Empire.—Part I.
The Government And Death Of Jovian.—Election Of Valentinian, Who
Associates His Brother Valens, And Makes The Final Division Of The
Eastern And Western Empires.— Revolt Of Procopius.—Civil And
Ecclesiastical Administration.—Germany. —Britain.—Africa.—The
East.— The Danube.—Death Of Valentinian.—His Two Sons, Gratian And
Valentinian II., Succeed To The Western Empire.
The death of Julian had left the public affairs of the empire in
a very doubtful and dangerous situation. The Roman army was saved
by an inglorious, perhaps a necessary treaty; 1 and the first
moments of peace were consecrated by the pious Jovian to restore
the domestic tranquility of the church and state. The
indiscretion of his predecessor, instead of reconciling, had
artfully fomented the religious war: and the balance which he
affected to preserve between the hostile factions, served only to
perpetuate the contest, by the vicissitudes of hope and fear, by
the rival claims of ancient possession and actual favor. The
Christians had forgotten the spirit of the gospel; and the Pagans
had imbibed the spirit of the church. In private families, the
sentiments of nature were extinguished by the blind fury of zeal
and revenge: the majesty of the laws was violated or abused; the
cities of the East were stained with blood; and the most
implacable enemies of the Romans were in the bosom of their
country. Jovian was educated in the profession of Christianity;
and as he marched from Nisibis to Antioch, the banner of the
Cross, the Labarum of Constantine, which was again displayed at
the head of the legions, announced to the people the faith of
their new emperor. As soon as he ascended the throne, he
transmitted a circular epistle to all the governors of provinces;
in which he confessed the divine truth, and secured the legal
establishment, of the Christian religion. The insidious edicts of
Julian were abolished; the ecclesiastical immunities were
restored and enlarged; and Jovian condescended to lament, that
the distress of the times obliged him to diminish the measure of
charitable distributions. 2 The Christians were unanimous in the
loud and sincere applause which they bestowed on the pious
successor of Julian. But they were still ignorant what creed, or
what synod, he would choose for the standard of orthodoxy; and
the peace of the church immediately revived those eager disputes
which had been suspended during the season of persecution. The
episcopal leaders of the contending sects, convinced, from
experience, how much their fate would depend on the earliest
impressions that were made on the mind of an untutored soldier,
hastened to the court of Edessa, or Antioch. The highways of the
East were crowded with Homoousian, and Arian, and Semi-Arian, and
Eunomian bishops, who struggled to outstrip each other in the
holy race: the apartments of the palace resounded with their
clamors; and the ears of the prince were assaulted, and perhaps
astonished, by the singular mixture of metaphysical argument and
passionate invective. 3 The moderation of Jovian, who recommended
concord and charity, and referred the disputants to the sentence
of a future council, was interpreted as a symptom of
indifference: but his attachment to the Nicene creed was at
length discovered and declared, by the reverence which he
expressed for the _celestial_ 4 virtues of the great Athanasius.
The intrepid veteran of the faith, at the age of seventy, had
issued from his retreat on the first intelligence of the tyrant’s
death. The acclamations of the people seated him once more on the
archiepiscopal throne; and he wisely accepted, or anticipated,
the invitation of Jovian. The venerable figure of Athanasius, his
calm courage, and insinuating eloquence, sustained the reputation
which he had already acquired in the courts of four successive
princes. 5 As soon as he had gained the confidence, and secured
the faith, of the Christian emperor, he returned in triumph to
his diocese, and continued, with mature counsels and undiminished
vigor, to direct, ten years longer, 6 the ecclesiastical
government of Alexandria, Egypt, and the Catholic church. Before
his departure from Antioch, he assured Jovian that his orthodox
devotion would be rewarded with a long and peaceful reign.
Athanasius, had reason to hope, that he should be allowed either
the merit of a successful prediction, or the excuse of a grateful
though ineffectual prayer. 7
1 (return) [ 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 (return) [ 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 (return) [ Compare Socrates, l. iii. c. 25, and Philostorgius,
l. viii. c. 6, with Godefroy’s Dissertations, p. 330.]
4 (return) [ 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, Mém. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 221.)]
5 (return) [ 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
Abbé is not satisfied with the coarse pleasantry of Jovian; but
his partiality for Athanasius assumes, in _his_ eyes, the
character of justice.]
6 (return) [ The true area of his death is perplexed with some
difficulties, (Tillemont, Mém. 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 (return) [ 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.]
