No More Learning

15


## p. 226 (#256) ############################################

-
226
The Conspiracy of Theodorus
(371–374
next move was an attempt to win Pap by promises of alliance, counsel-
ing him to be no longer the puppet of his ministers; the ruse was
successful and the king put to death both Cylaces and Artabannes.
Meanwhile a Persian embassy complained that the protection of Armenia
by Rome was a breach of her obligations under the treaty.
In April
372 Valens reached Antioch. His answer to Persia was further in-
terference in Hiberia. While Muschegh invaded Persian territory,
Terentius with twelve legions restored Sauromaces as ruler over the
country bordering on Lazica and Armenia, Sapor on his side making
great preparations for a campaign in the following spring, raising levies
from the surrounding tribes and hiring mercenaries. In 373 Trajan
and Vadomar marched to the East with a formidable army, having
strict orders not to break the peace but to act on the defensive. The
Emperor himself moved to Hierapolis in order to superintend the
operations from that city. At Vagobanta (Bagavan) the Romans were
forced to engage and in the result were victorious. A truce was con-
cluded at the end of the summer, and while Sapor retired to Ctesiphon,
Valens took up his residence in Antioch.
Here in the following year 374, so far as we can judge from the
vague chronology of our authorities, a widespread conspiracy was
discovered in which Maximus, Julian's master, Eutropius the historian,
and many other leading philosophers and heathens were implicated.
Anxious to discover who was to succeed Valens, some daring spirits had
suspended a ring over a consecrated table upon which was placed a
round metal dish ; about the rim of the dish was engraved the alphabet.
The ring had spelt out the letters THEO—when with one voice all
present exclained that Theodorus was clearly destined for Empire.
Born in Gaul of an old and honourable family, he had enjoyed
a liberal education and already held the second place among the
imperial notaries ; distinguished for his humanity and moderation, in
every post alike his merits outshone his office. Absent from Antioch
at the time, he was at once recalled, and the enthusiasm of his friends
seems to have shaken his loyalty. The life of Valens had previously
been threatened by would-be assassins, and when the conspirators' secret
was betrayed the Emperor's vengeance knew no bounds; he swept the
whole of the Roman East for victims and, as at the fall of Procopius,
now his avarice ruled unchecked. If the accused's life was spared,
proscription in bitter mockery posed as clemency and the banishment of
the innocent as an act of royal grace. For years the trials continued :
“We all crept about as though in Cimmerian darkness," writes an
eyewitness, "the sword of Damocles hung suspended over our heads.
Of Western affairs during those years when the long drawn game
of
plot and counterplot was being played between Valens and Sapor we
know but little. Valentinian remained in Gaul (autumn 371-spring
373), doubtless busied with his schemes for the maintenance of security
SO


## p. 227 (#257) ############################################

363–367]
Count Romanus in Africa
227
upon the frontiers, but detailed information we have none. Where
Valentinian governed in person we hear of no rebellions: the constitu-
tions even shew that a limited relief was granted from taxation and that
measures were taken to check oppression, but elsewhere on every hand
the Emperor's good intentions were betrayed by his agents. In Britain
a disorganised army and a harassed population could offer no effective
resistance to the invader : gross misgovernment in the Pannonian
provinces made it doubtful whether the excesses of imperial officers or
the forays of the barbarian enemy were more to be dreaded, while the
story of the woes of Africa only serves to shew how terrible was the cost
which the Empire paid for its unscrupulous bureaucracy. Under Jovian
(363-4) the Austoriani had suddenly invaded the province of Tripolis,
intending to avenge the death of one of their tribesmen who had been
burned alive for plotting against the Roman power. They laid waste
the rich countryside around Leptis, and when the city appealed for help
to the commander-in-chief, Count Romanus, he refused to take any
action unless supplied with a vast store of provisions and four thousand
camels. The demand could not be met, and after forty days the general
departed, while the despairing provincials at the regular annual assembly
of their city council elected an embassy to carry statues of victory to
Valentinian and to greet him upon his accession. At Milan (364-5)
the ambassadors gave (as it would seem) a full report of the sufferings of
Leptis, but Remigius, the magister officiorum, a relative and confederate
of Romanus, was forewarned and contradicted their assertions, while he
was successful in securing the appointment of Romanus upon the
commission of inquiry which was ordered by the Emperor. The
military command was given for a time to the governor Ruricius, but
was shortly after once more put into the hands of Romanus.
not long before news of a fresh invasion of Tripolis by the barbarians
reached Valentinian in Gaul (A. D. 365). The African army had not yet
received the customary donative upon the Emperor's accession; Palladius
was accordingly entrusted with gold to distribute amongst the troops,
and was instructed to hold a complete and searching inquiry into the
affairs of the province. Meanwhile for the third time the desert
clansmen had spread rapine and outrage through Roman territory, and
for eight days had laid formal siege to the city of Leptis itself. A
second embassy consisting of Jovinus and Pancratius was sent to the
Emperor who was found at Trier (winter 367). On the arrival of
Palladius in Africa, Romanus induced the officers to relinquish their
share of the donative and to restore it to the imperial commissioner, as
a mark of their personal respect. The inquiry then proceeded ; much
evidence was taken and the complaints against Romanus proved up
the hilt; the report for the Emperor was already prepared when the
Count threatened, if it were not withdrawn, to disclose the personal profit
of Palladius in the matter of the donative. The commissioner yielded
It was
to
CH, VIII.
15--2


