THE splendour of Julian’s reign1 was soon overcast2. In the summer of 363, as he was skilfully4 extricating5 his troops from a dangerous position in Persia, he was pierced with a javelin6, and he expired, with dignity and serenity7, amongst his saddened supporters. Amid the noisy intrigue8 for the succession that followed, the name of Jovian, a popular and handsome officer of no distinction, obtained the loudest support, and the mantle9 of the brilliant young Emperor was conferred on him. How he secured the retreat of his troops by humiliating concessions10 to the Persians, and the Roman soldiers and Roman settlers sadly evacuated11 the provinces on which the blood of their fathers had been freely spent, and the emblem12 of the cross was borne again at the head of the legions, need not be told here. Not only is the wife of Jovian, Charito, no more than a name to us, but Jovian himself died before he reached the luxury of the capital. His brief enjoyment13 of power had been adorned14 by neither courage nor temperance. Charito sank back into obscurity, with her infant son, and was years afterwards laid by the side of her husband in the Church of the Apostles at Byzantium.
The next reign will introduce us to the stronger and more prominent personality of the Empress Justina and other Empresses of some interest. The hum of intrigue had arisen again in the camp, and the struggle of Christian15 and pagan was resumed. The choice of the army at length307 fell once more on an officer whose chief distinction was that he had a large and handsome person, and had had an energetic father. Valentinian had been an officer in Julian’s guards, and had one day, as he attended the Emperor at sacrifice, cuffed16 the priest for dropping some of the lustral water on his coat. Julian banished17 him for this violent desecration18 of his cult19, but, though the more lively writers of the time promptly20 dispatch him to remote and contradictory21 regions, even Tillemont doubts if the sentence was carried out. It is probable that Julian had merely dismissed him from the body-guard, as we find him in the army at the time of Julian’s death. With two other officers he was sent by Jovian to secure the allegiance of the troops in the West. One legion, devoted23 to the memory of Julian, rebelled, and Valentinian had to fly for his life. He returned to the East, and resumed his post in the army, as it trailed some miles in the rear of the retreating Emperor. And in the middle of February (364) he was amazed to learn that Jovian had died, after a too liberal supper, and he himself was called to the throne. He was compelled by the troops to share the power with his brother Valens, and, leaving the shorn Eastern provinces under the care of Valens, he went on to Milan to take possession of the Western throne.
Valeria Severa,29 the first wife of Valentinian, is one of those shadowy Empresses whose form can hardly be discerned in the records of the time. She had borne him a son, the future Emperor Gratian, five years before, but she does not seem to have secured his affection, and we shall find her retiring in disgrace as soon as the beautiful Justina appears at court. Albia Dominica, the wife of Valens, is not more interesting, but an Empress whom we have dismissed in a former chapter at once reappears at Constantinople in opposition24 to her.
Before they separated Valens and Valentinian had fallen308 ill together, and, under the pretence25 that Julian’s friends had attempted to poison them, they turned with some vindictiveness27 upon the pagan officials. The aged28 and respected Sallust firmly controlled the inquiry29, and no blood was shed; but large numbers of Julian’s officials were displaced—in many cases quite rightly, as Julian’s zeal30 for paganism had had the same evil effect in encouraging hypocrisy31 as the zeal of other Emperors for Christianity—and driven into sullen32 discontent. Further, Dominica’s father, Petronius, a deformed33 and repulsive34 person, had risen to power with his daughter, and was grinding the faces of the citizens of the East with the most extortionate demands. A spark soon fell on this inflammable world. Procopius, a relative of Julian’s, had published a very hazy35 claim to the Empire after Julian’s death. He had hastily withdrawn36 and disowned it, but Valens sent men to apprehend38 him. Ingeniously escaping the soldiers, he fled to Constantinople, and seems there to have fallen into the hands of abler intriguers. Two legions were bought for him, and they made him Emperor. There was no purple mantle to be obtained, so they clothed him in a stagy tunic39 bespangled with gold, put purple shoes on his feet and a piece of purple cloth in his hand, and conducted him, amid the amazed and derisive40 spectators, to the Senate and the Palace.
