CHAP. within a period of about one hundred and thirty years, XVII from the accession of Constantine to the publication of Hierarchy of the state. the Theodosian code"; from which, as well as from the Notitia of the east and west, we derive the most copious and authentic information of the state of the empire. This variety of objects will suspend, for some time, the course of the narrative; but the interruption will be censured only by those readers who are insensible to the importance of laws and manners, while they peruse, with eager curiosity, the transient intrigues of a court, or the accidental event of a battle. The manly pride of the Romans, content with substantial power, had left to the vanity of the east the forms and ceremonies of ostentatious greatness73. But when they lost even the semblance of those virtues which were derived from their ancient freedom, the simplicity of Roman manners was insensibly corrupted by the stately affectation of the courts of Asia.The distinctions of personal merit and influence, so conspicuous in a republic, so feeble and obscure under a monarchy, were abolished by the despotism of the emperors; who substituted in their room a severe subordination of rank and office, from the titled slaves who were seated on the steps of the throne, to the meanest instruments of arbitrary power. The multitude of abject dependents was interested in the support of the actual government, from the dread of a revolution, which might at once confound their hopes, and intercept the reward of their services. In this divine hierarchy (for such it is frequently styled), 71 The Theodosian code was promulgated, A. D. 438. See the Prolegomena of Godefroy, c. i. p. 185. 72 Pancirolus, in his elaborate Commentary, assigns to the Notitia a date almost similar to that of the Theodosian code; but his proofs, or rather conjectures, are extremely feeble. I should be rather inclined to place this useful work between the final division of the empire (A. D. 395) and the successful invasion of Gaul by the Barbarians (A. D. 407). See Histoire des Anciens Peuples de l'Europe, tom. vii. p. 40. 73 Scilicet externæ superbiæ sueto, non inerat notitia nostri (perhaps nostræ ); apud quos vis Imperii valet, inania transmittuntur. Tacit. Annal. xv. 31. The gradation from the style of freedom and simplicity, to that of form and servitude, may be traced in the epistles of Cicero, of Pliny, and of Symmachus. XVII. every rank was marked with the most scrupulous ex- CHAP. actness, and its dignity was displayed in a variety of trifling and solemn ceremonies, which it was a study to learn, and a sacrilege to neglect. The purity of the Latin language was debased, by adopting, in the intercourse of pride and flattery, a profusion of epithets, which Tully would scarcely have understood, and which Augustus would have rejected with indignation. The principal officers of the empire were salated, even by the sovereign himself, with the deceitful titles of your Sincerity, your Gravity, your Excellency, your Eminency, your sublime and wonderful Magnitude, your illustrious and magnificent Highness. The codicils or patents of their office were curiously emblazoned with such emblems as were best adapted to explain its nature and high diguity; the image or portrait of the reigning emperors; a triumphal car; the book of mandates placed on a table, covered with a rich carpet, and illuminated by four tapers; the allegorical figures of the provinces which they governed; or the appellations and standards of the troops whom they commanded. Some of these official ensigns were really exhibited in their hall of audience; others preceded their pompous march whenever they appeared in public; and every circumstance of their demeanour, their dress, their ornaments, and their train, was calculated to inspire a deep reverence for the representatives of supreme majesty. By a philosophic observer, the system of the Roman government might have been mistaken for a splendid theatre, filled with players of every character and degree, who repeated the language, and imitated the passions of their original model. 74 The emperor Gratian, after confirming a law of precedency publish. ed by Valentinian, the father of his Divinity, thus continues: Siquis igitur indebitum sibi locum usurpavit, nulla se ignoratione defendat; sitque plane sacrilegii reus, qui divina præcepta neglexerit. Cod. Theod. 1. vi. tit. v. leg. 2. 75 Consult the Notitia Dignitatum, at the end of the Theodosian Code, tom. vi. p. 316. 76 Pancirolus ad Notitiam utriusque Imperii, p. 39. But his explanations are obscure, and he does not sufficiently distinguish the painted emblems from the effective ensigns of office. CHAP. Three All the magistrates of sufficient importance to find a place in the general state of the empire, were accurately divided into three classes. 1. The Illustrious. 