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Part I. Victories, Triumph, And Death Of Aurelian.
Under the deplorable reigns of
Valerian and
Gallienus, the empire was oppressed and almost destroyed by the soldiers, the
tyrants, and the barbarians. It was saved by a series of great princes, who derived their obscure origin from the martial
provinces of
Illyricum. Within a period of about thirty years, Claudius, Aurelian, Probus,
Diocletian and his colleagues,
triumphed over the foreign and domestic enemies of the state, reestablished, with the military discipline, the strength of the
frontiers, and deserved the glorious title of Restorers of the Roman world. The removal of an
effeminate tyrant made way for a
succession of heroes. The
indignation of the people imputed all their calamities to
Gallienus, and the far greater part were
indeed, the consequence of his dissolute manners and careless administration. He was even destitute of a sense of honor, which
so frequently supplies the absence of public virtue; and
as long as he was permitted to enjoy the possession of Italy, a victory of
the barbarians, the loss of a province, or the rebellion of a general seldom disturbed the tranquil course of his pleasures. At
length, a considerable army, stationed on the Upper
Danube, invested with the Imperial purple their leader
Aureolus; who,
disdaining a confined and barren reign over the mountains of
Rhaetia, passed the Alps, occupied
Milan, threatened
Rome, and
challenged
Gallienus to dispute in the field the sovereignty of Italy. The emperor, provoked by the insult, and alarmed by the
instant danger, suddenly exerted that latent vigor which sometimes broke through the
indolence of his temper. Forcing
himself from the luxury of the palace, he appeared in arms at the head of his legions, and advanced beyond the
Po to encounter
his competitor. The corrupted name of Pontirolo
1 still preserves the memory of a bridge over the
Adda, which, during the
action, must have proved an object of the utmost importance to both armies. The Rhaetian usurper, after receiving a total defeat
and a dangerous wound, retired into Milan. The
siege of that great city was immediately formed; the walls were battered with
every engine in use among the ancients; and
Aureolus, doubtful of his internal strength, and hopeless of foreign succors
already anticipated the fatal consequences of unsuccessful
rebellion.
Footnote 1: Pons Aureoli, thirteen miles from Bergamo, and thirty-two from Milan. See Cluver. Italia, Antiq. tom. i. p. 245.
Near this place, in the year 1703, the obstinate battle of Cassano was fought between the French and Austrians. The excellent
relation of the Chevalier de Folard, who was present, gives a very distinct idea of the ground. See Polybe de Folard, tom. iii. p.
233-248.
His last resource was an attempt to seduce the loyalty of the besiegers. He scattered libels through the camp, inviting the
troops to desert an unworthy master, who sacrificed the public happiness to his luxury, and the lives of his most valuable
subjects to the slightest suspicions. The arts of
Aureolus diffused fears and discontent among the principal officers of his
rival. A conspiracy was formed by Heraclianus the Praetorian
prefect, by Marcian, a general of rank and reputation, and by
Cecrops, who commanded a numerous body of
Dalmatian guards. The death of
Gallienus was resolved; and notwithstanding
their desire of first terminating the
siege of Milan, the extreme danger which accompanied every moment's delay obliged them
to hasten the execution of their daring purpose. At a late hour of the night, but while the emperor still protracted the pleasures
of the table, an alarm was suddenly given, that
Aureolus, at the head of all his forces, had made a desperate sally from the town;
Gallienus, who was never deficient in personal
bravery, started from his silken couch, and without allowing himself time either
to put on his armor, or to assemble his guards, he mounted on horseback, and rode full speed towards the supposed place of the
attack. Encompassed by his declared or concealed enemies, he soon, amidst the
nocturnal tumult, received a mortal dart from
an uncertain hand. Before he expired, a patriotic sentiment using in the mind of
Gallienus, induced him to name a deserving
successor; and it was his last request, that the Imperial ornaments should be delivered to Claudius, who then commanded a
detached army in the neighborhood of
Pavia. The report at least was diligently propagated, and the order cheerfully obeyed by
the conspirators, who had already agreed to place Claudius on the throne. On the first news of the emperor's death, the troops
expressed some suspicion and resentment, till the one was removed, and the other assuaged, by a donative of twenty pieces of
gold to each soldier. They then ratified the
election, and acknowledged the merit of their new
sovereign.
2
Footnote 2: On the death of Gallienus, see Trebellius Pollio in Hist. August. p. 181. Zosimus, l. i. p. 37. Zonaras, l. xii. p. 634.
Eutrop. ix. ll. Aurelius Victor in Epitom. Victor in Caesar. I have compared and blended them all, but have chiefly followed
Aurelius Victor, who seems to have had the best memoirs.
