ve him to the old
general Arintheus, for whom he very skilfully exercised the profession
of a pimp. 3. He was given, on her marriage, to the daughter of
Arintheus; and the future consul was employed to comb her hair, to
present the silver ewer to wash and to fan his mistress in hot weather.
See l. i. 31-137.]

[Footnote 8: Claudian, (l. i. in Eutrop. l.--22,) after enumerating
the various prodigies of monstrous births, speaking animals, showers of
blood or stones, double suns, &c., adds, with some exaggeration,

Omnia cesserunt eunucho consule monstra.

The first book concludes with a noble speech of the goddess of Rome to
her favorite Honorius, deprecating the new ignominy to which she was
exposed.]

[Footnote 9: Fl. Mallius Theodorus, whose civil honors, and
philosophical works, have been celebrated by Claudian in a very elegant
panegyric.]

The bold and vigorous mind of Rufinus seems to have been actuated by a
more sanguinary and revengeful spirit; but the avarice of the eunuch
was not less insatiate than that of the praefect. [10] As long as he
despoiled the oppressors, who had enriched themselves with the plunder
of the people, Eutropius might gratify his covetous disposition without
much envy or injustice: but the progress of his rapine soon invaded
the wealth which had been acquired by lawful inheritance, or laudable
industry. The usual methods of extortion were practised and improved;
and Claudian has sketched a lively and original picture of the public
auction of the state. "The impotence of the eunuch," says that agreeable
satirist, "has served only to stimulate his avarice: the same hand which
in his servile condition, was exercised in petty thefts, to unlock the
coffers of his master, now grasps the riches of the world; and this
infamous broker of the empire appreciates and divides the Roman
provinces from Mount Haemus to the Tigris. One man, at the expense of
his villa, is made proconsul of Asia; a second purchases Syria with his
wife's jewels; and a third laments that he has exchanged his paternal
estate for the government of Bithynia. In the antechamber of Eutropius,
a large tablet is exposed to public view, which marks the respective
prices of the provinces. The different value of Pontus, of Galatia, of
Lydia, is accurately distinguished. Lycia may be obtained for so many
thousand pieces of gold; but the opulence of Phrygia will require a
more considerable sum. The eunuch wishes to obliterate, by t