ing of
Egypt. (Livy, xxvii. 4.) Quina millia Aeris, a weight of copper, in
value about eighteen pounds sterling, was the usual present made to
foreign are ambassadors. (Livy, xxxi. 9.)]

[Footnote 53: See the firmness of a Roman general so late as the time
of Alexander Severus, in the Excerpta Legationum, p. 25, edit. Louvre.]

[Footnote 54: For the plague, see Jornandes, c. 19, and Victor in
Caesaribus.]

[Footnote 55: These improbable accusations are alleged by Zosimus, l. i.
p. 28, 24.]

[Footnote 56: Jornandes, c. 19. The Gothic writer at least observed
the peace which his victorious countrymen had sworn to Gallus.]

But the Romans were irritated to a still higher degree, when they
discovered that they had not even secured their repose, though at the
expense of their honor. The dangerous secret of the wealth and weakness
of the empire had been revealed to the world. New swarms of barbarians,
encouraged by the success, and not conceiving themselves bound by the
obligation of their brethren, spread devastation though the Illyrian
provinces, and terror as far as the gates of Rome. The defence of the
monarchy, which seemed abandoned by the pusillanimous emperor, was
assumed by Aemilianus, governor of Pannonia and Maesia; who rallied the
scattered forces, and revived the fainting spirits of the troops. The
barbarians were unexpectedly attacked, routed, chased, and pursued
beyond the Danube. The victorious leader distributed as a donative the
money collected for the tribute, and the acclamations of the soldiers
proclaimed him emperor on the field of battle. [57] Gallus, who,
careless of the general welfare, indulged himself in the pleasures of
Italy, was almost in the same instant informed of the success, of the
revolt, and of the rapid approach of his aspiring lieutenant. He
advanced to meet him as far as the plains of Spoleto. When the armies
came in right of each other, the soldiers of Gallus compared the
ignominious conduct of their sovereign with the glory of his rival. They
admired the valor of Aemilianus; they were attracted by his liberality,
for he offered a considerable increase of pay to all deserters. [58] The
murder of Gallus, and of his son Volusianus, put an end to the civil
war; and the senate gave a legal sanction to the rights of conquest. The
letters of Aemilianus to that assembly displayed a mixture of moderation
and vanity. He assured them, that he should resign to their wisdom the
civil adminis