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celebrated, one thousand years from the foundation of the
city.
247.
Sept. 249—Oct. 251.
250.
Gallus.

11. Under the reign of his successor, Trajanus Decius, aged

fifty, the Goths for the first time forced their way into the
Roman empire by crossing the Danube; and although Decius
in the beginning opposed them with success, he was at last
slain by them in Thrace, together with his son, Cl. Herennius
Decius, already created Cæsar. Upon this the army
proclaimed C. Trebonianus Gallus emperor, who created his
son, Volusian, Cæsar; and having invited Hostilian, the yet
remaining son of Decius, with the ostensible purpose of
securing his cooperation, he nevertheless soon contrived to
get rid of him. He purchased a peace of the Goths; but,
despised by his generals, he became involved in a war with
his victorious lieutenant, Æmilianus, May 253. Æmilius
Æmilianus, in Mœsia, and was slain, together with his son,
by his own army. In three months, however, Æmilianus
shared the same fate; Publius Licinius Valerianus, the friend
and avenger of Gallus, advancing against him with the
legions stationed in Gaul. Both the people and army hoped
to see the empire restored under Valerian. Valerian, already
sixty years of age; but, although his generals defended the
frontiers against the Germans and Goths, he himself had the
misfortune to be defeated and taken prisoner by the superior
forces of the Persians. Upon this event his son and associate
in the empire, P. Licinius Gallienus, 259—968. Gallienus, who
knew everything except the art of governing, reigned alone.
Under his indolent rule the Roman empire seemed on one
hand ready to be split into a number of small states, while
on the other it seemed about to fall a prey to the barbarians;
for the lieutenants in most of the provinces declared
themselves independent of a prince whom they despised,
and to which, indeed, they were driven, like Posthumius in
Gaul, for their own security.—There were nineteen of these;
but as many of them named their sons Cæsars, this period
has been very improperly distinguished by the name of the
thirty tyrants, although their intolerable oppressions might
well justify the latter expression. The Persians at the same
time were victorious in the east, and the Germans in the
west.

The German nations which were now become so formidable to the

Roman empire, were: 1. The great confederation of tribes under the
name of Franks, who spread over Gaul along the whole extent of the
Lower Rhine. 2. The allied nations of the Alemanni on the Upper
Rhine. 3. The Goths, the most powerful of all, who had formed a
monarchy upon the banks of the Lower Danube and the northern
coasts of the Black sea, which soon extended from the Boristhenes
to the Don; and who became formidable, not only by their land
forces, but also by their naval power, especially after they had
captured the peninsula of Crim Tartary (Chersonesus Taurica); and
by means of their fleets they not only kept the Grecian, but likewise
the Asiatic provinces in a continual state of alarm.
Trebelli Pollionis Valerianus, Gallieni duo, triginta tyranni, in Script.
Hist. Aug.
† Concerning the thirty tyrants under the Roman emperor
Gallienus, by J. C. F. Manso; at the end of his Life of Constantine.

Claudius, March, 268—Oct. 270.

 12. Gallienus losing his life before Milan, in the war against
Aureolus an usurper, had nevertheless recommended M.
Aurelius Claudius (aged 45—47) for his successor. The new
Augustus reestablished in some degree the tottering empire;
not only by taking Aureolus prisoner and defeating the
Alemanni, but also by a decisive 269. victory gained at Nissa
over the Goths, who had invaded Mœsia. He died, however,
soon after, at Sirmium, of a pestilential disease, naming for
his successor Aurelian, a hero like himself, who mounted the
throne upon the death of Quintillus the late emperor's
brother, who had at first proclaimed himself Augustus, but
afterwards died by his own hand.
Trebellii Pollionis divus Claudius, in Script. Hist. Aug.
Aurelian, Oct. 270—March, 275.

13. During the reign of L. Domitius Aurelianus, which

lasted almost five years, those countries which had been
partly or entirely lost to the empire were restored. Having
first driven back the Goths and the Alemanni, who had
advanced as far as Umbria, he undertook his expedition 271.
against the celebrated Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, who at
that time possessed Syria, Egypt, and part of Asia Minor.
These countries he again brought under the dominion of the
empire, after having Zenobia defeated and made prisoner, 271—
273. defeated Zenobia and made her prisoner. The western
provinces of Gaul, Britain, and Spain, which since the time of
Gallienus had been governed by separate rulers, and were
now under the dominion of Tetricus, he reduced to their
former obedience. Dacia, on the contrary, he willingly
abandoned; and as he transported 274. the Roman
inhabitants across the Danube into Mœsia, the latter
henceforward bore the name of Dacia Aureliani. Hated for his
severity, which in a warrior so easily degenerates into cruelty,
275. he was assassinated in Illyria at the instigation of his
private secretary Mnestheus.

Flav. Vopisci divus Aurelianus, in Script. Hist. Aug.

Palmyra in the Syrian desert, enriched by the Indian trade, and
one of the most ancient cities in the world, became a Roman colony
in the time of Trajan. Odenatus, the husband of Zenobia, had
acquired so much celebrity by his victories over the Persians, that
Gallienus had even named him Augustus with himself. He was
murdered, however, by his cousin Mæonius, 267. Zenobia now took
possession of the government for her sons Vabalathus, Herennianus,
and Timolaus, without, however, being acknowledged at Rome. After
this, in the time of Claudius, she added Egypt to her dominions.
Aurelian, having first defeated her near Antioch and Emesa, soon
afterwards took Palmyra, which, in consequence of a revolt, he
destroyed.—Even in its ruins Palmyra is still magnificent.
The Ruins of Palmyra, by R. Wood. London, 1753; and the Ruins of
Balbec, otherwise Heliopolis, by the same author, London, 1757, give
us clear and certain ideas of the splendour and magnitude of these
cities.
A. H. L. Heeren, de Commercio urbis Palmyræ vicinarumque
urbium, in Comment. recent. Soc. Gotting. vol. vii. and the Appendix
to Heeren's Researches.