2. ranks of The Spectabiles, or Respectable: And, 3. The Clarishonour. simi; whom we may translate by the word Honourable. In the times of Roman simplicity, the last-mentioned epithet was used only as a vague expression of deference, till it became at length the peculiar and appropriated title of all who were members of the senate", and consequently of all who, from that venerable body, were selected to govern the provinces. The vanity of those who, from their rank and office, might claim a superior distinction above the rest of the senatorial order, was long afterwards indulged with the new appellation of Respectable: but the title of Illustrious was always reserved to some eminent personages who were obeyed or reverenced by the two subordinate classes. It was communicated only, I. To the consuls and patricians; II. To the prætorian præfects, with the præfects of Rome and Constantinople; III. To the masters general of the cavalry and the infantry; and, IV. To the seven ministers of the palace, who exercised their sacred functions about the person of the emperor. Among those illustrious magistrates who were esteemed co-ordinate with each other, the seniority of appointment gave place to the union of dignities. By the expedient of honorary codicils, the emperors, who were fond of multiplying their favours, might sometimes gratify the vanity, though not the ambition of impatient courtiers. The con suls. I. As long as the Roman consuls were the first magistrates of a free state, they derived their right to power from the choice of the people. As long as the emperors condescended to disguise the servitude which 77 In the Pandects, which may be referred to the reigns of the Antonines, Clarissimus is the ordinary and legal title of a senator. 78 Pancirol. p. 12-17. I have not taken any notice of the two inferior ranks, Perfectissimus and Egregius, which were given to many persons, who were not raised to the senatorial dignity. 79 Cod. Theodos. 1. vi. tit. vi. The rules of prece lency are ascertained with the most minute accuracy by the emperors, and illustrated with equal prolixity by their learned interpreter. 80 Cod. Theod. 1. vi. tit. xxii. XVII. they imposed, the consuls were still elected by the real CHAP. or apparent suffrage of the senate. From the reign of Diocletian, even these vestiges of liberty were abolished, and the successful candidates who were invested with the annual honours of the consulship, affected to deplore the humiliating condition of their predecessors. The Scipios and the Catos had been reduced to solicit the votes of plebeians, to pass through the tedious and expensive forms of a popular election, and to expose their dignity to the shame of a public refusal; while their own happier fate had reserved them for an age and government in which the rewards of virtue were assigned by the unerring wisdom of a gracious sovereign. In the epistles which the emperor addressed to the two consuls elect, it was declared, that they were created by his sole authority. Their names and portraits, engraved on guilt tablets of ivory, were dispersed over the empire as presents to the provinces, the cities, the magistrates, the senate, and the peoples. Their solemn inauguration was performed at the place of the Imperial residence; and, during a period of one hundred and twenty years, Rome was constantly deprived of the presence of her ancient magistrates. On the morning of the first of January, the consuls assum 81 Ausonius (in Gratiarum Actione) basely expatiates on this unworthy topic, which is managed by Mamertinus( Panegyr. Vet. xi. 16. 19.) with somewhat more freedom and ingenuity. 82 Cum de Consulibus in annum creandis, solus mecum volutarem.te Consulem et designavi, et declaravi, et priorem nuncupavi: are some of the expressions employed by the emperor Gratian to his præceptor the poet Ausonius. 83 Immanesque.-dentes Qui secti ferro in tabulas auroque micantes, Per proceres et vulgus eant. Claud. in ii. Cons. Stilichon. 456. Montfaucon has represented some of these tablets or dypticks; see Sup- Pallanteus apex: agnoscunt rostra curules Claudian in vi. Cons. Honorii. 643. From the reign of Carus to the sixth consulship of Honorius, there was an interval of one hundred and twenty years, during which the emperors were always absent from Rome on the first day of January. See the Chronoligie de Tillemont, tom. iii. iv. and v. CHAP. ed the ensigns of their dignity. Their dress was a robe XVII. of purple, embroidered in silk and gold, and sometimes ornamented with costly gems. On this solemn occasion they were attended by the most eminent officers of the state and army, in the habit of senators; and the useless fasces, armed with the once formidable axes, were borne before them by the lictors. The procession moved from the palaces to the Forum, or principal square of the city; where the consuls ascended their tribunal, and seated themselves in the curule chairs, which were framed after the fashion of ancient times. They immediately exercised an act of jurisdiction, by the manumission of a slave, who was brought before them for that purpose; and the ceremony was intended to represent the celebrated action of the elder Brutus, the author of liberty and of the consulship, when he admitted among his fellow-citizens the faithful Vindex, who had revealed the conspiracy of the Tarquins. The public festival was continued during several days in all the principal cities; in Rome, from custom; in Constantinople, from imitation; in Carthage, Antioch, and Alexandria, from the love of pleasure and the superfluity of wealth. In the two capitals of the empire the annual games of 85 See Claudian in Cons. Prob. et Olybrii 178, &c. and in iv. Cons. IIonorii, 585, &c.; though in the latter it is not easy to separate the ornaments of the emperor from those of the consul. Ausonius received, from the liberality of Gratian, a vestis palmata, or robe of state, in which the figure of the emperor Constantius was embroidered. 86 Cernis et armorum proceres legumque potentes : Claud. in iv. Cons. Honorii, 5. strictasque procul radiare secures. 87 See Valesius ad Ammian. Marcellin. I. xxii. c. 7. Claudian in iv Cons. Honorii, 611. 89 Celebrant quidem solemnes istos dies, omnes ubique urbes quæ sub |
