d he oppose to the veteran legions of the
Rhine and Danube? Some troops newly levied among the generous but
enervated youth of Italy; and a body of German auxiliaries, on whose
firmness, in the hour of trial, it was dangerous to depend. In the midst
of these just alarms, the stroke of domestic conspiracy punished the
crimes of Maximin, and delivered Rome and the senate from the calamities
that would surely have attended the victory of an enraged barbarian.

The people of Aquileia had scarcely experienced any of the common
miseries of a siege; their magazines were plentifully supplied, and
several fountains within the walls assured them of an inexhaustible
resource of fresh water. The soldiers of Maximin were, on the contrary,
exposed to the inclemency of the season, the contagion of disease, and
the horrors of famine. The open country was ruined, the rivers filled
with the slain, and polluted with blood. A spirit of despair and
disaffection began to diffuse itself among the troops; and as they
were cut off from all intelligence, they easily believed that the 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.
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 relat