120 THE DECLINE AND FALL Egypt, over which Valens had reigned, were resigned to the administration of the new emperor ; but, as he was specially intrusted with the conduct of the Gothic war, the Illyrian praefecture was dismembered ; and the two great dioceses of Dacia and Macedonia were added to the dominions of the Eastern empire. ^'^^ Birth and The Same province, and, perhaps, the same city,^'^'^ which had Sf^eoloBiuB given to the throne the virtues of Trajan and the talents of Hadrian, was the original seat of another family of Spaniards, who, in a less fortunate age, possessed, near fourscore years, the declining empire of Rome.^i*^ They emerged from the obscurity of municipal honours by the active spirit of the elder Theo- dosius, a general whose exploits in Britain and Africa have formed one of the most splendid parts of the annals of Valen- |T)omc. 346] tinian. The son of that general, who likewise bore the name of Theodosius, Avas educated, by skilful preceptors, in the Uberal studies of youth ; but he was instructed in the art of war by the tender care and severe discipline of his father.^^^ Under the standard of such a leader, young Theodosius sought glory and knowledge, in the most distant scenes of military action ; enured his constitution to the difference of seasons and climates ; distinguished his valour by sea and land ; and observed the various warfare of the Scots, the Saxons, and the Moors. His own merit, and the recommendation of the conqueror of Africa, [A.D. 373] soon raised him to a separate command ; and in the station of Duke of Mtesia, he vanquished an army of Sarmatians ; saved the province ; deserved the love of the soldiers ; and provoked the envy of the court. ^i- His rising fortunes were soon blasted [A.D. 376] by the disgrace and execution of his illustrious father ; and lOSTillemont, Hist, des Empereurs, torn. v. p. 716, &c. [Soz. vii. 4.] I'^/ta/ua, founded by Scipio Africanus for his wounded veterans of /iafy. The ruins still appear, about a league above Seville, on the opposite bank of the river. See the Hispania lUustrata of Nonius, a short, though valuable treatise. C. xvii. p. 64-67. 11" I agree with Tillemont (Hist, des Empereurs, torn. v. p. 726) in suspecting the royal pedigree, which remained a secret till the promotion of Theodosius. Even after that event the silence of Pacatus outweighs the venal evidence of Themistius, Victor, and Claudian, who connect the family of Theodosius with the blood of Trajan and Hadrian. 111 Pacatus compares, and consequently prefers, the youth of Theodosius to the military education of Alexander, Hannibal, and the second Africanus, who, like him, had served under their fathers (xii. 8). 112 Ammianus (.xix. 6) mentions this victory of Theodosius Junior Dux Maesise, prima etiam turn lanugine juvenis, princeps postea perspectissimus. The same fact is attested by Themistius and Zosimus ; but Theodoret (1. v. c. 5), who adds some curious circumstances, strangely applies it to the time of the interregnum, [Theodoret refers to another campaign in A.D. 378 ; see Appendix 7.]
