[1: Omnes qui plus poterant in palatio, adulandi
professores jam docti, recte consulta, prospereque completa
vertebant in deridiculum: talia sine modo strepentes insulse; in
odium venit cum victoriis suis; capella, non homo; ut hirsutum
Julianum carpentes, appellantesque loquacem talpam, et purpuratam
simiam, et litterionem Graecum: et his congruentia plurima atque
vernacula principi resonantes, audire haec taliaque gestienti,
virtutes ejus obruere verbis impudentibus conabantur, et segnem
incessentes et timidum et umbratilem, gestaque secus verbis
comptioribus exornantem. Ammianus, s. xvii. 11.
Note: The philosophers retaliated on the courtiers. Marius
(says Eunapius in a newly-discovered fragment) was wont to call
his antagonist Sylla a beast half lion and half fox. Constantius
had nothing of the lion, but was surrounded by a whole litter of
foxes. Mai. Script. Byz. Nov. Col. ii. 238. Niebuhr. Byzant.
Hist. 66. - M.]
[2: Ammian. xvi. 12. The orator Themistius (iv. p. 56,
57) believed whatever was contained in the Imperial letters,
which were addressed to the senate of Constantinople Aurelius
Victor, who published his Abridgment in the last year of
Constantius, ascribes the German victories to the wisdom of the
emperor, and the fortune of the Caesar. Yet the historian, soon
afterwards, was indebted to the favor or esteem of Julian for the
honor of a brass statue, and the important offices of consular of
the second Pannonia, and praefect of the city, Ammian. xxi. 10.]
[3: Callido nocendi artificio, accusatoriam diritatem
laudum titulis peragebant. . . Hae voces fuerunt ad inflammanda
odia probria omnibus potentiores. See Mamertin, in Actione
Gratiarum in Vet Panegyr. xi. 5, 6.]
[4: The minute interval, which may be interposed,
between the hyeme adulta and the primo vere of Ammianus, (xx. l.
4,) instead of allowing a sufficient space for a march of three
thousand miles, would render the orders of Constantius as
extravagant as they were unjust. The troops of Gaul could not
have reached Syria till the end of autumn. The memory of
Ammianus must have been inaccurate, and his language incorrect.
Note: The late editor of Ammianus attempts to vindicate his
author from the charge of inaccuracy. "It is clear, from the
whole course of the narrative, that Constantius entertained this
design of demanding his troops from Julian, immediately after the
taking of Amida, in the autumn of the preceding year, and had
transmitted his orders into Gaul, before it was known that
Lupicinus had gone into Britain with the Herulians and
Batavians." Wagner, note to Amm. xx. 4. But it seems also clear
that the troops were in winter quarters (hiemabant) when the
orders arrived. Ammianus can scarcely be acquitted of
incorrectness in his language at least. - M]
[5: Ammianus, xx. l. The valor of Lupicinus, and his
military skill, are acknowledged by the historian, who, in his
affected language, accuses the general of exalting the horns of
his pride, bellowing in a tragic tone, and exciting a doubt
whether he was more cruel or avaricious. The danger from the
Scots and Picts was so serious that Julian himself had some
thoughts of passing over into the island.]
[6: He granted them the permission of the cursus
clavularis, or clabularis. These post-wagons are often mentioned
in the Code, and were supposed to carry fifteen hundred pounds
weight. See Vales. ad Ammian. xx. 4.]
[7: Most probably the palace of the baths, (Thermarum,)
of which a solid and lofty hall still subsists in the Rue de la
Harpe. The buildings covered a considerable space of the modern
quarter of the university; and the gardens, under the Merovingian
kings, communicated with the abbey of St. Germain des Prez. By
the injuries of time and the Normans, this ancient palace was
reduced, in the twelfth century, to a maze of ruins, whose dark
recesses were the scene of licentious love.
Explicat aula sinus montemque amplectitur alis;
Multiplici latebra scelerum tersura ruborem.
.... pereuntis saepe pudoris
Celatura nefas, Venerisque accommoda furtis.
(These lines are quoted from the Architrenius, l. iv. c. 8, a
poetical work of John de Hauteville, or Hanville, a monk of St.