## p. 228 (#258) ############################################

228
Death of Count Theodosius
[ 369-376
and went over to the side of Romanus; on his return to the Court he
found nothing to criticise in the administration of the province.
Pancratius had died at Trier but Jovinus was sent back to Africa with
Palladius, the latter being directed to hold a further examination as to
the truth of the allegations made by the second embassy. Men who on
the shewing of the Emperor's representative had given false witness on
the inquiry were to have their tongues cut from their mouths. By
threats, trickery and bribes Romanus once more achieved his end. The
citizens of Leptis denied that they had ever given any authority to
Jovinus to act on their behalf, while he, endeavouring to save his life, was
forced to confess himself a liar. It was to no purpose: together with
Ruricius the governor and others he was put to death by order of the
Emperor (369? ).
Not even this sacrifice of innocent lives gave peace to Africa.
Firmus, a Moorish prince, on the death of his father Nebul, had slain his
brother; that brother however had enjoyed the favour of Romanus, and
the machinations of the Roman general drove Firmus into rebellion.
He assumed the purple, while persecuted Donatists and exasperated
soldiers and provincials gladly rallied round him. Theodosius, fresh
from his successes in Britain and Gaul, was despatched to Africa by
Valentinian as commander-in-chief, charged with the task of reasserting
imperial authority. On examining his predecessor's papers, a chance
reference caused the discovery of the plots of the last eight years, but it
was not till the reign of Gratian that the subsequent inquiries were
concluded. Palladius and Remigius both committed suicide, but the
arch-offender Romanus was protected by the influence of Merobaudes.
The whole story needs no comment: before men's eyes the powerlessness
of the Emperor and the might of organised corruption stood luridly
revealed.
For at least two years Theodosius fought and struggled against odds
in Africa ; at length discipline was restored amongst the troops, the
Moors were defeated with great loss and the usurper driven to take his
own life: the Roman commander entered Sitifis in triumph (374? ).
Hardly however was his master Valentinian removed by death when
Theodosius fell a victim to the intrigues of his enemies (at Carthage,
A. D. 375-6); baptised at the last hour and thus cleansed of all sin, he
walked calmly to the block. We do not know the ostensible charge
upon which he was beheaded, nor do our authorities name his accuser.
But the evidence points to Merobaudes, the all-powerful minister of
Gratian. Theodosius had superseded Romanus and disclosed his schemes,
and Romanus was the friend and protégé of Merobaudes, while it is
clear that Gratian held in his own hands the entire West including
Africa, for as yet (376), the youthful Valentinian II was not permitted
to exercise any independent authority? Possibly Merobaudes may have
1 Rauschen, Jahrbücher, p. 23.


## p. 229 (#259) ############################################

373–375]
The last Campaigns of Valentinian I
229
been assisted in the attainment of his ends by timely representations
from the East, for the general's name began with the same letters which
had only recently (374? ) proved fatal to Theodorus.
In 373 Valentinian had left Gaul for Milan, but returned in the
following year (May 374), and after a raid upon the Alemanni, while
at the fortress of Robur near Basel, he learned in late autumn that the
Quadi and Sarmatae had burst across the frontier. The Emperor with
his passion for fortress-building had given orders for a garrison station
to be erected on the left bank of the Danube within the territory of the
Quadi, while at the same time the youthful Marcellianus through the
influence of his father Maximinus, the ill-famed praefect of Illyricum',
had succeeded the able general Aequitius as magister armorum. Gabinius,
king of the Quadi, came to the Roman camp to pray that this violation
of his rights might cease. The newly appointed general treacherously
murdered his guest, and at the news the barbarians flew to arms, poured
across the Danube upon the unsuspecting farmers, and all but captured
the daughter of Constantius who was on her journey to meet Gratian
her future husband. Sarmatae and Quadi devastated Moesia and Pan-
nonia, the praetorian praefect Probus was stupefied into inactivity, and
the Roman legionaries at feud between themselves were routed in con-
fusion. The only successful resistance was offered by the younger
Theodosius--the future Emperor-who compelled one of the invading
Sarmatian hosts to sue for peace. Valentinian desired to march eastward
forthwith, but was dissuaded by those who urged the hardships of a
winter campaign and the danger of leaving Gaul while the leader of
the Alemanni was still unsubdued. Both Romans and barbarians were,
however, alike weary of the ceaseless struggle, and during the winter
Valentinian and Macrian concluded an enduring peace. In the late
spring of 375 the Emperor left Gaul; from June to August he was at
Carnuntum, endeavouring to restore order within the devastated province,
and thence marched to Acincum, crossed the Danube and wasted the
territory of the invading tribesmen. Autumn surprised him while still
in the field: he retired to Sabaria and took up his winter quarters at
Bregetio. The Quadi, conscious of the hopelessness of further resistance,
sent an embassy excusing their action and pleading that the Romans
were in truth the aggressors. The Emperor, passionately enraged
at this freedom of speech, was seized in the paroxysm of his anger
with an apoplectic fit and carried dying from the audience hall
(17 November 375).
High-complexioned, with a strong and muscular body cast in a noble
and majestic mould, his steel-blue eyes scanning men and things with
a gaze of sinister intensity, the Emperor stands before us as an imposing
and stately figure. Yet his stern and forbidding nature awakes but
little sympathy, and it is easy to do less than justice to the character and
· For his cruelty wheu acting as praefect of Rome, cf. Ammianus, xxvIII. 1. 5.
CH.
VIII.


## p. 230 (#260) ############################################

230
The Character and Work of Valentinian I
work of Valentinian. With a strong hand Diocletian had endeavoured
by his administrative system and by the enforcement of hereditary
duties to weld together the Roman Empire which had been shattered
by the successive catastrophes of the third century; to Valentinian it
seemed as though the same iron constraint could alone check the process
of dissolution. If it were possible, he would make life for the provincials
worth the living, for then resistance to the invader would be the more
resolute: he would protect them with forts and garrisons upon their
frontiers, would lighten (if he dare) the weight of taxation, would accord
them liberty of conscience and freedom for their varied faiths, and
would to the best of his power appoint honest and capable men as his
representatives: but a spirit of dissatisfaction and discontent among his
subjects was not merely disloyalty, it was a menace to the Empire,
for it tended to weaken the solidarity of governors and governed :
to remove an official for abusing his trust was in Valentinian's eyes to
prejudice men's respect for the State, and thus the strain of brutality
in his nature declared itself in his refusal to check stern measures or
pitiless administration : to save the Roman world from disintegration
it must be cowed into unity. Without mercy to others he never
spared himself; as a restless and untiring leader with no mean gifts of
generalship and strategy it was but natural that he should give prefer-
ment to his officers, till contemporaries bitterly complained that never
before had civilians been thus neglected or the army so highly privileged.
It could indeed hardly be otherwise, for with every frontier threatened
it was the military captain who was indispensable. The Emperor's
efforts to suppress abuses were untiring ; simplicity characterised his
Court and strict economy was practised. His laws in the Theodosian
Code are a standing witness to his passion for reform. He regulated
the corn supply and the transport of the grain by sea, he made less bur-
densome the collection of the taxes levied in kind on the provincials,
he exerted himself to protect the curials and the members of municipal
senates, he settled barbarians as colonists on lands which were passing
out of cultivation, he endeavoured to put a stop to the debasement of
the coinage, while in the administration of justice he attempted to check
the misuse of wealth and favour by insisting upon publicity of trial and
by granting greater facilities for appeals. As a contemporary observes,
Valentinian's one sore need was honest agents and upright administrators,
and these he could not secure : men only sought for power in order
to abuse it. Had the Emperor been served by more nien of the stamp
of Theodosius, the respect of posterity might have given place to
admiration.
Even as it was, in later days when men praised Theodoric
they compared him with two great Emperors of the past, with Trajan-
and Valentinian.
At the time of the Emperor's death Gratian was far distant at Trier,
and there was a general fear that the fickle Gallic troops now encamped


