58 THE DECLINE AND FALL that the best of omens is to unsheath our sword in the defence of our country.*' Under the pretence of receiving the am- bassadors of Persia, the emperor returned to Constantinople, exchanged the thoughts of war for those of devotion, and dis- appointed the public hope by his absence and the choice of his lieutenants. The blind partiality of fraternal love might [A.D. S9S] excuse the promotion of his brother Peter, who fled with equal disgrace from the barbarians, from his own soldiers, and from the inhabitants of a Roman city. That city, if we may credit the I'esemblance of name and character, was the famous Azimun- tium,'* which had alone repelled the tempest of Attila. The example of her warlike youth was propagated to succeeding generations ; and they obtained, from the first or the second Justin, an honourable privilege, that their valour should be always reserved for the defence of their native country. The brother of Maurice jittempted to violate this privilege, and to mingle a patriot band with the mercenaries of his camp ; they retired to the church, he was not awed by the sanctity of the place ; the people rose in their cause, the gates were shut, the ramparts were manned ; and the cowardice of Peter was found equal to his arrogance and injustice. The military fame of [Campaign of Commcntiolus " is the object of satire or comedy rather than A.D. 600] of serious history, since he was even deficient in the vile and vulgar qualification of personal courage. His solemn councils, strange evolutions, and secret orders always supplied an apology for flight or delay. If he marched against the enemy, the pleasant valleys of mount Haemus opposed an insuperable barrier ; but in his retreat he explored, with fearless curiosity, the most difficult and obsolete paths, which had almost escaped the memory of the oldest native. The only blood which he lost was drawn, in a real or affected malady, by the lancet of a surgeon ; and his health, which felt with exquisite sensibility the approach of the barbarians, was uniformly restored by the repose and safety of the winter season. A prince who could ■*• Ets oiu-'vos apKTTOt aixvi'ScrBai nep'i Trdrprj?. Iliad, xil. 243. This noble verse, which unites the spirit of an hero with the reason of a sage, may prove that Homer was in every light superior to his age and country. ■*" Theophylact, 1. vii. c. 3. On the evidence of this fact, which had not occurred to my memory, the candid reader will correct and exxuse a note in the iiird volume of this history, p. 432, which hastens the decay of Asimus, or Azimuntium : an- other century of patriotism and valour is cheaply purchased by such a confession.
- '• See the shameful conduct of Comnientiolus, in Theophylact, 1. ii. c. 10-15, .'•
vii. c. 13, 14, 1. viii. c. 2, 4. [On the chronology of these Avar campaigns in Theophylactus see the editor's article in Eng. Histor. Review, April, i388,]
