72 MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION 



established as the religion of the empire, and never 

 to be superseded ; but to the terror of the Christian 

 world, when Julian came to the throne, in a.d. 361, 

 he labored most vigorously to restore the ancient 

 religion of the empire. He rebuilt the altars of the 

 gods, ordered the closing of the churches, deprived 

 the clergy of their privileges, and surrounded him- 

 self with those who favored paganism. Consider- 

 ing the distracted state of the Church by reason of 

 its controversies, and the bitter opposition made 

 upon each other by the contending factions. 

 Julian's plans at one time appeared to be likely to 

 succeed ; but happily his reign was not long, and 

 after his death no Emperor succeeded who was 

 imbued with his love of paganism. 



In the fourth century a new terror arose from 

 the incursions of the barbarous tribes of the north, 

 who precipitated themselves upon the provinces of 

 the empire, and overran the countries of the west, 

 Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain. These savage 

 hordes had been kept in check during the earlier 

 days of the empire, but now, as the military power 

 of Rome was declining, they threw themselves re- 

 sistlessly against, first, its outer posts, and then 

 upon its very centre. The irruption of these tribes 

 can be compared to nothing less than an ava- 

 lanche, so completely did they sweep all before 

 them, and spread themselves over the land. 



For many long years it appeared as if they would 



