282

THE DECLINE AND FALL

chap, the standard of rebellion against the sovereign

_of the Roman empire. They rested their hopes

on the hatred of mankind against Maximin, andthey judiciously resolved to oppose to that de-tested tyrant, an emperor whose mild virtueshad already acquired the love and esteem of theRomans, and whose authority over the provincewould give weight and stability to the enterprize.Gordianus, their proconsul, and the object oftheir choice, refused, with unfeigned reluctance,the dangerous honour, and begged, with tears,that they would suffer him to terminate in peacea long and innocent life, without staining hisfeeble age with civil blood. Their menacescompelled him to accept the imperial purple,his only refuge, indeed, against the jealous crueltyof Maximin, since, according to the reasoning oityrants, those who have been esteemed worthyof the throne deserve death, and those who de-liberate have already rebelled. 0Character The family of Gordianus was one of the mosttion'of'the illustrious of the Roman senate. On the father’sd7ans^° r " side, he was descended from the Gracchi; onhis mother’s, from the emperor Trajan . Agreat estate enabled him to support the dignityof his birth; and, in the enjoyment of it, hedisplayed an elegant taste, and beneficent dis-position. The palace in Rome , formerly inha-bited by the great Pompey , had been, during

Gordians, with the title of colony, and with a fine amphitheatre, whichis still in a very perfect state. See Itinerar. Wesseling, p. 59, andShaw’s Travels, p. 117.

0 Herodian. 1. vii, p. 239. Hist. August, p. 153.