A.D. 366-384.] DAMASUS BISHOP OF ROME. 91 constrained, by superior violence, to retire into the suburbs. Damasus prevailed: the well-disputed victory remained on the side of his faction: one hundred and thirty-seven dead bodies were found in the Basilica of Sicininus,† where the Christians hold their religious assemblies; and it was long before the angry minds of the people resumed their accustomed tranquillity. When I consider the splendour of the capital, I am not astonished that so valuable a prize should inflame the desires of ambitious men, and produce the fiercest and most obstinate contests. The successful candidate is secure that he will be enriched by the offerings of matrons; that, as soon as his dress is composed with becoming care and elegance, he may proceed in his chariot through the streets of Rome;§ and that the sumptuousness of the imperial table will not equal the profuse and delicate entertainments provided by the taste, and at the expense, of the Roman pontiffs. How much more rationally,' tinues the honest Pagan, "would those pontiffs consult their true happiness, if, instead of alleging the greatness of the city as an excuse for their manners, they would imitate the exemplary life of some provincial bishops, whose temperance and sobriety, whose mean apparel and downcast looks, recommend their pure and modest virtue to the Deity, and his true worshippers." The schism of Damasus con blind the devout eyes of Tillemont. (Mém. Ecclés. tom. viii, p. 386424.) * Jerom himself is forced to allow, crudelissimæ interfectiones diversi sexûs perpetrata (in Chron. p. 186). But an original libel or petition of two presbyters of the adverse party, has unaccountably escaped. They affirm, that the doors of the Basilica were burnt, and that the roof was untiled; that Damasus marched at the head of his own clergy, grave-diggers, charioteers, and hired gladiators; that none of his party were killed, but that one hundred and sixty dead bodies were found. This petition is published by the P. Sirmond, in the first volume of his works. + The Basilica of Sicininus, or Liberius, is probably the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, on the Esquiline hill. Baronius, A.D. 367, No. 3, and Donatus, Roma Antiqua et Nova, lib. 4, c. 3, p. 462. [Neander (Hist. vol. iii, p. 314) says, that the opponent of Damasus was called Ursinus or Urscinus. The scene of this furious onslaught was probably the church, in which he officiated and named after him, so that the Basilica Sicinini may be a mistake or abbreviation of Ursinini.-ED.] The enemies of Damasus styled him Auriscalpius Matronarum, the ladies' ear-scratcher. § Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. 32, p. 526) describes the pride and luxury of the prelates who reigned in the imperial cities; their gilt car, fiery steeds, numerous train, &c. The crowd gave way as to a wild beast. Ammian. 27, 3. Perpetuo Numini, verisque ejus cultoribus. The and Ursinus was extinguished by the exile of the latter; and the wisdom of the prefect Prætextatus* restored the tranquillity of the city. Prætextatus was a philosophic Pagan, a man of learning, of taste, and politeness; who disguised a reproach in the form of a jest, when he assured Damasus, that if he could obtain the bishopric of Rome, he himself would immediately embrace the Christian religion. This lively picture of the wealth and luxury of the popes in the fourth century, becomes the more curious as it represents the intermediate degree between the humble poverty of the apostolic fisherman, and the royal state of a temporal prince, whose dominions extend from the confines of Naples to the banks of the Po. When the suffrage of the generals and of the army committed the sceptre of the Roman empire to the hands of Valentinian, his reputation in arms, his military skill and experience, and his rigid attachment to the forms as well as spirit of ancient discipline, were the principal motives of their judicious choice. The eagerness of the troops, who pressed him to nominate his colleague, was justified by the dangerous situation of public affairs; and Valentinian himself was conscious that the abilities of the most active mind were unequal to the defence of the distant frontiers of an invaded monarchy. As soon as the death of Julian had relieved the barbarians from the terror of his name, the most sanguine hopes of rapine and conquest excited the incomparable pliancy of a Polytheist! [This passage in Ammianus was referred to in a former note (c. 23) as exhibiting some of the traits, by which the Christian hierarchy excited Julian's hatred. The schism of Damasus and Ursinus was a continuation of that which originated in the banishment of Liberius, related by Gibbon before (c. 21) when he refers to other ancient writers, who describe this disgraceful contest for episcopal power.-ED.] * Ammianus who makes a fair report of his prefecture (27, 9), styles him præclare indolis gravitatisque, senator. (22,7, and Vales. ad loc.) A curious inscription (Gruter MCII. No. 2) records, in two columns, his religious and civil honours. In one line he was pontiff of the Sun, and of Vesta, Augur, Quindecemvir, Hierophant, &c. &c. In the other, 1. Quæstor candidatus, more probably titular. 2. Prætor. 3. Corrector of Tuscany and Umbria. 4. Consular of Lusitania. 5. Proconsul of Achaia. 6. Prefect of Rome. 7. Prætorian prefect of Italy. 8. Of Illyricum. 9. Consul elect; but he died before the beginning of the year 385. See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v, p. 241, 736. + Facite me Romanæ urbis episcopum ; et ero protinus Christianus (Jerome, tom. ii, p. 165.) It is more than probable, that Damasus would not have purchased his conversion A.D. 364-375.] GERMANY. 