Those princes were not permitted to share the danger and glory of the civil war; [123] but as soon as Theodosius had triumphed over his unworthy rivals, he called his younger son, Honorius, to enjoy the fruits of the victory, and to receive the sceptre of the West from the hands of his dying father.

The arrival of Honorius at Milan was welcomed by a splendid exhibition of the games of the Circus; and the emperor, though he was oppressed by the weight of his disorder, contributed by his presence to the public joy.
But the remains of his strength were exhausted by the painful effort which he made to assist at the spectacles of the morning.

Honorius supplied, during the rest of the day, the place of his father; and the great Theodosius expired in the ensuing night.

Notwithstanding the recent animosities of a civil war, his death was universally lamented.
The Barbarians, whom he had vanquished and the churchmen, by whom he had been subdued, celebrated, with loud and sincere applause, the qualities of the deceased emperor, which appeared the most valuable in their eyes.

The Romans were terrified by the impending dangers of a feeble and divided administration, and every disgraceful moment of the unfortunate reigns of Arcadius and Honorius revived the memory of their irreparable loss.
[Footnote 122: This disease, ascribed by Socrates (l.v.c.