Chapter XIX: Constantius Sole Emperor.—Part IV

Under these melancholy circumstances, an unexperienced youth was
appointed to save and to govern the provinces of Gaul, or rather,
as he expressed it himself, to exhibit the vain image of Imperial
greatness. The retired scholastic education of Julian, in which
he had been more conversant with books than with arms, with the
dead than with the living, left him in profound ignorance of the
practical arts of war and government; and when he awkwardly
repeated some military exercise which it was necessary for him to
learn, he exclaimed with a sigh, “O Plato, Plato, what a task for
a philosopher!” Yet even this speculative philosophy, which men
of business are too apt to despise, had filled the mind of Julian
with the noblest precepts and the most shining examples; had
animated him with the love of virtue, the desire of fame, and the
contempt of death. The habits of temperance recommended in the
schools, are still more essential in the severe discipline of a
camp. The simple wants of nature regulated the measure of his
food and sleep. Rejecting with disdain the delicacies provided
for his table, he satisfied his appetite with the coarse and
common fare which was allotted to the meanest soldiers. During
the rigor of a Gallic winter, he never suffered a fire in his
bed-chamber; and after a short and interrupted slumber, he
frequently rose in the middle of the night from a carpet spread
on the floor, to despatch any urgent business, to visit his
rounds, or to steal a few moments for the prosecution of his
favorite studies. 67 The precepts of eloquence, which he had
hitherto practised on fancied topics of declamation, were more
usefully applied to excite or to assuage the passions of an armed
multitude: and although Julian, from his early habits of
conversation and literature, was more familiarly acquainted with
the beauties of the Greek language, he had attained a competent
knowledge of the Latin tongue. 68 Since Julian was not originally
designed for the character of a legislator, or a judge, it is
probable that the civil jurisprudence of the Romans had not
engaged any considerable share of his attention: but he derived
from his philosophic studies an inflexible regard for justice,
tempered by a disposition to clemency; the knowledge of the
general principles of equity and evidence, and the faculty of
patiently investigating the most intricate and tedious questions
which could be proposed for his discussion. The measures of
policy, and the operations of war, must submit to the various
accidents of circumstance and character, and the unpractised
student will often be perplexed in the application of the most
perfect theory.

But in the acquisition of this important science, Julian was
assisted by the active vigor of his own genius, as well as by the
wisdom and experience of Sallust, and officer of rank, who soon
conceived a sincere attachment for a prince so worthy of his
friendship; and whose incorruptible integrity was adorned by the
talent of insinuating the harshest truths without wounding the
delicacy of a royal ear. 69

67 (return) [ The private life of Julian in Gaul, and the severe
discipline which he embraced, are displayed by Ammianus, (xvi.
5,) who professes to praise, and by Julian himself, who affects
to ridicule, (Misopogon, p. 340,) a conduct, which, in a prince
of the house of Constantine, might justly excite the surprise of
mankind.]

68 (return) [ Aderat Latine quoque disserenti sufficiens sermo.
Ammianus xvi. 5. But Julian, educated in the schools of Greece,
always considered the language of the Romans as a foreign and
popular dialect which he might use on necessary occasions.]

69 (return) [ We are ignorant of the actual office of this
excellent minister, whom Julian afterwards created præfect of
Gaul. Sallust was speedly recalled by the jealousy of the
emperor; and we may still read a sensible but pedantic discourse,
(p. 240-252,) in which Julian deplores the loss of so valuable a
friend, to whom he acknowledges himself indebted for his
reputation. See La Bleterie, Preface a la Vie de lovien, p. 20.]

