Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/399

 CHAPTER XII. CONDUCT OF THE ARMY AND SENATE AFTER THE DEATH OF AURELIAN. REIGNS OF TACITUS, PROBUS, CARUS, AND HIS SONS. teUCH was the unhappy condition of the Roman em- Extraordi- perors, that, whatever might be their conduct, their j^gY/be-" fate was commonly the same. A Hfe of pleasure or tween the virtue, of severity or mildness, of indolence or glory, the senate alike led to an untimely grave ; and almost every reign ^9J^ f^^ is closed by the same disgusting repetition of treason an em- and murder. The death of Aurelian, however, is re- P^'^^^' markable by its extraordinary consequences. The le- gions admired, lamented, and revenged their victorious chief. The artifice of his perfidious secretary was discovered and punished. The deluded conspirators attended the funeral of their injured sovereign with sincere or well feigned contrition ; and submitted to the unanimous res lution of the military order, which was signified by the following epistle. " The brave and fortunate armies to the senate and people of Rome. The crime of one man, and the error of many, have deprived us of the late emperor Aurelian. May it please you, venerable lords and fathers ! to place hinl in the number of the gods, and to appoint a successor whom your judgement shall declare worthy of the im- perial purple. None of those whose guilt or misfor- tune have contributed to our loss, shall ever reign over us^. The Roman senators heard, without sur- prise, that another emperor had been assassinated in his camp: they secretly rejoiced in the fall of Aurelian; but the modest and dutiful address of the legions, when it was communicated in full assembly by the consul, diffused the most pleasing astonishment. Such hon- deputation from the troops to the senate.
 * Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 222. Aurelius Victor mentions a formal