Tacitus, Sept. 25, 275—April, 276.

14. An interregnum of six months followed upon the death

of Aurelian, till at length the senate, at the repeated
solicitations of the army, ventured to fill up the vacant
throne. The object of their choice, however, M. Claudius
Tacitus, the worthiest of the senators, was unfortunately
seventy-five years old, and perished after a short reign of six
months, in an expedition against the Goths. Upon this event
the army of Syria raised M. Aurelius Probus to the purple;
while Florianus the brother of Tacitus, who had already been
acknowledged at Rome, was put to death by his own people.

Flav. Vopisci Tacitus; ejusd. Florianus, in Script. Hist. Aug.

Probus, April, 276—August, 282.

277.
278.
Carus, Aug. 282.
Aug. 283.
284.

15. The six years' reign of Probus was a warlike one. He

defeated the Germans, and forced them beyond the Rhine
and Danube; strengthening the frontiers by building a strong
wall from the Danube, near Regensburg, to the Rhine. He
also obliged the Persians to make peace. Nevertheless, the
number of towns which he reestablished and peopled with
prisoners of war, and the vineyards which he caused his
soldiers to plant on the Rhine, are proofs that he had taste
and inclination for the arts of peace. This policy, however,
would not suit the legions! After he had perished, therefore,
by the hands of his soldiers, they proclaimed the præfect of
the prætorian guard, M. Aurelius Carus, emperor, who
created his two sons Cæsars—men very unlike each other in
disposition, M. Aurelius Carinus being one of the greatest
reprobates, while M. Aurelius Numerianus was gentle by
nature, and had a mind well formed by study. The new
emperor, having defeated the Goths, marched against the
Persians, but was shortly afterwards killed, it is said, by a
flash of lightning. Nor did his son Numerianus long survive
him, being murdered by his own father-in-law, Arrius Aper,
the prætorian præfect.

Flav. Vopisci Probus imper. ejusd. Carus, Numirianus et Carinus, in

Script. Hist. Aug.
Review of the government during this period.

16. Although this period gives us a finished picture of a complete military despotism,
it is still evident that this was owing to the entire separation of the military order from
the rest of the people, by the introduction of standing armies, and the extinction of all
national spirit among the citizens. The legions decided because the people were
unarmed. It was, indeed, only among them, situated far from the soft luxuries of the
capital, and engaged in almost a continual struggle with the barbarians, that a remnant
of the ancient Roman character was still preserved. The nomination of their leaders to
the purple became a natural consequence, not only of the uncertainty of the
succession, which could not be fixed by mere ordinances, but often of necessity, from
their being in the field under the pressure of urgent circumstances. Thus a succession
of distinguished generals came to the throne: what authority, indeed, would an
emperor at that time have had who was not a general? All durable reform, however,
was rendered quite impossible by the quick succession of rulers. Even the best among
them could do but very little for the internal administration; as all their energies were
required to protect the frontiers, and defend themselves against usurpers, who, with
the exception of the formality of being acknowledged by the senate, had claims as well
founded as their own.
Luxury hastens the decline of the empire.

17. The decline of the empire also became so much the more rapid, in proportion as
in these days of terror luxury had increased not only in the splendour and profligate
effeminacy of private life, but more particularly in public, to a pitch almost beyond
belief. The latter was especially shown in the exhibitions of the amphitheatre and
circus; by which not only every new ruler, but even every new magistrate was obliged
to purchase the favour of the people. Thus these remnants of a free constitution
served only to accelerate the general ruin! What enjoyments, indeed, could be found
under the rod of despotism, except those of the grossest sensuality; and to satisfy this,
the intellectual amusements of the theatre (mimes and pantomimes), and even those
of rhetoric and poetry, were made to contribute.
Progress and effects of the Christian religion.

18. Yet, during this general decay, the gradual spread of the Christian religion was
working a reform altogether of a different nature. Before the end of this period it had
opened itself a way into every province, and, notwithstanding the frequent
persecutions, had made converts in every rank of society, and was now on the eve of
becoming the predominant form of worship. We shall be better able to estimate its
value, if we consider it as the vehicle by which civilization made its way among the
rude nations that now appeared on the scene, than if we merely consider it as the
means of improving the manners and morals of the Roman world. In a political view it
became of the greatest importance on account of the hierarchy, the frame-work of
which was now in a great measure constructed among its professors. It was afterwards
adopted as a state religion; and although the ancient creed of Rome had formerly been
on the same footing, yet it was only calculated for the republic, and not at all for the
now existing monarchy. The overthrow of paganism was necessarily attended with
some violent convulsions, yet its loss was nothing to be compared with the support
which the throne afterwards found in the hierarchy.

The dispersion of the Jews, and especially the persecutions which were renewed from time to
time, after the reign of Nero, (but which only served to kindle enthusiasm,) strongly cooperated in
spreading the Christian religion. These persecutions were principally called forth against the
Christians on account of their forming themselves into a separate society, which caused them to
be regarded as a dangerous sect at Rome, notwithstanding the general toleration granted to
every other system of religious belief. Although towards the end of this period, only a very small
proportion of the inhabitants of the Roman empire as yet professed the Christian faith, it
nevertheless had followers in every province.
† History of the Social Constitution of the Christian Church, by D. G. J. Planck, 4 parts, 1800. It
is the first part of this excellent work which relates to this period.
 THIRD SECTION.
From Diocletian to the overthrow of the Roman empire in the west, A. C. 284—476.

