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History. irritated by the outrages and sarcasms which he had suffered, spoke to them in a tone of harshness, declaring that they would see him no more, as he had determined to spend the winter, at the end of the campaign, in Tarsus* of Cilicia. He then advanced by the route of Litarbe, in the territory of Chalcis, from which, on the morrow, he proceeded to Beræa, and hence to Batnæ, afterwards to Hierapolis. Crossing the Euphrates, near the latter city, he appeared in Mesopotamia, before the enemy were aware of his departure from Antioch. Leaving to the left Edessa, he proceeded to Carrhæ, a city memorable for the death of Crassus.

A. D. 363.

His route.

He enters

territory.

There were two roads which led from Mesopotamia into Persia; the one was on the left, crossing the Tigris, through Adiabene; the other on the right through Assyria, along the banks of the Euphrates. Julian ordered magazines to be prepared on both these roads, though he had fixed upon proceeding across Assyria. Sebastian and Procopius were left with 30,000 chosen troops to secure Mesopotamia against foreign invasion, till they could join Arsaces, King of Armenia, whose cooperation he had required,and, having overrun the boundaries of Media, could effect a meeting with the Emperor. From an eminence Julian surveyed his men, in number 65,000, the largest body ever conducted by any Roman General against the Persians. Having marched by way of feint towards the Tigris, he turned to the Euphrates, which river was covered with an immense fleet, destined to accompany the army into the interior of Assyria. Upwards of a thousand vessels laden with provisions and military machines, fifty ships of war, and as many flat-bottomed boats, which might be linked together into temporary bridges, convey an idea of the extensive scale on which preparations had been made to meet the difficulties of so important an enterprise. Yet no article of luxury was allowed to enter as an addition. "Away," cried the Emperor to some camel-drivers who had brought exquisite wines, "away with these sources of debauch. A soldier should drink no wine, but such as his spear has won, and I wish to live as a soldier."

In the beginning of April, Julian entered into Circethe Persian sium, a strong and skilfully-built place, seated on a kind of peninsula, on the conflux of the Aborat and the April 7. Euphrates. Here he received letters from his friend Sallust, the Præfect of Gaul,‡ who conjured him to suspend his expedition till he obtained more favourable prognostics from the Gods. But Julian, inflexible in his resolutions, passed the Abora with his whole army on a bridge of boats, which he caused to be immediately broken, to cut off from the timid all hope of retreat. At Zaitha he saw the tomb, and offered sacrifices to the manes, of the Emperor Gordian, who had fallen a victim to the treachery of his successor Philip, on his return from a victorious expedition. Among other presages, which are deserving of notice, inasmuch as they throw light on the state of mind both of Julian and of his followers, a lion was presented to him which had been shot by the arrows of the soldiers as it advanced to meet the army. Julian gathered from the circumstance the most flattering auguries; he imagined it betokened the death of the Persian Monarch, and he

Presages.

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looked forward with sanguine anticipations to the re- Julianus. sult of the campaign.* In this auspicious view he was supported by the opinions and arguments of the Philosophers. The Tuscan haruspices, on the contrary, came to a very different conclusion. They maintained, that as the war was an offensive one, and as the lion had come forward to meet the army, the omen threatened the life of the Roman Emperor. From the beginning of the expedition, the Seers and the Philosophers, constant attendants of a Prince, who strove to combine Philosophy and Paganism, were at variance in their view of the result. Every subtilty of explanation was employed to draw the most contradictory portents from the same event. And Julian, whose superstition was hardly on a level with his ambition, inclined to the side which fell in with his own wishes.

