[1: M. de Montesquieu (Considerations sur la Grandeur et
La Decadence des Romains, c. 17) supposes, on the authority of
Orosius and Eusebius, that, on this occasion, the empire, for the
first time, was really divided into two parts. It is difficult,
however, to discover in what respect the plan of Galerius
differed from that of Diocletian.]
[2: Hic non modo amabilis, sed etiam venerabilis Gallis
fuit; praecipuc quod Diocletiani suspectam prudentiam, et
Maximiani sanguinariam violentiam imperio ejus evaserant.
Eutrop. Breviar. x. i.]
[3: Divitiis Provincialium (mel. provinciarum) ac
privatorum studens, fisci commoda non admodum affectans;
ducensque melius publicas opes a privatis haberi, quam intra unum
claustrum reservari. Id. ibid. He carried this maxim so far,
that whenever he gave an entertainment, he was obliged to borrow
a service of plate.]
[4: Lactantius de Mort. Persecutor. c. 18. Were the
particulars of this conference more consistent with truth and
decency, we might still ask how they came to the knowledge of an
obscure rhetorician. But there are many historians who put us in
mind of the admirable saying of the great Conde to Cardinal de
Retz: "Ces coquins nous font parlor et agir, comme ils auroient
fait eux-memes a notre place."
Note: This attack upon Lactantius is unfounded. Lactantius
was so far from having been an obscure rhetorician, that he had
taught rhetoric publicly, and with the greatest success, first in
Africa, and afterwards in Nicomedia. His reputation obtained him
the esteem of Constantine, who invited him to his court, and
intrusted to him the education of his son Crispus. The facts
which he relates took place during his own time; he cannot be
accused of dishonesty or imposture. Satis me vixisse arbitrabor
et officium hominis implesse si labor meus aliquos homines, ab
erroribus iberatos, ad iter coeleste direxerit. De Opif. Dei,
cap. 20. The eloquence of Lactantius has caused him to be called
the Christian Cicero. Annon Gent. - G.
Yet no unprejudiced person can read this coarse and
particular private conversation of the two emperors, without
assenting to the justice of Gibbon's severe sentence. But the
authorship of the treatise is by no means certain. The fame of
Lactantius for eloquence as well as for truth, would suffer no
loss if it should be adjudged to some more "obscure rhetorician."
Manso, in his Leben Constantins des Grossen, concurs on this
point with Gibbon Beylage, iv. - M.]
[5: Sublatus nuper a pecoribus et silvis (says
Lactantius de M. P. c. 19) statim Scutarius, continuo Protector,
mox Tribunus, postridie Caesar, accepit Orientem. Aurelius
Victor is too liberal in giving him the whole portion of
Diocletian.]
[6: His diligence and fidelity are acknowledged even by
Lactantius, de M. P. c. 18.]
[7: These schemes, however, rest only on the very
doubtful authority of Lactantius de M. P. c. 20.]
[8: This tradition, unknown to the contemporaries of
Constantine was invented in the darkness of monestaries, was
embellished by Jeffrey of Monmouth, and the writers of the xiith
century, has been defended by our antiquarians of the last age,
and is seriously related in the ponderous History of England,
compiled by Mr. Carte, (vol. i. p. 147.) He transports, however,
the kingdom of Coil, the imaginary father of Helena, from Essex
to the wall of Antoninus.]
[9: Eutropius (x. 2) expresses, in a few words, the real
truth, and the occasion of the error "ex obscuriori matrimonio
ejus filius." Zosimus (l. ii. p. 78) eagerly seized the most
unfavorable report, and is followed by Orosius, (vii. 25,) whose
authority is oddly enough overlooked by the indefatigable, but
partial Tillemont. By insisting on the divorce of Helena,
Diocletian acknowledged her marriage.]