His force grew so quickly that the weak and nervous Emperor of the East was disposed to yield him the throne, but his older officers urged him to resist. In the short struggle that followed we meet again the third wife, and widow, of Constantius. Faustina had been enceinte at the death of her husband, and she was living at Constantinople, with her four-year-old daughter, when Procopius made his romantic attempt on the throne. With some shrewdness he withdrew her from her retirement41, and associated her with him in his claim. The legitimate42 dynasty seemed to be wresting43 the throne from usurpers when the widow and daughter of the son of Constantine appeared at the head of the troops. Even when they marched out to309 meet the forces of Valens, Faustina, in a litter, accompanied them. But the new hope of Faustina died away as quickly as it had been born. The soldiers were persuaded to return to their allegiance, and the power of Procopius swiftly melted away. Faustina sank again into obscurity, and the adventurous45 career of Constantia was postponed46 for some years.
Dominica returned to her position in the enervated47 and luxurious48 court, and the rest of her life offers little interest. The ecclesiastical historians describe her as egging her husband to persecute49 the Trinitarians, but we must read the charge with discretion50. There is little positive trace of persecution51. One day eighty Trinitarian priests came to plead their cause at the court, and Valens is said to have ordered them back to their ship. At some distance from port the vessel52 was found to be aflame, and the priests were burnt to death. The orthodox writers declare that the vessel was purposely fired, at the command of Valens, but it is impossible to adjust the conflicting statements of the rival schools of theology. Valens was an ardent53 Arian, but he upheld the principle of religious toleration, and confined theologians to the use of theological weapons. The only occasion on which he is known to have ordered or countenanced54 violent persecution was in the suppression of magic. In some obscure chamber55 of the capital a group of men resorted to this dark means of discovering who would be the successor of Valens. Some say that a ring dangling56 from a mystic tripod spelt out the name on painted letters; some that grains of corn were placed on letters of the alphabet, and, when a cock was admitted to peck them, the order of the letters which it first attacked was noticed. In either case, the result was to give the letters Th E O D. It would be a remarkable57 forecast, if the story did not belong to a generation after the accession of Theodosius. However, the attempt became known, and a searching inquiry and savage58 persecution followed. The despicable trade of the informer was encouraged, whole libraries of valuable books310 were destroyed, and numbers of innocent philosophers and matrons were included in the bloody59 lists of the condemned60.
The name of Dominica occurs only in one authentic61 connexion during the reign of Valens. The Emperor passed the winter of 372–3 at C?sarea in Cappadocia, where he encountered the stern and uncompromising champion of orthodoxy, St. Basil. Strong no less in his personal haughtiness—St. Jerome calls it pride—than in his glowing zeal for his Church, Basil emphatically refused to obey him, and was threatened with banishment63. At once Dominica and her boy fell ill. Besides two daughters, she had had a son in 366, and this boy fell into a dangerous illness. It is said that Dominica learned in a dream that the illness was a divine punishment, but it is not impossible that her waking intelligence could arrive at that conclusion. Basil was summoned to the palace once more. Theodoret would have it that the bishop64 courteously65 breathed on the boy, and declared that he would recover if he received Trinitarian baptism. The earlier ecclesiastical writers, however, ascribe to him a firmer attitude. He asked Valens if the boy would receive orthodox baptism, and was told that he would not. “Let him meet whatever fate God wills then,” said the bishop, quitting the palace. The boy was baptized by the Arians, and died during the following night. A power even greater than that of eunuchs, and more imperious than that of Emperors, was rapidly growing. When, some days later, one of the favourites of Valens, who had risen from the kitchen, attempted to intervene in a discussion between the bishop and the Emperor, Basil curtly66 told him to confine himself to sauces and not interfere67 in Church matters.
