicion  :  they  returned  in  safety  ; 
they  twice  repeated  their  visit ;  the  place  was 
twice  examined ;  the  conspiracy  was  known 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  36*7 

and  disregarded  ;  and  no  sooner  had  Totila  CHAP. 
consented  to  the  attempt,  than  they  unbarred  ,*h"*l, 
the  Asinarian  gate,  and  gave  admittance  to  the 
Goths.  Till  the  dawn  of  day  they  halted  in 
order  of  battle,  apprehensive  of  treachery  or 
ambush ;  but  the  troops  of  Bessas,  with  their 
leader,  had  already  escaped  ;  and  when  the 
king  was  pressed  to  disturb  their  retreat,  he 
prudently  replied,  that  no  sight  could  be  more 
grateful  than  that  of  a  flying  enemy.  The  pa- 
tricians, who  were  still  possessed  of  horses, 
Decius,  Basilius,  &c.  accompanied  the  gover- 
nor ;  their  brethren,  among  whom  Olybrius, 
Orestus,  and  Maximus,  are  named  by  the  his- 
torian, took  refuge  in  the  church  of  St.  Peter  ; 
at  the  assertion,  that  only  five  hundred  per* 
sons  remained  in  the  capital,  inspires  some 
doubt  of  the  fidelity  either  of  his  narrative  or 
of  his  text.  As  soon  as  day-light  had  display- 
ed the  entire  victory  of  the  Goths,  their  mo- 
narch devoutly  visited  the  tomb  of  the  prince 
of  the  apostles  ;  but  while  he  prayed  at  the  al- 
tar, twenty-five  soldiers,  and  sixty  citizens, 
were  put  to  the  sword  in  the  vestibule  of  the 
temple.  The  archdeacon  Pelagius"  stood  be- 
fore him  with  the  gospels  in  his  hand.  "  O 
"  Lord,  be  merciful  to  your  servant."  "  Pela- 
"  gius,"  said  Totila  with  an  insulting  smile, 
"your  pride  now  condescends  to  become  a/ 
"  suppliant."  "  I  am  a  suppliant,"  replied  the 

"  During  the  long  exile,  and  after  the  death  of  Vigilius,  the  Roman 
church  was  governed,  at  first  by  the  archdeacon,  and  at  length  (A.  D. 
565)  by  the  pope  Pclagir.s,  who  was  not  thought  guiltless  of  the  suffer* 
ings  of  his  predecessor.  See  the  original  lives  of  the  popes  under  the 
name  of  Anastasins,  (Muralori,  Script.  Rer.  Italicarum,  torn,  iii,  P.  i, 
p.  130,  131),  who  relates  several  cnrious  incidents'of  the  sieges  of  Rome 
and  the  wars  of  Italy. 


.$83  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  prudent  archdeacon;  "  God  has  now  made  us 
L^f  "  your  subjects,  and  as  your  subjects  we  are 
"  entitled  to  your  clemency/'  At  his  humble 
prayer,  the  lives  of  the  Romans  were  spared  ; 
and  the  chastity  of  the  maids  and  matrons  was 
preserved  inviolate  from  the  passions  of  the 
hungry  soldiers.  But  they  were  rewarded  by 
the  freedom  of  pillage;  after  the  most  precious 
spoils  had  been  reserved  for  the  royal  treasury. 
The  houses  of  the  senators  were  plentifully 
stored  with  gold  and  silver  ;  and  the  avarice  of 
Bessas  had  laboured  with  so  much  guilt  and 
shame  for  the  benefit  of  the  conqueror.  In  this 
revolution,  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Roman 
consuls  tasted  the  misery  which  they  had 
spurned  or  relieved,  wandered  in  tattered  gar- 
merits  through  the  streets  of  the  city,  and  beg- 
ged their  bread,  perhaps  without  success,  be- 
fore the  gates  of  their  hereditary  mansions. — 
The  riches  of  Rusticiana,  the  daughter  of  Sym- 
machus  and  widow  of  Boethius,  had  been  ge- 
nerously devoted  to  alleviate  the  calamities  of 
famine.  But  the  barbarians  were  exasperated 
by  the  report,  that  she  had  prompted  the  peo- 
ple to  overthrow  the  statues  of  the  great  Theo- 
doric  ;  and  the  life  of  that  valuable  matron 
would  have  been  sacrificed  to  his  memory,  if 
Totila  had  not  respected  her  birth,  her  virtues, 
and  even  the  pious  motive  of  her  revenge.  The 
next  day  he  pronounced  two  orations,  to  con- 
gratulate and  admonish  his  victorious  Goths, 
and  to  reproach  the  senate,  as  the  vilest  of 
slaves,  with  their  perjury,  folly,  and  ingratitude; 
sternly  declaring,  that  their  estates  and  ho- 
nours were  justly  forfeited  to  the  companions 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

of  his  arms.  Yet  he  consented  to  forgive  their  CHAP 
revolt,  and  the  senators  repaid  his  clemency  XLII 
by  despatching  circular  letters  to  their  tenants 
and  vassals  in  the  provinces  of  Italy,  strictly  to 
enjoin  them  to  desert  the  standard  of  the 
Greeks,  to  cultivate  their  lands  in  peace,  and 
to  learn  from  their  masters  the  duty  of  obe- 
dience to  a  Gothic  sovereign.  Against  the 
city  which  had  so  long  delayed  the  course. of 
his  victories  he  appeared  inexorable :  one-third 
of  the  walls,  in  different  parts,  were  demolish- 
ed by  his  command  ;  fire  and  engines  prepared 
to  consume,  or  subvert,  the  most  stately  works 
of  antiquity  :  and  the  world  was  astonished  by 
the  fatal  decree,  that  Rome  should  be  changed 
into  a  pasture  for  cattle.  The  firm  and  tempe- 
'rate  remonstrance  of  Belisarius  suspended  the 
execution  ;  he  warned  the  barbarian  not  to  sully 
his  fame  by  the  destruction  of  those  monuments 
which  were  the  glory  of  the  dead,  and  the  de- 
light of  the  living  ;  and  Totila  was  persuaded, 
by  the  advice  of  an  enemy,  to  preserve  Rome 
as  tfie  ornament  of  his  kingdom,  or  the  fairest 
pledge  of  peace  and  reconciliation.  When  he 
had  signified  to  the  ambassadors  of  Belisarius, 
his  intention  of  sparing  the  city,  he  stationed  an 
army  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty furlongs,  to  observe  the  motions  of  the  Ro- 
man general.  With  the  remainder  of  his  forces, 
he  marched  into  Lucania  and  Apulia,  and  oc- 
cupied, on  the  summit  of  mount  Garganus," 

c  Mount  Garganus,  now  Monte  St.  Angelo,  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples, 
runs  three  hundred  stadia  into  the  Adriatic  sea,  (Strab.  1.  vi,  p.  4&6), 
and  in  the  darker  ages  was  illustrated  by  the  apparition,  miracles,  and 
church  of  St.  Michael  the  archangel.  Horace,  a  native  of  Apulia  or 

Lucania, 
VOL.  VII.  fib 


370  1HE  UECLIXK  AN!)   KALI, 

CHAP,  one  of  the  camps  of  Hannibal.p  The  senators 
^"^were  dragged  in  his  train,  and  afterwards  con- 
fined in  the  fortresses  of  Campania:  the  citizens, 
with  their  wives  and  children,  were  dispersed 
in  exile ;  and  during  forty  days  Rome  was  a- 
bandoned  to  desolate  and  dreary  solitude*1. 

edb°VBe-       ^ne  ^oss  °^  ^ome  was  speedily  retrieved  by 
lisarins,     an  action,  to  which,  according  to  the  event,  the 

A.  D.  547 

February',  public  opinion  would  apply  the  names  of  rash- 
ness or  heroism.  After  the  departure  of  Toti- 
la,  the  Roman  general  sallied  from  the  port  at 
the  head  of  a  thousand  horse,  cut  in  pieces  the 
enemy  who  opposed  his  progress,  and  visited 
with  pity  and  reverence  the  vacant  space  of  the 
eternal  city.  Resolved  to  maintain  a  station  so 
conspicuous  in  the  eyes  of  mankind,  he  sum- 
moned the  greatest  part  of  his  troops  to  the 
standard  which  he  erected  on  the  Capitol :  the 
old  inhabitants  were  recalled  by  the  love  ,of 
their  country  and  the  hopes  of  food  ;  and  the 
keys  of  Rome  were  sent  a  second  time  to  the 
emperor  Justinian.  The  walls,  as  far  as  they 

,  had  been  demolished  by  the  Goths,  were  re- 

paired with  rude  and  dissimilar  materials  ;  the 
ditch  was  restored  ;  iron  spikes1  were  profusely 

Ln.--.inia,  had  teen  the  elms  and  oaks  of  Garganus  labouring  and  bel- 
lowing with  the  north  wind  that  blew  on  that  lofty  coast,  (Carm.  ii,  0. 
Epist.  ii,  i,  201. 

p  I  cannot  ascertain  this  particular  camp  of  Hanibal  ;  but  the  Punic 
quarters  were  long  and  often  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Apri,  (T.  LIT* 
xxii,  9,  12  ;  xxiv,  3,  &c.) 

4  Totila  .  .  .  Romam  ingreditur  .  .  .  .  ac  evertit  tnnros  domos  ali- 
quantas  igni  coiuburcns,  ac  omncs  Romanorum  res  in  prsedam  accepit, 
hos  ipsos  Romanos  in  Campaniam  captivos  abduxit.  Post  quam  devas- 
tatioiiem.  xl  aut  amplius  dies,  Roma  J'nit  ita  desolata,  ut  nemo  ibi  ho- 
rn imim,  nisi  (nulla:)  bistiae  uiorarentur,  (Marceilin.  in  Chron.  p.  54). 

;  The  tribvli  aye  small  engines  with  four  spikes,  one  fixed  in  the 

ground, 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  37] 

scattered  in  the  highways  to  annoy  the  feet  of  CHAP. 
horses  ;  and  as  new  gates  could  not  suddenly^ 
be  procured,  the  entrance  was  guarded  by  a 
Spartan  rampart  of  his  bravest  soldiers.  At 
the  expiration  of  twenty-five  days,  Totila  re- 
turned by  hasty  marches  from  Apulia,  to 
avenge  the  injury  and  disgrace.  Belisarius  ex- 
pected his  approach.  The  Goths  were  thrice 
repulsed  in  three  general  assaults ;  they  lost 
the  flower  of  their  troops ;  the  royal  standard 
had  almost  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
and  the  fame  of  Totila  sunk,  as  it  had  risen, 
with  the  fortune  of  his  arms.  Whatever  skill 
and  courage  could  achieve,  had  been  perform- 
ed by  the  Roman  general ;  it  remained  only, 
that  Justinian  should  terminate,  by  a  strong 
and  seasonable  effort,  the  war  which  he  had 
ambitiously  undertaken.  The  indolence,  per- 
haps the  impotence,  of  a  prince  who  despised 
his  enemies,  arid  envied  his  servants,  protract- 
ed the  calamities  of  Italy.  After  a  long  silence, 
Belisarius  was  commanded  to  leave  a  sufficient 
garrison  at  Rome,  and  to  transport  himself  in- 
to the  province  of  Lucania,  whose  inhabitants, 
inflamed  by  catholic  zeal,  had  cast  away  the 
yoke  of  their  Arian  conquerors.  In  this  igno- 
ble warfare,  the  hero,  invincible  against  the 
power  of  the  barbarians,  was  basely  vanquish- 
ed by  the  delay,  the  disobedience,  and  the  cow- 
ardice of  his  own  officers.  He  reposed  in  his 

ground,  the  three  'others  erect  or  adverse,  (Procopiusj  Gothic.  1.  iii 
e.  24.  Just.  Lipsiiis,  Poliorcet«»,  1.  v,  c.  3).  The  metaphor  was  bor- 
rowed from  the  tribnli,  (land-caltrops),  an  herb  with  *  prickly  frnit 
common  in  Italy,  (Martin,  ad  Virgil.  Georgic.  i,  158,  yol.  ii,  p.  33). 


372  THE  DECLINE  AND  FAIA 

CHAP,  winter-quarters  of  Crotona,  in  the  full  assir 
ranee,  that  the  two  passes  of  the  Lucanian  hills 
were  guarded  by  his  cavalry.  They  wer^e  be- 
trayed by  treachery  or  weakness  ;  and  the  ra- 
pid march  of  the  Goths  scarcely  allowed  time 
for  the  escape  of  Belisarius  to  the  coast  of  Si- 
cily. At  length  a  fleet  and  army  were  assem- 
bled for  the  relief  of  Ruscianum,  or  Rossano,' 
a  fortress  sixty  furlongs  from  the  ruins  of 
Sybaris,  where  the  nobles  of  Lucania  had  taken 
refuge.  In  the  first  attempt,  the  Roman  forces 
were  dissipated  by  a  storm.  In  the  second 
they  approached  the  shore  ;  but  they  saw  the 
hills  covered  with  archers,  the  landing-place  de- 
fended by  a  line  of  spears,  and  the  king  of  the 
Goths  impatient  for  battle.  The  conqueror  of 
Italy  retired  with  a  sigh,  and  continued  to  lan- 
guish, inglorious  and  inactive,  till  Antonina, 
who  had  been  sent  to  Constantinople  to  solicit 
succours,  obtained,  after  the  death  of  the  em- 
press, the  permission  of  his  return. 
Final recai  The  ^ve  *ast  campaigns  of  Belisarius  might 
ofBeiisa-  abate  the  envy  of  his  competitors,  whose  eyes 
A.  0.548,  had  been  dazzled  and  wounded  by  the  blaze  of 
his  former  glory.  Instead  of  delivering  Italy 
from  the  Goths,  he  had  wandered  like  a  fugi- 
tive along  the  coast,  without  daring  to  march 
into  the  country,  or  to  accept  the  bold  and  re- 
peated challenge  of  Totila.  Yet  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  few  who  could  discriminate  coun- 
sels from  events,  and  compare  the  instruments 

*  Rnscia,  the  navale  Thuriorvm,  was  transferred  to  the  distance  of 
•ixty  stadia  to  Rnsciannm,  Rossano,  an  archbishopric  without  snffra- 
£*ns.  The  republic  of  Sybaris  is  now  the  estate  of  the  duke  of  Corig- 
iiano,  (Uiedesel,  Travels  into  Magna  Graccia  and  Sicily,  p.  106-171)^ 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  373 

•with  the  execution,  he  appeared  a  more  con-    CHAP. 

x i  ii r 
suminate  master  of  the  art  of  war,  than  in  the  ^f ^ 

season  of  his  prosperity,  when  he  presented  two 
captive  kings  before  the  throne  of  Justinian. — 
The  valour  of  Belisarius  was  not  chilled  by 
age ;  his  prudence  was  matured  by  his  expe- 
rience, but  the  moral  virtues  of  humanity  and 
justice  seem  to  have  yielded  to  the  hard  neces- 
sity of  the  times.  The  parsimony  or  poverty 
of  the  emperor  compelled  him  to  deviate  from 
the  rule  of  conduct  which  had  deserved  the 
love  and  confidence  of  the  Italians.  The  war 
was  maintained  by  the  oppression  of  Ravenna, 
Sicily,  and  all  the  faithful  subjects  of  the  em- 
pire ;  and  the  rigorous  prosecution  of  Herodian 
provoked  that  injured  or  guilty  officer  to  deli- 
ver Spoleto  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The 
avarice  of  Antonina,  which  had  been  sometimes 
diverted  by  love,  now  reigned  without  a  rival 
in  her  breast.  Belisarius  himself  had  always 
understood,  that  riches,  in  a  corrupt  age,  are 
the  support  and  ornament  of  personal  merit.— 
And  it  cannot  be  presumed  that  he  should  stain 
his  honour  for  the  public  service,  without  ap 
plying  a  part  of  the  spoil  to  his  private  emolu- 
ment. The  hero  had  escaped  the  sword  of  the 
barbarians,  but  the  dagger  of  conspiracy1  await- 
ed his  return.  In  the  midst  of  wealth  and  ho- 
nours, Artaban,  who  had  chastised  the  African 
tyrant,  complained  of  the  ingratitude  of  courts. 
He  aspired  to  Praejecta,  the  emperor's  niece, 
who  wished  to  reward  her  deliverer ;  but  the 

'  This  conspiracy  it  related  by  Procopius  (Gothic  1.  Hi,  c.  31,  32) 
with  such  freedom  and  candour,  that  the  liberty  of  the  Anecdote* 
give*  him  nothin*  to  add. 

.&TC  t»r,-i>  «Nva'T    h..«- ?.<>,:»...  . 


