History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 4Gibbon, Edward
History
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 4
Gibbon, Edward
Byzantine Empire -- History -- To 527; Rome -- History -- Empire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D.
22 (return) [ The relics of St. Augustin were carried by the
African bishops to their Sardinian exile, (A.D. 500;) and it was
believed, in the viiith century, that Liutprand, king of the
Lombards, transported them (A.D. 721) from Sardinia to Pavia. In
the year 1695, the Augustan friars of that city found a brick
arch, marble coffin, silver case, silk wrapper, bones, blood,
&c., and perhaps an inscription of Agostino in Gothic letters.
But this useful discovery has been disputed by reason and
jealousy, (Baronius, Annal. A.D. 725, No. 2-9. Tillemont, Mem.
Eccles. tom. xiii. p. 944. Montfaucon, Diarium Ital. p. 26-30.
Muratori, Antiq. Ital. Medii Aevi, tom. v. dissert. lviii. p. 9,
who had composed a separate treatise before the decree of the
bishop of Pavia, and Pope Benedict XIII.)]
Belisarius spoke the language of truth. The surviving Vandals
yielded, without resistance, their arms and their freedom; the
neighborhood of Carthage submitted to his presence; and the more
distant provinces were successively subdued by the report of his
victory. Tripoli was confirmed in her voluntary allegiance;
Sardinia and Corsica surrendered to an officer, who carried,
instead of a sword, the head of the valiant Zano; and the Isles
of Majorca, Minorca, and Yvica consented to remain an humble
appendage of the African kingdom. Caesarea, a royal city, which
in looser geography may be confounded with the modern Algiers,
was situate thirty days’ march to the westward of Carthage: by
land, the road was infested by the Moors; but the sea was open,
and the Romans were now masters of the sea. An active and
discreet tribune sailed as far as the Straits, where he occupied
Septem or Ceuta, 23 which rises opposite to Gibraltar on the
African coast; that remote place was afterwards adorned and
fortified by Justinian; and he seems to have indulged the vain
ambition of extending his empire to the columns of Hercules. He
received the messengers of victory at the time when he was
preparing to publish the Pandects of the Roman laws; and the
devout or jealous emperor celebrated the divine goodness, and
confessed, in silence, the merit of his successful general. 24
Impatient to abolish the temporal and spiritual tyranny of the
Vandals, he proceeded, without delay, to the full establishment
of the Catholic church. Her jurisdiction, wealth, and immunites,
perhaps the most essential part of episcopal religion, were
restored and amplified with a liberal hand; the Arian worship was
suppressed; the Donatist meetings were proscribed; 25 and the
synod of Carthage, by the voice of two hundred and seventeen
bishops, 26 applauded the just measure of pious retaliation. On
such an occasion, it may not be presumed, that many orthodox
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