340
GBEEK Litebatuke—the abts.
posed in the fifth century. It treats of the creation, is full of
poetry, and is written quite in the style of Lucretius, whom
Hilarius evidently intended to imitate. His language and
prosody are not free from errors; but he is nevertheless a great
poet. He was the friend of the great Pope Leo, by whom he
was sent as ambassador to the furious council of Ephesus, in
order to speak words of peace and conciliation. Pope Leo s
writings too must be read by posterity ; for he was a talented
author and altogether a distinguished man.
Greek literature in the fourth century is entirely rhetorical ;
in the fifth it rises, and we meet with poets and historians. The
latter begins with Eunapius, after whom there follows a suc-
cession of historians, as Priscus, Malchus, Candidus, and others.
The philosophy of the new Platonists likewise continued its
career; and in the fifth century, poetry also re-appears. The
formation of the eastern empire was evidently followed by
consequences salutary to literature.
Architecture had fallen into complete decay as early as
the fourth century. Constantine’s buildings are the most bare-
faced robberies. His arch is copied from that of Trajan ; and
all that belongs to his own age is contemptible. The place of
painting was completely supplied by the art of working in
mosaic, which at that time was really beautiful. In the chapel of
Pope Hilarius, there are very fine mosaics; they were peculiar
to the western countries; although there can be no doubt that
the art originated at Alexandria. On the whole, ignorance
and indifference to literature was ever on the increase, even in
the higher classes; the remembrance of earlier times had
become quite extinct.
On the death of Theodosius, Arcadius, one of his two sons,
was eighteen years old, and Honorius, the other, eleven. The
latter was entrusted to the guardianship of Stilicho, and
Rufmus governed the East, which had been assigned to
Arcadius.4 Stilicho was certainly not of Roman origin, though
it is impossible to decide the question as to his birth-place. In
the wars of Thcodosius he must have greatly distinguished him-
self, for he had risen to the rank of magister utriusque militiae,
and Theodosius had given to him, in marriage, his own niece
(his brother’s daughter) Serena, whom he had adopted (the
writers of that time call her Regina). Stilicho was complete
4 Comp. Gcthofredus' Prosopograpliy of the Theodosian Code.
STILICIXO —ALARIC.
341
master of the West; but in the East, Arcadius, supported by
Eutropius, endeavoured to get rid of the guidance of Rufinus ;
and the latter, who was trying to get his daughter married to
Arcadius, was disappointed by a dexterous court intrigue ; but
his eyes were soon opened, and he continued in the exercise of
unlimited power. Stilicho wanted to go to Constantinople, by
availing himself of the pretext of leading back the troops of
the East, which were still stationed in Italy; but Rufinus, being
terrified, caused the emperor to issue a command that he was
not to stir. Stilicho, dutifully, gave up the plan, and sent the
troops to the East. They advanced: Rullnus, who was taken
by surprise in the field of Mars, near Constantinople, was sur-
rounded and murdered. Power was now transferred, mainly,
to the hands of Eutropius the eunuch.
Alaric was advancing with his Visigoths from East to
West: he had revolted against the Roman empire soon after
the death of Theodosius, and carried the war into Greece.
The feeble life which still existed in that country was now
entirely destroyed; and the country became quite prostrate, as
it had been under Decius and Gallienus; but I have no time
to dwell upon the history of the East. Stilicho brought suc-
cours and defeated Alaric, who, however, escaped from his
conqueror, and in the neighbourhood of Rhium crossed the
Crissaean gulf with his booty, and wτent to Epirus. This shows
that he was a great man. Soon afterwards, Alaric formed a
reconciliation with the eastern empire, and was appointed
magister militum in Illyricum, under which title he was, in
reality, imperial prefect. How he obtained that dignity, how
he lost it; and when Illyricum ceased to be in the hands of
the Goths, and was reunited with the eastern empire, are
questions to which history furnishes no answers. In general,
the history of the migration of the nations at that time, if ac-
curately examined, presents questions and phenomena, which
defy all attempts to solve them. The history of that period is
so imperfectly known, that it is impossible to form a decisive
opinion upon the most important circumstances. The Ostro-
goths, and perhaps also the Gepidae, likewise appear in
Illyricum, in the reign of Valens. After the time of Attila,
under the Emperor Marcian, they appear in two kingdoms on
the Danube.5 Where had they been during the intermediate
5 The words “ on the Danube,” do not exist in the MS. notes, and have been
inserted by conjecture.