The slightest force, when it is applied to assist and guide the
natural descent of its object, operates with irresistible weight;
and Jovian had the good fortune to embrace the religious opinions
which were supported by the spirit of the times, and the zeal and
numbers of the most powerful sect. 8 Under his reign,
Christianity obtained an easy and lasting victory; and as soon as
the smile of royal patronage was withdrawn, the genius of
Paganism, which had been fondly raised and cherished by the arts
of Julian, sunk irrecoverably in the. In many cities, the temples
were shut or deserted: the philosophers who had abused their
transient favor, thought it prudent to shave their beards, and
disguise their profession; and the Christians rejoiced, that they
were now in a condition to forgive, or to revenge, the injuries
which they had suffered under the preceding reign. 9 The
consternation of the Pagan world was dispelled by a wise and
gracious edict of toleration; in which Jovian explicitly
declared, that although he should severely punish the
sacrilegious rites of magic, his subjects might exercise, with
freedom and safety, the ceremonies of the ancient worship. The
memory of this law has been preserved by the orator Themistius,
who was deputed by the senate of Constantinople to express their
royal devotion for the new emperor. Themistius expatiates on the
clemency of the Divine Nature, the facility of human error, the
rights of conscience, and the independence of the mind; and, with
some eloquence, inculcates the principles of philosophical
toleration; whose aid Superstition herself, in the hour of her
distress, is not ashamed to implore. He justly observes, that in
the recent changes, both religions had been alternately disgraced
by the seeming acquisition of worthless proselytes, of those
votaries of the reigning purple, who could pass, without a
reason, and without a blush, from the church to the temple, and
from the altars of Jupiter to the sacred table of the Christians.
10
8 (return) [ 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 (return) [ 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 (return) [ Themistius, Orat. v. p. 63-71, edit. Harduin,
Paris, 1684. The Abbé 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.]
In the space of seven months, the Roman troops, who were now
returned to Antioch, had performed a march of fifteen hundred
miles; in which they had endured all the hardships of war, of
famine, and of climate. Notwithstanding their services, their
fatigues, and the approach of winter, the timid and impatient
Jovian allowed only, to the men and horses, a respite of six
weeks. The emperor could not sustain the indiscreet and malicious
raillery of the people of Antioch. 11 He was impatient to possess
the palace of Constantinople; and to prevent the ambition of some
competitor, who might occupy the vacant allegiance of Europe. But
he soon received the grateful intelligence, that his authority
was acknowledged from the Thracian Bosphorus to the Atlantic
Ocean. By the first letters which he despatched from the camp of
Mesopotamia, he had delegated the military command of Gaul and
Illyricum to Malarich, a brave and faithful officer of the nation
of the Franks; and to his father-in-law, Count Lucillian, who had
formerly distinguished his courage and conduct in the defence of
Nisibis. Malarich had declined an office to which he thought
himself unequal; and Lucillian was massacred at Rheims, in an
accidental mutiny of the Batavian cohorts. 12 But the moderation
of Jovinus, master-general of the cavalry, who forgave the
intention of his disgrace, soon appeased the tumult, and
confirmed the uncertain minds of the soldiers. The oath of
fidelity was administered and taken, with loyal acclamations; and
the deputies of the Western armies 13 saluted their new sovereign
as he descended from Mount Taurus to the city of Tyana in
Cappadocia. From Tyana he continued his hasty march to Ancyra,
capital of the province of Galatia; where Jovian assumed, with
his infant son, the name and ensigns of the consulship. 14
Dadastana, 15 an obscure town, almost at an equal distance
between Ancyra and Nice, was marked for the fatal term of his
journey and life. After indulging himself with a plentiful,
perhaps an intemperate, supper, he retired to rest; and the next
morning the emperor Jovian was found dead in his bed. The cause
of this sudden death was variously understood. By some it was
ascribed to the consequences of an indigestion, occasioned either
by the quantity of the wine, or the quality of the mushrooms,
which he had swallowed in the evening. According to others, he
was suffocated in his sleep by the vapor of charcoal, which
extracted from the walls of the apartment the unwholesome
moisture of the fresh plaster. 16 But the want of a regular
inquiry into the death of a prince, whose reign and person were
soon forgotten, appears to have been the only circumstance which
countenanced the malicious whispers of poison and domestic guilt.
