same treaty, that three royal youths, the sons of emperors, should be called to the hopes of the succession. Crispus and the young Constantine were soon afterwards declared Cæsars in the West, while the younger Licinius was invested with the same dignity in the East. In this double proportion of honours, the conqueror asserted the superiority of his arms and power (92). and laws of A. D. 315-323. The reconciliation of Constantine and Licinius, though it was General peace embittered by resentment and jealousy, by the remembrance of re- Constantine. cent injuries, and by the apprehension of future dangers, maintained, however, above eight years, the tranquillity of the Roman world. As a very regular series of the Imperial laws commences about this period, it would not be difficult to transcribe the civil regulations which employed the leisure of Constantine. But the most important of his institutions are intimately connected with the new system of policy and religion, which was not perfectly established till the last and peaceful years of his reign. There are many of his laws, which, as far as they concern the rights and property of individuals, and the practice of the bar, are more properly referred to the private than to the public jurisprudence of the empire; and he published many edicts of so local and temporary a nature, that they would ill deserve the notice of a general history. Two laws, however, may be selected from the crowd; the one for its importance, the other for its singularity; the former for its remarkable benevolence, the latter for its excessive severity. 1. The horrid practice, so familiar to the ancients, of exposing or murdering their new-born infants, was become every day more frequent in the provinces; and especially in Italy: It was the effect of distress; and the distress was principally occasioned by the intolerable burden of taxes, and by the vexatious as well as cruel prosecutions of the officers of the revenue against their insolvent debtors. The less opulent or less industrious part of mankind, instead of rejoicing in an increase of family, deemed it an act of paternal tenderness to release their children from the impending miseries of a life which they themselves were unable to support. The humanity of Constantine, moved, perhaps, by some recent and extraordinary instances of despair,* engaged him to address an edict to all the cities (92), Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 93.. Anonym.. Valesian. p. 713.. Eutropius, X. v. Aurelius Victor, Euseb. in Chron. Sozomen, l..i..c.. 2. Four of these, writers affirm that the promotion of the Cæsars was an article of the treaty. It is however certain, that the younger Constantine and Licinius were not yet born; and it is highly probable that the promotion was made the 1st of March,, A. D. 317. The treaty had probably stipulated that the two Cæsars might be created by the western, and on only by the eastern emperor; but each of them reserved to himself the choice of the persons. *This explanation appears to me little probable. Godefroy has made a much more happy conjecture, supported by all the historical cir cumstances which relate to this edict. It was published the 12th of May, A. D. 315, at Naissus in Pantonia, the birth-place of Constantine. The 8th of October, iu that year, Constantine gained of Italy, and afterwards of Africa, directing immediate and sufficient relief to be given to those parents who should produce before the magistrates the children whom their own poverty would not allow them to educate. But the promise was too liberal, and the provision too vague, to effect any general or permanent benefit (93). The law, though it may merit some praise, served rather to display than to alleviate the public distress. It still remains an authentic monument to contradict and confound those venal orators, who were too well satisfied with their own situation to discover either vice or misery under the government of a generous sovereign (94). 2. The laws of Constantine against rapes were dictated with very little indulgence for the most amiable weaknesses of human nature; since the description of that crime was applied not only to the brutal violence which compelled, but even to the gentle seduction which might persuade, an unmarried woman, under the age of "The successful twenty-five, to leave the house of her parents. "ravisher was punished with death; and as if simple death was "inadequate to the enormity of his guilt, he was either burnt alive, "or torn in pieces by wild beasts in the amphitheatre. The vir"gin's declaration, that she had been carried away with her own "consent, instead of saving her lover, exposed her to share his fate. "The duty of a public prosecution was entrusted to the parents of "the guilty or unfortunate maid; and if the sentiments of nature prevailed on them to dissemble the injury, and to repair by a sub"sequent marriage the honour of their family, they were them"selves punished by exile and confiscation. The slaves, whether "male or female, who were convicted of having been accessary to (93) Codex Theodosian. 