WITH the Imperial ladies of the courts of Arcadius and Honorius we enter upon the final act in the tragedy of the fall of Rome. The sun is sinking rapidly to the Western horizon; the long shadows trail across the record of events; the chill of evening contracts the life of the historic Empire. The only aspect of that tragedy that concerns us is a consideration of the part that women played in the gradual enfeeblement of the Roman Empire. While taking full account of the various causes assigned by historians, it may be said that the fall of Rome was due to a coincidence. The invasion of Europe by the fierce Huns had pressed the Germanic tribes against the Roman frontier just at the time when the Empire was particularly feeble. That it was inwardly outworn and doomed—that the organization of a State has an appointed term of decay, like the frame of an individual—may be confidently challenged. Egypt maintained its vigour2 for close on 8,000 years; Babylon for nearly 6,000.
The only question we may touch here is whether the personality of the later Empresses counted for anything, either for good or evil, in this enfeeblement of the Empire; and the answer is clear that, with one or two exceptions, they counted for neither. They had no deep or large influence on the life of the Empire, even through their husbands. The Roman ideal of womanhood was changing once more. As in the early days, they were diverted323 from interest in public affairs, except in so far as the cause of the Church called for their interference. We must not conceive them as powerless witnesses of the gradual dissolution of the Empire. No one, man or woman, saw that the Empire was dissolving, or dreamed of its fall, until it lay in ruins under the feet of the northern tribes. None reflected that, since Constantine had assumed the purple, thirteen Emperors out of twenty had been either executed or murdered; that the blood of able officers or servants had generally been mingled3 with that of the fallen ruler; and that hundreds of thousands of soldiers had been wasted in civil war. None reflected that, while they were distracted with religious quarrels, a formidable avalanche4 was gathering5 on the hills; or that, while the courts absorbed enormous sums in Oriental display, the fiscal6 machinery7 of the State was running down. In any case, it was no longer the place of women to notice these things. Their duties were to rear the Imperial family, wear pretty robes of cloth of gold, and build churches. The age of Livia, Agrippina, or Plotina, was over.
These reflections will be enforced by the lives of the interesting Empresses whom we have next to consider. The new Emperors were unmarried youths at the time when their father died. Arcadius, a little, dark, unpleasant-looking youth, whose laziness appeared in his dull, lustre-less eyes, was in his eighteenth year. Honorius was a boy of eleven, and as, during a reign8 of twenty-eight years, he never rose above the character or intelligence of a boy, and his two Empresses were timid young girls, we must dismiss them in a page; though that page must contain an event that sent a thrill of excitement through civilization—the fall of the city of Rome. So little had our Imperial characters to do with it that a later age amused itself by saying that, when Honorius was told that “Rome was taken,” he wept for the supposed loss of his favourite fowl9, which bore that name.
The real master of the Western world, over which324 young Honorius had nominal10 sway, was a powerful and gifted commander, Stilicho, of Vandal extraction. He had married Serena, the beautiful niece of Theodosius, and he led the armies and governed the Western Empire until his death. In 398, in his thirteenth year, Honorius was directed to wed11 Maria, the elder daughter of Stilicho. It was said that Theodosius had desired the union. Serena, at all events, desired it, and, although her daughter was yet immature12, the wedding took place at Milan in 398. All that we have to say of her is that she died some time within the next ten years—probably, as Tillemont calculates, in the year 404. Her body was embalmed13 and buried in a Christian14 church at Rome, where the poor crumbling15 frame, laden16 with gold, was discovered in 1544.
In the year 408 Honorius married his deceased wife’s sister, Thermantia. Tillemont very properly laments17 that he finds no record of any protest on the part of the Bishop18 of Rome—who probably celebrated19 it—against this irregular marriage, but the modern reader will be more seriously concerned to hear the argument with which Serena urged it upon her reluctant husband. Maria, she said, had died a virgin20. Before entrusting21 her immature child to the bed of Honorius, she had had some obscure operation performed on her, which would guard her virginity. Certainly, Maria had had no children. Thermantia was equally unprepared for marriage, Zosimus says, and the operation was repeated. It was a superfluous22 sacrifice to the ambition of Serena, because Stilicho fell, in a palace intrigue23, a few months later, and the little maid was restored to her mother.
