[1: The series of events, from the death of Stilicho to
the arrival of Alaric before Rome, can only be found in Zosimus,
l. v. p. 347 - 350.]
[2: The expression of Zosimus is strong and lively,
sufficient to excite the contempt of the enemy.]
[3: Eos qui catholicae sectae sunt inimici, intra
palatium militare pro hibemus. Nullus nobis sit aliqua ratione
conjunctus, qui a nobis fidest religione discordat. Cod.
Theodos. l. xvi. tit. v. leg. 42, and Godefroy's Commentary, tom.
vi. p. 164. This law was applied in the utmost latitude, and
rigorously executed. Zosimus, l. v. p. 364.]
[4: Addison (see his Works, vol. ii. p. 54, edit.
Baskerville) has given a very picturesque description of the road
through the Apennine. The Goths were not at leisure to observe
the beauties of the prospect; but they were pleased to find that
the Saxa Intercisa, a narrow passage which Vespasian had cut
through the rock, (Cluver. Italia Antiq. tom. i. p. 168,) was
totally neglected.
[5:
Hine albi, Clitumne, greges, et maxima taurus
Victima, saepe tuo perfusi flumine sacro,
Romanos ad templa Deum duxere triumphos.
Georg. ii. 147.
Besides Virgil, most of the Latin poets, Propertius, Lucan,
Silius Italicus, Claudian, &c., whose passages may be found in
Cluverius and Addison, have celebrated the triumphal victims of
the Clitumnus.]
[6: Some ideas of the march of Alaric are borrowed from
the journey of Honorius over the same ground. (See Claudian in
vi. Cons. Hon. 494 - 522.) The measured distance between Ravenna
and Rome was 254 Roman miles. Itinerar. Wesseling, p. 126.]
[7: The march and retreat of Hannibal are described by
Livy, l. xxvi. c. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; and the reader is made a
spectator of the interesting scene.]
[8: These comparisons were used by Cyneas, the
counsellor of Pyrrhus, after his return from his embassy, in
which he had diligently studied the discipline and manners of
Rome. See Plutarch in Pyrrho. tom. ii. p. 459.]
[9: In the three census which were made of the Roman
people, about the time of the second Punic war, the numbers stand
as follows, (see Livy, Epitom. l. xx. Hist. l. xxvii. 36. xxix.
37:) 270,213, 137,108 214,000. The fall of the second, and the
rise of the third, appears so enormous, that several critics,
notwithstanding the unanimity of the Mss., have suspected some
corruption of the text of Livy. (See Drakenborch ad xxvii. 36,
and Beaufort, Republique Romaine, tom. i. p. 325.) They did not
consider that the second census was taken only at Rome, and that
the numbers were diminished, not only by the death, but likewise
by the absence, of many soldiers. In the third census, Livy
expressly affirms, that the legions were mustered by the care of
particular commissaries. From the numbers on the list we must
always deduct one twelfth above threescore, and incapable of
bearing arms. See Population de la France, p. 72.]
[A: Compare the remarkable transaction in Jeremiah
xxxii. 6, to 44, where the prophet purchases his uncle's estate
at the approach of the Babylonian captivity, in his undoubting
confidence in the future restoration of the people. In the one
case it is the triumph of religious faith, in the other of
national pride. - M.]
[10: Livy considers these two incidents as the effects
only of chance and courage. I suspect that they were both
managed by the admirable policy of the senate.]
[11: See Jerom, tom. i. p. 169, 170, ad Eustochium; he
bestows on Paula the splendid titles of Gracchorum stirps,
soboles Scipionum, Pauli haeres, cujus vocabulum trahit, Martiae
Papyriae Matris Africani vera et germana propago. This
particular description supposes a more solid title than the
surname of Julius, which Toxotius shared with a thousand families
of the western provinces. See the Index of Tacitus, of Gruter's
Inscriptions, &c.]
[12: Tacitus (Annal. iii. 55) affirms, that between the
battle of Actium and the reign of Vespasian, the senate was
gradually filled with new families from the Municipia and
colonies of Italy.]
[13: Nec quisquam Procerum tentet (licet aere vetusto
Floreat, et claro cingatur Roma senatu)
Se jactare parem; sed prima sede relicta
Aucheniis, de jure licet certare secundo.
Claud. in Prob. et Olybrii Coss. 18.
Such a compliment paid to the obscure name of the Auchenii has
amazed the critics; but they all agree, that whatever may be the
true reading, the sense of Claudian can be applied only to the
Anician family.]
[14: The earliest date in the annals of Pighius, is that
of M. Anicius Gallus. Trib. Pl. A. U. C. 506. Another tribune,
Q. Anicius, A. U. C. 508, is distinguished by the epithet of
Praenestinus. Livy (xlv. 43) places the Anicii below the great
families of Rome.]
[15: Livy, xliv. 30, 31, xlv. 3, 26, 43. He fairly
appreciates the merit of Anicius, and justly observes, that his
fame was clouded by the superior lustre of the Macedonian, which
preceded the Illyrian triumph.]
[16: The dates of the three consulships are, A. U. C.
593, 818, 967 the two last under the reigns of Nero and
Caracalla. The second of these consuls distinguished himself
only by his infamous flattery, (Tacit. Annal. xv. 74;) but even
the evidence of crimes, if they bear the stamp of greatness and
antiquity, is admitted, without reluctance, to prove the
genealogy of a noble house.]
[17: In the sixth century, the nobility of the Anician
name is mentioned (Cassiodor. Variar. l. x. Ep. 10, 12) with
singular respect by the minister of a Gothic king of Italy.]
[18: - Fixus in omnes
Cognatos procedit honos; quemcumque requiras
Hac de stirpe virum, certum est de Consule nasci.
Per fasces numerantur Avi, semperque renata
Nobilitate virent, et prolem fata sequuntur.
(Claudian in Prob. et Olyb. Consulat. 12, &c.) The Annii, whose
name seems to have merged in the Anician, mark the Fasti with
many consulships, from the time of Vespasian to the fourth
century.]
