ano colla
magnificenz del fabricato." See Viaggio in Dalmazia, p. 40.]

It is almost unnecessary to remark, that the civil distractions of the
empire, the license of the soldiers, the inroads of the barbarians, and
the progress of despotism, had proved very unfavorable to genius, and
even to learning. The succession of Illyrian princes restored the
empire without restoring the sciences. Their military education was not
calculated to inspire them with the love of letters; and even the mind
of Diocletian, however active and capacious in business, was totally
uninformed by study or speculation. The professions of law and physic
are of such common use and certain profit, that they will always secure
a sufficient number of practitioners, endowed with a reasonable degree
of abilities and knowledge; but it does not appear that the students in
those two faculties appeal to any celebrated masters who have flourished
within that period. The voice of poetry was silent. History was reduced
to dry and confused abridgments, alike destitute of amusement and
instruction. A languid and affected eloquence was still retained in
the pay and service of the emperors, who encouraged not any arts except
those which contributed to the gratification of their pride, or the
defence of their power. [123]

[Footnote 123: The orator Eumenius was secretary to the emperors
Maximian and Constantius, and Professor of Rhetoric in the college of
Autun. His salary was six hundred thousand sesterces, which, according
to the lowest computation of that age, must have exceeded three thousand
pounds a year. He generously requested the permission of employing it in
rebuilding the college. See his Oration De Restaurandis Scholis; which,
though not exempt from vanity, may atone for his panegyrics.]

The declining age of learning and of mankind is marked, however, by the
rise and rapid progress of the new Platonists. The school of Alexandria
silenced those of Athens; and the ancient sects enrolled themselves
under the banners of the more fashionable teachers, who recommended
their system by the novelty of their method, and the austerity of their
manners. Several of these masters, Ammonius, Plotinus, Amelius, and
Porphyry, [124] were men of profound thought and intense application;
but by mistaking the true object of philosophy, their labors contributed
much less to improve than to corrupt the human understanding. The
knowledge that is suited to our situation and p