OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 21 of Maximin. The cages of those trusty guards were always placed near the bed-chamber of Valentinian, who frequently amused his eyes with the grateful spectacle of seeing them tear and devour the bleeding limbs of the malefactors who were abandoned to their rage. Their diet and exercises were carefully inspected by the Roman emperor ; and, when Innocence had earned her discharge by a long course of meritorious service, the faithful animal was again restored to the freedom of her native woods.*^^ But in the calmer moments of reflection, when the mmd of Their uws Valens was not agitated by fear, or that of Valentinian by rage, ment^°^*'^°' the tyrant resumed the sentiments, or at least the conduct, of the father of his country. The dispassionate judgment of the Western emperor could clearly perceive, and accurately pursue, his own and the public interest ; and the sovereign of the East, who imitated with equal docility the various examples which he received from his elder brother, was sometimes guided by the wisdom and virtue of the praefect Sallust. Both princes invariably retained, in the purple, the chaste and temperate simplicity which had adorned their private life ; and, under their reign, the pleasures of the court never cost the people a blush or a sigh. They gradually reformed many of the abuses of the times of Constantius ; judiciously adopted and improved the designs of Julian and his successor ; and displayed a style and spirit of legislation which might inspire posterity with the most favourable opinion of their character and govern- ment. It is not from the master of Innocence that we should expect the tender regard for the welfare of his subjects which prompted Valentinian to condemn the exposition of new- born infants ; ^^ and to establish fourteen skilful physicians, with stipends and privileges, in the fourteen quarters of Rome. The good sense of an illiterate soldier founded an useful and liberal institution for the education of youth, and the support of de- clining science.^^ It was his intention that the arts of rhetoric ^ Ut bene meritam in silvas jussit abiri Innoxiam. Ammian. xxix. 3, and Valesius ad locum. ^'- See the Code of Justinian, 1. viii. tit. lii. leg. 2. Unusquisque sobolem suam nutriat. Quod si exponendam putaverit animadversioni quae constituta est subjacebit. For the present I shall not interfere in the dispute between Noodt and Binkershoek ; how far, or how long, this unnatural practice had been condemned or abolished by law, philosophy, and the more civilized state of society. [C. Theod. ix. 14, i.] ^3 These salutary institutions are explained in the Theodosian Code, 1. xiii. t. iii. De professoribus et A/edicis, and 1. xiv. tit. ix. Dc Studiis liberalibus Urbis RomcB. Besides our usual guide (Godefroy), we may consult Giannone (Istoria di Napoli. tom. i. p. 105-111), who has treated the interesting subject with the zeal and curiosity of a man of letters who studies his domestic history.
