XXII. CHAP. herds is always committed to beings of a superior species; and that the conduct of nations requires and deserves the celestial powers of the gods or of the genii. From this principle he justly concluded, that the man who presumes to reign, should aspire to the perfection of the divine nature; that he should purify his soul from her mortal and terrestrial part; that he should extinguish his appetites, enlighten his understanding, regulate his passions, and subdue the wild beast, which, according to the lively metaphor of Aristotle, seldom fails to ascend the throne of a despot. The throne of Julian, which the death of Constantius fixed on an independent basis, was the seat of reason, of virtue, and perhaps of vanity. He despised the honours, renounced the pleasures, and discharged with incessant diligence the duties, of his exalted station; and there were few among his subjects who would have consented to relieve him from the weight of the diadem, had they been obliged to submit their time and their actions to the rigorous laws which their philosophic emperor imposed on himself. One of his most intimate friends, who had often shared the frugal simplicity of his table, has remarked, that his light and sparing diet (which was usu Aristot. ap. b Ο δε ανθρωπον κελεύων αρχειν, προσέθεσε και θηριον. Julian, p. 261. The MS. of Vossius, unsatisfied with a single beast, affords the stronger reading of Inpia, which the experience of despotism may warrant. Libanius (Orat. Parentalis, c. lxxxiv, lxxxv, p. 310, 311. 312) has given this interesting detail of the private life of Julian. He himself (in Misopogon, p. 350) mentions his vegetable diet, and upbraids the gross and sensual appetite of the people of Antioch. XXII. ally of the vegetable kind) left his mind and CHAP. body always free and active for the various and important business of an author, a pontiff, a magistrate, a general, and a prince. In one and the same day, he gave audience to several ambassadors, and wrote, or dictated, a great number of letters to his generals, his civil magistrates, his private friends, and the different cities of his dominions. He listened to the memorials which had been received, considered the subject of the petitions, and signified his intentions more rapidly than they could be taken in shorthand by the diligence of his secretaries. He possessed such flexibility of thought, and such firmness of attention, that he could employ his hand to write, his ear to listen, and his voice to dictate; and pursue at once three several trains of ideas, without hesitation and without error. While his ministers reposed, the prince flew with agility from one labour to another, and, after a hasty dinner, retired into his library, till the public business, which he had appointed for the evening, summoned him to interrupt the prosecution of his studies. The supper of the emperor was still less substantial than the former meal; his sleep was never clouded by the fumes of indigestion; and except in the short interval of a marriage which was the effect of policy rather than love, the chaste Julian never shared his bed with a female companion. He was soon awakened by d d Lectulus... Vestalium toris purior, is the praise which Mamertinus (Panegyr. Vet. xi, 13) addresses to Julian himself, Libanius XXII. CHAP. the entrance of fresh secretaries, who had slept the preceding day; and his servants were obliged to wait alternately, while their indefatigable, master allowed himself scarcely any other refreshment than the change of occupations. The' predecessors of Julian, his uncle, his brother,' and his cousin, indulged their puerile taste for the games of the Circus, under the specious pretence of complying with the inclinations of the people; and they frequently remained the greatest part of the day, as idle spectators, and as a part of the splendid spectacle, till the ordinary round of twenty-four races was completely finished. On solemn festivals, Julian, who felt and professed an unfashionable dislike to these frivolous amusements, condescended to appear in the Circus; and after bestowing a careless glance on five or six of the races, he hastily withdrew, with the impatience of a philosopher, who considered every moment as Libanius affirms, in sober peremptory language, that Julian never knew a woman before his marriage, or after the death of his wife, (Orat. Parent. c. lxxxviii, p. 313), The chasity of Julian is confirmed by the impartial testimony of Ammianus, (xxv, 4), and the partial silence of the Christians. Yet Julian ironically urges the reproach of the people of Antioch, that he almost always (ws av in Misopogon. p. 345) lay alone. This suspicious expression is explained by the Abbé de la Bleterie (Hist. de Jovien, tom. ii, p. 103–109) with candour and ingenuity. See Salmasius ad Sueton. in Claud. c. xxi. A twenty fifth race, or missus, was added, to complete the number of one hundred chariots, four of which, the four colours, started each heat. Centum quadrijugos agitabo ad flumina currus. It appears they ran five or seven times round the Meta, (Sueton. in A war. XXII. A. D. 361. A. D. 363, lost, that was not devoted to the advantage of CHAP. the public, or the improvement of his own mind. By this avarice of time, he seemed to protract the short duration of his reign; and if the dates were less securely ascertained, we should refuse to believe, that only sixteen months elapsed between the death of Constantius and December the departure of his successor for the Persian March, The actions of Julian can only be preserved by the care of the historian; but the portion of his voluminous writings, which is still extant, remains as a monument of the application, as well as of the genius, of the emperor. The Misopogon, the Cæsars, several of his orations, and his elaborate work against the Christian religion, were composed in the long nights of the two winters, the former of which he passed at Constantinople, and the latter at Antioch. The reformation of the imperial court was one Reformaof the first and most necessary acts of the go- tion of the palace. vernment of Julian. Soon after his entrance into the palace of Constantinople, he had occasion for the service of a barber. An officer, magnificently dressed, immediately presented himself. "It is a barber," exclaimed the prince, Juliau. in Misopogon. p. 340. Julius Cæsar had offended the Roman people by reading his dispatches during the actual race. Augustus indulged their taste, or his own, by his constant attention to the important business of the Circus, for which he professed the warmest inclination. Sueton. in August. c. xlv. The reformation of the palace is described by Ammianus, (xxii, 4); Libanius, (Orat. Parent. c. lxii, p. 288, &c.) Mamertinus, (in Panegyr. Vet. xi, 11); Socrates, (l. iii, c. 1), and Zonaras, (tom. ii, 1. xiii, p. 24). XXII. 66 CHAP. with affected surprise, "that I want, and not a receiver-general of the finances."h He questioned the man concerning the profit of his employment; and was informed, that besides a large salary, and some valuable perquisites, he enjoyed a daily allowance for twenty servants, and as many horses. A thousand barbers, a thouand cup-bearers, a thousand cooks, were distributed in the several offices of luxury; and the number of eunuchs could be compared only with the insects of a summer's day.' The monarch who resigned to his subjects the superiority of merit and virtue, was distinguished by the oppressive magnificence of his dress, his table, his buildings, and his train. The stately palaces erected by Constantine and his sons were decorated with many coloured marbles, and ornaments of massy gold. The most exquisite dainties were procured, to gratify their pride rather than their taste; birds of the most distant climates, fish from the most remote seas, fruits out of their natural season, winter roses, and summer snows. The domestic crowd of the Ego non rationalem jussi sed tonsorem acciri. Zonaras uses the less natural image of a senator. Yet an officer of the finances, who was satisfied with wealth, might desire and obtain the honours of the senate. i Μαγειρος μεν χιλιες καρεας δε OUR ελάττους οινοχοους δε πλείους, σμηνη τραπεζοποιων, ευνούχους υπερ τας μυιας παρα τοις ποιμέσι are the original words of Libanius, which I have faithfully quoted, lest I should be suspected of magnifying the abuses of the royal household. * The expressions of Mamertinus are lively and forcible. Quin etiam prandiorum et cænarum laboratas magnitudines Romanus populus |