Such was the short and melancholy24 story of the Empresses Maria and ?milia Materna Thermantia, as an inscription25 calls the younger. Their monument was terrible. Within a few months the avalanche of the Gothic army descended26 from the Alps and devastated27 Italy; and Serena was, with the consent of her cousin Placidia, the Emperor’s sister, strangled by the Senate on the light, and325 probably false, charge of communicating with the enemy. Zosimus, at least, says that she was innocent; but he is not surprised at her fate, as she had one day appropriated a jewelled ornament28 from the statue of one of his goddesses. Within two years Rome was sacked by the Goths, and Placidia was carried off by them.
We turn to the East, to follow the less tragic29, but hardly less interesting, fortunes of Eudoxia and Eudocia. In the East, as in the West, Theodosius had left a powerful minister to guide the hands of his young and unpromising son. But the eastern minister, Rufinus, had not the manly30 qualities of Stilicho. He had entered the palace by craft, not by military exploits, and had easily dissembled his vices31 from the too indulgent eye of Theodosius. When that Emperor died, he cast aside the cloak, and pursued his native avarice33, and exercised his cruelty, without restraint. By fines, taxes, despoilments, and the unscrupulous ruin of his opponents, the hated Gaul amassed34 wealth and power, and ruled like an autocrat35. He had a daughter of marriageable age, and Arcadius seemed to listen in compliant36 mood when he proposed that she should become his Empress. The task of destroying an opponent took him for a time to Antioch, and he returned to hear that the Emperor was preparing for marriage. He awaited the appointed day with eagerness. At length the hymeneal procession set out from the palace, and the people gathered to witness its passage to the house of Rufinus, a superb villa37 in one of the suburbs. To the intense surprise of all, it stopped at a house in the city, and the blushing and beautiful daughter of a Frankish chief was announced to be the choice of the Emperor.
While Rufinus was pursuing his vengeance38 at Antioch, the eunuchs of the palace had conspired39 to defeat his plan and undermine his power. The chief of them was Eutropius, a slave by birth, castrated immediately after birth that he might bring a bigger price, and rising in time from the occupation of hair-dresser to the daughter of General Arintheus to the position of high chamberlain at326 the palace. Such were the rulers of Emperors in the fourth century. Eutropius knew that Arcadius had no attraction to the daughter of Rufinus, and chafed40 under the authority of her burly father. He cast about for a prettier companion, and soon had the affection of Arcadius safely engaged. The temporary absence of Rufinus gave them an opportunity, and Constantinople was enlivened by the rare spectacle of an Imperial marriage, and the still rarer spectacle of the defeat of Rufinus.
Eudoxia—such is the Greek name under which the new Empress is presented to us—was the beautiful daughter of Bauto, chief of the Franks. Historians, politely accepting the assurance of some of the writers of the time, say that she was being “educated” at Constantinople, her father having died in the service of the Eastern army. It is, perhaps, a pity to disturb the plausible41 phrase, but the duty of a biographer is stern. The house in the city from which she was taken to wed the Emperor was occupied by two young men of wealth. They were the sons of the commander Promotus, who had been one of the first victims of Rufinus. One of these young men, Zosimus says, “had a beautiful maid” in the house. We will not inquire too closely. The stern ideals of the Germanic tribes had relaxed as they came into closer contact with civilization, and it became common for them to lend or sell their daughters to the Romans. We remember the adventure of Pipera a century before. Eutropius submitted an adequate picture of the girl to Arcadius, whose pulse was quickened, and the son of Promotus easily parted with his tender pupil when he learned that it was for the purpose of discomfiting42 the destroyer of his father.
