No More Learning

Theodoric had a royal palace at Ravenna and there held his
Court (Aula) surrounded by the chief men of Italy and his Gothic
nobles. To enjoy interest at Court was all-important. No career was
open to the man who did not attend there. “ He was unknown to his
master,” says Ennodius. The Court was at once the home of good
manners and the source of enlightenment, the centre of state affairs and
a school of administration for the younger men.
The Court and the service of the palatium entailed certain functions
CH. XV.


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442
Theodoric's Court and Officials
nearly all of which were discharged by Romans: the comes rerum
privatarum (Apronianus held the office in the time of Ennodius) had
charge of the privy purse, and in his double capacity of censor and
magistrate was responsible for the preservation of tombs and the ad-
ministration of private justice: the comes patrimonii (Julianus) as
steward of the royal domains, had under his orders the troublesome
band of farmers of the revenue (conductores) and inspectors (chartularii);
he had moreover supreme charge of the roval commissariat. The
palace with its magnificent gardens and sumptuously decorated apart-
ments was thronged with Roman nobles who came there in search of
preferment. It was guarded by picked troops, and Ravenna was the
headquarters of an important military district where the chief commands
were filled by such men as Constantius, Agapitus and Honoratus.
There was not a Goth among them.
If from the Court we turn to the officials we find again that they
are all Romans. Among the ministers of the Court of Theodoric, as
would have been the case under the Roman administration, the most
important was the praetorian praefect Faustus, a personage of high
consequence who in right of his office enjoyed a considerable police
authority and extensive patronage; he was at the head of the postal
administration, and to him was the final appeal in all criminal matters
which arose in the provinces. His powers were almost legislative in
character; in the forum his jurisdiction was supreme and his person
sacred. The comes sacrarum largitionum discharged the duties of
finance minister; the quaestor, Eugenetes, was responsible in matters
relating to jurisprudence and the framing of laws. Then came the
treasury counsel Marcellus, who filled a position coveted by the rising
members of the Bar, and who acted as a sort of attorney-general with
respect to the estates of intestates and unclaimed assets ; next came the
magister officiorum and then the peraequator whose business it was to
adjust the incidence of taxation in the royal cities. Finally the
vicarius, the deputy in each diocese of the praetorian praefect.
We have here only specified some of those officials whose personal
characters have been depicted for us in the letters of Ennodius. If
we complete-and with the help of Cassiodorus it is possible to do
so—the catalogue of government departments, both administrative and
provincial, which existed in Italy under Theodoric we might well imagine
it to be a record, not of the reign of a barbarian king, but of the times
of Valentinian and Honorius. It was the Romans alone who struggled-
and they did so with the greatest eagerness—to obtain these posts.
Did, for example, the office of Treasury Counsel fall vacant, the whole
province was agitated by intrigues and even bishops joined in the
contest. The crowd of candidates for a minor office such as peraequator
was so great that Ennodius could not refrain from bantering Faustus on
the subject.
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Theodoric's Officials.
The Senate
443
The cursus honorum of the principal officers of state, during the
forty years from Odovacar to the death of Theodoric, proves that very
little was altered in Italy during that period, except the nationality
of the ruler of the country. We find, for instance, that Faustus was
successively Consul, Quaestor, Patrician, and Praetorian Praefect, and was
moreover entrusted with missions to Anastasius; while Liberius, who
had remained faithful to Odovacar, and had even refused to surrender
Caesena to Theodoric, was nevertheless employed by the latter sovereign,
who made him a Patrician and Praefect of Ligurian Gaul. Senarius,
again, was employed first as a soldier, and then as a diplomatist, and
Count of the patrimonium; Agapitus, another official, obtained the
rank of Patrician, held a military appointment at Ravenna, and was in
turn Consul, Legate in the East, and Praefect of the city; while
Eugenetes, whom Ennodius styles “the honour of Italy,” became a vir
illustris, and was employed as an advocate, a Quaestor, and as Master
of the Offices; other examples might also be quoted. The readiness
of these Italian noblemen to serve successively under both Odovacar
and Theodoric arose from no feeling of indifference on their part, but
must rather be attributed to the fact that these rulers were in no sense
hostile to tradition, and because they continued the form of administra-
tion established by the Roman Empire.
The Senate and the consulate, those two institutions with which
the whole history of the past had been so intimately connected, especially
engaged the attention of Theodoric. Ever since the time of Honorius,
the part played by the Senate in the government of Italy had been
growing more and more important. After the death of Libius Severus, it
had asked Leo for an emperor ; while both Augustulus and Odovacar
had entrusted it with a similar mission to Zeno. In a well-known
novel, Majorian may be found thanking the Senate for his election, and
promising to govern according to its counsels ; and when Anthemius
was endeavouring to involve Ricimer in the struggle that was to end
so fatally for himself, he leant for support upon the Curia. Examples
such as these shew that the Senate represented tradition; it was the
single authority that remained unchanged through every vicissitude, and
to it accordingly Theodoric at once made overtures. He entrusted a
mission of considerable importance to two Senators, Festus and Faustus,
the former of whom occupied the position of chief of the Senate; and
on making his entry into Rome his first visit was to the Senate-house.
In fact, to make use of a saying of his own, as recorded by his panegyrist,
he adorned the crown of the Senate with countless flowers. He enrolled
a few Goths among its members, but he only did this on rare occasions,
for he preferred, as a rule, to recruit the senatorial ranks from among
the old aristocracy of the country. During his reign men became
senators in three ways; they might either be co-opted, or else selected
from a list of candidates nominated by the king, or they obtained the
CH. XV.


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444
The Senate.
The Consulship
1
1
a
rank because they had been advanced to some dignity which conferred
the title of “illustrious. ” In Rome indeed the Senate at this time was
the supreme power. In conjunction with the praefect, it had the control
of the municipal police; it organised the games in the circus; and
exercised authority over the city schools and working men's corporations.
Without abandoning any of its legislative power it assumed the functions
of the Aediles; nor could a royal edict become law until it had received
the senatorial sanction. The Varia of Cassiodorus are full of letters
from Theodoric to the Senate. Indeed, he never made a nomination of
any consequence, or filled up an important office, without immediately
communicating the fact to the senators in the most deferential terms,
and even soliciting their advice and approbation. A great deal of this
deference was no doubt a mere form, but to a certain extent it was also
sincere. The king's respect could hardly have been altogether feigned,
for he invariably addressed even those senators who held aloof from his
government in a kindly manner. Festus, for instance, although he
remained in Rome and never visited Ravenna, obtained the rank of
Patrician, and received no less than four letters from Theodoric, all
expressed in the most flattering terms; while Symmachus, another
Patrician who refused to leave his native city, was favoured with a royal
letter praising the buildings which he had erected.
In spite of these friendly relations, some opposition was aroused in
the Curia by the question of the Arian schism ; indeed towards the end
of the king's reign, the behaviour of the senators over this matter even
provoked against him the hostility of Byzantium. Not only was this
opposition a source of serious trouble to Theodoric, but it rendered him
suspicious and cruel, and caused him to act with great severity against
some of the senatorial families, and several victims, among whom
Boethius was the most illustrious, were executed by his command.
In the opinion of Theodoric, the consulship was as valuable as ever,
though in reality it had lost a great deal of its former importance. As
Justinian justly observes in an Authenticus, this office had originally
been created to defend the State in time of war, but since the emperors
had undertaken the business of fighting, the consulship had deteriorated
into a means of distributing largess among the people. Under these
circumstances, candidates for the office were not very numerous. Ennodius
mentions the small number of aspirants for the consulship; while
Marcian, in an official communication, expresses his indignation at the
stinginess of the men holding this high office, and obliges them to con-
tribute a hundred pounds weight of gold, for the purpose of repairing the
aqueducts. The consulship indeed at this period had degenerated into
a mere name. A formula of nomination, which has been preserved for us
by Cassiodorus, merely recalls the fame of this magistracy in the past, and
then goes on to point out that a consul's sole duty is to be magnanimous,
and not to be sparing with his money. However, the consul has no
1


