deep and dangerous question, how far the public faith should be observed, when it becomes incompatible with the public safety, was freely agitated in popular conversation; and some hopes were entertained, that the emperor would redeem his pusillanimous behaviour by a splendid act of patriotic perfidy. The inflexible spirit of the Roman senate had always disclaimed the unequal conditions which were extorted from the distress of her captive armies; and, if it were necessary to satisfy the national honour, by delivering the guilty general into the hands of the barbarians, the greatest part of the subjects of Jovian would have cheerfully acquiesced in the precedent of ancient times." Jovian evacuates stores the five Persians. truth; and as he reasonably supposed, that the discontent of the people might incline them to submit to the Persian government, he published an edict, under pain of death, that they should leave the city within the term of three days. Ammianus has delineated in lively colours the scene of universal despair, which he seems to have viewed with an eye of compassion. The martial youth deserted, with indignant grief, the walls which they had so gloriously defended; the disconsolate mourner dropt a last tear over the tomb of a son or husband, which must soon be profaned by the rude hand of a barbarian master; and the aged citizen kissed the threshold, and clung to the doors, of the house, where he had passed the cheerful and careless hours of infancy. The highways were crowded with a trembling multitude: the distinctions of rank, and sex, and age, were lost in the general calamity. Every one strove to bear away some fragment from the wreck of his fortunes; and as they could not command the immediate service of an adequate number of horses or waggons, they were obliged to leave behind them the greatest part of their valuable to have aggravated the hardships of these unhappy fugitives. They were seated, however, in a newbuilt quarter of Amida; and that rising city, with the reinforcement of a very considerable colony, soon recovered its former splendour, and became the capital of Mesopotamia.' Similar orders were despatched by the emperor for the evacuation of Singara and the castle of the Moors; and for the restitution of the five provinces beyond the Tigris. Sapor enjoyed the glory and the fruits of his victory; and this ignominious peace has justly been considered as a memorable æra in the decline and fall of the Roman empire. The predecessors of Jovian had sometimes relinquished the dominion of distant and unprofitable provinces; but, since the foundation of the city, the genius of Rome, the god Terminus, who guarded the boundaries of the republic, had never retired before the sword of a victorious enemy." But the emperor, whatever might be Nisibis, and re. the limits of his constitutional authoriprovinces to the ty, was the absolute master of the laws and arms of the state; and the same August. motives which had forced him to subscribe, now pressed him to execute, the treaty of peace. He was impatient to secure an empire at the expense of a few provinces; and the respectable names of religion and honour concealed the personal fears and the ambition of Jovian. Notwith-effects. The savage insensibility of Jovian appears standing the dutiful solicitations of the inhabitants, decency, as well as prudence, forbade the emperor to lodge in the palace of Nisibis; but, the next morning after his arrival, Bineses, the ambassador of Persia, entered the place, displayed from the citadel the standard of the Great King, and proclaimed, in his name, the cruel alternative of exile or servitude. The principal citizens of Nisibis, who, till that fatal moment, had confided in the protection of their sovereign, threw themselves at his feet. They conjured him not to abandon, or, at least, not to deliver, a faithful colony to the rage of a barbarian tyrant, exasperated by the three successive defeats, which he had experienced under the walls of Nisibis. They still possessed arms and courage to repel the invaders of their country; they requested only the permission of using them in their own defence; and, as soon as they had asserted their independence, they should implore the favour of being again admitted into the rank of his sub- After Jovian had performed those Reflections on jects. Their arguments, their eloquence, their engagements, which the voice of his tears, were ineffectual. Jovian alleged, with some people might have tempted him to violate, he hasconfusion, the sanctity of oaths; and, as the reluct-tened away from the scene of his disgrace, and proance with which he accepted the present