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 362 THE DECLINE AND FALL by the West, as an indelible stain to the annals of the republic • and, without invoking the shades of Brutus and CamiJlus the coUeague of Eutropius, a learned and respectable magistrate ^ sufficiently represented the different maxims of the two adminis- trations. SdWu^e J^t Y,"^ ''"^ vigorous mind of Rufinus seems to have been actuated by a more sanguinary and revengeful spirit ; but the avarice of the eunuch was not less insatiate than that of the prefect 10 As long as he despoiled the oppressors who had enriched themselves with the plunder of the people, Eutropius might gratify his covetous disposition without much envy or mjustice ; but the progress of his rapine soon invaded the wealth which had been acquired by lawful inheritance or laudable mdustry The usual methods of extortion were practised and improved; and Claudian has sketched a lively and original picture of the public auction of the state. "The impotence of the eunuch (says that agreeable satirist) " has served only to stimulate his avarice : the same hand which, in his servile con- dition, was exercised in petty thefts, to unlock the coffers of his master, now grasps the riches of the world ; and this infamous broker of the empire appreciates and di^ ides the Roman pro- vinces, from Mount Ha,'mus to the Tigris. One man, at the expense of his villa, is made proconsul of Asia; a second pur- chases Syria with his wife's jewels; and a third laments that he has exchanged his paternal estate for the government of Bithyma. In the anti-chamber of Eutropius, a large tablet is exposed to public view, Avhich marks the respective prices of the provinces. The different value of Pontus, of Galatia of Lydia, IS accm-ately distinguished. Lycia may be obtained for so many thousand pieces of gold ; but the opulence of Phn'"-ia will require a more considerable sum. The eunuch wishes %o obliterate, by the general disgrace, his personal ignominy ; and as he has been sold himself, he is desirous of selling the rest of niankind. In the eager contention, the balance, which contains the tate and fori;unes of the province, often trembles on the beam ; and, till one of the scales is inclined, by a superior weight, 9 FL Mallius Theodorus, whose civil honours, and phUosophical works have Si,f. f^'^'"'^ ^^2""f ^" ^^^^° ^y '^' change of one letter has Transformed Mallius into a member of the ancient Manlian family] ^0 UMa,v S. -nSr, r.f nKovru., drunk with riches, is the forcible expression of /osimus (L V p. 3cr [to]) ; and the avarice of Eutropius is equally execrated in the Lexicon of buidas and the Chronicle of Marcellinus. Chrysostom had often admonished the favourite, of the vanity and danger of immoderate wealth, torn, in. p. 361,