The Character, Conquests, and Court of Attila, King of the Huns—Death of Theodosius the Younger—Elevation of Marcian to the Empire of the East
The Huns, A.D. 376-433
THE WESTERN world was oppressed by the Goths and Vandals, who fled before the Huns; but the achievements of the Huns themselves were not adequate to their power and prosperity. Their victorious hordes had spread from the Volga to the
Danube; but the public force was exhausted by the discord of independent chieftains; their valour was idly consumed in obscure and predatory excursions; and they often degraded their national dignity, by condescending, for the hopes of spoil, to enlist under the banners of their fugitive enemies. In the reign of ATTILA (1) the Huns again became the terrors of the world; and I shall now describe the character and actions of that formidable barbarian, who alternately insulted and invaded the East and the West and urged the rapid downfall of the Roman Empire.
Their establishment in modern Hungary
In the tide of emigration which impetuously rolled from the confines of China to those of Germany, the most powerful and populous tribes may commonly be found on the verge of the Roman provinces. The accumulated weight was sustained for a while by artificial barriers; and the easy condescension of the emperors invited, without satisfying, the insolent demands of the barbarians, who had acquired an eager appetite for the luxuries of civilised life. The Hungarians, who ambitiously insert the name of Attila among their native kings, may affirm with truth that the hordes which were subject to his uncle Roas, or Rugilas, had formed their encampments within the limits of modern Hungary, (2) in a fertile country which liberally supplied the wants of a nation of hunters and shepherds. In this advantageous situation, Rugilas, and his valiant brothers, who continually added to their power and reputation, commanded the alternative of peace or war with the two empires. His alliance with the Romans of the West was cemented by his personal friendship for the great Aetius, who was always secure of finding in the barbarian camp an hospitable reception and a powerful support. At his solicitation, and in the name of John the usurper, sixty thousand Huns advanced to the confines of Italy; their march and their retreat were alike expensive to the state; and the grateful policy of Aetius abandoned the possession of Pannonia to his faithful confederates. The Romans of the East were not less apprehensive of the arms of Rugilas, which threatened the provinces, or even the capital. Some ecclesiastical historians have destroyed the barbarians with lightning and pestilence;(3) but Theodosius was reduced to the more humble expedient of stipulating an annual payment of three hundred and fifty pounds of gold, and of disguising this dishonourable tribute by the title of general, which the king of the Huns condescended to accept. The public
tranquillity was frequently interrupted by the fierce impatience of the barbarians and the perfidious intrigues of the Byzantine court. Four dependent nations, among whom we may distinguish the Bavarians, disclaimed the sovereignty of the Huns; and their revolt was encouraged and protected by a Roman alliance; till the just claims and formidable power of Rugilas were effectually urged by the voice of Eslaw, his ambassador. Peace was the unanimous wish of the senate: their decree was ratified by the emperor; and two ambassadors were named—Plinthas, a general of Scythian extraction, but of consular rank; and the quaestor Epigenes, a wise and experienced statesman, who was recommended to
that office by his ambitious colleague.
Reign of Attila, A.D. 433-453
The death of Rugilas suspended the progress of the treaty.
His two nephews, Attila and Bleda, who succeeded to the
throne of their uncle, consented to a personal interview
with the ambassadors of Constantinople; but as they proudly
refused to dismount, the business was transacted on
horseback, in a spacious plain near the city of Margus, in
the Upper Maesia. The kings of the Huns assumed the solid
benefits, as well as the vain honours, of the negotiation.
They dictated the conditions of peace, and each condition
was an insult on the majesty of the empire. Besides the
freedom of a safe and plentiful market on the banks of the
Danube, they required that the annual contribution should be
augmented from three hundred and fifty to seven hundred
pounds of gold; that a fine or ransom, of eight pieces of
gold, should be paid for every Roman captive who had escaped
from his barbarian master; that the emperor should renounce
all treaties and engagements with the enemies of the Huns;
and that all the fugitives who had taken refuge in the court
or provinces of Theodosius should be delivered to the
justice of their offended sovereign. This justice was
rigorously inflicted on some unfortunate youths of a royal
race. They were crucified on the territories of the empire,
by the command of Attila: and, as soon as the king of the
Huns had impressed the Romans with the terror of his name,
he indulged them in a short and arbitrary respite, whilst he
subdued the rebellious or independent nations of Scythia and
Germany.(4)
His figure and character;
Attila, the son of Mundzuk, deduced his noble, perhaps his
regal, descent(5) from the ancient Huns, who had formerly
contended with the monarchs of China. His features,
according to the observation of a Gothic historian, bore the
stamp of his national origin; and the portrait of Attila
exhibits the genuine deformity of a modern Calmuck;(6) a
large head, a swarthy complexion, small deep-seated eyes, a
flat nose, a few hairs in the place of a beard, broad
shoulders, and a short square body, of nervous strength,
though of a disproportioned form. The haughty step and
demeanour of the king of the Huns expressed the
consciousness of his superiority above the rest of mankind;
and he had a custom of fiercely rolling his eyes, as if he
wished to enjoy the terror which he inspired. Yet this
savage hero was not inaccessible to pity; his suppliant
enemies might confide in the assurance of peace or pardon;
and Attila was considered by his subjects as a just and
indulgent master. He delighted in war; but, after he had
ascended the throne in a mature age, his head, rather than
his hand, achieved the conquest of the North; and the fame
of an adventurous soldier was usefully exchanged for that of
a prudent and successful general. The effects of personal
valour are so inconsiderable, except in poetry or romance,
that victory, even among barbarians, must depend on the
degree of skill with which the passions of the multitude are
combined and guided for the service of a single man. The
Scythian conquerors, Attila and Zingis, surpassed their rude
countrymen in art, rather than in courage; and it may be
observed that the monarchies, both of the Huns and of the
Moguls, were erected by their founders on the basis of
popular superstition. The miraculous conception, which fraud
and credulity ascribed to the virgin mother of Zingis,
raised him above the level of human nature; and the naked
prophet, who, in the name of the Deity, invested him with
the empire of the earth, pointed the valour of the Moguls
with irresistible enthusiasm.(7) The religious arts of Attila
were not less skilfully adapted to the character of his age
and country. It was natural enough that the Scythians should
adore, with peculiar devotion, the god of war; but as they
were incapable of forming either an abstract idea or a
corporeal representation, they worshipped their tutelar
deity under the symbol of an iron cimeter.(8) One of the
shepherds of the Huns perceived that a heifer, who was
grazing, had wounded herself in the foot, and curiously
followed the track of the blood, he discovers the sword of Mars, till he discovered, among
the long grass, the point of an ancient sword which he dug
out of the ground, and presented to Attila. That
magnanimous, or rather that artful, prince accepted, with
pious gratitude, this celestial favour; and, as the rightful
possessor of the sword of Mars, asserted his divine and
indefeasible claim to the dominion of the earth.(9) If the rites of Scythia were practised on this solemn occasion, a lofty altar, or rather pile of faggots, three hundred yards in length and in breadth, was raised in a spacious plain;
and the sword of Mars was placed erect on the summit of this
rustic altar, which was annually consecrated by the blood of
sheep, horses, and of the hundredth captive. (10) Whether human sacrifices formed any part of the worship of Attila, or whether he propitiated the god of war with the victims which he continually offered in the field of battle, the
favourite of Mars soon acquired a sacred character, which
rendered his conquests more easy and more permanent; and the
barbarian princes confessed, in the language of devotion or
flattery, that they could not presume to gaze, with a steady
eye, on the divine majesty of the king of the Huns.(11) His brother Bleda, who reigned over a considerable part of the nation, was compelled to resign his sceptre and his life. Yet even this cruel act was attributed to a supernatural
impulse; and the vigour with which Attila wielded the sword
of Mars convinced the world that it had been reserved alone
for his invincible arm. (12) But the extent of his empire affords the only remaining evidence of the number and importance of his victories; and the Scythian monarch,
however ignorant of the value of science and philosophy,
might perhaps lament that his illiterate subjects were
destitute of the art which could perpetuate the memory of
his exploits.