[10: There are three opinions with regard to the place
of Constantine's birth. 1. Our English antiquarians were used to
dwell with rapture on the words of his panegyrist, "Britannias
illic oriendo nobiles fecisti." But this celebrated passage may
be referred with as much propriety to the accession, as to the
nativity of Constantine. 2. Some of the modern Greeks have
ascribed the honor of his birth to Drepanum, a town on the Gulf
of Nicomedia, (Cellarius, tom. ii. p. 174,) which Constantine
dignified with the name of Helenopolis, and Justinian adorned
with many splendid buildings, (Procop. de Edificiis, v. 2.) It is
indeed probable enough, that Helena's father kept an inn at
Drepanum, and that Constantius might lodge there when he returned
from a Persian embassy, in the reign of Aurelian. But in the
wandering life of a soldier, the place of his marriage, and the
places where his children are born, have very little connection
with each other. 3. The claim of Naissus is supported by the
anonymous writer, published at the end of Ammianus, p. 710, and
who in general copied very good materials; and it is confirmed by
Julius Firmicus, (de Astrologia, l. i. c. 4,) who flourished
under the reign of Constantine himself. Some objections have
been raised against the integrity of the text, and the
application of the passage of Firmicus but the former is
established by the best Mss., and the latter is very ably
defended by Lipsius de Magnitudine Romana, l. iv. c. 11, et
Supplement.]
[11: Literis minus instructus. Anonym. ad Ammian. p. 710.]
[12: Galerius, or perhaps his own courage, exposed him
to single combat with a Sarmatian, (Anonym. p. 710,) and with a
monstrous lion. See Praxagoras apud Photium, p. 63. Praxagoras,
an Athenian philosopher, had written a life of Constantine in two
books, which are now lost. He was a contemporary.]
[13: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 78, 79. Lactantius de M. P. c.
24. The former tells a very foolish story, that Constantine
caused all the post- horses which he had used to be hamstrung.
Such a bloody execution, without preventing a pursuit, would have
scattered suspicions, and might have stopped his journey.
Note: Zosimus is not the only writer who tells this story.
The younger Victor confirms it. Ad frustrandos insequentes,
publica jumenta, quaqua iter ageret, interficiens. Aurelius
Victor de Caesar says the same thing, G. as also the Anonymus
Valesii. - M.
Manso, (Leben Constantins,) p. 18, observes that the story
has been exaggerated; he took this precaution during the first
stage of his journey. - M.]
[14: Anonym. p. 710. Panegyr. Veter. vii. 4. But
Zosimus, l. ii. p. 79, Eusebius de Vit. Constant. l. i. c. 21,
and Lactantius de M. P. c. 24. suppose, with less accuracy, that
he found his father on his death-bed.]
[15: Cunctis qui aderant, annitentibus, sed praecipue
Croco (alii Eroco) [Erich?] Alamannorum Rege, auxilii gratia
Constantium comitato, imperium capit. Victor Junior, c. 41.
This is perhaps the first instance of a barbarian king, who
assisted the Roman arms with an independent body of his own
subjects. The practice grew familiar and at last became fatal.]
[16: His panegyrist Eumenius (vii. 8) ventures to affirm
in the presence of Constantine, that he put spurs to his horse,
and tried, but in vain, to escape from the hands of his
soldiers.]
[17: Lactantius de M. P. c. 25. Eumenius (vii. 8.)
gives a rhetorical turn to the whole transaction.]
[18: The choice of Constantine, by his dying father,
which is warranted by reason, and insinuated by Eumenius, seems
to be confirmed by the most unexceptionable authority, the
concurring evidence of Lactantius (de M. P. c. 24) and of
Libanius, (Oratio i.,) of Eusebius (in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c.
18, 21) and of Julian, (Oratio i)]
[19: Of the three sisters of Constantine, Constantia
married the emperor Licinius, Anastasia the Caesar Bassianus, and
Eutropia the consul Nepotianus. The three brothers were,
Dalmatius, Julius Constantius, and Annibalianus, of whom we shall
have occasion to speak hereafter.]
[20: See Gruter. Inscrip. p. 178. The six princes are
all mentioned, Diocletian and Maximian as the senior Augusti, and
fathers of the emperors. They jointly dedicate, for the use of
their own Romans, this magnificent edifice. The architects have
delineated the ruins of these Thermoe, and the antiquarians,
particularly Donatus and Nardini, have ascertained the ground
which they covered. One of the great rooms is now the Carthusian
church; and even one of the porter's lodges is sufficient to form
another church, which belongs to the Feuillans.]
[21: See Lactantius de M. P. c. 26, 31. ]
[A: Saviguy, in his memoir on Roman taxation, (Mem.
