from the reign of Claudius II., where Herodian left off, down to that of Arcadius and Honorius. The history is lost; but we have the substance of it in Zosimus, who is supposed to have done little more than copy it.

MATHEMATICS.

PAPPUS, an eminent person of Alexandria, said by Suidas to have flourished under Theodosius the Great, who reigned from A.D. 379 to 395. His writings show him to have been a consummate mathematician. Many of them are lost; the rest continued long in MS. detached parts, having only been occasionally published in the 17th century, until Charles Manolessius published his remains entire, Bologna, in 1660, in fol.

DIOCLES, a mathematician, who invented the curve line, denominated the cissoid of Diocles, and for this his name is chiefly celebrated. It is reckoned by Sir Isaac Newton among the defective hyperboles, and is used for finding two mean proportionals between two other given lines.

ARCHITECTURE.

ALYPIUS, of Antioch, an architect in the service of Julian the Apostate, who committed to his care the rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem, which he was forced to abandon, by fires which issued from under the earth, and rendered the place inaccessible. Eight years after, he found himself involved in an accusation of magic, and with a great many others condemned without proof and banished, after his goods had been confiscated. His son Hierocles, condemned to death on the same accusation, made his escape when they were leading him to execution; and the news of this happy circumstance softened the affliction of Alypius in his banishment.

MEDICINE.

ORIBASIUS, or ORIBASUS, a celebrated physician, greatly esteemed by the emperor Julian, in whose reign he flourished. He abridged the works of Galen, and of all the most respectable writers on physic, at the request of the emperor. He accompanied Julian into the east, but his skill proved ineffectual in attempting to cure the fatal wound which his benefactor had received. After Julian's death he fell into the hands of the barbarians. The best edition of his works is that of Dundas, 4to. Lug. Bat. 1745.

MARCELLUS, surnamed Epicirus, was a native of Bour

deaux, and held an appointment under the emperors Theodosius and Arcadius. He died in the reign of Theodosius the younger, who ascended the throne of the eastern empire in the year 408. It does not appear that Marcellus pursued the study of medicine as a profession, but took it up as an amateur, without acquiring any profound skill in it. He compiled from authors both ancient and contemporary, and especially from Scribonius Largus, whom he copies literally without acknowledgment, and also from popular report, a collection of medicines and recipes for all the diseases of the body, in which, however, his superstition is more conspicuous than his judgment. Nevertheless his work has been preserved, and printed under the title of "De Medicamentis empiricus physicus et rationalibus Liber á Jano Cornario versus," Basil, 1536, &c. and was included among the "Medicæ Artis Principes," collected by Henry Stephen. Marcellus dedicated this compilation to his children, in an epistle which is preserved, with a view of teaching them the means of relieving their diseases by simple remedies; but at the same time he counsels them not to neglect the more compound ones when necessary, and to consult the most expert physicians before they employ them.

A.D.

PERIOD XX.

FROM THEODOSIUS II. TO JUSTINIAN I.

[CENT. V.]

REMARKABLE FACTS, EVENTS, AND DISCOVERIES.

400 Bells invented by Bishop Paulinus, of Campagnia.

401 Europe overrun by the Goths under Alaric.

404 Another irruption of the Goths. The kingdom of Caledonia or Scotland revives under Fergus II.

406 Third irruption of the Goths. The Vandals, Alans, Suevi, spread into France and Spain, by a concession of Honorius.

408 The Christian religion propagated in Persia.

409 Rome taken and plundered by the Goths, August 24th. 412 The Vandals begin their kingdom in Spain.

413 The kingdom of Burgundy begun in Alsace.

414 The kingdom of Thoulouse founded by the Visigoths.

417 The Alans extirpated by the Goths.

420 The kingdom of France begins upon the Lower Rhine, under Phara

mond.

421 The Salique law promulgated.

426 The Romans, reduced to extremities at home, withdraw their troops from Britain.

432 The Gospel preached in Ireland by St. Patrick.

444 Europe ravaged by the Huns.

446 The Britons, greatly harassed by the Scots and Picts, complain to the Romans, but receive no assistance.

447 Attila and his Huns ravage the Roman empire.

449 Vortigern, king of the Saxon Britons, invites the Saxons into Britain, against the Scots and Picts.

452 The city of Venice founded.

455 The Saxons having repulsed the Scots and Picts, establish themselves in Kent, under Hengist.

476 The western empire ended under Augustulus. Upon its ruins, several new states arise in Italy and elsewhere, consisting of Goths Vandals, Huns, and other barbarians, who extinguish literature, and destroy the works of the learned.

493 Italy reduced by Theodoric, king of the Goths.

496 Clovis, king of France, baptized, and Christianity established.

THIS period exhibits a most unfavourable view of the western part of the world. The Romans, from the height of grandeur, sunk to the lowest slavery, and were, in many places, almost exterminated; the provinces they formerly governed, inhabited by human beings scarcely a degree above the brutes; every art and science lost; and even the savage conquerors in danger of starving for want of a sufficient knowVOL. II.

