fortune (114). This awful catastrophe of Rome filled the astonished empire with grief and terror. So interesting a contrast of greatness and ruin, disposed the fond credulity of the people to deplore, and even to exaggerate, the afflictions of the queen of cities. The clergy, who applied to recent events the lofty metaphors of Oriental prophecy, were sometimes tempted to confound the destruction of the capital, and the dissolution of the globe. Sack of Rome There exists in human nature a strong propensity to depreciate by the troops of Charles V. the advantages, and to magnify the evils, of the present time. Yet, when the first emotions had subsided, and a fair estimate was made of the real damage, the more learned and judicious contemporaries were forced to confess, that infant Rome had formerly received more essential injury from the Gauls, than she had now sustained from the Goths in her declining age (115). The experience of eleven centuries has enabled posterity to produce a much more singular parallel; and to affirm with confidence, that the ravages of the Barbarians, whom Alaric had led from the banks of the Danube, were less destructive, than the hostilities exercised by the troops of Charles the Fifth, a Catholic prince, who styled himself emperor of the Romans (116). The Goths evacuated the city at the end of six days, but Rome remained above nine months in the possession of the Imperialists; and every hour was stained by some atrocious act of cruelty, lust, and rapine. The authority of Alaric preserved some order and moderation among the ferocious multitude, which acknowledged him for their leader and king; but the constable of Bourbon had gloriously fallen in the attack of the walls; and the death of the general removed every restraint of discipline, from an army which consisted of three independent nations, the Italians, the Spaniards, and the Germans. In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the manners of Italy exhibited a remarkable scene of the depravity of mankind. They united the sanguinary crimes that prevail in an unsettled state of society, with the polished vices that spring from the abuse of art and luxury; and the loose adventurers, who had violated every prejudice of patriotism and superstition to assault the palace of the Roman pontiff, must deserve to be considered as the most profligate of the Italians. At the same æra, (114) See the pathetic complaint of Jerom (tom. v. p. 400.), in his preface to the second book of his Commentaries on the Prophet Ezekiel. (115) Orosius, though with some theological partiality, states this comparison, l. ii. c. 19. p. 142. 1. vii. c. 39. p. 575. But, in the history of the taking of Rome by the Gauls, every thing is uncertain, and perhaps fabulous. See Beaufort sur l'Incertitude, &c. de l'Histoire Romaine, p. 356.; and Melot, in the Mém. de l'Académie des Inscript. tom. xv. p. 1–21. (116) The reader who wishes to inform himself of the circumstances of this famous event, may peruse an admirable narrative in Dr. Robertson's History of Charles V. vol. ii. p. 283.; or consult the Annali d'Italia of the learned Muratori, tom. xiv. p. 230-244. octavo edition, If he is desirous of examining the originals, he may have recourse to the eighteenth book of the great, but unfinished, history of Guicciardini. But the account which most truly deserves the name of authentic and original, is a little book, intitled, Il Sacco di Roma, composed, within less than a month after the assault of the city, by the brother of the historian Guicciardini, who appears to have been an able magistrate, and a dispassionate writer. the Spaniards were the terror both of the Old and New World : but their high-spirited valour was disgraced by gloomy pride, rapacious avarice, and unrelenting cruelty. Indefatigable in the pursuit of fame and riches, they had improved, by repeated practice, the most exquisite and effectual methods of torturing their prisoners: many of the Castilians, who pillaged Rome, were familiars of the holy inquisition; and some volunteers, perhaps, were lately returned from the conquest of Mexico. The Germans were less corrupt than the Italians, less cruel than the Spaniards; and the rustic, or even savage, aspect of those Tramontane warriors, often disguised a simple and merciful disposition. But they had imbibed, in the first fervour of the reformation, the spirit, as well as the principles, of Luther. It was their favourite amusement to insult, or destroy, the consecrated objects of Catholic superstition; they indulged, without pity or remorse, a devout hatred against the clergy of every denomination and degree, who form so considerable a part of the inhabitants of modern Rome; and their fanatic zeal might aspire to subvert the throne of Antichrist, to purify, with blood and fire, the abominations of the spiritual Babylon (117). The retreat of the victorious Goths, who evacuated Rome on the sixth day (118), might be the result of prudence; but it was not surely the effect of fear (119). At the head of an army, encumbered with rich and weighty spoils, their intrepid leader advanced along the Appian Way into the southern provinces of Italy, destroying whatever dared to oppose his passage, and contenting himself with the plunder of the unresisting country. The fate of Capua, the proud and luxurious metropolis of Campania, and which was respected, even in its decay, as the eighth city of the empire (120), is buried in oblivion; whilst the adjacent town of Nola (121) has been illustrated, on this occasion, by the sanctity of Paulinus (122), who was successively a consul, a monk, and a bishop. At the age of forty, he renounced the enjoyment of wealth and honour, of