XXXII. and the dulness of his mind, was furnamed the CHAP. Ajax of the Eaft, had deferted his original trade of a woolcomber, to exercife, with much lefs fkill and fuccefs, the military profeffion and his uncertain operations were capriciously framed and executed, with an ignorance of real difficulties, and a timorous neglect of every favourable opportunity. The rafhnefs of the Oftrogoths had drawn them into a difadvantageous position between the rivers Melas and Eurymedon, where they were almost befieged by the peasants of Pamphylia; but the arrival of an Imperial army, instead of completing their deftruction, afforded the means of fafety and victory. Tribigild furprised the unguarded camp of the Romans, in the darkness of the night; feduced the faith of the greater part of the Barbarian auxiliaries, and diffipated, without much effort, the troops, which had been corrupted by the relaxation of discipline, and the luxury of the capital. The difcontent of Gainas, who had fo boldly contrived and executed the death of Rufinus, was irritated by the fortune of his unworthy fucceffor; he accufed his own dishonourable patience under the fervile reign of an eunuch; and the ambitious Goth was convicted, at least in the public opinion, of fecretly fomenting the revolt of Tribigild, with whom he was connected by a domeftic, as well as by a national, alliance 27. When Gainas paff 27 The confpiracy of Gainas and Tribigild, which is attested by the Greek hiftorian, had not reached the ears of Claudian, who attributes the revolt of the Oftrogoths to his own martial spirit, and the advice of his wife. XXXII. CHAP. ed the Hellefpont, to unite under his standard the remains of the Afiatic troops, he skilfully adapted his motions to the wishes of the Oftrogoths; abandoning, by his retreat, the country which they defired to invade; or facilitating, by his approach, the desertion of the Barbarian auxiliaries. To the Imperial court he repeatedly magnified the valour, the genius, the inexhaustible refources of Tribigild; confeffed his own inability to profecute the war; and extorted the permiffion of negociating with his invincible adverfary. The conditions of peace were dictated by the haughty rebel; and the peremptory demand of the head of Eutropius, revealed the author and the defign of this hoftile confpiracy. Fall of Eutropius, The bold fatirift, who has indulged his difcontent by the partial and paffionate cenfure of the Christian emperors, violates the dignity, rather than the truth, of history, by comparing the fon of Theodofius to one of thofe harmless and fimple animals, who fcarcely feel that they are the property of their fhepherd. Two paffions, however, fear and conjugal affection, awakened the languid foul of Arcadius: he was terrified by the threats of a victorious Barbarian; and he yielded to the tender eloquence of his wife Eudoxia, who, with a flood of artificial tears, presenting her infant children to their father, implored his juftice for some real or imaginary infult, which fhe imputed to the audacious eunuch 28. The em 28 This anecdote, which Philoftorgius alone has preserved (1. xi. c. 6. and Gothofred. Differtat. p. 451-456.), is curious and important; fince it connects the revolt of the Goths with the fecret intrigues of the palace. peror's XXXII. peror's hand was directed to fign the condemna- CHAP. tion of Eutropius; the magic fpell, which during four years had bound the prince and the people, was inftantly diffolved; and the acclamations, that fo lately hailed the merit and fortune of the favourite, were converted into the clamours of the foldiers and people, who reproached his crimes, and preffed his immediate execution. In this hour of diftrefs and defpair, his only refuge was in the fanctuary of the church, whofe privileges he had wifely, or profanely, attempted to circumfcribe; and the moft eloquent of the faints, John Chryfoftom, enjoyed the triumph of protecting a proftrate minifter, whofe choice had raised him to the ecclefiaftical throne of Conftantinople. The archbishop, afcending the pulpit of the cathedral, that he might be distinctly seen and heard by an innumerable crowd of either fex and of every age, pronounced a seasonable and pathetic difcourfe on the forgiveness