Empire.--Part VI.
IV. The ignominious treaty, which saved the army of Jovian, had been
faithfully executed on the side of the Romans; and as they had solemnly
renounced the sovereignty and alliance of Armenia and Iberia, those
tributary kingdoms were exposed, without protection, to the arms of the
Persian monarch. Sapor entered the Armenian territories at the head of
a formidable host of cuirassiers, of archers, and of mercenary foot; but
it was the invariable practice of Sapor to mix war and negotiation, and
to consider falsehood and perjury as the most powerful instruments of
regal policy. He affected to praise the prudent and moderate conduct of
the king of Armenia; and the unsuspicious Tiranus was persuaded, by the
repeated assurances of insidious friendship, to deliver his person into
the hands of a faithless and cruel enemy. In the midst of a splendid
entertainment, he was bound in chains of silver, as an honor due to the
blood of the Arsacides; and, after a short confinement in the Tower of
Oblivion at Ecbatana, he was released from the miseries of life, either
by his own dagger, or by that of an assassin. * The kingdom of Armenia
was reduced to the state of a Persian province; the administration was
shared between a distinguished satrap and a favorite eunuch; and Sapor
marched, without delay, to subdue the martial spirit of the Iberians.
Sauromaces, who reigned in that country by the permission of the
emperors, was expelled by a superior force; and, as an insult on the
majesty of Rome, the king of kings placed a diadem on the head of his
abject vassal Aspacuras. The city of Artogerassa was the only place of
Armenia which presumed to resist the efforts of his arms. The treasure
deposited in that strong fortress tempted the avarice of Sapor; but the
danger of Olympias, the wife or widow of the Armenian king, excited the
public compassion, and animated the desperate valor of her subjects and
soldiers. ß The Persians were surprised and repulsed under the walls of
Artogerassa, by a bold and well-concerted sally of the besieged. But
the forces of Sapor were continually renewed and increased; the hopeless
courage of the garrison was exhausted; the strength of the walls yielded
to the assault; and the proud conqueror, after wasting the rebellious
city with fire and sword, led away captive an unfortunate queen; who,
in a more auspicious hour, had been the destined bride of the son of
Constantine. Yet if Sapor already triumphed in the easy conquest of two
dependent kingdoms, he soon felt, that a country is unsubdued as long
as the minds of the people are actuated by a hostile and contumacious
spirit. The satraps, whom he was obliged to trust, embraced the first
opportunity of regaining the affection of their countrymen, and of
signalizing their immortal hatred to the Persian name. Since the
conversion of the Armenians and Iberians, these nations considered the
Christians as the favorites, and the Magians as the adversaries, of the
Supreme Being: the influence of the clergy, over a superstitious
people was uniformly exerted in the cause of Rome; and as long as
the successors of Constantine disputed with those of Artaxerxes the
sovereignty of the intermediate provinces, the religious connection
always threw a decisive advantage into the scale of the empire. A
numerous and active party acknowledged Para, the son of Tiranus, as
the lawful sovereign of Armenia, and his title to the throne was deeply
rooted in the hereditary succession of five hundred years. By the
unanimous consent of the Iberians, the country was equally divided
between the rival princes; and Aspacuras, who owed his diadem to
the choice of Sapor, was obliged to declare, that his regard for his
children, who were detained as hostages by the tyrant, was the only
consideration which prevented him from openly renouncing the alliance of
Persia. The emperor Valens, who respected the obligations of the treaty,
and who was apprehensive of involving the East in a dangerous war,
ventured, with slow and cautious measures, to support the Roman party
in the kingdoms of Iberia and Armenia. $ Twelve legions established the
authority of Sauromaces on the banks of the Cyrus. The Euphrates was
protected by the valor of Arintheus. A powerful army, under the command
of Count Trajan, and of Vadomair, king of the Alemanni, fixed their
camp on the confines of Armenia. But they were strictly enjoined not to
commit the first hostilities, which might be understood as a breach of
the treaty: and such was the implicit obedience of the Roman general,
that they retreated, with exemplary patience, under a shower of Persian
arrows till they had clearly acquired a just title to an honorable and
legitimate victory. Yet these appearances of war insensibly subsided in
a vain and tedious negotiation. The contending parties supported their
claims by mutual reproaches of perfidy and ambition; and it should seem,
that the original treaty was expressed in very obscure terms, since they
were reduced to the necessity of making their inconclusive appeal to the
partial testimony of the generals of the two nations, who had assisted
at the negotiations. The invasion of the Goths and Huns which soon
afterwards shook the foundations of the Roman empire, exposed the
provinces of Asia to the arms of Sapor. But the declining age, and
perhaps the infirmities, of the monarch suggested new maxims of
tranquillity and moderation. His death, which happened in the full
maturity of a reign of seventy years, changed in a moment the court and
councils of Persia; and their attention was most probably engaged by
domestic troubles, and the distant efforts of a Carmanian war. The
remembrance of ancient injuries was lost in the enjoyment of peace. The
kingdoms of Armenia and Iberia were permitted, by the mutual, though
tacit consent of both empires, to resume their doubtful neutrality. In
the first years of the reign of Theodosius, a Persian embassy arrived
at Constantinople, to excuse the unjustifiable measures of the former
reign; and to offer, as the tribute of friendship, or even of respect, a
splendid present of gems, of silk, and of Indian elephants.
