me
to Carthage, by a Barbarian who derived his origin from the shores
of the Baltic. These ancient monuments might attract the notice of
curiosity, as well as of avarice. But the Christian churches, enriched
and adorned by the prevailing superstition of the times, afforded more
plentiful materials for sacrilege; and the pious liberality of Pope Leo,
who melted six silver vases, the gift of Constantine, each of a hundred
pounds weight, is an evidence of the damage which he attempted to
repair. In the forty-five years that had elapsed since the Gothic
invasion, the pomp and luxury of Rome were in some measure restored;
and it was difficult either to escape, or to satisfy, the avarice of a
conqueror, who possessed leisure to collect, and ships to transport,
the wealth of the capital. The Imperial ornaments of the palace, the
magnificent furniture and wardrobe, the sideboards of massy plate, were
accumulated with disorderly rapine; the gold and silver amounted to
several thousand talents; yet even the brass and copper were laboriously
removed. Eudoxia herself, who advanced to meet her friend and deliverer,
soon bewailed the imprudence of her own conduct. She was rudely stripped
of her jewels; and the unfortunate empress, with her two daughters,
the only surviving remains of the great Theodosius, was compelled, as a
captive, to follow the haughty Vandal; who immediately hoisted sail, and
returned with a prosperous navigation to the port of Carthage. [9]
Many thousand Romans of both sexes, chosen for some useful or agreeable
qualifications, reluctantly embarked on board the fleet of Genseric; and
their distress was aggravated by the unfeeling Barbarians, who, in the
division of the booty, separated the wives from their husbands, and
the children from their parents. The charity of Deogratias, bishop of
Carthage, [10] was their only consolation and support. He generously
sold the gold and silver plate of the church to purchase the freedom of
some, to alleviate the slavery of others, and to assist the wants and
infirmities of a captive multitude, whose health was impaired by the
hardships which they had suffered in their passage from Italy to Africa.
By his order, two spacious churches were converted into hospitals; the
sick were distributed into convenient beds, and liberally supplied with
food and medicines; and the aged prelate repeated his visits both in
the day and night, with an assiduity that surpassed his strength, and a