Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/245

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 225 race of the Vandals.^s If Stilicho had not possessed the exter- nal advantages of strength and stature, the most flattering bard, in the presence of so many thousand spectators, would have hesitated to affirm that he surpassed the measure of the demi- gods of antiquity ; and that, whenever he moved, with lofty steps, through the streets of the capital, the astonished crowd made room for the stranger, who displayed, in a private condition, the awful majesty of a hero. From his earliest youth he em- braced the profession of arms ; his prudence and valour were soon distinguislied in the field ; the horsemen and archers of the East admired his superior dexterity ; and in each degree of his military promotions the public judgment always prevented and approved the choice of the sovereign. He was named by Theodosius to ratify a solemn treaty with the monarch of Persia ;[a.d. 383] he supported, during that important embassy, the dignity of the Roman name ; and, after his return to Constantinople, his merit was rewarded by an intimate and honourable alliance with the Imperial family. Theodosius had been prompted by a pious motive of fraternal affection to adopt for his own the daughter of his brother Honorius ; the beauty and accomplishments of Serena ^^ were universally admired by the obsequious court ; and Stilicho obtained the preference over a crowd of rivals, who am-[A.D. 384] bitiously disputed the hand of the princess and the favour of her adoptive father.^o The assurance that the husband of Serena would be faithful to the throne, which he was permitted to approach, engaged the emperor to exalt the fortunes and to employ the abilities of the sagacious and intrepid Stilicho. He rose, through the successive steps of master of the horse and count of the domestics, to the supreme rank of master-general His muitary of all the cavalry and infantry of the Roman, or at least of the ''° Western, empire ; -^ and his enemies confessed that he invariably disdained to barter for gold the rewards of merit, or to defraud a.d. 385-408 i8Vandaloram, imbellis, avarte, perfidse, et dolosas, gentis, genere editus. Orosius, L vii. c. 38. Jerom (torn. i. ad Gerontiam, p. 93) calls him a Semi- Barbarian. 19 Claudian, in an imperfect poem, has drawn a fair, perhaps a flattering, portrait of Serena. That favourite niece of Theodosius was born, as well as her sister Thermantia, in Spain; from whence, in their earliest youth, they were honourably conducted to the palace of Constantinople. 20 Some doubt may be entertained whether this adoption was legal or only metaphorical (see Ducange, Fam. Byzant. p. 75). An old inscription gives Stilicho the singular title of Pro-gener Divi Theodosii. [See Appendix 13.] 21 Claudian /Laus Serenas, 190, 193) expresses, in poetic language, the " dilectus equorum," and .. e " gemino mox idem culmine [inde e germine] duxit agmina ". The inscription aa^^, " count of the domestics,'' an important command, which Stilicho, in the height of his grandeur, might prudently retain. VOL. III. 15