CHAP. X.
successor[1]. The tranquillity which the empire enjoyed
during the first year of his administration[2], served rather to inflame than to appease the public discontent;
and, as soon as the apprehensions of war were removed,
the infamy of the peace was more deeply and more sensibly felt.
Victory and revolt of Æmujanus.
A. D. 253.
But the Romans were irritated to a still higher degree, when they discovered that they had not even se-cured their repose, though at the expense of their
honour. The dangerous secret of the wealth and
weakness of the empire, had been revealed to the
world. New swarms of barbarians, encouraged by the
success, and not conceiving themselves bound by the
obligation of their brethren, spread devastation through
the Illyrian provinces, and terror as far as the gates of
Rome. The defence of the monarchy, which seemed
abandoned by the pusillanimous emperor, was assumed
by Æmilianus, governor of Pannonia and Mæasia; who
rallied the scattered forces, and revived the fainting
spirits of the troops. The barbarians were unexpectedly attacked, routed, chased, and pursued beyond the
Danube. The victorious leader distributed as a donative the money collected for the tribute; and the acclamations of the soldiers proclaimed him emperor on the
field of battle[3]. Gallus, who, careless of the general
welfare, indulged himself in the pleasures of Italy, was
almost in the same instant informed of the success, of
the revolt, and of the rapid approach, of his aspiring
lieutenant. He advanced to meet him as far as the
plains of Spoleto. When the armies came in sight of
each other, the soldiers of Gallus compared the ignominious conduct of their sovereign with the glory of his
rival. They admired the valour of Æmilianus;
Gallus abandoned and slain. A.D. 253. May.
they
were attracted by his liberality, for he offered a consderable increase of pay to all deserters[4]. The murder
of Gallus, and of his son Volusianus, put an end to the
