mind of his
pupil. But the respectful attachment of Honorius was converted into
fear, suspicion, and hatred. The crafty Olympius, [104] who concealed
his vices under the mask of Christian piety, had secretly undermined the
benefactor, by whose favor he was promoted to the honorable offices of
the Imperial palace. Olympius revealed to the unsuspecting emperor,
who had attained the twenty-fifth year of his age, that he was without
weight, or authority, in his own government; and artfully alarmed his
timid and indolent disposition by a lively picture of the designs of
Stilicho, who already meditated the death of his sovereign, with the
ambitious hope of placing the diadem on the head of his son Eucherius.
The emperor was instigated, by his new favorite, to assume the tone
of independent dignity; and the minister was astonished to find, that
secret resolutions were formed in the court and council, which were
repugnant to his interest, or to his intentions. Instead of residing in
the palace of Rome, Honorius declared that it was his pleasure to return
to the secure fortress of Ravenna. On the first intelligence of the
death of his brother Arcadius, he prepared to visit Constantinople,
and to regulate, with the authority of a guardian, the provinces of
the infant Theodosius. [105] The representation of the difficulty and
expense of such a distant expedition, checked this strange and sudden
sally of active diligence; but the dangerous project of showing the
emperor to the camp of Pavia, which was composed of the Roman troops,
the enemies of Stilicho, and his Barbarian auxiliaries, remained
fixed and unalterable. The minister was pressed, by the advice of his
confidant, Justinian, a Roman advocate, of a lively and penetrating
genius, to oppose a journey so prejudicial to his reputation and safety.
His strenuous but ineffectual efforts confirmed the triumph of Olympius;
and the prudent lawyer withdrew himself from the impending ruin of his
patron.

[Footnote 104: He came from the coast of the Euxine, and exercised a
splendid office. His actions justify his character, which Zosimus (l. v.
p. 340) exposes with visible satisfaction. Augustin revered the piety
of Olympius, whom he styles a true son of the church, (Baronius, Annal.
Eccles, Eccles. A.D. 408, No. 19, &c. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xiii.
p. 467, 468.) But these praises, which the African saint so unworthily
bestows, might proceed as well from ignorance as from adulati