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The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 5 [1776] The Online Library Of Liberty This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, educational foundation established in 1960 to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. 2010 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Liberty Fund. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), or to make use of the hundreds of essays, educational aids, and study guides, please visit the OLL web site. This title is also part of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains over 1,000 books and quotes about liberty and power, and is available free of charge upon request. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books and web sites is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, in present day Iraq. To find out more about Liberty Fund, Inc., or the Online Library of Liberty Project, please contact the Director at [email protected]. LIBERTY FUND, INC. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 5 Edition Used: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ed. J.B. Bury with an Introduction by W.E.H. Lecky (New York: Fred de Fau and Co., 1906), in 12 vols. Vol. 5. Author: Edward Gibbon Editor: John Bagnell Bury Introduction: William Edward Hartpole Lecky About This Title: The fifth volume of a 12 volume set of Gibbon’s magesterial history of the end of the Roman Empire, one of the greatest works of history written during the Enlightenment. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 2 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1372 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 5 About Liberty Fund: Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright Information: The text is in the public domain. Fair Use Statement: This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 3 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1372 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 5 Table Of Contents The Works of Edward Gibbon The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Chapter Xxvii Chapter Xxviii Chapter Xxix Chapter Xxx Chapter Xxxi Chapter Xxxii Chapter Xxxiii Appendix Additional Notes By the Editor 1.: Theology In the Market-places of Constantinople — ( P. 13 ) 2.: Did Theodosius Visit Rome In 394? — ( P. 66 ) 3.: The Libraries of Alexandria — ( P. 85 , 87 ) 1 4.: Worship of Relics — ( P. 98 , 99 ) 5.: Stilicho In Inscriptions — ( P. 119 , 134 , 159 ) 6.: The Two Eastern Expeditions of Stilicho and His Illyric Policy — ( P. 122 , 144 ) 7.: Alaric In Greece — ( P. 140-143 ) 8.: Penetrabis Ad Urbem — ( P. 148 ) 9.: Alaric’s First Invasion of Italy — ( P. 148 , 151 Sqq. ) 10.: Radagaisus — ( P. 167 ) 11.: The Second Carausius — ( P. 178 ) 12.: The Tyrant Constantine — ( P. 178 ) 13.: “the Statue of a Poet Far Superior to Claudian” — ( P. 191 ) 14.: Death of Maximus — ( P. 266 ) 15.: Septimania — ( P. 286 ) 16.: Rate of Travelling By Sea — ( P. 289 ) 17.: Armenian Affairs — ( P. 331 , 333 ) 18.: Procopian Legends — ( P. 354 , and Vol. Vi . P. 80 ) 19.: The “egyptian” of Synesius — ( P. 304 ) PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 4 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1372 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 5 A Roman Gladiator. From a drawing by Jan Styka. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 5 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1372 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 5 [Back to Table of Contents] THE WORKS OF EDWARD GIBBON HISTORY OF ROME VOLUME V new york FRED DeFau & COMPANY publishers LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS A Roman Gladiator . Frontispiece From a drawing by Jan Styka. Obelisk of Theodosius . page 56 From a photograph. The Favourites of Honorius . 134 From a painting by J. W. Waterhouse, R.A. Armour of Gladiators . 160 Found at Ercolano, and now in the National Museum, Naples. The Pillage and Fire of Rome . 244 From a drawing by Jan Styka. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 6 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1372 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 5 [Back to Table of Contents] THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE CHAPTER XXVII Death of Gratian — Ruin of Arianism — St. Ambrose — First Civil War, against Maximus — Character, Administration, and Penance of Theodosius — Death of Valentinian II. — Second Civil War, against Eugenius — Death of Theodosius The fame of Gratian, before he had accomplished the twentieth year of his age, was equal to that of the most celebrated princes. His gentle and amiable disposition endeared him to his private friends, the graceful affability of his manners engaged the affection of the people: the men of letters, who enjoyed the liberality, acknowledged the taste and eloquence, of their sovereign; his valour and dexterity in arms were equally applauded by the soldiers; and the clergy considered the humble piety of Gratian as the first and most useful of his virtues. The victory of Colmar had delivered the West from a formidable invasion; and the grateful provinces of the East ascribed the merits of Theodosius to the author of his greatness and of the public safety. Gratian survived those memorable events only four or five years; but he survived his reputation; and, before he fell a victim to rebellion, he had lost, in a great measure, the respect and confidence of the Roman world. The remarkable alteration of his character or conduct may not be imputed to the arts of flattery which had besieged the son of Valentinian from his infancy; nor to the headstrong passions which that gentle youth appears to have escaped. A more attentive view of the life of Gratian may perhaps suggest the true cause of the disappointment of the public hopes. His apparent virtues, instead of being the hardy productions of experience and adversity, were the premature and artificial fruits of a royal education. The anxious tenderness of his father was continually employed to bestow on him those advantages which he might perhaps esteem the more highly, as he himself had been deprived of them; and the most skilful masters of every science and of every art had laboured to form the mind and body of the young prince.1 The knowledge which they painfully communicated was displayed with ostentation and celebrated with lavish praise. His soft and tractable disposition received the fair impression of their judicious precepts, and the absence of passion might easily be mistaken for the strength of reason. His preceptors gradually rose to the rank and consequence of ministers of state;2 and, as they wisely dissembled their secret authority, he seemed to act with firmness, with propriety and with judgment, on the most important occasions of his life and reign. But the influence of this elaborate instruction did not penetrate beyond the surface; and the skilful preceptors, who so accurately guided the steps of their royal pupil, could not infuse into his feeble and indolent character the vigorous and independent principle of action which renders the laborious pursuit of glory essentially necessary to the happiness, and almost to the existence, of the hero. As soon as time and accident had removed those faithful counsellors from the throne, the emperor of the West insensibly descended to the level PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 7 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1372 Online Library of Liberty: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 5 of his natural genius; abandoned the reins of government to the ambitious hands which were stretched forwards to grasp them; and amused his leisure with the most frivolous gratifications. A public sale of favour and injustice was instituted, both in the court and in the provinces, by the worthless delegates of his power, whose merit it was made sacrilege to question.3 The conscience of the credulous prince was directed by saints and bishops,4 who procured an Imperial edict to punish as a capital offence, the violation, the neglect, or even the ignorance of the divine law.5 Among the various arts which had exercised the youth of Gratian, he had applied himself with singular inclination and success to manage the horse, to draw the bow, and to dart the javelin; and these qualifications, which might be useful to a soldier, were prostituted to the viler purposes of hunting.
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