No other cause had
called forth this diffusive spirit of insurrection than the general
consciousness, so fatally warranted, of the debility which had emasculated
the government, and its incompetency to deal vigorously with the public
enemies. [Footnote: And this incompetency was _permanently_ increased
by rebellions that were brief and fugitive: for each insurgent almost
necessarily maintained himself for the moment by spoliations and robberies
which left lasting effects behind them; and too often he was tempted to
ally himself with some foreign enemy amongst the barbarians, and perhaps
to introduce him into the heart of the empire.] The very granaries of
Rome, Sicily and Egypt, were the seats of continued distractions; in
Alexandria, the second city of the empire, there was even a civil war
which lasted for twelve years. Weakness, dissension, and misery were
spread like a cloud over the whole face of the empire.
The last of the rebels who directed his rebellion personally against
Gallienus was Aureolus. Passing the Rhaetian Alps, this leader sought out
and defied the emperor. He was defeated, and retreated upon Milan; but
Gallienus, in pursuing him, was lured into an ambuscade, and perished from
the wound inflicted by an archer.
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