AN ABRIDGEMENT OF THE ROMAN HISTORY. (continued 2)

[98]Affairs being [99]settled in the city, Constantine in his [100]way to Germany, at Milan [101]married his sister [102]Constantia to Licinius, who had now been [103]made emperor. The same year Galericus Maximinus, a cruel [104]enemy of the [105]Christians, [106]undertaking a war against both the emperors, was [107]beaten by Licinius in [108]Illyricum, and [109]fled into Asia, where he [110]died a [111]horrible death at Tarsus in Cilicia. Nor did the [112]agreement betwixt the two [113]princes [114]last long; their first [115]rencounter was at Cibalis, a town in Pannonia; after which they had another [116]battle in the [117]plains of Mardia; in both which the [118]Licinians were [119]entirely defeated. At last a [120]peace was [121]made, and the empire again [122]divided.

In the year 324, Licinius [123]taking up arms against Constantine, [124]upon a pretence that he [125]went beyond his [126]bounds, and had [127]broken into his [128]dominions, received a great [129]overthrow near Hadrianople. [130]From thence flying into [131]Byzantium, he was again [132]defeated by [133]sea; and being [134]routed in another [135]battle near [136]Chalcedon, he was [137]taken prisoner by Constantine, from whom he [138]procured his life by the [139]interposition of his sister, and was [140]banished to [141]Thessalonica, where, [142]endeavouring to make a new [143]insurrection, he was [144]put to death.

After this, [145]Crispus Cæsar, his son, by a former [146]wife Minervina, a [147]youth of an [148]extraordinary [149]genius, was put to death upon [150]suspicion of [151]attempting to [152]seduce his [153]step-mother; and the year [154]following, Fausta, being [155]found [156]guilty of [157]falsely [158]accusing him, was [159]suffocated in a hot [160]bath, by [161]order of her [162]husband Constantine.

In this emperor’s time, Byzantium was [163]rebuilt, and [164]enriched with the [165]spoils of almost the whole [166]world; so that it [167]equalled Rome, and [168]took its [169]name from its [170]restorer, being [171]called [172]Constantinople.

After this, having [173]subdued the [174]Sarmatians, and [175]disposed of them in several [176]places of the Roman [177]empire; Constantine died in the [178]suburbs of Nicomedia, where most [179]authors say he was [180]baptised a little before his [181]death.

He [182]left by Fausta, the daughter of Maximianus, three children, [183]heirs of the empire, who [184]divided it amongst them. Constantine the [185]eldest had [186]Gaul, and all [187]beyond the [188]Alps. [189]Constans the [190]youngest had Rome, Italy, Africa, Sicily, and the [191]rest of the [192]islands, Illyricum, [193]Thracia, Macedonia, and [194]Greece. Constantius, the [195]second son, Asia, and the [196]East, with [197]Egypt.

But the brothers did not long [198]agree; four years after his father’s [199]death, Constantine making war upon his brother Constans, and [200]invading his [201]territories, was [202]slain near Aquileia. Constans himself was slain ten years after by [203]Magnentius’s general, Gaison, near the [204]Pyrænean mountains. Constantius was [205]engaged in a [206]dangerous war with this Magnentius. In the [207]battle [208]fought at Morsa in Pannonia, Constantius’s army was [209]worsted in the first [210]attack, but at last [211]came off [212]victorious. Two years after this, Magnentius slew himself at Lyons in [213]despair.

Gallus was [214]declared Cæsar, and [215]governor of the East; but [216]abusing his [217]authority, he was [218]sent for by Constantius, and [219]put to death in Illyricum. [220]Julian, his brother, was [221]saved by the [222]interposition of Eusebia, Constantius’s [223]wife, and sent to Athens to [224]study. He was afterwards [225]advanced to the [226]dignity of Cæsar, [227]married to the emperor’s sister [228]Helen, and was [229]made governor of [230]Gaul, where he was very [231]successful against the [232]Germans, [233]Franks, and [234]Alemans; he [235]sent the [236]king of the Alemans a [237]prisoner to Constantius at Rome, who [238]envying his [239]success, [240]endeavoured to [241]draw his soldiers from him, and [242]send them into the [243]East against the Persians. But they [244]proclaimed Julian emperor at [245]Paris, [246]whilst Constantius was [247]preparing for a war against the Persians. [248]As soon as he [249]understood this, he [250]marched against Julian, but died on the [251]road near Tarsus.