1. xi. tit. 27. tom. iv. p. 188. with Godefroy's observations. See likewise, 1. v. tit. 7-8. (94) Omnia foris placita, domi prospera, annonæ ubertate, fructuum copia, &c. Panegyr. Vet. x. 38. This oration of Nazarius was pronounced on the day of the Quinquennalia of the Cæsars, the 1st of March, A. D. 321. Divine Institutes); he had dedicated it to Constantine. In this book he had inveighed with great force against infanticide, aud the exposure of infants (1. vi. c. 20.). Is it not probable that Constantine had read this work, that he had conversed on the subject with Lactantius, that he was moved, among other things, by the passage to which I have referred, and in the first transport of his enthusiam he published the edict in question? The whole of the edict bears the character of precipitation, of excitement (entrainement), rather than of deliberate reflexion the extent of the promises, the indefiniteness of the means, of the conditions, and of the time during which the parents might have a right to the succour of the state. Is there not reason to believe that the humanity of Constantine was excited by the influence of Lactantius, by that of the principles of Christianity, and of the Christians themselves, already in high esteem with the emperor, rather than by some "extraordinary instances of despair?" *** See Hegewisch, Essai Hist. sur les Finances Romaines. The edict for Africa was not published till 322: of that we may say in truth, that its origin was in the misery of the times. Africa had suffered much from the cruelty of Maxentius. Constantine says expressly that he had learned that parents, under the pressure of distress, were there selling their children. This decree is more distinct, more maturely deliberated, than the former: the succour which was to be given to the parents, and the source from which it was to be derived, are determined (Code Theodos. 1. xi. tit. 27. c. 2.). If the direct utility of these laws may not have been very extensive, they had at least the great and happy effect of establishing a decisive opposition between the principles of the government and those which, to this time, had prevailed among the subjects of the empire. G. "rape or seduction, were burnt alive, or put to death by the inge"nious torture of pouring down their throats a quantity of melted "lead. As the crime was of a public kind, the accusation was per"mitted even to strangers. The commencement of the action was "not limited to any term of years, and the consequences of the sen"tence were extended to the innocent offspring of such an irregu"lar union (95)." But whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way to the common feelings of mankind. The most odious parts of this edict were softened or repealed in the subsequent reigns (96); and even Constantine himself very frequently alleviated, by partial acts of mercy, the stern temper of his general institutions. Such, indeed, was the singular humour of that emperor, who showed himself as indulgent, and even remiss, in the execution of his laws, as he was severe, and even cruel, in the enacting of them. It is scarcely possible to observe a more decisive symptom of weakness, either in the character of the prince, or in the constitution of the government (97). war. A. D. 322. The civil administration was sometimes interrupted by the mili- The Gothic tary defence of the empire. Crispus, a youth of the most amiable character, who had received with the title of Cæsar the command of the Rhine, distinguished his conduct, as well as valour, in several victories over the Franks and Alemanni; and taught the barbarians of that frontier to dread the eldest son of Constantine, and the grandson of Constantius (98). The emperor himself had assumed the more difficult and important province of the Danube. The Goths, who in the time of Claudius and Aurelian had felt the weight of the Roman arms, respected the power of the empire, even in the midst of its intestine divisions. But the strength of that warlike nation was now restored by a peace of near fifty years; a new generation had arisen, who no longer remembered the misfortunes of ancient days: the Sarmatians of the lake Mæotis followed the Gothic standard either as subjects or as allies, and their united force was poured upon the countries of Illyricum. Campona, Margus, and (95) See the edict of Constantine, addressed to the Roman people, in the Theodosian Code, I. ix. tit. 24. tom. iii. p. 189. (96) His son very fairly assigns the true reason of the repeal, "Ne sub specie atrocioris judicii "aliqua in ulciscendo crimine dilatio nasceretur." Cod. Theod. tom. iii. p. 193. (97) Eusebius (in Vita Constant. I. iii. c. 1.) chooses to affirm, that in the reign of this hero, the sword of justice hung idle in the hands of the magistrates. Eusebius himself (1. iv. c. 29. 54.) and the Theodosian Code will inform us, that this excessive lenity was not owing to the want either of atrocious criminals or of penal laws. (98) Nazarius in Panegyr. Vet. x. The victory of Crispus over the Alemanni, is expressed on some medals.* * Other medals are extant, the legends of which commemorate the success of Constantine over the Sarmatians and other barbarous nations. SARMATIA DEVICTA. VICTORIA GOTHICA. DE BELLATORI GENTIUM BARBARORUM. EXUPE- Second civil A. D. 323. Bononia,* appear to have been the scenes of several memorable sieges and battles (99); and though Constantine encountered a very obstinate resistance, he prevailed at length in the contest, and the Goths were compelled to purchase an ignominious retreat, by restoring the booty and prisoners which they had taken. Nor was this advantage sufficient to satisfy the indignation of the emperor. He resolved to chastise as well as to repulse the insolent barbarians who had dared to invade the territories of Rome. At the head of his legions he passed the Danube, after repairing the bridge which had been constructed by Trajan, penetrated into the strongest recesses of Dacia (100), and when he had inflicted a severe revenge, condescended to give peace to the suppliant Goths, on condition that, as often as they were required, they should supply his armies with a body of forty thousand soldiers (101). Exploits like these were no doubt honourable to Constantine, and beneficial to the state; but it may surely be questioned, whether they can justify the exaggerated assertion of Eusebius, that ALL SCYTHIA, as far as the extremity of the