Sources. It now becomes of importance to enquire whether the historians were Christians or
pagans. Zosimus, the imitator of Polybius, belonged to the last. He describes the fall of the Roman
state, as his model does the previous part. Of his Histories only five books and a half, to the time
of Gratian, 410, have descended to us. He was certainly a violent antagonist of the Christians, yet,
nevertheless, the best writer of this period. Ammiani Marcellini Historiarum, lib. xiv—xxxi. from the
year 353—378 (the first thirteen books are lost). Probably a Christian, but yet no flatterer; and,
notwithstanding his tiresome prolixity, highly instructive. Together with the writers of general
history already noticed at p. 437, we must here especially add to the abbreviators, Pauli Orosii
Hist. lib. vii. and Zonaræ Annales. The Panegyrici Veteres, from Diocletian to Theodosius, can only
be used with circumspection.—The writers of church history, such as Eusebius, in his Hist. Eccles.
lib. x. and in his Vita Constantini Magni, lib. v. as well as his continuators, Socrates, Theodoret,
Sozomenus, and Evagrius, are also highly important for the political history of this period, though,
from their partiality towards the Christian emperors, they should rather be classed with the
panegyrists than the historians. To these may be added another principal source, viz. the
Constitutions of the emperors, which have been preserved in the Codex Theodosianus and
Justinianeus, from the time of Constantine the Great.
Besides the works quoted at pages 411, 437, the Byzantine historians here become of
importance. We shall mention also:
Histoire du Bas-Empire depuis Constantin, par M. le Beau, continuée par M. Ameilhon. Paris,
1824, 20 vols. 8vo. The first seven parts only belong to this period.
† The German translation of Guthrie and Gray's Universal History, 5 sections, 1 vol. Leipsic,
1768. Rendered very useful by the labours of Ritter.
Histoire du Bas-Empire, depuis Constantin jusqu' à la prise de Constantinople en 1453, par
Carentin Royou. Paris, 1803, 4 vols. 8vo. A useful abridgement, without much research.

Diocletian, Sept. 17, 284—May 1, 305.

Carinus, † 285.
Maximian associated in the government, 286.
Carausius, 288—293.
Galerius and Chlorus created Cæsars, 292.

1. The reign of C. Valerius Diocletian, aged 39—60, proclaimed emperor after the
murder of Numerianus, by the troops in Chalcedon, begins a new section in Roman
history. To the period of military despotism succeeded the period of partitions. After
Diocletian had defeated Carinus the yet remaining Cæsar, in Upper Mœsia, where he
was assassinated, he made M. Valerius Maximianus Herculius, a rough warrior who had
hitherto been his comrade in arms, the sharer of his throne. Herculius now contended
with the Alemanni and Burgundians on the banks of the Rhine, while Diocletian himself
made head against the Persians. Nevertheless, the two Augusti soon found themselves
unable to withstand the barbarians, who were pressing forward on every side, more
especially as Carausius had usurped and maintained the title of Cæsar in Britain. Each
of them, therefore, created a Cæsar: Diocletian chose C. Galerius, and Maximianus
Flavius Constantius Chlorus, both of whom had distinguished themselves as generals,
at that time the only road to advancement. The whole empire was now divided
between these four rulers; so that each had certain provinces to govern and defend;
without detriment, however, to the unity of the whole, or to the dependence in which a
Cæsar stood as the subordinate assistant and future successor of his Augustus.

In the partition, 292, Diocletian possessed the eastern provinces; Galerius, Thrace, and the
countries on the Danube (Illyricum); Maximianus, Italy, Africa, and the islands; and Constantius,
the western provinces of Gaul, Spain, Britain, and Mauritania.

2. This new system could not but have a striking effect upon the spirit of the
government. It was now not only in fact, but also in form, entirely in the hands of the
rulers. By their continual absence from Rome they became freed from that moral
restraint in which the authority of the senate, and the name of the republic, not yet
entirely laid aside, had held before them. Diocletian formally assumed the diadem, and,
with the ornaments of the east, introduced its luxuries into his court. Thus was laid the
foundation of that structure which Constantine the Great had to complete.
296.

3. The consequences of this new system became also oppressive to the provinces,
inasmuch as they had now to maintain four rulers, with their courts, and as many
armies. But however loud might be the complaints of the oppression occasioned
thereby, it was, perhaps, the only means of deferring the final overthrow of the whole
edifice. In fact, they succeeded not only in defeating the usurpers, Allectus in Britain
293—296. (who had murdered Carausius in 293), Julian in Africa, and Achilleus in
Egypt; but also in defending the frontiers, which, indeed, by the victories of Galerius
over the Persians, they extended as far as the Tigris. Did not, however, the gloomy
perspective present itself, that among so many rulers, and the undefined relations
which existed between the Cæsars and the emperors, the union could not be of long
continuance?
Constantius, 305—307.
Galerius, 305—313.

4. Diocletian voluntarily abdicated the throne (although the growing power and
encroaching disposition of Galerius might perhaps have had some influence), and
obliged his colleague Maximianus to do the same. The two Cæsars, Constantius and
Galerius, were proclaimed Augusti, and altered the division of the empire, so that the
former possessed all the western countries, of which, however, he freely ceded Italy
and Africa to Galerius, who had all the remaining provinces. The latter, during the same
year, created Flavius Severus, Cæsar, and confided to him the government of Italy and
Africa; as he did also C. Galerius Maximin, to whom he gave the Asiatic provinces. The
administration of the two emperors, however, was very different; Constantius was as
much beloved for his mild and disinterested government, as Galerius was hated for his
harshness and prodigality. Constantius died very soon after at York, leaving his son
Constantine heir to his dominions, who was immediately proclaimed Augustus by the
legions, although Galerius would only acknowledge him as Cæsar.
Constantine the Great, July 25, 306—May 22, 337.

