ditors with the spoils of the province; his
capricious insolence offended the nobles of Gaul, and he sunk under the
weight of the public hatred. The mandate of his disgrace summoned him to
justify his conduct before the senate; and he passed the Sea of Tuscany
with a favorable wind, the presage, as he vainly imagined, of his future
fortunes. A decent respect was still observed for the _Prfectorian_
rank; and on his arrival at Rome, Arvandus was committed to the
hospitality, rather than to the custody, of Flavius Asellus, the count
of the sacred largesses, who resided in the Capitol. He was eagerly
pursued by his accusers, the four deputies of Gaul, who were all
distinguished by their birth, their dignities, or their eloquence.
In the name of a great province, and according to the forms of Roman
jurisprudence, they instituted a civil and criminal action, requiring
such restitution as might compensate the losses of individuals, and such
punishment as might satisfy the justice of the state. Their charges
of corrupt oppression were numerous and weighty; but they placed their
secret dependence on a letter which they had intercepted, and which they
could prove, by the evidence of his secretary, to have been dictated by
Arvandus himself. The author of this letter seemed to dissuade the king
of the Goths from a peace with the _Greek_ emperor: he suggested the
attack of the Britons on the Loire; and he recommended a division of
Gaul, according to the law of nations, between the Visigoths and
the Burgundians. These pernicious schemes, which a friend could only
palliate by the reproaches of vanity and indiscretion, were susceptible
of a treasonable interpretation; and the deputies had artfully resolved
not to produce their most formidable weapons till the decisive moment
of the contest. But their intentions were discovered by the zeal of
Sidonius. He immediately apprised the unsuspecting criminal of his
danger; and sincerely lamented, without any mixture of anger, the
haughty presumption of Arvandus, who rejected, and even resented, the
salutary advice of his friends. Ignorant of his real situation, Arvandus
showed himself in the Capitol in the white robe of a candidate, accepted
indiscriminate salutations and offers of service, examined the shops of
the merchants, the silks and gems, sometimes with the indifference of
a spectator, and sometimes with the attention of a purchaser; and
complained of the times, of the senate, of the pr