A.D. 408.] THE POET CLAUDIAN. 391 be for the people of Italy, if Mallius could be constantly awake, and if Hadrian would always sleep!"* The repose of Mallius was not disturbed by this friendly and gentle admonition; but the cruel vigilance of Hadrian watched the opportunity of revenge, and easily obtained, from the enemies of Stilicho, the trifling sacrifice of an obnoxious poet. The poet concealed himself, however, during the tumult of the revolution; and, consulting the dictates of prudence rather than of honour, he addressed, in the form of an epistle, a suppliant and humble recantation to the offended prefect. He deplores, in mournful strains, the fatal indiscretion into which he had been hurried by passion and folly; submits to the imitation of his adversary the generous examples of the clemency of gods, of heroes, and of lions; and expresses his hope, that the magnanimity of Hadrian will not trample on a defenceless and contemptible foe, already humbled by disgrace and poverty; and deeply wounded by the exile, the tortures, and the death of his dearest friends.† Whatever might be the success of his prayer, or the accidents of his future life, the period of a few years levelled in the grave the minister and the poet; but the name of Hadrian is almost sunk in oblivion, while Claudian is read with pleasure in every country which has retained or acquired the knowledge of the Latin language. If we fairly balance his merits and his defects, we shall acknowledge that Claudian does not either satisfy or silence our reason. It would not be easy to produce a passage that deserves the epithet of sublime or pathetic; to select a verse that melts the heart or enlarges the imagination. We should vainly seek, in the poems of Claudian, the happy invention, and artificial conduct, of an interesting fable; or the just and lively representation of the characters and *See Epigram 30. Mallius indulget somno noctesque diesque : Mallius ut vigilet, dormiat ut Pharius. Hadrian was a Pharian (of Alexandria). See his public life in Godefroy, Cod. Theodos. tom. vi, p. 364. Mallius did not always sleep. He composed some elegant dialogues on the Greek systems of natural philosophy. (Claud. in Mall. Theodor. Cons. 61-112.) + See Claudian's first epistle. Yet, in some places, an air of irony situations of real life. For the service of his patron he published occasional panegyrics and invectives: and the design of these slavish compositions encouraged his propensity to exceed the limits of truth and nature. These imperfections, however, are compensated in some degree by the poetical virtues of Claudian. He was endowed with the rare and precious talent of raising the meanest, of adorning the most barren, and of diversifying the most similar, topics: his colouring, more especially in descriptive poetry, is soft and splendid; and he seldom fails to display, and even to abuse, the advantages of a cultivated understanding, a copious fancy, an easy, and sometimes forcible, expression, and a perpetual flow of harmonious versification. To these commendations, independent of any accidents of time and place, we must add the peculiar merit which Claudian derived from the unfavourable circumstances of his birth. In the decline of arts and of empire, a native of Egypt,* who had received the education of a Greek, assumed, in a mature age, the familiar use and absolute command of the Latin language;† soared above the heads of his feeble contemporaries; and placed himself, after an interval of three hundred years, among the poets of ancient Rome.‡ and indignation betrays his secret reluctance. vanity has made him a Florentine or a Spaniard. * National But the first epistle of Claudian proves him a native of Alexandria. (Fabricius, Biblioth. Latin. tom. iii, p. 191-202, edit. Ernest.) + His first Latin verses were composed during the consulship of Probinus, A.D. 395. Romanos bibimus primum, te consule, fontes, Et Latiæ cessit Graia Thalia toga. Besides some Greek epigrams, which are still extant, the Latin_poet had composed, in Greek, the Antiquities of Tarsus, Anazarbus, Berytus, Nice, &c. It is more easy to supply the loss of good poetry than of authentic history. Strada (Prolusion. 5. 6,) allows him to contend with the five heroic poets, Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid, Lucan, and Statius. His patron is the accomplished courtier Balthazar Castig lione. His admirers are numerous and passionate. Yet the rigid critics reproach the exotic weeds or flowers, which spring too luxuriantly in his Latian soil. [To Gibbon's estimate of Claudian may appropriately be added that of Niebuhr, who says: "Claudian, a Greek of Alexandria, at first wrote in Greek. There are but few instances besides, of foreigners having written so well in a strange tongue. His language is all that can be wished; we see that he made Latin his own with heartfelt liking. He is a true poetical A.D. 408.] COURT OF RAVENNA. 393 CHAPTER XXXI.-INVASION OF ITALY BY ALARIC.-MANNERS OF THE ROMAN SENATE AND PEOPLE.-ROME IS THRICE BESIEGED, AND AT LENGTH PILLAGED, BY THE GOTHS.-DEATH OF ALARIC.-THE GOTHS EVACUATE ITALY.-FALL OF CONSTANTINE.-GAUL AND SPAIN ARE OCCUPIED BY THE BARBARIANS.-INDEPENDENCE OF BRITAIN. THE incapacity of a weak and distracted government may often assume the appearance and produce the effects of a treasonable correspondence with the public enemy. If Alaric himself had been introduced into the council of Ravenna, he would probably have advised the same measures which were actually pursued by the ministers of Honorius.