Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/391

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 371 While this domestic revolution was ti'ansacted, Gainas ^^ conspiracy openly revolted from his allegiance ; united his forces, at Thyatira Gainas. °a.d. in Lydia, with those of Tribigild ; and still maintained his superior ascendant over the rebellious leader of the Ostrogoths. The confederate armies advanced, without resistance, to the streights of the Hellespont and the Bosphorus ; and Arcadius was instructed to prevent the loss of his Asiatic dominions by resigning his authority and his person to the faith of the Bar- barians. The church of the holy martyr Euphemia, situate on a lofty eminence near Chalcedon,^* was chosen for the place of the interview. Gainas bowed, with reverence, at the feet of the emperor, whilst he required the sacrifice of Aurelian and Saturninus, two ministei's of consular rank ; and their naked necks were exposed, by the haughty rebel, to the edge of the sword, till he condescended to grant them a precarious and disgraceful respite. The Goths, according to the terms of the agreement, were immediately transported from Asia into Europe ; and their victorious chief, who accepted the title of master-general of the Roman armies, soon filled Constantinople with his troops, and distributed among his dependents the honours and rewards of the empire. In his early youth, Gainas had passed the Danube as a suppliant and a fugitive ; his elevation had been the work of valour and fortune ; and his indiscreet, or perfidious, conduct was the cause of his rapid downfall. Notwithstanding the vigorous opposition of the archbishop, he importunately claimed, for his Arian sectaries, the possession of a peculiar church ; and the pride of the Catholics was offended by the public toleration of heresy.^^ Every quarter of Constantinople was filled with tumult and disorder ; and the Barbarians gazed with such ardour on the rich shops of the jewellers, and the tables of the bankers, which were covered with gold and silver, that it was judged prudent to remove those dangerous tempta- 3'' Zosimus (1. V. p. 313-323 [18 sqqJ^, Socrates (1. vi. c. 4), Sozomen(l. viii. c. 4), andTheodoret (1. v. c. 32,33) represent, though withsome various circumstances, the conspiracy, defeat, and death of Gainas. [Tribigild's death is only mentioned by Philostorgius (xi. 8) : " having crossed over to Thrace he perishes soon after ".] ^^'Oo-i'aj Bi(^»)/xi'as ixapTvpiov, is the expression of Zosimus himself (1. v. p. 314 [18]), who inadvertently uses the fashionable language of the Christians. Evagrius describes (I. ii. c. 3) the situation, architecture, relics, and miracles of that celebrated church, in which the general council of Chalcedon was afterwards held. [See Appendix 27.] -5 The pious remonstrances of Chrysostom, which do not appear in his own writings, are strongly urged by Theodoret ; but his insinuation that they were successful is disproved by facts. Tillemont (Hist, des Emperems, toni. v. 383) has discovered that the emperor, to satisfy the rapacious demands of Gainas, melted the plate of the chiuch of the Apostles.