Degenerate morals kept pace with civil contests.

A DEGENERATE NOBLE; OR, ONE THAT IS PROUD OF HIS BIRTH, Is like a turnip, there is nothing good of him but that which is underground; or rhubarb, a contemptible shrub that springs from a noble root.

Degenerate soldiers guarded the pass where three hundred Spartan heroes had once arrested the Persian hosts, and fled as Alaric approached.