Alban's, about the year 1190. See Warton's History of English
Poetry, vol. i. dissert. ii.) Yet such thefts might be less
pernicious to mankind than the theological disputes of the
Sorbonne, which have been since agitated on the same ground.
Bonamy, Mem. de l'Academie, tom. xv. p. 678-632]
[8: Even in this tumultuous moment, Julian attended to
the forms of superstitious ceremony, and obstinately refused the
inauspicious use of a female necklace, or a horse collar, which
the impatient soldiers would have employed in the room of a
diadem.]
[9: An equal proportion of gold and silver, five pieces
of the former one pound of the latter; the whole amounting to
about five pounds ten shillings of our money.]
[10: For the whole narrative of this revolt, we may
appeal to authentic and original materials; Julian himself, (ad
S. P. Q. Atheniensem, p. 282, 283, 284,) Libanius, (Orat.
Parental. c. 44-48, in Fabricius, Bibliot. Graec. tom. vii. p.
269-273,) Ammianus, (xx. 4,) and Zosimus, (l. iii. p. 151, 152,
153.) who, in the reign of Julian, appears to follow the more
respectable authority of Eunapius. With such guides we might
neglect the abbreviators and ecclesiastical historians.]
[11: Eutropius, a respectable witness, uses a doubtful
expression, "consensu militum." (x. 15.) Gregory Nazianzen, whose
ignorance night excuse his fanaticism, directly charges the
apostate with presumption, madness, and impious rebellion, Orat.
iii. p. 67.]
[12: Julian. ad S. P. Q. Athen. p. 284. The devout Abbe
de la Bleterie (Vie de Julien, p. 159) is almost inclined to
respect the devout protestations of a Pagan.]
[13: Ammian. xx. 5, with the note of Lindenbrogius on
the Genius of the empire. Julian himself, in a confidential
letter to his friend and physician, Oribasius, (Epist. xvii. p.
384,) mentions another dream, to which, before the event, he gave
credit; of a stately tree thrown to the ground, of a small plant
striking a deep root into the earth. Even in his sleep, the mind
of the Caesar must have been agitated by the hopes and fears of
his fortune. Zosimus (l. iii. p. 155) relates a subsequent
dream.]
[14: The difficult situation of the prince of a
rebellious army is finely described by Tacitus, (Hist. 1, 80-85.)
But Otho had much more guilt, and much less abilities, than
Julian.]
[15: To this ostensible epistle he added, says Ammianus,
private letters, objurgatorias et mordaces, which the historian
had not seen, and would not have published. Perhaps they never
existed.]
[16: See the first transactions of his reign, in Julian.
ad S. P. Q. Athen. p. 285, 286. Ammianus, xx. 5, 8. Liban.
Orat. Parent. c. 49, 50, p. 273-275.]
[17: Liban. Orat. Parent. c. 50, p. 275, 276. A strange
disorder, since it continued above seven years. In the factions
of the Greek republics, the exiles amounted to 20,000 persons;
and Isocrates assures Philip, that it would be easier to raise an
army from the vagabonds than from the cities. See Hume's Essays,
tom. i. p. 426, 427.]
[18: Julian (Epist. xxxviii. p. 414) gives a short
description of Vesontio, or Besancon; a rocky peninsula almost
encircled by the River Doux; once a magnificent city, filled with
temples, &c., now reduced to a small town, emerging, however,
from its ruins.]
[19: Vadomair entered into the Roman service, and was
promoted from a barbarian kingdom to the military rank of duke of
Phoenicia. He still retained the same artful character, (Ammian.
xxi. 4;) but under the reign of Valens, he signalized his valor
in the Armenian war, (xxix. 1.)]
[20: Ammian. xx. 10, xxi. 3, 4. Zosimus, l. iii. p.
155.]
[21: Her remains were sent to Rome, and interred near
those of her sister Constantina, in the suburb of the Via
Nomentana. Ammian. xxi. 1. Libanius has composed a very weak
apology, to justify his hero from a very absurd charge of
poisoning his wife, and rewarding her physician with his mother's
jewels. (See the seventh of seventeen new orations, published at
Venice, 1754, from a MS. in St. Mark's Library, p. 117-127.)