5. Thus Constantine, who afterwards obtained the surname of Great, began to rule,
aged 33—64, though at first only over Britain, Spain, and Gaul; nevertheless, after
seventeen years of violence and warfare, he succeeded in opening himself a way to the
sole dominion of the empire. The rulers disagreed among themselves; and formidable
usurpers started up and rendered war inevitable.

The history of the first seven years of Constantine, 306—313, is very complicated; after that, he
had only one rival to struggle with, 314—323. At his accession, Galerius, as Augustus, was in
possession of all the other provinces; of which, however, he had given to Cæsar Maximin the
government of those of Asia, and to Cæsar Severus, now created Augustus, Italy and Africa. The
latter, however, rendering himself odious by his oppression, Maxentius, the son of the former
emperor, Maximianus, assumed the title of Augustus at Rome (Oct. 28, 306), and associated his
father with himself in the government; so that at this time there were six rulers: Galerius,
Severus, Constantine, Maximin, and the usurpers Maxentius and his father Maximianus. But in the
year 307, Severus, wishing to oppose Maxentius, was abandoned by his own troops, upon which
he surrendered himself to Maximianus, who caused him to be executed. In his place Galerius
created his friend Licinius, Augustus; and Maximin obtained the same dignity from his army in
Asia. In the mean time, Maximianus, after having endeavoured to supplant his own son in Rome,
fled to Constantine, who had crossed over into Gaul and there defeated the Franks, 306; but
having made an attempt upon the life of Constantine, who had married his daughter Fausta, that
emperor caused him to be put to death, 310. As the excesses of Galerius soon brought him to the
grave, 311, there only remained Constantine, Licinius, and Maximin, and the usurper Maxentius.
The latter was soon defeated and slain, 312, before the gates of Rome, by Constantine, who
thereby became master of Italy and the capital. A war having broken out about the same time
between Maximin and Licinius, Maximin was defeated near Adrianople, and then killed himself,
313. The year 314 brought on a war between the two remaining emperors, Constantine and
Licinius, which, however, ended the same year in an accommodation, by which Constantine
obtained all the countries on the south bank of the Danube, as well as Thrace and Mœsia Inferior;
it broke out again, however, in 322, and was finally terminated by a decisive victory in Bithynia,
and the total overthrow of Licinius, whom Constantine put to death, 324.

6. However opposite may be the opinions formed respecting the reign of Constantine
the Great, its consequences are perfectly plain. Although he annihilated military
despotism, he established in its stead, if not completely, yet in great measure, the
despotism of the court, and likewise the power of the hierarchy. He had already, during
his expedition against Maxentius, decided in favour of the Christian religion; and since
he thereby gained a vast number of partisans in all the provinces, and weakened at the
same time the power of his co-emperors, or competitors, it was the surest way he
could have taken to obtain sole dominion, the great object of his ambition. This change
must nevertheless have had very considerable influence on every part of the
government, as he found in the previously established hierarchy a powerful support of
the throne; and since he, in concert with it, settled what was, and what was not the
orthodox doctrine, he introduced a spirit of persecution heretofore unknown.

At a period in which religious parties must almost necessarily have become political parties, we
can by no means venture to judge of the importance of the sect by the importance of their points
of doctrine. The quarrels of the Arians, which arose at this time, gave Constantine, by the council
of Nice, 325, the opportunity he wished for, of making good his authority in religious legislation.

7. The removal of the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople was connected
with this change in the form of worship—as a Christian court would have been
awkwardly situated in a city still altogether pagan—although the need there was of
protecting the frontiers against the Goths and Persians had a considerable share
therein. It did, indeed, become the principal means of establishing the despotism of
the court; but those who regard it as one of the causes of the decline of the empire,
should remember, that for an empire fallen so low as the Roman was at this time,
despotism was almost the only support that remained.

The various partitions of the empire from the time of Diocletian, had led the way to this change
of the capital; because a natural result of that system was, that the emperors and Cæsars, when
not with the army as they usually were, would reside in different cities. The seat of Diocletian's
government was at Nicomedia; of Maximian's, at Milan; even Constantine himself remained but
very little at Rome. In these new residences they felt themselves unfettered; and therefore,
although the Roman senate existed till after the time of Constantine, its authority must have fallen
of itself from the time of Diocletian.

8. We ought not, therefore, to wonder that the consequence of this removal was so
complete a change in the whole form of government, that after a short time it seemed
to be altogether a different state. A partition of the empire was made, which, though it
might in part have been founded on those which had previously existed, was yet so
different, that it not only changed the ancient divisions of the provinces, but completely
altered their mode of government.—The court, with the exception of polygamy,
assumed entirely the form of an eastern court.—A revolution also had taken place in
the military system, by the complete separation of the civil and military authorities,
which the prætorian præfects had hitherto possessed, but who now became merely
civil governors.

