Athanasius, enabled him to assume, in a moment of danger, the office of Ecclesiastical Dictator. 129 Three years were not yet elapsed since the majority of the bishops of the West had ignorantly, or reluctantly, subscribed the Confession of Rimini. They repented, they believed, but they dreaded the unseasonable rigour of their orthodox brethren; and if their pride was stronger than their faith, they might throw themselves into the arms of the Arians, to escape the indignity of a public penance, which must degrade them to the condition of obscure laymen. At the same time, the domestic differences concerning the union and distinction of the divine persons, were agitated with some heat among the Catholic doctors; and the progress of this metaphysical controversy seemed to threaten a public and lasting division of the Greek and Latin churches.

But the knowledge of their sentiments, instead of persuading him to recall his decree, provoked him to extend to all Egypt the term of the exile of Athanasius. The zeal of the multitude rendered Julian still more inexorable: he was alarmed by the danger of leaving, at the head of a tumultuous city, a daring and popular leader; and the language of his resentment discovers the opinion which he entertained of the courage and abilities of Athanasius. The execution of the sentence was still delayed, by the caution or negligence of Ecdicius, præfect of Egypt, who was at length awakened from his lethargy by a severe reprimand. "Though you neglect," says Julian, "to write to me on any other subject, "at least it is your duty to inform me of your "conduct towards Athanasius, the enemy of the gods. My intentions have been long since "communicated to you. I swear by the great Serapis, that unless, on the calends of Decem"ber, Athanasius has departed from Alexandria,

dom of a select synod, to which the name and presence of Athanasius gave the authority of a general council, the bishops, who had unwarily deviated into error, were admitted to the communion of the church, on the easy condition of subscribing the Nicene Creed; without any formal acknowledgment of their past fault, or any minute definition of their scholastic opinions. The advice of the primate of Egypt had already prepared the clergy of Gaul and Spain, of Italy and Greece, for the reception of this salutary measure; and, notwithstanding the opposition of some ardent spirits, 130 the fear of the common enemy promoted the peace and harmony of the Christians, 131

Julian.

A. D. 362, Oct. 23.

The skill and diligence of the He is persecuted and expelled by primate of Egypt had improved the season of tranquillity, before it was interrupted by the hostile edicts of the emperor. 132 Julian, who despised the Christians, honoured Athanasius with his sincere and peculiar hatred. For his sake alone, he introduced an arbitrary distinction, repugnant at least to the spirit of his former declarations. He maintained, that the Galilæans, whom he had recalled from exile, were not restored, by that general indulgence, to the possession of their respective churches; and he expressed his astonishment, that a criminal, who had been repeatedly condemned by the judgment of the emperors, should dare to insult the majesty of the laws, and insolently usurp the archiepiscopal throne of Alexandria, without expecting the orders of his sovereign. As a punishment for the imaginary offence, he again banished Athanasius from the city; and he was pleased to suppose, that this act of justice would be highly agreeable to his pious subjects. The pressing solicitations of the people soon convinced him, that the majority of the Alexandrians were Christians; and that the greatest part of the Christians were firmly attached to the cause of their oppressed primate.

129 See Athanas. ad Rufin. tom. ii. p. 40, 41.; and Greg. Nazianzen, Orat. iii. p. 393, 396., who justly states the temperate zeal of the primate, as much more meritorious than his prayers, his fasts, his persecutions, &c.

130 I have not leisure to follow the blind obstinacy of Lucifer of Cagliari. See his adventures in Tillemont (Mém. Ecclés. tom. vii. p. 900-926.); and observe how the colour of the narrative insensibly changes, as the confessor becomes a schismatic.

131 Assensus est huic sententire Occidens, et per tam necessarium concilium, Satanae faucibus mundus ereptus. The lively and artful Dialogue of Jerom against the Luciferians (tom. ii. p. 135-155.) exhibits an original picture of the ecclesiastical policy of the times.

132 Tillemont, who supposes that George was massacred in August, crowds the actions of Athanasius into a narrow space. (Mém. Ecclés.

