5/36 Toll.) applauds the peculiar merit and good fortune of Aquileia.] The orator, who may be silent without danger, may praise without difficulty, and without reluctance; [78] and posterity will confess, that the character of Theodosius [79] might furnish the subject of a sincere and ample panegyric. The wisdom of his laws, and the success of his arms, rendered his administration respectable in the eyes both of his subjects and of his enemies. He loved and practised the virtues of domestic life, which seldom hold their residence in the palaces of kings. Theodosius was chaste and temperate; he enjoyed, without excess, the sensual and social pleasures of the table; and the warmth of his amorous passions was never diverted from their lawful objects. |