Berl. Academ. 1822, 1823, p. 5,) dates from this period the
abolition of the Jus Italicum. He quotes a remarkable passage of
Aurelius Victor. Hinc denique parti Italiae invec tum tributorum
ingens malum. Aur. Vict. c. 39. It was a necessary consequence
of the division of the empire: it became impossible to maintain a
second court and executive, and leave so large and fruitful a
part of the territory exempt from contribution. - M.]
[22: The sixth Panegyric represents the conduct of
Maximian in the most favorable light, and the ambiguous
expression of Aurelius Victor, "retractante diu," may signify
either that he contrived, or that he opposed, the conspiracy.
See Zosimus, l. ii. p. 79, and Lactantius de M. P. c. 26.]
[23: The circumstances of this war, and the death of
Severus, are very doubtfully and variously told in our ancient
fragments, (see Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. part i.
p. 555.) I have endeavored to extract from them a consistent and
probable narration.
Note: Manso justly observes that two totally different
narratives might be formed, almost upon equal authority.
Beylage, iv. - M.]
[24: The sixth Panegyric was pronounced to celebrate the
elevation of Constantine; but the prudent orator avoids the
mention either of Galerius or of Maxentius. He introduces only
one slight allusion to the actual troubles, and to the majesty of
Rome.
Note: Compare Manso, Beylage, iv. p. 302. Gibbon's account
is at least as probable as that of his critic. - M.]
[25: With regard to this negotiation, see the fragments
of an anonymous historian, published by Valesius at the end of
his edition of Ammianus Marcellinus, p. 711. These fragments
have furnished with several curious, and, as it should seem,
authentic anecdotes.]
[26: Lactantius de M. P. c. 28. The former of these
reasons is probably taken from Virgil's Shepherd: "Illam * * *
ego huic notra similem, Meliboee, putavi," &c. Lactantius
delights in these poetical illusions.]
[27: Castra super Tusci si ponere Tybridis undas;
(jubeus) Hesperios audax veniam metator in agros.
Tu quoscunque voles in planum effundere muros,
His aries actus disperget saxa lacertis;
Illa licet penitus tolli quam jusseris urbem
Roma sit. Lucan. Pharsal. i. 381.]
[28: Lactantius de M. P. c. 27. Zosim. l. ii. p. 82.
The latter, that Constantine, in his interview with Maximian, had
promised to declare war against Galerius.]
[29: M. de Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. part
i. p. 559) has proved that Licinius, without passing through the
intermediate rank of Caesar, was declared Augustus, the 11th of
November, A. D. 307, after the return of Galerius from Italy.]
[30: Lactantius de M. P. c. 32. When Galerius declared
Licinius Augustus with himself, he tried to satisfy his younger
associates, by inventing for Constantine and Maximin (not
Maxentius; see Baluze, p. 81) the new title of sons of the
Augusti. But when Maximin acquainted him that he had been
saluted Augustus by the army, Galerius was obliged to acknowledge
him as well as Constantine, as equal associates in the Imperial
dignity.]
[31: See Panegyr. Vet. vi. 9. Audi doloris nostri
liberam vocem, &c. The whole passage is imagined with artful
flattery, and expressed with an easy flow of eloquence.]
[32: Lactantius de M. P. c. 28. Zosim. l. ii. p. 82. A
report was spread, that Maxentius was the son of some obscure
Syrian, and had been substituted by the wife of Maximian as her
own child. See Aurelius Victor, Anonym. Valesian, and Panegyr.
Vet. ix. 3, 4.]
[33: Ab urbe pulsum, ab Italia fugatum, ab Illyrico
repudiatum, provinciis, tuis copiis, tuo palatio recepisti.
Eumen. in Panegyr Vet. vii. 14.]
[34: Lactantius de M. P. c. 29. Yet, after the
resignation of the purple, Constantine still continued to
Maximian the pomp and honors of the Imperial dignity; and on all
public occasions gave the right hand place to his father-in-law.
Panegyr. Vet. viii. 15.]
[35: Zosim. l. ii. p. 82. Eumenius in Panegyr. Vet.
vii. 16 - 21. The latter of these has undoubtedly represented the
whole affair in the most favorable light for his sovereign. Yet
even from this partial narrative we may conclude, that the
repeated clemency of Constantine, and the reiterated treasons of
Maximian, as they are described by Lactantius, (de M. P. c. 29,
30,) and copied by the moderns, are destitute of any historical
foundation.
