<< nel materiale a quella città minor danno di quello ch'ella

ebbe a soffrire a' tempi di Cesare e di Nerone, una volta << per fuoco casuale, l' altra per capriccio brutale del principe. « I Barbari che v' entrarono con Alarico, intenti a far bottino «<e saziare le lor voglie presenti, non ebbero spazio a far degli edifizi grande rovina in una città che occupava forse cinquanta miglia di circuito, ed in cui ogni casa poteva <«< contarsi come un'intera città (1). Ma non è però meno vero che lo stato d'Italia abbia da quell' invasione patito danno grandissimo ed inestimabile. Si perdette allora gran quantità « d'oro et d'argento, e di cose preziose che o si smarrirono «< in quello scompiglio, o furono da' Goti vincitori o da' Ro<< mani fuggitivi portate fuori d'Italia, e parte ancor seppellite, secondo il costume barbaro, nella tomba di Alarico. E « tuttochè l'oro et l' argento, a parlar giustamente, non sieno << i beni e le sostanze reali d'un paese, erano però in quel « tempo mezzi necessari agl' Italiani per procacciarsi i beni effettivi, che sono i viveri, di cui essi mancavano. E mena tre si tolse alla città capitale il prezzo, per così dire, del bisognevole, le campagne vicine, devastate nello stesso tempo, divennero vieppiù impotenti a somministrarlo. Ma « oltre a questo, perdè l' Italia un infinito numero d' uomini << parte uccisi, parte menati via da' nemici, e parte andati quà e là tapinando in lontane contrade: e fra i servi che, « secondo la condizione e l'uso degli antichi tempi, faceano

« non piccola parte delle facoltà de' particolari e della popo

lazione, convien dire che una moltitudine grandissima se << ne sieno andati al seguito de' Barbari; giacchè troviamo che << ben quaranta mila fuggirono da'lor padroni, e corsero alle « bandiere d' Alarico anche prima della presa di Roma. » Denina, Ibid. pag. 254.

(1) Est urbs una domus, milie urbes continet una urbs. Olympiodor. apud Photium. V. Vopisc. in Aureliano, et Bartolom. Marlianum de ambitu Urbis lib. I. cap. 4 et seq.

Gibbon nous peint ainsi la prise de Rome (455, Juin, 15-29) par les Vvandales: « On the third day after the tumult, << Genseric boldly advanced from the port of Ostia to the gates

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of the defenceless city. Instead of a sally of the Roman

youth, there issued from the gates an unarmed and vene<< rable procession of the bishop at the dead of his clergy. « There fearless spirit of Leo, his authority and eloquence,

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again mitigated the fierceness of a barbarian conqueror : "the king of the Vandals promised to spare the unresisting multitude, to protect the buildings from fire, and to exempt << the captives from torture; and althoug such orders were « neither seriously given nor strictly obeyed, the mediation << of Leo was glorious to himself, and in some degree benefi«cial to his country. But Rome and its inhabitants were deli<< vered to the licentiousness of the Vandals and Moors, whose << blind passions revenged the injuries of Carthage. The pillage lasted fourteen days and nights; and all that yet remained of public or private weath, of sacred or profane ⚫ treasure, was diligently transported to the vessels of Genseric. Among the spoils, the splendid relics of two temples, or rather of two religions, exhibited a memorable example « of the vicissitude of human and divine things. Since the « abolition of paganism, the Capitol had been violated and abandoned; yet the statues of the gods and heroes were still respected, and the curious roof of gilt bronze was re«served for the rapacious hands of Genseric. The holy ins<< truments of the Jewish worship, the gold table, and the gold candlestick with seven branches, originaly framed according to the particular instructions of God himself, and wich were placed in the sanctuary of his temple, had been ostentatiously displayed to the Roman people in the triumph «<of Titus. They were ofterwards deposited in the temple of << Peace; and at the end of four hundred years, the spoils of « Jerusalem were transferred from Rome to Carthage by a 35

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barbarian who derived his origin from the shores of the Baltic. These ancient monuments might attract the notice of curiosity, as well as of avarice. But the christian churches, enriched ་ and adorned by the prevailing superstition of the times, af«forded more plentiful materials for sacrilege; and the pious liberality of pope Leo, who melted six silver vases, the gilft of Constantine, each of a hundred pounds' weight, is an evi«dence of the damage wich he attempted to repaire. In the « forty-five years, that had elapsed since the Gothic invasion, the pompe and luxury of Rome were in some measure restored; and it was difficult either to escape, or to satisfy << the avarice of a conqueror, who possessed leisure to collect, «and ships to transport, the wealth of the capital. The imperial ornaments of the palace, the magnificent furniture «and wardrobe, the sideboards of massy plate, were accu«mulated with disorderly rapine; the gold and silver amoun«<ted to several thousand talents; yet even the brass and « copper were laboriousby removed. Eudoxia herself, who << advanced to meet her friend and deliverer, soon bewailed the imprudence of her own conduct. She was rudely stripped of her jewels; and the unfortunate empress, with her a two daugthers, the only surviving remains of the great « Theodosius, was compelled, as a captive, to follow the haugthy Vandal; who immediately hoisted sail, and retur«ned with a prosperous navigation to the port of Carthage. Many thousand Romans of both sexes, chosen for some « useful or agreable qualifications, reluctantly embarked on « board the fleet of Genseric; and their distress was aggra«vated by the unfeeling barbarians, who, in the division « of the booty, separated the wives from their husbands, and « the children from their parents. The charity of Deogratias, bishop of Carthage, was their only consolation and support. « He generously sold the gold and silver plate of the church « to purchase the freedom of some, to alleviate the slavery

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of others, and to assist the wants and infirmities of a cap«tive multitude, whose health was impaired by the hards

hips wich they had suffered in their passage from Italy to « Africa. By his order, two spacious churches were converted « into hospitals: the sick were distributed in convenient

beds, and liberaly supplied with food and medicines; and << the aged prelate repeated his visith both in the day and <«< night, with an assiduity that surpassed his strength, and « a tender sympathy wich enhanced the value of his services. Compare this scene with the field of Cannoe; and judge

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« between Hannibal and the successor of S. Cyprian. » The Decline and fall of the roman empire, chap. XXXVI.

DISPLICEBIT.

Reperias enim qui, ob similitudinem « morum, aliena malefacta sibi objectari putent. Etiam gloria << ac virtus infensos habet, ut nimis ex propinquo diversa arguens.» Tacit. Annal. IV.

« Scio me offensurum esse quamplurimos qui generalem « de vitiis disputationem in suam referunt contumeliam. Hieron. Epist. ad Rusticum.

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Quippe semper inimica virtutibus vitia sunt, et optimi quique ab improbis quasi exprobantes aspiciuntur. » Severi Sulpitii Sacræ Historiæ, II.

EGO FORE. Il manque ici quelque chose dans les diverses éditions; nous avons mis quem ad vos ego mitto, speřans fore, d'après les conjectures de Baluze.

Cette première lettre est adressée à une communauté de serviteurs de Dieu que Salvien ne nomme pas, mais qu'on croit être celle de Lerins.

<< Eucher (Saint), évêque de Lyon, fut appelé par sa nais<< sance aux honneurs du monde, avant de l'être par sa voca«tion à ceux de l'Église. Il fut d'abord sénateur, se maria, eut << deux fils, Salonius et Véran. Dès qu'ils furent en âge de << commencer leurs études, il les envoya au monastère de Le