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The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

E >> Edward Gibbon >> The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire




[Footnote 5: Sublatus nuper a pecoribus et silvis (says
Lactantius de M. P. c. 19) statim Scutarius, continuo Protector,
mox Tribunus, postridie Caesar, accepit Orientem. Aurelius
Victor is too liberal in giving him the whole portion of
Diocletian.]
[Footnote 6: His diligence and fidelity are acknowledged even by
Lactantius, de M. P. c. 18.]

[Footnote 7: These schemes, however, rest only on the very
doubtful authority of Lactantius de M. P. c. 20.]

But within less than eighteen months, two unexpected
revolutions overturned the ambitious schemes of Galerius. The
hopes of uniting the western provinces to his empire were
disappointed by the elevation of Constantine, whilst Italy and
Africa were lost by the successful revolt of Maxentius.

I. The fame of Constantine has rendered posterity attentive
to the most minute circumstances of his life and actions. The
place of his birth, as well as the condition of his mother
Helena, have been the subject, not only of literary, but of
national disputes. Notwithstanding the recent tradition, which
assigns for her father a British king, ^8 we are obliged to
confess, that Helena was the daughter of an innkeeper; but at the
same time, we may defend the legality of her marriage, against
those who have represented her as the concubine of Constantius.
^9 The great Constantine was most probably born at Naissus, in
Dacia; ^10 and it is not surprising that, in a family and
province distinguished only by the profession of arms, the youth
should discover very little inclination to improve his mind by
the acquisition of knowledge. ^11 He was about eighteen years of
age when his father was promoted to the rank of Caesar; but that
fortunate event was attended with his mother's divorce; and the
splendor of an Imperial alliance reduced the son of Helena to a
state of disgrace and humiliation. Instead of following
Constantius in the West, he remained in the service of
Diocletian, signalized his valor in the wars of Egypt and Persia,
and gradually rose to the honorable station of a tribune of the
first order. The figure of Constantine was tall and majestic; he
was dexterous in all his exercises, intrepid in war, affable in
peace; in his whole conduct, the active spirit of youth was
tempered by habitual prudence; and while his mind was engrossed
by ambition, he appeared cold and insensible to the allurements
of pleasure. The favor of the people and soldiers, who had named
him as a worthy candidate for the rank of Caesar, served only to
exasperate the jealousy of Galerius; and though prudence might
restrain him from exercising any open violence, an absolute
monarch is seldom at a loss now to execute a sure and secret
evenge. ^12 Every hour increased the danger of Constantine, and
the anxiety of his father, who, by repeated letters, expressed
the warmest desire of embracing his son. For some time the
policy of Galerius supplied him with delays and excuses; but it
was impossible long to refuse so natural a request of his
associate, without maintaining his refusal by arms. The
permission of the journey was reluctantly granted, and whatever
precautions the emperor might have taken to intercept a return,
the consequences of which he, with so much reason, apprehended,
they were effectually disappointed by the incredible diligence of
Constantine. ^13 Leaving the palace of Nicomedia in the night, he
travelled post through Bithynia, Thrace, Dacia, Pannonia, Italy,
and Gaul, and, amidst the joyful acclamations of the people,
reached the port of Boulogne in the very moment when his father
was preparing to embark for Britain. ^14

[Footnote 8: This tradition, unknown to the contemporaries of
Constantine was invented in the darkness of monestaries, was
embellished by Jeffrey of Monmouth, and the writers of the xiith
century, has been defended by our antiquarians of the last age,
and is seriously related in the ponderous History of England,
compiled by Mr. Carte, (vol. i. p. 147.) He transports, however,
the kingdom of Coil, the imaginary father of Helena, from Essex
to the wall of Antoninus.]

[Footnote 9: Eutropius (x. 2) expresses, in a few words, the real
truth, and the occasion of the error "ex obscuriori matrimonio
ejus filius." Zosimus (l. ii. p. 78) eagerly seized the most
unfavorable report, and is followed by Orosius, (vii. 25,) whose
authority is oddly enough overlooked by the indefatigable, but
partial Tillemont. By insisting on the divorce of Helena,
Diocletian acknowledged her marriage.]

