XXXII. As long as he defpoiled the oppreffors, who had CHAP. enriched themselves with the plunder of the people, Eutropius might gratify his covetous difpofition without much envy or injustice: but the progrefs of his rapine foon invaded the wealth which had been acquired by lawful inheritance, or laudable industry. The ufual methods of extortion were practifed and improved; and Claudian has sketched a lively and original picture of the public auction of the state. "The impotence "of the eunuch" (fays that agreeable fatirift) "has ferved only to ftimulate his avarice: the "fame hand which, in his fervile condition, was "exercised in petty thefts, to unlock the coffers "of his master, now grafps the riches of the "world; and this infamous broker of the em"pire appreciates and divides the Roman pro"vinces, from Mount Hæmus to the Tigris. "One man, at the expence of his villa, is made proconful of Afia; a fecond purchases Syria "with his wife's jewels; and a third laments, "that he has exchanged his paternal eftate for "the government of Bithynia. In the anti"chamber of Eutropius, a large tablet is expofed "to public view, which marks the respective "prices of the provinces. The different value "of Pontus, of Galatia, of Lydia, is accurately "diftinguished. Lycia may be obtained for fo many thousand pieces of gold; but the opulence "of Phrygia will require a more confiderable fum. "The eunuch wishes to obliterate, by the general difgrace, his perfonal ignominy; and as he has "been CHAP. XXXII. In the been fold himfelf, he is defirous of felling the "reft of mankind. In the eager contention, the "balance, which contains the fate and fortunes " of the province, often trembles on the beam; " and till one of the fcales is inclined, by a fuperior weight, the mind of the impartial judge "remains in anxious fufpenfe ". Such" (continues the indignant poet) " are the fruits of "Roman valour, of the defeat of Antiochus, "and of the triumph of Pompey." This venal prostitution of public honours fecured the impunity of future crimes; but the riches, which Eutropius derived from confifcation, were already ftained with injuftice; fince it was decent to accufe, and to condemn, the proprietors of the wealth which he was impatient to confifcate. Some noble blood was fhed by the hand of the executioner; and the moft inhofpitable extremities of the empire were filled with innocent and illuftrious exiles. Among the generals and conAbundan fuls of the Eaft, Abundantius 2 had reafon to dread the firft effects of the refentment of Eutropius. He had been guilty of the unpardonable Ruin of tius, 11 1 -certantum fæpe duorum 12 Diverfum fufpendit onus: cum pondere Judex Vergit, et in geminas nutat provincia lances. Claudian (i. 192-209.) fo curiously distinguishes the circumftances of the fale, that they all feem to allude to particular anecdotes, 12 Claudian (i. 154-170.) mentions the guilt and exile of Abundantius, nor could he fail to quote the example of the artift, who made the first trial of the brazen bull, which he presented to Phalaris. See Zofimus, 1. v. p. 302. Jerom. tom. i. p. 26. The difference of place is eafily reconciled; but the decisive anthority of Afterius of Amafia (Orat. iv. p. 76. apud Tillemont, Hift. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 435.) muft turn the feale in favour of Pityus. pa С НАР. fius. crime of introducing that abject flave to the lace of Conftantinople: and fome degree of praife must be allowed to a powerful and ungrateful favourite, who was fatisfied with the difgrace of his benefactor. Abundantius was ftripped of his ample fortunes by an Imperial refcript, and banished to Pytyus, on the Euxine, the laft frontier of the Roman world; where he fubfifted by the precarious mercy of the Barbarians, till he could obtain, after the fall of Eutropius, a milder exile at Sidon in Phoenicia. The deftruction of Tima- of Timafius" required a more ferious and regular mode of attack. That great officer, the mafter-general of the armies of Theodofius, had fignalifed his valour by a decifive victory, which he obtained over the Goths of Theffaly; but he was too prone, after the example of his fovereign, to enjoy the luxury of peace, and to abandon his confidence to wicked and defigning flatterers. Timafius had defpifed the public clamour, by promoting an infamous dependent to the command of a cohort; and he deferved to feel the ingratitude of Bargus, who was fecretly inftigated by the favourite to accufe his patron of a treáfonable confpiracy. The general was arraigned before the tribunal of Arcadius himfelf; and the principal eunuch food by the fide of the throne, 13 Suidas (moft probably from the hiftory of Eunapius) has given a very unfavourable picture of Timafius. The account of his accufer, the judges, trial, &c. is perfectly agreeable to the practice of ancient and modern courts. (See Zofimus, 1. v. p. 298, 299, 300.) 