Note: Yet some pagan authors relate and confirm them.
Aurelius Victor speaking of Maximin, says, cumque specie officii,
dolis compositis, Constantinum generum tentaret acerbe, jure
tamen interierat. Aur. Vict. de Caesar l. p. 623. Eutropius
also says, inde ad Gallias profectus est (Maximianus) composito
tamquam a filio esset expulsus, ut Constantino genero jun
geretur: moliens tamen Constantinum, reperta occasione,
interficere, dedit justissimo exitu. Eutrop. x. p. 661. (Anon.
Gent.) - G.
These writers hardly confirm more than Gibbon admits; he
denies the repeated clemency of Constantine, and the reiterated
treasons of Maximian Compare Manso, p. 302. - M.]
[36: Aurelius Victor, c. 40. But that lake was situated
on the upper Pannonia, near the borders of Noricum; and the
province of Valeria (a name which the wife of Galerius gave to
the drained country) undoubtedly lay between the Drave and the
Danube, (Sextus Rufus, c. 9.) I should therefore suspect that
Victor has confounded the Lake Pelso with the Volocean marshes,
or, as they are now called, the Lake Sabaton. It is placed in
the heart of Valeria, and its present extent is not less than
twelve Hungarian miles (about seventy English) in length, and two
in breadth. See Severini Pannonia, l. i. c. 9.]
[37: Lactantius (de M. P. c. 33) and Eusebius (l. viii.
c. 16) describe the symptoms and progress of his disorder with
singular accuracy and apparent pleasure.]
[38: If any (like the late Dr. Jortin, Remarks on
Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. p. 307 - 356) still delight in
recording the wonderful deaths of the persecutors, I would
recommend to their perusal an admirable passage of Grotius (Hist.
l. vii. p. 332) concerning the last illness of Philip II. of
Spain.]
[39: See Eusebius, l. ix. 6, 10. Lactantius de M. P. c.
36. Zosimus is less exact, and evidently confounds Maximian with
Maximin.]
[40: See the viiith Panegyr., in which Eumenius
displays, in the presence of Constantine, the misery and the
gratitude of the city of Autun.]
[41: Eutropius, x. 3. Panegyr. Veter. vii. 10, 11, 12.
A great number of the French youth were likewise exposed to the
same cruel and ignominious death.]
[B: Yet the panegyric assumes something of an apologetic
tone. Te vero Constantine, quantumlibet oderint hoses, dum
perhorrescant. Haec est enim vera virtus, ut non ament et
quiescant. The orator appeals to the ancient ideal of the
republic. - M.]
[42: Julian excludes Maxentius from the banquet of the
Caesars with abhorrence and contempt; and Zosimus (l. ii. p. 85)
accuses him of every kind of cruelty and profligacy.]
[43: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 83 - 85. Aurelius Victor.]
[44: The passage of Aurelius Victor should be read in
the following manner: Primus instituto pessimo, munerum specie,
Patres Oratores que pecuniam conferre prodigenti sibi cogeret.]
[45: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 3. Euseb. Hist Eccles. viii. 14,
et in Vit. Constant i. 33, 34. Rufinus, c. 17. The virtuous
matron who stabbed herself to escape the violence of Maxentius,
was a Christian, wife to the praefect of the city, and her name
was Sophronia. It still remains a question among the casuists,
whether, on such occasions, suicide is justifiable.]
[46: Praetorianis caedem vulgi quondam annueret, is the
vague expression of Aurelius Victor. See more particular, though
somewhat different, accounts of a tumult and massacre which
happened at Rome, in Eusebius, (l. viii. c. 14,) and in Zosimus,
(l. ii. p. 84.)]
[47: See, in the Panegyrics, (ix. 14,) a lively
description of the indolence and vain pride of Maxentius. In
another place the orator observes that the riches which Rome had
accumulated in a period of 1060 years, were lavished by the
tyrant on his mercenary bands; redemptis ad civile latrocinium
manibus in gesserat.]
