Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/305

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 283 resounded with the acclamations of the people, " Long life and victory to Charles, the most pious Augustus, crowned by God, the great and pacific emperor of the Romans ! " The head and body of Charlemagne were consecrated by the royal unction ; after the example of the Ca?sars he was saluted or adored by the pontiff; his coronation oath represents a promise to maintain the faith and privileges of the church ; and the first-fruits were paid in his rich offerings to the shrine of the apostle. In his familiar conversation, the emperor protested his ignorance of the intentions of Leo, which he would have disappointed by his absence on that memorable day. But the preparations of the ceremony must have disclosed the secret ; and the journey of Charlemagne reveals his knowledge and expectation : he had acknowledged that the imperial title was the object of his ambition, and a Roman senate had pronounced that it was the only adequate reward of his merit and services,^^ The appellation of great has been often bestowed and some- Reign and times deserved, but Charlemagne is the only prince in whose chariemagna. AD 768-814 favour the title has been indissolubly blended with the name.-'-' That name, with the addition of saiiii, is inserted in the Roman calendar ; and the saint, by a rare felicity, is crowned with the praises of the historians and philosophers of an enlightened age. 100 His real merit is doubtless enhanced by the barbarism of the nation and the times from which he emerged ; but the 98 This great event of the translation or restoration of the empire is related and discussed by Natalis Alexander (secul. ix. dissert, i. p. 390-397), Pagi (torn. iii. p. 418), Muratori (Annali d'ltalia, torn. vi. p. 339-352), Sigonius (de Regno Italise, 1. iv. Opp. torn. ii. p. 247-251), Spanheim (de ficta Translatione Imperii), Giannone (torn. i. p. 395-405), St. Marc (Abr6g6 Chronologique, tom. i. p. 438-450), Gaillard (Hist, de Charlemagne, tom. ii. p. 386-446). Almost all these moderns have some religious or national bias. [The Pope's act was a surprise to Charles, who would have wished to become Emperor in some other way — how we know not. There is an interesting discussion of the question in Bryce's Holy Roman Empire, c. 5.] ^ [The question has been raised whether Charlemagne is nothing more than a popular equivalent of Carolus Magnus. The fact that magnus was a purely literary word (even in the days of Cicero there can be little doubt .'h2i. gratniis was the ordinary colloquial word) seemed an objection ; and it was held by Mr. Freeman that Charlemagne arose originally from a confusion with Carlomatt, and was then established in use by a false connexion with Carolus Magnus.] 10" By Mably (Observations sur I'Histoire de France), Voltaire (Histoire G6n^rale), Robertson (History of Charles V.), and Montesquieu (Esprit des Loix, 1. .xxxi. c. 18). In the year 1782, M. Gaillard published his Histoire de Char- lemagne (in 4 vols, in i2mo), which I have freely and profitably used. The author is a man of sense and humanity ; and his work is laboured with in- dustry and elegance. But I have likewise examined the original monuments of the reigns of Pepin and Charlemagne, in the fifth volume of the Historians of France.