Having gradually vanquished the most dangerous enemies of the Empire, Theodosius has been censured for allowing them to settle in the provinces they had desolated, and still more for incorporating fifty thousand of their warriors in the imperial armies, since they were secret enemies, and would burst through their limits whenever an opportunity offered.  But they were really too formidable to be driven back beyond the frontiers of the crumbling Empire.  Theodosius could only procure a period of peace; and this was not to be secured save by adroit flatteries.  The day was past for the extermination of the Goths by Roman soldiers, who had already thrown away their defensive armor; nor was it possible that they would amalgamate with the people of the Empire, as the Celtic barbarians had done in Spain and Gaul after the victories of Caesar.  Though the kingly power was taken away from them and they fought bravely under the imperial standards, it was evident from their insolence and their contempt of the effeminate masters that the day was not distant when they would be the conquerors of the Empire.  It does not speak well for an empire that it is held together by the virtues and abilities of a single man.  Nor could the fate of the Roman empire be doubtful when barbarians were allowed to settle in its provinces; for after the death of Valens the Goths never abandoned the Roman territory.  They took possession of Thrace, as Saxons and Danes took possession of England.

After the conciliation of the Goths,—­for we cannot call it the conquest,—­Theodosius was obliged to turn his attention to the affairs of the Western Empire; for he ruled only the Eastern provinces.  It would seem that Gratian, who had called him to his assistance to preserve the East from the barbarians, was now in trouble in the West.  He had not fulfilled the great expectation that had been formed of him.  He degraded himself in the eyes of the Romans by his absorbing passion for the pleasures of the chase; while public affairs imperatively demanded his attention.  He received a body of Alans into the military and domestic service of the palace.  He was indolent and pleasure-seeking, but was awakened from his inglorious sports by a revolt in Britain.  Maximus, a native of Spain and governor of the island, had been proclaimed emperor by his soldiers.  He invaded Gaul with a large fleet and army, followed by the youth of Britain, and was received with acclamations by the armies of that province.  Gratian, then residing in Paris, fled to Lyons, deserted by his troops, and was assassinated by the orders of Maximus.  The usurper was now acknowledged by the Western provinces as emperor, and was too powerful to be resisted at that time by Theodosius, who accepted his ambassadors, and made a treaty with the usurper by which he was permitted to reign over Britain, Gaul, and Spain, provided that the other Western provinces, including Wales, should accept and acknowledge Valentinian,