[48: After the victory of Constantine, it was
universally allowed, that the motive of delivering the republic
from a detested tyrant, would, at any time, have justified his
expedition into Italy. Euseb in Vi'. Constantin. l. i. c. 26.
Panegyr. Vet. ix. 2.]
[49: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 84, 85. Nazarius in Panegyr. x. 7 - 13.]
[50: See Panegyr. Vet. ix. 2. Omnibus fere tuis
Comitibus et Ducibus non solum tacite mussantibus, sed etiam
aperte timentibus; contra consilia hominum, contra Haruspicum
monita, ipse per temet liberandae arbis tempus venisse sentires.
The embassy of the Romans is mentioned only by Zonaras, (l.
xiii.,) and by Cedrenus, (in Compend. Hist. p. 370;) but those
modern Greeks had the opportunity of consulting many writers
which have since been lost, among which we may reckon the life of
Constantine by Praxagoras. Photius (p. 63) has made a short
extract from that historical work.]
[51: Zosimus (l. ii. p. 86) has given us this curious
account of the forces on both sides. He makes no mention of any
naval armaments, though we are assured (Panegyr. Vet. ix. 25)
that the war was carried on by sea as well as by land; and that
the fleet of Constantine took possession of Sardinia, Corsica,
and the ports of Italy.]
[52: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 3. It is not surprising that the
orator should diminish the numbers with which his sovereign
achieved the conquest of Italy; but it appears somewhat singular
that he should esteem the tyrant's army at no more than 100,000
men.]
[53: The three principal passages of the Alps between
Gaul and Italy, are those of Mount St. Bernard, Mount Cenis, and
Mount Genevre. Tradition, and a resemblance of names, (Alpes
Penninoe,) had assigned the first of these for the march of
Hannibal, (see Simler de Alpibus.) The Chevalier de Folard
(Polyp. tom. iv.) and M. d'Anville have led him over Mount
Genevre. But notwithstanding the authority of an experienced
officer and a learned geographer, the pretensions of Mount Cenis
are supported in a specious, not to say a convincing, manner, by
M. Grosley. Observations sur l'Italie, tom. i. p. 40, &c.]
[C: The dissertation of Messrs. Cramer and Wickham
has clearly shown that the Little St. Bernard must claim the
honor of Hannibal's passage. Mr. Long (London, 1831) has added
some sensible corrections re Hannibal's march to the Alps. - M]
[54: La Brunette near Suse, Demont, Exiles,
Fenestrelles, Coni, &c.]
[55: See Ammian. Marcellin. xv. 10. His description of
the roads over the Alps is clear, lively, and accurate.]
[56: Zosimus as well as Eusebius hasten from the passage
of the Alps to the decisive action near Rome. We must apply to
the two Panegyrics for the intermediate actions of Constantine.]
[57: The Marquis Maffei has examined the siege and
battle of Verona with that degree of attention and accuracy which
was due to a memorable action that happened in his native
country. The fortifications of that city, constructed by
Gallienus, were less extensive than the modern walls, and the
amphitheatre was not included within their circumference. See
Verona Illustrata, part i. p. 142 150.]
[58: They wanted chains for so great a multitude of
captives; and the whole council was at a loss; but the sagacious
conqueror imagined the happy expedient of converting into fetters
the swords of the vanquished. Panegyr. Vet. ix. 11.]
[59: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 11.]
[60: Literas calamitatum suarum indices supprimebat.
Panegyr Vet. ix. 15.]
[61: Remedia malorum potius quam mala differebat, is the
fine censure which Tacitus passes on the supine indolence of
Vitellius.]
[62: The Marquis Maffei has made it extremely probable
that Constantine was still at Verona, the 1st of September, A.D.
312, and that the memorable aera of the indications was dated
from his conquest of the Cisalpine Gaul.]
[63: See Panegyr. Vet. xi. 16. Lactantius de M. P. c. 44.]
[64: Illo die hostem Romanorum esse periturum. The
vanquished became of course the enemy of Rome.]
[65: See Panegyr. Vet. ix. 16, x. 27. The former of
these orators magnifies the hoards of corn, which Maxentius had
collected from Africa and the Islands. And yet, if there is any
truth in the scarcity mentioned by Eusebius, (in Vit. Constantin.
l. i. c. 36,) the Imperial granaries must have been open only to
the soldiers.]