[Footnote 10: There are three opinions with regard to the place
of Constantine's birth. 1. Our English antiquarians were used to
dwell with rapture on the words of his panegyrist, "Britannias
illic oriendo nobiles fecisti." But this celebrated passage may
be referred with as much propriety to the accession, as to the
nativity of Constantine. 2. Some of the modern Greeks have
ascribed the honor of his birth to Drepanum, a town on the Gulf
of Nicomedia, (Cellarius, tom. ii. p. 174,) which Constantine
dignified with the name of Helenopolis, and Justinian adorned
with many splendid buildings, (Procop. de Edificiis, v. 2.) It is
indeed probable enough, that Helena's father kept an inn at
Drepanum, and that Constantius might lodge there when he returned
from a Persian embassy, in the reign of Aurelian. But in the
wandering life of a soldier, the place of his marriage, and the
places where his children are born, have very little connection
with each other. 3. The claim of Naissus is supported by the
anonymous writer, published at the end of Ammianus, p. 710, and
who in general copied very good materials; and it is confirmed by
Julius Firmicus, (de Astrologia, l. i. c. 4,) who flourished
under the reign of Constantine himself. Some objections have
been raised against the integrity of the text, and the
application of the passage of Firmicus but the former is
established by the best Mss., and the latter is very ably
defended by Lipsius de Magnitudine Romana, l. iv. c. 11, et
Supplement.]

[Footnote 11: Literis minus instructus. Anonym. ad Ammian. p.
710.]
[Footnote 12: Galerius, or perhaps his own courage, exposed him
to single combat with a Sarmatian, (Anonym. p. 710,) and with a
monstrous lion. See Praxagoras apud Photium, p. 63. Praxagoras,
an Athenian philosopher, had written a life of Constantine in two
books, which are now lost. He was a contemporary.]

[Footnote 13: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 78, 79. Lactantius de M. P. c.
24. The former tells a very foolish story, that Constantine
caused all the post- horses which he had used to be hamstrung.
Such a bloody execution, without preventing a pursuit, would have
scattered suspicions, and might have stopped his journey.

Note: Zosimus is not the only writer who tells this story.
The younger Victor confirms it. Ad frustrandos insequentes,
publica jumenta, quaqua iter ageret, interficiens. Aurelius
Victor de Caesar says the same thing, G. as also the Anonymus
Valesii. - M.

Manso, (Leben Constantins,) p. 18, observes that the story
has been exaggerated; he took this precaution during the first
stage of his journey. - M.]