Five or six years later Valens perished in the war with the Goths, and Dominica passed to the fitting obscurity of private life. The one indication of spirit that is recorded of her is that, when the victorious68 Goths pressed on to Constantinople and invested it, she paid the citizens out of the public treasury69 to arm themselves against the barbarians70.311 We turn from her vague and retiring personality to the more interesting figure of Justina, who had some years before begun to share the throne of Valentinian.
Valentinian was as fierce and choleric71 as his brother was timid. A tall and powerful man, with stern blue eyes, a brilliant complexion72, and light hair, he enlisted73 and encouraged his native cruelty in the service of what he regarded as the interest of the State. The pagans he refused to persecute, and he did much to promote the higher culture of Rome, which was so closely connected with the pagan beliefs. But, like his brother, he fell with truculence74 upon all who could be brought under a comprehensive charge of magic and divination75, and the blood of Italy flowed very freely. His hard, covetous76, and brutal77 officers enriched themselves in the work of torture, spoliation, and execution, and—though the statement recalls rather the savagery78 of Nero or Domitian—we are assured by the contemporary Ammianus that he kept two monstrous79 bears in cages near his chamber, and fed them on human victims. The slightest offence might incur80 sentence of death. “You had better change his head,” he is said to have ordered, in brutal playfulness, when some official desired to change to another province.
It is, perhaps, a circumstance of credit to Severa that she failed to retain the affection of Valentinian, though a less flattering reason is assigned by some of the authorities. The truth is that, since Valentinian is described as most chaste81 and most Christian, the accession of Justina to his palace has caused the ecclesiastical historians no little perplexity. The Church was peremptorily82 opposed to divorce, and regarded as adultery a second marriage contracted while the first wife lived. Baronius conveniently removes Severa by death, but Ammianus informs us that Severa was living long afterwards at the court of her son,30 and the Alexandrian Chronicle expressly312 says that Gratian recalled his mother to court. Tillemont acknowledges this, and can only blush for the guilty connivance83 of the clergy84 of the period.
If we could believe the ecclesiastical historian Socrates, Valentinian avoided the sin of divorce and adultery by promulgating85 a decree to the effect that it was lawful86 to have two wives, and promptly marrying Justina in addition to Severa. Of such a law, however, we have no trace, and most writers follow the alternative theory of the authorities.
Aviana Justina was the widow of the usurper44 Magnentius, who had so dramatically stolen the throne of the worthless Constans, and had been crushed by Constantius in the year 353. She was a woman of great beauty, the daughter of a high provincial87 official, a spirited and ambitious young woman. She would be in her later twenties, at least, in 368, when she entered the suite88 of Severa in some capacity. She was soon associated so intimately with the Empress that they bathed together, and Severa made the fatal mistake of describing what Socrates curiously89 calls her “virginal beauty” to the sensual Valentinian. Before long it was announced that Severa was divorced, and Justina occupied her bed. A late authority throws a thin mantle over the action of Valentinian. Severa, he says, used her Imperial position to compel a lady of Milan to sell her an estate at a most inadequate90 price, and Valentinian was unable to endure her avarice91. The vague description we have of Justina’s dazzling beauty will, perhaps, suffice.
This remarkable conduct on the part of Valentinian and Justina is put in the year 368.31 The succeeding years of war and religious controversy92 throw no light on the character of Justina, and we need not describe them.313 Valentinian died in 375. Some delegates of the barbarians had come, with deep humility93, to implore94 his clemency95 for their invasion of his dominions96, and Valentinian burst into one of his appalling97 storms of rage. So violent was his fury in addressing them that he burst a blood-vessel, and left the Western Empire to his son Gratian. Gratian had married in the previous year. His Empress was the daughter of Faustina, who had been borne in her mother’s arms at the head of the troops of Procopius. In crossing the provinces to meet Gratian, Constantia had had a singular adventure. While she was dining at an inn, some twenty-six miles from Sirmium, the tribes broke across the Danube and occupied the village. There was just time for the Governor of Illyrium to snatch up the thirteen-year-old princess and make a dash for Sirmium. She married Gratian in 374, and became Empress of the West in the following year. But Flavia Maxima Constantia has left only the faint impress of her early adventures on the chronicles of the time, and the few years of her Imperial life have no interest for us. The next mention of her is that she died some time before her husband, who was assassinated98 in 383. He had married again, but his widow, L?ta, is a mere22 name in history. Theodosius gave a comfortable income to L?ta and her mother Pissamena, and they were distinguished99 for their charity in the later misfortunes of Rome.