of a crown of gold, convinced the citizens of their hopeless condition, the advocate Sylvanus was provoked to exclaim, O emperor! may you thus be crowned by all the cities of your dominions!" Jovian, who in a few weeks had assumed the habits of a prince, was displeased with freedom, and offended with h The Abbé de la Bleterie (Hist. de Jovien, tom. i. p. 212-227.) though a severe casuist, has pronounced that Jovian was not bound to execute his promise; since he could not dismember the empire, nor alienate, without their consent, the allegiance of his people. I have never found much delight or instruction in such political metaphysics. i At Nisibis he performed a royal act. A brave officer, his namesake, who had been thought worthy of the purple, was dragged from supper, thrown into a well, and stoned to death, without any form of trial, or evidence of guilt. Ammian. xxv. 8. k Sec xxv. 9. and Zosimus, 1. iii. p. 194, 195. 1 Chron. Paschal. p. 300. The ecclesiastical Notitia may be consulted. the death ceeded with his whole court to enjoy the luxury of Antioch." Without consulting the dictates of religious zeal, he was prompted, by humanity and gratitude, to bestow the last honours on the remains of his deceased sovereign:o and Procopius, who sincerely bewailed the loss of his kinsman, was removed from the command of the army, under the m Zosimus, 1. iii. p. 192, 193. Sextus Rufus de Provinciis, c. 29. Augustin de Civitat. Dei, 1. iv. c. 29. This general position must be applied and interpreted with some caution. n Ammianus, xxv. 9. Zosimus, 1. iii. p. 196. He might be edax, et vino Venerique indulgens. But I agree with La Bleterie (tom. i. p. 148-154.) in rejecting the foolish report of a Bacchanalian riot (ap. Suidam) celebrated at Antioch, by the emperor, his wife, and a troop of concubines. o The Abbé de la Bleterie (tom. i. p. 156. 209.) handsomely exposes the brutal bigotry of Baronius, who would have thrown Julian to the dogs, ne cespititia quidem sepulturâ dignus. decent pretence of conducting the funeral. The corpse of Julian was transported from Nisibis to Tarsus, in a slow march of fifteen days; and, as it passed through the cities of the east, was saluted by hostile factions, with mournful lamentations and clamorous insults. The pagans already placed their beloved hero in the rank of those gods whose worship he had restored; while the invectives of the christians pursued the soul of the apostate to hell, and his body to the grave. One party lamented the approaching ruin of their altars; the other celebrated the marvellous deliverance of the church. The christians applauded, in lofty and ambiguous strains, the stroke of divine vengeance, which had been so long suspended over the guilty head of Julian. They acknowledge, that the death of the tyrant, at the instant he expired beyond the Tigris, was revealed to the saints of Egypt, Syria, and Cappadocia ; and, instead of suffering him to fall by the Persian darts, their indiscretion ascribed the heroic deed to the obscure hand of some mortal or immortal champion of the faith. Such imprudent declarations were eagerly adopted by the malice or credulity of their adversaries; who darkly insinuated, or confidently asserted, that the governors of the church had instigated and directed the fanaticism of a domestic assassin. Above sixteen years after the death of Julian, the charge was solemnly and vehemently urged, in a public oration, addressed by Libanius to the emperor Theodosius. His suspicions are unsupported by fact or argument; and we can only esteem the generous zeal of the sophist of Antioch, for the cold and neglected ashes of his friend." and funeral of It was an ancient custom in the funeJulian. rals, as well as in the triumphs, of the Romans, that the voice of praise should be corrected by that of satire and ridicule; and that, in the midst of the splendid pageants, which displayed the glory of the living or of the dead, their imperfections should not be concealed from the eyes of the world. This custom was practised in the funeral of Julian. The comedians, who resented his contempt and aversion for the theatre, exhibited, with the applause of a christian audience, the lively and exaggerated representation of the faults and P Compare the sophist and the saint. (Libanius, Monod. tom. ii. p. 251. and Orat. Parent. c. 145. p. 367. c. 156. p. 377. with Gregory Nazianzen, Orat. iv. p. 125-132.) The christian orator faintly utters some exhortations to modesty and forgiveness: but he is well satisfied, that the real sufferings of Julian will far exceed the fabulous torments of Ixion or Tantalus. q Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 