[1: The medals of Jovian adorn him with victories,
laurel crowns, and prostrate captives. Ducange, Famil. Byzantin.
p. 52. Flattery is a foolish suicide; she destroys herself with
her own hands.]
[2: Jovian restored to the church a forcible and
comprehensive expression, (Philostorgius, l. viii. c. 5, with
Godefroy's Dissertations, p. 329. Sozomen, l. vi. c. 3.) The new
law which condemned the rape or marriage of nuns (Cod. Theod. l.
ix. tit. xxv. leg. 2) is exaggerated by Sozomen; who supposes,
that an amorous glance, the adultery of the heart, was punished
with death by the evangelic legislator.]
[3: Compare Socrates, l. iii. c. 25, and Philostorgius,
l. viii. c. 6, with Godefroy's Dissertations, p. 330.]
[4: The word celestial faintly expresses the impious and
extravagant flattery of the emperor to the archbishop. (See the
original epistle in Athanasius, tom. ii. p. 33.) Gregory
Nazianzen (Orat. xxi. p. 392) celebrates the friendship of Jovian
and Athanasius. The primate's journey was advised by the
Egyptian monks, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 221.)]
[5: Athanasius, at the court of Antioch, is agreeably
represented by La Bleterie, (Hist. de Jovien, tom. i. p.
121-148;) he translates the singular and original conferences of
the emperor, the primate of Egypt, and the Arian deputies. The
Abbe is not satisfied with the coarse pleasantry of Jovian; but
his partiality for Athanasius assumes, in his eyes, the character
of justice.]
[6: The true area of his death is perplexed with some
difficulties, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 719-723.)
But the date (A. D. 373, May 2) which seems the most consistent
with history and reason, is ratified by his authentic life,
(Maffei Osservazioni Letterarie, tom. iii. p. 81.)]
[7: See the observations of Valesius and Jortin (Remarks
on Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 38) on the original letter
of Athanasius; which is preserved by Theodoret, (l. iv. c. 3.) In
some Mss. this indiscreet promise is omitted; perhaps by the
Catholics, jealous of the prophetic fame of their leader.]
[8: Athanasius (apud Theodoret, l. iv. c. 3) magnifies
the number of the orthodox, who composed the whole world. This
assertion was verified in the space of thirty and forty years.]
[9: Socrates, l. iii. c. 24. Gregory Nazianzen (Orat.
iv. p. 131) and Libanius (Orat. Parentalis, c. 148, p. 369)
expresses the living sentiments of their respective factions.]
[10: Themistius, Orat. v. p. 63-71, edit. Harduin,
Paris, 1684. The Abbe de la Bleterie judiciously remarks, (Hist.
de Jovien, tom. i. p. 199,) that Sozomen has forgot the general
toleration; and Themistius the establishment of the Catholic
religion. Each of them turned away from the object which he
disliked, and wished to suppress the part of the edict the least
honorable, in his opinion, to the emperor.]
[11: Johan. Antiochen. in Excerpt. Valesian. p. 845.
The libels of Antioch may be admitted on very slight evidence.]
[12: Compare Ammianus, (xxv. 10,) who omits the name of
the Batarians, with Zosimus, (l. iii. p. 197,) who removes the
scene of action from Rheims to Sirmium.]
[13: Quos capita scholarum ordo castrensis appellat.
Ammian. xxv. 10, and Vales. ad locum.]
[14: Cugus vagitus, pertinaciter reluctantis, ne in
curuli sella veheretur ex more, id quod mox accidit protendebat.
Augustus and his successors respectfully solicited a dispensation
of age for the sons or nephews whom they raised to the
consulship. But the curule chair of the first Brutus had never
been dishonored by an infant.]
[15: The Itinerary of Antoninus fixes Dadastana 125
Roman miles from Nice; 117 from Ancyra, (Wesseling, Itinerar. p.
142.) The pilgrim of Bourdeaux, by omitting some stages, reduces
the whole space from 242 to 181 miles. Wesseling, p. 574.
Note: Dadastana is supposed to be Castabat. - M.]
[16: See Ammianus, (xxv. 10,) Eutropius, (x. 18.) who
might likewise be present, Jerom, (tom. i. p. 26, ad Heliodorum.)
Orosius, (vii. 31,) Sozomen, (l. vi. c. 6,) Zosimus, (l. iii. p.
197, 198,) and Zonaras, (tom. ii. l. xiii. p. 28, 29.) We cannot
expect a perfect agreement, and we shall not discuss minute
differences.]
[17: Ammianus, unmindful of his usual candor and good
sense, compares the death of the harmless Jovian to that of the
second Africanus, who had excited the fears and resentment of the
popular faction.]
[18: Chrysostom, tom. i. p. 336, 344, edit. Montfaucon.
The Christian orator attempts to comfort a widow by the examples
of illustrious misfortunes; and observes, that of nine emperors
(including the Caesar Gallus) who had reigned in his time, only
two (Constantine and Constantius) died a natural death. Such
vague consolations have never wiped away a single tear.]
