OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
When Gallienus received the intelligence thathis capital was delivered from the barbarians,,he was much less delighted, than alarmed, withthe courage of the senate, since it might oneday prompt them to rescue the public from do-mestic tyranny, as well as from foreign invasion.His timid ingratitude was published to his sub-jects, in an edict which prohibited the senatorsfrom exercising any military employment, andeven from approaching the camps of the legions.But his fears were groundless. The rich andluxurious nobles, sinking into the natural cha-racter, accepted, as a favour, this disgracefulexemption from military service; and as long asthey were indulged in the enjoyment of theirbaths, their theatres, and their villas, theycheerfully resigned the more dangerous caresof empire, to the rough hands of peasants andsoldiers. u
Another invasion of the Alemanni , of a moreformidable aspect, but more glorious event, ismentioned by a writer of the lower empire.Three hundred thousand of that warlike peopleare said to have been vanquished, inabattlenearMilan, by Gallienus in person, at the head ofonly ten thousand Romans/ We may, however,with great probability, ascribe this incrediblevictory, either to the credulity of the historian,or to some exaggerated exploits of one of theemperor’s lieutenants. It was by arms of a very
u Aurel. Victor, in Gallieno et Probo. His complaints breathe anuncommon spirit of freedom.
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