BATTLE OF ROMANS AND BARBARIANS, ON A SARCOPHAGUS IN THE MUSEO DELLE TERME, ROME (THE CENTRAL FIGURE MAY REPRESENT CLAUDIUS GOTHICUS. A.D. 268-270)

the fortifications of the Lower Danube were more carelessly guarded, and the inhabitants of Mæsia lived in supine security, fondly conceiving themselves at an inaccessible distance from any barbarian invaders. The irruptions of the Goths, under the reign of Philip, fatally convinced them of their mistake. The king or leader of that fierce nation traversed with contempt the province of Dacia, and passed both the Dniester and the Danube without encountering any opposition capable of retarding his progress. The relaxed discipline of the Roman troops betrayed the most important posts where they were stationed, and the fear of deserved punishment induced great numbers of them to enlist under the Gothic standard. The various multitude of barbarians appeared, at length, under the walls of Marcianopolis, a city built by Trajan in honour of his sister, and at that time the capital of the second Mæsia. The inhabitants consented to ransom their lives and property by the payment of a large sum of money, and the invaders retreated back into their deserts, animated, rather than satisfied, with the first success of their arms against an opulent but feeble country. Intelligence was soon transmitted to the Emperor Decius, that Cniva, King of the Goths, had passed the Danube a second time, with more considerable forces; that his numerous detachments scattered devastation over the province of Mæsia, whilst the main body of the army, consisting of seventy thousand Germans and Sarmatians, a force equal to the most daring achievements, required the presence of the Roman monarch, and the exertion of his military power.

34

events of

Decius found the Goths engaged before Nicopolis, on the Various Jatrus, one of the many monuments of Trajan's victories. On the Gothic his approach they raised the siege, but with a design only of A.D. 250

[Ostrogotha is said to have been his name. Compare the eponymous ancestors of the Greek tribes-Dorus, Eolus, Ion, Achæus, &c.]

In the sixteenth chapter of Jornandes, instead of secundo Mæsiam, we may venture to substitute secundam, the second Masia, of which Marcianopolis was certainly the capital (see Hierocles de Provinciis, and Wesseling ad locum, p. 636 Itinerar.). It is surprising how this palpable error of the scribe could escape the judicious correction of Grotius. [Et secundo Moesiam populati. But the Laurentian Ms. has die before secundo, hence the true correction is de secundo, see Mommsen's edition, p. 81. The siege of Marcianopolis is described at length in frag. 18 of Dexippus, first published by Müller, F.H.G. iii. p. 675. On the invasions of the Goths, see Rappaport, Die Einfälle der Goten in das rómische Reich bis auf Constantin, 1899, and L. Schmidt, op. cit., i. 58 sqq.]

The place is still called Nicop. The little stream [Iantra], on whose banks it stood, falls into the Danube. D'Anville, Géographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. 307.

war,

36

marching away to a conquest of greater importance, the siege of Philippopolis, a city of Thrace, founded by the father of Alexander, near the foot of Mount Hæmus.35 Decius followed them through a difficult country, and by forced marches; but, when he imagined himself at a considerable distance from the rear of the Goths, Cniva turned with rapid fury on his pursuers. The camp of the Romans was surprised and pillaged, and, for the first time, their emperor fled in disorder before a troop of halfarmed barbarians. After a long resistance Philippopolis, destitute of succour, was taken by storm. A hundred thousand persons are reported to have been massacred in the sack of that great city. Many prisoners of consequence became a valuable accession to the spoil; and Priscus, a brother of the late emperor Philip, blushed not to assume the purple under the protection of the barbarous enemies of Rome. The time, however, consumed in that tedious siege, enabled Decius to revive the courage, restore the discipline, and recruit the numbers, of his troops. He intercepted several parties of Carpi, and other Germans, who were hastening to share the victory of their countrymen,s intrusted the passes of the mountains to officers of approved valour and fidelity,39 repaired and strengthened the fortifications of the Danube, and exerted his utmost vigilance to oppose either the progress or the retreat of the Goths. Encouraged by the return of fortune, he anxiously waited for an opportunity to retrieve, by a great and decisive blow, his own glory, and that of the Roman arms.*

40

At the same time when Decius was struggling with the violence of the tempest, his mind, calm and deliberate amidst the

35 Stephan. Byzant. de Urbibus, p. 740. Wesseling Itinerar. p. 136. Zonaras, by an odd mistake, ascribes the foundation of Philippopolis to the immediate predecessor of Decius.