[19: Ten days appear scarcely sufficient for the march
and election. But it may be observed, 1. That the generals might
command the expeditious use of the public posts for themselves,
their attendants, and messengers. 2. That the troops, for the
ease of the cities, marched in many divisions; and that the head
of the column might arrive at Nice, when the rear halted at
Ancyra.]
[20: Ammianus, xxvi. 1. Zosimus, l. iii. p. 198.
Philostorgius, l. viii. c. 8, and Godefroy, Dissertat. p. 334.
Philostorgius, who appears to have obtained some curious and
authentic intelligence, ascribes the choice of Valentinian to the
praefect Sallust, the master-general Arintheus, Dagalaiphus count
of the domestics, and the patrician Datianus, whose pressing
recommendations from Ancyra had a weighty influence in the
election.]
[21: Ammianus (xxx. 7, 9) and the younger Victor have
furnished the portrait of Valentinian, which naturally precedes
and illustrates the history of his reign.
Note: Symmachus, in a fragment of an oration published by M.
Mai, describes Valentinian as born among the snows of Illyria,
and habituated to military labor amid the heat and dust of Libya:
genitus in frigoribus, educatus is solibus Sym. Orat. Frag. edit.
Niebuhr, p. 5. - M.]
[A: According to Ammianus, he wrote elegantly, and was
skilled in painting and modelling. Scribens decore, venusteque
pingens et fingens. xxx. 7. - M.]
[22: At Antioch, where he was obliged to attend the
emperor to the table, he struck a priest, who had presumed to
purify him with lustral water, (Sozomen, l. vi. c. 6. Theodoret,
l. iii. c. 15.) Such public defiance might become Valentinian;
but it could leave no room for the unworthy delation of the
philosopher Maximus, which supposes some more private offence,
(Zosimus, l. iv. p. 200, 201.)]
[23: Socrates, l. iv. A previous exile to Melitene, or
Thebais (the first might be possible,) is interposed by Sozomen
(l. vi. c. 6) and Philostorgius, (l. vii. c. 7, with Godefroy's
Dissertations, p. 293.)]
[24: Ammianus, in a long, because unseasonable,
digression, (xxvi. l, and Valesius, ad locum,) rashly supposes
that he understands an astronomical question, of which his
readers are ignorant. It is treated with more judgment and
propriety by Censorinus (de Die Natali, c. 20) and Macrobius,
(Saturnal. i. c. 12-16.) The appellation of Bissextile, which
marks the inauspicious year, (Augustin. ad Januarium, Epist.
119,) is derived from the repetition of the sixth day of the
calends of March.]
[25: Valentinian's first speech is in Ammianus, (xxvi.
2;) concise and sententious in Philostorgius, (l. viii. c. 8.)]
[26: Si tuos amas, Imperator optime, habes fratrem; si
Rempublicam quaere quem vestias. Ammian. xxvi. 4. In the
division of the empire, Valentinian retained that sincere
counsellor for himself, (c.6.)]
[27: In suburbano, Ammian. xxvi. 4. The famous
Hebdomon, or field of Mars, was distant from Constantinople
either seven stadia, or seven miles. See Valesius, and his
brother, ad loc., and Ducange, Const. l. ii. p. 140, 141, 172,
173.]
[B: Symmachus praises the liberality of Valentinian in
raising his brother at once to the rank of Augustus, not training
him through the slow and probationary degree of Caesar. Exigui
animi vices munerum partiuntur, liberalitas desideriis nihil
reliquit. Symm. Orat. p. 7. edit. Niebuhr, 1816, reprinted from
Mai. - M.]
[28: Participem quidem legitimum potestatis; sed in
modum apparitoris morigerum, ut progrediens aperiet textus.
Ammian. xxvi. 4.]
[29: Notwithstanding the evidence of Zonaras, Suidas,
and the Paschal Chronicle, M. de Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs,
tom. v. p. 671) wishes to disbelieve those stories, si
avantageuses a un payen.]
[30: Eunapius celebrates and exaggerates the sufferings
of Maximus. (p. 82, 83;) yet he allows that the sophist or
magician, the guilty favorite of Julian, and the personal enemy
of Valentinian, was dismissed on the payment of a small fine.]
[31: The loose assertions of a general disgrace
(Zosimus, l. iv. p. 201, are detected and refuted by Tillemont,
(tom. v. p. 21.)]
[32: Ammianus, xxvi. 5.]
[C: Ipae supra impacati Rhen semibarbaras ripas raptim
vexilla constituens * * Princeps creatus ad difficilem militiam
revertisti. Symm. Orat. 81. - M.]
[33: Ammianus says, in general terms, subagrestis
ingenii, nec bellicis nec liberalibus studiis eruditus. Ammian.
xxxi. 14. The orator Themistius, with the genuine impertinence
of a Greek, wishes for the first time to speak the Latin
language, the dialect of his sovereign. Orat. vi. p. 71.]
[34: The uncertain degree of alliance, or consanguinity,
is expressed by the words, cognatus, consobrinus, (see Valesius
ad Ammian. xxiii. 3.) The mother of Procopius might be a sister
of Basilina and Count Julian, the mother and uncle of the
Apostate. Ducange, Fam. Byzantin. p. 49.]