Eudoxia had no less spirit than beauty of person, and she would watch with interest the duel43 between the wily eunuch and the powerful Gaul. Arcadius, “whose feeble and stupid goodness,” says Tillemont candidly44, “brought frightful45 evils on Church and State,” was a pawn46 in the game. But the big, wealthy, powerful Gaul now found a sterner opponent in Stilicho, of the Western Empire, and327 within a year his head was separated from his body, and his wife and daughter were permitted to remain alive at Jerusalem. Eutropius and Eudoxia now “led Arcadius like a dumb beast,” in the words of Zosimus, and sucked the resources of the Empire. The people of Constantinople gained nothing by the revolution. They had carried in triumph the grisly, extortionate hand of Rufinus through the streets of the city, but the supple47 hand of the eunuch proved as formidable. He surrounded himself with spies and informers, filled the prisons with men whose property he desired for himself or his friends, scattered48 statues of himself through the city, and assumed every title of honour short of that of Augustus. He would press his deformed49 person and painted face into the armour50 of a man, to review the troops, and would harangue51 the Senate with a feeble imitation of the authority of a statesman. While his exactions and the luxury of the court enfeebled the Empire of the East, he alienated52 the power of the West, and had Stilicho branded as a public enemy. And the Goths and Huns crept nearer.
Arcadius, lazily riding in his gold-plated chariot, studded with large gems53, in robes of silk embroidered54 with golden dragons, or playing the monarch55 on a throne of solid gold, with a crowd of adoring eunuchs before him, had no more appreciation56 than a peasant of a Cappadocian village of the true situation of the Empire. Eudoxia, beautiful, haughty57, spoiled, revelling58 in the luxury of the palace, generous to the Church and the poor, floated soothingly59 with the stream. She lived the languid life of an Oriental princess, within the confines of the palace, and was rarely seen even by the greater part of the palace servants. The only occasion when the populace saw her quit the marble city, which the palace of Constantine had become, was when, in 398, she walked humbly60, with downcast eyes, but clothed in purple silk, with a glittering diadem61 on her head, by the side of St. Chrysostom, as he transferred certain relics62 of the saints. Chrysostom would find her in a different temper in a few years.
328 The arrogance63 of Eutropius at last passed all bounds, and he ventured in the year 400 to threaten to expel Eudoxia from the palace. Whether she knew it or no, the time was ripe for the destruction of the repulsive64 minister. The people groaned65 under his terrible exactions, his infamous66 legislation, and his bloody67 tyranny; the leaders of the troops were prepared to sacrifice him. Eudoxia took her baby girls, Pulcheria and Arcadia, in her arms, and fled in tears to the Emperor. Arcadius, “becoming an Emperor for a moment,” says Philostorgius, signed the sentence of his favourite, and the eunuch soon found people and soldiers pressing, like wolves, for his destruction. He took refuge in a church, where Chrysostom protected him from the fiery68 crowd, but quitted it after a time, apparently69 on the oath of either Eudoxia or Arcadius that his life would be spared. He was exiled, recalled, tried, and—oath or no oath—put to death by the public executioner.
Eudoxia’s title of nobilissima (“most noble”) had been elevated to that of Augusta at the beginning of the year 400, and her second daughter was born in April of the same year.33 She was now complete mistress of Arcadius and the Empire, and she published her dignity with such extravagance that the Western court sent an angry protest that, in causing her statues to be borne through the provinces, she had exceeded the privileges of her sex. In the following year she completed her ascendancy70 by giving birth to a boy, Theodosius II, and seemed to have a prospect71 of a long and luxurious72, if useless, reign. But she had meantime quarrelled with Chrysostom, and she was to pass through a period of humiliation73 to a premature74 grave.
In 398 Eutropius had transferred the austere75 and eloquent76 Chrysostom from his presbytery in Antioch to the archiepiscopal palace at Constantinople. The stern monk77—as John of the Golden Mouth always remained at heart—was329 horrified78 from the first at the vice32 and luxury of the Christians79 of the Imperial city, and even of their clergy80, but he allowed two years to elapse before he began his fiery campaign against the sins of the laity81.34 He applied82 himself first to the reform of the priests and the control of the monks83. With that we have no concern.35 It is enough to say that the clergy bitterly resented his reforms, and were ready to co-operate with Eudoxia in an effort to get rid of him. In 400 he began to attack the easy ways of the laity more sternly, and it is probable that some feeling was created between him and the Empress over the massacre84 of the Gothic Arian soldiers, which took place in that year. Their commander Gainas had rebelled, and Arcadius had virtually surrendered to him. He marched his troops to the city, obtained the use of a church for them, and allowed them to roam about, to the irritation85 of the people; until at last the people rose and slew86 seven thousand of the heretics.
