respectful and ambiguous; he celebrated in pompous style the harmony of the two republics, applauded his own government as the perfect similitude of a sole and undivided empire, and claimed above the kings of the earth the same pre-eminence which he modestly allowed to the person or rank of Anastasius. The alliance of the East and West was annually declared by the unanimous choice of two consuls; but it should seem that the Italian candidate who was named by Theodoric, accepted a formal confirmation from the sovereign of Constantinople. The Gothic palace of Ravenna reflected the image of the court of Theodosius or Valentinian. The prætorian prefect, the prefect of Rome, the quæstor, the master of the offices, with the public and patrimonial treasurers, whose functions are painted in gaudy colours by the rhetoric of Cassiodorus, still continued to act as the ministers of state. And the subordinate care of justice and the revenue was delegated to seven consulars, three correctors and five presidents, who governed the fifteen regions of Italy, according to the principles and even the forms of Roman jurisprudence.† The violence of the conquerors was abated or eluded by the slow artifice of judicial proceedings; the civil administration, with its honours and emoluments, was confined to the Italians; and the people still preserved their dress and language, their laws and customs, their personal freedom, and two-thirds of their landed property. It had been the object of Augustus to conceal the introduction of monarchy; it was the policy of Theo adding their own name to the head of the reigning emperor. (Muratori, Antiquitat. Italiæ Medii Evi, tom. ii, dissert. 27, p. 577-579. Giannone, Istoria Civile di Napoli, (tom. i, p. 166.) [Eckhel (8. 211215) and Humphreys (Coin Collector's Manual, p. 369. 652, edit. Bohn) describe many coins of Theodoric and his successors. All of them issued a large number, bearing only their own names and effigies. These are distinguished as autonomi, and most of them have the strange inscription INVICTA ROMA. But there are also some even of Theodoric's which, with his name, have the head either of Anastasius or Justin I., as those of his posterity have that of Justinian. These evidences of Gothic subordination or modesty, are, however, far fewer in number than the autonomi.-ED.] The alliance of the emperor and the king of Italy are represented by Cassiodorus (Var. i. 1. ii. 2. 3. vi. 1) and Procopius (Goth, 1. 2, c. 6, 1. 3, c. 21) who celebrate the friendship of Anastasius and Theodoric but the figurative style of compliment was interpreted in a very different sense at Constantinople and Ravenna. To the seventeen provinces of the Notitia, Paul Warnefrid the doric to disguise the reign of a barbarian.* If his subjects were sometimes awakened from this pleasing vision of a Roman government, they derived more substantial comfort from the character of a Gothic prince, who had penetration to discern, and firmness to pursue, his own and the public interest. Theodoric loved the virtues which he possessed, and the talents of which he was destitute. Liberius was promoted to the office of prætorian prefect for his unshaken fidelity to the unfortunate cause of Odoacer. The ministers of Theodoric, Cassiodorust and Boethius, have reflected on his deacon (De Reb. Longobard. lib. 2, c. 14-22) has subjoined an eighteenth, the Apennine. (Muratori, Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. i, p. 431--433.) But of these Sardinia and Corsica were possessed by the Vandals, and the two Rhætias, as well as the Cottian Alps, seem to have been abandoned to a military government. The state of the four provinces that now form the kingdom of Naples, is laboured by Giannone (tom. i, p. 172. 178) with patriotic diligence. * See the Gothic history of Procopius (1. 1, c. 1; 1. 2, c. 6), the Epistles of Cassiodorus (passim, but especially the fifth and sixth books, which contain the formula or patents of offices), and the Civil History of Giannone (tom. i, 1. 2, 3). The Gothic counts, which he places in every Italian city, are annihilated, however, by Maffei (Verona Illustrata, p. 1, 1. 8, p. 227), for those of Syracuse and Naples (Var. vi. 22, 23) were special and temporary commissions. + Two Italians of the name of Cassiodorus, the father (Var. i. 24. 