XXVII. Maximus entered Milan in triumph; and if the CHAP. wife archbishop refufed a dangerous and criminal connection with the ufurper, he might indirectly contribute to the fuccefs of his arms, by inculcating from the pulpit, the duty of refignation, rather than that of refiftance 74. The unfortunate Juftina reached Aquileia in fafety; but the diftrufted the ftrength of the fortifications; fhe dreaded the event of a fiege; and fhe refolved to implore the protection of the great Theodofius, whofe power and virtue were celebrated in all the countries of the Weft. A veffel was fecretly provided to transport the Imperial family; they embarkd with precipitation in one of the obfcure harbours of Venetia, or Iftria; traverfed the whole extent of the Hadriatic and Ionian seas ; turned the extreme promontory of Peloponnefus; and, after a long, but fuccefsful, navigation, reposed themselves in the port of Theffalonica. All the subjects of Valentinian deferted the caufe Flight of of a prince, who, by his abdication, had abfolved tinian. them from the duty of allegiance; and if the little city of Æmona, on the verge of Italy, had not prefumed to stop the career of his inglorious victory, Maximus would have obtained, without a ftruggle, the fole poffeffion of the Western empire. Inftead of inviting his royal guests to the palace of Conftantinople, Theodofius had fome unknown reasons to fix their refidence at Theffalonica; but 74 Baronius (A. D. 387. No 63.) applies to this feafon of public distress some of the penitential fermons of the archbishop. Valen Theodo us takes arms in the caufe of Valen tinian, A.D.387. VOL. V. E these XXVII. CHAP. thefe reafons did not proceed from contempt or indifference, as he fpeedily made a vifit to that city, accompanied by the greatest part of his court and fenate. After the first tender expreffions of friendship and sympathy, the pious emperor of the Eaft gently admonished Juftina, that the guilt of herefy was fometimes punished in this world, as well as in the next; and that the public profeffion of the Nicene faith would be the most efficacious step to promote the restoration of her fon, by the fatisfaction which it muft occafion both on earth and in heaven. The momentous queftion of peace or war was referred, by Theodofius, to the deliberation of his council; and the arguments which might be alleged on the fide of honour and juftice, had acquired, fince the death of Gratian, a confiderable degree of additional weight. The perfecution of the Imperial family, to which Theodofius himself had been indebted for his fortune, was now aggravated by recent and repeated injuries. Neither oaths nor treaties could reftrain the boundlefs ambition of Maximus; and the delay of vigorous and decifive measures, instead of prolonging the bleffings of peace, would expofe the eastern empire to the danger of an hoftile invasion. The Barbarians, who had paffed the Danube, had lately affumed the character of foldiers and fubjects, but their native fierceness was yet untamed; and the operations of a war, which would exercise their valour, and diminish their numbers, might tend to relieve the provinces from an intolerable oppreffion. Notwithstanding thefe fpecious and folid reafons, which were aproved by a majority of the council, Theodofius ftill hefitated, whether he should draw the fword in a conteft, which could no longer admit any terms of reconciliation; and his magnanimous character was not difgraced by the apprehenfions which he felt for the fafety of his infant fons, and the welfare of his exhausted people. In this moment of anxious doubt, while the fate of the Roman world depended on the resolution of a single man, the charms of the princess Galla moft powerfully pleaded the cause of her brother Valentinian is. The heart of Theodofius was foftened by the tears of beauty; his affections were infenfibly engaged by the graces of youth and innocence; the art of Juftina managed and directed the impulfe of paffion; and the celebration of the royal nuptials was the affurance and fignal of the civil war. The unfeeling critics, who confider every amorous weaknefs as an indelible stain on the memory of a great and orthodox emperor, are inclined, on this occafion, to difpute the fufpicious evidence of the hiftorian Zofimus. For my own part, I fhall frankly confess, that I am willing to find, or even to seek, in the revolutions of the world, fome traces of the mild and tender fentiments of domestic life; and, amidst the crowd of fierce and ambitious conquerors, I can diftinguish, with peculiar com 75 The flight of Valentinian, and the love of Theodofius for his fifter, are related by Zofimus (1. iv. p. 263, 264.). Tillemont produces fome weak and ambiguous evidence to antidate the second marriage of Theodofius (Hift. des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 740.), and confequently to refute ces contes de Zofime, qui feroient trop contraires à la pieté de Theodofe. СНАР. XXVII. XXVII. CHAP. placency, a gentle hero, who may be fuppofed to receive his armour from the hands of love. The alliance of the Perfian king was fecured by the faith of treaties; the martial Barbarians were perfuaded to follow the ftandard, or to respect the frontiers, of an active and liberal monarch; and the dominions of Theodofius, from the Euphrates to the Hadriatic, refounded with the preparations of war both by land and fea. The fkilful difpofition of the forces of the Eaft feemed to multiply their numbers, and distracted the attention of Maximus. He had reafon to fear, that a chofen body of troops, under the command of the intrepid Arbogaftes, would direct their march along the banks of the Danube, and boldly penetrate through the Rhætian provinces into the centre of Gaul. A powerful fleet was equipped in the harbours of Greece and Epirus, with an apparent defign, that as foon as the paffage had been opened by a naval victory, Valentinian, and his mother, fhould land in Italy, proceed, without delay, to Rome, and occupy the majestic feat of religion and empire. In the mean while, Theodofius himself advanced at the head of a brave and difciplined army, to encounter his unworthy rival, who, after the fiege of Emona, had fixed his camp in the neighbourhood of Sifcia, a city of Pannonia, ftrongly fortified by the broad and rapid ftream of the Save. Defeat and death of The veterans, who ftill remembered the long Maximus, refiftance, and fucceffive resources, of the tyrant A.D. 388, Magnentius, might prepare themselves for the JuneAuguft. labours of three bloody campaigns. But the con test After the fatigue of fummer, they XXVII. test with his fucceffor, who, like him, had ufurped CHA P. the throne of the Weft, was eafily decided in the term of two months", and within the space of two hundred miles. The fuperior genius of the emperor of the Eaft might prevail over the feeble Maximus; who in this important crifis fhewed himself destitute of military fkill, or perfonal courage; but the abilities of Theodofius were feconded by the advantage which he poffeffed of a numerous and active cavalry. The Huns, the Alani, and, after their example, the Goths themfelves, were formed into fquadrons of archers; who fought on horfeback, and confounded the steady valour of the Gauls and Germans, by the rapid motions of a Tartar war. of a long march, in the heat fpurred their foaming horfes into the waters of the Save, fwam the river in the prefence of the enemy, and inftantly charged and routed the troops who guarded the high ground on the oppofite fide. Marcellinus, the tyrant's brother, advanced to fupport them with the felect cohorts, which were confidered as the hope and ftrength of the army. The action, which had been interrupted by the approach of night, was renewed in the morning; and, after a fharp conflict, the furviving remnant of the braveft foldiers of Maximus threw down their arms at the feet of the conqueror. Without fufpending his march, to receive the loyal acclamations of the citizens of Æmona, Theodofius preffed forwards, to ter 76 See Godefroy's Chronology of the Laws, Cod. Theodof. tom. i. minate P. cxix. E 3 |