In the general picture of the affairs of the East under the reign
of Valens, the adventures of Para form one of the most striking and
singular objects. The noble youth, by the persuasion of his mother
Olympias, had escaped through the Persian host that besieged
Artogerassa, and implored the protection of the emperor of the East. By
his timid councils, Para was alternately supported, and recalled, and
restored, and betrayed. The hopes of the Armenians were sometimes raised
by the presence of their natural sovereign, * and the ministers of
Valens were satisfied, that they preserved the integrity of the public
faith, if their vassal was not suffered to assume the diadem and
title of King. But they soon repented of their own rashness. They were
confounded by the reproaches and threats of the Persian monarch.
They found reason to distrust the cruel and inconstant temper of Para
himself; who sacrificed, to the slightest suspicions, the lives of his
most faithful servants, and held a secret and disgraceful correspondence
with the assassin of his father and the enemy of his country. Under the
specious pretence of consulting with the emperor on the subject of their
common interest, Para was persuaded to descend from the mountains of
Armenia, where his party was in arms, and to trust his independence and
safety to the discretion of a perfidious court. The king of Armenia,
for such he appeared in his own eyes and in those of his nation, was
received with due honors by the governors of the provinces through which
he passed; but when he arrived at Tarsus in Cilicia, his progress
was stopped under various pretences; his motions were watched with
respectful vigilance, and he gradually discovered, that he was a
prisoner in the hands of the Romans. Para suppressed his indignation,
dissembled his fears, and after secretly preparing his escape, mounted
on horseback with three hundred of his faithful followers. The officer
stationed at the door of his apartment immediately communicated his
flight to the consular of Cilicia, who overtook him in the suburbs, and
endeavored without success, to dissuade him from prosecuting his rash
and dangerous design. A legion was ordered to pursue the royal fugitive;
but the pursuit of infantry could not be very alarming to a body of
light cavalry; and upon the first cloud of arrows that was discharged
into the air, they retreated with precipitation to the gates of Tarsus.
After an incessant march of two days and two nights, Para and his
Armenians reached the banks of the Euphrates; but the passage of the
river which they were obliged to swim, * was attended with some delay
and some loss. The country was alarmed; and the two roads, which were
only separated by an interval of three miles had been occupied by
a thousand archers on horseback, under the command of a count and a
tribune. Para must have yielded to superior force, if the accidental
arrival of a friendly traveller had not revealed the danger and the
means of escape. A dark and almost impervious path securely conveyed
the Armenian troop through the thicket; and Para had left behind him the
count and the tribune, while they patiently expected his approach along
the public highways. They returned to the Imperial court to excuse their
want of diligence or success; and seriously alleged, that the king of
Armenia, who was a skilful magician, had transformed himself and his
followers, and passed before their eyes under a borrowed shape. After
his return to his native kingdom, Para still continued to profess
himself the friend and ally of the Romans: but the Romans had injured
him too deeply ever to forgive, and the secret sentence of his death was
signed in the council of Valens. The execution of the bloody deed was
committed to the subtle prudence of Count Trajan; and he had the merit
of insinuating himself into the confidence of the credulous prince,
that he might find an opportunity of stabbing him to the heart Para was
invited to a Roman banquet, which had been prepared with all the pomp
and sensuality of the East; the hall resounded with cheerful music, and
the company was already heated with wine; when the count retired for an
instant, drew his sword, and gave the signal of the murder. A robust and
desperate Barbarian instantly rushed on the king of Armenia; and though
he bravely defended his life with the first weapon that chance offered
to his hand, the table of the Imperial general was stained with the
royal blood of a guest, and an ally. Such were the weak and wicked
maxims of the Roman administration, that, to attain a doubtful object
of political interest the laws of nations, and the sacred rights of
hospitality were inhumanly violated in the face of the world.