[35: Ammian. xxiii. 3, xxvi. 6. He mentions the report
with much hesitation: susurravit obscurior fama; nemo enim dicti
auctor exstitit verus. It serves, however, to remark, that
Procopius was a Pagan. Yet his religion does not appear to have
promoted, or obstructed, his pretensions.]
[36: One of his retreats was a country-house of
Eunomius, the heretic. The master was absent, innocent,
ignorant; yet he narrowly escaped a sentence of death, and was
banished into the remote parts of Mauritania, (Philostorg. l. ix.
c. 5, 8, and Godefroy's Dissert. p. 369- 378.)]
[D: It may be suspected, from a fragment of Eunapius,
that the heathen and philosophic party espoused the cause of
Procopius. Heraclius, the Cynic, a man who had been honored by a
philosophic controversy with Julian, striking the ground with his
staff, incited him to courage with the line of Homer Eunapius.
Mai, p. 207 or in Niebuhr's edition, p. 73. - M.]
[37: Hormisdae maturo juveni Hormisdae regalis illius
filio, potestatem Proconsulis detulit; et civilia, more veterum,
et bella, recturo. Ammian. xxvi. 8. The Persian prince escaped
with honor and safety, and was afterwards (A. D. 380) restored to
the same extraordinary office of proconsul of Bithynia,
(Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 204) I am ignorant
whether the race of Sassan was propagated. I find (A. D. 514) a
pope Hormisdas; but he was a native of Frusino, in Italy, (Pagi
Brev. Pontific. tom. i. p. 247)]
[38: The infant rebel was afterwards the wife of the
emperor Gratian but she died young, and childless. See Ducange,
Fam. Byzantin. p. 48, 59.]
[39: Sequimini culminis summi prosapiam, was the
language of Procopius, who affected to despise the obscure birth,
and fortuitous election of the upstart Pannonian. Ammian. xxvi.
7.]
[E: Symmachus describes his embarrassment. "The Germans
are the common enemies of the state, Procopius the private foe of
the Emperor; his first care must be victory, his second revenge."
Symm. Orat. p. 11. - M.]
[40: Et dedignatus hominem superare certamine
despicabilem, auctoritatis et celsi fiducia corporis ipsis
hostibus jussit, suum vincire rectorem: atque ita turmarum,
antesignanus umbratilis comprensus suorum manibus. The strength
and beauty of Arintheus, the new Hercules, are celebrated by St.
Basil, who supposed that God had created him as an inimitable
model of the human species. The painters and sculptors could not
express his figure: the historians appeared fabulous when they
related his exploits, (Ammian. xxvi. and Vales. ad loc.)]
[41: The same field of battle is placed by Ammianus in
Lycia, and by Zosimus at Thyatira, which are at the distance of
150 miles from each other. But Thyatira alluitur Lyco, (Plin.
Hist. Natur. v. 31, Cellarius, Geograph. Antiq. tom. ii. p. 79;)
and the transcribers might easily convert an obscure river into a
well-known province.
Note: Ammianus and Zosimus place the last battle at Nacolia
in Phrygia; Ammianus altogether omits the former battle near
Thyatira. Procopius was on his march (iter tendebat) towards
Lycia. See Wagner's note, in c. - M.]
[42: The adventures, usurpation, and fall of Procopius,
are related, in a regular series, by Ammianus, (xxvi. 6, 7, 8, 9,
10,) and Zosimus, (l. iv. p. 203-210.) They often illustrate, and
seldom contradict, each other. Themistius (Orat. vii. p. 91, 92)
adds some base panegyric; and Euna pius (p. 83, 84) some
malicious satire.]
[!: Symmachus joins with Themistius in praising the
clemency of Valens dic victoriae moderatus est, quasi contra se
nemo pugnavit. Symm. Orat. p. 12. - M.]
[F: This infamous inquisition into sorcery and
witchcraft has been of greater influence on human affairs than is
commonly supposed. The persecutions against philosophers and
their libraries was carried on with so much fury, that from this
time (A. D. 374) the names of the Gentile philosophers became
almost extinct; and the Christian philosophy and religion,
particularly in the East, established their ascendency. I am
surprised that Gibbon has not made this observation. Heyne, Note
on Zosimus, l. iv. 14, p. 637. Besides vast heaps of manuscripts
publicly destroyed throughout the East, men of letters burned
their whole libraries, lest some fatal volume should expose them
to the malice of the informers and the extreme penalty of the
law. Amm. Marc. xxix. 11. - M.]
[43: Libanius de ulciscend. Julian. nece, c. ix. p. 158,
159. The sophist deplores the public frenzy, but he does not
(after their deaths) impeach the justice of the emperors.]
[44: The French and English lawyers, of the present age,
allow the theory, and deny the practice, of witchcraft,
(Denisart, Recueil de Decisions de Jurisprudence, au mot
Sorciers, tom. iv. p. 553. Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. iv.
p. 60.) As private reason always prevents, or outstrips, public
wisdom, the president Montesquieu (Esprit des Loix, l. xii. c. 5,
6) rejects the existence of magic.]
[45: See Oeuvres de Bayle, tom. iii. p. 567-589. The
sceptic of Rotterdam exhibits, according to his custom, a strange
medley of loose knowledge and lively wit.]
