oman government, they derived more substantial comfort from
the character of a Gothic prince, who had penetration to discern, and
firmness to pursue, his own and the public interest. Theodoric loved the
virtues which he possessed, and the talents of which he was destitute.
Liberius was promoted to the office of Praetorian praefect for his
unshaken fidelity to the unfortunate cause of Odoacer. The ministers of
Theodoric, Cassiodorus, and Boethius, have reflected on his reign the
lustre of their genius and learning. More prudent or more fortunate than
his colleague, Cassiodorus preserved his own esteem without forfeiting
the royal favor; and after passing thirty years in the honors of the
world, he was blessed with an equal term of repose in the devout and
studious solitude of Squillace.

As the patron of the republic, it was the interest and duty of the
Gothic king to cultivate the affections of the senate and people.
The nobles of Rome were flattered by sonorous epithets and formal
professions of respect, which had been more justly applied to the merit
and authority of their ancestors. The people enjoyed, without fear or
danger, the three blessings of a capital, order, plenty, and public
amusements. A visible diminution of their numbers may be found even
in the measure of liberality; yet Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily, poured
their tribute of corn into the granaries of Rome an allowance of bread
and meat was distributed to the indigent citizens; and every office was
deemed honorable which was consecrated to the care of their health and
happiness. The public games, such as the Greek ambassador might politely
applaud, exhibited a faint and feeble copy of the magnificence of the
Caesars: yet the musical, the gymnastic, and the pantomime arts, had not
totally sunk in oblivion; the wild beasts of Africa still exercised
in the amphitheatre the courage and dexterity of the hunters; and the
indulgent Goth either patiently tolerated or gently restrained the
blue and green factions, whose contests so often filled the circus with
clamor and even with blood. In the seventh year of his peaceful reign,
Theodoric visited the old capital of the world; the senate and
people advanced in solemn procession to salute a second Trajan, a new
Valentinian; and he nobly supported that character by the assurance of
a just and legal government, in a discourse which he was not afraid to
pronounce in public, and to inscribe on a tablet of brass. Rome,