66

nay from Egypt, the officers of your govern"ment shall pay a fine of one hundred pounds "of gold. You know my temper: I am slow "to condemn, but I am still slower to forgive." This epistle was enforced by a short postscript, written with the emperor's own hand. "The " contempt that is shown for all the gods, fills me with grief and indignation. There is no"thing that I should see, nothing that I should "hear, with more pleasure, than the expulsion of "Athanasius from all Egypt. The abominable "wretch! Under my reign, the baptism of "several Grecian ladies of the highest rank has "been the effect of his persecutions.” 133 The death of Athanasius was not expressly commanded; but the præfect of Egypt understood, that it was safer for him to exceed, than to neglect, the orders of an irritated master. The archbishop prudently retired to the monasteries of the desert; eluded, with his usual dexterity, the snares of the enemy; and lived to triumph over the ashes of a prince, who, in words of formidable import, had declared his wish that the whole venom of the Galilæan school were contained in the single person of Athanasius, 134

Christians.

I have endeavoured faithfully to zeal and impru represent the artful system by which dence of the Julian proposed to obtain the effects, without incurring the guilt or reproach, of persecution. But if the deadly spirit of fanaticism perverted the heart and understanding of a virtuous prince, it must, at the same time, be confessed, that the real sufferings of the Christians were inflamed and magnified by human passions and religious enthusiasm. The meekness and resignation which had distinguished the primitive disciples of the Gospel, was the object of the applause, rather than of the imitation, of their successors. The Christians, who had now postom. viii. p. 360.) An original fragment, published by the Marquis Maffei, from the old Chapter library of Verona (Osservazioni Litteraries tom. iii. p. 60-92.), affords many important dates, which are authen ticated by the computation of Egyptian months.

133 Τον μικρον, ός ετολμησεν Ελληνίδας, επ' έμου, γυναίκας το επισημων βαπτισαι διωκεσθαι. I have preserved the ambiguous sense of the last word, the ambiguity of a tyrant who wished to find, of to create, guilt.

134 The three Epistles of Julian, which explain his intentions and conduct with regard to Athanasius, should be disposed in the follow ing chronological order, xxvi. x. vi. See likewise Greg. Nazianzen, xxi. p. 393. Sozomen, I. v. c. 15. Socrates, 1. iil. c. 14. Theodoret, 1. iii. c. 9.; and Tillemont (Mém. Ecclés. tom. viii. p. 361-368), who has used some materials prepared by the Bollandists.

sessed above forty years the civil and ecclesiastical government of the empire, had contracted the insolent vices of prosperity, 135 and the habit of believing, that the saints alone were entitled to reign over the earth. As soon as the enmity of Julian deprived the clergy of the privileges which had been conferred by the favour of Constantine, they complained of the most cruel oppression; and the free toleration of idolaters and heretics was a subject of grief and scandal to the orthodox party.136 The acts of violence, which were no longer countenanced by the magistrates, were still committed by the zeal of the people. At Pessinus, the altar of Cybele was overturned almost in the presence of the emperor; and in the city of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, the temple of Fortune, the sole place of worship which had been left to the Pagans, was destroyed by the rage of a popular tumult. On these oc

casions, a prince, who felt for the honour of the gods, was not disposed to interrupt the course of justice; and his mind was still more deeply exasperated, when he found that the fanatics, who had deserved and suffered the punishment of incendiaries, were rewarded with the honours of martyrdom. 137 The Christian subjects of Julian were assured of the hostile designs of their sovereign; and, to their jealous apprehension, every circumstance of his government might afford some grounds of discontent and suspicion. In the ordinary administration of the laws, the Christians, who formed so large a part of the people, must frequently be condemned: but their indulgent brethren, without examining the merits of the cause, presumed their innocence, allowed their claims, and imputed the severity of their judge to the partial malice of religious persecution. 198 These present hardships, intolerable as they might appear, were represented as a slight prelude of the impending calamities. The Christians considered Julian as a cruel and crafty tyrant, who suspended the execution of his revenge, till he should return victorious from the Persian war. They expected, that as soon as he had triumphed over the foreign enemies of Rome, he would lay aside the irksome mask of dissimulation; that the amphitheatres would stream with the blood of hermits and bishops; and that the Christians, who still persevered in the profession of the faith, would be deprived of the common benefits of nature and society. 139 Every calumny 140 that could wound the reputation of the Apostate, was credulously embraced by the fears and hatred of his adversaries; and

135 See the fair confession of Gregory. (Orat. iii. p. 61, 62.) 136 Hear the furious and absurd complaint of Optatus (de Schismat. Donatist. 1. ii. c. 16, 17.).

