VII.

blood. A fpirit of despair and difaffection began CHAP. to diffuse itself among the troops; and as they were cut off from all intelligence, they eafily believed that the whole empire had embraced the cause of the fenate, and that they were left as devoted victims to perish under the impregnable walls of Aquileia. The fierce temper of the tyrant was exafperated by disappointments, which he imputed to the cowardice of his army; and his wanton and ill-timed cruelty, instead of striking terror, inspired hatred and a juft defire of revenge. A party of Prætorian guards, who trembled for their wives and children in the camp of Alba, near Rome, executed the fentence of the fenate. Maximin, abandoned by his guards, was slain in his tent, with his fon (whom he had affociated to the honours of the purple), Anulinus the præfect, and the principal minifters of his tyranny The fight of their heads, borne on the point of fpears, convinced the citizens of Aquileia, that the fiege was at an end; the gates of the city were thrown open, a liberal market was provided for the hungry troops of Maximin, and the whole army joined in folemn proteftations of fidelity to the fenate and the people of Rome, and to their lawful emperors Maximus and Balbinus. Such was His porthe deserved fate of a brutal favage, destitute, as he has generally been represented, of every fentiment that diftinguishes a civilized, or even a human being. The body was fuited to the foul. The ftature of Maximin exceeded the measure of eight feet, and circumftances almoft incredible are related

36

trait.

СНАР.
VII.

Joy of the Roman world.

37

of his matchlefs ftrength and appetite ". Had he lived in a lefs enlightened age, tradition and poetry might well have defcribed him as one of those montous giants, whofe fupernatural power was conftantly exerted for the deftruction of mankind.

It is easier to conceive than to defcribe the univerfal joy of the Roman world on the fall of the tyrant, the news of which is faid to have been carried in four days from Aquileia to Rome. The return of Maximus was a triumphal proceffion, his colleague and young Gordian went out to meet hm, and the three princes made their entry into the capital, attended by the ambassadors of almost all the cities of Italy, faluted with the fplendid offerings of gratitude and fuperftition, and received with the unfeigned acclamations of the fenate and people, who perfuaded themselves that a golden age would fucceed to an age of iron " The conduct of the two emperors corresponded with these expectations. They administered justice in person; and the rigour of the one was tempered by the other's clemency. The oppreffive taxes with which Maximin had loaded the rights of inheritance and fucceffion, were repealed, or at least moderated. Difcipline was revived, and with the advice of the fenate many wife laws were enacted by their imperial minifters, who endeavoured to restore a civil conftitution on the ruins of military tyranny. What reward may we expect for delivering Rome from a monster? was the question asked by Maximus, in a moment of freedom and confidence. Balbinus anfwered it without hesitation

رو

دو

» The

دو

VII.

love of the fenate, of the people, and of all СНАР. mankind." Alas!" replied his more penetrating colleague,

دو

Alas! I dread the hatred of the foldiers,

,, and the fatal effects of their refentment

دو

His apprehenfions were but too well juftified by the event.

Whilft Maximus was preparing to defend Italy Sedition at against the common foe, Balbinus, who remained Rome. at Rome, had been engaged in scenes of blood and inteftine discord. Diftrust and jealousy reigned in the fenate; and even in the temples where they affembled, every fenator carried either open or concealed arms. In the midst of their deliberations, two veterans of the guards, actuated either by curiofity or a finifter motive, audaciously thrust themselves into the house and advanced by degrees beyond the altar of Victory. Gallicanus, a confular, and Mæcenas, a Prætorian fenator, viewed with indignation their infolent intrufion: drawing their daggers, they laid the fpies, for fuch they deemed them, dead at the foot of the altar, and then advancing to the door of the fenate, imprudently exhorted the multitude to maffacre the Prætorians, as the fecret adherents of the tyrant. Those who escaped the first fury of the tumult took refuge in the camp, which they defended with fuperior advantage against the reiterated attacks of the people, affifted by the numerous bands of gladiators, the property of opulent nobles. The civil war lafted many days, with infinite lofs and confufion on both fides. When the pipes were broken that fupplied the camp with water, the Prætorians were

VII.

CHAP. reduced to intolerable diftrefs; but in their turn they made defperate fallies into the city, fet fire to a great number of houses, and filled the streets with the blood of the inhabitants. The emperor Balbinus attempted, by ineffectual edicts and precarious truces, to reconcile the factions at Rome. But their animofity, though fmothered for a while, burnt with redoubled violence, The foldiers • detesting the fenate and the people, despised the weakness of a prince who wanted either the fpirit or the power to command the obedience of his fubjects ".

Discontent

torian

guards.

40

After the tyrant's death, his formidable army of the Pra- had acknowledged, from neceffity rather than from choice, the authority of Maximus, who tranfported himself without delay to the camp before Aquileia. As foon as he had received their oath of fidelity, he addreffed them in terms full of mildness and moderation; lamented, rather than arraigned, the wild disorders of the times, and affured the foldiers, that of all their past conduct, the fenate would remember only their generous desertion of the tyrant, and their voluntary return to their duty. Maximus enforced his exhortations by a liberal donative, purified the camp by a folemn facrifice of expiation, and then difmiffed the legions to their feveral provinces, impreffed, as he hoped, with a lively fenfe of gratitude and obedience But nothing could reconcile the haughty spirit of the Prætorians. They attended the emperors on the memorable day of their public entry into Rome; but amidst the general acclamations, the fullen

41

42

VIL

dejected countenance of the guards, fufficiently CHAP.
declared that they confidered themselves as the
object, rather than the partners, of the triumph.
When the whole body was united in their camp,
those who had ferved under Maximin, and those who
had remained at Rome, infenfibly communicated
to each other their complaints and apprehenfions.
The emperors chofen by the army had perished
with ignominy; those elected by the fenate were
feated on the throne ". The long difcord between
the civil and military powers was decided by a
war, in which the former had obtained a complete
victory. The foldiers must now learn a new doctrine
of fubmiffion to the fenate; and whatever clemency
was affected by that politic affembly, they dreaded
a slow revenge, coloured by the name of difcipline,
and justified by fair pretences of the public good.
But their fate was ftill in their own hands; and if
they had courage to defpife the vain terrors of an
impotent republic, it was easy to convince the
world, that those who were mafters of the arms,
were masters of the authority, of the state.

When the fenate elected two princes, it is probable that, befides the declared reafon of providing for the various emergencies of peace and war, they were actuated by the fecret defire of weakening by divifion the defpotism of the fupreme magiftrate. Their policy was effectual, but it proved fatal both to their emperors and to themselves. The jealoufy of power was foon exafperated by the difference of character. Maximus despised Balbinus as a luxurious noble, and was

Maffacre of
Maximus

and Balbi

nus.