VII. CHAP. tues of Maximin were thrown down; the capital of the empire acknowledged with transport, the authority of the two Gordians and the senate24; and the example of Rome was followed by the rest of Italy. and prepares for a civil war. Defeat and the two A new spirit had arisen in that assembly, whose long patience had been insulted by wanton despotism and military license. 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 despatched 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, andthe 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 25. For while the cause of the Gordians was embraced death of with such diffusive ardour, the Gordians themselves Gordians, were no more. The feeble court of Carthage was A. D. 237, alarmed with the rapid approach of Capelianus, governor of Mauritania, who, with a small band of vete 3d July. 24 Herodian, I. vii. p. 244. 25 Herodian, 1. vii. p. 247. 1. viii. p. 277. Hist. August. p. 156-158. VII. rans, and a fierce host of barbarians, attacked a faith- CHAP. ful 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 treasure26. Maximus 9th July. The fate of the Gordians filled Rome with just, but Election of unexpected terror. The senate convoked in the tem- and Balbiple of Concord, affected to transact the common busi- nus, by the ness of the day; and seemed to decline, with trem- senate. bling anxiety, the consideration of their own, and the public danger. A silent consternation prevailed on the assembly, till a senator, of 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 bravely 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 pub"lic enemy, whilst his colleague remains at Rome to 66 26 Herodian, 1. vii. p. 254. Hist. August. p. 150-160. We may ob. serve, that one month and six days, for the reign of Gordian, is a just cor rection of Casaubon and Panvinius, instead of the absurd reading of one year and six months. See Commentar. p. 193 Zosimus relates, I. i. 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! VOL. I. Dd VII. racters. 66 CHAP. 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 jealou sy; the merit of the candidates was universally ac knowledged; and the house resounded with the sincere acclamations, of "long life and victory to the em perors Maximus and Balbinus. You are happy in the judgment of the senate; may the republic be "happy under your administration27!" Their cha- 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 noble28, his fortune affluent, his manners liberal and affable. In him, the love of pleasure was corrected by a sense of dignity, nor had the habits of ease 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 Præfect of the city, commanded the esteem of a people, whose affections were engaged 27 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. 28 He was descended from Cornelius Balbus, a noble Spaniard, and the adopted son of Theophanes the 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 wom he rendered the most important secret services in the civil war) raised him to the consulship and the pontificate honours, never yet possessed by & 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. n The two CHAP. in favour of the more amiable Balbinus. VII. Rome. dian is de After the senate had conferred on Maximus and Tumult at Balbinus an equal portion of the consular and tribuni- The yountian power, the title of Fathers of their country, and ger Gorthe joint office of Supreme Pontiff, they ascended to clared Cxthe Capitol, to return thanks to the gods, protectors of sar. Rome 30. 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 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 youth 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 29 Zonarus, 1. xii. p. 622. But little dependence is to be 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. 30 Herodian, 1. vii. p. 256, supposes that the senate was at first convok. ed in the Capitol, and is very eloquent on the occasion. The Augustan History, p. 116, seems much more authentic. t CHAP. Rome, prepared to defend Italy against the common VII. Maximin enemy. Whilst in Rome and Africa revolutions succeeded prepares each other with such amazing rapidity, the mind of to attack Maximin was agitated by the most furious passions. and their He is said to have received the news of the rebellion emperors. of the Gordians, and of the decree of the senate the senate against him, not with the temper of a man, but the 31 In Herodian, 1. vii. 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 they neither agree with each other, nor with truth. Histoire des Empereurs, tome iii. p. 799. 32 The carelessness of the writers of that age leaves us in a singular |