38 THE decline and fall

chap. Constantinople, from imitation ; in Carthage,Antioch, and Alexandria, from the love of plea-sure and the superfluity of wealth/ In the twocapitals of the empire the annual games of t'hetheatre, the circus, and the amphitheatre," costfour thousand pounds of gold, (about) one hun-dred and sixty thousand pounds sterling: andif so heavy an expence surpassed the faculties orthe inclination of the magistrates themselves,the sum was supplied from the imperial trea-sury* As soon as the consuls had dischargedthese customary duties, they were at liberty toretire into the shade of private life, and to enjoy,during the remainder of the year, the undisturb-ed contemplation of their own greatness. Theyno longer presided in the national councils; theyno longer executed the resolutions of peace ( rwar. Their abilities (unless they were employedin more effective offices) were of little moment;and their names served only as the legal dateof the year in which they had filled the chair ofMarius and of Cicero. Yet it was still felt andacknowledged, in the last period of the Romanservitude, that this empty name might be com-

* Celebrant quidem solcmncs istos dies, omnes ubiqtie urbes qnas»ub legibns agunt; et Roma de more, et Constantinopolis de imila-tione, et Antiocbia pro liixn, et discincta Carthago, et domus diiininisAlexandria, sed Treviri Principis beneficio. Ausonms in Grat.Actione.

u Claudian (in Cons. Mall. Theodori. 279-331) describes, in a livelyand fanciful manner, the various games of the circus, the theatre, andthe amphitheatre, exhibited by the new consul. The sanguinary combats of gladiators had already been prohibited.

* Procopius in Hist. Arcana, c. 20,