and acquires the empire of Scythia and Germany.
If a line of separation were drawn between the civilised and
the savage climates of the globe; between the inhabitants of
cities, who cultivated the earth, and the hunters and
shepherds, who dwelt in tents, Attila might aspire to the
title of supreme and sole monarch of the barbarians.(13) He
alone, among the conquerors of ancient and modern times,
united the two mighty kingdoms of Germany and Scythia; and
those vague appellations, when they are applied to his
reign, may be understood with an ample latitude. Thuringia,
which stretched beyond its actual limits as far as the
Danube, was in the number of his provinces; he interposed,
with the weight of a powerful neighbour, in the domestic
affairs of the Franks; and one of his lieutenants chastised,
and almost exterminated, the Burgundians of the Rhine. He
subdued the islands of the ocean, the kingdoms of
Scandinavia, encompassed and divided by the waters of the
Baltic; and the Huns might derive a tribute of furs from
that northern region, which has been protected from all
other conquerors by the severity of the climate and the
courage of the natives. Towards the East, it is difficult to
circumscribe the dominion of Attila over the Scythian
deserts; yet we may be assured that he reigned on the banks
of the Volga; that the king of the Huns was dreaded, not
only as a warrior, but as a magician;(14) that he insulted
and vanquished the khan of the formidable Geougen; and that
he sent ambassadors to negotiate an equal alliance with the
empire of China. In the proud review of the nations who
acknowledged the sovereignty of Attila, and who never
entertained, during his lifetime, the thought of a revolt,
the Gepidae and the Ostrogoths were distinguished by their
numbers, their bravery, and the personal merit of their
chiefs. The renowned Ardaric, king of the Gepidae, was the
faithful and sagacious counsellor of the monarch, who
esteemed his intrepid genius, whilst he loved the mild and
discreet virtues of the noble Walamir, king of the
Ostrogoths. The crowd of vulgar kings, the leaders of so
many martial tribes, who served under the standard of
Attila, were ranged in the submissive order of guards and
domestics round the person of their master. They watched his
nod; they trembled at his frown; and at the first signal of
his will, they executed, without murmur or hesitation, his
stern and absolute commands. In time of peace, the dependent
princes, with their national troops, attended the royal camp
in regular succession; but when Attila collected his
military force he was able to bring into the field an army
of five, or, according to another account, of seven hundred
thousand barbarians.(15)
The huns invade Persia, A.D. 430-440.
The ambassadors of the Huns might awaken the attention of
Theodosius, by reminding him that they were his neighbours
both in Europe and Asia; since they touched the Danube on
one hand, and reached with the other as far as the Tanais.
In the reign of his father Arcadius, a band of adventurous
Huns had ravaged the provinces of the East, from whence they
brought away rich spoils and innumerable captives. They
advanced, by a secret path, along the shores of the Caspian
Sea; traversed the snowy mountains of Armenia; passed the
Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Halys; recruited their weary
cavalry with the generous breed of Cappadocian horses
occupied the hilly country of Cilicia; and disturbed the
festal songs and dances of the citizens of Antioch.(16) Egypt
trembled at their approach; and the monks and pilgrims of
the Holy Land prepared to escape their fury by a speedy
embarkation. The memory of this invasion was still recent in
the minds of the Orientals. The subjects of Attila might
execute, with superior forces, the design which these
adventurers had so boldly attempted; and it soon became the
subject of anxious conjecture whether the tempest would fall
on the dominions of Rome or of Persia. Some of the great
vassals of the king of the Huns, who were themselves in the
rank of powerful princes, had been sent to ratify an
alliance and society of arms with the emperor, or rather
with the general, of the West. They related, during their
residence at Rome, the circumstances of an expedition which
they had lately made into the East. After passing a desert
and a morass supposed by the Romans to be the lake Maeotis,
they penetrated through the mountains, and arrived, at the
end of fifteen days' march, on the confines of Media where
they advanced as far as the unknown cities of Basic and
Cursic.(17) They encountered the Persian army in the plains
of Media, and the air, according to their own expression,
was darkened by a cloud of arrows. But the Huns were obliged
to retire before the numbers of the enemy. Their laborious
retreat was affected by a different road; they lost the
greatest part of their booty; and at length returned to the
royal camp, with some knowledge of the country, and an
impatient desire of revenge. In the free conversation of the
Imperial ambassadors, who discussed, at the court of Attila,
the character and designs of their formidable enemy, the
ministers of Constantinople expressed their hope that his
strength might be diverted and employed in a long and
doubtful contest with the princes of the house of Sassan.