When Valentinian had died in a fit of rage at Bregetio, Justina and her four-year-old boy, Valentinian the younger, were in the town of Murocincta, a hundred miles away. Justina hastened to the camp, and it was presently announced that the army had decided100 to associate the boy with Gratian in the rule of the West. Gratian, the most temperate101 and promising62 of the Emperors of the period, published his consent. A refusal to acknowledge the boy, and an attempt to punish the intrigue by which Justina retained her power, would have involved a civil war, and the whole of his forces were now needed to stem the flood of barbarism that surged against the northern frontier314 of the Empire. The last days of Rome were fast approaching. From the remote deserts of Asia a fierce and numerous people, the Huns, had entered Europe, and were sweeping102 the Goths and other Teutonic tribes southward. Gratian appointed an Emperor of the East, whom we shall meet presently, in the place of Valens, and spent his strength in heroic efforts to defend the threatened frontier.
Justina returned with the boy-Emperor to Milan. As long as Gratian lived, Justina was restricted to the life of the palace, but in 383 the throne was usurped103 by Maximus, and Gratian was murdered by one of his emissaries. Gibbon generously traces the general dissatisfaction out of which this revolt emerged to a deterioration104 of the character of Gratian. This deterioration cannot be questioned, but one particular outcome of it, the active persecution of the pagans, was probably his most fatal error. Milan was now dominated by the imperious and zealous105 St. Ambrose, and the two young Emperors were expressly under his control. At the suggestion of Ambrose, Gratian abandoned Valentinian’s policy of toleration. He rejected the title of Pontifex Maximus, ordered the removal of the statue of Victory from the Roman Senate, and confiscated106 the estates of the temples. He even admitted the abusive epithet107 “pagans” (or “villagers”), which the more forward Christians108 were beginning to use, in his official decrees.32 This must have inflamed109 the general discontent, and the army of Maximus marched peacefully over Gaul, and occupied the Empire as far as the Alps. The Emperor of the East, Theodosius, consented that Britain, Gaul, and Spain should remain under the rule of Maximus, and Justina continued to rule the curtailed110 dominions of her son.
It was now discovered that Justina was an Arian.315 Whether she had concealed111 her beliefs during the life of Valentinian, or had been recently won to the sect112, it is impossible to say; but Ambrose now found that he had a stubborn opponent of his religious ambition. The trouble culminated113 in 385, when scenes were witnessed that effectively impress on us the change that had come over the Roman Empire. Justina ordered that one of the Christian churches of the city should be put at the disposal of the Arian clergy. Ambrose sternly refused, and, when he was summoned to the palace, and a sentence of banishment was apprehended114, the people flocked to the palace and intimidated115 the Empress and her counsellors. A little later, the Gothic (Arian) soldiers were sent to occupy the church, and orders were given that it should be prepared for the Empress’s devotions. A renewal116 of the riot, and the showering of the vilest117 epithets118 upon the person of the Empress, forced her to retire once more. In the following year, 386, she passed sentence of exile on the bishop, and her spirit was expended119 in a final struggle. For the first time in the history of Rome—a true index of its profound demoralization—the troops were prevented by the people from carrying out an Imperial decree. Ambrose was guarded day and night by thousands of his followers120. The chief church and the episcopal house were fortified121 as if for a siege, and the troops of “Jezebel” had to stand inactive before a mob of citizens. On the advice of Theodosius, Justina refrained from any further attempt. Indeed, her attention was soon violently withdrawn to a very different danger.
