The Empire. R 0 
'diffused beyond the columns of Hercules the terror of his 
name. Under his command, Britain, destined in a future 
age to obtain the empire of the sea, already assumed its 
natural and respectable station of a maritime power. 
By seizing the fleet of Boulogne, Carausius had deprived 
his master of the means of pursuit and revenge. And when, 
after a vast expense of time and labour, a new armament 
was launched into the water, the Imperial troops, unaccus¬ 
tomed to that element, were easily baffled and defeated by 
the veteran sailors of the usurper. This disappointed effort 
was soon productive of a treaty of peace. Dioclesian and 
his colleague, who justly dreaded the enterprising spirit of 
Carausius, resigned to him the sovereignty of Britain, and 
reluctantly admitted their perfidious servant to a participation 
of the Imperial honours. It was at length perceived by the 
Roman emperors, that their distant possessions required for 
their preservation other supporters, and, to secure the in¬ 
terested co-operation of these assistants, as well as to secure 
themselves against fresh usurpers of the purple, Dioclesian 
and Maximian adopted the resource of Caesars, or secondary 
emperors. Two generals, of approved merit, received an 
equal share of authority ; Galerius, surnamed Armentarius, 
•from his original profession of a herdsman, and Constantius, 
who from his pale complexion had acquired the denomina¬ 
tion of Chlorus. In describing the country, extraction, and 
manners of Maximian, we have already delineated those of 
Galerius, who was often, and not improperly, styled the 
younger Maximian, though in many instances both of virtue 
and ability, he appears to have possessed a manifest superi¬ 
ority over the elder. The birth of Constantius was less 
obscure than that of his colleagues. Eutropius, his father, 
was one of the most considerable nobles of Dardania, and 
his mother was the niece of the emperor Claudius. Although 
the youth of Constantius had been spent in arms, he was 
endowed with a mild and amiable disposition, and the 
' popular voice had long since acknowledged him worthy of 
the rank which he at last attained. To strengthen the bonds 
--'of political, by those of domestic union, each of the emperors 
assumed the character of a father to one of the Caesars, Dio¬ 
clesian to Galerius, and Maximian to Constantius; and 
each obliging them to repudiate their former wives, bestowed 
his daughter in marriage on his adopted son. These four 
princes distributed among themselves the wide extent of the 
Roman empire. The defence of Gaul, Spain, and Britain, 
was intrusted to Constantius; Galerius was stationed on the 
banks of the Danube, as the safeguard of the Illyrian pro¬ 
vinces. Italy and Africa were considered as the department 
■of Maximian; and for his peculiar portion, Dioclesian 
reserved Thrace, Egypt, and the rich countries of Asia. 
Everyone was sovereign within his own jurisdiction; but 
’their united authority extended over the whole monarchy, 
and each of them was prepared to assist his colleagues with 
his counsels or presence. The Caesars, in their exalted rank, 
revered the majesty of the emperors, and the three younger 
princes invariably acknowledged, by their gratitude and 
obedience, the common parent of their fortunes. The 
suspicious jealousy of power found not any place among 
them; and the singular happiness of their union has been 
compared to a chorus of music, whose harmony was regulated 
and maintained by the skilful hand of the first artist. This 
important measure was carried into execution about six years 
after the association of Maximian and Dioclesian. 
The naval talents of Constantius soon enabled him to make 
an effectual attack on the power of Carausius, but the ultimate 
event of the struggle was still doubtful, when the British 
emperor was assassinated by his officers. This event dis¬ 
tracted the counsels and divided the forces of the insurgents, 
and Constantius soon succeeded in renewing over England 
the dominion of Rome. 
This achievement finished, the attention of the rulers of 
Rome was turned to the permanent defence of their old 
possessions. From the mouth of the Rhine to that of the 
Danube, the ancient camps, towns, and citadels, were di¬ 
ligently re-established, and in the most exposed places, new 
Vot. XXII. No. 1501. 