The more sagacious Italians admonished their Eastern
brethren of the folly and danger of such a hope; and
convinced them, that the Medes and Persians were incapable
of resisting the arms of the Huns; and that the easy and
important acquisition would exalt the pride, as well as
power, of the conqueror. Instead of contenting himself with
a moderate contribution and a military title, which equalled
him only to the generals of Theodosius, Attila would proceed
to impose a disgraceful and intolerable yoke on the necks of
the prostrate and captive Romans, who would then be
encompassed on all sides by the empire of the Huns.(18)
They attack the Eastern empire, A.D. 441, etc
While the powers of Europe and Asia were solicitous to avert
the impending danger, the alliance of Attila maintained the
Vandals in the possession of Africa. An enterprise had been
concerted between the courts of Ravenna and Constantinople
for the recovery of that valuable province; and the ports of
Sicily were already filled with the military and naval
forces of Theodosius. But the subtle Genseric, who spread
his negotiations round the world, prevented their designs,
by exciting the king of the Huns to invade the Eastern
empire; and a trifling incident soon became the motive, or
pretence, of a destructive war. (19) Under the faith of the
treaty of Margus, a free market was held on the northern
side of the Danube, which was protected by a Roman fortress
surnamed Constantia. A troop of barbarians violated the
commercial security, killed, or dispersed, the unsuspecting
traders, and levelled the fortress with the ground. The Huns
justified this outrage as an act of reprisal; alleged that
the bishop of Margus had entered their territories, to
discover and steal a secret treasure of their kings; and
sternly demanded the guilty prelate, the sacrilegious spoil,
and the fugitive subjects, who had escaped from the justice
of Attila. The refusal of the Byzantine court was the signal
of war; and the Maesians at first applauded the generous
firmness of their sovereign. But they were soon intimidated
by the destruction of Viminiacum and the adjacent towns; and
the people was persuaded to adopt the convenient maxim, that
a private citizen, however innocent or respectable, may be
justly sacrificed to the safety of his country. The bishop
of Margus, who did not possess the spirit of a martyr,
resolved to prevent the designs which he suspected. He
boldly treated with the princes of the Huns; secured, by
solemn oaths, his pardon and reward; posted a numerous
detachment of barbarians, in silent ambush, on the banks of
the Danube; and, at the appointed hour, opened, with his own
hand, the gates of his episcopal city. This advantage, which
had been obtained by treachery, served as a prelude to more
honourable and decisive victories. The Illyrian frontier was
covered by a line of castles and fortresses; and though the
greatest part of them consisted only of a single tower, with
a small garrison, they were commonly sufficient to repel, or
to intercept, the inroads of an enemy who was ignorant of
the art, and impatient of the delay, of a regular siege. But
these slight obstacles were instantly swept away by the
inundation of the Huns. (20) They ,destroyed, with fire and
sword, the populous cities of Sirmium and Singidunum, of
Ratiaria and Marcianopolis, of Naissus and Sardica; where
every circumstance in the discipline of the people and the
construction of the buildings had been gradually adapted to
the sole purpose of defence. and ravage Europe, as far as Constantinople The whole breadth of Europe, as
it extends above five hundred miles from the Euxine to the
Hadriatic, was at once invaded, and occupied, and desolated,
by the myriads of barbarians whom Attila led into the field.
The public danger and distress could not, however, provoke
Theodosius to interrupt his amusements and devotion or to
appear in person at the head of the Roman legions. But the
troops which had been sent against Genseric were hastily
recalled from Sicily; the garrisons, on the side of Persia,
were exhausted; and a military force was collected in
Europe, formidable by their arms and numbers, if the
generals had understood the science of command, and their
soldiers the duty of obedience. The armies of the Eastern
empire were vanquished in three successive engagements; and
the progress of Attila may be traced by the fields of
battle. The two former, on the banks of the Utus, and under
the walls of Marcianopolis, were fought in the extensive
plains between the Danube and Mount Haemus. As the Romans
were pressed by a victorious enemy, they gradually, and
unskilfully, retired towards the Chersonesus of Thrace; and
that narrow peninsula, the last extremity of the land, was
marked by their third and irreparable defeat. By the
destruction of this army, Attila acquired the indisputable
possession of the field. From the Hellespont to Thermopylae
and the suburbs of Constantinople he ravaged, without
resistance and without mercy, the provinces of Thrace and
Macedonia. Heraclea and Hadrianople might, perhaps, escape
this dreadful irruption of the Huns; but the words the most
expressive of total extirpation and erasure are applied to
the calamities which they inflicted on seventy cities of the
Eastern empire.(21) Theodosius, his court, and the unwarlike
people, were protected by the walls of Constantinople; but
those walls had been shaken by a recent earthquake, and the
fall of fifty-eight towers had opened a large and tremendous
breach. The damage indeed was speedily repaired; but this
accident was aggravated by a superstitious fear that Heaven
itself had delivered the Imperial city to the shepherds of
Scythia, who were strangers to the laws, the language, and
the religion of the Romans.(22)
The Scythian or Tartar, wars.
In all their invasions of the civilised empires of the
South, the Scythian shepherds have been uniformly actuated
by a savage and destructive spirit. The laws of war, that
restrain the exercise of national rapine and murder, are
founded on two principles of substantial interest: the
knowledge of the permanent benefits which may be obtained by
a moderate use of conquest, and a just apprehension lest the
desolation which we inflict on the enemy's country may be
retaliated on our own. But these considerations of hope and
fear are almost unknown in the pastoral state of nations.
The Huns of Attila may without injustice be compared to the
Moguls and Tartars before their primitive manners were
changed by religion and luxury; and the evidence of Oriental
history may reflect some light on the short and imperfect
annals of Rome. After the Moguls had subdued the northern
provinces of China, it was seriously proposed, not in the
hour of victory and passion, but in calm deliberate council,
to exterminate all the inhabitants of that populous country,
that the vacant land might be converted to the pasture of
cattle. The firmness of a Chinese mandarin, (23) who
insinuated some principles of rational policy into the mind
of Zingis, diverted him from the execution of this horrid
design. But in the cities of Asia which yielded to the
Moguls, the inhuman abuse of the rights of war was exercised
with a regular form of discipline, which may, with equal
reason though not with equal authority, be imputed to the
victorious Huns. The inhabitants who had submitted to their
discretion were ordered to evacuate their houses and to
assemble in some plain adjacent to the city, where a
division was made of the vanquished into three parts. The
first class consisted of the soldiers of the garrison and
the young men capable of bearing arms; and their fate was
instantly decided: they were either enlisted among the
Moguls, or they were massacred on the spot by the troops,
who, with pointed spears and bended bows, had formed a
circle round the captive multitude. The second class,
composed of the young and beautiful women, of the artificers
of every rank and profession, and of the more wealthy or
honourable citizens, from whom a private ransom might be
expected, was distributed in equal or proportionable lots.
