Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/501

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 479 prudently admitted among his guards several domestics and followers of Aetius. Two of these, of Barbarian race, were persuaded to execute a sacred and honourable duty, by punish- ing with death the assassin of their patron ; and their intrepid courage did not long expect a favourable moment. Whilst Valentinian amused himself in the field of Mars with the spectacle of some military sports, they suddenly rushed upon him with drawn weapons, dispatched the guilty Heraclius, and stabbed the emperor to the heart, without the least opposition Death of from his numerous train, who seemed to rejoice in the tyrants A.D^'455, ^°' death. Such was the fate of Valentinian the Third,"" the last ^"' Roman emperor of the family of Theodosius. He faithfully imi- tated the hereditary weakness of his cousin and his two uncles, without inheriting the gentleness, the purity, the innocence, which alleviate, in their chai'acters, the want of spirit and ability. Valentinian was less excusable, since he had passions, with- out virtues ; even his religion was questionable ; and, though he never deviated into the paths of heresy, he scandalized the pious Christians by his attachment to the profane arts of magic and divination. As early as the time of Cicero and Varro, it was the opinion of symptoms of the Roman augurs that the twelve vuUiires, which Romulus had ndn^ *° seen, represented the twelve ceiitunes, assigned for the fatal period of his city.'" This prophecy, disregarded perhaps in the season of health and prosperity, inspired the people with gloomj'^ ap- prehensions, when the twelfth century, clouded with disgrace and misfortune, was almost elapsed ; "^ and even posterity must ■'B With regard to the cause and circumstances of the deaths of Aetius and Valentinian, our information is dark and imperfect. Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. 1. i. c. 4, p. 186, 187, 188) is a fabulous writer for the events which precede his own memory. His narrative must therefore be supplied and corrected by five or six Chronicles, none of which were composed in Rome or Italy ; and which can only express, in broken sentences, the popular rumours, as they were conveyed to Gaul, Spain, Africa, Constantinople, or Ale.xandria. [John ofAntioch is important for these events. See Appendix 26.] " This interpretation of Vettius, a celebrated augur, was quoted by Varro, in the xviiith book of his Antiquities. Censorinus, de Die Natali, c. 17, p. 90, 91, edit. Havercamp. ■'8 According to Varro, the twelfth century would expire A.D. 447, but the un- certainty of the true aera of Rome might allow some latitude of anticipation or delay. The poets of the age, Claudian (de Bell. Getico, 265) and Sidonius (in Panegyr. Avit. 357), may be admitted as fair witnesses of the popular opinion. Jam reputant annos, interceptoque volatu Vulturis incidunt properatis saecula metis. Jam prope fata tui bissenas vulturis alas Implebant ; scis namque tuos, scis, Roma, labores. See Dubos, Hist. Critique, torn. i. p. 340-346.