## p. 445 (#475) ############################################

Theodoric's Government
445
we
more authority. “By the grace of God,” the formula declares,
govern, while your name dates the year. Your good fortune, indeed,
is greater than that of the prince himself, for though endowed with the
highest honours, you have been relieved of the burden of power. ” On
the other hand, as if to make up for this loss of authority, the dress of
a consul was sumptuous and magnificent; a spreading cloak hung from
his shoulders ; he carried a sceptre in his hand, and wore gilded shoes.
In addition, he possessed the right of sitting in a curule chair, and was
allowed to make the seven processions in triumph through Rome of
which Justinian speaks in one of his novels.
Theodoric would have liked to restore the consulship to a somewhat
more respected position. An eloquent letter on the subject of this
magistracy was addressed by him to the Emperor Anastasius, and when
Avienus, the son of Faustus, became consul in 501, Ennodius, who
shared the opinion of his master, wrote as follows: "If there are any
ancient dignities which deserve respect, if to be remembered after death
is to be regarded as a great happiness, if the foresight of our ancestors
really created something so excellent that by it humanity can triumph
over time, it is certainly the consulship, whose permanence has overcome
old age, and put an end to annihilation. ” In his Panegyric, moreover,
Ennodius praises Theodoric because, during his reign,“ the number of
consuls exceeded the number of candidates for the office in previous
times. "
7
The main outlines of Theodoric's government have now been described,
and it will be seen that they were all of Roman origin. We must next
inquire in what manner he administered this government. A judicious
policy, and gentle means, had been employed to supplant Odovacar, and
at the beginning of his reign he governed by similar methods. He
endeavoured to help the Italian officials with whom he had surrounded
himself, and to whom he had entrusted the high offices of state, in their
task of pacifying and reorganising the country. When Epiphanius
described the miserable plight of Liguria to him, and told him in
moving terms how the land there lay uncultivated owing to its husband-
men having been carried away captive by the Burgundians, the king
replied: “There is gold in the treasury, and we will pay their ransom,
whatever it may be, either in money or by the sword. ” He then
suggested that the bishop should himself undertake negotiations for
ransoming the captives. Epiphanius accepted this mission ; and, the
king having placed the necessary funds at his disposal, triumphantly
brought home six thousand prisoners, whom he had either ransomed or
whose liberty he had obtained by his eloquent pleading in their behalf.
The effect produced in Italy by such an act of liberality, followed by
so satisfactory a result, can be imagined. The king's aim, indeed, as he
told Cassiodorus, was to restore the old power of Italy, to re-establish
CH. XV.


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446
Theodoric's Government
a good government, and to extend the influence of that Roman civilitas
upon which he desired to model his own administration.
As ministers, he selected men capable of inspiring confidence, such
as Liberius, for instance, whose official work had been attended with
such excellent results. In his opinion, fidelity to a vanquished patron
was a virtue, nor was he afraid of praising it; indeed, in his administra-
tion, the value of a post given to a son would be in proportion to the
deserts of the father. He attracted young men capable of making good
officers of state to his Court; in a word, he acted like a sovereign who
desires to be loved by his subjects, and at the same time to give stability
to his rule. As Ennodius remarks, “No man was driven to despair of
obtaining honours; no man, however obscure, had to complain of a
refusal to his demands provided that they rested on substantial founda-
tions ; no man, in fact, ever came to the king without receiving liberal
gifts”; but at this point we detect the
we detect the panegyrist.
As we shall see before long, the end of his reign differed from the
beginning, but during the chief part of it, at any rate, he governed with
singular prudence. When Laurentius begged Theodoric to pardon
some rebellious subjects, the king answered him as follows : “ Your
duty as a bishop obliges you to urge me to listen to the claims of
mercy,
but the needs of an Empire in the making shut out gentleness and pity,
and make punishments a necessity. ” Nevertheless, we find that he
allowed some mitigation to be made in the punishment of the culprits.
Theodoric could be a just as well as a politic ruler, and he shewed
his sense of justice when he had to deal with financial questions. At
the request of Epiphanius, he remitted two-thirds of the taxes for the
current year to the inhabitants of Liguria ; levying the remaining third,
it is said, “ in order that the poverty of his treasury might not impose
fresh burdens on the Romans. ” During his reign, even the Goths were
obliged to submit to taxation, and he also made them respect the public
finances. At Adria, for instance, he forced them to give back what
they had taken from the fiscus ; in Tuscany he ordered Gesila, the
Sajo, to make them pay the land tax. Moreover, if in any province
the servants of the Gothic Count or his deputy behaved violently to
the provincials, we find Severianus giving information against them ;
while in Picenum and Samnium we find him ordering his compatriots to
bring grants made to the king to Court, without keeping back any portion
of them.
Nevertheless, contemporary chroniclers have all declared that Theo-
doric, like Odovacar, distributed a third part of the land in Italy among
his soldiers. Their statement appears to have been almost invariably
accepted by later historians, who have repeated it one from another.
A theory, that the barbarians despoiled the conquered people of their
estates, is commonly believed, and indeed has hardly ever been con-
tradicted. But in addition to the fact that such a proceeding would
1