The remainder, whose life or death was alike useless to the
conquerors, were permitted to return to the city, which in
the meanwhile had been stripped of its valuable furniture;
and a tax was imposed on those wretched inhabitants for the
indulgence of breathing their native air. Such was the
behaviour of the Moguls when they were not conscious of any
extraordinary rigour.(24) But the most casual provocation,
the slightest motive of caprice or convenience, often
provoked them to involve a whole people in an indiscriminate
massacre; and the ruin of some flourishing cities was
executed with such unrelenting perseverance, that, according
to their own expression, horses might run without stumbling
over the ground where they had once stood. The three great
capitals of Khorasan, Maru, Neisabour, and Herat, were
destroyed by the armies of Zingis; and the exact account
which was taken of the slain amounted to four millions three
hundred and forty-seven thousand persons. (25) Timur, or
Tamerlane, was educated in a less barbarous age and in the
profession of the Mahometan religion; yet, if Attila
equalled the hostile ravages of Tamerlane, (26) either the
Tartar or the Hun might deserve the epithet of the SCOURGE
OF GOD.(27)
State of the captives.
It may be affirmed with bolder assurance that the Huns
depopulated the provinces of the empire by the number of
Roman subjects whom they led away into captivity. In the
hands of a wise legislator such an industrious colony might
have contributed to diffuse through the deserts of Scythia
the rudiments of the useful and ornamental arts; but these
captives, who had been taken in war, were accidentally
dispersed among the hordes that obeyed the empire of Attila
The estimate of their respective value was formed by the
simple judgment of unenlightened and unprejudiced
barbarians. Perhaps they might not understand the merit of a
theologian profoundly skilled in the controversies of the
Trinity and the Incarnation; yet they respected the
ministers of every religion; and the active zeal of the
Christian missionaries, without approaching the person or
the palace of the monarch, successfully laboured in the
propagation of the gospel.(28) The pastoral tribes, who were
ignorant of the distinction of landed property, must have
disregarded the use as well as the abuse of civil
jurisprudence; and the skill of an eloquent lawyer could
excite only their contempt or their abhorrence. (29) The
perpetual intercourse of the Huns and the Goths had
communicated the familiar knowledge of the two national
dialects; and the barbarians were ambitious of conversing in
Latin, the military idiom even of the Eastern empire.(30) But
they disdained the language and the sciences of the Greeks
and the vain sophist or grave philosopher who had enjoyed
the flattering applause of the schools, was mortified to
find that his robust servant was a captive of more value and
importance than himself. The mechanic arts were encouraged
and esteemed, as they tended to satisfy the wants of the
Huns. An architect in the service of Onegesius, one of the
favourites of Attila, was employed to construct a bath: but
this work was a rare example of private luxury; and the
trades of the smith, the carpenter, the armourer, were much
more adapted to supply a wandering people with the useful
instruments of peace and war. But the merit of the physician
was received with universal favour and respect: the
barbarians, who despised death, might be apprehensive of
disease; and the haughty conqueror trembled in the presence
of a captive to whom he ascribed perhaps an imaginary power
of prolonging or preserving his life.(31) The Huns might be
provoked to insult the misery of their slaves, over whom
they exercised a despotic command;(32) but their manners were
not susceptible of a refined system of oppression, and the
efforts of courage and diligence were often recompensed by
the gift of freedom The historian Priscus, whose embassy is
a source of curious instruction, was accosted in the camp of
Attila by a stranger, who saluted him in the Greek language,
but whose dress and figure displayed the appearance of a
wealthy Scythian. In the siege of Viminiacum he had lost,
according to his own account, his fortune and liberty: he
became the slave of Onegesius but his faithful services
against the Romans and the Acatzires had gradually raised
him to the rank of the native Huns, to whom he was attached
by the domestic pledges of a new wife and several children.
The spoils of war had restored and improved his private
property; he was admitted to the table of his former lord
and the apostate Greek blessed the hour of his captivity,
since it had been the introduction to a happy and
independent state, which he held by the honourable tenure of
military service. This reflection naturally produced a
dispute on the advantages and defects of the Roman
government, which was severely arraigned by the apostate,
and defended by Priscus in a prolix and feeble declamation.
The freedman of Onegesius exposed, in true and lively
colours, the vices of a declining empire of which he had so
long been the victim; the cruel absurdity of the Roman
princes, unable to protect their subjects against the public
enemy, unwilling to trust them with arms for their own
defence; the intolerable weight of taxes, rendered still
more oppressive by the intricate or arbitrary modes of
collection; the obscurity of numerous and contradictory
laws; the tedious and expensive forms of judicial
proceedings; the partial administration of justice; and the
universal corruption which increased the influence of the
rich and aggravated the misfortunes of the poor A sentiment
of patriotic sympathy was at length revived in the breast of
the fortunate exile, and he lamented with a flood of tears
the guilt or weakness of those magistrates who had perverted
the wisest and most salutary institutions.(33)
Treaty of peace between Attila and the Eastern empire, A.D. 446.
The timid or selfish policy of the Western Romans had
abandoned the Eastern empire to the Huns.(34) The loss of
armies and the want of discipline or virtue were not
supplied by the personal character of the monarch.
Theodosius might still affect the style as well as the title
of Invincible Augustus, but he was reduced to solicit the
clemency of Attila who imperiously dictated these harsh and
humiliating conditions of peace. I. The emperor of the East
resigned, by an express or tacit convention, an extensive
and important territory which stretched along the southern
banks of the Danube, from Singidunum, or Belgrade, as far as
Novae, in the diocese of Thrace. The breadth was defined by
the vague computation of fifteen days' journey; but, from
the proposal of Attila to remove the situation of the
national market, it soon appeared that he comprehended the
ruined city of Naissus within the limits of his dominions.
