tions 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. 128

It was an ancient custom in the funerals, 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 practiced 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 follies of the deceased emperor. His various character and singular man

passage, which a Jesuit might have translated, is prudently suppressed by the president Cousin.

126 Immediately after the death of Julian, an uncertain rumor 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. Liban. de ulciscendâ Juliani nece, c. xiii. 162). 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.

127 Ος τις εντολην πληρων τω σφων αυτών αρχοντι. This dark and ambiguous expression may point to Athanasius, the first, without a rival, of the Christian clergy (Liban. de ulcis. Jul. nece, c. 5, p. 149. La Bleterie, Hist. de Jovien, i. 179).

128 The Orator (Fabric. Bibl. Græc. vii. 145) scatters 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.

199 At the funeral of Vespasian, the comedian who personated that frugal emperor anxiously inquired how much it cost-£80,000 (centies)-Give me the tenth part of the sum, and throw my body into the Tiber. Sueton. in Ves. pasian. c. 19, with the notes of Casaubon and Gronovius.

130

ners 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 amid 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. 199 The history of princes does not very frequently renew the example of a similar competition.

131

180 Greg. (Orat. iv. 119) compares this supposed ignominy and ridicule to the funeral honors of Constantius, whose body was chanted over Mount Taurus by a choir of angels.

131 Quintus Curtius, 1. iii. c. 4. The luxuriance 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.

132 Liban. 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).

183 Cujus suprema et cineres, si qui tunc justè consuleret, non Cydnus videre deberet, quamvis gratissimus amnis et liquidus; sed ad perpetuandam gloriam recte factorum præterlambere Tiberis, in tersecans urbem æternam, divorumque veterum monumenta præstringens. Ammian. xxv. 10.

VOL. II.-49

CHAPTER XXV

The Government and Death of Jovian-Election of Valentinian, who associates his Brother Valens, and makes the final Division of the Eastern and Western Empires-Revolt of Procopius-Civil and Ecclesiastical Administration -Germany-Britain-Africa-The East-The DanubeDeath of Valentinian-His two Sons, Gratian and Valentinian II., succeed to the Western Empire

HE death of Julian had left the public affairs of the empire in a very doubtful and dangerous situation. The Roman army was saved (A.D. 363) by an inglorious, perhaps a necessary, treaty;' and the first moments of peace were consecrated by the pious Jovian to restore the domestic tranquillity of the church and state. The 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 favor. 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,

1 The medals of Jovian adorn him with victories, laurel crowns, and prostrate captives. Ducange, Famil. Byzan. p. 52. Flattery is a foolish suicide: she destroys herself with her own hands.

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 distributions." 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 race; the apartments of the palace resounded with their clamors; and the ears of the 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 his attachment to the Nicene creed was at length discovered and declared by the reverence which he expressed for the celestial virtues

* Jovian restored to the church τov apxacov koσμov; a forcible and comprehensive expression (Philostorg. 1. viii. c. 5. Godefroy, p. 329. Soz. 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.

330.

3 Compare Socr. 1. iii. c. 25, and Philostorg. 1. viii. c. 6, with Godefroy, p.

The word celestial faintly expresses the impious and extravagant flattery of the emperor to the archbishop, της προς τον Θεον των ολων ομοιώσεως. (Athanas. ii. p. 33.) Greg. Naz. (Orat. xxi. 392) celebrates the friendship of Jovian and

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 vigor, 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.'

The slightest force, when it is applied to assist and guide the natural descent 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."

Athanasius. The primate's journey was advised by the Egyptian monks (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. viii. 221).

5 Athanasius, at the court of Antioch, is agreeably represented by La Bleterie (Hist. de Jovien, 121): 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 pleasantry of Jovian; but his partiality for Athanasius assumes, in his eyes, the character of justice.

The true era of his death is perplexed with some difficulties (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. viii. 719). But the date (A.D. 373, May 2), which seems the most consistent with history and reason, is ratified by his authentic life (Maffei Osservaz. Letter. iii. 81).

Observations of Valesius and Jortin (Remarks on Eccles. Hist. iv. 38) on the original letter of Athanasius; which is preserved by Theod. (1. iv. c. 3). In some MSS. this indiscreet promise is omitted; perhaps by the Catholics, jealous of the prophetic fame of their leader.

This asser

Athanas. (apud Theod. 1. iv. c. 3) magnifies the number of the orthodox, who composed the whole world, παρεξ ολίγων των τα Αρείου φρονούντων. tion was verified in the space of thirty or forty years.