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The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

E >> Edward Gibbon >> The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire




[Footnote 74: With regard to the cause and circumstances of the
deaths of Aetius and Valentinian, our information is dark and
imperfect. Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 4, p. 186, 187,
188) is a fabulous writer for the events which precede his own
memory. His narrative must therefore be supplied and corrected
by five or six Chronicles, none of which were composed in Rome or
Italy; and which can only express, in broken sentences, the
popular rumors, as they were conveyed to Gaul, Spain, Africa,
Constantinople, or Alexandria.]
As early as the time of Cicero and Varro, it was the opinion
of the Roman augurs, that the twelve vultures which Romulus had
seen, represented the twelve centuries, assigned for the fatal
period of his city. ^75 This prophecy, disregarded perhaps in the
season of health and prosperity, inspired the people with gloomy
apprehensions, when the twelfth century, clouded with disgrace
and misfortune, was almost elapsed; ^76 and even posterity must
acknowledge with some surprise, that the arbitrary interpretation
of an accidental or fabulous circumstance has been seriously
verified in the downfall of the Western empire. But its fall was
announced by a clearer omen than the flight of vultures: the
Roman government appeared every day less formidable to its
enemies, more odious and oppressive to its subjects. ^77 The
taxes were multiplied with the public distress; economy was
neglected in proportion as it became necessary; and the injustice
of the rich shifted the unequal burden from themselves to the
people, whom they defrauded of the indulgences that might
sometimes have alleviated their misery. The severe inquisition
which confiscated their goods, and tortured their persons,
compelled the subjects of Valentinian to prefer the more simple
tyranny of the Barbarians, to fly to the woods and mountains, or
to embrace the vile and abject condition of mercenary servants.
They abjured and abhorred the name of Roman citizens, which had
formerly excited the ambition of mankind. The Armorican
provinces of Gaul, and the greatest part of Spain, were-thrown
into a state of disorderly independence, by the confederations of
the Bagaudae; and the Imperial ministers pursued with
proscriptive laws, and ineffectual arms, the rebels whom they had
made. ^78 If all the Barbarian conquerors had been annihilated in
the same hour, their total destruction would not have restored
the empire of the West: and if Rome still survived, she survived
the loss of freedom, of virtue, and of honor.

[Footnote 75: This interpretation of Vettius, a celebrated augur,
was quoted by Varro, in the xviiith book of his Antiquities.
Censorinus, de Die Natali, c. 17, p. 90, 91, edit. Havercamp.]
[Footnote 76: According to Varro, the twelfth century would
expire A.D. 447, but the uncertainty of the true aera of Rome
might allow some latitude of anticipation or delay. The poets of
the age, Claudian (de Bell Getico, 265) and Sidonius, (in
Panegyr. Avit. 357,) may be admitted as fair witnesses of the
popular opinion.

Jam reputant annos, interceptoque volatu
Vulturis, incidunt properatis saecula metis.
.......
Jam prope fata tui bissenas Vulturis alas
Implebant; seis namque tuos, scis, Roma, labores.

See Dubos, Hist. Critique, tom. i. p. 340 - 346.]

[Footnote 77: The fifth book of Salvian is filled with pathetic
lamentations and vehement invectives. His immoderate freedom
serves to prove the weakness, as well as the corruption, of the
Roman government. His book was published after the loss of
Africa, (A.D. 439,) and before Attila's war, (A.D. 451.)]
[Footnote 78: The Bagaudae of Spain, who fought pitched battles
with the Roman troops, are repeatedly mentioned in the Chronicle
of Idatius. Salvian has described their distress and rebellion in
very forcible language. Itaque nomen civium Romanorum ... nunc
ultro repudiatur ac fugitur, nec vile tamen sed etiam abominabile
poene habetur ... Et hinc est ut etiam hi quid ad Barbaros non
confugiunt, Barbari tamen esse coguntur, scilicet ut est pars
magna Hispanorum, et non minima Gallorum .... De Bagaudis nunc
mihi sermo est, qui per malos judices et cruentos spoliati,
afflicti, necati postquam jus Romanae libertatis amiserant, etiam
honorem Romani nominis perdiderunt .... Vocamus rabelles, vocamus
perditos quos esse compulimua criminosos. De Gubernat. Dei, l.
v. p. 158, 159.]

Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.

Part I.