II. The king of the Huns required and obtained that his
tribute or subsidy should be augmented from seven hundred
pounds of gold to the annual sum of two thousand one
hundred; and he stipulated the immediate payment of six
thousand pounds of gold to defray the expenses, or to
expiate the guilt, of the war. One might imagine that such a
demand, which scarcely equalled the measure of private
wealth, would have been readily discharged by the opulent
empire of the East; and the public distress affords a
remarkable proof of the impoverished, or at least of the
disorderly, state of the finances. A large proportion of the
taxes extorted from the people was detained and intercepted
in their passage through the foulest channels to the
treasury of Constantinople. The revenue was dissipated by
Theodosius and his favourites in wasteful and profuse
luxury, which was disguised by the names of imperial
magnificence or Christian charity. The immediate supplies
had been exhausted by the unforeseen necessity of military
preparations. A personal contribution, rigorously but
capriciously imposed on the members of the senatorian order,
was the only expedient that could disarm without loss of
time the impatient avarice of Attila: and the poverty of the
nobles compelled them to adopt the scandalous resource of
exposing to public auction the jewels of their wives and the
hereditary ornaments of their palaces.(35) III. The king of the Huns appears to have established as a principle of
national jurisprudence, that he could never lose the
property which he had once acquired in the persons who had
yielded either a voluntary or reluctant submission to his
authority. From this principle he concluded, and the
conclusions of Attila were irrevocable laws, that the Huns
who had been taken prisoners in war should be released
without delay and without ransom; that every Roman captive
who had presumed to escape should purchase his right to
freedom at the price of twelve pieces of gold; and that all
the barbarians who had deserted the standard of Attila
should be restored without any promise or stipulation of
pardon. In the execution of this cruel and ignominious
treaty the Imperial officers were forced to massacre several
loyal and noble deserters who refused to devote themselves
to certain death; and the Romans forfeited all reasonable
claims to the friendship of any Scythian people by this
public confession that they were destitute either of faith
or power to protect the suppliant who had embraced the
throne of Theodosius.(36)
Spirit of Azimuntines
The firmness of a single town, so obscure that except on
this occasion it has never been mentioned by any historian
or geographer, exposed the disgrace of the emperor and
empire. Azimus, or Azimuntium, a small city of Thrace on the
Illyrian borders,(37) had been distinguished by the martial
spirit of its youth, the skill and reputation of the leaders
whom they had chosen, and their daring exploits against the
innumerable host of the barbarians. Instead of tamely
expecting their approach, the Azimuntines attacked, in
frequent and successful sallies, the troops of the Huns, who
gradually declined the dangerous neighbourhood, rescued from
their hands the spoil and the captives, and recruited their
domestic force by the voluntary association of fugitives and
deserters. After the conclusion of the treaty Attila still
menaced the empire with implacable war, unless the
Azimuntines were persuaded or compelled to comply with the
conditions which their sovereign had accepted. The ministers
of Theodosius confessed, with shame and with truth, that
they no longer possessed any authority over a society of men
who so bravely asserted their natural independence; and the
king of the Huns condescended to negotiate an equal exchange
with the citizens of Azimus. They demanded the restitution
of some shepherds, who with their cattle had been
accidentally surprised. A strict though fruitless inquiry
was allowed; but the Huns were obliged to swear that they
did not detain any prisoners belonging to the city before
they could recover two surviving countrymen whom the
Azimuntines had reserved as pledges for the safety of their
lost companions. Attila, on his side, was satisfied and
deceived by their solemn asseveration that the rest of the
captives had been put to the sword and that it was their
constant practice immediately to dismiss the Romans and the
deserters who had obtained the security of the public faith.
This prudent and officious dissimulation may be condemned or
excused by the casuists as they incline to the rigid decree
of St. Augustin, or the milder sentiment of St. Jerom and
St. Chrysostom: but every soldier, every statesman, must
acknowledge that, if the race of the Azimuntines had been
encouraged and multiplied, the barbarians would have ceased
to trample on the majesty of the empire.(38)
Embassies from Attila to Constantinople
It would have been strange, indeed, if Theodosius had
purchased, by the loss of honour, a secure and solid
tranquillity, or if his tameness had not invited the
repetition of injuries. The Byzantine court was insulted by
five or six successive embassies; (39) and the ministers of
Attila were uniformly instructed to press the tardy or
imperfect execution of the last treaty; to produce the names
of fugitives and deserters who were still protected by the
empire; and to declare, with seeming moderation, that,
unless their sovereign obtained complete and immediate
satisfaction, it would be impossible for him, were it even
his wish, to check the resentment of his warlike tribes.
Besides the motive of pride and interest which might prompt
the king of the Huns to continue this train of negotiation,
he was influenced by the less honourable view of enriching
his favourites at the expense of his enemies. The Imperial
treasury was exhausted to procure the friendly offices of
the ambassadors and their principal attendants, whose
favourable report might conduce to the maintenance of peace.
The barbarian monarch was flattered by the liberal reception
of his ministers; he computed with pleasure the value and
splendour of their gifts, rigorously exacted the performance
of every promise which would contribute to their private
emolument, and treated as an important business of state the
marriage of his secretary Constantius. (40) That Gallic
adventurer, who was recommended by Aetius to the king of the
Huns, had engaged his service to the ministers of
Constantinople for the stipulated reward of a wealthy and
noble wife; and the daughter of Count Saturninus was chosen
to discharge the obligations of her country. The reluctance
of the victim, some domestic troubles, and the unjust
confiscation of her fortune, cooled the ardour of her
interested lover; but he still demanded, in the name of
Attila, an equivalent alliance; and, after many ambiguous
delays and excuses, the Byzantine court was compelled to
sacrifice to this insolent stranger the widow of Armatius,
whose birth, opulence, and beauty placed her in the most
illustrious rank of the Roman matrons. For these importunate
and oppressive embassies Attila claimed a suitable return;
he weighed with suspicious pride, the character and station
of the Imperial envoys; but he condescended to promise that
he would advance as far as Sardica to receive any minister
who had been invested with the consular dignity. The council
of Theodosius eluded this proposal by representing the
desolate and ruined condition of Sardica; and even ventured
to insinuate that every officer of the army or household was
qualified to treat with the most powerful princes of
Scythia. Maximin,(41) a respectable courtier, whose abilities
had been long exercised in civil and military employments,
accepted with reluctance the troublesome, and perhaps
dangerous, commission of reconciling the angry spirit of the
king of the Huns. His friend, the historian Priscus,(42)
embraced the opportunity of observing the barbarian hero in
the peaceful and domestic scenes of life: but the secret of
the embassy, a fatal and guilty secret, was intrusted only
to the interpreter Vigilius. The two last ambassadors of the
Huns, Orestes, a noble subject of the Pannonian province,
and Edecon, a valiant chieftain of the tribe of the Scyrri,
returned at the same time from Constantinople to the royal
camp. Their obscure names were afterwards illustrated by the
extraordinary fortune and the contrast of their sons: the
two servants of Attila became the fathers of the last Roman
emperor of the West, and of the first barbarian king of
Italy.
The embassy of Maximin to Attila, A.D. 448.