M E. The Empire. 289 
ones were skilfully constructed ; the strictest vigilance was 
introduced among the garrisons of the frontier, and every 
expedient was practised that could render the long chain of 
fortifications firm and impenetrable. A barrier so respect¬ 
able was seldom violated. 
But it was impossible to maintain an equal and undis¬ 
turbed tranquillity during a reign of twenty years, and 
along a frontier of many hundred miles. Whenever the 
provinces were invaded, Dioclesian conducted himself with 
that calm dignity which he always affected or possessed; 
reserved his presence for such occasions as were worthy of 
his interposition, never exposed his person or reputation 
to any unnecessary danger, ensured his success by every 
means that prudence could suggest, and displayed, with 
ostentation, the consequences of his victory. In wars of 
a more difficult nature, and more doubtful event, he em¬ 
ployed the rough manner of Maximian; and that faithful 
soldier was content to ascribe his own victories to the wise 
counsels and auspicious influence of his benefactor. But 
after the adoption of the two Caesars, the emperors them¬ 
selves, retiring to a less laborious scene of action, devolved 
on their adopted sons the defence of the Danube and of the 
Rhine. The vigilant Galerius was never reduced to the 
necessity of vanquishing an army of barbarians on the Ro¬ 
man territory. The brave and active Constantius delivered 
Gaul from a very furious inroad of the Alemanni; and his 
victories of Langres and Vindonisa appear to have been 
actions of considerable danger and merit. 
The conduct which the emperor Probus had adopted in 
the disposal of the vanquished, was imitated by Dioclesian 
and his associates. The captive barbarians, exchanging death 
for slavery, were distributed among the provincials, and as¬ 
signed to those districts (in Gaul, the territories of Amiens, 
Beauvais, Cambray, Treves, Langres, and Troyes, are par¬ 
ticularly specified) which had been depopulated by the ca¬ 
lamities of war. They were usefully employed as shepherds 
and husbandmen, but were denied the exercise of arms, ex¬ 
cept when it was found expedient to enrol them in the mili¬ 
tary service. Nor did the emperors refuse the property of 
lands, with a less frail tenure, to such of the barbarians as 
solicited the protection of Rome. They granted a settlement 
to several colonies of the Carpi, the Basternae, and the Sar- 
matians; and, by a dangerous indulgence, permitted them 
in some measure to retain their national manners and inde¬ 
pendence. Among the provincials, it was a subject of 
flattering exultation, that the barbarian, so lately an object 
of terror, now cultivated their lands, drove their cattle to the 
neighbouring fair, and contributed by his labour to the pub¬ 
lic plenty. They congratulated their masters on the powerful 
accession of subjects and soldiers ; but they forgot to observe, 
that multitudes of secret enemies, insolent from favour, or 
desperate from oppression, were introduced into the heart 
of the empire. 
While the Caesars exercised their valour on the banks of 
the Rhine and Danube, the presence of the emperors was 
required on the southern confines of the Roman world. 
From the Nile to mount Atlas, Africa.was in arms. A con¬ 
federacy of five Moorish nations issued from their deserts to 
invade the peaceful provinces. Julian had assumed the 
purple at Carthage, Achilleus at Alexandria, and even the 
Blemmyes renewed, or rather continued, their incursions in¬ 
to Upper Egypt. Scarcely any circumstances have been 
preserved of the exploits of Maximian in the western parts 
of Africa; but it appears by the event, that the progress of 
his arms was rapid and decisive, that he vanquished the 
fiercest barbarians of Mauritania, and that he removed them 
from the mountains, whose inaccessible strength had inspired 
their inhabitants with a lawless confidence, and habituated 
them to a life of rapine and violence. Dioclesian, on his 
side, opened the campaign in Egypt by the siege of Alex¬ 
andria, cut off the aqueducts which conveyed the waters of 
the Nile into every quarter of that immense city, and ren¬ 
dering his camp impregnable to the sallies of the besieged 
multitude, he pushed his reiterated attacks with caution 
4 E and 
