OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 135 even the ignorance of the divine law.^ Among the various arts [a.d. 380] which had exercised the youth of Gratian, he had applied him- self with singular inclination and success to manage the horse, to draw the bow^ and to dart the javelin ; and these qualifica- tions, which might be useful to a soldier, were prostituted to the viler purposes of hunting. Large parks were enclosed for the Imperial pleasures, and plentifully stocked with every species of wild beasts ; and Gratian neglected the duties, and even the dignity, of his rank, to consume whole days in the vain display of his dexterity and boldness in the chase. The pride and wish of the Roman emperor to excell in an art in which he might be surpassed by the meanest of his slaves reminded the numerous spectators of the examples of Nero and Commodus ; but the chaste and temperate Gratian was a stranger to their monstrous vices ; and his hands were stained only with the blood of animals.^ The behaviour of Gratian, which degraded his character inDiBconten the eyes of mankind, could not have disturbed the security of troopsXS- his reign, if the army had not been provoked to resent their peculiar injuries. As long as the young emperor was guided by the instructions of his masters, he professed himself the friend and pupil of the soldiers ; many of his hours were spent in the familiar conversation of the camp ; and the health, the comforts, the rewards, the honours, of his faithful troops appeared to be the object of his attentive concern. But, after Gratian more freely indulged his prevailing taste for hunting and shooting, he naturally connected himself with the most dexterous ministers of his favourite amusement. A body of the Alani was received into the military and domestic service of the palace ; and the admirable skill which they were accustomed to display in the unbounded plains of Scythia was exercised, on a more narrow theatre, in the parks and inclosures of Gaul. Gratian admired the talents and customs of these favourite guards, to whom alone he entrusted the defence of his person : and, as if he meant to insult the public opinion, he frequently shewed himself to the soldiers and people, with the dress and arms, the long bow, the "5 Qui divinae legis sanctitatem [aut] nesciendo omittunt {leg. confundunt] aut negligendo violant et offendunt, sacrilegium committunt. Codex Justinian. 1. ix. it. xxix. leg. I. Theodosius indeed may claim his share in the merit of this com- prehensive law. 8.A.mmianus (xxxi. lo) and the younger Victor [Epit. 47] acknowledge the virtues of Gratian, and accuse, or rather lament, his degenerate taste. The odious parallel of Commodus is saved by "licet incruentus"; and perhaps Philostorgius (1. X. c. 10, and Godefroy, p. 412) had guarded with some similar reserve the comparison of Nero.