374  THE  DECLINE'  AND  FALL 

CHAP    impediment  of  his  previous  marriage  was  as- 

,.„ ',.  serted  by  the  piety  of  Theodora.     The  pride  of 

royal  descent  Mas  irritated  by  flattery  ;  and 
the  service  in  which  he  gloried,  had  proved  him 
capable  of  bold  and  sanguinary  deeds.  The 
death  of  Justinian  was  resolved,  but  the  con- 
spirators delayed  the  execution  till  they  could 
surprise  Belisarius  disarmed,  and  naked,  in  the 
palace  of  Constantinople.  Not  a  hope  could 
be  entertained  of  shaking  his  long-tried  fideli- 
ty ;  and  they  justly  dreaded  the  revenge,  or  ra- 
ther justice,  of  the  veteran  general,  who  might 
speedily  assemble  an  army  in  Thrace  to  punish 
the  assassins,  and  perhaps  to  enjoy  the  fruits 
of  their  crime.  Delay  afforded  time  for  rash 
communications  and  honest  confessions  :  Arta- 
ban  and  his  accomplices  were  condemned  by 
the  senate,  but  the  extreme  clemency  of  Justi- 
nian detained  them  in  the  gentle  confinement 
of  the  palace,  till  he  pardoned  their  flagitious 
attempt  against  his  throne  and  life.  If  the  emperor 
forgave  his  enemies,  he  must  cordially  embrace 
a  friend  whose  victories  were  alone  remember- 
ed, and  who  was  endeared  to  his  prince  by  the 
recent  circumstance  of  their  common  danger. 
Belisarius  reposed  from  his  toils,  in  the  high 
station  of  general  of  the  East  and  count  of  the 
domestics ;  and  the  older  consuls  and  patri- 
cians respectfully  yielded  the  precedency  of 
rank  to  the  peerless  merit  of  the  first  of  the 
Romans."  The  first  of  the  Romans  still  sub- 

•  Tbe  honours  of  Belisarius  are  gladly  commemorated  by  liis  secre- 
tary, (Proeop.  Goth.  1.  iii,  c.  35  ;  1.  iv,  c.  21).  The  title  of  irfarr,y^ 
is  ill  translated,  at  least  in  this  instam-e,  l>j  prefer 1 114  pisrtoiio;  and 
to*  military  character,  magi«ter  niilitinu  i*s  :j,cne  piwper  ar.d  applita- 
blc,  (Ducange,  Gloss.  Grace,  p.  1458,  1459). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRIC  '175 

mrtted  to  be  the  slave  of  his  wife ;  but  the  ser-  CHAP. 
vitude  of  habit  and  affection  became  less  dis- 
graceful when  the  death  of  Theodora  had  re- 
moved the  baser  influence  of  fear.  Joannina 
their  daughter,  and  the  sole  heiress  of  their 
fortunes,  was  betrothed  to  Anastasius,  the 
grandson,  or  rather  the  nephew,  of  the  empress,* 
whose  kind  interposition  forwarded  the  con- 
summation of  their  youthful  loves.  But  the 
power  of  Theodora  expired,  the  parents  of  Joan-  . 
nina  returned,  and  her  honour,  perhaps  her 
happiness,  were  sacrificed  to  the  revenge  of  an 
unfeeling  mother,  who  dissolved  the  imperfect 
nuptials  before  they  had  been  ratified  by  the 
ceremonies  of  the  church/ 

Before  the  departure  of  Belisarius,  Perusia  Rome 
was  besieged,  and  few  cities  were  impregnable  JJJ™  by 
to  the  Gothic  arms.     Ravenna,   Ancona,  and  the  Goths» 
Crotona,    still   resisted   the    barbarians;    and 
when    Totila   asked   in   marriage   one   of  the 
daughters  of  France,  he  was  stung  by  the  just 


x  Alemannus,  (ad  Hist.  Arcanam,  p.  68) :  Ducange,  (Familiae  By- 
zant.  p.  98),  and  Hieneccins,  (Hist.  Juris  Civilis,  p.  434),  all  three  re- 
present Anastiisins  as  the  son  of  the  daughter  of  Theodora;  and  their 
opinion  firmly  reposes  on  the  unambiguous  testimony  of  Procopiui, 
^Anecdot.  c.  4,  5— flt/yarpiSw  twice  repeated).  And  yet  I  will  remark, 
1.  That  in  the  year  547,  Theodora  could  scarcely  have  a  grandson  of 
the  age  of  puberty  ;  2.  That  we  are  totally  ignorant  of  this  daughter 
and  her  husband  ;  and,  3.  That  Theodora  concealed  her  bastards,  and 
that  her  grandson  by  Justinian  would  have  been  heir-apparent  of  the 
empire. 

1  The  a/wajTu^aTtt,  or  sins,  of  the  hero  in  Italy  and  after  his  return, 
are  manifested  oTaf«xoXuwT«uf,  and  most  probably  swelled,  by  the  au- 
thor of  the  Anecdotes,  (c.  4,  5).  The  designs  of  Antonina  were  fa- 
voured by  the  fluctuating  jurisprudence  of  Justinian.  On  the  law  wf 
marriage  and  divorce,  that  emperor  was  trotho  versatilior,  (Heinnee- 
rius.  Element.  Juris.  Civil,  ad  Ordinem  Pandect.  P.  iv,  N°.  233), 


376  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALI 

CHAP,  reproach  that  the  king-  of  Italy  was  unwortny 
, 'ff  of  his  title  till  it  was  acknowledged  by  the  Ro- 
man people.  Three  thousand  of  the  bravest 
soldiers  had  been  left  to  defend  the  capital. — 
On  the  suspicion  of  a  monopoly,  they  massa- 
cred the  governor,  and  announced  to  Justinian, 
by  a  deputation  of  the  clergy,  that  unless  their 
offence  was  pardoned  and  their  arrears  were 
satisfied,  they  should  instantly  accept  the 
tempting  offers  of  Totila.  But  the  officer  who 
succeeded  to  the  command  (his  name  was  Dio- 
genes) deserved  their  esteem  and  confidence ; 
and  the  Goths,  instead  of  finding  an  easy  con- 
quest, encountered  a  vigorous  resistance  from 
the  soldiers  and  people,  who  patiently  endured 
the  loss  of  the  port,  and  of  all  maritime  sup- 
plies. The  siege  of  Rome  would  perhaps  have 
been  raised,  if  the  liberality  of  Totila  to  the 
Isaurians  had  notenconraged  some  of  their  ve- 
nal countrymen  to  copy  the  example  of  treason. 
In  a  dark  night,  while  the  Gothic  trumpets 
sounded  on  another  side,  they  silently  opened 
the  gate  of  St.  Paul :  the  barbarians  rushed  in- 
to the  city  ;  and  the  flying  garrison  was  inter- 
cepted before  they  could  reach  the  harbour  of 
Centumcellae.  A  soldier  trained  in  the  school 
of  Belisarius,  Paul  of  Cilicia,  retired  with  four 
hundred  men  to  the  mole  of  Hadrian,  They 
repelled  the  Goths;  but  they  felt  the  approach 
of  famine ;  and  their  aversion  to  the  taste  of 
horse-flesh  confirmed  their  resolution  to  risk 
the  event  of  a  desperate  and  decisive  sally. — 
But  their  spirit  insensibly  stooped  to  the  offers 
of  capitulation  :  they  retrieved  their  arrears  of 
pay,  and  preserved  their  arms  and  horses  by 


OF  THE  ROMAN  UMPIRE.  377 

inlistmg  in  the  service  of  Totila ;  their  chiefs,  CHAK 
who  pleaded  a  laudable  attachment  to  their  ,*""'„, 
wives  and  children  in  the  East,  were  dismissed 
with  honour  ;  and  above  four  hundred  enemies, 
who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  sanctuaries,  were 
saved  by  the  clemency  of  the  victor.  He  no 
longer  entertained  a  wish  of  destroying  the 
edifices  of  Rome,1,  which  he  now  respected  as 
the  seat  of  the  Gothic  kingdom  :  the  senate  and 
people  were  restored  to  their  country ;  the 
means  of  subsistence  were  liberally  provided ; 
and  Totila,  in  the  robe  of  peace,  exhibited  the 
equestrian  games  of  the  circus.  Whilst  he 
amused  the  eyes  of  the  multitude,  four  hundred 
vessels  were  prepared  for  the  embarkation  of 
his  troops.  The  cities  of  Rhegiura  and  Taren- 
tum  were  reduced  :  he  passed  into  Sicily,  the 
object  of  his  implacable  resentment;  and  the 
island  was  stripped  of  its  gold  and  silver,  of 
the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  of  an  infinite  num- 
ber of  horses,  sheep,  and  oxen.  Sardinia  and 
Corsica  obeyed  the  fortune  of  Italy ;  and  the 
sea-coast  of  Greece  was  visited  by  a  fleet  of 
three  hundred  galleys.*  The  Goths  were  land- 
ed in  Corcyra  and  the  ancient  continent  of  Epi- 

z  The  Romans  were  still  attached  to  the  monuments  of  their  ances- 
tors ;  and  according  to  Procopius,  (Goth.  1.  iv,  c.  22),  the  galley  of 
JEneas,  of  a  single  rank  of  oar»,  25  feet  in  breadth,  120  in  length,  was 
preserved  entire  in  the  navaliu,  near  Monte  Testaceo,  at  the  foot  of 
the  Aventine,  (Nardini,  Roma  Antica,  1.  vii,  c.  9,  p,  466,  Donatnu, 
Roma  Antiqna,  1.  iv,  c.  13,  p.  334.)  But  all  antiquity  is  ignorant  of 
this  relic. 

•  In  those  seas,  Procopius  searched  without  success  for  the  isle  «f 

Calypso.     He  was  shewn,  at  Phaeacia  or  Corcyra,  the  petrified  ship 

«f  Ulysses,  (Odyss.  xiii,  163) ;  but  he  fonnd  it  a  recent  fabric  of  many 

stones,  dedicated  by  a  merchant  to  Jupiter  Cassius,  (1.  iv,  c.  21).-» 

Emtallmis  had  supposed  it  to  be  the  fanciful  likeness  of  a  rock. 


378  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  rus ;  they  advanced   as  far  as  Nicopolis,  the 
^^  trophy  of  Augustus,  and  Dodona,b  once  famous 
by  the  oracle  of  Jove.     In  every  step  of  his  vic- 
tories, the  wise  barbarian  repeated  to  Justinian 
his  desire  of  peace,  applauded  the  concord  of 
their  predecessors,  and   offered  to  employ  the 
Gothic  arms  in  the  service  of  the  empire, 
tions  o?        Justinian  was  deaf  to  the  voice  of  peace ;  but 
Justinian,  ne  neglected  the  prosecution  of  war :  and  the 

for  the  Go- .  °  .  '  . 

thic  war,  indolence  of  his  temper  disappointed,  in  some 

A.  D.  549-    ,  ,,  ,      ,.  f    ,.  .  ,-, 

551.  degree,  the  obstinacy  of  his  passions,  rrpm 
this  salutary  slumber  the  emperor  was  awaken- 
ed by  the  pope  Vigilius  and  the  patrician  Ce- 
thegus,  who  appeared  before  his  throne,  and 
adjured  him,  in  the  name  of  God  and  the  peo- 
ple, to  resume  the  conquest  and  deliverance  of 
Italy.  In  the  choice  of  the  generals,  caprice, 
as  well  as  judgment,  was  shewn.  A  fleet  and 
army  sailed  for  the  relief  of  Sicily  under  the 
conduct  of  Liberius  ;  but  his  youth  and  want 
of  experience  were  afterwards  discovered,  and 
before  he  touched  the  shores  of  the  island  he 
was  overtaken  by  his  successor.  In  the  place 
of  Liberius,  the  conspirator  Artaban  was  raised 
from  a  prison  to  military  honours  ;  in  the  pious 
presumption,  that  gratitude  would  animate  his 
valour  and  fortify  his  allegiance.  Belisarius 
reposed  in  the  shade  of  his  laurels,  but  the 
command  of  the  principal  army  was  reserved 
for  Germanuse,  the  emperor's  nephew,  whose 

1  M.  d'Anville  (Memoires  de  1'Acad.  torn,  xxxii,  p.  513-528)  illus- 
trates the  gulf  of  Ambracia ;  but  be  cannot  ascertain  the  situation  of 
Dociona.  A  country  in  tight  of  Italy  is  less  known  than  the  wilds  of 
America. 

•  See  the  acts  of  Germanus  in  tbe  public  (Yandal.  1.  ii,  c.  16,  17,  18  •, 

Goth. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  37!) 

rank  and  merit  had  been  long  depressed  by  the  (HAP. 
jealousy  of  the  court.  Theodora  had  injured 
him  in  the  rights  of  a  private  citizen,  the  mar- 
riage of  his  children,  and  the  testament  of  his 
brother;  and  although  his  conduct  was  pure 
and  blameless,  Justinian  was  displeased  that 
he  should  be  thought  worthy  of  the  confidence 
of  the  malecontents.  The  life  of  Germanus 

was  a  lesson  of  implicit  obedience:  he  nobly 

r  .       -  ->«<< 

refused  to  prostitute  his  name  and  character  in 

the  factions  of  the  circus  :  the  gravity  of  his 
manners  was  tempered  by  innocent  cheerful- 
ness ;  and  his  riches  were  lent  without  interest 
to  indigent  or  deserving  friends.  His  valour 
had  formerly  triumphed  over  the  Sclavonians 
of  the  Danube  and  the  rebels  of  Africa  :  the 
first  report  of  his  promotion  revived  the  hopes 
of  the  Italians :  and  he  was  privately  assured, 
that  a  crowd  of  Roman  deserters  would  aban- 
don, on  his  approach,  the  standard  of  Totila. 
His  second  marriage  with  Malasontha,  the 
grand-daughter  of  Theodoric,  endeared  Germa- 
nus to  the  Goths  themselves;  and  they  march- 
ed with  reluctance  against  the  father  of  a  roval 
infant,  the  last  offspring  of  the  line  of  Amali/1 
A  splendid  allowance  was  assigned  by  the  em- 
peror :  the  general  contributed  his  private  for- 

,;,,     i,jV:V-M*^*- 

Goth.  1.  iii,  c.  31,  32)  and  private  history,  (Anecdot.  r.  5),  and  those 
of  hit  son  Justin,  in  Agatliias,  (I.  iv,  p.  130, 131).  Notuiihstamlingan 
ambiguous  expression  of  Jornandes,  fratri  suo,  Alemunims  has  proved 
that  he  was  the  son  of  the  emperer's  brother. 

*  Conjuncta  Aniciorum  geus  cum  Amali  stirpe  spem  adhuc  utriuj- 
que  generis  promittit,  (Jornandes,  c.  60,  p.  703).  He  wrote  at  Ra- 
venna beibie  the  death  of  Totiia 


380  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  tune ;  his  two  sons   were  popular  and  active  ; 
and  he  surpassed,  in  the  promptitude  and  suc- 


cess of  his  levies,  the  expectation  of  mankind. 
He  was  permitted  to  select  some  squadrons  of 
Thracian  cavalry  :  the  veterans,  as  well  as  the 
youth  of  Constantinople  and  Europe,  engaged 
their  voluntary  service ;  and  as  far  as  the  heart 
of  Germany,  his  fame  and  liberality  attracted 
the  aid  of  the  barbarians.  The  Romans  ad- 
vanced to  Sardica;  an  army  of  Sclavonians 
fled  before  their  march ;  but  within  two  days 
of  their  final  departure,  the  designs  of  Germa- 
nus  were  terminated  by  his  malady  and  death. 
Yet  the  impulse  which  he  had  given  to  the  Ita- 
lian war  still  continued  to  act  with  energy  and 
effect.  The  maritime  towns,  Ancona,  Crotona, 
Centumcellae,  resisted  the  assaults  of  Totila. — 
Sicily  was  reduced  by  the  zeal  of  Artaban,  and 
the  Gothic  navy  was  defeated  near  the  coast  of 
the  Hadriatic  The  two  fleets  were  almost 
equal,  forty-seven  to  fifty  galleys :  the  victory 
was  decided  by  the  knowledge  and  dexterity 
of  the  Greeks;  but  the  ships  were  so  closely 
grappled,  that  only  twelve  of  the  Goths  escap- 
ed from  this  unfortunate  conflict.  They  affect- 
ed to  depreciate  an  element  in  which  they  were 
unskilled,  but  their  own  experience  confirmed 
the  truth  of  a  maxim,  that  the  master  of  the 
sea  will  always  acquire  the  dominion  of  the 
land.* 

After  the  loss  of  Germanus,  the  nations  were 
provoked  to  smile,  by  the  strange  intelligence, 

e  The  third  book  of  Procopins  is  terminated  by  the  death  of  Ger- 
,  (Add.  1.  iv,  c.  2S,  24,  25,  26). 


OK  THE  KOMAN  EMPIRE.  3UI 

that  the  command  of  the  Roman  armies  was   CHAP. 

given  to  an  eunuch.     But    the     eunuch  Nar-  ,„„ ',, 

sesf  is  ranked  among  the  few  who  have  rescued  character 
that  unhappy  name  from  the  contempt  and  ha-  duion*of~ 
tred  of  mankind.  A  feeble  diminutive  body 
concealed  the  soul  of  a  statesman  and  a  war* 
rior.  His  youth  had  been  employed  in  the  ma- 
nagement of  the  loom  and  distaff,  in  the  cares 
of  the  household,  and  the  service  of  female  lux- 
ury ;  but  while  his  hands  were  busy,  he  secret- 
ly exercised  the  faculties  of  a  vigorous  and  dis- 
cerning mind.  A  stranger  to  the  schools  and 
the  camp,  he  studied  in  the  palace  to  dissem- 
ble, to  flatter,  and  to  persuade;  and  as  soon 
as  he  approached  the  person  of  the  emperor, 
Justinian  listened  with  surprise  and  pleasure 
to  the  manly  counsels  of  his  chamberlain  and 
private  treasurer.8  The  talents  of  Narses  were 
tried  and  improved  in  frequent  embassies ;  he 
led  an  army  into  Italy,  acquired  a  practical 
knowledge  of  the  war  and  the  country,  and 
presumed  to  strive  with  the  genius  of  Belisa- 
rius.  Twelve  years  after  his  return,  the  eu- 

'Procopius  relates  the  whole  series  of  this  second  Gothic  war  and 
the  victory  of  Narses,  d,  iv,  c.  21,  26-35).  A  splendid  scene !  Among 
the  six  subjects  of  epic  poetry  which  Tasso  revolved  in  his  mind,  he 
hesitated  between  the  conquests  of  Italy  hy  Belisarius  and  by  Narscs, 
(Hayley's  Works,  vol.  iv,  p.  70). 