The ambition of Maximus had once more outrun its bounds, and he coveted122 the remaining provinces of Valentinian. Justina’s conduct betrays that her ability was inferior to her spirit. Duped by the treacherous123 diplomacy124 of Maximus, she was suddenly informed that the hostile forces of Maximus were close to Milan, and she fled hastily to the coast. At Aquileia she and her son took ship for the East. The soldiers of Maximus followed them on swift galleys125, but they rounded the south of Greece in safety,316 and landed at Thessalonica. Her task now was to induce Theodosius to espouse126 their cause, and it proved to be one of nearer proportion to her talent.
Her pressing appeals to Theodosius for aid were parried or unheeded for some time. If we may believe Theodoret, the only reply which she received was a painful assurance that the heresy127 she entertained, and in which she was educating her son, was a sufficient cause of all the evils that had come upon them. She was directed to await a visit from Theodosius at Thessalonica, and the visit was much delayed. Historians usually depict128 the Emperor as held in suspense129 by a painful dilemma130. Not only would it be a serious thing for the Empire, surrounded as it was with peril131, to engage the forces of the East and the West in an exhausting civil war, but Theodosius would, in such a war, be attacking an orthodox Catholic in the interest of a fanatical Arian and enemy of the Church; and Theodosius was a most zealous Trinitarian. The difficulty must have occurred to him, and it would not be fantastical to assume that there had been some correspondence between the prelates of the East and the prelates of the West, to ensure that the point did not escape him.
The pagan Zosimus has a different theory of the delay of Theodosius. The character of that Emperor was, he says, a singular union of contradictions. He could blaze with the fury of a Valentinian, or bend his head meekly132 for the blessing133 of a bishop; he could lead the troops through a campaign with the most signal dexterity134, energy, and success, and then relax into the most ignoble135 indolence; he could embrace the rigour of a soldier’s life without the least effort to soften136 it, and then resign himself to the most voluptuous137 day-dreams in his Imperial palace. Justina, Zosimus says, was so unfortunate as to need his aid during one of his periods of luxury and “insane pursuit of pleasure.” He resented the effort to awaken138 him from it. His deep indebtedness to Gratian, however, who had conferred the Empire on him, at length forced him to cross the Greek sea, and visit Justina at Thessalonica. From the317 time of that visit his pulse was quickened, and he began a vigorous preparation for war with Maximus. Justina had with her at Thessalonica, not only the insipid139 boy Valentinian, but a pretty young daughter, Galla, and Theodosius had fallen in love with her. Justina promptly perceived, and artfully used, her opportunity, and it was arranged that the pretty princess should be his reward for restoring the Western Empire to Valentinian and his mother.
AELIA FLACCILLA
HONORIA
ENLARGED FROM COINS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM
Theodosius, who is incomparably the leading ruler of the fourth century, had come from the same part of Spain as Trajan, to whom some of the writers of the time compare him—with no little flattery. His father, Count Theodosius, had been an able commander and a just administrator140, but had been unjustly disgraced and executed owing to some obscure jealousy141. Later writers, thinking of the magical Th E O D of Antioch, believed that his name led to his undoing142. The younger Theodosius, a cultivated and skilful3 officer, retired143 to his estates in Spain, from which he was drawn37 by Gratian, and presently clothed with the purple. He had, in 376 or 377, married a Spanish lady, ?lia Flaccilla, who is believed, on slender grounds, to have been the daughter of the consul144 Antonius. Their son Arcadius, the future Emperor, was born during the retirement in Spain. A daughter, Pulcheria, was born in Spain, while Theodosius was on campaign. Then Flaccilla found herself transferred from the quiet Spanish estate to the pomp of Constantinople, and the second son, Honorius, was born in the purple.