Immediately after Julian had received the purple at Milan, he was
sent into Gaul with a feeble retinue of three hundred and sixty
soldiers. At Vienna, where he passed a painful and anxious winter
in the hands of those ministers to whom Constantius had intrusted
the direction of his conduct, the Cæsar was informed of the siege
and deliverance of Autun. That large and ancient city, protected
only by a ruined wall and pusillanimous garrison, was saved by
the generous resolution of a few veterans, who resumed their arms
for the defence of their country. In his march from Autun,
through the heart of the Gallic provinces, Julian embraced with
ardor the earliest opportunity of signalizing his courage. At the
head of a small body of archers and heavy cavalry, he preferred
the shorter but the more dangerous of two roads; 6911 and
sometimes eluding, and sometimes resisting, the attacks of the
Barbarians, who were masters of the field, he arrived with honor
and safety at the camp near Rheims, where the Roman troops had
been ordered to assemble. The aspect of their young prince
revived the drooping spirits of the soldiers, and they marched
from Rheims in search of the enemy, with a confidence which had
almost proved fatal to them. The Alemanni, familiarized to the
knowledge of the country, secretly collected their scattered
forces, and seizing the opportunity of a dark and rainy day,
poured with unexpected fury on the rear-guard of the Romans.
Before the inevitable disorder could be remedied, two legions
were destroyed; and Julian was taught by experience that caution
and vigilance are the most important lessons of the art of war.
In a second and more successful action, he recovered and
established his military fame; but as the agility of the
Barbarians saved them from the pursuit, his victory was neither
bloody nor decisive. He advanced, however, to the banks of the
Rhine, surveyed the ruins of Cologne, convinced himself of the
difficulties of the war, and retreated on the approach of winter,
discontented with the court, with his army, and with his own
success. 70 The power of the enemy was yet unbroken; and the
Cæsar had no sooner separated his troops, and fixed his own
quarters at Sens, in the centre of Gaul, than he was surrounded
and besieged, by a numerous host of Germans. Reduced, in this
extremity, to the resources of his own mind, he displayed a
prudent intrepidity, which compensated for all the deficiencies
of the place and garrison; and the Barbarians, at the end of
thirty days, were obliged to retire with disappointed rage.

6911 (return) [ Aliis per Arbor—quibusdam per Sedelaucum et Coram
in debere firrantibus. Amm. Marc. xvi. 2. I do not know what
place can be meant by the mutilated name Arbor. Sedelanus is
Saulieu, a small town of the department of the Cote d’Or, six
leagues from Autun. Cora answers to the village of Cure, on the
river of the same name, between Autun and Nevera 4; Martin, ii.
162.—M. ——Note: At Brocomages, Brumat, near Strasburgh. St.
Martin, ii. 184.—M.]

70 (return) [ Ammianus (xvi. 2, 3) appears much better satisfied
with the success of his first campaign than Julian himself; who
very fairly owns that he did nothing of consequence, and that he
fled before the enemy.]

The conscious pride of Julian, who was indebted only to his sword
for this signal deliverance, was imbittered by the reflection,
that he was abandoned, betrayed, and perhaps devoted to
destruction, by those who were bound to assist him, by every tie
of honor and fidelity. Marcellus, master-general of the cavalry
in Gaul, interpreting too strictly the jealous orders of the
court, beheld with supine indifference the distress of Julian,
and had restrained the troops under his command from marching to
the relief of Sens. If the Cæsar had dissembled in silence so
dangerous an insult, his person and authority would have been
exposed to the contempt of the world; and if an action so
criminal had been suffered to pass with impunity, the emperor
would have confirmed the suspicions, which received a very
specious color from his past conduct towards the princes of the
Flavian family. Marcellus was recalled, and gently dismissed from
his office. 71 In his room Severus was appointed general of the
cavalry; an experienced soldier, of approved courage and
fidelity, who could advise with respect, and execute with zeal;
and who submitted, without reluctance to the supreme command
which Julian, by the inrerest of his patroness Eusebia, at length
obtained over the armies of Gaul. 72 A very judicious plan of
operations was adopted for the approaching campaign. Julian
himself, at the head of the remains of the veteran bands, and of
some new levies which he had been permitted to form, boldly
penetrated into the centre of the German cantonments, and
carefully reestablished the fortifications of Saverne, in an
advantageous post, which would either check the incursions, or
intercept the retreat, of the enemy. At the same time, Barbatio,
general of the infantry, advanced from Milan with an army of
thirty thousand men, and passing the mountains, prepared to throw
a bridge over the Rhine, in the neighborhood of Basil. It was
reasonable to expect that the Alemanni, pressed on either side by
the Roman arms, would soon be forced to evacuate the provinces of
Gaul, and to hasten to the defence of their native country. But
the hopes of the campaign were defeated by the incapacity, or the
envy, or the secret instructions, of Barbatio; who acted as if he
had been the enemy of the Cæsar, and the secret ally of the
Barbarians. The negligence with which he permitted a troop of
pillagers freely to pass, and to return almost before the gates
of his camp, may be imputed to his want of abilities; but the
treasonable act of burning a number of boats, and a superfluous
stock of provisions, which would have been of the most essential
service to the army of Gaul, was an evidence of his hostile and
criminal intentions. The Germans despised an enemy who appeared
destitute either of power or of inclination to offend them; and
the ignominious retreat of Barbatio deprived Julian of the
expected support; and left him to extricate himself from a
hazardous situation, where he could neither remain with safety,
nor retire with honor. 73

