more advantageously employed for the defence and improvement of the state. The subjects of the East, who enjoyed the present benefit, applauded the indulgence of their prince. The solid, but

toleration.

less splendid, merit of Valentinian was felt and acknowledged by the subsequent generation.64 Valentinian main- But the most honourable cirtains the religious cumstance of the character of VaA. D. 364-375. lentinian, is the firm and temperate impartiality which he uniformly preserved in an age of religious contention. His strong sense, unenlightened, but uncorrupted, by study, declined, with respectful indifference, the subtle questions of theological debate. The government of the Earth claimed his vigilance, and satisfied his ambition; and while he remembered that he was the disciple of the church, he never forgot that he was the sovereign of the clergy. Under the reign of an apostate, he had signalised his zeal for the honour of Christianity: he allowed to his subjects the privilege which he had assumed for himself; and they might accept, with gratitude and confidence, the general toleration which was granted by a prince, addicted to passion, but incapable of fear or of disguise.65 The Pagans, the Jews, and all the various sects which acknowledged the divine authority of Christ, were protected by the laws from arbitrary power or popular insult; nor was any mode of worship prohibited by Valentinian, except those secret and criminal practices, which abused the name of religion for the dark purposes of vice and disorder. The art of magic, as it was more cruelly punished, was strictly proscribed; but the emperor admitted a formal distinction to protect the ancient methods of divination, which were approved by the senate, and exercised by the Tuscan haruspices. He had condemned, with the consent of the most rational Pagans, the licence of nocturnal sacrifices; but he immediately admitted the petition of Prætextatus, proconsul of Achaia, who represented, that the life of the Greeks would become dreary and comfortless, if they were deprived of the invaluable blessing of the Eleusinian mysteries. Philosophy alone can boast (and perhaps it is no more than the boast of philosophy), that her gentle hand is able to eradicate from the human mind the latent and

more

deadly principle of fanaticism. But this truce of twelve years, which was enforced by the wise and vigorous government of Valentinian, by suspending the repetition of mutual injuries, contributed to soften the manners, and abate the prejudices, of the religious factions.

persecutes the

The friend of toleration was unValens professes Arianism, and fortunately placed at a distance from Catholics. the scene of the fiercest controversies. A. D. 367-378, As soon as the Christians of the West had extricated themselves from the snares of the creed of Rimini, they happily relapsed into the slumber of orthodoxy; and the small remains of

64 Zosimus, 1. iv. p. 202. Ammian. xxx. 9. His reformation of costly abuses might entitle him to the praise of, in provinciales admodum parcus, tributorum ubique molliens sarcinas. By some his frugality was styled avarice. (Jerom. Chron. p. 186.)

65 Testes sunt leges a me in exordio Imperii mei datæ ; quibus unicuique quod animo imbibisset colendi libera facultas tributa est. Cod. Theodos. 1. ix. tit. xvi. leg. 9. To this declaration of Valentinian, we may add the various testimonies of Ainmianus (xxx. 9.), Zosimus L. iv. p. 201.), and Sozomen (1. vi. c. 7. 21.). Baronius would natu