The ambassadors, who were followed by a numerous train of
men and horses, made their first halt at Sardica, at the
distance of three hundred and fifty miles, or thirteen days'
journey, from Constantinople. As the remains of Sardica were
still included within the limits of the empire, it was
incumbent on the Romans to exercise the duties of
hospitality. They provided, with the assistance of the
provincials, a sufficient number of sheep and oxen, and
invited the Huns to a splendid, or, at least, a plentiful
supper. But the harmony of the entertainment was soon
disturbed by mutual prejudice and indiscretion. The
greatness of the emperor and the empire was warmly
maintained by their ministers; the Huns, with equal ardour,
asserted the superiority of their victorious monarch: the
dispute was inflamed by the rash and unseasonable flattery
of Vigilius, who passionately rejected the comparison of a
mere mortal with the divine Theodosius, and it was with
extreme difficulty that Maximin and Priscus were able to
divert the conversation or soothe the angry minds of the
barbarians. When they rose from table the Imperial
ambassador presented Edecon and Orestes with rich gifts of
silk robes and Indian pearls, which they thankfully
accepted. Yet Orestes could not forbear insinuating that he
had not always been treated with such respect and
liberality: and the offensive distinction which was implied
between his civil office and the hereditary rank of his
colleague seems to have made Edecon a doubtful friend and
Orestes an irreconcilable enemy. After this entertainment
they travelled about one hundred miles from Sardica to
Naissus. That flourishing city, which had given birth to the
great Constantine, was levelled with the ground; the
inhabitants were destroyed or dispersed; and the appearance
of some sick persons, who were still permitted to exist
among the ruins of the churches, served only to increase the
horror of the prospect. The surface of the country was
covered with the bones of the slain; and the ambassadors,
who directed their course to the north-west, were obliged to
pass the hills of modern Servia before they descended into
the flat and marshy grounds which are terminated by the
Danube. The Huns were masters of the great river: their
navigation was performed in large canoes, hollowed out of
the trunk of a single tree; the ministers of Theodosius were
safely landed on the opposite bank; and their barbarian
associates immediately hastened to the camp of Attila, which
was equally prepared for the amusements of hunting or of
war. No sooner had Maximin advanced about two miles from the
Danube than he began to experience the fastidious insolence
of the conqueror. He was sternly forbid to pitch his tents
in a pleasant valley, lest he should infringe the distant
awe that was due to the royal mansion. The ministers of
Attila pressed him to communicate the business and the
instructions which he reserved for the ear of their
sovereign. When Maximin temperately urged the contrary
practice of nations, he was still more confounded to find
that the resolutions of the Sacred Consistory, those secrets
(says Priscus) which should not be revealed to the gods
themselves, had been treacherously disclosed to the public
enemy. On his refusal to comply with such ignominious terms,
the Imperial envoy was commanded instantly to depart; the
order was recalled; it was again repeated; and the Huns
renewed their ineffectual attempts to subdue the patient
firmness of Maximin. At length, by the intercession of
Scotta, the brother of Onegesius, whose friendship had been
purchased by a liberal gift, he was admitted to the royal
presence; but, instead of obtaining a decisive answer, he
was compelled to undertake a remote journey towards the
North, that Attila might enjoy the proud satisfaction of
receiving in the same camp the ambassadors of the Eastern
and Western empires. His journey was regulated by the
guides, who obliged him to halt, to hasten his march, or to
deviate from the common road, as it best suited the
convenience of the king. The Romans who traversed the plains
of Hungary suppose that they passed several navigable
rivers, either in canoes or portable boats; but there is
reason to suspect that the winding stream of the Theiss, or
Tibiscus, might present itself in different places under
different names. From the contiguous villages they received
a plentiful and regular supply of provisions, mead instead
of wine, millet in the place of bread, and a certain liquor
named camus, which, according to the report of Priscus,
was distilled from barley.(43) Such fare might appear coarse
and indelicate to men who had tasted the luxury of
Constantinople; but, in their accidental distress, they were
relieved by the gentleness and hospitality of the same
barbarians, so terrible and so merciless in war. The
ambassadors had encamped on the edge of a large morass. A
violent tempest of wind and rain, of thunder and lightning,
overturned their tents, immersed their baggage and furniture
in the water, and scattered their retinue, who wandered in
the darkness of the night, uncertain of their road and
apprehensive of some unknown danger, till they awakened by
their cries the inhabitants of a neighbouring village, the
property of the widow of Bleda. A bright illumination, and,
in a few moments, a comfortable fire of reeds, was kindled
by their officious benevolence: the wants, and even the
desires, of the Romans were liberally satisfied; and they
seem to have been embarrassed by the singular politeness of
Bleda's widow, who added to her other favours the gift, or
at least the loan, of a sufficient number of beautiful and
obsequious damsels. The sunshine of the succeeding day was
dedicated to repose, to collect and dry the baggage, and to
the refreshment of the men and horses; but, in the evening,
before they pursued their journey, the ambassadors expressed
their gratitude to the bounteous lady of the village by a
very acceptable present of silver cups, red fleeces, dried
fruits, and Indian pepper. Soon after this adventure they
rejoined the march of Attila, from whom they had been
separated about six days; and slowly proceeded to the
capital of an empire which did not contain, in the space of
several thousand miles, a single city.
The royal village and palace
As far as we may ascertain the vague and obscure geography
of Priscus, this capital appears to have been seated between
the Danube, the Theiss, and the Carpathian hills, in the
plains of Upper Hungary, and most probably in the
neighbourhood of Jazberin, Agria, or Tokay.(44) In its origin
it could be no more than an accidental camp, which, by the
long and frequent residence of Attila, had insensibly
swelled into a huge village, for the reception of his court,
of the troops who followed his person, and of the various
multitude of idle or industrious slaves and retainers.(45)
The baths, constructed by Onegesius, were the only edifice
of stone; the materials had been transported from Pannonia;
and since the adjacent country was destitute even of large
timber, it may be presumed that the meaner habitations of
the royal village consisted of straw, of mud, or of canvas.
The wooden houses of the more illustrious Huns were built
and adorned with rude magnificence, according to the rank,
the fortune, or the taste of the proprietors. They seem to
have been distributed with some degree of order and
symmetry; and each spot became more honourable as it
approached the person of the sovereign. The palace of
Attila, which surpassed all other houses in his dominions,
was built entirely of wood, and covered an ample space of
ground. The outward enclosure was a lofty wall, or palisade,
of smooth square timber, intersected with high towers, but
intended rather for ornament than defence. This wall, which
seems to have encircled the declivity of a hill,
comprehended a great variety of wooden edifices, adapted to
the uses of royalty. A separate house was assigned to each
of the numerous wives of Attila; and, instead of the rigid
and illiberal confinement imposed by Asiatic jealousy, they
politely admitted the Roman ambassadors to their presence,
their table, and even to the freedom of an innocent embrace.
