Page:Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus.djvu/293



12. They also sentenced to death Eusebius, the chief chamberlain of Constantius, a man equally full of ambition and cruelty, who from the lowest rank had been raised so high as even almost to lord it over the emperor, and who had thus become wholly intolerable; and whom Nemesis, who beholds all human affairs, having often, as the saying is, plucked him by the ear, and warned to conduct himself with more moderation, now, in spite of his struggles, hurled headlong from his high position.

IV
1. After this Julian directed his whole favour and affection to people of every description about the palace; not acting in this like a philosopher anxious for the discovery of truth.

2. For he might have been praised if he had retained a few who were moderate in their disposition, and of proved honesty and respectability. We must, indeed, confess that the greater part of them had nourished as it were such a seed-bed of all vices, which they spread abroad so as to infect the whole republic with evil desires, and did even more injury by their example than by the impunity which they granted to crimes.

3. Some of them had been fed on the spoils of temples, had smelt out gain on every occasion, and having raised themselves from the lowest poverty to vast riches, had set no bounds to their bribery, their plunder, or their extravagance, being at all times accustomed to seize what belonged to others.

4. From which habit the beginnings of licentious life sprang up, with perjuries, contempt of public opinion, and an insane arrogance, sacrificing good faith to infamous gains.

5. Among which vices, debauchery and unrestrained gluttony grew to a head, and costly banquets superseded, triumphs for victories. The common use of silken robes prevailed, the textile arts were encouraged, and above all was the anxious care about the kitchen. Vast spaces were sought out for ostentatious houses, so vast that if the consul Cincinnatus had possessed as much land, he would have lost the glory of poverty after his dictatorship.