137 Greg. Nazianzen, Orat. iii. p. 91., iv. p. 133. He praises the rioters of Caesarea, τούτων δε των μεγαλοφων και θερμών εις Ευσέβειαν. See Sozomen, 1. v. 4. 11. Tillemont (Mém. Ecclés. tom. vii. p. 649, 650.) owns, that their behaviour was not dans l'ordre commun; but he is perfectly satisfied, as the great St. Basil always celebrated the festival of these blessed martyrs.

138 Julian determined a lawsuit against the new Christian city at Maiuma, the port of Gaza; and his sentence, though it might be imputed to bigotry, was never reversed by his successors. Sozomen, 1. c. 3. Reland. Palestin. tom. ii. p. 791.

139 Gregory (Orat. iii. p. 93, 94, 95., Orat. iv. p. 114.) pretends to speak from the information of Julian's confidants, whom Orosius (vii. 30.) could not have seen.

140 Gregory (Orat. iii. p. 91.) charges the Apostate with secret sacrifices of boys and girls; and positively affirms, that the dead bodies were thrown into the Orontes. See Theodoret, l. ii. c. 26, 27.; and the equivocal candour of the Abbé de la Bieterie, Vie de Julien, p. 351, 352. Yet cotemporary malice could not impute to Julian the troops of martyrs, more especially in the West, which Baronius so greedily swallows, and Tillemont so faintly rejects. (Mém. Ecclés. tom. vií. p. 1295-1315.)

their indiscreet clamours provoked the temper of a sovereign, whom it was their duty to respect, and their interest to flatter. They still protested, that prayers and tears were their only weapons against the impious tyrant, whose head they devoted to the justice of offended Heaven. But they insinuated, with sullen resolution, that their submission was no longer the effect of weakness; and that, in the imperfect state of human virtue, the patience, which is founded on principle, may be exhausted by persecution. It is impossible to determine how far the zeal of Julian would have prevailed over his good sense and humanity; but, if we seriously reflect on the strength and spirit of the church, we shall be convinced, that, before the emperor could have extinguished the religion of Christ, he must have involved his country in the horrors of a civil war. 141

the CESARS, is one of the most agreeable and instructive productions of ancient wit. During the freedom and equality of the days of the Saturnalia, Romulus prepared a feast for the deities of Olympus, who had adopted him as a worthy associate, and for the Roman princes, who had reigned over his martial people, and the vanquished nations of the earth. The immortals were placed in just order on their thrones of state, and the table of the Caesars was spread below the Moon, in the upper region of the air. The tyrants, who would have disgraced the society of gods and men, were thrown headlong, by the inexorable Nemesis, into the Tartarean abyss. The rest of the Cæsars successively advanced to their seats; and, as they passed, the vices, the defects, the blemishes of their respective characters, were maliciously noticed by old Silenus, a laughing moralist, who disguised the wisdom of a philosopher under the mask of a Bacchanal.3 As soon as the feast was ended, the voice of Mercury proclaimed the will of Jupiter, that a celestial crown should be the ro

141 The resignation of Gregory is truly edifying. (Orat. iv. p. 123, 124.) Yet, when an officer of Julian attempted to seize the church of Nazianzus, he would have lost his life, if he had not yielded to the zeal of the bishop and people. (Orat. xix. p. 308.) See the reflections of Chrysostom, as they are alleged by Tillemont (Mém. Ecclés. tom. vii. p. 575.).

1 See this fable or satire, p. 306-336. of the Leipzig edition of Julian's works. The French version of the learned Ezekiel Spanheim (Paris, 1683.) is coarse, languid, and correct; and his notes, proofs, illustrations, &c. are piled on each other till they form a mass of 557 close-printed quarto pages. The Abbé de la Bleterie (Vie de Jovien, tom. i. p. 241-393.) has more happily expressed the spirit, as well as the sense, of the original, which he illustrates with some concise and curious notes.