Julian, after the death of Constantius, was sole [252]master of the empire. He [253]killed, or [254]banished all the [255]friends of Constantius; [256]opened the [257]temples of the [258]idols, and [259]abjuring the [260]Christian [261]faith, was [262]consecrated [263]high-priest, [264]according to the [265]rites of the [266]pagan [267]religion. He made war against the Persians, and was [268]slain in it. They say that, when he [269]perceived his [270]wound to be [271]mortal, he [272]received the [273]blood in his [274]hand, and [275]threw it up [276]towards [277]heaven, with these [278]words: “Thou hast [279]conquered me, O [280]Galilæan!” [281]meaning [282]Christ, whose religion he had [283]abjured, and hence was called Julian the Apostate.

After the death of Julian, [284]Jovian, a [285]native of Pannonia, was [286]proclaimed emperor by the [287]soldiers. He [288]ordered the temples of the idols to be [289]shut up, and their [290]sacrifices to be [291]abolished. He made an [292]inglorious peace with Sapor, king of the Persians, for thirty years, by which he [293]yielded up Nisibis, and the greatest [294]part of Mesopotamia. He died in his [295]return to Constantinople, in the [296]confines of Galatea and Bithynia.

In the year of Christ 364, [297]Valentinian was [298]chosen emperor at Nice, and not long after [299]gave the [300]title of [301]Augustus to his brother [302]Valens; and [303]leaving him in the East, [304]came into the [305]West himself. He had a great many good [306]qualities, but was [307]particularly [308]famed for his [309]love of [310]justice. He made war against the Alemanni, [311]Saxons, Quadri, and other [312]nations. He [313]died in Pannonia, of an [314]apoplexy, in the 55th year of his [315]age, and the 12th of his [316]reign.

His brother Valens [317]suppressed Procopius, a [318]relation of [319]Julian, who had [320]assumed the [321]purple at Constantinople. After which he made war with the [322]Goths; but upon the [323]suit of their king [324]Athanaricus, [325]granted them a [326]peace, in the year 369. Ten years after this, Athanaricus with Fritigernes, were [327]driven out of their [328]country by the [329]Huns, and were [330]kindly [331]received by Valens, and [332]settled with their Goths in [333]Thrace. They afterwards excited an [334]insurrection against the Romans, and Valens being [335]wounded in a [336]battle with them, near [337]Hadrianople, was [338]burnt [339]alive by the barbarians, in a [340]cottage he [341]fled to. He reigned fourteen years and four months.

The emperor Valentinian had two sons, [342]Gratian and Valentinian. The former he [343]declared Augustus in Gaul, in the year 367; and his other son was [344]immediately after the death of his father [345]advanced to the same [346]dignity by the soldiers, in the year 375, and the 10th year of his age. Gratian had an [347]aversion to [348]public [349]business. After the death of Valens, the Goths [350]over-running Thrace, and other [351]provinces of the Roman empire, not [352]being able alone to [353]bear the [354]burthen, he [355]sent for [356]Theodosius out of [357]Spain, and made him his [358]associate, who was then in the 33rd year of his age.