*  The  country  of  Narses  is  unknown,  since  he  mast  not  be  confound- 
ed with  the  Persarmenian.  Procopins  styles  him  (Goth.  1.  ii,  c.  13) 
ScfcriXixwv  ^ii|U«T«v  TO/UI«C  ;  Paul  Warnefrid  (I.  ii,  c.  3,  p.  776)  Chartu- 
iarins  :  Marcellinus  adds  the  name  of  Cabicularius.  In  an  inscription 
on  the  Salarian  bridge  he  entitled  Ex-ronsnl,  Ex-prepositns,  Cubictt- 
li  Patricius.  (Mascon,  Hist,  of  the  Germans,  1.  xiii,  c.  25).  The  law 
of  Tlieodosius  against  eunuchs  were  obsolete  or  abolished,  (Annotation 
>x)  :  but  ti.r  foolish  prophecy  of  the  Romans  subsisted  in  fnil  vigour 
<Piocop.  1.  iv,  c.  21).  n*JHt«m  si  soirr. 

(cS  ,s« 


Ji2  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   nuch  was  chosen  to  achieve  the  conquest  which 
been  left  imperfect  by  the  first  of  the  Ro- 


man generals.  Instead  of  being  dazzled  by 
vanity  or  emulation,  he  seriously  declared,  that 
unless  he  were  armed  with  an  adequate  force, 
he  would  never  consent  to  risk  his  own  glory, 
and  that  of  his  sovereign.  Justinian  granted 
to  the  favourite,  what  he  might  have  denied  to 
the  hero :  the  Gothic  war  was  re-kindled  from 
its  ashes,  and  the  preparations  were  not  un- 
worthy of  the  ancient  majesty  of  empire.  The 
key  of  the  public  treasure  was  put  into  his 
hand,  to  collect  magazines,  to  levy  soldiers,  to 
purchase  arms  and  horses,  to  discharge  the  ar- 
rears of  pay,  and  to  tempt  the  fidelity  of  the 
fugitives  and  deserters.  The  troops  of  Germa- 
nus  were  still  in  arms ;  they  halted  at  Salona 
in  the  expectation  of  a  new  leader ;  and  legions 
of  subjects  and  allies  were  created  by  the  well- 
known  liberality  of  the  eunuch  Narses.  The 
king  of  the  Lombards'1  satisfied  or  surpassed 
the  obligations  of  a  treaty,  by  lending  two  thou- 
sand two  hundred  of  his  bravest  warriors,  who 
were  followed  by  three  thousand  of  their  mar- 
tial attendants.  Three  thousand  Heruli  fought 
on  horseback  under  Philemuth,  their  native 
chief;  and  the  noble  Aratus,  who  adopted  the 
manners  and  discipline  of  Rome,  conducted  a 
band  of  veterans  of  the  same  nation.  Dagis- 
theus  was  released  from  prison  to  command 

h  Paul  Warnefrid,  tbe  Lombard,  records  with  complacency  the  sue. 
cour,  service,  and  honourable  dismission  of  his  countrymen- — reipubli- 
ex  Romans?  ad  versus  vmulos  adjiitoies  fuerant,  (1.  ii,  c.  1,  p.  774, 
edit.  Grot.)  I  am  surprised  that  Alboin,  their  martial  king,  did  net 
lead  his  subjects  in  person. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.* 

the  Huns  ;  and  Kobad,  the  grandson  and  ne-  CHAP. 
phew  of  the  great  king,  was  conspicuous  by  ^ 
the  regal  tiara  at  the  head  of  his  faithful  Per- 
sians, who  had  devoted  themselves  to  the  for- 
tunes of  their  prince.1  Absolute  in  the  exercise 
of  his  authority,  more  absolute  in  the  affection 
of  his  troops,  Narses  led  a  numerous  and  gal- 
lant army  from  Philippolis  to  Salona,  from 
whence  he  coasted  the  eastern  side  of  the  Ha- 
driatic  as  far  as  the  confines  of  Italy.  His  pro- 
gress was  checked.  The  East  could  not  sup- 
ply vessels  capable  of  transporting  such  multi- 
tudes of  men  and  horses.  The  Franks,  who, 
in  the  general  confusion,  had  usurped  the  great- 
er part  of  the  Venetian  province,  refused  a  free 
passage  to  the  friends  of  the  Lombards.  The 
station  of  Verona  was  occupied  by  Teias,  with 
the  flower  of  the  Gothic  forces  ;  and  that  skil- 
ful commander  had  overspread  the  adjacent 
country  with  the  fall  of  woods,  and  the  inun- 
dation of  waters.*  In  this  perplexity,  an  officer 
of  experience  proposed  a  measure,  secure  by 
the  appearance  of  rashness ;  that  the  Roman 
army  should  cautiously  advance  along  the  sea- 
shore, while  the  fleet  preceded  their  march,  and 
successively  cast  a  bridge  of  boats  over  the 

1  He  was,  if  not  an  impostor,  the  son  of  the  blind  Zamcs,  saved  by 
compassion,  and  educated  in  the  Byzantine  court  by  the  various  mo- 
tives of  policy,  pride,  and  generosity,  (Procop.  Persic.  1.  i,  c.  23). 

k  In  the  time  of  Augustus,  and  in  the  middle  ages,  the  whole  waste 
from  Aquileia  to  Ravenna  was  covered  with  woods,  lakes,  and  mora»- 
tes.  Man  has  subdued  nature,  and  the  land  has  been  cultivated,  since 
the  waters  are  confined  and  embanked.  See  the  learned  research™ 
of  Muratoii,  (Antiquitat.  Italiae  medii  ^vi,  torn,  i,  dissert,  xxi,  p.  253, 
254),  from  Vitruvius,  Strabo,  Herodian,  old  charters,  and  local  know- 

.  t  If    '!  ?f-l      i  . 

ledge. 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALLI 

CHAP,  mouths  of  the  rivers,  the  Timavus,  the  Brenta, 
'„  the  Adige,  and  the  Po,  that  fall  into  the  Ha- 
driatic  to  the  north  of  Ravenna.  Nine  days  he 
reposed  in  the  city,  collected  the  fragments  of 
the  Italian  army,  and  marched  towards  Rimini 
to  meet  the  defiance  of  an  insulting  enemy. 

The  prudence  of  Narses  impelled  him  to 
speedy  and  decisive  action.  His  powers  were 
the  last  effort  of  the  state  :  the  cost  of  each  day 
accumulated  the  enormous  account ;  and  the 
nations,  untrained  to  discipline  or  fatigue, 
might  be  rashly  provoked  to  turn  their  arms 
against  each  other,  or  against  their  benefactor. 
The  same  considerations  might  have  tempered 
the  ardour  of  Totila.  But  he  was  conscious, 
that  the  clergy  and  people  of  Italy  aspired  to 
a  second  revolution  :  he  felt  or  suspected  the 
rapid  progress  of  treason,  and  he  resolved  to 
risk  the  Gothic  kingdom  on  the  chance  of  a 
day,  in  which  the  valiant  would  be  animated 
by  instant  danger,  and  the  disaffected  might  be 
awed  by  mutual  ignorance.  In  his  march  from 
Ravenna,  the  Roman  general  chastised  the  gar- 
rison of  Rimini,  traversed  in  a  direct  line  the 
hills  of  Urbino,  and  re-entered  the  Flaminian 
way,  nine  miles  beyond  the  perforated  rock, 
an  obstacle  of  art  and  nature  which  might  have 
stopped  or  retarded  his  progress.1  The  Goths 

1  The  Flamiman  way,  as  it  is  corrected  from  the  Itineraries,  and  the 
beit  modern  maps,  by  d'Auville,  (Analyse  de  1'Italie,  p:  147-162),  may 
be  thus  stated — ROME  to  Narni,  51  Roman  miles ;  Terni,  57  ;  Spoleto, 
76}  Foligno,  88;  Nocera,  103;  Cagli,  142  ;  Interciia,  157;  Fossoun- 
brone,  160;  Fano,  176;  Pesaro,  184;  RIMINI,  208—  about  189  En- 
glish miles.  He  take*  no  notice  of  the  death  of  Totila ;  but  Wessev 

ling 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  385 

were  assembled  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome,  CHAP. 
they  advanced,  without  delay,  to  seek  a  supe-^' 
rior  enemy,  and  the  two  armies  approached 
each  other  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred  fur- 
longs, between  Taginam  and  the  sepulchres  of 
the  Gauls.n  The  haughty  message  of  Narses 
was  an  offer,  not  of  peace,  but  of  pardon.  The 
answer  of  the  Gothic  king  declared  his  resolu- 
tion to  die  or  conquer.  "  What  day,"  said  the 
messenger,  "  will  you  fix  for  the  combat  ?" 
"  The  eighth  day,"  replied  Totila :  but  early 
the  next  morning  he  attempted  to  surprise  a 
foe,  suspicious  of  deceit,  and  prepared  for 
battle.  Ten  thousand  Heruli  and  Lombards, 
of  approved  .valour  and  doubtful  faith,  were 
placed  in  the  centre.  Each  of  the  wings  was 
composed  of  eight  thousand  Romans  ;  the  right 
was  guarded  by  the  cavalry  of  the  Huns,  the 
left  was  covered  by  fifteen  hundred  chosen 
horse,  destined,  according  to  the  emergencies 
of  action,  to  sustain  the  retreat  of  their  friends, 
or  to 'encompass  the  flank  of  the  enemy. — 

ling  (Itinerar.  p.  614)  exchanges  for  the  field  of  Taginat  the  unknown 
appellation  of  Ptanias,  right  miles  from  Nocera. 

m  Taginae,  or  rather  Tadinae,  is  mentioned  by  Pliny  ;  but  the  bishop- 
ric of  (hat  obscure  town,  a  mile  from  Gualdo,  in  the  plain,  was  unit- 
ed, in  the  year  1007,  with  that  of  Nocera.  The  signs  of  antiquity  are 
preserved  in  the  local  appellations,  Fossato,  the  camp ;  Capraia,  Ca- 
prea;  Bastia,  Busta  Gallorum.  See  Cluvcriiis,  (Italia  Antiqua,  1.  ii, 
c.  C,  p.  615,  616,  617)  ;  Lucus  Holstenius,  (Annotaf.  ad  Cluver.  p.  85, 
86);  Guazzesi,  (Dissertat.  p.  177-217,  a  professed  inquiry;,  and  the 
maps  of  the  ecclesiastical  state  andtiie  March  of  Ancona,  by  LeMaire 
and  Maginl. 

n  The  battle  was  fought  in  the  year  of  Rome  458  ;  and  the  consul 
Decius,  by  devoting  his  own  life,  assured  the  triumph  of  his  country 
and  his  colleague  Fabius,  (T.  Lit.  x,  28.  29).  Procopius  ascribes  to 
Camillus  the  victory  of  the  Busta  Gallorum ;  and  his  error  is  branded 
by  Chiverius  with  the  national  reproach  of  Grsecorum  uugamenta. 

VOL.  vii.  c  c 


38(1  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.  From  his  proper  station  at  the  head  of  the 
XLIII.  Yight  wing,  the  eunuch  rode  along  the  line,  ex- 
pressing by  his  voice  and  countenance,  the  as- 
surance of  victory  ;  exciting  the  soldiers  of  the 
emperor  to  punish  the  guilt  and  madness  of  a 
band  of  robbers  ;  and  exposing  to  their  view, 
gold  chains,  collars,  and  bracelets,  the  rewards 
of  military  virtue.  From  the  event  of  a  single 
combat,  they  drew  an  omen  of  success ;  and 
they  beheld  with  pleasure  the  courage  of  fifty 
archers,  who  maintained  a  small  eminence 
against  three  successive  attacks  of  the  Gothic 
cavalry.  At  the  distance  only  of  two  bow- 
shots, the  armies  spent  the  morning  in  dreadful 
suspense,  and  the  Romans  tasted  some  neces*- 
sary  food,  without  unloosening  the  cuirass  from 
their  breast,  or  the  bridle  from  their  horses.— 
Narses  awaited  the  charge ;  and  it  was  delay- 
ed by  Totila  till  he  had  received  his  last  suc- 
cours of  two  thousand  Goths.  While  he  con- 
sumed the  hours  in  fruitless  treaty,  the  king 
exhibited  in  a  narrow  space  the  strength  and 
agility  of  a  warrior.  His  armour  was  enchased 
with  gold ;  his  purple  banner  floated  with  the 
wind;  he  cast  his  lance  into  the  air;  caught 
it  with  the  right  hand  :  shifted  it  to  the  left ; 
threw  himself  backwards  ;  recovered  his  seat; 
and  managed  a  fiery  steed  in  all  the  paces  and 
evolutions  of  the  equestrian  school.  As  soon 
as  the  succours  had  arrived,  he  retired  to  his 
tent,  assumed  the  dress  and  arms  of  a  private 
soldier,  and  gave  the  signal  of  battle.  The  first 
line  of  cavalry  advanced  with  more  courage 
tlian  discretion,  and  left  behind  them  the  infan- 
try of  the  second  line.  Thev  were  soon  en- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE,  387 

gaged    between   the  horns  of  a  crescent,  into    CHAP. 

Which   the  adverse  wings  had  been  insensibly „ 

curved,  and  were  saluted  from  either  side  by 
the  volleys  of  four  thousand  archers.  Their 
ardour,  and  even  their  distress,  drove  them  for- 
wards to  a  close  and  unequal  conflict,  in  which 
they  could  only  use  their  lances  against  an  ene- 
my equally  skilled  in  all  the  instruments  of 
war.  A  generous  emulation  inspired  the  Ro- 
mans and  their  barbarian  allies :  and  Narses, 
who  calmly  viewed  and  directed  their  efforts, 
doubted  to  whom  he  should  adjudge  the  prize 
of  superior  bravery.  The  Gothic  cavalry  was 
astonished  and  disordered,  pressed  and  bro- 
ken ;  and  the  line  of  infantry,  instead  of  pre- 
senting their  spears,  or  opening  their  intervals, 
were  trampled  under  the  feet  of  the  flying  horse. 
Six  thousand  of  the  Goths  were  slaughtered, 
without  mercy,  in  the  field  of  Tagina.  Their 
prince,  with  five  attendants,  was  overtaken  by 
Asbad,  of  the  race  of  the  Gepidae.  "  Spare  the 
king  of  Italy,"  cried  a  loyal  voice,  and  Asbad 
struck  his  lance  through  the  body  of  Totila. — 
The  blow  was  instantly  revenged  by  the  faith- 
ful Goths ;  they  transported  their  dying  mo- 
narch seven  miles  beyond  the  scene  of  his  dis- 
grace ;  and  his  last  moments  were  not  embit-  . 
tered  by  the  presence  of  an  enemy.  Compas- 
sion afforded  him  the  shelter  of  an  obscure 
tomb  ;  but  the  Romans  were  not  satisfied  of 
their  victory,  till  they  beheld  the  corpse  of  the 
Gothic  king.  His  hat,  enriched  with  gems,  and 
his  bloody  robe,  were  presented  to  Justinian 
by  the  messengers  of  triumph.0 

0  Theophani'S,  Ghrou.  |>.  193.     Hist.  Miscfli.  1.  xvi,  p.  108. 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 


XL?!?'        ^S  soon  as  ^arses  na(i  Paid  his  devotions  to 
......  :;'  .  the  Author  of  victory,  and  the  blessed  Virgin, 

Conquest   his  peculiar  patroness,p  he  praised,  rewarded, 

of  Rome  *    .        . 