It seems that Eudoxia was alienated from Chrysostom, who had resented the grant of a church, from that time. When, in the following year, St. Porphyry of Gaza came to the capital to obtain an Imperial order to destroy the pagan temples of his town, Chrysostom declined to introduce him at court, and referred him to the eunuch Amantius. The sequel is not without interest in a study of the Empress. The holy man was presented to Eudoxia, and promised that she should bear a boy if she would secure the destruction of paganism in Gaza. She promised to do so, but Arcadius, who seems to have resented religious wrangles87, refused to grant permission. Then the boy was born, and Eudoxia felt an obligation to secure Porphyry’s request. She instructed him to draw up a formal petition, and present it to the baby-C?sar as he was carried from the baptismal font. The noble who carried the baby was then instructed330 how he was to behave, and a little comedy was arranged. Porphyry presented his paper to the infant C?sar. The noble read a little of it to the baby in a low voice, so that Arcadius should not hear, and then bobbed the child’s head as a sign of assent88. Arcadius wearily overlooked the trick, eight beautiful temples were burned at Gaza, and Eudoxia supplied the funds for building a large church on their ruins. Tillemont, whose admiring course through the fourth century is much tempered by groans89, complains that “this kind of piety90 favours only the demons91.”
Chrysostom then went on to denounce, in unmeasured language, the vicious and luxurious ways of the wealthy women, especially widows, of his church. He had diverted the coins of the laity from the army of monks, deprived the clergy of their mistresses, and declared that the great majority of the bishops92 of his province were hopelessly corrupt93. With the aid of his rival, the Bishop of Alexandria, they conspired against him, and they reached the ear of the Empress through the courtly and comfortable bishop, Severian. The other ear of the Empress was now assailed94 by the wealthy widows who smarted under the preacher’s fierce lash95. Such fine ladies as Marsa and Castricia would not be likely to sit under the Socialistic oratory96 of the archbishop, but shorthand (notatio) was as commonly used in those days as in our own, and he could thus irritate the eye of the rich as well as gladden the ear of the poor. They brooded darkly over his impersonal98 strictures, and no doubt detected occasional references to the luxurious Empress in them. In fine, Archbishop Theophilus was summoned from Alexandria; the bishops of the province eagerly drew up and passed a lengthy99 indictment100 of their superior; and, before the orthodox population could gather what was happening, their orator97 was on the way to exile.
EUDOXIA
PULCHERIA
ENLARGED FROM COINS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM
But the triumph of Eudoxia was as brief as that of Justina. The people rose in fury, and, after the slaughter101 of seven thousand trained soldiers, made a light matter of the monks and sailors of Theophilus. When, in addition, an earthquake shook the province, Eudoxia prudently331 yielded to the human pressure, under the decent pretext104 of obeying the divine will. Chrysostom returned to his church, and the sight of the gay fleet that set out to meet him, the flaring105 illumination of the shores, the frenzied106 rejoicing of the returning procession, must have filled the palace on the heights with bitterness. Such a truce107 could be observed with cold discretion108 by neither party, and it was not long before the struggle was renewed.
In honour of the birth of the third daughter of the Empress, Marina, a silver statue of her was erected109, on a column of porphyry, at the door of the Senate. The Prefect of the city commemorated110 the event with games or other rejoicings in the square before the statue, and they were naturally accompanied by profane111, if not licentious112, gaiety. Straight opposite, across the square, was the door of Chrysostom’s church, and the devout113 regarded this demonstration114 as an outrage115 on religion. Chrysostom’s sermons become more explicit116. In a later age a sermon was published under his name, in which the people—or the readers—were reminded of the infamous Herodias clamouring for the head of John. The sermon is generally regarded as spurious, but we have the weighty authority of Socrates for the fact that the extempore preacher did utter the fatal name of Herodias. The conflict ended with the exile of the archbishop (June 404), but on the following night his church was found to be in flames, and the fire spread to, and almost destroyed, the Senate-house, a building adorned117 with the most exquisite118 marbles and works of art.
