44 THE DECLINE AND FALL [Chap, xxxvi from a peace with the Greek emperor ; he suggested the attack of the Britons on the Loire ; and he recommended a division of Gaul, according to the law of nations, between the Visigoths and the Burgundians. 108 These pernicious schemes, which a friend could only palliate by the reproaches of vanity and in- discretion, were susceptible of a treasonable interpretation ; and the deputies had artfully resolved not to produce their most formidable weapons till the decisive moment of the con- test. But their intentions were discovered by the zeal of Sidonius. He immediately apprized the unsuspecting criminal of his danger; and sincerely lamented, without any mixture of anger, the haughty presumption of Arvandus, who rejected, and even resented, the salutary advice of his friends. Ignorant of his real situation, Arvandus shewed himself in the Capitol in the white robe of a candidate, accepted indiscriminate salu- tations and offers of service, examined ' the shops of the merchants, the silks and gems, sometimes with the indiffer- ence of a spectator, and sometimes with the attention of a purchaser ; and complained of the times, of the senate, of the prince, and of the delays of justice. His complaints were soon removed. An early day was fixed for his trial ; and Arvandus appeared, with his accusers, before a numerous assembly of the Koman senate. The mournful garb which they affected ex- cited the compassion of the judges, who were scandalized by the gay and splendid dress of their adversary ; and, when the praefect Arvandus, with the first of the Gallic deputies, were directed to take their places on the senatorial benches, the same contrast of pride and modesty was observed in their behaviour. In this memorable judgment, which presented a lively image of the old republic, the Gauls exposed, with force and freedom, the grievances of the province ; and, as soon as the minds of the audience were sufficiently inflamed, they recited the fatal epistle. The obstinacy of Arvandus was founded on the strange supposition that a subject could not be 108 Haec ad regem Gothorum charta videbatur emitti, pacem cum Greece- Irn- peratore dissuadens, Britarmos super Ligerirn sitos impugnari oportere demonstrans, cum Burgundionibus jure gentium Gallias dividi debere confirmans. [The affair of Arvandus was part of a tissue of intrigues, which, Martroye thinks, were spun by Genseric. If Kicimer was privy to the correspondence with Euric, this would explain the haughty insolence of Arvandus at his trial ; he would have counted on Ricimer's support. Martroye, Genseric, pp. 234-5.]