V. During a peaceful interval of thirty years, the Romans secured their
frontiers, and the Goths extended their dominions. The victories of the
great Hermanric, king of the Ostrogoths, and the most noble of the race
of the Amali, have been compared, by the enthusiasm of his countrymen,
to the exploits of Alexander; with this singular, and almost incredible,
difference, that the martial spirit of the Gothic hero, instead of being
supported by the vigor of youth, was displayed with glory and success in
the extreme period of human life, between the age of fourscore and
one hundred and ten years. The independent tribes were persuaded, or
compelled, to acknowledge the king of the Ostrogoths as the sovereign of
the Gothic nation: the chiefs of the Visigoths, or Thervingi, renounced
the royal title, and assumed the more humble appellation of Judges; and,
among those judges, Athanaric, Fritigern, and Alavivus, were the most
illustrious, by their personal merit, as well as by their vicinity
to the Roman provinces. These domestic conquests, which increased the
military power of Hermanric, enlarged his ambitious designs. He invaded
the adjacent countries of the North; and twelve considerable nations,
whose names and limits cannot be accurately defined, successively
yielded to the superiority of the Gothic arms The Heruli, who inhabited
the marshy lands near the lake MÊotis, were renowned for their strength
and agility; and the assistance of their light infantry was eagerly
solicited, and highly esteemed, in all the wars of the Barbarians.
But the active spirit of the Heruli was subdued by the slow and steady
perseverance of the Goths; and, after a bloody action, in which the king
was slain, the remains of that warlike tribe became a useful accession
to the camp of Hermanric. He then marched against the Venedi; unskilled
in the use of arms, and formidable only by their numbers, which filled
the wide extent of the plains of modern Poland. The victorious Goths,
who were not inferior in numbers, prevailed in the contest, by the
decisive advantages of exercise and discipline. After the submission of
the Venedi, the conqueror advanced, without resistance, as far as the
confines of the ∆stii; an ancient people, whose name is still preserved
in the province of Esthonia. Those distant inhabitants of the Baltic
coast were supported by the labors of agriculture, enriched by the trade
of amber, and consecrated by the peculiar worship of the Mother of the
Gods. But the scarcity of iron obliged the ∆stian warriors to content
themselves with wooden clubs; and the reduction of that wealthy country
is ascribed to the prudence, rather than to the arms, of Hermanric. His
dominions, which extended from the Danube to the Baltic, included the
native seats, and the recent acquisitions, of the Goths; and he reigned
over the greatest part of Germany and Scythia with the authority of a
conqueror, and sometimes with the cruelty of a tyrant. But he reigned
over a part of the globe incapable of perpetuating and adorning the
glory of its heroes. The name of Hermanric is almost buried in oblivion;
his exploits are imperfectly known; and the Romans themselves appeared
unconscious of the progress of an aspiring power which threatened the
liberty of the North, and the peace of the empire.
The Goths had contracted an hereditary attachment for the Imperial house
of Constantine, of whose power and liberality they had received so many
signal proofs. They respected the public peace; and if a hostile band
sometimes presumed to pass the Roman limit, their irregular conduct was
candidly ascribed to the ungovernable spirit of the Barbarian youth.
