Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/302

 Claudian 282 THE DECLINE AND FALL brated by tlie applause of the cler^', who asserted that the restoration of idols and the persecution of the church would have been the first measure of the reign of Eucherius. The son of Stilicho, however, was educated in the bosom of Christianity, Avhich his father had unifornilv })rofessed and zealously sup- ported. ""* Serena had borrowed her niafrnificent necklace from the statue of V'esta,^'^ and the Pagans execrated the memor}- of the sacrilegious minister, by whose order the Sybilline books, the oracles of Rome, had been committed to the flames.^^^ The pride and power of Stilicho constituted his real guilt. An honourable reluctance to shed the blood of his countrymen appears to have contributed to the success of his unworthy rival ; and it is the last humiliation of the character of Hono- rius that posterity has not condescended to reproach him with his base ingratitude to the guardian of his youth and the support of his empire. The poet Among the train of dependents whose wealth and dignity attracted the notice of their own times our curiosity is excited by the celebrated name of the poet Claudian, who enjoyed the favour of Stilicho, and was overwhelmed in the ruin of his patron. The titular offices of tribune and notary fixed his rank in the Imperial court ; he was indebted to the powerful intercession of Serena for his marriage with a very rich heiress of the province of Africa,!^'^ and the statue of Claudian, erected in the forum of Trajan, was a monument of the taste and liberality of the Roman senate. ^^' After the praises of Stilicho became offensive and 113 Augustin himself is satisfied with the effectual laws which Stilicho had enacted against heretics and idolaters, and which are still extant in the Code. He only applies toOlvmpius for their confirmation (Baronius, .Annal. Eccles. A.n. 408, No. 19)- 11^ Zosimus, 1. V. p. 351 [c. 38] . We may observe the bad taste of the age in dressing their statues with such awkward finery. 115 See Rutilius Numatianus (Itinerar. 1. ii. 41-60), to whom religious enthusiasm has dictated some elegant and forcible lines. Stilicho likewise stripped the gold plates from the doors of the Capitol, and read a prophetic sentence which was en- graven under them (Zosimus. 1. v. p. 352 [il>-'). These are foolish stories : yet the charge of impicly adds weight and credit to the praise, which Zosimus reluctantly bestows, of his virtues. iii^ At the nuptials of Orpheus (a modest comparison !) all the parts of animated nature contributed their various gifts, and the gods themselves enriched their favourite. Claudian had neither flocks, nor herds, nor vines, nor olives. His wealthy bride was heiress to them all. But he carried to Africa a recommendatory letter from Serena, his Juno, and was made happy (Epist. ii. ad Serenam). 11' Claudian feels the honour like a man who deserved it (in pra;fat. Bell. Get.). The original inscription, on marble, was found at Rome, in the fifteenth century, in the house of Pomponius La-tus. [.See Appendix 1, in notices of Claudian.] The statue of a poet, far superior to Claudian, should have been erected during his life- time by the men of letters, his countrymen, and contemporaries. It was a noble (design ! [See Appendix 21.]