otherwise destroy'd In fine a great many men were thrown over-board till night came and put an end to the fight So the one Navy put in at Eleus in Thrace and the other at the Aeantian Harbour And the next Day whilst the Wind blew hard at North Abantus put forth from the Aeantian Port and made ready for a Sea fight But because those Galleys of fifty Oars apiece which lay in the mouth of the Hellespont were come to Eleus by Order of the Admirals Abantus was affrighted at the number of Ships and stood debating whether he should set Sail against the Enemy or no. But about Noon the North-Wind was allay'd and the South-Wind blew so violently that when Licinnius's Navy lay upon the Asian Coast it ran some on ground bilg'd some against the Rocks and sunk others men and all so that five thousand men were lost besides one hundred and thirty Ships full of men which Licinnius had sent out of Thrace into Asia with part of his Army because Bizantium was too little to contain all those who were besieged with Licinnius But when Licinnius was fled into Asia with four Ships and the Sea fight was thus at an end as also that the Ships were come into the Hellespont and had brought all sorts of Commodities and great store of provisions to Constantine's Officers they weigh'd Anchor with the whole Navy to go and join with those that besieged Bizantium and inclose the City even by Sea also But Licinnius's Foot were not able to endure so much as the very sight of such a Navy and therefore got 'em Ships and sailed away for Eleus In the mean time Constantine continu'd close at the Siege and made a Mound as high as the Wall upon which he planted Wooden Towers higher than the Wall from which his Soldiers shot those who defended the Wall that he might with more security bring Rams and other Engines of War near to it and by that means he thought sure enough to take the City At which Licinnius being startled and not knowing what to think he resolv'd to leave Bizantium and the weaker part of his Army in it and onely take along with him such men as were fit for service and had given him demonstrations of their love to him and so make what haste he could into Chalcedon in Bithynia For he believ'd he might raise an Army in Asia and try another Engagement with his Enemies Wherefore arriving at Chalcedon and having made Martinianus who was Captain of the Court Guards whom the Romans call Magister Officiorum his Accomplice and Partner in the dangerous Enterprise he declared him Caesar and sent him with an Army to Lampsacus to hinder the Enemies passage from Thrace into Hellespont whilst he himself posted his own men upon the Hills and Avenues about Chalcedon And whilst Licinnius was intent upon these matters Constantine who had a great number of Ships for burthen as well as War and had a mind with them to cross over and possess himself of the other shore fearing lest the Bithynian Coast might be inaccessible to Ships of burthen especially he immediatey built Skiffs and other Boats and with them he sailed to the holy Promontory as they call it which lies upon the mouth of Pontus two hundred furlongs from Chalcedon And there he landed his Army which when he had done he went upon certain Hills hard by to set 'em in Array At which time Licinnius though he saw that Bithynia was already in the Enemies hands yet was a man so harden'd by Danger that he sent for Martinianus from Lampsacus and to encourage his men to fight told 'em he himself would lead ' em And when he had said what he thought necessary to 'em he drew 'em into Battalia and marching out of the City he met the Enemy who were ready for him And after a sharpe Engagement between Chalcedon and the Holy Promontory Constantines side had much the better on 't for they fell upon the Enemy with such vigour and made such a slaughter of 'em that of an hundred and thirty thousand men scarce thirty thousand escaped Which when the Bizantines heard of immediately they threw open their Gates to receive Constantinus as the Chalcedonians also did But Licinnius having receiv'd this Overthrow went for Nicomedia with what Horse he had left him and some few Thousands of Foot Just at this time a certain Persian called Hormisdas of the Royal Family came over to Constantine for refuge upon this account His Father had been King of Persia and on a time was celebrating his own Birth-day after the Persian way when Hormisdas came into the Palace and brought with him a great deal of Venison But the Guests that were at the Feast not rising up and paying him the respect and honour due to him he was very angry and told 'em he would punish 'em with Marsyas's Death Which saying a great many of 'em did not understand because it related to a Forein Story but onely one Persian among 'em who had lived in Phrygia and heard the story of Marsyas explain'd the meaning of Hormisdas's Menace to 'em as they sate at Table Wherefore they laid up Hormisdas's Menace in their memories and when his Father happened to die they remember'd what he had threaten'd and so