## p. 447 (#477) ############################################

Corn-distributions
447
certainly have led to some disturbance, of which we can find no evidence
in any part of the country, another circumstance renders such a con-
clusion unreasonable. This is that neither Odovacar's soldiers, nor
Theodoric's, were in reality sufficiently numerous to occupy a third
part of the land in Italy. Greek chronicles, it is true, speak of the
τριτημόριον αγρών
tpitnuóplov tv árypôv. Latin writers of the tertiae. But what are
we to understand by these expressions ? Among the few scholars who
have attempted to dispute the current theory, some, like de Rozière,
believe that the chronicler's words denote an act of confiscation for
which compensation was made to the owners by a tax levied at the rate
of one-third of the annual value. Others, like Lécrivain, consider that
they mean a surrender of unappropriated land, in return for which a
tribute was exacted equal to a third of the annual produce. At no
period, not even during the agrarian troubles in the far away days of
the Republic, had it ever been the custom to eject legal proprietors
from their estates. On the contrary, on every occasion when land had
,
been required for the purpose of making grants to the plebeians, to
veterans or praetorians, or even to barbarians, it had invariably been
taken from land owned by the community, that is to say from the land
around the temples, from unoccupied land, or from the property of the
Treasury. Whenever indeed a distribution of land took place, it was
made exclusively from the lands belonging to the Treasury, which, at
certain periods, multiplied exceedingly owing to escheated successions
or confiscations. In our own opinion, it was a third of these state lands,
this ager publicus, that was assigned to the barbarians during the reigns
of Odovacar and Theodoric. In addition to the fact that not one of the
texts actually contradicts this theory, it appears to be sufficiently proved
by the following words, addressed by Ennodius to Liberius, when the
latter was ordered to allot the land of Liguria to the Goths : “ Have
you not enriched innumerable Goths with liberal grants, and yet the
Romans hardly seem to know what you have been doing. ” Even the
courtier-like Ennodius would not have expressed himself in this manner
in a private letter, or even in an official communication, if private
estates had been attacked for the benefit of the conquerors.
During the early years of the Roman Empire, the annual food
supply of Italy had always been one of the government's chief anxieties ;
and the writings of Cassiodorus constantly shew us that Theodoric was
not free from a similar care. His orders to his officials, however, on
this subject, appear to have been attended with excellent results.
During his reign, according to the Anonymus, sixty measures of
wheat might be purchased for a solidus, and thirty amphorae of wine
might be had for a like sum. Paul the Deacon has remarked the joy
with which the Romans received Theodoric's order for an annual
distribution of twenty thousand measures of grain among the people.
It was, moreover, with a view to making the yearly food supply more
CH. XV.


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448
Theodoric's Buildings
secure, that the king caused the seaports to be put into good repair;
and we find him especially charging Sabiniacus to keep those in the
vicinity of Rome in good order.
At the same time, Theodoric gratified the ruling passion of the
Italians for games in the circus ; and Ennodius, the Anonymus, and
Cassiodorus, are unanimous in praising him for reviving the gladiators.
From their pages, we learn that he provided shows and pantomimes, that
he endeavoured to shield the senators from the abusive jests of the
comedians, and that he brought charioteers from Milan for the Consul
Felix. But, in the eyes of his contemporaries, the most striking of
all Theodoric's characteristics seems to have been his taste for monuments,
for making improvements at Rome and Ravenna, and for works of
restoration of every kind. Such a taste, indeed, was very remarkable in
a barbarian. According to the Anonymus he was a great builder.
At Ravenna, the aqueducts were restored by his order ; and the plan of
the palace which he constructed there has been preserved for a mosaic
in Sant' Apollinare Nuovo. At Verona, also, he erected baths and an
aqueduct. Cassiodorus tells us how the king sought out skilled workers
in marble to complete the Basilica of Hercules; how he ordered the
Patrician Symmachus to restore the theatre of Pompey; how he bade
Artemidorus rebuild the walls of Rome, and how he desired Argolicus
to repair the drains in that city. We find him, moreover, requesting
Festus to send any fallen marbles from the Pincian Hill to Ravenna ;
and giving a portico, or piece of ground surrounded by a colonnade,
to the Patrician Albinus, in order that he may build houses on it.
Count Suna received directions to collect broken pieces of marble
in order that they might be used in wall-building ; while the magistrates
of a tributary town were required to send to Ravenna columns, and
any stones from ruins that had remained unused. In fact, Ennodius'
statement that “he rejuvenated Rome and Italy in their hideous old
age by amputating their mutilated members,” is perfectly correct in spite
of its rhetorical style. Not a few of his orders, moreover, bear witness
to a care for the future: the Goths of Dertona, for instance, and of
Castellum Verruca, were commanded to build fortifications; the citizens
of Arles were directed to repair the towers that were falling into decay
upon their walls; and the inhabitants of Feltre were ordered to build
a wall round their new city. He even looked forward to his own
death, building that strange mausoleum now become the Church of
Santa Maria della Rotonda, whose monolithic roof is still an object
of wonder.
Ennodius also tells us that Theodoric encouraged a revival of learning,
nor is this eulogy by any means undeserved, for a real literary renaissance
did in fact take place during his reign. In addition to Cassiodorus him-
self, to Ennodius, who was at once an enthusiastic lover of literature, an
orator, a poet, and a letter-writer, and to Boethius, the most illustrious
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## p. 449 (#479) ############################################

498–500]
The Church
449
and popular writer of his day, quite a number of other distinguished
literary men flourished at that time. Rusticus Helpidius, for instance,
the king's physician, has left a poem entitled the Blessings of Christ ;
Cornelius Maximianus wrote idyllic poetry; while Arator of Milan
translated the Acts of the Apostles into two books of hexameters. The
greatest poet of this period was Venantius Fortunatus, who became
bishop of Poitiers ; and mention should also be made of the lawyer
Epiphanius, who wrote an abridgment of the ecclesiastical histories of
Socrates, Sozomen and Theodoret.
Theodoric was himself an Arian, yet he was always ready to extend
his protection to the Catholic Church. Indeed, as we have already
noticed, it was his policy to win over the bishops of northern Italy.
Accordingly he granted complete liberty of worship to all Catholics ;
while so long as papal elections were quietly conducted, as in the cases
of Gelasius and Anastasius II, he took no part in them. But should
a pontifical or episcopal election lead to disturbances of any kind, more
especially if such disturbances were likely to end in a schism, Theodoric
at once intervened in them, in the character of arbitrator or judge.
For he claimed to be dominator rerum, that is to say the sovereign,
responsible for the maintenance of order in the State; the successor, indeed,
of the Caesars, who had always considered the task of maintaining the
integrity of the faith as their most especial prerogative. And he
assumed such a position at the time of the Laurentian schism.
In the year 498, two priests, Laurentius and Symmachus, had been
simultaneously elected by rival parties to the Roman See. As neither
prelate was willing to resign his claim to profit by the election, the
dispute was referred to the Gothic king, who decided that whichever
candidate had obtained a majority of votes should be proclaimed
bishop of Rome. This condition being fulfilled by Symmachus, he was
accordingly recognised as Pope, while Laurentius was given the bishopric
of Nuceria as a compensation. By this arrangement peace, it was
believed, was again established ; and, in the year 500, Theodoric paid a
visit to Rome, where he was enthusiastically received by Pope, Senate
and people.
But the schism was by no means at an end. On the contrary, the
enemies of Symmachus lost no time in renewing their attack with
redoubled vigour; and accusations of adultery, of alienating church
property, and of celebrating Easter on the wrong date, were successively
brought against the Pope. Theodoric summoned the accused Pontiff
to appear before him, and when Symmachus refused to comply with
this command, the case was referred to an assembly, over which Peter
of Altinum presided as visitor. No less than five synods were convoked
for the purpose of settling this question, and it was eventually terminated
by the acquittal and rehabilitation of Symmachus.
29
C. MED. B. VOL. I. CH. xv.


