Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 3 | Page 6

was alarmed by their hostile approach; and
the darts which he idly wasted on lions and bears, might have been
employed more honorably against the rebels. But his feeble efforts
announced his degenerate spirit and desperate situation; and deprived
him of the resources, which he still might have found, in the support of
his subjects and allies. The armies of Gaul, instead of opposing the
march of Maximus, received him with joyful and loyal acclamations;
and the shame of the desertion was transferred from the people to the
prince. The troops, whose station more immediately attached them to
the service of the palace, abandoned the standard of Gratian the first
time that it was displayed in the neighborhood of Paris. The emperor of
the West fled towards Lyons, with a train of only three hundred horse;

and, in the cities along the road, where he hoped to find refuge, or at
least a passage, he was taught, by cruel experience, that every gate is
shut against the unfortunate. Yet he might still have reached, in safety,
the dominions of his brother; and soon have returned with the forces of
Italy and the East; if he had not suffered himself to be fatally deceived
by the perfidious governor of the Lyonnese province. Gratian was
amused by protestations of doubtful fidelity, and the hopes of a support,
which could not be effectual; till the arrival of Andragathius, the
general of the cavalry of Maximus, put an end to his suspense. That
resolute officer executed, without remorse, the orders or the intention
of the usurper. Gratian, as he rose from supper, was delivered into the
hands of the assassin: and his body was denied to the pious and
pressing entreaties of his brother Valentinian. ^14 The death of the
emperor was followed by that of his powerful general Mellobaudes, the
king of the Franks; who maintained, to the last moment of his life, the
ambiguous reputation, which is the just recompense of obscure and
subtle policy. ^15 These executions might be necessary to the public
safety: but the successful usurper, whose power was acknowledged by
all the provinces of the West, had the merit, and the satisfaction, of
boasting, that, except those who had perished by the chance of war, his
triumph was not stained by the blood of the Romans. ^16
[Footnote 13: Archbishop Usher (Antiquat. Britan. Eccles. p. 107, 108)
has diligently collected the legends of the island, and the continent. The
whole emigration consisted of 30,000 soldiers, and 100,000 plebeians,
who settled in Bretagne. Their destined brides, St. Ursula with 11,000
noble, and 60,000 plebeian, virgins, mistook their way; landed at
Cologne, and were all most cruelly murdered by the Huns. But the
plebeian sisters have been defrauded of their equal honors; and what is
still harder, John Trithemius presumes to mention the children of these
British virgins.] [Footnote 14: Zosimus (l. iv. p. 248, 249) has
transported the death of Gratian from Lugdunum in Gaul (Lyons) to
Singidunum in Moesia. Some hints may be extracted from the
Chronicles; some lies may be detected in Sozomen (l. vii. c. 13) and
Socrates, (l. v. c. 11.) Ambrose is our most authentic evidence, (tom. i.
Enarrat. in Psalm lxi. p. 961, tom ii. epist. xxiv. p. 888 &c., and de
Obitu Valentinian Consolat. Ner. 28, p. 1182.)] [Footnote 15: Pacatus

(xii. 28) celebrates his fidelity; while his treachery is marked in
Prosper's Chronicle, as the cause of the ruin of Gratian. Ambrose, who
has occasion to exculpate himself, only condemns the death of Vallio, a
faithful servant of Gratian, (tom. ii. epist. xxiv. p. 891, edit. Benedict.)
Note: Le Beau contests the reading in the chronicle of Prosper upon
which this charge rests. Le Beau, iv. 232. - M.
Note: According to Pacatus, the Count Vallio, who commanded the
army, was carried to Chalons to be burnt alive; but Maximus, dreading
the imputation of cruelty, caused him to be secretly strangled by his
Bretons. Macedonius also, master of the offices, suffered the death
which he merited. Le Beau, iv. 244. - M.]
[Footnote 16: He protested, nullum ex adversariis nisi in acissie occubu.
Sulp. Jeverus in Vit. B. Martin, c. 23. The orator Theodosius bestows
reluctant, and therefore weighty, praise on his clemency. Si cui ille, pro
ceteris sceleribus suis, minus crudelis fuisse videtur, (Panegyr. Vet. xii.
28.)]
The events of this revolution had passed in such rapid succession, that
it would have been impossible for Theodosius to march to the relief of
his benefactor, before he received the intelligence of his defeat and
death. During the season of sincere grief, or ostentatious mourning, the
Eastern emperor was interrupted by the arrival of the principal
chamberlain of Maximus; and the choice of a venerable old man, for an
office which was usually exercised