Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/182

 162 THE DECLINE AND FALL ntehtof VaTentini&n [Laibach] of an enemy under the professions of friendship ; ^* but the Syrian Donniinus was ooiTupted, or deceived, by the liberal favour of the court of Treves ; and the council of Milan obstinately rejected the suspicion of danger, with a blind con- fidence which was the effect, not of courage, but of fear. The march of the auxiliaries was guided by the ambassador ; and they were admitted, without distrust, into the fortresses of the Alps. But the crafty tyrant followed, with hasty and silent footsteps, in the rear ; and, as he diligently intercepted all in- telligence of his motions, the gleam of armour and the dust excited by the troops of cavalry first announced the hostile approach of a stranger to the gates of Milan. In this extremity, Justina and her son might accuse their own imprudence and the perfidious arts of Maximus ; but they wanted time, and force and resolution to stand against the Gauls and Germans, either in the field or within the walls of a large and disaffected city. Flight was their only hope, Aquileia their only refuge ; and, as Maximus now displayed his genuine character, the brother of Gratian might expect the same fJate from the hands of the same assassin. Maximus entered Milan in triumph ; and, if the wise archbishop refused a dangerous and criminal connexion Avith the usurper, he might indirectly contribute to the success of his arms by inculcating, from the pulpit, the duty of resignation rather than that of resistance. '^^ The un- fortunate Justina reached Aquileia in safety ; but she distrusted the strength of the fortifications ; she dreaded the event of a siege ; and she resolved to implore the protection of the great Theodosius, whose power and virtue were celebrated in all the countries of the West. A vessel was secretly provided to transport the Imperial family j they embarked with precipita- tion in one of the obscure harbours of Venetia or Istria; traversed the whole extent of the Hadriatic and Ionian seas ; turned the extreme promontory of Peloponnesus ; and, after a long but successful navigation, reposed themselves in the port of Thessalonica. All the subjects of Valentinian deserted the cause of a prince who, by his abdication, had absolved them from the duty of allegiance ; and, if the little city of ^Emona, on the verge of Italy, had not presumed to stop the career of 74 Esto tutior adversus hominem, pacis involucro tegcntem, was the wise caution of Ambrose (torn. ii. p. 891) after his return from his second embassy [a.d. 386-7]. y^Baronius (A.D. 387, No. 63) applies to this season of public distress some of the penitential sermons of the archbishop.