The
obscurity which covered the origin of
Claudius, though it was afterwards embellished by some flattering fictions,
3
sufficiently betrays the
meanness of his birth. We can only discover that he was a native of one of the provinces bordering on
the Danube; that his youth was spent in arms, and that his modest valor attracted the favor and confidence of
Decius. The
senate and people already considered him as an excellent officer, equal to the most important trusts; and censured the
inattention of
Valerian, who suffered him to remain in the subordinate station of a
tribune. But it was not long before that
emperor distinguished the merit of
Claudius, by declaring him general and chief of the Illyrian frontier, with the command of
all the troops in
Thrace,
Maesia,
Dacia,
Pannonia, and
Dalmatia, the appointments of the praefect of Egypt, the establishment of
the proconsul of Africa, and the sure prospect of the consulship.
By his victories over the Goths, he deserved from the senate
the honor of a statue, and excited the jealous apprehensions of
Gallienus. It was impossible that a soldier could esteem so
dissolute a sovereign, nor is it easy to conceal a just
contempt. Some unguarded expressions which dropped from Claudius
were officiously transmitted to the royal ear. The emperor's answer to an officer of confidence describes in very lively colors
his own character, and that of the times.
"There is not any thing capable of giving me more serious concern, than the
intelligence contained in your last dispatch; 4 that some malicious suggestions have indisposed towards us the mind of our
friend and parent Claudius. As you regard your allegiance, use every means to appease his resentment, but conduct your
negotiation with secrecy; let it not reach the knowledge of the Dacian troops; they are already provoked, and it might inflame
their fury. I myself have sent him some presents: be it your care that he accept them with pleasure. Above all, let him not
suspect that I am made acquainted with his imprudence. The fear of my anger might urge him to desperate counsels." 5
The presents which accompanied this humble epistle, in which the monarch solicited a
reconciliation with his discontented subject,
consisted of a considerable sum of money, a splendid
wardrobe, and a valuable service of silver and gold plate. By such arts
Gallienus softened the indignation and dispelled the fears of his Illyrian general; and during the remainder of that reign, the
formidable sword of Claudius was always drawn in the cause of a master whom he despised. At last, indeed, he received from
the conspirators the bloody purple of
Gallienus: but he had been absent from their camp and counsels; and however he might
applaud the deed, we may candidly presume that he was innocent of the
knowledge of it.
6 When Claudius ascended the
throne, he was about fifty-four years of age.
Footnote 3: Some supposed him, oddly enough, to be a bastard of the younger
Gordian. Others took advantage of the province of Dardania, to deduce his origin from Dardanus, and the ancient kings of
Troy.
Footnote 4: Notoria, a periodical and official dispatch which the emperor received from the frumentarii, or agents dispersed
through the provinces. Of these we may speak hereafter.
Footnote 5: Hist. August. p. 208. Gallienus describes the plate, vestments, etc., like a man who loved and understood those
splendid trifles.
Footnote 6: Julian (Orat. i. p. 6) affirms that Claudius acquired the empire in a just and even holy manner. But we may
distrust the partiality of a kinsman.
The siege of
Milan was still continued, and
Aureolus soon discovered that the success of his artifices had only raised up a
more determined adversary. He attempted to negotiate with Claudius a treaty of alliance and partition.
"Tell him," replied the
intrepid emperor, "that such proposals should have been made to Gallienus; he, perhaps, might have listened to them with
patience, and accepted a colleague as despicable as himself." 7 This stern refusal, and a last unsuccessful effort, obliged
Aureolus to yield the city and himself to the discretion of the conqueror. The judgment of the army pronounced him worthy of
death; and
Claudius, after a feeble resistance, consented to the execution of the sentence. Nor was the zeal of the senate less
ardent in the cause of their new sovereign. They ratified, perhaps with a sincere transport of zeal, the election of Claudius;
and, as his predecessor had shown himself the personal enemy of their order, they exercised, under the name of
justice, a
severe revenge against his friends and family. The senate was permitted to discharge the ungrateful office of punishment, and
the emperor reserved for himself the pleasure and merit of obtaining by his
intercession a general act of indemnity.
8
Footnote 7: Hist. August. p. 203. There are some trifling differences concerning the circumstances of the last defeat and
death of Aureolus
Footnote 8: Aurelius Victor in Gallien. The people loudly prayed for the damnation of Gallienus. The senate decreed that his relations and servants should be thrown down headlong from the Gemonian stairs. An obnoxious officer of the revenue had his
eyes torn out whilst under examination.
Such
ostentatious clemency discovers less of the real character of Claudius, than a trifling circumstance in which he seems
to have consulted only 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.
9
Footnote 9: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 137.
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 order, since princes who tremble on the throne will guard their safety by the instant sacrifice of every obnoxious
subject. The emperor expiated on the mischiefs of a
lawless caprice, which the soldiers could only gratify at the expense of
their own blood; as their seditious elections had so frequently been followed by
civil war 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 colors 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.
10 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.
Footnote 10: 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.