2 Spanheim (in his preface) has most learnedly discussed the ety. mology, origin, resemblance, and disagreement of the Greek Satyrs, a dramatic piece, which was acted after the tragedy; and the Latin Satires, (from Satura) a miscellaneous composition, either in prose or verse. But the Caesars of Julian are of such an original cast, that the critic is perplexed to which class he should ascribe them.

3 This mixed character of Silenus is finely painted in the sixth eclogue of Virgil.

ward of superior merit. Julius Cæsar, Augustus, Trajan, and Marcus Antoninus, were selected as the most illustrious candidates; the effeminate Constantine 4 was not excluded from this honourable competition, and the great Alexander was invited to dispute the prize of glory with the Roman heroes. Each of the candidates was allowed to display the merit of his own exploits; but, in the judgment of the gods, the modest silence of Marcus pleaded more powerfully than the elaborate orations of his haughty rivals. When the judges of this awful contest proceeded to examine the heart, and to scrutinise the springs of action, the superiority of the Imperial Stoic appeared still more decisive and conspicuous. 5 Alexander and Cæsar, Augustus, Trajan, and Constantine, acknowledged, with a blush, that fame, or power, or pleasure, had been the important object of their labours but the gods themselves beheld, with reverence and love, a virtuous mortal, who had practised on the throne the lessons of philosophy; and who, in a state of human imperfection, had aspired to imitate the moral attributes of the Deity. The value of this agreeable composition (the Cæsars of Julian) is enhanced by the rank of the author. A prince, who delineates, with freedom, the vices and virtues of his predecessors, subscribes, in every line, the censure or approbation of his own conduct.

He resolves to In the cool moments of reflecmarch against tion, Julian preferred the useful and benevolent virtues of Antoni

the Persians.

A. D. 362.

nus; but his ambitious spirit was inflamed by the glory of Alexander; and he solicited, with equal ardour, the esteem of the wise, and the applause of the multitude. In the season of life, when the powers of the mind and body enjoy the most active vigour, the emperor, who was instructed by the experience, and animated by the success, of the German war, resolved to signalise his reign by some more splendid and memorable achievement. The ambassadors of the East, from the continent of India, and the isle of Ceylon,6 had respectfully saluted the Roman purple.7 The nations of the West esteemed and dreaded the personal virtues of Julian, both in peace and war. He despised the trophies of a Gothic victory,8 and was satisfied that the rapacious barbarians of the Danube would be restrained from any future violation of the faith of treaties by the terror of his name, and the additional fortifications with which he strengthened the Thracian and Illyrian frontiers. The successor of Cyrus and Artaxerxes was the only rival whom he deemed worthy of his arms;

4 Every impartial reader must perceive and condemn the partiality of Julian against his uncle Constantine, and the Christian religion. On this occasion, the interpreters are compelled, by a more sacred interest, to renounce their allegiance, and to desert the cause of their

author.

5 Julian was secretly inclined to prefer a Greek to a Roman. But when he seriously compared a hero with a philosopher, he was sensible that mankind had much greater obligations to Socrates than to Alexander. (Orat. ad Themistium, p. 264.)

6 Inde nationibus Indicis certatim cum donis optimates mittentibus ab usque Divis et Serendivis. Ammian. xx. 7. This island, to which the names of Taprobana, Serendib, and Ceylon, have been successively applied, manifests how imperfectly the seas and lands to the east of Cape Comorin were known to the Romans. 1. Under the reign of Claudius, a freedman, who farmed the customs of the Red Sea, was accidentally driven by the winds upon this strange and un. discovered coast: he conversed six months with the natives; and the king of Ceylon, who heard, for the first time, of the power and justice of Rome, was persuaded to send an embassy to the emperor. (Plin. Hist. Nat. vi. 24.) 2. The geographers (and even Ptolemy) have magnified, above fifteen times, the real size of this new world,