[66: Maxentius . . . tandem urbe in Saxa Rubra, millia
ferme novem aegerrime progressus. Aurelius Victor. See
Cellarius Geograph. Antiq. tom. i. p. 463. Saxa Rubra was in the
neighborhood of the Cremera, a trifling rivulet, illustrated by
the valor and glorious death of the three hundred Fabii.]
[67: The post which Maxentius had taken, with the Tyber
in his rear is very clearly described by the two Panegyrists, ix.
16, x. 28.]
[68: Exceptis latrocinii illius primis auctoribus, qui
desperata venia ocum quem pugnae sumpserant texere corporibus.
Panegyr. Vet 17.]
[69: A very idle rumor soon prevailed, that Maxentius,
who had not taken any precaution for his own retreat, had
contrived a very artful snare to destroy the army of the
pursuers; but that the wooden bridge, which was to have been
loosened on the approach of Constantine, unluckily broke down
under the weight of the flying Italians. M. de Tillemont (Hist.
des Empereurs, tom. iv. part i. p. 576) very seriously examines
whether, in contradiction to common sense, the testimony of
Eusebius and Zosimus ought to prevail over the silence of
Lactantius, Nazarius, and the anonymous, but contemporary orator,
who composed the ninth Panegyric.
Note: Manso (Beylage, vi.) examines the question, and
adduces two manifest allusions to the bridge, from the Life of
Constantine by Praxagoras, and from Libanius. Is it not very
probable that such a bridge was thrown over the river to
facilitate the advance, and to secure the retreat, of the army of
Maxentius? In case of defeat, orders were given for destroying
it, in order to check the pursuit: it broke down accidentally, or
in the confusion was destroyed, as has not unfrequently been the
case, before the proper time. - M.]
[70: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 86-88, and the two Panegyrics,
the former of which was pronounced a few months afterwards,
afford the clearest notion of this great battle. Lactantius,
Eusebius, and even the Epitomes, supply several useful hints.]
[71: Zosimus, the enemy of Constantine, allows (l. ii.
p. 88) that only a few of the friends of Maxentius were put to
death; but we may remark the expressive passage of Nazarius,
(Panegyr. Vet. x. 6.) Omnibus qui labefactari statum ejus
poterant cum stirpe deletis. The other orator (Panegyr. Vet. ix.
20, 21) contents himself with observing, that Constantine, when
he entered Rome, did not imitate the cruel massacres of Cinna, of
Marius, or of Sylla.
Note: This may refer to the son or sons of Maxentius. - M.]
[72: See the two Panegyrics, and the laws of this and
the ensuing year, in the Theodosian Code.]
[73: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 20. Lactantius de M. P. c. 44.
Maximin, who was confessedly the eldest Caesar, claimed, with
some show of reason, the first rank among the Augusti.]
[74: Adhuc cuncta opera quae magnifice construxerat,
urbis fanum atque basilicam, Flavii meritis patres sacravere.
Aurelius Victor. With regard to the theft of Trajan's trophies,
consult Flaminius Vacca, apud Montfaucon, Diarium Italicum, p.
250, and l'Antiquite Expliquee of the latter, tom. iv. p. 171.]
[75: Praetoriae legiones ac subsidia factionibus aptiora
quam urbi Romae, sublata penitus; simul arma atque usus indumenti
militaris Aurelius Victor. Zosimus (l. ii. p. 89) mentions this
fact as an historian, and it is very pompously celebrated in the
ninth Panegyric.]
[76: Ex omnibus provinciis optimates viros Curiae tuae
pigneraveris ut Senatus dignitas . . . . ex totius Orbis flore
consisteret. Nazarius in Panegyr. Vet x. 35. The word
pigneraveris might almost seem maliciously chosen. Concerning
the senatorial tax, see Zosimus, l. ii. p. 115, the second title
of the sixth book of the Theodosian Code, with Godefroy's
Commentary, and Memoires de l'Academic des Inscriptions, tom.
xxviii. p. 726.]
[77: From the Theodosian Code, we may now begin to trace
the motions of the emperors; but the dates both of time and place
have frequently been altered by the carelessness of
transcribers.]
