brated
by Claudian, Cons. Stil. l. i. 345-355.]

[Footnote 50: St. Ambrose, who had been dead about a year, revealed, in
a vision, the time and place of the victory. Mascezel afterwards related
his dream to Paulinus, the original biographer of the saint, from whom
it might easily pass to Orosius.]

[Footnote 51: Zosimus (l. v. p. 303) supposes an obstinate combat;
but the narrative of Orosius appears to conceal a real fact, under the
disguise of a miracle.]

[Footnote 52: Tabraca lay between the two Hippos, (Cellarius, tom. ii.
p. 112; D'Anville, tom. iii. p. 84.) Orosius has distinctly named the
field of battle, but our ignorance cannot define the precise situation.]

[Footnote 53: The death of Gildo is expressed by Claudian (i. Cons.
Stil. 357) and his best interpreters, Zosimus and Orosius.]

[Footnote 54: Claudian (ii. Cons. Stilich. 99-119) describes their
trial (tremuit quos Africa nuper, cernunt rostra reos,) and applauds the
restoration of the ancient constitution. It is here that he introduces
the famous sentence, so familiar to the friends of despotism:

---Nunquam libertas gratior exstat,
Quam sub rege pio.

But the freedom which depends on royal piety, scarcely deserves
appellation]

[Footnote 55: See the Theodosian Code, l. ix. tit. xxxix. leg. 3, tit.
xl. leg. 19.]

[Footnote 56: Stilicho, who claimed an equal share in all the victories
of Theodosius and his son, particularly asserts, that Africa was
recovered by the wisdom of his counsels, (see an inscription produced by
Baronius.)]

[Footnote 57: I have softened the narrative of Zosimus, which, in its
crude simplicity, is almost incredible, (l. v. p. 303.) Orosius damns
the victorious general (p. 538) for violating the right of sanctuary.]

The joy of the African triumph was happily connected with the nuptials
of the emperor Honorius, and of his cousin Maria, the daughter of
Stilicho: and this equal and honorable alliance seemed to invest the
powerful minister with the authority of a parent over his submissive
pupil. The muse of Claudian was not silent on this propitious day; [58]
he sung, in various and lively strains, the happiness of the royal pair;
and the glory of the hero, who confirmed their union, and supported
their throne. The ancient fables of Greece, which had almost ceased to
be the object of religious faith, were saved from oblivion by the genius
of poetry. The picture of the Cyprian grove, the seat of harmony and
lo