According to the new division the whole empire was divided into four præfectures, each of
which had its dioceses, and each diocese its provinces. The præfectures were: I. The eastern
(præfectura Orientis); it contained five dioceses; 1. Orientis; 2. Ægypti; 3. Asiæ; 4. Ponti; 5.
Thraciæ; forming altogether forty-eight provinces, and comprising all the countries of Asia and
Egypt, together with the frontier countries of Libya and Thrace. II. Præfectura Illyrici, containing
two dioceses; 1. Macedoniæ; 2. Daciæ; forming eleven provinces, and comprising Mœsia,
Macedon, Greece, and Crete. III. Præfectura Italiæ, containing three dioceses; 1. Italiæ; 2.
Illyrici; 3. Africæ; forming twenty-nine provinces, and comprising Italy, the countries on the south
of the Danube, as far as the boundaries of Mœsia; the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, and
the African provinces of the Syrtis. IV. Præfectura Galliarum, containing three dioceses; 1. Galliæ;
2. Hispaniæ; 3. Britanniæ; forming altogether twenty-eight provinces, and comprising Spain and
the Balearian islands, Gaul, Helvetia, and Britain.—Each of these præfectures was under a
præfectus prætorio (prætorian præfect), but who was merely a civil governor, and had under him
vicarios, in the dioceses, as well as the rectores provinciarum, of various ranks and titles. They
were named proconsules præsides, etc. Besides these, Rome and Constantinople, not being
included in any of the four præfectures, had each its præfect.
As principal officers of state and the court (s. cubiculi), we now for the first time meet with the
præpositus s. cubiculi (grand-chamberlain), under whom were all the comites palatii and
cubicularii, in four divisions; these, at a later period, were frequently eunuchs of great influence;
the magister officiorum (chancellor, minister of the interior); the comes sacrarum largitiorum
(minister of the finances); the quæstor (the organ of the emperors in legislation; minister of
justice and secretary of state); the comes rei principis (minister of the crown-treasury) [privy-
purse]; the two comites domesticorum (commander of the household guards), each of whom had
his corps (scholas) under him. The number of the state officers and courtiers was continually
increasing. If the good of a commonwealth consisted in forms, ranks, and titles, the Roman
empire must at this time have been truly happy!
At the head of the troops were the magistri peditum (masters of the infantry) and the magistri
equitum (masters of the horse), under the magister utriusque militæ (general in chief of the
whole army). Their subordinate commanders were called comites and duces. Constantine
considerably reduced the army. In the arrangement of the troops he also made great alterations;
these, however, were but of slight consequence compared with that which was produced by
admitting into the service a continually increasing number of barbarians.
Notitia dignitatem utriusque Imperii cum not. Pancirolli Græv. Thesaur. Antiquitat. Rom. vol. vii.

Taxes.

9. It would naturally be expected that these great changes should lead to others in
the system of taxation. New taxes, or old ones revived, were added to those already
existing, and became, by the manner in which they were collected, doubly oppressive.
We shall particularly notice, a. The annual land-tax (indictio). b. The tax upon trade
(aurum lustrale). c. The free gift (don. gratuit.), now grown into an obligatory tax
(aurum coronarium). To these we must add the municipal expenses, which fell entirely
upon the citizens, and especially upon the civic officers (decuriones), places which
must have been generally held by the rich, as Constantine had in great measure
appropriated the wealth of the cities to the endowment of churches, and the support of
the clergy.

a. The land-tax, or indiction, which if not first introduced by Constantine was entirely regulated
under him, was collected after an exact register, or public valuation, of all the landed estates. Its
amount was yearly fixed and prescribed by the emperor (indicebatur), and levied by the rectors of
provinces and the decurions; an arbitrary standard (caput) being taken as the rate of assessment.
As this register was probably reviewed every fifteen years, it gave rise to the cycle of indictions
of fifteen years, which became the common era, beginning from September 1, 312. In this
manner the tax included all those who were possessed of property. b. The tax on commerce;
which was levied on almost every kind of trade. It was collected every four years, whence the
aurum lustrale. c. The aurum coronarium grew out of the custom which obtained of presenting
the emperors with golden crowns on particular occasions; the value of which was at last exacted
in money. Every considerable city was obliged to pay it.

Spread of the Christian religion.

10. The rapid spread of the Christian religion, the promulgation of which was
enforced as a duty upon all its professors, was now accelerated by the endeavours of
the court. Constantine forbade sacrifices, and shut up the temples; and the violent zeal
of his successors unfortunately soon turned them into ruins.

Histoire de Constantin-le-Grand, par le R. P. Bern. de Varenne. Paris, 1778, 4to.

Vita di Constantino il Grande dell' Abb. Fr. Gusta. Fuligno, 1786. Both these works, especially the
first, are written in a tone of panegyric; the latest, and by far the best, is
† Life of Constantine the Great, by J. C. F. Manso. Bresl. 1817. With several very learned
appendixes, which clear up some particular points.

Constantine, Constantius and Constans.

11. The three Cæsars and sons of Constantine the Great, Constantine, 337—340;
Constantius, 337—361; and Constans, 337—350; had been carefully educated, and yet
resembled one another as much in their vices as they did in their names. They indeed
divided the empire again upon the death of their father; but were so eager after
territory, which neither of them was qualified to govern, that a series of wars followed
for the next twelve years, till at last Constantius was left master of the whole; and by
the murder of most of his relations secured the throne to himself.

In the partition of the empire Constantine obtained the præfectura Galliarum, Constans the
præfectura Italiæ et Illyrici, and Constantius the præfectura Orientis. But as Constantine desired
to add Italy and Africa to his portion, he attacked Constans, and thereby lost his life, so that
Constans came into thee possession of the western countries. In consequence, however, of his
wretched misgovernment, Magnentius, a general, proclaimed himself emperor in Gaul, and
Constans was slain in endeavouring to escape, 350. A war with Constantius, who was then
occupied in the east, became inevitable, and broke out 351. The usurper was defeated first at
Mursa in Pannonia, then retreating into Gaul he was again defeated, 353; upon which he slew
himself, together with his family.

Constantius alone.
351.
354.