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450
The Church
The debates held in these ecclesiastical assemblies were very stormy.
The partisans on both sides appear to have been equally unwilling to
give way, nor did they scruple to promote their cause by exciting riots
in the streets, or by slanderous libels. Both parties indeed seem to have
been mainly occupied with justifying themselves in Theodoric's eyes,
in order that they might obtain his support; in fact, from the second
Synod onwards, the friends of Laurentius adopted the tactics of attempt-
ing to prove that Symmachus and his adherents had disobeyed the
orders of the king.
In every phase of this controversy, so full of information respecting
the relations of Church and State at that period, Theodoric, it will be
seen, occupies an important place. In Rome, troubles were temporarily
smoothed over by his presence, while his departure, on the other hand,
proved the signal for a fresh outbreak. Appeals for a peaceful settle-
ment, expressed with increasing vigour, and mingled with reproofs of
increasing sternness, fill his letters at this time. When the hostile
parties, unable to come to any decision on their own account, referred the
question to their sovereign, he reminded them of their duty in the
following severe words: “We order you to decide this matter which is
of God, and which we have confided to your care, as it seems good to
you. Do not expect any judgment from us, for it is your duty to
settle this question. ” Later, as a verdict still failed to make its appear-
ance, he writes again : “I order you to obey the command of God. "
And this time he was obeyed.
The fact that Theodoric was himself an Arian never seems to have
limited his influence in any way during this long quarrel, so celebrated
in the history of the Church. His prerogative as king gave him a
legitimate authority in ecclesiastical matters, nor does that authority
ever appear to have been called in question on the ground that he was
a heretic. On the contrary, we find him giving his sanction to canons
and decrees, exactly in the same manner as his predecessors had done in
the days of the dual Empire. But, though his words were sometimes
haughty and peremptory, he was careful not to impose his own will in
any matters concerning faith or discipline; indeed the most extreme
action that can be laid to his charge is the introduction into the Roman
Synods of two Gothic functionaries, Gudila and Bedculphas, for the
purpose of seeing that his instructions were not neglected.
A similar wise impartiality, mingled with firmness, distinguished his
dealings with the clergy. When a priest named Aurelianus was
fraudulently deprived of a portion of his inheritance, restitution was
made to him by order of the king. He assisted the churches to
recover their endowments ; he appreciated good priests, and did them
honour. Occasionally, indeed, he deposed a bishop for a time, on account
of some action having been brought against him, but he always had
him reinstated in his see as soon as he had proved his innocence. When
:


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Foreign Affairs
451
he desired to give some compensation to the inhabitants of a country
over which his troops had marched, he placed the matter in the hands
of Bishop Severus, because that prelate was known to estimate damages
fairly; and when a dispute arose between the clergy and the town of
Sarsena he ordered the case to be tried in the bishop's court, unless the
prelate himself should prefer to refer it to the king's tribunal. Finally,
he made it a rule that ecclesiastical cases were only to be tried before
ecclesiastical judges.
The foreign policy of Theodoric was conducted in the same masterly
manner as his home government, or his dealings with the Church. He
appears to have exercised a kind of protectorate over the barbarian
tribes upon his frontiers, especially over those of the Arian persuasion,
nor did he hesitate to impose his will upon them, if necessary, by force
of arms. As he had only daughters he was obliged to consider the
question of his successor ; and the marriages which he arranged for his
children, or other relations, were accordingly planned with a view to
procuring political alliances. Of his daughters the eldest, Arevagni,
was married to Alaric, king of the Visigoths; the second, Theudegotha,
became the wife of Sigismund, son of Gundobad, king of the Burgun-
dians; and the third, Amalasuntha, was given in marriage to one of
Theodoric's own race, the Amal Eutharic. Other alliances were formed
by the marriage of his sister Amalafrida to Thrasamund, king of the
Vandals, and of another sister, Amalaberga, to Hermanfred, king of the
Thuringians; while Theodoric himself wedded Childeric's daughter
Audefleda, the sister of Clovis.
These alliances were all made with the definite object of extending
Theodoric's sphere of action (sic, per circuitum placuit omnibus
gentibus, says the Anonymus); but when, as for example in the case
of the Franks, they failed to attain the end desired by the king, they
were never permitted to hamper schemes of an entirely contrary
nature.
A simple enumeration of Theodoric's wars is alone sufficient to prove
the firmness of his will. When he found that Noricum and Pannonia,
two provinces on the Italian frontier, were not to be trusted, he attacked
and killed a chieftain of freebooters, named Mundo, in the former
province. As the Emperor Anastasius was supporting Mundo, and
had recently despatched a fleet to plunder on the coasts of Calabria
and Apulia, such an attack gave Theodoric an opportunity of asserting
his independence. Moreover, in order to render his demonstration
even more effective, he collected a fleet of his own, which he sent to
cruise in the Adriatic. At the same time, he took Pannonia from the
Gepid chief Trasaric, and thus effectually secured his north-eastern
frontiers. Those on the north-west next engaged his attention, and
here he protected the Alemanni from the attacks of Clovis, and
eventually settled them in the province of Rhaetia. Finally he took
CH. XV.
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452
Theodoric's last years
[507–523
advantage of the wars between the Franks and the Burgundians to
secure the passes of the Graian Alps.
Theodoric had striven to prevent hostilities from breaking out
between the Franks and the Visigoths; but after Alaric's death at the
battle of Vouillé (507), he found himself obliged to take the latter people
under his own protection. In the war that ensued, Ibbas, one of his
generals, defeated the eldest son of Clovis near Arles (511); took possession
of Provence; secured Septimania for the Visigoths; and established
Amalaric in Spain. Among more distant nations we find the Es-
thonians on the shores of the Baltic paying him a tribute of amber,
while a deposed prince of Scandinavia found a refuge at his Court.
History, as may be seen from these events, fully corroborates the legends
in which Theodoric is represented as a protector of barbarian interests,
and chief patron of the Teutonic races. In the Nibelungenlied, for
instance, we find him occupying a distinguished place under the name of
Dietrich of Bern (Theodoric of Verona). At the time of his death his
dominions included Italy, Sicily, Dalmatia, Noricum, the greater part of
what is now Hungary, the two Rhaetias (Tyrol and the Grisons), Lower
Germany as far north as Ulm, and Provence. Indeed, if his supremacy
over the Goths in Spain be also taken into account, it will be seen that
he had succeeded in reestablishing the ancient Western Empire for his
own benefit, with the exceptions of Africa, Britain, and two-thirds of
Gaul.
So far as we have examined it, Theodoric's government has been
found invariably broad-minded and liberal, but it was destined to
undergo a complete change during the latter years of his reign.
Whether this change was the consequence of a relapse into barbarism,
or whether, as seems more probable, it must be attributed to the
persecution under which the Arians were suffering in every part of the
Empire, is not easy to determine, for no definite information on this
point is to be found in any of the texts. In any case, however, there
can be no doubt that it was the religious question that produced this
complete change of policy. On this point the Anonymus is perfectly
clear; and if we disregard the severity and the cruelty of his punish-
ments, and at the same time make due allowance for intrigues of
the Byzantine Court, and of the Church itself, the precise nature of
which cannot be determined, it does not appear that the king was
himself to blame
During his reign we find the Jews enjoying an extraordinary
amount of protection; and, in one of his edicts, he testifies with what
obedience this people had accepted the legal position assigned to them
by the Roman law. His son-in-law Eutharic, however, appears to have
1 The following saying of Theodoric's should not be forgotten : “We cannot
impose a religion by force, since no one can be compelled to believe against his
will. ” Cass. Var. 11. 27.


