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diff --git a/old/734.txt b/old/734.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d8c71d8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/734.txt @@ -0,0 +1,26422 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of The Decline and Fall of the +Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire + Volume 4 + +Author: Edward Gibbon + +Commentator: H. H. Milman + +Posting Date: June 7, 2008 [EBook #734] +Release Date: November, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE *** + + + + +Produced by David Reed + + + + + +HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE + +Edward Gibbon, Esq. + +With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman + +Vol. 4 + +1782 (Written), 1845 (Revised) + + + + +Chapter XXXIX: Gothic Kingdom Of Italy.--Part I. + + 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 Boethius.--Last Acts And Death Of Theodoric. + +After the fall of the Roman empire in the West, an interval of fifty +years, till the memorable reign of Justinian, is faintly marked by the +obscure names and imperfect annals of Zeno, Anastasius, and Justin, who +successively ascended to the throne of Constantinople. During the same +period, Italy revived and flourished under the government of a Gothic +king, who might have deserved a statue among the best and bravest of the +ancient Romans. + +Theodoric the Ostrogoth, the fourteenth in lineal descent of the royal +line of the Amali, [1] was born in the neighborhood of Vienna [2] two +years after the death of Attila. [2111] A recent victory had restored +the independence of the Ostrogoths; and the three brothers, Walamir, +Theodemir, and Widimir, who ruled that warlike nation with united +counsels, had separately pitched their habitations in the fertile though +desolate province of Pannonia. The Huns still threatened their revolted +subjects, but their hasty 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 auspicious moment that the favorite concubine of +Theodemir was delivered of a son and heir. In the eighth year of his +age, Theodoric was reluctantly yielded by his father to the public +interest, 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 Constantinople with care and +tenderness. His 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 neglected +the arts of Greece, and so ignorant did he always remain of the first +elements of science, that a rude mark was contrived to represent +the signature of the illiterate king of Italy. [3] 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 acknowledged for their king the father of Theodoric. His +ferocious subjects admired the strength and stature of their young +prince; [4] and he soon convinced them that he had not degenerated from +the valor of his ancestors. At the head of six thousand volunteers, he +secretly left the camp in quest of adventures, descended the Danube as +far as Singidunum, or Belgrade, and soon returned to his father with +the spoils of a Sarmatian king whom he had vanquished and slain. Such +triumphs, however, were productive only of fame, and the invincible +Ostrogoths were reduced to extreme distress by the want of clothing and +food. They unanimously resolved to desert their Pannonian encampments, +and boldly to advance into the warm and wealthy neighborhood of the +Byzantine court, which already maintained in pride and luxury so many +bands of confederate 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 hereditary throne of the +Amali. [5] + +[Footnote 1: Jornandes (de Rebus Geticis, c. 13, 14, p. 629, 630, edit. +Grot.) has drawn the pedigree of Theodoric from Gapt, one of the Anses +or Demigods, who lived about the time of Domitian. Cassiodorus, the +first who celebrates the royal race of the Amali, (Viriar. viii. 5, ix. +25, x. 2, xi. 1,) reckons the grandson of Theodoric as the xviith +in descent. Peringsciold (the Swedish commentator of Cochloeus, +Vit. Theodoric. p. 271, &c., Stockholm, 1699) labors to connect this +genealogy with the legends or traditions of his native country. * Note: +Amala was a name of hereditary sanctity and honor among the Visigoths. +It enters into the names of Amalaberga, Amala suintha, (swinther means +strength,) Amalafred, Amalarich. In the poem of the Nibelungen written +three hundred years later, the Ostrogoths are called the Amilungen. +According to Wachter it means, unstained, from the privative a, and malo +a stain. It is pure Sanscrit, Amala, immaculatus. Schlegel. Indische +Bibliothek, 1. p. 233.--M.] + +[Footnote 2: More correctly on the banks of the Lake Pelso, +(Nieusiedler-see,) near Carnuntum, almost on the same spot where Marcus +Antoninus composed his meditations, Jornandes, c. 52, p. 659. Severin. +Pannonia Illustrata, p. 22. Cellarius, Geograph. Antiq. (tom. i. p. +350.)] + +[Footnote 2111: The date of Theodoric's birth is not accurately +determined. We can hardly err, observes Manso, in placing it between +the years 453 and 455, Manso, Geschichte des Ost Gothischen Reichs, p. +14.--M.] + +[Footnote 3: The four first letters of his name 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. Marcellin p. 722.) This +authentic fact, with the testimony of Procopius, or at least of the +contemporary Goths, (Gothic. 1. i. c. 2, p. 311,) far outweighs +the vague praises of Ennodius (Sirmond Opera, tom. i. p. 1596) and +Theophanes, (Chronograph. p. 112.) * Note: Le Beau and his Commentator, +M. St. Martin, support, though with no very satisfactory evidence, the +opposite opinion. But Lord Mahon (Life of Belisarius, p. 19) urges the +much stronger argument, the Byzantine education of Theodroic.--M.] + +[Footnote 4: Statura est quae resignet proceritate regnantem, (Ennodius, +p. 1614.) The bishop of Pavia (I mean the ecclesiastic who wished to be +a bishop) then proceeds to celebrate the complexion, eyes, hands, &c, of +his sovereign.] + +[Footnote 5: The state of the Ostrogoths, and the first years of +Theodoric, are found in Jornandes, (c. 52--56, p. 689--696) and Malchus, +(Excerpt. Legat. p. 78--80,) who erroneously styles him the son of +Walamir.] + +A hero, descended from a race of kings, must have despised the base +Isaurian who was invested with the Roman purple, without any endowment +of mind or body, without any advantages of royal birth, or superior +qualifications. After the failure of the Theodosian life, the choice of +Pulcheria and of the senate might be justified in some measure by the +characters of Martin and Leo, but the latter of these princes confirmed +and dishonored 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 the East was peaceably devolved on his infant +grandson, the son of his daughter Ariadne; and her Isaurian husband, the +fortunate Trascalisseus, 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 sudden and premature death of his young colleague, +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 against the worthless and +ungrateful servant on whom she alone had bestowed the sceptre of the +East. [6] As soon as she sounded a revolt in the ears of Zeno, he +fled with precipitation into the mountains of Isauria, and her brother +Basiliscus, already infamous by his African expedition, [7] was +unanimously proclaimed by the servile 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 insolent Harmatius, who, in the midst of Asiatic luxury, affected +the dress, the demeanor, and the surname of Achilles. [8] By the +conspiracy of the malecontents, Zeno was recalled from exile; the +armies, the capital, the person, of Basiliscus, 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. [811] The haughty spirit of Verina was still incapable of +submission or repose. She provoked the enmity of a favorite general, +embraced his cause as soon as he was disgraced, created a new emperor +in Syria and Egypt, [812] raised an army of seventy thousand men, and +persisted to the last moment of her life in a fruitless rebellion, +which, according to the fashion of the age, had been predicted by +Christian hermits and Pagan magicians. While the East was afflicted by +the passions of Verina, her daughter Ariadne was distinguished by the +female virtues of mildness and fidelity; she followed her husband in his +exile, and after his restoration, she implored his clemency in favor of +her mother. On the decease of Zeno, Ariadne, the daughter, the mother, +and the widow of an emperor, gave her hand and the Imperial title to +Anastasius, an aged domestic of the palace, who survived his elevation +above twenty-seven years, and whose character is attested by the +acclamation of the people, "Reign as you have lived!" [9] [911] + +[Footnote 6: Theophanes (p. 111) inserts a copy of her sacred letters to +the provinces. Such female pretensions would have astonished the slaves +of the first Caesars.] + +[Footnote 7: Vol. iii. p. 504--508.] + +[Footnote 8: Suidas, tom. i. p. 332, 333, edit. Kuster.] + +[Footnote 811: Joannes Lydus accuses Zeno of timidity, or, rather, of +cowardice; he purchased an ignominious peace from the enemies of the +empire, whom he dared not meet in battle; and employed his whole time +at home in confiscations and executions. Lydus, de Magist. iii. 45, p. +230.--M.] + +[Footnote 812: Named Illus.--M.] + +[Footnote 9: The contemporary histories of Malchus and Candidus are +lost; but some extracts or fragments have been saved by Photius, +(lxxviii. lxxix. p. 100--102,) Constantine Porphyrogenitus, (Excerpt. +Leg. p. 78--97,) and in various articles of the Lexicon of Suidas. The +Chronicles of Marcellinus (Imago Historiae) 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 Tillemont, +(Hist. des Emp. tom. vi. p. 472--652).] + +[Footnote 912: The Panegyric of Procopius of Gaza, (edited by Villoison +in his Anecdota Graeca, and reprinted in the new edition of the +Byzantine historians by Niebuhr, in the same vol. with Dexippus and +Eunapius, viii. p. 488 516,) was unknown to Gibbon. It is vague and +pedantic, and contains few facts. The same criticism will apply to the +poetical panegyric of Priscian edited from the Ms. of Bobbio by Ang. +Mai. Priscian, the gram marian, Niebuhr argues from this work, must have +been born in the African, not in either of the Asiatic Caesareas. Pref. +p. xi.--M.] + +Whatever fear of affection could bestow, was profusely lavished by Zeno +on the king of the Ostrogoths; the rank of patrician and consul, the +command of the Palatine troops, an equestrian statue, a treasure in gold +and silver of many thousand pounds, the name of son, and the promise of +a rich and honorable 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, pursued and pressed the +Asiatic rebels, till they left an easy victory to the Imperial troops. +[10] But the faithful servant was suddenly converted into a formidable +enemy, who spread the flames of war from Constantinople to the Adriatic; +many flourishing cities were reduced to ashes, and the agriculture of +Thrace was almost extirpated by the wanton cruelty of the Goths, who +deprived their captive peasants of the right hand that guided the +plough. [11] On such occasions, Theodoric sustained the loud and +specious reproach of disloyalty, of ingratitude, and of insatiate +avarice, which could be only excused by the hard necessity of his +situation. He reigned, not as the monarch, but as the minister of a +ferocious people, whose spirit was unbroken by slavery, and impatient of +real or imaginary insults. Their poverty was incurable; since the most +liberal donatives were soon dissipated in wasteful luxury, and the most +fertile estates became barren in their hands; they despised, but they +envied, the laborious provincials; and when their subsistence 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 peaceful, 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 station in +Maesia, on the solemn assurance that before he reached Adrianople, he +should meet a plentiful convoy of provisions, and a reenforcement of +eight thousand horse and thirty thousand foot, while the legions of Asia +were encamped 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 +a heavy train of horses, of mules, and of wagons, were betrayed by their +guides among the rocks and precipices of Mount Sondis, where he was +assaulted by the arms and invectives of Theodoric the son of Triarius. +From a neighboring height, his artful rival harangued the camp of the +Walamirs, and branded their leader with the opprobrious names of child, +of madman, of perjured traitor, the enemy of his blood and nation. "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 +exposed, and justly exposed, to their implacable 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 under thy standard? Each of them was then master +of three or four horses; they now follow thee on foot, like slaves, +through the deserts of Thrace; those men who were tempted 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 clamor and discontent; and the son of Theodemir, apprehensive of +being left alone, was compelled to embrace his brethren, and to imitate +the example of Roman perfidy. [12] [1211] + +[Footnote 10: In ipsis congressionis tuae foribus cessit invasor, cum +profugo per te sceptra redderentur de salute dubitanti. Ennodius then +proceeds (p. 1596, 1597, tom. i. Sirmond.) to transport his hero (on +a flying dragon?) into Aethiopia, beyond the tropic of Cancer. The +evidence of the Valesian Fragment, (p. 717,) Liberatus, (Brev. Eutych. +c. 25 p. 118,) and Theophanes, (p. 112,) is more sober and rational.] + +[Footnote 11: This cruel practice is specially imputed to the Triarian +Goths, less barbarous, as it should seem, than the Walamirs; but the son +of Theodemir is charged with the ruin of many Roman cities, (Malchus, +Excerpt. Leg. p. 95.)] + +[Footnote 12: Jornandes (c. 56, 57, p. 696) displays the services of +Theodoric, confesses his rewards, but dissembles his revolt, of which +such curious details have been preserved by Malchus, (Excerpt. Legat. +p. 78--97.) Marcellinus, a domestic of Justinian, under whose ivth +consulship (A.D. 534) he composed his Chronicle, (Scaliger, Thesaurus +Temporum, P. ii, p. 34--57,) betrays his prejudice and passion: in +Graeciam debacchantem ...Zenonis munificentia pene pacatus...beneficiis +nunquam satiatus, &c.] + +[Footnote 1211: Gibbon has omitted much of the complicated intrigues of +the Byzantine court with the two Theodorics. The weak emperor attempted +to play them one against the other, and was himself in turn insulted, +and the empire ravaged, by both. The details of the successive +alliance and revolt, of hostility and of union, between the two +Gothic chieftains, to dictate terms to the emperor, may be found in +Malchus.--M.] + +In every state of his fortune, the prudence and firmness of Theodoric +were equally conspicuous; whether he threatened Constantinople at the +head of the confederate Goths, or retreated with a faithful band to the +mountains and sea-coast of Epirus. At length the accidental death of the +son of Triarius [13] destroyed the balance which the Romans had been so +anxious to preserve, the whole nation acknowledged the supremacy of the +Amali, and the Byzantine court subscribed an ignominious and oppressive +treaty. [14] The senate had already declared, that it was necessary +to choose a party among the Goths, since the public was unequal to the +support 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; [15] and the Isaurians, who guarded +not the empire but the emperor, enjoyed, besides the privilege of +rapine, an annual pension of five thousand pounds. The sagacious mind of +Theodoric soon perceived that he was odious to the Romans, and suspected +by the Barbarians: he understood the popular murmur, that his subjects +were exposed in their frozen huts to intolerable hardships, while their +king was dissolved in the luxury of Greece, and he prevented the painful +alternative of encountering the Goths, as the champion, or of leading +them to the field, as the enemy, of Zeno. Embracing an enterprise worthy +of his 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 march against +the tyrant. If I fall, you will be relieved from an expensive and +troublesome friend: if, with the divine permission, 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 my victorious arms." The +proposal of Theodoric was accepted, and perhaps had been suggested, by +the Byzantine court. But the forms of the commission, or grant, +appear to have been expressed with a prudent ambiguity, which might be +explained by the event; and it was left doubtful, whether the conqueror +of Italy should reign as the lieutenant, the vassal, or the ally, of the +emperor of the East. [16 + +[Footnote 13: As he was riding in his own camp, an unruly horse threw +him against the point of a spear which hung before a tent, or was fixed +on a wagon, (Marcellin. in Chron. Evagrius, l. iii. c. 25.)] + +[Footnote 14: See Malchus (p. 91) and Evagrius, (l. iii. c. 35.)] + +[Footnote 15: Malchus, p. 85. In a single action, which was decided by +the skill and discipline of Sabinian, Theodoric could lose 5000 men.] +[Footnote 16: Jornandes (c. 57, p. 696, 697) has abridged the great +history of Cassiodorus. See, compare, and reconcile Procopius, (Gothic. +l. i. c. i.,) the Valesian Fragment, (p. 718,) Theophanes, (p. 113,) and +Marcellinus, (in Chron.)] + +The reputation both of the leader and of the war diffused a universal +ardor; the Walamirs were multiplied by the Gothic swarms already engaged +in the service, or seated in the provinces, of the empire; and each +bold Barbarian, who had heard of the wealth and beauty of Italy, was +impatient to seek, through the most perilous adventures, the possession +of such enchanting objects. The march of Theodoric must be considered as +the emigration of an entire 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 +followed the camp, by the loss of two thousand wagons, which had +been sustained in a single action in the war of Epirus. For their +subsistence, 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 friendly assistance. +Notwithstanding these precautions, they were exposed to the danger, and +almost to the distress, of famine, in a march of seven hundred miles, +which had been undertaken in the depth of a rigorous winter. Since the +fall of the Roman power, Dacia and Pannonia no longer exhibited the +rich prospect of populous cities, well-cultivated fields, and convenient +highways: the reign of barbarism and desolation was restored, and the +tribes of Bulgarians, Gepidae, and Sarmatians, who had occupied 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, Theodoric fought and vanquished; till at +length, surmounting every obstacle by skilful conduct and persevering +courage, he descended from the Julian Alps, and displayed his invincible +banners on the confines of Italy. [17] + +[Footnote 17: Theodoric's march is supplied and illustrated by Ennodius, +(p. 1598--1602,) when the bombast of the oration is translated into the +language of common sense.] + +Odoacer, a rival not unworthy of his arms, 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 [18] +or leaders disdained the duties of subordination and the prudence of +delays. No sooner had Theodoric gained a short repose and refreshment to +his wearied cavalry, than he boldly attacked the fortifications of the +enemy; the Ostrogoths showed more ardor to acquire, than the mercenaries +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 neighborhood of that city, on the steep banks of the rapid +Adige, he was opposed by a new army, reenforced in its numbers, and not +impaired in its courage: the contest was more obstinate, but the event +was still more decisive; Odoacer fled to Ravenna, Theodoric advanced +to Milan, and the vanquished troops saluted their conqueror with loud +acclamations of respect and fidelity. But their want either of constancy +or of faith soon exposed him to the most imminent danger; his vanguard, +with several Gothic counts, which had been rashly intrusted to +a deserter, was betrayed 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 valor of the Gothic king. Immediately before the battle of Verona, +he visited the tent of his mother [19] 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 Theodoric; 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 sons' honor far above their safety; +and it is reported, that in a desperate action, when Theodoric himself +was hurried along by the torrent of a flying crowd, she boldly met them +at the entrance of the camp, and, by her generous reproaches, drove them +back on the swords of the enemy. [20] + +[Footnote 18: Tot reges, &c., (Ennodius, p. 1602.) We must recollect +how much the royal title was multiplied and degraded, and that the +mercenaries of Italy were the fragments of many tribes and nations.] + +[Footnote 19: See Ennodius, p. 1603, 1604. Since the orator, in the +king's presence, could mention and praise his mother, we may conclude +that the magnanimity of Theodoric was not hurt by the vulgar reproaches +of concubine and bastard. * Note: Gibbon here assumes that the mother +of Theodoric was the concubine of Theodemir, which he leaves doubtful in +the text.--M.] + +[Footnote 20: This anecdote is related on the modern but respectable +authority of Sigonius, (Op. tom. i. p. 580. De Occident. Impl. l. xv.:) +his words are curious: "Would you return?" &c. She presented and almost +displayed the original recess. * Note: The authority of Sigonius would +scarcely have weighed with Gibboa except for an indecent anecdote. +I have a recollection of a similar story in some of the Italian +wars.--M.] + +From the Alps to the extremity of Calabria, Theodoric reigned by the +right of conquest; the Vandal ambassadors surrendered the Island of +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. [21] Ravenna alone, secure in the +fortifications of art and nature, still sustained a siege of almost +three years; and the daring sallies of Odoacer carried slaughter 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 clamors 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 agreement may be easily foreseen. After some days +had been devoted to the semblance of joy and friendship, Odoacer, in the +midst of a solemn banquet, was stabbed by the hand, or at least by the +command, of his rival. Secret and effectual 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 conspiracy +was imputed, according to the usual forms, to the prostrate tyrant; but +his innocence, and the guilt of his conqueror, [22] are sufficiently +proved 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 rigorous may be pronounced against a crime which was +necessary to introduce into Italy a generation of public felicity. +The living author of this felicity was audaciously praised in his own +presence by sacred and profane orators; [23] but history (in his time +she was mute and inglorious) has not left any just representation of the +events which displayed, or of the defects which clouded, the virtues of +Theodoric. [24] One record of his fame, the volume of public epistles +composed by Cassiodorus in the royal name, is still extant, and has +obtained more implicit credit than it seems to deserve. [25] They +exhibit the forms, rather than the substance, of his government; and +we should vainly search for the pure and spontaneous 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 language 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. + +[Footnote 21: Hist. Miscell. l. xv., a Roman history from Janus to the +ixth century, an Epitome of Eutropius, Paulus Diaconus, and Theophanes +which Muratori has published from a Ms. in the Ambrosian library, +(Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. i. p. 100.)] + +[Footnote 22: Procopius (Gothic. l. i. c. i.) approves himself an +impartial sceptic. Cassiodorus (in Chron.) and Ennodius (p. 1604) are +loyal and credulous, and the testimony of the Valesian Fragment (p. +718) may justify their belief. Marcellinus spits the venom of a Greek +subject--perjuriis illectus, interfectusque est, (in Chron.)] + +[Footnote 23: The sonorous and servile oration of Ennodius was +pronounced at Milan or Ravenna in the years 507 or 508, (Sirmond, tom. +i. p. 615.) Two or three years afterwards, the orator was rewarded with +the bishopric of Pavia, which he held till his death in the year 521. +(Dupin, Bibliot. Eccles. tom. v. p. 11-14. See Saxii Onomasticon, tom. +ii. p. 12.)] + +[Footnote 24: Our best materials are occasional hints from Procopius and +the Valesian Fragment, which was discovered by Sirmond, and is published +at the end of Ammianus Marcellinus. The author's name is unknown, +and his style is barbarous; but in his various facts he exhibits the +knowledge, without the passions, of a contemporary. The president +Montesquieu had formed the plan of a history of Theodoric, which at a +distance might appear a rich and interesting subject.] + +[Footnote 25: The best edition of the Variarum Libri xii. is that of +Joh. Garretius, (Rotomagi, 1679, in Opp. Cassiodor. 2 vols. in fol.;) +but they deserved and required such an editor as the Marquis Scipio +Maffei, who thought of publishing them at Verona. The Barbara Eleganza +(as it is ingeniously named by Tiraboschi) is never simple, and seldom +perspicuous] + +The partition of the lands of Italy, of which Theodoric assigned the +third part to his soldiers, is honorably arraigned as the sole injustice +of his life. [2511] And even this act may be fairly justified by the +example of Odoacer, the rights of conquest, the true interest of the +Italians, and the sacred duty of subsisting a whole people, who, on the +faith of his promises, had transported themselves into a distant land. +[26] 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, [27] and the whole amount of their families may be computed by the +ordinary addition of women and children. Their invasion of property, +a part of which must have been already vacant, was disguised by the +generous but improper name of hospitality; these unwelcome guests +were irregularly 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 distinction of noble and plebeian were acknowledged; [28] +but the lands of every freeman were exempt from taxes, [2811] and he +enjoyed the inestimable privilege of being subject only to the laws +of his country. [29] Fashion, and even convenience, soon persuaded the +conquerors to assume the more elegant dress of the natives, but they +still persisted in the use of their mother-tongue; and their contempt +for the Latin schools was applauded by Theodoric himself, who gratified +their prejudices, or his own, by declaring, that the child who had +trembled at a rod, would never dare to look upon a sword. [30] Distress +might sometimes provoke the indigent Roman to assume the ferocious +manners which were insensibly relinquished by the rich and luxurious +Barbarian; [31] but these mutual conversions were not encouraged by the +policy of a monarch who perpetuated the separation of the Italians and +Goths; reserving the former for the arts of peace, and the latter for +the service of war. To accomplish this design, he studied to protect his +industrious subjects, and to moderate the violence, without enervating +the valor, of his soldiers, who were maintained 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 officers; and the whole extent of Italy was distributed into +the several quarters of a well-regulated 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 +occasional donatives. Theodoric had convinced his brave companions, +that empire must be acquired and defended by the 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 discipline imposed the habits of modesty, +obedience, and temperance; 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 +private revenge. [32] + +[Footnote 2511: Compare Gibbon, ch. xxxvi. vol. iii. p. 459, &c.--Manso +observes that this division was conducted not in a violent and +irregular, but in a legal and orderly, manner. The Barbarian, who could +not show a title of grant from the officers of Theodoric appointed for +the purpose, or a prescriptive right of thirty years, in case he had +obtained the property before the Ostrogothic conquest, was ejected from +the estate. He conceives that estates too small to bear division paid +a third of their produce.--Geschichte des Os Gothischen Reiches, p. +82.--M.] + +[Footnote 26: Procopius, Gothic, l. i. c. i. Variarum, ii. Maffei +(Verona Illustrata, P. i. p. 228) exaggerates the injustice of the +Goths, whom he hated as an Italian noble. The plebeian Muratori crouches +under their oppression.] + +[Footnote 27: Procopius, Goth. l. iii. c. 421. Ennodius describes (p. +1612, 1613) the military arts and increasing numbers of the Goths.] + +[Footnote 28: When Theodoric gave his sister to the king of the Vandals +she sailed for Africa with a guard of 1000 noble Goths, each of whom +was attended by five armed followers, (Procop. Vandal. l. i. c. 8.) The +Gothic nobility must have been as numerous as brave.] + +[Footnote 2811: Manso (p. 100) quotes two passages from Cassiodorus to +show that the Goths were not exempt from the fiscal claims.--Cassiodor, +i. 19, iv. 14--M.] + +[Footnote 29: See the acknowledgment of Gothic liberty, (Var. v. 30.)] + +[Footnote 30: Procopius, Goth. l. 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 Theodatus, whose learning provoked the indignation +and contempt of his countrymen.] + +[Footnote 31: A saying of Theodoric was founded on experience: "Romanus +miser imitatur Gothum; ut utilis (dives) Gothus imitatur Romanum." (See +the Fragment and Notes of Valesius, p. 719.)] + +[Footnote 32: The view of the military establishment of the Goths in +Italy is collected from the Epistles of Cassiodorus (Var. i. 24, +40; iii. 3, 24, 48; iv. 13, 14; v. 26, 27; viii. 3, 4, 25.) They are +illustrated by the learned Mascou, (Hist. of the Germans, l. xi. 40--44, +Annotation xiv.) Note: Compare Manso, Geschichte des Ost Gothischen +Reiches, p. 114.--M.] + + + + +Chapter XXXIX: Gothic Kingdom Of Italy.--Part II. + +Among the Barbarians of the West, the victory of Theodoric had spread +a general alarm. But as soon as it appeared that he was satisfied with +conquest and desirous of peace, terror was changed into respect, and +they submitted to a powerful mediation, which was uniformly employed +for the best purposes of reconciling their quarrels and civilizing their +manners. [33] The ambassadors who resorted to Ravenna from the most +distant countries of Europe, admired his wisdom, magnificence, [34] +and courtesy; and if he sometimes accepted either slaves or arms, white +horses or strange animals, the gift of a sun-dial, a water-clock, or a +musician, admonished even the princes of Gaul of the superior art and +industry of his Italian subjects. His domestic alliances, [35] a wife, +two daughters, a sister, and a niece, united the family of Theodoric +with the kings of the Franks, the Burgundians, 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. [36] It +is difficult in the dark forests of Germany and Poland to pursue the +emigrations of the Heruli, a fierce people who disdained the use of +armor, and who condemned their widows and aged parents not to survive +the loss of their husbands, or the decay of their strength. [37] 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. [38] From the shores of the Baltic, the Aestians +or Livonians laid their offerings of native amber [39] at the feet of +a prince, whose fame had excited them to undertake an unknown and +dangerous journey of fifteen hundred miles. With the country [40] from +whence the Gothic nation derived their origin, he maintained a frequent +and friendly correspondence: the Italians were clothed in the rich +sables [41] of Sweden; and one of its sovereigns, after a voluntary +or reluctant abdication, found a hospitable retreat in the palace of +Ravenna. He had reigned 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. That northern region was peopled, or had been explored, as high +as the sixty-eighth degree of latitude, where the natives of the polar +circle enjoy and lose the presence of the sun at each summer and winter +solstice during an equal period of forty days. [42] The long night of +his absence or death was the mournful season of distress 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. [43] + +[Footnote 33: See the clearness and vigor of his negotiations in +Ennodius, (p. 1607,) and Cassiodorus, (Var. iii. 1, 2, 3, 4; iv. 13; +v. 43, 44,) who gives the different styles of friendship, counsel +expostulation, &c.] + +[Footnote 34: Even of his table (Var. vi. 9) and palace, (vii. 5.) The +admiration of strangers is represented as the most rational motive +to justify these vain expenses, and to stimulate the diligence of the +officers to whom these provinces were intrusted.] + +[Footnote 35: See the public and private alliances of the Gothic +monarch, with the Burgundians, (Var. i. 45, 46,) with the Franks, (ii. +40,) with the Thuringians, (iv. 1,) and with the Vandals, (v. 1;) each +of these epistles affords some curious knowledge of the policy and +manners of the Barbarians.] + +[Footnote 36: His political system may be observed in Cassiodorus, +(Var. iv. l ix. l,) Jornandes, (c. 58, p. 698, 699,) and the Valesian +Fragment, (p. 720, 721.) Peace, honorable peace, was the constant aim of +Theodoric.] + +[Footnote 37: The curious reader may contemplate the Heruli of +Procopius, (Goth. l. ii. c. 14,) and the patient reader may plunge +into the dark and minute researches of M. de Buat, (Hist. des Peuples +Anciens, tom. ix. p. 348--396. * Note: Compare Manso, Ost Gothische Reich. Beylage, vi. Malte-Brun brings +them from Scandinavia: their names, the only remains of their language, +are Gothic. "They fought almost naked, like the Icelandic Berserkirs +their bravery was like madness: few in number, they were mostly of +royal blood. What ferocity, what unrestrained license, sullied their +victories! The Goth respects the church, the priests, the senate; the +Heruli mangle all in a general massacre: there is no pity for age, no +refuge for chastity. Among themselves there is the same ferocity: the +sick and the aged are put to death. at their own request, during a +solemn festival; the widow ends her days by hanging herself upon the +tree which shadows her husband's tomb. All these circumstances, so +striking to a mind familiar with Scandinavian history, lead us to +discover among the Heruli not so much a nation as a confederacy of +princes and nobles, bound by an oath to live and die together with their +arms in their hands. Their name, sometimes written Heruli or Eruli. +sometimes Aeruli, signified, according to an ancient author, (Isid. +Hispal. in gloss. p. 24, ad calc. Lex. Philolog. Martini, ll,) nobles, +and appears to correspond better with the Scandinavian word iarl +or earl, than with any of those numerous derivations proposed by +etymologists." Malte-Brun, vol. i. p. 400, (edit. 1831.) Of all the +Barbarians who threw themselves on the ruins of the Roman empire, it +is most difficult to trace the origin of the Heruli. They seem never to +have been very powerful as a nation, and branches of them are found in +countries very remote from each other. In my opinion they belong to the +Gothic race, and have a close affinity with the Scyrri or Hirri. They +were, possibly, a division of that nation. They are often mingled and +confounded with the Alani. Though brave and formidable. they were +never numerous. nor did they found any state.--St. Martin, vol. vi. p. +375.--M. Schafarck considers them descendants of the Hirri. of which +Heruli is a diminutive,--Slawische Alter thinner--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 38: Variarum, iv. 2. The spirit and forms of this martial +institution are noticed by Cassiodorus; but he seems to have only +translated the sentiments of the Gothic king into the language of Roman +eloquence.] + +[Footnote 39: Cassiodorus, who quotes Tacitus to the Aestians, the +unlettered savages of the Baltic, (Var. v. 2,) describes the amber for +which their shores have ever been famous, as the gum of a tree, hardened +by the sun, and purified and wafted by the waves. When that singular +substance is analyzed by the chemists, it yields a vegetable oil and a +mineral acid.] + +[Footnote 40: Scanzia, or Thule, is described by Jornandes (c. 3, p. +610--613) and Procopius, (Goth. l. ii. c. 15.) Neither the Goth nor the +Greek had visited the country: both had conversed with the natives in +their exile at Ravenna or Constantinople.] + +[Footnote 41: Sapherinas 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 Buffon, +(Hist. Nat. tom. xiii. p. 309--313, quarto edition;) Pennant, (System of +Quadrupeds, vol. i. p. 322--328;) Gmelin, (Hist. Gen des. Voyages, tom. +xviii. p. 257, 258;) and Levesque, (Hist. de Russie, tom. v. p. 165, +166, 514, 515.)] + +[Footnote 42: In the system or romance of Mr. Bailly, (Lettres sur les +Sciences et sur l'Atlantide, tom. i. p. 249--256, tom. 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 Arctic 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.] + +[Footnote 43: Says Procopius. At present a rude Manicheism (generous +enough) prevails among the Samoyedes in Greenland and in Lapland, (Hist. +des Voyages, tom. xviii. p. 508, 509, tom. xix. p. 105, 106, 527, 528;) +yet, according to Orotius Samojutae coelum atque astra adorant, numina +haud aliis iniquiora, (de Rebus Belgicis, l. iv. p. 338, folio edition) +a sentence which Tacitus would not have disowned.] + +The life of Theodoric represents the rare and meritorious example of a +Barbarian, who sheathed his sword in the pride of victory and the vigor +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 terminated 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 reduced, under a strong and regular +government, the unprofitable countries of Rhaetia, Noricum, Dalmatia, +and Pannonia, from the source of the Danube and the territory of the +Bavarians, [44] to the petty kingdom erected by the Gepidae on the ruins +of Sirmium. His prudence could not safely intrust the bulwark of Italy +to such feeble and turbulent neighbors; and his justice might claim the +lands which they oppressed, either as a part of his kingdom, or as the +inheritance of his father. The greatness of a servant, who was named +perfidious because he was successful, awakened the jealousy of the +emperor Anastasius; and a war was 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 father's merit, advanced at the head of ten +thousand Romans; and the provisions and arms, which filled a long train +of wagons, were distributed to the fiercest of the Bulgarian tribes. +But in the fields of Margus, 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 of the enemy lay untouched at their feet. [45] Exasperated by +this disgrace, the Byzantine court despatched two hundred ships and +eight thousand men to plunder the sea-coast of Calabria and Apulia: +they assaulted the ancient city of Tarentum, interrupted the trade and +agriculture of a happy country, and sailed back to the Hellespont, proud +of their piratical victory over a people whom they still presumed +to consider as their Roman brethren. [46] Their retreat was possibly +hastened by the activity of Theodoric; Italy was covered by a fleet of +a thousand light vessels, [47] which he constructed with incredible +despatch; and his firm moderation was soon rewarded by a solid and +honorable peace. He maintained, with a powerful hand, the balance of the +West, till it was at length overthrown by the ambition of Clovis; and +although unable to assist his rash and unfortunate kinsman, the king +of the Visigoths, he saved the remains of his family and people, and +checked the Franks in the midst of their victorious career. I am not +desirous to prolong or repeat [48] this narrative of military events, +the least interesting of the reign of Theodoric; and shall be content +to add, that the Alemanni were protected, [49] that an inroad of the +Burgundians was severely chastised, and that the conquest of Arles and +Marseilles opened a free communication with the Visigoths, who revered +him as their national protector, and as the guardian of his grandchild, +the infant son of Alaric. Under this respectable character, the king of +Italy restored the praetorian praefecture of the Gauls, reformed some +abuses in the civil government of Spain, and accepted the annual tribute +and apparent submission of its military governor, who wisely refused to +trust his person in the palace of Ravenna. [50] The Gothic sovereignty +was established from Sicily to the Danube, from Sirmium or Belgrade to +the Atlantic Ocean; and the Greeks themselves have acknowledged that +Theodoric reigned over the fairest portion of the Western empire. [51] + +[Footnote 44: See the Hist. des Peuples Anciens, &c., tom. ix. p. +255--273, 396--501. The count de Buat was French minister at the +court of Bavaria: a liberal curiosity prompted his inquiries into the +antiquities of the country, and that curiosity was the germ of twelve +respectable volumes.] + +[Footnote 45: See the Gothic transactions on the Danube and the +Illyricum, in Jornandes, (c. 58, p. 699;) Ennodius, (p. 1607-1610;) +Marcellmus (in Chron. p. 44, 47, 48;) and Cassiodorus, in (in Chron and +Var. iii. 29 50, iv. 13, vii. 4 24, viii. 9, 10, 11, 21, ix. 8, 9.)] + +[Footnote 46: I cannot forbear transcribing the liberal and classic +style of Count Marcellinus: Romanus comes domesticorum, et Rusticus +comes scholariorum cum centum armatis navibus, totidemque dromonibus, +octo millia militum armatorum secum ferentibus, ad devastanda Italiae +littora processerunt, ut usque ad Tarentum antiquissimam civitatem +aggressi sunt; remensoque mari in honestam victoriam quam piratico ausu +Romani ex Romanis rapuerunt, Anastasio Caesari reportarunt, (in Chron. +p. 48.) See Variar. i. 16, ii. 38.] + +[Footnote 47: 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 Troy. (Manso, p. 121.)] + +[Footnote 48: Vol. iii. p. 581--585.] + +[Footnote 49: Ennodius (p. 1610) and Cassiodorus, in the royal name, +(Var. ii 41,) record his salutary protection of the Alemanni.] + +[Footnote 50: The Gothic transactions in Gaul and Spain are represented +with some perplexity in Cassiodorus, (Var. iii. 32, 38, 41, 43, 44, v. +39.) Jornandes, (c. 58, p. 698, 699,) and Procopius, (Goth. l. i. +c. 12.) I will neither hear nor reconcile the long and contradictory +arguments of the Abbe Dubos and the Count de Buat, about the wars of +Burgundy.] + +[Footnote 51: Theophanes, p. 113.] + +The union of the Goths and Romans might have fixed for ages the +transient happiness of Italy; and the first of nations, a new people of +free subjects and enlightened soldiers, might have gradually arisen from +the mutual emulation of their respective virtues. But the sublime merit +of guiding or seconding such a revolution was not reserved for the reign +of Theodoric: he wanted either the genius or the opportunities of a +legislator; [52] and while he indulged the Goths in the enjoyment of +rude liberty, he servilely copied the institutions, and even the abuses, +of the political system which had been framed by Constantine and his +successors. From a tender regard to the expiring prejudices of Rome, +the Barbarian declined the name, the purple, and the diadem, of the +emperors; but he assumed, under the hereditary title of king, the whole +substance and plenitude of Imperial prerogative. [53] His addresses +to the eastern throne were respectful and ambiguous: he celebrated, +in pompous style, the harmony of the two republics, applauded his own +government as the perfect similitude of a sole and undivided empire, +and claimed above the kings of the earth the same preeminence which he +modestly allowed to the person or rank of Anastasius. The alliance of +the East and West was annually declared by the unanimous 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. [54] The Gothic palace of Ravenna reflected the image +of the court of Theodosius or Valentinian. The Praetorian praefect, +the praefect of Rome, the quaestor, the master of the offices, with the +public and patrimonial treasurers, [5411] whose functions are painted in +gaudy colors by the rhetoric of Cassiodorus, still continued to act +as the ministers 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 according to +the principles, and even the forms, of Roman jurisprudence. [55] The +violence of the conquerors was abated or eluded by the slow artifice +of judicial proceedings; the civil administration, with its honors 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. [5511] It had been the +object of Augustus to conceal the introduction of monarchy; it was the +policy of Theodoric to disguise the reign of a Barbarian. [56] If his +subjects were sometimes awakened from this pleasing vision of a Roman +government, they derived more substantial comfort from the character of +a Gothic prince, who had penetration 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 +promoted to the office of Praetorian praefect for his unshaken fidelity +to the unfortunate cause of Odoacer. The ministers of Theodoric, +Cassiodorus, [57] and Boethius, have reflected on his reign the lustre +of their genius and learning. More prudent or more fortunate than his +colleague, Cassiodorus preserved his own esteem without forfeiting the +royal favor; and after passing thirty years in the honors of the world, +he was blessed with an equal term of repose in the devout and studious +solitude of Squillace. [5711] + +[Footnote 52: Procopius affirms that no laws whatsoever were promulgated +by Theodoric and the succeeding kings of Italy, (Goth. l. 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. * Note: See Manso, 92. +Savigny, vol. ii. p. 164, et seq.--M.] + +[Footnote 53: The image of Theodoric is engraved on his coins: his +modest successors were satisfied with adding their own name to the head +of the reigning emperor, (Muratori, Antiquitat. Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. +ii. dissert. xxvii. p. 577--579. Giannone, Istoria Civile di Napoli tom. +i. p. 166.)] + +[Footnote 54: The alliance of the emperor and the king of Italy +are represented by Cassiodorus (Var. i. l, ii. 1, 2, 3, vi. l) and +Procopius, (Goth. l. ii. c. 6, l. iii. c. 21,) who celebrate the +friendship of Anastasius and Theodoric; but the figurative style of +compliment was interpreted in a very different sense at Constantinople +and Ravenna.] + +[Footnote 5411: All causes between Roman and Roman were judged by the +old Roman courts. The comes Gothorum judged between Goth and Goth; +between Goths and Romans, (without considering which was the plaintiff.) +the comes Gothorum, with a Roman jurist as his assessor, making a kind +of mixed jurisdiction, but with a natural predominance to the side of +the Goth Savigny, vol. i. p. 290.--M.] + +[Footnote 55: To the xvii. provinces of the Notitia, Paul Warnefrid the +deacon (De Reb. Longobard. l. ii. c. 14--22) has subjoined an xviiith, +the Apennine, (Muratori, Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. i. p. 431--443.) +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 abandoned +to a military government. The state of the four provinces that now form +the kingdom of Naples is labored by Giannone (tom. i. p. 172, 178) with +patriotic diligence.] + +[Footnote 5511: Manso enumerates and develops at some length the +following sources of the royal revenue of Theodoric: 1. A domain, either +by succession to that of Odoacer, or a part of the third of the lands +was reserved for the royal patrimony. 1. Regalia, including mines, +unclaimed estates, treasure-trove, and confiscations. 3. Land tax. 4. +Aurarium, like the Chrysargyrum, a tax on certain branches of trade. +5. Grant of Monopolies. 6. Siliquaticum, a small tax on the sale of all +kinds of commodities. 7. Portoria, customs Manso, 96, 111. Savigny (i. +285) supposes that in many cases the property remained in the original +owner, who paid his tertia, a third of the produce to the crown, vol. i. +p. 285.--M.] + +[Footnote 56: See the Gothic history of Procopius, (l. i. c. 1, l. ii. +c. 6,) the Epistles of Cassiodorus, passim, but especially the vth and +vith books, which contain the formulae, or patents of offices,) and +the Civil History of Giannone, (tom. i. l. ii. iii.) The Gothic counts, +which he places in every Italian city, are annihilated, however, by +Maffei, (Verona Illustrata, P. i. l. viii. p. 227; for those of Syracuse +and Naples (Var vi. 22, 23) were special and temporary commissions.] + +[Footnote 57: Two Italians of the name of Cassiodorus, the father (Var. +i. 24, 40) and the son, (ix. 24, 25,) were successively employed in +the administration of Theodoric. The son was born in the year 479: his +various epistles as quaestor, master of the offices, and Praetorian +praefect, extend from 509 to 539, and he lived as a monk about thirty +years, (Tiraboschi Storia della Letteratura Italiana, tom. iii. p. +7--24. Fabricius, Bibliot. Lat. Med. Aevi, tom. i. p. 357, 358, edit. +Mansi.)] + +[Footnote 5711: Cassiodorus was of an ancient and honorable family; his +grandfather had distinguished himself in the defence of Sicily against +the ravages of Genseric; his father held a high rank at the court of +Valentinian III., enjoyed the friendship of Aetius, and was one of the +ambassadors sent to arrest the progress of Attila. Cassiodorus +himself was first the treasurer of the private expenditure to Odoacer, +afterwards "count of the sacred largesses." Yielding with the rest of +the Romans to the dominion of Theodoric, he was instrumental in the +peaceable submission of Sicily; was successively governor of his +native provinces of Bruttium and Lucania, quaestor, magister, palatii, +Praetorian praefect, patrician, consul, and private secretary, and, in +fact, first minister of the king. He was five times Praetorian praefect +under different sovereigns, the last time in the reign of Vitiges. This +is the theory of Manso, which is not unencumbered with difficulties. +M. Buat had supposed that it was the father of Cassiodorus who held +the office first named. Compare Manso, p. 85, &c., and Beylage, vii. It +certainly appears improbable that Cassiodorus should have been count of +the sacred largesses at twenty years old.--M.] + +As the patron of the republic, it was the interest and duty of the +Gothic king to cultivate the affections of the senate [58] and people. +The nobles of Rome were flattered by sonorous epithets and formal +professions of respect, which had been more justly applied to the merit +and authority of their ancestors. The people enjoyed, without fear or +danger, the three blessings of a capital, order, plenty, and public +amusements. A visible diminution of their numbers may be found even in +the measure of liberality; [59] 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 honorable which was consecrated to the care of their health and +happiness. The public games, such as the Greek ambassador 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 exercised +in the amphitheatre the courage and dexterity 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 +clamor and even with blood. [60] In the seventh year of his peaceful +reign, Theodoric 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 government, [61] in a discourse which he was not afraid +to pronounce in public, and to inscribe on a tablet of brass. Rome, in +this august ceremony, 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 splendor of the new +Jerusalem. [62] During a residence of six months, the fame, the person, +and the courteous demeanor of the Gothic king, excited the admiration 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 amphitheatre of Titus. [63] From the +mouths of fourteen aqueducts, a pure and copious stream 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 descended 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 pristine strength; and these +subterraneous channels have been preferred to all the visible wonders +of Rome. [64] The Gothic kings, so injuriously accused of the ruin of +antiquity, were anxious to preserve the monuments of the nation whom +they had subdued. [65] 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 have given a modern +name to the Quirinal, was applauded by the Barbarians; [66] the brazen +elephants of the Via sacra were diligently restored; [67] the famous +heifer of Myron deceived the cattle, as they were driven through the +forum of peace; [68] and an officer was created to protect those works +of rat, which Theodoric considered as the noblest ornament of his +kingdom. + +[Footnote 58: See his regard for the senate in Cochlaeus, (Vit. Theod. +viii. p. 72--80.)] + +[Footnote 59: No more than 120,000 modii, or four thousand quarters, +(Anonym. Valesian. p. 721, and Var. i. 35, vi. 18, xi. 5, 39.)] + +[Footnote 60: See his regard and indulgence for the spectacles of the +circus, the amphitheatre, and the theatre, in the Chronicle and +Epistles of Cassiodorus, (Var. i. 20, 27, 30, 31, 32, iii. 51, iv. +51, illustrated by the xivth Annotation of Mascou's History), who has +contrived to sprinkle the subject with ostentatious, though agreeable, +learning.] + +[Footnote 61: 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 seem inferior to Trajan.] + +[Footnote 62: Vit. Fulgentii in Baron. Annal. Eccles. A.D. 500, No. 10.] + +[Footnote 63: Cassiodorus 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 reader'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 livres, (Mem. de l'Academie +des Inscriptions, tom. xxviii. p. 585, 586.) How small a part of that +stupendous fabric!] + +[Footnote 64: For the aqueducts and cloacae, see Strabo, (l. v. p. 360;) +Pliny, (Hist. Natur. xxxvi. 24; Cassiodorus, Var. iii. 30, 31, vi. 6;) +Procopius, (Goth. l. i. c. 19;) and Nardini, (Roma Antica, p. 514--522.) +How such works could be executed by a king of Rome, is yet a problem. +Note: See Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 402. These stupendous works are among +the most striking confirmations of Niebuhr's views of the early Roman +history; at least they appear to justify his strong sentence--"These +works and the building of the Capitol attest with unquestionable +evidence that this Rome of the later kings was the chief city of a great +state."--Page 110--M.] + +[Footnote 65: For the Gothic care of the buildings and statues, see +Cassiodorus (Var. i. 21, 25, ii. 34, iv. 30, vii. 6, 13, 15) and the +Valesian Fragment, (p. 721.)] + +[Footnote 66: Var. vii. 15. These horses of Monte Cavallo had been +transported from Alexandria to the baths of Constantine, (Nardini, p. +188.) Their sculpture is disdained by the Abbe Dubos, (Reflexions sur +la Poesie et sur la Peinture, tom. i. section 39,) and admired by +Winkelman, (Hist. de l'Art, tom. ii. p. 159.)] + +[Footnote 67: Var. x. 10. They were probably a fragment of some +triumphal car, (Cuper de Elephantis, ii. 10.)] + +[Footnote 68: Procopius (Goth. l. iv. c. 21) relates a foolish story of +Myron's cow, which is celebrated by the false with of thirty-six Greek +epigrams, (Antholog. l. iv. p. 302--306, edit. Hen. Steph.; Auson. +Epigram. xiii.--lxviii.)] + + + + +Chapter XXXIX: Gothic Kingdom Of Italy.--Part III. + +After the example of the last emperors, Theodoric preferred the +residence of Ravenna, where he cultivated an orchard with his own hands. +[69] As often as the peace of his kingdom was threatened (for it was +never invaded) by the Barbarians, he removed his court to Verona [70] +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, acquired under his reign the useful +or splendid decorations of churches, aqueducts, baths, porticos, +and palaces. [71] But the happiness of the subject was more truly +conspicuous in the busy scene of labor and luxury, in the rapid increase +and bold enjoyment of national wealth. From the shades of Tibur and +Praeneste, the Roman senators still retired in the winter season to +the warm sun, and salubrious springs of Baiae; 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 Adriatic, 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 Lucania +and the adjacent provinces were exchanged 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 basin 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 chestnut trees. [72] +Agriculture revived under the shadow of peace, and the number of +husbandmen was multiplied by the redemption of captives. [73] The iron +mines of Dalmatia, a gold mine in Bruttium, were carefully explored, +and the Pomptine marshes, as well as those of Spoleto, were drained and +cultivated by private undertakers, whose distant reward must depend on +the continuance of the public prosperity. [74] Whenever the seasons were +less propitious, the doubtful precautions of forming magazines of corn, +fixing the price, and prohibiting the exportation, 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 sometimes sold in Italy for less than three farthings, and a quarter +of wheat at about five shillings and sixpence. [75] 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 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. [Footnote 69: See an epigram of Ennodius +(ii. 3, p. 1893, 1894) on this garden and the royal gardener.] + +[Footnote 70: His affection for that city is proved by the epithet of +"Verona tua," and the legend of the hero; under the barbarous name of +Dietrich of Bern, (Peringsciold and Cochloeum, p. 240,) Maffei traces +him with knowledge and pleasure in his native country, (l. ix. p. +230--236.)] + +[Footnote 71: See Maffei, (Verona Illustrata, Part i. p. 231, 232, 308, +&c.) His amputes 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, (tom. iii. p. 61.) +* Note: Mr. Hallam (vol. iii. p. 432) observes that "the image of +Theodoric's palace" is represented in Maffei, not from a coin, but +from a seal. Compare D'Agincourt (Storia dell'arte, Italian Transl., +Arcitecttura, Plate xvii. No. 2, and Pittura, Plate xvi. No. 15,) +where there is likewise an engraving from a mosaic in the church of St. +Apollinaris in Ravenna, representing a building ascribed to Theodoric in +that city. Neither of these, as Mr. Hallam justly observes, in the least +approximates to what is called the Gothic style. They are evidently the +degenerate Roman architecture, and more resemble the early attempts of +our architects to get back from our national Gothic into a classical +Greek style. One of them calls to mind Inigo Jones inner quadrangle +in St. John's College Oxford. Compare Hallam and D'Agincon vol. i. p. +140--145.--M] + +[Footnote 72: The villas, climate, and landscape of Baiae, (Var. ix. 6; +see Cluver Italia Antiq. l. iv. c. 2, p. 1119, &c.,) Istria, (Var. xii. +22, 26,) and Comum, (Var. xi. 14; compare with Pliny's two villas, ix. +7,) are agreeably painted in the Epistles of Cassiodorus.] + +[Footnote 73: In Liguria numerosa agricolarum progenies, (Ennodius, p. +1678, 1679, 1680.) St. Epiphanius of Pavia redeemed by prayer or ransom +6000 captives from the Burgundians of Lyons and Savoy. Such deeds are +the best of miracles.] + +[Footnote 74: The political economy of Theodoric (see Anonym. Vales. +p. 721, and Cassiodorus, in Chron.) may be distinctly traced under the +following 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, vii. 9, 23;) fair of Leucothoe or St. Cyprian in +Lucania, (viii. 33;) plenty, (xii. 4;) the cursus, or public post, (i. +29, ii. 31, iv. 47, v. 5, vi 6, vii. 33;) the Flaminian way, (xii. 18.) +* Note: The inscription commemorative of the draining of the Pomptine +marshes may be found in many works; in Gruter, Inscript. Ant. +Heidelberg, p. 152, No. 8. With variations, in Nicolai De' bonificamenti +delle terre Pontine, p. 103. In Sartorius, in his prize essay on the +reign of Theodoric, and Manse Beylage, xi.--M.] + +[Footnote 75: LX modii tritici in solidum ipsius tempore fuerunt, et +vinum xxx amphoras 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.] + +A difference of religion is always pernicious, and often fatal, to the +harmony of the prince and people: the Gothic conqueror had been educated +in the profession of Arianism, and Italy was devoutly 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 balance the subtile arguments of theological +metaphysics. Satisfied with the private toleration of his Arian +sectaries, he justly conceived himself 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 philosopher. The Catholics of his dominions acknowledged, +perhaps with reluctance, the peace of the church; their clergy, +according to the degrees of rank or merit, were honorably entertained +in the palace of Theodoric; he esteemed the living sanctity of Caesarius +[76] and Epiphanius, [77] the orthodox bishops of Arles and Pavia; +and presented a decent offering on the tomb of St. Peter, without any +scrupulous inquiry into the creed of the apostle. [78] His favorite +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. [79] The people, and the Barbarians +themselves, were edified by the pomp and order of religious worship; +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 maintained or moderated according to the spirit of the +Roman jurisprudence. [80] 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 West. He was not ignorant of the dignity and importance +of the Roman pontiff, to whom the venerable name of Pope was now +appropriated. The peace or the revolt of Italy might depend on the +character of a wealthy and popular bishop, 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. [81] 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 confirmed 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 nominating 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 possible, the scandalous venality of the papal +elections. [82] + +[Footnote 76: See the life of St. Caesarius in Baronius, (A.D. 508, No. +12, 13, 14.) The king presented him with 300 gold solidi, and a discus +of silver of the weight of sixty pounds.] + +[Footnote 77: Ennodius in Vit. St. Epiphanii, in Sirmond, Op. tom. i. +p. 1672--1690. Theodoric bestowed some important favors on this bishop, +whom he used as a counsellor in peace and war.] + +[Footnote 78: Devotissimus ac si Catholicus, (Anonym. Vales. p. 720;) +yet his offering was no more than two silver candlesticks (cerostrata) +of the weight of seventy pounds, far inferior to the gold and gems of +Constantinople and France, (Anastasius in Vit. Pont. in Hormisda, p. 34, +edit. Paris.)] + +[Footnote 79: The tolerating system of his reign (Ennodius, p. 1612. +Anonym. Vales. p. 719. Procop. Goth. l. i. c. 1, l. ii. c. 6) may be +studied in the Epistles of Cassiodorous, under the following heads: +bishops, (Var. i. 9, vii. 15, 24, xi. 23;) immunities, (i. 26, ii. 29, +30;) church lands (iv. 17, 20;) sanctuaries, (ii. 11, iii. 47;) church +plate, (xii. 20;) discipline, (iv. 44;) which prove, at the same time, +that he was the head of the church as well as of the state. * Note: He +recommended the same toleration to the emperor Justin.--M.] + +[Footnote 80: We may reject a foolish tale of his beheading a Catholic +deacon who turned Arian, (Theodor. Lector. No. 17.) Why is Theodoric +surnamed After? From Vafer? (Vales. ad loc.) A light conjecture.] + +[Footnote 81: Ennodius, p. 1621, 1622, 1636, 1638. His libel was +approved and registered (synodaliter) by a Roman council, (Baronius, +A.D. 503, No. 6, Franciscus Pagi in Breviar. Pont. Rom. tom. i. p. +242.)] + +[Footnote 82: See Cassiodorus, (Var. viii. 15, ix. 15, 16,) Anastasius, +(in Symmacho, p. 31,) and the xviith Annotation of Mascou. Baronius, +Pagi, and most of the Catholic doctors, confess, with an angry growl, +this Gothic usurpation.] + +I have descanted with pleasure on the fortunate 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 realized under the Gothic +conquest. The fair prospect 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 and +patrician blood. In the first insolence of victory, he had been tempted +to deprive the whole party of Odoacer of the civil and even the natural +rights of society; [83] a tax unseasonably imposed after the calamities +of war, would have crushed the rising agriculture of Liguria; a rigid +preemption of corn, which was intended for the public relief, must +have aggravated the distress of Campania. These dangerous projects were +defeated by the virtue and eloquence of Epiphanius and Boethius, who, in +the presence of Theodoric himself, successfully pleaded the cause of +the people: [84] 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 favor, 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 usurpation, and afterwards +by the restitution of the estates which he had unjustly extorted from +his Tuscan neighbors. Two hundred thousand Barbarians, formidable even +to their master, were seated in the heart of Italy; they indignantly +supported the restraints of peace and discipline; the disorders of +their march were always felt and sometimes compensated; and where it was +dangerous to punish, it might 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 explain the +difficulties of his situation, and to lament the heavy though inevitable +burdens which he imposed on his subjects for their own defence. [85] +These ungrateful subjects could never be cordially reconciled to the +origin, the religion, or even the virtues of the Gothic conqueror; past +calamities were forgotten, and the sense or suspicion of injuries was +rendered still more exquisite by the present felicity of the times. + +[Footnote 83: He disabled them--alicentia testandi; and all Italy +mourned--lamentabili justitio. I wish to believe, that these penalties +were enacted against the rebels who had violated their oath of +allegiance; but the testimony of Ennodius (p. 1675-1678) is the more +weighty, as he lived and died under the reign of Theodoric.] + +[Footnote 84: Ennodius, in Vit. Epiphan. p. 1589, 1690. Boethius de +Consolatione Philosphiae, l. i. pros. iv. p. 45, 46, 47. Respect, +but weigh the passions of the saint and the senator; and fortify and +alleviate their complaints by the various hints of Cassiodorus, (ii. 8, +iv. 36, viii. 5.)] + +[Footnote 85: Immanium expensarum pondus...pro ipsorum salute, &c.; yet +these are no more than words.] + +Even the religious toleration which Theodoric had the glory of +introducing into the Christian world, was painful and offensive to the +orthodox zeal of the Italians. They respected 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. [86] Their persons were insulted, their effects +were pillaged, and their synagogues were burned 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 have +deserved such an outrage. A legal inquiry was instantly directed; and as +the authors of the tumult had escaped in the crowd, the whole community +was condemned to repair the damage; and the obstinate bigots, who +refused their contributions, were whipped through the streets by the +hand of the executioner. [8611] This simple act of justice exasperated +the discontent of the Catholics, who applauded the merit and patience of +these holy confessors. Three hundred pulpits deplored the persecution of +the church; and if the chapel of St. Stephen at Verona was demolished +by the command of Theodoric, 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 +labored to promote; and his mind was soured by indignation, jealousy, +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 correspondence with the Byzantine court. [87] After the +death of Anastasius, the diadem had been placed on the head of a +feeble old man; but the powers of government were assumed by his nephew +Justinian, who already meditated the extirpation of heresy, and the +conquest of Italy and Africa. A rigorous law, which was published at +Constantinople, 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 his dominions. [8711] +At his stern command, the Roman pontiff, with four illustrious senators, +embarked on an embassy, of which he must have alike dreaded the failure +or the success. The singular veneration shown to the first pope who had +visited Constantinople was punished as a crime by his jealous monarch; +the artful or peremptory refusal of the Byzantine court might excuse an +equal, and would provoke a larger, measure of retaliation; and a mandate +was prepared in Italy, to prohibit, after a stated day, the exercise of +the Catholic worship. By the bigotry of his subjects and enemies, the +most tolerant of princes was driven to the brink of persecution; and the +life of Theodoric was too long, since he lived to condemn the virtue of +Boethius and Symmachus. [88] + +[Footnote 86: The Jews were settled at Naples, (Procopius, Goth. l. i. +c. 8,) at Genoa, (Var. ii. 28, iv. 33,) Milan, (v. 37,) Rome, (iv. 43.) +See likewise Basnage, Hist. des Juifs, tom. viii. c. 7, p. 254.] + +[Footnote 8611: See History of the Jews vol. iii. p. 217.--M.] + +[Footnote 87: Rex avidus communis exitii, &c., (Boethius, l. i. p. 59:) +rex colum Romanis tendebat, (Anonym. Vales. p. 723.) These are hard +words: they speak the passions of the Italians and those (I fear) of +Theodoric himself.] + +[Footnote 8711: Gibbon should not have omitted the golden words of +Theodoric in a letter which he addressed to Justin: That to pretend to a +dominion over the conscience is to usurp the prerogative of God; that +by the nature of things the power of sovereigns is confined to external +government; that they have no right of punishment but over those who +disturb the public peace, of which they are the guardians; that the most +dangerous heresy is that of a sovereign who separates from himself a +part of his subjects because they believe not according to his belief. +Compare Le Beau, vol viii. p. 68.--M] + +[Footnote 88: I have labored to extract a rational narrative from the +dark, concise, and various hints of the Valesian Fragment, (p. 722, 723, +724,) Theophanes, (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, tom. iv. p. 471-478,) with the Annals and Breviary +(tom. i. p. 259--263) of the two Pagis, the uncle and the nephew.] + +The senator Boethius [89] is the last of the Romans whom Cato or Tully +could have acknowledged for their countryman. As a wealthy orphan, +he inherited the patrimony and honors of the Anician family, a name +ambitiously assumed by the kings and emperors of the age; and the +appellation of Manlius asserted his genuine or fabulous descent from +a race of consuls and dictators, who had repulsed the Gauls from the +Capitol, and sacrificed their sons to the discipline of the republic. In +the youth of Boethius the studies of Rome were not totally abandoned; +a Virgil [90] is now extant, 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, [91] which were supported by the zeal, +the learning, and the diligence of Proclus and his disciples. The reason +and piety of their Roman pupil were fortunately saved from the contagion +of mystery and magic, which polluted the groves of the academy; but +he imbibed the spirit, and imitated the method, of his dead and living +masters, who attempted to reconcile the strong and subtile sense of +Aristotle with the devout contemplation 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. [92] The church was +edified by his profound defence of the orthodox creed against the Arian, +the Eutychian, and the Nestorian heresies; and the Catholic unity was +explained or exposed in a formal treatise by the indifference of three +distinct though consubstantial persons. For the benefit of his Latin +readers, his genius submitted to teach the first elements of the arts +and sciences of Greece. The geometry 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 represented the motions of the planets. From these +abstruse 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 Demosthenes 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. +Notwithstanding the equal claims of the East and West, his two sons were +created, in their tender youth, the consuls of the same year. [93] On +the memorable day of their inauguration, they proceeded in solemn pomp +from their palace to the forum amidst the applause of the senate +and people; and their joyful father, the true consul of Rome, +after pronouncing an oration in the praise of his royal benefactor, +distributed a triumphal largess in the games of the circus. Prosperous +in his fame and fortunes, in his public honors 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 +applied before the last term of the life of man. + +[Footnote 89: Le Clerc has composed a critical and philosophical life +of Anicius Manlius Severinus Boetius, (Bibliot. Choisie, tom. xvi. +p. 168--275;) and both Tiraboschi (tom. iii.) and Fabricius (Bibliot +Latin.) may be usefully consulted. The date of his birth may be placed +about the year 470, and his death in 524, in a premature old age, +(Consol. Phil. Metrica. i. p. 5.)] + +[Footnote 90: For the age and value of this Ms., now in the Medicean +library at Florence, see the Cenotaphia Pisana (p. 430-447) of Cardinal +Noris.] + +[Footnote 91: The Athenian studies of Boethius are doubtful, (Baronius, +A.D. 510, No. 3, from a spurious tract, De Disciplina Scholarum,) and +the term of eighteen years is doubtless too long: but the simple fact +of a visit to Athens is justified by much internal evidence, (Brucker, +Hist. Crit. Philosoph. tom. iii. p. 524--527,) and by an expression +(though vague and ambiguous) of his friend Cassiodorus, (Var. i. 45,) +"longe positas Athenas intrioisti."] + +[Footnote 92: Bibliothecae comptos ebore ac vitro * parietes, &c., +(Consol. Phil. l. i. pros. v. p. 74.) The Epistles of Ennodius (vi. 6, +vii. 13, viii. 1 31, 37, 40) and Cassiodorus (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 Pavia wanted to purchase of him an +old house at Milan, and praise might be tendered and accepted in part of +payment. * Note: Gibbon translated vitro, marble; under the impression, +no doubt that glass was unknown.--M.] + +[Footnote 93: Pagi, Muratori, &c., are agreed that Boethius himself was +consul in the year 510, his two sons in 522, and in 487, perhaps, his +father. A desire of ascribing the last of these consulships to the +philosopher had perplexed the chronology of his life. In his honors, +alliances, children, he celebrates his own felicity--his past felicity, +(p. 109 110)] + +A philosopher, liberal of his wealth and parsimonious of his time, might +be insensible to the 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 distress of the provincials, whose fortunes were exhausted +by public and private rapine; and Boethius alone had courage to oppose +the tyranny of the Barbarians, elated by conquest, excited by avarice, +and, as he complains, encouraged by impunity. In these honorable +contests his spirit soared above the consideration 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 heated by enthusiasm, and to confound private enmities +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 +favor and fidelity of Boethius declined in just proportion with the +public happiness; and an unworthy colleague was imposed to divide and +control the power of the master of the offices. In the last gloomy +season of Theodoric, he indignantly felt that he was a slave; but as his +master had only power over his life, he stood without arms and without +fear against the face of an angry Barbarian, who had been provoked to +believe that the safety of the senate was incompatible with his own. The +senator Albinus was accused and already convicted on the presumption of +hoping, as it was said, the liberty of Rome. "If Albinus be criminal," +exclaimed 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 punished the simple and barren +wish of an unattainable blessing; but they would have shown less +indulgence to the rash confession of Boethius, that, had he known of a +conspiracy, the tyrant never should. [94] 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 honorable rank, perhaps of infamous reputation, attested +the treasonable designs of the Roman patrician. [95] Yet his innocence +must be presumed, since he was deprived by Theodoric of the means of +justification, and rigorously confined 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 command of the Barbarians, the occult science of a philosopher was +stigmatized with the names of sacrilege and magic. [96] 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. [97] + +[Footnote 94: Si ego scissem tu nescisses. Beothius adopts this answer +(l. i. pros. 4, p. 53) of Julius Canus, whose philosophic death is +described by Seneca, (De Tranquillitate Animi, c. 14.)] + +[Footnote 95: The characters of his two delators, Basilius (Var. ii. 10, +11, iv. 22) and Opilio, (v. 41, viii. 16,) are illustrated, not much +to their honor, in the Epistles of Cassiodorus, which likewise mention +Decoratus, (v. 31,) the worthless colleague of Beothius, (l. iii. pros. +4, p. 193.)] + +[Footnote 96: A severe inquiry was instituted into the crime of magic, +(Var. iv 22, 23, ix. 18;) and it was believed that many necromancers had +escaped by making their jailers mad: for mad I should read drunk.] + +[Footnote 97: Boethius had composed his own Apology, (p. 53,) perhaps +more interesting than his Consolation. We must be content with the +general view of his honors, principles, persecution, &c., (l. i. pros. +4, p. 42--62,) which may be compared with the short and weighty words of +the Valesian Fragment, (p. 723.) An anonymous writer (Sinner, Catalog. +Mss. Bibliot. Bern. tom. i. p. 287) charges him home with honorable and +patriotic treason.] + +While Boethius, oppressed with fetters, expected each moment the +sentence or the stroke 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 +barbarism of the times and the situation of the author. The celestial +guide, whom he had so long invoked at Rome and Athens, now condescended +to illumine his dungeon, to revive his courage, and to pour into his +wounds her salutary balm. She taught him to compare his long prosperity +and his recent distress, and to conceive new hopes from the inconstancy +of fortune. Reason had informed him of the precarious condition of her +gifts; experience had satisfied him of their real value; he had enjoyed +them without guilt; he might resign them without a sigh, and calmly +disdain the impotent malice of his enemies, who had left him happiness, +since they had left him virtue. From the earth, Boethius ascended +to heaven in search of the Supreme Good; explored the metaphysical +labyrinth of chance and destiny, of prescience and free will, of +time and eternity; and generously attempted to reconcile the perfect +attributes of the Deity with the apparent disorders 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 labor of thought; and the +sage who could artfully combine in the same work the various riches +of philosophy, poetry, and eloquence, must already have possessed the +intrepid calmness which he affected to seek. Suspense, the worst of +evils, was at length determined by the ministers of death, who executed, +and perhaps exceeded, the inhuman mandate of Theodoric. A strong cord +was fastened round the head of Boethius, and forcibly tightened, till +his eyes almost started from their sockets; and some mercy may be +discovered in the milder torture of beating him with clubs till he +expired. [98] But his genius survived to diffuse a ray of knowledge over +the darkest ages of the Latin world; the writings of the philosopher +were translated by the most glorious of the English kings, [99] and the +third emperor of the name of Otho removed to a more honorable tomb the +bones of a Catholic saint, who, from his Arian persecutors, had acquired +the honors of martyrdom, and the fame of miracles. [100] In the last +hours of Boethius, he derived some comfort from the safety of his two +sons, of his wife, and of his father-in-law, the venerable Symmachus. +But the grief of Symmachus was indiscreet, and perhaps disrespectful: +he had presumed to lament, he might dare to revenge, the death of an +injured friend. He was dragged in chains from Rome to the palace of +Ravenna; and the suspicions of Theodoric could only be appeased by the +blood of an innocent and aged senator. [101] + +[Footnote 98: He was executed in Agro Calventiano, (Calvenzano, between +Marignano and Pavia,) Anonym. Vales. p. 723, by order of Eusebius, count +of Ticinum or Pavia. This place of confinement is styled the baptistery, +an edifice and name peculiar to cathedrals. It is claimed by the +perpetual tradition of the church of Pavia. The tower of Boethius +subsisted till the year 1584, and the draught is yet preserved, +(Tiraboschi, tom. iii. p. 47, 48.)] + +[Footnote 99: See the Biographia Britannica, Alfred, tom. i. p. 80, 2d +edition. The work is still more honorable if performed under the learned +eye of Alfred by his foreign and domestic doctors. For the reputation +of Boethius in the middle ages, consult Brucker, (Hist. Crit. Philosoph. +tom. iii. p. 565, 566.)] + +[Footnote 100: The inscription on his new tomb was composed by the +preceptor of Otho III., the learned Pope Silvester II., who, like +Boethius himself, was styled a magician by the ignorance of the times. +The Catholic martyr had carried his head in his hands a considerable +way, (Baronius, A.D. 526, No. 17, 18;) and yet on a similar tale, a lady +of my acquaintance once observed, "La distance n'y fait rien; il n'y a +que lo remier pas qui coute." Note: Madame du Deffand. This witticism +referred to the miracle of St. Denis.--G.] + +[Footnote 101: Boethius applauds the virtues of his father-in-law, (l. +i. pros. 4, p. 59, l. ii. pros. 4, p. 118.) Procopius, (Goth. l. i. c. +i.,) the Valesian Fragment, (p. 724,) and the Historia Miscella, (l. +xv. p. 105,) agree in praising the superior innocence or sanctity of +Symmachus; and in the estimation of the legend, the guilt of his murder +is equal to the imprisonment of a pope.] + +Humanity will be disposed to encourage any report which testifies the +jurisdiction of conscience and the remorse of kings; and philosophy is +not ignorant that the most horrid spectres are sometimes created by the +powers of a disordered fancy, and the weakness of a distempered body. +After a life of virtue and glory, Theodoric was now descending with +shame and guilt into the grave; his mind was humbled by the contrast of +the past, and justly alarmed 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, [102] 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 expressed, in broken +murmurs to his physician Elpidius, his deep repentance for the murders +of Boethius and Symmachus. [103] His malady increased, and after a +dysentery which continued three days, he expired in the palace of +Ravenna, 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. [104] Amalaric +was restored to the throne of Spain. Italy, with all the conquests of +the Ostrogoths, was bequeathed 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 marriage of his mother Amalasuntha with +a royal fugitive of the same blood. [105] In the presence 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 maintain the laws, to love the senate and people of Rome, and to +cultivate with decent reverence the friendship of the emperor. [106] +The monument of Theodoric was erected by his daughter Amalasuntha, in a +conspicuous situation, which commanded the city of Ravenna, the harbor, +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. [107] His spirit, after some previous +expiation, might have been permitted to mingle with the benefactors of +mankind, if an Italian hermit had not been witness, in a vision, to the +damnation of Theodoric, [108] whose soul was plunged, by the ministers +of divine vengeance, into the volcano of Lipari, one of the flaming +mouths of the infernal world. [109] + +[Footnote 102: In the fanciful eloquence of Cassiodorus, 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 +Theodoric, (Var. xii. 14.) The monstrous turbot of Domitian (Juvenal +Satir. iii. 39) had been caught on the shores of the Adriatic.] + +[Footnote 103: Procopius, Goth. l. i. c. 1. But he might have informed +us, whether he had received this curious anecdote from common report or +from the mouth of the royal physician.] + +[Footnote 104: Procopius, Goth. l. i. c. 1, 2, 12, 13. This partition +had been directed by Theodoric, though it was not executed till after +his death, Regni hereditatem superstes reliquit, (Isidor. Chron. p. 721, +edit. Grot.)] + +[Footnote 105: Berimund, the third in descent from Hermanric, king +of the Ostrogoths, had retired into Spain, where he lived and died +in obscurity, (Jornandes, c. 33, p. 202, edit. Muratori.) See the +discovery, nuptials, 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. 723.)] + +[Footnote 106: See the counsels of Theodoric, and the professions of his +successor, in Procopius, (Goth. l. i. c. 1, 2,) Jornandes, (c. 59, p. +220, 221,) and Cassiodorus, (Var. viii. 1--7.) These epistles are the +triumph of his ministerial eloquence.] + +[Footnote 107: Anonym. Vales. p. 724. Agnellus de Vitis. Pont. Raven. in +Muratori Script. Rerum Ital. tom. ii. P. i. p. 67. Alberti Descrittione +d' Italia, p. 311. * Note: The Mausoleum of Theodoric, now Sante Maria +della Rotonda, is engraved in D'Agincourt, Histoire de l'Art, p xviii. +of the Architectural Prints.--M] + +[Footnote 108: This legend is related by Gregory I., (Dialog. iv. 36,) +and approved by Baronius, (A.D. 526, No. 28;) and both the pope and +cardinal are grave doctors, sufficient to establish a probable opinion.] + +[Footnote 109: Theodoric himself, or rather Cassiodorus, had described +in tragic strains the volcanos of Lipari (Cluver. Sicilia, p. 406--410) +and Vesuvius, (v 50.)] + + + + +Chapter XL: Reign Of Justinian.--Part I. + + Elevation Of Justin The Elder.--Reign Of Justinian.--I. The + Empress Theodora.--II. Factions Of The Circus, And Sedition + Of 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.--Abolition Of The Schools Of Athens, And The + Consulship Of Rome. + +The emperor Justinian was born [1] near the ruins of Sardica, +(the modern Sophia,) of an obscure race [2] of Barbarians, [3] the +inhabitants of a wild and desolate country, to which the names of +Dardania, of Dacia, and of Bulgaria, have been successively applied. His +elevation was 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 husbandmen or +shepherds. [4] On foot, with a scanty provision of biscuit in their +knapsacks, the three youths followed the high road of Constantinople, +and were soon enrolled, for their strength and stature, among the guards +of the emperor Leo. Under the two succeeding reigns, the fortunate +peasant emerged to wealth and honors; 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 preserved 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 command 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 enriched 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 weighty +arguments were treacherously employed by Justin in his own favor; and as +no competitor presumed to appear, the Dacian peasant was invested with +the purple by the unanimous consent of the soldiers, who knew him to +be 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 elder Justin, as he is +distinguished from another emperor of the same family and name, ascended +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 impropriety of their choice. His ignorance +was similar to that of Theodoric; and it is remarkable that in an age +not destitute of learning, two contemporary monarchs had never been +instructed in the knowledge of the alphabet. [411] But the genius of +Justin was far inferior to that of the Gothic king: the experience of +a soldier had not qualified him for the government of an empire; and +though personally brave, the consciousness of his own weakness was +naturally attended with doubt, distrust, and political apprehension. +But the official business of the state was diligently and faithfully +transacted by the quaestor Proclus; [5] and the aged emperor adopted the +talents and ambition of his nephew Justinian, an aspiring youth, whom +his uncle had drawn from the rustic solitude of Dacia, and educated at +Constantinople, as the heir of his private fortune, and at length of the +Eastern empire. + +[Footnote 1: 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 and splendor, (D'Anville, Hist. de l'Acad. &c., tom. xxxi. p. +287--292.)] + +[Footnote 2: The names of these Dardanian peasants are Gothic, and +almost English: Justinian is a translation of uprauda, (upright;) his +father Sabatius (in Graeco-barbarous language stipes) was styled in +his village Istock, (Stock;) his mother Bigleniza was softened into +Vigilantia.] + +[Footnote 3: 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.] + +[Footnote 4: See the anecdotes of Procopius, (c. 6,) with the notes of +N. Alemannus. The satirist would not have sunk, in the vague and decent +appellation of Zonaras. Yet why are those names disgraceful?--and what +German baron would not be proud to descend from the Eumaeus of the +Odyssey! Note: It is whimsical enough that, in our own days, we should +have, even in jest, a claimant to lineal descent from the godlike +swineherd not in the person of a German baron, but in that of a +professor of the Ionian University. Constantine Koliades, or some +malicious wit under this name, has written a tall folio to prove Ulysses +to be Homer, and himself the descendant, the heir (?), of the Eumaeus of +the Odyssey.--M] + +[Footnote 411: St. Martin questions the fact in both cases. The +ignorance of Justin rests on the secret history of Procopius, vol. viii. +p. 8. St. Martin's notes on Le Beau.--M] + +[Footnote 5: His virtues are praised by Procopius, (Persic. l. i. c. +11.) The quaestor Proclus was the friend of Justinian, and the enemy of +every other adoption.] + +Since the eunuch Amantius had been defrauded of his money, it became +necessary to deprive him of his life. The task was easily accomplished +by the charge of a real or fictitious conspiracy; and the judges were +informed, as an accumulation of guilt, that he was secretly addicted +to the Manichaean heresy. [6] Amantius lost his head; three of his +companions, the first domestics of the palace, were punished either with +death or exile; and their unfortunate candidate for the purple was cast +into a deep dungeon, overwhelmed with stones, and ignominiously 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 neighborhood of Constantinople at the +head of a formidable and victorious army of Barbarians. By the frail +security of oaths, he was tempted to relinquish this advantageous +situation, and to trust his person within the walls of a city, whose +inhabitants, particularly the blue faction, were artfully incensed +against him by the remembrance even of his pious hostilities. The +emperor and his nephew embraced him as the faithful and worthy champion +of the church and state; and gratefully adorned their favorite with +the titles of consul and general; but in the seventh month of his +consulship, Vitalian was stabbed with seventeen wounds at the royal +banquet; [7] and Justinian, who inherited the spoil, was accused as the +assassin of a spiritual brother, to whom he had recently pledged his +faith in the participation of the Christian mysteries. [8] 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, [9] the prudent +warrior solicited their favor in the churches, the circus, and the +senate, of Constantinople. The Catholics were attached to the nephew +of Justin, who, between the Nestorian and Eutychian heresies, trod the +narrow path of inflexible and intolerant orthodoxy. [10] In the first +days of the new reign, he prompted 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 favorable report of his pious +respect for the apostolic see. The thrones of the East were filled with +Catholic bishops, devoted to his interest, the clergy and the monks were +gained by his liberality, and the people were taught to pray for +their future 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 important in the eyes +of the multitude than the creed of Nice or Chalcedon: the expense of his +consulship was esteemed at two hundred and twenty-eight thousand pieces +of gold; twenty lions, and thirty leopards, were produced 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 succession of the Imperial throne: the +feeble Anastasius had permitted the vigor of government to degenerate +into the form or substance of an aristocracy; and the military officers +who had 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 treasures of the state +were lavished to procure the voices of the senators, and their unanimous +wish, that he would be pleased to adopt Justinian 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 Justin, holding his purple with both his +hands, advised them to prefer, since an election was so profitable, some +older candidate. Not withstanding this reproach, the senate proceeded +to decorate Justinian with the royal epithet of nobilissimus; and their +decree was ratified by the affection or the fears of his uncle. After +some time the languor of mind and body, to which he was reduced by +an incurable wound in his thigh, indispensably required the aid of a +guardian. He summoned the patriarch and senators; 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 forty-fifth year of +his age, for the lawful sovereign of the East. [11] + +[Footnote 6: Manichaean signifies Eutychian. Hear the furious +acclamations of Constantinople and Tyre, the former no more than +six days after the decease of Anastasius. They produced, the latter +applauded, the eunuch's death, (Baronius, A.D. 518, P. ii. No. 15. +Fleury, Hist Eccles. tom. vii. p. 200, 205, from the Councils, tom. v. +p. 182, 207.)] + +[Footnote 7: His power, character, and intentions, are perfectly +explained by the court de Buat, (tom. ix. p. 54--81.) He was +great-grandson of Aspar, hereditary prince in the Lesser Scythia, +and count of the Gothic foederati of Thrace. The Bessi, whom he could +influence, are the minor Goths of Jornandes, (c. 51.)] + +[Footnote 8: Justiniani patricii factione dicitur interfectus fuisse, +(Victor Tu nunensis, Chron. in Thesaur. Temp. Scaliger, P. ii. p. +7.) Procopius (Anecdot. c. 7) styles him a tyrant, but acknowledges +something which is well explained by Alemannus.] + +[Footnote 9: In his earliest youth (plane adolescens) he had passed some +time as a hostage with Theodoric. 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.] + +[Footnote 10: The ecclesiastical history of Justinian will be shown +hereafter. See Baronius, A.D. 518--521, and the copious article +Justinianas in the index to the viith volume of his Annals.] + +[Footnote 11: The reign of the elder Justin may be found in the three +Chronicles of Marcellinus, Victor, and John Malala, (tom. ii. p. +130--150,) the last of whom (in spite of Hody, Prolegom. No. 14, 39, +edit. Oxon.) lived soon after Justinian, (Jortin's Remarks, &c., vol. iv +p. 383:) in the Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius, (l. iv. c. 1, 2, 3, +9,) and the Excerpta of Theodorus Lector, (No. 37,) and in Cedrenus, +(p. 362--366,) and Zonaras, (l. xiv. p. 58--61,) who may pass for an +original. * Note: Dindorf, in his preface to the new edition of Malala, +p. vi., concurs with this opinion of Gibbon, which was also that of +Reiske, as to the age of the chronicler.--M.] + +From his elevation to his death, Justinian governed the Roman empire +thirty-eight years, seven months, and thirteen days. + +The events of his reign, which excite our curious attention 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 praefect of Constantinople. According to the vicissitudes of +courage or servitude, of favor or disgrace, Procopius [12] successively +composed the history, the panegyric, and the satire of his own times. +The eight books of the Persian, Vandalic, and Gothic wars, [13] which +are continued in the five books of Agathias, 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, 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, contain 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 +[14] were read and applauded by his contemporaries: [15] but, although +he respectfully laid them at the foot of the throne, the pride +of Justinian must have been wounded by the praise of a 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 labored for pardon and reward in the six +books of the Imperial edifices. He had dexterously chosen a subject of +apparent splendor, in which he could loudly celebrate the genius, the +magnificence, and the piety of a prince, who, both as a conqueror and +legislator, had surpassed the puerile virtues of Themistocles and Cyrus. +[16] Disappointment might urge the flatterer to secret revenge; and the +first glance of favor might again tempt him to suspend and suppress +a libel, [17] in which the Roman Cyrus is degraded into an odious and +contemptible tyrant, in which both the emperor and his consort Theodora +are seriously represented as two daemons, who had assumed a human +form for the destruction of mankind. [18] Such base inconsistency +must doubtless sully the reputation, and detract from the credit, of +Procopius: yet, after the venom of his malignity has been suffered to +exhale, the residue of the anecdotes, even the most disgraceful facts, +some of which had been tenderly hinted in his public history, are +established by their internal evidence, or the authentic monuments of +the times. [19] [1911] From these various materials, I shall now proceed +to describe the reign of Justinian, which will deserve and occupy +an ample space. The present chapter will explain the elevation and +character 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 jurisprudence and +theology of the emperor; the controversies and sects which still divide +the Oriental church; the reformation of the Roman law which is obeyed or +respected by the nations of modern Europe. + +[Footnote 12: See the characters of Procopius and Agathias in La Mothe +le Vayer, (tom. viii. p. 144--174,) Vossius, (de Historicis Graecis, +l. ii. c. 22,) and Fabricius, (Bibliot. Graec. l. v. c. 5, tom. vi. +p. 248--278.) Their religion, an honorable problem, betrays occasional +conformity, with a secret attachment to Paganism and Philosophy.] + +[Footnote 13: In the seven first books, two Persic, two Vandalic, +and three Gothic, Procopius has borrowed from Appian the division of +provinces and wars: the viiith book, though it bears the name of Gothic, +is a miscellaneous and general supplement down to the spring of the year +553, from whence it is continued by Agathias till 559, (Pagi, Critica, +A.D. 579, No. 5.)] + +[Footnote 14: The literary fate of Procopius has been somewhat unlucky. + +1. His book de Bello Gothico were stolen by Leonard Aretin, and +published (Fulginii, 1470, Venet. 1471, apud Janson. Mattaire, Annal +Typograph. tom. i. edit. posterior, p. 290, 304, 279, 299,) in his own +name, (see Vossius de Hist. Lat. l. iii. c. 5, and the feeble defence of +the Venice Giornale de Letterati, tom. xix. p. 207.) + +2. His works were mutilated by the first Latin translators, Christopher +Persona, (Giornale, tom. xix. p. 340--348,) and Raphael de Volaterra, +(Huet, de Claris Interpretibus, p. 166,) who did not even consult the +Ms. of the Vatican library, of which they were praefects, (Aleman. +in Praefat Anecdot.) 3. The Greek text was not printed till 1607, by +Hoeschelius of Augsburg, (Dictionnaire de Bayle, tom. ii. p. 782.) + +4. The Paris edition was imperfectly executed by Claude Maltret, a +Jesuit of Toulouse, (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.) + +* Note: Procopius forms a part of the new Byzantine collection under the +superintendence of Dindorf.--M.] + +[Footnote 15: Agathias in Praefat. p. 7, 8, l. iv. p. 137. Evagrius, l. +iv. c. 12. See likewise Photius, cod. lxiii. p. 65.] + +[Footnote 16: Says, he, Praefat. ad l. de Edificiis is no more than a +pun! In these five books, Procopius affects a Christian as well as a +courtly style.] + +[Footnote 17: Procopius discloses himself, (Praefat. ad Anecdot. c. 1, +2, 5,) and the anecdotes are reckoned as the ninth book by Suidas, (tom. +iii. p. 186, edit. Kuster.) The silence of Evagrius is a poor objection. +Baronius (A.D. 548, No. 24) regrets the loss of this secret history: +it was then in the Vatican library, in his own custody, and was first +published sixteen years after his death, with the learned, but partial +notes of Nicholas Alemannus, (Lugd. 1623.)] + +[Footnote 18: Justinian an ass--the perfect likeness of +Domitian--Anecdot. c. 8.--Theodora's lovers driven from her bed by +rival daemons--her marriage foretold with a great daemon--a monk saw the +prince of the daemons, instead of Justinian, on the throne--the servants +who watched beheld a face without features, a body walking without a +head, &c., &c. Procopius declares his own and his friends' belief in +these diabolical stories, (c. 12.)] + +[Footnote 19: Montesquieu (Considerations sur la Grandeur et la +Decadence des Romains, 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.] + +[Footnote 1911: The Anecdota of Procopius, compared with the former +works of the same author, appear to me the basest and most disgraceful +work in literature. The wars, which he has described in the former +volumes as glorious or necessary, are become unprofitable and wanton +massacres; the buildings which he celebrated, as raised to the +immortal honor of the great emperor, and his admirable queen, either as +magnificent embellishments of the city, or useful fortifications for +the defence of the frontier, are become works of vain prodigality +and useless ostentation. I doubt whether Gibbon has made sufficient +allowance for the "malignity" of the Anecdota; at all events, the +extreme and disgusting profligacy of Theodora's early life rests +entirely on this viratent libel--M.] + +I. In the exercise of supreme power, the first act of Justinian was to +divide it with the woman whom he loved, the famous Theodora, [20] whose +strange elevation cannot be applauded as the triumph of female virtue. +Under the reign of Anastasius, the care of the wild beasts maintained by +the green faction at Constantinople was intrusted to Acacius, a native +of the Isle of Cyprus, who, from his employment, was surnamed the master +of the bears. This honorable office was given after his death to another +candidate, notwithstanding the diligence of his widow, who had already +provided a husband and a successor. Acacius had left three daughters, +Comito, [21] Theodora, and Anastasia, the eldest of whom did not then +exceed the age of seven years. On a solemn festival, 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 devoted 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 complained with a ridiculous tone +and gesture of the blows that were inflicted, the whole theatre of +Constantinople resounded with laughter and applause. The beauty of +Theodora [22] 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 color; every +sensation was instantly expressed by the vivacity of her eyes; her easy +motions displayed the graces of a small but elegant figure; and +either love or adulation might proclaim, 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 prostituted 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 favorite; 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 blushed [23] to describe +the naked scenes which Theodora was not ashamed to exhibit in the +theatre. [24] After exhausting the arts of sensual pleasure, [25] she +most ungratefully murmured against the parsimony of Nature; [26] but her +murmurs, her pleasures, and her arts, must be veiled in the obscurity +of a learned language. After reigning for some time, the delight and +contempt of the capital, she condescended to accompany Ecebolus, +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 distress; and in her laborious return to +Constantinople, every city of the East admired and enjoyed 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, +and once only, she became a mother. The infant 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 immediately hastened to the palace of Constantinople, and was +admitted to the presence of his mother. As he was never more seen, +even after the decease of Theodora, she deserves the foul imputation +of extinguishing with his life a secret so offensive to her Imperial +virtue. [2611] + +[Footnote 20: For the life and manners of the empress Theodora see the +Anecdotes; more especially c. 1--5, 9, 10--15, 16, 17, with the learned +notes of Alemannus--a reference which is always implied.] + +[Footnote 21: Comito was afterwards married to Sittas, duke of Armenia, +the father, perhaps, at least she might be the mother, of the empress +Sophia. Two nephews of Theodora may be the sons of Anastasia, (Aleman. +p. 30, 31.)] + +[Footnote 22: Her statute was raised at Constantinople, on a porphyry +column. See Procopius, (de Edif. l. i. c. 11,) who gives her portrait +in the Anecdotes, (c. 10.) Aleman. (p. 47) produces one from a Mosaic at +Ravenna, loaded with pearls and jewels, and yet handsome.] + +[Footnote 23: A fragment of the Anecdotes, (c. 9,) somewhat too naked, +was suppressed by Alemannus, though extant in the Vatican Ms.; nor has +the defect been supplied in the Paris or Venice editions. La Mothe +le Vayer (tom. viii. p. 155) gave the first hint of this curious and +genuine passage, (Jortin's Remarks, vol. iv. p. 366,) which he had +received from Rome, and it has been since published in the Menagiana +(tom. iii. p. 254--259) with a Latin version.] + +[Footnote 24: After the mention of a narrow girdle, (as none could +appear stark naked in the theatre,) Procopius thus proceeds. I have +heard that a learned prelate, now deceased, was fond of quoting this +passage in conversation.] + +[Footnote 25: Theodora surpassed the Crispa of Ausonius, (Epigram +lxxi.,) who imitated the capitalis luxus of the females of Nola. See +Quintilian Institut. viii. 6, and Torrentius ad Horat. Sermon. l. i. +sat. 2, v. 101. At a memorable supper, thirty slaves waited round the +table ten young men feasted with Theodora. Her charity was universal. Et +lassata viris, necdum satiata, recessit.] + +[Footnote 26: She wished for a fourth altar, on which she might pour +libations to the god of love.] + +[Footnote 2611: Gibbon should have remembered the axiom which he +quotes in another piece, scelera ostendi oportet dum puniantur abscondi +flagitia.--M.] + +In the most abject state of her fortune, and 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 +Paphlagonia to Constantinople; assumed, like a skilful actress, a more +decent character; relieved her poverty by the laudable industry of +spinning wool; and affected a life of chastity and solitude in a small +house, which she afterwards changed into a magnificent temple. [27] Her +beauty, 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; +perhaps she inflamed, at first by modest delays, and at last by sensual +allurements, the desires of a lover, who, from nature or devotion, was +addicted to long vigils and abstemious diet. When his first transports +had subsided, she still maintained 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 Justin was determined, +perhaps by religious scruples, 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 dishonored by +a servile origin or theatrical profession: the empress Lupicina, or +Euphemia, a Barbarian of rustic manners, but of irreproachable 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 mother, 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 glorious +repentance (the words of the edict) was left open for the unhappy +females who had prostituted their persons on the theatre, and they were +permitted to contract a legal union with the most illustrious of +the Romans. [28] This indulgence was speedily followed by the solemn +nuptials of Justinian and Theodora; her dignity was gradually exalted +with 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 honors +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. [29] The Eastern world fell prostrate before the +genius and fortune of the daughter 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 bishops, victorious generals, and captive +monarchs. [30] + +[Footnote 27: Anonym. de Antiquitat. C. P. l. iii. 132, in Banduri +Imperium Orient. tom. i. p. 48. Ludewig (p. 154) argues sensibly that +Theodora would not have immortalized a brothel: but I apply this fact to +her second and chaster residence at Constantinople.] + +[Footnote 28: See the old law in Justinian's Code, (l. v. tit. v. leg. +7, tit. xxvii. leg. 1,) under the years 336 and 454. The new edict +(about the year 521 or 522, Aleman. p. 38, 96) very awkwardly repeals no +more than the clause of mulieres scenicoe, libertinae, tabernariae. +See the novels 89 and 117, and a Greek rescript from Justinian to the +bishops, (Aleman. p. 41.)] + +[Footnote 29: 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 Gabriel, puram conscientiam germanumque servitium me servaturum, +sacratissimis DDNN. Justiniano et Theodorae conjugi ejus, (Novell. +viii. tit. 3.) Would the oath have been binding in favor of the widow? +Communes tituli et triumphi, &c., (Aleman. p. 47, 48.)] + +[Footnote 30: "Let greatness own her, and she's mean no more," &c. +Without Warburton's critical telescope, I should never have seen, +in this general picture of triumphant vice, any personal allusion to +Theodora.] + + + + +Chapter XL: Reign Of Justinian.--Part II. + +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 rigor the venal or voluntary +sins of the youthful harlot. From a motive 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 apartments were occupied by the favorite women and eunuchs, whose +interests and passions she indulged at the expense of justice; the most +illustrious person ages of the state were crowded into a dark and sultry +antechamber, and when at last, after tedious attendance, they were +admitted to kiss the feet of Theodora, they experienced, as her humor +might suggest, the silent arrogance of an empress, or the capricious +levity of a comedian. Her rapacious avarice to accumulate an immense +treasure, may be excused by the apprehension of her husband's death, +which could leave no alternative between ruin and the throne; and fear +as well as ambition might exasperate Theodora against two generals, who, +during the malady of the emperor, had rashly declared that they were not +disposed to acquiesce in the choice of the capital. But the reproach of +cruelty, so repugnant even to her softer vices, has left an indelible +stain on the memory of Theodora. Her numerous spies observed, and +zealously reported, every action, or word, or look, injurious to their +royal mistress. Whomsoever they accused were cast into her peculiar +prisons, [31] inaccessible to the inquiries of justice; and it was +rumored, that the torture of the rack, or scourge, had been inflicted in +the presence of the female tyrant, insensible to the voice of prayer +or of pity. [32] Some of these unhappy victims perished in deep, +unwholesome dungeons, while others were permitted, after the loss of +their limbs, their reason, or their fortunes, to appear in the world, +the living monuments 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 pronounced, 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 forever, that your skin shall be flayed from your body." [33] + +[Footnote 31: Her prisons, a labyrinth, a Tartarus, (Anecdot. c. 4,) +were under the palace. Darkness is propitious to cruelty, but it is +likewise favorable to calumny and fiction.] + +[Footnote 32: A more jocular whipping was inflicted on Saturninus, for +presuming to say that his wife, a favorite of the empress, had not been +found. (Anecdot. c. 17.)] + +[Footnote 33: Per viventem in saecula excoriari te faciam. Anastasius de +Vitis Pont. Roman. in Vigilio, p. 40.] + +If the creed of Theodora had not been tainted with heresy, her exemplary +devotion might have atoned, in the opinion of her contemporaries, for +pride, avarice, and cruelty. But, if she employed her influence to +assuage the intolerant fury of the emperor, the present age will allow +some merit to her religion, and much indulgence to her speculative +errors. [34] The name of Theodora was introduced, with equal honor, +in all the pious and charitable foundations of Justinian; and the most +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 +monastery, and a liberal maintenance was assigned to five hundred women, +who had been collected from the streets and brothels of Constantinople. +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. [35] The +prudence of Theodora is celebrated by Justinian himself; and his laws +are attributed to the sage counsels of his most reverend wife whom he +had received as the gift of the Deity. [36] 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 Justinian, is founded on the +silence of her implacable 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 infant +daughter, the sole offspring of her marriage. [37] Notwithstanding this +disappointment, her dominion was permanent and absolute; she preserved, +by art or merit, the affections of Justinian; 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 Praetorian praefect, the great treasurer, several +counts and patricians, and a splendid train of four thousand attendants: +the highways were repaired at her approach; a palace was erected for her +reception; and as she passed through Bithynia, she distributed liberal +alms to the churches, the monasteries, and the hospitals, that they +might implore Heaven for the restoration of her health. [38] At length, +in the twenty-fourth year of her marriage, and the twenty-second of her +reign, she was consumed by a cancer; [39] and the irreparable loss was +deplored by her husband, who, in the room of a theatrical prostitute, +might have selected the purest and most noble virgin of the East. [40] + +[Footnote 34: Ludewig, p. 161--166. I give him credit for the charitable +attempt, although he hath not much charity in his temper.] + +[Footnote 35: Compare the anecdotes (c. 17) with the Edifices (l. i. c. +9)--how differently may the same fact be stated! John Malala (tom. 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 +aurei apiece.] + +[Footnote 36: Novel. viii. 1. An allusion to Theodora. Her enemies read +the name Daemonodora, (Aleman. p. 66.)] + +[Footnote 37: St. Sabas refused to pray for a son of Theodora, lest he +should prove a heretic worse than Anastasius himself, (Cyril in Vit. St. +Sabae, apud Aleman. p. 70, 109.)] + +[Footnote 38: See John Malala, tom. ii. p. 174. Theophanes, p. 158. +Procopius de Edific. l. v. c. 3.] + +[Footnote 39: Theodora Chalcedonensis synodi inimica canceris plaga toto +corpore perfusa vitam prodigiose finivit, (Victor Tununensis in Chron.) +On such occasions, an orthodox mind is steeled against pity. Alemannus +(p. 12, 13) understands of Theophanes as civil language, which does not +imply either piety or repentance; yet two years after her death, St. +Theodora is celebrated by Paul Silentiarius, (in proem. v. 58--62.)] + +[Footnote 40: As she persecuted the popes, and rejected a council, +Baronius exhausts the names of Eve, Dalila, Herodias, &c.; after which +he has recourse to his infernal dictionary: civis inferni--alumna +daemonum--satanico agitata spiritu-oestro percita diabolico, &c., &c., +(A.D. 548, No. 24.)] + +II. A material difference may be observed in the games of antiquity: +the most eminent of the Greeks were actors, the Romans were merely +spectators. The Olympic stadium was open to wealth, merit, and ambition; +and if the candidates could depend on their personal skill and activity, +they might pursue the footsteps of Diomede and Menelaus, and conduct +their own horses in the rapid career. [41] Ten, twenty, forty chariots +were allowed to start at the same instant; a crown of leaves was the +reward of the victor; and his fame, with that of his family and country, +was chanted 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 expense of the republic, the +magistrates, or the emperors: but the reins were abandoned to servile +hands; and if the profits of a favorite charioteer sometimes exceeded +those of an advocate, they must be considered as the effects of popular +extravagance, 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 +colors, a light green, and a caerulean 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 mysterious origin, and their +fanciful colors were derived from the various appearances of nature in +the four seasons of the year; the red dogstar of summer, the snows +of winter, the deep shades of autumn, and the cheerful verdure of +the spring. [42] Another interpretation preferred the elements to +the seasons, and the struggle of the green and blue was supposed to +represent the 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 ardor of the Roman people, who devoted their lives and +fortunes to the color which they had espoused. Such folly was disdained +and indulged by the wisest princes; but the names of Caligula, Nero, +Vitellius, Verus, Commodus, Caracalla, and Elagabalus, were enrolled in +the blue or green factions of the circus; they frequented their stables, +applauded their favorites, chastised their antagonists, and deserved the +esteem of the populace, 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 +Theodoric, from a motive of justice or affection, interposed his +authority to protect the greens against the violence of a consul and +a patrician, who were passionately addicted to the blue faction of the +circus. [43] + +[Footnote 41: Read and feel the xxiid book of the Iliad, a living +picture of manners, passions, and the whole form and spirit of +the chariot race West's Dissertation on the Olympic Games (sect. +xii.--xvii.) affords much curious and authentic information.] + +[Footnote 42: The four colors, albati, russati, prasini, veneti, +represent the four seasons, according to Cassiodorus, (Var. iii. 51,) +who lavishes much wit and eloquence on this theatrical mystery. Of these +colors, the three first may be fairly translated white, red, and green. +Venetus is explained by coeruleus, a word various and vague: it is +properly the sky reflected in the sea; but custom and convenience +may allow blue as an equivalent, (Robert. Stephan. sub voce. Spence's +Polymetis, p. 228.)] + +[Footnote 43: See Onuphrius Panvinius de Ludis Circensibus, l. i. c. 10, +11; the xviith Annotation on Mascou's History of the Germans; and Aleman +ad c. vii.] + +Constantinople adopted the follies, though not the virtues, of ancient +Rome; and the same factions which had agitated the circus, raged with +redoubled fury in the hippodrome. Under 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 +adversaries. [44] From this capital, the pestilence was diffused into +the provinces and cities of the East, and the sportive distinction of +two colors produced two strong and irreconcilable factions, which shook +the foundations of a feeble government. [45] The popular dissensions, +founded on the most serious interest, or holy pretence, 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 husbands. 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 honors. +A secret attachment to the family or sect of Anastasius was imputed to +the greens; the blues were zealously devoted to the cause of orthodoxy +and Justinian, [46] and their grateful patron protected, above five +years, the disorders of a faction, whose seasonable tumults overawed the +palace, the senate, and the capitals of the East. Insolent with royal +favor, the blues affected 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 poniards, 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 employed to facilitate the attack, or +to conceal the crimes of these factious rioters. No place was safe or +sacred from their depredations; to gratify 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 dexterity could always inflict a mortal wound with a single +stroke of their dagger. The dissolute youth of Constantinople adopted +the blue livery of disorder; the laws were silent, and the bonds +of society were relaxed: creditors were compelled to resign their +obligations; judges to reverse their sentence; masters to enfranchise +their slaves; fathers to supply the extravagance of their children; +noble matrons were prostituted 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. [47] The despair of the greens, who were persecuted by their +enemies, and deserted by the magistrates, assumed the privilege of +defence, perhaps of retaliation; but those who survived the combat were +dragged to execution, and the unhappy 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 praefect 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. [48] An aspiring candidate may be +tempted to build his greatness on the public confusion, but it is the +interest as well as duty of a sovereign to maintain the authority of +the laws. The first edict of Justinian, which was often repeated, +and sometimes executed, announced his firm resolution to support the +innocent, and to chastise the guilty, of every denomination and color. +Yet the balance of justice was still inclined in favor of the blue +faction, by the secret affection, the habits, and the fears of the +emperor; his equity, after an apparent struggle, submitted, without +reluctance, 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, +Justinian is no more! ye greens, he is still alive!" [49] + +[Footnote 44: Marcellin. in Chron. p. 47. Instead of the vulgar word +venata he uses the more exquisite terms of coerulea and coerealis. +Baronius (A.D. 501, No. 4, 5, 6) is satisfied that the blues were +orthodox; but Tillemont is angry at the supposition, and will not allow +any martyrs in a playhouse, (Hist. des Emp. tom. vi. p. 554.)] + +[Footnote 45: See Procopius, (Persic. l. i. c. 24.) In describing the +vices of the factions and of the government, the public, is not more +favorable than the secret, historian. Aleman. (p. 26) has quoted a +fine passage from Gregory Nazianzen, which proves the inveteracy of the +evil.] + +[Footnote 46: The partiality of Justinian for the blues (Anecdot. c. 7) +is attested by Evagrius, (Hist. Eccles. l. iv. c. 32,) John Malala, (tom +ii p. 138, 139,) especially for Antioch; and Theophanes, (p. 142.)] + +[Footnote 47: A wife, (says Procopius,) who was seized and almost +ravished by a blue-coat, threw herself into the Bosphorus. The bishops +of the second Syria (Aleman. p. 26) deplore a similar suicide, the guilt +or glory of female chastity, and name the heroine.] + +[Footnote 48: The doubtful 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 praefect of Constantinople +is related by John Malala, (tom. ii. p. 139.)] + +[Footnote 49: See John Malala, (tom. 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 Procopius, (Anecdot. c. 10.) See Aleman. Praefat. p. 6.] + +A sedition, which almost laid Constantinople in ashes, was excited by +the mutual hatred and momentary reconciliation of the two factions. In +the fifth year of his reign, Justinian celebrated 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 +condescended to hold, in abrupt sentences, and by the voice of a crier, +the most singular dialogue [50] that ever passed between a prince and +his subjects. Their first complaints were respectful and modest; they +accused the subordinate ministers of oppression, and proclaimed their +wishes for the long life and victory of the emperor. "Be patient and +attentive, ye insolent railers!" exclaimed Justinian; "be mute, ye Jews, +Samaritans, and Manichaeans!" The greens still attempted to awaken his +compassion. "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 color. Let us die, O emperor! but let us die by your command, +and for your service!" But the repetition of partial and passionate +invectives degraded, in their eyes, the majesty of the purple; they +renounced allegiance 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 a 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 hostile clamors 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 factions, who +had been condemned by the praefect, were carried round the city, and +afterwards transported to the place of execution in the suburb of Pera. +Four were immediately beheaded; 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 neighboring convent, conveyed them in a +boat to the sanctuary of the church. [51] As one of these criminals was +of the blue, and the other of the green livery, the two factions were +equally provoked by the cruelty of their oppressor, or the ingratitude +of their patron; and a short truce was concluded till they had delivered +their prisoners and satisfied their revenge. The palace of the praefect, +who withstood the seditious torrent, was instantly burnt, his officers +and guards were massacred, the prisons were forced open, and freedom was +restored to those who could only use it for the public destruction. +A military force, which had been despatched to the aid of the civil +magistrate, was fiercely encountered by an armed multitude, whose +numbers and boldness continually increased; and the Heruli, the wildest +Barbarians 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 exasperated by this +sacrilege, the people fought with 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 control over the face of the city. The conflagration +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 immense 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 abandoned to the factions, whose +watchword, Nika, vanquish! has given a name to this memorable sedition. +[52] + +[Footnote 50: This dialogue, which Theophanes has preserved, exhibits +the popular language, as well as the manners, of Constantinople, in the +vith century. Their Greek is mingled with many strange and barbarous +words, for which Ducange cannot always find a meaning or etymology.] + +[Footnote 51: See this church and monastery in Ducange, C. P. +Christiana, l. iv p 182.] + +[Footnote 52: The history of the Nika sedition is extracted from +Marcellinus, (in Chron.,) Procopius, (Persic. l. i. c. 26,) John Malala, +(tom. ii. p. 213--218,) Chron. Paschal., (p. 336--340,) Theophanes, +(Chronograph. p. 154--158) and Zonaras, (l. xiv. p. 61--63.)] + +As long as the factions were divided, the triumphant blues, and +desponding greens, appeared to behold with the same indifference the +disorders 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 authors of the public misery. The peaceful murmurs of the people +would have been disregarded: they were heard with respect when the city +was in flames; the quaestor, and the praefect, were instantly removed, +and their offices were filled by two senators of blameless integrity. +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 assurances, though solemnly pronounced +in the presence of the holy Gospels; and the emperor, alarmed by their +distrust, retreated with precipitation to the strong fortress of the +palace. The obstinacy of the tumult was now imputed to a secret +and ambitious conspiracy, and a suspicion was entertained, that the +insurgents, more especially the green faction, had been supplied with +arms and money by Hypatius and Pompey, two patricians, who could neither +forget with honor, nor remember with safety, that they were the +nephews of the emperor Anastasius. Capriciously trusted, disgraced, and +pardoned, by the jealous levity of the monarch, they had appeared as +loyal servants 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 +depart from the palace. After a fruitless representation, that obedience +might lead to involuntary treason, they retired to their houses, 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 favorite 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 oppressed 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. + +Justinian was lost, if the prostitute whom he 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 a 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 survive +the loss of dignity and dominion. I implore Heaven, that 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 +you resolve, O Caesar! to fly, you have treasures; 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 sepulchre." 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 measure 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 valor and discipline in the +Persian and Illyrian wars. + +Under the command of Belisarius and Mundus, they silently marched in +two divisions from the palace, 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 narrow +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 above thirty thousand persons +were slain in the merciless and promiscuous carnage of the day. Hypatius +was dragged from his throne, and conducted, with his brother Pompey, 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, their palaces razed, and their fortunes confiscated. The +hippodrome itself was condemned, during several years, to a mournful +silence: with the restoration of the games, the same disorders revived; +and the blue and green factions continued to afflict the reign of +Justinian, and to disturb the tranquility of the Eastern empire. [53] + +[Footnote 53: Marcellinus says in general terms, innumeris populis in +circotrucidatis. Procopius numbers 30,000 victims: and the 35,000 of +Theophanes are swelled to 40,000 by the more recent Zonaras. Such is the +usual progress of exaggeration.] + +III. That empire, after Rome was barbarous, still embraced the nations +whom she had conquered beyond the Adriatic, and as far as the frontiers +of Aethiopia and Persia. Justinian reigned over sixty-four provinces, +and nine hundred and thirty-five cities; [54] his dominions were blessed +by nature with the advantages of soil, situation, and climate: and the +improvements of human art had been perpetually diffused along the coast +of the Mediterranean and the banks of the Nile from ancient Troy to the +Egyptian Thebes. Abraham [55] had been relieved by the well-known +plenty of Egypt; the same country, a small and populous tract, was still +capable of exporting, each year, two hundred and sixty thousand +quarters of wheat for the use of Constantinople; [56] and the capital of +Justinian was supplied with the manufactures of Sidon, fifteen centuries +after they had been celebrated in the poems of Homer. [57] The annual +powers of vegetation, instead of being exhausted by two thousand +harvests, were renewed and invigorated by skilful husbandry, rich +manure, and seasonable repose. The breed of domestic animals was +infinitely multiplied. Plantations, buildings, and the instruments of +labor 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 humble practice of the arts: +society was enriched by the division of labor and the facility of +exchange; and every Roman was lodged, clothed, and subsisted, by the +industry of a thousand 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 manufactured to hide or adorn the human body; +they were stained with an infusion of permanent colors; and the pencil +was successfully employed to improve the labors of the loom. In the +choice of those colors [58] which imitate the beauties of nature, the +freedom of taste and fashion was indulged; but the deep purple [59] +which the Phoenicians extracted from a shell-fish, was restrained 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. [60] + +[Footnote 54: Hierocles, a contemporary of Justinian, composed his +(Itineraria, p. 631,) review of the eastern provinces and cities, before +the year 535, (Wesseling, in Praefat. and Not. ad p. 623, &c.)] + +[Footnote 55: See the Book of Genesis (xii. 10) and the administration +of Joseph. The annals of the Greeks and Hebrews agree in the early +arts and plenty of Egypt: but this antiquity supposes a long series of +improvement; and Warburton, who is almost stifled by the Hebrew calls +aloud for the Samaritan, Chronology, (Divine Legation, vol. iii. p. +29, &c.) * Note: The recent extraordinary discoveries in Egyptian +antiquities strongly confirm the high notion of the early Egyptian +civilization, and imperatively demand a longer period for their +development. As to the common Hebrew chronology, as far as such a +subject is capable of demonstration, it appears to me to have been +framed, with a particular view, by the Jews of Tiberias. It was not +the chronology of the Samaritans, not that of the LXX., not that of +Josephus, not that of St. Paul.--M.] + +[Footnote 56: Eight millions of Roman modii, besides a contribution of +80,000 aurei for the expenses of water-carriage, from which the subject +was graciously excused. See the 13th Edict of Justinian: the numbers are +checked and verified by the agreement of the Greek and Latin texts.] + +[Footnote 57: Homer's Iliad, vi. 289. These veils, were the work of the +Sidonian women. But this passage is more honorable to the manufactures +than to the navigation of Phoenicia, from whence they had been imported +to Troy in Phrygian bottoms.] + +[Footnote 58: See in Ovid (de Arte Amandi, iii. 269, &c.) a poetical +list of twelve colors borrowed from flowers, the elements, &c. But it +is almost impossible to discriminate by words all the nice and various +shades both of art and nature.] + +[Footnote 59: By the discovery of cochineal, &c., we far surpass the +colors of antiquity. Their royal purple had a strong smell, and a dark +cast as deep as bull's blood--obscuritas rubens, (says Cassiodorus, Var. +1, 2,) nigredo saguinea. The president Goguet (Origine des Loix et des +Arts, part ii. l. ii. c. 2, p. 184--215) will amuse and satisfy the +reader. I doubt whether his book, especially in England, is as well +known as it deserves to be.] + +[Footnote 60: Historical proofs of this jealousy have been occasionally +introduced, and many more might have been added; but the arbitrary acts +of despotism were justified by the sober and general declarations of +law, (Codex Theodosian. l. x. tit. 21, leg. 3. Codex Justinian. l. xi. +tit. 8, leg. 5.) An inglorious permission, and necessary restriction, +was applied to the mince, the female dancers, (Cod. Theodos. l. xv. tit. +7, leg. 11.)] + + + + +Chapter XL: Reign Of Justinian.--Part III. + +I need not explain that silk [61] is originally spun from the bowels of +a caterpillar, and that it composes the golden tomb, from whence a worm +emerges in the form of a butterfly. Till the reign of Justinian, +the silk-worm 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 uncertain, they were generally +neglected, except in the little island of Ceos, near the coast of +Attica. A thin gauze was procured from their webs, and this Cean +manufacture, the invention of a woman, for female use, was long admired +both in the East and at Rome. Whatever 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; [62] and this natural error, less marvellous than +the truth, was slowly corrected by the knowledge of a valuable insect, +the first artificer of the luxury of nations. That rare and elegant +luxury was censured, in the reign of Tiberius, by the gravest of the +Romans; and Pliny, in affected though forcible language, has condemned +the thirst of gain, which explores the last confines of the earth, for +the pernicious purpose of exposing to the public eye naked draperies and +transparent matrons. [63] [6311] A dress which showed the turn of the +limbs, and color 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. +[64] 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 familiarized with +the example of Elagabalus, the first who, by this effeminate habit, had +sullied the dignity of an emperor and a man. Aurelian 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 or monopoly sometimes raised the value even above the standard +of Aurelian, the manufacturers of Tyre and Berytus were sometimes +compelled, by the operation of the same causes, to content themselves +with a ninth part of that extravagant rate. [65] A law was thought +necessary 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. +[66] + +[Footnote 61: In the history of insects (far more wonderful than Ovid's +Metamorphoses) the silk-worm holds a conspicuous place. The bombyx of +the Isle of Ceos, as described by Pliny, (Hist. Natur. xi. 26, 27, with +the notes of the two learned Jesuits, Hardouin and Brotier,) may be +illustrated by a similar species in China, (Memoires sur les Chinois, +tom. ii. p. 575--598;) but our silk-worm, as well as the white +mulberry-tree, were unknown to Theophrastus and Pliny.] + +[Footnote 62: Georgic. ii. 121. Serica quando venerint in usum +planissime non acio: suspicor tamen in Julii Caesaris aevo, nam ante non +invenio, says Justus Lipsius, (Excursus i. ad Tacit. Annal. ii. 32.) See +Dion Cassius, (l. xliii. p. 358, edit. Reimar,) and Pausanius, (l. vi. +p. 519,) the first who describes, however strangely, the Seric insect.] + +[Footnote 63: Tam longinquo orbe petitur, ut in publico matrona +transluceat...ut denudet foeminas vestis, (Plin. vi. 20, xi. 21.) Varro +and Publius Syrus had already played on the Toga vitrea, ventus +texilis, and nebula linen, (Horat. Sermon. i. 2, 101, with the notes of +Torrentius and Dacier.)] + +[Footnote 6311: Gibbon must have written transparent draperies and naked +matrons. Through sometimes affected, he is never inaccurate.--M.] + +[Footnote 64: On the texture, colors, names, and use of the silk, half +silk, and liuen garments of antiquity, see the profound, diffuse, and +obscure researches of the great Salmasius, (in Hist. August. p. 127, +309, 310, 339, 341, 342, 344, 388--391, 395, 513,) who was ignorant of +the most common trades of Dijon or Leyden.] + +[Footnote 65: Flavius Vopiscus in Aurelian. c. 45, in Hist. August. +p. 224. See Salmasius ad Hist. Aug. p. 392, and Plinian. Exercitat. in +Solinum, p. 694, 695. The Anecdotes of Procopius (c. 25) state a partial +and imperfect rate of the price of silk in the time of Justinian.] + +[Footnote 66: Procopius de Edit. l. iii. c. 1. These pinnes de mer are +found near Smyrna, Sicily, Corsica, and Minorca; and a pair of gloves of +their silk was presented to Pope Benedict XIV.] + +A valuable merchandise of small bulk is capable of defraying the expense +of land-carriage; and the caravans traversed the whole latitude of +Asia in two hundred and forty-three days from the Chinese Ocean to the +sea-coast of Syria. Silk was immediately delivered to the Romans by the +Persian merchants, [67] who frequented the fairs of Armenia and Nisibis; +but this trade, which in the intervals of truce was oppressed 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, and the Turks, who successively reigned over that +industrious people. Yet the most savage dominion has not extirpated the +seeds of agriculture and commerce, in a region which is celebrated as +one of the four gardens of Asia; the cities of Samarcand and Bochara are +advantageously seated for the exchange of its various productions; and +their merchants purchased from the Chinese, [68] the raw or manufactured +silk which they transported into Persia for the use of the Roman empire. +In the vain capital of China, the Sogdian caravans were entertained as +the suppliant embassies of tributary kingdoms, and if they returned in +safety, the bold adventure was rewarded with exorbitant gain. But the +difficult and perilous march from Samarcand to the first town of Shensi, +could not be performed in less than sixty, eighty, or one hundred days: +as soon as they had passed the Jaxartes they entered the desert; and the +wandering hordes, unless they are restrained by armies and garrisons, +have always considered the citizen and the traveller 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. [69] 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 unfrequented +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 communication 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 aera with cities and men, mulberry-trees and their +precious inhabitants; and if the Chinese, with the knowledge of the +compass, had possessed the genius of the Greeks or Phoenicians, they +might have spread their discoveries over the southern hemisphere. I +am not qualified to examine, and I am not disposed to believe, their +distant voyages to the Persian Gulf, or the Cape of Good Hope; but their +ancestors might equal the labors and success of the present 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. [70] Without losing 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 delineated [71] as the regions +of gold and silver; and the trading cities named in the geography of +Ptolemy may indicate, that this wealth was not solely derived from the +mines. The direct interval between Sumatra and Ceylon is about three +hundred leagues: the Chinese and Indian navigators were conducted by the +flight of birds and periodical winds; and the ocean might be securely +traversed in square-built ships, which, instead of iron, were sewed +together with the strong thread of the cocoanut. Ceylon, Serendib, +or Taprobana, was divided between two hostile princes; one of whom +possessed the mountains, the elephants, and the luminous carbuncle, and +the other enjoyed the more solid riches of domestic industry, foreign +trade, and the capacious harbor of Trinquemale, which received and +dismissed the fleets of the East and West. In this hospitable isle, at +an equal distance (as it was computed) from their respective countries, +the silk merchants of China, who had collected in their voyages aloes, +cloves, nutmeg, and sandal 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 magnificence: 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 +Aethiopian ship, as a simple passenger. [72] + +[Footnote 67: Procopius, Persic. l. i. c. 20, l. ii. c. 25; Gothic. +l. iv. c. 17. Menander in Excerpt. Legat. p. 107. Of the Parthian or +Persian empire, Isidore of Charax (in Stathmis Parthicis, p. 7, 8, in +Hudson, Geograph. Minor. tom. ii.) has marked the roads, and Ammianus +Marcellinus (l. xxiii. c. 6, p. 400) has enumerated the provinces. * +Note: See St. Martin, Mem. sur l'Armenie, vol. ii. p. 41.--M.] + +[Footnote 68: 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, tom. i. part i. in +the Tables, part ii. in the Geography. Memoires de l'Academie des +Inscriptions, tom. xxxii. xxxvi. xlii. xliii.,) who discovers the +gradual progress of the truth of the annals and the extent of the +monarchy, till the Christian aera. 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 Sinae possessed an empire not +inferior to their own. * Note: An abstract of the various opinions of +the learned modern writers, Gosselin, Mannert, Lelewel, Malte-Brun, +Heeren, and La Treille, on the Serica and the Thinae of the ancients, +may be found in the new edition of Malte-Brun, vol. vi. p. 368, +382.--M.] + +[Footnote 69: The roads from China to Persia and Hindostan may be +investigated in the relations of Hackluyt and Thevenot, the ambassadors +of Sharokh, Anthony Jenkinson, the Pere Greuber, &c. See likewise +Hanway's Travels, vol. i. p. 345--357. A communication through Thibet +has been lately explored by the English sovereigns of Bengal.] + +[Footnote 70: For the Chinese navigation to Malacca and Achin, perhaps +to Ceylon, see Renaudot, (on the two Mahometan Travellers, p. 8--11, +13--17, 141--157;) Dampier, (vol. ii. p. 136;) the Hist. Philosophique +des deux Indes, (tom. i. p. 98,) and Hist. Generale des Voyages, (tom. +vi. p. 201.)] + +[Footnote 71: The knowledge, or rather ignorance, of Strabo, Pliny, +Ptolemy, Arrian, Marcian, &c., of the countries eastward of Cape +Comorin, is finely illustrated by D'Anville, (Antiquite Geographique de +l'Inde, especially p. 161--198.) Our geography of India is improved by +commerce and conquest; and has been illustrated by the excellent maps +and memoirs of Major Rennel. If he extends the sphere of his inquiries +with the same critical knowledge and sagacity, he will succeed, and may +surpass, the first of modern geographers.] + +[Footnote 72: The Taprobane of Pliny, (vi. 24,) Solinus, (c. 53,) and +Salmas. Plinianae Exercitat., (p. 781, 782,) and most of the ancients, +who often confound the islands of Ceylon and Sumatra, is more clearly +described by Cosmas Indicopleustes; yet even the Christian topographer +has exaggerated its dimensions. His information on the Indian and +Chinese trade is rare and curious, (l. ii. p. 138, l. xi. p. 337, 338, +edit. Montfaucon.)] + +As silk became of indispensable use, the emperor Justinian saw with +concern that the Persians had occupied by land and sea the monopoly +of this important supply, and that the wealth of his subjects was +continually drained by a nation of enemies and idolaters. An active +government 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 Malacca, or even of China. Justinian embraced a more +humble expedient, and solicited the aid of his Christian allies, +the Aethiopians of Abyssinia, who had recently acquired the arts of +navigation, the spirit of trade, and the seaport of Adulis, [73] [7311] +still decorated with the trophies of a Grecian conqueror. Along the +African coast, they penetrated 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 emperor 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 missionaries pursued the footsteps of +commerce to the extremities of Asia. [74] Two Persian monks had long +resided in China, perhaps in the royal city of Nankin, the seat of a +monarch addicted to foreign superstitions, and who actually received 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 myriads of silk-worms, whose education +(either on trees or in houses) had once been considered as the labor of +queens. [75] They soon discovered that it was impracticable to transport +the short-lived insect, but that in the eggs a numerous 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 project +to the emperor, and were liberally encouraged by the gifts and promises +of Justinian. To the historians of that prince, a campaign at the foot +of Mount Caucasus has seemed more deserving of a minute relation than +the labors 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 mulberry leaves; +they lived and labored in a foreign climate; a sufficient number of +butterflies was saved to propagate the race, and trees were planted +to supply the nourishment of the rising generations. Experience and +reflection corrected the errors of a new attempt, and the Sogdoite +ambassadors acknowledged, in the succeeding reign, that the Romans were +not inferior to the natives of China in the education of the +insects, and the manufactures of silk, [76] in which both China and +Constantinople have been surpassed by the industry of modern Europe. I +am not insensible of the benefits of elegant 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 Livy would have been perpetuated in the editions of +the sixth century. + +A larger view of the globe might at least have promoted the improvement +of speculative science, but the Christian 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' journey in length, two hundred in +breadth, encompassed by the ocean, and covered by the solid crystal of +the firmament. [77] + +[Footnote 73: See Procopius, Persic. (l. ii. c. 20.) Cosmas affords some +interesting knowledge of the port and inscription of Adulis, (Topograph. +Christ. l. ii. p. 138, 140--143,) and of the trade of the Axumites along +the African coast of Barbaria or Zingi, (p. 138, 139,) and as far as +Taprobane, (l. xi. p. 339.)] + +[Footnote 7311: Mr. Salt obtained information of considerable ruins of +an ancient town near Zulla, called Azoole, which answers to the position +of Adulis. Mr. Salt was prevented by illness, Mr. Stuart, whom he sent, +by the jealousy of the natives, from investigating these ruins: of their +existence there seems no doubt. Salt's 2d Journey, p. 452.--M.] + +[Footnote 74: See the Christian missions in India, in Cosmas, (l. iii. +p. 178, 179, l. xi. p. 337,) and consult Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. (tom. +iv. p. 413--548.)] + +[Footnote 75: The invention, manufacture, and general use of silk in +China, may be seen in Duhalde, (Description Generale de la Chine, tom. +ii. p. 165, 205--223.) The province of Chekian is the most renowned both +for quantity and quality.] + +[Footnote 76: Procopius, (l. viii. Gothic. iv. c. 17. Theophanes Byzant. +apud Phot. Cod. lxxxiv. p. 38. Zonaras, tom. ii. l. xiv. p. 69. Pagi +tom. ii. p. 602) assigns to the year 552 this memorable importation. +Menander (in Excerpt. Legat. p. 107) mentions the admiration of the +Sogdoites; and Theophylact Simocatta (l. vii. c. 9) darkly represents +the two rival kingdoms in (China) the country of silk.] + +[Footnote 77: Cosmas, surnamed Indicopleustes, or the Indian navigator, +performed his voyage about the year 522, and composed at Alexandria, +between 535, and 547, Christian Topography, (Montfaucon, Praefat. c. +i.,) in which he refutes the impious opinion, that the earth is a globe; +and Photius had read 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 Melchisedec +Thevenot, (Relations Curieuses, part i.,) and the whole is since +published in a splendid edition by Pere Montfaucon, (Nova Collectio +Patrum, Paris, 1707, 2 vols. in fol., tom. ii. p. 113--346.) But the +editor, a theologian, might blush at not discovering the Nestorian +heresy of Cosmas, which has been detected by La Croz (Christianisme des +Indes, tom. i. p. 40--56.)] + +IV. The subjects of Justinian were dissatisfied with the times, and with +the government. Europe was overrun by the Barbarians, and Asia by the +monks: the poverty of the West discouraged the trade and manufactures of +the East: the produce of labor 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 constitute the national wealth. +The public distress had been alleviated by the economy of Anastasius, +and that prudent emperor accumulated an immense treasure, while he +delivered his people from the most odious or oppressive taxes. [7711] +Their gratitude universally applauded the abolition of the gold of +affliction, a personal tribute on the industry of the poor, [78] but +more intolerable, 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. [79] Yet such was the parsimony which supported this liberal +disposition, that, in a reign of twenty-seven years, Anastasius saved, +from his annual revenue, the enormous sum of thirteen millions sterling, +or three hundred and twenty thousand pounds of gold. [80] 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 ignominious treaties. His revenues were found +inadequate to his expenses. Every art was tried to extort from the +people the gold and silver which he scattered with a lavish hand from +Persia to France: [81] his reign was marked by the vicissitudes or +rather by the combat, of rapaciousness and avarice, of splendor and +poverty; he lived with the reputation of hidden treasures, [82] and +bequeathed to his successor the payment of his debts. [83] Such a +character has been justly accused by the voice of the people and of +posterity: but public discontent is credulous; private malice is bold; +and a lover of truth will peruse with a suspicious eye the instructive +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 responsible for the +faults of his officers, the disorders of the times, and the corruption +of his subjects; and even the calamities of nature, plagues, +earthquakes, and inundations, are imputed to the prince of the daemons, +who had mischievously assumed the form of Justinian. [84] + +[Footnote 7711: See the character of Anastasius in Joannes Lydus de +Magistratibus, iii. c. 45, 46, p. 230--232. His economy is there said to +have degenerated into parsimony. He is accused of having taken away +the levying of taxes and payment of the troops from the municipal +authorities, (the decurionate) in the Eastern cities, and intrusted it +to an extortionate officer named Mannus. But he admits that the imperial +revenue was enormously increased by this measure. A statue of iron had +been erected to Anastasius in the Hippodrome, on which appeared one +morning this pasquinade. This epigram is also found in the Anthology. +Jacobs, vol. iv. p. 114 with some better readings. This iron statue +meetly do we place To thee, world-wasting king, than brass more +base; For all the death, the penury, famine, woe, That from thy +wide-destroying avarice flow, This fell Charybdis, Scylla, near to thee, +This fierce devouring Anastasius, see; And tremble, Scylla! on thee, +too, his greed, Coining thy brazen deity, may feed. But Lydus, with no +uncommon inconsistency in such writers, proceeds to paint the character +of Anastasius as endowed with almost every virtue, not excepting the +utmost liberality. He was only prevented by death from relieving +his subjects altogether from the capitation tax, which he greatly +diminished.--M.] + +[Footnote 78: Evagrius (l. ii. c. 39, 40) 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 daughters, (Zosim. Hist. l. ii. c. 38, p. 165, 166, Lipsiae, +1784.) Timotheus of Gaza chose such an event for the subject of a +tragedy, (Suidas, tom. iii. p. 475,) which contributed to the abolition +of the tax, (Cedrenus, p. 35,)--a happy instance (if it be true) of the +use of the theatre.] + +[Footnote 79: See Josua Stylites, in the Bibliotheca Orientalis of +Asseman, (tom. p. 268.) This capitation tax is slightly mentioned in the +Chronicle of Edessa.] + +[Footnote 80: Procopius (Anecdot. c. 19) fixes this sum from the report +of the treasurers themselves. Tiberias had vicies ter millies; but far +different was his empire from that of Anastasius.] + +[Footnote 81: Evagrius, (l. iv. c. 30,) in the next generation, was +moderate and well informed; and Zonaras, (l. xiv. c. 61,) in the xiith +century, had read with care, and thought without prejudice; yet their +colors are almost as black as those of the anecdotes.] + +[Footnote 82: Procopius (Anecdot. c. 30) relates the idle conjectures +of the times. The death of Justinian, says the secret historian, will +expose his wealth or poverty.] + +[Footnote 83: See Corippus de Laudibus Justini Aug. l. ii. 260, &c., +384, &c "Plurima sunt vivo nimium neglecta parenti, Unde tot exhaustus +contraxit debita fiscus." Centenaries of gold were brought by strong men +into the Hippodrome, "Debita persolvit, genitoris cauta recepit."] + +[Footnote 84: The Anecdotes (c. 11--14, 18, 20--30) supply many +facts and more complaints. * Note: The work of Lydus de Magistratibus +(published by Hase at Paris, 1812, and reprinted in the new edition of +the Byzantine Historians,) was written during the reign of Justinian. +This work of Lydus throws no great light on the earlier history of the +Roman magistracy, but gives some curious details of the changes and +retrenchments in the offices of state, which took place at this time. +The personal history of the author, with the account of his early and +rapid advancement, and the emoluments of the posts which he successively +held, with the bitter disappointment which he expresses, at finding +himself, at the height of his ambition, in an unpaid place, is an +excellent illustration of this statement. Gibbon has before, c. iv. n. +45, and c. xvii. n. 112, traced the progress of a Roman citizen to the +highest honors of the state under the empire; the steps by which Lydus +reached his humbler eminence may likewise throw light on the civil +service at this period. He was first received into the office of the +Praetorian praefect; became a notary in that office, and made in one +year 1000 golden solidi, and that without extortion. His place and the +influence of his relatives obtained him a wife with 400 pounds of gold +for her dowry. He became chief chartularius, with an annual stipend +of twenty-four solidi, and considerable emoluments for all the various +services which he performed. He rose to an Augustalis, and finally +to the dignity of Corniculus, the highest, and at one time the most +lucrative office in the department. But the Praetorian praefect had +gradually been deprived of his powers and his honors. He lost the +superintendence of the supply and manufacture of arms; the uncontrolled +charge of the public posts; the levying of the troops; the command of +the army in war when the emperors ceased nominally to command in person, +but really through the Praetorian praefect; that of the household +troops, which fell to the magister aulae. At length the office was so +completely stripped of its power, as to be virtually abolished, (see de +Magist. l. iii. c. 40, p. 220, &c.) This diminution of the office of the +praefect destroyed the emoluments of his subordinate officers, and Lydus +not only drew no revenue from his dignity, but expended upon it all the +gains of his former services. Lydus gravely refers this calamitous, and, +as he considers it, fatal degradation of the Praetorian office to the +alteration in the style of the official documents from Latin to Greek; +and refers to a prophecy of a certain Fonteius, which connected the ruin +of the Roman empire with its abandonment of its language. Lydus chiefly +owed his promotion to his knowledge of Latin!--M.] + +After this precaution, I shall briefly relate the anecdotes of avarice +and rapine under the following heads: I. Justinian was so profuse that +he could not be liberal. The civil and military officers, when they were +admitted into the service of the palace, obtained an humble rank and a +moderate stipend; they ascended by seniority to a station of affluence +and repose; the annual pensions, of which the most honorable class was +abolished by Justinian, amounted to four hundred thousand pounds; and +this domestic economy was deplored by the venal or indigent courtiers as +the last outrage on the majesty 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 appropriated 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 in the wars of Italy and Persia. II. +The humanity of his predecessors had always remitted, in some auspicious +circumstance of their reign, the arrears of the public tribute, and they +dexterously 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 possession of those lands whose value is insufficient to +satisfy the demands of the treasury. To the cities which had suffered by +hostile inroads Anastasius promised a general exemption of seven years: +the provinces of Justinian have been ravaged by the Persians and Arabs, +the Huns and Sclavonians; but his vain and ridiculous dispensation of a +single year has been confined to those places which were actually +taken by the enemy." Such is the language of the secret historian, who +expressly denies that any indulgence was granted to Palestine after the +revolt of the Samaritans; 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. [85] III. Procopius has not condescended to +explain the system of taxation, which fell like a hail-storm upon the +land, like a devouring pestilence on its inhabitants: but we should +become the accomplices of his malignity, if we imputed to Justinian +alone the ancient though rigorous principle, that a whole district +should be condemned to sustain the partial loss of the persons or +property of individuals. The Annona, or supply 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 aggravated by the partial injustice of weights and +measures, and the expense and labor of distant carriage. In a time +of scarcity, an extraordinary requisition was made to the adjacent +provinces of Thrace, Bithynia, and Phrygia: but the proprietors, after +a wearisome journey and perilous navigation, received so inadequate a +compensation, that they would have chosen the alternative of delivering +both the corn and price at the doors of their granaries. These +precautions might indicate a tender solicitude for the welfare of the +capital; yet Constantinople did not escape the rapacious despotism of +Justinian. Till his reign, the Straits of the Bosphorus and Hellespont +were open to the freedom of trade, and nothing was prohibited except the +exportation of arms for the service of the Barbarians. At each of these +gates of the city, a praetor was stationed, the minister of Imperial +avarice; heavy customs were imposed on the vessels and their +merchandise; the oppression was retaliated on the helpless consumer; the +poor were afflicted by the artificial scarcity, and exorbitant price +of the market; and a people, accustomed to depend on the liberality of +their prince, might sometimes complain of the deficiency of water and +bread. [86] The aerial tribute, without a name, a law, or a definite +object, was an annual gift of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds, +which the emperor accepted from his Praetorian praefect; 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, [8611] 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. "As soon" (I transcribe the +Anecdotes) "as the exclusive sale of silk was usurped by the Imperial +treasurer, a whole people, the manufacturers of Tyre and Berytus, was +reduced to extreme misery, and either perished with hunger, or fled to +the hostile dominions of Persia." A province might suffer by the +decay of its manufactures, but in this example of silk, Procopius 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 candor; and the alteration, which might be wise, appears to +have been innocent; since he neither alloyed the purity, nor enhanced +the value, of the gold coin, [87] the legal measure of public and +private payments. V. The ample jurisdiction required by the farmers of +the revenue to accomplish their engagements might be placed in an odious +light, as if they had purchased from the emperor the lives and fortunes +of their fellow-citizens. And a more direct sale of honors and offices +was transacted in the palace, with the permission, or at least with the +connivance, of Justinian and Theodora. The claims of merit, even those +of favor, 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 compensation for infamy, labor, danger, the debts +which he had contracted, and the heavy interest which he paid. A sense +of the disgrace and mischief of this venal practice, at length awakened +the slumbering virtue of Justinian; and he attempted, by the sanction of +oaths [88] and penalties, to guard the integrity of his government: but +at the end of a year of perjury, his rigorous edict was suspended, and +corruption licentiously abused her triumph over the impotence of the +laws. VI. The testament of Eulalius, count of the domestics, declared +the emperor his sole heir, on condition, however, that he should +discharge 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 trifling sum +of five hundred and sixty-four pieces of gold. A similar instance, in +Grecian history, admonished the emperor of the honorable 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 tenderness +of their father. [89] The humanity of a prince (for princes cannot be +generous) is entitled to some praise; yet even in this act of virtue 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 orphans were spared; and the art of soliciting, or extorting, or +supposing testaments, was beneficially 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 +Justinian this holy plunder was condemned by the sectaries alone, who +became the victims of his orthodox avarice. [90] + +[Footnote 85: One to Scythopolis, capital of the 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 Library, and since published by Cotelerius.] + +[Footnote 86: John Malala (tom. ii. p. 232) mentions the want of bread, +and Zonaras (l. xiv. p. 63) the leaden pipes, which Justinian, or his +servants, stole from the aqueducts.] + +[Footnote 8611: Hullman (Geschichte des Byzantinischen Handels. p. +15) shows that the despotism of the government was aggravated by the +unchecked rapenity of the officers. This state monopoly, even of corn, +wine, and oil, was to force at the time of the first crusade.--M.] + +[Footnote 87: For an aureus, one sixth of an ounce of gold, instead +of 210, he gave no more than 180 folles, or ounces of copper. A +disproportion of the mint, below the market price, must have soon +produced a scarcity of small money. In England twelve pence in copper +would sell for no more than seven pence, (Smith's Inquiry into the +Wealth of Nations, vol. i. p. 49.) For Justinian's gold coin, see +Evagrius, (l. iv. c. 30.)] + +[Footnote 88: The oath is conceived in the most formidable words, +(Novell. viii. tit. 3.) The defaulters imprecate on themselves, quicquid +haben: telorum armamentaria coeli: the part of Judas, the leprosy of +Gieza, the tremor of Cain, &c., besides all temporal pains.] + +[Footnote 89: A similar or more generous act of friendship is related by +Lucian of Eudamidas of Corinth, (in Toxare, c. 22, 23, tom. ii. p. +530,) and the story has produced an ingenious, though feeble, comedy of +Fontenelle.] + +[Footnote 90: John Malala, tom. ii. p. 101, 102, 103.] + + + + +Chapter XL: Reign Of Justinian.--Part IV. + +Dishonor might be ultimately reflected on the character of Justinian; +but much of the guilt, and still more of the profit, was intercepted +by the ministers, who were seldom promoted for their virtues, and not +always selected for their talents. [91] The merits of Tribonian the +quaestor will hereafter be weighed in the reformation of the Roman law; +but the economy of the East was subordinate to the Praetorian praefect, +and Procopius has justified his anecdotes by the portrait which he +exposes in his public history, of the notorious vices of John of +Cappadocia. [92] + +[921] His knowledge was not borrowed from the schools, [93] 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 +vigor 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 poverty of millions, the ruins of cities, and the +desolation of provinces. From the dawn of light to the moment of dinner, +he assiduously labored to enrich his master and himself at the expense +of the Roman world; the remainder of the day was spent in sensual +and obscene pleasures, [931] and the silent hours of the night were +interrupted by the perpetual dread of the justice of an assassin. His +abilities, perhaps his vices, recommended him to the lasting friendship +of Justinian: the emperor yielded with reluctance to the fury of the +people; his victory was displayed by the immediate restoration of +their enemy; and they felt above ten years, under his oppressive +administration, that he was stimulated by revenge, rather than +instructed by misfortune. Their murmurs served only to fortify the +resolution of Justinian; but the resentment of Theodora, disdained a +power before which every knee was bent, and attempted to sow the seeds +of discord between the emperor and his beloved consort. Even Theodora +herself was constrained to dissemble, to wait a favorable moment, and, +by an artful conspiracy, to render John of Coppadocia the accomplice of +his own destruction. [932] At a time when Belisarius, unless he had been +a hero, must have shown himself a rebel, his wife Antonina, who +enjoyed the secret confidence of the empress, communicated his feigned +discontent to Euphemia, the daughter of the praefect; 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 treasonable, 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 to punish +the guilty minister: he was saved by the fidelity 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 favorite of Justinian was sacrificed to conjugal tenderness +or domestic tranquility; the conversion of a praefect into a priest +extinguished his ambitious hopes: but the friendship of the emperor +alleviated his disgrace, and he retained in the mild exile of Cyzicus +an ample portion of 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 Cappadocia, +whose actions had deserved a thousand deaths, was at last condemned +for a crime of which he was innocent. A great minister, who had been +invested with the honors of consul 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 banishment at Antinopolis in Upper Egypt, and the praefect of the +East begged his bread through the cities which had trembled at his name. +During an exile of seven years, his life was protracted and threatened +by the ingenious cruelty of Theodora; and when her death permitted +the emperor to recall a servant whom he had abandoned with regret, the +ambition of John of Cappadocia 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 Syrian banker were introduced +into the administration of the finances; and the example of the praefect +was diligently copied by the quaestor, the public and private treasurer, +the governors of provinces, and the principal magistrates of the Eastern +empire. [94] + +[Footnote 91: One of these, Anatolius, perished in an +earthquake--doubtless a judgment! The complaints and clamors of the +people in Agathias (l. v. p. 146, 147) are almost an echo of the +anecdote. The aliena pecunia reddenda of Corippus (l. ii. 381, &c.,) is +not very honorable to Justinian's memory.] + +[Footnote 92: See the history and character of John of Cappadocia in +Procopius. (Persic, l. i. c. 35, 25, l. ii. c. 30. Vandal. l. i. c. 13. +Anecdot. c. 2, 17, 22.) The agreement of the history and anecdotes is a +mortal wound to the reputation of the praefct.] + +[Footnote 921: This view, particularly of the cruelty of John of +Cappadocia, is confirmed by the testimony of Joannes Lydus, who was in +the office of the praefect, and eye-witness of the tortures inflicted by +his command on the miserable debtors, or supposed debtors, of the state. +He mentions one horrible instance of a respectable old man, with whom he +was personally acquainted, who, being suspected of possessing money, was +hung up by the hands till he was dead. Lydus de Magist. lib. iii. c. 57, +p. 254.--M.] + +[Footnote 93: A forcible expression.] + +[Footnote 931: Joannes Lydus is diffuse on this subject, lib. iii. c. +65, p. 268. But the indignant virtue of Lydus seems greatly stimulated +by the loss of his official fees, which he ascribes to the innovations +of the minister.--M.] + +[Footnote 932: According to Lydus, Theodora disclosed the crimes and +unpopularity of the minister to Justinian, but the emperor had not the +courage to remove, and was unable to replace, a servant, under whom his +finances seemed to prosper. He attributes the sedition and conflagration +to the popular resentment against the tyranny of John, lib. iii. c 70, +p. 278. Unfortunately there is a large gap in his work just at this +period.--M.] + +[Footnote 94: The chronology of Procopius is loose and obscure; but +with the aid of Pagi I can discern that John was appointed Praetorian +praefect 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 successors--a rapid series in a part of a single reign. * Note: +Lydus gives a high character of Phocas, his successor tom. iii. c. 78 p. +288.--M.] + +V. The edifices of Justinian were cemented with the blood and treasure +of his people; but those stately structures appeared to announce the +prosperity of the empire, and actually displayed the skill of their +architects. Both the theory and practice of the arts which depend on +mathematical science and mechanical power, were cultivated under the +patronage of the emperors; the fame of Archimedes was rivalled by +Proclus and Anthemius; and if their miracles had been related by +intelligent spectators, they might now enlarge the speculations, instead +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; [95] and it is asserted, that a +similar expedient was employed by Proclus to destroy the Gothic +vessels in the harbor of Constantinople, and to protect his benefactor +Anastasius against the bold enterprise of Vitalian. [96] A machine +was fixed on the walls of the city, consisting of a hexagon mirror of +polished brass, with many smaller and movable 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. [97] 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 adopted +in the attack or defence of places. [98] Yet the admirable experiments +of a French philosopher [99] 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; [100] in a modern imagination, the name of sulphur is instantly +connected with the suspicion of gunpowder, and that suspicion is +propagated by the secret arts of his disciple Anthemius. [101] A citizen +of Tralles in Asia had five sons, who were all distinguished in their +respective professions by merit and success. Olympius excelled in +the knowledge and practice 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 reputation at Rome. The fame +of Metrodorus the grammarian, and of Anthemius the mathematician and +architect, reached the ears of the emperor Justinian, who invited them +to Constantinople; 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 dispute relative +to the walls or windows of their contiguous houses, he had been +vanquished by the eloquence of his neighbor Zeno; but the orator was +defeated in his turn by the master of mechanics, whose malicious, +though harmless, stratagems are darkly represented by the ignorance +of Agathias. In a lower room, Anthemius arranged several vessels or +caldrons of water, each of them covered by the wide bottom 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 caldron; the 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 the 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 Milesian, was excited and +employed by a prince, whose taste for architecture had degenerated into +a mischievous and costly passion. His favorite architects submitted +their designs and difficulties to Justinian, and discreetly confessed +how much their laborious meditations were surpassed by the intuitive +knowledge of celestial inspiration of an emperor, whose views were +always directed to the benefit of his people, the glory of his reign, +and the salvation of his soul. [102] + +[Footnote 95: This conflagration is hinted by Lucian (in Hippia, c. 2) +and Galen, (l. iii. de Temperamentis, tom. i. p. 81, edit. Basil.) +in the second century. A thousand years afterwards, it is positively +affirmed by Zonaras, (l. ix. p. 424,) on the faith of Dion Cassius, +Tzetzes, (Chiliad ii. 119, &c.,) Eustathius, (ad Iliad. E. p. 338,) and +the scholiast of Lucian. See Fabricius, (Bibliot. Graec. l. iii. c. 22, +tom. ii. p. 551, 552,) to whom I am more or less indebted for several of +these quotations.] + +[Footnote 96: Zonaras (l. xi. c. p. 55) affirms the fact, without +quoting any evidence.] + +[Footnote 97: Tzetzes describes the artifice of these burning-glasses, +which he had read, perhaps, with no learned eyes, in a mathematical +treatise of Anthemius. That treatise has been lately published, +translated, and illustrated, by M. Dupuys, a scholar and a +mathematician, (Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom xlii p. +392--451.)] + +[Footnote 98: In the siege of Syracuse, by the silence of Polybius, +Plutarch, Livy; in the siege of Constantinople, by that of Marcellinus +and all the contemporaries of the vith century.] + +[Footnote 99: Without any previous knowledge of Tzetzes or Anthemius, +the immortal Buffon imagined and executed a set of burning-glasses, with +which he could inflame planks at the distance of 200 feet, (Supplement +a l'Hist. Naturelle, tom. i. 399--483, quarto edition.) What miracles +would not his genius have performed for the public service, with royal +expense, and in the strong sun of Constantinople or Syracuse?] + +[Footnote 100: John Malala (tom. ii. p. 120--124) relates the fact; but +he seems to confound the names or persons of Proclus and Marinus.] + +[Footnote 101: Agathias, l. v. p. 149--152. The merit of Anthemius as +an architect is loudly praised by Procopius (de Edif. l. i. c. 1) and +Paulus Silentiarius, (part i. 134, &c.)] + +[Footnote 102: See Procopius, (de Edificiis, l. i. c. 1, 2, l. 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 Dara. A stone quarry near Jerusalem was +revealed to the emperor, (l. v. c. 6:) an angel was tricked into the +perpetual custody of St. Sophia, (Anonym. de Antiq. C. P. l. iv. p. +70.)] + +The principal church, which was dedicated by the founder of +Constantinople to St. Sophia, or the eternal wisdom, had been twice +destroyed by fire; after the exile of John Chrysostom, and during the +Nika of the blue and green factions. No sooner did the tumult subside, +than the Christian populace deplored their sacrilegious 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. [103] 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 thousand +workmen, whose payment in pieces of fine silver was never delayed beyond +the evening. The emperor himself, clad in a linen tunic, surveyed +each day their rapid progress, and encouraged 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 first foundation; and in the midst of the solemn festival +Justinian exclaimed with devout vanity, "Glory be to God, who hath +thought me worthy to accomplish so great a work; I have vanquished thee, +O Solomon!" [104] But the pride of the Roman Solomon, before twenty +years had elapsed, was humbled by an earthquake, which overthrew +the eastern part of the dome. Its splendor was again restored by the +perseverance of the same prince; and in the thirty-sixth year of his +reign, Justinian celebrated the second dedication of a temple 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 Turkish sultans, and that venerable +pile continues to excite the fond admiration of the Greeks, and the more +rational curiosity of European travellers. The eye of the spectator is +disappointed by an irregular prospect of half-domes and shelving roofs: +the western front, the principal approach, is destitute of simplicity +and magnificence; and the scale of dimensions has been much surpassed by +several of the Latin cathedrals. But the architect who first erected +and 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 diameter; the measure of that diameter is one +hundred 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 firmly +supported by four massy piles, whose strength is assisted, on the +northern and southern sides, by four columns of Egyptian granite. + +A Greek cross, inscribed in a quadrangle, represents the form of the +edifice; the exact breadth is two hundred and forty-three feet, and two +hundred and sixty-nine may be assigned 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 congregation of the faithful; but the two sexes +were prudently distinguished, and the upper and lower galleries were +allotted for the more private devotion of the women. Beyond the northern +and southern piles, a balustrade, terminated 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 ecclesiastical ministers. +The memory of past calamities inspired Justinian with a wise resolution, +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 splendor of the respective parts. The solid piles +which contained the cupola were composed of huge blocks of freestone, +hewn into squares and triangles, fortified by circles of iron, and +firmly cemented by the infusion of lead and quicklime: 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 base +materials were concealed by a crust of marble; and the inside of St. +Sophia, the cupola, the two larger, and the six smaller, semi-domes, the +walls, the hundred columns, and the pavement, delight even the eyes of +Barbarians, with a rich and variegated picture. A poet, [105] who beheld +the primitive lustre of St. Sophia, enumerates the colors, 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 Ephesus: both are admirable by +their size and beauty, but every order of architecture disclaims their +fantastic capital. A variety of ornaments and figures was curiously +expressed in mosaic; and the images of Christ, of the Virgin, of saints, +and of angels, which have been defaced by Turkish fanaticism, were +dangerously exposed to the superstition of the Greeks. According to the +sanctity of each object, the precious metals were distributed in thin +leaves or in solid masses. The balustrade of the choir, the capitals +of the pillars, the ornaments of the doors and galleries, were of +gilt bronze; the spectator was dazzled by the glittering aspect of the +cupola; the sanctuary contained forty thousand pounds weight of silver; +and the holy vases and vestments of the altar were of the purest gold, +enriched with inestimable gems. Before the structure of the church had +arisen two cubits above the ground, forty-five thousand two hundred +pounds were already consumed; and the whole expense amounted 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 magnificent temple is a laudable monument of national taste and +religion; and the enthusiast who entered the dome of St. Sophia might be +tempted to suppose that it was the residence, or even the workmanship, +of the Deity. Yet how dull is the artifice, how insignificant is the +labor, if it be compared with the formation of the vilest insect that +crawls upon the surface of the temple! [Footnote 103: Among the crowd +of ancients and moderns who have celebrated the edifice of St. Sophia, +I shall distinguish and follow, 1. Four original spectators and +historians: Procopius, (de Edific. l. i. c. 1,) Agathias, (l. v. p. 152, +153,) Paul Silentiarius, (in a poem of 1026 hexameters, and calcem Annae +Commen. Alexiad.,) and Evagrius, (l. iv. c. 31.) 2. Two legendary Greeks +of a later period: George Codinus, (de Origin. C. P. p. 64-74,) and the +anonymous writer of Banduri, (Imp. Orient. tom. i. l. iv. p. 65--80.)3. +The great Byzantine antiquarian. Ducange, (Comment. ad Paul Silentiar. +p. 525--598, and C. P. Christ. l. iii. p. 5--78.) 4. Two French +travellers--the one, Peter Gyllius, (de Topograph. C. P. l. ii. c. 3, +4,) in the xvith; the other, Grelot, (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 +Grelot: but as no Christian can now ascend the dome, the height is +borrowed from Evagrius, compared with Gyllius, Greaves, and the Oriental +Geographer.] + +[Footnote 104: Solomon's temple was surrounded with courts, porticos, +&c.; but the proper structure of the house of God was no more (if we +take the Egyptian or Hebrew cubic at 22 inches) than 55 feet in height, +36 2/3 in breadth, and 110 in length--a small parish church, says +Prideaux, (Connection, vol. i. p. 144, folio;) but few sanctuaries could +be valued at four or five millions sterling! * Note *: Hist of Jews, vol +i p 257.