name of Constantius, who, from the
similar events of their lives, might have been easily confounded.]

[Footnote 40: In the Persian treaty, concluded in the year 422, the wise
and eloquent Maximin had been the assessor of Ardaburius, (Socrates,
l. vii. c. 20.) When Marcian ascended the throne, the office of Great
Chamberlain was bestowed on Maximin, who is ranked, in the public edict,
among the four principal ministers of state, (Novell. ad Calc. Cod.
Theod. p. 31.) He executed a civil and military commission in the
Eastern provinces; and his death was lamented by the savages of
Aethiopia, whose incursions he had repressed. See Priscus, p. 40, 41.]

[Footnote 41: Priscus was a native of Panium in Thrace, and deserved,
by his eloquence, an honorable place among the sophists of the age.
His Byzantine history, which related to his own times, was comprised
in seven books. See Fabricius, Bibliot. Graec. tom. vi. p. 235, 236.
Notwithstanding the charitable judgment of the critics, I suspect that
Priscus was a Pagan. * Note: Niebuhr concurs in this opinion. Life of
Priscus in the new edition of the Byzantine historians.--M]

The ambassadors, who were followed by a numerous train of men and
horses, made their first halt at Sardica, at the distance of three
hundred and fifty miles, or thirteen days' journey, from Constantinople.
As the remains of Sardica were still included within the limits of
the empire, it was incumbent on the Romans to exercise the duties of
hospitality. They provided, with the assistance of the provincials, a
sufficient number of sheep and oxen, and invited the Huns to a splendid,
or at least, a plentiful supper. But the harmony of the entertainment
was soon disturbed by mutual prejudice and indiscretion. The greatness
of the emperor and the empire was warmly maintained by their ministers;
the Huns, with equal ardor, asserted the superiority of their victorious
monarch: the dispute was inflamed by the rash and unseasonable flattery
of Vigilius, who passionately rejected the comparison of a mere mortal
with the divine Theodosius; and it was with extreme difficulty that
Maximin and Priscus were able to divert the conversation, or to soothe
the angry minds, of the Barbarians. When they rose from table, the
Imperial ambassador presented Edecon and Orestes with rich gifts of silk
robes and Indian pearls, which they thankfully accepted. Yet Orestes
could not forbear insinuating that he had not always been treat