X. CHAP. verse to the Romans: the place deep with ooze, sinking under those who stood, slippery to such as advanced; their armour heavy, the waters deep; nor could they wield, in that uneasy situation, their weighty javelins The barbarians on the contrary, were inured to encounters in the bogs, their persons tall, their spears long, such as could wound at a distance."46 In this morass the Roman army, after an ineffectual struggle, was irrecoverably lost; nor could the body of the emperor ever be found.47 Such was the fate of Decius, in the fiftieth year of his age; an accomplished prince, active in war, and affable in peace;48 who, together with his son, has deserved to be compared, both in life and death, with the brightest examples of ancient virtue 49 action of llus, cember. This fatal blow humbled, for a very little time, the insolence D. 251, of the legions. They appear to have patiently expected, and submissively obeyed, the decree of the senate, which regulated the succession to the throne. From a just regard for the memory of Decius, the imperial title was conferred on Hostilianus, his only surviving son; but an equal rank, with more effectual power, was granted to Gallus, whose experience and ability seemed equal to the great trust of guardian to the young prince and the distressed empire.50 The first care of the new emperor was to deliver the Illyrian provinces from the intoleraA. D. 252. ble weight of the victorious Goths. He consented to leave in their hands the rich fruits of their invasion, an immense booty, and, what was still more disgraceful, a great number of Goth prisoners of the highest merit and quality. He plentifully supplied their camp with every conveniency that could assuage their angry spirits, or facilitate their so much wished for departure; and he even promised to pay them annually a large sum of gold, on condition they should never afterward infest the Roman territories by their incursions. 51 Retreat of Gallus 4.chases In the the age of the Scipios, the most opulent kings of the ence by earth, who courted the protection of the victorious commonneofan wealth, were gratified with such trifling presents as could only Annual tri- derive a value from the hand that bestowed them; an ivory the pay bute. chair, a coarse garment of purple, an inconsiderable piece of plate, or a quantity of copper coin.52 After the wealth of 46 I have ventured to copy from Tacitus (Annal. i. 64,) the picture of a similar engagement between a Roman army and a German tribe. 47 Jornandes, c. 18. Zosimus, l. i. p. 22. Zonaras, l. xii. p. 627. Aurelius Victor. 48 The Decii were killed before the end of the year two hundred and fifty-one, since the new princes took possession of the consulship on the ensuing calends of January. 49 Hist. August. p. 223, gives them a very honourable place among the small number of good emperors who reigned between Augustus and Dioclesian. 50 Hæc ubi Patres comperere-decernunt. Victor in Cæsaribus. 51 Zonaras, I. xii. p. 628. 62 A Sella, a Toga, and a golden Patera of five pounds weight, were accepted with joy and gratitude by the wealthy king of Egypt (Livy, xxvii. 4.) Quina Millia ris, a weight of copper in value about eighteen pounds sterling, was the usual present made to foreign ambassadors (Livy, xxxi. 9.) Popular discontent. nations had centred in Rome, the emperors displayed their CHAP. greatness, and even their policy, by the regular exercise of X. a steady and moderate liberality toward the allies of the state. They relieved the poverty of the barbarians, honoured their merit, and recompensed their fidelity. These voluntary marks of bounty were understood to flow, not from the fears, but merely from the generosity or the gratitude of the Romans; and whilst presents and subsidies were liberally distributed among friends and suppliants, they were sternly refused to such as claimed them as a debt.53 But this stipulation of an annual payment to a victorious enemy, appeared without disguise in the light of an ignominious tribute; the minds of the Romans were not yet accustomed to accept such unequal laws from a tribe of barbarians; and the prince, who by a necessary concession had probably saved his country, became the object of the general contempt and aversion. The death of Hostilianus, though it happened in the midst of a raging pestilence, was interpreted as the personal crime of Gallus;54 and even the defeat of the late emperor was ascribed by the voice of suspicion to the perfidious counsels of his hated successor.55 The tranquillity which the empire enjoyed during the first year of his administration, 56 served rather to inflame than to appease the public discontent; and, as soon as the apprehensions of war were removed, the infamy of the peace was more deeply and more sensibly felt. revolt of But the Romans were irritated to a still higher degree, when Victory and they discovered that they had not even secured their repose, Emilianus. though at the expense of their honour. The dangerous secret A. D. 263. of the wealth and weakness of the empire, had been revealed to the world. New swarms of barbarians, encouraged by the success, and not conceiving themselves bound by the obligation, of their brethren, spread