## p. 231 (#261) ############################################

375–377]
Gratian
231
on the left bank of the Danube might claim to raise to the throne
some candidate whom they themselves had chosen, perhaps Sebastianus-
a man by nature inactive but high in the favour of the army. Merobaudes,
the general in command, was therefore recalled as though by order of
Valentinian on a pretext of fresh disturbances upon the Rhine, and after
prolonged consultation it was decided to summon the late Emperor's
four year old son Valentinian. The boy's uncle covered post-haste the
hundred Roman miles which lay between Bregetio and the country house
of Murocincta, where the young prince was living with his mother
Justina. Valentinian was carried back to the camp in a litter, and six
days after his father's death was solemnly proclaimed Augustus.
Gratian's kindly nature soon dispelled any fear that he would refuse
to recognise this hurried election: the elder brother always shewed
towards the younger a father's care and affection. No partition of the
West however took place at this time, and there could as yet be no
question of the exercise of independent power by Valentinian II; Gratian
ruled over all those provinces which had been subject to Valentinian I,
and his infant colleague's name is not even mentioned in the constitutions
before the year 379. Of the government of Gratian however we know
but little; its importance lies mainly in the fact that he was determined
to be first and foremost an orthodox Christian Emperor, and even
refused to wear the robe or assume the title of Pontifex Maximus
(probably 375).
Meanwhile in the East the fidelity of Pap grew suspect in the eyes
of Rome. The unfavourable despatches of Terentius, the murder of
the Katholikos Nerses, and the consecration of his successor by the king
without the customary appeal to Caesarea (Mazaca) led Valens to invite
Pap to Tarsus, where he remained virtually a prisoner. Escaping to
his own country he fell a victim to Roman treachery (375? ). Still
Rome and Persia negotiated, and at length (376) Valens despatched
Victor and Arbicius with an ultimatum; the Emperor demanded that
the fortresses which of right belonged to Sauromaces should be evacuated
by the beginning of 377. The claims of Rome were ignored, and Valens
was planning at Hierapolis (July-August 377) a great campaign against
Persia when the news from Europe made it imperative to withdraw
the Roman army of occupation from Armenia. For several years the
European crisis engaged all the Emperor's energies, and he was unable
to interfere effectually in Eastern affairs. The Huns had burst into
Europe, had conquered the Alans, subjected the East Goths (Ostrogoths)
and driven the West Goths (Visigoths) to crave admission within the
territory of Rome. Athanarich and Fritigern had become leaders of
two distinct parties among the West Goths; Athanarich, driven before
the Huns, had lost much of his wealth, and, as he was unable to support
his followers, the greater number deserted their aged leader and joined
Fritigern. It seems possible too that religious differences may have
CH. VIII.


## p. 232 (#262) ############################################

232
The Goths and the Empire
(377
.
played their part in these dissensions : Athanarich may have stood at
the head of those who were loyal to the old religion, Fritigern may have
been willing to secure any advantage which the profession of the
Christian faith might win from a devout Emperor. Whether this be
so or not, it was the tribesmen of Fritigern who appealed to Valens.
It was no unusual request: the settling of barbarians as colonists on
Roman soil was of frequent occurrence, while the provision of barbarian
recruits for the Roman army was a constant clause in the treaties of the
fourth century. Valens and his ministers congratulated themselves that,
without their seeking, so admirable an opportunity had presented itself
of infusing new life and vigour into the northern provinces of the Empire.
The conditions for the reception of the Goths were that they should
give up their arms and surrender many of their sons as hostages. The
church historians add the stipulation that the Goths should adopt the
Christian faith, but this would seem to have been only a pious hope and
not a condition for the passage of the Danube, although it was only
natural that the Goths should affect to have assumed the religion of
their new fellow-countrymen. The conditions were stern enough, but
the fate which threatened the barbarians at the hands of the Huns
seemed even more unrelenting. The Goths accepted the terms: but
for the Romans the enforcement of their own requisitions was a work
which demanded extraordinary tact and unremitting forethought.
In face of this immense and sobering responsibility, which should
have summoned forth all the energy and loyalty of which men were
capable, the ministers of Valens (so far as we can see) did nothing-
they left to chance alone the feeding of a multitude which none could
number. It is not in their everyday peculations, nor in their habitual
violence and oppression of the provincials, that the degradation of the
bureaucracy of the Empire is seen in its most hideous form : the weightiest
count in the indictment is that when met by an extraordinary crisis
which imperilled the existence of the Empire itself the agents of the
State with the danger in concrete form before their very eyes failed to
check their lust or bridle their avarice. Maximinus and Lupicinus kept
the Goths upon the banks of the Danube in order to wring from them
all they had to give-except their arms. Provisions failed utterly: for
the body of a dog a man would be bartered into slavery. As for the
Goths who remained north of the river, Athanarich, remembering that
he had declined to meet Valens on Roman soil, thought it idle to pray
for admission within the Empire and retired, it would seem, into the
highlands of Transylvania; now however that the imperial garrisons
had been withdrawn to watch the passage of the followers of Fritigern,
the Greutungi under Alatheus and Saphrax crossed the Danube unmo-
lested, although leave to cross the frontier had previously been refused
them. Meanwhile Fritigern slowly advanced on Marcianople, ready if
need be to join his compatriots who were now encamped on the south
.


