In the year of Christ 364,[297]Valentinian was[298]chosen emperor at Nice, and not long after[299]gave the[300]title of[301]Augustus to his brother[302]Valens; and[303]leaving him in the East,[304]came into the[305]West himself. He had a great many good[306]qualities, but was[307]particularly[308]famed for his[309]love of[310]justice. He made war against the Alemanni,[311]Saxons, Quadri, and other[312]nations. He[313]died in Pannonia, of an[314]apoplexy, in the 55th year of his[315]age, and the 12th of his[316]reign.
His brother Valens[317]suppressed Procopius, a[318]relation of[319]Julian, who had[320]assumed the[321]purple at Constantinople. After which he made war with the[322]Goths; but upon the[323]suit of their king[324]Athanaricus,[325]granted them a[326]peace, in the year 369. Ten years after this, Athanaricus with Fritigernes, were[327]driven out of their[328]country by the[329]Huns, and were[330]kindly[331]received by Valens, and[332]settled with their Goths in[333]Thrace. They afterwards excited an[334]insurrection against the Romans, and Valens being[335]wounded in a[336]battlewith them, near[337]Hadrianople, was[338]burnt[339]alive by the barbarians, in a[340]cottage he[341]fled to. He reigned fourteen years and four months.
The emperor Valentinian had two sons,[342]Gratian and Valentinian. The former he[343]declared Augustus in Gaul, in the year 367; and his other son was[344]immediately after the death of his father[345]advanced to the same[346]dignity by the soldiers, in the year 375, and the 10th year of his age. Gratian had an[347]aversion to[348]public[349]business. After the death of Valens, the Goths[350]over-running Thrace, and other[351]provinces of the Roman empire, not[352]being able alone to[353]bear the[354]burthen, he[355]sent for[356]Theodosius out of[357]Spain, and made him his[358]associate, who was then in the 33rd year of his age.
Theodosius having[359]conquered the barbarians,[360]restored the public[361]peace. At last the whole[362]nation of the Goths, with their king,[363]delivered themselves up to the Romans, to whom the emperor[364]assigned[365]lands. After these things, Maximus[366]seized the[367]government in[368]Britain, in the year 382; and having[369]fixed his imperial[370]seat at Triers,[371]basely killed Gratian at Lyons, after he had been[372]forsaken by his army; but Theodosius[373]revenged his death, and[374]likewise[375]re-established Valentinian the[376]younger, who had been[377]obliged to[378]quit Italy. This[379]happened in the year 388, in whichhe[380]overthrew and killed Maximus near Aquileia. Theodosius had all the[381]accomplishments[382]becoming a Christian emperor:[383]inferior to none of the[384]foregoing or[385]following princes; a[386]consummate general, never[387]undertaking any war but such as was[388]necessary; of[389]singular[390]clemency and[391]humanity, yet a little[392]inclined to[393]passion.
In the year 391, Eugenius,[394]supported by the[395]power of Arbogastes,[396]set up for emperor, and in the following year, Valentinian was slain at Vienne in Gaul, by the same Arbogastes. Two years after,[397]Eugenius was[398]routed,[399]taken prisoner, and put to[400]death by Theodosius. Arbogastes was his own[401]executioner. The year following, 395, this excellent emperor died at Milan, after a reign of sixteen years.
Theodosius[402]left two sons,[403]Arcadius and[404]Honorius; to the[405]former he[406]gave the[407]East, to the[408]latter the[409]West. Arcadius,[410]immediately after his father’s death,[411]married Eudoxia, which[412]match was[413]brought about by Eutropius,[414]for fear of his[415]taking to wife Ruffinus’s daughter. This Ruffinus in the East, and Stilicho in the West, were at that time two men of the greatest[416]eminence and[417]power in the empire. Stilicho, after the death of Theodosius,[418]laying claim to the[419]management of both the Eastern and Western empires, and[420]marching[421]Eastward, Ruffinus[422]endeavoured[423]to hinder him, by[424]postinghis[425]troops in all the[426]passages into[427]Greece, and[428]sent for Alaricus, king of the Goths, who[429]over-ran Greece, but was[430]defeated by Stilicho. At last, Ruffinus was[431]slain by the[432]soldiers, the same year in which Theodosius died. After his death, Eutropius[433]became very intimate with Arcadius, but was at last[434]disgraced and slain, in the very year in which he was[435]consul. In 403, died Arcadius, a prince of a[436]peaceable, but[437]indolent[438]temper, and too much[439]governed by his[440]wife. He left the[441]guardianship of his son, by[442]will, to Jezdegirdes, king of the[443]Persians, who[444]faithfully[445]executed that[446]trust, and[447]committed the[448]care of his[449]ward to Antiochus, a very[450]learned man, who[451]threatened to make war upon any that should[452]offer to[453]disturb him.