.  and  dismissed  the  Lombards.  The  villages  had 
been  reduced  to  ashes  by  these  valiant  savages  ; 
they  ravished  matrons  and  virgins  on  the  altar  ; 
their  retreat  was  diligently  watched  by  a  strong 
detachment  of  regular  forces,  who  prevented  a 
repetition  of  the  like  disorders.  The  victorious 
eunuch  pursued  his  march  through  Tuscany, 
accepted  the  submission  of  the  Goths,  heard 
the  acclamations,  and  often  the  complaints,  of 
the  Italians,  and  encompassed  the  walls  of 
Rome  with  the  remainder  of  his  formidable 
host.  Round  the  wide  circumference,  Narses 
assigned  to  himself,  and  to  eacli  of  his  lieute- 
nants, a  real  or  a  feigned  attack,  while  he  si- 
lently marked  the  place  of  easj  and  unguarded 
entrance.  Neither  the  fortifications  of  Ha- 
drian's mole,  nor  of  the  port,  could  long  delay 
the  progress  of  the  conqueror  ;  and  Justinian 
once  more  received  the  keys  of  Rome,  which, 
under  his  reign,  had  been  Jive  times  taken  and 
recovered*1  But  the  deliverance  of  Rome  was 
the  last  calamity  of  the  Roman  people.  The 
barbarian  allies  of  Narses  too  frequently  con- 
founded the  privileges  of  peace  and  war  :  the 
despair  of  the  flying  Goths  found  some  conso- 

»  Evagrins,  I.  iv,  e.  24-  The  inspiration  of  the  Virgin  revealed  to 
Narses  the  ttov,  and  the  word,  of  battle,  (Paul  Diacon.  1.  ii,  c.  3,  p. 
7T6). 

q  Ew»  TUTU  ftwiXiuwTo?  TO  Ht/uwroY  !aX».  In  the  year  536  by  Belisarint, 
in  546  by  Totila,  in  547  by  Belisarius,  in  549  by  Totila,  and  in  552  by 
Narses.  Mai  tret  us  had  inadvertently  translated  aextvm;  a  mistake 
which  he  afterwards  ntiarts  :  but  the  mischief  was  done  j  and"  Cousin, 
with  a  train  of  French  and  Latin  readers,  have  fallen  into  the  snare 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

lation  in  sanguinary  revenge:  and  three  hun-  CHAP. 
dred  youths  of  the  noblest  families,  who  had  „ 
been  sent  as  hostages  beyond  the  Po,  were  in- 
humanly slain  by  the  successor  of  Totila.  The 
fate  of  the  senate  suggests  an  awful  lesson  of 
the  vicissitude  of  human  affairs.  Of  the  sena- 
tors whom  Totila  had  banished  from  their  coun- 
try, some  were  rescued  by  an  officer  of  Belisa- 
rius,  and  transported  from  Campania  to  Sicily ; 
while  others  were  too  guilty  to  confide  in  the 
clemency  of  Justinian,  or  too  poor  to  provide 
horses  for  their  escape  to  the  sea-shore.  Their 
brethren  languished  five  years  in  a  state  of  in- 
digence and  exile :  the  victory  of  Narses  reviv- 
ed their  hopes ;  but  their  premature  return  to 
the  metropolis  was  prevented  by  the  furious 
Goths ;  and  all  the  fortresses  of  Campania 
were  stained  with  patricianr  blood.  After  a  pe- 
riod of  thirteen  centuries,  the  institution  of  Ro- 
mulus expired ;  and  if  the  nobles  of  Rome  still 
assumed  the  title  of  senators,  few  subsequent 
traces  can  be  discovered  of  a  public  council,  or 
constitutional  order.  Ascend  six  hundred 
years,  and  contemplate  the  kings  of  the  earth 
soliciting  an  audience,  as  the  slaves  or  freedmen 

of  the  Roman  senate  !' 

^ .- 

The  Gothic  war  was  yet  alive.  The  bravest 
of  the  nation  retired  beyond  the  Po  ;  andTeias 
was  unanimously  chosen  to  succeed  and  re- 

r  Compare  two  passages  of  Procopiits,  (1.  iii,  c.  26 ;  1.  iv,  c.  84), 
which,  v.  ith  some  collateral  hints  from  Marccllinus  and  Jornandes,  il- 
lustrate the  state  of  the  expiring  senate. 

1  Sec,  in  the  example  of  Prusias,  as  it  is  delivered  in  the  fragment* 
of  Polybius,  (Excerpt.  Legat.  xcvii,  p.  927,  928),  a  curious  picture  of 
•  royal  slave. 


0^0  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

<HAP.  venge  their  departed  hero.     The  new  kins  im- 

"V  I    TT  F 

\  mediately  sent  ambassadors  to  implore,  or  ra- 

Dcfeat      ther  to  purchase,   the  aid   of  the  Franks,  and 
otTeias,   nobly  lavished  for  the  public  safety,  the  riches 
SnJoV     whicn  had  been  deposited  in  the  palace  of  Pa- 
the  Goths,  via.     The  residue  of  the  royal  treasure   was 
March.  '  guarded   by   his   brother   Aligern  at  Cuma?  in 
Campania  ;  but  the  strong  castle  which  Totila 
had  fortified,  was  closely  besieged  by  the  arms 
of  Narses.     From  the  Alps  to  the  foot  of  mount 
Vesuvius,  the  Gothic  king,  by  rapid  and  secret 
marches,  advanced  to  the  relief  of  his  brother, 
eluded  the  vigilance  of  the  Roman  chiefs,  and 
pitched  his  camp  on  the  banks  of  the  Sarnus 
or  Draco,1  which  flows  from  Nuceria  into  the 
bay  of  Naples.     The  river  separated   the  two 
armies :  sixty  days  were  consumed  in  distant 
and  fruitless  combats,  and  Teias  maintained 
this  important  post,  till  he  was  deserted  by  his 
fleet  and  the  hope  of  subsistence.     With  reluc- 
tant steps  he  ascended  the  Lactarian  mount, 
where  the  physicians  of  Rome,  since  the  time 
of  Galen,  had  sent  their  patients  for  the  benefit 
of  the  air  and  the  milk."     But  the  Goths  soon 
embraced  a  more  generous  resolution:  to  de- 
scend the  hill,  to  dismiss  their  horses,  and  to 

*  The  Ap«x»y  of  Procopius  (Goth.  1.  ir,  e.  35)  is  evidently  the  Sar- 
nui.  The  text  is  accused  or  altered  by  the  rash  violence  of  Chive- 
rius,  (1.  iv,  c.  3,  p.  1156:  but  Camillo  Pellegrini  of  Naples  (Discorsi 
•opra  la  Campania  Felice,  p.  330,  331),  has  proved  from  old  records, 
that  as  early  as  the  year  822  that  river  was  called  the  Dracontio,  or 
Draconccllo. 

"  Galen  (de  Method.  Medendi,  1.  v,  apud  Cluver.  1.  iv,c.  3,  p.  115g, 
1160)  describes  the  lofty  site,  pure  air,  and  i-khmilk  of  mouut  Lacta- 
rins,  whose  medicinal  benefits  were  equally  Inown  and  sought  in  the 
time  of  Symraachus,  (1.  vi,  epist.  18),  ai:d  Cassiodcrius,  (Var.  xi,  10V 
Nothing  is  now  left  except  the  name  of  the  town  of  Lettere. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  39 1 

die  in  arms,  and  in  the  possession  of  freedom.  CHAP. 
The  king  marched  at  their  head,  bearing  in  his 
right  hand  a  lance,  and  an  ample  buckler  in 
his  left :  with  the  one  he  struck  dead  the  fore- 
most of  the  assailants ;  with  the  other  he  re* 
ceived  the  weapons  which  every  hand  was  am- 
bitious to  aim  against  his  life.  After  a  combat 
of  many  hours,  his  left  arm  was  fatigued  by 
the  weight  of  twelve  javelins  which  hung  from 
his  shield.  Without  moving  from  his  ground, 
or  suspending  his  blows,  the  hero  called  aloud 
on  his  attendants  for  a  fresh  buckler,  but  in  the 
moment,  while  his  side  was  uncovered,  it  was 
pierced  by  a  mortal  dart.  He  fell :  and  his 
head  exalted  on  a  spear,  proclaimed  to  the  na- 
tions, that  the  Gothic  kingdom  was  no  more. 
But  the  example  of  his  death  served  only  to 
animate  the  companions  who  had  sworn  to 
perish  with  their  leader.  They  fought  till  dark- 
ness descended  on  the  earth.  They  reposed 
on  their  arms.  The  combat  was  renewed  with 
the  return  of  light,  and  maintained  with  una- 
bated vigour  till  the  evening  of  the  second  day. 
The  repose  of  a  second  night,  the  want  of  wa- 
ter, and  the  loss  of  their  bravest  champions, 
determined  the  surviving  <3oths  to  accept  the 
fair  capitulation  which  the  prudence  of  Narses 
was  inclined  to  propose.  They  embraced  the 
alternative  of  residing  in  Italy  as  the  subjects 
and  soldiers  of  Justinian,  or  departing  with  a 
portion  of  their  private  wealth,  in  search  of 
some  independent  country/  Yet  the  oath  of 

1  Buat  (torn,  xi,  p.  2,  &c.  conveys  to  his  favourite  Bavaria  this  rem- 
nant of  Goths,  who  by  others  are  bnried  in  the  mountains  of  Uri,  o» 
restored  to  their  native  isle  of  Gothland,  (Mascou,  Annot.  xxi). 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  fidelity  or  exile  \vas  alike  rejected  by  one  thon- 
XLIIL  sand  Goths,  who  broke  away  before  the  treaty 
\vas  signed,  and  boldly  effected  their  retreat  to 
the  walls  of  Pavia.  The  spirit,  as  well  as  the 
situation,  of  Aligern,  prompted  him  to  imitate 
rather  than  to  bewail  his  brother;  a  strong  and 
dexterous  archer,  he  transpierced  with  a  single 
,  arrow  the  armour  and  breast  of  his  antagonist ; 
and  his  military  conduct  defended  Cumae* 
above  a  year  against  the  forces  of  the  Romans. 
Their  industry  had  scooped  the  Sibyl  1's  cave2 
into  a  prodigious  mine  ;  combustible  materials 
were  introduced  to  consume  the  temporary 
props  :  the  wall  and  the  gate  of  Cumae  sunk  in- 
to the  cavern,  but  the  ruins  formed  a  deep  and 
inaccessible  precipice.  On  the  fragment  of  a 
rock,  Aligern  stood  alone  and  unshaken,  till 
he  calmly  surveyed  the  hopeless  condition  of 
his  country,  and  judged  it  more  honourable  to 
be  the  friend  of  Narses  than  the  slave  of  the 
Franks.  After  the  death  of  Teias,  the  Roman 
general  separated  his  troops  to  reduce  the  ci- 
ties of  Italy ;  Lucca  sustained  a  long  and  vigo- 
rous siege:  and  such  was  the  humanity  or  the 
prudence  of  Narses,  that  the  repeated  perfidy 
of  the  inhabitants  could  not  provoke  him  to 

y  I  leave  Scaliger,  C Animadvers.  in  Euseb.  p.  59),  and  Salmasius, 
(Exercitat.  Plinian.  p.  51,  52),' to  quarrel  about  the  origin  of  Cumae, 
the  oldest  of  the  Greek  colonies  in  Italy,  (Strab.  1.  v,  p.  372 ;  Velleius 
Paterculus,  1.  i,  c.  4),  already  vacant  in  Juvenal's  time,  (Satir.  iii),  and 
now  in  ruins. 

z  Agathias,  (1.  i,  c.  21)  settles  the  Sibyll's  cave  under  the  walls  of 
Cumae  ;  he  agrees  with  Servius,  (ad.  1.  vi,  /Eneid.) ;  nor  can  I  perceive 
why  their  opinion  should  be  rejected  by  Heyne,  the  excellent  editor 
of  Virgil,  (torn,  ii,  p.  650,  651).  In  nrbe  medifc  secreta  religio  !  But 
Cumae  was  not  yet  built ;  and  the  lines  (I.  vi,  9C,  97)  would  become  ri- 
diculous, if  Aeneas  were  actually  in  a  Greek  city. 


.   .-    '. 

OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  393 

exact  the  forfeit  lives  of  their  hostages.    These  CHAP. 
hostages  were  dismissed  in  safety ;  and  their 
grateful  zeal  at  length  subdued  the  obstinacy 
of  their  countrymen.* 

Before  Lucca  had   surrendered,   Italy  was 
overwhelmed  by  a  new  deluge  of  barbarians. — fay  the 
A  feeble  youth,  the  grandson  of  Clovis,  reign-  and  AIC- 
ed  over  the  Austrasians  or  oriental  Franks. —  ?a«nifi\., 

A»   U.  Odj>. 

The  guardians  of  Theodebald  entertained  with  Aug«st. 
coldness  and  reluctance  the  magnificent  pro- 
mises of  the  Gothic  ambassadors.  But  the 
spirit  of  a  martial  people  outstripped  the  timid 
counsels  of  the  court :  two  brothers,  Lothaire 
and  Buccelin,bthe  dukes  of  theAlemanni,  stood 
forth  as  the  leaders  of  the  Italian  war ;  and  se- 
venty-five thousand  Germans  descended  in  the 
autumn  from  the  Rhaetian  Alps  into  the  plain 
of  Milan.  The  vanguard  of  the  Roman  army 
was  stationed  near  the  Po,  under  the  conduct 
of  Fulcaris,  a  bold  Herulian,  who  rashly  con- 
ceived, that  personal  bravery  was  the  sole  du- 
ty and  merit  of  a  commander.  As  he  marched 
without  order  or  precaution  along  the  JEmilian 
way,  an  ambuscade  of  Franks  suddenly  arose 
from  the  amphitheatre  of  Parma :  his  troops 
were  surprised  and  routed ;  but  their  leader 
refused  to  fly,  declaring  to  the  last  moment 

*  There  is  some  difficulty  in  connecting  the  35th  chapter  of  the  ivth 
book  of  the  Gothic  war  of  Procopius  with  the  first  book  of  the  history 
of  Agathias.  We  must  now  relinquish  a  statesman  and  soldier,  to  at- 
tend the  footsteps  of  a  poet  and  rhetorician,  (I.  i,  p.  11 j  1.  ii,  p.  51, 
edit.  Louvre). 

k  Among  the  fabulous  exploits  of  BHcrelin,  he  discomfited  and  slew 
Belisarius,  subdued  Italy  and  Sicily,  &c.  See,  in  the  Historians  of 
France,  Gregory  of  Toms,  (torn.  ).  iii,  c.  32,  p.  203),  and  Aimoiu, 
(torn,  iii,  1.  ii,  de  Gcstis  Fiancorum,  c.  '23,  p.  59). 


394  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,    that   death   was  less  terrible  than  the   angry 

/„ '„  countenance  of  Narses.     The  death   of  Fulca- 

ris,  and  the  retreat  of  the  surviving  chiefs,  de- 
cided the  fluctuating  and  rebellious  temper  of 
the  Goths  ;  they  flew  to  the  standard  of  their 
deliverers,  and  admitted  them  into  the  cities 
which  still  resisted  the  arms  of  the  Roman  ge- 
neral. The  conqueror  of  Italy  opened  a  free 
passage  to  the  irresistible  torrent  of  barbarians. 
They  passed  under  the  walls  of  the  Cesena, 
and  answered  by  threats  and  reproaches  the 
advice  of  Aligern,  that  the  Gothic  treasures 
could  no  longer  repay  the  labour  of  an  inva- 
sion. Two  thousand  Franks  were  destroyed 
by  the  skill  and  valour  of  Narses  himself,  who 
sallied  from  Rimini  at  the  head  of  three  hun- 
dred horse,  to  chastise  the  licentious  rapine  of 
their  march.  On  the  confines  ofSamnium,  the 
two  brothers  divided  their  forces.  With  the 
right  wing,  Buccelin  assumed  the  spoil  of  Cam- 
pania, Lucania,  and  Bruttium  :  with  the  left, 
Lothaire  accepted  the  plunder  of  Apulia  and 
Calabria.  They  followed  the  coast  of  the  Me- 
diterranean and  the  Hadriatic,  as  far  as  Rhe- 
gium  and  Otranto,  and  the  extreme  lands  of 
Italy  were  the  term  of  their  destructive  pro- 
gress. The  Franks,  who  were  Christians  and 
catholics,  contented  themselves  with  simple 
pillage  and  occasional  murder.  But  the 
churches  which  their  piety  had  spared,  were 
stripped  by  the  sacrilegious  hands  of  the  Ale- 
manni,  who  sacrificed  horses  heads  to  their  na- 
tive deities  of  the  woods  and  rivers  ;e  they 

1  Agathia*  notices  their  luperitition  in  a  philosophic  fone,  (I  i,  p. 

osiiswg  IIP  ri-uriw  ,9$sjinmri.  a&  !>»£>• 
av&mn'o  bus  motmiTto  ?B»a  3»f>  ,ya  taoluqoq  t  bat 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  395 

melted  or  profaned  the  consecrated  vessels,  and  CHAP. 
the  ruins  of  shrines  and  altars  were  stained 
with  the  blood  of  the  faithful.  Buccelin  was 
actuated  by  ambition,  and  Lothaire  by  avarice. 
The  former  aspired  to  restore  the  Gothic  king- 
dom: the  latter,  after  a  promise  to  his  brother 
of  speedy  succours,  returned  by  the  same  road 
to  deposit  his  treasure  beyond  the  Alps.  The 
strength  of  their  armies  were  already  wasted 
by  the  change  of  climate  and  contagion  of  dis- 
ease :  the  Germans  revelled  in  the  vintage  of 
Italy ;  and  their  own  intemperance  avenged,  in 
some  degree,  the  miseries  of  a  defenceless  peo- 
ple. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  spring,  the  imperial 
troops,  who  had  guarded  the  cities,  assembled  aud  A.le- 
to  the  number  of  eighteen  thousand  men,  in  the  Kara™*/ 
neighbourhood  of  Rome.  Their  winter  hours  A'D'654' 
had  not  been  consumed  in  idleness.  By  the 
command,  and  after  the  example,  of  Narses, 
they  repeated  each  day  their  military  exercise 
on  foot  and  on  horseback,  accustomed  their  ear 
to  obey  the  sound  of  the  trumpet,  and  practised 
the  steps  and  evolutions  of  the  Pyrrhic  dance. 
From  the  straits  of  Sicily,  Buccelin,  with  thirty 
thousand  Frariks  and  Alemanni,  slowly  moved 
towards  Capua,  occupied  with  a  wooden  tower 
the  bridge  of  Casilinum,  covered  his  right  by 
the  stream  of  the  Vulturnus,  and  secured  the 
rest  of  his  encampment,  by  a  rampart  of  sharp 
stakes,  and  a  circle  of  waggons,  whose  wheels 
were  buried  in  the  earth.  He  impatiently  ex- 

18).  At  Zug,  in  Switzerland,  idolatry  still  prevailed  in  the  year  613 ; 
St.  Columban  and  St.  Gall  were  the  apostles  of  that  rude  country  ;  and 
the  latter  founded  an  hermitage,  which  has  swelled  into  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal principality  and  a  populous  city,  the  seat  of  freedom  and  commerce. 


