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CHAP.

XI.

tice of Claudius.

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Such ostentatious clemency discovers less of the real character of Claudius, than a trifling circumstance in which he seems to have consulted only Clemency and jus- the dictates of his heart. The frequent rebellions of the provinces had involved almost every person in the guilt of treason, almost every estate in the case of confiscation; and Gallienus often displayed his liberality, by distributing among his officers the property of his subjects. On the accession of Claudius, an old woman threw herself at his feet, and complained that a general of the late emperor had obtained an arbitrary grant of her patrimony. This general was Claudius himself, who had not entirely escaped the contagion of the times. The emperor blushed at the reproach, but deserved the confidence which she had reposed in his equity. The confession of his fault was accompanied with immediate and ample restitution *.

He undertakes the reformation of

the army.

In the arduous task which Claudius had undertaken, of restoring the empire to its ancient splendor, it was first necessary to revive among his troops a sense of order and obedience. With the authority of a veteran commander, he represented to them, that the relaxation of discipline had introduced a long train of disorders, the effects of which were at length experienced by the soldiers themselves; that a people ruined by oppression, and indolent from despair, could no longer supply a numerous army with the means of luxury, or even of subsistence; that the danger of each individual had increased with the despotism of the military

* Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 137.

military order, since princes who tremble on the CHA P. throne, will guard their safety by the instant sa- XI. crifice of every obnoxious subject. The emperor expatiated on the mischiefs of a lawless caprice, which the soldiers could only gratify at the expence of their own blood; as their seditious elections had so frequently been followed by civil wars, which consumed the flower of the legions, either in the field of battle or in the cruel abuse of victory. He painted in the most lively colours the exhausted state of the treasury, the desolation of the provinces, the disgrace of the Roman name, and the insolent triumph of rapacious barbarians. It was against those barbarians, he declared, that he intended to point the first effort of their arms. Tetricus might reign for a while over the West, and even Zenobia might preserve the dominion of the East *. These usurpers were his personal adversaries; nor could he think of indulging any private resentment till he had saved an empire, whose impending ruin would, unless it was timely prevented, crush both the army and the people.

Goths in

The various nations of Germany and Sarmatia, A.D. 269. who fought under the Gothic standard, had al- The ready collected an armament more formidable vade the than any which had yet issued from the Euxine. empire. On the banks of the Niester, one of the great rivers that discharge themselves into that sea, they constructed a fleet of two thousand, or even of

* Zonaras on this occasion mentions Posthumus; but the registers of the senate (Hist. August. p. 203.) prove that Tetricus was already emperor of the western provinces.

XI.

CHAP. of six thousand vessels *; numbers which, however incredible they may seem, would have been insufficient to transport their pretended army of three hundred and twenty thousand barbarians. Whatever might be the real strength of the Goths, the vigour and success of the expedition were not adequate to the greatness of the preparations. In their passage through the Bosphorus, the unskilful pilots were overpowered by the violence of the current; and while the multitude of their ships were crowded in a narrow channel, many were dashed against each other, or against the shore. The barbarians made several descents on the coasts both of Europe and Asia; but the open country was already plundered, and they were repulsed with shame and loss from the fortified cities which they assaulted. A spirit of discouragement and division arose in the fleet, and some of their chiefs sailed away towards the islands of Crete and Cyprus; but the main body pursuing a more steady course, anchored at length near the foot of mount Athos, and assaulted the city of Thessalonica, the wealthy capital of all the. Macedonian provinces. Their attacks, in which they displayed a fierce but artless bravery, were soon interrupted by the rapid approach of Claudius, hastening to a scene of action that deserved the presence of a warlike prince at the head of the remaining powers of the empire. Impatient for battle, the Goths immediately broke up their

camp,

*The Augustan history mentions the smaller, Zonaras the larger, number; the lively fancy of Montesquieu induced him to prefer the latter.

XI.

camp, relinquished the siege of Thessalonica, left CHA P. their navy at the foot of Mount Athos, traversed the hills of Macedonia, and pressed forwards to engage the last defence of Italy.

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Distress

ness of Claudius.

We still possess an original letter, addressed by and firmClaudius to the senate and people on this memorable occasion. Conscript fathers," says the emperor, "know that three hundred and twenty "thousand Goths have invaded the Roman ter

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ritory. If I vanquish them, your gratitude "will reward my services. Should I fall, re"member that I am the successor of Gallienus. "The whole republic is fatigued and exhausted. "We shall fight after Valerian, after Ingenuus, Regillianus, Lollianus, Posthumus, Celsus, and "a thousand others, whom a just contempt for "Gallienus provoked into rebellion. We are " in want of darts, of spears, and of shields. The strength of the empire, Gaul and Spain, are

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usurped by Tetricus, and we blush to acknow"ledge that the archers of the East serve under "the banners of Zenobia. Whatever we shall perform, will be sufficiently great *." The melancholy firmness of this epistle announces a hero careless of his fate, conscious of his danger, but still deriving a well-grounded hope from the resources of his own mind.

ry over

The event surpassed his own expectations and His victothose of the world. By the most signal victories, the Goths. he delivered the empire from this host of barbarians, and was distinguished by posterity under

* Trebell. Pollio in Hist. August. p. 204.

the

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CHA P. the glorious appellation of the Gothic Claudius. The imperfect historians of an irregular war * do not enable us to describe the order and circumstances of his exploits; but, if we could be indulged in the allusion, we might distribute into three acts this memorable tragedy. I. The decisive battle was fought near Naissus, a city of Dardania. The legions at first gave way, oppressed by numbers, and dismayed by misfortunes. Their ruin was inevitable, had not the abilities of their emperor prepared a seasonable relief. A large detachment, rising out of the secret and difficult passes of the mountains, which, by his order, they had occupied, suddenly assailed the rear of the victorious Goths. The favourable instant was improved by the activity of Claudius. He revived the courage of his troops, restored their ranks, and pressed the barbarians on every side. Fifty thousand men are reported to have been slain in the battle of Naissus. Several large bodies of barbarians, covering their retreat with a moveable fortification of waggons, retired, or rather escaped, from the field of slaughter. II. We may presume, that some insurmountable difficulty, the fatigue, perhaps, or the disobedience, of the conquerors, prevented Claudius from completing, in one day, the destruction of the Goths. The war was diffused over the provinces of Mæsia, Thrace, and Macedonia, and its operations drawn out into a variety of marches, sur

prises,

* Hist. August. in Claud. Aurelian. et Prob. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 38.-42. Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 638. Aurel. Victor in Epitom. Victor Junior in Cæsar. Eutrop. ix. 11. Euseb. in Chron.

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