[46: The Pagans distinguished between good and bad
magic, the Theurgic and the Goetic, (Hist. de l'Academie, &c.,
tom. vii. p. 25.) But they could not have defended this obscure
distinction against the acute logic of Bayle. In the Jewish and
Christian system, all daemons are infernal spirits; and all
commerce with them is idolatry, apostasy &c., which deserves
death and damnation.]
[47: The Canidia of Horace (Carm. l. v. Od. 5, with
Dacier's and Sanadon's illustrations) is a vulgar witch. The
Erictho of Lucan (Pharsal. vi. 430-830) is tedious, disgusting,
but sometimes sublime. She chides the delay of the Furies, and
threatens, with tremendous obscurity, to pronounce their real
names; to reveal the true infernal countenance of Hecate; to
invoke the secret powers that lie below hell, &c.]
[48: Genus hominum potentibus infidum, sperantibus
fallax, quod in civitate nostra et vetabitur semper et
retinebitur. Tacit. Hist. i. 22. See Augustin. de Civitate Dei,
l. viii. c. 19, and the Theodosian Code l. ix. tit. xvi., with
Godefroy's Commentary.]
[49: The persecution of Antioch was occasioned by a
criminal consultation. The twenty-four letters of the alphabet
were arranged round a magic tripod: and a dancing ring, which had
been placed in the centre, pointed to the four first letters in
the name of the future emperor, O. E. O Triangle. Theodorus
(perhaps with many others, who owned the fatal syllables) was
executed. Theodosius succeeded. Lardner (Heathen Testimonies,
vol. iv. p. 353-372) has copiously and fairly examined this dark
transaction of the reign of Valens.]
[50: Limus ut hic durescit, et haec ut cera liquescit
Uno eodemque igni - Virgil. Bucolic. viii. 80.
Devovet absentes, simulacraque cerea figit.
Ovid. in Epist. Hypsil. ad Jason 91.
Such vain incantations could affect the mind, and increase the
disease of Germanicus. Tacit. Annal. ii. 69.]
[51: See Heineccius, Antiquitat. Juris Roman. tom. ii.
p. 353, &c. Cod. Theodosian. l. ix. tit. 7, with Godefroy's
Commentary.]
[52: The cruel persecution of Rome and Antioch is
described, and most probably exaggerated, by Ammianus (xxvii. 1.
xxix. 1, 2) and Zosimus, (l. iv. p. 216-218.) The philosopher
Maximus, with some justice, was involved in the charge of magic,
(Eunapius in Vit. Sophist. p. 88, 89;) and young Chrysostom, who
had accidentally found one of the proscribed books, gave himself
up for lost, (Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 340.)]
[53: Consult the six last books of Ammianus, and more
particularly the portraits of the two royal brothers, (xxx. 8, 9,
xxxi. 14.) Tillemont has collected (tom. v. p. 12-18, p. 127-133)
from all antiquity their virtues and vices.]
[54: The younger Victor asserts, that he was valde
timidus: yet he behaved, as almost every man would do, with
decent resolution at the head of an army. The same historian
attempts to prove that his anger was harmless. Ammianus observes,
with more candor and judgment, incidentia crimina ad contemptam
vel laesam principis amplitudinem trahens, in sanguinem
saeviebat.]
[55: Cum esset ad acerbitatem naturae calore propensior.
. . poenas perignes augebat et gladios. Ammian. xxx. 8. See
xxvii. 7]
[56: I have transferred the reproach of avarice from
Valens to his servant. Avarice more properly belongs to
ministers than to kings; in whom that passion is commonly
extinguished by absolute possession.]
[57: He sometimes expressed a sentence of death with a
tone of pleasantry: "Abi, Comes, et muta ei caput, qui sibi
mutari provinciam cupit." A boy, who had slipped too hastily a
Spartan bound; an armorer, who had made a polished cuirass that
wanted some grains of the legitimate weight, &c., were the
victims of his fury.]
[58: The innocents of Milan were an agent and three
apparitors, whom Valentinian condemned for signifying a legal
summons. Ammianus (xxvii. 7) strangely supposes, that all who
had been unjustly executed were worshipped as martyrs by the
Christians. His impartial silence does not allow us to believe,
that the great chamberlain Rhodanus was burnt alive for an act of
oppression, (Chron. Paschal. p. 392.)
Note: Ammianus does not say that they were worshipped as
martyrs. Onorum memoriam apud Mediolanum colentes nunc usque
Christiani loculos ubi sepulti sunt, ad innocentes appellant.
Wagner's note in loco. Yet if the next paragraph refers to that
transaction, which is not quite clear. Gibbon is right. - M.]
[59: Ut bene meritam in sylvas jussit abire Innoxiam.
Ammian. xxix. and Valesius ad locum.]
[60: See the Code of Justinian, l. viii. tit. lii. leg.
2. Unusquisque sabolem suam nutriat. Quod si exponendam
putaverit animadversioni quae constituta est subjacebit. For the
present I shall not interfere in the dispute between Noodt and
Binkershoek; how far, or how long this unnatural practice had
been condemned or abolished by law philosophy, and the more
civilized state of society.]
