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The Illyrian leader, though a good general, was a bad politician; he allowed himself to be duped by long discussions, until the greater part of his army had been gained over by Constan'tius; he then consented to a personal interview, and had the mortification to see his soldiers, with one accord, range themselves under the banners of their lawful sovereign.
As there was such a disparity in their tempers, they readily agreed, upon coming into full power, to divide the empire. Constan'tius was appointed to govern the western parts, and died at York, in Britain, A.D. 396, appointing Con'stantine, his son, as his successor. Gale'rius was seized with a very extraordinary disorder, which baffled the skill of his physicians, and carried him off.
At length both parties became wearied of a struggle which exhausted their resources, and new enemies appearing, they resolved to conclude a peace. Sa'por returned home to repel an invasion of the Scythians; Constan'tius, by the death of his two brothers, found himself involved in a civil war which required his undivided attention.
He signalized his visit by presenting to the city an obelisk, which at a vast expense he procured to be transported from Egypt. 23. The renewed efforts of the Persians and other enemies of the empire in the East, recalled Constan'tius to Constantinople, while Julian was employed in driving from Gaul the barbarous tribes by which it had been invaded.
The latter circumstance proved his ruin; stimulated by the cruel ambition of his wife, he committed deeds of tyranny, which alienated the affections of his subjects, and acts bordering on treason, that roused the jealousy of Constan'tius.
The defeat of Magnen'tius induced the Italian and African provinces to return to their allegiance; the Gauls, wearied out by the exactions which distress forced the usurper to levy, refused to acknowledge his authority, and at length his own soldiers raised the cry of "God save Constan'tius."
In every other respect, the conduct of Julian merits high praise; he was just, merciful, and tolerant; though frequently urged to become a persecutor, he allowed his subjects that freedom of opinion which he claimed for himself, unlike Constan'tius, who, having embraced the Arian heresy, treated his Catholic subjects with the utmost severity. 2.
Britain, Spain, and part of Gaul had been now irrecoverably lost; Constan'tius, whose abilities might have checked the progress of ruin, died, after the birth of his second child; Placid'ia retired to the court of Constantinople, and at length Hono'rius, after a disgraceful reign of twenty-eight years, terminated his wretched life.
Con'stantine, the emperor's eldest son, commanded in Gaul and the western provinces; Constan'tius, the second, governed Africa and Illyr'icum; and Con'stans, the youngest, ruled in Italy. 21.
Con'stans seized on the inheritance of the deceased prince, and retained it during ten years, obstinately refusing to give any share to his brother Constan'tius. 12. But the tyranny of Con'stans at last became insupportable. Magnen'tius, an enterprising general, proclaimed himself emperor, and his cause was zealously embraced by the army.
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