Although Flaccilla is canonized in the Greek Church, it does not appear that she had a marked individuality. She is one of the crowd of fourth-century Empresses who live in the chronicles only as generous benefactors145 of the Church. Theodosius was the first Emperor to persecute his pagan subjects on the ground of religion, and his successive decrees quickly changed the religious aspect of the East. His modern biographers, Ifland and Güldenpenning (“Der Kaiser Theodosius”), lay much of the blame318 for these violent measures on Flaccilla, but they point out that the coercive legislation begins just after Theodosius came under the influence of Bishop Acholius during a severe illness, and that his efforts to crush paganism by violence relaxed with his advance in age and experience. All that we learn of Flaccilla is that she was generous to the Church and the poor, and that she occasionally curbed146 the fiery147 and vindictive26 temper of Theodosius. She seems to have died in the year 385, and the Greek ritual celebrates her memory on September 14th.
Theodosius was, therefore, a middle-aged148 widower—his biographers put his birth in 346—when, in the autumn of 387, Justina presented her daughter Galla to him. Dr. Ifland admits that the young girl probably turned the hesitating scale of his judgment149. He returned to Constantinople, and made energetic preparations for war. A two months’ campaign in the following summer (388) completely destroyed the forces of Maximus, and the full Empire of the West was restored to Valentinian. But Justina had little personal profit by the victory. Zosimus tells us that she “supplied the deficiencies of her son as well as a woman can” after the return to Milan, while Sozomen declared that she died before the return. The point is obscure, but the evidence suggests, on the whole, that she returned to Milan. It was, however, to a different Milan from that she had quitted. Theodosius accompanied them, and the strong, earnest character of Ambrose made a deep impression on him. Valentinian was “converted” to the true creed150, and the policy of persecution was introduced into the Western world. Justina must have remained a powerless and embittered151 spectator of the ascendancy152 of Ambrose. So great did it become that the coldest decisions of the Emperor were reversed by him, and his transgressions153 were ignominiously154 punished. The news came to Milan that the monks155 and populace of a small town in Persia had burned the synagogue of the Jews, and that the prefect had ordered them to rebuild the synagogue and restore its property. Theodosius confirmed the just319 sentence, but Ambrose assailed156 him so strongly, in letter and sermon, that he was obliged to give complete immunity157 to the offenders158; and the wave of violence—the burning of temples and synagogues, and the despoiling159 and slaying160 of unbelievers and heretics of all shades—continued to roll destructively over the East. The more impressive incident of Theodosius, the greatest ruler of his time, standing161 in the humble162 attitude of a penitent163 in the church at Milan is well known. The people of Thessalonica, stung by the heavy taxation164 which the extravagant165 rule of Theodosius imposed on the East, and the quartering of barbaric troops on them, took some occasion to riot, and slew166 the representatives of the Emperor. In a fit of passion Theodosius turned his troops upon the defenceless people, whom he had treacherously167 invited to the Circus, and a horrible and unexampled massacre168 was perpetrated. Ambrose nobly insisted that the Emperor must expiate169 his crime like the humblest member of his flock. The world was entering upon a new era.
How much of these proceedings170 Justina lived to see it is impossible to determine. She died some time between 388 and 391; the obscurity of her death is a sufficient proof of her powerlessness in her last years. Valentinian, whose weakness was hardly compensated171 by the propriety172 of his conduct and his docility173 to St. Ambrose, was instructed in the elements of government by the older Emperor, who remained three years in Italy, to the lasting174 grief of its pagan citizens. He visited Rome, where the majority of the leading citizens still clung to an idealized version of the old cult, and appealed to the Senate to abandon the dying gods. No answer was made to his appeal, and he resorted to the growing practice of coercive legislation. In 391 he returned to Constantinople.