[78: Zosimus (l. ii. p. 89) observes, that before the
war the sister of Constantine had been betrothed to Licinius.
According to the younger Victor, Diocletian was invited to the
nuptials; but having ventured to plead his age and infirmities,
he received a second letter, filled with reproaches for his
supposed partiality to the cause of Maxentius and Maximin.]
[79: Zosimus mentions the defeat and death of Maximin as
ordinary events; but Lactantius expatiates on them, (de M. P. c.
45-50,) ascribing them to the miraculous interposition of Heaven.
Licinius at that time was one of the protectors of the church.]
[80: Lactantius de M. P. c. 50. Aurelius Victor touches
on the different conduct of Licinius, and of Constantine, in the
use of victory.]
[81: The sensual appetites of Maximin were gratified at
the expense of his subjects. His eunuchs, who forced away wives
and virgins, examined their naked charms with anxious curiosity,
lest any part of their body should be found unworthy of the royal
embraces. Coyness and disdain were considered as treason, and
the obstinate fair one was condemned to be drowned. A custom was
gradually introduced, that no person should marry a wife without
the permission of the emperor, "ut ipse in omnibus nuptiis
praegustator esset." Lactantius de M. P. c. 38.]
[82: Lactantius de M. P. c. 39.]
[83: Diocletian at last sent cognatum suum, quendam
militarem ae potentem virum, to intercede in favor of his
daughter, (Lactantius de M. P. c. 41.) We are not sufficiently
acquainted with the history of these times to point out the
person who was employed.]
[84: Valeria quoque per varias provincias quindecim
mensibus plebeio cultu pervagata. Lactantius de M. P. c. 51.
There is some doubt whether we should compute the fifteen months
from the moment of her exile, or from that of her escape. The
expression of parvagata seems to denote the latter; but in that
case we must suppose that the treatise of Lactantius was written
after the first civil war between Licinius and Constantine. See
Cuper, p. 254.]
[85: Ita illis pudicitia et conditio exitio fuit.
Lactantius de M. P. c. 51. He relates the misfortunes of the
innocent wife and daughter of Discletian with a very natural
mixture of pity and exultation.]
[86: The curious reader, who consults the Valesian
fragment, p. 713, will probably accuse me of giving a bold and
licentious paraphrase; but if he considers it with attention, he
will acknowledge that my interpretation is probable and
consistent.]
[87: The situation of Aemona, or, as it is now called,
Laybach, in Carniola, (D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. i. p.
187,) may suggest a conjecture. As it lay to the north-east of
the Julian Alps, that important territory became a natural object
of dispute between the sovereigns of Italy and of Illyricum.]
[88: Cibalis or Cibalae (whose name is still preserved
in the obscure ruins of Swilei) was situated about fifty miles
from Sirmium, the capital of Illyricum, and about one hundred
from Taurunum, or Belgrade, and the conflux of the Danube and the
Save. The Roman garrisons and cities on those rivers are finely
illustrated by M. d'Anville in a memoir inserted in l'Academie
des Inscriptions, tom. xxviii.]
[89: Zosimus (l. ii. p. 90, 91) gives a very particular
account of this battle; but the descriptions of Zosimus are
rhetorical rather than military]
[90: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 92, 93. Anonym. Valesian. p.
713. The Epitomes furnish some circumstances; but they
frequently confound the two wars between Licinius and
Constantine.]
[91: Petrus Patricius in Excerpt. Legat. p. 27. If it
should be thought that signifies more properly a son-in-law, we
might conjecture that Constantine, assuming the name as well as
the duties of a father, had adopted his younger brothers and
sisters, the children of Theodora. But in the best authors
sometimes signifies a husband, sometimes a father-in-law, and
sometimes a kinsman in general. See Spanheim, Observat. ad
Julian. Orat. i. p. 72.]
[92: Zosimus, l. 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
Caesars 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 Caesars might be created by the western, and one only by the
eastern emperor; but each of them reserved to himself the choice
of the persons.]
[D: This explanation appears to me little probable.
