symptoms of discontent, the want of love and respect was not
supplied by the influence of fear. But the subversion of an
established government is always a work of some real, and of much
apparent, difficulty; and the throne of Gratian was protected by
the sanctions of custom, law, religion, and the nice balance of
the civil and military powers, which had been established by the
policy of Constantine. It is not very important to inquire from
what cause the revolt of Britain was produced. Accident is
commonly the parent of disorder; the seeds of rebellion happened
to fall on a soil which was supposed to be more fruitful than any
other in tyrants and usurpers; ^8 the legions of that sequestered
island had been long famous for a spirit of presumption and
arrogance; ^9 and the name of Maximus was proclaimed, by the
tumultuary, but unanimous voice, both of the soldiers and of the
provincials. The emperor, or the rebel, - for this title was not
yet ascertained by fortune, - was a native of Spain, the
countryman, the fellow-soldier, and the rival of Theodosius whose
elevation he had not seen without some emotions of envy and
resentment: the events of his life had long since fixed him in
Britain; and I should not be unwilling to find some evidence for
the marriage, which he is said to have contracted with the
daughter of a wealthy lord of Caernarvonshire. ^10 But this
provincial rank might justly be considered as a state of exile
and obscurity; and if Maximus had obtained any civil or military
office, he was not invested with the authority either of governor
or general. ^11 His abilities, and even his integrity, are
acknowledged by the partial writers of the age; and the merit
must indeed have been conspicuous that could extort such a
confession in favor of the vanquished enemy of Theodosius. The
discontent of Maximus might incline him to censure the conduct of