flattering fictions, sufficiently betrays
the meanness of his birth. We can only discover that he was a native of
one of the provinces bordering on the Danube; that his youth was spent
in arms, and that his modest valor attracted the favor and confidence
of Decius. The senate and people already considered him as an
excellent officer, equal to the most important trusts; and censured the
inattention of Valerian, who suffered him to remain in the subordinate
station of a tribune. But it was not long before that emperor
distinguished the merit of Claudius, by declaring him general and chief
of the Illyrian frontier, with the command of all the troops in Thrace,
Maesia, Dacia, Pannonia, and Dalmatia, the appointments of the praefect
of Egypt, the establishment of the proconsul of Africa, and the sure
prospect of the consulship. By his victories over the Goths, he
deserved from the senate the honor of a statue, and excited the jealous
apprehensions of Gallienus. It was impossible that a soldier could
esteem so dissolute a sovereign, nor is it easy to conceal a just
contempt. Some unguarded expressions which dropped from Claudius were
officiously transmitted to the royal ear. The emperor's answer to an
officer of confidence describes in very lively colors his own character,
and that of the times. "There is not any thing capable of giving me more
serious concern, than the intelligence contained in your last despatch;
that some malicious suggestions have indisposed towards us the mind of
our friend and parent Claudius. As you regard your allegiance, use
every means to appease his resentment, but conduct your negotiation with
secrecy; let it not reach the knowledge of the Dacian troops; they are
already provoked, and it might inflame their fury. I myself have sent
him some presents: be it your care that he accept them with pleasure.
Above all, let him not suspect that I am made acquainted with his
imprudence. The fear of my anger might urge him to desperate counsels."
The presents which accompanied this humble epistle, in which the monarch
solicited a reconciliation with his discontented subject, consisted of
a considerable sum of money, a splendid wardrobe, and a valuable
service of silver and gold plate. By such arts Gallienus softened the
indignation and dispelled the fears of his Illyrian general; and during
the remainder of that reign, the formidable sword of Claudius was always
drawn in the cause of a master whom he despised