and he resolved, by the final conquest of Persia, to chastise the haughty nation which had so long resisted and insulted the majesty of Rome.9 As soon as the Persian monarch was informed that the throne of Constantius was filled by a prince of a very different character, he condescended to make some artful, or perhaps sincere, overtures, towards a negotiation of peace. But the pride of Sapor was astonished by the firmness of Julian; who sternly declared, that he would never consent to hold a peaceful conference among the flames and ruins of the cities of Mesopotamia; and who added, with a smile of contempt, that it was needless to treat by ambassadors, as he himself had determined to visit speedily the court of Persia. The impatience of the emperor urged the diligence of the military preparations. The generals were named; a formidable army was destined for this important service; and Julian, marching from Constantinople through the provinces of Asia Minor, arrived at Antioch about eight months after the death of his predecessor. His ardent desire to march into the heart of Persia, was checked by the indispensable duty of regulating the state of the empire; by his zeal to revive the worship of the gods; and by the advice of his wisest friends; who represented the necessity of allowing the salutary interval of winter-quarters, to restore the exhausted strength of the legions of Gaul, and the discipline and spirit of the Eastern troops. Julian was persuaded to fix, till the ensuing spring, his residence at Antioch, among a people maliciously disposed to deride the haste, and to censure the delays, of their sovereign. 10 If Julian had flattered himself, Licentious that his personal connection with manners of the the capital of the East would be toch. productive of mutual satisfaction to the prince and people, he made a very false estimate of his own character, and of the manners of Antioch. 11 The warmth of the climate disposed the natives to the most intemperate enjoyment of tranquillity and opulence; and the lively licentiousness of the Greeks was blended with the hereditary softness of the Syrians. Fashion was the only law, pleasure the only pursuit, and the splendour of dress and furniture was the only distinction of the citizens of Antioch. The arts of luxury were honoured; the serious and manly virtues were the subject of ridicule; and the contempt for female modesty and reverent age, announced the universal corruption of the capital of the East. The love of spectacles was the taste, or rather passion, of the Syrians: the most skilful

Julian proceeds

from Constantioch.

tinople to An

August.

people of An

which they extended as far as the equator, and the neighbourhood of

China.

7 These embassies had been sent to Constantius. Ammianus, who unwarily deviates into gross flattery, must have forgotten the length of the way, and the short duration of the reign of Julian.

8 Gothos sæpe fallaces et perfidos; hostes quærere se meliores aiebat: illis enim sufficere mercatores Galatas per quos ubique sine conditionis discrimine venumdantur. Within less than fifteen years, these Gothic slaves threatened and subdued their masters.

9 Alexander reminds his rival Casar, who depreciated the fame and merit of an Asiatic victory, that Crassus and Antony had felt the Persian arrows; and that the Romans, in a war of three hundred years, had not yet subdued the single province of Mesopotamia or Assyria (Caesares, p. 324.)

10 The design of the Persian war is declared by Ammianus (xxii. 7. 12.), Libanius (Orat. Parent. c. 79, 80. p. 305, 306.), Zosimus (1. iii. p. 158.), and Socrates (1. iii. c. 19.).

11 The Satire of Julian, and the Homilies of St. Chrysostom, exhibit the same picture of Antioch. The miniature which the Abbé de la Bleterie has copied from thence (Vie de Julien, p. 332.), is elegant

and correct.

12

artists were procured from the adjacent cities; a considerable share of the revenue was devoted to the public amusements; and the magnificence of the games of the theatre and circus was considered as the happiness, and as the glory, of Antioch. The rustic manners of a prince who disdained such glory, and was insensible of such happiness, soon disgusted the delicacy of his subjects; and the effeminate Orientals could neither imitate, nor admire, the severe simplicity which Julian always maintained, and sometimes affected. The days of festivity, consecrated, by ancient custom, to the honour of the gods, were the only occasions in which Julian relaxed his philosophic severity; and those festivals were the only days in which the Syrians of Antioch could reject the allurements of pleasure. The majority of the people supported the glory of the Christian name, which had been first invented by their ancestors: 13 they contented themselves with disobeying the moral precepts, but they were scrupulously attached to the speculative doctrines, of their religion. The church of Antioch was distracted by heresy and schism; but the Arians and the Athanasians, the followers of Meletius and those of Paulinus,14 were actuated by the same pious hatred of their common adversary. The strongest prejudice was en

Their aversion

to Julian. tertained against the character of an apostate, the enemy and successor of a prince who had engaged the affections of a very numerous sect; and the removal of St. Babylas excited an implacable opposition to the person of Julian. His subjects complained, with superstitious indignation, that famine had pursued the emperor's steps from Constantinople to Antioch; and the discontent of a hungry people was exasperated by the injudicious attempt to relieve their distress. The incleScarcity of corn, and public dis mency of the season had affected the harvests of Syria; and the price of bread, 15 in the markets of Antioch, had naturally risen in proportion to the scarcity of

content.

corn.