The condition of Constantinople, the anxiety of Eudoxia, during the following months, may be imagined. It is enough to know that Eudoxia met a painful death, through miscarriage119, in the month of September of the same year (404). I will not reproduce the horrible details that a more orthodox age discovered in connexion with her death.36 If332 Chrysostom spoke120 from “a bitter disillusion,” as Dr. Puech holds, Eudoxia had not less cause to be embittered121. Even her religious zeal122 had led her into the most painful experiences. For the State, in which she had high power, she did nothing. The vultures gathered on the hills, while the court absorbed its little soul in voluptuous123 pomp, and the people fought each other over creeds124. We may dissent125 from the hard verdict of Gibbon, that Eudoxia indulged her passions while the Empire decayed, and we must regard as too frivolous126 for consideration the suspicion of unchastity which he reproduces; but we must grant that, where Eudoxia’s action was not selfish, it was generally useless, and frequently mischievous127.
We have carried the slender story of the Empresses in the West as far as the year 410, and we shall find no other Empress there until 421. We may, therefore, continue the record of the East, and consider the romantic story of Eudocia, before we proceed to the last scene in the Empire of the West.
After an ignoble128 reign of thirteen years the elder son of Theodosius died in his bed in the year 408. His only son, Theodosius II, was clothed with the purple, in his sixth year, and a prudent103 and experienced minister controlled the State for the next seven years. In 415 Pulcheria, the elder sister of Theodosius, was named Augusta, and gradually assumed the guardianship129 of her brother and the control of the State. She was as yet only in her sixteenth year, and Theodosius was only two years younger, but her cold, decisive temper compensated130 in some measure for the strength which Theodosius wholly lacked, and she held the reins131 of the Empire. Deeply religious, she took herself, and induced her younger sisters to take, a vow132 of chastity, which was written in gold and diamonds on the wall of the public church. The palace offered the singular spectacle of a nunnery within a luxurious court. Only pious133 eunuchs and women were allowed to approach the Imperial virgins134, in whose sober apartments no music was ever heard save that of the psalm135 and sacred song; while333 the weakly youth was educated in the pomp that befits a king, as well as the propriety136 that adorns137 a Christian. He learned both lessons with success; but we cannot avoid a suspicion that less earnest and assiduous efforts were made to fit him for the task of taking in his own hands the levers of the heavy machinery of the State. It is proper to add, however, that, partly from circumstances, partly from the prudence138 and care of Pulcheria, that machinery ran with unaccustomed ease, and the Empire enjoyed a span of peace and prosperity.
At length the anxious question of the Imperial marriage arose, and the virginal Pulcheria confronted it with her usual coolness and decision. The task was simplified, in a sense, by Theodosius. He declared that he would marry only a young lady of exceptional bodily charm, and would pay no attention to wealth or dignity. It may have occurred to Pulcheria that an Empress thus elevated would be less likely to dispute her power than some woman who had been born into the world of large action. She began her search, with the aid of Paulinus, a youth who had been educated with Theodosius and was his intimate friend.
One day, at this period, a young Athenian girl was brought into her presence with a petition. She was of the fairest Athenian type; a supple and graceful139 young woman, with skin of a snowy complexion140, large intelligent eyes, and a beautiful head of golden hair. Further, she pleaded her cause, in perfect Greek, with a surprising restraint, eloquence141, and art. She was Athenais, the daughter of an Athenian teacher. He had cultivated her mind and her beauty with all the resources of his art, and had, at his death, left her only a hundred pieces of gold, on the pretext that she was wealthy enough in her advantages. She begged her brothers to share the inheritance more justly, but they refused. She had therefore come with a relative to the house of an aunt at Constantinople, and asked for a just distribution of her father’s money. Pulcheria’s interest was, not in the case,334 but in the girl. She took the aunt aside, and prudently102 inquired if the girl was a maid and a Christian. Athenais was declared to be a virgin, though a pagan; but the defect was one that could easily be removed.
Pulcheria joyfully142 told her brother that she had found the beauty he desired, and described her. They arranged a second visit, during which Theodosius and Paulinus should inspect the maiden143 from behind a curtain. In a short time Athenais had changed her name into ?lia Eudocia, changed her religion into that of Christ, and changed her condition into that of wife of the Emperor. She was married on June 7th, 421, in, it is believed, the twentieth year of her age. There was consternation144 in the home she had quitted at Athens, and her brothers hid themselves in the provinces. Eudocia had them sought and conducted to Constantinople. There they learned to their surprise that she thought herself indebted to their conduct for her fortune, and they were richly rewarded.