549.) has collected these visions. Some saint or angel was observed to be absent, in the night on a secret expedition, &c. r Sozomen (1. vi. 2.) applauds the Greek doctrine of tyrannicide; but the whole passage, which a jesuit might have translated, is prudently suppressed by the president Cousin. s Immediately after the death of Julian, an uncertain rumour was scattered, telo cecidisse Romano. It was carried by some deserters to the Persian camp; and the Romans were reproached as the assassins of the emperor by Sapor and his subjects. (Ammian. xxv. 6. Libanius de ulciscendâ Juliani nece, c. xiii. p. 162, 163.) It was urged, as a decisive proof, that no Persian had appeared to claim the promised reward. Liban. Orat. Parent. c. 141. p. 363. But the flying horseman, who darted the fatal javelin, might be ignorant of its effect; or he might be slain in the same action. Ammianus neither feels nor inspires a suspicion. ε. Ως τις εντολην πληρων τῳ σφών αυτών αρχοντι. This dark and ambiguous expression may point to Athanasius, the first, without a rival, of the christian clergy. (Libanius de ulcis. Jul. nece, c. 5. p. 149. La Bleterie, Hist. de Jovien, tom. i. p. 179) follies of the deceased emperor. His various character and singular manners afforded an ample scope for pleasantry and ridicule. In the exercise of his uncommon talents, he often descended below the majesty of his rank. Alexander was transformed into Diogenes; the philosopher was degraded into a priest. The purity of his virtue was sullied by excessive vanity; his superstition disturbed the peace, and endangered the safety, of a mighty empire; and his irregular sallies were the less entitled to indulgence, as they appeared to be the laborious efforts of art, or even of affectation. The remains of Julian were interred at Tarsus in Cilicia; but his stately tomb, which arose in that city, on the banks of the cold and limpid Cydnus,' was displeasing to the faithful friends, who loved and revered the memory of that extraordinary man. The philosopher expressed a very reasonable wish, that the disciple of Plato might have reposed amidst the groves of the academy; while the soldier exclaimed in bolder accents, that the ashes of Julian should have been mingled with those of Cæsar, in the field of Mars, and among the ancient monuments of Roman virtue. The history of princes does not very frequently renew the example of a similar competition. u The orator (Fabricius, Bibliot. Græc. tom. vii. p. 145-179.) scat. ters suspicions, demands an inquiry, and insinuates, that proofs might still be obtained. He ascribes the success of the Huns to the criminal neglect of revenging Julian's death. x At the funeral of Vespasian, the comedian who personated that frugal emperor, anxiously inquired, how much it cost?" Fourscore thousand pounds" (centies.)-"Give me the tenth part of the sum, and throw my body into the Tyber." Sueton. in Vespasian, c. 19. with the notes of Casaubon and Gronovius. y Gregory (Orat. iv. p. 119, 120.) compares this supposed ignominy and ridicule to the funeral honours of Constantius, whose body was chanted over Mount Taurus by a choir of angels. z Quintius Curtius, 1. iii. c. 4. The luxuriancy of his descriptions has been often censured. Yet it was almost the duty of the historian to describe a river, whose waters had nearly proved fatal to Alexander. Libanius, Orat. Parent. c. 156. p. 377. Yet he acknowledges with gratitude the liberality of the two royal brothers in decorating the tomb of Julian, (de ulcis. Jul. nece, c. 7. p. 152.) a b Cujus suprema et cineres, si qui tunc justé consuleret, non Cydnus videre deberet, quamvis gratissimus amnis et liquidas: sed ad perpetuandam gloriam recte factorum præterlambere Tiberis, intersecans urbem æternam, divorumque veterum monumenta præstringeus. Ammian. xxv. 10. a The medals of Jovian adorn him with victories, laurel crowns, and prostrate captives. Ducange, Famil. Byzantin. p. 52. Flattery is a foolish suicide, she destroys herself with her own hands. indiscretion of his predecessor, instead of reconciling, had artfully fomented, the religious war; and the balance which he affected to preserve between the hostile factions, served only to perpetuate the contest, by the vicissitudes of hope and fear, by the rival claims of ancient possession and actual favour. The christians had forgotten the spirit of the gospel; and the pagans had imbibed the spirit of the church. In private families, the sentiments of nature were extinguished by the blind fury of zeal and revenge: the majesty of the laws was violated or abused; the cities of the east were stained with blood; and the most