History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I. to the Death of Justinian: (A. D. 395 to A. D. 565)

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Macmillan and Company, limited, 1923 - Byzantine Empire
 

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Page 272 - Gothic historian, bore the stamp of his national origin; and the portrait of Attila exhibits the genuine deformity of a modern Calmuk; a large head, a swarthy complexion, small, deep-seated eyes, a flat nose, a few hairs in the place of a beard, broad shoulders, and a short square body, of nervous strength, though of a disproportioned form.
Page 285 - They have numerous ways of conferring freedom; they can manumit not only during life, but also by their wills, and the testamentary wishes of a Roman in regard to his property are law." My interlocutor shed tears, and confessed that the laws and constitution of the Romans were fair, but deplored that the governors, not possessing the spirit of former generations, were ruining the State.
Page 114 - They were everywhere, when they were least expected, and their speed outstripped the rumour of their approach ; they spared neither religion nor dignity nor age ; they showed no pity to the cry of infancy. Babes, who had not yet begun to live, were forced to die; and, ignorant of the evil that was upon them, as they were held in the hands and threatened by the swords of the enemy, there was a smile upon their lips. There was a consistent and universal report that Jerusalem was the goal of the foes,...
Page 285 - ... and transgress against the Deity, the institutor of justice. . . . The Romans treat their servants better than the king of the Scythians treats his subjects. They deal with them as fathers or teachers, admonishing them to abstain from evil and follow the lines of conduct which they have esteemed honourable; they reprove them for their errors like their own children. They are not allowed, like the Scythians, to inflict death on them. They have numerous ways of conferring freedom; they can manumit...
Page 283 - Greek readily, except captives from the Thracian or Illyrian seacoast ; and these last are easily known to any stranger by their torn garments and the squalor of their head, as men who have met with a reverse. This man, on the contrary, resembled a well-to-do Scythian, being well dressed, and having his hair cut in a circle after Scythian fashion. Having returned his salutation, I asked him who he was and whence he had come into a foreign land and adopted Scythian...
Page 408 - The phrase is inaccurate and unfortunate, and sets the changes which befell in a false light. No Empire fell in AD 476 ; there was no " Western Empire " to fall. There was only one Roman Empire, which sometimes was governed by two or more Augusti.
Page 345 - They wore high tight tunics of varied color hardly descending to their bare knees, the sleeves covering only the upper arm. Green mantles they had with crimson borders; baldrics supported swords hung from their shoulders, and pressed on sides covered with cloaks of skin secured by brooches. No small part of their adornment consisted of their arms; in their hands they grasped barbed spears and throwing axes; their left sides were guarded by shields, which flashed with tawny golden bosses and snowy...
Page 279 - Bigilas remarked that it was not fair to compare a man and a god, meaning Attila by the man and Theodosius by the god. The Huns grew excited and hot at this remark. But we turned the conversation in another direction, and soothed their wounded feelings ; and after dinner, when we separated, Maximin presented Edecon and Orestes with silk garments and Indian gems. . . . When we arrived at Naissus we found the city deserted, as though it had been sacked ; only a few sick persons lay in the Churches....
Page 145 - ... wherefore he was proclaimed emperor at his birth. And there was great joy in the city, and men were sent to the cities of the Empire, bearing the good news, with gifts and bounties. But the empress, who had only just been delivered and arisen from her chair of confinement, sent Amantius to us with this message: " I thank Christ that God bestowed on me a son on account of your holy prayers. Pray then, fathers, for his life and for my lowly self, in order that I may fulfil those things which I...
Page 261 - Po may pierce your ears; the city frogs may croak and swarm on every side, but you know very well that you are better off in exile at Ravenna than at home. In that marsh of yours the laws of everything are always the wrong way about; the waters stand and the walls fall, the towers float and the ships stick fast, the sick man walks and the doctor lies abed, the baths are chill and the houses blaze, the dead swim and the quick are dry, the powers are asleep and the thieves wide awake, the clergy live...

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