[19: The title of first Christian senator may be
justified by the authority of Prudentius (in Symmach. i. 553) and
the dislike of the Pagans to the Anician family. See Tillemont,
Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 183, v. p. 44. Baron. Annal.
A.D. 312, No. 78, A.D. 322, No. 2.]
[20: Probus ... claritudine generis et potentia et opum
magnitudine, cognitus Orbi Romano, per quem universum poene
patrimonia sparsa possedit, juste an secus non judicioli est
nostri. Ammian Marcellin. xxvii. 11. His children and widow
erected for him a magnificent tomb in the Vatican, which was
demolished in the time of Pope Nicholas V. to make room for the
new church of St.Peter Baronius, who laments the ruin of this
Christian monument, has diligently preserved the inscriptions and
basso-relievos. See Annal. Eccles. A.D. 395, No. 5 - 17.]
[21: Two Persian satraps travelled to Milan and Rome, to
hear St. Ambrose, and to see Probus, (Paulin. in Vit. Ambros.)
Claudian (in Cons. Probin. et Olybr. 30 - 60) seems at a loss how
to express the glory of Probus.]
[22: See the poem which Claudian addressed to the two
noble youths.]
[23: Secundinus, the Manichaean, ap. Baron. Annal.
Eccles. A.D. 390, No. 34.]
[24: See Nardini, Roma Antica, p. 89, 498, 500.]
[25: Quid loquar inclusas inter laquearia sylvas;
Vernula queis vario carmine ludit avis.
Claud. Rutil. Numatian. Itinerar. ver. 111. The
poet lived at the time of the Gothic invasion. A moderate palace
would have covered Cincinnatus's farm of four acres (Val. Max.
iv. 4.) In laxitatem ruris excurrunt, says Seneca, Epist. 114.
See a judicious note of Mr. Hume, Essays, vol. i. p. 562, last
8vo edition.]
[26: This curious account of Rome, in the reign of
Honorius, is found in a fragment of the historian Olympiodorus,
ap. Photium, p. 197.]
[27: The sons of Alypius, of Symmachus, and of Maximus,
spent, during their respective praetorships, twelve, or twenty,
or forty, centenaries, (or hundred weight of gold.) See
Olympiodor. ap. Phot. p. 197. This popular estimation allows some
latitude; but it is difficult to explain a law in the Theodosian
Code, (l. vi. leg. 5,) which fixes the expense of the first
praetor at 25,000, of the second at 20,000, and of the third at
15,000 folles. The name of follis (see Mem. de l'Academie des
Inscriptions, tom. xxviii. p. 727) was equally applied to a purse
of 125 pieces of silver, and to a small copper coin of the value
of 1/2625 part of that purse. In the former sense, the 25,000
folles would be equal to 150,000l.; in the latter, to five or six
ponuds sterling The one appears extravagant, the other is
ridiculous. There must have existed some third and middle value,
which is here understood; but ambiguity is an excusable fault in
the language of laws.]
[28: Nicopolis ...... in Actiaco littore sita
possessioris vestra nunc pars vel maxima est. Jerom. in Praefat.
Comment. ad Epistol. ad Titum, tom. ix. p. 243. M. D. Tillemont
supposes, strangely enough, that it was part of Agamemnon's
inheritance. Mem. Eccles. tom. xii. p. 85.]
[29: Seneca, Epist. lxxxix. His language is of the
declamatory kind: but declamation could scarcely exaggerate the
avarice and luxury of the Romans. The philosopher himself
deserved some share of the reproach, if it be true that his
rigorous exaction of Quadringenties, above three hundred thousand
pounds which he had lent at high interest, provoked a rebellion
in Britain, (Dion Cassius, l. lxii. p. 1003.) According to the
conjecture of Gale (Antoninus's Itinerary in Britain, p. 92,) the
same Faustinus possessed an estate near Bury, in Suffolk and
another in the kingdom of Naples.]
[30: Volusius, a wealthy senator, (Tacit. Annal. iii.
30,) always preferred tenants born on the estate. Columella, who
received this maxim from him, argues very judiciously on the
subject. De Re Rustica, l. i. c. 7, p. 408, edit. Gesner.
Leipsig, 1735.]
[31: Valesius (ad Ammian. xiv. 6) has proved, from
Chrysostom and Augustin, that the senators were not allowed to
lend money at usury. Yet it appears from the Theodosian Code,
(see Godefroy ad l. ii. tit. xxxiii. tom. i. p. 230 - 289,) that
they were permitted to take six percent., or one half of the
legal interest; and, what is more singular, this permission was
granted to the young senators.]
[32: Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxiii. 50. He states the
silver at only 4380 pounds, which is increased by Livy (xxx. 45)
to 100,023: the former seems too little for an opulent city, the
latter too much for any private sideboard.]
[33: The learned Arbuthnot (Tables of Ancient Coins, &c.
p. 153) has observed with humor, and I believe with truth, that
Augustus had neither glass to his windows, nor a shirt to his
back. Under the lower empire, the use of linen and glass became
somewhat more common.
Note: The discovery of glass in such common use at Pompeii,
spoils the argument of Arbuthnot. See Sir W. Gell. Pompeiana, 2d
ser. p. 98. - M.]
[34: It is incumbent on me to explain the liberties
which I have taken with the text of Ammianus. 1. I have melted
down into one piece the sixth chapter of the fourteenth and the
fourth of the twenty-eighth book. 2. I have given order and
connection to the confused mass of materials. 3. I have softened
some extravagant hyperbeles, and pared away some superfluities of
the original. 4. I have developed some observations which were
insinuated rather than expressed. With these allowances, my
version will be found, not literal indeed, but faithful and
exact.]
[35: Claudian, who seems to have read the history of
Ammianus, speaks of this great revolution in a much less courtly
style: -
Postquam jura ferox in se communia Caesar
Transtulit; et lapsi mores; desuetaque priscis
Artibus, in gremium pacis servile recessi.
De Be. Gildonico, p. 49.]
[36: The minute diligence of antiquarians has not been
able to verify these extraordinary names. I am of opinion that
they were invented by the historian himself, who was afraid of
any personal satire or application. It is certain, however, that
the simple denominations of the Romans were gradually lengthened
to the number of four, five, or even seven, pompous surnames; as,
for instance, Marcus Maecius Maemmius Furius Balburius
Caecilianus Placidus. See Noris Cenotaph Piran Dissert. iv. p.