71 (return) [ Ammian. xvi. 7. Libanius speaks rather more
advantageously of the military talents of Marcellus, Orat. x. p.
272. And Julian insinuates, that he would not have been so easily
recalled, unless he had given other reasons of offence to the
court, p. 278.]

72 (return) [ Severus, non discors, non arrogans, sed longa
militiæ frugalitate compertus; et eum recta præeuntem secuturus,
ut duetorem morigeran miles. Ammian xvi. 11. Zosimus, l. iii. p.
140.]

73 (return) [ On the design and failure of the cooperation
between Julian and Barbatio, see Ammianus (xvi. 11) and Libanius,
(Orat. x. p. 273.) Note: Barbatio seems to have allowed himself
to be surprised and defeated—M.]

As soon as they were delivered from the fears of invasion, the
Alemanni prepared to chastise the Roman youth, who presumed to
dispute the possession of that country, which they claimed as
their own by the right of conquest and of treaties. They employed
three days, and as many nights, in transporting over the Rhine
their military powers. The fierce Chnodomar, shaking the
ponderous javelin which he had victoriously wielded against the
brother of Magnentius, led the van of the Barbarians, and
moderated by his experience the martial ardor which his example
inspired. 74 He was followed by six other kings, by ten princes
of regal extraction, by a long train of high-spirited nobles, and
by thirty-five thousand of the bravest warriors of the tribes of
Germany. The confidence derived from the view of their own
strength, was increased by the intelligence which they received
from a deserter, that the Cæsar, with a feeble army of thirteen
thousand men, occupied a post about one-and-twenty miles from
their camp of Strasburgh. With this inadequate force, Julian
resolved to seek and to encounter the Barbarian host; and the
chance of a general action was preferred to the tedious and
uncertain operation of separately engaging the dispersed parties
of the Alemanni. The Romans marched in close order, and in two
columns; the cavalry on the right, the infantry on the left; and
the day was so far spent when they appeared in sight of the
enemy, that Julian was desirous of deferring the battle till the
next morning, and of allowing his troops to recruit their
exhausted strength by the necessary refreshments of sleep and
food. Yielding, however, with some reluctance, to the clamors of
the soldiers, and even to the opinion of his council, he exhorted
them to justify by their valor the eager impatience, which, in
case of a defeat, would be universally branded with the epithets
of rashness and presumption. The trumpets sounded, the military
shout was heard through the field, and the two armies rushed with
equal fury to the charge. The Cæsar, who conducted in person his
right wing, depended on the dexterity of his archers, and the
weight of his cuirassiers. But his ranks were instantly broken by
an irregular mixture of light horse and of light infantry, and he
had the mortification of beholding the flight of six hundred of
his most renowned cuirassiers. 75 The fugitives were stopped and
rallied by the presence and authority of Julian, who, careless of
his own safety, threw himself before them, and urging every
motive of shame and honor, led them back against the victorious
enemy. The conflict between the two lines of infantry was
obstinate and bloody. The Germans possessed the superiority of
strength and stature, the Romans that of discipline and temper;
and as the Barbarians, who served under the standard of the
empire, united the respective advantages of both parties, their
strenuous efforts, guided by a skilful leader, at length
determined the event of the day. The Romans lost four tribunes,
and two hundred and forty-three soldiers, in this memorable
battle of Strasburgh, so glorious to the Cæsar, 76 and so
salutary to the afflicted provinces of Gaul. Six thousand of the
Alemanni were slain in the field, without including those who
were drowned in the Rhine, or transfixed with darts while they
attempted to swim across the river. 77 Chnodomar himself was
surrounded and taken prisoner, with three of his brave
companions, who had devoted themselves to follow in life or death
the fate of their chieftain. Julian received him with military
pomp in the council of his officers; and expressing a generous
pity for the fallen state, dissembled his inward contempt for the
abject humiliation, of his captive. Instead of exhibiting the
vanquished king of the Alemanni, as a grateful spectacle to the
cities of Gaul, he respectfully laid at the feet of the emperor
this splendid trophy of his victory. Chnodomar experienced an
honorable treatment: but the impatient Barbarian could not long
survive his defeat, his confinement, and his exile. 78