Elpidius, the Praetorian praefect of the East, to whose evidence
the accuser of Julian appeals, is arraigned by Libanius, as
effeminate and ungrateful; yet the religion of Elpidius is
praised by Jerom, (tom. i. p. 243,) and his Ammianus (xxi. 6.)]
[22: Feriarum die quem celebrantes mense Januario,
Christiani Epiphania dictitant, progressus in eorum ecclesiam,
solemniter numine orato discessit. Ammian. xxi. 2. Zonaras
observes, that it was on Christmas day, and his assertion is not
inconsistent; since the churches of Egypt, Asia, and perhaps
Gaul, celebrated on the same day (the sixth of January) the
nativity and the baptism of their Savior. The Romans, as
ignorant as their brethren of the real date of his birth, fixed
the solemn festival to the 25th of December, the Brumalia, or
winter solstice, when the Pagans annually celebrated the birth of
the sun. See Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church, l.
xx. c. 4, and Beausobre, Hist. Critique du Manicheismo tom. ii.
p. 690-700.]
[23: The public and secret negotiations between
Constantius and Julian must be extracted, with some caution, from
Julian himself. (Orat. ad S. P. Q. Athen. p. 286.) Libanius,
(Orat. Parent. c. 51, p. 276,) Ammianus, (xx. 9,) Zosimus, (l.
iii. p. 154,) and even Zonaras, (tom. ii. l. xiii. p. 20, 21,
22,) who, on this occasion, appears to have possessed and used
some valuable materials.]
[24: Three hundred myriads, or three millions of
medimni, a corn measure familiar to the Athenians, and which
contained six Roman modii. Julian explains, like a soldier and a
statesman, the danger of his situation, and the necessity and
advantages of an offensive war, (ad S. P. Q. Athen. p. 286,
287.)]
[25: See his oration, and the behavior of the troops, in
Ammian. xxi. 5.]
[26: He sternly refused his hand to the suppliant
praefect, whom he sent into Tuscany. (Ammian. xxi. 5.) Libanius,
with savage fury, insults Nebridius, applauds the soldiers, and
almost censures the humanity of Julian. (Orat. Parent. c. 53, p.
278.)]
[27: Ammian. xxi. 8. In this promotion, Julian obeyed
the law which he publicly imposed on himself. Neque civilis
quisquam judex nec militaris rector, alio quodam praeter merita
suffragante, ad potiorem veniat gradum. (Ammian. xx. 5.) Absence
did not weaken his regard for Sallust, with whose name (A. D.
363) he honored the consulship.]
[28: Ammianus (xxi. 8) ascribes the same practice, and
the same motive, to Alexander the Great and other skilful
generals.]
[29: This wood was a part of the great Hercynian forest,
which, is the time of Caesar, stretched away from the country of
the Rauraci (Basil) into the boundless regions of the north. See
Cluver, Germania Antiqua. l. iii. c. 47.]
[30: Compare Libanius, Orat. Parent. c. 53, p. 278, 279,
with Gregory Nazianzen, Orat. iii. p. 68. Even the saint admires
the speed and secrecy of this march. A modern divine might apply
to the progress of Julian the lines which were originally
designed for another apostate: -
- So eagerly the fiend,
O'er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare,
With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way,
And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies.]
[31: In that interval the Notitia places two or three
fleets, the Lauriacensis, (at Lauriacum, or Lorch,) the
Arlapensis, the Maginensis; and mentions five legions, or
cohorts, of Libernarii, who should be a sort of marines. Sect.
lviii. edit. Labb.]
[32: Zosimus alone (l. iii. p. 156) has specified this
interesting circumstance. Mamertinus, (in Panegyr. Vet. xi. 6,
7, 8,) who accompanied Julian, as count of the sacred largesses,
describes this voyage in a florid and picturesque manner,
challenges Triptolemus and the Argonauts of Greece, &c.]
[A: Banostar. Mannert. - M.]