[Footnote 14: Anonym. p. 710. Panegyr. Veter. vii. 4. But
Zosimus, l. ii. p. 79, Eusebius de Vit. Constant. l. i. c. 21,
and Lactantius de M. P. c. 24. suppose, with less accuracy, that
he found his father on his death-bed.]
The British expedition, and an easy victory over the
barbarians of Caledonia, were the last exploits of the reign of
Constantius. He ended his life in the Imperial palace of York,
fifteen months after he had received the title of Augustus, and
almost fourteen years and a half after he had been promoted to
the rank of Caesar. His death was immediately succeeded by the
elevation of Constantine. The ideas of inheritance and
succession are so very familiar, that the generality of mankind
consider them as founded, not only in reason, but in nature
itself. Our imagination readily transfers the same principles
from private property to public dominion: and whenever a virtuous
father leaves behind him a son whose merit seems to justify the
esteem, or even the hopes, of the people, the joint influence of
prejudice and of affection operates with irresistible weight.
The flower of the western armies had followed Constantius into
Britain, and the national troops were reenforced by a numerous
body of Alemanni, who obeyed the orders of Crocus, one of their
hereditary chieftains. ^15 The opinion of their own importance,
and the assurance that Britain, Gaul, and Spain would acquiesce
in their nomination, were diligently inculcated to the legions by
the adherents of Constantine. The soldiers were asked, whether
they could hesitate a moment between the honor of placing at
their head the worthy son of their beloved emperor, and the
ignominy of tamely expecting the arrival of some obscure
stranger, on whom it might please the sovereign of Asia to bestow
the armies and provinces of the West. It was insinuated to them,
that gratitude and liberality held a distinguished place among
the virtues of Constantine; nor did that artful prince show
himself to the troops, till they were prepared to salute him with
the names of Augustus and Emperor. The throne was the object of
his desires; and had he been less actuated by ambition, it was
his only means of safety. He was well acquainted with the
character and sentiments of Galerius, and sufficiently apprised,
that if he wished to live he must determine to reign. The decent
and even obstinate resistance which he chose to affect, ^16 was
contrived to justify his usurpation; nor did he yield to the
acclamations of the army, till he had provided the proper
materials for a letter, which he immediately despatched to the
emperor of the East. Constantine informed him of the melancholy
event of his father's death, modestly asserted his natural claim
to the succession, and respectfully lamented, that the
affectionate violence of his troops had not permitted him to
solicit the Imperial purple in the regular and constitutional
manner. The first emotions of Galerius were those of surprise,
disappointment, and rage; and as he could seldom restrain his
passions, he loudly threatened, that he would commit to the
flames both the letter and the messenger. But his resentment
insensibly subsided; and when he recollected the doubtful chance
of war, when he had weighed the character and strength of his
adversary, he consented to embrace the honorable accommodation
which the prudence of Constantine had left open to him. Without
either condemning or ratifying the choice of the British army,
Galerius accepted the son of his deceased colleague as the
sovereign of the provinces beyond the Alps; but he gave him only
the title of Caesar, and the fourth rank among the Roman princes,
whilst he conferred the vacant place of Augustus on his favorite
Severus. The apparent harmony of the empire was still preserved,
and Constantine, who already possessed the substance, expected,
without impatience, an opportunity of obtaining the honors, of
supreme power. ^17

[Footnote 15: Cunctis qui aderant, annitentibus, sed praecipue
Croco (alii Eroco) [Erich?] Alamannorum Rege, auxilii gratia
Constantium comitato, imperium capit. Victor Junior, c. 41.
This is perhaps the first instance of a barbarian king, who
assisted the Roman arms with an independent body of his own
subjects. The practice grew familiar and at last became fatal.]
[Footnote 16: His panegyrist Eumenius (vii. 8) ventures to affirm
in the presence of Constantine, that he put spurs to his horse,
and tried, but in vain, to escape from the hands of his
soldiers.]

[Footnote 17: Lactantius de M. P. c. 25. Eumenius (vii. 8.)
gives a rhetorical turn to the whole transaction.]

The children of Constantius by his second marriage were six
in number, three of either sex, and whose Imperial descent might
have solicited a preference over the meaner extraction of the son
of Helena. But Constantine was in the thirty-second year of his
age, in the full vigor both of mind and body, at the time when
the eldest of his brothers could not possibly be more than
thirteen years old. His claim of superior merit had been allowed
and ratified by the dying emperor. ^18 In his last moments
Constantius bequeathed to his eldest son the care of the safety
as well as greatness of the family; conjuring him to assume both
the authority and the sentiments of a father with regard to the
children of Theodora. Their liberal education, advantageous
marriages, the secure dignity of their lives, and the first
honors of the state with which they were invested, attest the
fraternal affection of Constantine; and as those princes
possessed a mild and grateful disposition, they submitted without
reluctance to the superiority of his genius and fortune. ^19

[Footnote 18: The choice of Constantine, by his dying father,
which is warranted by reason, and insinuated by Eumenius, seems
to be confirmed by the most unexceptionable authority, the
concurring evidence of Lactantius (de M. P. c. 24) and of
Libanius, (Oratio i.,) of Eusebius (in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c.
18, 21) and of Julian, (Oratio i)]