chose his younger Brother King though the elder should have had the preference according to Law above all the Kings Children Nor only that but they shackled Hormisdas and kept him upon a certain Hill which lies before the City But when some time had pass'd his Wife contrived his escape in this manner She got a great Fish and put a File into his belly and then solving him up again deliver'd it to the most faithful Eunuch that she had with a strict charge to tell Hormisdas he must eat that Fish when no body was by and use that which he found in his belly in order to his escape And when she had thus contrived it she sent out several Camels loaden with Wine and a deal of Provision to entertain her Husbands Keepers And whilst the Keepers were merry at the Feast which she made for 'em Hormisdas cut up the Fish and found the File with which when he had cut off the shackles that were upon his Legs he put on the Eunuchs Robe and went away through the middle of the Keepers who were by that time Drunk and taking one of the Eunuchs along with him he fled to the King of Armenia who was his Friend and Host And by this means he got away safe to Constantine who thought fit to shew him all the respect and kindness imaginable And so much for that But when Constantinus besieged Licinnius at Nicomedia also he knew not what to do because he was sensible he had not an Army fit to fight and therefore going out of the City he submitted himself to Constantine and brought him the Purple Robe proclaimed him Emperor and Lord and ask'd pardon for what was past For he
of History do necessarily require and of considerable use it is in the life of Man however it may seem to fully and diminish his glory of whom it is related And if Zosimus have done this with great freedom of speech he is not certainly more to be reproved for it than some others who professing not the Pagan as he did but the Christian Religion have not stuck bitterly to lash Constantine as well for those things which Zosimus has likewise charged him with as also that an Emperour pretending to be a Christian should promulgate a Law inserted in Justinian's Code forbidding those to be accused for the use of Magick Arts who from those wicked Rites seek relief for sick bodies and the conservation of those things which are necessary to life that is Men who forsake God the fountain of all good things and expect those assistances from evil Angels which they despair of receiving from the Almighty as if it were not expresly forbid in the Scripture or that the use of that could be lawful which is in it self impious and damnable and not without reason do the same Men discommend Constantine for changing his Counsels and resolutions in his old age when by the persuasion of his Sister Constantia he recalled Arius the Author of that most pernicious Sect from banishment and commanded Athanasius who for his extraordinary Piety and Religion had so well deserved of his own and all succeeding ages to be banish'd into France and these are Crimes more inexcusable than what Zosimus hath charged him with these respecting the honour of God the peace of his Church and the salvation of his Peoples Souls Zosimus in the mean while complaining chiefly of those things in Constantine which tended to the prejudice of the Commonwealth And what is Zosimus's Crime which Evagrius and Nicephorus make such a stir about in relating how Constantine murder'd his Son Crispus Cesar a most hopeful Youth and of great Virtue and his own Empress Fausta is not this a singular piece of impudence which denies that to have been done which the consent of those Writers who are of undoubted veracity confirms the truth of But Eusebius say they who was contemporary with Constantine and survived him too mentions not one word of those Parricides But what if this testimony be not good For I must tell you this kind of Historians Prelates I mean Priests and Monks have but a scurvy reputation for their fidelity this way for those Princes who preferr'd them they do not onely praise immoderately but studiously endeavour not onely to free from the guilt but from the very suspicion too of those Villanies which for all that are too apparent to be either conceal'd or excused and some again and those no mean Persons either not fairly pass'd over or which is worse unjustly stigmatized But let us not make use of this advantage against so eminent an Author as Eusebius and therefore allow that either he would not or durst not write his own circumstances and those of the times not admitting it for either he wrote his History while Constantine was alive or soon after his death while he was yet alive he could not without unavoidable hazard of his life bring in the story of so horrid a Villany and little less could he have expected from Constantius who survived his Father and Brethren if he had written it after he was dead For whom I beseech you should he spare who spared not his own blood shall we say therefore that those murders of Constantine were feign'd because Eusebius for