74 (return) [ Ammianus (xvi. 12) describes with his inflated
eloquence the figure and character of Chnodomar. Audax et fidens
ingenti robore lacertorum, ubi ardor prœlii sperabatur immanis,
equo spumante sublimior, erectus in jaculum formidandæ
vastitatis, armorumque nitore conspicuus: antea strenuus et
miles, et utilis præter cæteros ductor... Decentium Cæsarem
superavit æquo marte congressus.]

75 (return) [ After the battle, Julian ventured to revive the
rigor of ancient discipline, by exposing these fugitives in
female apparel to the derision of the whole camp. In the next
campaign, these troops nobly retrieved their honor. Zosimus, l.
iii. p. 142.]

76 (return) [ Julian himself (ad S. P. Q. Athen. p. 279) speaks
of the battle of Strasburgh with the modesty of conscious merit;
Zosimus compares it with the victory of Alexander over Darius;
and yet we are at a loss to discover any of those strokes of
military genius which fix the attention of ages on the conduct
and success of a single day.]

77 (return) [ Ammianus, xvi. 12. Libanius adds 2000 more to the
number of the slain, (Orat. x. p. 274.) But these trifling
differences disappear before the 60,000 Barbarians, whom Zosimus
has sacrificed to the glory of his hero, (l. iii. p. 141.) We
might attribute this extravagant number to the carelessness of
transcribers, if this credulous or partial historian had not
swelled the army of 35,000 Alemanni to an innumerable multitude
of Barbarians,. It is our own fault if this detection does not
inspire us with proper distrust on similar occasions.]

78 (return) [ Ammian. xvi. 12. Libanius, Orat. x. p. 276.]

After Julian had repulsed the Alemanni from the provinces of the
Upper Rhine, he turned his arms against the Franks, who were
seated nearer to the ocean, on the confines of Gaul and Germany;
and who, from their numbers, and still more from their intrepid
valor, had ever been esteemed the most formidable of the
Barbarians. 79 Although they were strongly actuated by the
allurements of rapine, they professed a disinterested love of
war; which they considered as the supreme honor and felicity of
human nature; and their minds and bodies were so completely
hardened by perpetual action, that, according to the lively
expression of an orator, the snows of winter were as pleasant to
them as the flowers of spring. In the month of December, which
followed the battle of Strasburgh, Julian attacked a body of six
hundred Franks, who had thrown themselves into two castles on the
Meuse. 80 In the midst of that severe season they sustained, with
inflexible constancy, a siege of fifty-four days; till at length,
exhausted by hunger, and satisfied that the vigilance of the
enemy, in breaking the ice of the river, left them no hopes of
escape, the Franks consented, for the first time, to dispense
with the ancient law which commanded them to conquer or to die.
The Cæsar immediately sent his captives to the court of
Constantius, who, accepting them as a valuable present, 81
rejoiced in the opportunity of adding so many heroes to the
choicest troops of his domestic guards. The obstinate resistance
of this handful of Franks apprised Julian of the difficulties of
the expedition which he meditated for the ensuing spring, against
the whole body of the nation. His rapid diligence surprised and
astonished the active Barbarians. Ordering his soldiers to
provide themselves with biscuit for twenty days, he suddenly
pitched his camp near Tongres, while the enemy still supposed him
in his winter quarters of Paris, expecting the slow arrival of
his convoys from Aquitain. Without allowing the Franks to unite
or deliberate, he skilfully spread his legions from Cologne to
the ocean; and by the terror, as well as by the success, of his
arms, soon reduced the suppliant tribes to implore the clemency,
and to obey the commands, of their conqueror. The Chamavians
submissively retired to their former habitations beyond the
Rhine; but the Salians were permitted to possess their new
establishment of Toxandria, as the subjects and auxiliaries of
the Roman empire. 82 The treaty was ratified by solemn oaths; and
perpetual inspectors were appointed to reside among the Franks,
with the authority of enforcing the strict observance of the
conditions. An incident is related, interesting enough in itself,
and by no means repugnant to the character of Julian, who
ingeniously contrived both the plot and the catastrophe of the
tragedy. When the Chamavians sued for peace, he required the son
of their king, as the only hostage on whom he could rely. A
mournful silence, interrupted by tears and groans, declared the
sad perplexity of the Barbarians; and their aged chief lamented
in pathetic language, that his private loss was now imbittered by
a sense of public calamity. While the Chamavians lay prostrate at
the foot of his throne, the royal captive, whom they believed to
have been slain, unexpectedly appeared before their eyes; and as
soon as the tumult of joy was hushed into attention, the Cæsar
addressed the assembly in the following terms: “Behold the son,
the prince, whom you wept. You had lost him by your fault. God
and the Romans have restored him to you. I shall still preserve
and educate the youth, rather as a monument of my own virtue,
than as a pledge of your sincerity. Should you presume to violate
the faith which you have sworn, the arms of the republic will
avenge the perfidy, not on the innocent, but on the guilty.” The
Barbarians withdrew from his presence, impressed with the warmest
sentiments of gratitude and admiration. 83