implacable enemies of the Romans were in the bosom of their country. Jovian was educated in the profession of christianity; and as he marched from Nisibis to Antioch, the banner of the cross, the LABARUM of Constantine, which was again displayed at the head of the legions, announced to the people the faith of their new emperor. As soon as he ascended the throne, he transmitted a circular epistle to all the governors of provinces; in which he confessed the divine truth, and secured the legal establishment, of the christian religion. The insidious edicts of Julian were abolished; the ecclesiastical immunities were restored and enlarged; and Jovian condescended to lament, that the distress of the times obliged him to diminish the measure of charitable contributions. The christians were unanimous in the loud and sincere applause which they bestowed on the pious successor of Julian. But they were still ignorant what creed, or what synod, he would choose for the standard of orthodoxy; and the peace of the church immediately revived those eager disputes which had been suspended during the season of persecution. The episcopal leaders of the contending sects, convinced, from experience, how much their fate would depend on the earliest impressions that were made on the mind of an untutored soldier, hastened to the court of Edessa, or Antioch. The highways of the east were crowded with Homoousian, and Arian, and Semi-Arian, and Eunomian bishops, who struggled to outstrip each other in the holy race: the apartments of the palace resounded with their clamours; and the ears of their prince were assaulted, and perhaps astonished, by the singular mixture of metaphysical argument and passionate invective. The moderation of Jovian, who recommended concord and charity, and referred the disputants to the sentence of a future council, was interpreted as a symptom of indifference; but b Jovian restored to the church τον αρχαιον κόσμον; a forcible and comprehensive expression, (Philostorgius, 1. viii. c. 5. with Godefroy's Dissertations, p. 329. Sozomen, 1. vi. c. 3.) The new law which condemned the rape or marriage of nuns, (Cod. Theod. 1. ix. tit. xxv. leg. 2.) is exaggerated by Sozomen; who supposes, that an amorous glance, the adultery of the heart, was punished with death by the evangelic legislator. eCompare Socrates, 1. iii. c. 25. and Philostorgius, 1. viii. c. 6. with Godefroy's Dissertations, p. 330. d The word celestial faintly expresses the impious and extravagant fattery of the emperor to the archbishop, της προς τον Θεον τον όλων opowσews. (See the original epistle in Athanasius, tom. ii. p. 33.) Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xxi. p. 392.) celebrates the friendship of Jovian and Athanasius. The primate's journey was advised by the Egyptian monks. (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 221.) e Athanasius, at the court of Antioch, is agreeably represented by La Bleterie: (Hist. de Jovien, tom. i. p. 121-148.) "he translates the singular and original conferences of the emperor, the primate of Egypt, and the Arian deputies. The Abbé is not satisfied with the coarse his attachment to the Nicene creed was at length discovered and declared, by the reverence which he expressed for the celestial virtues of the great Athanasius. The intrepid veteran of the faith, at the age of seventy, had issued from his retreat on the first intelligence of the tyrant's death. The | acclamations of the people seated him once more on the archiepiscopal throne; and he wisely accepted, or anticipated, the invitation of Jovian. The venerable figure of Athanasius, his calm courage, and insinuating eloquence, sustained the reputation which he had already acquired in the courts of four successive princes. As soon as he had gained the confidence, and secured the faith, of the christian emperor, he returned in triumph to his diocese, and continued, with mature counsels and undiminished vigour, to direct, ten years longer, the ecclesiastical government of Alexandria, Egypt, and the catholic church. Before his departure from Antioch, he assured Jovian that his orthodox devotion would be rewarded with a long and peaceful reign. Athanasius had reason to hope, that he should be allowed either the merit of a successful prediction, or the excuse of a grateful, though ineffectual, prayer." tion. The slightest force, when it is applied Jovian proclaims to assist and guide the natural descent universal tolera of its object, operates with irresistible weight; and Jovian had the good fortune to embrace the religious opinions which were supported by the spirit of the times, and the zeal and numbers of the