--M] + +[Footnote 105: Paul Silentiarius, in dark and poetic language, describes +the various stones and marbles that were employed in the edifice of St. +Sophia, (P. ii. p. 129, 133, &c., &c.:) + +1. The Carystian--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 Porphyry of Egypt--with small stars. + +4. The green marble of Laconia. + +5. The Carian--from Mount Iassis, with oblique veins, white and red. 6. +The Lydian--pale, with a red flower. + +7. The African, or Mauritanian--of a gold or saffron hue. 8. The +Celtic--black, with white veins. + +9. The Bosphoric--white, with black edges. Besides the Proconnesian +which formed the pavement; the Thessalian, Molossian, &c., which are +less distinctly painted.] + +So minute a description of an edifice which time has respected, may +attest the truth, and excuse the relation, of the innumerable works, +both in the capital and provinces, which Justinian constructed on a +smaller scale and less durable foundations. [106] In Constantinople +alone and the adjacent suburbs, he dedicated twenty-five churches to the +honor of Christ, the Virgin, 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 eminence which overlooked +the continents of Europe and Asia. The church of the Holy Apostles 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 porticos, which more +accurately expressed the figure of the Greek cross. The Virgin of +Jerusalem 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 mountain. The stones of a neighboring quarry were hewn +into regular forms; each block was fixed on a peculiar carriage, drawn +by forty of the strongest oxen, and the roads were widened for the +passage of such enormous weights. Lebanon furnished her loftiest cedars +for the timbers of the church; and the seasonable discovery of a vein of +red marble supplied its beautiful columns, two of which, the supporters +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 entitled to the +royal bounty; but in Syria and Africa, some remedies were applied to +the disasters of wars and earthquakes, and both Carthage and Antioch, +emerging from their ruins, might revere the name of their gracious +benefactor. [107] Almost every saint in the calendar acquired the +honors of a temple; almost every city of the empire obtained the +solid advantages 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 labored for the +public service, he was not unmindful of his own dignity and ease. The +Byzantine palace, which had been damaged by the conflagration, 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 chalce, or the brazen. The dome of a spacious +quadrangle was supported by massy pillars; the pavement and walls were +incrusted with many-colored 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 represented +the glories of the African and Italian triumphs. On the Asiatic shore of +the Propontis, at a small distance to the east of Chalcedon, the +costly palace and gardens of Heraeum [108] 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 followed the court complained of their inconvenient +lodgings, [109] and the nymphs were too often alarmed by the famous +Porphyrio, a whale of ten cubits in breadth, and thirty in length, who +was stranded at the mouth of the River Sangaris, after he had infested +more than half a century the seas of Constantinople. [110] + +[Footnote 106: The six books of the Edifices of Procopius are thus +distributed the first is confined to Constantinople: the second includes +Mesopotamia and Syria the third, Armenia and the Euxine; the fourth, +Europe; the fifth, Asia Minor and Palestine; the sixth, Egypt and +Africa. 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.] + +[Footnote 107: Justinian once gave forty-five centenaries of gold +(180,000 L.) for the repairs of Antioch after the earthquake, (John Malala, +tom. ii p 146--149.)] + +[Footnote 108: For the Heraeum, the palace of Theodora, see Gyllius, (de +Bosphoro Thracio, l. iii. c. xi.,) Aleman. (Not. ad. Anec. p. 80, 81, +who quotes several epigrams of the Anthology,) and Ducange, (C. P. +Christ. l. iv. c. 13, p. 175, 176.)] + +[Footnote 109: Compare, in the Edifices, (l. i. c. 11,) and in +the Anecdotes, (c. 8, 15.) the different styles of adulation and +malevolence: stripped of the paint, or cleansed from the dirt, the +object appears to be the same.] + +[Footnote 110: Procopius, l. viii. 29; most probably a stranger and +wanderer, as the Mediterranean does not breed whales. Balaenae quoque +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. des Voyages, tom. xv. p. 289. +Pennant's British Zoology, vol. iii. p. 35.)] + +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. [111] 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 garrisons; a +strong fortress defended the ruins of Trajan's bridge, [112] and several +military stations affected to spread beyond the Danube the pride of the +Roman name. But that name was divested of its terrors; the Barbarians, +in their annual inroads, passed, and contemptuously repassed, before +these useless bulwarks; and the inhabitants of the frontier, instead +of reposing under the shadow of the general defence, were compelled +to guard, with incessant vigilance, their separate habitations. The +solitude of ancient cities, was replenished; the new foundations of +Justinian acquired, perhaps too hastily, the epithets of impregnable +and populous; and the auspicious place of his own nativity attracted +the grateful reverence of the vainest of princes. Under the name of +Justiniana prima, the obscure village of Tauresium became the seat of +an archbishop and a praefect, whose jurisdiction extended over seven +warlike provinces of Illyricum; [113] and the corrupt appellation of +Giustendil still indicates, about twenty miles to the south of Sophia, +the residence of a Turkish sanjak. [114] For the use of the emperor's +countryman, a cathedral, a place, and an aqueduct, were speedily +constructed; the public and private edifices were adapted to the +greatness of a royal city; and the strength of the walls resisted, +during the lifetime of Justinian, the unskilful assaults of the Huns and +Sclavonians. Their progress was sometimes retarded, and their hopes +of rapine were disappointed, by the innumerable castles which, in the +provinces of Dacia, Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia, 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 afforded in a moment of danger some protection to +the peasants and cattle of the neighboring villages. [115] Yet these +military works, which exhausted the public treasure, could not remove +the just apprehensions of Justinian and his European subjects. The +warm baths of Anchialus in Thrace were rendered as safe as they were +salutary; but the rich pastures of Thessalonica were foraged by the +Scythian cavalry; the delicious vale of Tempe, three hundred miles from +the Danube, was continually alarmed by the sound of war; [116] and no +unfortified spot, however distant or solitary, could securely enjoy the +blessings of peace. The Straits of Thermopylae, which seemed to protect, +but which had so often betrayed, the safety of Greece, were diligently +strengthened by the labors of Justinian. From the edge of the sea-shore, +through the forests and valleys, and as far as the summit of the +Thessalian mountains, a strong wall was continued, which occupied every +practicable entrance. Instead of a hasty crowd of peasants, a garrison +of two thousand soldiers was stationed along the rampart; granaries +of corn and reservoirs of water were provided for their use; and by +a precaution 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 prospect 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 Spartan general nine hundred years before the +reign of Justinian. [117] In an age of freedom and valor, the slightest +rampart may prevent a surprise; and Procopius appears insensible of the +superiority of ancient times, while he praises the solid construction +and double parapet of a 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 Gallipoli and Sestus, had +not been secured by their peculiar fortifications. The long wall, as it +was emphatically 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 neighboring country, and the territory of +Constantinople a paradise of nature, was adorned 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 +into 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 forty miles, Anastasius was +constrained to establish a last frontier; his long wall, of sixty miles +from the Propontis to the Euxine, proclaimed the impotence of his arms; +and as the danger became more imminent, new fortifications were added by +the indefatigable prudence of Justinian. [118] + +[Footnote 111: Montesquieu observes, (tom. iii. p. 503, Considerations +sur la Grandeur et la Decadence des Romains, 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.] + +[Footnote 112: Procopius affirms (l. iv. c. 6) that the Danube was +stopped by the ruins of the bridge. Had Apollodorus, the architect, left +a description of his own work, the fabulous wonders of Dion Cassius +(l lxviii. p. 1129) would have been corrected by the genuine picture +Trajan's bridge consisted of twenty or twenty-two stone piles with +wooden arches; the river is shallow, the current gentle, and the whole +interval no more than 443 (Reimer ad Dion. from Marsigli) or 5l7 toises, +(D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. 305.)] + +[Footnote 113: Of the two Dacias, Mediterranea and Ripensis, Dardania, +Pravalitana, the second Maesia, and the second Macedonia. See Justinian +(Novell. xi.,) who speaks of his castles beyond the Danube, and on +omines semper bellicis sudoribus inhaerentes.] + +[Footnote 114: See D'Anville, (Memoires de l'Academie, &c., tom. xxxi +p. 280, 299,) Rycaut, (Present State of the Turkish Empire, p. 97, 316,) +Max sigli, (Stato Militare del Imperio Ottomano, p. 130.) The sanjak of +Giustendil is one of the twenty under the beglerbeg of Rurselis, and his +district maintains 48 zaims and 588 timariots.] + +[Footnote 115: These fortifications may be compared to the castles in +Mingrelia (Chardin, Voyages en Perse, tom. i. p. 60, 131)--a natural +picture.] + +[Footnote 116: The valley of Tempe is situate along the River Peneus, +between the hills of Ossa and Olympus: it is only five miles long, and +in some places no more than 120 feet in breadth. Its verdant beauties +are elegantly described by Pliny, (Hist. Natur. l. iv. 15,) and more +diffusely by Aelian, (Hist. Var. l. iii. c. i.)] + +[Footnote 117: Xenophon Hellenic. l. iii. c. 2. After a long and tedious +conversation with the Byzantine declaimers, how refreshing is the truth, +the simplicity, the elegance of an Attic writer!] + +[Footnote 118: See the long wall in Evagarius, (l. iv. c. 38.) This +whole article is drawn from the fourth book of the Edifices, except +Anchialus, (l. iii. c. 7.)] + +Asia Minor, after the submission of the Isaurians, [119] remained +without enemies and without fortifications. Those bold savages, who had +disdained to be the subjects of Gallienus, persisted two hundred and +thirty years in a life of independence and rapine. The most successful +princes respected the strength of the mountains and the despair of +the natives; their fierce 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 +Roman provinces. [120] But no sooner was the vigilance of power relaxed +or diverted, than the light-armed squadrons descended from the hills, +and invaded the peaceful plenty of Asia. Although the Isaurians were +not remarkable for stature or bravery, want rendered them bold, and +experience made them skilful in the exercise 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 Damascus; +[121] and the spoil was lodged in their inaccessible 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 instructed, +by an edict, that the trial or punishment of an Isaurian, even on the +festival of Easter, was a meritorious act of justice and piety. [122] 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 tranquillity to prohibit the service of +such dangerous retainers. When their countryman Tarcalissaeus or Zeno +ascended the throne, he invited a faithful and formidable band of +Isaurians, 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 bodies, and in proportion as they mixed with mankind, they became +less qualified for the enjoyment of poor and solitary freedom. After +the death of Zeno, his successor Anastasius suppressed their pensions, +exposed their persons 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 treasures, and the magazines, collected by Zeno; and the +native Isaurians must have formed the smallest portion of the hundred +and fifty thousand Barbarians under his standard, which was sanctified, +for the first time, by the presence of a fighting bishop. Their +disorderly numbers were vanquished in the plains of Phrygia by the valor +and discipline of the Goths; but a war of six years almost exhausted the +courage of the emperor. [123] The Isaurians retired to their mountains; +their fortresses were successively besieged and ruined; their +communication with 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 government. 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 +magistrates, the proconsul of Cappadocia, the count of Isauria, and the +praetors of Lycaonia and Pisidia, were invested with military power to +restrain the licentious practice of rapes and assassinations. [124] + +[Footnote 119: Turn back to vol. i. p. 328. In the course of this +History, I have sometimes mentioned, and much oftener slighted, the +hasty inroads of the Isaurians, which were not attended with any +consequences.] + +[Footnote 120: Trebellius Pollio in Hist. August. p. 107, who lived +under Diocletian, or Constantine. See likewise Pancirolus ad Notit. Imp. +Orient c. 115, 141. See Cod. Theodos. l. ix. tit. 35, leg. 37, with a +copious collective Annotation of Godefroy, tom. iii. p. 256, 257.] + +[Footnote 121: See the full and wide extent of their inroads in +Philostorgius (Hist. Eccles. l. xi. c. 8,) with Godefroy's learned +Dissertations.] + +[Footnote 122: Cod. Justinian. l. ix. tit. 12, leg. 10. The punishments +are severs--a fine of a hundred pounds of gold, degradation, and even +death. The public peace might afford a pretence, but Zeno was desirous +of monopolizing the valor and service of the Isaurians.] + +[Footnote 123: The Isaurian war and the triumph of Anastasius are +briefly and darkly represented by John Malala, (tom. ii. p. 106, 107,) +Evagrius, (l. iii. c. 35,) Theophanes, (p. 118--120,) and the Chronicle +of Marcellinus.] + +[Footnote 124: Fortes ea regio (says Justinian) viros habet, nec in +ullo differt ab Isauria, though Procopius (Persic. l. i. c. 18) marks +an essential difference between their military character; yet in former +times the Lycaonians and Pisidians had defended their liberty against +the great king, Xenophon. (Anabasis, l. iii. c. 2.) Justinian introduces +some false and ridiculous erudition of the ancient empire of the +Pisidians, and of Lycaon, who, after visiting Rome, (long before +Aeenas,) gave a name and people to Lycaoni, (Novell. 24, 25, 27, 30.)] + + + + +Chapter XL: Reign Of Justinian.--Part V. + +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 +savages of Aethiopia, [125] and on the other, the long walls which +he constructed in Crimaea for the protection of his friendly Goths, +a colony of three thousand shepherds and warriors. [126] From 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 modern, 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 aqueduct, and a castle, whose ditches are hewn in the solid +rock. From that maritime city, frontier line of five hundred miles may +be drawn to the fortress of Circesium, the last Roman station on the +Euphrates. [127] 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 climate, [128] where the snows seldom melt, the 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 [129] derived their name and temper from the iron +quality of the soil; and, since the days of Cyrus, they might +produce, under the various appellations of Cha daeans and Zanians, +an uninterrupted prescription of war and rapine. Under the reign of +Justinian, they acknowledged the god and the emperor of the Romans, and +seven fortresses were built in the most accessible passages, to exclude +the ambition of the Persian monarch. [130] The principal source of +the Euphrates descends from the Chalybian mountains, and seems to flow +towards the west and the Euxine: bending to the south-west, the river +passes under the walls of Satala and Melitene, (which were restored +by Justinian as the bulwarks of the Lesser Armenia,) and gradually +approaches the Mediterranean Sea; till at length, repelled by Mount +Taurus, [131] the Euphrates inclines its long and flexible course to +the south-east and the Gulf 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, Amida and +Edessa, which are celebrated in the history of every age. Their strength +was proportioned by Justinian 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 regular siege against the arms and treasures of the great king. His +skilful engineers understood the methods of conducting deep mines, and +of raising platforms to the level of the rampart: he shook the strongest +battlements with his military engines, and sometimes advanced to the +assault with a line of movable turrets on the backs of elephants. In +the great cities of the East, the disadvantage of space, perhaps 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 Edessa should never be taken, filled the +citizens with valiant confidence, and chilled the besiegers with doubt +and dismay. [132] The subordinate towns of Armenia and Mesopotamia +were diligently strengthened, and the posts which appeared to have +any command of ground or water were occupied by numerous forts, +substantially 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 extends above six hundred miles to the Red +Sea. Nature had interposed a vacant solitude between the ambition of two +rival empires; the Arabians, till Mahomet arose, were formidable only as +robbers; and in the proud security of peace the fortifications of Syria +were neglected on the most vulnerable side. + +[Footnote 125: See Procopius, Persic. l. i. c. 19. The altar of national +concern, of annual sacrifice and oaths, which Diocletian had created in +the Isla of Elephantine, was demolished by Justinian with less policy +than] + +[Footnote 126: Procopius de Edificiis, l. iii. c. 7. Hist. l. viii. +c. 3, 4. These unambitious 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 l'academie, tom. xxx. p. 240.) They well deserved the +curiosity of Busbequius, (p. 321-326;) but seem to have vanished in +the more recent account of the Missions du Levant, (tom. i.,) Tott, +Peysonnnel, &c.] + +[Footnote 127: For the geography and architecture of this Armenian +border, see the Persian Wars and Edifices (l. ii. c. 4-7, l. iii. c. +2--7) of Procopius.] + +[Footnote 128: The country is described by Tournefort, (Voyage au +Levant, tom. iii. lettre xvii. xviii.) That skilful botanist soon +discovered the plant that infects the honey, (Plin. xxi. 44, 45:) he +observes, that the soldiers 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 general theory has been introduced, that, under the +line, an elevation of 2400 toises is equivalent to the cold of the polar +circle, (Remond, Observations sur les Voyages de Coxe dans la Suisse, +tom. ii. p. 104.)] + +[Footnote 129: The identity or proximity of the Chalybians, or +Chaldaeana may be investigated in Strabo, (l. xii. p. 825, 826,) +Cellarius, (Geograph. Antiq. tom. ii. p. 202--204,) and Freret, (Mem. de +Academie, tom. iv. p. 594) Xenophon supposes, in his romance, (Cyropaed +l. iii.,) the same Barbarians, against whom he had fought in his +retreat, (Anabasis, l. iv.)] + +[Footnote 130: Procopius, Persic. l. i. c. 15. De Edific. l. iii. c. 6.] + +[Footnote 131: Ni Taurus obstet in nostra maria venturus, (Pomponius +Mela, iii. 8.) Pliny, a poet as well as a naturalist, (v. 20,) +personifies the river and mountain, and describes their combat. See +the course of the Tigris and Euphrates in the excellent treatise of +D'Anville.] + +[Footnote 132: Procopius (Persic. l. ii. c. 12) tells the story with the +tone, half sceptical, half superstitious, of Herodotus. The promise was +not in the primitive lie of Eusebius, but dates at least from the year +400; and a third lie, the Veronica, was soon raised on the two former, +(Evagrius, l. iv. c. 27.) As Edessa has been taken, Tillemont must +disclaim the promise, (Mem. Eccles. tom. i. p. 362, 383, 617.)] + +But the national enmity, at least the effects of that enmity, had +been suspended by a truce, which continued above fourscore years. An +ambassador from the emperor Zeno accompanied the rash and unfortunate +Perozes, [1321] in his expedition against the Nepthalites, [1322] or +white Huns, whose conquests had been stretched from the Caspian to the +heart of India, whose throne was enriched with emeralds, [133] and whose +cavalry was supported by a line of two thousand elephants. [134] The +Persians [1341] were twice circumvented, in a situation which made valor +useless and flight impossible; and the double victory of the Huns was +achieved by military stratagem. They dismissed their royal captive +after he had submitted to adore the majesty of a Barbarian; and the +humiliation was poorly evaded by the casuistical subtlety of the Magi, +who instructed Perozes to direct his attention to the rising sun. [1342] +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. [135] The death of Perozes abandoned Persia to her foreign and +domestic enemies; [1351] and twelve years of confusion elapsed before +his son Cabades, or Kobad, could embrace any designs of ambition or +revenge. The unkind parsimony of Anastasius was the motive or pretence +of a Roman war; [136] the Huns and Arabs marched under the Persian +standard, and the fortifications of Armenia and Mesopotamia were, at +that time, in a ruinous or imperfect condition. The emperor returned +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 neighbors. Amida sustained a long and destructive siege: at +the end of three months the loss of fifty thousand of the soldiers of +Cabades was not balanced by any prospect of success, and it was in vain +that the Magi deduced a flattering prediction from the indecency of the +women [1361] 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 accessible tower, which was guarded only by some +monks, oppressed, after the duties of a festival, with sleep and +wine. Scaling-ladders were applied at the dawn of day; the presence of +Cabades, his stern command, and his drawn sword, compelled the Persians +to vanquish; and before 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 frontier tasted +the full measure of its calamities. The gold of Anastasius was offered +too late, the number of his troops was defeated by the number 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 deficiency of spoil, inclined the mind of +Cabades to peace: he sold his conquests for an exorbitant 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 power +of the Persian, so far advanced towards Assyria, that its stationary +troops might defend the province by the menace or operation of offensive +war. For this purpose, the town of Dara, [137] fourteen miles from +Nisibis, and four 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 surrounded with two walls, and the interval between +them, of fifty paces, afforded a retreat to the cattle of the besieged. +The inner wall was a monument of strength and beauty: it measured sixty +feet from the ground, and the height of the towers was one hundred +feet; the loopholes, from whence an enemy might be annoyed with missile +weapons, were small, but numerous; 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 +exterior 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 labor was employed to supply the inhabitants, +to distress the besiegers, and to prevent the mischiefs of a natural 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 between the two +empires. [1371] + +[Footnote 1321: Firouz the Conqueror--unfortunately so named. See St. +Martin, vol. vi. p. 439.--M.] + +[Footnote 1322: Rather Hepthalites.--M.] + +[Footnote 133: They were purchased from the merchants of Adulis who +traded to India, (Cosmas, Topograph. Christ. l. xi. p. 339;) yet, in +the estimate of precious stones, the Scythian emerald was the first, +the Bactrian the second, the Aethiopian only the third, (Hill's +Theophrastus, p. 61, &c., 92.) The production, mines, &c., of emeralds, +are involved in darkness; and it is doubtful whether we possess any of +the twelve sorts known to the ancients, (Goguet, Origine des Loix, &c., +part ii. l. 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.] + +[Footnote 134: The Indo-Scythae continued to reign from the time of +Augustus (Dionys. Perieget. 1088, with the Commentary of Eustathius, in +Hudson, Geograph. Minor. tom. iv.) to that of the elder Justin, (Cosmas, +Topograph. Christ. l. xi. p. 338, 339.) On their origin and conquests, +see D'Anville, (sur l'Inde, p. 18, 45, &c., 69, 85, 89.) In the second +century they were masters of Larice or Guzerat.] + +[Footnote 1341: According to the Persian historians, he was misled +by guides who used he old stratagem of Zopyrus. Malcolm, vol. i. p. +101.--M.] + +[Footnote 1342: In the Ms. Chronicle of Tabary, it is said that the +Moubedan Mobed, or Grand Pontiff, opposed with all his influence the +violation of the treaty. St. Martin, vol. vii. p. 254.--M.] + +[Footnote 135: See the fate of Phirouz, or Perozes, and its +consequences, in Procopius, (Persic. l. i. c. 3--6,) who may be compared +with the fragments of Oriental history, (D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. +351, and Texeira, History of Persia, translated or abridged by Stephens, +l. i. c. 32, p. 132--138.) The chronology is ably ascertained by +Asseman. (Bibliot. Orient. tom. iii. p. 396--427.)] + +[Footnote 1351: When Firoze advanced, Khoosh-Nuaz (the king of the Huns) +presented on the point of a lance the treaty to which he had sworn, +and exhorted him yet to desist before he destroyed his fame forever. +Malcolm, vol. i. p. 103.--M.] + +[Footnote 136: The Persian war, under the reigns of Anastasius and +Justin, may be collected from Procopius, (Persic. l. i. c. 7, 8, 9,) +Theophanes, (in Chronograph. p. 124--127,) Evagrius, (l. iii. c. 37,) +Marcellinus, (in Chron. p. 47,) and Josue Stylites, (apud Asseman. tom. +i. p. 272--281.)] + +[Footnote 1361: Gibbon should have written "some prostitutes." Proc +Pers. vol. 1 p. 7.--M.] + +[Footnote 137: The description of Dara is amply and correctly given by +Procopius, (Persic. l. i. c. 10, l. ii. c. 13. De Edific. l. ii. c. 1, +2, 3, l. iii. c. 5.) See the situation in D'Anville, (l'Euphrate et le +Tigre, p. 53, 54, 55,) though he seems to double the interval between +Dara and Nisibis.] + +[Footnote 1371: The situation (of Dara) does not appear to give +it strength, as it must have been commanded on three sides by the +mountains, but opening on the south towards the plains of Mesopotamia. +The foundation of the walls and towers, built of large hewn stone, may +be traced across the valley, and over a number of low rocky hills which +branch out from the foot of Mount Masius. The circumference I conceive +to be nearly two miles and a half; and a small stream, which flows +through the middle of the place, has induced several Koordish and +Armenian families to fix their residence within the ruins. Besides the +walls and towers, the remains of many other buildings attest the former +grandeur of Dara; a considerable part of the space within the walls is +arched and vaulted underneath, and in one place we perceived a large +cavern, supported by four ponderous columns, somewhat resembling the +great cistern of Constantinople. In the centre of the village are the +ruins of a palace (probably that mentioned by Procopius) or church, one +hundred paces in length, and sixty in breadth. The foundations, which +are quite entire, consist of a prodigious number of subterraneous +vaulted chambers, entered by a narrow passage forty paces in length. The +gate is still standing; a considerable part of the wall has bid defiance +to time, &c. M Donald Kinneir's Journey, p. 438.--M] + +Between the Euxine and the Caspian, the countries of Colchos, Iberia, +and Albania, are intersected in every direction by the branches 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 Caspian or Albanian gates is properly applied +to Derbend, [138] 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 entrance was fortified by +the kings of Persia with a mole, double walls, and doors of iron. The +Iberian gates [139] [1391] 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 emperor; 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 excited the +curiosity of an Arabian caliph [140] and a Russian conqueror. [141] +According to a recent description, huge stones, seven feet thick, and +twenty-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 undertaken by the policy of +Cabades; without a miracle, 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 monarch held +in his hand the keys both of peace and war; but he stipulated, in every +treaty, that Justinian should contribute to the expense of a common +barrier, which equally protected the two empires from the inroads of the +Scythians. [142] + +[Footnote 138: For the city and pass of Derbend, see D'Herbelot, +(Bibliot. Orient. p. 157, 291, 807,) Petit de la Croix. (Hist. de +Gengiscan, l. iv. c. 9,) Histoire Genealogique des Tatars, (tom. i. +p. 120,) Olearius, (Voyage en Perse, p. 1039--1041,) and Corneille le +Bruyn, (Voyages, tom. i. p. 146, 147:) his view may be compared with +the plan of Olearius, who judges the wall to be of shells and gravel +hardened by time.] + +[Footnote 139: Procopius, though with some confusion, always denominates +them Caspian, (Persic. l. i. c. 10.) The pass is now styled Tatar-topa, +the Tartar-gates, (D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. ii. p. 119, +120.)] + +[Footnote 1391: Malte-Brun. tom. viii. p. 12, makes three passes: 1. The +central, which leads from Mosdok to Teflis. 2. The Albanian, more +inland than the Derbend Pass. 3. The Derbend--the Caspian Gates. But the +narrative of Col. Monteith, in the Journal of the Geographical Society +of London. vol. iii. p. i. p. 39, clearly shows that there are but +two passes between the Black Sea and the Caspian; the central, the +Caucasian, or, as Col. Monteith calls it, the Caspian Gates, and the +pass of Derbend, though it is practicable to turn this position (of +Derbend) by a road a few miles distant through the mountains, p. +40.--M.] + +[Footnote 140: The imaginary rampart of Gog and Magog, which was +seriously explored and believed by a caliph of the ninth 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. Memoires +de l'Academie, tom. xxxi. p. 210--219.)] + +[Footnote 141: See a learned dissertation of Baier, de muro Caucaseo, +in Comment. Acad. Petropol. ann. 1726, tom. 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 orgyioe, or fathom, each of seven feet English; in the whole +somewhat more than four miles in length.] + +[Footnote 142: See the fortifications and treaties of Chosroes, +or Nushirwan, in Procopius (Persic. l. i. c. 16, 22, l. ii.) and +D'Herbelot, (p. 682.)] 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 degenerated from their +primitive glory; yet some reproach may be justly inflicted on the +avarice and jealousy of a prince, by whose hand such venerable ruins +were destroyed. + +Athens, after her Persian triumphs, adopted the philosophy of Ionia +and the rhetoric of Sicily; and these 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 [143] was the companion of Plato and Xenophon; that +he assisted, perhaps with the historian Thucydides, at the first +representation of the Oedipus of Sophocles and the Iphigenia of +Euripides; and that his pupils Aeschines and Demosthenes contended for +the crown of patriotism in the presence of Aristotle, the master of +Theophrastus, who taught at Athens with the founders of the Stoic +and Epicurean sects. [144] The ingenuous 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; [145] the schools of rhetoric must have been still more +populous than those of philosophy; and a rapid succession of students +diffused the fame of their teachers as far as the utmost limits of 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 pilgrimages to worship the +Muses in their favorite temple on the banks of the Ilissus. The Latin +conquerors respectfully listened to the instructions of their subjects +and captives; the names of Cicero and Horace were enrolled in the +schools of Athens; and after the perfect settlement of the Roman empire, +the natives of Italy, of Africa, and of Britain, conversed in the groves +of the academy with their fellow-students 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 poured forth a colony of statesmen and legislators. When the +liberty of public debate was suppressed, the orator, in the honorable +profession of an advocate, might plead the cause of innocence and +justice; he might abuse his talents 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 nature of God, of +man, and of the universe, entertained 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 disciples 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 discovery 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 masters emigrated to Italy +and Asia; Berytus, in later times, was devoted to the study of the law; +astronomy and physic were cultivated in the musaeum of Alexandria; but +the Attic schools of rhetoric and philosophy maintained their superior +reputation from the Peloponnesian 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 +seldom disturbed by the business of trade or government; 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 lycaeum of +the Peripatetics, the portico of the Stoics, and the garden of the +Epicureans, were planted with trees and decorated with statues; and the +philosophers, instead of being immured 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 vacancy, 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; 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 industry +are just and honorable, yet the same Isocrates shed tears at the first +receipt of a stipend: 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 was 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 monthly +festivals; [146] and the patrimony of Plato afforded an annual rent, +which, in eight centuries, was gradually increased from three to one +thousand pieces of gold. [147] 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 portico adorned with pictures, statues, +and a roof of alabaster, and supported by one hundred columns of +Phrygian marble. The public salaries 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 of ten thousand drachmae, or more than three +hundred pounds sterling. [148] After the death of Marcus, these liberal +donations, and the privileges attached to the thrones of science, were +abolished and revived, diminished and enlarged; but some vestige of +royal bounty may be found under the successors of Constantine; and their +arbitrary choice of an unworthy candidate might tempt the philosophers +of Athens to regret the days of independence and poverty. [149] It is +remarkable, that the impartial favor of the Antonines was bestowed on +the four adverse sects of philosophy, which they considered as equally +useful, or at least, as equally innocent. Socrates had formerly 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 of his antagonists, they silenced all vain disputes +concerning the nature of the gods. But in the ensuing year they +recalled the hasty decree, restored the liberty of the schools, and +were convinced by the experience of ages, that the moral character +of philosophers is not affected by the diversity of their theological +speculations. [150] + +[Footnote 143: The life of Isocrates extends from Olymp. lxxxvi. 1. to +cx. 3, (ante Christ. 436--438.) See Dionys. Halicarn. tom. ii. p. 149, +150, edit. Hudson. Plutarch (sive anonymus) in Vit. X. Oratorum, p. +1538--1543, edit. H. Steph. Phot. cod. cclix. p. 1453.] + +[Footnote 144: The schools of Athens are copiously though concisely +represented in the Fortuna Attica of Meursius, (c. viii. p. 59--73, in +tom. i. Opp.) For the state and arts of the city, see the first book +of Pausanias, and a small tract of Dicaearchus, in the second volume +of Hudson's Geographers, who wrote about Olymp. cxvii. (Dodwell's +Dissertia sect. 4.)] + +[Footnote 145: Diogen Laert. de Vit. Philosoph. l. v. segm. 37, p. 289.] + +[Footnote 146: See the Testament of Epicurus in Diogen. Laert. l. x. +segm. 16--20, p. 611, 612. A single epistle (ad Familiares, xiii. l.) +displays the injustice 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 +philosophers of Greece.] + +[Footnote 147: Damascius, in Vit. Isidor. apud Photium, cod. ccxlii. p. +1054.] + +[Footnote 148: See Lucian (in Eunuch. tom. ii. p. 350--359, edit. +Reitz,) Philostratus (in Vit. Sophist. l. ii. c. 2,) and Dion Cassius, +or Xiphilin, (lxxi. p. 1195,) with their editors Du Soul, Olearius, and +Reimar, and, above all, Salmasius, (ad Hist. August. p. 72.) A judicious +philosopher (Smith's Wealth of Nations, vol. ii. p. 340--374) prefers +the free contributions of the students to a fixed stipend for the +professor.] + +[Footnote 149: Brucker, Hist. Crit. Philosoph. tom. ii. p. 310, &c.] + +[Footnote 150: The birth of Epicurus is fixed to the year 342 before +Christ, (Bayle,) Olympiad cix. 3; and he opened his school at Athens, +Olmp. cxviii. 3, 306 years before the same aera. This intolerant law +(Athenaeus, l. xiii. p. 610. Diogen. Laertius, l. v. s. 38. p. 290. +Julius Pollux, ix. 5) was enacted in the same or the succeeding year, +(Sigonius, Opp. tom. v. p. 62. Menagius ad Diogen. Laert. p. 204. +Corsini, Fasti Attici, tom. iv. p. 67, 68.) Theophrastus chief of +the Peripatetics, and disciple of Aristotle, was involved in the same +exile.] + +The Gothic arms were less fatal to the schools of Athens than the +establishment of a new religion, whose ministers superseded the exercise +of reason, resolved every question by an article of faith, and condemned +the infidel or sceptic to eternal flames. In 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 +antiquity, and proscribed the spirit of philosophical inquiry, so +repugnant to the doctrine, or at least to the temper, of an humble +believer. The surviving sects of the Platonists, whom Plato would have +blushed to acknowledge, extravagantly mingled a sublime theory with the +practice of superstition and magic; and as they remained alone in the +midst of a Christian world, they indulged a secret rancor against the +government of the church and state, whose severity was still suspended +over their heads. About a century after the reign of Julian, [151] +Proclus [152] was permitted to teach in the philosophic chair of the +academy; and such was his industry, that he frequently, in the same day, +pronounced five lessons, and composed seven hundred lines. His sagacious +mind explored the deepest questions of morals and metaphysics, and he +ventured to urge eighteen arguments against the Christian doctrine of +the creation of the world. But in the intervals of study, he personally +conversed with Pan, Aesculapius, and Minerva, in whose mysteries he was +secretly initiated, and whose prostrate statues he adored; in the devout +persuasion that the philosopher, who is a citizen of the universe, +should be the priest of its various deities. An eclipse of the sun +announced his approaching end; and his life, with that of his scholar +Isidore, [153] compiled by two of their most learned disciples, exhibits +a deplorable picture of the second childhood of human reason. Yet the +golden chain, as it was fondly styled, of the Platonic succession, +continued forty-four years from the death of Proclus to the edict of +Justinian, [154] which imposed a perpetual silence on the schools of +Athens, and excited the grief and indignation of the few remaining +votaries of Grecian science and superstition. Seven friends and +philosophers, Diogenes and Hermias, Eulalius and Priscian, Damascius, +Isidore, and Simplicius, who dissented from the religion of their +sovereign, embraced the resolution of seeking in a foreign land the +freedom which was denied in their native country. They had heard, and +they credulously believed, that the republic of Plato was realized in +the despotic government of Persia, and that a patriot king reigned ever +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 courtiers +servile, and the magistrates unjust; that the guilty sometimes escaped, +and that the innocent were often oppressed. The disappointment of 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 plurality of wives and concubines, the incestuous +marriages, 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 precipitate return, and they +loudly declared that they had rather die on the borders of the empire, +than enjoy the wealth and favor of the Barbarian. 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 a powerful mediator. [155] Simplicius and his companions ended +their lives in peace and obscurity; 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 contemporaries. 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 interpretation of Epictetus +is preserved in the library of nations, as a classic book, most +excellently 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. + +[Footnote 151: This is no fanciful aera: the Pagans reckoned their +calamities from the reign of their hero. Proclus, whose nativity is +marked by his horoscope, (A.D. 412, February 8, at C. P.,) died 124 +years, A.D. 485, (Marin. in Vita Procli, c. 36.)] + +[Footnote 152: The life of Proclus, by Marinus, was published by +Fabricius (Hamburg, 1700, et ad calcem Bibliot. Latin. Lond. 1703.) See +Saidas, (tom. iii. p. 185, 186,) Fabricius, (Bibliot. Graec. l. v. c. 26 +p. 449--552,) and Brucker, (Hist. Crit. Philosoph. tom. ii. p. 319--326)] + +[Footnote 153: The life of Isidore was composed by Damascius, (apud +Photium, sod. ccxlii. p. 1028--1076.) See the last age of the Pagan +philosophers, in Brucker, (tom. ii. p. 341--351.)] + +[Footnote 154: The suppression of the schools of Athens is recorded by +John Malala, (tom. ii. p. 187, sub Decio Cos. Sol.,) and an anonymous +Chronicle in the Vatican library, (apud Aleman. p. 106.)] + +[Footnote 155: Agathias (l. ii. p. 69, 70, 71) relates this curious +story Chosroes ascended the throne in the year 531, and made his first +peace with the Romans in the beginning of 533--a date most compatible +with his young fame and the old age of Isidore, (Asseman. Bibliot. +Orient. tom. iii. p. 404. Pagi, tom. ii. p. 543, 550.)] + +About the same time that Pythagoras first invented the appellation of +philosopher, liberty and the consulship were founded at Rome by the +elder Brutus. The revolutions of the consular office, which may be +viewed in the successive 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 exercise, +in the senate and in the camp, the powers of peace and war, which were +afterwards translated to the emperors. But the tradition of ancient +dignity was long revered by the Romans and Barbarians. A Gothic +historian applauds the consulship of Theodoric as the height of +all temporal glory and greatness; [156] the king of Italy himself +congratulated those annual favorites of fortune who, without the cares, +enjoyed the splendor 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 expenses of this festival, in which the wealthy and +the vain aspired to surpass their predecessors, insensibly arose to the +enormous sum of fourscore thousand pounds; the wisest senators declined +a useless honor, which involved the certain ruin of their families, and +to this reluctance I should impute the 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 convenient method +of advice and regulation. [157] Seven processions or spectacles were +the number to which his edict confined the horse and chariot races, +the athletic sports, the music, and 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 and +drunkenness, when they were scattered with a profuse hand among the +populace. Notwithstanding these precautions, and his own example, +the succession 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. [158] Yet the annual consulship still lived in the minds of the +people; they fondly expected its speedy restoration; they applauded the +gracious condescension of successive princes, by whom it was assumed in +the first year of their reign; and three centuries elapsed, after +the death of Justinian, before that obsolete dignity, which had been +suppressed by custom, could be abolished by law. [159] The imperfect +mode of distinguishing each year by the name of a magistrate, was +usefully supplied by the date of a permanent aera: the creation of the +world, according to the Septuagint version, was adopted by the Greeks; +[160] and the Latins, since the age of Charlemagne, have computed their +time from the birth of Christ. [161] + +[Footnote 156: Cassiodor. Variarum Epist. vi. 1. Jornandes, c. 57, p. +696, dit. Grot. Quod summum bonum primumque in mundo decus dicitur.] + +[Footnote 157: See the regulations of Justinian, (Novell. cv.,) dated +at Constantinople, July 5, and addressed to Strategius, treasurer of the +empire.] + +[Footnote 158: Procopius, in Anecdot. c. 26. Aleman. p. 106. In +the xviiith year after the consulship of Basilius, according to the +reckoning of Marcellinus, Victor, Marius, &c., the secret history was +composed, and, in the eyes of Procopius, the consulship was finally +abolished.] + +[Footnote 159: By Leo, the philosopher, (Novell. xciv. A.D. 886-911.) +See Pagi (Dissertat. Hypatica, p. 325--362) and Ducange, (Gloss, Graec +p. 1635, 1636.) Even the title was vilified: consulatus codicilli.. +vilescunt, says the emperor himself.] + +[Footnote 160: According to Julius Africanus, &c., the world was created +the first of September, 5508 years, three months, and twenty-five days +before the birth of Christ. (See Pezron, Antiquite des Tems defendue, +p. 20--28.) And this aera has been used by the Greeks, the Oriental +Christians, and even by the Russians, till the reign of Peter I The +period, however arbitrary, is clear and convenient. Of the 7296 years +which are supposed to elapse since the creation, we shall find 3000 +of ignorance and darkness; 2000 either fabulous or doubtful; 1000 of +ancient 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 after the Christian +era.] + +[Footnote 161: The aera of the world has prevailed in the East since the +vith general council, (A.D. 681.) In the West, the Christian aera was +first invented in the vith century: it was propagated in the viiith by +the authority and writings of venerable Bede; but it was not till the +xth that the use became legal and popular. See l'Art de Veriner les +Dates, Dissert. Preliminaire, p. iii. xii. Dictionnaire Diplomatique, +tom. i. p. 329--337; the works of a laborious society of Benedictine +monks.] + + + + +Chapter XLI: Conquests Of Justinian, Charact Of Balisarius.--Part I. + + 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 Rome By The + Goths.--Their Retreat And Losses.--Surrender Of Ravenna.-- + Glory Of Belisarius.--His Domestic Shame And Misfortunes. + +When Justinian ascended the throne, about 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 establishment both in Europe and +Africa. The titles, which Roman victory had inscribed, were erased +with equal justice by the sword of the Barbarians; and their successful +rapine derived a more venerable sanction from time, from treaties, +and from the oaths of fidelity, already repeated by a second or third +generation of obedient 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 firmly asserted by her statesmen and lawyers, whose opinions +have been sometimes revived and propagated in the modern schools of +jurisprudence. After Rome herself had been stripped of the Imperial +purple, the princes of Constantinople assumed the sole and sacred +sceptre of the monarchy; demanded, as their rightful inheritance, the +provinces which had been subdued by the consuls, or possessed by the +Caesars; and feebly aspired to deliver their faithful subjects of the +West from the usurpation of heretics and Barbarians. The execution of +this splendid design was in some degree reserved 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 purchased at the price of four hundred and forty +thousand pounds sterling, the benefit of a precarious truce, which, in +the language of both nations, was dignified with the appellation of the +endless peace. The safety of the East enabled the emperor to employ his +forces against the Vandals; and the internal state of Africa afforded +an honorable motive, and promised a powerful support, to the Roman arms. +[1] + +[Footnote 1: The complete series of the Vandal war is related by +Procopius in a regular and elegant narrative, (l. i. c. 9--25, l. ii. c. +1--13,) and happy 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 +Cousin has been often praised, and Hugo Grotius was the first scholar of +a learned age.] + +According to the testament of the founder, the African kingdom had +lineally descended to Hilderic, the eldest of the Vandal princes. A mild +disposition inclined the son of a tyrant, the grandson of a conqueror, +to prefer the counsels of clemency and peace; and his accession was +marked by the salutary edict, which restored two hundred bishops to +their churches, and allowed the free profession of the Athanasian creed. +[2] But the Catholics accepted, with cold and transient gratitude, a +favor so inadequate to their pretensions, and the virtues of Hilderic +offended the prejudices of his countrymen. The Arian clergy presumed to +insinuate that he had renounced the faith, and the soldiers more loudly +complained that he had degenerated from the courage, of his ancestors. +His ambassadors were suspected of a secret and disgraceful negotiation +in the Byzantine court; and his general, the Achilles, [3] as he was +named, of the Vandals, lost a battle against the naked and disorderly +Moors. The public discontent 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 +government; 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 Achilles of the Vandals. But +the indulgence which Hilderic had shown to his Catholic subjects had +powerfully recommended him to the favor of Justinian, who, for the +benefit of his own sect, could acknowledge the use and justice of +religious toleration: their alliance, while the nephew of Justin +remained in a private station, was cemented by the mutual exchange +of gifts and letters; and the emperor Justinian asserted 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 +Romans; 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 +deliver or revenge his friend, Gelimer to maintain his usurpation; and +the war was preceded, according to the practice of civilized nations, by +the most solemn protestations, that each party was sincerely desirous of +peace. + +[Footnote 2: See Ruinart, Hist. Persecut. Vandal. c. xii. p. 589. His +best evidence is drawn from the life of St. Fulgentius, composed by +one of his disciples, transcribed in a great measure in the annals of +Baronius, and printed in several great collections, (Catalog. Bibliot. +Bunavianae, tom. i. vol. ii. p. 1258.)] + +[Footnote 3: For what quality of the mind or body? For speed, or beauty, +or valor?--In what language did the Vandals read Homer?--Did he speak +German?--The Latins had four versions, (Fabric. tom. i. l. ii. c. 8, +p. 297:) yet, in spite of the praises of Seneca, (Consol. c. 26,) they +appear to have been more successful in imitating than in translating the +Greek poets. But the name of Achilles might be famous and popular even +among the illiterate Barbarians.] + +The report of an African war was grateful only to the vain and idle +populace of Constantinople, whose poverty exempted them from tribute, +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 computed, as far as they might compute, the +demands of an African war; the taxes which must be found and levied to +supply those insatiate demands; and the danger, lest their own lives, or +at least their lucrative employments, 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 council the inclinations of his master. He +confessed, that a victory of such importance could not be too dearly +purchased; but he represented in a grave discourse the certain +difficulties and the uncertain event. "You undertake," said the +praefect, "to besiege Carthage: by land, the distance is not less than +one hundred and forty days' journey; on the sea, a whole year [4] must +elapse before you can receive any intelligence from your fleet. If +Africa should be reduced, it cannot be preserved without the additional +conquest of Sicily and Italy. Success will impose the obligations of new +labors; 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 +bishop of the East. "It is the will of Heaven, O emperor! that you +should not abandon your holy enterprise for the deliverance of the +African church. The God of battles will march before your standard, and +disperse your enemies, who are the enemies of his Son." The emperor, +might be tempted, and his counsellors were constrained, to give credit +to this seasonable revelation: but they derived more rational hope from +the revolt, which the adherents of Hilderic or Athanasius had already +excited on the borders of the Vandal monarchy. Pudentius, an African +subject, had privately signified his loyal intentions, and a small +military aid restored the province of Tripoli to the obedience of +the Romans. The government of Sardinia had been intrusted to Godas, a +valiant Barbarian he suspended the payment of 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 suspicion; the Roman +armies were animated by the spirit of Belisarius; one of those heroic +names which are familiar to every age and to every nation. + +[Footnote 4: 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 same +year. Including the voyage and return, such a computation might be truly +applied to our Indian empire.] + +The Africanus of new Rome was born, and perhaps educated, among the +Thracian peasants, [5] without any of those advantages which had formed +the virtues of the elder and younger Scipio; a noble origin, liberal +studies, and the emulation of a free state. + +The silence of a loquacious secretary may be admitted, to prove that the +youth of Belisarius could not afford any subject of praise: he served, +most assuredly with valor and reputation, among the private guards of +Justinian; and when his patron became emperor, the domestic was promoted +to military command. After a bold inroad into Persarmenia, in which +his glory was shared by a colleague, and his progress was checked by an +enemy, Belisarius repaired to the important station of Dara, where he +first accepted the service of Procopius, the faithful companion, +and diligent historian, of his exploits. [6] The Mirranes of Persia +advanced, with forty thousand of her best troops, to raze the +fortifications of Dara; and signified the day and the hour on which the +citizens should prepare a bath for his refreshment, after the toils of +victory. 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 +inferior in the number and quality of his troops, which amounted only to +twenty-five thousand Romans and strangers, relaxed in their discipline, +and humbled by recent disasters. As the level plain of Dara refused all +shelter to stratagem and ambush, Belisarius protected his front with +a deep trench, which was prolonged at first in perpendicular, +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 immortals 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, hastened from 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 oppressed by +superior numbers; the flight of the Isaurians was intercepted; but +the Roman infantry stood firm on the left; for Belisarius himself, +dismounting from his horse, showed them that intrepid despair was their +only safety. [611] 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 skilfully +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 consumed in a barren victory. But the +fame of Belisarius was not sullied by a defeat, in which he alone had +saved his army from the consequences of their own rashness: the approach +of peace relieved him from the guard of the eastern frontier, and +his conduct in the sedition of Constantinople amply discharged his +obligations to the emperor. When the African war became the topic of +popular discourse and secret deliberation, each of the Roman generals +was apprehensive, rather than ambitious, of the dangerous honor; 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 suspicion, that the hero was darkly assisted by the intrigues of +his wife, the fair and subtle Antonina, who alternately enjoyed the +confidence, and incurred the hatred, of the empress Theodora. + +The birth of Antonina was ignoble; she descended from a family of +charioteers; and her chastity has been stained with the foulest +reproach. Yet she reigned with long and absolute power over the mind of +her illustrious husband; and if Antonina disdained the merit of conjugal +fidelity, she expressed a manly friendship to Belisarius, whom she +accompanied with undaunted resolution in all the hardships and dangers +of a military life. [7] + +[Footnote 5: (Procop. Vandal. l. i. c. 11.) Aleman, (Not. ad Anecdot. p. +5,) an Italian, could easily reject the German vanity of Giphanius and +Velserus, who wished to claim the hero; but his Germania, a metropolis +of Thrace, I cannot find in any civil or ecclesiastical lists of the +provinces and cities. Note *: M. von Hammer (in a review of Lord Mahon's +Life of Belisarius in the Vienna Jahrbucher) shows that the name of +Belisarius is a Sclavonic word, Beli-tzar, the White Prince, and that +the place of his birth was a village of Illvria, which still bears the +name of Germany.--M.] + +[Footnote 6: The two first Persian campaigns of Belisarius are fairly +and copiously related by his secretary, (Persic. l. i. c. 12--18.)] + +[Footnote 611: The battle was fought on Easter Sunday, April 19, not +at the end of the summer. The date is supplied from John Malala by Lord +Mabon p. 47.--M.] + +[Footnote 7: See the birth and character of Antonina, in the Anecdotes, +c. l. and the notes of Alemannus, p. 3.] + +The preparations for the African war were not unworthy of the last +contest between Rome 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 patrons. Their strength and stature, +for which they had been curiously selected, the goodness of their horses +and armor, and the assiduous practice of all the exercises of war, +enabled them to act whatever their courage might prompt; and their +courage was exalted by the social honor of their rank, and the personal +ambition of favor and fortune. Four hundred of the bravest of the +Heruli marched under the banner of the faithful and active Pharas; their +untractable valor was more highly prized than the tame submission of the +Greeks and Syrians; and of such importance was it deemed to procure a +reenforcement of six hundred Massagetae, or Huns, that they were allured +by fraud and deceit to engage in a naval expedition. Five thousand horse +and ten thousand foot were embarked at Constantinople, for the conquest +of Africa; but the infantry, for the most part levied in Thrace and +Isauria, yielded to the more prevailing use and reputation of the +cavalry; and the Scythian bow was the weapon on which the armies of Rome +were now reduced to place their principal dependence. From a laudable +desire to assert the dignity of his theme, Procopius 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 Homer [8] +as a term of contempt. "Such contempt might perhaps be due to the naked +youths who appeared on foot in the fields of Troy, and lurking behind +a tombstone, or the shield of a friend, drew the bow-string to their +breast, [9] 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 casque 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 accustomed to wield a lance or javelin +in closer combat. Their bows are strong and weighty; they shoot in every +possible direction, advancing, 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 armor that +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 harbor 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, liberal, but not profuse, of +about one hundred thousand tons, [10] for the reception of thirty-five +thousand soldiers and sailors, of five thousand horses, 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 Mediterranean with so many hundred oars, +had long since disappeared; and the fleet of Justinian was escorted only +by ninety-two light brigantines, 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 +afterwards 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 present. The separation of the naval and +military professions is at once the effect and the cause of the modern +improvements in the science of navigation and maritime war. [Footnote +8: See the preface of Procopius. The enemies of archery might quote the +reproaches of Diomede (Iliad. Delta. 385, &c.) and the permittere vulnera +ventis of Lucan, (viii. 384:) yet the Romans could not despise the +arrows of the Parthians; and in the siege of Troy, Pandarus, Paris, and +Teucer, pierced those haughty warriors who insulted them as women or +children.] + +[Footnote 9: (Iliad. Delta. 123.) How concise--how just--how beautiful +is the whole picture! I see the attitudes of the archer--I hear the +twanging of the bow.] + +[Footnote 10: The text appears to allow for the largest vessels 50,000 +medimni, or 3000 tons, (since the medimnus weighed 160 Roman, or 120 +avoirdupois, pounds.) I have given a more rational interpretation, +by supposing that the Attic style of Procopius conceals the legal +and popular modius, a sixth part of the medimnus, (Hooper's Ancient +Measures, p. 152, &c.) A contrary and indeed a stranger mistake has +crept into an oration of Dinarchus, (contra Demosthenem, in Reiske +Orator. Graec tom iv. P. ii. p. 34.) By reducing the number of ships +from 500 to 50, and translating by mines, or pounds, Cousin has +generously allowed 500 tons for the whole of the Imperial fleet! Did he +never think?] + +In the seventh year of the reign of Justinian, and about the time of +the summer solstice, the 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 general's +trumpet gave the signal of departure, and every heart, according to +its fears or wishes, explored, with anxious curiosity, the omens +of misfortune 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 struggled +to pass the Straits of the Hellespont, an unfavorable wind detained them +four days at Abydus, where the general exhibited a memorable lesson of +firmness and severity. Two of the Huns, who in a drunken quarrel had +slain one of their fellow-soldiers, were instantly shown to the army +suspended on a lofty gibbet. The national dignity was resented by their +countrymen, who disclaimed the servile laws of the empire, and asserted +the free privilege of Scythia, where a small fine was allowed to expiate +the hasty sallies of intemperance and anger. Their complaints were +specious, their clamors were loud, and the Romans were not averse to the +example of disorder and impunity. But the rising sedition was appeased +by the authority and eloquence of the general: and he represented to +the assembled troops the obligation of justice, the importance of +discipline, the rewards of piety and virtue, and the unpardonable +guilt of murder, which, in his apprehension, was aggravated rather than +excused by the vice of intoxication. [11] In the navigation from the +Hellespont to Peloponnesus, which the Greeks, after the siege of Troy, +had performed in four days, [12] 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 Taenarium, to preserve the +just order and regular intervals of such a multitude of ships: as the +wind was fair and moderate, their labors 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 thousands which are bravely exposed for the public +service. According to military practice, the bread or biscuit of the +Romans was twice prepared in the oven, and the diminution of one fourth +was cheerfully allowed for the loss of weight. To gain this miserable +profit, and to save the expense of wood, the praefect John of Cappadocia +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 distributed to the army. Such +unwholesome food, assisted by the heat of the climate and season, soon +produced an epidemical disease, which swept away five hundred soldiers. +Their health 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 Zante, before they undertook 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, sixteen 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 harbor +of Caucana, [13] 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 remounted, [14] and +Procopius soon returned from Syracuse with correct information of the +state 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. [15] + +[Footnote 11: 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 was rather a political than a moral law.] + +[Footnote 12: Or even in three days, since they anchored the first +evening in the neighboring isle of Tenedos: the second day they sailed +to Lesbon the third to the promontory of Euboea, and on the fourth they +reached Argos, (Homer, Odyss. P. 130--183. Wood's Essay on Homer, p. +40--46.) A pirate sailed from the Hellespont to the seaport of Sparta in +three days, (Xenophon. Hellen. l. ii. c. l.)] + +[Footnote 13: Caucana, near Camarina, is at least 50 miles (350 or 400 +stadia) from Syracuse, (Cluver. Sicilia Antiqua, p. 191.) * Note *: +Lord Mahon. (Life of Belisarius, p.88) suggests some valid reasons for +reading Catana, the ancient name of Catania.--M.] + +[Footnote 14: Procopius, Gothic. l. i. c. 3. Tibi tollit hinnitum apta +quadrigis equa, in the Sicilian pastures of Grosphus, (Horat. Carm. ii. +16.) Acragas.... magnanimum quondam generator equorum, (Virg. Aeneid. +iii. 704.) Thero's horses, whose victories are immortalized by Pindar, +were bred in this country.] + +[Footnote 15: The Caput Vada of Procopius (where Justinian afterwards +founded a city--De Edific.l. vi. c. 6) is the promontory of Ammon in +Strabo, the Brachodes of Ptolemy, the Capaudia of the moderns, a long +narrow slip that runs into the sea, (Shaw's Travels, p. 111.)] + +If Gelimer had been informed of the approach of the enemy, he must have +delayed the conquest of 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 Genseric might have surprised and oppressed +a fleet of deep laden transports, incapable of action, and of light +brigantines that seemed only qualified for flight. Belisarius had +secretly trembled when he overheard his soldiers, in the passage, +emboldening each other to confess their apprehensions: if they were once +on shore, they hoped to maintain the honor of their arms; but if they +should be attacked at sea, they did not blush to acknowledge that they +wanted courage to contend at the same time with the winds, the waves, +and the Barbarians. [16] The knowledge of their sentiments decided +Belisarius to seize 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. [1611] +Three months after their departure from Constantinople, 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 Romans. The next morning, some of the +neighboring 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 depended much +less," said the general, "on the numbers, or even the bravery of my +troops, than on 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 enemies, +and unite them in a just and holy league against the invaders of their +country." These exhortations were enforced by a rigid discipline, +of which the soldiers themselves soon felt and praised the salutary +effects. The inhabitants, instead of deserting their houses, or hiding +their corn, supplied the Romans with a fair and liberal market: the +civil officers of the province continued to exercise their functions in +the name of Justinian: and the clergy, from motives of conscience +and interest, assiduously labored to promote the cause of a Catholic +emperor. The small town of Sullecte, [17] one day's journey from the +camp, had the honor of being foremost to open her gates, and to resume +her ancient allegiance: the larger cities of Leptis and 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 +gardens over any that he had seen, either in the East or West, may be +ascribed either to the taste, or the fatigue, or 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 mankind. In their villas and gardens, which might deserve the Persian +name of Paradise, [18] they enjoyed a cool and elegant repose; and, +after the daily use of the bath, the Barbarians were seated at a table +profusely spread with the delicacies 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 labors of their life, and their +vacant hours were amused by pantomimes, chariot-races, and the music and +dances of the theatre. + +[Footnote 16: A centurion of Mark Antony expressed, though in a more +manly train, the same dislike to the sea and to naval combats, (Plutarch +in Antonio, p. 1730, edit. Hen. Steph.)] + +[Footnote 1611: Rather into the present Lake of Tunis. Lord Mahon, p. +92.--M.] + +[Footnote 17: Sullecte is perhaps the Turris 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.] + +[Footnote 18: The paradises, a name and fashion adopted from Persia, may +be represented by the royal garden of Ispahan, (Voyage d'Olearius, p. +774.) See, in the Greek romances, their most perfect model, (Longus. +Pastoral. l. iv. p. 99--101 Achilles Tatius. l. i. p. 22, 23.)] + +In a march of ten or twelve days, the vigilance of Belisarius was +constantly awake and active against his unseen enemies, by whom, in +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 Massagetae 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 troops, 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 +resource of risking a battle in the neighborhood of his capital. The +Vandal conquerors, from their original number of fifty thousand, were +multiplied, without including their women and children, to one hundred +and sixty thousand fighting men: [1811] and such forces, animated with +valor 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 Belisarius; and many a proud Barbarian disguised +his aversion to war under the more specious name of his hatred to +the usurper. Yet the authority and promises of Gelimer collected a +formidable army, and his plans were concerted with some degree of +military skill. An order was despatched to his brother Ammatas, to +collect all the forces of Carthage, and to encounter the van of the +Roman army at the distance of ten miles from the city: his nephew +Gibamund, 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 rashness of Ammatas was fatal to himself and his +country. He anticipated the hour of the 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 hundred Massagetae: they did not +equal the third part of his numbers; but each Scythian was fired by +the example of his chief, who gloriously exercised the privilege of his +family, by riding, foremost and alone, to shoot the first arrow against +the enemy. In the mean while, Gelimer himself, ignorant of the event, +and misguided by the windings of the hills, inadvertently passed the +Roman army, and reached the scene of action where Ammatas had fallen. He +wept the fate of his brother and of Carthage, charged with irresistible +fury the advancing squadrons, 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, he 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 restore 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 before the hero; and the Vandals, accustomed only to a +Moorish enemy, were incapable of withstanding the arms and discipline +of the Romans. Gelimer retired with hasty steps towards the desert of +Numidia: but he had soon the consolation of learning that his private +orders for the execution of Hilderic and his captive friends had been +faithfully obeyed. The tyrant's revenge was useful only to his enemies. +The death of a lawful prince excited the compassion of his people; his +life might have perplexed the victorious Romans; and the lieutenant of +Justinian, by a crime of which he was innocent, was relieved from +the painful alternative of forfeiting his honor or relinquishing his +conquests. + +[Footnote 1811: 80,000. Hist. Arc. c. 18. Gibbon has been misled by the +translation. See Lord ov. p. 99.--M.] + + + + +Chapter XLI: Conquests Of Justinian, Charact Of Balisarius.--Part II. + +As soon as the tumult had subsided, the several parts of the army +informed each other of the accidents of the day; and Belisarius pitched +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 marched 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 capital. Carthage blazed with innumerable +torches, the signals of the public joy; the chain was removed that +guarded the entrance of the port; the gates were thrown open, and the +people, with acclamations of gratitude, hailed and invited 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 +three centuries of superstition had almost raised to a local deity. The +Arians, conscious that their reign had expired, resigned the temple to +the Catholics, who rescued their saint from profane hands, performed the +holy rites, and loudly proclaimed the creed of Athanasius and Justinian. +One awful hour reversed the fortunes of the contending parties. The +suppliant Vandals, 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 showed them, through an aperture in the wall, the sails +of the Roman fleet. After their separation from the army, the naval +commanders had proceeded with slow caution along the coast till they +reached the Hermaean promontory, and obtained the first intelligence of +the victory of Belisarius. Faithful to his instructions, they would have +cast anchor about twenty miles from Carthage, if the more skilful +seamen had not represented the perils of the shore, and the signs of +an impending tempest. Still ignorant of the revolution, they declined, +however, the rash attempt of forcing the chain of the port; and the +adjacent harbor 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 entrance of the Goletta, and occupied, in the deep and capacious +lake of Tunis, a secure station about five miles from the capital. [19] +No sooner 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 +exhorted them, in a discourse worthy of himself and the occasion, not to +disgrace the glory of their arms; and to remember that the Vandals had +been the tyrants, but that they were the deliverers, of the Africans, +who must now be respected as the voluntary and affectionate subjects of +their common sovereign. The Romans marched 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 sanctified +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 +government, 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 fixed his residence in +the palace; seated himself on the throne of Genseric; accepted and +distributed the Barbaric spoil; granted their lives to the suppliant +Vandals; and labored to repair the damage which the suburb of Mandracium +had sustained in the preceding night. At supper he entertained his +principal officers with the form and magnificence of a royal banquet. +[20] 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 monarch. 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 favor of the people. The fortifications of Carthage +[2011] 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 liberality +encouraged the workmen; the soldiers, the mariners, and the citizens, +vied with each other in the salutary labor; and Gelimer, who had feared +to trust his person in an open town, beheld with astonishment and +despair, the rising strength of an impregnable fortress. + +[Footnote 19: The neighborhood of Carthage, the sea, the land, and the +rivers, are changed almost as much as the works of man. The isthmus, or +neck of the city, is now confounded with the continent; the harbor is 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, (Geographie +Ancienne, tom. iii. p. 82,) Shaw, (Travels, p. 77--84,) Marmol, +(Description de l'Afrique, tom. ii. p. 465,) and Thuanus, (lviii. 12, +tom. iii. p. 334.)] + +[Footnote 20: 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 banquetting room, (Procopius, Vandal. l. i. c. 21. Ducange, Gloss, +Graec. p. 277., ad Alexiad. p. 412.)] + +[Footnote 2011: And a few others. Procopius states in his work De Edi +Sciis. l. vi. vol i. p. 5.--M] + +That unfortunate monarch, after the loss of his capital, applied himself +to collect the remains of an army scattered, rather than destroyed, by +the preceding battle; and the hopes of pillage attracted some Moorish +bands to the standard of Gelimer. He encamped in the fields of Bulla, +four days' journey from Carthage; insulted the capital, which he +deprived of the use of an aqueduct; proposed a high reward for the +head of every Roman; affected to spare the persons and property of his +African subjects, and secretly negotiated with the Arian sectaries +and the confederate Huns. Under these circumstances, 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, [2012] who expressed a sanguine +confidence that the king, after the example of their ancestors, had +already chastised the rashness of the Roman invader. "Alas! my brother," +replied Gelimer, "Heaven has declared against our unhappy nation. While +you have subdued Sardinia, we have lost Africa. No sooner did Belisarius +appear with a handful of soldiers, than courage and prosperity deserted +the cause of the Vandals. Your nephew Gibamund, your brother Ammatas, +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 +expense of their wives and children, their wealth and liberty. Nothing +now remains, except the fields of Bulla, and the hope of your valor. +Abandon Sardinia; fly to our relief; restore our empire, or perish by +our side." On the receipt 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 hundred and +twenty galleys at the port of Caghari, 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 inquiries 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 increase, that before their army reached +Tricameron, 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 Belisarius; and, as he was conscious of their superior 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 infantry, 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 speeches [21] 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 +lances and missile weapons, they drew their swords, and expected the +charge: the Roman cavalry thrice passed the rivulet; they were thrice +repulsed; and the conflict was firmly 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 hundred 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, life a burden, +and infamy the only object of terror. His departure 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 inhumanly massacred; their widows and daughters, +as rich heirs, or beautiful concubines, were embraced by the licentious +soldiers; and avarice itself was almost satiated with the treasures of +gold and silver, the accumulated fruits of conquest or economy in a long +period of prosperity and peace. In this frantic search, the troops, even +of Belisarius, forgot their caution and respect. Intoxicated with lust +and rapine, they explored, in small parties, or alone, the adjacent +fields, the woods, the rocks, and the caverns, that might possibly +conceal any desirable 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 sensible of the disgrace and danger, +Belisarius passed an apprehensive night on the field of victory: at the +dawn of day, he planted his standard on a hill, recalled his guardians +and veterans, and gradually restored the modesty and obedience 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 become 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. [22] The +season, and the certain intelligence that the Vandal had fled to an +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. + +[Footnote 2012: Gibbon had forgotten that the bearer of the "victorious +letters of his brother" had sailed into the port of Carthage; and that +the letters had fallen into the hands of the Romans. Proc. Vandal. l. i. +c. 23.--M.] + +[Footnote 21: These orations always express the sense of the times, and +sometimes of the actors. I have condensed that sense, and thrown away +declamation.] + +[Footnote 22: The relics of St. Augustin were carried by the African +bishops to 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 Augustan +friars of that city found a brick arch, marble coffin, silver case, silk +wrapper, bones, blood, &c., and perhaps an inscription of Agostino in +Gothic letters. But this useful discovery has been disputed by reason +and jealousy, (Baronius, Annal. A.D. 725, No. 2-9. Tillemont, Mem. +Eccles. tom. xiii. p. 944. Montfaucon, Diarium Ital. p. 26-30. Muratori, +Antiq. Ital. Medii Aevi, tom. v. dissert. lviii. p. 9, who had composed +a separate treatise before the decree of the bishop of Pavia, and Pope +Benedict XIII.)] + +Belisarius spoke the language of truth. The surviving Vandals yielded, +without resistance, their arms and their freedom; the neighborhood of +Carthage submitted to his presence; and the more distant provinces were +successively subdued by the report of his victory. Tripoli 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, Minorca, and Yvica consented to remain an +humble appendage of the African kingdom. Caesarea, 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 Romans +were now masters of the sea. An active and discreet tribune sailed as +far as the Straits, where he occupied Septem or Ceuta, [23] which +rises opposite to Gibraltar on the African coast; that remote place +was afterwards adorned and fortified by Justinian; and he seems to have +indulged the vain ambition of extending his empire to the columns of +Hercules. He received the messengers of victory at the time when he was +preparing to publish the Pandects of the Roman laws; and the devout +or jealous emperor celebrated the divine goodness, and confessed, in +silence, the merit of his successful general. [24] Impatient to abolish +the temporal and spiritual tyranny of the Vandals, he proceeded, +without delay, to the full establishment of the Catholic church. Her +jurisdiction, wealth, and immunites, perhaps the most essential part of +episcopal religion, were restored and amplified with a liberal hand; +the Arian worship was suppressed; the Donatist meetings were proscribed; +[25] and the synod of Carthage, by the voice of two hundred and +seventeen bishops, [26] 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 their number, which in +ancient councils had been twice or even thrice multiplied, most clearly +indicates the decay both of the church and state. While Justinian +approved himself the defender of the faith, he entertained an ambitious +hope, that his victorious lieutenant would speedily enlarge the narrow +limits of his dominion to the space which they occupied before 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, Caesarea, and Sardinia, and to compute the +military force of palatines or borderers that might be sufficient for +the defence of Africa. The kingdom of the Vandals was not unworthy +of the presence of a Praetorian praefect; 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 expressed; three hundred and +ninety-six for the praefect himself, fifty for each of his vicegerents; +and the rigid definition of their fees and salaries was more effectual +to confirm the right than to prevent the abuse. These magistrates might +be oppressive, but they were not idle; and the subtile questions of +justice and revenue were infinitely propagated under the new government, +which professed to revive the freedom and equity of the Roman republic. +The conqueror was solicitous to extract a prompt and plentiful supply +from his African subjects; and he allowed them to claim, even in 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 a high and special commission, +no ordinary provision was made for a master-general of the forces; but +the office of Praetorian praefect was intrusted to a soldier; the civil +and military powers were united, according to the practice of Justinian, +in the chief governor; and the representative of the emperor in Africa, +as well as in Italy, was soon distinguished by the appellation of +Exarch. [27] + +[Footnote 23: The expression of Procopius (de Edific. l. vi. c. 7.) +Ceuta, which has been defaced by the Portuguese, flourished in nobles +and palaces, in agriculture and manufactures, under the more prosperous +reign of the Arabs, (l'Afrique de Marmai, tom. ii. p. 236.)] + +[Footnote 24: See the second and third preambles to the Digest, or +Pandects, promulgated A.D. 533, December 16. To the titles of Vandalicus +and Africanus, Justinian, or rather Belisarius, had acquired a just +claim; Gothicus was premature, and Francicus false, and offensive to a +great nation.] + +[Footnote 25: See the original acts in Baronius, (A.D. 535, No. 21--54.) +The emperor applauds his own clemency to the heretics, cum sufficiat eis +vivere.] + +[Footnote 26: Dupin (Geograph. Sacra Africana, p. lix. ad Optat. Milav.) +observes and bewails this episcopal decay. In the more prosperous age of +the church, he had noticed 690 bishoprics; but however minute were the +dioceses, it is not probable that they all existed at the same time.] + +[Footnote 27: The African laws of Justinian are illustrated by his +German biographer, (Cod. l. i. tit. 27. Novell. 36, 37, 131. Vit. +Justinian, p. 349--377.)] + +Yet the conquest of Africa was imperfect till her former sovereign was +delivered, either alive or dead, into the hands of the Romans. 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 Visigoths. But these intentions +were disappointed by accident, treachery, and the indefatigable pursuit +of his enemies, who intercepted his flight from the sea-shore, and +chased the unfortunate monarch, with some faithful followers, to the +inaccessible mountain of Papua, [28] in the inland country of Numidia. +He was immediately besieged by Pharas, an officer whose 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 intrusted this important charge and, after a +bold attempt to scale the mountain, in which he lost a 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, [29] 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 promiscuously 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 +imbittered by the recollection of past greatness, the daily insolence +of his protectors, and the just apprehension, that the light and +venal Moors might be tempted to betray the rights of hospitality. The +knowledge 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 hopeless obstinacy? Why will +you ruin yourself, your family, and nation? The love of freedom and +abhorrence of slavery? Alas! my dearest Gelimer, are you not already the +worst of slaves, the slave of the vile nation of the Moors? Would it +not be preferable to sustain at Constantinople a life of poverty and +servitude, rather than to reign the undoubted monarch of the mountain +of Papua? 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 obedience 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 +virtue; 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 I had never injured either by word or deed: yet +he has sent against me, I know not from whence, a certain Belisarius, +who has cast me headlong from the throne into his abyss of misery. +Justinian is a man; he is a prince; does he not dread for himself a +similar reverse of fortune? I can write no more: my grief oppresses me. +Send me, I beseech you, my dear Pharas, send me, a lyre, [30] a sponge, +and a loaf of bread." From the Vandal messenger, 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 +humanity 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 prisoner to embrace a resolution +advantageous to the Romans, but salutary to himself. The obstinacy of +Gelimer at length yielded to reason and necessity; the solemn assurances +of safety and honorable treatment were ratified in the emperor's 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 the royal captive accosted his conqueror, he burst +into a fit of laughter. The crowd might naturally believe, that extreme +grief had deprived Gelimer of his senses: but in this mournful state, +unseasonable mirth insinuated to more intelligent observers, that the +vain and transitory scenes of human greatness are unworthy of a serious +thought. [31] + +[Footnote 28: Mount Papua is placed by D'Anville (tom. iii. p. 92, and +Tabul. Imp. Rom. Occident.) near Hippo Regius and the sea; yet this +situation ill agrees with the long pursuit beyond Hippo, and the words +of Procopius, (l. ii.c.4,). * Note: Compare Lord Mahon, 120. conceive +Gibbon to be right--M.] + +[Footnote 29: 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.] + +[Footnote 30: By Procopius it is styled a lyre; perhaps harp would have +been more national. The instruments of music are thus distinguished by +Venantius Fortunatus:-- Romanusque lyra tibi plaudat, Barbarus harpa.] + +[Footnote 31: Herodotus elegantly describes the strange effects of grief +in another royal captive, Psammetichus of Egypt, who wept at the lesser +and was silent at the greatest of his calamities, (l. iii. c. 14.) In +the interview of Paulus Aemilius and Perses, Belisarius might study his +part; but it is probable that he never read either Livy or Plutarch; and +it is certain that his generosity did not need a tutor.] + +Their contempt was soon justified by a new example of a vulgar truth; +that flattery adheres to power, and envy to superior merit. The chiefs +of the Roman army presumed to think themselves the rivals of a hero. +Their private despatches maliciously affirmed, that the conqueror of +Africa, strong in his reputation and the public love, conspired to +seat himself on the throne of the Vandals. Justinian listened with too +patient an ear; and his silence was the result of jealousy rather than +of confidence. An honorable alternative, of remaining in the province, +or of returning to the capital, was indeed submitted to the discretion +of Belisarius; but he wisely concluded, from intercepted letters and +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. Innocence and courage decided his choice; his guards, +captives, and treasures, were diligently embarked; and so prosperous was +the navigation, that his arrival at Constantinople preceded any certain +account of his departure from the port of Carthage. Such unsuspecting +loyalty removed the apprehensions of Justinian; envy was silenced and +inflamed by the public gratitude; and the third Africanus obtained the +honors of a triumph, a ceremony which the city of Constantine had never +seen, and which ancient Rome, since the reign of Tiberius, had reserved +for the auspicious arms of the Caesars. [32] From the palace of +Belisarius, the procession was conducted through the principal streets +to the hippodrome; and this memorable day seemed to avenge the injuries +of Genseric, and to expiate the shame of the Romans. The wealth of +nations was displayed, the trophies of martial or effeminate luxury; +rich armor, golden thrones, and the chariots of state which had been +used by the Vandal queen; the massy furniture of the royal banquet, the +splendor of precious stones, the elegant forms of statues and vases, the +more substantial treasure 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 noblest +Vandals reluctantly exposed their lofty stature and manly countenance. +Gelimer slowly 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 heard; but his pride or piety derived some secret consolation +from the words of Solomon, [33] which he repeatedly pronounced, Vanity! +vanity! all is vanity! Instead of ascending a triumphal car drawn by +four horses or elephants, the modest conqueror marched on foot at the +head of his brave companions; his prudence might decline an honor too +conspicuous for a subject; and his magnanimity might justly disdain +what had been so often sullied by the vilest of tyrants. The glorious +procession entered the gate of the hippodrome; was saluted by the +acclamations of the senate and people; and halted before the throne +where Justinian and Theodora were seated to receive homage of the +captive monarch and the victorious hero. They both performed the +customary adoration; and falling prostrate on the ground, respectfully +touched the footstool of a prince who had not unsheathed his sword, and +of a prostitute who had danced on the theatre; some gentle violence +was used to bend the stubborn spirit of the grandson of Genseric; +and however trained to servitude, the genius of Belisarius must have +secretly rebelled. He was immediately declared consul for the ensuing +year, and the day of his inauguration resembled the pomp of a second +triumph: his curule chair was borne aloft on the shoulders of captive +Vandals; and the spoils of war, gold cups, and rich girdles, were +profusely scattered among the populace. [Footnote 32: After the title of +imperator had lost the old military sense, and the Roman auspices were +abolished by Christianity, (see La Bleterie, Mem. de l'Academie, tom. +xxi. p. 302--332,) a triumph might be given with less inconsistency to a +private general.] + +[Footnote 33: 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. tom. +i. p. 258;) and indeed the Ecclesiastes and Proverbs display a larger +compass of thought and experience than seem to belong either to a Jew or +a king. * Note: Rosenmuller, arguing from the difference of style from +that of the greater part of the book of Proverbs, and from its nearer +approximation to the Aramaic dialect than any book of the Old Testament, +assigns the Ecclesiastes to some period between Nehemiah and Alexander +the Great Schol. in Vet. Test. ix. Proemium ad Eccles. p. 19.--M.] + + + + +Chapter XLI: Conquests Of Justinian, Charact Of Balisarius.--Part III. + +Although Theodatus descended from a race of heroes, he was ignorant of +the art, and averse to the dangers, of war. Although he had studied the +writings of Plato and Tully, philosophy was incapable of purifying his +mind from the basest passions, avarice and fear. He had purchased a +sceptre by ingratitude and murder: at the first menace of an enemy, he +degraded his own majesty and that of a nation, which already disdained +their unworthy sovereign. Astonished by the recent example of Gelimer, +he saw himself dragged in chains through the streets of Constantinople: +the terrors which Belisarius inspired were heightened by the eloquence +of Peter, the Byzantine ambassador; and that bold and subtle advocate +persuaded him to sign a treaty, too ignominious to become the foundation +of a lasting peace. It was stipulated, that in the acclamations of the +Roman people, the name of the emperor should be always proclaimed before +that of the Gothic king; and that as often as the statue of Theodatus +was erected in brass on 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 honors of the senate; and the consent of the +emperor was made indispensable before he could execute, against a priest +or senator, the sentence either of death or confiscation. The feeble +monarch resigned the possession of Sicily; offered, as the annual +mark of his dependence, 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, [60] than he was recalled 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? Perhaps. If he +refuses, what consequence will ensue? War. Will such a war, be just +or reasonable? Most assuredly: every to his character. What is your +meaning? You are a philosopher--Justinian is emperor of the Romans: it +would all become the disciple of Plato to shed the blood of thousands +in his private quarrel: the successor of Augustus should vindicate his +rights, and recover by arms the ancient provinces of his empire." This +reasoning might not convince, but it was sufficient to alarm and subdue +the weakness of Theodatus; and he soon descended to his last 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 agriculture. + +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 Constantinople to Ravenna, with +ample instructions; and a fair epistle, which praised the wisdom and +generosity of the royal philosopher, granted his pension, with the +assurance of such honors as a subject and a Catholic might enjoy; and +wisely referred the final execution of the treaty to the presence and +authority of Belisarius. But in the interval of suspense, two Roman +generals, who had entered the province of Dalmatia, were defeated and +slain by the Gothic troops. From blind and abject despair, Theodatus +capriciously rose to groundless and fatal presumption, [61] and dared +to receive, with menace and contempt, the ambassador of Justinian; +who claimed his promise, solicited the allegiance of his subjects, and +boldly asserted the inviolable privilege of his own character. The march +of Belisarius dispelled this visionary pride; and as the first campaign +[62] was employed in the reduction of Sicily, the invasion of Italy is +applied by Procopius to the second year of the Gothic war. [63] + +[Footnote 60: The ancient Alba was ruined in the first age of Rome. On +the same spot, or at least in the neighborhood, successively arose. 1. +The villa of Pompey, &c.; 2. A camp of the Praetorian cohorts; 3. The +modern episcopal city of Albanum or Albano. (Procop. Goth. l. ii. c. 4 +Oluver. Ital. Antiq tom. ii. p. 914.)] + +[Footnote 61: A Sibylline oracle was ready to pronounce--Africa capta +munitus cum nato peribit; a sentence of portentous ambiguity, (Gothic. +l. i. c. 7,) which has been published in unknown characters by +Opsopaeus, an editor of the oracles. The Pere Maltret has promised a +commentary; but all his promises have been vain and fruitless.] + +[Footnote 62: In his chronology, imitated, in some degree, from +Thucydides, Procopius begins each spring the years of Justinian and of +the Gothic war; and his first aera coincides with the first of April, +535, and not 536, according to the Annals of Baronius, (Pagi, Crit. tom. +ii. p. 555, who is followed by Muratori and the editors of Sigonius.) +Yet, in some passages, we are at a loss to reconcile the dates of +Procopius with himself, and with the Chronicle of Marcellinus.] + +[Footnote 63: The series of the first Gothic war is represented by +Procopius (l. i. c. 5--29, l. ii. c. l--30, l. iii. c. l) till the +captivity of Vitigas. With the aid of Sigonius (Opp. tom. i. de Imp. +Occident. l. xvii. xviii.) and Muratori, (Annali d'Itaia, tom. v.,) I +have gleaned some few additional facts.] + +After Belisarius had left sufficient garrisons in Palermo and Syracuse, +he embarked his troops at Messina, and landed them, without resistance, +on the opposite shores of Rhegium. A Gothic prince, who had married the +daughter 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 followers to the Roman camp, and was dismissed to +enjoy the servile honors of the Byzantine court. [64] 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 Bruttium, Lucania, and Campania, who abhorred the name and religion +of the Goths, embraced the specious excuse, that their ruined walls +were incapable of defence: the soldiers paid a just equivalent for +a plentiful market; and curiosity alone interrupted the peaceful +occupations of the husbandman or artificer. Naples, which has swelled to +a great and populous capital, long cherished the language and manners +of a Grecian colony; [65] and the choice of Virgil had ennobled this +elegant retreat, which attracted the lovers of repose and study, elegant +retreat, which attracted the lovers of repose and study, from the noise, +the smoke, and the laborious opulence of Rome. [66] As soon as the place +was invested by sea and land, Belisarius gave audience to the deputies +of the people, who exhorted 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 a 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 honor secured their +performance: but Naples was divided into two factions; and the Greek +democracy was inflamed by their orators, who, with much spirit and some +truth, represented to the multitude that the Goths would punish their +defection, and that Belisarius himself must esteem their loyalty and +valor. 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 [67] measured only two thousand three hundred and sixty three +paces: [68] the fortifications were defended by precipices or the sea; +when the aqueducts were intercepted, a supply of water might be drawn +from wells and fountains; and the stock of provisions was sufficient 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 Isaurian, who explored the dry channel of an +aqueduct, and secretly reported, that a passage might be perforated to +introduce a file of armed soldiers into the heart of the city. When the +work had been silently executed, the humane general risked the discovery +of his secret by a last and fruitless admonition of the impending +danger. In the darkness of the night, four hundred Romans entered +the aqueduct, raised themselves by a rope, which they fastened 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 justice was +practised as the rights of war; the Huns were distinguished by cruelty +and sacrilege, 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 valor. +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 show them by you, generosity +of what friends they have obstinately deprived themselves." The city was +saved by the virtue and authority of its conqueror; [69] and when the +Neapolitans returned to their houses, they found some consolation in +the secret enjoyment of their hidden treasures. The Barbarian garrison +enlisted 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 shown at Beneventum, +are curiously described by the historian of Belisarius. [70] + +[Footnote 64: Jornandes, de Rebus Geticis, c. 60, p. 702, edit. Grot., +and tom. i. p. 221. Muratori, de Success, Regn. p. 241.] + +[Footnote 65: Nero (says Tacitus, Annal. xv. 35) Neapolim quasi Graecam +urbem delegit. One hundred and fifty years afterwards, in the time +of Septimius Severus, the Hellenism of the Neapolitans is praised by +Philostratus. (Icon. l. i. p. 763, edit. Olear.)] + +[Footnote 66: The otium of Naples is praised by the Roman poets, by +Virgil, Horace, Silius Italicus, and Statius, (Cluver. Ital. Ant. l. +iv. p. 1149, 1150.) In an elegant epistles, (Sylv. l. iii. 5, p. 94--98, +edit. Markland,) Statius undertakes the difficult task of drawing his +wife from the pleasures of Rome to that calm retreat.] + +[Footnote 67: This measure was taken by Roger l., after the conquest +of Naples, (A.D. 1139,) which he made the capital of his new kingdom, +(Giannone, Istoria Civile, tom. ii. p. 169.) That city, the third in +Christian Europe, is now at least twelve miles in circumference, +(Jul. Caesar. Capaccii Hist. Neapol. l. i. p. 47,) and contains more +inhabitants (350,000) in a given space, than any other spot in the known +world.] + +[Footnote 68: Not geometrical, but common, paces or steps, of 22 French +inches, (D' Anville, Mesures Itineraires, p. 7, 8.) The 2363 do not take +an English mile.] + +[Footnote 69: Belisarius was reproved by Pope Silverius for the +massacre. He repeopled Naples, and imported colonies of African captives +into Sicily, Calabria, and Apulia, (Hist. Miscell. l. xvi. in Muratori, +tom. i. p. 106, 107.)] + +[Footnote 70: Beneventum was built by Diomede, the nephew of Meleager +(Cluver. tom. ii. p. 1195, 1196.) The Calydonian hunt is a picture of +savage life, (Ovid, Metamorph. l. viii.) Thirty or forty heroes were +leagued against a hog: the brutes (not the hog) quarrelled with lady for +the head.] + +The faithful soldiers and citizens of Naples had expected their +deliverance from a prince, who remained the inactive and almost +indifferent spectator of their ruin. Theodatus secured his person within +the walls of Rome, whilst his cavalry advanced forty miles on the Appian +way, and encamped in the Pomptine marshes; which, by a canal of nineteen +miles in length, had been recently drained and converted into excellent +pastures. [71] 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 downfall of his empire. [72] The most abject slaves have +arraigned the guilt or weakness of an unfortunate master. The character +of Theodatus was rigorously scrutinized by a free and idle camp of +Barbarians, conscious of their privilege and power: he was declared +unworthy of his race, his nation, and his throne; and their general +Vitiges, whose valor had been signalized in the Illyrian war, was raised +with unanimous applause on the bucklers of his companions. On the first +rumor, the abdicated monarch fled from the justice of his country; but +he was pursued by private revenge. A Goth, whom he had injured in his +love, overtook 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 altar. 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 hereditary right. A national +council was immediately held, and the new monarch reconciled the +impatient spirit of the Barbarians to a measure of disgrace, which the +misconduct of his predecessor rendered wise and indispensable. The Goths +consented to retreat in the presence of a victorious enemy; to delay +till the next spring the operations of offensive war; to summon their +scattered forces; to relinquish their distant possessions, and to trust +even Rome itself to the faith of its inhabitants. Leuderis, an ancient +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 Romans. But a momentary enthusiasm of +religion and patriotism was kindled in their minds. They furiously +exclaimed, that the apostolic throne should no longer be profaned by the +triumph or toleration of Arianism; that the tombs of the Caesars +should no longer be trampled by the savages of the North; and, without +reflecting, that Italy must sink into a province of Constantinople, +they fondly hailed the restoration of a Roman emperor as a new aera +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 +conquests, 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 preserved its primaeval +beauty, and not a flaw could be discovered in the large polished stones, +of which that solid, though narrow road, was so firmly compacted. [73] +Belisarius, however, preferred 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 disappeared: when +he made his entrance through the Asinarian gate, the garrison departed +without molestation along the Flaminian way; and the city, after +sixty years' servitude, was delivered from the yoke of the Barbarians. +Leuderis alone, from a motive of pride or discontent, refused to +accompany the fugitives; and the Gothic chief, himself a trophy of the +victory, was sent with the keys of Rome to the throne of the emperor +Justinian. [74] + +[Footnote 71: The Decennovium is strangely confounded by Cluverius (tom. +ii. 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 Decennovium, which is mentioned by Lucan, Dion Cassius, and +Cassiodorus, has been sufficiently ruined, restored, and obliterated, +(D'Anville, Anayse de l'Italie, p. 185, &c.)] + +[Footnote 72: A Jew, gratified his contempt and hatred for all +the Christians, by enclosing three bands, each of ten hogs, and +discriminated by the names of Goths, Greeks, and Romans. Of the first, +almost all were found dead; almost all the second were alive: of the +third, half died, and the rest lost their bristles. No unsuitable emblem +of the event] + +[Footnote 73: Bergier (Hist. des Grands Chemins des Romains, tom. i. p. +221-228, 440-444) examines the structure and materials, while D'Anville +(Analyse d'Italie, p. 200--123) defines the geographical line.] + +[Footnote 74: 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 +Evagrius, (l. iv. v. 19;) and the day (the tenth) may be admitted on +the slight evidence of Nicephorus Callistus, (l. xvii. c. 13.) For this +accurate chronology, we are indebted to the diligence and judgment +of Pagi, (tom, ii. p. 659, 560.) Note: Compare Maltret's note, in the +edition of Dindorf the ninth is the day, according to his reading,--M.] + +The first days, which coincided with the old Saturnalia, were devoted to +mutual congratulation and the public joy; and the Catholics prepared to +celebrate, without a rival, the approaching festival of the nativity of +Christ. In the familiar conversation of a hero, the Romans acquired some +notion of the virtues which history ascribed to their ancestors; they +were edified by the apparent respect of Belisarius for the successor +of St. Peter, and his rigid discipline secured in the midst of war the +blessings of tranquillity and justice. They applauded the rapid success +of his arms, which overran the adjacent country, as far as Narni, +Perusia, and Spoleto; but they trembled, the senate, the clergy, and the +unwarlike people, as soon as they understood that he had resolved, and +would speedily be reduced, to sustain a siege against the powers of the +Gothic monarchy. The designs of Vitiges were executed, 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. According to the degrees +of rank or merit, the Gothic king distributed arms and horses, rich +gifts, and liberal promises; he moved along the Flaminian way, declined +the useless sieges of Perusia and Spoleto, respected he 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 twenty days which must be lost +in the construction of another bridge. But the consternation of the +soldiers of the tower, who either fled or deserted, disappointed his +hopes, and betrayed his person into the most imminent danger. At the +head of one thousand horse, the Roman general sallied from the Flaminian +gate to mark the ground of an advantageous position, and to survey the +camp of the Barbarians; but while he still believed them on the other +side of the Tyber, he was suddenly encompassed and assaulted by their +numerous squadrons. The fate of Italy depended on his life; and the +deserters pointed to the conspicuous horse a bay, [75] with a white +face, which he rode on that memorable 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 motive. The bolder Barbarians +advanced to the more honorable combat of swords and spears; and the +praise of an enemy has graced the fall of Visandus, the standard-bearer, +[76] who maintained 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 valor, +and defended his person; and the Goths, after the loss of a thousand +men, fled before the arms of a hero. They were rashly pursued to their +camp; and the Romans, oppressed by multitudes, made a gradual, and at +length a precipitate retreat to the gates of the city: the gates were +shut against the fugitives; and the public terror was increased, by the +report that Belisarius 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 companions; and their last desperate charge was +felt by the flying Barbarians, as if a new army, vigorous and entire, +had been poured from the city. The Flaminian gate was thrown open to a +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 refreshments of food and sleep. +In the more improved state of the art of war, a general is seldom +required, or even permitted to display the personal prowess of a +soldier; and the example of Belisarius may be added to the rare examples +of Henry IV., of Pyrrhus, and of Alexander. + +[Footnote 75: A horse of a bay or red color was styled by the Greeks, +balan by the Barbarians, and spadix by the Romans. Honesti spadices, +says Virgil, (Georgic. l. iii. 72, with the Observations of Martin and +Heyne.) It signifies a branch of the palm-tree, whose name is synonymous +to red, (Aulus Gellius, ii. 26.)] + +[Footnote 76: I interpret it, not as a proper, name, but an office, +standard-bearer, from bandum, (vexillum,) a Barbaric word adopted by +the Greeks and Romans, (Paul Diacon. l. i. c. 20, p. 760. Grot. Nomina +Hethica, p. 575. Ducange, Gloss. Latin. tom. i. p. 539, 540.)] + +After this first and unsuccessful trial of their enemies, the whole army +of the Goths passed the Tyber, 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 Aurelian to the peaceful but obscure +reign of the modern popes. [77] But in the day of her 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 naked and desolate a considerable part +even of the seven hills. Yet Rome in its present state could send into +the field about thirty thousand males of a military age; [78] and, +notwithstanding the want of discipline and exercise, the far greater +part, inured to the hardships of poverty, might be capable of bearing +arms for the defence of their country and religion. The prudence of +Belisarius did not neglect this important resource. His soldiers were +relieved by the zeal and diligence of the people, who watched while they +slept, and labored while they reposed: he accepted the voluntary service +of the bravest and most indigent of the Roman youth; and the companies +of townsmen sometimes represented, in a vacant post, the presence of the +troops which had been drawn away to more essential duties. But his just +confidence was placed in the veterans who had fought under his banner in +the Persian and African wars; and although that gallant band was reduced +to five thousand men, he undertook, with such contemptible numbers, +to defend a circle of twelve miles, against an army of one hundred +and fifty thousand Barbarians. In the walls of Rome, which Belisarius +constructed or restored, the materials of ancient architecture may be +discerned; [79] 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. [80] + +[Footnote 77: M. D'Anville has given, in the Memoirs of the Academy +for the year 1756, (tom. 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 instead +of Rossi's topography, he used the new and excellent map of Nolli. +Pliny's old measure of thirteen must be reduced to eight miles. It +is easier to alter a text, than to remove hills or buildings. * Note: +Compare Gibbon, ch. xi. note 43, and xxxi. 67, and ch. lxxi. "It is +quite clear," observes Sir J. Hobhouse, "that all these measurements +differ, (in the first and second it is 21, in the text 12 and 345 paces, +in the last 10,) yet it is equally clear that the historian avers that +they are all the same." The present extent, 12 3/4 nearly agrees with +the second statement of Gibbon. Sir. J. Hobhouse also observes that the +walls were enlarged by Constantine; but there can be no doubt that the +circuit has been much changed. Illust. of Ch. Harold, p. 180.--M.] + +[Footnote 78: In the year 1709, Labat (Voyages en Italie, tom. iii. +p. 218) reckoned 138,568 Christian souls, besides 8000 or 10,000 +Jews--without souls? In the year 1763, the numbers exceeded 160,000.] + +[Footnote 79: The accurate eye of Nardini (Roma Antica, l. i. c. viii. +p. 31) could distinguish the tumultuarie opere di Belisario.] + +[Footnote 80: The fissure and leaning in the upper part of the wall, +which Procopius observed, (Goth. l. i. c. 13,) is visible to the present +hour, (Douat. Roma Vetus, l. i. c. 17, p. 53, 54.)] + +The battlements or bastions were shaped in sharp angles a ditch, broad +and deep, protected the foot of the rampart; and the archers on the +rampart were assisted by military engines; the balistri, a powerful +cross-bow, which darted short but massy arrows; the onagri, or wild +asses, which, on the principle of a sling, threw stones and bullets of +an enormous size. [81] A chain was drawn across the Tyber; the arches of +the aqueducts were made impervious, and the mole or sepulchre of Hadrian +[82] was converted, for the first time, to the uses of a citadel. That +venerable structure, which 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 pedestals, and +hurled into the ditch on the heads of the besiegers. [83] To each of his +lieutenants Belisarius assigned the defence of a gate, with the wise and +peremptory instruction, that, whatever might be the alarm, they should +steadily adhere to their respective posts, and trust their general for +the safety of Rome. The formidable host of the Goths was insufficient to +embrace the ample measure of the city, of the fourteen gates, seven only +were invested from the Proenestine to the Flaminian way; and Vitiges +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 encampment +was formed in the field or circus of the Vatican, for the important +purpose of commanding the Milvian bridge and the course of the Tyber; +but they approached with devotion the adjacent church of St. Peter; and +the 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. [84] Domestic war now +rendered the admonition superfluous, and the ceremony was superseded by +the establishment of a new religion. But the brazen temple 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 rusty hinges +revealed the scandalous secret that some Romans were still attached to +the superstition of their ancestors. + +[Footnote 81: Lipsius (Opp. tom. iii. Poliorcet, l. iii.) was ignorant +of this clear and conspicuous passage of Procopius, (Goth. l. i. c. 21.) +The engine was named the wild ass, a calcitrando, (Hen. Steph. Thesaur. +Linguae Graec. tom. ii. p. 1340, 1341, tom. iii. p. 877.) I have seen +an ingenious model, contrived and executed by General Melville, which +imitates or surpasses the art of antiquity.] + +[Footnote 82: The description of this mausoleum, or mole, in Procopius, +(l. i. c. 25.) is the first and best. The height above the walls. On +Nolli's great plan, the sides measure 260 English feet. * Note: Donatus +and Nardini suppose that Hadrian's tomb was fortified by Honorius; +it was united to the wall by men of old, (Procop in loc.) Gibbon has +mistaken the breadth for the height above the walls Hobhouse, Illust. of +Childe Harold, p. 302.--M.] + +[Footnote 83: Praxiteles excelled in Fauns, and that of Athens was his +own masterpiece. Rome now contains about thirty of the same character. +When the ditch of St. Angelo was cleansed under Urban VIII., the workmen +found the sleeping Faun of the Barberini palace; but a leg, a thigh, and +the right arm, had been broken from that beautiful statue, (Winkelman, +Hist. de l'Art, tom. ii. p. 52, 53, tom iii. p. 265.)] + +[Footnote 84: Procopius has given the best description of the temple of +Janus a national deity of Latium, (Heyne, Excurs. v. ad l. vii. Aeneid.) +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.] Eighteen days were employed by the besiegers, to +provide all the instruments of attack which antiquity had invented. +Fascines were prepared to fill the ditches, scaling-ladders to ascend +the walls. The largest trees of the forest 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 labor of fifty men. The +lofty wooden turrets moved on wheels or rollers, and formed a spacious +platform of the level of the rampart. On the morning of the nineteenth +day, a general attack was made from the Praenestine gate to the Vatican: +seven Gothic columns, with their military engines, advanced to the +assault; and the Romans, who lined the ramparts, listened with doubt and +anxiety to the cheerful assurances of their commander. As soon as the +enemy approached the ditch, Belisarius himself drew the first arrow; and +such was his strength and dexterity, that he transfixed the foremost of +the Barbarian leaders. + +As shout of applause and victory was reechoed 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 disconcerted 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 Praenestine gate and the sepulchre of Hadrian, at the +distance of three miles from each other. Near the former, the double +walls of the Vivarium [85] were low or broken; the fortifications of the +latter were feebly guarded: the vigor 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 defence was distinctly present to his +mind; he observed the changes of each instant, weighed every possible +advantage, transported his person to the scenes of danger, and +communicated his spirit in calm and decisive orders. The contest was +fiercely maintained from the 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 counterbalanced by the merit of one man. Thirty thousand Goths, +according to the confession of their own chiefs, perished in this bloody +action; and the multitude of the wounded was equal to that of the slain. +When they advanced 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 instantly sallied from the gates; and +while the soldiers chanted his name and victory, the hostile 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 blockade; and they were incessantly harassed by the Roman +general, who, in frequent skirmishes, destroyed above five thousand of +their bravest troops. Their cavalry was unpractised in the use of the +bow; their archers served on foot; and this divided force was incapable +of contending with their adversaries, whose lances and arrows, at a +distance, or at hand, were alike formidable. The consummate skill of +Belisarius embraced the favorable opportunities; and as he chose the +ground and the moment, as he pressed the charge or sounded the retreat, +[86] the squadrons which he detached were seldom unsuccessful. These +partial advantages diffused an impatient ardor among the soldiers and +people, who began to feel the hardships of a siege, and to disregard the +dangers of a general engagement. Each plebeian conceived himself to be +a hero, and the infantry, who, since the decay of discipline, were +rejected from the line of battle, aspired to the ancient honors of the +Roman legion. Belisarius praised the spirit of his troops, condemned +their presumption, yielded to their clamors, and prepared the remedies +of a defeat, the possibility of which he alone had courage to suspect. +In the quarter of the Vatican, the Romans 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. On the other side of the Tyber, Belisarius advanced from +the Pincian and Salarian gates. But his army, four thousand soldiers +perhaps, was lost in a spacious plain; they were encompassed and +oppressed by fresh multitudes, who continually relieved the broken ranks +of the Barbarians. The valiant leaders of the infantry were unskilled +to conquer; they died: the retreat (a hasty retreat) was covered by the +prudence of the general, and the victors started back with affright from +the formidable aspect of an armed rampart. The reputation of Belisarius +was unsullied by a defeat; and the vain confidence of the Goths was not +less serviceable to his designs than the repentance and modesty of the +Roman troops. + +[Footnote 85: Vivarium was an angle in the new wall enclosed for wild +beasts, (Procopius, Goth. l. i. c. 23.) The spot is still visible in +Nardini (l iv. c. 2, p. 159, 160,) and Nolli's great plan of Rome.] + +[Footnote 86: For the Roman trumpet, and its various notes, consult +Lipsius de Militia Romana, (Opp. tom. iii. l. iv. Dialog. x. p. +125-129.) A mode of distinguishing the charge by the horse-trumpet of +solid brass, and the retreat by the foot-trumpet of leather and light +wood, was recommended by Procopius, and adopted by Belisarius.] + + + + +Chapter XLI: Conquests Of Justinian, Charact Of Balisarius.--Part IV. + +From the moment that Belisarius had determined to sustain a siege, his +assiduous care provided Rome against the danger of famine, more dreadful +than the Gothic arms. An extraordinary 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 of the +water-mills was the first inconvenience, which was speedily removed +by mooring large vessels, and fixing mill-stones in the current of +the river. The stream was soon embarrassed 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 Tyber still continued to +give motion to the mills and drink to the inhabitants: the more distant +quarters were supplied from domestic wells; and a besieged city might +support, without impatience, the privation of her public baths. A large +portion of Rome, from the Praenestine gate to the church of St. Paul, +was never invested by the Goths; their excursions were restrained by +the activity of the Moorish troops: the navigation of the Tyber, and the +Latin, Appian, and Ostian ways, were left free and unmolested for the +introduction of corn and cattle, or the retreat of the inhabitants, who +sought refuge in Campania or Sicily. Anxious to relieve himself from a +useless and devouring multitude, Belisarius issued his peremptory +orders for the instant departure of the women, the children, and slaves; +required his soldiers to dismiss their male and female attendants, 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 neighborhood of Rome. By the loss of the port, or, as it +is now called, the city of Porto, he was deprived of the country on +the right of the Tyber, 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 impregnable works. +Seven miles from the capital, between the Appian and the Latin ways, two +principal aqueducts crossing, and again crossing each other: enclosed +within their solid and lofty arches a fortified space, [87] where +Vitiges established a camp of seven thousand Goths to intercept the +convoy of Sicily and Campania. The granaries of Rome were insensibly +exhausted, the adjacent country had been wasted with fire and sword; +such scanty supplies as might yet be obtained by hasty excursions were +the reward of valor, 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, [88] 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 Justinian listened to +their just complaints, but he rejected with disdain the idea of flight +or capitulation; repressed their clamorous impatience for battle; amused +them with the prospect of a sure and speedy relief; and secured himself +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 precautions of patroles, watch +words, lights, and music, were repeatedly employed to discover 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 intercepted, which assured the king of the Goths that the +Asinarian gate, adjoining to the Lateran church, should be secretly +opened to his troops. On the proof or suspicion of treason, several +senators were banished, and the pope Sylverius was summoned to attend +the representative of his sovereign, at his head-quarters in the Pincian +palace. [89] The ecclesiastics, who followed their bishop, were detained +in the first or second apartment, [90] and he alone was admitted to the +presence of Belisarius. The conqueror of Rome and Carthage was modestly +seated at the feet of Antonina, who reclined on a stately couch: the +general was silent, but the voice of reproach and menace issued from +the 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. [9011] 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 purchased the papal throne by a bribe of two +hundred pounds of gold. The profit, and consequently the guilt, of this +simony, was imputed to Belisarius: but the hero obeyed the orders of his +wife; Antonina served the passions of the empress; and Theodora lavished +her treasures, in the vain hope of obtaining a pontiff hostile or +indifferent to the council of Chalcedon. [91] + +[Footnote 87: Procopius (Goth. l. ii. c. 3) has forgot to name these +aqueducts nor can such a double intersection, at such a distance from +Rome, be clearly ascertained from the writings of Frontinus, Fabretti, +and Eschinard, de Aquis and de Agro Romano, or from the local maps of +Lameti 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 paces) +of arches twenty-five feet high.] + +[Footnote 88: They made sausages of mule's flesh; unwholesome, if the +animals had died of the plague. Otherwise, the famous Bologna sausages +are said to be made of ass flesh, (Voyages de Labat, tom. ii. p. 218.)] + +[Footnote 89: 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 Trinita del Monte, (Nardini, l. 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. l. i. c. 15.)] + +[Footnote 90: From the mention of the primum et secundum velum, it +should seem that Belisarius, even in a siege, represented the emperor, +and maintained the proud ceremonial of the Byzantine palace.] + +[Footnote 9011: De Beau, as a good Catholic, makes the Pope the victim +of a dark intrigue. Lord Mahon, (p. 225.) with whom I concur, summed up +against him.--M.] + +[Footnote 91: Of this act of sacrilege, Procopius (Goth. l. i. c. 25) is +a dry and reluctant witness. The narratives of Liberatus (Breviarium, +c. 22) and Anastasius (de Vit. Pont. p. 39) are characteristic, but +passionate. Hear the execrations of Cardinal Baronius, (A.D. 536, No. +123 A.D. 538, No. 4--20:) portentum, facinus omni execratione dignum.] + +The epistle of Belisarius to the emperor 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, +Campania, and the city of Rome; but the loss of these conquests will be +more disgraceful than their acquisition was glorious. Hitherto we have +successfully fought against the multitudes of the Barbarians, but their +multitudes may finally prevail. Victory is the gift of Providence, +but the reputation of kings 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, horses, and men. The Romans have received us as +friends and deliverers: but in our present distress, 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 conquest of Africa and Italy: but as +Justinian was ambitious of fame, he made some efforts (they were +feeble and languid) to support and rescue his victorious general. A +reenforcement of sixteen hundred Sclavonians and Huns was led by Martin +and Valerian; and as they reposed during the winter season in the +harbors of Greece, the strength of the men and horses was not impaired +by the fatigues of a sea-voyage; and they distinguished their valor +in the first sally against the besiegers. About the time of the summer +solstice, Euthalius landed at Terracina with large sums of money for the +payment of the troops: he cautiously proceeded along the Appian way, and +this convoy entered Rome through the gate Capena, [92] while Belisarius, +on the other side, diverted the attention of the Goths by a vigorous and +successful skirmish. These seasonable aids, the use and reputation +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 Antonina herself, [93] who boldly traversed the posts of +the enemy, and returned with the Oriental succors 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 were Thracians, landed at Tarentum; and, after +the junction of five hundred soldiers of Campania, and a train of wagons +laden with wine and flour, they directed their march on the Appian way, +from Capua to the neighborhood of Rome. The forces that arrived by +land and sea were united at the mouth of the Tyber. 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 hostilities, the negotiation to which Belisarius +had craftily listened. They credulously believed that they saw no more +than the vanguard of a fleet and army, which already covered the Ionian +Sea and the plains of Campania; and the illusion was supported by the +haughty language of the Roman general, when he gave audience 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 possession of Sicily. "The emperor is not +less generous," replied his lieutenant, with a disdainful 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 firmness and +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, and the conscious +superiority of the Roman chief was expressed in the distribution of his +troops. As soon as fear or hunger compelled the Goths to evacuate +Alba, Porto, and Centumcellae, their place was instantly supplied; the +garrisons of Narni, Spoleto, and Perusia, were reenforced, and the seven +camps of the besiegers were gradually encompassed with the calamities of +a siege. The prayers and pilgrimage of Datius, bishop of Milan, were not +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, [94] the nephew of Vitalian, was detached with two +thousand chosen horse, first to Alba, on the Fucine Lake, and afterwards +to the frontiers of Picenum, on the Hadriatic Sea. "In the province," +said Belisarius, "the Goths have deposited their families and treasures, +without a guard or the suspicion of danger. Doubtless they will violate +the truce: let them feel your presence, before they hear of your +motions. Spare the Italians; suffer not any fortified places to remain +hostile in your rear; and faithfully reserve the spoil for an equal and +common partition. It would not be reasonable," he added with a laugh, +"that whilst we are toiling to the destruction of the drones, our more +fortunate brethren should rifle and enjoy the honey." + +[Footnote 92: 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 Numa two umphal +arches, the sepulchres of the Scipios, Metelli, &c.] + +[Footnote 93: The expression of Procopius has an invidious cast, (Goth. +l. ii. c. 4.) Yet he is speaking of a woman.] + +[Footnote 94: Anastasius (p. 40) has preserved this epithet of +Sanguinarius which might do honor to a tiger.] + +The whole nation of the Ostrogoths had been assembled for the attack, +and was almost entirely consumed in the siege of Rome. If any credit be +due to an intelligent spectator, one third at least of their enormous +host was destroyed, in frequent and bloody combats under the walls of +the city. The bad fame and pernicious qualities of the summer air might +already be imputed to the decay of agriculture and population; and +the evils of famine and pestilence were aggravated by their own +licentiousness, 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 Sanguinary spread +the devastations of war from the Apennine 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 imperious daughter of Amalasontha. Yet, +before he retired, Vitiges made a last effort, either to storm or +to 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 Tyber, 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 destitute 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 triumphant, +burnt their tents, and tumultuously repassed the Milvian bridge. They +repassed not with impunity: their thronging multitudes, oppressed in a +narrow passage, were driven headlong into the Tyber, by their own fears +and the pursuit of the enemy; and the Roman general, 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 sometimes +compelled to deviate, lest they should encounter 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 Uraias, with an adequate 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 valor 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 repulsed; and the +tedious blockade, which reduced 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. The eunuch Narses landed +in Picenum with two thousand Heruli and five thousand of the bravest +troops of the East. The rock of the Apennine 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 +innumerable lights, appeared to advance along the Flaminian way. +Overwhelmed with astonishment and despair, the Goths abandoned the siege +of Rimini, their tents, their standards, and their leaders; and Vitiges, +who gave or followed the example of flight, never halted till he found a +shelter within the walls and morasses of Ravenna. To these walls, and to +some fortresses destitute of any mutual support, the Gothic monarchy +was now reduced. The provinces of Italy had embraced the party of +the emperor and his army, gradually recruited to the number of twenty +thousand men, must have achieved an easy and rapid conquest, if their +invincible powers had not been weakened by the discord of the Roman +chiefs. Before the end of the siege, an act of blood, ambiguous and +indiscreet, sullied the fair fame of Belisarius. Presidius, a loyal +Italian, as he fled from Ravenna to Rome, was rudely stopped by +Constantine, 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 restitution 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 benefit of the Roman laws. The honor of Belisarius was engaged; +he summoned a council; claimed the obedience of his subordinate officer; +and was provoked, by an insolent reply, to call hastily for the presence +of his guards. Constantine, viewing their entrance as the signal of +death, drew his sword, and rushed on the general, who nimbly eluded the +stroke, and was protected by his friends; while the desperate assassin +was disarmed, dragged into a neighboring chamber, and executed, or +rather murdered, by the guards, at the arbitrary command of Belisarius. +[95] In this hasty act of violence, the guilt of Constantine was no +longer remembered; the despair and death of that valiant officer were +secretly imputed to the revenge of Antonina; and each of his colleagues, +conscious of the same rapine, was apprehensive of the same fate. +The fear of a common enemy suspended the effects of their envy +and discontent; but in the confidence of approaching victory, they +instigated a powerful rival to oppose the conqueror of Rome and Africa. +From the domestic service of the palace, and the administration of the +private revenue, Narses the eunuch was suddenly exalted to the head of +an army; and the spirit of a 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 relief of Rimini was ascribed by the +leaders of the discontented faction, who exhorted Narses to assume an +independent and separate command. The epistle of Justinian had indeed +enjoined his obedience to the general; but the dangerous exception, "as +far as may be advantageous to the public service," reserved some freedom +of judgment to the discreet favorite, who had so lately departed from +the sacred and familiar conversation of his sovereign. In the exercise +of this doubtful right, the eunuch perpetually dissented from the +opinions of Belisarius; and, after yielding with reluctance to the siege +of Urbino, he deserted his colleague in the night, and marched away to +the conquest of the Aemilian province. The fierce and formidable bands +of the Heruli were attached to the person of Narses; [96] ten thousand +Romans and confederates were persuaded to march under 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. His skill and perseverance overcame every obstacle: Urbino +was taken, the sieges of Faesulae Orvieto, and Auximum, were undertaken +and vigorously prosecuted; and the eunuch Narses was at length recalled +to the domestic cares of the palace. All dissensions 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 +interval 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. + +[Footnote 95: This transaction is related in the public history (Goth. +l. ii. c. 8) with candor or caution; in the Anecdotes (c. 7) with +malevolence or freedom; but Marcellinus, or rather his continuator, (in +Chron.,) casts a shade of premeditated assassination over the death of +Constantine. He had performed good service at Rome and Spoleto, (Procop. +Goth l. i. c. 7, 14;) but Alemannus confounds him with a Constantianus +comes stabuli.] + +[Footnote 96: They refused to serve after his departure; sold their +captives and cattle to the Goths; and swore never to fight against them. +Procopius introduces a curious digression on the manners and adventures +of this wandering nation, a part of whom finally emigrated to Thule or +Scandinavia. (Goth. l. ii. c. 14, 15.)] + +When Justinian first meditated the conquest of Italy, he sent +ambassadors to the kings of the Franks, and adjured them, by the common +ties of alliance and religion, to join in the holy enterprise against +the Arians. The Goths, as their want 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. [97] But the arms of Belisarius, and the +revolt of the Italians, had no sooner shaken the Gothic monarchy, +than Theodebert of Austrasia, the most powerful and warlike of the +Merovingian kings, was persuaded to succor their distress by an indirect +and seasonable aid. Without expecting the consent of their sovereign, +the thousand Burgundians, 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 reduced +by famine; but no capitulation could be obtained, except for the safe +retreat of the Roman garrison. Datius, the orthodox bishop, who had +seduced his countrymen to rebellion [98] and ruin, escaped to the luxury +and honors of the Byzantine court; [99] but the clergy, perhaps 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; [100] the female sex, and the more precious spoil, +was resigned to the Burgundians; and the houses, or at least the walls, +of Milan, were levelled with the ground. The Goths, in their last +moments, were revenged by the destruction of a city, second only to Rome +in size and opulence, in the splendor of its buildings, or the number +of its inhabitants; and Belisarius sympathized alone in the fate of +his deserted and devoted friends. Encouraged by this successful inroad, +Theodebert himself, in the ensuing spring, invaded the plains of Italy +with an army of one hundred thousand Barbarians. [101] 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 Clovis 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 Aemilia, 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, according to the regular practice of war, appear to have +excited less horror than some idolatrous sacrifices of women and +children, which were performed with impunity in the camp of the most +Christian king. If it were not a melancholy 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 +dysentery swept away one third of their army; and the clamors of his +subjects, who were impatient to pass the Alps, disposed Theodebert to +listen with respect to the mild exhortations of Belisarius. The memory +of this inglorious and destructive warfare was perpetuated on the medals +of Gaul; and Justinian, without unsheathing his sword, assumed the title +of conqueror of the Franks. The Merovingian prince was offended 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 fortified by +the promise or menace of descending from the Alps at the head of five +hundred thousand men. His plans of conquest were boundless, and perhaps +chimerical. The king of Austrasia threatened to chastise Justinian, and +to march to the gates of Constantinople: [102] he was overthrown and +slain [103] by a wild bull, [104] as he hunted in the Belgic or German +forests. [Footnote 97: This national reproach of perfidy (Procop. Goth. +l. ii. c. 25) offends the ear of La Mothe le Vayer, (tom. viii. p. +163--165,) who criticizes, as if he had not read, the Greek historian.] + +[Footnote 98: Baronius applauds his treason, and justifies the Catholic +bishops--qui ne sub heretico principe degant omnem lapidem movent--a +useful caution. The more rational Muratori (Annali d'Italia, tom. v. p. +54) hints at the guilt of perjury, and blames at least the imprudence of +Datius.] + +[Footnote 99: St. Datius was more successful against devils than against +Barbarians. He travelled with a numerons retinue, and occupied at +Corinth a large house. (Baronius, A.D. 538, No. 89, A.D. 539, No. 20.)] + +[Footnote 100: (Compare Procopius, Goth. l. 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. l. ii. c. 38.) Note: Procopius says distinctly that Milan was +the second city of the West. Which did Gibbon suppose could compete with +it, Ravenna or Naples; the next page he calls it the second.--M.] + +[Footnote 101: Besides Procopius, perhaps too Roman, see the Chronicles +of Marius and Marcellinus, Jornandes, (in Success. Regn. in Muratori, +tom. i. p. 241,) and Gregory of Tours, (l. iii. c. 32, in tom. ii. of +the Historians of France.) Gregory supposes a defeat of Belisarius, who, +in Aimoin, (de Gestis Franc. l. ii. c. 23, in tom. iii. p. 59,) is slain +by the Franks.] + +[Footnote 102: Agathias, l. i. p. 14, 15. Could he have seduced or +subdued the Gepidae or Lombards of Pannonia, the Greek historian is +confident that he must have been destroyed in Thrace.] + +[Footnote 103: 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 (tom. ii. p. 202, 403, 558, 667) +impute his death to a fever.] + +[Footnote 104: Without losing myself in a labyrinth of species and +names--the aurochs, urus, bisons, bubalus, bonasus, buffalo, &c., +(Buffon. Hist. Nat. tom. xi., and Supplement, tom. iii. vi.,) it is +certain, that in the sixth century a large wild species of horned cattle +was hunted in the great forests of the Vosges in Lorraine, and the +Ardennes, (Greg. Turon. tom. ii. l. x. c. 10, p. 369.)] + + + + +Chapter XLI: Conquests Of Justinian, Charact Of Balisarius.--Part V. + +As soon as Belisarius was delivered from his foreign and domestic +enemies, he seriously applied 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, [1041] four thousand warriors, with those of Faesulae and the +Cottian Alps, were among the last who maintained their independence; 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 honorable capitulation, one moiety at least of their +wealth, with the free alternative of retiring peaceably to their +estates, or enlisting to serve the emperor in his Persian wars. The +multitudes which yet adhered to the standard of Vitiges far surpassed +the number of the Roman troops; but neither prayers nor defiance, nor +the extreme danger of his most faithful subjects, could tempt the Gothic +king beyond the fortifications of Ravenna. These fortifications were, +indeed, impregnable to the assaults of art or violence; and when +Belisarius invested the capital, he was soon convinced that famine only +could tame the stubborn spirit of the Barbarians. The sea, the land, +and the channels of the Po, were guarded by the vigilance of the Roman +general; and his morality extended the rights of war to the practice of +poisoning the waters, [105] and secretly firing the granaries [106] of +a besieged city. [107] While he pressed the blockade of Ravenna, he was +surprised by the arrival of two ambassadors from Constantinople, with +a treaty of peace, which Justinian had imprudently signed, without +deigning 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 regal title to the +successor of Theodoric. The ambassadors were eager to accomplish their +salutary commission; the captive Vitiges accepted, with transport, the +unexpected offer of a crown; honor was less prevalent among the Goths, +than the want and appetite of food; and the Roman chiefs, who murmured +at the continuance of the war, professed implicit submission to the +commands of the emperor. If Belisarius 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 Justinian. The Goths retired +with doubt and dismay: 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 extent of +their deplorable state. They compared the fame and fortune of Belisarius +with the weakness of their ill-fated king; and the comparison suggested +an extraordinary project, to which Vitiges, with apparent resignation, +was compelled to acquiesce. Partition would ruin the strength, exile +would disgrace the honor, 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 inconstancy of the Barbarians, and his +rational ambition would prefer the safe and honorable station of a +Roman general. Even the patience and seeming satisfaction with which he +entertained a proposal of treason, might be susceptible of a malignant +interpretation. But the lieutenant of 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 his 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 treaty which he +secretly abhorred. The day of the surrender of Ravenna was stipulated +by the Gothic ambassadors: a fleet, laden with provisions, sailed as +a welcome guest into the deepest recess of the harbor: the gates were +opened to the fancied king of Italy; and Belisarius, without meeting an +enemy, triumphantly marched through the streets of an impregnable city. +[108] The Romans were astonished by their success; the multitudes 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 reproached them for betraying their dominion +and freedom to these pygmies of the south, contemptible in their +numbers, diminutive in their stature. Before the Goths could recover +from the first surprise, and claim the accomplishment of their doubtful +hopes, the victor established his power in Ravenna, beyond the danger of +repentance and revolt. + +[Footnote 1041: Auximum, p. 175.--M.] + +[Footnote 105: In the siege of Auximum, he first labored to demolish +an old aqueduct, and then cast into the stream, 1. dead bodies; 2. +mischievous herbs; and 3. quicklime. (says Procopius, l. ii. c. 27) Yet +both words are used as synonymous in Galen, Dioscorides, and Lucian, +(Hen. Steph. Thesaur. Ling. Graec. tom. iii. p. 748.)] + +[Footnote 106: The Goths suspected Mathasuintha as an accomplice in the +mischief, which perhaps was occasioned by accidental lightning.] + +[Footnote 107: In strict philosophy, a limitation of the rights of war +seems to imply nonsense and contradiction. Grotius himself is lost in +an idle distinction 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 Florus, (l. ii. c. 20, No. 7, ult.;) and in the +other, the examples of Solon (Pausanias, l. x. c. 37) and Belisarius. +See his great work De Jure Belli et Pacis, (l. iii. c. 4, s. 15, 16, 17, +and in Barbeyrac's version, tom. ii. p. 257, &c.) Yet I can understand +the benefit and validity of an agreement, tacit or express, mutually to +abstain from certain modes of hostility. See the Amphictyonic oath in +Aeschines, de falsa Legatione.] + +[Footnote 108: Ravenna was taken, not in the year 540, but in the latter +end of 539; and Pagi (tom. ii. p. 569) is rectified by Muratori. (Annali +d'Italia, tom. v. p. 62,) who proves from an original act on papyrus, +(Antiquit. Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. ii. dissert. xxxii. p. 999--1007,) +Maffei, (Istoria Diplomat. p. 155-160,) that before the third of +January, 540, peace and free correspondence were restored between +Ravenna and Faenza.] Vitiges, who perhaps had attempted to escape, was +honorably guarded in his palace; [109] 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 Verona, were +ambitious only to become the subjects of Belisarius. But his inflexible +loyalty rejected, except as the substitute of Justinian, their oaths of +allegiance; and he was not offended by the reproach of their deputies, +that he rather chose to be a slave than a king. + +[Footnote 109: He was seized by John the Sanguinary, but an oath or +sacrament was pledged for his safety in the Basilica Julii, (Hist. +Miscell. l. xvii. in Muratori, tom. i. p. 107.) Anastasius (in Vit. +Pont. p. 40) gives a dark but probable account. Montfaucon is quoted by +Mascou (Hist. of the Germans, xii. 21) for a votive shield representing +the captivity of Vitiges and now in the collection of Signor Landi at +Rome.] + +After the second victory of Belisarius, envy 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 wisdom; 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 and trophies; and proved, by his ready obedience, +that such an abrupt removal from the government of Italy was not less +unjust than it might have been indiscreet. The emperor received with +honorable 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 land in Asia, the rank of senator and patrician. +[110] 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 benefactor. +Justinian deposited in the Byzantine palace the treasures of the Gothic +monarchy. A flattering senate was sometime admitted to gaze on the +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-earned honors 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 +respect and admiration of his country. Whenever he appeared in the +streets and public places of Constantinople, Belisarius attracted +and satisfied the eyes of the people. His lofty stature and majestic +countenance fulfilled their expectations of a hero; the meanest of his +fellow-citizens were emboldened by his gentle and gracious demeanor; +and the martial train which attended his footsteps left his person more +accessible than in a day of battle. Seven thousand horsemen, matchless +for beauty and valor, were maintained in the service, and at the private +expense, of the general. [111] Their prowess was always conspicuous in +single combats, or in the foremost ranks; and both parties confessed +that in the siege of Rome, the guards of Belisarius had alone vanquished +the Barbarian host. Their numbers were continually augmented by the +bravest and most faithful of the enemy; and his fortunate captives, +the Vandals, the Moors, and the Goths, emulated the attachment 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 weapon or a horse was instantly repaired, and +each deed of valor was rewarded by the rich and honorable gifts of a +bracelet or a collar, which were rendered more precious by the judgment +of Belisarius. He was endeared to the husbandmen by the peace and plenty +which they enjoyed under the shadow of his standard. Instead of being +injured, the country was enriched by the march of the Roman armies; +and such was the rigid discipline of their camp, that not an apple was +gathered from the tree, not a path could be traced in the fields of +corn. Belisarius 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 +Antonina was never suspected of violating the laws of conjugal fidelity. +The spectator and historian of his exploits has observed, that amidst +the perils of war, he was daring without rashness, prudent without fear, +slow or rapid according to the exigencies of the moment; that in the +deepest distress he was animated by real or apparent hope, but that he +was modest and 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 Theodoric; filled Constantinople with the spoils of their palaces; +and in the space of six years recovered half the provinces of the +Western empire. 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 genius of Belisarius. [Footnote 110: Vitiges lived two years at +Constantinople, and imperatoris in affectu convictus (or conjunctus) +rebus excessit 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, tom. +i.)] + +[Footnote 111: Procopius, Goth. l. iii. c. 1. Aimoin, a French monk of +the xith century, who had obtained, and has disfigured, some authentic +information of Belisarius, mentions, in his name, 12,000, pueri or +slaves--quos propriis alimus stipendiis--besides 18,000 soldiers, +(Historians of France, tom. iii. De Gestis Franc. l. ii. c. 6, p. 48.)] + +It was the custom of the Roman triumphs, that a slave should be placed +behind the chariot to remind the conqueror of the instability of +fortune, and the infirmities of human nature. Procopius, in his +Anecdotes, has assumed that servile and ungrateful office. The generous +reader may cast away the libel, but the evidence of 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 hero deserved an appellation which may not drop from +the pen of the decent historian. The mother of Antonina [112] was a +theatrical prostitute, and both her father and grandfather exercised, at +Thessalonica and Constantinople, the vile, though lucrative, profession +of charioteers. In the various situations of their fortune she became +the companion, the enemy, the servant, and the favorite of the empress +Theodora: these loose and ambitious females 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; and it was not till the autumn of her age and beauty +[113] that she indulged a scandalous attachment to a Thracian youth. +Theodosius had been educated in the Eunomian heresy; the African voyage +was consecrated by the baptism and auspicious name of the first soldier +who embarked; and the proselyte was adopted into the family of his +spiritual parents, [114] 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 modesty and caution, +the Roman general was alone ignorant of his own dishonor. 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 +secreting our most precious effects from the knowledge 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 delusion, Belisarius was awakened at Syracuse, 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 adulteries of Antonina. A hasty flight +into Asia saved Theodosius from the justice of an injured 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 +abandon 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 minister of her cruelty; their tongues were cut out, +their bodies were hacked into small pieces, and their remains were cast +into the Sea of Syracuse. A rash though judicious saying of Constantine, +"I would sooner have punished the adulteress than the boy," was deeply +remembered by Antonina; and two years afterwards, when despair had armed +that officer against his general, her sanguinary advice decided and +hastened his execution. Even the indignation of Photius was not forgiven +by his mother; the exile of her son prepared the recall of her lover; +and Theodosius condescended to accept the pressing and humble invitation +of the conqueror of Italy. In the absolute direction of his household, +and in the important commissions of peace and war, [115] the favorite +youth most rapidly acquired a fortune of four hundred thousand pounds +sterling; and after their return to Constantinople, the passion of +Antonina, at least, continued ardent and unabated. But fear, devotion, +and lassitude perhaps, inspired Theodosius with more serious thoughts. +He dreaded the busy scandal of the capital, and the indiscreet fondness +of the wife of Belisarius; escaped from her embraces, and retiring to +Ephesus, shaved his head, and took refuge in the sanctuary of a monastic +life. The despair 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 Persian war, that Theodosius could be tempted to return to +Constantinople; and the short interval before the departure of Antonina +herself was boldly devoted to love and pleasure. [Footnote 112: The +diligence of Alemannus could add but little to the four first and most +curious chapters of the Anecdotes. Of these strange Anecdotes, a part +may be true, because probable--and a part true, because improbable. +Procopius must have known the former, and the latter he could scarcely +invent. Note: The malice of court scandal is proverbially inventive; and +of such scandal the "Anecdota" may be an embellished record.--M.] + +[Footnote 113: Procopius intimates (Anecdot. c. 4) that when Belisarius +returned to Italy, (A.D. 543,) Antonina was sixty years of age. A +forced, but more polite construction, which refers that date to the +moment when he was writing, (A.D. 559,) would be compatible with the +manhood of Photius, (Gothic. l. i. c. 10) in 536.] + +[Footnote 114: Gompare the Vandalic War (l. i. c. 12) with the Anecdotes +(c. i.) and Alemannus, (p. 2, 3.) This mode of baptismal adoption was +revived by Leo the philosopher.] + +[Footnote 115: In November, 537, Photius arrested the pope, (Liberat. +Brev. c. 22. Pagi, tom. ii. p. 562) About the end of 539, Belisarius +sent Theodosius on an important and lucrative commission to Ravenna, +(Goth. l. ii. c. 18.)] + +A philosopher may pity and forgive the infirmities of female nature, +from which he receives no real injury: but contemptible is the husband +who feels, and yet endures, his own infamy in that of his wife. Antonina +pursued her son with implacable hatred; and the gallant Photius [116] +was exposed to her secret persecutions in the camp beyond the Tigris. +Enraged by his own wrongs, and by the dishonor of his blood, he cast +away in his turn the sentiments of nature, and revealed to Belisarius +the turpitude of a woman who had violated all the duties of a mother +and a wife. From the surprise and indignation of the Roman general, his +former credulity appears to have been sincere: he embraced the knees of +the son of Antonina, 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, +and threatened her life. Photius was more resolved to punish, and less +prompt to pardon: he flew to Ephesus; extorted from a trusty eunuch of +his another the full confession of her guilt; arrested Theodosius and +his treasures in the church of St. John the Apostle, and concealed 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 favor she had deserved by the recent services of the +disgrace of a praefect, 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 honor, was consonant to +the wishes of his heart; and when he embraced his wife, at the command, +and perhaps in the presence, of the empress, the tender husband was +disposed to forgive or to be forgiven. The bounty of Theodora reserved +for her companion a more precious favor. "I have found," she said, "my +dearest patrician, 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." [1161] 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 exclamations of gratitude and joy, and she named Theodora +her queen, her benefactress, and her savior. The monk of Ephesus +was nourished 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 interview. [1162] +The grief of Antonina could only be assuaged by the sufferings of her +son. A youth 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, [1163] 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; and the helpless youth, +amidst the clamors 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 Zachariah, 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 +suffered all that an enemy can inflict: her patient husband imposed on +himself the more exquisite misery of violating his promise and deserting +his friend. + +[Footnote 116: Theophanes (Chronograph. p. 204) styles him Photinus, the +son-in-law of Belisarius; and he is copied by the Historia Miscella and +Anastasius.] + +[Footnote 1161: This and much of the private scandal in the +"Anecdota" is liable to serious doubt. Who reported all these private +conversations, and how did they reach the ears of Procopius?--M.] + +[Footnote 1162: This is a strange misrepresentation--he died of a +dysentery; nor does it appear that it was immediately after this scene. +Antonina proposed to raise him to the generalship of the army. Procop. +Anecd. p. 14. The sudden change from the abstemious diet of a monk to +the luxury of the court is a much more probable cause of his death.--M.] + +[Footnote 1163: The expression of Procopius does not appear to me to +mean this kind of torture. Ibid.--M.] + +In the succeeding campaign, Belisarius was 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 rumor of +his death; and the Roman general, on the supposition of that probable +event spoke the free language of a citizen and a soldier. His colleague +Buzes, who concurred in the same sentiments, lost his rank, his liberty, +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 colored by the +assurance, that the sinking state of Italy would be retrieved by the +single presence of its conqueror. + +But no sooner had he returned, alone and defenceless, than a hostile +commission was sent to the East, to seize his treasures 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 forlorn appearance excited the amazement and +compassion of the people. Justinian and Theodora 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 sunset 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 insensible 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 future behavior." I know not how to believe or to relate the +transports with which the hero is said to have received this ignominious +pardon. He fell prostrate before his wife, he kissed the feet of his +savior, and he devoutly promised to live the grateful and submissive +slave of Antonina. A fine of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds +sterling was levied on the fortunes 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 regained his freedom, +he would renounce his dissimulation, and that his wife, Theodora, and +perhaps the emperor himself, would be sacrificed to the just revenge +of a virtuous rebel. Their hopes were deceived; and the unconquerable +patience and loyalty of Belisarius appear either below or above the +character of a man. [117] + +[Footnote 117: The continuator of the Chronicle of Marcellinus gives, +in a few decent words, the substance of the Anecdotes: Belisarius de +Oriente evocatus, in offensam periculumque incurrens grave, et invidiae +subeacens rursus remittitur in Italiam, (p. 54.)] + + + + +Chapter XLII: State Of The Barbaric World.--Part I. + + State Of The Barbaric World.--Establishment Of The Lombards + On the Danube.--Tribes And Inroads Of The Sclavonians.-- + Origin, Empire, And Embassies Of The Turks.--The Flight Of + The Avars.--Chosroes I, Or Nushirvan, King Of Persia.--His + Prosperous Reign And Wars With The Romans.--The Colchian Or + Lazic War.--The Aethiopians. + +Our estimate of personal merit, is relative to the common faculties of +mankind. The aspiring efforts of genius, or virtue, either in active or +speculative life, are measured, not so much by their real elevation, +as by the height to which they ascend above the level of their age and +country; and the same stature, which in a people of giants would pass +unnoticed, must appear conspicuous in a race of pygmies. Leonidas, and +his three hundred companions, devoted their lives at Thermopylae; but +the education 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 might inscribe on his trophies, that he had defeated in battle +two millions of enemies, and reduced fifteen hundred cities from the +Lake Maeotis to the Red Sea: [2] but the fortune of Rome flew before +his eagles; the nations were oppressed 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 may be deservedly placed above the heroes of the ancient +republics. His imperfections flowed from the contagion of the times; his +virtues were his own, the free gift of nature or reflection; he raised +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. Under his command, the +subjects of Justinian often deserved to be called Romans: but the +unwarlike 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. [3] 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 superstition; and the monks were more expensive and more +numerous than the soldiers of the East. The regular force of the empire +had once amounted 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, large as it may seem, was thinly scattered over the sea +and land; in Spain and Italy, in Africa and Egypt, on the banks of +the Danube, the coast of the Euxine, and the frontiers of Persia. The +citizen was exhausted, yet the soldier was unpaid; his poverty was +mischievously soothed by the privilege of rapine and indolence; and +the tardy payments were detained 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 defective. The want of national spirit was supplied by the +precarious faith and disorderly service of Barbarian mercenaries. + +Even military honor, which has often survived the loss of virtue and +freedom, was almost totally extinct. The generals, who were multiplied +beyond the example of former times, labored only to prevent 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. [4] In +such an age, the triumphs of Belisarius, and afterwards 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 kingdoms of the Goths and Vandals, the emperor, [5] timid, +though ambitious, balanced the forces of the Barbarians, fomented their +divisions by flattery and falsehood, and invited by his patience and +liberality the repetition of injuries. [6] The keys of Carthage, Rome, +and Ravenna, were presented to their conqueror, while Antioch was +destroyed by the Persians, and Justinian trembled for the safety of +Constantinople. + +[Footnote 1: It will be a pleasure, not a task, to read Herodotus, (l. +vii. c. 104, 134, p. 550, 615.) The conversation of Xerxes and Demaratus +at Thermopylae is one of the most interesting and moral scenes in +history. It was the torture of the royal Spartan to behold, with anguish +and remorse, the virtue of his country.] + +[Footnote 2: 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.] + +[Footnote 3: This last epithet of Procopius is too nobly translated by +pirates; naval thieves is the proper word; strippers of garments, either +for injury or insult, (Demosthenes contra Conon Reiske, Orator, Graec. +tom. ii. p. 1264.)] + +[Footnote 4: See the third and fourth books of the Gothic War: the +writer of the Anecdotes cannot aggravate these abuses.] + +[Footnote 5: Agathias, l. v. p. 157, 158. He confines this weakness of +the emperor and the empire to the old age of Justinian; but alas! he was +never young.] + +[Footnote 6: This mischievous policy, which Procopius (Anecdot. c. 19) +imputes to the emperor, is revealed in his epistle to a Scythian prince, +who was capable of understanding it.] + +Even the Gothic victories of Belisarius were prejudicial to the state, +since they abolished the important barrier of the Upper Danube, which +had been so faithfully guarded by Theodoric and his daughter. For the +defence of Italy, the Goths evacuated Pannonia and Noricum, which +they left in a peaceful and flourishing condition: the sovereignty +was claimed by the emperor of the Romans; the actual possession 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 death of Attila, by the tribes of the Gepidae, +who respected the Gothic arms, and despised, not indeed the gold of +the Romans, but the secret motive of their annual subsidies. The vacant +fortifications of the river were instantly occupied by these Barbarians; +their standards were planted on the walls of Sirmium and Belgrade; and +the ironical tone of their apology aggravated this insult on the majesty +of the empire. "So extensive, O Caesar, are your dominions, so numerous +are your cities, that you are continually seeking for nations to whom, +either in peace or in war, you may relinquish these useless possessions. +The Gepidae are your brave and faithful allies; and if they have +anticipated your gifts, they have shown 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 Roman provinces between the Danube and the Alps +and the ambition of the Gepidae was checked by the rising power and fame +of the Lombards. [7] This corrupt appellation has been diffused in the +thirteenth century by the merchants and bankers, the Italian posterity +of these savage warriors: but the original name of Langobards is +expressive only of the peculiar length and fashion of their beards. I am +not disposed either to question or to justify their Scandinavian origin; +[8] 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 antiquities, and +they are discovered, for the first time, between the Elbe and the Oder. +Fierce, beyond the example of the Germans, they delighted 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 smallness of their numbers was recruited by +the adoption of their bravest slaves; and alone, amidst their powerful +neighbors, they defended by arms their high-spirited independence. In +the tempests of the north, which overwhelmed 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 hundred years, they again appear with their ancient valor and +renown. 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 +disappointed by his diminutive stature; and a tribute, the price of +blood, was imposed on the Lombards, by his brother the king of the +Heruli. 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. [9] The victories of the Lombards recommended them to the +friendship of the emperors; and at the solicitations 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 beyond these ample limits; they wandered along the coast of +the Hadriatic 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 hostility, the sallies, as it might be pretended, of some loose +adventurers, were disowned by the nation, and excused by the emperor; +but the arms of the Lombards were more seriously engaged by a contest +of thirty years, which was terminated only by the extirpation of the +Gepidae. 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 partial and ambiguous sentence, and +dexterously protracted the war by slow and ineffectual succors. Their +strength was formidable, since the Lombards, who sent into the field +several myriads of soldiers, still claimed, as the weaker side, the +protection of the Romans. Their spirit was intrepid; yet such is the +uncertainty of courage, that the two armies were suddenly 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 resentment 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, transferred the fears and wishes of Justinian, +and first displayed the character of Alboin, the youthful prince of the +Lombards, and the future conqueror of Italy. [10] + +[Footnote 7: Gens Germana feritate ferocior, says Velleius Paterculus +of the Lombards, (ii. 106.) Langobardos paucitas nobilitat. Plurimis +ac valentissimis nationibus cincti non per obsequium, sed praeliis et +perilitando, tuti sunt, (Tacit. de Moribus German. c. 40.) See likewise +Strabo, (l. viii. p. 446.) The best geographers place them beyond +the Elbe, in the bishopric of Magdeburgh and the middle march of +Brandenburgh; 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 which still produce the armies of Prussia. * +Note: See Malte Brun, vol. i. p 402.--M] + +[Footnote 8: The Scandinavian origin of the Goths and Lombards, as +stated by Paul Warnefrid, surnamed the deacon, is attacked by Cluverius, +(Germania, Antiq. l. iii. c. 26, p. 102, &c.,) a native of Prussia, and +defended by Grotius, (Prolegom. ad Hist. Goth. p. 28, &c.,) the Swedish +Ambassador.] + +[Footnote 9: Two facts in the narrative of Paul Diaconus (l. i. c. 20) +are expressive of national manners: 1. Dum ad tabulam luderet--while he +played at draughts. 2. Camporum viridantia lina. The cultivation of flax +supposes property, commerce, agriculture, and manufactures] + +[Footnote 10: I have used, without undertaking to reconcile, the facts +in Procopius, (Goth. l. ii. c. 14, l. iii. c. 33, 34, l. iv. c. 18, 25,) +Paul Diaconus, (de Gestis Langobard, l. i. c. 1-23, in Muratori, Script. +Rerum Italicarum, tom. i. p. 405-419,) and Jornandes, (de Success. +Regnorum, p. 242.) The patient reader may draw some light from Mascou +(Hist. of the Germans, and Annotat. xxiii.) and De Buat, (Hist. des +Peuples, &c., tom. ix. x. xi.)] + +The wild people who dwelt or wandered in the plains of Russia, +Lithuania, and Poland, might be reduced, in the age of Justinian, under +the two great families of the Bulgarians [11] and the Sclavonians. +According to the Greek writers, the former, who touched the Euxine and +the Lake Maeotis, derived from the Huns their name or descent; and it is +needless to renew the simple and well-known picture of Tartar manners. +They were bold and dexterous 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 remote 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 distinctions which nature had fixed +between the faithful dog and the rapacious wolf was applied by an +ambassador who received only verbal instructions from the mouth of his +illiterate prince. [12] 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, however distant +or adverse, used one common language, (it was harsh and irregular,) and +where known by the resemblance of their form, which deviated from the +swarthy Tartar, and approached without attaining the lofty stature and +fair complexion of the German. Four thousand six hundred villages [13] +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 edges 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 inhabitant, an animal less cleanly, less diligent, and less +social, than that marvellous quadruped. The fertility of the soil, +rather than the labor of the natives, supplied the rustic plenty of the +Sclavonians. Their sheep and horned cattle were large and numerous, and +the fields which they sowed with millet or panic [14] afforded, in place +of bread, a coarse and less nutritive food. The incessant rapine of +their neighbors compelled them to bury this treasure in the earth; but +on the appearance of a stranger, it was freely imparted by a people, +whose unfavorable character is qualified by the epithets of chaste, +patient, and hospitable. As their supreme god, they adored an invisible +master of the thunder. The rivers and the nymphs obtained their +subordinate honors, 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 passions too +headstrong, to compose a system of equal law or general defence. Some +voluntary respect was yielded to age and valor; but each tribe or +village existed as a separate republic, and all must be persuaded where +none could be compelled. They fought on foot, almost naked, and except +an unwieldy shield, without any defensive armor; their weapons of +offence were a bow, a quiver of small poisoned arrows, and a long rope, +which they dexterously threw from a distance, and entangled their enemy +in a running noose. In the field, the Sclavonian infantry was dangerous +by their 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 unsuspected ambuscade. But +these were the achievements of spies or stragglers; the military art was +unknown to the Sclavonians; their name was obscure, and their conquests +were inglorious. [15] + +[Footnote 11: I adopt the appellation of Bulgarians from Ennodius, (in +Panegyr. Theodorici, Opp. Sirmond, tom. i. p. 1598, 1599,) Jornandes, +(de Rebus Geticis, c. 5, p. 194, et de Regn. Successione, p. 242,) +Theophanes, (p. 185,) and the Chronicles of Cassiodorus and Marcellinus. +The name of Huns is too vague; the tribes of the Cutturgurians and +Utturgurians are too minute and too harsh. * Note: The Bulgarians +are first mentioned among the writers of the West in the Panegyric on +Theodoric by Ennodius, Bishop of Pavia. Though they perhaps took part in +the conquests of the Huns, they did not advance to the Danube till +after the dismemberment of that monarchy on the death of Attila. But the +Bulgarians are mentioned much earlier by the Armenian writers. Above +600 years before Christ, a tribe of Bulgarians, driven from their native +possessions beyond the Caspian, occupied a part of Armenia, north of the +Araxes. They were of the Finnish race; part of the nation, in the fifth +century, moved westward, and reached the modern Bulgaria; part remained +along the Volga, which is called Etel, Etil, or Athil, in all the Tartar +languages, but from the Bulgarians, the Volga. The power of the eastern +Bulgarians was broken by Batou, son of Tchingiz Khan; that of the +western will appear in the course of the history. From St. Martin, vol. +vii p. 141. Malte-Brun, on the contrary, conceives that the Bulgarians +took their name from the river. According to the Byzantine historians +they were a branch of the Ougres, (Thunmann, Hist. of the People to +the East of Europe,) but they have more resemblance to the Turks. Their +first country, Great Bulgaria, was washed by the Volga. Some remains +of their capital are still shown near Kasan. They afterwards dwelt in +Kuban, and finally on the Danube, where they subdued (about the year +500) the Slavo-Servians established on the Lower Danube. Conquered in +their turn by the Avars, they freed themselves from that yoke in 635; +their empire then comprised the Cutturgurians, the remains of the Huns +established on the Palus Maeotis. The Danubian Bulgaria, a dismemberment +of this vast state, was long formidable to the Byzantine empire. +Malte-Brun, Prec. de Geog Univ. vol. i. p. 419.--M. ----According to +Shafarik, the Danubian Bulgaria was peopled by a Slavo Bulgarian race. +The Slavish population was conquered by the Bulgarian (of Uralian and +Finnish descent,) and incorporated with them. This mingled race are +the Bulgarians bordering on the Byzantine empire. Shafarik, ii 152, et +seq.--M. 1845] + +[Footnote 12: Procopius, (Goth. l. iv. c. 19.) His verbal message (he +owns him self an illiterate Barbarian) is delivered as an epistle. The +style is savage, figurative, and original.] + +[Footnote 13: This sum is the result of a particular list, in a curious +Ms. fragment 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, (tom. xi. p. 69--189.) The French minister often loses himself +in a wilderness which requires a Saxon and Polish guide.] + +[Footnote 14: Panicum, milium. See Columella, l. ii. c. 9, p. 430, edit. +Gesner. Plin. Hist. Natur. xviii. 