Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/95

OF THE KOMAN EMPIRE 75 account of the wealth which he inherited : one hundred and nine thousand pounds of ijold, and three hundred thousand of silver, the fruits of her own economy and that of her deceased husband."'^ The avarice of Basil is not less renowned than his valour and fortune : his victorious armies were paid and re- warded without breaking into the mass of two hundred thou- sand pounds of gold (about eight millions sterling) which he had buried in the subterraneous vaults of the palace. ^^ Such accumulation of treasure is rejected by the theory and practice of modern policy ; and we are more apt to compute the na- tional riches by the use and abuse of the public credit. Yet the maxims of antiquity are still embraced l)y a monarch for- midable to his enemies ; by a republic respectable to her allies ; and both have attained their respective ends, of military power and domestic tranquillity. Whatever might be consumed for the present wants, or re- Pomp and served for the future use, of the state, the first and most sacred the emperors demand was for the pomp and pleasure of the emperor ; and his discretion only could define the measure of his private ex- pense. The princes of Constantinople were far removed from the simplicity of nature ; yet, with the revolving seasons, they were led by taste or fashion to withdraw to a purer air from the smoke and tumult of the capital. They enjoyed, or affected to enjoy, the rustic festival of the vintage ; their leisure was amused by the exercise of the chase, and the calmer occupation of fishinjj ; and in the summer heats they were shaded from the sun and refreshed by the cooling breezes from the sea. The coasts and islands of Asia and Europe were covered with their magnificent villas ; but, instead of the modest art which secretly strives to hide itself and to decorate the scenerv' of nature, the marble structure of their gardens served only to expose the riches of the lord and the labours of the architect. The suc- cessive casualties of inheritance and forfeiture had rendered the sovereign proprietor of many stately houses in the city and suburbs, of which twelve Avere appropriated to the ministers of state; but the ijreat palace,'^- the centre of the Imperial resi- The palace ^ ^ * of ConsUn- tinople ^See the continuator of Theophanes (1. iv. p. 107 [p. 172, ed. Bonn]), Ce- drcnus (p. 544 [ii. p. 158, ed. Bonn]), and Zonaras (torn. ii. 1. xvi. p. 157 ^c. 2]). ^ Zonaras (torn. ii. 1. xvii. p. 225 'c. 8]), instead of pounds, uses the more classic appellation of talents, which, in a literal sense and strict computation, would multiply sixty-fold the treasure of Basil. ^ For a copious and minute description of the Imperial palace, see the Con- Slanlinop. Clirisiiana (1. ii. c. 4, p. 113-123) of Ducanf;c, the Tillcniontof the middle