Theodosius having [359]conquered the barbarians, [360]restored the public [361]peace. At last the whole [362]nation of the Goths, with their king, [363]delivered themselves up to the Romans, to whom the emperor [364]assigned [365]lands. After these things, Maximus [366]seized the [367]government in [368]Britain, in the year 382; and having [369]fixed his imperial [370]seat at Triers, [371]basely killed Gratian at Lyons, after he had been [372]forsaken by his army; but Theodosius [373]revenged his death, and [374]likewise [375]re-established Valentinian the [376]younger, who had been [377]obliged to [378]quit Italy. This [379]happened in the year 388, in which he [380]overthrew and killed Maximus near Aquileia. Theodosius had all the [381]accomplishments [382]becoming a Christian emperor: [383]inferior to none of the [384]foregoing or [385]following princes; a [386]consummate general, never [387]undertaking any war but such as was [388]necessary; of [389]singular [390]clemency and [391]humanity, yet a little [392]inclined to [393]passion.

In the year 391, Eugenius, [394]supported by the [395]power of Arbogastes, [396]set up for emperor, and in the following year, Valentinian was slain at Vienne in Gaul, by the same Arbogastes. Two years after, [397]Eugenius was [398]routed, [399]taken prisoner, and put to [400]death by Theodosius. Arbogastes was his own [401]executioner. The year following, 395, this excellent emperor died at Milan, after a reign of sixteen years.

Theodosius [402]left two sons, [403]Arcadius and [404]Honorius; to the [405]former he [406]gave the [407]East, to the [408]latter the [409]West. Arcadius, [410]immediately after his father’s death, [411]married Eudoxia, which [412]match was [413]brought about by Eutropius, [414]for fear of his [415]taking to wife Ruffinus’s daughter. This Ruffinus in the East, and Stilicho in the West, were at that time two men of the greatest [416]eminence and [417]power in the empire. Stilicho, after the death of Theodosius, [418]laying claim to the [419]management of both the Eastern and Western empires, and [420]marching [421]Eastward, Ruffinus [422]endeavoured [423]to hinder him, by [424]posting his [425]troops in all the [426]passages into [427]Greece, and [428]sent for Alaricus, king of the Goths, who [429]over-ran Greece, but was [430]defeated by Stilicho. At last, Ruffinus was [431]slain by the [432]soldiers, the same year in which Theodosius died. After his death, Eutropius [433]became very intimate with Arcadius, but was at last [434]disgraced and slain, in the very year in which he was [435]consul. In 403, died Arcadius, a prince of a [436]peaceable, but [437]indolent [438]temper, and too much [439]governed by his [440]wife. He left the [441]guardianship of his son, by [442]will, to Jezdegirdes, king of the [443]Persians, who [444]faithfully [445]executed that [446]trust, and [447]committed the [448]care of his [449]ward to Antiochus, a very [450]learned man, who [451]threatened to make war upon any that should [452]offer to [453]disturb him.