24, 25. The Samaritans made a pap +of millet, mingled with mare's milk or blood. In the wealth of +modern husbandry, our millet feeds poultry, and not heroes. See the +dictionaries of Bomare and Miller.] + +[Footnote 15: For the name and nation, the situation and manners, of +the Sclavonians, see the original evidence of the vith century, +in Procopius, (Goth. l. ii. c. 26, l. iii. c. 14,) and the emperor +Mauritius or Maurice (Stratagemat. l. ii. c. 5, apud Mascon Annotat. +xxxi.) The stratagems of Maurice have been printed only, as I +understand, at the end of Scheffer's edition of Arrian's Tactics, at +Upsal, 1664, (Fabric. Bibliot. Graec. l. iv. c. 8, tom. iii. p. 278,) a +scarce, and hitherto, to me, an inaccessible book.] + +I have marked the faint and general outline of the Sclavonians and +Bulgarians, without attempting to define their intermediate boundaries, +which were not accurately known or respected by the Barbarians +themselves. Their importance was measured by their vicinity to the +empire; and the level country of Moldavia and Wallachia was occupied +by the Antes, [16] a Sclavonian tribe, which swelled the titles of +Justinian with an epithet of conquest. [17] Against the Antes he erected +the fortifications of the Lower Danube; and labored to secure +the alliance of a people seated in the direct channel of northern +inundation, an interval of two hundred miles between the mountains +of Transylvania and the Euxine Sea. But the Antes wanted power and +inclination to stem the fury of the torrent; and the light-armed +Sclavonians, from a hundred tribes, pursued with almost equal speed the +footsteps of the Bulgarian horse. The payment of one piece of gold for +each soldier procured a safe and easy retreat through the country of the +Gepidae, who commanded the passage of the Upper Danube. [18] The hopes +or fears of the Barbarians; their intense union or discord; the accident +of a frozen or shallow stream; the prospect of harvest or vintage; the +prosperity or distress of the Romans; were the causes which produced the +uniform repetition of annual visits, [19] 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 +Bulgarians, 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 castles, erased Potidaea, which +Athens had built, and Philip had besieged, and repassed the Danube, +dragging at their horses' heels one hundred and twenty thousand of the +subjects of Justinian. In a subsequent inroad they pierced the wall +of the Thracian Chersonesus, extirpated 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 Thermopylae 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 expense of his subjects, served only to disclose the weakness of +some neglected part; and the walls, which by flattery had been deemed +impregnable, were either deserted by the garrison, or scaled by +the Barbarians. Three thousand Sclavonians, who insolently divided +themselves into two bands, discovered the weakness and misery of a +triumphant reign. They passed 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 contemptible 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 age, or sex, the captives +were impaled or flayed alive, or suspended between four posts, and +beaten with clubs till they expired, or enclosed in some spacious +building, and left to perish in the flames with the spoil and cattle +which might impede the march of these savage victors. [20] Perhaps +a more impartial narrative would reduce the number, and qualify the +nature, of these horrid acts; and they might sometimes be excused by the +cruel laws of retaliation. In the siege of Topirus, [21] whose obstinate +defence had enraged the Sclavonians, they massacred fifteen thousand +males; but they spared the women and children; the most valuable +captives were always reserved for labor or ransom; the servitude was not +rigorous, and the terms of their deliverance were speedy and moderate. +But the subject, or the historian of Justinian, exhaled his just +indignation in the language of complaint and reproach; and Procopius has +confidently affirmed, that in a reign of thirty-two years, each +annual inroad of the Barbarians consumed two hundred thousand of the +inhabitants of the Roman empire. The entire population of Turkish +Europe, which nearly corresponds with the provinces of Justinian, would +perhaps be incapable of supplying six millions of persons, the result of +this incredible estimate. [22] + +[Footnote 16: Antes corum fortissimi.... Taysis qui rapidus et +vorticosus in Histri fluenta furens devolvitur, (Jornandes, c. 5, p. +194, edit. Murator. Procopius, Goth. l. iii. c. 14, et de Edific. l iv. +c. 7.) Yet the same Procopius mentions the Goths and Huns as neighbors +to the Danube, (de Edific. l. v. c. 1.)] + +[Footnote 17: The national title of Anticus, in the laws and +inscriptions of Justinian, was adopted by his successors, and is +justified by the pious Ludewig (in Vit. Justinian. p. 515.) It had +strangely puzzled the civilians of the middle age.] + +[Footnote 18: Procopius, Goth. l. iv. c. 25.] + +[Footnote 19: An inroad of the Huns is connected, by Procopius, with +a comet perhaps that of 531, (Persic. l. ii. c. 4.) Agathias (l. v. p. +154, 155) borrows from his predecessors some early facts.] + +[Footnote 20: The cruelties of the Sclavonians are related or magnified +by Procopius, (Goth. l. iii. c. 29, 38.) For their mild and liberal +behavior to their prisoners, we may appeal to the authority, somewhat +more recent of the emperor Maurice, (Stratagem. l. ii. c. 5.)] + +[Footnote 21: Topirus was situate near Philippi in Thrace, or Macedonia, +opposite to the Isle of Thasos, twelve days' journey from Constantinople +(Cellarius, tom. i. p. 676, 846.)] + +[Footnote 22: According to the malevolent testimony of the Anecdotes, +(c. 18,) these inroads had reduced the provinces south of the Danube to +the state of a Scythian wilderness.] + +In the midst of these obscure calamities, Europe felt the shock of +revolution, which first revealed to the world the name and nation of the +Turks. [2211] Like Romulus, the founder [2212] of that 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 memory, or rather suggested the idea, of +a fable, which was invented, without any mutual intercourse, by the +shepherds of Latium and those of Scythia. At the equal distance of two +thousand miles from the Caspian, the Icy, the Chinese, and the Bengal +Seas, a ridge of mountains is conspicuous, the centre, and perhaps the +summit, of Asia; which, in the language of different nations, has been +styled Imaus, and Caf, [23] and Altai, and the Golden Mountains, [2311] +and the Girdle of the Earth. The sides of the hills were productive +of minerals; and the iron forges, [24] 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 mountains; [25] a sceptre was the reward of his advice; and the +annual ceremony, in which a piece of iron was heated in the fire, and +a smith's hammer [2511] was successively handled by the prince and his +nobles, recorded for ages the humble profession and rational pride of +the Turkish nation. Bertezena, [2512] their first leader, signalized +their valor and his own in successful combats against the neighboring +tribes; but when he presumed to ask in marriage the daughter of +the great 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 Geougen, established in Tartary the new and +more powerful empire of the Turks. [2513] They reigned over the north; +but they confessed the vanity of conquest, by their faithful attachment +to the mountain of their fathers. The royal encampment seldom lost sight +of Mount Altai, from whence the River Irtish descends to water the rich +pastures of the Calmucks, [26] which nourish the largest sheep and oxen +in the world. The soil is fruitful, and the climate mild and temperate: +the happy region was ignorant of earthquake and pestilence; the +emperor's throne was turned towards the East, and a golden wolf on the +top of a spear seemed to guard the entrance of his tent. One of the +successors of Bertezena was tempted by the luxury and superstition of +China; but his design of building 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 themselves within the walls of +cities, the loss of a battle would be the destruction of their empire. +The bonzes preach only patience, humility, and the renunciation of the +world. Such, O king! is not the religion of heroes." They entertained, +with less reluctance, the doctrines of Zoroaster; but the greatest part +of the nation acquiesced, without inquiry, in the opinions, or rather in +the practice, of their ancestors. The honors of sacrifice were +reserved 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 impartial: theft was punished with a tenfold +restitution; 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 consisted of four hundred +thousand soldiers, and in less than fifty years they were connected in +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 Kamptchatka, of a people of hunters 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 polar circle. +[27] Among their southern conquests the most splendid was that of the +Nephthalites, or white Huns, a polite and warlike people, who possessed +the commercial cities of Bochara 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 Turkish +cavalry advanced to the Lake Maeotis. 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, [28] a city the voluntary subject of Rome, and +whose princes had formerly been the friends of Athens. [29] To the east, +the Turks invaded China, as often as the vigor of the government was +relaxed: and I am taught to read in the history of the times, that +they mowed down their patient enemies like hemp or grass; and that +the mandarins applauded the wisdom of an emperor who repulsed these +Barbarians with golden lances. This extent of savage empire compelled +the Turkish monarch to establish three subordinate princes of his own +blood, who soon forgot their gratitude and allegiance. The conquerors +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 +dynasties, which succeeded to their native realms, may sleep in +oblivion; since their history bears no relation to the decline and fall +of the Roman empire. [30] + +[Footnote 2211: It must be remembered that the name of Turks is extended +to a whole family of the Asiatic races, and not confined to the Assena, +or Turks of the Altai.--M.] + +[Footnote 2212: Assena (the wolf) was the name of this chief. Klaproth, +Tabl. Hist. de l'Asie p. 114.--M.] + +[Footnote 23: From Caf to Caf; which a more rational geography would +interpret, 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 +is endowed with a sensitive action in its roots or nerves; and +their vibration, at the command of God, is the cause of earthquakes. +(D'Herbelot, p. 230, 231.)] + +[Footnote 2311: Altai, i. e. Altun Tagh, the Golden Mountain. Von Hammer +Osman Geschichte, vol. i. p. 2.--M.] + +[Footnote 24: The Siberian iron is the best and most plentiful in the +world; and in the southern parts, above sixty mines are now worked by +the industry of the Russians, (Strahlenberg, Hist. of Siberia, p. 342, +387. Voyage en Siberie, par l'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 country produced none, (Menander in +Excerpt. Leg. p. 152.)] + +[Footnote 25: 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, of the 450 years which they passed in the mountains, agrees with +the Chinese periods of the history of the Huns and Turks, (De Guignes, +tom. i. part ii. p. 376,) and the twenty generations, from their +restoration to Zingis.] + +[Footnote 2511: The Mongol Temugin is also, though erroneously, +explained by Rubruquis, a smith. Schmidt, p 876.--M.] + +[Footnote 2512: There appears the same confusion here. Bertezena +(Berte-Scheno) is claimed as the founder of the Mongol race. The name +means the gray (blauliche) wolf. In fact, the same tradition of the +origin from a wolf seems common to the Mongols and the Turks. The +Mongol Berte-Scheno, of the very curious Mongol History, published +and translated by M. Schmidt of Petersburg, is brought from Thibet. M. +Schmidt considers this tradition of the Thibetane descent of the royal +race of the Mongols to be much earlier than their conversion to Lamaism, +yet it seems very suspicious. See Klaproth, Tabl. de l'Asie, p. 159. +The Turkish Bertezena is called Thou-men by Klaproth, p. 115. In 552, +Thou-men took the title of Kha-Khan, and was called Il Khan.--M.] + +[Footnote 2513: Great Bucharia is called Turkistan: see Hammer, 2. It +includes all the last steppes at the foot of the Altai. The name is the +same with that of the Turan of Persian poetic legend.--M.] + +[Footnote 26: The country of the Turks, now of the Calmucks, is well +described in the Genealogical History, p. 521--562. The curious notes of +the French translator are enlarged and digested in the second volume of +the English version.] + +[Footnote 27: Visdelou, p. 141, 151. The fact, though it strictly +belongs to a subordinate and successive tribe, may be introduced here.] + +[Footnote 28: Procopius, Persic. l. i. c. 12, l. ii. c. 3. Peyssonel, +Observations sur les Peuples Barbares, p. 99, 100, defines the distance +between Caffa and the old Bosphorus at xvi. long Tartar leagues.] + +[Footnote 29: See, in a Memoire of M. de Boze, (Mem. de l'Academie des +Inscriptions, tom. vi. p. 549--565,) the ancient kings and medals of +the Cimmerian Bosphorus; and the gratitude of Athens, in the Oration of +Demosthenes against Leptines, (in Reiske, Orator. Graec. tom. i. p. 466, +187.)] + +[Footnote 30: For the origin and revolutions of the first Turkish +empire, the Chinese details are borrowed from De Guignes (Hist. +des Huns, tom. P. ii. p. 367--462) and Visdelou, (Supplement a la +Bibliotheque Orient. d'Herbelot, p. 82--114.) The Greek or Roman hints +are gathered in Menander (p. 108--164) and Theophylact Simocatta, (l. +vii. c. 7, 8.)] + + + + +Chapter XLII: State Of The Barbaric World.--Part II. + +In the rapid career of conquest, the Turks attacked and subdued the +nation of the Ogors or Varchonites [3011] on the banks of the River +Til, which derived the epithet of Black from its dark water or gloomy +forests. [31] The khan of the Ogors was slain with three hundred +thousand 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, preferred 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. [32] After a long and victorious +march, the new Avars arrived at the foot of Mount Caucasus, in the +country of the Alani [33] and Circassians, where they first heard of the +splendor 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 permission of the governor of +Lazica, was transported by the Euxine Sea to Constantinople. The whole +city was poured forth to behold 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 imitate the fashion of the Huns. When they were admitted +to the audience of Justinian, Candish, the first of the ambassadors, +addressed the Roman emperor in these terms: "You see before you, O +mighty prince, the representatives of the strongest and most populous +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 valor, precious gifts, annual +subsidies, and fruitful possessions." At the time of this embassy, +Justinian had reigned above thirty, he had lived above seventy-five +years: his mind, as well as his body, was feeble and languid; and the +conqueror of Africa and Italy, careless of the permanent interest of +his people, aspired only to end his days in the bosom even of inglorious +peace. In a studied oration, he imparted to the senate his resolution to +dissemble the insult, and to purchase the friendship of the Avars; +and the whole senate, like the mandarins of China, applauded the +incomparable wisdom and foresight of their sovereign. The instruments +of luxury were immediately prepared to captivate the Barbarians; silken +garments, soft and splendid beds, and chains and collars incrusted with +gold. The ambassadors, content with such liberal reception, departed +from Constantinople, and Valentin, one of the emperor'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 persuaded them to invade the enemies of Rome; and they +were easily tempted, by gifts and promises, 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 peculiar 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 ambitious designs of their countrymen; and they loudly +complained of the timid, though jealous policy, of detaining their +ambassadors, and denying the arms which they had been allowed to +purchase in the capital of the empire. [34] + +[Footnote 3011: The Ogors or Varchonites, from Var. a river, (obviously +connected with the name Avar,) must not be confounded with the Uigours, +the eastern Turks, (v. Hammer, Osmanische Geschichte, vol. i. p. 3,) who +speak a language the parent of the more modern Turkish dialects. Compare +Klaproth, page 121. They are the ancestors of the Usbeck Turks. These +Ogors were of the same Finnish race with the Huns; and the 20,000 +families which fled towards the west, after the Turkish invasion, were +of the same race with those which remained to the east of the Volga, the +true Avars of Theophy fact.--M.] + +[Footnote 31: The River Til, or Tula, according to the geography of +De Guignes, (tom. i. part ii. p. lviii. and 352,) is a small, though +grateful, stream of the desert, that falls into the Orhon, Selinga, &c. +See Bell, Journey from Petersburg to Pekin, (vol. ii. p. 124;) yet +his own description of the Keat, down which he sailed into the Oby, +represents the name and attributes of the black river, (p. 139.) * Note: +M. Klaproth, (Tableaux Historiques de l'Asie, p. 274) supposes this +river to be an eastern affluent of the Volga, the Kama, which, from the +color of its waters, might be called black. M. Abel Remusat (Recherchea +sur les Langues Tartares, vol. i. p. 320) and M. St. Martin (vol. ix. +p. 373) consider it the Volga, which is called Atel or Etel by all the +Turkish tribes. It is called Attilas by Menander, and Ettilia by the +monk Ruysbreek (1253.) See Klaproth, Tabl. Hist. p. 247. This geography +is much more clear and simple than that adopted by Gibbon from De +Guignes, or suggested from Bell.--M.] + +[Footnote 32: Theophylact, l. vii. c. 7, 8. And yet his true Avars +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 appellation is confessed by the Turks themselves, (Menander, p. +108.)] + +[Footnote 33: The Alani are still found in the Genealogical History of +the Tartars, (p. 617,) and in D'Anville'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, l. iv. c. 9, p. 447.)] + +[Footnote 34: The embassies and first conquests of the Avars may be read +in Menander, (Excerpt. Legat. p. 99, 100, 101, 154, 155,) Theophanes, +(p. 196,) the Historia Miscella, (l. xvi. p. 109,) and Gregory of Tours, +(L iv. c. 23, 29, in the Historians of France, tom. ii. p. 214, 217.)] + +Perhaps the apparent change in the dispositions of the emperors may be +ascribed to the embassy which was received from the conquerors of the +Avars. [35] The immense distance which eluded their arms could not +extinguish 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 before the successor +of Constantine, to request that he would not espouse the cause of +rebels and fugitives. Even commerce had some share in this remarkable +negotiation: and the Sogdoites, 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 navigation of Ceylon, had stopped +the caravans of Bochara and Samarcand: their silk was contemptuously +burnt: some Turkish ambassadors died in Persia, with a suspicion of +poison; and the great khan permitted his faithful vassal Maniach, the +prince of the Sogdoites, to propose, at the Byzantine court, a treaty of +alliance 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 language, announced a people who had attained the +rudiments of science: [36] they enumerated the conquests, they offered +the friendship and military 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 regard 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 Justinian, the friendship of the +two nations was cultivated by frequent and cordial intercourse; the most +favored vassals were permitted to imitate the example of the great khan, +and one hundred and six Turks, who, on various occasions, 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 specified: it might have been difficult to mark a road +through the nameless deserts, the mountains, rivers, and morasses of +Tartary; but a curious account has been preserved of the reception of +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 Zingis, [3611] 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 a horse might be +occasionally harnessed. As soon as they had delivered their presents, +which were received by the proper officers, they exposed, in a florid +oration, the wishes of the Roman 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 forever be +maintained between the two most powerful nations of the earth. The +answer of Disabul corresponded with these friendly professions, and +the ambassadors were seated by his side, at a banquet 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, basins, and +statues of solid silver, and admirable art, were ostentatiously piled in +wagons, the monuments of valor rather than of industry. When Disabul led +his armies against the frontiers of Persia, his Roman allies followed +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 clamors interrupted 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 obsequies, he +was saluted by the ambassadors of the emperor Tiberius, who proposed an +invasion 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 +successively deluded by your perfidious eloquence. You precipitate your +allies into war and danger, you enjoy their labors, and you neglect +your benefactors. Hasten your return, inform your master that a Turk is +incapable 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 +contemptible slaves, they will tremble at the sound of our whips; they +will be trampled, like a nest of ants, under the feet of my innumerable +cavalry. I am not ignorant of the road which they have followed to +invade your empire; nor can I 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. [37] + +[Footnote 35: Theophanes, (Chron. p. 204,) and the Hist. Miscella, (l. +xvi. p. 110,) as understood by De Guignes, (tom. i. part ii. p. 354,) +appear to speak of a Turkish embassy to Justinian himself; but that of +Maniach, in the fourth year of his successor Justin, is positively the +first that reached Constantinople, (Menander p. 108.)] + +[Footnote 36: The Russians have found characters, rude hieroglyphics, on +the Irtish and Yenisei, on medals, tombs, idols, rocks, obelisks, &c., +(Strahlenberg, Hist. of Siberia, p. 324, 346, 406, 429.) Dr. Hyde (de +Religione Veterum Persarum, p. 521, &c.) has given two alphabets of +Thibet and of the Eygours. I have long harbored a suspicion, that all +the Scythian, and some, perhaps much, of the Indian science, was +derived from the Greeks of Bactriana. * Note: Modern discoveries give no +confirmation to this suspicion. The character of Indian science, as +well as of their literature and mythology, indicates an original source. +Grecian art may have occasionally found its way into India. One or two +of the sculptures in Col. Tod's account of the Jain temples, if correct, +show a finer outline, and purer sense of beauty, than appears native to +India, where the monstrous always predominated over simple nature.--M.] + +[Footnote 3611: This rite is so curious, that I have subjoined the +description of it:-- When these (the exorcisers, the Shamans) approached +Zemarchus, they took all our baggage and placed it in the centre. Then, +kindling a fire with branches of frankincense, lowly murmuring certain +barbarous words in the Scythian language, beating on a kind of bell +(a gong) and a drum, they passed over the baggage the leaves of the +frankincense, crackling with the fire, and at the same time themselves +becoming frantic, and violently leaping about, seemed to exorcise the +evil spirits. Having thus as they thought, averted all evil, they led +Zemarchus himself through the fire. Menander, in Niebuhr's Bryant. Hist. +p. 381. Compare Carpini's Travels. The princes of the race of Zingis +Khan condescended to receive the ambassadors of the king of France, at +the end of the 13th century without their submitting to this humiliating +rite. See Correspondence published by Abel Remusat, Nouv. Mem. de l'Acad +des Inscrip. vol. vii. On the embassy of Zemarchus, compare Klaproth, +Tableaux de l'Asie p. 116.--M.] + +[Footnote 37: All the details of these Turkish and Roman embassies, so +curious in the history of human manners, are drawn from the extracts of +Menander, (p. 106--110, 151--154, 161-164,) in which we often regret the +want of order and connection.] + +Disputes have often arisen between the sovereigns 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 kingdom of the Turks was +bounded by the Oxus or Gihon; and Touran was separated by that great +river from the rival monarchy of Iran, or Persia, which in a smaller +compass contained perhaps a larger measure of power and population. The +Persians, who alternately invaded and repulsed the Turks and the Romans, +were still ruled by the house of Sassan, which ascended 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 prostituting +the honor 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 deluded and inflamed by +the fanaticism of Mazdak, [38] who asserted the community of women, [39] +and the equality of mankind, whilst he appropriated the richest lands +and most beautiful females to the use of his sectaries. The view of +these disorders, which had been fomented by his laws and example, [40] +imbittered the declining age of the Persian monarch; and his fears were +increased by the consciousness of his design to reverse the natural and +customary order of succession, in favor of his third and most favored +son, so famous under the names of Chosroes and Nushirvan. To render the +youth more illustrious in the eyes of the nations, Kobad was desirous +that he should be adopted by the emperor Justin: [4011] the hope of +peace inclined the Byzantine 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 +quaestor Proclus: a difficulty was started, whether the adoption should +be performed as a civil or military rite; [41] 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 powerful faction, prepared for the event, +and regardless of the priority of age, exalted Chosroes to the throne of +Persia. He filled that throne during a prosperous period of forty-eight +years; [42] and the Justice of Nushirvan is celebrated as the theme of +immortal praise by the nations of the East. + +[Footnote 38: See D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orient. p. 568, 929;) Hyde, (de +Religione Vet. Persarum, c. 21, p. 290, 291;) Pocock, (Specimen Hist. +Arab. p. 70, 71;) Eutychius, (Annal. tom. ii. p. 176;) Texeira, +(in Stevens, Hist. of Persia, l. i. c. 34.) * Note: Mazdak was an +Archimagus, born, according to Mirkhond, (translated by De Sacy, p. 353, +and Malcolm, vol. i. p. 104,) at Istakhar or Persepolis, according to +an inedited and anonymous history, (the Modjmal-alte-warikh in the Royal +Library at Paris, quoted by St. Martin, vol. vii. p. 322) at Wischapour +in Chorasan: his father's name was Bamdadam. He announces himself as +a reformer of Zoroastrianism, and carried the doctrine of the +two principles to a much grater height. He preached the absolute +indifference of human action, perfect equality of rank, community +of property and of women, marriages between the nearest kindred; he +interdicted the use of animal food, proscribed the killing of animals +for food, enforced a vegetable diet. See St. Martin, vol. vii. p. +322. Malcolm, vol. i. p. 104. Mirkhond translated by De Sacy. It +is remarkable that the doctrine of Mazdak spread into the West. Two +inscriptions found in Cyrene, in 1823, and explained by M. Gesenius, +and by M. Hamaker of Leyden, prove clearly that his doctrines had been +eagerly embraced by the remains of the ancient Gnostics; and Mazdak was +enrolled with Thoth, Saturn, Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Epicurus, John, and +Christ, as the teachers of true Gnostic wisdom. See St. Martin, vol. +vii. p. 338. Gesenius de Inscriptione Phoenicio-Graeca in Cyrenaica +nuper reperta, Halle, 1825. Hamaker, Lettre a M. Raoul Rochette, Leyden, +1825.--M.] + +[Footnote 39: The fame of the new law for the community of women was +soon propagated in Syria (Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. iii. p. 402) +and Greece, (Procop. Persic. l. i. c. 5.)] + +[Footnote 40: He offered his own wife and sister to the prophet; but the +prayers of Nushirvan saved his mother, and the indignant monarch never +forgave the humiliation to which his filial piety had stooped: pedes +tuos deosculatus (said he to Mazdak,) cujus foetor adhuc nares occupat, +(Pocock, Specimen Hist. Arab. p. 71.)] + +[Footnote 4011: St. Martin questions this adoption: he urges its +improbability; and supposes that Procopius, perverting some popular +traditions, or the remembrance of some fruitless negotiations which took +place at that time, has mistaken, for a treaty of adoption some treaty +of guaranty or protection for the purpose of insuring the crown, after +the death of Kobad, to his favorite son Chosroes, vol. viii. p. 32. Yet +the Greek historians seem unanimous as to the proposal: the Persians +might be expected to maintain silence on such a subject.--M.] + +[Footnote 41: Procopius, Persic. l. 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. Whether any mode of adoption was +practised in Persia, I much doubt.] + +[Footnote 42: From Procopius and Agathias, Pagi (tom. ii. p. 543, 626) +has proved that Chosroes Nushirvan ascended the throne in the fifth +year of Justinian, (A.D. 531, April 1.--A.D. 532, April 1.) But the +true chronology, which harmonizes with the Greeks and Orientals, is +ascertained by John Malala, (tom. ii. 211.) Cabades, or Kobad, after a +reign of forty-three years and two months, sickened the 8th, and died +the 13th of September, A.D. 531, aged eighty-two years. According to the +annals of Eutychius, Nushirvan reigned forty seven years and six months; +and his death must consequently be placed in March, A.D. 579.] + +But the justice of kings is understood by themselves, and even by their +subjects, with an ample indulgence for the gratification of passion and +interest. The virtue of Chosroes was that of a conqueror, who, in the +measures of peace and war, is excited by ambition, and restrained 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 +Nushirvan would merit in our feelings the appellation 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 rebel: the slightest evidence +of a conspiracy satisfied the author of their wrongs; and the repose 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 general; and this act of humanity, which was +revealed 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 summons, till he had performed the duties of a military review: he +was instantly commanded to repair to the iron tripod, which stood before +the gate of the palace, [43] 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 +of Kobad. But the people, 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 execution of the laws which he had no temptation to +violate; in the punishment of crimes which attacked his own dignity, as +well as the happiness of individuals; Nushirvan, or Chosroes, deserved +the appellation of just. His government was firm, rigorous, and +impartial. It was the first labor of his reign to abolish the dangerous +theory of common or equal possessions: the lands and women which the +sectaries of Mazdak has usurped were restored to their lawful owners; +and the temperate [4311] chastisement of the fanatics or impostors +confirmed the domestic rights of society. Instead of listening with +blind confidence to a favorite minister, he established four viziers +over the four great provinces of his empire, Assyria, Media, Persia, +and Bactriana. In the choice of judges, praefects, and counsellors, he +strove to remove the mask which is always worn in the presence 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 magistrates; but the +assurance of speedy punishment was the best security of their virtue. +Their behavior 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 Arabian 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 children of the poor, +were maintained and instructed at the public expense; 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 honorable 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 instruments of husbandry; and the rare and inestimable treasure of +fresh water was parsimoniously managed, and skilfully dispersed over the +arid territory of Persia. [44] The prosperity of that kingdom was the +effect and evidence of his virtues; his vices are those of Oriental +despotism; 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. [45] + +[Footnote 43: Procopius, Persic. l. i. c. 23. Brisson, de Regn. Pers. +p. 494. The gate of the palace of Ispahan is, or was, the fatal scene of +disgrace or death, (Chardin, Voyage en Perse, tom. iv. p. 312, 313.)] + +[Footnote 4311: This is a strange term. Nushirvan employed a stratagem +similar to that of Jehu, 2 Kings, x. 18--28, to separate the followers +of Mazdak from the rest of his subjects, and with a body of his troops +cut them all in pieces. The Greek writers concur with the Persian in +this representation of Nushirvan's temperate conduct. Theophanes, p. +146. Mirkhond. p. 362. Eutychius, Ann. vol. ii. p. 179. Abulfeda, in an +unedited part, consulted by St. Martin as well as in a passage formerly +cited. Le Beau vol. viii. p. 38. Malcolm vol l p. 109.--M.] + +[Footnote 44: In Persia, the prince of the waters is an officer +of state. The number of wells and subterraneous channels is much +diminished, and with it the fertility of the soil: 400 wells have been +recently lost near Tauris, and 42,000 were once reckoned in the province +of Khorasan (Chardin, tom. iii. p. 99, 100. Tavernier, tom. i. p. 416.)] + +[Footnote 45: The character and government of Nushirvan is represented +some times in the words of D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orient. p. 680, &c., +from Khondemir,) Eutychius, (Annal. tom. ii. p. 179, 180,--very rich,) +Abulpharagius, (Dynast. vii. p. 94, 95,--very poor,) Tarikh Schikard, +(p. 144--150,) Texeira, (in Stevens, l. i. c. 35,) Asseman, (Bibliot +Orient. tom. iii. p. 404-410,) and the Abbe Fourmont, (Hist. de l'Acad. +des Inscriptions, tom. vii. p. 325--334,) who has translated a spurious +or genuine testament of Nushirvan.] + +To the praise of justice Nushirvan united the reputation of knowledge; +and the seven Greek philosophers, who visited his court, were invited +and deceived by the strange assurance, that a disciple of Plato +was seated on the Persian throne. Did they expect, that a prince, +strenuously exercised in the toils of war and government, 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 control +the passions, of a despot, whose infancy had been taught to consider his +absolute and fluctuating will as the only rule of moral obligation? +[46] The studies of Chosroes were ostentatious and superficial: but his +example awakened the curiosity of an ingenious people, and the light of +science was diffused over the dominions of Persia. [47] At Gondi Sapor, +in the neighborhood of the royal city of Susa, an academy of physic was +founded, which insensibly became a liberal school of poetry, philosophy, +and rhetoric. [48] The annals of the monarchy [49] 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 embellished +by the giants, the dragons, and the fabulous heroes of Oriental romance. +[50] Every learned or confident stranger was enriched by the bounty, and +flattered by the conversation, of the monarch: he nobly rewarded a Greek +physician, [51] by the deliverance of three thousand, captives; and the +sophists, who contended for his favor, were exasperated by the wealth +and insolence of Uranius, their more successful rival. Nushirvan +believed, or at least respected, the religion of the Magi; and some +traces of persecution may be discovered in his reign. [52] Yet he +allowed himself freely to compare the tenets of the various sects; and +the theological disputes, in which he frequently presided, diminished +the authority of the priest, and enlightened the minds of the people. +At his command, the most celebrated writers of Greece and India were +translated into the Persian language; a smooth and elegant idiom, +recommended by Mahomet to the use of paradise; though it is branded with +the epithets of savage and unmusical, by the ignorance and presumption +of Agathias. [53] Yet the Greek historian might reasonably wonder that +it should be found possible to execute an entire version of Plato and +Aristotle in a foreign dialect, which had not been framed to express the +spirit of freedom and the subtilties of philosophic disquisition. +And, if the reason of the Stagyrite might be equally dark, or equally +intelligible in every tongue, the dramatic art and verbal argumentation +of the disciple of Socrates, [54] 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 preserved 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 [55] 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 monument +has been saved by the curiosity of the Arabian caliphs, revived in +the modern Persic, the Turkish, the Syriac, the Hebrew, and the Greek +idioms, and transfused through successive versions into the modern +languages of Europe. In their present form, the peculiar character, the +manners and religion of the Hindoos, are completely obliterated; and the +intrinsic merit of the fables of Pilpay is far inferior to the concise +elegance 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 +design, 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. [56] + +[Footnote 46: A thousand years before his birth, the judges of Persia +had given a solemn opinion, (Herodot. l. iii. c. 31, p. 210, edit. +Wesseling.) Nor had this constitutional maxim been neglected as a +useless and barren theory.] + +[Footnote 47: On the literary state of Persia, the Greek versions, +philosophers, sophists, the learning or ignorance of Chosroes, Agathias +(l. ii. c. 66--71) displays much information and strong prejudices.] + +[Footnote 48: Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. iv. p. DCCXLV. vi. vii.] + +[Footnote 49: The Shah Nameh, or Book of Kings, is perhaps the original +record of history which was translated into Greek by the interpreter +Sergius, (Agathias, l. v. p. 141,) preserved after the Mahometan +conquest, and versified in the year 994, by the national poet Ferdoussi. +See D'Anquetil (Mem. de l'Academie, tom. xxxi. p. 379) and Sir William +Jones, (Hist. of Nadir Shah, p. 161.)] + +[Footnote 50: In the fifth century, the name of Restom, or Rostam, a +hero who equalled the strength of twelve elephants, was familiar to the +Armenians, (Moses Chorenensis, Hist. Armen. l. ii. c. 7, p. 96, edit. +Whiston.) In the beginning of the seventh, the Persian Romance of Rostam +and Isfendiar was applauded at Mecca, (Sale's Koran, c. xxxi. p. 335.) +Yet this exposition of ludicrum novae historiae is not given by Maracci, +(Refutat. Alcoran. p. 544--548.)] + +[Footnote 51: Procop. (Goth. l. iv. c. 10.) Kobad had a favorite Greek +physician, Stephen of Edessa, (Persic. l. ii. c. 26.) The practice was +ancient; and Herodotus relates the adventures of Democedes of Crotona, +(l. iii p. 125--137.)] + +[Footnote 52: See Pagi, tom. ii. p. 626. In one of the treaties an +honorable article was inserted for the toleration and burial of the +Catholics, (Menander, in Excerpt. Legat. p. 142.) Nushizad, a son of +Nushirvan, was a Christian, a rebel, and--a martyr? (D'Herbelot, p. +681.)] + +[Footnote 53: On the Persian language, and its three dialects, consult +D'Anquetil (p. 339--343) and Jones, (p. 153--185:) is the character +which Agathias (l. ii. p. 66) ascribes to an idiom renowned in the East +for poetical softness.] + +[Footnote 54: Agathias specifies the Gorgias, Phaedon, Parmenides, and +Timaeus. Renaudot (Fabricius, Bibliot. Graec. tom. xii. p. 246--261) +does not mention this Barbaric version of Aristotle.] + +[Footnote 55: Of these fables, I have seen three copies in three +different languages: 1. In Greek, translated by Simeon Seth (A.D. 1100) +from the Arabic, and published by Starck at Berlin in 1697, in 12mo. 2. +In Latin, a version from the Greek Sapientia Indorum, inserted by Pere +Poussin at the end of his edition of Pachymer, (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 Mm. +Galland et Cardonne, Paris, 1778, 3 vols. in 12mo. Mr. Warton (History +of English Poetry, vol. i. p. 129--131) takes a larger scope. * Note: +The oldest Indian collection extant is the Pancha-tantra, (the five +collections,) analyzed by Mr. Wilson in the Transactions of the Royal +Asiat. Soc. It was translated into Persian by Barsuyah, the physician +of Nushirvan, under the name of the Fables of Bidpai, (Vidyapriya, the +Friend of Knowledge, or, as the Oriental writers understand it, the +Friend of Medicine.) It was translated into Arabic by Abdolla Ibn +Mokaffa, under the name of Kalila and Dimnah. From the Arabic it passed +into the European languages. Compare Wilson, in Trans. As. Soc. i. 52. +dohlen, das alte Indien, ii. p. 386. Silvestre de Sacy, Memoire sur +Kalila vs Dimnah.--M.] + +[Footnote 56: See the Historia Shahiludii of Dr. Hyde, (Syntagm. +Dissertat. tom. ii. p. 61--69.)] + + + + + +Chapter XLII: State Of The Barbaric World.--Part III. + +The son of Kobad found his kingdom involved in a war with the successor +of Constantine; and the anxiety of his domestic situation inclined +him to grant the suspension of arms, which Justinian was impatient to +purchase. Chosroes saw the Roman ambassadors at his feet. He accepted +eleven thousand pounds of gold, as the price of an endless or indefinite +peace: [57] some mutual exchanges were regulated; the Persian assumed +the guard of the gates of Caucasus, and the demolition of Dara was +suspended, 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 diligently improved, by the ambition of the emperor: his African +conquests were the first fruits of the Persian treaty; and the avarice +of Chosroes was soothed by a large portion of the spoils of Carthage, +which his ambassadors required in a tone of pleasantry and under the +color of friendship. [58] 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 itself, had been reduced, in three +rapid campaigns, to the obedience of Justinian. Unpractised in the art +of violating treaties, he secretly excited his bold and subtle vassal +Almondar. That prince of the Saracens, who resided at Hira, [59] had +not been included in the general peace, and still waged an obscure +war against his rival Arethas, the chief of the tribe of Gassan, and +confederate of the empire. The subject of their dispute was an extensive +sheep-walk in the desert to the south of Palmyra. An immemorial tribute +for the license of pasture appeared to attest the rights of Almondar, +while the Gassanite appealed to the Latin name of strata, a paved road, +as an unquestionable evidence of the sovereignty and labors of the +Romans. [60] The two monarchs supported the cause of their respective +vassals; and the Persian Arab, without expecting the event of a slow +and doubtful arbitration, enriched his flying camp with the spoil and +captives of Syria. Instead of repelling the arms, Justinian attempted to +seduce the fidelity of Almondar, while he called from the extremities of +the earth the nations of Aethiopia and Scythia to invade the dominions +of his rival. But the aid of such allies was distant and precarious, and +the discovery 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 +inevitable, danger of the kingdom of Italy. Their representations were +uniform, weighty, and effectual. "We stand before your throne, the +advocates of your interest as well as of our own. The ambitious and +faithless Justinian aspires to be the sole master of the world. Since +the endless peace, which betrayed the common freedom of mankind, that +prince, your ally in words, your enemy in actions, has alike insulted +his friends and foes, and has filled the earth with blood and confusion. +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 +Maeotis, and the vale of palm-trees on the shores of the Red Sea? The +Moors, the Vandals, the Goths, have been successively oppressed, and +each nation has calmly remained the spectator of their neighbor's ruin. +Embrace, O king! the favorable moment; the East is left without defence, +while the armies of Justinian and his renowned general are detained in +the distant regions of the West. If you hesitate or delay, Belisarius +and his victorious troops will soon return from the Tyber to the +Tigris, and Persia may enjoy the wretched consolation of being the last +devoured." [61] By such arguments, Chosroes was easily persuaded to +imitate the example which he condemned: 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. +[Footnote 57: The endless peace (Procopius, Persic. l. i. c. 21) +was concluded or ratified in the vith year, and iiid consulship, of +Justinian, (A.D. 533, between January 1 and April 1. Pagi, tom. ii. +p. 550.) Marcellinus, in his Chronicle, uses the style of Medes and +Persians.] + +[Footnote 58: Procopius, Persic. l. i. c. 26.] + +[Footnote 59: Almondar, king of Hira, was deposed by Kobad, and restored +by Nushirvan. His mother, from her beauty, was surnamed Celestial 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.)] + +[Footnote 60: Procopius, Persic. l. 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 Delisle's Map Imp. Orient.) +Wesseling and D'Anville are silent.] + +[Footnote 61: I have blended, in a short speech, the two orations of +the Arsacides of Armenia and the Gothic ambassadors. Procopius, in his +public history, feels, and makes us feel, that Justinian was the true +author of the war, (Persic. l. ii. c. 2, 3.)] + +Whatever might be the provocations of Chosroes, he abused the confidence +of treaties; and the just reproaches of dissimulation and falsehood +could only be concealed by the lustre of his victories. [62] The Persian +army, which had been assembled in the plains of Babylon, prudently +declined the strong cities of Mesopotamia, and followed the western bank +of the Euphrates, till the small, though populous, town of Dura [6211] +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 cimeter 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 conqueror still affected the praise of +humanity and justice; and as he beheld a noble matron with her infant +rudely dragged along the ground, he sighed, he wept, and implored the +divine justice to punish the author of these calamities. Yet the herd +of twelve thousand captives was ransomed for two hundred pounds of gold; +the neighboring bishop of Sergiopolis 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 generous 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 +honor 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. Hierapolis, Berrhaea or Aleppo, Apamea and Chalcis, were +successively besieged: they redeemed their safety by a ransom of gold +or silver, proportioned to their respective strength and opulence; and +their new master enforced, without observing, the terms of capitulation. +Educated in the religion of the Magi, he exercised, without remorse, the +lucrative trade of sacrilege; 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 +elapsed since Antioch was ruined by an earthquake; [6212] 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 weakness to the enemy; and Germanus, the emperor'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 +reenforcement of six thousand soldiers; they disdained the offers of +an easy capitulation and their intemperate clamors 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 Justinian, +was descending from the mountain, he affected, in a plaintive voice, to +deplore the obstinacy and ruin of that unhappy people; but the slaughter +still raged with unrelenting fury; and the city, at the command of a +Barbarian, was delivered to the flames. The cathedral of Antioch was +indeed preserved by the avarice, not the piety, of the conqueror: a more +honorable 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 betray, their new inhabitants. Fanaticism had +defaced the ornaments of Daphne, but Chosroes breathed a purer air +amidst her groves and fountains; 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 superstition 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 emperor, his peremptory command secured the +victory of the green charioteer. From the discipline of his camp the +people derived more solid consolation; and they interceded in vain for +the life of a soldier who had too faithfully copied the rapine of the +just Nushirvan. At length, fatigued, though unsatiated, with the spoil +of Syria, [6213] he slowly moved to the Euphrates, formed a temporary +bridge in the neighborhood of Barbalissus, and defined the space of +three days for the entire passage of his numerous host. After his +return, he founded, at the distance of one day's journey from the palace +of Ctesiphon, a new city, which perpetuated the joint names of Chosroes +and of Antioch. The Syrian captives recognized 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 revived in Assyria +the pleasures of a Greek capital. By the munificence of the royal +founder, a liberal allowance was assigned to these fortunate 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 ambition, or +rather the avarice, of Chosroes. Constantinople, and the palace of the +Caesars, no longer appeared impregnable or remote; and his aspiring +fancy already covered Asia Minor with the troops, and the Black Sea with +the navies, of Persia. + +[Footnote 62: The invasion of Syria, the ruin of Antioch, &c., are +related in a full 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 blush when he blames them +for making Justinian and Nushirvan contemporaries. On the geography of +the seat of war, D'Anville (l'Euphrate et le Tigre) is sufficient and +satisfactory.] + +[Footnote 6211: It is Sura in Procopius. Is it a misprint in +Gibbon?--M.] + +[Footnote 6212: Joannes Lydus attributes the easy capture of Antioch +to the want of fortifications which had not been restored since the +earthquake, l. iii. c. 54. p. 246.--M.] + +[Footnote 6213: Lydus asserts that he carried away all the statues, +pictures, and marbles which adorned the city, l. iii. c. 54, p. +246.--M.] + +These hopes might have been realized, if the conqueror of Italy had not +been seasonably recalled to the defence of the East. [63] While Chosroes +pursued his ambitious designs on the coast of the Euxine, Belisarius, +at the head of an army without pay or discipline, encamped beyond the +Euphrates, within six miles of Nisibis. He meditated, by a skilful +operation, to draw the Persians from their impregnable citadel, and +improving his advantage in the field, either to intercept their retreat, +or perhaps to enter the gates with the flying Barbarians. 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 Belisarius 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 expectation to the same spot; the time of action elapsed, the +ardent sun of Mesopotamia inflamed with fevors the blood of his European +soldiers; and the stationary troops and officers of Syria affected to +tremble for the safety of their defenceless cities. Yet this diversion +had already succeeded in forcing Chosroes to return with loss and +precipitation; and if the skill of Belisarius had been seconded by +discipline and valor, his success might have satisfied the sanguine +wishes of the public, who required at his hands the conquest of +Ctesiphon, and the deliverance of the captives of Antioch. At the end of +the campaign, he was recalled to Constantinople by an ungrateful court, +but the dangers 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 inspire him to achieve against +the enemy. His firm attitude on the banks of the Euphrates restrained +Chosroes from advancing towards Palestine; 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 apprehension 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 warrior who disdained the luxury of the +East. Around his tent, the nations who marched under his standard were +arranged with skilful confusion. The Thracians and Illyrians were posted +in the front, the Heruli and Goths in the centre; the prospect was +closed by the Moors and Vandals, and their loose array seemed to +multiply their numbers. Their dress was light and 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 intrepidity 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 a 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 valor of the soldiers, can subtract any part of the general's +renown. The second removal of Belisarius from the Persian to the Italian +war revealed the extent of his personal merit, which had corrected or +supplied the want of discipline and courage. Fifteen generals, without +concert or skill, led through the mountains of Armenia an army of thirty +thousand Romans, inattentive to their signals, their ranks, and their +ensigns. Four thousand Persians, intrenched in the camp of Dubis, +vanquished, almost without a combat, this disorderly multitude; their +useless arms were scattered along the road, and their horses sunk under +the fatigue of their rapid flight. But the Arabs of the Roman party +prevailed over their brethren; the Armenians 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 frontier; 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. [64] + +[Footnote 63: In the public history of Procopius, (Persic. l. ii. c. 16, +18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28;) and, with some slight exceptions, +we may reasonably shut our ears against the malevolent whisper of the +Anecdotes, (c. 2, 3, with the Notes, as usual, of Alemannus.)] + +[Footnote 64: The Lazic war, the contest of Rome and Persia on the +Phasis, is tediously spun through many a page of Procopius (Persic. l. +ii. c. 15, 17, 28, 29, 30.) Gothic. (l. iv. c. 7--16) and Agathias, (l. +ii. iii. and iv. p. 55--132, 141.)] + +The extreme length of the Euxine Sea [65] from Constantinople to the +mouth of the Phasis, may be computed as a voyage of nine days, and a +measure 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 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 has suggested the practice, +or at least the idea, of wafting 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 +collects 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 +deposited 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, [66] or Mingrelia, +[67] which, on three sides, is fortified by the Iberian and Armenian +mountains, and whose maritime coast extends about two hundred miles +from the neighborhood 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 and Chosroes; 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 secret +treasures are neglected by the laziness, or concealed by the prudence, +of the Mingrelians. The waters, impregnated with particles of gold, are +carefully strained through sheep-skins or fleeces; but this expedient, +the groundwork 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 Argonauts. [68] Tradition has affirmed, with +some color of reason, that Egypt planted on the Phasis a learned and +polite colony, [69] which manufactured linen, built navies, and invented +geographical maps. The ingenuity of the moderns has peopled, with +flourishing cities and nations, the isthmus between the Euxine and the +Caspian; [70] and a lively writer, observing the resemblance of climate, +and, in his apprehension, of trade, has not hesitated to pronounce +Colchos the Holland of antiquity. [71] + +[Footnote 65: The Periplus, or circumnavigation of the Euxine Sea, was +described in Latin by Sallust, and in Greek by Arrian: I. The former +work, which no longer exists, has been restored by the singular +diligence of M. de Brosses, first president of the parliament of Dijon, +(Hist. de la Republique Romaine, tom. ii. l. iii. p. 199--298,) who +ventures to assume the character of the Roman historian. His description +of the Euxine is ingeniously formed of all the fragments of the +original, and of all 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 Periplus of Arrian is addressed to the +emperor Hadrian, (in Geograph. Minor. Hudson, tom. i.,) and contains +whatever the governor of Pontus had seen from Trebizond to Dioscurias; +whatever he had heard from Dioscurias to the Danube; and whatever he +knew from the Danube to Trebizond.] + +[Footnote 66: Besides the many occasional hints from the poets, +historians &c., of antiquity, we may consult the geographical +descriptions of Colchos, by Strabo (l. xi. p. 760--765) and Pliny, +(Hist. Natur. vi. 5, 19, &c.)] + +[Footnote 67: I shall quote, and have used, three modern descriptions +of Mingrelia and the adjacent countries. 1. Of the Pere Archangeli +Lamberti, (Relations de Thevenot, part i. p. 31-52, with a map,) who +has all the knowledge and prejudices of a missionary. 2. Of Chardia, +(Voyages en Perse, tom. 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 Peyssonel, (Observations sur +les Peuples Barbares, p. 49, 50, 51, 58 62, 64, 65, 71, &c., and a more +recent treatise, Sur le Commerce de la Mer Noire, tom. ii. p. 1--53.) +He had long resided at Caffa, as consul of France; and his erudition is +less valuable than his experience.] + +[Footnote 68: Pliny, Hist. Natur. l. xxxiii. 15. The gold and silver +mines of Colchos attracted the Argonauts, (Strab. l. i. p. 77.) The +sagacious Chardin could find no gold in mines, rivers, or elsewhere. +Yet a Mingrelian lost his hand and foot for showing some specimens at +Constantinople of native gold] + +[Footnote 69: Herodot. l. ii. c. 104, 105, p. 150, 151. Diodor. Sicul. +l. i. p. 33, edit. Wesseling. Dionys. Perieget. 689, and Eustath. ad +loc. Schohast ad Apollonium Argonaut. l. iv. 282-291.] + +[Footnote 70: Montesquieu, Esprit des Loix, l. xxi. c. 6. L'Isthme... +couvero de villes et nations qui ne sont plus.] + +[Footnote 71: Bougainville, Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, +tom. xxvi. p. 33, on the African voyage of Hanno and the commerce of +antiquity.] + +But the riches of Colchos shine only through the darkness of conjecture +or tradition; and its genuine history presents a uniform scene of +rudeness and poverty. If one hundred and thirty languages were spoken in +the market of Dioscurias, [72] they were the imperfect idioms of so many +savage tribes or families, sequestered from each other in the valleys of +Mount Caucasus; and their separation, which diminished the importance, +must have multiplied the number, of their rustic capitals. In the +present state of Mingrelia, a village is an assemblage of huts within +a wooden fence; the fortresses are seated in the depths of forests; the +princely town of Cyta, or Cotatis, consists of two hundred houses, and a +stone edifice appertains only to the magnificence of kings. Twelve ships +from Constantinople, and about sixty barks, laden with the fruits of +industry, annually cast anchor on the coast; and the list of Colchian +exports is much increased, since the natives had only slaves and hides +to offer in exchange for the corn and salt which they purchased 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 footsteps of the Argonauts; and even the +marks of an Egyptian colony are lost on a nearer approach. The rite of +circumcision is practised only by the Mahometans of the Euxine; and the +curled hair and swarthy complexion of Africa 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 beauty in the shape of the limbs, the color +of the skin, the symmetry of the features, and the expression of the +countenance. [73] 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 Caucasus 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 exportation of twelve thousand slaves. The number of prisoners or +criminals would be inadequate 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 +continually replenished by the abuse of civil and paternal authority. +Such a trade, [74] which reduces the human species to the level of +cattle, may tend to encourage marriage and population, since the +multitude of children enriches their sordid and inhuman parent. But this +source of impure wealth must inevitably poison the national manners, +obliterate the sense of honor and virtue, and almost extinguish the +instincts of nature: the Christians of Georgia and Mingrelia are the +most dissolute of mankind; and their children, who, in a tender age, are +sold into foreign slavery, have already learned to imitate the rapine +of the father and the prostitution of the mother. Yet, amidst the rudest +ignorance, the untaught natives discover a singular dexterity both of +mind and hand; and although the want of union and discipline exposes +them to their more powerful neighbors, a bold and intrepid spirit has +animated 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 disdained to walk; +the martial nobles are possessed, perhaps, 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; and the authority of the sovereign is only restrained 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 as composed of two hundred +thousand soldiers, or that the population of Mingrelia now amounts to +four millions of inhabitants. [75] + +[Footnote 72: A Greek historian, Timosthenes, had affirmed, in eam +ccc. nationes dissimilibus linguis descendere; and the modest Pliny +is content to add, et postea a nostris cxxx. interpretibus negotia ibi +gesta, (vi. 5) But the words nunc deserta cover a multitude of past +fictions.] + +[Footnote 73: Buffon (Hist. Nat. tom. iii. p. 433--437) collects the +unanimous suffrage of naturalists and travellers. If, in the time +of Herodotus, they were, (and he had observed them with care,) this +precious fact is an example of the influence of climate on a foreign +colony.] + +[Footnote 74: The Mingrelian ambassador arrived at Constantinople with +two hundred persons; but he ate (sold) them day by day, till his retinue +was diminished to a secretary and two valets, (Tavernier, tom. i. p. +365.) To purchase his mistress, a Mingrelian gentleman sold twelve +priests and his wife to the Turks, (Chardin, tom. i. p. 66.)] + +[Footnote 75: Strabo, l. xi. p. 765. Lamberti, Relation de la Mingrelie. +Yet we must avoid the contrary extreme of Chardin, who allows no more +than 20,000 inhabitants to supply an annual exportation of 12,000 +slaves; an absurdity unworthy of that judicious traveller.] + + + + + +Chapter XLII: State Of The Barbaric World.--Part IV. + +It was the boast of the Colchians, that their ancestors had checked +the victories of Sesostris; and the defeat of the Egyptian is less +incredible than his successful progress as far as the foot of Mount +Caucasus. They sunk without 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 +virgins, the fairest produce of the land. [76] Yet he accepted this gift +like the gold and ebony of India, the frankincense of the Arabs, or the +negroes and ivory of Aethiopia: 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. [77] After the fall of the Persian +empire, Mithridates, king of Pontus, added Colchos to the wide circle +of his dominions on the Euxine; and when the natives 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 place. In pursuit of +Mithridates, the Romans advanced to the banks of the Phasis, and their +galleys ascended the river till they reached the camp of Pompey and his +legions. [78] But the senate, and afterwards the emperors, disdained to +reduce that distant and useless conquest into the form of a province. +The family of a Greek rhetorician was permitted to reign in Colchos and +the adjacent kingdoms from the time of Mark Antony to that of Nero; and +after the race of Polemo [79] was extinct, the eastern Pontus, which +preserved his name, extended no farther than the neighborhood of +Trebizond. Beyond these limits the fortifications of Hyssus, of Apsarus, +of the Phasis, of Dioscurias or Sebastopolis, and of Pityus, were +guarded by sufficient detachments of horse and foot; and six princes of +Colchos received their diadems from the lieutenants of Caesar. One of +these lieutenants, the eloquent and philosophic Arrian, surveyed, +and has described, the Euxine coast, under the reign of Hadrian. The +garrison which he reviewed at the mouth of the Phasis consisted of +four hundred chosen legionaries; the brick walls and towers, the double +ditch, and the military engines on the rampart, rendered this place +inaccessible to the Barbarians: but the new suburbs which had been built +by the merchants and veterans, required, in the opinion of Arrian, +some external defence. [80] As the strength of the empire was gradually +impaired, the Romans stationed on the Phasis were neither withdrawn +nor expelled; and the tribe of the Lazi, [81] whose posterity speak a +foreign dialect, and inhabit the sea coast of Trebizond, imposed their +name and dominion on the ancient kingdom of Colchos. Their independence +was soon invaded by a formidable neighbor, who had acquired, by arms +and treaties, the sovereignty of Iberia. The dependent king of Lazica +received his sceptre at the hands of the Persian monarch, and the +successors of Constantine acquiesced in this injurious claim, which was +proudly urged as a right of immemorial prescription. In the beginning of +the sixth century, their influence was restored by the introduction of +Christianity, which the Mingrelians still profess with becoming zeal, +without understanding the doctrines, or observing the precepts, of their +religion. After the decease of his father, Zathus was exalted to the +regal dignity by the favor of the great king; but the pious youth +abhorred the ceremonies of the Magi, and sought, in the palace of +Constantinople, an orthodox baptism, a noble wife, and the alliance of +the emperor Justin. The king of Lazica was solemnly invested with the +diadem, and his cloak and tunic of white silk, with a gold border, +displayed, in rich embroidery, the figure of his new patron; who soothed +the jealousy of the Persian court, and excused the revolt of Colchos, by +the venerable names of hospitality and religion. The common 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 musketeers of Mingrelia. [82] + +[Footnote 76: Herodot. l. iii. c. 97. See, in l. vii. c. 79, their arms +and service in the expedition of Xerxes against Greece.] + +[Footnote 77: Xenophon, who had encountered the Colchians in his +retreat, (Anabasis, l. iv. p. 320, 343, 348, edit. Hutchinson; and +Foster's Dissertation, p. liii.--lviii., in Spelman's English version, +vol. ii.,) styled them. Before the conquest of Mithridates, they are +named by Appian, (de Bell. Mithridatico, c. 15, tom. i. p. 661, of the +last and best edition, by John Schweighaeuser. Lipsae, 1785 8 vols. +largo octavo.)] + +[Footnote 78: The conquest of Colchos by Mithridates and Pompey is +marked by Appian (de Bell. Mithridat.) and Plutarch, (in Vit. Pomp.)] + +[Footnote 79: We may trace the rise and fall of the family of Polemo, in +Strabo, (l. xi. p. 755, l. xii. p. 867,) Dion Cassius, or Xiphilin, (p. +588, 593, 601, 719, 754, 915, 946, edit. Reimar,) Suetonius, (in Neron. +c. 18, in Vespasian, c. 8,) Eutropius, (vii. 14,) Josephus, (Antiq. +Judaic. l. xx. c. 7, p. 970, edit. Havercamp,) and Eusebius, (Chron. +with Scaliger, Animadvers. p. 196.)] + +[Footnote 80: In the time of Procopius, there were no Roman forts on +the Phasis. Pityus and Sebastopolis were evacuated on the rumor of the +Persians, (Goth. l. iv. c. 4;) but the latter was afterwards restored by +Justinian, (de Edif. l. iv. c. 7.)] + +[Footnote 81: In the time of Pliny, Arrian, and Ptolemy, the Lazi were +a particular tribe on the northern skirts of Colchos, (Cellarius, +Geograph. Antiq. tom. ii. p. 222.) In the age of Justinian, they spread, +or at least reigned, over the whole country. At present, they have +migrated along the coast towards Trebizond, and compose a rude +sea-faring people, with a peculiar language, (Chardin, p. 149. Peyssonel +p. 64.)] + +[Footnote 82: John Malala, Chron. tom. ii. p. 134--137 Theophanes, p. +144. Hist. Miscell. l. xv. p. 103. The fact is authentic, but the +date seems too recent. In speaking of their Persian alliance, the Lazi +contemporaries of Justinian employ the most obsolete words, &c. Could +they belong to a connection which had not been dissolved above twenty +years?] + +But this honorable connection was soon corrupted by the avarice and +ambition of the Romans. Degraded from the rank of allies, the Lazi were +incessantly reminded, by words and actions, of their dependent state. +At the distance of a day's journey beyond the Apsarus, they beheld the +rising fortress of Petra, [83] which commanded the maritime country +to the south of the Phasis. Instead of being protected by the valor, +Colchos was insulted by the licentiousness, 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 +confidence in the justice of an unbeliever. After a private assurance +that their ambassadors should not be delivered to the Romans, they +publicly solicited the friendship and aid of Chosroes. The sagacious +monarch instantly discerned the use and importance of Colchos; 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. +[84] His ambition was fired by the hope of launching a Persian navy from +the Phasis, of commanding the trade and navigation of the Euxine Sea, of +desolating the coast of Pontus and Bithynia, of distressing, perhaps of +attacking, Constantinople, and of persuading the Barbarians of Europe to +second his arms and counsels against the common enemy of mankind. + +Under the pretence of a Scythian war, he silently led his troops to the +frontiers of Iberia; the Colchian guides were prepared to conduct them +through the woods and along the precipices of Mount Caucasus; and a +narrow path was laboriously formed into a safe and spacious highway, for +the march of cavalry, and even of elephants. Gubazes laid his person +and diadem at the feet of the king of Persia; his Colchians imitated +the submission of their prince; and after the walls of Petra had been +shaken, the Roman 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 intolerable than the +calamities which they strove to escape. The monopoly of salt and corn +was effectually removed by the loss of those valuable commodities. +The authority of a Roman legislator, was succeeded by the pride of an +Oriental despot, 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 Colchos by the zeal +of the Magi: their intolerant spirit provoked the fervor of a Christian +people; and the prejudice of nature or education was wounded by the +impious practice of exposing the dead bodies of their parents, on the +summit of a lofty tower, to the crows and vultures of the air. [85] +Conscious of the increasing hatred, which retarded the execution of +his great designs, the just Nashirvan 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 approaching ruin. Their repentance was accepted at Constantinople +by the prudence, rather than clemency, of Justinian; and he commanded +Dagisteus, with seven thousand Romans, and one thousand of the Zani, +[8511] to expel the Persians from the coast of the Euxine. + +[Footnote 83: The sole vestige of Petra subsists in the writings of +Procopius and Agathias. Most of the towns and castles of Lazica may be +found by comparing their names and position with the map of Mingrelia, +in Lamberti.] + +[Footnote 84: See the amusing letters of Pietro della Valle, the Roman +traveler, (Viaggi, tom. ii. 207, 209, 213, 215, 266, 286, 300, tom. iii. +p. 54, 127.) In the years 1618, 1619, and 1620, he conversed with Shah +Abbas, and strongly encouraged a design which might have united Persia +and Europe against their common enemy the Turk.] + +[Footnote 85: See Herodotus, (l. i. c. 140, p. 69,) who speaks with +diffidence, Larcher, (tom. i. p. 399--401, Notes sur Herodote,) +Procopius, (Persic. l. i. c. 11,) and Agathias, (l. ii. p. 61, 62.) This +practice, agreeable to the Zendavesta, (Hyde, de Relig. Pers. c. 34, p. +414--421,) demonstrates that the burial of the Persian kings, (Xenophon, +Cyropaed. l. viii. p. 658,) is a Greek fiction, and that their tombs +could be no more than cenotaphs.] + +[Footnote 8511: These seem the same people called Suanians, p. 328.--M.] + +The siege of Petra, which the Roman general, with the aid of the Lazi, +immediately undertook, is one of the most remarkable actions of the +age. The city was seated on a craggy rock, which hung over the sea, +and communicated by a steep and narrow path with the land. Since the +approach was difficult, the attack might be deemed impossible: the +Persian conqueror 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 defensive arms, sufficient for five times the +number, not only of the garrison, but of the besiegers 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 liquor 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 valor of fifteen hundred Persians, +who resisted the assaults of the Romans, whilst, in a softer vein of +earth, a mine was secretly perforated. The wall, supported by slender +and temporary props, hung tottering in the air; but Dagisteus delayed +the attack till he had secured a specific recompense; and the town was +relieved before the return of his messenger from Constantinople. The +Persian garrison 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 concealed their losses from the +enemy, by enduring, without a murmur, the sight and putrefying stench +of the dead bodies of their eleven hundred 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 timber; and a fresh garrison of three thousand men +was stationed at Petra to sustain the labors of a second siege. The +operations, both of the attack and defence, were conducted with skilful +obstinacy; and each party derived useful lessons from the experience of +their past faults. A battering-ram was invented, of light construction +and powerful effect: it was transported and worked by the hands of forty +soldiers; 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 dangerously annoyed by a fiery composition of sulphur and +bitumen, which in Colchos might with some propriety be named the oil +of Medea. Of six thousand Romans who mounted the scaling-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 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 thousand three +hundred survived to defend the breach. One thousand and seventy were +destroyed with fire and sword in the last assault; and if seven hundred +and thirty were made prisoners, only eighteen among them were found +without the marks of honorable wounds. 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 valor 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. A Spartan would have praised and pitied +the virtue of these heroic slaves; but the tedious warfare and alternate +success of the Roman and Persian arms cannot detain the attention of +posterity at the foot of Mount Caucasus. 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 Scythian +allies, and above three thousand Dilemites, who descended by their free +choice from the hills of Hyrcania, and were equally formidable in close +or in distant combat. The siege of Archaeopolis, a name imposed or +corrupted by the Greeks, was raised with some loss and precipitation; +but the Persians occupied the passes of Iberia: Colchos was enslaved by +their 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 unknown; and the independent leaders, +who were invested with equal power, disputed with each other the +preeminence 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 valor 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 terror to the enemy, and a just confidence to the troops, who, +under his banners, were always successful. After his death, the command +devolved to Nacoragan, a proud satrap, who, in a conference with the +Imperial chiefs, had presumed to declare that he disposed of victory +as absolutely as of the ring on his finger. Such presumption was the +natural cause and forerunner 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 flight of Nacoragan preceded or +followed the slaughter of ten 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 unfortunate +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. [86] Yet the prudence +of Chosroes 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 sustained the most rigorous trials. +He patiently endured the hardships of a savage life, and rejected with +disdain, the specious temptations of the Persian court. [8611] The king +of the Lazi had been educated in the Christian religion; his mother was +the daughter of a senator; during his youth he had served ten years a +silentiary of the Byzantine palace, [87] and the arrears of an unpaid +salary were a motive of attachment 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 ruinous war, had spared +his enemies and trampled on his allies. Their malicious information +persuaded the emperor that his faithless vassal already meditated +a second defection: an order was surprised to send him prisoner to +Constantinople; a treacherous clause was inserted, that he might be +lawfully killed in case of resistance; and Gubazes, without arms, +or suspicion of danger, was stabbed in the security of a friendly +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 solicitous to absolve his own name +from the imputation of so foul a murder. A judge of senatorial 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. [88] + +[Footnote 86: The punishment of flaying alive could not be introduced +into Persia by Sapor, (Brisson, de Regn. Pers. l. ii. p. 578,) nor could +it be copied from the foolish tale of Marsyas, the Phrygian piper, most +foolishly quoted as a precedent by Agathias, (l. iv. p. 132, 133.)] + +[Footnote 8611: According to Agathias, the death of Gubazos preceded the +defeat of Nacoragan. The trial took place after the battle.--M.] + +[Footnote 87: In the palace of Constantinople there were thirty +silentiaries, who were styled hastati, ante fores cubiculi, an honorable +title which conferred the rank, without imposing the duties, of a +senator, (Cod. Theodos. l. vi. tit. 23. Gothofred. Comment. tom. ii. p. +129.)] + +[Footnote 88: On these judicial orations, Agathias (l. iii. p. 81-89, l. +iv. p. 108--119) lavishes eighteen or twenty pages of false and florid +rhetoric. His ignorance or carelessness overlooks the strongest argument +against the king of Lazica--his former revolt. * Note: The Orations in +the third book of Agathias are not judicial, nor delivered before the +Roman tribunal: it is a deliberative debate among the Colchians on +the expediency of adhering to the Roman, or embracing the Persian +alliance.--M.] + +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 of a safe and honorable treaty. During the fiercest hostilities, +the two monarchs entertained a deceitful negotiation; and such was the +superiority of Chosroes, that whilst he treated the Roman ministers with +insolence and contempt, he obtained the most unprecedented honors +for 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 over the West, with the pale and +reflected splendor 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 march of +the ambassador: two satraps with golden diadems were numbered among his +followers: he was guarded by five hundred horse, the most valiant of the +Persians; and the Roman governor of Dara wisely refused to admit more +than twenty of this martial and hostile caravan. When Isdigune had +saluted the emperor, 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 ambassador, without spies or guards, was +allowed to visit the capital; and the freedom of conversation and +trade enjoyed by his domestics, offended the prejudices of an age which +rigorously practised the law of nations, without confidence or courtesy. +[89] By an unexampled indulgence, his interpreter, a servant below the +notice of a Roman magistrate, was seated, at the table of Justinian, +by the side of his master: and one thousand pounds of gold might be +assigned for the expense of his journey and entertainment. Yet the +repeated labors of Isdigune could procure 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 +elapsed before Justinian and Chosroes were compelled, by mutual +lassitude, to consult the repose 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 languages, 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 provided to prevent or determine the accidental +disputes that might arise on the confines of two hostile nations. After +twenty years of destructive though feeble war, the limits still remained +without alteration; and Chosroes was persuaded to renounce his dangerous +claim to the possession or sovereignty of Colchos and its dependent +states. Rich in the accumulated treasures 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 applied 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 ambitious spirit of the Barbarian. +"You are mistaken," replied the modest Persian: "the king of kings, the +lord of mankind, looks down with contempt on such petty acquisitions; +and of the ten nations, vanquished by his invincible arms, he esteems +the Romans as the least formidable." [90] According to the Orientals, +the empire of Nushirvan extended from Ferganah, in Transoxiana, to +Yemen or Arabia Faelix. He subdued the rebels of Hyrcania, reduced the +provinces of Cabul and Zablestan on the banks of the Indus, broke the +power of the Euthalites, terminated by an honorable 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 humbly presented at the foot of his throne; and he +condescended to accept from the king of India ten quintals of the wood +of aloes, a maid seven cubits in height, and a carpet softer than silk, +the skin, as it was reported, of an extraordinary serpent. [91] + +[Footnote 89: Procopius represents the practice of the Gothic court of +Ravenna (Goth. l. i. c. 7;) and foreign ambassadors have been treated +with the same jealousy and rigor in Turkey, (Busbequius, epist. iii. p. +149, 242, &c.,) Russia, (Voyage D'Olearius,) and China, (Narrative of A. +de Lange, in Bell's Travels, vol. ii. p. 189--311.)] + +[Footnote 90: The negotiations and treaties between Justinian and +Chosroes are copiously explained by Procopius, (Persie, l. ii. c. 10, +13, 26, 27, 28. Gothic. l. ii. c. 11, 15,) Agathias, (l. iv. p. 141, +142,) and Menander, (in Excerpt. Legat. p. 132--147.) Consult Barbeyrac, +Hist. des Anciens Traites, tom. ii. p. 154, 181--184, 193--200.] + +[Footnote 91: D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 680, 681, 294, 295.] + +Justinian had been reproached for his alliance with the Aethiopians, as +if he attempted to introduce a people of savage negroes into the system +of civilized society. But the friends of the Roman empire, the Axumites, +or Abyssinians, may be always distinguished from the original natives of +Africa. [92] The hand of nature has flattened the noses of the negroes, +covered 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 +nation above the level of African barbarism: [93] their intercourse +with Egypt, and the successors of Constantine, [94] had communicated the +rudiments of the arts and sciences; their vessels traded to the Isle of +Ceylon, [95] and seven kingdoms obeyed the Negus or supreme prince of +Abyssinia. The independence of the Homerites, [9511] who reigned in the +rich and happy Arabia, was first violated by an Aethiopian conqueror: he +drew his hereditary claim from the queen of Sheba, [96] and his ambition +was sanctified by religious zeal. The Jews, powerful and active in +exile, had seduced the mind of Dunaan, prince of the Homerites. They +urged him to retaliate the persecution inflicted by the Imperial laws +on their unfortunate brethren: some Roman merchants were injuriously +treated; and several Christians of Negra [97] were honored with the +crown of martyrdom. [98] The churches of Arabia implored the protection +of the Abyssinian monarch. The Negus passed 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 sequestered region of myrrh and frankincense. The conqueror +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 of 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 ambassadors, was named by the emperor to execute this important +commission. He wisely declined 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 capital, according to his +report, was large and populous; and the village of Axume is still +conspicuous by the regal coronations, by the ruins of a Christian +temple, and by sixteen or seventeen obelisks inscribed with Grecian +characters. [99] But the Negus [9911] gave audience in the open field, +seated on a lofty chariot, which was drawn by four elephants, superbly +caparisoned, and surrounded 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, although 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, denounced implacable war against +the worshipers of fire. But the proposal of the silk trade was eluded; +and notwithstanding the assurances, and perhaps the wishes, of the +Abyssinians, these hostile menaces evaporated without effect. The +Homerites were unwilling to abandon 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 enlarging his conquests, the king of Aethiopia was incapable of +defending his possessions. Abrahah, [9912] the slave of a Roman merchant +of Adulis, assumed the sceptre of the Homerites,; the troops of Africa +were seduced by the luxury of the climate; and Justinian solicited +the friendship of the usurper, who honored with a slight tribute the +supremacy of his prince. After a long series of prosperity, the power of +Abrahah was overthrown before the gates of Mecca; and his children were +despoiled by the Persian conqueror; and the Aethiopians 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 Roman +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. +[100] [1001] + +[Footnote 92: See Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. iii. p. 449. This +Arab cast of features and complexion, which has continued 3400 years +(Ludolph. Hist. et Comment. Aethiopic. l. i. c. 4) in the colony of +Abyssinia, will justify the suspicion, that race, as well as climate, +must have contributed to form the negroes of the adjacent and similar +regions. * Note: Mr. Salt (Travels, vol. ii. p. 458) considers them +to be distinct from the Arabs--"in feature, color, habit, and +manners."--M.] + +[Footnote 93: The Portuguese missionaries, Alvarez, (Ramusio, tom. i. +fol. 204, rect. 274, vers.) Bermudez, (Purchas's Pilgrims, vol. ii. l. +v. c. 7, p. 1149--1188,) Lobo, (Relation, &c., par M. le Grand, with +xv. Dissertations, Paris, 1728,) and Tellez (Relations de Thevenot, +part iv.) could only relate of modern Abyssinia what they had seen or +invented. The erudition of Ludolphus, (Hist. Aethiopica, Francofurt, +1681. Commentarius, 1691. Appendix, 1694,) in twenty-five languages, +could add little concerning its ancient history. Yet the fame of Caled, +or Ellisthaeus, the conqueror of Yemen, is celebrated in national songs +and legends.] + +[Footnote 94: The negotiations of Justinian with the Axumites, or +Aethiopians, are recorded by Procopius (Persic. l. i. c. 19, 20) and +John Malala, (tom. ii. p. 163--165, 193--196.) The historian of Antioch +quotes the original narrative of the ambassador Nonnosus, of which +Photius (Bibliot. Cod. iii.) has preserved a curious extract.] + +[Footnote 95: The trade of the Axumites to the coast of India and +Africa, and the Isle of Ceylon, is curiously represented by Cosmas +Indicopleustes, (Topograph. Christian. l. ii. p. 132, 138, 139, 140, l. +xi. p. 338, 339.)] + +[Footnote 9511: It appears by the important inscription discovered +by Mr. Salt at Axoum, and from a law of Constantius, (16th Jan. 356, +inserted in the Theodosian Code, l. 12, c. 12,) that in the middle of +the fourth century of our era the princes of the Axumites joined to +their titles that of king of the Homerites. The conquests which they +made over the Arabs in the sixth century were only a restoration of the +ancient order of things. St. Martin vol. viii. p. 46--M.] + +[Footnote 96: Ludolph. Hist. et Comment. Aethiop. l. ii. c. 3.] + +[Footnote 97: 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. Arabiae, p. 52.)] + +[Footnote 98: The martyrdom of St. Arethas, prince of Negra, and his +three hundred and forty companions, is embellished in the legends of +Metaphrastes and Nicephorus Callistus, copied by Baronius, (A. D 522, +No. 22--66, A.D. 523, No. 16--29,) and refuted with obscure diligence, +by Basnage, (Hist. des Juifs, tom. viii. l. xii. c. ii. p. 333--348,) +who investigates the state of the Jews in Arabia and Aethiopia. * Note: +According to Johannsen, (Hist. Yemanae, Praef. p. 89,) Dunaan (Ds Nowas) +massacred 20,000 Christians, and threw them into a pit, where they were +burned. They are called in the Koran the companions of the pit (socii +foveae.)--M.] + +[Footnote 99: Alvarez (in Ramusio, tom. i. fol. 219, vers. 221, vers.) +saw the flourishing state of Axume in the year 1520--luogomolto buono +e grande. It was ruined in the same century by the Turkish invasion. +No more than 100 houses remain; but the memory of its past greatness is +preserved by the regal coronation, (Ludolph. Hist. et Comment. l. ii. c. +11.) * Note: Lord Valentia's and Mr. Salt's Travels give a high notion +of the ruins of Axum.--M.] + +[Footnote 9911: The Negus is differently called Elesbaan, Elesboas, +Elisthaeus, probably the same name, or rather appellation. See St. +Martin, vol. viii. p. 49.--M.] + +[Footnote 9912: According to the Arabian authorities, (Johannsen, Hist. +Yemanae, p. 94, Bonn, 1828,) Abrahah was an Abyssinian, the rival of +Ariathus, the brother of the Abyssinian king: he surprised and slew +Ariathus, and by his craft appeased the resentment of Nadjash, the +Abyssinian king. Abrahah was a Christian; he built a magnificent church +at Sana, and dissuaded his subjects from their accustomed pilgrimages to +Mecca. The church was defiled, it was supposed, by the Koreishites, and +Abrahah took up arms to revenge himself on the temple at Mecca. He was +repelled by miracle: his elephant would not advance, but knelt down +before the sacred place; Abrahah fled, discomfited and mortally wounded, +to Sana--M.] + +[Footnote 100: The revolutions of Yemen in the sixth century must be +collected from Procopius, (Persic. l. i. c. 19, 20,) Theophanes Byzant., +(apud Phot. cod. lxiii. 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'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orientale, 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, is an historical fact. Note: To the authors +who have illustrated the obscure history of the Jewish and Abyssinian +kingdoms in Homeritis may be added Schultens, Hist. Joctanidarum; Walch, +Historia rerum in Homerite gestarum, in the 4th vol. of the Gottingen +Transactions; Salt's Travels, vol. ii. p. 446, &c.: Sylvestre de Sacy, +vol. i. Acad. des Inscrip. Jost, Geschichte der Israeliter; Johannsen, +Hist. Yemanae; St. Martin's notes to Le Beau, t. vii p. 42.--M.] + +[Footnote 1001: A period of sixty-seven years is assigned by most of the +Arabian authorities to the Abyssinian kingdoms in Homeritis.--M.] + + + + + +Chapter XLIII: Last Victory And Death Of Belisarius, Death Of Justinian.--Part I. + + Rebellions Of Africa.--Restoration Of The Gothic Kingdom By + Totila.--Loss And Recovery Of Rome.--Final Conquest Of Italy + By Narses.--Extinction Of The Ostrogoths.--Defeat Of The + Franks And Alemanni.--Last Victory, Disgrace, And Death Of + Belisarius.--Death And Character Of Justinian.--Comet, + Earthquakes, And Plague. + +The review of the nations from the Danube to the Nile has exposed, on +every side, the weakness of the Romans; and our wonder is reasonably +excited that they should presume to enlarge an empire whose 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 accelerate the +decay of the powers of life. He exulted 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 +accomplished the ruin of those unfortunate countries. + +From his new acquisitions, Justinian expected that his avarice, as +well as pride, should be richly gratified. A rapacious minister of the +finances closely pursued the footsteps of Belisarius; and as the old +registers of tribute had been burnt by the Vandals, he indulged his +fancy in a liberal calculation and arbitrary assessment of the wealth +of Africa. [1] The increase 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 emperor was +insensible to the modest complaints of the people, till he was awakened +and alarmed by the clamors 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 liberality of Justinian had raised them from a savage or +servile condition; that they were already enriched by the spoils of +Africa, the treasure, the slaves, and the movables 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 ultimately depend. The mutiny was secretly +inflamed by a thousand soldiers, for the most part Heruli, who had +imbibed the doctrines, and were instigated by the clergy, of the Arian +sect; and the cause of perjury and rebellion was sanctified by the +dispensing powers of fanaticism. 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 honors of the +Eastern service, forgot their country 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 independence and revolt. While the troops of +the provinces disclaimed the commands of their superiors, a conspiracy +was formed at Carthage against the life of Solomon, who filled with +honor 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 restrained the +daggers of the assassins, but the patience of Solomon emboldened their +discontent; and, at the end of ten days, a furious sedition was kindled +in the Circus, which desolated Africa above ten years. The pillage of +the city, and the indiscriminate slaughter of its inhabitants, were +suspended only by darkness, sleep, and intoxication: the governor, with +seven companions, among whom was the historian Procopius, escaped to +Sicily: two thirds of the army were involved in the guilt of treason; +and eight thousand insurgents, assembling in the field of Bulla, elected +Stoza for their chief, a private soldier, who possessed in a superior +degree the virtues of a rebel. Under 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 encounter them in the field; and the victorious generals were +compelled to acknowledge that Stoza deserved a purer cause, and a more +legitimate command. Vanquished in battle, he dexterously employed the +arts of negotiation; a Roman army was seduced from their allegiance, 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, Stoza, 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 his death. The +personal weight of Belisarius, the rank, the spirit, and the temper, of +Germanus, the emperor's nephew, and the vigor and success of the second +administration of the eunuch Solomon, restored the modesty of the camp, +and maintained for a while the tranquillity of Africa. But the vices +of the Byzantine court were felt in that distant province; the troops +complained that they were neither paid nor relieved, and as soon as the +public disorders were sufficiently mature, Stoza was again alive, in +arms, and at the gates of Carthage. He fell in a single combat, but +he smiled in the agonies of death, when he was informed that his own +javelin had reached the heart of his antagonist. [1001] The example of +Stoza, and the assurance that a fortunate soldier had been the first +king, encouraged 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; [1002] and it is +singular enough, that an Armenian prince, of the royal family of +Arsaces, should reestablish at Carthage the authority of the Roman +empire. In the conspiracy which unsheathed the dagger of Brutus against +the life of Caesar, 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 resentment, were personally +engaged in the revolutions of Africa. [2] + +[Footnote 1: For the troubles of Africa, I neither have nor desire +another guide than Procopius, whose eye contemplated the image, and +whose ear collected the reports, of the memorable events of his own +times. In the second book of the Vandalic war he relates the revolt of +Stoza, (c. 14--24,) the return of Belisarius, (c. 15,) the victory of +Germanus, (c. 16, 17, 18,) the second administration of Solomon, (c. 19, +20, 21,) the government of Sergius, (c. 22, 23,) of Areobindus, (c. +24,) the tyranny and death of Gontharis, (c. 25, 26, 27, 28;) nor can +I discern any symptoms of flattery or malevolence in his various +portraits.] + +[Footnote 1001: Corippus gives a different account of the death of +Stoza; he was transfixed by an arrow from the hand of John, (not the +hero of his poem) who broke desperately through the victorious troops of +the enemy. Stoza repented, says the poet, of his treasonous rebellion, +and anticipated--another Cataline--eternal torments as his punishment. + + Reddam, improba, poenas Quas merui. + Furiis socius Catilina cruentis Exagitatus adest. + Video jam Tartara, fundo Flammarumque globos, et clara incendia volvi. + --Johannidos, book iv. line 211. + +All the other authorities confirm Gibbon's account of the death of John +by the hand of Stoza. This poem of Corippus, unknown to Gibbon, was +first published by Mazzuchelli during the present century, and is +reprinted in the new edition of the Byzantine writers.--M] + +[Footnote 1002: This murder was prompted to the Armenian (according to +Corippus) by Athanasius, (then praefect of Africa.) + + Hunc placidus cana gravitate coegit + Inumitera mactare virum. + --Corripus, vol. iv. p. 237--M.] + +[Footnote 2: Yet I must not refuse him the merit of painting, in +lively colors, 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 stroke, kill me on the spot, lest the rack should extort a +discovery of my accomplices."] + +That country was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence +it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws; and every +step of intestine discord was marked by some deplorable victory of +savage man over civilized society. The Moors, [3] though ignorant of +justice, were impatient of oppression: their vagrant life and boundless +wilderness disappointed the arms, and eluded the chains, of a conqueror; +and experience had shown, 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 despised the pride and luxury of his two +nephews, Cyrus and Sergius, on whom their uncle had imprudently bestowed +the provincial governments of Tripoli and Pentapolis. A Moorish tribe +encamped under the walls of Leptis, to renew their alliance, and receive +from the governor the customary gifts. Fourscore of their deputies were +introduced as friends into the city; but on the dark suspicion of a +conspiracy, they were massacred at the table of Sergius, and the clamor +of arms and revenge was reechoed 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 Antalas the enemy of the +Romans. The defeat of the Vandals had formerly signalized his valor; the +rudiments of justice and prudence were still more conspicuous in a Moor; +and while he laid Adrumetum in ashes, he calmly admonished the emperor +that the peace of Africa might be secured by the recall of Solomon and +his unworthy nephews. The exarch led forth his troops from Carthage: +but, at the distance of six days' journey, in the neighborhood of +Tebeste, [4] he was astonished by the superior numbers 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 brethren. Before we trust them a second time, let us +try their efficacy in the chastisement of perjury and the vindication of +their own honor." Their honor was vindicated in the field of Tebeste, by +the death of Solomon, and the total loss of his army. [411] 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 of their tribes was celebrated +with lavish applause by the people of Constantinople. Successive inroads +had reduced the province of Africa to one third of the measure of Italy; +yet the Roman emperors continued to reign above a century over Carthage +and the fruitful coast of the Mediterranean. But the victories and the +losses of Justinian were alike pernicious to mankind; 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 Vandals had disappeared: they once amounted to a hundred and +sixty thousand warriors, without including the children, the women, or +the slaves. Their numbers were infinitely surpassed by the number of +the Moorish families extirpated in a relentless war; and the same +destruction 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, strenuously exercised in the labors 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 +Constantinople; and the secret historian has confidently affirmed, that +five millions of Africans were consumed by the wars and government of +the emperor Justinian. [5] + +[Footnote 3: The Moorish wars are occasionally introduced into the +narrative of Procopius, (Vandal. l. ii. c. 19--23, 25, 27, 28. Gothic. +l. iv. c. 17;) and Theophanes adds some prosperous and adverse events in +the last years of Justinian.] + +[Footnote 4: Now Tibesh, in the kingdom of Algiers. It is watered by a +river, the Sujerass, which falls into the Mejerda, (Bagradas.) 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 neighboring Bereberes are warlike. It appears from an +inscription, that, under the reign of Adrian, the road from Carthage +to Tebeste was constructed by the third legion, (Marmol, Description de +l'Afrique, tom. ii. p. 442, 443. Shaw's Travels, p. 64, 65, 66.)] + +[Footnote 411: Corripus (Johannidos lib. iii. 417--441) describes the +defeat and death of Solomon.--M.] + +[Footnote 5: Procopius, Anecdot. c. 18. The series of the African +history at tests this melancholy truth.] + +The jealousy of the Byzantine court had not permitted Belisarius to +achieve the conquest of Italy; and his abrupt departure revived the +courage of the Goths, [6] who respected his genius, his virtue, and even +the laudable motive which had urged the servant of Justinian to deceive +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, as long as Pavia +was defended by one thousand Goths, inspired by a sense of honor, the +love of freedom, and the memory of their past greatness. The supreme +command was unanimously offered to the brave Uraias; and it was in his +eyes alone that the disgrace of his uncle Vitiges could appear as +a reason of exclusion. His voice inclined the election in favor of +Hildibald, whose personal merit was recommended by the vain hope that +his kinsman Theudes, 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 declared to the +world that he was incapable of forgiving or commanding his benefactor. +The consort of Hildibald was deeply wounded by the beauty, the riches, +and the pride, of the wife of Uraias; and the death of that virtuous +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, assumed the privilege +of election: and Totila, [611] the nephew of the late king, was tempted, +by revenge, 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 +palace of Pavia had been purified from the Rugian usurper, he reviewed +the national force of five thousand soldiers, and generously undertook +the restoration of the kingdom of Italy. + +[Footnote 6: In the second (c. 30) and third books, (c. 1--40,) +Procopius continues the history of the Gothic war from the fifth to the +fifteenth year of Justinian. As the events are less interesting than +in the former period, he allots only half the space to double the time. +Jornandes, and the Chronicle of Marcellinus, afford some collateral +hints Sigonius, Pagi, Muratori, Mascou, and De Buat, are useful, and +have been used.] + +[Footnote 611: His real name, as appears by medals, was Baduilla, or +Badiula. Totila signifies immortal: tod (in German) is death. Todilas, +deathless. Compare St Martin, vol. ix. p. 37.--M.] + +The successors of Belisarius, eleven generals of equal rank, neglected +to crush the feeble and disunited Goths, till they were roused to action +by the progress of Totila and the reproaches of Justinian. The gates +of Verona were secretly opened to Artabazus, at the head of one hundred +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 number 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. Twenty thousand Romans encountered the forces of Totila, +near Faenza, and on the hills of Mugello, of the Florentine territory. +The ardor of freedmen, who fought to regain their country, was opposed +to the languid temper of mercenary troops, who were even destitute +of the merits of strong and well-disciplined servitude. On the first +attack, they abandoned their ensigns, 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 honor and victory. Totila passed the Po, [6112] 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 the blockade, of Naples. The Roman chiefs, imprisoned in their +respective cities, and accusing each other of the common disgrace, did +not presume to disturb his enterprise. But the emperor, alarmed by the +distress and danger of his Italian conquests, despatched to the relief +of Naples a fleet of galleys and a body of Thracian and Armenian +soldiers. They landed in Sicily, which yielded its copious stores +of provisions; but the delays of the new commander, an unwarlike +magistrate, protracted the sufferings of the besieged; and the succors, +which he dropped 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 dragged, 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 himself, the mercy of +the conqueror. They requested a truce, with a promise of surrendering +the city, if no effectual relief should appear at the end of thirty +days. Instead of one month, the audacious Barbarian granted them three, +in the just confidence that famine would anticipate the term of their +capitulation. After the reduction of Naples and Cumae, the provinces +of Lucania, 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. + +[Footnote 6112: This is not quite correct: he had crossed the Po before +the battle of Faenza.--M.] + +The rapid success of Totila may be partly ascribed to the revolution +which three years' experience had produced in the sentiments of the +Italians. At the command, or at least in the name, of a Catholic +emperor, the pope, [7] their spiritual father, had been torn from the +Roman church, and either starved or murdered on a desolate island. [8] +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 authority for the indulgence of lust or avarice. The +improvement of the revenue was committed to Alexander, a subtle scribe, +long practised in the fraud and oppression of the Byzantine schools, +and whose name of Psalliction, the scissors, [9] was drawn from the +dexterous artifice with which he reduced the size without defacing the +figure, of the gold coin. Instead of expecting the restoration of peace +and industry, he imposed a heavy assessment on the fortunes of the +Italians. Yet his present or future demands were less odious than a +prosecution of arbitrary rigor against the persons and property of all +those who, under the Gothic kings, had been concerned in the receipt and +expenditure 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 inhabitants of +the country to await or implore their deliverance from the virtues of a +Barbarian. Totila [10] 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 pursue their important labors, and to rest assured, +that, on the payment of the ordinary taxes, they should be defended by +his valor and discipline from the injuries of war. The strong towns he +successively attacked; and as soon as they had yielded to his arms, he +demolished the fortifications, to save the people from the calamities +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 honorable +conflict in the field of battle. The Roman captives and deserters were +tempted to enlist in the service of a liberal and courteous adversary; +the slaves were attracted by the firm and faithful promise, that they +should never be delivered to their masters; and from the thousand +warriors of Pavia, a new people, under the same appellation of Goths, +was insensibly formed in the camp of Totila. He sincerely accomplished +the articles of capitulation, without seeking or accepting any sinister +advantage from ambiguous expressions or unforeseen events: the garrison +of Naples had stipulated that they should be transported by sea; the +obstinacy of the winds prevented their voyage, 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 Campania, 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 edict of the famished Neapolitans, the +conqueror assumed the office of a humane and attentive physician. The +virtues of Totila are equally laudable, whether they proceeded from +true policy, religious principle, or the instinct of humanity: he often +harangued his troops; and it was his constant theme, that national vice +and ruin are inseparably connected; that victory is the fruit of moral +as well as military virtue; and that the prince, and even the people, +are responsible for the crimes which they neglect to punish. [Footnote +7: Sylverius, bishop of Rome, was first transported to Patara, in Lycia, +and at length starved (sub eorum custodia inedia confectus) in the Isle +of Palmaria, A.D. 538, June 20, (Liberat. in Breviar. c. 22. Anastasius, +in Sylverio. Baronius, A.D. 540, No. 2, 3. Pagi, in Vit. Pont. tom. i. +p. 285, 286.) Procopius (Anecdot. c. 1) accuses only the empress and +Antonina.] + +[Footnote 8: Palmaria, a small island, opposite to Terracina and the +coast of the Volsci, (Cluver. Ital. Antiq. l. iii. c. 7, p. 1014.)] + +[Footnote 9: As the Logothete Alexander, and most of his civil and +military colleagues, were either disgraced or despised, the ink of the +Anecdotes (c. 4, 5, 18) is scarcely blacker than that of the Gothic +History (l. iii. c. 1, 3, 4, 9, 20, 21, &c.)] + +[Footnote 10: Procopius (l. iii. c. 2, 8, &c.,) 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 +contemplation of Barbaric virtue.] + +The return of Belisarius to save the country which he had subdued, was +pressed with equal vehemence by his friends and enemies; and the Gothic +war was imposed as a trust or an exile on the veteran commander. A 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 +reputation, and retrieving the faults of his successors. The sea was +open to the Romans: the ships and soldiers were assembled at Salona, +near the palace of Diocletian: he refreshed and reviewed his troops at +Pola in Istria, coasted round the head of the Adriatic, 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 emperor, who had suspended for a while +the conquest of Persia, and listened to the prayers of his Italian +subjects. He gently touched on the causes and the authors of the recent +disasters; striving to remove the fear of punishment for the past, and +the hope of impunity for the future, and laboring, with more zeal than +success, to unite all the members of his government in a firm league of +affection and obedience. Justinian, his gracious master, was inclined +to pardon and reward; and it was their interest, as well as duty, to +reclaim their deluded brethren, who had been seduced by the arts of +the usurper. Not a man was tempted to desert the standard of the Gothic +king. Belisarius soon discovered, that he was sent to remain the idle +and impotent spectator of the glory of a young Barbarian; and his own +epistle 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 dismayed; at the sound of an enemy, they dismiss 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 preparations are requisite: without a +military force, the title of general is an empty name. It would be +expedient to restore to my service my own veteran and domestic guards. +Before I can take the field, I must receive an adequate supply of light +and heavy armed troops; and it is only with ready money that you can +procure the indispensable aid of a powerful body of the cavalry of the +Huns." [11] An officer in whom Belisarius confided was sent from Ravenna +to hasten and conduct the succors; but the message was neglected, +and the messenger was detained at Constantinople by an advantageous +marriage. After his patience had been exhausted by delay and +disappointment, the Roman general repassed the Adriatic, 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 Tyber. + +[Footnote 11: Procopius, l. iii. c. 12. The soul of a hero is deeply +impressed on the letter; nor can we confound such genuine and original +acts with the elaborate and often empty speeches of the Byzantine +historians] + +After reducing, by force, or treaty, the towns 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 guarded by the valor, 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 secretly rejoiced in the +continuance of the siege. 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 governor, 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 seven pieces of gold; fifty pieces were given for an ox, +a rare and accidental prize; the progress of famine enhanced this +exorbitant value, and the mercenaries were tempted to deprive themselves +of the allowance which was scarcely 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 reduced 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 emaciated, their bodies +oppressed with disease, and their minds with despair, surrounded the +palace of the governor, urged, with unavailing truth, that it was the +duty of a master to maintain his slaves, and humbly requested that he +would provide for their subsistence, to permit their flight, or command +their immediate execution. Bessas replied, with unfeeling tranquillity, +that it was impossible to feed, unsafe to dismiss, and unlawful to kill, +the subjects of the emperor. Yet the example of a private citizen might +have shown his countrymen that a tyrant cannot withhold the privilege of +death. Pierced by the cries of five children, who vainly 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 Tyber, and, +covering his face, threw himself headlong into the stream, in +the presence of his family and the Roman people. To the rich and +pusillammous, Bessas [12] sold the permission of departure; but the +greatest part of the fugitives expired on the public highways, or were +intercepted by the flying parties of Barbarians. In the mean while, 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 +the port; and, without numbering his forces, they firmly relied on the +humanity, the courage, and the skill of their great deliverer. + +[Footnote 12: The avarice of Bessas is not dissembled by Procopius, (l. +iii. c. 17, 20.) He expiated the loss of Rome by the glorious conquest +of Petraea, (Goth. l. iv. c. 12;) but the same vices followed him from +the Tyber to the Phasis, (c. 13;) and the historian is equally true +to the merits and defects of his character. The chastisement which the +author of the romance of Belisaire has inflicted on the oppressor of +Rome is more agreeable to justice than to history.] + + + + + +Chapter XLIII: Last Victory And Death Of Belisarius, Death OF Justinian.--Part II. + +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 missile weapons and engines of +offence. The approach of the bridge and towers was covered by a strong +and massy chain of iron; and the chain, at either end, on the opposite +sides of the Tyber, was defended by a numerous and chosen detachment of +archers. But the enterprise of forcing these barriers, and relieving +the capital, displays a shining example of the boldness 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 a high rampart 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 contained a magazine of fire, +sulphur, and bitumen. The whole fleet, which the general led in person, +was laboriously moved against the current of the river. The chain +yielded to their weight, 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 consumed by the flames; the +assailants shouted victory; and Rome was saved, if the wisdom of +Belisarius had not been defeated by the misconduct 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 command, to the station of the port. But avarice rendered +Bessas immovable; while the youthful ardor of Isaac delivered him into +the hands of a superior enemy. The exaggerated rumor 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 harbor which he possessed 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 imbittered the national hatred: the Arian +clergy was ignominiously driven from Rome; Pelagius, the archdeacon, +returned without success from an embassy to the Gothic camp; and a +Sicilian bishop, the envoy or nuncio of the pope, was deprived of both +his hands, for daring to utter falsehoods in the service of the church +and state. + +Famine had relaxed the strength and discipline of the garrison of Rome. +They could derive no 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 coldness and suspicion; they +returned in safety; they twice repeated their visit; the place was twice +examined; the conspiracy was known and disregarded; and no sooner had +Totila consented to the attempt, than they unbarred 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 patricians, who +were still possessed of horses, Decius, Basilius, &c. accompanied the +governor; their brethren, among whom Olybrius, Orestes, and Maximus, are +named by the historian, took refuge in the church of St. Peter: but +the assertion, that only five hundred persons remained in the capital, +inspires some doubt of the fidelity either of his narrative or of his +text. As soon as daylight had displayed the entire victory of the Goths, +their monarch devoutly visited the tomb of the prince of the apostles; +but while he prayed at the altar, twenty-five soldiers, and sixty +citizens, were put to the sword in the vestibule of the temple. The +archdeacon Pelagius [13] stood before him, with the Gospels in his hand. +"O Lord, be merciful to your servant." "Pelagius," said Totila, with an +insulting smile, "your pride now condescends to become a suppliant." "I +am a suppliant," replied the prudent archdeacon; "God has now made us +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 labored with so much guilt and shame for the +benefit of the conqueror. In this revolution, the sons and daughters +of Roman consuls lasted the misery which they had spurned or relieved, +wandered in tattered garments through the streets of the city and +begged their bread, perhaps without success, before the gates of their +hereditary mansions. The riches of Rusticiana, the daughter of Symmachus +and widow of Boethius, had been generously devoted to alleviate the +calamities of famine. But the Barbarians were exasperated by the report, +that she had prompted the people to overthrow the statues of the +great Theodoric; and the life of that venerable 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 congratulate 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 honors were justly forfeited to the companions of his arms. Yet he +consented to forgive their revolt; and the senators repaid his clemency +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 obedience 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 demolished +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 temperate 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 delight of the +living; and Totila was persuaded, by the advice of an enemy, to preserve +Rome as the 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 twenty furlongs, to observe the motions of the Roman +general. With the remainder of his forces he marched into Lucania and +Apulia, and occupied on the summit of Mount Garganus [14] one of the +camps of Hannibal. [15] The senators were dragged in his train, and +afterwards confined in the fortresses of Campania: the citizens, with +their wives and children, were dispersed in exile; and during forty days +Rome was abandoned to desolate and dreary solitude. [16] + +[Footnote 13: 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 655) by the pope Pelagius, who was not thought guiltless of the +sufferings of his predecessor. See the original lives of the popes under +the name of Anastasius, (Muratori, Script. Rer. Italicarum, tom. iii. P. +i. p. 130, 131,) who relates several curious incidents of the sieges of +Rome and the wars of Italy.] + +[Footnote 14: Mount Garganus, now Monte St. Angelo, in the kingdom of +Naples, runs three hundred stadia into the Adriatic Sea, (Strab.--vi. +p. 436,) 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, had seen the elms and oaks of Garganus laboring and +bellowing with the north wind that blew on that lofty coast, (Carm. ii. +9, Epist. ii. i. 201.)] + +[Footnote 15: I cannot ascertain this particular camp of Hannibal; but +the Punic quarters were long and often in the neighborhood of Arpi, (T. +Liv. xxii. 9, 12, xxiv. 3, &c.)] + +[Footnote 16: Totila.... Romam ingreditur.... ac evertit muros, domos +aliquantas igni comburens, ac omnes Romanorum res in praedam ac +cepit, hos ipsos Romanos in Campaniam captivos abduxit. Post quam +devastationem, xl. autamp lius dies, Roma fuit ita desolata, ut nemo +ibi hominum, nisi (nulloe?) bestiae morarentur, (Marcellin. in Chron. p. +54.)] + +The loss of Rome was speedily retrieved by an action, to which, +according to the event, the public opinion would apply the names of +rashness or heroism. After the departure of Totila, 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 summoned 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 repaired with rude and dissimilar materials; the ditch was +restored; iron spikes [17] were profusely scattered in the highways to +annoy the feet of the 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 returned by +hasty marches from Apulia to avenge the injury and disgrace. Belisarius +expected 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 performed 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, perhaps the impotence, of a prince who despised his enemies, +and envied his servants, protracted the calamities of Italy. After a +long silence, Belisarius was commanded to leave a sufficient garrison +at Rome, and to transport himself into the province of Lucania, whose +inhabitants, inflamed by Catholic zeal, had cast away the yoke of their +Arian conquerors. In this ignoble warfare, the hero, invincible against +the power of the Barbarians, was basely vanquished by the delay, the +disobedience, and the cowardice of his own officers. He reposed in his +winter quarters of Crotona, in the full assurance, that the two passes +of the Lucanian hills were guarded by his cavalry. They were betrayed by +treachery or weakness; and the rapid march of the Goths scarcely allowed +time for the escape of Belisarius to the coast of Sicily. At length a +fleet and army were assembled for the relief of Ruscianum, or Rossano, +[18] 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 +defended 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 +languish, inglorious and inactive, till Antonina, who had been sent +to Constantinople to solicit succors, obtained, after the death of the +empress, the permission of his return. + +[Footnote 17: The tribuli are small engines with four spikes, one fixed +in the ground, the three others erect or adverse, (Procopius, Gothic. +l. iii. c. 24. Just. Lipsius, Poliorcetwv, l. v. c. 3.) The metaphor +was borrowed from the tribuli, (land-caltrops,) an herb with a prickly +fruit, commex in Italy. (Martin, ad Virgil. Georgic. i. 153 vol. ii. p. +33.)] + +[Footnote 18: Ruscia, the navale Thuriorum, was transferred to the +distance of sixty stadia to Ruscianum, Rossano, an archbishopric without +suffragans. The republic of Sybaris is now the estate of the duke +of Corigliano. (Riedesel, Travels into Magna Graecia and Sicily, p. +166--171.)] + +The five last campaigns of Belisarius might abate the envy of his +competitors, whose eyes had been dazzled and wounded by the blaze of +his former glory. Instead of delivering Italy from the Goths, he had +wandered like a fugitive along the coast, without daring to march into +the country, or to accept the bold and repeated challenge of Totila. +Yet, in the judgment of the few who could discriminate counsels from +events, and compare the instruments with the execution, he appeared +a more consummate master of the art of war, than in the season of his +prosperity, when he presented two captive kings before the throne of +Justinian. The valor of Belisarius was not chilled by age: his prudence +was matured by experience; but the moral virtues of humanity and justice +seem to have yielded to the hard necessity 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 empire; and the rigorous prosecution of +Herodian provoked that injured or guilty officer to deliver Spoleto into +the hands of the enemy. The avarice of Antonina, which had been some +times 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 honor for the public service, without +applying a part of the spoil to his private emolument. The hero had +escaped the sword of the Barbarians. But the dagger of conspiracy [19] +awaited his return. In the midst of wealth and honors, 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 impediment of his previous marriage was asserted +by the piety of Theodora. The pride of royal descent was 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 +conspirators 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 fidelity; and they justly +dreaded the revenge, or rather the 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: Artaban and his accomplices were +condemned by the senate, but the extreme clemency of Justinian 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 remembered, and who was endeared to his prince by the recent +circumstances 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 patricians respectfully yielded the precedency +of rank to the peerless merit of the first of the Romans. [20] The +first of the Romans still submitted to be the slave of his wife; but the +servitude of habit and affection became less disgraceful when the death +of Theodora had removed 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, [21] +whose kind interposition forwarded the consummation of their youthful +loves. But the power of Theodora expired, the parents of Joannina +returned, and her honor, 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. [22] + +[Footnote 19: This conspiracy is related by Procopius (Gothic. l. +iii. c. 31, 32) with such freedom and candor, that the liberty of the +Anecdotes gives him nothing to add.] + +[Footnote 20: The honors of Belisarius are gladly commemorated by his +secretary, (Procop. Goth. l. iii. c. 35, l. iv. c. 21.) This title is +ill translated, at least in this instance, by praefectus praetorio; and +to a military character, magister militum is more proper and applicable, +(Ducange, Gloss. Graec. p. 1458, 1459.)] + +[Footnote 21: Alemannus, (ad Hist. Arcanum, p. 68,) Ducange, (Familiae +Byzant. p. 98,) and Heineccius, (Hist. Juris Civilis, p. 434,) all three +represent Anastasius as the son of the daughter of Theodora; and their +opinion firmly reposes on the unambiguous testimony of Procopius, +(Anecdot. c. 4, 5,--twice repeated.) And yet I will remark, 1. That +in the year 547, Theodora could sarcely 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.] + +[Footnote 22: The sins of the hero in Italy and after his return, are +manifested, and most probably swelled, by the author of the Anecdotes, +(c. 4, 5.) The designs of Antonina were favored by the fluctuating +jurisprudence of Justinian. On the law of marriage and divorce, that +emperor was trocho versatilior, (Heineccius, Element Juris Civil. ad +Ordinem Pandect. P. iv. No. 233.)] + +Before the departure of Belisarius, Perusia was besieged, and few cities +were impregnable to the Gothic arms. Ravenna, Ancona, and Crotona, still +resisted the Barbarians; and when Totila asked in marriage one of the +daughters of France, he was stung by the just reproach that the king of +Italy was unworthy of his title till it was acknowledged by the Roman +people. Three thousand of the bravest soldiers had been left to +defend the capital. On the suspicion of a monopoly, they massacred 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 Diogenes) +deserved their esteem and confidence; and the Goths, instead of finding +an easy conquest, encountered a vigorous resistance from the soldiers +and people, who patiently endured the loss of the port and of all +maritime supplies. The siege of Rome would perhaps have been raised, +if the liberality of Totila to the Isaurians had not encouraged some of +their venal 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 into the city; and the +flying garrison was intercepted before they could reach the harbor 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 enlisting in the service of +Totila; their chiefs, who pleaded a laudable attachment to their wives +and children in the East, were dismissed with honor; 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, [23] 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 Rhegium +and Tarentum 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 number 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. +[24] The Goths were landed in Corcyra and the ancient continent of +Epirus; they advanced as far as Nicopolis, the trophy of Augustus, and +Dodona, [25] once famous by the oracle of Jove. In every step of his +victories, the wise Barbarian repeated to Justinian the desire of peace, +applauded the concord of their predecessors, and offered to employ the +Gothic arms in the service of the empire. + +[Footnote 23: The Romans were still attached to the monuments of their +ancestors; and according to Procopius, (Goth. l. iv. c. 22,) the gallery +of Aeneas, of a single rank of oars, 25 feet in breadth, 120 in length, +was preserved entire in the navalia, near Monte Testaceo, at the foot of +the Aventine, (Nardini, Roma Antica, l. vii. c. 9, p. 466. Donatus, Rom +Antiqua, l. iv. c. 13, p. 334) But all antiquity is ignorant of relic.] + +[Footnote 24: In these seas Procopius searched without success for the +Isle of Calypso. He was shown, at Phaeacia, or Cocyra, the petrified +ship of Ulysses, (Odyss. xiii. 163;) but he found it a recent fabric of +many stones, dedicated by a merchant to Jupiter Cassius, (l. iv. c. 22.) +Eustathius had supposed it to be the fanciful likeness of a rock.] + +[Footnote 25: M. D'Anville (Memoires de l'Acad. tom. xxxii. p. 513--528) +illustrates the Gulf of Ambracia; but he cannot ascertain the situation +of Dodona. A country in sight of Italy is less known than the wilds of +America. Note: On the site of Dodona compare Walpole's Travels in the +East, vol. ii. p. 473; Col. Leake's Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 163; +and a dissertation by the present bishop of Lichfield (Dr. Butler) in +the appendix to Hughes's Travels, vol. i. p. 511.--M.] + +Justinian was deaf to the voice of peace: but he neglected the +prosecution of war; and the indolence of his temper disappointed, in +some degree, the obstinacy of his passions. From this salutary slumber +the emperor was awakened by the pope Vigilius and the patrician +Cethegus, who appeared before his throne, and adjured him, in the name +of God and the people, to resume the conquest and deliverance of Italy. +In the choice of the generals, caprice, as well as judgment, was shown. +A fleet and army sailed for the relief of Sicily, under the conduct of +Liberius; but his youth [2511] 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 honors; in the pious +presumption, that gratitude would animate his valor and fortify his +allegiance. Belisarius reposed in the shade of his laurels, but the +command of the principal army was reserved for Germanus, [26] the +emperor's nephew, whose rank and merit had been long depressed by the +jealousy of the court. Theodora had injured him in the rights of a +private citizen, the marriage 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 refused to prostitute his name and character in the factions +of the circus: the gravity of his manners was tempered by innocent +cheerfulness; and his riches were lent without interest to indigent or +deserving friends. His valor 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 abandon, on his approach, +the standard of Totila. His second marriage with Malasontha, the +granddaughter of Theodoric endeared Germanus to the Goths themselves; +and they marched with reluctance against the father of a royal infant +the last offspring of the line of Amali. [27] A splendid allowance was +assigned by the emperor: the general contribute his private fortune: his +two sons were popular and active and he surpassed, in the promptitude +and success 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. [2711] The Romans advanced to Sardica; an +army of Sclavonians fled before their march; but within two days of +their final departure, the designs of Germanus were terminated by his +malady and death. Yet the impulse which he had given to the Italian +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 Adriatic. 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 escaped from this unfortunate conflict. +They affected 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. [28] + +[Footnote 2511: This is a singular mistake. Gibbon must have hastily +caught at his inexperience, and concluded that it must have been from +youth. Lord Mahon has pointed out this error, p. 401. I should add that +in the last 4to. edition, corrected by Gibbon, it stands "want of +youth and experience;"--but Gibbon can scarcely have intended such a +phrase.--M.] + +[Footnote 26: See the acts of Germanus in the public (Vandal. l. ii, c. +16, 17, 18 Goth. l. iii. c. 31, 32) and private history, (Anecdot. c. +5,) and those of his son Justin, in Agathias, (l. iv. p. 130, 131.) +Notwithstanding an ambiguous expression of Jornandes, fratri suo, +Alemannus has proved that he was the son of the emperor's brother.] + +[Footnote 27: Conjuncta Aniciorum gens cum Amala stirpe spem adhuc utii +usque generis promittit, (Jornandes, c. 60, p. 703.) He wrote at Ravenna +before the death of Totila] + +[Footnote 2711: See note 31, p. 268.--M.] + +[Footnote 28: The third book of Procopius is terminated by the death of +Germanus, (Add. l. iv. c. 23, 24, 25, 26.)] + +After the loss of Germanus, the nations were provoked to smile, by the +strange intelligence, that the command of the Roman armies was given to +a eunuch. But the eunuch Narses [29] is ranked among the few who have +rescued that unhappy name from the contempt and hatred of mankind. A +feeble, diminutive body concealed the soul of a statesman and a warrior. +His youth had been employed in the management of the loom and distaff, +in the cares of the household, and the service of female luxury; but +while his hands were busy, he secretly exercised the faculties of a +vigorous and discerning mind. A stranger to the schools and the camp, he +studied in the palace to dissemble, 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. [30] 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 Belisarius. Twelve years after his return, the eunuch was +chosen to achieve the conquest which had been left imperfect by the +first of the Roman 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 favorite what he might have +denied to the hero: the Gothic war was rekindled from its ashes, and the +preparations were not unworthy of the ancient majesty of the 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 arrears +of pay, and to tempt the fidelity of the fugitives and deserters. The +troops of Germanus 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 [31] satisfied or surpassed the obligations of a treaty, by +lending two thousand two hundred of his bravest warriors, [3111] who were +followed by three thousand of their martial 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. Dagistheus was released from +prison to command the Huns; and Kobad, the grandson and nephew of +the great king, was conspicuous by the regal tiara at the head of his +faithful Persians, who had devoted themselves to the fortunes of their +prince. [32] Absolute in the exercise of his authority, more absolute in +the affection of his troops, Narses led a numerous and gallant army from +Philippopolis to Salona, from whence he coasted the eastern side of the +Adriatic as far as the confines of Italy. His progress was checked. The +East could not supply vessels capable of transporting such multitudes of +men and horses. The Franks, who, in the general confusion, had usurped +the greater 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 skilful commander +had overspread the adjacent country with the fall of woods and the +inundation of waters. [33] 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 seashore, while the fleet +preceded their march, and successively cast a bridge of boats over the +mouths of the rivers, the Timavus, the Brenta, the Adige, and the +Po, that fall into the Adriatic to the north of Ravenna. Nine days he +reposed in the city, collected the fragments of the Italian army, and +marching towards Rimini to meet the defiance of an insulting enemy. + +[Footnote 29: Procopius relates the whole series of this second Gothic +war and the victory of Narses, (l. 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 by Belisarius and by Narses, +(Hayley's Works, vol. iv. p. 70.)] + +[Footnote 30: The country of Narses is unknown, since he must not be +confounded with the Persarmenian. Procopius styles him (see Goth. l. ii. +c. 13); Paul Warnefrid, (l. ii. c. 3, p. 776,) Chartularius: Marcellinus +adds the name of Cubicularius. In an inscription on the Salarian bridge +he is entitled Ex-consul, Ex-praepositus, Cubiculi Patricius, (Mascou, +Hist. of the Germans, (l. xiii. c. 25.) The law of Theodosius against +ennuchs was obsolete or abolished, Annotation xx.,) but the foolish +prophecy of the Romans subsisted in full vigor, (Procop. l. iv. c. 21.) +* Note: Lord Mahon supposes them both to have been Persarmenians. Note, +p. 256.--M.] + +[Footnote 31: Paul Warnefrid, the Lombard, records with complacency the +succor, service, and honorable dismission of his countrymen--reipublicae +Romanae adversus aemulos adjutores fuerant, (l. ii. c. i. p. 774, edit. +Grot.) I am surprised that Alboin, their martial king, did not lead +his subjects in person. * Note: The Lombards were still at war with the +Gepidae. See Procop. Goth. lib. iv. p. 25.--M.] + +[Footnote 3111: Gibbon has blindly followed the translation of Maltretus: +Bis mille ducentos--while the original Greek says expressly something +else, (Goth. lib. iv. c. 26.) In like manner, (p. 266,) he draws +volunteers from Germany, on the authority of Cousin, who, in one place, +has mistaken Germanus for Germania. Yet only a few pages further we find +Gibbon loudly condemning the French and Latin readers of Procopius. Lord +Mahon, p. 403. The first of these errors remains uncorrected in the new +edition of the Byzantines.--M.] + +[Footnote 32: He was, if not an impostor, the son of the blind Zames, +saved by compassion, and educated in the Byzantine court by the various +motives of policy, pride, and generosity, (Procop. Persic. l. i. c. +23.)] + +[Footnote 33: In the time of Augustus, and in the middle ages, the +whole waste from Aquileia to Ravenna was covered with woods, lakes, and +morasses. Man has subdued nature, and the land has been cultivated since +the waters are confined and embanked. See the learned researches of +Muratori, (Antiquitat. Italiae Medii Aevi. tom. i. dissert xxi. p. +253, 254,) from Vitruvius, Strabo, Herodian, old charters, and local +knowledge.] + + + + + +Chapter XLIII: Last Victory And Death Of Belisarius, Death Of Justinian.--Part III. + +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 ardor 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 +garrison of Rimini, traversed in a direct line the hills of Urbino, and +reentered the Flaminian way, nine miles beyond the perforated rock, +an obstacle of art and nature which might have stopped or retarded his +progress. [34] The Goths were assembled in the neighborhood of Rome, +they advanced without delay to seek a superior enemy, and the two armies +approached each other at the distance of one hundred furlongs, between +Tagina [35] and the sepulchres of the Gauls. [36] The haughty message +of Narses was an offer, not of peace, but of pardon. The answer of the +Gothic king declared his resolution 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 valor 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. From his proper station at the head of the right +wing, the eunuch rode along the line, expressing by his voice and +countenance the assurance 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 necessary +food, without unloosing the cuirass from their breast, or the bridle +from their horses. Narses awaited the charge; and it was delayed by +Totila till he had received his last succors of two thousand Goths. +While he consumed the hours in fruitless treaty, the king exhibited in +a narrow space the strength and agility of a warrior. His armor 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 succors had arrived, he retired to his tent, assumed the dress +and arms of a private soldier, and gave the signal of a battle. The +first line of cavalry advanced with more courage than discretion, and +left behind them the infantry of the second line. They were soon engaged +between the horns of a crescent, into which the adverse wings had been +insensibly curved, and were saluted from either side by the volleys of +four thousand archers. Their ardor, and even their distress, drove them +forwards to a close and unequal conflict, in which they could only use +their lances against an enemy equally skilled in all the instruments +of war. A generous emulation inspired the Romans 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 broken; and +the line of infantry, instead of presenting 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," [3611] cried a loyal +voice, and Asbad struck his lance through the body of Totila. The blow +was instantly revenged by the faithful Goths: they transported their +dying monarch seven miles beyond the scene of his disgrace; and his +last moments were not imbittered by the presence of an enemy. Compassion +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. [37] + +[Footnote 34: The Flaminian way, as it is corrected from the +Itineraries, and the best modern maps, by D'Anville, (Analyse de +l'Italie, p. 147--162,) may be thus stated: Rome to Narni, 51 Roman +miles; Terni, 57; Spoleto, 75; Foligno, 88; Nocera, 103; Cagli, 142; +Intercisa, 157; Fossombrone, 160; Fano, 176; Pesaro, 184; Rimini, +208--about 189 English miles. He takes no notice of the death of Totila; +but West selling (Itinerar. p. 614) exchanges, for the field of Taginas, +the unknown appellation of Ptanias, eight miles from Nocera.] + +[Footnote 35: Taginae, or rather Tadinae, is mentioned by Pliny; but the +bishopric of that obscure town, a mile from Gualdo, in the plain, was +united, in the year 1007, with that of Nocera. The signs of antiquity +are preserved in the local appellations, Fossato, the camp; Capraia, +Caprea; Bastia, Busta Gallorum. See Cluverius, (Italia Antiqua, l. ii. +c. 6, p. 615, 616, 617,) Lucas Holstenius, (Annotat. ad Cluver. p. 85, +86,) Guazzesi, (Dissertat. p. 177--217, a professed inquiry,) and the +maps of the ecclesiastical state and the march of Ancona, by Le Maire +and Magini.] + +[Footnote 36: 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. Liv. x. 28, 29.) Procopius +ascribes to Camillus the victory of the Busta Gallorum; and his error is +branded by Cluverius with the national reproach of Graecorum nugamenta.] + +[Footnote 3611: "Dog, wilt thou strike thy Lord?" was the more +characteristic exclamation of the Gothic youth. Procop. lib. iv. p. +32.--M.] + +[Footnote 37: Theophanes, Chron. p. 193. Hist. Miscell. l. xvi. p. 108.] + +As soon as Narses had paid his devotions to the Author of victory, and +the blessed Virgin, his peculiar patroness, [38] he praised, rewarded, +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 each of his lieutenants, a real or a feigned attack, +while he silently marked the place of easy and unguarded entrance. +Neither the fortifications of Hadrian'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 five times +taken and recovered. [39] But the deliverance of Rome was the last +calamity of the Roman people. The Barbarian allies of Narses too +frequently confounded the privileges of peace and war. The despair of +the flying Goths found some consolation in sanguinary revenge; and three +hundred youths of the noblest families, who had been sent as hostages +beyond the Po, were inhumanly slain by the successor of Totila. The +fate of the senate suggests an awful lesson of the vicissitude of human +affairs. Of the senators whom Totila had banished from their country, +some were rescued by an officer of Belisarius, 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 +indigence and exile: the victory of Narses revived their hopes; but +their premature return to the metropolis was prevented by the furious +Goths; and all the fortresses of Campania were stained with patrician +[40] blood. After a period of thirteen centuries, the institution of +Romulus 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! [41] + +[Footnote 38: Evagrius, l. iv. c. 24. The inspiration of the Virgin +revealed to Narses the day, and the word, of battle, (Paul Diacon. l. +ii. c. 3, p. 776)] + +[Footnote 39: (Procop. Goth. lib. iv. p. 33.) +In the year 536 by Belisarius, in 546 by Totila, in 547 by Belisarius, +in 549 by Totila, and in 552 by Narses. Maltretus had inadvertently +translated sextum; a mistake which he afterwards retracts; out the +mischief was done; and Cousin, with a train of French and Latin readers, +have fallen into the snare.] + +[Footnote 40: Compare two passages of Procopius, (l. iii. c. 26, l. +iv. c. 24,) which, with some collateral hints from Marcellinus and +Jornandes, illustrate the state of the expiring senate.] + +[Footnote 41: See, in the example of Prusias, as it is delivered in the +fragments of Polybius, (Excerpt. Legat. xcvii. p. 927, 928,) a curious +picture of a royal slave.] + +The Gothic war was yet alive. The bravest of the nation retired beyond +the Po; and Teias was unanimously chosen to succeed and revenge their +departed hero. The new king immediately sent ambassadors to implore, or +rather to purchase, the aid of the Franks, and nobly lavished, for the +public safety, the riches which had been deposited in the palace of +Pavia. The residue of the royal treasure was guarded by his brother +Aligern, at Cumaea, 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, [42] 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 reluctant 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. [43] But the Goths soon embraced a more generous resolution: +to descend the hill, to dismiss their horses, and to die in arms, and +in the possession of freedom. 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 foremost of the assailants; with the other he +received the weapons which every hand was ambitious 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 nations 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 +darkness descended on the earth. They reposed on their arms. The combat +was renewed with the return of light, and maintained with unabated vigor +till the evening of the second day. The repose of a second night, the +want of water, and the loss of their bravest champions, determined the +surviving Goths 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. [44] Yet the oath of fidelity or exile was alike +rejected by one thousand Goths, who broke away before the treaty was +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 armor and breast of his antagonist; +and his military conduct defended Cumae [45] above a year against the +forces of the Romans. + +Their industry had scooped the Sibyl's cave [46] into a prodigious mine; +combustible materials were introduced to consume the temporary props: +the wall and the gate of Cumae sunk into 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 honorable 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 cities of Italy; Lucca +sustained a long and vigorous siege: and such was the humanity or the +prudence of Narses, that the repeated perfidy of the inhabitants could +not provoke him to exact the forfeit lives of their hostages. These +hostages were dismissed in safety; and their grateful zeal at length +subdued the obstinacy of their countrymen. [47] + +[Footnote 42: The item of Procopius (Goth. l. iv. c. 35) is evidently +the Sarnus. The text is accused or altered by the rash violence of +Cluverius (l. iv. c. 3. p. 1156:) but Camillo Pellegrini of Naples +(Discorsi sopra 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 Draconcello.] + +[Footnote 43: Galen (de Method. Medendi, l. v. apud Cluver. l. iv. c. +3, p. 1159, 1160) describes the lofty site, pure air, and rich milk, of +Mount Lactarius, whose medicinal benefits were equally known and sought +in the time of Symmachus (l. vi. epist. 18) and Cassiodorus, (Var. xi. +10.) Nothing is now left except the name of the town of Lettere.] + +[Footnote 44: Buat (tom. xi. p. 2, &c.) conveys to his favorite Bavaria +this remnant of Goths, who by others are buried in the mountains of Uri, +or restored to their native isle of Gothland, (Mascou, Annot. xxi.)] + +[Footnote 45: I leave Scaliger (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. l. v. p. 372, +Velleius Paterculus, l. i. c. 4,) already vacant in Juvenal's time, +(Satir. iii.,) and now in ruins.] + +[Footnote 46: Agathias (l. i. c. 21) settles the Sibyl's cave under the +wall of Cumae: he agrees with Servius, (ad. l. vi. Aeneid.;) nor can I +perceive why their opinion should be rejected by Heyne, the excellent +editor of Virgil, (tom. ii. p. 650, 651.) In urbe media secreta religio! +But Cumae was not yet built; and the lines (l. vi. 96, 97) would become +ridiculous, if Aeneas were actually in a Greek city.] + +[Footnote 47: There is some difficulty in connecting the 35th chapter +of the fourth book of the Gothic war of Procopius with the first book +of the history of Agathias. We must now relinquish the statesman and +soldier, to attend the footsteps of a poet and rhetorician, (l. i. p. +11, l. ii. p. 51, edit. Lonvre.)] + +Before Lucca had surrendered, Italy was overwhelmed by a new deluge of +Barbarians. A feeble youth, the grandson of Clovis, reigned over the +Austrasians or oriental Franks. The guardians of Theodebald entertained +with coldness and reluctance the magnificent promises of the Gothic +ambassadors. But the spirit of a martial people outstripped the timid +counsels of the court: two brothers, Lothaire and Buccelin, [48] the +dukes of the Alemanni, stood forth as the leaders of the Italian war; +and seventy-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 conceived that personal bravery was the sole duty +and merit of a commander. As he marched without order or precaution +along the Aemilian way, an ambuscade of Franks suddenly rose from the +amphitheatre of Parma; his troops were surprised and routed; but their +leader refused to fly; declaring to the last moment, that death was +less terrible than the angry countenance of Narses. [4811] The death +of Fulcaris, and the retreat of the surviving chiefs, decided 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 general. The conqueror of Italy +opened a free passage to the irresistible torrent of Barbarians. They +passed under the walls of Cesena, and answered by threats and reproaches +the advice of Aligern, [4812] that the Gothic treasures could no longer +repay the labor of an invasion. Two thousand Franks were destroyed by +the skill and valor of Narses himself, who sailed from Rimini at the +head of three hundred horse, to chastise the licentious rapine of their +march. On the confines of Samnium the two brothers divided their forces. +With the right wing, Buccelin assumed the spoil of Campania, Lucania, +and Bruttium; with the left, Lothaire accepted the plunder of Apulia and +Calabria. They followed the coast of the Mediterranean and the Adriatic, +as far as Rhegium and Otranto, and the extreme lands of Italy were the +term of their destructive progress. 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 Alamanni, who sacrificed horses' heads +to their native deities of the woods and rivers; [49] they melted or +profaned the consecrated vessels, and 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 kingdom; the latter, after a promise to his brother of speedy +succors, returned by the same road to deposit his treasure beyond the +Alps. The strength of their armies was already wasted by the change of +climate and contagion of disease: the Germans revelled in the vintage of +Italy; and their own intemperance avenged, in some degree, the miseries +of a defenceless people. [4911] + +[Footnote 48: Among the fabulous exploits of Buccelin, he discomfited +and slew Belisarius, subdued Italy and Sicily, &c. See in the Historians +of France, Gregory of Tours, (tom. ii. l. iii. c. 32, p. 203,) and +Aimoin, (tom. iii. l. ii. de Gestis Francorum, c. 23, p. 59.)] + +[Footnote 4811:.... Agathius.] + +[Footnote 4812: Aligern, after the surrender of Cumae, had been sent to +Cesent by Narses. Agathias.--M.] + +[Footnote 49: Agathias notices their superstition in a philosophic tone, +(l. i. p. 18.) At Zug, in Switzerland, idolatry still prevailed in +the year 613: St. Columban and St. Gaul were the apostles of that rude +country; and the latter founded a hermitage, which has swelled into an +ecclesiastical principality and a populous city, the seat of freedom and +commerce.] + +[Footnote 4911: A body of Lothaire's troops was defeated near Fano, some +were driven down precipices into the sea, others fled to the camp; +many prisoners seized the opportunity of making their escape; and +the Barbarians lost most of their booty in their precipitate retreat. +Agathias.--M.] + +At the entrance of the spring, the Imperial troops, who had guarded +the cities, assembled, to the number of eighteen thousand men, in +the neighborhood of Rome. Their winter hours 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 Franks and Alamanni, 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 wagons, whose +wheels were buried in the earth. He impatiently expected the return of +Lothaire; ignorant, alas! that his brother could never return, and that +the chief and his army had been swept away by a strange disease [50] on +the banks of the Lake Benacus, between Trent and Verona. The banners +of Narses soon approached the Vulturnus, and the eyes of Italy were +anxiously fixed on the event of this final contest. Perhaps 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 +important day, when the ranks were already formed, a servant, for some +trivial fault, was killed by his master, one of the leaders of the +Heruli. The justice or passion of Narses was awakened: he summoned the +offender to his presence, and without listening 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 felt the indignity; +they halted: but the Roman general, 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 honor of +the victory. His troops were disposed [51] in a long 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 into the fatal snare, and +directed his wings of cavalry insensibly to wheel on their flanks and +encompass their rear. The host of the Franks and Alamanni consisted +of infantry: a sword and buckler hung by their side; and they used, as +their weapons of offence, a weighty hatchet and a hooked javelin, which +were only formidable in close combat, or at a short distance. The flower +of the Roman archers, on horseback, and in complete armor, skirmished +without peril round this immovable phalanx; supplied by active speed +the deficiency of number; 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 moment 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 superior valor; and their example excited the victorious troops to +achieve with swords and spears the destruction of the enemy. Buccelin, +and 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, [52] which no more than five +of the Alamanni survived, could be purchased with the loss of fourscore +Romans. Seven thousand Goths, the relics 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 ignorance or vanity of the Greeks. [53] After the +battle of Casilinum, Narses entered the capital; the arms and treasures +of the Goths, the Franks, and the Alamanni, 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. + +[Footnote 50: See the death of Lothaire in Agathias (l. ii. p. 38) and +Paul Warnefrid, surnamed Diaconus, (l. ii. c. 3, 775.) The Greek makes +him rave and tear his flesh. He had plundered churches.] + +[Footnote 51: Pere Daniel (Hist. de la Milice Francoise, tom. i. p. +17--21) has exhibited a fanciful representation of this battle, somewhat +in the manner of the Chevalier Folard, the once famous editor of +Polybius, who fashioned to his own habits and opinions all the military +operations of antiquity.] + +[Footnote 52: Agathias (l. ii. p. 47) has produced a Greek epigram of +six lines on this victory of Narses, which a favorably compared to the +battles of Marathon and Plataea. The chief difference is indeed in +their consequences--so trivial in the former instance--so permanent and +glorious in the latter. Note: Not in the epigram, but in the previous +observations--M.] + +[Footnote 53: The Beroia and Brincas of Theophanes or his transcriber +(p. 201) must be read or understood Verona and Brixia.] + +After a reign of sixty years, the throne of the Gothic kings was filled +by the exarchs of Ravenna, the representatives in peace and war of the +emperor of the Romans. Their jurisdiction 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 honors of envy, calumny, +and disgrace: but the favorite eunuch still enjoyed the confidence of +Justinian; or the leader of a victorious army awed and repressed the +ingratitude of a timid court. Yet it was not by weak and mischievous +indulgence that Narses secured the attachment of his troops. Forgetful +of the past, and regardless 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. [54] +In a manly oration, not unworthy of a Roman censor, the eunuch reproved +these disorderly vices, which sullied their fame, and endangered their +safety. The soldiers blushed and obeyed; discipline was confirmed; the +fortifications were restored; a duke was stationed for the defence and +military command of each of the principal cities; [55] and the eye +of Narses pervaded the ample prospect from Calabria 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 struggle, their Italian conquests; and the +rebellious Sinbal, chief of the Heruli, was subdued, taken and hung on +a lofty gallows by the inflexible justice of the exarch. [56] The civil +state of Italy, after the agitation of a long tempest, was fixed by a +pragmatic sanction, which the emperor promulgated at the request of the +pope. Justinian introduced his own jurisprudence into the schools +and tribunals of the West; he ratified the acts of Theodoric and his +immediate successors, but every deed was rescinded and abolished which +force had extorted, or fear had subscribed, under the usurpation 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 approaching, +without obstacle, the throne of Constantinople: the regulation of +weights and measures was delegated to the pope and senate; and the +salaries of lawyers and physicians, of orators and grammarians, were +destined to preserve, or rekindle, the light of science in the ancient +capital. Justinian might dictate benevolent edicts, [57] and Narses +might second his wishes by the restoration of cities, and more +especially of churches. But the power of kings is most effectual to +destroy; and the twenty years of the Gothic war had consummated the +distress and depopulation of Italy. As early as the fourth campaign, +under the discipline of Belisarius himself, fifty thousand laborers +died of hunger [58] in the narrow region of Picenum; [59] and a strict +interpretation of the evidence of Procopius would swell the loss of +Italy above the total sum of her present inhabitants. [60] + +[Footnote 54: (Agathias, l. ii. 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.] + +[Footnote 55: Maffei has proved, (Verona Illustrata. P. i. l. x. p. +257, 289,) against the common opinion, that the dukes of Italy were +instituted before the conquest of the Lombards, by Narses himself. +In the Pragmatic Sanction, (No. 23,) Justinian restrains the judices +militares.] + +[Footnote 56: See Paulus Diaconus, liii. c. 2, p. 776. Menander in +(Excerp Legat. p. 133) mentions some risings in Italy by the Franks, and +Theophanes (p. 201) hints at some Gothic rebellions.] + +[Footnote 57: The Pragmatic Sanction of Justinian, which restores and +regulates the civil state of Italy, consists of xxvii. articles: it is +dated August 15, A.D. 554; is addressed to Narses, V. J. Praepositus +Sacri Cubiculi, and to Antiochus, Praefectus Praetorio Italiae; and has +been preserved by Julian Antecessor, and in the Corpus Juris Civilis, +after the novels and edicts of Justinian, Justin, and Tiberius.] + +[Footnote 58: A still greater number was consumed by famine in the +southern provinces, without the Ionian Gulf. Acorns were used in the +place of bread. Procopius 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. * Note: Denina +considers that greater evil was inflicted upon Italy by the Urocian +conquest than by any other invasion. Reveluz. d' Italia, t. i. l. v. p. +247.--M.] + +[Footnote 59: Quinta regio Piceni est; quondam uberrimae multitudinis, +ccclx. millia Picentium in fidem P. R. venere, (Plin. Hist. Natur. +iii. 18.) In the time of Vespasian, this ancient population was already +diminished.] + +[Footnote 60: Perhaps fifteen or sixteen millions. Procopius (Anecdot. +c. 18) computes that Africa lost five millions, that Italy was thrice as +extensive, and that the depopulation was in a larger proportion. But his +reckoning is inflamed by passion, and clouded with uncertainty.] + +I desire to believe, but I dare not affirm, that Belisarius sincerely +rejoiced in the triumph of Narses. Yet the consciousness of his own +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 capital. The Barbarians, who annually +visited the provinces of Europe, were less discouraged by some +accidental defeats, than they were excited 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 standard was followed by a promiscuous multitude of Sclavonians. +[6011] 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 thousand horse to the long wall, which should +have defended the territory of Constantinople. But the works of man are +impotent against the assaults of nature: a recent earthquake had shaken +the foundations of the wall; and the forces of the empire were employed +on the distant frontiers of Italy, Africa, and Persia. The seven +schools, [61] 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 Armenians were insensibly supplied by lazy citizens, who +purchased an exemption from the duties of civil life, without being +exposed to the dangers of military service. Of such soldiers, 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 report of the fugitives exaggerated the numbers +and fierceness of an enemy, who had polluted holy virgins, and abandoned +new-born infants to the dogs and vultures; a crowd of rustics, imploring +food and protection, increased the consternation of the city, and the +tents of Zabergan were pitched at the distance of twenty miles, [62] on +the banks of a small river, which encircles Melanthias, and afterwards +falls into the Propontis. [63] 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 vigor of his youth. By his command the vessels +of gold and silver were removed from the churches in the neighborhood, +and even the suburbs, of Constantinople; the ramparts were lined with +trembling spectators; the golden gate was crowded with useless generals +and tribunes, and the senate shared the fatigues and the apprehensions +of the populace. + +[Footnote 6011: Zabergan was king of the Cutrigours, a tribe of Huns, +who were neither Bulgarians nor Sclavonians. St. Martin, vol. ix. p. +408--420.--M] + +[Footnote 61: In the decay of these military schools, the satire +of Procopius (Anecdot. c. 24, Aleman. p. 102, 103) is confirmed and +illustrated by Agathias, (l. v. p. 159,) who cannot be rejected as a +hostile witness.] + +[Footnote 62: The distance from Constantinople to Melanthias, Villa +Caesariana, (Ammian. Marcellin. xxx. 11,) is variously fixed at 102 or +140 stadia, (Suidas, tom. ii. p. 522, 523. Agathias, l. v. p. 158,) +or xviii. or xix. miles, (Itineraria, p. 138, 230, 323, 332, and +Wesseling's Observations.) The first xii. miles, as far as Rhegium, 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.)] + +[Footnote 63: The Atyras, (Pompon. Mela, l. 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. l. iv. c. 2. Itinerar. p. 570, +and Wesseling.)] + +But the eyes of the prince and people were directed to a feeble veteran, +who was compelled by the public danger to resume the armor in which he +had entered Carthage and defended Rome. The horses of the royal stables, +of private citizens, and even of the circus, were hastily collected; the +emulation of the old and young was roused by the name of Belisarius, +and his first encampment was in the presence of a victorious enemy. His +prudence, and the labor of the friendly peasants, secured, with a ditch +and rampart, the repose of the night; innumerable fires, and clouds of +dust, were artfully contrived to magnify the opinion of his strength; +his soldiers suddenly passed from despondency to presumption; and, +while ten thousand voices demanded the battle, Belisarius dissembled his +knowledge, that in the hour of trial he must depend on the firmness of +three hundred veterans. The next morning the Bulgarian cavalry advanced +to the charge. But they heard the shouts of multitudes, they beheld the +arms and discipline of the front; they were assaulted on the flanks by +two ambuscades which rose from the woods; their foremost warriors fell +by the hand of the aged hero and his guards; and the swiftness of their +evolutions was rendered useless by the close attack and rapid pursuit of +the Romans. In this action (so speedy was their flight) the Bulgarians +lost only four hundred horse; but Constantinople 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 achieve the deliverance of his country. +On his return to the city, the people, still conscious of their danger, +accompanied his triumph with acclamations of joy and gratitude, which +were imputed as a crime to the victorious general. But when he entered +the palace, the courtiers were silent, and the emperor, after a cold and +thankless embrace, 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 encouraged 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 attempts 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 Danube to intercept his passage. The danger +was soon forgotten; and a vain question, whether their sovereign had +shown more wisdom or weakness, amused the idleness of the city. [64] + +[Footnote 64: The Bulgarian war, and the last victory of Belisarius, are +imperfectly represented in the prolix declamation of Agathias. (l. 5, p. +154-174,) and the dry Chronicle of Theophanes, (p. 197 198.)] + + + + +Chapter XLIII: Last Victory And Death Of Belisarius, Death Of Justinian.--Part IV. + +About two years after the last victory of Belisarius, the emperor +returned from a Thracian journey of health, or business, or devotion. +Justinian was afflicted by a pain in his head; and his private entry +countenanced the rumor of his death. Before the third hour of the day, +the bakers' shops were plundered of their bread, the houses were shut, +and every citizen, with hope or terror, prepared for the impending +tumult. The senators themselves, fearful and suspicious, were convened +at the ninth hour; and the praefect received their commands to visit +every quarter of the city, and proclaim a general illumination for +the recovery of the emperor's health. The ferment subsided; but every +accident betrayed the impotence of the government, and the factious +temper of the people: the guards were disposed to mutiny as often 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 +Persian ambassador, Justinian blushed for himself and for his subjects. +Capricious pardon and arbitrary punishment imbittered the irksomeness +and discontent of a long reign: a conspiracy was formed in the palace; +and, unless we are deceived by the names of Marcellus and Sergius, the +most virtuous and the most profligate of the courtiers were associated +in the same designs. They had fixed the time of the execution; their +rank gave them access to the royal banquet; and their black slaves [65] +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 accomplice saved the poor remnant of the days of +Justinian. The conspirators were detected and seized, with daggers +hidden under their garments: Marcellus died by his own hand, and Sergius +was dragged from the sanctuary. [66] Pressed by remorse, or tempted +by the hopes of safety, he accused two officers of the household of +Belisarius; and torture forced them to declare that they had acted +according to the secret instructions of their patron. [67] Posterity +will not hastily believe that a hero who, in the vigor of life, had +disdained the fairest offers 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 supported by +rebellion, and he had lived enough for nature and for glory. Belisarius +appeared before the council with less fear than indignation: after forty +years' service, the emperor had prejudged 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 December to July, he was guarded as a prisoner in his own +palace. At length his innocence was acknowledged; his freedom and honor +were restored; and death, which might be hastened by resentment and +grief, removed him from the world in about eight months after his +deliverance. The name of Belisarius can never die but instead of the +funeral, the monuments, the statues, so justly due to his memory, I +only read, that his treasures, the spoil of the Goths and Vandals, +were immediately confiscated by the emperor. Some decent portion was +reserved, however for the use of his widow: and as Antonina had much +to repent, she devoted the last remains of her life and fortune to the +foundation of a convent. Such is the simple and genuine narrative of the +fall of Belisarius and the ingratitude of Justinian. [68] That he was +deprived of his eyes, and reduced by envy to beg his bread, [6811] "Give +a penny to Belisarius the general!" is a fiction of later times, [69] +which has obtained credit, or rather favor, as a strange example of the +vicissitudes of fortune. [70] + +[Footnote 65: They could scarcely be real Indians; and the Aethiopians, +sometimes known by that name, were never used by the ancients as guards +or followers: they were the trifling, though costly objects of female +and royal luxury, (Terent. Eunuch. act. i. scene ii Sueton. in August. +c. 83, with a good note of Casaubon, in Caligula, c. 57.)] + +[Footnote 66: The Sergius (Vandal. l. ii. c. 21, 22, Anecdot. c. 5) +and Marcellus (Goth. l. iii. c. 32) are mentioned by Procopius. See +Theophanes, p. 197, 201. * Note: Some words, "the acts of," or "the +crimes cf," appear to have false from the text. The omission is in all +the editions I have consulted.--M.] + +[Footnote 67: Alemannus, (p. quotes an old Byzantian Ms., which has been +printed in the Imperium Orientale of Banduri.)] + +[Footnote 68: Of the disgrace and restoration of Belisarius, the genuine +original record is preserved in the Fragment of John Malala (tom. ii. p. +234--243) and the exact Chronicle of Theophanes, (p. 194--204.) Cedrenus +(Compend. p. 387, 388) and Zonaras (tom. ii. l. xiv. p. 69) seem to +hesitate between the obsolete truth and the growing falsehood.] + +[Footnote 6811: Le Beau, following Allemannus, conceives that Belisarius +was confounded with John of Cappadocia, who was thus reduced to beggary, +(vol. ix. p. 58, 449.) Lord Mahon has, with considerable learning, +and on the authority of a yet unquoted writer of the eleventh century, +endeavored to reestablish the old tradition. I cannot acknowledge that +I have been convinced, and am inclined to subscribe to the theory of Le +Beau.--M.] + +[Footnote 69: The source of this idle fable may be derived from a +miscellaneous work of the xiith century, the Chiliads of John Tzetzes, +a monk, (Basil. 1546, ad calcem Lycophront. Colon. Allobrog. 1614, in +Corp. Poet. Graec.) He relates the blindness and beggary of Belisarius +in ten vulgar or political verses, (Chiliad iii. No. 88, 339--348, in +Corp. Poet. Graec. tom. ii. p. 311.) This moral or romantic tale +was imported into Italy with the language and manuscripts of Greece; +repeated before the end of the xvth century by Crinitus, Pontanus, and +Volaterranus, attacked by Alciat, for the honor of the law; and defended +by Baronius, (A.D. 561, No. 2, &c.,) for the honor 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. * Note: +I know not where Gibbon found Tzetzes to be a monk; I suppose he +considered his bad verses a proof of his monachism. Compare to Gerbelius +in Kiesling's edition of Tzetzes.--M.] + +[Footnote 70: The statue in the villa Borghese at Rome, in a sitting +posture, with an open hand, which is vulgarly given to Belisarius, may +be ascribed with more dignity to Augustus in the act of propitiating +Nemesis, (Winckelman, Hist. de l'Art, tom. iii. p. 266.) Ex nocturno +visu etiam stipem, quotannis, die certo, emendicabat a populo, cavana +manum asses porrigentibus praebens, (Sueton. in August. c. 91, with an +excellent note of Casaubon.) * Note: Lord Mahon abandons the statue, as +altogether irreconcilable with the state of the arts at this period, (p. +472.)--M.] + +If the emperor could rejoice in the death of Belisarius, he enjoyed +the base satisfaction only eight months, the last period of a reign +of thirty-eight years, and a life of eighty-three years. It would +be difficult to trace the character of a prince who is not the most +conspicuous object of his own 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; [71] with +the acknowledgment, however, of a well-proportioned figure, a ruddy +complexion, and a pleasing countenance. The emperor was easy of access, +patient of hearing, courteous and affable in discourse, and a master +of the angry passions which rage with such destructive violence in the +breast of a despot. Procopius praises his temper, to reproach him with +calm and deliberate cruelty: but in the conspiracies which attacked his +authority and person, a more candid judge will approve the justice, or +admire the clemency, of Justinian. He excelled in the private virtues +of chastity and temperance: but the impartial love of beauty would have +been less mischievous than his conjugal tenderness for Theodora; and his +abstemious diet was regulated, not by the prudence of a philosopher, but +the superstition of a monk. His repasts were short and frugal: on solemn +fasts, he contented himself with water and vegetables; and such was his +strength, as well as fervor, that he frequently passed two days, and as +many nights, without tasting any food. The measure of his sleep was not +less rigorous: after the repose of a single hour, the body was awakened +by the soul, and, to the astonishment of his chamberlain, Justinian +walked or studied till the morning light. Such restless application +prolonged his time for the acquisition of knowledge [72] and the +despatch of business; and he might seriously deserve the reproach of +confounding, by minute and preposterous diligence, the general order +of his administration. The emperor professed himself a musician and +architect, 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 +successful: the age was unfortunate; the people was oppressed and +discontented; Theodora abused her power; a succession of bad ministers +disgraced his judgment; and Justinian was neither beloved in his life, +nor regretted at his death. The love of fame was deeply implanted in his +breast, but he condescended to the poor ambition of titles, honors, +and contemporary praise; and while he labored to fix the admiration, he +forfeited the esteem and affection, of the Romans. + +The design of the African and Italian wars was boldly conceived and +executed; and his penetration discovered the talents of Belisarius +in the camp, of Narses in the palace. But the name of the emperor is +eclipsed by the names of his victorious generals; and Belisarius still +lives, to upbraid the envy and ingratitude of his sovereign. The partial +favor of mankind applauds the genius of a conqueror, who leads and +directs his subjects in the exercise of arms. The characters of Philip +the Second and of Justinian are distinguished by the cold ambition which +delights in war, and declines the dangers of the field. Yet a colossal +statue of bronze represented the emperor on horseback, preparing to +march against the Persians in the habit and armor of Achilles. 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 vanity of Justinian. +Future princes were more just or indulgent to his memory; the elder +Andronicus, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, repaired and +beautified his equestrian statue: since the fall of the empire it has +been melted into cannon by the victorious Turks. [73] + +[Footnote 71: The rubor of Domitian is stigmatized, quaintly enough, +by the pen of Tacitus, (in Vit. Agricol. c. 45;) and has been likewise +noticed by the younger Pliny, (Panegyr. c. 48,) and Suetonius, (in +Domitian, c. 18, and Casaubon ad locum.) Procopius (Anecdot. c. 8) +foolishly believes that only one bust of Domitian had reached the vith +century.] + +[Footnote 72: The studies and science of Justinian are attested by the +confession (Anecdot. c. 8, 13) still more than by the praises (Gothic. +l. iii. c. 31, de Edific. l. i. Proem. c. 7) of Procopius. Consult the +copious index of Alemannus, and read the life of Justinian by Ludewig, +(p. 135--142.)] + +[Footnote 73: See in the C. P. Christiana of Ducange (l. i. c. 24, +No. 1) a chain of original testimonies, from Procopius in the vith, to +Gyllius in the xvith century.] + +I shall conclude this chapter with the comets, the earthquakes, and the +plague, which astonished or afflicted the age of Justinian. I. In the +fifth year of his reign, and in the month of September, a comet [74] was +seen during twenty days in the western quarter of the heavens, and which +shot its rays into the north. Eight years afterwards, while the sun was +in Capricorn, another comet appeared to follow in the Sagittary; the +size was gradually increasing; the head was in the east, the tail in the +west, and it remained visible above forty days. The nations, who gazed +with astonishment, expected wars and calamities from their baleful +influence; and these expectations were abundantly 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 +Chaldeans, that they are only planets of a longer period and more +eccentric motion. [75] Time and science have justified the conjectures +and predictions of the Roman sage: the telescope has opened new worlds +to the eyes of astronomers; [76] and, in the narrow space of history +and fable, one and the same comet is already found to have revisited the +earth in seven equal revolutions of five hundred and seventy-five years. +The first, [77] which ascends beyond the Christian aera 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 +color, size, figure, and course; a prodigy without example either in +past or succeeding ages. [78] 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 reduced to six since the time of +the Trojan war. That nymph, the wife of Dardanus, was unable to support +the ruin of her country: she abandoned the dances of her sister +orbs, fled from the zodiac to the north pole, and obtained, 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 comet of the Sibyl, and perhaps of Pliny, which arose in the +West two generations before the reign of Cyrus. The fourth apparition, +forty-four years before the birth of Christ, is of all others the most +splendid 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 honor 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 statesman; while his secret +superstition referred the comet to the glory of his own times. [79] 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 +aera. And it may deserve notice, that in this, as in the preceding +instance, the comet was followed, though at a longer interval, 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 fervor of the crusades, the Christians and the Mahometans +might surmise, with equal reason, that it portended the destruction of +the Infidels. The seventh phenomenon, of one thousand six hundred +and eighty, was presented to the eyes of an enlightened age. [80] The +philosophy of Bayle dispelled a prejudice which Milton's muse had +so recently adorned, that the comet, "from its horrid hair shakes +pestilence and war." [81] Its road in the heavens was observed with +exquisite skill by Flamstead and Cassini: and the mathematical science +of Bernoulli, Newton [8111], and Halley, investigated the laws of +its revolutions. At the eighth period, in the year two thousand three +hundred and fifty-five, their calculations may perhaps be verified +by the astronomers of some future capital in the Siberian or American +wilderness. + +[Footnote 74: The first comet is mentioned by John Malala (tom. ii. p. +190, 219) and Theophanes, (p. 154;) the second by Procopius, (Persic. l. +ii. 4.) Yet I strongly suspect their identity. The paleness of the +sun sum Vandal. (l. ii. c. 14) is applied by Theophanes (p. 158) to a +different year. Note: See Lydus de Ostentis, particularly c 15, in which +the author begins to show the signification of comets according to +the part of the heavens in which they appear, and what fortunes they +prognosticate to the Roman empire and their Persian enemies. The +chapter, however, is imperfect. (Edit. Neibuhr, p. 290.)--M.] + +[Footnote 75: Seneca's viith book of Natural Questions displays, in the +theory of comets, a philosophic mind. Yet should we not too candidly +confound a vague prediction, a venient tempus, &c., with the merit of +real discoveries.] + +[Footnote 76: Astronomers may study Newton and Halley. I draw my humble +science from the article Comete, in the French Encyclopedie, by M. +d'Alembert.] + +[Footnote 77: Whiston, the honest, pious, visionary Whiston, had +fancied for the aera of Noah's flood (2242 years before Christ) a prior +apparition of the same comet which drowned the earth with its tail.] + +[Footnote 78: A Dissertation of Freret (Memoires de l'Academie des +Inscriptions, tom. x. p. 357-377) affords a happy union of philosophy +and erudition. The phenomenon in the time of Ogyges was preserved by +Varro, (Apud Augustin. de Civitate Dei, xxi. 8,) who quotes Castor, +Dion of Naples, and Adastrus of Cyzicus--nobiles mathematici. The two +subsequent periods are preserved by the Greek mythologists and the +spurious books of Sibylline verses.] + +[Footnote 79: Pliny (Hist. Nat. ii. 23) has transcribed the original +memorial of Augustus. Mairan, 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 +aera; but I am not totally subdued by the criticism of the astronomer, +(Opuscules, p. 275 )] + +[Footnote 80: This last comet was visible in the month of December, +1680. Bayle, who began his Pensees sur la Comete in January, 1681, +(Oeuvres, tom. iii.,) was forced to argue that a supernatural comet +would have confirmed the ancients in their idolatry. Bernoulli (see his +Eloge, in Fontenelle, tom. v. p. 99) was forced to allow that the tail +though not the head, was a sign of the wrath of God.] + +[Footnote 81: Paradise Lost was published in the year 1667; and the +famous lines (l. ii. 708, &c.) which startled the licenser, may allude +to the recent comet of 1664, observed by Cassini at Rome in the presence +of Queen Christina, (Fontenelle, in his Eloge, tom. v. p. 338.) Had +Charles II. betrayed any symptoms of curiosity or fear?] + +[Footnote 8111: Compare Pingre, Histoire des Cometes.--M.] + +II. The near approach of a comet may injure or destroy the globe which +we inhabit; but the changes on its surface have been hitherto produced +by the action of volcanoes and earthquakes. [82] The nature of the soil +may indicate the countries most exposed to these formidable concussions, +since they are caused by subterraneous 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 +philosopher will discreetly abstain from the prediction of earthquakes, +till he has counted the drops of water that silently filtrate on +the inflammable mineral, and measured the caverns which increase by +resistance the explosion of the imprisoned air. Without assigning the +cause, history will distinguish the periods in which these calamitous +events have been rare or frequent, and will observe, that this fever of +the earth raged with uncommon violence during the reign of Justinian. +[83] Each year is marked by the repetition of earthquakes, of such +duration, 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: enormous chasms were opened, huge and heavy bodies +were discharged into the air, the sea alternately advanced and retreated +beyond its ordinary bounds, and a mountain was torn from Libanus, [84] +and cast into the waves, where it protected, as a mole, the new harbor +of Botrys [85] in Phoenicia. The stroke that agitates an ant-hill may +crush the insect-myriads in the dust; yet truth must extort confession +that man has industriously labored for his own destruction. The +institution of great cities, which include a nation within the limits of +a wall, almost realizes the wish of Caligula, that the Roman people had +but one neck. Two hundred and fifty thousand persons are said to have +perished in the earthquake of Antioch, whose domestic multitudes were +swelled by the conflux of strangers to the festival of the Ascension. +The loss of Berytus [86] was of smaller account, but of 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 Berytus 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 guardian 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 deride the folly of their +Spanish conquerors, who with so much cost and labor erected their own +sepulchres. The rich marbles of a patrician are dashed on his own head: +a whole people is buried under the ruins of public and private edifices, +and the conflagration is kindled and propagated by the innumerable fires +which are necessary 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 passions which are +released from the fear of punishment: 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 terrors; 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 +deprecate with servile homage the wrath of an avenging Deity. + +[Footnote 82: For the cause of earthquakes, see Buffon, (tom. i. p. 502--536 +Supplement a l'Hist. Naturelle, tom. v. p. 382-390, edition in 4to., +Valmont de Bomare, Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle, Tremblemen de +Terre, Pyrites,) Watson, (Chemical Essays, tom. i. p. 181--209.)] + +[Footnote 83: The earthquakes that shook the Roman world in the reign of +Justinian are described or mentioned by Procopius, (Goth. l. iv. c. 25 +Anecdot. c. 18,) Agathias, (l. ii. p. 52, 53, 54, l. v. p. 145-152,) +John Malala, (Chron. tom. ii. p. 140-146, 176, 177, 183, 193, 220, 229, +231, 233, 234,) and Theophanes, (p. 151, 183, 189, 191-196.) * Note *: +Compare Daubeny on Earthquakes, and Lyell's Geology, vol. ii. p. 161 et +seq.