society and literature, to embrace a life of solitude and penance; and the loud applause of the clergy encouraged him to despise the re (117) The furious spirit of Luther, the effect of temper and enthusiasm, has been forcibly attacked (Bossuet, Hist. des Variations des Églises Protestantes, livre i. p. 20-36.), and feebly de fended (Seckendorf, Comment. de Lutheranismo, especially 1. i. No. 78. p. 123. and l. iii. No. 122. p. 556.). (118) Marcellinus, in Chron. Orosius (1. vii. c. 39. p. 575.) asserts, that he left Rome on the third day; but this difference is easily reconciled by the successive motions of great bodies of troops. (119) Socrates (1. vii. c. 10.) pretends, without any colour of truth, or reason, that Alaric fled on the report, that the armies of the Eastern empire were in full march to attack him. (120) Ausonius de Claris Urbibus, p. 233. edit. Toll. The luxury of Capua had formerly surpassed that of Sybaris itself. See Athenæus Deipnosophist. I. xii. p. 528. edit. Casaubon. (121) Forty-eight years before the foundation of Rome (about 800 before the Christian era), the Tuscans built Capua and Nola, at the distance of twenty-three miles from each other: but the latter of the two cities never emerged from a state of mediocrity. (122) Tillemont (Mém. Ecclés. tom. xiv. p. 1-146,) has compiled, with his usual diligence, all that relates to the life and writings of Paulinus, whose retreat is celebrated by his own pen, and by the praises of St. Ambrose, St. Jerom, St. Augustin, Sulpicius Severus, &c. his Christian friends and contemporaries. proaches of his worldly friends, who ascribed this desperate act to some disorder of the mind or body (123). An early and passionate attachment determined him to fix his humble dwelling in one of the suburbs of Nola, near the miraculous tomb of St. Fælix, which the public devotion had already surrounded with five large and populous churches. The remains of his fortune, and of his understanding, were dedicated to the service of the glorious martyr; whose praise, on the day of his festival, Paulinus never failed to celebrate by a solemn hymn; and in whose name he erected a sixth church, of superior elegance and beauty, which was decorated with many curious pictures, from the history of the Old and New Testament. Such assiduous zeal secured the favour of the saint (124), or at least of the people; and, after fifteen years' retirement, the Roman consul was compelled to accept the bishopric of Nola, a few months before the city was invested by the Goths. During the siege, some religious persons were satisfied that they had seen, either in dreams or visions, the divine form of their tutelar patron; yet it soon appeared by the event, that Fælix wanted power, or inclination, to preserve the flock, of which he had formerly been the shepherd. Nola was not saved from the general devastation (125); and the captive bishop was protected only by the general opinion of his innocence and poverty. Above four years elapsed from the successful invasion of Italy by the arms of Alaric, to the voluntary retreat of the Goths under the conduct of his successor Adolphus; Possession of and, during the whole time, they reigned without control over a Italy by the Goths, country, which, in the opinion of the ancients, had united all the various excellencies of nature and art. The prosperity, indeed, which Italy had attained in the auspicious age of the Antonines, had gradually declined with the decline of the empire. The fruits of a long peace perished under the rude grasp of the Barbarians; and they themselves were incapable of tasting the more elegant refinements of luxury, which had been prepared for the use of the soft and polished Italians. Each soldier, however, claimed an ample portion of the substantial plenty, the corn and cattle, oil and wine, that was daily collected, and consumed, in the Gothic camp; and the principal warriors insulted the villas, and gardens, once inhabited by Lucullus and Cicero, along the beauteous coast of Campania. Their trembling captives, the sons and daughters of Roman senators, presented, in goblets of gold and gems, large draughts of Falernian wine, to the haughty victors; who stretched their huge A. D. 408-412. (123) See the affectionate letters of Ausonius (epist. xix-xxv. p. 650-698. edit. Toll.) to his colleague, his friend, and his disciple, Paulinus. The religion of Ausonius is still a problem (see Mém. de l'Académie des Inscriptions, tom. xv. p. 123-138.). I believe that it was such in his own time, and consequently, that in his heart he was a Pagan. (124) The humble Paulinus once presumed to say, that he believed St. Fælix did love him; at least, as a master loves his little dog. (125) See Jornandes, de Reb. Get. c. 30. p. 653. Philostorgius, 1. xii. c. 3. Augustin, de Civ. Dei, l. i. c. 10. Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A. D. 410. No. 45, 46. limbs under the shade of plane-trees (126), artificially disposed to exclude the scorching rays, and to admit the genial warmth, of the These delights were enhanced by the memory of past hardships the comparison of their native soil, the bleak and barren hills of Scythia, and the frozen banks of the Elbe, and Danube, added new charms to the felicity of the Italian climate (127). sun. Whether fame, or conquest, or riches, were the object of Alaric, he pursued that object with an indefatigable ardour, which could neither be quelled by adversity, nor satiated by success. No sooner had he reached the extreme land of Italy, than he was attracted by the neighbouring prospect of a fertile and peaceful island. Yet even the possession of Sicily he considered only as an intermediate step to the important