Sack Of Rome By Genseric, King Of The Vandals. - His Naval
Depredations. - Succession Of The Last Emperors Of The West,
Maximus, Avitus, Majorian, Severus, Anthemius, Olybrius,
Glycerius, Nepos, Augustulus. - Total Extinction Of The Western
Empire. - Reign Of Odoacer, The First Barbarian King Of Italy.
The loss or desolation of the provinces, from the Ocean to
the Alps, impaired the glory and greatness of Rome: her internal
prosperity was irretrievably destroyed by the separation of
Africa. The rapacious Vandals confiscated the patrimonial
estates of the senators, and intercepted the regular subsidies,
which relieved the poverty and encouraged the idleness of the
plebeians. The distress of the Romans was soon aggravated by an
unexpected attack; and the province, so long cultivated for their
use by industrious and obedient subjects, was armed against them
by an ambitious Barbarian. The Vandals and Alani, who followed
the successful standard of Genseric, had acquired a rich and
fertile territory, which stretched along the coast above ninety
days' journey from Tangier to Tripoli; but their narrow limits
were pressed and confined, on either side, by the sandy desert
and the Mediterranean. The discovery and conquest of the Black
nations, that might dwell beneath the torrid zone, could not
tempt the rational ambition of Genseric; but he cast his eyes
towards the sea; he resolved to create a naval power, and his
bold resolution was executed with steady and active perseverance.

The woods of Mount Atlas afforded an inexhaustible nursery of
timber: his new subjects were skilled in the arts of navigation
and ship-building; he animated his daring Vandals to embrace a
mode of warfare which would render every maritime country
accessible to their arms; the Moors and Africans were allured by
the hopes of plunder; and, after an interval of six centuries,
the fleets that issued from the port of Carthage again claimed
the empire of the Mediterranean. The success of the Vandals, the
conquest of Sicily, the sack of Palermo, and the frequent
descents on the coast of Lucania, awakened and alarmed the mother
of Valentinian, and the sister of Theodosius. Alliances were
formed; and armaments, expensive and ineffectual, were prepared,
for the destruction of the common enemy; who reserved his courage
to encounter those dangers which his policy could not prevent or
elude. The designs of the Roman government were repeatedly
baffled by his artful delays, ambiguous promises, and apparent
concessions; and the interposition of his formidable confederate,
the king of the Huns, recalled the emperors from the conquest of
Africa to the care of their domestic safety. The revolutions of
the palace, which left the Western empire without a defender, and
without a lawful prince, dispelled the apprehensions, and
stimulated the avarice, of Genseric. He immediately equipped a
numerous fleet of Vandals and Moors, and cast anchor at the mouth
of the Tyber, about three months after the death of Valentinian,
and the elevation of Maximus to the Imperial throne.

The private life of the senator Petronius Maximus ^1 was
often alleged as a rare example of human felicity. His birth was
noble and illustrious, since he descended from the Anician
family; his dignity was supported by an adequate patrimony in
land and money; and these advantages of fortune were accompanied
with liberal arts and decent manners, which adorn or imitate the
inestimable gifts of genius and virtue. The luxury of his palace
and table was hospitable and elegant. Whenever Maximus appeared
in public, he was surrounded by a train of grateful and
obsequious clients; ^2 and it is possible that among these
clients, he might deserve and possess some real friends. His
merit was rewarded by the favor of the prince and senate: he
thrice exercised the office of Praetorian praefect of Italy; he
was twice invested with the consulship, and he obtained the rank
of patrician. These civil honors were not incompatible with the
enjoyment of leisure and tranquillity; his hours, according to
the demands of pleasure or reason, were accurately distributed by
a water-clock; and this avarice of time may be allowed to prove
the sense which Maximus entertained of his own happiness. The
injury which he received from the emperor Valentinian appears to
excuse the most bloody revenge. Yet a philosopher might have
reflected, that, if the resistance of his wife had been sincere,
her chastity was still inviolate, and that it could never be
restored if she had consented to the will of the adulterer. A
patriot would have hesitated before he plunged himself and his
country into those inevitable calamities which must follow the
extinction of the royal house of Theodosius. The imprudent
Maximus disregarded these salutary considerations; he gratified
his resentment and ambition; he saw the bleeding corpse of
Valentinian at his feet; and he heard himself saluted Emperor by
the unanimous voice of the senate and people. But the day of his
inauguration was the last day of his happiness. He was
imprisoned (such is the lively expression of Sidonius) in the
palace; and after passing a sleepless night, he sighed that he
had attained the summit of his wishes, and aspired only to
descend from the dangerous elevation. Oppressed by the weight of
the diadem, he communicated his anxious thoughts to his friend
and quaestor Fulgentius; and when he looked back with unavailing
regret on the secure pleasures of his former life, the emperor
exclaimed, "O fortunate Damocles, ^3 thy reign began and ended
with the same dinner;" a well-known allusion, which Fulgentius
afterwards repeated as an instructive lesson for princes and
subjects.