the Arian party, that still subsisted at Sirmium or Milan, might be considered, rather as objects of contempt than of resentment. But in the provinces of the East, from the Euxine to the extremity of Thebais, the strength and numbers of the hostile factions were more equally balanced; and this equality, instead of recommending the counsels of peace, served only to perpetuate the horrors of religious war. The monks and bishops supported their arguments by invectives; and their invectives were sometimes followed by blows. Athanasius still reigned at Alexandria; the thrones of Constantinople and Antioch were occupied by Arian prelates, and every episcopal vacancy was the occasion of a popular tumult. The Homoousians were fortified by the reconciliation of fifty-nine Macedonian, or Semi-Arian, bishops; but their secret reluctance to embrace the divinity of the Holy Ghost clouded the splendour of the triumph: and the declaration of Valens, who, in the first years of his reign, had imitated the impartial conduct of his brother, was an important victory on the side of Arianism. The two brothers had passed their private life in the condition of catechumens; but the piety of Valens prompted him to solicit the sacrament of baptism, before he exposed his person to the dangers of a Gothic war. He naturally addressed himself to Eudoxus,66 bishop of the Imperial city; and if the ignorant monarch was instructed by that Arian pastor in the principles of heterodox theology, his misfortune, rather than his guilt, was the inevitable consequence of his erroneous choice. Whatever had been the determination of the emperor, he must have offended a numerous party of his Christian subjects; as the leaders both of the Homoousians and of the Arians believed, that, if they were not suffered to reign, they were most cruelly injured and oppressed. After he had taken this decisive step, it was extremely difficult for him to preserve either the virtue, or the reputation, of impartiality. He never aspired, like Constantius, to the fame of a profound theologian; but, as he had received with simplicity and respect the tenets of Eudoxus, Valens resigned his conscience to the direction of his ecclesiastical guides, and promoted, by the influence of his authority, the re-union of the Athanasian heretics to the body of the Catholic church. At first, he pitied their blindness; by degrees he was provoked at their obstinacy; and he insensibly hated those sectaries to whom he was an object of hatred. 67 The feeble mind of Valens was always swayed by the persons with whom he familiarly conversed; and the exile or imprisonment of a private citizen are the favours the most readily granted in a despotic court. Such punishments were frequently inflicted on the leaders of the Homoousian party; and the misfortune of fourscore ecclesiastics of Constantinople, who, perhaps accidentally, were burned on shipboard, was

rally blame such rational toleration (Annal. Ecclés. A.D. 370, No. 129 -132. A D. 376, No. 3, 4.).

66 Eudoxus was of a mild and timid disposition. When he bap tized Valens (A.D. 367.), he must have been extremely old; since he had studied theology fifty-five years before, under Lucian, a learned and pious martyr. Philostorg 1. ii. c. 14-16, 1. iv. c. 4., with Godefroy, p. 82. 206., and Tillemont, Mém. Eccles. tom. v. p. 474 -480, &c.

67 Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xxv. p. 432.) insults the persecuting spirit of the Arians, as an infallible symptom of error and heresy.

In

imputed to the cruel and premeditated malice of the emperor, and his Arian ministers. every contest, the Catholics (if we may anticipate that name) were obliged to pay the penalty of their own faults, and of those of their adversaries. In every election, the claims of the Arian candidate obtained the preference; and if they were opposed by the majority of the people, he was usually supported by the authority of the civil magistrate, or even by the terrors of a military force. The enemies of Athanasius attempted to disturb the last years of his venerable age; and his temporary retreat to his father's sepulchre has been celebrated as a fifth exile. But the zeal of a great people, who instantly flew to arms, intimidated the præfect; and the archbishop was permitted to end his life in peace and in glory, after a reign of forty-seven years. Death of Atha- The death of Athanasius was the A.D. 373, signal of the persecution of Egypt;

nasius.

May 2d. and the Pagan minister of Valens, who forcibly seated the worthless Lucius on the archiepiscopal throne, purchased the favour of the reigning party, by the blood and sufferings of their Christian brethren. The free toleration of the heathen and Jewish worship was bitterly lamented, as a circumstance which aggravated the misery of the Catholics, and the guilt of the impious tyrant of the East. 68

Just idea of his The triumph of the orthodox persecution. party has left a deep stain of persecution on the memory of Valens; and the character of a prince who derived his virtues, as well as his vices, from a feeble understanding, and a pusillanimous temper, scarcely deserves the labour of an apology. Yet candour may discover some reasons to suspect that the ecclesiastical ministers of Valens often exceeded the orders, or even the intentions, of their master; and that the real measure of facts has been very liberally magnified by the vehement declamation, and easy credulity, of his antagonists. 69 1. The silence of Valentinian may suggest a probable argument, that the partial severities, which were exercised in the name and provinces of his colleague, amounted only to some obscure and inconsiderable deviations from the established system of religious toleration: and the judicious historian, who has praised the equal temper of the elder brother, has not thought himself obliged to contrast the tranquillity of the West with the cruel persecution of the East.70 2. Whatever credit may be allowed to vague and distant reports, the character, or at least the behaviour, of Valens may be most distinctly seen in his per