[33: The description of Ammianus, which might be
supported by collateral evidence, ascertains the precise
situation of the Angustine Succorum, or passes of Succi. M.
d'Anville, from the trifling resemblance of names, has placed
them between Sardica and Naissus. For my own justification I am
obliged to mention the only error which I have discovered in the
maps or writings of that admirable geographer.]
[34: Whatever circumstances we may borrow elsewhere,
Ammianus (xx. 8, 9, 10) still supplies the series of the
narrative.]
[35: Ammian. xxi. 9, 10. Libanius, Orat. Parent. c. 54,
p. 279, 280. Zosimus, l. iii. p. 156, 157.]
[36: Julian (ad S. P. Q. Athen. p. 286) positively
asserts, that he intercepted the letters of Constantius to the
Barbarians; and Libanius as positively affirms, that he read them
on his march to the troops and the cities. Yet Ammianus (xxi. 4)
expresses himself with cool and candid hesitation, si famoe
solius admittenda est fides. He specifies, however, an
intercepted letter from Vadomair to Constantius, which supposes
an intimate correspondence between them. "disciplinam non
habet."]
[37: Zosimus mentions his epistles to the Athenians, the
Corinthians, and the Lacedaemonians. The substance was probably
the same, though the address was properly varied. The epistle to
the Athenians is still extant, (p. 268-287,) and has afforded
much valuable information. It deserves the praises of the Abbe
de la Bleterie, (Pref. a l'Histoire de Jovien, p. 24, 25,) and is
one of the best manifestoes to be found in any language.]
[38: Auctori tuo reverentiam rogamus. Ammian. xxi. 10.
It is amusing enough to observe the secret conflicts of the
senate between flattery and fear. See Tacit. Hist. i. 85.]
[39: Tanquam venaticiam praedam caperet: hoc enim ad
Jeniendum suorum metum subinde praedicabat. Ammian. xxii. 7.]
[40: See the speech and preparations in Ammianus, xxi.
13. The vile Theodotus afterwards implored and obtained his
pardon from the merciful conqueror, who signified his wish of
diminishing his enemies and increasing the numbers of his
friends, (xxii. 14.)]
[41: Ammian. xxi. 7, 11, 12. He seems to describe, with
superfluous labor, the operations of the siege of Aquileia,
which, on this occasion, maintained its impregnable fame.
Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. iii. p. 68) ascribes this accidental
revolt to the wisdom of Constantius, whose assured victory he
announces with some appearance of truth. Constantio quem
credebat procul dubio fore victorem; nemo enim omnium tunc ab hac
constanti sententia discrepebat. Ammian. xxi. 7.]
[42: His death and character are faithfully delineated
by Ammianus, (xxi. 14, 15, 16;) and we are authorized to despise
and detest the foolish calumny of Gregory, (Orat. iii. p. 68,)
who accuses Julian of contriving the death of his benefactor.
The private repentance of the emperor, that he had spared and
promoted Julian, (p. 69, and Orat. xxi. p. 389,) is not
improbable in itself, nor incompatible with the public verbal
testament which prudential considerations might dictate in the
last moments of his life.
Note: Wagner thinks this sudden change of sentiment
altogether a fiction of the attendant courtiers and chiefs of the
army. who up to this time had been hostile to Julian. Note in
loco Ammian. - M.]
[43: In describing the triumph of Julian, Ammianus
(xxii. l, 2) assumes the lofty tone of an orator or poet; while
Libanius (Orat. Parent, c. 56, p. 281) sinks to the grave
simplicity of an historian.]
[44: The funeral of Constantius is described by
Ammianus, (xxi. 16.) Gregory Nazianzen, (Orat. iv. p. 119,)
Mamertinus, in (Panegyr. Vet. xi. 27,) Libanius, (Orat. Parent.
c. lvi. p. 283,) and Philostorgius, (l. vi. c. 6, with Godefroy's
Dissertations, p. 265.) These writers, and their followers,
Pagans, Catholics, Arians, beheld with very different eyes both
the dead and the living emperor.]
[45: The day and year of the birth of Julian are not
perfectly ascertained. The day is probably the sixth of
November, and the year must be either 331 or 332. Tillemont,
Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 693. Ducange, Fam. Byzantin. p.