%%  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   pected  the  return  of  Lothaire  ;  ignorant,  alas  ! 

\9  that  his  brother  could  never  return,   and  that 

the  chief  and  his  army  had  been  swept  away 
by  a  strange  disease/  on  the  banks  of  the  lake 
Benacus,  between  Trent  and  Verona.  The 
banners  of  Narses  soon  approached  the  Vul- 
turnus,  and  the  eyes  of  Italy  were  anxiously 
fixed  on  the  event  of  this  final  conquest.  Per- 
haps the  talents  of  the  Roman  general  were 
most  conspicuous  in  the  calm  operations  which 
precede  the  tumult  of  a  battle.  His  skilful 
movements  intercepted  the  subsistence  of  the 
barbarian,  deprived  him  of  the  advantage  of 
the  bridge  and  river,  and  in  the  choice  of  the 
ground  and  moment  of  action,  reduced  him  to 
comply  with  the  inclination  of  his  enemy.  On 
the  morning  of  the  imp ortant  day,  when  the 
yanks  were  already  formed,  a  servant,  for  some 
trivial  fault,  was  killed  by  his  master,  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  Heruli.  The  justice  or  pas- 
sion Of  Narses  was  awakened  :  he  summoned 
the  offender  to  his  presence,  and,  without  lis- 
tening to  his  excuses,  gave  the  signal  to  the 
minister  of  death.  If  the  cruel  master  had  not 
infringed  the  laws  of  his  nation,  this  arbitrary 
execution  was  not  less  unjust,  than  it  appears 
to  have  been  imprudent.  The  Heruli  fell  the 
indignity;  they  halted:  but  the  Roman  gene- 
ral, without  soothing  their  rage,  or  expecting 
their  resolution,  called  aloud,  as  the  trumpets 
sounded,  that  unless  they  hastened  to  occupy 
their  place,  they  would  lose  the  honour  of  the 

*  See  the  death  of  Lothaire  in  Agathias,  (1.  ii,  p.  38),  and  Paul  War- 
nrfrid,  snrnamed  Diaconus,  (I.  ii,  r.  3,  775).  The  Greek  makes  Him 
rave  aud  |ear  his  flesh.  He  had  plundered  churches. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  397 

victory.  His  troops  were  di^osed'in  a  long  CHAP. 
front,  the  cavalry  on  the  wings  ;  in  the  centre,  „ 
the  heavy-armed  foot ;  the  archers  and  slingers 
in  the  rear.  The  Germans  advanced  in  a  sharp- 
pointed  column,  of  the  form  of  a  triangle  or 
solid  wedge.  They  pierced  the  feeble  centre 
of  Narses,  who  received  them  with  a  smile  in- 
to the  fatal  snare,  and  directed  his  wings  of  ca- 
valry insensibly  to  wheel  on  their  flanks  and 
encompass  their  rear.  The  host  of  the  Franks 
and  Alemanni  consisted  of  infantry ;  a  sword 
and  buckler  hung  by  their  side,  and  they  used, 
as  their  weapon  of  offence,  a  weighty  hatchet, 
and  a  hooked  javelin,  which  were  only  formid- 
able in  close  combat,  or  at  a  short  distance.— 
The  flower  of  the  Roman  archers,  on  horse- 
back, and  in  complete  armour,  skirmished 
without  peril  round  this  immovable  phalanx ; 
supplied  by  active  speed  the  deficiency  of  num- 
ber ;  and  aimed  their  arrows  against  a  crowd 
of  barbarians,  who,  instead  of  a  cuirass  and 
helmet,  were  covered  by  a  loose  garment  of  fur 
or  linen.  They  paused,  they  trembled,  their 
ranks  were  confounded,  and  in  the  decisive  mo- 
ment the  Heruli,  preferring  glory  to  revenge, 
charged  with  rapid  violence  the  head  of  the 
column.  Their  leader,  Sinbal,  and  Aligern, 
the  Gothic  prince,  deserved  the  prize  of  supe- 
rior valour  ;  and  their  example  incited  the  vic- 
torious troops  to  achieve  with  swords  and  spears 

e  Pere  Daniel  (Hist,  de  la  Milice  Fran9oise,  torn,  i,  p.  1T-21)  hs« 
exhibited  a  fanciful  representation  of  this  battle,  somewhat  in  the  man- 
ner of  the  Chevalier  Folard,  the  once  famous  editor  cf  Polybius,  woo 
fashioned  to  his  own  habits  and  opinions  all  the  military  operations  «>f 

•        -.  ^ 
jli     .rii')ftH»j     -.  • 


THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAT,    the  destruction  of  the  enemy.     Buccelin,  and 

XJLIII  . 

."„ ',,  the  greatest  part  of  his  army,  perished  on  the 

field  of  battle,  in  the  waters  of  the  Vulturnus, 
or  by  the  hands  of  the  enraged  peasants  :  but 
it  may  seem  incredible  that  a  victory/  which 
no  more  than  five  of  the  Alemanni  survived, 
could  be  purchased  with  the  loss  of  fourscore 
Romans.  Seven  thousand  Goths,  the  relicts 
of  the  war,  defended  the  fortress  of  Campsa  till 
the  ensuing  spring ;  and  every  messenger  of 
Narses  announced  the  reduction  of  the  Italian 
cities,  whose  names  were  corrupted  by  the  ig- 
norance or  vanity  of  the  Greeks.*  After  the 
battle  of  Casilinum,  Narses  entered  the  capital ; 
the  arms  and  treasures  of  the  Goths,  the  Franks, 
and  Alemanni,  were  displayed  ;  his  soldiers, 
with  garlands  in  their  hands,  chanted  the 
praises  of  the  conqueror ;  and  Rome,  for  the 
last  time,  beheld  the  semblance  of  a  triumph, 
settlement  After  a  reign  of  sixty  years,  the  throne  of 
A.  D.  564-  the  Gothic  kings  was  filled  by  the  exarchs  of 
Ravenna,  the  representatives  in  peace  and  war 
of  the  emperor  of  the  Romans.  Their  jurisdic- 
tion was  soon  reduced  to  the  limits  of  a  narrow 
province ;  but  Narses  himself,  the  first  and 
most  powerful  of  the  exarchs,  administered 
above  fifteen  years  the  entire  kingdom  of  Italy. 
Like  Belisarius,  he  had  deserved  the  honours 

1  Agathtas  (1.  ii,  p.  47)  has  produced  a  Greek  epigram  of  six  lines 
on  this  victory  of  Narses,  which  is  favourably  compared  to  the  battles 
of  Marathon  and  Platae.  The  chief  difference  is  indeed  in  their  con- 
sequences—so  trivial  in  the  former  instance — so  permanent  and  glo- 
rious in  the  latter. 

1  The  Beroi  and  Brincas  of  Theophanes  or  his  transcriber  (p.  SOI), 
TO  nt  be  read  or  understood  Verona  and  Brixia. 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  399 

of  envy,  calumny,  and  disgrace  :  butthe  favour-  CHAP. 
ite  eunuch  still  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  Jus-  ,*^*1. 
tinian,  or  the  leader  of  a  victorious  army  awed 
and  repressed  the  ingratitude  of  a  timid  court. 
Yet  it  was  not  by  weak  and  mischievous  indul- 
gence that  Narses  secured  the  attachment  of 
his  troops.  Forgetful  of  the  past,  and  regard- 
less  of  the  future,  they  abused  the  present  hour 
of  prosperity  and  peace.  The  cities  of  Italy 
resounded  with  the  noise  of  drinking  and 
dancing  :  the  spoils  of  victory  were  wasted  in 
sensual  pleasures  ;  and  nothing  (says  Agathias) 
remained,  unless  to  exchange  their  shields  and 
helmets  for  the  soft  lute  and  the  capacious 
hogshead/  In  a  manly  oration,  not  unworthy 
a  Roman  censor,  the  eunuch  reproved  those 
disorderly  vices,  which  sullied  their  fame  and 
endangered  their  safety.  The  soldiers  blush- 
ed and  obeyed  :  discipline  was  confirmed,  the 

J  r  jowilm 

fortifications  were  restored  ;  a  duke  was  sta- 
tioned for  the  defence  and  military  command 
of  each  of  the  principal  cities  ;'  and  the  eye  of 
Narses  pervaded  the  ample  prospect  from  Cala- 
bria to  the  Alps.  The  remains  of  the  Gothic 
nation  evacuated  the  country,  or  mingled  with 
the  people  :  the  Franks,  instead  of  revenging 
the  death  of  Buccelin,  abandoned,  without  a 


tivtf  xat  CapCiTb  ttTrcfcs-^ai,  (Agathias,  1.  u,  p.  48).  In  the  first  scene  of 
Richard  III.  our  English  poet  has  beautifully  enlarged  on  this  idea, 
for  which,  however,  he  was  not  indebted  to  the  Byzantine  historian. 

*  Maffei  has  proved,  (Verona  Illustrata,  P.  i,  1.x,  p.  257, 289),  against 
the  common  opinion,  that  the  duke«  of  Italy  were  instituted  before  the 
conquest  of  the  Lombards  by  Narses  himself.  In  the  Pragmatic  Sanc- 
tion, (Na  23),  Justinian  restrains  the  judices  inilitaies. 


400  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  struggle,  their  Italian  conquests  ;  and  the  re- 
^  bellious  Sindbal,  chief  of  the  Heruli,  was  sub- 
dued, taken,  and  hung  on  a  lofty  gallows  by  the 
inflexible  justice  of  the  exarch.*  The  civil  state 
of  Italy,  after  the  agitation  of  a  long  tempest, 
\vas  fixed  by  a  pragmatic  sanction,  which  the 
emperor  promulgated  at  the  request  of  the 
pope.  Justinian  introduced  his  own  jurispru- 
dence into  the  schools  and  tribunals  of  the 
West :  he  ratified  the  acts  of  Theodoric  and  his 
immediate  successors,  but  every  deed  was  re- 
scinded and  abolished,  which  force  had  extort- 
ed, or  fear  had  subscribed,  under  the  usurpa- 
tion of  Totila.  A  moderate  theory  was  framed 
to  reconcile  the  rights  of  property  with  the 
safety  of  prescription,  the  claims  of  the  state 
with  the  poverty  of  the  people,  and  the  pardon 
of  offences  with  the  interest  of  virtue  and  order 
of  society.  Under  the  exarchs  of  Ravenna, 
Rome  was  degraded  to  the  second  rank.  Yet 
the  senators  were  gratified  by  the  permission 
of  visiting  their  estates  in  Italy,  and  of  ap- 
proaching without  obstacle  the  throne  of  Con- 
stantinople; the  regulation  of  weights  and  mea- 
sures was  delegated  to  the  pope  and  senate ;  and 
the  salaries  of  lawyers  and  physicians,  of  ora- 
tors and  grammarians,  were  destined  to  pre- 
serve or  re- kindle  the  light  of  science  in  the 
ancient  capital.  Justinian  might  dictate  benevo- 
lent edicts,1  and  Narses  might  second  his  wishes 

*  See  Paulus  Diaconus,  1.  Hi,  c.  2,  p.  776.  Menander  (in  Excerpt. 
Legat.  p.  133)  mentions  some  risings  in  Italy  by  the  Franks,  and 
Theopbanes(p.  201)  hints  at  some  Gothic  rebellions. 

'  The  Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Justinian,  which  restores  and  regu- 

UfM 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  4Ql 

by  the  restoration  of  cities,  and  more  especial-  CHAP. 

•  •        XLIll 

ly   of  churches.     But  the  power  of  kings   is  f ',, 


most  effectual  to  destroy  :  and  the  twenty  years 
of  the  Gothic  war  had  consummated  the  dis* 
tress  and  depopulation  of  Italy.  As  early  as 
the  fourth  campaign,  under  the  discipline  of 
Belisarius  himself,  fifty  thousand  labourers  died 
of  hunger1"  in  the  narrow  region  of  Picenum;" 
and  a  strict  interpretation  of  the  evidence  of 
Procopius  would  swell  the  loss  of  Italy  above 
the  total  sum  of  her  present  inhabitants.0 

I   desire  to  believe,  but  I   dare  not  affirm,  invasi 
that  Belisarius  sincerely  rejoiced  in  the  triumph  g,,1 
of  Narses.     Yet  the  consciousness  of  his  own 

,      .  .  i  ••'    t   •  •    i  A.  D.   SS9. 

exploits  might  teach  him  to  esteem  without 
jealousy  the  merit  of  a  rival ;  and  the  repose 
of  the  aged  warrior  was  crowned  by  a  last 
victory  which  saved  the  emperor  and  the  capi- 
tal. The  barbarians  who  annually  visited  the 
provinces  of  Europe  were  less  discouraged  by 

lates  the  civil  state  of  Italy,  consists  of  xxvii  articles :  it  is  dated  Au- 
gust 15,  A.  D.  554;  is  addressed  to  Narses,  V.  J.  Praepositus  Sacri 
Cubiculi,  and  to  Antiochns,  Praefectus  Prastorio  Italia1 ;  and  has  been 
preserved  by  Julian  Antecessor,  and  in  tlie  Corpus  Juris  Civilis,  after 
the  novels  and  edicts  of  Justinian,  Justin,  and  Tiberius. 

m  A  still  greater  number  was  consumed  by  famine  in  the  southern 
provinces,  without  (SXTO?)  the  Ionian  gulf.  Acorns  were  used  in 
the  place  of  bread.  Procopins  had  seen  a  deserted  orphan  suckled 
by  a  she-goat.  Seventeen  passengers  were  lodged,  murdered,  and 
eaten  by  two  women,  who  were  detected  and  slain  by  the  eighteenth, 
&c. 

n  Qninta  regio  Piceni  est ;  quondam  uberrimae  multitudinis,  ccclx 
milHa  Pit-entiiim  in  fidem  P.  R.  venere,  (Plin.  Hist.  Natur  iii,  18). 
In  the  tiaie  of  Vespasian,  this  ancient  population  was  already  dimi- 
nished. 

c  Perhaps  fifteen  or  sixteen  millions.  Procopins  (Anecdot.  c.  18) 
computes  that  Africa  lost  five  millions,  that  Italy  was  thrice  as  exten- 
sive, and  that  the  depopulation  was  in  a  larger  proportion.  But  hi» 
reckoning  is  inflamed  by  passion,  and  clouded  with  uncertainty. 

VOL.    VII  D  d 


402  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  some  accidental  defeats,  than  they  were  excit- 

^ ^ed  by  the  double  hope  of  spoil  and  of  subsidy. 

In  the  thirty-second  winter  of  Justinian's  reign, 
the  Danube  was  deeply  frozen :  Zabergan  led 
the  cavalry  of  the  Bulgarians,  and  his  stand- 
ard was  followed  by  a  promiscuous  multitude 
of  Sclavonians.  The  savage  chief  passed, 
without  opposition,  the  river  and  the  mountains, 
spread  his  troops  over  Macedonia  and  Thrace, 
and  advanced  with  no  more  than  seven  thou- 
sand horse  to  the  long  walls  which  should  have 
defended  the  territory  of  Constantinople.  But 
the  works  of  man  are  impotent  against  the  as- 
saults of  nature:  a  recent  earthquake  had 
shaken  the  foundations  of  the  wall ;  and  the 
forces  of  the  empire  were  employed  on  the  dis- 
tant frontiers  of  Italy,  Africa,  and  Persia.  The 
seven  schools?  or  companies  of  the  guards  or 
domestic  troops,  had  been  augmented  to  the 
number  of  five  thousand  five  hundred  men, 
whose  ordinary  station  was  in  the  peaceful 
cities  of  Asia.  But  the  places  of  the  brave  Ar- 
menians were  insensibly  supplied  by  lazy  citi- 
zens, who  purchased  an  exemption  from  the 
duties  of  civil  life,  without  being  exposed  to 
the  dangers  of  military  service.  Of  such  sol- 
diers few  could  be  tempted  to  sally  from  the 
gates;  and  none  could  be  persuaded  to  remain 
in  the  field,  unless  they  wanted  strength  and 
speed  to  escape  from  the  Bulgarians.  The  re- 
port of  the  fugitives  exaggerated  the  numbers 

p  In  the  decay  of  these  military  schools,  the  satire  of  Procopius 
(Anecdot.  c.  24;  Aloman.  p.  102,  103)  is  confirmed  and  illustrated  by 
Agathias,  (1.  v,  p.  169),  who  cannot  be  rejected  as  an  hostile  witnesa 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

and  fierceness  of  an  enemy,  who  had  polluted  CHAV 
holy  virgins,  and  abandoned  new-born  infants  XLU 
to  the  dogs  and  vultures;  a  crowd  of  rustics, 
imploring  food  and  protection,  increased  the 
consternation  of  the  city,  and  the  tents  of  Za- 
bergan  were  pitched  at  the  distance  of  twenty 
miles,q  on  the  banks  of  a  small  river,  which  en- 
circles Melanthias,  and  afterwards  falls  into 
the  Propontis/  Justinian  trembled :  and  those 
who  had  only  seen  the  emperor  in  his  old  age, 
were  pleased  to  suppose,  that  he  had  lost  the 
alacrity  and  vigour  of  his  youth.  By  his  com- 
mand, the  vessels  of  gold  and  silver  were  re-^ 
moved  from  the  churches  in  the  neighbourhood! 
and  even  the  suburbs  of  Constantinople:  the 
ramparts  were  lined  with  trembling  spectators : 
the  golden  gate  was  crowded  with  useless  ge- 
nerals and  tribunes,  and  the  senate  shared  the 
fatigues  and  the  apprehensions  of  the  popu- 
lace. 