The various nations of
Germany and
Sarmatia, who fought under the
Gothic standard, had already collected an armament
more formidable than any which had yet issued from the
Euxine. 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 six thousand vessels;
11 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 vigor and success of the expedition were not
adequate to the greatness of the preparations. In their passage through the
Bosphorus, the unskillful 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, relinquished the siege of
Thessalonica, left their navy at the foot of Mount Athos, traversed the hills of
Macedonia, and pressed forwards to engage the last defense of Italy.
Footnote 11: The Augustan History mentions the smaller,
Zonaras the larger number; the lively fancy of Montesquieu induced him to prefer the latter.
We still posses an original letter addressed by
Claudius 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 territory. If I
vanquish them, your gratitude will reward my services. Should I fall, remember 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 usurped by Tetricus, and we blush to acknowledge that the
archers of the East serve under the banners of Zenobia. Whatever we shall perform will be sufficiently great."
12 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.
Footnote 12: Trebell. Pollio in Hist. August. p. 204.
The event surpassed his own expectations and those of the world. By the most signal victories he delivered the empire from
this host of barbarians, and was distinguished by posterity under the glorious appellation of the
Gothic Claudius. The
imperfect historians of an irregular war
13 do not enable as 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 favorable 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 movable
fortification of wagons, 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
province of
Maesia,
Thrace, and
Macedonia, and its operations drawn out into a variety of marches, surprises, and tumultuary
engagements, as well by sea as by land. When the Romans suffered any 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 center, forced the barbarians into the
most inaccessible parts of Mount Haemus, 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 arms except a hardy and
desperate band, the remnant of that mighty host which had embarked at the mouth of the
Niester.
Footnote 13: Hist. August. in Claud. Aurelian. et Prob. Zosimus, l. i. p. 38-42. Zonaras, l. xii. p. 638. Aurel. Victor in Epitom.
Victor Junior in Caesar. Eutrop. ix ll. Euseb. in Chron.
The
pestilence which swept away such numbers of the barbarians, at length proved fatal to 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 last illness,
he convened the principal officers of the state and army, and in their presence recommended
Aurelian,
14 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 valor, affability, justice, and temperance, his love of fame and of his
country, place him in that short list of emperors who added
luster 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 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.
15
Footnote 14: According to Zonaras, (l. xii. p. 638,) Claudius, before his death, invested him with the purple; but this singular fact is
rather contradicted than confirmed by other writers.
Footnote 15: See the Life of Claudius by Pollio, and the Orations of Mamertinus, Eumenius, and Julian. See likewise the
Caesars of Julian p. 318. In Julian it was not adulation, but superstition and vanity.
Notwithstanding these oracles, the greatness of 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, who possessed not
sufficient moderation or courage 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 valor of Aurelian with
Imperial
power, he sunk under the fame and merit of his rival; and ordering his veins to be opened, prudently withdrew himself from the
unequal contest.
16
Footnote *: Such is the narrative of the greater part of the older historians; but the number and the variety of his medals
seem to require more time, and give probability to the report of Zosimus, who makes him reign some months. - G.
Footnote 16: Zosimus, l. i. p. 42. Pollio (Hist. August. p. 107) allows him virtues, and says, that, like Pertinax, he was killed
by the licentious soldiers. According to Dexippus, he died of a disease.
The general design of this work will not permit us minutely to relate the actions of every emperor after he ascended the
throne, much less 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
enlisted in the troops as a common soldier, successively rose to the rank of a centurion, a tribune, the
prefect 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
valor,
17 rigid discipline, and successful conduct. He was invested with the consulship by the emperor
Valerian, who styles
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 honorable poverty which
Aurelian had preserved inviolate.
18
Footnote 17: Theoclius (as quoted in the Augustan
History, p. 211) affirms that in one day he killed with his own hand forty-eight Sarmatians, and in several subsequent
engagements nine hundred and fifty. This heroic valor was admired by the soldiers, and celebrated in their rude songs, the
burden of which was, mille, mile, mille, occidit.
Footnote 18: 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.
The reign of
Aurelian lasted only four years and about nine months; but every instant of that short period was filled by some
memorable achievement. 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 Zenobia had erected in the East on the ruins of
the afflicted empire.
It was the rigid attention of Aurelian, even to the minutest articles of discipline, which bestowed 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 laborous; that their armor 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 cornfields, 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 allowance," continues the emperor, "is
sufficient for their support; their wealth should be collected from the spoils of the enemy, not from the tears of the
provincials." A single instance will serve to display the rigor, and even cruelty, of
Aurelian.
One of the soldiers had
seduced the wife of his host. The guilty wretch was fastened to two trees forcibly drawn towards each other, and his limbs were
torn asunder by their sudden separation. A few such examples impressed a salutary consternation. The punishments of
Aurelian were terrible; but he had seldom occasion to punish more than once the same offence. His own conduct gave a
sanction to his laws, and the
seditious legions dreaded a chief who had learned to obey, and who was worthy to
command.
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To cite original text:
Gibbon, Edward, 1737-1794.
The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. 1st ed. (London : Printed for W. Strahan ; and T. Cadell, 1776-1788.), pp. 287-298.