18 THE DECLINE AND FALL supposed to possess a supernatural influence it was an easy step to the use of more substantial poison ; and the folly of mankind sometimes became the instrument, and the mask, of the most atrocious crimes. As soon as the zeal of informers was en- couraged by the ministers of Valens and Valentinian, they could not refuse to listen to another charge, too frequently mingled in the scenes of domestic guilt ; a charge of a softer and less malignant nature, for which the pious, though excessive, rigour of Constantine had recently decreed the punishment of death. *^ This deadly and incoherent mixture of treason and magic, of poison and adultery, afforded infinite gradations of guilt and innocence, of excuse and aggravation, which in these proceedings appear to have been confounded by the angry or corrupt passions of the judges. They easily discovered that the degree of their industry and discernment was estimated, by the Im- perial court, according to the number of executions that were furnished from their respective tribunals. It was not without extreme reluctance that they pronounced a sentence of ac- quittal ; but they eagerly admitted such evidence as was stained with perjury, or procured by torture, to prove the most im- probable charges against the most respectable characters. The progress of the inquiry continually opened new subjects of crimi- nal prosecution ; the audacious informer, whose falsehood was detected, retired with impunity ; but the wretched victim, who discovered his real or pretended accomplices, was seldom per- mitted to receive the price of his infamy. From the extremity of Italy and Asia, the young and the aged were dragged in chains to the tribunals of Rome and Antioch. Senators, matrons, and philosophers expired in ignominious and cruel tortures. The soldiers, who were appointed to guard the prisons, declared, with a murmur of pity and indignation, that their numbers were insufficient to oppose the flight or resistance of the multitude of captives. The wealthiest famiHes were ruined by fines and confiscations ; the most innocent citizens trembled for their safety ; and we may form some notion of the magnitude of the evil from the extravagant assertion of an ancient writer that, in the obnoxious provinces, the prisoners, the exiles, and the fugitives formed the greatest part of the inhabitants.^^ "ssSee Heineccius Antiquitat. Juris Roman, torn. ii. p. 353, &c. Cod. Theo- dosian. 1. ix. tit. 7 with Godefroy's Commentary. ^The cruel persecution of Rome and Antioch is described, and most probably exaggerated, by Ammianus (xxviii. i, xxix. i, 2), and Zosimus (L iv. p. 216-218