Galla had married Theodosius soon after the destruction of Maximus. The Chronicle of Marcellinus puts the marriage in 386; Zosimus, more plausibly175, implies that it took place in 387 or 388. From a curious statement in the Chronicle of Marcellinus it seems that she was sent to320 live in the palace at Constantinople while Theodosius remained in Italy. The statement is that the elder son of the Emperor, Arcadius, a boy of thirteen years, drove her out of the palace. Commentators176 are loath177 to believe that so young a prince could do this, but it is not in the least impossible, and the authority is respectable. We shall see that Arcadius was a peevish178 and worthless prince, indolently guided by eunuchs and servants, and capable of very cruel decisions. Theodosius had departed from the finer Imperial tradition of appointing a grave and distinguished scholar as the tutor of his sons, and had committed them to the care of a Roman deacon, Arsenius, who had a repute for piety179. We can hardly regard the authority of a late Greek writer (Metaphrastes) as weighty enough to commend the statement that Arcadius set his servants to take the life of Arsenius for whipping him, but the unhappy events of the next chapter will show that the only result of this kind of education was to leave the character unformed, and throw the stress on external observances.
In 391 Theodosius returned to Constantinople, and Galla entered upon her brief Imperial career. Whether or no we accept the biased180 picture which Zosimus offers us of the Eastern court, it is clear that it sustained a soft and excessive luxury at the cost of the enfeebled Empire. Large numbers of eunuchs found employment, and, with the genius of their class, intrigued181 for favour in the sleeping quarters, and in the service of the Empress and the Imperial children. The kitchen employed a regiment182 of ministers to the heavy and voluptuous table; the circus and theatre supported vast numbers of mimes183, dancers, and charioteers. Besides this large army of ministers to the Imperial pleasure, a second army of idle and avaricious184 place-seekers beset185 the palace, and extorted186 a generous revenue from the offices which were created for them in the army and the administration. It is even said that such offices were openly sold in the public places and in the palace of Constantinople. Strenuous187 as Theodosius was in the321 field, he was not strong enough to sustain the burden of peace, and he unconsciously prepared the Empire for the avalanche188 that was soon to be cast upon it.
But the drowsy189 indulgence of Theodosius was soon startled once more by a call to arms from the West. In the spring of 392 Valentinian was slain190, or in despair slew himself, and a Frankish commander had put his purple robe upon the shoulders of a Roman rhetorician. The young Emperor had been so overshadowed by the power of his general that he had attempted to dismiss him, and had then been found dead with a cord round his neck. Theodosius again hesitated to exchange the softness of his palace for the rigours of a campaign. Galla “filled the palace with her lamentations,” but Theodosius sent away the ambassadors of the usurper with pleasant words and presents, and continued for nearly two years to resist the appeals of his young Empress. It was not until the summer of 394 that he led out his legions for the punishment of the murderer, as Argobastes was believed to be. Galla did not live to see her brother avenged191. She died in childbirth just as the army was about to start, and Theodosius is said to have mourned for her one day and then started for Italy.
The issue does not now concern us. We pass on to a fresh generation, a new and more interesting group of Empresses and princesses. Suffice it to say that, partly by valour, partly by accident and treachery, the forces of Argobastes were destroyed, and the empurpled rhetorician was slain. The younger son of the Emperor, Honorius, was summoned from the East, and placed upon the throne of the West. Arcadius remained in feeble charge of the throne of Constantinople. And within a few months the powerful Emperor sank into the grave, and the Empire entered upon the unhappy reigns192 of Arcadius and Honorius.