fear of the Father and when he was dead of the more cruel Son durst not insert them into his History But Eusebius say they commends Crispus and therefore very unlikely it is that he should have been murder'd by his Father as if an enraged Father who was jealous of his Son 's being naught with his mother-in-Mother-in-law could in the heighth of his passion so far command himself as to spare him because he was a hopeful and a forward Youth or had not afterwards testified his resentment of the injury he had done so excellent and virtuous a Person when touch'd with grief and remorse for the murder of such a Son he strangled his own Wife Fausta who was the occasion of his suspicion in a Bath Eusebius therefore if he had a mind to be safe could not better consult his own security than by wholly declining the mention of Crispus's murther in his History for one of these two he must necessarily have done either have made Crispus die innocent or not guilty he would not because the contrary was manifest to all Men and innocent he durst not for fear of accusing the Father And hence we may truly infer that Crispus was unblameable because among the rest who testifie his innocence Zosimus relates how sadly he was lamented by his Grandmother Helena and therefore Eusebius for reasons best known to himself left that in doubt which Zosimus more remote from that Age ought by no means to have omitted And truly I cannot but admire what was in the minds of these Men who not content to have exposed themselves by their zeal against Zosimus will not allow Constantius to have been cruel at all because he did not execute Vetranio who had been guilty of Treason as if one single instance were sufficient to entitle a Man to the Character of a gentle and merciful Prince who at other times inhumanly butchered his own Relations for sparing a Man who by the course of Nature could not live long of no Birth not bravely taken or conquered but circumvented by a meer wile And the same Constantius does Nazianzen a Man otherwise prudent enough commend onely out of hatred to Julian a Man in many extraordinary Virtues not equal but far superiour to Constantius to whom though you allow his Apostacy to the Pagan follies to have been a reproach yet I cannot see any reasonable cause why you should so far prefer that other Champion of the Arian madness And now I must prepare to wipe off another Calumny whereby Zosimus is accused partly for belying partly for reproaching of Constantine in reporting that being troubled in Conscience for having violated all the sacred ties of Religion for his Murthers and other Villanies and not being able to obtain such an absolution from the guilt of his sins in the Pagan Religion as would satisfie and quiet his mind He did by the persuasion of a certain Spaniard called Aegyptius come over to the Christian faith as to a Religion that would give him peace of mind provided he did with a firm belief and penitent heart apply himself to him whose Office it is to reconcile us to God This they who are for acquitting Constantine against the faith and stream of Historians will not allow to be true because it was so long before he would admit of Baptism which is ordained for the washing away of sins and for this they produce the Authority of Theodoret
was agoing and came to a place called the Three Taverns he was taken by a Trick of Maxentius's contriving and hang'd But Maximianus Gallerius could not well bear those injuries done to Severus and so resolv'd to come out of the East to Rome and punish Maxentius according to his demerits But when he was come into Italy he found the Soldiers about him so false that he went back into the East without fighting so much as one Battel At that time Maximianus Herculius who could not endure the tumults which disturb'd the publick peace came to Dioclesian who lived then at Carnutum a Town in Gallia Celtica and endeavour'd to persuade him that he would resume the Empire and not suffer that Government which they had preserv'd so long with so much difficulty to be exposed to the madness and folly of those who had possess'd themselves of it and made it shake already But Dioclesian did not hearken to him for he preferr'd his quiet before all business in the World and perhaps he foresaw the trouble that would ensue being a man much conversant in religious matters and therefore Herculius seeing he could do no good upon him came as far as Ravenna and so back to the Alps to meet Constantinus who lay thereabout And being naturally a busie faithless man he promised Constantinus his Daughter Fausta which he perform'd but withal persuaded him to pursue Maximianus Gallerius who was going out of Italy and lay wait for Maxentius To all which Constantinus consented and then he left him with a Design if possible to recover the Empire because he hoped to set his son-in-Son-in-law Constantinus and his Son Maxentius together by the Ears But whilst he attempted these things Maximianus Gallerius made Licinnius his old acquaintance and friend