[Footnote 1: Sidonius Apollinaris composed the thirteenth epistle
of the second book, to refute the paradox of his friend Serranus,
who entertained a singular, though generous, enthusiasm for the
deceased emperor. This epistle, with some indulgence, may claim
the praise of an elegant composition; and it throws much light on
the character of Maximus.]

[Footnote 2: Clientum, praevia, pedisequa, circumfusa,
populositas, is the train which Sidonius himself (l. i. epist. 9)
assigns to another senator of rank]

[Footnote 3: Districtus ensis cui super impia
Cervice pendet, non Siculoe dapes
Dulcem elaborabunt saporem:
Non avium citharaeque cantus
Somnum reducent.

Horat. Carm. iii. 1.

Sidonius concludes his letter with the story of Damocles, which
Cicero (Tusculan. v. 20, 21) had so inimitably told.]

The reign of Maximus continued about three months. His
hours, of which he had lost the command, were disturbed by
remorse, or guilt, or terror, and his throne was shaken by the
seditions of the soldiers, the people, and the confederate
Barbarians. The marriage of his son Paladius with the eldest
daughter of the late emperor, might tend to establish the
hereditary succession of his family; but the violence which he
offered to the empress Eudoxia, could proceed only from the blind
impulse of lust or revenge. His own wife, the cause of these
tragic events, had been seasonably removed by death; and the
widow of Valentinian was compelled to violate her decent
mourning, perhaps her real grief, and to submit to the embraces
of a presumptuous usurper, whom she suspected as the assassin of
her deceased husband. These suspicions were soon justified by
the indiscreet confession of Maximus himself; and he wantonly
provoked the hatred of his reluctant bride, who was still
conscious that she was descended from a line of emperors. From
the East, however, Eudoxia could not hope to obtain any effectual
assistance; her father and her aunt Pulcheria were dead; her
mother languished at Jerusalem in disgrace and exile; and the
sceptre of Constantinople was in the hands of a stranger. She
directed her eyes towards Carthage; secretly implored the aid of
the king of the Vandals; and persuaded Genseric to improve the
fair opportunity of disguising his rapacious designs by the
specious names of honor, justice, and compassion. ^4 Whatever
abilities Maximus might have shown in a subordinate station, he
was found incapable of administering an empire; and though he
might easily have been informed of the naval preparations which
were made on the opposite shores of Africa, he expected with
supine indifference the approach of the enemy, without adopting
any measures of defence, of negotiation, or of a timely retreat.
When the Vandals disembarked at the mouth of the Tyber, the
emperor was suddenly roused from his lethargy by the clamors of a
trembling and exasperated multitude. The only hope which
presented itself to his astonished mind was that of a precipitate
flight, and he exhorted the senators to imitate the example of
their prince. But no sooner did Maximus appear in the streets,
than he was assaulted by a shower of stones; a Roman, or a
Burgundian soldier, claimed the honor of the first wound; his
mangled body was ignominiously cast into the Tyber; the Roman
people rejoiced in the punishment which they had inflicted on the
author of the public calamities; and the domestics of Eudoxia
signalized their zeal in the service of their mistress. ^5
[Footnote 4: Notwithstanding the evidence of Procopius, Evagrius,
Idatius Marcellinus, &c., the learned Muratori (Annali d'Italia,
tom. iv. p. 249 doubts the reality of this invitation, and
observes, with great truth, "Non si puo dir quanto sia facile il
popolo a sognare e spacciar voci false." But his argument, from
the interval of time and place, is extremely feeble. The figs
which grew near Carthage were produced to the senate of Rome on
the third day.]

[Footnote 5: - Infidoque tibi Burgundio ductu
Extorquet trepidas mactandi principis iras.

Sidon. in Panegyr. Avit. 442.

A remarkable line, which insinuates that Rome and Maximus were
betrayed by their Burgundian mercenaries.]

On the third day after the tumult, Genseric boldly advanced
from the port of Ostia to the gates of the defenceless city.
Instead of a sally of the Roman youth, there issued from the
gates an unarmed and venerable procession of the bishop at the
head of his clergy. ^6 The fearless spirit of Leo, his authority
and eloquence, again mitigated the fierceness of a Barbarian
conqueror; the king of the Vandals promised to spare the
unresisting multitude, to protect the buildings from fire, and to
exempt the captives from torture; and although such orders were
neither seriously given, nor strictly obeyed, the mediation of
Leo was glorious to himself, and in some degree beneficial to his
country. But Rome and its inhabitants were delivered to the
licentiousness of the Vandals and Moors, whose blind passions
revenged the injuries of Carthage. The pillage lasted fourteen
days and nights; and all that yet remained of public or private
wealth, of sacred or profane treasure, was diligently transported
to the vessels of Genseric. Among the spoils, the splendid
relics of two temples, or rather of two religions, exhibited a
memorable example of the vicissitudes of human and divine things.