40) and the son (xi. 24, 25), were successively employed in the administration of Theodoric. The son was born in the year 479: his various epistles as quæstor, master of the offices, and prætorian prefect, extend from 509 to 539, and he lived as a monk about 30 years. (Tiraboschi, Storio della Letteratura Italiana, tom. iii, p. 7 -24. Fabricius, Bibliot. Lat. Med. Ævi, tom. i, p. 357, 358, edit. Mansi.) [Clinton (F. R. i. 711) commemorates four generations of Cassiodori. The first defended Sicily against Genseric. The second was the companion of Etius and ambassador to Attila. The third was comes sacrarum under Odoacer and patricius under Theodoric. The fourth was secretary to Theodoric and his successors; and in addition to the offices enumerated by Gibbon, was also consul solus A.D. 514. Theodoric was fortunate in his ministers, and probably much indebted to their wise counsels for his successful reign. A son of barbarism, allowing himself to be so guided, claims high commendation. Of the two ministers, Cassiodorus was the most active and practical; his good sense adopted the liberal principles and philosophic views of his more intellectual, but less energetic, colleague. The epistles in his Variarum are a rare collection of original official documents, which admit us, as it were, to the council-board of the cabinet, at one of the most interesting periods in all history. Gibbon has made good use of them. It is remarkable, that in this notice of Cassiodorus, he has not mentioned that lost history of which he had said (ch. 10) that the De Rebus Geticis of Jornandes was but an reign the lustre of their genius and learning. More prudent or more fortunate than his colleague, Cassiodorus preserved his own esteem without forfeiting the royal favour; and after passing thirty years in the honours of the world, he was blessed with an equal term of repose in the devout and studious solitude of Squillace. As the patron of the republic, it was the interest and duty of the Gothic king to cultivate the affections of the senate* and the people. The nobles of Rome were flattered by sonorous epithets and formal professions of respect, which had been more justly applied to the merit and authority of their ancestors. The people enjoyed, without fear or danger, the three blessings of a capital,-order, plenty, and public amusements. A visible diminution of their numbers may be found even in the measure of liberality;t yet Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily, poured their tribute of corn into the granaries of Rome; an allowance of bread and meat was distributed to the indigent citizens; and every office was deemed honourable which was consecrated to the care of their health and happiness. The public games, such as a Greek ambassador might politely applaud, exhibited a faint and feeble copy of the magnificence of the Cæsars: yet the musical, the gymnastic, and the pantomime arts, had not totally sunk in oblivion; the wild beasts of Africa still exercised in the amphitheatre the courage and dexterity of the hunters; and the indulgent Goth either patiently tolerated or gently restrained the blue and green factions, whose contests so often filled the circus with clamour, and even with blood. In the seventh year of his peaceful reign, Theoabridgement. The Senator, whose twelve books the latter stated in his introduction that he was epitomizing, was Cassiodorus; who, however, wanted, among other necessary qualifications for writing a good history of the Goths, that of being acquainted with their language. For this reason his letter to the chief of the Heruli (Var. iv. 2) was in Latin, which, he said, the ambassadors, who were the bearers of it, would interpret. He, therefore, can have framed his imaginary origin of the people from none of their traditions. Jornandes, equally ignorant of the first wanderings of his race, was overpowered by the erudition of Cassiodorus, and copied his learned errors. For previous transactions, this history is little to be trusted; and for the more recent, it cannot be compared with the satisfactory information afforded by the twelve books of the Variarum.-ED.] * See his regard for the senate in Cochlæus. (Vit. Theod. 8, p. 72-80). No more than one hundred and twenty thousand modii, or four thousand quarters. (Anonym. Valesian. p. 721, and Var. i. 35. vi. 18. xi. 5. 59.) See his regard and indulgence for the spec doric visited the old capital of the world; the senate and people advanced in solemn procession to salute a second Trajan, a new Valentinian; and he nobly supported that character by the assurance of a just and legal government,* in a discourse which he was not afraid to pronounce in public, and to inscribe on a tablet of brass. Rome, in this august ceremony, shot a last ray of declining glory; and a saint, the spectator of this pompous scene, could only hope in his pious fancy, that it was excelled by the celestial splendour of the New Jerusalem.t During a residence of six months, the fame, the person, and the courteous demeanour, of the Gothic king excited the admiration of the Romans, and he contemplated with equal curiosity and surprise, the monuments that remained of their ancient greatness. He