Ever anxious to display his rhetorical as well as his Speech of military powers, he ordered his troops to be assembled, Julian. and made an address to them, the chief object of which was to remove a groundless notion,-circulated in low whispers throughout the ranks, and calculated to check their efforts by the fear attached to all unexampled feats,

that no Roman army had ever before penetrated into Persia. After enumerating the illustrious Romans who had already won their laurels in that Country, he added: "It was the love of glory only which urged these great men to such signal achievements; but as for us, the recent desolation of our towns-the shades of our many slaughtered armies,-the greatness of our losses, the capture of our strong holds-all summon us to vengeance. Let us answer the expectations of our allies, repair past evils, and, establishing the peace of the Republic on an honourable basis, en sure to ourselves a fair fame in succeeding Ages. At your head, and fighting like one of you, you will behold me, with the aid of the eternal Deity, your Emperor, second you, not, I hope, without favourable auspices. But if capricious fortune blights this hope, I shall die satisfied with having devoted myself to my Country, like the Curtii and Mutii and Decii of old. We must exterminate a dangerous race, whose swords, stained with the blood of our kinsmen, are not yet dry. Our ancestors surmounted, by persevering exertions, every obstacle to their welfare. Carthage was only conquered after long and doubtful wars, and continued to inspire alarm till it was wholly annihilated. Numantia, after a protracted siege, was finally over thrown.

The rivals of infant Rome are so entirely exterminated, that, notwithstanding the testimony of numerous monuments, we can scarcely credit their ancient might. These are the examples which History presents to our imitation." He then urged them to beware of the artifices of the enemy, and the love of plunder, so often fatal to the Roman arms; and ex. horted them to march in order, and never to quit their standards, on pain of terrible punishments. He con cluded by declaring, that when the enterprise would be successfully terminated, without availing himself of the prerogative of Princes to deem their commands infallible, he would give an account to whomsoever chose to call them in question.†

The impassioned words, and still more the example of Julian, infused fresh ardour into the assembled forces, who exclaimed, with uplifted bucklers, that they knew neither toil nor danger under the auspices of a

Ammian. lib. xxiii. c. 5. † Ibid. lib. xxiii. c. 6.

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ead

nces into ssyria.

History, leader, who submitted to the same fatigues as the meanest soldier. The Gauls especially, whose minds still teemed with ardent recollections, regarded his name as an earnest of success, and longed to press forward to new conflicts. The distribution of a hundred and thirty pieces of silver to each soldier served to keep up the enthusiasm thus kindled. Julian, now satisfied with the confidence and quickened spirit of his troops, and fired with the prospect of measuring his military skill with the most formidable enemy of the Empire, resolved no longer to delay a decisive blow. Accordingly, as soon as the next day rose, he advanced into Assyria with his army, divided into three columns, the baggage being placed in the centre. Alive to the necessity of vigilance in so intricate a march through a country where Persian stratagem had often proved superior to Roman prowess, he took the precaution to despatch fifteen hundred couriers in front and in flank to guard against ambush. The right wing, under the command of Nevitta, moved along the Euphrates, protected by the fleet, which neither outstripped the army, nor, notwithstanding the numerous windings of the river, lagged behind. The left marched in close order along the plain, with the cavalry under Arintheus, to whom was joined in command Hormisdas, a Persian of royal blood, who, having contrived to escape from the confinement into which he had been thrown during the minority of Sapor, had sought refuge in the Court of Constantine; and gained, by his abilities and fidelity, the protection and esteem of that Emperor and his successors. The rear-guard was led by Dagalaïphus, Victor, and Secundinus. Julian himself conducted the centre, or rather the whole Body, for he appeared to be present in all directions, careering through every rank, inspecting every thicket, checking the insubordinate, confirming the resolute, and assuming, as occasion required, the demeanour of courteousness and benignity, or the tone of authoritative reproof.*

Jeeupation Anatha.

Influenced by the assurances of Hormisdas, the inhabitants of the castle of Anatha,† situated in an island on the Euphrates, opened their gates to the Emperor. He treated them with humanity, and transplanted them with their families and effects to a settlement near Chalcis in Syria; but burned the place, in pursuance of his determination not to weaken his forces by the necessity of garrisoning captured fortresses. Two other, but stronger castles, refused to submit till the Roman arms should be master of the interior; and the Emperor thought it more prudent to acquiesce in this condition, than to waste his strength on secondary objects, and stake his reputation for an inadequate prize. In the open country, the natives fled in terror before him into their distant mountains, and left their rich plains and vineyards a prey to the fury of the Roman army, who were allowed to waste every thing before them with the most unsparing havoc, as the best means of cutting off their retreat, and with it, all temptation to cowardice. Having passed at Baraxmalcha a river which flows into the Euphrates, and destroyed the deserted cities of Dacira and Ozogardana, the Emperor gave two days respite to his army.‡ The Roman armies continued to waste the regions of the enemy, yet there was no appearance, no report of any Persian forces to resist their progress; all was inaction and solitude. This tardiness arose not so