[61: These salutary institutions are explained in the
Theodosian Code, l. xiii. tit. iii. De Professoribus et Medicis,
and l. xiv. tit. ix. De Studiis liberalibus Urbis Romoe. Besides
our usual guide, (Godefroy,) we may consult Giannone, (Istoria di
Napoli, tom. i. p. 105-111,) who has treated the interesting
subject with the zeal and curiosity of a man of latters who
studies his domestic history.]
[62: Cod. Theodos. l. i. tit. xi. with Godefroy's
Paratitlon, which diligently gleans from the rest of the code.]
[63: Three lines of Ammianus (xxxi. 14) countenance a
whole oration of Themistius, (viii. p. 101-120,) full of
adulation, pedantry, and common-place morality. The eloquent M.
Thomas (tom. i. p. 366-396) has amused himself with celebrating
the virtues and genius of Themistius, who was not unworthy of the
age in which he lived.]
[64: Zosimus, l. iv. p. 202. Ammian. xxx. 9. His
reformation of costly abuses might entitle him to the praise of,
in provinciales admodum parcus, tributorum ubique molliens
sarcinas. By some his frugality was styled avarice, (Jerom.
Chron. p. 186)]
[65: Testes sunt leges a me in exordio Imperii mei
datae; quibus unicuique quod animo imbibisset colendi libera
facultas tributa est. Cod. Theodos. l. ix. tit. xvi. leg. 9. To
this declaration of Valentinian, we may add the various
testimonies of Ammianus, (xxx. 9,) Zosimus, (l. iv. p. 204,) and
Sozomen, (l. vi. c. 7, 21.) Baronius would naturally blame such
rational toleration, (Annal. Eccles A. D. 370, No. 129-132, A. D.
376, No. 3, 4.)]
[*: Comme il s'etait prescrit pour regle de ne point se
meler de disputes de religion, son histoire est presque
entierement degagee des affaires ecclesiastiques. Le Beau. iii.
214. - M.]
[66: Eudoxus was of a mild and timid disposition. When
he baptized Valens, (A. D. 367,) he must have been extremely old;
since he had studied theology fifty-five years before, under
Lucian, a learned and pious martyr. Philostorg. l. ii. c. 14-16,
l. iv. c. 4, with Godefroy, p 82, 206, and Tillemont, Mem.
Eccles. tom. v. p. 471-480, &c.]
[G: Through the influence of his wife say the
ecclesiastical writers. - M.]
[67: Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xxv. p. 432) insults the
persecuting spirit of the Arians, as an infallible symptom of
error and heresy.]
[68: This sketch of the ecclesiastical government of
Valens is drawn from Socrates, (l. iv.,) Sozomen, (l. vi.,)
Theodoret, (l. iv.,) and the immense compilations of Tillemont,
(particularly tom. vi. viii. and ix.)]
[69: Dr. Jortin (Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol.
iv. p. 78) has already conceived and intimated the same
suspicion.]
[70: This reflection is so obvious and forcible, that
Orosius (l. vii. c. 32, 33,) delays the persecution till after
the death of Valentinian. Socrates, on the other hand, supposes,
(l. iii. c. 32,) that it was appeased by a philosophical oration,
which Themistius pronounced in the year 374, (Orat. xii. p. 154,
in Latin only.) Such contradictions diminish the evidence, and
reduce the term, of the persecution of Valens.]
[71: Tillemont, whom I follow and abridge, has extracted
(Mem. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 153-167) the most authentic
circumstances from the Panegyrics of the two Gregories; the
brother, and the friend, of Basil. The letters of Basil himself
(Dupin, Bibliotheque, Ecclesiastique, tom. ii. p. 155-180) do not
present the image of a very lively persecution.]
[72: Basilius Caesariensis episcopus Cappadociae clarus
habetur ... qui multa continentiae et ingenii bona uno superbiae
malo perdidit. This irreverent passage is perfectly in the style
and character of St. Jerom. It does not appear in Scaliger's
edition of his Chronicle; but Isaac Vossius found it in some old
Mss. which had not been reformed by the monks.]
[73: This noble and charitable foundation (almost a new
city) surpassed in merit, if not in greatness, the pyramids, or
the walls of Babylon. It was principally intended for the
reception of lepers, (Greg. Nazianzen, Orat. xx. p. 439.)]
[74: Cod. Theodos. l. xii. tit. i. leg. 63. Godefroy
(tom. iv. p. 409-413) performs the duty of a commentator and
advocate. Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 808) supposes a
second law to excuse his orthodox friends, who had misrepresented
the edict of Valens, and suppressed the liberty of choice.]
[75: See D'Anville, Description de l'Egypte, p. 74.
Hereafter I shall consider the monastic institutions.]
[76: Socrates, l. iv. c. 24, 25. Orosius, l. vii. c.
33. Jerom. in Chron. p. 189, and tom. ii. p. 212. The monks of
Egypt performed many miracles, which prove the truth of their
faith. Right, says Jortin, (Remarks, vol iv. p. 79,) but what
proves the truth of those miracles.]