In the West, the [454]frequent [455]invasions of the barbarians were almost [456]fatal to the Roman [457]state. Radagisus, king of the Goths, with four, or as [458]others [459]say, two hundred thousand men, [460]invaded Italy, who were very [461]happily [462]cut off by Stilicho, the general himself being [463]taken and [464]slain. After Alaricus, a king of the [465]Goths, having [466]laid [467]Greece waste, and [468]continued a long time in [469]Epirus, at the [470]instigation of Stilicho, who was [471]desirous to [472]take [473]Illyricum from Arcadius, in order to [474]annex it to the [475]dominions of Honorius, afterwards [476]penetrated into Italy. To [477]get rid of him, Honorius [478]gave him [479]Spain and Gaul to [480]live in, himself not being in a condition to [481]keep those [482]provinces. As Alaricus was [483]marching thither, Saul, a [484]pagan general, whom Stilicho had [485]placed at the [486]head of an army, [487]falling upon the Barbarians, was [488]defeated by them. This [489]success so [490]elevated Alaricus, that [491]quitting his [492]former [493]design, he [494]over-ran Italy, and [495]took Rome: but before this, Stilicho was [496]put to death by the [497]order of Honorius. For, after the death of Theodosius, [498]designing to get the empire to himself and to make his son [499]Eucherius, who was a [500]pagan, and an enemy to the [501]Christians, emperor; the better to [502]accomplish his [503]design, he [504]resolved to [505]throw all into [506]confusion. [507]Wherefore he sent for the Barbarians to [508]ravage the empire, and [509]let the Alans, the Vandals, the Suevi, and the Burgundians, loose upon France and Spain. His [510]relation to the emperor [511]encouraged him in it; for he had Serena, the daughter of Theodosius’s brother, in [512]marriage, and had [513]disposed of the two daughters he had by her, first, [514]Mary, and after her death, [515]Termantia, in marriage to Honorius. But these [516]intrigues being [517]discovered by [518]Olympius, in the year of Christ 408, he was slain by the [519]hands of [520]Heraclius. The year following, Eucherius was [521]put to death, with his mother Serena. After Stilicho was [522]taken off, Alaricus was [523]desirous to [524]come to an [525]accommodation with Honorius, but was [526]foolishly [527]rejected. Wherefore, with a [528]body of [529]Goths, and [530]Huns, in [531]conjunction with his wife’s brother [532]Athaulfus, he [533]laid siege to Rome, and [534]carried it in the year 410. The [535]plunder of it he [536]gave to his soldiers, but with orders that all such as [537]fled to the [538]churches, [539]especially those of [540]Peter and [541]Paul, should have [542]quarter given them. He then [543]went to [544]Rhegium, in order to [545]pass over into Sicily and Africa, but there [546]died. He was [547]succeeded by Athaulfus, who [548]plundered Rome again, [549]carried off Placidia the emperor’s sister, and [550]married her.

During this [551]storm in Italy, the same [552]calamity [553]fell upon Gaul and Spain. The Alans, Vandals, Suevans, [554]laid waste Gaul, passed the [555]Pyrenæan mountains, and [556]made themselves [557]masters of Spain in the year 409. The Vandals and Suevans [558]seized upon Galæcia; the Alans, Lusitania and the [559]province of [560]Carthage; the [561]Silingans, which was another [562]branch of the Vandals, Bœtica.

After the [563]breaking in of the Goths in 410, [564]divers [565]pretenders to the empire [566]started up in [567]several [568]places. First Attalus was [569]made emperor, by the [570]senate, at the [571]command of Alaricus. He [572]proudly [573]rejected Honorius, who [574]offered by his [575]ambassadors to [576]receive him as his [577]partner in the empire, but was [578]obliged by Alaricus to [579]return to a [580]private [581]condition, and was afterwards [582]put up and [583]down again several times. At length, [584]renewing his [585]pretensions in Gaul, but not being [586]supported by the [587]Goths, he was [588]taken [589]prisoner, and [590]put into the [591]hands of Honorius, who [592]spared his [593]life, but [594]cut off one of his hands.

[595]Martius Gratianus, and Constantine in [596]Britain, [597]usurped the [598]supreme [599]power, and were [600]taken off. [601]Jovin and [602]Sebastian, two brothers, then [603]pretended to the empire; but were [604]taken and [605]slain by [606]Athaulfus, king of the Goths. [607]Heraclianus was set up in Africa, and [608]venturing over into Italy against Honorius, was [609]routed by Marinus at [610]Utriculum; and [611]returning into Africa, was slain at [612]Carthage.

In the year 415, Athaulfus was slain by a Goth, and [613]succeeded by Sigericus, who was destroyed seven days after; and succeeded by Vuallia, who [614]made peace with the Romans, and [615]restored Placidia to Honorius; after which he made war against the Alans, Vandals, Suevi, and other [616]nations, who had [617]settled in Spain. Honorius [618]married Placidia against her [619]will to [620]Constantius Comes, who [621]confirmed the peace with Vuallia, [622]sent for him back into Gaul, and [623]gave him that part of [624]Aquitain which [625]lies betwixt Thoulouse and the [626]sea, to [627]live in. Upon this, Thoulouse [628]became the [629]capital of the [630]Gothic, or [631]Visigothic [632]kingdom in Gaul. This [633]happened in the year 419. In the year following, Honorius, against his [634]will, made Constantius his [635]companion in the empire, who died seven months after, as did Honorius himself in the year 428.

