302 The Empire. R O 
On the first receptionof these barbarians into the empire, 
their sons had been distributed through the cities of the east. 
Those youths evincing a disposition, on the death of Valens, 
to deliver themselves from bondage, became the victims of 
an indiscriminate slaughter in every place where they re¬ 
sided ; and by this cruel policy the eastern empire was deli¬ 
vered from their machinations. 
By the death of Valens, Gratian found himself possessed 
of the whole empire ; a burthen which his modesty taught 
him he was unable to bear, unassisted and alone. Indeed, 
from' the description given us of the miserable state of the 
empire at this time, by contemporary authors, it is evident 
that a youth of twenty, and a child of ten years of age, 
must be incompetent to manage so mighty a machine, com¬ 
posed of such jarring and discordant elements. “ The whole 
country,” say they, “ from Constantinople to the Italian 
Alps, is wet with Roman blood, Scythia, Thrace, Macedonia, 
Dardania, Dacia, Thessaly, Achaia, Epiri, Dalmatia, 
Pannonia, and Gaul, swarm with Goths, Sarmatians, 
Quadi, Huns, Vandals, Franks, Germans, and Marco- 
mans. Nothing has escaped their rapacity; all ranks and 
ages have suffered from their fury. How many emineut 
persons of either sex, how many consecrated virgins, have 
undergone the most dreadful hardships as the preludes only 
of a hard captivity! Bishops have been massacred with 
their clergy; churches destroyed, and the most beautiful 
countries covered with ashes.” 
To aggravate those calamities, the Roman army, on the 
defeat of Valens, had in one day lost its bravest officers, and 
best-tried soldiers; while the enemy had gained additional 
confidence, and were inspired with fresh vigour to dare and 
to endure. Gratian, however, having gathered the wrecks of 
the forces together, united them with his own untouched 
legions, and thus opposed a barrier against the further pro¬ 
gress of the barbarians. 
But all his valour and all his activity would probably have 
been in vain, had he not been assisted by Theodosius, after¬ 
wards called, The Great, whom he prevailed on to become 
his associate in the honour and toils of empire. It seems, 
indeed, that Gratian, in this choice, was willing to atone, in 
the person of the son, for the injustice suffered by Theodo¬ 
sius, the father, three years before. This illustrious general, 
after having subdued Britain, and by his victorious arms 
restored peace to Africa, perished on a scaffold at Carthage, a 
victim to his envious calumniators, who, under false accusa¬ 
tions, had practised on the inexperience of the young empe¬ 
ror, and extorted a sentence of condemnation from him 
against one of his best friends. Theodosius, the younger, af¬ 
ter his father’s catastrophe, retired to Spain, where he lived in 
obscurity, at the time Gratian summoned him to share the 
throne of the East. It appears, that he was reluctantly drawn 
from the tranquil scenesof private life; but having once 
assumed the reins of empire, he managed them with energy 
and decision. Gratian having placed them in such able 
hands, returned towards the west, satisfied with his original 
government, but sent his brother Valentinian to Milan,under 
the guidance of his mother Justina. 
Under these emperors, religion was cherished, and its 
ministers obtained a very powerful influence in the state. 
Unfortunately, however, for the peace of mankind, and the 
credit of Christianity, both the princes and the ecclesiastics 
were divided in their opinions. At the court of Gratian the 
Catholics prevailed; at that of Valentinian, a violent 
Arianism; and in the east, the department of Theodosius, the 
opposing sects were numerous; but the orthodoxy of the 
emperor, during his reign, absorbed the whole of them. 
Indeed, to him belongs the glory of subduing the Arian heresy, 
and abolishing the worship of idols in the Roman world. 
