308 The Western Empire. ROME. The Western Empire. 
business, and appears to have escaped so many dangers by 
his known native want of ambition. 
His patron Adolphus, after having restored Gaul to the 
obedience of Honorius, turned his arms against the barba¬ 
rians of Spain, but fell by a domestic treason in the palace of 
Barcelona, when Sengeric was seated on the Gothic throne, 
A. D. 415. The first act of the new reign was to murder the 
six children of Adolphus by a former marriage; and the 
daughter of Theodosius was compelled to walk more than 
t welve miles before the horse of a barbarian, the assassin of 
her husband. Placidia, however, soon had her revenge: the 
tyrant was taken off on the seventh day of his usurpation ; 
and Wallia obtained the sceptre, by the free choice of his 
Gothic followers. 
The widow of Adolphus was soon after obliged by Hono- 
viusto resign herperson to his general Constantius; and from 
this forced marriage a son was born, named Valentinian. 
Constantius was associated in the empire; but enjoyed this 
honour only seven months, when he died a natural death, 
without ever having been acknowledged by Theodosius the 
emperor of the East. 
The vacant throne of the west was usurped by John, an 
imperial secretary, supported by Aetius, a very able general, 
who undertook to engage the Huns to act against Theodosius, 
should he refuse to acknowledge the tool of his own am¬ 
bition. But the emperor of the East anticipated the designs 
of Aetius, and sent his aunt Placidia into the west with her 
son Valentinian, whom he invested with the supreme au¬ 
thority, at the age of six years, under the regency of his 
mother. To support their claims, they were accompanied 
by an army, commanded by Ardaburius and his son Aspar. 
The father sent his son with the cavalry by land, and him¬ 
self embarked with the infantry. A dreadful tempest dis¬ 
persed the fleet; and the vessel which carried Ardaburius 
was wrecked on the coast. He was taken and conducted to 
John at Ravenna, who gave him a friendly reception, and 
allowed him the full liberty of the town. His impolitic in¬ 
dulgence was rewarded by the. prisoner sending intelligence 
to his son Aspar, that the soldiers of John were not well 
affected to their master’s cause, and desiring him to hasten 
with his troops to Ravenna. 
On arriving there, Aspar found the gates open, seized 
upon the usurper, and sent him to Placidia, who caused his 
head to be cut off. Aetius, who was advancing with a for¬ 
midable army of Germans to the assistance of John, being 
informed'of the catastrophe, prudently determined to make 
his submission: he was again received into favour, and con¬ 
stituted commander of a great part of the troops of the em¬ 
pire. But Aetius was not of a disposition to be satisfied 
with divided power. He saw with jealous and malignant 
eyes the estimation in which Boniface, an officer commend¬ 
able both for his virtues and abilities, was regarded at the 
court of Valentinian III. Boniface indeed had displayed the 
most consummate talents in Africa, which he not only de¬ 
fended against the attacks of the usurper John, but intro¬ 
duced there an order and regularity which had been long 
unknown before. The empressPlacidia estimated the fidelity 
of Boniface as it deserved; but the insidious Aetius insinuated 
to his royal mistress every thing unfavourable to the cha¬ 
racter and viewscf his rival; and, like a double traitor as he 
was, privately informed Boniface, that the empress had laid a 
plot for his destruction ; and, to obtain her ends, would 
shortly recal him from his government. Thus prepossessed, 
the unfortunate Boniface refused to obey the imperial man¬ 
date ; and Placidia, now no longer doubting the truth of the 
insinuations of Aetius, caused him to be declared an enemy 
to the state; whilst his rival was appointed generalissimo of 
all the troops of the empire. 
Boniface defeated the first army that was sent against him; 
but distrusting his strength to cope singly with his enemies, 
called in the. assistance of Genseric, king of the Vandals. 
