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by anguish and despair to precipitate themselves CHAP. into the broad and rapid stream of the Drave.* The number of the slain was computed at fiftyfour thousand men, and the slaughter of the conquerors was more considerable than that of the vanquished; a circumstance which proves the obstinacy of the contest, and justifies the observation of an ancient writer, that the forces of the empire were consumed in the fatal battle of Mursa, by the loss of a veteran army, sufficient to defend the frontiers, or to add new triumphs to the glory of Rome." Notwithstanding the invectives of a servile orator, there is not the least reason to believe that the tyrant deserted his own standard in the beginning of the engagement. He seems to have displayed the virtues of a general and of a soldier till the day was irrecoverably lost, and his camp in the possession of the enemy. Magnentius then consulted his

* Julian, Orat. i, p. 36, 37; and Orat. ii, p. 59, 60. Zonaras, - tom. ii, 1. 13, p. 17. Zosimus, 1. ii, p. 130-133. The last of these celebrates the dexterity of the archer Menelaus, who could discharge three arrows at the same time; an advantage which, according to his apprehension of military affairs, materially contributed to the victory of Constantius.

t According to Zonaras, Constantius, out of 80,000 men, lost 30,000; and Magnentius lost 24,000 out of 36,000. The other articles of this account seem probable and authentic, but the numbers of the tyrant's army must have been mistaken, either by the author or his transcribers. Magnentius had collected the whole force of the West, Romans and barbarians, into one formidable body, which cannot fairly be estimated at less than 100,000 men. Julian, Orat. i, p. 34, 35.

Ingentes R. I. vires eâ dimicatione consumptæ sunt, ad quælibet bella externa idoneæ, quæ multum triumphorum possent secu❤ ritatisque conferre. Eutropius, x, 13. The younger Victor expresses himself to the same effect.

CHAP. safety, and throwing away the imperial ornaXVIII. ments, escaped with some difficulty from the

Conquest

of Italy,

A. D. 352.

pursuit of the light horse, who incessantly followed his rapid flight from the banks of the Drave to the foot of the Julian Alps.

The approach of winter supplied the indolence of Constantius with specious reasons for deferring the prosecution of the war till the ensuing spring. Magnentius had fixed his residence in the city of Aquileia, and shewed a seeming resolution to dispute the passage of the mountains and morasses which fortified the confines of the Venetian province. The surprisal of a castle in the Alps by the secret march of the imperialists, could scarcely have determined him to relinquish the possession of Italy, if the inclinations of the people had supported the cause of their tyrant. But the memory of the cruelties exercised by his ministers, after the unsuccessful revolt of Nepotian, had left a deep impression of horror and resentment on the minds of the Romans. That rash youth, the son of the princess Eutropia, and the nephew of Constantine, had seen with indignation the sceptre of the West usurped by a perfidious barbarian.

* On this occasion, we must prefer the unsuspected testimony of Zosimus and Zonaras to the flattering assertions of Julian. The younger Victor paints the character of Magnentius in a singular light: Sermonis acer, animi tumidi, et immodicè timidus; artifex "tamen ad occultandam audacia specie formidinem." Is it most likely that in the battle of Mursa his behaviour was governed by nature or by art? I should incline for the latter.

y Julian, Orat. 1, p. 38, 39. In that place, however, as well as in Oration ii, p. 97, he insinuates the general disposition of the senate, the people, and the soldiers of Italy, towards the party of the emperor.

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Arming a desperate troop of slaves and gladiators, CHAP. he overpowered the feeble guard of the domestic tranquillity of Rome, received the homage of the senate, and assuming the title of Augustus, precariously reigned during a tumult of twenty-eight days. The march of some regular forces put an end to his ambitious hopes: the rebellion was extinguished in the blood of Nepotian, of his mother Eutropia, and of his adherents; and the proscription was extended to all who had contracted a fatal alliance with the name and family of Constantine. But as soon as Constantius, after the battle of Mursa, became master of the sea-coast of Dalmatia, a band of noble exiles, who had ventured to equip a fleet in some harbour of the Hadriatic, sought protection and revenge in his victorious camp. By their secret intelligence with their contrymen, Rome and the Italian cities were persuaded to display the banners of Constantius on their walls. The grateful veterans, enriched by the liberality of the father, signalized their gratitude and loyalty to the son. The cavalry, the legions, and the auxiliaries of Italy, renewed their oath of allegiance to Constantius; and the usurper, alarmed by the general desertion, was compelled, with the remains of his faithful troops, to retire beyond the Alps into the