Y

ledge of agriculture, having now no means of supplying themselves by plunder and robbery as before. South Britain, having long been abandoned to the mercy of the Scots and Picts, in 450 the inhabitants had called in the Saxons to their assistance, whom they soon found to be worse enemies than those against whom they had implored their aid. Spain was held by the Goths and Suevians; Africa, that is, Barbary and Bilegulgerid, by the Vandals; the Burgundians, Goths, Franks, and Alans, had erected several small states in Gaul; and Italy was subjected to the Heruli under Odoacer, who had assumed the title of king of Italy. In the east, indeed, matters wore an aspect somewhat more agreeable. The Roman empire continued to live in that of Constantinople, which was still very extensive. It comprehended all Asia Minor and Syria, as far as Persia; in Africa, the kingdom of Egypt; and Greece in Europe. The Persians were powerful, and rivalled the emperors of Constantinople; and beyond them lay the Indians, Chinese, and other nations, who, unheard of by the inhabitants of the more western parts, enjoyed peace and liberty. The Constantinopolitan empire, however, gradually declined, by reason of its continual wars with the Persians, Bulgarians, and other barbarous nations; to which also superstition and relaxation of military discipline largely contributed. The Persian empire also declined from the same causes, together with the intestine broils, from which it was seldom free, more than that of Constantinople. The history of the eastern part of the world during this period, therefore, consists only of the wars between these two great empires, which were productive of no other consequence, but that of weakening them both, and making them a more easy prey to those enemies, who were now, as it were, in embryo, but shortly about to erect an empire almost as extensive as that of the Greeks and Romans.

Among the western nations, revolutions, as might be expected from the character of the people, succeeded one another with rapidity. The Heruli, under Odoacer, were driven out by the Goths, under Theodoric. The Goths were expelled by the Romans; and while the two parties were contending, both were attacked by the Franks, who carried off an immense booty. The Romans were, in their turn, expelled by the Goths; the Franks again invaded Italy, and made themselves masters of the province of Venetia.

In France, a considerable revolution also took place in 487, Clovis, the founder of the French monarchy, possessed himself of all the countries lying between the Rhine and the Loire. By force or treachery, he conquered all the petty kingdoms which had been erected in that country. In Spain, the Visigoths erected a kingdom ten years before the conquest of Rome by the Heruli. This kingdom they had extended eastward, about the same time that Clovis was extending his conquests to the west; so that the two kingdoms met at the river Loire. The consequence of this approach of such barbarous conquerors towards each other, was an immediate war. Clovis proved victorious, and subdued great part of the country of the Visigoths, which put a final stop to their conquests on that side.

Another kingdom had been founded in the western parts of Spain by the Suevi, a considerable time before the Romans were finally ex

pelled from that country. In 409, this kingdom was entirely subverted by Theodoric, king of the Goths; and the Suevi were so pent up in a small district of Lusitania and Galicia, that it seemed impossible for them to recover themselves. During the above mentioned period, however, while the attention of the Goths was turned another way, they had again erected themselves into an independent state, and became masters of considerably extended territories. But this success proved of short duration.

GOVERNMENT.

ROME.

THEODOSIUS II., emperor of the east, grandson of Theodosius I., and son of the emperor Arcadius, was born in 401. Naturally of a weak character, the royal education which he received only fitted him for the pageantry of a throne, and for a perpetual pupilage. "He was taught," says Gibbon, " to maintain a grave and majestic deportment; to walk, to hold his robes, to seat himself on his throne, in a manner worthy of a great prince; to abstain from laughter; to listen with condescension; to return suitable answers; to assume, by turns, a serious or placid countenance; in a word, to represent with grace and dignity the external figure of a Roman emperor." Of his occupations, hunting was the only active pursuit that could tempt his indolence. He delighted in painting and carving, and transcribed religious books with singular elegance. He sung psalms, fasted, devoutly credited the miracles and doctrines presented to his faith, and paid due reverence to all the dead and living saints of the Catholic church. He was gentle and kind in his disposition, without vices, but did not rise to virtues. He succeeded his father in 408, under the guardianship of his sister Pulcheria. She caused him to marry Athenais, daughter of Leontius the philosopher, who being baptized, took the name of Eudocia. Theodosius defeated the Persians with great slaughter, of which no less than 100,000 were lost in the waters of the Euphrates. He raised the siege of Nisibis, where his operations failed of success, and he averted the fury of the Huns and Vandals by bribes and promises. He restored the western empire to its heir, Valentinian III., who afterwards was united in marriage with his daughter Licinia Eudocia.

Theodosius was so careless that he signed all the papers that were brought to him without ever opening them; his sister Pulcheria, however, rendered him more careful and diligent by the following stratagem. She caused him to sign a paper, in