## p. 233 (#263) ############################################

377–378]
War with the Goths
233
bank of the river. Still the Goths took no hostile step, but their
exclusion from Marcianople led to a brawl with Roman soldiers out-
side the walls; within the city the news reached Lupicinus who was
entertaining Alavio and Fritigern to a feast. Orders were hurriedly
given for the massacre of the Gothic guardsmen who had accompanied
their leaders. Fritigern at the head of his men fought his way back to
camp, while Alavio seems to have fallen in the fray, for we hear of
him no more.
The peace was at an end: nine miles from Marcianople Lupicinus
was repulsed with loss; the criminal folly of the authorities of Hadria-
nople forced into rebellion the loyal Gothic auxiliaries who were stationed
in the town; barbarians bartered as slaves rejoined their comrades, while
labourers from the imperial gold mines played their part in spreading
havoc throughout Thrace. Thus at last the Goths took their revenge,
and only the walls of cities could resist their onset. From Asia Valens
despatched Profuturus and Trajan to the province, and they at length
succeeded in driving back the barbarian host beyond the Balkans. The
Roman army occupied the passes. Gratian had sent reinforcements from
the West under Frigeridus and Richomer, and the latter was associated
with the generals of Valens; the barbarians drawing together their
scattered bands formed a huge wagon laager (carrago) at a spot called
Ad Salices, not far from Tomi. The Romans were still much inferior
in numbers, and anxiously awaited an opportunity to pour down upon
the
enemy
while on the march. For some time however the Goths made
no move; when at length they attempted to seize the higher ground the
battle began. The Roman left wing was broken and the legionaries were
forced to retreat, but neither side gained any decisive advantage: the
Goths remained for seven days longer within the shelter of their camp
while the Romans drove other troops of barbarians to the north of the
mountain chain (early autumn 377). At this time Richomer returned
in order to secure further help from Gratian, while Saturninus arrived
from Asia with the rank of magister equitum, in command, it would
seem, of reinforcements. But the tide of fortune which had favoured
the Romans during the previous months now ebbed. The Goths, de-
spairing of breaking the cordon or piercing the Balkan passes, by promises
of unlimited booty won over hordes of Huns and Alans to their side.
Saturninus found that he could hold his position no longer, and was
thus forced to retire on the Rhodope chain. Save for a defeat at
Dibaltus near the sea-coast he successfully masked his retreat, while
Frigeridus, who was stationed in the neighbourhood of Beroea, fell back
before the enemy upon Illyricum, where he captured the barbarian leader
Farnobius and defeated the Taifali; as in Valentinian's day the captives
were settled in the depopulated districts of Italy. The help however
which was expected from the West was long delayed ; in February 378
the Lentienses chanced to hear from one of their fellow-tribesmen who
CH. VIII.


## p. 234 (#264) ############################################

234
The Battle of Hadrianople
(378
زر
was serving in the Roman army that Gratian had been summoned to
the East. Collecting allies from the neighbouring clans, they burst
across the border some 40,000 strong (panegyrists said 70,000).
Gratian was forced to recall the troops who had already marched into
Pannonia, and in command of these as well as of his Gallic legionaries
he placed Nannienus and the Frankish king Mallobaudes. At the
battle of Argentaria, near Colmar in Alsace, Priarius the barbarian
king was slain and with him, it is said, more than 30,000 of the enemy:
according to the Roman estimate only some 5000 escaped through the
dense forests into the shelter of the hills. Gratian in person then crossed
the Rhine and after laborious operations among the mountains starved
the fugitives into surrender; by the terms of peace they were bound to
furnish recruits for the Roman army. The result of the campaign was
a very real triumph for the youthful Emperor of the West.
Meanwhile Sebastian, appointed in the East to succeed Trajan in
the command of the infantry, was raising and training a small force of
picked men with which to begin operations in the spring. In April 378
Valens left Antioch for the capital at the head of reinforcements drawn
from Asia : he arrived on 30 May. The Goths now held the Schipka
Pass and were stationed both north and south of the Balkans at Nico-
polis and Beroea. Sebastian had successfully freed the country round
Hadrianople from plundering bands, and Fritigern concentrating the
Gothic forces had withdrawn north to Cabyle. At the end of June
Valens advanced with his army from Melanthias, which lay some 15 miles
west of Constantinople. Against the advice of Sebastian the Emperor
determined upon an immediate march in order to effect a junction with
the forces of his nephew, who was now advancing by Lauriacum and
Sirmium. The eastern army entered the Maritza Pass, but at the same
time Fritigern would seem to have despatched some Goths southwards.
These were sighted by the Roman scouts, and in fear that the passes
should be blocked behind him and his supplies cut off, the Emperor
retreated towards Hadrianople. Fritigern himself meanwhile marched
south over the pass of Bujuk-Derbent in the direction of Nike, as though
he would intercept communication between Valens and his capital.
Two alternative courses were now open to the Emperor: he might take
up a strong position at Hadrianople and await the army of the West
(this was Gratian's counsel brought by Richomer who reached the camp
on 7 August), or he might at once engage the enemy. Valens adopted
the latter alternative; it would seem that he under-estimated the
numbers of the Goths, and it is possible that he desired to shew that he
too could win victories in his own strength as well as the western
Emperor; Sebastian, who had at his own request left the service of
Gratian for that of Valens, may have sought to rob his former master of
any further laurels. At dawn on the following morning (9 August)
the advance began ; when about midday the armies came in sight of


## p. 235 (#265) ############################################

378–379]
Death and Character of Valens
235
each other (probably near the modern Demeranlija) Fritigern, in order
to gain time, entered into negotiations, but on the arrival of his cavalry
he felt sure of victory and struck the first blow. We cannot reconstruct
the battle: Valens, Trajan and Sebastian all fell, and with them two-
thirds of the Roman army. In the open country no resistance could be
offered to the victorious barbarians, but they were beaten back from the
walls of Hadrianople, and a troop of Saracen horsemen repelled them
from the capital. Victor bore the news of the appalling catastrophe
to Gratian.
In the face of hostile criticism Valentinian had chosen Valens as his
co-Augustus, intending that he should carry out in the East the same
policy which he himself had planned for the West. His judgment was
not at fault, for in the sphere of religion alone did the two Emperors
pursue different ends. Like an orderly, with unfailing loyalty Valens
obeyed his brother's instructions. He too strengthened the frontier
with fortresses and lightened the burden of taxation, while under
his care magnificent public buildings rose throughout the eastern
provinces. But Valentinian's masterful decision of character was alien
to Valens: his was a weaker nature which under adversity easily yielded
to despair. Severity, anxiously assumed, tended towards ferocity, and
a consciousness of insecurity rendered him tyrannical when his life or
throne was threatened. His subjects could neither forget nor forgive
the horrible excesses which marked the suppression of the rebellion of
Procopius or of the conspiracy of Theodorus. He was hated by the
orthodox as an Arian heretic and by the Pagans as a Christian zealot,
while it was upon the Emperor that men laid the responsibility for the
overwhelming disaster of Hadrianople. Thus there were few to judge
him with impartial justice, and it is probable that even later historians
have been unduly influenced by the invectives of his enemies. His
imperious brother had made of an excellent civil servant an Emperor
who was no match for the crisis which he was fated to meet.
On the news of the defeat at Hadrianople Gratian at once turned
to the general who had shewn such brilliant promise a few years before
in the defence of Moesia. The young Theodosius was recalled from his
retirement in Spain and put in command of the Roman troops in
Thrace. Here, it would appear, he was victorious over the Sarmatians,
and at Sirmium in the month of January 379 (probably 19 January 379)
Gratian created him co-Augustus. was only after long hesitation
that Theodosius accepted the heavy task of restoring order in the
eastern provinces, but the decision once taken there was no delay.
Before the Emperors parted company their joint forces seem to have
defeated the Goths ; Gratian then relinquished some of his troops in
favour of Theodosius and himself started with all speed for Gaul, where
Franks and Vandals had crossed the Rhine. After defeating the
invaders Gratian went into winter quarters at Trier. Theodosius was
CH. VIII.