438.]
[37: The or coaches of the romans, were often of solid
silver, curiously carved and engraved; and the trappings of the
mules, or horses, were embossed with gold. This magnificence
continued from the reign of Nero to that of Honorius; and the
Appian way was covered with the splendid equipages of the nobles,
who came out to meet St. Melania, when she returned to Rome, six
years before the Gothic siege, (Seneca, epist. lxxxvii. Plin.
Hist. Natur. xxxiii. 49. Paulin. Nolan. apud Baron. Annal.
Eccles. A.D. 397, No. 5.) Yet pomp is well exchange for
convenience; and a plain modern coach, that is hung upon springs,
is much preferable to the silver or gold carts of antiquity,
which rolled on the axle-tree, and were exposed, for the most
part, to the inclemency of the weather.]
[38: In a homily of Asterius, bishop of Amasia, M. de
Valois has discovered (ad Ammian. xiv. 6) that this was a new
fashion; that bears, wolves lions, and tigers, woods,
hunting-matches, &c., were represented in embroidery: and that
the more pious coxcombs substituted the figure or legend of some
favorite saint.]
[39: See Pliny's Epistles, i. 6. Three large wild boars
were allured and taken in the toils without interrupting the
studies of the philosophic sportsman.]
[40: The change from the inauspicious word Avernus,
which stands in the text, is immaterial. The two lakes, Avernus
and Lucrinus, communicated with each other, and were fashioned by
the stupendous moles of Agrippa into the Julian port, which
opened, through a narrow entrance, into the Gulf of Puteoli.
Virgil, who resided on the spot, has described (Georgic ii. 161)
this work at the moment of its execution: and his commentators,
especially Catrou, have derived much light from Strabo,
Suetonius, and Dion. Earthquakes and volcanoes have changed the
face of the country, and turned the Lucrine Lake, since the year
1538, into the Monte Nuovo. See Camillo Pellegrino Discorsi
della Campania Felice, p. 239, 244, &c. Antonii Sanfelicii
Campania, p. 13, 88
Note: Compare Lyell's Geology, ii. 72. - M.]
[41: The regna Cumana et Puteolana; loca caetiroqui
valde expe tenda, interpellantium autem multitudine paene
fugienda. Cicero ad Attic. xvi. 17.]
[42: The proverbial expression of Cimmerian darkness was
originally borrowed from the description of Homer, (in the
eleventh book of the Odyssey,) which he applies to a remote and
fabulous country on the shores of the ocean. See Erasmi Adagia,
in his works, tom. ii. p. 593, the Leyden edition.]
[43: We may learn from Seneca (epist. cxxiii.) three
curious circumstances relative to the journeys of the Romans. 1.
They were preceded by a troop of Numidian light horse, who
announced, by a cloud of dust, the approach of a great man. 2.
Their baggage mules transported not only the precious vases, but
even the fragile vessels of crystal and murra, which last is
almost proved, by the learned French translator of Seneca, (tom.
iii. p. 402 - 422,) to mean the porcelain of China and Japan. 3.
The beautiful faces of the young slaves were covered with a
medicated crust, or ointment, which secured them against the
effects of the sun and frost.]
[44: Distributio solemnium sportularum. The sportuloe,
or sportelloe, were small baskets, supposed to contain a quantity
of hot provisions of the value of 100 quadrantes, or twelvepence
halfpenny, which were ranged in order in the hall, and
ostentatiously distributed to the hungry or servile crowd who
waited at the door. This indelicate custom is very frequently
mentioned in the epigrams of Martial, and the satires of Juvenal.
See likewise Suetonius, in Claud. c. 21, in Neron. c. 16, in
Domitian, c. 4, 7. These baskets of provisions were afterwards
converted into large pieces of gold and silver coin, or plate,
which were mutually given and accepted even by persons of the
highest rank, (see Symmach. epist. iv. 55, ix. 124, and Miscell.
p. 256,) on solemn occasions, of consulships, marriages, &c.]
[45: The want of an English name obliges me to refer to
the common genus of squirrels, the Latin glis, the French loir; a
little animal, who inhabits the woods, and remains torpid in cold
weather, (see Plin. Hist. Natur. viii. 82. Buffon, Hist.
Naturelle, tom. viii. 153. Pennant's Synopsis of Quadrupeds, p.
289.) The art of rearing and fattening great numbers of glires
was practised in Roman villas as a profitable article of rural
economy, (Varro, de Re Rustica, iii. 15.) The excessive demand of
them for luxurious tables was increased by the foolish
prohibitions of the censors; and it is reported that they are
still esteemed in modern Rome, and are frequently sent as
presents by the Colonna princes, (see Brotier, the last editor of
Pliny tom. ii. p. 453. epud Barbou, 1779.)
Note: Is it not the dormouse? - M.]
[46: This game, which might be translated by the more
familiar names of trictrac, or backgammon, was a favorite
amusement of the gravest Romans; and old Mucius Scaevola, the
lawyer, had the reputation of a very skilful player. It was
called ludus duodecim scriptorum, from the twelve scripta, or
lines, which equally divided the alvevolus or table. On these,
the two armies, the white and the black, each consisting of
fifteen men, or catculi, were regularly placed, and alternately
moved according to the laws of the game, and the chances of the
tesseroe, or dice. Dr. Hyde, who diligently traces the history
and varieties of the nerdiludium (a name of Persic etymology)
from Ireland to Japan, pours forth, on this trifling subject, a
copious torrent of classic and Oriental learning. See Syntagma
Dissertat. tom. ii. p. 217 - 405.]
[47: Marius Maximus, homo omnium verbosissimus, qui, et
mythistoricis se voluminibus implicavit. Vopiscus in Hist.
August. p. 242. He wrote the lives of the emperors, from Trajan
to Alexander Severus. See Gerard Vossius de Historicis Latin. l.
ii. c. 3, in his works, vol. iv. p. 47.]
