Chapter XVIII: Constantine and his successors
Read it here or here.
1) Good quotes
Summary of Constantine's reign: The general peace which he maintained during the last fourteen years of his reign was a period of apparent splendour rather than of real prosperity; and the old age of Constantine was disgraced by the opposite yet reconcilable vices of rapaciousness and prodigality.
The peculiar pre-natal coronation of Shapur II: Although Sapor was in the thirtieth year of his long reign [in 339 AD], he was still in the vigour of youth, as the date of his accession, by a very strange fatality, had preceded that of his birth. The wife of Hormouz remained pregnant at the time of her husband's death, and the uncertainty of the sex, as well as of the event, excited the ambitious hopes of the princes of the house of Sassan. The apprehensions of civil war were at length removed by the positive assurance of the Magi that the widow of Hormouz had conceived, and would safely produce a son. Obedient to the voice of superstition, the Persians prepared, without delay, the ceremony of his coronation. A royal bed, on which the queen lay in state, was exhibited in the midst of the palace; the diadem was placed on the spot which might be supposed to conceal the future heir of Artaxerxes, and the prostrate satraps adored the majesty of their invisible and insensible sovereign.
The miraculous defence of Nisibis by St James, bishop of Edessa: [He] sent an army of gnats to sting the trunks of the elephants.
Gibbon seems to have made a rare slip of nomenclature here: as far as I can tell from Gibbon's source and other evidence, this particular James was bishop of Nisibis, not of Edessa, at least at the time of the siege. Though I find another source suggesting that James actually died during the siege and was credited with intercession for his people in heaven. In addition, there is confusion as to whether this is the siege of Nisibis in 350 or at some other time.
2) Summary
This is a very good narrative chapter. Most of the first half is about the reign of Constantine and the rather bloodthirsty way he dealt with his own family; the second half then tracks the rise to absolute power of his son Constantius, overcoming his own relatives and the usurpers Magnentius and Vetranio. There are parentheses about the Sarmatians, the Goths, the Persian empire and the siege of Nisibis. Lots of excellent details.
3) Points arising
i) Constantine: good or bad?
Once again I question Gibbon's characterisation of yet another apparently stable and successful reign as "a period of apparent splendour rather than of real prosperity". How "real" do you want your prosperity to be? I suspect that the Roman citizen of the time would have considered the absence of war and the freedom of trade across the empire as rather more than just "apparent".
ii) Calocerus
I would love to know more about "the contemptible insurrection of a camel-driver in the island of Cyprus"; Gibbon tells us that "Calocerus, the obscure leader of this rebellion, or rather tumult, was apprehended and burnt alive in the market-place of Tarsus, by the vigilance of Dalmatius." He further advises us to "See the elder Victor, the Chronicle of Jerom, and the doubtful traditions of Theophanes and Cedrenus." I would like to find an executive summary somewhere.
iii) Nisibis
I am familiar with the later role played by the city of Nisibis in preserving classical learning for the Islamic world (and also the related reasons why one might get it confused with Edessa); I wonder if Gibbon will mention that when we get to the relevant place?
iv) Christianity
Again barely mentioned here.
4) Coming Next
Constantius, Gallus and Julian - read it here or here.
1) Good quotes
Summary of Constantine's reign: The general peace which he maintained during the last fourteen years of his reign was a period of apparent splendour rather than of real prosperity; and the old age of Constantine was disgraced by the opposite yet reconcilable vices of rapaciousness and prodigality.
The peculiar pre-natal coronation of Shapur II: Although Sapor was in the thirtieth year of his long reign [in 339 AD], he was still in the vigour of youth, as the date of his accession, by a very strange fatality, had preceded that of his birth. The wife of Hormouz remained pregnant at the time of her husband's death, and the uncertainty of the sex, as well as of the event, excited the ambitious hopes of the princes of the house of Sassan. The apprehensions of civil war were at length removed by the positive assurance of the Magi that the widow of Hormouz had conceived, and would safely produce a son. Obedient to the voice of superstition, the Persians prepared, without delay, the ceremony of his coronation. A royal bed, on which the queen lay in state, was exhibited in the midst of the palace; the diadem was placed on the spot which might be supposed to conceal the future heir of Artaxerxes, and the prostrate satraps adored the majesty of their invisible and insensible sovereign.
The miraculous defence of Nisibis by St James, bishop of Edessa: [He] sent an army of gnats to sting the trunks of the elephants.
Gibbon seems to have made a rare slip of nomenclature here: as far as I can tell from Gibbon's source and other evidence, this particular James was bishop of Nisibis, not of Edessa, at least at the time of the siege. Though I find another source suggesting that James actually died during the siege and was credited with intercession for his people in heaven. In addition, there is confusion as to whether this is the siege of Nisibis in 350 or at some other time.
2) Summary
This is a very good narrative chapter. Most of the first half is about the reign of Constantine and the rather bloodthirsty way he dealt with his own family; the second half then tracks the rise to absolute power of his son Constantius, overcoming his own relatives and the usurpers Magnentius and Vetranio. There are parentheses about the Sarmatians, the Goths, the Persian empire and the siege of Nisibis. Lots of excellent details.
3) Points arising
i) Constantine: good or bad?
Once again I question Gibbon's characterisation of yet another apparently stable and successful reign as "a period of apparent splendour rather than of real prosperity". How "real" do you want your prosperity to be? I suspect that the Roman citizen of the time would have considered the absence of war and the freedom of trade across the empire as rather more than just "apparent".
ii) Calocerus
I would love to know more about "the contemptible insurrection of a camel-driver in the island of Cyprus"; Gibbon tells us that "Calocerus, the obscure leader of this rebellion, or rather tumult, was apprehended and burnt alive in the market-place of Tarsus, by the vigilance of Dalmatius." He further advises us to "See the elder Victor, the Chronicle of Jerom, and the doubtful traditions of Theophanes and Cedrenus." I would like to find an executive summary somewhere.
iii) Nisibis
I am familiar with the later role played by the city of Nisibis in preserving classical learning for the Islamic world (and also the related reasons why one might get it confused with Edessa); I wonder if Gibbon will mention that when we get to the relevant place?
iv) Christianity
Again barely mentioned here.
4) Coming Next
Constantius, Gallus and Julian - read it here or here.