In the West, the[454]frequent[455]invasions of the barbarians were almost[456]fatal to the Roman[457]state. Radagisus, king of the Goths, with four, or as[458]others[459]say, two hundred thousand men,[460]invaded Italy, who were very[461]happily[462]cut off by Stilicho, the general himself being[463]taken and[464]slain. After Alaricus, a king of the[465]Goths, having[466]laid[467]Greece waste, and[468]continued a long time in[469]Epirus, at the[470]instigation of Stilicho, who was[471]desirous to[472]take[473]Illyricum from Arcadius, in order to[474]annex it to the[475]dominions of Honorius, afterwards[476]penetratedinto Italy. To[477]get rid of him, Honorius[478]gave him[479]Spain and Gaul to[480]live in, himself not being in a condition to[481]keep those[482]provinces. As Alaricus was[483]marching thither, Saul, a[484]pagan general, whom Stilicho had[485]placed at the[486]head of an army,[487]falling upon the Barbarians, was[488]defeated by them. This[489]success so[490]elevated Alaricus, that[491]quitting his[492]former[493]design, he[494]over-ran Italy, and[495]took Rome: but before this, Stilicho was[496]put to death by the[497]order of Honorius. For, after the death of Theodosius,[498]designing to get the empire to himself and to make his son[499]Eucherius, who was a[500]pagan, and an enemy to the[501]Christians, emperor; the better to[502]accomplish his[503]design, he[504]resolved to[505]throw all into[506]confusion.[507]Wherefore he sent for the Barbarians to[508]ravage the empire, and[509]let the Alans, the Vandals, the Suevi, and the Burgundians, loose upon France and Spain. His[510]relation to the emperor[511]encouraged him in it; for he had Serena, the daughter of Theodosius’s brother, in[512]marriage, and had[513]disposed of the two daughters he had by her, first,[514]Mary, and after her death,[515]Termantia, in marriage to Honorius. But these[516]intrigues being[517]discovered by[518]Olympius, in the year of Christ 408, he was slain by the[519]hands of[520]Heraclius. The year following, Eucherius was[521]put to death, with his mother Serena.After Stilicho was[522]taken off, Alaricus was[523]desirous to[524]come to an[525]accommodation with Honorius, but was[526]foolishly[527]rejected. Wherefore, with a[528]body of[529]Goths, and[530]Huns, in[531]conjunction with his wife’s brother[532]Athaulfus, he[533]laid siege to Rome, and[534]carried it in the year 410. The[535]plunder of it he[536]gave to his soldiers, but with orders that all such as[537]fled to the[538]churches,[539]especially those of[540]Peter and[541]Paul, should have[542]quarter given them. He then[543]went to[544]Rhegium, in order to[545]pass over into Sicily and Africa, but there[546]died. He was[547]succeeded by Athaulfus, who[548]plundered Rome again,[549]carried off Placidia the emperor’s sister, and[550]married her.
During this[551]storm in Italy, the same[552]calamity[553]fell upon Gaul and Spain. The Alans, Vandals, Suevans,[554]laid waste Gaul, passed the[555]Pyrenæan mountains, and[556]made themselves[557]masters of Spain in the year 409. The Vandals and Suevans[558]seized upon Galæcia; the Alans, Lusitania and the[559]province of[560]Carthage; the[561]Silingans, which was another[562]branch of the Vandals, Bœtica.
After the[563]breaking in of the Goths in 410,[564]divers[565]pretenders to the empire[566]started up in[567]several[568]places. First Attalus was[569]made emperor, by the[570]senate, at the[571]command of Alaricus. He[572]proudly[573]rejected Honorius, who[574]offered by his[575]ambassadorsto[576]receive him as his[577]partner in the empire, but was[578]obliged by Alaricus to[579]return to a[580]private[581]condition, and was afterwards[582]put up and[583]down again several times. At length,[584]renewing his[585]pretensions in Gaul, but not being[586]supported by the[587]Goths, he was[588]taken[589]prisoner, and[590]put into the[591]hands of Honorius, who[592]spared his[593]life, but[594]cut off one of his hands.
[595]Martius Gratianus, and Constantine in[596]Britain,[597]usurped the[598]supreme[599]power, and were[600]taken off.[601]Jovin and[602]Sebastian, two brothers, then[603]pretended to the empire; but were[604]taken and[605]slain by[606]Athaulfus, king of the Goths.[607]Heraclianus was set up in Africa, and[608]venturing over into Italy against Honorius, was[609]routed by Marinus at[610]Utriculum; and[611]returning into Africa, was slain at[612]Carthage.