expedition, which he already meditated against the continent of Africa. The streights of Rhegium and Messina (128) are twelve miles in length, and, in the narrowest passage, about one mile and a half broad; and the fabulous monsters of the deep, the rocks of Scylla, and the whirlpool of Charybdis, could terrify none but the most timid and unskilful mariners. Yet as soon as the first division of the Goths had embarked, a sudden tempest arose, which sunk, or scattered, many of the transports; their courage was daunted by the terrors of a new element; and the whole design was defeated by the premature death of Alaric, which fixed, after a short illness, the fatal term of his conquests. The ferocious cha— racter of the Barbarians was displayed, in the funeral of a hero, whose valour, and fortune, they celebrated with mournful applause. By the labour of a captive multitude, they forcibly diverted the course of the Busentinus, a small river that washes the walls of Consentia. The royal sepulchre, adorned with the splendid spoils, and trophies, of Rome, was constructed in the vacant bed; the waters were then restored to their natural channel; and the secret spot, where the remains of Alaric had been deposited, was for ever concealed by the inhuman massacre of the prisoners, who had been employed to execute the work (129). (126) The platanus, or plane-tree, was a favourite of the ancients, by whom it was propagated, for the sake of shade, from the East to Gaul. Pliny, Hist. Natur. xii. 3, 4, 5. He mentions several of an enormous size; one in the Imperial villa, at Velitræ, which Caligula called his nest, as the branches were capable of holding a large table, the proper attendants, and the emperor himself, whom Pliny quaintly styles pars umbra; an expression which might, with equal reason, be applied to Alaric. (127) The prostrate South to the destroyer yields grows. See Gray's Poems, published by Mr. Mason, p. 197. Instead of compiling tables of chronology and natural history, why did not Mr. Gray apply the powers of his genius to finish the philosophic poem, of which he has left such an exquisite specimen? (128) For the perfect description of the Streights of Messina, Scylla, Charybdis, &c. see Cluverius (Ital. Antiq. 1. iv. p. 1293. and Sicilia Antiq. 1. i. p. 60-76.), who had diligently studied the ancients, and surveyed with a curious eye the actual face of the country. (129) Jornandes, de Reb. Get. c. 30. p. 654. 6 Adolphus peace with and marches A. D. 412. 66 The personal animosities, and hereditary feuds, of the Barbaking of the rians, were suspended by the strong necessity of their affairs; and concludes a the brave Adolphus, the brother-in-law of the deceased monarch, the empire, was unanimously elected to succeed to his throne. The character into Gaul, and political system of the new king of the Goths may be best understood from his own conversation with an illustrious citizen of Narbonne; who afterwards, in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, related it to St. Jerom, in the presence of the historian Orosius. "In "the full confidence of valour and victory, I once aspired (said Adolphus) to change the face of the universe; to obliterate the "name of Rome; to erect on its ruins the dominion of the Goths; "and to acquire, like Augustus, the immortal fame of the founder "of a new empire. By repeated experiments, I was gradually con"vinced, that laws are essentially necessary to maintain and re“gulate a well-constituted state; and that the fierce untractable "humour of the Goths was incapable of bearing the salutary yoke “of laws, and civil government. From that moment I proposed to "myself a different object of glory and ambition; and it is now my "sincere wish, that the gratitude of future ages should acknowledge "the merit of a stranger, who employed. the sword of the Goths, "not to subvert, but to restore and maintain, the prosperity of the "Roman empire (130)." With these pacific views, the successor of Alaric suspended the operations of war; and seriously negociated with the Imperial court a treaty of friendship and alliance. It was the interest of the ministers of Honorius, who were now released from the obligation of their extravagant oath, to deliver Italy from the intolerable weight of the Gothic powers; and they readily accepted their service against the tyrants and Barbarians who infested the provinces beyond the Alps (131). Adolphus, assuming the character of a Roman general, directed his march from the extremity of Campania to the southern provinces of Gaul. His troops, either by force or agreement, immediately occupied the cities of Narbonne, Toulouse, and Bordeaux; and though they were repulsed by count Boniface from the walls of Marseilles, they soon extended their quarters from the Mediterranean to the Ocean. The oppressed provincials might exclaim, that the miserable remnant, which the enemy had spared, was cruelly ravished by their pretended allies; yet some specious colours were not wanting to palliate, or justify, the violence of the Goths. The cities of Gaul, which they attacked, might perhaps be considered as in a state of rebellion against the govern (130) Orosius, 1. vii. c. 43. p. 584, 585. He was sent by St. Augustin, in the year 415, from Africa to Palestine, to visit St. Jerom, and to consult with him on the subject of the Pelagian controversy. (131) Jornandes supposes, without much probability, that Adolphus visited and plundered Rome a second time (more locustarum erasit). Yet he agrees with Orosius in supposing, that a treaty of peace was concluded between the Gothic prince and Honorius. See Oros. 1. vii. c. 43. p. 584, 585. Jornandes, de Reb. Geticis, c. 31. p. 654, 655. |