[Footnote 19: Of the three sisters of Constantine, Constantia
married the emperor Licinius, Anastasia the Caesar Bassianus, and
Eutropia the consul Nepotianus. The three brothers were,
Dalmatius, Julius Constantius, and Annibalianus, of whom we shall
have occasion to speak hereafter.]
II. The ambitious spirit of Galerius was scarcely
reconciled to the disappointment of his views upon the Gallic
provinces, before the unexpected loss of Italy wounded his pride
as well as power in a still more sensible part. The long absence
of the emperors had filled Rome with discontent and indignation;
and the people gradually discovered, that the preference given to
Nicomedia and Milan was not to be ascribed to the particular
inclination of Diocletian, but to the permanent form of
government which he had instituted. It was in vain that, a few
months after his abdication, his successors dedicated, under his
name, those magnificent baths, whose ruins still supply the
ground as well as the materials for so many churches and
convents. ^20 The tranquility of those elegant recesses of ease
and luxury was disturbed by the impatient murmurs of the Romans,
and a report was insensibly circulated, that the sums expended in
erecting those buildings would soon be required at their hands.
About that time the avarice of Galerius, or perhaps the
exigencies of the state, had induced him to make a very strict
and rigorous inquisition into the property of his subjects, for
the purpose of a general taxation, both on their lands and on
their persons. A very minute survey appears to have been taken of
their real estates; and wherever there was the slightest
suspicion of concealment, torture was very freely employed to
obtain a sincere declaration of their personal wealth. ^21 The
privileges which had exalted Italy above the rank of the
provinces were no longer regarded: ^* and the officers of the
revenue already began to number the Roman people, and to settle
the proportion of the new taxes. Even when the spirit of freedom
had been utterly extinguished, the tamest subjects have sometimes
ventured to resist an unprecedented invasion of their property;
but on this occasion the injury was aggravated by the insult, and
the sense of private interest was quickened by that of national
honor. The conquest of Macedonia, as we have already observed,
had delivered the Roman people from the weight of personal taxes.

Though they had experienced every form of despotism, they had now
enjoyed that exemption near five hundred years; nor could they
patiently brook the insolence of an Illyrian peasant, who, from
his distant residence in Asia, presumed to number Rome among the
tributary cities of his empire. The rising fury of the people
was encouraged by the authority, or at least the connivance, of
the senate; and the feeble remains of the Praetorian guards, who
had reason to apprehend their own dissolution, embraced so
honorable a pretence, and declared their readiness to draw their
swords in the service of their oppressed country. It was the
wish, and it soon became the hope, of every citizen, that after
expelling from Italy their foreign tyrants, they should elect a
prince who, by the place of his residence, and by his maxims of
government, might once more deserve the title of Roman emperor.
The name, as well as the situation, of Maxentius determined in
his favor the popular enthusiasm.

[Footnote 20: See Gruter. Inscrip. p. 178. The six princes are
all mentioned, Diocletian and Maximian as the senior Augusti, and
fathers of the emperors. They jointly dedicate, for the use of
their own Romans, this magnificent edifice. The architects have
delineated the ruins of these Thermoe, and the antiquarians,
particularly Donatus and Nardini, have ascertained the ground
which they covered. One of the great rooms is now the Carthusian
church; and even one of the porter's lodges is sufficient to form
another church, which belongs to the Feuillans.]

[Footnote 21: See Lactantius de M. P. c. 26, 31. ]

[Footnote *: Saviguy, in his memoir on Roman taxation, (Mem.
Berl. Academ. 1822, 1823, p. 5,) dates from this period the
abolition of the Jus Italicum. He quotes a remarkable passage of
Aurelius Victor. Hinc denique parti Italiae invec tum tributorum
ingens malum. Aur. Vict. c. 39. It was a necessary consequence
of the division of the empire: it became impossible to maintain a
second court and executive, and leave so large and fruitful a
part of the territory exempt from contribution. - M.]