G3 This sketch of the ecclesiastical government of Valens is drawn from Socrates (1. iv.), Sozomen (1. vi.), Theodoret (1. iv.), and the immense compilations of Tillemont (particularly tom. vi. viii. and ix.). 69 Dr. Jortin (Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 78.) has already conceived and intimated the same suspicion.

70 This reflection is so obvious and forcible, that Orosius (1. vii. c. 32, 33.) delays the persecution till after the death of Valentinian. Socrates, on the other hand, supposes (1. iii. c. 32.), that it was appeased by a philosophical oration, which Themistius pronounced in the year 374 (Orat. xii. p. 154. in Latin only). Such contradictions dim.nish the evidence, and reduce the term, of the persecution of Valens. 71 Tillemont, whom I follow and abridge, has extracted (Mém. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 153-167.) the most authentic circumstances from the Panegyrics of the two Gregories; the brother, and the friend, of Basil. The letters of Basil himself (Dupin, Bibliothèque Ecclésiastique, tom. ii. p. 155-180.) do not present the image of a very lively persecution.

72 Basilhas Cesariensis episcopus Cappadociae clarus habetur qui multa continentiæ et ingenii bona uno superbiæ malo perdidit. This irreverent passage is perfectly in the style and character of St. Jerom. It does not appear in Scaliger's edition of his Chronicle; but Isaac Vossius found it in some old MSS. which had not been reformed by the monks.

sonal transactions with the eloquent Basil, archbishop of Cæsarea, who had succeeded Athanasius in the management of the Trinitarian cause. 71 The circumstantial narrative has been composed by the friends and admirers of Basil; and as soon as we have stripped away a thick coat of rhetoric and miracle, we shall be astonished by the unexpected mildness of the Arian tyrant, who admired the firmness of his character, or was apprehensive, if he employed violence, of a general revolt in the province of Cappadocia. The archbishop, who asserted, with inflexible pride,72 the truth of his opinions, and the dignity of his rank, was left in the free possession of his conscience, and his throne. The emperor devoutly assisted at the solemn service of the cathedral; and, instead of a sentence of banishment, subscribed the donation of a valuable estate for the use of an hospital, which Basil had lately founded in the neighbourhood of Cæsarea, 73 3. I am not able to discover, that any law (such as Theodosius afterwards enacted against the Arians) was published by Valens against the Athanasian sectaries; and the edict which excited the most violent clamours, may not appear so extremely reprehensible. The emperor had observed, that several of his subjects, gratifying their lazy disposition under the pretence of religion, had associated themselves with the monks of Egypt; and he directed the count of the East to drag them from their solitude; and to compel those deserters of society to accept the fair alternative, of renouncing their temporal possessions, or of discharging the public duties of men and citizens. 74 The ministers of Valens seem to have extended the sense of this penal statute, since they claimed a right of enlisting the young and able-bodied monks in the Imperial armies. A detachment of cavalry and infantry, consisting of three thousand men, marched from Alexandria into the adjacent desert of Nitria,75 which was peopled by five thousand monks. The soldiers were conducted by Arian priests; and it is reported, that a considerable slaughter was made in the monasteries which disobeyed the commands of their sovereign.76

Valentinian

restrains the clergy

avarice of the

A. D. 370.

The strict regulations which have been framed by the wisdom of modern legislators to restrain the wealth and avarice of the clergy, may be originally deduced from the example of the emperor Valentinian. His edict 77 addressed to Damasus, bishop of Rome, was publicly read in the churches of the city. He admonished the ecclesiastics and monks not to frequent the houses

73 This noble and charitable foundation (almost a new city) surpassed in merit, if not in greatness, the pyramids, or the walls of Babylon. It was principally intended for the reception of lepers. (Greg. Nazianzen, Orat. xx. p. 439.)