[48: This satire is probably exaggerated. The
Saturnalia of Macrobius, and the epistles of Jerom, afford
satisfactory proofs, that Christian theology and classic
literature were studiously cultivated by several Romans, of both
sexes, and of the highest rank.]
[49: Macrobius, the friend of these Roman nobles,
considered the siara as the cause, or at least the signs, of
future events, (de Somn. Scipion l. i. c 19. p. 68.)]
[50: The histories of Livy (see particularly vi. 36) are
full of the extortions of the rich, and the sufferings of the
poor debtors. The melancholy story of a brave old soldier
(Dionys. Hal. l. vi. c. 26, p. 347, edit. Hudson, and Livy, ii.
23) must have been frequently repeated in those primitive times,
which have been so undeservedly praised.]
[51: Non esse in civitate duo millia hominum qui rem
habereni. Cicero. Offic. ii. 21, and Comment. Paul. Manut. in
edit. Graev. This vague computation was made A. U. C. 649, in a
speech of the tribune Philippus, and it was his object, as well
as that of the Gracchi, (see Plutarch,) to deplore, and perhaps
to exaggerate, the misery of the common people.]
[52: See the third Satire (60 - 125) of Juvenal, who
indignantly complains,
Quamvis quota portio faecis Achaei!
Jampridem Syrus in Tiberem defluxit Orontes;
Et linguam et mores, &c.
Seneca, when he proposes to comfort his mother (Consolat. ad
Helv. c. 6) by the reflection, that a great part of mankind were
in a state of exile, reminds her how few of the inhabitants of
Rome were born in the city.]
[53: Almost all that is said of the bread, bacon, oil,
wine, &c., may be found in the fourteenth book of the Theodosian
Code; which expressly treats of the police of the great cities.
See particularly the titles iii. iv. xv. xvi. xvii. xxiv. The
collateral testimonies are produced in Godefroy's Commentary, and
it is needless to transcribe them. According to a law of
Theodosius, which appreciates in money the military allowance, a
piece of gold (eleven shillings) was equivalent to eighty pounds
of bacon, or to eighty pounds of oil, or to twelve modii (or
pecks) of salt, (Cod. Theod. l. viii. tit. iv. leg. 17.) This
equation, compared with another of seventy pounds of bacon for an
amphora, (Cod. Theod. l. xiv. tit. iv. leg. 4,) fixes the price
of wine at about sixteenpence the gallon.]
[54: The anonymous author of the Description of the
World (p. 14. in tom. iii. Geograph. Minor. Hudson) observes of
Lucania, in his barbarous Latin, Regio optima, et ipsa omnibus
habundans, et lardum multum foras. Proptor quod est in montibus,
cujus aescam animalium rariam, &c.]
[55: See Novell. ad calcem Cod. Theod. D. Valent. l. i.
tit. xv. This law was published at Rome, June 29th, A.D. 452.]
[56: Sueton. in August. c. 42. The utmost debauch of
the emperor himself, in his favorite wine of Rhaetia, never
exceeded a sextarius, (an English pint.) Id. c. 77. Torrentius
ad loc. and Arbuthnot's Tables, p. 86.]
[57: His design was to plant vineyards along the
sea-coast of Hetruria, (Vopiscus, in Hist. August. p. 225;) the
dreary, unwholesome, uncultivated Maremme of modern Tuscany]
[58: Olympiodor. apud Phot. p. 197.]
[59: Seneca (epistol. lxxxvi.) compares the baths of
Scipio Africanus, at his villa of Liternum, with the magnificence
(which was continually increasing) of the public baths of Rome,
long before the stately Thermae of Antoninus and Diocletian were
erected. The quadrans paid for admission was the quarter of the
as, about one eighth of an English penny.]
[60: Ammianus, (l. xiv. c. 6, and l. xxviii. c. 4,)
after describing the luxury and pride of the nobles of Rome,
exposes, with equal indignation, the vices and follies of the
common people.]
[61: Juvenal. Satir. xi. 191, &c. The expressions of
the historian Ammianus are not less strong and animated than
those of the satirist and both the one and the other painted from
the life. The numbers which the great Circus was capable of
receiving are taken from the original Notitioe of the city. The
differences between them prove that they did not transcribe each
other; but the same may appear incredible, though the country on
these occasions flocked to the city.]
[62: Sometimes indeed they composed original pieces.
- Vestigia Graeca
Ausi deserere et celeb rare domestica facta.
Horat. Epistol. ad Pisones, 285, and the learned, though
perplexed note of Dacier, who might have allowed the name of
tragedies to the Brutus and the Decius of Pacuvius, or to the
Cato of Maternus. The Octavia, ascribed to one of the Senecas,
still remains a very unfavorable specimen of Roman tragedy.]
[63: In the time of Quintilian and Pliny, a tragic poet
was reduced to the imperfect method of hiring a great room, and
reading his play to the company, whom he invited for that
purpose. (See Dialog. de Oratoribus, c. 9, 11, and Plin.
Epistol. vii. 17.)]
[64: See the dialogue of Lucian, entitled the
Saltatione, tom. ii. p. 265 - 317, edit. Reitz. The pantomimes
obtained the honorable name; and it was required, that they
should be conversant with almost every art and science. Burette
(in the Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. i. p. 127,
&c.) has given a short history of the art of pantomimes.]
[65: Ammianus, l. xiv. c. 6. He complains, with decent
indignation that the streets of Rome were filled with crowds of
females, who might have given children to the state, but whose
only occupation was to curl and dress their hair, and jactari
volubilibus gyris, dum experimunt innumera simulacra, quae
finxere fabulae theatrales.]
[66: Lipsius (tom. iii. p. 423, de Magnitud. Romana, l.
iii. c. 3) and Isaac Vossius (Observant. Var. p. 26 - 34) have
indulged strange dreams, of four, or eight, or fourteen, millions
in Rome. Mr. Hume, (Essays, vol. i. p. 450 - 457,) with
admirable good sense and scepticism betrays some secret
disposition to extenuate the populousness of ancient times.]
[67: Olympiodor. ap. Phot. p. 197. See Fabricius, Bibl.
