XXIV. burnt alive, a few days afterwards, on a charge CHAP. of having uttered some disrespectful words against the honour of prince Hormisdas. The fortifications were razed to the ground; and not a vestige was left, that the city of Maogamalcha had ever existed. The neighbourhood of the capital of Persia was adorned with three stately palaces, laboriously enriched with every production that could gratify the luxury and pride of an eastern monarch. The pleasant situation of the gardens along the banks of the Tigris, was improved, according to the Persian taste, by the symmetry of flowers, fountains, and shady walks; and spacious parks were inclosed for the reception of the bears, lions, and wild boars, which were maintained at a considerable expence for the pleasure of the royal chace. The park walls were broke down, the savage game was abandoned to the darts of the soldiers, and the palaces of Sapor were reduced to ashes, by the command of the Roman emperor. Julian, on this occasion, shewed himself ignorant, or careless, of the laws of civility, which the prudence and refinement of polished ages have established between hostile princes. Yet these wanton ravages need not excite in our breasts any vehement emotions of pity or resentment. A simple, naked statue, finished by the hand of a Grecian artist, is of more genuine value than all these rude and costly monuments of barbaric labour; and if we are more deeply af fected by the ruin of a palace, than by the conAagration of a cottage, our humanity must have CHAP. formed a very erroneous estimate of the miseries of human life.' XXIV. ........ Personal behaviour m Julian was an object of terror and hatred to of Julian. the Persians: and the painters of that nation represented the invader of their country under the emblem of a furious lion, who vomited from his mouth a consuming fire. To his friends and soldiers, the philosophic hero appeared in a more amiable light; and his virtues were never more conspicuously displayed, than in the last, and most active, period of his life. He practised, without effort, and almost without merit, the habitual qualities of temperance and sobriety. According to the dictates of that artificial wisdom, which assumes an absolute dominion over the mind and body, he sternly refused himself the indulgence of the most natural appetites. In the warm climate of Assyria, which solicited a luxurious people to the gratification of every sensual desire, a youthful conqueror preserved his chastity pure and inviolate: nor was Julian ever tempted, even by The operations of the Assyrian war are circumstantially related by Ammianus, (xxiv. 2, 3, 4, 5); Libanius, (Orat Parent. c. 112–123, p. 335-347); Zosimus, (l. iii, p. 168-180), and Gregory Nazianzen, (Orat. iv. p. 113, 144). The military criticisms of the saint are devoutly copied by Tillemont, his faithful slave. 162. Libanius de ulciscendâ Juliani nece, c. 13, p. "The famous examples of Cyrus, Alexander, and Scipio, were acts of justice. Julian's chastity was voluntary, and, in his opinion, meritorious. Sallust (ap. Vet. Scholiast. Juvenal, Satir. i, 104) observes, that nihil corruptius moribus. The matrons and virgins of Babylon freely mingled with the men, in licentious banquets; and as they felt the intoxication of wine and love, they gradually, and almost completely threw aside the encumbrance of dress; ad ultimum ima corporum velamenta projiciunt. Q. Curtius, v, 1. P XXIV. a motive of curiosity, to visit his female captives CHAP. of exquisite beauty, who, instead of resisting his power, would have disputed with each other the honour of his embraces. With the same firmness that he resisted the allurements of love, he sustained the hardships of war. When the Romans marched through the flat and flooded country, their sovereign, on foot, at the head of his legions, shared their fatigues, and animated their diligence. In every useful labour, the hand of Julian was prompt and strenuous; and the imperial purple was wet and dirty, as the coarse garment of the meanest soldier. The two sieges allowed him some remarkable opportunities of signalizing his personal valour, which, in the improved state of the military art, can seldom be exerted by a prudent general. The emperor stood before the citadel of Perisabor, insensible of his extreme danger, and encouraged his troops to burst open the gates of iron, till he was almost overwhelmed under a cloud of missile weapons, and huge stones, that were directed against his person. As he examined the exterior fortifications of Maogamalcha, two Persians, devoting themselves for their country, suddenly rushed upon him with drawn scimitars: the emperor dexterously received their blows on his uplifted shield; and, P Ex virginibus autem, quæ speciosæ sunt captæ, et in Perside, ubi`` fœminarum pulchritudo excellit, nec contrectare aliquam voluit nec videre. Ammian. xxiv, 4. The native race of Persians is small and ugly; but it has been improved, by the perpetual mixture of Circassiana blood, (Herodot. 1. iii, c. 97; Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. iii, p. 420.) ̧.· CHAP. XXIV. with a steady and well-aimed thrust, laid one of his adversaries dead at his feet. The esteem of a prince who possesses the virtues which he approves, is the noblest recompence of a deserving subject; and the authority which Julian derived from his personal merit, enabled him to revive and enforce the rigour of ancient discipline. He punished with death, or ignominy, the misbehaviour of three troops of horse, who, in a skirmish with the Surenas, had lost their honour, and one of their standards: and he distinguished with obsidional crowns the valour of the foremost soldiers, who had ascended into the city of Maogamalcha. After the siege of Perisabor, the firmness of the emperor was exercised by the insolent avarice of the army, who loudly complained, that their services were rewarded by a trifling donative of one hundred pieces of silver. His just indignation was expressed in the grave and manly language of a Roman. "Riches are the object of your de"sires: those riches are in the hands of the Perજ sians; and the spoils of this fruitful country "are proposed as the prize of your valour and "discipline. Believe me," added Julian, "the "Roman republic, which formerly possessed "such immense treasures, is now reduced "to want and wretchedness; since our princes "have been persuaded, by weak and inter"ested ministers, to purchase with gold the Obsidionalibus coronis donati. Ammian. xxiv, 4. Either Julian or his historian were unskilful antiquaries. He should have given mural The obsidional were the reward of a general who had deliver. ed a besieged city, (Aulus Gellius, Noct. Attic. v, 6). crowns. 66 XXIV. "tranquillity of the barbarians. The revenue CHAP. "is exhausted; the cities are ruined; the pro"vinces are dispeopled: For myself, the only " inheritance that I have received from my roy"al ancestors, is a soul incapable of fear; and as long as I am convinced that every real advantage is seated in the mind, I shall not "blush to acknowledge an honourable pover66 ty, which, in the days of ancient virtue, was "considered as the glory of Fabricius. That "glory, and that virtue, may be your own, if you will listen to the voice of Heaven, and of 66 66 your leader. But if you will rashly persist, "if you are determined to renew the shameful "and mischievous examples of old seditions, "proceed: As it becomes an emperor who has "filled the first rank among men, I am prepar❝ed to die, standing; and to despise a preca"rious life, which, every hour, may depend on 66 an accidental fever. If I have been found unworthy of the command, there are now among 66 66 J you, (I speak it with pride and pleasure), "there are many chiefs, whose merit and expe"rience are equal to the conduct of the most 'important war. Such has been the temper of my reign, that I can retire without regret, and "without apprehension, to the obscurity of a private station." The modest resolution of Julian was answered by the unanimous applause and cheerful obedience of the Romans; who declared their confidence of victory, while they 66 'I give this speech as original and genuine. Ammianus might hear, could transcribe, and was incapable of inventing, it. I have used some slight freedoms, and conclude with the most forcible sentence. VOL. IV. N |