74 Cod. Theodos. 1. xii. tit. i. leg. 63. Godefroy (tom. iv. p. 409413.) performs the duty of a commentator and advocate. Tillemont (Mém. Ecclés. tom. viif. p. 808.) supposes a second law to excuse his orthodox friends, who had misrepresented the edict of Valens, and suppressed the liberty of choice.

75 See D'Anville, Description de l'Egypte, p. 74. consider the monastic institutions.

76 Socrates, I. iv. c. 24, 25. Orosius, 1. vii. c. 33.

Hereafter I shall

Jerom in Chron.

p. 189., and tom. ii. p. 212. The monks of Egypt performed many miracles, which prove the truth of their faith. Right, says Jortin (Remarks, vol. iv. p. 79.), but what proves the truth of those miracles?

77 Cod. Theodos. 1. xvi. tit. ii. leg. 20. Godefroy (tom. vi. p. 49.), after the example of Baronius, impartially collects all that the fathers have said on the subject of this important law; whose spirit was long afterwards revived by the Emperor Frederic II., Edward I. of England, and other Christian princes who reigned after the twelfth century.

a subsequent regulation it should seem, that the same provisions were extended to nuns and bishops; and that all persons of the ecclesiastical order were rendered incapable of receiving any testamentary gifts, and strictly confined to the natural and legal rights of inheritance. As the guardian of domestic happiness and virtue, Valentinian applied this severe remedy to the growing evil. In the capital of the empire, the females of noble and opulent houses possessed a very ample share of independent property; and many of those devout females had embraced the doctrines of Christianity, not only with the cold assent of the understanding, but with the warmth of affection, and perhaps with the eagerness of fashion. They sacrificed the pleasures of dress and luxury; and renounced, for the praise of chastity, the soft endearments of conjugal society. Some ecclesiastic, of real or apparent sanctity, was chosen to direct their timorous conscience, and to amuse the vacant tenderness of their heart; and the unbounded confidence, which they hastily bestowed, was often abused by knaves and enthusiasts; who hastened from the extremities of the East, to enjoy, on a splendid theatre, the privileges of the monastic profession. By their contempt of the world, they insensibly acquired its most desirable advantages; the lively attachment, perhaps, of a young and beautiful woman, the delicate plenty of an opulent household, and the respectful homage of the slaves, the freedmen, and the clients of a senatorial family. The immense fortunes of the Roman ladies were gradually consumed in lavish alms and expensive pilgrimages; and the artful monk, who had assigned himself the first, or possibly the sole place, in the testament of his spiritual daughter, still presumed to declare, with the smooth face of hypocrisy, that he was only the instrument of charity, and the steward of the poor. The lucrative, but disgraceful trade,78 which was exercised by the clergy to defraud the expectations of the natural heirs, had provoked the indignation of a superstitious age: and two of the most respectable of the Latin fathers very honestly confess, that the ignominious edict of Valentinian was just and necessary; and that the Christian priests had deserved to lose a privilege, which was still enjoyed by comedians, charioteers, and

78 The expressions which I have used are temperate and feeble, if compared with the vehement invectives of Jerom (tom. i. p. 15. 45. 141, &c.). In his turn, he was reproached with the guilt which he imputed to his brother monks: and the Scelcrutus, the Versipellis, was publicly accused as the lover of the widow Paula (tom. ii. p. 363). He undoubtedly possessed the affections, both of the mother and the daughter; but he declares, that he never abused his influence, to any selti-h or sensual purpose.