## p. 453 (#483) ############################################

523]
Boethius
453
been addicted to persecution ; and during his consulship the Christians
of Ravenna made an attempt to force all the Jews in their city to
submit to the rite of baptism. As the Jews refused to comply, the
Christians flung them into the water, and in spite of the king's decrees,
and the orders of Bishop Peter, attacked and set fire to the synagogues.
Upon this, the Jews complained to the king at Verona, who ordered the
Christians to rebuild the synagogues at their own expense. This com-
mand was carried out, but not before a certain amount of disturbance
had aroused Theodoric's suspicions; and in consequence the inhabitants
of Ravenna were forbidden to carry arms of any kind, even the smallest
knife being prohibited.
While these events were in progress, in the year 523, the Emperor
Justin proscribed Arianism throughout the Empire. Such an action
was a direct menace to the Goths, and Theodoric felt it very acutely.
The painful impression which it produced on him was probably much
increased by the fact that Symmachus' successors in the papal chair
had not been as tolerant as their predecessor; while one of them in
particular, John I, had shewn a most bitter enmity towards heresy.
We have no certain knowledge as to whether the Senate was in sym-
pathy with Theodoric on this occasion, or whether it approved of
Justin's measure, but the most probable theory seems to be that the
Curia was on Justin's side, and that Theodoric moreover was aware
that this was the case. At any rate, when the Senator Albinus was
denounced by Cyprian for carrying on intrigues with Byzantium the
accusation found ready credence at Court. The Anonymus declares,
besides, that the king was angry with the Romans; and it is difficult
to see why he should have been thus angry unless the Romans had been
approving of Justin's religious decrees. On the other hand, if any plot
had existed in the real sense of the term, it is not probable that such a
man as Boethius, the master of the offices, that is to say one of the chief
officers of the Crown, would have endeavoured to shield Albinus by
saying, “Cyprian's accusation is false, but if Albinus has written to
Constantinople he has done so with my consent and that of the whole
Senate. ” He might perhaps have spoken in such a manner for the
purpose of expressing his own and his colleagues' approval of a religious
decree promulgated by a sovereign to whom they owed allegiance.
Boethius indeed had himself just published a work against Arianism,
entitled De Trinitate, but it does not seem likely that he would have
talked in this fashion had a conspiracy really been brewing. In any
case, he was at once thrown into prison; and is said to have composed
his work De Consolatione while in captivity. In the end, after a brief
trial, he was put to death with every refinement of cruelty, while
not long afterwards his father-in-law, Symmachus, met with a similar
fate.
Theodoric, indeed, understood very well that his whole life-work was
CH. XV.


## p. 454 (#484) ############################################

454
Death of Theodoric
(523–534
-
--
+
likely to be compromised by this readiness on the part of his subjects to
accept Justin's edict. For what would become of his authority if it
became the fashion to criticise him on account of his faith? It was in
the hope of finding some remedy for this situation that he summoned
Pope John to Ravenna, and from thence despatched him, accompanied
by five bishops and four senators, on an embassy to Constantinople
.
The king charged this mission, among other things, with the task of
requiring the Emperor to reinstate the outcast Arians within the pale
of the Church. But the Emperor, though willing enough to make
concessions on any other subject, would concede nothing to the Arians,
and the mission was forced to leave Constantinople without obtaining
any redress on this point. As for Pope John, he died almost immedi-
ately after his return to Italy, and as his biographers tell us that he
worked numerous miracles after his death, we may conclude that this
sectarian quarrel must have been very acute. The failure of this
embassy made Theodoric so furious that he allowed an edict to be
published during the consulship of Olybrius by Symmachus, the chief
official in the Scholae, which stated that all Catholics were to be ejected
from their churches, on the seventh day of the Kalends of September.
But on the very day fixed upon by his minister for the execution of
this act of banishment, the king died, apparently from an attack of
dysentery, in the year 526.
The Byzantine historian Procopius—though he was himself an
opponent of the king's—has summed up Theodoric and his work in the
following verdict, which remains true in spite of the errors committed
by him during the latter years of his reign. “His manner of ruling
over his subjects was worthy of a great Emperor ; for he maintained
justice, made good laws, protected his country from invasion, and gave
proof of extraordinary prudence and valour. "
Theodoric's work was not destined to survive his death. He left a
daughter, Amalasuntha, the widow of Eutharic, who was not unlike
him; and who now became guardian to her son Athalaric, to whom his
grandfather had bequeathed the crown on his death-bed. She had been
educated entirely on Roman lines, and understood the value of her
father's work; but she had to reckon with the Goths. During
Theodoric's lifetime this people had done nothing to excite attention,
and had lived side by side with the Romans without shewing any
desire to obtain the upper hand; but under the regency of a woman
we find that they soon aspired to play a more important part. Their
first step was to take Athalaric from the guardianship of his mother.
He died, however, in 534. Amalasuntha was now confronted once
again with her former difficulties; and in the hope of overcoming them,
she attempted to share the crown with Theodoric's nephew Theodahad,
a man of weak and evil character. The new king's first care was to get
rid of Amalasuntha, and he had her shut up on an island, in the lake of


## p. 455 (#485) ############################################

534–536]
Death of Amalasuntha
455
Bolsena. From her prison, she appealed to Justinian for assistance.
When this came to Theodahad's ears, he had her strangled.
But her cry for help had not been unheeded. By the death of
Anastasius the situation at Constantinople had been completely
changed; it was no longer the imperial policy to allow Italy to be
governed by a vassal, more especially if that vassal were an Arian; and
political and religious motives alike urged Justinian to intervene. A
struggle began accordingly which was to last from 536 to 553, which
was to devastate Italy with fire and bloodshed, and which ultimately
opened the door for a new invasion by the Lombards.
CH, XV.