imprinted the footsteps of a conqueror on the Capitoline hill, and frankly confessed that each day he viewed with fresh wonder the forum of Trajan and his lofty column. The theatre of Pompey appeared, even in its decay, as a huge mountain artificially hollowed and polished, and adorned by human industry; and he vaguely computed, that a river of gold must have been drained to erect the colossal amphitheatre of Titus. From the mouths of fourteen aqueducts, a pure and copious stream was diffused into every part of the city; among these the Claudian water, which arose at the distance of thirty-eight miles in the Sabine mountains, was conveyed along a gentle though constant declivity of solid tacles of the circus, the amphitheatre, and the theatre, in the Chronicle and Epistles of Cassiodorus (Var. i. 20. 27. 30, 31, 32. iii. 51. iv. 51, illustrated by the fourteenth annotation of Mascou's History,) who has contrived to sprinkle the subject with ostentatious, though agreeable, learning. * Anonym, Vales. p. 721. Marius Aventicensis in Chron. In the scale of public and personal merit, the Gothic conqueror is at least as much above Valentinian as he may seem inferior to Trajan. [The inferiority of Theodoric to Trajan was the result rather of circunistances than of personal qualities. Had the former lived in the times, and enjoyed the advantages, of the latter, it may be questioned which would have been the greater.-ED.] Vit. Fulgentii in Baron. Annal. Eccles. A.D. 500. No. 10. Cassiodorus describes, in his pompous style, the forum of Trajan (Var. vii. 6), the theatre of Marcellus (iv. 51), and the amphitheatre of Titus (v. 42), and his descriptions are not unworthy of the reader's perusal. According to the modern prices, the Abbé Barthelemy computes that the brick-work and masonry of the Coliseum would now 268 GOTHIC CARE OF STATUES AND EDIFICES. [CH. XXXIX. arches, till it descended on the summit of the Aventine-hill. The long and spacious vaults which had been constructed for the purpose of common sewers, subsisted, after twelve centuries, in their pristine strength; and the subterraneous channels have been preferred to all the visible wonders of Rome. The Gothic kings, so injuriously accused of the ruin of antiquity, were anxious to preserve the monuments of the nation whom they had subdued. The royal edicts were framed to prevent the abuses, the neglect, or the depredations, of the citizens themselves; and a professed architect, the annual sum of two hundred pounds of gold, twentyfive thousand tiles, and the receipt of customs from the Lucrine port, were assigned for the ordinary repairs of the walls and public edifices. A similar care was extended to the statues of metal or marble, of men or animals. The spirit of the horses, which have given a modern name to the Quirinal, was applauded by the barbarians; the brazen cost twenty millions of French livres. Mém. de l'Académie des Inscriptions, tom. xxviii, p. 585, 586.) How small a part of that stupendous fabric! * For the aqueducts and cloacæ, see Strabo (1. 5, p. 360); Pliny (Hist. Nat. 36. 24); Cassiodorus (Var. iii. 30. 31. vi. 6); Procopius (Goth. 1. 1, c. 19,) and Nardini (Roma Antica, p. 514-522). How such works could be executed by a king of Rome is yet a problem. For the Gothic care of the buildings and statues, see Cassiodorus (Var. i. 21. 25. ii. 34. iv. 30. vii. 6. 13. 15.) and the Valesian Fragment (p. 721.) [The wanton destruction of public edifices and national monuments is only a part of the "injurious accusation" brought against the fathers of our race. But although admitted to be false by all who have inquired, the calumny has been so industriously circulated, that the popular mind cannot yet be disabused. All historians attest Theodoric's anxiety to preserve the noble works of art, of which his conquests had made him the guardian. For fine architecture he had a special passion, and kept scientific builders and surveyors constantly employed. Among these the principal were Aloisius and Daniel. The former was instructed (Var. ii. 39) to repair the fountain of Aponus, near Patavium, and was probably the "custos peritus," referred to by Cassiodorus. (Var. vii. 15.) For Daniel see Var. iii. 19. The Senator Symmachus, who had shown great skill and taste in erecting his private structures, was called upon (Var. iv. 51) to superintend the restoration of the theatre of Pompey, for which the treasury had furnished the funds. In iii. 30 and 31, the Prefect and Senate were also informed, that another architect, Joannes, had been commissioned to repair the cloaca.-ED.] Var. vii. 15. These horses of Monte Cavallo had been transported from Alexandria to the baths of Constantine. (Nardini, p. 188.) Their sculpture is disdained by the Abbé Dubos, |