--M] + +[Footnote 84: An abrupt height, a perpendicular cape, between Aradus +and Botrys (Polyb. l. v. p. 411. Pompon. Mela, l. i. c. 12, p. 87, +cum Isaac. Voss. Observat. Maundrell, Journey, p. 32, 33. Pocock's +Description, vol. ii. p. 99.)] + +[Footnote 85: Botrys was founded (ann. ante Christ. 935--903) by +Ithobal, king of Tyre, (Marsham, Canon. Chron. p. 387, 388.) Its poor +representative, the village of Patrone, is now destitute of a harbor.] + +[Footnote 86: The university, splendor, and ruin of Berytus are +celebrated by Heineccius (p. 351--356) as an essential part of the +history of the Roman law. It was overthrown in the xxvth year of +Justinian, A. D 551, July 9, (Theophanes, p. 192;) but Agathias (l. +ii. p. 51, 52) suspends the earthquake till he has achieved the Italian +war.] + +III. Aethiopia and Egypt have been stigmatized, in every age, as +the original source and seminary of the plague. [87] In a damp, hot, +stagnating air, this African fever is generated from the putrefaction of +animal substances, and especially from the swarms of locusts, not less +destructive to mankind in their death than in their lives. The fatal +disease which depopulated the earth in the time of Justinian and his +successors, [88] first appeared in the neighborhood 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, along the coast of +Africa, and over the continent of Europe. In the spring of the second +year, Constantinople, during three or four months, was visited by the +pestilence; and Procopius, who observed its progress and symptoms with +the eyes of a physician, [89] has emulated the skill and diligence +of Thucydides in the description of the plague of Athens. [90] The +infection was sometimes announced by the visions of a distempered fancy, +and the victim despaired 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 color of the +patient gave any signs of the approaching danger. The same, the next, +or the succeeding day, it was declared by the swelling of the glands, +particularly those of the groin, of the armpits, and under the ear; and +when these buboes or tumors were opened, they were found to contain a +coal, or black substance, of the size of a lentil. If they came to a +just swelling and suppuration, the patient was saved by this kind and +natural discharge of the morbid humor. But if they continued hard and +dry, 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 symptoms of immediate death; and in the constitutions +too feeble to produce an irruption, the vomiting 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 return of the disorder. [91] The +physicians of Constantinople were zealous and skilful; but their art +was baffled by the various symptoms and pertinacious vehemence 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, to transport them by land +or water, and to inter them in deep pits beyond the precincts 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 confidence +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 favor 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 honorable cause +for his recovery. [92] During his sickness, the public consternation +was expressed in the habits of the citizens; and their idleness and +despondence occasioned a general scarcity in the capital of the East. +[Footnote 87: I have read with pleasure Mead's short, but elegant, +treatise concerning Pestilential Disorders, the viiith edition, London, +1722.] + +[Footnote 88: The great plague which raged in 542 and the following +years (Pagi, Critica, tom. ii. p. 518) must be traced in Procopius, +(Persic. l. ii. c. 22, 23,) Agathias, (l. v. p. 153, 154,) Evagrius, +(l. iv. c. 29,) Paul Diaconus, (l. ii. c. iv. p. 776, 777,) Gregory of +Tours, (tom. ii. l. iv. c. 5, p 205,) who styles it Lues Inguinaria, and +the Chronicles of Victor Tunnunensis, (p. 9, in Thesaur. Temporum,) of +Marcellinus, (p. 54,) and of Theophanes, (p. 153.)] + +[Footnote 89: Dr. Friend (Hist. Medicin. in Opp. p. 416--420, Lond. +1733) is satisfied that Procopius must have studied physic, from his +knowledge and use of the technical words. Yet many words that are now +scientific were common and popular in the Greek idiom.] + +[Footnote 90: See Thucydides, l. ii. c. 47--54, p. 127--133, edit. +Duker, and the poetical description of the same plague by Lucretius. +(l. vi. 1136--1284.) I was indebted to Dr. Hunter for an elaborate +commentary on this part of Thucydides, a quarto of 600 pages, (Venet. +1603, apud Juntas,) which was pronounced in St. Mark's Library by Fabius +Paullinus Utinensis, a physician and philosopher.] + +[Footnote 91: Thucydides (c. 51) affirms, that the infection could only +be once taken; but Evagrius, who had family experience of the plague, +observes, that some persons, who had escaped the first, sunk under the +second attack; and this repetition is confirmed by Fabius Paullinus, +(p. 588.) I observe, that on this head physicians are divided; and the +nature and operation of the disease may not always be similar.] + +[Footnote 92: It was thus that Socrates had been saved by his +temperance, in the plague of Athens, (Aul. Gellius, Noct. Attic. ii. l.) +Dr. Mead accounts for the peculiar salubrity of religious houses, by the +two advantages of seclusion and abstinence, (p. 18, 19.)] + +Contagion is the inseparable symptom of the plague; which, by mutual +respiration, is transfused from the infected persons to the lungs and +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. [93] +Yet the fellow-citizens of Procopius were satisfied, by some short +and partial experience, that the infection could not be gained by +the closest conversation: [94] and this persuasion might support the +assiduity of friends or physicians in the care of the sick, whom inhuman +prudence would have condemned to solitude and despair. But the fatal +security, like the predestination of the Turks, must have aided the +progress of the contagion; and those salutary precautions to which +Europe is indebted for her safety, were unknown to the government +of Justinian. No restraints were imposed on the free and frequent +intercourse of the Roman provinces: from Persia to France, the nations +were mingled and infected by wars and emigrations; and the pestilential +odor which lurks for years in a bale of cotton was imported, by +the abuse of trade, into the most distant regions. The mode of its +propagation is explained 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 +subtile venom; but unless the atmosphere be previously disposed for +its reception, the plague would soon expire in the cold or temperate +climates of the earth. Such was the universal corruption of the air, +that the pestilence which burst forth in the fifteenth year of Justinian +was not checked or alleviated by any difference of the seasons. In time, +its first malignity was abated and dispersed; the disease alternately +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 quality. + +No facts have been preserved to sustain an account, or even a +conjecture, of the numbers that perished in this extraordinary +mortality. 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 the visible decrease of the human species, +which has never been repaired in some of the fairest countries of the +globe. [95] + +[Footnote 93: Mead proves that the plague is contagious from Thucydides, +Lacretius, Aristotle, Galen, and common experience, (p. 10--20;) and +he refutes (Preface, p. 2--13) the contrary opinion of the French +physicians who visited Marseilles in the year 1720. Yet these were the +recent and enlightened spectators of a plague which, in a few months, +swept away 50,000 inhabitants (sur le Peste de Marseille, Paris, 1786) +of a city that, in the present hour of prosperity and trade contains no +more then 90,000 souls, (Necker, sur les Finances, tom. i. p. 231.)] + +[Footnote 94: The strong assertions of Procopius are overthrown by the +subsequent experience of Evagrius.] + +[Footnote 95: After some figures of rhetoric, the sands of the sea, &c., +Procopius (Anecdot. c. 18) attempts a more definite account; that it 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 of millions Alemannus (p. 80) and Cousin (tom. +iii. p. 178) translate this passage, "two hundred millions:" but I +am ignorant of their motives. The remaining myriad of myriads, would +furnish one hundred millions, a number not wholly inadmissible.] + + + + + +Chapter XLIV: Idea Of The Roman Jurisprudence.--Part I. + + Idea Of The Roman Jurisprudence.--The Laws Of The Kings--The + Twelve Of The Decemvirs.--The Laws Of The People.--The + Decrees Of The Senate.--The Edicts Of The Magistrates And + Emperors--Authority Of The Civilians.--Code, Pandects, + Novels, And Institutes Of Justinian:--I. Rights Of + Persons.--II. Rights Of Things.--III. Private Injuries And + Actions.--IV. Crimes And Punishments. + +Note: In the notes to this important chapter, which is received as +the text-book on Civil Law in some of the foreign universities, I have +consulted, + +I. the newly-discovered Institutes of Gaius, (Gaii Institutiones, ed. +Goeschen, Berlin, 1824,) with some other fragments of the Roman law, +(Codicis Theodosiani Fragmenta inedita, ab Amadeo Peyron. Turin, 1824.) + +II. The History of the Roman Law, by Professor Hugo, in the French +translation of M. Jourdan. Paris, 1825. + +III. Savigny, Geschichte des Romischen Rechts im Mittelalter, 6 bande, +Heidelberg, 1815. + +IV. Walther, Romische Rechts-Geschichte, Bonn. 1834. But I am +particularly indebted to an edition of the French translation of this +chapter, with additional notes, by one of the most learned civilians of +Europe, Professor Warnkonig, published at Liege, 1821. I have inserted +almost the whole of these notes, which are distinguished by the letter +W.--M. The vain titles of the victories of Justinian are crumbled +into dust; but the name of the legislator is inscribed on a fair and +everlasting monument. Under his reign, and by his care, the civil +jurisprudence was digested in the immortal works of the Code, the +Pandects, and the Institutes: [1] the public reason of the Romans has +been silently or studiously transfused into the domestic institutions +of Europe, [2], and the laws of Justinian still command the respect or +obedience of independent nations. Wise or fortunate is the prince who +connects his own reputation with the honor or interest of a perpetual +order of men. The defence of their founder is the first cause, which +in every age has exercised the zeal and industry of the civilians. They +piously commemorate his virtues; dissemble or deny his failings; and +fiercely chastise the guilt or folly of the rebels, who presume to sully +the majesty of the purple. The idolatry of love has provoked, as it +usually happens, the rancor of opposition; the character of Justinian +has been exposed to the blind vehemence of flattery and invective; and +the injustice of a sect (the Anti-Tribonians,) has refused all praise +and merit to the prince, his ministers, and his laws. [3] Attached to no +party, interested only for the truth and candor of history, and +directed by the most temperate and skilful guides, [4] I enter with +just diffidence on the subject of civil law, which has exhausted so many +learned lives, and clothed the walls of such spacious libraries. In +a single, if possible in a short, chapter, I shall trace the Roman +jurisprudence from Romulus to Justinian, [5] appreciate the labors of +that emperor, and pause to contemplate the principles of a science so +important to the peace and happiness of society. The laws of a nation +form the most instructive portion of its history; and although I have +devoted myself to write the annals of a declining monarchy, I shall +embrace the occasion to breathe the pure and invigorating air of the +republic. + +[Footnote 1: The civilians of the darker ages have established an absurd +and incomprehensible mode of quotation, which is supported by authority +and custom. In their references to the Code, the Pandects, and the +Institutes, they mention the number, not of the book, but only of the +law; and content themselves with reciting the first words of the title +to which it belongs; and of these titles there are more than a thousand. +Ludewig (Vit. Justiniani, p. 268) wishes to shake off this pendantic +yoke; and I have dared to adopt the simple and rational method of +numbering the book, the title, and the law. Note: The example of Gibbon +has been followed by M Hugo and other civilians.--M] + +[Footnote 2: Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, and Scotland, have +received them as common law or reason; in France, Italy, &c., they +possess a direct or indirect influence; and they were respected in +England, from Stephen to Edward I. our national Justinian, (Duck. de +Usu et Auctoritate Juris Civilis, l. ii. c. 1, 8--15. Heineccius, Hist. +Juris Germanici, c. 3, 4, No. 55-124, and the legal historians of each +country.) * Note: Although the restoration of the Roman law, introduced +by the revival of this study in Italy, is one of the most important +branches of history, it had been treated but imperfectly when Gibbon +wrote his work. That of Arthur Duck is but an insignificant performance. +But the researches of the learned have thrown much light upon the +matter. The Sarti, the Tiraboschi, the Fantuzzi, the Savioli, had made +some very interesting inquiries; but it was reserved for M. de Savigny, +in a work entitled "The History of the Roman Law during the Middle +Ages," to cast the strongest right on this part of history. He +demonstrates incontestably the preservation of the Roman law from +Justinian to the time of the Glossators, who by their indefatigable +zeal, propagated the study of the Roman jurisprudence in all the +countries of Europe. It is much to be desired that the author should +continue this interesting work, and that the learned should engage in +the inquiry in what manner the Roman law introduced itself into their +respective countries, and the authority which it progressively acquired. +For Belgium, there exists, on this subject, (proposed by the Academy of +Brussels in 1781,) a Collection of Memoirs, printed at Brussels in +4to., 1783, among which should be distinguished those of M. de Berg. M. +Berriat Saint Prix has given us hopes of the speedy appearance of a +work in which he will discuss this question, especially in relation to +France. M. Spangenberg, in his Introduction to the Study of the Corpus +Juris Civilis Hanover, 1817, 1 vol. 8vo. p. 86, 116, gives us a general +sketch of the history of the Roman law in different parts of Europe. +We cannot avoid mentioning an elementary work by M. Hugo, in which he +treats of the History of the Roman Law from Justinian to the present +Time, 2d edit. Berlin 1818 W.] + +[Footnote 3: Francis Hottoman, a learned and acute lawyer of the xvith +century, wished to mortify Cujacius, and to please the Chancellor +de l'Hopital. His Anti-Tribonianus (which I have never been able to +procure) was published in French in 1609; and his sect was propagated in +Germany, (Heineccius, Op. tom. iii. sylloge iii. p. 171--183.) * Note: +Though there have always been many detractors of the Roman law, no sect +of Anti-Tribonians has ever existed under that name, as Gibbon seems to +suppose.--W.] + +[Footnote 4: At the head of these guides I shall respectfully place +the learned and perspicuous Heineccius, a German professor, who died +at Halle in the year 1741, (see his Eloge in the Nouvelle Bibliotheque +Germanique, tom. ii. p. 51--64.) His ample works have been collected +in eight volumes in 4to. Geneva, 1743-1748. The treatises which I have +separately used are, 1. Historia Juris Romani et Germanici, Lugd. +Batav. 1740, in 8 vo. 2. Syntagma Antiquitatum Romanam Jurisprudentiam +illustrantium, 2 vols. in 8 vo. Traject. ad Rhenum. 3. Elementa Juris +Civilis secundum Ordinem Institutionum, Lugd. Bat. 1751, in 8 vo. 4. +Elementa J. C. secundum Ordinem Pandectarum Traject. 1772, in 8vo. 2 +vols. * Note: Our author, who was not a lawyer, was necessarily obliged +to content himself with following the opinions of those writers who were +then of the greatest authority; but as Heineccius, notwithstanding his +high reputation for the study of the Roman law, knew nothing of +the subject on which he treated, but what he had learned from the +compilations of various authors, it happened that, in following the +sometimes rash opinions of these guides, Gibbon has fallen into many +errors, which we shall endeavor in succession to correct. The work of +Bach on the History of the Roman Jurisprudence, with which Gibbon was +not acquainted, is far superior to that of Heineccius and since that +time we have new obligations to the modern historic civilians, whose +indefatigable researches have greatly enlarged the sphere of our +knowledge in this important branch of history. We want a pen like that +of Gibbon to give to the more accurate notions which we have acquired +since his time, the brilliancy, the vigor, and the animation +which Gibbon has bestowed on the opinions of Heineccius and his +contemporaries.--W] + +[Footnote 5: Our original text is a fragment de Origine Juris (Pandect. +l. i. tit. ii.) of Pomponius, a Roman lawyer, who lived under the +Antonines, (Heinecc. tom. iii. syl. iii. p. 66--126.) It has been +abridged, and probably corrupted, by Tribonian, and since restored by +Bynkershoek (Opp. tom. i. p. 279--304.)] + +The primitive government of Rome [6] was composed, with some political +skill, of an elective king, a council of nobles, and a general assembly +of the people. War and religion were administered by the supreme +magistrate; and he alone proposed the laws, which were debated in the +senate, and finally ratified or rejected by a majority of votes in +the thirty curiae or parishes of the city. Romulus, Numa, and Servius +Tullius, are celebrated as the most ancient legislators; and each +of them claims his peculiar part in the threefold division of +jurisprudence. [7] The laws of marriage, the education of children, +and the authority of parents, which may seem to draw their origin from +nature itself, are ascribed to the untutored wisdom of Romulus. The law +of nations and of religious worship, which Numa introduced, was derived +from his nocturnal converse with the nymph Egeria. The civil law is +attributed to the experience of Servius: he balanced the rights and +fortunes of the seven classes of citizens; and guarded, by fifty new +regulations, the observance of contracts and the punishment of crimes. +The state, which he had inclined towards a democracy, was changed by the +last Tarquin into a lawless despotism; and when the kingly office was +abolished, the patricians engrossed the benefits of freedom. The royal +laws became odious or obsolete; the mysterious deposit was silently +preserved by the priests and nobles; and at the end of sixty years, the +citizens of Rome still complained that they were ruled by the arbitrary +sentence of the magistrates. Yet the positive institutions of the kings +had blended themselves with the public and private manners of the city, +some fragments of that venerable jurisprudence [8] were compiled by the +diligence of antiquarians, [9] and above twenty texts still speak the +rudeness of the Pelasgic idiom of the Latins. [10] + +[Footnote 6: The constitutional history of the kings of Rome may be +studied in the first book of Livy, and more copiously in Dionysius +Halicarnassensis, (l. li. p. 80--96, 119--130, l. iv. p. 198--220,) who +sometimes betrays the character of a rhetorician and a Greek. * Note: M. +Warnkonig refers to the work of Beaufort, on the Uncertainty of the +Five First Ages of the Roman History, with which Gibbon was probably +acquainted, to Niebuhr, and to the less known volume of Wachsmuth, +"Aeltere Geschichte des Rom. Staats." To these I would add A. W. +Schlegel's Review of Niebuhr, and my friend Dr. Arnold's recently +published volume, of which the chapter on the Law of the XII. Tables +appears to me one of the most valuable, if not the most valuable, +chapter.--M.] + +[Footnote 7: This threefold division of the law was applied to the three +Roman kings by Justus Lipsius, (Opp. tom. iv. p. 279;) is adopted by +Gravina, (Origines Juris Civilis, p. 28, edit. Lips. 1737:) and is +reluctantly admitted by Mascou, his German editor. * Note: Whoever is +acquainted with the real notions of the Romans on the jus naturale, +gentium et civile, cannot but disapprove of this explanation which +has no relation to them, and might be taken for a pleasantry. It is +certainly unnecessary to increase the confusion which already prevails +among modern writers on the true sense of these ideas. Hugo.--W] + +[Footnote 8: The most ancient Code or Digest was styled Jus Papirianum, +from the first compiler, Papirius, who flourished somewhat before +or after the Regifugium, (Pandect. l. i. tit. ii.) The best judicial +critics, even Bynkershoek (tom. i. p. 284, 285) and Heineccius, (Hist. +J. C. R. l. i. c. 16, 17, and Opp. tom. iii. sylloge iv. p. 1--8,) give +credit to this tale of Pomponius, without sufficiently adverting to +the value and rarity of such a monument of the third century, of the +illiterate city. I much suspect that the Caius Papirius, the Pontifex +Maximus, who revived the laws of Numa (Dionys. Hal. l. iii. p. 171) left +only an oral tradition; and that the Jus Papirianum of Granius Flaccus +(Pandect. l. L. tit. xvi. leg. 144) was not a commentary, but an +original work, compiled in the time of Caesar, (Censorin. de Die +Natali, l. iii. p. 13, Duker de Latinitate J. C. p. 154.) Note: Niebuhr +considers the Jus Papirianum, adduced by Verrius Fiaccus, to be of +undoubted authenticity. Rom. Geschichte, l. 257.--M. Compare this with +the work of M. Hugo.--W.] + +[Footnote 9: A pompous, though feeble attempt to restore the original, +is made in the Histoire de la Jurisprudence Romaine of Terasson, p. +22--72, Paris, 1750, in folio; a work of more promise than performance.] + +[Footnote 10: In the year 1444, seven or eight tables of brass were dug +up between Cortona and Gubio. A part of these (for the rest is Etruscan) +represents the primitive state of the Pelasgic letters and language, +which are ascribed by Herodotus to that district of Italy, (l. i. c. 56, +57, 58;) though this difficult passage may be explained of a Crestona in +Thrace, (Notes de Larcher, tom. i. p. 256--261.) The savage dialect +of the Eugubine tables has exercised, and may still elude, the +divination of criticism; but the root is undoubtedly Latin, of the same +age and character as the Saliare Carmen, which, in the time of Horace, +none could understand. The Roman idiom, by an infusion of Doric and +Aeolic Greek, was gradually ripened into the style of the xii. tables, +of the Duillian column, of Ennius, of Terence, and of Cicero, (Gruter. +Inscript. tom. i. p. cxlii. Scipion Maffei, Istoria Diplomatica, p. +241--258. Bibliotheque Italique, tom. iii. p. 30--41, 174--205. tom. +xiv. p. 1--52.) * Note: The Eugubine Tables have exercised the ingenuity +of the Italian and German critics; it seems admitted (O. Muller, +die Etrusker, ii. 313) that they are Tuscan. See the works of Lanzi, +Passeri, Dempster, and O. Muller.--M] + +I shall not repeat the well-known story of the Decemvirs, [11] who +sullied by their actions the honor of inscribing on brass, or wood, or +ivory, the Twelve Tables of the Roman laws. [12] They were dictated by +the rigid and jealous spirit of an aristocracy, which had yielded with +reluctance to the just demands of the people. But the substance of the +Twelve Tables was adapted to the state of the city; and the Romans +had emerged from Barbarism, since they were capable of studying and +embracing the institutions of their more enlightened neighbors. [1211] +A wise Ephesian was driven by envy from his native country: before he +could reach the shores of Latium, he had observed the various forms +of human nature and civil society: he imparted his knowledge to the +legislators of Rome, and a statue was erected in the forum to the +perpetual memory of Hermodorus. [13] The names and divisions of the +copper money, the sole coin of the infant state, were of Dorian origin: +[14] the harvests of Campania and Sicily relieved the wants of a people +whose agriculture was often interrupted by war and faction; and since +the trade was established, [15] the deputies who sailed from the +Tyber might return from the same harbors with a more precious cargo +of political wisdom. The colonies of Great Greece had transported and +improved the arts of their mother country. Cumae and Rhegium, Crotona +and Tarentum, Agrigentum and Syracuse, were in the rank of the most +flourishing cities. The disciples of Pythagoras applied philosophy to +the use of government; the unwritten laws of Charondas accepted the +aid of poetry and music, [16] and Zaleucus framed the republic of the +Locrians, which stood without alteration above two hundred years. [17] +From a similar motive of national pride, both Livy and Dionysius are +willing to believe, that the deputies of Rome visited Athens under the +wise and splendid administration of Pericles; and the laws of Solon were +transfused into the twelve tables. If such an embassy had indeed been +received from the Barbarians of Hesperia, the Roman name would have +been familiar to the Greeks before the reign of Alexander; [18] and +the faintest evidence would have been explored and celebrated by the +curiosity of succeeding times. But the Athenian monuments are silent; +nor will it seem credible that the patricians should undertake a long +and perilous navigation to copy the purest model of democracy. In the +comparison of the tables of Solon with those of the Decemvirs, some +casual resemblance may be found; some rules which nature and reason have +revealed to every society; some proofs of a common descent from Egypt +or Phoenicia. [19] But in all the great lines of public and private +jurisprudence, the legislators of Rome and Athens appear to be strangers +or adverse at each other. + +[Footnote 11: Compare Livy (l. iii. c. 31--59) with Dionysius +Halicarnassensis, (l. x. p. 644--xi. p. 691.) How concise and animated +is the Roman--how prolix and lifeless the Greek! Yet he has admirably +judged the masters, and defined the rules, of historical composition.] + +[Footnote 12: From the historians, Heineccius (Hist. J. R. l. i. No. 26) +maintains that the twelve tables were of brass--aereas; in the text of +Pomponius we read eboreas; for which Scaliger has substituted roboreas, +(Bynkershoek, p. 286.) Wood, brass, and ivory, might be successively +employed. Note: Compare Niebuhr, vol. ii. p. 349, &c.--M.] + +[Footnote 1211: Compare Niebuhr, 355, note 720.--M. It is a most +important question whether the twelve tables in fact include laws +imported from Greece. The negative opinion maintained by our author, is +now almost universally adopted, particularly by Mm. Niebuhr, Hugo, and +others. See my Institutiones Juris Romani privati Leodii, 1819, p. 311, +312.--W. Dr. Arnold, p. 255, seems to incline to the opposite opinion. +Compare some just and sensible observations in the Appendix to Mr. +Travers Twiss's Epitome of Niebuhr, p. 347, Oxford, 1836.--M.] + +[Footnote 13: His exile is mentioned by Cicero, (Tusculan. Quaestion. v. +36; his statue by Pliny, (Hist. Nat. xxxiv. 11.) The letter, dream, and +prophecy of Heraclitus, are alike spurious, (Epistolae Graec. Divers. p. +337.) * Note: Compare Niebuhr, ii. 209.--M. See the Mem de l'Academ. des +Inscript. xxii. p. 48. It would be difficult to disprove, that a certain +Hermodorus had some share in framing the Laws of the Twelve Tables. +Pomponius even says that this Hermodorus was the author of the last two +tables. Pliny calls him the Interpreter of the Decemvirs, which may lead +us to suppose that he labored with them in drawing up that law. But +it is astonishing that in his Dissertation, (De Hermodoro vero XII. +Tabularum Auctore, Annales Academiae Groninganae anni 1817, 1818,) M. +Gratama has ventured to advance two propositions entirely devoid of +proof: "Decem priores tabulas ab ipsis Romanis non esse profectas, tota +confirma Decemviratus Historia," et "Hermodorum legum decemviralium ceri +nominis auctorem esse, qui eas composuerit suis ordinibus, disposuerit, +suaque fecerit auctoritate, ut a decemviris reciperentur." This truly +was an age in which the Roman Patricians would allow their laws to be +dictated by a foreign Exile! Mr. Gratama does not attempt to prove the +authenticity of the supposititious letter of Heraclitus. He contents +himself with expressing his astonishment that M. Bonamy (as well as +Gibbon) will be receive it as genuine.--W.] + +[Footnote 14: This intricate subject of the Sicilian and Roman money, +is ably discussed by Dr. Bentley, (Dissertation on the Epistles of +Phalaris, p. 427--479,) whose powers in this controversy were called +forth by honor and resentment.] + +[Footnote 15: The Romans, or their allies, sailed as far as the fair +promontory of Africa, (Polyb. l. iii. p. 177, edit. Casaubon, in folio.) +Their voyages to Cumae, &c., are noticed by Livy and Dionysius.] + +[Footnote 16: This circumstance would alone prove the antiquity of +Charondas, the legislator of Rhegium and Catana, who, by a strange error +of Diodorus Siculus (tom. i. l. xii. p. 485--492) is celebrated long +afterwards as the author of the policy of Thurium.] + +[Footnote 17: Zaleucus, whose existence has been rashly attacked, had +the merit and glory of converting a band of outlaws (the Locrians) into +the most virtuous and orderly of the Greek republics. (See two Memoirs +of the Baron de St. Croix, sur la Legislation de la Grande Grece Mem. +de l'Academie, tom. xlii. p. 276--333.) But the laws of Zaleucus and +Charondas, which imposed on Diodorus and Stobaeus, are the spurious +composition of a Pythagorean sophist, whose fraud has been detected by +the critical sagacity of Bentley, p. 335--377.] + +[Footnote 18: I seize the opportunity of tracing the progress of this +national intercourse 1. Herodotus and Thucydides (A. U. C. 300--350) +appear ignorant of the name and existence of Rome, (Joseph. contra +Appion tom. ii. l. i. c. 12, p. 444, edit. Havercamp.) 2. Theopompus (A. +U. C. 400, Plin. iii. 9) mentions the invasion of the Gauls, which is +noticed in looser terms by Heraclides Ponticus, (Plutarch in Camillo, p. +292, edit. H. Stephan.) 3. The real or fabulous embassy of the Romans to +Alexander (A. U. C. 430) is attested by Clitarchus, (Plin. iii. 9,) by +Aristus and Asclepiades, (Arrian. l. vii. p. 294, 295,) and by Memnon of +Heraclea, (apud Photium, cod. ccxxiv. p. 725,) though tacitly denied by +Livy. 4. Theophrastus (A. U. C. 440) primus externorum aliqua de Romanis +diligentius scripsit, (Plin. iii. 9.) 5. Lycophron (A. U. C. 480--500) +scattered the first seed of a Trojan colony and the fable of the Aeneid, +(Cassandra, 1226--1280.) A bold prediction before the end of the first +Punic war! * Note: Compare Niebuhr throughout. Niebuhr has written +a dissertation (Kleine Schriften, i. p. 438,) arguing from this +prediction, and on the other conclusive grounds, that the Lycophron, +the author of the Cassandra, is not the Alexandrian poet. He had been +anticipated in this sagacious criticism, as he afterwards discovered, +by a writer of no less distinction than Charles James Fox.--Letters to +Wakefield. And likewise by the author of the extraordinary translation +of this poem, that most promising scholar, Lord Royston. See the Remains +of Lord Royston, by the Rev. Henry Pepys, London, 1838.] + +[Footnote 19: The tenth table, de modo sepulturae, was borrowed from +Solon, (Cicero de Legibus, ii. 23--26:) the furtem per lancem et +licium conceptum, is derived by Heineccius from the manners of Athens, +(Antiquitat. Rom. tom. ii. p. 167--175.) The right of killing a +nocturnal thief was declared by Moses, Solon, and the Decemvirs, (Exodus +xxii. 3. Demosthenes contra Timocratem, tom. i. p. 736, edit. Reiske. +Macrob. Saturnalia, l. i. c. 4. Collatio Legum Mosaicarum et Romanatum, +tit, vii. No. i. p. 218, edit. Cannegieter.) *Note: Are not the same +points of similarity discovered in the legislation of all actions in the +infancy of their civilization?--W.] + + + + + +Chapter XLIV: Idea Of The Roman Jurisprudence.--Part II. + +Whatever might be the origin or the merit of the twelve tables, [20] +they obtained among the Romans that blind and partial reverence which +the lawyers of every country delight to bestow on their municipal +institutions. The study is recommended by Cicero [21] as equally +pleasant and instructive. "They amuse the mind by the remembrance of old +words and the portrait of ancient manners; they inculcate the soundest +principles of government and morals; and I am not afraid to affirm, that +the brief composition of the Decemvirs surpasses in genuine value the +libraries of Grecian philosophy. How admirable," says Tully, with honest +or affected prejudice, "is the wisdom of our ancestors! We alone are the +masters of civil prudence, and our superiority is the more conspicuous, +if we deign to cast our eyes on the rude and almost ridiculous +jurisprudence of Draco, of Solon, and of Lycurgus." The twelve tables +were committed to the memory of the young and the meditation of the old; +they were transcribed and illustrated with learned diligence; they had +escaped the flames of the Gauls, they subsisted in the age of Justinian, +and their subsequent loss has been imperfectly restored by the labors +of modern critics. [22] But although these venerable monuments were +considered as the rule of right and the fountain of justice, [23] they +were overwhelmed by the weight and variety of new laws, which, at the +end of five centuries, became a grievance more intolerable than the +vices of the city. [24] Three thousand brass plates, the acts of the +senate of the people, were deposited in the Capitol: [25] and some of +the acts, as the Julian law against extortion, surpassed the number of +a hundred chapters. [26] The Decemvirs had neglected to import the +sanction of Zaleucus, which so long maintained the integrity of his +republic. A Locrian, who proposed any new law, stood forth in the +assembly of the people with a cord round his neck, and if the law was +rejected, the innovator was instantly strangled. + +[Footnote 20: It is the praise of Diodorus, (tom. i. l. xii. p. 494,) +which may be fairly translated by the eleganti atque absoluta brevitate +verborum of Aulus Gellius, (Noct. Attic. xxi. 1.)] + +[Footnote 21: Listen to Cicero (de Legibus, ii. 23) and his +representative Crassus, (de Oratore, i. 43, 44.)] + +[Footnote 22: See Heineccius, (Hist. J. R. No. 29--33.) I have followed +the restoration of the xii. tables by Gravina (Origines J. C. p. +280--307) and Terrasson, (Hist. de la Jurisprudence Romaine, p. +94--205.) Note: The wish expressed by Warnkonig, that the text and the +conjectural emendations on the fragments of the xii. tables should be +submitted to rigid criticism, has been fulfilled by Dirksen, Uebersicht +der bisherigen Versuche Leipzig Kritik und Herstellung des Textes der +Zwolf-Tafel-Fragmente, Leipzug, 1824.--M.] + +[Footnote 23: Finis aequi juris, (Tacit. Annal. iii. 27.) Fons omnis +publici et privati juris, (T. Liv. iii. 34.) * Note: From the context of +the phrase in Tacitus, "Nam secutae leges etsi alquando in maleficos +ex delicto; saepius tamen dissensione ordinum * * * latae sunt," it is +clear that Gibbon has rendered this sentence incorrectly. Hugo, Hist. p. +62.--M.] + +[Footnote 24: De principiis juris, et quibus modis ad hanc multitudinem +infinitam ac varietatem legum perventum sit altius disseram, (Tacit. +Annal. iii. 25.) This deep disquisition fills only two pages, but they +are the pages of Tacitus. With equal sense, but with less energy, Livy +(iii. 34) had complained, in hoc immenso aliarum super alias acervatarum +legum cumulo, &c.] + +[Footnote 25: Suetonius in Vespasiano, c. 8.] + +[Footnote 26: Cicero ad Familiares, viii. 8.] + +The Decemvirs had been named, and their tables were approved, by +an assembly of the centuries, in which riches preponderated against +numbers. To the first class of Romans, the proprietors of one hundred +thousand pounds of copper, [27] ninety-eight votes were assigned, and +only ninety-five were left for the six inferior classes, distributed +according to their substance by the artful policy of Servius. But the +tribunes soon established a more specious and popular maxim, that every +citizen has an equal right to enact the laws which he is bound to obey. +Instead of the centuries, they convened the tribes; and the patricians, +after an impotent struggle, submitted to the decrees of an assembly, in +which their votes were confounded with those of the meanest plebeians. +Yet as long as the tribes successively passed over narrow bridges [28] +and gave their voices aloud, the conduct of each citizen was exposed to +the eyes and ears of his friends and countrymen. The insolvent debtor +consulted the wishes of his creditor; the client would have blushed +to oppose the views of his patron; the general was followed by his +veterans, and the aspect of a grave magistrate was a living lesson to +the multitude. A new method of secret ballot abolished the influence +of fear and shame, of honor and interest, and the abuse of freedom +accelerated the progress of anarchy and despotism. [29] The Romans had +aspired to be equal; they were levelled by the equality of servitude; +and the dictates of Augustus were patiently ratified by the formal +consent of the tribes or centuries. Once, and once only, he experienced +a sincere and strenuous opposition. His subjects had resigned all +political liberty; they defended the freedom of domestic life. A law +which enforced the obligation, and strengthened the bonds of marriage, +was clamorously rejected; Propertius, in the arms of Delia, applauded +the victory of licentious love; and the project of reform was suspended +till a new and more tractable generation had arisen in the world. [30] +Such an example was not necessary to instruct a prudent usurper of the +mischief of popular assemblies; and their abolition, which Augustus +had silently prepared, was accomplished without resistance, and almost +without notice, on the accession of his successor. [31] Sixty thousand +plebeian legislators, whom numbers made formidable, and poverty secure, +were supplanted by six hundred senators, who held their honors, their +fortunes, and their lives, by the clemency of the emperor. The loss of +executive power was alleviated by the gift of legislative authority; and +Ulpian might assert, after the practice of two hundred years, that the +decrees of the senate obtained the force and validity of laws. In the +times of freedom, the resolves of the people had often been dictated by +the passion or error of the moment: the Cornelian, Pompeian, and Julian +laws were adapted by a single hand to the prevailing disorders; but the +senate, under the reign of the Caesars, was composed of magistrates and +lawyers, and in questions of private jurisprudence, the integrity of +their judgment was seldom perverted by fear or interest. [32] + +[Footnote 27: Dionysius, with Arbuthnot, and most of the moderns, +(except Eisenschmidt de Ponderibus, &c., p. 137--140,) represent the +100,000 asses by 10,000 Attic drachmae, or somewhat more than 300 pounds +sterling. But their calculation can apply only to the latter times, when +the as was diminished to 1-24th of its ancient weight: nor can I believe +that in the first ages, however destitute of the precious metals, a +single ounce of silver could have been exchanged for seventy pounds +of copper or brass. A more simple and rational method is to value the +copper itself according to the present rate, and, after comparing +the mint and the market price, the Roman and avoirdupois weight, the +primitive as or Roman pound of copper may be appreciated at one English +shilling, and the 100,000 asses of the first class amounted to 5000 +pounds sterling. It will appear from the same reckoning, that an ox was +sold at Rome for five pounds, a sheep for ten shillings, and a quarter +of wheat for one pound ten shillings, (Festus, p. 330, edit. Dacier. +Plin. Hist. Natur. xviii. 4:) nor do I see any reason to reject these +consequences, which moderate our ideas of the poverty of the first +Romans. * Note: Compare Niebuhr, English translation, vol. i. p. 448, +&c.--M.] + +[Footnote 28: Consult the common writers on the Roman Comitia, +especially Sigonius and Beaufort. Spanheim (de Praestantia et Usu +Numismatum, tom. ii. dissert. x. p. 192, 193) shows, on a curious medal, +the Cista, Pontes, Septa, Diribitor, &c.] + +[Footnote 29: Cicero (de Legibus, iii. 16, 17, 18) debates this +constitutional question, and assigns to his brother Quintus the most +unpopular side.] + +[Footnote 30: Prae tumultu recusantium perferre non potuit, (Sueton. +in August. c. 34.) See Propertius, l. ii. eleg. 6. Heineccius, in a +separate history, has exhausted the whole subject of the Julian and +Papian Poppaean laws, (Opp. tom. vii. P. i. p. 1--479.)] + +[Footnote 31: Tacit. Annal. i. 15. Lipsius, Excursus E. in Tacitum. +Note: This error of Gibbon has been long detected. The senate, under +Tiberius did indeed elect the magistrates, who before that emperor were +elected in the comitia. But we find laws enacted by the people during +his reign, and that of Claudius. For example; the Julia-Norbana, Vellea, +and Claudia de tutela foeminarum. Compare the Hist. du Droit Romain, +by M. Hugo, vol. ii. p. 55, 57. The comitia ceased imperceptibly as the +republic gradually expired.--W.] + +[Footnote 32: Non ambigitur senatum jus facere posse, is the decision +of Ulpian, (l. xvi. ad Edict. in Pandect. l. i. tit. iii. leg. 9.) +Pomponius taxes the comitia of the people as a turba hominum, (Pandect. +l. i. tit. ii. leg 9.) * Note: The author adopts the opinion, that under +the emperors alone the senate had a share in the legislative power. +They had nevertheless participated in it under the Republic, since +senatus-consulta relating to civil rights have been preserved, which are +much earlier than the reigns of Augustus or Tiberius. It is true that, +under the emperors, the senate exercised this right more frequently, and +that the assemblies of the people had become much more rare, though in +law they were still permitted, in the time of Ulpian. (See the fragments +of Ulpian.) Bach has clearly demonstrated that the senate had the +same power in the time of the Republic. It is natural that the +senatus-consulta should have been more frequent under the emperors, +because they employed those means of flattering the pride of the +senators, by granting them the right of deliberating on all affairs +which did not intrench on the Imperial power. Compare the discussions of +M. Hugo, vol. i. p. 284, et seq.--W.] + +The silence or ambiguity of the laws was supplied by the occasional +edicts [3211] of those magistrates who were invested with the honors +of the state. [33] This ancient prerogative of the Roman kings was +transferred, in their respective offices, to the consuls and dictators, +the censors and praetors; and a similar right was assumed by the +tribunes of the people, the ediles, and the proconsuls. At Rome, and +in the provinces, the duties of the subject, and the intentions of the +governor, were proclaimed; and the civil jurisprudence was reformed by +the annual edicts of the supreme judge, the praetor of the city. [3311] +As soon as he ascended his tribunal, he announced by the voice of the +crier, and afterwards inscribed on a white wall, the rules which he +proposed to follow in the decision of doubtful cases, and the relief +which his equity would afford from the precise rigor of ancient +statutes. A principle of discretion more congenial to monarchy was +introduced into the republic: the art of respecting the name, and +eluding the efficacy, of the laws, was improved by successive praetors; +subtleties and fictions were invented to defeat the plainest meaning of +the Decemvirs, and where the end was salutary, the means were frequently +absurd. The secret or probable wish of the dead was suffered to prevail +over the order of succession and the forms of testaments; and the +claimant, who was excluded from the character of heir, accepted with +equal pleasure from an indulgent praetor the possession of the goods +of his late kinsman or benefactor. In the redress of private wrongs, +compensations and fines were substituted to the obsolete rigor of the +Twelve Tables; time and space were annihilated by fanciful suppositions; +and the plea of youth, or fraud, or violence, annulled the obligation, +or excused the performance, of an inconvenient contract. A jurisdiction +thus vague and arbitrary was exposed to the most dangerous abuse: the +substance, as well as the form, of justice were often sacrificed to the +prejudices of virtue, the bias of laudable affection, and the grosser +seductions of interest or resentment. But the errors or vices of each +praetor expired with his annual office; such maxims alone as had been +approved by reason and practice were copied by succeeding judges; the +rule of proceeding was defined by the solution of new cases; and the +temptations of injustice were removed by the Cornelian law, which +compelled the praetor of the year to adhere to the spirit and letter +of his first proclamation. [34] It was reserved for the curiosity and +learning of Adrian, to accomplish the design which had been conceived by +the genius of Caesar; and the praetorship of Salvius Julian, an eminent +lawyer, was immortalized by the composition of the Perpetual Edict. This +well-digested code was ratified by the emperor and the senate; the long +divorce of law and equity was at length reconciled; and, instead of the +Twelve Tables, the perpetual edict was fixed as the invariable standard +of civil jurisprudence. [35] + +[Footnote 3211: There is a curious passage from Aurelius, a writer on +Law, on the Praetorian Praefect, quoted in Lydus de Magistratibus, p. +32, edit. Hase. The Praetorian praefect was to the emperor what the +master of the horse was to the dictator under the Republic. He was the +delegate, therefore, of the full Imperial authority; and no appeal could +be made or exception taken against his edicts. I had not observed +this passage, when the third volume, where it would have been more +appropriately placed, passed through the press.--M] + +[Footnote 33: The jus honorarium of the praetors and other magistrates +is strictly defined in the Latin text to the Institutes, (l. i. tit. +ii. No. 7,) and more loosely explained in the Greek paraphrase of +Theophilus, (p. 33--38, edit. Reitz,) who drops the important word +honorarium. * Note: The author here follows the opinion of Heineccius, +who, according to the idea of his master Thomasius, was unwilling +to suppose that magistrates exercising a judicial could share in the +legislative power. For this reason he represents the edicts of the +praetors as absurd. (See his work, Historia Juris Romani, 69, 74.) But +Heineccius had altogether a false notion of this important institution +of the Romans, to which we owe in a great degree the perfection of their +jurisprudence. Heineccius, therefore, in his own days had many opponents +of his system, among others the celebrated Ritter, professor at +Wittemberg, who contested it in notes appended to the work of +Heineccius, and retained in all subsequent editions of that book. +After Ritter, the learned Bach undertook to vindicate the edicts of the +praetors in his Historia Jurisprud. Rom. edit. 6, p. 218, 224. But it +remained for a civilian of our own days to throw light on the spirit and +true character of this institution. M. Hugo has completely demonstrated +that the praetorian edicts furnished the salutary means of perpetually +harmonizing the legislation with the spirit of the times. The praetors +were the true organs of public opinion. It was not according to their +caprice that they framed their regulations, but according to the manners +and to the opinions of the great civil lawyers of their day. We know +from Cicero himself, that it was esteemed a great honor among the +Romans to publish an edict, well conceived and well drawn. The most +distinguished lawyers of Rome were invited by the praetor to assist in +framing this annual law, which, according to its principle, was only a +declaration which the praetor made to the public, to announce the +manner in which he would judge, and to guard against every charge of +partiality. Those who had reason to fear his opinions might delay their +cause till the following year. The praetor was responsible for all +the faults which he committed. The tribunes could lodge an accusation +against the praetor who issued a partial edict. He was bound strictly +to follow and to observe the regulations published by him at the +commencement of his year of office, according to the Cornelian law, by +which these edicts were called perpetual, and he could make no change +in a regulation once published. The praetor was obliged to submit to +his own edict, and to judge his own affairs according to its provisions. +These magistrates had no power of departing from the fundamental +laws, or the laws of the Twelve Tables. The people held them in +such consideration, that they rarely enacted laws contrary to their +provisions; but as some provisions were found inefficient, others +opposed to the manners of the people, and to the spirit of subsequent +ages, the praetors, still maintaining respect for the laws, endeavored +to bring them into accordance with the necessities of the existing +time, by such fictions as best suited the nature of the case. In what +legislation do we not find these fictions, which even yet exist, absurd +and ridiculous as they are, among the ancient laws of modern nations? +These always variable edicts at length comprehended the whole of the +Roman legislature, and became the subject of the commentaries of the +most celebrated lawyers. They must therefore be considered as the basis +of all the Roman jurisprudence comprehended in the Digest of Justinian. +----It is in this sense that M. Schrader has written on this important +institution, proposing it for imitation as far as may be consistent with +our manners, and agreeable to our political institutions, in order to +avoid immature legislation becoming a permanent evil. See the History of +the Roman Law by M. Hugo, vol. i. p. 296, &c., vol. ii. p. 30, et seq., +78. et seq., and the note in my elementary book on the Industries, p. +313. With regard to the works best suited to give information on +the framing and the form of these edicts, see Haubold, Institutiones +Literariae, tom. i. p. 321, 368. All that Heineccius says about the +usurpation of the right of making these edicts by the praetors is false, +and contrary to all historical testimony. A multitude of authorities +proves that the magistrates were under an obligation to publish these +edicts.--W. ----With the utmost deference for these excellent civilians, +I cannot but consider this confusion of the judicial and legislative +authority as a very perilous constitutional precedent. It might answer +among a people so singularly trained as the Romans were by habit and +national character in reverence for legal institutions, so as to be an +aristocracy, if not a people, of legislators; but in most nations the +investiture of a magistrate in such authority, leaving to his sole +judgment the lawyers he might consult, and the view of public opinion +which he might take, would be a very insufficient guaranty for right +legislation.--M.] + +[Footnote 3311: Compare throughout the brief but admirable sketch of the +progress and growth of the Roman jurisprudence, the necessary operation +of the jusgentium, when Rome became the sovereign of nations, upon the +jus civile of the citizens of Rome, in the first chapter of Savigny. +Geschichte des Romischen Rechts im Mittelalter.--M.] + +[Footnote 34: Dion Cassius (tom. i. l. xxxvi. p. 100) fixes the +perpetual edicts in the year of Rome, 686. Their institution, however, +is ascribed to the year 585 in the Acta Diurna, which have been +published from the papers of Ludovicus Vives. Their authenticity is +supported or allowed by Pighius, (Annal. Rom. tom. ii. p. 377, 378,) +Graevius, (ad Sueton. p. 778,) Dodwell, (Praelection. Cambden, p. +665,) and Heineccius: but a single word, Scutum Cimbricum, detects the +forgery, (Moyle's Works, vol. i. p. 303.)] + +[Footnote 35: The history of edicts is composed, and the text of the +perpetual edict is restored, by the master-hand of Heineccius, (Opp. +tom. vii. P. ii. p. 1--564;) in whose researches I might safely +acquiesce. In the Academy of Inscriptions, M. Bouchaud has given a +series of memoirs to this interesting subject of law and literature. * +Note: This restoration was only the commencement of a work found among +the papers of Heineccius, and published after his death.--G. ----Note: +Gibbon has here fallen into an error, with Heineccius, and almost the +whole literary world, concerning the real meaning of what is called the +perpetual edict of Hadrian. Since the Cornelian law, the edicts were +perpetual, but only in this sense, that the praetor could not change +them during the year of his magistracy. And although it appears that +under Hadrian, the civilian Julianus made, or assisted in making, +a complete collection of the edicts, (which certainly had been done +likewise before Hadrian, for example, by Ofilius, qui diligenter edictum +composuit,) we have no sufficient proof to admit the common opinion, +that the Praetorian edict was declared perpetually unalterable by +Hadrian. The writers on law subsequent to Hadrian (and among the rest +Pomponius, in his Summary of the Roman Jurisprudence) speak of the +edict as it existed in the time of Cicero. They would not certainly +have passed over in silence so remarkable a change in the most important +source of the civil law. M. Hugo has conclusively shown that the various +passages in authors, like Eutropius, are not sufficient to establish the +opinion introduced by Heineccius. Compare Hugo, vol. ii. p. 78. A new +proof of this is found in the Institutes of Gaius, who, in the first +books of his work, expresses himself in the same manner, without +mentioning any change made by Hadrian. Nevertheless, if it had taken +place, he must have noticed it, as he does l. i. 8, the responsa +prudentum, on the occasion of a rescript of Hadrian. There is no lacuna +in the text. Why then should Gaius maintain silence concerning an +innovation so much more important than that of which he speaks? After +all, this question becomes of slight interest, since, in fact, we find +no change in the perpetual edict inserted in the Digest, from the +time of Hadrian to the end of that epoch, except that made by Julian, +(compare Hugo, l. c.) The latter lawyers appear to follow, in their +commentaries, the same texts as their predecessors. It is natural +to suppose, that, after the labors of so many men distinguished +in jurisprudence, the framing of the edict must have attained +such perfection that it would have been difficult to have made any +innovation. We nowhere find that the jurists of the Pandects disputed +concerning the words, or the drawing up of the edict. What difference +would, in fact, result from this with regard to our codes, and our +modern legislation? Compare the learned Dissertation of M. Biener, De +Salvii Juliani meritis in Edictum Praetorium recte aestimandis. Lipsae, +1809, 4to.--W.] + +From Augustus to Trajan, the modest Caesars were content to promulgate +their edicts in the various characters of a Roman magistrate; [3511] +and, in the decrees of the senate, the epistles and orations of the +prince were respectfully inserted. Adrian [36] appears to have been the +first who assumed, without disguise, the plenitude of legislative power. +And this innovation, so agreeable to his active mind, was countenanced +by the patience of the times, and his long absence from the seat of +government. The same policy was embraced by succeeding monarchs, and, +according to the harsh metaphor of Tertullian, "the gloomy and intricate +forest of ancient laws was cleared away by the axe of royal mandates and +constitutions." [37] During four centuries, from Adrian to Justinian +the public and private jurisprudence was moulded by the will of the +sovereign; and few institutions, either human or divine, were permitted +to stand on their former basis. The origin of Imperial legislation was +concealed by the darkness of ages and the terrors of armed despotism; +and a double tiction was propagated by the servility, or perhaps the +ignorance, of the civilians, who basked in the sunshine of the Roman and +Byzantine courts. 1. To the prayer of the ancient Caesars, the people +or the senate had sometimes granted a personal exemption from the +obligation and penalty of particular statutes; and each indulgence was +an act of jurisdiction exercised by the republic over the first of +her citizens. His humble privilege was at length transformed into the +prerogative of a tyrant; and the Latin expression of "released from the +laws" [38] was supposed to exalt the emperor above all human restraints, +and to leave his conscience and reason as the sacred measure of his +conduct. 2. A similar dependence was implied in the decrees of the +senate, which, in every reign, defined the titles and powers of an +elective magistrate. But it was not before the ideas, and even the +language, of the Romans had been corrupted, that a royal law, [39] and +an irrevocable gift of the people, were created by the fancy of Ulpian, +or more probably of Tribonian himself; [40] and the origin of Imperial +power, though false in fact, and slavish in its consequence, was +supported on a principle of freedom and justice. "The pleasure of the +emperor has the vigor and effect of law, since the Roman people, by the +royal law, have transferred to their prince the full extent of their +own power and sovereignty." [41] The will of a single man, of a +child perhaps, was allowed to prevail over the wisdom of ages and +the inclinations of millions; and the degenerate Greeks were proud to +declare, that in his hands alone the arbitrary exercise of legislation +could be safely deposited. "What interest or passion," exclaims +Theophilus in the court of Justinian, "can reach the calm and sublime +elevation of the monarch? He is already master of the lives and fortunes +of his subjects; and those who have incurred his displeasure are already +numbered with the dead." [42] Disdaining the language of flattery, the +historian may confess, that in questions of private jurisprudence, the +absolute sovereign of a great empire can seldom be influenced by any +personal considerations. Virtue, or even reason, will suggest to his +impartial mind, that he is the guardian of peace and equity, and that +the interest of society is inseparably connected with his own. Under the +weakest and most vicious reign, the seat of justice was filled by +the wisdom and integrity of Papinian and Ulpian; [43] and the purest +materials of the Code and Pandects are inscribed with the names of +Caracalla and his ministers. [44] The tyrant of Rome was sometimes the +benefactor of the provinces. A dagger terminated the crimes of Domitian; +but the prudence of Nerva confirmed his acts, which, in the joy of their +deliverance, had been rescinded by an indignant senate. [45] Yet in the +rescripts, [46] replies to the consultations of the magistrates, the +wisest of princes might be deceived by a partial exposition of the case. +And this abuse, which placed their hasty decisions on the same level +with mature and deliberate acts of legislation, was ineffectually +condemned by the sense and example of Trajan. The rescripts of the +emperor, his grants and decrees, his edicts and pragmatic sanctions, +were subscribed in purple ink, [47] and transmitted to the provinces as +general or special laws, which the magistrates were bound to execute, +and the people to obey. But as their number continually multiplied, the +rule of obedience became each day more doubtful and obscure, till the +will of the sovereign was fixed and ascertained in the Gregorian, the +Hermogenian, and the Theodosian codes. [4711] The two first, of which +some fragments have escaped, were framed by two private lawyers, +to preserve the constitutions of the Pagan emperors from Adrian to +Constantine. The third, which is still extant, was digested in sixteen +books by the order of the younger Theodosius to consecrate the laws of +the Christian princes from Constantine to his own reign. But the three +codes obtained an equal authority in the tribunals; and any act which +was not included in the sacred deposit might be disregarded by the judge +as epurious or obsolete. [48] + +[Footnote 3511: It is an important question in what manner the emperors +were invested with this legislative power. The newly discovered Gaius +distinctly states that it was in virtue of a law--Nec unquam dubitatum +est, quin id legis vicem obtineat, cum ipse imperator per legem imperium +accipiat. But it is still uncertain whether this was a general law, +passed on the transition of the government from a republican to a +monarchical form, or a law passed on the accession of each emperor. +Compare Hugo, Hist. du Droit Romain, (French translation,) vol. ii. p. +8.--M.] + +[Footnote 36: His laws are the first in the code. See Dodwell, +(Praelect. Cambden, p. 319--340,) who wanders from the subject in +confused reading and feeble paradox. * Note: This is again an error +which Gibbon shares with Heineccius, and the generality of authors. It +arises from having mistaken the insignificant edict of Hadrian, inserted +in the Code of Justinian, (lib. vi, tit. xxiii. c. 11,) for the first +constitutio principis, without attending to the fact, that the Pandects +contain so many constitutions of the emperors, from Julius Caesar, (see +l. i. Digest 29, l) M. Hugo justly observes, that the acta of Sylla, +approved by the senate, were the same thing with the constitutions of +those who after him usurped the sovereign power. Moreover, we find that +Pliny, and other ancient authors, report a multitude of rescripts of +the emperors from the time of Augustus. See Hugo, Hist. du Droit Romain, +vol. ii. p. 24-27.--W.] + +[Footnote 37: Totam illam veterem et squalentem sylvam legum novis +principalium rescriptorum et edictorum securibus truncatis et caeditis; +(Apologet. c. 4, p. 50, edit. Havercamp.) He proceeds to praise the +recent firmness of Severus, who repealed the useless or pernicious laws, +without any regard to their age or authority.] + +[Footnote 38: The constitutional style of Legibus Solutus is +misinterpreted by the art or ignorance of Dion Cassius, (tom. i. l. +liii. p. 713.) On this occasion, his editor, Reimer, joins the universal +censure which freedom and criticism have pronounced against that slavish +historian.] + +[Footnote 39: The word (Lex Regia) was still more recent than the thing. +The slaves of Commodus or Caracalla would have started at the name of +royalty. Note: Yet a century before, Domitian was called not only by +Martial but even in public documents, Dominus et Deus Noster. Sueton. +Domit. cap. 13. Hugo.--W.] + +[Footnote 40: See Gravina (Opp. p. 501--512) and Beaufort, (Republique +Romaine, tom. i. p. 255--274.) He has made a proper use of two +dissertations by John Frederic Gronovius and Noodt, both translated, +with valuable notes, by Barbeyrac, 2 vols. in 12mo. 1731.] + +[Footnote 41: Institut. l. i. tit. ii. No. 6. Pandect. l. i. tit. +iv. leg. 1. Cod. Justinian, l. i. tit. xvii. leg. 1, No. 7. In +his Antiquities and Elements, Heineccius has amply treated de +constitutionibus principum, which are illustrated by Godefroy (Comment. +ad Cod. Theodos. l. i. tit. i. ii. iii.) and Gravina, (p. 87--90.) +----Note: Gaius asserts that the Imperial edict or rescript has and +always had, the force of law, because the Imperial authority rests upon +law. Constitutio principis est, quod imperator decreto vel edicto, +vel epistola constituit, nee unquam dubitatum, quin id legis, vicem +obtineat, cum ipse imperator per legem imperium accipiat. Gaius, 6 +Instit. i. 2.--M.] + +[Footnote 42: Theophilus, in Paraphras. Graec. Institut. p. 33, 34, +edit. Reitz For his person, time, writings, see the Theophilus of J. H. +Mylius, Excurs. iii. p. 1034--1073.] + +[Footnote 43: There is more envy than reason in the complaint of +Macrinus (Jul. Capitolin. c. 13:) Nefas esse leges videri Commodi et +Caracalla at hominum imperitorum voluntates. Commodus was made a Divus +by Severus, (Dodwell, Praelect. viii. p. 324, 325.) Yet he occurs only +twice in the Pandects.] + +[Footnote 44: Of Antoninus Caracalla alone 200 constitutions are extant +in the Code, and with his father 160. These two princes are quoted fifty +times in the Pandects, and eight in the Institutes, (Terasson, p. 265.)] + +[Footnote 45: Plin. Secund. Epistol. x. 66. Sueton. in Domitian. c. 23.] + +[Footnote 46: It was a maxim of Constantine, contra jus rescripta non +valeant, (Cod. Theodos. l. i. tit. ii. leg. 1.) The emperors reluctantly +allow some scrutiny into the law and the fact, some delay, petition, +&c.; but these insufficient remedies are too much in the discretion and +at the peril of the judge.] + +[Footnote 47: A compound of vermilion and cinnabar, which marks the +Imperial diplomas from Leo I. (A.D. 470) to the fall of the Greek +empire, (Bibliotheque Raisonnee de la Diplomatique, tom. i. p. 504--515 +Lami, de Eruditione Apostolorum, tom. ii. p. 720-726.)] + +[Footnote 4711: Savigny states the following as the authorities for the +Roman law at the commencement of the fifth century:-- 1. The writings +of the jurists, according to the regulations of the Constitution of +Valentinian III., first promulgated in the West, but by its admission +into the Theodosian Code established likewise in the East. (This +Constitution established the authority of the five great jurists, +Papinian, Paulus, Caius, Ulpian, and Modestinus as interpreters of the +ancient law. * * * In case of difference of opinion among these five, +a majority decided the case; where they were equal, the opinion of +Papinian, where he was silent, the judge; but see p. 40, and Hugo, vol. +ii. p. 89.) 2. The Gregorian and Hermogenian Collection of the Imperial +Rescripts. 3. The Code of Theodosius II. 4. The particular Novellae, as +additions and Supplements to this Code Savigny. vol. i. p 10.--M.] + +[Footnote 48: Schulting, Jurisprudentia Ante-Justinianea, p. 681-718. +Cujacius assigned to Gregory the reigns from Hadrian to Gallienus. and +the continuation to his fellow-laborer Hermogenes. This general division +may be just, but they often trespassed on each other's ground] + + +=== + +Chapter XLIV: Idea Of The Roman Jurisprudence.--Part III. + +Among savage nations, the want of letters is imperfectly supplied by +the use of visible signs, which awaken attention, and perpetuate the +remembrance of any public or private transaction. The jurisprudence of +the first Romans exhibited the scenes of a pantomime; the words were +adapted to the gestures, and the slightest error or neglect in the +forms of proceeding was sufficient to annul the substance of the fairest +claim. The communion of the marriage-life was denoted by the necessary +elements of fire and water; [49] and the divorced wife resigned the +bunch of keys, by the delivery of which she had been invested with the +government of the family. The manumission of a son, or a slave, was +performed by turning him round with a gentle blow on the cheek; a work +was prohibited by the casting of a stone; prescription was interrupted +by the breaking of a branch; the clinched fist was the symbol of a +pledge or deposit; the right hand was the gift of faith and confidence. +The indenture of covenants was a broken straw; weights and scales were +introduced into every payment, and the heir who accepted a testament was +sometimes obliged to snap his fingers, to cast away his garments, and to +leap or dance with real or affected transport. [50] If a citizen pursued +any stolen goods into a neighbor's house, he concealed his nakedness +with a linen towel, and hid his face with a mask or basin, lest he +should encounter the eyes of a virgin or a matron. [51] In a civil +action the plaintiff touched the ear of his witness, seized his +reluctant adversary by the neck, and implored, in solemn lamentation, +the aid of his fellow-citizens. The two competitors grasped each other's +hand as if they stood prepared for combat before the tribunal of the +praetor; he commanded them to produce the object of the dispute; they +went, they returned with measured steps, and a clod of earth was cast +at his feet to represent the field for which they contended. This occult +science of the words and actions of law was the inheritance of the +pontiffs and patricians. Like the Chaldean astrologers, they announced +to their clients the days of business and repose; these important +trifles were interwoven with the religion of Numa; and after the +publication of the Twelve Tables, the Roman people was still enslaved +by the ignorance of judicial proceedings. The treachery of some +plebeian officers at length revealed the profitable mystery: in a more +enlightened age, the legal actions were derided and observed; and the +same antiquity which sanctified the practice, obliterated the use and +meaning of this primitive language. [52] + +[Footnote 49: Scaevola, most probably Q. Cervidius Scaevola; the master +of Papinian considers this acceptance of fire and water as the essence +of marriage, (Pandect. l. xxiv. tit. 1, leg. 66. See Heineccius, Hist. +J. R. No. 317.)] + +[Footnote 50: Cicero (de Officiis, iii. 19) may state an ideal case, but +St. Am brose (de Officiis, iii. 2,) appeals to the practice of his own +times, which he understood as a lawyer and a magistrate, (Schulting +ad Ulpian, Fragment. tit. xxii. No. 28, p. 643, 644.) * Note: In +this passage the author has endeavored to collect all the examples of +judicial formularies which he could find. That which he adduces as the +form of cretio haereditatis is absolutely false. It is sufficient to +glance at the passage in Cicero which he cites, to see that it has no +relation to it. The author appeals to the opinion of Schulting, who, in +the passage quoted, himself protests against the ridiculous and absurd +interpretation of the passage in Cicero, and observes that Graevius had +already well explained the real sense. See in Gaius the form of cretio +haereditatis Inst. l. ii. p. 166.--W.] + +[Footnote 51: The furtum lance licioque conceptum was no longer +understood in the time of the Antonines, (Aulus Gellius, xvi. 10.) The +Attic derivation of Heineccius, (Antiquitat. Rom. l. iv. tit. i. No. +13--21) is supported by the evidence of Aristophanes, his scholiast, and +Pollux. * Note: Nothing more is known of this ceremony; nevertheless +we find that already in his own days Gaius turned it into ridicule. He +says, (lib. iii. et p. 192, Sections 293,) prohibiti actio quadrupli +ex edicto praetoris introducta est; lex autem eo nomine nullam poenam +constituit. Hoc solum praecepit, ut qui quaerere velit, nudus quaerat, +linteo cinctus, lancem habens; qui si quid invenerit. jubet id lex +furtum manifestum esse. Quid sit autem linteum? quaesitum est. Sed +verius est consuti genus esse, quo necessariae partes tegerentur. Quare +lex tota ridicula est. Nam qui vestitum quaerere prohibet, is et nudum +quaerere prohibiturus est; eo magis, quod invenerit ibi imponat, neutrum +eorum procedit, si id quod quaeratur, ejus magnitudinis aut naturae +sit ut neque subjici, neque ibi imponi possit. Certe non dubitatur, +cujuscunque materiae sit ea lanx, satis legi fieri. We see moreover, +from this passage, that the basin, as most authors, resting on +the authority of Festus, have supposed, was not used to cover the +figure.--W. Gibbon says the face, though equally inaccurately. This +passage of Gaius, I must observe, as well as others in M. Warnkonig's +work, is very inaccurately printed.--M.] + +[Footnote 52: In his Oration for Murena, (c. 9--13,) Cicero turns into +ridicule the forms and mysteries of the civilians, which are represented +with more candor by Aulus Gellius, (Noct. Attic. xx. 10,) Gravina, (Opp +p. 265, 266, 267,) and Heineccius, (Antiquitat. l. iv. tit. vi.) * Note: +Gibbon had conceived opinions too decided against the forms of procedure +in use among the Romans. Yet it is on these solemn forms that the +certainty of laws has been founded among all nations. Those of the +Romans were very intimately allied with the ancient religion, and +must of necessity have disappeared as Rome attained a higher degree +of civilization. Have not modern nations, even the most civilized, +overloaded their laws with a thousand forms, often absurd, almost always +trivial? How many examples are afforded by the English law! See, on the +nature of these forms, the work of M. de Savigny on the Vocation of our +Age for Legislation and Jurisprudence, Heidelberg, 1814, p. 9, 10.--W. +This work of M. Savigny has been translated into English by Mr. +Hayward.--M.] + +A more liberal art was cultivated, however, by the sage of Rome, who, in +a stricter sense, may be considered as the authors of the civil law. The +alteration of the idiom and manners of the Romans rendered the style +of the Twelve Tables less familiar to each rising generation, and the +doubtful passages were imperfectly explained by the study of legal +antiquarians. To define the ambiguities, to circumscribe the latitude, +to apply the principles, to extend the consequences, to reconcile the +real or apparent contradictions, was a much nobler and more important +task; and the province of legislation was silently invaded by the +expounders of ancient statutes. Their subtle interpretations concurred +with the equity of the praetor, to reform the tyranny of the darker +ages: however strange or intricate the means, it was the aim of +artificial jurisprudence to restore the simple dictates of nature and +reason, and the skill of private citizens was usefully employed to +undermine the public institutions of their country. [521] The revolution +of almost one thousand years, from the Twelve Tables to the reign of +Justinian, may be divided into three periods, almost equal in duration, +and distinguished from each other by the mode of instruction and the +character of the civilians. [53] Pride and ignorance contributed, during +the first period, to confine within narrow limits the science of the +Roman law. On the public days of market or assembly, the masters of the +art were seen walking in the forum ready to impart the needful advice +to the meanest of their fellow-citizens, from whose votes, on a future +occasion, they might solicit a grateful return. As their years and +honors increased, they seated themselves at home on a chair or throne, +to expect with patient gravity the visits of their clients, who at the +dawn of day, from the town and country, began to thunder at their door. +The duties of social life, and the incidents of judicial proceeding, +were the ordinary subject of these consultations, and the verbal or +written opinion of the juris-consults was framed according to the rules +of prudence and law. The youths of their own order and family were +permitted to listen; their children enjoyed the benefit of more private +lessons, and the Mucian race was long renowned for the hereditary +knowledge of the civil law. The second period, the learned and splendid +age of jurisprudence, may be extended from the birth of Cicero to +the reign of Severus Alexander. A system was formed, schools were +instituted, books were composed, and both the living and the dead became +subservient to the instruction of the student. The tripartite of Aelius +Paetus, surnamed Catus, or the Cunning, was preserved as the oldest work +of Jurisprudence. Cato the censor derived some additional fame from his +legal studies, and those of his son: the kindred appellation of Mucius +Scaevola was illustrated by three sages of the law; but the perfection +of the science was ascribed to Servius Sulpicius, their disciple, and +the friend of Tully; and the long succession, which shone with equal +lustre under the republic and under the Caesars, is finally closed by +the respectable characters of Papinian, of Paul, and of Ulpian. Their +names, and the various titles of their productions, have been minutely +preserved, and the example of Labeo may suggest some idea of their +diligence and fecundity. That eminent lawyer of the Augustan age divided +the year between the city and country, between business and composition; +and four hundred books are enumerated as the fruit of his retirement. Of +the collection of his rival Capito, the two hundred and fifty-ninth book +is expressly quoted; and few teachers could deliver their opinions in +less than a century of volumes. In the third period, between the reigns +of Alexander and Justinian, the oracles of jurisprudence were almost +mute. The measure of curiosity had been filled: the throne was occupied +by tyrants and Barbarians, the active spirits were diverted by religious +disputes, and the professors of Rome, Constantinople, and Berytus, +were humbly content to repeat the lessons of their more enlightened +predecessors. From the slow advances and rapid decay of these legal +studies, it may be inferred, that they require a state of peace and +refinement. From the multitude of voluminous civilians who fill the +intermediate space, it is evident that such studies may be pursued, +and such works may be performed, with a common share of judgment, +experience, and industry. The genius of Cicero and Virgil was more +sensibly felt, as each revolving age had been found incapable of +producing a similar or a second: but the most eminent teachers of the +law were assured of leaving disciples equal or superior to themselves in +merit and reputation. + +[Footnote 521: Compare, on the Responsa Prudentum, Warnkonig, Histoire +Externe du Droit Romain Bruxelles, 1836, p. 122.--M.] + +[Footnote 53: The series of the civil lawyers is deduced by Pomponius, +(de Origine Juris Pandect. l. i. tit. ii.) The moderns have discussed, +with learning and criticism, this branch of literary history; and among +these I have chiefly been guided by Gravina (p. 41--79) and Hei neccius, +(Hist. J. R. No. 113-351.) Cicero, more especially in his books de +Oratore, de Claris Oratoribus, de Legibus, and the Clavie Ciceroniana +of Ernesti (under the names of Mucius, &c.) afford much genuine and +pleasing information. Horace often alludes to the morning labors of the +civilians, (Serm. I. i. 10, Epist. II. i. 103, &c) + + Agricolam laudat juris legumque peritus Sub galli cantum, + consultor ubi ostia pulsat. + ------------ + Romae dulce diu fuit et solemne, reclusa Mane domo vigilare, + clienti promere jura. + +* Note: It is particularly in this division of the history of +the Roman jurisprudence into epochs, that Gibbon displays his profound +knowledge of the laws of this people. M. Hugo, adopting this division, +prefaced these three periods with the history of the times anterior to +the Law of the Twelve Tables, which are, as it were, the infancy of the +Roman law.--W] + +The jurisprudence which had been grossly adapted to the wants of the +first Romans, was polished and improved in the seventh century of the +city, by the alliance of Grecian philosophy. The Scaevolas had been +taught by use and experience; but Servius Sulpicius [5311] was the first +civilian who established his art on a certain and general theory. [54] +For the discernment of truth and falsehood he applied, as an infallible +rule, the logic of Aristotle and the stoics, reduced particular cases +to general principles, and diffused over the shapeless mass the light of +order and eloquence. Cicero, his contemporary and friend, declined the +reputation of a professed lawyer; but the jurisprudence of his country +was adorned by his incomparable genius, which converts into gold every +object that it touches. After the example of Plato, he composed a +republic; and, for the use of his republic, a treatise of laws; in which +he labors to deduce from a celestial origin the wisdom and justice of +the Roman constitution. The whole universe, according to his sublime +hypothesis, forms one immense commonwealth: gods and men, who +participate of the same essence, are members of the same community; +reason prescribes the law of nature and nations; and all positive +institutions, however modified by accident or custom, are drawn from +the rule of right, which the Deity has inscribed on every virtuous mind. +From these philosophical mysteries, he mildly excludes the sceptics +who refuse to believe, and the epicureans who are unwilling to act. The +latter disdain the care of the republic: he advises them to slumber in +their shady gardens. But he humbly entreats that the new academy would +be silent, since her bold objections would too soon destroy the fair and +well ordered structure of his lofty system. [55] Plato, Aristotle, and +Zeno, he represents as the only teachers who arm and instruct a citizen +for the duties of social life. Of these, the armor of the stoics [56] +was found to be of the firmest temper; and it was chiefly worn, both for +use and ornament, in the schools of jurisprudence. From the portico, the +Roman civilians learned to live, to reason, and to die: but they imbibed +in some degree the prejudices of the sect; the love of paradox, the +pertinacious habits of dispute, and a minute attachment to words and +verbal distinctions. The superiority of form to matter was introduced +to ascertain the right of property: and the equality of crimes is +countenanced by an opinion of Trebatius, [57] that he who touches the +ear, touches the whole body; and that he who steals from a heap of corn, +or a hogshead of wine, is guilty of the entire theft. [58] + +[Footnote 5311: M. Hugo thinks that the ingenious system of the +Institutes adopted by a great number of the ancient lawyers, and by +Justinian himself, dates from Severus Sulpicius. Hist du Droit Romain, +vol.iii.p. 119.--W.] + +[Footnote 54: Crassus, or rather Cicero himself, proposes (de Oratore, +i. 41, 42) an idea of the art or science of jurisprudence, which the +eloquent, but illiterate, Antonius (i. 58) affects to deride. It was +partly executed by Servius Sulpicius, (in Bruto, c. 41,) whose praises +are elegantly varied in the classic Latinity of the Roman Gravina, (p. +60.)] + +[Footnote 55: Perturbatricem autem omnium harum rerum academiam, hanc ab +Arcesila et Carneade recentem, exoremus ut sileat, nam si invaserit +in haec, quae satis scite instructa et composita videantur, nimis edet +ruinas, quam quidem ego placare cupio, submovere non audeo. (de Legibus, +i. 13.) From this passage alone, Bentley (Remarks on Free-thinking, +p. 250) might have learned how firmly Cicero believed in the specious +doctrines which he has adorned.] + +[Footnote 56: The stoic philosophy was first taught at Rome by +Panaetius, the friend of the younger Scipio, (see his life in the Mem. +de l'Academis des Inscriptions, tom. x. p. 75--89.)] + +[Footnote 57: As he is quoted by Ulpian, (leg.40, 40, ad Sabinum in +Pandect. l. xlvii. tit. ii. leg. 21.) Yet Trebatius, after he was a +leading civilian, que qui familiam duxit, became an epicurean, (Cicero +ad Fam. vii. 5.) Perhaps he was not constant or sincere in his new sect. +* Note: Gibbon had entirely misunderstood this phrase of Cicero. It was +only since his time that the real meaning of the author was apprehended. +Cicero, in enumerating the qualifications of Trebatius, says, Accedit +etiam, quod familiam ducit in jure civili, singularis memoria, summa +scientia, which means that Trebatius possessed a still further most +important qualification for a student of civil law, a remarkable memory, +&c. This explanation, already conjectured by G. Menage, Amaenit. Juris +Civilis, c. 14, is found in the dictionary of Scheller, v. Familia, and +in the History of the Roman Law by M. Hugo. Many authors have asserted, +without any proof sufficient to warrant the conjecture, that Trebatius +was of the school of Epicurus--W.] + +[Footnote 58: See Gravina (p. 45--51) and the ineffectual cavils +of Mascou. Heineccius (Hist. J. R. No. 125) quotes and approves a +dissertation of Everard Otto, de Stoica Jurisconsultorum Philosophia.] + +Arms, eloquence, and the study of the civil law, promoted a citizen to +the honors of the Roman state; and the three professions were +sometimes more conspicuous by their union in the same character. In +the composition of the edict, a learned praetor gave a sanction and +preference to his private sentiments; the opinion of a censor, or a +counsel, was entertained with respect; and a doubtful interpretation of +the laws might be supported by the virtues or triumphs of the civilian. +The patrician arts were long protected by the veil of mystery; and in +more enlightened times, the freedom of inquiry established the general +principles of jurisprudence. Subtile and intricate cases were elucidated +by the disputes of the forum: rules, axioms, and definitions, [59] were +admitted as the genuine dictates of reason; and the consent of the legal +professors was interwoven into the practice of the tribunals. But these +interpreters could neither enact nor execute the laws of the republic; +and the judges might disregard the authority of the Scaevolas +themselves, which was often overthrown by the eloquence or sophistry +of an ingenious pleader. [60] Augustus and Tiberius were the first +to adopt, as a useful engine, the science of the civilians; and their +servile labors accommodated the old system to the spirit and views of +despotism. Under the fair pretence of securing the dignity of the art, +the privilege of subscribing legal and valid opinions was confined to +the sages of senatorian or equestrian rank, who had been previously +approved by the judgment of the prince; and this monopoly prevailed, +till Adrian restored the freedom of the profession to every citizen +conscious of his abilities and knowledge. The discretion of the praetor +was now governed by the lessons of his teachers; the judges were +enjoined to obey the comment as well as the text of the law; and the use +of codicils was a memorable innovation, which Augustus ratified by the +advice of the civilians. [61] [6111] + +[Footnote 59: We have heard of the Catonian rule, the Aquilian +stipulation, and the Manilian forms, of 211 maxims, and of 247 +definitions, (Pandect. l. i. tit. xvi. xvii.)] + +[Footnote 60: Read Cicero, l. i. de Oratore, Topica, pro Murena.] + +[Footnote 61: See Pomponius, (de Origine Juris Pandect. l. i. tit. ii. +leg. 2, No 47,) Heineccius, (ad Institut. l. i. tit. ii. No. 8, l. ii. +tit. xxv. in Element et Antiquitat.,) and Gravina, (p. 41--45.) Yet the +monopoly of Augustus, a harsh measure, would appear with some softening +in contemporary evidence; and it was probably veiled by a decree of the +senate] + +[Footnote 6111: The author here follows the then generally received +opinion of Heineccius. The proofs which appear to confirm it are l. 2 +47, D. I. 2, and 8. Instit. I. 2. The first of these passages speaks +expressly of a privilege granted to certain lawyers, until the time of +Adrian, publice respondendi jus ante Augusti tempora non dabatur. Primus +Divus ut major juris auctoritas haberetur, constituit, ut ex auctoritate +ejus responderent. The passage of the Institutes speaks of the different +opinions of those, quibus est permissum jura condere. It is true that +the first of these passages does not say that the opinion of these +privileged lawyers had the force of a law for the judges. For this +reason M. Hugo altogether rejects the opinion adopted by Heineccius, by +Bach, and in general by all the writers who preceded him. He conceives +that the 8 of the Institutes referred to the constitution of Valentinian +III., which regulated the respective authority to be ascribed to the +different writings of the great civilians. But we have now the following +passage in the Institutes of Gaius: Responsa prudentum sunt sententiae +et opiniones eorum, quibus permissum est jura condere; quorum omnium +si in unum sententiae concorrupt, id quod ita sentiunt, legis vicem +obtinet, si vero dissentiunt, judici licet, quam velit sententiam +sequi, idque rescripto Divi Hadrian signiticatur. I do not know, how in +opposition to this passage, the opinion of M. Hugo can be maintained. We +must add to this the passage quoted from Pomponius and from such strong +proofs, it seems incontestable that the emperors had granted some kind +of privilege to certain civilians, quibus permissum erat jura condere. +Their opinion had sometimes the force of law, legis vicem. M. Hugo, +endeavoring to reconcile this phrase with his system, gives it a forced +interpretation, which quite alters the sense; he supposes that the +passage contains no more than what is evident of itself, that the +authority of the civilians was to be respected, thus making a privilege +of that which was free to all the world. It appears to me almost +indisputable, that the emperors had sanctioned certain provisions +relative to the authority of these civilians, consulted by the judges. +But how far was their advice to be respected? This is a question +which it is impossible to answer precisely, from the want of historic +evidence. Is it not possible that the emperors established an authority +to be consulted by the judges? and in this case this authority must have +emanated from certain civilians named for this purpose by the emperors. +See Hugo, l. c. Moreover, may not the passage of Suetonius, in the Life +of Caligula, where he says that the emperor would no longer permit +the civilians to give their advice, mean that Caligula entertained the +design of suppressing this institution? See on this passage the Themis, +vol. xi. p. 17, 36. Our author not being acquainted with the opinions +opposed to Heineccius has not gone to the bottom of the subject.--W.] + +The most absolute mandate could only require that the judges should +agree with the civilians, if the civilians agreed among themselves. But +positive institutions are often the result of custom and prejudice; laws +and language are ambiguous and arbitrary; where reason is incapable of +pronouncing, the love of argument is inflamed by the envy of rivals, +the vanity of masters, the blind attachment of their disciples; and +the Roman jurisprudence was divided by the once famous sects of the +Proculians and Sabinians. [62] Two sages of the law, Ateius Capito and +Antistius Labeo, [63] adorned the peace of the Augustan age; the former +distinguished by the favor of his sovereign; the latter more illustrious +by his contempt of that favor, and his stern though harmless opposition +to the tyrant of Rome. Their legal studies were influenced by the +various colors of their temper and principles. Labeo was attached to +the form of the old republic; his rival embraced the more profitable +substance of the rising monarchy. But the disposition of a courtier +is tame and submissive; and Capito seldom presumed to deviate from the +sentiments, or at least from the words, of his predecessors; while the +bold republican pursued his independent ideas without fear of paradox or +innovations. The freedom of Labeo was enslaved, however, by the rigor of +his own conclusions, and he decided, according to the letter of the +law, the same questions which his indulgent competitor resolved with +a latitude of equity more suitable to the common sense and feelings +of mankind. If a fair exchange had been substituted to the payment of +money, Capito still considered the transaction as a legal sale; [64] +and he consulted nature for the age of puberty, without confining his +definition to the precise period of twelve or fourteen years. [65] This +opposition of sentiments was propagated in the writings and lessons +of the two founders; the schools of Capito and Labeo maintained their +inveterate conflict from the age of Augustus to that of Adrian; [66] +and the two sects derived their appellations from Sabinus and Proculus, +their most celebrated teachers. The names of Cassians and Pegasians were +likewise applied to the same parties; but, by a strange reverse, +the popular cause was in the hands of Pegasus, [67] a timid slave of +Domitian, while the favorite of the Caesars was represented by Cassius, +[68] who gloried in his descent from the patriot assassin. By the +perpetual edict, the controversies of the sects were in a great measure +determined. For that important work, the emperor Adrian preferred the +chief of the Sabinians: the friends of monarchy prevailed; but the +moderation of Salvius Julian insensibly reconciled the victors and the +vanquished. Like the contemporary philosophers, the lawyers of the age +of the Antonines disclaimed the authority of a master, and adopted from +every system the most probable doctrines. [69] But their writings would +have been less voluminous, had their choice been more unanimous. The +conscience of the judge was perplexed by the number and weight of +discordant testimonies, and every sentence that his passion or interest +might pronounce was justified by the sanction of some venerable name. An +indulgent edict of the younger Theodosius excused him from the labor of +comparing and weighing their arguments. Five civilians, Caius, Papinian, +Paul, Ulpian, and Modestinus, were established as the oracles of +jurisprudence: a majority was decisive: but if their opinions were +equally divided, a casting vote was ascribed to the superior wisdom of +Papinian. [70] + +[Footnote 62: I have perused the Diatribe of Gotfridus Mascovius, the +learned Mascou, de Sectis Jurisconsultorum, (Lipsiae, 1728, in 12mo., p. +276,) a learned treatise on a narrow and barren ground.] + +[Footnote 63: See the character of Antistius Labeo in Tacitus, (Annal. +iii. 75,) and in an epistle of Ateius Capito, (Aul. Gellius, xiii. 12,) +who accuses his rival of libertas nimia et vecors. Yet Horace would not +have lashed a virtuous and respectable senator; and I must adopt the +emendation of Bentley, who reads Labieno insanior, (Serm. I. iii. 82.) +See Mascou, de Sectis, (c. i. p. 1--24.)] + +[Footnote 64: Justinian (Institut. l. iii. tit. 23, and Theophil. Vers. +Graec. p. 677, 680) has commemorated this weighty dispute, and the +verses of Homer that were alleged on either side as legal authorities. +It was decided by Paul, (leg. 33, ad Edict. in Pandect. l. xviii. +tit. i. leg. 1,) since, in a simple exchange, the buyer could not be +discriminated from the seller.] + +[Footnote 65: This controversy was likewise given for the Proculians, to +supersede the indecency of a search, and to comply with the aphorism of +Hippocrates, who was attached to the septenary number of two weeks of +years, or 700 of days, (Institut. l. i. tit. xxii.) Plutarch and the +Stoics (de Placit. Philosoph. l. v. c. 24) assign a more natural reason. +Fourteen years is the age. See the vestigia of the sects in Mascou, c. +ix. p. 145--276.] + +[Footnote 66: The series and conclusion of the sects are described by +Mascou, (c. ii.--vii. p. 24--120;) and it would be almost ridiculous to +praise his equal justice to these obsolete sects. * Note: The work +of Gaius, subsequent to the time of Adrian, furnishes us with some +information on this subject. The disputes which rose between these two +sects appear to have been very numerous. Gaius avows himself a disciple +of Sabinus and of Caius. Compare Hugo, vol. ii. p. 106.--W.] + +[Footnote 67: At the first summons he flies to the turbot-council; +yet Juvenal (Satir. iv. 75--81) styles the praefect or bailiff of Rome +sanctissimus legum interpres. From his science, says the old scholiast, +he was called, not a man, but a book. He derived the singular name of +Pegasus from the galley which his father commanded.] + +[Footnote 68: Tacit. Annal. xvii. 7. Sueton. in Nerone, c. xxxvii.] + +[Footnote 69: Mascou, de Sectis, c. viii. p. 120--144 de Herciscundis, +a legal term which was applied to these eclectic lawyers: herciscere is +synonymous to dividere. * Note: This word has never existed. Cujacius +is the author of it, who read me words terris condi in Servius ad Virg. +herciscundi, to which he gave an erroneous interpretation.--W.] + +[Footnote 70: See the Theodosian Code, l. i. tit. iv. with Godefroy's +Commentary, tom. i. p. 30--35. [! This decree might give occasion to +Jesuitical disputes like those in the Lettres Provinciales, whether a +Judge was obliged to follow the opinion of Papinian, or of a majority, +against his judgment, against his conscience, &c. Yet a legislator might +give that opinion, however false, the validity, not of truth, but of +law. Note: We possess (since 1824) some interesting information as to +the framing of the Theodosian Code, and its ratification at Rome, in the +year 438. M. Closius, now professor at Dorpat in Russia, and M. Peyron, +member of the Academy of Turin, have discovered, the one at Milan, the +other at Turin, a great part of the five first books of the Code which +were wanting, and besides this, the reports (gesta) of the sitting of +the senate at Rome, in which the Code was published, in the year +after the marriage of Valentinian III. Among these pieces are the +constitutions which nominate commissioners for the formation of the +Code; and though there are many points of considerable obscurity +in these documents, they communicate many facts relative to this +legislation. 1. That Theodosius designed a great reform in the +legislation; to add to the Gregorian and Hermogenian codes all the new +constitutions from Constantine to his own day; and to frame a second +code for common use with extracts from the three codes, and from the +works of the civil lawyers. All laws either abrogated or fallen into +disuse were to be noted under their proper heads. 2. An Ordinance was +issued in 429 to form a commission for this purpose of nine persons, +of which Antiochus, as quaestor and praefectus, was president. A +second commission of sixteen members was issued in 435 under the +same president. 3. A code, which we possess under the name of Codex +Theodosianus, was finished in 438, published in the East, in an +ordinance addressed to the Praetorian praefect, Florentinus, and +intended to be published in the West. 4. Before it was published in the +West, Valentinian submitted it to the senate. There is a report of +the proceedings of the senate, which closed with loud acclamations and +gratulations.--From Warnkonig, Histoire du Droit Romain, p. 169-Wenck +has published this work, Codicis Theodosiani libri priores. Leipzig, +1825.--M.] * Note *: Closius of Tubingen communicated to M.Warnkonig +the two following constitutions of the emperor Constantine, which he +discovered in the Ambrosian library at Milan:-- 1. Imper. Constantinus +Aug. ad Maximium Praef. Praetorio. Perpetuas prudentum contentiones +eruere cupientes, Ulpiani ac Pauli, in Papinianum notas, qui dum ingenii +laudem sectantur, non tam corrigere eum quam depravere maluerunt, +aboleri praecepimus. Dat. III. Kalend. Octob. Const. Cons. et Crispi, +(321.) Idem. Aug. ad Maximium Praef Praet. Universa, quae scriptura +Pauli continentur, recepta auctoritate firmanda runt, et omni +veneratione celebranda. Ideoque sententiarum libros plepissima luce +et perfectissima elocutione et justissima juris ratione succinctos in +judiciis prolatos valere minimie dubitatur. Dat. V. Kalend. Oct. Trovia +Coust. et Max. Coss. (327.)--W] + + + + +Chapter XLIV: Idea Of The Roman Jurisprudence.--Part IV. + +When Justinian ascended the throne, the reformation of the Roman +jurisprudence was an arduous but indispensable task. In the space of ten +centuries, the infinite variety of laws and legal opinions had filled +many thousand volumes, which no fortune could purchase and no capacity +could digest. Books could not easily be found; and the judges, poor in +the midst of riches, were reduced to the exercise of their illiterate +discretion. The subjects of the Greek provinces were ignorant of the +language that disposed of their lives and properties; and the barbarous +dialect of the Latins was imperfectly studied in the academies of +Berytus and Constantinople. As an Illyrian soldier, that idiom was +familiar to the infancy of Justinian; his youth had been instructed by +the lessons of jurisprudence, and his Imperial choice selected the most +learned civilians of the East, to labor with their sovereign in the +work of reformation. [71] The theory of professors was assisted by the +practice of advocates, and the experience of magistrates; and the +whole undertaking was animated by the spirit of Tribonian. [72] This +extraordinary man, the object of so much praise and censure, was +a native of Side in Pamphylia; and his genius, like that of Bacon, +embraced, as his own, all the business and knowledge of the age. +Tribonian composed, both in prose and verse, on a strange diversity of +curious and abstruse subjects: [73] a double panegyric of Justinian and +the life of the philosopher Theodotus; the nature of happiness and the +duties of government; Homer's catalogue and the four-and-twenty sorts of +metre; the astronomical canon of Ptolemy; the changes of the months; +the houses of the planets; and the harmonic system of the world. To the +literature of Greece he added the use of the Latin tonque; the Roman +civilians were deposited in his library and in his mind; and he most +assiduously cultivated those arts which opened the road of wealth and +preferment. From the bar of the Praetorian praefects, he raised himself +to the honors of quaestor, of consul, and of master of the offices: the +council of Justinian listened to his eloquence and wisdom; and envy +was mitigated by the gentleness and affability of his manners. The +reproaches of impiety and avarice have stained the virtue or the +reputation of Tribonian. In a bigoted and persecuting court, the +principal minister was accused of a secret aversion to the Christian +faith, and was supposed to entertain the sentiments of an Atheist and +a Pagan, which have been imputed, inconsistently enough, to the last +philosophers of Greece. His avarice was more clearly proved and more +sensibly felt. If he were swayed by gifts in the administration of +justice, the example of Bacon will again occur; nor can the merit of +Tribonian atone for his baseness, if he degraded the sanctity of his +profession; and if laws were every day enacted, modified, or repealed, +for the base consideration of his private emolument. In the sedition of +Constantinople, his removal was granted to the clamors, perhaps to the +just indignation, of the people: but the quaestor was speedily restored, +and, till the hour of his death, he possessed, above twenty years, the +favor and confidence of the emperor. His passive and dutiful submission +had been honored with the praise of Justinian himself, whose vanity was +incapable of discerning how often that submission degenerated into the +grossest adulation. Tribonian adored the virtues of his gracious of +his gracious master; the earth was unworthy of such a prince; and he +affected a pious fear, that Justinian, like Elijah or Romulus, would be +snatched into the air, and translated alive to the mansions of celestial +glory. [74] + +[Footnote 71: For the legal labors of Justinian, I have studied the +Preface to the Institutes; the 1st, 2d, and 3d Prefaces to the Pandects; +the 1st and 2d Preface to the Code; and the Code itself, (l. i. tit. +xvii. de Veteri Jure enucleando.) After these original testimonies, +I have consulted, among the moderns, Heineccius, (Hist. J. R. No. +383--404,) Terasson. (Hist. de la Jurisprudence Romaine, p. 295--356,) +Gravina, (Opp. p. 93-100,) and Ludewig, in his Life of Justinian, +(p.19--123, 318-321; for the Code and Novels, p. 209--261; for the +Digest or Pandects, p. 262--317.)] + +[Footnote 72: For the character of Tribonian, see the testimonies of +Procopius, (Persic. l. i. c. 23, 24. Anecdot. c. 13, 20,) and Suidas, +(tom. iii. p. 501, edit. Kuster.) Ludewig (in Vit. Justinian, p. +175--209) works hard, very hard, to whitewash--the blackamoor.] + +[Footnote 73: I apply the two passages of Suidas to the same man; every +circumstance so exactly tallies. Yet the lawyers appear ignorant; and +Fabricius is inclined to separate the two characters, (Bibliot. Grae. +tom. i. p. 341, ii. p. 518, iii. p. 418, xii. p. 346, 353, 474.)] + +[Footnote 74: This story is related by Hesychius, (de Viris +Illustribus,) Procopius, (Anecdot. c. 13,) and Suidas, (tom. iii. p. +501.) Such flattery is incredible! --Nihil est quod credere de se Non +possit, cum laudatur Diis aequa potestas. Fontenelle (tom. i. p. +32--39) has ridiculed the impudence of the modest Virgil. But the same +Fontenelle places his king above the divine Augustus; and the sage +Boileau has not blushed to say, "Le destin a ses yeux n'oseroit +balancer" Yet neither Augustus nor Louis XIV. were fools.] + +If Caesar had achieved the reformation of the Roman law, his creative +genius, enlightened by reflection and study, would have given to the +world a pure and original system of jurisprudence. Whatever flattery +might suggest, the emperor of the East was afraid to establish his +private judgment as the standard of equity: in the possession of +legislative power, he borrowed the aid of time and opinion; and his +laborious compilations are guarded by the sages and legislature of past +times. Instead of a statue cast in a simple mould by the hand of an +artist, the works of Justinian represent a tessellated pavement of +antique and costly, but too often of incoherent, fragments. In the first +year of his reign, he directed the faithful Tribonian, and nine learned +associates, to revise the ordinances of his predecessors, as they were +contained, since the time of Adrian, in the Gregorian Hermogenian, and +Theodosian codes; to purge the errors and contradictions, to retrench +whatever was obsolete or superfluous, and to select the wise and +salutary laws best adapted to the practice of the tribunals and the use +of his subjects. The work was accomplished in fourteen months; and +the twelve books or tables, which the new decemvirs produced, might be +designed to imitate the labors of their Roman predecessors. The new +Code of Justinian was honored with his name, and confirmed by his royal +signature: authentic transcripts were multiplied by the pens of notaries +and scribes; they were transmitted to the magistrates of the European, +the Asiatic, and afterwards the African provinces; and the law of the +empire was proclaimed on solemn festivals at the doors of churches. +A more arduous operation was still behind--to extract the spirit of +jurisprudence from the decisions and conjectures, the questions and +disputes, of the Roman civilians. Seventeen lawyers, with Tribonian +at their head, were appointed by the emperor to exercise an absolute +jurisdiction over the works of their predecessors. If they had obeyed +his commands in ten years, Justinian would have been satisfied with +their diligence; and the rapid composition of the Digest of Pandects, +[75] in three years, will deserve praise or censure, according to the +merit of the execution. From the library of Tribonian, they chose forty, +the most eminent civilians of former times: [76] two thousand treatises +were comprised in an abridgment of fifty books; and it has been +carefully recorded, that three millions of lines or sentences, [77] were +reduced, in this abstract, to the moderate number of one hundred and +fifty thousand. The edition of this great work was delayed a month +after that of the Institutes; and it seemed reasonable that the elements +should precede the digest of the Roman law. As soon as the emperor +had approved their labors, he ratified, by his legislative power, the +speculations of these private citizens: their commentaries, on the +twelve tables, the perpetual edict, the laws of the people, and the +decrees of the senate, succeeded to the authority of the text; and the +text was abandoned, as a useless, though venerable, relic of antiquity. +The Code, the Pandects, and the Institutes, were declared to be the +legitimate system of civil jurisprudence; they alone were admitted into +the tribunals, and they alone were taught in the academies of Rome, +Constantinople, and Berytus. Justinian addressed to the senate and +provinces his eternal oracles; and his pride, under the mask of piety, +ascribed the consummation of this great design to the support and +inspiration of the Deity. + +[Footnote 75: General receivers was a common title of the Greek +miscellanies, (Plin. Praefat. ad Hist. Natur.) The Digesta of Scaevola, +Marcellinus, Celsus, were already familiar to the civilians: but +Justinian was in the wrong when he used the two appellations as +synonymous. Is the word Pandects Greek or Latin--masculine or feminine? +The diligent Brenckman will not presume to decide these momentous +controversies, (Hist. Pandect. Florentine. p. 200--304.) Note: The word +was formerly in common use. See the preface is Aulus Gellius--W] + +[Footnote 76: Angelus Politianus (l. v. Epist. ult.) reckons +thirty-seven (p. 192--200) civilians quoted in the Pandects--a learned, +and for his times, an extraordinary list. The Greek index to the +Pandects enumerates thirty-nine, and forty are produced by the +indefatigable Fabricius, (Bibliot. Graec. tom. iii. p. 488--502.) +Antoninus Augustus (de Nominibus Propriis Pandect. apud Ludewig, p. +283) is said to have added fifty-four names; but they must be vague or +second-hand references.] + +[Footnote 77: The item of the ancient Mss. may be strictly defined as +sentences or periods of a complete sense, which, on the breadth of the +parchment rolls or volumes, composed as many lines of unequal length. +The number in each book served as a check on the errors of the scribes, +(Ludewig, p. 211--215; and his original author Suicer. Thesaur. +Ecclesiast. tom. i. p 1021-1036).] + +Since the emperor declined the fame and envy of original composition, we +can only require, at his hands, method choice, and fidelity, the +humble, though indispensable, virtues of a compiler. Among the various +combinations of ideas, it is difficult to assign any reasonable +preference; but as the order of Justinian is different in his three +works, it is possible that all may be wrong; and it is certain that +two cannot be right. In the selection of ancient laws, he seems to have +viewed his predecessors without jealousy, and with equal regard: the +series could not ascend above the reign of Adrian, and the narrow +distinction of Paganism and Christianity, introduced by the superstition +of Theodosius, had been abolished by the consent of mankind. But the +jurisprudence of the Pandects is circumscribed within a period of +a hundred years, from the perpetual edict to the death of Severus +Alexander: the civilians who lived under the first Caesars are seldom +permitted to speak, and only three names can be attributed to the age of +the republic. The favorite of Justinian (it has been fiercely urged) was +fearful of encountering the light of freedom and the gravity of Roman +sages. + +Tribonian condemned to oblivion the genuine and native wisdom of Cato, +the Scaevolas, and Sulpicius; while he invoked spirits more congenial to +his own, the Syrians, Greeks, and Africans, who flocked to the Imperial +court to study Latin as a foreign tongue, and jurisprudence as a +lucrative profession. But the ministers of Justinian, [78] were +instructed to labor, not for the curiosity of antiquarians, but for +the immediate benefit of his subjects. It was their duty to select the +useful and practical parts of the Roman law; and the writings of the old +republicans, however curious on excellent, were no longer suited to +the new system of manners, religion, and government. Perhaps, if the +preceptors and friends of Cicero were still alive, our candor would +acknowledge, that, except in purity of language, [79] their intrinsic +merit was excelled by the school of Papinian and Ulpian. The science of +the laws is the slow growth of time and experience, and the advantage +both of method and materials, is naturally assumed by the most recent +authors. The civilians of the reign of the Antonines had studied the +works of their predecessors: their philosophic spirit had mitigated the +rigor of antiquity, simplified the forms of proceeding, and emerged +from the jealousy and prejudice of the rival sects. The choice of +the authorities that compose the Pandects depended on the judgment of +Tribonian: but the power of his sovereign could not absolve him from +the sacred obligations of truth and fidelity. As the legislator of the +empire, Justinian might repeal the acts of the Antonines, or condemn, as +seditious, the free principles, which were maintained by the last of the +Roman lawyers. [80] But the existence of past facts is placed beyond +the reach of despotism; and the emperor was guilty of fraud and forgery, +when he corrupted the integrity of their text, inscribed with their +venerable names the words and ideas of his servile reign, [81] and +suppressed, by the hand of power, the pure and authentic copies of +their sentiments. The changes and interpolations of Tribonian and his +colleagues are excused by the pretence of uniformity: but their cares +have been insufficient, and the antinomies, or contradictions of the +Code and Pandects, still exercise the patience and subtilty of modern +civilians. [82] + +[Footnote 78: An ingenious and learned oration of Schultingius +(Jurisprudentia Ante-Justinianea, p. 883--907) justifies the choice of +Tribonian, against the passionate charges of Francis Hottoman and his +sectaries.] + +[Footnote 79: Strip away the crust of Tribonian, and allow for the use +of technical words, and the Latin of the Pandects will be found +not unworthy of the silver age. It has been vehemently attacked by +Laurentius Valla, a fastidious grammarian of the xvth century, and by +his apologist Floridus Sabinus. It has been defended by Alciat, and +a name less advocate, (most probably James Capellus.) Their various +treatises are collected by Duker, (Opuscula de Latinitate veterum +Jurisconsultorum, Lugd. Bat. 1721, in 12mo.) Note: Gibbon is mistaken +with regard to Valla, who, though he inveighs against the barbarous +style of the civilians of his own day, lavishes the highest praise on +the admirable purity of the language of the ancient writers on civil +law. (M. Warnkonig quotes a long passage of Valla in justification of +this observation.) Since his time, this truth has been recognized by +men of the highest eminence, such as Erasmus, David Hume and +Runkhenius.--W.] + +[Footnote 80: Nomina quidem veteribus servavimus, legum autem veritatem +nostram fecimus. Itaque siquid erat in illis seditiosum, multa autem +talia erant ibi reposita, hoc decisum est et definitum, et in perspicuum +finem deducta est quaeque lex, (Cod. Justinian. l. i. tit. xvii. leg. +3, No 10.) A frank confession! * Note: Seditiosum, in the language of +Justinian, means not seditious, but discounted.--W.] + +[Footnote 81: The number of these emblemata (a polite name for +forgeries) is much reduced by Bynkershoek, (in the four last books of +his Observations,) who poorly maintains the right of Justinian and the +duty of Tribonian.] + +[Footnote 82: The antinomies, or opposite laws of the Code and +Pandects, are sometimes the cause, and often the excuse, of the glorious +uncertainty of the civil law, which so often affords what Montaigne +calls "Questions pour l'Ami." See a fine passage of Franciscus Balduinus +in Justinian, (l. ii. p. 259, &c., apud Ludewig, p. 305, 306.)] + +A rumor devoid of evidence has been propagated by the enemies of +Justinian; that the jurisprudence of ancient Rome was reduced to ashes +by the author of the Pandects, from the vain persuasion, that it was now +either false or superfluous. Without usurping an office so +invidious, the emperor might safely commit to ignorance and time the +accomplishments of this destructive wish. Before the invention of +printing and paper, the labor and the materials of writing could be +purchased only by the rich; and it may reasonably be computed, that the +price of books was a hundred fold their present value. [83] Copies were +slowly multiplied and cautiously renewed: the hopes of profit tempted +the sacrilegious scribes to erase the characters of antiquity, [8311] +and Sophocles or Tacitus were obliged to resign the parchment to +missals, homilies, and the golden legend. [84] If such was the fate +of the most beautiful compositions of genius, what stability could be +expected for the dull and barren works of an obsolete science? The books +of jurisprudence were interesting to few, and entertaining to none: +their value was connected with present use, and they sunk forever as +soon as that use was superseded by the innovations of fashion, superior +merit, or public authority. In the age of peace and learning, between +Cicero and the last of the Antonines, many losses had been already +sustained, and some luminaries of the school, or forum, were known only +to the curious by tradition and report. Three hundred and sixty years +of disorder and decay accelerated the progress of oblivion; and it may +fairly be presumed, that of the writings, which Justinian is accused +of neglecting, many were no longer to be found in the libraries of the +East. [85] The copies of Papinian, or Ulpian, which the reformer had +proscribed, were deemed unworthy of future notice: the Twelve Tables and +praetorian edicts insensibly vanished, and the monuments of ancient Rome +were neglected or destroyed by the envy and ignorance of the Greeks. +Even the Pandects themselves have escaped with difficulty and danger +from the common shipwreck, and criticism has pronounced that all the +editions and manuscripts of the West are derived from one original. [86] +It was transcribed at Constantinople in the beginning of the seventh +century, [87] was successively transported by the accidents of war +and commerce to Amalphi, [88] Pisa, [89] and Florence, [90] and is now +deposited as a sacred relic [91] in the ancient palace of the republic. +[92] + +[Footnote 83: When Faust, or Faustus, sold at Paris his first printed +Bibles as manuscripts, the price of a parchment copy was reduced from +four or five hundred to sixty, fifty, and forty crowns. The public +was at first pleased with the cheapness, and at length provoked by the +discovery of the fraud, (Mattaire, Annal. Typograph. tom. i. p. 12; +first edit.)] + +[Footnote 8311: Among the works which have been recovered, by the +persevering and successful endeavors of M. Mai and his followers to +trace the imperfectly erased characters of the ancient writers on these +Palimpsests, Gibbon at this period of his labors would have hailed with +delight the recovery of the Institutes of Gaius, and the fragments of +the Theodosian Code, published by M Keyron of Turin.--M.] + +[Footnote 84: This execrable practice prevailed from the viiith, and +more especially from the xiith, century, when it became almost universal +(Montfaucon, in the Memoires de l'Academie, tom. vi. p. 606, &c. +Bibliotheque Raisonnee de la Diplomatique, tom. i. p. 176.)] + +[Footnote 85: Pomponius (Pandect. l. i. tit. ii. leg. 2) observes, that +of the three founders of the civil law, Mucius, Brutus, and Manilius, +extant volumina, scripta Manilii monumenta; that of some old republican +lawyers, haec versantur eorum scripta inter manus hominum. Eight of the +Augustan sages were reduced to a compendium: of Cascellius, scripta non +extant sed unus liber, &c.; of Trebatius, minus frequentatur; of Tubero, +libri parum grati sunt. Many quotations in the Pandects are derived from +books which Tribonian never saw; and in the long period from the viith +to the xiiith century of Rome, the apparent reading of the moderns +successively depends on the knowledge and veracity of their +predecessors.] + +[Footnote 86: All, in several instances, repeat the errors of the scribe +and the transpositions of some leaves in the Florentine Pandects. This +fact, if it be true, is decisive. Yet the Pandects are quoted by Ivo of +Chartres, (who died in 1117,) by Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and +by Vacarius, our first professor, in the year 1140, (Selden ad Fletam, +c. 7, tom. ii. p. 1080--1085.) Have our British Mss. of the Pandects +been collated?] + +[Footnote 87: See the description of this original in Brenckman, (Hist. +Pandect. Florent. l. i. c. 2, 3, p. 4--17, and l. ii.) Politian, an +enthusiast, revered it as the authentic standard of Justinian himself, +(p. 407, 408;) but this paradox is refuted by the abbreviations of the +Florentine Ms. (l. ii. c. 3, p. 117-130.) It is composed of two +quarto volumes, with large margins, on a thin parchment, and the Latin +characters betray the band of a Greek scribe.] + +[Footnote 88: Brenckman, at the end of his history, has inserted two +dissertations on the republic of Amalphi, and the Pisan war in the year +1135, &c.] + +[Footnote 89: The discovery of the Pandects at Amalphi (A. D 1137) is +first noticed (in 1501) by Ludovicus Bologninus, (Brenckman, l. i. +c. 11, p. 73, 74, l. iv. c. 2, p. 417--425,) on the faith of a Pisan +chronicle, (p. 409, 410,) without a name or a date. The whole story, +though unknown to the xiith century, embellished by ignorant ages, +and suspected by rigid criticism, is not, however, destitute of much +internal probability, (l. i. c. 4--8, p. 17--50.) The Liber Pandectarum +of Pisa was undoubtedly consulted in the xivth century by the great +Bartolus, (p. 406, 407. See l. i. c. 9, p. 50--62.) Note: Savigny (vol. +iii. p. 83, 89) examines and rejects the whole story. See likewise +Hallam vol. iii. p. 514.--M.] + +[Footnote 90: Pisa was taken by the Florentines in the year 1406; and +in 1411 the Pandects were transported to the capital. These events are +authentic and famous.] + +[Footnote 91: They were new bound in purple, deposited in a rich casket, +and shown to curious travellers by the monks and magistrates bareheaded, +and with lighted tapers, (Brenckman, l. i. c. 10, 11, 12, p. 62--93.)] + +[Footnote 92: After the collations of Politian, Bologninus, and +Antoninus Augustinus, and the splendid edition of the Pandects +by Taurellus, (in 1551,) Henry Brenckman, a Dutchman, undertook a +pilgrimage to Florence, where he employed several years in the study of +a single manuscript. His Historia Pandectarum Florentinorum, (Utrecht, +1722, in 4to.,) though a monument of industry, is a small portion of his +original design.] + +It is the first care of a reformer to prevent any future reformation. To +maintain the text of the Pandects, the Institutes, and the Code, the use +of ciphers and abbreviations was rigorously proscribed; and as Justinian +recollected, that the perpetual edict had been buried under the weight +of commentators, he denounced the punishment of forgery against the rash +civilians who should presume to interpret or pervert the will of their +sovereign. The scholars of Accursius, of Bartolus, of Cujacius, should +blush for their accumulated guilt, unless they dare to dispute his right +of binding the authority of his successors, and the native freedom of +the mind. But the emperor was unable to fix his own inconstancy; and, +while he boasted of renewing the exchange of Diomede, of transmuting +brass into gold, [93] discovered the necessity of purifying his gold +from the mixture of baser alloy. Six years had not elapsed from the +publication of the Code, before he condemned the imperfect attempt, by +a new and more accurate edition of the same work; which he enriched with +two hundred of his own laws, and fifty decisions of the darkest and +most intricate points of jurisprudence. Every year, or, according +to Procopius, each day, of his long reign, was marked by some legal +innovation. Many of his acts were rescinded by himself; many were +rejected by his successors; many have been obliterated by time; but the +number of sixteen Edicts, and one hundred and sixty-eight Novels, [94] +has been admitted into the authentic body of the civil jurisprudence. +In the opinion of a philosopher superior to the prejudices of +his profession, these incessant, and, for the most part, trifling +alterations, can be only explained by the venal spirit of a prince, who +sold without shame his judgments and his laws. [95] The charge of the +secret historian is indeed explicit and vehement; but the sole instance, +which he produces, may be ascribed to the devotion as well as to the +avarice of Justinian. A wealthy bigot had bequeathed his inheritance to +the church of Emesa; and its value was enhanced by the dexterity of an +artist, who subscribed confessions of debt and promises of payment +with the names of the richest Syrians. They pleaded the established +prescription of thirty or forty years; but their defence was overruled +by a retrospective edict, which extended the claims of the church to +the term of a century; an edict so pregnant with injustice and disorder, +that, after serving this occasional purpose, it was prudently abolished +in the same reign. [96] If candor will acquit the emperor himself, and +transfer the corruption to his wife and favorites, the suspicion of +so foul a vice must still degrade the majesty of his laws; and the +advocates of Justinian may acknowledge, that such levity, whatsoever be +the motive, is unworthy of a legislator and a man. + +[Footnote 93: Apud Homerum patrem omnis virtutis, (1st Praefat. ad +Pandect.) A line of Milton or Tasso would surprise us in an act of +parliament. Quae omnia obtinere sancimus in omne aevum. Of the first +Code, he says, (2d Praefat.,) in aeternum valiturum. Man and forever!] + +[Footnote 94: Novellae is a classic adjective, but a barbarous +substantive, (Ludewig, p. 245.) Justinian never collected them himself; +the nine collations, the legal standard of modern tribunals, consist of +ninety-eight Novels; but the number was increased by the diligence of +Julian, Haloander, and Contius, (Ludewig, p. 249, 258 Aleman. Not in +Anecdot. p. 98.)] + +[Footnote 95: Montesquieu, Considerations sur la Grandeur et la +Decadence des Romains, c. 20, tom. iii. p. 501, in 4to. On this occasion +he throws aside the gown and cap of a President a Mortier.] + +[Footnote 96: Procopius, Anecdot. c. 28. A similar privilege was granted +to the church of Rome, (Novel. ix.) For the general repeal of these +mischievous indulgences, see Novel. cxi. and Edict. v.] + +Monarchs seldom condescend to become the preceptors of their subjects; +and some praise is due to Justinian, by whose command an ample system +was reduced to a short and elementary treatise. Among the various +institutes of the Roman law, [97] those of Caius [98] were the most +popular in the East and West; and their use may be considered as an +evidence of their merit. They were selected by the Imperial delegates, +Tribonian, Theophilus, and Dorotheus; and the freedom and purity of the +Antonines was incrusted with the coarser materials of a degenerate age. +The same volume which introduced the youth of Rome, Constantinople, +and Berytus, to the gradual study of the Code and Pandects, is still +precious to the historian, the philosopher, and the magistrate. The +Institutes of Justinian are divided into four books: they proceed, +with no contemptible method, from, I. Persons, to, II. Things, and from +things, to, III. Actions; and the article IV., of Private Wrongs, is +terminated by the principles of Criminal Law. [9811] + +[Footnote 97: Lactantius, in his Institutes of Christianity, an elegant +and specious work, proposes to imitate the title and method of the +civilians. Quidam prudentes et arbitri aequitatis Institutiones Civilis +Juris compositas ediderunt, (Institut. Divin. l. i. c. 1.) Such as +Ulpian, Paul, Florentinus, Marcian.] + +[Footnote 98: The emperor Justinian calls him suum, though he died +before the end of the second century. His Institutes are quoted by +Servius, Boethius, Priscian, &c.; and the Epitome by Arrian is still +extant. (See the Prolegomena and notes to the edition of Schulting, in +the Jurisprudentia Ante-Justinianea, Lugd. Bat. 1717. Heineccius, Hist. +J R No. 313. Ludewig, in Vit. Just. p. 199.)] + +[Footnote 9811: Gibbon, dividing the Institutes into four parts, +considers the appendix of the criminal law in the last title as a fourth +part.--W.] + + + + +Chapter XLIV: Idea Of The Roman Jurisprudence.--Part V. + +The distinction of ranks and persons is the firmest basis of a mixed and +limited government. In France, the remains of liberty are kept alive +by the spirit, the honors, and even the prejudices, of fifty thousand +nobles. [99] Two hundred families [9911] supply, in lineal descent, the +second branch of English legislature, which maintains, between the king +and commons, the balance of the constitution. A gradation of patricians +and plebeians, of strangers and subjects, has supported the aristocracy +of Genoa, Venice, and ancient Rome. The perfect equality of men is the +point in which the extremes of democracy and despotism are confounded; +since the majesty of the prince or people would be offended, if +any heads were exalted above the level of their fellow-slaves or +fellow-citizens. In the decline of the Roman empire, the proud +distinctions of the republic were gradually abolished, and the reason or +instinct of Justinian completed the simple form of an absolute monarchy. +The emperor could not eradicate the popular reverence which always +waits on the possession of hereditary wealth, or the memory of famous +ancestors. He delighted to honor, with titles and emoluments, his +generals, magistrates, and senators; and his precarious indulgence +communicated some rays of their glory to the persons of their wives and +children. But in the eye of the law, all Roman citizens were equal, +and all subjects of the empire were citizens of Rome. That inestimable +character was degraded to an obsolete and empty name. The voice of a +Roman could no longer enact his laws, or create the annual ministers of +his power: his constitutional rights might have checked the arbitrary +will of a master: and the bold adventurer from Germany or Arabia was +admitted, with equal favor, to the civil and military command, which the +citizen alone had been once entitled to assume over the conquests of his +fathers. The first Caesars had scrupulously guarded the distinction of +ingenuous and servile birth, which was decided by the condition of the +mother; and the candor of the laws was satisfied, if her freedom could +be ascertained, during a single moment, between the conception and +the delivery. The slaves, who were liberated by a generous master, +immediately entered into the middle class of libertines or freedmen; +but they could never be enfranchised from the duties of obedience and +gratitude; whatever were the fruits of their industry, their patron and +his family inherited the third part; or even the whole of their fortune, +if they died without children and without a testament. Justinian +respected the rights of patrons; but his indulgence removed the badge of +disgrace from the two inferior orders of freedmen; whoever ceased to be +a slave, obtained, without reserve or delay, the station of a citizen; +and at length the dignity of an ingenuous birth, which nature had +refused, was created, or supposed, by the omnipotence of the emperor. +Whatever restraints of age, or forms, or numbers, had been formerly +introduced to check the abuse of manumissions, and the too rapid +increase of vile and indigent Romans, he finally abolished; and the +spirit of his laws promoted the extinction of domestic servitude. +Yet the eastern provinces were filled, in the time of Justinian, with +multitudes of slaves, either born or purchased for the use of their +masters; and the price, from ten to seventy pieces of gold, was +determined by their age, their strength, and their education. [100] But +the hardships of this dependent state were continually diminished by the +influence of government and religion: and the pride of a subject was no +longer elated by his absolute dominion over the life and happiness of +his bondsman. [101] + +[Footnote 99: See the Annales Politiques de l'Abbe de St. Pierre, tom. +i. p. 25 who dates in the year 1735. The most ancient families claim the +immemorial possession of arms and fiefs. Since the Crusades, some, the +most truly respectable, have been created by the king, for merit and +services. The recent and vulgar crowd is derived from the multitude of +venal offices without trust or dignity, which continually ennoble the +wealthy plebeians.] + +[Footnote 9911: Since the time of Gibbon, the House of Peers has been +more than doubled: it is above 400, exclusive of the spiritual peers--a +wise policy to increase the patrician order in proportion to the general +increase of the nation.--M.] + +[Footnote 100: If the option of a slave was bequeathed to several +legatees, they drew lots, and the losers were entitled to their share +of his value; ten pieces of gold for a common servant or maid under ten +years: if above that age, twenty; if they knew a trade, thirty; notaries +or writers, fifty; midwives or physicians, sixty; eunuchs under ten +years, thirty pieces; above, fifty; if tradesmen, seventy, (Cod. l. vi. +tit. xliii. leg. 3.) These legal prices are generally below those of the +market.] + +[Footnote 101: For the state of slaves and freedmen, see Institutes, l. +i. tit. iii.--viii. l. ii. tit. ix. l. iii. tit. viii. ix. Pandects or +Digest, l. i. tit. v. vi. l. xxxviii. tit. i.--iv., and the whole of +the xlth book. Code, l. vi. tit. iv. v. l. vii. tit. i.--xxiii. Be it +henceforward understood that, with the original text of the Institutes +and Pandects, the correspondent articles in the Antiquities and Elements +of Heineccius are implicitly quoted; and with the xxvii. first books +of the Pandects, the learned and rational Commentaries of Gerard Noodt, +(Opera, tom. ii. p. 1--590, the end. Lugd. Bat. 1724.)] + +The law of nature instructs most animals to cherish and educate their +infant progeny. The law of reason inculcates to the human species the +returns of filial piety. But the exclusive, absolute, and perpetual +dominion of the father over his children, is peculiar to the Roman +jurisprudence, [102] and seems to be coeval with the foundation of the +city. [103] The paternal power was instituted or confirmed by Romulus +himself; and, after the practice of three centuries, it was inscribed +on the fourth table of the Decemvirs. In the forum, the senate, or the +camp, the adult son of a Roman citizen enjoyed the public and private +rights of a person: in his father's house he was a mere thing; [1031] +confounded by the laws with the movables, the cattle, and the slaves, +whom the capricious master might alienate or destroy, without being +responsible to any earthly tribunal. The hand which bestowed the daily +sustenance might resume the voluntary gift, and whatever was acquired by +the labor or fortune of the son was immediately lost in the property +of the father. His stolen goods (his oxen or his children) might be +recovered by the same action of theft; [104] and if either had been +guilty of a trespass, it was in his own option to compensate the damage, +or resign to the injured party the obnoxious animal. At the call of +indigence or avarice, the master of a family could dispose of his +children or his slaves. But the condition of the slave was far more +advantageous, since he regained, by the first manumission, his alienated +freedom: the son was again restored to his unnatural father; he might +be condemned to servitude a second and a third time, and it was not till +after the third sale and deliverance, [105] that he was enfranchised +from the domestic power which had been so repeatedly abused. According +to his discretion, a father might chastise the real or imaginary faults +of his children, by stripes, by imprisonment, by exile, by sending them +to the country to work in chains among the meanest of his servants. The +majesty of a parent was armed with the power of life and death; [106] +and the examples of such bloody executions, which were sometimes praised +and never punished, may be traced in the annals of Rome beyond the times +of Pompey and Augustus. Neither age, nor rank, nor the consular office, +nor the honors of a triumph, could exempt the most illustrious citizen +from the bonds of filial subjection: [107] his own descendants were +included in the family of their common ancestor; and the claims of +adoption were not less sacred or less rigorous than those of nature. +Without fear, though not without danger of abuse, the Roman legislators +had reposed an unbounded confidence in the sentiments of paternal love; +and the oppression was tempered by the assurance that each generation +must succeed in its turn to the awful dignity of parent and master. +[Footnote 102: See the patria potestas in the Institutes, (l. i. tit. +ix.,) the Pandects, (l. i. tit. vi. vii.,) and the Code, (l. viii. tit. +xlvii. xlviii. xlix.) Jus potestatis quod in liberos habemus proprium +est civium Romanorum. Nulli enim alii sunt homines, qui talem in liberos +habeant potestatem qualem nos habemus. * Note: The newly-discovered +Institutes of Gaius name one nation in which the same power was vested +in the parent. Nec me praeterit Galatarum gentem credere, in potestate +parentum liberos esse. Gaii Instit. edit. 1824, p. 257.--M.] + +[Footnote 103: Dionysius Hal. l. ii. p. 94, 95. Gravina (Opp. p. 286) +produces the words of the xii. tables. Papinian (in Collatione Legum +Roman et Mosaicarum, tit. iv. p. 204) styles this patria potestas, lex +regia: Ulpian (ad Sabin. l. xxvi. in Pandect. l. i. tit. vi. leg. 8) +says, jus potestatis moribus receptum; and furiosus filium in potestate +habebit How sacred--or rather, how absurd! * Note: All this is in strict +accordance with the Roman character.--W.] + +[Footnote 1031: This parental power was strictly confined to the Roman +citizen. The foreigner, or he who had only jus Latii, did not possess +it. If a Roman citizen unknowingly married a Latin or a foreign wife, he +did not possess this power over his son, because the son, following the +legal condition of the mother, was not a Roman citizen. A man, however, +alleging sufficient cause for his ignorance, might raise both mother and +child to the rights of citizenship. Gaius. p. 30.--M.] + +[Footnote 104: Pandect. l. xlvii. tit. ii. leg. 14, No. 13, leg. 38, No. +1. Such was the decision of Ulpian and Paul.] + +[Footnote 105: The trina mancipatio is most clearly defined by Ulpian, +(Fragment. x. p. 591, 592, edit. Schulting;) and best illustrated in +the Antiquities of Heineccius. * Note: The son of a family sold by his +father did not become in every respect a slave, he was statu liber; that +is to say, on paying the price for which he was sold, he became entirely +free. See Hugo, Hist. Section 61--W.] + +[Footnote 106: By Justinian, the old law, the jus necis of the Roman +father (Institut. l. iv. tit. ix. No. 7) is reported and reprobated. +Some legal vestiges are left in the Pandects (l. xliii. tit. xxix. leg. +3, No. 4) and the Collatio Legum Romanarum et Mosaicarum, (tit. ii. No. +3, p. 189.)] + +[Footnote 107: Except on public occasions, and in the actual exercise of +his office. In publicis locis atque muneribus, atque actionibus +patrum, jura cum filiorum qui in magistratu sunt potestatibus collata +interquiescere paullulum et connivere, &c., (Aul. Gellius, Noctes +Atticae, ii. 2.) The Lessons of the philosopher Taurus were justified by +the old and memorable example of Fabius; and we may contemplate the same +story in the style of Livy (xxiv. 44) and the homely idiom of Claudius +Quadri garius the annalist.] + +The first limitation of paternal power is ascribed to the justice and +humanity of Numa; and the maid who, with his father's consent, had +espoused a freeman, was protected from the disgrace of becoming the +wife of a slave. In the first ages, when the city was pressed, and often +famished, by her Latin and Tuscan neighbors, the sale of children might +be a frequent practice; but as a Roman could not legally purchase the +liberty of his fellow-citizen, the market must gradually fail, and the +trade would be destroyed by the conquests of the republic. An imperfect +right of property was at length communicated to sons; and the threefold +distinction of profectitious, adventitious, and professional was +ascertained by the jurisprudence of the Code and Pandects. [108] Of all +that proceeded from the father, he imparted only the use, and reserved +the absolute dominion; yet if his goods were sold, the filial portion +was excepted, by a favorable interpretation, from the demands of +the creditors. In whatever accrued by marriage, gift, or collateral +succession, the property was secured to the son; but the father, unless +he had been specially excluded, enjoyed the usufruct during his life. +As a just and prudent reward of military virtue, the spoils of the enemy +were acquired, possessed, and bequeathed by the soldier alone; and the +fair analogy was extended to the emoluments of any liberal profession, +the salary of public service, and the sacred liberality of the emperor +or empress. The life of a citizen was less exposed than his fortune +to the abuse of paternal power. Yet his life might be adverse to the +interest or passions of an unworthy father: the same crimes that flowed +from the corruption, were more sensibly felt by the humanity, of the +Augustan age; and the cruel Erixo, who whipped his son till he expired, +was saved by the emperor from the just fury of the multitude. [109] The +Roman father, from the license of servile dominion, was reduced to the +gravity and moderation of a judge. The presence and opinion of Augustus +confirmed the sentence of exile pronounced against an intentional +parricide by the domestic tribunal of Arius. Adrian transported to +an island the jealous parent, who, like a robber, had seized the +opportunity of hunting, to assassinate a youth, the incestuous lover of +his step-mother. [110] A private jurisdiction is repugnant to the spirit +of monarchy; the parent was again reduced from a judge to an accuser; +and the magistrates were enjoined by Severus Alexander to hear his +complaints and execute his sentence. He could no longer take the life +of a son without incurring the guilt and punishment of murder; and the +pains of parricide, from which he had been excepted by the Pompeian law, +were finally inflicted by the justice of Constantine. [111] The same +protection was due to every period of existence; and reason must applaud +the humanity of Paulus, for imputing the crime of murder to the father +who strangles, or starves, or abandons his new-born infant; or exposes +him in a public place to find the mercy which he himself had denied. +But the exposition of children was the prevailing and stubborn vice of +antiquity: it was sometimes prescribed, often permitted, almost always +practised with impunity, by the nations who never entertained the Roman +ideas of paternal power; and the dramatic poets, who appeal to the human +heart, represent with indifference a popular custom which was palliated +by the motives of economy and compassion. [112] If the father could +subdue his own feelings, he might escape, though not the censure, at +least the chastisement, of the laws; and the Roman empire was stained +with the blood of infants, till such murders were included, by +Valentinian and his colleagues, in the letter and spirit of the +Cornelian law. The lessons of jurisprudence [113] and Christianity had +been insufficient to eradicate this inhuman practice, till their gentle +influence was fortified by the terrors of capital punishment. [114] + +[Footnote 108: See the gradual enlargement and security of the filial +peculium in the Institutes, (l. ii. tit. ix.,) the Pandects, (l. xv. +tit. i. l. xli. tit. i.,) and the Code, (l. iv. tit. xxvi. xxvii.)] + +[Footnote 109: The examples of Erixo and Arius are related by Seneca, +(de Clementia, i. 14, 15,) the former with horror, the latter with +applause.] + +[Footnote 110: Quod latronis magis quam patris jure eum interfecit, nam +patria potestas in pietate debet non in atrocitate consistere, (Marcian. +Institut. l. xix. in Pandect. l. xlviii. tit. ix. leg.5.)] + +[Footnote 111: The Pompeian and Cornelian laws de sicariis and +parricidis are repeated, or rather abridged, with the last supplements +of Alexander Severus, Constantine, and Valentinian, in the Pandects (l. +xlviii. tit. viii ix,) and Code, (l. ix. tit. xvi. xvii.) See likewise +the Theodosian Code, (l. ix. tit. xiv. xv.,) with Godefroy's Commentary, +(tom. iii. p. 84--113) who pours a flood of ancient and modern learning +over these penal laws.] + +[Footnote 112: When the Chremes of Terence reproaches his wife for not +obeying his orders and exposing their infant, he speaks like a father +and a master, and silences the scruples of a foolish woman. See +Apuleius, (Metamorph. l. x. p. 337, edit. Delphin.)] + +[Footnote 113: The opinion of the lawyers, and the discretion of +the magistrates, had introduced, in the time of Tacitus, some legal +restraints, which might support his contrast of the boni mores of the +Germans to the bonae leges alibi--that is to say, at Rome, (de Moribus +Germanorum, c. 19.) Tertullian (ad Nationes, l. i. c. 15) refutes +his own charges, and those of his brethren, against the heathen +jurisprudence.] + +[Footnote 114: The wise and humane sentence of the civilian Paul (l. ii. +Sententiarum in Pandect, 1. xxv. tit. iii. leg. 4) is represented as a +mere moral precept by Gerard Noodt, (Opp. tom. i. in Julius Paulus, p. +567--558, and Amica Responsio, p. 591-606,) who maintains the opinion of +Justus Lipsius, (Opp. tom. ii. p. 409, ad Belgas. cent. i. epist. +85,) and as a positive binding law by Bynkershoek, (de Jure occidendi +Liberos, Opp. tom. i. p. 318--340. Curae Secundae, p. 391--427.) In +a learned out angry controversy, the two friends deviated into the +opposite extremes.] + +Experience has proved, that savages are the tyrants of the female sex, +and that the condition of women is usually softened by the refinements +of social life. In the hope of a robust progeny, Lycurgus had delayed +the season of marriage: it was fixed by Numa at the tender age of twelve +years, that the Roman husband might educate to his will a pure and +obedient virgin. [115] According to the custom of antiquity, he bought +his bride of her parents, and she fulfilled the coemption by purchasing, +with three pieces of copper, a just introduction to his house and +household deities. A sacrifice of fruits was offered by the pontiffs in +the presence of ten witnesses; the contracting parties were seated on +the same sheep-skin; they tasted a salt cake of far or rice; and this +confarreation, [116] which denoted the ancient food of Italy, served as +an emblem of their mystic union of mind and body. But this union on the +side of the woman was rigorous and unequal; and she renounced the name +and worship of her father's house, to embrace a new servitude, decorated +only by the title of adoption, a fiction of the law, neither rational +nor elegant, bestowed on the mother of a family [117] (her proper +appellation) the strange characters of sister to her own children, +and of daughter to her husband or master, who was invested with the +plenitude of paternal power. By his judgment or caprice her behavior was +approved, or censured, or chastised; he exercised the jurisdiction of +life and death; and it was allowed, that in the cases of adultery +or drunkenness, [118] the sentence might be properly inflicted. She +acquired and inherited for the sole profit of her lord; and so clearly +was woman defined, not as a person, but as a thing, that, if the +original title were deficient, she might be claimed, like other +movables, by the use and possession of an entire year. The inclination +of the Roman husband discharged or withheld the conjugal debt, so +scrupulously exacted by the Athenian and Jewish laws: [119] but as +polygamy was unknown, he could never admit to his bed a fairer or a more +favored partner. + +[Footnote 115: Dionys. Hal. l. ii. p. 92, 93. Plutarch, in Numa, p. +140-141.] + +[Footnote 116: Among the winter frunenta, the triticum, or bearded +wheat; the siligo, or the unbearded; the far, adorea, oryza, whose +description perfectly tallies with the rice of Spain and Italy. I adopt +this identity on the credit of M. Paucton in his useful and laborious +Metrologie, (p. 517--529.)] + +[Footnote 117: Aulus Gellius (Noctes Atticae, xviii. 6) gives +a ridiculous definition of Aelius Melissus, Matrona, quae semel +materfamilias quae saepius peperit, as porcetra and scropha in the sow +kind. He then adds the genuine meaning, quae in matrimonium vel in manum +convenerat.] + +[Footnote 118: It was enough to have tasted wine, or to have stolen the +key of the cellar, (Plin. Hist. Nat. xiv. 14.)] + +[Footnote 119: Solon requires three payments per month. By the Misna, a +daily debt was imposed on an idle, vigorous, young husband; twice a week +on a citizen; once on a peasant; once in thirty days on a camel-driver; +once in six months on a seaman. But the student or doctor was free from +tribute; and no wife, if she received a weekly sustenance, could sue +for a divorce; for one week a vow of abstinence was allowed. Polygamy +divided, without multiplying, the duties of the husband, (Selden, Uxor +Ebraica, l. iii. c 6, in his works, vol ii. p. 717--720.)] + +After the Punic triumphs, the matrons of Rome aspired to the common +benefits of a free and opulent republic: their wishes were gratified +by the indulgence of fathers and lovers, and their ambition was +unsuccessfully resisted by the gravity of Cato the Censor. [120] They +declined the solemnities of the old nuptiais; defeated the annual +prescription by an absence of three days; and, without losing their name +or independence, subscribed the liberal and definite terms of a marriage +contract. Of their private fortunes, they communicated the use, and +secured the property: the estates of a wife could neither be alienated +nor mortgaged by a prodigal husband; their mutual gifts were prohibited +by the jealousy of the laws; and the misconduct of either party might +afford, under another name, a future subject for an action of theft. +To this loose and voluntary compact, religious and civil rights were no +longer essential; and, between persons of a similar rank, the apparent +community of life was allowed as sufficient evidence of their nuptials. +The dignity of marriage was restored by the Christians, who derived all +spiritual grace from the prayers of the faithful and the benediction +of the priest or bishop. The origin, validity, and duties of the holy +institution were regulated by the tradition of the synagogue, the +precepts of the gospel, and the canons of general or provincial synods; +[121] and the conscience of the Christians was awed by the decrees +and censures of their ecclesiastical rulers. Yet the magistrates of +Justinian were not subject to the authority of the church: the emperor +consulted the unbelieving civilians of antiquity, and the choice of +matrimonial laws in the Code and Pandects, is directed by the earthly +motives of justice, policy, and the natural freedom of both sexes. [122] + +[Footnote 120: On the Oppian law we may hear the mitigating speech of +Vaerius Flaccus, and the severe censorial oration of the elder Cato, +(Liv. xxxiv. l--8.) But we shall rather hear the polished historian of +the eighth, than the rough orators of the sixth, century of Rome. The +principles, and even the style, of Cato are more accurately preserved by +Aulus Gellius, (x. 23.)] + +[Footnote 121: For the system of Jewish and Catholic matrimony, see +Selden, (Uxor Ebraica, Opp. vol. ii. p. 529--860,) Bingham, (Christian +Antiquities, l. xxii.,) and Chardon, (Hist. des Sacremens, tom. vi.)] + +[Footnote 122: The civil laws of marriage are exposed in the Institutes, +(l. i. tit. x.,) the Pandects, (l. xxiii. xxiv. xxv.,) and the Code, (l. +v.;) but as the title de ritu nuptiarum is yet imperfect, we are obliged +to explore the fragments of Ulpian (tit. ix. p. 590, 591,) and the +Collatio Legum Mosaicarum, (tit. xvi. p. 790, 791,) with the notes of +Pithaeus and Schulting. They find in the Commentary of Servius (on the +1st Georgia and the 4th Aeneid) two curious passages.] + +Besides the agreement of the parties, the essence of every rational +contract, the Roman marriage required the previous approbation of the +parents. A father might be forced by some recent laws to supply the +wants of a mature daughter; but even his insanity was not gradually +allowed to supersede the necessity of his consent. The causes of the +dissolution of matrimony have varied among the Romans; [123] but the +most solemn sacrament, the confarreation itself, might always be done +away by rites of a contrary tendency. In the first ages, the father of a +family might sell his children, and his wife was reckoned in the number +of his children: the domestic judge might pronounce the death of the +offender, or his mercy might expel her from his bed and house; but the +slavery of the wretched female was hopeless and perpetual, unless he +asserted for his own convenience the manly prerogative of divorce. +[1231] The warmest applause has been lavished on the virtue of the +Romans, who abstained from the exercise of this tempting privilege above +five hundred years: [124] but the same fact evinces the unequal terms of +a connection in which the slave was unable to renounce her tyrant, and +the tyrant was unwilling to relinquish his slave. When the Roman +matrons became the equal and voluntary companions of their lords, a new +jurisprudence was introduced, that marriage, like other partnerships, +might be dissolved by the abdication of one of the associates. In three +centuries of prosperity and corruption, this principle was enlarged to +frequent practice and pernicious abuse. + +Passion, interest, or caprice, suggested daily motives for the +dissolution of marriage; a word, a sign, a message, a letter, the +mandate of a freedman, declared the separation; the most tender of human +connections was degraded to a transient society of profit or pleasure. +According to the various conditions of life, both sexes alternately felt +the disgrace and injury: an inconstant spouse transferred her wealth to +a new family, abandoning a numerous, perhaps a spurious, progeny to +the paternal authority and care of her late husband; a beautiful virgin +might be dismissed to the world, old, indigent, and friendless; but +the reluctance of the Romans, when they were pressed to marriage by +Augustus, sufficiently marks, that the prevailing institutions were +least favorable to the males. A specious theory is confuted by this free +and perfect experiment, which demonstrates, that the liberty of divorce +does not contribute to happiness and virtue. The facility of separation +would destroy all mutual confidence, and inflame every trifling dispute: +the minute difference between a husband and a stranger, which might so +easily be removed, might still more easily be forgotten; and the matron, +who in five years can submit to the embraces of eight husbands, must +cease to reverence the chastity of her own person. [125] + +[Footnote 123: According to Plutarch, (p. 57,) Romulus allowed only +three grounds of a divorce--drunkenness, adultery, and false keys. +Otherwise, the husband who abused his supremacy forfeited half his goods +to the wife, and half to the goddess Ceres, and offered a sacrifice +(with the remainder?) to the terrestrial deities. This strange law was +either imaginary or transient.] + +[Footnote 1231: Montesquieu relates and explains this fact in a +different marnes Esprit des Loix, l. xvi. c. 16.--G.] + +[Footnote 124: In the year of Rome 523, Spurius Carvilius Ruga +repudiated a fair, a good, but a barren, wife, (Dionysius Hal. l. ii. +p. 93. Plutarch, in Numa, p. 141; Valerius Maximus, l. ii. c. 1; Aulus +Gellius, iv. 3.) He was questioned by the censors, and hated by the +people; but his divorce stood unimpeached in law.] + +[Footnote 125:--Sic fiunt octo mariti Quinque per autumnos. Juvenal, +Satir. vi. 20.--A rapid succession, which may yet be credible, as well +as the non consulum numero, sed maritorum annos suos computant, of +Seneca, (de Beneficiis, iii. 16.) Jerom saw at Rome a triumphant husband +bury his twenty-first wife, who had interred twenty-two of his less +sturdy predecessors, (Opp. tom. i. p. 90, ad Gerontiam.) But the ten +husbands in a month of the poet Martial, is an extravagant hyperbole, +(l. 71. epigram 7.)] + +Insufficient remedies followed with distant and tardy steps the rapid +progress of the evil. The ancient worship of the Romans afforded a +peculiar goddess to hear and reconcile the complaints of a married +life; but her epithet of Viriplaca, [126] the appeaser of husbands, too +clearly indicates on which side submission and repentance were always +expected. Every act of a citizen was subject to the judgment of the +censors; the first who used the privilege of divorce assigned, at their +command, the motives of his conduct; [127] and a senator was expelled +for dismissing his virgin spouse without the knowledge or advice of +his friends. Whenever an action was instituted for the recovery of a +marriage portion, the proetor, as the guardian of equity, examined the +cause and the characters, and gently inclined the scale in favor of the +guiltless and injured party. Augustus, who united the powers of both +magistrates, adopted their different modes of repressing or chastising +the license of divorce. [128] The presence of seven Roman witnesses +was required for the validity of this solemn and deliberate act: if any +adequate provocation had been given by the husband, instead of the delay +of two years, he was compelled to refund immediately, or in the space of +six months; but if he could arraign the manners of his wife, her guilt +or levity was expiated by the loss of the sixth or eighth part of her +marriage portion. The Christian princes were the first who specified the +just causes of a private divorce; their institutions, from Constantine +to Justinian, appear to fluctuate between the custom of the empire +and the wishes of the church, [129] and the author of the Novels too +frequently reforms the jurisprudence of the Code and Pandects. In +the most rigorous laws, a wife was condemned to support a gamester, a +drunkard, or a libertine, unless he were guilty of homicide, poison, or +sacrilege, in which cases the marriage, as it should seem, might have +been dissolved by the hand of the executioner. But the sacred right of +the husband was invariably maintained, to deliver his name and family +from the disgrace of adultery: the list of mortal sins, either male or +female, was curtailed and enlarged by successive regulations, and the +obstacles of incurable impotence, long absence, and monastic profession, +were allowed to rescind the matrimonial obligation. Whoever transgressed +the permission of the law, was subject to various and heavy penalties. +The woman was stripped of her wealth and ornaments, without excepting +the bodkin of her hair: if the man introduced a new bride into his bed, +her fortune might be lawfully seized by the vengeance of his exiled +wife. Forfeiture was sometimes commuted to a fine; the fine was +sometimes aggravated by transportation to an island, or imprisonment in +a monastery; the injured party was released from the bonds of marriage; +but the offender, during life, or a term of years, was disabled from +the repetition of nuptials. The successor of Justinian yielded to the +prayers of his unhappy subjects, and restored the liberty of divorce by +mutual consent: the civilians were unanimous, [130] the theologians were +divided, [131] and the ambiguous word, which contains the precept +of Christ, is flexible to any interpretation that the wisdom of a +legislator can demand. + +[Footnote 126: Sacellum Viriplacae, (Valerius Maximus, l. ii. c. 1,) +in the Palatine region, appears in the time of Theodosius, in the +description of Rome by Publius Victor.] + +[Footnote 127: Valerius Maximus, l. ii. c. 9. With some propriety he +judges divorce more criminal than celibacy: illo namque conjugalia sacre +spreta tantum, hoc etiam injuriose tractata.] + +[Footnote 128: See the laws of Augustus and his successors, in +Heineccius, ad Legem Papiam-Poppaeam, c. 19, in Opp. tom. vi. P. i. p. +323--333.] + +[Footnote 129: Aliae sunt leges Caesarum, aliae Christi; aliud +Papinianus, aliud Paulus nocter praecipit, (Jerom. tom. i. p. 198. +Selden, Uxor Ebraica l. iii. c. 31 p. 847--853.)] + +[Footnote 130: The Institutes are silent; but we may consult the Codes +of Theodosius (l. iii. tit. xvi., with Godefroy's Commentary, tom. i. p. +310--315) and Justinian, (l. v. tit. xvii.,) the Pandects (l. xxiv. +tit. ii.) and the Novels, (xxii. cxvii. cxxvii. cxxxiv. cxl.) Justinian +fluctuated to the last between civil and ecclesiastical law.] + +[Footnote 131: In pure Greek, it is not a common word; nor can the +proper meaning, fornication, be strictly applied to matrimonial sin. In +a figurative sense, how far, and to what offences, may it be extended? +Did Christ speak the Rabbinical or Syriac tongue? Of what original word +is the translation? How variously is that Greek word translated in the +versions ancient and modern! There are two (Mark, x. 11, Luke, xvi. 18) +to one (Matthew, xix. 9) that such ground of divorce was not excepted +by Jesus. Some critics have presumed to think, by an evasive answer, he +avoided the giving offence either to the school of Sammai or to that of +Hillel, (Selden, Uxor Ebraica, l. iii. c. 18--22, 28, 31.) * Note: But +these had nothing to do with the question of a divorce made by judicial +authority.--Hugo.] + +The freedom of love and marriage was restrained among the Romans by +natural and civil impediments. An instinct, almost innate and universal, +appears to prohibit the incestuous commerce [132] of parents and +children in the infinite series of ascending and descending generations. +Concerning the oblique and collateral branches, nature is indifferent, +reason mute, and custom various and arbitrary. In Egypt, the marriage +of brothers and sisters was admitted without scruple or exception: a +Spartan might espouse the daughter of his father, an Athenian, that of +his mother; and the nuptials of an uncle with his niece were applauded +at Athens as a happy union of the dearest relations. The profane +lawgivers of Rome were never tempted by interest or superstition to +multiply the forbidden degrees: but they inflexibly condemned the +marriage of sisters and brothers, hesitated whether first cousins should +be touched by the same interdict; revered the parental character of +aunts and uncles, [1321] and treated affinity and adoption as a just +imitation of the ties of blood. According to the proud maxims of the +republic, a legal marriage could only be contracted by free citizens; an +honorable, at least an ingenuous birth, was required for the spouse of +a senator: but the blood of kings could never mingle in legitimate +nuptials with the blood of a Roman; and the name of Stranger degraded +Cleopatra and Berenice, [133] to live the concubines of Mark Antony +and Titus. [134] This appellation, indeed, so injurious to the majesty, +cannot without indulgence be applied to the manners, of these Oriental +queens. A concubine, in the strict sense of the civilians, was a woman +of servile or plebeian extraction, the sole and faithful companion of a +Roman citizen, who continued in a state of celibacy. Her modest station, +below the honors of a wife, above the infamy of a prostitute, was +acknowledged and approved by the laws: from the age of Augustus to the +tenth century, the use of this secondary marriage prevailed both in +the West and East; and the humble virtues of a concubine were often +preferred to the pomp and insolence of a noble matron. In this +connection, the two Antonines, the best of princes and of men, enjoyed +the comforts of domestic love: the example was imitated by many citizens +impatient of celibacy, but regardful of their families. If at any time +they desired to legitimate their natural children, the conversion was +instantly performed by the celebration of their nuptials with a partner +whose faithfulness and fidelity they had already tried. [1341] By this +epithet of natural, the offspring of the concubine were distinguished +from the spurious brood of adultery, prostitution, and incest, to whom +Justinian reluctantly grants the necessary aliments of life; and these +natural children alone were capable of succeeding to a sixth part of +the inheritance of their reputed father. According to the rigor of law, +bastards were entitled only to the name and condition of their mother, +from whom they might derive the character of a slave, a stranger, or a +citizen. The outcasts of every family were adopted without reproach as +the children of the state. [135] [1351] + +[Footnote 132: The principles of the Roman jurisprudence are exposed by +Justinian, (Institut. t. i. tit. x.;) and the laws and manners of the +different nations of antiquity concerning forbidden degrees, &c., are +copiously explained by Dr. Taylor in his Elements of Civil Law, (p. 108, +314--339,) a work of amusing, though various reading; but which cannot +be praised for philosophical precision.] + +[Footnote 1321: According to the earlier law, (Gaii Instit. p. 27,) a +man might marry his niece on the brother's, not on the sister's, side. +The emperor Claudius set the example of the former. In the Institutes, +this distinction was abolished and both declared illegal.--M.] + +[Footnote 133: When her father Agrippa died, (A.D. 44,) Berenice was +sixteen years of age, (Joseph. tom. i. Antiquit. Judaic. l. xix. c. 9, +p. 952, edit. Havercamp.) She was therefore above fifty years old +when Titus (A.D. 79) invitus invitam invisit. This date would not have +adorned the tragedy or pastoral of the tender Racine.] + +[Footnote 134: The Aegyptia conjux of Virgil (Aeneid, viii. 688) seems +to be numbered among the monsters who warred with Mark Antony against +Augustus, the senate, and the gods of Italy.] + +[Footnote 1341: The Edict of Constantine first conferred this right; for +Augustus had prohibited the taking as a concubine a woman who might be +taken as a wife; and if marriage took place afterwards, this marriage +made no change in the rights of the children born before it; recourse +was then had to adoption, properly called arrogation.--G.] + +[Footnote 135: The humble but legal rights of concubines and natural +children are stated in the Institutes, (l. i. tit. x.,) the Pandects, +(l. i. tit. vii.,) the Code, (l. v. tit. xxv.,) and the Novels, (lxxiv. +lxxxix.) The researches of Heineccius and Giannone, (ad Legem Juliam +et Papiam-Poppaeam, c. iv. p. 164-175. Opere Posthume, p. 108--158) +illustrate this interesting and domestic subject.] + +[Footnote 1351: See, however, the two fragments of laws in the newly +discovered extracts from the Theodosian Code, published by M. A. Peyron, +at Turin. By the first law of Constantine, the legitimate offspring +could alone inherit; where there were no near legitimate relatives, the +inheritance went to the fiscus. The son of a certain Licinianus, who +had inherited his father's property under the supposition that he was +legitimate, and had been promoted to a place of dignity, was to be +degraded, his property confiscated, himself punished with stripes and +imprisonment. By the second, all persons, even of the highest rank, +senators, perfectissimi, decemvirs, were to be declared infamous, and +out of the protection of the Roman law, if born ex ancilla, vel ancillae +filia, vel liberta, vel libertae filia, sive Romana facta, seu Latina, +vel scaenicae filia, vel ex tabernaria, vel ex tabernariae filia, +vel humili vel abjecta, vel lenonis, aut arenarii filia, vel quae +mercimoniis publicis praefuit. Whatever a fond father had conferred +on such children was revoked, and either restored to the legitimate +children, or confiscated to the state; the mothers, who were guilty of +thus poisoning the minds of the fathers, were to be put to the torture +(tormentis subici jubemus.) The unfortunate son of Licinianus, it +appears from this second law, having fled, had been taken, and was +ordered to be kept in chains to work in the Gynaeceum at Carthage. Cod. +Theodor ab. A. Person, 87--90.--M.] + + + + + +Chapter XLIV: Idea Of The Roman Jurisprudence.--Part VI. + +The relation of guardian and ward, or in Roman words of tutor and pupil, +which covers so many titles of the Institutes and Pandects, [136] is of +a very simple and uniform nature. The person and property of an orphan +must always be trusted to the custody of some discreet friend. If the +deceased father had not signified his choice, the agnats, or paternal +kindred of the nearest degree, were compelled to act as the natural +guardians: the Athenians were apprehensive of exposing the infant to +the power of those most interested in his death; but an axiom of +Roman jurisprudence has pronounced, that the charge of tutelage should +constantly attend the emolument of succession. If the choice of the +father, and the line of consanguinity, afforded no efficient guardian, +the failure was supplied by the nomination of the praetor of the city, +or the president of the province. But the person whom they named to +this public office might be legally excused by insanity or blindness, by +ignorance or inability, by previous enmity or adverse interest, by the +number of children or guardianships with which he was already burdened, +and by the immunities which were granted to the useful labors of +magistrates, lawyers, physicians, and professors. Till the infant could +speak, and think, he was represented by the tutor, whose authority was +finally determined by the age of puberty. Without his consent, no act +of the pupil could bind himself to his own prejudice, though it might +oblige others for his personal benefit. It is needless to observe, that +the tutor often gave security, and always rendered an account, and that +the want of diligence or integrity exposed him to a civil and almost +criminal action for the violation of his sacred trust. The age of +puberty had been rashly fixed by the civilians at fourteen; [1361] but +as the faculties of the mind ripen more slowly than those of the body, +a curator was interposed to guard the fortunes of a Roman youth from his +own inexperience and headstrong passions. Such a trustee had been first +instituted by the praetor, to save a family from the blind havoc of a +prodigal or madman; and the minor was compelled, by the laws, to solicit +the same protection, to give validity to his acts till he accomplished +the full period of twenty-five years. Women were condemned to the +perpetual tutelage of parents, husbands, or guardians; a sex created to +please and obey was never supposed to have attained the age of reason +and experience. Such, at least, was the stern and haughty spirit of +the ancient law, which had been insensibly mollified before the time of +Justinian. + +[Footnote 136: See the article of guardians and wards in the Institutes, +(l. i. tit. xiii.--xxvi.,) the Pandects, (l. xxvi. xxvii.,) and the +Code, (l. v. tit. xxviii.--lxx.)] + +[Footnote 1361: Gibbon accuses the civilians of having "rashly fixed +the age of puberty at twelve or fourteen years." It was not so; +before Justinian, no law existed on this subject. Ulpian relates the +discussions which took place on this point among the different sects +of civilians. See the Institutes, l. i. tit. 22, and the fragments of +Ulpian. Nor was the curatorship obligatory for all minors.--W.] + +II. The original right of property can only be justified by the accident +or merit of prior occupancy; and on this foundation it is wisely +established by the philosophy of the civilians. [137] The savage who +hollows a tree, inserts a sharp stone into a wooden handle, or applies +a string to an elastic branch, becomes in a state of nature the just +proprietor of the canoe, the bow, or the hatchet. The materials +were common to all, the new form, the produce of his time and simple +industry, belongs solely to himself. His hungry brethren cannot, without +a sense of their own injustice, extort from the hunter the game of the +forest overtaken or slain by his personal strength and dexterity. If his +provident care preserves and multiplies the tame animals, whose nature +is tractable to the arts of education, he acquires a perpetual title +to the use and service of their numerous progeny, which derives its +existence from him alone. If he encloses and cultivates a field for +their sustenance and his own, a barren waste is converted into a fertile +soil; the seed, the manure, the labor, create a new value, and the +rewards of harvest are painfully earned by the fatigues of the revolving +year. In the successive states of society, the hunter, the shepherd, the +husbandman, may defend their possessions by two reasons which forcibly +appeal to the feelings of the human mind: that whatever they enjoy is +the fruit of their own industry; and that every man who envies their +felicity, may purchase similar acquisitions by the exercise of similar +diligence. Such, in truth, may be the freedom and plenty of a small +colony cast on a fruitful island. But the colony multiplies, while the +space still continues the same; the common rights, the equal inheritance +of mankind. are engrossed by the bold and crafty; each field and forest +is circumscribed by the landmarks of a jealous master; and it is the +peculiar praise of the Roman jurisprudence, that i asserts the claim of +the first occupant to the wild animals of the earth, the air, and the +waters. In the progress from primitive equity to final injustice, the +steps are silent, the shades are almost imperceptible, and the absolute +monopoly is guarded by positive laws and artificial reason. The active, +insatiate principle of self-love can alone supply the arts of life and +the wages of industry; and as soon as civil government and exclusive +property have been introduced, they become necessary to the existence +of the human race. Except in the singular institutions of Sparta, the +wisest legislators have disapproved an agrarian law as a false and +dangerous innovation. Among the Romans, the enormous disproportion of +wealth surmounted the ideal restraints of a doubtful tradition, and an +obsolete statute; a tradition that the poorest follower of Romulus +had been endowed with the perpetual inheritance of two jugera; [138] +a statute which confined the richest citizen to the measure of five +hundred jugera, or three hundred and twelve acres of land. The original +territory of Rome consisted only of some miles of wood and meadow along +the banks of the Tyber; and domestic exchange could add nothing to the +national stock. But the goods of an alien or enemy were lawfully exposed +to the first hostile occupier; the city was enriched by the profitable +trade of war; and the blood of her sons was the only price that was paid +for the Volscian sheep, the slaves of Briton, or the gems and gold of +Asiatic kingdoms. In the language of ancient jurisprudence, which was +corrupted and forgotten before the age of Justinian, these spoils were +distinguished by the name of manceps or manicipium, taken with the hand; +and whenever they were sold or emancipated, the purchaser required some +assurance that they had been the property of an enemy, and not of +a fellow-citizen. [139] A citizen could only forfeit his rights by +apparent dereliction, and such dereliction of a valuable interest +could not easily be presumed. Yet, according to the Twelve Tables, a +prescription of one year for movables, and of two years for immovables, +abolished the claim of the ancient master, if the actual possessor had +acquired them by a fair transaction from the person whom he believed to +be the lawful proprietor. [140] Such conscientious injustice, without +any mixture of fraud or force could seldom injure the members of a small +republic; but the various periods of three, of ten, or of twenty years, +determined by Justinian, are more suitable to the latitude of a great +empire. It is only in the term of prescription that the distinction of +real and personal fortune has been remarked by the civilians; and +their general idea of property is that of simple, uniform, and absolute +dominion. The subordinate exceptions of use, of usufruct, [141] of +servitude, [142] imposed for the benefit of a neighbor on lands and +houses, are abundantly explained by the professors of jurisprudence. +The claims of property, as far as they are altered by the mixture, the +division, or the transformation of substances, are investigated with +metaphysical subtilty by the same civilians. + +[Footnote 137: Institut. l. ii. tit i. ii. Compare the pure and precise +reasoning of Caius and Heineccius (l. ii. tit. i. p. 69-91) with the +loose prolixity of Theophilus, (p. 207--265.) The opinions of Ulpian are +preserved in the Pandects, (l. i. tit. viii. leg. 41, No. 1.)] + +[Footnote 138: The heredium of the first Romans is defined by Varro, (de +Re Rustica, l. i. c. ii. p. 141, c. x. p. 160, 161, edit. Gesner,) and +clouded by Pliny's declamation, (Hist. Natur. xviii. 2.) A just and +learned comment is given in the Administration des Terres chez les +Romains, (p. 12--66.) Note: On the duo jugera, compare Niebuhr, vol. i. +p. 337.--M.] + +[Footnote 139: The res mancipi is explained from faint and remote lights +by Ulpian (Fragment. tit. xviii. p. 618, 619) and Bynkershoek, (Opp +tom. i. p. 306--315.) The definition is somewhat arbitrary; and as none +except myself have assigned a reason, I am diffident of my own.] + +[Footnote 140: From this short prescription, Hume (Essays, vol. i. p. +423) infers that there could not then be more order and settlement in +Italy than now amongst the Tartars. By the civilian of his adversary +Wallace, he is reproached, and not without reason, for overlooking the +conditions, (Institut. l. ii. tit. vi.) * Note: Gibbon acknowledges, +in the former note, the obscurity of his views with regard to the res +mancipi. The interpreters, who preceded him, are not agreed on +this point, one of the most difficult in the ancient Roman law. The +conclusions of Hume, of which the author here speaks, are grounded +on false assumptions. Gibbon had conceived very inaccurate notions of +Property among the Romans, and those of many authors in the present day +are not less erroneous. We think it right, in this place, to develop the +system of property among the Romans, as the result of the study of +the extant original authorities on the ancient law, and as it has been +demonstrated, recognized, and adopted by the most learned expositors +of the Roman law. Besides the authorities formerly known, such as the +Fragments of Ulpian, t. xix. and t. i. 16. Theoph. Paraph. i. 5, 4, may +be consulted the Institutes of Gaius, i. 54, and ii. 40, et seq. +The Roman laws protected all property acquired in a lawful manner. +They imposed on those who had invaded it, the obligation of making +restitution and reparation of all damage caused by that invasion; they +punished it moreover, in many cases, by a pecuniary fine. But they did +not always grant a recovery against the third person, who had become +bona fide possessed of the property. He who had obtained possession of a +thing belonging to another, knowing nothing of the prior rights of that +person, maintained the possession. The law had expressly determined +those cases, in which it permitted property to be reclaimed from an +innocent possessor. In these cases possession had the characters of +absolute proprietorship, called mancipium, jus Quiritium. To possess +this right, it was not sufficient to have entered into possession of the +thing in any manner; the acquisition was bound to have that character +of publicity, which was given by the observation of solemn forms, +prescribed by the laws, or the uninterrupted exercise of proprietorship +during a certain time: the Roman citizen alone could acquire this +proprietorship. Every other kind of possession, which might be named +imperfect proprietorship, was called "in bonis habere." It was not till +after the time of Cicero that the general name of Dominium was given to +all proprietorship. +It was then the publicity which constituted the distinctive character +of absolute dominion. This publicity was grounded on the mode of +acquisition, which the moderns have called Civil, (Modi adquirendi +Civiles.) These modes of acquisition were, +1. Mancipium or mancipatio, which was nothing but the solemn delivering +over of the thing in the presence of a determinate number of witnesses +and a public officer; it was from this probably that proprietorship was +named, 2. In jure cessio, which was a solemn delivering over before the +praetor. 