of injuries, and the inftability of human greatness. The agonies of the pale and affrighted wretch, who lay grovelling under the table of the altar, exhibited a folemn and inftructive fpectacle; and the orator, who was afterwards accufed of infulting the misfortunes of Eutropius, laboured to excite the contempt, that he might affuage the fury, of the people 29. The powers of humanity, of 29 See the Homily of Chryfoftom, tom. iii. p. 381-386. of which the exordium is particularly beautiful. Socrates, 1. vi. c. 5. Sozomen, 1. viii. c. 7. Montfaucon (in his Life of Chryfoftom, tom, xiii. p. 135.) too hastily fuppofes that Tribigild was actually CC 4 in XXXII. CHAP. of fuperftition, and of eloquence, prevailed. The emprefs Eudoxia was reftrained, by her own prejudices, or by thofe of her fubjects, from violating the fanctuary of the church; and Eutropius was tempted to capitulate, by the milder arts of perfuafion, and by an oath, that his life should be fpared 30. Careless of the dignity of their fovereign, the new minifters of the palace immediately published an edict, to declare, that his late favourite had difgraced the names of conful and patrician, to abolish his ftatues, to confifcate his wealth, and to inflict a perpetual exile in the island of Cyprus ". A despicable and decrepid eunuch could no longer alarm the fears of his enemies; nor was he capable of enjoying what yet remained, the comforts of peace, of folitude, and of a happy climate. But their implacable revenge ftill envied him the last moments of a miferable life, and Eutropius had no fooner in Conftantinople; and that he commanded the foldiers who were ordered to feize Eutropius. Even Claudian, a Pagan poet (Præfat. ad 1. ii. in Eutrop. 27.), has mentioned the flight of the eunuch to the fanctuary. Suppliciterque pias humilis proftratus ad aras Mitigat iratas voce tremente nurus. 30 Chryfoftom, in another homily (tom. iii. p. 386.), affects to declare, that Eutropius would not have been taken, had he not de ferted the church. Zofimus (1. v. p. 313.), on the contrary, pretends, that his enemies forced him (apraσavres auto) from the fanctu ary. Yet the promise is an evidence of fome treaty; and the ftrong affurance of Claudian (Præfat. ad. 1. ii. 46.), Sed tamen exemplo non feriere tuo, may be confidered as an evidence of fome promife. The date of that law (Jan. 17, A. D. 399.) is erroneous and corrupt: fince the fall of Eutropius could not happen till the autumn of the fame year. See Tillemont, Hift, des Empereurs, tom. v. p. 780. touched XXXII. touched the fhores of Cyprus, than he was haftily CHAP. recalled. The vain hope of eluding, by a change of place, the obligation of an oath, engaged the emprefs to transfer the fcene of his trial and execution, from Conftantinople to the adjacent suburb of Chalcedon. The conful Aurelian pronounced the fentence; and the motives of that fentence expofe the jurifprudence of a defpotic government. crimes which Eutropius had committed against the people, might have juftified his death; but he was found guilty of harneffing to his chariot the facred animals, who, from their breed, or colour, were referved for the use of the emperor alone 32. 33 The and fall of While this domeftic revolution was tranfacted, Confpiracy Gainas 23 openly revolted from his allegiance; Gainas, united his forces, at Thyatira in Lydia, with A.D.400. thofe of Tribigild; and ftill maintained his fuperior afcendant over the rebellious leader of the Oftrogoths. The confederate armies advanced, without refistance, to the Streights of the Hellefpont, and the Bofphorus; and Arcadius was inftructed to prevent the lofs of his Afiatic dominions, by refigning his authority and his perfon to the faith of the Barbarians. The church of the holy martyr Euphemia, fituate on a lofty eminence near Chalcedon 34, was chofen for the 32 Zofimus, l. v. p. 313. Philoftorgius, 1. xi. c. 6. place 33 Zofimus (1. v. p. 313-323.), Socrates (1. vi. c. 4.), Sozomen (1. viii. c. 4.), and Theodoret (1. v. c. 32, 33.), reprefent, though with some various circumftances, the confpiracy, defeat, and death of Gainas. 34 Οσίας Ευφημίας μαρτυριον, is the exprefion of Zofmus himfelf (1. v. p. 314.), who inadvertently ufes the fashionable language of the |