But the fair and reasonable proportion was soon violated by the rapacious arts of monopoly. In this unequal contest, in which the produce of the land is claimed by one party, as his exclusive property; is used by another as a lucrative object of trade; and is required by a third for the daily and necessary support of life; all the profits of the intermediate agents are accumulated on the head of the defenceless consumers. The hardships of their situation were exaggerated and increased by their own impatience and anxiety; and the apprehension of a scarcity gradually produced the appearances of a famine. When the luxurious citizens of Antioch complained of the high price of poultry |

12 Laodicea furnished charioteers; Tyre and Berytus, comedians; Cesarea, pantomimes; Hellopolis, singers; Gaza, gladiators; Asca Jon, wrestlers, and Castabala, rope-dancers. See the Expositio totius Mundi, p. 6. in the third tome of Hudson's Minor Geographers.

13 Χριστου δε αγαπώντες, έχετε πολιούχον αντί του Διος. The people of Antioch ingenuously professed their attachment to the Chi (Christ), and the Kappa (Constantius). Julian in Misopogon, p. 357.

14 The schism of Antio h, which lasted eighty-five years (A.D. 330 -415.), was inflamed, while Julian resided in that city, by the indis creet ordination of Paulinus. See Tillemont, Mém. Eccés. tom. vii. I shall quote. 503. of the quarto edition (Paris, 1701, &c.), which henceforward

15 Julian states three different proportions, of five, ten, or fifteen modni of wheat, for one piece of gold, according to the degrees of plenty and scarcity (in Misopogon, p. 369.5. From this fact, and from some collateral examples, I conclude, that under the successors of Constantine, the moderate price of wheat was about thirty-two shillings the English quarter, which is equal to the average price of the sixty-four

and fish, Julian publicly declared, that a frugal city ought to be satisfied with a regular supply of wine, oil, and bread; but he acknowledged, that it was the duty of a sovereign to provide for the subsistence of his people. With this

salutary view, the emperor ventured on a very dangerous and doubtful step, of fixing, by legal authority, the value of corn. He enacted, that, in a time of scarcity, it should be sold at a price which had seldom been known in the most plentiful years; and that his own example might strengthen his laws, he sent into the market four hundred and twenty-two thousand modii, or measures, which were drawn by his order from the granaries of Hierapolis, of Chalcis, and even of Egypt. The consequences might have been foreseen, and were soon felt. The Imperial wheat was purchased by the rich merchants; the proprietors of land, or of corn, withheld from the city the accustomed supply; and the small quantities that appeared in the market were secretly sold at an advanced and illegal price. Julian still continued to applaud his own policy, treated the complaints of the people as a vain and ungrateful murmur, and convinced Antioch that he had inherited the obstinacy, though not the cruelty, of his brother Gallus. 16 The remonstrances of the municipal senate served only to exasperate his inflexible mind. He was persuaded, perhaps with truth, that the senators of Antioch who possessed lands, or were concerned in trade, had themselves contributed to the calamities of their country; and he imputed the disrespectful boldness which they assumed, to the sense, not of public duty, but of private interest. The whole body, consisting of two hundred of the most noble and wealthy citizens, were sent, under a guard, from the palace to the prison; and though they were permitted, before the close of evening, to return to their respective houses, 17 the emperor himself could not obtain the forgiveness which he had so easily granted. The same grievances were still the subject of the same complaints, which were industriously circulated by the wit and levity of the Syrian Greeks. During the licentious days of the Saturnalia, the streets of the city resounded with insolent songs, which derided the laws, the religion, the personal conduct, and even the beard, of the emperor; and the spirit of Antioch was manifested by the connivance of the magistrates, and the applause of the multitude. 18 The disciple of Socrates was too deeply affected by these popular insults; but the monarch, endowed with quick sensibility, and possessed of absolute power, refused his passions the gratification of revenge. A tyrant might have proscribed, without distinction, the lives and fortunes of the citizens of

first years of the present century. See Arbuthnot's Tables of Coins, Weights, and Measures, p. 88, 89. Plin. Hist. Natur. xviii. 12. Mém. de l'Académie des Inscriptions, tom. xxviii. p. 718–721. Smith's Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, vol. i. p. 246. This last I am proud to quote, as the work of a sage and a friend.