## p. 456 (#486) ############################################

456
*
CHAPTER XVI.
THE EASTERN PROVINCES FROM ARCADIUS
TO ANASTASIUS.
care.
By the death of Theodosius the Eastern throne passed to his incapable
elder son, Arcadius, then 17 years old, while the practical administration
was in the hands of the praetorian praefect, Rufinus of Aquitaine, a man
of vigour and ability who in the pursuit of ambition and avarice was not
limited by scruples. Under these circumstances a conflict was likely to
arise between Rufinus and Stilicho, who was the guardian of the Western
Emperor Honorius, and husband of Theodosius' niece, who also asserted
that Theodosius had on his death-bed committed both his sons to his
Rufinus proposed to counterbalance the advantage which his rival
possessed in his connexion with the imperial family by marrying Arcadius
to his own daughter ; but, unfortunately for him, he had a rival at
Court in the eunuch Eutropius, a former slave who had risen to the
position of praepositus sacri cubiculi ; who now profited by the praefect's
absence to thwart his scheme. Lucian, whom Rufinus had made count
of the East, had refused a request of Eucherius, the Emperor's great-
uncle; and, upon Arcadius complaining of this, the praefect, to shew his
own loyalty, made a hasty journey to Antioch and put Lucian to a cruel
death. Meanwhile Eutropius induced Arcadius to betroth himself to
Eudoxia, daughter of Bauto the Frank, who had been brought up by a
son of Promotus, an enemy of Rufinus; who thus had the mortification
of seeing his master united not to his own daughter but to one who from
her upbringing would be bitterly opposed to him (27 Apr. 395).
The inferiority of Rufinus was increased by the fact that the best of
the Eastern troops had accompanied Theodosius to the West, and of
these only some of the less efficient had been sent back. The Visigothic
foederati had however returned to Moesia ; and their leader Alaric, who
was now proclaimed king, was quick to profit by the weakness of the
government. Professing indignation at not being appointed magister
militum, he invaded Thrace and advanced to Constantinople, while
Rufinus, having also to meet an incursion of Caucasian Huns into
Asia Minor and Syria (July), where Antioch was threatened and Old


## p. 457 (#487) ############################################

395–396]
Murder of Rufinus
457
another way.
Tyre abandoned by its citizens, had no forces to oppose to him. He
therefore went to the Gothic camp, and, after some negotiations, Alaric
withdrew to Macedonia, and after a check from local forces at the Peneus
passed into Thessaly. Stilicho, who, besides desiring to overthrow
Rufinus, wished to re-unite eastern Illyricum to the Western power,
treated this as a pretext for interference; and, starting in early spring,
he marched with considerable forces to Thessaly, and met the Goths in
a wide plain. Probably, however, he did not wish to crush them ; and,
after some months had been spent in skirmishes or negotiations, Rufinus,
who feared Stilicho more than Alaric, sent him in the Emperor's name an
order to evacuate the dominions of Arcadius and send back the Eastern
troops. To break openly with the East at this time did not suit Stilicho's
purpose ; and, as the Eastern forces, which comprised a large Gothic
contingent, were devoted to him, he could attain his primary object in
He therefore returned at once, while the Eastern army
under Gaïnas the Goth marched to Constantinople. In accordance with
custom the Emperor, accompanied by Rufinus, came out to meet the
troops, and the soldiers, at a signal from Gaïnas, fell upon the praefect
and cut him in pieces (27 Nov. ).
The Emperor's chief adviser was now Eutropius, who appropriated a
large part of Rufinus' property and procured the banishment of the two
most distinguished generals in the East, Abundantius and Timasius
(396), while he entrusted positions of power to such obscure men as
Hosius the cook and Leo the wool-comber. He also gained much obloquy
by selling offices, though as the prices were fixed and there was no
system of public loans, this was only a convenient method of raising
money. As a eunuch, he could not hold any state office; but for this
he partly compensated by transferring some of the powers of the praefect
to the master of the offices and by interfering in matters altogether out-
side the functions of a chamberlain. Thus he is said to have acted as a
judge, probably on a special commission, and to have gone on embassies
to the Goths and Huns, from which he returned with military pomp.
Finally he was made a patrician and assumed the consulship (399),
though his name was not admitted to the Western Fasti. At first he
was necessarily on good terms with the army, and therefore with Stilicho;
but he was no more inclined than Rufinus had been to allow the Western
regent to direct Eastern affairs, and the previous position therefore soon
recurred.
After Stilicho's retreat Greece lay at Alaric's mercy, for, perhaps
because the army was too much under Stilicho's influence, no force was
sent against him, and through the unguarded Thermopylae he marched
plundering into Boeotia. Thebes indeed was too strong to take, and
Athens he entered only under a capitulation. Megara however was
taken, and, the Isthmus being left undefended, Corinth, Argos, and
Sparta also. During 396 Peloponnesus lay under his heel ; but early
a
OH. XVI.


## p. 458 (#488) ############################################

458
Rebellion of Tribigild
(397–399
in 3971 Stilicho, secure in the support of the Eastern army, thought
that the time had come for another campaign. This time he came by
sea to Corinth, and, marching westwards, blockaded the Goths at Pholoe
in Elis. But Eutropius opened negotiations with Gildo, count of
Africa, whose loyalty had long been doubtful, to induce him to transfer
his allegiance to Arcadius; and, the threatening state of affairs making it
necessary for Stilicho to return, he allowed Alaric to withdraw to Epirus,
probably on the understanding that he would keep the Eastern Court
occupied. Eutropius however preferred to satisfy him by the post of
magister militum in Illyricum, and on these terms peace was concluded.
Such being the relations between the two Courts, it is not surprising to
find that some of the eunuch's enemies conspired with the Gothic soldiers,
the allies of Stilicho, against his life, and that, with the fate of Rufinus
before him, he tried to prevent such plots by a law of extraordinary
severity (4 Sept. ). Perhaps for the same reason that no army was sent
against Alaric no support was given to Gildo ; but his revolt occupied
Stilicho's attention during most of 398. The pacification of Africa was
however soon followed by Eutropius' fall.
Gaïnas, now magister militum, had been strengthening his own
position by filling the army with Goths from Moesia ; and in spring
399 an opportunity for action presented itself. Tribigild, commander
of the Gothic colonists in Phrygia, having been refused a donative by
Eutropius, revolted and ravaged the country, upon which Eutropius
offered the money; but Tribigild raised his demands and insisted upon
the eunuch's deposition. Gaïnas, with Leo, the satellite of Eutropius,
was sent against him; but, while Leo advanced toward the disturbed
district, Gaïnas remained at the Hellespont. Tribigild on hearing of
Leo's approach marched through Pisidia into Pamphylia, where a large
part of his army was cut to pieces by a rustic force under Valentinus,
a citizen of Selga, and the rest blockaded between the Eurymedon and
the Melas. Leo moved to the support of the local force: but, as he
was too indolent and dissolute to maintain discipline, Tribigild was able
by an unexpected attack to make his way through, while the disorderly
force scattered in all directions, Leo himself perishing in the flight.
Tribigild then returned to Phrygia, which he again plundered. Nor
was he the only enemy with whom the Empire had to contend; for,
besides the constant incursions of the desert tribes into Egypt and Libya,
the Huns were ravaging Thrace, and Vram Shapuh of Armenia was, at
the instigation of the Persian king, attempting to annex the five satrapies
north of the Tigris.
Accordingly Gaïnas with much show of reason represented to
Arcadius that his best course was to grant Tribigild's demand; and,
1 I cannot resist Koch's argument for 397 rather than 396. The connexion with
Gildo's revolt is then obvious.
? I take this to be the meaning of “Mesopotamia” in Mos. Chor. In. 52.