Emperor by whose assistance he design'd to cope with Maxentius But whilst Gallerius was consulting about these things he died of an incurable Wound and then Licinnius also claim'd the sole Dominion But Maximianus Herculius as I told you endeavour'd to recover the Empire by alienating the Soldiers affections from Maxentius In order whereunto he wheedled 'em with gifts and pitiful addresses and having brought 'em over to him he would have laid a Plot against Constantinus in which his Soldiers should have conspir'd But Fausta discover'd it to Constantinus and so Herculius who was now at his Wits end through so many disappointments died of a Distemper at Tarsus Maxentius having escaped this Danger and being now of Opinion that he had setled the Empire well enough he sent certain Persons into Africa to Carthage in particular to carry his Image about that Country But the Soldiers that were there forbad it out of their love to Gallerius Maximianus and their honour to his memory till they heard that Maxentius was coming to make War against 'em upon the score of that insurrection and then they went to Alexandria but meeting with a great Army which they were not able to deal with they return'd to Carthage Hereupon Maxentius being disturb'd resolv'd to sail for Africa and punish those that occasion'd such commotions But when the Soothsayers had sacrificed and told him ill signs he was affraid to go not onely because the entrails appear'd in that manner but also lest Alexander who was the Prefect of the Court in Africa should be his Enemy and therefore to secure his passage thither from all suspicion he sent to Alexander to desire him that he would send him his Son for an Hostage For Alexander had a Son of a good bigness and very personable But he suspecting that Maxentius did not desire his Son to make an Hostage of him but to deceive him he deny'd his request But after that when Maxentius sent other Agents to him to take him off by Stratagems and Wiles the Plot was discover'd and then the Soldiers having gotten a good opportunity to rebel conferr'd the Purple Robe upon Alexander though he were not onely a Phrygian born but a fearful cowardly man and one that was unfit for any difficult undertaking besides his being Old At that time there happen'd a fire at Rome whether it came out of the Air or the Earth is uncertain which caught in the Temple of Fortune and whilst the People ran together to put it out a certain Soldier that was there speaking blasphemy against the Goddess the Commonalty kill'd him out of their zeal which caus'd a mutiny among the Soldiers who were like to have destroy'd the whole City had not Maxentius soon appeased their fury After these things Maxentius sought all occasions to wage a War with Constantinus and pretending grief for his Fathers death which Constantinus was the cause of he design'd to go toward Rhetia which is near both to Gallia and Illyricum too For he dream'd that he should subdue Dalmatia and Illyricum by the assistance of the Generals in those parts and with the help of Licinnius's Army But though he had these Affairs in his thoughts yet he conceiv'd it was better for him to settle matters in Africa first Whereupon having raised an Army of men and made Rufius Volusianus Prefect of the Court their General he sent 'em into Africa but sent Zena also along with Rufius who was a Person not onely well skill'd in Military Affairs but also cry'd up for an extraordinary affable courteous man And upon the first Onset Alexanders men gave way toward another body of Soldiers to whom they and Alexander at last ran away together nor did that other Party go off unconquer'd by the Enemy or he himself either for he was taken and strangled The War being thus ended there was room enough for Sycophants or Informers to impeach I had almost said all the men of Africa who were either of good Families or Estates as friends of Alexander nor were they any of 'em spared but some of them were put to death and others lost all they had And after that he triumph'd at Rome for the mischief which was done at Carthage Now this was the state of Maxentius's Affairs who did what I have told you behaving himself like a Lecher and a Tyrant to all the Inhabitants of Italy and even Rome it self In the mean time Constantinus who had suspected him long before was then much more inclined to fight him therefore when he had raised an Army out of the Barbarians Germans and Celtae whom he had conquer'd and gotten some out of England too to the number of 90000 foot and 8000 Horse in all he march'd from the Alps into Italy and those Towns that surrender'd he pass'd without doing 'em any damage but those that stood out he took by storm But whilst he proceeded thus Maxentius had muster'd up a far stronger Army for he had eighty thousand Romans and Italians all the Tuscanes upon the Sea-coast and forty thousand men from Carthage besides what the Sicilians sent him insomuch that his whole Army consisted of 170000 foot and 18000 Horse When they were both so provided Maxentius made