Graec. tom. ix. p. 400.]
[68: In ea autem majestate urbis, et civium infinita
frequentia, innumerabiles habitationes opus fuit explicare. Ergo
cum recipero non posset area plana tantam multitudinem in urbe,
ad auxilium altitudinis aedificiorum res ipsa coegit devenire.
Vitruv. ii. 8. This passage, which I owe to Vossius, is clear,
strong, and comprehensive.]
[69: The successive testimonies of Pliny, Aristides,
Claudian, Rutilius, &c., prove the insufficiency of these
restrictive edicts. See Lipsius, de Magnitud. Romana, l. iii. c. 4.
- Tabulata tibi jam tertia fumant;
Tu nescis; nam si gradibus trepidatur ab imis
Ultimus ardebit, quem tegula sola tuetur
A pluvia. Juvenal. Satir. iii. 199]
[70: Read the whole third satire, but particularly 166,
223, &c. The description of a crowded insula, or lodging-house,
in Petronius, (c. 95, 97,) perfectly tallies with the complaints
of Juvenal; and we learn from legal authority, that, in the time
of Augustus, (Heineccius, Hist. Juris. Roman. c. iv. p. 181,) the
ordinary rent of the several coenacula, or apartments of an
insula, annually produced forty thousand sesterces, between three
and four hundred pounds sterling, (Pandect. l. xix. tit. ii. No.
30,) a sum which proves at once the large extent, and high value,
of those common buildings.]
[71: This sum total is composed of 1780 domus, or great
houses of 46,602 insuloe, or plebeian habitations, (see Nardini,
Roma Antica, l. iii. p. 88;) and these numbers are ascertained by
the agreement of the texts of the different Notitioe. Nardini,
l. viii. p. 498, 500.]
[72: See that accurate writer M. de Messance, Recherches
sur la Population, p. 175 - 187. From probable, or certain
grounds, he assigns to Paris 23,565 houses, 71,114 families, and
576,630 inhabitants.]
[73: This computation is not very different from that
which M. Brotier, the last editor of Tacitus, (tom. ii. p. 380,)
has assumed from similar principles; though he seems to aim at a
degree of precision which it is neither possible nor important to
obtain.]
[B: M. Dureau de la Malle (Economic Politique des
Romaines, t. i. p. 369) quotes a passage from the xvth chapter of
Gibbon, in which he estimates the population of Rome at not less
than a million, and adds (omitting any reference to this
passage,) that he (Gibbon) could not have seriously studied the
question. M. Dureau de la Malle proceeds to argue that Rome, as
contained within the walls of Servius Tullius, occupying an area
only one fifth of that of Paris, could not have contained 300,000
inhabitants; within those of Aurelian not more than 560,000,
inclusive of soldiers and strangers. The suburbs, he endeavors
to show, both up to the time of Aurelian, and after his reign,
were neither so extensive, nor so populous, as generally
supposed. M. Dureau de la Malle has but imperfectly quoted the
important passage of Dionysius, that which proves that when he
wrote (in the time of Augustus) the walls of Servius no longer
marked the boundary of the city. In many places they were so
built upon, that it was impossible to trace them. There was no
certain limit, where the city ended and ceased to be the city; it
stretched out to so boundless an extent into the country. Ant.
Rom. iv. 13. None of M. de la Malle's arguments appear to me to
prove, against this statement, that these irregular suburbs did
not extend so far in many parts, as to make it impossible to
calculate accurately the inhabited area of the city. Though no
doubt the city, as reconstructed by Nero, was much less closely
built and with many more open spaces for palaces, temples, and
other public edifices, yet many passages seem to prove that the
laws respecting the height of houses were not rigidly enforced.
A great part of the lower especially of the slave population,
were very densely crowded, and lived, even more than in our
modern towns, in cellars and subterranean dwellings under the
public edifices.
Nor do M. de la Malle's arguments, by which he would explain
the insulae insulae (of which the Notitiae Urbis give us the
number) as rows of shops, with a chamber or two within the domus,
or houses of the wealthy, satisfy me as to their soundness of
their scholarship. Some passages which he adduces directly
contradict his theory; none, as appears to me, distinctly prove
it. I must adhere to the old interpretation of the word, as
chiefly dwellings for the middling or lower classes, or clusters
of tenements, often perhaps, under the same roof.
On this point, Zumpt, in the Dissertation before quoted,
entirely disagrees with M. de la Malle. Zumpt has likewise
detected the mistake of M. de la Malle as to the "canon" of corn,
mentioned in the life of Septimius Severus by Spartianus. On
this canon the French writer calculates the inhabitants of Rome
at that time. But the "canon" was not the whole supply of Rome,
but that quantity which the state required for the public
granaries to supply the gratuitous distributions to the people,
and the public officers and slaves; no doubt likewise to keep
down the general price. M. Zumpt reckons the population of Rome
at 2,000,000. After careful consideration, I should conceive the
number in the text, 1,200,000, to be nearest the truth - M.
1845.]
[74: For the events of the first siege of Rome, which
are often confounded with those of the second and third, see
Zosimus, l. v. p. 350 - 354, Sozomen, l. ix. c. 6, Olympiodorus,
ap. Phot. p. 180, Philostorgius, l. xii. c. 3, and Godefroy,
Dissertat. p. 467 - 475.]
[75: The mother of Laeta was named Pissumena. Her
father, family, and country, are unknown. Ducange, Fam.
Byzantium, p. 59.]
[76: Ad nefandos cibos erupit esurientium rabies, et sua
invicem membra laniarunt, dum mater non parcit lactenti
infantiae; et recipit utero, quem paullo ante effuderat. Jerom.
ad Principiam, tom. i. p. 121. The same horrid circumstance is
likewise told of the sieges of Jerusalem and Paris. For the
latter, compare the tenth book of the Henriade, and the Journal
de Henri IV. tom. i. p. 47 - 83; and observe that a plain
narrative of facts is much more pathetic, than the most labored
descriptions of epic poetry]
[77: Zosimus (l. v. p. 355, 356) speaks of these
ceremonies like a Greek unacquainted with the national
superstition of Rome and Tuscany. I suspect, that they consisted
of two parts, the secret and the public; the former were probably
an imitation of the arts and spells, by which Numa had drawn down
Jupiter and his thunder on Mount Aventine.