12. As Constantius, however—sunk in effeminacy and debauchery, and surrounded

and governed by eunuchs—was unable to sustain the weight of government alone, he
took his cousin Constantius Gallus, hitherto a state prisoner, and whose father he had
formerly slain, to his assistance, created him Cæsar, and sent him into the east against
the Parthians. But his excessive arrogance, which was fomented by his wife
Constantina, rendered him so dangerous that Constantius recalled him, and caused
him, upon his return, to be put to death in Istria. His younger brother Fl. Julian, from
whom the suspicious Constantius believed he had nothing to fear, was Nov. 6, 355.
promoted in his place, created Cæsar, and sent to defend the frontiers on the Rhine.
Although Julian passed suddenly from study to warfare, he not only fought against the
Germans with success, but also made a deep inroad into their country. In the mean
time Constantius, after his generals had been beaten by the Persians, who wished to
reconquer the provinces they had ceded, was preparing an expedition against them in
person, and with that view endeavoured gradually to withdraw the troops of Julian, in
consequence of which the latter, suspecting his design, was induced to accept the
diadem presented 361. by his soldiers. While marching, however, along the Danube
against Constantius, he received information of that prince's death in Asia.
Julian, March, 360—June 25, 363.

13. Fl. Julian, (the apostate,) who reigned from his twenty-ninth to his thirty-second
year, was the last and most highly gifted prince of the house of Constantine. Instructed
by misfortunes and study, he yet had some faults, though certainly free from great
vices. He began with reforming the luxury of the court. His abjuration of the religion
now become dominant, and which he wished to annihilate by degrees, was an error in
policy, which he must have discovered to his cost had his reign been prolonged.
Wishing, however, to terminate the war against the Persians, he penetrated as far as
the Tigris, where he lost his life in an engagement, after a reign of three years.

† The Emperor Julian and his Times, by August. Neander. Leipsic, 1812. An historical sketch.

Jovian, June 25, 363—Feb. 24, 364.

14. Fl. Jovianus, now thirty-three years of age, was immediately raised to the purple
by the army. He concluded a peace with the Persians, by which he restored them all
the territory that had been conquered from them since the year 297. After a short
reign of eight months he was carried off by a sudden disorder; and the army
proclaimed Fl. Valentinian at Nice in his stead, Valentinian almost immediately
associated his Valentinian and Valens. brother Valens with himself in the government, and
divided the empire by giving him the præfectura Orientis, and retaining the rest for
himself.
Valentinian Feb. 26, 364—Nov. 17, 375.

15. The reign of Valentinian I. in the east, who, in the year 367, created his son
Gratian Augustus with himself, is distinguished by the system of toleration which he
followed with regard to the affairs of religion, though in other respects a cruel prince.
Nearly the whole of his reign was taken up in almost continual struggles with the
German nations, who had recovered from the losses they had suffered under Julian.
His first efforts were directed against the Franks, the Saxons, and the Alemanni on the
Rhine; and afterwards against the Quadi and other nations on the Danube; where he
died of apoplexy at Guntz in Hungary.
Valens, 364—368.
 16. In the mean time his brother Valens (aged 38—52 years) had to contend with a
powerful insurrection which had broken out in the east. A certain Procopius had
instigated the people to this, by taking advantage of the discontent occasioned by the
oppression of Valens, who, having adopted the opinion of the Arians, was more disliked
in the east than his brother was in the 373. west. His war against the Persians ended
with a truce. But the most important event that happened during his reign, was the
entrance of the Huns into Europe, which took place towards its close. This in its turn
gave rise to the great popular migration, by which the Roman empire in the west may
properly be said to have been overthrown. The immediate consequence was the
admission of the greater part of the Visigoths into the Roman empire, and this
occasioned a war which cost Valens his life.

The Huns, a nomad people of Asia, belonged to the great Mongolian race. Having penetrated to
the Don, 373, they subdued the Goths upon that river as far as the Theiss. The Goths, divided
into Ostrogoths and Visigoths, were separated from one another by the Dnieper. The former,
driven from their country, fell upon the Visigoths, in consequence of which the emperor Valens
was requested by the latter to grant them admission into the Roman empire, and with the
exception of the Vandals, who had been seated in Pannonia from the time of Constantine, they
were the first barbarian nation that had been settled within the boundaries of the empire. The
scandalous oppression of the Roman governor, however, drove them into rebellion; and as Valens
marched against them, he was defeated near Adrianople and lost his life, 378.

Gratian, 375—383, and

Valentinian II. 375—392.

17. During these events, Gratian (aged 16—24 years) succeeded his father
Valentinian I. in the west, and immediately associated his brother, Valentinian II. (aged
5—21 years) with himself in the empire; giving him, though under his own
superintendence, the præfectura Italiæ et Illyrici. Gratian set forward to the assistance
of his uncle Valens against the Goths, but receiving on his march an account of his
defeat and death, and fearing the east might fall a prey to the Goths, he raised
Theodosius, a Spaniard, who had already distinguished himself as a warrior, to the
purple, and gave him the præfectura Orientis et Illyrici.
Revolt of Maximus, 383.

18. The indolent reign of Gratian led to the rebellion of Maximus, a commander in
Britain, who, crossing into Gaul, was so strongly supported by the defection of the
Gallic legions, that Gratian was obliged to seek safety in flight. He was, however,
overtaken and put to death at Lyons. By this event Maximus found himself in
possession of all the præfectura Galliarum; and by promising Theodosius not to
interfere with the young Valentinian II. in Italy, he prevailed upon him to acknowledge
him emperor. But having broken his promise by the invasion of Italy, he was defeated
and made prisoner by 388. Theodosius in Pannonia, and soon after executed. Upon this
Valentinian II. a youth of whom great hopes were entertained, became again master of
all the west. But, unfortunately, he was murdered by the offended Arbogast, his
magister militum; who, thereupon, raised to the throne his own friend Eugenius.
Eugenius, magister officiorum. Theodosius, however, so far from acknowledging,
declared war against him and made him prisoner. He himself thus became master of
the whole empire, but died in the following year.
Theodosius the Great, Jan. 19, 379—Jan. 17, 395.