multitude of men and beasts Besides a great deal of the Sea is turn'd into dry Land where Piles are driven into the ground and Houses built upon 'em enough to make a good big City of themselves And truly I have often wondered since the City of Byzantium is grown so great that no other can compare with it either in happiness or bigness why our Fathers had no prophesie concerning its good Fortune And having employ'd my thoughts a long time about it turn'd over a great many Historians and collections of Oracles and spent some time in the explanation of them I at last with much ado light upon an Oracle which is attributed to Sibylla Erythraea or Phaello of Epirus for they say that she being inspired gave out some Oracles upon which Nicomedes the Son of Prusias relying and interpreting to his own advantage he by the advice of Attalus made War against his Father Prusias and it is this Thou among Sheep Oh! King of Thrace shalt dwell But breed a savage Lion fierce and fell Who all the product of thy Land shall spoil And reap thy fruitful harvest without toil But thou shalt not enjoy thy Honour long Torn by wild Dogs which shall about thee throng Then a mad hungry sleeping Wolf shalt thou Awake to whom thy conquer'd neck shall bow Next a whole herd of Wolves Bythinias Land Shall vex by Joves permission and that hand To whom the Byzantines Obedience yield Shall in short time her royal Scepter weild Bless'd Hellespont whose buildings by the hand Of Heaven were rais'd and by their order stand Yet shall that cruel Wolf my forces fear For all Wights know me who inhabit here My Sires mind I no longer will reveal But Heavens intent in Oracles reveal Thrace shall e're long a monstrous birth produce Baneful to all by tract of time and use And a swoln Vlcer by the Sea shall grow Which when it breaks with putrid gore shall flow Now this same Oracle does though obscurely point out I had almost said all the particular mischiefs which were to befal Bythinia through the heavy Impositions that were laid upon 'em as also how the Government was to be devolved upon them to whom the Byzantines were then in subjection in that Distich and the Hand To whom the Byzantines Obedience yield Shall in short time her Royal Scepter weild And though the things foretold did not fall out till many Ages after let not any man for all that suppose that it was spoken of any other place For all time is short in respect of God who always is and always will be And this is my conjecture both from the words of the Prophesie and the event also But if any one believes there is any other meaning in it let him enjoy his own thoughts When Constantine had done thus he not onely perpetually wasted the Revenue of the Empire in unnecessary Expences and Presents which were bestow'd upon unworthy and vile Persons but he likewise oppressed those that paid the Tribute and enrich'd those that were of no use or service in the Government For * We must confess that Constantine was extravagant in his Expences from whence arose that Jeer of Julian in his Book called Caesares where he brings in Constantine as if he were ask'd by Mercury And what do you think is a commendable thing That a Man says Constantine who has a great deal should give a great deal away he mistook Prodigality for Magnificence He also laid a Tax of Gold and Silver upon all Merchants and Tradesmen even to the meanest of all * See Evagrius l. 3. Hist Eccl. c. 39. where he mightily commends Anastasius in whose Reign this Tax was taken off But he inveighs against Zosimus for saying that Constantine was the Author of it in these words Who would wonder that this should be done in the very infancy of Christianity when his Holiness the Pope suffers the very same things even now it is grown to riper years nor did he spare so much as the poorest Whore Insomuch that upon the return of every fourth year when the Tax was to be paid a man could hear nothing but lamentation and complaints through all the whole City And when the time came there was nothing but Whips and Torments provided for them who by reason of their extream poverty could not pay the money Nay Mothers were fain to part with their Children and Fathers to prostitute their Daughters for money to satisfie the Collectors of this Gold and Silver exaction And because he had a mind to invent some plague for the richer sort of People he call'd 'em all forth and made 'em Praetors for which Dignity he demanded of 'em a vast sum of money For which reason when they whose business it was to manage this Affair came into any of the Cities you might see the People run all away into other Countreys for fear of gaining that honour with the loss of all they had Now he had a Particular of all the best Estates and so imposed a Tribute upon each one of 'em which he called a Purse And with such Exactions he exhausted all the Towns for they endur'd so long even after Constantine's time that the Money was all drain'd clear out of the Cities and many of 'em forsaken by the Inhabitants