- Quid agant laqueis, quae carmine dicant,
Quaque trahant superis sedibus arte Jovem,
Scire nefas homini.
The ancilia, or shields of Mars, the pignora Imperii, which were
carried in solemn procession on the calends of March, derived
their origin from this mysterious event, (Ovid. Fast. iii. 259 -
398.) It was probably designed to revive this ancient festival,
which had been suppressed by Theodosius. In that case, we
recover a chronological date (March the 1st, A.D. 409) which has
not hitherto been observed.
Note: On this curious question of the knowledge of
conducting lightning, processed by the ancients, consult Eusebe
Salverte, des Sciences Occultes, l. xxiv. Paris, 1829. - M.]
[78: Sozomen (l. ix. c. 6) insinuates that the
experiment was actually, though unsuccessfully, made; but he does
not mention the name of Innocent: and Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles.
tom. x. p. 645) is determined not to believe, that a pope could
be guilty of such impious condescension.]
[79: Pepper was a favorite ingredient of the most
expensive Roman cookery, and the best sort commonly sold for
fifteen denarii, or ten shillings, the pound. See Pliny, Hist.
Natur. xii. 14. It was brought from India; and the same country,
the coast of Malabar, still affords the greatest plenty: but the
improvement of trade and navigation has multiplied the quantity
and reduced the price. See Histoire Politique et Philosophique,
&c., tom. i. p. 457.]
[80: This Gothic chieftain is called by Jornandes and
Isidore, Athaulphus; by Zosimus and Orosius, Ataulphus; and by
Olympiodorus, Adaoulphus. I have used the celebrated name of
Adolphus, which seems to be authorized by the practice of the
Swedes, the sons or brothers of the ancient Goths.]
[81: The treaty between Alaric and the Romans, &c., is
taken from Zosimus, l. v. p. 354, 355, 358, 359, 362, 363. The
additional circumstances are too few and trifling to require any
other quotation.]
[82: Zosimus, l. v. p. 367 368, 369.]
[83: Zosimus, l. v. p. 360, 361, 362. The bishop, by
remaining at Ravenna, escaped the impending calamities of the
city. Orosius, l. vii. c. 39, p. 573.]
[84: For the adventures of Olympius, and his
successors in the ministry, see Zosimus, l. v. p. 363, 365, 366,
and Olympiodor. ap. Phot. p. 180, 181. ]
[85: Zosimus (l. v. p. 364) relates this circumstance
with visible complacency, and celebrates the character of
Gennerid as the last glory of expiring Paganism. Very different
were the sentiments of the council of Carthage, who deputed four
bishops to the court of Ravenna to complain of the law, which had
been just enacted, that all conversions to Christianity should be
free and voluntary. See Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 409, No.
12, A.D. 410, No. 47, 48.]
[86: Zosimus, l. v. p. 367, 368, 369. This custom of
swearing by the head, or life, or safety, or genius, of the
sovereign, was of the highest antiquity, both in Egypt (Genesis,
xlii. 15) and Scythia. It was soon transferred, by flattery, to
the Caesars; and Tertullian complains, that it was the only oath
which the Romans of his time affected to reverence. See an
elegant Dissertation of the Abbe Mossieu on the Oaths of the
Ancients, in the Mem de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. i. p.
208, 209.]
[87: Zosimus, l. v. p. 368, 369. I have softened the
expressions of Alaric, who expatiates, in too florid a manner, on
the history of Rome]
[88: See Sueton. in Claud. c. 20. Dion Cassius, l. lx.
p. 949, edit Reimar, and the lively description of Juvenal,
Satir. xii. 75, &c. In the sixteenth century, when the remains of
this Augustan port were still visible, the antiquarians sketched
the plan, (see D'Anville, Mem. de l'Academie des Inscriptions,
tom. xxx. p. 198,) and declared, with enthusiasm, that all the
monarchs of Europe would be unable to execute so great a work,
(Bergier, Hist. des grands Chemins des Romains, tom. ii. p.
356.)]
[89: The Ostia Tyberina, (see Cluver. Italia Antiq. l.
iii. p. 870 - 879,) in the plural number, the two mouths of the
Tyber, were separated by the Holy Island, an equilateral
triangle, whose sides were each of them computed at about two
miles. The colony of Ostia was founded immediately beyond the
left, or southern, and the Port immediately beyond the right, or
northern, branch of hte river; and the distance between their
remains measures something more than two miles on Cingolani's
map. In the time of Strabo, the sand and mud deposited by the
Tyber had choked the harbor of Ostia; the progress of the same
cause has added much to the size of the Holy Islands, and
gradually left both Ostia and the Port at a considerable distance
from the shore. The dry channels (fiumi morti) and the large
estuaries (stagno di Ponente, di Levante) mark the changes of the
river, and the efforts of the sea. Consult, for the present
state of this dreary and desolate tract, the excellent map of the
ecclesiastical state by the mathematicians of Benedict XIV.; an
actual survey of the Agro Romano, in six sheets, by Cingolani,
which contains 113,819 rubbia, (about 570,000 acres;) and the
large topographical map of Ameti, in eight sheets.]
[90: As early as the third, (Lardner's Credibility of
the Gospel, part ii. vol. iii. p. 89 - 92,) or at least the
fourth, century, (Carol. a Sancta Paulo, Notit. Eccles. p. 47,)
the Port of Rome was an episcopal city, which was demolished, as
it should seem in the ninth century, by Pope Gregory IV., during
the incursions of the Arabs. It is now reduced to an inn, a
church, and the house, or palace, of the bishop; who ranks as one
of six cardinal-bishops of the Roman church. See Eschinard,
Deserizione di Roman et dell' Agro Romano, p. 328.
Note: Compare Sir W. Gell. Rome and its Vicinity vol. ii p.
134. - M.]