50. I have preferred the earlier date.]
[46: Julian himself (p. 253-267) has expressed these
philosophical ideas with much eloquence and some affectation, in
a very elaborate epistle to Themistius. The Abbe de la Bleterie,
(tom. ii. p. 146-193,) who has given an elegant translation, is
inclined to believe that it was the celebrated Themistius, whose
orations are still extant.]
[47: Julian. ad Themist. p. 258. Petavius (not. p. 95)
observes that this passage is taken from the fourth book De
Legibus; but either Julian quoted from memory, or his MSS. were
different from ours Xenophon opens the Cyropaedia with a similar
reflection.]
[48: Aristot. ap. Julian. p. 261. The MS. of Vossius,
unsatisfied with the single beast, affords the stronger reading
of which the experience of despotism may warrant.]
[49: Libanius (Orat. Parentalis, c. lxxxiv. lxxxv. p.
310, 311, 312) has given this interesting detail of the private
life of Julian. He himself (in Misopogon, p. 350) mentions his
vegetable diet, and upbraids the gross and sensual appetite of
the people of Antioch.]
[50: Lectulus . . . Vestalium toris purior, is the
praise which Mamertinus (Panegyr. Vet. xi. 13) addresses to
Julian himself. Libanius affirms, in sober peremptory language,
that Julian never knew a woman before his marriage, or after the
death of his wife, (Orat. Parent. c. lxxxviii. p. 313.) The
chastity of Julian is confirmed by the impartial testimony of
Ammianus, (xxv. 4,) and the partial silence of the Christians.
Yet Julian ironically urges the reproach of the people of
Antioch, that he almost always in Misopogon, p. 345) lay alone.
This suspicious expression is explained by the Abbe de la
Bleterie (Hist. de Jovien, tom. ii. p. 103-109) with candor and
ingenuity.]
[51: See Salmasius ad Sueton in Claud. c. xxi. A
twenty-fifth race, or missus, was added, to complete the number
of one hundred chariots, four of which, the four colors, started
each heat.
Centum quadrijugos agitabo ad flumina currus.
It appears, that they ran five or seven times round the Mota
(Sueton in Domitian. c. 4;) and (from the measure of the Circus
Maximus at Rome, the Hippodrome at Constantinople, &c.) it might
be about a four mile course.]
[52: Julian. in Misopogon, p. 340. Julius Caesar had
offended the Roman people by reading his despatches during the
actual race. Augustus indulged their taste, or his own, by his
constant attention to the important business of the Circus, for
which he professed the warmest inclination. Sueton. in August. c.
xlv.]
[53: The reformation of the palace is described by
Ammianus, (xxii. 4,) Libanius, Orat. (Parent. c. lxii. p. 288,
&c.,) Mamertinus, in Panegyr. Vet. xi. 11,) Socrates, (l. iii. c.
l.,) and Zonaras, (tom. ii. l. xiii. p. 24.)]
[54: Ego non rationalem jussi sed tonsorem acciri.
Zonaras uses the less natural image of a senator. Yet an officer
of the finances, who was satisfied with wealth, might desire and
obtain the honors of the senate.]
[56: The expressions of Mamertinus are lively and
forcible. Quis etiam prandiorum et caenarum laboratas
magnitudines Romanus populus sensit; cum quaesitissimae dapes non
gustu sed difficultatibus aestimarentur; miracula avium,
longinqui maris pisces, aheni temporis poma, aestivae nives,
hybernae rosae]
[57: Yet Julian himself was accused of bestowing whole
towns on the eunuchs, (Orat. vii. against Polyclet. p. 117-127.)
Libanius contents himself with a cold but positive denial of the
fact, which seems indeed to belong more properly to Constantius.
This charge, however, may allude to some unknown circumstance.]
[58: In the Misopogon (p. 338, 339) he draws a very
singular picture of himself, and the following words are
strangely characteristic. The friends of the Abbe de la Bleterie
adjured him, in the name of the French nation, not to translate
this passage, so offensive to their delicacy, (Hist. de Jovien,
tom. ii. p. 94.) Like him, I have contented myself with a
transient allusion; but the little animal which Julian names, is
a beast familiar to man, and signifies love.]