79 (return) [ Libanius (Orat. iii. p. 137) draws a very lively
picture of the manners of the Franks.]

80 (return) [ Ammianus, xvii. 2. Libanius, Orat. x. p. 278. The
Greek orator, by misapprehending a passage of Julian, has been
induced to represent the Franks as consisting of a thousand men;
and as his head was always full of the Peloponnesian war, he
compares them to the Lacedæmonians, who were besieged and taken
in the Island of Sphatoria.]

81 (return) [ Julian. ad S. P. Q. Athen. p. 280. Libanius, Orat.
x. p. 278. According to the expression of Libanius, the emperor,
which La Bleterie understands (Vie de Julien, p. 118) as an
honest confession, and Valesius (ad Ammian. xvii. 2) as a mean
evasion, of the truth. Dom Bouquet, (Historiens de France, tom.
i. p. 733,) by substituting another word, would suppress both the
difficulty and the spirit of this passage.]

82 (return) [ Ammian. xvii. 8. Zosimus, l. iii. p. 146-150, (his
narrative is darkened by a mixture of fable,) and Julian. ad S.
P. Q. Athen. p. 280. His expression. This difference of treatment
confirms the opinion that the Salian Franks were permitted to
retain the settlements in Toxandria. Note: A newly discovered
fragment of Eunapius, whom Zosimus probably transcribed,
illustrates this transaction. “Julian commanded the Romans to
abstain from all hostile measures against the Salians, neither to
waste or ravage _their own_ country, for he called every country
_their own_ which was surrendered without resistance or toil on
the part of the conquerors.” Mai, Script. Vez Nov. Collect. ii.
256, and Eunapius in Niebuhr, Byzant. Hist.]

83 (return) [ This interesting story, which Zosimus has abridged,
is related by Eunapius, (in Excerpt. Legationum, p. 15, 16, 17,)
with all the amplifications of Grecian rhetoric: but the silence
of Libanius, of Ammianus, and of Julian himself, renders the
truth of it extremely suspicious.]

