al throne. But some remains of pride and prejudice still opposed
the elevation of Arbogastes himself; and the judicious Barbarian thought
it more advisable to reign under the name of some dependent Roman.
He bestowed the purple on the rhetorician Eugenius; [109] whom he had
already raised from the place of his domestic secretary to the rank of
master of the offices. In the course, both of his private and public
service, the count had always approved the attachment and abilities of
Eugenius; his learning and eloquence, supported by the gravity of his
manners, recommended him to the esteem of the people; and the reluctance
with which he seemed to ascend the throne, may inspire a favorable
prejudice of his virtue and moderation. The ambassadors of the new
emperor were immediately despatched to the court of Theodosius, to
communicate, with affected grief, the unfortunate accident of the death
of Valentinian; and, without mentioning the name of Arbogastes, to
request, that the monarch of the East would embrace, as his lawful
colleague, the respectable citizen, who had obtained the unanimous
suffrage of the armies and provinces of the West. [110] Theodosius was
justly provoked, that the perfidy of a Barbarian, should have destroyed,
in a moment, the labors, and the fruit, of his former victory; and he
was excited by the tears of his beloved wife, [111] to revenge the fate
of her unhappy brother, and once more to assert by arms the violated
majesty of the throne. But as the second conquest of the West was a task
of difficulty and danger, he dismissed, with splendid presents, and an
ambiguous answer, the ambassadors of Eugenius; and almost two years
were consumed in the preparations of the civil war. Before he formed any
decisive resolution, the pious emperor was anxious to discover the will
of Heaven; and as the progress of Christianity had silenced the oracles
of Delphi and Dodona, he consulted an Egyptian monk, who possessed,
in the opinion of the age, the gift of miracles, and the knowledge
of futurity. Eutropius, one of the favorite eunuchs of the palace of
Constantinople, embarked for Alexandria, from whence he sailed up the
Nile, as far as the city of Lycopolis, or of Wolves, in the remote
province of Thebais. [112] In the neighborhood of that city, and on the
summit of a lofty mountain, the holy John [113] had constructed, with
his own hands, an humble cell, in which he had dwelt above fifty years,
without opening his doo