## p. 236 (#266) ############################################

236
Theodosius I and the War against the Goths (379–380
1
2
left to rule the Eastern praefecture, while it must perhaps remain a
doubtful question whether eastern Illyricum was not also included
within his jurisdiction.
The course of events which led up to the final subjection of the
Gothic invaders by Theodosius is for us a lost chapter in the story of
East Rome. Some few disconnected fragments can, it is true, be recovered,
but their setting is too often conjectural. Many have been the attempts
to unravel the confused tangle of incidents which Zosimus offers in
the place of an ordered history, but however the ingenuity of critics
may amaze us, it rarely convinces. Even so bald a statement as that
of the following paragraphs is, it must be confessed, in large measure but
a hypothetical reconstruction.
A pestilence had broken out among the barbarians besieging
Thessalonica, and plague and famine drove them from the walls. The
city could therefore be occupied without difficulty by Theodosius, who
chose it for his base of operations.
Its natural position made it an
admirable centre : from it led the high roads towards the north to the
Danube and towards the east to Constantinople. Its splendid harbour
offered shelter to merchant ships from Asia and Egypt, and thus the
army's stores and provisions could not be intercepted by the Goths;
while from this point military operations could be undertaken alike in
Thrace and in Illyricum. The first task to which Theodosius directed
his commanding energy was the restoration of discipline among his
disorganised troops ; no longer did the Emperor hold himself aloof-
an unapproachable being hedged about with awe and majesty: the con-
ception which had since Diocletian become a court tradition gave place
to the liberality and friendliness of a captain in the midst of his men.
Early in June Theodosius reached Thessalonica, and despatched Modares,
a barbarian of royal blood, to sweep the Goths from Thrace. Falling
upon the unsuspecting foe, the Romans massacred a host of marauders
laden with the booty of the provinces. The legionaries recovered
confidence in themselves, and the main body of the invaders was driven
northwards. The Enıperor himself, with Thessalonica secured and
garrisoned, marched north towards the Danube to Scupi (Uskub:
6 July 379) and Vicus Augusti (2 August). From the first he was
determined to win the victory, if it were possible, rather by conciliation
than armed force. It would seem probable that even in the year 379
he was enrolling Goths among his troops and converting bands of
pillagers into Roman subjects. But in his winter quarters at Thessalonica
the Emperor was struck down by disease, and for long his life hung in
the balance (February 380). He prepared himself for his end by
baptism—the magical sacrament which obliterated all sin, and was
therefore postponed till the hour when life itself was ebbing. Military
action was paralysed, and the fruits of the previous year's campaign
were lost. The Goths took fresh courage; Fritigern led one host into
1


## p. 237 (#267) ############################################

380—382]
Peace
237
Thessaly, Epirus and Achaia, another under Alatheus and Saphrax
devastated Pannonia, while Nicopolis was lost to the Romans. Gratian
hastened perforce to the help of his disabled colleague; Bauto and
Arbogast were despatched to check the Goths in the north, and in the
summer Gratian himself marched to Sirmium, where he concluded a
truce with the barbarians under which the Romans were to supply pro-
visions, while the Goths furnished recruits for the army. It is probable
that Gratian and Theodosius met in conference at Sirmium in September.
The danger in the south was averted by the death of Fritigern ; without
a leader the Gothic host turned once more northwards. In the autumn
Theodosius was back in Thessalonica, and in November he entered
Constantinople in triumph. This fact of itself must signify that the
immediate peril was past.
Fortune now favoured Theodosius: Fritigern his most formidable
opponent was dead, and, at length, the pride of the aged Athanarich was
broken. Wearied out by feuds among his own people he, together with
his followers, sought refuge amongst his foes. On 11 January 381 he
was welcomed beyond the city walls by Theodosius and escorted with all
solemnity and kingly pomp into the capital. Fourteen days later he
died, and was buried by the Emperor with royal honours. The mag-
nanimity of Theodosius and the respect paid to their great chieftain
did more than many military successes to subdue the stubborn Gothic
tribesmen. We hear of no more battles, and in the following year peace
was concluded. Saturninus was empowered to offer the Goths new homes
in the devastated districts of Thrace, and the victors of Hadrianople
became the allies of the Empire', pledged in the event of war to furnish
soldiers for the imperial army. Themistius, the Court orator, could
express the hope that when once the wounds of strife were healed Rome's
bravest enemies would become her truest and most loyal friends.
Peace was hardly won in the East before usurpation and murder
threw the West into turmoil. In the early years of the reign of Gratian
Christian and Pagan alike had been captivated by the grace and charm
of their youthful ruler. His military success against the Lentienses, his
heroic efforts to bring help to the East in her darkest hour and the
loyal support which he had given to Theodosius only served to heighten
his popularity. The orthodox found in him a fearless champion of
their cause: the incomes of the vestal virgins were appropriated in part
for the relief of the imperial treasury and in part for the purposes of the
public post; in future the immemorial sisterhood was to hold no real
property whatever. The altar and statue of Victory which Julian had
restored to the senate house and which the tolerance of Valentinian had
permitted to stand undisturbed were now ordered to be removed (382).
Damasus, bishop of Rome, and Ambrose, bishop of Milan, claiming to
represent a Christian majority in the senate, prevailed upon the Emperor
1 The actual word foederati first occurs in a document of A. D. 406.
CH. VIII.