17 The body of Jovian was sent to Constantinople, to be interred
with his predecessors, and the sad procession was met on the road
by his wife Charito, the daughter of Count Lucillian; who still
wept the recent death of her father, and was hastening to dry her
tears in the embraces of an Imperial husband. Her disappointment
and grief were imbittered by the anxiety of maternal tenderness.
Six weeks before the death of Jovian, his infant son had been
placed in the curule chair, adorned with the title of
_Nobilissimus_, and the vain ensigns of the consulship.
Unconscious of his fortune, the royal youth, who, from his
grandfather, assumed the name of Varronian, was reminded only by
the jealousy of the government, that he was the son of an
emperor. Sixteen years afterwards he was still alive, but he had
already been deprived of an eye; and his afflicted mother
expected every hour, that the innocent victim would be torn from
her arms, to appease, with his blood, the suspicions of the
reigning prince. 18
11 (return) [ Johan. Antiochen. in Excerpt. Valesian. p. 845. The
libels of Antioch may be admitted on very slight evidence.]
12 (return) [ 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 (return) [ Quos capita scholarum ordo castrensis appellat.
Ammian. xxv. 10, and Vales. ad locum.]
14 (return) [ 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 (return) [ 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 (return) [ 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 (return) [ 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 (return) [ 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 Cæsar 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.]
After the death of Jovian, the throne of the Roman world remained
ten days, 19 without a master. The ministers and generals still
continued to meet in council; to exercise their respective
functions; to maintain the public order; and peaceably to conduct
the army to the city of Nice in Bithynia, which was chosen for
the place of the election. 20 In a solemn assembly of the civil
and military powers of the empire, the diadem was again
unanimously offered to the præfect Sallust. He enjoyed the glory
of a second refusal: and when the virtues of the father were
alleged in favor of his son, the præfect, with the firmness of a
disinterested patriot, declared to the electors, that the feeble
age of the one, and the unexperienced youth of the other, were
equally incapable of the laborious duties of government. Several
candidates were proposed; and, after weighing the objections of
character or situation, they were successively rejected; but, as
soon as the name of Valentinian was pronounced, the merit of that
officer united the suffrages of the whole assembly, and obtained
the sincere approbation of Sallust himself. Valentinian 21 was
the son of Count Gratian, a native of Cibalis, in Pannonia, who
from an obscure condition had raised himself, by matchless
strength and dexterity, to the military commands of Africa and
Britain; from which he retired with an ample fortune and
suspicious integrity. The rank and services of Gratian
contributed, however, to smooth the first steps of the promotion
of his son; and afforded him an early opportunity of displaying
those solid and useful qualifications, which raised his character
above the ordinary level of his fellow-soldiers. The person of
Valentinian was tall, graceful, and majestic. His manly
countenance, deeply marked with the impression of sense and
spirit, inspired his friends with awe, and his enemies with fear;
and to second the efforts of his undaunted courage, the son of
Gratian had inherited the advantages of a strong and healthy
constitution. By the habits of chastity and temperance, which
restrain the appetites and invigorate the faculties, Valentinian
preserved his own and the public esteem. The avocations of a
military life had diverted his youth from the elegant pursuits of
literature; 2111 he was ignorant of the Greek language, and the
arts of rhetoric; but as the mind of the orator was never
disconcerted by timid perplexity, he was able, as often as the
occasion prompted him, to deliver his decided sentiments with
bold and ready elocution. The laws of martial discipline were the
only laws that he had studied; and he was soon distinguished by
the laborious diligence, and inflexible severity, with which he
discharged and enforced the duties of the camp. In the time of
Julian he provoked the danger of disgrace, by the contempt which
he publicly expressed for the reigning religion; 22 and it should
seem, from his subsequent conduct, that the indiscreet and
unseasonable freedom of Valentinian was the effect of military
spirit, rather than of Christian zeal. He was pardoned, however,
and still employed by a prince who esteemed his merit; 23 and in
the various events of the Persian war, he improved the reputation
which he had already acquired on the banks of the Rhine. The
celerity and success with which he executed an important
commission, recommended him to the favor of Jovian; and to the
honorable command of the second _school_, or company, of
Targetiers, of the domestic guards. In the march from Antioch, he
had reached his quarters at Ancyra, when he was unexpectedly
summoned, without guilt and without intrigue, to assume, in the
forty-third year of his age, the absolute government of the Roman
empire.
19 (return) [ 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 (return) [ 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
præfect 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 (return) [ 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.]