When Constantine had oppress'd and plagued the Government all these several ways he died of a Distemper and his Sons succeeded him who were three of 'em not begotten of Fausta the Daughter of Herculius Maximianus but of another Woman whom he had put to Death for Adultery but they devoted themselves to the pleasures of Youth more than to publick Service For in the first place they divide the Nations among 'em of which Constantine the eldest and Constans the youngest had all beyond the Alps together with Italy and Illyricum for their share as also all the Countreys upon the Euxine Sea and whatever belong'd to Carthage in Africa whereas Constantius had all Asia the East and Egypt But there were also others that were a kind of Partners in the Government as Dalmatius whom Constantine made Caesar Constantius his Brother and Anaballianus who all wore a Purple Robe with golden Guards and were promoted to the Order of Nobilissimate as they call it or Nobility by Constantine himself out of respect to their being of his Family But when the Empire was thus divided Constantius who seemed to take pains not to fall short of his Fathers impiety began at home to prove himself a Man by spilling the blood of his nearest Relations And first he caused Constantius his Fathers Brother to be murther'd by the Soldiers next to whom he served Dalmatius Caesar in the same kind as also Optatus whom Constantine had raised to the honour of being a Patrician For Constantine indeed first introduced that Order of Men and made a Law that whoever was a Patrician should sit above the very Prefects of the Court. At that time also was
most dishonourable Peace with the Persians And not long after when the Persian Fire had enflamed all the East and that great City Antioch was taken so that the Persian Army march'd as far as Cilicia Valerianus the Emperor undertook an Expedition against 'em and though he were taken by 'em yet they durst not pretend to be Masters of these Countreys Onely the death of the Emperor Julian was cause enough for us to lose 'em and that so irrevocably that the Roman Emperors could never recover any part of 'em even to this day but by degrees have lost more and more still of which some have made themselves perfectly free others have surrender'd themselves to Barbarians and others have been almost quite deserted all which I will demonstrate in the progress of this History as they severally happened But to return from whence I have digress'd When this Peace was made with the Persians in the manner that I have told you Jovianus the Emperor and his Army were coming home securely but met with many difficulties through the roughness of the Way and want of Water besides his loss of many Men in the Enemies Country through which he pass'd wherefore he sent Mauricius a Tribune and commanded him to bring Provisions for his Army from Nisibis and meet 'em with it as far off as he could He also sent others into Italy to tell of Julian's death and how he himself was declared Emperor And when he was come with a great deal of pains and much ado near unto Nisibis he would not go into the Town because it was surrender'd to the Enemy but lay all night in a Piazza before the Gate and the next morning receiv'd the Crowns and Complements that were offer'd to him whilst all the Townsmen besought him that he would not forsake them and force 'em to degenerate into Barbarism who for so many Ages had lived under the Roman Laws Besides they told him it was a dishonour to him that Constantius who had been engaged in three Persian Wars and was defeated in every one of 'em had notwithstanding always protected Nisibis and even when it was besieged and in extream danger done all he could to save it and yet that he when there was no such necessity for it should give up the city to the Enemy and shew the Romans such a day as they had never seen before as being forced to suffer such a Town and such a Country to be surrender'd to an Enemy Which when the Emperor heard he excused his not complying with their desires by telling 'em what Articles he had enter'd into and then Sabinus who was the chief Man of their Council their Recorder went on with what the People had said before by way of Petition and told him farther That they wanted neither Mony to carry on a War against Persia nor any forein Aid but that they were able with their own Bodies and their own Purses to defend themselves from any War that should be waged against 'em and likewise assur'd him that whenever they were Victorious and had regain'd their Liberty they would again be subject to the Romans and obey their Commands as formerly they had done To which when the Emperor reply'd that he could not break his Covenants the Townsmen beg'd of him a thousand times that he would not deprive the Roman Empire of such a Bulwark as that was But all was in vain and away the Emperor went in a fury whilst the Persians desired to have possession of the Countreys Castles and of that City according to the Conditions agreed upon And thereupon