The Empire. 
U O 
power to maintain it, particularly with the Persians, against 
whom he did not commence his march till driven to 
extremity. 
This unavoidable war brought the intrigues against Julian 
to a crisis. The magnitude of Sapor’s preparations, and 
perhaps the emperor’s jealousy of the Caesar, induced him to 
require a reinforcement of his chosen troops. This order, 
which was peremptory, reaching Julian at a moment- of 
difficulty and danger, when the Piets and Scots were ravag¬ 
ing Britain, gave him the most sensible uneasiness; to 
aggravate which, he had every reason to apprehend that 
should his forces be diminished, the Germans, whom fear only 
kept in awe, would soon re-enter Gaul. 
In this critical situation he determined to sacrifice his feel¬ 
ings to his duty, and to show the promptitude of his obedience 
to the imperial will; sending, therefore, for Decentius, who 
was charged with the emperor's commission, he professed 
his acquiescence, but hinted, that the troops required had 
enlisted on condition of not being compelled to pass the 
Alps, and that there might be danger in violating the engage¬ 
ment. 
Events verified the prediction : no sooner was Decentius 
ready to depart with the troops he had selected, than the 
murmurs of discontent spread from tent to tent. The soldiers 
at last openly complained that they were sent to the extremity 
of the world, and obliged to leave their wives, their children, 
and their friends, a prey to the barbarians. To remove this 
cause of opposition, Julian permitted them to take their 
families with them, and offered them conveyances at the 
public expence. He carried his attention to the discharge 
of his duty still further; and as he knew the attachment of 
his soldiers, he advised Decentius not to lead them through 
Paris, the place of his residence, lest they should be tempted 
to some act of violence onthe prospect of leaving him. The 
commander, however, did not think it reasonable to refuse 
the indulgence which they ardently begged, of being permit¬ 
ted to bid their general farewell. Julian received them with 
kindness; and from his tribunal, gratefully commemorated 
their past exploits, and concluded, with recommending a 
prompt and cheerful obedience to the commands of 
Constantius. 
The soldiers heard the latter part of his speech in gloomy 
silence; and after a short pause, were dismissed to the quar¬ 
ters. The officers were entertained by the Caesar; and when 
they retired from the feast, mutually lamented the severity of 
their fate, which tore them from a general they loved, and 
from a country which contained all they held dear. The 
common soldiers on this occasion had likewise been indulged 
with wine ; their spirits were elevated to a sufficient pitch of 
daring or suffering; and conspiracy, the only expedient 
which could prevent the dreaded separation, was proposed, 
< s it. has been imagined, by some warm partisans of Julian, 
and approved by the whole army. 
The ferment increased; and at the hour of midnight, the 
impatient multitude encompassed the palace of Caesar, and 
proclaimed him “Julian Angustus.” 
The prince strenuously rejected the proffered honour, when 
they told him that if he wished to live, he must “ consent 
to reign ;” and then elevating him on a shield, they placed a 
military collar on his head, by way of a diadem. 
Having accepted the dignity of Augustus, he was determin¬ 
ed to support it; but yet wished, by every method of con¬ 
ciliation with Constantius, to save his country from the 
horrors of a civil war. For this purpose, he penned, in his 
own name and that of the army, a respectful epistle, ac¬ 
knowledging the supremacy of Constantius, and the irregu¬ 
larity of his own election, and conceding every thing, ex¬ 
cept the sovereignty of the provinces beyond the Alps with 
all their appendant royalties, which he claimed in full right. 
Prep arations for war accompanied the negociations for peace. 
As soon as the season of the year permitted, Julian took 
the field against the Attuarii, a tribe of the Franks who had 
ravaged the frontiers of the empire, and penetrating into 
their country, conquered them with great losss, and fixed his 
winter quarters at Vienna. 
M E. The Empire.- 
When the ambassadors of Julian, who had experienced many 
delays in their journey to the east, were introduced to the 
presence of Constantius, they found him in great agitation, 
and violently incensed against their master. The death of 
Helena had dissolved the domestic connection between them, 
and the empress Eusebia, the constant patroness of Julian, 
was likewise no more. The emperor was therefore left to 
follow the impulses of his own passions, and the artful sug¬ 
gestions of his ministers. He informed Julian, that the only 
conditions on which either he or his adherents could hope 
for pardon, was to renounce the rank of Augustus, and to 
acknowledge himself a dependent on the supreme head of 
the empire. 
Irritated at receiving such humiliating terms, Julian now 
resolved boldly to commit his life and fortune to the chance 
of a civil war. The haughty epistle of Constantius was read 
before a military audience: and the faint proposal of Julian 
to resign the purple, if he could obtain the consent of his 
electors, was drowned in repeated acclamations. The as¬ 
sembly was dismissed; and a message being returned to Con¬ 
stantius full of resentment, Julian publicly declared that he 
committed his safety to the immortal gods, and thus re¬ 
nounced the religion as well as the friendship of the son of 
Constantine. 
The circumstances of the emperor of Gaul required vig¬ 
orous and immediate exertions. He discovered that the 
barbarians had been invited to invade his provinces, and 
he had also the forces of Constantius to contend with. 
Wherefore assembling his army in the vicinity of Basil, he 
speedily detached ten thousand men under Nevitta, through 
Rhmtia and Noricum; an equal number, led by Jovius and 
Jovinus, were ordered to follow the course of the highways 
through the Alps and the northern confines of Italy, and both 
detachments to join their sovereign under the walls of 
Sirmium. 
Meanwhile Julian, with three thousand volunteers, plunged, 
into the recesses of the Mercian forest, and emerging between 
Ratisbon and Vienna, seized a fleet of light vessels; and 
committing himself and his followers to the rapid stream of 
the Danube, in eleven days landed within a few miles of 
Sirmium. 
His two generals having carried all before them, soon effect¬ 
ed a junction with their master at the appointed rendezvous, 
from whence Julian dispatched an apology for his conduct 
to the principal cities of the empire, trusting to his arguments 
as well as his arms. With the duplicity of an hypocrite, 
rather than the effrontery of a daring apostate, he took care 
to word his manifestoes according to the prevailing religion 
of the people he addressed. He likewise assisted at Christian 
service, and pagan sacrifices, in order to conciliate opposite 
interests; and by his policy united with his prowess, had 
made considerable progress towards establishing himself, not 
only a partner but paramount in the empire, when lie 
was informed of the almost sudden death of Constantius. 
A. D. 361. 
That prince having disengaged himself from the Persians 
by a hasty peace, had advanced precipitately against his 
rival, when a fever, occasioned by the agitation of his mind, 
or the fatigues of his journey, obliged him to halt at Mop- 
sucrene, a little town about twelve miles beyond Tarsus; 
where, after a short illness, Constantius breathed his last, in 
the forty-fifth year of his age, and the twenty-fourth of his 
reign. In person he was diminutive, but capable of exertion 
when occasion required: he was temperate, but extremely 
uxorious; and, in a word, inherited the defects without the 
abilities of his father. In religion, he was rather a bigot than 
a Christian. 
The eunuchs who surrounded the court of Constantinople, 
made a feeble attempt to prolong their power, by electing 
another emperor; but their intrigues were rejected by the 
army, and two officers of rank were dispatched to assure 
Julian, that every sword in the empire would be drawn at bis 
command. 
That prince, impatient to visit his new capital, and the 
place of his birth, hastened his march; and when he reached 
Heraclea, 