[77: Cod. Theodos. l. xvi. tit. ii. leg. 20. Godefroy,
(tom. vi. p. 49,) after the example of Baronius, impartially
collects all that the fathers have said on the subject of this
important law; whose spirit was long afterwards revived by the
emperor Frederic II., Edward I. of England, and other Christian
princes who reigned after the twelfth century.]
[78: The expressions which I have used are temperate and
feeble, if compared with the vehement invectives of Jerom, (tom.
i. p. 13, 45, 144, &c.) In his turn he was reproached with the
guilt which he imputed to his brother monks; and the Sceleratus,
the Versipellis, was publicly accused as the lover of the widow
Paula, (tom. ii. p. 363.) He undoubtedly possessed the affection,
both of the mother and the daughter; but he declares that he
never abused his influence to any selfish or sensual purpose.]
[79: Pudet dicere, sacerdotes idolorum, mimi et aurigae,
et scorta, haereditates capiunt: solis clericis ac monachis hac
lege prohibetur. Et non prohibetur a persecutoribus, sed a
principibus Christianis. Nec de lege queror; sed doleo cur
meruerimus hanc legem. Jerom (tom. i. p. 13) discreetly
insinuates the secret policy of his patron Damasus.]
[80: Three words of Jerom, sanctoe memorioe Damasus
(tom. ii. p. 109,) wash away all his stains, and blind the devout
eyes of Tillemont. (Mem Eccles. tom. viii. p. 386-424.)]
[81: Jerom himself is forced to allow, crudelissimae
interfectiones diversi sexus perpetratae, (in Chron. p. 186.) But
an original libel, or petition of two presbyters of the adverse
party, has unaccountably escaped. They affirm that the doors of
the Basilica were burnt, and that the roof was untiled; that
Damasus marched at the head of his own clergy, grave-diggers,
charioteers, and hired gladiators; that none of his party were
killed, but that one hundred and sixty dead bodies were found.
This petition is published by the P. Sirmond, in the first volume
of his work.]
[82: The Basilica of Sicininus, or Liberius, is probably
the church of Sancta Maria Maggiore, on the Esquiline hill.
Baronius, A. D. 367 No. 3; and Donatus, Roma Antiqua et Nova, l.
iv. c. 3, p. 462.]
[83: The enemies of Damasus styled him Auriscalpius
Matronarum the ladies' ear-scratcher.]
[84: Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xxxii. p. 526) describes
the pride and luxury of the prelates who reigned in the Imperial
cities; their gilt car, fiery steeds, numerous train, &c. The
crowd gave way as to a wild beast.]
[85: Ammian. xxvii. 3. Perpetuo Numini, verisque ejus
cultoribus. The incomparable pliancy of a polytheist!]
[86: Ammianus, who makes a fair report of his
praefecture (xxvii. 9) styles him praeclarae indolis,
gravitatisque senator, (xxii. 7, and Vales. ad loc.) A curious
inscription (Grutor MCII. No. 2) records, in two columns, his
religious and civil honors. In one line he was Pontiff of the
Sun, and of Vesta, Augur, Quindecemvir, Hierophant, &c., &c. In
the other, 1. Quaestor candidatus, more probably titular. 2.
Praetor. 3. Corrector of Tuscany and Umbria. 4. Consular of
Lusitania. 5. Proconsul of Achaia. 6. Praefect of Rome. 7.
Praetorian praefect of Italy. 8. Of Illyricum. 9. Consul elect;
but he died before the beginning of the year 385. See Tillemont,
Hist. des Empereurs, tom v. p. 241, 736.]
[87: Facite me Romanae urbis episcopum; et ero protinus
Christianus (Jerom, tom. ii. p. 165.) It is more than probable
that Damasus would not have purchased his conversion at such a
price.]
[88: Ammian, xxvi. 5. Valesius adds a long and good
note on the master of the offices.]
[89: Ammian. xxvii. 1. Zosimus, l. iv. p. 208. The
disgrace of the Batavians is suppressed by the contemporary
soldier, from a regard for military honor, which could not affect
a Greek rhetorician of the succeeding age.]
[90: See D'Anville, Notice de l'Ancienne Gaule, p. 587.
The name of the Moselle, which is not specified by Ammianus, is
clearly understood by Mascou, (Hist. of the Ancient Germans, vii. 2)]
[H: Charpeigne on the Moselle. Mannert - M.]
[91: The battles are described by Ammianus, (xxvii. 2,)
and by Zosimus, (l. iv. p. 209,) who supposes Valentinian to have
been present.]
[92: Studio solicitante nostrorum, occubuit. Ammian
xxvii. 10.]
[I: Probably Easter. Wagner. - M.]
[J: Mannert is unable to fix the position of Solicinium.
Haefelin (in Comm Acad Elect. Palat. v. 14) conjectures
Schwetzingen, near Heidelberg. See Wagner's note. St. Martin,
Sultz in Wirtemberg, near the sources of the Neckar St. Martin,
iii. 339. - M.]
[93: The expedition of Valentinian is related by
Ammianus, (xxvii. 10;) and celebrated by Ausonius, (Mosell. 421,
&c.,) who foolishly supposes, that the Romans were ignorant of
the sources of the Danube.]