3. Adjudicatio, made by a judge, in a case of partition. +4. Lex, which comprehended modes of acquiring in particular cases +determined by law; probably the law of the xii. tables; for instance, +the sub corona emptio and the legatum. +5. Usna, called afterwards usacapio, and by the moderns prescription. +This was only a year for movables; two years for things not movable. Its +primary object was altogether different from that of prescription in +the present day. It was originally introduced in order to transform +the simple possession of a thing (in bonis habere) into Roman +proprietorship. The public and uninterrupted possession of a thing, +enjoyed for the space of one or two years, was sufficient to make known +to the inhabitants of the city of Rome to whom the thing belonged. This +last mode of acquisition completed the system of civil acquisitions. by +legalizing. as it were, every other kind of acquisition which was not +conferred, from the commencement, by the Jus Quiritium. V. Ulpian. +Fragm. i. 16. Gaius, ii. 14. We believe, according to Gaius, 43, that +this usucaption was extended to the case where a thing had been acquired +from a person not the real proprietor; and that according to the time +prescribed, it gave to the possessor the Roman proprietorship. But this +does not appear to have been the original design of this Institution. +Caeterum etiam earum rerum usucapio nobis competit, quae non a domino +nobis tradita fuerint, si modo eas bona fide acceperimus Gaius, l ii. +43. As to things of smaller value, or those which it was difficult to +distinguish from each other, the solemnities of which we speak were not +requisite to obtain legal proprietorship. +In this case simple delivery was sufficient. +In proportion to the aggrandizement of the Republic, this latter +principle became more important from the increase of the commerce and +wealth of the state. It was necessary to know what were those things of +which absolute property might be acquired by simple delivery, and what, +on the contrary, those, the acquisition of which must be sanctioned +by these solemnities. This question was necessarily to be decided by +a general rule; and it is this rule which establishes the distinction +between res mancipi and nec mancipi, a distinction about which the +opinions of modern civilians differ so much that there are above ten +conflicting systems on the subject. The system which accords best with a +sound interpretation of the Roman laws, is that proposed by M. Trekel of +Hamburg, and still further developed by M. Hugo, who has extracted it in +the Magazine of Civil Law, vol. ii. p. 7. +This is the system now almost universally adopted. Res mancipi (by +contraction for mancipii) were things of which the absolute property +(Jus Quiritium) might be acquired only by the solemnities mentioned +above, at least by that of mancipation, which was, without doubt, the +most easy and the most usual. Gaius, ii. 25. As for other things, the +acquisition of which was not subject to these forms, in order to confer +absolute right, they were called res nec mancipi. See Ulpian, Fragm. +xix. 1. 3, 7. +Ulpian and Varro enumerate the different kinds of res mancipi. Their +enumerations do not quite agree; and various methods of reconciling them +have been attempted. The authority of Ulpian, however, who wrote as a +civilian, ought to have the greater weight on this subject. +But why are these things alone res mancipi? This is one of the questions +which have been most frequently agitated, and on which the opinions of +civilians are most divided. M. Hugo has resolved it in the most +natural and satisfactory manner. "All things which were easily known +individually, which were of great value, with which the Romans were +acquainted, and which they highly appreciated, were res mancipi. Of old +mancipation or some other solemn form was required for the acquisition +of these things, an account of their importance. Mancipation served to +prove their acquisition, because they were easily distinguished one from +the other." On this great historical discussion consult the Magazine of +Civil Law by M. Hugo, vol. ii. p. 37, 38; the dissertation of M. J. M. +Zachariae, de Rebus Mancipi et nec Mancipi Conjecturae, p. 11. Lipsiae, +1807; the History of Civil Law by M. Hugo; and my Institutiones Juris +Romani Privati p. 108, 110. +As a general rule, it may be said that all things are res nec mancipi; +the res mancipi are the exception to this principle. +The praetors changed the system of property by allowing a person, who +had a thing in bonis, the right to recover before the prescribed term +of usucaption had conferred absolute proprietorship. (Pauliana in rem +actio.) Justinian went still further, in times when there was no longer +any distinction between a Roman citizen and a stranger. He granted the +right of recovering all things which had been acquired, whether by what +were called civil or natural modes of acquisition, Cod. l. vii. t. 25, +31. And he so altered the theory of Gaius in his Institutes, ii. 1, that +no trace remains of the doctrine taught by that civilian.--W.] + +[Footnote 141: See the Institutes (l. i. tit. iv. v.) and the Pandects, +(l. vii.) Noodt has composed a learned and distinct treatise de +Usufructu, (Opp. tom. i. p. 387--478.)] + +[Footnote 142: The questions de Servitutibus are discussed in the +Institutes (l. ii. tit. iii.) and Pandects, (l. viii.) Cicero (pro +Murena, c. 9) and Lactantius (Institut. Divin. l. i. c. i.) affect to +laugh at the insignificant doctrine, de aqua de pluvia arcenda, &c. Yet +it might be of frequent use among litigious neighbors, both in town and +country.] + +The personal title of the first proprietor must be determined by +his death: but the possession, without any appearance of change, is +peaceably continued in his children, the associates of his toil, and the +partners of his wealth. This natural inheritance has been protected by +the legislators of every climate and age, and the father is encouraged +to persevere in slow and distant improvements, by the tender hope, that +a long posterity will enjoy the fruits of his labor. The principle of +hereditary succession is universal; but the order has been variously +established by convenience or caprice, by the spirit of national +institutions, or by some partial example which was originally decided +by fraud or violence. The jurisprudence of the Romans appear to have +deviated from the inequality of nature much less than the Jewish, [143] +the Athenian, [144] or the English institutions. [145] On the death of +a citizen, all his descendants, unless they were already freed from his +paternal power, were called to the inheritance of his possessions. The +insolent prerogative of primogeniture was unknown; the two sexes were +placed on a just level; all the sons and daughters were entitled to an +equal portion of the patrimonial estate; and if any of the sons had been +intercepted by a premature death, his person was represented, and his +share was divided, by his surviving children. On the failure of the +direct line, the right of succession must diverge to the collateral +branches. The degrees of kindred [146] are numbered by the civilians, +ascending from the last possessor to a common parent, and descending +from the common parent to the next heir: my father stands in the first +degree, my brother in the second, his children in the third, and the +remainder of the series may be conceived by a fancy, or pictured in +a genealogical table. In this computation, a distinction was made, +essential to the laws and even the constitution of Rome; the agnats, or +persons connected by a line of males, were called, as they stood in the +nearest degree, to an equal partition; but a female was incapable of +transmitting any legal claims; and the cognats of every rank, without +excepting the dear relation of a mother and a son, were disinherited by +the Twelve Tables, as strangers and aliens. Among the Romans agens or +lineage was united by a common name and domestic rites; the various +cognomens or surnames of Scipio, or Marcellus, distinguished from each +other the subordinate branches or families of the Cornelian or Claudian +race: the default of the agnats, of the same surname, was supplied +by the larger denomination of gentiles; and the vigilance of the laws +maintained, in the same name, the perpetual descent of religion and +property. A similar principle dictated the Voconian law, [147] which +abolished the right of female inheritance. As long as virgins were given +or sold in marriage, the adoption of the wife extinguished the hopes of +the daughter. But the equal succession of independent matrons supported +their pride and luxury, and might transport into a foreign house the +riches of their fathers. + +While the maxims of Cato [148] were revered, they tended to perpetuate +in each family a just and virtuous mediocrity: till female blandishments +insensibly triumphed; and every salutary restraint was lost in the +dissolute greatness of the republic. The rigor of the decemvirs was +tempered by the equity of the praetors. Their edicts restored and +emancipated posthumous children to the rights of nature; and upon the +failure of the agnats, they preferred the blood of the cognats to the +name of the gentiles whose title and character were insensibly covered +with oblivion. The reciprocal inheritance of mothers and sons was +established in the Tertullian and Orphitian decrees by the humanity of +the senate. A new and more impartial order was introduced by the Novels +of Justinian, who affected to revive the jurisprudence of the Twelve +Tables. The lines of masculine and female kindred were confounded: the +descending, ascending, and collateral series was accurately defined; +and each degree, according tot he proximity of blood and affection, +succeeded to the vacant possessions of a Roman citizen. [149] + +[Footnote 143: Among the patriarchs, the first-born enjoyed a mystic and +spiritual primogeniture, (Genesis, xxv. 31.) In the land of Canaan, he +was entitled to a double portion of inheritance, (Deuteronomy, xxi. 17, +with Le Clerc's judicious Commentary.)] + +[Footnote 144: At Athens, the sons were equal; but the poor daughters +were endowed at the discretion of their brothers. See the pleadings of +Isaeus, (in the viith volume of the Greek Orators,) illustrated by the +version and comment of Sir William Jones, a scholar, a lawyer, and a man +of genius.] + +[Footnote 145: In England, the eldest son also inherits all the land; +a law, says the orthodox Judge Blackstone, (Commentaries on the Laws +of England, vol. ii. p. 215,) unjust only in the opinion of younger +brothers. It may be of some political use in sharpening their industry.] + +[Footnote 146: Blackstone's Tables (vol. ii. p. 202) represent and +compare the decrees of the civil with those of the canon and common law. +A separate tract of Julius Paulus, de gradibus et affinibus, is inserted +or abridged in the Pandects, (l. xxxviii. tit. x.) In the viith degrees +he computes (No. 18) 1024 persons.] + +[Footnote 147: The Voconian law was enacted in the year of Rome 584. The +younger Scipio, who was then 17 years of age, (Frenshemius, Supplement. +Livian. xlvi. 40,) found an occasion of exercising his generosity to his +mother, sisters, &c. (Polybius, tom. ii. l. xxxi. p. 1453--1464, edit +Gronov., a domestic witness.)] + +[Footnote 148: Legem Voconiam (Ernesti, Clavis Ciceroniana) magna voce +bonis lateribus (at lxv. years of age) suasissem, says old Cato, (de +Senectute, c. 5,) Aulus Gellius (vii. 13, xvii. 6) has saved some +passages.] + +[Footnote 149: See the law of succession in the Institutes of Caius, (l. +ii. tit. viii. p. 130--144,) and Justinian, (l. iii. tit. i.--vi., with +the Greek version of Theophilus, p. 515-575, 588--600,) the Pandects, +(l. xxxviii. tit. vi.--xvii.,) the Code, (l. vi. tit. lv.--lx.,) and the +Novels, (cxviii.)] + +The order of succession is regulated by nature, or at least by the +general and permanent reason of the lawgiver: but this order is +frequently violated by the arbitrary and partial wills, which prolong +the dominion of the testator beyond the grave. [150] In the simple state +of society, this last use or abuse of the right of property is seldom +indulged: it was introduced at Athens by the laws of Solon; and the +private testaments of the father of a family are authorized by the +Twelve Tables. Before the time of the decemvirs, [151] a Roman citizen +exposed his wishes and motives to the assembly of the thirty curiae +or parishes, and the general law of inheritance was suspended by +an occasional act of the legislature. After the permission of the +decemvirs, each private lawgiver promulgated his verbal or written +testament in the presence of five citizens, who represented the five +classes of the Roman people; a sixth witness attested their concurrence; +a seventh weighed the copper money, which was paid by an imaginary +purchaser; and the estate was emancipated by a fictitious sale and +immediate release. This singular ceremony, [152] which excited the +wonder of the Greeks, was still practised in the age of Severus; but the +praetors had already approved a more simple testament, for which they +required the seals and signatures of seven witnesses, free from all +legal exception, and purposely summoned for the execution of that +important act. A domestic monarch, who reigned over the lives and +fortunes of his children, might distribute their respective shares +according to the degrees of their merit or his affection; his arbitrary +displeasure chastised an unworthy son by the loss of his inheritance, +and the mortifying preference of a stranger. But the experience of +unnatural parents recommended some limitations of their testamentary +powers. A son, or, by the laws of Justinian, even a daughter, could no +longer be disinherited by their silence: they were compelled to name +the criminal, and to specify the offence; and the justice of the emperor +enumerated the sole causes that could justify such a violation of +the first principles of nature and society. [153] Unless a legitimate +portion, a fourth part, had been reserved for the children, they were +entitled to institute an action or complaint of inofficious testament; +to suppose that their father's understanding was impaired by sickness +or age; and respectfully to appeal from his rigorous sentence to the +deliberate wisdom of the magistrate. In the Roman jurisprudence, an +essential distinction was admitted between the inheritance and the +legacies. The heirs who succeeded to the entire unity, or to any of the +twelve fractions of the substance of the testator, represented his civil +and religious character, asserted his rights, fulfilled his obligations, +and discharged the gifts of friendship or liberality, which his last +will had bequeathed under the name of legacies. But as the imprudence or +prodigality of a dying man might exhaust the inheritance, and leave +only risk and labor to his successor, he was empowered to retain the +Falcidian portion; to deduct, before the payment of the legacies, a +clear fourth for his own emolument. A reasonable time was allowed to +examine the proportion between the debts and the estate, to decide +whether he should accept or refuse the testament; and if he used the +benefit of an inventory, the demands of the creditors could not exceed +the valuation of the effects. The last will of a citizen might be +altered during his life, or rescinded after his death: the persons whom +he named might die before him, or reject the inheritance, or be exposed +to some legal disqualification. In the contemplation of these events, +he was permitted to substitute second and third heirs, to replace each +other according to the order of the testament; and the incapacity of +a madman or an infant to bequeath his property might be supplied by a +similar substitution. [154] But the power of the testator expired with +the acceptance of the testament: each Roman of mature age and discretion +acquired the absolute dominion of his inheritance, and the simplicity of +the civil law was never clouded by the long and intricate entails which +confine the happiness and freedom of unborn generations. + +[Footnote 150: That succession was the rule, testament the exception, +is proved by Taylor, (Elements of Civil Law, p. 519-527,) a learned, +rambling, spirited writer. In the iid and iiid books, the method of +the Institutes is doubtless preposterous; and the Chancellor Daguesseau +(Oeuvres, tom. i. p. 275) wishes his countryman Domat in the place of +Tribonian. Yet covenants before successions is not surely the natural +order of civil laws.] + +[Footnote 151: Prior examples of testaments are perhaps fabulous. At +Athens a childless father only could make a will, (Plutarch, in Solone, +tom. i. p. 164. See Isaeus and Jones.)] + +[Footnote 152: The testament of Augustus is specified by Suetonius, (in +August, c. 101, in Neron. c. 4,) who may be studied as a code of Roman +antiquities. Plutarch (Opuscul. tom. ii. p. 976) is surprised. The +language of Ulpian (Fragment. tit. xx. p. 627, edit. Schulting) is +almost too exclusive--solum in usu est.] + +[Footnote 153: Justinian (Novell. cxv. No. 3, 4) enumerates only the +public and private crimes, for which a son might likewise disinherit his +father. Note: Gibbon has singular notions on the provisions of Novell. +cxv. 3, 4, which probably he did not clearly understand.--W] + +[Footnote 154: The substitutions of fidei-commissaires of the modern +civil law is a feudal idea grafted on the Roman jurisprudence, and bears +scarcely any resemblance to the ancient fidei-commissa, (Institutions +du Droit Francois, tom. i. p. 347-383. Denissart, Decisions de +Jurisprudence, tom. iv. p. 577-604.) They were stretched to the +fourth degree by an abuse of the clixth Novel; a partial, perplexed, +declamatory law.] + +Conquest and the formalities of law established the use of codicils. If +a Roman was surprised by death in a remote province of the empire, he +addressed a short epistle to his legitimate or testamentary heir; who +fulfilled with honor, or neglected with impunity, this last request, +which the judges before the age of Augustus were not authorized to +enforce. A codicil might be expressed in any mode, or in any language; +but the subscription of five witnesses must declare that it was the +genuine composition of the author. His intention, however laudable, was +sometimes illegal; and the invention of fidei-commissa, or trusts, arose +form the struggle between natural justice and positive jurisprudence. +A stranger of Greece or Africa might be the friend or benefactor of a +childless Roman, but none, except a fellow-citizen, could act as his +heir. The Voconian law, which abolished female succession, restrained +the legacy or inheritance of a woman to the sum of one hundred thousand +sesterces; [155] and an only daughter was condemned almost as an alien +in her father's house. The zeal of friendship, and parental affection, +suggested a liberal artifice: a qualified citizen was named in the +testament, with a prayer or injunction that he would restore the +inheritance to the person for whom it was truly intended. Various was +the conduct of the trustees in this painful situation: they had sworn +to observe the laws of their country, but honor prompted them to violate +their oath; and if they preferred their interest under the mask of +patriotism, they forfeited the esteem of every virtuous mind. The +declaration of Augustus relieved their doubts, gave a legal sanction to +confidential testaments and codicils, and gently unravelled the forms +and restraints of the republican jurisprudence. [156] But as the new +practice of trusts degenerated into some abuse, the trustee was enabled, +by the Trebellian and Pegasian decrees, to reserve one fourth of the +estate, or to transfer on the head of the real heir all the debts and +actions of the succession. The interpretation of testaments was strict +and literal; but the language of trusts and codicils was delivered from +the minute and technical accuracy of the civilians. [157] + +[Footnote 155: Dion Cassius (tom. ii. l. lvi. p. 814, with Reimar's +Notes) specifies in Greek money the sum of 25,000 drachms.] + +[Footnote 156: The revolutions of the Roman laws of inheritance are +finely, though sometimes fancifully, deduced by Montesquieu, (Esprit des +Loix, l. xxvii.)] + +[Footnote 157: Of the civil jurisprudence of successions, testaments, +codicils, legacies, and trusts, the principles are ascertained in the +Institutes of Caius, (l. ii. tit. ii.--ix. p. 91--144,) Justinian, +(l. ii. tit. x.--xxv.,) and Theophilus, (p. 328--514;) and the immense +detail occupies twelve books (xxviii.--xxxix.) of the Pandects.] III. +The general duties of mankind are imposed by their public and private +relations: but their specific obligations to each other can only be the +effect of, 1. a promise, 2. a benefit, or 3. an injury: and when these +obligations are ratified by law, the interested party may compel the +performance by a judicial action. On this principle, the civilians of +every country have erected a similar jurisprudence, the fair conclusion +of universal reason and justice. [158] + +[Footnote 158: The Institutes of Caius, (l. ii. tit. ix. x. p. +144--214,) of Justinian, (l. iii. tit. xiv.--xxx. l. iv. tit. +i.--vi.,) and of Theophilus, (p. 616--837,) distinguish four sorts of +obligations--aut re, aut verbis, aut literis aut consensu: but I confess +myself partial to my own division. Note: It is not at all applicable to +the Roman system of contracts, even if I were allowed to be good.--M.] + + + + + +Chapter XLIV: Idea Of The Roman Jurisprudence.--Part VII. + +1. The goddess of faith (of human and social faith) was worshipped, not +only in her temples, but in the lives of the Romans; and if that +nation was deficient in the more amiable qualities of benevolence and +generosity, they astonished the Greeks by their sincere and simple +performance of the most burdensome engagements. [159] Yet among the same +people, according to the rigid maxims of the patricians and decemvirs, +a naked pact, a promise, or even an oath, did not create any civil +obligation, unless it was confirmed by the legal form of a stipulation. +Whatever might be the etymology of the Latin word, it conveyed the idea +of a firm and irrevocable contract, which was always expressed in the +mode of a question and answer. Do you promise to pay me one hundred +pieces of gold? was the solemn interrogation of Seius. I do promise, was +the reply of Sempronius. The friends of Sempronius, who answered for +his ability and inclination, might be separately sued at the option of +Seius; and the benefit of partition, or order of reciprocal actions, +insensibly deviated from the strict theory of stipulation. The most +cautious and deliberate consent was justly required to sustain the +validity of a gratuitous promise; and the citizen who might have +obtained a legal security, incurred the suspicion of fraud, and paid the +forfeit of his neglect. But the ingenuity of the civilians successfully +labored to convert simple engagements into the form of solemn +stipulations. The praetors, as the guardians of social faith, admitted +every rational evidence of a voluntary and deliberate act, which in +their tribunal produced an equitable obligation, and for which they gave +an action and a remedy. [160] + +[Footnote 159: How much is the cool, rational evidence of Polybius (l. +vi. p. 693, l. xxxi. p. 1459, 1460) superior to vague, indiscriminate +applause--omnium maxime et praecipue fidem coluit, (A. Gellius, xx. l.)] + +[Footnote 160: The Jus Praetorium de Pactis et Transactionibus is a +separate and satisfactory treatise of Gerard Noodt, (Opp. tom. i. p. +483--564.) And I will here observe, that the universities of Holland +and Brandenburg, in the beginning of the present century, appear to have +studied the civil law on the most just and liberal principles. * Note: +Simple agreements (pacta) formed as valid an obligation as a solemn +contract. Only an action, or the right to a direct judicial prosecution, +was not permitted in every case of compact. In all other respects, the +judge was bound to maintain an agreement made by pactum. The stipulation +was a form common to every kind of agreement, by which the right of +action was given to this.--W.] + +2. The obligations of the second class, as they were contracted by the +delivery of a thing, are marked by the civilians with the epithet of +real. [161] A grateful return is due to the author of a benefit; and +whoever is intrusted with the property of another, has bound himself +to the sacred duty of restitution. In the case of a friendly loan, the +merit of generosity is on the side of the lender only; in a deposit, on +the side of the receiver; but in a pledge, and the rest of the selfish +commerce of ordinary life, the benefit is compensated by an equivalent, +and the obligation to restore is variously modified by the nature of the +transaction. The Latin language very happily expresses the fundamental +difference between the commodatum and the mutuum, which our poverty is +reduced to confound under the vague and common appellation of a loan. +In the former, the borrower was obliged to restore the same individual +thing with which he had been accommodated for the temporary supply of +his wants; in the latter, it was destined for his use and consumption, +and he discharged this mutual engagement, by substituting the same +specific value according to a just estimation of number, of weight, +and of measure. In the contract of sale, the absolute dominion is +transferred to the purchaser, and he repays the benefit with an adequate +sum of gold or silver, the price and universal standard of all earthly +possessions. The obligation of another contract, that of location, is of +a more complicated kind. Lands or houses, labor or talents, may be hired +for a definite term; at the expiration of the time, the thing itself +must be restored to the owner, with an additional reward for the +beneficial occupation and employment. In these lucrative contracts, to +which may be added those of partnership and commissions, the civilians +sometimes imagine the delivery of the object, and sometimes presume the +consent of the parties. The substantial pledge has been refined into the +invisible rights of a mortgage or hypotheca; and the agreement of sale, +for a certain price, imputes, from that moment, the chances of gain or +loss to the account of the purchaser. It may be fairly supposed, that +every man will obey the dictates of his interest; and if he accepts the +benefit, he is obliged to sustain the expense, of the transaction. In +this boundless subject, the historian will observe the location of land +and money, the rent of the one and the interest of the other, as they +materially affect the prosperity of agriculture and commerce. The +landlord was often obliged to advance the stock and instruments of +husbandry, and to content himself with a partition of the fruits. If the +feeble tenant was oppressed by accident, contagion, or hostile violence, +he claimed a proportionable relief from the equity of the laws: five +years were the customary term, and no solid or costly improvements could +be expected from a farmer, who, at each moment might be ejected by the +sale of the estate. [162] Usury, [163] the inveterate grievance of the +city, had been discouraged by the Twelve Tables, [164] and abolished by +the clamors of the people. It was revived by their wants and idleness, +tolerated by the discretion of the praetors, and finally determined by +the Code of Justinian. Persons of illustrious rank were confined to the +moderate profit of four per cent.; six was pronounced to be the ordinary +and legal standard of interest; eight was allowed for the convenience +of manufactures and merchants; twelve was granted to nautical insurance, +which the wiser ancients had not attempted to define; but, except in +this perilous adventure, the practice of exorbitant usury was severely +restrained. [165] The most simple interest was condemned by the clergy +of the East and West; [166] but the sense of mutual benefit, which had +triumphed over the law of the republic, has resisted with equal firmness +the decrees of the church, and even the prejudices of mankind. [167] + +[Footnote 161: The nice and various subject of contracts by consent is +spread over four books (xvii.--xx.) of the Pandects, and is one of the +parts best deserving of the attention of an English student. * Note: +This is erroneously called "benefits." Gibbon enumerates various kinds +of contracts, of which some alone are properly called benefits.--W.] + +[Footnote 162: The covenants of rent are defined in the Pandects (l. +xix.) and the Code, (l. iv. tit. lxv.) The quinquennium, or term of five +years, appears to have been a custom rather than a law; but in France +all leases of land were determined in nine years. This limitation was +removed only in the year 1775, (Encyclopedie Methodique, tom. i. de +la Jurisprudence, p. 668, 669;) and I am sorry to observe that it yet +prevails in the beauteous and happy country where I am permitted to +reside.] + +[Footnote 163: I might implicitly acquiesce in the sense and learning +of the three books of G. Noodt, de foenore et usuris. (Opp. tom. i. +p. 175--268.) The interpretation of the asses or centesimoe usuroe +at twelve, the unciarioe at one per cent., is maintained by the best +critics and civilians: Noodt, (l. ii. c. 2, p. 207,) Gravina, (Opp. p. +205, &c., 210,) Heineccius, (Antiquitat. ad Institut. l. iii. tit. xv.,) +Montesquieu, (Esprit des Loix, l. xxii. c. 22, tom. ii. p. 36). Defense +de l'Esprit des Loix, (tom. iii. p. 478, &c.,) and above all, John +Frederic Gronovius (de Pecunia Veteri, l. iii. c. 13, p. 213--227,) +and his three Antexegeses, (p. 455--655), the founder, or at least the +champion, of this probable opinion; which is, however, perplexed with +some difficulties.] + +[Footnote 164: Primo xii. Tabulis sancitum est ne quis unciario foenore +amplius exerceret, (Tacit. Annal. vi. 16.) Pour peu (says Montesquieu, +Esprit des Loix, l. xxii. 22) qu'on soit verse dans l'histoire de Rome, +on verra qu'une pareille loi ne devoit pas etre l'ouvrage des decemvirs. +Was Tacitus ignorant--or stupid? But the wiser and more virtuous +patricians might sacrifice their avarice to their ambition, and might +attempt to check the odious practice by such interest as no lender would +accept, and such penalties as no debtor would incur. * Note: The real +nature of the foenus unciarium has been proved; it amounted in a year of +twelve months to ten per cent. See, in the Magazine for Civil Law, by M. +Hugo, vol. v. p. 180, 184, an article of M. Schrader, following up the +conjectures of Niebuhr, Hist. Rom. tom. ii. p. 431.--W. Compare a very +clear account of this question in the appendix to Mr. Travers Twiss's +Epitome of Niebuhr, vol. ii. p. 257.--M.] + +[Footnote 165: Justinian has not condescended to give usury a place in +his Institutes; but the necessary rules and restrictions are inserted +in the Pandects (l. xxii. tit. i. ii.) and the Code, (l. iv. tit. xxxii. +xxxiii.)] + +[Footnote 166: The Fathers are unanimous, (Barbeyrac, Morale des Peres, +p. 144. &c.:) Cyprian, Lactantius, Basil, Chrysostom, (see his frivolous +arguments in Noodt, l. i. c. 7, p. 188,) Gregory of Nyssa, Ambrose, +Jerom, Augustin, and a host of councils and casuists.] + +[Footnote 167: Cato, Seneca, Plutarch, have loudly condemned the +practice or abuse of usury. According to the etymology of foenus, the +principal is supposed to generate the interest: a breed of barren metal, +exclaims Shakespeare--and the stage is the echo of the public voice.] + +3. Nature and society impose the strict obligation of repairing an +injury; and the sufferer by private injustice acquires a personal right +and a legitimate action. If the property of another be intrusted to our +care, the requisite degree of care may rise and fall according to the +benefit which we derive from such temporary possession; we are seldom +made responsible for inevitable accident, but the consequences of a +voluntary fault must always be imputed to the author. [168] A Roman +pursued and recovered his stolen goods by a civil action of theft; they +might pass through a succession of pure and innocent hands, but nothing +less than a prescription of thirty years could extinguish his original +claim. They were restored by the sentence of the praetor, and the injury +was compensated by double, or threefold, or even quadruple damages, as +the deed had been perpetrated by secret fraud or open rapine, as the +robber had been surprised in the fact, or detected by a subsequent +research. The Aquilian law [169] defended the living property of a +citizen, his slaves and cattle, from the stroke of malice or negligence: +the highest price was allowed that could be ascribed to the domestic +animal at any moment of the year preceding his death; a similar latitude +of thirty days was granted on the destruction of any other valuable +effects. A personal injury is blunted or sharpened by the manners of the +times and the sensibility of the individual: the pain or the disgrace of +a word or blow cannot easily be appreciated by a pecuniary equivalent. +The rude jurisprudence of the decemvirs had confounded all hasty +insults, which did not amount to the fracture of a limb, by condemning +the aggressor to the common penalty of twenty-five asses. But the same +denomination of money was reduced, in three centuries, from a pound +to the weight of half an ounce: and the insolence of a wealthy Roman +indulged himself in the cheap amusement of breaking and satisfying the +law of the twelve tables. Veratius ran through the streets striking +on the face the inoffensive passengers, and his attendant purse-bearer +immediately silenced their clamors by the legal tender of twenty-five +pieces of copper, about the value of one shilling. [170] The equity +of the praetors examined and estimated the distinct merits of each +particular complaint. In the adjudication of civil damages, the +magistrate assumed a right to consider the various circumstances of +time and place, of age and dignity, which may aggravate the shame and +sufferings of the injured person; but if he admitted the idea of a fine, +a punishment, an example, he invaded the province, though, perhaps, he +supplied the defects, of the criminal law. [Footnote 168: Sir William +Jones has given an ingenious and rational Essay on the law of Bailment, +(London, 1781, p. 127, in 8vo.) He is perhaps the only lawyer equally +conversant with the year-books of Westminster, the Commentaries of +Ulpian, the Attic pleadings of Isaeus, and the sentences of Arabian and +Persian cadhis.] + +[Footnote 169: Noodt (Opp. tom. i. p. 137--172) has composed a separate +treatise, ad Legem Aquilian, (Pandect. l. ix. tit. ii.)] + +[Footnote 170: Aulus Gellius (Noct. Attic. xx. i.) borrowed this story +from the Commentaries of Q. Labeo on the xii. tables.] + +The execution of the Alban dictator, who was dismembered by eight +horses, is represented by Livy as the first and the fast instance of +Roman cruelty in the punishment of the most atrocious crimes. [171] But +this act of justice, or revenge, was inflicted on a foreign enemy in the +heat of victory, and at the command of a single man. The twelve tables +afford a more decisive proof of the national spirit, since they were +framed by the wisest of the senate, and accepted by the free voices +of the people; yet these laws, like the statutes of Draco, [172] are +written in characters of blood. [173] They approve the inhuman and +unequal principle of retaliation; and the forfeit of an eye for an eye, +a tooth for a tooth, a limb for a limb, is rigorously exacted, unless +the offender can redeem his pardon by a fine of three hundred pounds +of copper. The decemvirs distributed with much liberality the slighter +chastisements of flagellation and servitude; and nine crimes of a very +different complexion are adjudged worthy of death. + +1. Any act of treason against the state, or of correspondence with the +public enemy. The mode of execution was painful and ignominious: the +head of the degenerate Roman was shrouded in a veil, his hands were tied +behind his back, and after he had been scourged by the lictor, he was +suspended in the midst of the forum on a cross, or inauspicious tree. + +2. Nocturnal meetings in the city; whatever might be the pretence, of +pleasure, or religion, or the public good. + +3. The murder of a citizen; for which the common feelings of mankind +demand the blood of the murderer. Poison is still more odious than the +sword or dagger; and we are surprised to discover, in two flagitious +events, how early such subtle wickedness had infected the simplicity +of the republic, and the chaste virtues of the Roman matrons. [174] The +parricide, who violated the duties of nature and gratitude, was cast +into the river or the sea, enclosed in a sack; and a cock, a viper, +a dog, and a monkey, were successively added, as the most suitable +companions. [175] Italy produces no monkeys; but the want could never be +felt, till the middle of the sixth century first revealed the guilt of a +parricide. [176] + +4. The malice of an incendiary. After the previous ceremony of whipping, +he himself was delivered to the flames; and in this example alone our +reason is tempted to applaud the justice of retaliation. + +5. Judicial perjury. The corrupt or malicious witness was thrown +headlong from the Tarpeian rock, to expiate his falsehood, which was +rendered still more fatal by the severity of the penal laws, and the +deficiency of written evidence. + +6. The corruption of a judge, who accepted bribes to pronounce an +iniquitous sentence. + +7. Libels and satires, whose rude strains sometimes disturbed the +peace of an illiterate city. The author was beaten with clubs, a worthy +chastisement, but it is not certain that he was left to expire under the +blows of the executioner. [177] + +8. The nocturnal mischief of damaging or destroying a neighbor's corn. +The criminal was suspended as a grateful victim to Ceres. But the sylvan +deities were less implacable, and the extirpation of a more valuable +tree was compensated by the moderate fine of twenty-five pounds of +copper. + +9. Magical incantations; which had power, in the opinion of the Latin +shepherds, to exhaust the strength of an enemy, to extinguish his life, +and to remove from their seats his deep-rooted plantations. + +The cruelty of the twelve tables against insolvent debtors still remains +to be told; and I shall dare to prefer the literal sense of antiquity +to the specious refinements of modern criticism. [178] [1781] After +the judicial proof or confession of the debt, thirty days of grace +were allowed before a Roman was delivered into the power of his +fellow-citizen. In this private prison, twelve ounces of rice were his +daily food; he might be bound with a chain of fifteen pounds weight; +and his misery was thrice exposed in the market place, to solicit the +compassion of his friends and countrymen. At the expiration of sixty +days, the debt was discharged by the loss of liberty or life; the +insolvent debtor was either put to death, or sold in foreign slavery +beyond the Tyber: but, if several creditors were alike obstinate and +unrelenting, they might legally dismember his body, and satiate their +revenge by this horrid partition. The advocates for this savage law have +insisted, that it must strongly operate in deterring idleness and +fraud from contracting debts which they were unable to discharge; but +experience would dissipate this salutary terror, by proving that no +creditor could be found to exact this unprofitable penalty of life or +limb. As the manners of Rome were insensibly polished, the criminal code +of the decemvirs was abolished by the humanity of accusers, witnesses, +and judges; and impunity became the consequence of immoderate rigor. The +Porcian and Valerian laws prohibited the magistrates from inflicting +on a free citizen any capital, or even corporal, punishment; and the +obsolete statutes of blood were artfully, and perhaps truly, ascribed to +the spirit, not of patrician, but of regal, tyranny. + +[Footnote 171: The narrative of Livy (i. 28) is weighty and solemn. +At tu, Albane, maneres, is a harsh reflection, unworthy of Virgil's +humanity, (Aeneid, viii. 643.) Heyne, with his usual good taste, +observes that the subject was too horrid for the shield of Aencas, (tom. +iii. p. 229.)] + +[Footnote 172: The age of Draco (Olympiad xxxix. l) is fixed by Sir John +Marsham (Canon Chronicus, p. 593--596) and Corsini, (Fasti Attici, tom. +iii. p. 62.) For his laws, see the writers on the government of Athens, +Sigonius, Meursius, Potter, &c.] + +[Footnote 173: The viith, de delictis, of the xii. tables is delineated +by Gravina, (Opp. p. 292, 293, with a commentary, p. 214--230.) Aulus +Gellius (xx. 1) and the Collatio Legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum afford +much original information.] + +[Footnote 174: Livy mentions two remarkable and flagitious aeras, of +3000 persons accused, and of 190 noble matrons convicted, of the crime +of poisoning, (xl. 43, viii. 18.) Mr. Hume discriminates the ages of +private and public virtue, (Essays, vol. i. p. 22, 23.) I would rather +say that such ebullitions of mischief (as in France in the year 1680) +are accidents and prodigies which leave no marks on the manners of a +nation.] + +[Footnote 175: The xii. tables and Cicero (pro Roscio Amerino, c. 25, +26) are content with the sack; Seneca (Excerpt. Controvers. v 4) +adorns it with serpents; Juvenal pities the guiltless monkey (innoxia +simia--156.) Adrian (apud Dositheum Magistrum, l. iii. c. p. 874--876, +with Schulting's Note,) Modestinus, (Pandect. xlviii. tit. ix. leg. 9,) +Constantine, (Cod. l. ix. tit. xvii.,) and Justinian, (Institut. l. iv. +tit. xviii.,) enumerate all the companions of the parricide. But this +fanciful execution was simplified in practice. Hodie tamen viv exuruntur +vel ad bestias dantur, (Paul. Sentent. Recept. l. v. tit. xxiv p. 512, +edit. Schulting.)] + +[Footnote 176: The first parricide at Rome was L. Ostius, after the +second Punic war, (Plutarch, in Romulo, tom. i. p. 54.) During the +Cimbric, P. Malleolus was guilty of the first matricide, (Liv. Epitom. +l. lxviii.)] + +[Footnote 177: Horace talks of the formidine fustis, (l. ii. epist. ii. +154,) but Cicero (de Republica, l. iv. apud Augustin. de Civitat. Dei, +ix. 6, in Fragment. Philosoph. tom. iii. p. 393, edit. Olivet) affirms +that the decemvirs made libels a capital offence: cum perpaucas res +capite sanxisent--perpaucus!] + +[Footnote 178: Bynkershoek (Observat. Juris Rom. l. i. c. 1, in Opp. +tom. i. p. 9, 10, 11) labors to prove that the creditors divided not the +body, but the price, of the insolvent debtor. Yet his interpretation is +one perpetual harsh metaphor; nor can he surmount the Roman authorities +of Quintilian, Caecilius, Favonius, and Tertullian. See Aulus Gellius, +Noct. Attic. xxi.] + +[Footnote 1781: Hugo (Histoire du Droit Romain, tom. i. p. 234) concurs +with Gibbon See Niebuhr, vol. ii. p. 313.--M.] + +In the absence of penal laws, and the insufficiency of civil actions, +the peace and justice of the city were imperfectly maintained by the +private jurisdiction of the citizens. The malefactors who replenish our +jails are the outcasts of society, and the crimes for which they suffer +may be commonly ascribed to ignorance, poverty, and brutal appetite. For +the perpetration of similar enormities, a vile plebeian might claim +and abuse the sacred character of a member of the republic: but, on the +proof or suspicion of guilt, the slave, or the stranger, was nailed to +a cross; and this strict and summary justice might be exercised without +restraint over the greatest part of the populace of Rome. + +Each family contained a domestic tribunal, which was not confined, like +that of the praetor, to the cognizance of external actions: virtuous +principles and habits were inculcated by the discipline of education; +and the Roman father was accountable to the state for the manners of +his children, since he disposed, without appeal, of their life, their +liberty, and their inheritance. In some pressing emergencies, the +citizen was authorized to avenge his private or public wrongs. The +consent of the Jewish, the Athenian, and the Roman laws approved the +slaughter of the nocturnal thief; though in open daylight a robber could +not be slain without some previous evidence of danger and complaint. +Whoever surprised an adulterer in his nuptial bed might freely exercise +his revenge; [179] the most bloody and wanton outrage was excused by +the provocation; [180] nor was it before the reign of Augustus that +the husband was reduced to weigh the rank of the offender, or that the +parent was condemned to sacrifice his daughter with her guilty seducer. +After the expulsion of the kings, the ambitious Roman, who should dare +to assume their title or imitate their tyranny, was devoted to the +infernal gods: each of his fellow-citizens was armed with the sword +of justice; and the act of Brutus, however repugnant to gratitude or +prudence, had been already sanctified by the judgment of his country. +[181] The barbarous practice of wearing arms in the midst of peace, +[182] and the bloody maxims of honor, were unknown to the Romans; and, +during the two purest ages, from the establishment of equal freedom to +the end of the Punic wars, the city was never disturbed by sedition, +and rarely polluted with atrocious crimes. The failure of penal laws was +more sensibly felt, when every vice was inflamed by faction at home and +dominion abroad. In the time of Cicero, each private citizen enjoyed the +privilege of anarchy; each minister of the republic was exalted to +the temptations of regal power, and their virtues are entitled to the +warmest praise, as the spontaneous fruits of nature or philosophy. After +a triennial indulgence of lust, rapine, and cruelty, Verres, the tyrant +of Sicily, could only be sued for the pecuniary restitution of three +hundred thousand pounds sterling; and such was the temper of the laws, +the judges, and perhaps the accuser himself, [183] that, on refunding +a thirteenth part of his plunder, Verres could retire to an easy and +luxurious exile. [184] + +[Footnote 179: The first speech of Lysias (Reiske, Orator. Graec. tom. +v. p. 2--48) is in defence of a husband who had killed the adulterer. +The rights of husbands and fathers at Rome and Athens are discussed with +much learning by Dr. Taylor, (Lectiones Lysiacae, c. xi. in Reiske, tom. +vi. p. 301--308.)] + +[Footnote 180: See Casaubon ad Athenaeum, l. i. c. 5, p. 19. Percurrent +raphanique mugilesque, (Catull. p. 41, 42, edit. Vossian.) Hunc mugilis +intrat, (Juvenal. Satir. x. 317.) Hunc perminxere calones, (Horat l. +i. Satir. ii. 44.) Familiae stuprandum dedit.. fraudi non fuit, (Val. +Maxim. l. vi. c. l, No. 13.)] + +[Footnote 181: This law is noticed by Livy (ii. 8) and Plutarch, (in +Publiccla, tom. i. p. 187,) and it fully justifies the public opinion +on the death of Caesar which Suetonius could publish under the Imperial +government. Jure caesus existimatur, (in Julio, c. 76.) Read the letters +that passed between Cicero and Matius a few months after the ides of +March (ad Fam. xi. 27, 28.)] + +[Footnote 182: Thucydid. l. i. c. 6 The historian who considers this +circumstance as the test of civilization, would disdain the barbarism of +a European court] + +[Footnote 183: He first rated at millies (800,000 L.) the damages of +Sicily, (Divinatio in Caecilium, c. 5,) which he afterwards reduced to +quadringenties, (320,000 L.--1 Actio in Verrem, c. 18,) and was finally +content with tricies, (24,000l L.) Plutarch (in Ciceron. tom. iii. p. +1584) has not dissembled the popular suspicion and report.] + +[Footnote 184: Verres lived near thirty years after his trial, till the +second triumvirate, when he was proscribed by the taste of Mark Antony +for the sake of his Corinthian plate, (Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxiv. 3.)] + +The first imperfect attempt to restore the proportion of crimes and +punishments was made by the dictator Sylla, who, in the midst of his +sanguinary triumph, aspired to restrain the license, rather than +to oppress the liberty, of the Romans. He gloried in the arbitrary +proscription of four thousand seven hundred citizens. [185] But, in the +character of a legislator, he respected the prejudices of the times; +and, instead of pronouncing a sentence of death against the robber or +assassin, the general who betrayed an army, or the magistrate who ruined +a province, Sylla was content to aggravate the pecuniary damages by +the penalty of exile, or, in more constitutional language, by the +interdiction of fire and water. The Cornelian, and afterwards +the Pompeian and Julian, laws introduced a new system of criminal +jurisprudence; [186] and the emperors, from Augustus to Justinian, +disguised their increasing rigor under the names of the original +authors. But the invention and frequent use of extraordinary pains +proceeded from the desire to extend and conceal the progress of +despotism. In the condemnation of illustrious Romans, the senate was +always prepared to confound, at the will of their masters, the judicial +and legislative powers. It was the duty of the governors to maintain the +peace of their province, by the arbitrary and rigid administration of +justice; the freedom of the city evaporated in the extent of empire, +and the Spanish malefactor, who claimed the privilege of a Roman, was +elevated by the command of Galba on a fairer and more lofty cross. [187] +Occasional rescripts issued from the throne to decide the questions +which, by their novelty or importance, appeared to surpass the authority +and discernment of a proconsul. Transportation and beheading were +reserved for honorable persons; meaner criminals were either hanged, +or burnt, or buried in the mines, or exposed to the wild beasts of the +amphitheatre. Armed robbers were pursued and extirpated as the enemies +of society; the driving away horses or cattle was made a capital +offence; [188] but simple theft was uniformly considered as a mere civil +and private injury. The degrees of guilt, and the modes of punishment, +were too often determined by the discretion of the rulers, and the +subject was left in ignorance of the legal danger which he might incur +by every action of his life. + +[Footnote 185: Such is the number assigned by Valer'us Maximus, (l. ix. +c. 2, No. 1,) Florus (iv. 21) distinguishes 2000 senators and +knights. Appian (de Bell. Civil. l. i. c. 95, tom. ii. p. 133, edit. +Schweighauser) more accurately computes forty victims of the senatorian +rank, and 1600 of the equestrian census or order.] + +[Footnote 186: For the penal laws (Leges Corneliae, Pompeiae, Julae, +of Sylla, Pompey, and the Caesars) see the sentences of Paulus, (l. iv. +tit. xviii.--xxx. p. 497--528, edit. Schulting,) the Gregorian Code, +(Fragment. l. xix. p. 705, 706, in Schulting,) the Collatio Legum +Mosaicarum et Romanarum, (tit. i.--xv.,) the Theodosian Code, (l. +ix.,) the Code of Justinian, (l. ix.,) the Pandects, (xlviii.,) the +Institutes, (l. iv. tit. xviii.,) and the Greek version of Theophilus, +(p. 917--926.)] + +[Footnote 187: It was a guardian who had poisoned his ward. The crime +was atrocious: yet the punishment is reckoned by Suetonius (c. 9) among +the acts in which Galba showed himself acer, vehemens, et in delictis +coercendis immodicus.] + +[Footnote 188: The abactores or abigeatores, who drove one horse, or +two mares or oxen, or five hogs, or ten goats, were subject to capital +punishment, (Paul, Sentent. Recept. l. iv. tit. xviii. p. 497, 498.) +Hadrian, (ad Concil. Baeticae,) most severe where the offence was most +frequent, condemns the criminals, ad gladium, ludi damnationem, (Ulpian, +de Officio Proconsulis, l. viii. in Collatione Legum Mosaic. et Rom. +tit. xi p. 235.)] + +A sin, a vice, a crime, are the objects of theology, ethics, and +jurisprudence. Whenever their judgments agree, they corroborate each +other; but, as often as they differ, a prudent legislator appreciates +the guilt and punishment according to the measure of social injury. On +this principle, the most daring attack on the life and property of a +private citizen is judged less atrocious than the crime of treason or +rebellion, which invades the majesty of the republic: the obsequious +civilians unanimously pronounced, that the republic is contained in the +person of its chief; and the edge of the Julian law was sharpened by +the incessant diligence of the emperors. The licentious commerce of the +sexes may be tolerated as an impulse of nature, or forbidden as a source +of disorder and corruption; but the fame, the fortunes, the family of +the husband, are seriously injured by the adultery of the wife. The +wisdom of Augustus, after curbing the freedom of revenge, applied to +this domestic offence the animadversion of the laws: and the guilty +parties, after the payment of heavy forfeitures and fines, were +condemned to long or perpetual exile in two separate islands. [189] +Religion pronounces an equal censure against the infidelity of the +husband; but, as it is not accompanied by the same civil effects, +the wife was never permitted to vindicate her wrongs; [190] and the +distinction of simple or double adultery, so familiar and so important +in the canon law, is unknown to the jurisprudence of the Code and the +Pandects. I touch with reluctance, and despatch with impatience, a more +odious vice, of which modesty rejects the name, and nature abominates +the idea. The primitive Romans were infected by the example of the +Etruscans [191] and Greeks: [192] and in the mad abuse of prosperity +and power, every pleasure that is innocent was deemed insipid; and the +Scatinian law, [193] which had been extorted by an act of violence, +was insensibly abolished by the lapse of time and the multitude of +criminals. By this law, the rape, perhaps the seduction, of an ingenuous +youth, was compensated, as a personal injury, by the poor damages of ten +thousand sesterces, or fourscore pounds; the ravisher might be slain by +the resistance or revenge of chastity; and I wish to believe, that at +Rome, as in Athens, the voluntary and effeminate deserter of his sex +was degraded from the honors and the rights of a citizen. [194] But the +practice of vice was not discouraged by the severity of opinion: +the indelible stain of manhood was confounded with the more venial +transgressions of fornication and adultery, nor was the licentious lover +exposed to the same dishonor which he impressed on the male or female +partner of his guilt. From Catullus to Juvenal, [195] the poets accuse +and celebrate the degeneracy of the times; and the reformation of +manners was feebly attempted by the reason and authority of the +civilians till the most virtuous of the Caesars proscribed the sin +against nature as a crime against society. [196] + +[Footnote 189: Till the publication of the Julius Paulus of Schulting, +(l. ii. tit. xxvi. p. 317--323,) it was affirmed and believed that the +Julian laws punished adultery with death; and the mistake arose from the +fraud or error of Tribonian. Yet Lipsius had suspected the truth from +the narratives of Tacitus, (Annal. ii. 50, iii. 24, iv. 42,) and +even from the practice of Augustus, who distinguished the treasonable +frailties of his female kindred.] + +[Footnote 190: In cases of adultery, Severus confined to the husband the +right of public accusation, (Cod. Justinian, l. ix. tit. ix. leg. 1.) +Nor is this privilege unjust--so different are the effects of male or +female infidelity.] + +[Footnote 191: Timon (l. i.) and Theopompus (l. xliii. apud Athenaeum, +l. xii. p. 517) describe the luxury and lust of the Etruscans. About the +same period (A. U. C. 445) the Roman youth studied in Etruria, (liv. ix. +36.)] + +[Footnote 192: The Persians had been corrupted in the same school, +(Herodot. l. i. c. 135.) A curious dissertation might be formed on the +introduction of paederasty after the time of Homer, its progress among +the Greeks of Asia and Europe, the vehemence of their passions, and the +thin device of virtue and friendship which amused the philosophers of +Athens. But scelera ostendi oportet dum puniuntur, abscondi flagitia.] + +[Footnote 193: The name, the date, and the provisions of this law are +equally doubtful, (Gravina, Opp. p. 432, 433. Heineccius, Hist. Jur. +Rom. No. 108. Ernesti, Clav. Ciceron. in Indice Legum.) But I will +observe that the nefanda Venus of the honest German is styled aversa by +the more polite Italian.] + +[Footnote 194: See the oration of Aeschines against the catamite +Timarchus, (in Reiske, Orator. Graec. tom. iii. p. 21--184.)] + +[Footnote 195: A crowd of disgraceful passages will force themselves +on the memory of the classic reader: I will only remind him of the cool +declaration of Ovid:-- Odi concubitus qui non utrumque resolvant. Hoc +est quod puerum tangar amore minus.] + +[Footnote 196: Aelius Lampridius, in Vit. Heliogabal. in Hist. August p. +112 Aurelius Victor, in Philippo, Codex Theodos. l. ix. tit. vii. leg. +7, and Godefroy's Commentary, tom. iii. p. 63. Theodosius abolished the +subterraneous brothels of Rome, in which the prostitution of both sexes +was acted with impunity.] + + + + + +Chapter XLIV: Idea Of The Roman Jurisprudence.--Part VIII. + +A new spirit of legislation, respectable even in its error, arose in the +empire with the religion of Constantine. [197] The laws of Moses were +received as the divine original of justice, and the Christian princes +adapted their penal statutes to the degrees of moral and religious +turpitude. Adultery was first declared to be a capital offence: the +frailty of the sexes was assimilated to poison or assassination, to +sorcery or parricide; the same penalties were inflicted on the passive +and active guilt of paederasty; and all criminals of free or servile +condition were either drowned or beheaded, or cast alive into the +avenging flames. The adulterers were spared by the common sympathy of +mankind; but the lovers of their own sex were pursued by general and +pious indignation: the impure manners of Greece still prevailed in the +cities of Asia, and every vice was fomented by the celibacy of the +monks and clergy. Justinian relaxed the punishment at least of female +infidelity: the guilty spouse was only condemned to solitude and +penance, and at the end of two years she might be recalled to the +arms of a forgiving husband. But the same emperor declared himself the +implacable enemy of unmanly lust, and the cruelty of his persecution can +scarcely be excused by the purity of his motives. [198] In defiance +of every principle of justice, he stretched to past as well as future +offences the operations of his edicts, with the previous allowance of a +short respite for confession and pardon. A painful death was inflicted +by the amputation of the sinful instrument, or the insertion of sharp +reeds into the pores and tubes of most exquisite sensibility; and +Justinian defended the propriety of the execution, since the criminals +would have lost their hands, had they been convicted of sacrilege. In +this state of disgrace and agony, two bishops, Isaiah of Rhodes +and Alexander of Diospolis, were dragged through the streets of +Constantinople, while their brethren were admonished, by the voice of a +crier, to observe this awful lesson, and not to pollute the sanctity +of their character. Perhaps these prelates were innocent. A sentence of +death and infamy was often founded on the slight and suspicious evidence +of a child or a servant: the guilt of the green faction, of the +rich, and of the enemies of Theodora, was presumed by the judges, and +paederasty became the crime of those to whom no crime could be imputed. +A French philosopher [199] has dared to remark that whatever is secret +must be doubtful, and that our natural horror of vice may be abused as +an engine of tyranny. But the favorable persuasion of the same writer, +that a legislator may confide in the taste and reason of mankind, is +impeached by the unwelcome discovery of the antiquity and extent of the +disease. [200] + +[Footnote 197: See the laws of Constantine and his successors against +adultery, sodomy &c., in the Theodosian, (l. ix. tit. vii. leg. 7, l. +xi. tit. xxxvi leg. 1, 4) and Justinian Codes, (l. ix. tit. ix. leg. 30, +31.) These princes speak the language of passion as well as of justice, +and fraudulently ascribe their own severity to the first Caesars.] + +[Footnote 198: Justinian, Novel. lxxvii. cxxxiv. cxli. Procopius in +Anecdot. c. 11, 16, with the notes of Alemannus. Theophanes, p. 151. +Cedrenus. p. 688. Zonaras, l. xiv. p. 64.] + +[Footnote 199: Montesquieu, Esprit des Loix, l. xii. c. 6. That eloquent +philosopher conciliates the rights of liberty and of nature, which +should never be placed in opposition to each other.] + +[Footnote 200: For the corruption of Palestine, 2000 years before the +Christian aera, see the history and laws of Moses. Ancient Gaul is +stigmatized by Diodorus Siculus, (tom. i. l. v. p. 356,) China by the +Mahometar and Christian travellers, (Ancient Relations of India and +China, p. 34 translated by Renaudot, and his bitter critic the Pere +Premare, Lettres Edifiantes, tom. xix. p. 435,) and native America by +the Spanish historians, (Garcilasso de la Vega, l. iii. c. 13, Rycaut's +translation; and Dictionnaire de Bayle, tom. iii. p. 88.) I believe, +and hope, that the negroes, in their own country, were exempt from this +moral pestilence.] + +The free citizens of Athens and Rome enjoyed, in all criminal cases, +the invaluable privilege of being tried by their country. [201] 1. The +administration of justice is the most ancient office of a prince: it was +exercised by the Roman kings, and abused by Tarquin; who alone, without +law or council, pronounced his arbitrary judgments. The first consuls +succeeded to this regal prerogative; but the sacred right of appeal soon +abolished the jurisdiction of the magistrates, and all public causes +were decided by the supreme tribunal of the people. But a wild +democracy, superior to the forms, too often disdains the essential +principles, of justice: the pride of despotism was envenomed by plebeian +envy, and the heroes of Athens might sometimes applaud the happiness of +the Persian, whose fate depended on the caprice of a single tyrant. Some +salutary restraints, imposed by the people or their own passions, +were at once the cause and effect of the gravity and temperance of the +Romans. The right of accusation was confined to the magistrates. + +A vote of the thirty five tribes could inflict a fine; but the +cognizance of all capital crimes was reserved by a fundamental law to +the assembly of the centuries, in which the weight of influence +and property was sure to preponderate. Repeated proclamations and +adjournments were interposed, to allow time for prejudice and resentment +to subside: the whole proceeding might be annulled by a seasonable omen, +or the opposition of a tribune; and such popular trials were commonly +less formidable to innocence than they were favorable to guilt. But this +union of the judicial and legislative powers left it doubtful whether +the accused party was pardoned or acquitted; and, in the defence of +an illustrious client, the orators of Rome and Athens address their +arguments to the policy and benevolence, as well as to the justice, of +their sovereign. 2. The task of convening the citizens for the trial of +each offender became more difficult, as the citizens and the offenders +continually multiplied; and the ready expedient was adopted of +delegating the jurisdiction of the people to the ordinary magistrates, +or to extraordinary inquisitors. In the first ages these questions were +rare and occasional. In the beginning of the seventh century of Rome +they were made perpetual: four praetors were annually empowered to sit +in judgment on the state offences of treason, extortion, peculation, and +bribery; and Sylla added new praetors and new questions for those +crimes which more directly injure the safety of individuals. By these +inquisitors the trial was prepared and directed; but they could only +pronounce the sentence of the majority of judges, who with some truth, +and more prejudice, have been compared to the English juries. [202] To +discharge this important, though burdensome office, an annual list of +ancient and respectable citizens was formed by the praetor. After many +constitutional struggles, they were chosen in equal numbers from the +senate, the equestrian order, and the people; four hundred and fifty +were appointed for single questions; and the various rolls or decuries +of judges must have contained the names of some thousand Romans, who +represented the judicial authority of the state. In each particular +cause, a sufficient number was drawn from the urn; their integrity was +guarded by an oath; the mode of ballot secured their independence; the +suspicion of partiality was removed by the mutual challenges of the +accuser and defendant; and the judges of Milo, by the retrenchment of +fifteen on each side, were reduced to fifty-one voices or tablets, of +acquittal, of condemnation, or of favorable doubt. [203] 3. In his civil +jurisdiction, the praetor of the city was truly a judge, and almost +a legislator; but, as soon as he had prescribed the action of law, he +often referred to a delegate the determination of the fact. With the +increase of legal proceedings, the tribunal of the centumvirs, in which +he presided, acquired more weight and reputation. But whether he acted +alone, or with the advice of his council, the most absolute powers might +be trusted to a magistrate who was annually chosen by the votes of +the people. The rules and precautions of freedom have required some +explanation; the order of despotism is simple and inanimate. Before the +age of Justinian, or perhaps of Diocletian, the decuries of Roman judges +had sunk to an empty title: the humble advice of the assessors might +be accepted or despised; and in each tribunal the civil and criminal +jurisdiction was administered by a single magistrate, who was raised +and disgraced by the will of the emperor. [Footnote 201: The important +subject of the public questions and judgments at Rome, is explained with +much learning, and in a classic style, by Charles Sigonius, (l. iii. de +Judiciis, in Opp. tom. iii. p. 679--864;) and a good abridgment may be +found in the Republique Romaine of Beaufort, (tom. ii. l. v. p. 1--121.) +Those who wish for more abstruse law may study Noodt, (de Jurisdictione +et Imperio Libri duo, tom. i. p. 93--134,) Heineccius, (ad Pandect. l. +i. et ii. ad Institut. l. iv. tit. xvii Element. ad Antiquitat.) and +Gravina (Opp. 230--251.)] + +[Footnote 202: The office, both at Rome and in England, must be +considered as an occasional duty, and not a magistracy, or profession. +But the obligation of a unanimous verdict is peculiar to our laws, +which condemn the jurymen to undergo the torture from whence they have +exempted the criminal.] + +[Footnote 203: We are indebted for this interesting fact to a fragment +of Asconius Pedianus, who flourished under the reign of Tiberius. The +loss of his Commentaries on the Orations of Cicero has deprived us of a +valuable fund of historical and legal knowledge.] + +A Roman accused of any capital crime might prevent the sentence of +the law by voluntary exile, or death. Till his guilt had been legally +proved, his innocence was presumed, and his person was free: till +the votes of the last century had been counted and declared, he might +peaceably secede to any of the allied cities of Italy, or Greece, +or Asia. [204] His fame and fortunes were preserved, at least to his +children, by this civil death; and he might still be happy in every +rational and sensual enjoyment, if a mind accustomed to the ambitious +tumult of Rome could support the uniformity and silence of Rhodes or +Athens. A bolder effort was required to escape from the tyranny of the +Caesars; but this effort was rendered familiar by the maxims of the +stoics, the example of the bravest Romans, and the legal encouragements +of suicide. The bodies of condemned criminals were exposed to public +ignominy, and their children, a more serious evil, were reduced to +poverty by the confiscation of their fortunes. But, if the victims of +Tiberius and Nero anticipated the decree of the prince or senate, their +courage and despatch were recompensed by the applause of the public, the +decent honors of burial, and the validity of their testaments. [205] The +exquisite avarice and cruelty of Domitian appear to have deprived the +unfortunate of this last consolation, and it was still denied even by +the clemency of the Antonines. A voluntary death, which, in the case of +a capital offence, intervened between the accusation and the sentence, +was admitted as a confession of guilt, and the spoils of the deceased +were seized by the inhuman claims of the treasury. [206] Yet the +civilians have always respected the natural right of a citizen to +dispose of his life; and the posthumous disgrace invented by Tarquin, +[207] to check the despair of his subjects, was never revived or +imitated by succeeding tyrants. The powers of this world have indeed +lost their dominion over him who is resolved on death; and his arm can +only be restrained by the religious apprehension of a future state. +Suicides are enumerated by Virgil among the unfortunate, rather than the +guilty; [208] and the poetical fables of the infernal shades could not +seriously influence the faith or practice of mankind. But the precepts +of the gospel, or the church, have at length imposed a pious servitude +on the minds of Christians, and condemn them to expect, without a +murmur, the last stroke of disease or the executioner. [Footnote 204: +Polyb. l. vi. p. 643. The extension of the empire and city of Rome +obliged the exile to seek a more distant place of retirement.] + +[Footnote 205: Qui de se statuebant, humabanta corpora, manebant +testamenta; pretium festinandi. Tacit. Annal. vi. 25, with the Notes of +Lipsius.] + +[Footnote 206: Julius Paulus, (Sentent. Recept. l. v. tit. xii. p. +476,) the Pandects, (xlviii. tit. xxi.,) the Code, (l. ix. tit. l.,) +Bynkershoek, (tom. i. p. 59, Observat. J. C. R. iv. 4,) and Montesquieu, +(Esprit des Loix, l. xxix. c. ix.,) define the civil limitations of +the liberty and privileges of suicide. The criminal penalties are the +production of a later and darker age.] + +[Footnote 207: Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxvi. 24. When he fatigued his +subjects in building the Capitol, many of the laborers were provoked to +despatch themselves: he nailed their dead bodies to crosses.] + +[Footnote 208: The sole resemblance of a violent and premature death has +engaged Virgil (Aeneid, vi. 434--439) to confound suicides with infants, +lovers, and persons unjustly condemned. Heyne, the best of his editors, +is at a loss to deduce the idea, or ascertain the jurisprudence, of the +Roman poet.] + +The penal statutes form a very small proportion of the sixty-two books +of the Code and Pandects; and in all judicial proceedings, the life or +death of a citizen is determined with less caution or delay than +the most ordinary question of covenant or inheritance. This singular +distinction, though something may be allowed for the urgent necessity of +defending the peace of society, is derived from the nature of criminal +and civil jurisprudence. Our duties to the state are simple and uniform: +the law by which he is condemned is inscribed not only on brass or +marble, but on the conscience of the offender, and his guilt is commonly +proved by the testimony of a single fact. But our relations to each +other are various and infinite; our obligations are created, +annulled, and modified, by injuries, benefits, and promises; and the +interpretation of voluntary contracts and testaments, which are often +dictated by fraud or ignorance, affords a long and laborious exercise +to the sagacity of the judge. The business of life is multiplied by the +extent of commerce and dominion, and the residence of the parties in +the distant provinces of an empire is productive of doubt, delay, and +inevitable appeals from the local to the supreme magistrate. Justinian, +the Greek emperor of Constantinople and the East, was the legal +successor of the Latin shepherd who had planted a colony on the banks +of the Tyber. In a period of thirteen hundred years, the laws had +reluctantly followed the changes of government and manners; and the +laudable desire of conciliating ancient names with recent institutions +destroyed the harmony, and swelled the magnitude, of the obscure and +irregular system. The laws which excuse, on any occasions, the +ignorance of their subjects, confess their own imperfections: the +civil jurisprudence, as it was abridged by Justinian, still continued a +mysterious science, and a profitable trade, and the innate perplexity +of the study was involved in tenfold darkness by the private industry +of the practitioners. The expense of the pursuit sometimes exceeded the +value of the prize, and the fairest rights were abandoned by the poverty +or prudence of the claimants. Such costly justice might tend to abate +the spirit of litigation, but the unequal pressure serves only to +increase the influence of the rich, and to aggravate the misery of the +poor. By these dilatory and expensive proceedings, the wealthy pleader +obtains a more certain advantage than he could hope from the accidental +corruption of his judge. The experience of an abuse, from which our +own age and country are not perfectly exempt, may sometimes provoke +a generous indignation, and extort the hasty wish of exchanging our +elaborate jurisprudence for the simple and summary decrees of a Turkish +cadhi. Our calmer reflection will suggest, that such forms and delays +are necessary to guard the person and property of the citizen; that the +discretion of the judge is the first engine of tyranny; and that the +laws of a free people should foresee and determine every question that +may probably arise in the exercise of power and the transactions of +industry. But the government of Justinian united the evils of liberty +and servitude; and the Romans were oppressed at the same time by the +multiplicity of their laws and the arbitrary will of their master. + + + + + +Chapter XLV: State Of Italy Under The Lombards.--Part I. + + Reign Of The Younger Justin.--Embassy Of The Avars.--Their + Settlement On The Danube.--Conquest Of Italy By The + Lombards.--Adoption And Reign Of Tiberius.--Of Maurice.-- + State Of Italy Under The Lombards And The Exarchs.--Of + Ravenna.--Distress Of Rome.--Character And Pontificate Of + Gregory The First. + +During the last years of Justinian, his infirm mind was devoted to +heavenly contemplation, and he neglected the business of the lower +world. His subjects were impatient of the long continuance of his life +and reign: yet all who were capable of reflection apprehended the moment +of his death, which might involve the capital in tumult, and the empire +in civil war. Seven nephews [1] of the childless monarch, the sons or +grandsons of his brother and sister, had been educated in the splendor +of a princely fortune; they had been shown in high commands to the +provinces and armies; their characters were known, their followers were +zealous, and, as the jealousy of age postponed the declaration of a +successor, they might expect with equal hopes the inheritance of their +uncle. He expired in his palace, after a reign of thirty-eight years; +and the decisive opportunity was embraced by the friends of Justin, +the son of Vigilantia. [2] At the hour of midnight, his domestics +were awakened by an importunate crowd, who thundered at his door, and +obtained admittance by revealing themselves to be the principal members +of the senate. These welcome deputies announced the recent and momentous +secret of the emperor's decease; reported, or perhaps invented, his +dying choice of the best beloved and most deserving of his nephews, +and conjured Justin to prevent the disorders of the multitude, if they +should perceive, with the return of light, that they were left without a +master. After composing his countenance to surprise, sorrow, and decent +modesty, Justin, by the advice of his wife Sophia, submitted to the +authority of the senate. He was conducted with speed and silence to +the palace; the guards saluted their new sovereign; and the martial and +religious rites of his coronation were diligently accomplished. By the +hands of the proper officers he was invested with the Imperial garments, +the red buskins, white tunic, and purple robe. + +A fortunate soldier, whom he instantly promoted to the rank of tribune, +encircled his neck with a military collar; four robust youths exalted +him on a shield; he stood firm and erect to receive the adoration of +his subjects; and their choice was sanctified by the benediction of the +patriarch, who imposed the diadem on the head of an orthodox prince. The +hippodrome was already filled with innumerable multitudes; and no sooner +did the emperor appear on his throne, than the voices of the blue and +the green factions were confounded in the same loyal acclamations. +In the speeches which Justin addressed to the senate and people, he +promised to correct the abuses which had disgraced the age of his +predecessor, displayed the maxims of a just and beneficent government, +and declared that, on the approaching calends of January, [3] he would +revive in his own person the name and liberty of a Roman consul. The +immediate discharge of his uncle's debts exhibited a solid pledge of +his faith and generosity: a train of porters, laden with bags of gold, +advanced into the midst of the hippodrome, and the hopeless creditors +of Justinian accepted this equitable payment as a voluntary gift. Before +the end of three years, his example was imitated and surpassed by the +empress Sophia, who delivered many indigent citizens from the weight of +debt and usury: an act of benevolence the best entitled to gratitude, +since it relieves the most intolerable distress; but in which the bounty +of a prince is the most liable to be abused by the claims of prodigality +and fraud. [4] + +[Footnote 1: See the family of Justin and Justinian in the Familiae +Byzantine of Ducange, p. 89--101. The devout civilians, Ludewig (in +Vit. Justinian. p. 131) and Heineccius (Hist. Juris. Roman. p. 374) have +since illustrated the genealogy of their favorite prince.] + +[Footnote 2: In the story of Justin's elevation I have translated into +simple and concise prose the eight hundred verses of the two first books +of Corippus, de Laudibus Justini Appendix Hist. Byzant. p. 401--416 Rome +1777.] + +[Footnote 3: It is surprising how Pagi (Critica. in Annal. Baron. tom. +ii. p 639) could be tempted by any chronicles to contradict the plain +and decisive text of Corippus, (vicina dona, l. ii. 354, vicina dies, l. +iv. 1,) and to postpone, till A.D. 567, the consulship of Justin.] + +[Footnote 4: Theophan. Chronograph. p. 205. Whenever Cedrenus or Zonaras +are mere transcribers, it is superfluous to allege their testimony.] + +On the seventh day of his reign, Justin gave audience to the ambassadors +of the Avars, and the scene was decorated to impress the Barbarians with +astonishment, veneration, and terror. From the palace gate, the spacious +courts and long porticos were lined with the lofty crests and gilt +bucklers of the guards, who presented their spears and axes with more +confidence than they would have shown in a field of battle. The officers +who exercised the power, or attended the person, of the prince, were +attired in their richest habits, and arranged according to the military +and civil order of the hierarchy. When the veil of the sanctuary was +withdrawn, the ambassadors beheld the emperor of the East on his throne, +beneath a canopy, or dome, which was supported by four columns, and +crowned with a winged figure of Victory. In the first emotions of +surprise, they submitted to the servile adoration of the Byzantine +court; but as soon as they rose from the ground, Targetius, the chief +of the embassy, expressed the freedom and pride of a Barbarian. He +extolled, by the tongue of his interpreter, the greatness of the chagan, +by whose clemency the kingdoms of the South were permitted to exist, +whose victorious subjects had traversed the frozen rivers of Scythia, +and who now covered the banks of the Danube with innumerable tents. +The late emperor had cultivated, with annual and costly gifts, the +friendship of a grateful monarch, and the enemies of Rome had respected +the allies of the Avars. The same prudence would instruct the nephew of +Justinian to imitate the liberality of his uncle, and to purchase the +blessings of peace from an invincible people, who delighted and excelled +in the exercise of war. The reply of the emperor was delivered in the +same strain of haughty defiance, and he derived his confidence from +the God of the Christians, the ancient glory of Rome, and the recent +triumphs of Justinian. "The empire," said he, "abounds with men and +horses, and arms sufficient to defend our frontiers, and to chastise +the Barbarians. You offer aid, you threaten hostilities: we despise your +enmity and your aid. The conquerors of the Avars solicit our alliance; +shall we dread their fugitives and exiles? [5] The bounty of our uncle +was granted to your misery, to your humble prayers. From us you shall +receive a more important obligation, the knowledge of your own weakness. +Retire from our presence; the lives of ambassadors are safe; and, if +you return to implore our pardon, perhaps you will taste of our +benevolence." [6] On the report of his ambassadors, the chagan was +awed by the apparent firmness of a Roman emperor of whose character and +resources he was ignorant. Instead of executing his threats against +the Eastern empire, he marched into the poor and savage countries of +Germany, which were subject to the dominion of the Franks. After two +doubtful battles, he consented to retire, and the Austrasian king +relieve the distress of his camp with an immediate supply of corn and +cattle. [7] Such repeated disappointments had chilled the spirit of +the Avars, and their power would have dissolved away in the Sarmatian +desert, if the alliance of Alboin, king of the Lombards, had not given +a new object to their arms, and a lasting settlement to their wearied +fortunes. + +[Footnote 5: Corippus, l. iii. 390. The unquestionable sense relates +to the Turks, the conquerors of the Avars; but the word scultor has no +apparent meaning, and the sole Ms. of Corippus, from whence the first +edition (1581, apud Plantin) was printed, is no longer visible. The +last editor, Foggini of Rome, has inserted the conjectural emendation +of soldan: but the proofs of Ducange, (Joinville, Dissert. xvi. p. +238--240,) for the early use of this title among the Turks and +Persians, are weak or ambiguous. And I must incline to the authority of +D'Herbelot, (Bibliotheque Orient. p. 825,) who ascribes the word to the +Arabic and Chaldaean tongues, and the date to the beginning of the xith +century, when it was bestowed by the khalif of Bagdad on Mahmud, prince +of Gazna, and conqueror of India.] + +[Footnote 6: For these characteristic speeches, compare the verse +of Corippus (l. iii. 251--401) with the prose of Menander, (Excerpt. +Legation. p 102, 103.) Their diversity proves that they did not copy +each other their resemblance, that they drew from a common original.] + +[Footnote 7: For the Austrasian war, see Menander (Excerpt. Legat. p. +110,) Gregory of Tours, (Hist. Franc. l. iv. c 29,) and Paul the deacon, +(de Gest. Langobard. l. ii. c. 10.)] + +While Alboin served under his father's standard, he encountered in +battle, and transpierced with his lance, the rival prince of the +Gepidae. The Lombards, who applauded such early prowess, requested his +father, with unanimous acclamations, that the heroic youth, who had +shared the dangers of the field, might be admitted to the feast of +victory. "You are not unmindful," replied the inflexible Audoin, "of the +wise customs of our ancestors. Whatever may be his merit, a prince is +incapable of sitting at table with his father till he has received his +arms from a foreign and royal hand." Alboin bowed with reverence to +the institutions of his country, selected forty companions, and boldly +visited the court of Turisund, king of the Gepidae, who embraced and +entertained, according to the laws of hospitality, the murderer of his +son. At the banquet, whilst Alboin occupied the seat of the youth whom +he had slain, a tender remembrance arose in the mind of Turisund. "How +dear is that place! how hateful is that person!" were the words that +escaped, with a sigh, from the indignant father. His grief exasperated +the national resentment of the Gepidae; and Cunimund, his surviving +son, was provoked by wine, or fraternal affection, to the desire of +vengeance. "The Lombards," said the rude Barbarian, "resemble, in figure +and in smell, the mares of our Sarmatian plains." And this insult was +a coarse allusion to the white bands which enveloped their legs. "Add +another resemblance," replied an audacious Lombard; "you have felt how +strongly they kick. Visit the plain of Asfield, and seek for the bones +of thy brother: they are mingled with those of the vilest animals." +The Gepidae, a nation of warriors, started from their seats, and the +fearless Alboin, with his forty companions, laid their hands on their +swords. The tumult was appeased by the venerable interposition of +Turisund. He saved his own honor, and the life of his guest; and, after +the solemn rites of investiture, dismissed the stranger in the bloody +arms of his son; the gift of a weeping parent. Alboin returned in +triumph; and the Lombards, who celebrated his matchless intrepidity, +were compelled to praise the virtues of an enemy. [8] In this +extraordinary visit he had probably seen the daughter of Cunimund, who +soon after ascended the throne of the Gepidae. Her name was Rosamond, +an appellation expressive of female beauty, and which our own history or +romance has consecrated to amorous tales. The king of the Lombards (the +father of Alboin no longer lived) was contracted to the granddaughter of +Clovis; but the restraints of faith and policy soon yielded to the hope +of possessing the fair Rosamond, and of insulting her family and nation. +The arts of persuasion were tried without success; and the impatient +lover, by force and stratagem, obtained the object of his desires. War +was the consequence which he foresaw and solicited; but the Lombards +could not long withstand the furious assault of the Gepidae, who were +sustained by a Roman army. And, as the offer of marriage was rejected +with contempt, Alboin was compelled to relinquish his prey, and to +partake of the disgrace which he had inflicted on the house of Cunimund. +[9] + +[Footnote 8: Paul Warnefrid, the deacon of Friuli, de Gest. Langobard. +l. i. c. 23, 24. His pictures of national manners, though rudely +sketched are more lively and faithful than those of Bede, or Gregory of +Tours] + +[Footnote 9: The story is told by an impostor, (Theophylact. Simocat. +l. vi. c. 10;) but he had art enough to build his fictions on public and +notorious facts.] + +When a public quarrel is envenomed by private injuries, a blow that is +not mortal or decisive can be productive only of a short truce, +which allows the unsuccessful combatant to sharpen his arms for a +new encounter. The strength of Alboin had been found unequal to the +gratification of his love, ambition, and revenge: he condescended to +implore the formidable aid of the chagan; and the arguments that he +employed are expressive of the art and policy of the Barbarians. In +the attack of the Gepidae, he had been prompted by the just desire +of extirpating a people whom their alliance with the Roman empire had +rendered the common enemies of the nations, and the personal adversaries +of the chagan. If the forces of the Avars and the Lombards should +unite in this glorious quarrel, the victory was secure, and the reward +inestimable: the Danube, the Hebrus, Italy, and Constantinople, would +be exposed, without a barrier, to their invincible arms. But, if they +hesitated or delayed to prevent the malice of the Romans, the same +spirit which had insulted would pursue the Avars to the extremity of the +earth. These specious reasons were heard by the chagan with coldness and +disdain: he detained the Lombard ambassadors in his camp, protracted the +negotiation, and by turns alleged his want of inclination, or his +want of ability, to undertake this important enterprise. At length he +signified the ultimate price of his alliance, that the Lombards should +immediately present him with a tithe of their cattle; that the spoils +and captives should be equally divided; but that the lands of the +Gepidae should become the sole patrimony of the Avars. Such hard +conditions were eagerly accepted by the passions of Alboin; and, as +the Romans were dissatisfied with the ingratitude and perfidy of the +Gepidae, Justin abandoned that incorrigible people to their fate, and +remained the tranquil spectator of this unequal conflict. The despair +of Cunimund was active and dangerous. He was informed that the Avars +had entered his confines; but, on the strong assurance that, after the +defeat of the Lombards, these foreign invaders would easily be repelled, +he rushed forwards to encounter the implacable enemy of his name and +family. But the courage of the Gepidae could secure them no more than an +honorable death. The bravest of the nation fell in the field of battle; +the king of the Lombards contemplated with delight the head of Cunimund; +and his skull was fashioned into a cup to satiate the hatred of the +conqueror, or, perhaps, to comply with the savage custom of his country. +[10] After this victory, no further obstacle could impede the progress +of the confederates, and they faithfully executed the terms of their +agreement. [11] The fair countries of Walachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, +and the other parts of Hungary beyond the Danube, were occupied, without +resistance, by a new colony of Scythians; and the Dacian empire of the +chagans subsisted with splendor above two hundred and thirty years. The +nation of the Gepidae was dissolved; but, in the distribution of +the captives, the slaves of the Avars were less fortunate than the +companions of the Lombards, whose generosity adopted a valiant foe, and +whose freedom was incompatible with cool and deliberate tyranny. One +moiety of the spoil introduced into the camp of Alboin more wealth than +a Barbarian could readily compute. The fair Rosamond was persuaded, or +compelled, to acknowledge the rights of her victorious lover; and the +daughter of Cunimund appeared to forgive those crimes which might be +imputed to her own irresistible charms. + +[Footnote 10: It appears from Strabo, Pliny, and Ammianus Marcellinus, +that the same practice was common among the Scythian tribes, (Muratori, +Scriptores Rer. Italic. tom. i. p. 424.) The scalps of North America are +likewise trophies of valor. The skull of Cunimund was preserved above +two hundred years among the Lombards; and Paul himself was one of the +guests to whom Duke Ratchis exhibited this cup on a high festival, (l. +ii. c. 28.)] + +[Footnote 11: Paul, l. i. c. 27. Menander, in Excerpt Legat. p. 110, +111.] + +The destruction of a mighty kingdom established the fame of Alboin. In +the days of Charlemagne, the Bavarians, the Saxons, and the other tribes +of the Teutonic language, still repeated the songs which described the +heroic virtues, the valor, liberality, and fortune of the king of the +Lombards. [12] But his ambition was yet unsatisfied; and the conqueror +of the Gepidae turned his eyes from the Danube to the richer banks +of the Po, and the Tyber. Fifteen years had not elapsed, since his +subjects, the confederates of Narses, had visited the pleasant climate +of Italy: the mountains, the rivers, the highways, were familiar to +their memory: the report of their success, perhaps the view of their +spoils, had kindled in the rising generation the flame of emulation and +enterprise. Their hopes were encouraged by the spirit and eloquence of +Alboin: and it is affirmed, that he spoke to their senses, by producing +at the royal feast, the fairest and most exquisite fruits that grew +spontaneously in the garden of the world. No sooner had he erected his +standard, than the native strength of the Lombard was multiplied by +the adventurous youth of Germany and Scythia. The robust peasantry of +Noricum and Pannonia had resumed the manners of Barbarians; and the +names of the Gepidae, Bulgarians, Sarmatians, and Bavarians, may be +distinctly traced in the provinces of Italy. [13] Of the Saxons, the old +allies of the Lombards, twenty thousand warriors, with their wives and +children, accepted the invitation of Alboin. Their bravery contributed +to his success; but the accession or the absence of their numbers was +not sensibly felt in the magnitude of his host. Every mode of religion +was freely practised by its respective votaries. The king of the +Lombards had been educated in the Arian heresy; but the Catholics, in +their public worship, were allowed to pray for his conversion; while the +more stubborn Barbarians sacrificed a she-goat, or perhaps a captive, +to the gods of their fathers. [14] The Lombards, and their confederates, +were united by their common attachment to a chief, who excelled in all +the virtues and vices of a savage hero; and the vigilance of Alboin +provided an ample magazine of offensive and defensive arms for the use +of the expedition. The portable wealth of the Lombards attended the +march: their lands they cheerfully relinquished to the Avars, on the +solemn promise, which was made and accepted without a smile, that if +they failed in the conquest of Italy, these voluntary exiles should be +reinstated in their former possessions. + +[Footnote 12: Ut hactenus etiam tam apud Bajoarior um gentem, quam et +Saxmum, sed et alios ejusdem linguae homines..... in eorum carmini bus +celebretur. Paul, l. i. c. 27. He died A.D. 799, (Muratori, in Praefat. +tom. i. p. 397.) These German songs, some of which might be as old +as Tacitus, (de Moribus Germ. c. 2,) were compiled and transcribed by +Charlemagne. Barbara et antiquissima carmina, quibus veterum regum actus +et bella canebantur scripsit memoriaeque mandavit, (Eginard, in Vit. +Carol. Magn. c. 29, p. 130, 131.) The poems, which Goldast commends, +(Animadvers. ad Eginard. p. 207,) appear to be recent and contemptible +romances.] + +[Footnote 13: The other nations are rehearsed by Paul, (l. ii. c. +6, 26,) Muratori (Antichita Italiane, tom. i. dissert. i. p. 4) has +discovered the village of the Bavarians, three miles from Modena.] + +[Footnote 14: Gregory the Roman (Dialog. l. i. iii. c. 27, 28, apud +Baron. Annal Eccles. A.D. 579, No. 10) supposes that they likewise +adored this she-goat. I know but of one religion in which the god and +the victim are the same.] + +They might have failed, if Narses had been the antagonist of the +Lombards; and the veteran warriors, the associates of his Gothic +victory, would have encountered with reluctance an enemy whom they +dreaded and esteemed. But the weakness of the Byzantine court was +subservient to the Barbarian cause; and it was for the ruin of Italy, +that the emperor once listened to the complaints of his subjects. The +virtues of Narses were stained with avarice; and, in his provincial +reign of fifteen years, he accumulated a treasure of gold and silver +which surpassed the modesty of a private fortune. His government was +oppressive or unpopular, and the general discontent was expressed with +freedom by the deputies of Rome. Before the throne of Justinian they +boldly declared, that their Gothic servitude had been more tolerable +than the despotism of a Greek eunuch; and that, unless their tyrant were +instantly removed, they would consult their own happiness in the choice +of a master. The apprehension of a revolt was urged by the voice of +envy and detraction, which had so recently triumphed over the merit +of Belisarius. A new exarch, Longinus, was appointed to supersede the +conqueror of Italy, and the base motives of his recall were revealed in +the insulting mandate of the empress Sophia, "that he should leave to +men the exercise of arms, and return to his proper station among the +maidens of the palace, where a distaff should be again placed in the +hand of the eunuch." "I will spin her such a thread as she shall not +easily unravel!" is said to have been the reply which indignation and +conscious virtue extorted from the hero. Instead of attending, a slave +and a victim, at the gate of the Byzantine palace, he retired to Naples, +from whence (if any credit is due to the belief of the times) Narses +invited the Lombards to chastise the ingratitude of the prince and +people. [15] But the passions of the people are furious and changeable, +and the Romans soon recollected the merits, or dreaded the resentment, +of their victorious general. By the mediation of the pope, who undertook +a special pilgrimage to Naples, their repentance was accepted; and +Narses, assuming a milder aspect and a more dutiful language, consented +to fix his residence in the Capitol. His death, [16] though in the +extreme period of old age, was unseasonable and premature, since his +genius alone could have repaired the last and fatal error of his life. +The reality, or the suspicion, of a conspiracy disarmed and disunited +the Italians. The soldiers resented the disgrace, and bewailed the loss, +of their general. They were ignorant of their new exarch; and Longinus +was himself ignorant of the state of the army and the province. In the +preceding years Italy had been desolated by pestilence and famine, and +a disaffected people ascribed the calamities of nature to the guilt or +folly of their rulers. [17] + +[Footnote 15: The charge of the deacon against Narses (l. ii. c. 5) +may be groundless; but the weak apology of the Cardinal (Baron. Annal +Eccles. A.D. 567, No. 8--12) is rejected by the best critics--Pagi (tom. +ii. p. 639, 640,) Muratori, (Annali d' Italia, tom. v. p. 160--163,) and +the last editors, Horatius Blancus, (Script. Rerum Italic. tom. i. p. +427, 428,) and Philip Argelatus, (Sigon. Opera, tom. ii. p. 11, 12.) The +Narses who assisted at the coronation of Justin (Corippus, l. iii. 221) +is clearly understood to be a different person.] + +[Footnote 16: The death of Narses is mentioned by Paul, l. ii. c. 11. +Anastas. in Vit. Johan. iii. p. 43. Agnellus, Liber Pontifical. Raven. +in Script. Rer. Italicarum, tom. ii. part i. p. 114, 124. Yet I cannot +believe with Agnellus that Narses was ninety-five years of age. Is it +probable that all his exploits were performed at fourscore?] + +[Footnote 17: The designs of Narses and of the Lombards for the invasion +of Italy are exposed in the last chapter of the first book, and the +seven last chapters of the second book, of Paul the deacon.] + +Whatever might be the grounds of his security, Alboin neither expected +nor encountered a Roman army in the field. He ascended the Julian Alps, +and looked down with contempt and desire on the fruitful plains to +which his victory communicated the perpetual appellation of Lombardy. +A faithful chieftain, and a select band, were stationed at Forum Julii, +the modern Friuli, to guard the passes of the mountains. The Lombards +respected the strength of Pavia, and listened to the prayers of the +Trevisans: their slow and heavy multitudes proceeded to occupy the +palace and city of Verona; and Milan, now rising from her ashes, was +invested by the powers of Alboin five months after his departure from +Pannonia. Terror preceded his march: he found every where, or he left, +a dreary solitude; and the pusillanimous Italians presumed, without a +trial, that the stranger was invincible. Escaping to lakes, or rocks, +or morasses, the affrighted crowds concealed some fragments of their +wealth, and delayed the moment of their servitude. Paulinus, the +patriarch of Aquileia, removed his treasures, sacred and profane, to +the Isle of Grado, [18] and his successors were adopted by the infant +republic of Venice, which was continually enriched by the public +calamities. Honoratus, who filled the chair of St. Ambrose, had +credulously accepted the faithless offers of a capitulation; and the +archbishop, with the clergy and nobles of Milan, were driven by the +perfidy of Alboin to seek a refuge in the less accessible ramparts of +Genoa. Along the maritime coast, the courage of the inhabitants was +supported by the facility of supply, the hopes of relief, and the power +of escape; but from the Trentine hills to the gates of Ravenna and Rome +the inland regions of Italy became, without a battle or a siege, the +lasting patrimony of the Lombards. The submission of the people invited +the Barbarian to assume the character of a lawful sovereign, and the +helpless exarch was confined to the office of announcing to the emperor +Justin the rapid and irretrievable loss of his provinces and cities. +[19] One city, which had been diligently fortified by the Goths, +resisted the arms of a new invader; and while Italy was subdued by the +flying detachments of the Lombards, the royal camp was fixed above three +years before the western gate of Ticinum, or Pavia. The same courage +which obtains the esteem of a civilized enemy provokes the fury of a +savage, and the impatient besieger had bound himself by a tremendous +oath, that age, and sex, and dignity, should be confounded in a general +massacre. The aid of famine at length enabled him to execute his bloody +vow; but, as Alboin entered the gate, his horse stumbled, fell, and +could not be raised from the ground. One of his attendants was prompted +by compassion, or piety, to interpret this miraculous sign of the wrath +of Heaven: the conqueror paused and relented; he sheathed his sword, and +peacefully reposing himself in the palace of Theodoric, proclaimed to +the trembling multitude that they should live and obey. Delighted +with the situation of a city which was endeared to his pride by the +difficulty of the purchase, the prince of the Lombards disdained the +ancient glories of Milan; and Pavia, during some ages, was respected as +the capital of the kingdom of Italy. [20] + +[Footnote 18: Which from this translation was called New Aquileia, +(Chron. Venet. p. 3.) The patriarch of Grado soon became the first +citizen of the republic, (p. 9, &c.,) but his seat was not removed to +Venice till the year 1450. He is now decorated with titles and honors; +but the genius of the church has bowed to that of the state, and the +government of a Catholic city is strictly Presbyterian. Thomassin, +Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 156, 157, 161--165. Amelot de la +Houssaye, Gouvernement de Venise, tom. i. p. 256--261.] + +[Footnote 19: Paul has given a description of Italy, as it was then +divided into eighteen regions, (l. ii. c. 14--24.) The Dissertatio +Chorographica de Italia Medii Aevi, by Father Beretti, a Benedictine +monk, and regius professor at Pavia, has been usefully consulted.] + +[Footnote 20: For the conquest of Italy, see the original materials +of Paul, (l. p. 7--10, 12, 14, 25, 26, 27,) the eloquent narrative of +Sigonius, (tom. il. de Regno Italiae, l. i. p. 13--19,) and the +correct and critical review el Muratori, (Annali d' Italia, tom. v. p. +164--180.)] + +The reign of the founder was splendid and transient; and, before he +could regulate his new conquests, Alboin fell a sacrifice to domestic +treason and female revenge. In a palace near Verona, which had not +been erected for the Barbarians, he feasted the companions of his arms; +intoxication was the reward of valor, and the king himself was +tempted by appetite, or vanity, to exceed the ordinary measure of +his intemperance. After draining many capacious bowls of Rhaetian or +Falernian wine, he called for the skull of Cunimund, the noblest and +most precious ornament of his sideboard. The cup of victory was accepted +with horrid applause by the circle of the Lombard chiefs. "Fill it again +with wine," exclaimed the inhuman conqueror, "fill it to the brim: carry +this goblet to the queen, and request in my name that she would rejoice +with her father." In an agony of grief and rage, Rosamond had strength +to utter, "Let the will of my lord be obeyed!" and, touching it with her +lips, pronounced a silent imprecation, that the insult should be +washed away in the blood of Alboin. Some indulgence might be due to the +resentment of a daughter, if she had not already violated the duties of +a wife. Implacable in her enmity, or inconstant in her love, the queen +of Italy had stooped from the throne to the arms of a subject, and +Helmichis, the king's armor-bearer, was the secret minister of her +pleasure and revenge. Against the proposal of the murder, he could +no longer urge the scruples of fidelity or gratitude; but Helmichis +trembled when he revolved the danger as well as the guilt, when he +recollected the matchless strength and intrepidity of a warrior whom he +had so often attended in the field of battle. He pressed and obtained, +that one of the bravest champions of the Lombards should be associated +to the enterprise; but no more than a promise of secrecy could be +drawn from the gallant Peredeus, and the mode of seduction employed by +Rosamond betrays her shameless insensibility both to honor and love. She +supplied the place of one of her female attendants who was beloved by +Peredeus, and contrived some excuse for darkness and silence, till +she could inform her companion that he had enjoyed the queen of the +Lombards, and that his own death, or the death of Alboin, must be the +consequence of such treasonable adultery. In this alternative he chose +rather to be the accomplice than the victim of Rosamond, [21] whose +undaunted spirit was incapable of fear or remorse. She expected and +soon found a favorable moment, when the king, oppressed with wine, had +retired from the table to his afternoon slumbers. His faithless spouse +was anxious for his health and repose: the gates of the palace were +shut, the arms removed, the attendants dismissed, and Rosamond, after +lulling him to rest by her tender caresses, unbolted the chamber door, +and urged the reluctant conspirators to the instant execution of the +deed. On the first alarm, the warrior started from his couch: his sword, +which he attempted to draw, had been fastened to the scabbard by the +hand of Rosamond; and a small stool, his only weapon, could not long +protect him from the spears of the assassins. The daughter of Cunimund +smiled in his fall: his body was buried under the staircase of the +palace; and the grateful posterity of the Lombards revered the tomb and +the memory of their victorious leader. + +[Footnote 21: The classical reader will recollect the wife and murder of +Candaules, so agreeably told in the first book of Herodotus. The choice +of Gyges, may serve as the excuse of Peredeus; and this soft insinuation +of an odious idea has been imitated by the best writers of antiquity, +(Graevius, ad Ciceron. Orat. pro Miloue c. 10)] + + + + + +Chapter XLV: State Of Italy Under The Lombards.--Part II. + +The ambitious Rosamond aspired to reign in the name of her lover; the +city and palace of Verona were awed by her power; and a faithful band +of her native Gepidae was prepared to applaud the revenge, and to second +the wishes, of their sovereign. But the Lombard chiefs, who fled in the +first moments of consternation and disorder, had resumed their courage +and collected their powers; and the nation, instead of submitting to her +reign, demanded, with unanimous cries, that justice should be executed +on the guilty spouse and the murderers of their king. She sought a +refuge among the enemies of her country; and a criminal who deserved the +abhorrence of mankind was protected by the selfish policy of the exarch. +With her daughter, the heiress of the Lombard throne, her two lovers, +her trusty Gepidae, and the spoils of the palace of Verona, Rosamond +descended the Adige and the Po, and was transported by a Greek vessel to +the safe harbor of Ravenna. Longinus beheld with delight the charms and +the treasures of the widow of Alboin: her situation and her past conduct +might justify the most licentious proposals; and she readily listened to +the passion of a minister, who, even in the decline of the empire, was +respected as the equal of kings. The death of a jealous lover was an +easy and grateful sacrifice; and, as Helmichis issued from the bath, he +received the deadly potion from the hand of his mistress. The taste of +the liquor, its speedy operation, and his experience of the character of +Rosamond, convinced him that he was poisoned: he pointed his dagger to +her breast, compelled her to drain the remainder of the cup, and expired +in a few minutes, with the consolation that she could not survive to +enjoy the fruits of her wickedness. The daughter of Alboin and +Rosamond, with the richest spoils of the Lombards, was embarked for +Constantinople: the surprising strength of Peredeus amused and terrified +the Imperial court: [2111] his blindness and revenge exhibited an +imperfect copy of the adventures of Samson. By the free suffrage of the +nation, in the assembly of Pavia, Clepho, one of their noblest chiefs, +was elected as the successor of Alboin. Before the end of eighteen +months, the throne was polluted by a second murder: Clepho was stabbed +by the hand of a domestic; the regal office was suspended above ten +years during the minority of his son Autharis; and Italy was divided and +oppressed by a ducal aristocracy of thirty tyrants. [22] + +[Footnote 2111: He killed a lion. His eyes were put out by the timid +Justin. Peredeus requesting an interview, Justin substituted two +patricians, whom the blinded Barbarian stabbed to the heart with two +concealed daggers. See Le Beau, vol. x. p. 99.--M.] + +[Footnote 22: See the history of Paul, l. ii. c. 28--32. I have borrowed +some interesting circumstances from the Liber Pontificalis of Agnellus, +in Script. Rer. Ital. tom. ii. p. 124. Of all chronological guides, +Muratori is the safest.] + +When the nephew of Justinian ascended the throne, he proclaimed a new +aera of happiness and glory. The annals of the second Justin [23] are +marked with disgrace abroad and misery at home. In the West, the Roman +empire was afflicted by the loss of Italy, the desolation of Africa, and +the conquests of the Persians. Injustice prevailed both in the capital +and the provinces: the rich trembled for their property, the poor for +their safety, the ordinary magistrates were ignorant or venal, the +occasional remedies appear to have been arbitrary and violent, and the +complaints of the people could no longer be silenced by the splendid +names of a legislator and a conqueror. The opinion which imputes to +the prince all the calamities of his times may be countenanced by the +historian as a serious truth or a salutary prejudice. Yet a candid +suspicion will arise, that the sentiments of Justin were pure and +benevolent, and that he might have filled his station without reproach, +if the faculties of his mind had not been impaired by disease, which +deprived the emperor of the use of his feet, and confined him to the +palace, a stranger to the complaints of the people and the vices of the +government. The tardy knowledge of his own impotence determined him +to lay down the weight of the diadem; and, in the choice of a worthy +substitute, he showed some symptoms of a discerning and even magnanimous +spirit. The only son of Justin and Sophia died in his infancy; their +daughter Arabia was the wife of Baduarius, [24] superintendent of the +palace, and afterwards commander of the Italian armies, who vainly +aspired to confirm the rights of marriage by those of adoption. While +the empire appeared an object of desire, Justin was accustomed to behold +with jealousy and hatred his brothers and cousins, the rivals of his +hopes; nor could he depend on the gratitude of those who would accept +the purple as a restitution, rather than a gift. Of these competitors, +one had been removed by exile, and afterwards by death; and the emperor +himself had inflicted such cruel insults on another, that he must either +dread his resentment or despise his patience. This domestic animosity +was refined into a generous resolution of seeking a successor, not +in his family, but in the republic; and the artful Sophia recommended +Tiberius, [25] his faithful captain of the guards, whose virtues and +fortune the emperor might cherish as the fruit of his judicious choice. +The ceremony of his elevation to the rank of Caesar, or Augustus, was +performed in the portico of the palace, in the presence of the patriarch +and the senate. Justin collected the remaining strength of his mind and +body; but the popular belief that his speech was inspired by the Deity +betrays a very humble opinion both of the man and of the times. [26] +"You behold," said the emperor, "the ensigns of supreme power. You are +about to receive them, not from my hand, but from the hand of God. Honor +them, and from them you will derive honor. Respect the empress your +mother: you are now her son; before, you were her servant. Delight not +in blood; abstain from revenge; avoid those actions by which I have +incurred the public hatred; and consult the experience, rather than the +example, of your predecessor. As a man, I have sinned; as a sinner, even +in this life, I have been severely punished: but these servants, (and we +pointed to his ministers,) who have abused my confidence, and inflamed +my passions, will appear with me before the tribunal of Christ. I have +been dazzled by the splendor of the diadem: be thou wise and modest; +remember what you have been, remember what you are. You see around +us your slaves, and your children: with the authority, assume the +tenderness, of a parent. Love your people like yourself; cultivate the +affections, maintain the discipline, of the army; protect the fortunes +of the rich, relieve the necessities of the poor." [27] The assembly, in +silence and in tears, applauded the counsels, and sympathized with the +repentance, of their prince the patriarch rehearsed the prayers of the +church; Tiberius received the diadem on his knees; and Justin, who in +his abdication appeared most worthy to reign, addressed the new monarch +in the following words: "If you consent, I live; if you command, I die: +may the God of heaven and earth infuse into your heart whatever I have +neglected or forgotten." The four last years of the emperor Justin were +passed in tranquil obscurity: his conscience was no longer tormented by +the remembrance of those duties which he was incapable of discharging; +and his choice was justified by the filial reverence and gratitude of +Tiberius. + +[Footnote 23: The original authors for the reign of Justin the younger +are Evagrius, Hist. Eccles. l. v. c. 1--12; Theophanes, in Chonograph. +p. 204--210; Zonaras, tom. ii. l. xiv. p. 70-72; Cedrenus, in Compend. +p. 388--392.] + +[Footnote 24: Dispositorque novus sacrae Baduarius aulae. Successor +soceri mox factus Cura-palati.--Cerippus. Baduarius is enumerated among +the descendants and allies of the house of Justinian. A family of noble +Venetians (Casa Badoero) built churches and gave dukes to the republic +as early as the ninth century; and, if their descent be admitted, no +kings in Europe can produce a pedigree so ancient and illustrious. +Ducange, Fam. Byzantin, p. 99 Amelot de la Houssaye, Gouvernement de +Venise, tom. ii. p. 555.] + +[Footnote 25: The praise bestowed on princes before their elevation is +the purest and most weighty. Corippus has celebrated Tiberius at the +time of the accession of Justin, (l. i. 212--222.) Yet even a captain of +the guards might attract the flattery of an African exile.] + +[Footnote 26: Evagrius (l. v. c. 13) has added the reproach to his +ministers He applies this speech to the ceremony when Tiberius was +invested with the rank of Caesar. The loose expression, rather than +the positive error, of Theophanes, &c., has delayed it to his Augustan +investitura immediately before the death of Justin.] + +[Footnote 27: Theophylact Simocatta (l. iii. c. 11) declares that he +shall give to posterity the speech of Justin as it was pronounced, +without attempting to correct the imperfections of language or rhetoric. +Perhaps the vain sophist would have been incapable of producing such +sentiments.] + +Among the virtues of Tiberius, [28] his beauty (he was one of the +tallest and most comely of the Romans) might introduce him to the +favor of Sophia; and the widow of Justin was persuaded, that she should +preserve her station and influence under the reign of a second and more +youthful husband. But, if the ambitious candidate had been tempted +to flatter and dissemble, it was no longer in his power to fulfil +her expectations, or his own promise. The factions of the hippodrome +demanded, with some impatience, the name of their new empress: both the +people and Sophia were astonished by the proclamation of Anastasia, +the secret, though lawful, wife of the emperor Tiberius. Whatever could +alleviate the disappointment of Sophia, Imperial honors, a stately +palace, a numerous household, was liberally bestowed by the piety of her +adopted son; on solemn occasions he attended and consulted the widow +of his benefactor; but her ambition disdained the vain semblance of +royalty, and the respectful appellation of mother served to exasperate, +rather than appease, the rage of an injured woman. While she accepted, +and repaid with a courtly smile, the fair expressions of regard and +confidence, a secret alliance was concluded between the dowager empress +and her ancient enemies; and Justinian, the son of Germanus, was +employed as the instrument of her revenge. The pride of the reigning +house supported, with reluctance, the dominion of a stranger: the youth +was deservedly popular; his name, after the death of Justin, had been +mentioned by a tumultuous faction; and his own submissive offer of his +head with a treasure of sixty thousand pounds, might be interpreted as +an evidence of guilt, or at least of fear. Justinian received a free +pardon, and the command of the eastern army. The Persian monarch fled +before his arms; and the acclamations which accompanied his triumph +declared him worthy of the purple. His artful patroness had chosen +the month of the vintage, while the emperor, in a rural solitude, was +permitted to enjoy the pleasures of a subject. On the first intelligence +of her designs, he returned to Constantinople, and the conspiracy was +suppressed by his presence and firmness. From the pomp and honors which +she had abused, Sophia was reduced to a modest allowance: Tiberius +dismissed her train, intercepted her correspondence, and committed to a +faithful guard the custody of her person. But the services of Justinian +were not considered by that excellent prince as an aggravation of +his offences: after a mild reproof, his treason and ingratitude were +forgiven; and it was commonly believed, that the emperor entertained +some thoughts of contracting a double alliance with the rival of his +throne. The voice of an angel (such a fable was propagated) might reveal +to the emperor, that he should always triumph over his domestic +foes; but Tiberius derived a firmer assurance from the innocence and +generosity of his own mind. + +[Footnote 28: For the character and reign of Tiberius, see Evagrius, +l v. c. 13. Theophylact, l. iii. c. 12, &c. Theophanes, in Chron. p. +2 0--213. Zonaras, tom. ii. l. xiv. p. 72. Cedrenus, p. 392. Paul +Warnefrid, de Gestis Langobard. l. iii. c. 11, 12. The deacon of Forum +Juli appears to have possessed some curious and authentic facts.] + +With the odious name of Tiberius, he assumed the more popular +appellation of Constantine, and imitated the purer virtues of the +Antonines. After recording the vice or folly of so many Roman princes, +it is pleasing to repose, for a moment, on a character conspicuous +by the qualities of humanity, justice, temperance, and fortitude; to +contemplate a sovereign affable in his palace, pious in the church, +impartial on the seat of judgment, and victorious, at least by his +generals, in the Persian war. The most glorious trophy of his victory +consisted in a multitude of captives, whom Tiberius entertained, +redeemed, and dismissed to their native homes with the charitable spirit +of a Christian hero. The merit or misfortunes of his own subjects had a +dearer claim to his beneficence, and he measured his bounty not so +much by their expectations as by his own dignity. This maxim, however +dangerous in a trustee of the public wealth, was balanced by a principle +of humanity and justice, which taught him to abhor, as of the basest +alloy, the gold that was extracted from the tears of the people. For +their relief, as often as they had suffered by natural or hostile +calamities, he was impatient to remit the arrears of the past, or the +demands of future taxes: he sternly rejected the servile offerings of +his ministers, which were compensated by tenfold oppression; and the +wise and equitable laws of Tiberius excited the praise and regret +of succeeding times. Constantinople believed that the emperor had +discovered a treasure: but his genuine treasure consisted in the +practice of liberal economy, and the contempt of all vain and +superfluous expense. The Romans of the East would have been happy, if +the best gift of Heaven, a patriot king, had been confirmed as a proper +and permanent blessing. But in less than four years after the death of +Justin, his worthy successor sunk into a mortal disease, which left him +only sufficient time to restore the diadem, according to the tenure +by which he held it, to the most deserving of his fellow-citizens. +He selected Maurice from the crowd, a judgment more precious than the +purple itself: the patriarch and senate were summoned to the bed of +the dying prince: he bestowed his daughter and the empire; and his last +advice was solemnly delivered by the voice of the quaestor. Tiberius +expressed his hope that the virtues of his son and successor would erect +the noblest mausoleum to his memory. His memory was embalmed by the +public affliction; but the most sincere grief evaporates in the tumult +of a new reign, and the eyes and acclamations of mankind were speedily +directed to the rising sun. The emperor Maurice derived his origin from +ancient Rome; [29] but his immediate parents were settled at Arabissus +in Cappadocia, and their singular felicity preserved them alive to +behold and partake the fortune of their august son. The youth of Maurice +was spent in the profession of arms: Tiberius promoted him to the +command of a new and favorite legion of twelve thousand confederates; +his valor and conduct were signalized in the Persian war; and +he returned to Constantinople to accept, as his just reward, the +inheritance of the empire. Maurice ascended the throne at the mature age +of forty-three years; and he reigned above twenty years over the East +and over himself; [30] expelling from his mind the wild democracy +of passions, and establishing (according to the quaint expression of +Evagrius) a perfect aristocracy of reason and virtue. Some suspicion +will degrade the testimony of a subject, though he protests that his +secret praise should never reach the ear of his sovereign, [31] and some +failings seem to place the character of Maurice below the purer merit +of his predecessor. His cold and reserved demeanor might be imputed +to arrogance; his justice was not always exempt from cruelty, nor his +clemency from weakness; and his rigid economy too often exposed him to +the reproach of avarice. But the rational wishes of an absolute monarch +must tend to the happiness of his people. Maurice was endowed with +sense and courage to promote that happiness, and his administration was +directed by the principles and example of Tiberius. The pusillanimity of +the Greeks had introduced so complete a separation between the offices +of king and of general, that a private soldier, who had deserved and +obtained the purple, seldom or never appeared at the head of his armies. +Yet the emperor Maurice enjoyed the glory of restoring the Persian +monarch to his throne; his lieutenants waged a doubtful war against the +Avars of the Danube; and he cast an eye of pity, of ineffectual pity, on +the abject and distressful state of his Italian provinces. + +[Footnote 29: It is therefore singular enough that Paul (l. iii. c. 15) +should distinguish him as the first Greek emperor--primus ex Graecorum +genere in Imperio constitutus. His immediate predecessors had in deed +been born in the Latin provinces of Europe: and a various reading, in +Graecorum Imperio, would apply the expression to the empire rather than +the prince.] + +[Footnote 30: Consult, for the character and reign of Maurice, the fifth +and sixth books of Evagrius, particularly l. vi. c. l; the eight books +of his prolix and florid history by Theophylact Simocatta; Theophanes, +p. 213, &c.; Zonaras, tom. ii. l. xiv. p. 73; Cedrenus, p. 394.] + +[Footnote 31: Evagrius composed his history in the twelfth year of +Maurice; and he had been so wisely indiscreet that the emperor know and +rewarded his favorable opinion, (l. vi. c. 24.)] + +From Italy the emperors were incessantly tormented by tales of misery +and demands of succor, which extorted the humiliating confession of +their own weakness. The expiring dignity of Rome was only marked by the +freedom and energy of her complaints: "If you are incapable," she said, +"of delivering us from the sword of the Lombards, save us at least from +the calamity of famine." Tiberius forgave the reproach, and relieved the +distress: a supply of corn was transported from Egypt to the Tyber; and +the Roman people, invoking the name, not of Camillus, but of St. Peter +repulsed the Barbarians from their walls. But the relief was accidental, +the danger was perpetual and pressing; and the clergy and senate, +collecting the remains of their ancient opulence, a sum of three +thousand pounds of gold, despatched the patrician Pamphronius to lay +their gifts and their complaints at the foot of the Byzantine throne. +The attention of the court, and the forces of the East, were diverted by +the Persian war: but the justice of Tiberius applied the subsidy to +the defence of the city; and he dismissed the patrician with his best +advice, either to bribe the Lombard chiefs, or to purchase the aid of +the kings of France. Notwithstanding this weak invention, Italy was +still afflicted, Rome was again besieged, and the suburb of Classe, only +three miles from Ravenna, was pillaged and occupied by the troops of a +simple duke of Spoleto. Maurice gave audience to a second deputation +of priests and senators: the duties and the menaces of religion were +forcibly urged in the letters of the Roman pontiff; and his nuncio, +the deacon Gregory, was alike qualified to solicit the powers either of +heaven or of the earth. + +The emperor adopted, with stronger effect, the measures of his +predecessor: some formidable chiefs were persuaded to embrace the +friendship of the Romans; and one of them, a mild and faithful +Barbarian, lived and died in the service of the exarchs: the passes of +the Alps were delivered to the Franks; and the pope encouraged them +to violate, without scruple, their oaths and engagements to the +misbelievers. Childebert, the great-grandson of Clovis, was persuaded +to invade Italy by the payment of fifty thousand pieces; but, as he had +viewed with delight some Byzantine coin of the weight of one pound of +gold, the king of Austrasia might stipulate, that the gift should be +rendered more worthy of his acceptance, by a proper mixture of these +respectable medals. The dukes of the Lombards had provoked by frequent +inroads their powerful neighbors of Gaul. As soon as they were +apprehensive of a just retaliation, they renounced their feeble and +disorderly independence: the advantages of real government, union, +secrecy, and vigor, were unanimously confessed; and Autharis, the son of +Clepho, had already attained the strength and reputation of a warrior. +Under the standard of their new king, the conquerors of Italy withstood +three successive invasions, one of which was led by Childebert himself, +the last of the Merovingian race who descended from the Alps. The first +expedition was defeated by the jealous animosity of the Franks and +Alemanni. In the second they were vanquished in a bloody battle, with +more loss and dishonor than they had sustained since the foundation of +their monarchy. Impatient for revenge, they returned a third time with +accumulated force, and Autharis yielded to the fury of the torrent. +The troops and treasures of the Lombards were distributed in the walled +towns between the Alps and the Apennine. A nation, less sensible of +danger than of fatigue and delay, soon murmured against the folly of +their twenty commanders; and the hot vapors of an Italian sun infected +with disease those tramontane bodies which had already suffered the +vicissitudes of intemperance and famine. The powers that were inadequate +to the conquest, were more than sufficient for the desolation, of the +country; nor could the trembling natives distinguish between their +enemies and their deliverers. If the junction of the Merovingian and +Imperial forces had been effected in the neighborhood of Milan, perhaps +they might have subverted the throne of the Lombards; but the Franks +expected six days the signal of a flaming village, and the arms of the +Greeks were idly employed in the reduction of Modena and Parma, which +were torn from them after the retreat of their transalpine allies. The +victorious Autharis asserted his claim to the dominion of Italy. At the +foot of the Rhaetian Alps, he subdued the resistance, and rifled the +hidden treasures, of a sequestered island in the Lake of Comum. At the +extreme point of the Calabria, he touched with his spear a column on the +sea-shore of Rhegium, [32] proclaiming that ancient landmark to stand +the immovable boundary of his kingdom. [33] + +[Footnote 32: The Columna Rhegina, in the narrowest part of the Faro of +Messina, one hundred stadia from Rhegium itself, is frequently mentioned +in ancient geography. Cluver. Ital. Antiq. tom. ii. p. 1295. Lucas +Holsten. Annotat. ad Cluver. p. 301. Wesseling, Itinerar. p. 106.] + +[Footnote 33: The Greek historians afford some faint hints of the wars +of Italy (Menander, in Excerpt. Legat. p. 124, 126. Theophylact, l. iii. +c. 4.) The Latins are more satisfactory; and especially Paul Warnefrid, +(l iii. c. 13--34,) who had read the more ancient histories of Secundus +and Gregory of Tours. Baronius produces some letters of the popes, &c.; +and the times are measured by the accurate scale of Pagi and Muratori.] + +During a period of two hundred years, Italy was unequally divided +between the kingdom of the Lombards and the exarchate of Ravenna. +The offices and professions, which the jealousy of Constantine had +separated, were united by the indulgence of Justinian; and eighteen +successive exarchs were invested, in the decline of the empire, with the +full remains of civil, of military, and even of ecclesiastical, power. +Their immediate jurisdiction, which was afterwards consecrated as the +patrimony of St. Peter, extended over the modern Romagna, the marshes or +valleys of Ferrara and Commachio, [34] five maritime cities from Rimini +to Ancona, and a second inland Pentapolis, between the Adriatic coast +and the hills of the Apennine. Three subordinate provinces, of Rome, +of Venice, and of Naples, which were divided by hostile lands from the +palace of Ravenna, acknowledged, both in peace and war, the supremacy +of the exarch. The duchy of Rome appears to have included the Tuscan, +Sabine, and Latin conquests, of the first four hundred years of the +city, and the limits may be distinctly traced along the coast, from +Civita Vecchia to Terracina, and with the course of the Tyber from +Ameria and Narni to the port of Ostia. The numerous islands from +Grado to Chiozza composed the infant dominion of Venice: but the more +accessible towns on the Continent were overthrown by the Lombards, who +beheld with impotent fury a new capital rising from the waves. The power +of the dukes of Naples was circumscribed by the bay and the adjacent +isles, by the hostile territory of Capua, and by the Roman colony +of Amalphi, [35] whose industrious citizens, by the invention of the +mariner's compass, have unveiled the face of the globe. The three +islands of Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily, still adhered to the empire; +and the acquisition of the farther Calabria removed the landmark of +Autharis from the shore of Rhegium to the Isthmus of Consentia. In +Sardinia, the savage mountaineers preserved the liberty and religion of +their ancestors; and the husbandmen of Sicily were chained to their +rich and cultivated soil. Rome was oppressed by the iron sceptre of the +exarchs, and a Greek, perhaps a eunuch, insulted with impunity the ruins +of the Capitol. But Naples soon acquired the privilege of electing her +own dukes: [36] the independence of Amalphi was the fruit of commerce; +and the voluntary attachment of Venice was finally ennobled by an equal +alliance with the Eastern empire. On the map of Italy, the measure of +the exarchate occupies a very inadequate space, but it included an ample +proportion of wealth, industry, and population. The most faithful and +valuable subjects escaped from the Barbarian yoke; and the banners of +Pavia and Verona, of Milan and Padua, were displayed in their respective +quarters by the new inhabitants of Ravenna. The remainder of Italy was +possessed by the Lombards; and from Pavia, the royal seat, their +kingdom was extended to the east, the north, and the west, as far as the +confines of the Avars, the Bavarians, and the Franks of Austrasia and +Burgundy. In the language of modern geography, it is now represented by +the Terra Firma of the Venetian republic, Tyrol, the Milanese, Piedmont, +the coast of Genoa, Mantua, Parma, and Modena, the grand duchy of +Tuscany, and a large portion of the ecclesiastical state from Perugia +to the Adriatic. The dukes, and at length the princes, of Beneventum, +survived the monarchy, and propagated the name of the Lombards. From +Capua to Tarentum, they reigned near five hundred years over the +greatest part of the present kingdom of Naples. [37] + +[Footnote 34: The papal advocates, Zacagni and Fontanini, might justly +claim the valley or morass of Commachio as a part of the exarchate. +But the ambition of including Modena, Reggio, Parma, and Placentia, +has darkened a geographical question somewhat doubtful and obscure +Even Muratori, as the servant of the house of Este, is not free from +partiality and prejudice.] + +[Footnote 35: See Brenckman, Dissert. Ima de Republica Amalphitana, p. +1--42, ad calcem Hist. Pandect. Florent.] + +[Footnote 36: Gregor. Magn. l. iii. epist. 23, 25.] + +[Footnote 37: I have described the state of Italy from the excellent +Dissertation of Beretti. Giannone (Istoria Civile, tom. i. p. 374--387) +has followed the learned Camillo Pellegrini in the geography of the +kingdom of Naples. After the loss of the true Calabria, the vanity of +the Greeks substituted that name instead of the more ignoble appellation +of Bruttium; and the change appears to have taken place before the time +of Charlemagne, (Eginard, p. 75.)] + +In comparing the proportion of the victorious and the vanquished +people, the change of language will afford the most probably inference. +According to this standard, it will appear, that the Lombards of Italy, +and the Visigoths of Spain, were less numerous than the Franks or +Burgundians; and the conquerors of Gaul must yield, in their turn, to +the multitude of Saxons and Angles who almost eradicated the idioms of +Britain. The modern Italian has been insensibly formed by the mixture +of nations: the awkwardness of the Barbarians in the nice management +of declensions and conjugations reduced them to the use of articles +and auxiliary verbs; and many new ideas have been expressed by Teutonic +appellations. Yet the principal stock of technical and familiar words +is found to be of Latin derivation; [38] and, if we were sufficiently +conversant with the obsolete, the rustic, and the municipal dialects +of ancient Italy, we should trace the origin of many terms which might, +perhaps, be rejected by the classic purity of Rome. A numerous army +constitutes but a small nation, and the powers of the Lombards were +soon diminished by the retreat of twenty thousand Saxons, who scorned +a dependent situation, and returned, after many bold and perilous +adventures, to their native country. [39] The camp of Alboin was +of formidable extent, but the extent of a camp would be easily +circumscribed within the limits of a city; and its martial in habitants +must be thinly scattered over the face of a large country. When Alboin +descended from the Alps, he invested his nephew, the first duke of +Friuli, with the command of the province and the people: but the prudent +Gisulf would have declined the dangerous office, unless he had been +permitted to choose, among the nobles of the Lombards, a sufficient +number of families [40] to form a perpetual colony of soldiers and +subjects. In the progress of conquest, the same option could not be +granted to the dukes of Brescia or Bergamo, or Pavia or Turin, of +Spoleto or Beneventum; but each of these, and each of their colleagues, +settled in his appointed district with a band of followers who resorted +to his standard in war and his tribunal in peace. Their attachment was +free and honorable: resigning the gifts and benefits which they had +accepted, they might emigrate with their families into the jurisdiction +of another duke; but their absence from the kingdom was punished with +death, as a crime of military desertion. [41] The posterity of the first +conquerors struck a deeper root into the soil, which, by every motive +of interest and honor, they were bound to defend. A Lombard was born the +soldier of his king and his duke; and the civil assemblies of the nation +displayed the banners, and assumed the appellation, of a regular army. +Of this army, the pay and the rewards were drawn from the conquered +provinces; and the distribution, which was not effected till after the +death of Alboin, is disgraced by the foul marks of injustice and rapine. +Many of the most wealthy Italians were slain or banished; the remainder +were divided among the strangers, and a tributary obligation was imposed +(under the name of hospitality) of paying to the Lombards a third +part of the fruits of the earth. Within less than seventy years, this +artificial system was abolished by a more simple and solid tenure. [42] +Either the Roman landlord was expelled by his strong and insolent guest, +or the annual payment, a third of the produce, was exchanged by a more +equitable transaction for an adequate proportion of landed property. +Under these foreign masters, the business of agriculture, in the +cultivation of corn, wines, and olives, was exercised with degenerate +skill and industry by the labor of the slaves and natives. But the +occupations of a pastoral life were more pleasing to the idleness of the +Barbarian. In the rich meadows of Venetia, they restored and improved +the breed of horses, for which that province had once been illustrious; +[43] and the Italians beheld with astonishment a foreign race of oxen +or buffaloes. [44] The depopulation of Lombardy, and the increase of +forests, afforded an ample range for the pleasures of the chase. [45] +That marvellous art which teaches the birds of the air to acknowledge +the voice, and execute the commands, of their master, had been unknown +to the ingenuity of the Greeks and Romans. [46] Scandinavia and Scythia +produce the boldest and most tractable falcons: [47] they were tamed +and educated by the roving inhabitants, always on horseback and in the +field. This favorite amusement of our ancestors was introduced by the +Barbarians into the Roman provinces; and the laws of Italy esteemed the +sword and the hawk as of equal dignity and importance in the hands of a +noble Lombard. [48] + +[Footnote 38: Maffei (Verona Illustrata, part i. p. 310--321) and +Muratori (Antichita Italiane, tom. ii. Dissertazione xxxii. xxxiii. +p. 71--365) have asserted the native claims of the Italian idiom; the +former with enthusiasm, the latter with discretion; both with learning, +ingenuity, and truth. Note: Compare the admirable sketch of the +degeneracy of the Latin language and the formation of the Italian in +Hallam, Middle Ages, vol. iii. p. 317 329.--M.] + +[Footnote 39: Paul, de Gest. Langobard. l. iii. c. 5, 6, 7.] + +[Footnote 40: Paul, l. ii. c. 9. He calls these families or generations +by the Teutonic name of Faras, which is likewise used in the Lombard +laws. The humble deacon was not insensible of the nobility of his own +race. See l. iv. c. 39.] + +[Footnote 41: Compare No. 3 and 177 of the Laws of Rotharis.] + +[Footnote 42: Paul, l. ii. c. 31, 32, l. iii. c. 16. The Laws of +Rotharis, promulgated A.D. 643, do not contain the smallest vestige of +this payment of thirds; but they preserve many curious circumstances of +the state of Italy and the manners of the Lombards.] + +[Footnote 43: The studs of Dionysius of Syracuse, and his frequent +victories in the Olympic games, had diffused among the Greeks the fame +of the Venetian horses; but the breed was extinct in the time of Strabo, +(l. v. p. 325.) Gisulf obtained from his uncle generosarum equarum +greges. Paul, l. ii. c. 9. The Lombards afterwards introduced caballi +sylvatici--wild horses. Paul, l. iv. c. 11.] + +[Footnote 44: Tunc (A.D. 596) primum, bubali in Italiam delati Italiae +populis miracula fuere, (Paul Warnefrid, l. iv. c. 11.) The buffaloes, +whose native climate appears to be Africa and India, are unknown +to Europe, except in Italy, where they are numerous and useful. The +ancients were ignorant of these animals, unless Aristotle (Hist. Anim. +l. ii. c. 1, p. 58, Paris, 1783) has described them as the wild oxen of +Arachosia. See Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. xi. and Supplement, tom. +vi. Hist. Generale des Voyages, tom. i. p. 7, 481, ii. 105, iii. 291, +iv. 234, 461, v. 193, vi. 491, viii. 400, x. 666. Pennant's Quadrupedes, +p. 24. Dictionnaire d'Hist. Naturelle, par Valmont de Bomare, tom. +ii. p. 74. Yet I must not conceal the suspicion that Paul, by a vulgar +error, may have applied the name of bubalus to the aurochs, or wild +bull, of ancient Germany.] + +[Footnote 45: Consult the xxist Dissertation of Muratori.] + +[Footnote 46: Their ignorance is proved by the silence even of those +who professedly treat of the arts of hunting and the history of animals. +Aristotle, (Hist. Animal. l. ix. c. 36, tom. i. p. 586, and the Notes of +his last editor, M. Camus, tom. ii. p. 314,) Pliny, (Hist. Natur. l. +x. c. 10,) Aelian (de Natur. Animal. l. ii. c. 42,) and perhaps Homer, +(Odyss. xxii. 302-306,) describe with astonishment a tacit league and +common chase between the hawks and the Thracian fowlers.] + +[Footnote 47: Particularly the gerfaut, or gyrfalcon, of the size of +a small eagle. See the animated description of M. de Buffon, Hist. +Naturelle, tom. xvi. p. 239, &c.] + +[Footnote 48: Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. i. part ii. p. 129. This is +the xvith law of the emperor Lewis the Pious. His father Charlemagne had +falconers in his household as well as huntsmen, (Memoires sur l'ancienne +Chevalerie, par M. de St. Palaye, tom. iii. p. 175.) I observe in the +laws of Rotharis a more early mention of the art of hawking, (No. +322;) and in Gaul, in the fifth century, it is celebrated by Sidonius +Apollinaris among the talents of Avitus, (202--207.) * Note: See +Beckman, Hist. of Inventions, vol. i. p. 319--M.] + + + + + + +Chapter XLV: State Of Italy Under The Lombards.--Part III. + +So rapid was the influence of climate and example, that the Lombards of +the fourth generation surveyed with curiosity and affright the portraits +of their savage forefathers. [49] Their heads were shaven behind, +but the shaggy locks hung over their eyes and mouth, and a long beard +represented the name and character of the nation. Their dress consisted +of loose linen garments, after the fashion of the Anglo-Saxons, which +were decorated, in their opinion, with broad stripes or variegated +colors. The legs and feet were clothed in long hose, and open sandals; +and even in the security of peace a trusty sword was constantly girt to +their side. Yet this strange apparel, and horrid aspect, often concealed +a gentle and generous disposition; and as soon as the rage of battle +had subsided, the captives and subjects were sometimes surprised by the +humanity of the victor. The vices of the Lombards were the effect of +passion, of ignorance, of intoxication; their virtues are the more +laudable, as they were not affected by the hypocrisy of social manners, +nor imposed by the rigid constraint of laws and education. I should not +be apprehensive of deviating from my subject, if it were in my power +to delineate the private life of the conquerors of Italy; and I shall +relate with pleasure the adventurous gallantry of Autharis, which +breathes the true spirit of chivalry and romance. [50] After the loss +of his promised bride, a Merovingian princess, he sought in marriage the +daughter of the king of Bavaria; and Garribald accepted the alliance of +the Italian monarch. Impatient of the slow progress of negotiation, the +ardent lover escaped from his palace, and visited the court of Bavaria +in the train of his own embassy. At the public audience, the unknown +stranger advanced to the throne, and informed Garribald that the +ambassador was indeed the minister of state, but that he alone was the +friend of Autharis, who had trusted him with the delicate commission of +making a faithful report of the charms of his spouse. Theudelinda was +summoned to undergo this important examination; and, after a pause +of silent rapture, he hailed her as the queen of Italy, and humbly +requested that, according to the custom of the nation, she would present +a cup of wine to the first of her new subjects. By the command of +her father she obeyed: Autharis received the cup in his turn, and, in +restoring it to the princess, he secretly touched her hand, and drew his +own finger over his face and lips. In the evening, Theudelinda imparted +to her nurse the indiscreet familiarity of the stranger, and was +comforted by the assurance, that such boldness could proceed only from +the king her husband, who, by his beauty and courage, appeared worthy of +her love. The ambassadors were dismissed: no sooner did they reach the +confines of Italy than Autharis, raising himself on his horse, darted +his battle-axe against a tree with incomparable strength and dexterity. +"Such," said he to the astonished Bavarians, "such are the strokes of +the king of the Lombards." On the approach of a French army, Garribald +and his daughter took refuge in the dominions of their ally; and the +marriage was consummated in the palace of Verona. At the end of one +year, it was dissolved by the death of Autharis: but the virtues of +Theudelinda [51] had endeared her to the nation, and she was permitted +to bestow, with her hand, the sceptre of the Italian kingdom. + +[Footnote 49: The epitaph of Droctulf (Paul, l. iii. c. 19) may be +applied to many of his countrymen:-- Terribilis visu facies, sed corda +benignus Longaque robusto pectore barba fuit. The portraits of the old +Lombards might still be seen in the palace of Monza, twelve miles from +Milan, which had been founded or restored by Queen Theudelinda, (l. iv. +22, 23.) See Muratori, tom. i. disserta, xxiii. p. 300.] + +[Footnote 50: The story of Autharis and Theudelinda is related by Paul, +l. iii. 29, 34; and any fragment of Bavarian antiquity excites the +indefatigable diligence of the count de Buat, Hist. des Peuples de +l'Europe, ton. xi. p. 595--635, tom. xii. p. 1-53.] + +[Footnote 51: Giannone (Istoria Civile de Napoli, tom. i. p. 263) has +justly censured the impertinence of Boccaccio, (Gio. iii. Novel. 2,) +who, without right, or truth, or pretence, has given the pious queen +Theudelinda to the arms of a muleteer.] + +From this fact, as well as from similar events, [52] it is certain that +the Lombards possessed freedom to elect their sovereign, and sense to +decline the frequent use of that dangerous privilege. The public revenue +arose from the produce of land and the profits of justice. When the +independent dukes agreed that Autharis should ascend the throne of +his father, they endowed the regal office with a fair moiety of their +respective domains. The proudest nobles aspired to the honors of +servitude near the person of their prince: he rewarded the fidelity of +his vassals by the precarious gift of pensions and benefices; and +atoned for the injuries of war by the rich foundation of monasteries and +churches. In peace a judge, a leader in war, he never usurped the +powers of a sole and absolute legislator. The king of Italy convened the +national assemblies in the palace, or more probably in the fields, of +Pavia: his great council was composed of the persons most eminent by +their birth and dignities; but the validity, as well as the execution, +of their decrees depended on the approbation of the faithful people, the +fortunate army of the Lombards. About fourscore years after the conquest +of Italy, their traditional customs were transcribed in Teutonic Latin, +[53] and ratified by the consent of the prince and people: some new +regulations were introduced, more suitable to their present condition; +the example of Rotharis was imitated by the wisest of his successors; +and the laws of the Lombards have been esteemed the least imperfect of +the Barbaric codes. [54] Secure by their courage in the possession of +liberty, these rude and hasty legislators were incapable of balancing +the powers of the constitution, or of discussing the nice theory +of political government. Such crimes as threatened the life of the +sovereign, or the safety of the state, were adjudged worthy of death; +but their attention was principally confined to the defence of +the person and property of the subject. According to the strange +jurisprudence of the times, the guilt of blood might be redeemed by a +fine; yet the high price of nine hundred pieces of gold declares a +just sense of the value of a simple citizen. Less atrocious injuries, +a wound, a fracture, a blow, an opprobrious word, were measured with +scrupulous and almost ridiculous diligence; and the prudence of the +legislator encouraged the ignoble practice of bartering honor and +revenge for a pecuniary compensation. The ignorance of the Lombards in +the state of Paganism or Christianity gave implicit credit to the malice +and mischief of witchcraft, but the judges of the seventeenth century +might have been instructed and confounded by the wisdom of Rotharis, who +derides the absurd superstition, and protects the wretched victims +of popular or judicial cruelty. [55] The same spirit of a legislator, +superior to his age and country, may be ascribed to Luitprand, who +condemns, while he tolerates, the impious and inveterate abuse of duels, +[56] observing, from his own experience, that the juster cause had often +been oppressed by successful violence. Whatever merit may be discovered +in the laws of the Lombards, they are the genuine fruit of the reason +of the Barbarians, who never admitted the bishops of Italy to a seat in +their legislative councils. But the succession of their kings is marked +with virtue and ability; the troubled series of their annals is adorned +with fair intervals of peace, order, and domestic happiness; and the +Italians enjoyed a milder and more equitable government, than any of +the other kingdoms which had been founded on the ruins of the Western +empire. [57] + +[Footnote 52: Paul, l. iii. c. 16. The first dissertations of Muratori, +and the first volume of Giannone's history, may be consulted for the +state of the kingdom of Italy.] + +[Footnote 53: The most accurate edition of the Laws of the Lombards +is to be found in the Scriptores Rerum Italicarum, tom. i. part ii. +p. 1--181, collated from the most ancient Mss. and illustrated by the +critical notes of Muratori.] + +[Footnote 54: Montesquieu, Esprit des Loix, l. xxviii. c. 1. Les loix +des Bourguignons sont assez judicieuses; celles de Rotharis et des +autres princes Lombards le sont encore plus.] + +[Footnote 55: See Leges Rotharis, No. 379, p. 47. Striga is used as the +name of a witch. It is of the purest classic origin, (Horat. epod. v. +20. Petron. c. 134;) and from the words of Petronius, (quae striges +comederunt nervos tuos?) it may be inferred that the prejudice was of +Italian rather than Barbaric extraction.] + +[Footnote 56: Quia incerti sumus de judicio Dei, et multos audivimus per +pugnam sine justa causa suam causam perdere. Sed propter consuetudinom +gentem nostram Langobardorum legem impiam vetare non possumus. See p. +74, No. 65, of the Laws of Luitprand, promulgated A.D. 724.] + +[Footnote 57: Read the history of Paul Warnefrid; particularly l. iii. +c. 16. Baronius rejects the praise, which appears to contradict the +invectives of Pope Gregory the Great; but Muratori (Annali d' Italia, +tom. v. p. 217) presumes to insinuate that the saint may have magnified +the faults of Arians and enemies.] + +Amidst the arms of the Lombards, and under the despotism of the Greeks, +we again inquire into the fate of Rome, [58] which had reached, about +the close of the sixth century, the lowest period of her depression. +By the removal of the seat of empire, and the successive loss of the +provinces, the sources of public and private opulence were exhausted: +the lofty tree, under whose shade the nations of the earth had reposed, +was deprived of its leaves and branches, and the sapless trunk was left +to wither on the ground. The ministers of command, and the messengers of +victory, no longer met on the Appian or Flaminian way; and the hostile +approach of the Lombards was often felt, and continually feared. The +inhabitants of a potent and peaceful capital, who visit without an +anxious thought the garden of the adjacent country, will faintly picture +in their fancy the distress of the Romans: they shut or opened their +gates with a trembling hand, beheld from the walls the flames of their +houses, and heard the lamentations of their brethren, who were coupled +together like dogs, and dragged away into distant slavery beyond the sea +and the mountains. Such incessant alarms must annihilate the pleasures +and interrupt the labors of a rural life; and the Campagna of Rome was +speedily reduced to the state of a dreary wilderness, in which the land +is barren, the waters are impure, and the air is infectious. Curiosity +and ambition no longer attracted the nations to the capital of the +world: but, if chance or necessity directed the steps of a wandering +stranger, he contemplated with horror the vacancy and solitude of the +city, and might be tempted to ask, Where is the senate, and where are +the people? In a season of excessive rains, the Tyber swelled above its +banks, and rushed with irresistible violence into the valleys of the +seven hills. A pestilential disease arose from the stagnation of the +deluge, and so rapid was the contagion, that fourscore persons expired +in an hour in the midst of a solemn procession, which implored the mercy +of Heaven. [59] A society in which marriage is encouraged and industry +prevails soon repairs the accidental losses of pestilence and war: +but, as the far greater part of the Romans was condemned to hopeless +indigence and celibacy, the depopulation was constant and visible, and +the gloomy enthusiasts might expect the approaching failure of the human +race. [60] Yet the number of citizens still exceeded the measure of +subsistence: their precarious food was supplied from the harvests of +Sicily or Egypt; and the frequent repetition of famine betrays the +inattention of the emperor to a distant province. The edifices of Rome +were exposed to the same ruin and decay: the mouldering fabrics were +easily overthrown by inundations, tempests, and earthquakes: and the +monks, who had occupied the most advantageous stations, exulted in their +base triumph over the ruins of antiquity. [61] It is commonly believed, +that Pope Gregory the First attacked the temples and mutilated the +statues of the city; that, by the command of the Barbarian, the Palatine +library was reduced to ashes, and that the history of Livy was the +peculiar mark of his absurd and mischievous fanaticism. The writings +of Gregory himself reveal his implacable aversion to the monuments of +classic genius; and he points his severest censure against the profane +learning of a bishop, who taught the art of grammar, studied the Latin +poets, and pronounced with the same voice the praises of Jupiter and +those of Christ. But the evidence of his destructive rage is doubtful +and recent: the Temple of Peace, or the theatre of Marcellus, have been +demolished by the slow operation of ages, and a formal proscription +would have multiplied the copies of Virgil and Livy in the countries +which were not subject to the ecclesiastical dictator. [62] + +[Footnote 58: The passages of the homilies of Gregory, which represent +the miserable state of the city and country, are transcribed in the +Annals of Baronius, A.D. 590, No. 16, A.D. 595, No. 2, &c., &c.] + +[Footnote 59: The inundation and plague were reported by a deacon, whom +his bishop, Gregory of Tours, had despatched to Rome for some relics +The ingenious messenger embellished his tale and the river with a great +dragon and a train of little serpents, (Greg. Turon. l. x. c. 1.)] + +[Footnote 60: Gregory of Rome (Dialog. l. ii. c. 15) relates a memorable +prediction of St. Benedict. Roma a Gentilibus non exterminabitur sed +tempestatibus, coruscis turbinibus ac terrae motu in semetipsa marces +cet. Such a prophecy melts into true history, and becomes the evidence +of the fact after which it was invented.] + +[Footnote 61: Quia in uno se ore cum Jovis laudibus, Christi laudes non +capiunt, et quam grave nefandumque sit episcopis canere quod nec laico +religioso conveniat, ipse considera, (l. ix. ep. 4.) The writings of +Gregory himself attest his innocence of any classic taste or literature] + +[Footnote 62: Bayle, (Dictionnaire Critique, tom. ii. 598, 569,) in +a very good article of Gregoire I., has quoted, for the buildings and +statues, Platina in Gregorio I.; for the Palatine library, John of +Salisbury, (de Nugis Curialium, l. ii. c. 26;) and for Livy, Antoninus +of Florence: the oldest of the three lived in the xiith century.] + +Like Thebes, or Babylon, or Carthage, the names of Rome might have been +erased from the earth, if the city had not been animated by a vital +principle, which again restored her to honor and dominion. A vague +tradition was embraced, that two Jewish teachers, a tent-maker and a +fisherman, had formerly been executed in the circus of Nero, and at +the end of five hundred years, their genuine or fictitious relics were +adored as the Palladium of Christian Rome. The pilgrims of the East and +West resorted to the holy threshold; but the shrines of the apostles +were guarded by miracles and invisible terrors; and it was not without +fear that the pious Catholic approached the object of his worship. +It was fatal to touch, it was dangerous to behold, the bodies of the +saints; and those who, from the purest motives, presumed to disturb the +repose of the sanctuary, were affrighted by visions, or punished with +sudden death. The unreasonable request of an empress, who wished to +deprive the Romans of their sacred treasure, the head of St. Paul, +was rejected with the deepest abhorrence; and the pope asserted, most +probably with truth, that a linen which had been sanctified in the +neighborhood of his body, or the filings of his chain, which it was +sometimes easy and sometimes impossible to obtain, possessed an equal +degree of miraculous virtue. [63] But the power as well as virtue of the +apostles resided with living energy in the breast of their successors; +and the chair of St. Peter was filled under the reign of Maurice by the +first and greatest of the name of Gregory. [64] His grandfather Felix +had himself been pope, and as the bishops were already bound by the laws +of celibacy, his consecration must have been preceded by the death of +his wife. The parents of Gregory, Sylvia, and Gordian, were the noblest +of the senate, and the most pious of the church of Rome; his female +relations were numbered among the saints and virgins; and his own +figure, with those of his father and mother, were represented near +three hundred years in a family portrait, [65] which he offered to the +monastery of St. Andrew. The design and coloring of this picture afford +an honorable testimony that the art of painting was cultivated by +the Italians of the sixth century; but the most abject ideas must be +entertained of their taste and learning, since the epistles of Gregory, +his sermons, and his dialogues, are the work of a man who was second in +erudition to none of his contemporaries: [66] his birth and abilities +had raised him to the office of praefect of the city, and he enjoyed +the merit of renouncing the pomps and vanities of this world. His ample +patrimony was dedicated to the foundation of seven monasteries, [67] one +in Rome, [68] and six in Sicily; and it was the wish of Gregory that he +might be unknown in this life, and glorious only in the next. Yet his +devotion (and it might be sincere) pursued the path which would have +been chosen by a crafty and ambitious statesman. The talents of Gregory, +and the splendor which accompanied his retreat, rendered him dear and +useful to the church; and implicit obedience has always been inculcated +as the first duty of a monk. As soon as he had received the character of +deacon, Gregory was sent to reside at the Byzantine court, the nuncio or +minister of the apostolic see; and he boldly assumed, in the name of St. +Peter, a tone of independent dignity, which would have been criminal and +dangerous in the most illustrious layman of the empire. He returned to +Rome with a just increase of reputation, and, after a short exercise +of the monastic virtues, he was dragged from the cloister to the papal +throne, by the unanimous voice of the clergy, the senate, and the +people. He alone resisted, or seemed to resist, his own elevation; and +his humble petition, that Maurice would be pleased to reject the choice +of the Romans, could only serve to exalt his character in the eyes +of the emperor and the public. When the fatal mandate was proclaimed, +Gregory solicited the aid of some friendly merchants to convey him in +a basket beyond the gates of Rome, and modestly concealed himself some +days among the woods and mountains, till his retreat was discovered, as +it is said, by a celestial light. [Footnote 63: Gregor. l. iii. epist. +24, edict. 12, &c. From the epistles of Gregory, and the viiith volume +of the Annals of Baronius, the pious reader may collect the particles +of holy iron which were inserted in keys or crosses of gold, and +distributed in Britain, Gaul, Spain, Africa, Constantinople, and Egypt. +The pontifical smith who handled the file must have understood the +miracles which it was in his own power to operate or withhold; a +circumstance which abates the superstition of Gregory at the expense of +his veracity.] + +[Footnote 64: Besides the epistles of Gregory himself, which are +methodized by Dupin, (Bibliotheque Eccles. tom. v. p. 103--126,) we have +three lives of the pope; the two first written in the viiith and ixth +centuries, (de Triplici Vita St. Greg. Preface to the ivth volume of +the Benedictine edition,) by the deacons Paul (p. 1--18) and John, (p. +19--188,) and containing much original, though doubtful, evidence; the +third, a long and labored compilation by the Benedictine editors, (p. +199--305.) The annals of Baronius are a copious but partial history. +His papal prejudices are tempered by the good sense of Fleury, (Hist. +Eccles. tom. viii.,) and his chronology has been rectified by the +criticism of Pagi and Muratori.] + +[Footnote 65: John the deacon has described them like an eye-witness, +(l. iv. c. 83, 84;) and his description is illustrated by Angelo Rocca, +a Roman antiquary, (St. Greg. Opera, tom. iv. p. 312--326;) who observes +that some mosaics of the popes of the viith century are still preserved +in the old churches of Rome, (p. 321--323) The same walls which +represented Gregory's family are now decorated with the martyrdom of St. +Andrew, the noble contest of Dominichino and Guido.] + +[Footnote 66: Disciplinis vero liberalibus, hoc est grammatica, +rhetorica, dialectica ita apuero est institutus, ut quamvis eo tempore +florerent adhuc Romae studia literarum, tamen nulli in urbe ipsa +secundus putaretur. Paul. Diacon. in Vit. St. Gregor. c. 2.] + +[Footnote 67: The Benedictines (Vit. Greg. l. i. p. 205--208) labor to +reduce the monasteries of Gregory within the rule of their own order; +but, as the question is confessed to be doubtful, it is clear that these +powerful monks are in the wrong. See Butler's Lives of the Saints, +vol. iii. p. 145; a work of merit: the sense and learning belong to the +author--his prejudices are those of his profession.] + +[Footnote 68: Monasterium Gregorianum in ejusdem Beati Gregorii aedibus +ad clivum Scauri prope ecclesiam SS. Johannis et Pauli in honorem St. +Andreae, (John, in Vit. Greg. l. i. c. 6. Greg. l. vii. epist. 13.) This +house and monastery were situate on the side of the Caelian hill +which fronts the Palatine; they are now occupied by the Camaldoli: San +Gregorio triumphs, and St. Andrew has retired to a small chapel Nardini, +Roma Antica, l. iii. c. 6, p. 100. Descrizzione di Roma, tom. i. p. +442--446.] + +The pontificate of Gregory the Great, which lasted thirteen years, six +months, and ten days, is one of the most edifying periods of the history +of the church. His virtues, and even his faults, a singular mixture +of simplicity and cunning, of pride and humility, of sense and +superstition, were happily suited to his station and to the temper of +the times. In his rival, the patriarch of Constantinople, he condemned +the anti-Christian title of universal bishop, which the successor of +St. Peter was too haughty to concede, and too feeble to assume; and +the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Gregory was confined to the triple +character of Bishop of Rome, Primate of Italy, and Apostle of the West. +He frequently ascended the pulpit, and kindled, by his rude, though +pathetic, eloquence, the congenial passions of his audience: the +language of the Jewish prophets was interpreted and applied; and the +minds of a people, depressed by their present calamities, were directed +to the hopes and fears of the invisible world. His precepts and example +defined the model of the Roman liturgy; [69] the distribution of the +parishes, the calendar of the festivals, the order of processions, the +service of the priests and deacons, the variety and change of sacerdotal +garments. Till the last days of his life, he officiated in the canon of +the mass, which continued above three hours: the Gregorian chant [70] +has preserved the vocal and instrumental music of the theatre, and the +rough voices of the Barbarians attempted to imitate the melody of the +Roman school. [71] Experience had shown him the efficacy of these solemn +and pompous rites, to soothe the distress, to confirm the faith, to +mitigate the fierceness, and to dispel the dark enthusiasm of the +vulgar, and he readily forgave their tendency to promote the reign +of priesthood and superstition. The bishops of Italy and the adjacent +islands acknowledged the Roman pontiff as their special metropolitan. +Even the existence, the union, or the translation of episcopal seats was +decided by his absolute discretion: and his successful inroads into the +provinces of Greece, of Spain, and of Gaul, might countenance the more +lofty pretensions of succeeding popes. He interposed to prevent the +abuses of popular elections; his jealous care maintained the purity of +faith and discipline; and the apostolic shepherd assiduously watched +over the faith and discipline of the subordinate pastors. Under his +reign, the Arians of Italy and Spain were reconciled to the Catholic +church, and the conquest of Britain reflects less glory on the name of +Caesar, than on that of Gregory the First. Instead of six legions, forty +monks were embarked for that distant island, and the pontiff lamented +the austere duties which forbade him to partake the perils of their +spiritual warfare. In less than two years, he could announce to the +archbishop of Alexandria, that they had baptized the king of Kent with +ten thousand of his Anglo-Saxons, and that the Roman missionaries, +like those of the primitive church, were armed only with spiritual and +supernatural powers. The credulity or the prudence of Gregory was always +disposed to confirm the truths of religion by the evidence of ghosts, +miracles, and resurrections; [72] and posterity has paid to his memory +the same tribute which he freely granted to the virtue of his own or the +preceding generation. The celestial honors have been liberally bestowed +by the authority of the popes, but Gregory is the last of their own +order whom they have presumed to inscribe in the calendar of saints. + +[Footnote 69: The Lord's Prayer consists of half a dozen lines; the +Sacramentarius and Antiphonarius of Gregory fill 880 folio pages, (tom. +iii. p. i. p. 1--880;) yet these only constitute a part of the Ordo +Romanus, which Mabillon has illustrated and Fleury has abridged, (Hist. +Eccles. tom. viii. p. 139--152.)] + +[Footnote 70: I learn from the Abbe Dobos, (Reflexions sur la Poesie +et la Peinture, tom. iii. p. 174, 175,) that the simplicity of the +Ambrosian chant was confined to four modes, while the more perfect +harmony of the Gregorian comprised the eight modes or fifteen chords of +the ancient music. He observes (p. 332) that the connoisseurs admire the +preface and many passages of the Gregorian office.] + +[Footnote 71: John the deacon (in Vit. Greg. l. ii. c. 7) expresses the +early contempt of the Italians for tramontane singing. Alpina scilicet +corpora vocum suarum tonitruis altisone perstrepentia, susceptae +modulationis dulcedinem proprie non resultant: quia bibuli gutturis +barbara feritas dum inflexionibus et repercussionibus mitem nititur +edere cantilenam, naturali quodam fragore, quasi plaustra per gradus +confuse sonantia, rigidas voces jactat, &c. In the time of Charlemagne, +the Franks, though with some reluctance, admitted the justice of the +reproach. Muratori, Dissert. xxv.] + +[Footnote 72: A French critic (Petrus Gussanvillus, Opera, tom. ii. p. +105--112) has vindicated the right of Gregory to the entire nonsense of +the Dialogues. Dupin (tom. v. p. 138) does not think that any one will +vouch for the truth of all these miracles: I should like to know how +many of them he believed himself.] + +Their temporal power insensibly arose from the calamities of the times: +and the Roman bishops, who have deluged Europe and Asia with blood, were +compelled to reign as the ministers of charity and peace. I. The church +of Rome, as it has been formerly observed, was endowed with ample +possessions in Italy, Sicily, and the more distant provinces; and her +agents, who were commonly sub-deacons, had acquired a civil, and even +criminal, jurisdiction over their tenants and husbandmen. The successor +of St. Peter administered his patrimony with the temper of a vigilant +and moderate landlord; [73] and the epistles of Gregory are filled with +salutary instructions to abstain from doubtful or vexatious lawsuits; +to preserve the integrity of weights and measures; to grant every +reasonable delay; and to reduce the capitation of the slaves of +the glebe, who purchased the right of marriage by the payment of an +arbitrary fine. [74] The rent or the produce of these estates was +transported to the mouth of the Tyber, at the risk and expense of the +pope: in the use of wealth he acted like a faithful steward of +the church and the poor, and liberally applied to their wants the +inexhaustible resources of abstinence and order. The voluminous account +of his receipts and disbursements was kept above three hundred years +in the Lateran, as the model of Christian economy. On the four great +festivals, he divided their quarterly allowance to the clergy, to his +domestics, to the monasteries, the churches, the places of burial, the +almshouses, and the hospitals of Rome, and the rest of the diocese. On +the first day of every month, he distributed to the poor, according to +the season, their stated portion of corn, wine, cheese, vegetables, +oil, fish, fresh provisions, clothes, and money; and his treasurers were +continually summoned to satisfy, in his name, the extraordinary demands +of indigence and merit. The instant distress of the sick and helpless, +of strangers and pilgrims, was relieved by the bounty of each day, and +of every hour; nor would the pontiff indulge himself in a frugal repast, +till he had sent the dishes from his own table to some objects deserving +of his compassion. The misery of the times had reduced the nobles and +matrons of Rome to accept, without a blush, the benevolence of the +church: three thousand virgins received their food and raiment from the +hand of their benefactor; and many bishops of Italy escaped from the +Barbarians to the hospitable threshold of the Vatican. Gregory might +justly be styled the Father of his Country; and such was the extreme +sensibility of his conscience, that, for the death of a beggar who had +perished in the streets, he interdicted himself during several days +from the exercise of sacerdotal functions. II. The misfortunes of Rome +involved the apostolical pastor in the business of peace and war; and it +might be doubtful to himself, whether piety or ambition prompted him to +supply the place of his absent sovereign. Gregory awakened the emperor +from a long slumber; exposed the guilt or incapacity of the exarch and +his inferior ministers; complained that the veterans were withdrawn from +Rome for the defence of Spoleto; encouraged the Italians to guard their +cities and altars; and condescended, in the crisis of danger, to name +the tribunes, and to direct the operations, of the provincial troops. +But the martial spirit of the pope was checked by the scruples of +humanity and religion: the imposition of tribute, though it was employed +in the Italian war, he freely condemned as odious and oppressive; whilst +he protected, against the Imperial edicts, the pious cowardice of the +soldiers who deserted a military for a monastic life If we may credit +his own declarations, it would have been easy for Gregory to exterminate +the Lombards by their domestic factions, without leaving a king, a duke, +or a count, to save that unfortunate nation from the vengeance of their +foes As a Christian bishop, he preferred the salutary offices of peace; +his mediation appeased the tumult of arms: but he was too conscious of +the arts of the Greeks, and the passions of the Lombards, to engage his +sacred promise for the observance of the truce. Disappointed in the hope +of a general and lasting treaty, he presumed to save his country without +the consent of the emperor or the exarch. The sword of the enemy was +suspended over Rome; it was averted by the mild eloquence and seasonable +gifts of the pontiff, who commanded the respect of heretics and +Barbarians. The merits of Gregory were treated by the Byzantine court +with reproach and insult; but in the attachment of a grateful people, he +found the purest reward of a citizen, and the best right of a sovereign. +[75] + +[Footnote 73: Baronius is unwilling to expatiate on the care of the +patrimonies, lest he should betray that they consisted not of kingdoms, +but farms. The French writers, the Benedictine editors, (tom. iv. l. +iii. p. 272, &c.,) and Fleury, (tom. viii. p. 29, &c.,) are not afraid +of entering into these humble, though useful, details; and the humanity +of Fleury dwells on the social virtues of Gregory.] + +[Footnote 74: I much suspect that this pecuniary fine on the marriages +of villains produced the famous, and often fabulous right, de cuissage, +de marquette, &c. With the consent of her husband, a handsome bride +might commute the payment in the arms of a young landlord, and the +mutual favor might afford a precedent of local rather than legal +tyranny] + +[Footnote 75: The temporal reign of Gregory I. is ably exposed by +Sigonius in the first book, de Regno Italiae. See his works, tom. ii. p. +44--75] + + + + + +Chapter XLVI: Troubles In Persia.--Part I. + + Revolutions On Persia After The Death Of Chosroes On + Nushirvan.--His Son Hormouz, A Tyrant, Is Deposed.-- + Usurpation Of Baharam.--Flight And Restoration Of Chosroes + II.--His Gratitude To The Romans.--The Chagan Of The Avars.- + -Revolt Of The Army Against Maurice.--His Death.--Tyranny Of + Phocas.--Elevation Of Heraclius.--The Persian War.--Chosroes + Subdues Syria, Egypt, And Asia Minor.--Siege Of + Constantinople By The Persians And Avars.--Persian + Expeditions.--Victories And Triumph Of Heraclius. + +The conflict of Rome and Persia was prolonged from the death of Craesus +to the reign of Heraclius. An experience of seven hundred years might +convince the rival nations of the impossibility of maintaining their +conquests beyond the fatal limits of the Tigris and Euphrates. Yet +the emulation of Trajan and Julian was awakened by the trophies of +Alexander, and the sovereigns of Persia indulged the ambitious hope of +restoring the empire of Cyrus. [1] Such extraordinary efforts of power +and courage will always command the attention of posterity; but the +events by which the fate of nations is not materially changed, leave a +faint impression on the page of history, and the patience of the reader +would be exhausted by the repetition of the same hostilities, undertaken +without cause, prosecuted without glory, and terminated without effect. +The arts of negotiation, unknown to the simple greatness of the senate +and the Caesars, were assiduously cultivated by the Byzantine princes; +and the memorials of their perpetual embassies [2] repeat, with the +same uniform prolixity, the language of falsehood and declamation, the +insolence of the Barbarians, and the servile temper of the tributary +Greeks. Lamenting the barren superfluity of materials, I have studied to +compress the narrative of these uninteresting transactions: but the just +Nushirvan is still applauded as the model of Oriental kings, and the +ambition of his grandson Chosroes prepared the revolution of the East, +which was speedily accomplished by the arms and the religion of the +successors of Mahomet. + +[Footnote 1: Missis qui... reposcerent... veteres Persarum ac Macedonum +terminos, seque invasurum possessa Cyro et post Alexandro, per +vaniloquentiam ac minas jaciebat. Tacit. Annal. vi. 31. Such was the +language of the Arsacides. I have repeatedly marked the lofty claims of +the Sassanians.] + +[Footnote 2: See the embassies of Menander, extracted and preserved in +the tenth century by the order of Constantine Porphyrogenitus.] + +In the useless altercations, that precede and justify the quarrels of +princes, the Greeks and the Barbarians accused each other of violating +the peace which had been concluded between the two empires about four +years before the death of Justinian. The sovereign of Persia and India +aspired to reduce under his obedience the province of Yemen or Arabia +[3] Felix; the distant land of myrrh and frankincense, which had +escaped, rather than opposed, the conquerors of the East. After the +defeat of Abrahah under the walls of Mecca, the discord of his sons +and brothers gave an easy entrance to the Persians: they chased the +strangers of Abyssinia beyond the Red Sea; and a native prince of the +ancient Homerites was restored to the throne as the vassal or viceroy +of the great Nushirvan. [4] But the nephew of Justinian declared his +resolution to avenge the injuries of his Christian ally the prince of +Abyssinia, as they suggested a decent pretence to discontinue the annual +tribute, which was poorly disguised by the name of pension. The churches +of Persarmenia were oppressed by the intolerant spirit of the Magi; +[411] they secretly invoked the protector of the Christians, and, after +the pious murder of their satraps, the rebels were avowed and supported +as the brethren and subjects of the Roman emperor. The complaints of +Nushirvan were disregarded by the Byzantine court; Justin yielded to the +importunities of the Turks, who offered an alliance against the common +enemy; and the Persian monarchy was threatened at the same instant by +the united forces of Europe, of Aethiopia, and of Scythia. At the age +of fourscore the sovereign of the East would perhaps have chosen the +peaceful enjoyment of his glory and greatness; but as soon as war became +inevitable, he took the field with the alacrity of youth, whilst the +aggressor trembled in the palace of Constantinople. Nushirvan, or +Chosroes, conducted in person the siege of Dara; and although that +important fortress had been left destitute of troops and magazines, the +valor of the inhabitants resisted above five months the archers, the +elephants, and the military engines of the Great King. In the mean while +his general Adarman advanced from Babylon, traversed the desert, passed +the Euphrates, insulted the suburbs of Antioch, reduced to ashes the +city of Apamea, and laid the spoils of Syria at the feet of his master, +whose perseverance in the midst of winter at length subverted the +bulwark of the East. But these losses, which astonished the provinces +and the court, produced a salutary effect in the repentance and +abdication of the emperor Justin: a new spirit arose in the Byzantine +councils; and a truce of three years was obtained by the prudence of +Tiberius. That seasonable interval was employed in the preparations +of war; and the voice of rumor proclaimed to the world, that from the +distant countries of the Alps and the Rhine, from Scythia, Maesia, +Pannonia, Illyricum, and Isauria, the strength of the Imperial cavalry +was reenforced with one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers. Yet the +king of Persia, without fear, or without faith, resolved to prevent +the attack of the enemy; again passed the Euphrates, and dismissing the +ambassadors of Tiberius, arrogantly commanded them to await his arrival +at Caesarea, the metropolis of the Cappadocian provinces. The two armies +encountered each other in the battle of Melitene: [412] the Barbarians, +who darkened the air with a cloud of arrows, prolonged their line, and +extended their wings across the plain; while the Romans, in deep and +solid bodies, expected to prevail in closer action, by the weight of +their swords and lances. A Scythian chief, who commanded their right +wing, suddenly turned the flank of the enemy, attacked their rear-guard +in the presence of Chosroes, penetrated to the midst of the camp, +pillaged the royal tent, profaned the eternal fire, loaded a train of +camels with the spoils of Asia, cut his way through the Persian host, +and returned with songs of victory to his friends, who had consumed the +day in single combats, or ineffectual skirmishes. The darkness of the +night, and the separation of the Romans, afforded the Persian monarch an +opportunity of revenge; and one of their camps was swept away by a rapid +and impetuous assault. But the review of his loss, and the consciousness +of his danger, determined Chosroes to a speedy retreat: he burnt, in his +passage, the vacant town of Melitene; and, without consulting the safety +of his troops, boldly swam the Euphrates on the back of an elephant. +After this unsuccessful campaign, the want of magazines, and perhaps +some inroad of the Turks, obliged him to disband or divide his forces; +the Romans were left masters of the field, and their general Justinian, +advancing to the relief of the Persarmenian rebels, erected his standard +on the banks of the Araxes. The great Pompey had formerly halted within +three days' march of the Caspian: [5] that inland sea was explored, for +the first time, by a hostile fleet, [6] and seventy thousand captives +were transplanted from Hyrcania to the Isle of Cyprus. On the return +of spring, Justinian descended into the fertile plains of Assyria; +the flames of war approached the residence of Nushirvan; the indignant +monarch sunk into the grave; and his last edict restrained his +successors from exposing their person in battle against the Romans. +[611] Yet the memory of this transient affront was lost in the glories +of a long reign; and his formidable enemies, after indulging their dream +of conquest, again solicited a short respite from the calamities of war. +[7] + +[Footnote 3: The general independence of the Arabs, which cannot be +admitted without many limitations, is blindly asserted in a separate +dissertation of the authors of the Universal History, vol. xx. p. +196--250. A perpetual miracle is supposed to have guarded the prophecy +in favor of the posterity of Ishmael; and these learned bigots are not +afraid to risk the truth of Christianity on this frail and slippery +foundation. * Note: It certainly appears difficult to extract a +prediction of the perpetual independence of the Arabs from the text in +Genesis, which would have received an ample fulfilment during +centuries of uninvaded freedom. But the disputants appear to forget the +inseparable connection in the prediction between the wild, the Bedoween +habits of the Ismaelites, with their national independence. The +stationary and civilized descendant of Ismael forfeited, as it were, his +birthright, and ceased to be a genuine son of the "wild man" The +phrase, "dwelling in the presence of his brethren," is interpreted by +Rosenmuller (in loc.) and others, according to the Hebrew geography, "to +the East" of his brethren, the legitimate race of Abraham--M.] + +[Footnote 4: D'Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient. p. 477. Pocock, Specimen +Hist. Arabum, p. 64, 65. Father Pagi (Critica, tom. ii. p. 646) has +proved that, after ten years' peace, the Persian war, which continued +twenty years, was renewed A.D. 571. Mahomet was born A.D. 569, in +the year of the elephant, or the defeat of Abrahah, (Gagnier, Vie de +Mahomet, tom. i. p. 89, 90, 98;) and this account allows two years for +the conquest of Yemen. * Note: Abrahah, according to some accounts, was +succeeded by his son Taksoum, who reigned seventeen years; his brother +Mascouh, who was slain in battle against the Persians, twelve. But this +chronology is irreconcilable with the Arabian conquests of Nushirvan the +Great. Either Seif, or his son Maadi Karb, was the native prince placed +on the throne by the Persians. St. Martin, vol. x. p. 78. See likewise +Johannsen, Hist. Yemanae.