*

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much, perhaps, from any deeply-concerted plan to draw Julianus. the Romans more inextricably into the interior of the country, as from the defective nature of their military system. Instead of maintaining bands of regular troops, the King called, in emergencies, upon his nobility to lead their vassals into the field, a proceeding which, being necessarily slow, gave great advan tages to a vigorous enemy. The extraordinary activity of Julian had been so little anticipated by men accustomed to the cautious movements of his less energetic predecessor, that Sapor had nothing to oppose his advance but a body of cavalry, under the command of the Surena, or General-in-Chief, which was merely sufficient Invasion of to harass his march by desultory acts of annoyance. Assyria. May. An encounter, in which this band received a check from Hormisdas, whom they designed to intercept by ambush, whilst engaged on a reconnoitring expedition, served to inspire the Romans with the courage which an auspicious prelude naturally excites. They proceeded to Macephracta, where the Euphrates divides itself into two large canals, one of which watered Babylonia, and the other, joining the Tigris, passed near Ctesiphon, the usual winter-residence of the Persian Kings. Julian having effected, by a dexterous manœuvre, the passage of this latter arm of water, encamped before Perisabor, or Anbar ;† a city of considerable size and population; situated on an islet, and girded with a double barrier of walls flanked with turrets, high above which rose the citadel, seated on the summit of a steep Capture of mountain, whose rugged outline, frowning over ramparts Perisabor. strongly cemented with bitumen, formed a complete circle, except in one quarter, which nature had fortified with rocks. After having unsuccessfully tried threats and promises to induce them to surrender, Julian invested the place with his army drawn in a triple line. To deaden the force of the missiles discharged from below, loose floating curtains tissued with goat's hair had been hung from the parapets. The besieged defended themselves with obstinate valour. They were protected by bucklers of thick osier, covered over with hides, and the plates of their armour were so admirably knit and adjusted to their limbs that they ap peared like figures of iron. Thus equipped, they indulged in taunts of defiance and raillery, and, calling for Hormisdas, inveighed against him with torrents of abuse, as a traitorous deserter from his Country. But on the approach of evening, the Romans advanced several machines, and began to fill the foss; and, on the dawn of the next day, the besieged, observing the progress of their works, and the success of their battering rams, which had already by a lucky blow made a breach in a tower at one of the angles, abandoned their double walls, and threw themselves into the citadel, from the heights of which they plied their bows with destructive effect. Julian, who frequently suffered the natural impetuosity of his spirit to hurry him into hazardous feats, while recklessly urging on a chosen band to burst the massive iron-bound gates of

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History. the citadel, was much exposed to the galling shower of stones and weapons directed against his person. Foiled in his attempt, though unhurt, he ordered that the machine called helepolis should be constructed. This enormous engine, from the invention and successful use of which Demetrius had acquired the surname of Poliorcetes, was the most formidable instrument known to the military Arts of the Ancients. At the sight of the terrific mass, which was to command and overawe their highest towers, the besieged, filled with alarm, sent to supplicate Hormisdas to procure by his mediation the mercy of the Emperor. On his assurances they opened their gates, and were allowed to retire in peace. An ample supply of arms and provisions was found in the place, which the Emperor, having first taken the quantity which appeared necessary, destroyed by fire.*

The next day intelligence was brought that the Surenas had fallen upon three of the Roman squadrons, carried off a standard, slain some of the troops, and among them a Tribune. The Emperor learned the disaster, whilst availing himself of a moment of leisure to take his repast. Transported with anger he hastened to the spot, routed the enemy, and recovered the standard. A severe disciplinarian, he disgraced on the spot the two other Tribunes, and, though scantily attended, fearless of personal danger, decimated the soldiers who had degraded themselves by flight.†