79 Padet dicere, sacerdotes ido'orum, mimi et auriga, et scorta, hæreditates capiunt: solis clericis ac monachis hac lege prohibetur. Et non prohibetur a persecutoribus, sed a principibus Christianis. Nec de lege queror; sed doleo cur meruerimus hanc legem. Jerom (tom. i. p. 13.) discreetly insinuates the secret policy of his patron Damasus.

80 Three words of Jerom, sanctæ memoriæ Damasus (tom ii. p.119.), wash away all his stains, and blind the devout eyes of Tillemont (Mem. Ecclés. tom. viii. p. 386-421.).

81 Jerom himself is forced to allow, crudelissima interfectiones

Ambition and

luxury of Da. of Rome. A.D. 366–384.

masus, bishop

the ministers of idols. But the wisdom and au thority of the legislator are seldom victorious in a contest with the vigilant dexterity of private interest and Jerom, or Ambrose, might patiently acquiesce in the justice of an ineffectual or salutary law. If the ecclesiastics were checked in the pursuit of personal emolument, they would exert a more laudable industry to increase the wealth of the church; and dignify their covetousness with the specious names of piety and patriotism.79 Damasus, bishop of Rome, who was constrained to stigmatise the avarice of his clergy by the publication of the law of Valentinian, had the good sense, or the good fortune, to engage in his service the zeal and abilities of the learned Jerom; and the grateful saint has celebrated the merit and purity of a very ambiguous character, 80 But the splendid vices of the church of Rome, under the reign of Valentinian and Damasus, have been curiously observed by the historian Ammianus, who delivers his impartial sense in these expressive words: "The præfecture of Juventius was accompanied "with peace and plenty : but the tranquillity of "his government was soon disturbed by a bloody "sedition of the distracted people. The ardour

"of Damasus and Ursinus, to seize the epis"copal seat, surpassed the ordinary measure of "human ambition. They contended with the

66

rage of party; the quarrel was maintained by "the wounds and death of their followers; and "the præfect, unable to resist or to appease the "tumult, was constrained, by superior violence, "to retire into the suburbs. Damasus pre"vailed: the well-disputed victory remained "on the side of his faction; one hundred and "thirty-seven dead bodies 81 were found in the "Basilica of Sicininus,82 where the Christians "hold their religious assemblies; and it was "long before the angry minds of the people re"sumed their accustomed tranquillity. When "I consider the splendour of the capital, I am "not astonished that so valuable a prize should inflame the desires of ambitious men, and "produce the fiercest and most obstinate con"tests. The successful candidate is secure, "that he will be enriched by the offerings of "matrons; 83 that, as soon as his dress is com"posed with becoming care and elegance, he 66 may proceed, in his chariot, through the "streets of Rome; 84 and, that the sumptuous"ness of the Imperial table will not equal the "profuse and delicate entertainments provided "by the taste, and at the expense, of the Ro"man pontiffs. How much more rationally (continues the honest Pagan) would those

66

diversi sexus perpetrate (in Chron. p. 186.). But an original libel or petition of two presbyters of the adverse party, has unaccountably escaped. They affirm, that the doors of the Basilica were burnt, and that the roof was untiled; that Damasus marched at the head of his own clergy, grave-diggers, charioteers, and hired gladiators; that none of his party were killed, but that one hundred and sixty dead bodies were found. This petition is published by the P. Sirmond, in the first volume of his works.

82 The Basilica of Sicininus, or Liberius, is probably the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, on the Esquiline hill. Baronius, A.D. 367, No. 3.; and Donatus, Roma Antiqua et Nova, 1. iv. c. 3. p. 462. 83 The enemies of Damasus styled him Aurisculpius Matronarum, the ladies' car-scratcher.

84 Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xxxii. p. 526.) describes the pride and luxury of the prelates, who reigned in the Imperial cities; their gilt car, fiery steeds, numerous train, &c. The crowd gave way as to a wild beast.