most powerful sect. Under his reign, christianity obtained an easy and lasting victory; and as soon as the smile of royal patronage was withdrawn, the genius of paganism, which had been fondly raised and cherished by the arts of Julian, sunk irrecoverably in the dust. In many cities, the temples were shut or deserted: the philosophers, who had abused their transient favour, thought it prudent to shave their beards, and disguise their profession; and the christians rejoiced, that they were now in a condition to forgive, or to revenge, the injuries which they had suffered under the preceding reign. The consternation of the pagan world was dispelled by a wise and gracious edict of toleration; in which Jovian explicitly declared, that although he should severely punish the sacrilegious rites of magic, his subjects might exercise, with freedom and safety, the ceremonies of the ancient worship. The memory of this law has been preserved by the orator pleasantry of Jovian; but his partiality for Athanasius assumes, in his eyes, the character of justice. f The true æra of his death is perplexed with some difficulties. (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 719–723.) But the date (A. D. 373, May 2.) which seems the most consistent with history and reason, is ratified by his authentic life. (Maffei Osservazioni Letterarie, tom. iii. p. 81.) g See the observations of Valesius and Jortin, (Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 38.) on the original letter of Athanasius; which is preserved by Theodoret, (1. iv. c. 3.) In some MSS. this indiscreet promise is omitted; perhaps by the catholics, jealous of the prophetic fame of their leader." h Athanasius (apud Theodoret, 1. iv. c. 3.) magnifies the number of the orthodox, who composed the whole world, παρεξ ολίγων των τα Αρεις φρονώντων. This assertion was verified in the space of thirty or forty years. i Socrates, l. iii. c. 24. Gregory Nazianzen, (Orat. iv. p. 131.) and Libanius, (Orat. Parentalis, c. 148. p. 369.) express the living senti. ments of their respective factions. sovereign as he descended from mount Taurus to the city of Tyana, in Cappadocia. From Tyana he continued his hasty march to Ancyra, capital of the province of Galatia; where Jovian assumed, with his infant son, the name and ensigns of the consulship. Dadastana, an obscure town, A. D. 364. almost at an equal distance between Jan. 1. Ancyra and Nice, was marked for the fatal term of his journey and his life. After indulging himself with a plentiful, perhaps an intemperate, supper, he retired to rest; and the next morning the em Themistius, who was deputed by the senate of Constantinople to express their loyal devotion for the emperor. Themistius expatiates on the clemency of the divine nature, the facility of human error, the rights of conscience, and the independence of the mind; and, with some eloquence, inculcates the principles of philosophical toleration; whose aid superstition herself, in the hour of her distress, is not ashamed to implore. He justly observes, that, in the recent changes, both religions had been alternately disgraced by the seeming acquisition of worthless proselytes, of those votaries of the reign-peror Jovian was found dead in his bed. The ing purple, who could pass, without a reason, and without a blush, from the church to the temple, and from the altars of Jupiter to the sacred table of the christians. His progress from A. D. 363. Oct. Feb. 17. cause of this sudden death was vari- Death of Jovian, In the space of seven months, the Roman troops, who were now returned to Antioch, had performed a march of fifteen hundred miles; in which they had endured all the hardships of war, of famine, and of climate. Notwithstanding their services, their fatigues, and the approach of winter, the timid and impatient Jovian allowed only, to the men and horses, a respite of six weeks. The emperor could not sustain the indiscreet and malicious raillery of the people of Antioch. He was impatient to possess the palace of Constantinople; and to prevent the ambition of some competitor, who might occupy the vacant allegiance of Europe. But he soon received the grateful intelligence, that his authority was acknowledged from the Thracian Bosphorus to the Atlantic ocean. By the first letters which he despatched from the camp of Mesopotamia, he had delegated the military command of Gaul and Illyricum to Malarich, a brave and faithful officer of the nation of the Franks; and to his father-inlaw, count Lucillian, who had formerly distin-scious of his fortune, the royal youth, who, from guished his courage and conduct in the defence of Nisibis. Malarich had