## p. 238 (#268) ############################################

238
The Death of Gratian
[383
to refuse to receive an embassy, headed by Symmachus, of the leading
Pagans in Rome, and the church was overjoyed at the uncompromising
zeal of their Emperor. But the radiant hopes which men had formed
of Gratian were not fulfilled ; his private life remained blameless, and
he was still liberal and humane, but affairs of state failed to interest
him and he devoted his days to sport and exercise. His love for the
chase became a passion, and he would take part in person in the wild-
beast hunts of the amphitheatre. Emergencies which, in the words of
a contemporary, would have taxed the statesmanship of a Marcus
Aurelius were disregarded by the Emperor; he alienated Roman
sentiment by his devotion to his German troops, and although he might
court popularity amongst the soldiers by permitting them to lay aside
breastplate and helm and to carry the spiculum in place of the weighty
pilum, yet the favours shewn to the Alans outweighed all else and
jealousy awoke disaffection amongst the legionaries. The malcontents
were not long in finding a leader. Magnus Clemens Maximus, a
Spaniard who claimed kinship with Theodosius and had served with him
in Britain, won a victory over the Picts and Scots. In spite of his
protests the Roman army in Britain hailed him as Augustus (early in
383 ? ) and leaving the island defenceless he immediately crossed the
Channel, determined to strike the first blow. From the mouth of the
Rhine where he was welcomed by the troops Maximus marched to Paris,
and here he met Gratian. For five days the armies skirmished, and then
the Emperor's Moorish cavalry went over to the usurper in a body.
Gratian saw his forces melting away, and at length with 300 horsemen
fled headlong for the Alps; nowhere could he find a refuge, for the
cities of Gaul closed their gates at his approach. The accounts of his
death are varied and inconsistent, but it would seem that Andragathius
was sent by Maximus hot-foot after the fugitive; at Lugdunum by a
bridge over the Rhone Gratian was captured by means of a stratagem
and was murdered within the city walls. Assured of his life by a
solemn oath and thus lulled into a false security, he was treacherously
stabbed by his host while sitting at a banquet (25 August 383). The
murderer (who was perhaps Andragathius himself) was highly rewarded
by Maximus.
Forthwith the usurper sent his chamberlain to Theodosius to claim
recognition and alliance. The historian notices as a remarkable exception
to the customs of the time that this official was not a eunuch, and further
states that Maximus would have no eunuchs about his court. Theodosius
had planned a campaign of vengeance for the death of the young ruler to
whom he owed so much, but on the arrival of the embassy he temporised.
It would be dangerous for him to leave the East: in Persia Ardaschir
(379–383) had just died and the policy of the new monarch Sapor III
(383–388) was quite unknown ; troubles had arisen on the frontier : the
nomad Saracens had broken their treaty of alliance with Rome, and
Richomer had marched on a punitive expedition. Although the Goths
}
+
1


## p. 239 (#269) ############################################

383–384]
The usurper Maximus and Valentinian II
239
were now peacefully settled on Haemus and Hebrus and had begun to
cultivate their allotted lands, although it was once more safe to travel
by road and not only by sea, yet for many years the Scyri, the Carpi, and
the Huns broke ever and again across the boundaries of the Empire and
gave work to the generals of Theodosius ; the newly won quiet and
order in Thrace might easily have been imperilled by the absence of
the Emperor. With the deliberate caution that always characterised
his action save when he was seized by some gust of passion, Theodosius
acknowledged his co-Augustus and ordered statues to be raised to him
throughout the East Africa, Spain, Gaul and Britain, it would seem,
acknowledged Maximus, while even in Egypt the mob of Alexandria
shouted for the western Emperor.
Meanwhile upon his brother's death Valentinian II began his personal
rule in Italy. For the next few years Ambrose and Justina fight a long- W
drawn duel to decide whether mother or bishop shall frame the young
Emperor's policy: on Justina's death there remained no rival to challenge
the influence of Ambrose. The latter was indeed throughout Valentinian's
reign the power behind the throne; born probably in 340, the son of a
praetorian praefect of Gaul, he had been educated in Rome until in the
year 374 he was appointed consularis of Aemilia and Liguria. In this
capacity he was present at the election (autumn 374) of a new bishop
in Milan; while he was taking anxious precautions lest the contest
between Arian and orthodox should end in bloodshed, a child's cry (says
the legend) of “Bishop Ambrose ! ” suggested a candidate whom both
factions agreed to accept. The city would take no refusal: against his
will the statesman governor became the statesman bishop. Thus in the
winter of 383-4, although Valentinian looked to Theodosius for help
and counsel, Constantinople seemed to the Court at Milan to lie at
a hopeless distance, while Maximus in Gaul was perilously near. The
Emperor instinctively turned to Ambrose, his one powerful protector,
while even Arianism forgot its feud with orthodoxy. At Justina's
request the bishop started on an embassy to secure peace between Gaul
and Italy. Maximus, however, desired that Valentinian should leave
Milan and that together they should consider the terms of their agree-
ment. Ambrose objected that it was winter: how in such weather
could a boy and his widowed mother cross the Alps ? His own authority
was only to treat for peace—he could promise nothing. Accordingly
Maximus sent his son Victor (shortly afterwards created Caesar) to
Valentinian to request his presence in Gaul. But the net had been
spread in the sight of the bird, and Victor returned from his mission
unsuccessful; when he arrived at Mogontiacum, Ambrose left for Milan
and met on the journey Valentinian's envoys bearing a formal reply
to the proposals of Maximus. If the bishop's diplomacy had achieved
nothing else, precious time had been gained, for Bauto had occupied the
Alpine passes and thus secured Italy from invasion.
CH. VIII.


## p. 240 (#270) ############################################

240
The Partition of Armenia
[384–387
In the year 384 the Pagan party in Rome had taken fresh heart;
the Emperor had raised two of their number to high office-Symmachus
had been made urban praefect and Praetextatus praetorian praefect. Men
began to hope for a repeal of the hostile measures of Gratian, and a
resolution of the senate empowered Symmachus to present to Valentinian
their plea for toleration and in especial for the restoration of the altar
of Victory. Gratian had thought (the praefect contended) that he
was fulfilling the senate's own desires, but the Emperor had been misled;
the senate, nay Rome herself, prayed to retain that honoured symbol
of her greatness before which her sons for countless generations had
pledged their faith. It was the loyalty to their past and to that
Godhead before whom their ancestors had bowed that had made the
Romans masters of the world and had filled their lands with increase.
It was a high and noble argument, but it availed nothing before the
scornful taunts of Ambrose, and Valentinian dismissed the ambassadors
with a refusal.
At this time a Persian embassy arrived in Constantinople (384)
announcing the accession of Sapor III (383–388), and bringing costly
gifts for Theodosius-gems, silk and even elephants, while in 385 the
Emperor secured the submission of the revolted eastern tribes. In the
following years the disputed question of predominance in Armenia was
revived : Stilicho was sent to represent Rome at the Persian Court and
in 387 a treaty between the two great powers was concluded, whereby
Armenia was partitioned. Some districts were annexed by Rome and
some by Persia, while two vassal kings were in future to govern the
country, some four-fifths of which was to acknowledge the supremacy
of Persia, and the remaining one-fifth the lordship of Rome. Modern
historians have condemned Theodosius for his acceptance of these terms,
but he needed peace on the eastern frontier if he were to march against
his western rival, and his predecessors had all experienced the extreme
difficulty of retaining the loyalty of Armenian kings: better a disadvan-
tageous partition with security, he may have argued, than an independent
State in secret alliance with the enemy. The Emperor was, in fact, forced
to recognise the strength of Persia's position'. In the West Ambrose
once more travelled to Gaul at Valentinian's request upon a diplomatic
mission probably at the end of 385 or in 386. He sought the consent of
Maximus to the burial of Gratian's corpse in Italian soil, but permission
was refused. Maximus was heard to regret that he had not invaded
Italy on Gratian's death: Ambrose and Bauto, he muttered, had foiled
1 It is thus highly improbable that Persia should have agreed to pay tribute
to Rome : ipse ille rex. . . etsi adhuc nomine foederatus, iam tamen tuis cultibus
tributarius est (Pacatus, c. 22 s. f. ) are the words of a court orator addressing the
Emperor in Rome when a Persian embassy announcing the accession of Bahram IV
was in the city. If Persia had really agreed to the payment of tribute the language
of the panegyric would have been less studiously vague.
2 Cf. Rauschen, Jahrbücher, Appendix x. p. 487.


