Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/416

 396 THE DECLINE AND FALL Valentinian m. emperor of the West. A.D. 425-455 dently entrusted to Ardaburius and his son Aspar, wlio had ah'eady signalized their valour af^ainst the Persians. It was resolved that Ardaburius should embark with the infantry ; whilst Aspar, at the head of the cavalry, conducted PlaeicUa and her son 'alentinian along the sea-coast of the Hadriatic. The march of the cavalry was performed with such active dili- gence that they surprised, without resistance, the important city of Aquileia ; when the liopes of Aspar were unexpectedly confounded by the intelligence that a storm had dispersed the Imperial fleet ; and that his father, with only two galleys, was taken and carried a prisoner into the ])ort of Ravenna. Yet this incident, unfortunate as it might seem, faciliUxted the con- quest of Italy. Ardaburius employed, or abused, the courteous freedom which he was permitted to enjoy, to revive among the troops a sense of loyalty and gratitude ; and, as soon as the con- spiracy was ripe for execution, he invited, by private messages, and pressed the approach of, Aspar. A shepherd, whom the popular credulity transformed into an angel, guided the Eastern cavalry, by a secret and, it was thought, an impassable road, through the morasses of the Po ; the gates of Ravenna, after a short struggle, were thrown open ; and the defenceless tyrant was delivered to the mercy, or rather to the cruelty, of the con- querors. His right hand was first cut off; and, after he had been exposed, mounted on an ass, to the public derision, John was beheaded in the circus of Aquileia. The emperor Theo- dosius, when he received the news of the victory, interrupted the horse races ; and, singing, as he marched through the streets, a suitable psalm, conducted his ]K'o})le from the Hippodrome to the church, where he spent the remainder of the day in grate- ful devotion.-^ In a monarchy, which, according to various precedents, might be considered as elective, or hereditary, or patrimonial, it was impossible that the intricate claims of female and collateral succession should be clearly defined ; ^ and Theodosius, by the right of consanguinity or conquest, might liave reigned the sole 3 For these revolutions of the Western Empire, consult Olympiodor. .ipud Phot, p. 192, 193, 196, 197, 200 [fr. 41, 44, 45, 46]. Sozomen, 1. ix. c. 16. Socrates, 1. vii. 23, 24. Philostorgius, 1. xii. c. 10, 11. and Godefroy, Dissertat. p. 486. Procopius, de Bell. Vandal. 1. i. c. 3, p. 182, 183. Theophanes, in Chronograph. p. 72, 73, and the Chronicles. -> See Grotius de Jure RcUi et Pacis, 1. ii. c. 7. He has laboriously, but vainly, attempted to form a reasonable system of jurisprudence, from the various and discordant modes of royal succession, which have been introduced by fraud or force, by time or accident.