declined an office to which he thought himself unequal; and Lucillian was massacred at Rheims, in an accidental mutiny of the Batavian cohorts. But the moderation of Jovinus, master-general of the cavalry, who forgave the intention of his disgrace, soon appeased the tumult, and confirmed the uncertain minds of the soldiers. The oath of fidelity was administered, and taken, with loyal acclamations; and the deputies of the western armies" saluted their new k Themistius, Orat. v. p. 63–71. edit. Harduin. Paris, 1684. The Abbé de la Bleterie judiciously remarks, (Hist. de Jovien, tom. i. p. 199.) that Sozomen has forgot the general toleration; and Themistius, the establishment of the catholic religion. Each of them turned away from the object which he disliked; and wished to suppress the part of the edict the least honourable, in his opinion, to the emperor Jovian. 1 Οἱ δε Αντιοχεις εχ ήδέως διέκειντο προς αυτόν; αλλ' επεσκώπτον αυτόν ωδαις καὶ παρωδίαις, καὶ τοῖς καλυμένοις φαμωσσοις, (famosis libellis.) Johan. Antiochen. in Excerpt. Valesian. p. 845. The libels of Antioch may be admitted on very slight evidence. m Compare Ammianus, (xxv. 10.) who omits the name of the Bata. vians, with Zosimus, (l. iii. p. 197.) who removes the scene of action from Rheims to Sirmium. n Quos capita scholarum ordo castrensis appellat. Ammian. xxv. 10. and Vales. ad locum. o Cujus vagitus, pertinaciter reluctantis, ne in curuli sellâ veheretur ex more, id quod mox accidit protendebat. Augustus and his successors respectfully solicited a dispensation of age for the sons or nephews whom they raised to the consulship. But the curule chair of the first Brutus had never been dishonoured by an infant. his grandfather, assumed the name of Varronian, Vacancy of the throne, Feb. 17-26. p The Itinerary of Antoninus fixes Dadastana 125 Roman miles from Nice; 117 from Ancyra. (Wesseling, Itinerar. p. 142.) The pilgrim of Bourdeaux, by omitting some stages, reduces the whole space from 242 to 181 miles. Wesseling, p. 574. q See Ammianus, (xxv. 10.) Eutropins, (x. 18.) who might likewise be present; Jerom, (tom. i. p. 26. ad Heliodorum.) Orosius, (vii. 31.) Sozomen, (1. vi. c. 6.) Zosimus, (l. iii. p. 197, 198.) and Zonaras, (tom. ii. l. xiii. p. 28, 29.) We cannot expect a perfect agreement, and we shall not discuss minute differences. r Ammianus, unmindful of his usual candour and good sense, compares the death of the harmless Jovian to that of the second Africanus, who had excited the fears and resentment of the popular faction. 8 Chrysostom, tom. i. p. 336. 344. edit. Montfauçon. The christian orator attempts to comfort a widow by the examples of illustrious misfortunes; and observes, that of nine emperors (including the Cæsar Gallus) who had reigned in his time, only two (Constantine and Constantius) died a natural death. Such vague consolations have never wiped away a single tear. t Ten days appear scarcely sufficient for the march and election. But it may be observed: 1. That the generals might command the expe flexible severity, with which he discharged and enforced the duties of the camp. In the time of Julian he provoked the danger of disgrace, by the contempt which he publicly expressed for the reign and generals still continued to meet in council; to exercise their respective functions; to maintain the public order; and peaceably to conduct the army to the city of Nice in Bithynia, which was chosen for the place of the election." In a solemn assemblying religion; and it should seem, from his subseof the civil and military powers of the empire, the diadem was again unanimously offered to the præfect Sallust. He enjoyed the glory of a second refusal: and when the virtues of the father were alleged in favour of his son, the præfect, with the firmness of a disinterested patriot, declared to the electors, that the feeble age of the one, and the unexperienced youth of the other, were equally incapable of the laborious duties of government. Several candidates were proposed; and, after weighing the objections of character or situation, they were successively rejected: but, as soon as the name of Valentinian was pronounced, the merit of that officer united the suffrages of the whole assembly, and obtained the sincere approbation of Sallust himself. Valentinian was the son of count Election and character of Va- Gratian, a native of Cibalis in Pan lentinian. quent conduct, that the indiscreet and unseasonable army, The invitation of the ministers and He is acknow. generals at Nice was of little moment, ledged by the unless it were confirmed by the voice A. D. 364, Feb. 26. of the army. The aged Sallust, who had long observed