But  the  eyes  of  the  prince  and  people  wereLastvIC* 

11-1  i  i  torv of 

directed  to  a  feeble  veteran,   who  was  compel- 

led  by  the  public  danger  to  resume  the  armour 
in  which  he  had  entered  Carthage  and  defended 
Rome.  The  horses  of  the  royal  stables,  of  pri- 
vate citizens,  and  even  of  the  circus,  were  has- 

% 

4  The  distance  from  Constantinople  to  Melanthias,  Villa  Caesariana, 
(Aminian.  Marcellin.  xxx,  11),  is  variously  fixed  at  102  or  140  stadia, 
(Snidas,  torn,  ii,  p.  522,  523  ;  Agathias,  1.  v,  p.  158),  or  xviii  or  xix 
miles,  (Itineraria,  p.  138,  230,  323,  332,  and  Wesseling's  Observa- 
tions). The  first  xii  miles,  as  far  as  Rhegiiim,  were  paved  by  Justinian 
who  built  a  bridge  over  a  morass  or  gullet  between  a  lake  and  the  sea, 
(Procop.  de  Edif.l.  iv,  c.  8). 

*  The  Atyras,  (Pompon.  Mela,  1.  ii,  c.  2,  p.  169,  edit.  Voss).  At 
the  river's  mouth,  a  town  or  castle  of  the  same  name  was  fortified  by 
Justinian,  (Procop.  de  Edif.  1.  iv,  c.  2 ;  Itincrar.  p.  570,  and  \Vesst-i- 
ing) 


404  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  tily  collected;  the  emulation  of  the  old  and 
.'.,'.„'.„  you»g  was  roused  by  the  name  of  Belisarius, 
and  his  first  encampment  was  in  the  presence 
of  a  victorious  enemy.  His  prudence,  and  the 
labour  of  the  friendly  peasants,  secured  with  a 
ditch  and  rampart  the  repose  of  the  night:  in- 
numerable fires  and  clouds  of  dust,  were  artful- 
ly contrived  to  magnify  the  opinion  of  his 
strength:  his  soldiers  suddenly  passed  from 
despondency  to  presumption;  and  while  ten 
thousand  voices  demanded  the  battle,  Belisari- 
us dissembled  his  knowledge,  that  in  the  hour 
of  trial  he  must  depend  on  the  firmness  of  three 
hundred  veterans.  The  next  morning  the  Bul- 
garian cavalry  advanced  to  the  charge.  But 
they  heard  the  shouts  of  multitudes,  they  be- 
held the  arms  and  discipline  of  the  front;  they 
were  assaulted  on  the  flanks  by  two  ambus- 
cades which  rose  from  the  woods ;  their  fore- 
most warriors  fell  by  the  hand  of  the  aged  hero 
and  his  guards;  and  the  swiftness  of  their  evo- 
lutions was  rendered  useless  by  the  close  at- 
tack and  rapid  pursuit  of  the  Romans.  In  this 
action  (so  speedy  was  their  flight)  the  Bulga- 
rians lost  only  four  hundred  horse;  but  Con- 
stantinople was  saved;  and  Zabergan,  who  felt 
the  hand  of  a  master,  withdrew  to  a  respectful 
distance.  But  his  friends  were  numerous  in  the 
councils  of  the  emperor,  and  Belisarius  obeyed 
with  reluctance  the  commands  of  envy  and 
Justinian,  which  forbade  him  to  atchievo  the 
deliverance  of  his  country.  On  his  return  to 
the  city,  the  people,  still  conscious  of  their  danger, 
accompanied  his  triumph  with  acclamations  of 
iov  and  gratitude,  which  were  imputed  as  a 


OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  405 

crime  to  the  victorious  general.  But  when  he  CHAP. 
entered  the  palace,  the  courtiers  were  silent,  XIjII] 
and  the  emperor,  after  a  cold  and  thankless  em- 
brace, dismissed  him  to  mingle  with  the  train 
of  slaves.  Yet  so  deep  was  the  impression  of 
his  glory  on  the  minds  of  men,  that  Justinian, 
in  the  seventy-seventh  year  of  his  age,  was  en- 
couraged to  advance  near  forty  miles  from  the 
capital,  and  to  inspect  in  person  the  restoration 
of  the  long  wall.  The  Bulgarians  wasted  the 
summer  in  the  plains  of  Thrace:  but  they  were 
inclined  to  peace  by  the  failure  of  their  rash  at- 
tempts on  Greece  and  the  Chersonesus.  A 
menace  of  killing  their  prisoners  quickened  the 
payment  of  heavy  ransoms;  and  the  departure 
of  Zabergan  was  hastened  by  the  report,  that 
double-prowed  vessels  were  built  on  the  Da- 
nube to  intercept  his  passage.  The  danger  was 
soon  forgotten;  and  a  vain  question,  whether 
their  sovereign  had  shewn  more  wisdom  or 
weakness,  amused  the  idleness  of  the  city.8 

About  two  years  after  the  last  victory  of  Be- His  di»- 
lisarius,  the  emperor  returned  from  a  Thracian  death,"" 
journey  of  health,   or  business,    or  devotion.  A>  D<661* 
Justinian  was  afflicted  by  a  pain  in  his   head; 
and  his  private  entry  countenanced  the  rumour 
of  nis  death.     Before  the  third  hour  of  the  day, 
the  bakers  shops  wereplundered  of  their  bread, 
the  houses  were  shut,   and  every  citizen,  with 
hope  or  terror  prepared  for  the  impending  tu- 

*  The  Bulgarian  war,  and  the  last  victory  of  Belisarius,  are  imper- 
ftctly  represented  in  the  prolix  declamation  of  Agathias,  (1.  5,  p.  154- 
174),  and  the  dry  Chronicle  of  Tlieophanes,  (p.  107,  198). 


406  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.  mult.  The  senators  themselves,  fearful  and 
^suspicious,  were  convened  at  the  ninth  hour; 
and  the  prefect  received  their  commands  to  vi- 
sit every  quarter  of  the  city,  and  proclaim  a 
general  illumination  for  the  recovery  of  the  em- 
peror's health.  The  ferment  subsided;  but 
every  accident  betrayed  the  impotence  of  the 
government  and  the  factious  temper  of  the  peo- 
ple: the  guards  were  disposed  to  mutiny  as  of- 
ten as  their  quarters  were  changed  or  their  pay 
was  withheld :  the  frequent  calamities  of  fires 
and  earthquakes  afforded  the  opportunities  of 
disorder ;  the  disputes  of  the  blues  and  greens, 
of  the  orthodox  and  heretics,  degenerated  into 
bloody  battles;  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Per- 
sian ambassador,  Justinian  blushed  for  him- 
self and  his  subjects.  Capricious  pardon  and 
arbitrary  punishment  embittered  the  irksomeness 
and  discontent  of  a  long  reign :  a  conspiracy 
was  formed  in  the  palace;  and,  unless  we  are 
deceived  by  the  names  of  Marcel  1  us  and  Ser- 
gius,  the  most  virtuous  and  the  most  profligate 
of  the  courtiers  were  associated  in  the  same  de- 
signs. They  had  fixed  the  time  of  the  execution ; 
their  rank  gave  them  access  to  the  royal  ban- 
quet; and  their  black  slaves'  were  stationed  in 
the  vestibule  and  porticos,  to  announce  the 
death  of  the  tyrant,  and  to  excite  a  sedition  in 
the  capital.  But  the  indiscretion  of  an  accom- 
plice saved  the  poor  remnant  of  the  days  of 

*  ivSa;.  They  could  scarcely  be  real  Indians ;  and  the  ./Ethiopians, 
sometimes  known  by  that  name,  were  never  used  by  the  anrii  nts  as 
guards  or  followers :  they  were  the  trifling,  ihoiigh  costly,  objects  of 
female  and  royal  luxury,  (Terent.  Eunuch,  act.  i.  s.cene  ii ;  Sneton.  iu 
August,  c.  S3,  with  a  good  note  of  Casauuou,  in  Caligula,  c.  57). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  407 

Justinian.      The  conspirators    were    detected    CHAP. 
and  seized,  with  daggers  hidden  under  their  ^JJJJ^ 
garments :    Marcellus  died  by  his  own  hand, 
and  Sergius  was  dragged  from  the  sanctuary." 
Pressed  by  remorse,  or  tempted  by  the  hopes 
of  safety,  he  accused  two  officers  of  the  house- 
hold of  Belisarius ;   and  torture  forced  them  to 

*-if  I  I 

declare  that  they  had  aeted  according  to  the 
secret  instruction  of  their  patron  .x  Posterity 
will  not  hastily  believe  that  an  hero,  who,  in 
the  vigour  of  life,  had  disdained  the  fairest  of- 
fers of  ambition  and  revenge,  should  stoop  to 
the  murder  of  his  prince,  whom  he  could 
not  long  expect  to  survive.  His  followers  were 
impatient  to  fly  ;  but  flight  must  have  been  sup- 
ported by  rebellion,  and  he  had  lived  enough  for 
nature  and  for  glory.  Belisarius  appeared  be-  A.  D.  SGS. 
fore  the  council  with  less  fear  than  indignation ; 
after  forty  year's  service,  the  emperor  had  pre- 
judged his  guilt;  and  injustice  was  sanctified 
by  the  presence  and  authority  of  the  patriarch. 
The  life  of  Belisarius  was  graciously  spared; 
but  his  fortunes  were  sequestered,  and  from  De- 
cember to  July,  he  was  guarded  as  a  prisoner 
in  his  own  palace.  At  length  his  innocence  A.  „. 564) 
was  acknowledged;  his  freedom  and  honours  July  19t 
were  restored ;  and  death,  which  might  be 
hastened  by  resentment  and  grief,  removed  him 
from  the  world  about  eight  months  after  his 
deliverance.  The  name  of  Belisarius  can  never  A- D-  £65, 

March  IS* 

u  The  Sergius  (Vandal.  1.  ii,  c.  21,  22 ;  Anecdot.  c.  5)  and  Mavcel- 
1ns  (Goth.  1.  iii,  c.  32)  are  mentioned  by  Procopius.  See  Theophano, 
p.  197,  201.  \ 

*  Alrmanr.iu  (p.  3)  quotes  an  old  Byzantine  MS.  which  lias  bee* 
printed  iu  the  Impeiiiini  Orientale  of  Bandnri. 


408  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  die:  but  instead  of  the  funeral,  the  monuments, 
„'„.  ____  '„„  the  statues,  so  justly  due  to  his  memory,  I  only 
read,  that  his  treasures,  the  spoils  of  the  Goths 
and  Vandals,\vere  immediately  confiscated  by  the 
emperor.  Some  decent  portion  was  reserved, 
howerer,  for  the  use  of  his  widow;  and  as  Anto- 
nina  had  much  to  repent,  she  devoted  the  last 
remains  of  her  life  and  fortune  to  the  founda- 
tion of  a  convent.  Such  is  the  simple  and  ge- 
nuine narrative  of  the  fall  of  Belisarius  and  the 
ingratitude  of  Justinian.7  That  he  was  depriv- 
ed of  his  eyes,  and  reduced  by  envy  to  beg  his 
bread,  ft  Give  a  penny  to  Belisarius  the  gene- 
ral !"  is  a  fiction  of  later  times,1  which  has  ob- 
tained credit,  or  rather  favour,  as  a  strange  ex- 
ample of  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune.* 

*  Of  the  disgrace  and  restoration  of  Belisarius,  the  genuine  original 
record  is  preserved  in  the  fragment  of  John  Malala,    (torn,  ii,  p.  134  — 
213),  and  the  exact  Chronicle  of  Theophanes,  (p.  194—204).     Cedre- 
nus,  (Compend.  p.  387,388),  and  Zenoras,  (torn,  ii,  1.  xiv,  p.  69),  seem 
to  hesitate  between  the  obsolete  truth  and  the  growing  falsehood. 

*  The  source  of  this  idle  fable  may  be  derived  from  a  miscellaneons 
work  of  the  xiith  century,  the  Chiliads  of  John  Tzetzes,  a  monk,  (Basil, 
1546,  ad  calcem  Lycophront,  Colon.  Allobrog.  1014,  in  Corp.  Poet. 
Grae.).     He  relates  the  blindness  and   beggary  of  Belisariiis   in  ten 
vulgar  or  political  verses,  (Chiliad  Hi,  N°.88,  339—348,  in  Corp.  Poet. 
Graee.  torn,  ii,  p.  311). 

Exws^ua  £uXiVW  KfttTtiy  tBta.  Ttp 
BcXia-afiM  oiSoXiv  $tre  TW  {-pamXa 
£jo?aB-£i,  arrori^Xci  J' 


This  moral  or  romantic  tale  was  imported  into  Italy  with  the  language 
and  manuscripts  of  Greece  ;  repeated  before  the  end  of  the  xvth  cen- 
tury by  Crinitus,  Pontanus,  and  Volaterranus  ;  attacked  by  Alciat, 
for  the  honour  of  the  law  ;  and  defended  by  Barronius  (A.  D.  461, 
N°.  2,  &c.)  for  the  honour  of  the  church.  Yet  Tzetzes  himself  had 
read  in  other  chronicles,  that  Belisarius  did  not  lose  his  sight,  and  that 
he  recovered  his  fame  and  fortunes. 

*  The  statue  in  the  villa  Borghese  at  Rome,  in  a  sitting  poslur* 
with  an  open  hand,  which  is  vulgarly  given  to  Belisarius,  may  be  as- 
cribed with  more  dignity  to  Augustus  in  the  act  of  propitiating  Ne- 

mesis 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  409 

If  the  emperor  could  rejoice  in  the  death  of  CHAP 
Belisarius,  he  enjoyed  the  base  satisfaction  only    XL|111- 
eight  months,  the  last  period  of  a  reign  of  thirty  Death  and 
eight,  and  a  life  of  eighty-three,  years.     It  would  Jj  j'Si!r 
be  difficult  to  trace  the  character  of  a  prince  who  niau>  , 

*  A.  D.  565, 

is  not  the  most  conspicuous  object  of  his  own  NOV.  H. 
times :  but  the  confessions  of  an  enemy  may  be 
received  as  the  safest  evidence  of  his  virtues. 
The  resemblance  of  Justinian  to  the  bust  of 
Domitian,  is  maliciously  urged  ;b  with  the  ac- 
knowledgment, however,  of  a  well-proportion- 
ed figure,  ruddy  complexion  and  pleasing  coun- 
tenance. The  emperor  was  easy  of  access,  pa- 
tient of  hearing,  courteous  and  affable  in  dis- 
course, and  a  master  of  the  angry  passions,  which 
rage  with  such  destructive  violence  in  the 
breast  of  a  despot.  Procopius  praises  his  tem- 
per to  reproach  him  with  cairn  and  deliberate 
cruelty  ;  but  in  the  conspiracies  which  attack- 
ed his  authority  and  person,  a  more  candid 
judge  will  approve  the  justice  or  admire  the 
clemenr  y  of  Justinian.  He  excelled  in  the  pri- 
vate virtues  of  chastity  and  temperance :  but 
the  impartial  love  of  beauty  would  hare  been 
less  mischievous,  than  his  conjugal  tenderness 
for  Theodora;  and  his  abstemious  diet  was  re- 
gulated, not  by  the  prudence  of  a  philosopher, 

mcsis,  (Winkelman,  Hist,  de  1'Art.  torn,  iii,  p.  266).  Ex  nocturno 
visu  etiam  stipem,  quotannis,  die  certo,  cmcndicabat  a  populo,  cava-m 
nianum  asses  porrigentibus  prebens,  (Sueton.  in  August,  c.  91,  with 
an  excellent  note  of  Cassaubon). 

b  The  rubor  of  Domitian  is  stigmatize  i,  quaintly  enough,  by  the  pen 
of  Tacitus,  (in  Vit.  Agricol.  c.  54);  and  has  been  likewise  noticed  by 
the  younger  Pliny,  (Panegyr.  c.  48),  and  Suetonius,  (in  Domitian,  c. 
18,  a:id  Casaubon  ad  locum).  Procopius  (Anecdot.  c.  8)  foolishly  be- 
lieves that  only  one  bust  of  Domitian  had  reached  the  vitii 