" pontiffs consult their true happiness, if, instead "of alleging the greatness of the city as an ex"cuse for their manners, they would imitate the "exemplary life of some provincial bishops, "whose temperance and sobriety, whose mean "apparel and downcast looks, recommend their "pure and modest virtue to the Deity, and his "true worshippers." 85 The schism of Damasus and Ursinus was extinguished by the exile of the latter; and the wisdom of the præfect Prætextatus 86 restored the tranquillity of the city. Prætextatus was a philosophic Pagan, a man of learning, of taste, and politeness; who disguised a reproach in the form of a jest, when he assured Damasus, that if he could obtain the bishopric of Rome, he himself would immediately embrace the Christian religion.87 This lively picture of the wealth and luxury of the popes in the fourth century, becomes the more curious, as it represents the intermediate degree between the humble poverty of the apostolic fisherman, and the royal state of a temporal prince, whose dominions extend from the confines of Naples to the banks of the Po.

Foreign wars When the suffrage of the geA.D. 364–375. nerals and of the army committed the sceptre of the Roman empire to the hands of Valentinian, his reputation in arms, his military skill and experience, and his rigid attachment to the forms, as well as spirit, of ancient discipline, were the principal motives of their judicious choice. The eagerness of the troops, who pressed him to nominate his colleague, was justified by the dangerous situation of public affairs; and Valentinian himself was conscious, that the abilities of the most active mind were unequal to the defence of the distant frontiers of an invaded monarchy. As soon as the death of Julian had relieved the barbarians from the terror of his name, the most sanguine hopes of rapine and conquest excited the nations of the

East, of the North, and of the A. D. 361-375. South. Their inroads were often vexatious, and sometimes formidable; but, during the twelve years of the reign of Valentinian, his firmness and vigilance protected his own dominions; and his powerful genius seemed to inspire and direct the feeble counsels of his brother. Perhaps the method of annals would more forcibly express the urgent and divided cares of the two emperors; but the attention of the reader, likewise, would be distracted by a tedious and desultory narrative. A separate view of the five great theatres of war; I. Germany; II. Britain; III. Africa; IV. The East; and, V. The Danube; will impress a more distinct image of the military state of the empire under the reigns of Valentinian and Valens.

86 Ammian. xxvii. 3. Perpetuo Numini, verisque ejus cultoribus. The incomparable pliancy of a polytheist!

86 Ammianus, who makes a fair report of his præfecture (xxvii. 9.), styles bim præclare indolis, gravitatisque, senator (xxii. 7., and Vales. ad loc.). A curious inscription (Gruter MCH. No. 2.) records, in two colins, his religious and cial honours. In one line he was Pontiff of the Sun, and of Vesta, Augur, Quindecemvir, Hierophant, &c. &c. In the other, 1. Questor candidatus, more properly titular. 2. Præ

3. Corrector of Tuscany and Umbria. 4. Consular of Lusitania. 5. Proconsul of Achaia. 6. Præfect of Rome. 7. Prætorian præefect of Italy. 8. Of Illyricum. 9. Consul elect; but he died before the

harsh and haughty behaviour of A. D. 365. Ursacius, master of the offices; 88 who, by an act of unseasonable parsimony, had diminished the value, as well as the quantity, of the presents, to which they were entitled, either from custom or treaty, on the accession of a new emperor. They expressed, and they communicated to their countrymen, their strong sense of the national affront. The irascible minds of the chiefs were exasperated by the suspicion of contempt; and the martial youth crowded to their standard. Before Valentinian could pass the Alps, the villages of Gaul were in flames; before his general Dagalaiphus could encounter the Alemanni, they had secured the captives and the spoil in the forests of Ger- A.D. 366, many. In the beginning of the January. ensuing year, the military force of the whole nation, in deep and solid columns, broke through the barrier of the Rhine, during the severity of a northern winter. Two Roman counts were defeated and mortally wounded; and the standard of the Heruli and Batavians fell into the hands of the conquerors, who displayed, with insulting shouts and menaces, the trophy of their victory. The standard was recovered; but the Batavians had not redeemed the shame of their disgrace and flight in the eyes of their severe judge. It was the opinion of Valentinian, that his soldiers must learn to fear their commander, before they could cease to fear the enemy. The troops were solemnly assembled; and the trembling Batavians were enclosed within the circle of the