[59: Julian, epist. xxiii. p. 389. He uses the words in
writing to his friend Hermogenes, who, like himself, was
conversant with the Greek poets.]
[60: The two Sallusts, the praefect of Gaul, and the
praefect of the East, must be carefully distinguished, (Hist. des
Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 696.) I have used the surname of Secundus,
as a convenient epithet. The second Sallust extorted the esteem
of the Christians themselves; and Gregory Nazianzen, who
condemned his religion, has celebrated his virtues, (Orat. iii.
p. 90.) See a curious note of the Abbe de la Bleterie, Vie de
Julien, p. 363.
Note: Gibbonus secundum habet pro numero, quod tamen est
viri agnomen Wagner, nota in loc. Amm. It is not a mistake; it
is rather an error in taste. Wagner inclines to transfer the
chief guilt to Arbetio. - M.]
[61: Mamertinus praises the emperor (xi. l.) for
bestowing the offices of Treasurer and Praefect on a man of
wisdom, firmness, integrity, &c., like himself. Yet Ammianus
ranks him (xxi. l.) among the ministers of Julian, quorum merita
norat et fidem.]
[62: The proceedings of this chamber of justice are
related by Ammianus, (xxii. 3,) and praised by Libanius, (Orat.
Parent. c. 74, p. 299, 300.)]
[63: Ursuli vero necem ipsa mihi videtur flesse
justitia. Libanius, who imputes his death to the soldiers,
attempts to criminate the court of the largesses.]
[64: Such respect was still entertained for the
venerable names of the commonwealth, that the public was
surprised and scandalized to hear Taurus summoned as a criminal
under the consulship of Taurus. The summons of his colleague
Florentius was probably delayed till the commencement of the
ensuing year.]
[65: Ammian. xx. 7.]
[66: For the guilt and punishment of Artemius, see
Julian (Epist. x. p. 379) and Ammianus, (xxii. 6, and Vales, ad
hoc.) The merit of Artemius, who demolished temples, and was put
to death by an apostate, has tempted the Greek and Latin churches
to honor him as a martyr. But as ecclesiastical history attests
that he was not only a tyrant, but an Arian, it is not altogether
easy to justify this indiscreet promotion. Tillemont, Mem.
Eccles. tom. vii. p. 1319.]
[67: See Ammian. xxii. 6, and Vales, ad locum; and the
Codex Theodosianus, l. ii. tit. xxxix. leg. i.; and Godefroy's
Commentary, tom. i. p. 218, ad locum.]
[68: The president Montesquieu (Considerations sur la
Grandeur, &c., des Romains, c. xiv. in his works, tom. iii. p.
448, 449,) excuses this minute and absurd tyranny, by supposing
that actions the most indifferent in our eyes might excite, in a
Roman mind, the idea of guilt and danger. This strange apology
is supported by a strange misapprehension of the English laws,
"chez une nation . . . . ou il est defendu da boire a la sante
d'une certaine personne."]
[69: The clemency of Julian, and the conspiracy which
was formed against his life at Antioch, are described by Ammianus
(xxii. 9, 10, and Vales, ad loc.) and Libanius, (Orat. Parent. c.
99, p. 323.)]
[70: According to some, says Aristotle, (as he is quoted
by Julian ad Themist. p. 261,) the form of absolute government is
contrary to nature. Both the prince and the philosopher choose,
how ever to involve this eternal truth in artful and labored
obscurity.]
[71: That sentiment is expressed almost in the words of
Julian himself. Ammian. xxii. 10.]
[72: Libanius, (Orat. Parent. c. 95, p. 320,) who
mentions the wish and design of Julian, insinuates, in mysterious
language that the emperor was restrained by some particular
revelation.]
[73: Julian in Misopogon, p. 343. As he never
abolished, by any public law, the proud appellations of Despot,
or Dominus, they are still extant on his medals, (Ducange, Fam.