It was not enough for Julian to have delivered the provinces of
Gaul from the Barbarians of Germany. He aspired to emulate the
glory of the first and most illustrious of the emperors; after
whose example, he composed his own commentaries of the Gallic
war. 84 Cæsar has related, with conscious pride, the manner in
which he _twice_ passed the Rhine. Julian could boast, that
before he assumed the title of Augustus, he had carried the Roman
eagles beyond that great river in _three_ successful expeditions.
85 The consternation of the Germans, after the battle of
Strasburgh, encouraged him to the first attempt; and the
reluctance of the troops soon yielded to the persuasive eloquence
of a leader, who shared the fatigues and dangers which he imposed
on the meanest of the soldiers. The villages on either side of
the Meyn, which were plentifully stored with corn and cattle,
felt the ravages of an invading army. The principal houses,
constructed with some imitation of Roman elegance, were consumed
by the flames; and the Cæsar boldly advanced about ten miles,
till his progress was stopped by a dark and impenetrable forest,
undermined by subterraneous passages, which threatened with
secret snares and ambush every step of the assailants. The ground
was already covered with snow; and Julian, after repairing an
ancient castle which had been erected by Trajan, granted a truce
of ten months to the submissive Barbarians. At the expiration of
the truce, Julian undertook a second expedition beyond the Rhine,
to humble the pride of Surmar and Hortaire, two of the kings of
the Alemanni, who had been present at the battle of Strasburgh.
They promised to restore all the Roman captives who yet remained
alive; and as the Cæsar had procured an exact account from the
cities and villages of Gaul, of the inhabitants whom they had
lost, he detected every attempt to deceive him, with a degree of
readiness and accuracy, which almost established the belief of
his supernatural knowledge. His third expedition was still more
splendid and important than the two former. The Germans had
collected their military powers, and moved along the opposite
banks of the river, with a design of destroying the bridge, and
of preventing the passage of the Romans. But this judicious plan
of defence was disconcerted by a skilful diversion. Three hundred
light-armed and active soldiers were detached in forty small
boats, to fall down the stream in silence, and to land at some
distance from the posts of the enemy. They executed their orders
with so much boldness and celerity, that they had almost
surprised the Barbarian chiefs, who returned in the fearless
confidence of intoxication from one of their nocturnal festivals.
Without repeating the uniform and disgusting tale of slaughter
and devastation, it is sufficient to observe, that Julian
dictated his own conditions of peace to six of the haughtiest
kings of the Alemanni, three of whom were permitted to view the
severe discipline and martial pomp of a Roman camp. Followed by
twenty thousand captives, whom he had rescued from the chains of
the Barbarians, the Cæsar repassed the Rhine, after terminating a
war, the success of which has been compared to the ancient
glories of the Punic and Cimbric victories.

84 (return) [ Libanius, the friend of Julian, clearly insinuates
(Orat. ix. p. 178) that his hero had composed the history of his
Gallic campaigns But Zosimus (l. iii. p, 140) seems to have
derived his information only from the Orations and the Epistles
of Julian. The discourse which is addressed to the Athenians
contains an accurate, though general, account of the war against
the Germans.]

85 (return) [ See Ammian. xvii. 1, 10, xviii. 2, and Zosim. l.
iii. p. 144. Julian ad S. P. Q. Athen. p. 280.]

As soon as the valor and conduct of Julian had secured an
interval of peace, he applied himself to a work more congenial to
his humane and philosophic temper. The cities of Gaul, which had
suffered from the inroads of the Barbarians, he diligently
repaired; and seven important posts, between Mentz and the mouth
of the Rhine, are particularly mentioned, as having been rebuilt
and fortified by the order of Julian. 86 The vanquished Germans
had submitted to the just but humiliating condition of preparing
and conveying the necessary materials. The active zeal of Julian
urged the prosecution of the work; and such was the spirit which
he had diffused among the troops, that the auxiliaries
themselves, waiving their exemption from any duties of fatigue,
contended in the most servile labors with the diligence of the
Roman soldiers. It was incumbent on the Cæsar to provide for the
subsistence, as well as for the safety, of the inhabitants and of
the garrisons. The desertion of the former, and the mutiny of the
latter, must have been the fatal and inevitable consequences of
famine. The tillage of the provinces of Gaul had been interrupted
by the calamities of war; but the scanty harvests of the
continent were supplied, by his paternal care, from the plenty of
the adjacent island. Six hundred large barks, framed in the
forest of the Ardennes, made several voyages to the coast of
Britain; and returning from thence, laden with corn, sailed up
the Rhine, and distributed their cargoes to the several towns and
fortresses along the banks of the river. 87 The arms of Julian
had restored a free and secure navigation, which Constantinius
had offered to purchase at the expense of his dignity, and of a
tributary present of two thousand pounds of silver. The emperor
parsimoniously refused to his soldiers the sums which he granted
with a lavish and trembling hand to the Barbarians. The
dexterity, as well as the firmness, of Julian was put to a severe
trial, when he took the field with a discontented army, which had
already served two campaigns, without receiving any regular pay
or any extraordinary donative. 88