## p. 459 (#489) ############################################

399–400]
Fall of Eutropius
459
as Eudoxia urged the same, his consent was easily obtained. Eutropius
was deposed from his office, and, though he had abolished by legal
enactment the right of sanctuary possessed by the churches, fled to the
altar of St Sophia, where the bishop, John Chrysostom, who owed his
appointment to the eunuch, made use of his presence to preach on the
vanity of earthly things, but resisted all attempts to remove him.
Finally he left the church on a promise that his life should be spared,
but was deprived of property and honours, and banished to Cyprus
(July or Aug. )! As however Gaïnas insisted upon the necessity of his
)
death, he was, on the pretext that the promise applied only to Con-
stantinople, brought back to Chalcedon, tried on a charge of using
imperial ornaments, and beheaded (Nov. or Dec. )”.
The fall of Eutropius had been effected by a combination between
Eudoxia and Gaïnas ; and during the absence of the Goth, who had
returned to Phrygia, the Empress secured the appointment of Aurelianus
to the praefecture in preference to his brother Caesarius, who was
supported by Gaïnas. After Eutropius' death she further had herself
proclaimed Augusta (9 Jan. 400); and by an innovation which called
forth a protest from Honorius her busts were sent round the provinces
like those of emperors. But Gaïnas had not designed to set Eudoxia in
the place of Eutropius ; accordingly he sent Tribigild, with whom he had
joined forces, to Lampsacus, while he himself returned to Chalcedon, and
demanded the surrender of three of the principal supporters of the empress,
Aurelianus the praefect, Saturninus an ex-consul, and Count John,
her chief favourite. Resistance was useless; and Aurelianus and Saturninus
crossed to Chalcedon, while John hid himself, probably in a church; but
his hiding-place was discovered, and the bishop's enemies afterwards
asserted that he had betrayed him. The three men were ordered to
prepare for death; but, when the executioner's sword was at their necks,
Gaïnas stayed his hand and had them conveyed by sea towards the Adriatic,
perhaps intending to place them in the hands of Stilicho or Alaric.
He next demanded a meeting with the Emperor ; which took place at
Chalcedon, where they gave mutual oaths of good faith in the church of
St Euphemia. Both the Gothic leaders then crossed to Europe. Caesarius
was made praefect, and in consequence of the recent troubles was com-
pelled to increase the taxation ; but in systematising the sale of offices
by limiting the tenure of each he seems to have performed an act of
advantage to the State and justice to the purchasers. Meanwhile Gaïnas
was so distributing the Roman troops in the city as to place them at the
mercy of the Goths; and then, thinking his will law, he asked that a
a
1 The change in the praefecture, which must be connected with his fall, seems
from the dates in the Code to have occurred at this time.
2 Claudian heard reports of the movements of Yezdegerd (who dated his years
from 14 Aug. 399) before hearing of Eutropius' death, while Asterius knew of it
on 1 Jan.
CH. XVI.


## p. 460 (#490) ############################################

460
Overthrow of Gainas
[400—403
a
church within the walls should be given to the Arians. This time how-
ever the strong orthodoxy of Arcadius and the influence of the bishop
caused the demand to be refused. The violent hostility aroused by these
events made men believe that the Goths intended to attack the palace ;
while they on their side were seized with a panic which led them to
expect an attack from forces which did not exist. Accordingly Gaïnas,
alleging ill-health, retired to the suburban church of St John, instructing
his men to come out singly and join him. After the greater part had
left the city, a trivial occurrence brought on a scuffle between the Goths
and the citizens, who attacked the already panic-stricken barbarians with
any weapons they could find, and at last the gates were shut, and the
Goths enclosed within the city, without cohesion and without leaders,
offered little resistance and were mercilessly massacred, while Arcadius
,
found courage to declare Gaïnas a public enemy and send his guards to
support the populace. Next day the survivors, who had fled to a church
that the bishop had given to the orthodox Goths, were surrounded by
the soldiers; and, though none dared to attack them in the church,
the roof was stripped off and burning wood thrown in until all perished,
in spite of the appeals of Caesarius for a capitulation (12 July).
The Roman troops were now collected and placed under Fravitta,
a loyal pagan Goth who had distinguished himself in the time of
Theodosius. The attempts of Gaïnas on the Thracian cities failed,
Tribigild was killed, and lack of provisions compelled the Goths to
withdraw to the Chersonese in order to cross to Asia ; but Fravitta had
already placed a fleet on the Hellespont to intercept them. They were
however forced to attempt the passage in rafts, and, these being sunk,
most of them were drowned, while Gaïnas with the survivors retreated
across the Danube, where he was attacked and killed by Uldin the Hun
(23 Dec. )', who sent his head to Constantinople, where it was carried
through the city (3 Jan. 401). Shortly before the victory Aurelianus and
the other hostages escaped from their guards in Epirus, and returned to
the capital; and early in 401 Caesarius was deposed and imprisoned, and
Aurelianus restored. Some deserters and fugitive slaves, who continued
to ravage Thrace, were put down by Fravitta. But he was accused of
not pressing his advantage against the Goths, and, though acquitted,
incurred Eudoxia's enmity, and afterwards fell a victim to the machina-
tions of her satellites.
Stilicho's hopes of directing Eastern affairs through the army were
thus destroyed; and soon afterwards the government was delivered from
Alaric, who, having exhausted eastern Illyricum, invaded Italy, and
after an indecisive battle at Pollentia (402) was established in western
Illyricum as magister militum, probably on the understanding that he
would help Stilicho to annex eastern Illyricum when opportunity arose.
In other directions things went less fortunately. By the annihilation
1 Seeck in Pauly-Wissowa, 11. 1150.


