Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 4 | Page 5

unanimously proclaimed by the servile
senate. But the reign of the usurper was short and turbulent. Basiliscus
presumed to assassinate the lover of his sister; he dared to offend the
lover of his wife, the vain and insolent Harmatius, who, in the midst of
Asiatic luxury, affected the dress, the demeanor, and the surname of
Achilles. ^8 By the conspiracy of the malecontents, Zeno was recalled
from exile; the armies, the capital, the person, of Basiliscus, were
betrayed; and his whole family was condemned to the long agony of
cold and hunger by the inhuman conqueror, who wanted courage to
encounter or to forgive his enemies. ^* The haughty spirit of Verina
was still incapable of submission or repose. She provoked the enmity of
a favorite general, embraced his cause as soon as he was disgraced,
created a new emperor in Syria and Egypt, ^* raised an army of seventy
thousand men, and persisted to the last moment of her life in a fruitless
rebellion, which, according to the fashion of the age, had been

predicted by Christian hermits and Pagan magicians. While the East
was afflicted by the passions of Verina, her daughter Ariadne was
distinguished by the female virtues of mildness and fidelity; she
followed her husband in his exile, and after his restoration, she
implored his clemency in favor of her mother. On the decease of Zeno,
Ariadne, the daughter, the mother, and the widow of an emperor, gave
her hand and the Imperial title to Anastasius, an aged domestic of the
palace, who survived his elevation above twenty-seven years, and
whose character is attested by the acclamation of the people, "Reign as
you have lived!" ^9 ^! [Footnote 6: Theophanes (p. 111) inserts a copy
of her sacred letters to the provinces. Such female pretensions would
have astonished the slaves of the first Caesars.]
[Footnote 7: Vol. iii. p. 504 - 508.]
[Footnote 8: Suidas, tom. i. p. 332, 333, edit. Kuster.]
[Footnote *: Joannes Lydus accuses Zeno of timidity, or, rather, of
cowardice; he purchased an ignominious peace from the enemies of the
empire, whom he dared not meet in battle; and employed his whole
time at home in confiscations and executions. Lydus, de Magist. iii. 45,
p. 230. - M.]
[Footnote *: Named Illus. - M.]
[Footnote 9: The contemporary histories of Malchus and Candidus are
lost; but some extracts or fragments have been saved by Photius,
(lxxviii. lxxix. p. 100 - 102,) Constantine Porphyrogenitus, (Excerpt.
Leg. p. 78 - 97,) and in various articles of the Lexicon of Suidas. The
Chronicles of Marcellinus (Imago Historiae) are originals for the reigns
of Zeno and Anastasius; and I must acknowledge, almost for the last
time, my obligations to the large and accurate collections of Tillemont,
(Hist. des Emp. tom. vi. p. 472 - 652).] [Footnote !: The Panegyric of
Procopius of Gaza, (edited by Villoison in his Anecdota Graeca, and
reprinted in the new edition of the Byzantine historians by Niebuhr, in
the same vol. with Dexippus and Eunapius, viii. p. 488 516,) was
unknown to Gibbon. It is vague and pedantic, and contains few facts.
The same criticism will apply to the poetical panegyric of Priscian

edited from the Ms. of Bobbio by Ang. Mai. Priscian, the gram marian,
Niebuhr argues from this work, must have been born in the African, not
in either of the Asiatic Caesareas. Pref. p. xi. - M.]
Whatever fear of affection could bestow, was profusely lavished by
Zeno on the king of the Ostrogoths; the rank of patrician and consul,
the command of the Palatine troops, an equestrian statue, a treasure in
gold and silver of many thousand pounds, the name of son, and the
promise of a rich and honorable wife. As long as Theodoric
condescended to serve, he supported with courage and fidelity the
cause of his benefactor; his rapid march contributed to the restoration
of Zeno; and in the second revolt, the Walamirs, as they were called,
pursued and pressed the Asiatic rebels, till they left an easy victory to
the Imperial troops. ^10 But the faithful servant was suddenly
converted into a formidable enemy, who spread the flames of war from
Constantinople to the Adriatic; many flourishing cities were reduced to
ashes, and the agriculture of Thrace was almost extirpated by the
wanton cruelty of the Goths, who deprived their captive peasants of the
right hand that guided the plough. ^11 On such occasions, Theodoric
sustained the loud and specious reproach of disloyalty, of ingratitude,
and of insatiate avarice, which could be only excused by the hard
necessity of his situation. He reigned, not as the monarch, but as the
minister of a ferocious people, whose spirit was unbroken by slavery,
and impatient of real or imaginary insults. Their poverty was incurable;
since the most liberal