86 (return) [ Ammian. xviii. 2. Libanius, Orat. x. p. 279, 280.
Of these seven posts, four are at present towns of some
consequence; Bingen, Andernach, Bonn, and Nuyss. The other three,
Tricesimæ, Quadriburgium, and Castra Herculis, or Heraclea, no
longer subsist; but there is room to believe, that on the ground
of Quadriburgium the Dutch have constructed the fort of Schenk, a
name so offensive to the fastidious delicacy of Boileau. See
D’Anville, Notice de l’Ancienne Gaule, p. 183. Boileau, Epitre
iv. and the notes. Note: Tricesimæ, Kellen, Mannert, quoted by
Wagner. Heraclea, Erkeleus in the district of Juliers. St.
Martin, ii. 311.—M.]

87 (return) [ We may credit Julian himself, (Orat. ad S. P. Q.
Atheniensem, p. 280,) who gives a very particular account of the
transaction. Zosimus adds two hundred vessels more, (l. iii. p.
145.) If we compute the 600 corn ships of Julian at only seventy
tons each, they were capable of exporting 120,000 quarters, (see
Arbuthnot’s Weights and Measures, p. 237;) and the country which
could bear so large an exportation, must already have attained an
improved state of agriculture.]

88 (return) [ The troops once broke out into a mutiny,
immediately before the second passage of the Rhine. Ammian. xvii.
9.]

A tender regard for the peace and happiness of his subjects was
the ruling principle which directed, or seemed to direct, the
administration of Julian. 89 He devoted the leisure of his winter
quarters to the offices of civil government; and affected to
assume, with more pleasure, the character of a magistrate than
that of a general. Before he took the field, he devolved on the
provincial governors most of the public and private causes which
had been referred to his tribunal; but, on his return, he
carefully revised their proceedings, mitigated the rigor of the
law, and pronounced a second judgment on the judges themselves.
Superior to the last temptation of virtuous minds, an indiscreet
and intemperate zeal for justice, he restrained, with calmness
and dignity, the warmth of an advocate, who prosecuted, for
extortion, the president of the Narbonnese province. “Who will
ever be found guilty,” exclaimed the vehement Delphidius, “if it
be enough to deny?” “And who,” replied Julian, “will ever be
innocent, if it be sufficient to affirm?” In the general
administration of peace and war, the interest of the sovereign is
commonly the same as that of his people; but Constantius would
have thought himself deeply injured, if the virtues of Julian had
defrauded him of any part of the tribute which he extorted from
an oppressed and exhausted country. The prince who was invested
with the ensigns of royalty, might sometimes presume to correct
the rapacious insolence of his inferior agents, to expose their
corrupt arts, and to introduce an equal and easier mode of
collection. But the management of the finances was more safely
intrusted to Florentius, prætorian præfect of Gaul, an effeminate
tyrant, incapable of pity or remorse: and the haughty minister
complained of the most decent and gentle opposition, while Julian
himself was rather inclined to censure the weakness of his own
behavior. The Cæsar had rejected, with abhorrence, a mandate for
the levy of an extraordinary tax; a new superindiction, which the
præfect had offered for his signature; and the faithful picture
of the public misery, by which he had been obliged to justify his
refusal, offended the court of Constantius. We may enjoy the
pleasure of reading the sentiments of Julian, as he expresses
them with warmth and freedom in a letter to one of his most
intimate friends. After stating his own conduct, he proceeds in
the following terms: “Was it possible for the disciple of Plato
and Aristotle to act otherwise than I have done? Could I abandon
the unhappy subjects intrusted to my care? Was I not called upon
to defend them from the repeated injuries of these unfeeling
robbers? A tribune who deserts his post is punished with death,
and deprived of the honors of burial. With what justice could I
pronounce _his_ sentence, if, in the hour of danger, I myself
neglected a duty far more sacred and far more important? God has
placed me in this elevated post; his providence will guard and
support me. Should I be condemned to suffer, I shall derive
comfort from the testimony of a pure and upright conscience.
Would to Heaven that I still possessed a counsellor like Sallust!
If they think proper to send me a successor, I shall submit
without reluctance; and had much rather improve the short
opportunity of doing good, than enjoy a long and lasting impunity
of evil.” 90 The precarious and dependent situation of Julian
displayed his virtues and concealed his defects. The young hero
who supported, in Gaul, the throne of Constantius, was not
permitted to reform the vices of the government; but he had
courage to alleviate or to pity the distress of the people.
Unless he had been able to revive the martial spirit of the
Romans, or to introduce the arts of industry and refinement among
their savage enemies, he could not entertain any rational hopes
of securing the public tranquillity, either by the peace or
conquest of Germany. Yet the victories of Julian suspended, for a
short time, the inroads of the Barbarians, and delayed the ruin
of the Western Empire.