## p. 461 (#491) ############################################

403–408]
Banishment of John Chrysostom
461
of the Goths the East was left almost without an army; and the Isaurian
robbers terrorised eastern Asia Minor and Syria, where they took Seleucia
(Feb. 403), and even crossed to Cyprus. Arbazacius the Armenian
indeed gained some successes ; but he was suspected of corruption and
recalled, though by the influence of the empress he escaped punish-
ment (404).
The chief power in the State was now Eudoxia ; but there was one
man who dared to oppose her, John Chrysostom. As early as 401 he
offended her by complaining of some act of oppression ; and not only
was he constantly preaching against the prevailing luxury and dissipation
among the ladies of fashion of whom she was leader, but he used the
names “ Herodias” and “ Jezebel,” and in one of his sermons employed
the word asofia, with an application that could not be mistaken. His
popularity was so great that she would hardly have attacked him on
this ground alone; but, with the help of the ecclesiastical jealousy of
the bishop of Alexandria and the discontent which his high-handed
proceedings in the cause of discipline aroused among some of the clergy,
she procured his deposition (c. July 403). Popular clamour however and
a building-collapse in the imperial chamber frightened her into recalling
him after a few days and excusing herself by throwing the blame upon
others. This reconciliation did not last long. Two months later a
statue of Eudoxia was erected on a spot adjoining the church of St Irene
during divine service, and John, regarding the festivities as an insult to
the church, preached a violent sermon against those responsible for them,
which the empress took as an attack upon herself. The bishops were
therefore again assembled; but the proceedings were protracted, and
Arcadius, who in religious matters had something like a will of his own,
was hard to move. On 20 June 404 however the bishop was finally
expelled. That night some of his fanatical partisans set fire to St Sophia,
which was destroyed with the adjoining Senate-house, in which many
ancient works of art perished.
Less than four months afterwards Eudoxia died from a miscarriage
(6 Oct. ); and the period of active misrule from which the East had
suffered since 395 came to an end. The praefecture was now entrusted
to the capable hands of Anthemius: but the government had still no force
to
repress the incursions of the Libyan tribes or the Isaurian brigands,
whose raids continued to the end of the reign. The relations with the
West had been further embittered by the affair of John Chrysostom;
and, while Stilicho lived, a good understanding was impossible. After
delays not easy to explain Stilicho prepared to carry out his compact
with Alaric, and, as an earnest of his intention, closed the ports against
Eastern ships, while Alaric invaded Epirus. But, hearing that the
usurper Constantine had crossed to Gaul, Stilicho again postponed his
Eastern expedition, and Alaric in anger evacuated the dominions of
Arcadius and threatened Italy. At this juncture Arcadius died (1 May
a
CH. XVI.


## p. 462 (#492) ############################################

462
Administration of Anthemius
[408–414
1
!
408), leaving a son, Theodosius, aged seven, who since 10 Jan. 402
had been his father's colleague, and three (perhaps four) daughters;
and Stilicho, thinking the time come to carry out his old project of
bringing the East under his rule, proposed to send Alaric to Gaul and
go himself to Constantinople as the representative of Honorius; but a
hostile party secured the Emperor's ear, and he was put to death (Aug.
408). The ports were then opened and amity restored.
The care of the Emperor's person was in the hands of Antiochus, a
eunuch with Persian connexions ; but the direction of affairs fell to
Anthemius, whose chief adviser was the sophist Troilus; and the period
of his administration was one of the most fortunate in the history of the
East. The danger from the West had been removed by Stilicho's fall;
and on the eastern side the best relations were maintained with Yezdegerd
the Persian king, with whom a commercial treaty was made. The military
power of the Empire had suffered too much to be quickly restored ; but
we hear no more of Isaurian raids, and it was found possible to send a
small force to support Honorius against Alaric. It was only however
by a combination with subject tribes that the Huns were driven across
the Danube, while their tributaries the Sciri were captured in vast
numbers, and enslaved or settled as coloni in Asia Minor (409). To
prevent such incursions the fleet on the Danube was strengthened (412).
Other salutary measures were the relief given to the taxpayers of Illyricum
and the East (413-14), the restoration of the fortifications of the Illyrian
cities (412), and the re-organisation of the corn supply of Constantinople
(409). But the work for which the name of Anthemius was most
remembered is the wall built from the Propontis to the Golden Horn
to enclose the portion of the city that had grown up outside the wall
of Constantine, a wall which substantially exists to this day (413).
In 414 the administration of Anthemius came to an end, probably
by death; and on 4 July Pulcheria, the daughter of Arcadius, was
proclaimed Augusta, a title that had not been granted to an emperor's
sister since Trajan's time; and henceforth, though only two years
older
than Theodosius, she exercised the functions of regent, and her bust was
placed in the Senate-house with those of the emperors (30 Dec. ). At the
same time Antiochus was removed from the palace.
The Court of Pulcheria was a strange contrast to her mother's. For
political rather than religious reasons she took a vow of perpetual virginity
and induced her sisters to do the same, and the princesses spent their
time in spinning and devout exercises. She herself was a ready speaker
and writer in Greek and Latin; and she had her brother trained in
rhetoric, as well as horsemanship and the use of arms, in ceremony
and deportment, and the observances of religion. Hence he grew up &
strict observer of ecclesiastical rules, a fair scholar with a special interest
in natural science and medicine, a keen huntsman, an excellent penman,
exemplary in private life, mild and good-tempered ; but, as everything
4


## p. 463 (#493) ############################################

414–420]
Regency of Pulcheria
463
likely to make him a capable ruler was excluded from his education,
the Emperor remained all his life a puppet in the hands of his sister, his
wife, and his eunuchs.
The transference of the regency to a girl of 15 could not be effected
without a change in the methods of administration, and it is therefore
not surprising to find the government accused of fiscal oppression,
while the sale of offices, which was restricted under Anthemius, became
again a matter of public notoriety. In Alexandria, which, being almost
equally divided between Christians, Jews, and heathens, was always
turbulent, the change gave occasion for a serious outbreak. After
prolonged rioting between Jews and Christians the bishop Cyril instigated
his followers to expel the Jews. This the praefect Orestes reported to
the Emperor, while Cyril sent his own account; and, Orestes refusing to
yield, some fanatical monks attacked and stoned him. The chief perpe-
trator was tortured to death, whereupon Cyril treated him as a martyr,
and both parties appealed to Constantinople. It now came to be
believed among Cyril's partisans that Orestes was acting under the
influence of the celebrated mathematician and philosopher, Hypatia,
who was in constant communication with him : accordingly a party of
parabolani (sick-attendants) pulled her from her chariot, dragged her
into the church called Caesarium, and beat or scraped her to death with
tiles (Mar. 415). At first the government acted with some vigour. No
personal punishment was inflicted, but the parabolani were limited to
500, and the selection made subject to the approbation of the Augustal
and praetorian praefects, while they were forbidden to appear in the
council-house or law-courts or at public spectacles (29 Sept. 416).