The orthodox faith of Theodosius was confirmed by an 
argument adapted to the meanest capacity. He had conferred 
the title of Augustus on his eldest son, Arcadius; and the two 
princes were seated on a throne to receive the homage of their 
subjects. Amphilochius, bishop of Icenium, approached 
Theodosius with reverence, but accosted his son with 
familiarity. The indignant monarch gave orders that the 
M £. The Empire. 
rustic prelate should be instantly driven from his presence; 
but while the guards were thrusting him out, the dexterous 
polemic exclaimed, “Such is the treatment, O emperor! 
which the King of heaven has prepared for those impious men 
who affect to worship the Father, but refuse to acknowledge 
the equal majesty of his divine Son!” Theodosius imme¬ 
diately embraced the bishop, and having by a solemn edict 
proclaimed his own faith, branded all who dissented from it 
with the appellation of heretics. A council at Constantino¬ 
ple completed the theological system of Nice; and the edicts 
of the emperor denounced the severest penalties against all ; 
but these penal edicts were seldom enforced. 
Severe penalties proscribed the worship of any inanimate 
idol, and the majesty of Jupiter was degraded by a decree of 
the senate of Rome. If the statues of the gods were preserved, 
it was only by way of curiosity; and the parapharnalia of 
goddesses became the ornament of the Roman ladies. Such 
a revolution indeed took place in religion, that in a few years 
after the death of Theodosius, not a vestige of Polytheism 
was visible to the eye of the legislator. 
The succeeding years of Gratian’s reign undermined, in 
some degree, that reputation which had been acquired with 
so much care. While he acted by the advice of the faithful 
counsellors of his father, he was a model for princes; but 
when time or accident had removed those, he became the 
dupe of less able, but more pliant, ministers, who flattered 
his errors, or even created them. The guard of his person 
was entrusted to the Alani, and he participated in the rude 
and indecorous amusements of these barbarians; while the 
disgraceful spectacle filled the legions with grief and indig¬ 
nation. 
The revolt of Maximus in Britain soon decided the fate of 
Gratian. This bold adventurer was a native of Spain; the 
countryman, the fellow-soldier, and the rival of Theodosius, 
whose elevation he had regarded with envy and resentment. 
The events of his life had long fixed him in Britain; and 
some say, that he had married a daughter of one of the 
principal chiefs in Caernarvonshire. However this may be, 
the soldiers, in concert with the provincials, with a tumul¬ 
tuary but unanimous voice, proclaimed him emperor. He 
declares himself that he was compelled to assume the imperial 
purple; but the moment that he had violated his allegiance, 
he extended his ambition beyond the limits of Britain, and 
prudently resolved to anticipate the designs of Gratian: he 
invaded Gaul with a* powerful fleet and army, chiefly com¬ 
posed of Britons; and the soldiers of Gratian, instead of 
opposing his march, received him with joyful acclamations. 
Such disgust had the emperor given to his legionary soldiers, 
that his standard was almost universally deserted; and the un¬ 
happy Gratian fled towards Lyons with a feeble train of 
three hundred horse. He might still have reached in safety 
the dominions of his brother, had he not been deceived by the 
perfidious protestations of the governor of the province, who 
delayed his progress till the general of the cavalry of Maximus 
came up; when the emperor was delivered into his hands, 
and instantly put to death, after a reign of eight years, in the 
twenty-fifth year of his age. 
The rapid succession of events rendered it impossible for 
Theodosius to prevent the catastrophe of his benefactor: and 
he had scarcely time to concert his measures for revenging 
the death of Gratian, before an ambassador arrived from 
Maximus to justify his conduct, and to offer terms of accom¬ 
modation. The conditions proposed were in the high tone 
of an independent sovereign, and not of an usurper. Maximus 
held out only the alternative of peace or war; and declared, 
that if his friendship and his claims were rejected, he was 
prepared to dispute in battle the empire of the world. 
The voice of honour and of gratitude called aloud on 
Theodosius to retort defiance, but his situation suggested 
milder councils. The assassin of Gratian possessed the most 
warlike provinces of the empire. The east was exhausted by 
the Gothic war; and the barbarians of the north menaced 
the very existence of the Roman name. These considerations 
induced Theodosius to accept the alliance of the tyrant; but 
he stipulated that Maximus should content himself with the 
countries 
