THE DECLINE AND FALL

98

chap, able portion of the globe. The forms, thepomp, and the expence of the civil administra-tion contributed to restrain the irregular licenceof the soldiers; and although the laws wereviolated by power, or perverted by subtlety,the sage principles of the Roman jurisprudence -preserved a sense of order and equity, unknownto the despotic governments of the east. Therights of mankind might derive some protectionfrom religion and philosophy; and the name offreedom, which could no longer alarm, mightsometimes admonish the successors of Augus-tus , that they did not reign over a nation ofslaves or barbarians. 1

b The great Theodosius, in his judicious advice to his son (Claudian in iv Consulat. Honorii, 214, &c.), distinguishes the station of a Romanprince from that of a Parthian monarch. Virtue was necessary for theone; hirtli miglit suffice for the other.