[94: Immanis enim natio, jam inde ab incunabulis primis
varietate casuum imminuta; ita saepius adolescit, ut fuisse
longis saeculis aestimetur intacta. Ammianus, xxviii. 5. The
Count de Buat (Hist. des Peuples de l'Europe, tom. vi. p. 370)
ascribes the fecundity of the Alemanni to their easy adoption of
strangers.
Note: "This explanation," says Mr. Malthus, "only removes
the difficulty a little farther off. It makes the earth rest
upon the tortoise, but does not tell us on what the tortoise
rests. We may still ask what northern reservoir supplied this
incessant stream of daring adventurers. Montesquieu's solution of
the problem will, I think, hardly be admitted, (Grandeur et
Decadence des Romains, c. 16, p. 187.) * * * The whole
difficulty, however, is at once removed, if we apply to the
German nations, at that time, a fact which is so generally known
to have occurred in America, and suppose that, when not checked
by wars and famine, they increased at a rate that would double
their numbers in twenty-five or thirty years. The propriety, and
even the necessity, of applying this rate of increase to the
inhabitants of ancient Germany, will strikingly appear from that
most valuable picture of their manners which has been left us by
Tacitus, (Tac. de Mor. Germ. 16 to 20.) * * * With these manners,
and a habit of enterprise and emigration, which would naturally
remove all fears about providing for a family, it is difficult to
conceive a society with a stronger principle of increase in it,
and we see at once that prolific source of armies and colonies
against which the force of the Roman empire so long struggled
with difficulty, and under which it ultimately sunk. It is not
probable that, for two periods together, or even for one, the
population within the confines of Germany ever doubled itself in
twenty- five years. Their perpetual wars, the rude state of
agriculture, and particularly the very strange custom adopted by
most of the tribes of marking their barriers by extensive
deserts, would prevent any very great actual increase of numbers.
At no one period could the country be called well peopled, though
it was often redundant in population. * * * Instead of clearing
their forests, draining their swamps, and rendering their soil
fit to support an extended population, they found it more
congenial to their martial habits and impatient dispositions to
go in quest of food, of plunder, or of glory, into other
countries." Malthus on Population, i. p. 128. - G.]
[K: The course of the Neckar was likewise strongly
guarded. The hyperbolical eulogy of Symmachus asserts that the
Neckar first became known to the Romans by the conquests and
fortifications of Valentinian. Nunc primum victoriis tuis
externus fluvius publicatur. Gaudeat servitute, captivus
innotuit. Symm. Orat. p. 22. - M.]
[95: Ammian. xxviii. 2. Zosimus, l. iv. p. 214. The
younger Victor mentions the mechanical genius of Valentinian,
nova arma meditari fingere terra seu limo simulacra.]
[L: According to the general opinion, the Burgundians
formed a Gothic o Vandalic tribe, who, from the banks of the
Lower Vistula, made incursions, on one side towards Transylvania,
on the other towards the centre of Germany. All that remains of
the Burgundian language is Gothic. * * * Nothing in their customs
indicates a different origin. Malte Brun, Geog. tom. i. p. 396.
(edit. 1831.) - M.]
[96: Bellicosos et pubis immensae viribus affluentes; et
ideo metuendos finitimis universis. Ammian. xxviii. 5.]
[97: I am always apt to suspect historians and
travellers of improving extraordinary facts into general laws.
Ammianus ascribes a similar custom to Egypt; and the Chinese have
imputed it to the Ta-tsin, or Roman empire, (De Guignes, Hist.
des Huns, tom. ii. part. 79.)]
[98: Salinarum finiumque causa Alemannis saepe
jurgabant. Ammian xxviii. 5. Possibly they disputed the
possession of the Sala, a river which produced salt, and which
had been the object of ancient contention. Tacit. Annal. xiii.
57, and Lipsius ad loc.]
[99: Jam inde temporibus priscis sobolem se esse Romanam
Burgundii sciunt: and the vague tradition gradually assumed a
more regular form, (Oros. l. vii. c. 32.) It is annihilated by
the decisive authority of Pliny, who composed the History of
Drusus, and served in Germany, (Plin. Secund. Epist. iii. 5,)
within sixty years after the death of that hero. Germanorum
genera quinque; Vindili, quorum pars Burgundiones, &c., (Hist.
Natur. iv. 28.)]
[100: The wars and negotiations relative to the
Burgundians and Alemanni, are distinctly related by Ammianus
Marcellinus, (xxviii. 5, xxix 4, xxx. 3.) Orosius, (l. vii. c.
32,) and the Chronicles of Jerom and Cassiodorus, fix some dates,
and add some circumstances.]
[101: At the northern extremity of the peninsula, (the
Cimbric promontory of Pliny, iv. 27,) Ptolemy fixes the remnant
of the Cimbri. He fills the interval between the Saxons and the
Cimbri with six obscure tribes, who were united, as early as the
sixth century, under the national appellation of Danes. See
Cluver. German. Antiq. l. iii. c. 21, 22, 23.]
[102: M. D'Anville (Establissement des Etats de
l'Europe, &c., p. 19-26) has marked the extensive limits of the
Saxony of Charlemagne.]
