VII. His portrait. CHAP. of their heads, borne on the point of fpears, convinced the citizens of Aquileia, that the fiege was at an end; the gates of the city were thrown open, a liberal market was provided for the hungry troops of Maximin, and the whole army joined in folemn protestations of fidelity to the fenate and the people of Rome, and to their lawful Emperors Maximus and Balbinus. Such was the deferved fate of a brutal favage, deftitute, as he has generally been reprefented, of every fentiment that distinguishes a civilized, or even a human being. The body was fuited to the foul. The ftature of Maximin exceeded the measure of eight feet, and circumstances almoft incredible are related of his matchlefs ftrength and appetite ". Had he lived in a lefs enlightened age, tradition and poetry might well have defcribed him as one of thofe monftrous giants, whofe fupernatural power was conftantly exerted for the deftruction of mankind. Joy of the Roman world. 37 It is easier to conceive than to defcribe the univerfal joy of the Roman world on the fall of the tyrant, the news of which is faid to have been carried in four days from Aquileia to Rome. The return of Maximus was a triumphal procef 37 Eight Roman feet and one third, which are equal to above eight English feet, as the two measures are to each other in the proportion of 967 to 1000. See Graves's discourse on the Roman foot. We are told that Maximin could drink in a day an amphora (or about seven gallons) of wine, and eat thirty or forty pounds of `meat. He could move a loaded waggon, break a horfe's leg with his fift, crumble ftones in his hand, and tear up fmall trees by the roots. See his life in the Auguftan History. VII. fion, his colleague and young Gordian went out CHA P. to meet him, and the three princes made their entry into the capital, attended by the ambaffadors of almost all the cities of Italy, faluted with the fplendid offerings of gratitude and fuperftition, and received with the unfeigned acclamations of the fenate and people, who perfuaded themselves that a golden age would fucceed to an age of iron 38. The conduct of the two Emperors correfponded with thefe expectations. They administered juftice in perfon; and the rigour of the one was tempered by the other's clemency. The oppreffive taxes with which Maximin had loaded the rights of inheritance and fucceflion, were repealed, or at least moderated. Difcipline was revived, and with the advice of the fenate many wife laws were enacted by their Imperial minifters, who endeavoured to reftore a civil conftitution on the ruins of military tyranny. "What re"ward may we expect for delivering Rome "from a monfter?" was the question asked by Maximus, in a moment of freedom and confidence. Balbinus anfwered it without hesitation, "The love of the fenate, of the people, "and of all mankind." "Alas!" replied his more penetrating colleague, "Alas! I dread "the hatred of the foldiers, and the fatal effects "of their refentment 39. His apprehenfions were but too well juftified by the event. 38 See the congratulatory letter of Claudius Julianus the conful, to the two Emperors, in the Augustan History. 29 Hist. Auguft. p. 171. Whilft CHA P. Rome. Whilft Maximus was preparing to defend Italy against the common foe, Balbinus, who remained Sedition at at Rome, had been engaged in fcenes of blood and inteftine difcord. Diftruft and jealoufy reigned in the fenate; and even in the temples where they affembled, every fenator carried either open or concealed arms. In the midst of their deliberations, two veterans of the guards, actuated either by curiofity or a finifter motive, audaciously thruft themselves into the house, and advanced by degrees beyond the altar of Victory. Gallicanus, a confular, and Mæcenas, a Prætorian fenator, viewed with indignation their infolent intrufion; drawing their daggers, they laid the spies, for fuch they deemed them, dead at the foot of the altar, and then advancing to the door of the fenate, imprudently exhorted the multitude to maffacre the Prætorians, as the fecret adherents of the tyrant. Thofe who efcaped the firft fury of the tumult took refuge in the camp, which they defended with fuperior advantage against the reiterated attacks of the people, affifted by the numerous bands of gladiators, the property of opulent nobles. The civil war lafted many days, with infinite lofs and confufion on both fides. When the pipes were broken that fupplied the camp with water, the Prætorians were reduced to intolerable diftrefs ; but in their turn they made defperate fallies into the city, fet fire to a great number of houses, and filled the streets with the blood of the inhabitants. The Emperor Balbinus attempted, by ineffectual edicts and precarious truces, to recon VII. cile the factions at Rome. But their animofity, CHA P. though fmothered for a while, burnt with redoubled violence. The foldiers, detefting the fenate and the people, defpifed the weakness of a prince, who wanted either the fpirit or the power to command the obedience of his fubjects. torian After the tyrant's death, his formidable army Discontent had acknowledged, from neceffity rather than of the Prefrom choice, the authority of Maximus, who guards. tranfported himself without delay to the camp before Aquileia. As foon as he had received their oath of fidelity, he addreffed them in terms full of mildness and moderation; lamented, rather than arraigned, the wild diforders of the times, and affured the foldiers, that of all their past conduct, the fenate would remember only their generous defertion of the tyrant, and their voluntary return to their duty. Maximus enforced his exhortations by a liberal donative, purified the camp by a folemn facrifice of expiation, and then difmiffed the legions to their feveral provinces, impreffed, as he hoped, with a lively fenfe of gratitude and obedience". But nothing could reconcile the haughty spirit of the Prætorians. They attended the Emperors on the memorable day of their public entry into Rome; but amidst the general acclamations, the fullen dejected countenance of the guards fufficiently declared that they confidered themselves as the object, rather than the partners, of the triumph. When the whole body was united in their camp, 4• Herodian, 1. viii. p. 258. 41 Herodian, l. viii. p. 213. VII. CHA P. those who had ferved under Maximin, and those who had remained at Rome, infenfibly communicated to each other their complaints and apprehenfions. The Emperors chofen by the army had perished with ignominy; thofe elected by the fenate were feated on the throne 42. The long difcord between the civil and military powers was decided by a war, in which the former had obtained a complete victory. The foldiers must now learn a new doctrine of fubmiffion to the fenate; and whatever clemency was affected by that politic affembly, they dreaded a flow revenge, coloured by the name of difcipline, and juftified by fair pretences of the public good. But their fate was ftill in their own hands; and if they had courage to defpife the vain terrors of an impotent republic, it was eafy to convince the world, that those who were mafters of the arms, were mafters of the authority, of the state. Maffacre of Maximus nus. When the fenate elected two princes, it is and Balbi- probable that, befides the declared reason of providing for the various emergencies of peace and war, they were actuated by the fecret defire of weakening by divifion the defpotifm of the fupreme magiftrate. Their policy was effectual, but it proved fatal both to their Emperors and to themselves. The jealoufy of power was foon exafperated by the difference of character. Maximus despised Balbinus as a luxurious noble, and was in his turn difdained by his colleague as an 42 The obfervation had been made imprudently enough in the acclamations of the fenate, and with regard to the foldiers it carried the appearance of a wanton infult. Hift. Auguft. p. 170. obfcure |