Maxentius was the son of the emperor Maximian, and he had
married the daughter of Galerius. His birth and alliance seemed
to offer him the fairest promise of succeeding to the empire; but
his vices and incapacity procured him the same exclusion from the
dignity of Caesar, which Constantine had deserved by a dangerous
superiority of merit. The policy of Galerius preferred such
associates as would never disgrace the choice, nor dispute the
commands, of their benefactor. An obscure stranger was therefore
raised to the throne of Italy, and the son of the late emperor of
the West was left to enjoy the luxury of a private fortune in a
villa a few miles distant from the capital. The gloomy passions
of his soul, shame, vexation, and rage, were inflamed by envy on
the news of Constantine's success; but the hopes of Maxentius
revived with the public discontent, and he was easily persuaded
to unite his personal injury and pretensions with the cause of
the Roman people. Two Praetorian tribunes and a commissary of
provisions undertook the management of the conspiracy; and as
every order of men was actuated by the same spirit, the immediate
event was neither doubtful nor difficult. The praefect of the
city, and a few magistrates, who maintained their fidelity to
Severus, were massacred by the guards; and Maxentius, invested
with the Imperial ornaments, was acknowledged by the applauding
senate and people as the protector of the Roman freedom and
dignity. It is uncertain whether Maximian was previously
acquainted with the conspiracy; but as soon as the standard of
rebellion was erected at Rome, the old emperor broke from the
retirement where the authority of Diocletian had condemned him to
pass a life of melancholy and solitude, and concealed his
returning ambition under the disguise of paternal tenderness. At
the request of his son and of the senate, he condescended to
reassume the purple. His ancient dignity, his experience, and
his fame in arms, added strength as well as reputation to the
party of Maxentius. ^22

[Footnote 22: The sixth Panegyric represents the conduct of
Maximian in the most favorable light, and the ambiguous
expression of Aurelius Victor, "retractante diu," may signify
either that he contrived, or that he opposed, the conspiracy.
See Zosimus, l. ii. p. 79, and Lactantius de M. P. c. 26.]
According to the advice, or rather the orders, of his
colleague, the emperor Severus immediately hastened to Rome, in
the full confidence, that, by his unexpected celerity, he should
easily suppress the tumult of an unwarlike populace, commanded by
a licentious youth. But he found on his arrival the gates of the
city shut against him, the walls filled with men and arms, an
experienced general at the head of the rebels, and his own troops
without spirit or affection. A large body of Moors deserted to
the enemy, allured by the promise of a large donative; and, if it
be true that they had been levied by Maximian in his African war,
preferring the natural feelings of gratitude to the artificial
ties of allegiance. Anulinus, the Praetorian praefect, declared
himself in favor of Maxentius, and drew after him the most
considerable part of the troops, accustomed to obey his commands.

Rome, according to the expression of an orator, recalled her
armies; and the unfortunate Severus, destitute of force and of
counsel, retired, or rather fled, with precipitation, to Ravenna.

Here he might for some time have been safe. The fortifications
of Ravenna were able to resist the attempts, and the morasses
that surrounded the town, were sufficient to prevent the
approach, of the Italian army. The sea, which Severus commanded
with a powerful fleet, secured him an inexhaustible supply of
provisions, and gave a free entrance to the legions, which, on
the return of spring, would advance to his assistance from
Illyricum and the East. Maximian, who conducted the siege in
person, was soon convinced that he might waste his time and his
army in the fruitless enterprise, and that he had nothing to hope
either from force or famine. With an art more suitable to the
character of Diocletian than to his own, he directed his attack,
not so much against the walls of Ravenna, as against the mind of
Severus. The treachery which he had experienced disposed that
unhappy prince to distrust the most sincere of his friends and
adherents. The emissaries of Maximian easily persuaded his
credulity, that a conspiracy was formed to betray the town, and
prevailed upon his fears not to expose himself to the discretion
of an irritated conqueror, but to accept the faith of an
honorable capitulation. He was at first received with humanity
and treated with respect. Maximian conducted the captive emperor
to Rome, and gave him the most solemn assurances that he had
secured his life by the resignation of the purple. But Severus,
could obtain only an easy death and an Imperial funeral. When
the sentence was signified to him, the manner of executing it was
left to his own choice; he preferred the favorite mode of the
ancients, that of opening his veins; and as soon as he expired,
his body was carried to the sepulchre which had been constructed
for the family of Gallienus. ^23

