prises, and tumultuary engagements, as well by CHA P. sea as by land. When the Romans suffered any XI. loss, it was commonly occasioned by their own cowardice or rashness; but the superior talents of the emperor, his perfect knowledge of the country, and his judicious choice of measures as well as officers, assured, on most occasions, the success of his arms. The immense booty, the fruit of so many victories, consisted, for the greater part, of cattle and slaves. A select body of the Gothic youth was received among the Imperial troops; the remainder was sold into servitude; and so considerable was the number of female captives, that every soldier obtained to his share two or three women. A circumstance from which we may conclude, that the invaders entertained some designs of settlement as well as of plunder; since even in a naval expedition, they were accompanied by their families. III. The loss of their fleet, which was either taken or sunk, had intercepted the retreat of the Goths. A vast circle of Roman posts, distributed with skill, supported with firmness, and gradually closing towards a common centre, forced the barbarians into the most inaccessible parts of Mount Hæmus, where they found a safe refuge, but a very scanty subsistence. During the course of a rigorous winter, in which they were besieged by the emperor's troops, famine and pestilence, desertion and the sword, continually diminished the imprisoned multitude. On the return of spring, nothing appeared in A. D. 270. arms except a hardy and desperate band, the remnant CHA P. remnant of that mighty host which had embarked at the mouth of the Niester. XI. March. Death of ror, who The pestilence, which swept away such numbers of the barbarians, at length proved fatal to the empe- their conqueror. After a short, but glorious reign, of two years, Claudius expired at Sirmium, amidst the tears and acclamations of his subjects. In his for his last illness, he convened the principal officers of successor. the state and army, and in their presence recom recommends Aurelian mended Aurelian, one of his generals, as the most deserving of the throne, and the best qualified to execute the great design which he himself had been permitted only to undertake. The virtues of Claudius, his valour, affability *, justice, and temperance, his love of fame and of his country, place him in that short list of emperors who added lustre to the Roman purple. Those virtues, however, were celebrated with peculiar zeal and complacency by the courtly writers of the age of Constantine, who was the great grandson of Crispus, the elder brother of Claudius. The voice of flattery was soon taught to repeat, that the Gods, who so hastily had snatched Claudius from the earth, rewarded his merit and piety by the perpetual establishment of the empire in his family t. Notwith * According to Zonaras, (1. xii. p. 638.) Claudius, before his death, invested him with the purple; but this singular fact is rather contradicted than confirmed by other writers. See the life of Claudius by Pollio, and the orations of Mamertinus, Eumenius, and Julian. See likewise the Caesars of Julian, p. 313. In Julian it was not adulation, but superstition and vanity. XI. The at tempt and Quinti Notwithstanding these oracles, the greatness of c H a p. the Flavian family (a name which it had pleased them to assume) was deferred above twenty years, and the elevation of Claudius occasioned the immediate ruin of his brother Quintilius, fall of who possessed not sufficient moderation or cou- lius. rage to descend into the private station to which the patriotism of the late emperor had condemned him. Without delay or reflection, he assumed the purple at Aquileia, where he commanded a considerable force; and though his reign lasted only seventeen days, he had time to obtain the sanction of the senate, and to experience a mutiny of the troops. As soon as he was informed that the great army of the Danube had invested the well-known valour of Aurelian with Imperial power, he sunk under the fame and merit of his rival; and ordering his veins to be opened, pru- April. dently withdrew himself from the unequal contest *. vices of The general design of this work will not per- Origin mit us minutely to relate the actions of every and seremperor after he ascended the throne, much less Aurelian. to deduce the various fortunes of his private life. We shall only observe, that the father of Aurelian was a peasant of the territory of Sirmium, who occupied a small farm, the property of Aurelius, a rich senator. His warlike son inlisted in the troops as a common soldier, successively rose Zosimus, 1. i. p. 42. Pollio (Hist. August. p. 207.) allows him virtues, and says, that like Pertinax he was killed by the licentious soldiers. According to Dexippus, he died of a disease. XI. CHA P. rose to the rank of a centurion, a tribune, the præfect of a legion, the inspector of the camp, the general, or, as it was then called, the duke, of a frontier; and at length, during the Gothic war, exercised the important office of commander in chief of the cavalry. In every station he distinguished himself by matchless valour *, rigid discipline, and successful conduct. He was invested with the consulship by the emperor Valerian, who stiles him, in the pompous language of that age, the deliverer of Illyricum, the restorer of Gaul, and the rival of the Scipios. At the recommendation of Valerian, a senator of the highest rank and merit, Ulpius Crinitus, whose blood was derived from the same source as that of Trajan, adopted the Pannonian peasant, gave him his daughter in marriage, and relieved with his ample fortune the honourable poverty which Aurelian had preserved inviolate †. Aurelian's The reign of Aurelian lasted only four years successful and about nine months; but every instant of that reign. short period was filled by some memorable atchievement. He put an end to the Gothic war, chastised the Germans who invaded Italy, recovered Gaul, Spain, and Britain, out of the hands of Tetricus, and destroyed the proud monarchy which *Theoclius (as quoted in the Augustan History, p. 211.) affirms, that in one day he killed, with his own hand, fortyeight Sarmatians, and in several subsequent engagements nine hundred and fifty. This heroic valour was admired by the soldiers, and celebrated in their rude songs, the burden of which was, mille, mille, mille, occidit. † Acholius (ap. Hist. August. p. 213.) describes the ceremony of the adoption, as it was performed at Byzantium, in the presence of the emperor and his great officers. which Zenobia had erected in the East, on the c H A P. ruins of the afflicted empire. XI. It was the rigid attention of Aurelian, even to His severe the minutest articles of discipline, which be- discipline. stowed such uninterrupted success on his arms. His military regulations are contained in a very concise epistle to one of his inferior officers, who is commanded to enforce them, as he wishes to become a tribune, or as he is desirous to live. Gaming, drinking, and the arts of divination, were severely prohibited. Aurelian expected that his soldiers should be modest, frugal, and laborious; that their armour should be constantly kept bright, their weapons sharp, their clothing and horses ready for immediate service; that they should live in their quarters with chastity and sobriety, without damaging the corn fields, without stealing even a sheep, a fowl, or a bunch of grapes, without exacting from their landlords, either salt, or oil, or wood. "The public al"lowance," continues the emperor, "is suffi"cient for their support; their wealth should be "collected from the spoil of the enemy, not "from the tears of the provincials *." A single instance will serve to display the rigour, and even cruelty of Aurelian. One of the soldiers had seduced the wife of his host. The guilty wretch VOL. II. C was Hist. August. p. 211. This laconic epistle is truly the work of a soldier; it abounds with military phrases and words, some of which cannot be understood without difficulty. Ferramento samiata is well explained by Salmasius. The former of the words means all weapons of offence, and is contrasted with Arma, defensive armour. The latter signifies keen and well sharpened, |