Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/266

 246 THE DECLINE AND FALL Eaccpeo to Epirus Al&rlc lu declared master- general of the Eastern lUvTicum, A.ri. 39S [A.D. 399] and dangerous march of tliirty miles as far as the Gulf of Corinth ; and that he should transjjort his troops, his cajjtives, and his spoil, over an arm of the sea which, in the narrow interval between Rhium and the opposite shore, is at least half a mile in breadth. i^ The operations of Alaric must have been secret, prudent, and rapid ; since the Roman general was confounded by the intelligence that the Goths, who had eluded his efforts, were in full possession of the important province of Epirus. This unfortunate delay allowed Alaric sufficient time to conclude the treaty, which he secretly negotiated with the ministers of Constantinople. The apprehension of a civil war compelled Stilicho to retire, at the haughty mandate of his rivals, from the dominions of Arcadius ; and he respected in the enemy of Rome the honourable character of the ally and servant of the emperor of the East. A Grecian philosopher,^'^ who visited Constantinople soon after the death of Theodosius, published his liberal opinions concern- ing the duties of kings and the state of the Roman republic. Synesius observes and deplores the fatal abuse which the impru- dent bounty of the late emperor had introduced into the military service. The citizens and subjects had purchased an exemption from the indispensable duty of defending their country ; which was supported by the arms of Barbarian mercenaries. The fugitives of Scythia were permitted to disgrace the illustrious dignities of the empire ; their ferocious youth, who disdained the salutary restraint of laws, were more anxious to acquire the riches than to imitate the arts of a people, the object of their con- tempt and hatred ; and the power of the Goths was the stone of Tantalus, perpetually suspended over the peace and safety of the devoted state. The measures which Synesius recommends are the dictates of a bold and generous patriot. He exhorts the emperor to revive the courage of his subjects by the example of manly virtue ; to banish luxury from the court and from the camp ; to substitute in the place of the Barbarian mercenaries, an ai-my of men interested in the defence of their laws and of their property ; to force, in such a moment of public danger, the 19 Strabo, 1. viii. p. 517; Plin. Hist. Natur. iv. 3; lieeler, p. 308; Chandler, p. 275. They measured from different points the distance between the two lands. -" Synesius passed three years (A. D. 397-400) at Constantinople, as deputy from Cyrene to the emperor Arcadius. He presented him with a crown of gold, and pronounced before him the instructive oration de Regno (p. 1-32, edit. Petav. Paris, i6i2)[a.d. 399]. The philosopher was made bishop of Ptoleniais, a.d. 410, and died about 430. See Tillemont, M6m. Eccl^s. tom, xii. p. 499, 554, 683-685.