21. Maximus succeeded to the imperial throne, and found that the first day of his reign was the last of his happiness. On the death of his wife, whose wrongs he had so severely revenged, he endeavoured to compel Eudox'ia, the widow of the murdered emperor, to become his spouse. In her indignation at this insulting proposal, Eudox'ia did not hesitate to apply for aid to Gen'seric, king of those Vandals that had seized Africa; and the barbarian king, glad of such a fair pretence, soon appeared with a powerful fleet in the Tiber. 22. Max'imus was murdered in an insurrection, occasioned by these tidings; and Gen'seric, advancing to Rome, became master of the city, which was, for fourteen days pillaged by the Moors and Vandals. Eudox'ia had reason to lament her imprudent conduct; she was carried off a captive by the ferocious Vandal, along with her two [Pg. 382] daughters, the last of the family of the great Theo'dosius and many thousand Romans were at the same time dragged into slavery.
23. The army in Gaul saluted their general, Avi'tus, emperor, and the Roman senate and people at first acquiesced in the choice. Rut Avi'tus was soon found unfit to hold the reins of power at a time of so much danger and difficulty; the senate, influenced by Ri'cimer, the commander of the barbarian auxiliaries, voted his deposition. He died shortly after, whether by disease or violence is uncertain.
24. The powerful Ri'cimer now placed upon the throne Ju'lian Majo'rian, who united in an eminent degree the qualities of a brave soldier and a wise statesman. The coasts of Italy had long been wasted by Gen'seric, king of the Vandals, and in order to put an end to their incursions, the emperor determined to attack the pirates in Africa, the seat of their power. The judicious preparations which he made were disconcerted by treason; Ri'cimer, who had hoped to rule the empire while Majo'rian enjoyed the empty title of monarch, was disappointed by the abilities which the new emperor displayed. Some of his creatures betrayed the Roman fleet to the torches of the Vandals; and Ri'cimer took advantage of the popular discontent occasioned by this disaster, to procure the dethronement of his former friend. Majo'rian died five years after his deposition, and the humble tomb which covered his remains was consecrated by the respect and gratitude of succeeding generations.
25. Ri'cimer's next choice was more prudent; at his instigation the obsequious senate raised to the throne Lib'ius Sev'erus, of whom history records little more than his elevation, and his death, which occurred in the fifth year after his election. During the nominal reign of Sev'erus and the interregnum that followed, the entire power of the state was possessed by Ri'cimer, whom barbarian descent alone prevented from being acknowledged emperor. He was unable, however, to protect Italy from the devastations of the Vandals; and to obtain the aid of Le'o, the Eastern emperor, he was forced to acknowledge Anthe'mius, who was nominated to the throne of the West by the court of Constantinople.
26. The perfidious Ricimer soon became dissatisfied with Anthe'mius, and raised the standard of revolt. Marching to Rome he easily became master of the city, and Anthe'mius[Pg. 383] was slain in the tumult. The unhappy Romans were again subjected to all the miseries that military licentiousness could inflict; for forty days Ricimer exulted in the havoc and ruin of the imperial city; but a disease, occasioned by excessive intemperance, seized on his vitals, and death freed Rome from the tyrant.
27. Olyb'ius, the successor of Anthe'mius, dying after a short reign of three months, Glyce'rius, an obscure soldier, assumed the purple at Raven'na, but was soon dethroned by Ju'lius Ne'pos, whom the court of Constantinople supported. A treaty by which the most faithful provinces of Gaul were yielded to the Visigoths, produced so much popular discontent, that Ores'tes, a general of barbarian auxiliaries, was encouraged to revolt, and Ne'pos, unable to defend the throne, abdicated, and spent the remainder of his unhonoured life in obscurity.
A.D. 476.
28. Ores'tes placed the crown on the head of his son Rom'ulus Momyl'lus, better known in history by the name of Augus'tulus. He was the last of the emperors; before he had enjoyed his elevation many months, he was dethroned by Odoa'cer, a leader, of the barbarian troops, and banished to a villa that once belonged to the wealthy Lucul'lus, where he was supported by a pension allowed him by the conqueror[4]. 29. Odoa'cer assumed the title of king of Italy, but after a reign of fourteen years,[Pg. 384] he was forced to yield to the superior genius of Theod'oric, king of the Ostrogoths, under whose prudent government Italy enjoyed the blessings of peace and prosperity, to which the country had been long a stranger.
30. Thus finally fell the Roman empire of the west, while that of the east survived a thousand years, notwithstanding its fierce internal dissensions, which alone would have sufficed to destroy any other; and the hosts of barbarians by which it was assailed. The almost impregnable situation of its capital, whose fate usually decides that of such empires, joined to its despotism, which gave unity to the little strength it retained, can alone explain a phenomenon unparalleled in the annals of history. At length, on the 29th of May, 1453, Constantinople was taken by Mohammed the Second, and the government and religion established by the great Constantine, trampled in the dust by the Moslem conquerors.