16 Nunquam a proposito declinabat, Galli similis fratris, licet incruentus. Ammian. xxii. 14. The ignorance of the most enlightened princes may claim some excuse; but we cannot be satisfied with Ju. lian's own defence (in Misopogon, p. 368, 369.), or the elaborate apology of Libanius (Orat. Parental. c. xcvii. p. 321.).

17 Their short and easy confinement is gently touched by Libanius (Orat. Parental. c. xcviii. p. 322, 323.).

18 Labanius (ad Antiochenos de Imperatoris ira, c. 17, 18, 19., in Fabricius, Bibliot. Græc. tom. vii. p. 221-223.), like a skilful advocate, severely censures the folly of the people, who suffered for the crime of a few obscure and drunken wretches.

Antioch.

Antioch; and the unwarlike Syrians must have patiently submitted to the lust, the rapaciousness, and the cruelty, of the faithful legions of Gaul. A milder sentence might have deprived the capital of the East of its honours and privileges; and the courtiers, perhaps the subjects, of Julian, would have applauded an act of justice, which asserted the dignity of the supreme magistrate of the republic. 19 But instead of abusing, or exerting, the authority of the state, to revenge his personal injuries, Julian conJulian composes a satire against tented himself with an inoffensive mode of retaliation, which it would be in the power of few princes to employ. He had been insulted by satires and libels; in his turn he composed, under the title of the Enemy of the Beard, an ironical confession of his own faults, and a severe satire on the licentious and effeminate manners of Antioch. This Imperial reply was publicly exposed before the gates of the palace; and the MISOPOGON 20 still remains a singular monument of the resentment, the wit, the humanity, and the indiscretion, of Julian. Though he affected to laugh, he could not forgive.21 His contempt was expressed, and his revenge might be gratified, by the nomination of a governor 22 worthy only of such subjects: and the emperor, for ever renouncing the ungrateful city, proclaimed his resolution to pass the ensuing winter at Tarsus in Cilicia.23

Libanius.

&c.

The sophist Yet Antioch possessed one citizen, A. D. 314-390, whose genius and virtues might atone, in the opinion of Julian, for the vice and folly of his country. The sophist Libanius was born in the capital of the East; he publicly professed the arts of rhetoric and declamation at Nice, Nicomedia, Constantinople, Athens, and, during the remainder of his life, at Antioch. His school was assiduously frequented by the Grecian youth; his disciples, who sometimes exceeded the number of eighty, celebrated their incomparable master; and the jealousy of his rivals, who persecuted him from one city to another, confirmed the favourable opinion which Libanius ostentatiously displayed of his superior merit. The preceptors of Julian had extorted a rash but solemn assurance, that he would never attend the lectures of their adversary: the curiosity of the royal youth was checked and inflamed: he secretly procured the writings of this dangerous sophist, and gradually surpassed, in the perfect imitation of his style, the most laborious of his domestic pupils. 24 When Julian ascended the throne, he declared his impatience to embrace and reward

19 Libanius (ad Antiochen. e. vii. p. 213.) reminds Antioch of the recent chastisement of Caesarea; and even Julian (in Misopogon, p. 355.) insinuates how severely Tarentum had expiated the insult to the Roman ambassadors.

20 On the subject of the Misopogon, see Ammianus (xxii. 14.), Líbanius (Orat. Parentalis, c. xcix. p. 323.), Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. iv. p. 133.), and the Chronicle of Antioch, by John Malela (tom. ii. p. 13, 16.). I have essential obligations to the translation and notes of the Abbé de la Bleterie (Vie de Jovien, tom. ii. p. 1–138.).

