eir conspiracy by striking him dead. His most faithful friends
perished with him; others were dismissed from court and army; and some
suffered the cruelest treatment from the unfeeling usurper. Thus it was
that the imperial dignity descended from the noblest citizens of Rome to
a peasant of a distant province of barbarian origin. It was one of the
most striking steps in the decline of the empire.

The new emperor was a man of extraordinary physical powers. He is said
to have been more than eight feet in height, while his strength and
appetite were in accordance with his gigantic stature. It is stated that
he could drink seven gallons of wine and eat thirty or forty pounds of
meat in a day, and could move a loaded wagon with his arms, break a
horse's leg with his fist, crumble stones in his hands, and tear up
small trees by the roots. His mental powers did not accord with his
physical ones. He was savage of aspect, ignorant of civilized arts,
destitute of accomplishments, and ruthless in disposition.

He had the virtues of the camp, and these had endeared him to the
soldiers, but his barbarian origin, his savage appearance, and his
rudeness and ignorance were the contempt of cultivated people, and had
gained him many rebuffs in his humbler days. He was now in a position to
revenge himself, not only on the haughty nobles who had treated him with
contempt, but even on former friends who were aware of his mean
origin,--of which he was heartily ashamed. For both these crimes many
were put to death, and the slaughter of several of his former
benefactors has stained the memory of Maximin with the basest
ingratitude.

Rome, in the strange progress of its history, had raised a savage to the
imperial seat, and it suffered accordingly. A scion of the despised
barbarians of the northern forests was now its emperor, and he visited
on the proud citizens of Rome the wrongs of his ancestors. The suspicion
and cruelty of Maximin were unbounded and unrelenting. A consular
senator named Magnus was accused of a conspiracy against his life.
Without trial or opportunity for defence Magnus was put to death, with
no less than four thousand supposed accomplices.

This was but an incident in a frightful reign of terror. The emperor
kept aloof from his capital, but he filled Rome, and the whole empire,
in fact, with spies and informers. The slightest accusation or suspicion
was sufficient for the blood-thirsty tyrant. On a mere unproved charge