Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/324

 300 THE DECLINE AND FALL CHAP, civil war ; and the senate gave a legal sanction to the ' rights of conquest. The letters of iEmiHanus to that assembly, displayed a mixture of moderation and vanity. He assured them, that he should resign to their wisdom the civil administration ; and, contenting himself with the quality of their general, would in a short time assert the glory of Rome, and deliver the empire from all the barbarians both of the north and of the east". His pride was flattered by the applause of the senate ; and medals are still extant, representing him with the name and attributes of Hercules the victor, and of Mars the avenger °. Valerian re- If the new monarch possessed the abilities, he wanted deafh of ^ *^^ time, necessary to fulfil these splendid promises. Gallus, and Less than four months intervened between his victory lodged em- ^"^ ^^^ fall P. He had vanquished Gallus : he sunk peror. under the weight of a competitor more formidable than Gallus. That unfortunate prince had sent Valerian, already distinguished by the honourable title of censor, to bring the legions of Gaul and Germany to his aid ^, Valerian executed that commission with zeal and fide- lity ; and as he arrived too late to save his sovereign, he resolved to revenge him. The troops of ^Emilianus, who still lay encamped in the plains of Spoleto, were awed by the sanctity of his character, but much more by the superior strength of his army ; and as they were now become as incapable of personal attachment as A. D. 253. they had always been of constitutional principle, they August. readily imbrued their hands in the blood of a prince who so lately had been the object of their partial choice. The guilt was theirs, but the advantage of it was Vale- rian's ; who obtained the possession of the throne by the means indeed of a civil war, but with a degree of innocence singular in that age of revolutions ; since he owed neither gratitude nor allegiance to his predeces- sor, whom he dethroned. n Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 628. ° Banduri Numismata, p. 94. P Eutropius, 1. ix. c. 6. says tertio mense. Eusebius omits this emperor, t Zosimus, 1. i. p. 28. Eutropius and Victor station Valerian's army in Rhaetia.