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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overcast
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| adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天 | |
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skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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extricating
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| v.使摆脱困难，脱身( extricate的现在分词 ) | |
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javelin
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| n.标枪，投枪 | |
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serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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concessions
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| n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权 | |
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evacuated
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| 撤退者的 | |
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emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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14
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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15
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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16
cuffed
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| v.掌打，拳打( cuff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
desecration
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| n. 亵渎神圣, 污辱 | |
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19
cult
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| n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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21
contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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22
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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23
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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25
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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27
vindictiveness
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| 恶毒；怀恨在心 | |
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28
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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29
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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30
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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31
hypocrisy
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| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
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32
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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33
deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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34
repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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35
hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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36
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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37
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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38
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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39
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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40
derisive
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| adj.嘲弄的 | |
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41
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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42
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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43
wresting
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| 动词wrest的现在进行式 | |
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44
usurper
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| n. 篡夺者, 僭取者 | |
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45
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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46
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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47
enervated
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| adj.衰弱的，无力的v.使衰弱，使失去活力( enervate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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48
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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49
persecute
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| vt.迫害，虐待；纠缠，骚扰 | |
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50
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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51
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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52
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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53
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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54
countenanced
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| v.支持，赞同，批准( countenance的过去式 ) | |
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55
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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56
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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57
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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58
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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59
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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60
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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61
authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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62
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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63
banishment
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| n.放逐，驱逐 | |
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64
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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65
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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66
curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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67
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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68
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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69
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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70
barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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71
choleric
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| adj.易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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72
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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73
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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74
truculence
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| n.凶猛，粗暴 | |
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75
divination
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| n.占卜，预测 | |
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76
covetous
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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77
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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78
savagery
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| n.野性 | |
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79
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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80
incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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81
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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82
peremptorily
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| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
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83
connivance
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| n.纵容；默许 | |
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84
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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85
promulgating
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| v.宣扬（某事物）( promulgate的现在分词 )；传播；公布；颁布（法令、新法律等） | |
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86
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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87
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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88
suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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89
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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90
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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91
avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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92
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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93
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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94
implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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95
clemency
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| n.温和，仁慈，宽厚 | |
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96
dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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97
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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98
assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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99
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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100
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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101
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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102
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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103
usurped
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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104
deterioration
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| n.退化；恶化；变坏 | |
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105
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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106
confiscated
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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107
epithet
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| n.（用于褒贬人物等的）表述形容词，修饰语 | |
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108
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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109
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
curtailed
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| v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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111
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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112
sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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113
culminated
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| v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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114
apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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115
intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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116
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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117
vilest
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| adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
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118
epithets
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| n.（表示性质、特征等的）词语( epithet的名词复数 ) | |
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119
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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120
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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121
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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122
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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123
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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124
diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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125
galleys
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| n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房 | |
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126
espouse
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| v.支持，赞成，嫁娶 | |
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127
heresy
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| n.异端邪说；异教 | |
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128
depict
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| vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述 | |
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129
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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130
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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131
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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132
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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133
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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134
dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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135
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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136
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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137
voluptuous
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| adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的 | |
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138
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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139
insipid
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| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
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140
administrator
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| n.经营管理者，行政官员 | |
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141
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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142
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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143
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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144
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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145
benefactors
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| n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人 | |
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146
curbed
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| v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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147
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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148
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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149
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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150
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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151
embittered
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| v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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152
ascendancy
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| n.统治权，支配力量 | |
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153
transgressions
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| n.违反，违法，罪过( transgression的名词复数 ) | |
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154
ignominiously
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| adv.耻辱地，屈辱地，丢脸地 | |
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155
monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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156
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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157
immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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158
offenders
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| n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物） | |
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despoiling
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| v.掠夺，抢劫( despoil的现在分词 ) | |
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slaying
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| 杀戮。 | |
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161
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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163
penitent
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| adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者 | |
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164
taxation
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| n.征税，税收，税金 | |
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165
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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166
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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167
treacherously
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| 背信弃义地； 背叛地； 靠不住地； 危险地 | |
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168
massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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169
expiate
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| v.抵补，赎罪 | |
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170
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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171
compensated
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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172
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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173
docility
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| n.容易教，易驾驶，驯服 | |
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174
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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175
plausibly
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| 似真地 | |
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176
commentators
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| n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员 | |
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177
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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178
peevish
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| adj.易怒的，坏脾气的 | |
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179
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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180
biased
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| a.有偏见的 | |
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181
intrigued
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| adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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182
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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183
mimes
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| n.指手画脚( mime的名词复数 )；做手势；哑剧；哑剧演员v.指手画脚地表演，用哑剧的形式表演( mime的第三人称单数 ) | |
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184
avaricious
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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185
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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186
extorted
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| v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 )；曲解 | |
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187
strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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188
avalanche
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| n.雪崩，大量涌来 | |
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189
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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190
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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191
avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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192
reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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