Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/36

 16 THE DECLINE AND FALL engagements of Thyatira *'-^ ana Nacolia, the unfortunate Pro- copius was deserted by his troops, who were seduced by the instructions and example of their perfidious officers. After wandering some time among the woods and mountains of Phrygia, he was betrayed by his desponding followers, conducted to the Imperial camp, and immediately beheaded. He suffered the ordinary fate of an unsuccessful usurper ; but the acts of cruelty which were exercised by the conqueror, under the forms of legal justice, excited the pity and indignation of mankind.'*"' Such indeed are the common and natural fruits of despotism and rebellion. But the inquisition into the crime of magic, which, under the reign of the two brothers, was so rigorously prosecuted both at Rome and Antioch, was interpreted as the fatal symptom either of the displeasure of heaven or of the de- pravity of mankind. ^^ Let us not hesitate to indulge a liberal pride that in the present age the enlightened part of Europe has abolished "^ a cruel and odious prejudice, which reigned in every climate of the globe and adhered to every system of religious opinions.'*'^ The nations and the sects of the Roman world admitted with equal credulity and similar abhorrence the reality of that infernal art ■'^ which was able to control the ■*3 The same field of battle is placed by Ammianus in Lycia, and by Zosiniiis at Thyatira, which are at the distance of 150 miles from each other. But Thyatira alluitur Lj/co (Plin. Hist. Natur. v. 31. Cellarius, Geograph. Antiq. t. ii. p. 79) ; and the transcribers might easily convert an obscure river into a well-known province. [Ammianus does not mention the battle of Thyatira, and merely says : ire tendebat ad Lyciam Nacolia is now Seidi Ghazi.] ■"The adventures, usurpation, and fall of Procopius ai'e related, in a regular series, by Ammianus (x.wi. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) and Zosimus (1. iv. p. 203-210 [c. 4-8]). They often illustrate, and seldom contradict, each other. Themistius (Orat. vii. p. 91, 95) adds some base panegyric ; and Eunapius (p. 83, 84 [Miiller iv. p. 26, 27]) some malicious satire. [For date of defeat see Idatius Fast, cons., ed. Mommsen, Chron. Min. i. p. 241. See also account in Symmachus, Or. i. 17 s^i^.] •♦■'Libanius de ulciscend. Julian, ncce, c. ix. p. 158, 159. The sophist deplores the public frenzy, but he does not (after their deaths) imptach the justice of the emperors. [Milman observes, "The persecution against philosophers and their libraries was carried on with so much fury that from this time (A.D. 374) the names of the Gentile philosophers became almost extinct, and the Christian philo- sophy and religion, especially in the East, established their ascendancy".] ■^ The French and English lawyers of the present age allow the theory, and deny the practice, of witchcraft. Denisart, Recueil des Dt^cisions de Jurisprudence, au mot Sorciers, t. iv. p. 553. Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. iv. p. 60. As private reason always prevents or outstrips public wisdom, the president Montes- quieu (Esprit des Loix, 1. xii. c. 5, 6) rejects the existence of magic. ••"See Oeuvres de Bayle, tom. iii. p. 567-589. The sceptic of Rotterdam ex- hibits, according to his custom, a strange medley of loose knowledge and lively wit. •"*The p.igans distinguished between good and bad m; ^jic, the Theurgic and the Goetic (Hist, de I'Acad^mie, tS:c., t. vii. p. 25). But they could not have defended this obscure distinction against the acute logic of Bayle. In the Jewish and Christian system all demons are infernal spirits, and all commerce with them is idolatry, apostacy, &c., which deserves death and damnation. [For ancient . magic, consult L. F. A. Maury, La magie et I'astrologie dans I'antiquit^, i860.]