From these pleasant girlish traits we pass to the inevitable145 struggle with Pulcheria. Theodosius remained an Imperial nonentity146. He could hunt, paint, and carve, but public business so bored him that he signed documents without reading them. One day Pulcheria put a parchment before him, and he, as usual, blindly appended his name. Shortly afterwards he summoned Eudocia, and was told that she was now the slave of Pulcheria, and awaited her orders. The document he had signed was a deed of sale of his wife, but it does not appear that the little stratagem147 made much impression on him. Pulcheria still held the reins. Eudocia had her first child at the end of 422, and was, in the following January, entitled Augusta. The court had a visit, too, from the Empress of the West, Galla Placidia, and her daughter, and large matters were discussed. In 433 we may, perhaps, trace some influence of Eudocia on legislation. An edict imposing148 the death-sentence on the remaining pagans may be confidently ascribed to Pulcheria; but an edict reforming and enlarging the higher schools of Constantinople335 seems rather to remind us of the Athenian scholar’s daughter. She occupied much of her leisure in writing historical and religious poetry, and the little that survives of it has been recently edited by Ludwich. It is correct in form and devoid149 of inspiration.
The years passed tranquilly150 until 437, when we begin to suspect that there is friction151 with Pulcheria. Few things had happened, beyond the echo of the stormy movements of the West, and the disquieting152 advance of the Huns, to disturb the life of the court. One year (434) had, indeed, brought a strange thrill into the Imperial nunnery. A princess of the Western Empire, Honoria, came to Constantinople, enceinte by her own steward153. But the hard lot of Honoria, and the romantic devices by which she sought to enliven it, will occupy us later. Pulcheria promptly154 enclosed the fiery young princess in a convent, and the scandal would be mentioned only in whispers. Three years later (437) the Western Emperor, Valentinian III, came to Constantinople, and led away Eudocia’s beautiful daughter, Licinia Eudoxia, to share his trembling throne. The next detail is that, in 439, Eudocia made a lengthy pilgrimage to Palestine, and there can be little doubt that her absence from the palace for a year—which is unconvincingly connected by Gibbon with the marriage of her daughter, two years before—was due, in part or entirely155, to some quarrel with either Theodosius or Pulcheria, most probably the latter.
At Antioch, on the journey, Eudocia enjoyed the prestige of her solitary156 and independent dignity. From a golden throne she delivered a studied oration157 to the Senate, and the tumultuous applause and voting of statues to her must have greatly increased her self-consciousness. The shower of gold she rained upon the churches and monasteries158 of Palestine, and indeed all along her route, elicited159 a no less stimulating160 demonstration. She returned to Constantinople, apparently about the end of 439, with a larger sense of her importance, and with such priceless relics as the arm of St. Stephen and the authentic161 picture336 of Mary which Luke the Physician had painted. It is only at a much later date that Greek writers add to her luggage a phial of the Virgin’s milk, some underclothing of the infant Christ, and similar treasures.
The pilgrimage was the turning-point in the career of Eudocia. So far her life had been one of splendid and powerless prestige; it now rapidly darkens with intrigue, is overshadowed by tragedy and suspicion, and soon ends in a virtual exile. We are sufficiently162 acquainted with the writers of the time to expect that they will throw very little light on this fresh Imperial tragedy, but, using the later and less weighty Greek writers with discretion, we may obtain a fairly confident idea of its main features. Two facts are related by writers of the time, and are beyond question. In the year following Eudocia’s return, her friend, and the intimate friend of the Emperor, the charming and accomplished164 Paulinus, was exiled and put to death without public trial. The second fact is that, a few years later, Eudocia left the palace for ever, to spend the remainder of her life at Jerusalem.