2111 (return) [ According to Ammianus, he wrote elegantly, and
was skilled in painting and modelling. Scribens decore,
venusteque pingens et fingens. xxx. 7.—M.]
22 (return) [ 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 (return) [ 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.)]
The invitation of the ministers and generals at Nice was of
little moment, unless it were confirmed by the voice of the army.
The aged Sallust, who had long observed the irregular
fluctuations of popular assemblies, proposed, under pain of
death, that none of those persons, whose rank in the service
might excite a party in their favor, should appear in public on
the day of the inauguration. Yet such was the prevalence of
ancient superstition, that a whole day was voluntarily added to
this dangerous interval, because it happened to be the
intercalation of the Bissextile. 24 At length, when the hour was
supposed to be propitious, Valentinian showed himself from a
lofty tribunal; the judicious choice was applauded; and the new
prince was solemnly invested with the diadem and the purple,
amidst the acclamation of the troops, who were disposed in
martial order round the tribunal. But when he stretched forth his
hand to address the armed multitude, a busy whisper was
accidentally started in the ranks, and insensibly swelled into a
loud and imperious clamor, that he should name, without delay, a
colleague in the empire. The intrepid calmness of Valentinian
obtained silence, and commanded respect; and he thus addressed
the assembly: “A few minutes since it was in _your_ power,
fellow-soldiers, to have left me in the obscurity of a private
station. Judging, from the testimony of my past life, that I
deserved to reign, you have placed me on the throne. It is now
_my_ duty to consult the safety and interest of the republic. The
weight of the universe is undoubtedly too great for the hands of
a feeble mortal. I am conscious of the limits of my abilities,
and the uncertainty of my life; and far from declining, I am
anxious to solicit, the assistance of a worthy colleague. But,
where discord may be fatal, the choice of a faithful friend
requires mature and serious deliberation. That deliberation shall
be _my_ care. Let _your_ conduct be dutiful and consistent.
Retire to your quarters; refresh your minds and bodies; and
expect the accustomed donative on the accession of a new
emperor.” 25 The astonished troops, with a mixture of pride, of
satisfaction, and of terror, confessed the voice of their master.
Their angry clamors subsided into silent reverence; and
Valentinian, encompassed with the eagles of the legions, and the
various banners of the cavalry and infantry, was conducted, in
warlike pomp, to the palace of Nice. As he was sensible, however,
of the importance of preventing some rash declaration of the
soldiers, he consulted the assembly of the chiefs; and their real
sentiments were concisely expressed by the generous freedom of
Dagalaiphus. “Most excellent prince,” said that officer, “if you
consider only your family, you have a brother; if you love the
republic, look round for the most deserving of the Romans.” 26
The emperor, who suppressed his displeasure, without altering his
intention, slowly proceeded from Nice to Nicomedia and
Constantinople. In one of the suburbs of that capital, 27 thirty
days after his own elevation, he bestowed the title of Augustus
on his brother Valens; 2711 and as the boldest patriots were
convinced, that their opposition, without being serviceable to
their country, would be fatal to themselves, the declaration of
his absolute will was received with silent submission. Valens was
now in the thirty-sixth year of his age; but his abilities had
never been exercised in any employment, military or civil; and
his character had not inspired the world with any sanguine
expectations. He possessed, however, one quality, which
recommended him to Valentinian, and preserved the domestic peace
of the empire; devout and grateful attachment to his benefactor,
whose superiority of genius, as well as of authority, Valens
humbly and cheerfully acknowledged in every action of his life.
28
24 (return) [ 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 (return) [ Valentinian’s first speech is in Ammianus, (xxvi.
2;) concise and sententious in Philostorgius, (l. viii. c. 8.)]
26 (return) [ Si tuos amas, Imperator optime, habes fratrem; si
Rempublicam quære quem vestias. Ammian. xxvi. 4. In the division
of the empire, Valentinian retained that sincere counsellor for
himself, (c.6.)]
27 (return) [ 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.]
2711 (return) [ 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 Cæsar.
Exigui animi vices munerum partiuntur, liberalitas desideriis
nihil reliquit. Symm. Orat. p. 7. edit. Niebuhr, 1816, reprinted
from Mai.—M.]
28 (return) [ Participem quidem legitimum potestatis; sed in
modum apparitoris morigerum, ut progrediens aperiet textus.
Ammian. xxvi. 4.]