devastation through the Illyrian provinces, and terror as far as the gates of Rome. The defence of the monarchy, which seemed abandoned by the pusillanimous emperor, was assumed by Emilianus, governor of Pannonia and Mæsia; who rallied the scattered forces, and revived the fainting, spirits of the troops. The barbarians were unexpectedly attacked, routed, chased, and pursued beyond the Danube. The victorious leader distributed as a donative the money collected for the tribute, and the acclamations of the soldiers proclaimed him emperor, on the field of battle.57 Gallus, who careless of the general welfare, indulged himself in the pleasures of Italy, was almost in the same 53 See the the firmness of a Roman general so late as the time of Alexander Severus, in the Excerpta Legationum, p. 25, Edit. Louvre. 54 For the plague, see Jornandes, c. 19, and Victor in Cæsaribus. 55 These improbable accusations are alleged by Zosimus, l. i. p. 23, 24. 56 Jornandes, c. 19. The Gothic writers at least observed the peace which his victorious countrymen had sworn to Gallus. 57 Zosimus, l. i. p. 25, 26. X. Gallus abandoned and slain, A. D. 253, CHAP. instant informed of the success of the revolt, and of the rapid approach of his aspiring lieutenant. He advanced to meet him as far as the plains of Spoleto. When the armies came in sight of each other, the soldiers of Gallus compared the ignominious conduct of their sovereign with the glory of his rival. They admired the valour of Emilianus; they were attracted by his liberality, for he offered a considerable increase of pay to all deserters 58 The murder of Gallus, and of his son Volusianus, put an end to the civil war; and the senate gave a legal sanction to the rights of conquest. The letters of Æmilianus to that assembly, displayed a mixture of moderation and vanity. He assured them that he should resign to their wisdom the civil administration; and contenting himself with the quality of their general, would in a short time assert the glory of Rome, and deliver the empire from all the barbarians both of the North and of the East.59 His pride was flattered by the applause of the senate; and medals are still extant representing him with the name and attributes of Hercules the Victor, and of Mars the Avenger.60 May. venges the death of * acknow neror. Valerian re- If the new monarch possessed the abilities, he wanted the time necessary to fulfil these splendid promises. Less allus, and than four months intervened between his victory and his fall. 61 ledged em- He had vanquished Gallus: he sunk under the weight of a competitor more formidable than Gallus. That unfortunate prince had sent Valerian, already distinguished by the honourable title of censor, to bring the legions of Gaul and Germany62 to his aid. Valerian executed that commission with zeal and fidelity; and as he arrived too late to save his sovereign, he resolved to revenge him. The troops of Æmilianus, who still lay encamped in the plains of Spoleto, were awed by the sanctity of his character, but much more by the superior strength of his army; and as they were now become as incapable of personal attachment A. D. 258, as they had always been of constitutional principle, they readily imbrued their hands in the blood of a prince who so lately had been the object of their partial choice. The guilt was theirs, but the advantage of it was Valerian's, who obtained the possession of the throne by the means indeed of a civil war, but with a degree of innocence singular in that age of revolutions; since he owed neither gratitude nor allegiance to his predecessor, whom he dethroned. August. Valerian. Character Valerian was about sixty years of age when he was in"vested with the purple, not by the caprice of the populace, or 58 Victor in Cæsaribus. 59 Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 628. 60 Banduri Numismata, p. 94. 61 Eutropius, l. ix. c. 6, says tertio mense. Eusebjus omits this emperor. 62 Zosimus, 1. i. p. 28. Eutropius and Victor station Valerian's" army in Rhætia. 65 He was about seventy at the time of his accession, or, as it is more probable, of his death. Hist. August. p. 173. Tillemont, Hist. des empereurs, tom. iii. p. 893, note 1. misfortunes of Valerian A. D. 253 the clamours of the army, but by the unanimous voice of the CHAP. Roman world. In his gradual ascent through the honours of x. the state, he had deserved the favour of virtuous princes, and had declared himself the enemy of tyrants.64 His noble birth, his mild but unblemished manners, his learning, prudence, and experience, were revered by the senate and people; and if mankind (according to the observation of an ancient writer) had been left at liberty to choose a master, their choice would most assuredly have fallen on Valerian.65 Perhaps the merit of this emperor was inadequate to his reputation; perhaps his abilities, or at least his spirit, were affected by the languor and coldness of old age. The consciousness of his decline engaged him to share the throne with a younger and more active associate the emergency of the times demanded a general no General less than a prince; and the experience of the Roman censor of the reigns might have directed him where to bestow the