## p. 241 (#271) ############################################

387]
Riot in Antioch
241
his schemes. When the bishop returned to Milan he was convinced
that the peace could not endure.
Indeed, events shewed the profound suspicion and mistrust which
underlay fair-seeming concord. Bauto was still holding the Alpine
passes when the Juthungi, a branch of the Alemanni, entered Rhaetia
to rob and plunder. Bauto desired that domestic pillage should recall
the tribesmen to their homes. And at his instigation the Huns and
Alans who were approaching Gaul were diverted and fell upon the
territory of the Alemanni. Maximus complained that hordes of
marauders were being brought to the confines of his territory, and
Valentinian was forced to purchase the retreat of his own allies.
Preparations for the coming struggle with Maximus absorbed the
attention of Theodosius in the East, and the exceptional expenditure
placed a severe strain upon his resources. In one and the same year,
it would seem (January 387), the Emperor celebrated his own decennalia
and the quinquennalia of his son Arcadius who had been created
Augustus in the year 383. On the occasion of this double festival
heavy sums in gold were needed for distribution as donatives among
the troops. In consequence, an extraordinary tax was laid upon the
city of Antioch, and the magnitude of the sum demanded reduced the
senators and leading citizens to despair. But with the inherited
resignation of the middle classes of the Roman Empire they yielded
to inexorable fate. Not so the populace: turbulent spirits with little
to lose and led by foreigners clamoured round the bishop Flavian's
house; in his absence, their numbers swollen by fresh recruits from the
city mob, they burst into the public baths intent on destruction, and
then overturning the statues of the imperial family dashed them to
pieces. One house was already in flames and a move had been made
towards the imperial palace when at length the authorities took action,
the governor (or comes orientis) interfered and the crowd was dispersed.
Immediately the citizens were seized with hopeless dismay as they
realised the horror of their crime. A courier was forthwith despatched
with the news to the Emperor, while the authorities, attempting to
atone by feverish violence for past neglect, began with indiscriminate
haste to condemn to death men, women and even children: some were
burned alive and others were given to the beasts in the arena. The
glory of the East saw her streets deserted and men awaited in shuddering
terror the arrival of the imperial commissioners. While Chrysostom
in his Lenten homilies endeavoured to rouse his flock from their
anguish of dread, while Libanius strove to stay the citizens from
headlong fight, the aged Flavian braving the hardships of winter
journeyed to Constantinople to plead with Theodosius. On Monday
of the third week of the fast the commissioners arrived-Caesarius
magister officiorum and Hellebicus magister militiae— bearing with
them the Emperor's edict: baths, circus and theatres were to be closed,
C. MED. H. VOL. I. CH. VIII.
16


## p. 242 (#272) ############################################

242
Maximus invades Italy
[387
the public distribution of grain was to cease, and Antioch was to lose
her proud position and be subjected to her rival Laodicea. On the
following Wednesday the commission began its sittings; confessions
were wrung from the accused by torture and scourgings, but to the
unbounded relief of all no death sentences were passed, and judgment
upon the guilty was left to the decision of Theodosius. Caesarius
himself started with his report for the capital : sleepless and unresting,
he covered the distance between Antioch and Constantinople in the
incredibly short space of six days. The prayers of Flavian had calmed
the Emperor's anger and the passionate appeal of Caesarius carried the
day: already the principal offenders had paid the forfeit of their lives,
the city in its agony of terror had drained its cup of suffering: let
Theodosius have mercy and stay his hand ! The news of a complete
amnesty was borne hot-foot to Antioch, and to the joy of Easter were
added the transports of a pardoned city.
At length in the West the formal peace was broken, and in 387 the
army of Gaul invaded Italy. Of late Justina's influence had gained the
upper hand in Milan, and the Arianism of Valentinian afforded a laudable
pretext for the action of Maximus; he came as the champion of
oppressed orthodoxy :-previous warnings had produced no effect on
the heretical Court; it must be chastened by the scourge of God. It
would seem that Valentinian's opposition to Ambrose had for the time
alienated the bishop, and the Emperor no longer chose him as his
ambassador. Domninus sought to strengthen good relations between
Trier and Milan, and asked that help should be given in the task of driving
back the barbarians who threatened Pannonia. The cunning of
Maximus seized the favourable moment; he detached a part of his own
army with orders to march to the support of Valentinian. He himself
however at the head of his troops followed close behind, and was thus
able to force the passes of the Cottian Alps unopposed. This treacherous
attack upon Valentinian was marked by the murder of Merobaudes, the
minister who had carried through the hasty election at Bregetio
(autumn 387). From Milan Justina and her son fled to Aquileia,
from Aquileia to Thessalonica where they were joined by Theodosius,
who had recently married Galla, the sister of Valentinian II. Here it
would seem that the Emperor of the East received an embassy from
Maximus, the latter doubtless claiming that he had only acted in
the interests of the Creed of Nicaea, of which his co-Augustus was so
staunch a champion. The action of Theodosius was characteristic; he
gave no definite reply, while he endeavoured to convert the fugitive
Emperor to orthodoxy. The whole winter through he made his
preparations for the war which he could no longer honourably escape.
Goths, Huns and Alans readily enlisted ; Pacatus tells us that from the
Nile to the Caucasus, from the Taurus range to the Danube, men
streamed to his standards. Promotus, who had recently annihilated