Godefroy has made a much more happy conjecture, supported by all
the historical circumstances which relate to this edict. It was
published the 12th of May, A. D. 315. at Naissus in Pannonia, the
birthplace of Constantine. The 8th of October, in that year,
Constantine gained the victory of Cibalis over Licinius. He was
yet uncertain as to the fate of the war: the Christians, no
doubt, whom he favored, had prophesied his victory. Lactantius,
then preceptor of Crispus, had just written his work upon
Christianity, (his Divine Institutes;) he had dedicated it to
Constantine. In this book he had inveighed with great force
against infanticide, and the exposure of infants, (l. 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 enthusiasm, he published the edict
in question? The whole of the edict bears the character of
precipitation, of excitement, (entrainement,) rather than of
deliberate reflection - 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 succor 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 succor which was to be given to
the parents, and the source from which it was to be derived, are
determined. (Code Theod. l. 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, at this time, had prevailed among the subjects of the
empire. - G.]
[93: Codex Theodosian. l. xi. tit. 27, tom. iv. p. 188,
with Godefroy's observations. See likewise l. v. tit. 7, 8.]
[94: Omnia foris placita, domi prospera, annonae
ubertate, fructuum copia, &c. Panegyr. Vet. x. 38. This oration
of Nazarius was pronounced on the day of the Quinquennalia of the
Caesars, the 1st of March, A. D. 321.]
[95: See the edict of Constantine, addressed to the
Roman people, in the Theodosian Code, l. ix. tit. 24, tom. iii.
p. 189.]
[96: His son very fairly assigns the true reason of the
repeal: "Na sub specie atrocioris judicii aliqua in ulciscendo
crimine dilatio nae ceretur." Cod. Theod. tom. iii. p. 193]
[97: Eusebius (in Vita Constant. l. 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, (l.
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.
Note: Other medals are extant, the legends of which
commemorate the success of Constantine over the Sarmatians and
other barbarous nations, Sarmatia Devicta. Victoria Gothica.
Debellatori Gentium Barbarorum. Exuperator Omnium Gentium. St.
Martin, note on Le Beau, i. 148. - M.]
[E: Campona, Old Buda in Hungary; Margus, Benonia,
Widdin, in Maesia - G and M.]
[99: See Zosimus, l. 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 Getae, 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 Caesars 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. l. 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 quae animo praeparasset, simul principatum totius urbis
affectans, Licinio bellum intulit. Eutropius, x. 5. Zosimus, l.
ii. p 89. The reasons which they have assigned for the first
civil war, may, with more propriety, be applied to the second.]
[104: Zosimus, l. 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, l. 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
Piraeus 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.]
[107: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 95, 96. This great battle is
described in the Valesian fragment, (p. 714,) in a clear though
concise manner. "Licinius vero circum Hadrianopolin maximo
exercitu latera ardui montis impleverat; illuc toto agmine
Constantinus inflexit. Cum bellum terra marique traheretur,
quamvis per arduum suis nitentibus, attamen disciplina militari
et felicitate, Constantinus Licinu confusum et sine ordine
agentem vicit exercitum; leviter femore sau ciatus."]
[108: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 97, 98. The current always
sets out of the Hellespont; and when it is assisted by a north
wind, no vessel can[Footnote Continuation: attempt the passage.
A south wind renders the force of the current almost
imperceptible. See Tournefort's Voyage au Levant, Let. xi.]
[109: Aurelius Victor. Zosimus, l. ii. p. 93.
According to the latter, Martinianus was Magister Officiorum, (he
uses the Latin appellation in Greek.) Some medals seem to
intimate, that during his short reign he received the title of
Augustus.]
[110: Eusebius (in Vita Constantin. I. ii. c. 16, 17)
ascribes this decisive victory to the pious prayers of the
emperor. The Valesian fragment (p. 714) mentions a body of
Gothic auxiliaries, under their chief Aliquaca, who adhered to
the party of Licinius.]
[111: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 102. Victor Junior in Epitome.
Anonym. Valesian. p. 714.]
[112: Contra religionem sacramenti Thessalonicae
privatus occisus est. Eutropius, x. 6; and his evidence is
confirmed by Jerome (in Chronic.) as well as by Zosimus, l. ii.
p. 102. The Valesian writer is the only one who mentions the
soldiers, and it is Zonaras alone who calls in the assistance of
the senate. Eusebius prudently slides over this delicate
transaction. But Sozomen, a century afterwards, ventures to
assert the treasonable practices of Licinius.]