soldiers the news of the happy revolution.* The enthusiasm of liberty was seconded by the promise of a large donative in lands and money; the statues of Maximin were thrown down; the capital of the empire acknowledged, with transport, the authority of the two Gordians, and the senate;t and the example of Rome was followed by the rest of Italy. A new spirit had arisen in that assembly, whose long patience had been insulted by wanton despotism and military licence. The senate assumed the reins of government, and with a calm intrepidity, prepared to vindicate by arms the cause of freedom. Among the consular senators recommended by their merit and services to the favour of the emperor Alexander, it was easy to select twenty, not unequal to the command of an army, and the conduct of a war. To these was the defence of Italy intrusted. Each was appointed to act in his respective department; authorized to enrol and discipline the Italian youth; and instructed to fortify the ports and highways, against the impending invasion of Maximin. A number of deputies, chosen from the most illustrious of the senatorian and equestrian orders, were dispatched at the same time to the governors of the several provinces, earnestly conjuring them to fly to the assistance of their country, and to remind the nations of their ancient ties of friendship with the Roman senate and people. The general respect with which these deputies were received, and the zeal of Italy and the provinces in favour of the senate, sufficiently prove that the subjects of Maximin were reduced to that uncommon distress, in which the body of the people has more to fear from oppression than from resistance. The consciousness of that melancholy truth inspires a degree of persevering fury, seldom to be found in those civil wars which are artificially supported for the benefit of a few factious and designing leaders.‡ torian, p. 156, seems transcribed by him from the original registers of the senate. * Gordian sent his own quæstor, who had attended him as proconsul, with some centurions, to execute the sentence on Vitalianus. In this they succeeded, as Herodian circumstantially relates (c. 6); and the approbation given to the act by the senate, is what we must understand by the tenth chapter of Capitolinus.-WENCK. + Herodian, 1. 7, p. 244. Herodian, 1. 7, p. 247; 1. 8, p. 277. Hist. August. p. 156, 158. [Many provincial governors remained faithful to Maximin; and either put to death or sent to him, the 228 more. DEATH OF THE GORDIANS. [CH. VII. But while the cause of the Gordians was embraced with such diffusive ardour, the Gordians themselves were no The feeble court of Carthage was alarmed with the rapid approach of Capelianus, governor of Mauritania, who, with a small band of veterans, and a fierce host of barbarians, attacked a faithful but unwarlike province. The younger Gordian sallied out to meet the enemy at the head of a few guards, and a numerous undisciplined multitude, educated in the peaceful luxury of Carthage. His useless valour served only to procure him an honourable death in the field of battle. His aged father, whose reign had not exceeded thirty-six days, put an end to his life on the first news of the defeat. Carthage, destitute of defence, opened her gates to the conqueror, and Africa was exposed to the rapacious cruelty of a slave, obliged to satisfy his unrelenting master with a large account of blood and treasure.* The fate of the Gordians filled Rome with just but unexpected terror. The senate, convoked in the temple of Concord, affected to transact the common business of the day; and seemed to decline, with trembling anxiety, the consideration of their own and the public danger. A silent consternation prevailed in the assembly, till a senator of legates of the senate. Herodian, 1. 7, c. 7.-WENCK.] * Herodian, 1. 7, p. 254. Hist. August. p. 150-160. We may observe, that one month and six days, for the reign of Gordian, is a just correction of Casaubon and Panvinius, instead of the absurd reading of one year and six months. See Commentar. p. 193. Zosimus relates (1. 1, p. 17,) that the two Gordians perished by a tempest in the midst of their navigation; a strange ignorance of history, or a strange abuse of metaphors! [Capelianus had been an old friend of the elder Gordian, in his private station, who now sent him a successor, and an order to resign. To defend himself, and the master from whom he held his authority, he had recourse to arms. The history of the Gordians was illustrated by a learned discussion, at the close of the seventeenth century. Jean Bapt. Du Bos published in 12mo, at Paris, in 1695, his "Histoire des quatre Gordiens, prouvée et illustrée par les medailles." In this he maintained, that with the two Gordians, who fell in Africa, a third also was killed, who was a son of the younger Africanus, and had been already declared Cæsar; and that the subsequent Cæsar and Augustus, Gordian the Pious, was the fourth of that name. Ant. Galland answered this, in his "Lettre, touchant l'histoire des quatre Gordiens," 12mo, Paris, 1696; and Gisbert Küper, in his "Historia trium Gordianorum ex numismatibus," 8vo, Deventer, 1697. Du Bos replied to both, in his "Vindiciæ pro quatuor Gordianorum historia," 12mo, Paris, 1700. But by the whole debate he gained the name and family of Trajan,* awakened his brethren from their fatal lethargy. He represented to them, that the choice of cautious dilatory measures had been long since out of their power; that Maximin, implacable by nature, and exasperated by injuries, was advancing towards Italy, at the head of the military force of the empire; and that their only remaining alternative was, either to meet him in the field, or tamely to expect the tortures and ignominious death reserved for unsuccessful rebellion. "We have lost," continued he, "two excellent princes; but unless we desert ourselves, the hopes of the republic have not perished with the Gordians. Many are the senators, whose virtues have deserved, and whose abilities would sustain, the imperial dignity. Let us elect two emperors, one of whom may conduct the war against the public enemy, whilst his colleague remains at Rome to direct the civil administration. I cheerfully expose myself to the danger and envy of the nomination, and give my vote in favour of Maximus and Balbinus. Ratify my choice, conscript fathers, or appoint in their place others more worthy of the empire.' The general apprehension silenced the whispers of jealousy; the merit of the candidates was universally acknowledged; and the house resounded with the sincere acclamations of, Long life and victory to the emperors Maximus and Balbinus. You are happy in the judgment of the senate; may the republic be happy under your administration !"