OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 253

tacle of their repentance; nor did he restore chap.

them to their former rank in the army, till he_

had punished with death those tribunes whoseconnivance had occasioned the mutiny. Thegrateful legion served the emperor whilst living,and revenged him when dead. 11

The resolutions of the multitude generally de- Defects ofpend on a moment; and the caprice of passion amTcha-might equally determine the seditious legion to racter -lay down their arms at the emperor’s feet, or toplunge them into his breast. Perhaps, if thesingular transaction had been investigated bythe penetration of a philosopher, we should dis-cover the secret causes which, on that occasion,authorized the boldness of the prince, and com-manded the obedience of the troops ; and per-haps, if it had been related by a judicious his-torian, we should find this action, worthy ofCaesar himself, reduced nearer to the level ofprobability, and the common standard of thecharacter of Alexander Severus . The abilitiesof that amiable prince seem to have been ina-dequate to the difficulties of his situation, thefirmness of his conduct inferior to the purity ofhis intentions. His virtues, as well as the vicesof Elagabalus , contracted a tincture of weaknessand effeminacy from the soft climate of Syria ,of which he was a native, though he blushed athis foreign origin, and listened with a vain com-placency to the flattering genealogists, who de-

h Hist. August, p. 132.