--M.] + +[Footnote 411: Persarmenia was long maintained in peace by the tolerant +administration of Mejej, prince of the Gnounians. On his death he was +succeeded by a persecutor, a Persian, named Ten-Schahpour, who attempted +to propagate Zoroastrianism by violence. Nushirvan, on an appeal to +the throne by the Armenian clergy, replaced Ten-Schahpour, in 552, by +Veschnas-Vahram. The new marzban, or governor, was instructed to repress +the bigoted Magi in their persecutions of the Armenians, but the Persian +converts to Christianity were still exposed to cruel sufferings. The +most distinguished of them, Izdbouzid, was crucified at Dovin in the +presence of a vast multitude. The fame of this martyr spread to the +West. Menander, the historian, not only, as appears by a fragment +published by Mai, related this event in his history, but, according +to M. St. Martin, wrote a tragedy on the subject. This, however, is +an unwarrantable inference from the phrase which merely means that he +related the tragic event in his history. An epigram on the same subject, +preserved in the Anthology, Jacob's Anth. Palat. i. 27, belongs to +the historian. Yet Armenia remained in peace under the government of +Veschnas-Vahram and his successor Varazdat. The tyranny of his successor +Surena led to the insurrection under Vartan, the Mamigonian, who +revenged the death of his brother on the marzban Surena, surprised +Dovin, and put to the sword the governor, the soldiers, and the Magians. +From St. Martin, vol x. p. 79--89.--M.] + +[Footnote 412: Malathiah. It was in the lesser Armenia.--M.] + +[Footnote 5: He had vanquished the Albanians, who brought into the field +12,000 horse and 60,000 foot; but he dreaded the multitude of venomous +reptiles, whose existence may admit of some doubt, as well as that of +the neighboring Amazons. Plutarch, in Pompeio, tom. ii. p. 1165, 1166.] + +[Footnote 6: In the history of the world I can only perceive two navies +on the Caspian: 1. Of the Macedonians, when Patrocles, the admiral of +the kings of Syria, Seleucus and Antiochus, descended most probably the +River Oxus, from the confines of India, (Plin. Hist. Natur. vi. 21.) 2. +Of the Russians, when Peter the First conducted a fleet and army from +the neighborhood of Moscow to the coast of Persia, (Bell's Travels, vol. +ii. p. 325--352.) He justly observes, that such martial pomp had never +been displayed on the Volga.] + +[Footnote 611: This circumstance rests on the statements of Evagrius and +Theophylaci Simocatta. They are not of sufficient authority to establish +a fact so improbable. St. Martin, vol. x. p. 140.--M.] + +[Footnote 7: For these Persian wars and treaties, see Menander, in +Excerpt. Legat. p. 113--125. Theophanes Byzant. apud Photium, cod. lxiv +p. 77, 80, 81. Evagrius, l. v. c. 7--15. Theophylact, l. iii. c. 9--16 +Agathias, l. iv. p. 140.] + +The throne of Chosroes Nushirvan was filled by Hormouz, or Hormisdas, +the eldest or the most favored of his sons. With the kingdoms of Persia +and India, he inherited the reputation and example of his father, the +service, in every rank, of his wise and valiant officers, and a general +system of administration, harmonized by time and political wisdom to +promote the happiness of the prince and people. But the royal youth +enjoyed a still more valuable blessing, the friendship of a sage who had +presided over his education, and who always preferred the honor to the +interest of his pupil, his interest to his inclination. In a dispute +with the Greek and Indian philosophers, Buzurg [8] had once maintained, +that the most grievous misfortune of life is old age without the +remembrance of virtue; and our candor will presume that the same +principle compelled him, during three years, to direct the councils of +the Persian empire. His zeal was rewarded by the gratitude and docility +of Hormouz, who acknowledged himself more indebted to his preceptor than +to his parent: but when age and labor had impaired the strength, and +perhaps the faculties, of this prudent counsellor, he retired from +court, and abandoned the youthful monarch to his own passions and those +of his favorites. By the fatal vicissitude of human affairs, the same +scenes were renewed at Ctesiphon, which had been exhibited at Rome after +the death of Marcus Antoninus. The ministers of flattery and corruption, +who had been banished by his father, were recalled and cherished by +the son; the disgrace and exile of the friends of Nushirvan established +their tyranny; and virtue was driven by degrees from the mind of +Hormouz, from his palace, and from the government of the state. The +faithful agents, the eyes and ears of the king, informed him of the +progress of disorder, that the provincial governors flew to their prey +with the fierceness of lions and eagles, and that their rapine and +injustice would teach the most loyal of his subjects to abhor the name +and authority of their sovereign. The sincerity of this advice was +punished with death; the murmurs of the cities were despised, their +tumults were quelled by military execution: the intermediate powers +between the throne and the people were abolished; and the childish +vanity of Hormouz, who affected the daily use of the tiara, was fond of +declaring, that he alone would be the judge as well as the master of his +kingdom. + +In every word, and in every action, the son of Nushirvan degenerated +from the virtues of his father. His avarice defrauded the troops; his +jealous caprice degraded the satraps; the palace, the tribunals, the +waters of the Tigris, were stained with the blood of the innocent, and +the tyrant exulted in the sufferings and execution of thirteen thousand +victims. As the excuse of his cruelty, he sometimes condescended to +observe, that the fears of the Persians would be productive of hatred, +and that their hatred must terminate in rebellion but he forgot that his +own guilt and folly had inspired the sentiments which he deplored, and +prepared the event which he so justly apprehended. Exasperated by long +and hopeless oppression, the provinces of Babylon, Susa, and Carmania, +erected the standard of revolt; and the princes of Arabia, India, and +Scythia, refused the customary tribute to the unworthy successor of +Nushirvan. The arms of the Romans, in slow sieges and frequent inroads, +afflicted the frontiers of Mesopotamia and Assyria: one of their +generals professed himself the disciple of Scipio; and the soldiers were +animated by a miraculous image of Christ, whose mild aspect should never +have been displayed in the front of battle. [9] At the same time, the +eastern provinces of Persia were invaded by the great khan, who passed +the Oxus at the head of three or four hundred thousand Turks. The +imprudent Hormouz accepted their perfidious and formidable aid; the +cities of Khorassan or Bactriana were commanded to open their gates the +march of the Barbarians towards the mountains of Hyrcania revealed the +correspondence of the Turkish and Roman arms; and their union must have +subverted the throne of the house of Sassan. + +[Footnote 8: Buzurg Mihir may be considered, in his character and +station, as the Seneca of the East; but his virtues, and perhaps his +faults, are less known than those of the Roman, who appears to have been +much more loquacious. The Persian sage was the person who imported from +India the game of chess and the fables of Pilpay. Such has been the fame +of his wisdom and virtues, that the Christians claim him as a believer +in the gospel; and the Mahometans revere Buzurg as a premature +Mussulman. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 218.] + +[Footnote 9: See the imitation of Scipio in Theophylact, l. i. c. 14; +the image of Christ, l. ii. c. 3. Hereafter I shall speak more amply +of the Christian images--I had almost said idols. This, if I am not +mistaken, is the oldest of divine manufacture; but in the next thousand +years, many others issued from the same workshop.] + +Persia had been lost by a king; it was saved by a hero. After his +revolt, Varanes or Bahram is stigmatized by the son of Hormouz as an +ungrateful slave; the proud and ambiguous reproach of despotism, since +he was truly descended from the ancient princes of Rei, [10] one of +the seven families whose splendid, as well as substantial, prerogatives +exalted them above the heads of the Persian nobility. [11] At the siege +of Dara, the valor of Bahram was signalized under the eyes of Nushirvan, +and both the father and son successively promoted him to the command of +armies, the government of Media, and the superintendence of the palace. +The popular prediction which marked him as the deliverer of Persia, +might be inspired by his past victories and extraordinary figure: the +epithet Giubin [1111] is expressive of the quality of dry wood: he had +the strength and stature of a giant; and his savage countenance was +fancifully compared to that of a wild cat. While the nation trembled, +while Hormouz disguised his terror by the name of suspicion, and his +servants concealed their disloyalty under the mask of fear, Bahram alone +displayed his undaunted courage and apparent fidelity: and as soon as +he found that no more than twelve thousand soldiers would follow him +against the enemy; he prudently declared, that to this fatal number +Heaven had reserved the honors of the triumph. [1112] The steep and +narrow descent of the Pule Rudbar, [12] or Hyrcanian rock, is the only +pass through which an army can penetrate into the territory of Rei and +the plains of Media. From the commanding heights, a band of resolute men +might overwhelm with stones and darts the myriads of the Turkish +host: their emperor and his son were transpierced with arrows; and the +fugitives were left, without counsel or provisions, to the revenge of an +injured people. The patriotism of the Persian general was stimulated by +his affection for the city of his forefathers: in the hour of victory, +every peasant became a soldier, and every soldier a hero; and their +ardor was kindled by the gorgeous spectacle of beds, and thrones, and +tables of massy gold, the spoils of Asia, and the luxury of the hostile +camp. A prince of a less malignant temper could not easily have forgiven +his benefactor; and the secret hatred of Hormouz was envenomed by a +malicious report, that Bahram had privately retained the most precious +fruits of his Turkish victory. But the approach of a Roman army on +the side of the Araxes compelled the implacable tyrant to smile and to +applaud; and the toils of Bahram were rewarded with the permission of +encountering a new enemy, by their skill and discipline more formidable +than a Scythian multitude. Elated by his recent success, he despatched +a herald with a bold defiance to the camp of the Romans, requesting them +to fix a day of battle, and to choose whether they would pass the river +themselves, or allow a free passage to the arms of the great king. The +lieutenant of the emperor Maurice preferred the safer alternative; and +this local circumstance, which would have enhanced the victory of +the Persians, rendered their defeat more bloody and their escape more +difficult. But the loss of his subjects, and the danger of his kingdom, +were overbalanced in the mind of Hormouz by the disgrace of his personal +enemy; and no sooner had Bahram collected and reviewed his forces, than +he received from a royal messenger the insulting gift of a distaff, a +spinning-wheel, and a complete suit of female apparel. Obedient to the +will of his sovereign he showed himself to the soldiers in this unworthy +disguise they resented his ignominy and their own; a shout of rebellion +ran through the ranks; and the general accepted their oath of fidelity +and vows of revenge. A second messenger, who had been commanded to bring +the rebel in chains, was trampled under the feet of an elephant, and +manifestos were diligently circulated, exhorting the Persians to assert +their freedom against an odious and contemptible tyrant. The defection +was rapid and universal; his loyal slaves were sacrificed to the public +fury; the troops deserted to the standard of Bahram; and the provinces +again saluted the deliverer of his country. + +[Footnote 10: Ragae, or Rei, is mentioned in the Apocryphal book +of Tobit as already flourishing, 700 years before Christ, under the +Assyrian empire. Under the foreign names of Europus and Arsacia, this +city, 500 stadia to the south of the Caspian gates, was successively +embellished by the Macedonians and Parthians, (Strabo, l. xi. p. 796.) +Its grandeur and populousness in the ixth century are exaggerated beyond +the bounds of credibility; but Rei has been since ruined by wars and the +unwholesomeness of the air. Chardin, Voyage en Perse, tom. i. p. 279, +280. D'Herbelot, Biblioth. Oriental. p. 714.] + +[Footnote 11: Theophylact. l. iii. c. 18. The story of the seven +Persians is told in the third book of Herodotus; and their noble +descendants are often mentioned, especially in the fragments of Ctesias. +Yet the independence of Otanes (Herodot. l. iii. c. 83, 84) is hostile +to the spirit of despotism, and it may not seem probable that the seven +families could survive the revolutions of eleven hundred years. They +might, however, be represented by the seven ministers, (Brisson, de +Regno Persico, l. i. p. 190;) and some Persian nobles, like the kings +of Pontus (Polyb l. v. p. 540) and Cappadocia, (Diodor. Sicul. l. xxxi. +tom. ii. p. 517,) might claim their descent from the bold companions of +Darius.] + +[Footnote 1111: He is generally called Baharam Choubeen, Baharam, the +stick-like, probably from his appearance. Malcolm, vol. i. p. 120.--M.] + +[Footnote 1112: The Persian historians say, that Hormouz entreated his +general to increase his numbers; but Baharam replied, that experience +had taught him that it was the quality, not the number of soldiers, +which gave success. * * * No man in his army was under forty years, and +none above fifty. Malcolm, vol. i. p. 121--M.] + +[Footnote 12: See an accurate description of this mountain by Olearius, +(Voyage en Perse, p. 997, 998,) who ascended it with much difficulty and +danger in his return from Ispahan to the Caspian Sea.] + +As the passes were faithfully guarded, Hormouz could only compute the +number of his enemies by the testimony of a guilty conscience, and the +daily defection of those who, in the hour of his distress, avenged their +wrongs, or forgot their obligations. He proudly displayed the ensigns of +royalty; but the city and palace of Modain had already escaped from +the hand of the tyrant. Among the victims of his cruelty, Bindoes, a +Sassanian prince, had been cast into a dungeon; his fetters were broken +by the zeal and courage of a brother; and he stood before the king at +the head of those trusty guards, who had been chosen as the ministers +of his confinement, and perhaps of his death. Alarmed by the hasty +intrusion and bold reproaches of the captive, Hormouz looked round, +but in vain, for advice or assistance; discovered that his strength +consisted in the obedience of others; and patiently yielded to the +single arm of Bindoes, who dragged him from the throne to the same +dungeon in which he himself had been so lately confined. At the first +tumult, Chosroes, the eldest of the sons of Hormouz, escaped from the +city; he was persuaded to return by the pressing and friendly invitation +of Bindoes, who promised to seat him on his father's throne, and who +expected to reign under the name of an inexperienced youth. In the just +assurance, that his accomplices could neither forgive nor hope to be +forgiven, and that every Persian might be trusted as the judge and enemy +of the tyrant, he instituted a public trial without a precedent and +without a copy in the annals of the East. The son of Nushirvan, who had +requested to plead in his own defence, was introduced as a criminal +into the full assembly of the nobles and satraps. [13] He was heard with +decent attention as long as he expatiated on the advantages of order and +obedience, the danger of innovation, and the inevitable discord of those +who had encouraged each other to trample on their lawful and hereditary +sovereign. By a pathetic appeal to their humanity, he extorted that pity +which is seldom refused to the fallen fortunes of a king; and while they +beheld the abject posture and squalid appearance of the prisoner, +his tears, his chains, and the marks of ignominious stripes, it was +impossible to forget how recently they had adored the divine splendor of +his diadem and purple. But an angry murmur arose in the assembly as soon +as he presumed to vindicate his conduct, and to applaud the victories +of his reign. He defined the duties of a king, and the Persian nobles +listened with a smile of contempt; they were fired with indignation +when he dared to vilify the character of Chosroes; and by the indiscreet +offer of resigning the sceptre to the second of his sons, he subscribed +his own condemnation, and sacrificed the life of his own innocent +favorite. The mangled bodies of the boy and his mother were exposed to +the people; the eyes of Hormouz were pierced with a hot needle; and the +punishment of the father was succeeded by the coronation of his eldest +son. Chosroes had ascended the throne without guilt, and his piety +strove to alleviate the misery of the abdicated monarch; from the +dungeon he removed Hormouz to an apartment of the palace, supplied with +liberality the consolations of sensual enjoyment, and patiently endured +the furious sallies of his resentment and despair. He might despise the +resentment of a blind and unpopular tyrant, but the tiara was trembling +on his head, till he could subvert the power, or acquire the friendship, +of the great Bahram, who sternly denied the justice of a revolution, in +which himself and his soldiers, the true representatives of Persia, had +never been consulted. The offer of a general amnesty, and of the second +rank in his kingdom, was answered by an epistle from Bahram, friend of +the gods, conqueror of men, and enemy of tyrants, the satrap of satraps, +general of the Persian armies, and a prince adorned with the title of +eleven virtues. [14] He commands Chosroes, the son of Hormouz, to shun +the example and fate of his father, to confine the traitors who had been +released from their chains, to deposit in some holy place the diadem +which he had usurped, and to accept from his gracious benefactor the +pardon of his faults and the government of a province. The rebel might +not be proud, and the king most assuredly was not humble; but the one +was conscious of his strength, the other was sensible of his weakness; +and even the modest language of his reply still left room for treaty and +reconciliation. Chosroes led into the field the slaves of the palace and +the populace of the capital: they beheld with terror the banners of a +veteran army; they were encompassed and surprised by the evolutions +of the general; and the satraps who had deposed Hormouz, received the +punishment of their revolt, or expiated their first treason by a second +and more criminal act of disloyalty. The life and liberty of Chosroes +were saved, but he was reduced to the necessity of imploring aid or +refuge in some foreign land; and the implacable Bindoes, anxious to +secure an unquestionable title, hastily returned to the palace, and +ended, with a bowstring, the wretched existence of the son of Nushirvan. +[15] + +[Footnote 13: The Orientals suppose that Bahram convened this assembly +and proclaimed Chosroes; but Theophylact is, in this instance, more +distinct and credible. * Note: Yet Theophylact seems to have seized +the opportunity to indulge his propensity for writing orations; and the +orations read rather like those of a Grecian sophist than of an Eastern +assembly.--M.] + +[Footnote 14: See the words of Theophylact, l. iv. c. 7., &c. In answer, +Chosroes styles himself in genuine Oriental bombast.] + +[Footnote 15: Theophylact (l. iv. c. 7) imputes the death of Hormouz +to his son, by whose command he was beaten to death with clubs. I have +followed the milder account of Khondemir and Eutychius, and shall +always be content with the slightest evidence to extenuate the crime +of parricide. Note: Malcolm concurs in ascribing his death to Bundawee, +(Bindoes,) vol. i. p. 123. The Eastern writers generally impute the +crime to the uncle St. Martin, vol. x. p. 300.--M.] + +While Chosroes despatched the preparations of his retreat, he +deliberated with his remaining friends, [16] whether he should lurk +in the valleys of Mount Caucasus, or fly to the tents of the Turks, +or solicit the protection of the emperor. The long emulation of the +successors of Artaxerxes and Constantine increased his reluctance to +appear as a suppliant in a rival court; but he weighed the forces of the +Romans, and prudently considered that the neighborhood of Syria would +render his escape more easy and their succors more effectual. Attended +only by his concubines, and a troop of thirty guards, he secretly +departed from the capital, followed the banks of the Euphrates, +traversed the desert, and halted at the distance of ten miles from +Circesium. About the third watch of the night, the Roman praefect was +informed of his approach, and he introduced the royal stranger to +the fortress at the dawn of day. From thence the king of Persia was +conducted to the more honorable residence of Hierapolis; and Maurice +dissembled his pride, and displayed his benevolence, at the reception +of the letters and ambassadors of the grandson of Nushirvan. They humbly +represented the vicissitudes of fortune and the common interest of +princes, exaggerated the ingratitude of Bahram, the agent of the evil +principle, and urged, with specious argument, that it was for the +advantage of the Romans themselves to support the two monarchies which +balance the world, the two great luminaries by whose salutary influence +it is vivified and adorned. The anxiety of Chosroes was soon relieved +by the assurance, that the emperor had espoused the cause of justice +and royalty; but Maurice prudently declined the expense and delay of his +useless visit to Constantinople. In the name of his generous benefactor, +a rich diadem was presented to the fugitive prince, with an inestimable +gift of jewels and gold; a powerful army was assembled on the frontiers +of Syria and Armenia, under the command of the valiant and faithful +Narses, [17] and this general, of his own nation, and his own choice, +was directed to pass the Tigris, and never to sheathe his sword till +he had restored Chosroes to the throne of his ancestors. [1711] The +enterprise, however splendid, was less arduous than it might appear. +Persia had already repented of her fatal rashness, which betrayed the +heir of the house of Sassan to the ambition of a rebellious subject: +and the bold refusal of the Magi to consecrate his usurpation, compelled +Bahram to assume the sceptre, regardless of the laws and prejudices of +the nation. The palace was soon distracted with conspiracy, the city +with tumult, the provinces with insurrection; and the cruel execution of +the guilty and the suspected served to irritate rather than subdue the +public discontent. No sooner did the grandson of Nushirvan display his +own and the Roman banners beyond the Tigris, than he was joined, each +day, by the increasing multitudes of the nobility and people; and as he +advanced, he received from every side the grateful offerings of the keys +of his cities and the heads of his enemies. As soon as Modain was freed +from the presence of the usurper, the loyal inhabitants obeyed the first +summons of Mebodes at the head of only two thousand horse, and Chosroes +accepted the sacred and precious ornaments of the palace as the pledge +of their truth and the presage of his approaching success. After the +junction of the Imperial troops, which Bahram vainly struggled to +prevent, the contest was decided by two battles on the banks of the Zab, +and the confines of Media. The Romans, with the faithful subjects of +Persia, amounted to sixty thousand, while the whole force of the usurper +did not exceed forty thousand men: the two generals signalized their +valor and ability; but the victory was finally determined by the +prevalence of numbers and discipline. With the remnant of a broken army, +Bahram fled towards the eastern provinces of the Oxus: the enmity of +Persia reconciled him to the Turks; but his days were shortened by +poison, perhaps the most incurable of poisons; the stings of remorse +and despair, and the bitter remembrance of lost glory. Yet the modern +Persians still commemorate the exploits of Bahram; and some excellent +laws have prolonged the duration of his troubled and transitory reign. + +[Footnote 16: After the battle of Pharsalia, the Pompey of Lucan (l. +viii. 256--455) holds a similar debate. He was himself desirous of +seeking the Parthians: but his companions abhorred the unnatural +alliance and the adverse prejudices might operate as forcibly on +Chosroes and his companions, who could describe, with the same +vehemence, the contrast of laws, religion, and manners, between the East +and West.] + +[Footnote 17: In this age there were three warriors of the name of +Narses, who have been often confounded, (Pagi, Critica, tom. ii. p. +640:) 1. A Persarmenian, the brother of Isaac and Armatius, who, after +a successful action against Belisarius, deserted from his Persian +sovereign, and afterwards served in the Italian war.--2. The eunuch who +conquered Italy.--3. The restorer of Chosroes, who is celebrated in +the poem of Corippus (l. iii. 220--327) as excelsus super omnia +vertico agmina.... habitu modestus.... morum probitate placens, virtute +verendus; fulmineus, cautus, vigilans, &c.] + +[Footnote 1711: The Armenians adhered to Chosroes. St. Martin, vol. x. +p. 312.--M.] + +[Footnote 1712: According to Mivkhond and the Oriental writers, Bahram +received the daughter of the Khakan in marriage, and commanded a body +of Turks in an invasion of Persia. Some say that he was assassinated; +Malcolm adopts the opinion that he was poisoned. His sister Gourdieh, +the companion of his flight, is celebrated in the Shah Nameh. She +was afterwards one of the wives of Chosroes. St. Martin. vol. x. p. +331.--M.] + +The restoration of Chosroes was celebrated with feasts and executions; +and the music of the royal banquet was often disturbed by the groans +of dying or mutilated criminals. A general pardon might have diffused +comfort and tranquillity through a country which had been shaken by +the late revolutions; yet, before the sanguinary temper of Chosroes is +blamed, we should learn whether the Persians had not been accustomed +either to dread the rigor, or to despise the weakness, of their +sovereign. The revolt of Bahram, and the conspiracy of the satraps, were +impartially punished by the revenge or justice of the conqueror; the +merits of Bindoes himself could not purify his hand from the guilt +of royal blood: and the son of Hormouz was desirous to assert his own +innocence, and to vindicate the sanctity of kings. During the vigor of +the Roman power, several princes were seated on the throne of Persia by +the arms and the authority of the first Caesars. But their new subjects +were soon disgusted with the vices or virtues which they had imbibed in +a foreign land; the instability of their dominion gave birth to a vulgar +observation, that the choice of Rome was solicited and rejected with +equal ardor by the capricious levity of Oriental slaves. But the glory +of Maurice was conspicuous in the long and fortunate reign of his son +and his ally. A band of a thousand Romans, who continued to guard the +person of Chosroes, proclaimed his confidence in the fidelity of the +strangers; his growing strength enabled him to dismiss this unpopular +aid, but he steadily professed the same gratitude and reverence to his +adopted father; and till the death of Maurice, the peace and alliance +of the two empires were faithfully maintained. [18] Yet the mercenary +friendship of the Roman prince had been purchased with costly and +important gifts; the strong cities of Martyropolis and Dara [1811] +were restored, and the Persarmenians became the willing subjects of an +empire, whose eastern limit was extended, beyond the example of former +times, as far as the banks of the Araxes, and the neighborhood of the +Caspian. A pious hope was indulged, that the church as well as the state +might triumph in this revolution: but if Chosroes had sincerely listened +to the Christian bishops, the impression was erased by the zeal and +eloquence of the Magi: if he was armed with philosophic indifference, +he accommodated his belief, or rather his professions, to the various +circumstances of an exile and a sovereign. The imaginary conversion of +the king of Persia was reduced to a local and superstitious veneration +for Sergius, [19] one of the saints of Antioch, who heard his prayers +and appeared to him in dreams; he enriched the shrine with offerings of +gold and silver, and ascribed to this invisible patron the success of +his arms, and the pregnancy of Sira, a devout Christian and the best +beloved of his wives. [20] The beauty of Sira, or Schirin, [21] her wit, +her musical talents, are still famous in the history, or rather in +the romances, of the East: her own name is expressive, in the Persian +tongue, of sweetness and grace; and the epithet of Parviz alludes to the +charms of her royal lover. Yet Sira never shared the passions which she +inspired, and the bliss of Chosroes was tortured by a jealous doubt, +that while he possessed her person, she had bestowed her affections on a +meaner favorite. [22] + +[Footnote 18: Experimentis cognitum est Barbaros malle Roma petere +reges quam habere. These experiments are admirably represented in the +invitation and expulsion of Vonones, (Annal. ii. 1--3,) Tiridates, +(Annal. vi. 32-44,) and Meherdates, (Annal. xi. 10, xii. 10-14.) The eye +of Tacitus seems to have transpierced the camp of the Parthians and the +walls of the harem.] + +[Footnote 1811: Concerning Nisibis, see St. Martin and his Armenian +authorities, vol. x p. 332, and Memoires sur l'Armenie, tom. i. p. +25.--M.] + +[Footnote 19: Sergius and his companion Bacchus, who are said to have +suffered in the persecution of Maximian, obtained divine honor in +France, Italy, Constantinople, and the East. Their tomb at Rasaphe was +famous for miracles, and that Syrian town acquired the more honorable +name of Sergiopolis. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. v. p. 481--496. +Butler's Saints, vol. x. p. 155.] + +[Footnote 20: Evagrius (l. vi. c. 21) and Theophylact (l. v. c. 13, +14) have preserved the original letters of Chosroes, written in Greek, +signed with his own hand, and afterwards inscribed on crosses and tables +of gold, which were deposited in the church of Sergiopolis. They had +been sent to the bishop of Antioch, as primate of Syria. * Note: +St. Martin thinks that they were first written in Syriac, and then +translated into the bad Greek in which they appear, vol. x. p. 334.--M.] + +[Footnote 21: The Greeks only describe her as a Roman by birth, a +Christian by religion: but she is represented as the daughter of the +emperor Maurice in the Persian and Turkish romances which celebrate the +love of Khosrou for Schirin, of Schirin for Ferhad, the most beautiful +youth of the East, D'Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient. p. 789, 997, 998. * +Note: Compare M. von Hammer's preface to, and poem of, Schirin in +which he gives an account of the various Persian poems, of which he has +endeavored to extract the essence in his own work.--M.] + +[Footnote 22: The whole series of the tyranny of Hormouz, the revolt of +Bahram, and the flight and restoration of Chosroes, is related by two +contemporary Greeks--more concisely by Evagrius, (l. vi. c. 16, 17, 18, +19,) and most diffusely by Theophylact Simocatta, (l. iii. c. 6--18, +l. iv. c. 1--16, l. v. c. 1-15:) succeeding compilers, Zonaras and +Cedrenus, can only transcribe and abridge. The Christian Arabs, +Eutychius (Annal. tom. ii. p. 200--208) and Abulpharagius (Dynast. p. +96--98) appear to have consulted some particular memoirs. The great +Persian historians of the xvth century, Mirkhond and Khondemir, are +only known to me by the imperfect extracts of Schikard, (Tarikh, p. +150--155,) Texeira, or rather Stevens, (Hist. of Persia, p. 182--186,) +a Turkish Ms. translated by the Abbe Fourmount, (Hist. de l'Academie des +Inscriptions, tom. vii. p. 325--334,) and D'Herbelot, (aux mots Hormouz, +p. 457--459. Bahram, p. 174. Khosrou Parviz, p. 996.) Were I perfectly +satisfied of their authority, I could wish these Oriental materials had +been more copious.] + + + + + +Chapter XLVI: Troubles In Persia.--Part II. + +While the majesty of the Roman name was revived in the East, the +prospect of Europe is less pleasing and less glorious. By the departure +of the Lombards, and the ruin of the Gepidae, the balance of power was +destroyed on the Danube; and the Avars spread their permanent dominion +from the foot of the Alps to the sea-coast of the Euxine. The reign +of Baian is the brightest aera of their monarchy; their chagan, who +occupied the rustic palace of Attila, appears to have imitated his +character and policy; [23] but as the same scenes were repeated in a +smaller circle, a minute representation of the copy would be devoid +of the greatness and novelty of the original. The pride of the second +Justin, of Tiberius, and Maurice, was humbled by a proud Barbarian, more +prompt to inflict, than exposed to suffer, the injuries of war; and as +often as Asia was threatened by the Persian arms, Europe was oppressed +by the dangerous inroads, or costly friendship, of the Avars. When the +Roman envoys approached the presence of the chagan, they were commanded +to wait at the door of his tent, till, at the end perhaps of ten or +twelve days, he condescended to admit them. If the substance or the +style of their message was offensive to his ear, he insulted, with real +or affected fury, their own dignity, and that of their prince; their +baggage was plundered, and their lives were only saved by the promise +of a richer present and a more respectful address. But his sacred +ambassadors enjoyed and abused an unbounded license in the midst of +Constantinople: they urged, with importunate clamors, the increase of +tribute, or the restitution of captives and deserters: and the majesty +of the empire was almost equally degraded by a base compliance, or +by the false and fearful excuses with which they eluded such insolent +demands. The chagan had never seen an elephant; and his curiosity was +excited by the strange, and perhaps fabulous, portrait of that wonderful +animal. At his command, one of the largest elephants of the Imperial +stables was equipped with stately caparisons, and conducted by a +numerous train to the royal village in the plains of Hungary. He +surveyed the enormous beast with surprise, with disgust, and possibly +with terror; and smiled at the vain industry of the Romans, who, in +search of such useless rarities, could explore the limits of the land +and sea. He wished, at the expense of the emperor, to repose in a golden +bed. The wealth of Constantinople, and the skilful diligence of her +artists, were instantly devoted to the gratification of his caprice; but +when the work was finished, he rejected with scorn a present so unworthy +the majesty of a great king. [24] These were the casual sallies of his +pride; but the avarice of the chagan was a more steady and tractable +passion: a rich and regular supply of silk apparel, furniture, and +plate, introduced the rudiments of art and luxury among the tents of the +Scythians; their appetite was stimulated by the pepper and cinnamon of +India; [25] the annual subsidy or tribute was raised from fourscore to +one hundred and twenty thousand pieces of gold; and after each hostile +interruption, the payment of the arrears, with exorbitant interest, was +always made the first condition of the new treaty. In the language of a +Barbarian, without guile, the prince of the Avars affected to complain +of the insincerity of the Greeks; [26] yet he was not inferior to the +most civilized nations in the refinement of dissimulation and perfidy. +As the successor of the Lombards, the chagan asserted his claim to +the important city of Sirmium, the ancient bulwark of the Illyrian +provinces. [27] The plains of the Lower Hungary were covered with the +Avar horse and a fleet of large boats was built in the Hercynian wood, +to descend the Danube, and to transport into the Save the materials of +a bridge. But as the strong garrison of Singidunum, which commanded the +conflux of the two rivers, might have stopped their passage and baffled +his designs, he dispelled their apprehensions by a solemn oath that his +views were not hostile to the empire. He swore by his sword, the symbol +of the god of war, that he did not, as the enemy of Rome, construct +a bridge upon the Save. "If I violate my oath," pursued the intrepid +Baian, "may I myself, and the last of my nation, perish by the sword! +May the heavens, and fire, the deity of the heavens, fall upon our +heads! May the forests and mountains bury us in their ruins! and the +Save returning, against the laws of nature, to his source, overwhelm +us in his angry waters!" After this barbarous imprecation, he calmly +inquired, what oath was most sacred and venerable among the Christians, +what guilt or perjury it was most dangerous to incur. The bishop of +Singidunum presented the gospel, which the chagan received with devout +reverence. "I swear," said he, "by the God who has spoken in this holy +book, that I have neither falsehood on my tongue, nor treachery in my +heart." As soon as he rose from his knees, he accelerated the labor of +the bridge, and despatched an envoy to proclaim what he no longer wished +to conceal. "Inform the emperor," said the perfidious Baian, "that +Sirmium is invested on every side. Advise his prudence to withdraw +the citizens and their effects, and to resign a city which it is now +impossible to relieve or defend." Without the hope of relief, the +defence of Sirmium was prolonged above three years: the walls were still +untouched; but famine was enclosed within the walls, till a merciful +capitulation allowed the escape of the naked and hungry inhabitants. +Singidunum, at the distance of fifty miles, experienced a more cruel +fate: the buildings were razed, and the vanquished people was condemned +to servitude and exile. Yet the ruins of Sirmium are no longer visible; +the advantageous situation of Singidunum soon attracted a new colony of +Sclavonians, and the conflux of the Save and Danube is still guarded +by the fortifications of Belgrade, or the White City, so often and +so obstinately disputed by the Christian and Turkish arms. [28] From +Belgrade to the walls of Constantinople a line may be measured of six +hundred miles: that line was marked with flames and with blood; the +horses of the Avars were alternately bathed in the Euxine and the +Adriatic; and the Roman pontiff, alarmed by the approach of a more +savage enemy, [29] was reduced to cherish the Lombards, as the +protectors of Italy. The despair of a captive, whom his country refused +to ransom, disclosed to the Avars the invention and practice of military +engines. [30] But in the first attempts they were rudely framed, and +awkwardly managed; and the resistance of Diocletianopolis and Beraea, of +Philippopolis and Adrianople, soon exhausted the skill and patience of +the besiegers. The warfare of Baian was that of a Tartar; yet his mind +was susceptible of a humane and generous sentiment: he spared Anchialus, +whose salutary waters had restored the health of the best beloved of his +wives; and the Romans confessed, that their starving army was fed and +dismissed by the liberality of a foe. His empire extended over Hungary, +Poland, and Prussia, from the mouth of the Danube to that of the Oder; +[31] and his new subjects were divided and transplanted by the jealous +policy of the conqueror. [32] The eastern regions of Germany, which had +been left vacant by the emigration of the Vandals, were replenished with +Sclavonian colonists; the same tribes are discovered in the neighborhood +of the Adriatic and of the Baltic, and with the name of Baian himself, +the Illyrian cities of Neyss and Lissa are again found in the heart of +Silesia. In the disposition both of his troops and provinces the chagan +exposed the vassals, whose lives he disregarded, [33] to the first +assault; and the swords of the enemy were blunted before they +encountered the native valor of the Avars. + +[Footnote 23: A general idea of the pride and power of the chagan may be +taken from Menander (Excerpt. Legat. p. 118, &c.) and Theophylact, (l. +i. c. 3, l. vii. c. 15,) whose eight books are much more honorable to +the Avar than to the Roman prince. The predecessors of Baian had tasted +the liberality of Rome, and he survived the reign of Maurice, (Buat, +Hist. des Peuples Barbares, tom. xi. p. 545.) The chagan who invaded +Italy, A.D. 611, (Muratori, Annali, tom. v. p. 305,) was then invenili +aetate florentem, (Paul Warnefrid, de Gest. Langobard. l v c 38,) the +son, perhaps, or the grandson, of Baian.] + +[Footnote 24: Theophylact, l. i. c. 5, 6.] + +[Footnote 25: Even in the field, the chagan delighted in the use of +these aromatics. He solicited, as a gift, and received. Theophylact, +l. vii. c. 13. The Europeans of the ruder ages consumed more spices in +their meat and drink than is compatible with the delicacy of a modern +palate. Vie Privee des Francois, tom. ii. p. 162, 163.] + +[Footnote 26: Theophylact, l. vi. c. 6, l. vii. c. 15. The Greek +historian confesses the truth and justice of his reproach] + +[Footnote 27: Menander (in Excerpt. Legat. p. 126--132, 174, 175) +describes the perjury of Baian and the surrender of Sirmium. We have +lost his account of the siege, which is commended by Theophylact, l. +i. c. 3. * Note: Compare throughout Schlozer Nordische Geschichte, p. +362--373--M.] + +[Footnote 28: See D'Anville, in the Memoires de l'Acad. des +Inscriptions, tom. xxviii. p. 412--443. The Sclavonic name of Belgrade +is mentioned in the xth century by Constantine Porphyrogenitus: the +Latin appellation of Alba Croeca is used by the Franks in the beginning +of the ixth, (p. 414.)] + +[Footnote 29: Baron. Annal. Eccles. A. B. 600, No. 1. Paul Warnefrid +(l. iv. c. 38) relates their irruption into Friuli, and (c. 39) the +captivity of his ancestors, about A.D. 632. The Sclavi traversed the +Adriatic cum multitudine navium, and made a descent in the territory of +Sipontum, (c. 47.)] + +[Footnote 30: Even the helepolis, or movable turret. Theophylact, l. ii. +16, 17.] + +[Footnote 31: The arms and alliances of the chagan reached to +the neighborhood of a western sea, fifteen months' journey from +Constantinople. The emperor Maurice conversed with some itinerant +harpers from that remote country, and only seems to have mistaken a +trade for a nation Theophylact, l. vi. c. 2.] + +[Footnote 32: This is one of the most probable and luminous conjectures +of the learned count de Buat, (Hist. des Peuples Barbares, tom. xi. p. +546--568.) The Tzechi and Serbi are found together near Mount Caucasus, +in Illyricum, and on the lower Elbe. Even the wildest traditions of the +Bohemians, &c., afford some color to his hypothesis.] + +[Footnote 33: See Fredegarius, in the Historians of France, tom. ii. p. +432. Baian did not conceal his proud insensibility.] + +The Persian alliance restored the troops of the East to the defence of +Europe: and Maurice, who had supported ten years the insolence of +the chagan, declared his resolution to march in person against the +Barbarians. In the space of two centuries, none of the successors of +Theodosius had appeared in the field: their lives were supinely spent in +the palace of Constantinople; and the Greeks could no longer understand, +that the name of emperor, in its primitive sense, denoted the chief of +the armies of the republic. The martial ardor of Maurice was opposed +by the grave flattery of the senate, the timid superstition of the +patriarch, and the tears of the empress Constantina; and they all +conjured him to devolve on some meaner general the fatigues and perils +of a Scythian campaign. Deaf to their advice and entreaty, the emperor +boldly advanced [34] seven miles from the capital; the sacred ensign +of the cross was displayed in the front; and Maurice reviewed, with +conscious pride, the arms and numbers of the veterans who had fought and +conquered beyond the Tigris. Anchialus was the last term of his progress +by sea and land; he solicited, without success, a miraculous answer +to his nocturnal prayers; his mind was confounded by the death of a +favorite horse, the encounter of a wild boar, a storm of wind and rain, +and the birth of a monstrous child; and he forgot that the best of omens +is to unsheathe our sword in the defence of our country. [35] Under the +pretence of receiving the ambassadors of Persia, the emperor returned to +Constantinople, exchanged the thoughts of war for those of devotion, +and disappointed the public hope by his absence and the choice of his +lieutenants. The blind partiality of fraternal love might excuse the +promotion of his brother Peter, who fled with equal disgrace from the +Barbarians, from his own soldiers and from the inhabitants of a Roman +city. That city, if we may credit the resemblance of name and character, +was the famous Azimuntium, [36] which had alone repelled the tempest of +Attila. The example of her warlike youth was propagated to succeeding +generations; and they obtained, from the first or the second Justin, an +honorable privilege, that their valor should be always reserved for the +defence of their native country. The brother of Maurice attempted +to violate this privilege, and to mingle a patriot band with the +mercenaries of his camp; they retired to the church, he was not awed +by the sanctity of the place; the people rose in their cause, the gates +were shut, the ramparts were manned; and the cowardice of Peter was +found equal to his arrogance and injustice. The military fame of +Commentiolus [37] is the object of satire or comedy rather than of +serious history, since he was even deficient in the vile and vulgar +qualification of personal courage. His solemn councils, strange +evolutions, and secret orders, always supplied an apology for flight or +delay. If he marched against the enemy, the pleasant valleys of Mount +Haemus opposed an insuperable barrier; but in his retreat, he explored, +with fearless curiosity, the most difficult and obsolete paths, which +had almost escaped the memory of the oldest native. The only blood which +he lost was drawn, in a real or affected malady, by the lancet of a +surgeon; and his health, which felt with exquisite sensibility the +approach of the Barbarians, was uniformly restored by the repose and +safety of the winter season. A prince who could promote and support this +unworthy favorite must derive no glory from the accidental merit of his +colleague Priscus. [38] In five successive battles, which seem to have +been conducted with skill and resolution, seventeen thousand two hundred +Barbarians were made prisoners: near sixty thousand, with four sons of +the chagan, were slain: the Roman general surprised a peaceful district +of the Gepidae, who slept under the protection of the Avars; and his +last trophies were erected on the banks of the Danube and the Teyss. +Since the death of Trajan the arms of the empire had not penetrated so +deeply into the old Dacia: yet the success of Priscus was transient and +barren; and he was soon recalled by the apprehension that Baian, with +dauntless spirit and recruited forces, was preparing to avenge his +defeat under the walls of Constantinople. [39] + +[Footnote 34: See the march and return of Maurice, in Theophylact, l. +v. c. 16 l. vi. c. 1, 2, 3. If he were a writer of taste or genius, +we might suspect him of an elegant irony: but Theophylact is surely +harmless.] + +[Footnote 35: Iliad, xii. 243. This noble verse, which unites the spirit +of a hero with the reason of a sage, may prove that Homer was in every +light superior to his age and country.] + +[Footnote 36: Theophylact, l. vii. c. 3. On the evidence of this fact, +which had not occurred to my memory, the candid reader will correct and +excuse a note in Chapter XXXIV., note 86 of this History, which hastens +the decay of Asimus, or Azimuntium; another century of patriotism and +valor is cheaply purchased by such a confession.] + +[Footnote 37: See the shameful conduct of Commentiolus, in Theophylact, +l. ii. c. 10--15, l. vii. c. 13, 14, l. viii. c. 2, 4.] + +[Footnote 38: See the exploits of Priscus, l. viii. c. 23.] + +[Footnote 39: The general detail of the war against the Avars may be +traced in the first, second, sixth, seventh, and eighth books of the +history of the emperor Maurice, by Theophylact Simocatta. As he wrote in +the reign of Heraclius, he had no temptation to flatter; but his want +of judgment renders him diffuse in trifles, and concise in the most +interesting facts.] + +The theory of war was not more familiar to the camps of Caesar and +Trajan, than to those of Justinian and Maurice. [40] The iron of Tuscany +or Pontus still received the keenest temper from the skill of the +Byzantine workmen. The magazines were plentifully stored with every +species of offensive and defensive arms. In the construction and use of +ships, engines, and fortifications, the Barbarians admired the superior +ingenuity of a people whom they had so often vanquished in the field. +The science of tactics, the order, evolutions, and stratagems of +antiquity, was transcribed and studied in the books of the Greeks and +Romans. But the solitude or degeneracy of the provinces could no longer +supply a race of men to handle those weapons, to guard those walls, +to navigate those ships, and to reduce the theory of war into bold and +successful practice. The genius of Belisarius and Narses had been formed +without a master, and expired without a disciple Neither honor, nor +patriotism, nor generous superstition, could animate the lifeless bodies +of slaves and strangers, who had succeeded to the honors of the legions: +it was in the camp alone that the emperor should have exercised a +despotic command; it was only in the camps that his authority was +disobeyed and insulted: he appeased and inflamed with gold the +licentiousness of the troops; but their vices were inherent, their +victories were accidental, and their costly maintenance exhausted the +substance of a state which they were unable to defend. After a long and +pernicious indulgence, the cure of this inveterate evil was undertaken +by Maurice; but the rash attempt, which drew destruction on his own +head, tended only to aggravate the disease. A reformer should be exempt +from the suspicion of interest, and he must possess the confidence and +esteem of those whom he proposes to reclaim. The troops of Maurice +might listen to the voice of a victorious leader; they disdained the +admonitions of statesmen and sophists; and, when they received an edict +which deducted from their pay the price of their arms and clothing, they +execrated the avarice of a prince insensible of the dangers and fatigues +from which he had escaped. + +The camps both of Asia and Europe were agitated with frequent and +furious seditions; [41] the enraged soldiers of Edessa pursued with +reproaches, with threats, with wounds, their trembling generals; +they overturned the statues of the emperor, cast stones against the +miraculous image of Christ, and either rejected the yoke of all +civil and military laws, or instituted a dangerous model of voluntary +subordination. The monarch, always distant and often deceived, was +incapable of yielding or persisting, according to the exigence of the +moment. But the fear of a general revolt induced him too readily to +accept any act of valor, or any expression of loyalty, as an atonement +for the popular offence; the new reform was abolished as hastily as it +had been announced, and the troops, instead of punishment and restraint, +were agreeably surprised by a gracious proclamation of immunities and +rewards. But the soldiers accepted without gratitude the tardy and +reluctant gifts of the emperor: their insolence was elated by the +discovery of his weakness and their own strength; and their mutual +hatred was inflamed beyond the desire of forgiveness or the hope of +reconciliation. The historians of the times adopt the vulgar suspicion, +that Maurice conspired to destroy the troops whom he had labored to +reform; the misconduct and favor of Commentiolus are imputed to this +malevolent design; and every age must condemn the inhumanity of avarice +[42] of a prince, who, by the trifling ransom of six thousand pieces of +gold, might have prevented the massacre of twelve thousand prisoners in +the hands of the chagan. In the just fervor of indignation, an order +was signified to the army of the Danube, that they should spare the +magazines of the province, and establish their winter quarters in the +hostile country of the Avars. The measure of their grievances was full: +they pronounced Maurice unworthy to reign, expelled or slaughtered +his faithful adherents, and, under the command of Phocas, a +simple centurion, returned by hasty marches to the neighborhood of +Constantinople. After a long series of legal succession, the military +disorders of the third century were again revived; yet such was the +novelty of the enterprise, that the insurgents were awed by their +own rashness. They hesitated to invest their favorite with the vacant +purple; and, while they rejected all treaty with Maurice himself, +they held a friendly correspondence with his son Theodosius, and with +Germanus, the father-in-law of the royal youth. So obscure had been the +former condition of Phocas, that the emperor was ignorant of the +name and character of his rival; but as soon as he learned, that the +centurion, though bold in sedition, was timid in the face of danger, +"Alas!" cried the desponding prince, "if he is a coward, he will surely +be a murderer." + +[Footnote 40: Maurice himself composed xii books on the military art, +which are still extant, and have been published (Upsal, 1664) by John +Schaeffer, at the end of the Tactics of Arrian, (Fabricius, Bibliot +Graeca, l. iv. c. 8, tom. iii. p. 278,) who promises to speak more fully +of his work in its proper place.] + +[Footnote 41: See the mutinies under the reign of Maurice, in +Theophylact l iii c. 1--4,.vi. c. 7, 8, 10, l. vii. c. 1 l. viii. c. 6, +&c.] + +[Footnote 42: Theophylact and Theophanes seem ignorant of the conspiracy +and avarice of Maurice. These charges, so unfavorable to the memory +of that emperor, are first mentioned by the author of the Paschal +Chronicle, (p. 379, 280;) from whence Zonaras (tom. ii. l. xiv. p. +77, 78) has transcribed them. Cedrenus (p. 399) has followed another +computation of the ransom.] + +Yet if Constantinople had been firm and faithful, the murderer might +have spent his fury against the walls; and the rebel army would have +been gradually consumed or reconciled by the prudence of the emperor. +In the games of the Circus, which he repeated with unusual pomp, +Maurice disguised, with smiles of confidence, the anxiety of his heart, +condescended to solicit the applause of the factions, and flattered +their pride by accepting from their respective tribunes a list of nine +hundred blues and fifteen hundred greens, whom he affected to esteem +as the solid pillars of his throne Their treacherous or languid support +betrayed his weakness and hastened his fall: the green faction were the +secret accomplices of the rebels, and the blues recommended lenity +and moderation in a contest with their Roman brethren The rigid and +parsimonious virtues of Maurice had long since alienated the hearts of +his subjects: as he walked barefoot in a religious procession, he was +rudely assaulted with stones, and his guards were compelled to present +their iron maces in the defence of his person. A fanatic monk ran +through the streets with a drawn sword, denouncing against him the +wrath and the sentence of God; and a vile plebeian, who represented +his countenance and apparel, was seated on an ass, and pursued by the +imprecations of the multitude. [43] The emperor suspected the popularity +of Germanus with the soldiers and citizens: he feared, he threatened, +but he delayed to strike; the patrician fled to the sanctuary of the +church; the people rose in his defence, the walls were deserted by the +guards, and the lawless city was abandoned to the flames and rapine of +a nocturnal tumult. In a small bark, the unfortunate Maurice, with his +wife and nine children, escaped to the Asiatic shore; but the violence +of the wind compelled him to land at the church of St. Autonomus, [44] +near Chalcedon, from whence he despatched Theodosius, he eldest son, +to implore the gratitude and friendship of the Persian monarch. For +himself, he refused to fly: his body was tortured with sciatic pains, +[45] his mind was enfeebled by superstition; he patiently awaited the +event of the revolution, and addressed a fervent and public prayer to +the Almighty, that the punishment of his sins might be inflicted in this +world rather than in a future life. After the abdication of Maurice, the +two factions disputed the choice of an emperor; but the favorite of the +blues was rejected by the jealousy of their antagonists, and Germanus +himself was hurried along by the crowds who rushed to the palace of +Hebdomon, seven miles from the city, to adore the majesty of Phocas the +centurion. A modest wish of resigning the purple to the rank and merit +of Germanus was opposed by his resolution, more obstinate and equally +sincere; the senate and clergy obeyed his summons; and, as soon as +the patriarch was assured of his orthodox belief, he consecrated the +successful usurper in the church of St. John the Baptist. On the third +day, amidst the acclamations of a thoughtless people, Phocas made his +public entry in a chariot drawn by four white horses: the revolt of the +troops was rewarded by a lavish donative; and the new sovereign, after +visiting the palace, beheld from his throne the games of the hippodrome. +In a dispute of precedency between the two factions, his partial +judgment inclined in favor of the greens. "Remember that Maurice is +still alive," resounded from the opposite side; and the indiscreet +clamor of the blues admonished and stimulated the cruelty of the tyrant. +The ministers of death were despatched to Chalcedon: they dragged +the emperor from his sanctuary; and the five sons of Maurice were +successively murdered before the eyes of their agonizing parent. At +each stroke, which he felt in his heart, he found strength to rehearse +a pious ejaculation: "Thou art just, O Lord! and thy judgments are +righteous." And such, in the last moments, was his rigid attachment to +truth and justice, that he revealed to the soldiers the pious falsehood +of a nurse who presented her own child in the place of a royal infant. +[46] The tragic scene was finally closed by the execution of the emperor +himself, in the twentieth year of his reign, and the sixty-third of his +age. The bodies of the father and his five sons were cast into the sea; +their heads were exposed at Constantinople to the insults or pity of the +multitude; and it was not till some signs of putrefaction had appeared, +that Phocas connived at the private burial of these venerable remains. +In that grave, the faults and errors of Maurice were kindly interred. +His fate alone was remembered; and at the end of twenty years, in the +recital of the history of Theophylact, the mournful tale was interrupted +by the tears of the audience. [47] + +[Footnote 43: In their clamors against Maurice, the people of +Constantinople branded him with the name of Marcionite or Marcionist; a +heresy (says Theophylact, l. viii. c. 9). Did they only cast out a vague +reproach--or had the emperor really listened to some obscure teacher of +those ancient Gnostics?] + +[Footnote 44: The church of St. Autonomous (whom I have not the honor to +know) was 150 stadia from Constantinople, (Theophylact, l. viii. c. 9.) +The port of Eutropius, where Maurice and his children were murdered, is +described by Gyllius (de Bosphoro Thracio, l. iii. c. xi.) as one of the +two harbors of Chalcedon.] + +[Footnote 45: The inhabitants of Constantinople were generally subject; +and Theophylact insinuates, (l. viii. c. 9,) that if it were consistent +with the rules of history, he could assign the medical cause. Yet such +a digression would not have been more impertinent than his inquiry (l. +vii. c. 16, 17) into the annual inundations of the Nile, and all the +opinions of the Greek philosophers on that subject.] + +[Footnote 46: From this generous attempt, Corneille has deduced the +intricate web of his tragedy of Heraclius, which requires more than one +representation to be clearly understood, (Corneille de Voltaire, tom. +v. p. 300;) and which, after an interval of some years, is said to have +puzzled the author himself, (Anecdotes Dramatiques, tom. i. p. 422.)] + +[Footnote 47: The revolt of Phocas and death of Maurice are told by +Theophylact Simocatta, (l. viii. c. 7--12,) the Paschal Chronicle, (p. +379, 380,) Theophanes, (Chronograph. p. 238-244,) Zonaras, (tom. ii. l. +xiv. p. 77--80,) and Cedrenus, (p. 399--404.)] + +Such tears must have flowed in secret, and such compassion would have +been criminal, under the reign of Phocas, who was peaceably acknowledged +in the provinces of the East and West. The images of the emperor and his +wife Leontia were exposed in the Lateran to the veneration of the +clergy and senate of Rome, and afterwards deposited in the palace of the +Caesars, between those of Constantine and Theodosius. As a subject and +a Christian, it was the duty of Gregory to acquiesce in the established +government; but the joyful applause with which he salutes the fortune of +the assassin, has sullied, with indelible disgrace, the character of the +saint. The successor of the apostles might have inculcated with decent +firmness the guilt of blood, and the necessity of repentance; he is +content to celebrate the deliverance of the people and the fall of the +oppressor; to rejoice that the piety and benignity of Phocas have been +raised by Providence to the Imperial throne; to pray that his hands may +be strengthened against all his enemies; and to express a wish, +perhaps a prophecy, that, after a long and triumphant reign, he may +be transferred from a temporal to an everlasting kingdom. [48] I have +already traced the steps of a revolution so pleasing, in Gregory's +opinion, both to heaven and earth; and Phocas does not appear less +hateful in the exercise than in the acquisition of power The pencil of +an impartial historian has delineated the portrait of a monster: +[49] his diminutive and deformed person, the closeness of his shaggy +eyebrows, his red hair, his beardless chin, and his cheek disfigured and +discolored by a formidable scar. Ignorant of letters, of laws, and even +of arms, he indulged in the supreme rank a more ample privilege of lust +and drunkenness; and his brutal pleasures were either injurious to his +subjects or disgraceful to himself. Without assuming the office of +a prince, he renounced the profession of a soldier; and the reign of +Phocas afflicted Europe with ignominious peace, and Asia with desolating +war. His savage temper was inflamed by passion, hardened by fear, and +exasperated by resistance of reproach. The flight of Theodosius to the +Persian court had been intercepted by a rapid pursuit, or a deceitful +message: he was beheaded at Nice, and the last hours of the young +prince were soothed by the comforts of religion and the consciousness +of innocence. Yet his phantom disturbed the repose of the usurper: a +whisper was circulated through the East, that the son of Maurice was +still alive: the people expected their avenger, and the widow and +daughters of the late emperor would have adopted as their son and +brother the vilest of mankind. In the massacre of the Imperial family, +[50] the mercy, or rather the discretion, of Phocas had spared these +unhappy females, and they were decently confined to a private house. But +the spirit of the empress Constantina, still mindful of her father, her +husband, and her sons, aspired to freedom and revenge. At the dead of +night, she escaped to the sanctuary of St. Sophia; but her tears, and +the gold of her associate Germanus, were insufficient to provoke an +insurrection. Her life was forfeited to revenge, and even to justice: +but the patriarch obtained and pledged an oath for her safety: a +monastery was allotted for her prison, and the widow of Maurice accepted +and abused the lenity of his assassin. The discovery or the suspicion of +a second conspiracy, dissolved the engagements, and rekindled the fury, +of Phocas. A matron who commanded the respect and pity of mankind, the +daughter, wife, and mother of emperors, was tortured like the vilest +malefactor, to force a confession of her designs and associates; and the +empress Constantina, with her three innocent daughters, was beheaded at +Chalcedon, on the same ground which had been stained with the blood +of her husband and five sons. After such an example, it would be +superfluous to enumerate the names and sufferings of meaner victims. +Their condemnation was seldom preceded by the forms of trial, and their +punishment was embittered by the refinements of cruelty: their eyes were +pierced, their tongues were torn from the root, the hands and feet were +amputated; some expired under the lash, others in the flames; others +again were transfixed with arrows; and a simple speedy death was mercy +which they could rarely obtain. The hippodrome, the sacred asylum of +the pleasures and the liberty of the Romans, was polluted with heads and +limbs, and mangled bodies; and the companions of Phocas were the most +sensible, that neither his favor, nor their services, could protect them +from a tyrant, the worthy rival of the Caligulas and Domitians of the +first age of the empire. [51] + +[Footnote 48: Gregor. l. xi. epist. 38, indict. vi. Benignitatem vestrae +pietatis ad Imperiale fastigium pervenisse gaudemus. Laetentur coeli +et exultet terra, et de vestris benignis actibus universae republicae +populus nunc usque vehementer afflictus hilarescat, &c. This base +flattery, the topic of Protestant invective, is justly censured by the +philosopher Bayle, (Dictionnaire Critique, Gregoire I. Not. H. tom. ii. +p. 597 598.) Cardinal Baronius justifies the pope at the expense of the +fallen emperor.] + +[Footnote 49: The images of Phocas were destroyed; but even the malice +of his enemies would suffer one copy of such a portrait or caricature +(Cedrenus, p. 404) to escape the flames.] + +[Footnote 50: The family of Maurice is represented by Ducange, (Familiae +By zantinae, p. 106, 107, 108;) his eldest son Theodosius had been +crowned emperor, when he was no more than four years and a half old, and +he is always joined with his father in the salutations of Gregory. With +the Christian daughters, Anastasia and Theocteste, I am surprised to +find the Pagan name of Cleopatra.] + +[Footnote 51: Some of the cruelties of Phocas are marked by Theophylact, +l. viii. c. 13, 14, 15. George of Pisidia, the poet of Heraclius, styles +him (Bell. Avaricum, p. 46, Rome, 1777). The latter epithet is just--but +the corrupter of life was easily vanquished.] + + + + + +Chapter XLVI: Troubles In Persia.--Part III. + +A daughter of Phocas, his only child, was given in marriage to the +patrician Crispus, [52] and the royal images of the bride and bridegroom +were indiscreetly placed in the circus, by the side of the emperor. The +father must desire that his posterity should inherit the fruit of his +crimes, but the monarch was offended by this premature and popular +association: the tribunes of the green faction, who accused the +officious error of their sculptors, were condemned to instant death: +their lives were granted to the prayers of the people; but Crispus might +reasonably doubt, whether a jealous usurper could forget and pardon +his involuntary competition. The green faction was alienated by the +ingratitude of Phocas and the loss of their privileges; every province +of the empire was ripe for rebellion; and Heraclius, exarch of Africa, +persisted above two years in refusing all tribute and obedience to the +centurion who disgraced the throne of Constantinople. By the secret +emissaries of Crispus and the senate, the independent exarch was +solicited to save and to govern his country; but his ambition was +chilled by age, and he resigned the dangerous enterprise to his +son Heraclius, and to Nicetas, the son of Gregory, his friend and +lieutenant. The powers of Africa were armed by the two adventurous +youths; they agreed that the one should navigate the fleet from Carthage +to Constantinople, that the other should lead an army through Egypt and +Asia, and that the Imperial purple should be the reward of diligence and +success. A faint rumor of their undertaking was conveyed to the ears of +Phocas, and the wife and mother of the younger Heraclius were secured +as the hostages of his faith: but the treacherous heart of Crispus +extenuated the distant peril, the means of defence were neglected or +delayed, and the tyrant supinely slept till the African navy cast anchor +in the Hellespont. Their standard was joined at Abidus by the fugitives +and exiles who thirsted for revenge; the ships of Heraclius, whose lofty +masts were adorned with the holy symbols of religion, [53] steered their +triumphant course through the Propontis; and Phocas beheld from the +windows of the palace his approaching and inevitable fate. The green +faction was tempted, by gifts and promises, to oppose a feeble and +fruitless resistance to the landing of the Africans: but the people, and +even the guards, were determined by the well-timed defection of Crispus; +and they tyrant was seized by a private enemy, who boldly invaded the +solitude of the palace. Stripped of the diadem and purple, clothed in a +vile habit, and loaded with chains, he was transported in a small boat +to the Imperial galley of Heraclius, who reproached him with the crimes +of his abominable reign. "Wilt thou govern better?" were the last words +of the despair of Phocas. After suffering each variety of insult and +torture, his head was severed from his body, the mangled trunk was cast +into the flames, and the same treatment was inflicted on the statues +of the vain usurper, and the seditious banner of the green faction. The +voice of the clergy, the senate, and the people, invited Heraclius to +ascend the throne which he had purified from guilt and ignominy; after +some graceful hesitation, he yielded to their entreaties. His coronation +was accompanied by that of his wife Eudoxia; and their posterity, till +the fourth generation, continued to reign over the empire of the East. +The voyage of Heraclius had been easy and prosperous; the tedious march +of Nicetas was not accomplished before the decision of the contest: +but he submitted without a murmur to the fortune of his friend, and +his laudable intentions were rewarded with an equestrian statue, and a +daughter of the emperor. It was more difficult to trust the fidelity of +Crispus, whose recent services were recompensed by the command of the +Cappadocian army. His arrogance soon provoked, and seemed to excuse, +the ingratitude of his new sovereign. In the presence of the senate, the +son-in-law of Phocas was condemned to embrace the monastic life; and the +sentence was justified by the weighty observation of Heraclius, that the +man who had betrayed his father could never be faithful to his friend. +[54] + +[Footnote 52: In the writers, and in the copies of those writers, there +is such hesitation between the names of Priscus and Crispus, (Ducange, +Fam Byzant. p. 111,) that I have been tempted to identify the son-in-law +of Phocas with the hero five times victorious over the Avars.] + +[Footnote 53: According to Theophanes. Cedrenus adds, which Heraclius +bore as a banner in the first Persian expedition. See George Pisid. +Acroas L 140. The manufacture seems to have flourished; but Foggini, the +Roman editor, (p. 26,) is at a loss to determine whether this picture +was an original or a copy.] + +[Footnote 54: See the tyranny of Phocas and the elevation of Heraclius, +in Chron. Paschal. p. 380--383. Theophanes, p. 242-250. Nicephorus, p. +3--7. Cedrenus, p. 404--407. Zonaras, tom. ii. l. xiv. p. 80--82.] + +Even after his death the republic was afflicted by the crimes of Phocas, +which armed with a pious cause the most formidable of her enemies. +According to the friendly and equal forms of the Byzantine and Persian +courts, he announced his exaltation to the throne; and his ambassador +Lilius, who had presented him with the heads of Maurice and his sons, +was the best qualified to describe the circumstances of the tragic +scene. [55] However it might be varnished by fiction or sophistry, +Chosroes turned with horror from the assassin, imprisoned the pretended +envoy, disclaimed the usurper, and declared himself the avenger of his +father and benefactor. The sentiments of grief and resentment, which +humanity would feel, and honor would dictate, promoted on this occasion +the interest of the Persian king; and his interest was powerfully +magnified by the national and religious prejudices of the Magi and +satraps. In a strain of artful adulation, which assumed the language +of freedom, they presumed to censure the excess of his gratitude and +friendship for the Greeks; a nation with whom it was dangerous to +conclude either peace or alliance; whose superstition was devoid of +truth and justice, and who must be incapable of any virtue, since they +could perpetrate the most atrocious of crimes, the impious murder of +their sovereign. [56] For the crime of an ambitious centurion, the +nation which he oppressed was chastised with the calamities of war; and +the same calamities, at the end of twenty years, were retaliated +and redoubled on the heads of the Persians. [57] The general who had +restored Chosroes to the throne still commanded in the East; and the +name of Narses was the formidable sound with which the Assyrian mothers +were accustomed to terrify their infants. It is not improbable, that a +native subject of Persia should encourage his master and his friend to +deliver and possess the provinces of Asia. It is still more probable, +that Chosroes should animate his troops by the assurance that the sword +which they dreaded the most would remain in its scabbard, or be drawn in +their favor. The hero could not depend on the faith of a tyrant; and +the tyrant was conscious how little he deserved the obedience of a hero. +Narses was removed from his military command; he reared an independent +standard at Hierapolis, in Syria: he was betrayed by fallacious +promises, and burnt alive in the market-place of Constantinople. +Deprived of the only chief whom they could fear or esteem, the bands +which he had led to victory were twice broken by the cavalry, trampled +by the elephants, and pierced by the arrows of the Barbarians; and a +great number of the captives were beheaded on the field of battle by +the sentence of the victor, who might justly condemn these seditious +mercenaries as the authors or accomplices of the death of Maurice. Under +the reign of Phocas, the fortifications of Merdin, Dara, Amida, and +Edessa, were successively besieged, reduced, and destroyed, by the +Persian monarch: he passed the Euphrates, occupied the Syrian cities, +Hierapolis, Chalcis, and Berrhaea or Aleppo, and soon encompassed the +walls of Antioch with his irresistible arms. The rapid tide of success +discloses the decay of the empire, the incapacity of Phocas, and the +disaffection of his subjects; and Chosroes provided a decent apology for +their submission or revolt, by an impostor, who attended his camp as the +son of Maurice [58] and the lawful heir of the monarchy. + +[Footnote 55: Theophylact, l. viii. c. 15. The life of Maurice was +composed about the year 628 (l. viii. c. 13) by Theophylact Simocatta, +ex-praefect, a native of Egypt. Photius, who gives an ample extract of +the work, (cod. lxv. p. 81--100,) gently reproves the affectation and +allegory of the style. His preface is a dialogue between Philosophy and +History; they seat themselves under a plane-tree, and the latter touches +her lyre.] + +[Footnote 56: Christianis nec pactum esse, nec fidem nec foedus ..... +quod si ulla illis fides fuisset, regem suum non occidissent. Eutych. +Annales tom. ii. p. 211, vers. Pocock.] + +[Footnote 57: We must now, for some ages, take our leave of contemporary +historians, and descend, if it be a descent, from the affectation of +rhetoric to the rude simplicity of chronicles and abridgments. Those of +Theophanes (Chronograph. p. 244--279) and Nicephorus (p. 3--16) supply +a regular, but imperfect, series of the Persian war; and for any +additional facts I quote my special authorities. Theophanes, a +courtier who became a monk, was born A.D. 748; Nicephorus patriarch +of Constantinople, who died A.D. 829, was somewhat younger: they both +suffered in the cause of images Hankius, de Scriptoribus Byzantinis, p. +200-246.] + +[Footnote 58: The Persian historians have been themselves deceived: but +Theophanes (p. 244) accuses Chosroes of the fraud and falsehood; and +Eutychius believes (Annal. tom. ii. p. 212) that the son of Maurice, who +was saved from the assassins, lived and died a monk on Mount Sinai.] + +The first intelligence from the East which Heraclius received, [59] +was that of the loss of Antioch; but the aged metropolis, so often +overturned by earthquakes, and pillaged by the enemy, could supply but +a small and languid stream of treasure and blood. The Persians were +equally successful, and more fortunate, in the sack of Caesarea, the +capital of Cappadocia; and as they advanced beyond the ramparts of +the frontier, the boundary of ancient war, they found a less obstinate +resistance and a more plentiful harvest. The pleasant vale of Damascus +has been adorned in every age with a royal city: her obscure felicity +has hitherto escaped the historian of the Roman empire: but Chosroes +reposed his troops in the paradise of Damascus before he ascended the +hills of Libanus, or invaded the cities of the Phoenician coast. The +conquest of Jerusalem, [60] which had been meditated by Nushirvan, +was achieved by the zeal and avarice of his grandson; the ruin of the +proudest monument of Christianity was vehemently urged by the intolerant +spirit of the Magi; and he could enlist for this holy warfare with +an army of six-and-twenty thousand Jews, whose furious bigotry might +compensate, in some degree, for the want of valor and discipline. [6011] +After the reduction of Galilee, and the region beyond the Jordan, whose +resistance appears to have delayed the fate of the capital, Jerusalem +itself was taken by assault. The sepulchre of Christ, and the stately +churches of Helena and Constantine, were consumed, or at least damaged, +by the flames; the devout offerings of three hundred years were rifled +in one sacrilegious day; the Patriarch Zachariah, and the true cross, +were transported into Persia; and the massacre of ninety thousand +Christians is imputed to the Jews and Arabs, who swelled the disorder +of the Persian march. The fugitives of Palestine were entertained at +Alexandria by the charity of John the Archbishop, who is distinguished +among a crowd of saints by the epithet of almsgiver: [61] and the +revenues of the church, with a treasure of three hundred thousand +pounds, were restored to the true proprietors, the poor of every country +and every denomination. But Egypt itself, the only province which had +been exempt, since the time of Diocletian, from foreign and domestic +war, was again subdued by the successors of Cyrus. Pelusium, the key of +that impervious country, was surprised by the cavalry of the Persians: +they passed, with impunity, the innumerable channels of the Delta, and +explored the long valley of the Nile, from the pyramids of Memphis to +the confines of Aethiopia. Alexandria might have been relieved by a +naval force, but the archbishop and the praefect embarked for Cyprus; +and Chosroes entered the second city of the empire, which still +preserved a wealthy remnant of industry and commerce. His western trophy +was erected, not on the walls of Carthage, [62] but in the neighborhood +of Tripoli; the Greek colonies of Cyrene were finally extirpated; and +the conqueror, treading in the footsteps of Alexander, returned in +triumph through the sands of the Libyan desert. In the same campaign, +another army advanced from the Euphrates to the Thracian Bosphorus; +Chalcedon surrendered after a long siege, and a Persian camp was +maintained above ten years in the presence of Constantinople. The +sea-coast of Pontus, the city of Ancyra, and the Isle of Rhodes, are +enumerated among the last conquests of the great king; and if Chosroes +had possessed any maritime power, his boundless ambition would have +spread slavery and desolation over the provinces of Europe. + +[Footnote 59: Eutychius dates all the losses of the empire under the +reign of Phocas; an error which saves the honor of Heraclius, whom +he brings not from Carthage, but Salonica, with a fleet laden with +vegetables for the relief of Constantinople, (Annal. tom. ii. p. 223, +224.) The other Christians of the East, Barhebraeus, (apud Asseman, +Bibliothec. Oriental. tom. iii. p. 412, 413,) Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. +p. 13--16,) Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 98, 99,) are more sincere and +accurate. The years of the Persian war are disposed in the chronology of +Pagi.] + +[Footnote 60: On the conquest of Jerusalem, an event so interesting to +the church, see the Annals of Eutychius, (tom. ii. p. 212--223,) and the +lamentations of the monk Antiochus, (apud Baronium, Annal. Eccles. A.D. +614, No. 16--26,) whose one hundred and twenty-nine homilies are still +extant, if what no one reads may be said to be extant.] + +[Footnote 6011: See Hist. of Jews, vol. iii. p. 240.--M.] + +[Footnote 61: The life of this worthy saint is composed by Leontius, a +contemporary bishop; and I find in Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A.D. 610, +No. 10, &c.) and Fleury (tom. viii. p. 235-242) sufficient extracts of +this edifying work.] + +[Footnote 62: The error of Baronius, and many others who have carried +the arms of Chosroes to Carthage instead of Chalcedon, is founded on +the near resemblance of the Greek words, in the text of Theophanes, &c., +which have been sometimes confounded by transcribers, and sometimes by +critics.] + +From the long-disputed banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, the reign of +the grandson of Nushirvan was suddenly extended to the Hellespont and +the Nile, the ancient limits of the Persian monarchy. But the provinces, +which had been fashioned by the habits of six hundred years to the +virtues and vices of the Roman government, supported with reluctance +the yoke of the Barbarians. The idea of a republic was kept alive by the +institutions, or at least by the writings, of the Greeks and Romans, and +the subjects of Heraclius had been educated to pronounce the words of +liberty and law. But it has always been the pride and policy of Oriental +princes to display the titles and attributes of their omnipotence; to +upbraid a nation of slaves with their true name and abject condition, +and to enforce, by cruel and insolent threats, the rigor of their +absolute commands. The Christians of the East were scandalized by the +worship of fire, and the impious doctrine of the two principles: the +Magi were not less intolerant than the bishops; and the martyrdom of +some native Persians, who had deserted the religion of Zoroaster, [63] +was conceived to be the prelude of a fierce and general persecution. +By the oppressive laws of Justinian, the adversaries of the church were +made the enemies of the state; the alliance of the Jews, Nestorians, and +Jacobites, had contributed to the success of Chosroes, and his partial +favor to the sectaries provoked the hatred and fears of the Catholic +clergy. Conscious of their fear and hatred, the Persian conqueror +governed his new subjects with an iron sceptre; and, as if he suspected +the stability of his dominion, he exhausted their wealth by exorbitant +tributes and licentious rapine despoiled or demolished the temples of +the East; and transported to his hereditary realms the gold, the silver, +the precious marbles, the arts, and the artists of the Asiatic cities. +In the obscure picture of the calamities of the empire, [64] it is not +easy to discern the figure of Chosroes himself, to separate his actions +from those of his lieutenants, or to ascertain his personal merit in the +general blaze of glory and magnificence. He enjoyed with ostentation the +fruits of victory, and frequently retired from the hardships of war to +the luxury of the palace. But in the space of twenty-four years, he was +deterred by superstition or resentment from approaching the gates of +Ctesiphon: and his favorite residence of Artemita, or Dastagerd, +was situate beyond the Tigris, about sixty miles to the north of the +capital. [65] The adjacent pastures were covered with flocks and +herds: the paradise or park was replenished with pheasants, peacocks, +ostriches, roebucks, and wild boars, and the noble game of lions and +tigers was sometimes turned loose for the bolder pleasures of the chase. +Nine hundred and sixty elephants were maintained for the use or splendor +of the great king: his tents and baggage were carried into the field by +twelve thousand great camels and eight thousand of a smaller size; [66] +and the royal stables were filled with six thousand mules and horses, +among whom the names of Shebdiz and Barid are renowned for their speed +or beauty. [6611] Six thousand guards successively mounted before the +palace gate; the service of the interior apartments was performed by +twelve thousand slaves, and in the number of three thousand virgins, the +fairest of Asia, some happy concubine might console her master for the +age or the indifference of Sira. + +The various treasures of gold, silver, gems, silks, and aromatics, were +deposited in a hundred subterraneous vaults and the chamber Badaverd +denoted the accidental gift of the winds which had wafted the spoils +of Heraclius into one of the Syrian harbors of his rival. The vice of +flattery, and perhaps of fiction, is not ashamed to compute the thirty +thousand rich hangings that adorned the walls; the forty thousand +columns of silver, or more probably of marble, and plated wood, that +supported the roof; and the thousand globes of gold suspended in the +dome, to imitate the motions of the planets and the constellations of +the zodiac. [67] While the Persian monarch contemplated the wonders of +his art and power, he received an epistle from an obscure citizen of +Mecca, inviting him to acknowledge Mahomet as the apostle of God. He +rejected the invitation, and tore the epistle. "It is thus," exclaimed +the Arabian prophet, "that God will tear the kingdom, and reject the +supplications of Chosroes." [68] [] Placed on the verge of the two great +empires of the East, Mahomet observed with secret joy the progress of +their mutual destruction; and in the midst of the Persian triumphs, +he ventured to foretell, that before many years should elapse, victory +should again return to the banners of the Romans. [69] + +[Footnote 63: The genuine acts of St. Anastasius are published in those +of the with general council, from whence Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A.D. +614, 626, 627) and Butler (Lives of the Saints, vol. i. p. 242--248) +have taken their accounts. The holy martyr deserted from the Persian to +the Roman army, became a monk at Jerusalem, and insulted the worship of +the Magi, which was then established at Caesarea in Palestine.] + +[Footnote 64: Abulpharagius, Dynast. p. 99. Elmacin, Hist. Saracen. p. +14.] + +[Footnote 65: D'Anville, Mem. de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. +xxxii. p. 568--571.] + +[Footnote 66: The difference between the two races consists in one or +two humps; the dromedary has only one; the size of the proper camel is +larger; the country he comes from, Turkistan or Bactriana; the dromedary +is confined to Arabia and Africa. Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. xi. p. +211, &c. Aristot. Hist. Animal. tom. i. l. ii. c. 1, tom. ii. p. 185.] + +[Footnote 6611: The ruins of these scenes of Khoosroo's magnificence +have been visited by Sir R. K. Porter. At the ruins of Tokht i Bostan, +he saw a gorgeous picture of a hunt, singularly illustrative of this +passage. Travels, vol. ii. p. 204. Kisra Shirene, which he afterwards +examined, appears to have been the palace of Dastagerd. Vol. ii. p. +173--175.--M.] + +[Footnote 67: Theophanes, Chronograph. p. 268. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque +Orientale, p. 997. The Greeks describe the decay, the Persians the +splendor, of Dastagerd; but the former speak from the modest witness of +the eye, the latter from the vague report of the ear.] + +[Footnote 68: The historians of Mahomet, Abulfeda (in Vit. Mohammed, +p. 92, 93) and Gagnier, (Vie de Mahomet, tom. ii. p. 247,) date this +embassy in the viith year of the Hegira, which commences A.D. 628, May +11. Their chronology is erroneous, since Chosroes died in the month of +February of the same year, (Pagi, Critica, tom. ii. p. 779.) The count +de Boulainvilliers (Vie de Mahomed, p. 327, 328) places this embassy +about A.D. 615, soon after the conquest of Palestine. Yet Mahomet would +scarcely have ventured so soon on so bold a step.] + +[Footnote 6811: Khoosroo Purveez was encamped on the banks of the +Karasoo River when he received the letter of Mahomed. He tore the letter +and threw it into the Karasoo. For this action, the moderate author +of the Zeenut-ul-Tuarikh calls him a wretch, and rejoices in all his +subsequent misfortunes. These impressions still exist. I remarked to a +Persian, when encamped near the Karasoo, in 1800, that the banks +were very high, which must make it difficult to apply its waters to +irrigation. "It once fertilized the whole country," said the zealous +Mahomedan, "but its channel sunk with honor from its banks, when that +madman, Khoosroo, threw our holy Prophet's letter into its stream; which +has ever since been accursed and useless." Malcolm's Persia, vol. i. p. +126--M.] + +[Footnote 69: See the xxxth chapter of the Koran, entitled the Greeks. +Our honest and learned translator, Sale, (p. 330, 331,) fairly states +this conjecture, guess, wager, of Mahomet; but Boulainvilliers, (p. +329--344,) with wicked intentions, labors to establish this evident +prophecy of a future event, which must, in his opinion, embarrass the +Christian polemics.] + +At the time when this prediction is said to have been delivered, no +prophecy could be more distant from its accomplishment, since the first +twelve years of Heraclius announced the approaching dissolution of the +empire. If the motives of Chosroes had been pure and honorable, he +must have ended the quarrel with the death of Phocas, and he would have +embraced, as his best ally, the fortunate African who had so generously +avenged the injuries of his benefactor Maurice. The prosecution of the +war revealed the true character of the Barbarian; and the suppliant +embassies of Heraclius to beseech his clemency, that he would spare the +innocent, accept a tribute, and give peace to the world, were rejected +with contemptuous silence or insolent menace. Syria, Egypt, and the +provinces of Asia, were subdued by the Persian arms, while Europe, from +the confines of Istria to the long wall of Thrace, was oppressed by the +Avars, unsatiated with the blood and rapine of the Italian war. They had +coolly massacred their male captives in the sacred field of Pannonia; +the women and children were reduced to servitude, and the noblest +virgins were abandoned to the promiscuous lust of the Barbarians. The +amorous matron who opened the gates of Friuli passed a short night in +the arms of her royal lover; the next evening, Romilda was condemned to +the embraces of twelve Avars, and the third day the Lombard princess was +impaled in the sight of the camp, while the chagan observed with a cruel +smile, that such a husband was the fit recompense of her lewdness and +perfidy. [70] By these implacable enemies, Heraclius, on either side, +was insulted and besieged: and the Roman empire was reduced to the walls +of Constantinople, with the remnant of Greece, Italy, and Africa, and +some maritime cities, from Tyre to Trebizond, of the Asiatic coast. +After the loss of Egypt, the capital was afflicted by famine and +pestilence; and the emperor, incapable of resistance, and hopeless of +relief, had resolved to transfer his person and government to the more +secure residence of Carthage. His ships were already laden with the +treasures of the palace; but his flight was arrested by the patriarch, +who armed the powers of religion in the defence of his country; led +Heraclius to the altar of St. Sophia, and extorted a solemn oath, that +he would live and die with the people whom God had intrusted to his +care. The chagan was encamped in the plains of Thrace; but he dissembled +his perfidious designs, and solicited an interview with the emperor +near the town of Heraclea. Their reconciliation was celebrated with +equestrian games; the senate and people, in their gayest apparel, +resorted to the festival of peace; and the Avars beheld, with envy and +desire, the spectacle of Roman luxury. On a sudden the hippodrome was +encompassed by the Scythian cavalry, who had pressed their secret and +nocturnal march: the tremendous sound of the chagan's whip gave the +signal of the assault, and Heraclius, wrapping his diadem round his arm, +was saved with extreme hazard, by the fleetness of his horse. So rapid +was the pursuit, that the Avars almost entered the golden gate of +Constantinople with the flying crowds: [71] but the plunder of the +suburbs rewarded their treason, and they transported beyond the Danube +two hundred and seventy thousand captives. On the shore of Chalcedon, +the emperor held a safer conference with a more honorable foe, who, +before Heraclius descended from his galley, saluted with reverence and +pity the majesty of the purple. The friendly offer of Sain, the Persian +general, to conduct an embassy to the presence of the great king, was +accepted with the warmest gratitude, and the prayer for pardon and peace +was humbly presented by the Praetorian praefect, the praefect of the +city, and one of the first ecclesiastics of the patriarchal church. [72] +But the lieutenant of Chosroes had fatally mistaken the intentions of +his master. "It was not an embassy," said the tyrant of Asia, "it was +the person of Heraclius, bound in chains, that he should have brought to +the foot of my throne. I will never give peace to the emperor of Rome, +till he had abjured his crucified God, and embraced the worship of the +sun." Sain was flayed alive, according to the inhuman practice of his +country; and the separate and rigorous confinement of the ambassadors +violated the law of nations, and the faith of an express stipulation. +Yet the experience of six years at length persuaded the Persian monarch +to renounce the conquest of Constantinople, and to specify the annual +tribute or ransom of the Roman empire; a thousand talents of gold, a +thousand talents of silver, a thousand silk robes, a thousand horses, +and a thousand virgins. Heraclius subscribed these ignominious terms; +but the time and space which he obtained to collect such treasures from +the poverty of the East, was industriously employed in the preparations +of a bold and desperate attack. [Footnote 70: Paul Warnefrid, de Gestis +Langobardorum, l. iv. c. 38, 42. Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. v. p. +305, &c.] + +[Footnote 71: The Paschal Chronicle, which sometimes introduces +fragments of history into a barren list of names and dates, gives the +best account of the treason of the Avars, p. 389, 390. The number of +captives is added by Nicephorus.] + +[Footnote 72: Some original pieces, such as the speech or letter of the +Roman ambassadors, (p. 386--388,) likewise constitute the merit of the +Paschal Chronicle, which was composed, perhaps at Alexandria, under the +reign of Heraclius.] + +Of the characters conspicuous in history, that of Heraclius is one of +the most extraordinary and inconsistent. In the first and last years of +a long reign, the emperor appears to be the slave of sloth, of pleasure, +or of superstition, the careless and impotent spectator of the public +calamities. But the languid mists of the morning and evening are +separated by the brightness of the meridian sun; the Arcadius of the +palace arose the Caesar of the camp; and the honor of Rome and Heraclius +was gloriously retrieved by the exploits and trophies of six adventurous +campaigns. It was the duty of the Byzantine historians to have revealed +the causes of his slumber and vigilance. At this distance we can +only conjecture, that he was endowed with more personal courage than +political resolution; that he was detained by the charms, and perhaps +the arts, of his niece Martina, with whom, after the death of Eudocia, +he contracted an incestuous marriage; [73] and that he yielded to the +base advice of the counsellors, who urged, as a fundamental law, that +the life of the emperor should never be exposed in the field. [74] +Perhaps he was awakened by the last insolent demand of the Persian +conqueror; but at the moment when Heraclius assumed the spirit of a +hero, the only hopes of the Romans were drawn from the vicissitudes of +fortune, which might threaten the proud prosperity of Chosroes, and must +be favorable to those who had attained the lowest period of depression. +[75] To provide for the expenses of war, was the first care of the +emperor; and for the purpose of collecting the tribute, he was allowed +to solicit the benevolence of the eastern provinces. But the revenue no +longer flowed in the usual channels; the credit of an arbitrary prince +is annihilated by his power; and the courage of Heraclius was first +displayed in daring to borrow the consecrated wealth of churches, under +the solemn vow of restoring, with usury, whatever he had been compelled +to employ in the service of religion and the empire. The clergy +themselves appear to have sympathized with the public distress; and the +discreet patriarch of Alexandria, without admitting the precedent +of sacrilege, assisted his sovereign by the miraculous or seasonable +revelation of a secret treasure. [76] Of the soldiers who had conspired +with Phocas, only two were found to have survived the stroke of time and +of the Barbarians; [77] the loss, even of these seditious veterans, was +imperfectly supplied by the new levies of Heraclius, and the gold of the +sanctuary united, in the same camp, the names, and arms, and languages +of the East and West. He would have been content with the neutrality of +the Avars; and his friendly entreaty, that the chagan would act, not as +the enemy, but as the guardian, of the empire, was accompanied with a +more persuasive donative of two hundred thousand pieces of gold. Two +days after the festival of Easter, the emperor, exchanging his purple +for the simple garb of a penitent and warrior, [78] gave the signal +of his departure. To the faith of the people Heraclius recommended +his children; the civil and military powers were vested in the most +deserving hands, and the discretion of the patriarch and senate was +authorized to save or surrender the city, if they should be oppressed +in his absence by the superior forces of the enemy. [Footnote 73: +Nicephorus, (p. 10, 11,) is happy to observe, that of two sons, its +incestuous fruit, the elder was marked by Providence with a stiff neck, +the younger with the loss of hearing.] + +[Footnote 74: George of Pisidia, (Acroas. i. 112--125, p. 5,) who states +the opinions, acquits the pusillanimous counsellors of any sinister +views. Would he have excused the proud and contemptuous admonition of +Crispus?] + +[Footnote 75: George Pisid. Acroas. i. 51, &c. p: 4. The Orientals are +not less fond of remarking this strange vicissitude; and I remember +some story of Khosrou Parviz, not very unlike the ring of Polycrates of +Samos.] + +[Footnote 76: Baronius gravely relates this discovery, or rather +transmutation, of barrels, not of honey, but of gold, (Annal. Eccles. +A.D. 620, No. 3, &c.) Yet the loan was arbitrary, since it was collected +by soldiers, who were ordered to leave the patriarch of Alexandria no +more than one hundred pounds of gold. Nicephorus, (p. 11,) two hundred +years afterwards, speaks with ill humor of this contribution, which the +church of Constantinople might still feel.] + +[Footnote 77: Theophylact Symocatta, l. viii. c. 12. This circumstance +need not excite our surprise. The muster-roll of a regiment, even in +time of peace, is renewed in less than twenty or twenty-five years.] + +[Footnote 78: He changed his purple for black, buckskins, and dyed them +red in the blood of the Persians, (Georg. Pisid. Acroas. iii. 118, 121, +122 See the notes of Foggini, p. 35.)] + +The neighboring heights of Chalcedon were covered with tents and arms: +but if the new levies of Heraclius had been rashly led to the attack, +the victory of the Persians in the sight of Constantinople might have +been the last day of the Roman empire. As imprudent would it have been +to advance into the provinces of Asia, leaving their innumerable cavalry +to intercept his convoys, and continually to hang on the lassitude and +disorder of his rear. But the Greeks were still masters of the sea; +a fleet of galleys, transports, and store-ships, was assembled in the +harbor; the Barbarians consented to embark; a steady wind carried them +through the Hellespont the western and southern coast of Asia Minor lay +on their left hand; the spirit of their chief was first displayed in a +storm, and even the eunuchs of his train were excited to suffer and +to work by the example of their master. He landed his troops on the +confines of Syria and Cilicia, in the Gulf of Scanderoon, where +the coast suddenly turns to the south; [79] and his discernment was +expressed in the choice of this important post. [80] From all sides, +the scattered garrisons of the maritime cities and the mountains might +repair with speed and safety to his Imperial standard. The natural +fortifications of Cilicia protected, and even concealed, the camp +of Heraclius, which was pitched near Issus, on the same ground where +Alexander had vanquished the host of Darius. The angle which the emperor +occupied was deeply indented into a vast semicircle of the Asiatic, +Armenian, and Syrian provinces; and to whatsoever point of the +circumference he should direct his attack, it was easy for him to +dissemble his own motions, and to prevent those of the enemy. In the +camp of Issus, the Roman general reformed the sloth and disorder of the +veterans, and educated the new recruits in the knowledge and practice of +military virtue. Unfolding the miraculous image of Christ, he urged them +to revenge the holy altars which had been profaned by the worshippers +of fire; addressing them by the endearing appellations of sons and +brethren, he deplored the public and private wrongs of the republic. The +subjects of a monarch were persuaded that they fought in the cause +of freedom; and a similar enthusiasm was communicated to the foreign +mercenaries, who must have viewed with equal indifference the interest +of Rome and of Persia. Heraclius himself, with the skill and patience +of a centurion, inculcated the lessons of the school of tactics, and the +soldiers were assiduously trained in the use of their weapons, and the +exercises and evolutions of the field. The cavalry and infantry in light +or heavy armor were divided into two parties; the trumpets were fixed +in the centre, and their signals directed the march, the charge, the +retreat or pursuit; the direct or oblique order, the deep or extended +phalanx; to represent in fictitious combat the operations of genuine +war. Whatever hardships the emperor imposed on the troops, he inflicted +with equal severity on himself; their labor, their diet, their sleep, +were measured by the inflexible rules of discipline; and, without +despising the enemy, they were taught to repose an implicit confidence +in their own valor and the wisdom of their leader. Cilicia was soon +encompassed with the Persian arms; but their cavalry hesitated to +enter the defiles of Mount Taurus, till they were circumvented by the +evolutions of Heraclius, who insensibly gained their rear, whilst he +appeared to present his front in order of battle. By a false motion, +which seemed to threaten Armenia, he drew them, against their wishes, to +a general action. They were tempted by the artful disorder of his +camp; but when they advanced to combat, the ground, the sun, and the +expectation of both armies, were unpropitious to the Barbarians; the +Romans successfully repeated their tactics in a field of battle, [81] +and the event of the day declared to the world, that the Persians were +not invincible, and that a hero was invested with the purple. Strong in +victory and fame, Heraclius boldly ascended the heights of Mount Taurus, +directed his march through the plains of Cappadocia, and established +his troops, for the winter season, in safe and plentiful quarters on the +banks of the River Halys. [82] His soul was superior to the vanity of +entertaining Constantinople with an imperfect triumph; but the presence +of the emperor was indispensably required to soothe the restless and +rapacious spirit of the Avars. + +[Footnote 79: George of Pisidia, (Acroas. ii. 10, p. 8) has fixed this +important point of the Syrian and Cilician gates. They are elegantly +described by Xenophon, who marched through them a thousand years +before. A narrow pass of three stadia between steep, high rocks, and the +Mediterranean, was closed at each end by strong gates, impregnable +to the land, accessible by sea, (Anabasis, l. i. p. 35, 36, with +Hutchinson's Geographical Dissertation, p. vi.) The gates were +thirty-five parasangs, or leagues, from Tarsus, (Anabasis, l. i. p. 33, +34,) and eight or ten from Antioch. Compare Itinerar. Wesseling, p. 580, +581. Schultens, Index Geograph. ad calcem Vit. Saladin. p. 9. Voyage en +Turquie et en Perse, par M. Otter, tom. i. p. 78, 79.] + +[Footnote 80: Heraclius might write to a friend in the modest words of +Cicero: "Castra habuimus ea ipsa quae contra Darium habuerat apud Issum +Alexander, imperator haud paulo melior quam aut tu aut ego." Ad Atticum, +v. 20. Issus, a rich and flourishing city in the time of Xenophon, was +ruined by the prosperity of Alexandria or Scanderoon, on the other side +of the bay.] + +[Footnote 81: Foggini (Annotat. p. 31) suspects that the Persians were +deceived by the of Aelian, (Tactic. c. 48,) an intricate spiral motion +of the army. He observes (p. 28) that the military descriptions of +George of Pisidia are transcribed in the Tactics of the emperor Leo.] + +[Footnote 82: George of Pisidia, an eye-witness, (Acroas. ii. 122, +&c.,) described in three acroaseis, or cantos, the first expedition of +Heraclius. The poem has been lately (1777) published at Rome; but such +vague and declamatory praise is far from corresponding with the sanguine +hopes of Pagi, D'Anville, &c.] + +Since the days of Scipio and Hannibal, no bolder enterprise has been +attempted than that which Heraclius achieved for the deliverance of +the empire [83] He permitted the Persians to oppress for a while the +provinces, and to insult with impunity the capital of the East; while +the Roman emperor explored his perilous way through the Black Sea, [84] +and the mountains of Armenia, penetrated into the heart of Persia, +[85] and recalled the armies of the great king to the defence of +their bleeding country. With a select band of five thousand soldiers, +Heraclius sailed from Constantinople to Trebizond; assembled his forces +which had wintered in the Pontic regions; and, from the mouth of the +Phasis to the Caspian Sea, encouraged his subjects and allies to march +with the successor of Constantine under the faithful and victorious +banner of the cross. When the legions of Lucullus and Pompey first +passed the Euphrates, they blushed at their easy victory over the +natives of Armenia. But the long experience of war had hardened the +minds and bodies of that effeminate peeple; their zeal and bravery were +approved in the service of a declining empire; they abhorred and feared +the usurpation of the house of Sassan, and the memory of persecution +envenomed their pious hatred of the enemies of Christ. The limits of +Armenia, as it had been ceded to the emperor Maurice, extended as far as +the Araxes: the river submitted to the indignity of a bridge, [86] and +Heraclius, in the footsteps of Mark Antony, advanced towards the city +of Tauris or Gandzaca, [87] the ancient and modern capital of one of the +provinces of Media. At the head of forty thousand men, Chosroes himself +had returned from some distant expedition to oppose the progress of the +Roman arms; but he retreated on the approach of Heraclius, declining the +generous alternative of peace or of battle. Instead of half a million of +inhabitants, which have been ascribed to Tauris under the reign of the +Sophys, the city contained no more than three thousand houses; but the +value of the royal treasures was enhanced by a tradition, that they +were the spoils of Croesus, which had been transported by Cyrus from the +citadel of Sardes. The rapid conquests of Heraclius were suspended +only by the winter season; a motive of prudence, or superstition, [88] +determined his retreat into the province of Albania, along the shores of +the Caspian; and his tents were most probably pitched in the plains of +Mogan, [89] the favorite encampment of Oriental princes. In the course +of this successful inroad, he signalized the zeal and revenge of a +Christian emperor: at his command, the soldiers extinguished the fire, +and destroyed the temples, of the Magi; the statues of Chosroes, who +aspired to divine honors, were abandoned to the flames; and the ruins of +Thebarma or Ormia, [90] which had given birth to Zoroaster himself, made +some atonement for the injuries of the holy sepulchre. A purer spirit +of religion was shown in the relief and deliverance of fifty +thousand captives. Heraclius was rewarded by their tears and grateful +acclamations; but this wise measure, which spread the fame of his +benevolence, diffused the murmurs of the Persians against the pride +and obstinacy of their own sovereign. [Footnote 83: Theophanes (p. 256) +carries Heraclius swiftly into Armenia. Nicephorus, (p. 11,) though he +confounds the two expeditions, defines the province of Lazica. Eutychius +(Annal. tom. ii. p. 231) has given the 5000 men, with the more probable +station of Trebizond.] + +[Footnote 84: From Constantinople to Trebizond, with a fair wind, +four or five days; from thence to Erzerom, five; to Erivan, twelve; to +Taurus, ten; in all, thirty-two. Such is the Itinerary of Tavernier, +(Voyages, tom. i. p. 12--56,) who was perfectly conversant with the +roads of Asia. Tournefort, who travelled with a pacha, spent ten or +twelve days between Trebizond and Erzerom, (Voyage du Levant, tom. iii. +lettre xviii.;) and Chardin (Voyages, tom. i. p. 249--254) gives the +more correct distance of fifty-three parasangs, each of 5000 paces, +(what paces?) between Erivan and Tauris.] + +[Footnote 85: The expedition of Heraclius into Persia is finely +illustrated by M. D'Anville, (Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, +tom. xxviii. p. 559--573.) He discovers the situation of Gandzaca, +Thebarma, Dastagerd, &c., with admirable skill and learning; but the +obscure campaign of 624 he passes over in silence.] + +[Footnote 86: Et pontem indignatus Araxes.--Virgil, Aeneid, viii. 728. +The River Araxes is noisy, rapid, vehement, and, with the melting of the +snows, irresistible: the strongest and most massy bridges are swept away +by the current; and its indignation is attested by the ruins of many +arches near the old town of Zulfa. Voyages de Chardin, tom. i. p. 252.] + +[Footnote 87: Chardin, tom. i. p. 255--259. With the Orientals, +(D'Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient. p. 834,) he ascribes the foundation of +Tauris, or Tebris, to Zobeide, the wife of the famous Khalif Haroun +Alrashid; but it appears to have been more ancient; and the names of +Gandzaca, Gazaca, Gaza, are expressive of the royal treasure. The number +of 550,000 inhabitants is reduced by Chardin from 1,100,000, the popular +estimate.] + +[Footnote 88: He opened the gospel, and applied or interpreted the first +casual passage to the name and situation of Albania. Theophanes, p. +258.] + +[Footnote 89: The heath of Mogan, between the Cyrus and the Araxes, is +sixty parasangs in length and twenty in breadth, (Olearius, p. 1023, +1024,) abounding in waters and fruitful pastures, (Hist. de Nadir Shah, +translated by Mr. Jones from a Persian Ms., part ii. p. 2, 3.) See the +encampments of Timur, (Hist. par Sherefeddin Ali, l. v. c. 37, l. vi. c. +13,) and the coronation of Nadir Shah, (Hist. Persanne, p. 3--13 and the +English Life by Mr. Jones, p. 64, 65.)] + +[Footnote 90: Thebarma and Ormia, near the Lake Spauta, are proved to +be the same city by D'Anville, (Memoires de l'Academie, tom. xxviii. p. +564, 565.) It is honored as the birthplace of Zoroaster, according to +the Persians, (Schultens, Index Geograph. p. 48;) and their tradition is +fortified by M. Perron d'Anquetil, (Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscript. tom. +xxxi. p. 375,) with some texts from his, or their, Zendavesta. * Note: +D'Anville (Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscript. tom. xxxii. p. 560) labored to +prove the identity of these two cities; but according to M. St. Martin, +vol. xi. p. 97, not with perfect success. Ourmiah. called Ariema in the +ancient Pehlvi books, is considered, both by the followers of Zoroaster +and by the Mahometans, as his birthplace. It is situated in the southern +part of Aderbidjan.--M.] + + + + + +Chapter XLVI: Troubles In Persia.--Part IV. + +Amidst the glories of the succeeding campaign, Heraclius is almost lost +to our eyes, and to those of the Byzantine historians. [91] From the +spacious and fruitful plains of Albania, the emperor appears to follow +the chain of Hyrcanian Mountains, to descend into the province of Media +or Irak, and to carry his victorious arms as far as the royal cities +of Casbin and Ispahan, which had never been approached by a Roman +conqueror. Alarmed by the danger of his kingdom, the powers of Chosroes +were already recalled from the Nile and the Bosphorus, and three +formidable armies surrounded, in a distant and hostile land, the camp +of the emperor. The Colchian allies prepared to desert his standard; and +the fears of the bravest veterans were expressed, rather than concealed, +by their desponding silence. "Be not terrified," said the intrepid +Heraclius, "by the multitude of your foes. With the aid of Heaven, one +Roman may triumph over a thousand Barbarians. But if we devote our +lives for the salvation of our brethren, we shall obtain the crown of +martyrdom, and our immortal reward will be liberally paid by God and +posterity." These magnanimous sentiments were supported by the vigor of +his actions. He repelled the threefold attack of the Persians, improved +the divisions of their chiefs, and, by a well-concerted train of +marches, retreats, and successful actions, finally chased them from the +field into the fortified cities of Media and Assyria. In the severity +of the winter season, Sarbaraza deemed himself secure in the walls of +Salban: he was surprised by the activity of Heraclius, who divided his +troops, and performed a laborious march in the silence of the night. The +flat roofs of the houses were defended with useless valor against the +darts and torches of the Romans: the satraps and nobles of Persia, with +their wives and children, and the flower of their martial youth, were +either slain or made prisoners. The general escaped by a precipitate +flight, but his golden armor was the prize of the conqueror; and the +soldiers of Heraclius enjoyed the wealth and repose which they had so +nobly deserved. On the return of spring, the emperor traversed in seven +days the mountains of Curdistan, and passed without resistance the +rapid stream of the Tigris. Oppressed by the weight of their spoils and +captives, the Roman army halted under the walls of Amida; and Heraclius +informed the senate of Constantinople of his safety and success, which +they had already felt by the retreat of the besiegers. The bridges of +the Euphrates were destroyed by the Persians; but as soon as the emperor +had discovered a ford, they hastily retired to defend the banks of the +Sarus, [92] in Cilicia. That river, an impetuous torrent, was about +three hundred feet broad; the bridge was fortified with strong turrets; +and the banks were lined with Barbarian archers. After a bloody +conflict, which continued till the evening, the Romans prevailed in the +assault; and a Persian of gigantic size was slain and thrown into the +Sarus by the hand of the emperor himself. The enemies were dispersed and +dismayed; Heraclius pursued his march to Sebaste in Cappadocia; and at +the expiration of three years, the same coast of the Euxine applauded +his return from a long and victorious expedition. [93] + +[Footnote 91: I cannot find, and (what is much more,) M. D'Anville does +not attempt to seek, the Salban, Tarantum, territory of the Huns, &c., +mentioned by Theophanes, (p. 260-262.) Eutychius, (Annal. tom. ii. p. +231, 232,) an insufficient author, names Asphahan; and Casbin is most +probably the city of Sapor. Ispahan is twenty-four days' journey from +Tauris, and Casbin half way between, them (Voyages de Tavernier, tom. i. +p. 63--82.)] + +[Footnote 92: At ten parasangs from Tarsus, the army of the younger +Cyrus passed the Sarus, three plethra in breadth: the Pyramus, a stadium +in breadth, ran five parasangs farther to the east, (Xenophon, Anabas. +l. i. p 33, 34.) Note: Now the Sihan.--M.] + +[Footnote 93: George of Pisidia (Bell. Abaricum, 246--265, p. 49) +celebrates with truth the persevering courage of the three campaigns +against the Persians.] + +Instead of skirmishing on the frontier, the two monarchs who disputed +the empire of the East aimed their desperate strokes at the heart of +their rival. The military force of Persia was wasted by the marches and +combats of twenty years, and many of the veterans, who had survived +the perils of the sword and the climate, were still detained in the +fortresses of Egypt and Syria. But the revenge and ambition of Chosroes +exhausted his kingdom; and the new levies of subjects, strangers, and +slaves, were divided into three formidable bodies. [94] The first army +of fifty thousand men, illustrious by the ornament and title of the +golden spears, was destined to march against Heraclius; the second +was stationed to prevent his junction with the troops of his brother +Theodorus; and the third was commanded to besiege Constantinople, and +to second the operations of the chagan, with whom the Persian king had +ratified a treaty of alliance and partition. Sarbar, the general of the +third army, penetrated through the provinces of Asia to the well-known +camp of Chalcedon, and amused himself with the destruction of the sacred +and profane buildings of the Asiatic suburbs, while he impatiently +waited the arrival of his Scythian friends on the opposite side of the +Bosphorus. On the twenty-ninth of June, thirty thousand Barbarians, the +vanguard of the Avars, forced the long wall, and drove into the capital +a promiscuous crowd of peasants, citizens, and soldiers. Fourscore +thousand [95] of his native subjects, and of the vassal tribes of +Gepidae, Russians, Bulgarians, and Sclavonians, advanced under the +standard of the chagan; a month was spent in marches and negotiations, +but the whole city was invested on the thirty-first of July, from the +suburbs of Pera and Galata to the Blachernae and seven towers; and the +inhabitants descried with terror the flaming signals of the European +and Asiatic shores. In the mean while, the magistrates of Constantinople +repeatedly strove to purchase the retreat of the chagan; but their +deputies were rejected and insulted; and he suffered the patricians to +stand before his throne, while the Persian envoys, in silk robes, were +seated by his side. "You see," said the haughty Barbarian, "the proofs +of my perfect union with the great king; and his lieutenant is ready to +send into my camp a select band of three thousand warriors. Presume no +longer to tempt your master with a partial and inadequate ransom your +wealth and your city are the only presents worthy of my acceptance. For +yourselves, I shall permit you to depart, each with an under-garment and +a shirt; and, at my entreaty, my friend Sarbar will not refuse a passage +through his lines. Your absent prince, even now a captive or a fugitive, +has left Constantinople to its fate; nor can you escape the arms of +the Avars and Persians, unless you could soar into the air like birds, +unless like fishes you could dive into the waves." [96] During ten +successive days, the capital was assaulted by the Avars, who had made +some progress in the science of attack; they advanced to sap or batter +the wall, under the cover of the impenetrable tortoise; their engines +discharged a perpetual volley of stones and darts; and twelve lofty +towers of wood exalted the combatants to the height of the neighboring +ramparts. + +But the senate and people were animated by the spirit of Heraclius, who +had detached to their relief a body of twelve thousand cuirassiers; the +powers of fire and mechanics were used with superior art and success in +the defence of Constantinople; and the galleys, with two and three ranks +of oars, commanded the Bosphorus, and rendered the Persians the idle +spectators of the defeat of their allies. The Avars were repulsed; a +fleet of Sclavonian canoes was destroyed in the harbor; the vassals +of the chagan threatened to desert, his provisions were exhausted, and +after burning his engines, he gave the signal of a slow and formidable +retreat. The devotion of the Romans ascribed this signal deliverance to +the Virgin Mary; but the mother of Christ would surely have condemned +their inhuman murder of the Persian envoys, who were entitled to the +rights of humanity, if they were not protected by the laws of nations. +[97] + +[Footnote 94: Petavius (Annotationes ad Nicephorum, p. 62, 63, 64) +discriminates the names and actions of five Persian generals who were +successively sent against Heraclius.] + +[Footnote 95: This number of eight myriads is specified by George of +Pisidia, (Bell. Abar. 219.) The poet (50--88) clearly indicates that +the old chagan lived till the reign of Heraclius, and that his son and +successor was born of a foreign mother. Yet Foggini (Annotat. p. 57) has +given another interpretation to this passage.] + +[Footnote 96: A bird, a frog, a mouse, and five arrows, had been the +present of the Scythian king to Darius, (Herodot. l. iv. c. 131, 132.) +Substituez une lettre a ces signes (says Rousseau, with much good +taste) plus elle sera menacante moins elle effrayera; ce ne sera qu'une +fanfarronade dont Darius n'eut fait que rire, (Emile, tom. iii. p. 146.) +Yet I much question whether the senate and people of Constantinople +laughed at this message of the chagan.] + +[Footnote 97: The Paschal Chronicle (p. 392--397) gives a minute and +authentic narrative of the siege and deliverance of Constantinople +Theophanes (p. 264) adds some circumstances; and a faint light may be +obtained from the smoke of George of Pisidia, who has composed a poem +(de Bello Abarico, p. 45--54) to commemorate this auspicious event.] + +After the division of his army, Heraclius prudently retired to the banks +of the Phasis, from whence he maintained a defensive war against the +fifty thousand gold spears of Persia. His anxiety was relieved by the +deliverance of Constantinople; his hopes were confirmed by a victory of +his brother Theodorus; and to the hostile league of Chosroes with the +Avars, the Roman emperor opposed the useful and honorable alliance +of the Turks. At his liberal invitation, the horde of Chozars [98] +transported their tents from the plains of the Volga to the mountains of +Georgia; Heraclius received them in the neighborhood of Teflis, and the +khan with his nobles dismounted from their horses, if we may credit the +Greeks, and fell prostrate on the ground, to adore the purple of the +Caesars. Such voluntary homage and important aid were entitled to the +warmest acknowledgments; and the emperor, taking off his own diadem, +placed it on the head of the Turkish prince, whom he saluted with a +tender embrace and the appellation of son. After a sumptuous banquet, he +presented Ziebel with the plate and ornaments, the gold, the gems, and +the silk, which had been used at the Imperial table, and, with his own +hand, distributed rich jewels and ear-rings to his new allies. In a +secret interview, he produced the portrait of his daughter Eudocia, [99] +condescended to flatter the Barbarian with the promise of a fair and +august bride; obtained an immediate succor of forty thousand horse, and +negotiated a strong diversion of the Turkish arms on the side of the +Oxus. [100] The Persians, in their turn, retreated with precipitation; +in the camp of Edessa, Heraclius reviewed an army of seventy thousand +Romans and strangers; and some months were successfully employed in +the recovery of the cities of Syria, Mesopotamia and Armenia, whose +fortifications had been imperfectly restored. Sarbar still maintained +the important station of Chalcedon; but the jealousy of Chosroes, or the +artifice of Heraclius, soon alienated the mind of that powerful satrap +from the service of his king and country. A messenger was intercepted +with a real or fictitious mandate to the cadarigan, or second in +command, directing him to send, without delay, to the throne, the head +of a guilty or unfortunate general. The despatches were transmitted to +Sarbar himself; and as soon as he read the sentence of his own death, +he dexterously inserted the names of four hundred officers, assembled +a military council, and asked the cadarigan whether he was prepared to +execute the commands of their tyrant. The Persians unanimously declared, +that Chosroes had forfeited the sceptre; a separate treaty was concluded +with the government of Constantinople; and if some considerations +of honor or policy restrained Sarbar from joining the standard of +Heraclius, the emperor was assured that he might prosecute, without +interruption, his designs of victory and peace. + +[Footnote 98: The power of the Chozars prevailed in the viith, viiith, +and ixth centuries. They were known to the Greeks, the Arabs, and under +the name of Kosa, to the Chinese themselves. De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, +tom. ii. part ii. p. 507--509. * Note: Moses of Chorene speaks of an +invasion of Armenia by the Khazars in the second century, l. ii. c. 62. +M. St. Martin suspects them to be the same with the Hunnish nation +of the Acatires or Agazzires. They are called by the Greek historians +Eastern Turks; like the Madjars and other Hunnish or Finnish tribes, +they had probably received some admixture from the genuine Turkish +races. Ibn. Hankal (Oriental Geography) says that their language was +like the Bulgarian, and considers them a people of Finnish or Hunnish +race. Klaproth, Tabl. Hist. p. 268-273. Abel Remusat, Rech. sur les +Langues Tartares, tom. i. p. 315, 316. St. Martin, vol. xi. p. 115.--M] + +[Footnote 99: Epiphania, or Eudocia, the only daughter of Heraclius and +his first wife Eudocia, was born at Constantinople on the 7th of July, +A.D. 611, baptized the 15th of August, and crowned (in the oratory of +St. Stephen in the palace) the 4th of October of the same year. At this +time she was about fifteen. Eudocia was afterwards sent to her Turkish +husband, but the news of his death stopped her journey, and prevented +the consummation, (Ducange, Familiae Byzantin. p. 118.)] + +[Footnote 100: Elmcain (Hist. Saracen. p. 13--16) gives some curious +and probable facts; but his numbers are rather too high--300,000 Romans +assembled at Edessa--500,000 Persians killed at Nineveh. The abatement +of a cipher is scarcely enough to restore his sanity] + +Deprived of his firmest support, and doubtful of the fidelity of his +subjects, the greatness of Chosroes was still conspicuous in its ruins. +The number of five hundred thousand may be interpreted as an Oriental +metaphor, to describe the men and arms, the horses and elephants, that +covered Media and Assyria against the invasion of Heraclius. Yet the +Romans boldly advanced from the Araxes to the Tigris, and the timid +prudence of Rhazates was content to follow them by forced marches +through a desolate country, till he received a peremptory mandate to +risk the fate of Persia in a decisive battle. Eastward of the Tigris, +at the end of the bridge of Mosul, the great Nineveh had formerly been +erected: [101] the city, and even the ruins of the city, had long since +disappeared; [102] the vacant space afforded a spacious field for the +operations of the two armies. But these operations are neglected by the +Byzantine historians, and, like the authors of epic poetry and romance, +they ascribe the victory, not to the military conduct, but to the +personal valor, of their favorite hero. On this memorable day, +Heraclius, on his horse Phallas, surpassed the bravest of his warriors: +his lip was pierced with a spear; the steed was wounded in the thigh; +but he carried his master safe and victorious through the triple phalanx +of the Barbarians. In the heat of the action, three valiant chiefs were +successively slain by the sword and lance of the emperor: among these +was Rhazates himself; he fell like a soldier, but the sight of his head +scattered grief and despair through the fainting ranks of the Persians. +His armor of pure and massy gold, the shield of one hundred and twenty +plates, the sword and belt, the saddle and cuirass, adorned the triumph +of Heraclius; and if he had not been faithful to Christ and his mother, +the champion of Rome might have offered the fourth opime spoils to +the Jupiter of the Capitol. [103] In the battle of Nineveh, which +was fiercely fought from daybreak to the eleventh hour, twenty-eight +standards, besides those which might be broken or torn, were taken from +the Persians; the greatest part of their army was cut in pieces, and the +victors, concealing their own loss, passed the night on the field. They +acknowledged, that on this occasion it was less difficult to kill +than to discomfit the soldiers of Chosroes; amidst the bodies of their +friends, no more than two bow-shot from the enemy the remnant of the +Persian cavalry stood firm till the seventh hour of the night; about +the eighth hour they retired to their unrifled camp, collected their +baggage, and dispersed on all sides, from the want of orders rather than +of resolution. The diligence of Heraclius was not less admirable in +the use of victory; by a march of forty-eight miles in four-and-twenty +hours, his vanguard occupied the bridges of the great and the lesser +Zab; and the cities and palaces of Assyria were open for the first +time to the Romans. By a just gradation of magnificent scenes, they +penetrated to the royal seat of Dastagerd, [1031] and, though much of +the treasure had been removed, and much had been expended, the remaining +wealth appears to have exceeded their hopes, and even to have satiated +their avarice. Whatever could not be easily transported, they consumed +with fire, that Chosroes might feel the anguish of those wounds which he +had so often inflicted on the provinces of the empire: and justice might +allow the excuse, if the desolation had been confined to the works of +regal luxury, if national hatred, military license, and religious zeal, +had not wasted with equal rage the habitations and the temples of the +guiltless subject. The recovery of three hundred Roman standards, and +the deliverance of the numerous captives of Edessa and Alexandria, +reflect a purer glory on the arms of Heraclius. From the palace +of Dastagerd, he pursued his march within a few miles of Modain or +Ctesiphon, till he was stopped, on the banks of the Arba, by the +difficulty of the passage, the rigor of the season, and perhaps the fame +of an impregnable capital. The return of the emperor is marked by the +modern name of the city of Sherhzour: he fortunately passed Mount +Zara, before the snow, which fell incessantly thirty-four days; and the +citizens of Gandzca, or Tauris, were compelled to entertain the soldiers +and their horses with a hospitable reception. [104] + +[Footnote 101: Ctesias (apud Didor. Sicul. tom. i. l. ii. p. 115, +edit. Wesseling) assigns 480 stadia (perhaps only 32 miles) for the +circumference of Nineveh. Jonas talks of three days' journey: the +120,000 persons described by the prophet as incapable of discerning +their right hand from their left, may afford about 700,000 persons of +all ages for the inhabitants of that ancient capital, (Goguet, Origines +des Loix, &c., tom. iii. part i. p. 92, 93,) which ceased to exist +600 years before Christ. The western suburb still subsisted, and is +mentioned under the name of Mosul in the first age of the Arabian +khalifs.] + +[Footnote 102: Niebuhr (Voyage en Arabie, &c., tom. ii. p. 286) passed +over Nineveh without perceiving it. He mistook for a ridge of hills the +old rampart of brick or earth. It is said to have been 100 feet high, +flanked with 1500 towers, each of the height of 200 feet.] + +[Footnote 103: Rex regia arma fero (says Romulus, in the first +consecration).... bina postea (continues Livy, i. 10) inter tot bella, +opima parta sunt spolia, adeo rara ejus fortuna decoris. If Varro (apud +Pomp Festum, p. 306, edit. Dacier) could justify his liberality in +granting the opime spoils even to a common soldier who had slain the +king or general of the enemy, the honor would have been much more cheap +and common] + +[Footnote 1031: Macdonald Kinneir places Dastagerd at Kasr e Shirin, +the palace of Sira on the banks of the Diala between Holwan and Kanabee. +Kinnets Geograph. Mem. p. 306.--M.] + +[Footnote 104: In describing this last expedition of Heraclius, the +facts, the places, and the dates of Theophanes (p. 265--271) are so +accurate and authentic, that he must have followed the original letters +of the emperor, of which the Paschal Chronicle has preserved (p. +398--402) a very curious specimen.] + +When the ambition of Chosroes was reduced to the defence of his +hereditary kingdom, the love of glory, or even the sense of shame, +should have urged him to meet his rival in the field. In the battle of +Nineveh, his courage might have taught the Persians to vanquish, or +he might have fallen with honor by the lance of a Roman emperor. The +successor of Cyrus chose rather, at a secure distance, to expect the +event, to assemble the relics of the defeat, and to retire, by measured +steps, before the march of Heraclius, till he beheld with a sigh the +once loved mansions of Dastagerd. Both his friends and enemies were +persuaded, that it was the intention of Chosroes to bury himself under +the ruins of the city and palace: and as both might have been equally +adverse to his flight, the monarch of Asia, with Sira, [1041] and three +concubines, escaped through a hole in the wall nine days before the +arrival of the Romans. The slow and stately procession in which he +showed himself to the prostrate crowd, was changed to a rapid and secret +journey; and the first evening he lodged in the cottage of a peasant, +whose humble door would scarcely give admittance to the great king. +[105] His superstition was subdued by fear: on the third day, he entered +with joy the fortifications of Ctesiphon; yet he still doubted of +his safety till he had opposed the River Tigris to the pursuit of the +Romans. The discovery of his flight agitated with terror and tumult +the palace, the city, and the camp of Dastagerd: the satraps hesitated +whether they had most to fear from their sovereign or the enemy; and +the females of the harem were astonished and pleased by the sight of +mankind, till the jealous husband of three thousand wives again confined +them to a more distant castle. At his command, the army of Dastagerd +retreated to a new camp: the front was covered by the Arba, and a line +of two hundred elephants; the troops of the more distant provinces +successively arrived, and the vilest domestics of the king and satraps +were enrolled for the last defence of the throne. It was still in the +power of Chosroes to obtain a reasonable peace; and he was repeatedly +pressed by the messengers of Heraclius to spare the blood of his +subjects, and to relieve a humane conqueror from the painful duty of +carrying fire and sword through the fairest countries of Asia. But the +pride of the Persian had not yet sunk to the level of his fortune; he +derived a momentary confidence from the retreat of the emperor; he +wept with impotent rage over the ruins of his Assyrian palaces, and +disregarded too long the rising murmurs of the nation, who complained +that their lives and fortunes were sacrificed to the obstinacy of an old +man. That unhappy old man was himself tortured with the sharpest pains +both of mind and body; and, in the consciousness of his approaching end, +he resolved to fix the tiara on the head of Merdaza, the most favored +of his sons. But the will of Chosroes was no longer revered, and +Siroes, [1051] who gloried in the rank and merit of his mother Sira, had +conspired with the malecontents to assert and anticipate the rights +of primogeniture. [106] Twenty-two satraps (they styled themselves +patriots) were tempted by the wealth and honors of a new reign: to +the soldiers, the heir of Chosroes promised an increase of pay; to +the Christians, the free exercise of their religion; to the captives, +liberty and rewards; and to the nation, instant peace and the reduction +of taxes. It was determined by the conspirators, that Siroes, with the +ensigns of royalty, should appear in the camp; and if the enterprise +should fail, his escape was contrived to the Imperial court. But the new +monarch was saluted with unanimous acclamations; the flight of Chosroes +(yet where could he have fled?) was rudely arrested, eighteen sons were +massacred [1061] before his face, and he was thrown into a dungeon, +where he expired on the fifth day. The Greeks and modern Persians +minutely describe how Chosroes was insulted, and famished, and tortured, +by the command of an inhuman son, who so far surpassed the example of +his father: but at the time of his death, what tongue would relate +the story of the parricide? what eye could penetrate into the tower of +darkness? According to the faith and mercy of his Christian enemies, he +sunk without hope into a still deeper abyss; [107] and it will not be +denied, that tyrants of every age and sect are the best entitled to such +infernal abodes. The glory of the house of Sassan ended with the life of +Chosroes: his unnatural son enjoyed only eight months the fruit of his +crimes: and in the space of four years, the regal title was assumed by +nine candidates, who disputed, with the sword or dagger, the fragments +of an exhausted monarchy. Every province, and each city of Persia, was +the scene of independence, of discord, and of blood; and the state of +anarchy prevailed about eight years longer, [1071] till the factions +were silenced and united under the common yoke of the Arabian caliphs. +[108] + +[Footnote 1041: The Schirin of Persian poetry. The love of Chosru and +Schirin rivals in Persian romance that of Joseph with Zuleika the wife +of Potiphar, of Solomon with the queen of Sheba, and that of Mejnoun and +Leila. The number of Persian poems on the subject may be seen in M. von +Hammer's preface to his poem of Schirin.--M] + +[Footnote 105: The words of Theophanes are remarkable. Young princes who +discover a propensity to war should repeatedly transcribe and translate +such salutary texts.] + +[Footnote 1051: His name was Kabad (as appears from an official letter +in the Paschal Chronicle, p. 402.) St. Martin considers the name Siroes, +Schirquieh of Schirwey, derived from the word schir, royal. St. Martin, +xi. 153.--M.] + +[Footnote 106: The authentic narrative of the fall of Chosroes is +contained in the letter of Heraclius (Chron. Paschal. p. 398) and the +history of Theophanes, (p. 271.)] + +[Footnote 1061: According to Le Beau, this massacre was perpetrated +at Mahuza in Babylonia, not in the presence of Chosroes. The Syrian +historian, Thomas of Maraga, gives Chosroes twenty-four sons; Mirkhond, +(translated by De Sacy,) fifteen; the inedited Modjmel-alte-warikh, +agreeing with Gibbon, eighteen, with their names. Le Beau and St. +Martin, xi. 146.--M.] + +[Footnote 107: On the first rumor of the death of Chosroes, an Heracliad +in two cantos was instantly published at Constantinople by George of +Pisidia, (p. 97--105.) A priest and a poet might very properly exult in +the damnation of the public enemy but such mean revenge is unworthy of a +king and a conqueror; and I am sorry to find so much black superstition +in the letter of Heraclius: he almost applauds the parricide of Siroes +as an act of piety and justice. * Note: The Mahometans show no more +charity towards the memory of Chosroes or Khoosroo Purveez. All his +reverses are ascribed to the just indignation of God, upon a monarch who +had dared, with impious and accursed hands, to tear the letter of the +Holy Prophet Mahomed. Compare note, p. 231.--M.] + +[Footnote 1071: Yet Gibbon himself places the flight and death of +Yesdegird Ill., the last king of Persia, in 651. The famous era of +Yesdegird dates from his accession, June 16 632.--M.] + +[Footnote 108: The best Oriental accounts of this last period of the +Sassanian kings are found in Eutychius, (Annal. tom. ii. p. 251--256,) +who dissembles the parricide of Siroes, D'Herbelot (Bibliotheque +Orientale, p. 789,) and Assemanni, (Bibliothec. Oriental. tom. iii. p. +415--420.)] + +As soon as the mountains became passable, the emperor received the +welcome news of the success of the conspiracy, the death of Chosroes, +and the elevation of his eldest son to the throne of Persia. The authors +of the revolution, eager to display their merits in the court or camp of +Tauris, preceded the ambassadors of Siroes, who delivered the letters +of their master to his brother the emperor of the Romans. [109] In the +language of the usurpers of every age, he imputes his own crimes to the +Deity, and, without degrading his equal majesty, he offers to reconcile +the long discord of the two nations, by a treaty of peace and alliance +more durable than brass or iron. The conditions of the treaty were +easily defined and faithfully executed. In the recovery of the standards +and prisoners which had fallen into the hands of the Persians, the +emperor imitated the example of Augustus: their care of the national +dignity was celebrated by the poets of the times, but the decay of +genius may be measured by the distance between Horace and George of +Pisidia: the subjects and brethren of Heraclius were redeemed from +persecution, slavery, and exile; but, instead of the Roman eagles, the +true wood of the holy cross was restored to the importunate demands of +the successor of Constantine. The victor was not ambitious of enlarging +the weakness of the empire; the son of Chosroes abandoned without regret +the conquests of his father; the Persians who evacuated the cities of +Syria and Egypt were honorably conducted to the frontier, and a war +which had wounded the vitals of the two monarchies, produced no change +in their external and relative situation. The return of Heraclius from +Tauris to Constantinople was a perpetual triumph; and after the exploits +of six glorious campaigns, he peaceably enjoyed the Sabbath of his +toils. After a long impatience, the senate, the clergy, and the people, +went forth to meet their hero, with tears and acclamations, with olive +branches and innumerable lamps; he entered the capital in a chariot +drawn by four elephants; and as soon as the emperor could disengage +himself from the tumult of public joy, he tasted more genuine +satisfaction in the embraces of his mother and his son. [110] + +[Footnote 109: The letter of Siroes in the Paschal Chronicle (p. 402) +unfortunately ends before he proceeds to business. The treaty appears in +its execution in the histories of Theophanes and Nicephorus. * Note: M. +Mai. Script. Vet. Nova Collectio, vol. i. P. 2, p. 223, has added some +lines, but no clear sense can be made out of the fragment.--M.] + +[Footnote 110: The burden of Corneille's song, "Montrez Heraclius au +peuple qui l'attend," is much better suited to the present occasion. See +his triumph in Theophanes (p. 272, 273) and Nicephorus, (p. 15, 16.) The +life of the mother and tenderness of the son are attested by George of +Pisidia, (Bell. Abar. 255, &c., p. 49.) The metaphor of the Sabbath is +used somewhat profanely by these Byzantine Christians.] + +The succeeding year was illustrated by a triumph of a very different +kind, the restitution of the true cross to the holy sepulchre. Heraclius +performed in person the pilgrimage of Jerusalem, the identity of the +relic was verified by the discreet patriarch, [111] and this august +ceremony has been commemorated by the annual festival of the exaltation +of the cross. Before the emperor presumed to tread the consecrated +ground, he was instructed to strip himself of the diadem and purple, +the pomp and vanity of the world: but in the judgment of his clergy, the +persecution of the Jews was more easily reconciled with the precepts +of the gospel. [1111] He again ascended his throne to receive the +congratulations of the ambassadors of France and India: and the fame +of Moses, Alexander, and Hercules, [112] was eclipsed in the popular +estimation, by the superior merit and glory of the great Heraclius. +Yet the deliverer of the East was indigent and feeble. Of the Persian +spoils, the most valuable portion had been expended in the war, +distributed to the soldiers, or buried, by an unlucky tempest, in the +waves of the Euxine. The conscience of the emperor was oppressed by the +obligation of restoring the wealth of the clergy, which he had borrowed +for their own defence: a perpetual fund was required to satisfy these +inexorable creditors; the provinces, already wasted by the arms and +avarice of the Persians, were compelled to a second payment of the same +taxes; and the arrears of a simple citizen, the treasurer of Damascus, +were commuted to a fine of one hundred thousand pieces of gold. The loss +of two hundred thousand soldiers [113] who had fallen by the sword, +was of less fatal importance than the decay of arts, agriculture, and +population, in this long and destructive war: and although a victorious +army had been formed under the standard of Heraclius, the unnatural +effort appears to have exhausted rather than exercised their strength. +While the emperor triumphed at Constantinople or Jerusalem, an obscure +town on the confines of Syria was pillaged by the Saracens, and they +cut in pieces some troops who advanced to its relief; an ordinary and +trifling occurrence, had it not been the prelude of a mighty revolution. +These robbers were the apostles of Mahomet; their fanatic valor had +emerged from the desert; and in the last eight years of his reign, +Heraclius lost to the Arabs the same provinces which he had rescued from +the Persians. + +[Footnote 111: See Baronius, (Annal. Eccles. A.D. 628, No. 1-4,) +Eutychius, (Annal. tom. ii. p. 240--248,) Nicephorus, (Brev. p. 15.) The +seals of the case had never been broken; and this preservation of the +cross is ascribed (under God) to the devotion of Queen Sira.] + +[Footnote 1111: If the clergy imposed upon the kneeling and penitent +emperor the persecution of the Jews, it must be acknowledge that +provocation was not wanting; for how many of them had been eye-witnesses +of, perhaps sufferers in, the horrible atrocities committed on +the capture of the city! Yet we have no authentic account of great +severities exercised by Heraclius. The law of Hadrian was reenacted, +which prohibited the Jews from approaching within three miles of the +city--a law, which, in the present exasperated state of the Christians, +might be a measure of security of mercy, rather than of oppression. +Milman, Hist. of the Jews, iii. 242.--M.] + +[Footnote 112: George of Pisidia, Acroas. iii. de Expedit. contra +Persas, 415, &c., and Heracleid. Acroas. i. 65--138. I neglect the +meaner parallels of Daniel, Timotheus, &c.; Chosroes and the chagan were +of course compared to Belshazzar, Pharaoh, the old serpent, &c.] + +[Footnote 13: Suidas (in Excerpt. Hist. Byzant. p. 46) gives this +number; but either the Persian must be read for the Isaurian war, or +this passage does not belong to the emperor Heraclius.] + + + + + +Chapter XLVII: Ecclesiastical Discord.--Part I. + + Theological History Of The Doctrine Of The Incarnation.--The + Human And Divine Nature Of Christ.--Enmity Of The Patriarchs + Of Alexandria And Constantinople.--St. Cyril And Nestorius. + --Third General Council Of Ephesus.--Heresy Of Eutyches.-- + Fourth General Council Of Chalcedon.--Civil And + Ecclesiastical Discord.--Intolerance Of Justinian.--The + Three Chapters.--The Monothelite Controversy.--State Of The + Oriental Sects:--I. The Nestorians.--II. The Jacobites.-- + III. The Maronites.--IV. The Armenians.--V. The Copts And + Abyssinians. + +After the extinction of paganism, the Christians in peace and piety +might have enjoyed their solitary triumph. But the principle of discord +was alive in their bosom, and they were more solicitous to explore the +nature, than to practice the laws, of their founder. I have already +observed, that the disputes of the Trinity were succeeded by those of +the Incarnation; alike scandalous to the church, alike pernicious to the +state, still more minute in their origin, still more durable in their +effects. + +It is my design to comprise in the present chapter a religious war +of two hundred and fifty years, to represent the ecclesiastical and +political schism of the Oriental sects, and to introduce their clamorous +or sanguinary contests, by a modest inquiry into the doctrines of the +primitive church. [1] + +[Footnote 1: By what means shall I authenticate this previous inquiry, +which I have studied to circumscribe and compress?--If I persist in +supporting each fact or reflection by its proper and special evidence, +every line would demand a string of testimonies, and every note would +swell to a critical dissertation. But the numberless passages of +antiquity which I have seen with my own eyes, are compiled, digested and +illustrated by Petavius and Le Clerc, by Beausobre and Mosheim. I shall +be content to fortify my narrative by the names and characters of these +respectable guides; and in the contemplation of a minute or remote +object, I am not ashamed to borrow the aid of the strongest glasses: 1. +The Dogmata Theologica of Petavius are a work of incredible labor and +compass; the volumes which relate solely to the Incarnation (two folios, +vth and vith, of 837 pages) are divided into xvi. books--the first +of history, the remainder of controversy and doctrine. The Jesuit's +learning is copious and correct; his Latinity is pure, his method clear, +his argument profound and well connected; but he is the slave of the +fathers, the scourge of heretics, and the enemy of truth and candor, +as often as they are inimical to the Catholic cause. 2. The Arminian +Le Clerc, who has composed in a quarto volume (Amsterdam, 1716) the +ecclesiastical history of the two first centuries, was free both in his +temper and situation; his sense is clear, but his thoughts are narrow; +he reduces the reason or folly of ages to the standard of his private +judgment, and his impartiality is sometimes quickened, and sometimes +tainted by his opposition to the fathers. See the heretics (Cerinthians, +lxxx. Ebionites, ciii. Carpocratians, cxx. Valentiniins, cxxi. +Basilidians, cxxiii. Marcionites, cxli., &c.) under their proper dates. +3. The Histoire Critique du Manicheisme (Amsterdam, 1734, 1739, in +two vols. in 4to., with a posthumous dissertation sur les Nazarenes, +Lausanne, 1745) of M. de Beausobre is a treasure of ancient philosophy +and theology. The learned historian spins with incomparable art the +systematic thread of opinion, and transforms himself by turns into the +person of a saint, a sage, or a heretic. Yet his refinement is sometimes +excessive; he betrays an amiable partiality in favor of the weaker side, +and, while he guards against calumny, he does not allow sufficient scope +for superstition and fanaticism. A copious table of contents will direct +the reader to any point that he wishes to examine. 4. Less profound than +Petavius, less independent than Le Clerc, less ingenious than Beausobre, +the historian Mosheim is full, rational, correct, and moderate. In his +learned work, De Rebus Christianis ante Constantinum (Helmstadt 1753, +in 4to.,) see the Nazarenes and Ebionites, p. 172--179, 328--332. The +Gnostics in general, p. 179, &c. Cerinthus, p. 196--202. Basilides, p. +352--361. Carpocrates, p. 363--367. Valentinus, p. 371--389 Marcion, p. +404--410. The Manichaeans, p. 829-837, &c.] + +I. A laudable regard for the honor of the first proselyte has +countenanced the belief, the hope, the wish, that the Ebionites, or +at least the Nazarenes, were distinguished only by their obstinate +perseverance in the practice of the Mosaic rites. + +Their churches have disappeared, their books are obliterated: their +obscure freedom might allow a latitude of faith, and the softness of +their infant creed would be variously moulded by the zeal or prudence of +three hundred years. Yet the most charitable criticism must refuse +these sectaries any knowledge of the pure and proper divinity of Christ. +Educated in the school of Jewish prophecy and prejudice, they had never +been taught to elevate their hopes above a human and temporal Messiah. +[2] If they had courage to hail their king when he appeared in a +plebeian garb, their grosser apprehensions were incapable of discerning +their God, who had studiously disguised his celestial character under +the name and person of a mortal. [3] The familiar companions of Jesus +of Nazareth conversed with their friend and countryman, who, in all the +actions of rational and animal life, appeared of the same species with +themselves. His progress from infancy to youth and manhood was marked by +a regular increase in stature and wisdom; and after a painful agony +of mind and body, he expired on the cross. He lived and died for the +service of mankind: but the life and death of Socrates had likewise been +devoted to the cause of religion and justice; and although the stoic +or the hero may disdain the humble virtues of Jesus, the tears which he +shed over his friend and country may be esteemed the purest evidence of +his humanity. The miracles of the gospel could not astonish a people who +held with intrepid faith the more splendid prodigies of the Mosaic +law. The prophets of ancient days had cured diseases, raised the dead, +divided the sea, stopped the sun, and ascended to heaven in a fiery +chariot. And the metaphorical style of the Hebrews might ascribe to a +saint and martyr the adoptive title of Son of God. + +[Footnote 2: Jew Tryphon, (Justin. Dialog. p. 207) in the name of his +countrymen, and the modern Jews, the few who divert their thoughts from +money to religion, still hold the same language, and allege the literal +sense of the prophets. * Note: See on this passage Bp. Kaye, Justin +Martyr, p. 25.--M. Note: Most of the modern writers, who have closely +examined this subject, and who will not be suspected of any theological +bias, Rosenmuller on Isaiah ix. 5, and on Psalm xlv. 7, and Bertholdt, +Christologia Judaeorum, c. xx., rightly ascribe much higher notions +of the Messiah to the Jews. In fact, the dispute seems to rest on the +notion that there was a definite and authorized notion of the Messiah, +among the Jews, whereas it was probably so vague, as to admit every +shade of difference, from the vulgar expectation of a mere temporal +king, to the philosophic notion of an emanation from the Deity.--M.] + +[Footnote 3: Chrysostom (Basnage, Hist. des Juifs, tom. v. c. 9, p. 183) +and Athanasius (Petav. Dogmat. Theolog. tom. v. l. i. c. 2, p. 3) are +obliged to confess that the Divinity of Christ is rarely mentioned by +himself or his apostles.] + +Yet in the insufficient creed of the Nazarenes and the Ebionites, a +distinction is faintly noticed between the heretics, who confounded the +generation of Christ in the common order of nature, and the less guilty +schismatics, who revered the virginity of his mother, and excluded the +aid of an earthly father. The incredulity of the former was countenanced +by the visible circumstances of his birth, the legal marriage of the +reputed parents, Joseph and Mary, and his lineal claim to the kingdom of +David and the inheritance of Judah. But the secret and authentic history +has been recorded in several copies of the Gospel according to St. +Matthew, [4] which these sectaries long preserved in the original +Hebrew, [5] as the sole evidence of their faith. The natural suspicions +of the husband, conscious of his own chastity, were dispelled by the +assurance (in a dream) that his wife was pregnant of the Holy Ghost: and +as this distant and domestic prodigy could not fall under the personal +observation of the historian, he must have listened to the same voice +which dictated to Isaiah the future conception of a virgin. The son of +a virgin, generated by the ineffable operation of the Holy Spirit, was a +creature without example or resemblance, superior in every attribute +of mind and body to the children of Adam. Since the introduction of the +Greek or Chaldean philosophy, [6] the Jews [7] were persuaded of the +preexistence, transmigration, and immortality of souls; and providence +was justified by a supposition, that they were confined in their earthly +prisons to expiate the stains which they had contracted in a former +state. [8] But the degrees of purity and corruption are almost +immeasurable. It might be fairly presumed, that the most sublime and +virtuous of human spirits was infused into the offspring of Mary and +the Holy Ghost; [9] that his abasement was the result of his voluntary +choice; and that the object of his mission was, to purify, not his +own, but the sins of the world. On his return to his native skies, he +received the immense reward of his obedience; the everlasting kingdom of +the Messiah, which had been darkly foretold by the prophets, under the +carnal images of peace, of conquest, and of dominion. Omnipotence could +enlarge the human faculties of Christ to the extend of is celestial +office. In the language of antiquity, the title of God has not been +severely confined to the first parent, and his incomparable minister, +his only-begotten son, might claim, without presumption, the religious, +though secondary, worship of a subject of a subject world. + +[Footnote 4: The two first chapters of St. Matthew did not exist in +the Ebionite copies, (Epiphan. Haeres. xxx. 13;) and the miraculous +conception is one of the last articles which Dr. Priestley has curtailed +from his scanty creed. * Note: The distinct allusion to the facts +related in the two first chapters of the Gospel, in a work evidently +written about the end of the reign of Nero, the Ascensio Isaiae, edited +by Archbishop Lawrence, seems convincing evidence that they are integral +parts of the authentic Christian history.--M.] + +[Footnote 5: It is probable enough that the first of the Gospels for the +use of the Jewish converts was composed in the Hebrew or Syriac idiom: +the fact is attested by a chain of fathers--Papias, Irenaeus, Origen, +Jerom, &c. It is devoutly believed by the Catholics, and admitted by +Casaubon, Grotius, and Isaac Vossius, among the Protestant critics. But +this Hebrew Gospel of St. Matthew is most unaccountably lost; and we +may accuse the diligence or fidelity of the primitive churches, who have +preferred the unauthorized version of some nameless Greek. Erasmus +and his followers, who respect our Greek text as the original Gospel, +deprive themselves of the evidence which declares it to be the work +of an apostle. See Simon, Hist. Critique, &c., tom. iii. c. 5--9, p. +47--101, and the Prolegomena of Mill and Wetstein to the New Testament. +* Note: Surely the extinction of the Judaeo-Christian community related +from Mosheim by Gibbon himself (c. xv.) accounts both simply and +naturally for the loss of a composition, which had become of no +use--nor does it follow that the Greek Gospel of St. Matthew is +unauthorized.--M.] + +[Footnote 6: The metaphysics of the soul are disengaged by Cicero +(Tusculan. l. i.) and Maximus of Tyre (Dissertat. xvi.) from the +intricacies of dialogue, which sometimes amuse, and often perplex, the +readers of the Phoedrus, the Phoedon, and the Laws of Plato.] + +[Footnote 7: The disciples of Jesus were persuaded that a man might have +sinned before he was born, (John, ix. 2,) and the Pharisees held the +transmigration of virtuous souls, (Joseph. de Bell. Judaico, l. ii. c. +7;) and a modern Rabbi is modestly assured, that Hermes, Pythagoras, +Plato, &c., derived their metaphysics from his illustrious countrymen.] + +[Footnote 8: Four different opinions have been entertained concerning +the origin of human souls: 1. That they are eternal and divine. 2. That +they were created in a separate state of existence, before their union +with the body. 3. That they have been propagated from the original stock +of Adam, who contained in himself the mental as well as the corporeal +seed of his posterity. 4. That each soul is occasionally created and +embodied in the moment of conception.--The last of these sentiments +appears to have prevailed among the moderns; and our spiritual history +is grown less sublime, without becoming more intelligible.] + +[Footnote 9: It was one of the fifteen heresies imputed to Origen, and +denied by his apologist, (Photius, Bibliothec. cod. cxvii. p. 296.) Some +of the Rabbis attribute one and the same soul to the persons of Adam, +David, and the Messiah.] + +II. The seeds of the faith, which had slowly arisen in the rocky and +ungrateful soil of Judea, were transplanted, in full maturity, to the +happier climes of the Gentiles; and the strangers of Rome or Asia, who +never beheld the manhood, were the more readily disposed to embrace the +divinity, of Christ. The polytheist and the philosopher, the Greek and +the Barbarian, were alike accustomed to conceive a long succession, +an infinite chain of angels or daemons, or deities, or aeons, or +emanations, issuing from the throne of light. Nor could it seem strange +or incredible, that the first of these aeons, the Logos, or Word of God, +of the same substance with the Father, should descend upon earth, to +deliver the human race from vice and error, and to conduct them in +the paths of life and immortality. But the prevailing doctrine of the +eternity and inherent pravity of matter infected the primitive churches +of the East. Many among the Gentile proselytes refused to believe that +a celestial spirit, an undivided portion of the first essence, had been +personally united with a mass of impure and contaminated flesh; and, +in their zeal for the divinity, they piously abjured the humanity, of +Christ. While his blood was still recent on Mount Calvary, [10] +the Docetes, a numerous and learned sect of Asiatics, invented the +phantastic system, which was afterwards propagated by the Marcionites, +the Manichaeans, and the various names of the Gnostic heresy. [11] They +denied the truth and authenticity of the Gospels, as far as they relate +the conception of Mary, the birth of Christ, and the thirty years that +preceded the exercise of his ministry. He first appeared on the banks of +the Jordan in the form of perfect manhood; but it was a form only, and +not a substance; a human figure created by the hand of Omnipotence to +imitate the faculties and actions of a man, and to impose a perpetual +illusion on the senses of his friends and enemies. Articulate sounds +vibrated on the ears of the disciples; but the image which was impressed +on their optic nerve eluded the more stubborn evidence of the touch; and +they enjoyed the spiritual, not the corporeal, presence of the Son of +God. The rage of the Jews was idly wasted against an impassive phantom; +and the mystic scenes of the passion and death, the resurrection and +ascension, of Christ were represented on the theatre of Jerusalem for +the benefit of mankind. If it were urged, that such ideal mimicry, +such incessant deception, was unworthy of the God of truth, the Docetes +agreed with too many of their orthodox brethren in the justification of +pious falsehood. In the system of the Gnostics, the Jehovah of Israel, +the Creator of this lower world, was a rebellious, or at least an +ignorant, spirit. The Son of God descended upon earth to abolish his +temple and his law; and, for the accomplishment of this salutary end, he +dexterously transferred to his own person the hope and prediction of a +temporal Messiah. + +[Footnote 10: Apostolis adhuc in seculo superstitibus, apud Judaeam +Christi sanguine recente, Phantasma domini corpus asserebatur. Hieronym, +advers. Lucifer. c. 8. The epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, and +even the Gospel according to St. John, are levelled against the growing +error of the Docetes, who had obtained too much credit in the world, +(1 John, iv. 1--5.)] + +[Footnote 11: About the year 200 of the Christian aera, Irenaeus +and Hippolytus efuted the thirty-two sects, which had multiplied to +fourscore in the time of Epiphanius, (Phot. Biblioth. cod. cxx. cxxi. +cxxii.) The five books of Irenaeus exist only in barbarous Latin; but +the original might perhaps be found in some monastery of Greece.] + +One of the most subtile disputants of the Manichaean school has pressed +the danger and indecency of supposing, that the God of the Christians, +in the state of a human foetus, emerged at the end of nine months from +a female womb. The pious horror of his antagonists provoked them to +disclaim all sensual circumstances of conception and delivery; to +maintain that the divinity passed through Mary like a sunbeam through a +plate of glass; and to assert, that the seal of her virginity remained +unbroken even at the moment when she became the mother of Christ. But +the rashness of these concessions has encouraged a milder sentiment of +those of the Docetes, who taught, not that Christ was a phantom, but +that he was clothed with an impassible and incorruptible body. +Such, indeed, in the more orthodox system, he has acquired since his +resurrection, and such he must have always possessed, if it were capable +of pervading, without resistance or injury, the density of intermediate +matter. Devoid of its most essential properties, it might be exempt +from the attributes and infirmities of the flesh. A foetus that could +increase from an invisible point to its full maturity; a child that +could attain the stature of perfect manhood without deriving any +nourishment from the ordinary sources, might continue to exist without +repairing a daily waste by a daily supply of external matter. Jesus +might share the repasts of his disciples without being subject to the +calls of thirst or hunger; and his virgin purity was never sullied +by the involuntary stains of sensual concupiscence. Of a body thus +singularly constituted, a question would arise, by what means, and of +what materials, it was originally framed; and our sounder theology is +startled by an answer which was not peculiar to the Gnostics, that both +the form and the substance proceeded from the divine essence. The idea +of pure and absolute spirit is a refinement of modern philosophy: the +incorporeal essence, ascribed by the ancients to human souls, celestial +beings, and even the Deity himself, does not exclude the notion of +extended space; and their imagination was satisfied with a subtile +nature of air, or fire, or aether, incomparably more perfect than +the grossness of the material world. If we define the place, we must +describe the figure, of the Deity. Our experience, perhaps our vanity, +represents the powers of reason and virtue under a human form. The +Anthropomorphites, who swarmed among the monks of Egypt and the +Catholics of Africa, could produce the express declaration of Scripture, +that man was made after the image of his Creator. [12] The venerable +Serapion, one of the saints of the Nitrian deserts, relinquished, with +many a tear, his darling prejudice; and bewailed, like an infant, his +unlucky conversion, which had stolen away his God, and left his mind +without any visible object of faith or devotion. [13] + +[Footnote 12: The pilgrim Cassian, who visited Egypt in the beginning +of the vth century, observes and laments the reign of anthropomorphism +among the monks, who were not conscious that they embraced the system +of Epicurus, (Cicero, de Nat. Deorum, i. 18, 34.) Ab universo propemodum +genere monachorum, qui per totam provinciam Egyptum morabantur, pro +simplicitatis errore susceptum est, ut e contraric memoratum pontificem +(Theophilus) velut haeresi gravissima depravatum, pars maxima seniorum +ab universo fraternitatis corpore decerneret detestandum, (Cassian, +Collation. x. 2.) As long as St. Augustin remained a Manichaean, he was +scandalized by the anthropomorphism of the vulgar Catholics.] + +[Footnote 13: Ita est in oratione senex mente confusus, eo quod illam +imaginem Deitatis, quam proponere sibi in oratione consueverat, aboleri +de suo corde sentiret, ut in amarissimos fletus, crebrosque singultus +repente prorumpens, in terram prostratus, cum ejulatu validissimo +proclamaret; "Heu me miserum! tulerunt a me Deum meum, et quem nunc +teneam non habeo, vel quem adorem, aut interpallam am nescio." Cassian, +Collat. x. 2.] + +III. Such were the fleeting shadows of the Docetes. A more substantial, +though less simple, hypothesis, was contrived by Cerinthus of Asia, [14] +who dared to oppose the last of the apostles. Placed on the confines of +the Jewish and Gentile world, he labored to reconcile the Gnostic with +the Ebionite, by confessing in the same Messiah the supernatural union +of a man and a God; and this mystic doctrine was adopted with many +fanciful improvements by Carpocrates, Basilides, and Valentine, [15] the +heretics of the Egyptian school. In their eyes, Jesus of Nazareth was a +mere mortal, the legitimate son of Joseph and Mary: but he was the +best and wisest of the human race, selected as the worthy instrument to +restore upon earth the worship of the true and supreme Deity. When he +was baptized in the Jordan, the Christ, the first of the aeons, the Son +of God himself, descended on Jesus in the form of a dove, to inhabit his +mind, and direct his actions during the allotted period of his ministry. +When the Messiah was delivered into the hands of the Jews, the Christ, +an immortal and impassible being, forsook his earthly tabernacle, flew +back to the pleroma or world of spirits, and left the solitary Jesus to +suffer, to complain, and to expire. But the justice and generosity of +such a desertion are strongly questionable; and the fate of an innocent +martyr, at first impelled, and at length abandoned, by his divine +companion, might provoke the pity and indignation of the profane. +Their murmurs were variously silenced by the sectaries who espoused and +modified the double system of Cerinthus. It was alleged, that when Jesus +was nailed to the cross, he was endowed with a miraculous apathy of mind +and body, which rendered him insensible of his apparent sufferings. +It was affirmed, that these momentary, though real, pangs would be +abundantly repaid by the temporal reign of a thousand years reserved for +the Messiah in his kingdom of the new Jerusalem. It was insinuated, +that if he suffered, he deserved to suffer; that human nature is never +absolutely perfect; and that the cross and passion might serve to +expiate the venial transgressions of the son of Joseph, before his +mysterious union with the Son of God. [16] + +[Footnote 14: St. John and Cerinthus (A.D. 80. Cleric. Hist. Eccles. +p. 493) accidentally met in the public bath of Ephesus; but the apostle +fled from the heretic, lest the building should tumble on their heads. +This foolish story, reprobated by Dr. Middleton, (Miscellaneous Works, +vol. ii.,) is related, however, by Irenaeus, (iii. 3,) on the evidence +of Polycarp, and was probably suited to the time and residence of +Cerinthus. The obsolete, yet probably the true, reading of 1 John, iv. +3 alludes to the double nature of that primitive heretic. * Note: +Griesbach asserts that all the Greek Mss., all the translators, and all +the Greek fathers, support the common reading.--Nov. Test. in loc.--M] + +[Footnote 15: The Valentinians embraced a complex, and almost +incoherent, system. 1. Both Christ and Jesus were aeons, though of +different degrees; the one acting as the rational soul, the other as the +divine spirit of the Savior. 2. At the time of the passion, they both +retired, and left only a sensitive soul and a human body. 3. Even +that body was aethereal, and perhaps apparent.--Such are the laborious +conclusions of Mosheim. But I much doubt whether the Latin translator +understood Irenaeus, and whether Irenaeus and the Valetinians understood +themselves.] + +[Footnote 16: The heretics abused the passionate exclamation of "My God, +my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Rousseau, who has drawn an eloquent, +but indecent, parallel between Christ and Socrates, forgets that not +a word of impatience or despair escaped from the mouth of the dying +philosopher. In the Messiah, such sentiments could be only apparent; and +such ill-sounding words were properly explained as the application of a +psalm and prophecy.] + +IV. All those who believe the immateriality of the soul, a specious +and noble tenet, must confess, from their present experience, the +incomprehensible union of mind and matter. A similar union is not +inconsistent with a much higher, or even with the highest, degree of +mental faculties; and the incarnation of an aeon or archangel, the most +perfect of created spirits, does not involve any positive contradiction +or absurdity. In the age of religious freedom, which was determined +by the council of Nice, the dignity of Christ was measured by private +judgment according to the indefinite rule of Scripture, or reason, or +tradition. But when his pure and proper divinity had been established on +the ruins of Arianism, the faith of the Catholics trembled on the edge +of a precipice where it was impossible to recede, dangerous to stand, +dreadful to fall and the manifold inconveniences of their creed were +aggravated by the sublime character of their theology. They hesitated +to pronounce; that God himself, the second person of an equal and +consubstantial trinity, was manifested in the flesh; [17] that a being +who pervades the universe, had been confined in the womb of Mary; that +his eternal duration had been marked by the days, and months, and years +of human existence; that the Almighty had been scourged and crucified; +that his impassible essence had felt pain and anguish; that his +omniscience was not exempt from ignorance; and that the source of life +and immortality expired on Mount Calvary. These alarming consequences +were affirmed with unblushing simplicity by Apollinaris, [18] bishop of +Laodicea, and one of the luminaries of the church. The son of a learned +grammarian, he was skilled in all the sciences of Greece; eloquence, +erudition, and philosophy, conspicuous in the volumes of Apollinaris, +were humbly devoted to the service of religion. The worthy friend of +Athanasius, the worthy antagonist of Julian, he bravely wrestled +with the Arians and Polytheists, and though he affected the rigor of +geometrical demonstration, his commentaries revealed the literal and +allegorical sense of the Scriptures. A mystery, which had long floated +in the looseness of popular belief, was defined by his perverse +diligence in a technical form; and he first proclaimed the memorable +words, "One incarnate nature of Christ," which are still reechoed with +hostile clamors in the churches of Asia, Egypt, and Aethiopia. He taught +that the Godhead was united or mingled with the body of a man; and +that the Logos, the eternal wisdom, supplied in the flesh the place and +office of a human soul. Yet as the profound doctor had been terrified at +his own rashness, Apollinaris was heard to mutter some faint accents +of excuse and explanation. He acquiesced in the old distinction of the +Greek philosophers between the rational and sensitive soul of man; that +he might reserve the Logos for intellectual functions, and employ the +subordinate human principle in the meaner actions of animal life. + +With the moderate Docetes, he revered Mary as the spiritual, rather than +as the carnal, mother of Christ, whose body either came from heaven, +impassible and incorruptible, or was absorbed, and as it were +transformed, into the essence of the Deity. The system of Apollinaris +was strenuously encountered by the Asiatic and Syrian divines whose +schools are honored by the names of Basil, Gregory and Chrysostom, and +tainted by those of Diodorus, Theodore, and Nestorius. But the person +of the aged bishop of Laedicea, his character and dignity, remained +inviolate; and his rivals, since we may not suspect them of the weakness +of toleration, were astonished, perhaps, by the novelty of the argument, +and diffident of the final sentence of the Catholic church. Her judgment +at length inclined in their favor; the heresy of Apollinaris was +condemned, and the separate congregations of his disciples were +proscribed by the Imperial laws. But his principles were secretly +entertained in the monasteries of Egypt, and his enemies felt the +hatred of Theophilus and Cyril, the successive patriarchs of Alexandria. +[Footnote 17: This strong expression might be justified by the language +of St. Paul, (1 Tim. iii. 16;) but we are deceived by our modern Bibles. +The word which was altered to God at Constantinople in the beginning of +the vith century: the true reading, which is visible in the Latin and +Syriac versions, still exists in the reasoning of the Greek, as well as +of the Latin fathers; and this fraud, with that of the three witnesses +of St. John, is admirably detected by Sir Isaac Newton. (See his two +letters translated by M. de Missy, in the Journal Britannique, tom. xv. +p. 148--190, 351--390.) I have weighed the arguments, and may yield to +the authority of the first of philosophers, who was deeply skilled in +critical and theological studies. Note: It should be Griesbach in loc. +The weight of authority is so much against the common reading in +both these points, that they are no longer urged by prudent +controversialists. Would Gibbon's deference for the first of +philosophers have extended to all his theological conclusions?