When Maximin offered his presents to Cerca the principal
queen, he admired the singular architecture of her mansion,
the height of the round columns, the size and beauty of the
wood, which was curiously shaped or turned, or polished or
carved; and his attentive eye was able to discover some
taste in the ornaments, and some regularity in the
proportions. After passing through the guards who watched
before the gate, the ambassadors were introduced into the
private apartment of Cerca. The wife of Attila received
their visit sitting, or rather lying, on a soft couch; the
floor was covered with a carpet; the domestics formed a
circle round the queen; and her damsels, seated on the
ground, were employed in working the variegated embroidery
which adorned the dress of the barbaric warriors. The Huns
were ambitious of displaying those riches which were the
fruit and evidence of their victories; the trappings of
their horses, their swords, and even their shoes, were
studded with gold and precious stones; and their tables were
profusely spread with plates, and goblets, and vases of gold
and silver, which had been fashioned by the labour of
Grecian artists. The monarch alone assumed the superior
pride of still adhering to the simplicity of his Scythian
ancestors. (46) The dress of Attila, his arms, and the
furniture of his horse, were plain, without ornament, and of
a single colour. The royal table was served in wooden cups
and platters; flesh was his only food; and the conqueror of
the North never tasted the luxury of bread.
The behaviour of Attila to the Roman ambassadors.
When Attila first gave audience to the Roman ambassadors on
the banks of the Danube, his tent was encompassed with a
formidable guard. The monarch himself was seated in a wooden
chair. His stern countenance, angry gestures, and impatient
tone astonished the firmness of Maximin; but Vigilius had
more reason to tremble, since he distinctly understood the
menace, that if Attila did not respect the law of nations,
he would nail the deceitful interpreter to a cross, and
leave his body to the vultures. The barbarians condescended,
by producing an accurate list, to expose the bold falsehood
of Vigilius, who had affirmed that no more than seventeen
deserters could be found. But he arrogantly declared that he
apprehended only the disgrace of contending with his
fugitive slaves; since he despised their impotent efforts to
defend the provinces which Theodosius had intrusted to their
arms:
"For what fortress" (added Attila), "what city, in the wide extent of the Roman empire, can hope to exist, secure and impregnable, if it is our pleasure that it should be erased from the earth?"
He dismissed, however, the interpreter, who returned to Constantinople with his peremptory demand of more complete restitution, and a more splendid embassy. His anger gradually subsided, and his domestic satisfaction in a marriage which he celebrated on the road with the daughter of Eslam might perhaps contribute to mollify the native fierceness of his temper. The entrance of Attila into the royal village was marked by a very singular ceremony. A numerous troop of women came out to meet their hero and their king. They marched before him, distributed into long and regular files: the intervals between the files were filled by white veils of thin linen, which the women on either side bore aloft in their hands, and which formed a canopy for a chorus of young virgins, who chanted hymns and songs in the Scythian language. The wife of his favourite Onegesius, with a train of female attendants, saluted Attila at the door of her own house, on his way to the palace; and offered, according to the custom of the country, her respectful homage, by entreating him to taste the wine and meat which she had prepared for his reception. As soon as the monarch had graciously accepted her hospitable gift, his domestics lifted a small silver table to a convenient height, as he sat on horseback; and Attila, when he had touched the goblet with his lips, again saluted the wife of Onegesius, and continued his march. During his residence at the seat of empire his hours were not wasted in the recluse idleness of a seraglio; and the king of the Huns could maintain his superior dignity without concealing his person from the public view. He frequently assembled his council, and gave audience to the ambassadors of the nations; and his people might appeal to the supreme tribunal, which he held at stated times, and, according to the Eastern custom, before the principal gate of his wooden palace. The Romans, both of the East and of the West, were twice invited to the banquets,The royal feast where Attila feasted with the princes and nobles of Scythia. Maximin and his colleagues were stopped on the threshold, till they had made a devout libation to the health and prosperity of the king of the Huns; and were conducted, after this ceremony, to their respective seats in a spacious hall. The royal table and couch, covered with carpets and fine linen, was raised by several steps in the midst of the hall; and a son, an uncle, or perhaps a favourite king, were admitted to share the simple and homely repast of Attila. Two lines of small tables, each of which contained three or four guests, were ranged in order on either hand; the right was esteemed the most honourable, but the Romans ingenuously confess that they were placed on the left; and that Beric, an unknown chieftain, most probably of the Gothic race, preceded the representatives of Theodosius and Valentinian. The barbarian monarch received from his cupbearer a goblet filled with wine, and courteously drank to the health of the most distinguished guest, who rose from his seat and expressed, in the same manner, his loyal and respectful vows. This ceremony was successively performed for all, or at least for the illustrious persons of the assembly; and a considerable time must have been consumed, since it was thrice repeated as each course or service was placed on the table. But the wine still remained after the meat had been removed; and the Huns continued to indulge their intemperance long after the sober and decent ambassadors of the two empires had withdrawn themselves from the nocturnal banquet. Yet before they retired they enjoyed a singular opportunity of observing the manners of the nation in their convivial amusements. Two Scythians stood before the couch of Attila, and recited the verses which they had composed to celebrate his valour and his victories. A profound silence prevailed in the hall; and the attention of the guests was captivated by the vocal harmony, which revived and perpetuated the memory of their own exploits: a martial ardour flashed from the eyes of the warriors, who were impatient for battle; and the tears of the old men expressed their generous despair that they could no longer partake the danger and glory of the field.(47) This entertainment, which might be considered as a school of military virtue, was succeeded by a farce that debased the dignity of human nature. A Moorish and a Scythian buffoon successively excited the mirth of the rude spectators, by their deformed figure, ridiculous dress, antic gestures, absurd speeches, and the strange unintelligible confusion of the Latin, the Gothic, and the Hunnic languages; and the hall resounded with loud and licentious peals of laughter. In the midst of this intemperate riot, Attila alone, without a change of countenance, maintained his steadfast and inflexible gravity, which was never relaxed, except on the entrance of Irnac, the youngest of his sons: he embraced the boy with a smile of paternal tenderness, gently pinched him by the cheek, and betrayed a partial affection, which was justified by the assurance of his prophets that Irnac would be the future support of his family and empire. Two days afterwards the ambassadors received a second invitation; and they had reason to praise the politeness, as well as the hospitality, of Attila. The king of the Huns held a long and familiar conversation with Maximin; but his civility was interrupted by rude expressions and haughty reproaches; and he was provoked, by a motive of interest, to support, with unbecoming zeal, the private claims of his secretary Constantius.
"The emperor" (said Attila) "has long promised him a rich wife: Constantius must not be disappointed; nor should a Roman emperor deserve the name of liar."