## p. 243 (#273) ############################################

388]
The Fall of Maximus
243
a host of Greutungi under Odothaeus upon the Danube (386), commanded
the cavalry and Timasius the infantry; among the officers were Richomer
and Arbogast. In June Theodosius with Valentinian marched towards
the West; he could look for no support from Italy, for Rome had fallen
into the hands of Maximus during the preceding January, and the
usurper's fleet was cruising in the Adriatic. Theodosius reached Stobi
on June 14 and Scupi (Uskub) on June 21. It would seem that
emissaries of Maximus had spread disaffection among the Germans in
the eastern army, but a plot to murder Theodosius was disclosed in time
and the traitors were cut down in the swamps to which they had fled
for refuge. The Emperor advanced to Siscia on the Save; here, despite
their inferiority in numbers, his troops swam the river and charged and
routed the enemy. It is probable that in this engagement Andragathius,
the foremost general on the side of Maximus, met his death. Theodosius
won a second victory at Poetovio, where the western forces under the
command of the usurper's brother Marcellinus fed in wild disorder.
Many joined the victorious army, and Aemona (Laibach), which had
stubbornly withstood a long siege, welcomed Theodosius within its walls.
Maximus retreated into Italy and encamped around Aquileia. But he
was allowed no opportunity to collect fresh forces wherewith to renew
the struggle. Theodosius followed hard on the fugitive's track.
Maximus with the courage of despair fell upon his pursuers, but was
driven back into Aquileia and forced to surrender. Three miles from
the city walls the captive was brought into the Emperor's presence.
The soldiers anticipated the victor's pity and hurried Maximus off to
his death (probably 28 July 388). Only a few of his partisans, among
them his Moorish guards, shared their leader's fate. His fleet was
defeated off Sicily, and Victor who had been left as Augustus in Gaul
was slain by Arbogast. A general pardon quieted unrest in Italy, and
Theodosius remained in Milan during the winter. Valentinian was
restored to power, and with the death of his mother Justina his conversion
to orthodoxy was completed.
Maximus had fallen, and for a court orator his character possessed
no redeeming feature. But from less prejudiced authorities we seem
to gain a picture of a man whose only fault was his enforced disloyalty
to Theodosius, and of an Emperor who shewed himself a vigorous and
upright ruler, and who could plead as excuse for his avarice the pressure
of long-threatened war with his co-Augustus. From these exactions
which were perhaps unavoidable Gaul suffered severely, and on his
departure from the West, while Nannienus and Quintinus were acting
as joint magistri militum, the Franks burst across the Rhine under
Genobaudes, Marcomir and Sunno and threatened Cologne. After a
Roman victory at the Silva Carbonaria (near Tournai ? ) Quintinus
invaded barbarian territory from Novaesium, but the campaign was a
disastrous failure. On the fall of Victor Arbogast remained, under the
,
CH. VIII.
1642


## p. 244 (#274) ############################################

I
244
Ambrose and Theodosius I
388-390
vague title of Comes or Count, the virtual ruler of Gaul, while Carietto
and Syrus succeeded as magistri militum the nominees of Maximus.
Arbogast on his arrival counselled a punitive expedition, but it would
seem that Theodosius did not accept the advice. A peace was concluded,
Marcomir and Sunno gave hostages, and Arbogast himself retired to
winter quarters in Trier.
Valentinian remained with Theodosius in Milan during the winter
of 388–9 and was with him on 13 June 389 when he made his solemn
entry into Rome, accompanied by his five year old son Honorius. On
this, apparently his only visit to the western capital he anxiously
endeavoured to weaken the power and influence of Paganism, while he
effected reforms both in the social and municipal life of the city. Το
the stern and haughty Diocletian the familiarity of the populace had
been insufferable: Theodosius was liberal with his gifts, attended the
public games and won all hearts by his ready courtesy and genial
humanity. In the autumn of 389 he returned to Milan, and there he
remained during 390—that memorable year in which Church and State
met as opposing powers and a righteous victory lay with the Church.
In fact, he who would write of affairs of state during the last years of the
fourth century must ever go borrowing from the church historians; he
dare not at his peril omit the figure of the counsellor of Emperor after
Emperor, the fearless, tyrannous, passionate and loving bishop of Milan.
Though the conduct of Ambrose may at times be arbitrary and repellent,
the critic in his own despite admits perforce that he was a man worthy
of a sovereign's trust and confidence. The facts of the massacre of
Thessalonica are well known. Popular discontent had been aroused
by the billeting upon the inhabitants of barbarian troops, and resent-
ment sought its opportunity. Botherich, captain of the garrison,
imprisoned a favourite charioteer for gross immorality and refused to
free him at the demand of the citizens. The mob seized the occasion :
disappointed of its pleasure, it murdered Botherich with savage brutality.
The anger of Theodosius was ungovernable, and the repeated prayers
of Ambrose for mercy were of no avail. The court circle had long
been jealous of the bishop's influence and had endeavoured to exclude
him from any interference with state policy. Ambrose knew well that
he no longer enjoyed the full confidence of the Emperor. Theodosius
listened to his ministers who urged an exemplary punishment, and the
order was issued for a ruthless vengeance upon Thessalonica. The
message cancelling the imperial command arrived too late to save the
city. The Emperor had decreed retribution and his officers gave rein
to their passions. Upon the people crowded in the circus the soldiers
poured and an indiscriminate slaughter ensued ; at least 7000 victims
fell before the troops stayed their hand. Ambrose, pleading illness,
withdrew from Milan and refused to meet Theodosius. With his own
hand he wrote a private letter to the Emperor, acknowledging his zeal


## p. 245 (#275) ############################################

391–392]
Valentinian II and Arbogast
245
and love for God, but claiming that for such a crime of headlong passion
there must be profound contrition : as David listened to Nathan, so let
Theodosius hear God's minister ; until repentance he dare not offer
the sacrifice in the Emperor's presence. The letter is the appeal
of undaunted courage to the essential nobility of the character of
Theodosius. The gusts of fury passed and remorse issued in penitence.
With his subjects around him in the Cathedral of Milan the Emperor,
stripped of his royal purple, bowed himself in humility before the offended
majesty of Heaven. Men have sought to heighten the victory of the
Church and fables have clustered round the story, but the dignity of
fact in its simplicity is far more splendid than the ornate fancies of any
legend. Bishop and Emperor had proved each worthy of the other.
In 391 Theodosius returned to Constantinople by way of Thessalonica
and Valentinian was left to rule the West.