36 Ammian. xxxi. 5. [A fragment of Dexippus, first edited by Müller (F.H.G. iii. p. 678, fr. 20), gives a long description of an inffectual siege of Philippopolis by the Goths. Müller concludes that there were two sieges, the first unsuccessful, before the defeat and death of Decius, the second successful, after that disaster. This is supported by the words of Ammianus, xxxi. 5.]

37 Aurel. Victor [Cæsar.] c. 29. [Dexippus, frags. 19, 20; Zos. i. 19.]

38 Victoria Carpica, on some medals of Decius, insinuate these advantages. 39 Claudius (who afterwards reigned with so much glory) was posted in the pass of Thermopyla with 200 Dardanians, 100 heavy and 160 light horse, 60 Cretan archers, and 1000 well-armed recruits. See an original letter from the emperor to his officers in the Augustan History, p. 200 [xxv. 16: an apocryphal letter].

40 Jornandes, c. 16-18. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 22 [23]. In the general account of this war, it is easy to discover the opposite prejudices of the Gothic and the Grecian writer. In carelessness alone they are alike.

vives the

censor in

of Valerian

27th Octo

tumult of war, investigated the more general causes that, since Decius rethe age of the Antonines, had so impetuously urged the decline office of of the Roman greatness. He soon discovered that it was im- the person possible to replace that greatness on a permanent basis without restoring public virtue, ancient principles and manners, and the oppressed majesty of the laws. To execute this noble but arduous design, he first resolved to revive the obsolete office of censor: an office which, as long as it had subsisted in its pristine integrity, had so much contributed to the perpetuity of the state," till it was usurped and gradually neglected by the Cæsars. 42 Conscious that the favour of the sovereign may confer power, but that the esteem of the people can alone bestow authority, he submitted the choice of the censor to the unbiassed voice of the senate. By their unanimous votes, or rather acclamations, A.D. 251, Valerian, who was afterwards emperor, and who then served ber with distinction in the army of Decius, was declared the most worthy of that exalted honour. As soon as the decree of the senate was transmitted to the emperor, he assembled a great council in his camp, and, before the investiture of the censor elect, he apprized him of the difficulty and importance of his great office. "Happy Valerian," said the prince, to his distinguished subject, "happy in the general approbation of the senate and of the Roman republic! Accept the censorship of mankind, and judge of our manners. You will select those who deserve to continue members of the senate; you will restore the equestrian order to its ancient splendour; you will improve the revenue, yet moderate the public burdens. You will distinguish into regular classes the various and infinite multitude of citizens, and accurately review the military strength, the wealth, the virtue, and the resources of Rome. Your decisions shall obtain the force of laws. The army, the palace, the ministers of justice,

41Montesquieu, Grandeur et Décadence les Romains, c. 8. He illustrates the nature and use of the censorship with his usual ingenuity and with uncommon precision. [It is hard to suppose that Decius was so unsophisticated as really to imagine that the revival of the censorship would be likely to promote a revival of morals. It has been conjectured that the measure was a concession to the senate. The speech of Decius, quoted in text, is apocryphal.]

Vespasian and Titus were the last censors (Pliny, Hist. Natur. vii. 49. Censorinus de Die Natali). The modesty of Trajan refused an honour which he deserved, and his example became a law to the Antonines. See Pliny's Panegyric, c. 45 and 60. [The author apparently thought that Domitian held only the censoria potestas. At first indeed he was content with this; it was conferred on him in 84 or 85 A.D.; but soon afterwards he assumed the censorship for life. His object was to control the senate. Martial (vi. 4) addresses him as Censor maxime.]