Their contempt for two new and obscure princes, who had been raised to
the throne by a popular election, inspired the Goths with bolder hopes;
and, while they agitated some design of marching their confederate force
under the national standard, they were easily tempted to embrace the
party of Procopius; and to foment, by their dangerous aid, the civil
discord of the Romans. The public treaty might stipulate no more than
ten thousand auxiliaries; but the design was so zealously adopted by the
chiefs of the Visigoths, that the army which passed the Danube amounted
to the number of thirty thousand men. They marched with the proud
confidence, that their invincible valor would decide the fate of the
Roman empire; and the provinces of Thrace groaned under the weight
of the Barbarians, who displayed the insolence of masters and the
licentiousness of enemies. But the intemperance which gratified their
appetites, retarded their progress; and before the Goths could receive
any certain intelligence of the defeat and death of Procopius, they
perceived, by the hostile state of the country, that the civil and
military powers were resumed by his successful rival. A chain of posts
and fortifications, skilfully disposed by Valens, or the generals of
Valens, resisted their march, prevented their retreat, and intercepted
their subsistence. The fierceness of the Barbarians was tamed and
suspended by hunger; they indignantly threw down their arms at the
feet of the conqueror, who offered them food and chains: the numerous
captives were distributed in all the cities of the East; and the
provincials, who were soon familiarized with their savage appearance,
ventured, by degrees, to measure their own strength with these
formidable adversaries, whose name had so long been the object of their
terror. The king of Scythia (and Hermanric alone could deserve so lofty
a title) was grieved and exasperated by this national calamity. His
ambassadors loudly complained, at the court of Valens, of the infraction
of the ancient and solemn alliance, which had so long subsisted between
the Romans and the Goths. They alleged, that they had fulfilled the duty
of allies, by assisting the kinsman and successor of the emperor Julian;
they required the immediate restitution of the noble captives; and they
urged a very singular claim, that the Gothic generals marching in
arms, and in hostile array, were entitled to the sacred character and
privileges of ambassadors. The decent, but peremptory, refusal of
these extravagant demands, was signified to the Barbarians by Victor,
master-general of the cavalry; who expressed, with force and dignity,
the just complaints of the emperor of the East. The negotiation was
interrupted; and the manly exhortations of Valentinian encouraged his
timid brother to vindicate the insulted majesty of the empire.
The splendor and magnitude of this Gothic war are celebrated by a
contemporary historian: but the events scarcely deserve the attention
of posterity, except as the preliminary steps of the approaching decline
and fall of the empire. Instead of leading the nations of Germany
and Scythia to the banks of the Danube, or even to the gates of
Constantinople, the aged monarch of the Goths resigned to the brave
Athanaric the danger and glory of a defensive war, against an enemy,
who wielded with a feeble hand the powers of a mighty state. A bridge of
boats was established upon the Danube; the presence of Valens animated
his troops; and his ignorance of the art of war was compensated by
personal bravery, and a wise deference to the advice of Victor and
Arintheus, his masters-general of the cavalry and infantry. The
operations of the campaign were conducted by their skill and experience;
but they found it impossible to drive the Visigoths from their strong
posts in the mountains; and the devastation of the plains obliged the
Romans themselves to repass the Danube on the approach of winter. The
incessant rains, which swelled the waters of the river, produced a tacit
suspension of arms, and confined the emperor Valens, during the whole
course of the ensuing summer, to his camp of Marcianopolis. The third
year of the war was more favorable to the Romans, and more pernicious
to the Goths. The interruption of trade deprived the Barbarians of the
objects of luxury, which they already confounded with the necessaries of
life; and the desolation of a very extensive tract of country threatened
them with the horrors of famine. Athanaric was provoked, or compelled,
to risk a battle, which he lost, in the plains; and the pursuit was
rendered more bloody by the cruel precaution of the victorious generals,
who had promised a large reward for the head of every Goth that was
brought into the Imperial camp. The submission of the Barbarians
appeased the resentment of Valens and his council: the emperor listened
with satisfaction to the flattering and eloquent remonstrance of the
senate of Constantinople, which assumed, for the first time, a share in
the public deliberations; and the same generals, Victor and Arintheus,
who had successfully directed the conduct of the war, were empowered to
regulate the conditions of peace. The freedom of trade, which the Goths
had hitherto enjoyed, was restricted to two cities on the Danube; the
rashness of their leaders was severely punished by the suppression of
their pensions and subsidies; and the exception, which was stipulated
in favor of Athanaric alone, was more advantageous than honorable to
the Judge of the Visigoths. Athanaric, who, on this occasion, appears to
have consulted his private interest, without expecting the orders of
his sovereign, supported his own dignity, and that of his tribe, in the
personal interview which was proposed by the ministers of Valens. He
persisted in his declaration, that it was impossible for him, without
incurring the guilt of perjury, ever to set his foot on the territory
of the empire; and it is more than probable, that his regard for the
sanctity of an oath was confirmed by the recent and fatal examples of
Roman treachery. The Danube, which separated the dominions of the two
independent nations, was chosen for the scene of the conference. The
emperor of the East, and the Judge of the Visigoths, accompanied by an
equal number of armed followers, advanced in their respective barges to
the middle of the stream. After the ratification of the treaty, and the
delivery of hostages, Valens returned in triumph to Constantinople; and
the Goths remained in a state of tranquillity about six years; till they
were violently impelled against the Roman empire by an innumerable
host of Scythians, who appeared to issue from the frozen regions of the
North.
