poet himself is compelled to acknowledge the distress
of Ricimer:--

Praeterea invictus Ricimer, quem publica fata
Respiciunt, proprio solas vix Marte repellit
Piratam per rura vagum.

Italy addresses her complaint to the Tyber, and Rome, at the
solicitation of the river god, transports herself to Constantinople,
renounces her ancient claims, and implores the friendship of Aurora,
the goddess of the East. This fabulous machinery, which the genius of
Claudian had used and abused, is the constant and miserable resource of
the muse of Sidonius.]

[Footnote 64: The original authors of the reigns of Marcian, Leo, and
Zeno, are reduced to some imperfect fragments, whose deficiencies must
be supplied from the more recent compilations of Theophanes, Zonaras,
and Cedrenus.]

Since the death of the younger Theodosius, the domestic
repose of Constantinople had never been interrupted by war or faction.
Pulcheria had bestowed her hand, and the sceptre of the East, on the
modest virtue of Marcian: he gratefully reverenced her august rank and
virgin chastity; and, after her death, he gave his people the example of
the religious worship that was due to the memory of the Imperial saint.
[65] Attentive to the prosperity of his own dominions, Marcian seemed
to behold, with indifference, the misfortunes of Rome; and the obstinate
refusal of a brave and active prince, to draw his sword against the
Vandals, was ascribed to a secret promise, which had formerly been
exacted from him when he was a captive in the power of Genseric. [66]
The death of Marcian, after a reign of seven years, would have exposed
the East to the danger of a popular election; if the superior weight of
a single family had not been able to incline the balance in favor of the
candidate whose interest they supported. The patrician Aspar might
have placed the diadem on his own head, if he would have subscribed the
Nicene creed. [67] During three generations, the armies of the East
were successively commanded by his father, by himself, and by his son
Ardaburius; his Barbarian guards formed a military force that overawed
the palace and the capital; and the liberal distribution of his immense
treasures rendered Aspar as popular as he was powerful. He recommended
the obscure name of Leo of Thrace, a military tribune, and the principal
steward of his household. His nomination was unanimously ratified by the
senate; and the servant of Aspar received the Imperia