who had forced them out, but they were excluded
by demurrer[19] from access to the court; and in view of this he
established a law that whatever time should be spent by the Vandals in
the Roman domain should not by any means be counted toward this
thirty-year demurrer. And Honorius himself, when the West had been
driven by him to this pass, died of disease. [Aug. 27, 423 A.D.] Now
before this, as it happened, the royal power had been shared by Honorius
with Constantius, the husband of Placidia, the sister of Arcadius and
Honorius; but he lived to exercise the power only a few days, and then,
becoming seriously ill, he died while Honorius was still living, [421
A.D.] having never succeeded in saying or in doing anything worth
recounting; for the time was not sufficient during which he lived in
possession of the royal power. Now a son of this Constantius,
Valentinian, a child just weaned, was being reared in the palace of
Theodosius, but the members of the imperial court in Rome chose one of
the soldiers there, John by name, as emperor. This man was both gentle
and well-endowed with sagacity and thoroughly capable of valorous deeds.
At any rate he held the tyranny five years[20] and directed it with
moderation, and he neither gave ear to slanderers nor did he do any
unjust murder, willingly at least, nor did he set his hand to robbing
men of money; but he did not prove able to do anything at all against
the barbarians, since his relations with Byzantium were hostile. Against
this John, Theodosius, the son of Arcadius, sent a great army and Aspar
and Ardaburius, the son of Aspar, as generals, and wrested from him the
tyranny and gave over the royal power to Valentinian, who was still a
child. And Valentinian took John alive, and he brought him out in the
hippodrome of Aquileia with one of his hands cut off and caused him to
ride in state on an ass, and then after he had suffered much ill
treatment from the stage-performers there, both in word and in deed, he
put him to death. [426 A.D.] Thus Valentinian took over the power of the
West. But Placidia, his mother, had reared this emperor and educated him
in an altogether effeminate manner, and in consequence he was filled
with wickedness from childhood. For he associated mostly with sorcerers
and those who busy themselves with the stars, and, being an
extraordinarily zealous pursuer of love affairs with other men's wives,
he conducted himself in a most indecent manner, althoug