CHAP. XXV. 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. church, state. State of the THE death of Julian had left the public affairs of the A. D. 363. empire in a very doubtful and dangerous situation. The Roman army was saved by an inglorious, perhaps a necessary, treaty'; and the first moments of peace were consecrated by the pious Jovian to restore the domestic tranquillity of the church and 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 favour. 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 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. 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 clamours; and the ears of the prince were assaulted, and perhaps astonished, by the singular mixture of metaphysical argument and passionate invective. 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 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 archi-episcopal 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. As soon Sozo Jovian restored to the church Tòv apxatov кóσμov; a forcible and comprehensive expression (Philostorgius, 1. viii. c. 5. with Godefroy's Dissertations, p. 329. men, 1. vi. c. 3.). The new law which condemned the rape or marriage of nuns (Cod. Theod. 1. 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. Compare Socrates, 1. iii. c. 25. and Philostorgius, 1. viii. c. 6. with Godefroy's Dissertations, p. 330. The word celestial faintly expresses the impious and extravagant flattery of the emperor to the archbishop, τὴς πρὸς τὸν Θέον τῶν ὅλων ὁμοιώσεως. (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 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. 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 vigour, 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 Jovian universal 8 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 The slightest force, when it is applied to assist and proclaims guide the natural descent of its object, operates with irretoleration. sistible 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. 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 dust. In many cities, the temples were shut or deserted: the philosophers, who had abused their transient favour, 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. 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 loyal devotion for the new emperor. Themistius expatiates on the clemency of the Divine Nature, the facility of human error, the rights of conscience, The true æra 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 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 (1. iv. c. 3.). In some MSS. this indiscreet promise is omitted; perhaps by the Catholics, jealous of the prophetic fame of their leader. 8 Athanasius (apud Theodoret, 1. iv. c. 3.) magnifies the number of the orthodox, who composed the whole world, πάρεξ ὀλίγων τῶν τὰ ̓Αρείου φρονούντων. This assertion was verified in the space of thirty or forty years. 9 Socrates, 1. 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. 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 His pro- gress from 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." 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 dispatched 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 fatherin-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 acclama 10 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 honourable, in his opinion, to the emperor Jovian. 1 Οἱ δὲ ̓Αντιοχεῖς οὐχ ἡδέως διέκειντο πρὸς αὐτὸν· ἀλλ ̓ ἐπέσκωπτον αὐτὸν ᾠδαῖς καὶ παρῳδίαις καὶ τοῖς καλουμένοις φαμώσσοις famosis libellis. ). Johan. Antiochen. in Excerpt. Valesian. p. 845. The libels of Antioch may be admitted on very slight evidence. 19 Compare Ammianus (xxv. 10.), who omits the name of the Batavians, with Zosimus (1. iii. p. 197.), who removes the scene of action from Rheims to Sirmium. Jovian, Feb. 17. tions; 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 conA. D. 364. sulship.14 Dadastana 15, an obscure town, almost at an January 1. equal distance between Ancyra and Nice, was marked for the fatal term of his journey and his 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 Death of 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 vapour 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. 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 embittered 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 13 Quos capita scholarum ordo castrensis appellat. Ammian. xxv. 10. and Vales. ad locum. 14 Cujus vagitus, pertinaciter reluctantis, ne in curuli sellâ 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 dishonoured by an infant. 15 The Itinerary of Antoninus fixes Dadastana 125 Roman miles from Nice; 117 from Ancyra (Wesseling, Itinerar. p. 142.). The pilgrim of Bordeaux, by omitting some stages, reduces the whole space from 242 to 181 miles. Wesseling, p. 574. * 16 See Ammianus (xxv. 10.), Eutropius (x. 18.), who might likewise be present; Jerom (tom. i. p. 26. ad Heliodorum), Orosius (vii. 31.), Sozomen (1. vi. c. 6.), Zosimus (1. iii. p. 197, 198.), and Zonaras (tom. ii. 1. xiii. p. 28, 29.). We cannot expect a perfect agreement, and we shall not discuss minute differences. 17 Ammianus, unmindful of his usual candour 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. |