Byzantin. p. 38, 39;) and the private displeasure which he
affected to express, only gave a different tone to the servility
of the court. The Abbe de la Bleterie (Hist. de Jovien, tom. ii.
p. 99-102) has curiously traced the origin and progress of the
word Dominus under the Imperial government.]
[74: Ammian. xxii. 7. The consul Mamertinus (in
Panegyr. Vet. xi. 28, 29, 30) celebrates the auspicious day, like
an elegant slave, astonished and intoxicated by the condescension
of his master.]
[75: Personal satire was condemned by the laws of the
twelve tables:
Si male condiderit in quem quis carmina, jus est
Judiciumque -
Horat. Sat. ii. 1. 82.
Julian (in Misopogon, p. 337) owns himself subject to the law;
and the Abbe de la Bleterie (Hist. de Jovien, tom. ii. p. 92) has
eagerly embraced a declaration so agreeable to his own system,
and, indeed, to the true spirit of the Imperial constitution.]
[76: Zosimus, l. iii. p. 158.]
[77: See Libanius, (Orat. Parent. c. 71, p. 296,)
Ammianus, (xxii. 9,) and the Theodosian Code (l. xii. tit. i.
leg. 50-55.) with Godefroy's Commentary, (tom. iv. p. 390-402.)
Yet the whole subject of the Curia, notwithstanding very ample
materials, still remains the most obscure in the legal history of
the empire.]
[78: Quae paulo ante arida et siti anhelantia
visebantur, ea nunc perlui, mundari, madere; Fora, Deambulacra,
Gymnasia, laetis et gaudentibus populis frequentari; dies festos,
et celebrari veteres, et novos in honorem principis consecrari,
(Mamertin. xi. 9.) He particularly restored the city of Nicopolis
and the Actiac games, which had been instituted by Augustus.]
[79: Julian. Epist. xxxv. p. 407-411. This epistle,
which illustrates the declining age of Greece, is omitted by the
Abbe de la Bleterie, and strangely disfigured by the Latin
translator, who, by rendering tributum, and populus, directly
contradicts the sense of the original.]
[80: He reigned in Mycenae at the distance of fifty
stadia, or six miles from Argos: but these cities, which
alternately flourished, are confounded by the Greek poets.
Strabo, l. viii. p. 579, edit. Amstel. 1707.]
[81: Marsham, Canon. Chron. p. 421. This pedigree from
Temenus and Hercules may be suspicious; yet it was allowed, after
a strict inquiry, by the judges of the Olympic games, (Herodot.
l. v. c. 22,) at a time when the Macedonian kings were obscure
and unpopular in Greece. When the Achaean league declared
against Philip, it was thought decent that the deputies of Argos
should retire, (T. Liv. xxxii. 22.)]
[82: His eloquence is celebrated by Libanius, (Orat.
Parent. c. 75, 76, p. 300, 301,) who distinctly mentions the
orators of Homer. Socrates (l. iii. c. 1) has rashly asserted
that Julian was the only prince, since Julius Caesar, who
harangued the senate. All the predecessors of Nero, (Tacit.
Annal. xiii. 3,) and many of his successors, possessed the
faculty of speaking in public; and it might be proved by various
examples, that they frequently exercised it in the senate.]
[83: Ammianus (xxi. 10) has impartially stated the
merits and defects of his judicial proceedings. Libanius (Orat.
Parent. c. 90, 91, p. 315, &c.) has seen only the fair side, and
his picture, if it flatters the person, expresses at least the
duties, of the judge. Gregory Nazianzen, (Orat. iv. p. 120,) who
suppresses the virtues, and exaggerates even the venial faults of
the Apostate, triumphantly asks, whether such a judge was fit to
be seated between Minos and Rhadamanthus, in the Elysian Fields.]
[84: Of the laws which Julian enacted in a reign of
sixteen months, fifty-four have been admitted into the codes of
Theodosius and Justinian. (Gothofred. Chron. Legum, p. 64-67.)
The Abbe de la Bleterie (tom. ii. p. 329-336) has chosen one of
these laws to give an idea of Julian's Latin style, which is
forcible and elaborate, but less pure than his Greek.]