The principal condition of the treaty was, that they should 
divide Africa betwixt them. In this hope, Genseric quitted 
Spain, accompanied with his whole community of men, 
women, and children. While the Vandals were occupying 
entire provinces, some friends of Boniface, amazed at his 
association with the barbarians, whom they knew he did not 
love, and unable to account for the cause, obtained leave 
from Placidia to proceed and interrogate him as to the 
motives of his treason. Boniface immediately shewed them 
the letter he had received from Aetius, and assured them that 
nothing but self-defence would have driven him to such ex¬ 
tremities. His friends being entrusted with this voucher, 
exhibited it on their return to the empress; but Aetius being 
at that time triumphant in Gaul, it was judged prudent to 
dissemble with him, and wait for a more favourable oppor¬ 
tunity of exposing and punishing his treachery. 
Placidia, however, addressed Boniface in terms of the 
highest confidence and amity, and entreated him to use his 
best endeavours to free Africa from the Vandals. The 
general heartily adopted the views of the empress, and offered 
Genseric considerable sums if he would retreat; but the 
Vandals having taken possessson of the whole country, ex¬ 
cepting only three cities, of which Carthage was one, the 
proposals were treated with insult: the few remaining Roman 
soldiers were cut to pieces; and Boniface shut up in Carthage. 
There he maintained himself upwards of a year; but at length 
was compelled to surrender, and had the mortification to 
behold all Africa, which he had once saved, ravaged in the 
most cruel manner by the barbarians whom he had invited 
thither. 
On his arrival at the court of Ravenna, Boniface, notwith¬ 
standing what had happened, was received with the highest 
marks of distinction, and honoured with the command of 
an army; a circumstance which convinced Aetius that his 
duplicity and perfidy were discovered. The command 
given to his rival, he construed into an unjust derogation 
from his own dignity; and, forgetful of their common alle¬ 
giance, the two generals soon after took the field to support 
their mutual pretensions. In the battle which ensued, Boni¬ 
face received a wound, of which he died a few days after; 
-and Aetius retired among the Huns, from whence he returned 
.at the head of an army to dictate to his sovereign. Placidia 
found it politic to make her peace with him, by receiving him 
at court, and restoring him to the dignities he had formerly 
enjoyed. Africa, however, was only partially recovered 
from the Vandals; and eight years after the defeat of Boni¬ 
face, Genseric surprised and took Carthage. 
About A. D. 439, the empress had the satisfaction of 
marrying her son Valentinian to Eudoxia, the daughter of 
Theodosius, the eastern emperor. 
A new scourge soon attacked Valentinian in the person of 
Attila, king of the Huns. This barbarian ruler of a million 
of warriors had long frequently dictated to Theodosius condi¬ 
tions of peace, and the terms of tribute. On the death of 
that prince, and the accession of a bolder spirit, he turned 
his arms against the emperor of the West. The first demand 
of the Hun was Valentinian’s sister, Honoria, in marriage. 
This princess, who was of dissolute habits, had already sent 
a ring in token of marriage, and desired him to claim for 
her, her half of the empire. Valentinian extricated himself 
from the present difficulty by a sum of gold, and averted 
this scourge from Italy, which already impended over Gaul, 
where Aetius commanded. Seven hundred thousand com¬ 
batants, who swelled the army of Attila, were defeated in 
the plains of Catalaunum; yet still the king of the Huns had 
sufficient force remaining to render himself formidable in 
Italy, whither he retired, sacking the cities and desolating 
the country. Thither Aetius pursued him, and, partly by 
his power, and partly by his address, induced him to return 
once more to Gaul, where he experienced a second dpfeat 
from Thorismond, king of the Visigoths. In his recent in¬ 
vasion of Italy, his progress was marked with such terror 
and dismay, that the inhabitants of the Venetian cities left 
them defenceless to the foe, sought refuge in the little islands 
on the coast, and thus laid the foundation of that republic 
which so long maintained in Europe the art and spirit of 
commercial industry. 
Attila still persisted in demanding Honoria to wife ; but 
his attachment to her did not prevent him from adding a 
beautiful 