Having destroyed Perisabor, the Emperor ascended a tribunal, returned thanks to the assembled troops for the courage which they had displayed, and promised each a hundred pieces of silver. Perceiving that the smallness of the donative excited murmurs of discontent, he addressed them in an elevated tone of indignation; Speech of "Yonder are the Persians, who riot in wealth; your Julian. valour and unanimity must enable you to enrich yourself with their spoils. The Republic, once possessed of immense treasures, has been reduced to this state of destitution by the advice of Ministers, who, consulting only their private interest, have taught Princes to purchase a disgraceful Peace from the Barbarians. Our finances are disordered, our towns exhausted, our Provinces depopulated. As for myself, though of noble parentage, my only inheritance is a soul unconscious of fear. An Emperor, who places every good in mental qualities, does not blush to acknowledge his honourable poverty. The Fabricii, poor in estate, having glory their only treasure, conducted mighty wars. But here, you will have all these advantages in abundance, if, resigning yourselves, without fear, as far as human nature allows, to the will of Heaven and to my cautious guid ance, you comport yourselves with more mildness and submission. But if, returning to the scandal of your old seditions, you' 'resist my orders, proceed. I alone, having completed so signal a career of exploits, will die as becomes an Emperor, standing; in full contempt of an existence of which one little fever may deprive me. Or, at least, I will retire, for I have not so lived as to be unable to bear the lot of a private individual. It is a consolation that I shall leave behind me officers who are fully skilled in the art of war."§

This address, so likely to work on the different pas

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sions of shame, ambition, and cupidity, came home to Julianu the feelings of the soldiers, and converted at once their complaints into assurances of implicit submission. They extolled, with heartfelt zeal, the magnanimity of their Prince, who, anxious to communicate the ardour with which he was himself inflamed, used every effort to impress them with a sense of the incomparable glory which would redound from the completion of so momentous an enterprise. "So may I reduce the Persians under the yoke! So may I restore the shattered Empire of Rome!" was the form of oath which he used in order to elevate their courage to the highest pitch.*.

After having marched about four miles, they found the country to a great extent overflooded by the Euphrates, of which the Persians, to impede their march, had opened the locks. To remedy this difficulty, Julian, advancing forward, caused a great number of small temporary bridges to be constructed, over which the army were enabled, though not without difficulty, to pass. Shortly after the Emperor proceeded to reconnoitre the town of Maogamalcha. While examining the state of the fortifications, he was suddenly attacked by two Persians with drawn scimitars. He contrived, however, with the greatest dexterity and presence of mind, to intercept with his shield two blows addressed against him at once, and at the same time to strike one of the assailants dead at his feet-an act of prowess which con firmed the admiration of his troops.

The

A. D. 363.

The strength of Maogamalcha impressed Julian with Siege of an imperious sense of the necessity of reducing it before ogamal he could proceed to advance further, with any degree of safety, into the interior of the country. A regular siege was accordingly commenced, for its numerous garrison, composed of chosen men, inaccessible to corruption, and resolved to bury themselves under the ruins of their city rather than to submit, left no other alternative. The undertaking was fraught with difficulty. aspect of huge rocks, which, broken into winding precipices, begirt the place in all directions, and presented, on their lofty summit, the citadel, rising amid a mass of well-fortified towers, while the acclivity of the plain towards the river was covered with military works, was sufficient to have discouraged a less vigorous and determined spirit than that of Julian. The utmost efforts were immediately made; various labours were regulated by proper divisions, and the exertions of each individual confined within the post assigned him. The most obstinate fury was displayed by the Persians, who, cased in impenetrable steel, used every art, discharging missiles, enormous stones, and burning torches, to prevent the destructive attack of the Romans. The engines of the besiegers, however, after a continuance of protracted struggles, had battered down a portion of the fortifications, and given an opportunity for the display of acts of the greatest valour, when the Emperor learned that the miners had extended their subterranean passages under the foundations of the city. An assault was at once directed against two quarters of the walls, insomuch that the noise of the works under ground, drowned by the din and confusion above, was unnoticed by the besieged. During this scene of tur- Its moil, some Romans emerged from their retreats, slaugh tered such as dwelt in the building through which they

Traian was wont to swear, "So may I see Dacia reduced to the form of a Province ! So may I traverse on bridges the Ister and the Euphrates." Ammian. lib. xxiv. c. 3.