19. The vigorous reign of Theodosius in the east, from his thirty-fourth to his fiftieth
year, was not less devoted to politics than to religion. The dexterity with which he at
first broke the power of the victorious Goths (though they still preserved their quarters
in the provinces on the Danube), procured him considerable influence, which the
strength and activity of his character enabled him easily to maintain. The blind zeal,
however, with which he persecuted Arianism, now the prevailing creed in the east, and
restored the orthodox belief, as well as the persecutions which he directed against the
pagans and the destruction of their temples, occasioned the most dreadful convulsions.
His efforts to preserve the boundaries of the empire, not a province of which was lost
before his death, required an increase of taxes; and however oppressive this might be,
we cannot impute it to the ruler as a crime. In an empire so enfeebled in itself, and
which, nevertheless, had powerful foes on every side to contend with, it followed that
every active reign would be oppressive. Yet never before had the internal depopulation
of the empire made it necessary to take so many barbarians into Roman pay, as under
this reign; whence naturally followed a change in the arms and tactics of the Roman
armies.

P. Erasm. Muller, de genio sæculi Theodosiani. Havniæ, 1798, 2 vols. A very learned and in
every respect excellent description of the deeply-decayed Roman world as it now stood.

Final division of the Roman empire.

Arcadius, 395—408.
Honorius, 385—423.

20. Theodosius left two sons, between whom the empire was divided. Both parts,
however, were certainly considered as forming but one empire—an opinion which
afterwards prevailed, and even till late in the middle ages had important consequences
—yet never since this period have they been reunited under one ruler. The eastern
empire, comprising the præfectura Orientis et Illyrici, was allotted to the eldest son,
Arcadius (aged 18—31) under the guardianship of Rufinus the Gaul. The western, or
the præfectura Galliarum et Italiæ, to the younger, Honorius, aged 11—39, under the
guardianship of the Vandal Stilico.
Alaric king of the Visigoths.

21. The western empire, to the history of which we shall now confine ourselves,
suffered such violent shocks during the reign of Honorius, as made its approaching fall
plainly visible. The intrigues of Stilico to procure himself the government of the whole
empire, opened a way for the Goths into its interior, just at a time when they were
doubly formidable, fortune having given them a leader greatly superior to any they had
hitherto had. Alaric king of the Visigoths established himself and his people in the
Roman empire, became master of Rome, and mounted the throne: it was the mere
effect of chance that he did not overthrow it altogether.

Both Honorius and Arcadius, especially the latter, belonged to that class of men who never
come to years of maturity; their favourites and ministers therefore governed according to their
own inclination. Stilico, who made Honorius his son-in-law, was not deficient, indeed, in abilities
for governing; and his endeavour to obtain the management of the whole empire, arose, perhaps,
from the conviction that it was necessary he should have it. He could not, however, gain his object
by intrigue; for after the murder of Rufinus; 395, he found a still more powerful opponent in the
eunuch Eutropius, his successor in the east. Under the regency of Stilico, Gaul, in consequence of
its troops being withdrawn to oppose Alaric, 400, was inundated by German tribes—by Vandals,
Alani, and Suevi—who from thence penetrated even into Spain. Nevertheless, he preserved Italy
from their attacks by the victory which he gained, 403, over Alaric at Verona; and again over
Radagaisus, 405, who had advanced with other German hordes as far as Florence. But Stilico,
having entered into a secret alliance with Alaric, for the purpose of wresting eastern Illyrica from
the empire of the east, was overreached by the intrigues of the new favourite Olympius, whose
cabal knew how to take advantage of the weakness of Honorius, and of the jealousy of the
Roman and foreign soldiers. Stilico was accused of aspiring to the throne, and was executed
August 23, 408. Rome lost in him the only general that was left to defend her. Alaric invaded Italy
the same year, 408, and the besieged Rome was obliged to purchase peace; the conditions,
however, not being fulfilled, he was again, 409, before Rome, became master of the city, and
created Attalus, the præfect of the city, emperor instead of Honorius, who had shut himself up in
Ravenna. In 410 he assumed the diadem; and, making himself master of the city by force, gave it
up to be plundered by his troops. Soon afterwards, while projecting the capture of Sicily and
Africa, he died in lower Italy. His brother-in-law and successor, Adolphus, together with his Goths,
left Italy, now completely exhausted, 412, went into Gaul, and from thence proceeding into Spain,
founded there the empire of the Visigoths: he carried with him, however, Placidia the sister of
Honorius, either as prisoner or as hostage, and married her in Gaul. During these events an
usurper arose in Britain and Gaul named Constantine, 407: he was vanquished, and put to death,
411, by Constantius, one of Honorius's generals. This latter prince not only gave Constantius his
sister Placidia, who had become a widow and was restored in 417, in marriage, but also named
him Augustus in 421. He died, however, a few months after, so that Placidia henceforward had a
considerable share in the government. She went nevertheless, 423, to Constantinople, where she
remained until the death of Honorius.
† Fl. Stilico, or the Wallenstein of Antiquity, by Chr. Fr. Schulze, 1805. Not written by way of
comparison.

423.
425.
Valentinian III. 425—455.

22. In this manner was a great part of Spain, and part of Gaul, cut off from the
Roman empire during the reign of Honorius. After his death the secretary John usurped
the government, but was defeated by the eastern emperor Theodosius II. The nephew
of Honorius, Valentinian III. a minor (aged 6—36), was then raised to the throne,
under the guardian care of his mother Placidia († 450). Under his miserable reign the
western empire was stripped of almost all her provinces with the exception of Italy. Yet
the government of his mother, and afterwards his own incapacity, were as much the
cause as the stormy migration of barbarous tribes, which now convulsed all Europe.