* The king of the Goths would have conspired, perhaps with some reluctance, to destroy the formidable adversary, by whose arms, in Italy as well as in Greece, he had been twice overthrown. Their active and interested hatred laboriously accomplished the disgrace and ruin of the great Stilicho. The valour of Sarus, his fame in arms, and his personal or hereditary influence over the confe derate barbarians, could recommend him only to the friends of their country, who despised or detested the worthless characters of Turpilio, Varanes, and Vigilantius. By the pressing instances of the new favourites, these generals, unworthy as they had shown themselves of the name of soldiers,† were promoted to the command of the cavalry, of genius, although tainted with the mannerism of the later Greek poets; a wonderful master of mythology; and gifted with great ease and brilliancy of language." (Lectures, vol. iii, p. 324.) The religion of this poet, like that of Ausonius, has afforded matter for discussion. Dean Milman refers to an article in the Quarterly Review, on "L'Histoire de la Destruction du Paganisme en Occident," par M. Beugnot, quoting passages to show Claudian's "extraordinary religious indifference. Niebuhr calls him a "heathen Greek," and says that "a poem on the miracles of Christ, which is ascribed to him," was written by Merobaudes. Claudian certainly employed the machinery of Pagan mythology with a freedom which Christians, in that age, would scarcely have thought allowable. But the poetic soul has a worship of its own, and disdaining earthly formularies, has recourse to them only to illustrate to others it own higher conceptions.-ED.] *The series of events, from the death of Stilicho to the arrival of Alaric before Rome, can only be found in Zosimus, 1. 5, p. 347-350. The expression of Zosimus is strong and lively, Karapoórnoir ἐμποιῆσαι τοῖς πολεμίοις ἀρκοῦντας, sufficient to excite the contempt of the enemy. the infantry, and of the domestic troops. The Gothic prince would have subscribed with pleasure the edict, which the fanaticism of Olympius dictated to the simple and devout emperor. Honorius excluded all persons, who were adverse to the Catholic church, from holding any office in the state; obstinately rejected the service of all those who dissented from his religion; and rashly disqualified many of his bravest and most skilful officers, who adhered to the Pagan worship, or who had imbibed the opinions of Arianism.* These measures, so advantageous to an enemy, Alaric would have approved, and might perhaps have suggested; but it may seem doubtful whether the barbarian would have promoted his interest at the expense of the inhuman and absurd cruelty, which was perpetrated by the direction, or at least with the connivance, of the imperial ministers. The foreign auxiliaries, who had been attached to the person of Stilicho, lamented his death; but the desire of revenge was checked by a natural apprehension for the safety of their wives and children; who were detained as hostages in the strong cities of Italy, where they had likewise deposited their most valuable effects. At the same hour, and as if by a common signal, the cities of Italy were polluted by the same horrid scenes of universal massacre and pillage, which involved, in promiscuous destruction, the families and fortunes of the barbarians. Exasperated by such an injury, which might have awakened the tamest and most servile spirit, they cast a look of indignation and hope towards the camp of Alaric, and unanimously swore to pursue with just and implacable war, the perfidious nation that had so basely violated the laws of hospitality. By the imprudent conduct * Eos qui catholicæ sectæ sunt inimici, intra palatium militare prohibemus. Nullus nobis sit aliquâ ratione conjunctus, qui a nobis fide et religione discordat. Cod. Theodos. 1. 16, tit. 5, leg. 42, and Godefroy's Commentary, tom. vi, p. 164. This law was applied in the utmost latitude, and rigorously executed. Zosimus, 1. 5, p. 364. [This is quite at variance with the language, which, in a later part of this chapter, Gibbon represents Honorius as holding to "the brave Gennerid," and with the speedy repeal of this intolerant law, which followed. Neander is more correct in saying that "the necessities of the time and the weakness of the empire did not allow it to be carried into strict execution." (Hist. of Chris. vol. iii, p. 115.) How often in succeeding times have bigotry and fanaticism deprived states of the services of such men as Gennerid !-ED.] A.D. 408.] ALARIC PREPARES TO INVADE ITALY. 395 of the ministers of Honorius, the republic lost the assistance, and deserved the enmity, of thirty thousand of her bravest soldiers; and the weight of that formidable army, which alone might have determined the event of the war, was transferred from the scale of the Romans into that of the Goths. the In the arts of negotiation, as well as in those of war, Gothic king maintained his superior ascendant over an enemy, whose seeming changes proceeded from the total want of counsel and design. From his camp on the confines of Italy, Alaric attentively observed the revolutions of the palace, watched the progress of faction and discontent, disguised the hostile aspect of a barbarian invader, and assumed the more popular appearance of the friend and ally of the great Stilicho; to whose virtues, when they were no longer formidable, he could pay a just tribute of sincere praise and regret. The pressing invitation of the malcontents, who urged the king of the Goths to invade Italy, was enforced by a lively sense of his personal injuries; and he might speciously complain, that the imperial ministers still delayed and eluded the payment of the four thousand pounds of gold; which had been granted by the Roman senate, either to reward his services, or to appease his fury. His decent firmness was supported by an artful moderation, which contributed to the success of his designs. He required a fair and reasonable satisfaction; but he gave the strongest assurances, that as soon as he had obtained it, he would immediately retire. He refused to trust the faith of the Romans, unless Ætius and Jason, the sons of two great officers of state, were sent as hostages to his camp: but he offered to deliver, in exchange, several of the noblest youths of the Gothic nation. The modesty of Alaric was interpreted by the ministers of Ravenna, as a sure evidence of his weakness and fear. They disdained either to negotiate a treaty, or to assemble an army; and, with a rash confidence, derived only from their ignorance of the extreme danger, irretrievably wasted the decisive moments of peace and war. While they expected in sullen silence, that the barbarians should evacuate the confines of Italy, Alaric, with bold and rapid marches, passed the Alps and the Po; hastily pillaged the cities of Aquileia, Altinum, Concordia, |