--M.] + +[Footnote 18: For Apollinaris and his sect, see Socrates, l. ii. c. 46, +l. iii. c. 16 Sazomen, l. v. c. 18, 1. vi. c. 25, 27. Theodoret, l. v. +3, 10, 11. Tillemont, Memoires Ecclesiastiques, tom. vii. p. 602--638. +Not. p. 789--794, in 4to. Venise, 1732. The contemporary saint always +mentions the bishop of Laodicea as a friend and brother. The style +of the more recent historians is harsh and hostile: yet Philostorgius +compares him (l. viii. c. 11-15) to Basil and Gregory.] + +V. The grovelling Ebionite, and the fantastic Docetes, were rejected and +forgotten: the recent zeal against the errors of Apollinaris reduced the +Catholics to a seeming agreement with the double nature of Cerinthus. +But instead of a temporary and occasional alliance, they established, +and we still embrace, the substantial, indissoluble, and everlasting +union of a perfect God with a perfect man, of the second person of the +trinity with a reasonable soul and human flesh. In the beginning of the +fifth century, the unity of the two natures was the prevailing doctrine +of the church. On all sides, it was confessed, that the mode of their +coexistence could neither be represented by our ideas, nor expressed by +our language. Yet a secret and incurable discord was cherished, between +those who were most apprehensive of confounding, and those who were +most fearful of separating, the divinity, and the humanity, of Christ. +Impelled by religious frenzy, they fled with adverse haste from +the error which they mutually deemed most destructive of truth and +salvation. On either hand they were anxious to guard, they were jealous +to defend, the union and the distinction of the two natures, and to +invent such forms of speech, such symbols of doctrine, as were least +susceptible of doubt or ambiguity. The poverty of ideas and language +tempted them to ransack art and nature for every possible comparison, +and each comparison mislead their fancy in the explanation of an +incomparable mystery. In the polemic microscope, an atom is enlarged +to a monster, and each party was skilful to exaggerate the absurd or +impious conclusions that might be extorted from the principles of their +adversaries. To escape from each other, they wandered through many +a dark and devious thicket, till they were astonished by the horrid +phantoms of Cerinthus and Apollinaris, who guarded the opposite issues +of the theological labyrinth. As soon as they beheld the twilight of +sense and heresy, they started, measured back their steps, and were +again involved in the gloom of impenetrable orthodoxy. To purge +themselves from the guilt or reproach of damnable error, they +disavowed their consequences, explained their principles, excused their +indiscretions, and unanimously pronounced the sounds of concord and +faith. Yet a latent and almost invisible spark still lurked among the +embers of controversy: by the breath of prejudice and passion, it was +quickly kindled to a mighty flame, and the verbal disputes [19] of the +Oriental sects have shaken the pillars of the church and state. + +[Footnote 19: I appeal to the confession of two Oriental prelates, +Gregory Abulpharagius the Jacobite primate of the East, and Elias the +Nestorian metropolitan of Damascus, (see Asseman, Bibliothec. Oriental. +tom. ii. p. 291, tom. iii. p. 514, &c.,) that the Melchites, Jacobites, +Nestorians, &c., agree in the doctrine, and differ only in the +expression. Our most learned and rational divines--Basnage, Le Clerc, +Beausobre, La Croze, Mosheim, Jablonski--are inclined to favor this +charitable judgment; but the zeal of Petavius is loud and angry, and the +moderation of Dupin is conveyed in a whisper.] + +The name of Cyril of Alexandria is famous in controversial story, +and the title of saint is a mark that his opinions and his party have +finally prevailed. In the house of his uncle, the archbishop Theophilus, +he imbibed the orthodox lessons of zeal and dominion, and five years of +his youth were profitably spent in the adjacent monasteries of +Nitria. Under the tuition of the abbot Serapion, he applied himself +to ecclesiastical studies, with such indefatigable ardor, that in the +course of one sleepless night, he has perused the four Gospels, the +Catholic Epistles, and the Epistle to the Romans. Origen he detested; +but the writings of Clemens and Dionysius, of Athanasius and Basil, were +continually in his hands: by the theory and practice of dispute, his +faith was confirmed and his wit was sharpened; he extended round his +cell the cobwebs of scholastic theology, and meditated the works of +allegory and metaphysics, whose remains, in seven verbose folios, now +peaceably slumber by the side of their rivals. [20] Cyril prayed and +fasted in the desert, but his thoughts (it is the reproach of a friend) +[21] were still fixed on the world; and the call of Theophilus, who +summoned him to the tumult of cities and synods, was too readily obeyed +by the aspiring hermit. With the approbation of his uncle, he assumed +the office, and acquired the fame, of a popular preacher. His comely +person adorned the pulpit; the harmony of his voice resounded in the +cathedral; his friends were stationed to lead or second the applause of +the congregation; [22] and the hasty notes of the scribes preserved +his discourses, which in their effect, though not in their composition, +might be compared with those of the Athenian orators. The death of +Theophilus expanded and realized the hopes of his nephew. The clergy +of Alexandria was divided; the soldiers and their general supported the +claims of the archdeacon; but a resistless multitude, with voices and +with hands, asserted the cause of their favorite; and after a period of +thirty-nine years, Cyril was seated on the throne of Athanasius. [23] + +[Footnote 20: La Croze (Hist. du Christianisme des Indes, tom. i. p. 24) +avows his contempt for the genius and writings of Cyril. De tous les on +vrages des anciens, il y en a peu qu'on lise avec moins d'utilite: and +Dupin, (Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. iv. p. 42--52,) in words of +respect, teaches us to despise them.] + +[Footnote 21: Of Isidore of Pelusium, (l. i. epist. 25, p. 8.) As the +letter is not of the most creditable sort, Tillemont, less sincere than +the Bollandists, affects a doubt whether this Cyril is the nephew of +Theophilus, (Mem. Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 268.)] + +[Footnote 22: A grammarian is named by Socrates (l. vii. c. 13).] + +[Footnote 23: See the youth and promotion of Cyril, in Socrates, (l. +vii. c. 7) and Renaudot, (Hist. Patriarchs. Alexandrin. p. 106, 108.) +The Abbe Renaudot drew his materials from the Arabic history of Severus, +bishop of Hermopolis Magma, or Ashmunein, in the xth century, who can +never be trusted, unless our assent is extorted by the internal evidence +of facts.] + + + + +Chapter XLVII: Ecclesiastical Discord.--Part II. + +The prize was not unworthy of his ambition. At a distance from the +court, and at the head of an immense capital, the patriarch, as he was +now styled, of Alexandria had gradually usurped the state and authority +of a civil magistrate. The public and private charities of the city were +blindly obeyed by his numerous and fanatic parabolani, [24] familiarized +in their daily office with scenes of death; and the praefects of Egypt +were awed or provoked by the temporal power of these Christian pontiffs. +Ardent in the prosecution of heresy, Cyril auspiciously opened his +reign by oppressing the Novatians, the most innocent and harmless of the +sectaries. The interdiction of their religious worship appeared in his +eyes a just and meritorious act; and he confiscated their holy vessels, +without apprehending the guilt of sacrilege. The toleration, and even +the privileges of the Jews, who had multiplied to the number of forty +thousand, were secured by the laws of the Caesars and Ptolemies, and +a long prescription of seven hundred years since the foundation of +Alexandria. Without any legal sentence, without any royal mandate, the +patriarch, at the dawn of day, led a seditious multitude to the attack +of the synagogues. Unarmed and unprepared, the Jews were incapable of +resistance; their houses of prayer were levelled with the ground, and +the episcopal warrior, after-rewarding his troops with the plunder +of their goods, expelled from the city the remnant of the unbelieving +nation. Perhaps he might plead the insolence of their prosperity, and +their deadly hatred of the Christians, whose blood they had recently +shed in a malicious or accidental tumult. + +Such crimes would have deserved the animadversion of the magistrate; +but in this promiscuous outrage, the innocent were confounded with the +guilty, and Alexandria was impoverished by the loss of a wealthy and +industrious colony. The zeal of Cyril exposed him to the penalties of +the Julian law; but in a feeble government and a superstitious age, he +was secure of impunity, and even of praise. Orestes complained; but +his just complaints were too quickly forgotten by the ministers of +Theodosius, and too deeply remembered by a priest who affected to +pardon, and continued to hate, the praefect of Egypt. As he passed +through the streets, his chariot was assaulted by a band of five hundred +of the Nitrian monks his guards fled from the wild beasts of the desert; +his protestations that he was a Christian and a Catholic were answered +by a volley of stones, and the face of Orestes was covered with blood. +The loyal citizens of Alexandria hastened to his rescue; he instantly +satisfied his justice and revenge against the monk by whose hand he had +been wounded, and Ammonius expired under the rod of the lictor. At the +command of Cyril his body was raised from the ground, and transported, +in solemn procession, to the cathedral; the name of Ammonius was changed +to that of Thaumasius the wonderful; his tomb was decorated with +the trophies of martyrdom, and the patriarch ascended the pulpit to +celebrate the magnanimity of an assassin and a rebel. Such honors might +incite the faithful to combat and die under the banners of the saint; +and he soon prompted, or accepted, the sacrifice of a virgin, who +professed the religion of the Greeks, and cultivated the friendship +of Orestes. Hypatia, the daughter of Theon the mathematician, [25] was +initiated in her father's studies; her learned comments have elucidated +the geometry of Apollonius and Diophantus, and she publicly taught, both +at Athens and Alexandria, the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. In the +bloom of beauty, and in the maturity of wisdom, the modest maid refused +her lovers and instructed her disciples; the persons most illustrious +for their rank or merit were impatient to visit the female philosopher; +and Cyril beheld, with a jealous eye, the gorgeous train of horses and +slaves who crowded the door of her academy. A rumor was spread among +the Christians, that the daughter of Theon was the only obstacle to the +reconciliation of the praefect and the archbishop; and that obstacle was +speedily removed. On a fatal day, in the holy season of Lent, Hypatia +was torn from her chariot, stripped naked, dragged to the church, and +inhumanly butchered by the hands of Peter the reader, and a troop of +savage and merciless fanatics: her flesh was scraped from her bones with +sharp cyster shells, [26] and her quivering limbs were delivered to +the flames. The just progress of inquiry and punishment was stopped by +seasonable gifts; but the murder of Hypatia has imprinted an indelible +stain on the character and religion of Cyril of Alexandria. [27] + +[Footnote 24: The Parabolani of Alexandria were a charitable +corporation, instituted during the plague of Gallienus, to visit the +sick and to bury the dead. They gradually enlarged, abused, and sold the +privileges of their order. Their outrageous conduct during the reign of +Cyril provoked the emperor to deprive the patriarch of their nomination, +and to restrain their number to five or six hundred. But these +restraints were transient and ineffectual. See the Theodosian Code, l. +xvi. tit. ii. and Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 276--278.] + +[Footnote 25: For Theon and his daughter Hypatia. see Fabricius, +Bibliothec. tom. viii. p. 210, 211. Her article in the Lexicon of Suidas +is curious and original. Hesychius (Meursii Opera, tom. vii. p. 295, +296) observes, that he was persecuted; and an epigram in the Greek +Anthology (l. i. c. 76, p. 159, edit. Brodaei) celebrates her knowledge +and eloquence. She is honorably mentioned (Epist. 10, 15 16, 33--80, +124, 135, 153) by her friend and disciple the philosophic bishop +Synesius.] + +[Footnote 26: Oyster shells were plentifully strewed on the sea-beach +before the Caesareum. I may therefore prefer the literal sense, without +rejecting the metaphorical version of tegulae, tiles, which is used +by M. de Valois ignorant, and the assassins were probably regardless, +whether their victim was yet alive.] + +[Footnote 27: These exploits of St. Cyril are recorded by Socrates, (l. +vii. c. 13, 14, 15;) and the most reluctant bigotry is compelled to copy +an historian who coolly styles the murderers of Hypatia. At the mention +of that injured name, I am pleased to observe a blush even on the cheek +of Baronius, (A.D. 415, No. 48.)] + +Superstition, perhaps, would more gently expiate the blood of a virgin, +than the banishment of a saint; and Cyril had accompanied his uncle +to the iniquitous synod of the Oak. When the memory of Chrysostom was +restored and consecrated, the nephew of Theophilus, at the head of a +dying faction, still maintained the justice of his sentence; nor was it +till after a tedious delay and an obstinate resistance, that he yielded +to the consent of the Catholic world. [28] His enmity to the Byzantine +pontiffs [29] was a sense of interest, not a sally of passion: he envied +their fortunate station in the sunshine of the Imperial court; and he +dreaded their upstart ambition. which oppressed the metropolitans of +Europe and Asia, invaded the provinces of Antioch and Alexandria, and +measured their diocese by the limits of the empire. The long moderation +of Atticus, the mild usurper of the throne of Chrysostom, suspended the +animosities of the Eastern patriarchs; but Cyril was at length awakened +by the exaltation of a rival more worthy of his esteem and hatred. After +the short and troubled reign of Sisinnius, bishop of Constantinople, +the factions of the clergy and people were appeased by the choice of the +emperor, who, on this occasion, consulted the voice of fame, and invited +the merit of a stranger. + +Nestorius, [30] native of Germanicia, and a monk of Antioch, was +recommended by the austerity of his life, and the eloquence of his +sermons; but the first homily which he preached before the devout +Theodosius betrayed the acrimony and impatience of his zeal. "Give me, O +Caesar!" he exclaimed, "give me the earth purged of heretics, and I +will give you in exchange the kingdom of heaven. Exterminate with me the +heretics; and with you I will exterminate the Persians." On the +fifth day as if the treaty had been already signed, the patriarch of +Constantinople discovered, surprised, and attacked a secret conventicle +of the Arians: they preferred death to submission; the flames that were +kindled by their despair, soon spread to the neighboring houses, and the +triumph of Nestorius was clouded by the name of incendiary. On either +side of the Hellespont his episcopal vigor imposed a rigid formulary of +faith and discipline; a chronological error concerning the festival of +Easter was punished as an offence against the church and state. Lydia +and Caria, Sardes and Miletus, were purified with the blood of the +obstinate Quartodecimans; and the edict of the emperor, or rather of the +patriarch, enumerates three-and-twenty degrees and denominations in the +guilt and punishment of heresy. [31] But the sword of persecution which +Nestorius so furiously wielded was soon turned against his own breast. +Religion was the pretence; but, in the judgment of a contemporary saint, +ambition was the genuine motive of episcopal warfare. [32] + +[Footnote 28: He was deaf to the entreaties of Atticus of +Constantinople, and of Isidore of Pelusium, and yielded only (if we may +believe Nicephorus, l. xiv. c. 18) to the personal intercession of the +Virgin. Yet in his last years he still muttered that John Chrysostom had +been justly condemned, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 278--282. +Baronius Annal. Eccles. A.D. 412, No. 46--64.)] + +[Footnote 29: See their characters in the history of Socrates, (l. vii. +c. 25--28;) their power and pretensions, in the huge compilation of +Thomassin, (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 80-91.)] + +[Footnote 30: His elevation and conduct are described by Socrates, (l. +vii. c. 29 31;) and Marcellinus seems to have applied the eloquentiae +satis, sapi entiae parum, of Sallust.] + +[Footnote 31: Cod. Theodos. l. xvi. tit. v. leg. 65, with the +illustrations of Baronius, (A.D. 428, No. 25, &c.,) Godefroy, (ad +locum,) and Pagi, Critica, (tom. ii. p. 208.)] + +[Footnote 32: Isidore of Pelusium, (l. iv. Epist. 57.) His words are +strong and scandalous. Isidore is a saint, but he never became a bishop; +and I half suspect that the pride of Diogenes trampled on the pride of +Plato.] + +In the Syrian school, Nestorius had been taught to abhor the confusion +of the two natures, and nicely to discriminate the humanity of his +master Christ from the divinity of the Lord Jesus. [33] The Blessed +Virgin he revered as the mother of Christ, but his ears were offended +with the rash and recent title of mother of God, [34] which had been +insensibly adopted since the origin of the Arian controversy. From the +pulpit of Constantinople, a friend of the patriarch, and afterwards the +patriarch himself, repeatedly preached against the use, or the abuse, +of a word [35] unknown to the apostles, unauthorized by the church, and +which could only tend to alarm the timorous, to mislead the simple, to +amuse the profane, and to justify, by a seeming resemblance, the old +genealogy of Olympus. [36] In his calmer moments Nestorius confessed, +that it might be tolerated or excused by the union of the two natures, +and the communication of their idioms: [37] but he was exasperated, by +contradiction, to disclaim the worship of a new-born, an infant Deity, +to draw his inadequate similes from the conjugal or civil partnerships +of life, and to describe the manhood of Christ as the robe, the +instrument, the tabernacle of his Godhead. At these blasphemous sounds, +the pillars of the sanctuary were shaken. The unsuccessful competitors +of Nestorius indulged their pious or personal resentment, the Byzantine +clergy was secretly displeased with the intrusion of a stranger: +whatever is superstitious or absurd, might claim the protection of +the monks; and the people were interested in the glory of their virgin +patroness. [38] The sermons of the archbishop, and the service of the +altar, were disturbed by seditious clamor; his authority and doctrine +were renounced by separate congregations; every wind scattered round the +empire the leaves of controversy; and the voice of the combatants on a +sonorous theatre reechoed in the cells of Palestine and Egypt. It was +the duty of Cyril to enlighten the zeal and ignorance of his innumerable +monks: in the school of Alexandria, he had imbibed and professed the +incarnation of one nature; and the successor of Athanasius consulted +his pride and ambition, when he rose in arms against another Arius, more +formidable and more guilty, on the second throne of the hierarchy. After +a short correspondence, in which the rival prelates disguised their +hatred in the hollow language of respect and charity, the patriarch of +Alexandria denounced to the prince and people, to the East and to the +West, the damnable errors of the Byzantine pontiff. From the East, +more especially from Antioch, he obtained the ambiguous counsels of +toleration and silence, which were addressed to both parties while they +favored the cause of Nestorius. But the Vatican received with open arms +the messengers of Egypt. The vanity of Celestine was flattered by the +appeal; and the partial version of a monk decided the faith of the pope, +who with his Latin clergy was ignorant of the language, the arts, and +the theology of the Greeks. At the head of an Italian synod, Celestine +weighed the merits of the cause, approved the creed of Cyril, condemned +the sentiments and person of Nestorius, degraded the heretic from his +episcopal dignity, allowed a respite of ten days for recantation and +penance, and delegated to his enemy the execution of this rash and +illegal sentence. But the patriarch of Alexandria, while he darted the +thunders of a god, exposed the errors and passions of a mortal; and his +twelve anathemas [39] still torture the orthodox slaves, who adore the +memory of a saint, without forfeiting their allegiance to the synod of +Chalcedon. These bold assertions are indelibly tinged with the colors +of the Apollinarian heresy; but the serious, and perhaps the sincere +professions of Nestorius have satisfied the wiser and less partial +theologians of the present times. [40] + +[Footnote 33: La Croze (Christianisme des Indes, tom. i. p. 44-53. +Thesaurus Epistolicus, La Crozianus, tom. iii. p. 276--280) has detected +the use, which, in the ivth, vth, and vith centuries, discriminates the +school of Diodorus of Tarsus and his Nestorian disciples.] + +[Footnote 34: Deipara; as in zoology we familiarly speak of oviparous +and viviparous animals. It is not easy to fix the invention of this +word, which La Croze (Christianisme des Indes, tom. i. p. 16) ascribes +to Eusebius of Caesarea and the Arians. The orthodox testimonies are +produced by Cyril and Petavius, (Dogmat. Theolog. tom. v. l. v. c. 15, +p. 254, &c.;) but the veracity of the saint is questionable, and the +epithet so easily slides from the margin to the text of a Catholic Ms] + +[Footnote 35: Basnage, in his Histoire de l'Eglise, a work of +controversy, (tom l. p. 505,) justifies the mother, by the blood, of +God, (Acts, xx. 28, with Mill's various readings.) But the Greek Mss. +are far from unanimous; and the primitive style of the blood of Christ +is preserved in the Syriac version, even in those copies which were +used by the Christians of St. Thomas on the coast of Malabar, (La Croze, +Christianisme des Indes, tom. i. p. 347.) The jealousy of the Nestorians +and Monophysites has guarded the purity of their text.] + +[Footnote 36: The Pagans of Egypt already laughed at the new Cybele of +the Christians, (Isidor. l. i. epist. 54;) a letter was forged in the +name of Hypatia, to ridicule the theology of her assassin, (Synodicon, +c. 216, in iv. tom. Concil. p. 484.) In the article of Nestorius, Bayle +has scattered some loose philosophy on the worship of the Virgin Mary.] + +[Footnote 37: The item of the Greeks, a mutual loan or transfer of the +idioms or properties of each nature to the other--of infinity to man, +passibility to God, &c. Twelve rules on this nicest of subjects compose +the Theological Grammar of Petavius, (Dogmata Theolog. tom. v. l. iv. c. +14, 15, p 209, &c.)] + +[Footnote 38: See Ducange, C. P. Christiana, l. i. p. 30, &c.] + +[Footnote 39: Concil. tom. iii. p. 943. They have never been directly +approved by the church, (Tillemont. Mem. Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 368--372.) +I almost pity the agony of rage and sophistry with which Petavius seems +to be agitated in the vith book of his Dogmata Theologica] + +[Footnote 40: Such as the rational Basnage (ad tom. i. Variar. Lection. +Canisine in Praefat. c. 2, p. 11--23) and La Croze, the universal +scholar, (Christianisme des Indes, tom. i. p. 16--20. De l'Ethiopie, p. +26, 27. The saur. Epist. p. 176, &c., 283, 285.) His free sentence is +confirmed by that of his friends Jablonski (Thesaur. Epist. tom. i. p. +193--201) and Mosheim, (idem. p. 304, Nestorium crimine caruisse est +et mea sententia;) and three more respectable judges will not easily +be found. Asseman, a learned and modest slave, can hardly discern +(Bibliothec. Orient. tom. iv. p. 190--224) the guilt and error of the +Nestorians.] + +Yet neither the emperor nor the primate of the East were disposed to +obey the mandate of an Italian priest; and a synod of the Catholic, or +rather of the Greek church, was unanimously demanded as the sole remedy +that could appease or decide this ecclesiastical quarrel. [41] Ephesus, +on all sides accessible by sea and land, was chosen for the place, the +festival of Pentecost for the day, of the meeting; a writ of summons was +despatched to each metropolitan, and a guard was stationed to protect +and confine the fathers till they should settle the mysteries of heaven, +and the faith of the earth. Nestorius appeared not as a criminal, but +as a judge; he depended on the weight rather than the number of his +prelates, and his sturdy slaves from the baths of Zeuxippus were armed +for every service of injury or defence. But his adversary Cyril was more +powerful in the weapons both of the flesh and of the spirit. Disobedient +to the letter, or at least to the meaning, of the royal summons, he was +attended by fifty Egyptian bishops, who expected from their patriarch's +nod the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. He had contracted an intimate +alliance with Memnon, bishop of Ephesus. The despotic primate of Asia +disposed of the ready succors of thirty or forty episcopal votes: a +crowd of peasants, the slaves of the church, was poured into the city to +support with blows and clamors a metaphysical argument; and the people +zealously asserted the honor of the Virgin, whose body reposed within +the walls of Ephesus. [42] The fleet which had transported Cyril from +Alexandria was laden with the riches of Egypt; and he disembarked a +numerous body of mariners, slaves, and fanatics, enlisted with blind +obedience under the banner of St. Mark and the mother of God. The +fathers, and even the guards, of the council were awed by this martial +array; the adversaries of Cyril and Mary were insulted in the streets, +or threatened in their houses; his eloquence and liberality made a daily +increase in the number of his adherents; and the Egyptian soon computed +that he might command the attendance and the voices of two hundred +bishops. [43] But the author of the twelve anathemas foresaw and dreaded +the opposition of John of Antioch, who, with a small, but respectable, +train of metropolitans and divines, was advancing by slow journeys +from the distant capital of the East. Impatient of a delay, which he +stigmatized as voluntary and culpable, [44] Cyril announced the opening +of the synod sixteen days after the festival of Pentecost. Nestorius, +who depended on the near approach of his Eastern friends, persisted, +like his predecessor Chrysostom, to disclaim the jurisdiction, and to +disobey the summons, of his enemies: they hastened his trial, and +his accuser presided in the seat of judgment. Sixty-eight bishops, +twenty-two of metropolitan rank, defended his cause by a modest and +temperate protest: they were excluded from the councils of their +brethren. Candidian, in the emperor's name, requested a delay of four +days; the profane magistrate was driven with outrage and insult from +the assembly of the saints. The whole of this momentous transaction was +crowded into the compass of a summer's day: the bishops delivered their +separate opinions; but the uniformity of style reveals the influence +or the hand of a master, who has been accused of corrupting the public +evidence of their acts and subscriptions. [45] Without a dissenting +voice, they recognized in the epistles of Cyril the Nicene creed and the +doctrine of the fathers: but the partial extracts from the letters and +homilies of Nestorius were interrupted by curses and anathemas: and the +heretic was degraded from his episcopal and ecclesiastical dignity. +The sentence, maliciously inscribed to the new Judas, was affixed and +proclaimed in the streets of Ephesus: the weary prelates, as they issued +from the church of the mother of God, were saluted as her champions; +and her victory was celebrated by the illuminations, the songs, and the +tumult of the night. + +[Footnote 41: The origin and progress of the Nestorian controversy, +till the synod of Ephesus, may be found in Socrates, (l. vii. c. 32,) +Evagrius, (l. i. c. 1, 2,) Liberatus, (Brev. c. 1--4,) the original +Acts, (Concil. tom. iii. p. 551--991, edit. Venice, 1728,) the Annals +of Baronius and Pagi, and the faithful collections of Tillemont, (Mem. +Eccles. tom. xiv p. 283--377.)] + +[Footnote 42: The Christians of the four first centuries were ignorant +of the death and burial of Mary. The tradition of Ephesus is affirmed +by the synod, (Concil. tom. iii. p. 1102;) yet it has been superseded by +the claim of Jerusalem; and her empty sepulchre, as it was shown to +the pilgrims, produced the fable of her resurrection and assumption, in +which the Greek and Latin churches have piously acquiesced. See Baronius +(Annal. Eccles. A.D. 48, No. 6, &c.) and Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. tom. +i. p. 467--477.)] + +[Footnote 43: The Acts of Chalcedon (Concil. tom. iv. p. 1405, 1408) +exhibit a lively picture of the blind, obstinate servitude of the +bishops of Egypt to their patriarch.] + +[Footnote 44: Civil or ecclesiastical business detained the bishops +at Antioch till the 18th of May. Ephesus was at the distance of thirty +days' journey; and ten days more may be fairly allowed for accidents and +repose. The march of Xenophon over the same ground enumerates above 260 +parasangs or leagues; and this measure might be illustrated from ancient +and modern itineraries, if I knew how to compare the speed of an army, +a synod, and a caravan. John of Antioch is reluctantly acquitted by +Tillemont himself, (Mem. Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 386--389.)] + +[Footnote 45: Evagrius, l. i. c. 7. The same imputation was urged by +Count Irenaeus, (tom. iii. p. 1249;) and the orthodox critics do not +find it an easy task to defend the purity of the Greek or Latin copies +of the Acts.] + +On the fifth day, the triumph was clouded by the arrival and indignation +of the Eastern bishops. In a chamber of the inn, before he had wiped +the dust from his shoes, John of Antioch gave audience to Candidian, the +Imperial minister; who related his ineffectual efforts to prevent or to +annul the hasty violence of the Egyptian. With equal haste and violence, +the Oriental synod of fifty bishops degraded Cyril and Memnon from their +episcopal honors, condemned, in the twelve anathemas, the purest venom +of the Apollinarian heresy, and described the Alexandrian primate as a +monster, born and educated for the destruction of the church. [46] His +throne was distant and inaccessible; but they instantly resolved to +bestow on the flock of Ephesus the blessing of a faithful shepherd. +By the vigilance of Memnon, the churches were shut against them, and +a strong garrison was thrown into the cathedral. The troops, under the +command of Candidian, advanced to the assault; the outguards were routed +and put to the sword, but the place was impregnable: the besiegers +retired; their retreat was pursued by a vigorous sally; they lost their +horses, and many of their soldiers were dangerously wounded with clubs +and stones. Ephesus, the city of the Virgin, was defiled with rage and +clamor, with sedition and blood; the rival synods darted anathemas +and excommunications from their spiritual engines; and the court of +Theodosius was perplexed by the adverse and contradictory narratives of +the Syrian and Egyptian factions. During a busy period of three months, +the emperor tried every method, except the most effectual means of +indifference and contempt, to reconcile this theological quarrel. He +attempted to remove or intimidate the leaders by a common sentence, of +acquittal or condemnation; he invested his representatives at Ephesus +with ample power and military force; he summoned from either party eight +chosen deputies to a free and candid conference in the neighborhood of +the capital, far from the contagion of popular frenzy. But the Orientals +refused to yield, and the Catholics, proud of their numbers and of their +Latin allies, rejected all terms of union or toleration. The patience +of the meek Theodosius was provoked; and he dissolved in anger this +episcopal tumult, which at the distance of thirteen centuries assumes +the venerable aspect of the third oecumenical council. [47] "God is +my witness," said the pious prince, "that I am not the author of this +confusion. His providence will discern and punish the guilty. Return +to your provinces, and may your private virtues repair the mischief and +scandal of your meeting." They returned to their provinces; but the same +passions which had distracted the synod of Ephesus were diffused over +the Eastern world. After three obstinate and equal campaigns, John of +Antioch and Cyril of Alexandria condescended to explain and embrace: but +their seeming reunion must be imputed rather to prudence than to reason, +to the mutual lassitude rather than to the Christian charity of the +patriarchs. + +[Footnote 46: After the coalition of John and Cyril these invectives +were mutually forgotten. The style of declamation must never be +confounded with the genuine sense which respectable enemies entertain of +each other's merit, (Concil tom. iii. p. 1244.)] + +[Footnote 47: See the acts of the synod of Ephesus in the original +Greek, and a Latin version almost contemporary, (Concil. tom. iii. p. +991--1339, with the Synodicon adversus Tragoediam Irenaei, tom. iv. p. +235--497,) the Ecclesiastical Histories of Socrates (l. vii. c. 34) and +Evagrius, (l i. c. 3, 4, 5,) and the Breviary of Liberatus, (in Concil. +tom. vi. p. 419--459, c. 5, 6,) and the Memoires Eccles. of Tillemont, +(tom. xiv p. 377-487.)] + +The Byzantine pontiff had instilled into the royal ear a baleful +prejudice against the character and conduct of his Egyptian rival. An +epistle of menace and invective, [48] which accompanied the summons, +accused him as a busy, insolent, and envious priest, who perplexed the +simplicity of the faith, violated the peace of the church and state, +and, by his artful and separate addresses to the wife and sister of +Theodosius, presumed to suppose, or to scatter, the seeds of discord in +the Imperial family. At the stern command of his sovereign. Cyril had +repaired to Ephesus, where he was resisted, threatened, and confined, +by the magistrates in the interest of Nestorius and the Orientals; who +assembled the troops of Lydia and Ionia to suppress the fanatic and +disorderly train of the patriarch. Without expecting the royal license, +he escaped from his guards, precipitately embarked, deserted the +imperfect synod, and retired to his episcopal fortress of safety and +independence. But his artful emissaries, both in the court and city, +successfully labored to appease the resentment, and to conciliate the +favor, of the emperor. The feeble son of Arcadius was alternately +swayed by his wife and sister, by the eunuchs and women of the palace: +superstition and avarice were their ruling passions; and the orthodox +chiefs were assiduous in their endeavors to alarm the former, and to +gratify the latter. Constantinople and the suburbs were sanctified with +frequent monasteries, and the holy abbots, Dalmatius and Eutyches, [49] +had devoted their zeal and fidelity to the cause of Cyril, the worship +of Mary, and the unity of Christ. From the first moment of their +monastic life, they had never mingled with the world, or trod the +profane ground of the city. But in this awful moment of the danger of +the church, their vow was superseded by a more sublime and indispensable +duty. At the head of a long order of monks and hermits, who carried +burning tapers in their hands, and chanted litanies to the mother of +God, they proceeded from their monasteries to the palace. The people was +edified and inflamed by this extraordinary spectacle, and the trembling +monarch listened to the prayers and adjurations of the saints, who +boldly pronounced, that none could hope for salvation, unless they +embraced the person and the creed of the orthodox successor of +Athanasius. At the same time, every avenue of the throne was assaulted +with gold. Under the decent names of eulogies and benedictions, the +courtiers of both sexes were bribed according to the measure of their +power and rapaciousness. But their incessant demands despoiled the +sanctuaries of Constantinople and Alexandria; and the authority of the +patriarch was unable to silence the just murmur of his clergy, that a +debt of sixty thousand pounds had already been contracted to support the +expense of this scandalous corruption. [50] Pulcheria, who relieved +her brother from the weight of an empire, was the firmest pillar of +orthodoxy; and so intimate was the alliance between the thunders of the +synod and the whispers of the court, that Cyril was assured of success +if he could displace one eunuch, and substitute another in the favor of +Theodosius. Yet the Egyptian could not boast of a glorious or decisive +victory. The emperor, with unaccustomed firmness, adhered to his promise +of protecting the innocence of the Oriental bishops; and Cyril softened +his anathemas, and confessed, with ambiguity and reluctance, a twofold +nature of Christ, before he was permitted to satiate his revenge against +the unfortunate Nestorius. [51] + +[Footnote 48: I should be curious to know how much Nestorius paid for +these expressions, so mortifying to his rival.] + +[Footnote 49: Eutyches, the heresiarch Eutyches, is honorably named by +Cyril as a friend, a saint, and the strenuous defender of the faith. His +brother, the abbot Dalmatus, is likewise employed to bind the emperor +and all his chamberlains terribili conjuratione. Synodicon. c. 203, in +Concil. tom. iv p. 467.] + +[Footnote 50: Clerici qui hic sunt contristantur, quod ecclesia +Alexandrina nudata sit hujus causa turbelae: et debet praeter illa quae +hinc transmissa sint auri libras mille quingentas. Et nunc ei scriptum +est ut praestet; sed de tua ecclesia praesta avaritiae quorum nosti, +&c. This curious and original letter, from Cyril's archdeacon to his +creature the new bishop of Constantinople, has been unaccountably +preserved in an old Latin version, (Synodicon, c. 203, Concil. tom. +iv. p. 465--468.) The mask is almost dropped, and the saints speak the +honest language of interest and confederacy.] + +[Footnote 51: The tedious negotiations that succeeded the synod of +Ephesus are diffusely related in the original acts, (Concil. tom. iii. +p. 1339--1771, ad fin. vol. and the Synodicon, in tom. iv.,) Socrates, +(l. vii. c. 28, 35, 40, 41,) Evagrius, (l. i. c. 6, 7, 8, 12,) +Liberatus, (c. 7--10, 7-10,) Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. tom. xiv. p. +487--676.) The most patient reader will thank me for compressing so much +nonsense and falsehood in a few lines.] + +The rash and obstinate Nestorius, before the end of the synod, was +oppressed by Cyril, betrayed by the court, and faintly supported by his +Eastern friends. A sentiment or fear or indignation prompted him, while +it was yet time, to affect the glory of a voluntary abdication: [52] +his wish, or at least his request, was readily granted; he was conducted +with honor from Ephesus to his old monastery of Antioch; and, after a +short pause, his successors, Maximian and Proclus, were acknowledged as +the lawful bishops of Constantinople. But in the silence of his cell, +the degraded patriarch could no longer resume the innocence and security +of a private monk. The past he regretted, he was discontented with the +present, and the future he had reason to dread: the Oriental bishops +successively disengaged their cause from his unpopular name, and each +day decreased the number of the schismatics who revered Nestorius as the +confessor of the faith. After a residence at Antioch of four years, the +hand of Theodosius subscribed an edict, [53] which ranked him with +Simon the magician, proscribed his opinions and followers, condemned +his writings to the flames, and banished his person first to Petra, in +Arabia, and at length to Oasis, one of the islands of the Libyan desert. +[54] Secluded from the church and from the world, the exile was still +pursued by the rage of bigotry and war. A wandering tribe of the +Blemmyes or Nubians invaded his solitary prison: in their retreat they +dismissed a crowd of useless captives: but no sooner had Nestorius +reached the banks of the Nile, than he would gladly have escaped from +a Roman and orthodox city, to the milder servitude of the savages. His +flight was punished as a new crime: the soul of the patriarch inspired +the civil and ecclesiastical powers of Egypt; the magistrates, the +soldiers, the monks, devoutly tortured the enemy of Christ and St. +Cyril; and, as far as the confines of Aethiopia, the heretic was +alternately dragged and recalled, till his aged body was broken by the +hardships and accidents of these reiterated journeys. Yet his mind was +still independent and erect; the president of Thebais was awed by his +pastoral letters; he survived the Catholic tyrant of Alexandria, and, +after sixteen years' banishment, the synod of Chalcedon would perhaps +have restored him to the honors, or at least to the communion, of the +church. The death of Nestorius prevented his obedience to their welcome +summons; [55] and his disease might afford some color to the scandalous +report, that his tongue, the organ of blasphemy, had been eaten by the +worms. He was buried in a city of Upper Egypt, known by the names of +Chemnis, or Panopolis, or Akmim; [56] but the immortal malice of the +Jacobites has persevered for ages to cast stones against his sepulchre, +and to propagate the foolish tradition, that it was never watered by the +rain of heaven, which equally descends on the righteous and the ungodly. +[57] Humanity may drop a tear on the fate of Nestorius; yet justice +must observe, that he suffered the persecution which he had approved and +inflicted. [58] + +[Footnote 52: Evagrius, l. i. c. 7. The original letters in the +Synodicon (c. 15, 24, 25, 26) justify the appearance of a voluntary +resignation, which is asserted by Ebed-Jesu, a Nestorian writer, apud +Asseman. Bibliot. Oriental. tom. iii. p. 299, 302.] + +[Footnote 53: See the Imperial letters in the Acts of the Synod +of Ephesus, (Concil. tom. iii. p. 1730--1735.) The odious name of +Simonians, which was affixed to the disciples of this. Yet these were +Christians! who differed only in names and in shadows.] + +[Footnote 54: The metaphor of islands is applied by the grave civilians +(Pandect. l. xlviii. tit. 22, leg. 7) to those happy spots which are +discriminated by water and verdure from the Libyan sands. Three of these +under the common name of Oasis, or Alvahat: 1. The temple of Jupiter +Ammon. 2. The middle Oasis, three days' journey to the west of +Lycopolis. 3. The southern, where Nestorius was banished in the first +climate, and only three days' journey from the confines of Nubia. See a +learned note of Michaelis, (ad Descript. Aegypt. Abulfedae, p. 21-34.) +* Note: 1. The Oasis of Sivah has been visited by Mons. Drovetti and +Mr. Browne. 2. The little Oasis, that of El Kassar, was visited and +described by Belzoni. 3. The great Oasis, and its splendid ruins, have +been well described in the travels of Sir A. Edmonstone. To these must +be added another Western Oasis also visited by Sir A. Edmonstone.--M.] + +[Footnote 55: The invitation of Nestorius to the synod of Chalcedon, +is related by Zacharias, bishop of Melitene (Evagrius, l. ii. c. 2. +Asseman. Biblioth. Orient. tom. ii. p. 55,) and the famous Xenaias or +Philoxenus, bishop of Hierapolis, (Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. +40, &c.,) denied by Evagrius and Asseman, and stoutly maintained by +La Croze, (Thesaur. Epistol. tom. iii. p. 181, &c.) The fact is not +improbable; yet it was the interest of the Monophysites to spread the +invidious report, and Eutychius (tom. ii. p. 12) affirms, that Nestorius +died after an exile of seven years, and consequently ten years before +the synod of Chalcedon.] + +[Footnote 56: Consult D'Anville, (Memoire sur l'Egypte, p. 191,) Pocock. +(Description of the East, vol. i. p. 76,) Abulfeda, (Descript. Aegypt, +p. 14,) and his commentator Michaelis, (Not. p. 78--83,) and the Nubian +Geographer, (p. 42,) who mentions, in the xiith century, the ruins and +the sugar-canes of Akmim.] + +[Footnote 57: Eutychius (Annal. tom. ii. p. 12) and Gregory +Bar-Hebraeus, of Abulpharagius, (Asseman, tom. ii. p. 316,) represent +the credulity of the xth and xiith centuries.] + +[Footnote 58: We are obliged to Evagrius (l. i. c. 7) for some extracts +from the letters of Nestorius; but the lively picture of his sufferings +is treated with insult by the hard and stupid fanatic.] + + + + + +Chapter XLVII: Ecclesiastical Discord.--Part III. + +The death of the Alexandrian primate, after a reign of thirty-two years, +abandoned the Catholics to the intemperance of zeal and the abuse +of victory. [59] The monophysite doctrine (one incarnate nature) was +rigorously preached in the churches of Egypt and the monasteries of the +East; the primitive creed of Apollinarius was protected by the sanctity +of Cyril; and the name of Eutyches, his venerable friend, has been +applied to the sect most adverse to the Syrian heresy of Nestorius. His +rival Eutyches was the abbot, or archimandrite, or superior of three +hundred monks, but the opinions of a simple and illiterate recluse might +have expired in the cell, where he had slept above seventy years, if the +resentment or indiscretion of Flavian, the Byzantine pontiff, had not +exposed the scandal to the eyes of the Christian world. His domestic +synod was instantly convened, their proceedings were sullied with +clamor and artifice, and the aged heretic was surprised into a seeming +confession, that Christ had not derived his body from the substance +of the Virgin Mary. From their partial decree, Eutyches appealed to a +general council; and his cause was vigorously asserted by his godson +Chrysaphius, the reigning eunuch of the palace, and his accomplice +Dioscorus, who had succeeded to the throne, the creed, the talents, +and the vices, of the nephew of Theophilus. By the special summons of +Theodosius, the second synod of Ephesus was judiciously composed of +ten metropolitans and ten bishops from each of the six dioceses of the +Eastern empire: some exceptions of favor or merit enlarged the number to +one hundred and thirty-five; and the Syrian Barsumas, as the chief +and representative of the monks, was invited to sit and vote with +the successors of the apostles. But the despotism of the Alexandrian +patriarch again oppressed the freedom of debate: the same spiritual and +carnal weapons were again drawn from the arsenals of Egypt: the Asiatic +veterans, a band of archers, served under the orders of Dioscorus; and +the more formidable monks, whose minds were inaccessible to reason or +mercy, besieged the doors of the cathedral. The general, and, as it +should seem, the unconstrained voice of the fathers, accepted the faith +and even the anathemas of Cyril; and the heresy of the two natures +was formally condemned in the persons and writings of the most learned +Orientals. "May those who divide Christ be divided with the sword, may +they be hewn in pieces, may they be burned alive!" were the charitable +wishes of a Christian synod. [60] The innocence and sanctity of Eutyches +were acknowledged without hesitation; but the prelates, more especially +those of Thrace and Asia, were unwilling to depose their patriarch for +the use or even the abuse of his lawful jurisdiction. They embraced +the knees of Dioscorus, as he stood with a threatening aspect on the +footstool of his throne, and conjured him to forgive the offences, +and to respect the dignity, of his brother. "Do you mean to raise a +sedition?" exclaimed the relentless tyrant. "Where are the officers?" At +these words a furious multitude of monks and soldiers, with staves, and +swords, and chains, burst into the church; the trembling bishops hid +themselves behind the altar, or under the benches, and as they were +not inspired with the zeal of martyrdom, they successively subscribed +a blank paper, which was afterwards filled with the condemnation of the +Byzantine pontiff. Flavian was instantly delivered to the wild beasts of +this spiritual amphitheatre: the monks were stimulated by the voice and +example of Barsumas to avenge the injuries of Christ: it is said that +the patriarch of Alexandria reviled, and buffeted, and kicked, and +trampled his brother of Constantinople: [61] it is certain, that the +victim, before he could reach the place of his exile, expired on the +third day of the wounds and bruises which he had received at Ephesus. +This second synod has been justly branded as a gang of robbers and +assassins; yet the accusers of Dioscorus would magnify his violence, to +alleviate the cowardice and inconstancy of their own behavior. + +[Footnote 59: Dixi Cyrillum dum viveret, auctoritate sua effecisse, ne +Eutychianismus et Monophysitarum error in nervum erumperet: idque verum +puto...aliquo... honesto modo cecinerat. The learned but cautious +Jablonski did not always speak the whole truth. Cum Cyrillo lenius +omnino egi, quam si tecum aut cum aliis rei hujus probe gnaris et aequis +rerum aestimatoribus sermones privatos conferrem, (Thesaur. Epistol. La +Crozian. tom. i. p. 197, 198) an excellent key to his dissertations on +the Nestorian controversy!] + +[Footnote 60: At the request of Dioscorus, those who were not able to +roar, stretched out their hands. At Chalcedon, the Orientals disclaimed +these exclamations: but the Egyptians more consistently declared. +(Concil. tom. iv. p. 1012.)] + +[Footnote 61: (Eusebius, bishop of Dorylaeum): and this testimony of +Evagrius (l. ii. c. 2) is amplified by the historian Zonaras, (tom. ii. +l. xiii. p. 44,) who affirms that Dioscorus kicked like a wild ass. But +the language of Liberatus (Brev. c. 12, in Concil. tom. vi. p. 438) +is more cautious; and the Acts of Chalcedon, which lavish the names +of homicide, Cain, &c., do not justify so pointed a charge. The monk +Barsumas is more particularly accused, (Concil. tom. iv. p. 1418.)] + +The faith of Egypt had prevailed: but the vanquished party was supported +by the same pope who encountered without fear the hostile rage of Attila +and Genseric. The theology of Leo, his famous tome or epistle on +the mystery of the incarnation, had been disregarded by the synod of +Ephesus: his authority, and that of the Latin church, was insulted in +his legates, who escaped from slavery and death to relate the melancholy +tale of the tyranny of Dioscorus and the martyrdom of Flavian. His +provincial synod annulled the irregular proceedings of Ephesus; but +as this step was itself irregular, he solicited the convocation of a +general council in the free and orthodox provinces of Italy. From his +independent throne, the Roman bishop spoke and acted without danger +as the head of the Christians, and his dictates were obsequiously +transcribed by Placidia and her son Valentinian; who addressed their +Eastern colleague to restore the peace and unity of the church. But the +pageant of Oriental royalty was moved with equal dexterity by the hand +of the eunuch; and Theodosius could pronounce, without hesitation, that +the church was already peaceful and triumphant, and that the recent +flame had been extinguished by the just punishment of the Nestorians. +Perhaps the Greeks would be still involved in the heresy of the +Monophysites, if the emperor's horse had not fortunately stumbled; +Theodosius expired; his orthodox sister Pulcheria, with a nominal +husband, succeeded to the throne; Chrysaphius was burnt, Dioscorus was +disgraced, the exiles were recalled, and the tome of Leo was subscribed +by the Oriental bishops. Yet the pope was disappointed in his favorite +project of a Latin council: he disdained to preside in the Greek synod, +which was speedily assembled at Nice in Bithynia; his legates required +in a peremptory tone the presence of the emperor; and the weary fathers +were transported to Chalcedon under the immediate eye of Marcian and +the senate of Constantinople. A quarter of a mile from the Thracian +Bosphorus, the church of St. Euphemia was built on the summit of a +gentle though lofty ascent: the triple structure was celebrated as a +prodigy of art, and the boundless prospect of the land and sea might +have raised the mind of a sectary to the contemplation of the God of +the universe. Six hundred and thirty bishops were ranged in order in the +nave of the church; but the patriarchs of the East were preceded by the +legates, of whom the third was a simple priest; and the place of honor +was reserved for twenty laymen of consular or senatorian rank. The +gospel was ostentatiously displayed in the centre, but the rule of +faith was defined by the Papal and Imperial ministers, who moderated +the thirteen sessions of the council of Chalcedon. [62] Their partial +interposition silenced the intemperate shouts and execrations, which +degraded the episcopal gravity; but, on the formal accusation of the +legates, Dioscorus was compelled to descend from his throne to the +rank of a criminal, already condemned in the opinion of his judges. The +Orientals, less adverse to Nestorius than to Cyril, accepted the Romans +as their deliverers: Thrace, and Pontus, and Asia, were exasperated +against the murderer of Flavian, and the new patriarchs of +Constantinople and Antioch secured their places by the sacrifice of +their benefactor. The bishops of Palestine, Macedonia, and Greece, were +attached to the faith of Cyril; but in the face of the synod, in the +heat of the battle, the leaders, with their obsequious train, passed +from the right to the left wing, and decided the victory by this +seasonable desertion. Of the seventeen suffragans who sailed from +Alexandria, four were tempted from their allegiance, and the thirteen, +falling prostrate on the ground, implored the mercy of the council, with +sighs and tears, and a pathetic declaration, that, if they yielded, they +should be massacred, on their return to Egypt, by the indignant people. +A tardy repentance was allowed to expiate the guilt or error of the +accomplices of Dioscorus: but their sins were accumulated on his head; +he neither asked nor hoped for pardon, and the moderation of those +who pleaded for a general amnesty was drowned in the prevailing cry of +victory and revenge. + +To save the reputation of his late adherents, some personal offences +were skilfully detected; his rash and illegal excommunication of the +pope, and his contumacious refusal (while he was detained a prisoner) to +attend to the summons of the synod. Witnesses were introduced to prove +the special facts of his pride, avarice, and cruelty; and the fathers +heard with abhorrence, that the alms of the church were lavished on +the female dancers, that his palace, and even his bath, was open to the +prostitutes of Alexandria, and that the infamous Pansophia, or Irene, +was publicly entertained as the concubine of the patriarch. [63] + +[Footnote 62: The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon (Concil. tom. iv. +p. 761--2071) comprehend those of Ephesus, (p. 890--1189,) which again +comprise the synod of Constantinople under Flavian, (p. 930--1072;) +and at requires some attention to disengage this double involution. +The whole business of Eutyches, Flavian, and Dioscorus, is related by +Evagrius (l. i. c. 9--12, and l. ii. c. 1, 2, 3, 4,) and Liberatus, +(Brev. c. 11, 12, 13, 14.) Once more, and almost for the last time, +I appeal to the diligence of Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. tom. xv. p. +479-719.) The annals of Baronius and Pagi will accompany me much further +on my long and laborious journey.] + +[Footnote 63: (Concil. tom. iv. p. 1276.) A specimen of the wit and +malice of the people is preserved in the Greek Anthology, (l. ii. c. +5, p. 188, edit. Wechel,) although the application was unknown to the +editor Brodaeus. The nameless epigrammatist raises a tolerable pun, +by confounding the episcopal salutation of "Peace be to all!" with +the genuine or corrupted name of the bishop's concubine: I am ignorant +whether the patriarch, who seems to have been a jealous lover, is the +Cimon of a preceding epigram, was viewed with envy and wonder by Priapus +himself.] + +For these scandalous offences, Dioscorus was deposed by the synod, and +banished by the emperor; but the purity of his faith was declared in the +presence, and with the tacit approbation, of the fathers. Their prudence +supposed rather than pronounced the heresy of Eutyches, who was never +summoned before their tribunal; and they sat silent and abashed, when +a bold Monophysite casting at their feet a volume of Cyril, challenged +them to anathematize in his person the doctrine of the saint. If we +fairly peruse the acts of Chalcedon as they are recorded by the orthodox +party, [64] we shall find that a great majority of the bishops embraced +the simple unity of Christ; and the ambiguous concession that he +was formed Of or From two natures, might imply either their previous +existence, or their subsequent confusion, or some dangerous interval +between the conception of the man and the assumption of the God. +The Roman theology, more positive and precise, adopted the term most +offensive to the ears of the Egyptians, that Christ existed In two +natures; and this momentous particle [65] (which the memory, rather than +the understanding, must retain) had almost produced a schism among +the Catholic bishops. The tome of Leo had been respectfully, perhaps +sincerely, subscribed; but they protested, in two successive debates, +that it was neither expedient nor lawful to transgress the sacred +landmarks which had been fixed at Nice, Constantinople, and Ephesus, +according to the rule of Scripture and tradition. At length they yielded +to the importunities of their masters; but their infallible decree, +after it had been ratified with deliberate votes and vehement +acclamations, was overturned in the next session by the opposition of +the legates and their Oriental friends. It was in vain that a multitude +of episcopal voices repeated in chorus, "The definition of the fathers +is orthodox and immutable! The heretics are now discovered! Anathema +to the Nestorians! Let them depart from the synod! Let them repair to +Rome." [66] The legates threatened, the emperor was absolute, and a +committee of eighteen bishops prepared a new decree, which was imposed +on the reluctant assembly. In the name of the fourth general council, +the Christ in one person, but in two natures, was announced to the +Catholic world: an invisible line was drawn between the heresy of +Apollinaris and the faith of St. Cyril; and the road to paradise, +a bridge as sharp as a razor, was suspended over the abyss by the +master-hand of the theological artist. During ten centuries of blindness +and servitude, Europe received her religious opinions from the oracle of +the Vatican; and the same doctrine, already varnished with the rust of +antiquity, was admitted without dispute into the creed of the reformers, +who disclaimed the supremacy of the Roman pontiff. The synod of +Chalcedon still triumphs in the Protestant churches; but the ferment of +controversy has subsided, and the most pious Christians of the present +day are ignorant, or careless, of their own belief concerning the +mystery of the incarnation. + +[Footnote 64: Those who reverence the infallibility of synods, may try +to ascertain their sense. The leading bishops were attended by partial +or careless scribes, who dispersed their copies round the world. Our +Greek Mss. are sullied with the false and prescribed reading of (Concil. +tom. iii. p. 1460:) the authentic translation of Pope Leo I. does not +seem to have been executed, and the old Latin versions materially differ +from the present Vulgate, which was revised (A.D. 550) by Rusticus, +a Roman priest, from the best Mss. at Constantinople, (Ducange, C. P. +Christiana, l. iv. p. 151,) a famous monastery of Latins, Greeks, and +Syrians. See Concil. tom. iv. p. 1959--2049, and Pagi, Critica, tom. ii. +p. 326, &c.] + +[Footnote 65: It is darkly represented in the microscope of Petavius, +(tom. v. l. iii. c. 5;) yet the subtle theologian is himself afraid--ne +quis fortasse supervacaneam, et nimis anxiam putet hujusmodi vocularum +inquisitionem, et ab instituti theologici gravitate alienam, (p. 124.)] + +[Footnote 66: (Concil. tom. iv. p. 1449.) Evagrius and Liberatus present +only the placid face of the synod, and discreetly slide over these +embers, suppositos cineri doloso.] + +Far different was the temper of the Greeks and Egyptians under the +orthodox reigns of Leo and Marcian. Those pious emperors enforced with +arms and edicts the symbol of their faith; [67] and it was declared by +the conscience or honor of five hundred bishops, that the decrees of +the synod of Chalcedon might be lawfully supported, even with blood. +The Catholics observed with satisfaction, that the same synod was odious +both to the Nestorians and the Monophysites; [68] but the Nestorians +were less angry, or less powerful, and the East was distracted by +the obstinate and sanguinary zeal of the Monophysites. Jerusalem was +occupied by an army of monks; in the name of the one incarnate nature, +they pillaged, they burnt, they murdered; the sepulchre of Christ was +defiled with blood; and the gates of the city were guarded in tumultuous +rebellion against the troops of the emperor. After the disgrace and +exile of Dioscorus, the Egyptians still regretted their spiritual +father; and detested the usurpation of his successor, who was introduced +by the fathers of Chalcedon. The throne of Proterius was supported by a +guard of two thousand soldiers: he waged a five years' war against the +people of Alexandria; and on the first intelligence of the death of +Marcian, he became the victim of their zeal. On the third day before +the festival of Easter, the patriarch was besieged in the cathedral, +and murdered in the baptistery. The remains of his mangled corpse were +delivered to the flames, and his ashes to the wind; and the deed was +inspired by the vision of a pretended angel: an ambitious monk, who, +under the name of Timothy the Cat, [69] succeeded to the place and +opinions of Dioscorus. This deadly superstition was inflamed, on either +side, by the principle and the practice of retaliation: in the pursuit +of a metaphysical quarrel, many thousands [70] were slain, and the +Christians of every degree were deprived of the substantial enjoyments +of social life, and of the invisible gifts of baptism and the holy +communion. Perhaps an extravagant fable of the times may conceal an +allegorical picture of these fanatics, who tortured each other and +themselves. "Under the consulship of Venantius and Celer," says a grave +bishop, "the people of Alexandria, and all Egypt, were seized with a +strange and diabolical frenzy: great and small, slaves and freedmen, +monks and clergy, the natives of the land, who opposed the synod of +Chalcedon, lost their speech and reason, barked like dogs, and tore, +with their own teeth the flesh from their hands and arms." [71] + +[Footnote 67: See, in the Appendix to the Acts of Chalcedon, the +confirmation of the Synod by Marcian, (Concil. tom. iv. p. 1781, 1783;) +his letters to the monks of Alexandria, (p. 1791,) of Mount Sinai, +(p. 1793,) of Jerusalem and Palestine, (p. 1798;) his laws against the +Eutychians, (p. 1809, 1811, 1831;) the correspondence of Leo with the +provincial synods on the revolution of Alexandria, (p. 1835--1930.)] + +[Footnote 68: Photius (or rather Eulogius of Alexandria) confesses, in a +fine passage, the specious color of this double charge against Pope Leo +and his synod of Chalcedon, (Bibliot. cod. ccxxv. p. 768.) He waged a +double war against the enemies of the church, and wounded either +foe with the darts of his adversary. Against Nestorius he seemed to +introduce Monophysites; against Eutyches he appeared to countenance the +Nestorians. The apologist claims a charitable interpretation for the +saints: if the same had been extended to the heretics, the sound of the +controversy would have been lost in the air] + +[Footnote 69: From his nocturnal expeditions. In darkness and disguise +he crept round the cells of the monastery, and whispered the revelation +to his slumbering brethren, (Theodor. Lector. l. i.)] + +[Footnote 70: Such is the hyperbolic language of the Henoticon.] + +[Footnote 71: See the Chronicle of Victor Tunnunensis, in the Lectiones +Antiquae of Canisius, republished by Basnage, tom. 326.] + +The disorders of thirty years at length produced the famous Henoticon +[72] of the emperor Zeno, which in his reign, and in that of Anastasius, +was signed by all the bishops of the East, under the penalty of +degradation and exile, if they rejected or infringed this salutary and +fundamental law. The clergy may smile or groan at the presumption of +a layman who defines the articles of faith; yet if he stoops to the +humiliating task, his mind is less infected by prejudice or interest, +and the authority of the magistrate can only be maintained by the +concord of the people. It is in ecclesiastical story, that Zeno appears +least contemptible; and I am not able to discern any Manichaean or +Eutychian guilt in the generous saying of Anastasius. That it was +unworthy of an emperor to persecute the worshippers of Christ and the +citizens of Rome. The Henoticon was most pleasing to the Egyptians; yet +the smallest blemish has not been described by the jealous, and even +jaundiced eyes of our orthodox schoolmen, and it accurately represents +the Catholic faith of the incarnation, without adopting or disclaiming +the peculiar terms of tenets of the hostile sects. A solemn anathema is +pronounced against Nestorius and Eutyches; against all heretics by +whom Christ is divided, or confounded, or reduced to a phantom. Without +defining the number or the article of the word nature, the pure system +of St. Cyril, the faith of Nice, Constantinople, and Ephesus, is +respectfully confirmed; but, instead of bowing at the name of the +fourth council, the subject is dismissed by the censure of all +contrary doctrines, if any such have been taught either elsewhere or at +Chalcedon. Under this ambiguous expression, the friends and the enemies +of the last synod might unite in a silent embrace. The most reasonable +Christians acquiesced in this mode of toleration; but their reason was +feeble and inconstant, and their obedience was despised as timid and +servile by the vehement spirit of their brethren. On a subject which +engrossed the thoughts and discourses of men, it was difficult to +preserve an exact neutrality; a book, a sermon, a prayer, rekindled the +flame of controversy; and the bonds of communion were alternately broken +and renewed by the private animosity of the bishops. The space between +Nestorius and Eutyches was filled by a thousand shades of language and +opinion; the acephali [73] of Egypt, and the Roman pontiffs, of equal +valor, though of unequal strength, may be found at the two extremities +of the theological scale. The acephali, without a king or a bishop, were +separated above three hundred years from the patriarchs of Alexandria, +who had accepted the communion of Constantinople, without exacting +a formal condemnation of the synod of Chalcedon. For accepting the +communion of Alexandria, without a formal approbation of the same synod, +the patriarchs of Constantinople were anathematized by the popes. Their +inflexible despotism involved the most orthodox of the Greek churches +in this spiritual contagion, denied or doubted the validity of their +sacraments, [74] and fomented, thirty-five years, the schism of the +East and West, till they finally abolished the memory of four Byzantine +pontiffs, who had dared to oppose the supremacy of St. Peter. [75] +Before that period, the precarious truce of Constantinople and Egypt +had been violated by the zeal of the rival prelates. Macedonius, who was +suspected of the Nestorian heresy, asserted, in disgrace and exile, the +synod of Chalcedon, while the successor of Cyril would have purchased +its overthrow with a bribe of two thousand pounds of gold. [Footnote +72: The Henoticon is transcribed by Evagrius, (l. iii. c. 13,) and +translated by Liberatus, (Brev. c. 18.) Pagi (Critica, tom. ii. p. 411) +and (Bibliot. Orient. tom. i. p. 343) are satisfied that it is free from +heresy; but Petavius (Dogmat. Theolog. tom. v. l. i. c. 13, p. 40) most +unaccountably affirms Chalcedonensem ascivit. An adversary would prove +that he had never read the Henoticon.] + +[Footnote 73: See Renaudot, (Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 123, 131, 145, +195, 247.) They were reconciled by the care of Mark I. (A.D. 799--819;) +he promoted their chiefs to the bishoprics of Athribis and Talba, +(perhaps Tava. See D'Anville, p. 82,) and supplied the sacraments, which +had failed for want of an episcopal ordination.] + +[Footnote 74: De his quos baptizavit, quos ordinavit Acacius, majorum +traditione confectam et veram, praecipue religiosae solicitudini +congruam praebemus sine difficultate medicinam, (Galacius, in epist. i. +ad Euphemium, Concil. tom. v. 286.) The offer of a medicine proves the +disease, and numbers must have perished before the arrival of the Roman +physician. Tillemont himself (Mem. Eccles. tom. xvi. p. 372, 642, &c.) +is shocked at the proud, uncharitable temper of the popes; they are now +glad, says he, to invoke St. Flavian of Antioch, St. Elias of Jerusalem, +&c., to whom they refused communion whilst upon earth. But Cardinal +Baronius is firm and hard as the rock of St. Peter.] + +[Footnote 75: Their names were erased from the diptych of the church: ex +venerabili diptycho, in quo piae memoriae transitum ad coelum habentium +episcoporum vocabula continentur, (Concil. tom. iv. p. 1846.) This +ecclesiastical record was therefore equivalent to the book of life.] + +In the fever of the times, the sense, or rather the sound of a syllable, +was sufficient to disturb the peace of an empire. The Trisagion [76] +(thrice holy,) "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts!" is supposed, +by the Greeks, to be the identical hymn which the angels and cherubim +eternally repeat before the throne of God, and which, about the middle +of the fifth century, was miraculously revealed to the church of +Constantinople. The devotion of Antioch soon added, "who was crucified +for us!" and this grateful address, either to Christ alone, or to the +whole Trinity, may be justified by the rules of theology, and has been +gradually adopted by the Catholics of the East and West. But it had been +imagined by a Monophysite bishop; [77] the gift of an enemy was at first +rejected as a dire and dangerous blasphemy, and the rash innovation had +nearly cost the emperor Anastasius his throne and his life. [78] The +people of Constantinople was devoid of any rational principles of +freedom; but they held, as a lawful cause of rebellion, the color of +a livery in the races, or the color of a mystery in the schools. The +Trisagion, with and without this obnoxious addition, was chanted in the +cathedral by two adverse choirs, and when their lungs were exhausted, +they had recourse to the more solid arguments of sticks and stones; the +aggressors were punished by the emperor, and defended by the patriarch; +and the crown and mitre were staked on the event of this momentous +quarrel. The streets were instantly crowded with innumerable swarms +of men, women, and children; the legions of monks, in regular array, +marched, and shouted, and fought at their head, "Christians! this is the +day of martyrdom: let us not desert our spiritual father; anathema to +the Manichaean tyrant! he is unworthy to reign." Such was the Catholic +cry; and the galleys of Anastasius lay upon their oars before the +palace, till the patriarch had pardoned his penitent, and hushed the +waves of the troubled multitude. The triumph of Macedonius was checked +by a speedy exile; but the zeal of his flock was again exasperated by +the same question, "Whether one of the Trinity had been crucified?" On +this momentous occasion, the blue and green factions of Constantinople +suspended their discord, and the civil and military powers were +annihilated in their presence. The keys of the city, and the standards +of the guards, were deposited in the forum of Constantine, the principal +station and camp of the faithful. Day and night they were incessantly +busied either in singing hymns to the honor of their God, or in +pillaging and murdering the servants of their prince. The head of his +favorite monk, the friend, as they styled him, of the enemy of the Holy +Trinity, was borne aloft on a spear; and the firebrands, which had +been darted against heretical structures, diffused the undistinguishing +flames over the most orthodox buildings. The statues of the emperor were +broken, and his person was concealed in a suburb, till, at the end of +three days, he dared to implore the mercy of his subjects. Without his +diadem, and in the posture of a suppliant, Anastasius appeared on the +throne of the circus. The Catholics, before his face, rehearsed their +genuine Trisagion; they exulted in the offer, which he proclaimed by +the voice of a herald, of abdicating the purple; they listened to the +admonition, that, since all could not reign, they should previously +agree in the choice of a sovereign; and they accepted the blood of two +unpopular ministers, whom their master, without hesitation, condemned to +the lions. These furious but transient seditions were encouraged by the +success of Vitalian, who, with an army of Huns and Bulgarians, for +the most part idolaters, declared himself the champion of the Catholic +faith. In this pious rebellion he depopulated Thrace, besieged +Constantinople, exterminated sixty-five thousand of his +fellow-Christians, till he obtained the recall of the bishops, the +satisfaction of the pope, and the establishment of the council +of Chalcedon, an orthodox treaty, reluctantly signed by the dying +Anastasius, and more faithfully performed by the uncle of Justinian. And +such was the event of the first of the religious wars which have been +waged in the name and by the disciples, of the God of peace. [79] + +[Footnote 76: Petavius (Dogmat. Theolog. tom. v. l. v. c. 2, 3, 4, +p. 217-225) and Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 713, &c., 799) +represent the history and doctrine of the Trisagion. In the twelve +centuries between Isaiah and St. Proculs's boy, who was taken up into +heaven before the bishop and people of Constantinople, the song was +considerably improved. The boy heard the angels sing, "Holy God! Holy +strong! Holy immortal!"] + +[Footnote 77: Peter Gnapheus, the fuller, (a trade which he had +exercised in his monastery,) patriarch of Antioch. His tedious story is +discussed in the Annals of Pagi (A.D. 477--490) and a dissertation of M. +de Valois at the end of his Evagrius.] + +[Footnote 78: The troubles under the reign of Anastasius must be +gathered from the Chronicles of Victor, Marcellinus, and Theophanes. As +the last was not published in the time of Baronius, his critic Pagi is +more copious, as well as more correct.] + +[Footnote 79: The general history, from the council of Chalcedon to +the death of Anastasius, may be found in the Breviary of Liberatus, (c. +14--19,) the iid and iiid books of Evagrius, the abstract of the two +books of Theodore the Reader, the Acts of the Synods, and the Epistles +of the Pope, (Concil. tom. v.) The series is continued with some +disorder in the xvth and xvith tomes of the Memoires Ecclesiastiques +of Tillemont. And here I must take leave forever of that incomparable +guide--whose bigotry is overbalanced by the merits of erudition, +diligence, veracity, and scrupulous minuteness. He was prevented by +death from completing, as he designed, the vith century of the church +and empire.] + + + + + +Chapter XLVII: Ecclesiastical Discord.--Part IV. + +Justinian has been already seen in the various lights of a prince, a +conqueror, and a lawgiver: the theologian [80] still remains, and it +affords an unfavorable prejudice, that his theology should form a very +prominent feature of his portrait. The sovereign sympathized with +his subjects in their superstitious reverence for living and departed +saints: his Code, and more especially his Novels, confirm and enlarge +the privileges of the clergy; and in every dispute between a monk and +a layman, the partial judge was inclined to pronounce, that truth, and +innocence, and justice, were always on the side of the church. In his +public and private devotions, the emperor was assiduous and exemplary; +his prayers, vigils, and fasts, displayed the austere penance of a monk; +his fancy was amused by the hope, or belief, of personal inspiration; he +had secured the patronage of the Virgin and St. Michael the archangel; +and his recovery from a dangerous disease was ascribed to the miraculous +succor of the holy martyrs Cosmas and Damian. The capital and the +provinces of the East were decorated with the monuments of his religion; +[81] and though the far greater part of these costly structures may be +attributed to his taste or ostentation, the zeal of the royal architect +was probably quickened by a genuine sense of love and gratitude towards +his invisible benefactors. Among the titles of Imperial greatness, the +name of Pious was most pleasing to his ear; to promote the temporal and +spiritual interest of the church was the serious business of his life; +and the duty of father of his country was often sacrificed to that of +defender of the faith. The controversies of the times were congenial +to his temper and understanding and the theological professors must +inwardly deride the diligence of a stranger, who cultivated their art +and neglected his own. "What can ye fear," said a bold conspirator to +his associates, "from your bigoted tyrant? Sleepless and unarmed, he +sits whole nights in his closet, debating with reverend graybeards, and +turning over the pages of ecclesiastical volumes." [82] The fruits of +these lucubrations were displayed in many a conference, where Justinian +might shine as the loudest and most subtile of the disputants; in many a +sermon, which, under the name of edicts and epistles, proclaimed to the +empire the theology of their master. While the Barbarians invaded the +provinces, while the victorious legion marched under the banners of +Belisarius and Narses, the successor of Trajan, unknown to the camp, +was content to vanquish at the head of a synod. Had he invited to these +synods a disinterested and rational spectator, Justinian might have +learned, "that religious controversy is the offspring of arrogance +and folly; that true piety is most laudably expressed by silence and +submission; that man, ignorant of his own nature, should not presume to +scrutinize the nature of his God; and that it is sufficient for us +to know, that power and benevolence are the perfect attributes of the +Deity." [83] + +[Footnote 80: The strain of the Anecdotes of Procopius, (c. 11, 13, 18, +27, 28,) with the learned remarks of Alemannus, is confirmed, rather +than contradicted, by the Acts of the Councils, the fourth book of +Evagrius, and the complaints of the African Facundus, in his +xiith book--de tribus capitulis, "cum videri doctus appetit +importune...spontaneis quaestionibus ecclesiam turbat." See Procop. de +Bell. Goth. l. iii. c. 35.] + +[Footnote 81: Procop. de Edificiis, l. i. c. 6, 7, &c., passim.] + +[Footnote 82: Procop. de Bell. Goth. l. iii. c. 32. In the life of St. +Eutychius (apud Aleman. ad Procop. Arcan. c. 18) the same character is +given with a design to praise Justinian.] + +[Footnote 83: For these wise and moderate sentiments, Procopius (de +Bell. Goth. l. i. c. 3) is scourged in the preface of Alemannus, who +ranks him among the political Christians--sed longe verius haeresium +omnium sentinas, prorsusque Atheos--abominable Atheists, who preached +the imitation of God's mercy to man, (ad Hist. Arcan. c. 13.)] + +Toleration was not the virtue of the times, and indulgence to rebels has +seldom been the virtue of princes. But when the prince descends to the +narrow and peevish character of a disputant, he is easily provoked to +supply the defect of argument by the plenitude of power, and to chastise +without mercy the perverse blindness of those who wilfully shut their +eyes against the light of demonstration. The reign of Justinian was +a uniform yet various scene of persecution; and he appears to have +surpassed his indolent predecessors, both in the contrivance of his laws +and the rigor of their execution. The insufficient term of three months +was assigned for the conversion or exile of all heretics; [84] and if he +still connived at their precarious stay, they were deprived, under +his iron yoke, not only of the benefits of society, but of the common +birth-right of men and Christians. At the end of four hundred years, +the Montanists of Phrygia [85] still breathed the wild enthusiasm of +perfection and prophecy which they had imbibed from their male and +female apostles, the special organs of the Paraclete. On the approach of +the Catholic priests and soldiers, they grasped with alacrity the +crown of martyrdom the conventicle and the congregation perished in the +flames, but these primitive fanatics were not extinguished three hundred +years after the death of their tyrant. Under the protection of their +Gothic confederates, the church of the Arians at Constantinople had +braved the severity of the laws: their clergy equalled the wealth and +magnificence of the senate; and the gold and silver which were seized by +the rapacious hand of Justinian might perhaps be claimed as the spoils +of the provinces, and the trophies of the Barbarians. A secret remnant +of Pagans, who still lurked in the most refined and most rustic +conditions of mankind, excited the indignation of the Christians, who +were perhaps unwilling that any strangers should be the witnesses of +their intestine quarrels. A bishop was named as the inquisitor of the +faith, and his diligence soon discovered, in the court and city, the +magistrates, lawyers, physicians, and sophists, who still cherished the +superstition of the Greeks. They were sternly informed that they must +choose without delay between the displeasure of Jupiter or Justinian, +and that their aversion to the gospel could no longer be distinguished +under the scandalous mask of indifference or impiety. The patrician +Photius, perhaps, alone was resolved to live and to die like his +ancestors: he enfranchised himself with the stroke of a dagger, and left +his tyrant the poor consolation of exposing with ignominy the lifeless +corpse of the fugitive. His weaker brethren submitted to their earthly +monarch, underwent the ceremony of baptism, and labored, by their +extraordinary zeal, to erase the suspicion, or to expiate the guilt, +of idolatry. The native country of Homer, and the theatre of the Trojan +war, still retained the last sparks of his mythology: by the care of +the same bishop, seventy thousand Pagans were detected and converted in +Asia, Phrygia, Lydia, and Caria; ninety-six churches were built for the +new proselytes; and linen vestments, Bibles, and liturgies, and vases +of gold and silver, were supplied by the pious munificence of Justinian. +[86] The Jews, who had been gradually stripped of their immunities, +were oppressed by a vexatious law, which compelled them to observe +the festival of Easter the same day on which it was celebrated by the +Christians. [87] And they might complain with the more reason, since the +Catholics themselves did not agree with the astronomical calculations of +their sovereign: the people of Constantinople delayed the beginning of +their Lent a whole week after it had been ordained by authority; and +they had the pleasure of fasting seven days, while meat was exposed for +sale by the command of the emperor. The Samaritans of Palestine [88] +were a motley race, an ambiguous sect, rejected as Jews by the Pagans, +by the Jews as schismatics, and by the Christians as idolaters. The +abomination of the cross had already been planted on their holy mount +of Garizim, [89] but the persecution of Justinian offered only the +alternative of baptism or rebellion. They chose the latter: under the +standard of a desperate leader, they rose in arms, and retaliated their +wrongs on the lives, the property, and the temples, of a defenceless +people. The Samaritans were finally subdued by the regular forces of the +East: twenty thousand were slain, twenty thousand were sold by the Arabs +to the infidels of Persia and India, and the remains of that unhappy +nation atoned for the crime of treason by the sin of hypocrisy. It has +been computed that one hundred thousand Roman subjects were extirpated +in the Samaritan war, [90] which converted the once fruitful province +into a desolate and smoking wilderness. But in the creed of Justinian, +the guilt of murder could not be applied to the slaughter of +unbelievers; and he piously labored to establish with fire and sword the +unity of the Christian faith. [91] + +[Footnote 84: This alternative, a precious circumstance, is preserved +by John Malala, (tom. ii. p. 63, edit. Venet. 1733,) who deserves +more credit as he draws towards his end. After numbering the heretics, +Nestorians, Eutychians, &c., ne expectent, says Justinian, ut digni +venia judicen tur: jubemus, enim ut...convicti et aperti haeretici +justae et idoneae animadversioni subjiciantur. Baronius copies and +applauds this edict of the Code, (A.D. 527, No. 39, 40.)] + +[Footnote 85: See the character and principles of the Montanists, in +Mosheim, Rebus Christ. ante Constantinum, p. 410--424.] + +[Footnote 86: Theophan. Chron. p. 153. John, the Monophysite bishop of +Asia, is a more authentic witness of this transaction, in which he was +himself employed by the emperor, (Asseman. Bib. Orient. tom. ii. p. +85.)] + +[Footnote 87: Compare Procopius (Hist. Arcan. c. 28, and Aleman's Notes) +with Theophanes, (Chron. p. 190.) The council of Nice has intrusted the +patriarch, or rather the astronomers, of Alexandria, with the annual +proclamation of Easter; and we still read, or rather we do not +read, many of the Paschal epistles of St. Cyril. Since the reign of +Monophytism in Egypt, the Catholics were perplexed by such a foolish +prejudice as that which so long opposed, among the Protestants, the +reception of the Gregorian style.] + +[Footnote 88: For the religion and history of the Samaritans, consult +Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, a learned and impartial work.] + +[Footnote 89: Sichem, Neapolis, Naplous, the ancient and modern seat +of the Samaritans, is situate in a valley between the barren Ebal, the +mountain of cursing to the north, and the fruitful Garizim, or mountain +of cursing to the south, ten or eleven hours' travel from Jerusalem. See +Maundrel, Journey from Aleppo &c.] + +[Footnote 90: Procop. Anecdot. c. 11. Theophan. Chron. p. 122. +John Malala Chron. tom. ii. p. 62. I remember an observation, half +philosophical. half superstitious, that the province which had been +ruined by the bigotry of Justinian, was the same through which the +Mahometans penetrated into the empire.] + +[Footnote 91: The expression of Procopius is remarkable. Anecdot. c. +13.] + +With these sentiments, it was incumbent on him, at least, to be always +in the right. In the first years of his administration, he signalized +his zeal as the disciple and patron of orthodoxy: the reconciliation of +the Greeks and Latins established the tome of St. Leo as the creed of +the emperor and the empire; the Nestorians and Eutychians were exposed. +on either side, to the double edge of persecution; and the four synods +of Nice, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon, were ratified by the +code of a Catholic lawgiver. [92] But while Justinian strove to maintain +the uniformity of faith and worship, his wife Theodora, whose vices +were not incompatible with devotion, had listened to the Monophysite +teachers; and the open or clandestine enemies of the church revived and +multiplied at the smile of their gracious patroness. The capital, the +palace, the nuptial bed, were torn by spiritual discord; yet so doubtful +was the sincerity of the royal consorts, that their seeming disagreement +was imputed by many to a secret and mischievous confederacy against the +religion and happiness of their people. [93] The famous dispute of the +Three Chapters, [94] which has filled more volumes than it deserves +lines, is deeply marked with this subtile and disingenuous spirit. It +was now three hundred years since the body of Origen [95] had been eaten +by the worms: his soul, of which he held the preexistence, was in the +hands of its Creator; but his writings were eagerly perused by the monks +of Palestine. In these writings, the piercing eye of Justinian descried +more than ten metaphysical errors; and the primitive doctor, in the +company of Pythagoras and Plato, was devoted by the clergy to the +eternity of hell-fire, which he had presumed to deny. Under the cover +of this precedent, a treacherous blow was aimed at the council of +Chalcedon. The fathers had listened without impatience to the praise +of Theodore of Mopsuestia; [96] and their justice or indulgence had +restored both Theodore of Cyrrhus, and Ibas of Edessa, to the communion +of the church. But the characters of these Oriental bishops were tainted +with the reproach of heresy; the first had been the master, the two +others were the friends, of Nestorius; their most suspicious passages +were accused under the title of the three chapters; and the condemnation +of their memory must involve the honor of a synod, whose name was +pronounced with sincere or affected reverence by the Catholic world. If +these bishops, whether innocent or guilty, were annihilated in the sleep +of death, they would not probably be awakened by the clamor which, after +the a hundred years, was raised over their grave. If they were already +in the fangs of the daemon, their torments could neither be aggravated +nor assuaged by human industry. If in the company of saints and angels +they enjoyed the rewards of piety, they must have smiled at the idle +fury of the theological insects who still crawled on the surface of the +earth. The foremost of these insects, the emperor of the Romans, darted +his sting, and distilled his venom, perhaps without discerning the true +motives of Theodora and her ecclesiastical faction. The victims were no +longer subject to his power, and the vehement style of his edicts could +only proclaim their damnation, and invite the clergy of the East to +join in a full chorus of curses and anathemas. The East, with some +hesitation, consented to the voice of her sovereign: the fifth general +council, of three patriarchs and one hundred and sixty-five bishops, was +held at Constantinople; and the authors, as well as the defenders, of +the three chapters were separated from the communion of the saints, and +solemnly delivered to the prince of darkness. But the Latin churches +were more jealous of the honor of Leo and the synod of Chalcedon: and +if they had fought as they usually did under the standard of Rome, they +might have prevailed in the cause of reason and humanity. But their +chief was a prisoner in the hands of the enemy; the throne of St. Peter, +which had been disgraced by the simony, was betrayed by the cowardice, +of Vigilius, who yielded, after a long and inconsistent struggle, to +the despotism of Justinian and the sophistry of the Greeks. His apostasy +provoked the indignation of the Latins, and no more than two bishops +could be found who would impose their hands on his deacon and successor +Pelagius. Yet the perseverance of the popes insensibly transferred to +their adversaries the appellation of schismatics; the Illyrian, African, +and Italian churches were oppressed by the civil and ecclesiastical +powers, not without some effort of military force; [97] the distant +Barbarians transcribed the creed of the Vatican, and, in the period of a +century, the schism of the three chapters expired in an obscure angle of +the Venetian province. [98] But the religious discontent of the Italians +had already promoted the conquests of the Lombards, and the Romans +themselves were accustomed to suspect the faith and to detest the +government of their Byzantine tyrant. + +[Footnote 92: See the Chronicle of Victor, p. 328, and the original +evidence of the laws of Justinian. During the first years of his reign, +Baronius himself is in extreme good humor with the emperor, who courted +the popes, till he got them into his power.] + +[Footnote 93: Procopius, Anecdot. c. 13. Evagrius, l. iv. c. 10. If the +ecclesiastical never read the secret historian, their common suspicion +proves at least the general hatred.] + +[Footnote 94: On the subject of the three chapters, the original acts +of the vth general council of Constantinople supply much useless, though +authentic, knowledge, (Concil. tom. vi. p. 1-419.) The Greek Evagrius is +less copious and correct (l. iv. c. 38) than the three zealous Africans, +Facundus, (in his twelve books, de tribus capitulis, which are most +correctly published by Sirmond,) Liberatus, (in his Breviarium, c. 22, +23, 24,) and Victor Tunnunensis in his Chronicle, (in tom. i. Antiq. +Lect. Canisii, 330--334.) The Liber Pontificalis, or Anastasius, (in +Vigilio, Pelagio, &c.,) is original Italian evidence. The modern reader +will derive some information from Dupin (Bibliot. Eccles. tom. v. p. +189--207) and Basnage, (Hist. de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 519--541;) yet the +latter is too firmly resolved to depreciate the authority and character +of the popes.] + +[Footnote 95: Origen had indeed too great a propensity to imitate the +old philosophers, (Justinian, ad Mennam, in Concil. tom. vi. p. 356.) +His moderate opinions were too repugnant to the zeal of the church, and +he was found guilty of the heresy of reason.] + +[Footnote 96: Basnage (Praefat. p. 11--14, ad tom. i. Antiq. Lect. +Canis.) has fairly weighed the guilt and innocence of Theodore of +Mopsuestia. If he composed 10,000 volumes, as many errors would be a +charitable allowance. In all the subsequent catalogues of heresiarchs, +he alone, without his two brethren, is included; and it is the duty +of Asseman (Bibliot. Orient. tom. iv. p. 203--207) to justify the +sentence.] + +[Footnote 97: See the complaints of Liberatus and Victor, and the +exhortations of Pope Pelagius to the conqueror and exarch of Italy. +Schisma.. per potestates publicas opprimatur, &c., (Concil. tom. vi. p. +467, &c.) An army was detained to suppress the sedition of an Illyrian +city. See Procopius, (de Bell. Goth. l. iv. c. 25:). He seems to promise +an ecclesiastical history. It would have been curious and impartial.] + +[Footnote 98: The bishops of the patriarchate of Aquileia were +reconciled by Pope Honorius, A.D. 638, (Muratori, Annali d' Italia, +tom. v. p. 376;) but they again relapsed, and the schism was not finally +extinguished till 698. Fourteen years before, the church of Spain had +overlooked the vth general council with contemptuous silence, (xiii. +Concil. Toretan. in Concil. tom. vii. p. 487--494.)] + +Justinian was neither steady nor consistent in the nice process of +fixing his volatile opinions and those of his subjects. In his youth he +was, offended by the slightest deviation from the orthodox line; in +his old age he transgressed the measure of temperate heresy, and +the Jacobites, not less than the Catholics, were scandalized by his +declaration, that the body of Christ was incorruptible, and that his +manhood was never subject to any wants and infirmities, the inheritance +of our mortal flesh. This fantastic opinion was announced in the last +edicts of Justinian; and at the moment of his seasonable departure, the +clergy had refused to subscribe, the prince was prepared to persecute, +and the people were resolved to suffer or resist. A bishop of Treves, +secure beyond the limits of his power, addressed the monarch of the East +in the language of authority and affection. "Most gracious Justinian, +remember your baptism and your creed. Let not your gray hairs be defiled +with heresy. Recall your fathers from exile, and your followers from +perdition. You cannot be ignorant, that Italy and Gaul, Spain and +Africa, already deplore your fall, and anathematize your name. Unless, +without delay, you destroy what you have taught; unless you exclaim +with a loud voice, I have erred, I have sinned, anathema to Nestorius, +anathema to Eutyches, you deliver your soul to the same flames in which +they will eternally burn." He died and made no sign. [99] His death +restored in some degree the peace of the church, and the reigns of his +four successors, Justin Tiberius, Maurice, and Phocas, are distinguished +by a rare, though fortunate, vacancy in the ecclesiastical history of +the East. [100] + +[Footnote 99: Nicetus, bishop of Treves, (Concil. tom. vi. p. 511-513:) +he himself, like most of the Gallican prelates, (Gregor. Epist. l. vii. +5 in Concil. tom. vi. p. 1007,) was separated from the communion of the +four patriarchs by his refusal to condemn the three chapters. Baronius +almost pronounces the damnation of Justinian, (A.D. 565, No. 6.)] + +[Footnote 100: After relating the last heresy of Justinian, (l. iv. c. +39, 40, 41,) and the edict of his successor, (l. v. c. 3,) the +remainder of the history of Evagrius is filled with civil, instead of +ecclesiastical events.] + +The faculties of sense and reason are least capable of acting on +themselves; the eye is most inaccessible to the sight, the soul to the +thought; yet we think, and even feel, that one will, a sole principle of +action, is essential to a rational and conscious being. When Heraclius +returned from the Persian war, the orthodox hero consulted his bishops, +whether the Christ whom he adored, of one person, but of two natures, +was actuated by a single or a double will. They replied in the singular, +and the emperor was encouraged to hope that the Jacobites of Egypt +and Syria might be reconciled by the profession of a doctrine, most +certainly harmless, and most probably true, since it was taught even +by the Nestorians themselves. [101] The experiment was tried without +effect, and the timid or vehement Catholics condemned even the semblance +of a retreat in the presence of a subtle and audacious enemy. The +orthodox (the prevailing) party devised new modes of speech, and +argument, and interpretation: to either nature of Christ they speciously +applied a proper and distinct energy; but the difference was no longer +visible when they allowed that the human and the divine will were +invariably the same. [102] The disease was attended with the customary +symptoms: but the Greek clergy, as if satiated with the endless +controversy of the incarnation, instilled a healing counsel into the +ear of the prince and people. They declared themselves Monothelites, +(asserters of the unity of will,) but they treated the words as new, +the questions as superfluous; and recommended a religious silence as the +most agreeable to the prudence and charity of the gospel. This law +of silence was successively imposed by the ecthesis or exposition of +Heraclius, the type or model of his grandson Constans; [103] and the +Imperial edicts were subscribed with alacrity or reluctance by the four +patriarchs of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch. But the +bishop and monks of Jerusalem sounded the alarm: in the language, or +even in the silence, of the Greeks, the Latin churches detected a +latent heresy: and the obedience of Pope Honorius to the commands of +his sovereign was retracted and censured by the bolder ignorance of his +successors. They condemned the execrable and abominable heresy of the +Monothelites, who revived the errors of Manes, Apollinaris, Eutyches, +&c.; they signed the sentence of excommunication on the tomb of St. +Peter; the ink was mingled with the sacramental wine, the blood of +Christ; and no ceremony was omitted that could fill the superstitious +mind with horror and affright. As the representative of the Western +church, Pope Martin and his Lateran synod anathematized the perfidious +and guilty silence of the Greeks: one hundred and five bishops of Italy, +for the most part the subjects of Constans, presumed to reprobate +his wicked type, and the impious ecthesis of his grandfather; and to +confound the authors and their adherents with the twenty-one notorious +heretics, the apostates from the church, and the organs of the devil. +Such an insult under the tamest reign could not pass with impunity. +Pope Martin ended his days on the inhospitable shore of the Tauric +Chersonesus, and his oracle, the abbot Maximus, was inhumanly chastised +by the amputation of his tongue and his right hand. [104] But the same +invincible spirit survived in their successors; and the triumph of the +Latins avenged their recent defeat, and obliterated the disgrace of the +three chapters. The synods of Rome were confirmed by the sixth general +council of Constantinople, in the palace and the presence of a new +Constantine, a descendant of Heraclius. The royal convert converted the +Byzantine pontiff and a majority of the bishops; [105] the dissenters, +with their chief, Macarius of Antioch, were condemned to the spiritual +and temporal pains of heresy; the East condescended to accept the +lessons of the West; and the creed was finally settled, which teaches +the Catholics of every age, that two wills or energies are harmonized +in the person of Christ. The majesty of the pope and the Roman synod +was represented by two priests, one deacon, and three bishops; but these +obscure Latins had neither arms to compel, nor treasures to bribe, +nor language to persuade; and I am ignorant by what arts they could +determine the lofty emperor of the Greeks to abjure the catechism of his +infancy, and to persecute the religion of his fathers. Perhaps the monks +and people of Constantinople [106] were favorable to the Lateran creed, +which is indeed the least reasonable of the two: and the suspicion is +countenanced by the unnatural moderation of the Greek clergy, who appear +in this quarrel to be conscious of their weakness. While the synod +debated, a fanatic proposed a more summary decision, by raising a dead +man to life: the prelates assisted at the trial; but the acknowledged +failure may serve to indicate, that the passions and prejudices of the +multitude were not enlisted on the side of the Monothelites. In the next +generation, when the son of Constantine was deposed and slain by the +disciple of Macarius, they tasted the feast of revenge and dominion: +the image or monument of the sixth council was defaced, and the original +acts were committed to the flames. But in the second year, their patron +was cast headlong from the throne, the bishops of the East were released +from their occasional conformity, the Roman faith was more firmly +replanted by the orthodox successors of Bardanes, and the fine problems +of the incarnation were forgotten in the more popular and visible +quarrel of the worship of images. [107] + +[Footnote 101: This extraordinary, and perhaps inconsistent, doctrine of +the Nestorians, had been observed by La Croze, (Christianisme des +Indes, tom. i. p. 19, 20,) and is more fully exposed by Abulpharagius, +(Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. 292. Hist. Dynast. p. 91, vers. Latin. +Pocock.) and Asseman himself, (tom. iv. p. 218.) They seem ignorant that +they might allege the positive authority of the ecthesis. (the common +reproach of the Monophysites) (Concil. tom. vii. p. 205.)] + +[Footnote 102: See the Orthodox faith in Petavius, (Dogmata Theolog. +tom. v. l. ix. c. 6--10, p. 433--447:) all the depths of this +controversy in the Greek dialogue between Maximus and Pyrrhus, (acalcem +tom. viii. Annal. Baron. p. 755--794,) which relates a real conference, +and produced as short-lived a conversion.] + +[Footnote 103: Impiissimam ecthesim.... scelerosum typum (Concil. tom. +vii p. 366) diabolicae operationis genimina, (fors. germina, or else the +Greek in the original. Concil. p. 363, 364,) are the expressions of +the xviiith anathema. The epistle of Pope Martin to Amandus, Gallican +bishop, stigmatizes the Monothelites and their heresy with equal +virulence, (p. 392.)] + +[Footnote 104: The sufferings of Martin and Maximus are described with +simplicity in their original letters and acts, (Concil. tom. vii. p. +63--78. Baron. Annal. Eccles. A.D. 656, No. 2, et annos subsequent.) Yet +the chastisement of their disobedience had been previously announced in +the Type of Constans, (Concil. tom. vii. p. 240.)] + +[Footnote 105: Eutychius (Annal. tom. ii. p. 368) most erroneously +supposes that the 124 bishops of the Roman synod transported themselves +to Constantinople; and by adding them to the 168 Greeks, thus composes +the sixth council of 292 fathers.] + +[Footnote 106: The Monothelite Constans was hated by all, (says +Theophanes, Chron. p. 292). When the Monothelite monk failed in his +miracle, the people shouted, (Concil. tom. vii. p. 1032.) But this was +a natural and transient emotion; and I much fear that the latter is an +anticipation of the good people of Constantinople.] + +[Footnote 107: The history of Monothelitism may be found in the Acts of +the Synods of Rome (tom. vii. p. 77--395, 601--608) and Constantinople, +(p. 609--1429.) Baronius extracted some original documents from the +Vatican library; and his chronology is rectified by the diligence of +Pagi. Even Dupin (Bibliotheque Eccles. tom. vi. p. 57--71) and Basnage +(Hist. de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 451--555) afford a tolerable abridgment.] + +Before the end of the seventh century, the creed of the incarnation, +which had been defined at Rome and Constantinople, was uniformly +preached in the remote islands of Britain and Ireland; [108] the same +ideas were entertained, or rather the same words were repeated, by all +the Christians whose liturgy was performed in the Greek or the Latin +tongue. Their numbers, and visible splendor, bestowed an imperfect claim +to the appellation of Catholics: but in the East, they were marked with +the less honorable name of Melchites, or Royalists; [109] of men, +whose faith, instead of resting on the basis of Scripture, reason, +or tradition, had been established, and was still maintained, by the +arbitrary power of a temporal monarch. Their adversaries might allege +the words of the fathers of Constantinople, who profess themselves the +slaves of the king; and they might relate, with malicious joy, how +the decrees of Chalcedon had been inspired and reformed by the emperor +Marcian and his virgin bride. The prevailing faction will naturally +inculcate the duty of submission, nor is it less natural that dissenters +should feel and assert the principles of freedom. Under the rod of +persecution, the Nestorians and Monophysites degenerated into rebels and +fugitives; and the most ancient and useful allies of Rome were taught +to consider the emperor not as the chief, but as the enemy of the +Christians. Language, the leading principle which unites or separates +the tribes of mankind, soon discriminated the sectaries of the East, by +a peculiar and perpetual badge, which abolished the means of intercourse +and the hope of reconciliation. The long dominion of the Greeks, their +colonies, and, above all, their eloquence, had propagated a language +doubtless the most perfect that has been contrived by the art of man. +Yet the body of the people, both in Syria and Egypt, still persevered +in the use of their national idioms; with this difference, however, that +the Coptic was confined to the rude and illiterate peasants of the Nile, +while the Syriac, [110] from the mountains of Assyria to the Red Sea, +was adapted to the higher topics of poetry and argument. Armenia and +Abyssinia were infected by the speech or learning of the Greeks; and +their Barbaric tongues, which have been revived in the studies of modern +Europe, were unintelligible to the inhabitants of the Roman empire. The +Syriac and the Coptic, the Armenian and the Aethiopic, are consecrated +in the service of their respective churches: and their theology is +enriched by domestic versions [111] both of the Scriptures and of the +most popular fathers. After a period of thirteen hundred and sixty +years, the spark of controversy, first kindled by a sermon of Nestorius, +still burns in the bosom of the East, and the hostile communions still +maintain the faith and discipline of their founders. In the most +abject state of ignorance, poverty, and servitude, the Nestorians and +Monophysites reject the spiritual supremacy of Rome, and cherish the +toleration of their Turkish masters, which allows them to anathematize, +on the one hand, St. Cyril and the synod of Ephesus: on the other, Pope +Leo and the council of Chalcedon. The weight which they cast into the +downfall of the Eastern empire demands our notice, and the reader may +be amused with the various prospect of, I. The Nestorians; II. The +Jacobites; [112] III. The Maronites; IV. The Armenians; V. The Copts; +and, VI. The Abyssinians. To the three former, the Syriac is common; but +of the latter, each is discriminated by the use of a national idiom. + +Yet the modern natives of Armenia and Abyssinia would be incapable of +conversing with their ancestors; and the Christians of Egypt and Syria, +who reject the religion, have adopted the language of the Arabians. The +lapse of time has seconded the sacerdotal arts; and in the East, as well +as in the West, the Deity is addressed in an obsolete tongue, unknown to +the majority of the congregation. + +[Footnote 108: In the Lateran synod of 679, Wilfred, an Anglo-Saxon +bishop, subscribed pro omni Aquilonari parte Britanniae et Hiberniae, +quae ab Anglorum et Britonum, necnon Scotorum et Pictorum gentibus +colebantur, (Eddius, in Vit. St. Wilfrid. c. 31, apud Pagi, Critica, +tom. iii. p. 88.) Theodore (magnae insulae Britanniae archiepiscopus et +philosophus) was long expected at Rome, (Concil. tom. vii. p. 714,) but +he contented himself with holding (A.D. 680) his provincial synod of +Hatfield, in which he received the decrees of Pope Martin and the first +Lateran council against the Monothelites, (Concil. tom. vii. p. 597, +&c.) Theodore, a monk of Tarsus in Cilicia, had been named to the +primacy of Britain by Pope Vitalian, (A.D. 688; see Baronius and Pagi,) +whose esteem for his learning and piety was tainted by some distrust +of his national character--ne quid contrarium veritati fidei, Graecorum +more, in ecclesiam cui praeesset introduceret. The Cilician was sent +from Rome to Canterbury under the tuition of an African guide, (Bedae +Hist. Eccles. Anglorum. l. iv. c. 1.) He adhered to the Roman doctrine; +and the same creed of the incarnation has been uniformly transmitted +from Theodore to the modern primates, whose sound understanding is +perhaps seldom engaged with that abstruse mystery.] + +[Footnote 109: This name, unknown till the xth century, appears to be of +Syriac origin. It was invented by the Jacobites, and eagerly adopted by +the Nestorians and Mahometans; but it was accepted without shame by the +Catholics, and is frequently used in the Annals of Eutychius, (Asseman. +Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. 507, &c., tom. iii. p. 355. Renaudot, Hist. +Patriarch. Alexandrin. p. 119.), was the acclamation of the fathers of +Constantinople, (Concil. tom. vii. p. 765.)] + +[Footnote 110: The Syriac, which the natives revere as the primitive +language, was divided into three dialects. 1. The Aramoean, as it was +refined at Edessa and the cities of Mesopotamia. 2. The Palestine, +which was used in Jerusalem, Damascus, and the rest of Syria. 3. +The Nabathoean, the rustic idiom of the mountains of Assyria and the +villages of Irak, (Gregor, Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 11.) On the +Syriac, sea Ebed-Jesu, (Asseman. tom. iii. p. 326, &c.,) whose prejudice +alone could prefer it to the Arabic.] + +[Footnote 111: I shall not enrich my ignorance with the spoils of Simon, +Walton, Mill, Wetstein, Assemannus, Ludolphus, La Croze, whom I have +consulted with some care. It appears, 1. That, of all the versions which +are celebrated by the fathers, it is doubtful whether any are now extant +in their pristine integrity. 2. That the Syriac has the best claim, +and that the consent of the Oriental sects is a proof that it is more +ancient than their schism.] + +[Footnote 112: In the account of the Monophysites and Nestorians, I am +deeply indebted to the Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana of +Joseph Simon Assemannus. That learned Maronite was despatched, in the +year 1715, by Pope Clement XI. to visit the monasteries of Egypt and +Syria, in search of Mss. His four folio volumes, published at Rome +1719--1728, contain a part only, though perhaps the most valuable, of +his extensive project. As a native and as a scholar, he possessed the +Syriac literature; and though a dependent of Rome, he wishes to be +moderate and candid.] + + + + + +Chapter XLVII: Ecclesiastical Discord.--Part V. + +I. Both in his native and his episcopal province, the heresy of the +unfortunate Nestorius was speedily obliterated. The Oriental bishops, +who at Ephesus had resisted to his face the arrogance of Cyril, +were mollified by his tardy concessions. The same prelates, or their +successors, subscribed, not without a murmur, the decrees of Chalcedon; +the power of the Monophysites reconciled them with the Catholics in +the conformity of passion, of interest, and, insensibly, of belief; +and their last reluctant sigh was breathed in the defence of the three +chapters. Their dissenting brethren, less moderate, or more sincere, +were crushed by the penal laws; and, as early as the reign of Justinian, +it became difficult to find a church of Nestorians within the limits of +the Roman empire. Beyond those limits they had discovered a new world, +in which they might hope for liberty, and aspire to conquest. In Persia, +notwithstanding the resistance of the Magi, Christianity had struck a +deep root, and the nations of the East reposed under its salutary shade. +The catholic, or primate, resided in the capital: in his synods, and in +their dioceses, his metropolitans, bishops, and clergy, represented the +pomp and order of a regular hierarchy: they rejoiced in the increase of +proselytes, who were converted from the Zendavesta to the gospel, from +the secular to the monastic life; and their zeal was stimulated by the +presence of an artful and formidable enemy. The Persian church had been +founded by the missionaries of Syria; and their language, discipline, +and doctrine, were closely interwoven with its original frame. The +catholics were elected and ordained by their own suffragans; but their +filial dependence on the patriarchs of Antioch is attested by the canons +of the Oriental church. [113] In the Persian school of Edessa, [114] the +rising generations of the faithful imbibed their theological idiom: they +studied in the Syriac version the ten thousand volumes of Theodore of +Mopsuestia; and they revered the apostolic faith and holy martyrdom of +his disciple Nestorius, whose person and language were equally unknown +to the nations beyond the Tigris. The first indelible lesson of Ibas, +bishop of Edessa, taught them to execrate the Egyptians, who, in the +synod of Ephesus, had impiously confounded the two natures of Christ. +The flight of the masters and scholars, who were twice expelled from +the Athens of Syria, dispersed a crowd of missionaries inflamed by +the double zeal of religion and revenge. And the rigid unity of the +Monophysites, who, under the reigns of Zeno and Anastasius, had invaded +the thrones of the East, provoked their antagonists, in a land of +freedom, to avow a moral, rather than a physical, union of the two +persons of Christ. Since the first preaching of the gospel, the +Sassanian kings beheld with an eye of suspicion a race of aliens and +apostates, who had embraced the religion, and who might favor the cause, +of the hereditary foes of their country. The royal edicts had often +prohibited their dangerous correspondence with the Syrian clergy: the +progress of the schism was grateful to the jealous pride of Perozes, and +he listened to the eloquence of an artful prelate, who painted Nestorius +as the friend of Persia, and urged him to secure the fidelity of his +Christian subjects, by granting a just preference to the victims and +enemies of the Roman tyrant. The Nestorians composed a large majority of +the clergy and people: they were encouraged by the smile, and armed with +the sword, of despotism; yet many of their weaker brethren were startled +at the thought of breaking loose from the communion of the Christian +world, and the blood of seven thousand seven hundred Monophysites, +or Catholics, confirmed the uniformity of faith and discipline in +the churches of Persia. [115] Their ecclesiastical institutions are +distinguished by a liberal principle of reason, or at least of policy: +the austerity of the cloister was relaxed and gradually forgotten; +houses of charity were endowed for the education of orphans and +foundlings; the law of celibacy, so forcibly recommended to the Greeks +and Latins, was disregarded by the Persian clergy; and the number of +the elect was multiplied by the public and reiterated nuptials of the +priests, the bishops, and even the patriarch himself. To this standard +of natural and religious freedom, myriads of fugitives resorted from all +the provinces of the Eastern empire; the narrow bigotry of Justinian +was punished by the emigration of his most industrious subjects; they +transported into Persia the arts both of peace and war: and those +who deserved the favor, were promoted in the service, of a discerning +monarch. The arms of Nushirvan, and his fiercer grandson, were assisted +with advice, and money, and troops, by the desperate sectaries who still +lurked in their native cities of the East: their zeal was rewarded with +the gift of the Catholic churches; but when those cities and churches +were recovered by Heraclius, their open profession of treason and heresy +compelled them to seek a refuge in the realm of their foreign ally. But +the seeming tranquillity of the Nestorians was often endangered, and +sometimes overthrown. They were involved in the common evils of Oriental +despotism: their enmity to Rome could not always atone for their +attachment to the gospel: and a colony of three hundred thousand +Jacobites, the captives of Apamea and Antioch, was permitted to erect +a hostile altar in the face of the catholic, and in the sunshine of the +court. In his last treaty, Justinian introduced some conditions which +tended to enlarge and fortify the toleration of Christianity in Persia. +The emperor, ignorant of the rights of conscience, was incapable of pity +or esteem for the heretics who denied the authority of the holy synods: +but he flattered himself that they would gradually perceive the temporal +benefits of union with the empire and the church of Rome; and if +he failed in exciting their gratitude, he might hope to provoke the +jealousy of their sovereign. In a later age the Lutherans have been +burnt at Paris, and protected in Germany, by the superstition and policy +of the most Christian king. + +[Footnote 113: See the Arabic canons of Nice in the translation of +Abraham Ecchelensis, No. 37, 38, 39, 40. Concil. tom. ii. p. 335, +336, edit. Venet. These vulgar titles, Nicene and Arabic, are both +apocryphal. The council of Nice enacted no more than twenty canons, +(Theodoret. Hist. Eccles. l. i. c. 8;) and the remainder, seventy or +eighty, were collected from the synods of the Greek church. The Syriac +edition of Maruthas is no longer extant, (Asseman. Bibliot. Oriental. +tom. i. p. 195, tom. iii. p. 74,) and the Arabic version is marked with +many recent interpolations. Yet this Code contains many curious relics +of ecclesiastical discipline; and since it is equally revered by all the +Eastern communions, it was probably finished before the schism of +the Nestorians and Jacobites, (Fabric. Bibliot. Graec. tom. xi. p. +363--367.)] + +[Footnote 114: Theodore the Reader (l. ii. c. 5, 49, ad calcem Hist. +Eccles.) has noticed this Persian school of Edessa. Its ancient +splendor, and the two aeras of its downfall, (A.D. 431 and 489) are +clearly discussed by Assemanni, (Biblioth. Orient. tom. ii. p. 402, iii. +p. 376, 378, iv. p. 70, 924.)] + +[Footnote 115: A dissertation on the state of the Nestorians has swelled +in the bands of Assemanni to a folio volume of 950 pages, and his +learned researches are digested in the most lucid order. Besides this +ivth volume of the Bibliotheca Orientalis, the extracts in the three +preceding tomes (tom. i. p. 203, ii. p. 321-463, iii. 64--70, 378--395, +&c., 405--408, 580--589) may be usefully consulted.] + +The desire of gaining souls for God and subjects for the church, has +excited in every age the diligence of the Christian priests. From the +conquest of Persia they carried their spiritual arms to the north, the +east, and the south; and the simplicity of the gospel was fashioned and +painted with the colors of the Syriac theology. In the sixth century, +according to the report of a Nestorian traveller, [116] Christianity +was successfully preached to the Bactrians, the Huns, the Persians, the +Indians, the Persarmenians, the Medes, and the Elamites: the Barbaric +churches, from the Gulf of Persia to the Caspian Sea, were almost +infinite; and their recent faith was conspicuous in the number and +sanctity of their monks and martyrs. The pepper coast of Malabar, +and the isles of the ocean, Socotora and Ceylon, were peopled with an +increasing multitude of Christians; and the bishops and clergy of +those sequestered regions derived their ordination from the Catholic of +Babylon. In a subsequent age the zeal of the Nestorians overleaped the +limits which had confined the ambition and curiosity both of the Greeks +and Persians. The missionaries of Balch and Samarcand pursued without +fear the footsteps of the roving Tartar, and insinuated themselves into +the camps of the valleys of Imaus and the banks of the Selinga. They +exposed a metaphysical creed to those illiterate shepherds: to those +sanguinary warriors, they recommended humanity and repose. Yet a khan, +whose power they vainly magnified, is said to have received at their +hands the rites of baptism, and even of ordination; and the fame of +Prester or Presbyter John [117] has long amused the credulity of Europe. +The royal convert was indulged in the use of a portable altar; but he +despatched an embassy to the patriarch, to inquire how, in the season of +Lent, he should abstain from animal food, and how he might celebrate +the Eucharist in a desert that produced neither corn nor wine. In their +progress by sea and land, the Nestorians entered China by the port of +Canton and the northern residence of Sigan. Unlike the senators of +Rome, who assumed with a smile the characters of priests and augurs, the +mandarins, who affect in public the reason of philosophers, are devoted +in private to every mode of popular superstition. They cherished and +they confounded the gods of Palestine and of India; but the propagation +of Christianity awakened the jealousy of the state, and, after a short +vicissitude of favor and persecution, the foreign sect expired in +ignorance and oblivion. [118] Under the reign of the caliphs, the +Nestorian church was diffused from China to Jerusalem and Cyrus; and +their numbers, with those of the Jacobites, were computed to surpass +the Greek and Latin communions. [119] Twenty-five metropolitans +or archbishops composed their hierarchy; but several of these were +dispensed, by the distance and danger of the way, from the duty of +personal attendance, on the easy condition that every six years they +should testify their faith and obedience to the catholic or patriarch of +Babylon, a vague appellation which has been successively applied to the +royal seats of Seleucia, Ctesiphon, and Bagdad. These remote branches +are long since withered; and the old patriarchal trunk [120] is now +divided by the Elijahs of Mosul, the representatives almost on lineal +descent of the genuine and primitive succession; the Josephs of Amida, +who are reconciled to the church of Rome: [121] and the Simeons of Van +or Ormia, whose revolt, at the head of forty thousand families, was +promoted in the sixteenth century by the Sophis of Persia. The number of +three hundred thousand is allowed for the whole body of the Nestorians, +who, under the name of Chaldeans or Assyrians, are confounded with the +most learned or the most powerful nation of Eastern antiquity. + +[Footnote 116: See the Topographia Christiana of Cosmas, surnamed +Indicopleustes, or the Indian navigator, l. iii. p. 178, 179, l. xi. +p. 337. The entire work, of which some curious extracts may be found in +Photius, (cod. xxxvi. p. 9, 10, edit. Hoeschel,) Thevenot, (in the 1st +part of his Relation des Voyages, &c.,) and Fabricius, (Bibliot. Graec. +l. iii. c. 25, tom. ii. p. 603-617,) has been published by Father +Montfaucon at Paris, 1707, in the Nova Collectio Patrum, (tom. ii. p. +113--346.) It was the design of the author to confute the impious heresy +of those who maintained that the earth is a globe, and not a flat, +oblong table, as it is represented in the Scriptures, (l. ii. p. 138.) +But the nonsense of the monk is mingled with the practical knowledge of +the traveller, who performed his voyage A.D. 522, and published his book +at Alexandria, A.D. 547, (l. ii. p. 140, 141. Montfaucon, Praefat. +c. 2.) The Nestorianism of Cosmas, unknown to his learned editor, was +detected by La Croze, (Christianisme des Indes, tom. i. p. 40--55,) and +is confirmed by Assemanni, (Bibliot. Orient. tom. iv. p. 605, 606.)] + +[Footnote 117: In its long progress to Mosul, Jerusalem, Rome, &c., the +story of Prester John evaporated in a monstrous fable, of which some +features have been borrowed from the Lama of Thibet, (Hist. Genealogique +des Tartares, P. ii. p. 42. Hist. de Gengiscan, p. 31, &c.,) and were +ignorantly transferred by the Portuguese to the emperor of Abyssinia, +(Ludolph. Hist. Aethiop. Comment. l. ii. c. 1.) Yet it is probable that +in the xith and xiith centuries, Nestorian Christianity was professed +in the horde of the Keraites, (D'Herbelot, p. 256, 915, 959. Assemanni, +tom. iv. p. 468--504.) Note: The extent to which Nestorian Christianity +prevailed among the Tartar tribes is one of the most curious questions +in Oriental history. M. Schmidt (Geschichte der Ost Mongolen, notes, +p. 383) appears to question the Christianity of Ong Chaghan, and his +Keraite subjects.--M.] + +[Footnote 118: The Christianity of China, between the seventh and the +thirteenth century, is invincibly proved by the consent of Chinese, +Arabian, Syriac, and Latin evidence, (Assemanni, Biblioth. Orient. +tom. iv. p. 502--552. Mem. de l'Academie des Inscript. tom. xxx. p. +802--819.) The inscription of Siganfu which describes the fortunes of +the Nestorian church, from the first mission, A.D. 636, to the current +year 781, is accused of forgery by La Croze, Voltaire, &c., who become +the dupes of their own cunning, while they are afraid of a Jesuitical +fraud. * Note: This famous monument, the authenticity of which many have +attempted to impeach, rather from hatred to the Jesuits, by whom it +was made known, than by a candid examination of its contents, is now +generally considered above all suspicion. The Chinese text and the facts +which it relates are equally strong proofs of its authenticity. This +monument was raised as a memorial of the establishment of Christianity +in China. It is dated the year 1092 of the era of the Greeks, or the +Seleucidae, A.D. 781, in the time of the Nestorian patriarch Anan-jesu. +It was raised by Iezdbouzid, priest and chorepiscopus of Chumdan, that +is, of the capital of the Chinese empire, and the son of a priest who +came from Balkh in Tokharistan. Among the various arguments which may be +urged in favor of the authenticity of this monument, and which has not +yet been advanced, may be reckoned the name of the priest by whom it +was raised. The name is Persian, and at the time the monument was +discovered, it would have been impossible to have imagined it; for there +was no work extant from whence the knowledge of it could be derived. I +do not believe that ever since this period, any book has been published +in which it can be found a second time. It is very celebrated amongst +the Armenians, and is derived from a martyr, a Persian by birth, of the +royal race, who perished towards the middle of the seventh century, and +rendered his name celebrated among the Christian nations of the East. +St. Martin, vol. i. p. 69. M. Remusat has also strongly expressed his +conviction of the authenticity of this monument. Melanges Asiatiques, +P. i. p. 33. Yet M. Schmidt (Geschichte der Ost Mongolen, p. 384) denies +that there is any satisfactory proof that much a monument was ever found +in China, or that it was not manufactured in Europe. But if the Jesuits +had attempted such a forgery, would it not have been more adapted to +further their peculiar views?--M.] + +[Footnote 119: Jacobitae et Nestorianae plures quam Graeci et Latini +Jacob a Vitriaco, Hist. Hierosol. l. ii. c. 76, p. 1093, in the Gesta +Dei per Francos. The numbers are given by Thomassin, Discipline de +l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 172.] + +[Footnote 120: The division of the patriarchate may be traced in the +Bibliotheca Orient. of Assemanni, tom. i. p. 523--549, tom. ii. p. 457, +&c., tom. iii. p. 603, p. 621--623, tom. iv. p. 164-169, p. 423, p. +622--629, &c.] + +[Footnote 121: The pompous language of Rome on the submission of a +Nestorian patriarch, is elegantly represented in the viith book of Fra +Paola, Babylon, Nineveh, Arbela, and the trophies of Alexander, Tauris, +and Ecbatana, the Tigris and Indus.] + +According to the legend of antiquity, the gospel was preached in India +by St. Thomas. [122] At the end of the ninth century, his shrine, +perhaps in the neighborhood of Madras, was devoutly visited by the +ambassadors of Alfred; and their return with a cargo of pearls and +spices rewarded the zeal of the English monarch, who entertained the +largest projects of trade and discovery. [123] When the Portuguese first +opened the navigation of India, the Christians of St. Thomas had been +seated for ages on the coast of Malabar, and the difference of their +character and color attested the mixture of a foreign race. In arms, in +arts, and possibly in virtue, they excelled the natives of Hindostan; +the husbandmen cultivated the palm-tree, the merchants were enriched by +the pepper trade, the soldiers preceded the nairs or nobles of Malabar, +and their hereditary privileges were respected by the gratitude or the +fear of the king of Cochin and the Zamorin himself. They acknowledged a +Gentoo of sovereign, but they were governed, even in temporal concerns, +by the bishop of Angamala. He still asserted his ancient title of +metropolitan of India, but his real jurisdiction was exercised in +fourteen hundred churches, and he was intrusted with the care of two +hundred thousand souls. Their religion would have rendered them the +firmest and most cordial allies of the Portuguese; but the inquisitors +soon discerned in the Christians of St. Thomas the unpardonable guilt +of heresy and schism. Instead of owning themselves the subjects of the +Roman pontiff, the spiritual and temporal monarch of the globe, they +adhered, like their ancestors, to the communion of the Nestorian +patriarch; and the bishops whom he ordained at Mosul, traversed the +dangers of the sea and land to reach their diocese on the coast of +Malabar. In their Syriac liturgy the names of Theodore and Nestorius +were piously commemorated: they united their adoration of the two +persons of Christ; the title of Mother of God was offensive to their +ear, and they measured with scrupulous avarice the honors of the Virgin +Mary, whom the superstition of the Latins had almost exalted to the rank +of a goddess. When her image was first presented to the disciples of St. +Thomas, they indignantly exclaimed, "We are Christians, not idolaters!" +and their simple devotion was content with the veneration of the cross. +Their separation from the Western world had left them in ignorance +of the improvements, or corruptions, of a thousand years; and their +conformity with the faith and practice of the fifth century would +equally disappoint the prejudices of a Papist or a Protestant. It was +the first care of the ministers of Rome to intercept all correspondence +with the Nestorian patriarch, and several of his bishops expired in the +prisons of the holy office. + +The flock, without a shepherd, was assaulted by the power of the +Portuguese, the arts of the Jesuits, and the zeal of Alexis de Menezes, +archbishop of Goa, in his personal visitation of the coast of Malabar. +The synod of Diamper, at which he presided, consummated the pious work +of the reunion; and rigorously imposed the doctrine and discipline of +the Roman church, without forgetting auricular confession, the strongest +engine of ecclesiastical torture. The memory of Theodore and Nestorius +was condemned, and Malabar was reduced under the dominion of the pope, +of the primate, and of the Jesuits who invaded the see of Angamala +or Cranganor. Sixty years of servitude and hypocrisy were patiently +endured; but as soon as the Portuguese empire was shaken by the courage +and industry of the Dutch, the Nestorians asserted, with vigor and +effect, the religion of their fathers. The Jesuits were incapable of +defending the power which they had abused; the arms of forty thousand +Christians were pointed against their falling tyrants; and the Indian +archdeacon assumed the character of bishop till a fresh supply of +episcopal gifts and Syriac missionaries could be obtained from the +patriarch of Babylon. Since the expulsion of the Portuguese, the +Nestorian creed is freely professed on the coast of Malabar. The trading +companies of Holland and England are the friends of toleration; but +if oppression be less mortifying than contempt, the Christians of St. +Thomas have reason to complain of the cold and silent indifference of +their brethren of Europe. [124] + +[Footnote 122: The Indian missionary, St. Thomas, an apostle, a +Manichaean, or an Armenian merchant, (La Croze, Christianisme des Indes, +tom. i. p. 57--70,) was famous, however, as early as the time of Jerom, +(ad Marcellam, epist. 148.) Marco-Polo was informed on the spot that he +suffered martyrdom in the city of Malabar, or Meliapour, a league only +from Madras, (D'Anville, Eclaircissemens sur l'Inde, p. 125,) where the +Portuguese founded an episcopal church under the name of St. Thome, and +where the saint performed an annual miracle, till he was silenced by the +profane neighborhood of the English, (La Croze, tom. ii. p. 7-16.)] + +[Footnote 123: Neither the author of the Saxon Chronicle (A.D. 833) not +William of Malmesbury (de Gestis Regum Angliae, l. ii. c. 4, p. 44) were +capable, in the twelfth century, of inventing this extraordinary fact; +they are incapable of explaining the motives and measures of Alfred; +and their hasty notice serves only to provoke our curiosity. William of +Malmesbury feels the difficulty of the enterprise, quod quivis in hoc +saeculo miretur; and I almost suspect that the English ambassadors +collected their cargo and legend in Egypt. The royal author has not +enriched his Orosius (see Barrington's Miscellanies) with an Indian, as +well as a Scandinavian, voyage.] + +[Footnote 124: Concerning the Christians of St. Thomas, see Assemann. +Bibliot Orient. tom. iv. p. 391--407, 435--451; Geddes's Church History +of Malabar; and, above all, La Croze, Histoire du Christianisme des +Indes, in 2 vols. 12mo., La Haye, 1758, a learned and agreeable work. +They have drawn from the same source, the Portuguese and Italian +narratives; and the prejudices of the Jesuits are sufficiently corrected +by those of the Protestants. Note: The St. Thome Christians had excited +great interest in the ancient mind of the admirable Bishop Heber. See +his curious and, to his friends, highly characteristic letter to +Mar Athanasius, Appendix to Journal. The arguments of his friend and +coadjutor, Mr. Robinson, (Last Days of Bishop Heber,) have not +convinced me that the Christianity of India is older than the Nestorian +dispersion.--M] + +II. The history of the Monophysites is less copious and interesting than +that of the Nestorians. Under the reigns of Zeno and Anastasius, their +artful leaders surprised the ear of the prince, usurped the thrones of +the East, and crushed on its native soil the school of the Syrians. The +rule of the Monophysite faith was defined with exquisite discretion +by Severus, patriarch of Antioch: he condemned, in the style of the +Henoticon, the adverse heresies of Nestorius; and Eutyches maintained +against the latter the reality of the body of Christ, and constrained +the Greeks to allow that he was a liar who spoke truth. [125] But the +approximation of ideas could not abate the vehemence of passion; each +party was the more astonished that their blind antagonist could dispute +on so trifling a difference; the tyrant of Syria enforced the belief of +his creed, and his reign was polluted with the blood of three hundred +and fifty monks, who were slain, not perhaps without provocation or +resistance, under the walls of Apamea. [126] The successor of Anastasius +replanted the orthodox standard in the East; Severus fled into Egypt; +and his friend, the eloquent Xenaias, [127] who had escaped from the +Nestorians of Persia, was suffocated in his exile by the Melchites of +Paphlagonia. Fifty-four bishops were swept from their thrones, eight +hundred ecclesiastics were cast into prison, [128] and notwithstanding +the ambiguous favor of Theodora, the Oriental flocks, deprived of their +shepherds, must insensibly have been either famished or poisoned. In +this spiritual distress, the expiring faction was revived, and united, +and perpetuated, by the labors of a monk; and the name of James +Baradaeus [129] has been preserved in the appellation of Jacobites, a +familiar sound, which may startle the ear of an English reader. From +the holy confessors in their prison of Constantinople, he received the +powers of bishop of Edessa and apostle of the East, and the ordination +of fourscore thousand bishops, priests, and deacons, is derived from +the same inexhaustible source. The speed of the zealous missionary was +promoted by the fleetest dromedaries of a devout chief of the Arabs; the +doctrine and discipline of the Jacobites were secretly established in +the dominions of Justinian; and each Jacobite was compelled to violate +the laws and to hate the Roman legislator. The successors of Severus, +while they lurked in convents or villages, while they sheltered +their proscribed heads in the caverns of hermits, or the tents of the +Saracens, still asserted, as they now assert, their indefeasible right +to the title, the rank, and the prerogatives of patriarch of Antioch: +under the milder yoke of the infidels, they reside about a league +from Merdin, in the pleasant monastery of Zapharan, which they have +embellished with cells, aqueducts, and plantations. The secondary, +though honorable, place is filled by the maphrian, who, in his station +at Mosul itself, defies the Nestorian catholic with whom he contests the +primacy of the East. Under the patriarch and the maphrian, one hundred +and fifty archbishops and bishops have been counted in the different +ages of the Jacobite church; but the order of the hierarchy is relaxed +or dissolved, and the greater part of their dioceses is confined to the +neighborhood of the Euphrates and the Tigris. The cities of Aleppo and +Amida, which are often visited by the patriarch, contain some wealthy +merchants and industrious mechanics, but the multitude derive their +scanty sustenance from their daily labor: and poverty, as well as +superstition, may impose their excessive fasts: five annual lents, +during which both the clergy and laity abstain not only from flesh +or eggs, but even from the taste of wine, of oil, and of fish. Their +present numbers are esteemed from fifty to fourscore thousand souls, the +remnant of a populous church, which was gradually decreased under the +impression of twelve centuries. Yet in that long period, some strangers +of merit have been converted to the Monophysite faith, and a Jew was +the father of Abulpharagius, [130] primate of the East, so truly eminent +both in his life and death. In his life he was an elegant writer of the +Syriac and Arabic tongues, a poet, physician, and historian, a subtile +philosopher, and a moderate divine. In his death, his funeral was +attended by his rival the Nestorian patriarch, with a train of Greeks +and Armenians, who forgot their disputes, and mingled their tears over +the grave of an enemy. The sect which was honored by the virtues +of Abulpharagius appears, however, to sink below the level of their +Nestorian brethren. The superstition of the Jacobites is more abject, +their fasts more rigid, [131] their intestine divisions are more +numerous, and their doctors (as far as I can measure the degrees of +nonsense) are more remote from the precincts of reason. Something may +possibly be allowed for the rigor of the Monophysite theology; much more +for the superior influence of the monastic order. In Syria, in Egypt, +in Ethiopia, the Jacobite monks have ever been distinguished by the +austerity of their penance and the absurdity of their legends. Alive or +dead, they are worshipped as the favorites of the Deity; the crosier +of bishop and patriarch is reserved for their venerable hands; and they +assume the government of men, while they are yet reeking with the habits +and prejudices of the cloister. [132] + +[Footnote 125: Is the expression of Theodore, in his Treatise of +the Incarnation, p. 245, 247, as he is quoted by La Croze, (Hist. du +Christianisme d'Ethiopie et d'Armenie, p. 35,) who exclaims, perhaps +too hastily, "Quel pitoyable raisonnement!" Renaudot has touched (Hist. +Patriarch. Alex. p. 127--138) the Oriental accounts of Severus; and +his authentic creed may be found in the epistle of John the Jacobite +patriarch of Antioch, in the xth century, to his brother Mannas of +Alexandria, (Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. 132--141.)] + +[Footnote 126: Epist. Archimandritarum et Monachorum Syriae Secundae ad +Papam Hormisdam, Concil. tom. v. p. 598--602. The courage of St. Sabas, +ut leo animosus, will justify the suspicion that the arms of these monks +were not always spiritual or defensive, (Baronius, A.D. 513, No. 7, +&c.)] + +[Footnote 127: Assemanni (Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. 10--46) and La +Croze (Christianisme d'Ethiopie, p. 36--40) will supply the history of +Xenaias, or Philoxenus, bishop of Mabug, or Hierapolis, in Syria. He was +a perfect master of the Syriac language, and the author or editor of a +version of the New Testament.] + +[Footnote 128: The names and titles of fifty-four bishops who were +exiled by Justin, are preserved in the Chronicle of Dionysius, +(apud Asseman. tom. ii. p. 54.) Severus was personally summoned to +Constantinople--for his trial, says Liberatus (Brev. c. 19)--that his +tongue might be cut out, says Evagrius, (l. iv. c. iv.) The prudent +patriarch did not stay to examine the difference. This ecclesiastical +revolution is fixed by Pagi to the month of September of the year 518, +(Critica, tom. ii. p. 506.)] + +[Footnote 129: The obscure history of James or Jacobus Baradaeus, or +Zanzalust may be gathered from Eutychius, (Annal. tom. ii. p. 144, 147,) +Renau dot, (Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 133,) and Assemannus, (Bibliot. +Orient. tom. i. p. 424, tom. ii. p. 62-69, 324--332, 414, tom. iii. +p. 385--388.) He seems to be unknown to the Greeks. The Jacobites +themselves had rather deduce their name and pedigree from St. James the +apostle.] + +[Footnote 130: The account of his person and writings is perhaps the +most curious article in the Bibliotheca of Assemannus, (tom. ii. +p. 244--321, under the name of Gregorius Bar-Hebroeus.) La Croze +(Christianisme d'Ethiopie, p. 53--63) ridicules the prejudice of the +Spaniards against the Jewish blood which secretly defiles their church +and state.] + +[Footnote 131: This excessive abstinence is censured by La Croze, (p. +352,) and even by the Syrian Assemannus, (tom. i. p. 226, tom. ii. p. +304, 305.)] + +[Footnote 132: The state of the Monophysites is excellently illustrated +in a dissertation at the beginning of the iid volume of Assemannus, +which contains 142 pages. The Syriac Chronicle of Gregory Bar-Hebraeus, +or Abulpharagius, (Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. 321--463,) pursues +the double series of the Nestorian Catholics and the Maphrians of the +Jacobites.] + +III. In the style of the Oriental Christians, the Monothelites of every +age are described under the appellation of Maronites, [133] a name which +has been insensibly transferred from a hermit to a monastery, from a +monastery to a nation. Maron, a saint or savage of the fifth century, +displayed his religious madness in Syria; the rival cities of Apamea and +Emesa disputed his relics, a stately church was erected on his tomb, and +six hundred of his disciples united their solitary cells on the banks +of the Orontes. In the controversies of the incarnation they nicely +threaded the orthodox line between the sects of Nestorians and Eutyches; +but the unfortunate question of one will or operation in the two natures +of Christ, was generated by their curious leisure. Their proselyte, the +emperor Heraclius, was rejected as a Maronite from the walls of +Emesa, he found a refuge in the monastery of his brethren; and their +theological lessons were repaid with the gift a spacious and wealthy +domain. The name and doctrine of this venerable school were propagated +among the Greeks and Syrians, and their zeal is expressed by Macarius, +patriarch of Antioch, who declared before the synod of Constantinople, +that sooner than subscribe the two wills of Christ, he would submit to +be hewn piecemeal and cast into the sea. [134] A similar or a less +cruel mode of persecution soon converted the unresisting subjects of +the plain, while the glorious title of Mardaites, [135] or rebels, was +bravely maintained by the hardy natives of Mount Libanus. John Maron, +one of the most learned and popular of the monks, assumed the character +of patriarch of Antioch; his nephew, Abraham, at the head of the +Maronites, defended their civil and religious freedom against the +tyrants of the East. The son of the orthodox Constantine pursued with +pious hatred a people of soldiers, who might have stood the bulwark of +his empire against the common foes of Christ and of Rome. An army of +Greeks invaded Syria; the monastery of St. Maron was destroyed with +fire; the bravest chieftains were betrayed and murdered, and twelve +thousand of their followers were transplanted to the distant frontiers +of Armenia and Thrace. Yet the humble nation of the Maronites had +survived the empire of Constantinople, and they still enjoy, under +their Turkish masters, a free religion and a mitigated servitude. Their +domestic governors are chosen among the ancient nobility: the patriarch, +in his monastery of Canobin, still fancies himself on the throne of +Antioch: nine bishops compose his synod, and one hundred and fifty +priests, who retain the liberty of marriage, are intrusted with the care +of one hundred thousand souls. Their country extends from the ridge of +Mount Libanus to the shores of Tripoli; and the gradual descent affords, +in a narrow space, each variety of soil and climate, from the Holy +Cedars, erect under the weight of snow, [136] to the vine, the mulberry, +and the olive-trees of the fruitful valley. In the twelfth century, the +Maronites, abjuring the Monothelite error were reconciled to the Latin +churches of Antioch and Rome, [137] and the same alliance has been +frequently renewed by the ambition of the popes and the distress of the +Syrians. But it may reasonably be questioned, whether their union has +ever been perfect or sincere; and the learned Maronites of the college +of Rome have vainly labored to absolve their ancestors from the guilt of +heresy and schism. [138] + +[Footnote 133: The synonymous use of the two words may be proved from +Eutychius, (Annal. tom. ii. p. 191, 267, 332,) and many similar passages +which may be found in the methodical table of Pocock. He was not +actuated by any prejudice against the Maronites of the xth century; and +we may believe a Melchite, whose testimony is confirmed by the Jacobites +and Latins.] + +[Footnote 134: Concil. tom. vii. p. 780. The Monothelite cause was +supported with firmness and subtilty by Constantine, a Syrian priest of +Apamea, (p. 1040, &c.)] + +[Footnote 135: Theophanes (Chron. p. 295, 296, 300, 302, 306) and +Cedrenus (p. 437, 440) relates the exploits of the Mardaites: the name +(Mard, in Syriac, rebellavit) is explained by La Roque, (Voyage de la +Syrie, tom. ii. p. 53;) and dates are fixed by Pagi, (A.D. 676, No. +4--14, A.D. 685, No. 3, 4;) and even the obscure story of the patriarch +John Maron (Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. i. p. 496--520) illustrates +from the year 686 to 707, the troubles of Mount Libanus. * Note: Compare +on the Mardaites Anquetil du Perron, in the fiftieth volume of the Mem. +de l'Acad. des Inscriptions; and Schlosser, Bildersturmendes Kaiser, p. +100.--M] + +[Footnote 136: In the last century twenty large cedars still remained, +(Voyage de la Roque, tom. i. p. 68--76;) at present they are reduced +to four or five, (Volney, tom. i. p. 264.) These trees, so famous in +Scripture, were guarded by excommunication: the wood was sparingly +borrowed for small crosses, &c.; an annual mass was chanted under their +shade; and they were endowed by the Syrians with a sensitive power of +erecting their branches to repel the snow, to which Mount Libanus +is less faithful than it is painted by Tacitus: inter ardores opacum +fidumque nivibus--a daring metaphor, (Hist. v. 6.) Note: Of the oldest +and best looking trees, I counted eleven or twelve twenty-five very +large ones; and about fifty of middling size; and more than three +hundred smaller and young ones. Burckhardt's Travels in Syria p. 19.--M] + +[Footnote 137: The evidence of William of Tyre (Hist. in Gestis Dei per +Francos, l. xxii. c. 8, p. 1022) is copied or confirmed by Jacques +de Vitra, (Hist. Hierosolym. l. ii. c. 77, p. 1093, 1094.) But this +unnatural league expired with the power of the Franks; and Abulpharagius +(who died in 1286) considers the Maronites as a sect of Monothelites, +(Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. 292.)] + +[Footnote 138: I find a description and history of the Maronites in the +Voyage de la Syrie et du Mont Liban par la Roque, (2 vols. in 12mo., +Amsterdam, 1723; particularly tom. i. p. 42--47, p. 174--184, tom. ii. +p. 10--120.) In the ancient part, he copies the prejudices of Nairon and +the other Maronites of Rome, which Assemannus is afraid to renounce and +ashamed to support. Jablonski, (Institut. Hist. Christ. tom. iii. p. +186.) Niebuhr, (Voyage de l'Arabie, &c., tom. ii. p. 346, 370--381,) +and, above all, the judicious Volney, (Voyage en Egypte et en Syrie, +tom. ii. p. 8--31, Paris, 1787,) may be consulted.] + +IV. Since the age of Constantine, the Armenians [139] had signalized +their attachment to the religion and empire of the Christians. [1391] +The disorders of their country, and their ignorance of the Greek tongue, +prevented their clergy from assisting at the synod of Chalcedon, and +they floated eighty-four years [140] in a state of indifference +or suspense, till their vacant faith was finally occupied by the +missionaries of Julian of Halicarnassus, [141] who in Egypt, their +common exile, had been vanquished by the arguments or the influence of +his rival Severus, the Monophysite patriarch of Antioch. The Armenians +alone are the pure disciples of Eutyches, an unfortunate parent, who has +been renounced by the greater part of his spiritual progeny. They alone +persevere in the opinion, that the manhood of Christ was created, or +existed without creation, of a divine and incorruptible substance. Their +adversaries reproach them with the adoration of a phantom; and they +retort the accusation, by deriding or execrating the blasphemy of the +Jacobites, who impute to the Godhead the vile infirmities of the flesh, +even the natural effects of nutrition and digestion. The religion of +Armenia could not derive much glory from the learning or the power of +its inhabitants. The royalty expired with the origin of their schism; +and their Christian kings, who arose and fell in the thirteenth century +on the confines of Cilicia, were the clients of the Latins and the +vassals of the Turkish sultan of Iconium. The helpless nation has seldom +been permitted to enjoy the tranquillity of servitude. From the earliest +period to the present hour, Armenia has been the theatre of perpetual +war: the lands between Tauris and Erivan were dispeopled by the +cruel policy of the Sophis; and myriads of Christian families were +transplanted, to perish or to propagate in the distant provinces of +Persia. Under the rod of oppression, the zeal of the Armenians is +fervent and intrepid; they have often preferred the crown of martyrdom +to the white turban of Mahomet; they devoutly hate the error and +idolatry of the Greeks; and their transient union with the Latins is not +less devoid of truth, than the thousand bishops, whom their patriarch +offered at the feet of the Roman pontiff. [142] The catholic, or +patriarch, of the Armenians resides in the monastery of Ekmiasin, three +leagues from Erivan. Forty-seven archbishops, each of whom may claim the +obedience of four or five suffragans, are consecrated by his hand; but +the far greater part are only titular prelates, who dignify with their +presence and service the simplicity of his court. As soon as they have +performed the liturgy, they cultivate the garden; and our bishops will +hear with surprise, that the austerity of their life increases in just +proportion to the elevation of their rank. + +In the fourscore thousand towns or villages of his spiritual empire, the +patriarch receives a small and voluntary tax from each person above the +age of fifteen; but the annual amount of six hundred thousand crowns +is insufficient to supply the incessant demands of charity and tribute. +Since the beginning of the last century, the Armenians have obtained a +large and lucrative share of the commerce of the East: in their return +from Europe, the caravan usually halts in the neighborhood of Erivan, +the altars are enriched with the fruits of their patient industry; +and the faith of Eutyches is preached in their recent congregations of +Barbary and Poland. [143] + +[Footnote 139: The religion of the Armenians is briefly described by La +Croze, (Hist. du Christ. de l'Ethiopie et de l'Armenie, p. 269--402.) He +refers to the great Armenian History of Galanus, (3 vols. in fol. Rome, +1650--1661,) and commends the state of Armenia in the iiid volume of the +Nouveaux Memoires des Missions du Levant. The work of a Jesuit must have +sterling merit when it is praised by La Croze.] + +[Footnote 1391: See vol. iii. ch. xx. p. 271.--M.] + +[Footnote 140: The schism of the Armenians is placed 84 years after the +council of Chalcedon, (Pagi, Critica, ad A.D. 535.) It was consummated +at the end of seventeen years; and it is from the year of Christ 552 +that we date the aera of the Armenians, (L'Art de verifier les Dates, p. +xxxv.)] + +[Footnote 141: The sentiments and success of Julian of Halicarnassus may +be seen in Liberatus, (Brev. c. 19,) Renaudot, (Hist. Patriarch. Alex. +p. 132, 303,) and Assemannus, (Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. Dissertat. +Monophysitis, l. viii. p. 286.)] + +[Footnote 142: See a remarkable fact of the xiith century in the History +of Nicetas Choniates, (p. 258.) Yet three hundred years before, Photius +(Epistol. ii. p. 49, edit. Montacut.) had gloried in the conversion of +the Armenians.] + +[Footnote 143: The travelling Armenians are in the way of every +traveller, and their mother church is on the high road between +Constantinople and Ispahan; for their present state, see Fabricius, +(Lux Evangelii, &c., c. xxxviii. p. 40--51,) Olearius, (l. iv. c. 40,) +Chardin, (vol. ii. p. 232,) Teurnefort, (lettre xx.,) and, above all, +Tavernier, (tom. i. p. 28--37, 510-518,) that rambling jeweller, who had +read nothing, but had seen so much and so well] + +V. In the rest of the Roman empire, the despotism of the prince might +eradicate or silence the sectaries of an obnoxious creed. But the +stubborn temper of the Egyptians maintained their opposition to the +synod of Chalcedon, and the policy of Justinian condescended to expect +and to seize the opportunity of discord. The Monophysite church of +Alexandria [144] was torn by the disputes of the corruptibles and +incorruptibles, and on the death of the patriarch, the two factions +upheld their respective candidates. [145] Gaian was the disciple of +Julian, Theodosius had been the pupil of Severus: the claims of the +former were supported by the consent of the monks and senators, the city +and the province; the latter depended on the priority of his ordination, +the favor of the empress Theodora, and the arms of the eunuch Narses, +which might have been used in more honorable warfare. The exile of +the popular candidate to Carthage and Sardinia inflamed the ferment of +Alexandria; and after a schism of one hundred and seventy years, the +Gaianites still revered the memory and doctrine of their founder. The +strength of numbers and of discipline was tried in a desperate and +bloody conflict; the streets were filled with the dead bodies of +citizens and soldiers; the pious women, ascending the roofs of their +houses, showered down every sharp or ponderous utensil on the heads of +the enemy; and the final victory of Narses was owing to the flames, with +which he wasted the third capital of the Roman world. But the lieutenant +of Justinian had not conquered in the cause of a heretic; Theodosius +himself was speedily, though gently, removed; and Paul of Tanis, an +orthodox monk, was raised to the throne of Athanasius. The powers of +government were strained in his support; he might appoint or displace +the dukes and tribunes of Egypt; the allowance of bread, which +Diocletian had granted, was suppressed, the churches were shut, and a +nation of schismatics was deprived at once of their spiritual and carnal +food. In his turn, the tyrant was excommunicated by the zeal and revenge +of the people: and none except his servile Melchites would salute him as +a man, a Christian, or a bishop. Yet such is the blindness of ambition, +that, when Paul was expelled on a charge of murder, he solicited, with +a bribe of seven hundred pounds of gold, his restoration to the same +station of hatred and ignominy. His successor Apollinaris entered +the hostile city in military array, alike qualified for prayer or for +battle. His troops, under arms, were distributed through the streets; +the gates of the cathedral were guarded, and a chosen band was stationed +in the choir, to defend the person of their chief. He stood erect on +his throne, and, throwing aside the upper garment of a warrior, suddenly +appeared before the eyes of the multitude in the robes of patriarch of +Alexandria. Astonishment held them mute; but no sooner had Apollinaris +begun to read the tome of St. Leo, than a volley of curses, and +invectives, and stones, assaulted the odious minister of the emperor +and the synod. A charge was instantly sounded by the successor of the +apostles; the soldiers waded to their knees in blood; and two hundred +thousand Christians are said to have fallen by the sword: an incredible +account, even if it be extended from the slaughter of a day to the +eighteen years of the reign of Apollinaris. Two succeeding patriarchs, +Eulogius [146] and John, [147] labored in the conversion of heretics, +with arms and arguments more worthy of their evangelical profession. The +theological knowledge of Eulogius was displayed in many a volume, which +magnified the errors of Eutyches and Severus, and attempted to reconcile +the ambiguous language of St. Cyril with the orthodox creed of Pope +Leo and the fathers of Chalcedon. The bounteous alms of John the +eleemosynary were dictated by superstition, or benevolence, or policy. +Seven thousand five hundred poor were maintained at his expense; on his +accession he found eight thousand pounds of gold in the treasury of the +church; he collected ten thousand from the liberality of the faithful; +yet the primate could boast in his testament, that he left behind him +no more than the third part of the smallest of the silver coins. The +churches of Alexandria were delivered to the Catholics, the religion of +the Monophysites was proscribed in Egypt, and a law was revived which +excluded the natives from the honors and emoluments of the state. + +[Footnote 144: The history of the Alexandrian patriarchs, from Dioscorus +to Benjamin, is taken from Renaudot, (p. 114--164,) and the second tome +of the Annals of Eutychius.] + +[Footnote 145: Liberat. Brev. c. 20, 23. Victor. Chron. p. 329 330. +Procop. Anecdot. c. 26, 27.] + +[Footnote 146: Eulogius, who had been a monk of Antioch, was more +conspicuous for subtilty than eloquence. He proves that the enemies of +the faith, the Gaianites and Theodosians, ought not to be reconciled; +that the same proposition may be orthodox in the mouth of St. Cyril, +heretical in that of Severus; that the opposite assertions of St. Leo +are equally true, &c. His writings are no longer extant except in the +Extracts of Photius, who had perused them with care and satisfaction, +ccviii. ccxxv. ccxxvi. ccxxvii. ccxxx. cclxxx.] + +[Footnote 147: See the Life of John the eleemosynary by his contemporary +Leontius, bishop of Neapolis in Cyrus, whose Greek text, either lost or +hidden, is reflected in the Latin version of Baronius, (A.D. 610, No.9, +A.D. 620, No. 8.) Pagi (Critica, tom. ii. p. 763) and Fabricius (l. v c. +11, tom. vii. p. 454) have made some critical observations] + + + + + +Chapter XLVII: Ecclesiastical Discord.--Part VI. + +A more important conquest still remained, of the patriarch, the oracle +and leader of the Egyptian church. Theodosius had resisted the +threats and promises of Justinian with the spirit of an apostle or +an enthusiast. "Such," replied the patriarch, "were the offers of the +tempter when he showed the kingdoms of the earth. But my soul is far +dearer to me than life or dominion. The churches are in the hands of a +prince who can kill the body; but my conscience is my own; and in exile, +poverty, or chains, I will steadfastly adhere to the faith of my holy +predecessors, Athanasius, Cyril, and Dioscorus. Anathema to the tome of +Leo and the synod of Chalcedon! Anathema to all who embrace their creed! +Anathema to them now and forevermore! Naked came I out of my mother's +womb, naked shall I descend into the grave. Let those who love God +follow me and seek their salvation." After comforting his brethren, +he embarked for Constantinople, and sustained, in six successive +interviews, the almost irresistible weight of the royal presence. His +opinions were favorably entertained in the palace and the city; +the influence of Theodora assured him a safe conduct and honorable +dismission; and he ended his days, though not on the throne, yet in +the bosom, of his native country. On the news of his death, Apollinaris +indecently feasted the nobles and the clergy; but his joy was checked by +the intelligence of a new election; and while he enjoyed the wealth of +Alexandria, his rivals reigned in the monasteries of Thebais, and +were maintained by the voluntary oblations of the people. A perpetual +succession of patriarchs arose from the ashes of Theodosius; and the +Monophysite churches of Syria and Egypt were united by the name of +Jacobites and the communion of the faith. But the same faith, which has +been confined to a narrow sect of the Syrians, was diffused over the +mass of the Egyptian or Coptic nation; who, almost unanimously, rejected +the decrees of the synod of Chalcedon. A thousand years were now elapsed +since Egypt had ceased to be a kingdom, since the conquerors of Asia and +Europe had trampled on the ready necks of a people, whose ancient wisdom +and power ascend beyond the records of history. The conflict of zeal +and persecution rekindled some sparks of their national spirit. They +abjured, with a foreign heresy, the manners and language of the Greeks: +every Melchite, in their eyes, was a stranger, every Jacobite a citizen; +the alliance of marriage, the offices of humanity, were condemned as a +deadly sin the natives renounced all allegiance to the emperor; and +his orders, at a distance from Alexandria, were obeyed only under the +pressure of military force. A generous effort might have edeemed the +religion and liberty of Egypt, and her six hundred monasteries might +have poured forth their myriads of holy warriors, for whom death should +have no terrors, since life had no comfort or delight. But experience +has proved the distinction of active and passive courage; the fanatic +who endures without a groan the torture of the rack or the stake, would +tremble and fly before the face of an armed enemy. The pusillanimous +temper of the Egyptians could only hope for a change of masters; the +arms of Chosroes depopulated the land, yet under his reign the Jacobites +enjoyed a short and precarious respite. The victory of Heraclius renewed +and aggravated the persecution, and the patriarch again escaped from +Alexandria to the desert. In his flight, Benjamin was encouraged by +a voice, which bade him expect, at the end of ten years, the aid of a +foreign nation, marked, like the Egyptians themselves, with the ancient +rite of circumcision. The character of these deliverers, and the nature +of the deliverance, will be hereafter explained; and I shall step over +the interval of eleven centuries to observe the present misery of the +Jacobites of Egypt. The populous city of Cairo affords a residence, or +rather a shelter, for their indigent patriarch, and a remnant of ten +bishops; forty monasteries have survived the inroads of the Arabs; and +the progress of servitude and apostasy has reduced the Coptic nation to +the despicable number of twenty-five or thirty thousand families; [148] +a race of illiterate beggars, whose only consolation is derived from +the superior wretchedness of the Greek patriarch and his diminutive +congregation. [149] + +[Footnote 148: This number is taken from the curious Recherches sur +les Egyptiens et les Chinois, (tom. ii. p. 192, 193,) and appears more +probable than the 600,000 ancient, or 15,000 modern, Copts of Gemelli +Carreri Cyril Lucar, the Protestant patriarch of Constantinople, laments +that those heretics were ten times more numerous than his orthodox +Greeks, ingeniously applying Homer, (Iliad, ii. 128,) the most perfect +expression of contempt, (Fabric. Lux Evangelii, 740.)] + +[Footnote 149: The history of the Copts, their religion, manners, &c., +may be found in the Abbe Renaudot's motley work, neither a translation +nor an original; the Chronicon Orientale of Peter, a Jacobite; in +the two versions of Abraham Ecchellensis, Paris, 1651; and John Simon +Asseman, Venet. 1729. These annals descend no lower than the xiiith +century. The more recent accounts must be searched for in the travellers +into Egypt and the Nouveaux Memoires des Missions du Levant. In the last +century, Joseph Abudacnus, a native of Cairo, published at Oxford, in +thirty pages, a slight Historia Jacobitarum, 147, post p.150] + +VI. The Coptic patriarch, a rebel to the Caesars, or a slave to the +khalifs, still gloried in the filial obedience of the kings of Nubia and +Aethiopia. He repaid their homage by magnifying their greatness; and +it was boldly asserted that they could bring into the field a hundred +thousand horse, with an equal number of camels; [150] that their hand +could pour out or restrain the waters of the Nile; [151] and the +peace and plenty of Egypt was obtained, even in this world, by the +intercession of the patriarch. In exile at Constantinople, Theodosius +recommended to his patroness the conversion of the black nations of +Nubia, from the tropic of Cancer to the confines of Abyssinia. [152] +Her design was suspected and emulated by the more orthodox emperor. +The rival missionaries, a Melchite and a Jacobite, embarked at the +same time; but the empress, from a motive of love or fear, was more +effectually obeyed; and the Catholic priest was detained by the +president of Thebais, while the king of Nubia and his court were hastily +baptized in the faith of Dioscorus. The tardy envoy of Justinian was +received and dismissed with honor: but when he accused the heresy and +treason of the Egyptians, the negro convert was instructed to reply +that he would never abandon his brethren, the true believers, to the +persecuting ministers of the synod of Chalcedon. [153] During several +ages, the bishops of Nubia were named and consecrated by the Jacobite +patriarch of Alexandria: as late as the twelfth century, Christianity +prevailed; and some rites, some ruins, are still visible in the savage +towns of Sennaar and Dongola. [154] But the Nubians at length executed +their threats of returning to the worship of idols; the climate required +the indulgence of polygamy, and they have finally preferred the triumph +of the Koran to the abasement of the Cross. A metaphysical religion may +appear too refined for the capacity of the negro race: yet a black or +a parrot might be taught to repeat the words of the Chalcedonian or +Monophysite creed. + +[Footnote 150: About the year 737. See Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alex +p. 221, 222. Elmacin, Hist. Saracen. p. 99.] + +[Footnote 151: Ludolph. Hist. Aethiopic. et Comment. l. i. c. 8. +Renaudot Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 480, &c. This opinion, introduced +into Egypt and Europe by the artifice of the Copts, the pride of the +Abyssinians, the fear and ignorance of the Turks and Arabs, has not even +the semblance of truth. The rains of Aethiopia do not, in the increase +of the Nile, consult the will of the monarch. If the river approaches at +Napata within three days' journey of the Red Sea (see D'Anville's Maps,) +a canal that should divert its course would demand, and most probably +surpass, the power of the Caesars.] + +[Footnote 152: The Abyssinians, who still preserve the features and +olive complexion of the Arabs, afford a proof that two thousand years +are not sufficient to change the color of the human race. The Nubians, +an African race, are pure negroes, as black as those of Senegal or +Congo, with flat noses, thick lips, and woolly hair, (Buffon, Hist. +Naturelle, tom. v. p. 117, 143, 144, 166, 219, edit. in 12mo., Paris, +1769.) The ancients beheld, without much attention, the extraordinary +phenomenon which has exercised the philosophers and theologians of +modern times] + +[Footnote 153: Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. i. p. 329.] + +[Footnote 154: The Christianity of the Nubians (A.D. 1153) is attested +by the sheriff al Edrisi, falsely described under the name of the Nubian +geographer, (p. 18,) who represents them as a nation of Jacobites. The +rays of historical light that twinkle in the history of Ranaudot (p. +178, 220--224, 281--286, 405, 434, 451, 464) are all previous to this +aera. See the modern state in the Lettres Edifiantes (Recueil, iv.) and +Busching, (tom. ix. p. 152--139, par Berenger.)] + +Christianity was more deeply rooted in the Abyssinian empire; and, +although the correspondence has been sometimes interrupted above seventy +or a hundred years, the mother-church of Alexandria retains her colony +in a state of perpetual pupilage. Seven bishops once composed the +Aethiopic synod: had their number amounted to ten, they might have +elected an independent primate; and one of their kings was ambitious of +promoting his brother to the ecclesiastical throne. But the event +was foreseen, the increase was denied: the episcopal office has been +gradually confined to the abuna, [155] the head and author of the +Abyssinian priesthood; the patriarch supplies each vacancy with an +Egyptian monk; and the character of a stranger appears more venerable in +the eyes of the people, less dangerous in those of the monarch. In the +sixth century, when the schism of Egypt was confirmed, the rival chiefs, +with their patrons, Justinian and Theodora, strove to outstrip each +other in the conquest of a remote and independent province. The +industry of the empress was again victorious, and the pious Theodora has +established in that sequestered church the faith and discipline of +the Jacobites. [156] Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their +religion, the Aethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of +the world, by whom they were forgotten. They were awakened by the +Portuguese, who, turning the southern promontory of Africa, appeared in +India and the Red Sea, as if they had descended through the air from a +distant planet. In the first moments of their interview, the subjects +of Rome and Alexandria observed the resemblance, rather than the +difference, of their faith; and each nation expected the most important +benefits from an alliance with their Christian brethren. In their lonely +situation, the Aethiopians had almost relapsed into the savage life. +Their vessels, which had traded to Ceylon, scarcely presumed to navigate +the rivers of Africa; the ruins of Axume were deserted, the nation was +scattered in villages, and the emperor, a pompous name, was content, +both in peace and war, with the immovable residence of a camp. Conscious +of their own indigence, the Abyssinians had formed the rational +project of importing the arts and ingenuity of Europe; [157] and their +ambassadors at Rome and Lisbon were instructed to solicit a colony of +smiths, carpenters, tilers, masons, printers, surgeons, and physicians, +for the use of their country. But the public danger soon called for the +instant and effectual aid of arms and soldiers, to defend an unwarlike +people from the Barbarians who ravaged the inland country and the Turks +and Arabs who advanced from the sea-coast in more formidable array. +Aethiopia was saved by four hundred and fifty Portuguese, who displayed +in the field the native valor of Europeans, and the artificial power of +the musket and cannon. In a moment of terror, the emperor had promised +to reconcile himself and his subjects to the Catholic faith; a Latin +patriarch represented the supremacy of the pope: [158] the empire, +enlarged in a tenfold proportion, was supposed to contain more gold than +the mines of America; and the wildest hopes of avarice and zeal were +built on the willing submission of the Christians of Africa. + +[Footnote 155: The abuna is improperly dignified by the Latins with +the title of patriarch. The Abyssinians acknowledge only the four +patriarchs, and their chief is no more than a metropolitan or national +primate, (Ludolph. Hist. Aethiopic. et Comment. l. iii. c. 7.) The seven +bishops of Renaudot, (p. 511,) who existed A.D. 1131, are unknown to the +historian.] + +[Footnote 156: I know not why Assemannus (Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. +384) should call in question these probable missions of Theodora into +Nubia and Aethiopia. The slight notices of Abyssinia till the year 1500 +are supplied by Renaudot (p. 336-341, 381, 382, 405, 443, &c., 452, 456, +463, 475, 480, 511, 525, 559--564) from the Coptic writers. The mind of +Ludolphus was a perfect blank.] + +[Footnote 157: Ludolph. Hist. Aethiop. l. iv. c. 5. The most necessary +arts are now exercised by the Jews, and the foreign trade is in the +hands of the Armenians. What Gregory principally admired and envied was +the industry of Europe--artes et opificia.] + +[Footnote 158: John Bermudez, whose relation, printed at Lisbon, 1569, +was translated into English by Purchas, (Pilgrims, l. vii. c. 7, p. +1149, &c.,) and from thence into French by La Croze, (Christianisme +d'Ethiopie, p. 92--265.) The piece is curious; but the author may be +suspected of deceiving Abyssinia, Rome, and Portugal. His title to the +rank of patriarch is dark and doubtful, (Ludolph. Comment. No. 101, p. +473.)] + +But the vows which pain had extorted were forsworn on the return of +health. The Abyssinians still adhered with unshaken constancy to the +Monophysite faith; their languid belief was inflamed by the exercise +of dispute; they branded the Latins with the names of Arians and +Nestorians, and imputed the adoration of four gods to those who +separated the two natures of Christ. Fremona, a place of worship, or +rather of exile, was assigned to the Jesuit missionaries. Their skill +in the liberal and mechanic arts, their theological learning, and the +decency of their manners, inspired a barren esteem; but they were not +endowed with the gift of miracles, [159] and they vainly solicited a +reenforcement of European troops. The patience and dexterity of forty +years at length obtained a more favorable audience, and two emperors +of Abyssinia were persuaded that Rome could insure the temporal and +everlasting happiness of her votaries. The first of these royal converts +lost his crown and his life; and the rebel army was sanctified by the +abuna, who hurled an anathema at the apostate, and absolved his subjects +from their oath of fidelity. The fate of Zadenghel was revenged by the +courage and fortune of Susneus, who ascended the throne under the name +of Segued, and more vigorously prosecuted the pious enterprise of his +kinsman. After the amusement of some unequal combats between the Jesuits +and his illiterate priests, the emperor declared himself a proselyte +to the synod of Chalcedon, presuming that his clergy and people would +embrace without delay the religion of their prince. The liberty of +choice was succeeded by a law, which imposed, under pain of death, the +belief of the two natures of Christ: the Abyssinians were enjoined to +work and to play on the Sabbath; and Segued, in the face of Europe and +Africa, renounced his connection with the Alexandrian church. A Jesuit, +Alphonso Mendez, the Catholic patriarch of Aethiopia, accepted, in +the name of Urban VIII., the homage and abjuration of the penitent. "I +confess," said the emperor on his knees, "I confess that the pope is the +vicar of Christ, the successor of St. Peter, and the sovereign of the +world. To him I swear true obedience, and at his feet I offer my person +and kingdom." A similar oath was repeated by his son, his brother, +the clergy, the nobles, and even the ladies of the court: the Latin +patriarch was invested with honors and wealth; and his missionaries +erected their churches or citadels in the most convenient stations of +the empire. The Jesuits themselves deplore the fatal indiscretion of +their chief, who forgot the mildness of the gospel and the policy of +his order, to introduce with hasty violence the liturgy of Rome and +the inquisition of Portugal. He condemned the ancient practice of +circumcision, which health, rather than superstition, had first invented +in the climate of Aethiopia. [160] A new baptism, a new ordination, was +inflicted on the natives; and they trembled with horror when the most +holy of the dead were torn from their graves, when the most illustrious +of the living were excommunicated by a foreign priest. In the defense of +their religion and liberty, the Abyssinians rose in arms, with desperate +but unsuccessful zeal. Five rebellions were extinguished in the blood +of the insurgents: two abunas were slain in battle, whole legions were +slaughtered in the field, or suffocated in their caverns; and neither +merit, nor rank, nor sex, could save from an ignominious death the +enemies of Rome. But the victorious monarch was finally subdued by the +constancy of the nation, of his mother, of his son, and of his most +faithful friends. Segued listened to the voice of pity, of reason, +perhaps of fear: and his edict of liberty of conscience instantly +revealed the tyranny and weakness of the Jesuits. On the death of his +father, Basilides expelled the Latin patriarch, and restored to +the wishes of the nation the faith and the discipline of Egypt. The +Monophysite churches resounded with a song of triumph, "that the sheep +of Aethiopia were now delivered from the hyaenas of the West;" and the +gates of that solitary realm were forever shut against the arts, the +science, and the fanaticism of Europe. [161] + +[Footnote 159: Religio Romana...nec precibus patrum nec miraculis ab +ipsis editis suffulciebatur, is the uncontradicted assurance of the +devout emperor Susneus to his patriarch Mendez, (Ludolph. Comment. +No. 126, p. 529;) and such assurances should be preciously kept, as an +antidote against any marvellous legends.] + +[Footnote 160: I am aware how tender is the question of circumcision. +Yet I will affirm, 1. That the Aethiopians have a physical reason +for the circumcision of males, and even of females, (Recherches +Philosophiques sur les Americains, tom. ii.) 2. That it was practised +in Aethiopia long before the introduction of Judaism or Christianity, +(Herodot. l. ii. c. 104. Marsham, Canon. Chron. p. 72, 73.) "Infantes +circumcidunt ob consuetudinemn, non ob Judaismum," says Gregory the +Abyssinian priest, (apud Fabric. Lux Christiana, p. 720.) Yet in the +heat of dispute, the Portuguese were sometimes branded with the name of +uncircumcised, (La Croze, p. 90. Ludolph. Hist. and Comment. l. iii. c. +l.)] + +[Footnote 161: The three Protestant historians, Ludolphus, (Hist. +Aethiopica, Francofurt. 