1 am almoft tempted to quote the romance of a great mafter (Fielding's Works, vol. iv. p. 49, &c. 8vo. edit.), which may be confidered as the hiftory of human nature, to XXXII. CHAP. to fuggeft the questions and answers of his fovereign. But as this form of trial might be deemed partial and arbitrary, the farther enquiry into the crimes of Timafius was delegated to Saturninus and Procopius; the former of confular rank, the latter ftill refpected as the father-in-law of the emperor Valens. The appearances of a fair and legal proceeding were maintained by the blunt honefty of Procopius; and he yielded with reluctance to the obfequious dexterity of his colleague, who pronounced a sentence of condemnation against the unfortunate Timafius. His immense riches were confifcated, in the name of the emperor, and for the benefit of the favourite; and he was doomed to perpetual exile at Oasis, a folitary spot in the midst of the fandy deserts of Libya 14. Secluded from all human converse, the mafter-general of the Roman armies was lost for ever to the world; but the circumftances of his fate have been related in a various and contradictory manner. It is infinuated, that Eutropius dispatched a private order for his fecret execution". It was reported, that, in attempting to escape from Oafis, he perifhed in the de ༡ 14 14 The great Oasis was one of the spots in the fands of Libya, watered with fprings, and capable of producing wheat, barley, and palm-trees. It was about three days journey from north to south, about half a day in breadth, and at the distance of about five days march to the west of Abydus, on the Nile. See d'Anville, Description de l'Egypte, p. 186, 187, 188. The barren defert which encompaffes Oafis (Zofimus, 1. v. p. 300.) has fuggested the idea of comparative fertility, and even the epithet of the happy ifland (Herodot. iii. 26.). 15 The line of Claudian, in Eutrop. 1. i. 180. Marmaricus claris violatur cædibus Hammon, evidently alludes to his perfuafion of the death of Timafius. fert, 16 XXXII. fert, of thirst and hunger; and that his dead body CHAP. was found on the fands of Libya ". It has been afferted, with more confidence, that his fon Syagrius, after successfully eluding the pursuit of the agents and emiffaries of the court, collected a band of African robbers; that he rescued Timafius from the place of his exile; and that both the father and fon difappeared from the knowledge of mankind ". But the ungrateful Bargus, instead of being suffered to poffefs the reward of guilt, was foon afterwards circumvented and destroyed, by the more powerful villany of the minifter himself; who retained fenfe and fpirit enough to abhor the inftrument of his own crimes. as The public hatred, and the defpair of individuals, continually threatened, or feemed to threaten, the perfonal fafety of Eutropius; well as of the numerous adherents, who were attached to his fortune, and had been promoted by his venal favour. For their mutual defence, he contrived the fafeguard of a law, which violated every principle of humanity and juftice ". 16 Sozomen, 1. viii. c. 7. θομεν. He fpeaks from report, ως τινος επι 17 Zofimus, 1. v. p. 300. Yet he feems to fufpect that this rumour was spread by the friends of Eutropius. 18 See the Theodofian Code, I. ix. tit. 14. ad legem Corneliam de Sicariis, leg. 3. and the Code of Justinian, 1. ix. tit. viii. ad legem Juliam de Majeftate, leg. 5. The alteration of the title, from murder to treason, was an improvement of the subtle Tribonian. Godefroy, in a formal differtation, which he has inferted in his Commentary, illuftrates this law of Arcadius, and explains all the difficult paffages which had been perverted by the jurisconsults of the darker ages. See tom. iii. p. 88-111. A cruel and unjuft. law of treafon, |