[103: The fleet of Drusus had failed in their attempt to
pass, or even to approach, the Sound, (styled, from an obvious
resemblance, the columns of Hercules,) and the naval enterprise
was never resumed, (Tacit. de Moribus German. c. 34.) The
knowledge which the Romans acquired of the naval powers of the
Baltic, (c. 44, 45) was obtained by their land journeys in search
of amber.]
[104:
Quin et Aremoricus piratam Saxona tractus
Sperabat; cui pelle salum sulcare Britannum
Ludus; et assuto glaucum mare findere lembo
Sidon. in Panegyr. Avit. 369.
The genius of Caesar imitated, for a particular service, these
rude, but light vessels, which were likewise used by the natives
of Britain. (Comment. de Bell. Civil. i. 51, and Guichardt,
Nouveaux Memoires Militaires, tom. ii. p. 41, 42.) The British
vessels would now astonish the genius of Caesar.]
[105: The best original account of the Saxon pirates may
be found in Sidonius Apollinaris, (l. viii. epist. 6, p. 223,
edit. Sirmond,) and the best commentary in the Abbe du Bos,
(Hist. Critique de la Monarchie Francoise, &c. tom. i. l. i. c.
16, p. 148-155. See likewise p. 77, 78.)]
[106: Ammian. (xxviii. 5) justifies this breach of faith
to pirates and robbers; and Orosius (l. vii. c. 32) more clearly
expresses their real guilt; virtute atque agilitate terribeles.]
[107: Symmachus (l. ii. epist. 46) still presumes to
mention the sacred name of Socrates and philosophy. Sidonius,
bishop of Clermont, might condemn, (l. viii. epist. 6,) with less
inconsistency, the human sacrifices of the Saxons.]
[108: In the beginning of the last century, the learned
Camden was obliged to undermine, with respectful scepticism, the
romance of Brutus, the Trojan; who is now buried in silent
oblivion with Scota the daughter of Pharaoh, and her numerous
progeny. Yet I am informed, that some champions of the Milesian
colony may still be found among the original natives of Ireland.
A people dissatisfied with their present condition, grasp at any
visions of their past or future glory.]
[109: Tacitus, or rather his father-in-law, Agricola,
might remark the German or Spanish complexion of some British
tribes. But it was their sober, deliberate opinion: "In
universum tamen aestimanti Gallos cicinum solum occupasse
credibile est. Eorum sacra deprehendas. . . . ermo haud multum
diversus," (in Vit. Agricol. c. xi.) Caesar had observed their
common religion, (Comment. de Bello Gallico, vi. 13;) and in his
time the emigration from the Belgic Gaul was a recent, or at
least an historical event, (v. 10.) Camden, the British Strabo,
has modestly ascertained our genuine antiquities, (Britannia,
vol. i. Introduction, p. ii. - xxxi.)]
[110: In the dark and doubtful paths of Caledonian
antiquity, I have chosen for my guides two learned and ingenious
Highlanders, whom their birth and education had peculiarly
qualified for that office. See Critical Dissertations on the
Origin and Antiquities, &c., of the Caledonians, by Dr. John
Macpherson, London 1768, in 4to.; and Introduction to the History
of Great Britain and Ireland, by James Macpherson, Esq., London
1773, in 4to., third edit. Dr. Macpherson was a minister in the
Isle of Sky: and it is a circumstance honorable for the present
age, that a work, replete with erudition and criticism, should
have been composed in the most remote of the Hebrides.]
[111: The Irish descent of the Scots has been revived in
the last moments of its decay, and strenuously supported, by the
Rev. Mr. Whitaker, (Hist. of Manchester, vol. i. p. 430, 431; and
Genuine History of the Britons asserted, &c., p. 154-293) Yet he
acknowledges, 1. That the Scots of Ammianus Marcellinus (A.D.
340) were already settled in Caledonia; and that the Roman
authors do not afford any hints of their emigration from another
country. 2. That all the accounts of such emigrations, which
have been asserted or received, by Irish bards, Scotch
historians, or English antiquaries, (Buchanan, Camden, Usher,
Stillingfleet, &c.,) are totally fabulous. 3. That three of the
Irish tribes, which are mentioned by Ptolemy, (A.D. 150,) were of
Caledonian extraction. 4. That a younger branch of Caledonian
princes, of the house of Fingal, acquired and possessed the
monarchy of Ireland. After these concessions, the remaining
difference between Mr. Whitaker and his adversaries is minute and
obscure. The genuine history, which he produces, of a Fergus, the
cousin of Ossian, who was transplanted (A.D. 320) from Ireland to
Caledonia, is built on a conjectural supplement to the Erse
poetry, and the feeble evidence of Richard of Cirencester, a monk
of the fourteenth century. The lively spirit of the learned and
ingenious antiquarian has tempted him to forget the nature of a
question, which he so vehemently debates, and so absolutely
decides.
Note: This controversy has not slumbered since the days of
Gibbon. We have strenuous advocates of the Phoenician origin of
the Irish, and each of the old theories, with several new ones,
maintains its partisans. It would require several pages fairly
to bring down the dispute to our own days, and perhaps we should
be no nearer to any satisfactory theory than Gibbon was.]