89 (return) [ Ammian. xvi. 5, xviii. 1. Mamertinus in Panegyr.
Vet. xi. 4]

90 (return) [ Ammian. xvii. 3. Julian. Epistol. xv. edit.
Spanheim. Such a conduct almost justifies the encomium of
Mamertinus. Ita illi anni spatia divisa sunt, ut aut Barbaros
domitet, aut civibus jura restituat, perpetuum professus, aut
contra hostem, aut contra vitia, certamen.]

His salutary influence restored the cities of Gaul, which had
been so long exposed to the evils of civil discord, Barbarian
war, and domestic tyranny; and the spirit of industry was revived
with the hopes of enjoyment. Agriculture, manufactures, and
commerce, again flourished under the protection of the laws; and
the _curiæ_, or civil corporations, were again filled with useful
and respectable members: the youth were no longer apprehensive of
marriage; and married persons were no longer apprehensive of
posterity: the public and private festivals were celebrated with
customary pomp; and the frequent and secure intercourse of the
provinces displayed the image of national prosperity. 91 A mind
like that of Julian must have felt the general happiness of which
he was the author; but he viewed, with particular satisfaction
and complacency, the city of Paris; the seat of his winter
residence, and the object even of his partial affection. 92 That
splendid capital, which now embraces an ample territory on either
side of the Seine, was originally confined to the small island in
the midst of the river, from whence the inhabitants derived a
supply of pure and salubrious water. The river bathed the foot of
the walls; and the town was accessible only by two wooden
bridges. A forest overspread the northern side of the Seine, but
on the south, the ground, which now bears the name of the
University, was insensibly covered with houses, and adorned with
a palace and amphitheatre, baths, an aqueduct, and a field of
Mars for the exercise of the Roman troops. The severity of the
climate was tempered by the neighborhood of the ocean; and with
some precautions, which experience had taught, the vine and
fig-tree were successfully cultivated. But in remarkable winters,
the Seine was deeply frozen; and the huge pieces of ice that
floated down the stream, might be compared, by an Asiatic, to the
blocks of white marble which were extracted from the quarries of
Phrygia. The licentiousness and corruption of Antioch recalled to
the memory of Julian the severe and simple manners of his beloved
Lutetia; 93 where the amusements of the theatre were unknown or
despised. He indignantly contrasted the effeminate Syrians with
the brave and honest simplicity of the Gauls, and almost forgave
the intemperance, which was the only stain of the Celtic
character. 94 If Julian could now revisit the capital of France,
he might converse with men of science and genius, capable of
understanding and of instructing a disciple of the Greeks; he
might excuse the lively and graceful follies of a nation, whose
martial spirit has never been enervated by the indulgence of
luxury; and he must applaud the perfection of that inestimable
art, which softens and refines and embellishes the intercourse of
social life.

91 (return) [ Libanius, Orat. Parental. in Imp. Julian. c. 38, in
Fabricius Bibliothec. Græc. tom. vii. p. 263, 264.]

92 (return) [ See Julian. in Misopogon, p. 340, 341. The
primitive state of Paris is illustrated by Henry Valesius, (ad
Ammian. xx. 4,) his brother Hadrian Valesius, or de Valois, and
M. D’Anville, (in their respective Notitias of ancient Gaul,) the
Abbé de Longuerue, (Description de la France, tom. i. p. 12, 13,)
and M. Bonamy, (in the Mém. de l’Académie des Inscriptions, tom.
xv. p. 656-691.)]

93 (return) [ Julian, in Misopogon, p. 340. Leuce tia, or
Lutetia, was the ancient name of the city, which, according to
the fashion of the fourth century, assumed the territorial
appellation of _Parisii_.]

94 (return) [ Julian in Misopogon, p. 359, 360.]