The emperor of the West, who had resigned to his brother the command
of the Lower Danube, reserved for his immediate care the defence of the
RhÊtian and Illyrian provinces, which spread so many hundred miles along
the greatest of the European rivers. The active policy of Valentinian
was continually employed in adding new fortifications to the security of
the frontier: but the abuse of this policy provoked the just resentment
of the Barbarians. The Quadi complained, that the ground for an intended
fortress had been marked out on their territories; and their complaints
were urged with so much reason and moderation, that Equitius,
master-general of Illyricum, consented to suspend the prosecution of
the work, till he should be more clearly informed of the will of his
sovereign. This fair occasion of injuring a rival, and of advancing the
fortune of his son, was eagerly embraced by the inhuman Maximin, the
prÊfect, or rather tyrant, of Gaul. The passions of Valentinian were
impatient of control; and he credulously listened to the assurances of
his favorite, that if the government of Valeria, and the direction of
the work, were intrusted to the zeal of his son Marcellinus, the emperor
should no longer be importuned with the audacious remonstrances of
the Barbarians. The subjects of Rome, and the natives of Germany,
were insulted by the arrogance of a young and worthless minister, who
considered his rapid elevation as the proof and reward of his superior
merit. He affected, however, to receive the modest application of
Gabinius, king of the Quadi, with some attention and regard: but this
artful civility concealed a dark and bloody design, and the credulous
prince was persuaded to accept the pressing invitation of Marcellinus.
I am at a loss how to vary the narrative of similar crimes; or how to
relate, that, in the course of the same year, but in remote parts of the
empire, the inhospitable table of two Imperial generals was stained with
the royal blood of two guests and allies, inhumanly murdered by their
order, and in their presence. The fate of Gabinius, and of Para, was
the same: but the cruel death of their sovereign was resented in a very
different manner by the servile temper of the Armenians, and the free
and daring spirit of the Germans. The Quadi were much declined from that
formidable power, which, in the time of Marcus Antoninus, had spread
terror to the gates of Rome. But they still possessed arms and courage;
their courage was animated by despair, and they obtained the usual
reenforcement of the cavalry of their Sarmatian allies. So improvident
was the assassin Marcellinus, that he chose the moment when the bravest
veterans had been drawn away, to suppress the revolt of Firmus; and the
whole province was exposed, with a very feeble defence, to the rage
of the exasperated Barbarians. They invaded Pannonia in the season of
harvest; unmercifully destroyed every object of plunder which they could
not easily transport; and either disregarded, or demolished, the empty
fortifications. The princess Constantia, the daughter of the emperor
Constantius, and the granddaughter of the great Constantine, very
narrowly escaped. That royal maid, who had innocently supported the
revolt of Procopius, was now the destined wife of the heir of the
Western empire. She traversed the peaceful province with a splendid and
unarmed train. Her person was saved from danger, and the republic from
disgrace, by the active zeal of Messala, governor of the provinces.
As soon as he was informed that the village, where she stopped only to
dine, was almost encompassed by the Barbarians, he hastily placed her
in his own chariot, and drove full speed till he reached the gates
of Sirmium, which were at the distance of six-and-twenty miles. Even
Sirmium might not have been secure, if the Quadi and Sarmatians had
diligently advanced during the general consternation of the magistrates
and people. Their delay allowed Probus, the PrÊtorian prÊfect,
sufficient time to recover his own spirits, and to revive the courage
of the citizens. He skilfully directed their strenuous efforts to repair
and strengthen the decayed fortifications; and procured the seasonable
and effectual assistance of a company of archers, to protect the capital
of the Illyrian provinces. Disappointed in their attempts against the
walls of Sirmium, the indignant Barbarians turned their arms against
the master general of the frontier, to whom they unjustly attributed the
murder of their king. Equitius could bring into the field no more than
two legions; but they contained the veteran strength of the MÊsian and
Pannonian bands. The obstinacy with which they disputed the vain honors
of rank and precedency, was the cause of their destruction; and
while they acted with separate forces and divided councils, they were
surprised and slaughtered by the active vigor of the Sarmatian horse.
The success of this invasion provoked the emulation of the bordering
tribes; and the province of MÊsia would infallibly have been lost, if
young Theodosius, the duke, or military commander, of the frontier, had
not signalized, in the defeat of the public enemy, an intrepid genius,
worthy of his illustrious father, and of his future greatness.