on,
within the bounds of truth. Majorian derived his name from his maternal
grandfather, who, in the reign of the great Theodosius, had commanded
the troops of the Illyrian frontier. He gave his daughter in marriage
to the father of Majorian, a respectable officer, who administered the
revenues of Gaul with skill and integrity; and generously preferred the
friendship of AEtius to the tempting offer of an insidious court. His
son, the future emperor, who was educated in the profession of arms,
displayed, from his early youth, intrepid courage, premature wisdom, and
unbounded liberality in a scanty fortune. He followed the standard of
AEtius, contributed to his success, shared, and sometimes eclipsed, his
glory, and at last excited the jealousy of the patrician, or rather of
his wife, who forced him to retire from the service. Majorian, after the
death of AEtius, was recalled and promoted; and his intimate connection
with Count Ricimer was the immediate step by which he ascended the
throne of the Western empire. During the vacancy that succeeded the
abdication of Avitus, the ambitious Barbarian, whose birth excluded him
from the Imperial dignity, governed Italy with the title of Patrician;
resigned to his friend the conspicuous station of master-general of the
cavalry and infantry; and, after an interval of some months, consented
to the unanimous wish of the Romans, whose favor Majorian had solicited
by a recent victory over the Alemanni. He was invested with the purple
at Ravenna: and the epistle which he addressed to the senate, will best
describe his situation and his sentiments. "Your election, Conscript
Fathers! and the ordinance of the most valiant army, have made me your
emperor. May the propitious Deity direct and prosper the counsels
and events of my administration, to your advantage and to the public
welfare! For my own part, I did not aspire, I have submitted to reign;
nor should I have discharged the obligations of a citizen if I had
refused, with base and selfish ingratitude, to support the weight of
those labors, which were imposed by the republic. Assist, therefore, the
prince whom you have made; partake the duties which you have enjoined;
and may our common endeavors promote the happiness of an empire, which
I have accepted from your hands. Be assured, that, in our times, justice
shall resume her ancient vigor, and that virtue shall become, not only
innocent, but meritorious. Let none, except the authors the