410  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,   but  the  superstition  of  a  monk.     His  repasts 

XL1II 

f\ "^  were  short  and  frugal :  on  solemn  fasts,  he  con- 
tented himself  with  water  and  vegetables;  and 
such  was  his  strength,  as  well  as  fervour,  that 
he  frequently  passed  two  days  and  as  many 
nights,  without  tasting  any  food.  The  mea- 
sure of  his  sleep  was  not  less  rigorous:  after 
,  the  repose  of  a  single  hour,  the  body  was 
I  awakened  by  the  soul,  and,  to  the  astonishment 
j  of  his  chamberlains,  Justinian  walked  or  studied 
till  the  morning  light.  Such  restless  applica- 
tion prolonged  his  time  for  the  acquisition  of 
"knowledge,*  and  the  despatch  of  business :  and 
he  might  seriously  deserve  the  reproach  of  con- 
founding, by  minute  and  preposterous  diligence, 
the  general  order  of  his  administration.  The 
emperor  professed  himself  a  musician  and  ar- 
chitect, a  poet  and  philosopher,  a  lawyer  and 
theologian ;  and  if  he  failed  in  the  enterprise  of 
reconciling  the  Christian  sects,  the  review  of 
the  Roman  jurisprudence  is  a  noble  monument 
of  his  spirit  and  industry.  In  the  government 
of  the  empire,  he  was  less  wise  or  less  success- 
ful: the  age  was  unfortunate;  the  people  was 
oppressed  and  discontented;  Theodora  abus- 
ed her  power;  a  succession  of  bad  ministers 

*  '  , 

disgraced  his  judgment ;  and  Justinian  was  nei- 
ther beloved  in  his  life,  nor  regretted  at  his 
death.  The  love  of  fame  was  deeply  implant- 
ed in  his  breast,  but  he  condescended  to  the 

c  The  studies  and  science  of  Justinian  are  attested  by  the  confession, 
(Aiu'cdot.  c.  8,  13),  still  more  than  by  the  praises,  (Gothic.  1.  iii,  c. 
31 ;  de  Edific.  1.  i ;  Proem,  c.  7),  of  Procopius,  Consult  the  copious 
index  of  Alemauus,  aud  read  the  life  of  Justinian  by  Ludewig,  (p 

US— 142). 
a  at  em-  "at  unqo  • 


•"••"     (IJt 

OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  411 

_ 

poor  ambition  of  titles,   honours,   and  contein-  CHAP. 
porary  praise;  and  while  belaboured  to  fix  the 
admiration,  he  forfeited  the  esteem  and  affec- 
tion of  the  Romans.     The  design  of  the  African 

and  Italian  wars    was   boldly   conceived  and 

•» 

executed:  and  his  penetration  discovered  the 

-^     ,  .         'ii,a«rnW^itf»'y*"i'"ll'f^i"»«"»««l»*iNI»l**'l''l'*rnf  . 

talents  of  Belisanus  in  the  camp,  01  IS  arses  in 

.'i       '4AilW>A>  Jf*^M#Httfi>ail>  '      .  .-.         i 

iijtJfmLP      ce*  name  of  the  emperor  is 

ec1ij)S(>d  by  the  names  of  his  victorious  generals; 
and  Belisarius  still  lives,  to  upbraid  the  envy 
•and  ingratitude  of  his  sovereign.  The  partial 
favour  of  mankind  applauds  the  genius  of  a 
conqueror,  who  leads  and  directs  his  subjects 
in  the  exercise  of  arms.  The  characters  of 
Philip  II.  and  of  Justinian  are  distinguished  by 
the  cold  ambition  winch  delights  in  war,  and 
declines  the  dangers  of  the  field.  Yet  a  colos- 
sal statue  of  bronze  represented  the  emperor 
on  horseback,  preparing  to  march  against 
the  Persians  in  the  habit  and  armour  of  Achil- 
les. In  the  great  square  before  the  church  of 
St.  Sophia,  this  monument  was  raised  on  a  brass 
column  and  a  stone  pedestal  of  seven  steps:  and 
the  pillar  of  Theodosius,  which  weighed  seven 
thousand  four  hundred  pounds  of  silver  was 
removed  from  the  same  place  by  the  avarice  and 

r  j 

vanity  of  Justinian.  Future  princes  were  more 
just  or  indulgent  to  his  memory;  the  elder  An- 
dronicus,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  repaired  and  beautified  his  equestrian 
statute:  since  the  fall  of  the  empire  it  has  been 
melted  into  cannon  by  the  victorious  Turks/ 

*  See  in  the  C.  P.  Christiana  of  Ducange,  (l.i,  c.  24,  N°.  1),  a  chain 
of  original  testimonies,  from  Procopius  in  the  vith,  to  Gyllius  in  the 
avth,  century. 


THK  DECLINE  AND  FALL 


CHAP.        I  shall  conclude  this  chapter  with  the  comets, 
XLIII.          earthqUakeS)  and  j  j,e  p]ague,  which  aston- 


ished or  afflicted  the  age  of  Justinian, 
comet*,  I.  In  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign,  and  in  the 
639.  "  month  of  September,  a  cornet'  was  seen  during 
twenty  days  in  the  western  quarter  of  the  hea- 
vens, and  which  shot  its  rays  into  the  North. 
Eight  years  afterwards,  while  the  sun  was  in 
Capricorn,  another  comet  appeared  to  follow 
in  the  Sagitary:  the  size  was  gradually  increas- 
ing ;  the  head  was  in  the  East,  the  tail  in  the 
West,  and  it  remained  visible  about  forty  days. 
The  nations,  who  gazed  with  astonishment,  ex- 
pected wars  and  calamities  from  their  baleful 
influence ;  and  these  expectations  were  abun- 
dantly fulfilled.  The  astronomers  dissembled 
their  ignorance  of  the  nature  of  these  blazing 
stars,  which  they  affected  to  represent  as  the 
floating  meteors  of  the  air;  and  few  among 
them  embraced  the  simple  notion  of  Seneca  and 
the  Chaldaeans,  that  they  are  only  planets  of  a 
longer  period  and  more  eccentric  motion/  Time 
and  science  have  justified  the  predictions  of 
the  Roman  sage:  the  telescope  has  opened  new 
worlds  to  the  eyes  of  astronomers;*  and,  in  the 

'  The  first  Comet  is  mentioned  by  John  Malala,  (torn,  ii,  p- 190, 219), 
and  Theophanes,  (p.  154) ;  the  second  by  Pi  ocopius,  (Persic.  1.  ii,  c. 
4).  Yet  I  strongly  suspect  their  identity.  The  paleness  of  the  sun 
(Vandal.  1.  ii,  c.  14)  is  applied  by  Theophanes  (p.  158)  to  a  different 
year. 

f  Seneca's  viith  book  of  Natural  Questions  displays,  in  the  theory 
of  comets,  a  philosophic  mind.  Yet  should  we  not  too  candidly  con- 
found a  vague  prediction,  a  veniet  tempus,  &c.  with  the  merit  of  real 
discoveries. 

*  Astronomers  may  study  Newton  and  Halley.  I  draw  my  hum- 
ble science  from  the  article  COMETE,  in  the  French  Encyclopedic  by 
M.  d'Alcmbtrt  ' 


OF  THF.  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  413 

narrow  space  of  history  and  fable,  one  and  the    CHAP. 
same  comet  is  already  found  to  have  revisited  x 
the  earth  in  seven  equal  revolutions  of  five  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  years.     Thej£r*/,h  which 
ascends  beyond  the  Christian  era  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  sixty-seven  years,   is  coeval 
with  Ogyges  the  father  of  Grecian  antiquity. 
And  this    appearance  explains    the  tradition 
which  Varro  has  preserved,  that  under  his  reign 
the  planet  Venus  changed  her  colour,  size,  fi- 
gure,  and  course;  a  prodigy  without  example 
either  in  past  or  succeeding  ages.1     The  second 
visit,   in  the  year  eleven  hundred  and  ninety - 
three,  is  darkly  implied  in  the  fable  of  Electra 
the  seventh  of  the  Pleiads,   who  have  been  re- 
duced to  six  since  the  time  of  the  Trojan  war. 
That  nymph,  the  wife  of  Dardanus,  was  un- 
able to  support  the  ruin  of  her  country;    she 
abandoned  the  dances  of  her  sister  orbs,  fled 
from  the  zodiac  to  the  north  pole,  and  obtain- 
ed, from  her  dishevelled  locks,  the  name  of  the 
comet.     The  third  period   expires  in  the  year 
six  hundred  and  eighteen,   a  date  that  exactly 
agrees  with  the  tremendous  cornet  of  the  Si  by  11, 
and  perhaps  of  Pliny,  which  arose  in  the  West 
two  generations  before  the  reign  of  Cyrus.  The 
fourth  apparition,  forty-four  years   before  the 

*  .Whiston,  the  honest,  pious,  visionary  Whiston,  had  fancied,  for  tiie 
era  of  Noah's  flood,  (2242  years  before  Christ),  a  prior  apparition  «f 
the  same  comet  which  drowned  the  earth  with  its  tail. 

1  A  dissertation  of  Ferret  (Memoires  del'Academie  des  Inscriptions, 
torn,  x,  p.  357 — 377)  affords  an  happy  union  of  philosophy  and  erudi- 
tion. The  phenomenon  in  the  time  of  Oxyges  was  preserved  by  Varra, 
(apnd  Angustin.  de  Civitate  Dei  xxi,  8),  who  quotes  Castor,  Dion  of 
Naples,  and  Adrastns  of  Cyziciis — nobiles  mathematici.  The  two  sub- 
sequent periods  are  preserved  by  the  Greek  mythologists  and  the  spuri- 
ous books  of  SibvlHsie  versus 


414  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  birth  of  Christ,  is  of  all  others  the  most  splen- 
-~i"L  did  and  important.  After  the  death  of  Caesar, 
a  long-haired  star  was  conspicuous  to  Rome 
and  to  the  nations,  during  the  games  which 
were  exhibited  by  young  Octavian,  in  honour 
of  Venus  and  his  uncle.  The  vulgar  opinion, 
that  it  conveyed  to  heaven  the  divine  soul  of 
the  dictator,  was  cherished  and  consecrated  by 
the  piety  of  a  statesmen:  while  his  secret  su- 
perstition referred  the  comet  to  the  glory  of  his 
own  times. k  The  fifth  visit  has-  been  already 
ascribed  to  the  fifth  year  of  Justinian,  which 
coincides  with  the  five  hundred  and  thirty-first 
of  the  Christian  era.  And  it  may  deserve  no- 
tice, that  in  this,  as  in  the  preceding  instance, 
the  comet  was  followed,  though  at  a  longer  in- 
terval, by  a  remarkable  paleness  of  the  sun. 
The  sixth  return,  in  the  year  eleven  hundred 
and  six,  is  recorded  by  the  chronicles  of  Europe 
and  China;  and  in  the  first  fervour  of  the  Cru- 
sades, the  Christians  and  the  Mahometans 
might  surmise,  with  equal  reason,  that  it  por- 
tended the  destruction  of  the  infidels.  The 
seventh  phenomenon  of  one  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  eighty  was  presented  to  the  eyes  of 
an  enlightened  age.1  The  philosophy  of  Bayle 

k  Pliny  (Hist.  Nat.  ii,  23)  has  transcribed  the  original  memorial  of 
Augustus.  Mairai),  in  his  most  ingenious  letters  to  the  P.  Parennin, 
missionary  in  China,  removes  the  games  and  the  comet  of  September, 
from  the  year  44  to  the  year  43,  before  the  Christian  era ;  but  I  am 
not  totally  subdued  by  the  criticism  of  the  astronomer,  (Opuscules, 
p.  275—351). 

1  This  last  comet  was  visible  in  the  month  of  December  1680.  Bayle, 
who  began  his  Fensees  sur  le  Comete  iu  January  1681,  (Oenvres,  torn, 
iii),  was  forced  to  argue  that  a  supernatural  comet  would  have  confirm- 
ed the  ancients  in  their  idolatry.  Bernoulli  (see  his  Eloge,  in  Fon- 

tenclle 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  415 

dispelled  a  prejudice  which  Milton's  muse  had  CHAP. 

so  recently  adorned,  that  the  comet,  "  from  its  , '„ 

"  horrid  hair,  shakes  pestilence  and  war."m  Its 
road  in  the  heavens  was  observed  with  exquisite 
skill  by  Flamstead  and  Cassini;  and  the  ma- 
thematical science  of  Bernoulli,  Newton,  and 
Halley,  investigated  the  laws  of  its  revolutions. 
At  the  eighth  period,  in  the  year  two  thousand 
two  hundred  and  fifty-five,  their  calculations 
may  perhaps  be  verified  by  the  astronomers  of 
some  future  capital  in  the  Siberian  or  American 
wilderness. 

II.  The  near  approach  of  a  comet  may  in-  Earth- 
jure  or  destroy  the  globe  which  we  inhabit;  but  ^nakcs- 
the  changes  on  its  surface  have  been  hitherto 
produced  by  the  action  ofvolcanos  and  earth- 
quakes.11 The  nature  of  the  soil  may  indicate 
the  countries  most  exposed  to  these  formidable 
concussions,  since  they  are  caused  by  subter- 
raneous fires,  and  such  fires  are  kindled  by  the 
union  and  fermentation  of  iron  and  sulphur. 
But  their  times  and  effects  appear  to  lie  beyond 
the  reach  of  human  curiosity,  and  the  philoso- 
pher will  discreetly  abstain  from  the  prediction 
of  earthquakes,  till  he  has  counted  the  drops  of 
water  that  silently  filtrate  on  the  inflammable 

tenelle,  torn.  v.  p.  99)  was  forced  to  allow  that  the  tail,  though  not  the 
head,  was  a  sign  of  the  wrath  of  God. 

m  Paradise  Lost  was  published  in  the  year  1667;  and  the  famous 
lines  (I.  ii,  708,  &c.)  which  startled  the  licenser,  may  allude  to  the  re- 
cent comet  of  1664,  observed  by  Cassini  at  Rome  in  the  presence  of 
Queen  Christina,  (Fontenelle,  in  his  Eloge,  torn,  v,  p.  338).  Had 
Charles  II  betrayed  any  symptoms  of  curiosity  or  fear  f 

"  For  the  cause  of  earthquakes,  see  Buffon,  (torn,  i,  p.  502—536  ; 
Supplement  4  PHist.  Natnrelle,  torn,  v,  p.  382 — 390,  edition  Jn4to); 
Valmont  de  Bomare,  (Dictionaire  d'Histoire  Naturelle,  TremblemMf 
de  Terre,  Pyrites);  Watson,  (Chemical  Essays^  torn,  i,  p.  181—209). 


410  *«*.  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  mineral,  and  measured  the  caverns  which  in- 
IIL  crease  by  resistance  the  explosion  of  the  im- 
prisoned air.  Without  assigning  the  cause, 
history  will  distinguish  the  periods  in  which 
these  calamitous  events  have  been  rare  or  fre- 
quent, and  will  observe  that  this  fever  of  the 
earth  raged  with  uncommon  violence  during 
the  reign  of  Justinian.0  Each  year  is  marked 
by  the  repetition  of  earthquakes,  of  such  dura- 
tion, that  Constantinople  has  been  shaken  above 
forty  days ;  of  such  extent,  that  the  shock  has 
been  communicated  to  the  whole  surface  of  the 
globe,  or  at  least  of  the  Roman  empire.  An 
impulsive  or  vibratory  motion  was  felt:  enor- 
mous chasms  were  opened,  huge  and  heavy 
bodies  were  discharged  into  the  air,  the  sea  al- 
ternately advanced  and  retreated  beyond  its  or- 
dinary bounds,  and  a  mountain  was  torn  from 
Libanus,p  and  cast  into  the  waves,  where  it  pro 
tected,  as  a  mole,  the  new  harbour  of  Botrysq 
in  Phoenicia.  The  stroke  that  agitates  an  ant- 
hill, may  crush  the  insect  myriads  in  the  dust; 
yet  truth  must  extort  a  confession,  that  man 
has  industriously  laboured  for  his  own  destruc- 
tion. The  institution  of  great  cities,  which  in- 
clude a  nation  within  the  limits  of  a  wall,,  al- 

0  The  earthquakes  that  shook  the  Roman  world  in  the  reign  of  Jus- 
tinian, are  described  or  mentioned  by  Procopins,  (Goth.  1.  IT,  c.  25  ; 
Anecdot.  c.  18);  Agathias,  (1  ii,  p.  52,  53,  54  ;  1.  v,  p.  145— 152J; 
John  Malala,  (Chron.  torn,  ii,  p.  140—146,  176,  177,  183,  220,  229, 
231,  233,  234),  and  Theophanes,  (p.  151,  183,  189,191—196). 

*  An  abrupt  height,  a  perpendicular  cape  between  Aradus  and 
IJotrys,  named  by  the  Greeks  SE«V  ir^offuv  and  ttivvpsimw  or  XtSo*-; orwirti 
by  the  scrupulous  Christians,  (Polyb.  1.  v,  p.  411.  Pompon.  Mela,  1. 
i,  c.  12,  p.  87,  cum  Isaac  Voss.  Observat.  Maundrell,  Journey,  p.  32, 
33.  Pocock's  Description,  vol.  ii,  p.  99). 

