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OF THE KOMAN EMPIRE 163 his inglorious victory, Maximus would have obtained, without a struggle, the sole possession of the western empire. Instead of inviting his royal guests to the palace of Con- stantinople, Theodosius had some unknown reasons to fix their TheodosiuB residence at Thessalonica ; but these reasons did not proceed the cause of from contempt or indifference, as he speedily made a visit to a.d. sst that city, accompanied by the greatest part of his court and senate. After the first tender expressions of friendship and sympathy, the pious emperor of the East gently admonished Justina that the guilt of heresy was sometimes punished in this world as well as in the next ; and that the public profession of the Nicene faith would be the most efficacious step to promote the restoration of her son, by the satisfaction which it must occasion both on earth and in heaven. The momentous question of peace or war was referred, by Theodosius, to the deliberation of his council ; and the arguments which might be alleged on the side of honour and justice had acquired, since the death of Gratian, a considerable degree of additional weight. The per- secution of the Imperial family, to which Theodosius himself had been indebted for his fortune, was now aggravated by recent and repeated injuries. Neither oaths nor treaties could restrain the boundless ambition of Maximus ; and the delay of vigorous and decisive measures, instead of prolonging the bless- ings of peace, would expose the eastern empire to the danger of an hostile invasion. The Barbarians, who had passed the Danube, had lately assumed the character of soldiers and subjects, but their native fierceness was yet untamed ; and the operations of a war which would exercise their valour and diminish their numbers might tend to relieve the provinces from an intolerable oppression. Notwithstanding these specious and solid reasons, which were approved by a majority of the council, Theodosius still hesitated whether he should draw the sword in a contest which could no longer admit any terms of reconciliation ; and his magnanimous character was not dis- graced by the apprehensions which he felt for the safety of his infant sons and the welfare of his exhausted people. In this moment of anxious doubt, while the fate of the Roman world depended on the resolution of a single man, the charms of the princess Galla most powerfully pleaded the cause of her brother Valentinian."'^ The heart of Theodosius was softened 7«The flight of Valentinian and the love of Theodosius for his sister are related by Zosimias (1. iv. p. 263, 264 [c. 43]). Tillemont produces some weak and