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LATIN PROSE,

BY

S. H. BUTCHER.

CHARACTER OF THEODOSIUS.

GIBBON. CHAPTER XXVI.

Ir was the wish of Gratian to bestow the purple as the reward of virtue; but, at the age of nineteen, it is not easy for a prince, educated in the supreme rank, to understand the true characters of his ministers and generals. He attempted to weigh, with an impartial hand, their various merits and defects; and whilst he checked the rash confidence of ambition, he distrusted the cautious wisdom which despaired of the republic. As each moment of delay diminished something of the power and resources of the future sovereign of the east, the situation of the times would not allow a tedious debate. The choice of Gratian was soon declared in favour of an exile, whose father, only three years before, had suffered, under the sanction of his authority, an unjust and ignominious death. The great Theodosius, a name celebrated in history, and dear to the Catholic church, was summoned to the imperial court, which had gradually retreated from the confines of Thrace to the more secure station of Sirmium. Five months after the death of Valens, the emperor Gratian produced before the assembled troops, his colleague and their master; who after a modest, perhaps a sincere, resistance, was compelled to accept, amidst the general acclamations, the diadem, the purple, and the equal title of Augustus. The provinces of Thrace, Asia, and Egypt, over which Valens had reigned, were resigned to the administration of the new emperor; but as he was specially intrusted with the conduct of the Gothic war, the Illyrian prefecture was dismembered; and the two great dioceses of Dacia and Macedonia were added to the dominions of the eastern empire.

IDEM LATINE REDDITUM.

ID voluerat Gratianus ut virtute præstantissimum ad imperium vocaret: princeps autem, vix egressus pueritiam, in aulâ natus educatusque, haud facilè eos qui reipublicæ, qui exercitui præsunt, exploratos habuerit. Ille quidem integro usus judicio, quid in unoquoque horum laude quid culpâ essest dignum, perpendebat ; et ambitionis confidentis castigator, idem a prudentiâ cautiorum, qui de republicâ desperarent, abhorrebat. Nec quidem longam deliberationem patiebantur tempora, quippe prolatando rem deminuebatur indies aliquid de futuri principis imperio. Itaque mox virum qui tunc exsulabat destinavit, cujus pater triennio ante indignè et fœdissimè suo ipsius jussu interfectus erat. Theodosium illum, annalium monumentis celebratum virum, universæ ecclesiæ carrissimum, ad se arcessi jussit Sirmium, quo a Thraciis confiniis, quippe ad tutiorem locum, jam se receperat. Vix semestre spatium excesserat Valens quum Gratianus, convocatis nilitibus, collegam suum, illorum vero ducem produxit; qui quum per pudorem (neque fictum fuisse affirmaverim) deprecatus esset, ingenti tandem clamore consensuque militum victus, insignia regia, addito etiam Augusti cognomine, accepit. Thracia inde, Asia, Ægyptus, quibus olim Valens præerat, Theodosio provinciæ traditæ sunt: cui quum bellum utique cum Gothis gerendum esset, ita divisum est Illyricum, ut Orienti Dacia et Macedonia provinciæ accederent.

The same province, and perhaps, the same city, which had given to the throne the virtues of Trajan, and the talents of Hadrian, was the original seat of another family of Spaniards, who in a less fortunate age, possessed, near fourscore years, the declining empire of Rome. They emerged from the obscurity of municipal honours by the active spirit of the elder Theodosius, a general, whose exploits in Britain and Africa have formed one of the most splendid parts of the annals of Valentinian. The son of that general, who likewise bore the name of Theodosius, was educated by skilful preceptors, in the liberal studies of youth; but he was instructed in the art of war by the tender care and severe discipline of his father. Under the standard of such a leader, young Theodosius sought glory and knowledge, in the most distant scenes of military action; inured his constitution to the differences of seasons and climates; distinguished his valour by sea and land; and observed the various warfare of the Scots, the Saxons, and the Moors. His own merit, and the recommendation of the conqueror of Africa, soon raised him to a separate command; and, in the station of the duke of Moesia, he vanquished an army of Sarmatians; saved the province; deserved the love of his soldiers; and provoked the envy of the court. His rising fortunes were soon blasted by the disgrace and execution of his illustrious father; and Theodosius obtained, as a favour, the permission of retiring into private life, in his native province of Spain. He displayed a firm and temperate character in the ease with which he adapted himself to this new situation. His time was almost equally divided between the town and country; the spirit which had animated his public conduct, was shown in the active and affectionate discharge of every social duty; and the diligence of the soldier was profitably converted to the improvement of his ample patrimony,

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