Since the abolition of Paganism, the Capitol had been violated
and abandoned; yet the statues of the gods and heroes were still
respected, and the curious roof of gilt bronze was reserved for
the rapacious hands of Genseric. ^7 The holy instruments of the
Jewish worship, ^8 the gold table, and the gold candlestick with
seven branches, originally framed according to the particular
instructions of God himself, and which were placed in the
sanctuary of his temple, had been ostentatiously displayed to the
Roman people in the triumph of Titus. They were afterwards
deposited in the temple of Peace; and at the end of four hundred
years, the spoils of Jerusalem were transferred from Rome to
Carthage, by a Barbarian who derived his origin from the shores
of the Baltic. These ancient monuments might attract the notice
of curiosity, as well as of avarice. But the Christian churches,
enriched and adorned by the prevailing superstition of the times,
afforded more plentiful materials for sacrilege; and the pious
liberality of Pope Leo, who melted six silver vases, the gift of
Constantine, each of a hundred pounds weight, is an evidence of
the damage which he attempted to repair. In the forty-five years
that had elapsed since the Gothic invasion, the pomp and luxury
of Rome were in some measure restored; and it was difficult
either to escape, or to satisfy, the avarice of a conqueror, who
possessed leisure to collect, and ships to transport, the wealth
of the capital. The Imperial ornaments of the palace, the
magnificent furniture and wardrobe, the sideboards of massy
plate, were accumulated with disorderly rapine; the gold and
silver amounted to several thousand talents; yet even the brass
and copper were laboriously removed. Eudoxia herself, who
advanced to meet her friend and deliverer, soon bewailed the
imprudence of her own conduct. She was rudely stripped of her
jewels; and the unfortunate empress, with her two daughters, the
only surviving remains of the great Theodosius, was compelled, as
a captive, to follow the haughty Vandal; who immediately hoisted
sail, and returned with a prosperous navigation to the port of
Carthage. ^9 Many thousand Romans of both sexes, chosen for some
useful or agreeable qualifications, reluctantly embarked on board
the fleet of Genseric; and their distress was aggravated by the
unfeeling Barbarians, who, in the division of the booty,
separated the wives from their husbands, and the children from
their parents. The charity of Deogratias, bishop of Carthage,
^10 was their only consolation and support. He generously sold
the gold and silver plate of the church to purchase the freedom
of some, to alleviate the slavery of others, and to assist the
wants and infirmities of a captive multitude, whose health was
impaired by the hardships which they had suffered in their
passage from Italy to Africa. By his order, two spacious
churches were converted into hospitals; the sick were distributed
into convenient beds, and liberally supplied with food and
medicines; and the aged prelate repeated his visits both in the
day and night, with an assiduity that surpassed his strength, and
a tender sympathy which enhanced the value of his services.
Compare this scene with the field of Cannae; and judge between
Hannibal and the successor of St. Cyprian. ^11
[Footnote 6: The apparant success of Pope Leo may be justified by
Prosper, and the Historia Miscellan.; but the improbable notion
of Baronius A.D. 455, No. 13) that Genseric spared the three
apostolical churches, is not countenanced even by the doubtful
testimony of the Liber Pontificalis.]
[Footnote 7: The profusion of Catulus, the first who gilt the
roof of the Capitol, was not universally approved, (Plin. Hist.
Natur. xxxiii. 18;) but it was far exceeded by the emperor's, and
the external gilding of the temple cost Domitian 12,000 talents,
(2,400,000l.) The expressions of Claudian and Rutilius (luce
metalli oemula .... fastigia astris, and confunduntque vagos
delubra micantia visus) manifestly prove, that this splendid
covering was not removed either by the Christians or the Goths,
(see Donatus, Roma Antiqua, l. ii. c. 6, p. 125.) It should seem
that the roof of the Capitol was decorated with gilt statues, and
chariots drawn by four horses.]

[Footnote 8: The curious reader may consult the learned and
accurate treatise of Hadrian Reland, de Spoliis Templi
Hierosolymitani in Arcu Titiano Romae conspicuis, in 12mo.
Trajecti ad Rhenum, 1716.]

[Footnote 9: The vessel which transported the relics of the
Capitol was the only one of the whole fleet that suffered
shipwreck. If a bigoted sophist, a Pagan bigot, had mentioned
the accident, he might have rejoiced that this cargo of sacrilege
was lost in the sea.]