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History: penetrated, proceeded with cautious steps, and slew the sentinels on the way, who, heedless of danger, were sing ing the customary praises of their Monarch. The city, thus opened, on the third day fell into the hands of an enraged soldiery, who wreaked their vengeance without distinction of age or sex. Some, spectators of the sanguinary ferocity of their enemies, threw themselves in despair from the height of the walls and craggy rocks. The Governor Nabdates, however, being taken prisoner with eighty of his guards, was at first treated with mildness and clemency; but was afterwards, however, burned alive, partly because he had not accomplished an alleged promise of delivering up the city, and partly because, full of pride at the impunity which he had experienced, he had reflected on the conduct of Hormisdas. His sentence gives but a very unfavourable impression of the vaunted moderation of Julian.

"At

Rewards were bestowed and the plunder distributed according to the merits of each soldier. The Emperor was content to claim as his share three pieces of gold and a dumb child, full of vivacity and information, whose pleasing manner of conveying ideas by signs and gesticulations excited his interest.* Julian appreciated highly the importance of his conquest: his vanity, hitherto unsatisfied, immediately broke forth. length," he exclaimed to Libanius, " I have given the Sophist of Syria materials for an Oration."† To eulogize deeds of blood was the task gaily proposed by the military Philosopher, who prided himself on his humanity. The Roman army, continuing its march, was now but a small distance from the Capital, after having taken a castle, before which Julian had almost lost his life by rash exposure of his person. The Capital was seated on the Tigris, in front of the canal of the Euphrates, which Julian had followed. Where these waters joined, stood a town near the ruins of Seleucia, called Coche, which would, by its intermediate situation, have separated the fleet and army of Julian. But the Emperor remembered that a canal above the city of Seleucia had been hollowed by Trajan. Its ancient bed, which had been filled up, having been discovered and cleared, the Euphrates, was turned into it, and the fleet entered into the Tigris.+

Ammian. lib. xxiv. e. 4.

| † Εφθίξατο γοῦν ὅπερ οὐ πρόσθεν, ὡς εἴη τῷ Εύρῳ δέδωκὼς ἀφορμὴν εἰς λόγον, ἐμὲ δὴ λέγων. Liban..

The operation is thus described by Gibbon: "The fleet passed from the Euphrates into an artificial derivation of that river, which pours a copious and navigable stream into the Tigris, at a small distance below the great city. If they had followed this royal canal, which bore the name of Nahar-Malcha, the intermediate situation of Coche would have separated the fleet and army of Julian; and the rash attempt of steering against the current of the Tigris, and forcing their way through the midst of a hostile Capital, must have been at tended with the total destruction of the Roman navy. The prudence of the Emperor foresaw the danger, and provided the remedy. As he had minutely studied the operations of Trajan in the same country; he soon recollected that his warlike predecessor had dug a new and navigable canal, which, leaving Coche on the right hand, conveyed the waters of Nahar-Malcha into the river Tigris, at some distance above the cities. From the information of the peasants, Julian ascertained the vestiges of this ancient work, which were almost obliterated by design or accident. By the indefatigable labour of the soldiers, a broad and deep channel was speedily prepared for the reception of the Euphrates. A strong dike was constructed to interrupt the ordinary current of the Nabar-Malcha;, a flood of waters rushed impetuously into their new bed; and the Roman fleet, steering their triumphant course into the Tigris, derided the vain and ineffectual barriers which the Persians of Ctesiphon had erected to oppose their passage." Gibbon, Decline and Fall, &c. ch. xxiv. But see the

notes of Valesius in Amm. lib. xxiv. c. 6.