the Inhabitants of some Countreys and Castles that could not privately escape let the Persians do with them what they pleased but the Nisibini having gained some time to prepare for their removal they went most of 'em to Amida though some few inhabited in other Towns But all places were full of lamentation and mourning because they thought themselves exposed to the incursions of the Persians now Nisibis was surrender'd to them And among others the Carreni were so sorry when they heard of Julian's death that they stoned him to death who brought the news and threw a great heap of Stones upon his Carcass so great an alteration of Affairs was one mans death then able to create But Jovianus therefore march'd through the Towns with all speed because they were so full of grief that they could not give him one pleasant look which is the custom and nature of those People and along with him as many Soldiers as belong'd to the Imperial Guard he went to Antioch whilst the whole Army attended upon Julian's Body which was carry'd into Cilicia and buried in a Royal Sepulchre in the Suburbs of Tarsus upon whose Tombstone there is this Inscription Julian has Tigris left and here he lies A Warlike Prince just valiant and wise And now Jovian being mindful of his Imperial Affairs disposed of other matters and among the rest sent Lucillianus his Father in law Procopius and Valentinian who was afterward Emperor to the Armies in Pannonia to tell 'em of Julian's Death and how that he was chosen Emperor But the Batavi that were at Sirmium and were left there for a Guard to it as soon as they heard the news they kill'd Lucillianus who brought 'em such ill tidings without any regard to that Relation which he had to the Emperor But they let Procopius go untouch'd out of the respect they bore to Julian's Kindred whilst Valentinian made his escape and deliver'd himself from that Death which they intended to inflict upon him But when Jovianus was going from Antioch toward Constantinople he was taken sick of a sudden at Dadastana in Bithynia and died after he had been Emperor onely eight months in which so short a time he was not able to do any signal Service to the publick And when he was dead there was a Consultation proposed concerning who should be his Successor which occasion'd a great variety of Discourse and of several Persons among the Soldiers as well as Officers till at length they all with one accord pitch'd upon Salustius Prefect of the Court But he pretending he was too old and therefore could not serve 'em in those their ill circumstances they desired his Son might be Emperor in his stead But he told 'em that his Son was young and upon that as well as other accounts unfit to undergo the weight of an Imperial Diadem so that they missed the choice of such a Man who was the best in that Age. Upon which reason they voted for Valentinian who was born at Cibalis in Pannonia and an excellent Souldier but no Scholar at all However they sent for him being then at some distance nor did the Common-wealth long want an Head And when he came to the Army at Nicea in Bithynia he there took upon him the Imperial Authority and march'd forward A New HISTORY Written by Count ZOSIMVS Sometime Advocate of the Treasury The Fourth Book HOW
frustration of her ambitious hopes and the unexpected diverce of her Daughter who being now sent home again Serena had no hopes left of being an Emperess nor any reason to cherish her exalted thoughts He likewise in the same Comma or paragraph tells you such an other Story of Stilico though we may easily demonstrate the cause of his Death For he had rais'd the Alemans Suevians Vandals and Burgundians to extort the Empire from his son-in-Son-in-law to his Son For he is noted with this Character in Paul Diac. l. 13. He gave the blood of all mankind to purchase a Purple Garment for one Boy an Halter It is likewise said that Stilico for another impiety not much unlike this of Serena did not escape the secret hand of Vengeance For he also is said to have commanded the Doors of the Capitol at Rome that were cover'd with a great quantity of of Gold to be uncased and that those who were employ'd in that Affair found upon some part of the Doors this Inscription These things are kept for a wretched Prince And so it prov'd even as the Inscription foretold for he died most wretchedly and most miserably too Yet notwithstanding Serenas death did not remove Alarichus from the Siege but he block'd up the Gates all round and having possess'd himself of the River Tiber obstructed the supply of necessaries from the Port to the City Which when the Romans saw they resolv'd yet still to persevere because they expected almost every day to have Auxiliaries sent 'em from Ravenna But when they found no body came and that they were disappointed of their hopes they thought good to retrench the measure of the allowance of Corn or other provisions and to order that there should not be dress'd or prepared for eating above one half of what was formerly for each day and