21 Ammianus very justly remarks, Coactus dissimulare pro tempore frå sufflabatur interna. The elaborate irony of Julian at length bursts forth into serious and direct invective.

22 Ipse autem Antiochiam egressurus, Heliopoliten quendam Alexandrum Syriacæ jurisdictioni præfecit, turbulentum et sevum; dicebatque non illum meruisse, sed Antiochensibus avaris et contumeliosis hujusmodi judicem convenire. Ammian, xxiii. 2. Libanius (Epist. 722. p. 346, 317.), who confesses to Julian himself, that he had shared the general discontent, pretends that Alexander was an useful, though harsh, reformer of the manners and religion of Antioch.

23 Julian, in Misopegon, p. 361. Ammian. xxiii. 2., and Valesius ad loc. Libanius, in a professed oration, invites him to return to his loyal and penitent city of Antioch.

the Syrian sophist, who had preserved, in a degenerate age, the Grecian purity of taste, of manners, and of religion. The emperor's prepossession was increased and justified by the discreet pride of his favourite. Instead of pressing, with the foremost of the crowd, into the palace of Constantinople, Libanius calmly expected his arrival at Antioch; withdrew from court on the first symptoms of coldness and indifference; required a formal invitation for each visit; and taught his sovereign an important lesson, that he might command the obedience of a subject, but that he must deserve the attachment of a friend. The sophists of every age, despising, or affecting to despise, the accidental distinctions of birth and fortune,25 reserve their esteem for the superior qualities of the mind, with which they themselves are so plentifully endowed. Julian might disdain the acclamations of a venal court, who adored the Imperial purple; but he was deeply flattered by the praise, the admonition, the freedom, and the envy of an independent philosopher, who refused his favours, loved his person, celebrated his fame, and protected his memory. The voluminous writings of Libanius still exist; for the most part, they are the vain and idle compositions of an orator, who cultivated the science of words; the productions of a recluse student, whose mind, regardless of his cotemporaries, was incessantly fixed on the Trojan war, and the Athenian commonwealth. Yet the sophist of Antioch sometimes descended from this imaginary elevation; he entertained a various and elaborate correspondence; 26 he praised the vir tues of his own times; he boldly arraigned the abuses of public and private life; and he eloquently pleaded the cause of Antioch against the just resentment of Julian and Theodosius. It is the common calamity of old age,27 to lose whatever might have rendered it desirable; but Libanius experienced the peculiar misfortune of surviving the religion and the sciences, to which he had consecrated his genius. friend of Julian was an indignant spectator of the triumph of Christianity; and his bigotry, which darkened the prospect of the visible world, did not inspire Libanius with any lively hopes of celestial glory and happiness. 28

Euphrates. A. D. 363, March 5.

The

The martial impatience of Julian March of Ju. urged him to take the field in the lian to the beginning of the spring; and he dismissed, with contempt and reproach, the senate of Antioch, who accompanied the emperor beyond the limits of their own territory,

24 Libanius, Orat. Parent. c. vii. p. 230, 231.

25 Eunapius reports, that Libanius refused the honorary rank of prietorian præfect, as less illustrious than the title of Sophist (in Vit. Sophist. p. 135.). The critics have observed a similar sentiment in one of the epistles (xviii. edit. Wolf.) of Libanius himself.

26 Near two thousand of his letters, a mode of composition in which Labanius was thought to excel, are still extant, and already published. The critics may praise their subtle and elegant brevity; yet Dr. Bentley (Dissertation upon Phalaris, p. 487.) might justly, though quaintly observe, that" you feel, by the emptiness and deadness of them, that "you converse with some dreaming pedant, with his elbow on his

"desk."

27 His birth is assigned to the year 314. He mentions the seventysixth year of his age (A.D. 390.), and seems to allude to some events

of a still later date.

28 Libanius has composed the vain, prolix, but curious narrative of his own life (tom. ii. p. 1-84. edit. Morell.), of which Eunapius (p.150 -155.) has left a concise and unfavourable account. Among the mo derns, Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 571-576.), Fabricius (Bibliot. Græc. tom. vii. p. 376-414.), and Lardner (Heathen Testimonies, tom. iv. p. 127-163.), have illustrated the character and writings of this famous sophist