93 nations of the east, of the north, and of the south. Their inroads were often vexatious, and sometimes formidable; but, during the twelve years of the reign of Valentinian, his firmness and vigilance protected his own dominions; and his powerful genius seemed to inspire and direct the feeble councils of his brother. Perhaps the method of annals would more forcibly express the urgent and divided cares of the two emperors; but the attention of the reader, likewise, would be distracted by a tedious and desultory narrative. A separate view of the five great theatres of war: I. Germany; II. Britain; III. Africa; IV. The East; and V. The Danube; will impress a more distinct image of the military state of the empire under the reigns of Valentinian and Valens. I. The ambassadors of the Allemanni had been offended by the harsh and haughty behaviour of Ursacius, master of the offices; who, by an act of unseasonable parsimony, had diminished the value, as well as the quantity, of the presents, to which they were entitled, either from custom or treaty, on the accession of a new emperor. They expressed, and they communicated to their countrymen, their strong sense of the national affront. The irascible minds of the chiefs were exasperated by the suspicion of contempt; and the martial youth crowded to their standard. Before Valentinian could pass the Alps, the villages of Gaul were in flames; before his general Dagalaiphus could encounter the Allemanni, they had secured the captives and the spoil in the forests of Germany. In the beginning of the ensuing year, the military force of the whole nation, in deep and solid columns, broke through the barrier of the Rhine, during the severity of a northern winter. Two Roman counts were defeated and mortally wounded; and the standard of the Heruli and Batavians fell into the hands of the conquerors, who displayed, with insulting shouts and menaces, the trophy of their victory. The standard was recovered; but the Batavians had not redeemed the shame of their disgrace and flight in the eyes of their severe judge. It was the opinion of Valentinian, that his soldiers must learn to fear their commander, before they could cease to fear the enemy. The troops were solemnly assembled; and at such a price. * Ammian. 26, 5. Valesius adds a long and good Lote on the master of the offices. the trembling Batavians were enclosed within the circle of the imperial army. Valentinian then ascended his tribunal; and, as if he disdained to punish cowardice with death, he inflicted a stain of indelible ignominy on the officers, whose misconduct and pusillanimity were found to be the first occasion of the defeat. The Batavians were degraded from their rank, stripped of their arms, and condemned to be sold for slaves to the highest bidder. At this tremendous sentence the troops fell prostrate on the ground, deprecated the indignation of their sovereign, and protested, that, if he would indulge them in another trial, they would approve themselves not unworthy of the name of Romans, and of his soldiers. Valentinian, with affected reluctance, yielded to their entreaties; the Batavians resumed their arms; and, with their arms the invincible resolution of wiping away their disgrace in the blood of the Allemanni.* The principal command was declined by Dagalaiphus; and that experienced general, who had represented, perhaps with too much prudence, the extreme difficulties of the undertaking, had the mortification, before the end of the campaign, of seeing his rival Jovinus convert those difficulties into a decisive advantage over the scattered forces of the barbarians. At the head of a well-disciplined army of cavalry, infantry, and light troops, Jovinus advanced, with cautious and rapid steps, to Scarponna,t in the territory of Metz, where he surprised a large division of the Allemanni, before they had time to run to their arms; and flushed his soldiers with the confidence of an easy and bloodless victory. Another division, or rather army, of the enemy, after the cruel and wanton devastation of the adjacent country, reposed themselves on the shady banks of the Moselle. Jovinus, who had viewed the ground with the eye of a general, made his silent approach through a deep and woody vale, till he could distinctly perceive the indolent security of the Germans. Some were bathing their huge limbs in the river; others were combing their long and flaxen hair; * Ammian. 27, 1, Zosimus, lib. 4, p. 208. The disgrace of the Batavians is suppressed by the contemporary soldier, from a regard for military honour, which could not affect a Greek rhetorician of the succeeding age. + See D'Anville, Notice de l'Ancienne Gaule, p. 587. The name of the Moselle, which is not specified by Ammianus, is clearly understood by Mascou. (Hist. of the ancient Germans, 7, 2.) A.D. 365-366.] OF THE ALLEMANNI. 95 The others again were swallowing large draughts of rich and delicious wine. On a sudden they heard the sound of the Roman trumpet; they saw the enemy in their camp. Astonishment produced disorder; disorder was followed by flight and dismay; and the confused multitude of the bravest warriors was pierced by the swords and javelins of the legionaries and auxiliaries. The fugitives escaped to the third and most considerable camp, in the Catalaunian plains, near Chalons in Champagne: the straggling detachments were hastily recalled to their standard; and the barbarian chiefs, alarmed and admonished by the fate of their companions, prepared to encounter, in a decisive battle, the victorious forces of the lieutenant of Valentinian. The bloody and obstinate conflict lasted a whole summer's day, with equal valour, and with alternate success. Romans at length prevailed, with the loss of about twelve hundred men. Six thousand of the Allemanni were slain, four thousand were wounded; and the brave Jovinus, after chasing the flying remnant of their host as far as the banks of the Rhine, returned to Paris, to receive the applause of his sovereign, and the ensigns of the consulship for the ensuing year. * The triumph of the Romans was indeed sullied by their treatment of the captive king, whom they hung on a gibbet without the knowledge of their indignant general. This disgraceful act of cruelty, which might be imputed to the fury of the troops, was followed by the deliberate murder of Withicab, the son of Vadomair; a German prince, of a weak and sickly constitution, but of a daring and formidable spirit. The domestic assassin was instigated and protected by the Romans ;† and the violation of the laws of humanity and justice betrayed their secret apprehension of the weakness of the declining empire. The use of the dagger is seldom adopted in public councils, as long as they retain any confidence in the power of the sword. While the Allemanni appeared to be humbled by their recent calamities, the pride of Valentinian was mortified by the unexpected surprisal of Moguntiacum or Mentz, the principal city of the Upper Germany. In the unsuspicious * The battles are described by Ammianus (27, 2), and by Zosimus (lib. 4, p. 209), who supposes Valentinian to have been present. + Studio solicitante nostrorum, occubuit. Ammian. 27, 10. |