Imperial army. Valentinian then ascended his tribunal; and, as if he disdained to punish cowardice with death, he inflicted a stain of indelible ignominy on the officers, whose misconduct and pusillanimity were found to be the first occasion of the defeat. The Batavians were degraded from their rank, stripped of their arms, and condemned to be sold for slaves to the

highest bidder. At this tremendous sentence the troops fell prostrate on the ground, deprecated the indignation of their sovereign, and protested, that, if he would indulge them in another trial, they would approve themselves not unworthy of the name of Romans, and of his soldiers. Valentinian, with affected reluctance, yielded to their entreaties: the Batavians resumed their arms; and, with their arms, the invincible resolution of wiping away their disgrace in the blood of the Alemanni.89 The principal command was declined by Dagalaiphus; and that experienced general, who had represented, perhaps with too much prudence, the extreme difficulties of the undertaking, had the mortification, before the end of the campaign, of seeing his rival Jovinus convert those difficulties into a decisive advantage over the scattered forces of the barbarians. At the head of a well-disciplined

Their defeat.

beginning of the year 385. See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 241. 736.

87 Facite me Romanæ urbis episcopum; et ero protinus Christi. anus. (Jerom, tom. ii. p. 165.) It is more than probable, that Damasus would not have purchased his conversion at such a price. 88 Ammian. xxvi. 5. Valesius adds a long and good note on the master of the offices.

89 Ammian. xxvil. 1. Zosimus, 1. iv. p. 208. The disgrace of the Batavians is suppressed by the contemporary soldier, from a regard for military honour, which could not affect a Greek rhetorician of the succeeding age.

army of cavalry, infantry, and light troops, Jovinus advanced, with cautious and rapid steps, to Scarponna,90 in the territory of Metz, where he surprised a large division of the Alemanni, before they had time to run to their arms; and flushed his soldiers with the confidence of an easy and bloodless victory. Another division, or rather army, of the enemy, after the cruel and wanton devastation of the adjacent country, reposed themselves on the shady banks of the Moselle. Jovinus, who had viewed the ground with the eye of a general, made his silent approach through a deep and woody vale, till he could distinctly perceive the indolent security of the Germans. Some were bathing their huge limbs in the river; others were combing their long and flaxen hair; others again were swallowing large draughts of rich and delicious wine. On a sudden they heard the sound of the Roman trumpet; they saw the enemy in their camp. Astonishment produced disorder; disorder was followed by flight and dismay; and the confused multitude of the bravest warriors was pierced by the swords and javelins of the legionaries and auxiliaries. The fugitives escaped to the third, and most considerable, camp, in the Catalaunian plains, near Chalons in Champagne: the straggling detachments were hastily recalled to their standard; and the barbarian chiefs, alarmed and admonished by the fate of their companions, prepared to encounter, in a decisive battle, the victorious forces of the lieutenant of Valentinian. The bloody and obstinate conflict lasted a whole summer's day, with equal valour, and with alternate success. The Romans at length prevailed, with the loss of about twelve hundred men. Six thousand of the Alemanni were slain, four thousand were wounded; and the brave Jovinus, after chasing the flying remnant of their host as far as the banks of the Rhine, returned to Paris, to receive the applause of his sovereign, and the ensigns of the consulship for the ensuing year.91

July.

The triumph of the Romans was indeed sullied by their treatment of the captive king, whom they hung on a gibbet, without the knowledge of their indignant general. This disgraceful act of cruelty, which might be imputed to the fury of the troops, was followed by the deliberate murder of Withicab, the son of Vadomair; a German prince, of a weak and sickly constitution, but of a daring and formidable spirit. The domestic assassin was instigated and protected by the Romans; 92 and the violation of the laws of humanity and justice betrayed their secret apprehension of the weakness of the declining empire. The use of the dagger is seldom adopted in public councils, as long as they retain any confidence in the power of the sword.