[91: For the elevation of Attalus, consult Zosimus, l.
vi. p. 377 - 380, Sozomen, l. ix. c. 8, 9, Olympiodor. ap. Phot.
p. 180, 181, Philostorg. l. xii. c. 3, and Godefroy's Dissertat.
p. 470.]
[92: We may admit the evidence of Sozomen for the Arian
baptism, and that of Philostorgius for the Pagan education, of
Attalus. The visible joy of Zosimus, and the discontent which he
imputes to the Anician family, are very unfavorable to the
Christianity of the new emperor.]
[93: He carried his insolence so far, as to declare that
he should mutilate Honorius before he sent him into exile. But
this assertion of Zosimus is destroyed by the more impartial
testimony of Olympiodorus; who attributes the ungenerous proposal
(which was absolutely rejected by Attalus) to the baseness, and
perhaps the treachery, of Jovius.]
[94: Procop. de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 2.]
[95: See the cause and circumstances of the fall of
Attalus in Zosimus, l. vi. p. 380 - 383. Sozomen, l. ix. c. 8.
Philostorg. l. xii. c. 3. The two acts of indemnity in the
Theodosian Code, l. ix. tit. xxxviii. leg. 11, 12, which were
published the 12th of February, and the 8th of August, A.D. 410,
evidently relate to this usurper.]
[96: In hoc, Alaricus, imperatore, facto, infecto,
refecto, ac defecto ... Mimum risit, et ludum spectavit imperii.
Orosius, l. vii. c. 42, p. 582.]
[97: Zosimus, l. vi. p. 384. Sozomen, l. ix. c. 9.
Philostorgius, l. xii. c. 3. In this place the text of Zosimus
is mutilated, and we have lost the remainder of his sixth and
last book, which ended with the sack of Rome. Credulous and
partial as he is, we must take our leave of that historian with
some regret.]
[98: Adest Alaricus, trepidam Romam obsidet, turbat,
irrumpit. Orosius, l. vii. c. 39, p. 573. He despatches this
great event in seven words; but he employs whole pages in
celebrating the devotion of the Goths. I have extracted from an
improbable story of Procopius, the circumstances which had an air
of probability. Procop. de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 2. He
supposes that the city was surprised while the senators slept in
the afternoon; but Jerom, with more authority and more reason,
affirms, that it was in the night, nocte Moab capta est. nocte
cecidit murus ejus, tom. i. p. 121, ad Principiam.]
[99: Orosius (l. vii. c. 39, p. 573 - 576) applauds the
piety of the Christian Goths, without seeming to perceive that
the greatest part of them were Arian heretics. Jornandes (c. 30,
p. 653) and Isidore of Seville, (Chron. p. 417, edit. Grot.,) who
were both attached to the Gothic cause, have repeated and
embellished these edifying tales. According to Isidore, Alaric
himself was heard to say, that he waged war with the Romans, and
not with the apostles. Such was the style of the seventh
century; two hundred years before, the fame and merit had been
ascribed, not to the apostles, but to Christ.]
[100: See Augustin, de Civitat. Dei, l. i. c. 1 - 6. He
particularly appeals to the examples of Troy, Syracuse, and
Tarentum.]
[101: Jerom (tom. i. p. 121, ad Principiam) has applied
to the sack of Rome all the strong expressions of Virgil: -
Quis cladem illius noctis, quis funera fando,
Explicet, &c.
Procopius (l. i. c. 2) positively affirms that great numbers were
slain by the Goths. Augustin (de Civ. Dei, l. i. c. 12, 13)
offers Christian comfort for the death of those whose bodies
(multa corpora) had remained (in tanta strage) unburied.
Baronius, from the different writings of the Fathers, has thrown
some light on the sack of Rome. Annal. Eccles. A.D. 410, No. 16
- 34.]
[102: Sozomen. l. ix. c. 10. Augustin (de Civitat. Dei,
l. i. c. 17) intimates, that some virgins or matrons actually
killed themselves to escape violation; and though he admires
their spirit, he is obliged, by his theology, to condemn their
rash presumption. Perhaps the good bishop of Hippo was too easy
in the belief, as well as too rigid in the censure, of this act
of female heroism. The twenty maidens (if they ever existed) who
threw themselves into the Elbe, when Magdeburgh was taken by
storm, have been multiplied to the number of twelve hundred. See
Harte's History of Gustavus Adolphus, vol. i. p. 308.]
[103: See Augustin de Civitat. Dei, l. i. c. 16, 18. He
treats the subject with remarkable accuracy: and after admitting
that there cannot be any crime where there is no consent, he
adds, Sed quia non solum quod ad dolorem, verum etiam quod ad
libidinem, pertinet, in corpore alieno pepetrari potest; quicquid
tale factum fuerit, etsi retentam constantissimo animo pudicitiam
non excutit, pudorem tamen incutit, ne credatur factum cum mentis
etiam voluntate, quod fieri fortasse sine carnis aliqua voluptate
non potuit. In c. 18 he makes some curious distinctions between
moral and physical virginity.]
[104: Marcella, a Roman lady, equally respectable for
her rank, her age, and her piety, was thrown on the ground, and
cruelly beaten and whipped, caesam fustibus flagellisque, &c.
Jerom, tom. i. p. 121, ad Principiam. See Augustin, de Civ. Dei,
l. c. 10. The modern Sacco di Roma, p. 208, gives an idea of the
various methods of torturing prisoners for gold.]
[105: The historian Sallust, who usefully practiced the
vices which he has so eloquently censured, employed the plunder
of Numidia to adorn his palace and gardens on the Quirinal hill.
The spot where the house stood is now marked by the church of St.
Susanna, separated only by a street from the baths of Diocletian,
and not far distant from the Salarian gate. See Nardini, Roma
Antica, p. 192, 193, and the great I'lan of Modern Rome, by
Nolli.]
[106: The expressions of Procopius are distinct and
moderate, (de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 2.) The Chronicle of
Marcellinus speaks too strongly partem urbis Romae cremavit; and
the words of Philostorgius (l. xii. c. 3) convey a false and
exaggerated idea. Bargaeus has composed a particular
dissertation (see tom. iv. Antiquit. Rom. Graev.) to prove that
the edifices of Rome were not subverted by the Goths and
Vandals.]
