Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/295

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 277 safety, or his counsels, or his treasures. 1. The pri- CHAP, vate apartments of the palace were governed by a fa- vourite eunuch, who, in the language of that age, was styled the * propositus' or prefect of the sacred bed- The cliam- chaniber. His duty was to attend the em])eror in his ^^'"'^'"• hours of state, or in those of amusement, and to per- form about his person all those menial services which can only derive their splendour from the influence of royalty. Under a prince who deserved to reign, the great chand)erlain (for such we may call him) was an useful and humble domestic; but an artful domestic, who improves every occasion of unguarded confidence, will insensibly acquire over a feeble mind that ascend- ant, which harsh wisdom and uncomplying virtue can seldom obtain. The degenerate grandsons of Theodo- sius, who were invisible to their subjects, and con- temptible to their enemies, exalted the prefects of their bedchamber above the heads of all the ministers of the palace''; and even his deputy, the first of the splendid train of slaves who waited in the presence, was thought worthy to rank before the ' respectable' proconsuls of Greece or Asia. The jurisdiction of the chamberlain was acknowledged by the ' counts,' or superintendents, who regulated the two important provinces, of the magnificence of the wardrobe, and of the luxury of the imperial table^. 2. The principal administration of The master public afi'airs was committed to the diligence and abili- fj^es. ties of the * master of the offices' ^ He was the su- pi'eme magistrate of the palace, inspected the discipline of the civil and military ' schools,' and received ap- •» Cod.Theod. 1. vi.tit. 8. the first emperors, the steward of their household was styled the count of their camp, (comes castrensis.) Cassiodorius very seriously represents to him, that liis own fame, and that of the empire, must depend on the opinion which foreign ambassadors may conceive of the plenty and magnificence of the royal table. 'ariar. 1. vi. epistol. 9. f Gutherius (de Officiis Donius Augustae, 1. ii. c. 20. 1. iii.) has very ac- curately explained the functions of the master of the offices, and the consti- tution of his subordinate scrinia. But he vainly attempts, on the most doubtful authority, to deduce from the time of the Antonines, or even of Nero, the origin of a magistrate who cannot be found in history before the reign of Constantine.
 * By a very singular metaphor, borrowed from the military character of