XXVII.

of a patrimony, which might, every hour, be- CHAP. come the prey of the rapacious Goth. And the mad prodigality which prevails in the confufion of a fhipwreck, or a fiege, may ferve to explain the progrefs of luxury amidst the misfortunes and terrors of a finking nation.

afide their

armour.

The effeminate luxury, which infected the The inmanners of courts and cities, had inftilled a fecret fantry lay and destructive poifon into the camps of the legions:nd their degeneracy has been marked by the pen of a military writer, who had accurately studied the genuine and ancient principles of Roman discipline. It is the juft and important obfervation of Vegetius, that the infantry was invariably covered with defenfive armour, from the foundation of the city, to the reign of the emperor Gratian. The relaxation of difcipline,

The

and the difufe of exercise, rendered the foldiers
lefs able, and lefs willing, to fupport the fatigues
of the fervice; they complained of the weight of
the armour, which they feldom wore; and they
fucceffively obtained the permiffion of laying
afide both their cuiraffes and their helmets.
heavy weapons of their ancestors, the short sword,
and the formidable pilum, which had fubdued the
world, infenfibly dropped from their feeble hands.
As the use of the fhield is incompatible with that
of the bow, they reluctantly marched into the
field; condemned to fuffer, either the pain of
wounds, or the ignominy of flight, and always
difpofed to prefer the more fhameful alternative.
The cavalry of the Goths, the Huns, and the
Alani, had felt the benefits, and adopted the use,

1

XXVII.

CHAP. of defenfive armour; and, as they excelled in the management of miffile weapons, they eafily overwhelmed the naked and trembling legions, whofe heads and breafts were expofed, without defence, to the arrows of the Barbarians. The lofs of armies, the destruction of cities, and the difhonour of the Roman name, ineffectually folicited the fucceffors of Gratian to reftore the hel mets and cuiraffes of the infantry. The enervated foldiers abandoned their own, and the public, defence; and their pufillanimous indolence may be confidered as the immediate caufe of the downfal of the empire 125.

125 Vegetius, de Re Militari, 1. i. c. 10. The feries of calamities, which he marks, compel us to believe, that the Hero, to whom he dedicates his book, is the last and most inglorious of the Valentinians.

1

СНАР. XXVIII.

Final Deftruction of Paganifm.-Introduction of
the Worship of Saints, and Relics, among the
Chriftians.

TH
Tdofius, is perhaps the only example of the

HE ruin of Paganism, in the age of Theo- CHAP.

total extirpation of any ancient and popular fuperftition; and may therefore deferve to be confidered, as a fingular event in the hiftory of the human mind. The Chriftians, more especially the clergy, had impatiently fupported the prudent delays of Conftantine, and the equal toleration of the elder Valentinian; nor could they deem their conqueft perfect or fecure, as long as their adverfaries were permitted to exift. The influence, which Ambrofe and his brethren had acquired over the youth of Gratian and the piety of Theodofius, was employed to infufe the maxims of perfecution into the breasts of their Imperial profelytes. Two fpecious principles of religious jurisprudence were established, from whence they deduced a direct and rigorous conclufion, against the fubjects of the empire, who ftill adhered to the ceremonies of their ancestors: that the magistrate is, in fome measure, guilty of the crimes which he neglects to prohibit, or to punish; and, that the idolatrous worship of fabulous deities, and real dæmons, is the most abominable crime against the supreme majesty of the Creator. The laws of Mofes, and the

XXVIII.

The dethe Pagan religion,

ftruction of

A. D. 378 -395

CHAP. examples of Jewish history', were haftily, perXXVIII. haps erroneously, applied, by the clergy, to the mild and univerfal reign of Chriftianity. The zeal of the emperors was excited to vindicate their own honour, and that of the Deity: and the temples of the Roman world were fubverted, about fixty years after the converlion of Conftantine.

State of Paganifm at Rome.

From the age of Numa, to the reign of Gratian, the Romans preferved the regular fucceffion of the feveral colleges of the facerdotal order3. Fifteen PONTIFFS exercised their fupreme jurifdiction over all things, and perfons, that were confecrated to the fervice of the gods; and the various queftions which perpetually arose in a loose and traditionary fyftem, were submitted to the judgment of their holy tribunal. Fifteen grave and learned AUGURS obferved the face of the heavens, and prescribed the actions of heroes, according to the flight cf birds. Fifteen keepers of the Sybilline books (their name of QUIN

St. Ambrofe (tom. ii. de Obit. Theodof. p. 1208.) exprefsly praises and recommends the zeal of Jofiah in the deftruction of idolatry. The language of Julius Firmicus Maternus on the fame fubject (de Errore Profan. Relig. p. 467. edit. Gronov.) is piously inhuman. Nec filio jubet (the Mofaic Law) parci, nec fratri, et per amatam conjugem gladium vindicem ducit, &c.

2 Bayle (tom. ii. p. 406, in his Commentaire Philofophique) juftifies, and limits, thefe intolerant laws by the temporal reign of Jehovah over the Jews. The attempt is laudable.

3 See the outlines of the Roman hierarchy in Cicero (de Legibus, ii. 7, 8.), Livy (i. 20.), Dionyfius Harlicarnaffenfis (1. ii. p. 119129. edit. Hudfon), Beaufort (Republique Romaine, tom. i. p. 1-90.), and Moyle (vol. i, p. 10- -55.). The laft is the work of an English Whig, as well as of a Roman antiquary.

DECEMVIRS

XXVIII.

DECEMVIRS was derived from their number) oc- CHAP. cafionally confulted the hiftory of future, and as it should feem, of contingent, events. Six VESTALS devoted their virginity to the guard of the facred fire, and of the unknown pledges of the duration of Rome; which no mortal had been fuffered to behold with impunity *. Seven EPULOS prepared the table of the gods, conducted the folemn proceffion, and regulated the ceremonies of the annual feftival. The three FLAMENS of Jupiter, of Mars, and of Quirinus, were confidered as the peculiar minifters of the three most powerful deities, who watched over the fate of Rome and of the univerfe. The KING of the SACRIFICES reprefented the perfon of Numa, and of his fucceffors, in the religious functions, which could be performed only by royal hands. The confraternities of the SALIANS, the LUPERCALS, &c. practifed fuch rites, as might extort a fmile of contempt from every reasonable man, with a lively confidence of recommending themfelves to the favour of the immortal gods. The authority, which the Roman priefts had formerly obtained in the counfels of the republic, was gradually abolished by the establishment of monarchy, and the removal of

4 Thefe myftic, and perhaps imaginary, fymbols have given birth to various fables and conjectures. It feems probable, that the Palladium was a final ftatue (three cubits and a half high) of Minerva, with a lance and distaff; that it was ufually inclosed in a feria, or barrel; and that a fimilar barrel was placed by its fide, to difconcert curiofity, or facrilege. See Mezeriac (Comment. fur les Epitres d'Ovide, tom. i. p. 60-66.), and Lipfius (tom. iii. p. 610. de Veftâ, &c. c. 10.).

the