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 174 THE DECLINE AND FALL [Chap, xxxviii of its own weight. The story of its ruin is simple and obvious ; and, instead of inquiring why the Eoman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long. The victorious legions, who, in distant wars, acquired the vices of strangers and mercenaries, first oppressed the freedom of the republic, and afterwards violated the majesty of the purple. The emperors, anxious for their personal safety and the public peace, were reduced to the base expedient of corrupting the discipline which rendered them alike formidable to their sove- reign and to the enemy ; the vigour of the military government was relaxed, and finally dissolved, by the partial institutions of Constantine ; and the Roman world was overwhelmed by a deluge of Barbarians. The decay of Rome has been frequently ascribed to the translation of the seat of empire ; but this history has already shewn that the powers of government were divided rather than removed. The throne of Constantinople was erected in the East ; while the West was still possessed by a series of emperors who held their residence in Italy and claimed their equal in- heritance of the legions and provinces. This dangerous novelty impaired the strength, and fomented the vices, of a double reign ; the instruments of an oppressive and arbitrary system were multiplied ; and a vain emulation of luxury, not of merit, was introduced and supported between the degenerate successors of Theodosius. Extreme distress, which unites the virtue of a free people, embitters the factions of a declining monarchy. The hostile favourites of Arcadius and Honorius betrayed the republic to its common enemies ; and the Byzantine court be- held with indifference, perhaps with pleasure, the disgrace of Rome, the misfortunes of Italy, and the loss of the West. Under the succeeding reigns, the alliance of the two empires was restored ; but the aid of the Oriental Romans was tardy, doubtful, and ineffectual ; and the national schism of the Greeks and Latins was enlarged by the perpetual difference of language and manners, of interest, and even of religion. Yet the salu- tary event approved in some measure the judgment of Con- stantine. During a long period of decay, his impregnable city repelled the victorious armies of Barbarians, protected the wealth of Asia, and commanded, both in peace and war, the important straits which connect the Euxine and Mediterranean seas. The