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A career of continued success emboldened Julian to Julianus. project schemes which were thought to border on temeFrom rity. He determined on the apparently impracticable A. D. scheme of effecting the passage of the river, which the 361. hostile multitude was drawn up to prevent. Having unloaded the best transports, he caused eighty men to embark in each; and dividing the fleet into three divisions, of which he retained the principal, he ordered one to sail at the beginning of the night under Count Victor, in order to traverse the stream and occupy the opposite banks. The Generals, dismayed at the idea of so daring a project, entreated him with one accord to abandon the attempt. But Julian, fixed in his determination, gave Passage of immediate orders that five of the galleys should depart the Tigris. to execute his directions. On approaching the banks of the river, they were assailed by vollies of burning missiles, which set them on fire. The rising flame, glaring through the darkness at a distance, which prevented the state of things from being rightly distin guished, filled the Romans with a degree of consternation, which would have led to the very destruction they foreboded, had not Julian, with the instinctive promptness and felicity which characterised his expedients, exclaimed, that it was the signal of his own men to announce that they were safely landed. The invention succeeded: the remainder, whose apprehensions were allayed, rowed with redoubled efforts, and the soldiers, in spite of a galling shower of stones and darts which was poured against them, succeeded in mastering the steep borders and maintained their ground. The Persians, baffled in their attempts, fled to some distance, and formed themselves in battle-array. A combat ensued, in which they were defeated with considerable loss. When returning thanks for this victory by a sacrifice to Mars the Avenger, a circumstance took place which filled the minds of the superstitious with most dismal prognostics. Of ten fine oxen to be offered as victims, nine fell of themselves before they reached the altar: the tenth, which broke its bonds and was dragged on with difficulty, presented in the state of its entrails signs of the worst augury. Julian, in the heat of his exasperation, protested before Jupiter that he would never again sacrifice to the God of War-a curious instance of the close connection between impiety and superstition.

The Emperor, now arrived at the gates of Ctesiphon, Arrival at A Council of the principal Officers being called, it was deliberated on the expediency of investing the place. Ctesiphon the opinion of some that it would be a rash and unseasonable attempt to besiege a place almost impregnable, at a time when Sapor was approaching with a numerous army. Julian considered this view of the subject as the most judicious. He felt himself too weak for the undertaking in the absence not only of the King of Armenia, who, studious of his own interests, and distrustful of his Roman ally, whose imperiousness had kindled his indignation, would not proceed into parts remote from his territories, but also of the two Generals, Sebastian and Procopius, who, owing to the want of mutual intelligence, which the independent nature of their authority occasioned, continued to linger in Mesopotamia. He confined his exertions, therefore, to predatory incursions into the rich plains of the vicinity, and made ineffectual trials to provoke by taunts and defiance the inhabitants of Ctesiphon to descend into the open field.

So alarmed was Sapor at the rapid progress of the

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363. Julian refuses to negotiate. June.

He burns his fleet.