Britain had been voluntarily left by the Romans since 427. In Africa, the governor Boniface
having been driven into rebellion by the intrigues of the Roman general Ætius, who possessed the
ear of Placidia, invited the Vandals from Spain, under the command of Genseric, to come to his
assistance. The latter then obtained possession of the country, 429—439; indeed, even as early as
435, Valentinian was obliged to make a formal cession of it to them. Valentinian's wife Eudoxia, a
Grecian princess, was purchased by the cession of western Illyricum (Pannonia, Dalmatia, and
Noricum); so that of all the countries south of the Danube there now only remained those which
belonged to the præfecture of Italy: Rhætia and Vindelicia. On the south-east of Gaul was
formed, 435, the kingdom of the Burgundians, which, besides the south-east part of France,
comprised also Switzerland and Savoy. The south-west was under the dominion of the Visigoths.
There remained only the territory north of the Loire which still submitted to the Roman governors;
the last of whom, Syagrius, survived the fall of the empire itself; holding out till the year 486,
when he was defeated near Soissons by Clodovicus, or Clovis, king of the Franks.

The Huns.
Attila.
450.
451.
453.
454.
455.

23. But while the western empire seemed thus of itself almost to fall to pieces,
another impetuous rush of nations took place, which threatened the whole of western
Europe. The victorious hordes of Huns who now occupied the territory formerly the
seat of the Goths, between the Don and the Theiss, and even as far as the Volga, had
united themselves, since the year 444, under one common chief, Attila; who, by this
union and his own superior talents as a warrior and ruler, became the most powerful
prince of his time. The eastern empire having bought a peace by paying him a yearly
tribute, he fell with a mighty army upon the western provinces. The united forces,
however, of the Romans under Ætius and the Visigoths, obliged him near Chalons (in
campis Catalaunicis) to retreat. Nevertheless, the following year he again invaded Italy,
where he had a secret understanding with the licentious Honoria, Valentinian's sister.
The cause of his second retreat, which was soon followed by his death, is unknown.
The miserable Valentinian soon after deprived the Roman empire of its best general,
being led by his suspicions to put Ætius to death. He himself, however, was soon
doomed to undergo the punishment of his debaucheries, being murdered in a
conspiracy formed by Petronius Maximus, whose wife he had dishonoured, and some
friends of Ætius, whom he had executed.
24. The twenty years which intervened between the assassination of Valentinian, and
the final destruction of the Roman empire in the west, was nearly one continued series
of intestine revolutions. No less than nine sovereigns rapidly succeeded one another.
These changes, indeed, were but of little importance in this troublesome period,
compared to the terror with which Genseric king of the Vandals filled the Roman
empire: he by his naval power having become master of the Mediterranean and Sicily,
could ravage the coasts of the defenceless Italy at his pleasure, and even capture
Rome itself. While in Italy, the German Ricimer, general of the foreign troops in Roman
pay, permitted a series of emperors to reign in his name. It would have been his lot to
put an end to this series of Augusti, but for mere accident, which reserved that glory
for his son and successor, Odoacer, four years after his father's death.

After the death of Valentinian, Maximus was proclaimed emperor; but as he wished to compel
Eudoxia, Valentinian's widow, to marry him, she called over Genseric from Africa, who took and
pillaged Rome, and Maximus perished after a reign of three months, 455. He was succeeded by
M. Avitus, who ascended the throne at Arles; and he again was soon deposed by Ricimer, 456,
who, just before, had defeated the fleet of the Vandals. Ricimer now placed upon the throne, first
Julianus Majorianus, April 1, 457; but he, having distinguished himself in the wars against the
Vandals, 461, was set aside, and Libius Severus put in his place, who, however, died in 465,
probably of poison. His death was followed by an interregnum of two years, during which Ricimer
ruled, though without the title of emperor. At length the patrician Anthemius, then at
Constantinople (where they never gave up their pretensions to the right of naming or confirming
the sovereigns of the west), was, though not without the consent of the powerful Ricimer, named
emperor of the west, April 12, 467, by the emperor Leo. But differences having arisen between
him and Ricimer, the latter retired to Milan, 469, and commenced a war, in which he took and
pillaged Rome, and Anthemius was slain. Ricimer himself followed soon after, † Aug. 18, 472.
Upon this, Anicius Olybrius, son-in-law of Valentinian III. was proclaimed Augustus, but dying in
three months, Oct. 472, Glycerius assumed the purple at Ravenna, without, however, being
acknowledged at Constantinople, where they in preference named Julius Nepos Augustus. The
latter, in 474, having expelled Glycerius, became also in his turn expelled by his own general
Orestes, 475, who gave the diadem to his son Romulus Momyllus, who, as the last in the
succession of Augusti, acquired the surname of Augustulus. In 476, however, Odoacer, the leader
of the Germans in the Roman pay at Rome, sent him, after the execution of Orestes, into
captivity, and allowed him a pension. Odoacer now remained master of Italy till the year 492,
when the Ostrogoths, under their king Theodoric, founded there a new empire.

25. Thus fell the Roman empire of the west, while that of the east, pressed on every
side, and in a situation almost similar, endured a thousand years, notwithstanding its
intestine broils, which would alone have sufficed to destroy any other, and the hosts of
barbarians who attacked it during the middle ages. The impregnable situation of its
capital, which usually decides the fate of such kingdoms, joined to its despotism, which
is not unfrequently the main support of a kingdom in its decline, can alone, in some
measure, explain a phenomenon which has no equal in the history of the world.