[Footnote 10: See Victor Vitensis, de Persecut. Vandal. l. i. c.
8, p. 11, 12, edit. Ruinart. Deogratius governed the church of
Carthage only three years. If he had not been privately buried,
his corpse would have been torn piecemeal by the mad devotion of
the people.]

[Footnote 11: The general evidence for the death of Maximus, and
the sack of Rome by the Vandals, is comprised in Sidonius,
(Panegyr. Avit. 441 - 450,) Procopius, (de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c.
4, 5, p. 188, 189, and l. ii. c. 9, p. 255,) Evagrius, (l. ii. c.
7,) Jornandes, (de Reb. Geticis, c. 45, p. 677,) and the
Chronicles of Idatius, Prosper, Marcellinus, and Theophanes,
under the proper year.]

The deaths of Aetius and Valentinian had relaxed the ties
which held the Barbarians of Gaul in peace and subordination.
The sea-coast was infested by the Saxons; the Alemanni and the
Franks advanced from the Rhine to the Seine; and the ambition of
the Goths seemed to meditate more extensive and permanent
conquests. The emperor Maximus relieved himself, by a judicious
choice, from the weight of these distant cares; he silenced the
solicitations of his friends, listened to the voice of fame, and
promoted a stranger to the general command of the forces of Gaul.

Avitus, ^12 the stranger, whose merit was so nobly rewarded,
descended from a wealthy and honorable family in the diocese of
Auvergne. The convulsions of the times urged him to embrace,
with the same ardor, the civil and military professions: and the
indefatigable youth blended the studies of literature and
jurisprudence with the exercise of arms and hunting. Thirty
years of his life were laudably spent in the public service; he
alternately displayed his talents in war and negotiation; and the
soldier of Aetius, after executing the most important embassies,
was raised to the station of Praetorian praefect of Gaul. Either
the merit of Avitus excited envy, or his moderation was desirous
of repose, since he calmly retired to an estate, which he
possessed in the neighborhood of Clermont. A copious stream,
issuing from the mountain, and falling headlong in many a loud
and foaming cascade, discharged its waters into a lake about two
miles in length, and the villa was pleasantly seated on the
margin of the lake. The baths, the porticos, the summer and
winter apartments, were adapted to the purposes of luxury and
use; and the adjacent country afforded the various prospects of
woods, pastures, and meodows. ^13 In this retreat, where Avitus
amused his leisure with books, rural sports, the practice of
husbandry, and the society of his friends, ^14 he received the
Imperial diploma, which constituted him master-general of the
cavalry and infantry of Gaul. He assumed the military command;
the Barbarians suspended their fury; and whatever means he might
employ, whatever concessions he might be forced to make, the
people enjoyed the benefits of actual tranquillity. But the fate
of Gaul depended on the Visigoths; and the Roman general, less
attentive to his dignity than to the public interest, did not
disdain to visit Thoulouse in the character of an ambassador. He
was received with courteous hospitality by Theodoric, the king of
the Goths; but while Avitus laid the foundations of a solid
alliance with that powerful nation, he was astonished by the
intelligence, that the emperor Maximus was slain, and that Rome
had been pillaged by the Vandals. A vacant throne, which he
might ascend without guilt or danger, tempted his ambition; ^15
and the Visigoths were easily persuaded to support his claim by
their irresistible suffrage. They loved the person of Avitus;
they respected his virtues; and they were not insensible of the
advantage, as well as honor, of giving an emperor to the West.
The season was now approaching, in which the annual assembly of
the seven provinces was held at Arles; their deliberations might
perhaps be influenced by the presence of Theodoric and his
martial brothers; but their choice would naturally incline to the
most illustrious of their countrymen. Avitus, after a decent
resistance, accepted the Imperial diadem from the representatives
of Gaul; and his election was ratified by the acclamations of the
Barbarians and provincials. The formal consent of Marcian,
emperor of the East, was solicited and obtained; but the senate,
Rome, and Italy, though humbled by their recent calamities,
submitted with a secret murmur to the presumption of the Gallic
usurper.

[Footnote 12: The private life and elevation of Avitus must be
deduced, with becoming suspicion, from the panegyric pronounced
by Sidonius Apollinaris, his subject, and his son-in-law.]
[Footnote 13: After the example of the younger Pliny, Sidonius
(l. ii. c. 2) has labored the florid, prolix, and obscure
description of his villa, which bore the name, (Avitacum,) and
had been the property of Avitus. The precise situation is not
ascertained. Consult, however, the notes of Savaron and
Sirmond.]

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