4  Boirys  was  founded  (ami.  a»  it  Christ.  935 — 903)  by  Ithobal,  kinf 
of  Tyre,  (Marsham,  Canon.  Chron.  387,  388).  Its  poor  repre»ent»- 
live,  tut-  village  of  Patrone,  is  now  destitute  of  an  harbour. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  417 

most  realizes  the  wish  of  Caligula,  that  the  Ro-    CHAP 

man  people  had  but  one  neck.     Two  hundred '  f 

and  fifty  thousand  persons  are  said  to  have  A.  «.  520, 
perished  in  the  earthquake  of  Antioch,  whose 
domestic  multitudes  were  swelled  by  the  con- 
flux of  starigers  to  the  festival  of  the  Ascension. 
The  loss  of  Berytusr  was  of  smaller  account,  A.».  ssi. 
but  of  a  much  greater  value.  That  city,  on  the  " '  * 
coast  of  Phoenicia,  was  illustrated  by  the  study 
of  the  civil  law,  which  opened  the  surest  road 
to  wealth  and  dignity :  the  schools  of  Berytua 
were  filled  with  the  rising  spirits  of  the  age,' and 
many  a  youth  was  lost  in  the  earthquake,  who 
might  have  lived  to  be  the  scourge  or  the  guar- 
dian of  his  country.  In  these  disasters*  the 
architect  becomes  the  enemy  of  mankind.  The 
hut  of  a  savage,  or  the  tent  of  an  Arab,  may  be 
thrown  down  without  injury  to  the  inhabitant; 
and  the  Peruvians  had  reason  to  describe  the 
folly  of  their  Spanish  conquerors,  who  with  so 
much  cost  and  labour  erected  their  own  se- 
pulchres. The  rich  marbles  of  a  patrician  are 
dashed  on  his  own  head:  a  whole  people  is 
buried  under  the  ruins  of  public  and  private  edi- 
fices, and  the  conflagration  is  kindled  and  pro- 
pagated by  the  innumerable  fires  which  are  ne- 
cessary for  the  subsistence  and  manufactures  of 
a  great  city.  Instead  of  the  mutual  sympathy 
which  might  comfort  and  assist  the  distressed, 
they  dreadfully  experience  the  vices  and  pas- 

r  The  university,  splendour,  and  ruin  of  Berytus,  are  celebrated  by 
Heineccus,  (p.  351—356),  as  an  essential  part  of  the  history  of  the 
Roman  Law.  It  was  overthrown  iu  the  xxvtli  year  of  Justinian,  A.  D. 
551,  July  9,  (Theophanes,  p.  192) ;  but  Agathias  (1.  ii,  p.  51,  52)  gui- 
pends  the  earthquake  till  he  has  achieved  the  Italian  war. 


1  18  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CFIAP.  sions  which  are  released  from  the  fear  of  pun- 
--.MII.  jshment;  the  tottering  houses  are  pillaged  by 
intrepid  avarice;  revenge  embraces  the  moment 
and  selects  the  victim;  and  the  earth  often 
swallows  the  assassin,  or  the  ravisher,  in  the 
consummation  of  their  crimes.  Superstition 
involves  the  present  danger  with  invisible  ter- 
rors; and  if  the  image  of  death  may  sometimes 
be  subservient  to  the  virtue  or  repentance  of 
individuals,  an  affrighted  people  is  more  forcibly 
moved  to  expect  the  end  of  the  world,  or  to  de- 
precate with  servile  homage  the  wrath  of  an 
avenging  Deity. 
Plague—  HI.  ./Ethiopia  and  Esrvpt  have  been  stisf- 

its  origin  ,    .  *** 

and  ua-  matized  in  every  age,  as  the  original  source 
lIKn  542.  and  seminary  of  the  plague.5  In  a  damp, 
hot  stagnating  air,  this  African  fever  is  gene- 
rated from  the  putrefaction  of  animal  sub- 
stances, and  especially  from  the  swarms  of  lo- 
custs, not  less  destructive  to  mankind  in  their 
death  than  in  their  lives.  The  fatal  disease 
which  depopulated  th^  earth  in  the  time  of 
Justinian  and  his  successors,'  first  appeared  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Pelusium,  between  the 
Serbonian  bog  and  the  eastern  channel  of  the 
Nile.  From  thence,  tracing  as  it  were  a  double 
path,  it  spread  to  the  East,  over  Syria,  Persia, 
and  the  Indies,  and  penetrated  to  the  West, 

*  I  have*  road  with  pleasure  Mead's  short,  but  elegant,  treatise  con- 
cerning Pestilential  Disorders,  the  viiilh  edition,  London,  1722. 

1  The  great  plague  which  raged  iu  542  and  the  following  years, 
(Pa/i,  Cjitici,  torn,  ii,  p.  518),  must  be  traced  in  Procopius,  (Persic. 
1.  ii,  c.  22,  23)  ;  Agathias,  (1.  v,  p.  153,  154)  ;  Evajjrius,  (I.  iv,  c.  29); 
Paul  Diaconns,  (1.  ii,  c.  4,  p.  776,  777) ;  Gregory  of  Tours,  (loin,  ii, 
1.  iv,  c  5,  p.  205)  who  styles  it  Lues  Inguinari't,  and  the  Chronicles  of 
Victor  Tu uiiiuicnsis,  (p.  9,  in  Thesaur.  Temponim) ;  of  Marcellinnv 
/p.  54).  ai:d  of  Theopiianes,  (p.  153). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  418 

along  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  over  the  conti-  CHAP, 
nent  of  Europe.  In  the  spring  of  the  second 
year,  Constantinople,  during  three  or  four 
months,  was  visited  by  the  pestilence;  and  Pro- 
copius,  who  observed  its  progress  and  symp- 
toms with  the  eyes  of  a  physician,"  has  emulat- 
ed the  skill  and  diligence  of  Thucydidesin  the 
description  of  the  plague  of  Athens/  The  in- 
fection was  sometimes  announced  by  the  visions 
of  a  distempered  fancy,  and  the  victim  despair- 
ed as  soon  as  he  had  heard  the  menace  and 
felt  the  stroke  of  an  invisible  spectre.  But  the 
greater  number,  in  their  beds,  in  the  streets,  in 
their  usual  occupation,  were  surprised  by  a 
slight  fever;  so  slight,  indeed,  that  neither  the 
pulse  nor  the  colour  of  the  patient  gave  any 
signs  of  the  approaching  danger.  The  same, 
the  next,  or  the  succeeding  day,  it  was  de- 
clared by  the  swelling  of  the  glands,  par- 
ticularly those  of  the  groin,  of  the  arm-pits, 
and  under  the  ear;  and  when  these  buboes 
or  tumours  were  opened,  they  were  found 
to  contain  a  coal,  or  black  substance,  of  the 
size  of  a  lentil.  If  they  came  to  a  just  swel- 
ling and  suppuration,  the  patient  was  saved  by 
this  kind  and  natural  discharge  of  the  morbid 
humour.  But  if  they  continued  hard  and  dry, 

"  Dr.  Frind  (Hist.  Medicin.  in  Opp.  p.  416—420,  Lond.  1733)  is 
satisfied  that  Procopius  must  have  studied  physic,  from  his  knowledge 
and  use  of  technical  words.  Yet  many  words  that  are  now  scientific, 
were  common  and  popular  in  the  Greek  idiom. 

*  See  Thucydides,  1.  ii,  c.  47—54,  p.  127—133,  edit.  Duker,  and  the 
poetical  description  of  the  same  plague  by  Lucretius,  (I.  vi,  1136 — 
1284).  I  was  indebted  to  Dr.  Hunter  for  an  elaborate  commentary  oa 
this  part  of  Thucydides,  a  quarto  of  600  pages,  (Tenet.  1003,  apnd 
Jitntasj,  iw'ftich  was  pronounced  in  St.  Mark's  library,  by  Fabitis  Paul- 
Utinensis,  a  physician  and  philosopher. 


420  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP,  a  mortification  quickly  ensued,  and  the  fifth 
...».„'„.  day  was  commonly  the  term  of  his  life.  The 
fever  was ,  often  accompanied  with  lethargy  or 
delirium;  the  bodies  of  the  sick  were  covered 
with  black  pustules  or  carbuncles,  the  symp- 
toms of  immediate  death ;  and  in  the  constitu- 
tions too  feeble  to  produce  an  eruption,  the  vo- 
miting of  blood  was  followed  by  a  mortification 
of  the  bowels.  To  pregnant  women  the  plague 
was  generally  mortal :  yet  one  infant  was  drawn 
alive  from  his  dead  mother,  and  three  mothers 
survived  the  loss  of  their  infected  foetus.  Youth 
was  the  most  perilous  season ;  and  the  female 
sex  was  less  susceptible  than  the  male;  but 
every  rank  and  profession  was  attacked  with 
indiscriminate  rage,  and  many  of  those  who 
escaped  were  deprived  of  the  use  of  their  speech, 
without  being  secure  from  a  reitirn  of  the  dis- 
order/ The  physicians  of  Constantinople  were 
zealous  and  skilful:  but  their  art  was  baffled 
by  the  various  symptoms  and  pertinacious  ve- 
hemence of  the  disease:  the  same  remedies  were 
productive  of  contrary  effects,  and  the  event 
capriciously  disappointed  their  prognostics  of 
death  or  recovery.  The  order  of  funerals,  and 
the  right  of  sepulchres,  were  confounded;  those 
who  were  left  without  friends  or  servants,  lay 
unburied  in  the  streets,  or  in  their  desolate 
houses;  and  a  magistrate  was  authorized  to. 
collect  the  promiscuous  heaps  of  dead  bodies, 

1  Thucydides  (c.  51)  affirms  that  the  infection  could  only  be  once 
taken  ;  but  Evagrius,  who  Lad  family-experience  of  the  plague,  ob- 
serves, that  some  persons,  who  had  escaped  the  first,  sunk  under  Hie 
second  attack;  and  this  repetition  is  confirmed  by  Fabius  Paullinus, 
(p  588).  I  observe  that  on  this  head  physicians  ;ire  divided:  and  thr 
aalnre  and  operation  of  the  disease  may  not  always  be  similar. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  42  I 

to  transport  them  by  land  or  water,  and  to  in-  CHAP 
ter  them  in  deep  pits  beyond  the  precinct  of  the 


city.  Their  own  danger,  and  the  prospect  of 
public  distress,  awakened  some  remorse  in  the 
minds  of  the  most  vicious  of  mankind ;  the  con- 
fidence of  health  again  revived  their  passions 
and  habits;  but.  philosophy  must  disdain  the 
observation  of  Procopius,  that  the  lives  of  such 
men  were  guarded  by  the  peculiar  favour  of 
fortune  or  providence.  He  forgot,  or  perhaps 
he  secretly  recollected,  that  the  plague  had 
touched  the  person  of  Justinian  himself;  but 
the  abstemious  diet  of  the  emperor  may  suggest, 
as  in  the  case  of  Socrates,  a  more  rational  and 
honourable  cause  for  his  recovery.*  During 
his  sickness,  the  public  consternation  was  ex- 
pressed in  the  habits  of  the  citizens;  and  their 
idleness  and  despondence  occasioned  a  general 
scarcity  in  the  capital  of  the  East. 

Contagion  is  the  inseparable  symptom  of  the  Extentand 
plague ;  which,  by  mutual  respiration,  is  trans- 
fused  from  the  infected  persons  to  the  lungs  and  594. 
stomach  of  those  who  approach  them.     While 
philosophers  believe  and  tremble,  it  is  singular, 
that  the  existence  of  a  real  danger  should  have 
been  denied  by  a  people  most  prone  to  vain  and 
imaginary  terrors.*       Yet  the  fellow-citizens  of 

T  It  was  thns  that  Socrates  had  been  saved  by  his  temperance,  in  the 
plague  of  Athens,  (Aul.  Gellius,  Noct.  Attic,  ii,  1).  Dr.  Mead  ac- 
counts for  the  peculiar  salubrity  of  religious  houses,  by  the  two  advan- 
tages of  seclusion  and  abstinence,  (p.  18,  19). 

Mead  proves  that  the  plague  is  contagions,  from  Tkncyh>des,  Lu- 
cretius, Arislotlo,  Galen,  and  common  experience,  (p.  16 — 20);  and 
he  refutes  < Preface,  p.  it— xiii)  the  contrary  opinion  of  the  French 
physicians,  who  visited  Marseilles  in  tlie  year  1720  Yet  these  were 


422  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL 

CHAP.  Procopius  were  satisfied,  by  some  short  and 
XLIII.  parf.jaj  experience,  that  the  infection  could  not 
be  gained  by  the  closest  conversation;1"  and  this 
persuasion  might  support  the  assiduity  of  friends 
or  physicians  in  the  care  of  the  sick,  whom  in- 
human prudence  would  have  condemned  to  so- 
litude and  despair.  But  the  fatal  security,  like 
the  predestination  of  the  Turks,  must  have  aid- 
ed the  progress  of  the  contagion;  and  those  sa- 
lutary precautions  to  which  Europe  is  indebt- 
ed for  her  safety,  were  unknown  to  the  govern- 
ment of  Justinian.  No  restraints  were  imposed 
on  the  free  and  frequent  intercourse  of  the  Ro- 
man provinces;  from  Persia  to  France,  the  na 
tions  were  mingled  and  infected  by  wars  and 
emigrations:  and  the  pestilential  odour  which 
lurks  for  years  in  a  bale  of  cotton,  was  import- 
ed, by  the  abuse  of  trade,  into  the  most  distant 
regions.  The  mode  of  its  propagation  is  ex- 
plained by  the  remark  of  Procopius  himself, 
that  it  always  spread  from  the  sea-coast  to  the 
inland  country;  the  most  sequestered  islands 
and  mountains  were  successively  visited;  the 
places  which  had  escaped  the  fury  of  its  first 
passage,  were  alone  exposed  to  the  contagion 
of  the  ensuing  year.  The  winds  might  diffuse 
that  subtle  venom;  but  unless  the  atmosphere 
be  previously  disposed  for  its  reception,  the 
plague  would  soon  expire  in  the  cold  or  tem- 

tbe  recent  and  enlightened  spectators  of  a  plague  which,  in  a  few 
month?,  swept  away  50,000  inhabitants  (sur  la  Peste  de  Marseille, 
Paris,  1786)  of  a  city  that,  in  the  present  hour  of  prosperity  and  trade, 
contains  no  more  than  90,000  souls,  (Necker,  sur  les  Finances,  torn,  i, 
p.  231). 

*  The  strong  assertions  of  Procopias — an  y<tf  I*TJ>«  wn  -/a(  iSi«ir»— 
are  overthrown  by  the  subsequent  experience  of  Evagi  ius. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  423 

perate  climates  of  the  earth.     Such  was  the  uni-  CHAP- 

versal  corruption  of  the  air,  that  the  pestilence  , „'„, 

which  burst  forth  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Jus- 
tinian was  not  checked  or  alleviated  by  any  dif- 
ference of  the  seasons.  In  time,  its  first  malig- 
nity was  abated  and  dispersed;  the  disease  al- 
*ernately  languished  and  revived  ;  but  it  was 
not  till  the  end  of  a  calamitous  period  of  fifty- 
two  years,  that  mankind  recovered  their  health, 
or  the  air  resumed  its  pure  and  salubrious  qua- 
lity. No  facts  have  been  preserved  to  sustain 
an  account,  or  even  a  conjecture,  of  the  num- 
bers that  perished  in  this  extraordinary  mor- 
tality. I  only  find,  that  during  three  months, 
five,  and  at  length  ten  thousand  persons  died 
each  day  at  Constantinople;  that  many  cities 
of  the  East  were  left  vacant,  and  that  in  several 
districts  of  Italy  the  harvest  and  the  vintage 
withered  on  the  ground.  The  triple  scourge 
of  war,  pestilence,  and  famine,  afflicted  the 
subjects  of  Justinian,  and  his  reign  is  disgraced 
by  a  visible  decrease  of  the  human  species, 
which  has  never  been  repaired  in  some  of  the 
fairest  countries  of  the  globe.' 

c  After  some  figures  of  rhetoric,  the  sands  of  the  sea,  Ac.  Proco- 
pius  (Anecdot.  c.  18)  attempts  a  more  definite  account:  that  /uvfi«>ar 
/uvfiaJctv  /uupi«?  had  been  exterminated  under  the  reign  of  the  imperial 
demon.  The  expression  is  obscure  in  grammar  and  arithmetic,  and  a 
literal  interpretation  would  produce  several  millions.  Alemannui, 
(p.  80),  and  Cousin,  (torn,  iii,  p.  178),  translate  this  passage,  "  two 
hundred  millions  j"  but  I  am  ignorant  of  their  motives.  If  we  drop 
the  (*vfi*l*s  the  remaining  pvfiatiiv  (AVfmt,  a  myriad  of  myriads,  would 
furnish  one  hundred  millions,  a  number  not  wholly  inadmissible. 

END  OF  THE  SEVENTH  VOLUME 


P!um:i.er  and  Rrpwis,  Printers,  Love-Lann.  T  j»le-E«tc*»p 


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