Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/478

 466 THE DECLINE AND FALL professed himself the lover and the champion of the princess ^rnA.D. Honoria. The sister of Valentinian was educated in the palace of Ravenna ; and, as her marriage mijrlit be productive of some danger to the state, she was raised, by the title of Augiisfa,-^ above the hopes of the most presumptuous subject. But the fair Honoria had no sooner attained the sixteenth year of her age than she detested the importunate greatness which must for ever exclude her from the comforts of honourable love ; in the [A.D. 434] midst of vain and unsatisfactory pomp, Honoria sighed, yielded to the impulse of nature, and threw herself into the arms of her chamberlain Eugenius. Her guilt and shame (such is the absurd language of imperious man) were soon betrayed by the ap- pearances of pregnancy ; but the disgrace of the royal family was published to the world by the imprudence of the empress Placidia ; who dismissed her daughter, after a strict and shame- ful confinement, to a remote exile at Constantinople. The unhappy princess passed twelve or fourteen years in the irk- some society of the sisters of Theodosius, and their chosen virgins ; to whose crown Honoria could no longer aspire, and whose monastic assiduity of prayer, fasting, and vigils, she reluctantly imitated. Her impatience of long and hopeless celibacy urged her to embrace a strange and desperate resolu- tion. The name of Attila was familiar and formidable at Constantinople ; and his frequent embassies entertained a per- petual intercourse betv.een his camp and the Imperial palace. In the pursuit of love, or rather of revenge, the daughter of Placidia sacrificed every duty and every prejudice ; and offered to deliver her person into the arms of a Barbarian, of w Jiose language she was ignorant, whose figure was scarcely human, and whose religion and manners she abhorred. By the ministry of a faithful eunuch, she transmitted to Attila a ring, the pledge of her affection ; and earnestly conjured him to claim lier as a lawful spouse, to whom he had been secretly betrothed. These indecent advances were received, however, with coldness and disdain ; and the king of the Huns continued to multiply the number of his wives, till his love was awakened by the more forcible passions of ambition and avarice. The invasion lA.D. 450] of Gaul was preceded, and justified, by a formal demand of the princess Honoria, with a just and equal share of the Imperial 2s A medal is still extant, which exhibits the pleasing countenance of Honoria, with the title of Augusta ; and on the reverse the improper legend of Salus Reip-uhliccc round the monogram of Christ. See Ducange, Famil. Byzantin. p. f>7'73>- [Obverse: D.N. Ivst. Grat. Honori.' P.F. Ave; see Eckhel, Doctr. Num. 8, 189.]