After _Julian_ had opened the
Temples, and restored the worship of the heathens, the Emperors
_Valentinian_ and _Valens_ tolerated it all their reign; and therefore the
Prophecy of the sixth seal was not fully accomplished before the reign of
their successor _Gratian_. It was the custom of the heathen Priests, in the
beginning of the reign of every sovereign Emperor, to offer him the dignity
and habit of the _Pontifex Maximus_. This dignity all Emperors had hitherto
accepted: but _Gratian_ rejected it, threw down the idols, interdicted the
sacrifices, and took away their revenues with the salaries and authority of
the Priests. _Theodosius_ the great followed his example; and heathenism
afterwards recovered itself no more, but decreased so fast, that
_Prudentius_, about ten years after the death of _Theodosius_, called the
heathens, _vix pauca ingenia & pars hominum rarissima_. Whence the affairs
of the sixth seal ended with the reign of _Valens_, or rather with the
beginning of the reign of _Theodosius_, when he, like his predecessor
_Gratian_, rejected the dignity of _Pontifex Maximus_. For the _Romans_
were very much infested by the invasions of foreign nations in the reign of
_Valentinian_ and _Valens_: _Hoc tempore_, saith _Ammianus_, _velut per
universum orbem Romanum bellicum canentibus buccinis, excitae gentes
saevissimae limites sibi proximos persultabant: Gallias Rhaetiasque simul
Alemanni populabantur: Sarmatae Pannonias & Quadi: Picti, Saxones, & Scoti &
Attacotti Britannos aerumnis vexavere continuis: Austoriani, Mauricaeque aliae
gentes Africam solito acrius incursabant: Thracias diripiebant praedatorii
globi Gotthorum: Persarum Rex manus Armeniis injectabat_.
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