On the third day the ambassadors were dismissed; the freedom of several captives was granted, for a moderate ransom to their pressing entreaties; and, besides the royal presents, they were permitted to accept from each of the Scythian nobles the honourable and useful gift of a horse. Maximin returned, by the same road, to Constantinople; and though he was involved in an accidental dispute with Beric, the new ambassador of Attila, he flattered himself that he had contributed, by the laborious journey to confirm the peace and alliance of the two nations.(48)
Conspiracy of the Romans against the life of Attila
But the Roman ambassador was ignorant of the treacherous
design which had been concealed under the mask of the public
faith. The surprise and satisfaction of Edecon, when he
contemplated the splendour of Constantinople had encouraged
the interpreter Vigilius to procure for him a secret
interview with the eunuch Chrysaphius,(49) who governed the
emperor and the empire. After some previous conversation,
and a mutual oath of secrecy, the eunuch, who had not, from
his own feelings or experience, imbibed any exalted notions
of ministerial virtue, ventured to propose the death of
Attila, as an important service, by which Edecon might
deserve a liberal share of the wealth and luxury which he
admired. The ambassador of the Huns listened to the tempting
offer; and professed, with apparent zeal, his ability, as
well as readiness, to execute the bloody deed: the design
was communicated to the master of the offices, and the
devout Theodosius consented to the assassination of his
invincible enemy. But this perfidious conspiracy was
defeated by the dissimulation, or the repentance, of Edecon;
and though he might exaggerate his inward abhorrence for the
treason which he seemed to approve, he dexterously assumed
the merit of an early and voluntary confession. If we now
review the embassy of Maximin and the behaviour of Attila,
we must applaud the barbarian, who respected the laws of
hospitality, and generously entertained and dismissed the
minister of a prince who had conspired against his life. But
the rashness of Vigilius will appear still more
extraordinary, since he returned, conscious of his guilt and
danger, to the royal camp accompanied by his son, and
carrying with him a weighty purse of gold, which the
favourite eunuch had furnished, to satisfy the demands of
Edecon and to corrupt the fidelity of the guards. The
interpreter was instantly seized and dragged before the
tribunal of Attila where he asserted his innocence with
specious firmness; till the threat of inflicting instant
death on his son extorted from him a sincere discovery of
the criminal transaction. Under the name of ransom, or
confiscation, the rapacious king of the Huns accepted two
hundred pounds of gold for the life of a traitor whom he
disdained to punish. He reprimands and forgives the Emperor. He pointed his just indignation against
a nobler object. His ambassadors, Eslaw and Orestes, were
immediately despatched to Constantinople with a peremptory
instruction, which it was much safer for them to execute
than to disobey. They boldly entered :he Imperial presence
with the fatal purse hanging down from the neck of Orestes,
who interrogated the eunuch Chrysaphius, as he stood beside
the throne, whether he recognised the evidence of his guilt.
But the office of reproof was reserved for the superior
dignity of his colleague Eslaw, who gravely addressed the
emperor of the East in the following words:
"Theodosius is the son of an illustrious and respectable parent: Attila likewise is descended from a noble race; and 'he' has supported, by his actions, the dignity which he inherited from his father Mundzuk. But heodosius has forfeited his paternal honours, and, by consenting to pay tribute, has degraded himself to the condition of a slave. It is therefore just that he should reverence the man whom fortune and merit have placed above him, instead of attempting, like a wicked slave, clandestinely to conspire against his master."
The son of Arcadius, who was accustomed only to the voice of flattery, heard with astonishment the severe language of truth: he blushed and trembled; nor did he presume directly to refuse the head of Chrysaphius, which Eslaw and Orestes were instructed to demand. A solemn embassy, armed with full powers and magnificent gifts, was hastily sent to deprecate the wrath of Attila; and his pride was gratified by the choice of Nomius and Anatolius, two ministers of consular or patrician rank, of whom the one was great treasurer, and the other was master-general of the armies of the East. He condescended to meet these ambassadors on the banks of the river Drenso; and though he at first affected a stern and haughty demeanour, his anger was insensibly mollified by their eloquence and liberality. He condescended to pardon the emperor, the eunuch, and the interpreter; bound himself by an oath to observe the conditions of peace; released a great number of captives; abandoned the fugitives and deserters to their fate; and resigned a large territory, to the south of the Danube, which he had already exhausted of its wealth and inhabitants. But this treaty was purchased at an expense which might have supported a vigorous and successful war; and the subjects of Theodosius were compelled to redeem the safety of a worthless favourite by oppressive taxes which they would more cheerfully have paid for his destruction. (50)
Theodosius the Younger dies, A.D. 450, July 28.
The emperor Theodosius did not long survive the most
humiliating circumstance of an inglorious life. As he was
riding or hunting in .the neighbourhood of Constantinople,
he was thrown from his horse into the river Lycus: the spine
of his back was injured by the fall; and he expired some
days afterwards, in the fiftieth year of his age, and the
forty-third of his reign. (51) His sister Pulcheria, whose
authority had been controlled both in civil and
ecclesiastical affairs by the pernicious influence of the
eunuchs, was unanimously proclaimed empress of the East; and
the Romans, for the first time, submitted to a female reign.
No sooner had Pulcheria ascended the throne than she
indulged her own and the public resentment by an act of
popular justice. Without any legal trial, the eunuch
Chrysaphius was executed before the gates of the city; and
the immense riches which had been accumulated by the
rapacious favourite served only to hasten and to justify his
punishment.(52) Amidst the general acclamations of the clergy
and people, the empress did not forget the prejudice and
disadvantage to which her sex was exposed; and she wisely
resolved to prevent their murmurs by the choice of a
colleague who would always respect the superior rank and
virgin chastity of his wife. and is succeeded by Marcian, August 25. She gave her hand to Marcian, a
senator, about sixty years of age, and the nominal husband
of Pullcheria was solemnly invested with the Imperial
purple. The zeal which he displayed for the orthodox creed,
as it was established by the council of Chalcedon, would
alone have inspired the grateful eloquence of the catholics.
But the behaviour of Marcian in a private life, and
afterwards on the throne, may support a more rational belief
that he was qualified to restore and invigorate an empire
which had been almost dissolved by the successive weakness
of two hereditary monarchs. He was born in Thrace, and
educated to the profession of arms; but Marcian's youth had
been severely exercised by poverty and misfortune, since his
only resource, when he first arrived at Constantinople,
consisted in two hundred pieces of gold which he had
borrowed of a friend. He passed nineteen years in the
domestic and military service of Aspar and his son
Ardaburius; followed those powerful generals to the Persian
and African wars; and obtained, by their influence, the
honourable rank of tribune and senator. His mild disposition
and useful talents, without alarming the jealousy,
recommended Marcian to the esteem and favour of his patrons;
he had seen, perhaps he had felt, the abuses of a venal and
oppressive administration; and his own example gave weight
and energy to the laws which he promulgated for the
reformation of manners.(53)
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