s agitated by the most
furious passions. He is said to have received the news of the rebellion
of the Gordians, and of the decree of the senate against him, not with
the temper of a man, but the rage of a wild beast; which, as it could
not discharge itself on the distant senate, threatened the life of his
son, of his friends, and of all who ventured to approach his person. The
grateful intelligence of the death of the Gordians was quickly followed
by the assurance that the senate, laying aside all hopes of pardon or
accommodation, had substituted in their room two emperors, with whose
merit he could not be unacquainted. Revenge was the only consolation
left to Maximin, and revenge could only be obtained by arms. The
strength of the legions had been assembled by Alexander from all parts
of the empire. Three successful campaigns against the Germans and the
Sarmatians, had raised their fame, confirmed their discipline, and even
increased their numbers, by filling the ranks with the flower of the
barbarian youth. The life of Maximin had been spent in war, and the
candid severity of history cannot refuse him the valor of a soldier,
or even the abilities of an experienced general. It might naturally be
expected, that a prince of such a character, instead of suffering the
rebellion to gain stability by delay, should immediately have marched
from the banks of the Danube to those of the Tyber, and that his
victorious army, instigated by contempt for the senate, and eager to
gather the spoils of Italy, should have burned with impatience to finish
the easy and lucrative conquest. Yet as far as we can trust to the
obscure chronology of that period, it appears that the operations
of some foreign war deferred the Italian expedition till the ensuing
spring. From the prudent conduct of Maximin, we may learn that the
savage features of his character have been exaggerated by the pencil of
party, that his passions, however impetuous, submitted to the force
of reason, and that the barbarian possessed something of the generous
spirit of Sylla, who subdued the enemies of Rome before he suffered
himself to revenge his private injuries.

When the troops of Maximin, advancing in excellent order, arrived at
the foot of the Julian Alps, they were terrified by the silence and
desolation that reigned on the frontiers of Italy. The villages and
open towns had been abandoned on their approach by the inhabitants, the
cattle was driven away, the provis