the irregular fluctuations of popular assemblies, proposed, under pain of death, that none of those persons, whose rank in the service might excite a party in their favour, should appear in public on the day of the inauguration. Yet such was the nonia, who, from an obscure condition, had raised himself, by matchless strength and dexterity, to the military commands of Africa and Britain; from which he retired with an ample fortune and suspicious integrity. The rank and services of Gratian contributed, however, to smooth the first steps of the promotion of his son; and afforded him an early opportunity of displaying those solid and useful qualifications, which raised his character above the ordinary level of his fellow-prevalence of ancient superstition, that a whole day soldiers. The person of Valentinian was tall, graceful, and majestic. His manly countenance, deeply marked with the impression of sense and spirit, inspired his friends with awe, and his enemies with fear; and, to second the efforts of his undaunted courage, the son of Gratian had inherited the advantages of a strong and healthy constitution. By the habits of chastity and temperance, which restrain the appetites and invigorate the faculties, Valentinian preserved his own and the public esteem. The avocations of a military life had diverted his youth from the elegant pursuits of literature; he was ignorant of the Greek language, and the arts of rhetoric; but as the mind of the orator was never disconcerted by timid perplexity, he was able, as often as the occasion prompted him, to deliver his decided sentiments with bold and ready elocution. The laws of martial discipline were the only laws that he had studied; and he was soon distinguished by the laborious diligence, and inditious use of the public posts for themselves, their attendants, and messengers. 2. That the troops, for the ease of the cities, marched in many divisions; and that the head of the column might arrive at Nice when the rear halted at Ancyra. u Ammianus, xxvi. 1. Zosimus, 1. iii. p. 198. Philostorgius, 1. viii. c. 8. and Godefroy, Dissertat. p. 334. Philostorgius, who appears to have obtained some curious and authentic intelligence, ascribes the choice of Valentinian to the præfect Sallust, the master-general Arin. theus, Degalaiphus count of the domestics, and the patrician Datianus, whose pressing recommendations from Ancyra had a weighty influence in the election. x Ammianus, (xxx. 7. 9.) and the younger Victor, have furnished the portrait of Valentinian, which naturally precedes and illustrates the history of his reign. y At Antioch, where he was obliged to attend the emperor to the was voluntarily added to this dangerous interval, because it happened to be the intercalation of the Bissextile. At length, when the hour was supposed to be propitious, Valentinian showed himself from a lofty tribunal: the judicious choice was applauded; and the new prince was solemnly invested with the diadem and the purple, amidst the acclamations of the troops, who were disposed in martial order round the tribunal. But when he stretched forth his hand to address the armed multitude, a busy whisper was accidentally started in the ranks, and insensibly swelled into a loud and imperious clamour, that he should name, without delay, a colleague in the empire. The intrepid calmness of Valentinian obtained silence, and commanded respect; and he thus addressed the assembly: “A few minutes since it was in your power, fellowsoldiers, to have left me in the obscurity of a private station. Judging, from the testimony of my past life, that I deserved to reign, you have placed me temple, he struck a priest, who had presumed to purify him with lustral water. (Sozomen, 1. vi. c. 6. Theodoret, l. iii. c. 15.) Such public defiance might become Valentinian; but it could leave no room for the unworthy delation of the philosopher Maximus, which supposes some more private offence. (Zosimus, I. iv. p. 200, 201.) Socrates, 1. iv. A previous exile to Melitene, or Thebais, (the first might be possible,) is interposed by Sozomen (1. vi. c. 6.) and Philostorgius, (1. vii. c. 7. with Godefroy's Dissertations, p. 293.) a Ammianus, in a long, because unseasonable, digression, (xxvi. i. and Valesius ad locum,) rashly supposes that he understands an astronomical question, of which his readers are ignorant. It is treated with more judgment and propriety by Censorius, (de Die Natali, c. 20.) and Macrobius. (Saturnal. I. i. c. 12-16.) The appellation of Bissextile, which marks the inauspicious year, (August. ad Januariam, Epist. 119.) is derived from the repetition of the sixth day of the calends of March. |