z The elder Victor describes in a pathetic manner the miserable condition of Rome: "" Cujus stolidum ingenium edeo г. R. patri. "busque exitio fuit, uti passim domus, fora, viæ, templaque, cruore, "cadaveribusque opplerentur bustorum modo." Athanasius (tom. i, p. 677) deplores the fate of several illustrious victims; and Julian (Orat. ii, p. 58) execrates the cruelty of Marcellinus, the implacable enemy of the house of Constantine.

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CHAP. provinces of Gaul. The detachments, however, which were ordered either to press or to intercept the flight of Magnentius, conducted themselves with the usual imprudence of success; and allowed him, in the plains of Pavia, an opportunity of turning on his pursuers, and of gratifying his despair, by the carnage of a useless victory.

Last defeat and death

The pride of Magnentius was reduced, by reof Mag- peated misfortunes, to sue, and to sue in vain, for A. D. 353, peace. He first dispatched a senator, in whose August 10. abilities he confided, and afterwards several bi

nentius,

shops, whose holy character might obtain a more favourable audience, with the offer of resigning the purple, and the promise of devoting the remainder of his life to the service of the emperor. But Constantius, though he granted fair terms of pardon and reconciliation to all who abandoned the standard of rebellion," avowed his inflexible resolution to inflict a just punishment on the crimes of an assassin, whom he prepared to overwhelm on every side by the effort of his victorious arms. An imperial fleet acquired the easy possession of Africa and Spain; confirmed the wavering faith of the Moorish nations; and landed a considerable force, which passed the Pyrenees, and advanced towards Lyons, the last and fatal station of Magnentius. The temper of the ty

a Zosim. 1. ii, p. 133. Victor in Epitome. The panegyrists of Constantius, with their usual candour, forget to mention this accidental defeat.

b Zonaras, tom. ii, 1. xiii, p. 17. Julian, in several places of the two orations, expatiates on the clemency of Constantius to the rebels.

Zosim. l. ii, p. 133. Julian, Orat. i, p. 40; ii, p. 74.

d

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rant, which was never inclined to clemency, was CHA P. urged by distress to exercise every act of oppression which could extort an immediate supply from the cities of Gaul. Their patience was at length exhausted; and Treves, the seat of prætorian government, gave the signal of revolt, by shutting her gates against Decentius, who had been raised by his brother to the rank either of Cæsar or of Augustus. From Treves, Decentius was obliged to retire to Sens, where he was soon surrounded by an army of Germans, whom the pernicious arts of Constantius had introduced into the civil dissentions of Rome. In the meantime, the imperial troops forced the passages of the Cottian Alps, and in the bloody combat of mount Seleucus irrevocably fixed the title of rebels on the party of Magnentius. He was un

F d Ammian. XV, 6. Zosim. 1. ii, p. 133. Julian, who (Orat. i, p. 40) inveighs against the cruel effects of the tyrant's despair, mentions (Orat. i, p. 34) the oppressive edicts which were dictated by his necessities, or by his avarice. His subjects were compelled to purchase the imperial demesnes; a doubtful and dangerous spe cies of property, which, in case of a revolution, might be imputed to them as a treasonable usurpation.

• The medals of Magnentius celebrate the victories of the two Augusti, and of the Cæsar. The Cæsar was another brother, named Desiderius. See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv, p. 757.

f Julian, Orat. i, p. 40; ii, p. 74, with Spanheim, p. 263. His Commentary illustrates the transactions of this civil war. Mons Seleuci was a small place in the Cottian Alps, a few miles distant from Vapincum, or Gap, an episcopal city of Dauphné. See d'Anville Notice de la Gaule, p. 464; and Longuerue Description de la France, p. 327.

Zosimus, I. ii, p. 134. Liban. Orat. x, p. 268, 269. The latter most vehemently arraigns this cruel and selfish policy of Con

stantius.