1681; Commentarius, 1691; Relatio Nova, &c., +1693, in folio,) Geddes, (Church History of Aethiopia, London, 1696, in +8vo..) and La Croze, (Hist. du Christianisme d'Ethiopie et d'Armenie, +La Haye, 1739, in 12mo.,) have drawn their principal materials from the +Jesuits, especially from the General History of Tellez, published in +Portuguese at Coimbra, 1660. We might be surprised at their frankness; +but their most flagitious vice, the spirit of persecution, was in their +eyes the most meritorious virtue. Ludolphus possessed some, though +a slight, advantage from the Aethiopic language, and the personal +conversation of Gregory, a free-spirited Abyssinian priest, whom +he invited from Rome to the court of Saxe-Gotha. See the Theologia +Aethiopica of Gregory, in (Fabric. Lux Evangelii, p. 716--734.) * +Note: The travels of Bruce, illustrated by those of Mr. Salt, and the +narrative of Nathaniel Pearce, have brought us again acquainted with +this remote region. Whatever may be their speculative opinions the +barbarous manners of the Ethiopians seem to be gaining more and more the +ascendency over the practice of Christianity.--M.] + + + + + +Chapter XLVIII: Succession And Characters Of The Greek Emperors.--Part I. + + Plan Of The Two Last Volumes.--Succession And Characters Of + The Greek Emperors Of Constantinople, From The Time Of + Heraclius To The Latin Conquest. + +I have now deduced from Trajan to Constantine, from Constantine to +Heraclius, the regular series of the Roman emperors; and faithfully +exposed the prosperous and adverse fortunes of their reigns. Five +centuries of the decline and fall of the empire have already elapsed; +but a period of more than eight hundred years still separates me from +the term of my labors, the taking of Constantinople by the Turks. Should +I persevere in the same course, should I observe the same measure, a +prolix and slender thread would be spun through many a volume, nor would +the patient reader find an adequate reward of instruction or amusement. +At every step, as we sink deeper in the decline and fall of the +Eastern empire, the annals of each succeeding reign would impose a more +ungrateful and melancholy task. These annals must continue to repeat a +tedious and uniform tale of weakness and misery; the natural connection +of causes and events would be broken by frequent and hasty transitions, +and a minute accumulation of circumstances must destroy the light and +effect of those general pictures which compose the use and ornament of +a remote history. From the time of Heraclius, the Byzantine theatre is +contracted and darkened: the line of empire, which had been defined by +the laws of Justinian and the arms of Belisarius, recedes on all sides +from our view; the Roman name, the proper subject of our inquiries, +is reduced to a narrow corner of Europe, to the lonely suburbs of +Constantinople; and the fate of the Greek empire has been compared to +that of the Rhine, which loses itself in the sands, before its waters +can mingle with the ocean. The scale of dominion is diminished to our +view by the distance of time and place; nor is the loss of external +splendor compensated by the nobler gifts of virtue and genius. In the +last moments of her decay, Constantinople was doubtless more opulent and +populous than Athens at her most flourishing aera, when a scanty sum +of six thousand talents, or twelve hundred thousand pounds sterling was +possessed by twenty-one thousand male citizens of an adult age. But each +of these citizens was a freeman, who dared to assert the liberty of his +thoughts, words, and actions, whose person and property were guarded by +equal law; and who exercised his independent vote in the government +of the republic. Their numbers seem to be multiplied by the strong and +various discriminations of character; under the shield of freedom, on +the wings of emulation and vanity, each Athenian aspired to the level of +the national dignity; from this commanding eminence, some chosen spirits +soared beyond the reach of a vulgar eye; and the chances of superior +merit in a great and populous kingdom, as they are proved by experience, +would excuse the computation of imaginary millions. The territories of +Athens, Sparta, and their allies, do not exceed a moderate province of +France or England; but after the trophies of Salamis and Platea, +they expand in our fancy to the gigantic size of Asia, which had been +trampled under the feet of the victorious Greeks. But the subjects of +the Byzantine empire, who assume and dishonor the names both of Greeks +and Romans, present a dead uniformity of abject vices, which are neither +softened by the weakness of humanity, nor animated by the vigor of +memorable crimes. The freemen of antiquity might repeat with generous +enthusiasm the sentence of Homer, "that on the first day of his +servitude, the captive is deprived of one half of his manly virtue." +But the poet had only seen the effects of civil or domestic slavery, nor +could he foretell that the second moiety of manhood must be annihilated +by the spiritual despotism which shackles not only the actions, but even +the thoughts, of the prostrate votary. By this double yoke, the Greeks +were oppressed under the successors of Heraclius; the tyrant, a law of +eternal justice, was degraded by the vices of his subjects; and on the +throne, in the camp, in the schools, we search, perhaps with fruitless +diligence, the names and characters that may deserve to be rescued from +oblivion. Nor are the defects of the subject compensated by the skill +and variety of the painters. Of a space of eight hundred years, the four +first centuries are overspread with a cloud interrupted by some faint +and broken rays of historic light: in the lives of the emperors, from +Maurice to Alexius, Basil the Macedonian has alone been the theme of a +separate work; and the absence, or loss, or imperfection of contemporary +evidence, must be poorly supplied by the doubtful authority of more +recent compilers. The four last centuries are exempt from the reproach +of penury; and with the Comnenian family, the historic muse of +Constantinople again revives, but her apparel is gaudy, her motions are +without elegance or grace. A succession of priests, or courtiers, +treads in each other's footsteps in the same path of servitude and +superstition: their views are narrow, their judgment is feeble or +corrupt; and we close the volume of copious barrenness, still ignorant +of the causes of events, the characters of the actors, and the manners +of the times which they celebrate or deplore. The observation which +has been applied to a man, may be extended to a whole people, that the +energy of the sword is communicated to the pen; and it will be found by +experience, that the tone of history will rise or fall with the spirit +of the age. + +From these considerations, I should have abandoned without regret the +Greek slaves and their servile historians, had I not reflected that +the fate of the Byzantine monarchy is passively connected with the most +splendid and important revolutions which have changed the state of the +world. The space of the lost provinces was immediately replenished with +new colonies and rising kingdoms: the active virtues of peace and war +deserted from the vanquished to the victorious nations; and it is in +their origin and conquests, in their religion and government, that +we must explore the causes and effects of the decline and fall of the +Eastern empire. Nor will this scope of narrative, the riches and +variety of these materials, be incompatible with the unity of design +and composition. As, in his daily prayers, the Mussulman of Fez or Delhi +still turns his face towards the temple of Mecca, the historian's eye +shall be always fixed on the city of Constantinople. The excursive line +may embrace the wilds of Arabia and Tartary, but the circle will be +ultimately reduced to the decreasing limit of the Roman monarchy. + +On this principle I shall now establish the plan of the last two volumes +of the present work. The first chapter will contain, in a regular +series, the emperors who reigned at Constantinople during a period of +six hundred years, from the days of Heraclius to the Latin conquest; a +rapid abstract, which may be supported by a general appeal to the order +and text of the original historians. In this introduction, I shall +confine myself to the revolutions of the throne, the succession of +families, the personal characters of the Greek princes, the mode +of their life and death, the maxims and influence of their domestic +government, and the tendency of their reign to accelerate or suspend the +downfall of the Eastern empire. Such a chronological review will serve +to illustrate the various argument of the subsequent chapters; and each +circumstance of the eventful story of the Barbarians will adapt itself +in a proper place to the Byzantine annals. The internal state of the +empire, and the dangerous heresy of the Paulicians, which shook the East +and enlightened the West, will be the subject of two separate chapters; +but these inquiries must be postponed till our further progress shall +have opened the view of the world in the ninth and tenth centuries of +the Christian area. After this foundation of Byzantine history, the +following nations will pass before our eyes, and each will occupy the +space to which it may be entitled by greatness or merit, or the degree +of connection with the Roman world and the present age. I. The Franks; a +general appellation which includes all the Barbarians of France, Italy, +and Germany, who were united by the sword and sceptre of Charlemagne. +The persecution of images and their votaries separated Rome and Italy +from the Byzantine throne, and prepared the restoration of the Roman +empire in the West. II. The Arabs or Saracens. Three ample chapters will +be devoted to this curious and interesting object. In the first, after +a picture of the country and its inhabitants, I shall investigate +the character of Mahomet; the character, religion, and success of the +prophet. In the second, I shall lead the Arabs to the conquest of Syria, +Egypt, and Africa, the provinces of the Roman empire; nor can I check +their victorious career till they have overthrown the monarchies of +Persia and Spain. In the third, I shall inquire how Constantinople and +Europe were saved by the luxury and arts, the division and decay, of +the empire of the caliphs. A single chapter will include, III. The +Bulgarians, IV. Hungarians, and, V. Russians, who assaulted by sea or by +land the provinces and the capital; but the last of these, so important +in their present greatness, will excite some curiosity in their origin +and infancy. VI. The Normans; or rather the private adventurers of that +warlike people, who founded a powerful kingdom in Apulia and Sicily, +shook the throne of Constantinople, displayed the trophies of chivalry, +and almost realized the wonders of romance. + +VII. The Latins; the subjects of the pope, the nations of the West, who +enlisted under the banner of the cross for the recovery or relief of the +holy sepulchre. The Greek emperors were terrified and preserved by the +myriads of pilgrims who marched to Jerusalem with Godfrey of Bouillon +and the peers of Christendom. The second and third crusades trod in the +footsteps of the first: Asia and Europe were mingled in a sacred war of +two hundred years; and the Christian powers were bravely resisted, +and finally expelled by Saladin and the Mamelukes of Egypt. In these +memorable crusades, a fleet and army of French and Venetians were +diverted from Syria to the Thracian Bosphorus: they assaulted the +capital, they subverted the Greek monarchy: and a dynasty of Latin +princes was seated near threescore years on the throne of Constantine. +VII. The Greeks themselves, during this period of captivity and exile, +must be considered as a foreign nation; the enemies, and again the +sovereigns of Constantinople. Misfortune had rekindled a spark of +national virtue; and the Imperial series may be continued with some +dignity from their restoration to the Turkish conquest. IX. The Moguls +and Tartars. By the arms of Zingis and his descendants, the globe was +shaken from China to Poland and Greece: the sultans were overthrown: the +caliphs fell, and the Caesars trembled on their throne. The victories +of Timour suspended above fifty years the final ruin of the Byzantine +empire. X. I have already noticed the first appearance of the Turks; +and the names of the fathers, of Seljuk and Othman, discriminate the +two successive dynasties of the nation, which emerged in the eleventh +century from the Scythian wilderness. The former established a splendid +and potent kingdom from the banks of the Oxus to Antioch and Nice; and +the first crusade was provoked by the violation of Jerusalem and the +danger of Constantinople. From an humble origin, the Ottomans arose, the +scourge and terror of Christendom. Constantinople was besieged and taken +by Mahomet II., and his triumph annihilates the remnant, the image, the +title, of the Roman empire in the East. The schism of the Greeks will be +connected with their last calamities, and the restoration of learning in +the Western world. + +I shall return from the captivity of the new, to the ruins of ancient +Rome; and the venerable name, the interesting theme, will shed a ray of +glory on the conclusion of my labors. + +The emperor Heraclius had punished a tyrant and ascended his throne; and +the memory of his reign is perpetuated by the transient conquest, and +irreparable loss, of the Eastern provinces. After the death of Eudocia, +his first wife, he disobeyed the patriarch, and violated the laws, by +his second marriage with his niece Martina; and the superstition of the +Greeks beheld the judgment of Heaven in the diseases of the father and +the deformity of his offspring. But the opinion of an illegitimate birth +is sufficient to distract the choice, and loosen the obedience, of the +people: the ambition of Martina was quickened by maternal love, and +perhaps by the envy of a step-mother; and the aged husband was too +feeble to withstand the arts of conjugal allurements. Constantine, +his eldest son, enjoyed in a mature age the title of Augustus; but the +weakness of his constitution required a colleague and a guardian, and +he yielded with secret reluctance to the partition of the empire. The +senate was summoned to the palace to ratify or attest the association +of Heracleonas, the son of Martina: the imposition of the diadem was +consecrated by the prayer and blessing of the patriarch; the senators +and patricians adored the majesty of the great emperor and the partners +of his reign; and as soon as the doors were thrown open, they were +hailed by the tumultuary but important voice of the soldiers. After an +interval of five months, the pompous ceremonies which formed the +essence of the Byzantine state were celebrated in the cathedral and the +hippodrome; the concord of the royal brothers was affectedly displayed +by the younger leaning on the arm of the elder; and the name of Martina +was mingled in the reluctant or venal acclamations of the people. +Heraclius survived this association about two years: his last testimony +declared his two sons the equal heirs of the Eastern empire, and +commanded them to honor his widow Martina as their mother and their +sovereign. + +When Martina first appeared on the throne with the name and attributes +of royalty, she was checked by a firm, though respectful, opposition; +and the dying embers of freedom were kindled by the breath of +superstitious prejudice. "We reverence," exclaimed the voice of a +citizen, "we reverence the mother of our princes; but to those princes +alone our obedience is due; and Constantine, the elder emperor, is of an +age to sustain, in his own hands, the weight of the sceptre. Your sex is +excluded by nature from the toils of government. How could you combat, +how could you answer, the Barbarians, who, with hostile or friendly +intentions, may approach the royal city? May Heaven avert from the Roman +republic this national disgrace, which would provoke the patience of the +slaves of Persia!" Martina descended from the throne with indignation, +and sought a refuge in the female apartment of the palace. The reign of +Constantine the Third lasted only one hundred and three days: he expired +in the thirtieth year of his age, and, although his life had been a long +malady, a belief was entertained that poison had been the means, and +his cruel step-mother the author, of his untimely fate. Martina reaped +indeed the harvest of his death, and assumed the government in the name +of the surviving emperor; but the incestuous widow of Heraclius was +universally abhorred; the jealousy of the people was awakened, and the +two orphans whom Constantine had left became the objects of the public +care. It was in vain that the son of Martina, who was no more than +fifteen years of age, was taught to declare himself the guardian of his +nephews, one of whom he had presented at the baptismal font: it was in +vain that he swore on the wood of the true cross, to defend them against +all their enemies. On his death-bed, the late emperor had despatched +a trusty servant to arm the troops and provinces of the East in the +defence of his helpless children: the eloquence and liberality of +Valentin had been successful, and from his camp of Chalcedon, he boldly +demanded the punishment of the assassins, and the restoration of the +lawful heir. The license of the soldiers, who devoured the grapes and +drank the wine of their Asiatic vineyards, provoked the citizens of +Constantinople against the domestic authors of their calamities, and the +dome of St. Sophia reechoed, not with prayers and hymns, but with the +clamors and imprecations of an enraged multitude. At their imperious +command, Heracleonas appeared in the pulpit with the eldest of the royal +orphans; Constans alone was saluted as emperor of the Romans, and a +crown of gold, which had been taken from the tomb of Heraclius, was +placed on his head, with the solemn benediction of the patriarch. + +But in the tumult of joy and indignation, the church was pillaged, the +sanctuary was polluted by a promiscuous crowd of Jews and Barbarians; +and the Monothelite Pyrrhus, a creature of the empress, after dropping a +protestation on the altar, escaped by a prudent flight from the zeal +of the Catholics. A more serious and bloody task was reserved for +the senate, who derived a temporary strength from the consent of the +soldiers and people. + +The spirit of Roman freedom revived the ancient and awful examples of +the judgment of tyrants, and the Imperial culprits were deposed and +condemned as the authors of the death of Constantine. But the severity +of the conscript fathers was stained by the indiscriminate punishment of +the innocent and the guilty: Martina and Heracleonas were sentenced to +the amputation, the former of her tongue, the latter of his nose; and +after this cruel execution, they consumed the remainder of their days in +exile and oblivion. The Greeks who were capable of reflection might find +some consolation for their servitude, by observing the abuse of power +when it was lodged for a moment in the hands of an aristocracy. + +We shall imagine ourselves transported five hundred years backwards to +the age of the Antonines, if we listen to the oration which Constans II. +pronounced in the twelfth year of his age before the Byzantine senate. +After returning his thanks for the just punishment of the assassins, who +had intercepted the fairest hopes of his father's reign, "By the divine +Providence," said the young emperor, "and by your righteous decree, +Martina and her incestuous progeny have been cast headlong from the +throne. Your majesty and wisdom have prevented the Roman state from +degenerating into lawless tyranny. I therefore exhort and beseech you +to stand forth as the counsellors and judges of the common safety." The +senators were gratified by the respectful address and liberal donative +of their sovereign; but these servile Greeks were unworthy and +regardless of freedom; and in his mind, the lesson of an hour was +quickly erased by the prejudices of the age and the habits of despotism. +He retained only a jealous fear lest the senate or people should one day +invade the right of primogeniture, and seat his brother Theodosius on +an equal throne. By the imposition of holy orders, the grandson of +Heraclius was disqualified for the purple; but this ceremony, which +seemed to profane the sacraments of the church, was insufficient to +appease the suspicions of the tyrant, and the death of the deacon +Theodosius could alone expiate the crime of his royal birth. [1111] His +murder was avenged by the imprecations of the people, and the assassin, +in the fullness of power, was driven from his capital into voluntary +and perpetual exile. Constans embarked for Greece and, as if he meant +to retort the abhorrence which he deserved he is said, from the Imperial +galley, to have spit against the walls of his native city. After passing +the winter at Athens, he sailed to Tarentum in Italy, visited Rome, +[1112] and concluded a long pilgrimage of disgrace and sacrilegious +rapine, by fixing his residence at Syracuse. But if Constans could +fly from his people, he could not fly from himself. The remorse of his +conscience created a phantom who pursued him by land and sea, by day and +by night; and the visionary Theodosius, presenting to his lips a cup of +blood, said, or seemed to say, "Drink, brother, drink;" a sure emblem +of the aggravation of his guilt, since he had received from the hands of +the deacon the mystic cup of the blood of Christ. Odious to himself +and to mankind, Constans perished by domestic, perhaps by episcopal, +treason, in the capital of Sicily. A servant who waited in the bath, +after pouring warm water on his head, struck him violently with the +vase. He fell, stunned by the blow, and suffocated by the water; and his +attendants, who wondered at the tedious delay, beheld with indifference +the corpse of their lifeless emperor. The troops of Sicily invested +with the purple an obscure youth, whose inimitable beauty eluded, and it +might easily elude, the declining art of the painters and sculptors of +the age. + +[Footnote 1111: His soldiers (according to Abulfaradji. Chron. Syr. p. +112) called him another Cain. St. Martin, t. xi. p. 379.--M.] + +[Footnote 1112: He was received in Rome, and pillaged the churches. He +carried off the brass roof of the Pantheon to Syracuse, or, as Schlosser +conceives, to Constantinople Schlosser Geschichte der bilder-sturmenden +Kaiser p. 80--M.] + +Constans had left in the Byzantine palace three sons, the eldest of +whom had been clothed in his infancy with the purple. When the father +summoned them to attend his person in Sicily, these precious hostages +were detained by the Greeks, and a firm refusal informed him that they +were the children of the state. The news of his murder was conveyed +with almost supernatural speed from Syracuse to Constantinople; and +Constantine, the eldest of his sons, inherited his throne without being +the heir of the public hatred. His subjects contributed, with zeal and +alacrity, to chastise the guilt and presumption of a province which had +usurped the rights of the senate and people; the young emperor sailed +from the Hellespont with a powerful fleet; and the legions of Rome and +Carthage were assembled under his standard in the harbor of Syracuse. +The defeat of the Sicilian tyrant was easy, his punishment just, and his +beauteous head was exposed in the hippodrome: but I cannot applaud the +clemency of a prince, who, among a crowd of victims, condemned the son +of a patrician, for deploring with some bitterness the execution of a +virtuous father. The youth was castrated: he survived the operation, +and the memory of this indecent cruelty is preserved by the elevation of +Germanus to the rank of a patriarch and saint. After pouring this bloody +libation on his father's tomb, Constantine returned to his capital; and +the growth of his young beard during the Sicilian voyage was announced, +by the familiar surname of Pogonatus, to the Grecian world. But his +reign, like that of his predecessor, was stained with fraternal discord. +On his two brothers, Heraclius and Tiberius, he had bestowed the title +of Augustus; an empty title, for they continued to languish, without +trust or power, in the solitude of the palace. At their secret +instigation, the troops of the Anatolian theme or province approached +the city on the Asiatic side, demanded for the royal brothers the +partition or exercise of sovereignty, and supported their seditious +claim by a theological argument. They were Christians, (they cried,) +and orthodox Catholics; the sincere votaries of the holy and undivided +Trinity. Since there are three equal persons in heaven, it is reasonable +there should be three equal persons upon earth. The emperor invited +these learned divines to a friendly conference, in which they might +propose their arguments to the senate: they obeyed the summons, but the +prospect of their bodies hanging on the gibbet in the suburb of Galata +reconciled their companions to the unity of the reign of Constantine. +He pardoned his brothers, and their names were still pronounced in the +public acclamations: but on the repetition or suspicion of a similar +offence, the obnoxious princes were deprived of their titles and noses, +[1113] in the presence of the Catholic bishops who were assembled at +Constantinople in the sixth general synod. In the close of his life, +Pogonatus was anxious only to establish the right of primogeniture: the +heir of his two sons, Justinian and Heraclius, was offered on the shrine +of St. Peter, as a symbol of their spiritual adoption by the pope; but +the elder was alone exalted to the rank of Augustus, and the assurance +of the empire. + +[Footnote 1113: Schlosser (Geschichte der bilder sturmenden Kaiser, +p. 90) supposed that the young princes were mutilated after the first +insurrection; that after this the acts were still inscribed with +their names, the princes being closely secluded in the palace. The +improbability of this circumstance may be weighed against Gibbon's want +of authority for his statement.--M.] + +After the decease of his father, the inheritance of the Roman world +devolved to Justinian II.; and the name of a triumphant lawgiver was +dishonored by the vices of a boy, who imitated his namesake only in +the expensive luxury of building. His passions were strong; his +understanding was feeble; and he was intoxicated with a foolish pride, +that his birth had given him the command of millions, of whom the +smallest community would not have chosen him for their local magistrate. +His favorite ministers were two beings the least susceptible of human +sympathy, a eunuch and a monk: to the one he abandoned the palace, to +the other the finances; the former corrected the emperor's mother with +a scourge, the latter suspended the insolvent tributaries, with their +heads downwards, over a slow and smoky fire. Since the days of Commodus +and Caracalla, the cruelty of the Roman princes had most commonly been +the effect of their fear; but Justinian, who possessed some vigor +of character, enjoyed the sufferings, and braved the revenge, of his +subjects, about ten years, till the measure was full, of his crimes and +of their patience. In a dark dungeon, Leontius, a general of reputation, +had groaned above three years, with some of the noblest and most +deserving of the patricians: he was suddenly drawn forth to assume the +government of Greece; and this promotion of an injured man was a mark +of the contempt rather than of the confidence of his prince. As he +was followed to the port by the kind offices of his friends, Leontius +observed, with a sigh, that he was a victim adorned for sacrifice, +and that inevitable death would pursue his footsteps. They ventured +to reply, that glory and empire might be the recompense of a generous +resolution; that every order of men abhorred the reign of a monster; and +that the hands of two hundred thousand patriots expected only the voice +of a leader. The night was chosen for their deliverance; and in the +first effort of the conspirators, the praefect was slain, and the +prisons were forced open: the emissaries of Leontius proclaimed in every +street, "Christians, to St. Sophia!" and the seasonable text of +the patriarch, "This is the day of the Lord!" was the prelude of +an inflammatory sermon. From the church the people adjourned to the +hippodrome: Justinian, in whose cause not a sword had been drawn, was +dragged before these tumultuary judges, and their clamors demanded the +instant death of the tyrant. But Leontius, who was already clothed +with the purple, cast an eye of pity on the prostrate son of his own +benefactor and of so many emperors. The life of Justinian was spared; +the amputation of his nose, perhaps of his tongue, was imperfectly +performed: the happy flexibility of the Greek language could impose the +name of Rhinotmetus; and the mutilated tyrant was banished to Chersonae +in Crim-Tartary, a lonely settlement, where corn, wine, and oil, were +imported as foreign luxuries. + +On the edge of the Scythian wilderness, Justinian still cherished the +pride of his birth, and the hope of his restoration. After three years' +exile, he received the pleasing intelligence that his injury was avenged +by a second revolution, and that Leontius in his turn had been dethroned +and mutilated by the rebel Apsimar, who assumed the more respectable +name of Tiberius. But the claim of lineal succession was still +formidable to a plebeian usurper; and his jealousy was stimulated by the +complaints and charges of the Chersonites, who beheld the vices of the +tyrant in the spirit of the exile. With a band of followers, attached +to his person by common hope or common despair, Justinian fled from the +inhospitable shore to the horde of the Chozars, who pitched their tents +between the Tanais and Borysthenes. The khan entertained with pity and +respect the royal suppliant: Phanagoria, once an opulent city, on the +Asiatic side of the lake Moeotis, was assigned for his residence; and +every Roman prejudice was stifled in his marriage with the sister of +the Barbarian, who seems, however, from the name of Theodora, to have +received the sacrament of baptism. But the faithless Chozar was soon +tempted by the gold of Constantinople: and had not the design been +revealed by the conjugal love of Theodora, her husband must have +been assassinated or betrayed into the power of his enemies. After +strangling, with his own hands, the two emissaries of the khan, +Justinian sent back his wife to her brother, and embarked on the Euxine +in search of new and more faithful allies. His vessel was assaulted by a +violent tempest; and one of his pious companions advised him to deserve +the mercy of God by a vow of general forgiveness, if he should be +restored to the throne. "Of forgiveness?" replied the intrepid tyrant: +"may I perish this instant--may the Almighty whelm me in the waves--if I +consent to spare a single head of my enemies!" He survived this impious +menace, sailed into the mouth of the Danube, trusted his person in the +royal village of the Bulgarians, and purchased the aid of Terbelis, a +pagan conqueror, by the promise of his daughter and a fair partition +of the treasures of the empire. The Bulgarian kingdom extended to the +confines of Thrace; and the two princes besieged Constantinople at the +head of fifteen thousand horse. Apsimar was dismayed by the sudden and +hostile apparition of his rival whose head had been promised by the +Chozar, and of whose evasion he was yet ignorant. After an absence of +ten years, the crimes of Justinian were faintly remembered, and the +birth and misfortunes of their hereditary sovereign excited the pity +of the multitude, ever discontented with the ruling powers; and by the +active diligence of his adherents, he was introduced into the city and +palace of Constantine. + + + + + +Chapter XLVIII: Succession And Characters Of The Greek Emperors.--Part II. + +In rewarding his allies, and recalling his wife, Justinian displayed +some sense of honor and gratitude; [1114] and Terbelis retired, after +sweeping away a heap of gold coin, which he measured with his Scythian +whip. But never was vow more religiously performed than the sacred oath +of revenge which he had sworn amidst the storms of the Euxine. The two +usurpers (for I must reserve the name of tyrant for the conqueror) were +dragged into the hippodrome, the one from his prison, the other from his +palace. Before their execution, Leontius and Apsimar were cast prostrate +in chains beneath the throne of the emperor; and Justinian, planting +a foot on each of their necks, contemplated above an hour the +chariot-race, while the inconstant people shouted, in the words of the +Psalmist, "Thou shalt trample on the asp and basilisk, and on the lion +and dragon shalt thou set thy foot!" The universal defection which he +had once experienced might provoke him to repeat the wish of Caligula, +that the Roman people had but one head. Yet I shall presume to observe, +that such a wish is unworthy of an ingenious tyrant, since his revenge +and cruelty would have been extinguished by a single blow, instead of +the slow variety of tortures which Justinian inflicted on the victims of +his anger. His pleasures were inexhaustible: neither private virtue +nor public service could expiate the guilt of active, or even passive, +obedience to an established government; and, during the six years of his +new reign, he considered the axe, the cord, and the rack, as the only +instruments of royalty. But his most implacable hatred was pointed +against the Chersonites, who had insulted his exile and violated the +laws of hospitality. Their remote situation afforded some means of +defence, or at least of escape; and a grievous tax was imposed on +Constantinople, to supply the preparations of a fleet and army. "All +are guilty, and all must perish," was the mandate of Justinian; and +the bloody execution was intrusted to his favorite Stephen, who was +recommended by the epithet of the savage. Yet even the savage Stephen +imperfectly accomplished the intentions of his sovereign. The slowness +of his attack allowed the greater part of the inhabitants to withdraw +into the country; and the minister of vengeance contented himself with +reducing the youth of both sexes to a state of servitude, with roasting +alive seven of the principal citizens, with drowning twenty in the sea, +and with reserving forty-two in chains to receive their doom from the +mouth of the emperor. In their return, the fleet was driven on the rocky +shores of Anatolia; and Justinian applauded the obedience of the Euxine, +which had involved so many thousands of his subjects and enemies in a +common shipwreck: but the tyrant was still insatiate of blood; and +a second expedition was commanded to extirpate the remains of the +proscribed colony. In the short interval, the Chersonites had returned +to their city, and were prepared to die in arms; the khan of the Chozars +had renounced the cause of his odious brother; the exiles of every +province were assembled in Tauris; and Bardanes, under the name +of Philippicus, was invested with the purple. The Imperial troops, +unwilling and unable to perpetrate the revenge of Justinian, escaped +his displeasure by abjuring his allegiance: the fleet, under their +new sovereign, steered back a more auspicious course to the harbors of +Sinope and Constantinople; and every tongue was prompt to pronounce, +every hand to execute, the death of the tyrant. Destitute of friends, he +was deserted by his Barbarian guards; and the stroke of the assassin was +praised as an act of patriotism and Roman virtue. His son Tiberius had +taken refuge in a church; his aged grandmother guarded the door; and the +innocent youth, suspending round his neck the most formidable relics, +embraced with one hand the altar, with the other the wood of the true +cross. But the popular fury that dares to trample on superstition, +is deaf to the cries of humanity; and the race of Heraclius was +extinguished after a reign of one hundred years + +[Footnote 1114: Of fear rather than of more generous motives. Compare Le +Beau vol. xii. p. 64.--M.] + +Between the fall of the Heraclian and the rise of the Isaurian dynasty, +a short interval of six years is divided into three reigns. Bardanes, +or Philippicus, was hailed at Constantinople as a hero who had delivered +his country from a tyrant; and he might taste some moments of happiness +in the first transports of sincere and universal joy. Justinian had left +behind him an ample treasure, the fruit of cruelty and rapine: but +this useful fund was soon and idly dissipated by his successor. On the +festival of his birthday, Philippicus entertained the multitude with the +games of the hippodrome; from thence he paraded through the streets with +a thousand banners and a thousand trumpets; refreshed himself in the +baths of Zeuxippus, and returning to the palace, entertained his nobles +with a sumptuous banquet. At the meridian hour he withdrew to his +chamber, intoxicated with flattery and wine, and forgetful that his +example had made every subject ambitious, and that every ambitious +subject was his secret enemy. Some bold conspirators introduced +themselves in the disorder of the feast; and the slumbering monarch was +surprised, bound, blinded, and deposed, before he was sensible of his +danger. Yet the traitors were deprived of their reward; and the free +voice of the senate and people promoted Artemius from the office of +secretary to that of emperor: he assumed the title of Anastasius the +Second, and displayed in a short and troubled reign the virtues both of +peace and war. But after the extinction of the Imperial line, the rule +of obedience was violated, and every change diffused the seeds of new +revolutions. In a mutiny of the fleet, an obscure and reluctant officer +of the revenue was forcibly invested with the purple: after some months +of a naval war, Anastasius resigned the sceptre; and the conqueror, +Theodosius the Third, submitted in his turn to the superior ascendant +of Leo, the general and emperor of the Oriental troops. His two +predecessors were permitted to embrace the ecclesiastical profession: +the restless impatience of Anastasius tempted him to risk and to lose +his life in a treasonable enterprise; but the last days of Theodosius +were honorable and secure. The single sublime word, "Health," which +he inscribed on his tomb, expresses the confidence of philosophy or +religion; and the fame of his miracles was long preserved among the +people of Ephesus. This convenient shelter of the church might sometimes +impose a lesson of clemency; but it may be questioned whether it is for +the public interest to diminish the perils of unsuccessful ambition. + +I have dwelt on the fall of a tyrant; I shall briefly represent the +founder of a new dynasty, who is known to posterity by the invectives +of his enemies, and whose public and private life is involved in the +ecclesiastical story of the Iconoclasts. Yet in spite of the clamors +of superstition, a favorable prejudice for the character of Leo the +Isaurian may be reasonably drawn from the obscurity of his birth, and +the duration of his reign.--I. In an age of manly spirit, the prospect +of an Imperial reward would have kindled every energy of the mind, and +produced a crowd of competitors as deserving as they were desirous to +reign. Even in the corruption and debility of the modern Greeks, the +elevation of a plebeian from the last to the first rank of society, +supposes some qualifications above the level of the multitude. He would +probably be ignorant and disdainful of speculative science; and, in the +pursuit of fortune, he might absolve himself from the obligations of +benevolence and justice; but to his character we may ascribe the useful +virtues of prudence and fortitude, the knowledge of mankind, and the +important art of gaining their confidence and directing their passions. +It is agreed that Leo was a native of Isauria, and that Conon was his +primitive name. The writers, whose awkward satire is praise, describe +him as an itinerant pedler, who drove an ass with some paltry +merchandise to the country fairs; and foolishly relate that he met on +the road some Jewish fortune-tellers, who promised him the Roman +empire, on condition that he should abolish the worship of idols. A more +probable account relates the migration of his father from Asia Minor to +Thrace, where he exercised the lucrative trade of a grazier; and he must +have acquired considerable wealth, since the first introduction of his +son was procured by a supply of five hundred sheep to the Imperial +camp. His first service was in the guards of Justinian, where he soon +attracted the notice, and by degrees the jealousy, of the tyrant. +His valor and dexterity were conspicuous in the Colchian war: from +Anastasius he received the command of the Anatolian legions, and by the +suffrage of the soldiers he was raised to the empire with the general +applause of the Roman world.--II. In this dangerous elevation, Leo the +Third supported himself against the envy of his equals, the discontent +of a powerful faction, and the assaults of his foreign and domestic +enemies. The Catholics, who accuse his religious innovations, are +obliged to confess that they were undertaken with temper and conducted +with firmness. Their silence respects the wisdom of his administration +and the purity of his manners. After a reign of twenty-four years, he +peaceably expired in the palace of Constantinople; and the purple which +he had acquired was transmitted by the right of inheritance to the third +generation. [1115] + +[Footnote 1115: During the latter part of his reign, the hostilities +of the Saracens, who invested a Pergamenian, named Tiberius, with the +purple, and proclaimed him as the son of Justinian, and an earthquake, +which destroyed the walls of Constantinople, compelled Leo greatly +to increase the burdens of taxation upon his subjects. A twelfth was +exacted in addition to every aurena as a wall tax. Theophanes p. 275 +Schlosser, Bilder eturmeud Kaiser, p. 197.--M.] + +In a long reign of thirty-four years, the son and successor of Leo, +Constantine the Fifth, surnamed Copronymus, attacked with less temperate +zeal the images or idols of the church. Their votaries have exhausted +the bitterness of religious gall, in their portrait of this spotted +panther, this antichrist, this flying dragon of the serpent's seed, +who surpassed the vices of Elagabalus and Nero. His reign was a long +butchery of whatever was most noble, or holy, or innocent, in his +empire. In person, the emperor assisted at the execution of his victims, +surveyed their agonies, listened to their groans, and indulged, without +satiating, his appetite for blood: a plate of noses was accepted as a +grateful offering, and his domestics were often scourged or mutilated +by the royal hand. His surname was derived from his pollution of his +baptismal font. The infant might be excused; but the manly pleasures of +Copronymus degraded him below the level of a brute; his lust confounded +the eternal distinctions of sex and species, and he seemed to extract +some unnatural delight from the objects most offensive to human sense. +In his religion the Iconoclast was a Heretic, a Jew, a Mahometan, a +Pagan, and an Atheist; and his belief of an invisible power could +be discovered only in his magic rites, human victims, and nocturnal +sacrifices to Venus and the daemons of antiquity. His life was stained +with the most opposite vices, and the ulcers which covered his body, +anticipated before his death the sentiment of hell-tortures. Of these +accusations, which I have so patiently copied, a part is refuted by its +own absurdity; and in the private anecdotes of the life of the princes, +the lie is more easy as the detection is more difficult. Without +adopting the pernicious maxim, that where much is alleged, something +must be true, I can however discern, that Constantine the Fifth was +dissolute and cruel. Calumny is more prone to exaggerate than to invent; +and her licentious tongue is checked in some measure by the experience +of the age and country to which she appeals. Of the bishops and monks, +the generals and magistrates, who are said to have suffered under +his reign, the numbers are recorded, the names were conspicuous, the +execution was public, the mutilation visible and permanent. [1116] The +Catholics hated the person and government of Copronymus; but even their +hatred is a proof of their oppression. They dissembled the provocations +which might excuse or justify his rigor, but even these provocations +must gradually inflame his resentment and harden his temper in the use +or the abuse of despotism. Yet the character of the fifth Constantine +was not devoid of merit, nor did his government always deserve the +curses or the contempt of the Greeks. From the confession of his +enemies, I am informed of the restoration of an ancient aqueduct, of the +redemption of two thousand five hundred captives, of the uncommon +plenty of the times, and of the new colonies with which he repeopled +Constantinople and the Thracian cities. They reluctantly praise his +activity and courage; he was on horseback in the field at the head +of his legions; and, although the fortune of his arms was various, he +triumphed by sea and land, on the Euphrates and the Danube, in civil +and Barbarian war. Heretical praise must be cast into the scale to +counterbalance the weight of orthodox invective. The Iconoclasts revered +the virtues of the prince: forty years after his death they still prayed +before the tomb of the saint. A miraculous vision was propagated by +fanaticism or fraud: and the Christian hero appeared on a milk-white +steed, brandishing his lance against the Pagans of Bulgaria: "An absurd +fable," says the Catholic historian, "since Copronymus is chained with +the daemons in the abyss of hell." + +[Footnote 1116: He is accused of burning the library of Constantinople, +founded by Julian, with its president and twelve professors. This +eastern Sorbonne had discomfited the Imperial theologians on the great +question of image worship. Schlosser observes that this accidental +fire took place six years after the emperor had laid the question of +image-worship before the professors. Bilder sturmand Kaiser, p. 294. +Compare Le Heau. vol. xl. p. 156.--M.] + +Leo the Fourth, the son of the fifth and the father of the sixth +Constantine, was of a feeble constitution both of mind [1117] and +body, and the principal care of his reign was the settlement of the +succession. The association of the young Constantine was urged by the +officious zeal of his subjects; and the emperor, conscious of his decay, +complied, after a prudent hesitation, with their unanimous wishes. The +royal infant, at the age of five years, was crowned with his mother +Irene; and the national consent was ratified by every circumstance of +pomp and solemnity, that could dazzle the eyes or bind the conscience +of the Greeks. An oath of fidelity was administered in the palace, the +church, and the hippodrome, to the several orders of the state, who +adjured the holy names of the Son, and mother of God. "Be witness, O +Christ! that we will watch over the safety of Constantine the son of +Leo, expose our lives in his service, and bear true allegiance to his +person and posterity." They pledged their faith on the wood of the true +cross, and the act of their engagement was deposited on the altar of St. +Sophia. The first to swear, and the first to violate their oath, were +the five sons of Copronymus by a second marriage; and the story of these +princes is singular and tragic. The right of primogeniture excluded them +from the throne; the injustice of their elder brother defrauded them +of a legacy of about two millions sterling; some vain titles were +not deemed a sufficient compensation for wealth and power; and they +repeatedly conspired against their nephew, before and after the death +of his father. Their first attempt was pardoned; for the second offence +[1118] they were condemned to the ecclesiastical state; and for the +third treason, Nicephorus, the eldest and most guilty, was deprived of +his eyes, and his four brothers, Christopher, Nicetas, Anthemeus, and +Eudoxas, were punished, as a milder sentence, by the amputation of their +tongues. After five years' confinement, they escaped to the church +of St. Sophia, and displayed a pathetic spectacle to the people. +"Countrymen and Christians," cried Nicephorus for himself and his mute +brethren, "behold the sons of your emperor, if you can still recognize +our features in this miserable state. A life, an imperfect life, is all +that the malice of our enemies has spared. It is now threatened, and we +now throw ourselves on your compassion." The rising murmur might have +produced a revolution, had it not been checked by the presence of a +minister, who soothed the unhappy princes with flattery and hope, and +gently drew them from the sanctuary to the palace. They were speedily +embarked for Greece, and Athens was allotted for the place of their +exile. In this calm retreat, and in their helpless condition, Nicephorus +and his brothers were tormented by the thirst of power, and tempted by a +Sclavonian chief, who offered to break their prison, and to lead them +in arms, and in the purple, to the gates of Constantinople. But the +Athenian people, ever zealous in the cause of Irene, prevented her +justice or cruelty; and the five sons of Copronymus were plunged in +eternal darkness and oblivion. + +[Footnote 1117: Schlosser thinks more highly of Leo's mind; but his only +proof of his superiority is the successes of his generals against the +Saracens, Schlosser, p. 256.--M.] + +[Footnote 1118: The second offence was on the accession of the young +Constantine--M.] + +For himself, that emperor had chosen a Barbarian wife, the daughter of +the khan of the Chozars; but in the marriage of his heir, he preferred +an Athenian virgin, an orphan, seventeen years old, whose sole fortune +must have consisted in her personal accomplishments. The nuptials of Leo +and Irene were celebrated with royal pomp; she soon acquired the love +and confidence of a feeble husband, and in his testament he declared the +empress guardian of the Roman world, and of their son Constantine the +Sixth, who was no more than ten years of age. During his childhood, +Irene most ably and assiduously discharged, in her public +administration, the duties of a faithful mother; and her zeal in the +restoration of images has deserved the name and honors of a saint, which +she still occupies in the Greek calendar. But the emperor attained +the maturity of youth; the maternal yoke became more grievous; and he +listened to the favorites of his own age, who shared his pleasures, and +were ambitious of sharing his power. Their reasons convinced him of +his right, their praises of his ability, to reign; and he consented to +reward the services of Irene by a perpetual banishment to the Isle of +Sicily. But her vigilance and penetration easily disconcerted their +rash projects: a similar, or more severe, punishment was retaliated on +themselves and their advisers; and Irene inflicted on the ungrateful +prince the chastisement of a boy. After this contest, the mother and +the son were at the head of two domestic factions; and instead of mild +influence and voluntary obedience, she held in chains a captive and an +enemy. The empress was overthrown by the abuse of victory; the oath +of fidelity, which she exacted to herself alone, was pronounced +with reluctant murmurs; and the bold refusal of the Armenian guards +encouraged a free and general declaration, that Constantine the Sixth +was the lawful emperor of the Romans. In this character he ascended his +hereditary throne, and dismissed Irene to a life of solitude and repose. +But her haughty spirit condescended to the arts of dissimulation: she +flattered the bishops and eunuchs, revived the filial tenderness of +the prince, regained his confidence, and betrayed his credulity. The +character of Constantine was not destitute of sense or spirit; but +his education had been studiously neglected; and the ambitious mother +exposed to the public censure the vices which she had nourished, and the +actions which she had secretly advised: his divorce and second marriage +offended the prejudices of the clergy, and by his imprudent rigor he +forfeited the attachment of the Armenian guards. A powerful conspiracy +was formed for the restoration of Irene; and the secret, though widely +diffused, was faithfully kept above eight months, till the emperor, +suspicious of his danger, escaped from Constantinople, with the design +of appealing to the provinces and armies. By this hasty flight, the +empress was left on the brink of the precipice; yet before she implored +the mercy of her son, Irene addressed a private epistle to the friends +whom she had placed about his person, with a menace, that unless they +accomplished, she would reveal, their treason. Their fear rendered +them intrepid; they seized the emperor on the Asiatic shore, and he was +transported to the porphyry apartment of the palace, where he had +first seen the light. In the mind of Irene, ambition had stifled every +sentiment of humanity and nature; and it was decreed in her bloody +council, that Constantine should be rendered incapable of the throne: +her emissaries assaulted the sleeping prince, and stabbed their daggers +with such violence and precipitation into his eyes as if they meant to +execute a mortal sentence. An ambiguous passage of Theophanes persuaded +the annalist of the church that death was the immediate consequence of +this barbarous execution. The Catholics have been deceived or subdued by +the authority of Baronius; and Protestant zeal has reechoed the words +of a cardinal, desirous, as it should seem, to favor the patroness of +images. [1119] Yet the blind son of Irene survived many years, oppressed +by the court and forgotten by the world; the Isaurian dynasty was +silently extinguished; and the memory of Constantine was recalled only +by the nuptials of his daughter Euphrosyne with the emperor Michael the +Second. + +[Footnote 1119: Gibbon has been attacked on account of this statement, +but is successfully defended by Schlosser. B S. Kaiser p. 327. Compare +Le Beau, c. xii p. 372.--M.] + +The most bigoted orthodoxy has justly execrated the unnatural mother, +who may not easily be paralleled in the history of crimes. To her bloody +deed superstition has attributed a subsequent darkness of seventeen +days; during which many vessels in midday were driven from their course, +as if the sun, a globe of fire so vast and so remote, could sympathize +with the atoms of a revolving planet. On earth, the crime of Irene +was left five years unpunished; her reign was crowned with external +splendor; and if she could silence the voice of conscience, she neither +heard nor regarded the reproaches of mankind. The Roman world bowed +to the government of a female; and as she moved through the streets of +Constantinople, the reins of four milk-white steeds were held by as +many patricians, who marched on foot before the golden chariot of their +queen. But these patricians were for the most part eunuchs; and their +black ingratitude justified, on this occasion, the popular hatred and +contempt. Raised, enriched, intrusted with the first dignities of the +empire, they basely conspired against their benefactress; the great +treasurer Nicephorus was secretly invested with the purple; her +successor was introduced into the palace, and crowned at St. Sophia by +the venal patriarch. In their first interview, she recapitulated with +dignity the revolutions of her life, gently accused the perfidy of +Nicephorus, insinuated that he owed his life to her unsuspicious +clemency, and for the throne and treasures which she resigned, solicited +a decent and honorable retreat. His avarice refused this modest +compensation; and, in her exile of the Isle of Lesbos, the empress +earned a scanty subsistence by the labors of her distaff. + +Many tyrants have reigned undoubtedly more criminal than Nicephorus, but +none perhaps have more deeply incurred the universal abhorrence of +their people. His character was stained with the three odious vices of +hypocrisy, ingratitude, and avarice: his want of virtue was not redeemed +by any superior talents, nor his want of talents by any pleasing +qualifications. Unskilful and unfortunate in war, Nicephorus was +vanquished by the Saracens, and slain by the Bulgarians; and the +advantage of his death overbalanced, in the public opinion, the +destruction of a Roman army. [1011] His son and heir Stauracius escaped +from the field with a mortal wound; yet six months of an expiring life +were sufficient to refute his indecent, though popular declaration, +that he would in all things avoid the example of his father. On the near +prospect of his decease, Michael, the great master of the palace, and +the husband of his sister Procopia, was named by every person of the +palace and city, except by his envious brother. Tenacious of a sceptre +now falling from his hand, he conspired against the life of his +successor, and cherished the idea of changing to a democracy the Roman +empire. But these rash projects served only to inflame the zeal of the +people and to remove the scruples of the candidate: Michael the First +accepted the purple, and before he sunk into the grave the son of +Nicephorus implored the clemency of his new sovereign. Had Michael in +an age of peace ascended an hereditary throne, he might have reigned and +died the father of his people: but his mild virtues were adapted to the +shade of private life, nor was he capable of controlling the ambition of +his equals, or of resisting the arms of the victorious Bulgarians. +While his want of ability and success exposed him to the contempt of +the soldiers, the masculine spirit of his wife Procopia awakened their +indignation. Even the Greeks of the ninth century were provoked by the +insolence of a female, who, in the front of the standards, presumed to +direct their discipline and animate their valor; and their licentious +clamors advised the new Semiramis to reverence the majesty of a Roman +camp. After an unsuccessful campaign, the emperor left, in their +winter-quarters of Thrace, a disaffected army under the command of his +enemies; and their artful eloquence persuaded the soldiers to break +the dominion of the eunuchs, to degrade the husband of Procopia, and +to assert the right of a military election. They marched towards the +capital: yet the clergy, the senate, and the people of Constantinople, +adhered to the cause of Michael; and the troops and treasures of Asia +might have protracted the mischiefs of civil war. But his humanity (by +the ambitious it will be termed his weakness) protested that not a drop +of Christian blood should be shed in his quarrel, and his messengers +presented the conquerors with the keys of the city and the palace. They +were disarmed by his innocence and submission; his life and his eyes +were spared; and the Imperial monk enjoyed the comforts of solitude and +religion above thirty-two years after he had been stripped of the purple +and separated from his wife. + +[Footnote 1011: The Syrian historian Aboulfaradj. Chron. Syr. p. 133, +139, speaks of him as a brave, prudent, and pious prince, formidable to +the Arabs. St. Martin, c. xii. p. 402. Compare Schlosser, p. 350.--M.] + +A rebel, in the time of Nicephorus, the famous and unfortunate Bardanes, +had once the curiosity to consult an Asiatic prophet, who, after +prognosticating his fall, announced the fortunes of his three principal +officers, Leo the Armenian, Michael the Phrygian, and Thomas the +Cappadocian, the successive reigns of the two former, the fruitless and +fatal enterprise of the third. This prediction was verified, or rather +was produced, by the event. Ten years afterwards, when the Thracian camp +rejected the husband of Procopia, the crown was presented to the same +Leo, the first in military rank and the secret author of the mutiny. As +he affected to hesitate, "With this sword," said his companion Michael, +"I will open the gates of Constantinople to your Imperial sway; or +instantly plunge it into your bosom, if you obstinately resist the just +desires of your fellow-soldiers." The compliance of the Armenian was +rewarded with the empire, and he reigned seven years and a half under +the name of Leo the Fifth. Educated in a camp, and ignorant both of laws +and letters, he introduced into his civil government the rigor and +even cruelty of military discipline; but if his severity was sometimes +dangerous to the innocent, it was always formidable to the guilty. His +religious inconstancy was taxed by the epithet of Chameleon, but the +Catholics have acknowledged by the voice of a saint and confessors, that +the life of the Iconoclast was useful to the republic. The zeal of his +companion Michael was repaid with riches, honors, and military command; +and his subordinate talents were beneficially employed in the public +service. Yet the Phrygian was dissatisfied at receiving as a favor a +scanty portion of the Imperial prize which he had bestowed on his equal; +and his discontent, which sometimes evaporated in hasty discourse, at +length assumed a more threatening and hostile aspect against a prince +whom he represented as a cruel tyrant. That tyrant, however, repeatedly +detected, warned, and dismissed the old companion of his arms, till fear +and resentment prevailed over gratitude; and Michael, after a scrutiny +into his actions and designs, was convicted of treason, and sentenced to +be burnt alive in the furnace of the private baths. The devout humanity +of the empress Theophano was fatal to her husband and family. A solemn +day, the twenty-fifth of December, had been fixed for the execution: she +urged, that the anniversary of the Savior's birth would be profaned by +this inhuman spectacle, and Leo consented with reluctance to a decent +respite. But on the vigil of the feast his sleepless anxiety prompted +him to visit at the dead of night the chamber in which his enemy was +confined: he beheld him released from his chain, and stretched on his +jailer's bed in a profound slumber. Leo was alarmed at these signs of +security and intelligence; but though he retired with silent steps, his +entrance and departure were noticed by a slave who lay concealed in a +corner of the prison. Under the pretence of requesting the spiritual +aid of a confessor, Michael informed the conspirators, that their lives +depended on his discretion, and that a few hours were left to assure +their own safety, by the deliverance of their friend and country. On the +great festivals, a chosen band of priests and chanters was admitted into +the palace by a private gate to sing matins in the chapel; and Leo, who +regulated with the same strictness the discipline of the choir and +of the camp, was seldom absent from these early devotions. In the +ecclesiastical habit, but with their swords under their robes, the +conspirators mingled with the procession, lurked in the angles of the +chapel, and expected, as the signal of murder, the intonation of +the first psalm by the emperor himself. The imperfect light, and the +uniformity of dress, might have favored his escape, whilst their assault +was pointed against a harmless priest; but they soon discovered their +mistake, and encompassed on all sides the royal victim. Without a weapon +and without a friend, he grasped a weighty cross, and stood at bay +against the hunters of his life; but as he asked for mercy, "This is +the hour, not of mercy, but of vengeance," was the inexorable reply. The +stroke of a well-aimed sword separated from his body the right arm and +the cross, and Leo the Armenian was slain at the foot of the altar. A +memorable reverse of fortune was displayed in Michael the Second, who +from a defect in his speech was surnamed the Stammerer. He was snatched +from the fiery furnace to the sovereignty of an empire; and as in the +tumult a smith could not readily be found, the fetters remained on his +legs several hours after he was seated on the throne of the Caesars. The +royal blood which had been the price of his elevation, was unprofitably +spent: in the purple he retained the ignoble vices of his origin; and +Michael lost his provinces with as supine indifference as if they had +been the inheritance of his fathers. His title was disputed by Thomas, +the last of the military triumvirate, who transported into Europe +fourscore thousand Barbarians from the banks of the Tigris and the +shores of the Caspian. He formed the siege of Constantinople; but the +capital was defended with spiritual and carnal weapons; a Bulgarian king +assaulted the camp of the Orientals, and Thomas had the misfortune, or +the weakness, to fall alive into the power of the conqueror. The hands +and feet of the rebel were amputated; he was placed on an ass, and, +amidst the insults of the people, was led through the streets, which he +sprinkled with his blood. The depravation of manners, as savage as they +were corrupt, is marked by the presence of the emperor himself. Deaf +to the lamentation of a fellow-soldier, he incessantly pressed the +discovery of more accomplices, till his curiosity was checked by the +question of an honest or guilty minister: "Would you give credit to an +enemy against the most faithful of your friends?" After the death of +his first wife, the emperor, at the request of the senate, drew from her +monastery Euphrosyne, the daughter of Constantine the Sixth. Her august +birth might justify a stipulation in the marriage-contract, that her +children should equally share the empire with their elder brother. But +the nuptials of Michael and Euphrosyne were barren; and she was content +with the title of mother of Theophilus, his son and successor. + +The character of Theophilus is a rare example in which religious zeal +has allowed, and perhaps magnified, the virtues of a heretic and a +persecutor. His valor was often felt by the enemies, and his justice by +the subjects, of the monarchy; but the valor of Theophilus was rash and +fruitless, and his justice arbitrary and cruel. He displayed the +banner of the cross against the Saracens; but his five expeditions +were concluded by a signal overthrow: Amorium, the native city of his +ancestors, was levelled with the ground and from his military toils he +derived only the surname of the Unfortunate. The wisdom of a sovereign +is comprised in the institution of laws and the choice of magistrates, +and while he seems without action, his civil government revolves round +his centre with the silence and order of the planetary system. But +the justice of Theophilus was fashioned on the model of the Oriental +despots, who, in personal and irregular acts of authority, consult the +reason or passion of the moment, without measuring the sentence by the +law, or the penalty by the offense. A poor woman threw herself at the +emperor's feet to complain of a powerful neighbor, the brother of the +empress, who had raised his palace-wall to such an inconvenient height, +that her humble dwelling was excluded from light and air! On the proof +of the fact, instead of granting, like an ordinary judge, sufficient or +ample damages to the plaintiff, the sovereign adjudged to her use and +benefit the palace and the ground. Nor was Theophilus content with this +extravagant satisfaction: his zeal converted a civil trespass into a +criminal act; and the unfortunate patrician was stripped and scourged +in the public place of Constantinople. For some venial offenses, some +defect of equity or vigilance, the principal ministers, a praefect, +a quaestor, a captain of the guards, were banished or mutilated, or +scalded with boiling pitch, or burnt alive in the hippodrome; and as +these dreadful examples might be the effects of error or caprice, +they must have alienated from his service the best and wisest of the +citizens. But the pride of the monarch was flattered in the exercise +of power, or, as he thought, of virtue; and the people, safe in their +obscurity, applauded the danger and debasement of their superiors. This +extraordinary rigor was justified, in some measure, by its salutary +consequences; since, after a scrutiny of seventeen days, not a complaint +or abuse could be found in the court or city; and it might be alleged +that the Greeks could be ruled only with a rod of iron, and that the +public interest is the motive and law of the supreme judge. Yet in the +crime, or the suspicion, of treason, that judge is of all others the +most credulous and partial. Theophilus might inflict a tardy vengeance +on the assassins of Leo and the saviors of his father; but he enjoyed +the fruits of their crime; and his jealous tyranny sacrificed a brother +and a prince to the future safety of his life. A Persian of the race of +the Sassanides died in poverty and exile at Constantinople, leaving an +only son, the issue of a plebeian marriage. At the age of twelve years, +the royal birth of Theophobus was revealed, and his merit was not +unworthy of his birth. He was educated in the Byzantine palace, a +Christian and a soldier; advanced with rapid steps in the career of +fortune and glory; received the hand of the emperor's sister; and was +promoted to the command of thirty thousand Persians, who, like his +father, had fled from the Mahometan conquerors. These troops, doubly +infected with mercenary and fanatic vices, were desirous of revolting +against their benefactor, and erecting the standard of their native +king but the loyal Theophobus rejected their offers, disconcerted their +schemes, and escaped from their hands to the camp or palace of his royal +brother. A generous confidence might have secured a faithful and able +guardian for his wife and his infant son, to whom Theophilus, in the +flower of his age, was compelled to leave the inheritance of the empire. +But his jealousy was exasperated by envy and disease; he feared the +dangerous virtues which might either support or oppress their infancy +and weakness; and the dying emperor demanded the head of the Persian +prince. With savage delight he recognized the familiar features of his +brother: "Thou art no longer Theophobus," he said; and, sinking on his +couch, he added, with a faltering voice, "Soon, too soon, I shall be no +more Theophilus!" + + + + + +Chapter XLVIII: Succession And Characters Of The Greek Emperors.--Part III. + +The Russians, who have borrowed from the Greeks the greatest part of +their civil and ecclesiastical policy, preserved, till the last century, +a singular institution in the marriage of the Czar. They collected, not +the virgins of every rank and of every province, a vain and romantic +idea, but the daughters of the principal nobles, who awaited in the +palace the choice of their sovereign. It is affirmed, that a similar +method was adopted in the nuptials of Theophilus. With a golden apple in +his hand, he slowly walked between two lines of contending beauties: his +eye was detained by the charms of Icasia, and in the awkwardness of a +first declaration, the prince could only observe, that, in this world, +women had been the cause of much evil; "And surely, sir," she pertly +replied, "they have likewise been the occasion of much good." This +affectation of unseasonable wit displeased the Imperial lover: he turned +aside in disgust; Icasia concealed her mortification in a convent; and +the modest silence of Theodora was rewarded with the golden apple. She +deserved the love, but did not escape the severity, of her lord. From +the palace garden he beheld a vessel deeply laden, and steering into the +port: on the discovery that the precious cargo of Syrian luxury was the +property of his wife, he condemned the ship to the flames, with a sharp +reproach, that her avarice had degraded the character of an empress +into that of a merchant. Yet his last choice intrusted her with the +guardianship of the empire and her son Michael, who was left an orphan +in the fifth year of his age. The restoration of images, and the final +extirpation of the Iconoclasts, has endeared her name to the devotion of +the Greeks; but in the fervor of religious zeal, Theodora entertained +a grateful regard for the memory and salvation of her husband. After +thirteen years of a prudent and frugal administration, she perceived the +decline of her influence; but the second Irene imitated only the virtues +of her predecessor. Instead of conspiring against the life or government +of her son, she retired, without a struggle, though not without a +murmur, to the solitude of private life, deploring the ingratitude, +the vices, and the inevitable ruin, of the worthless youth. Among +the successors of Nero and Elagabalus, we have not hitherto found the +imitation of their vices, the character of a Roman prince who considered +pleasure as the object of life, and virtue as the enemy of pleasure. +Whatever might have been the maternal care of Theodora in the education +of Michael the Third, her unfortunate son was a king before he was a +man. If the ambitious mother labored to check the progress of reason, +she could not cool the ebullition of passion; and her selfish policy was +justly repaid by the contempt and ingratitude of the headstrong youth. +At the age of eighteen, he rejected her authority, without feeling his +own incapacity to govern the empire and himself. With Theodora, all +gravity and wisdom retired from the court; their place was supplied by +the alternate dominion of vice and folly; and it was impossible, without +forfeiting the public esteem, to acquire or preserve the favor of the +emperor. The millions of gold and silver which had been accumulated +for the service of the state, were lavished on the vilest of men, who +flattered his passions and shared his pleasures; and in a reign of +thirteen years, the richest of sovereigns was compelled to strip the +palace and the churches of their precious furniture. Like Nero, he +delighted in the amusements of the theatre, and sighed to be surpassed +in the accomplishments in which he should have blushed to excel. Yet the +studies of Nero in music and poetry betrayed some symptoms of a liberal +taste; the more ignoble arts of the son of Theophilus were confined to +the chariot-race of the hippodrome. The four factions which had agitated +the peace, still amused the idleness, of the capital: for himself, the +emperor assumed the blue livery; the three rival colors were distributed +to his favorites, and in the vile though eager contention he forgot the +dignity of his person and the safety of his dominions. He silenced the +messenger of an invasion, who presumed to divert his attention in the +most critical moment of the race; and by his command, the importunate +beacons were extinguished, that too frequently spread the alarm from +Tarsus to Constantinople. The most skilful charioteers obtained the +first place in his confidence and esteem; their merit was profusely +rewarded the emperor feasted in their houses, and presented their +children at the baptismal font; and while he applauded his own +popularity, he affected to blame the cold and stately reserve of his +predecessors. The unnatural lusts which had degraded even the manhood +of Nero, were banished from the world; yet the strength of Michael +was consumed by the indulgence of love and intemperance. [1012] In +his midnight revels, when his passions were inflamed by wine, he was +provoked to issue the most sanguinary commands; and if any feelings of +humanity were left, he was reduced, with the return of sense, to approve +the salutary disobedience of his servants. But the most extraordinary +feature in the character of Michael, is the profane mockery of the +religion of his country. The superstition of the Greeks might indeed +excite the smile of a philosopher; but his smile would have been +rational and temperate, and he must have condemned the ignorant folly of +a youth who insulted the objects of public veneration. A buffoon of +the court was invested in the robes of the patriarch: his twelve +metropolitans, among whom the emperor was ranked, assumed their +ecclesiastical garments: they used or abused the sacred vessels of +the altar; and in their bacchanalian feasts, the holy communion was +administered in a nauseous compound of vinegar and mustard. Nor were +these impious spectacles concealed from the eyes of the city. On the day +of a solemn festival, the emperor, with his bishops or buffoons, rode on +asses through the streets, encountered the true patriarch at the head +of his clergy; and by their licentious shouts and obscene gestures, +disordered the gravity of the Christian procession. The devotion of +Michael appeared only in some offence to reason or piety: he received +his theatrical crowns from the statue of the Virgin; and an Imperial +tomb was violated for the sake of burning the bones of Constantine the +Iconoclast. By this extravagant conduct, the son of Theophilus became +as contemptible as he was odious: every citizen was impatient for the +deliverance of his country; and even the favorites of the moment +were apprehensive that a caprice might snatch away what a caprice +had bestowed. In the thirtieth year of his age, and in the hour of +intoxication and sleep, Michael the Third was murdered in his chamber by +the founder of a new dynasty, whom the emperor had raised to an equality +of rank and power. + +[Footnote 1012: In a campaign against the Saracens, he betrayed both +imbecility and cowardice. Genesius, c. iv. p. 94.--M.] + +The genealogy of Basil the Macedonian (if it be not the spurious +offspring of pride and flattery) exhibits a genuine picture of the +revolution of the most illustrious families. The Arsacides, the rivals +of Rome, possessed the sceptre of the East near four hundred years: a +younger branch of these Parthian kings continued to reign in Armenia; +and their royal descendants survived the partition and servitude of +that ancient monarchy. Two of these, Artabanus and Chlienes, escaped or +retired to the court of Leo the First: his bounty seated them in a safe +and hospitable exile, in the province of Macedonia: Adrianople was their +final settlement. During several generations they maintained the dignity +of their birth; and their Roman patriotism rejected the tempting offers +of the Persian and Arabian powers, who recalled them to their native +country. But their splendor was insensibly clouded by time and poverty; +and the father of Basil was reduced to a small farm, which he cultivated +with his own hands: yet he scorned to disgrace the blood of the +Arsacides by a plebeian alliance: his wife, a widow of Adrianople, was +pleased to count among her ancestors the great Constantine; and their +royal infant was connected by some dark affinity of lineage or country +with the Macedonian Alexander. No sooner was he born, than the cradle of +Basil, his family, and his city, were swept away by an inundation of +the Bulgarians: he was educated a slave in a foreign land; and in this +severe discipline, he acquired the hardiness of body and flexibility of +mind which promoted his future elevation. In the age of youth or manhood +he shared the deliverance of the Roman captives, who generously broke +their fetters, marched through Bulgaria to the shores of the Euxine, +defeated two armies of Barbarians, embarked in the ships which had been +stationed for their reception, and returned to Constantinople, from +whence they were distributed to their respective homes. But the freedom +of Basil was naked and destitute: his farm was ruined by the calamities +of war: after his father's death, his manual labor, or service, could +no longer support a family of orphans and he resolved to seek a more +conspicuous theatre, in which every virtue and every vice may lead +to the paths of greatness. The first night of his arrival at +Constantinople, without friends or money, the weary pilgrim slept on the +steps of the church of St. Diomede: he was fed by the casual hospitality +of a monk; and was introduced to the service of a cousin and namesake of +the emperor Theophilus; who, though himself of a diminutive person, +was always followed by a train of tall and handsome domestics. Basil +attended his patron to the government of Peloponnesus; eclipsed, by his +personal merit the birth and dignity of Theophilus, and formed a useful +connection with a wealthy and charitable matron of Patras. Her spiritual +or carnal love embraced the young adventurer, whom she adopted as her +son. Danielis presented him with thirty slaves; and the produce of her +bounty was expended in the support of his brothers, and the purchase +of some large estates in Macedonia. His gratitude or ambition still +attached him to the service of Theophilus; and a lucky accident +recommended him to the notice of the court. A famous wrestler, in the +train of the Bulgarian ambassadors, had defied, at the royal banquet, +the boldest and most robust of the Greeks. The strength of Basil was +praised; he accepted the challenge; and the Barbarian champion was +overthrown at the first onset. A beautiful but vicious horse was +condemned to be hamstrung: it was subdued by the dexterity and courage +of the servant of Theophilus; and his conqueror was promoted to an +honorable rank in the Imperial stables. But it was impossible to obtain +the confidence of Michael, without complying with his vices; and his new +favorite, the great chamberlain of the palace, was raised and supported +by a disgraceful marriage with a royal concubine, and the dishonor of +his sister, who succeeded to her place. The public administration had +been abandoned to the Caesar Bardas, the brother and enemy of Theodora; +but the arts of female influence persuaded Michael to hate and to fear +his uncle: he was drawn from Constantinople, under the pretence of a +Cretan expedition, and stabbed in the tent of audience, by the sword of +the chamberlain, and in the presence of the emperor. About a month after +this execution, Basil was invested with the title of Augustus and the +government of the empire. He supported this unequal association till his +influence was fortified by popular esteem. His life was endangered by +the caprice of the emperor; and his dignity was profaned by a second +colleague, who had rowed in the galleys. Yet the murder of his +benefactor must be condemned as an act of ingratitude and treason; and +the churches which he dedicated to the name of St. Michael were a poor +and puerile expiation of his guilt. The different ages of Basil the +First may be compared with those of Augustus. The situation of the Greek +did not allow him in his earliest youth to lead an army against his +country; or to proscribe the nobles of her sons; but his aspiring genius +stooped to the arts of a slave; he dissembled his ambition and even his +virtues, and grasped, with the bloody hand of an assassin, the empire +which he ruled with the wisdom and tenderness of a parent. + +A private citizen may feel his interest repugnant to his duty; but it +must be from a deficiency of sense or courage, that an absolute monarch +can separate his happiness from his glory, or his glory from the public +welfare. The life or panegyric of Basil has indeed been composed and +published under the long reign of his descendants; but even their +stability on the throne may be justly ascribed to the superior merit of +their ancestor. In his character, his grandson Constantine has attempted +to delineate a perfect image of royalty: but that feeble prince, unless +he had copied a real model, could not easily have soared so high above +the level of his own conduct or conceptions. But the most solid praise +of Basil is drawn from the comparison of a ruined and a flourishing +monarchy, that which he wrested from the dissolute Michael, and that +which he bequeathed to the Mecedonian dynasty. The evils which had been +sanctified by time and example, were corrected by his master-hand; and +he revived, if not the national spirit, at least the order and majesty +of the Roman empire. His application was indefatigable, his temper cool, +his understanding vigorous and decisive; and in his practice he observed +that rare and salutary moderation, which pursues each virtue, at an +equal distance between the opposite vices. His military service had been +confined to the palace: nor was the emperor endowed with the spirit or +the talents of a warrior. Yet under his reign the Roman arms were again +formidable to the Barbarians. As soon as he had formed a new army by +discipline and exercise, he appeared in person on the banks of the +Euphrates, curbed the pride of the Saracens, and suppressed the +dangerous though just revolt of the Manichaeans. His indignation against +a rebel who had long eluded his pursuit, provoked him to wish and to +pray, that, by the grace of God, he might drive three arrows into the +head of Chrysochir. That odious head, which had been obtained by treason +rather than by valor, was suspended from a tree, and thrice exposed to +the dexterity of the Imperial archer; a base revenge against the +dead, more worthy of the times than of the character of Basil. But his +principal merit was in the civil administration of the finances and of +the laws. To replenish and exhausted treasury, it was proposed to resume +the lavish and ill-placed gifts of his predecessor: his prudence abated +one moiety of the restitution; and a sum of twelve hundred thousand +pounds was instantly procured to answer the most pressing demands, and +to allow some space for the mature operations of economy. Among the +various schemes for the improvement of the revenue, a new mode was +suggested of capitation, or tribute, which would have too much depended +on the arbitrary discretion of the assessors. A sufficient list of +honest and able agents was instantly produced by the minister; but on +the more careful scrutiny of Basil himself, only two could be found, who +might be safely intrusted with such dangerous powers; but they justified +his esteem by declining his confidence. But the serious and successful +diligence of the emperor established by degrees the equitable balance +of property and payment, of receipt and expenditure; a peculiar fund was +appropriated to each service; and a public method secured the interest +of the prince and the property of the people. After reforming the +luxury, he assigned two patrimonial estates to supply the decent plenty, +of the Imperial table: the contributions of the subject were reserved +for his defence; and the residue was employed in the embellishment of +the capital and provinces. A taste for building, however costly, may +deserve some praise and much excuse: from thence industry is fed, art is +encouraged, and some object is attained of public emolument or pleasure: +the use of a road, an aqueduct, or a hospital, is obvious and solid; and +the hundred churches that arose by the command of Basil were consecrated +to the devotion of the age. In the character of a judge he was +assiduous and impartial; desirous to save, but not afraid to strike: the +oppressors of the people were severely chastised; but his personal foes, +whom it might be unsafe to pardon, were condemned, after the loss of +their eyes, to a life of solitude and repentance. The change of language +and manners demanded a revision of the obsolete jurisprudence of +Justinian: the voluminous body of his Institutes, Pandects, Code, and +Novels, was digested under forty titles, in the Greek idiom; and the +Basilics, which were improved and completed by his son and grandson, +must be referred to the original genius of the founder of their race. +This glorious reign was terminated by an accident in the chase. A +furious stag entangled his horns in the belt of Basil, and raised him +from his horse: he was rescued by an attendant, who cut the belt and +slew the animal; but the fall, or the fever, exhausted the strength of +the aged monarch, and he expired in the palace amidst the tears of his +family and people. If he struck off the head of the faithful servant +for presuming to draw his sword against his sovereign, the pride of +despotism, which had lain dormant in his life, revived in the last +moments of despair, when he no longer wanted or valued the opinion of +mankind. + +Of the four sons of the emperor, Constantine died before his father, +whose grief and credulity were amused by a flattering impostor and a +vain apparition. Stephen, the youngest, was content with the honors of +a patriarch and a saint; both Leo and Alexander were alike invested with +the purple, but the powers of government were solely exercised by the +elder brother. The name of Leo the Sixth has been dignified with the +title of philosopher; and the union of the prince and the sage, of the +active and speculative virtues, would indeed constitute the perfection +of human nature. But the claims of Leo are far short of this ideal +excellence. Did he reduce his passions and appetites under the dominion +of reason? His life was spent in the pomp of the palace, in the society +of his wives and concubines; and even the clemency which he showed, and +the peace which he strove to preserve, must be imputed to the softness +and indolence of his character. Did he subdue his prejudices, and those +of his subjects? His mind was tinged with the most puerile superstition; +the influence of the clergy, and the errors of the people, were +consecrated by his laws; and the oracles of Leo, which reveal, in +prophetic style, the fates of the empire, are founded on the arts of +astrology and divination. If we still inquire the reason of his sage +appellation, it can only be replied, that the son of Basil was less +ignorant than the greater part of his contemporaries in church and +state; that his education had been directed by the learned Photius; and +that several books of profane and ecclesiastical science were composed +by the pen, or in the name, of the Imperial philosopher. But the +reputation of his philosophy and religion was overthrown by a domestic +vice, the repetition of his nuptials. The primitive ideas of the merit +and holiness of celibacy were preached by the monks and entertained +by the Greeks. Marriage was allowed as a necessary means for the +propagation of mankind; after the death of either party, the survivor +might satisfy, by a second union, the weakness or the strength of +the flesh: but a third marriage was censured as a state of legal +fornication; and a fourth was a sin or scandal as yet unknown to the +Christians of the East. In the beginning of his reign, Leo himself had +abolished the state of concubines, and condemned, without annulling, +third marriages: but his patriotism and love soon compelled him to +violate his own laws, and to incur the penance, which in a similar +case he had imposed on his subjects. In his three first alliances, his +nuptial bed was unfruitful; the emperor required a female companion, and +the empire a legitimate heir. The beautiful Zoe was introduced into the +palace as a concubine; and after a trial of her fecundity, and the birth +of Constantine, her lover declared his intention of legitimating the +mother and the child, by the celebration of his fourth nuptials. But +the patriarch Nicholas refused his blessing: the Imperial baptism of +the young prince was obtained by a promise of separation; and the +contumacious husband of Zoe was excluded from the communion of the +faithful. Neither the fear of exile, nor the desertion of his brethren, +nor the authority of the Latin church, nor the danger of failure or +doubt in the succession to the empire, could bend the spirit of the +inflexible monk. After the death of Leo, he was recalled from exile +to the civil and ecclesiastical administration; and the edict of union +which was promulgated in the name of Constantine, condemned the future +scandal of fourth marriages, and left a tacit imputation on his own +birth. In the Greek language, purple and porphyry are the same word: and +as the colors of nature are invariable, we may learn, that a dark deep +red was the Tyrian dye which stained the purple of the ancients. An +apartment of the Byzantine palace was lined with porphyry: it was +reserved for the use of the pregnant empresses; and the royal birth of +their children was expressed by the appellation of porphyrogenite, or +born in the purple. Several of the Roman princes had been blessed with +an heir; but this peculiar surname was first applied to Constantine +the Seventh. His life and titular reign were of equal duration; but of +fifty-four years, six had elapsed before his father's death; and the +son of Leo was ever the voluntary or reluctant subject of those who +oppressed his weakness or abused his confidence. His uncle Alexander, +who had long been invested with the title of Augustus, was the first +colleague and governor of the young prince: but in a rapid career of +vice and folly, the brother of Leo already emulated the reputation of +Michael; and when he was extinguished by a timely death, he entertained +a project of castrating his nephew, and leaving the empire to a +worthless favorite. The succeeding years of the minority of Constantine +were occupied by his mother Zoe, and a succession or council of seven +regents, who pursued their interest, gratified their passions, abandoned +the republic, supplanted each other, and finally vanished in the +presence of a soldier. From an obscure origin, Romanus Lecapenus had +raised himself to the command of the naval armies; and in the anarchy of +the times, had deserved, or at least had obtained, the national esteem. +With a victorious and affectionate fleet, he sailed from the mouth of +the Danube into the harbor of Constantinople, and was hailed as the +deliverer of the people, and the guardian of the prince. His supreme +office was at first defined by the new appellation of father of +the emperor; but Romanus soon disdained the subordinate powers of a +minister, and assumed with the titles of Caesar and Augustus, the full +independence of royalty, which he held near five-and-twenty years. His +three sons, Christopher, Stephen, and Constantine were successively +adorned with the same honors, and the lawful emperor was degraded from +the first to the fifth rank in this college of princes. Yet, in the +preservation of his life and crown, he might still applaud his own +fortune and the clemency of the usurper. The examples of ancient and +modern history would have excused the ambition of Romanus: the powers +and the laws of the empire were in his hand; the spurious birth of +Constantine would have justified his exclusion; and the grave or the +monastery was open to receive the son of the concubine. But Lecapenus +does not appear to have possessed either the virtues or the vices of a +tyrant. The spirit and activity of his private life dissolved away in +the sunshine of the throne; and in his licentious pleasures, he forgot +the safety both of the republic and of his family. Of a mild and +religious character, he respected the sanctity of oaths, the innocence +of the youth, the memory of his parents, and the attachment of the +people. The studious temper and retirement of Constantine disarmed the +jealousy of power: his books and music, his pen and his pencil, were a +constant source of amusement; and if he could improve a scanty allowance +by the sale of his pictures, if their price was not enhanced by the name +of the artist, he was endowed with a personal talent, which few princes +could employ in the hour of adversity. + +The fall of Romanus was occasioned by his own vices and those of his +children. After the decease of Christopher, his eldest son, the two +surviving brothers quarrelled with each other, and conspired against +their father. At the hour of noon, when all strangers were regularly +excluded from the palace, they entered his apartment with an armed +force, and conveyed him, in the habit of a monk, to a small island in +the Propontis, which was peopled by a religious community. The rumor +of this domestic revolution excited a tumult in the city; but +Porphyrogenitus alone, the true and lawful emperor, was the object +of the public care; and the sons of Lecapenus were taught, by tardy +experience, that they had achieved a guilty and perilous enterprise +for the benefit of their rival. Their sister Helena, the wife of +Constantine, revealed, or supposed, their treacherous design of +assassinating her husband at the royal banquet. His loyal adherents were +alarmed, and the two usurpers were prevented, seized, degraded from +the purple, and embarked for the same island and monastery where their +father had been so lately confined. Old Romanus met them on the beach +with a sarcastic smile, and, after a just reproach of their folly and +ingratitude, presented his Imperial colleagues with an equal share +of his water and vegetable diet. In the fortieth year of his reign, +Constantine the Seventh obtained the possession of the Eastern world, +which he ruled or seemed to rule, near fifteen years. But he was devoid +of that energy of character which could emerge into a life of action and +glory; and the studies, which had amused and dignified his leisure, +were incompatible with the serious duties of a sovereign. The emperor +neglected the practice to instruct his son Romanus in the theory of +government; while he indulged the habits of intemperance and sloth, he +dropped the reins of the administration into the hands of Helena his +wife; and, in the shifting scene of her favor and caprice, each minister +was regretted in the promotion of a more worthless successor. Yet the +birth and misfortunes of Constantine had endeared him to the Greeks; +they excused his failings; they respected his learning, his innocence, +and charity, his love of justice; and the ceremony of his funeral was +mourned with the unfeigned tears of his subjects. The body, according +to ancient custom, lay in state in the vestibule of the palace; and the +civil and military officers, the patricians, the senate, and the clergy +approached in due order to adore and kiss the inanimate corpse of their +sovereign. Before the procession moved towards the Imperial sepulchre, +a herald proclaimed this awful admonition: "Arise, O king of the world, +and obey the summons of the King of kings!" + +The death of Constantine was imputed to poison; and his son Romanus, who +derived that name from his maternal grandfather, ascended the throne of +Constantinople. A prince who, at the age of twenty, could be suspected +of anticipating his inheritance, must have been already lost in the +public esteem; yet Romanus was rather weak than wicked; and the largest +share of the guilt was transferred to his wife, Theophano, a woman +of base origin masculine spirit, and flagitious manners. The sense of +personal glory and public happiness, the true pleasures of royalty, +were unknown to the son of Constantine; and, while the two brothers, +Nicephorus and Leo, triumphed over the Saracens, the hours which the +emperor owed to his people were consumed in strenuous idleness. In the +morning he visited the circus; at noon he feasted the senators; the +greater part of the afternoon he spent in the sphoeristerium, or +tennis-court, the only theatre of his victories; from thence he passed +over to the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, hunted and killed four wild +boars of the largest size, and returned to the palace, proudly content +with the labors of the day. In strength and beauty he was conspicuous +above his equals: tall and straight as a young cypress, his complexion +was fair and florid, his eyes sparkling, his shoulders broad, his nose +long and aquiline. Yet even these perfections were insufficient to fix +the love of Theophano; and, after a reign of four [1013] years, she +mingled for her husband the same deadly draught which she had composed +for his father. + +[Footnote 1013: Three years and five months. Leo Diaconus in Niebuhr. +Byz p. 50--M.] + +By his marriage with this impious woman, Romanus the younger left two +sons, Basil the Second and Constantine the Ninth, and two daughters, +Theophano and Anne. The eldest sister was given to Otho the Second, +emperor of the West; the younger became the wife of Wolodomir, great +duke and apostle of russia, and by the marriage of her granddaughter +with Henry the First, king of France, the blood of the Macedonians, and +perhaps of the Arsacides, still flows in the veins of the Bourbon line. +After the death of her husband, the empress aspired to reign in the name +of her sons, the elder of whom was five, and the younger only two, +years of age; but she soon felt the instability of a throne which was +supported by a female who could not be esteemed, and two infants who +could not be feared. Theophano looked around for a protector, and threw +herself into the arms of the bravest soldier; her heart was capacious; +but the deformity of the new favorite rendered it more than probable +that interest was the motive and excuse of her love. Nicephorus Phocus +united, in the popular opinion, the double merit of a hero and a saint. +In the former character, his qualifications were genuine and splendid: +the descendant of a race illustrious by their military exploits, he +had displayed in every station and in every province the courage of +a soldier and the conduct of a chief; and Nicephorus was crowned with +recent laurels, from the important conquest of the Isle of Crete. His +religion was of a more ambiguous cast; and his hair-cloth, his fasts, +his pious idiom, and his wish to retire from the business of the world, +were a convenient mask for his dark and dangerous ambition. Yet he +imposed on a holy patriarch, by whose influence, and by a decree of the +senate, he was intrusted, during the minority of the young princes, with +the absolute and independent command of the Oriental armies. As soon +as he had secured the leaders and the troops, he boldly marched to +Constantinople, trampled on his enemies, avowed his correspondence with +the empress, and without degrading her sons, assumed, with the title of +Augustus, the preeminence of rank and the plenitude of power. But his +marriage with Theophano was refused by the same patriarch who had placed +the crown on his head: by his second nuptials he incurred a year of +canonical penance; [1014] a bar of spiritual affinity was opposed to +their celebration; and some evasion and perjury were required to silence +the scruples of the clergy and people. The popularity of the emperor was +lost in the purple: in a reign of six years he provoked the hatred +of strangers and subjects: and the hypocrisy and avarice of the first +Nicephorus were revived in his successor. Hypocrisy I shall never +justify or palliate; but I will dare to observe, that the odious vice of +avarice is of all others most hastily arraigned, and most unmercifully +condemned. In a private citizen, our judgment seldom expects an accurate +scrutiny into his fortune and expense; and in a steward of the public +treasure, frugality is always a virtue, and the increase of taxes too +often an indispensable duty. In the use of his patrimony, the generous +temper of Nicephorus had been proved; and the revenue was strictly +applied to the service of the state: each spring the emperor marched +in person against the Saracens; and every Roman might compute the +employment of his taxes in triumphs, conquests, and the security of the +Eastern barrier. [1015] + +[Footnote 1014: The canonical objection to the marriage was his relation +of Godfather sons. Leo Diac. p. 50.--M.] + +[Footnote 1015: He retook Antioch, and brought home as a trophy the +sword of "the most unholy and impious Mahomet." Leo Diac. p. 76.--M.] + + + + + +Chapter XLVIII: Succession And Characters Of The Greek Emperors.--Part IV. + +Among the warriors who promoted his elevation, and served under his +standard, a noble and valiant Armenian had deserved and obtained +the most eminent rewards. The stature of John Zimisces was below the +ordinary standard: but this diminutive body was endowed with strength, +beauty, and the soul of a hero. By the jealousy of the emperor's +brother, he was degraded from the office of general of the East, to that +of director of the posts, and his murmurs were chastised with disgrace +and exile. But Zimisces was ranked among the numerous lovers of the +empress: on her intercession, he was permitted to reside at Chalcedon, +in the neighborhood of the capital: her bounty was repaid in his +clandestine and amorous visits to the palace; and Theophano consented, +with alacrity, to the death of an ugly and penurious husband. Some bold +and trusty conspirators were concealed in her most private chambers: in +the darkness of a winter night, Zimisces, with his principal companions, +embarked in a small boat, traversed the Bosphorus, landed at the palace +stairs, and silently ascended a ladder of ropes, which was cast down by +the female attendants. Neither his own suspicions, nor the warnings +of his friends, nor the tardy aid of his brother Leo, nor the fortress +which he had erected in the palace, could protect Nicephorus from a +domestic foe, at whose voice every door was open to the assassins. As +he slept on a bear-skin on the ground, he was roused by their noisy +intrusion, and thirty daggers glittered before his eyes. It is doubtful +whether Zimisces imbrued his hands in the blood of his sovereign; but +he enjoyed the inhuman spectacle of revenge. [1016] The murder was +protracted by insult and cruelty: and as soon as the head of Nicephorus +was shown from the window, the tumult was hushed, and the Armenian was +emperor of the East. On the day of his coronation, he was stopped on +the threshold of St. Sophia, by the intrepid patriarch; who charged his +conscience with the deed of treason and blood; and required, as a sign +of repentance, that he should separate himself from his more criminal +associate. This sally of apostolic zeal was not offensive to the +prince, since he could neither love nor trust a woman who had repeatedly +violated the most sacred obligations; and Theophano, instead of sharing +his imperial fortune, was dismissed with ignominy from his bed and +palace. In their last interview, she displayed a frantic and impotent +rage; accused the ingratitude of her lover; assaulted, with words and +blows, her son Basil, as he stood silent and submissive in the presence +of a superior colleague; and avowed her own prostitution in proclaiming +the illegitimacy of his birth. The public indignation was appeased by +her exile, and the punishment of the meaner accomplices: the death of an +unpopular prince was forgiven; and the guilt of Zimisces was forgotten +in the splendor of his virtues. Perhaps his profusion was less useful +to the state than the avarice of Nicephorus; but his gentle and generous +behavior delighted all who approached his person; and it was only in the +paths of victory that he trod in the footsteps of his predecessor. The +greatest part of his reign was employed in the camp and the field: +his personal valor and activity were signalized on the Danube and the +Tigris, the ancient boundaries of the Roman world; and by his double +triumph over the Russians and the Saracens, he deserved the titles of +savior of the empire, and conqueror of the East. In his last return from +Syria, he observed that the most fruitful lands of his new provinces +were possessed by the eunuchs. "And is it for them," he exclaimed, with +honest indignation, "that we have fought and conquered? Is it for them +that we shed our blood, and exhaust the treasures of our people?" The +complaint was reechoed to the palace, and the death of Zimisces is +strongly marked with the suspicion of poison. + +[Footnote 1016: According to Leo Diaconus, Zimisces, after ordering the +wounded emperor to be dragged to his feet, and heaping him with insult, +to which the miserable man only replied by invoking the name of +the "mother of God," with his own hand plucked his beard, while his +accomplices beat out his teeth with the hilts of their swords, and then +trampling him to the ground, drove his sword into his skull. Leo Diac, +in Niebuhr Byz. Hist. l vii. c. 8. p. 88.--M.] + +Under this usurpation, or regency, of twelve years, the two lawful +emperors, Basil and Constantine, had silently grown to the age of +manhood. Their tender years had been incapable of dominion: the +respectful modesty of their attendance and salutation was due to the age +and merit of their guardians; the childless ambition of those guardians +had no temptation to violate their right of succession: their patrimony +was ably and faithfully administered; and the premature death of +Zimisces was a loss, rather than a benefit, to the sons of Romanus. +Their want of experience detained them twelve years longer the obscure +and voluntary pupils of a minister, who extended his reign by persuading +them to indulge the pleasures of youth, and to disdain the labors of +government. In this silken web, the weakness of Constantine was forever +entangled; but his elder brother felt the impulse of genius and the +desire of action; he frowned, and the minister was no more. Basil +was the acknowledged sovereign of Constantinople and the provinces +of Europe; but Asia was oppressed by two veteran generals, Phocas and +Sclerus, who, alternately friends and enemies, subjects and rebels, +maintained their independence, and labored to emulate the example of +successful usurpation. Against these domestic enemies the son of Romanus +first drew his sword, and they trembled in the presence of a lawful and +high-spirited prince. The first, in the front of battle, was thrown from +his horse, by the stroke of poison, or an arrow; the second, who had +been twice loaded with chains, [1017] and twice invested with the +purple, was desirous of ending in peace the small remainder of his days. +As the aged suppliant approached the throne, with dim eyes and faltering +steps, leaning on his two attendants, the emperor exclaimed, in the +insolence of youth and power, "And is this the man who has so long been +the object of our terror?" After he had confirmed his own authority, and +the peace of the empire, the trophies of Nicephorus and Zimisces would +not suffer their royal pupil to sleep in the palace. His long and +frequent expeditions against the Saracens were rather glorious than +useful to the empire; but the final destruction of the kingdom of +Bulgaria appears, since the time of Belisarius, the most important +triumph of the Roman arms. Yet, instead of applauding their victorious +prince, his subjects detested the rapacious and rigid avarice of Basil; +and in the imperfect narrative of his exploits, we can only discern the +courage, patience, and ferociousness of a soldier. A vicious education, +which could not subdue his spirit, had clouded his mind; he was +ignorant of every science; and the remembrance of his learned and feeble +grandsire might encourage his real or affected contempt of laws and +lawyers, of artists and arts. Of such a character, in such an age, +superstition took a firm and lasting possession; after the first license +of his youth, Basil the Second devoted his life, in the palace and the +camp, to the penance of a hermit, wore the monastic habit under his +robes and armor, observed a vow of continence, and imposed on +his appetites a perpetual abstinence from wine and flesh. In the +sixty-eighth year of his age, his martial spirit urged him to embark in +person for a holy war against the Saracens of Sicily; he was prevented +by death, and Basil, surnamed the Slayer of the Bulgarians, was +dismissed from the world with the blessings of the clergy and the curse +of the people. After his decease, his brother Constantine enjoyed, about +three years, the power, or rather the pleasures, of royalty; and his +only care was the settlement of the succession. He had enjoyed sixty-six +years the title of Augustus; and the reign of the two brothers is the +longest, and most obscure, of the Byzantine history. + +[Footnote 1017: Once by the caliph, once by his rival Phocas. Compare De +Beau l. p. 176.--M.] + +A lineal succession of five emperors, in a period of one hundred and +sixty years, had attached the loyalty of the Greeks to the Macedonian +dynasty, which had been thrice respected by the usurpers of their power. +After the death of Constantine the Ninth, the last male of the royal +race, a new and broken scene presents itself, and the accumulated years +of twelve emperors do not equal the space of his single reign. His elder +brother had preferred his private chastity to the public interest, and +Constantine himself had only three daughters; Eudocia, who took the +veil, and Zoe and Theodora, who were preserved till a mature age in a +state of ignorance and virginity. When their marriage was discussed in +the council of their dying father, the cold or pious Theodora refused +to give an heir to the empire, but her sister Zoe presented herself a +willing victim at the altar. Romanus Argyrus, a patrician of a graceful +person and fair reputation, was chosen for her husband, and, on his +declining that honor, was informed, that blindness or death was the +second alternative. The motive of his reluctance was conjugal affection +but his faithful wife sacrificed her own happiness to his safety and +greatness; and her entrance into a monastery removed the only bar to +the Imperial nuptials. After the decease of Constantine, the sceptre +devolved to Romanus the Third; but his labors at home and abroad were +equally feeble and fruitless; and the mature age, the forty-eight +years of Zoe, were less favorable to the hopes of pregnancy than to +the indulgence of pleasure. Her favorite chamberlain was a handsome +Paphlagonian of the name of Michael, whose first trade had been that of +a money-changer; and Romanus, either from gratitude or equity, connived +at their criminal intercourse, or accepted a slight assurance of their +innocence. But Zoe soon justified the Roman maxim, that every adulteress +is capable of poisoning her husband; and the death of Romanus was +instantly followed by the scandalous marriage and elevation of Michael +the Fourth. The expectations of Zoe were, however, disappointed: instead +of a vigorous and grateful lover, she had placed in her bed a miserable +wretch, whose health and reason were impaired by epileptic fits, and +whose conscience was tormented by despair and remorse. The most skilful +physicians of the mind and body were summoned to his aid; and his hopes +were amused by frequent pilgrimages to the baths, and to the tombs of +the most popular saints; the monks applauded his penance, and, except +restitution, (but to whom should he have restored?) Michael sought every +method of expiating his guilt. While he groaned and prayed in sackcloth +and ashes, his brother, the eunuch John, smiled at his remorse, and +enjoyed the harvest of a crime of which himself was the secret and most +guilty author. His administration was only the art of satiating his +avarice, and Zoe became a captive in the palace of her fathers, and in +the hands of her slaves. When he perceived the irretrievable decline +of his brother's health, he introduced his nephew, another Michael, who +derived his surname of Calaphates from his father's occupation in the +careening of vessels: at the command of the eunuch, Zoe adopted for her +son the son of a mechanic; and this fictitious heir was invested with +the title and purple of the Caesars, in the presence of the senate and +clergy. So feeble was the character of Zoe, that she was oppressed +by the liberty and power which she recovered by the death of the +Paphlagonian; and at the end of four days, she placed the crown on the +head of Michael the Fifth, who had protested, with tears and oaths, that +he should ever reign the first and most obedient of her subjects. + +The only act of his short reign was his base ingratitude to his +benefactors, the eunuch and the empress. The disgrace of the former was +pleasing to the public: but the murmurs, and at length the clamors, +of Constantinople deplored the exile of Zoe, the daughter of so many +emperors; her vices were forgotten, and Michael was taught, that there +is a period in which the patience of the tamest slaves rises into fury +and revenge. The citizens of every degree assembled in a formidable +tumult which lasted three days; they besieged the palace, forced the +gates, recalled their mothers, Zoe from her prison, Theodora from her +monastery, and condemned the son of Calaphates to the loss of his eyes +or of his life. For the first time the Greeks beheld with surprise the +two royal sisters seated on the same throne, presiding in the senate, +and giving audience to the ambassadors of the nations. But the singular +union subsisted no more than two months; the two sovereigns, their +tempers, interests, and adherents, were secretly hostile to each other; +and as Theodora was still averse to marriage, the indefatigable Zoe, +at the age of sixty, consented, for the public good, to sustain the +embraces of a third husband, and the censures of the Greek church. +His name and number were Constantine the Tenth, and the epithet of +Monomachus, the single combatant, must have been expressive of his valor +and victory in some public or private quarrel. But his health was broken +by the tortures of the gout, and his dissolute reign was spent in +the alternative of sickness and pleasure. A fair and noble widow had +accompanied Constantine in his exile to the Isle of Lesbos, and Sclerena +gloried in the appellation of his mistress. After his marriage and +elevation, she was invested with the title and pomp of Augusta, and +occupied a contiguous apartment in the palace. The lawful consort (such +was the delicacy or corruption of Zoe) consented to this strange and +scandalous partition; and the emperor appeared in public between his +wife and his concubine. He survived them both; but the last measures of +Constantine to change the order of succession were prevented by the more +vigilant friends of Theodora; and after his decease, she resumed, with +the general consent, the possession of her inheritance. In her name, +and by the influence of four eunuchs, the Eastern world was peaceably +governed about nineteen months; and as they wished to prolong their +dominion, they persuaded the aged princess to nominate for her successor +Michael the Sixth. The surname of Stratioticus declares his military +profession; but the crazy and decrepit veteran could only see with the +eyes, and execute with the hands, of his ministers. Whilst he ascended +the throne, Theodora sunk into the grave; the last of the Macedonian +or Basilian dynasty. I have hastily reviewed, and gladly dismiss, this +shameful and destructive period of twenty-eight years, in which the +Greeks, degraded below the common level of servitude, were transferred +like a herd of cattle by the choice or caprice of two impotent females. + +From this night of slavery, a ray of freedom, or at least of spirit, +begins to emerge: the Greeks either preserved or revived the use of +surnames, which perpetuate the fame of hereditary virtue: and we now +discern the rise, succession, and alliances of the last dynasties of +Constantinople and Trebizond. The Comneni, who upheld for a while the +fate of the sinking empire, assumed the honor of a Roman origin: but +the family had been long since transported from Italy to Asia. Their +patrimonial estate was situate in the district of Castamona, in the +neighborhood of the Euxine; and one of their chiefs, who had already +entered the paths of ambition, revisited with affection, perhaps with +regret, the modest though honorable dwelling of his fathers. The first +of their line was the illustrious Manuel, who in the reign of the second +Basil, contributed by war and treaty to appease the troubles of the +East: he left, in a tender age, two sons, Isaac and John, whom, with the +consciousness of desert, he bequeathed to the gratitude and favor of his +sovereign. The noble youths were carefully trained in the learning of +the monastery, the arts of the palace, and the exercises of the camp: +and from the domestic service of the guards, they were rapidly promoted +to the command of provinces and armies. Their fraternal union doubled +the force and reputation of the Comneni, and their ancient nobility was +illustrated by the marriage of the two brothers, with a captive princess +of Bulgaria, and the daughter of a patrician, who had obtained the name +of Charon from the number of enemies whom he had sent to the infernal +shades. The soldiers had served with reluctant loyalty a series of +effeminate masters; the elevation of Michael the Sixth was a personal +insult to the more deserving generals; and their discontent was inflamed +by the parsimony of the emperor and the insolence of the eunuchs. They +secretly assembled in the sanctuary of St. Sophia, and the votes of the +military synod would have been unanimous in favor of the old and valiant +Catacalon, if the patriotism or modesty of the veteran had not suggested +the importance of birth as well as merit in the choice of a sovereign. +Isaac Comnenus was approved by general consent, and the associates +separated without delay to meet in the plains of Phrygia at the head +of their respective squadrons and detachments. The cause of Michael was +defended in a single battle by the mercenaries of the Imperial guard, +who were aliens to the public interest, and animated only by a principle +of honor and gratitude. After their defeat, the fears of the emperor +solicited a treaty, which was almost accepted by the moderation of +the Comnenian. But the former was betrayed by his ambassadors, and the +latter was prevented by his friends. The solitary Michael submitted +to the voice of the people; the patriarch annulled their oath of +allegiance; and as he shaved the head of the royal monk, congratulated +his beneficial exchange of temporal royalty for the kingdom of heaven; +an exchange, however, which the priest, on his own account, would +probably have declined. By the hands of the same patriarch, Isaac +Comnenus was solemnly crowned; the sword which he inscribed on his coins +might be an offensive symbol, if it implied his title by conquest; +but this sword would have been drawn against the foreign and domestic +enemies of the state. The decline of his health and vigor suspended +the operation of active virtue; and the prospect of approaching death +determined him to interpose some moments between life and eternity. But +instead of leaving the empire as the marriage portion of his daughter, +his reason and inclination concurred in the preference of his brother +John, a soldier, a patriot, and the father of five sons, the future +pillars of an hereditary succession. His first modest reluctance might +be the natural dictates of discretion and tenderness, but his obstinate +and successful perseverance, however it may dazzle with the show of +virtue, must be censured as a criminal desertion of his duty, and a rare +offence against his family and country. The purple which he had refused +was accepted by Constantine Ducas, a friend of the Comnenian house, +and whose noble birth was adorned with the experience and reputation +of civil policy. In the monastic habit, Isaac recovered his health, +and survived two years his voluntary abdication. At the command of his +abbot, he observed the rule of St. Basil, and executed the most servile +offices of the convent: but his latent vanity was gratified by the +frequent and respectful visits of the reigning monarch, who revered in +his person the character of a benefactor and a saint. If Constantine the +Eleventh were indeed the subject most worthy of empire, we must pity the +debasement of the age and nation in which he was chosen. In the labor +of puerile declamations he sought, without obtaining, the crown of +eloquence, more precious, in his opinion, than that of Rome; and in the +subordinate functions of a judge, he forgot the duties of a sovereign +and a warrior. Far from imitating the patriotic indifference of the +authors of his greatness, Ducas was anxious only to secure, at the +expense of the republic, the power and prosperity of his children. His +three sons, Michael the Seventh, Andronicus the First, and Constantine +the Twelfth, were invested, in a tender age, with the equal title of +Augustus; and the succession was speedily opened by their father's +death. His widow, Eudocia, was intrusted with the administration; but +experience had taught the jealousy of the dying monarch to protect his +sons from the danger of her second nuptials; and her solemn engagement, +attested by the principal senators, was deposited in the hands of the +patriarch. Before the end of seven months, the wants of Eudocia, or +those of the state, called aloud for the male virtues of a soldier; and +her heart had already chosen Romanus Diogenes, whom she raised from +the scaffold to the throne. The discovery of a treasonable attempt had +exposed him to the severity of the laws: his beauty and valor absolved +him in the eyes of the empress; and Romanus, from a mild exile, was +recalled on the second day to the command of the Oriental armies. + +Her royal choice was yet unknown to the public; and the promise which +would have betrayed her falsehood and levity, was stolen by a dexterous +emissary from the ambition of the patriarch. Xiphilin at first alleged +the sanctity of oaths, and the sacred nature of a trust; but a whisper, +that his brother was the future emperor, relaxed his scruples, and +forced him to confess that the public safety was the supreme law. He +resigned the important paper; and when his hopes were confounded by the +nomination of Romanus, he could no longer regain his security, retract +his declarations, nor oppose the second nuptials of the empress. Yet +a murmur was heard in the palace; and the Barbarian guards had raised +their battle-axes in the cause of the house of Lucas, till the young +princes were soothed by the tears of their mother and the solemn +assurances of the fidelity of their guardian, who filled the Imperial +station with dignity and honor. Hereafter I shall relate his valiant, +but unsuccessful, efforts to resist the progress of the Turks. His +defeat and captivity inflicted a deadly wound on the Byzantine monarchy +of the East; and after he was released from the chains of the sultan, he +vainly sought his wife and his subjects. His wife had been thrust into +a monastery, and the subjects of Romanus had embraced the rigid maxim of +the civil law, that a prisoner in the hands of the enemy is deprived, +as by the stroke of death, of all the public and private rights of a +citizen. In the general consternation, the Caesar John asserted the +indefeasible right of his three nephews: Constantinople listened to +his voice: and the Turkish captive was proclaimed in the capital, and +received on the frontier, as an enemy of the republic. Romanus was not +more fortunate in domestic than in foreign war: the loss of two +battles compelled him to yield, on the assurance of fair and honorable +treatment; but his enemies were devoid of faith or humanity; and, after +the cruel extinction of his sight, his wounds were left to bleed and +corrupt, till in a few days he was relieved from a state of misery. +Under the triple reign of the house of Ducas, the two younger brothers +were reduced to the vain honors of the purple; but the eldest, the +pusillanimous Michael, was incapable of sustaining the Roman sceptre; +and his surname of Parapinaces denotes the reproach which he shared +with an avaricious favorite, who enhanced the price, and diminished the +measure, of wheat. In the school of Psellus, and after the example of +his mother, the son of Eudocia made some proficiency in philosophy and +rhetoric; but his character was degraded, rather than ennobled, by the +virtues of a monk and the learning of a sophist. Strong in the contempt +of their sovereign and their own esteem, two generals, at the head of +the European and Asiatic legions, assumed the purple at Adrianople and +Nice. Their revolt was in the same months; they bore the same name of +Nicephorus; but the two candidates were distinguished by the surnames +of Bryennius and Botaniates; the former in the maturity of wisdom and +courage, the latter conspicuous only by the memory of his past exploits. +While Botaniates advanced with cautious and dilatory steps, his active +competitor stood in arms before the gates of Constantinople. The name +of Bryennius was illustrious; his cause was popular; but his licentious +troops could not be restrained from burning and pillaging a suburb; and +the people, who would have hailed the rebel, rejected and repulsed +the incendiary of his country. This change of the public opinion +was favorable to Botaniates, who at length, with an army of Turks, +approached the shores of Chalcedon. A formal invitation, in the name +of the patriarch, the synod, and the senate, was circulated through the +streets of Constantinople; and the general assembly, in the dome of +St. Sophia, debated, with order and calmness, on the choice of their +sovereign. The guards of Michael would have dispersed this unarmed +multitude; but the feeble emperor, applauding his own moderation and +clemency, resigned the ensigns of royalty, and was rewarded with the +monastic habit, and the title of Archbishop of Ephesus. He left a son, +a Constantine, born and educated in the purple; and a daughter of the +house of Ducas illustrated the blood, and confirmed the succession, of +the Comnenian dynasty. + +John Comnenus, the brother of the emperor Isaac, survived in peace and +dignity his generous refusal of the sceptre. By his wife Anne, a woman +of masculine spirit and a policy, he left eight children: the three +daughters multiplied the Comnenian alliance with the noblest of the +Greeks: of the five sons, Manuel was stopped by a premature death; Isaac +and Alexius restored the Imperial greatness of their house, which was +enjoyed without toil or danger by the two younger brethren, Adrian and +Nicephorus. Alexius, the third and most illustrious of the brothers was +endowed by nature with the choicest gifts both of mind and body: they +were cultivated by a liberal education, and exercised in the school of +obedience and adversity. The youth was dismissed from the perils of the +Turkish war, by the paternal care of the emperor Romanus: but the mother +of the Comneni, with her aspiring face, was accused of treason, and +banished, by the sons of Ducas, to an island in the Propontis. The two +brothers soon emerged into favor and action, fought by each other's side +against the rebels and Barbarians, and adhered to the emperor Michael, +till he was deserted by the world and by himself. In his first interview +with Botaniates, "Prince," said Alexius with a noble frankness, "my duty +rendered me your enemy; the decrees of God and of the people have made +me your subject. Judge of my future loyalty by my past opposition." The +successor of Michael entertained him with esteem and confidence: his +valor was employed against three rebels, who disturbed the peace of the +empire, or at least of the emperors. Ursel, Bryennius, and Basilacius, +were formidable by their numerous forces and military fame: they were +successively vanquished in the field, and led in chains to the foot of +the throne; and whatever treatment they might receive from a timid and +cruel court, they applauded the clemency, as well as the courage, of +their conqueror. But the loyalty of the Comneni was soon tainted by fear +and suspicion; nor is it easy to settle between a subject and a despot, +the debt of gratitude, which the former is tempted to claim by a revolt, +and the latter to discharge by an executioner. The refusal of Alexius to +march against a fourth rebel, the husband of his sister, destroyed +the merit or memory of his past services: the favorites of Botaniates +provoked the ambition which they apprehended and accused; and the +retreat of the two brothers might be justified by the defence of their +life and liberty. The women of the family were deposited in a sanctuary, +respected by tyrants: the men, mounted on horseback, sallied from the +city, and erected the standard of civil war. The soldiers who had been +gradually assembled in the capital and the neighborhood, were devoted +to the cause of a victorious and injured leader: the ties of common +interest and domestic alliance secured the attachment of the house of +Ducas; and the generous dispute of the Comneni was terminated by the +decisive resolution of Isaac, who was the first to invest his younger +brother with the name and ensigns of royalty. They returned to +Constantinople, to threaten rather than besiege that impregnable +fortress; but the fidelity of the guards was corrupted; a gate was +surprised, and the fleet was occupied by the active courage of George +Palaeologus, who fought against his father, without foreseeing that he +labored for his posterity. Alexius ascended the throne; and his aged +competitor disappeared in a monastery. An army of various nations was +gratified with the pillage of the city; but the public disorders were +expiated by the tears and fasts of the Comneni, who submitted to every +penance compatible with the possession of the empire. The life of the +emperor Alexius has been delineated by a favorite daughter, who was +inspired by a tender regard for his person and a laudable zeal to +perpetuate his virtues. Conscious of the just suspicions of her readers, +the princess Anna Comnena repeatedly protests, that, besides her +personal knowledge, she had searched the discourses and writings of +the most respectable veterans: and after an interval of thirty years, +forgotten by, and forgetful of, the world, her mournful solitude was +inaccessible to hope and fear; and that truth, the naked perfect truth, +was more dear and sacred than the memory of her parent. Yet, instead +of the simplicity of style and narrative which wins our belief, an +elaborate affectation of rhetoric and science betrays in every page the +vanity of a female author. The genuine character of Alexius is lost in +a vague constellation of virtues; and the perpetual strain of panegyric +and apology awakens our jealousy, to question the veracity of the +historian and the merit of the hero. We cannot, however, refuse her +judicious and important remark, that the disorders of the times were the +misfortune and the glory of Alexius; and that every calamity which can +afflict a declining empire was accumulated on his reign by the justice +of Heaven and the vices of his predecessors. In the East, the victorious +Turks had spread, from Persia to the Hellespont, the reign of the Koran +and the Crescent: the West was invaded by the adventurous valor of +the Normans; and, in the moments of peace, the Danube poured forth new +swarms, who had gained, in the science of war, what they had lost in the +ferociousness of manners. The sea was not less hostile than the land; +and while the frontiers were assaulted by an open enemy, the palace was +distracted with secret treason and conspiracy. On a sudden, the banner +of the Cross was displayed by the Latins; Europe was precipitated on +Asia; and Constantinople had almost been swept away by this impetuous +deluge. In the tempest, Alexius steered the Imperial vessel with +dexterity and courage. At the head of his armies, he was bold in +action, skilful in stratagem, patient of fatigue, ready to improve his +advantages, and rising from his defeats with inexhaustible vigor. The +discipline of the camp was revived, and a new generation of men and +soldiers was created by the example and precepts of their leader. In +his intercourse with the Latins, Alexius was patient and artful: his +discerning eye pervaded the new system of an unknown world and I shall +hereafter describe the superior policy with which he balanced the +interests and passions of the champions of the first crusade. In a long +reign of thirty-seven years, he subdued and pardoned the envy of his +equals: the laws of public and private order were restored: the arts +of wealth and science were cultivated: the limits of the empire were +enlarged in Europe and Asia; and the Comnenian sceptre was transmitted +to his children of the third and fourth generation. Yet the difficulties +of the times betrayed some defects in his character; and have exposed +his memory to some just or ungenerous reproach. The reader may possibly +smile at the lavish praise which his daughter so often bestows on a +flying hero: the weakness or prudence of his situation might be mistaken +for a want of personal courage; and his political arts are branded by +the Latins with the names of deceit and dissimulation. The increase +of the male and female branches of his family adorned the throne, and +secured the succession; but their princely luxury and pride offended +the patricians, exhausted the revenue, and insulted the misery of the +people. Anna is a faithful witness that his happiness was destroyed, and +his health was broken, by the cares of a public life; the patience of +Constantinople was fatigued by the length and severity of his reign; +and before Alexius expired, he had lost the love and reverence of his +subjects. The clergy could not forgive his application of the sacred +riches to the defence of the state; but they applauded his theological +learning and ardent zeal for the orthodox faith, which he defended with +his tongue, his pen, and his sword. His character was degraded by the +superstition of the Greeks; and the same inconsistent principle of human +nature enjoined the emperor to found a hospital for the poor and infirm, +and to direct the execution of a heretic, who was burned alive in the +square of St. Sophia. Even the sincerity of his moral and religious +virtues was suspected by the persons who had passed their lives in his +familiar confidence. In his last hours, when he was pressed by his wife +Irene to alter the succession, he raised his head, and breathed a pious +ejaculation on the vanity of this world. The indignant reply of the +empress may be inscribed as an epitaph on his tomb, "You die, as you +have lived--A Hypocrite!" + +It was the wish of Irene to supplant the eldest of her surviving sons, +in favor of her daughter the princess Anne whose philosophy would not +have refused the weight of a diadem. But the order of male succession +was asserted by the friends of their country; the lawful heir drew the +royal signet from the finger of his insensible or conscious father and +the empire obeyed the master of the palace. Anna Comnena was stimulated +by ambition and revenge to conspire against the life of her brother, and +when the design was prevented by the fears or scruples of her husband, +she passionately exclaimed that nature had mistaken the two sexes, and +had endowed Bryennius with the soul of a woman. The two sons of Alexius, +John and Isaac, maintained the fraternal concord, the hereditary virtue +of their race, and the younger brother was content with the title of +Sebastocrator, which approached the dignity, without sharing the power, +of the emperor. In the same person the claims of primogeniture and merit +were fortunately united; his swarthy complexion, harsh features, and +diminutive stature, had suggested the ironical surname of Calo-Johannes, +or John the Handsome, which his grateful subjects more seriously applied +to the beauties of his mind. After the discovery of her treason, the +life and fortune of Anne were justly forfeited to the laws. Her life +was spared by the clemency of the emperor; but he visited the pomp and +treasures of her palace, and bestowed the rich confiscation on the most +deserving of his friends. That respectable friend Axuch, a slave of +Turkish extraction, presumed to decline the gift, and to intercede for +the criminal: his generous master applauded and imitated the virtue of +his favorite, and the reproach or complaint of an injured brother was +the only chastisement of the guilty princess. After this example of +clemency, the remainder of his reign was never disturbed by conspiracy +or rebellion: feared by his nobles, beloved by his people, John +was never reduced to the painful necessity of punishing, or even of +pardoning, his personal enemies. During his government of twenty-five +years, the penalty of death was abolished in the Roman empire, a law of +mercy most delightful to the humane theorist, but of which the practice, +in a large and vicious community, is seldom consistent with the +public safety. Severe to himself, indulgent to others, chaste, frugal, +abstemious, the philosophic Marcus would not have disdained the artless +virtues of his successor, derived from his heart, and not borrowed from +the schools. He despised and moderated the stately magnificence of the +Byzantine court, so oppressive to the people, so contemptible to the eye +of reason. Under such a prince, innocence had nothing to fear, and merit +had every thing to hope; and, without assuming the tyrannic office of a +censor, he introduced a gradual though visible reformation in the +public and private manners of Constantinople. The only defect of this +accomplished character was the frailty of noble minds, the love of arms +and military glory. Yet the frequent expeditions of John the Handsome +may be justified, at least in their principle, by the necessity of +repelling the Turks from the Hellespont and the Bosphorus. The sultan of +Iconium was confined to his capital, the Barbarians were driven to the +mountains, and the maritime provinces of Asia enjoyed the transient +blessings of their deliverance. From Constantinople to Antioch and +Aleppo, he repeatedly marched at the head of a victorious army, and +in the sieges and battles of this holy war, his Latin allies were +astonished by the superior spirit and prowess of a Greek. As he began +to indulge the ambitious hope of restoring the ancient limits of the +empire, as he revolved in his mind, the Euphrates and Tigris, the +dominion of Syria, and the conquest of Jerusalem, the thread of his life +and of the public felicity was broken by a singular accident. He hunted +the wild boar in the valley of Anazarbus, and had fixed his javelin in +the body of the furious animal; but in the struggle a poisoned arrow +dropped from his quiver, and a slight wound in his hand, which produced +a mortification, was fatal to the best and greatest of the Comnenian +princes. + + + + + +Chapter XLVIII: Succession And Characters Of The Greek Emperors.--Part V. + +A premature death had swept away the two eldest sons of John the +Handsome; of the two survivors, Isaac and Manuel, his judgment or +affection preferred the younger; and the choice of their dying prince +was ratified by the soldiers, who had applauded the valor of his +favorite in the Turkish war The faithful Axuch hastened to the capital, +secured the person of Isaac in honorable confinement, and purchased, +with a gift of two hundred pounds of silver, the leading ecclesiastics +of St. Sophia, who possessed a decisive voice in the consecration of an +emperor. With his veteran and affectionate troops, Manuel soon visited +Constantinople; his brother acquiesced in the title of Sebastocrator; +his subjects admired the lofty stature and martial graces of their new +sovereign, and listened with credulity to the flattering promise, that +he blended the wisdom of age with the activity and vigor of youth. By +the experience of his government, they were taught, that he emulated the +spirit, and shared the talents, of his father whose social virtues +were buried in the grave. A reign of thirty seven years is filled by a +perpetual though various warfare against the Turks, the Christians, and +the hordes of the wilderness beyond the Danube. The arms of Manuel were +exercised on Mount Taurus, in the plains of Hungary, on the coast of +Italy and Egypt, and on the seas of Sicily and Greece: the influence +of his negotiations extended from Jerusalem to Rome and Russia; and the +Byzantine monarchy, for a while, became an object of respect or terror +to the powers of Asia and Europe. Educated in the silk and purple of the +East, Manuel possessed the iron temper of a soldier, which cannot easily +be paralleled, except in the lives of Richard the First of England, and +of Charles the Twelfth of Sweden. Such was his strength and exercise in +arms, that Raymond, surnamed the Hercules of Antioch, was incapable +of wielding the lance and buckler of the Greek emperor. In a famous +tournament, he entered the lists on a fiery courser, and overturned in +his first career two of the stoutest of the Italian knights. The first +in the charge, the last in the retreat, his friends and his enemies +alike trembled, the former for his safety, and the latter for their own. +After posting an ambuscade in a wood, he rode forwards in search of some +perilous adventure, accompanied only by his brother and the faithful +Axuch, who refused to desert their sovereign. Eighteen horsemen, after a +short combat, fled before them: but the numbers of the enemy increased; +the march of the reenforcement was tardy and fearful, and Manuel, +without receiving a wound, cut his way through a squadron of five +hundred Turks. In a battle against the Hungarians, impatient of the +slowness of his troops, he snatched a standard from the head of the +column, and was the first, almost alone, who passed a bridge that +separated him from the enemy. In the same country, after transporting +his army beyond the Save, he sent back the boats, with an order under +pain of death, to their commander, that he should leave him to conquer +or die on that hostile land. In the siege of Corfu, towing after him a +captive galley, the emperor stood aloft on the poop, opposing against +the volleys of darts and stones, a large buckler and a flowing sail; +nor could he have escaped inevitable death, had not the Sicilian admiral +enjoined his archers to respect the person of a hero. In one day, he is +said to have slain above forty of the Barbarians with his own hand; he +returned to the camp, dragging along four Turkish prisoners, whom he had +tied to the rings of his saddle: he was ever the foremost to provoke or +to accept a single combat; and the gigantic champions, who encountered +his arm, were transpierced by the lance, or cut asunder by the sword, +of the invincible Manuel. The story of his exploits, which appear as +a model or a copy of the romances of chivalry, may induce a reasonable +suspicion of the veracity of the Greeks: I will not, to vindicate their +credit, endanger my own: yet I may observe, that, in the long series +of their annals, Manuel is the only prince who has been the subject of +similar exaggeration. With the valor of a soldier, he did no unite the +skill or prudence of a general; his victories were not productive of any +permanent or useful conquest; and his Turkish laurels were blasted +in his last unfortunate campaign, in which he lost his army in the +mountains of Pisidia, and owed his deliverance to the generosity of the +sultan. But the most singular feature in the character of Manuel, is +the contrast and vicissitude of labor and sloth, of hardiness and +effeminacy. In war he seemed ignorant of peace, in peace he appeared +incapable of war. In the field he slept in the sun or in the snow, tired +in the longest marches the strength of his men and horses, and shared +with a smile the abstinence or diet of the camp. No sooner did he return +to Constantinople, than he resigned himself to the arts and pleasures of +a life of luxury: the expense of his dress, his table, and his palace, +surpassed the measure of his predecessors, and whole summer days were +idly wasted in the delicious isles of the Propontis, in the incestuous +love of his niece Theodora. The double cost of a warlike and dissolute +prince exhausted the revenue, and multiplied the taxes; and Manuel, in +the distress of his last Turkish campaign, endured a bitter reproach +from the mouth of a desperate soldier. As he quenched his thirst, he +complained that the water of a fountain was mingled with Christian +blood. "It is not the first time," exclaimed a voice from the crowd, +"that you have drank, O emperor, the blood of your Christian subjects." +Manuel Comnenus was twice married, to the virtuous Bertha or Irene +of Germany, and to the beauteous Maria, a French or Latin princess of +Antioch. The only daughter of his first wife was destined for Bela, a +Hungarian prince, who was educated at Constantinople under the name of +Alexius; and the consummation of their nuptials might have transferred +the Roman sceptre to a race of free and warlike Barbarians. But as +soon as Maria of Antioch had given a son and heir to the empire, the +presumptive rights of Bela were abolished, and he was deprived of +his promised bride; but the Hungarian prince resumed his name and the +kingdom of his fathers, and displayed such virtues as might excite the +regret and envy of the Greeks. The son of Maria was named Alexius; and +at the age of ten years he ascended the Byzantine throne, after his +father's decease had closed the glories of the Comnenian line. + +The fraternal concord of the two sons of the great Alexius had been +sometimes clouded by an opposition of interest and passion. By ambition, +Isaac the Sebastocrator was excited to flight and rebellion, from whence +he was reclaimed by the firmness and clemency of John the Handsome. The +errors of Isaac, the father of the emperors of Trebizond, were short and +venial; but John, the elder of his sons, renounced forever his religion. +Provoked by a real or imaginary insult of his uncle, he escaped from the +Roman to the Turkish camp: his apostasy was rewarded with the sultan's +daughter, the title of Chelebi, or noble, and the inheritance of a +princely estate; and in the fifteenth century, Mahomet the Second +boasted of his Imperial descent from the Comnenian family. Andronicus, +the younger brother of John, son of Isaac, and grandson of Alexius +Comnenus, is one of the most conspicuous characters of the age; and his +genuine adventures might form the subject of a very singular romance. To +justify the choice of three ladies of royal birth, it is incumbent on me +to observe, that their fortunate lover was cast in the best proportions +of strength and beauty; and that the want of the softer graces was +supplied by a manly countenance, a lofty stature, athletic muscles, and +the air and deportment of a soldier. The preservation, in his old age, +of health and vigor, was the reward of temperance and exercise. A piece +of bread and a draught of water was often his sole and evening repast; +and if he tasted of a wild boar or a stag, which he had roasted with his +own hands, it was the well-earned fruit of a laborious chase. Dexterous +in arms, he was ignorant of fear; his persuasive eloquence could bend +to every situation and character of life, his style, though not his +practice, was fashioned by the example of St. Paul; and, in every deed +of mischief, he had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a +hand to execute. In his youth, after the death of the emperor John, he +followed the retreat of the Roman army; but, in the march through Asia +Minor, design or accident tempted him to wander in the mountains: the +hunter was encompassed by the Turkish huntsmen, and he remained some +time a reluctant or willing captive in the power of the sultan. His +virtues and vices recommended him to the favor of his cousin: he shared +the perils and the pleasures of Manuel; and while the emperor lived +in public incest with his niece Theodora, the affections of her sister +Eudocia were seduced and enjoyed by Andronicus. Above the decencies of +her sex and rank, she gloried in the name of his concubine; and both +the palace and the camp could witness that she slept, or watched, in +the arms of her lover. She accompanied him to his military command of +Cilicia, the first scene of his valor and imprudence. He pressed, with +active ardor, the siege of Mopsuestia: the day was employed in the +boldest attacks; but the night was wasted in song and dance; and a band +of Greek comedians formed the choicest part of his retinue. Andronicus +was surprised by the sally of a vigilant foe; but, while his troops fled +in disorder, his invincible lance transpierced the thickest ranks of +the Armenians. On his return to the Imperial camp in Macedonia, he was +received by Manuel with public smiles and a private reproof; but +the duchies of Naissus, Braniseba, and Castoria, were the reward or +consolation of the unsuccessful general. Eudocia still attended his +motions: at midnight, their tent was suddenly attacked by her angry +brothers, impatient to expiate her infamy in his blood: his daring +spirit refused her advice, and the disguise of a female habit; and, +boldly starting from his couch, he drew his sword, and cut his way +through the numerous assassins. It was here that he first betrayed his +ingratitude and treachery: he engaged in a treasonable correspondence +with the king of Hungary and the German emperor; approached the royal +tent at a suspicious hour with a drawn sword, and under the mask of a +Latin soldier, avowed an intention of revenge against a mortal foe; +and imprudently praised the fleetness of his horse as an instrument of +flight and safety. The monarch dissembled his suspicions; but, after the +close of the campaign, Andronicus was arrested and strictly confined in +a tower of the palace of Constantinople. + +In this prison he was left about twelve years; a most painful restraint, +from which the thirst of action and pleasure perpetually urged him to +escape. Alone and pensive, he perceived some broken bricks in a corner +of the chamber, and gradually widened the passage, till he had explored +a dark and forgotten recess. Into this hole he conveyed himself, and +the remains of his provisions, replacing the bricks in their former +position, and erasing with care the footsteps of his retreat. At the +hour of the customary visit, his guards were amazed by the silence +and solitude of the prison, and reported, with shame and fear, his +incomprehensible flight. The gates of the palace and city were instantly +shut: the strictest orders were despatched into the provinces, for the +recovery of the fugitive; and his wife, on the suspicion of a pious act, +was basely imprisoned in the same tower. At the dead of night she beheld +a spectre; she recognized her husband: they shared their provisions; +and a son was the fruit of these stolen interviews, which alleviated +the tediousness of their confinement. In the custody of a woman, the +vigilance of the keepers was insensibly relaxed; and the captive had +accomplished his real escape, when he was discovered, brought back to +Constantinople, and loaded with a double chain. At length he found the +moment, and the means, of his deliverance. A boy, his domestic servant, +intoxicated the guards, and obtained in wax the impression of the keys. +By the diligence of his friends, a similar key, with a bundle of ropes, +was introduced into the prison, in the bottom of a hogshead. Andronicus +employed, with industry and courage, the instruments of his safety, +unlocked the doors, descended from the tower, concealed himself all day +among the bushes, and scaled in the night the garden-wall of the palace. +A boat was stationed for his reception: he visited his own house, +embraced his children, cast away his chain, mounted a fleet horse, and +directed his rapid course towards the banks of the Danube. At Anchialus +in Thrace, an intrepid friend supplied him with horses and money: he +passed the river, traversed with speed the desert of Moldavia and the +Carpathian hills, and had almost reached the town of Halicz, in the +Polish Russia, when he was intercepted by a party of Walachians, who +resolved to convey their important captive to Constantinople. His +presence of mind again extricated him from danger. Under the pretence of +sickness, he dismounted in the night, and was allowed to step aside from +the troop: he planted in the ground his long staff, clothed it with his +cap and upper garment; and, stealing into the wood, left a phantom to +amuse, for some time, the eyes of the Walachians. From Halicz he was +honorably conducted to Kiow, the residence of the great duke: the +subtle Greek soon obtained the esteem and confidence of Ieroslaus; his +character could assume the manners of every climate; and the Barbarians +applauded his strength and courage in the chase of the elks and bears +of the forest. In this northern region he deserved the forgiveness +of Manuel, who solicited the Russian prince to join his arms in the +invasion of Hungary. The influence of Andronicus achieved this important +service: his private treaty was signed with a promise of fidelity on one +side, and of oblivion on the other; and he marched, at the head of the +Russian cavalry, from the Borysthenes to the Danube. In his resentment +Manuel had ever sympathized with the martial and dissolute character of +his cousin; and his free pardon was sealed in the assault of Zemlin, in +which he was second, and second only, to the valor of the emperor. + +No sooner was the exile restored to freedom and his country, than his +ambition revived, at first to his own, and at length to the public, +misfortune. A daughter of Manuel was a feeble bar to the succession of +the more deserving males of the Comnenian blood; her future marriage +with the prince of Hungary was repugnant to the hopes or prejudices of +the princes and nobles. But when an oath of allegiance was required to +the presumptive heir, Andronicus alone asserted the honor of the Roman +name, declined the unlawful engagement, and boldly protested against the +adoption of a stranger. His patriotism was offensive to the emperor, but +he spoke the sentiments of the people, and was removed from the royal +presence by an honorable banishment, a second command of the Cilician +frontier, with the absolute disposal of the revenues of Cyprus. In +this station the Armenians again exercised his courage and exposed his +negligence; and the same rebel, who baffled all his operations, was +unhorsed, and almost slain by the vigor of his lance. But Andronicus +soon discovered a more easy and pleasing conquest, the beautiful +Philippa, sister of the empress Maria, and daughter of Raymond of +Poitou, the Latin prince of Antioch. For her sake he deserted his +station, and wasted the summer in balls and tournaments: to his love +she sacrificed her innocence, her reputation, and the offer of an +advantageous marriage. But the resentment of Manuel for this domestic +affront interrupted his pleasures: Andronicus left the indiscreet +princess to weep and to repent; and, with a band of desperate +adventurers, undertook the pilgrimage of Jerusalem. His birth, his +martial renown, and professions of zeal, announced him as the champion +of the Cross: he soon captivated both the clergy and the king; and the +Greek prince was invested with the lordship of Berytus, on the coast of +Phoenicia. + +In his neighborhood resided a young and handsome queen, of his own +nation and family, great-granddaughter of the emperor Alexis, and widow +of Baldwin the Third, king of Jerusalem. She visited and loved her +kinsman. Theodora was the third victim of his amorous seduction; and her +shame was more public and scandalous than that of her predecessors. The +emperor still thirsted for revenge; and his subjects and allies of the +Syrian frontier were repeatedly pressed to seize the person, and put out +the eyes, of the fugitive. In Palestine he was no longer safe; but the +tender Theodora revealed his danger, and accompanied his flight. The +queen of Jerusalem was exposed to the East, his obsequious concubine; +and two illegitimate children were the living monuments of her weakness. +Damascus was his first refuge; and, in the characters of the great +Noureddin and his servant Saladin, the superstitious Greek might learn +to revere the virtues of the Mussulmans. As the friend of Noureddin he +visited, most probably, Bagdad, and the courts of Persia; and, after +a long circuit round the Caspian Sea and the mountains of Georgia, he +finally settled among the Turks of Asia Minor, the hereditary enemies +of his country. The sultan of Colonia afforded a hospitable retreat to +Andronicus, his mistress, and his band of outlaws: the debt of gratitude +was paid by frequent inroads in the Roman province of Trebizond; and +he seldom returned without an ample harvest of spoil and of Christian +captives. In the story of his adventures, he was fond of comparing +himself to David, who escaped, by a long exile, the snares of the +wicked. But the royal prophet (he presumed to add) was content to lurk +on the borders of Judaea, to slay an Amalekite, and to threaten, in his +miserable state, the life of the avaricious Nabal. The excursions of the +Comnenian prince had a wider range; and he had spread over the Eastern +world the glory of his name and religion. + +By a sentence of the Greek church, the licentious rover had been +separated from the faithful; but even this excommunication may prove, +that he never abjured the profession of Chistianity. + +His vigilance had eluded or repelled the open and secret persecution +of the emperor; but he was at length insnared by the captivity of his +female companion. The governor of Trebizond succeeded in his attempt +to surprise the person of Theodora: the queen of Jerusalem and her two +children were sent to Constantinople, and their loss imbittered the +tedious solitude of banishment. The fugitive implored and obtained a +final pardon, with leave to throw himself at the feet of his sovereign, +who was satisfied with the submission of this haughty spirit. Prostrate +on the ground, he deplored with tears and groans the guilt of his past +rebellion; nor would he presume to arise, unless some faithful subject +would drag him to the foot of the throne, by an iron chain with which he +had secretly encircled his neck. This extraordinary penance excited the +wonder and pity of the assembly; his sins were forgiven by the church +and state; but the just suspicion of Manuel fixed his residence at a +distance from the court, at Oenoe, a town of Pontus, surrounded with +rich vineyards, and situate on the coast of the Euxine. The death of +Manuel, and the disorders of the minority, soon opened the fairest field +to his ambition. The emperor was a boy of twelve or fourteen years of +age, without vigor, or wisdom, or experience: his mother, the empress +Mary, abandoned her person and government to a favorite of the Comnenian +name; and his sister, another Mary, whose husband, an Italian, was +decorated with the title of Caesar, excited a conspiracy, and at length +an insurrection, against her odious step-mother. The provinces were +forgotten, the capital was in flames, and a century of peace and order +was overthrown in the vice and weakness of a few months. A civil war was +kindled in Constantinople; the two factions fought a bloody battle in +the square of the palace, and the rebels sustained a regular siege in +the cathedral of St. Sophia. The patriarch labored with honest zeal to +heal the wounds of the republic, the most respectable patriots called +aloud for a guardian and avenger, and every tongue repeated the praise +of the talents and even the virtues of Andronicus. In his retirement, +he affected to revolve the solemn duties of his oath: "If the safety or +honor of the Imperial family be threatened, I will reveal and oppose +the mischief to the utmost of my power." His correspondence with the +patriarch and patricians was seasoned with apt quotations from the +Psalms of David and the epistles of St. Paul; and he patiently waited +till he was called to her deliverance by the voice of his country. In +his march from Oenoe to Constantinople, his slender train insensibly +swelled to a crowd and an army: his professions of religion and loyalty +were mistaken for the language of his heart; and the simplicity of a +foreign dress, which showed to advantage his majestic stature, displayed +a lively image of his poverty and exile. All opposition sunk before him; +he reached the straits of the Thracian Bosphorus; the Byzantine navy +sailed from the harbor to receive and transport the savior of the +empire: the torrent was loud and irresistible, and the insects who had +basked in the sunshine of royal favor disappeared at the blast of the +storm. It was the first care of Andronicus to occupy the palace, to +salute the emperor, to confine his mother, to punish her minister, +and to restore the public order and tranquillity. He then visited the +sepulchre of Manuel: the spectators were ordered to stand aloof, but as +he bowed in the attitude of prayer, they heard, or thought they heard, a +murmur of triumph or revenge: "I no longer fear thee, my old enemy, who +hast driven me a vagabond to every climate of the earth. Thou art safety +deposited under a seven-fold dome, from whence thou canst never arise +till the signal of the last trumpet. It is now my turn, and speedily +will I trample on thy ashes and thy posterity." From his subsequent +tyranny we may impute such feelings to the man and the moment; but it +is not extremely probable that he gave an articulate sound to his secret +thoughts. In the first months of his administration, his designs were +veiled by a fair semblance of hypocrisy, which could delude only the +eyes of the multitude; the coronation of Alexius was performed with due +solemnity, and his perfidious guardian, holding in his hands the body +and blood of Christ, most fervently declared that he lived, and was +ready to die, for the service of his beloved pupil. But his numerous +adherents were instructed to maintain, that the sinking empire must +perish in the hands of a child, that the Romans could only be saved by a +veteran prince, bold in arms, skilful in policy, and taught to reign by +the long experience of fortune and mankind; and that it was the duty of +every citizen to force the reluctant modesty of Andronicus to undertake +the burden of the public care. The young emperor was himself constrained +to join his voice to the general acclamation, and to solicit the +association of a colleague, who instantly degraded him from the supreme +rank, secluded his person, and verified the rash declaration of the +patriarch, that Alexius might be considered as dead, so soon as he was +committed to the custody of his guardian. But his death was preceded +by the imprisonment and execution of his mother. After blackening her +reputation, and inflaming against her the passions of the multitude, the +tyrant accused and tried the empress for a treasonable correspondence +with the king of Hungary. His own son, a youth of honor and humanity, +avowed his abhorrence of this flagitious act, and three of the judges +had the merit of preferring their conscience to their safety: but the +obsequious tribunal, without requiring any reproof, or hearing any +defence, condemned the widow of Manuel; and her unfortunate son +subscribed the sentence of her death. Maria was strangled, her corpse +was buried in the sea, and her memory was wounded by the insult most +offensive to female vanity, a false and ugly representation of her +beauteous form. The fate of her son was not long deferred: he was +strangled with a bowstring; and the tyrant, insensible to pity or +remorse, after surveying the body of the innocent youth, struck it +rudely with his foot: "Thy father," he cried, "was a knave, thy mother a +whore, and thyself a fool!" + +The Roman sceptre, the reward of his crimes, was held by Andronicus +about three years and a half as the guardian or sovereign of the empire. +His government exhibited a singular contrast of vice and virtue. When +he listened to his passions, he was the scourge; when he consulted his +reason, the father, of his people. In the exercise of private justice, +he was equitable and rigorous: a shameful and pernicious venality +was abolished, and the offices were filled with the most deserving +candidates, by a prince who had sense to choose, and severity to punish. +He prohibited the inhuman practice of pillaging the goods and persons of +shipwrecked mariners; the provinces, so long the objects of oppression +or neglect, revived in prosperity and plenty; and millions applauded the +distant blessings of his reign, while he was cursed by the witnesses of +his daily cruelties. The ancient proverb, That bloodthirsty is the man +who returns from banishment to power, had been applied, with too much +truth, to 'Marius and Tiberius; and was now verified for the third time +in the life of Andronicus. His memory was stored with a black list +of the enemies and rivals, who had traduced his merit, opposed his +greatness, or insulted his misfortunes; and the only comfort of +his exile was the sacred hope and promise of revenge. The necessary +extinction of the young emperor and his mother imposed the fatal +obligation of extirpating the friends, who hated, and might punish, the +assassin; and the repetition of murder rendered him less willing, and +less able, to forgive. [1018] A horrid narrative of the victims whom he +sacrificed by poison or the sword, by the sea or the flames, would be +less expressive of his cruelty than the appellation of the halcyon days, +which was applied to a rare and bloodless week of repose: the tyrant +strove to transfer, on the laws and the judges, some portion of his +guilt; but the mask was fallen, and his subjects could no longer mistake +the true author of their calamities. The noblest of the Greeks, +more especially those who, by descent or alliance, might dispute the +Comnenian inheritance, escaped from the monster's den: Nice and Prusa, +Sicily or Cyprus, were their places of refuge; and as their flight was +already criminal, they aggravated their offence by an open revolt, and +the Imperial title. Yet Andronicus resisted the daggers and swords of +his most formidable enemies: Nice and Prusa were reduced and chastised: +the Sicilians were content with the sack of Thessalonica; and the +distance of Cyprus was not more propitious to the rebel than to the +tyrant. His throne was subverted by a rival without merit, and a people +without arms. Isaac Angelus, a descendant in the female line from the +great Alexius, was marked as a victim by the prudence or superstition +of the emperor. [1019] In a moment of despair, Angelus defended his life +and liberty, slew the executioner, and fled to the church of St. Sophia. +The sanctuary was insensibly filled with a curious and mournful crowd, +who, in his fate, prognosticated their own. But their lamentations were +soon turned to curses, and their curses to threats: they dared to +ask, "Why do we fear? why do we obey? We are many, and he is one: our +patience is the only bond of our slavery." With the dawn of day the city +burst into a general sedition, the prisons were thrown open, the coldest +and most servile were roused to the defence of their country, and Isaac, +the second of the name, was raised from the sanctuary to the throne. +Unconscious of his danger, the tyrant was absent; withdrawn from the +toils of state, in the delicious islands of the Propontis. He had +contracted an indecent marriage with Alice, or Agnes, daughter of Lewis +the Seventh, of France, and relict of the unfortunate Alexius; and his +society, more suitable to his temper than to his age, was composed of +a young wife and a favorite concubine. On the first alarm, he rushed +to Constantinople, impatient for the blood of the guilty; but he was +astonished by the silence of the palace, the tumult of the city, and the +general desertion of mankind. Andronicus proclaimed a free pardon to his +subjects; they neither desired, nor would grant, forgiveness; he offered +to resign the crown to his son Manuel; but the virtues of the son could +not expiate his father's crimes. The sea was still open for his retreat; +but the news of the revolution had flown along the coast; when fear had +ceased, obedience was no more: the Imperial galley was pursued and taken +by an armed brigantine; and the tyrant was dragged to the presence of +Isaac Angelus, loaded with fetters, and a long chain round his neck. His +eloquence, and the tears of his female companions, pleaded in vain for +his life; but, instead of the decencies of a legal execution, the new +monarch abandoned the criminal to the numerous sufferers, whom he had +deprived of a father, a husband, or a friend. His teeth and hair, an eye +and a hand, were torn from him, as a poor compensation for their loss: +and a short respite was allowed, that he might feel the bitterness +of death. Astride on a camel, without any danger of a rescue, he was +carried through the city, and the basest of the populace rejoiced to +trample on the fallen majesty of their prince. After a thousand blows +and outrages, Andronicus was hung by the feet, between two pillars, that +supported the statues of a wolf and an a sow; and every hand that could +reach the public enemy, inflicted on his body some mark of ingenious or +brutal cruelty, till two friendly or furious Italians, plunging their +swords into his body, released him from all human punishment. In this +long and painful agony, "Lord, have mercy upon me!" and "Why will you +bruise a broken reed?" were the only words that escaped from his mouth. +Our hatred for the tyrant is lost in pity for the man; nor can we blame +his pusillanimous resignation, since a Greek Christian was no longer +master of his life. + +[Footnote 1018: Fallmerayer (Geschichte des Kaiserthums von Trapezunt, +p. 29, 33) has highly drawn the character of Andronicus. In his view the +extermination of the Byzantine factions and dissolute nobility was part +of a deep-laid and splendid plan for the regeneration of the empire. It +was necessary for the wise and benevolent schemes of the father of his +people to lop off those limbs which were infected with irremediable +pestilence-- "and with necessity, The tyrant's plea, excused his +devilish deeds!!"--Still the fall of Andronicus was a fatal blow to the +Byzantine empire.--M.] + +[Footnote 1019: According to Nicetas, (p. 444,) Andronicus despised the +imbecile Isaac too much to fear him; he was arrested by the officious +zeal of Stephen, the instrument of the Emperor's cruelties.--M.] + +I have been tempted to expatiate on the extraordinary character and +adventures of Andronicus; but I shall here terminate the series of the +Greek emperors since the time of Heraclius. The branches that sprang +from the Comnenian trunk had insensibly withered; and the male line +was continued only in the posterity of Andronicus himself, who, in the +public confusion, usurped the sovereignty of Trebizond, so obscure in +history, and so famous in romance. A private citizen of Philadelphia, +Constantine Angelus, had emerged to wealth and honors, by his +marriage with a daughter of the emperor Alexius. His son Andronicus +is conspicuous only by his cowardice. His grandson Isaac punished and +succeeded the tyrant; but he was dethroned by his own vices, and the +ambition of his brother; and their discord introduced the Latins to the +conquest of Constantinople, the first great period in the fall of the +Eastern empire. + +If we compute the number and duration of the reigns, it will be +found, that a period of six hundred years is filled by sixty emperors, +including in the Augustan list some female sovereigns; and deducting +some usurpers who were never acknowledged in the capital, and some +princes who did not live to possess their inheritance. The average +proportion will allow ten years for each emperor, far below the +chronological rule of Sir Isaac Newton, who, from the experience of +more recent and regular monarchies, has defined about eighteen or twenty +years as the term of an ordinary reign. The Byzantine empire was +most tranquil and prosperous when it could acquiesce in hereditary +succession; five dynasties, the Heraclian, Isaurian, Amorian, Basilian, +and Comnenian families, enjoyed and transmitted the royal patrimony +during their respective series of five, four, three, six, and four +generations; several princes number the years of their reign with those +of their infancy; and Constantine the Seventh and his two grandsons +occupy the space of an entire century. But in the intervals of the +Byzantine dynasties, the succession is rapid and broken, and the name +of a successful candidate is speedily erased by a more fortunate +competitor. Many were the paths that led to the summit of royalty: +the fabric of rebellion was overthrown by the stroke of conspiracy, or +undermined by the silent arts of intrigue: the favorites of the soldiers +or people, of the senate or clergy, of the women and eunuchs, were +alternately clothed with the purple: the means of their elevation were +base, and their end was often contemptible or tragic. A being of the +nature of man, endowed with the same faculties, but with a longer +measure of existence, would cast down a smile of pity and contempt on +the crimes and follies of human ambition, so eager, in a narrow span, +to grasp at a precarious and shortlived enjoyment. It is thus that +the experience of history exalts and enlarges the horizon of our +intellectual view. In a composition of some days, in a perusal of some +hours, six hundred years have rolled away, and the duration of a life or +reign is contracted to a fleeting moment: the grave is ever beside the +throne: the success of a criminal is almost instantly followed by the +loss of his prize and our immortal reason survives and disdains the +sixty phantoms of kings who have passed before our eyes, and faintly +dwell on our remembrance. The observation that, in every age and +climate, ambition has prevailed with the same commanding energy, may +abate the surprise of a philosopher: but while he condemns the vanity, +he may search the motive, of this universal desire to obtain and hold +the sceptre of dominion. To the greater part of the Byzantine series, +we cannot reasonably ascribe the love of fame and of mankind. The virtue +alone of John Comnenus was beneficent and pure: the most illustrious of +the princes, who procede or follow that respectable name, have trod +with some dexterity and vigor the crooked and bloody paths of a selfish +policy: in scrutinizing the imperfect characters of Leo the Isaurian, +Basil the First, and Alexius Comnenus, of Theophilus, the second Basil, +and Manuel Comnenus, our esteem and censure are almost equally balanced; +and the remainder of the Imperial crowd could only desire and expect to +be forgotten by posterity. Was personal happiness the aim and object of +their ambition? I shall not descant on the vulgar topics of the misery +of kings; but I may surely observe, that their condition, of all others, +is the most pregnant with fear, and the least susceptible of hope. For +these opposite passions, a larger scope was allowed in the revolutions +of antiquity, than in the smooth and solid temper of the modern world, +which cannot easily repeat either the triumph of Alexander or the fall +of Darius. But the peculiar infelicity of the Byzantine princes exposed +them to domestic perils, without affording any lively promise of foreign +conquest. From the pinnacle of greatness, Andronicus was precipitated +by a death more cruel and shameful than that of the malefactor; but +the most glorious of his predecessors had much more to dread from +their subjects than to hope from their enemies. The army was licentious +without spirit, the nation turbulent without freedom: the Barbarians of +the East and West pressed on the monarchy, and the loss of the provinces +was terminated by the final servitude of the capital. + +The entire series of Roman emperors, from the first of the Caesars to +the last of the Constantines, extends above fifteen hundred years: +and the term of dominion, unbroken by foreign conquest, surpasses +the measure of the ancient monarchies; the Assyrians or Medes, the +successors of Cyrus, or those of Alexander. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of The Decline and Fall of +the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE *** + +***** This file should be named 734.txt or 734.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/3/734/ + +Produced by David Reed + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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