CHAP. credulously embraced by the fears and hatred XXIII. of his adversaries; and their indiscreet clamours provoked the temper of a sovereign, whom it was their duty to respect, and their interest to flatter. They still protested, that prayers and tears were their only weapons against the impious tyrant, whose head they devoted to the justice of offended Heaven. But they insinuated, with sullen resolution, that their submission was nolonger the effect of weakness; and that, in the imperfect state of human virtue, the patience, which is founded on principle, may be exhausted by persecution. It is impossible to determine how far the zeal of Julian would have prevailed over his good sense and humanity; but if we seriously reflect on the strength and spirit of the church, we shall be convinced, that, before the emperor could have extinguished the religion of Christ, he must have involved his country in the horrors of a civil war. • The resignation of Gregory is truly edifying, (Orat. iv, p. 123, 124). Yet, when an officer of Julian attempted to seize the church of Nazianzus, he would have lost his life, if he had not yielded to the zeal of the bishop and people, (Orat. xix, p. 308). See the reflections of Chrysostom, as they are alleged by Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. tom. vii, p. 575). CHAP. XXIV. Residence of Julian at Antioch-His successful expedition against the Persians-Passage of the Tigris-The retreat and death of JulianElection of Jovian-He saves the Roman army by a disgraceful treaty. XXIV. sars of Ju THE philosophical fable which Julian com- CHAP. posed under the name of the CESARS, is one of the most agreeable and instructive pro- The Caductions of ancient wit." During the free-lian. dom and equality of the days of the Saturnalia, Romulus prepared a feast for the deities of Olympus, who had adopted him as a worthy associate, and for the Roman princes, who had reigned over his martial people, and the vanquished nations of the earth. The immortals were placed in just order on their thrones of state, and the table of the Cæsars * See this fable or satire, p. 306-336 of the Leipsig edition of Julian's works. The French version of the learned Ezekiel Spanheim (Paris 1683) is coarse, languid, and incorrect; and his notes, proofs, illustra tions, &c. are piled on each other till they form a mass of 557 closeprinted quarto pages. The Abbé de la Bleterie (Vie de Jovien, tom. i. p. 241-393) has more happily expressed the spirit, as well as the sense, of the original, which he illustrates with some concise and curious notes. Spanheim (in his preface) has most learnedly discussed the etymology, origin, resemblance, and disagreement of the Greek satyrs, a dramatic piece, which was acted after the tragedy, and the Latin satires (from Satura) a miscellaneous composition, either in prose or But the Cæsars of Julian are of such an original cast, that the critic is perplexed to which class he should ascribe them. verse. CHAP. XXIV. 3 was spread below the Moon in the upper region of the air. The tyrants, who would have disgraced the society of gods and men, were thrown headlong, by the inexorable Nemesis, into the Tartarean abyss. The rest of the Cæsars successively advanced to their seats; and, as they passed, the vices, the defects, the blemishes of their respective characters, were maliciously noticed by old Silenus, a laughing moralist, who disguised the wisdom of a philosopher under the mask of a bacchanal. As soon as the feast was ended, the voice of Mercury proclaimed the will of Jupiter, that a celestial crown should be the reward of superior merit. Julius Cæsar, Augustus, Trajan, and Marcus Antoninus, were selected as the most. illustrious candidates; the effeminate Constantine was not excluded from this honourable competition, and the great Alexander was invited to dispute the prize of glory with the Roman heroes. Each of the candidates was allowed to display the merit of his own exploits;" but, in the judgment of the gods, the modest silence of Marcus pleaded more powerfully than the elaborate orations of his haughty rivals. When the judges of this awful contest proceeded to examine the heart, and to scrutinize the springs of action, the superiority of the impe This mixed character of Silenus is finely painted in the sixth eclogue of Virgil. Every impartial reader must perceive and condemn the partiality of Julian against his uncle Constantine, and the Christian religion. On this occasion, the interpreters are compelled, by a more sacred interest, to renounce their allegiance, and to desert the cause of their author XXIV. rial stoic appeared still more decisive and con- CHAP. spicuous. Alexander and Cæsar, Augustus, Trajan, and onstantine, acknowledged with a blush, that fame, or power, or pleasure, had been the important object of their labours: but the gods themselves beheld with reverence and love, a virtuous mortal, who had practised on the throne the lessons of philosophy; and who, in a state of human imperfection, had aspired to imitate the moral attributes of the deity. The value of this agreeable composition (the Cæsars of Julian) is enhanced by the rank of the author. A prince, who delineates with freedom the vices and virtues of his predecessors, subscribes, in every line, the censure or approbation of his own conduct. solves to Persians. In the cool moments of reflection, Julian pre- He referred the useful and benevolent virtues of An- march atoninus: but his ambitious spirit was inflamed gainst the by the glory of Alexander; and he solicited A. D. 362. with equal ardour, the esteem of the wise, and the applause of the multitude. In the season of life, when the powers of the mind and body enjoy the most active vigour, the emperor, who was instructed by the experience, and animated by the success of the German war, resolved to signalize his reign by some more splendid and memorable achievement: The ambassadors of * Julian was secretly inclined to prefer a Greek to a Roman. But when he seriously compared a hero with a philosopher, he was sensible that mankind had much greater obligations to Socrates than to Alexander, (Orat. ad Themistium, p. 264). CHAP. the East from the continent of India, and the XXIV. isle of Ceylon,' had respectfully saluted the Ro man purple. The nations of the West esteemed and dreaded the personal virtues of Julian, both in peace and war. He despised the trophies of a Gothic victory" and was satisfied that the rapacious barbarians of the Danube would be restrained from any future violation of the faith of treaties, by the terror of his name, and the additional fortifications with which he strengthened the Thracian and Illyrian frontiers. The successor of Cyrus and Artaxerxes was the only rival whom he deemed worthy of his arms; and he resolved, by the final conquest of Persia, to chastise the haughty nation, which had so long f Inde nationibus Indicis certatim cum donis optimates mittentibus ab usque Divis et Serendivis. Ammian. xx, 7. This island, to which the names of Taprobana, Serendib, and Ceylon, have been successively applied, manifests how imperfectly the seas and lands to the east of cape Comorin were known to the Romans. 1. Under the reign of Claudius, a freed man, who farmed the customs of the Red Sea, was accidentally driven by the winds upon this strange and undiscovered coast; he conversed six months with the natives; and the king of Ceylon, who heard, for the first time, of the power and justice of Rome, was persuaded to send an embassy to the emperor, (Plin. Hist. Nat. vi, 24). 2. The geographers (and even Ptolemy) have magnified, above fifteen times, the real size of this new world, which they extended as far as the equator, and the neighbourhood of China. These embassies had been sent to Constantius. Ammianus, who unwarily deviates into gross flattery, must have forgotten the length of the way, and the short duration of the reign of Julian. Gothos sæpe fallaces et perfidos; hostes quærere se meliores aiebat: illis enim sufficere mercatores Galatas per quos ubique sine conditionis discrimine venumdantur. Within less than fifteen years, these Gothic slaves threatened and subdued their masters. |