North, divided as it was into so many names and nations of the most various and savage manners, had been added by his victorious arms to the Roman empire (102). In this exalted state of glory it was impossible that Constantine war beween should any longer endure a partner in the empire. Confiding in and Licinius. the superiority of his genius and military power, he determined, without any previous injury, to exert them for the destruction of Licinius, whose advanced age and unpopular vices seemed to offer a very easy conquest (103). But the old emperor, awakened by the approaching danger, deceived the expectations of his friends, as well as of his enemies. Calling forth that spirit and those abilities by which he had deserved the friendship of Galerius and the Imperial purple, he prepared himself for the contest, collected the forces of the East, and soon filled the plains of Hadrianople with his troops, (99) See Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 93, 94. ; though the narrative of that historian is neither clear nor consistent. The Panegyric of Optatianus (c. 23.) mentions the alliance of the Sarmatians with the Carpi and Getæ, and points out the several fields of battle. It is supposed that the Sarmatian games, celebrated in the month of November, derived their origin from the success of this war. (100) In the Cæsars of Julian (p. 329. Commentaire de Spanheim, p. 252.). Constantine boasts, that he had recovered the province (Dacia) which Trajan had subdued. But it is insinuated by Silenus, that the conquests of Constantine were like the gardens of Adonis, which fade and wither almost the moment they appear. (101) Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 21. I know not whether we may entirely depend on his authority. Such an alliance has a very recent air, and scarcely is suited to the maxims of the beginning of the fourth century. (102) Eusebius in Vit. Constantin. 1. i. c. 8. This passage, however, is taken from a general declamation on the greatness of Constantine, and not from any particular account of the Gothic war. (103) Constantinus tamen, vir ingens, et omnia efficere nitens quæ animo præparasset, simul principatum totius orbis affectans, Licinio bellum intulit. Eutropius, x. 5. Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 89. The reasons which they have assigned for the first civil war may, with more propriety, be applied to the second. * Campona, Old Buda, in Hungary; Margus, Kastolatz G. Kollucza; Bononia, Widdin, in. Mæsia.-G. and M. and the Streights of the Hellespont with his fleet. The army consisted of one hundred and fifty thousand foot, and fifteen thousand horse; and as the cavalry was drawn, for the most part, from Phrygia and Cappadocia, we may conceive a more favourable opinion of the beauty of the horses, than of the courage and dexterity of their riders. The fleet was composed of three hundred and fifty galleys of three ranks of oars. An hundred and thirty of these were furnished by Egypt, and the adjacent coast of Africa. An hundred and ten sailed from the ports of Phoenicia and the isle of Cyprus; and the maritime countries of Bithynia, Ionia, and Caria were likewise obliged to provide an hundred and ten galleys. The troops of Constantine were ordered to rendezvous at Thessalonica; they amounted to above an hundred and twenty thousand horse and foot (104). Their emperor was satisfied with their martial appearance, and his army contained more soldiers, though fewer men, than that of his eastern competitor. The legions of Constantine were levied in the warlike provinces of Europe; action had confirmed their discipline, victory had elevated their hopes, and there were among them a great number of veterans, who, after seventeen glorious campaigns under the same leader, prepared themselves to deserve an honourable dismission by a last effort of their valour (105). But the naval preparations of Constantine were in every respect much inferior to those of Licinius. The maritime cities of Greece sent their respective quotas of men and ships to the celebrated harbour of Piræus, and their united forces consisted of no more than two hundred small vessels: a very feeble armament, if it is compared with those formidable fleets which were equipped and maintained by the republic of Athens during the Peloponnesian war (106). Since Italy was no longer the seat of government, the naval establishments of Misenum and Ravenna had been gradually neglected; and as the shipping and mariners of the empire were supported by commerce rather than by war, it was natural that they should the most abound in the industrious provinces of Egypt and Asia. It is only surprising that the eastern emperor, who possessed so great a superiority at sea, should have neglected the opportunity of carrying an offensive war into the centre of his rival's dominions. Instead of embracing such an active resolution, which might have changed the whole face of the war, the prudent Licinius expected the approach of his rival in a camp near Hadrianople, which he had `(104) Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 94, 95. (105) Constantine was very attentive to the privileges and comforts of his fellow-veterans (Conveterani), as he now began to style them. See the Theodosian Code, 1. vii. tit. 10. tom. ii. p. 419. 429. (106) Whilst the Athenians maintained the empire of the sea, their fleet consisted of three, and afterwards of four, hundred galleys of three ranks of oars, all completely equipped and ready for immediate service. The arsenal in the port of Piræus had cost the republic a thousand talents, about two hundred and sixteen thousand pounds. See Thucydides de Bel. Pelopon. l. ii. c. 13.; and Meursius de Fortuna Attica, c. 19. Battle of Hadrianople. AD. 323. July 3. |