In the year 415, Athaulfus was slain by a Goth, and[613]succeeded by Sigericus, who was destroyed seven days after; and succeeded by Vuallia, who[614]made peace with the Romans, and[615]restored Placidia to Honorius; after which he made war against the Alans, Vandals, Suevi, and other[616]nations, who had[617]settled in Spain. Honorius[618]married Placidia against her[619]will to[620]Constantius Comes, who[621]confirmed the peace with Vuallia,[622]sent for him backinto Gaul, and[623]gave him that part of[624]Aquitain which[625]lies betwixt Thoulouse and the[626]sea, to[627]live in. Upon this, Thoulouse[628]became the[629]capital of the[630]Gothic, or[631]Visigothic[632]kingdom in Gaul. This[633]happened in the year 419. In the year following, Honorius, against his[634]will, made Constantius his[635]companion in the empire, who died seven months after, as did Honorius himself in the year 428.
He was[636]succeeded by Valentinian his sister’s son. In his reign the Vandals, whom Boniface had hitherto[637]repulsed from the[638]shores of Africa,[639]entered it from Spain, under the[640]command of Geisericus. For Boniface being[641]impeached by[642]Ætius of[643]high-treason, and[644]Sigisvulphus being[645]sent against him,[646]finding himself not a[647]match for the Romans,[648]fled to the Vandals for[649]assistance, with whom he had[650]contracted an[651]alliance before. Wherefore in the year 427, Geisericus, with 80,000 Vandals and Alans,[652]passed over into Africa, and[653]made himself master of it. In the mean time, Boniface being[654]reconciled to Placidia, and not[655]being able to[656]persuade the Barbarians, to[657]return home,[658]endeavoured to[659]oblige them, by[660]force of arms, and was[661]routed. He then[662]went to Rome, and died there soon after.
Ætius in Gaul[663]sustained his part very well for the Romans, against the Franks, Goths, Burgundians,Huns, and other Barbarians. Ætius had[664]sent for the Huns to his assistance against the Goths. In the year 434, Honoria, the sister of Valentinian, being[665]banished the[666]court for[667]improper conduct with her[668]steward, and sent to Theodosius, emperor of the[669]East,[670]engaged Attila, king of the Huns, to make war upon the[671]West.[672]Litorius, a Roman general, having the[673]command of them, whilst he[674]endeavoured to[675]eclipse the[676]glory of Ætius, was so[677]foolish as to[678]regard the[679]answers of[680]soothsayers and[681]fortune-tellers, and[682]rashly[683]engaged[684]Theodoricus, king of the Goths, who by the most[685]abject[686]submission[687]declined the war, and after a great[688]overthrow was[689]taken and[690]slain in the year 439, in which[691]Carthage was[692]surprised by the Vandals. At last, in the year 442, Valentinian[693]renewed the peace with Geisericus, and Africa was[694]divided between them.
In the year 450, Attila[695]marched into Gaul, which at that time the[696]Visigoths, Franks, Burgundians, Alans, and other Barbarians, were in[697]possession of. Part of the Romans[698]reluctantly[699]remained under the[700]command of Ætius, who alone at that time[701]kept the[702]western[703]empire from[704]falling[705]to utter[706]ruin. Attila[707]laid siege to Aurelia, but Ætius[708]coming upon him,[709]obliged him to[710]raise the[711]siege, and[712]pursued him into Gallia, and Belgiumthen[713]overthrew him, in a great[714]battle[715]fought on the[716]plains of Catalonia. There were[717]slain on both[718]sides at least 170,000, and amongst them Theodoricus king of the Goths. It is[719]certain the Huns might have been[720]utterly[721]destroyed, if Ætius had not[722]been afraid, that in the event of the Huns being[723]entirely[724]cut off, the Goths would be[725]insupportable in Gaul.
Attila having[726]unexpectedly[727]escaped,[728]poured his[729]troops into Italy, where he laid siege to Aquileia, and[730]levelled it with the ground. He afterwards[731]laid waste[732]Milan,[733]Ticinum, and other[734]towns; and[735]marching for Rome, was so[736]wrought upon by an[737]embassy from[738]Leo, who[739]met him at the[740]river Mincius, that he[741]went into his own[742]country; afterwards[743]returning into Gaul against the Alans, who had[744]posted themselves beyond the Loire, he was again[745]defeated by[746]Thorismundus, as he had been in the[747]plains of Catalonia; and in the year 454, after an[748]excess of[749]wine, died of[750]vomiting[751]blood.