Valentinian passes and fortifies the Rhine.

While the Alemanni appeared to be humbled by their recent calamities, the pride of Valentinian was

90 See D'Anville, Notice de l'Ancienne Gaule, p. 587. The name of the Moselle, which is not specified by Ammianus, is clearly understood by Mascou (Hist. of the ancient Germans, vii. 2.).

91 The battles are described by Ammianus (xxvii. 2.), and by Zosimus (1. iv p. 209.); who supposes Valentinian to have been present. 92 Studio solicitante nostrorum, occubuit. Ammian. xxvii. 10. 93 The expedition of Valentinian is related by Ammianus (xxvii. 10.); and celebrated by Ausonius (Mosell. 421, &c.), who foolishly supposes, that the Romans were ignorant of the sources of the Danube.

The

mortified by the unexpected sur- A. D. 368. prisal of Moguntiacum, or Mentz, the principal city of the Upper Germany. In the unsuspicious moment of a Christian festival, Rando, a bold and artful chieftain, who had long meditated his attempt, suddenly passed the Rhine; entered the defenceless town, and retired with a multitude of captives of either sex. Valentinian resolved to execute severe vengeance on the whole body of the nation. Count Sebastian, with the bands of Italy and Illyricum, was ordered to invade their country, most probably on the side of Rhætia. The emperor in person, accompanied by his son Gratian, passed the Rhine at the head of a formidable army, which was supported on both flanks by Jovinus and Severus, the two masters-general of the cavalry and infantry of the West. The Alemanni, unable to prevent the devastation of their villages, fixed their camp on a lofty, and almost inaccessible, mountain, in the modern duchy of Wirtemberg, and resolutely expected the approach of the Romans. life of Valentinian was exposed to imminent danger by the intrepid curiosity with which he persisted to explore some secret and unguarded path. A troop of barbarians suddenly rose from their ambuscade; and the emperor, who vigorously spurred his horse down a steep and slippery descent, was obliged to leave behind him his armour-bearer, and his helmet, magnificently enriched with gold and precious stones. At the signal of the general assault, the Roman troops encompassed and ascended the mountain of Solicinium on three different sides. Every step which they gained increased their ardour, and abated the resistance of the enemy: and after their united forces had occupied the summit of the hill, they impetuously urged the barbarians down the northern descent, where count Sebastian was posted to intercept their retreat. After this signal victory, Valentinian returned to his winterquarters at Treves; where he indulged the public joy by the exhibition of splendid and triumphal games.9 93 But the wise monarch, instead of aspiring to the conquest of Germany, confined his attention to the important and laborious defence of the Gallic frontier, against an enemy whose strength was renewed by a stream of daring volunteers, which incessantly flowed from the most distant tribes of the North.94 The banks of the Rhine, from its source to the straits of the ocean, were closely planted with strong castles and convenient towers; new works, and new arms, were invented by the ingenuity of a prince who was skilled in the mechanical arts; and his numerous levies of Roman and barbarian youth were severely trained in all the exercises The progress of the work, which was sometimes opposed by modest representations, and sometimes by hostile attempts, secured the tranquillity of Gaul during the nine subsequent years of the administration of Valentinian.95

of war.

That prudent emperor, who diligently prac

94 Immanis enim natio, jam inde ab incunabulis primis varietate casuum imminuta; ita sæpius adolescit, ut fuisse longis sxculis æsti metur intacta. Ammian. xxviii. 5. The count de Buat (Hist. des Peuples de l'Europe, torn. vi. p. 370.) ascribes the fecundity of the Alemanni to their easy adoption of strangers.

95 Ammian. xxviii. 2. Zosimus, 1. iv. p. 214. The younger Victor mentions the mechanical genius of Valenunian, nova arma meditari fingere terra seu limo simulacra.