whole
empire had embraced the cause of the senate, and that they were left as
devoted victims to perish under the impregnable walls of Aquileia. The
fierce temper of the tyrant was exasperated by disappointments, which
he imputed to the cowardice of his army; and his wanton and ill-timed
cruelty, instead of striking terror, inspired hatred, and a just desire
of revenge. A party of Praetorian guards, who trembled for their wives
and children in the camp of Alba, near Rome, executed the sentence of
the senate.

Maximin, abandoned by his guards, was slain in his tent, with his son,
(whom he had associated to the honors of the purple,) Anulinus the
praefect, and the principal ministers of his tyranny. [36] The sight of
their heads, borne on the point of spears, convinced the citizens of
Aquileia that the siege was at an end; the gates of the city were thrown
open, a liberal market was provided for the hungry troops of Maximin,
and the whole army joined in solemn protestations of fidelity to the
senate and the people of Rome, and to their lawful emperors Maximus and
Balbinus. Such was the deserved fate of a brutal savage, destitute, as
he has generally been represented, of every sentiment that distinguishes
a civilized, or even a human being. The body was suited to the soul. The
stature of Maximin exceeded the measure of eight feet, and circumstances
almost incredible are related of his matchless strength and appetite.
[37] Had he lived in a less enlightened age, tradition and poetry
might well have described him as one of those monstrous giants, whose
supernatural power was constantly exerted for the destruction of
mankind.

[Footnote 36: Herodian, l. viii. p. 279. Hist. August. p. 146. The
duration of Maximin's reign has not been defined with much accuracy,
except by Eutropius, who allows him three years and a few days, (l. ix.
1;) we may depend on the integrity of the text, as the Latin original is
checked by the Greek version of Paeanius.]

[Footnote 37: Eight Roman feet and one third, which are equal to
above eight English feet, as the two measures are to each other in the
proportion of 967 to 1000. See Graves's discourse on the Roman foot. We
are told that Maximin could drink in a day an amphora (or about seven
gallons) of wine, and eat thirty or forty pounds of meat. He could move
a loaded wagon, break a horse's leg with his fist, crumble stones in his
hand, and tear up small trees by the roots. See his life in the