History. invader, that he despatched an emissary to Hormisdas, who, clasping his knees, conjured him in the most affecting manner to act as a mediator, and to negotiate a Peace for the King on any conditions. Hormigdas hastened to the Emperor, imagining that the intelligence would prove of the most gratifying nature. He had mistaken the character of Julian. Nothing short of entire conquest would satisfy his grasping mind. He refused to listen to any proposition. Fearing, however, lest the knowledge of a refusal, which gave an insight into the extent of his ambitious scheme, should transpire, and check the ardour of his troops, he requested of Hormisdas to send away the minister of Sapor in a secret, unostentatious manner, as if his mission had been merely the visit of a private friend.* Sensible of his inability to reduce Ctesiphon,† Julian resolved to reascend the Tigris; and to proceed to meet the reinforcements which he expected and required. His enthusiasm could have found no spot where on it was more likely to be kindled than the memorable plains of Arbela; where Alexander, the idol of many an ardent and heroic Roman, had laid low the ancient monarchy of Persia. But the rapidity of the river rendered the ascent of the ships, which were drawn along, slow and toilsome. The anticipated succours were still delayed, and the prospect of a tedious march, to terminate in an unprofitable return, exasperated the impatient Emperor. In this indecision an event occurred which affected the whole fortunes of the war. A Persian of high birth, who had determined to stake his life in the cause of his Country, came and delivered himself into the hands of Julian, feigning that he had incurred disgrace in the Persian Court, and sought an asylum in the Roman camp. He was an old man, shrewd and adroit, accompanied by other deserters, fitted, by their cunning, to take sabordinate parts in the stratagem which he had devised. His artful tale was woven with pathetic accounts of his misfortunes, with protestations of implacable hatred to his persecutors, and with assurances of his ability, if his counsels were followed, to place Persia in the power of the Romans. He represented the Kingdom as on the verge of ruin; dejection, the presage of an approaching downfal, was universally prevalent, and the Monarch himself was reduced to the greatest alarm. Still, he insidiously added, he will never have reason to entertain any real fear, as long as, shackled by your fleet, you confine yourself to coasting rivers, and enable him to avoid your armies. These are the refuges of indolence, snares which cripple your efforts, superfluities which hang as a dead weight on your courage. Warriors ought to trust only to their swords. While one half of the Roman army, he said, is exhausted in dragging the other, and toiling against the rapid current of the Tigris, the Crown might have been wrested from the brows of Sapor. But it was necessary, he urged, to take provisions for four days, as a Desert was to be passed. He then offered to conduct Julian, by his

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guidance, to infallible success, and pledged his head of Julianus the truth of his representations. The deep-laid stratagem, suggesting a measure so bold in execution and so grand in its issue, which spared him, moreover, the use of twenty thousand soldiers employed in the fleet, succeeded. Julian suffered himself to be deceived. Prospects of mighty conquests thronged on his inflamed mind, and opened a new vein to ambitious speculations, which already extended to the subjection of India. He forgot the lesson which he himself had taught his soldiers when they entered the country of the wily Per sian: "Remember Crassus and Antony."

Hormisdas was too well acquainted with the craft and duplicity of his Countrymen to be so easily deceived. He warned Julian, therefore, against lending a credulous ear to the story of the refugee. But the Emperor, tenacious of his purposes, and flushed with recent victories, was not to be diverted from the adoption of a scheme, the very boldness of which harmonized with his daring spirit. He gave orders that provisions should be taken, not for four, but for twenty days, and that fire should be applied to the fleet. A general murmur followed this extraordinary command. The Romans asked themselves with astonishment whether their own chief were acting in concert with his enemies. The appalling magnitude of the danger suddenly forced itself on his own mind.* He ordered the fire to be extinguished, and the Persian deserters to be examined by the rack. The prime actor in the subtle plot had made his escape: the minor agents, under the sufferings of torture, confessed the deception they had practised. Of the fleet nothing could be saved but twelve barks, which were put aside, to be carried on chariots, and employed in case of need.†

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In this desperate situation, in the heart of a hostile Country, where desert wilds and lofty mountains epposed a barrier almost insuperable to retreat, Julian preserved his usual unmoved composure and firmness. Full of confidence in an army, disengaged and concentrated, he looked forward with sanguine anticipations to the issue of some decisive blow. The fertile plains Distress still afforded abundant sustenance to his troops. But the Rom the Persians soon perceived their advantage over the enemy. They destroyed their harvests and pastures; and, sometimes in combined, sometimes in detached

See Liban. Orat, Parent. c. 130. &c. Socrat. lib. iii. La Bleterie has justly observed that there is here an important chasm in the text of Ammianus, and has endeavoured to reconcile the accounts of other writers. He has been our chief guide. also Vales. not, ad Amm. Marcell. lib. xxiv. c. 7.

On the high admiration expressed for Alexander by Cæsar, Augustus, Trajan, Severus, and other Roman Emperors, see the note of Spanheim in his translation of the Casars' of Julian. (p. 139.) It was a common tradition that those who carried a portrait of Alexander, engraven on gold or silver, were assisted by it in all their actions.