COL.COLL. LIBRARY. Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, ANTIENT AND MODERN, FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST, TO THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. VOL. II. COL.COLL. THE FIFTH CENTURY. PART I. The External HISTORY of the CHURCH. I. CHAP. I. Concerning the profperous events that happened to the church. V. PART I. The flate of N order to arrive at a true knowledge of c EN T. the causes, to which we are to attribute the outward ftate of the church, and the events which happened to it during this century, the Roman we must keep in view the civil history of this pe- empire. riod of time. It is, therefore, proper to obferve, that, in the beginning of this century, the Roman empire was divided into two distinct fovereignties, of which the one comprehended the eastern provinces, the other, thofe of the west. ARCADIUS, the emperor of the east, reigned at Conftantinople; and HONORIUS, who governed the western provinces, chofe Ravenna for the place of his refidence. This latter prince, remarkable only for the sweetness of his temper, and the goodness of his heart, neglected the great affairs of the empire, and, inattentive to the weighty duties of his ftation, held the reins of government with an unfteady hand, The Goths took advantage of this criminal indolence; made incurfions into Italy; laid wafte its faireft proVOL. II. vinces ; B 29103 |