CHAP. the throne, of Vetranio. The chiefs, who had XVIII. fecretly embraced the party of Conftantius, pre

pared in his favour a public fpectacle, calculated to discover and inflame the paffions of the multitude 7. The united armies were commanded to affemble in a large plain near the city. In the centre, according to the rules of ancient difcipline, a military tribunal, or rather fcaffold, was erected, from whence the emperors were accuftomed, on folemn and important occafions, to harangue the troops. The well-ordered ranks of Romans and Barbarians, with drawn fwords, or with erected fpears, the fquadrons of cavalry, and the cohorts of infantry, diftinguished by the variety of their arms and enfigns, formed an immenfe circle round the tribunal; and the attentive filence which they preferved was fometimes interrupted by loud burfts of clamour or of applaufe. In the prefence of this formidable affembly, the two emperors were called upon to explain the fituation of public affairs: the precedency of rank was yielded to the royal birth of Conftantius; and though he was indifferently fkilled in the arts of rhetoric, he acquitted himfelf, under thefe difficult circumftances, with firmnefs, dexterity, and eloquence. The first part of his oration feemed to be pointed only against the tyrant of Gaul; but while he tragically lamented the cruel murder of Conftans, he infinuated, that none, except a brother, could claim a right to the fuc

7 See the two first orations of Julian, particularly p. 31.; and Zofimus, 1. ii. p. 122. The diftin&t narrative of the hiftorian ferves to illuftrate the diffuse, but vague, defcriptions of the orator.

ceffion

XVIII.

ceffion of his brother. He difplayed, with fome CHA P.
complacency, the glories of his Imperial race;
and recalled to the memory of the troops, the
valour, the triumphs, the liberality of the great.
Conftantine, to whofe fons they had engaged their
allegiance by an oath of fidelity, which the ingra-
titude of his moft favoured fervants had tempted
them to violate. The officers, who furrounded the
tribunal, and were inftructed to act their parts in
this extraordinary fcene, confeffed the irresistible
power of reafon and eloquence, by faluting the
emperor Conftantius as their lawful fovereign.
The contagion of loyalty and repentance was
communicated from rank to rank; till the plain
of Sardica refounded with the univerfal acclama-
tion of "Away with thefe upftart ufurpers! Long
"life and victory to the fon of Conftantine! Un-
"der his banners alone we will fight and con-
"quer."
The fhout of thoufands, their me-
nacing geftures, the fierce clashing of their arms,
aftonifhed and fubdued the courage of Vetranio,
who stood, amidst the defection of his followers,
in anxious and filent fufpence. Inftead of em-
bracing the last refuge of generous despair, he
tamely fubmitted to his fate; and taking the dia-
dem from his head, in the view of both armies,
fell proftrate at the feet of his conqueror. Con-
ftantius used his victory with prudence and mo-
deration; and raifing from the ground the aged
fuppliant, whom he affected to style by the en-
dearing name of Father, he gave him his hand to
defcend from the throne. The city of Prufa was
affigned for the exile or retirement of the abdi-

cated

CHAP. cated monarch, who lived fix years in the enjoy XVIII. ment of eafe and affluence. He often expreffed

Makes war againit Magnen

his grateful fenfe of the goodness of Conftantius, and, with a very amiable fimplicity, advised his benefactor to refign the fceptre of the world, and to feek for content (where alone it could be found) in the peaceful obfcurity of a private condi. tion79.

The behaviour of Conftantius on this memorable occafion was celebrated with fome appearance of juftice; and his courtiers compared the ftudied orations which a Pericles or a Demof thenes addreffed to the populace of Athens, with the victorious eloquence which had perfuaded an armed multitude to defert and depofe the object of their partial choice". The approaching con. teft with Magnentius was of a more ferious and bloody kind. The tyrant advanced by rapid marches to encounter Conftantius, at the head of a numerous army, compofed of Gauls and Spaniards, of Franks and Saxons; of thofe provincials who fupplied the ftrength of the legions, and of those barbarians who were dreaded as the most formidable enemies of the republic.

The

79 The younger Vistor affigns to his exile the emphatical appellation of "Voluptarium otium.” Socrates (1. c. 28.) is the voucher for the correfpondence with the emperor, which would feeni to prove, that Vetranio was, indeed, prope ad ftultitiam fimplicifli.

mus.

79 Eum Conftantius facundiæ vi dejectum Imperio in privatum otium removit. Quæ gloria polt natum Imperium foli proceffit eloquio clementiâque, &c. Aurelius Victor, Julian, and Themiftius (Orat. iii. and iv.), adorn this exploit with all the artificial and gaudy colouring of their thetoric.

fertile

nd

fertile plains
So of the Lower Pannonia, between CHA P.
the Drave, the Save, and the Danube, prefented XVIII.
a fpacious theatre; and the operations of the
civil war were protracted during the fummer
months by the skill or timidity of the combat-
ants &1.
81 Conftantius had declared his intention
of deciding the quarrel in the fields of Cibalis, a
name that would animate his troops by the re-
membrance of the victory which, on the fame
aufpicious ground, had been obtained by the arms.
of his father Conftantine. Yet by the impreg-
nable fortifications with which the emperor en-
compaffed his camp, he appeared to decline, ra-
ther than to invite, a general engagement.
was the object of Magnentius to tempt or to
compel his adverfary to relinquish this advanta-
geous pofition; and he employed, with that view,
the various marches, evolutions, and ftratagems,
which the knowledge of the art of war could fug-
geft to an experienced officer. He carried by af-
fault the important town of Sifcia; made an at-
tack on the city of Sirmium, which lay in the
rear of the Imperial camp; attempted to force a
paffage over the Save into the eastern provinces of

It

so Busbequius (p. 112.) traverfed the Lower Hungary and Selavonia at a time when they were reduced almost to a defert, by the reciprocal hoftilities of the Turks and Chriftians. Yet he mentions with admiration the unconquerable fertility of the foil; and obferves that the height of the grass was fufficient to conceal a loaded waggon from his fight. See likewise Browne's Travels, in Harris's Collection, vol. ii. p. 762, &c.

81 Zofimus gives a very large account of the war, and the negociation (1. ii, p. 123-139.). But as he neither fhews himself a foldier nor a politician, his narrative must be weighed with attention, and received with caution.

Illyricum;

CHAP. Illyricum; and cut in pieces a numerous detachXVIII. ment, which he had allured into the narrow paffes

of Adarne. During the greater part of the fummer, the tyrant of Gaul fhewed himself mafter of the field. The troops of Conftantius were haraffed and difpirited; his reputation declined in the eye of the world; and his pride condefcended to folicit a treaty of peace, which would have refigned to the affaffin of Conftans the fovereignty of the provinces beyond the Alps. Thefe offers were enforced by the eloquence of Philip the Imperial ambaffador; and the council as well as the army of Magnentius were difpofed to accept them. But the haughty ufurper, carelefs of the remonftrances of his friends, gave orders that Philip fhould be detained as a captive, or at least as a hoftage; while he difpatched an officer to reproach Conftantius with the weaknefs of his reign, and to infult him by the promise of a pardon, if he would inftantly abdicate the purple. "he fhould confide in the juftice of his caufe, "and the protection of an avenging Deity," was the only answer which honour permitted the emperor to return. But he was fo fenfible of the difficulties of his fituation, that he no longer dared to retaliate the indignity which had been offered to his reprefentative. The negociation of Philip was not, however, ineffectual, fince he determined Sylvanus the Frank, a general of merit and reputation, to defert with a confiderable body of cavalry, a few days before the battle of Murfa.

That

The