imperial purple, and Gallie as the reward of military merit. But instead of making a ju- nus dicious choice, which would have confirmed his reign, and en-268. deared his memory, Valerian, consulting only the dictates of affection or vanity, immediately invested with the supreme honours his son Gallienus, a youth whose effeminate vices had been hitherto concealed by the obscurity of a private station. The joint government of the father and the son subsisted about seven, and the sole administration of Gallienus continued about eight years. But the whole period was one uninterrupted series of confusion and calamity. As the Roman empire was at the same time, and on every side, attacked by the blind fury of foreign invaders, and the wild ambition of domestic usurpers, we shall consult order and perspicuity, by pursuing, not so much the doubtful arrangement of dates, as the more natural distribution of subjects. The most dangerous enemies of Rome, during the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, were, 1. The rods of Franks. 2. The Alemanni. 3. The Goths; and, 4. The rians. Persians Under these general appellations, we may comprehend the adventurers of less considerable tribes, whose obscure and uncouth names would only serve to oppress the memory and perplex the attention of the reader. the barba confederacy Franks. 1. As the posterity of the Franks compose one of the great- Origin and est and most enlightened nations of Europe, the powers of of the learning and ingenuity have been exhausted in the discovery of their unlettered ancestors. To the tales of credulity, have succeeded the systems of fancy. Every passage has been sifted, every spot has been surveyed, that might possibly re 64 Inimicus Tyrannorum. Hist. August. p. 173. In the glorious struggle of the senate against Maximin, Valerian acted a very spirited part. Hist. August. p. 156. 65 According to the distinction of Victor, he seems to have received the title of Imperator from the army, and that of Augustus from the senate. 66 From Victor and from the medals, Tillemont (tom. iii. p. 710,) very justly infers, that Gallienus was associated to the empire about the month of August of the year 253. CHAP. veal some faint traces of their origin. It has been supposed, X. that Pannonia,67 that Gaul, that, the northern parts of Germany, 68 gave birth to that celebrated colony of warriors. At length the most rational critics, rejecting the fictitious emigrations of ideal conquerors, have acquiesced in a sentiment whose simplicity persuades us of its truth.69 They suppose, that about the year two hundred and forty70 a new confederacy was formed under the name of Franks, by the old inhabitants of the Lower Rhine and the Weser. The present circle of Westphalia, the Landgraviate of Hesse, and the dutchies of Brunswick and Lunenburg, were the ancient seat of the Chauci, who, in their inaccessible morasses, defied the Roman arms;7 of the Cherusci, proud of the fame of Arminius; of the Catti, formidable by their firm and intrepid infantry; and of several other tribes of inferior power and renown.72 The love of liberty was the ruling passion of these Germans; the enjoyment of it their best treasure; the word that expressed that enjoyment, the most pleasing to their ear. They deserved, they assumed, they maintained the honourable epithet of Franks, or Freemen; which concealed, though it did not extinguish, the peculiar names of the several states of the confederacy.73 Tacit consent, and mutual advantage, dictated the first laws of the union; it was gradually cemented by habit and experience. The league of the Franks may admit of some comparison with the Helvetic body; in which every canton, retaining its independent sovereignty, consults with its brethren in the common cause, without acknowledging the authority of any supreme head, or representative assembly.74 But the principal of the two confederacies was extremely different. A peace of two hundred years has rewarded the wise and honest policy of the Swiss. An inconstant spirit, the thirst of rapine, and a disregard to the most solema treaties, disgraced the character of the Franks. Theyinvade The Romans had long experienced the daring valour of the people of Lower Germany. The union of their strength threatened Gaul with a more formidable invasion, and required the presence of Gallienus, the heir and colleague of imperial 67 Various systems have been formed to explain a difficult passage in Gregory of Tours, l. ii. c. 9. 68 The Geographer of Ravenna, i. 11, by mentioning Mauringania on the confines of Denmark, as the ancient seat of the Franks, gave birth to an ingenious system of Leibnitz. 69 See Cluver. Germania Antiqua, l. iii. c. 20. M. Freret, in the Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xviii. 70 Most probably under the reign of Gordian, from an accidental circumstance fully canvassed by Tillemont, tom. iii. p. 710--1181. 1 Plin. Hist. Natur. xvi. 1. The panegyrists frequently allude to the morasses of the Franks. 72 Tacit. Germania, c. 30-37. 73 In a subsequent period, most of those old names are occasionally mentioned. See some vestiges of them in Cluver. Germ. Antiq. I. iii. 74 Simler de Republica, Helvet. cum notis Fuselin. |