Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/348

 .124 THE DECLINE AND FALL CHAP, forgeries"; nor is it natural to suppose that a jealous • monarch should, even in the person of a rival, thus publicly degrade the majesty of kings. Whatever treatment the unfortunate Valerian might experience in Persia, it is at least certain, that the only emperor of Rome who had ever fallen into the hands of the enemy, languished away his life in hopeless captivity. Character The emperor GaUienus, who had long supported stJat!on"of^ with impatience the censorial severity of his father Gallienus. and colleague, received the intelligence of his misfor- tunes with secret pleasure and avowed indifference. " I knew that my father was a mortal," said he; " and since he has acted as becomes a brave man, I am satis- fied." Whilst Rome lamented the fate of her sove- reign, the savage coldness of his son was extolled by the servile courtiers as the perfect firmness of a hero and a stoic °. It is difficult to paint the light, the va- rious, the inconstant character of Gallienus, which he displayed without constraint as soon as he became sole possessor of the empire. In every art that he at- tempted, his lively genius enabled him to succeed ; and as his genius was destitute of judgement, he at- tempted every art, except the important ones of war and government. He was a master of several curious but useless sciences, a ready orator, and elegant poet^, a skilful gardener, an excellent cook, and most con- temptible prince. When the great emergencies of the state required his presence and attention, he was en- gaged in conversation with the philosopher Plotinus*', wasting his time in trifling or licentious pleasures, pre- paring his initiation to the Grecian mysteries, or so- " One of these epistles is from Artavasdes, king of Armenia : since Armenia was then a province to Persia, the king, the kingdom, and the epistle must be fictitious. " See his life in the Augustan History. P There is still extant a very pretty epithalamium, composed by Gal- lienus for the nuptials of his nephews. Ite, ait, O juvenes, pariter sudate medullis Omnibus, inter vos j non murmura vestra columbae, Brachia non hederae, non vincant oscula conchae. •• He was on the ^oint of giving Plotinus a ruined city of Campania, to try the experiment of realising Plato's republic. See the Life of Plotinus, by Porphyry, in Fabricius's Biblioth. GrjrPC. 1. iv.