The later Byzantine writers give a rounded story of these events, and, on the whole, one is disposed to think that in this case they are revealing the suppressed truth. Theophanes (in his “Chronographia”) says that a eunuch named Chrysaphius rose into favour, and urged Eudocia to secure the dismissal of Pulcheria. They persuade Theodosius that, since Pulcheria has taken a vow of virginity, her proper place is among the deaconesses of the Church, and Archbishop Flavian is instructed to take her away. Flavian, however, prefers to have her in the palace, and he directs her simply to live apart for a time and wait. Then, in 440, occurs the execution—one may almost say murder—of Paulinus. These later Greek writers all give a romantic story in connexion with it. As Theodosius and Eudocia go to church on Epiphany morning, a peasant presents the Emperor with a remarkably165 large apple. He gives it to Eudocia, who privately166 sends it to Paulinus. Unluckily, Paulinus in turn presents it to337 the Emperor, who sternly asks Eudocia what she has done with it. She declares, and repeats with a most solemn oath, that she has eaten it. Paulinus is at once sent away, and decapitated. A much nearer and more weighty authority, John Malala, confirms, in substance, this story of the apple, and says that Paulinus was suspected of intimacy167 with the Empress. There is no serious reason to doubt it, nor is any other reason suggested for the murder of Paulinus; but whether Eudocia was guilty, or the suspicion was inspired by the servants of Pulcheria, we are unable to determine.
The eunuch then, says Theophanes, presses Eudocia to attack Flavian and Pulcheria. He reminds her of “all the bitter things she had endured from Pulcheria,” and covers the human motive168 with a pretence169 of religious zeal. We know, at least, that Eudocia embraced the Eutychian heresy170, which Chrysaphius had adopted, and that a Church-council was summoned in 441 that put an end to Flavian. The intrigue, however, runs on in obscurity until Eudocia suddenly asks permission to retire to Jerusalem. Theodosius could not divorce her, but we can easily believe that, as these writers say, he treated her with such severity, repeatedly reminding her of Paulinus, that she was driven into exile. Pulcheria returned to the palace, and resumed her control of the Emperor and the Empire.
Gibbon scouts171 these “Greek fictions,” but, not only has he not taken sufficient account of John Malala, whose authority he recognizes, but a detail he adds from the still more authoritative172 Chronicle of Marcellinus (which is almost contemporary) gives a very serious confirmation173. In the suite174 of Eudocia, when she set out for Palestine, were a priest named Severus and a deacon named John, favourites of hers. They had not long left Constantinople when an officer named Saturninus, of the faction175 opposed to Eudocia, came upon them with an order to put Severus and John to death. It appears that they too were executed for supposed intimacy with the Empress. Eudocia lost her self-control at this brutal176 outrage, and bade her servants338 make an end of Saturninus. When Theodosius heard, he stripped Eudocia of her Imperial prerogatives177, and left her in the position of an ordinary citizen. These authentic statements of Marcellinus strongly confirm the story, and it is clear that the Byzantine court was stained by a sordid178 quarrel and several brutal murders.
The romance of Eudocia’s career was not yet over. Marcellinus sends her to Jerusalem in 444: the later writers in 442. However that may be, in the year 445 we find her again embarking179 on an unhappy adventure. The monks of Palestine were infected with the Eutychian heresy, and they welcomed so powerful a patroness. With the aid of her servants they ousted180 the orthodox bishop of Jerusalem, and a vigorous monk was put in his place. The monk-bishop, with his militant181 army of ten thousand monkish182 followers183, held Jerusalem for twenty months, in spite of the Imperial troops, drove all the orthodox bishops out of Palestine, and slew and cast to the dogs a number of their followers. In this quaint163 company the delicate Greek Empress continued to build churches and monasteries for three years, but when she hears at length of the misfortunes of her daughter, which the Bishop of Rome, as well as the courts of Ravenna and Constantinople, ascribe to her heresy, she sends to consult the famous hermit184 of the pillar, Simeon Stylites. Simeon recommends her to confer with a certain saintly monk of the desert. The monk will neither leave his desert for her, nor permit a woman to enter it. She therefore builds a tower on the hill some miles away, and in that safe and public elevation185 the monk enlightens her out of her heresy.