He was [636]succeeded by Valentinian his sister’s son. In his reign the Vandals, whom Boniface had hitherto [637]repulsed from the [638]shores of Africa, [639]entered it from Spain, under the [640]command of Geisericus. For Boniface being [641]impeached by [642]Ætius of [643]high-treason, and [644]Sigisvulphus being [645]sent against him, [646]finding himself not a [647]match for the Romans, [648]fled to the Vandals for [649]assistance, with whom he had [650]contracted an [651]alliance before. Wherefore in the year 427, Geisericus, with 80,000 Vandals and Alans, [652]passed over into Africa, and [653]made himself master of it. In the mean time, Boniface being [654]reconciled to Placidia, and not [655]being able to [656]persuade the Barbarians, to [657]return home, [658]endeavoured to [659]oblige them, by [660]force of arms, and was [661]routed. He then [662]went to Rome, and died there soon after.

Ætius in Gaul [663]sustained his part very well for the Romans, against the Franks, Goths, Burgundians, Huns, and other Barbarians. Ætius had [664]sent for the Huns to his assistance against the Goths. In the year 434, Honoria, the sister of Valentinian, being [665]banished the [666]court for [667]improper conduct with her [668]steward, and sent to Theodosius, emperor of the [669]East, [670]engaged Attila, king of the Huns, to make war upon the [671]West. [672]Litorius, a Roman general, having the [673]command of them, whilst he [674]endeavoured to [675]eclipse the [676]glory of Ætius, was so [677]foolish as to [678]regard the [679]answers of [680]soothsayers and [681]fortune-tellers, and [682]rashly [683]engaged [684]Theodoricus, king of the Goths, who by the most [685]abject [686]submission [687]declined the war, and after a great [688]overthrow was [689]taken and [690]slain in the year 439, in which [691]Carthage was [692]surprised by the Vandals. At last, in the year 442, Valentinian [693]renewed the peace with Geisericus, and Africa was [694]divided between them.

In the year 450, Attila [695]marched into Gaul, which at that time the [696]Visigoths, Franks, Burgundians, Alans, and other Barbarians, were in [697]possession of. Part of the Romans [698]reluctantly [699]remained under the [700]command of Ætius, who alone at that time [701]kept the [702]western [703]empire from [704]falling [705]to utter [706]ruin. Attila [707]laid siege to Aurelia, but Ætius [708]coming upon him, [709]obliged him to [710]raise the [711]siege, and [712]pursued him into Gallia, and Belgium then [713]overthrew him, in a great [714]battle [715]fought on the [716]plains of Catalonia. There were [717]slain on both [718]sides at least 170,000, and amongst them Theodoricus king of the Goths. It is [719]certain the Huns might have been [720]utterly [721]destroyed, if Ætius had not [722]been afraid, that in the event of the Huns being [723]entirely [724]cut off, the Goths would be [725]insupportable in Gaul.

Attila having [726]unexpectedly [727]escaped, [728]poured his [729]troops into Italy, where he laid siege to Aquileia, and [730]levelled it with the ground. He afterwards [731]laid waste [732]Milan, [733]Ticinum, and other [734]towns; and [735]marching for Rome, was so [736]wrought upon by an [737]embassy from [738]Leo, who [739]met him at the [740]river Mincius, that he [741]went into his own [742]country; afterwards [743]returning into Gaul against the Alans, who had [744]posted themselves beyond the Loire, he was again [745]defeated by [746]Thorismundus, as he had been in the [747]plains of Catalonia; and in the year 454, after an [748]excess of [749]wine, died of [750]vomiting [751]blood.

