to the "canon" of corn,
mentioned in the life of Septimius Severus by Spartianus. On this canon
the French writer calculates the inhabitants of Rome at that time. But
the "canon" was not the whole supply of Rome, but that quantity which
the state required for the public granaries to supply the gratuitous
distributions to the people, and the public officers and slaves; no
doubt likewise to keep down the general price. M. Zumpt reckons the
population of Rome at 2,000,000. After careful consideration, I should
conceive the number in the text, 1,200,000, to be nearest the truth--M.
1845.]

Such was the state of Rome under the reign of Honorius; at the time when
the Gothic army formed the siege, or rather the blockade, of the city.
[74] By a skilful disposition of his numerous forces, who impatiently
watched the moment of an assault, Alaric encompassed the walls,
commanded the twelve principal gates, intercepted all communication
with the adjacent country, and vigilantly guarded the navigation of
the Tyber, from which the Romans derived the surest and most plentiful
supply of provisions. The first emotions of the nobles, and of the
people, were those of surprise and indignation, that a vile Barbarian
should dare to insult the capital of the world: but their arrogance was
soon humbled by misfortune; and their unmanly rage, instead of being
directed against an enemy in arms, was meanly exercised on a defenceless
and innocent victim. Perhaps in the person of Serena, the Romans might
have respected the niece of Theodosius, the aunt, nay, even the
adoptive mother, of the reigning emperor: but they abhorred the widow
of Stilicho; and they listened with credulous passion to the tale
of calumny, which accused her of maintaining a secret and criminal
correspondence with the Gothic invader. Actuated, or overawed, by the
same popular frenzy, the senate, without requiring any evidence of his
guilt, pronounced the sentence of her death. Serena was ignominiously
strangled; and the infatuated multitude were astonished to find, that
this cruel act of injustice did not immediately produce the retreat of
the Barbarians, and the deliverance of the city. That unfortunate city
gradually experienced the distress of scarcity, and at length the horrid
calamities of famine. The daily allowance of three pounds of bread was
reduced to one half, to one third, to nothing; and the price of corn
still continued to rise in a rapid and extravagant proportio