[107: Orosius, l. ii. c. 19, p. 143. He speaks as if he
disapproved all statues; vel Deum vel hominem mentiuntur. They
consisted of the kings of Alba and Rome from Aeneas, the Romans,
illustrious either in arms or arts, and the deified Caesars. The
expression which he uses of Forum is somewhat ambiguous, since
there existed five principal Fora; but as they were all
contiguous and adjacent, in the plain which is surrounded by the
Capitoline, the Quirinal, the Esquiline, and the Palatine hills,
they might fairly be considered as one. See the Roma Antiqua of
Donatus, p. 162 - 201, and the Roma Antica of Nardini, p. 212 -
273. The former is more useful for the ancient descriptions, the
latter for the actual topography.]
[108: Orosius (l. ii. c. 19, p. 142) compares the
cruelty of the Gauls and the clemency of the Goths. Ibi vix
quemquam inventum senatorem, qui vel absens evaserit; hic vix
quemquam requiri, qui forte ut latens perierit. But there is an
air of rhetoric, and perhaps of falsehood, in this antithesis;
and Socrates (l. vii. c. 10) affirms, perhaps by an opposite
exaggeration, that many senators were put to death with various
and exquisite tortures.]
[109: Multi ... Christiani incaptivitatem ducti sunt.
Augustin, de Civ Dei, l. i. c. 14; and the Christians experienced
no peculiar hardships.]
[110: See Heineccius, Antiquitat. Juris Roman. tom. i.
p. 96.]
[111: Appendix Cod. Theodos. xvi. in Sirmond. Opera,
tom. i. p. 735. This edict was published on the 11th of December,
A.D. 408, and is more reasonable than properly belonged to the
ministers of Honorius.]
[112:
Eminus Igilii sylvosa cacumina miror;
Quem fraudare nefas laudis honore suae.
Haec proprios nuper tutata est insula saltus;
Sive loci ingenio, seu Domini genio.
Gurgite cum modico victricibus obstitit
armis, Tanquam longinquo dissociata mari.
Haec multos lacera suscepit ab urbe fugates,
Hic fessis posito certa timore salus.
Plurima terreno populaverat aequora bello,
Contra naturam classe timendus eques:
Unum, mira fides, vario discrimine portum!
Tam prope Romanis, tam procul esse Getis.
Rutilius, in Itinerar. l. i. 325
The island is now called Giglio. See Cluver. Ital. Antiq. l. ii. ]
[113: As the adventures of Proba and her family are
connected with the life of St. Augustin, they are diligently
illustrated by Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xiii. p. 620 - 635.
Some time after their arrival in Africa, Demetrias took the veil,
and made a vow of virginity; an event which was considered as of
the highest importance to Rome and to the world. All the Saints
wrote congratulatory letters to her; that of Jerom is still
extant, (tom. i. p. 62 - 73, ad Demetriad. de servand
Virginitat.,) and contains a mixture of absurd reasoning,
spirited declamation, and curious facts, some of which relate to
the siege and sack of Rome.]
[114: See the pathetic complaint of Jerom, (tom. v. p.
400,) in his preface to the second book of his Commentaries on
the Prophet Ezekiel.]
[115: Orosius, though with some theological partiality,
states this comparison, l. ii. c. 19, p. 142, l. vii. c. 39, p.
575. But, in the history of the taking of Rome by the Gauls,
every thing is uncertain, and perhaps fabulous. See Beaufort sur
l'Incertitude, &c., de l'Histoire Romaine, p. 356; and Melot, in
the Mem. de l'Academie des Inscript. tom. xv. p. 1 - 21.]
[116: The reader who wishes to inform himself of the
circumstances of his famous event, may peruse an admirable
narrative in Dr. Robertson's History of Charles V. vol. ii. p.
283; or consult the Annali d'Italia of the learned Muratori, tom.
xiv. p. 230 - 244, octavo edition. If he is desirous of
examining the originals, he may have recourse to the eighteenth
book of the great, but unfinished, history of Guicciardini. But
the account which most truly deserves the name of authentic and
original, is a little book, entitled, Il Sacco di Roma, composed,
within less than a month after the assault of the city, by the
brother of the historian Guicciardini, who appears to have been
an able magistrate and a dispassionate writer.]
[117: The furious spirit of Luther, the effect of temper
and enthusiasm, has been forcibly attacked, (Bossuet, Hist. des
Variations des Eglises Protestantes, livre i. p. 20 - 36,) and
feebly defended, (Seckendorf. Comment. de Lutheranismo,
especially l. i. No. 78, p. 120, and l. iii. No. 122, p. 556.)]
[118: Marcellinus, in Chron. Orosius, (l. vii. c. 39, p.
575,) asserts, that he left Rome on the third day; but this
difference is easily reconciled by the successive motions of
great bodies of troops.]
[119: Socrates (l. vii. c. 10) pretends, without any
color of truth, or reason, that Alaric fled on the report that
the armies of the Eastern empire were in full march to attack
him.]
[120: Ausonius de Claris Urbibus, p. 233, edit. Toll.
The luxury of Capua had formerly surpassed that of Sybaris
itself. See Athenaeus Deipnosophist. l. xii. p. 528, edit.
Casaubon.]
[121: Forty-eight years before the foundation of Rome,
(about 800 before the Christian aera,) the Tuscans built Capua
and Nola, at the distance of twenty-three miles from each other;
but the latter of the two cities never emerged from a state of
mediocrity.]
[122: Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 1 - 46) has
compiled, with his usual diligence, all that relates to the life
and writings of Paulinus, whose retreat is celebrated by his own
pen, and by the praises of St. Ambrose, St. Jerom, St. Augustin,
Sulpicius Severus, &c., his Christian friends and
contemporaries.]
[123: See the affectionate letters of Ausonius (epist.
xix. - xxv. p. 650-698, edit. Toll.) to his colleague, his
friend, and his disciple, Paulinus. The religion of Ausonius is
still a problem, (see Mem. de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom.
xv. p. 123 - 138.) I believe that it was such in his own time,
and, consequently, that in his heart he was a Pagan.]