It is [752]said the city of [753]Venice [754]owes its [755]origin to that [756]inroad of the Barbarians, most of the Italians, [757]especially those of [758]Patavium, [759]flying from the [760]fire and [761]ruins of their cities to some [762]rocks and [763]desert [764]islands in the [765]sea for [766]refuge.

Valentinian, upon the death of his mother Placidia, [767]let loose the [768]reins of [769]power and [770]abused his [771]authority, for the [772]gratification of his [773]baseness and [774]cruelty. He [775]seduced the [776]wife of Maximus the senator, [777]put Ætius to death, after Maximus had by his [778]crafty [779]contrivances [780]rendered him [781]suspected, in the year 454; and the year following, by the contrivance of the same Maximus, he was [782]stabbed by Ætius’s [783]life-guard in the [784]field of [785]Mars, being thirty-six years of age, and in the 31st of his reign. [786]Eudoxia, the [787]consort of Valentinian, to [788]revenge the death of her [789]husband, [790]sent for Gensericus out of Africa, into Italy. Maximus, upon his [791]arrival, [792]endeavoured to [793]save himself by [794]flight, but was [795]torn in pieces by his own men, and [796]thrown into the [797]Tiber, after a [798]reign of [799]hardly two [800]months. Gensericus, after he had [801]taken the city, was so [802]affected by an [803]address of [804]Pope Leo’s, that he did not [805]set it on fire, or [806]put any to the sword; but [807]made plunder of all the [808]wealth of the [809]place, both [810]sacred and [811]profane, for fourteen days together; and [812]carried off Eudoxia, with her two daughters, Eudocia and Placidia, into Africa: the [813]former of which he [814]married to his son [815]Hunericus.

In the mean time, [816]Avitus Gallus being proclaimed emperor by the [817]Gallic [818]army at Thoulouse, made peace with the Goths; at whose [819]persuasion, Theodoric [820]entering Spain, [821]conquered the Suevi, and [822]killed their king [823]Richiarius in the year 456.

After him, [824]Majorianus [825]took the [826]government upon him at Ravenna; a [827]prince of a [828]great [829]soul, who being [830]desirous to [831]recover Africa, was going to Gensericus, under the [832]title of [833]ambassador; but being [834]seized by Ricimer at Dertona, and [835]obliged to [836]resign, was [837]put to death in the year 461, after a reign of four years and four months.

Ricimer [838]raised Severus for emperor, [839]according to an [840]agreement between them, and [841]poisoned him in the fourth year of his reign.

After this, there was an [842]interregnum of a year, and some months, till Anthemius was [843]sent into the West by [844]Leo, emperor of the [845]East, between whom and [846]Ricimer, it had been [847]agreed he should be [848]declared emperor, and his daughter should [849]marry Ricimer. Thus the barbarian being [850]made Anthemius’s [851]son-in-law, with his [852]wonted [853]treachery, first [854]raised a civil war against him, and then [855]put him to death at Rome, after he had [856]reigned five years and some months.

[857]Olybrius was then [858]put up in the [859]room of Anthemius by Ricimer, who [860]died forty days after Anthemius’s death: nor [861]was he long survived by Olybrius, for he died the same year, about seven months after his [862]promotion.

[863]He was followed by [864]Glycerius, who [865]took the [866]government upon himself at Ravenna, in the year 473, and reigned a year and four months. He was [867]succeeded by [868]Julius Nepos, who was [869]killed about five years after his [870]advancement.

[871]Momyllus, who was [872]likewise [873]called [874]Augustulus, was [875]set up by his father [876]Orestes, being the [877]last of all the emperors in the [878]West; for [879]Odouacer, king of the [880]Turcilingans, with the [881]Scyrans, and [882]Herulans, [883]seized Italy, and after having [884]slain Orestes and his brother [885]Paul, [886]banished Augustus into Campania. Thus [887]ended the [888]empire of the West. In the year of [889]Christ 476.

FOOTNOTES

FINE.

Printed by T. C. Hansard, Peterborough-court, Fleet-street, London.