nce, that the emperor Maximus
was slain, and that Rome had been pillaged by the Vandals. A vacant
throne, which he might ascend without guilt or danger, tempted his
ambition; [15] and the Visigoths were easily persuaded to support his
claim by their irresistible suffrage. They loved the person of Avitus;
they respected his virtues; and they were not insensible of the
advantage, as well as honor, of giving an emperor to the West. The
season was now approaching, in which the annual assembly of the seven
provinces was held at Arles; their deliberations might perhaps be
influenced by the presence of Theodoric and his martial brothers; but
their choice would naturally incline to the most illustrious of their
countrymen. Avitus, after a decent resistance, accepted the Imperial
diadem from the representatives of Gaul; and his election was ratified
by the acclamations of the Barbarians and provincials. The formal
consent of Marcian, emperor of the East, was solicited and obtained; but
the senate, Rome, and Italy, though humbled by their recent calamities,
submitted with a secret murmur to the presumption of the Gallic usurper.

[Footnote 12: The private life and elevation of Avitus must be deduced,
with becoming suspicion, from the panegyric pronounced by Sidonius
Apollinaris, his subject, and his son-in-law.]

[Footnote 13: After the example of the younger Pliny, Sidonius (l. ii.
c. 2) has labored the florid, prolix, and obscure description of his
villa, which bore the name, (Avitacum,) and had been the property of
Avitus. The precise situation is not ascertained. Consult, however, the
notes of Savaron and Sirmond.]

[Footnote 14: Sidonius (l. ii. epist. 9) has described the country life
of the Gallic nobles, in a visit which he made to his friends, whose
estates were in the neighborhood of Nismes. The morning hours were spent
in the sphoeristerium, or tennis-court; or in the library, which was
furnished with Latin authors, profane and religious; the former for the
men, the latter for the ladies. The table was twice served, at dinner
and supper, with hot meat (boiled and roast) and wine. During the
intermediate time, the company slept, took the air on horseback, and
need the warm bath.]

[Footnote 15: Seventy lines of panegyric (505-575) which describe the
importunity of Theodoric and of Gaul, struggling to overcome the
modest reluctance of Avitus, are blown away by three words of an honest
historian. Romanum ambisset Impe