† The virtues and the reputation of the new emperors justified the most sanguine hopes of the Romans. The various nature of their talents seemed to appropriate to each his peculiar department of peace and war, without leaving room for jealous emulation. Balbinus was an admired orator, a poet of distinguished fame, and a wise magistrate, who had exercised with innocence and applause the civil jurisdiction in almost all the interior provinces of the empire. His birth was noble, his fortune affluent, his nothing more than the credit of having ably advocated a bad cause.WENCK.] * His name was Vectius Savinus, and he belonged to the Ulpian family, through which he was connected with that of Trajan. (Capitolin. in Max. et Balb. c. 2.)-WENCK. + See the Augustan History, p. 166, from the registers of the senate; the date is confessedly faulty, but the coincidence of the Apollinarian games enables us to correct it. He was descended from Cornelius Balbus, a noble Spaniard, and the adopted son of Theophanes, the 230 ease MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS. [CH. VII. manners liberal and affable. In him the love of pleasure was corrected by a sense of dignity, nor had the habits of deprived him of a capacity for business. The mind of Maximus was formed in a rougher mould. By his valour and abilities he had raised himself from the meanest origin to the first employments of the state and army. His victories over the Sarmatians and the Germans, the austerity of his life, and the rigid impartiality of his justice, whilst he was prefect of the city, commanded the esteem of a people, whose affections were engaged in favour of the more amiable Balbinus. The two colleagues had both been consuls (Balbinus had twice enjoyed that honourable office), both had been named among the twenty lieutenants of the senate; and, since the one was sixty, and the other seventyfour years old,* they had both attained the full maturity of age and experience. After the senate had conferred on Maximus and Balbinus an equal portion of the consular and tribunitian power, the title of fathers of their country, and the joint office of supreme pontiff, they ascended to the Capitol, to return thanks to the gods, protectors of Rome. The solemn rites of sacrifice were disturbed by a sedition of the people. The licentious multitude neither loved the rigid Maximus, nor did they sufficiently fear the mild and humane Balbinus. Their increasing numbers surrounded the temple of Jupiter; with obstinate clamours they asserted their inherent right of consenting to the election of their sovereign; and demanded, with an apparent moderation, that, besides the two emperors chosen by the senate, a third should be added, of Greek historian. Balbus obtained the freedom of Rome by the favour of Pompey, and preserved it by the eloquence of Cicero (see Orat. pro Cornel. Balbo). The friendship of Cæsar (to whom he rendered the most important secret services in the civil war) raised him to the consulship and the pontificate, honours never yet possessed by a stranger. The nephew of this Balbus triumphed over the Garamantes. See Dictionnaire de Bayle, au mot Balbus, where he distinguishes the several persons of that name, and rectifies, with his usual accuracy, the mistakes of former writers concerning them. * Zonaras, 1. 12, p. 622. But little dependence is to he had on the authority of a modern Greek, so grossly ignorant of the history of the third century, that he creates several imaginary emperors, and confounds those who really existed. Herodian, 1.7, p. 256, supposes that the senate was at first convoked in the Capitol, and is very eloquent on the occasion. The Augustan History (p. 116) seems much more authentic. the family of the Gordians, as a just return of gratitude to those princes who had sacrificed their lives for the republic. At the head of the city-guards, and the youths of the equestrian order, Maximus and Balbinus attempted to cut their way through the seditious multitude. The multitude, armed with sticks and stones, drove them back into the Capitol. It is prudent to yield when the contest, whatever may be the issue of it, must be fatal to both parties. A boy, only thirteen years of age, the grandson of the elder, and nephew of the younger, Gordian, was produced to the people, invested with the ornaments and title of Cæsar. The tumult was appeased by this easy condescension; and the two emperors, as soon as they had been peaceably acknowledged in Rome, prepared to defend Italy against the common enemy, Whilst in Rome and Africa revolutions succeeded each other with such amazing rapidity, the mind of Maximin was agitated by the most furious passions. He is said to have received the news of the rebellion of the Gordians, and of the decree of the senate against him, not with the temper of a man, but the rage of a wild beast; which, as it could not discharge itself on the distant senate, threatened the life of his son, of his friends, and of all who ventured to approach his person. The grateful intelligence of the death of the Gordians was quickly followed by the assurance that the senate, laying aside all hopes of pardon or accommodation, had substituted in their room two emperors, with whose merit he could not be unacquainted. Revenge was the only consolation left to Maximin, and revenge could only be obtained by arms. The strength of the legions had been assembled by Alexander from all parts of the empire. Three successful campaigns against the Germans and the Sarmatians, had raised their fame, confirmed their discipline, and even increased their numbers, by filling the ranks with the flower of the barbarian youth. The life of Maximin had been spent in war, and the candid severity of history cannot refuse him the valour of a soldier, or even the abilities of an experienced general. It might naturally be expected, that Some say that he was a son of the younger Gordian.-GUIZOT. + In Herodian, 1. 7, p. 249, and in the Augustan History, we have three several orations of Maximin to his army, on the rebellion of Africa and Rome. M. de Tillemont has very justly observed, that |