nean. The success
of the Vandals, the conquest of Sicily, the sack of Palermo, and the
frequent descents on the coast of Lucania, awakened and alarmed the
mother of Valentinian, and the sister of Theodosius. Alliances were
formed; and armaments, expensive and ineffectual, were prepared, for the
destruction of the common enemy; who reserved his courage to encounter
those dangers which his policy could not prevent or elude. The designs
of the Roman government were repeatedly baffled by his artful delays,
ambiguous promises, and apparent concessions; and the interposition of
his formidable confederate, the king of the Huns, recalled the emperors
from the conquest of Africa to the care of their domestic safety. The
revolutions of the palace, which left the Western empire without a
defender, and without a lawful prince, dispelled the apprehensions, and
stimulated the avarice, of Genseric. He immediately equipped a numerous
fleet of Vandals and Moors, and cast anchor at the mouth of the Tyber,
about three months after the death of Valentinian, and the elevation of
Maximus to the Imperial throne.

The private life of the senator Petronius Maximus [1] was often
alleged as a rare example of human felicity. His birth was noble and
illustrious, since he descended from the Anician family; his dignity
was supported by an adequate patrimony in land and money; and these
advantages of fortune were accompanied with liberal arts and decent
manners, which adorn or imitate the inestimable gifts of genius and
virtue. The luxury of his palace and table was hospitable and elegant.
Whenever Maximus appeared in public, he was surrounded by a train of
grateful and obsequious clients; [2] and it is possible that among these
clients, he might deserve and possess some real friends. His merit was
rewarded by the favor of the prince and senate: he thrice exercised the
office of Praetorian praefect of Italy; he was twice invested with the
consulship, and he obtained the rank of patrician. These civil honors
were not incompatible with the enjoyment of leisure and tranquillity;
his hours, according to the demands of pleasure or reason, were
accurately distributed by a water-clock; and this avarice of time may
be allowed to prove the sense which Maximus entertained of his own
happiness. The injury which he received from the emperor Valentinian
appears to excuse the most bloody revenge. Yet a philosopher might have
reflected, that, if the resistance of hi