Eudocia brought her adventurous186 career to a close in 460, protesting with her last breath that she was innocent of the charge of unchastity. Pulcheria continued to rule the Eastern Empire in the name of Theodosius until he died, in the year 450, inglorious and unhonoured. It was now seen that the prosperity of the Empire in her earlier years was a hollow truce of circumstances. When the339 fierce and rapacious187 Huns approached it, in 446 and 447, the Eastern Empire tremblingly purchased peace by the most ignominious188 concessions189. When Theodosius died, she assumed sole control of the Empire, and the head of the eunuch Chrysaphius was at once removed from his shoulders. But the pressure of her people forced her to marry, and an aged1 Senator, Marcian, engaged to share her throne without sharing her virginal bed. To his more vigorous hands the affairs of State now passed, and Pulcheria maintained her virtue190 and piety to the end. But we must now leave the Oriental pomp, the emasculated frame, and the splendid piety of the Byzantine court, to conclude our story in the West.
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1
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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avalanche
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| n.雪崩，大量涌来 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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fiscal
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| adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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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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fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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immature
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| adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的 | |
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embalmed
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| adj.用防腐药物保存（尸体）的v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的过去式和过去分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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laments
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| n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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entrusting
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的现在分词 ) | |
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superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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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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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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27
devastated
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| v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的 | |
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ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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amassed
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| v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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autocrat
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| n.独裁者；专横的人 | |
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compliant
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| adj.服从的，顺从的 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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conspired
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| 密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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40
chafed
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| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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41
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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42
discomfiting
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| v.使为难( discomfit的现在分词 )；使狼狈；使挫折；挫败 | |
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43
duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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44
candidly
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| adv.坦率地，直率而诚恳地 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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pawn
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| n.典当，抵押，小人物，走卒；v.典当，抵押 | |
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47
supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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48
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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50
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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51
harangue
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| n.慷慨冗长的训话，言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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alienated
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| adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等） | |
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53
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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54
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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55
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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56
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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57
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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58
revelling
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| v.作乐( revel的现在分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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59
soothingly
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| adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地 | |
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humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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61
diadem
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| n.王冠，冕 | |
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62
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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64
repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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66
infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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67
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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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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69
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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ascendancy
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| n.统治权，支配力量 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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73
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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75
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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81
laity
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| n.俗人；门外汉 | |
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82
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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84
massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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85
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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86
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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87
wrangles
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| n.（尤指长时间的）激烈争吵，口角，吵嘴( wrangle的名词复数 )v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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88
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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91
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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93
corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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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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95
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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96
oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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98
impersonal
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| adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的 | |
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99
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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100
indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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101
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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102
prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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104
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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107
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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108
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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109
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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110
commemorated
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| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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111
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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112
licentious
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| adj.放纵的，淫乱的 | |
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113
devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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114
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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116
explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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117
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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118
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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119
miscarriage
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| n.失败，未达到预期的结果；流产 | |
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120
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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121
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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122
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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123
voluptuous
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| adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的 | |
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124
creeds
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| （尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 ) | |
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125
dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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126
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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127
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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128
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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129
guardianship
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| n. 监护, 保护, 守护 | |
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130
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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131
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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132
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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133
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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134
virgins
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| 处女，童男( virgin的名词复数 )； 童贞玛利亚（耶稣之母） | |
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135
psalm
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| n.赞美诗，圣诗 | |
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136
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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137
adorns
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| 装饰，佩带( adorn的第三人称单数 ) | |
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138
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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139
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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140
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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141
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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142
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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143
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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144
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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145
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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146
nonentity
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| n.无足轻重的人 | |
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147
stratagem
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| n.诡计，计谋 | |
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148
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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150
tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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151
friction
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| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
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disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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oration
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| n.演说，致辞，叙述法 | |
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158
monasteries
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| 修道院( monastery的名词复数 ) | |
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elicited
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| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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161
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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162
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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163
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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166
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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169
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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170
heresy
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| n.异端邪说；异教 | |
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171
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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172
authoritative
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| adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的 | |
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173
confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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174
suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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175
faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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176
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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177
prerogatives
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| n.权利( prerogative的名词复数 )；特权；大主教法庭；总督委任组成的法庭 | |
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178
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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179
embarking
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| 乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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180
ousted
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| 驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺 | |
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181
militant
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| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
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182
monkish
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| adj.僧侣的，修道士的，禁欲的 | |
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183
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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184
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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185
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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186
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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187
rapacious
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| adj.贪婪的，强夺的 | |
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188
ignominious
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| adj.可鄙的，不光彩的，耻辱的 | |
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189
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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190
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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