[Footnote 23: The circumstances of this war, and the death of
Severus, are very doubtfully and variously told in our ancient
fragments, (see Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. part i.
p. 555.) I have endeavored to extract from them a consistent and
probable narration.

Note: Manso justly observes that two totally different
narratives might be formed, almost upon equal authority.
Beylage, iv. - M.]

Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The
Empire.

Part II.

Though the characters of Constantine and Maxentius had very
little affinity with each other, their situation and interest
were the same; and prudence seemed to require that they should
unite their forces against the common enemy. Notwithstanding the
superiority of his age and dignity, the indefatigable Maximian
passed the Alps, and, courting a personal interview with the
sovereign of Gaul, carried with him his daughter Fausta as the
pledge of the new alliance. The marriage was celebrated at Arles
with every circumstance of magnificence; and the ancient
colleague of Diocletian, who again asserted his claim to the
Western empire, conferred on his son-in-law and ally the title of
Augustus. By consenting to receive that honor from Maximian,
Constantine seemed to embrace the cause of Rome and of the
senate; but his professions were ambiguous, and his assistance
slow and ineffectual. He considered with attention the
approaching contest between the masters of Italy and the emperor
of the East, and was prepared to consult his own safety or
ambition in the event of the war. ^24

[Footnote 24: The sixth Panegyric was pronounced to celebrate the
elevation of Constantine; but the prudent orator avoids the
mention either of Galerius or of Maxentius. He introduces only
one slight allusion to the actual troubles, and to the majesty of
Rome.

Note: Compare Manso, Beylage, iv. p. 302. Gibbon's account
is at least as probable as that of his critic. - M.]

The importance of the occasion called for the presence and
abilities of Galerius. At the head of a powerful army, collected
from Illyricum and the East, he entered Italy, resolved to
revenge the death of Severus, and to chastise the rebellions
Romans; or, as he expressed his intentions, in the furious
language of a barbarian, to extirpate the senate, and to destroy
the people by the sword. But the skill of Maximian had concerted
a prudent system of defence. The invader found every place
hostile, fortified, and inaccessible; and though he forced his
way as far as Narni, within sixty miles of Rome, his dominion in
Italy was confined to the narrow limits of his camp. Sensible of
the increasing difficulties of his enterprise, the haughty
Galerius made the first advances towards a reconciliation, and
despatched two of his most considerable officers to tempt the
Roman princes by the offer of a conference, and the declaration
of his paternal regard for Maxentius, who might obtain much more
from his liberality than he could hope from the doubtful chance
of war. ^25 The offers of Galerius were rejected with firmness,
his perfidious friendship refused with contempt, and it was not
long before he discovered, that, unless he provided for his
safety by a timely retreat, he had some reason to apprehend the
fate of Severus. The wealth which the Romans defended against
his rapacious tyranny, they freely contributed for his
destruction. The name of Maximian, the popular arts of his son,
the secret distribution of large sums, and the promise of still
more liberal rewards, checked the ardor and corrupted the
fidelity of the Illyrian legions; and when Galerius at length
gave the signal of the retreat, it was with some difficulty that
he could prevail on his veterans not to desert a banner which had
so often conducted them to victory and honor. A contemporary
writer assigns two other causes for the failure of the
expedition; but they are both of such a nature, that a cautious
historian will scarcely venture to adopt them. We are told that
Galerius, who had formed a very imperfect notion of the greatness
of Rome by the cities of the East with which he was acquainted,
found his forces inadequate to the siege of that immense capital.

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