afterward when their scarcity encreased upon them a third part onely And seeing there was no remedy for their Relief but that all their Belly timber Succours of the Belly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was spent a Plague as was probable it would succeeded their famine and all places were full of dead bodies And because the dead could not be buried without the City for the Enemies kept all the Passes or Avenues the City was their Sepulchre So that it was like to be dispeopled upon another account and though there had been no want of Victuals yet the very stench arising from the dead bodies was enough to infect and corrupt their bodies But Laeta Wife to Gratian who had been sometime Emperour and her Mother Pissamena supply'd a great many with necessary food for some time For since the Treasury allowed them the Provisions of an Imperial Table through the generosity of Theodosius who gave 'em that priviledg a great many receiv'd the kindness of those two Women and from their House got that which fortified 'em against a Famine But the malady was come to that extremity as that they were in danger to eat one another they try'd all ways which are abominable in the eyes of mankind and then resolv'd to send an Embassy to the Enemy and acquaint them that they were ready to accept of any reasonable conditions of Peace and at the same time more ready for War since the Roman People had taken up Arms and through their continual exercise in Military Affairs were grown very much inclinable to fight Now Basilius being chosen their Embassador who was a Spaniard and Governour of a Province Johnannes went out along with him who was the chief of the Imperial Notaries called Tribunes because he was acquainted with Alarichus and might be a means to reconcile them For the Romans did not certainly know whether Alarichus himself were come thither or no or whether it were he that besieged Rome For they were cheated with a former Report that it was another Person who had been Stilico's Friend and brought him to the City When therefore the Embassadors came to him they were ashamed of that ignorance in which the Romans had been so long kept but deliver'd the Senates Message Which when Alarichus heard and that the people having been used to Arms were ready for a War The thickest grass says he is more easily cut than the thinnest and having so said he laugh'd at the Embassadors most excessively But when they came to talk of Peace he used such expressions as were beyond all barbarous Arrogance or insolence For he said He would not relinquish the Siege upon any other Condition than that he should have all the Gold and Silver in the City together with all the Houshold goods in it besides the Barbarian Slaves Whereupon when one of the Embassadors said If you take all these things what will you leave for the Citizens He reply'd Their Souls So when the Embassadors had received this Answer they desired time to communicate it to the Citizens and advise with them what was to be done Which leave having obtain'd they related all the Discourse that had pass'd in that Embassy Whereupon the Romans being persuaded that it was really Alarichus who fought against 'em and despairing of all things that conduce to humane strength they call'd to mind that help which the City had formerly found in insurrections and that they by transgressing their ancient Ceremonies were left destitute of it But whilst they were considering of these things Pompeianus the Prefect of the City litt by chance upon some Men that came out of Tuscany to Rome and said That a certain Town called Neveia had freed it self from imminent dangers inasmuch as it had beaten off the Barbarians who beset it by Thunder and Lightning which was caus'd through their Devotion to the Gods in the ancient manner of Worship And therefore when he had discoursed with these Men he did what he well could do out of the Books belonging to the Chief Priests or Pontifies But when he remember'd what Opinion was then prevalent he resolv'd to go about his business with more security and proposed the whole matter to the Bishop of the City whose Name was Innocentius And he truly preferring the safety of the City before his own Opinion permitted 'em privately to do whatever they knew how to do But they pretending that what they could do would do no good unless the publick and usual Sacrifices were perform'd the Senate went up into the Capitol and there as also in the several Markets of the City did all that was to be perform'd but no body daring to communicate in their Religious ancient Worship they dismiss'd those Men who came out of Thuscany and apply'd themselves to reconcile the Barbarian as well as they could To which end they again sent Embassadours and after they had made long Speeches on both sides they agreed that the City should give five thousand pound of Gold and thirty thousand of Silver with four thousand Silk Coats three thousand Fleeces or Fells of a Scarlet die and three thousand pounds of Pepper But because